Disclaimer: I own neither Kim Possible nor the associated characters therein. Also, despite the fact that this set in no other pre-established continuity, I do not own the X-Men and their associated characters either. Finally, I don't own Jenny Wakeman and the associated characters of My Life As a Teenage Robot.

Explanation, Initiations

An androgynous figure stood in a surrealistic, electronic landscape, waiting for some of its colleagues to arrive. The figure only ever referred to itself as "M," and no one in these parts seemed to know anything about the enigma. When anyone asked it for more information, it would just chuckle and say it didn't want to bring work into its playground. However, M was certain that at least one friend had discovered the truth, but just hadn't done anything with the information. The hacker known as "Forge" was a genius after all; M had found the tests once it'd discovered his identity. Unfortunately, neither it nor any of the contacts it had made here had seen Forge for several days, which was unusual as he always seemed to be around doing something. M really hoped the "white hat" would be able to be here. The message it had gotten from "The Warlock" had been cryptic yet sound like one of those fluff e-mails discussing thing like they had known each other personally.

The code had been clear, considering the shared experiences that M, Warlock, Forge, and their fourth cohort, an apparent female known as "Arcade," had. From what M had been able to determine, Warlock had found something regarding the president-elect and wanted them all to meet in this location. Forge had shown this to the other three over a year ago, but had insisted that they not use it unless they had no where more secure to go. Unfortunately, around the time Forge disappeared many of their old secure locations had gone missing as well.

M had been thinking of all these things when its reverie was interrupted by the sudden appearance of two others. One he recognized as their de facto leader, Forge, while didn't seem familiar at all which made it overtly suspicious of the new comer.

"Good to see that you are alive, Forge. I was certain this was going to be a private meeting."

The man with dark skin and hair smiled weakly. "She's calling herself 'Cipher,' and right now, M; she's one of the few people I know I can trust. Heck, she's the reason I'm stable right now. That stupid communications blackout has messed up all of my equipment."

The enigma took stock of the woman. She seemed very serious and severe. M figured she was probably another white hat, like Forge, but from all appearances she was more uptight about the law than its friend. That was when it realized what that same friend had just said.

"Wait, what communications blackout?"

"Well..."

Cipher touched the man's shoulder to stop him. "I'd suggest we at least wait for this 'Warlock' character to show up before any of us reveals what they know, 'Forge.'"

"Well, aren't you little-miss-take-charge." M snapped at the woman.

The woman looked placidly back at the unknown. "I am just making my opinion known, 'M.' Of course I'm not surprised by your reaction to me considering that fool you deal with on a daily basis."

M's eyes widened in panic. She can't possibly know who I am. How could she? If Forge knew would he have told her...?

A new speaker chose that moment to make her known. "Wait, M puts up with a moron everyday?"

At hearing Arcade speak, it recomposed itself, and decided to see if it could redirect the conversation from its professional life. "Hey, Arcade, how did that move go?"

"First, that was months ago and we discussed it then. Second, there is no way I'm letting you change the subject now that we have someone who seems to know your deepest darkest secrets." She turned to Cipher. "So mystery women, what can you tell us about M? It won't even give us a gender, insisting we only use the gender neutral pronoun for it."

As Cipher opened her mouth to answer, a fifth individual cleared its throat. "Miss Arcade, I didn't have us meet here to discuss M's background." The other four turned to see wizened face of the Warlock. "I am glad to see you have returned Mr. Forge. I was hoping your travels in this realm would provide some insight into what I have found."

A beam of light shot from his hand to the hands of the other four. They each took a moment to process what Warlock had given them, but it wasn't long before they reacted. Arcade just stood there in wide-eyed shock occasionally muttering "Madre Dios." M couldn't stop repeating, "...this is not good..." to itself. Cipher was the most composed, almost like she was expecting something like what they were seeing, however, in spite of her lack of reaction, her anger about the information still seemed palpable.

Forge's reaction was the most unexpected. He had always exuded confidence in front of his friends in this realm. This was the first time that, M, Arcade, or Warlock could remember seeing fear in his eyes. His voice was like hearing a pin drop, "Middleton was only the beginning."

Arcade blanched. It can't be my Middleton, she thought to herself, looking at the image in violet, gold and silver tones that had been included in what Warlock sent. It couldn't possibly be with those two there.

Warlock looked at his friend and mentor, his puzzlement clearly evident. "I take it you have seen one of these before."

"Not one, Warlock," the dark man corrected, "Several. All going active at the same time. They were looking for a known hero team, claiming they were terrorists."

This got M's attention. "Which one?"

Cipher narrowed her eyes. "They were after Team Possible."

------/

Kim was distraught. In her mind, her entire life had been a lie. She wasn't human. Not an entirely true statement, but she'd missed the explanation that mutants were just humans who were born with a genetic abnormality that gave them powers or enhanced natural abilities. The fact that she had inhumanly excellent agility due to the hollow bones that made up her skeleton and equally unnatural stamina due to her increased ability to heal meant that she'd cheated to be come a member of the cheer squad and that she'd caused her squad to cheat to win all their competitions. Of course the fact that she hadn't known about it at the time seemed to escape her notice. However, the most disturbing revelation was that she wasn't a Possible. The person she'd thought of as her father for the past seventeen years was, in fact, not. She felt betrayed. Her mother knew all these things but never told her. The only thing she could think of when all these truths were laid out before her was to find someplace to hide because she didn't want any one to see her breakdown caused by the sudden crisis of identity.

She didn't have peace for long as she heard angry shouting approaching her location and the sound of scuffling. She recognized the voice. It was Ron. The few words she could make out made it clear that he wanted to help her. This lifted her spirits some. She knew that there was at least one thing in her life that hadn't been a lie. She decided to poke her head out of the room she'd chosen as her sanctuary. The first thing that Kim noticed was that her boyfriend and best friend for life was glowing blue as he fought off the attempts to restrain him by two of the men she'd seen when she'd arrived at this mansion. One was attempting to literally freeze Ron in place, though he wasn't staying put long enough for it to take despite the other one's best efforts. It wasn't long after she'd taken this in when all of a sudden all three stopped their tussling. Ron looked as if he had heard something and was trying to locate where it came from before he noticed Kim. The other two had immediately turned to face her direction, though they seemed to be looking past her. As she turned, she noticed three people were standing behind a fourth, who was seated. The first, she recognized as the brown haired man with red glasses that her mother had knocked out earlier. Next to him was a tall, slender, and slightly elderly looking man with white hair wearing a violet turtle neck with a reddish sports coat and black slacks, which Kim had trouble believing he'd been able to pull off. He had the look of someone who'd seen much in his life, not all of it pleasant. On the left of him was a woman with flowing, vibrant green hair, which appeared to be natural, and seemed to be a few years older than Kim's mother and her friends. Her clothing, though slightly modest, seemed to still give her an almost regal guise. Finally, the seated man, who, Kim realized, was actually wheelchair bound, was bald and appeared to be around the same age as the tall man behind him. He was dressed in a very professional looking navy blue suit and wore a warm and calming expression on his face.

The bald man's voice was kind and serene, yet commanded attention, as he spoke. "Is there a reason why you are trying to impede Mr. Stoppable's attempts to go and comfort Miss Possible?"

The one who had been throwing the ice, who Kim recalled had been introduced as "Bobby," looked nervously in every direction save hers or the man in the wheel chair. On the other hand, the one had been identified to her as "Hank" maintained his composure and spoke up. "We assumed that Kimberly needed to have time to process everything she'd been told before anyone spoke to her, Charles."

The brown haired man raised an eyebrow at the statement. "And what did Jean have to say about this."

This time Bobby spoke. "Uh, after her daughter ran from the room, she started crying hysterically. If she said anything, we couldn't tell."

Charles couldn't help but sigh. "Though the events that are happening in this hall may have distracted her a bit, Miss Possible is clearly distraught about everything that has been said. Mr. Stoppable, if you are so inclined, would you please stay with your friend. It seems that she needs someone she knows she can trust right now."

Ron, who had calmed down by now, swallowed nervously and nodded. "Uh, yeah, no problem."

The seated man nodded in return then turned and addressed two who had as of yet remained silent. "Erik, could you and Lorna go speak with Jean and try to calm her down. I need to try to contact Betty and Warren again so we know when to expect them."

"Of course, old friend."

With that the hall emptied, save for three people. Ron walked over to Kim. He could see the weight of the truths settling back in on his girlfriend and oldest friend, so he did the only thing could think of. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her back into her hiding place and sat with her. "It's going to be OK," he said to her. "We'll talk when you are ready."

Scott Summers stood in the doorway and watched the couple. Even as he saw a hairless, pink animal climb from the boy's pocket on the girl's lap in an attempt to aid with the comforting, he wondered if James and Jean looked like this after he had abandoned her when she'd told him she was pregnant. He knew that was his single greatest mistake and, in seeing the culmination of its consequences, he made a decision. He was going to stay here and help the girl cope.

------/

Bonnie fumed as she sat on a couch in the Wakeman family's living room. While she'd been TJ's friend for years and had been to this house many times before, this was the last place she wanted to be at the moment. The Wakeman home had become a refuge for those with no where else to go after the attack of what Dr. Nora Wakeman called "Sentinels," human beings who, if she'd understood her friend's mother correctly, were supposed to be a new kind of sleeper agent and weapon in the war on terror. Now she was surrounded by the friends and family of her greatest enemy and her loser boyfriend. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have anywhere else to go. Her mother had initially wanted her to come home, hoping that she could some how protect her precious little Bon-Bon. That lasted all of the roughly five minutes it took get back to her home. When her sisters had made it clear what they would do to Bonnie if she ever crossed the threshold of the Rockwaller abode, Mrs. Rockwaller returned her daughter to the Wakemans'. What disgusted Bonnie most was that Connie and Lonnie indicated they would be justified in taking action against someone who had, in their words, "become such a freak of nature that it was no longer worthy of being called a Rockwaller."

She looked down at the strange helmet her friend had been wearing ever since the Sentinel activation. It had the appearance of an odd mish-mash of a German World War I era stahlhelm and a Spartan phalanx helmet with what appeared to be a demonic looking mouth guard from a set of samurai armor. Until, Bonnie had brought TJ back home, everyone had thought, or, rather, assumed, the helmet was what her head now looked like. It hadn't been until Dr. Wakeman actually removed it that they all realized the truth. The discussion that followed lead to what Bonnie considered the biggest disappointment of all…

…"Okay, Dr. Wakeman," Dr. Possible started with a patient, yet serious tone, "I'm sure we all want to know how you have so much knowledge about those 'Sentinels' that attacked."

The large living room was packed. Near Bonnie were those who had gone to help look for Tara, most were friends of Kim or Ron: Felix Renton, Monique, Wade Load, their respective parents, Mr. Barkin, Mr. Stoppable, Dr. Possible, and a new girl from school who seemed to have a skin condition and was identified as a mutant by the Sentinels, Paige Guthrie, as she'd introduced herself. What Bonnie found most noticeable was that the rest of the cheer squad as well as Paige's older brother and their parents tried to keep their distance from the girl who had been Tara. The play of emotions on their faces was something she hadn't ever quite seen before, but it was readily obvious what they were feeling.

"I know about the Sentinels because I helped design them," was Dr. Wakeman's response. "In fact I was in charge of the Sentinel Project until several months ago. I was replaced just after we had completed the process on our production proof."

Bonnie noticed that the scientist looked down at her daughter and put her hands on her shoulders. As she made the connection, Bonnie was filled with fury towards her best friend's mother. "Wait! You used your own daughter as the prototype for your mechanical soldiers? What kind of monster are you? I mean, really—"

"I volunteered!" TJ's voice held no malice as she spoke, but there was strength in it that few present had ever seen. "After the Lil' Diablo incident during our junior prom, I thought about how helpless I'd felt, not only then, but also when we'd been captured by that Gill creature and when my best friend had been kidnapped by those female robots. I hated that feeling and wanted to do something about it. The only problem was that I didn't know what.

"Then, one night, I heard my mother talking with someone about some anti-terrorist project she was working on. I had to badger her about it for the next week before she told me anything. When she finally told me something, I thought it was the means I'd been waiting for, but it took even more begging to convince her to let me go through the process."

Dr. Wakeman stepped in at that point. "We had her go through an exhaustive battery of tests, both physical and psychological. I had hoped to be able to use those tests as an out. That hope was short lived, however, as the tests came back better than any other volunteer, especially the psych evaluation. So, she was really the only choice if we didn't want a psychotic Sentinel on the loose."

Sam Guthrie snorted derisively, "You sure did a bang up job with the rest of the ones that attacked us, didn't you?"

"THOSE," Nora hissed, "were not my Sentinels. They were based on a slightly different production proof than my design."

"Humph. Whatever, I'm out of here." With a wave, Sam exited, followed by a few members of the cheer squad who had been scowling at their former squad mate…

…All had been silent for a while after that. Those that could return to their homes had done so, leaving only Bonnie, the Loads, the Possibles, the Stoppables and Paige, who'd had a falling out with her older brother regarding TJ, to stay with the Wakemans. Kim's brothers, Bonnie couldn't be bothered to remember their names, had gone to bed, as had Mrs. Stoppable, who said she thought she was coming down with something, and was joined by Mr. Stoppable not that long afterwards. Meanwhile, Dr. Possible, Kim's tech boy, and his parents had left the room to try and find a way around the communications blackout. TJ, Paige, and Nora had stepped out as well: TJ indicating that she wanted to find out how much of her was still organic; Paige was going to do something about her skin, and the scientist enigmatically saying she had to check something. This just left Bonnie alone to contemplate what had happened.

Bonnie was drawn out of her musings when she heard Dr. Wakeman reenter the room. "I just don't understand. I really don't."

The cheerleader gave a curious look at the older woman as she flopped exhaustedly into a chair. "What?"

Nora peered through her oversized glasses at Bonnie, surprised she was there. "I'm sorry, my dear. I hadn't seen you there."

Bonnie sighed and inquired again, "What is it that you don't understand, doctor? Is it something about TJ?"

If it were possible, the scientist would have sunken further into her chair as she moaned in obvious mental exhaustion. "Yes, it's about Tara. By rights her Sentinel equipment should never have been activated."

"Well, clearly someone activated…"

"Let me rephrase: it should have been impossible for Tara to go active after I was cut from the program and they had decided to create a new production proof. The activation method hadn't been determined at that point."

"It's obvious someone made it possible." Bonnie closed her eyes in thought. "Maybe… Maybe this someone figured out how the Sentinels were going to be used wanted to use TJ as a counter measure?"

"Not a very probable explanation, but it does seem to be the only possible one. But that brings up other questions. How did they know Tara would effectively go rogue? How long have they known this would happen, and how long have they planned for this event?" Nora leaned forward in her chair and continued in a conspiratorial tone, "Perhaps going to the source of the Sentinels would shed some light on this."

"Then maybe I can help with the preparations." Both women turned quickly to face the overweight, dark skinned preteen who had just entered the room.

Bonnie narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath, "How is this going to work, nerd-boy?..."

------/

In a solitary lab a figure looked at the monitors it had surrounded itself with and smirked. All was going according to plan…

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Author's Notes: First, I'd like to apologize for the lateness of this chapter; I've had three exams that I had to prepare for plus a decent amount of writer's block. I'm curious if anyone can guess where the first scene takes place as well as the real identities of Forge, M, Cipher, Arcade, and Warlock. Intended to reveal their identities in the next chapter, but if you want to send me your guesses, feel free. If you don't have an account, you can e-mail me at I'll announce the readers who come closest in the Author's Notes of the next section, so if you are contacting me by e-mail, give me something to refer to you by. Also, I know there hasn't been a lot of action. I promise I'm getting to it.