Chapter 1: Repentance

"Thanks for the lift, Mr. Mariano!"

"Aw, shucks, it's the least I can do ever since you saved all those passengers!"

"No big!" Kim modestly said, "Just because a plane doesn't have its landing gear doesn't mean it can't be landed. Hey Ron, you ready?"

"As always, KP!"

Enter another mission by the world famous Team Possible. It's been a couple of months since the two graduated, making it about three since they started dating. So far life has been treating the couple rather well, and by rather well we're talking normal. Instead of a part-time job, Kim has decided to work at her dad's space center, unfortunately leaving Ron for a job hunt with no luck. Even his beloved Bueno Nacho wouldn't rehire him due to their losses ever since the Diablo fiasco and Ron's inability to balance his job and his missions.

Still, the couple has managed to make the most out of their summer, often going on dates on Kim's official Ron night (which is still Friday), and even making games out of their missions. The one that the two have been playing lately consists of who reaches the bad guy first; whoever finds them first wins a prize. This can consist of several things, from a date, a meal, a snack, a gift, and so on.

Today's mission isn't any different than the ones the two have been on lately. Sure, Monkey Fist, Killigan, and Dementor haven't shown their faces since Drakken and Shego were tossed in jail, but many more have decided to come out into the open to show their super villainy to the world. But what has lately baffled both Kim and Ron that several of their recent villains, all of them have been teenagers.

The first villain they fought after the Prom, a teenage psychopath by the name of Valia Erocus Ryan, was the first to fall.

When Kim and Ron finally managed to defeat them in a final duel in his underwater lair, Valia forced the couple to escape but ensured that he didn't. To Kim it felt like a noble final, despite his hatred of what the two shared together. Ron had speculated that Val purposely ended his life in order to escape himself, but the two weren't quite sure what to make of it. While Kim and Ron spent a day in the hospital when they were found on the lakeshore, Valia's body wasn't found. At this point, he was only presumed dead.

Two weeks later, however, remains of a mangled and deteriorated body were discovered on the shore of Upperton Lake, where Ryan's lair was located under. It took two days for doctors there to confirm an identity, as the body's appearance matched that of seaweed, lots of it. At first glance, it appeared that it would be impossible to identify. What the doctors noticed, however, were ripped portions of what appeared to be a battle suit and a missing left hand. DNA scans confirmed it was him. He was dead.

His body was identified the same day as his supposed funeral. Because of his dark persona, passionate hatred for human emotions and unquestionable martial arts abilities all at a young age, his death resulted in a cult following.

For the first month since his fall, members of the cult, the Ice Shadows, were the only villains that Kim and Ron faced. They chose to rob ancient artifacts, rare weapons and anything they could get their hands on. They were all dark in appearance and skilled in their abilities, but Kim and Ron took them down just like anybody else.

To them, Valia proved something in his defeat; that you didn't have to be the usual villain. You didn't have to be old and "experienced", you didn't need to follow any guidelines or have the same plot as anybody else. You could be who you were regardless of your beliefs and age and still cause chaos. You just need the drive.

Unfortunately, that's where many of them failed. Valia was an arrogant martial artist who hated his generation and human emotions. He had studied the teen hero scene that Kim and Ron had dedicated their lives to, and he saw so many problems with it. No one really knew why he started his fight against Kim and Ron, but he was more than confident and aware of all of his abilities. His martial arts abilities could only be rivaled by so few, he was an expert in technology and science, he was an excellent strategist, and he couldn't stop what he had begun. His followers believed they shared the exact same traits, but they were wrong.

For instance, one of them was a group that studied witchcraft, consisting of three high school girls, who wanted to show the world who they were. They had the power to summon storms and use the weather against everyone, but that didn't stop Kim and Ron. They were lacking in abilities, especially those in combat, and that allowed for their capture.

"C'mon, Ron, get with the program!"

"I would except my parachute's stuck again!"

None of the Ice Shadows were serious in their plight, however, and this gave Team Possible the advantage of capturing them. Most of their reasons for becoming a villain were for attention, the adrenaline rush, or simply the challenge. None of them got personal with Kim and Ron, didn't care for their relationship or their status, or even about taking over the world or gaining some kind of power that would allow for something like that. Well, a few tried to seize ancient powers, but they didn't have the resources that even confirmed that such things existed.

If anything, it was truly a fad. A month would pass before all 47 members were captured and sent to jail.

And why not spend the rest of the day on a nice date? While Kim and Ron hadn't been anywhere near as passionate or romantic since the beginning of their intimate relationship, they still do everything together like they had for the last several years. Throughout the months, Kim was trying to ease herself of following fashion trends, social status and image; trying to become more of her own original person. Ron was becoming more of a man than before, his buffoonery in missions lower than ever. Half of this was for Kim's protection, often giving the villain a good beatdown if they laid a finger on Kim.

Of course, Kim still trusted Club Banana for everything and Ron would still lose his pants on missions and take Kim to Bueno Nacho. It was a slow change, but it was happening. Kim was slowly becoming more open to more things and Ron would sometimes be extremely serious on their missions and pull off everything flawlessly, more so than Kim would at times. Sometimes she felt uncomfortable, but most of the time she felt that Ron was evolving into someone more powerful. He was still the kid she grew up with, but seeing him act a man at times got her attention.

"Another temple?" Ron asked as he descended from the skies above.

"Well, it is Thailand."

The couple was now lowering themselves in the jungles of Thailand, sent to capture a gangster named Frederick Elurt. Apparently this was someone who traded information much like Big Daddy Brotherson, but when he eventually got into weapons dealing, it was reported that whoever entered his temple would never come out. It wasn't that much of a surprise when the victim's savings account was wiped and his weapons stolen.

The reason for this? Kim was soon to find out but was forced to stay at her cousin Larry's again, so Ron decided to speak to someone once associated with Elurt:

Big Daddy Brotherson.

"Aw, you got me that time!"

"Indeed I have," Big Daddy proudly proclaimed, "Despite my win, you are quite an opponent, Stoppable. I rather enjoyed that game of checkers."

Ron yawned, wearing what appeared to be a Pixie outfit, "So, can you tell me the information I need?"

"That depends. I'm in the mood for a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors, unless you have any methods to persuade me otherwise."

"I think I've got just the thing."

Ron pulled out a milk chocolate candy bar from a box, taunting Big Daddy with it.

"Milk Chocolate? So your girlfriend has informed you of my weakness. But I digress, I'll tell you what you want to know."

Ron handed Big Daddy the chocolate bar, who was moaning over just the scent of it.

"Fred Elurt. We know what he's doing, but we don't know why."

Big Daddy took a second to gather his thoughts on the subject. "It's simple, really. Why else would you betray the trust of your clients, take their lives, steal their weapons and money?"

Ron didn't know. It could have been anything from power to revenge.

"Try to take over the world. Surely you could have figured that out by yourself, Ron Stoppable."

Ron just groaned, "Oh, yeah. Right."

"You would be wise to be cautious," Big Daddy warned as he waved the candy bar in his hand, "His bodyguards, 'The Hands', are not to be taken lightly. They are the most lethal in the business, the best there is."

Ron just got up, grabbing his box of candy for the Pixie Summer Drive, "Thanks for the info and the heads-up."

"It's what I do best," the big man said with a big smug.

Kim and Ron's destination was in an ancient temple in Thailand, trapped in the middle of a huge jungle. The two had landed just outside, hiding in front of an idol out front, waiting for the guards to clear. The two kept silent as they listened.

"Well, it's the end of my shift," one of them claimed, looking at his watch.

"Isn't Nal supposed to cover the night shift?" the other asked.

"Probably the wife holding him back again. It'll probably be about ten minutes before he arrives."

"I've got this place covered."

"I hope so. Good night, Sam."

"Good night, Ralph."

Now the front door only had one guard. He was a young bald with a goatee, armed with a machine-gun and a dark blue suit. He continued to patrol the area alone.

"Okay, Ron," Kim whispered, "I'll head through the front. You sneak on the sides."

"You sure you can handle the front?" Ron asked, "It's probably heavily guarded."

"If I can manage to take out some guards without an alarm being set off, we'll catch Elurt by surprise," she argued. "What? Are you worried about me getting caught or something?"

Ron noticed that Kim had sly curve in her eyes and lips.

"I've seen you do it a hundred times, but yeah. I care if that's what you mean."

"You're sweet, Ron, but I think I can handle it. Ready?"

"Anytime…" he whispered, "Good luck."

Just when the guard noticed a snake on the ground, both Kim and Ron darted off towards the temple, Kim leaping straight through the open entrance, and Ron darting off to the side. There was another wall in front of him, and he managed to run up the wall for a couple of seconds, just enough to grab the ledge above him and pull himself up.

The guard then returned to duty, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. Just another dead snake.

Lucky for Kim, the hallways of the temple were extremely dark, although light from the rooms lit up portions of it. Security was relatively low, but guards kept their eyes open. Often, Kim found herself on the ceiling, using all of her limbs to keep her body in place, tying her hair up in a bun so it wouldn't be seen.

After two guards passed each other, Kim lowered herself from the ceiling and slowly crept behind one all the way to the end of a long hallway. Her steps followed his, making no noise as his footsteps silenced hers. He kept his eyes peeled, constantly looking left and right as if he knew there was an intruder. All of the guards appeared this way, however, so it was no imminent threat yet.

Kim almost blew it when the guard stopped, only milliseconds away from her foot touching the floor and making her presence clear. Perhaps it was too late. The guard started sniffing loudly, as if catching an unfamiliar scent. Kim backed away as slowly as she could, trying to keep as quiet as possible as she moved towards the shadows on the walls of the hallway.

"Strawberry…" the guard whispered.

A strawberry scent. Kim had blown it. She completely forgot that she went to the movies with Ron that morning and put on a new strawberry perfume. The movie had ended just an hour before her favor arrived in a jet.

Instantly, the guard turned around with his gun cocked.

Emptiness.

The guard wasn't convinced, however, and he refused to take a calm stance. He continued to sniff the air around him like a guard dog.

"I know you're here somewhere," he whispered with a thick accent. A smile slowly made its way to his face, as if he hadn't experienced any kind of action ever since he joined Elurt's men. That, and it happened to be a female scent.

Suddenly, he was quickly jerked to his side in the shadows as if being sucked by a vacuum. The noises that followed were quiet; a few punches, muffling, and a thick thud.

Kim slowly emerged from the shadows, taking the guard's gun and making sure his body wasn't immediately visible. The dark shadows engulfed his unconscious body, and his dark blue suit worked in Kim's favor, hiding it better than her black shirt.

She continued her slow infiltration towards Elurt's room.

Meanwhile, Ron was still scaling the sides of the temple from outside, but he was much higher and much farther than before, using vacuum-like suction cups to move on the walls of the stone bricks without making any noise. Despite that he stood out in his military black shirt and cargo pants, none of the guards in the area paid any attention to the walls high above them.

The only sound that could be heard was Ron's whimpering as he clung on the wall like a spider some 60-feet above ground.

Kim had a hard time getting past the storage area, a huge room with nothing but giant crates with eight guards in the room. Instead of trying to walk in-between the crates and risk getting easily caught, Kim managed to climb on top of the crates. She was definitely out of everyone's range of vision, but her problem lay elsewhere: the lights. Spotlights were the only objects lighting the room, moving back and forth on their own will. These were not the types that would detect anyone and set off an alarm, as nobody monitored them. However, depending on the angle of the light if it hit Kim, a giant shadow of her would be revealed, blowing her cover again. The only way to avoid this would be to lay as low as possible, but it would require a lot of time and patience.

So Kim had to take a few things into consideration. First was the obvious, make it past the door without being detected. Second, she had to make sure to get from crate to crate without being seen or heard. Third, avoid the spotlights.

There were a total of sixteen 25-foot high crates in the room, spanning at least 20 feet on each side. Four rows of four crates. Kim easily made her way past two of them before she noticed a spotlight heading straight her way, and fast. She immediately went flat on her stomach, but there was a factor she missed: her hair. It was still tied up in a bun, and its length would blow it. She quickly scrambled to remove the band that was keeping it in place. Kim was able to remove it, and just as she flattened her arm on the crate, the spotlight flew past her. No shadow was cast.

Instead of running past the crates and jumping on the next with no regard to her stealth, as she was doing before, Kim decided to slowly crawl to the edge to see if any guards were nearby.

The guards were gathered on the far end of the room, but they seemed to be on high alert. She tried to hear whatever they were whispering.

"I think I saw something. It kind of looked like a cat, but a really big one."

"Search the area."

At least half of the guards, four of them, went off to investigate. They were all aware of Kim's presence, so she thought, but they couldn't confirm a visual. Kim knew she had to keep low, but the spotlights approaching made her nervous, but then she got an idea after flattening herself again.

The spotlight again flew over her without a shadow being cast. Kim observed the remaining four guards on the floor, and despite that they all wore sunglasses indoors; they were slightly blinded by the spotlight as it flew past them. The next time this would happen, she would make her move. Tricky, but the door was closer than she thought.

To ease the risk, Kim slowly crawled across the gap to the last set of crates to get a closer view. She was silent, but managed to get across silently. She crawled as silently as she could to the end of the final crate that she was on. The remaining guards were in perfect view. The spotlight was approaching again, and Kim flattened herself against the crate, readying herself. The spotlight would soon come across her body and then towards the guards below, temporarily blinding them.

Suddenly, the spotlight shut off, and fast footsteps were heard.

"Grey's been found unconscious in R-3. His weapon has also been taken."

"We've also gotten reports that many of our guards on the outer walls have been incapacitated."

"Intruders. Storm the area."

"Should we inform the boss?"

"Only if you have a death wish. The Hands and Lord Elurt are not to be informed of this. We must find the intruders and handle them ourselves. I want two of you to stay and guard the entrance of the room. The rest of you, come with me."

The guards had found one of the other guards that Kim knocked out, and it sounds like Ron took out a few of his own. Fortunate for Kim, there were now two guards in the room, and they guarded the area where she entered. After all the others left the room, she jumped off the final crate, using her rocket shoes on low power to slow her descent onto the floor below, then darted off.

Ron had no idea why Elurt's guards didn't broom or clean the area high above where he was at. He was on the roof of the temple, where several rocks and dirt were scattered. Exhausted, Ron just grabbed a rock and tossed it for no reason, then suddenly remembered he was in stealth mode. He gasped as the rock was falling near a guard, and that would've been it. The end. Game over.

Instead, the rock hit the guard straight on the head, knocking him over the edge of the temple and into the jungle below. Ron tried it again with the same results, but once a guard came running toward the area, Ron made sure to stay clear and continue his way toward Elurt's room through the high areas of the temple.

Kim should've known the guards would be alert to their presence. She couldn't remember a time where she and Ron went into stealth mode and weren't discovered at all. At least this time, the guards couldn't confirm a visual, but Kim knew that wouldn't last much longer.

She was a bit perplexed about her approach. She continued to move at the same rate she was moving before, but while the place was on high alert, she didn't notice any security guards at all. Most of their focus was towards the areas where guards had been taken down. Shouldn't they have been storming all floors in search of the enemy? Kim didn't take any time to think about it, since she currently had the advantage. Perhaps Ron did as well.

Kim ran as fast as she could throughout the place, knowing this was a better time than ever, darting past the halls and stairs while trying to keep quiet. What would have taken at least an hour or two to quietly infiltrate took only seconds to storm through.

A few minutes passed until she was on the top floor, but she came to a stop as she noticed some noise nearby. The sound of running water was coming from one of the rooms on the sides, but at the end of the hall was a huge room. As she got closer to it, she could start hearing a lot of commotion. Was this it?

Ignoring the running water sound and making her way toward the room, she found it to be empty. It was huge, but empty. She could still hear the commotion as if it were ghosts. Kim wasn't one to believe in ghosts, and a small vent on the floor only confirmed her belief deeper.

She was on the floor right above Elurt's lair.

Peeking through the vent, Kim could see Elurt sitting on some kind of throne celebrating some kind of victory as he held a glass of wine in his hand. Kim dug out her Kimmunicator to get a background check.

Name: Frederick Aremes Elurt
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Height: 195
Weight: 280 pounds
IQ: 163
Blood Type: Unknown
Family: Unknown
Race: Caucasian, Italian
Primary Method of Attack: Unknown
Fluent in English, Italian
Weapons Experience is Unknown
Military Experience is Unknown
Expert in business practices, political studies

It wasn't much, but just enough for what Kim wanted to know.

Elurt had the appearance of a pompous Englishman, having white-blonde hair that hung to the back of his neck like a mullet. He had a thick black mustache and a bit of a goatee. He wore a red tuxedo and appeared pretty large, muscularly.

But the man wasn't one without his bodyguards, and there were several. Officially named "The Hands," sixteen bodyguards surrounded the room, and they looked extremely lethal. They varied in appearance, from young to old, male and female, small and huge, of various races and hair colors. Some of them were reading magazines, huge books, sharpening their knifes or blades among other things. One of the female hands was disassembling her gun and then putting it back together as fast as she could. It took her less than five seconds to completely assemble an automatic machine gun. All of them were armed with dangerous weapons and looked extremely trained. Obviously these bodyguards were not in the job for community college credits.

Elurt's room itself was huge, but it was a mess with several small wooden crates scattered through the room, some of which the Hands rested on. Most noticeable to Kim was a huge window on the side, perfect for sneaking in. She hoped Ron was closing in, even though she located Elurt first. She won.

Kim had an idea, however. There were so many bodyguards, and she doubted that Elurt would remember who they were face-to-face and eye-to-eye. If she could sneak in disguised as one of them, perhaps she could initiate some kind of sneak attack right in front of the enemy. Elurt would be taken off guard and wouldn't have a chance to escape.

But where to get the outfit? They didn't wear their clothes any different than the rest of the guards.

Kim then noticed some noise behind her. As the sound of running water came to an end, she got up and approached the area where the noise was coming from. She nearly slapped her head as she realized she passed by a door with a little man on it, the sign reading "MEN'S", and a toilet flushed. More running water was heard, probably a guard washing his hands. Oddly, he took his time with it. She could hear him from outside.

"I don't understand how half of these guys don't shower. Is it a crime to actually want to smell good on the job? My wife would throw me out the window if I never kept myself clean."

How cute, he was married, but Kim knew she had to take this guy down.

She slowly opened the door and held it open for him, but hid herself behind the door. The guard came out of the bathroom; stretching and making sure his hands were clean. That's when Kim slammed the door as hard as she could into his face, quickly knocking him out.

"Don't take this personal," she whispered as she took off his shirt.

A minute later, Kim came out of the ladles room, and her appearance had completely changed. She was wearing a dark blue suit, which had a good amount of collogue on it, sunshades and a short blonde wig.

"Go time."

Downstairs, Elurt was still enjoying the sunset through the glassless window, although his glass of wine had been empty for some time. A young woman in her mid-twenties offered a refill, but as she turned around, Elurt slapped her behind hard enough to knock her down.

Elurt just laughed, "Continue to get me more, maiden. And by the way, you've gained some weight in your rear. I like that."

The woman tried as hard as she could to hide her disgust in her boss, but refused to look at him as she picked up the tray and broken glass pieces of what was once the pitcher. She made her way to the door, passing one of the blonde bodyguards.

"I don't see how you can be so loyal," the woman whispered.

Kim acknowledged. So far her disguise was working rather well as no one was noticing anything, not that they were paying attention. Originally she was going to go straight on the offensive, but the Hands gave her the creeps. Among them was a giant man with a small hat, a mustache and goatee on his infant-shaped face, an older man that had a physical resemblance to an Asian dragon, a girl so slim that Kim almost got jealous, but with ice-piercing blue eyes on her pale face, and a dirty male with huge eyes that acted like a snake with his sword, touching it with his tongue. These were more than theatrics.

Suddenly, everyone turned their head as a projectile weapon flew inside the room. The Hands recognized it immediately.

"Flash Grenade!"

Kim covered her eyes.

"Everyo-"

BOOM

All but three of the guards fell completely unconscious.

Kim was familiar with this weapon, one that would unleash a blinding light into the air. However, it had dire consequences if one would have their eyes open. It would blind anyone who kept his or her eyes peeled in the mist of the explosion, and anybody looking directly at the bomb itself when it went off would be completely incapacitated.

A loud battle cry was soon heard as Ron launched himself straight into the room and got into a battle stance.

"Four against one. I like them odds!"

Elurt was among those who shielded his eyes, but he relaxed himself as Ron and his Hands were to put on a show. The ones that freaked Kim out were the ones who were still standing, with the exception of one. There was the dragon-like elder, the snake-tongue, and the giant.

All of them struck, and Ron quickly went into battle. The snake-tongue attacked with his sword, carelessly swinging it around, but strong enough to destroy anything in its path, such as the walls and scattered crates. His eyes were wide open, endlessly laughing with a malicious stare the entire time. Ron didn't seem to be intimidated, however, backflipping onto the wall behind him, and then thrusting himself forward, wrapping his arm around his opponent's neck as the two crashed into the floor.

One down, three to go.

The dragon-like elder was next, using the Praying Mantis style against Ron, but he was slow in his moves. Kim was able to analyze the technique. Most often, attacking slow in specific forms would confuse an opponent, but for some reason, it wasn't confusing Ron at all. He didn't give the old man any time to think about it, quickly smashing his opponent's head into the wall with just his fist.

Two down, two to go.

Without any warning, the giant grabbed Ron from the arm and started swinging him around, almost dislocating his arm in the process, and getting him a bit queasy from the speed. The giant then let him go, sending him straight into the last guard's way.

"Incoming, blondie!"

Kim's eyes widened when she realized there were only three guards, not four. Wait a minute, unless that meant Ron was heading straight for her. But…

She never contacted him about her disguise.

"Ron! W-"

BAM

Ron's elbows slammed into the blonde guard, burrowing her skull deep into the wall. She stood stationary for a few seconds before she fell flat on her face, unconscious.

Three down, one to go.

Ron stood firm in front of his last opponent across the room, who cracked his neck and knuckles.

"Come on, big man. Show me what you've got!"

The man gladly accepted the challenge, grunting and charging his legs like the wheels of a train. Soon he was making noises like one, too.

Ron just stood firm in front of him, not appearing to be intimidated.

Now the man started grunting like a bull, letting out a roar of a bull.

Ron pulled out a bag of chips and just stood there.

Now the man was ready to charge, and from across the huge room, started rushing towards Ron.

Ron yawned.

The giant was closing in.

Ron stretched, blowing a bubble of gum.

Still approaching.

Ron moved his body to his sides, popping his spine.

Finally, the giant guard got in close range, and just as he raised his arms up before sending them on Ron, the small blonde teen in front of him placed his fingers in five areas of his chest and twisted them.

The giant fell down, completely unconscious.

"Booyah!"

Ron was surprised that he emptied the room in such a quick time, but he noticed that Rufus came onto his shoulder, squeaking much more than before.

"What is it, buddy?"

"Kim!"

"Kim? Where is…"

He quickly turned his head to where Rufus was pointing, toward an unconscious redhead wearing a blonde wig. Ron almost had a panic attack.

"Oh no… Kim!"

He immediately rushed towards her, trying to pick her up.

"Kim! Oh my gosh, I am soooo sorr-"

A loud slap could be heard far outside.

Ron was thrown so far that he crashed straight through one of the crates in this room. At this point he would've preferred to be knocked out as the wooden debris stabbed various areas of his back, mostly in the form of splinters. He looked up and found Kim standing before him with a bloody nose and tears in her eyes.

"Ron… How could you?" she practically yelled.

Ron groaned from the pain in his back, "Kim? But how… I don't understand!"

"You didn't have to attack everyone in the room, Ron!"

The anger was so fierce in her that her face and eyes were red, tears coming out from both eyes.

"I didn't attack everyone!" Ron tried to explain, "Just the bodyguards, but…"

The pain in Kim's head wasn't allowing her to think straight, and just as Ron said this, a helicopter came close to the window on the side of the room. Elurt was inside, flipping them off. The helicopter then flew away.

Kim was even angrier than before, "Now look what you did! He got away!"

"Now hold on just a minute!" Ron abruptly snapped as he got up, "How was I supposed to know you were in disguise, Kim?"

Kim quickly pushed Ron back onto the broken debris of the crate, "I'll be the one asking the questions here, mister! How could you knock me out just like that?"

Ron was starting to get tired of Kim putting all the blame on him, "And slapping me and pushing me around like that is supposed to help? Don't you dare try to blame me for all of this!"

"You think it's my fault the bad guy got away? I didn't do this to myself, you know!"

"Remember when you told me about going in disguise? Oh, that's right, you didn't!"

"Don't you get all smart-ass with me, Ron Stoppable!"

"I'm not going to just stand here and take all of this crap from you, Kim Possible!"

Kim was extremely furious at this point, about to slap Ron again, but he managed to block it with his arm.

Kim was just silent now, speaking in a low tone, "What kind of boyfriend are you?"

He also lowered his tone, "The kind that doesn't let his girlfriend beat him around."

It appeared that the two were coming back to their senses as Kim stopped applying pressure with her arm, lowering it from Ron's arm. He was about to inspect her face to see if it was red because of her mood or if it was him, but she pushed his hand away.

"Don't touch me."

"Kim, I'm sorry, I-"

"I said don't touch me."

The pain in the back of Ron's head was starting to cease, and he was getting a grip on himself.

"Kim… I'm sorry. You know I would never hurt you intentionally. Not now, not ever."

Kim turned away from him, touching the areas on her face where Ron struck.

"Maybe next time you'll be more careful," she quietly muttered.

"Maybe next time you'll tell me you'll disguise yourself as the enemy," he retorted.

"Will you just shut up?" Kim demanded.

"Not with that attitude," Ron quietly answered. He wasn't going to let Kim get the last word and make him feel like everything was his fault. Lately he had been standing up for himself instead of blaming himself, thanks to Kim.

Kim just turned her head and made her way to the window, noticing the clouds approaching. She pulled out her Kimmunicator and pressed a few buttons on it before putting it away. A minute later, the private jet landed just outside, and Kim went out alone, diving out the window. Ron followed, but he kept his distance from her.

Rufus on the other hand couldn't believe what had just happened.

The ride back to Middleton was a quiet one. Kim and Ron sat on opposite sides of the plane, both taking the window seats and staring at the scenery outside with narrowed eyes. The peaceful orange and red sunset soon turned into a thunderstorm over the Pacific Ocean, keeping the plane dark and eerie.

None of that mattered to the two teen passengers. Kim couldn't believe that Ron screwed up the mission and that he actually hit her, and he couldn't believe Kim tried to blame everything on him and threw him into a crate. She didn't even concern herself with the fact that Ron's entire back was stained with blood, although Ron was fully aware of Kim's bloody nose, but she wouldn't let him touch it.

They were mad at each other, all right.

When the pilot spoke over the intercom that he was flying above Middleton, Kim quickly and quietly walked toward the emergency exit, put on a parachute and her helmet, and jumped off the plane, all without saying a word. Ron watched Kim through the window, freefalling for a brief moment before releasing her parachute. Once she was no longer in visual range, he walked up to the same exit, grabbed a parachute and a helmet, put it on, and jumped from the plane. He did this without saying a word as well.

Back at their homes, both of their parents were shocked to find blood all over their kids. The first thing Kim's mom saw was that Kim had blood coming from her nose and staining all of her clothes, and quickly inspected her face and head for any serious injuries. Kim didn't say much when her mom asked what had happened.

"Part of the mission," she answered bitterly.

Ron's mom also noticed blood all over Ron's back when he came through the door, quickly removing his shirt, getting the rubbing alcohol and a pair of tweezers to remove whatever splinters were still in his back. Ron also didn't say much when his mom asked him what happened.

"Part of the mission," he answered quietly.

Both of them spent the rest of the day in their rooms, still frustrated at what had happened. Both of them had gotten tempted to call the other, but put the receiver down at the thought of the other not willing to listen. Kim was still adamant that she didn't do anything wrong, while Ron was adamant that he wasn't completely at fault.

Both of them had actually called Wade, but he refused to answer their calls. Wade had heard everything through the Kimmunicator, as Kim would sometimes put it away and not actually turn it off. He didn't mean to intrude on Kim's privacy, but when he heard the two yelling at each other, he couldn't help but listen in. This wasn't something he wanted to get involved in.

Kim and Ron tried to keep themselves busy throughout the night, but Kim got infuriated just reading her teen magazines, and Ron couldn't play a game without getting more frustrated than ever when he lost or got hit. Ron had it better than Kim, though, as beating around zombies and terrorist soldiers was a good way to ease his anger, although the sight of blood on the screen was a constant reminder of today's events.

When it finally came to the end of the night, both were tempted to call each other again, but instead of getting frustrated, both just lost the courage to confront the problem, and it didn't help that their heads were still in so much pain to think straight. Both fell asleep with the phone receiver in hand, but they didn't sleep well that night due to the pain. Try sleeping well when your head is slammed through a hard stone wall or when you're shoved through a thick wooden crate. Hours passed like minutes.

That morning, Ron was channel surfing on his dad's cable, looking for anything that might be of any interest. Unfortunately, most of his new favorite cartoons were on Friday and Saturday nights, not the cartoons in the morning.

Ron's mom handed him an envelope from behind, "Mail's here. This one's for you."

He didn't seem to care much, "Lemme guess, another credit card offer since I'm heading to Middleton Community College?"

It wasn't. The address was from the Bueno Nacho Corporation in Bay City, California.

This actually surprised Ron, almost to the point where he fell off the couch. Bay City was a new city near San Francisco, but from the reports on TV, it quickly evolved into a giant futuristic utopia where several businesses enterprises organized. He also recalled hearing rumors that the new Bueno Nacho HQ was located there after the previous one was shut down. Inside appeared to be no more than a letter.

ATTN: Mr. Ronald Stoppable

You are requested to come to a meeting at the Bueno Nacho Enterprises Headquarters in Bay City regarding new business practices. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss new advertising and food campaigns in order to revive the former name and glory that Bueno Nacho was known best for before the company was brought by Dr. Drew "Drakken" Lipsky and created the worldwide "Lil' Diablo Toy Scare.

Being Bueno Nacho's #1 customer and being the inventor of the "Naco," we request your assistance in helping us bring back our company to its former glory. We will listen to every thought you wish to share, and we take our customers very seriously, as the company has a brand new leading staff enthusiastic about their work.

If you decide to accept our offer, enclosed is a plane ticket to Bay City. I will personally cover your entire trip. We hope we can help you as much as you have helped us before and hopefully soon.

I look forward to meeting you in person, Mr. Stoppable.

And have a "muy bueno" day.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Aaron Ferno
President
Bueno Nacho Corporate Offices
Bay City, California

Surprised, Ron grabbed the envelope to see if this was authentic and not some prank, but sure enough, the envelope had the authentic Bueno Nacho logo on the back of it. Right ink, right color, everything, but it appeared more high quality than the envelope that originally had his millions before Drakken stole it.

This was the real deal.

Ron didn't completely open the letter as it was folded, and pulling back the last fold, a plane ticket and a sticker fell out. However, he noticed there was a bit more to Ferno's letter.

"P.S. The meeting will take place on Saturday, July 23nd, 2005 at 8 PM at the Bueno Nacho Enterprises HQ. Floor 80."

'Two days,' Ron thought. That didn't give him much time.

After putting everything back in the envelope, Ron quickly ran up to his room and started packing. Clothes, extra pairs of pants, any and all mission equipment just in case, cell phone, bathroom gels and hygiene equipment, Rufus, and everything he needed for a vacation. Only one thing was missing:

Kim.

But the thought of her didn't force a smile on his face. Something about this situation made him feel more confident about who he was and what he could do. As he carried his suitcase out of the door, and after telling his mom he was heading out, he started to walk to the airport.

'You watch, Kim. I'm not just some partner who screws everything up. I'll show you what I'm capable of. I can help rebuild Bueno Nacho, and I'll do it alone. Then you'll see me on the news and you won't see me as the buffoon anymore, not you or anybody else, Kim.'

When you're still seen as the sidekick and still get taunted by the villains, you're bound to get tired of it sometime.

At least for Ron, the way to the airport didn't involve walking past Kim's house. Wearing a blue jersey, a backpack, and dragging a suitcase on the sidewalk, he took the time to observe the scenery at Middleton in the morning. It was the usual summer scene; little kids playing in the streets, sometimes being watched by their parents, people jogging, some with pets, but that was really it. Ron remembered in his younger days that his so-called peers would often come out and play and the streets were usually crowded, but he wasn't surprised if people were on the Internet or watching cable TV instead. Also, with all of the Middleton graduates, they probably were at work or still looking for a part-time job.

Ron guessed it was just part of growing up. No more time to go outside and play, not that he was an outie, anyway. He was an innie, usually playing games or watching TV, and the only time he would go out was on missions or dates or even just to hang out with Kim. Now that he thought about it, it was more often than he realized. He really wasn't an indoor person.

Life sure had changed over the years. He could see all of the kids who went to school with him in the past playing in their yards or playing sports in the streets. Today, the streets were virtually empty.

Ron had been walking for at least forty minutes, almost forgetting why he was outside in the first place. There it was. A few blocks from the neighborhood was the airport. At least the neighborhood where Ron and Kim lived was in the middle of everything. Only the outer areas of Middleton were heavily populated with buildings, street highways, and the airport. Ron liked it because it was like a donut and he lived in the middle.

He arrived there a few minutes before lunch began, so whoever worked at the airport scrambled to get him and his equipment on the plane before his lunch break. Because Ron had a ticket that would allow him on any flight at any time, as long as the location was the same, they put him on the next flight to Bay City.

His plane was to leave in less than fifteen minutes.

Goodbye for now, Middleton.