Chapter Three
And Things that go Bump in the Night
Team Possible had faced a myriad of unusual circumstances and abnormal beings in their crime-fighting careers; from synthodrones to monkey ninjas to giant, mutated dachshunds – even extraterrestrials. Yet in all that time, there had been nothing that rattled them nearly as much as their fight with the ghosts.
Kim and Ron had Wade search everywhere to find any sort of information on ghosts that he could. He searched every web site, blog and forum he knew of; but the results were unsatisfying.
The attack on Halloween night had severely rattled Kim and Ron's psychs. Of all their foes, they didn't know of anyone who had power or influence over ghosts. The only villain they knew of who relied primarily on mystical power rather than science was Monkey Fist, and Wade had cast that possibility aside when he reported that Monkey Fist was still petrified. And so, Team Possible became unhealthily anxious; afraid that another spectral attack might arise at any moment, always on guard, jumping nervously when startled and speaking in anxious, loud and cutting tones.
However, time trudged on. Days slowly melded into weeks and no attacks – or even hints of an attack – occurred. And though the incident was far from forgotten, life had pretty much returned to normal for the two... well, as normal as life ever got for them.
On one brisk morning at Middleton Community College, Kim had seated herself in one of the corridors between two of her classes when a voice called out to her. "Kim! Hey Kim!"
Kim looked up from the text book she had been studying to see an old member from the cheer squad in high school bounding up to her. "Tara, hi."
The platinum blond rushed up to her friend a little breathless. "Hey Kim, how's it going?"
"Oh, the usual. How are you? I haven't seen you around in awhile."
"I,... I've been a little busy." Tara said, running her left hand through her hair then extending it for Kim to see.
"Tara!" Kim exclaimed as she saw the ring adorning her friends finger. "You're engaged?!" she said in awe.
"... Yeah, Josh proposed a couple of weeks ago." she said, admiring the diamond she wore. "It was during that Halloween party the hospital put on."
"Oh, I wasn't at the party." Kim admitted.
"Oh that's right – you and Ron took his little sister trick or treating, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you guys missed a great party! The haunted house they set up was spectacular! It had all these outrageous decorations and people dressed up scaring the pants off of everyone. There were witches and werewolves and vampires and goblins and zombies and the ghosts they had were really awesome!"
Tara didn't notice Kim flinch slightly at the mention of ghosts
"Here, I think I have a picture somewhere..." Tara went on. "Yeah, here it is." she held it out for Kim to see. Kim accepted the the picture. It depicted an image of Tara, dressed as a nun, in the embrace of Josh Mankey who was decked out like a gorilla. She chuckled at the image, wondering how Ron would react to it – as he had once observed the one-letter difference between Mankey and Monkey.
"Well, congratulations!" Kim said, returning the photo to her friend.
"Thanks." Tara replied, taking the photo back. "Um... I sorta had something I wanted to say to you,... other than the engagement, I mean.... I was wondering if you would like to be... one of my bridesmaids?"
Kim looked up at Tara, en expression of surprise on her face. Her face quickly spread into a grin as she replied. "Yes, of course I'll be your bridesmaid!"
Tara squealed in excitement as she clutched Kim in a friendly embrace.
Later in the day, as Kim was heading home, her eyes found Ron and she hurried to share the news with him. "Hey Ron, some big news today."
"Yeah! The cafeteria started selling calzones, with extra cheese." replied Ron
"Mmm.... Cheese!" Rufus chirped from Ron's pocket.
"What? No, Ron. Some big news happened with Tara!"
"Huh,... oh yeah, she's getting married."
"Exactly – wait, how did you know about it?"
"Josh told me." Ron answered, without skipping a beat. "Asked me to be his best man, in fact."
"Really?" Kim laughed, surprised. "Tara asked me to be a bridesmaid!"
"For real?!" Ron asked, with as much surprise as Kim. "That's totally cool! Hey! Since they included us in their plans, maybe we should do something special for them!"
Hmmm... They will be visiting friends this evening... Well, since they have not sought out the cause of their distress in earnest, perhaps it is time I sent them another invitation. And with innocent lives in the balance, it should up the ante considerably.
As the sun dipped over to the horizon, the bell rang at the Mankey residence. Josh hastened to answer the unexpected visitors. "Kim?, Ron?" he said in surprise as he opened the door.
"Yo, what up, bro!" Ron replied, boisterously.
"Hey, Josh. How are you?"
"Um, okay I guess. What brings you guys over here?"
"We just stopped by to congratulate you on your engagement." Kim answered.
"Rufus!" Ron called. The little mole rat scuttled over Ron's shoulders and leaped into his masters open hands with a large package in his paws.
"Ta-daa!" the rodent squeaked, extending the extravagantly wrapped box to Josh.
"Oh wow, ah... thanks. I... don't know what to say."
"Oh, you don't have to say anything." Kim replied. "We just wanted to show our appreciation for having us participate in your wedding."
"Well that's really nice of you guys." Josh smiled warmly at them. "You wanna come in for a bit?"
Team Possible followed Josh through the hallway to the sitting room where they found Tara sitting at the couch fussing over several papers laying on the coffee table. She looked up as Josh came back in. "Who was at the door, Josh?" she asked. Then she saw Kim and Ron following him. "Kim, Ron? What bring you guys over here?"
"They came by to give us this." Josh said, holding out the present.
"Oh, how nice." Tara's eyes sparkled as she saw the package. She got up off the couch and went to hug Kim and Ron each.
The four of them hung out together for quite a while; chatting, joking, enjoying each others company and just having a good time. Kim and Ron asked Josh and Tara about their upcoming matrimony; had they picked a date, where would it be held, who was performing the ceremony, stuff like that.
At length, Josh decided a toast would be appropriate. He went down to the pantry and retrieved a bottle of sparkling cider.
As he closed the door to the pantry, something on the other side of the door went bump. Slightly unnerved, he opened the door again and gazed into the darkness... and the darkness gazed back.
The other three waited patiently for Josh to return. When he didn't come back for several minutes, Kim decided to see what was taking him so long.
"Josh?" she called as she came into the kitchen. She then found him holding himself against the wall in front of the pantry door. "Josh, what are you doing?"
Josh looked up as she called him. Kim saw a look of panic in his eyes. "Run!" he yelled.
"What?" Kim asked in shock.
Josh spread his feet apart, bracing himself harder against the door. "Get out of here! Take Ron and Tara and RUN!!!"
Kim was about to ask why he was acting that way when Josh gave an involuntary lurch. He pushed himself against the door again, breathing heavily. He shook again, and this time Kim saw the door frame rattle and heard an audible thump. "Josh... What's back there?" Kim asked, worriedly.
"I don't know!" Josh huffed as whoever – or whatever was behind the door banged against it again. "Just take the others and get as far away as possi –" Josh was cut off as the door behind him flew off its hinges, slamming him into the opposing wall and sliding to the floor. Kim gasped as she saw the thing that caused the door to go flying.
It had a head like a weasel, long slender limbs that ended in frightful claws, a thick mane running down its neck and bushy, fox-like tail. The beast was covered from head to tail in shaggy, red hair. When it looked at Kim with its beady, yellow eyes, it rose to its full, terrible height and opened its mouth howling with monstrous fury.
As the beast roared, more monsters poured out of the doorway. The creature that knocked the door down charged forward and lunged at Kim. She nimbly side-stepped and the monster blew past her and into the living room.
Tara screamed with all the strength her lungs possessed. Ron turned quickly to see a red shaggy creature the likes of which he'd never seen before. The beast slid along the living room floor, dragging its claws through the carpet in an attempt to slow its momentum. When it finally slowed, it scurried back the way it had come, snarling angrily.
"Ron, what was that?" Tara asked in a small, strained voice.
"... I have no idea!" Ron answered, his face pale.
A sudden roar drew their attention behind them. The fireplace – which had previously been empty – had a surging fire blazing out of its confinement. Great red flames billowed out of the hearth, surging toward the ceiling. As the fire burned, a company of beings – hideous, frightening, monstrous; the sort of beings spawned by nightmares – came clawing, crawling, leaping, and slithering out of the hearth.
"Oh, not again." Rufus gulped.
The nightmarish contingent continued pouring out through the fireplace. Their expressions were malicious and it was clear that their visit was not a peaceful one.
"Stand back, Tara!" Ron said. "I'll handle this." he spread his arms out toward the ceiling and in a flash, he felt the Mystical Monkey Power flowing through him. In another instant, he held the Lotus Blade in his hands. With a furious battle cry, he lunged at the demonic hoard. Seconds before the sword made contact, the nearest demon whipped around and caught the katana by its lunging blade. Ron was stopped with a jolt. He tried moving the blade, but the monsters grip would not slacken. "... This does not bode well." he moaned.
Kim jumped aside, as the demon she had avoided came lunging at her again. The beast missed her, slamming into one of its comrades. Kim leaped out of the way as a demon with a huge parrot-like beak swiped at her. She made her way – dodging monsters the whole time – to the fallen door with Josh still under it. She lifted the large, wooden slab and pulled Josh to his feet.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'll live." Josh grunted, holding his side.
They made to return to the sitting room but found their way impeded by the demonic hoard. Thinking quickly, Kim pulled the door in front of them and charged the fiends. The door did its task of getting them through the blockade without sustaining serious injury – although the door itself was all but decimated in the process.
Coming into the living room, Kim threw the chunk of wood aside; then they saw that the room was also filled with demons. Kim glanced over the room looking for Ron and Tara. She found Ron quickly. She saw the blue aura of Mystical Monkey Power surrounding her boyfriend; the thought comforted her somewhat. But the comfort faded when she saw what was happening.
Two demons, one with very large, pointed ears and webbed feet and a taller one with a tail like a lion and a head like a boar were tossing the Lotus Blade back and forth between them while Ron scrambled desperately, trying to get it back. This went on for a time until she saw Ron close his eyes in a sort of concentration. When that happened, the Lotus Blade transformed into a spear. The boar-headed demon – who obviously wasn't expecting anything like that – was instantly impaled straight through the chest. Ron then seized the spears shaft and yanked it from the monster, running to Kim.
"You guys okay?" he asked when he reached them.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Ron, where's Tara?!" Josh demanded, grabbing Ron firmly by the front of his shirt.
A sudden, piercing scream answered his question. Tara was standing on the mantle over the fireplace; a gang of demons had her surrounded and were constantly striking and slashing at her while she swung a fire poker to ward them off. She whipped the poker around, striking one demon in the head and sending it sprawling. But then another demon with a wide, frog-like face reached up and sliced at her back. Tara screamed like a banshee as the demons long claws ripped through her skin like butter. She staggered and fell, now at the mercy of the demons.
"TARA!!" Josh yelled, running at full speed to her.
"Josh!!" Kim called, but too late.
An enormous fist swung out of nowhere, clobbering Josh in the face and knocking him off his feet.
Josh slumped to the floor, panting hard. His eyes widened as the giant fist grabbed his shirt and pulled him up to be examined by the creature that held him.
Kim watched in horror as one huge demon with arms as thick as young trees, the head of a bull and feet ending in big, round cloven hooves lifted Josh off the floor and shoved its ugly face at him apparently curious as to who or what Josh was.
Looking around, she found a large vase sitting on a small table. "Hey, ugly!" she yelled at the demon as she grabbed the vase and hurled it at him.
The creature snorted indignantly as the vase shattered against his face. Seeing Kim and identifying her as the attacker, he dropped Josh, grabbed one of the couches in one massive fist and threw it at the red head at high velocity.
Kim and Ron narrowly avoided the oncoming furniture, dashing to the side mere seconds before the couch crashed into the wall behind them.
Ron pulled himself up after the rain of splintered wood in time to see one demon dashing away with the limp form of Tara thrust across his back. Ron snarled, clutching the Lotus Blade in his fist and loosed a feral battle cry as he lunged at the fiend.
Kim rose from the floor to the sight of the bull headed demon scraping the carpet with its huge hooves and snorting menacingly. In the next instant, the monster bellowed a threatening roar and charged at Kim, his horns lowered with full intent to impale the young heroine. Reacting purely on instinct, Kim grabbed the demons horns once they had come close, sprang over the demon and, bending her legs as she came downward, thrust off of the demons back and somersaulted through the air and landed before Josh.
Kim tenderly pulled Josh's battered and bruised form off the floor and to his feet. They both turned at the sound of blows exchanging to see Ron with Tara laying across his shoulder and swinging his sword at any demon that got close to them.
Once the four were together again, they gingerly tried to make a silent escape from the mayhem surrounding them. That's when the Kimmunicator sounded off.
"Wade?" Kim asked as she activated the device on her wrist.
"Kim!" Wade called. "What's happening? I was monitoring the energy readings through the Kimmunicator and suddenly, the energy levels spiked through the roof!"
"Wade, we're being attacked by demons! We need – "
"Wade, quick!" Ron shouted "We need garlic, crucifixes, silver bullets, holy water, baby tears, wooden stakes, lamb's blood –"
"Demons?!" Wade interjected.
"Yes Wade," said Kim "demons. Got any idea how to fight them?"
"What about the Mystical Monkey Power?" Wade asked.
"Tried it!" Ron answered. "it's nowhere near as affective on demons as it is on ghosts!"
"Hmmm..." the young genius thought for a moment. "What about the battle suit?" he eventually asked.
"The battle suit?" Kim asked, uncertain.
"Yeah, I've done a bit of tinkering with it. It's got a more sophisticated offensive weapon system which I think might help with the current situation."
"Thanks Wade! You rock as ever!" Kim said, but then she slapped her forehead in exasperation. "Oh, but the battle suit's at home!"
"Think you can hold them off a bit longer?" Wade asked. "I think I can get the suit to you, but it'll take some time."
"We'll do what we can, Wade." Kim said, her face determined.
"Mm, hurry!" Rufus squeaked.
Just then, something long and thick slammed onto the floor where they stood.
The group turned to see a large demon that had bat-like wings sprouting from its shoulders and in place of legs, a long serpentine tail. It was this tail that had slammed at them; and it raised it again for another strike. They all quickly dove away as the enormous tail came back down on them. Kim and Ron got to their feet to see demons surrounding them on all sides. Once again, the fight was on.
Kim wasn't sure how long they had been fighting, but it was starting to wear her down. No matter how hard she punched, kicked and grappled, for every demon she took out, there was another ready to take its place.
Then at last, a familiar beeping caught her attention. She hurriedly pressed a button on the Kimmunicator and saw Wades face appear on the screen. "The suit's here." he said "It's waiting for you outside."
"Thanks Wade." Kim replied, as she dodged the swipe of a demons claw.
After dispatching her assailant, she looked about and found Ron with Tara still draped over his shoulder hacking his blade at another demon while Josh crouched behind him. "Ron!" she yelled as she came over to them. "Wade's got the suit over, let's go!"
Quickly, and as quietly as they could, the group made their way to the front door. Outside, they found Wade's robotic probe holding the battle suit in its claw-like hands.
Kim took the suit from the robot and hastily pulled it on. "All right, let's see how they like this!"
"Josh," Ron said, gently pulling Tara off of his shoulder and handing her over to him. "here, you better take care of her – this is gonna get gruesome." No sooner had he said that than he was spontaneously yanked away.
Ron choked hard as he found his neck clenched tightly in a huge, hairy fist which held him dangling off the floor by a good ten inches. When his vision came back into focus, he saw a large mass of black with a round hole in it through with he could see the decimated living room. Turning his gaze upward, he found himself looking at an angry porcine face with teeth bared, scimitar-like tusks and eyes narrowed in extreme fury. Ron didn't have to think to remember this guy – it was the demon he had impaled with his spear; and he apparently held a grudge.
A sudden flash of blue made the monster squeal and drop Ron. Ron turned to see Kim – her arm extended and the blue lines that ran along her battle suit alight with energy.
Kim smiled smugly at what her fired energy bolt had accomplished. "Spankin'!" she declared.
The demon growled threateningly before stepping over to Kim, arm raised for a strike. Kim fired again, causing the demon to lose balance and nearly topple over. Rufus then got into the action by biting the demons ankle. The demon howled in pain, clutching his ankle and hopping about. While he jumped around in pain, Ron finished the job by kicking him in the chest which sent him flying back through the door.
Kim swept over to Ron. "Ready to kick some demon butt?" she asked.
"Booyah!" Ron answered, clutching the Lotus Blade firmly.
"Charge!" Rufus shouted. Team Possible stormed through the door, ready to finish the fight.
Josh watched his friends disappear into the demon infested house. Clutching Taras unconscious form closer to him, he silently wished them luck then started walking away. His priority at the moment was to get Tara to safety, and that was exactly what he was going to do.
Kim and Ron flew directly into the fray; she firing beams from her battle suit in every direction, he using a multitude of weapons to hack and jab at any demon that got close to either of them.
The battle lasted for several minutes; the demons seemed to realized that their targets had somehow acquired some new advantage. So they changed their strategy; instead of besting them with superior fighting skills, they would overwhelm them by sheer numbers.
The two men approached the house. They were both tired and could easily think of several things to be doing than breaking up a rowdy party in the middle of the night, still, disturbing the peace was an offense and the officers had a duty to perform.
They strode up to the front door and pounded hard. One of the officers took a glance through a nearby window. He heard a cacophony of noise – a lot of crashing and slamming coming from within; he also saw several dark shapes rushing past the window, what they were doing, he couldn't imagine.
"Whaddayou 'spose is goin' on in there?" he asked his partner.
"I dunno, but I'll bet there's alcohol involved. These punk kids get a little in there system and they think they can get away with anything." he pounded the door again. "Police!" he shouted. "Open up!"
The door opened and the officers jumped involuntarily. A gigantic brute with a large, dark body like a man and a head and legs like a bull stood in the doorway. The figure was so enormous, the majority of its bulk was hidden by the doorway.
"What do you want?!" the creature demanded.
One of the officers regained his composure and replied. "Uh, er... We have received numerous complaints from the neighborhood of a loud commotion coming from this address." he stumbled backward a bit as the monsters expression hardened.
"We're working here!" the beastly figure informed them. "Go away!" he then slammed the door in their faces so hard the entire side of the house rattled.
The two officers stood frozen for a time until one turned to the other and said. "Did, d-d-d-did you see tha – "
"No!" his partner answered, walking back to their patrol car "And neither did you!"
Josh plodded forward morosely. While he was relieved that Tara was alive and relatively unharmed, his thoughts kept wandering back to the house full of monsters that Kim and Ron had to deal with. True, they faced situations like this all the time, but he was fairly certain they hadn't encountered foes like these before.
Perhaps he shouldn't have left them, maybe there was something he could've done, maybe – no, it was ridiculous to think so. He wasn't exceptionally strong and and he didn't know any sort of fighting styles.
Kim, on the other hand, knew sixteen different styles of Kung Fu – not to mention years of experience fighting all sorts of villains. Even Ron, though a bit of a goof at times, could fight better than he; not to mention he had that monkey power, whatever it was, and a magical sword to go with it.
No, it was better this way. Kim and Ron would win this fight; they had to, they always did.
Presently, he looked down to see Tara was stirring.
Wearily, she opened her eyes to see Josh gazing at her, looking very relieved.
"What happened?" she asked in a strained voice. "Did we win?"
"Not exactly." Josh answered, holding her close to him. At her questioning look, he elaborated. "The demons were overwhelming us. They told me to take you and get away."
"And... Kim and Ron?"
Josh sighed heavily. "As far as I know, they're still fighting."
Taras expression was crestfallen. "But,... what'll happen to them?"
"I don't know." Josh replied, stroking her hair. "What's important is that you're safe now."
"Nope." a dark voice said from behind. Immediately, the two lovers felt terrible hands grab them and pull them away.
Team Possible was surrounded. Everywhere they looked, a hoard of demonic beasts glared back at them.
Though the battle was arduous, the young heroes continued fighting. They were tired, fatigued, battered and weary, but they had to keep fighting – there was no telling what sort of havoc these monsters would reek if they failed.
Kim swung her fist, slugging one demon between the eyes and electrocuting another with her battle suit. Ron slashed the Lotus Blade across the chest of the giant, bull-like demon then struck a well placed kick to the head of another.
Regardless of their efforts, there were just too many opponents. It seemed that for every demon they took out, there were three more to take its place.
In the midst of the turmoil, a long, piercing howl resounded through the room. Everyone stopped abruptly, looking toward the source of the sound.
Standing on the mantle was the weasel faced demon, the first one to invade the house. It stood with its arms crossed, its fox tail twitching. On either side of this demon stood two others, and they were holding Josh and Tara by their necks, precariously suspended above the floor.
"You have fought well." the weasel-demon spoke. "But your valiance is for naught. Surrender, or your friends will perish."
Kim looked at the scene aghast. Surely they wouldn't – but of course they would. These were demons, they obviously had no qualms about killing innocent bystanders.
"Uh KP, any time you wanna share a plan, it'd be great." Ron whispered, anxiously.
"Working on it." Kim muttered back, though honestly, she couldn't conceive of any means to save them. She looked back at her friends remorsefully; Taras face was turning blue from the demons tight grip around her neck and Josh had streams of red down neck where the demons claws had pierced his skin. They both looked at Kim with pleading in their eyes.
Biting back tears, she bowed her head. She couldn't let them die, but she couldn't let the demons win either. She did have an idea, but it was reckless and probably wouldn't work. "Ron," she said quietly. "here's what we have to do."
The demon on the mantle sneered at them, seething. At length, it spoke saying "I will not wait any longer, if you do not relinquish yourselves, your friends will be –"
"Now, Ron!" As Kim yelled, an electric blue bolt shot from her arm into the demon holding Josh and Ron threw the Lotus Blade (in the form of a tomahawk) into the arm of the demon clutching Tara. This caught both fiends off-guard and caused them to drop their victims with beastly howls.
The weasel-faced demon jolted as these attacks occurred. Seething with fury, it cast a menacing look at the young heroes then down to the floor where Tara and Josh had fallen. With a feral snarl, it dropped from the mantle and lurched toward Josh. Those miserable whelps had had their warning – time to make them pay.
The demon positioned itself over Josh, pinning him to the floor as he tried to get up with one of its grizzly hands and raising the other high in the air with claws poised to kill.
With a roar, the beast lunged its claws at Josh; but a bright bolt of energy struck the fiend, throwing it off balance. As the monster wobbled, Kim came flying at it, kicking it forcefully in the head and knocking it off of Josh.
"Are you alright?" Kim asked as she helped Josh to his feet.
"I think –" Josh started, but was cut off when the demon lunged at the two of them, sending them all crashing through the window and into the yard.
Kim found herself pinned under the demon. It was scratching at her with its razor claws and gnashing its teeth at her, attempting to bite and rend her. She fought back as best she could, kicking and punching and doing her best to hold the monster away from her vulnerable flesh. Unfortunately, she had been fighting for a very long time and was nearing exhaustion while the demon seemed to have and endless amount of stamina.
Just as she was feeling faint, a bright, silver blade punctured through the demons chest causing it to shriek in agony. "Hey!" she heard Rons voice huff. "Keep your filthy mitts off my lady!"
Looking up, she saw Ron thrust his arm, sending the demon flailing to the ground.
Rufus snarled at the fallen creature.
Ron pulled Kim to her feet while Tara crawled to Joshs' limp form. "I'm okay, Ron." Kim said, staggering to her feet. "We've got to be ready for their next attack!"
But the attack didn't come.
An eerie silence surrounded them, there wasn't so much as a sound or movement from the house. Tentatively, they crept back inside. The demons were gone. The evidence of the attack was everywhere, scorches around the hearth, claw marks, ruptured walls and destroyed furniture, but the monsters were nowhere to be seen – only a dark, desolate emptiness.
Kim instructed Tara to call an ambulance while she and Ron searched the remainder of the house. And search it they did, every room, corner, nook and cranny – nothing.
It was so bizarre. The demons clearly had the upper hand, why did they suddenly retreat?
Ron stepped outside, stating he needed some fresh air. As he breathed it in, he turned his gaze and saw that the Eastern sky had turned gray. Could that be it? Was that why they left? He supposed it was possible,... and the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
Demons, he knew, were often associated with darkness, and these demons had first attacked during the night, and they left while it was still dark. That must be it – they fled from the sun.