Ron gasped as he crossed the bridge to the Secret Ninja High School. From his previous trips, he expected to see students hard at work, training. However, he saw only a few people in the complex, many wearing bandages but all wearing black arm bands. There was a tangible pall of gloom and sorrow over the once busy school.
“What happened here?” he gasped.
“Your agents.” said Yori, bitterly. The martial artist was obviously still not fully convinced of Ron’s innocence. “They killed many of the staff and students, including my fiance, Hirotaka.”
“Yori, this is not my fault!” said Ron.
“Only three beings on the planet could command the Lotus Blade, Ron.” said Yori coldly. “If it was in the hands of Monkey Fist, Sensei would know. He says the hands he feels on it… are yours.”
“Well he’s wrong!” said Ron. “Monique can vouch for me… right Monique?”
“Trust me, he hasn’t touched this Lotus Blade.” said Monique. “The only place he doesn’t cut himself on a knife is in the kitchen.”
“Thanks Monique… I think.” said Ron.
“We are here.” said Yori. She opened a door.
The room was dimly lit, with wrecked furniture hastily pushed to the side. Sensei was lying on a low bed, his ancient form seeming withered, as if a dark force was draining the life energy from him. He looked up and shuddered at the sight of Ron.
“Have you come back, then, to finish the destruction you have started?” he demanded.
“Sensei!” said Ron, shocked. He stepped into the room, kneeling at the old man’s bed. His hands reached out, clasping one of Sensei’s. “I swear, I did NOT do this… any of this!”
Sensei stared into Ron’s eyes… time seemed to freeze for the two, as Sensei seemed to be staring into the very depths of Ron’s soul.
Finally, the old man blinked and laid back. “I… I do not understand. Ron-san… the one who has taken the Lotus Blade… he is the darkest, most corrupt soul I have ever felt… but except for the evil inside him, he feels just like you. It is as if you are two halves of the same coin… or two coins, identical, excepts one is scarred… so horribly, horribly scarred….”
“Rest now, Sensei.” said Yori.
“Scarred…” Sensei mumbled again, even as he fell into a deep, exhausted slumber.
Yori turned to look at Ron. “I… I have never known Sensei to be mistaken. Something is DEEPLY wrong here.”
“Yeah, you threatened to kill my boyfriend for something he didn’t do!” said Monique. “He, me, and MAF demand an apology!”
“MAF?” asked Yori, in confusion.
“My aching feet! Couldn’t you guys install a ski-lift, or an elevator, or SOMETHING?” snapped Monique.
Yori bowed deeply to Monique. “My deepest apologies, Monique-San, and Ron-San. I must obviously seek elsewhere for the true despoiler of the Lotus Blade.”
“Who actually took it? Did anyone see?” asked Ron.
“We have security video footage.” admitted Yori. “It shows the agents taking it.”
“I haven’t seen any cameras.” said Monique.
“They’re ninjas, Monique.” said Ron. “Hiding is what they do best.”
Yori led them to a small, elegantly decorated room. The lid of a wooden box, when hinged upright, turned out to be a flat screen monitor. She pressed on what appeared to be decorative wood carvings, and an image appeared on the screen. Several men, with jetpacks, descended onto the school.
“Monkey fist!” snarled Ron, recognizing the agents who had rescued Monkey Fist. “Those men are working for Monkey Fist, I know it! He must have found some way to fool Sensei, to make Sensei think I was the one to take it!”
“I do not understood how he could have, Ron-san…” said Yori. “But you are undoubtedly correct.”
“Do we call in Kim and Shego?” asked Monique.
“No.” said Ron. “Monkey Fist is MINE!”
“Yoo-hoo…. Monkey-Poo!”
Montey Fisk groaned, slumped on a mat of palm fronts. The tropical island he had been abandoned on would have been considered by many to be a paradise. For Montey, two things made it an unending, horrible purgatory…
The first was coming now, dressed in an outfit she thought was fetching, made from two coconut halves and leaves. Considering it was worn by a body covered in thick, gray fur, the outfit made absolutely no sense.
“Aw, still grumpy wumpy, Monkey Fist?” asked D.N.Amy, concerned.
“Don’t call me that!” said Monty Fisk. “I am no longer Monkey Fist. They have taken it away… all my monkey magic, they’ve copied all of my knowledge of monkey kung fu… What do I have left? My gods, WHAT… DO… I… HAVE… LEFT?”
“You still have me, Monty-Wonty-Pudding-Pie!” D.N.Amy said, her large arms picking up the smaller villain and cuddling him to her bosom.
Birds all over the island exploded in panicked flight in response to Monty Fisk’s scream of anguish.
Monique stared, impressed. She had seen Ron, several times, preparing for a mission. This was the first time, though, she had seen him set aside his usual buffoonery and jokes to become totally serious and centered. Monique had often wondered if Ron was holding Kim back. This was the fist time that Monique had asked herself… was Kim holding Ron back?
Ron was dressed in a white robe, his dirty-blonde hair held back by a white headband. Several Japanese ideograms were painted on the headband, in elegant flowing script. After tying his headband on, Ron had tied, with great ceremony, an identical (but smaller) headband around Rufus’s head. Yori had then led the three of them (Ron, Rufus, and Monique) into a high-tech underground command center that seemed to be the antithesis of the traditional ninja school above them.
In the center of the room was a holographic projector, displaying a three-dimensional model of the Earth. Facing the globe was a complex computer console, which Yori sat down at. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, logging onto the Global Justice computer surveillance network. Monitors surrounding the room flashed, displaying hieroglyphics, numbers, and complex diagrams as the latest reports were cross referenced and indexed.
“Monkey Fist is a master of stealth and hiding.” said Yori. “He has apparently found some way to deceive Sensei’s mystical abilities. I’m afraid that Global Justices spy systems are much more easily foiled.”
“He has minions now.” said Ron, staring at the globe. “Human ones. Those will not be as obedient… or as easily hidden… as monkeys. Cross reference for those flying packs.”
Yori typed quickly. Video footage from the school attack flickered on various screens. Under Yori‘s control, the computers under the ninja school analyzed hundreds of different possibilities. “They appear to be a hybrid design, based both on the rocket packed used by Hench Co and by Kim Possible and yourself.” she reported. “Based on color analysis of the flames, in addition to the exhaust fumes, they are using a slightly modified form of jet fuel. We can trace them in use, but once the agents are on the ground, finding them will not be easy.”
“I just need one.” said Ron, coldly. He flexed his hands. “Just find me one.”
“I shall strive my best, Ron-san.” said Yori.
Monique looked down at Rufus. “Can you believe this?” she asked the mole rat, softly. Rufus merely shrugged.
“Worthless! Useless!” snarled Noir Goable. The Lotus Blade slashed out, destroying one of Doctor Drakken’s latest creations. “I want a machine that can conquer armies, not these…. Play toys!”
Dr. Drakken flinched. The Cyber Divider Spider had been his latest creation. In theory, a squad of the artificial arachnids would have annihilated any army anywhere… and the young clone, armed with a single ancient weapon, had turned it into so much junk in the time it would take Dr. Drakken to blow his nose.
The clone panted, standing in the wreckage. His hair was long, reaching to his waist. The very tips of the hair were jet black, a side effect of the accelerated aging, but the rest of his hair was yellowish-blonde. Today, he was clad in only a pair of black leather pants, his torso exposed; showing tightly corded muscles and a physique that showed not a single excess ounce of weight. The face was familiar…. Far too familiar… but instead of the goofy grin or nervous stammer Dr. Drakken was used to seeing, this face was drawn in only cold, harsh scorn.
“Do BETTER.” snapped Noir, and turned. Suffer, where he had been sitting in the corner, leapt from the ground and easily landed on Noir’s shoulder. The young man’s steps never faltered, easily adjusting in mid stride to the genetically engineered creature’s weight. He paused at the doorway. In a voice of mocking scorn, Noir said “I thought you were supposed to be the best.”
“We’re the best! Woo-hoo!” said Pi. He lifted up the coveted ‘Flying Minions of the year’ award, which had a tiny winged monkey on the top of it. “Eat our smoke trail, Dementor’s dudes!”
The four agents of the Worldwide Evil Empire Flying Minion Team (Pi, Rho, Eta, and Karma) had been celebrating their recent victory by consuming drinks even more high-proof then their jet-pack fuel. As a result, the four were unprepared at what they found when they entered their darkened hotel room.
Pi felt a pair of two strong hands grabbing the front of his uniform, then was thrown head-first into a nearby wall. Rho was next, a leg sweep sending him falling down. His assailant, yellowish hair barely visible in the dim light, then knelt down and bounced Rho’s head, hard, against the room’s tiled floor.
Eta and Karma found themselves looking at a razor-sharp metal fan and a semi-automatic pistol, respectively. The fact that the weapons were being wielded by two females did not increase their confidence.
“I only need one of you goons… alive.” said the blonde-haired figure, rising. Eta gasped in fear, just as the oriental looking woman holding the fan reached out for his neck. Eta slumped unconscious to the ground.
“Su-supremely evil…” squeaked Carma, then sighed in relief as he saw the mole rat scampering to the blonde figure. There was no sign of saber-tooth fangs, so this wasn’t Noir Goable… it was the unwitting DNA donor, Ron Stoppable.
Ron stepped toward Karma. “Good. Bad. I’m the one with the questions.”
“I know nothing! Nothing!” exclaimed Karma.
-five minutes later-
“We left Monkey Fist and D.N.Amy in the middle of the island, with enough supplies to last them the rest of their life.” babbled Karma. “You got the coordinates, right?”
“Yes.” said Yori. “You have been most cooperative.”
“And… you won’t tell my boss how you got the information?” said Karma.
“Our lips are sealed.” said Monique. “Now, say good night, Gracie.”
“My name isn’t Gracie, it’s…” said Karma. He was interrupted by Monique slamming the butt of her pistol against the back of the goon’s head. He slumped unconscious, joining his three fellow henchmen.
“That was incredible!” said Yori. “Such menace projected.” Yori turned to Monique. “I got chills looking at his eyes. How about you?”
“Oh yeah.” said Monique. “And that voice…. I couldn’t hear what he said to that guy, but I was terrified.”
“Yeah, Rufus can be one scary dude.” agreed Ron.
“Thank’ya, Thank’ya.” squeaked Rufus.
“To… the ninja plane!” cried Yori.