Hello again and Happy New Year to all in the Kimmunity! As promised, here is my way overdue update. And about time since you gracefully voted this Best Short Story in this year's Fannies. Thanks so much! And since it's been so long, you might want to re-read the first two chapters again to get a sense of continuity, as this sitch is devolving (will devolve? Has devolved?) day by day as new days are repeated. Or something like that. And those days are getting darker as you will soon see...

I'm already working on the next chapter and should have an update in January, and hopefully about one a month thereafter, concurrent with Beyond the Stars. That's my New Year's resolution at least. Let's see how well I stick with it this year...

And as always, my thanks to last chapter's reviewers: CajunBear73, MrDrP, Invader Johnny, Librana, Eddy13, Sentinel103, Jimmy1201, MI-Drift, Guest, and Tito-Mosquito. You all make the effort worth it...

I.

Jerking upright in her bed, Kim grabbed her Kimmunicator. "Wade! Are you there?"

"Right here, Kim."

She took a deep breath. "Super. Now, I know this is going to sound crazy…"

"But you've gone back a day in time, right? Well, somehow I have too."

Kim gushed excitedly, "You too? That's great news, since I'll need all of your skills to figure this wrongsick sitch out. But how?"

Wade surmised, "Hard to say, but since we were both in contact at the same time on our Kimmunicators, that might have had something to do with it."

"Well, good to know for future reference. So you know now that I'm not crazy. And now I don't have to go over everything again with you and prove I haven't gone totally bonkers, so that's big relief. Well, at least I think it is…"

Ron awoke in his bed, now beginning his third Groundhog Day. "Oh, man, this really tanks! And I'm late for school, again? But I've gotta catch up with Kim at school, just like before…"

Jumping into his clothes, he grabbed the unsuspecting Rufus who let out a little yelp of surprise, and quickly stuffed the tiny rodent into his side pocket.

"Sorry Rufus, but there's not a moment to lose!"

The naked mole rat chuffed at Ron's impatience, but quickly mumbled, "S'all right…"

Ron jumped onto his scooter and floored it. Soon he was travelling at its terrifying maximum speed of …

"Wow! 12 miles an hour in just under 15 seconds! That's a record, Rufus mah man!"

As Ron victoriously pumped his fist in the air accompanied by various and sundry hoops and hollers, Rufus hung out of Ron's pocket, still half asleep. He yawned widely, giving a half-hearted wave and mumbling, "Whatever…"

Ron grumbled a cursory reply, "Hey, chill out, Rufus. It's still faster than walking. But not by much..."

Suddenly, the whoosh of a rocket-propelled car was heard.

"Ron, throw your scooter in the trunk and lets roll!"

He grinned widely and exclaimed, "Way to go, KP! Punch it!"

He jumped into the car, and with a roar Ron was pushed back into his seat as Kim set the thrusters on high. Poor Rufus felt the skin on his head stretch back, his teeth exposed and eyes bulging due to the quick acceleration. But this was exhilarating for tiny rodent, and he proclaimed a joyful "Wheeee! Do it again, Kim-Kim!"

She couldn't help but smile as they swiftly approached Middleton High. After a perfect touchdown, they both sprang out and raced towards class. But Ron stopped short, suddenly remembering something.

"Oh, Fuji! Sorry Kim, need to pick up my homework out of my locker. Barkin will assign me detention for sure if I skip it."

Kim huffed, "Well just hurry. Who knows what's going to happen today, but I'm sure it's not going to be too good."

Just like before, Ron tried to cut through D hall, but was stopped short by a small crowd of frowning students.

He spat out, "Bullies. I HATE these guys!"

The leader among them grinned evilly. "Stoppable, you've been warned before, so cough up." He tauntingly wiggled his fingers, certain that Ron would cave as always.

But finally having reached his limit, Ron growled back, "SO not in the mood, guys."

Now under threat, he had no problem in activating his Mystical Monkey Power. With a powerful whoosh, he cranked it up, a look of deadly confidence on his face.

"Hmm, eight to one odds. But my power is one bon-diggity equalizer."

Baring his teeth in a wide grin, he challenged the mob in front of him. "Sure you want to take me on? Last chance to leave in one piece."

A few of them looked scared and began to back up a bit. But their leader wasn't about to be intimidated.

"Get him!" he yelled.

The entire gang rushed Ron, certain that their superior numbers would crush him. But they were easily held at bay by a mystical blue shield that he spontaneously threw up.

"Coolio," he remarked. "I gotta remember how I did that."

Ron grinned as he hooded his eyes, taunting them in a sing-song voice. "Don't say I didn't warn you…"

And with a simple extension of his arms, each one of the bullies went flying off in every direction. Their leader was was tossed headlong into a trash can. He desperately but unsuccessfully tried to extricate himself, his feet thrashing futilely in the air. All of the others suddenly decided they wanted nothing more to do with Ron and hightailed it out of the hallway.

He powered down, humming happily to himself as he made his way to class.

"Note to self for future reference: it's really easy to activate my monkey power when under some kind of threat."

He entered confidently entered his class just as the bell rang, sitting down next to Kim and under the fierce glare of Mr. Barkin.

"Cutting it a bit close wouldn't you say, Stoppable?"

Ron proffered a weak smile, but was grateful for Kim's help in finally making it to class on time.

"First time in three days that I've been here on time, Kim." he whispered. "Or is that just the first time today? All these repeats have my time tenses completely mixed up…"

Kim put a finger to her lips for him to stop just as Barkin harrumphed for attention.

"Well, I was going to discuss the history of the ancient Britons and Romans with a slide presentation today, but someone broke into the school last night and stole the slide projector. But for some reason they left the film projector behind, so we'll be watching a movie instead. However, due to recent budget cuts, the only film available is… Ghost Car."

The entire class gasped in horror, but no one more than Kim and Ron. Ron's hand shot up.

"What is it now, Stoppable?"

"Uh, Mr. Barkin, I was really looking forward to your exposition on the history of Groundhog Day."

Barkin winced. "Riiight. Nice try in trying to kiss my…" He stopped short, cocking one eyebrow. "What day?"

"Groundhog Day, Mr. Barkin! When Punxsutawney Phil pops out of his hole every February 2nd, and predicts six more weeks of winter if he sees his shadow."

Ron was met by stony silence from Barkin, and titters of laughter from the class.

His voice dripping in sarcasm, Barkin asked, "And if he doesn't see his shadow?"

"Then springs comes early, everybody knows that, Mr. B!"

The class now broke out in unabashed laughter over Ron's reply. Bonnie couldn't help but adding, "And what about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, Stoppable? If they see their shadows, do we get our holidays cut short?"

This time the class totally lost it, and Barkin had to yell to regain control. "All right, quiet people!" He continued with a sneer, "Stoppable, what have you been smoking?" He shot a pleading look at Kim. "Possible, make sure he gets some help, got it?"

But Kim was not smiling. Her face had turned as white as a sheet, as she whispered to Ron, "I think we're in big trouble. I'll fake being sick so we can be excused. And considering how I'm feeling now, that's not much of a stretch."

Ron whispered back, "Okay, but just one more thing…"

Out loud he said, "All right Mr. Barkin, I've had my fun, but just out of curiosity, what about the Britons and the Romans two thousand years ago? What exactly happened to them? And uh, the Cliff note version?

As Mr. Barkin began to thread the projector he explained, "Well, to make it short and sweet, there was a Celtic queen named Boudicae who tried to sack the ancient city of Londinium, but the Romans were tipped off somehow and they were soundly defeated. And soon after, her tribe was decimated by some kind of plague: anthrax, smallpox or something like that. This secured Roman rule in the British Isles for the next 400 years or so. There, satisfied now?"

Looking apprehensively at Ron, Kim hissed, "It looks like we've found the focal point of the Mathter's plot, so I think I'll be skipping that AP test today. No use taking a test that will be changing tomorrow anyway. Or today, depending on your point of view."

"Yeah, if today even still exists tomorrow," Ron somberly added. A confused look came over his face. "But Kim, if today becomes today again tomorrow, does that mean yesterday is still today, or does it mean tomorrow's yesterday is still today, or, uh… Sorry KP, my brain is starting to hurt."

"Never mind, Ron. Let's just get out of here and try to fix this mess."

As Ghost Car began its terrifying introduction, Kim spoke up. "Mr. Barkin, suddenly I'm not feeling very well." Which is actually no lie, she thought to herself. "May I be excused?"

Barkin frowned, but nodded in assent. "Well, since you've already seen this before, I suppose I can make an exception."

Kim grabbed Ron's hand and raced for the door.

"But not you, Stoppable!" But the two teens had already made their escape.

Suddenly the rest of the class shot up their hands, hoping to be excused as well.

Barkin growled, "But no more exceptions, is that clear?"

The class responded with a mutual groan, while Bonnie couldn't help but smirk, "Well, Kim obviously couldn't stomach the thought of seeing that movie again, the wimp."

The film began. But after only a few minutes of car wrecks, blood and gore, Bonnie had reached her own limit as well. Feeling her hurl factor fast approaching, she tried to get up from her chair, but didn't even make it to the door as she had the past two repeated days. The class moaned as she lost her breakfast all over the classroom floor.

"Eww, Bonnie!" Tara whined. "And after dissing Kim for the just the same thing."

Mr. Barkin could only shake his head at the irony.

Now at a dead run toward her car with Ron right behind, Kim activated her Kimmunicator. "Wade, things are going from bad to worse on the groundhog front. Any word from Punxsutawney?"

"None, Kim," he shakily replied. "And I'm not expecting any, either. I can no longer find any record of Groundhog Day ever being observed there. And I find no record of Constable Hobble either. Switching now to a satellite view of Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney..."

But just a few dead leaves blew across the barren knoll, without a single person in sight.

Kim gasped. "This is getting very, very bad, Wade."

Wade's fingers continued to fly over the keyboard as he swiftly did some additional cross-checking. His frown deepened. "Not only that, there's no record of anyone celebrating Groundhog Day, now... or ever."

Ron's voice was shaking now as well. "Every day, more and more of the past is disappearing. What will be next? Or who? Us?"

Kim was shocked at all these dire changes, but quickly recovered. "Not if I can help it. So it's high time we pay the Mathter a little visit. How quickly can you arrange a ride for us, Wade? We'll need to get to his lair before midnight, unless we want another daily reboot."

"I'll get right on it, Kim."

II.

The sign outside the Middleton Medical Center was ominous. It read, "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here."

Inside the hospital, the mood was somber. Dr. Ann Possible sat silently on the chair outside the operating room, a few tears escaping between her fingers. A nurse gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Dr. Possible, you did everything you could to save that patient's life. You can't expect that every operation you perform will end in success. Life happens, but death happens too, unfortunately. And with all the budget cuts we've been experiencing lately, I'm surprised we've haven't had even more of the problems that we've experienced up to now."

Ann lifted her head, slowly exhaling and dabbing a tissue at her tear streaked face. "Thank you Christine, but this should not have happened. That brain tumor was totally operable. I just don't understand why that clamp failed in the first place, and then the second one right after it. Even so, I should have been able to repair the damage even without a clamp. But I failed."

The nurse continued to placate her. "I'm sure the review board will exonerate you and place full blame on the clamp's manufacturer. I was right there you know, and I will testify to the fact that both clamps failed."

Ann thought a moment before replying, "I appreciate that, but as the surgeon in charge, I am forced to take responsibility for whatever happens in the operating room, defective equipment or not."

Her feelings of sorrow swiftly turned from grief to one of anger, as her thoughts began to center on Kim and her blossoming romance with Ron.

"No, I think I know the underlying reason now. I allowed myself to get distracted by my concern over Kim and Ron's relationship, and this is the result. I think it's high time that James and I have serious talk with those two…"

III.

James Possible was on edge. As he paced the control room, he looked out at the rocket on the pad, its supercooled liquid oxygen slowly venting and condensing into small clouds of water vapor on this cool February morning. The computer simulation which had analyzed today's launch indicated marginal, but accepatable results, so he had given the final go ahead just an hour before. He had needed to abort the blast off twice that week already, and his superiors were beginning to wonder if he could really pull this off.

"Well, I guess I'll know in about ten seconds," he anxiously mused.

As the countdown descended to its final moments, beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. Launch control counted off the last few seconds.

"5... 4... 3… 2… 1… Ignition!"

Massive plumes of smoke and flame spewed out of the rocket nozzle, and the spacecraft began to rise off of the launch pad. Clenching his fists as well as his teeth, James tried to will the missle into the air. But it was all for naught. The rocket's engine began to sputter, its thrust insufficient to free it from the pad. It began to hover, then fall back onto the pad. With a terrific grinding of metal on concrete, the doomed space vehicle slowly toppled over on its side, hitting the ground and exploding in a massive fireball.

James stomped on the floor in frustration. "Aw, flippin' cheese and crackers! What could have gone wrong?"

He recalled a recent classified report identifying minor flaws in the rocket nozzle, but concluded that they were of no consequence. However, he quickly came to a different verdict, recalling the night before and where Kim had been, and who she had been with.

"Out after midnight on a school night, and with that clumsy oaf Ron Stoppable. Critical mission or not, he's bad news for my precious Kimmie-cub. Which meant a sleepless night for me, so I probably missed something important on the pre-launch checklist. Boy, am I going to get it now. I sure hope I don't lose my job over this. But job or not, I'm going to have a serious talk with Kim tonight. World-saving heroine or not, this relationship with Stoppable ends today."

A malevolent grin appeared on his face as he once again indulged in his favorite fantasy.

The rocket was on the pad ready for launch, Ron futilely pounding on the porthole in total silence. The newscaster announcing the first ever mission to explore a black hole. A flawless takeoff, earth orbit achieved in a just a few minutes, and insertion into interplanetary space being reached soon thereafter. Ron's voice on the radio becoming dimmer and dimmer the further the spacecraft got from the earth, until he could no longer be heard…

James inhaled deeply, releasing his breath slowly as he savored the moment. "Ah, nirvana…"

IV.

As Kim was driving home, her Kimmunicator beeped, and she quickly answered. "All right Wade, what's the sitch?"

"Well, good news and bad, Kim. It seems that with every day that repeats, things are getting progressively worse worldwide, and not just groundhog-wise. Not only is crime on the upswing, but numerous military conflicts have broken out. And to top it off, it seems that the entire planet is in the throws of an economic crisis as well."

Kim observed, "Yeah, that sounds pretty bad all right. Do you think the Mathter is responsible and doing all this on purpose, or is it just fallout from whatever his evil scheme is?"

Wade scratched his chin in thought. "Well, I'd say I'm positive he's behind it all, but whether he's purposely causing it or if it's just a byproduct of his time tampering is anyone's guess."

"All right then. How about the good news? Did you find us our ride?"

Wade hesitated. "Uh, so far as a ride is concerned, I got nowhere with my usual connections. Global Justice has its hands full, as well as the military, but I did find you something that, uh, just might work."

Kim wasn't convinced. "That doesn't sound real positive, Wade. Something tells me that this might be less than ideal transport."

Wade gave her a sheepish grin. "Well, it's the best I could do under the circumstances. It's not a jet like you're used to, but it is a military plan... sort of. And it does have the necessary range to reach the Mathter's lair in the Atlantic. Your contact is Col. Jack Swift, US Army Air Force, retired."

Ron cut in. "Uh, Wade, don't you mean the USAF?"

"Nope, the USAF wasn't formed until 1947. You'll understand when you meet him and see the plane. He's actually at the Middleton Airport right now."

Kim frowned. "Okay, Wade, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this…"

As they pulled into the airport a few minutes later, they both realized what Wade had been hinting at. Before them stood a B-29 Superfortress, its silver skin shining brightly in the morning sun.

"Coolio!" Ron gushed. "This is the type of plane that made the massive air raids against the Japanese home islands during World War II!"

Kim was aghast. "World War II? Ron, this thing is over 60 years old! How is it possibly going to get us to the Mathter's lair in time, if even at all?"

"She's still got it where it counts, ma'am." From around the nose of the aircraft, an ancient but still distinguished-looking gentleman in threadbare army fatigues appeared, wiping some paint off of his gnarled hands.

"Colonel Swift, I presume?" Kim ventured.

"That would be me, the one and only," he cackled. "But please, call me Jack. And you must be the famous Kim Possible."

"Yes, that's me. A pleasure to meet you, sir. And please, call me Kim. Allow me to introduce my crime-fighting partner, Ron Stoppable."

But Ron wasn't paying attention to the Colonel, having been distracted by the freshly-painted nose art on the plane. The aircraft had been renamed "Clobbering Kim," and featured the bikini-clad heroine saucily sitting astride what appeared to be a 500 pound bomb. Kim noticed both the nose art and Ron's reaction at the same time, and was not pleased at either. Using one finger, she closed his gaping mouth.

"Down boy, it's just a little paint."

Quickly recovering, he stuttered, "Yeah, but you gotta admit that's an amazing likeness, KP."

"So, what do you think?' queried Colonel Swift. "I thought it would add just the right touch to your mission."

"Well, I, uh…" Knowing how important this mission was, Kim tried hard not to show her distaste. And nearly succeeded.

"But no offense meant, Miss Possible," the Colonel quickly added.

Ron volunteered, "Just remember Kim, nose art on American aircraft was a terrific morale booster during World War II, and made a significant contribution to our eventual victory."

After taking one look at Kim, Rufus crawled onto Ron's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "She's not buying it…"

Kim was still nonplussed. "Nice try, history boy, but I'm really not the Betty Grable type."

Turning to the Colonel, she replied, "Actually though, you got my hair color just right. And I do understand that this was quite common at the time, and I appreciate the, uh, compliment, but would you mind removing it once we're done with the mission?"

"Of course, Kim." the Colonel hastily replied. "But since we're in a hurry, why don't you all climb aboard and we'll be on our way, just as soon as I finish my pre-flight checklist."

Kim looked hesitant. "Jack, pardon me for asking, but is this plane, uh, safe to fly in and up for the trip? It dates from World War II after all, and our destination is thousands of miles away."

Colonel Swift gave her a positive nod. "Absolutely." He gave the plane a loving pat. "This is a historic relic, and it's been fully restored to its original condition. I tour air shows all around the country and give rides to people willing to fork over the money for an opportunity to take a flight in a piece of aviation history. And to do that, it needs to be FAA inspected and approved. I've got the papers right here if you'd like to see them."

Relieved, she replied, "No, that's okay. Just checking, no offense intended."

"And none taken, Kim. I'm always happy to make my passengers feel as comfortable as possible."

He marked one last box on his checklist. "And… we're ready. Please board up and prepare for takeoff."

Kim announced, "Well, Ron, here we go."

"Yup. Off we go into the wild blue yonder. May the wind be at our back, and remember that I'll always have your back."

"Thanks Ron. Now maybe we can finally get to the bottom of this bizarre sitch."

TBC...

Well, the plot is certainly thickening. So what surprises are in store for our intrepid travellers? Tune in this January for the next exciting update...