Mrs. Possible sat by the phone, as Mrs. Stoppable, currently being comforted by her husband, was in no condition to take the call that they all feared but hoped would not come.

Next to the phone, the Middleton Police Department had set up some equipment designed to trace calls, as well as a recorder to ensure any messages were precisely understood.

In the kitchen, Kim and her father sat with the Chief of Police and his sergeant, trying to understand where they stood with the believed kidnapping.

The Chief spoke slowly and with a gentle voice, trying his best to reassure the strongest members of the Possible-Stoppable clan.

"This whole deal is a scenario which Kimmophiles have been kicking around the internet for some time." He held out a large file filled with pictures taken off the internet of Kim and Ron.

"Excuse me," asked Mr. Dr. P., "Kimmophiles?"

This time it was the Sergeant who spoke up.

"Online crime has been booming since the beginning of the twenty-first century. One of the worst abuses of the internet is the evolution of recreational war games, secret chat rooms where individuals plan abductions or attacks against celebrities. It's the next level of stalking. We think someone went too far and actually went through with one of the plans."

Beep-beep be-beep!

Kim's communicator went off. Kim grabbed it like her life depended on it.

"Ron!"

Everyone in the room jumped. Kim's heart skipped a beat, but it settled down as she saw it was Wade.

"Kim, I need to speak to you. Alone."

"Oh, alright." Kim needed to get alone anyway. Mrs. Stoppable had bolted into the room at the mention of her son's name, and she looked like she was on the point of collapse.

Kim walked out into living room and turned the kimmunicator back on.

"What is it Wade? I'm busy."

"I just need to do a quick scan. Can you take one step to your left?"

Kim had absolutely no idea where Wade was going with this. As if she didn't have enough stress in her life already.

"Fine I'll –woah!" A hole had appeared at Kim's feet, and found herself falling into darkness.

"Wooaaahhhh!" Kim slid down a long, metal tunnel slide, traveling downwards like Alice into the rabbit hole. The hole opened up and Kim dropped into a much larger room filled with computers.

Falling about ten more feet, Kim landed hard on her behind on cold metal floor, a shot of pain going through her body. Directly in front of Kim, standing at the Global Justice main crisis control computer, Dr. Betty Director looked like she was on the verge of laughter. The scientists around her smirked as well.

Kim looked to her left and realized why. About six inches away was the plushy, cushioned chair which she was supposed to fall into. Kim stood up and rubbed her now sore bottom.

"Sorry, Kim. Someone must have moved the chair."

Kim grunted.

"Okay, the Danger Mouse routine so has to go. Can I get back to you later? We're kind of experiencing a family crisis here."

Dr. Director snickered.

"Oh, that's so cute that you consider Ron a part of your family now."

Kim was surprised.

"How did you…?"

Dr. Director's smile disappeared as she got down to business.

"We think that Ron's disappearance may coincide with Shego's. Someone's trying to get at Team Possible, and we're worried you might the next target."

"TARGET?"

A large computer behind Dr. Director flickered to life, showing a green graph of a home and the surrounding buildings around it. Kim realized it was a security graph of her home. Ominously, several red zones appeared around in the graph, while black dots flickered in each red area.

"We're not completely sure, but we're going to be posting extra security around your house and around you. You'll need to take a few precautions, of course; never go out alone, never take the same route twice, things which we'll brief you on. What I would also like to know, Kimberly, is whether you carry any sort of protection."

Kim's face blushed brightly, her head turning as bright red as her head.

Dr. Director rolled her eyes.

"Teenagers. I meant a weapon. It's my recommendation you learn how to use a firearm in the event of an emergency or if you go where GJ can't follow."

"I've always done things non-lethally."

"And against your usual villains, that would suffice. But, against this new villain, fancy moves may not cut it."

"See, that's the thing. You haven't even told me who I'm up against."

"Kim, we fear you've been marked by Noir."

"Noir? You mean, someone's hired an assassin?"

"Not just any assassin. We think it might be the true Noir."

"What do you mean, 'the true Noir'?"

"A lot of assassins take the name 'Noir' because they think its cool, but the true Noir has been around a lot longer, killed a lot more people, and is the deadliest assassin in the world. Now, you'd think being one of the world's best assassins, he'd be easy to track down. Not even close. No one knows who he is. No one has ever seen what he looks like, no one knows where he goes, and we can't even decipher how someone contacts him. We don't even know if he's a man or woman, one person or a group. All we know is that if someone hires the right Noir, the hit gets done no matter what, no witnesses, no evidence, nothing to trace back to the buyer. And that's why, when that name was found in Shego's cell, we feared for you, Kim. Please, let us help you. We'll teach you how to defend yourself, and we'll do everything we can to find Ron. Just trust us, please?"

"Alright."

"Good. We'll start your training right away, if you don't mind."

Laying on her bed, Kim glanced once again at the alarm clock. Forty-five minutes to five p.m. Most of her day had been spent being introduced to a .22 and the many uses of said weapon. Special Agent Du's lessons rang in her head.

Look down the sight. Breathe and hold your breath before firing. Fire quickly, or else lack of oxygen will rattle the sight.

The .22 sat on her desk, the clip out and no bullet in the chamber. Maybe she needed to adopt a code, no killing, like the Fearless Ferret who refused to use guns or kill. Then again, would this assassin, Noir, show her the same nobility?

Kim gave herself a small smack to the head. The Fearless Ferret! That was Ron's favorite show, not hers. She was amazed she even remembered that fact. It must have been the time she and Ron went to see The Fearless Ferret Begins. Even though it had been campy and predictable, Ron had really gotten into the whole honor thing, a lasting effect of his trip to Japan.

Kim's thoughts suddenly went back to that strange email. According to the IP address, it had come from a remote terminal in Japan. There was only one person Kim knew in Japan, and she really didn't want to see that person right now.

Kim took a look at her clock.

4:30 P.M.

Kim took another look at the ceiling and sighed. Grabbing her jacket and boots, she started out the door. Stopping at the mantle, she thought for a second, and then headed out.

The gun was still sitting on the desk.