Chapter Three: Time Cooties
Summer was winding down and school was looming on the horizon, but there was one more week for the teens of Middleton High to get in some final "chill" time before it was back to work. For Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable and Rufus, this inevitably meant squeezing in a little extra free time at their favorite fast-food joint.
Kim gave her best friend and sidekick a dubious look. "You know this can't be healthy, right?"
Ron didn't even miss a beat, already getting to work on some form of taco. Kim had lost track of how many items off Bueno Nacho's menu he'd already eaten, to say nothing of which ones they were. She honestly didn't know where he put it all.
"End of summer blowout, KP. We gotta savor our freedom while we still can," he said in between bites.
Rufus popped his head out of a pile of nachos and squeaked in agreement. "Ayup, savor it."
Kim just leaned her chin on a hand and raised an eyebrow. She'd already finished her own meal, so there wasn't much else she could do but discuss the matter while she waited for him. "And you can't binge on Tex-Mex during the school year because…?"
Ron seemed to contemplate this for a moment while he chewed. Finally, he swallowed and said, "Well, I gotta bulk up for mascot duty this fall anyway."
Kim was just about to point out that the acrobatics involved in cheer routines generally favored less excessive "bulk" when the ringing of the Kimmunicator interrupted her. Pulling it from her pocket, she flicked the device on and asked, "What up, Wade?"
"Hey guys," came the reply. "How are you enjoying your last week of summer?"
Kim took a moment to eye her lunch companion. "Well, Ron's trying to clean out Bueno Nacho again, so I'd say pretty standard so far."
Ron set down the chimurrito he'd just started on. "Savoring my freedom, guys. What does it even matter to you, Wade? You've been done with school for ages."
"I do consulting work!" Wade protested. "I don't even get a summer vacation."
Kim cleared her throat before the debate could escalate. "So, is this just a social call, or do you have something for us?"
Wade returned his attention to her. "Oh, right. You've got a hit on the site, but… it's kind of a weird one."
Kim raised an eyebrow. "Weird how?"
"Well, the message isn't signed, but whoever sent it says they have important information on Monkey Fist's latest plan and they need your help. No other details; they just want you to meet them at the Middleton Library."
Kim groaned and rolled her eyes. "Monkey Fist? Seriously?! We just put him away after that 'Orb of the Monkey Lord' sitch!"
"Those prisons really need to figure out how to supervillain-proof themselves," Ron mumbled through a mouthful of food.
Wade shook his head. "That's one of the weird things. There haven't been any reports of a breakout since he was last locked up."
Kim frowned. "Could it be a false alarm? Like, some kind of prank, or a trap?"
Wade shrugged. "One way to find out. At least the library's a public place, so meeting whoever sent the request should be safe enough."
Kim nodded thoughtfully. "True." She stood up.
"All right, we're on our way. Grab a to-go bag, Ron – you should really wait to eat the rest of that anyway."
Max took a deep breath and tried to keep his leg from jiggling nervously as he waited for his not-yet-parents and not-yet-pet to show up. He'd already tried poking around on the computers to see if he could figure out which one Monkey Fist had used, and had managed to find one with what seemed to be rough travel plans to Japan in its recent search history. He couldn't rule out the possibility of it being a coincidence, and neither did it tell him much that he couldn't guess already, but it might be a start.
The library door opened, and he looked up in anticipation to see… some random family walking in. He let out a low sigh. He'd been doing this for the past thirty minutes, and it was slowly driving him crazy. He was just thankful that he'd landed in the right city and that school hadn't started back up yet. He didn't know how he could have dealt with a serious wait.
Max was contemplating browsing present day websites or something to distract himself when two sort-of familiar figures caught his eye out in the parking lot. It was them.
And they were wearing their mission clothes.
This was not something he should have found noteworthy, and indeed it didn't surprise him in the least. But the thing was, they were in their original mission outfits.
Words could not describe how awkward Max felt at witnessing his own mother in a crop top. Especially when she was currently, as a heinously treacherous corner of his mind pointed out, a rather attractive teenager.
Forcing that particular line of thought down, Max stood up as Team Possible (were they calling themselves that yet? He still wasn't sure) entered the library. Kim caught him watching them right away and made her way over, Ron trailing close behind.
"Hello there," she said with a warm, inviting smile. "We're looking for an informant who told us to meet here. You wouldn't happen to be him, would you?"
Max greeted her with what he hoped was an equally friendly and not at all awkward expression and accepted her proffered handshake. Remember, from their perspective, you've never met these people before.
"Yeah, that would be me. You must be Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, then?"
Ron grinned. "Hey, you know my name! That settles it, KP, this guy is the real deal."
Kim shot him a smirk. "All right. And does our 'real deal' informant have a name?"
Max just managed to hold back a wince. He'd forgotten that he had sent the request anonymously.
"Oh, right. I'm Max… uh… Lincoln." Really should have come up with a pseudonym earlier, Possible.
He could see a cloud of suspicion form over Kim's face when he hesitated, so he quickly moved on. "S-sorry, I was kind of in a hurry when I wrote. I was tracking Monkey Fist's movements when he led me here, and since you two have the most experience with him, I realized it would be a good idea to get your help before he skipped town again."
Kim's expression and posture had slipped into what he recognized as her mission mode – arms folded, gaze focused and intent – as he started to explain himself. It was not an unkind look she was giving him, but there was still a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
"Interesting. I have to admit, I didn't know anyone other than us really dealt with Monkey Fist. How come we've never heard of you?"
Now, this cover story was something Max had prepared in advance. He produced an ID card he'd had in his pocket during the mission. These cards were something his team had gotten relatively recently in his own time, and identified its members as allies of Global Justice. He held it up in a way that obscured his last name and the word "ally" and showed it off to Kim.
"I'm a junior agent with Global Justice, but I'm relatively new to the field," he lied smoothly, returning the card to his pocket before she could scrutinize it too closely. "We got the first alert that Monkey Fist was at large again, and I was sent to recover him before he could get his resources together and start any real trouble. Unfortunately, he gave me the slip when I followed him into town this morning…"
"And that's when you decided to call us for backup," Kim concluded, a hand to her chin and her head tilted thoughtfully.
Ron scratched the back of his head. "'Junior agent?' Is that why your uniform's all different?" He glanced at his partner. "Hey Kim, why haven't they invited us to be junior agents?"
Kim returned his look. "Honestly, I'm more surprised that Dr. Director didn't contact us herself."
"Or just woosh us off to HQ," Ron added.
Craaaap. Max could have sworn they hadn't actually dealt with Global Justice yet in this time period, and he'd been banking on their lack of familiarity with the organization to obscure any holes in his cover story. He tried to think fast.
"Uh, that's because it was a last-minute decision. My decision. I could've gotten my superiors for backup instead, but this was way more practical."
He glanced down at his outfit. He wasn't sure if it qualified as a "uniform," seeing as it had been personally designed for him, but it still followed the general pattern of his team's current (in his time) mission wear: light-cut shirt, colored a dark forest green in his case and subtly armored with some of Wade's old battlesuit tech; thin and flexible yet durable black gloves, specialized utility belt, form-fit yet flexible pants shaded a dark gray that went with the shirt, and sturdy black combat boots. He'd stowed away his Maxciever lest Wade or one of the others recognize the tech, but he figured he should say something about the rest.
"And yeah, this is the uniform of our junior agents. It's a new department, but I could… check with my supervisor… and see if they're considering you?"
Much to his relief, Kim smiled and shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. It's a flattering thought, but we like being free agents."
"Sweet uniforms though," Ron added with a thumbs-up.
When I get back to my time, I'll let Auntie Monique know you said that. "Uh… thanks."
Meanwhile, Kim had slipped back into mission mode. "If Monkey Fist is still getting his resources together, that must include the monkey ninjas. That would explain why he's back in Middleton – there aren't a lot of options for dealing with nonhuman criminals, so the local prison has a special facility for holding them until the wildlife authorities can figure out what to do with them."
"That… makes a lot of sense, actually," Max considered. "Our sources suggest his ultimate goal is in Japan, but he'll want to get all his forces back together first." Plus it might explain why the portal dropped us off here, if it was something he'd been subconsciously thinking about when he used it.
While he was considering this, Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator. "Wade, have you picked up on any funny business down at the prison?"
"Negative," Wade replied. "As far as I can tell, Monkey Fist is still in custody. Are you sure he's broken out?"
"Absolutely. I tracked him here myself," Max cut in.
"We think he's come back for the monkey ninjas, but he might also be getting ready to head to Japan," Kim explained. "Can you keep a lookout for any suspicious activity that could be either of those?"
"Sure thing. I'll let you know when I find something."
With that, Wade signed off. Kim sighed thoughtfully as she stowed the Kimmunicator, and then turned back to Ron and Max.
"In the meantime, we'll see what we can dig up here," she said. "What have you got so far, Max?"
A/N: Just in case anyone's confused by the "Auntie Monique" line, no, Monique is not somehow Max's literal aunt. He calls her that in the "adult friend of the family" context, and would probably be calling Wade "Uncle" in the same way except that Wade prefers to just be called by his first name. Fun with naming conventions!