Author's notes
In the meanwhile, I hope you'll enjoy this one.
Mount Yamanouchi, Monkey Fist thought with a grimace.
How delightfully ironic – of all places on earth, the last part of the Obsidian Monkey was hidden in the only place were he could not retrieve it legally: the whole mountain was under the control of the Yamanouchi School, and Monkey Fist was certain Sensei would never accord him the permission to get anywhere near the idol – no matter how much he could try to convince them is intentions were honorable.
He knew the school was extremely careful with its secrets with anyone, let alone with him.
Yet, Monkey Fist thought as he sat in his library surrounded by dozens of ancient books and scrolls, why on earth should a part of the item be hidden there? He had never found evidence of any kind of contact between the Yamanouchi ninjas and the followers of the Monkey Kung Fu after the split in the year 338 AD, when Toshimiru and a few other Monkey Kung Fu followers had left the others and built the school on Mount Yamanouchi.
There had been terrible fights between the two factions after that split for the possession of the ancient relics, and much blood had been shed for them. Things had eventually settled down when they had reached an accord: Yamanouchi would keep the Lotus Blade, while the Monkey Kung Fu followers would keep the Jade Monkeys and the Obsidian Monkey. After that, there had been no other contact between them – and if such a thing had ever happened, it wasn't written in any record.
The monkey man frowned as he remembered a line he had read somewhere. He immediately grabbed the book about the Obsidian Monkey that had taken so much effort to translate and began to turn pages quickly, looking for the line stuck in his mind.
…divided by a mighty blade.
Monkey Fist mentally cursed himself for not thinking about it before. Of course, now everything made sense! An obsidian item filled with Mystical Monkey Power couldn't be broken so easily. For the Jade Monkeys it had been different: each statue didn't have any power of its own, they could only create the power when placed together. But the Obsidian Monkey held all the power within itself, making it practically unbreakable – only a blade holding the same power the idol had could cut it.
So it wasn't surprising that at least one part of the idol was hidden on Mount Yamanouchi – the Lotus Blade was the 'mighty blade' that had divided the Obsidian Monkey into pieces! Why hadn't he thought about it earlier? He knew for certain that the idol had was still intact when the Lotus Blade had been taken by Toshimiru to create the Yamanouchi School, so that meant that the Yamanouchi ninjas and the Monkey Kung Fu warriors must have met again after a few centuries since Lotus Blade had been used to secretly cut the Obsidian Monkey into five pieces in order to make it easier hiding it.
He sighed, closing the book. This was very interesting, but it didn't answer to his main question – how could he retrieve the idol? Monkey Fist frowned as glanced at an ancient text about the history of the Yamanouchi School. Nothing, not a single word about the Obsidian Monkey. How could that be possible? If the school had the idol's head, it should have been mentioned somewhere on the ancient texts!
Unless…could it be that the location of the Obsidian Monkey's head was unknown to the school?
The thought hit him like a ton of bricks. As much as the Monkey Kung Fu followers' rivalry with the Yamanouchi ninjas and had died down over the centuries enough to make them cooperate to hide the Obsidian Monkey from the world, he doubted they would have ever left a part of their precious relic to them.
Then why hiding it on Mount Yamanouchi of all places?
Monkey Fist frowned in thought, taking a sip of tea. The Monkey Kung Fu warriors were well-known for being sly and cunning – the had to be a good reason for what they had done, and he needed to think as one of them to figure out a good reason.
After a few minutes, the frown left as a grin broadened on his face. Of course, why hadn't he thought about it? They had hidden the Obsidian Monkey's head on Mount Yamanouchi to make sure it would be well guarded. The Yamanouchi ninjas would keep intruders away not even realizing they were protecting another treasure besides the Lotus Blade.
It was clever, Monkey Fist had to admit – he knew well how satisfying it could be, making someone else do his bidding without even realizing it. Anyway, it made his quest even more difficult. It was obvious he would never get an excavation permission from Sensei, not to mention than even asking for it would have been a mistake: they most likely didn't even know about the relic on their mountain, and it was better this way. Should they find out, they would probably make sure it would be kept in some place where he couldn't get it.
Monkey Fist sighed as he finished his tea. It looked like he could no longer use law as shield: he was going to have to break it in order to get the idol. It was risky, of course, but he couldn't stop now that he was so close to his goal. Now that the Obsidian Monkey was almost complete, he could take the risk: if he could be quick enough to retrieve the item without being caught and put it together with the other parts, his power would be complete before they could do anything to stop him.
He would fulfil his destiny, and he would be unstoppable.
The monkey man frowned slightly as he looked at the ancient texts scattered on his desk. The other times he had just gathered the necessary information before going to look for the hiding places himself – it took less time and effort looking for the temples directly rather than studying the texts for days hoping to understand the exact location – but this time he needed to know exactly where the Obsidian Monkey's head was hidden before he got there. He was going to have to spend on Mount Yamanouchi the less time he could in order to retrieve the idol without too much risk of being caught.
He grinned. Finding out the exact location by studying the texts was going to take a while, but he was confident his efforts would pay. He had been a world famous explorer, after all: it wouldn't be the first time he guessed where a relic was located by studying all the information he had – and his guesses had always been right.
He had never failed doing that, and he wouldn't fail now.
As he put the empty cup back on the tray he felt somewhat uncomfortable for a few seconds, a part of his mind wondering what would have happened should things go wrong and should he face Yuki again while betraying her, then he shook his head almost angrily.
Whatever there had been between them was over – it had to be over. He couldn't let anyone stand between him and his destiny now, not even her. Should she try to stop him, she would meet the same fate of his other enemies – he would show her no mercy.
It wouldn't be the first time he sacrificed something important in his quest to become the Ultimate Monkey Master after all – and now he was ready to sacrifice the last shreds of humanity he had left as well by destroying her if necessary, no matter how painful it could be. Fulfilling his destiny was more important.
He quickly pushed the thought back in the depths of his twisted mind as he turned his full attention to the texts again, his hands shaking even so slightly as he silently prayed whoever could hear him that she would be wise enough to not stand in his way.
Two weeks later
"Fine," Yuki growled, massaging her temples "let me remind you again – I am the teacher. You are the students. If anything, I am the one to go easy on you – not the other way around. That said, care to explain me why do you all keep acting as if I were made of glass?"
The students glanced uncomfortably to each other – they didn't like it when she glared at the that way, not at all. "We didn't mean to disrespect you, Yuki-sempai, we just…well…considering your current condition…"
Yuki held back a groan, taking a mental note to ask Sensei why did he exactly think it would be a good idea letting the students know she was expecting. Of course, nobody but a few knew the truth about the father of the child – namely the ones who knew where she had been until the month before – but the whole thing was starting to get on her nerves.
"Tomoko, I'm five weeks pregnant, not deathly ill – the day I won't be able to handle you anymore, I promise I'll go digging my own grave. But until that day – "
She trailed off as she heard the familiar sound of the gong announcing lunchtime. "Alright, let's go to eat something – then back to training. I want you to fight with all you have, and no excuses."
As the students went to eat, Yuki followed them with her gaze. Truth to be told, she was relieved by the fact none of them seemed to think about her pregnancy as something dishonourable. Of course, they didn't know who the father of the child was, but they didn't seem to care either. She knew that not too many years ago it would be unacceptable for a Yamanouchi ninja being expecting without being properly married – things had changed for the better since then.
"Yuki-sempai..."
"You better not be going to ask me how do I feel again, Yori," Yuki said a bit jokingly "if I hear that question one more time, I swear I'm going to throw myself from the peak of the mountain."
Yori chuckled. "I won't," she said "the students seemed to have taken it well."
"Yes, they did take it well. They didn't immediately assume I was raped or something," Yuki said with a grin. She was still a bit upset by how quickly Yori had jumped to the worst possible conclusion about Monty.
The younger girl blushed a little. "I'm sorry about that, Yuki-sempai – I didn't think you would ever…I mean…"
"No matter. Is there something wrong?"
"Well, I was wondering – since things seem to have settled down well here…do you think you're going to stay?"
Yuki gave an oddly melancholic smile. "I doubt Monty would be an ideal father, and he most likely doesn't even want to be one – I don't feel ready to have it either. Yamanouchi is my home, and I know I can count on everyone's help here. So…yes, it seems the best solution, but…"
"But?"
Yuki shook her head and sighed, her gaze distant and unfocused. "I miss him."
"Yes!"
Monkey Fist smirked, as he put aside the scroll with a satisfied sigh. He was awfully tired, but right now he felt like patting himself on the back – he knew where the head of the Obsidian Monkey was.
It was a clever hideout, he had to admit: the Monkey Kung Fu followers knew perfectly that the Yamanouchi ninjas rarely visited the eastern side of the mountain, where there was a shrine to commemorate all the warriors fallen during the battles between the two schools on that mountain.
It was a place full of painful memories, and nobody was willing to think about the worst pages in the school's history. Even now that the memory of those battles was almost lost, it was an unspoken tradition that the eastern side of Mount Yamanouchi was to be avoided, as if some kind of curse still lingered there. Besides, there was no real need to keep that side of the mountain under strict control – the school was extremely difficult to reach from that side.
If his theories were right – and they always were – the entrance to the subterranean cave temple where the head of the Obsidian Monkey had been hidden was located right under the shrine. He grinned at the thought – it was going to be easier than he has anticipated, considering how the Yamanouchi students avoided that place: they would understand what had happened too late to stop him…
…unless someone warned them.
The thought caused him to grimace. Though he hadn't seen them lately, he couldn't get rid of the sensation that Team Possible had been following him in each location he had been, waiting for him to make a wrong move. The previous times he hadn't been worried – there was nothing they could do against him anyway – but this time it was different: he was about to act illegally, and he couldn't take the risk of having them in his way.
He needed to think of a way to keep them busy as far as possible from Japan – and he already knew what to do. He grinned and grabbed the phone, feeling like giving himself a pat on the back for the second time in a few minutes as he began to dial a number.
"British Airlines," he heard a feminine voice at the other side of the line say "can I help you?"
"Yes, I would like to make a reservation – a ticket for…uh…" Monkey Fist paused and glanced at a map hanging on the wall "Greenland. Yes, I did say Greenland – the first flight, if possible…whatever airport would be fine. Tomorrow evening? Perfect, just perfect. Yes, a reservation for Lord Montgomery Fiske – yes, first class. I'll pay for the ticket tomorrow morning…yes, credit card. No, no return ticket. Thank you."
Monkey Fist smirked as he hung the phone – that was just perfect. Now he just needed to obtain excavation permission for Greenland – and he could obtain it effortlessly – and the next day he would pay for the ticket with his credit card, just to make sure Team Possible would follow the wrong trail and think he had gone in Greenland. He would go to Japan using a fake name while they would look for him in Greenland: he was confident the trick would keep them away from Yamanouchi long enough, since it would have taken them some time to realize the trick and track him down again.
Monkey Fist grinned and glanced to the parts of the Obsidian Monkey he had retrieved already. It would be too risky trying to get back in England with an item retrieved illegally; he hoped he could retrieve it without being noticed by the Yamanouchi ninjas, but should anything go wrong they had enough connections to prevent him from leaving Japan and have him arrested before he could manage to reunite all the parts of the Obsidian Monkey and become the Ultimate Monkey Master.
It would be much safer for him to bring the other parts with him in Japan instead – that was something he could do legally after all. He would leave them in a safe place, and he would be able to finally reunite al the pieces barely a few hours after he retrieve the last part.
And after he did…oh, he just wished they would try to stop him then! He would show them his power by wiping them away from history.
In his excitement, the thought this could put Yuki's life in danger as well didn't even cross mind; lost in his obsession, he seemed to have past the point of no return. An insane, high-pitched laughter echoed in the empty rooms if the castle, causing the monkey ninjas to cringe – they all knew that laughter could mean only one thing: trouble.
"What's the sitch, Wade?" Kim Possible asked as she stared at the Kimmunicator, trying to not look at Ron as he ate. She should have gotten used to it, but she still felt a little sick as she watched him eating the fifth naco.
"I have news about Monkey Fist," Wade's words caused Ron to shudder and choke on his naco, while Kim narrowed her eyes – she had been waiting for a chance to get him back since their confrontation in Libya the previous month.
"Spit it out."
"It's something you may be interested about," Wade answered from the screen, typing something on the keyboard "he bought a ticket for Greenland, and he has and excavation permission…"
"As usual," Ron brushed away some crumbles from his shirt "we can do nothing if he has an excavation permission, dude – and I'm not following him again for no reason. The desert was hot, the lake was chilling, I froze my butt in Himalaya, and those lemurs were crazy," Ron shuddered at the memory, and so did Rufus.
"He has a point," Kim admitted unwillingly "but maybe you have good news this time," she added with a smile as he noticed Wade's satisfied expression.
"Positive," the boy answered "you see, Monkey Fist bought the ticket and everything…but he's not on that plane. According to the microchip tracker you put in the bag with his excavation instruments in Libya, he has taken another flight – he probably used a fake name."
Ron blinked. "Why did he buy a ticked for a flight he wouldn't take?" he asked, confused.
"To keep us off his back," Kim said, snapping her fingers "and we would have fallen in the trick if it wasn't for the microchip – he must be up to no good again. Wade, can you check where is his flight going?"
"Already done," the boy folded his arms, a proud expression on his chubby face "he's going to Japan, and the airport is just a few miles from Mount Yamanouchi – I bet he's going there, but I'll keep you informed anyway. And guess what?"
A grin appeared on Ron's face "No excavation permission?" he guessed.
"Exactly. He might be there for reasons unrelated to work, but the fact he tried to prevent anyone from following him makes the whole thing even more suspicious than it would usually be – and whatever he could be looking for on Mount Yamanouchi…"
"…it belongs to the school," Kim finished "taking anything away from that mountain would be stealing…well, it's not like that it ever stopped him. We have to go to Yamanouchi right away, Wade. Can you get us a lift?"
"Done," was the answer as a jet landed just outside Bueno Nacho.
Kim grinned. "You rock, Wade," she said as she grabbed Ron and dragged him outside, deaf to his whining about what an awful waste it was leaving the last naco unfinished.