Awesome set-up here leading to the final fight.

While swimming laps tonight I was thinking of this chapter, and I just happened to think of something. All the major Big Baddies here seem to be based on things that originated here on earth.

Thinking of the fight between the Gods makes me wonder if that was a metaphor for looking inside (both ones self and the enemy)to see how to defeat Tiamat.

I may be way off base here, but I'm starting to wonder about the old saying "In order to defeat ones enemy, one needs only to look within ones self". And another, "Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of Man".

I'm being a little cryptic so as not to give away what I'm thinking to other readers, and I'm hoping you understand where I'm going with this. Am I barking up the wrong tree here?

Dang! This tory of yours makes me think... Oww...

This chapter left me able to say exactly three words.

Ho. Lee. S**t.

I cannot wait for the next installment.

smart of Nana to suggest to Yori about opening the school after the better to have something to fight for besides story looking forward to your next chapter.

Great chapter. I just wish I'd reviewed before, because I'd get to sound smart. I was thinking that Ron might try to get Roachie's help.

Is this like the final ritual needed to destroy the world? Or just a setup to get to that point? Becuase a lot of the people Kim and Ron recruited aren't there.

The image of Ron playing golf with Killagin, well let's say Bugs Bunny comes to mind.

Tremendous chapter here! Planning, recruitment, downtime, healing, dreaming, connecting, reconnecting, love. All before the collision at the gate.

Bring it!

CB73

So it's 'cry havoc!' time. Interesting the way you bring out the warrior in Kim's grandmother so effortlessly, it's almost like she steps into a time machine when it happens (and the whole 'Sparky' thing was pretty neat too). The original prophecy as told by young Sensei seems to apply, Yamunuchi gone and a mixed army of good and 'evil' standing at the focus. I'm glad Kim and Ron got some 'together time' before it all came down, gotta have those warm feelings when it hits the fan.

Thanks for the great read and I can't wait for the balloon to go up!

wow... ... ...i mean wow... ...this is one of the best stpries i have ever read. i mean the plot, and the action, and dialogue. and the romance. this is an amazing story. please update soon, and i know at a time like theirs this isn't the best suggestion, but myabe more kim/ron...we haven't had that for a while...i mean nothing huge...just fluff. this was amazing. i want you to know that.

Fantastic. I must say, a bit morbidly, that the atrocities happening around the world while this is happening is the best part of the story. You really give a sense that the world is coming to an end. Not just crime and anarcy, but supernatural disasters, monsters, living nightmares and people just plain losing thier minds!

I'm glad to have finally caught up.

Knight

Honestly, I'm at a lost for words. There are so many emotions running through me right now that I find it impossible to express them. Bravo!

Knight

Jesus H Christ! What a freaking buildup! I've only read up to this chapter so far but I have goosebumps, especially after all those atrocities happening all over the world. It's like a horror film on a massive scale, the suicidal students, the painter who disappeared with his painting, the plane with the sucker marks on the wings, the boys whose nightmares are coming true! Ever thought about writing for "The Masters of Horror". This is actually a little scary.

Knight

Great Chapter,

Love the The exchange between Mrs. Dr P and Ron, seems ron can't get a break. Bonnie and Kim nicely done.

But Kim telling Ron he can do anything to make Yori happy is so not jealin Kim.

BTW Does Ron ever think he should have killed Shego in the previous Story?

Chapter 19

Another great chapter. Excellent follow-up AND build-up.

Ravers - Very good; the solution you came up with to deal with them for now is not what I was expecting. This way you can sidestep some of the issues that would have beenraised between the ravers and their families while we all keep our eye on the big picture. Its also interesting to see what you will ultimately do about this - given your willingness to kill off characters, its not much of a stretch for you to leave the ravers comatose even after the main villain is defeated; so that even if the heroes win, some of their victory is still taken away from them.

(Looking back on it, having the ravers basically be empty shells without Wannaweep filling them up makes sense; but can they regain their souls? And even if they do, then all the issues of what they did as ravers comes up. Of course you could always say that if they woke up then they might not wake up with memories of what they've done. But then again even if they don't remember, everyone in town will know who is who.) Oh, and what about Gil? Is he unconscious too? Or could it be that if he wakes up that his experience with Wannaweep might make him key to a solution? (It would be a good way for him to redeem himself after having been Leviathan. In fact we don't even know how the real Gil would react to what he's done. On the one hand, he was a mean kid even in flashback but on the other hand even when he was mean, he was in the water. We haven't ever seen him uncontaminated.)

Ron/MrsDrP - I loved this conversation in particular. MrsDrP's outright irrational but understandable fear at Ron using his powers after seeing him basically reveal his "dark side" so to speak in the previous fight was a great throw-in. The entire tone from both sides was perfect - confusion and then anguish from Ron together with shame and compassionate concern from MrsDrP. It makes sense that she'd in particular be a bit suprised at what she saw; she's as close to being his mother as his own mother actually is - seeing him lit up the way he was (and she didn't mention if she actually caught a glimpse of how his face and eyes might have looked) should be shocking to her. And Ron's reaction is great too - scaring MrsDrP would be to him on the same level as hitting Kim. (Not to mention the possibility going through his mind that he might have scared the daylights out of his parents too; fear is the last thing that Ron would ever want anyone in his family to feel about him.)

This is an very good element to introduce at this point in the story because its something that you can carry on into an epilogue and probably into a chapter or two of Second Hand Heroes. (Some of the elements in this chapter - the Possible-Stoppable family private reactions to the fight, what Darrien Edwards Sister might be doing at this point, Bonnie and Bethie versus the Rockwaller parents, the reactions of Felix/Monique/Tara/Josh/Zita to "Super-Ron", Justine making it into town to help with a scientific backup, possible bonding between a recovering Yori and an understanding Nana Possible are all crying out for a touch in the side-story.) Ron and MrsDrP will get along well and normal again, just like they did after she slapped him way back in Bleeding Out. But Ron is going to carry this fear over causing fear with him for a long time. I wonder how Kim will find out about it - will he get around to telling her or will MrsDrP let her know? Because this seems like one of those things Ron might try to keep to himself out of confusion over how to deal with it and fear of making it worse. The last thing he would want is for Kim and her mother to get into an argument over him.

You know, it would be interesting to find out the reactions of the rest of the Possible and Stoppable families in comparison to MrsDrP. I think that they might not be what we (or Ron) might expect; some of them might have found it cool (the twins and maybe Joss who was a Ron-centered fangirl in her only episode appearance), some of them might not have been as much frightened as suprised (MrDrP, Slim,and Mr. Stoppable - in fact I think that MrDrP was probably suprised at the display of power but given that Ron was going after Gill at that moment after Gill took a huge shot at Kim, MrDrP could say he sympathized and felt the same way at that moment as Ron looked), and some might even have been expecting the type of angry determined protective but dangerous and frightening reaction (Nana - after having seen him as the Laughing Magician, and Mrs. Stoppable - not saying Ron's mom wouldn't be shocked or suprised by the whole matter but I just have this feeling that she wouldn't have left Ron alone as much as she did over the years if she didn't think he had the strength and will and depth to stand up when its necessary; and I think that she might be able to understand the kind of anger and reaction that he felt at that moment as well as his desire to protect/avenge Kim. In your story I'd say that she probably saw shades of her own father at that moment).

Oh, and the joke at the end of this section was a good way to end a serious section on a light note. Now I'm just waiting for Kim to have an equally ackward parting joke moment with Ron's mother. :-)

(We've gotten a lot of Ron's relationship to Kim's parents but we haven't gotten as much in terms of Kim and Ron's parents. While she might not be particularly close to them, I'd think that after recovering from the coma, Mrs. Stoppable would begin to make an effort to change that - especially given that it seems pretty definite that Kim will sooner or later be her daughter-in-law. I'm curious how the two of them would get along.)

Kim/Bonnie - This was a good way to give a very human face to the misfortune with the ravers and to open up the question of if Kim did the right thing or not. It also allows for you to finally resolve the situation between Kim and Bonnie which was largely fluid up to this point. I enjoyed the fact that Kim was unsure and reluctant to get into this situation with Bonnie but plunged into it anyway because helping people is what she does. I also liked the fact that Bonnie was able to bring up questions that you know was on the mind of all the other "Second Hand Heroes" directly to Kim rather than just keeping quiet about it - about how the Possible's held together and if Kim's scars hurt or not. (You know Monique had to have had that last question in mind but just couldn't bring herself to say anything about it.)

Bonnie's breakdown was handled well - hate them or not, she was about to kill her sisters. And the worst thing now is that they aren't dead or alive. One way or the other she could mourn or be hated or anything but this situation is a pure hell of limbo. I hope that you don't decide to leave all the ravers the way they are. (Although if they do wake up it would be interesting to see how Bonnie and her sisters react. Will things change? Will Connie and Lonnie remember anything? Will this situation have exocised some of the ill-feeling they always seem to have harbored in their hearts?) And finally getting around to having Bonnie talk about the Middleton fight was a good point to throw in. Particularly in that breakdown "I'm Sorry" moment. Its the right amount of sad and breakdown to throw in. And it was the only thing that can really allow Kim and Bonnie to move onto something new in terms of how they deal with each other.

Its also good to see that Kim is coming to the realization that Shego/Sheila are as much a victim in all of this as she was after the Middleton High fight. (I'm curious though if anyone besides her and her mother is thinking that way; maybe Nana but as for anyone else, I'm not so sure. Definitely not MrDrP but what about Ron?)

Kim and "Damage Wardrobe" - I'm glad you decided to throw this bit in. I think with that realization Kim can honestly be said to be completely back to normal (not counting the scars of course). That was the last bit of her reaction to what happened to her and finally being willing to let go of that puts a close completely to any questions of recovery. (I will also say as a side-note that I think that an epilogue to this story or at least a short somewhere should give us a glimpse at that shopping moment when Kim/Bonnie/Monique/Tara/Zita and probably Bethie who needs an introduction to Kim anyway (and maybe Justine who could probably stand to spend some time with other people, particularly after having spent this entire story basically off-stage), head out to get her that new wardrobe. For some reason I see comic potential. Tons of it.)

Justine's E-mail - I'm glad you didn't kill her off. I know she only had one appearance in the series but for some reason I really liked the character and how that she makes it through the story alive and relatively undamaged. (I like your take on her in the e-mail - serious and knowledgable but with a touch of wit and concern beneath that she keeps hidden most of the time.) Her secret mission and why she was largely out of the picture now make sense. It figures that the government would want to make use of that science project of hers. Was she the only survivor? And is she going to make it back to Middleton or is she going to stick the troubles out in Nevada?

Yori and the Yamanuchi Refugees - The immediate worry about potential villain attacks was a good point to have Kim make. But sometimes a rose IS just a rose. Yori's strength and concern with not just her students (as the oldest survivor of the school, technically she's the Sensei now although I doubt she realizes it or that anyone would want to mention it to her that way at that point) but with seeing through the last mission that Sensei, basically a man who was a mixture father and grandfather to her, entrusted to her alone. Her holding on until the students were out of sight and then having a breakdown was very vivid and in-character. I also liked the momentary touch of paranoid worry when Ron asked how many people she had with her - Ron didn't mean what he said the way she answered it but she's about to have a nervous breakdown and, well the whole scene meshes very well.

The last conversation between Yori and Sensei was very touching. And not having any background description to it makes it work even better. I could picture it in a dozen different way like that without losing focus on the words. For some reason I picture this happening the same place she had the conversation with Kim. She took her last view of Yamanuchi and then Sensei gave her the instructions that saved her life while letting her know exactly how much he cared for her. (In the Gorilla Fist episode after all he seems a bit cold to Yori's concern - ala the Master/Student relationship; its good to see him let everything out since he knows that this will be the last time he sees her while he's alive. Though it is possible he could manifest himself spiritually after he's dead although its possible that only a Mystical Monkey Master could see him. But then again I'm also sure that a M could also manipulate the power so others could see him as well...)

Kim and Ron's reactions - Ron took the situation much better than Kim did which was a little suprising given that Ron was closer to Sensei than she was. (Yori's aside about Hirotaka... terrible AND it twists a screw with Kim given how she crushed on him when they originally met. Though I am wondering how trained and informed Yori is that Sensei didn't even include one member of the faculty in the refugee group; does she know everything that she would need to be the next Sensei of Yamanuchi and rebuild the school with HER surviving students?)

In a way I do like Kim's freakout since she's never really had to deal with anyone she knows dying. Sensei and Hirotaka are a big hit to her. Not to mention the fact that all this is coming as her friend Yori, the one who helped her to recover (particularly perspective over her appearance which is a big deal plot that you gave some resolution to earlier in the chapter) and is arguably one of the strongest people she knows, is having a total breakdown in her arms. Her statement to Ron, the "Get her food, tuck her in, tell her jokes, go down on her, I don’t care, just –" line really shocks but is understandable. Its obvious that she has a mini-freakout although Ron's shocked enough by the line that any thought he had that Kim is reacting badly is thrown out of him at that moment. I do think that its something that she'll probably apologize to him later on about - even if they both understand her reaction and why she said it and even if Ron isn't concerned about it because he understands how and why she said it, I still think she'll be regretful enough over it that she'll want to say something clarifying about it. (That might be a good moment for her to be glad that Ron didn't hear her wardrobe comments to Bonnie because she could sort of use it as part of her apology. Sort of "I didn't mean that the way it came out, its just that she helped me so much and ..." and then throwing in when she's done the whole bit about the wardrobe decision to help lighten the mood and cheer Ron up.)

Yori I think will recover and I hope that she survives the storyline too though someone might have to talk some sense into her now if it starts to look like she wants to get some revenge for Sensei; particularly since she's pretty much it if Yamanuchi is to get back on its feet. I'm not sure though if Ron would be the one to say it (he's more likely to be concerned with trying to make her happy and keep her from crying - sort of along a brother/sister type of relationship at this point) but there is Nana Possible walking around and she did have a history with Sensei. She might be someone that Yori would listen to particuarly if Nana made the point that Sensei wanted her especially to survive. The grief might be blocking that point from Yori's mind at this point.

Can't wait for the next chapter.

Good chapter. I'm glad to see Kim and Bonnie doing some bonding. I really enjoyed reading the Outside the Walls segments of the story. Hopefully Ron and Kim face Tiamat soon before the world is beyond saving.

Just so you know, I voted for the Tiamet as best villan in the fannie awards.

Man o man... You're really so intent on destroying the world. Heck, you really really do want to destroy the world, don't you? :P

Man o man...