"Alex, this is serious." said Superman. "There is some kind of infection spreading throughout the villains. None of us has caught it yet, but we have to be careful, just to be sure."
"What kind of infection is it?" Alex asked, following Superman through the medical ward in the Underground.
"We don't know." said Superman. "And we don't know how it is spread."
Through the doorway of one of the wards Alex saw Joker. He was lying on the floor. He seemed to be his usual happy self, laughing as usual. Joker tried to get up and his laughter died down to a whimper. Tears began to appear in his eyes. "Please help me…" he said, before he collapsed on the floor. His hands were suddenly replaced by huge black claws and his face distorted and turned black. Superman closed the door.
"I guess you have some idea of the symptoms…" said Superman.
"Is there anything we can do to help them?" said Alex.
Superman shook his head. "We haven't found anything that helps, but we're still looking."
There was a scream coming from Jokers ward.
"Shit! Not again!" Superman threw open the door.
Joker stood there, laughing again. He was now completely black. Alex watched in horror as his eyes turned red and his legs disappeared. Joker's high pitched laughter changed into a rougher, more animal like one. Six horns slowly grew from his head before he melted into a black puddle that sunk into the floor.
"Crap! Not another one!" said Superman. "That's the third one this week."
"Wow…" said Alex. "That's really creepy…"
A dark figure stood in an alleyway, as if waiting for someone. He pulled his coat around himself, trying to protect himself from the cold. A much shorter figure swung from a lamp-post down beside him.
"You got the stuff?" said the taller one.
"Yeh. I got it." said the shorter one, as he pulled out a small flask.
"That's it?" said the taller one.
"Yeh, that's it!" snapped the shorter one, "I'm sorry. But making this shit is difficult. You need the right ingredients which are really hard for me to find."
"Geez, Sorry." The Taller one held up his hands.
"You know, you take this stuff like its heroin or something. That is a highly unstable chemical! It could be dangerous! Meaning that something really bad could happen if you drink it!"
"Could you just shut up for five seconds?" said the taller one. "God! Who are you? My mother?"
"So you going to pay me, or what?" said the shorter one.
The taller one grinned. "What villain would I be if I paid you?" he said, before he pulled out a pair of white sticks and fired blue sparks at the shorter one.
"Curses!" screamed the shorter one as he flipped out of the way. "Tempest! You could have killed me!"
'Tempest' pulled off his hood, showing off his black lightning shaped mark. "I should have killed you." He said. "I should have killed you years ago. Too bad my 'boss' got in the way."
"I worked right beside your master. He even tried to help me defeat the PowerPuff Girls once." The short one snarled. "You should at least show him some respect."
"Dr.X deserves no respect!" Tempest growled. "He abandoned me…"
"And I took you under my wing. He would have wanted it that way." said the short one.
"You have got to be the worst 'adoptive parent' I have ever met." said Tempest. "Seriously! Look at me! You should have changed my name to 'Tarzan' or something."
The short one pulled the paper bag off his head, revealing the dome that covered his oversized brain. "Tarzan was adopted by gorillas. I'm a chimpanzee. There's a big difference."
"I'm glad you didn't try to teach me how to throw my own shit…"
"Hey! I never throw my doodoo! I may be a chimp, but I'm not some kind of zoo animal!" the short one crossed his gloved arms.
"Zoo animal huh?" said Tempest. "Which reminds me, how did you escape from the UnderGround this time?"
"Picked the lock again…" said the short one. "I also found out something you might want to know. One of your 'old friends' has joined the crew."
"Who?" Tempest smirked.
"Someone who calls himself 'Alex Mann'."
"What!" Tempest's skin suddenly flashed blue. "I thought he was dead? I'm sure X must have killed Action Jock years ago!" Tempest grabbed the monkey by the throat. "Are you sure it was him?"
"Y…yes…" he gasped. "It was him. They never found his body, remember?"
Tempest threw the monkey on the ground. "Mojo, take me to Our Leader."
"But…" said the monkey.
"Now!"
Alex passed a Wolverine in the hallway. He had seen him a few times, but never actually talked to him.
"Hey, nice claws. What are they made of?" said Alex.
Suddenly the claws were against his neck.
"Want to find out?" said Wolverine.
Alex gulped as Wolverine left.
"Don't worry about him, he tends to get cranky." said a voice beside him.
Alex turned to see Spiderman, handing upside down…again.
"Wow. Not so jumpy anymore. I think you getting the hang of this." said Spiderman.
"What do you want, Peter?"
"Security breach. Want to come with?"
"You said that when 'Jessica' escaped. What is it with you and danger?"
"I don't know! I just don't want to miss anything! And it's never the same without you around. I get lonely and nobody laughs at my wisecracks."
"Why don't you talk to Crypto?"
"Crypto doesn't laugh! He's a dog! He barely even knows what I'm saying. Last time he urinated on my leg!"
"Ok, fine, I'll come."
Alex followed him to where the UnderGround's security was breached.
"They're bound to be around here somewhere…" said Spiderman. "They can't really get far."
Something moved.
"Holy cow! What the hell was that?" said Spiderman.
Alex was grabbed from behind.
"Ok, nobody move, or he gets it!" said a female voice.
"Whoa…hey, easy sweetheart." Spiderman held up his hands, "Let's not do anything stupid."
"Wait a minute…" said Alex. "Kim Possible?"
"Alex? Is that you?" said the woman. "I thought you were dead?"
"Uh, no. I'm still alive. But Kim! What are you doing here?"
Kim brushed her long red hair out of her face. "Same thing you are, I assume. I want to join your little group."
"I'm sorry but, what is going on here?" said Spiderman.
"Peter, this is Kim Possible. She's like a Global Guardian too. I worked with her a few times." said Alex.
"Yeh, good times." said Kim. "You remember those Alex? I used to be a big fan of yours. I remember asking you for you autograph. I even asked for your underwear once. By the way, what kind are you wearing right now?" she touched his belt.
Alex gulped. Maybe Kim had never gotten over her little teenage crush.
"Cut it out Kim. You're a married woman." said a blonde man who was leaning on the wall.
"Kim? You're married?" said Alex. "Do I know him?" he looked back at the blonde man. He was wearing a ring. Alex knew that face was familiar. But who was it? "Ron? You married Ron? Ron and Kim Stoppable?"
"You said we would make a good couple."
"Only because you kept asking me for my underpants. You seriously needed a boyfriend…" Alex said as they headed towards the door. As it opened, an ugly pink head appeared with large crooked teeth. It snarled as it raised a Butcher's knife over its head.
"Rufus! It's ok! We don't need 'Plan B' anymore. We got in fine." said Ron.
The Naked Mole Rat hid the knife behind his back and waved.
"Rufus, come here boy." said Ron as 'Rufus' climbed up his arm. "Look, Rufus. Look who we found!"
Rufus squeaked in excitement when he saw Alex and jumped onto his shoulder.
"Eew. Naked Mole Rats." said Spiderman. "Those things scare me."
Rufus gave a squeak that sounded almost like the word 'Booyah!'.