--Chapter 8--

It was close to 1:30 in the morning, but all the lights were still on within the Stoppable/Possible household. Ron and JJ were in the kitchen brewing coffee and making hot chocolate while Clevis lay asleep near the edge of the counter.

Kim was in the living room, tinkering over her seemingly dead Kimmunicator, while Liz was seated beside her, actively working away at her laptop computer, doing net searches.

"I still don't understand what could have happened to Wade," Kim exclaimed as Ron came in and offered her a cup of coffee.

"Still nothing here either," Liz said, staring at her screen. "Wade's systems and your own website seem to have disappeared completely from cyberspace…"

"Um… does anyone ever sleep around here?" JJ asked at last with a big yawn, carrying the quiescent Clevis within the palms of his hands.

"How can you think about sleeping at a time like this?" Liz responded, wide awake. "We'll sleep when we're through with what's happening right now."

"If you're really tired, you could always go lie down on our bed," Ron responded.

"Good idea, since like Liz, I won't be going to bed either until I know what's down with my son, Wade, and Drakken," Kim said assertively, keeping her attention focused on her handheld device.

"Alright, so um… where is the bedroom?" JJ asked. "If I don't get my beauty sleep now, I will simply look terrible in the morning…"

"Upstairs, I'll uh… I'll show you," Ron responded with a small yawn himself.

As soon as Ron as JJ removed themselves from the room, Kim turned to Liz and said, "Do you have any idea where Drakken and Shego might go, seeing as they appear to be on the run now?"

"Well, now that you mention it, our family does have three hide-out locations in the greater Middleton region we were supposed to be able to escape to if necessary," Liz responded. "Mom and dad just may be bringing Jon to one of them… I'll give you the locations immediately! The first—and closest one is…"

Liz was cut off by a faint beep on Kim's Kimmunicator. "Just wait… I think Wade may be back!" Kim exclaimed as a few controls on her device powered up. The screen, however, remained black. "Wade! Wade? Are you there?" she spoke to the device, pushing the call button repeatedly.

"…Kim! I… here…!" Wade's voice responded faintly, mixed in with lots of static. "I'm… …reset… no… set… video…"

"Wade! I can't hear a word you're saying! You keep breaking up all the time!" Kim exclaimed.

"Hol… on…" Wade responded before a loud static noise sounded on the device, followed by silence once again.

"Wade?" Kim exclaimed to the Kimmunicator.

"Ah! There you go!" Wade responded clearly at last, his face finally appearing on the screen. "Kim! Can you see and hear me now?"

"Loud and clear, Wade!" Kim exclaimed with some joy. "What on earth happened to you there?"

"Your son, Jon! He shut me down with one of his viruses, Kim!" Wade responded in a slightly dazed state, looking around at some of his other equipment. "I knew he was good, but I never imagined him this good before!"

"Um… did you just say that Jon was responsible for your system crash?" Kim exclaimed with some disbelief. "How do you explain that?"

"Kim, I was the one who taught Jon how to use computer systems, remember, and as so, I know the virus that crippled me—it bears Jon's signature," Wade responded. "Another thing, he would also be the only one apart from me who would know how to access the root systems and back-system kernel pathways to my network—I mean, I was the one who showed it to him in the first place!"

"Um… System Colonel?" Kim asked in a slightly jaded state. "Could you please repeat, but this time in good old English, Wade?"

"In essence, in the entire world, only Jon would have been capable to shut down my systems like he did… Let me tell you right away, I'm not mad, I'm rather actually very impressed!"

"Are you sure-sure it was Jon?" Kim asked.

"If you still don't believe me, he also left this for us…" Wade said with a small humdrum smile before flashing on Kim's screen the text:

Dearest mother and father, I wish you luck in trying to find me for the time being! It is by my own choice that I have decided to no longer take part in your special hero family, since I realize now that the villain world has a lot more potential and a lot more to offer. Don't think of this as goodbye, as I know that when we do finally meet once again, you WILL be seeing a lot me – and on that, you can trust me!

Oh, and mother dearest, you don't have to worry at all about me, since I have found a great mentor in an old friend of yours, the great Dr. Drakken. You cannot imagine how welcoming is family is!

And now, time to say good night to your dear Mr. Wade!

Jon

Kim blinked twice at the screen after finishing reading the short letter that had been left in Wade's systems. "Tell me now that this is a very bad joke on your part, Wade…" she said in a fed up state.

"I'm not kidding, Kim," Wade responded with a bit of a laugh. "From the looks of it, Jon actually wants to be a villain!"

"Um, hello, we're talking about MY son here, Wade!" Kim exclaimed, unimpressed. "This is not something to laugh about!"

"I'm actually laughing at the sheer irony of it, Kim, I mean, your own son as a villain…" Wade responded.

"The absurdity of the idea is indeed laughable," Kim exclaimed. "My son is not a villain, nor is there anyway he could ever be one. This has got to be one of Drakken's tricks… I mean, there is no way I would ever accept Jon growing up to be a villain."

"Um, well, Kim… Do you think my parents would ever accept me becoming a hero?" Liz said with some awkwardness and embarrassment.

Kim looked back at her with some incredulity. "Um… ok, alright, so where is Drakken's nearest hideout?" she asked at last in a very assertive tone.


Kim led Liz into her all-in-one hero's workshop, office and training room. "Wow, too cool…" Liz exclaimed, looking around in a bewildered state. "I've only but dreamed about ever coming in here before…"

"Here's some comfortable clothes for you to wear that allow lots of deftness while out on missions and fighting villains," Kim said, handing her an outfit from a locker. "I actually wore that myself when I was around your age… and I must say, you look good in it, girl!" she added as Liz put the outfit on.

Kim subsequently dressed herself in her own set of hero-fighting clothes, and then, standing next to Liz, both teacher and student looked very similar.

After handing Liz a grappling hook as well as some other small tools to attach by her belt, Kim exclaimed," Well, Liz, lets go get our male sidekicks now and then we'll see what's up with my son and your parents!"

"Right after you!" Liz responded with a sly smile.

Upstairs in Ron and Kim's bedroom, however, both girls found Ron, JJ and Clevis all snoring away in deep sleep, laying front down on top of the covers, one beside another.


A short while later, everyone sat at the back of a small transport truck driving down the same interstate highway Drakken and Shego and family along with Jon had taken some time earlier.

"Could we not have waited for the morning?" a very groggy JJ complained.

"You know, I could have used more sleep myself," Ron commented as well.

Not appearing to have noticed the sleepy males speak, Liz asked Kim, "Do you always travel like this?"

"Believe it or not, the only vehicle Ron and I have ever owned ourselves is Ron's old scooter," Kim responded. "Not very practical for traveling far, nor very fast…"

"HEY! Don't ever put down the scooter, Kim!" Ron exclaimed. "I've gone further with it than any other vehicle I've ever used!"

"Anyway," Kim said, turning her attention back to Liz, "here's some notes for you and JJ to take: Being a hero not just going after and defeating villains. Doing ANY good deed, from saving lives and helping anyone out of imminent danger to simply helping someone get their cat out of a tree, every single good act helps you build a good reputation, and more often than not, those you help are very willing to return favors at a later time whenever you may need assistance…"

"That's affirm!" the truck driver called to the back. "I wouldn't be here now myself if it wasn't for Ms. Possible bringing one of my other trucks I was driving to a stop after it lost its breaks on a steep hill…"

"Hey, that was nothing," Kim responded, waving her hand. "Anyone with a couple of bungee cords could have figured that one out…"

"I suppose I'll have to also set up a website like yours for myself," Liz said.

"That's a good idea, and we'll do one for sure when you'll be ready to be on your own," Kim responded with a smile. "Until then, I'll have Wade add a profile for you on my own website, and show you how to use it to find some missions that would be good for you. Now you understand that this night is special, especially since we're dealing directly with both our families, but don't expect any big missions or going after any supervillain on a regular basis alone until you'll be fully trained and capable to do so on your own."

"But… I'm already capable… and ready… now!" Liz exclaimed with a little disillusion. "I mean… I know about you, and how you and Ron went out on missions alone when you were both teenagers…"

"I was 16 when I truly started—that's a year older than you are now for starters—but if I had been my own mother, I would not have let myself do some of the things I did back then I would have been even older… But don't worry, Liz, you will get your share of action, I promise you that!"

"We're approaching the designated location," the truck driver said. "I'll have to let you all off here, as the road itself goes no further."

The truck backed away, leaving Kim, Liz, Ron, JJ and Clevis all alone in front of a dark forest.

"Uh, alright, this is not exactly what I signed up for, standing alone in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a forest in the complete absolute dark!" JJ exclaimed, slightly shivering.

"There we go," Kim said, switching on a powerful light torch.

Liz immediately imitated her, lighting up a smaller flashlight and illuminating a dark path leading directly into the woods.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Ron asked, somewhat shivering himself.

"Yup, this is one of the places alright," Liz responded. "I've been here before with mom and dad, and I recognize the surrounding area, even through everything's dark at the present time…"

"But nothing guarantees that Drakken and Jon are indeed at this location," Kim added. "According to Liz, there are two other locations we my have to search after this one…"

"Actually, I don't think that will be necessary, since I do believe my family is here now…" Liz responded with a little wonder, shining her flashlight deeper into the dark woods. "Over there, that's my family's minivan…"

Moving up to the vehicle, everyone began scrutinizing it. The trailer itself, however, had been detached and was now nowhere to be seen.

Opening the front door of the minivan, which was unlocked, Liz noticed Shego's keys still in the ignition. "Mom forgot her keys," she said, taking them into her hands. "That's really not like her…"

"So where is the hideout itself from here?" Kim asked.

"This way…" Liz said, leading everyone to a small clearing nearby where the very faint light from the stars above shone down on a massive boulder in the center. "The entrance is right under there," she explained, shining her flashlight on the boulder. "It's not real rock, simply camouflage, so don't worry. If I recall correctly, you open it by…"

"Hold on!" Kim exclaimed, holding Liz back. "If Drakken is here, we don't know what he could be preparing. I suggest we first—"

Kim was interrupted as bright, blinding floodlights instantly turned on all around, brightly lighting up the clearing.

"Uh-oh," Clevis called out, shielding his eyes with his small paw before burrowing himself deep within one of JJ's pockets.

As everyone grouped together in an attack position, an electric, bright pink neon-glowing barrier appeared around the outer perimeter of the clearing.

"Well, well! Who do we have here now?" Drakken called out, appearing from one side, seamlessly passing through the electric barrier.

From the opposite side, Shego then appeared, from another side, Jack and Zack together, and finally, from the last side, Jon appeared.

Liz turned first to face her father. "I will fight you, dad, if I have to…" she said defiantly.

"For defecting to Kim Possible, I no longer even consider you to be my daughter!" he exclaimed in return.

Turning to face Shego, JJ said with a agitated smile, "Hey, what's up, Mrs. S.?"

"I know your father and grandfather won't be pleased when they hear about this…" Shego responded.

Facing Ron, the twin boys exclaimed, "You're no match for us!"

"Hey… um… don't think that you two scare me…" Ron responded, a little nervousness in this voice.

Facing her son, Kim simply glared at him with an unhappy expression. "Jon…"

"Dearest mother…" Jon responded with an evil smile.

To be continued…