"This is so not turning into a good Saturday," Kim told Wade, from the sanctuary of her room. "Ron had to run interference for me to get me past the tweebs and the 'rents."
"Has it gotten any worse?" Wade asked.
"I have a tail!" She told him. "A tail! Do you know what that does to pants? It pulls them down! I had to cut a hole in a pair of perfectly good pants or risk mooning people!"
"Uh, Kim," Wade replied. "If you're staying in your room, does it really matter all that much?"
"You know my life, Wade," she snapped back. "You never know when I'm going to have to go somewhere! Now, what about a cure for this?"
"Still working on it," Wade told her. "I have a sample of your unaltered DNA but genetics is a rather complicated issue."
"Any sort of a timeline for me to work with?" She asked, a note of pleading in her voice.
"It will take me at least four more hours to set up a sequencer to extract the amulet from your DNA," he told her. "If that doesn't work, we'll have to fall back on making use of Ron's Mystical Monkey Power. By the way, where is he?"
"He made a Bueno Nacho to-go run for me, then I chased him off to take Tara on a date," she told her friend.
"A date?" Wade looked confused. "Isn't this sort of dire circumstances for that sort of thing?"
"It's cover," Kim told the youth. "I don't want anybody to know that I'm a monkey. If Ron takes Tara out on a date, nobody is going to suspect that anything's wrong with me."
"But what if you need him for something in the meantime?" Wade asked.
"I'll just have to deal," she told him. "I'm planning on staying safe in this room until you come up with the cure."
"Good plan," Wade agreed. "Now, just relax and let me do my job. Wade out."
Kim sighed and looked in the mirror. Being a monkey was a nightmare, but she had to admit that her hair had never looked quite so lustrous or full-bodied. She absently pulled out her brush and started to work out the snarls. If possible, she would have to see if she could keep the hair benefits after being returned to human.
"Very well, Lord Fiske, we have you booked in your luxury suite for a full week, with the option to extend. How long do you think you'll be staying?" The desk clerk asked his newest guest.
"Until I get what I came to obtain," the nobleman grumbled. "Will I have access to the gym and sauna?"
"To the exclusive facilities!" The clerk assured his guest. "We retain an excellent gym for the use of our luxury suite guests. As occupancy of the luxury suites is down at the moment, you'll have plenty of very exclusive time!"
"Is there a stereo available?" Fiske asked the man.
"An excellent one," the clerk assured him.
"Very good," Fiske murmured. "I like to turn up the music so nobody can overhear my business."
The clerk looked at the four monkeys carrying the nobleman's bags through the lobby.
"You know, Lord Fiske, we have a policy of no pets," he began, but went silent when he four monkeys and a nobleman gave him threatening looks. "But perhaps we can consider them service animals?"
"They provide excellent service...at times," Fiske told the man.
Once they were settled into the suite of rooms, Fiske handed each of his monkeys a small headset and map.
"You will go to the Possible home," he told them. "But remain at least one block away. I will not have you setting off any of that abominably clever boy's security devices. You will watch. Kim Possible will eventually need to leave her home. When that happens, you will follow her and report to me. We will bring her back here and I will obtain the power of the Monkey King."
"Kimmie, we're having ice cream, do you want to join us?" Kim jumped up from her bed. The last time her mother had invited her to join the rest of the family for ice cream and she had declined, the brain surgeon had come into her room, sensing that her daughter needed to talk about something. While her talk about her crush on Josh had been welcome at the time, speaking to her mother wouldn't be a very good idea just now. Kim grabbed her Kimmunicator and coat and made her exit via the window.
"Wade, my mom's coming up to my room," she gasped into the device, swinging the window shut as far as she could. "Be ready to claim a mission came up! I can't let her see me like this!"
Kim walked to the edge of the roof, out of sight of the window. She held her breath and sure enough, after a few minutes more light emerged from the window, informing her that someone had opened her door. Seconds later, still more light emerged, telling her that someone had turned on her lights. The light projected a shadow on the trees outside the house, telling Kim that someone was in her room. Then came the click of her window being locked, her lights were turned off, then her door was closed. Kim waited a couple more minutes before approaching her window. Sure enough, her window was now locked.
"I need some help, Wade," she spoke into the Kimmunicator. "Mom came in my room, saw I wasn't there and locked my window."
"I can get Ron to run interference for you," Wade suggested.
"No good," she told him. "If mom thinks I'm back in my room, she's going to want to talk to me again. I need someplace to lay low while you come up with the cure."
"The Stoppables are out tonight," Wade reported. "Why don't I get Ron to let you in? I'm sure he won't mind if you take the guest room for awhile and you can keep Rufus company."
"Sounds like the best plan we can come up with on short notice," Kim agreed. "I'll head that way and meet him there. I'm sure Tara is going to come with him and this could get awkward."
"Calling him now," Wade told her.
Kim jumped from the roof to one of the nearby trees and climbed down it much easier than she ever had before.
"There just might be something said for having a tail," she mused.
She took a few moments to compose herself. With her hood up and her tail tucked under her coat, nobody could see that she wasn't a basic, average girl...at least in the dim light. Satisfied that she wasn't going to be the cause of any monster rumors, she set her course for the Stoppable home. It was hard to resist the temptation to walk on her feet and knuckles, but she was determined to be a girl and not a monkey.
She took her time, taking a roundabout route, knowing the Ron would have a longer walk than her and not wanting to look suspicious by simply loitering by the Stoppable Home. The crisp, cold air actually cleared her head, making her feel more energetic. They'd get through this, she was sure. They'd return her to normal and everything would be fine again. Just as she came to this conclusion, as small body jumped on her back.
Even though she was caught somewhere between being a monkey and a girl, Kim Possible as still Kim Possible. Without a moment's hesitation, she threw the assailant off of her back and spun a full 360, looking for more attackers. She saw her first assailant, a monkey, regaining its feet while another closed on her from her left. She turned and kicked the oncoming primate, just to be tackled by another from her back and from her other side. Even as she was driven to the snow-covered ground, she had to admire her attackers. They weren't some sort of cartoon henchmen who attacked one at a time. They had carefully set up a situation where they could swarm her at once.
She elbowed one of the assailants away from her and almost got back to her feet when Monkeyfist himself tackled her. Fiske was larger and stronger than her, which gave him a huge advantage in a grappling struggle. When the monkeys rejoined the fray, she was unable to win. A gag was forced over her mouth and a bag shoved over her head. Her arms were restrained behind her and she felt herself shoved into a car and driven away to an unknown destination.
Tara was having a wonderful time. Her boyfriend...and it felt good to be able to refer to Ron with that term...had felt guilty for not taking her to a fancy dinner and maybe a movie. Tara wasn't one to demand that a guy try to impress her; if she liked him, she liked him and she definitely liked Ron. When Ron showed up to pick her up for their date, after having just returned from China, she had taken one look at his black eye and swollen lip and suggested they stay in, watch a movie and snuggle. He had countered with an offer of dinner and a movie. They had compromised with a light meal at a bistro followed by ice skating.
Performing a twirl, she almost laughed. The first time they had gone ice skating, Ron had asked her to keep him upright. While he wasn't an experienced skater, he was agile and had excellent balance. Sure, he wasn't up to twirls and leaps but he was an excellent skater. They were having a great time together! She was about to suggest they call it quits on the skating, as she was looking forward to a little snuggle time, when his phone rang.
"Hey Wade, what's up?" He answered the call. "What...my house...ah, got it! Okay."
He looked at her with an amused smile. "Rufus got a little lonely and emailed Wade. Kim will keep him company but she needs me to unlock my house."
"It was getting about time for us to leave anyway," Tara told him. "Your house is fairly close to the way to mine, so it shouldn't be any problem."
It only took a few minutes for the young couple to change out of their skates and into boots. Ron pulled a blanket out of the backpack he had brought along and they were soon walking towards his house, a thick blanket covering them as they kept very close together. Somehow, Tara wished the walk could last longer, allowing them more unsupervised time together. When they got to Ron's place, there was no sign of Kim.
"Hey Wade, Kim isn't here," Ron called his young friend. "Any idea on an ETA? Oh? Just a couple blocks away? Stay on the line, I'll check it out."
Kim's Kimmunicator is only two blocks away," Ron told his girlfriend. "And it hasn't moved for several minutes. I'm going to check it out, would you like to wait inside?"
"No, I'm coming along," Tara told him.
Ron looked uneasy, but agreed.
Two blocks away, they found an area where the new snow had been trampled. Wade activated the device and they were able to find it under some packed snow. Ron circled the area, looking for clues when his face suddenly went pale.
"I've found monkey footprints heading into the area where the snow was all trampled," he reported. "It looks like there was a fight and Kim's gone now!"
"Okay, let me do a search...I can't believe I missed this! Fiske checked into the Middleton Motor Lodge earlier today! He rented a car and it's tracker shows that it recently left the lodge, went to your location then returned to the lodge! I can have a ride to you in ten."
"Send it to my house," Ron told him, grabbing Tara's hand. "I need to pick up Rufus and I can leave Tara there."
"You're not leaving me behind!" Tara insisted. "You back Kim up, I can back you up!"
"Tara, this is dangerous!" He insisted
"All the more reason to not go alone," she told him. "That villain captured Kim! Do you think you can handle him alone?"
"Tara, be reasonable," he begged.
"At the least, I can hang back and call 911!" She told him.
"That's actually a pretty good idea," Wade interrupted. "We don't have enough evidence to send the police into the lodge, but I could probably talk Officer Hobble into being close by. If Tara goes with you, she can hold the Kimmunicator and let me see what's going on."
"Okay," Ron conceded. "But at the first sign of trouble, run!"
Tara nodded. The two hurried back to Ron's house, picked up the naked mole rat and waited for their ride.
A car door opened and she was carried roughly through cold air and then into a warmer environment. She was sat upon a narrow seat with hard cushions. Despite her struggles, her feet were tie-wrapped to strong metal bars. Her hands were then released but held by strong hands, large and small, before also being tie-wrapped to strong metal supports. It was only after she was firmly restrained that the bag was yanked from her head.
"Welcome to the Middleton Motor Lodge," Fiske's voice told her. "I fear I won't wish you a pleasant stay."
She blinked against the glaring light, trying to see. The Englishman was patient, waiting until she could determine that she was seated on a strong weight machine.
"I'm afraid that I cannot remove your gag at this time," he sneered at her. "You see, what I must do to claim my rightful power as the Monkey King is going to be time consuming and rather painful for you. While my faithful monkeys have been positioned around this facility to insure nobody interrupts, it would be best to take further precautions to avoid any outside attention."
"Better for me, that is" His smile was absolutely horrific.
Kim could only glare at him while discretely working her tail out from under her coat.
"Ah, the defiant stare," Fiske saluted her in mock admiration. "On could almost consider you a worthy adversary, rather than a simple obstruction. However, I am not without honor. You are ignorant as to the nature of the amulet, so it seems only right that I should tell you why you are about to suffer such pain. After all, it is the duty of the wise to instruct the ignorant; and I will grant you that, you are ignorant and not foolish."
"You see, the magic within the amulet is designed to alter the recipient, to make them something else. The amulet does so by dispersing throughout the body. Well, those who created this amulet in the deep dark past realized that they couldn't simply make an amulet that would adsorb itself into anyone that touched it, they had to place restrictions upon how it became part of the candidate. Their answer was simple, straightforward and sensible; it can only adsorb itself into a recipient through weak points in the body's barrier to the outside world."
Now, he produced a knife. Kim stared in rapt attention.
"Think about that, Kimberly," he continued the lecture. "Your body has weak points in its defenses, where your body must react with the outside world. Your eyes."
He gestured towards her eyes with his blade.
"Your mouth and nose," again a gesture.
"You'll forgive me if I am too much the gentlemen to discuss other such points."
"Now, the ancient monkey kings understood that the amulet's effects had to spread throughout the body to become complete, so they did what you inadvertently did back in Beijing; they would cut themselves and place the amulet upon the wound. The amulet would adsorb itself into their blood and quickly disperse itself through their bodies. However, there is yet another catch, this magic is drawn to all things simian."
"You see, Kimberly, the ancients realized that they didn't always choose a good candidate to be the Monkey King," he continued. "And even the influence of the amulet was not enough to turn a fool into a wise man. Therefore, those who created the amulet realized that they had to have a way to pull the amulet from the fiber of the unworthy. In ancient times, they would sacrifice a monkey to accomplish this." His face grew dark at that statement. "They would cut a wound in the unworthy king and cut a wound in the unfortunate monkey. They would then lash the monkey to the former king, wound to wound. After a half day or so, the amulet's essence would transfer from the man to the monkey. They would then slay the monkey. After another day, the amulet could be found in the poor simian's body, free to be bestowed upon a more worthy individual."
"I am not about to sacrifice one of my monkeys for this," Fiske told her. "Neither do I have the time to accomplish this method. Instead, I have access to a faster method. As I have Mystical Monkey Power, the amulet's magic will be drawn to me. Rather than utilize blood to blood contact, my digestive tract will be faster, as it is designed to take in matter from outside my body."
As Kim's eyes grew wide with terror, his smile grew wider with triumph. "Yes, Kimberly, the fastest method for me to remove the magic from you and obtain it for myself is to consume your fresh blood. I'm afraid that it will leave you dead, but sacrifices must be made and if they're made by the unworthy, so much the better."
He stepped away from her and turned on a stereo. Classical music sounded loud in the gym as he returned to where she sat, restrained. He slashed at her wrist with the knife, but she caught the hand with her tail.
"Very clever, Kimberly," he laughed at her. He seized her tail with one hand, and slashed again. This time, the knife bit deep and blood spurted. His mouth descended onto the wound.
The feel of his mouth upon her skin, drinking her very blood, disgusted her. She tried to scream in pain and outrage, but the gag robbed the expression of most of its volume, and the music overwhelmed what little sound she managed.
"Fiske's key card was used to open the VIP gym," Wade reported, via the Kimmunicator as they jumped out of their ride. "I have the Kimmunicator's light emitter programmed to emulate a VIP card. You only have to point at the card readers."
"Right," Ron answered. "Tell us where to go."
Wade guided them through the lobby and to the VIP wing. Halfway down the wing, a monkey burst from a room and rushed the two blondes. Ron surged forward and caught the oncoming simian in the belly with a kick. Before it could recover, he elbowed it on the side of the head, stunning it before grabbing its head with both hands and smashing his knee into its face. He was now sprinting down the hall when he met another. This one was faster, jumping onto him before he could strike. It clawed at his face but he got a hand on top of its head, digging his fingers into its eyes and pulling it off of him. He pounded it into submission as Tara looked on, horrified.
Now a third monkey jumped on him from behind, arms and tail wrapped around his throat. He threw himself backwards, bringing his weight down on the smaller primate. Its grip loosened and he grabbed its tail and swung the creature around twice and smashed it onto the floor. When it staggered to its feet, he kicked it in the head. Ron ran down the hallway and turned a corner. Ahead, another monkey stood guard at a door. Seeing Ron charging, it shrieked and came after the blonde. Ron threw himself at it in a flying tackle, planting a shoulder in the creature's stomach and driving it to the ground with his greater mass. While it was winded, he pinned one of its arms to the ground with one foot, pinned the other arm with one hand, and pounded it in the face five times, until it stopped struggling.
He jumped to the gym door and looked through the glass, horrified, angered and sickened by what he saw.
"Wade, we need the police!" He snarled into the Kimmunicator. He tossed Rufus to Tara and played the Kimmunicator's output on the card reader, opening the door and being assaulted by the sound of loud, classical music.
"Tara, follow me, free Kim and get out of here," he told his girlfriend. She could barely nod as he handed her the Kimmunicator and rushed inside.
He caught a couple of breaks; Fiske was so intent on his victim and the music was so loud that the villain didn't realize he was under attack until Ron collided with him, driving a knee into the monkey man's back. Blood flew from his mouth, spraying over Kim as Ron bore him to the ground. The blonde boy managed to get in several hard shots to the villain's head before Fiske threw him off. Ron got to his feet and the two hammered away at each other.
Tara was horrified when she reached Kim; blood splattered her, she looked like an ape and there was a horrific wound on her left wrist. Tara didn't have any tools to cut the tie wraps restraining her friend, but Rufus came through, biting through them while Kim used her tail to slow the bleeding. It seemed to take forever, but it was only a minute or two before Kim Possible was free. Unfortunately, she was in no condition to fight.
Despite being initially battered, Fiske was still more than a match for the pretender. Fiske deflected the latest of Ron's punches and drove a knee into the blonde's belly, staggering him back to slump against a wall. He spun to see Kim Possible, partially supported by a blonde girl, staggering out of the gym. He only managed two steps in pursuit before Ron tackled him from behind, once again. He expected the boy to beg for mercy or scream in terror, but the lad yelled at the two young women to flee. Fiske turned on the pretender, swatted the boy's arm away from his face, accepted a painful blow to his belly and landed two more devastating shots to the pretender's head. Ron Stoppable slumped to the floor.
For a moment, the Englishman contemplated finishing the pretender, once and for all but he realized that his true quarry was escaping. Snarling in frustration, he drove one more kick into the boy's ribs and rushed into the hallway, to see the retreating forms of Possible and the blonde, fleeing past his stunned minions. Once more, he lurched in pursuit to be dropped by a sharp blow to his knee.
He looked around and saw Stoppable, somehow on his feet again. The blonde boy couldn't stand on his own, one hand was on the wall as he tried to get closer to his foe. Fiske shook his head, was it irritation or admiration he felt as he lashed his foot up, catching the teen on the chin and dropping him in a heap? The would-be Monkey King got to his feet again, even as Chippy also heaved herself upright. He had to limp, but he lurched in pursuit of Possible and the power she held in her very tissues. Chippy preceded him.
Officer Hobble was thankful he had taken the hint to patrol in the area of the Middleton Motor Lodge. When the emergency call came over the radio, he was quickly in position. He had just climbed out of his cruiser when the front door opened allowing Kim Possible, assisted by a blonde teenage girl, to flee from the building. The seasoned police officer only had a moment to grasp the fact that the teen heroine was covered with fur and blood when a monkey, in some sort of martial arts garb, burst out of the door in pursuit of the girls.
"Halt!" Hobble roared, in his most authoritative voice. The monkey didn't stop, so the policeman pulled out his taser with one hand and his billy club with his other.
"Halt!" He roared again. Instead of stopping or fleeing, the monkey turned towards him and charged.
Officer Hobble had no way of knowing how dangerous the trained monkey actually was. He also had no way of knowing that she was exhausted and wounded, not at full capability. He only knew that the jolt of his taser dropped the charging simian like a stone.
Lord Montgomery Fiske reached the door in time to see the policeman incapacitate his most capable minion. For a moment, thoughts of revenge filled his mind but logic took hold. He was wounded and slowed and the officer now pulled a pistol from his belt, pointing it skyward but keeping it ready. Even under the best circumstances, martial arts training only went so far when faced with modern weaponry. Fiske studied him for a moment and noted that he was speaking into a microphone, clearly summoning additional, armed men.
The mission had been a failure, Fiske concluded. Possible and the power of the amulet were out of his immediate reach. He didn't even dare take the time to complete his revenge on Stoppable. He took some solace in the fact that Chippy, the true ninja, had made sure he had a backup escape route ready. The Englishman turned and limped back to his room, his other three monkeys joining him en-route. Once there, he grabbed his getaway bag, full of essentials, and climbed out of the window. A hundred meters down the wooded hillside, he located the motorcycle he had left here earlier. As more police vehicles converged on the motor lodge, Montgomery Fiske started the motorcycle. One monkey clambered into each of his side bags and another jumped on the seat behind him. Monkeyfist set his course down a narrow, gravel road, away from the increasing turmoil behind him.
A/N: Again, thanks for reading and thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for beta-ing and for some dialog suggestions.
Until my next chapter, best wishes,
daccu65