All Things Probable Series

The Kim Possible fanfic All Things Probable by Slyrr (aka Greg Fisk) introduces Team Probable, a group of mercenary opposite numbers to Team Possible.

The story begins with a shadowy teenage figure defeating Team Go by outwitting Hego (admittedly not terribly difficult), and continues with Team Possible responding to what appears to be a routine tip about an impending theft. On that mission, Kim, Ron, and Rufus encounter Grimm Probable, his Sidekick Rhonda Fatigable, and Rhonda's long-tailed weasel Rueful. After some initial banter that reinforces the weird mirror-image duality, the two teams face off. During the confrontation, Wade's attempt at providing remote assistance is thwarted by Jade, Team Probable's hacker.

After holding Team Possible to a draw, Team Probable gets away, revealing that they weren't actually trying to steal anything -- they were just hired to run interference while their client made his own move. Kim is left unsure of herself, with Grimm's gibes still ringing in her ears, but determined to win when they meet again.

The stories in the series are (in sequence):


 * All Things Probable -- Part I: Team Possible encounters their mercenary opposite numbers.
 * The Return of Zorpox -- Part II: Grimm's revenge for the events of the previous story.
 * Back to Kwitcherbeliakin -- A side story focused on Team Probable.
 * A Friend in Darkness -- Part III: An epic-length story where the two teams join forces against a common enemy.
 * A Little K/R Fluff -- A short scene of Kim and Ron sharing a cute moment.
 * Graduation -- Part IV: What Team Probable was doing during the Lowardian invasion. Work in progress; cover posted on Deviant ART.

The author's fanfic homepage features author-illustrated versions of most of these stories (except for the epilogue of "A Friend in Darkness" and "A Little K/R Fluff").

This series provides examples of:
"Kim lashed out with a right hook. Grimm’s head snapped to the side and he grunted in pain. He turned back to stare at her, rubbing his chin, a slow smile creeping across his lips. "Welcome to the dark side, Kim Possible." He turned to Rhonda. "What did I tell you?" he said to her. "We didn't even need the Attitudinator for her.""
 * Arbitrary Skepticism: In "A Friend in Darkness," Wade initially finds it difficult to accept that the golems are a magical phenomenon rather than disguised high-tech, even though Team Possible has experience with mystically-powered opponents (particularly Monkey Fist, who is known to be involved in the current sitch).
 * Becoming the Genie: This is Kim and Wade's analysis of how Monkey Fist had to walk the Path of the Yono.
 * The Cavalry: Two waves show up in "The Return of Zorpox" for the big battle. First, some of the Yamanouchi ninjas resist the Mega Synaptic Transducer thanks to their mental disciplines, and come to recover the Lotus Blade from Zorpox. When they fail, most of Kim's usual enemies (turned good by the Transducer) show up to help her.
 * The Chosen One: Ron for the Mystical Monkey Power and  for the Mystical Bear Power
 * Combat Pragmatist: In one of the side missions that come up during the two teams' alliance, Grimm takes down Gill by dumping a bucket of salt on him. When Kim objects to the harshness of the tactic, he points out that it was painful but did no permanent damage, and sarcastically asks what makes it so much worse than the time Kim kicked Shego into an electrical tower.
 * In general, Team Probable uses defense-oriented combat styles -- they aren't so much interested in "winning" fights as in getting the mission accomplished and getting away afterwards.
 * Comic Book Time: While "A Friend In Darkness" took over four years to write, the events of the story occurred within a month.
 * Cool Car: Kim and her car, which had the tech copied by Team Probable and used to make Grimm’s motorbike.
 * Disability Immunity: Due to Ron's lack of darkness in his heart, he is impervious to Maze's dark mind control.
 * Distaff Counterpart/Spear Counterpart: The members of Team Probable are the opposite genders from their Team Possible counterparts. (Exception: Team Pets Rueful and Rufus are both "he".)
 * The pattern carries over to many of the secondary characters in Team Probable's hometown of Riddleton.
 * Door Stopper: "A Friend in Darkness" is 38 chapters and over 400,000 words (about quadruple the word count of the preceding stories combined).
 * Elsewhere Fic: "Graduation" (the fic) presents a wider perspective on the Lowardian invasion depicted in "Graduation" (the episode).
 * Enemy Mine: After Ron and Rhonda are banished to the Spirit World in "A Friend in Darkness", the remainder of the two teams join forces to rescue them and to defeat Maze and Monkey Fist.
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
 * Fan Prequel: Another fanfic writer wrote a story about Team Probable's first job as mercenary villains' helpers (rescuing the client from his own security lasers, with obvious parallels to Kim Possible's first heroic mission). The Original Character villain from the story later appeared in "A Friend in Darkness".
 * Feel No Pain: Monkey Fist, the magicked civilians
 * Framing the Guilty Party: Kim discovers a scrapbook full of letters and photos that seem to clearly tie Team Probable to known villains. When Wade examines it, he discovers that it's a trap -- the documents are easily discredited forgeries, and an investigation would have discovered files in Wade's system (planted there by Jade) implicating him as the forger.
 * Friend to All Living Things:, as part of her power.
 * Good Is Not Nice: Grimm says that Team Probable is this in "A Friend in Darkness", claiming that the crimes they prevent would be much worse than the ones they commit. The authorities take the same view; Global Justice gives Team Probable "a certain amount of leeway" in return for the intel they provide about their clients.
 * Hannibal Lecture: Grimm, Grimm, Grimm…why do you always feel the need to break the spirit of your foes with your viciously barbed tongue?
 * Honor Among Thieves: Team Probable is a group of mercenaries who hire themselves out to villains, typically to steal something or to run interference while their client steals something. They are also a close-knit group of friends who genuinely care about each other.
 * The author's notes indicate that this was a deliberate aversion of the common stereotype of villains as Dirty Cowards afflicted with Chronic Backstabbing Disorder.
 * Improvised Golems: At first, Maze made golems the old-fashioned way, but once he got Monkey Fist's assistance, they started making golems out of petrified victims. Then.
 * I'm Having Soul Pains: After being trapped in the Spirit World, Rhonda keeps feeling painful pins-and-needles sensations. Ron briefly feels the same thing after thinking that she deserves to suffer, realizes that it's caused by malicious thoughts, and helps her take a laid-back attitude that frees her of the pain.
 * It Is Pronounced Tro PAY: Maze's name is pronounced "mah-zay". One Running Gag is that characters who were verbally told his name still need to be corrected on this point.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Grimm, who occasionally lets his good side slip when he doesn’t think anyone will notice.
 * Kill Sat: Monkey Fist and Maze transformed the world's communication satellites into these thanks to the Ultra-Atmospheric Jammer, allowing them to broadcast their powers across the globe.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: Rhonda, particularly when she.
 * Lost World: The town of Riddleton, kept off the maps by a Government Conspiracy to serve as a protected sanctuary for select high-level operatives and their families. Other than that, it's a typical American town much like Middleton.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Grimm's preferred modus operandi is to get into his opponents' heads and psychologically undermine them or maneuver them into doing his bidding. This is evident from his first confrontation with Kim, where he fights her to a draw while delivering a scathing critique of her combat technique that seriously weakens her self-confidence.
 * However, he differs from the classic Manipulative Bastard in that is genuinely loyal and honest toward his friends.
 * May Contain Evil: Gill shows up with a scheme to create an army of mutants like himself by selling a new brand of soda containing doses of his slime.
 * Mirror Morality Machine: The Attitudinator from the series is used by Grimm to turn Ron into Zorpox again. Zorpox then kicks off an Evil Plan by building a "Mega Synaptic Transducer" that generates chaos by reversing people's good and evil natures worldwide.
 * Near Villain Victory:.
 * Noble Demon: Grimm has his moments, particularly when he
 * No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The two worst situations Grimm gets himself into resulted from acting on his better impulses.
 * Not So Different: Grimm incessantly attacks Kim's claim to moral superiority, commenting approvingly on some of her more questionable actions, responding to her criticisms of his actions by reminding her of similar things she's done, and provoking her into attacking him for no reason other than to vent her anger.
 * Not So Different: Grimm incessantly attacks Kim's claim to moral superiority, commenting approvingly on some of her more questionable actions, responding to her criticisms of his actions by reminding her of similar things she's done, and provoking her into attacking him for no reason other than to vent her anger.


 * Official Couple: Much of the personal drama (see the Played for Drama entry) is derived from taking a closer look at some events in the series and considering the implications for the Kim/Ron relationship.
 * Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Wade and Jade. Justified (somewhat) with them both being supergeniuses that have studied in various disciplines.
 * Opt Out: When Grimm finds out about, his first thought is to exploit the situation and put an end to Team Possible once and for all. When he gleefully describes his plans to Rhonda, she tells him that after the way Ron helped her in the Spirit World, she can't be a party to anything that would hurt him -- if Grimm wants to go ahead, he'll have to do it without her.
 * Played for Drama: A number of incidents that were Played for Laughs on the show are referenced and addressed seriously:
 * In "The Return of Zorpox," Grimm extracts Ron's tracking chip and shows it to him, presenting it as proof that Kim and Wade are false friends who have been secretly spying on him for years.
 * In "A Friend in Darkness," Ron (trapped in the Spirit World with nothing to do but think and talk) remembers times when he'd been thoughtless and immature in how he treated Kim. On her Vision Quest to rescue him, Kim is confronted with memories of occasions when she'd been thoughtless and condescending toward Ron.
 * Poisonous Friend: During his temporary alliance with Kim, Grimm helps her in his own fashion, using methods such as blackmailing a sensationalist reporter into backing off his anti-Kim-Possible spin and making Bonnie insecure about her future on the cheer squad so she'll quit acting so obnoxious. A variation on the usual trope in that it's not really motivated by loyalty, just cynical pragmatism and desire to prove his point that they're Not So Different.
 * The Psycho Rangers: Team Probable, to Team Possible.
 * The Reason You Suck Speech: Just like canonical examples.
 * The Red Mage: Maze, who has channeled part of the Great Bear Spirit's power into himself and also mastered the creation of golems (based on a Jewish mystical tradition) in addition to his own shadow medicine.
 * Relationship Sabotage: Some of Grimm's head games are designed to drive a wedge between Kim and Ron by planting the idea that Kim is just taking advantage of Ron and doesn't have any real respect for him.
 * Sidekick: Rhonda Fatigable (Ron's counterpart).
 * Spirit World: Ron and Rhonda spend much of "A Friend in Darkness" isolated in the Spirit World after being banished by Maze. They are occasionally able to see what their friends are doing and make tenuous contact (usually just a vague impression of their invisible presence).
 * Status Quo Is God: The stories are written to fit seamlessly into the canonical continuity between episodes of the Post Script Season.
 * Summer Campy: Camp Kwitcherbeliakin, which Rhonda enjoyed about as much as Ron enjoyed his summer at Camp Wannaweep.
 * The irony is that her camp wasn't out to get her like Ron's, it was her own dislike of nature that made her miserable.
 * Super Powered Evil Side: Ron, in "The Return of Zorpox".
 * Taken for Granite: In "A Friend In Darkness," Maze recovers Monkey Fist's stone body and side-steps the Yono's curse with a Golem enchantment, effectively reviving him as an sentient animated statue. The villains then use the Yono's petrification power and the golem enchantment to create an ever-growing army.
 * Team Pet: Rueful (Rufus' counterpart).
 * Teeth Clenched Teamwork: Kim and Grimm may find it necessary to cooperate to rescue their partners and stop Maze and Monkey Fist, but the friction between them remains intense. Throughout the duration of their alliance, Kim keeps her eyes open for any chance to pin something on Grimm that will put him behind bars, and Grimm never lets up in his verbal sniping at what he considers Kim's naive and sanctimonious attitude.
 * Unwitting Pawn: Team Probable uses Adrena Lynn as a distraction to keep Team Possible busy while they pull off a few of their own capers.
 * Villain Episode: "Back to Kwitcherbeliakin" is a Team Probable story, with only brief cameos by Team Possible.
 * Done again with their own version of "Graduation"
 * Villain Protagonist: Team Probable, especially in "Back to Kwitcherbeliakin" and also in "A Friend in Darkness".
 * Villain With Good Publicity: Team Probable. They even have a lawyer on retainer to deal with anyone tarnishing their ‘good’ names.
 * Villainous Breakdown: During the climatic battle with Monkey Fist in "A Friend In Darkness", the normally suave and sophisticated villain loses his temper and goes into a state that Kim sees as similar to the original Yono.
 * Villains Never Lie:
 * Vision Quest: Kim goes to Yamanouchi and communes with the Mystical Monkey to retrieve Ron (and Rhonda) from the Spirit World.
 * Wake Up, Go To School, Steal The World: The issues of juggling school, life, and missions are pretty much the same for Grimm and Rhonda as they are for Kim and Ron.
 * Warrior Therapist: Grimm, adept at simultaneously fighting and head-gaming his opponents.
 * Warrior Therapist: Grimm, adept at simultaneously fighting and head-gaming his opponents.