Special thanks to Ultimate Naco Topping, screaming phoenix, Katsumara, the grey mage, bigherb81, CajunBear73, MrDrP, RonHeartbreaker, Michael Howard, BlueEyesBrigadier, Donteatacowman, and whitem for their great reviews!

And thanks to everyone for reading!

Much honor and respect to my caustic editor flakeflippingsnowgypsy. Well, she is editing for two, after all.

I.

When Sakurai-san stepped out of the kitchen for a moment, Ron found himself alone. Alone with his thoughts.

He heated the miso soup for Jack Hench's order and tried to come to grips with the frightening look he had seen on Karin's face.

Of course, he already knew what she was.

Had known for weeks, in fact, and it had never bothered him before. He'd hung out with her for a good hour or so the very night he'd learned her family's secret, her secret. And tonight, he had shot the breeze and goofed off with her whenever she had come back to the kitchen and there had been a spare moment.

Knowing was one thing, however. Seeing was something else.

He shivered. Her eyes had been ridiculously dilated and ... well ... glowing. And … and then there was her mouth.

He shivered again, and then stood silent for a few moments.

He suddenly slammed his ladle down against the countertop and shook his head.

No.

Although he was seriously weirded out by what he had seen, he wasn't going to let it ruin their friendship. Even if Karin wasn't human, she was still a person. And a good person, too.

The Ron-com rang.

Recalling that Kim would buzz him in case Yono got out of hand eased the momentary panic the chime had caused him.

Drakken probably just needs more fries.

"Yo, KP!"

"Ron, I need you. Now."

"What is it?"

"Well, don't get upset, but it's Yono."

II.

Ron already had a visible aura of blue about him when he burst through the kitchen's doors. His eyes were turning cobalt by the time he had raced halfway down the aisle to table thirty-one. However, the scene he encountered when he reached the table immediately shut all his monkey mojo off.

The Destroyer's purple and gold robe lay in tatters in the booth. The evil mystic himself was nowhere to be seen. However, he could definitely be heard: chittering wildly from underneath the table.

"He won't come out," Kim said. "I even tried coaxing him out with this." She held up a banana.

Wha? "What's going on, KP?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. He seems to be acting like, well, like a regular monkey."

"Man, what's that smell?"

"I know," Kim said making a face. "It seems to be coming from his hiding place."

Then Ron realized something else was different. He shot a quick glance down the aisle. "Hey, where's Monkey Fist?"

Kim gestured with the banana to DNAmy's table.

The former British lord sat petrified beneath the smothering arms and kisses of the mad geneticist. His confused, panicked eyes pleaded with Ron for assistance. "Help," he whispered. "Help me, please."

"That was my first clue that something was up," Kim explained. "Monkey Fist was back to normal."

"He doesn't look too happy about it, though," Ron said.

"No, but Amy sure is." Kim smiled.

"Am ... am," Monkey Fist managed in a louder, if not stronger, voice, "am I in ... hell?"

"No," Kim explained, "you're at Julian."

"Oh," he replied blankly.

A noise made her look back at table thirty-one. "Oh no--Bad Destroyer! Bad!"

Ron turned around. "Oh, man! That's gross!"

Yono the Destroyer, smiling obscenely, was dragging his filthy bottom across the tabletop.

"Okay," Ron said stepping forward, his eyes pulsating blue, "I'll handle this."

"Be careful, Ron," Kim cautioned.

"Kim, I'm the monkey master."

"I know, but they tend to--"

Splat.

Kim grimaced. "Throw ... their ... waste."

"Oh, you are so going to pay for that, dude!" Ron tossed his soiled toque and chased after the screeching monkey.

III.

Once she had cleaned off Dementor's table and discovered a sizeable tip hidden under the pages of the discarded "FINE" magazine, Kim made her way back toward the kitchen. There were very few people in the restaurant now. In fact, it was about closing time. Moments earlier, she'd heard Maaka-san seating what would probably be their last customers at a table near the front.

Not long now. She sighed.

"Excuse me, miss?" a thin voice called out.

She looked in the direction of the voice and froze.

"I apologize, but our waitress seems to have vanished," the customer explained. "Could I put in an order, at least for the drinks, with you?"

Kim nodded vaguely but could not find her voice.

The customer was a corpulent man with a broad friendly face. However, Kim hardly registered his expression. She could not pull her eyes away from his puce and crimson cape, purple cone-shaped helmet, and ruby-tinged glasses.

"I know it is a real hassle for you guys, us coming in at the very last second and all, so I'd like to move things along as quickly as possible, you know, so we can get out of your hair," he rambled on, adjusting his glasses as they slid down the short length of his nose.

Kim took her pad and half-a-pencil from her apron with automatic gestures. Her eyes were fixed upon the customer's lavender, clawed gloves that were clutching the menu.

"Okay," she said finally. "What can I get you?"

"Well, my little boy will have chocolate milk, I'll have a tea, and my better half will have," he broke off and then looked past Kim. "What did you want again, sweetie?"

"Z!" "Sweetie" responded shrilly from behind her. "Where's Vincent?!"

Kim turned around; her pad hit the floor and her half-pencil rolled under the table.

A very tall woman with imposing blue eyes and shoulder-length brown hair glared at the caped man in the booth. She was also wearing a full-body, leopard-skin cat suit with black knee-high boots.

"I thought you were taking him to the little boy's room!" he protested. "Or the little girl's room, or ladies' room, or wherever!"

"You never listen!" she yelled. "I did say that I was going to take him to the restroom, but then he said he didn't need to go."

"Fine, fine," the man cried as he slid out of the booth, "we'll argue about it later! We just need to find him."

"Miss?" the cat woman placed her right hand heavily on Kim's shoulder. "Can you please help us?"

"S-sure," she nodded. "What does he look like?"

"Well," she said, gesturing about three feet from the floor with her right hand, "he's about so tall." Kim noticed that the woman was anxiously pulling on her tail with her left.

"Hey, Little V!" Maaka-san's voice cheerfully called from the waiting area. "I can see yoooou!"

"Phew," the man said, removing his helmet and brushing his hair back with his forearm. "Should have known Karin would find him."

The child's mother walked quickly toward the waiting area, releasing her tail to sway easily in mid-air. Before she crossed half the distance, Maaka-san appeared around the corner with the toddler cradled in her arms. He was gently tugging on the ends of her hair.

The child was wearing a cat suit very much like his mother's and a pair of glasses that matched his dad's. The child's boots were ankle-high and adorned with bootie-bells.

"I'm glad someone was looking out for him," the cat lady said, shooting a hard look over her shoulder at her husband.

The man in the cape glared back through his rose-tinted glasses. He opened his mouth, but then closed it without saying anything.

"He was hiding behind the tree," Maaka-san explained. "Maybe he believes he's a real jungle cat!"

The woman smiled and went to take her son from the waitress. He allowed himself to be lifted out of the waitress's hands, but refused to let go of her hair.

"C'mon, let her go, Vincent," his father said as he slid back into the booth.

"Yes, honey," his mother admonished, "you could hurt her."

"No, no," Maaka-san laughed. "It's fine." The toddler laughed when she did and continued to hold on to her hair. It was clear that both she and Vincent were enjoying themselves.

"Sheila! Get him to let go."

"No, it's fine, Zorpox-san," the girl smiled. "It doesn't hurt at all."

Kim watched as Maaka-san walked hip-to-hip with Sheila of the Leopard People as they both, more or less, carried the boy to the table where his father Zorpox the Conqueror waited.

"Has it been busy?" Sheila asked conversationally as they passed by Kim.

"Very!" Karin nodded.

"We told everyone at the convention tonight to check you guys out. I hope you got plenty of good tips."

"Oh, yes! Thank you," Maaka-san said as they placed Vincent into his booster seat. She turned to Kim who was silently observing them. "Possible-san?"

Kim was lost in thought and didn't hear the question.

"Possible-san?"

"Oh!"

"Were you waiting for something?"

"Oh no, I was just--"

"It's okay, Miss," Zorpox smiled. "I think Karin can take it from here. Thanks, anyway."

IV.

Kim placed the sizable tip Mayu had left into her apron's pocket and began to bus the table. She was still unsure if the woman was same person who had violently confronted the table's slimy former customer. The whole situation was odd. Especially how he had suddenly disappeared and been replaced by her.

Did Maaka-san seat her?

Kim looked toward the entrance of the restaurant. She could still hear Maaka-san chatting amicably with Zorpox and Sheila.

A lot of odd things had been happening over the course of the evening--Yono's inexplicable regression and Monkey Fist's subsequent return topping the list. But not all of them had to do with villains or their convention. Like Maaka-san's very strange sister suddenly showing up. And then there was that 'thing' Kim had seen hanging underneath the awning right before she and Ron had volunteered to help out.

Reflexively, Kim turned to the bank of black windows at the front of the restaurant and tried to pick out the one she had spied the object out of. After a moment she gave up.

And then there was the scene with Usui-san.

Since his sudden retreat with Maaka-san over an hour before, Kim had occasionally crossed paths with her classmate. Apart from asking him if he was okay, she hadn't really spoken with him. She intuited that whatever the emergency had been it was more than likely related to Maaka-san's secret, and had decided against asking any specific questions.

She was still thinking about it as she began cleaning off Shego and Drakken's table.

"Hey," Usui-san called hesitantly.

"Oh, hey," Kim looked up as she slid her tip across the tabletop.

Drakken and Shego had left her exactly seventy-three yen. The small amount had been Drakken's idea while the coins' denominations had been selected by Shego because the villainess believed that they couldn't be used for anything useful--including the campus laundry mat. Or, at least, that was what Shego's note--scrawled onto a wet napkin--had explained.

"I just want to thank you, Possible-san," he explained, "for taking that customer for me. When … well … you know."

"Oh, sure." she smiled, "No problem. It looked like whatever was going on was majorly important."

"Yes," Usui-san admitted, "it was." He paused. "Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for that and, of course, for you and Stoppable-san helping out tonight."

"No big." She smiled. "Are you sure you're okay, Usui-san?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, you look kinda flushed."

"Yes," he nodded somewhat nervously. "I'll be fine. It is stuffy in here."

"Maybe a little. Why don't you grab a drink of water and loosen your collar?"

"Huh?"

If he had been looking flush seconds earlier, he was pale now.

Was it something I said?

"Some water?" She repeated. "I could grab you a glass."

"Oh!" he smiled uneasily. "Yes, if you don't mind."

"No, no problem."

When she came back a minute later with his glass, she found that he had finished cleaning table thirteen for her and was busy busing another as well.

He thanked her for the water and was acting perfectly normal again. Yet she still thought he looked uncomfortable with his collar buttoned all the way to the top.

V.

"Ron, the last customers are just leaving," Kim announced as she entered the kitchen.

But the kitchen was empty.

Well, almost empty. Hunched down on the floor, surrounded by a half-dozen scattered banana peels was Yono the Former Destroyer. The large monkey was tethered in a far corner via a dog collar and leash that Usui-san had retrieved from Julian's extensive lost and found archives. The bananas Sakurai-san had given him just before he had left must not have been enough to sate him; it appeared that he had been gnawing on the leash. He looked up at Kim with annoyed indifference.

"Ron?" she called again.

The lights flickered for a moment.

"Whoa! That was so not cool!" Ron's voice echoed from the hallway that led to the back offices.

"Ron? What are you doing?"

He appeared in the doorway holding a serving tray. Lit candles framed a plate overloaded with food. "This was going to be a surprise," he smiled weakly. "And if the lights hadn't gone funky just now, I would have been able to lower them myself."

"Oh, Ron," Kim exclaimed walking quickly toward him," You have no idea how hungry I am."

"Actually, I think I do, KP."

Her stomach rumbled.

"Actually, I think Yono and I both know now."

She gave him a playful glare and kissed his cheek.

"Oh," she broke the kiss short, "it smells so wonderful, Ron!"

"I hope you enjoy it. It is the most bon-diggity of Karin's dishes. Follow me," he led her back to a makeshift table of crates near the hallway.

She eyed Yono sitting a mere ten feet to her right.

"Don't worry about him, KP," Ron said. "I'll make sure he doesn't snatch any bites."

"It's not that I'm worried about." She gestured to the simian who had begun vigorously scratching himself in a very unappetizing place.

"Oh yeah," Ron said nodding slowly with comprehension. He moved Kim's chair around so she would not be facing the former sorcerer.

Kim leaned over and inhaled the delightful mosaic of scents from her dinner. She paused. "Ron, what about you? Aren't you going to eat with me?"

"No can do," Ron smiled and patted his middle. "I've been sneaking bites on the job for hours."

She gave him a cross look.

"Hey!" he protested. "Sakurai-san was doing it, too!"

She covered a laugh with her hand. "Okay, okay."

As Ron poured her some tea, she asked, "What about Usui-san and …?"

"Their meals are warming in the oven," he explained. "Stop making excuses! Give into the Culinary Power of The Stoppable."

"All right, all right," she smiled, "but I need to go to the ladies room first."

"Do you want me to keep it warm for you?"

"No, no," she said, "I won't be that long."

Although the employee bathroom was very clean--in fact, it looked like it had been cleaned recently--it smelled wrong. However, she couldn't tell where the nasty odor was coming from; it just seemed to engulf the entire room. As she washed her hands, she worried idly that it might have ruined her appetite. However, another well-timed grumble from her stomach banished that concern.

Then she heard it.

"No! Bad Yono! Bad Destroyer!" Ron's voice echoed down the hallway.

Please don't say he …

"Get away from Kim's food, you little--"

"Oh, no!" She covered her face in her hands.

"Come back here!" Ron's voice got closer. Then Kim heard the approach of Yono's large feet, slapping against linoleum.

The instant the bathroom door banged open, the power flickered again. The strobe-like blinking of the light over the sink created a slide-show effect on what transpired next. Kim watched as a series of tableaux flashed before her. Yono with wild eyes floating in mid-air through the open door, Ron with his right hand modestly covering his eyes in mid-stumble after him, Ron holding the crazed monkey in what Kim vaguely recognized as a Steel Toe move, Ron dragging the simian out the half-ajar door, and then the bathroom's garbage can leaning at a dangerous angle in front of the shut door. Kim recognized the dull thud she heard during the next instant of blackness to be indicative of the can's fate.

"Sorry, KP!" Ron's receding voice called from the hallway as the lights came back on and stayed on.

Kim shook her head and bent over to right the garbage can. However, she accidentally knocked its lid off as she did.

She had discovered the source of the odor.

Dozens of red-stained paper towels cascaded from the can's mouth. Crimson liquid oozed across the floor and toward the small rusty drain at the surface's center.

Oh my God.

VI.

"Stoppable-san," Usui-san said with growing concern, "do you really think you should be using your mouth to do that?"

Ron had tied the separate ends of the severed dog leash together and was now pulling the knot tight ... with his teeth. "Ittttz ... fnnn," he muttered.

Karin was on her knees trying to console the still upset monkey. "Yono-san, would you like another banana?" she offered.

He snatched the banana from her and, without bothering to peel it, shoved it halfway into his mouth. He then proceeded to slurp the fruit out of its skin.

Undaunted by this rather icky display, Karin reached up and began scratching the former Destroyer behind his left ear. He shot her an annoyed look that she failed to notice. However, as the girl continued to scratch, his eyes softened and then, gradually, Yono began craning his neck toward her touch. He spit out the banana skin and favored the waitress with a broad smile.

"Blood!" Kim cried.

Everyone, including Yono, froze and turned toward her.

"There's so much of it!" she pointed behind her down the shadowy hallway. "The bathroom -- it looks like a crime scene!"

As she explained what she had found in more detail, Kim became gradually aware of the unexpected affect her story was having upon her friends.

Their faces went very pale, not with shock but with ... something else. And no one had said a word.

Ron looked at Usui-san, and then he looked back at Ron. It was obvious to Kim they were having a very intense conversation with their eyes.

"It's okay, Possible-san," Usui-san said, turning to her.

"No," she insisted, "it is not okay. It looks like someone was murdered! We're not talking about a nosebleed here!"

For an instant, it appeared to Kim as if her classmate and his girlfriend blanched as she finished her sentence.

In the uneasy seconds that followed, the obvious slowly began to descend upon Kim: her discovery had something to do with Maaka-san's secret.

"KP ..." Ron said, breaking the silence.

"No," she interrupted. "I think I know what you're going to say." Her voice dipped as she spoke, "You can't tell--"

"Kim!" cried Maaka-san suddenly.

Everyone turned to the young waitress.

"Sorry," she said blushing. "I didn't mean to yell, but they can't tell you ..."

"I know, Maaka-san--"

"But I can."

VII.

"Maaka?" Usui-san asked.

"It's okay, Usui-kun," she smiled. "My family just swore you two to secrecy. No one ever said that I couldn't tell."

"Uh, Maaka, isn't that what they meant when they told you to keep it a secret?" her boyfriend reasoned.

"I trust her, Usui-kun." She turned to Kim. "I trust you, Possible-san. I want to tell you the truth."

After a moment of anxious silence, Kim asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Maaka-san enthused and grabbed Kim's hand. "Come on!"

Before they had gotten five feet, Maaka-san had to stop and gently remove Yono's staying grip from her skirt. "It's okay, Yono-san," she said, stroking his head, "I won't be long."

Maaka-san led Kim, who was giving the forlorn-looking monkey a quizzical look, to the entrance of the kitchen. "We'll be right back!"

They crossed the empty dining area and Maaka-san unlocked the door with a set of keys from her apron pocket.

"Where are we going, Maaka-san?" Kim asked.

"Outside," she explained. "I have to make sure she sees me tell you."

"She?"

"I'll explain everything," Maaka-san said quickly. "Come on."

VIII.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Ron asked, gesturing somewhat nervously toward the still swinging kitchen door.

"Uh," Usui-san began as he anxiously rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know. I guess so. I mean, Maaka's technically right. And her family can be understanding. At times."

Yono slurping down another banana was the only sound to be heard as a sense of uneasiness descended upon the kitchen.

"Well, I guess I should go clean the bathroom," Usui-san sighed. "Again."

"You need some help, dude?"

"Nah, I can handle it."

"Hey, it's no problem," Ron said, shouldering an unopened sack of rice, "I need to take this back to the storeroom anyway."

"Oh, sure, thanks."

As they walked down the hallway, Usui-san remarked, "It's strange. Maaka only had a small accident in there."

Silence prevailed once they reached the bathroom's open door.

"Maybe your idea of 'small' is different than mine, but--" Ron began.

"Oh no." Usui shook his head. "I only saw what she got on the wall. I didn't realize. Ugh. She must have sprayed most of it into the can. Shoot!"

"Does this happen a lot?" Ron asked.

Usui-san nodded.

"Whoa!" Ron yelped.

"What's wrong?"

"My eye," Ron explained as he covered the right side of his face. "I can't see!"

Usui-san steadied the rice sack before it could fall. "Did you get something in it? Do you need some water?"

"No. It's just my stupid stigmatism," Ron griped.

"You mean astigmatism?"

"Huh?" Ron asked leaning against the door frame. He shook his head. "Yeah, I said I have a stupid stigmatism."

"Stigmatism means your eyesight's fine," Usui-san explained. "Astigmatism means it's not."

After a moment, Ron shook his head. "Okay, dude, I have no idea what you're saying."

IX.

When she and Kim had reached the center of the empty parking lot, Maaka-san stopped and then looked about in the darkness. Her eyes fell on a tree at the edge of the lot. "Okay, this is good."

Kim glanced back at the same tree. For a second, the thought flashed that it was odd that the tree still had all its leaves at the end of autumn. "All right," she said turning her full attention back to Maaka-san.

"Okay, well, it's kind of complicated," Maaka-san began, "but I'm, well, my entire family actually is--"

The lights of the parking lot, those within Julian, and all those in the surrounding buildings suddenly flickered and went out. The Kimmunicator's alarm went off.

Memories of the Lorwardian invasion and thoughts of the Convention's centerpiece raced through Kim's head. "I need to get this, Maaka-san, sorry." She turned on her device only to see Wade's image being overwhelmed and drowned out by static interference.

Oh no.

The concussion from the explosion flung them several feet into the air.

When she landed, Kim frenziedly brushed off the layer of dust from her face. She blinked her eyes painfully open and saw the towering, glowing Lorwardian probe standing atop the pile of rubble that seconds earlier had been Julian. Then she became aware of Maaka-san's screams.

Kim saw that her friend was also covered in dust, crying hysterically at the sight of the smoldering restaurant. "Usui-kun! Usui-kun!"

"Karin!" Kim yelled, grabbing the girl's shoulders. "I'll find him. I'll find both of them! But you need to get out of here. NOW!"

Kim leapt to her feet and sprinted toward the ruins.

Karin stared at Possible-san's retreating figure, but did not move. Then she heard the rhythmic thud of something very large approaching. Slowly, she turned around as the outline of a nine-foot tall woman broke from the murky, dust-laden shadows behind her.

The gigantic being held what looked like a cannon in her right hand. And her eyes and unpleasant smile seemed to glow in the dark.

VIII.

"Target eliminated," Warhok's deep voice resonated through the blackness.

"Patience," Warmonga called back. "Verification has not been made." At that second she caught sight of an Earther figure racing toward the impact site. She recognized the hue of the Earther's hair. "The girl one survived," she muttered and flipped on the ion cannon. As she went to shoulder it, movement near her feet drew her attention.

There was a small Earther form not far from her. Another female. She was sitting on her knees, her face lowered to ground--either in a daze or frozen with fear. Warmonga turned her focus back to her retreating quarry. As she was drawing a bead on the target, a flurry of activity from the Earther on the ground distracted her. When she looked, its form held the same position and attitude but was now surrounded by a burgeoning amber halo. The Earther raised her right arm, palm held upright, to Warmonga.

The energy blast sent the giant alien hurtling some ten yards back into the shadows.

IX.

"Ron! Ron!" Kim cried as she approached the rubble. "Usui-san!"

Almost immediately, there was movement beneath a pile of debris half-way up the incline of the restaurant's ruins. She stumbled as quickly as she could to the source and began lifting and tossing rubble out of the survivor's way. Under the pile, she discovered an overturned table that began lifting of its own accord. "Ron! Usui--"

Yono burst from beneath the table, knocked Kim backwards and then ran shrieking into the night. Kim climbed to her feet and searched frantically within the small cavity from which the errant simian had sprung. It was empty. "Ron! Ron!"

Then she recalled the Ron-com. She tried calling it but received nothing but static. Desperately, she tried buzzing it. Between the loud pulsations of the Lorwardian probe, she made out very faint vibrations a few feet to her left. She buzzed again and followed the resulting signal to its source. She fell to her knees and began digging wildly through the rubble, wood and pieces of tile. "Don't worry, Ron!" She called in a hoarse voice. "I'm coming, Honey! Don't worry!" She didn't recall when she had started to cry. Maybe when Yono surprised her. Maybe sooner.

She buzzed and then dug toward the vibration for several seconds. Buzzed and dug. Buzzed and dug. Finally, she uncovered the Ron-com lying solitary upon a wide, solid piece of concrete support.

It was ... wet. With a growing sense of dread, Kim held the Ron-com up beneath the throbbing glow of the alien device. It was covered in blood.

"Ron. RON!"

X.

Karin looked toward the remains of the restaurant and saw Possible-san kneeling half way up the smoking mound. She could tell that she was crying. Her unhappiness was palpable. Karin watched her friend attempt to stand but then collapse upon bloodied knees. Still crying.

She tried to turn her face away but found that she couldn't. So she tightly shut her eyes instead. Even then, she could still feel, still see her friend's despair.

With an exhausting effort of will, Karin wrenched herself in the opposite direction and slowly began to crawl away.

She had only made it a few feet when something quite obvious occurred to her.

Oh!

With slowly building determination, Karin climbed to her feet, turned, and began walking toward Possible-san.

Then she began to run.

XI.

As Kim turned toward the sound of the sliding debris behind her, she slipped on a cracked tile and landed painfully on her back. Before she could rise to her elbows, she was suddenly pressed back down to the ground, her arms pinioned to her sides. At first, she was too startled to even yell out.

When she blinked her eyes clear and recognized her attacker, her mind whirled.

It was Maaka-san, and, at the same time, it wasn't.

For a second, her thoughts cleared, and she realized too late what Karin's secret was. The fangs of the vampire were already piercing her neck.

To be continued ...