Chapter Four: Tests

The first thing Veronica noticed when she walked into the office took the form of a large, windowed gun safe. As the woman continued to gaze at the safe in unease, she found a chair and pulled it up to sit across from another she assumed to be James'. Veronica watched the man gently remove a rifle with oil and a rag. With James' foot, he closed the door on the safe and checked the breach just in case, "Clear…" The rocket scientist muttered to himself before he sat and began to carefully clean the weapon with experienced hands.

The green thief gulped as she watched the man care for his Quigley 1874, lever-action 45-70, "Sir, Kim said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Indeed," James nodded as he oiled the breach of the gun and other moving parts within the beautiful machine, "What do your think of this weapon?"

Veronica smiled, "May I?" At the man's cautious nod, Veronica took the rifle and began where James left off. "Beautiful but dangerous if mishandled," Shego punctuated her statement with a test of the lever-action. With a satisfying cla-click! she returned the weapon to James. "Respect her, and she'll be hard-pressed to fail you," Veronica smiled in spite of the fact she didn't exactly know how much of that referred to Kim or the rifle at this point. "Mistreat her, and she'll blow your hand off when you need her most."

The Dad smiled with a contented look in his eyes. Then, he nodded and carefully placed the rifle back in the cabinet. "Hurt Kim, and a trip through hyperspace into the nearest black hole will be the least of your worries, Veronica."

Veronica nodded and felt a massive weight fly from her shoulders as she left the office with a bit of relief mixed with a slight irritation at Kim for giving her dad the thief's real name. I can't really blame her, though, Veronica mentally conceded. The drive that surprises me… Veronica shook her head at the turnabout three years of fighting Kim could make in the woman. I want this to work. When she looked at Kim and smiled, Veronica saw the light flow into Kim's eyes before the girl ran and hugged her happily. "That's one parent down," Veronica said before the nervous look returned. "I don't know what to expect with your mom, so I'm a bit scared."

Kim nodded in understanding and offered her opinion. "Mom won't confront you directly," Kim said with a hint of worry in her own voice. "She'll watch us and reserve judgment until after she sees us interact enough to make a choice." Kim squeezed Veronica's hand. "Don't worry about that right now," Kim smiled comfortingly before she gestured to the TV to draw Veronica's attention away from the worries centered on Kim's parents. "You've still got to introduce me to Xena."

When Kim moved to go to the kitchen, the redhead felt Veronica grab her arm. "I'm not eating charred cinders that used to be popcorn," Veronica warned. "Go ahead and get comfortable, Princess. I'll handle the popcorn."

Kim grumbled about "moronic HomeEc with Mr. Barkin", but other than that, Kim went over to the player without complaint and began the show shortly before Veronica returned with buttered popcorn. Kim accepted the bowl with a quiet thank you and settled in to watch the show.

Ann stood off to the side and smiled as she watched her daughter and supposed nemesis bond over bad CGI and a badass woman in a leather bikini. Wade was right, the Mandalorian mother thought as she considered the interaction she saw now in conjunction with Kim and Shego's duels when missions brought the pair into conflict. There is something there; it only needed to be given the chance to grow.

Ann walked into her husband's office and shut the door with a look of consideration on her face, "What do you think?"

James nodded, "The woman has my tentative blessing." The man smiled and brought his wife close before he kissed her. "The question is: What do you think of Veronica?"

Ann raised an eyebrow with a smile on her lips when James said that. "You didn't use Josh's name when he took Kimmie on a date during her freshman year."

James grinned back. "I didn't?" He asked playfully. "It must have slipped my mind."

Ann shook her head with a laugh. "Nothing 'slips' from your mind, James," Ann pointed out. "You didn't like that boy. What makes Shego, our daughter's nemesis, different?"

James unceremoniously plopped into the computer chair behind him. "She's never hurt Kim seriously." James said, "They challenge and make each other better. Also, Kim's attitude tends to wear on most boys because teenagers press masculinity into each other. If a girl can do traditionally masculine activities better than many guys, it puts a bit of a black mark on the boy she's dating in the eyes of his friends. Kim and Veronica are both too mature for such foolishness."

Ann looked at him critically for a moment. "What about stigma and ridicule for their choice?"

James sighed, "Do you honestly think Veronica cares what others perceive about her?" James asked. "With any luck and Veronica's encouragement, Kim will finish off that last little bit that still acts like a teenager."

Ann smiled and helped her husband back to his feet. "I think I'll keep Veronica on her toes for a little while yet." Ann said as she leaned into her husband's arms with a satisfied but slightly mischievous smile. "I don't want her and Kimmie Cub getting too 'comfortable' too quickly, after all."

With that in mind, Ann gently slipped out of her husband's arms and silently tiptoed to the living room. There on the couch, Kim and Veronica sat asleep, Kim's head resting peacefully on the older woman's shoulder. The TV still played with a half-eaten bowl of popcorn in Kim's lap. Deftly, Ann moved the bowl from Kim's lap to an end table. Then, Ann silently draped a soft blanket over the pair before she slipped back to the bedroom, silently thanking Kad Ha'rangir for allowing her to stop James from taking a picture and possibly waking the pair. (Do not wake warriors after long battle,) Ann stiffened slightly as one of her father'ssayings played itself in her mind, unbidden. (It brings a quick death if you try.)

Meanwhile, in some unknown location, Gemini studied pilfered "secure" video from the cursed organization headed by his sister. Thus far, it only yielded trivial every-day operations of the organization. However, Gemini's lone eye nearly popped free from his head when the man saw his sister roll out a small army of troops for Shego and her idiotic employer. Time seemed to stop when body cam footage from multiple vantage points picked up a young woman in strange armor.

"This just became interesting," Gemini muttered when The Stranger showed concern for Shego.

In the flow of time, a brick of recording seemed to be missing from when The Stranger entered his sister's office to when the woman left. The only scrap Gemini could gather from around that time came from a recording made by a mole Gemini hand-picked as infiltrator. Even this footage seemed corrupted as Gemini watched. The only whole pieces of speech the maniac could make out were "Has anyone captured you or held you hostage recently?" and "Stop her!"

"Damn it!" The mastermind of WEE growled. "That doesn't tell me anything new!"

"Sir!"

Gemini turned to an underling. "Yes, Agent Eta?"

The man shook slightly as he turned the monitor on his station to be better seen by Gemini. "I was able to isolate a familiar face from a few frames of video, sir!" The man enhanced a still frame to show a blonde boy in black, nearly invisible ninja garb.

Gemini scratched his chin with his prosthetic hand in thought. "What does she have on the boy?"

Agent Eta shook his head. "There's not much here, boss. According to the files, Codename: The Ron Factor was declared a failure and discontinued. However, there is a note in the files to mark the boy as a candidate for an odd ghost school called Yamanuchi according to contacts in Japan, and the boy's attire suggests he at least became proficient in Ninjitsu while he trained there."

Gemini nodded, "Very good, Agent Eta," Gemini then turned to another man. "Agent Omega, this is your final chance." The man calmly pushed a button on his throne-like chair. Another chair appeared behind the man. "Take a seat, Agent Omega."

The man said nothing and did as he was told. Suddenly, the chair shot out of the lair and gradually changed into a single-person chopper. "I'll find this kid for ya, boss."

From an intercom in the console of the helicopter, Gemini answered him, "You had better, Agent Omega, or you shall not live to regret failing me a second time."

The next morning, Ron woke up with an odd sense of foreboding. Rufus seemed to share his friend's opinion if the rodent's nervous manner told Ron anything. "Kim majorly screwed up yesterday." Ron shook his head. He smiled softly at the memory of the look on Betty's face when Kim walked out of GJ with Shego as if the girl was simply walking out of Club Banana after a long day of shopping. Ron could see Kim's argument of inhumane treatment, but he also knew why Betty finally enacted special containment procedures for the plasma-throwing badass. Ron couldn't help a chuckle. "Betty was written off in KP's mind as soon as the leader rejected Kim's offer," Ron muttered. "It's Betty's own fault for this embarrassment." Ron grabbed his bag and nodded to Rufus. "Come on, buddy," Ron said with a worried expression. "We've got to keep an eye on Kim until the heat dies down."

Rufus nodded, "Yeah, for Kim!"

Once outside, Ron and Rufus both sensed a cold ambiance in the air in contrast to the usually comfortable temperature in the morning this time of year. "Something is wrong/sick, Rufus."

Rufus didn't respond verbally. Instead, he quickly spied the nearest tree and scampered up before the little pink dude launched himself at a seemingly empty bit of sky. Ron watched in shock as a previously cloaked chopper appeared in the air with a Rufus-sized irregular hole in the window while the pilot tried to pound Rufus flat.

At the sight of his best friend in trouble, the boy glared at the pilot and let his wrath flow. Ron struck quickly after he followed his friend's plan of attack and brought the helicopter down in a flaming heap. Ron grabbed Rufus and jumped from the failing craft before he came to a roll and checked on his best friend for a moment. Out cold, Ron mentally pleaded. He's just unconscious.

With blue power burning in Ron's eyes, trying to flicker to red as the young man got to his feet, Ron turned and began walking to the craft's wreckage. Power roiled off the young man, but as he neared the craft, the power became a tangible chill in the air. Ron looked over and spotted the pilot under the wreckage. Ron's eyes grew more intense still at the familiar Greek letter on the tattered uniform. Gemini…

Ron gripped the man by his shirt and glared at the goon as he began to turn white from blood loss. "No," Ron called coldly. "I can't let you run away yet," Ron focused and pushed some of his energy into the man. "Why does Gemini want me?!"

"I-It's not *cough* you," Agent Omega whispered hoarsely. "He wants…your…friend's…" Before the man could finish, he let go of life with a pain-riddled sigh that almost seemed to express relief.

Without any more thought, Ron walked over to Rufus and checked on his friend. When Rufus opened his eyes and looked up weakly at the Mystical Monkey Master, Ron cried in happiness and held the little pink rodent close. "You are going to stay home with Mom until I get back from school, Rufus," Ron quickly cut his beloved pet off when it looked like Rufus opened his mouth to argue. "Please, don't." Ron pleaded. "You can argue all you want when I come back and know for certain you and Kim are safe from two dueling siblings with Kim as the prize."

Rufus didn't argue further and allowed Ron to carry him back to the house to his room. Before Mrs. Stoppable could even notice anything, Ron disappeared back to outside the house. Then, the blonde ninja called Kim. "Come on! Pick up already!"

When Kim finally did pick up, Ron quickly spoke, "Are you at school, yet?"

Kim shook her head. "I decided to walk to school today."

Ron breathed a quick sigh of relief. "Castor and Pollux are after you, but Castor wants to strike first. You are not a Hoplite, Kim," Ron warned. "You are a demon."

"Let me patch in Wade."

After a moment, Wade popped up on Ron's screen with Kim. "What's the matter, Kim?"

"Operation: Doppelgänger…" Kim said simply before she cut out.

Wade nodded before he turned to Ron. "I'd spend the day with Rufus, Ron," the young genius suggested, "It's not going to be pretty with Kim working."

"Understood. Out."

Kim sighed and turned off into a wooded area outside the school property line. Once away from prying eyes, Kim unpacked the hidden compartments in her book bag and quickly assembled Aay'han. Then, Kim laid down in a hole and covered herself with foliage. Finally, Kim racked a round and waited.

Some time later, Kim grinned as she watched Wade's duplicate "Kim" be taken and hefted into a waiting craft above the school. With a sudden shiver around her Mark along with a sense of someone else's fear, Kim's thoughts went back to the moment immediately after she and Veronica were expelled from Yggdrasil. Quickly, Kim touched her Mark on a simple hunch and felt the fear fade away.

Gemini's bragging that he's captured the ultimate secret weapon, Veronica's voice flowed into Kim's mind a little clumsily, but the words came through. He doesn't have your armor. Does he?

Kim wordlessly confirmed Gemini didn't have her Beskar'gam. Then, the redhead cautiously pushed her own thoughts over the fledgling Bond, consciously controlling her thoughts to broadcast in English. Keep Drakken out of this, Kim said somewhat coldly. I hate having to check my targets.

Veronica smiled on her end of the connection. No more Miss Nice Kimmie?

Gemini attacked my school, Kim reasoned. If I don't stop him now, he'll grow some major balls sooner or later and try to attack my family. It's either: Stop him now, or allow him to pull a page from "The Killing Joke". Kim shivered violently at the thought. I'd rather use this opportunity to show the bastard EXACTLY who he's fucking with.

Be careful, Xena.

Kim smiled, Aren't I always?

Far away with Duplicate Kim, Gemini sat preening in his throne as he watched Agents Chi and Psi bring Kim with her hands bound before him. "Hello, Miss Possible," Gemini said with a light glare as his beloved chihuahua began growling and barking at Kim. "Enough, Pepe."

"What do you want, Gemini?" Kim growled as she struggled in the grip of the men who held her. "I'm no one special, just a kid from Middleton."

The man smiled and leaned forward. "Oh," Gemini smiled, stood, and gripped Kim's face roughly in his metal hand. "I think you are much too modest, Miss Possible," his smile turned dark as he continued speaking. "I don't think a simple teenager can dismantle Global Justice-" Pepe's barking cut the man off, and after soothing the puppy, Gemini continued. "…so easily and humiliate my sister as if she's no more than a simple security guard!"

Kim raised a brow, "I heard someone in some ferociously spanking armor finally taught the one-eyed political slut humility, but that's all." Kim shrugged. "Betty called me to track down the person, but I laughed in her face and hung up on her." Kim's eyes flashed with brilliant indignation. "I am no one's hound!"

Gemini raised an eyebrow at the hate in Kim's words and laughed, "You've got fire, hero."

"Merc, actually…" Kim corrected without pause.

Gemini smiled broader at the correction and motioned for Chi and Psi to let Kim go. "What mercenary work do you do?"

Kim shrugged, "Black Ops, I usually go in after some asshat desk jockey in Washington botches missions and clean up after the incompetent politician." Kim smiled darkly. "What?" Kim asked. "Are you thinking of paying me to take Betty's head?"

Gemini fought hard to control his shock. "Miss Possible, that's absurd!" Gemini said, "No one can get close enough to take her out!"

Kim smiled darkly, "Check the name, Gemini."

The Real Kim smiled down at SADIE's dashboard as she tracked the droid duplicate. "How's the hydrogen conversion feel?"

SADIE seemed to express happiness almost to the point of giddiness when she answered, "The Tweebs did a marvelous job with me!" The AI laughed, "I think I'm actually a bit faster with this system than my old one."

Kim nodded, "That's good." Kim then looked at her Kimmunicator, (What is it with villains and hubris?) The girl thought as she noticed a spot in the desert the pair now approached. A large skull carved in the slide of a cliff made Kim laugh and sake her head. (This isn't obvious at all.) Kim reached in the back seat and patted Aay'han's case. "(Not today, my friend,)"

Kim whispered before she reached under it and pulled out two M1911 pistols with two magazines each and clipped them to her belt. "(Today's brood will be drawn at close range.)"

When Kim looked back and nodded at SADIE, the car seemed to give her a flat but amused expression in her next words. "I know," SADIE said with a grin in her voice. "Come back when you call EVAC." At Kim's nod, the car drove off.

With SADIE safely away, Kim aimed her grappling hook and began the careful infiltration of Gemini's lair. No one expected her, so Kim avoided detection easily. The pistols at her side helped keep Kim focused as she moved stealthily to Gemini's main room. With her back pressed against the wall, Kim smiled.

"$500 million wired now," Gemini could be heard saying.

Kim fought to keep her laughter down while Duplicate Kim finished, "…the rest when Betty's head adorns your wall." Duplicate Kim smiled and nodded, "It's a pleasure doing business with you." Then, the artificial Kim walled out of the room and silently tapped the Mandalorian teen's shoulder before she self-terminated the program and placed herself in what her creators dubbed "Sidekick Mode".

Kim walked out with a grim expression and raised her pistols. Before Gemini could counter, Kim rolled and began to shoot the goons around her. All the while, Kim's mind played a quote from "The Boondocks Saints".

"For a few seconds, this place was fucking Armageddon!" FBI Agent Scmecker growls and starts conducting orchestral choir music. "THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!"

All Hell broke loose as Kim laid down a blanket of fire. One round and some with two for each and every goon in the room. When Gemini got off his finger rockets, Kim groaned, mentally shook her head and ducked behind a chair to reload. "(One more clip each,)" the teen noticed. "(I've got to end this fast!)" When Kim broke cover, she charged for Gemini. The man could only stare in stunned amazement before Kim knocked Gemini from his throne with a slap of cold steel to the face. Disoriented, Gemini tried to move such that he would have a clear shot at Kim with the next round of rockets, but cold steel pressed flush to his head in two places froze the man where he knelt.

"Wade, patch the Kimmunicator through to Betty at Global Justice."

Wade nodded and began typing even as he could hear a dog yapping on the other end. A momentary BANG! silenced the creature's incessant barking before Kim returned to the combat state known as The Void.

When Betty came up and saw her brother at Kim's mercy, she shivered, "Kimberly, what are you…"

Kim sighed, "Gemini tried to kidnap me, so I set a trap for him." Kim said calmly. "Here's the deal, Bets." Kim said as she looked the woman in the eye. "I'm certain there's a 'dead or alive' bounty on Gemini's head." When Gemini tried to speak, he got a stainless steel slap to the face. "I'll release Gemini to you if GJ pays me his bounty," Kim frowned. "I'd rather end him here personally, though." Kim shrugged, "You know his type. He'll be out again to cause misery and havoc in a month tops if I don't." Kim smiled, "I give you an hour."

As the connection cut out, an EMP raced from the Kimmunicator and fried all electronics in the room, including Gemini's weaponized prosthetic. The man glared hard at Kim with such hate it would have made nearly anyone run, but Kim just stood and glared right back without flinching. "What the Hell did you do?!"

Kim smiled and jerked the man roughly to his feet. Then, she tapped her head. "Egomaniacs always have multiple fail safe plans waiting to be put in place. Knowing this, I countered where appropriate until you were left with only two options: concede the game to me or take the way of a Hut'tuun and end yourself before Betty could get you." Kim smirked as she remembered Gemini telling her droid double to frame the hit on Betty as a test of loyalty. "Did I pass the test?"