It's been quite a while since I've posted anything, hasn't it? Welcome to Hand of Sorrow, the sequel to my story Karma Chameleon. If you haven't read that story, that's okay. I know it's probably been a long time since anyone has read it, so I'll be briefly going over important plot points from it in this story when they come up. That way you'll get a nice little refresher and hopefully not be totally in the dark. Of course to those who haven't read Karma Chameleon, to get the full experience out of this story you probably should. I mean, it's not awful... is it? In any case, I hope you all enjoy this tale. It's been rattling around in my head for a very long time now.

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"Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie."

~Wizard's Fifth Rule

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His head felt light. He didn't know if he was sick or if he had taken a blow to the head. But there was no one around him. It didn't make any sense.

Now his entire body felt as if it was made of air. No, he was just falling in midair. Had he jumped from a plane? Was he on a mission? He looked back and saw there was no parachute. This was bad. Very bad.

He saw Middleton High School below. He was supposed to be a senior. Now he would never get a chance to experience that or graduate. He was going to die.

The roof of the building opened up and allowed him safe passage to his desk. He slowed down as he fell into his seat. He recognized the room as Mr. Barkin's American history class from his junior year. The sight of his longtime teacher in his dark brown suit only confirmed his suspicions.

"Stoppable!" the man barked.

Ron did not say anything.

"Can you tell me…?" Barkin started to ask, his voice trailing off.

The words he was speaking didn't make sense. Whatever he was saying was unrecognizable as the usually loud and commanding voice of the teacher turned into soft, indistinct chatter. Mr. Barkin's lips detached from his face and continued moving as they floated away from his body.

Ron looked to his left to see Kim's face staring at him. Penetrating green eyes bore into his skull.

"Who are you?" she asked.

It was obvious that she had no trouble recognizing him. Her expression wasn't quizzical. It was hard as stone. Again he didn't answer.

In an instant Kim's face began to melt, revealing another familiar face underneath.

"What do you want?" Camille asked him.

Like Kim she wore a serious, almost grim look on her face. It has been months since he had seen her. She had already graduated earlier in the spring. Why was she back at Middleton High School?

His surroundings immediately changed to Kim's living room. Like the classroom, this place was instantly recognizable. Her house was his home away from home. He figured that in his lifetime he had spent as much time here as he had his own house.

Kim was sitting next to him on her couch. This time she wore a warm smile on her face.

"I know who you are," she said kindly. "You're my best friend. You're a hero. You're my sidekick in Team Possible. And you're a good guy."

Before he could say a word the scene shifted again. He was in another familiar place. Though he had only been in this room a handful of times in his whole life, he could never forget it. This was the place where he had lost his virginity. It was as the old book said, the best of times and the worst of times.

He was lying in a bed under the covers. He looked down and saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt. It didn't take much thought to realize he wasn't wearing anything else either.

To his left he saw Camille. Like him, she wasn't wearing a single item of clothing. Though her body was completely covered by the sheet, he knew what she looked like underneath. Despite being under the influence of the Attitudinator at the time he remembered every curve of her body. It was the kind of experience a guy just couldn't forget.

"I know what you want," she smirked flirtatiously. "You want me. You want all the fame, all the money and all the… pleasure that comes with being with me."

He saw the bright red hair of Kim out of the corner of his eye. Turning to his right he saw her standing beside the bed clad in her mission outfit. She still had a smile on her face as she looked down at him, seemingly unaware that her most hated foe was in bed right next to him.

"Don't you remember all the good times we had?" she asked.

The game of tug of war continued as his attention was brought back to the blonde beside him. Like with Kim, a smile still graced the lips of the heiress.

"Don't you remember all the good times we had?" she echoed.

Ron blinked hard as he continued to try to understand the situation. Things were moving too quickly. He heard Kim's voice again.

"Ron? Ron?"

Everything went black.

"Ron?"

A gasp escaped his mouth as his eyes burst open.

"Ron?"

He quickly looked to the source of the sound. Kim was kneeling next to him with her hand on his shoulder.

"It's about time," she smirked. "It took a few tries to wake you up. I suppose I should know by now that you're a heavy sleeper."

He continued blinking as his senses returned to him. Looking around he saw that he was in the belly of a cargo plane. The area was only dimly lit by old lights hanging overhead, but there was no mistaking the place. He had been in this situation dozens of times before. Memories rushed back to his mind as things began to look more and more familiar. He was on a mission. That's right. He and Kim were going to Europe. He had fallen asleep during the long flight.

His eyes closed tight as he let out a loud yawn. After a few seconds he felt good enough to stand. Kim got up from her knees and playfully slapped his arm.

"You know you shouldn't be sleeping this close to the drop zone. You need to be fully awake and aware when you're freefalling."

Ron ran his hand over his face and rubbed his eyes.

"I know I know," he said as he tried to stifle another yawn. "Sorry about that KP."

"No big. But we are going to be there in around ten minutes. So make sure your parachute is on and ready."

"Yeah. No problem."

The two teens walked over to where their gear was sitting. Each scooped up a large brown backpack and slipped it over their shoulders. They stood face to face as they secured each other's packs and ensured that they were on properly.

"You were out for a couple hours," she said as she tugged on one of the straps of his parachute. "Have any interesting dreams?"

No lies. That was their new commitment to one another. After they had nearly been struck with a tragedy of unprecedented proportions earlier in the year they had both agreed that they could not keep secrets from each other. To do so could result in another horrible incident. After all, important events often resulted from trivial causes. There could be no room for risk or chance.

"Actually I did," he said as he continued with the final checks of her harness.

"Oh? Do tell."

"I don't think you'll like it."

She gave him a small frown as her eyes focused on his own rather than on the harness he was wearing. "And why wouldn't I like it?"

He unconsciously tugged on the collar of his shirt as he tried to think of a good explanation. For Kim this meant that he was hiding something. Had he played poker this would be one of his "tells".

"Don't tell me…" she groaned.

"Yeah. I'm afraid so. Camille was in it."

Kim let out a disgusted scoff at the mention of the girl's name. She was the girl who had nearly ruined her life. She had nearly ruined a lot of people's lives. And it was because of her actions that Ron had nearly died.

"But it's okay!" Ron said hurriedly. "You were in it too!"

If he thought that this little addition would lessen Kim's worries then he was gravely mistaken.

"Gross."

"No no no! Not like that!" he continued. "Only Camille was like that! You were still wearing your clothes- oh my God why am I saying this out loud?"

He quickly covered his face in embarrassment after revealing the more private details of his dream. He had expected Kim to get even angrier. Instead he heard laughter. He peeked through the fingers that were covering his eyes and saw that Kim was in hysterics.

"Wow, you're such a typical guy," she said in between laughs.

Ron moved his hand from his face and nervously joined in the laughter. It only took a few more seconds before Kim's expression turned serious.

"Well hopefully you won't be too focused on your dream when we land. We have a mission after all."

He knew all too well. Their mission was in Milan.

Ron still remembered what Camille had told him on prom night back in early June. She had told him that she had plans to go to Milan and steal some of the latest fashion designs. At the time it had confused him to no end. He couldn't understand why she would tell him this. Of course he had asked her why. He had told her that Kim would come to stop her. And now after hearing that new fashion designs had been stolen she was indeed coming. There was just no getting around it. Even without their new honesty policy he would have told her. After all, he was a good guy. Dream-world Kim had even told him so.

Who are you?

The question echoed in his mind as he thought about the upcoming mission.

It was late August now. He had not seen Camille since he had taken her to the prom over two months ago. There hadn't even been a word about her other than what he and everyone else heard about her on the gossip TV shows.

But now it seemed that they were finally going to meet again. Before she left she had told him that she wanted to be caught by him. In the weeks after that he had wondered just what exactly she had meant by that. His mind interpreted it in many ways. Maybe he was just over-thinking it. Maybe it was a lot simpler than he was making it seem. One way or another he was going to get an answer tonight. The record of Team Possible was nearly unblemished when it came to catching criminals. He doubted that tonight would be any different.

His stomach growled. He wondered if she had indeed made reservations for that little Italian place she knew.

"Don't worry. A dream is just a dream. I know this is serious. My head is totally in the game."

"Good. Because I'm going to nail her hard. And I want you to be there watching when I expose her for all that she is."

"Um, Kim?" he said uneasily.

"What?"

"Ew."

She gave him a strange look as she tried to understand why he had just said that. "Ew what?"

He didn't say a word, instead simply raising his eyebrows as if to say "isn't it obvious?" It took a few more moments for her to understand.

"Oh… oh gross Ron!"

It was his turn to laugh at her embarrassment. But she quickly regrouped and didn't show any signs of being affected by it. That was who she was. Ice water ran through her veins when she was in mission mode. She only rarely let emotions compromise her while on a mission. And most of those instances had occurred in their battle against Camille Leon and The Supreme One.

Before either of them could say another word they heard the voice of the pilot from the speaker mounted on the inside of the fuselage.

"Ms. Possible, we are approaching the target zone in ninety seconds," the voice crackled.

She let out a deep breath as she bent down to pick up her helmet. Ron did the same and the two fastened the final pieces of their gear to themselves.

"I still can't believe she was stupid enough to actually tell you that she was going to do this," Kim said with a trace of humor in her voice.

"Yeah, but she still managed to pull it off even when she told us."

"Of course. It takes hours to fly from Middleton to Milan. But at least now we have a good place to start. First we go to the crime scene and get some clues. Then we find her with the stolen designs and have her arrested. This will be over in a couple hours."

"I hope so. I'm really hungry. I have a craving for Italian food."

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with us being in Italy," she smiled.

"Not at all," he said honestly.

"Anyway, I hope you don't have any reservations in arresting your former fake girlfriend. I know you said you wanted to save her and all that, but this should just prove that she's not trying to change."

He watched as she pulled open the large door on the side of the plane. Air whipped through the cabin making it difficult to hear anything else. He walked over to stand close to her so she could hear him.

"Don't worry. I've been doing this long enough to know how it works. She needs to be brought to justice for her crimes. I'm a good guy. She's a bad guy. Girl actually, but bad girl just doesn't sound nearly as threatening as bad guy. You know what I mean? Is that sexist?"

"I'd love to answer you but we gotta go."

Kim hurled herself out of the plane, followed a couple of seconds later by Ron. The two freefell for a while before finally pulling the cords of their parachutes. One spent the next few minutes in peaceful solitude. The other endured an agonizing descent as a flurry of emotions flooded their mind.

XXXXXXXXXX

After cutting themselves free of their parachutes the pair of teens began their trek towards their destination. They had been unable to land in the middle of the streets in Milan, so instead had opted to land in an open field several miles from the scene of the robbery. What would normally have been a long and boring walk to the target was made easy for Kim as she pushed forward with a fiery determination. Ron on the other hand didn't share her desire for justice and revenge, and his legs began to tire around a half hour into the walk. Normally walking would not have been the least bit difficult, but attempting to keep up with Kim's brisk pace was taking its toll on him.

"Kim," he whined. "Can't we take a cab or something? Or a gondola? Is Milan the one with gondolas?"

She didn't slow down a step as she responded to her friend. "Sorry Ron, but we don't have any Euros. We're not here to sightsee or eat out, since you mentioned wanting Italian food. By the way, wouldn't they just call it 'food' here?"

Déjà vu.

"Yeah, um, I guess," he said as prom night memories from back in June rushed into his mind.

As their journey continued Kim realized that they could have and should have been better prepared for this. In her haste she hadn't bothered to try and have Wade book them a real flight which would have brought them to an airport. She hadn't bothered to attempt to exchange any American dollars for Euros prior to arriving in a foreign country. But when she had heard that she would have a chance to finally bring that bleached blonde harpy to justice, she just didn't think of anything else. What had happened between her, Camille and Ron in spring was still fresh in her mind. And the personal magnitude of it still stung her.

"I never did get to tell you, I'm happy that there won't be any drama when we catch Camille red-handed," Kim said as she slowed down and turned to look at Ron.

"If," he corrected her.

"What do you mean 'if'?"

"Well you know about her tricks and everything. You know that she can shape shift and make herself look like pretty much anyone. What are you going to do if you have zero proof that she actually did rob this place?"

Kim scowled as she turned and looked down to the narrow paved road. Ron was right. Camille wasn't stupid enough to go in there wearing her real face and commit a robbery. She now knew not just the truth, but the truth behind truths. Not only could the heiress change her appearance at will, but she was not nearly as stupid as she portrayed herself to be on TV and in celebrity gossip magazines. What she and Ron were dealing with was not some rich airhead who liked to steal pretty and expensive things. Camille Leon was a manipulative, sociopathic and intelligent girl. Like she had told Ron when the two of them first met; she's rich. And being rich, she has had the best education money could buy. She wore a mask of ignorance and stupidity only to fool and manipulate her marks. It had already worked once to devastating effect. Underestimating her again was the last thing Kim would ever want to do.

She had underestimated the villainess once and it had nearly cost Ron his life. First Camille had manipulated Ron into believing that she had wanted to be his girlfriend. And like most men would, he fell for it hook, line and sinker. And then slowly but surely she had manipulated the facts and situations to her favor to make Kim look jealous and malicious towards Ron's new girlfriend. These events combined with the influence of some bizarre Shego from the future calling herself "The Supreme One" had resulted in Ron being turned evil by an Attitudinator, which had nearly cost him his life.

Never again would Kim let someone hurt and manipulate either her or Ron again.

She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had forgotten that Ron had asked her a question.

"Kim?" he asked.

She looked back at him to see an inquisitive look on his face. A sheepish smile spread on her own. "Sorry Ron. I was just thinking about some things. You know how I get when it comes to this stuff."

A smile of his own replaced his previous expression.

"Mission stuff or Camille stuff?"

"Ugh," she grunted. "Both. Mostly Camille. Mostly about all the stuff she put us through a few months ago."

"Sounds to me like I'm not the one you should be worried about thinking about her too much. And that's saying something considering that I lost my-"

He cut himself off before he could finish his thought. It was an uncomfortable subject between the two of them to say the least. Normally it wouldn't have been awkward to discuss with other male friends like Felix. But with Kim being a girl and his best friend since pre-kindergarten, talking about his sex life wasn't the easiest thing for him to talk about with her. In fact he couldn't remember any instance of them doing so in the past few months. Not many opportunities came up to discuss losing his virginity to a super villainess while he was turned evil by the Attitudinator.

An uneasy silence settled over them.

"Yeah," she said uncomfortably. "No big."

Ron's stomach began growling as the silence lingered. Both were secretly thankful for this as it gave them something new to discuss. Kim let out a small laugh before she spoke.

"I see you weren't lying about being hungry."

"The Ron-man never lies about his hunger. What you see and hear is what you get. And right now I'm starving. And are you serious about us not having any money?"

"Well I do have money," she said as she pointed to her pocket. "I just mean that it's American money. I don't think any places in Milan will accept it."

"What about one of those places where they exchange currency?"

"A currency exchange?"

A bright smile appeared on his face. Kim didn't know whether it was because he had set up her response or because he genuinely didn't know that he had basically given himself his own answer.

"That's the one!"

"I don't even know where we would find one of those places here. And besides, we have a mission to do. We don't have time… to…"

Kim's voice trailed off as she looked up at the large building in front of them. Written in large bold letters on the outside were the words: Banca Popolare di Milano. She reached into her pocket to fetch the piece of paper that had the address of the site of the robbery. She then looked back at the building. This was the place. Still unsure if this was the correct location, she brought her Kimmunicator out as well and went to contact Wade.

The young tech genius's face appeared on the screen. As usual he was sipping a large cup of soda through a straw.

"Wade, where exactly are we supposed to be?" she asked.

"What do you mean? Are you at the bank?"

"The bank?"

"Yes. The Banca Popolare di Milano. That's where the robbery took place."

"I don't get it," Ron frowned. "Why exactly would fashion designs be in a bank?"

"A safe deposit box?"

Ron slapped his forehead and groaned. "Oh. Well I guess that makes perfect sense then."

Kim blew a few errant strands of hair out of her face and returned her attention to Wade. "Okay, let's start from the beginning. And this time don't leave out the details. What exactly went down at this place?"

"According to the security report, one of the bank guards let an unidentified individual into the back where the safe deposit boxes are located. There wasn't anything suspicious about it when it happened. But later some of the other security guards went back over the logs and noticed that the guard in question wasn't supposed to be working there that day. They also found out that the box didn't belong to the mystery robber. The real owner of the box is the famous fashion designer Coco Banana."

"Coco Banana?" Kim gasped.

"Who?" Ron wondered.

"The founder of Club Banana? The man who has designed the most amazing outfits ever? He's the reason I'm wearing what I am right now."

"Did he come up with 'pink poof'?"

"Pink poof is so sophomore year. What's important is that if we can retrieve his designs that he might let us get a sneak peek of the next year's spring collection!"

Ron smirked as Kim had reverted to a basic, average teenage girl. While she may know sixteen styles of kung fu and save the world on a regular basis, inside she was still just another girl in high school. Things like fashion and boys were just as important to her as super villains and doomsday machines. Sometimes it was nice to be reminded of this.

"Okay okay, so it's important clothes stuff for an important clothes guy. And I thought I was the one who usually complained about not getting a reward."

Kim scoffed as she opened and closed her mouth several times as she tried to find the words to counter Ron's accusation. "I'm not expecting a reward," she explained. "I just figure that maybe… well, maybe Mr. Banana will be so grateful to us that he'll show us what's coming out next spring before it hits the stores. You know, maybe I'll even get to buy some before Bonnie… oh my gosh I'm a horrible person aren't I?"

Ron laughed at the guilty expression on her face. Leave it to Kim to feel bad about wanting a little harmless reward for doing someone an enormous favor. It once again showed that it was difficult to balance her life as a teenage heroine and teenage girl.

"I don't think you're horrible at all. It's not bad to be rewarded for doing a good deed. Especially since we're taking time out of our busy lives to fly all the way to Italy just to get some stolen drawings of clothes."

Kim merely grunted in annoyance.

"Come on KP, I'm sure that he'll give you something once we get those designs back. And if he doesn't then I'll be the one to ask so you don't look like the bad guy. I have no shame in asking for rewards, remember?"

Kim bit her lower lip in embarrassment and looked down to the sidewalk. "Oh, you don't have to do that…" she said softly, obviously not meaning what she said.

"It's no big, Kim. I got this. I'll make sure that you can at least see the things if you can't buy any of them early."

In a flash he was enveloped in a tight hug from his best friend.

"Thanks Ron," she said happily. "You're the best friend I could ever ask for. And not just because of this. Because of, well, everything you are and do. I don't know what I would do without you."

He patted her on the back a few times before they separated.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Wade said suddenly. "But there still is the matter of finding out who stole the plans and where they took them. You need to do that before you can think about any rewards."

"I think we can safely assume who was able to pull off such a convincing disguise of one of the bank security guards."

Wade nodded on the screen. "Just try not to let your emotions get the better of you. I know that you might want to rush into this. But we need to take our time and come up with a good plan once we get all the details."

She knew he was right. She had already rushed things once coming to Italy. She couldn't let it happen again. "Right. We need to keep our heads in the game."

"Lead the way, Kim."

After slipping the Kimmunicator back in her pocket, Kim led Ron up to the front entrance of the bank and inside. Finding out where Camille took the designs was just the first step of the mission. Kim hoped that she would be doubly satisfied in the outcome of it.

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Once inside the bank it took a few minutes to find a representative who spoke fluent English. But soon enough they were led to the man's office where they sat in a couple of chairs opposite of his desk. He took a seat and folded his hands neatly on its dark wood surface.

"Ms. Possible, I have been informed that you are here concerning the robbery of one of our clients safe deposit boxes. Is this correct?"

"Yes sir. We have reason to believe that we know who is behind the theft."

The man looked surprised as he ran his hand through his thinning silver hair. "Do you really? May I ask who you believe the suspect is?"

Kim gave Ron a concerned glance instead of giving the man an answer. She had no idea how well known super villains were outside of America. For all she knew, names like Dr. Drakken and Professor Dementor could sound like comic book characters to this man. And it would definitely seem strange if she accused a world famous celebrity like Camille Leon of being the bank thief. After all, she actually did have a power that came straight from a comic book. Few people in their right mind would actually believe that she had the ability to shape shift. Telling this bank official her suspicions would only discredit her, and maybe even damage the investigation.

She decided to go with the safe route. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that information is classified," she said while hiding a frown.

She didn't like giving answers like that. She liked to know things, and she was certain that this man was the same way in a situation like this. Normally if there was information to share concerning a crime she was more than willing to give it. But here she had to think of the long term outcome.

"I see," he sighed. "I am very sorry to hear that. But tell me, if you are unable to disclose the details of your investigation, why are you here?"

"I was hoping to see the security log from when the robbery took place. I would like to see who the person was that went back to the safe deposit box."

While Kim did not know whether or not some of the super villains were famous enough to have worldwide renown, luckily she was. In many of the countries in the world the name Kim Possible was associated with Global Justice, despite it not being completely accurate. All they knew was that she was a trusted crime fighter who had saved lives and recovered precious items on many occasions.

"Very well. Let me just bring the footage up."

The man began typing at his keyboard. It was annoyingly slow to Kim. Maybe it was because she had so much invested in this mission, or maybe it was because she was so used to Wade's lightning quick fingers. All she knew was that it was taking an eternity for the man to find what she was looking for.

"Ah, here we go," he said as he turned the monitor so they could both see it.

The footage began playing. As it did so Kim whipped out her Kimmunicator and pressed a button before holding it so that the screen could see the monitor. As the time elapsed she was disappointed to see that she did not know who the woman was that was being led to the back room. But she knew in her gut that the security guard that was leading her was none other than Camille.

"May I ask what you're doing?" the man said.

"Oh, I'm just letting my tech specialist get a look at the video. He's going to scan the face and run it through a global database of known criminals. Then maybe we can get to the bottom of this."

The man smiled as the footage ended. "I sincerely hope so. Our client is an important man, and it would be a shame to lose his business here."

It took only a few seconds before Wade's face popped up on the screen. Kim was delighted at the speed in which he had found something. She expected nothing less from her young friend.

"Find anything useful, Wade?"

"I sure did. I've identified the woman in the security log to be a wanted criminal known as Espadrille."

"Just Espadrille?" she said as she raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Just Espadrille."

"What, are we supposed to know who she is just by her first name?" Ron asked. "It's not like we're talking about Brittina here."

"It's okay though," Wade reassured them. "She's associated with a crime group known as the Fashionistas. And get this, they're based right there in Milan."

"Well that makes sense. After all, it is the fashion capital of the world."

"Right. And I've got a pretty good idea of where they're hiding out too."

Kim was genuinely impressed when she heard that. While she may have expected a lot from Wade, she never imagined he could get things done this fast.

"You found out that quickly?"

"It was a piece of cake," he said as his face was replaced by a picture of an impressively large and beautiful building. "Global positioning places the entrance to the fashion underground somewhere in this building."

Kim's eyebrows again rose as she looked at the home of a group of underground fashion criminals. "As lairs go it's, uh, pretty…"

"Yeah, but don't let its exterior fool you. The place is probably covered with all kinds of high tech security measures and traps. It won't be easy to get in."

"It never is. Well except when the guys put in a big ventilation shaft that leads right into the middle of the lair. Then it's super easy… come to think of it, they do that more often than not."

"Right. But don't expect them to make those mistakes. These guys are pros."

"Well it's not like the bar has been set too high with our normal foes."

"Except a certain supreme foe."

Kim involuntarily shuddered when she was reminded of the villain who had nearly destroyed her life. A day hasn't passed yet where she didn't think of how lucky she was to still have her best friend by her side. The Supreme One had truly been her most dangerous foe yet. Even Camille had just been a pawn in her horrible scheme. It had taken every ounce of strength and will in her body, as well as several other people in order to defeat the villainess. There were still taunts and words that the future Shego had spoken that did not make sense to Kim. They probably never would.

"Right. I won't underestimate these guys. I'll never underestimate a foe again."

"Good to hear. I'm sending you the directions to the place right now."

"Thanks, Wade."

Kim dropped the device back into her pocket and stood up. "Well sir, we have a very solid lead now on the location of your suspects. I'm going to go over there and-"

"I don't know how you do things in America, but I will not allow you to go off chasing this known criminal who has stolen from our bank."

Kim was taken aback by the interruption. She looked at him curiously and waited for further explanation.

"I will be notifying the authorities at once, and they will go to this 'fashion underground' as your friend put it. They will arrest the person in question, along with her accomplices."

This was definitely a change in pace. Normally local and even national authorities did not get in her way. Most of the time the world seemed oblivious to the fact that super villains even existed. But not this time.

"Oh, um, okay…" she said hesitantly. "Yeah, I guess we could always use some help."

The man stood and adjusted his suit. "I'm afraid that this is an internal affair. We here at the bank will be taking care of this incident," he said as he moved to the door and opened it, gesturing for her and Ron to leave. "I am very thankful for all of your help, but from this point forward the police will be handling the investigation and recovery of our client's property."

Kim sputtered in protest as she and Ron were herded out of the man's office. The door was quickly shut behind them, leaving the two teens stunned by what had just taken place.

"Man, I liked it better in America where everyone was lazy except us…" Ron said.

The comment drew a soft giggle from Kim's lips as she shook her head. "Oh well. Looks like we'll just have to do this off the record then."

"You mean we're still going after those fashion people and Camille?"

"You got it. There's no way I'm letting this opportunity slip through my fingers. We're going to get them whether the Italian police want us there or not. We'll just have to be a little sneaky about it."

Kim and Ron left the bank and were soon on their way to their target in another part of the city. It was times like these that Ron wished they had packed their rocket skates. With no money they had to again walk to their destination. He hoped that he wouldn't be too worn out from the walk by the time they arrived. It didn't help to be tired when fighting super villains.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sprinting down the narrow streets of Milan had taken its toll on Ron sooner than he would have liked. While he wasn't out of shape by any means, it did not mean that he was in fact in a good athletic condition. He wasn't an athlete at school, having never participated in anything other than cheerleading with the exception of the one week he attempted to play all of the sports in the school in order to get popular with the ladies. In the end that effort had failed in spectacular proportions, and it also marked the end of his career in sports that didn't involve wearing a giant rubber dog mask.

Kim on the other hand lived for moments like this. Ron figured that she would never tire or slow down when she was in mission mode. Her prey on this particular mission only further motivated her to quickly reach their destination. He wished that he had spoken up about not becoming too tired to actually be effective in their upcoming mission. Arriving out of breath at the building where the Fashionistas were held up was not a good plan. But at the moment he was too far behind her and too out of breath to voice his objections.

He didn't know how long they had been running for. All he knew was that his legs felt like rubber and he was in danger of collapsing at any moment. It was times like this that he wished his confusing and frustratingly inconsistent Mystical Monkey Power would kick in. Having that kind of energy and stamina would have made this a breeze. He wondered why it kicked in when it did in the past.

Memories from three months ago flashed in his mind. It was not a time that he wanted to remember, but the thoughts and images were burned into his mind. He had once again been turned evil by the Attitudinator. He had turned his back on Kim and teamed up with Camille in order to do whatever they wanted. From petty and childish revenge to grand schemes of world domination, it seemed that nothing had been out of their reach. That was until the unpleasant side-effects of the device had begun to take their toll and drive him completely insane.

But for some reason when he had been in that state he was able to harness some of his abilities. He had been more than proficient enough in martial arts when he was under its influence. He had somehow gotten to the level where he was able to hold his own against a seasoned warrior like Shego. How or why that was the case, he could not say. But the fact that he knew this and could not figure out why frustrated him to no end.

Looking ahead, Ron saw that he was finally starting to catch up to Kim. The only reason for that was because she was standing still. He wasn't close enough yet to see what she was looking at, but it bothered him to see that she had stopped when she had been so focused on her goal. If she had stopped for his sake he reasoned that she would at least be looking in his direction. Instead her gaze was focused on what lay ahead of them. Ron thought that he could see faint flashes of blue ahead of her. In his experience flashing lights were never a good thing when on a mission. Usually they announced some kind of doomsday machine or warning.

After closing the distance between them, Ron stopped and rested a hand on Kim's shoulder as he panted and tried to catch his breath. He was looking down at the ground as he did so. Kim had not said a word or bothered to look away at the sight before her.

"Hey… Kim…" he panted. "What's… up…?"

With his hand on her, Ron felt her exhale deeply as she turned to face him.

"Wow, you're really out of shape," she commented.

Ron frowned at her choice of words. "I'm… not… out of… shape…" he argued. "I… I just… need… to work on… my running…"

A tiny smirk crossed her lips at his explanation before frowning again. She looked back to the building ahead of them.

Seconds silently passed by as Ron continued to catch his breath. By now he had been standing still long enough so that he no longer needed to gasp for oxygen every time he spoke.

"So what's going on?" he asked.

"Look for yourself," she said as she pointed toward the building that had been their target.

Several blue police cruisers were parked outside of what Wade had called the "fashion underground". Flashing blue lights atop the cars drew the attention of passersby as well as the two teen heroes. Kim saw a number of police officers standing near the cars and the gathering crowd as they did their best to keep onlookers from getting too close to scene. Her fists tightened in anger seeing her chance to stealthily infiltrate the building.

"What do they think they're doing!"

Ron's eyebrows were raised in surprise at the sight before him. "Their jobs?"

Kim scoffed at the answer. "Yeah I know but…"

"But what? They're the police. Isn't catching the bad guys what the police do?"

"Yeah. But this stuff doesn't normally happen. I mean, come on Ron. When's the last time the police actually got to a crime scene before we did?"

"It is pretty weird. I was joking before when I said that everyone was lazy in America except us. But wow, this kind of does support the argument, doesn't it?"

Kim didn't answer him. Her raptor-like gaze was focused on the people who were exiting the building. She had seen two of them before. Espadrille was in handcuffs along with the security guard who had been identified on the security footage back in the bank. Along with them was another man wearing sunglasses and a woman in a hoodie who Kim was unfamiliar with, but could only assume were part of the Fashionistas.

Kim unconsciously took a step forward. She was so close. There she was. There was Camille Leon. She hadn't altered her appearance from the security guard yet. For all anyone knew it was really him.

Ron noticed her take more steps forward. He quickly grabbed onto her forearm and stopped her. "Where are you going?"

"To expose Camille. I can't let her escape this time. Never again."

"But there are police all over. How are you going to do it?"

"I don't know yet. But I will."

She pulled her arm away from Ron and began walking straight for the collection of police cars. A number of the officers noticed her and didn't quite know how to react. While the name Kim Possible did have world-wide renown, how far she was allowed to interject in police matters was different on a case by case basis.

Kim approached two of the officers that stood in her way of going any further. "Excuse me, I'm Kim Possible. I was wondering if I could speak with the security guard you just arrested for a moment."

The two men glanced at each other with confused looks before looking back at Kim.

"You don't speak English, do you?" she frowned.

Upon hearing the word English the two men shook their heads. Kim sighed in frustration.

"Anyone here speak English?" she called out to no one in particular.

After several seconds of looking around, Kim saw another officer approaching her. She hoped to have better luck here.

"Excuse me miss, what do you think you're doing here?" the man asked in a heavy accent.

"I need to speak with the security guard you just arrested. It is extremely important that I'm allowed-"

"Out of the question. This is a police matter. I ask that you please step back to a safe distance. This is a crime scene and the building is still being searched."

"But I'm Kim Possible!" she protested. "You know, crime-fighting teen hero?"

"I know who you are, but this is an extremely important and dangerous operation. Please step back."

"Why are things so difficult in this country!"

Ron looked on with concern as he saw his best friend getting nowhere in her arguing. But knowing Kim, she wouldn't give up that easily. The fact that she was being denied access by the authorities was simply making her fight even harder for access to the people placed under arrest.

He let out a heavy sigh as he leaned against an old brick building. He couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but by the tone and volume Kim was speaking in he knew that she was upset. His attention on the argument was interrupted when he heard a sound from an alley behind him. Looking back he saw an empty can rolling out of the alley and slowly making its way toward him. His curiosity got the better of him and went to go look for the source.

Thinking that it could be a stray cat or another animal rummaging through the trash cans, his heart skipped a beat when a hand grabbed hold of his shirt and slammed him against a different wall the same brick building that he had just been resting against. Before he could focus on what was happening he felt a pair of lips press up against his own and take him in a lustful kiss. He didn't even need to look at the person in front of him to know who it was. Along with her perfume, he recognized the tongue and lips of the woman and how she used them, as next to Kim's when she had been under the influence of the Moodulator, these were the only lips he had ever had the pleasure of tasting.

When the kiss ended his heart again skipped when he saw exactly who the lips had belonged to. It was not at all what he had been expecting to see. A pair of green eyes sparkled on a face framed by fiery red hair. If he hadn't known it was a lie, Ron could have sworn that he was looking into the face of his best friend. However, he knew better than that.

"Hey bad boy. Miss me?"

"W-what?" he stammered.

The Kim lookalike giggled at what she assumed must have been not only his reaction to her show of affection, but also the appearance that she had decided to take. It took only moments for her to transform into her true form. A pair of icy blue eyes and bleached blonde hair replaced the looks of his best friend.

"So…what's up?" she casually asked.

Ron squinted in bewilderment as he looked back over his shoulder to the crime scene, but found that his vision of it was completely obscured by the building he was up against. He looked back at Camille with confusion still etched on his face.

"But how? You're supposed to be over there. You're supposed to be-"

"The security guard?"

"Yeah. But why-"

"Oh, he's real. One hundred percent genuine. It's amazing what people will do if you pay them enough money. Everyone has a price."

Ron frowned at her last statement. "Not me. You should know that firsthand."

Camille shrugged with indifference at the memory. She had offered herself to him as a bribe to make him turn his back on living the life of a hero and join with her. He had turned her down. It vexed her to this day that the only way she had been able to get him to be her partner in crime was while he was under the influence of the Attitudinator. But like she said, everyone has a price.

"We'll see about that."

"What are you doing? I thought you said that you were going to steal fashion plans. Why are they the ones doing it?"

She smiled innocently at his question. "What do you mean? I'm here as a tourist enjoying the historic and culture-filled city of Milan. I just happened to run into my ex-boyfriend Ron Stoppable and his bitch of a best friend Kim Possible while I was sightseeing."

Ron sighed and shook his head in dismay at her choice of words. "First of all, we both know that's not true. And second, please don't talk about Kim like that. I don't know why you hate her so much, but I'm not going to stand for you saying stuff like that."

Camille blew a few loose strands of hair from her face and looked away in disgust. "Whatever. I see that the mad dog is back on his leash. You know aside from your raging insanity, I liked it a lot better when you were evil."

"Yeah well I didn't. And before you ask, I'm not interested in becoming your evil partner or whatever it is that you're after. Got it?"

"Evil partner? Come on Ron, quit joking around. Just because I'm your ex doesn't mean you have to call me evil."

Ron wasn't interested in wordplay with her. He wondered if Kim was still arguing with the police officer. He then wondered if she wasn't and if she would turn the corner at any moment to see him standing so close to the girl that she hated so much. That situation would not end well for anyone involved in it.

He looked down when he felt and heard the growing rumbling in his stomach. Camille likewise glanced down at the sound's source before looking back up at his face.

"On a mission with an empty stomach? Well, we can fix that. I did wind up making a reservation at the place I told you about on prom night. Care to join me? I know how hungry my boy can get."

He shot her another frown. "I'm not 'your boy' anymore. None of our relationship was ever real. You yourself said as much."

"I also told you that I truly valued your friendship. I still do. You're a really nice guy. Neither of us wants this to end badly. It's all up to you how it goes down. So do you feel like joining me for dinner?"

Ron swallowed as saliva began building up inside his mouth at the thought of eating out at what he only assumed would be a fancy Italian restaurant. But this could not happen. He knew it. He had no idea what Camille was up to, but her being here in Milan and the theft of the fashion designs by the Fashionistas only proved that she was still up to no good. Despite how good a meal sounded, he would have to turn her down.

"I'm sorry, but no. I have plans with Kim."

The villainess again shrugged casually. "Your choice. But I still can't have my boy going hungry."

He made no comment this time as she reached into her purse and produced a few folded up Euros. She held them up to show him what they were before reaching down to stuff them into one of his pockets before pulling back.

"You and Possible go have a nice time then. My treat," she smirked.

"Look, I really don't know what you're up to. But you should know that I won't hold back when it comes to bringing you to justice if we catch you committing a crime. Kim is dedicated to it. And I won't stop her just because of our past."

Camille glared into his eyes for a few tense seconds before smiling. "Sure Ron, whatever. Anyway, this has been fun. But I really should get going now. You know, places to go, people to see, things to do. It's so fun being rich. You get to go anywhere and do anything you want. Too bad you won't come with me."

Ron remembered her saying the exact opposite to him back when they had first met. She had told him that he was lucky that he had lost his $99 million to Dr. Drakken. According to Camille he was better off without it all. When a person was rich nothing in their life was real. All they had was their money. But Ron decided against pointing out the contradiction in her two statements. He had long ago learned that everything she did and said had an ulterior motive behind it. He couldn't help but think that the same applied to this situation.

"No, what's too bad is that you won't come with me. You don't have to do this stuff. You don't have to be a criminal. I really do want to help you. But you're not giving me anything to work with. And I would hate it if the only way you do end up getting help is if you are in jail."

She laughed at the heart-felt words he had for her. "Come on, stop being so dramatic. This is all just a game, remember? Try to have some fun!" she said cheerfully before her face and tone turned dark. "And now for your fair warning. You and Kim should really stay out of this game from now on. You said you wouldn't hold back. Neither will I."

"What does that mean?" he asked warily.

Another smile instantly formed on her face. "Oh nothing. But really, I should get going now. But before I do…"

Camille gently cupped Ron's face with a hand and brought her lips close to his once more. This time the kiss she planted on him was soft and tender. When she pulled away she saw Ron's dazed expression and knew that no matter what he may have said, he still did feel something for her. Whether or not it was something she could exploit in the future she wasn't sure. But for now it had served her purpose.

She raised a hand and lightly waved her fingers. "Bye."

When she turned and began to walk away, Ron immediately moved to try to stop her, or at least run back and get Kim. But as soon as he attempted to move a step his left arm pulled him back to the building he had been against. Looking to the source of the problem, he saw that his wrist was bound in one half of a set of handcuffs. The other was around the rung of a metal ladder attached to the brick building that could be pulled down to access the fire escape structure that stretched all the way up to the top floor.

Ron used his free hand to try to pry the metal off his wrist but knew that it was a battle that would be impossible to win. He looked back down the alley to see Camille casually walking away. He then realized that it was no longer Camille he was looking at, but instead an older looking woman. For all intents and purposes she was now just another citizen of Milan.

"Camille!" he shouted after her.

The villainess did not react to his words and just continued walking.

Once she had exited the other end of the alley, Camille pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number that she had grown very used to calling in the past few months. At one point in her life it was a number that she never would have dared to call. But now the man on the other end of the conversation was one of the most important parts of her life.

She put the phone to her ear and after a couple of rings he answered.

"They're here," she told him. "You and that cyclops freak are good to go."