Chapter 3 – Stepping Up

"I repeat: I want all stations on High Alert!" the female voice commanded, echoing throughout Global Justice Headquarters.

Doctor Director of Global Justice was seated in the watch center knowing, after having seen this broadcast, and in it Kim Possible captive, that Team Possible's many enemies would take advantage of Kim's absence and begin executing some new schemes of their own. And although she herself did not have much confidence in Ron, based on GJ's past observations of him, the director knew that half of Team Possible would be unavailable for missions if he is occupied with meeting Drakken's challenge.

All available GJ agents stationed around the world were now standing by.

The subjects of Ron's first challenge had long since departed for Drakken's former lair. It was now a matter of waiting for Ron to be ready and on his way. Drakken reclined in his own watch center inside the Icelandic lair looking over several large display screens on the wall. The picture on the primary screen was of the Stoppable residence, the house at the center and the street displayed at the bottom. From the moment Ron left his school Drakken followed him via satellite. Ron had now been inside for several minutes.

Somewhere up ahead in the watch center a signal caught his attention. Shego, who had been walking among the henchmen and their consoles, also heard the signal, for she was moving towards the console that broadcast it. Drakken remained seated, waiting while Shego spoke with the henchman at the console. She finally turned to her boss.

"Doctor D., we have something."

"What?" he asked and waited for the answer.

Shego looked back at the henchman to say something. Then pointing at the primary screen she added, "We happened upon what could be the frequency of a tracking device."

Drakken looked at the screen and saw a yellow blip flashing on the rooftop at the right-front side of the house. A smirk appeared as Drakken thought, "Now we'll be able to follow him much easier." He looked at Shego with a hint of admiration. "Well done."

With his expression serious again, he looked back at the monitors and added, "Keep on it, and get Kim Possible on screen."

The primary display changed to the girl's cell room. She lay on her cot, arms crossed, looking occupied with thoughts.

"Oh, Miss Possible."

Kim did not flinch at the sound of his mockingly pleasant voice. Frowning, she looked at him with grim, green eyes, yet did not say anything.

Drakken ignored her look. "I thought it may interest you to know that we have your sidekick's tracking device frequency." He ordered one of his henchmen to show her.

Kim gasped hearing her nemesis reveal this. She was even more shaken when she saw Ron's house and the yellow blip, and realized Drakken was not bluffing. Attempting to look Kim-posed and confident, she stated dismissively, "No big. He'll still come for me even if you tell him you know about it."

Drakken's response was dry. "That's fine with me," he said with a shoulder shrug. "The sooner he loses, the sooner I can get on with my scheme."

"Yo Dr. D, check this out!" Shego called.

He found her standing near a new console, looking at him and pointing again towards the monitors on the wall before looking back at the primary screen. He saw that the Stoppable residence was back on that screen. The scene was different, though. A large mass of people were gathering outside the house, even on the streets.

To see this gathering puzzled Drakken. It irritated him, though, when he saw on the other screen that Kim was smiling. Ron was gaining support.

Now dressed, Ron slipped on his backpack in which was stored his own jetpack. Not knowing what he was up against he packed nothing specific, not even weapons. This was short notice anyway, so there was nothing Wade could devise for him. Whatever Ron was to face would have to be hand-to… whatever.

"Hey, I know some monkey kung fu," Ron thought. "That ought to work for me."

With Rufus set on his shoulder, Ron headed for the door. As he reached for the knob he heard his mother.

"Ronnie, you must come and see this," she called from downstairs.

He went down to the main floor to find her looking out at the front yard through a window in the living room. "What is it, Mom?"

She stepped back from the window and gestured toward it with an arm. "Take a look."

Ron went over to the window and looked. To see so many people there amazed him, even Rufus. Many of them were from the neighborhood and school. Some in the crowd, particularly classmates, held up handwritten signs of support. Among them were also several of the people Team Possible helped in the past who had already repaid Ron and Kim with rides. It looked as though they would offer to help again. But since he would be taking the jet he knew that he would have to turn them down, thanking them still. He stepped outside and was met with applause.

As the applause continued he looked around at them wondering how he should respond. He decided that a grateful smile and a wave seemed the appropriate opening gestures. Slowly the applause ended. They must have now expected him to speak.

"Well…" he began. "Thank you all for coming here to see me off. I'm glad that Kim has all of you here routing for her return. I know there are others who share your hopes, and I… I want everyone to know I'll do everything I can to get her back."

As he spoke there was movement in the crowd to his left. The bystanders there parted as a group of four pressed through until they stood at the front. Ron looked to see they were the Possibles, Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P. and the tweebs. Having one more thing to say, he spoke on.

"I also want to thank some of you here who Kim and I have helped in the past. I know you're here to give me a ride, but I…" he briefly noted Mr. Dr. P then looked back at the crowd. "I already have transportation arranged. Please, excuse me."

He opened the front door. "Mom, I'm going now."

She stepped outside to give him a hug. "Be very careful, Son."

"I will," he said embracing her. The crowd admired the moment.

After they released each other, he added, "Tell Dad I'll see you later," before he went out to meet the Possibles.

"Are you ready, Ronald?" asked James.

"Yes, sir," he replied with a nod.

He walked with Kim's family to their house, leaving behind the crowd which slowly dispersed. James and Ron got into the Possibles' family car, with Mrs. P and the tweebs seeing them off as the two drove to the Middleton Space Center. Before Ron boarded the jet, James spoke briefly with him.

"Be brave, but be careful. We believe you can win this, Ronald." He held out his hand.

Ron did the same and they shook hands. "Thanks, Dr. P. And I promise you I won't screw this up." James smiled and gave him a grateful nod.

Ron boarded the jet. "I really hope I don't screw this up," he inwardly added.

Taking a seat and pulling out his Kimmunicator, he contacted Wade. "I'm ready, Wade. Let's get airborne."

"You got it," Wade replied. Following a series of keystrokes the jet powered up and soon took off, bound for the crumbled lair of Doctor Drakken.

Ron did not see it, but as the jet passed over Middleton High, a message on the sign read, "STOPPABLE, BRING KIM HOME."

It was late in the afternoon when the jet touched down in a clearing a short distance from the lair. There was no need to land on the beach; Ron was expected. He now waited near the rubble for whomever or whatever he was supposed to fight.

During his trip, Ron frequently reminded himself that he could do this. He remembered from just this day alone Drakken saying that Kim believes Ron can save her. There were also all of those people from Middleton at his house. Also, he had been exposed to mystical monkey power; he even trained at Yamanouchi. And as he once told Team Impossible, his skills come and go. "I just hope they're with me today. I'm sure I'll need them."

He switched Wade's image on when his Kimmunicator sounded off. "Go, Wade."

"It looks like Drakken was serious about the world watching. He has webcams pointing from several locations towards the area your standing at."

"Any sign of my opponent?"

He watched as Wade examined different webcam angles. He saw the boy's brow rise and his mouth open in an apprehensive way.

"What do you see, Wade?" urged Ron.

Wade spoke uncertainly. "Uh… It looks more like opponents."

"What?! How many?"

"…Six."

"Six?!" Ron cried. Drakken was totally not bringing a fair fight.

Wade knew that what he was about to add would only boost Ron's already present stress. "And Ron… they're synthodrones."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Ron shouted. However, Wade was not kidding. Ron heard footsteps and rustling grass to his left from around the rubble. Then he saw them – their purple and black tight uniforms, and helmets to match – marching single file toward his spot.

"Drakken!"

Kim's blue-skinned nemesis heard her cry and looked at her screen. She stood virtually face-to-face with him and everyone in the watch center, scowling, and hands pressed firmly against the wall.

"Ron can barely handle one synthodrone! Why did you have to send six against him?!"

His features were unsympathetic. "I'm the bad guy here, Miss Possible. If you were expecting fair, fair isn't my style."

Her glare deepened and now she was gritting her teeth. Drakken was not intimidated by her expression.

"Care to make a wager, Miss Possible? I say he won't last more than thirty seconds."

To his amusement her only response was a furious fist-pounding on her cell wall. Then she stomped over to her cot and sat down. Whatever she began to think about – her sidekick's wellbeing or "Death to Drakken" – he ignored and turned his attention over to the island screen, seeing that his synthodrones now surrounded the buffoon.

Drakken wanted to be sure Kim did not miss this. He ordered one of his men to route video and sound to her cell. He saw that she did take notice of the screen change. She saw how Ron was surrounded, and then she sat forward at the edge of her cot gripping the material tensely. Her concern for him was quite obvious.

The synthodrones attacked…

If Kim had taken Drakken up on his bet that Ron would last less than thirty seconds, she would have won. Ron did last more than thirty seconds, lucky to have dodged the first attacks of all six of his assailants. He also succeeded in pulling some of his own moves, frequently making contact, but his attempts had no effect. Unfortunately they were more agile and quickly became accustomed to his movements. The fight ended, the give and take leaving Ron defeated, bruised, and unconscious, and six synthetic opponents victorious. Not even Rufus could deal with them. Drakken had learned after losing his best synthodrone Erik by the mole rat's bite not to let the critter pull the same sneaky move again. During his attempt to retaliate after Ron had lost, Rufus had been caught and chucked. He now lay unconscious somewhere in the grass.

Kim slumped down onto the cot at the sight of Ron's defeat. Mouth open, her face dropped to her hands in dismay, her elbows pressed into her thighs by the weight of her head. She looked on at the scene on the monitor wide-eyed; it was inconceivable. But here she was, a prisoner, and Ron was beaten. Team Possible has actually lost.

Drakken took great delight at the obvious loss by Ron, but more so at the devastated look on Kim's face; a look that even Shego relished. There were hurrahs and high-fives among the henchmen. Drakken wondered what the rest of the world was thinking at this moment about Kim's sidekick. Ron had just so let her down. He linked to Kim's cell.

"Ha! That was your best chance at being rescued?" he scoffed.

As expected of Drakken as that was, she still despised him for what he had done to Ron. She so wanted to curse at him, but she held her tongue.

Slowly his eyes opened. His first thought was, "Man, I really screwed that up."

As recent events quickly came back to him he bolted upright and anxiously looked all around for the synthodrones. They were nowhere to be found. And while that might have seemed a comforting feeling to him, something else seemed rather unsettling. There was no grass around him, no crumbled lair… there was no island. Instead there were pillars and stone walls with burning oil lamps, and before him a table with two more burning oil lamps, one to the right and another on the left. In the middle there was a banana.

Feeling a mix of awe and interest, Ron watched as the banana peeled itself. Slowly, from nothing, a transparent, shaven-head, little man appeared dressed in an orange robe. On his right shoulder sat a little monkey. The little man opened his eyes to see the youth in his presence. His expression went from serene to astonishment.

"Ron Stoppable?" The tone of his voice reflected his latter expression. He bowed his head. "This is truly an honor."

This apparition knows my name? "Who are you?" Ron asked as he finally stood up. "How do you know my name?"

The little man raised his head. "I am merely and oracle, Master Stoppable, but I have long known about you. I am also here to present you with something?"

Me? A master? "Please," Ron said, shaking his head and waving his hands dissuasively. "I am no master. In fact, the last thing I remember is losing a fight… against synthodrones."

The oracle spoke calmly. "Do not fret, Master Stoppable. These, uh, synthodrones as you call them, have not seen your true power. That is what I am here to help you unlock."

'Here' was another subject that puzzled Ron. "Here? Where is that and exactly how did I get here?"

"You are not here physically, Master Stoppable. You were brought to me by the untapped power of the Mystical Monkey Master within you. With the gift I have for you, your true power will awaken."

This news confused but thrilled Ron. And, that he would be able to beat Drakken and rescue Kim, hope won over any doubts he felt.

"All right, then. Then let's get to it."

Bowing in compliance, the oracle replied, "Yes, Master Stoppable."

Ron stood there, watching the little man close his eyes. Then the apparition placed his hands together, palm to palm, before locking his fingers and thumbs, save for the index fingers which remained pressed together and extended. Bringing his folded hands to just inches from his face, the oracle aligned his index fingers with the bridge of his nose. Ron saw faint signs of blue light begin to appear around the little man, and intensify so much that every oil lamp was at risk of being extinguished.

A strange sensation flowed through Ron's entire body. He looked himself over and discovered that he was encased in his own blue light which remained with him briefly, and then faded. Ron looked back up at the apparition who was now looking calmly upon him, smiling.

"It is done, Master Stoppable. Go and bring balance to the world." With these final words, the oracle vanished with the little monkey on his shoulder. Ron's surroundings turned black.

An elderly man, the sensei of the Yamanouchi School of Ninjitsu, sat in meditation. Yori, student of the ninja school and ally of Team Possible, silently entered her master's chamber. He could sense that she was there.

"Did you feel it, Yori?"

"I did Master Sensei," she replied. "His spark has become a flame."

"And as he grows, the flame will burn ever stronger."

Yori bowed and left his presence.

"I gotta hand to you, Dr D. What you did to Stoppable was pretty low." Shego walked up the four steps from the console section of the watch center to Drakken's chair.

"Thank you, Shego." Whether her remark was complimentary or sarcastic, Drakken still smiled. "I, too, am rather proud of it. My synthodrones did rather well, didn't they?"

Shego nodded. "Yes they did," she replied leaning against the back of his chair. Her eyes scanned every monitor on the distant wall, coming to a halt on Kim's monitor. The girl still looked crushed. Drakken's syntho-victory over Stoppable did Kim more damage than any plasma attack from Shego ever had.

"Call them back," Drakken ordered. "They've done their job." One of his henchmen made contact with his synthodrones to instruct them to return. He watched his creations turn and march.

"Get me the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of England, and the U.N.," he further ordered. "They shall be the first to surrender to me; otherwise I'll crush them all."

Before his henchmen could, they were disrupted by a cry of, "HEY!" To the dismay of all in the watch center it came from the island monitors.

"This time Drakken has really won." Kim hated admitting this to herself. She barely moved since sitting down, and still felt miserable. She almost felt like crying. But knowing Drakken was watching, and that it would amuse him to see her break down, Kim refused.

Kim Possible can do anything. So she regained her Kim-posure and prayed for a miracle.

She was startled by a cry of "HEY!" from the monitor. To see that Ron was again standing surprised her even more. He looked strangely re-energized and confident. And if he was in pain, he masked it extremely well. But seeing Ron in a fighting stance – feet firmly planted and fists raised – she was instantly overjoyed. Her prayer had been heard; this was so not over.

The darkness quickly vanished when Ron finally opened his eyes and he could see that he was still on the island. He quickly rose to his feet, not having forgotten why he was here. He scouted for the synthodrones, which were no longer around him and found them walking away. "HEY!" He felt so ready to take them on again, and completely pain free despite his injuries.

All six of them stopped and turned around.

"We're not finished, yet! I have not yet begun to fight!" (A/N: with respects to John Paul Jones.)

Minus Team Possible's enemies, the world admired Ron Stoppable's interesting choice of words.
The synthodrones returned to Ron's spot, having received Drakken's command to finish this nuisance. Ron never moved, not even after they encircled him; the first stood just to his right and the rest went around the back of him, the sixth standing just to his left.

How he had known the fourth would attack first was a mystery to witnesses worldwide. To Ron, though, it was a feeling; certainly a credit to his recently awakened monkey powers. He crouched to one knee as number four's fist sprang for the back of his skull and missed. With both hands he reached for the lower left and right legs of numbers three and four respectively, and yanked on them, throwing these two off balance and dropping them to the ground. As quickly as he stood, Ron back-flipped and kicked number one in the jaw with his right foot. The impact to its chin forced this supposedly durable thing onto its back.

Drakken and company – not to mention Kim and the world – were completely astounded at Ron's unexpected new skills. "Hold the phone!" Drakken cried. "Since when can he do that?!"
In another part of the world sat a man watching Ron Stoppable's exceptional performance. He leaned forward in his seat with keen interest, fingers of his one hand entwined with the cybernetic fingers of his other hand.

"It would seem my sister has dismissed her 'Ron Factor' research rather prematurely," Gemini noted verbally. With an urge to see more he decided to make a call to the man who started this.

With a swiftness Ron had not had… ever, he outclassed them. This time the synthodrones were beaten… and a mess. Snytho-slime everywhere – on the ground, all over the heap of syntho-remains, and Ron.

Now that his fight was over he took a moment to clear his head. Rufus! He scouted around, calling out his little buddy's name. Ron finally found him in the grass. Rufus lay still. He looked closely to see that Rufus was at least breathing, and having owned him for so long Ron could tell that was okay breathing. Nothing bad appeared to be wrong with him; Rufus would wake up sooner or later. He then looked around for and recovered his backpack which had been pulled from him during the course of the first fight.

In one hand he cradled his little friend. With his free hand Ron placed his backpack onto one shoulder before pulling out his Kimmunicator. "Come in, Wade."

"Ron!" Wade was surprised, yet glad when he saw Ron. "How… how did you do that?"

"Maybe I'll explain later. Patch me through to Drakken."

"Actually he's waiting to talk to you."

The picture switched. "I don't know what's come over you," Drakken snarled, "but-"

Ron interrupted him. "Stuff it, Drakken. I won your challenge. Now tell me where you are and where you're keeping Kim," he demanded.

"You're wrong!" Drakken argued. "You were knocked out. You lost."

"And you never said that this was only going to be a one-round fight. I may have lost at first… but let's consider that a warm-up round."

"Warm up?!" That buffoon's response was ludicrous. Drakken was about to say something else when he was interrupted by an incoming transmission.

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