Tomo gazed at the building from the bushes he was hiding in
Tomo gazed at the building from the bushes he was hiding in. No movements. No sounds. He sighed and sat down. He knew he would have to go in there eventually, but… He couldn't help but feeling ashamed of himself. To enter his master's home without his master… It felt wrong. Master Toshimiru should have been there with him.
Tomo had run. He had run. His master was in some sort of… trouble, in danger, and Tomo had run. The thought of it made him almost sick to his stomach.
Of course, he knew now that he had reason to run. Whatever had happened to Toshimiru wasn't contained to the field where they had faced Dakken and the dragon. Tomo had ridden for two days to get to Toshimiru's home, and every time he had come upon another person, he had seen the same things. The blue light in their eyes, the same light that he had seen in Toshimiru's eyes, as well as Dakken's eyes and the other warrior's eyes. All of them walking towards where Tomo had run from, as if they were possessed. Which they possibly were.
To add to that… Tomo had realized that he could no longer feel the mystical monkey power within him. That scared him. If he couldn't feel the power, could the other brothers? Was there any left? Where had it gone?
In the end, Tomo had resolved himself to follow his master's last request. Something needed protection. Tomo was just unsure of what. If it was himself Toshimiru had referred to, he would have said 'help me' or at least 'help', not 'protect'. If it was Tomo he was referring to, he probably would have said 'run' or maybe 'defend yourself'.
Tomo had searched his memory, but he couldn't remember any item or person that would need his protection. Except… Toshimiru's own family.
So Tomo had ridden there. But now… He had found a house without signs of life. He pondered briefly if he should just leave, go to meet up with the other monkey warriors, but, he decided, no. He had to make sure.
Stealthily, he entered the house of his teacher. Silently moving through the rooms, he could see that it had been abandoned. A broom lying on the floor, food left while being prepared. It seemed that Toshimiru's family had left to be with him. Tomo's heart sank.
Suddenly, he felt a presence in the room with him. Before he could react, he felt something long making its way across his chest. When he looked down, he saw a sword, not unlike the Lotus Blade itself.
"You made a bad choice to try to loot this house, fiend", a voice said. The voice of a… girl, Tomo realized.
Even though he could no longer use the monkey powers, he was still a skilled ninja. He managed to quickly duck under the sword and get a few steps away from his assailant before turning around. He was right; it was a girl, around fifteen or so. A… beautiful girl, Tomo thought, before catching himself.
"I am not here to plunder or to loot. I am here by request of the master of the house", Tomo responded. The girl looked at him, looking a bit more nervous. She pointed the sword at him. "Who are you?" Tomo tried. The girl's mood seemed to shift again.
"You come in here and ask questions of me? Who do you think you are?" She said. Tomo frowned.
"My name is Tomo. I am Toshimiru's student", Tomo said, pausing. He didn't know if it was wise to explain what had happened just yet. The girl, however, looked at him astonished.
"You know my father?
Kim couldn't move. She had only felt this type of hopeless panic twice before in her life, the first when she was supposed to jump to the top of the pyramid in her last cheerleading practice, the other when Monkey Fist attacked her in April. Now it was back again as she watched Ron, the Lorwardians and Barkin on the stage.
She knew that she perhaps should call him Zorpox now, but… She couldn't. Not yet. That would mean she had truly given up, and she wasn't there yet.
Should she run? Should she go up to him? Would he do anything to her? She didn't want to believe that Ron would do anything to hurt her, but Zorpox was… Zorpox. Unpredictable. She watched as he turned towards her. He grinned, a malicious grin.
"Kimberly Ann…" He sneered, and she was surprised to hear him, even though he didn't yell. Then she realized that he was standing where the now destroyed podium had been, and the microphone was right at his feet. "I can seeeeee yoooooouuuuu", he taunted. Kim swallowed.
Just then, Ron began to convulse. He moved around, grabbing at his back. Suddenly, from the opening of the gown, Rufus popped out, and jumped straight onto Ron's face.
Kim ducked down behind the seats. She moved away from where she had been, closer to the exit. She paused at points to see what was going on. Rufus was climbing and distracting Ron as best as he could. Kim couldn't make out if Rufus was attacking or trying to get Ron to come to his senses. She hoped for the latter. Rufus could be quite vicious with those small claws if he needed to be, as many neighbourhood cats had come to realize.
Eventually, though, Ron managed to grab Rufus. Kim stared at them, hoping he wouldn't… Do something he'd regret for the rest of his life. She was relieved when he merely tossed the mole rat over to Barkin, who caught him surprisingly well. Barkin just held Rufus, it seemed.
Ron peered out across the arena again. Kim stayed hidden, and she saw his look of annoyance. As he turned to the Lorwardians again, she made a break for it and ran out through the exit.
As she got out, she kept running. She needed to get somewhere, to get some help. From whom, she didn't know. Global Justice was her first bet, but with the alien invasion as well as the attack a few days ago, they might be too busy… no, not too busy, that was harsh. Too occupied. Her back was killing her. She was not used to running with this extra weight on her. She slowed down. Yamanouchi, she thought. Those were the ones she needed to reach. But how? Wade was still at the hospital, but perhaps he could help her. Or maybe her parents would have some idea. She decided that she needed to get home. That's when she saw the crowd.
She couldn't have caught up with them this soon, could she? They ran in a panic a few minutes ago, there was no way she could have-
Blue energy glowing from their eyes. Kim gasped. They looked just like Barkin, cold expressionless faces staring straight ahead. Walking towards her. As they reached her, however, they didn't attack. They simply walked past her as if she wasn't there.
Kim's eyes watered as she saw them walk by. A few faces she recognized, someone from the same graduating class, someone's brother, someone who used to work at the ice cream shop. She tried to find one of her friends or family, and suddenly she saw one. Jim, her brother, was walking, with the same energy shining in his eyes.
"Jim! Over here! It's me, Kim!" She yelled. He didn't react. She made her way over, not an easy feat considering not one in the crowd was willing to budge. She managed to get along side him. How weird it was to see Jim without Tim at a time like this.
She managed to step out in front of him. But he didn't stop. She ended up walking backwards, trying to shake him out of whatever was going on. It didn't work.
"I'm sorry for this", she said, thinking of her last resort. She took a breath.
"JAMES ALAN POSSIBLE JUNIOR, YOU STOP RIGHT NOW!" She yelled, but Jim didn't even flinch. She felt hope leaving her as he walked past her.
She made her way out of the throng of people. As she watched them go by, she felt tears running down her face. What was going on? Was Ron doing this? How far did it spread? Just then, she felt as if she was being watched. She turned around.
"Kim Possible! How glad I am to see that you are ok!" A voice said before Kim could identify who stood in front of her.
"Y-Yori? Oh thank God you're here!" She ran over to Yori, and couldn't think of anything to do but to hug her. "Listen, something's going on with Ron, I need your help, I think it's something with his powers and-"
"I know, Possible-san, that is why I am here", Yori responded, detaching from the embrace.
"You knew this was gonna happen?" Kim asked, astounded.
"We knew that it could happen", Yori replied. "But not that it would happen today."
"Then… what's going on?" Kim asked. Yori looked a bit more stressed.
"In due time, Possible-san. Right now, we need to get away from this place", she responded.
"Where are we going? I... I don't want to leave him like this without knowing I'm gonna come back", Kim said. Yori smiled.
"You will see him again, Possible-san. But right now, we need to get as far away as we can", Yori stated. She took Kim's hand, and began to walk away from the arena. Kim, however, did not take her last statement well.
"No… wait…" Kim said. "I can't leave him like this, I just can't." She turned and looked back. "Maybe I can talk to him… or… or we could find an attitudinator or something…"
"There's no time", Yori replied. "And it wouldn't do any good. Stoppable-san is out of reach for our help right now." Kim snatched back her hand.
"How can you say that? He… He needs my help!" She had made up her mind. Zorpox or not, she couldn't run. She turned around and began to walk back. Suddenly, she felt something hit the back of her neck. A dart. She turned around to see Yori walking toward her, holding a small blow pipe.
"I'm sorry, Possible-san, but you have to come with me."
"You… You drugged me?" Kim managed to say. Her vision was getting blurry.
"It will not harm you or your baby, I promise you", Yori said as she caught up with Kim and slid her arm around Kim's back. Kim was unconscious within a few seconds.
"You tell him!"
"No, YOU tell him!"
"He won't listen to me! He'll just try to argue with me!"
"As if he wouldn't argue with me!"
"Well... I'm not used to these situations! You have brothers!"
"You have an obnoxious cousin!"
"And how often do I talk to him?"
"How often to I talk to my brothers?"
"Nrrrgh!" Drakken sighed. It seemed like Shego wasn't going to help him on this. "You're the one who's used to dealing with criminal genii!"
"You mean you?"
"Yes!"
"And how often do you listen to me when I tell you you're being a pain?"
"Well… Never. But that's because you're wrong! You aren't now!"
"Look, I'm gonna say this one last time: He's your guest, not mine. Deal with him!" Shego spat out. Drakken frowned and sighed.
"Fine", he grumbled, and then turned around. "Oh, professor.
"Vhat is it? I'm trying to vatch MY STORIES!" Dementor replied from his seat.
"Well, um… I think that we should sit down and talk about you staying here…" Drakken tried, as diplomatically as he could.
"Drakken, I've already told you, as long as ve don't hear anyzhing from Global Justice, I zhink ve should stay together. And you invited me to stay. And I don't like it vhen people TRY TO TAKE BACK THEIR OFFERS!" Drakken frowned.
"Look here, Dementor, that was days ago! We don't even know if they're gonna call us back! And frankly, I'm getting fed up with you! And so is Shego!" Drakken yelled. Dementor looked at him, then over at Shego, who sneered and nodded.
"Fine. I shall go and pack my zhings. Maybe I can find someone else who is interested in my LATEST BRILLIANT PLOT TO TAKE OVER ZHE VORLD!"
"A plot?" Drakken said, suddenly interested.
"Oh, no you don't!" Shego exclaimed. "You're not fooling anyone. Out you go!"
Dementor grumbled as he walked to his guest room.
"Ha! Took care of that one!" Drakken exclaimed. "Did you see how I told him off there, Shego? Shego?"
Shego didn't answer. She stood still.
"I told him off? Off I told? Him? Dementor?" Drakken tried. Shego didn't move. A blue energy was seeping out of her eyes.
"Err… Shego? You're not… going critical or anything, are you? Shego? What's going on?" No response. Drakken heard a noise and turned around. Dementor was standing by the door, sans bags. Blue energy there as well.
"Dementor? What the… Did you do something to her?" Dementor began walking, without reacting. When he reached Shego, she joined him as they walked to the door.
"Hey… you guys… I'm serious! I want you to tell me what is going on this instant!" Drakken tried. "Did he offer you a better contract or something? Shego! Shego!"
The door opened and closed, leaving Drakken alone.
"Shego…" He said, sounding a bit more pathetic than usual. A few moments went by. A few minutes. He didn't know how much time passed. "Shego…?"
"She won't respond", a new voice said. Drakken turned in shock, and jumped in surprise when he saw who was there.
"Ahhh! Ninja! Shego, help! There's a ninja here!" He yelled
"Like I said… She won't respond", the ninja said slowly, then took off his face mask. Drakken looked surprised.
"I though ninjas weren't supposed to take off their masks", he said, nervously.
"Not usually. But I am not here to hurt you, Drakken-san. I'm here to ask for your help."
"My help? What would a ninja need help for?" Drakken asked.
"It is a long story, Drakken-san", the ninja replied. "My name is Hirotaka. And I need you to come with me."
In a cell deep below Middleton, a fog lifted in the mind of a defeated man. He was chained to a bed, he could feel it. He fought against his restraints to no avail.
"Where am I?" I demand to know where I am!" He yelled. No one responded. He lay still for a few minutes, trying to gather his thoughts. He found himself… scared for the first time in a long while. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know what had happened to him. He didn't know why he could feel the mystical monkey power anymore. He didn't know why he could… feel his feet. Suddenly, he heard a door open.
"Who is there? WHO IS THERE?" He yelled.
"There is no need to yell, Fiske-san. I hear you", a voice said. Monkey Fist's eyes went wide as he recognized the voice.
"Fukushima… I'm surprised to find you here. Are you my captor or my liberator?" The Englishman asked snidely.
"For the moment, your liberator. But… You might feel somewhat of a captive later on," Fukushima replied, starting to unbuckle the restraints.
"Do you know what is going on here? What happened to me?" Fist asked.
"In due time, Fiske-san. Right now, we have to focus on getting you out of a highly guarded cell inside a Global Justice base and getting you as far away from Middleton as we can." Monkey Fist's eyes widened again.
"An easy task I'm sure, if you just let me-"
His feet. His… feet. They… they were…
"Wh…what… what have they done? Global Justice wouldn't-"
"As I understand it, it was a man named Duff Killigan who cut them off. You will learn more when we are safely out of here" Fukushima replied curtly.
"But… But how? I… I can't even walk. How are we supposed to escape from a Global Justice base like this?" Monkey Fist asked.
"I will carry you. Escaping the base will be quite easy, though the agents are… not themselves at the moment."
"Not themselves?" Monkey Fist repeated, trying to get over the shock.
"At the moment… no. Getting them back to normal will take some time and effort. That's why we've come for you" Fukushima said, as he lifted the English lord up.
"We?"
"Need you ask? The Yamanouchi school."
"I thought they kicked you out?" Monkey Fist asked.
"Some things… you can't get kicked out of", Fukushima replied, as he carried Monkey Fist out of the cell.
"Aiko-san? We need to leave", Tomo said. Aiko turned and looked at him.
"I… Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Aiko asked. "If my father comes back, we could…"
"I don't know what will happen if your father finds us", for more reason than one, Tomo added to himself. He blushed a little.
"Where will we go?" Aiko asked, looking sad as she closed the door to her home.
"The Order of the Chosen Monkey Warriors", Tomo replied. "They'll know what to do."
"And if they are also possessed? Like my mother and our servants?" Aiko asked. Tomo shrugged.
"Then… I don't know. But I'm not leaving you behind. I made a promise." With that, he helped her get on his horse, and then got up himself. They rode away in silence.
