Chapter 2 – Techno Salad

Music was blaring from the portable stereo in the Middleton High School gym as the cheer squad worked feverishly on one of the more difficult routines devised by Kim Possible, their long time head cheerleader.

"Come on girls," Kim shouted after a particularly embarrassing collapse caused by a mix up during a tumbling move. "We got this last week, we can do it again. I want to finish up our final performance of the year with something spectacular."

"Oh you would not believe," Bonnie said from the sidelines as she talked into her cell phone. "Its unbelievable, I keep telling her not to but she won't listen. Don't even get me started about those pants…"

"Hello?" Kim said in an annoyed tone. "Cheer now, gossip later, okay Bonnie?"

"Sorry, I've got to do this thing, later," Bonnie snapped before hanging up. She wheeled on Kim and pointed toward where Ron was lounging on the bleachers. "What about the loser? He hasn't done anything all evening while you've had us tumbling around like bowling pins."

"Ron's routine is already perfected," Kim replied pertly. Indeed, Ron's Mad Dog antics were about the only thing he had perfected. "Now, from the top!"

The music was reset and the torturous practice resumed. The other cheerleaders were athletic, but their physical conditions were still notably inferior to Kim's thanks to her lifestyle. Of course Kim had never quite realized that as much as cheerleading improved her freak fighting abilities it also worked the other way around.

After what seemed like hours later the squad finally grumbled its way out of the locker rooms covered in bruises and complaining of sore muscles. The practice had gone more or less smoothly, though Kim was convinced that Bonnie had kneed her on purpose during a flip. Kim waved across the gym to Ron who had long since changed back into his familiar hockey jersey.

"Wow KP, you really came to play today," Ron said when she jogged up to him. "That was one bon-diggity routine, but wow, I'm tired just from watching."

Kim flexed her arms. "It wasn't that bad Ron. I feel pleasantly tired, like after a proper workout. Not too hard, not too easy…"

"If you say so KP," Ron replied.

BEEP-BEEP-BE-BEEP

"What's up Wade?" Kim asked after digging the Kimmunicator out of her bag.

"High tech robberies," Wade said. "Someone's been breaking into research labs and factories all across the country. No solid leads on who might be behind it yet, but each crime scene has enough in common that police think there's a connection."

"So what's the big deal?" Ron asked. "I mean, stuff gets stolen all the time, right?"

"The big deal," Wade replied, "is that the stuff stolen is all rare limited use components and from the looks of things the thieves are lifting a little bit of everything. I'm trying to run down all the possible applications right now to see if our thief is trying to build something specific."

"Well, at least we know it isn't Dr. Drakken," Kim said. The mad scientist and his sidekick Shego were both still in custody as they worked their way through the ponderous legal nightmare that was involved whenever two people were wanted in as many nations as those two were.

"I'll let you know if anything new comes up," Wade said.

"Please and thank you," Kim replied in a sugary sweet tone as she ended the communication.

"Bueno Nacho?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Yum-yum, naco, cheese," Rufus squeaked. The naked mole rat scampered out of Ron's cargo pants and onto his shoulder.

"Sorry little buddy, Mom's making brain loaf and its family dinner night. I can't get out of it," Kim replied.

"That's cool KP, I'll catch you later then," Ron said, oblivious to her implication.

"I said family dinner night Ron," Kim said firmly. "That means you can't get out of it either."

"Really?" Ron asked, perking up. "Wow, I was never required to go to Possible family functions before, Booh-Yah."

"Booh-Yah," Rufus echoed.

"Booh-Yah indeed," Kim said, wrapping her arm around Ron's. "However, to answer your question, yes, you're now required to attend all family functions and I won't take no for an answer."

"Let's get going then," Ron said eagerly. This was Possible family acceptance on a whole new level. "The Ron-man came to eat."

Kim giggled at his expression. "We'd better be careful though. I expect the tweeb's grace period to wear out any time now."

Surprisingly, Kim's brothers had gone out of their way to lay off of the cootie comments and hadn't even tried to pull an abnormal amount of pranks on the two teens. The tweebs were annoying, but Kim realized that they could get serious when something really mattered like the time they chided her for lying to Ron and her parents on Halloween. Kim wondered if all their childish antics with her past dates had just been their way of disapproving?

"Ah, tweebs I can handle, your dad, not so much. I don't suppose his grace period can get an extension or something, cause that would be great," Ron said in his usual sheepish tone.

"Ron you worry too much," Kim said hesitantly. "Daddy approves, he just has, uh, a strange way of showing it sometimes."

The Possible house was unusually quiet when the two teens finally crept inside after a slow walk from the school. They noticed a large scorch mark in the middle of the living room and found the twins sitting at the table with an air of defeat around them.

"So…what's the sich Mom?" Kim asked as she took her usual seat next to Ron.

"Jim and Tim were becoming a fire hazard," Anne Possible replied. Kim looked at her expectantly until she sighed and added, "More than usual. They decided that their device which isn't a laser wouldn't burn the house down."

"But its not a laser," Tim burst out.

"Its direct energy transfer," Jim said.

"Boys," Anne said sternly. They hung their heads again, still looking very abashed.

"At least they're not evil," Ron muttered to Kim. Kim eyed him much like she had looked at her mom a minute before. "Fine," Ron added, "deliberately evil."

Kim smirked and patted his knee under the table. Anne had already set the table and by the smell that permeated the room the food was nearly finished cooking. Ron asked if he could help with anything just to be polite, but he knew that for some reason Anne would never accept his assistance. It was a point of pride to her that she did all the family's cooking for some reason. Unless of course they ordered out, which was actually a frequent occurrence considering that both parents in the family had time demanding jobs.

The door slammed in the living room and a moment later Mr. Dr. Possible walked in looking pleased with himself. "Good news everyone, the damage to the Space Center from the Diablo attack is finally repaired. Never did find out who was getting kiddie meals from Bueno Nacho though…"

"That's swell hon," Anne replied. "That means you'll be able to concentrate on repairing the damage to the house that your sons just finished inflicting."

"Boys, what did I say about playing with your direct energy transference device in the house?" James said sternly.

"Hoosha," the twins exclaimed together. "Not a laser."

Anne rolled her eyes and started setting the food on the table while James continued to lecture the twins on safety. She knew that James was never as upset with his son's antics as he was proud of their accomplishments because that was also how she felt. Anne suspected that the twins knew too, which was why they moved from one destructive experiment to the next only pausing for the time it took for her or James to berate them over their previous rampage. Still, so long as they didn't cause any permanent or overly expensive harm Anne felt confident that the educational benefit of their activities outweighed the continual annoyance.

Anne took her seat next to James and picked out a piece of her famous brain loaf. She looked across the table where Kim and Ron were absorbed in their own conversation before catching James' eye. James smiled knowingly at her for a second before delving back into the specifics of the twin's technological escapades. Even though he wouldn't let on to Ron, James had warmed up to Kim's choice for a boyfriend in a big way. Of course, Anne's own enthusiasm for the couple had helped him see the light, so to speak.

Kim and Ron finished their meal at the same time by design so they could slip back into the living room together for some relaxing television. However, they hadn't so more as vacated their chairs before Mr. Dr. Possible struck.

"Kimmie, Ronald, have you two finished your homework?" He asked in a fatherly tone.

"Its just a little math," Kim replied, "No big really."

"Then it'll be "no big" to finish it before TV," James said insistently. "I want both of you to keep up with your schoolwork."

"Sure thing Mr. Dr. P," Ron replied nervously. Kim blew a strand of hair out of her face, rolled her eyes, and shoved him out of the room ahead of her.

Ever since they had started serious dating James had been dropping not-so-subtle hints about Ron improving his academic performance. Kim had known and accepted the fact that Ron wasn't really college material a long time ago. In reality Kim didn't have a huge interest in receiving higher education herself, except that not doing so would disappoint her parents and she could learn some useful things. Admittedly, Kim and Ron were in a completely unique situation since they already had a career as pseudo spies or crime fighters lined out once they graduated high school. Since most universities didn't have a Kung-Fu 101 or Intro to Doomsday Device Disarmament class the two teens would be less than well served by putting too much faith in a general degree.

"Come on Ron, it isn't that bad," Kim said. Even though she didn't necessarily agree that Ron needed to transform into a scholar she did believe that he needed the discipline to get acceptable grades. "You might not be studying to operate on brains or build rockets but you still need to do good in school."

"This tanks KP," Ron grumbled. "I mean, we freak fight, I don't need to know squiggly signs."

"Well, if we ever decide to work for Global Justice you'll have to write reports so English is important," Kim explained. "You'll need math to manage your personal finances. If you think I'm going to balance all the checkbooks and fill out all the tax forms you need to think again."

"Okay, okay, I get it, real life stuff, necessary, must do," Ron rambled dejectedly. The drama was mostly for the sake of his reputation though. Ron had slowly come around to the idea that everyone needed high school level proficiency in academics just to get through life. If he hadn't been planning on a career of international intrigue he might have even considered trying for college, especially since he had started dating Kim. It went without saying that he'd expend any effort for her.

"Don't look so blue," Kim joked. "If we hurry we can catch the Fearless Ferret and I think I feel a late night cuddle coming on."

"All right," Ron said with comically exaggerated enthusiasm, "The Ron-man came to study!"


BEEP-BEEP-BE-BEEP

"Uuuuggghhhh" Kim groaned. She rolled over a few times, hair sticking out in all directions, and fumbled around in the floor for her Kimmunicator. "Wade, what time is it?"

"It's time to get going," Wade said. The super genius kid was also dressed in his pajamas. "We've got a break in at a top secret lab that fits the pattern of the crimes I was telling you about yesterday. If you hurry you might be able to catch them in the act."

An intense light filtered through Kim's window accompanied by a fierce gush of air.

"I've got the jet prepped and ready to go," Wade said. "Ron's on his way over, if he isn't here you can pick him up along the way."

"Spankin' Wade," Kim said, shaking the sleepiness away. She flipped off the Kimmunicator off and flung on her mission clothes.

The jet flew low for a minute until Kim found Ron running toward her house and undoubtedly wishing his scooter still worked. She tossed down a rope to pull him up as the plane gained altitude in order to save time.

"Wade, update please," Kim said once they were safely seated in the plane's cabin.

"Nothing new to report," Wade said. "The cameras all went down at the same time just like at the other break-ins. The lab has several ongoing projects so I'm not even sure what the thieves are after."

"Suit up Ron, we're going in," Kim said when they neared the facility's location. She marched into the back of the plane and tossed him a parachute.

"Uh, KP," Ron said hesitantly. "It's not that I don't like the whole free falling sensation, but doesn't this plane, you know, hover and stuff?"

"We want to be sneaky," Kim replied, smirking. Ron grabbed a grapnel gun and tossed another one to Kim.

"All right, you ready little buddy?" Ron asked.

"Uh-Huh," Rufus replied as he jammed a tiny crash helmet onto his bald head.

The plane began to slow and Wade's picture flashed on one of the monitors. "You guys are on target, just use the ventilation ducts on the roof," he said. "Good luck."

Ron followed Kim out the door and was pleased with himself when he managed to stifle his customary free fall induced scream. He peered down into the gloom of the night and saw a squat dumpy looking building outlined with security lights growing rapidly larger. He yanked his ripcord a second after he saw Kim's parachute deploy and followed her down, though he ended up landing in an ungraceful heap.

Kim quickly removed the grate to the air intake shaft and crawled inside. Ron tripped out of his parachute harness before following her. Thankfully, he managed to slide along quietly behind his red headed girlfriend without snagging his pants on anything. Kim looked back and motioned to the grate in front of her. There were various noises and voices coming from the room beneath them.

Ron gave Kim the thumbs up gesture and attached his grapnel to the inside of the air duct before lifting the grate away from the opening. Kim rolled out and rappelled down easily to the floor below.

The diminutive form of Professor Dementor was hunched over a clear plastic container designed to allow technicians to work on sensitive electronic devices in a clean static free environment. He was clearly working at a frenzied pace on something within the containment unit, but he was still more aware of his surroundings than the six hulking henchmen that accompanied him.

"Kim Possible!" Professor Dementor exclaimed. He had glanced over his shoulder at the slight noise Kim had made when she vaulted to the ground. "Am I the only one who notices these things? I must not be disturbed, my henchmen, attack!"

The Professor's lackeys were all huge burly men that were obviously under the effects of the infamous HenchCo molecular muscle enhancement rings. However, as Kim had demonstrated time and again mere strength was not enough to win a battle. The minions didn't have to defeat her though, just keep the teen hero busy long enough for their boss to finish whatever it was he was doing. The six gray suited men fanned out in different directions through the cluttered confines of the laboratory so they could assault Kim from all sides.

Ron dropped to the floor behind Kim just in time to see her dip backwards and use her arms to propel herself upward in a flying kick to the nearest henchman's chin. He tugged off the rope attached to his belt as Kim reversed her motion and went flying past him toward one of the other approaching thugs. Unfortunately, the second attacker wasn't taken by surprise. He grabbed Kim's leg and whirled her around back toward Ron. The two teens landed in a heap with Ron serving as an improvised cushion.

"Sorry Ron," Kim said briefly as she flipped back onto her feet.

"No problem KP," Ron replied wearily. Kim bounced off, which caused most of the henchmen to follow her, but two of them stayed behind to tower menacingly over Ron.

Ron jumped up in a fake Kung-Fu stance and made several over the top, bad American ninja movie sounds at the impassive lackeys. Both of the henchmen lunged at the same time, but Ron ducked and crawled out beneath their legs using his smaller size to evade their slow bulk.

"Rufus, go help KP little buddy," Ron instructed as he fled the two huge brutes following him.

"Nuk-okay," Rufus replied smartly. The mole rat was soon lost from sight in the immense clutter of the lab.

Ron let out a yelp as he dodged a meaty fist that had been aimed at his head. Professor Dementor's henchmen were playing for keeps after having been bested before by Team Possible.

"KP, help!" Ron yelled. He ran toward the direction where he knew she must be and nearly collided with the other henchman. At some point the two chasing him must have split up. Without thinking he dove to the ground and covered his eyes expecting to be bashed at any moment. Instead he heard a dull thud and when he looked up he was amazed to see both of his attackers sprawled out on the floor groaning slightly. They had walloped each other thanks to his unexpected ground hugging maneuver.

"Spankin' Ron," Kim yelled, giving him a thumbs up sign.

"The Ron-man has it goin' on," Ron said confidently. He cheered Kim on as she back flipped onto the head of the last goon and knocked him to the ground.

"All right Dementor, step away from the, uh, whatever that is," Kim said.

BEEP-BEEP-BE-BEEP

"Go Wade," Kim said, though her concentration was still on Dementor. The short madman had pulled a small thin plastic coated rectangle out of the clean environment's access hatch.

"Kim, it's got to be Professor Dementor," Wade said hurriedly.

"Yeah, figured that out," Kim said impatiently.

"Well, I finally managed to find out what the lab you're at produces and it turns out that it's a uniquely specialized regulator circuitry used in the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer," Wade said.

"That's right," Dementor said. "Stealing the device has become much more difficult of late, but with the correct parts I can construct my own at leisure. Unfortunately, much of the machinery needed to manufacture the parts are also one of a kind specialty instruments."

"Rufus, go!" Kim yelled. Dementor jerked his hand back, but he wasn't quick enough to stop the little rodent from latching onto the circuit to tear it from his grasp.

"Get that regulator back," Dementor screamed at his henchmen. Beefy bodies starting flying at them from all direction as the goons tried to pin Rufus like linebackers trying to snatch a fumble.

"I'm open little buddy," Ron cried out as Rufus narrowly dodged the bad guys. The mole rat completed an impressive toss and suddenly Ron found himself the focus of enhanced muscle attention. He jumped over two henchmen and started to throw the device to Kim when suddenly he found himself flat on his stomach with the air knocked out of his lungs. The regulator skidded across the floor and back into Dementor's grasp.

"Come, loyal henchmen," Dementor said. He pressed a button and the wall exploded outward to create an instant escape route. The henchman on Ron's back hopped up and followed his comrades over to the hole. Kim raced toward the escaping villains, but they activated their jetpacks and flew off into the night before she could connect.

"Wade, we need you to scan for molecular muscle enhancing rings," she snapped.

"On it," Wade replied. The portly super genius typed furiously for a few seconds. "Sorry Kim, Dementor must have had them remove the rings. I'm not detecting anything within your area."

"All right Wade, thanks anyway," Kim said. She shut down the Kimmunicator and hit the recall button on the jet's remote control.

"Sorry KP, about the whole Dementor getting away thing," Ron said sheepishly after he extracted his aching form from the floor.

"No big," Kim said brightly, "I saw you take out those two goons earlier and it wasn't like you let that other guy sit on you on purpose. We'll get'em next time."

There was a whoosh of air as the jet dropped down at low speed and landed almost on top of them. Ron opened the door and followed Kim inside still feeling a little disappointed in himself. He was a bit surprised at how easily she took losing Dementor and hoped that she wasn't just going easy on him. Wade's image flashed onto one of the monitors.

"Good news and bad news guys. According to my analysis there is a chance that if Dementor powers up the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer without its protective casing it will emit a very distinct energy signature that I should be able to track," Wade said.

"And the bad news?" Kim asked.

"Well, by the time we're able to pinpoint his location he'll already have a fully functional Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer," Wade said glumly.

"Any idea what he wants with it?" Ron asked.

"None," Wade replied. "But as you know the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer has a wide range of applications, almost all of which are highly dangerous."

"Okay Wade, let us know if anything comes up," Kim said as Wade's image disappeared. She reached over to cover Ron's hand with her own. "You really did do good back there Ron. I don't think I've told you often enough how much I appreciate everything you do."

Ron felt his heart glow. "I know I'm as much hindrance as help sometimes KP, but I'll always be there for you," he replied softly. The only sound for the rest of the trip back to Middleton was their breathing as they tried to catch up on their missed sleep and Rufus' chattering.


"Nuh-uh, tacky," Rufus squeaked as Kim twirled around to show Ron and Monique yet another new outfit.

"What do mole rats know about fashion?" Kim huffed. Ron looked uneasy, but Monique shook her head decisively.

"Kim, girl, I don't think so," she said. "That is so totally not you."

"What do you think Ron?" Kim asked sweetly.

Ron started to breathe heavily and scratch his face. "Uh, well, you know KP, I'm not exactly the fashion savvy, I shop at Smarty Mart remember?"

"Ron…" Kim said sternly, tapping her foot.

"Sorry KP, I've got to go with crowd on this one, definitely not your style," Ron said meekly.

Kim kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for being honest," she said.

"Don't do that to me Kim," Ron called after her with mock indignation as she went back into the changing room. Monique broke into a giggling fit.

"What is wrong with girls?" Ron asked, looking toward the ceiling expectantly.

Kim emerged from the changing room in her normal street clothes and a shopping sack containing a shirt she had decided to get. Ron followed her and Monique as they left Club Banana still talking animatedly about shopping.

"Hey Ron, thanks for spending all day shopping," Kim said. She dropped back and wrapped her free arm around her boyfriend's.

"You've so totally got him whipped girl," Monique said, laughing when she saw Ron's gooey expression.

"Hey," Ron said indignantly, "I'm just as fiercely independent as ever."

"Yeah, remember animology?" Monique asked. "Pink sloth equals follower."

"For the record, animology was totally bogus," Ron replied smoothly. "Plus I only follow Kim and I took care of the fruit smell."

"And I'm a Ron follower," Kim said, smirking. "But for now let's follow each other to Bueno Nacho, I'm starving."

"Okay you two, are you gonna scale back the mush or do I need to bail?" Monique asked.

"Wait, I thought you girls liked to talk about this stuff all the time?" Ron asked.

"Uh, yeah, talk about it, as in girl talk, not as in watch their friends smakin' lips while they're trying to eat," Monique replied, rolling her eyes as if it should have been obvious.

Bueno Nacho was busy, but not obnoxiously so when the teens arrived. Kim and Monique went to secure a booth while Ron got everyone's orders. When he finally arrived with the food the two girls were already busily laughing and chattering.

"Ready to lose?" Ron asked. He picked up a burrito and looked at Monique.

"I'm drip-proof today bueno boy," Monique retorted as she grabbed her own burrito.

"Weird much?" Kim asked, but she was smiling. Surprisingly, Monique was a master of eating competitions capable of giving Ron a real challenge. They each took turns taking a bite out of their burritos, but neither slipped up.

"Tie game," Monique exclaimed after they finished.

"Nu-ya, good job, huk," Rufus said, briefly sticking his head up above the side of his dish of nachos.

"So, what are you going to do with your vacation Monique?" Kim asked. With school almost out several people were making plans for vacations or summer camps.

"I'll be putting in overtime at Club Banana probably," Monique replied. "Summer months are usually some of our busier ones, especially when the beach wear line starts coming in. So, you and the Ron-man got big vacation plans? Paris maybe?"

"Monique!" Kim squeaked, blushing. Ron whistled nervously. "Nothing like that, this is our last summer before college and stuff. We were just planning on hanging with the rents' and taking it easy while we still can."

"Head down to the lake for some swimming, plenty of barbecues with Mr. Dr. P, and Nana's lemon squares," Ron said with a dreamy expression on his face.

"When you fight freaks all the time it's nice to be boring," Kim added. Unlike most people, Kim and Ron didn't need a change of pace or location for excitement. They got those things as a part of their regular activities.

BEEP-BEEP-BE-BEEP

Kim whipped out her Kimmunicator. "What's the sich Wade?"

"I've been watching the satellites' sensor logs and I think Dementor has powered up his Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer," Wade said.

"Do you have a location?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, and its not far from here. Apparently, Dementor has a hidden lair in the Rocky Mountains," Wade said. A rough map with the location of the rouge energy signature had appeared on the Kimmunicator's readout screen.

"We'd better hurry then, who knows what Dementor is planning," Kim said.

"Your ride should be here…now," Wade replied. They could hear some excited chatter from outside the restaurant and the rather quiet whoosh of the Team Possible jet.

"Thanks Wade, you rock," Kim said. "Come on Ron, no time to spare."

"I'll catch you guys later," Monique said as they rushed off. "Don't worry about your shirt Kim, I'll drop it off at your house."

The teens took turns turning around and covering their eyes while they each changed into mission clothes. Kim insisted that Ron start equipping with all the team gear like laser cutters and knock out gas, instead of just a grapnel gun like he usually did. The ride didn't take long, but that was only to be the first leg of the journey.

"KP, it's a stealth craft, emphasis on the stealth," Ron whined, "So why are we walking?"

"Hello, trying to be sneaky," Kim explained. "Stealth technology doesn't shield from the human eye after all. Dementor may have henchmen watching for aircraft."

"This tanks, we should have sprung for the invisibility cloak," Ron grumbled. Wade had done a scan on the mountain that contained Dementor's lair and discovered a small rear entrance that was probably designed to be an emergency escape route. It was a brisk walk through deep snow to access it though.

"So not the drama Ron," Kim said, stifling a laugh. "Mission mode time."

There didn't seem to be any external defenses set up since Dementor seemed to have more confidence in his ability to keep a lair hidden than Dr. Drakken did. Of course Dementor hadn't forwarded mail or subscribed to any evil magazines like Drakken seemed prone to do either. In fact, if it hadn't been for the energy signature put off by the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer it was likely that the base would have gone undetected indefinitely.

"Do you think he left the back door open?" Ron asked once they had found the access point.

"Don't think so, it has a keypad lock," Kim replied, pointing to the little pad next to the door. She plugged the Kimmunicator into the pad's port and turned it on. "You're up Wade."

"I'm surprised, this is a very advanced encryption matrix that won't be easy to…done," Wade said. The door hissed with partial compression and opened up to reveal a rather wide hallway that sloped upward before branching off in several directions.

"This is a lair deluxe," Kim whispered.

"You're telling me," Ron whispered back. "Just look at the surface on this floor. It's so smooth that it must be easy to clean."

Kim rolled her eyes and gestured for them to move out. When they came to the branches in the hallway they took the one that led upwards since they figured that the main lab would be near the top of the base. Even though that seemed counterintuitive since the upper layers would be most vulnerable to attack, super villains seemed to prefer to look out from the "top" onto the world below.

The two teens crept along the walls in the shadows as much as possible until they could hear Dementor's loud voice raving about his great accomplishment. Kim peeked around the corner and pointed at a crawl space next to a large bulky machine. Ron darted behind it as quickly as he could and scanned the room until he spotted a large workbench suitable for Kim to hide behind. They infiltrated the lab one step at a time in this manner without being detected. Of course most of Dementor's henchmen were listening to their boss rave, which didn't help them be alert to intruders in the least.

The Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer was sitting on a small pedestal surrounded by motion detection lasers. With Ron keeping watch Kim positioned the pedestal between herself and the villain so she could grab the device without being seen. Special goggles revealed the location of the motion detection beams, but it was still a tricky proposition for Kim to slip the device out from between them without setting off any alarm. Ron felt himself started to sweat as he looked on anxiously while Kim strained to get the soup can shaped device out.

"Got it," Kim mouthed silently as she held up the vortex inducer triumphantly.

Klaxon's rang deafeningly just as Kim started to move and all around the lab henchmen poured in from the several doorways. Ron felt his jaw slacken in disbelief and Kim looked utterly stunned as well.

"If it isn't Kim Possible come to steal my Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer," Dementor said. "I always knew you were a hero-thief and now you'll face my loyal henchmen. Don't let her escape with the vortex inducer!"

"Here Ron, catch," Kim yelled. Ron scrambled to grab the device, not only because he didn't want a henchman to get it, but also due to the fact that the thing had a habit of turning on when handled roughly.

Professor Dementor had been on a hiring binge by the looks of all the personnel that came flooding into the room to do combat with the two invaders. Fortunately, it seemed that HenchCo upgrades were slightly more expensive. Only six of the goons were sporting molecular muscle enhancements and most of the rest seemed to lack anything beyond basic weapons. What they lacked in quality was made up for in quantity though.

Ron handed the vortex inducer to Rufus. "Go hide little buddy, but try to stay close to the door so we can pick you up on the way out."

"Oh boy, nuh-nuh, will do," Rufus replied.

"All right, who wants a piece of the Ron-man," Ron said in his best "confident" voice.

Nearly a dozen henchmen closed in around him on all sides. Ron took out his Kissy Girl brand lip gloss and held his breath. Luckily, Dementor's henchmen weren't familiar enough with Team Possible's standard bag of tricks to know to hold their breath too and soon they were all unconscious.

"Wow, the Ron-man came to play," Ron said happily to himself. He closed the container and returned his focus to Kim's battle.

The red headed teen was weaving and striking fluidly amongst the bulky awkward thugs that were trying to subdue her. She lanced out repeatedly with sharp precise blows even as she evaded or knocked aside the heavy unimaginative attacks being thrown at her. The goons were very durable though, thanks to their technological aids.

"Get her, get her now!" Dementor yelled. Kim back flipped onto a nearby table and used her momentum to cause it to lunge forward into a pursuing henchman. The unfortunate lackey found his head driven through the top of the table where it wedged in place. Two of his comrades shoved around him to continue the attack.

There was a sudden squeal from across the room and one of the regular henchmen appeared next to Dementor a moment later carrying the vortex inducer. Ron ran across the room and lunged at the man, not just for the vortex inducer, but also for Rufus who was being held in the man's other hand. Just as he prepared to attack rough hands pinned his arms behind him.

"Ah-ha," Dementor said once the vortex inducer was back in his hands. "Now, with this Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer I will unleash my most devastating plan!"

All activity in the room stopped as everyone focused on Dementor expectantly. Kim looked up with a hand frozen in mid-punch.

"So what's this big plan," Ron asked finally.

"Its terrible beyond imagination and now with the unlimited energy potential of the Pan Dimensional…" Dementor said.

Ron interrupted his raving. "You don't have a plan do you? You have no idea what to do with that vortex thingie now that you've got it."

"What, why you, of course I have a plan," Dementor blustered.

"Wow, I mean, if it were Drakken I wouldn't be surprised. I guess evil genius just isn't what it used to be," Kim said sarcastically.

Rufus bit down hard on his captor's hand, which had the effect of sending the henchmen reeling in pain. Ron twisted abruptly and escaped the hands holding him as well. Kim meanwhile went back to pounding on the last of the enhanced henchmen until they were all stunned. Ron threw out a few of his unconventional Monkey Kung-Fu moves on the two goons that had apprehended him and they turned tail to run. Dementor didn't pay them enough to go toe to toe with Team Possible, even if they were facing the less dangerous half of it.

Kim fired her grapnel toward the ceiling where it wrapped around an exposed pipe and swung toward Dementor. She landed in front of him and kicked low to sweep his feet out from under him. Dementor landed hard and the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer dropped neatly into Kim's palm.

"Nice try, but you lose," she said smugly.

"I'll get you for this you villainous hero-thief," Dementor raved. "Activate the self-destruct sequence."

Klaxons screamed for a second time and henchmen began streaming out of the lab as quickly as they had come in earlier, though some had to be helped by their comrades. Dementor pushed a button that caused a secret compartment to open up which apparently contained some kind of fancy escape capsule. With a final angry glare for Team Possible he stepped into the shaft and closed the door behind him.

"Come on KP, we've got to bail," Ron said.

"Wait, Wade, can you do anything about this self destruct?" Kim asked into the Kimmunicator.

"Maybe, plug the Kimmunicator into the main console over there," Wade said, indicating which panel he meant. Wade's fingers flew across his keyboard and a few moments later the self-destruct klaxons discontinued with the visual timer still displaying considerable time left in the countdown.

"Major rockage Wade," Ron exclaimed.

"What's up Kim?" Wade asked. "You've never cared if a base blew up before."

"I've been thinking that maybe we've been letting the villains cover their tracks a little too easily," Kim replied. "Plus this base is solid, I doubt Dementor will want to lose it if he realizes that it didn't blow."

"Right," Wade said, catching on. "Good plan Kim."

"Okay," Ron said slowly. "Let's pretend I didn't understand this plan…"

"We're going to leave the Kimmunicator plugged into Dementor's mainframe so we'll be able to know if anyone comes back," Kim said. "Plus Wade can sift through Dementor's entire database at his leisure and we can pick apart all his hardware too."

"Badical," Ron exclaimed. "So if he comes back we can bust him all over again."

"What about the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer?" Wade asked.

"It's too dangerous for us to keep," Kim said thoughtfully. "We'd better bring Global Justice in on this one."

"Why don't we just return it to the various people who got robbed to build it?" Ron asked.

"Sorry Ron, doesn't work that way," Wade replied. "Those components were all physically connected to each other. No way to disconnect them without destroying them in the process."

"Might not that be wise?" Kim asked.

"I don't know, it's your call," Wade replied evasively.

Kim and Ron made their way to the hidden landing platform settled into the mountainside. Their jet was already warmed up and waiting for them courtesy of Wade. As soon as they got in the air Kim put through a call to Global Justice and was greeted by Dr. Director.

"We're coming back from a fight with Professor Dementor," Kim said. "We managed to foil his plot and captured a Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer."

"What?" Dr. Director asked, clearly shocked. "We keep close tabs on the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer these days, what with the repeated thefts. We would have known if it were missing again."

"He didn't steal it," Kim explained. "Dementor stole all the components and then completed the vortex inducer on his own."

"I see," Dr. Director said. "This is very disturbing. Bring the vortex inducer to our base in Middleton and we'll lock it away."

"That's what I was hoping for," Kim replied, relieved that the dangerous device would soon be off her hands.

"Why didn't you tell her about the lair?" Ron asked once the communication was terminated.

"We can't Ron," Kim said. "If we did Global Justice would go in and rip the place apart. To be frank they've not done a very good job in getting leads from the bases we've let them in on before. We'll see if we have any better luck."

"Got'cha KP," Ron replied. "I was never totally down with the whole GJ thing anyway. They tend to over analyze."

Kim rolled her eyes. "No worries about us doing that." She said dryly.

"You're approaching the coordinates supplied by Dr. Director," Wade said from the main display monitor.

"Spankin' Wade," Kim replied.

Ron sat back and watched Kim take the vortex inducer to the tiny guard booth at the entrance to the empty car lot they had landed in. Dr. Director stepped into the light just barely and accepted the soup can sized device. A few words were exchanged and then Kim was heading back. Ron stroked Rufus' head gently, his mind already looking forward to some quality quiet time with his favorite girl.

Kim kissed him lightly before sinking into her chair. "Ready for home?"

"You bet KP," Ron replied.


Dr. Director walked across the wide room, eyes on the floor as she tried to ignore the effect created by the dim lights and high ceiling. She approached the half circle of elevated booths in the center of the room where the Global Justice Oversight Committee, a group of twelve civilians who held positions at the United Nations, was in session.

"You have something to report Doctor?" Number One asked. Number One was the committee chair, but Dr. Director knew nothing else about his identity.

"A freelance operator thwarted the criminal known as Professor Dementor and recovered a Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer earlier today," Dr. Director replied.

"Why wasn't this committee notified of the vortex inducer's theft?" Number Eight asked darkly.

"This inducer wasn't stolen," Dr. Director explained. "Dementor apparently constructed it from stolen components. We had not monitored the various equipment needed to construct the vortex inducer because until now we believed the technical sophistication required to build the device was beyond the abilities of any villain who would be interested in obtaining it. That oversight has been corrected."

"Where is the device now?" Number Six asked.

"It is being transferred to a top secret Global Justice base even as we speak. It will be in the most secure facility on the face of the planet within hours," Dr. Director replied.

"Does anyone else know about our possession of this device?" Number One asked.

"Dementor may suspect, but other than the group who brought it in no one is sure," Dr. Director said.

"Job well done Betty," Number One said. Then as if an afterthought he added, "What was the name of the agents who brought the vortex inducer in, by the way?"

"Oh, it was Kim Possible," Dr. Director replied.

"Ah, Miss Possible, I see," Number One said. "Thank you Doctor, is that all?"

"Yes sir," Dr. Director replied. Betty turned to leave and tried not to hurry on her way out, but the place just gave her the creeps.