There's a lot of personal notes in this one that might throw some people off, all for the sake of humor. Don't take it seriously.
I
should also thank everyone for reviewing and reading. To answer
charizardag's question, don't know. Sometimes silence is a compliment,
but I'm not going to let lack of reviews stop me. I have a story I feel
the need to write and finish. I'm just uploading for the heck of it.
What can I say? Some people might not like long, deep and dark stories.
Not everyone reviews. That's fine. This story won't be done until I
write the conclusion. I'm the same way: Sometimes I write a review,
sometimes I don't. Doesn't mean I don't read it or dislike it. Reviews
aren't only for saying you like the story, IMO.
Also, I have read KP fans opinions on fanfics, and mine, both this and The Sociopath Episode, fall into categories people hate.
People don't like violence, they don't like language, they don't like
it when characters that aren't the main characters play an important
role (even though the show does it a lot), they don't like a lot of
drama or angst, they don't like overpowered villians who seem like
they're impossible to stop. They also don't like it when our heroes
appear weak.
Really, people don't like things they don't see in the show. But as my profile says, I'm a genre-bender. The stories I write are nothing but experiments. I wrote the last story because I wondered: What if there was at least one villian who was deep, dark, overpowered, and extremely deadly? All of the villians are comical, but what if there was one who wasn't? And what if that villian was no older than Kim and Ron? I designed both Val and Nev to share experiences I did, but exaggerated. Valia was also designed as a counter for Disney's main slogan: (Insert main character) here is just like you! Why not a villian?I also wondered what it would be like if Kim and Ron were forced against their own will to fight to the death, but it's not like everyone dies. Even the creators admit So the Drama was a dark 'episode' in the series, and I was curious whether things would only get darker from there. Also, one of the things I like about KP is that the characters have their personalities, and even though you know everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, you don't see it in the highest detail. That's another thing I wanted to experiment with: Character's thoughts and emotions.
Just a 'What if'? Not much different than any other fanfic here.
I'll admit, both stories take more of a realistic stretch, but I don't think it's overdone to the point where it's boring. It's different. Some people may like it, others may not. Heck, I've gotten much, much more hits on my last story since I uploaded the first four chapters.
Speaking of my first story, I've made some fanart of it for any other readers.
SestrenNK. Deviantart. com (don't copy and paste)
I plan to do some fanart of this story, too, regardless of its popularity. I don't write stories to make everyone happy and make them read what they want to read. I write something because it's a story in my head that doesn't want to leave my mind until it's documented somehow.
Another thing, the story will surpass 100,000 words. Sometimes long stories scare me too. But I'm more of a computer graphics guy and a drawer than a writer, anyway.
Now enough babble and let's continue. We last left off with Jen taking Kim and Ron out to eat...
Jen pretty much had to explain herself entirely from day one. Her family consisted only of her and her dad, since her mom died in childbirth, but Ben gave her all the love and support he could to raise her. The only problem he made was exposing her to a lot of violent movies, not realizing it, and she wanted to grow up to be an action hero or something. So she did whatever she could, taking martial arts classes and becoming a black belt in whatever she could find (Jujitsu, Judo, Ensei-ken and Tae Kwon Do). She even requested to go to a military school and wouldn't let her dad sleep until he said yes. The drill sergeant actually had a soft spot for her since every other person her age already had problems with the law. She also took weapons training when she got a license at sixteen, and that's when she started doing her vigilante work, but kept herself low. Her dad was skeptical at first, but when crime died down in the area (somewhere in Colorado), he approved. A week after she graduated, the same class as Kim and Ron, they moved to Bay City after her dad got a promotion at Bueno Nacho, taking him to corporate.
Within the course of two months, Jen realized that crime was horrendous in Bay City after her dad got some of the details by his colleagues, about the Forefathers and their many assassins. While her dad tried to fit in at work and as his positions rose, Jen was busy taking trying to put the Forefather's assassins and every other thief, crook, and offender in jail, but she would see them again less than a week and were more lethal than ever.
The first person she killed was a sex offender released on parole when she was seventeen. After taking down a jewel thief and suspending them over a lamppost for police to find, she heard a woman screaming nearby, and the guy was just a complete psycho. Just by the look in his eyes he wanted to beat the woman to death and do whatever he pleased, but since Jen was armed with all kinds of weapons, she knew she could have done something about it. She used a stun grenade, a weapon that was able to knock out anyone nearby, but otherwise it was completely harmless. She knocked out the victim but not the offender, who now laid his eyes on Jen herself. She used just about every non-lethal weapon but he wouldn't fall. She had to resort to lethal weapons now, but even putting a bullet in each limb didn't slow him down. The only thing that would stop him was when his heart stopped. Jen found this out shortly after. So she had killed someone, but it was out of self-defense and to save an innocent woman on the streets at sunset. The event petrified Jen and she needed a few weeks of counseling, but she managed to get over it. Her dad was a big influence on it as well, convincing her that some people will not cease their crimes as long as they're alive. Because his little girl was now moving onto the real criminals, he allowed for her to receive extended weapons training.
Unlike Kim, she separated her "Hero" duties and high school career. Nobody knew who she really was in both worlds, and it didn't bother her at all. In high school, no one tried to influence her to become some kind of label, and she was really a loner at home, obsessed with movies and video games.
Unlike every other girl she knew who claimed they were gamers, they weren't RPGs with an overused art style. Jen was all about the arcades and games that had creative stage designs and art styles over realism. Because she was a pretty girl who liked games, she had a lot of guy gamers wooing her, but she was disgusted in their taste of games. Never tell Jen why Final Fantasy's art style is better than Panzer Dragoon's, the reason a system is going to be good because it can play movies and not its launch titles, or that a game that is super-realistic is the best kind. Fanboys, gamers who would suck up to one system and hate every other one for no logical reason, were also the ultimate turnoff for her.
She was one who took pride for not caring for things like social status, the food chain and popularity. She kept to herself a lot and had a lot of pride for being different, although she had a tendency to gross anybody out wherever food was, among other things. Often some of the popular people would want to put her in a trap, but they backfired, and the jocks never left her alone, finding themselves later inside their own lockers. Guys were always wooing her, but she could always see past them. They weren't the kinds who wanted to find out who she was, they were just more concerned over some kind of scoreboard. There were a few who thought they really liked her for who she was, but they made the conclusion far too soon for their own good. Jen felt guilty with the last one, but it wasn't her fault.
She also did like anime but to an extent, since a lot of the new shows she was watching didn't make too much since or was too unrealistic that it was ridiculous. Weird and unrealistic were probably the best ways to make shows and games, but too much of it would ruin it. But never get in her way with Adult Swim unless you want to be wrapped and hung by your tongue.
Jen was still a force to be reckoned with when she came to Bay City. Another passion she had was for music, but only instrumentals from movie or video game soundtracks. She was a bit of mechanic with her car, a DeLorean, installing the latest speakers and sound system. On the road to pick up a gift for her dad's birthday, a few guys had drove next to her and started blasting their loud DJ Picky D music. Jen wasn't impressed with the move. Pop in her E.S. Posthumus CD, and the second she hit play, the other car tumbled over. No one was hurt except a few guys named 'ego'. People also refused to race her because the first guy she raced hit her on the side, and Jen didn't take it well when the paint was scratched. He was found the next morning hanging on a lamppost from his underwear. To harden the blow, Jen contacted any and every newspaper in the area to get in on the sight before they would go into publishing.
Bay City is also where she met Nev as well, since she knew him long before she graduated. Nev was paranoid that he would be attacked if anyone found out about the technology he possessed, and some government agencies he worked with wanted him to help him move to Bay City. Since Jen's dad was becoming a high power in Bueno Nacho and liked the kid, he offered to help on one condition, team up with his daughter. Nev wasn't in any physical condition to fight alongside her in battle, a reason he refused to explain, but he was excellent with hacking and providing feedback for Jen, and he was also capable of creating weapons with the help of Jen and her dad, who also knew a lot about military weapons as his father was a WWII veteran who supported his granddaughter's cause. If anything, Jen taught Nev any and everything about handheld weapons, and he taught her everything he knew.
But the girl wasn't without her flaws, either. She admitted that her standards for guys were high. She cursed quite often, especially on missions or playing video games with people who were more focused on winning no matter how cheap or terrible the fight was. Her fierce appetite once scared off a bunch of Shaolin Monks, sometimes she overdid her interrogation with her enemies, and lastly, she could be extremely clumsy. She would trip on anything, a building edge, stairs, a dog, her backpack, even one time a water fountain. Sometimes before missions when she stood in front of her mirror and pulled out the gun to act cool, the clip fell out of her gun every time. She also didn't like a lot of things.
Crazy. A tomboy. Clumsy. A gamer. Violent. A fighter. Those were the words Jen chose to describe herself. She then allowed Kim and Ron to share their story, and found herself envious towards her new comrades.
Kim and Ron had been having a lot of fun talking about their past, constantly interrupting each other with forgotten details that came at one or the other's expense, as if the two hadn't reminisced about things for the longest of time, probably not since getting together. They were the stories the two reminded each other all the time about, but they never looked at it from a couple's perspective. The first day of pre-k, their first Halloween with Kim as the cowgirl and Ron in a tutu, when Ron went to Camp Wannaweep while Kim was taking martial arts classes, the day Kim joined the cheerleaders, set up her website and went on her first mission, and the same day Ron purchased Rufus. Then there were more memorable stories, such as the Centurion project, Drakken and Shego, Monkey Fist, Killigan, Motor Ed and his relation with Drakken, the Seniors, GJ, the bomb on Kim's nose, Yamanuchi, Mystical Monkey Power, but the two were a bit touchy when it came to other relationships. Namely, Kim's crushes, Walter Nelson, Josh Mankey and Erik, and for Ron, Alicia Park, Tara Jones, Zita Flores, and Yori. They kept details minimal on dates, but Jen was able to easily figure out why. Kim looked at herself like she was a moron for how easily she fell for some of them, saying next to nothing about Walter, and Ron said next to nothing on Park but felt oblivious on the others, although Zita seemed like a tough gamer girl at first, he didn't really see any compatibility when talking to her more, but Zita wasn't too keen on Ron being a n00b in Everlot either, but she saw that Ron was doing the same thing that Malcolm was doing.
The two joked a lot about Erik, though, since he was a part of Drakken's plan that failed, but it was the same night that Kim and Ron got together, and both admitted how embarrassed they were because of the attention they got, when it happened and afterward. Then there was the subject of 'afterward', taking on the form of a maniacal four-armed teenager.
The story of their encounter with Valia Ryan was the same one they delivered to Yori, and how they had to rush to graduate on time, that Ron went back to Yamanuchi to complete his training, the uprising of the Ice Shadows then some of the worst villains ever, and now this.
The details were nice to Jen, but she was paying more attention to who Kim and Ron really were, not what they were and what they did. She didn't really laugh or giggle at the details, but it was notable that Kim and Ron were always interrupting each other with embarrassing details before and after they started dating, like how Monkey Fist went to Morocco because of a deal a nearby hotel had about giving out the Golden Monkey, but it was only family deal. So, he, disguised as a housewife and his monkey ninjas dressed as a husband and two kids, decided to see if it was true, and it was. That didn't mean the Golden Monkey was anything fable or legendary. It was just a napkin holder.
Then there was the time Ron got stranded in Antarctica with Drakken and Shego because Drakken thought the south pole was a perfect place to build a secret base. Ron was there because Kim had a regionals tournament and didn't want her to miss it because of saving the world, so he volunteered to do it himself. The problem was, the small base was placed on frozen water with a weight limit. Drakken had Shego do the math on what the weight limit would come out to, and it was just enough to fit him, her, the henchmen and the lair. The second Ron came in, it sank, but all three came out without a scratch while the henchmen escaped. Stranded, they tried to find ways to entertain themselves, and Drakken didn't take it well when he lost in a game of charades.
Shego was laying down on the snow and watching them. "Hey, uh, Dr. D. In case you didn't notice, a chicken, a rock, scratching your ear like a dog, breakdancing and making a snow angel isn't going to convince anybody that the answer is The Godfather Part III."
"Quiet, Shego! I know what I'm doing!..." The doc then whispered to himself sheepishly. "Do I know what I'm doing?"
Ron was no better, he almost looked like he was having a heart attack, gasping for air and pretended to be dead while also making a snow angel. The answer to that one was Planet of the Apes, obviously not his favorite movie.
But that was a month prior to the call from Nakasumi Toy Company.
After the two started dating, they shared a lot of embarrassing moments. There was one time the two went to the movies, and Kim ordered herself a drink because it was so hot. She actually forgot which movie they were watching and went into the wrong theater. The two were constantly hollering at each other from two different theaters to see which one was the right one. Then there was the time the two thought they found a secret place to be alone, their own special private place. Problem was, the second they realized that, a deconstruction crew was behind them and were ready to blow the place. So much for a romantic getaway. There was also the time Kim made a horrible mistake in challenging Ron in a Naco-eating contest because she needed to find a way to make Bueno Nacho interesting on dates. The challenge was one that required Diablo hot sauce, but Kim underestimated how powerful they were, putting two packets in her meal and started eating before Rufus could say "Go".
Let's just say that poor Kim was burping smoke the entire way home.
Then there was one time Kim was running late and used her rocket shoes to Ron's house, but something went wrong in the propulsion system and refused to turn off. She slammed into Ron and took him for quite a ride around the city, past the lake's waters and through just about every street, barely able to control herself. The ride finally ended about twenty minutes later on the very center of Middleton lake, dropping Kim and Ron straight into the water.
The two also sparred a lot in Ron's backyard, especially when he came back from Yamanuchi. They went at it pretty hard, since Ron convinced Kim the best way to learn skills and techniques was not to go easy on your opponent. Neither realized that doing such moves on the most important person you know would help you perform the same moves against everyone else. They also sparred in their mission gear so they would be used to performing their moves when they were out saving the world. They would train for an hour or two, sometimes Ron would teach Kim a move, sometimes she would teach him something, sometimes one played offense while the other played defense, and sometimes they just mess around if they weren't in the mood or were too tired.
One day, Ron was playing offense while Kim played defense. Just because he completed his training didn't mean he was a master, but he noticeably had become more powerful. Ron was practicing moves with his hands that required his fingers to be fully extended, almost using them like knives. He did a few quick moves on Kim, trying to break through her defense, and she was trying to make sure she wasn't getting hit, but didn't realize he accidentally took the belt off her cargo jeans. Both shared mortified looks when they saw the belt in his hand, along with the sound of clothes sliding off. For once, Kim was the one who lost the pants, but Ron kept his eyes closed and covered as he held out the belt to her. She quickly grabbed it and ran into the nearby bushes and secured it tightly, too tightly that it interfered with the sparring lesson. There hadn't been a moment she was more embarrassed since.
Kim and Ron were looking back on so many fond memories, forgetting that they had a guest. This was the second time this happened, the first being Nev when they met him. Jen found herself interested in both characters. Kim had seemed a tough but smart girl who was actually a cheerleader, since with Jen's experience the existence of a cheerleader was no more than a pact of the devil waiting to happen. She also got the impression that while Kim enjoyed her school activities and world-saving, she was never really happy. That's where Ron came in. He would often light up her day, but that tripled when they started dating. Jen didn't like people who were bent on the food chain and labels and thought extracurricular activities were crucial for your character. Most of the people she knew that were hooked on their extracurricular activities or tried way too hard to get perfect grades were ironically the dumbest people she ever met. But Kim didn't allow those to mutate her character. Perhaps she was a bit tough on Ron, only because she cared, but Kim did everything she did because she was confident she could do it, not because she wanted to overpressure herself or fit in with the popular crowd.
But Ron, he was the type of person she needed in her high school. Carefree and not concerned with his image, and didn't allow himself to think he was out of everyone's league to fit in or be liked by a girl. He appeared to be confident in almost everything he did, even if it wasn't for the best in terms of grades or social popularity, but Ron didn't care what anyone else thought of him. If Kim was cool with it, and a lot of times she wasn't, he was okay. It wasn't like he did anything that harmed his body or who he was, but everyone makes mistakes.
But both still didn't understand why everyone at Middleton wanted them to get together. Hardly any boys hit on Kim throughout the entire school year, probably because every boy thought they were out of their league, and then girls stopped hitting on Ron early Senior year.
The answer was obvious to Jen, though. They didn't want to interfere in the inevitable. They knew Kim was good for Ron and Ron was good for Kim. She didn't like a lot of couples she knew since they were so pathetic together, but something was different about Kim and Ron, and she couldn't quite explain it. It was rather awkward that a cheerleader was going out with a slacker, but it wasn't something she didn't like. The two shared a lot of differences and still stayed by each other the whole time.
One thing she felt mixed on were the villains Kim fought, especially Drakken. It was like one of her favorite shows; Put an idiot in a giant robot and see what happens. It was the same one that almost destroyed her dad's company and took over the world. How odd was that? Most of the bad guys Jen knew weren't stupid. It was actually 50/50.
The whole conversation took them past one in the morning. When it was all over, five large pizzas and ten lemonades were consumed.
Kim let out a huge sigh for breath. "Sorry I was harshing on you."
Jen also let out a huge sigh. "I don't blame you one bit for it."
Ron let out a wild burp. "Thanks for the meal, too."
"Eh, don't think anything of it other than catching up with it. You know, you two are more intriguing in person than all the news reports make it out to be."
Kim had to pull herself upward. "What do you mean?"
Jen let out a yawn that lasted ten seconds. "You haven't heard? Some political media moguls think you do what you do only for the attention."
Ron gagged and let his arms fly around. "Yeah, sure, and what they're doing these days aren't? Oooh, look at me, I'm on a podium, I think I'm going to talk smack about everyone and everything, and I have no idea why! Oogoobloogoowagagaga!"
Jen burst out into laughter at the motion Ron made, choking for a second on her breath, "Exactly! I can't believe what they say about you either. It's ridiculous!"
Kim was a bit surprised to hear this, more that the media knew who Ron was. "And what do they say about Ronnie here?"
"They think you don't need a brain to save the world, like the only way to save the world is by having superpowers and the IQ of a rocket scientist."
Ron smirked, "Hah! I've saved the world more times than some dork on TV who whines about everything in existence." He let out another belch, almost as if it were some cry of victory.
Jen moved her head around to pop her neck. "I'm glad you guys haven't let the attention go to your head. If I ever saw you on Entertainment Tonight or VH1 on those shows about how selfish and idiotic celebrities are, I think I'd consider you mortal enemies… How much money have you guys made for these missions?"
Kim shrugged. "I've got a private college savings fund where all that goes, otherwise I get an allowance." She then leaned over and whispered to Jen's ear. "Ron's earnings also go into his own private college savings fund but he doesn't know about it, so don't tell him. Bueno Nacho actually gave him a lot of money for the Nacos and lost it easily."
Jen winked. "Got it."
"Also…" Kim continued in regular volume, "I think my parents would disown me if I turned into a celebrity and used it to boost my ego. There was this one time someone turned my mission gear into a fashion statement, and the attention wasn't fun at all. I don't crave the attention, I just do what I do because it needs to be done."
Ron then let out a huge yawn that lasted twenty seconds. "Yep, we just save the world because it needs to be done. No attention, not for the media, not to be cool, but we just like to help people, and you feel pretty groovy when a day of saving the world is said and done."
"Rock on… But this place is closing in…" Check the watch, "About ten minutes. Better get out of here."
Kim, Ron and the naked mole rat agreed on this one, slowly getting up from their seats. Jen had already long paid with her credit card, helping the two onto their feet and leading them out the door.
Ron put his arm around Kim and patted her on the shoulder, but his attention was on Jen. "Well, I guess we'll be seeing each other later."
"Yeah, I guess so. Oh! I almost forgot…"
Jen pulled a pink disc out of her pocket and tossed it to Kim, who caught it with only two fingers.
"Just as said, here's the information you need."
Kim observed the details of the pink transparent disk and smiled. "Thanks… How's the fastest way back to our hotel?"
Jen securely put on her gloves. "The street straight ahead… keep going straight and you'll see it. See ya!" She then jumped at least twenty feet onto a nearby building, then jumped onto another one, then continued until she was gone.
Kim smiled. "A bit on the weird side, but not as bad as I originally thought."
"I knew it all along. A friend of Bueno Nacho is a friend of mine. I could see it in her eyes."
"What do you mean?"
"KP, she has your eyes, except hers are blue. You know, KP, you have compassionate eyes. They're not cold, soulless, or conniving."
Kim blushed. "Ron, stop… You've told me all this stuff about my eyes…" she paused for a moment, "So what does that have to do with Jen?"
"They have the same compassion, and she has the same drive as you do to save people. Not in the same way, mind ya, but I guess I can kinda see these things. But if you need to ask, I prefer green eyes over blue."
"Well, some people do say eyes determine a person's character… but Jen and I are so different, Ron."
Ron shook his head. "I don't think that's what they mean, KP. I guess you can see things in some people based on what you see in their eyes, but everyone's got a different interpretation. I see a desire to make the world a better place in both your eyes."
"Since when did you become so observant and wise?"
"Sensei's teachings, and I stay current."
Kim smiled. "I see."
It would take the two a half-hour to reach the hotel.
Inside the hotel room, it was already early in the morning and both were peacefully asleep… and by peacefully asleep that means both scattered their arms and legs in all kinds of directions and snoring loudly in the same bed.
Outside, two miniature machines that were about the size of a speck of dust walked into the room.
Zoom near both Kim and Ron's left ear. Something inside seemed to be animating, as if something were inside. Two machines similar to the others 'walked' out of their ears and self-disintegrated.
The other two walked on top of the bed, one walked toward Kim's left ear and the other walked toward Ron's left ear. They were small, but were able to scan their subjects, confirming that they were the correct ones to go inside of.
They felt nothing.
That morning, Kim and Ron slept in real late again, being awakened by the Kimmunicator the next morning.
"Looks like you slept well," was Wade's first comment.
Kim let out a long yawn, pulling her other arm and leg out from under Ron. "Yeah, we did. So what's up?"
"Nev told me Jen gave you information regarding his Hands."
"Oh, right!" Kim tried to remember where she put the disk, finding it on the floor but falling off the bed to grab it. She put the disk in the Kimmunicator and allowed Wade to download its contents.
"Wow, usually profiles are about a few KB. This is 37 MB. Unfortunately, the electronic interference of the city is slowing down the transfer speed, so it'll be awhile."
"How long?"
"Oh, I'd say longer than it takes you and Ron to go out and get breakfast."
"Actually, Jen took us out to eat a lot of pizza last night, so I'm not really hungry. I don't know about Ron, though." She leaned over to see her BF still sleeping. "He's not awake yet."
"Oh, so you and Jen are cool now?"
"A little on the weirdness and a bit violent, but I've met much worse. She explained pretty much her entire history to us. Sounds pretty clean to me."
"That's good to hear. Nev was starting to get a bit concerned about you and her."
"Really? Why?"
"He thinks she'd make an awesome addition on the team because she knows everything about any weapon you give her and knows how to use it. We're not talking about secret weapons disguised as everyday items that I've given you. We're talking sniper rifles, automatic machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, bow and arrow and the like. Not as athletic as you are, but still a major threat to any villain around town."
"Not permanent, right?"
"That's up for you to decide, but her place is here. He wants to warn you that she is two-sided, goofy and acts like a regular girl when she's not in mission mode, but when she is in mission mode, she's extremely serious. In fact, Nev sent me a video on a sniper duel against one of the Forefather's main assassins, 'Sniper Ren'. Very impressive… except for the detailed ending, of course."
"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but can you pull up Jen's profile?"
"She's not mentioned in the GJ archives. Why ask?"
"Curious to see how many people's she's taken to jail and taken out completely."
"I can do a search on Order and Redemption, DNA, Nugal Resistance, or- Got it. It's in the same format as GJ's profiles."
Kim watched as a smiling blonde appeared on the screen, along with some biographical information.
Name:
Jennifer Ariel Ferno
Age:
18
Gender:
Female
Height:
164
Weight:
98
IQ:
125
Blood
Type: AB
Family:
Benjamin Richard Ferno – Father. Mother died in childbirth
Race:
Caucasian
Vehicle:
1983 Silver DeLorean
Primary
Method of Attack: Firearms
Fluent
in English, Spanish and Italian
Black
Belt in Judo, Ensei-ken, Tae Kwon Do and Jujitsu
Kidnapped
at age 4
Weapons
Experience is High
Military
Experience is Moderate – Attended Military School at Age 8
Excellent
Hand-Eye Coordination
Graduated
from High School in Colorado – Location unknown
Criminals
Arrested: 34
Criminals
Killed: 11
One detail caught Kim's attention. "Kidnapped? What's that about?"
"She didn't mention it?"
"No, not at all. You know something?"
"Nev told me about it yesterday, it's a bit of a secret, so don't tell Ron?"
"Got it."
"Apparently, her dad was at work but hired a babysitter for her. Babysitter brought her boyfriend and didn't pay attention to Jen, and that's how she was kidnapped."
"What happened?"
"Kidnapper got hit by a car. Jen's dad was driving."
"Intentional or accident?"
"Dunno. Jen doesn't remember the details and her dad doesn't like to talk about it. It was a scary experience for him after all."
"I'll bet. Think that's the reason he allowed her to become what she wanted to be?"
"Sounds like it. I'm sure any father would want their daughter to know how to defend themselves after a situation like that. So she didn't mention that?"
"She just said he watched a lot of violent action movies and she snuck in and watched."
"That's no lie, I know of that. One thing I wonder is why the school she graduated from isn't mentioned."
"Don't know, but that's all I wanted to know for now. So any word on Elurt and his men?"
"He left a hit on your website."
"Oh, swell… You don't mind if I hold it until Ron wakes up, do you?"
"I'm up." Ron was barely awake, stretching and realigning his body. "So, what's the old guy have to say?"
Wade pressed a key on his end, and Elurt appeared on the screen.
"Good morning, Kimberly Anne Possible and Ronald Stoppable. I have decided it is time for me to reveal what my plan for World Domination is, since none of you could figure it out."
Ron rubbed his eyes, "Wants to reveal his plan, huh? A regular. Yeesh."
Because this was a recording, Elurt wasn't going to reply. "I will skip several of the details because of last night's events. Surely you overheard some of them, but I give you so much time to figure it out since. I'm disappointed."
Kim rolled her eyes, "It's called sleep and a life. Hello?"
"Here's the deal. I will send four of my henchmen to secure a top-secret weapon in four various locations around the world. They will be based on economy, population, tourism, and weather. At a given time, I will have my team detonate all four of them, and the results will be catastrophic. And believe me, there will be casualties. It will only be an example of the power I possess, and best of all, no one will think I am responsible. Even if you come with all your new comrades, you won't be able to stop all of us, one if you're lucky. And if you do succeed in disarming one team, the rest will go off shortly afterward, earlier than originally planned. It is definitely not enough time to travel to another area of the world, I assure you. And the very weapon I'm talking about?"
Elurt stepped out of the way to reveal the very weapon.
A nuclear warhead.
"Yes, we have been able to steal four of these beauties. However, Miss Possible, I am not making demands from any government leaders or anything. I just simply want to put it to its original use. We have thousands of these around the world and I feel it's a shame we haven't been able to use them."
Ron scratched his neck. "No demands, and he's telling this to us why?"
"My Hands have been dying to meet a worthy challenge. I tell you what, if my first plan to conquer the world fails, I surrender. This means, of course, taking out all sixteen of my henchmen, disarming the nuclear warheads, defeating any and all obstacles that are thrown your way, and lastly, capturing me. If you're wondering about my colleague, his work is done here. He has taken care of any other business and corporate moguls that would dare interfere. You have four days before the warheads are set off, unless you're focused on someone else… It's either your assassin or us!"
The transmission stopped there.
Kim was appalled. "How was he able to steal four nukes? Wade, can you confirm this?"
"Sure can. The French Government had just issued GJ France about four missing nuclear warheads. They've already sent a request note for your help. I've also sent the video feed to various anti-crime corporations of the world, including the one taken last night by a security camera."
"Whoa, hold on, I appreciate the help but Ron and I can handle this just fine like we did when we were there the last time."
"Not this time, Kim. I've finished downloading that information on that disc…"
Kim sighed. "Well, go on."
"I warn you, the details are a bit disturbing. You know that Ron used a flash grenade to take all but three out, right?"
"I remember."
"Well, that seemed to be their only weakness, and for the ones who weren't incapacitated, they were somehow weakened by it. I don't understand it, maybe they had nanomachines in their blood and they were affected by it…"
"Why would they have nanomachines in their blood? You don't suppose it's a method to keep their adrenaline running?"
Wade laughed. "Why ask if you know the answer to it, Kim? Exactly. It's like steroids except it goes in your bloodstream and keeps running until the batteries die. Well, I can't confirm that as the real reason, but not a bad theory. Anyway, according to the information on the disc, it looks like all sixteen of them had something done to them to reverse that effect. I'm not sure if I believe the details, but it says their eyes were altered and something was put into their bloodstream, so our theory might be correct."
Kim interrupted. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, did you say 'eyes altered'? We saw them five-six days ago, surely some kind of surgical procedure would take them longer to recover. Last night they looked the exact same as last time."
Wade shrugged his shoulders. "That's why I have a hard time believing it."
Ron joined in on the conversation, "That was probably their only weakness, so say that we can't take them out by that method. How bad are they otherwise?"
"I know you've heard it over and over, but his Hands really are the best there are. Look at their records and it's almost like they're not human. And like Elurt said, if one of the team falls, the rest will detonate the nukes, no questions asked. They don't care if they die, that's how loyal they are."
"I see where you're getting at, Wade…" Ron chuckled. "We can actually only handle one team, but we'll need three others to handle the others at the same time."
"Exactly, and don't think you can go it at one team all by yourself. You can probably take out one member by yourself, but since there are more than one, they are also known as strategic experts in combat and will probably screw you over. There's a video on here that shows one of them caught by five security guards. He practically slaughters all of them and laughs like a maniac when he's done. They weren't any pushovers, either. Now I know why they say you shouldn't see extremely violent stuff at an early age. I'll spare you the bloody footage. What's worse is another with two infiltrating a bank. They take out all of the security guards with sickening methods, and they're only caught my security camera. There were a total of eighteen guards in that bank."
"So they're really that good, huh? And to think Ron took most of them down with a flash grenade. What were the odds of that?"
"It was their only weakness for some reason. But take that away, well, read the details…"
The two had a hard time believing it, but according to the documents Jen managed to steal, it was like a team from hell. Despite their different ages, from 13 to 84, races and genders, they all had at least one extremely deadly trait, but the amount of people they all have killed were massive. Those numbers were just each member alone. Four of them were going to guard a nuke, and as much as Kim hated to admit it, she may have met her match. They weren't by any means fair, either. They would do whatever was possible to kill their prey, and they enjoyed doing it, rumored to bathe themselves in their victim's blood. Wade was right, though, some of these stats on how particular members could handle specific weapons were off the charts and almost unreal. She couldn't take on all sixteen of them at once, but if she had a team, she could take on a team four easily, but she needed something for the other twelve.
"So how are we going to do this…?"
"Got it covered. OAR, ACN, and DNA have all volunteered to handle the others."
"Haven't heard of those guys, any good?"
"Very. They don't have the style you do, but they get the job done. Because Elurt knows you're going to interfere, they're going to wait until we go in to attack, so that way Elurt receives an unexpected surprise and can't detonate the nukes. And believe me, I've checked the names of the soldiers they're sending, and they've got profiles like young legendary war heroes."
"Great. So any idea where the four locations are?"
"I sure do. Jen hacked into it. Tibet, Antarctica, Mexico and the US. We're not talking about private test sites, either. We're talking populated areas. Not places people can cover up."
Ron took a guess, "Tibet because of Mount Everest as a tourist attraction… Antarctica because of the glaciers, Mexico because of Mexico City, and the US is obvious."
Kim winked at Ron. "Good thinking, Ron. Wade, you don't suppose we have a lift, do you?"
"Jen added a message here telling me she's in the process of renting a jet, and she's going to e-mail me when she gets it… probably two hours from now. Everything I've sent to everyone else, I've sent to Yori. I'm not sure if she knows what e-mail is, though, but Nev confirmed he was able to deliver a message. I hope she gets it."
Ron felt a bit uneasy about heading on a mission like this two hours after waking up, "So, where exactly are we headed, New York?"
"Nope. DNA's it covered. ACN's got Mexico and OAR's got Antarctica. Sounds like you guys are heading to Tibet."
"Everest, huh? Right on." Ron was obviously faking his enthusiasm. It's summer and he has to go to a freezing location. "Well, my stomach's growling."
"You guys should eat and start packing, and check your bags, too. There's a lot of new survival gear that I think you'll need sometime or another."
Both Kim and Ron fell off the bed in an effort to look for their bags, and found them. Wade was right, there was a ton of new equipment, mostly various bandages and first aid, mission clothes designed to block out the cold (including a small one for Rufus), some binoculars in Ron's bag that had the word "Ronnocular" on it, and in Kim's bag, some liquids with a syringe.
"Wade, what's this?"
"That's in case you two come down with hypothermia. Reason being is that right now there are fierce blizzards going on there and depending on how long you're out in the cold, you might need it. I don't like the method myself, but they don't have that in a pill or anything. Sorry."
"I'd better not show this to Ron."
The two continued to look at what else was in there. A few scarves, mostly clothes and equipment for surviving the cold.
"Okay, Wade, I've just got to ask."
"Shoot."
"How do you get new things into our bags without us knowing?"
"Funny you should ask. Before, there was actually an agent in your high school who I used to slip in new stuff when you weren't looking, but that was back when you were in Middleton."
"I wouldn't happen to know the guy, would I?"
"Well, since his services are done, I suppose I can give you a name: Dante Randal."
"The guy in the art class who made that awesome detailed picture of Death that took up the school wall? Once you get past the dark meaning, it was really well done. I was wondering why he didn't say anything when I complimented him on it."
"Relax, he only didn't want to blow his cover, and I made sure he didn't dig through your stuff intentionally. Did exactly what he was told, so I got him a job at GJ."
"That was nice of you to do. So who did it this time?"
"Jen did last night when you two were reminiscing on the past."
"I should be surprised, but I'm not. I was looking at Ron the whole time." She let out a dreamy sigh. "Good times, good times…"
"Oh, by the way, your tracking chips are upgraded."
"Okay, I gotta know this. How?"
"Last night the old ones crawled out of your… and the new ones crawled in."
Kim clearly caught the gap. "Our what? Wade, are you telling me they're nano-ticks, too? Don't tell me this thing's up my nose."
"Nope."
"Ears?"
"Anyway, if anything happens, I've got your positions chipped."
Kim shoved her pinky finger into her ear but felt nothing. Her attention then went to Ron as he screamed like a schoolgirl. In his hands was a plastic container with the words 'Bueno Nacho' on it.
"Ooooh! This is the Guacanaco I told Jen's dad to make!" Ron was all giddy about seeing another food creation come to life.
Wade laughed. "Looks like Jen also sneaked in a little gift for Ron."
"Now Ron…" Kim mock-lectured, "We save that for the trip."
"I know. I can't even open it right now. Rufus?"
The little mole rat was trying to bite into the plastic container, but no matter which end, his teeth wouldn't sink through. "No deal!"
"Looks like that container is designed to open only in harsh conditions. Your hotel room doesn't count, Ron. Hold on…" Wade did a bit of typing and looked onto the screen as if he received a message. "Jen just got the jet but it needs to be refueled. She says she'll be ready to take off in an hour."
"Looks like she's got everything handled. So we'll eat, come back here and grab everything we need, and we're off to Tibet."
"I'll contact you when I get more details. See you two later, and be safe on that trip."
It was about 1:30 that afternoon when Kim and Ron arrived at the airport with all their bags. Ron offered to carry everything Kim had, but add all of his equipment, that meant he was carrying a giant towering bag full of everything. Kim always packed light, but he had a thing for packing heavy, not to mention he brought all of Yori's weapons she never came back for. There was a lot of commotion in the airport with a lot of people looking at some kind of plane outside. It was the jet Jen prepared for the team, but it had a sleek black paint job with red linings, much like…
"That thing has the same look as my battle suit…" Ron realized. "Nice. And we're going to be riding in that thing?"
"Yep." It wasn't Kim's voice.
Jen had snuck up behind them and grabbed the two by their shoulders. "If we can get past all this traffic, that is."
The airport security was already pulling people back to clear the way for everyone else trying to get though, even though it was just four expected people.
One of them recognized the team.
"Hey, Ron!" It was Yuri. She noticed the girls next to him. "Hey, you're Kim Possible, aren't you?"
"Yeah, hi." After a brief moment of silence she nudged Ron. "So Ron, going to introduce me to your friend here?"
Ron slapped his forehead. "Oh, right. KP, meet Yuri… Yamazaki?" Yuri nodded. "Yuri, meet KP."
Yuri grabbed Kim's hand and shook it ecstatically, enough to almost drive Kim up and down. "A pleasure to meet you!" Her attention then went to the other girl. "Hi Jen."
"Hi."
Ron found the moment awkward. "You two know each other?"
Yuri rolled her eyes, "Remember Ron, I also work at Bueno Nacho, and since Jen's dad's in charge, I know who she is. She sometimes comes by to drop off his lunch."
Ron sheepishly laughed. "Heh heh, doy, huh?"
Kim was trying to see straight when she noticed another girl wearing a schoolgirl outfit approaching.
"Stoppable-san! Possible-san! I have arrived and I'm ready to go!" Yori was enthusiastic as ever, but she noticed the other Japanese girl talking to Ron. Yuri froze at the sight of Yori.
There was silence as the two stared at each other. They were almost twins.
"Yamazaki-san? Is that you?"
"Cousin Yori?"
Kim, Ron and Jen's faces dropped. "Cousin Yori?"
"Yori! How long's it been?"
They obviously didn't see this coming.
"Now see, what are the chances of that?" Ron cried. So Yuri knew Jen and was related to Yori? That explains the physical resemblance, but it felt all too weird. Kim didn't feel any different, despite having experienced much weirder things.
Notwithstanding the ten year reunion, Yuri knew now wasn't the time. "You all had better squeeze through before everyone comes crawling back."
Yuri then walked into the massive crowd and pushed everyone out of her way, providing a clear path for Team Possible, Jen and Yuri to get through. They all thanked her as they went outside and where the jet was parked. No wonder it appeared so big, the right wing was actually two feet away from the glass window, and it wasn't even parked on the landing strip. When all four approached it, it wasn't as big as they once thought.
Jen turned off the security system with what appeared to be keys. The doors opened and the stairs lowered, allowing all four to get on.
Inside, they were treated to a clean and roomy jet, much like Nakasumi's, but everything was black and red and had a gigantic couch that covered the entire portion of the plane.
"You all ready to go?" It was Jen's voice on a loud speaker. She had already strapped herself into the pilot's seat and started the jet.
"Wait, you're flying?" Kim hollered.
"What, you wanna?"
Kim shrugged her shoulders. "Not unless I need to, so… not this time."
"Relax, my dad let me fly his private jet when I turned 12. Those suckers at military school also let me fly a couple of these! Next stop, Tibet! Strap in, it's going to be a bit rough!"
All three passengers did as told and kept their equipment near them. Rufus made sure he was secure in Ron's pocket.
A few shaky turns and they were off.
On the roof of the airport, a transparent human stares at the plane taking off.
"Things are going just as planned…"