Author's something or other: Chapter twenty at last. Sorry for the delay, but I really want to take my time crafting these final chapters. After all we are at the climax of our saga, and I think it's something best savored. Anyway, to make up for it, I made this chapter extra long.
I want to say a grateful thank you to all who have put this and REUNION on their fave lists, it really is a humbling thing to see my stories listed among the favorites of even one person. It's funny, when the fave count drops by even one, I find myself wondering "Aw what did I do? Come back! I'll make it better, really!" Pathetic, aint it?
Thanks to all who are reading.
Muchas gracias to the reviewers: Zaratan, MrDrP, Mattb3671, JPMod, Lydia King, Spooks-A-lot, qtpie235, WesUAH, drgonzo. Aimtbj, Cold-Chaos, Pseudo Juliet, kpultimatefan, demon-sword, Dreammergurl2007, Sestren NK, Kari, oneredneckgoddess, Visigoth29527, Widowshark, Muttly, recon228, TexasDad, and Porphyria-Kris. Thanks all of you guys for putting UNION up over the 400 review count.
In case you're wondering by the end of this chapter: Yes, there is a prefecture in Mutsu province called that. You'll see what I mean…
XX
There was much on Ron's mind. In fact he didn't even get around to the realization that he'd walked off into a rainy night alone without provisions until almost an hour had passed. When he parted company with TJ and Kimono, the world was still enveloped in deep twilight, made deeper by the clouds and accompanying rain.
Ron merely walked, turning the events of the battle and the ramifications of the lost castle over in his mind until he became aware that he was stumbling through almost complete darkness.
Most of his thoughts were centered on two things; Kim and the Lotus Blade.
His thoughts of Kim were easily explained; she was very likely dead and he'd spent his last few days as her husband angry at her. He'd even surprised himself by how angry he'd gotten at her. Kim could stay focused like a laser beam on a mission and its needed outcome. But challenge her pride and suddenly her priorities would shift. It wasn't that she needed to prove herself; she had, time and again against countless villains. Ron knew it was something deeper, something within her that would not tolerate anything less than equal treatment from anyone. The irony was not lost on Ron that not only did she spend many years treating him like a sidekick, but would never have tolerated that exact same treatment from him.
She was Kim Possible, she could do anything. And no one had better tell her she couldn't.
So what was it that made him angry?
Ron concluded that his anger was based on the idea that Kim had lost sight of their mission goals in favor of satisfying her own wounded pride. She had put her personal dignity above the survival of the universe itself, and just the thought of it had made Ron furious.
She was stubborn, strong-willed…and while these were among the things Ron loved most about her, they were also qualities that frustrated him from time to time.
One thing was certain: he wasn't the awkward, follow-Kim-anywhere teenager he used to be, and she didn't walk all over Ron as was occasionally her habit back in those days. Things had changed, and Ron supposed people must change, especially when they get married. Ron had taken on some of her assertiveness, and Kim seemed to have absorbed some of his innate goofiness into her own personality. Perhaps that was what the "two united as one" concept meant. Rabbi Katz had spoken to them about this and other things as part of their pre-marital counseling.
But as he thought about it, Ron was filled with regret at the way he'd behaved toward Kim. Sure, he still felt his anger was justified, but was it really necessary to go on punishing her, even after the duel?
Ron began to choke up a bit. What exactly had he accomplished by refusing to even speak to his wife for the last few days? Now, with the very distinct possibility that she was dead, and he would never see her again, he would have to live with the reality that – by his own choosing – they'd spent their last few days as a married couple not speaking to each other. But for last night when Ron finally came to her to tell her he'd be marching out with Hidesato in the morning.
Ron arrived at the conclusion that, while what Kim had done was certainly stupid, he was no less an idiot for the way he had behaved. Ten years ago he never would have treated her like that. Perhaps that was marriage as well; becoming so familiar with someone that sometimes you could even feel contempt for her despite the fact that deep down, you actually love and admire her.
Words she had said to him long ago echoed in his head.
We're not in Pre-K anymore. Time to grow up.
And so they had. Whether it was a good thing or not, they'd gotten older and grown up, together for all but six years. Change happened so gradually they didn't even notice. Ron certainly wouldn't have believed ten years ago that one day he'd be the mysterious ninja superhero called – inaccurately, but considering the media that was no surprise – "Ronin". Though he suspected if he could visit himself in the past and tell his younger self about Ronin he'd be pretty psyched about it. On the other hand, High School Ron might not have been too enthusiastic about what he had to go through to become Ronin.
He owed her an apology, big time, and he decided that if she really was still alive, then he'd find her after recovering the Lotus Blade and give her an apology to remember.
Ron's mind then turned to the Lotus itself. That was something he couldn't explain; his all-consuming need to go and retrieve it. It had jarred him earlier when Kimono had to remind him of their mission. Just like Kim, he'd set another priority above saving the universe.
What was it about the Lotus Blade that drew him so inexorably to it? He'd spent the last year in his own time without it, and managed to function as Ronin just fine. But since it had come into his possession once again, Ron almost felt like he'd regained a severed limb.
A year ago he'd been too distracted by the fact that Kim was back in his life to feel the Lotus Blade's absence. Getting Kim back almost felt like he'd regained his missing heart.
But now, having had the Lotus for a few days, Ron realized it was almost as much a part of him as Kim was.
So why wasn't he trying to find her instead?
That was something he couldn't explain. All he knew was this overpowering need to go and get the Lotus Blade. So overpowering was this need, in fact, that he-
"Oh, crud." Ron muttered to himself. He stopped where he was and finished his thought aloud, "So overpowering was this need that I've walked off into a rainy night without any food or any clue as to where I'm going! Or where I am!"
Perfect.
Buffoon strikes again.
"I am a drama ninja!" Ron growled at himself. He'd thought only of going after the Lotus, though abstractly he thought how cool it must have looked as he walked away from Kimono, TJ and Drakken, fading into the rainy night like a ninja apparition.
The rain poured steadily in the near-blackness. Any remaining light was coming from the sky, but it did not offer him any sort of ability to tell where he was. In fact, he wasn't exactly sure of the direction he had come from, or just how long he'd been walking.
But for the sizzling sound of the falling rain, the world was silent.
Ron took a couple of tentative steps and then stopped, unsure of which way he should be going. Panic began to set in.
What fresh disaster had he just created for himself? He should have stayed with his family, should have at least ascertained Kim's state of being, and developed some kind of plan with TJ and Kimono to retrieve the Lotus Blade and destroy the Tempus Simia. He should have-
Someone coughed.
Ron's blood froze and he dropped to a crouch. He held his breath and strained his eyes into the darkness, trying at least to see if someone was standing nearby or perhaps stalking him. Who would be out here walking around in the darkness in the rain? Besides Ron?
Coughing again, this time it was more protracted, and sounded as though whoever was having such a hacking fit was very sick indeed.
Ron turned his head this way and that, trying to gage just exactly where the coughing was coming from. Then he heard only rain.
"Who is there?" Ron asked the darkness.
A voice, very weak, grunted and then responded, "Donata deu ka?"
Ron took a few hesitant steps toward the voice, "Who are you? Do you need help?"
"Dare ga koru no desu ka?" the voice asked weakly. "Koko ni kinasai."
Ron, in his sudden fear, realized he was speaking English.
"Ookina…uh," Ron searched his mind for the words, "Koe de… um… oh what was that word? Hanashite! Ookina koe de hanashite!."
"Ariemasen," the voice responded faintly.
"Ariemasen," Ron muttered to himself, "That means…uh…'not possible'. I asked him to speak loudly and he said 'not possible'…probably because he's sick… at least he sounds really sick."
"Koko ni kanasai," The voice repeated.
"That means…that's…'come here!' that means 'come here'!" Ron realized the voice was asking him to approach.
Whoever it was, Ron was convinced they were in no shape to fight. In fact they might even be able to tell him of Monkey Fist's whereabouts.
Ron made his way through the now complete darkness. After a moment, his outstretched hands bumped into something wooden, some sort of platform or something. If only he had a light-
"The Orchid Blade!" Ron exclaimed.
"Nani?" The voice came from somewhere just above him.
Ron took the Blade from his back and held it for a moment. Nothing happened. Then he waved the tip in tiny circles. A small arc of light began to spiral up and down the Blade, casting an eerie, pale blue glow in a roughly fifteen foot radius.
The voice above Ron uttered a small cry of surprise.
Ron looked up.
"Sensei!"
"There," Shego said, squinting against the glow of her fists at a nearby formation of rock, "That might work."
"It'll have to," Kim responded, "It's too dark and rainy to continue on."
"Yeah," Shego allowed, "But continue on to where?"
Kim ignored the question and began making her way over to the rough pile of boulders. Veronica waited a few seconds, threw a glance at Shego, then followed after her mother. Shego came last, holding up her glowing fist to cast as much light on the area as she could.
The three of them scrambled up over several boulders and then lowered themselves into a tiny space partially sheltered from the rain. Though some rain still got in, most of the wind was blocked by the surrounding rocks. What little space there was – something Ron and TJ might have considered a cool fort under other circumstances – compelled them to huddle together.
"Those don't give off any heat," Kim said in a disappointed tone of voice while gazing at Shego's glowing fists.
"More than a decade of fighting and you're just now noticing this?" Shego asked sarcastically.
"Had other things on my mind," Kim replied with equal sarcasm.
"I don't suppose any of us is carrying anything to eat," Veronica said doubtfully.
"You didn't exactly give us time to grab provisions." Shego growled, remembering the events of that afternoon.
With a horrendous, churning boom, the contents of the bath – three women and thousands of gallons of water – had plunged through the floor and into a drainage tunnel which tilted slightly downward so as to carry away water drained from the baths.
Kim found herself submerged not only in water, but complete blackness, tumbling over and over as the torrent pushed her and her companions along the interior of the tunnel. All three women alternately collided with debris or the sides of the passageway as they were swept along. None of them were able to come up for any kind of breath.
Then, after what seemed like an eternity, they were slammed against a rough metal grating that allowed the water to pour into a small, elongated pond which stretched across the front of the castle and around one corner.
The castle sat at the bottom of a gentle slope that rose up and away toward the ridge where Hidesato had marched his army that morning. The castle itself, however, was not on a slope, but rather at the bottom of a very narrow valley. A drawbridge spanned the pond to the main gate while there was a secondary gate at the rear of the structure with no bridge and no pond.
Hidesato's grandfather, who did not posses the mind of a great tactician, had chosen the location of the castle, thinking the surrounding low-lying ridges would offer additional protection as well as raise enemy soldiers to a higher elevation so his archers could more easily eliminate them. It did not occur to him that the same scenario offered enemy archers and siege weapons high ground with which to rain arrows down upon the castle.
Hidesato himself had constructed the pond in order to offer at least some protection to the front gate because it faced the upward slope. It was hoped that an enemy would be discouraged at the prospect of having to cross a body of water to attack the main gate, and thus be drawn around to the much more easily defended secondary gate. It was probably the only castle in Japan that had anything resembling a moat or a drawbridge.
A small tunnel had been constructed that allowed water from the baths to drain into the pond, thus keeping it fairly full in the summer months when there was less rain and the pond water would evaporate. But to guard against the possibility that a few enemy soldiers might try to sneak into the castle through the drainage tunnel, a crude iron grate had been put in place and, in time of battle, boiling water would be poured through there at regular intervals.
Three coughing, spluttering women found themselves resting against the grate which stood about four feet above the water level of the pond.
Kim looked to make sure her companions were all right, then began examining the grate.
"Shego, can you blast through this?" Kim asked her arch foe.
"Maybe," Shego growled, "If your daughter promises us no more surprises."
"Can't think of any at the moment," Veronica gazed evenly at Shego, "But if I do, well, I won't tell you now will I?"
Kim tried to stifle a smile but couldn't help it. This was not the timid, fearful woman she'd just met a few days ago.
Shego ignored her and turned her attention to the grate, flaring up her fists. She tried blasting the grate a few times, but to no avail. The grate didn't budge.
"Maybe if I-" Veronica began.
"I got it." Shego cut her off.
"I'm just saying-"
"I can handle it." Shego said firmly.
Kim looked at Veronica and shook her head slowly, her eyes telling Veronica Shego didn't want their help.
Then, Kim uttered a startled gasp.
"What is it?" Veronica asked in alarm.
"The other Magnolia Blade!" Kim exclaimed, "It's gone."
Shego continued working on the grate while the other two women turned and looked back up the tunnel. Unfortunately, the dim, gray light coming from outside only shone a limited distance into the tunnel. They couldn't see anything that looked like Kim's short sword.
Kim began crawling back up toward the baths.
"Mom-!"
"No," Kim interrupted, "I have to get it back. We can't lose the other one."
Angry voices began to echo from the direction of the baths.
"Move it!" Veronica barked, pushing Shego aside.
Veronica scooted closer to the grate and began tapping on the surrounding stone with the blade end of her weapon. Low booms accompanied a minor rumble. Stone began to crack, the grate shifted a little.
"Try it now," Veronica said, scooting aside, then turned and called back into the tunnel, "Mom! Let's go!"
There were noises. Shouts, scuffling, a struggle. Kim came scrambling back down the tunnel.
"They found it!" Dismay laced Kim's voice, "I tried to get it back but they passed it along behind them and then tried to capture me. They're coming!"
Shego moved to the grate and flared up her fists again. Several blasts loosened the iron a bit and the three of them pushed and strained against the grate until it moved outward a little, just enough so they could squeeze through and drop into the pond one at a time.
Veronica, the last one through the opening, turned to see men with very angry faces crawling through the tunnel toward them. She extended the Cactus Blade upward into the tunnel and struck the sides and ceiling of the enclosure several times. The Castle shook to its foundation, while in the tunnel, stone cracked and shattered, caving into the culvert. Veronica slid through the opening and dropped into the pond.
The three of them swam as quickly as they could to the other side and scrambled out on to the shore.
"Don't look back," Kim called out, her voice laced with fear, "They'll be coming after us. We need to go now."
Shego didn't need to be told twice, but sprinted off in the direction opposite the near ridge, away from the main gate.
The first few minutes of their journey were a harrowing experience indeed. As soon as they were out on open ground, they heard shouts, and angry voices. Arrows sizzled through the air and buried themselves in the turf all around them. One arrow actually stuck itself into the shaft of Veronica's weapon with a loud thwack, causing her to yelp in fear and surprise, but also compelling her to find speed and energy she didn't know she had.
As much as they wanted to run up the ridge toward where Hidesato stood, watching helplessly as his castle was captured, enemy cavalry and soldiers were still pouring through the font gate. No one had yet discovered how to open the secondary gate.
All of this turned out to be somewhat of a blessing for the three escaping women. Since proper communications had not yet been established within the castle, those enemy soldiers eagerly barging across the front bridge and through the gates could not be turned back or even made to halt to let a pursuing party out. (That night, several men were deemed responsible for allowing the women to escape and lost their lives to Ishigawa's wrath).
Sprinting through rain and mud proved to be a difficult task. Several times all three women fell sprawling, more than a few bruises and cuts were sustained.
They ran for almost an hour, slowing their pace to a jog. Eventually the ground began to slope upward and the terrain gradually changed from relatively flat grassland to rocky hillside. They were forced to slow their pace even further, as much by exhaustion as by the rough terrain itself. Shego finally stopped and looked back toward the castle.
"I don't think anyone's chasing after us." She called out to the others.
Kim climbed up on a rocky outcropping and peered into the distance. The castle was now an unknown number of miles away. Kim guessed it was somewhere between four and six miles off, but it was hidden in the rain and mist. The distant roar of battle still reached their ears, and all three of them began to wonder about the welfare of their loved ones.
"Let's get higher up," Veronica said, "I don't think it will be daylight for too much longer."
"What exactly are we going to do?" Shego asked, genuine worry and fear in her voice.
"We'll have to figure that out later," replied an exhausted Kim, "Veronica's right. We should get higher up in case they send out search parties."
Another hour or two of slogging through the rain brought them cold, tired and hungry to a hillside strewn with boulders and other rock formations.
None of them were particularly interested in spending the night in such a place, but it had become too dark, and no one really knew what should be done next. All anyone did know was that they were too tired and too hungry to make any real plans, or even attempt to build a fire; not they there was any dry wood available anyway.
So they huddled together in the tiny cave-like shelter, doing their best to keep away from the rain and the dripping water. No one was really able to get completely sheltered from the harsher elements and each of them believed they couldn't possibly feel more miserable then they did right then.
About a half hour passed as each of them attempted to fall asleep. But though they were tired enough to sleep, being wet and hungry was enough to keep them awake.
Tired of being tired, and giving up on trying to sleep, Kim finally spoke up, "Anyone know any of those games you play when you're stuck on a long drive?"
Shego groaned, flared up a fist for light, and then glared at Veronica, "How did you know there would be a drainage tunnel under the bath?"
"I didn't," Veronica replied evenly, "But once, when I was in high school, I was about to take a bath and got a call from a boyfriend. I forgot to turn off the water."
Kim looked over at her daughter, "And the tub fell through the floor? Was that in the downstairs bathroom?"
"Yeah," Veronica said sheepishly, "It overflowed and then fell into the basement. Do me a favor, when that happens, go easy on me would you? You and Daddy were really mad."
"No promises," Kim said with a half smile, "Who's the boyfriend? Do I know him?"
"Yeah," Veronica glanced at Shego with a nostalgic gleam in her eye, "Or at least you will. His name was Joseph Lipski. Everyone called him Engine Joe. He was kind of a bad boy. Shego introduced us."
"Excuse me, what?" Shego narrowed her eyes at Veronica, "What are you talking about?"
"Joe came to spend the summer with you and Dr. D.," Veronica explained, "His father is Edward Lipski, Drew's cousin."
"Drew's cous- Motor Ed? You dated Motor Ed's kid?" Shego looked at Kim, "Your life is just one big tragicomic soap opera, isn't it?"
"Sometimes it feels like that. But it sounds as though yours is going to be one of domesticated bliss." Kim said teasingly, then addressed Veronica, "So you dated a bad boy, huh?"
"Just for the summer," Veronica protested mildly, "Didn't you ever date any bad boys?"
"Nope," Kim said almost cheerfully, "I married one."
"Daddy? Really?" Veronica asked, astonished.
"Sure!" Kim enthused, "Ask Shego, she knows all about it."
"Can we please talk about something else?" Shego demanded, an edge in her voice.
"OK," Kim said, "What's this about you being a clone?"
"Fine," Shego growled, "We'll talk about your 'bad boy' husband."
"You're a clone?" Veronica asked, bewildered.
"No, can we talk about something else?"
"Why would Drakken tell you something like that if it isn't true?" Kim prodded.
"Obviously because he's wrapped around his daughter's finger," Shego snapped, "And he wanted me to leave her alone."
"You were pretty harsh on her."
"I was harsh on everybody." Shego countered.
"Maybe that's why you were so ready to believe you were a clone." Veronica postulated.
"Huh?" Said the other two at once.
"Jinx," Kim chortled, "You need to invent soda and then owe me one."
"Why did you say that?" Shego asked Veronica.
"Well, I mean, you've been really snarky to everyone since you got here." Veronica explained.
"I'm always snarky," Shego explained.
"She is always snarky," Kim agreed.
"And then there's the fact that at some point in your future, you're going to develop feelings for Dr. Drakken and have a child with him." Veronica continued, "Or at least engage in the act of procreation with him."
"Oh, thanks for that image." Kim muttered.
Shego merely shuddered, then thought of something, "Maybe we don't. Maybe Kimono's just another one of Drew's experiments."
"Oh come on!" Kim groaned, "Drakken can't even keep a syntho-drone up and running."
"Your husband said the same thing to me yesterday," Shego mused.
"What makes you think he could successfully create a daughter… I mean, other than the old fashioned way?" Kim prodded
"Same reason she was so willing to believe she was a clone." Veronica concluded.
"Mind explaining that?" Shego demanded.
"Sure," Veronica said affably, "You've got feelings for him."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do. Come on, we all saw the way you responded when those turtle-thingies attacked Drakken. Either you're just now falling in love with him or you're about to." Veronica stated matter-of-factly.
"What's your point?" Shego's eyes narrowed.
"That you're scared," Veronica answered, "You're afraid of your own blossoming feelings about Drakken. You're afraid of the idea of being a mother, not because you dislike your daughter, or even because you necessarily dislike the idea of having a child with Drew, but because you're afraid of what you've seen in your daughter. She calls you 'mother' while she calls my mom 'mom', and you think you've done something to alienate her. And you're afraid of all this domesticated appearance that comes with a family; that you might lose your evil reputation and others will think you're going soft."
Shego said nothing, which told the other two a lot.
"So you were willing to believe you're a clone," Veronica concluded, "Because that way you could blame some faulty planning on Drew's part. All of this stuff you're afraid of could just be explained away, that you were programmed to do all this; fall in love, have a daughter, whatever. Any screw-ups could just be blamed on the fact that you're a clone. Or at least you thought you were… I think we all know you aren't."
"Wow," Kim exclaimed with some wonder in her voice, "Where did you get all that?"
"Meh," Veronica shrugged her shoulders, "I was a Psyche minor at Upperton U."
"Really? Upperton?" Kim asked.
"Didn't want to get too far from home," her daughter said.
"So what did you major in?"
"Actually I-"
Veronica was interrupted by a sniff. Shego tried to stifle a sob but was unsuccessful. For the first time that she could remember, Kim Possible watched her arch foe melt into tears. Shego's fists went out completely. She hunched her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs and shed quiet tears for a few minutes. Kim and Veronica kept an uncomfortable silence.
"The quiet just makes it worse," Shego finally said in a choked voice.
"Sorry," Veronica said, "Just not sure what to say."
"Shego," Kim said tenderly laying a hand on the green woman's arm, "It's OK. If all that's true, then we can do something about it."
"'We'?"
"Well, yeah," Kim continued, "For instance, when Kimono comes to stay with us, I'll make sure she calls me something other than 'Mom'. I think she can call me Kim, or Auntie Kim, or whatever. You should be the only person she thinks of as a mother."
"OK," Shego sniffed, "But what about the other stuff?"
"Well," Kim went on hesitantly, "We can try and make sure your evil reputation is solid, if you want."
"And we don't really know if you did anything to alienate Kimono," Veronica put in, "The only negative thing she ever said to me about you was that you were always kind of distant. Maybe that fear of being a mother carried on throughout her life."
"OK," Kim replied, "So we can work on that."
"What about my feelings for Drew?" Shego almost pleaded. She flared up her fist again so she could see the others.
Kim smiled, "Sorry, can't help you with that one. Love is a powerful force, and often it's scary. But it can't be controlled. You either choose to feel it or don't. Whenever they say people 'fall in love' like they can't help it, it just means they aren't ready to admit they chose to love that person. But once you do, it can seem overwhelming. I remember feeling afraid sometimes about my feelings for Ron."
"Really?" Veronica asked.
"Sure." Kim responded, "Early on I would get scared that our relationship might end and it would finish us as a team as well as friends. Later when he proposed I'd sometimes become afraid of whether or not Ron was supposed to be 'The One'. Stupid, I know, but these things go through your head."
"Man, if you were afraid on occasion about marrying the buffoon-" Shego mused.
"Don't call him that, please," Kim said defensively.
"Sorry, old habit." Shego replied sheepishly, "I guess there really is no way to account for all the variables…"
"Nope," Kim agreed, "Love is something that just sort of consumes you. And it is one major roller coaster ride; sometimes it's an uphill climb, sometimes it's a frightening drop."
Shego sighed, "I guess. But I mean, just the idea of me and him… you know… 'procreating'."
"But what if he's, like, really good at it?" Veronica wondered.
"Huh?"
"Well, he's terrible at everything else," Veronica went on, "And everyone is good at something."
Kim giggled.
"Your point?" Shego asked Veronica.
"That Doctor Drakken just might be an amazing, rock-your-world, stamina-of-a-lumberjack, likes-to-cuddle-afterward, knows-just-where-all-the-right-spots-are-and-the-preferred-order-in-which-to-visit-them, gets-up-and-makes-waffles-while-you're-still-in-bed-trying-to-recover-from-the-fifth-round kind of guy." Veronica replied with a grin.
Shego looked at Kim. Together they laughed, shook their heads and said, "Naaaaah."
"Nice try though," Kim said to her daughter, "I think you might have actually cheered Shego up with that joke."
"I wasn't joking." Veronica protested.
"Yeah, OK, whatever," Shego said dismissively.
(Eventually, Shego would come to discover that Veronica was right after all. Even about the waffles.)
"You know, I just realized something," Shego said after a few seconds.
"What?" Kim asked.
Shego replied in a mildly horrified tone of voice, "We've each been with the same guy."
"YOU were involved with Ray Beam?" Veronica asked, astonished.
"At the same time I was." Kim muttered.
"Well," Veronica said sardonically, "Don't we just have a nice little three-woman club?"
"We sure do. And you get to be president." Shego replied. "Why don't we start our first meeting off by sharing - in detail – the death fantasies we've each had about Ray Beam. Come on, you know you had 'em."
Kim giggled again, "I'm afraid mine isn't very detailed. I always imagined him getting run over by a steamroller as he was crossing the street."
"Boring!" Shego declared snarkily, "I liked to imagine myself using one of Dr. D's shrink rays and reducing Ray Beam to a tiny size."
"Not that he wasn't already," Veronica quipped. She and Shego burst into laughter.
Kim watched the mirth and again marveled at the change that had come over Veronica. There was that wild look in her daughter's eyes again. They were wet, cold, and hungry, but Veronica actually seemed to be enjoying this.
"Anyway," Shego said, wiping a tear of glee from her eye, "Then I'd take tiny Ray Beam and put him in one of those clear capsules like the ones you take for vitamins or headache medicine and swallow him."
"Ewwww," Veronica winced, "And he'd still be alive?"
"Yeah," Shego said with an evil grin on her face, "And Ray would have to watch my digestive system in action. I'd put him in one of those non-digestible capsules too, so he'd be alive for the entire process, if you know what I mean…"
Shego finished her sentence by making a flushing noise.
"Ewww again," Veronica said laughing, "That is so wrong, and yet so right."
"OK," Shego nodded at Veronica, "Tell us about your Ray Beam death fantasy?"
"Actually," Veronica said quietly, her smile disappearing, "I witnessed his death."
"Oh you have got to tell us about that," Shego said eagerly.
"Alright," Veronica said shrugging her shoulders, "It was just before we came here. Dad came out to the island to rescue me and…"
Though she was listening, Shego's thoughts drifted back to Drakken and the way he'd messed with her head. She knew she should be furious, but the truth was she was actually impressed by his ability to get inside her mind and toss a wrench into the works. She'd spent the past few days trying to come to grips with the reality that she was a clone, when that wasn't really her reality at all. What Drew did to her was… well, it was…
Evil.
That's what it was. It was evil. Drakken was evil.
And that turned her on.
Fine, so she might be falling for Drew. They'd already had one date and it seemed to go pretty well, except when it ended and she destroyed the restaurant, but still, overall a good evening. And there was the night he chased her playfully around the lair. They'd never done that before.
Shego soon found herself hoping that Drew was alive and well.
She just might have something to tell him.
"Do you understand what he is saying?" Hidesato leaned over and whispered to Masaharu.
"Not in the least," replied the daimyo.
Drakken took the stick he was holding and began to draw shapes in the dirt.
The withdrawal of Hidesato's forces had been a success. Ishigawa had tried to organize a pursuit force, but Hidesato managed to coax an all night march out of his army, which was no small feat considering the day-long battle they had endured.
In the extreme north of Mutsu Province were a series of hills with a large network of caves. Large, of course, meaning that there were several caverns interconnected, but by no means could they house an army of thirty-five thousand warriors. As it was, the caverns were able to hold roughly two thousand, with a smaller chamber reserved solely for Hidesato, though he shared it with Masaharu.
Hidesato had the caverns stocked with provisions years before, and those supplies that were perishable were replenished each year. There were tents enough for twenty thousand, some medicinal supplies (healing herbs and the like), and enough food to feed the entire company for three days at most. Hidesato had two other such caches located in two other strategic points in the province, and he immediately sent out parties to gather those caches of supplies.
The lord of the Mutsu province had never intended to use the caves as a base. He'd stored supplies here in the off chance that other sources, including the castle, were ever cut off. But he'd never anticipated actually housing an army at this location. The nearest fresh water was just under a mile away. Masaharu ordered a company of warriors who were also carpenters, masons, etc. to go about digging a small canal from that water source to the caverns.
Meanwhile, Drakken, TJ and Kimono were given mats and blankets and directed to a space in the caverns where they could sleep at night. TJ and Kimono spent the entire second day trying to devise a plan of getting to the Tempus Simia, but Drakken would wander around and observe the goings on as a makeshift camp slowly began to take shape.
It was the observation of the canal project on the second day that seemed to pique Drakken's interest. He sought out an audience with Hidesato. Purely out of curiosity, Hidesato granted him one. Unfortunately, there was no one who could speak English, and Drakken's attempts to communicate with hand signals were getting nowhere. So Drakken stooped down, picked up a stick and began to draw shapes in the dirt.
"What is that?" Hidesato's curiosity was genuinely aroused by this strange, blue man.
"A throwing axe?" Masahru speculated, "Is that what he wants?"
"Looks more like an ordinary hammer." Hidesato replied. He then looked up at Drakken, leaned forward, and spoke loudly and slowly, "IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? A HAMMER?"
Masaharu tried to stifle a chuckle.
"What is it?" Hidesato turned inquisitive eyes upon his daimyo.
"My lord, I do not believe he is deaf."
Hidesato threw up his hands and grunted, "It's worse than trying to talk to a Chinaman. This one speaks in odd grunts and wails."
Masaharu ordered an attendant to go get a hammer. Meanwhile Drakken continued to draw in the dirt. Hidesato leaned forward and peered at the shapes.
"That must be a saw. It doesn't look like anything else." Masaharu observed. "I think he wants tools."
The attendant returned with the hammer. Hidesato took it and held it out to Drakken, who took it and then seemed to think for a moment. He stooped over once again and drew a large stick figure in the dirt, then placed the hammer in the stick figure's hand.
Hidesato and Masaharu looked at each other blankly.
Drakken stood up and pantomimed sawing, hammering, and so forth. Then pointed back at the stick figure holding the hammer.
"Ah!" Hidesato said, brightening, "He wants tools, and people who know how to use them."
"My lord?"
"Can we spare any builders or carpenters?"
"Can we spare anyone from our already outnumbered army, Hidesato-sama?" Masahru asked.
Hidesato stroked his beard thoughtfully, "His companions wield weapons of great power. Perhaps he might have some skill in building. Maybe he knows of a method for quickly building a fortress or something of that nature; increase our defensive capabilities."
"Perhaps," Masahru agreed reluctantly, "I do know of ten or twelve conscripts who are master-builders but very bad at soldiering."
"Perfect," Hidesato concluded. He nodded at Drakken again, "WE WILL GIVE YOU SOME BUILDERS."
"Not deaf my lord."
"Oh, right. See that he gets whatever is needed. Anything except extra rations of food or weapons we cannot spare. I think we might just see a castle spring up around these caves."
"As you wish, my lord."
"Which way?"
"There."
"There? You are sure?"
"Hai."
Ron carried a very weak Sensei on his back. After cutting him down from the pole, he found the old master couldn't stand up under his own power. So he hoisted Sensei up onto his back and gave him the White Orchid Blade to hold above them as a light in the rainy darkness. Every five minutes or so, Sensei would wave the Blade tip in tiny circles and a pale blue light would flare up again, traveling up and down the Blade in a spiral arc.
To Sensei, Ron's grasp of Japanese was not better then what you or I might consider the barest grasp of English. Ron was able to communicate most of what he wanted through halting words and hand gestures, but every now and then Sensei would ask him something he wouldn't understand.
He knew at one point Sensei was asking him about the Orchid Blade itself. But he didn't know the words. So finally he simply pointed at himself and said "Tai Xing Pek Wah."
That seemed to satisfy Sensei at least for the time being.
Ron knew Hidesato had taken his army to the north, but also knew that to set off in that direction would be risky, since they might run into Monkey Fist's or Ishigawa's soldiers. Ron had forgotten all about the Tempus Simia, though the Lotus Blade still occupied an occasional thought in the back of his mind. Now his main concern was the well being of his old master. Once he got Sensei to relative safety, he'd resume his quest for the Lotus Blade… and the Tempus Simia of course.
After some halting communication, Ron decided they should head east, away from the castle, and away from any pursuit of Hidesato's army. Ron was able to walk a good three hours before needing a rest. By that time, the rain had lessened somewhat, but an even greater problem presented itself.
They had come to the edge of a high, steep bluff. Ron set Sensei down and took the Orchid Blade from him. Slashing it in a horizontal motion, though angled downward, Ron watched keenly as an arc of light traveled out into the night before him. It moved downward until it reached the bottom of the slope and then simply disappeared into the earth. Ron was able to learn precisely what he hoped wasn't true.
The bluff was impassable.
Even in dry daylight weather Ron realized he'd probably be nervous climbing down such a precarious cliff. It was at least a three hundred foot drop. Descending in the dark, in the rain, was out of the question.
Ron waited a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the dark. Suddenly, a greenish light appeared behind him. Ron turned and beheld Sensei, sitting cross-legged with his arms stretched straight out on either side of him. A greenish sphere formed around him and lifted him off the ground. Slowly, he descended the bluff, and the sphere disappeared when he reached the bottom.
"Now what am I supposed to do?" Ron muttered to himself.
Below him, the green sphere appeared again and hovered up to where he was standing. The sphere faded out and Ron found Sensei sitting cross-legged at his feet.
"You come?" Sensei asked in Japanese. He spoke in short sentences so Ron would understand.
"I… not know how." Ron said after searching for the words.
"Tai Xing Pek Wah?" Sensei asked.
"Hai," Ron replied.
Sensei nodded, "You know how."
"Huh?"
Sensei motioned for him to sit down. Ron planted himself in the mud and stretched his arms out on either side of him.
"You think float," Sensei said slowly.
"I think float?" Ron asked in broken Japanese. Then said aloud to himself in English: "Oh, you want me to imagine myself floating. OK."
Ron closed his eyes and pictured himself rising above the ground, then out over the bluff and beginning to descend. Ron thought as hard as he could about all this but it was no use. He felt nothing, heard nothing, nothing was happening.
"It's no good, Sensei." Ron said, forgetting himself and speaking in English, "I think it will take me awhile to learn how to-… AAAAHHH!"
Ron opened his eyes mid-sentence and found himself enveloped by a crimson sphere. The sphere disappeared and Ron then found himself in mid-air, about twenty feet above the bottom of the bluff.
He fell the rest of the way and landed with a hard, muddy fwump that knocked the wind out of him. Fortunately for him the ground was not only muddy, but still steeply sloped. If he had landed on dry, flat ground he probably would have broken a few bones. Ron tumbled over and over and finally came to a rest at the very bottom of the bluff. Sensei was sitting there cross-legged.
"Mostly good." He said with a slight nod.
Ron lay there, struggling to regain his breath and unable to believe what he'd just done. All he had to do was imagine himself floating and it had happened without him even knowing it. It amazed him that it was something he was never able to master at Yamanuchi, but here it had come so easily. Ron realized it was probably because he'd been using the mystical monkey power so much since he'd arrived, that now it simply came to him naturally.
He struggled to his feet and made his way over to Sensei.
"Ran?" Sensei asked.
"Huh?"
"Ohana. Ran?"
"The Orchid Blade! I forgot it!" Ron exclaimed in English, smacking himself on the forehead. He looked back up at the bluff with a somewhat frightened expression on his face, not really sure he wanted to go through that experience again. Not the floating, but the falling.
Sensei chuckled weakly and floated back up the side of the bluff, retrieved the Blade, then came back to sit on the ground next to Ron. He pointed eastward.
Ron stood up and looked. There were lights. Two of them, very likely lanterns, were burning on the eastern end of the valley. Ron hoisted Sensei up on to his back once more and set out.
Two hours later they found themselves in a tiny farming village and knocked on the first door they came to. An old, bleary-eyed farmer slid aside his door to behold a vary tall, very muddy stranger carrying an old man upon his back.
What surprised Ron and Sensei was the fact that the farmer himself was not surprised at all. He merely nodded, put on his sandals, and led them to the barn.
Inside it was warm and dry, a small lantern burned in the far corner. The old farmer led them past stalls with goats and oxen and came to the far stall where a young man lay sleeping. He was obviously recovering from recently sustained injuries.
Sensei peered over Ron's shoulder and uttered a grunt of surprise.
"Kintaro-chan?"
Kim was tired, and cold, and hungry, and miserable. So was Shego. And though Veronica said she was cold and hungry, she still seemed to actually be enjoying all this. They had set out from their little shelter that morning without a clue as to where they should be going. The direction of the castle was out of the question, and to the south was Ishigawa's territory. If anyone saw them, word would get back to Ishigawa and they'd soon be captured. So they decided to head west, away from the castle.
But to the west was desolate, lonely country. There were no farms, no villages, no structures of any kind. Just rocky, hilly terrain with an occasional lake or stream to drink from. Their progress was slow, but since they weren't sure what exactly they were progressing toward, they didn't seem to mind. Several times they saw wild deer, and once even a wild boar. Veronica could have easily brought them down with the Cactus Blade, but since none of them had any fire starting equipment, killing a wild animal would have been pointless. Shego pointed out grimly that they would probably be content to eat one raw once they got hungry enough.
The rain finally cleared out, though it remained overcast, and they were unable to get completely dry. That night, the three of them huddled together under a tree and tried their best to get warm. No one felt much like talking.
Veronica began to wonder what raw deer tasted like.
The other two began to wonder if they would really come to much harm if they went back to the castle and surrendered themselves. At least they would be warm and fed.
As they tried to get to sleep, hunger gnawing at their insides, they became aware of a dim, bluish green light not too far away from them. All three sat up at once, unsure of what to do. There was no sound, just a swirling apparition of blue and green.
To Kim, it all looked familiar and she began to wonder where she'd seen it before.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Ron was sitting cross-legged, floating in the air a few feet away from them.
"Kim?" Ron looked transparent, and his voice had a slight echo-y quality to it, "Kim, I hope you're getting this. I can't see you or hear you at all."
"Ron?" Kim stood up and took a step toward her floating husband, "Ron, can you hear m-?"
"I really hope you're getting this," Ron repeated, "All I can see is this fuzzy image of a tree. Anyway, from what Sensei has indicated, this sort of communication is one way. Kinda like mystical e-mail. Oh yeah, I found Sensei, and we're with Kintaro in a barn in a tiny village east of the castle."
Ron seemed to fade a little.
"No," Kim breathed and reached her hand out. Where her husband appeared to be floating was only air. "Don't go. Please, not yet."
"OK," Ron's image came back, "Sorry about that. Um, if you're alive, and you're getting this, then you need to head north. Kintaro says his father has a supply cache in a network of caves to the north. If you got out of the castle all right, then start heading in that direction. If you're still in the castle, sit tight, don't tell them anything, and we'll come get you as soon as we can, OK? I hope you're OK. I need to go now, doing this takes a lot of energy and concentration. I love you…"
He said a few more things but none of them could quite tell what they were. At 'I love you', Ron's voice began to fade. Finally his voice and image faded altogether and they were left standing under the tree.
Shego muttered something under her breath.
"What was that?" Kim asked.
"I was just saying to myself that I wasn't just imagining things the last time I saw Ron do that." Shego explained.
"You've seen him do that before?"
"Yeah," Shego said bewildered, "So have you."
"Huh?"
"Don't you remember? It was about twelve years ago. I was teaching Senor Senior Junior how to be a better villain. His dad had hired me." Shego said.
"I remember that," Kim confirmed, "Go on."
"OK, well, I had you trapped in this giant mixer thingy full of cookie dough. And suddenly the buff- uh, I mean, Ron appeared just like he did tonight. He spoke some things to you but I couldn't quite hear what it was. Back then I thought I was seeing things."
"I thought I was seeing things," Kim said astonished, "I thought I was just remembering something he said to me in Home Economics class. So you saw that, too?"
"Yeah," Shego answered, "But like I said, I thought I was seeing things, so I never said anything about it."
"'It comes and goes.'" Kim murmured to herself.
"What?"
"Ron used to say his mystical monkey power comes and goes. I guess that day it came when he really needed it… or when I really needed it. Wow." Kim was lost in memories of adventures gone by.
"OK" Veronica finally spoke up, "So we need to head north. Do we know which way that is?"
"We should in the morning", Shego responded, "We just need to see which way the sun comes up and keep it on our right. That'll be north."
"If it's not cloudy," Veronica pointed out.
"Well, obviously." Shego replied.
"OK", Kim said happily, "We need to get some sleep. Then tomorrow we head north."
No one needed to ask Kim what had lightened her mood so much.
Kim had a hard time getting to sleep that night. When she finally did fall asleep, she dreamed of her wedding night, and of a few interesting portions of her honeymoon.
Fukushima sat brooding.
Monkey Fist was away again, spending more time with Yori. He spent a lot of time with her, and seemed to forget Fukushima existed. Once again, Fukushima found himself ostracized in a place where he had expected to be of some importance.
He didn't trust Yori. He was convinced that she was only playing along with Monkey Fist in order to get to the Tempus Simia. But a change seemed to come over her, and Fukushima couldn't exactly say what it was. A certain gleam had come into her eye, and she seemed genuinely eager to help Monkey Fist, where initially she seemed cold and distant to him.
Now, she spent a lot of time near the Tempus Simia but thus far had made no attempt to take or destroy it. What had come over her? Fukushima had never heard the words 'Chronotheta Radiation', nor was he aware of its effects on a person. All he knew was that this was not the same Yori who had been captured a couple of days ago. Not only had she become complacent, she'd become compliant.
For his part, Fukushima realized he had failed yet again. Failed in his plans to make a name for himself, to be remembered. He didn't care what he would be remembered as; hero or villain, it was all the same to him. He just wanted his name to go down in history, to be remembered as either important, or infamous.
When he was ousted from Yamanuchi, he was devastated. He'd loved Sensei, and relished his teaching. But things had taken a bad turn for Fukushima. He resented the attention Sensei paid to Ron, who was nothing more than a Gaijin, an outsider.
He'd had a chance meeting with Monkey Fist some months before Ron first came to Yamanuchi. He caught the monkey man observing the school from a distance, in the early stages of his plan to steal the Lotus Blade. Monkey Fist had tried to recruit Fukushima in his scheme, but the young warrior refused.
But then came Stoppable, and Sensei seemed to pay all manner of special attention to the young buffoon. If the Lotus Blade was stolen, perhaps Sensei might turn to Fukushima for help. And then he'd win back his master's favor.
But no. Sensei went to Stoppable for help, and then to Yori. And before he could do anything to cover his tracks, Yori had learned of Fukushima's treachery. The best he could hope for was that Monkey Fist would succeed, and Yori and Ron would be eliminated.
It all spiraled beyond his control. Near the end, all he thought about was eliminating Ron Stoppable, the man who'd stolen glory that should have been rightfully his. And he failed even in that.
Now look at what had become of his life.
No glory, no fame.
No one would ever know that Fukushima existed. In fact, Monkey Fist no longer paid any attention to him. Yori cast one glance in his direction and ignored him thereafter.
The worst part for him was the fact that he'd done all this to himself. He was here as a result of the choices he'd made, and now it was eating him up inside.
"Boy!" Monkey Fist's voice jolted Fukushima from his thoughts. He no longer even called Fukushima by his name.
"What is it?" Fukushima asked disinterestedly.
"I need you to come with me. There are rumors floating that Stoppable and an old man are holed up in a village east of here. We're going to go see if these rumors are correct."
"How do you know it's Stoppable?"
"There cannot be too many yellow-haired men in this country."
"Why don't you take the girl?"
"I left her in charge of the Tempus Simia. You will come with me." Monkey Fist grabbed Fukushima by the arm and hauled him to his feet.
Reluctantly, Fukushima accompanied Monkey Fist outside and found most of the Koji – ugly ape-like creatures that walked upright but had the faces of orangutans – assembled and waiting outside. For good measure, Monkey Fist decided to bring along one of the dragons.
Fukushima noted that Monkey Fist seemed to no longer need the idol to control or communicate with his army.
He also noted with some bemusement that any hatred and bitterness he felt was no longer directed at Ron Stoppable.
"How many?"
"About fifty thousand, my lord."
"Sooner than we expected," Hidesato turned to Masaharu, "But not his full force."
"My lord," The scout spoke up. To speak to one superior in rank without being spoken to was forbidden in Japanese society. Hidesato took it to mean he had something very important to say.
"Proceed," He nodded.
"Thank you Hidesato-sama," The scout bowed low, "I believe it is worth noting that Ishigawa is not with them. Only his daimyo, Momoye."
Hidesato leaned forward with interest, "You are sure of this?"
"Yes, my lord, this particular piece of information cost one of our scouts his life."
"You did the right thing telling me of this," Hidesato waved his hand, "You may go. And in the future, bear in mind that no piece of information is worth one of my soldier's lives. Is that understood?"
"Wakarimas," the scout bowed low and began backing out of the chamber, "Domo arigato."
"Fifty thousand is still a superior force," Masaharu warned.
"True," Hidesato acknowledged, "But the fact that he does not even bother to attend the final victory of his campaign speaks of his arrogance. It is intended as an insult, and I will make sure to pass that insult along to my men."
Masaharu chuckled, "That will certainly get their blood up."
"Perhaps enough to send Momoye back to his master with his tail between his legs, eh?"
"Perhaps," Masahru said with some doubt in his voice.
"What of the blue man?" Hidesato asked, "Did he build the defenses up as I had thought?"
Masaharu shook his head, "He has built three wagons, my lord."
"Three wagons? That is all?"
"Three wagons in three days is pretty good."
"Yes, but we have no need of wagons." Hidesato said in an annoyed tone of voice.
"He's seen our supply trains head out," Masaharu observed, "Perhaps he simply wishes to help with that effort."
"Perhaps," Hidesato muttered then stood up, "Momoye will be at the pass by this afternoon. It is my intention that if he does not attack us straight away, then we will fall upon him and battle his forces while they are still tired from their march."
"An excellent plan, my lord. We can be ready to march in two hours."
Hidesato nodded, "See to it."
"Quiet!" Ron whispered frantically in Japanese, "Must be quiet!"
Sensei looked at the youngest girl and said soft, soothing words to her. The girl whimpered then fell silent.
Sensei, Kintaro, Ron, and the daughters of the family of farmers were all huddled in the furthest stall in the back of the barn. Outside, the Koji stalked through the village, turning over carts, searching through houses, and generally destroying everything in the search for the rumored stranger. The farmers elected to stay outside the barn to try and convince the monkey demon that no one was on their farm, but their three daughters they sent into the barn to hide with Kintaro, Sensei and Ron.
The villagers were terrified. The monkey dragon was bad enough, but this half-man/half-monkey was truly frightening. He had a murderous look in his eye, and the stories of his brutalities had traveled all over Japan. But still the villagers kept quiet. Though they did not personally know Sensei, they knew of him. They knew he had been Hidesato's instructor. Furthermore, they knew that Kintaro was Hidesato's son, and they were determined to protect him at all costs.
One of the village elders had already died when he attacked the Monkey Dragon with a crude rake.
Ron tried to figure out when the best time to strike would be. Eventually the Koji would enter the barn and discover them, and Ron wasn't exactly sure what they would-
The barn door opened.
Ron silently crawled to the front of the stall and gripped the Orchid Blade in his hands. He took several quiet breaths and made ready to pounce upon the creature when it showed itself.
The sound of feet approached.
Ron crouched, gripped the Blade even tighter and looked up into the face of-
"Fukushima!" he exclaimed quietly.
Fukushima opened his mouth as if to shout something, then caught his breath as he spotted Sensei.
"Master…" he said in wonder. "I thought you might be dead."
"I remember you," Sensei said impassively, "You serve the monkey demon. Do I know you?"
"You taught me when I was young." Fukushima forgot himself and his surroundings.
"I doubt I taught you to serve the monkey demon," Sensei replied.
Fukushima stepped back as though punched in the face. "No… no you did not."
"If I surrender," Ron whispered in English, "Will you let these others go?"
Fukushima gazed from Sensei to the three frightened girls. Without saying a word, he turned and walked out of the barn.
Ron gave the others an inquisitive look, then crept to the barn door and listened as hard as he could.
"What did you find?" Monkey Fist asked him in English.
"I…" Fukushima's hesitation was obvious, as was the subsequent defiant tone in his voice, "I found nothing."
"If you found nothing, then why did you hesitate to answer?"
"There is an old farmer cowering with his pigs in the barn. I decided after some thought that it was not worth mentioning." Fukushima said evenly.
"You lie," Monkey Fist snarled. He turned to the nearest Koji and spoke aloud, though he did not need to, "Search the barn. Kill everything you find in there. If you find any weapons, bring them to me."
Three seconds later, that Koji lay dead near the barn door, killed with his own sword. Fukushima glared down at the dead ogre, then turned a wrathful gaze on Monkey Fist gripping the Koji's sword in his tightly clenched fist.
"I said there is nothing in the barn." He growled.
TJ and Kimono hadn't seen Drakken in three days. Drakken had been given a large pavilion and stayed inside it most of the time. Whenever Kimono went to visit him, he would come outside to talk with her, but would gently refuse to let her in.
"Just a few projects of mine," He would say with a glint in his eye.
Kimono knew that glint. He was working on some sort of scheme, but she couldn't figure out what, and he wouldn't tell her either.
"Yeah, but what could it possibly be?" TJ asked as they rode out with Hidesato's army to meet Momoye's forces, "Most of what your dad worked on in his life were destructive ray weapons and such, all of which needed electricity. He doesn't exactly have a supply of that here."
"Right" Kimono agreed, "But, I mean, you don't think he's working on something to maybe take over this world, do you? Why is he being so secretive about it?"
TJ shrugged his shoulders, "You got me. Frankly, this whole situation is messed up. Mom and Dad are missing, no word on Veronica and Shego, and your dad's locked himself in a tent with like, twenty Japanese dudes. None of this makes any sense."
They had decided to stay with Hidesato's army. Since Ron was supposedly going after the Lotus Blade, then there was no need to put him in any kind of jeopardy by trying to follow him. Sooner or later, Hidesato's army would very likely be facing off against Monkey Fist's forces. Or Hidesato would be defeated and they would be captured, and perhaps be brought before Monkey Fist. Either way, the best thing was to stay put. But often during that period of waiting, they found themselves wishing they had something to do besides worry about missing family members.
Today they hadn't seen Drakken or his workers at all. When she went to his pavilion to tell him she and TJ were going to ride out to the battle with Hidesato, she found it empty of any human beings, though a lot of what looked like half-finished wagons and other assorted gizmos were lying about. Kimono couldn't make sense of any of it.
A scout came riding up fast, interrupting Kimono's thoughts. He said something to Hidesato, then looked at her. Hidesato then turned to look at her as well.
TJ and Kimono looked at each other and shrugged.
Hidesato barked something at Kimono in Japanese then put his horse into a trot. He stopped, turned in his saddle, and motioned for Kimono, and presumably TJ, to follow. Masaharu left orders with one of his commanders and rode out ahead with Hidesato, TJ and Kimono. The whole party followed the scout that had just ridden in with the message for Hidesato.
They rode for several miles at a brisk trot and came to a fairly narrow pass, the other side of which Hidesato was hoping to station his forces and cease Momoye's ingress. But several things became apparent at once.
First, Momoye had arrived sooner than everyone expected. Already his army was on the far side of the valley and marching toward the pass. Hidesato's army would not arrive in time to defend the pass, which meant he would be at a disadvantage in the wider plain behind him.
The second thing everyone noticed were three wagons sitting at the entrance to the pass, spaced an equal distance apart and apparently facing toward the oncoming enemy. Drakken was moving from one wagon to the next, inspecting wheels and adjusting this or that.
But the truly odd thing was the wagons themselves. They looked sort of like gypsy wagons, but were made of bamboo and had no roof. On one side of the interior of each wagon was a large, vertical wheel that looked a little bit like a huge gear. Next to the wheel was a large box under which were several things like smaller gears, levers, and a pulley or two. On the front was a long, large bamboo pole that protruded out from the apparatus, parallel to the ground. The entire contraption was mounted on a very large horizontal wheel that was itself mounted to the bottom of the wagon. Two of Drakken's builders sat at the rear of each wagon, one next to what looked like a crank handle, and the other one next to several levers. On the ground next to each wagon were several boxes that looked very similar to the one mounted by the large vertical wheel.
"Daddy, what on earth…?" Kimono asked as they rode up.
"Oh good," Drakken said, glancing up at them, "You're here. Better tell Hidesato to get his army set up because it looks like they'll be here pretty soon."
"I think he knows that, Daddy, but the army's several miles behind us. We're going to have to pull back."
"No can do," Drakken stated matter-of-factly, "We hold here or the whole thing is lost. Hidesato's forces can't win on an open-plain battlefield. Ishigawa's army has the greater numbers… for now. Tell him to get them here is quickly as possible."
"Daddy, I can't speak Japanese."
"Oh very well," Drakken sighed and threw up his hands. He walked up to Hidesato's horse and drew a bunch of lines in the dirt with his finger, then pointed back the way they had all come.
"I think he's talking about our troops," Masaharu guessed.
"You are very good at this," Hidesato complimented his Daimyo.
"I used to play this game with my children," Masaharu admitted.
Drakken was motioning all around him.
"He wants the army brought up here," Hidesato guessed and then turned to Drakken, "I WOULD LIKE TO DO THAT, BUT I CANNOT!"
Drakken pointed at his ear, then gave a thumbs up.
"I think he means his hearing is fine, my lord." Masaharu explained.
Hidesato cast an annoyed glance at his daimyo and then turned toward Drakken. He motioned to the three wagons, the builders, and then Drakken himself, and pointed behind him in a 'come-along' sort of gesture.
Drakken shook his head. Then turned and walked back toward the wagons.
"I don't think he's coming." Masaharu guessed.
The enemy forces drew closer. Those in the forward lines drew their weapons.
"Where are his archers?" Hidesato demanded from the scout.
"We were unable to establish the presence of any archers," The scout replied, "Surely if he had them they would have fired upon us by now."
"Unmitigated arrogance," Hidesato muttered, then turned to Masaharu, "Let the blue man do what he will. We must get back to our forces."
"Yes, my lord," Masaharu acknowledged. He cast one last glance at the onward marching enemy then turned to ride back to the army.
"What do we do?" TJ asked his wife.
"I want to stay with Daddy. But if you really don't think we should…" Kimono's trailed off, but her eyes pleaded with him. She didn't necessarily want to stay in a situation that would surely mean their deaths. But she couldn't bear the thought of leaving her father behind. Neither did she want her husband to be in any danger. Kimono found herself torn.
"Then we'll stay," TJ said lightly. He dismounted his horse.
"Are you sure?" She asked in a trembling voice.
"Home is wherever you are," TJ said quietly, taking her in his arms, "Our place is with each other. I won't ask you to leave your dad behind. But if you're gone, I wouldn't find much enthusiasm in living without you."
She threw her arms around him and kissed him, "I love you, husband."
"I love you too, Kim." He said when their lips parted.
The enemy was close enough that their individual footsteps could be heard. They didn't utter a word, all of them curious and wary at the sight that lay before them. Feet marched upon the ground, weapons slid out of their sheaths.
Momoye rode at the head of his forces but did not order them to halt. Believing the wagons to be of no consequence, he was sure they were some sort of distraction while Hidesato's forces lay just around the bend in the pass.
TJ drew the Black Orchid Blade and hefted it in his hands. Kimono flared up her fists and eyes. They kissed each other once more and then walked toward the wagons.
"There's no need for your combat skills yet." Drakken said placidly, "Let Daddy handle things for awhile."
The opposing army was now twenty yards away. Still they did not charge, but continued to march steadily forward.
Drakken turned and nodded to each of the builders in the wagons. The builders sitting at the cranks began to turn their handles. Whirring and clicking noises came from each wagon, the large horizontal wheel inside each vehicle began to turn.
Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!
An arrow sailed out of each bamboo pole. Two of the three arrows buried themselves into Momoye, and drove him backwards, tumbling off his saddle. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Fwipfwipfwipfwipfwipfwipfwipfwipfwip…
Before anyone could react, arrows spewed forth from the bamboo pole on each wagon in rapid-fire fashion. The builders working the levers began to push and pull their respective handles and each apparatus slowly began to rotate.
"Your dad built tanks!" TJ shouted in excitement. "Way to go Dr. D!"
"Fo shizzle, T Jizzle!" Drakken said with a nod at his son-in-law.
"What is the meaning of this?" Monkey Fist demanded.
"You heard me," Fukushima snarled, "I said there is nothing in the barn but an old farmer and his pigs. You can either take my word for it, or I will kill any creature you attempt to send into the barn."
"How dare you-!"
"How dare I what? Become fed up with your treatment of me? How dare I refuse to allow you to take the innocent lives of the people in this village? How dare I actually question your judgment? Tell me something, Monkey Demon, at what point did Montgomery Fiske abandon reason for madness?"
Monkey Fist flew into a rage and charged at Fukushima drawing the Magnolia Blades – which included the newly recovered second Blade – as he came.
"Treacherous whelp!" he screamed, and was upon his onetime apprentice.
Fukushima managed to block one Blade, but the other found its target, plunging into his upper leg. Fukushima uttered a cry of pain and agony, then turned and sliced at Fist. Monkey Fist dodged the attack, then withdrew a couple of steps, sizing up his opponent. Fukushima was already aware that Monkey Fist was learning his weaknesses, finding his vulnerabilities. He charged, hoping Fist didn't have time to ascertain such things.
Fukushima's blade sliced through the air with astonishing speed. Monkey Fist blocked the incoming blade with both of his, but it was not Fukushima's primary method of attack. As Monkey Fist looked up, he was just in time to see Fukushima bring his head forward with all his strength, slamming it into Monkey Fist's face and shattering his nose.
Fist screamed in pain, but Fukushima didn't let up. As Fist stepped backward, Fukushima followed up with a hurtling fist into the freshly broken nose. Monkey Fist moaned as blinding pain threatened to rob him of consciousness.
"Defend me!" he whimpered.
Instantly the Koji and Monkey Dragon fell upon Fukushima.
"NO!" Came a loud cry followed by a blinding arc of light that spread through the village. The monkey beasts were temporarily blinded, but those that had reached Fukushima continued to maul and claw at him.
Ron dispatched three Koji as they tried to recover from the blinding flash, then squared off against two others.
"It's Stoppable!" Monkey Fist screamed, "Capture that one alive. But kill the traitor."
The Koji all rushed Ron while the Monkey Dragon fell upon Fukushima.
Ron sliced the air again, and again a blinding arc of light spread out before him. But Monkey Fist, now with the assistance of the Magnolia Blades, had learned what was coming and screamed "shield your eyes!" even as Ron was slicing through the air.
The Koji stopped for a fraction of a second, covered their eyes, and then were all over Ron.
Inside the barn, Kintaro was trying to go out and help Ron fight, but Sensei ordered him to stay in.
"But why?" Kintaro whispered savagely.
"You and I are both still weak from our wounds. We would be of no help, and then we would be dead. It is my duty to see that you get safely to your father." Sensei whispered calmly. "Whatever happens to the yellow-haired warrior, I do not think he will be killed right away. We will deal with the situation accordingly when we can. He has saved my life, and I will not forget it."
Nor will I, Kintaro vowed silently.
Ron went down hard, taking several blows to the face and head, but no weapons were used on him. The White Orchid Blade was wrenched from his grasp and he was pinned by dozens of strong arms.
"Bind him!" Monkey Fist cried in triumph.
Then, a snarling, hooting wail erupted behind Monkey Fist. He whirled around to see his beloved Monkey Dragon collapsing, Fukushima's blade in its throat. Fukushima stood glaring at the Dragon, then looked up at Monkey Fist. A malicious but dazed grin spread across Fukushima's face, and then he collapsed over the body of the slain Dragon.
"Fukushima!" Ron called out. He'd been hauled to his feet and his hands were bound behind him.
But his former rival was dead.
"Bring him!" Monkey Fist snarled.
Ron was tied to a pole and hauled away.
Fukushima was given a hero's burial, and word spread of the brave warrior's battle with the monkey demon and the dragon. As far as anyone was concerned, he saved the lives of the villagers, as well as Kintaro.
In honor of the hero's sacrifice, the inhabitants renamed that area after him.
There is still a Fukushima Prefecture in the Mutsu Province of Japan to this day.
Hundreds of arrows sliced through the air. The 'tanks' slowly rotated so as to spread the out the firing pattern. Dozens of enemy soldiers were dead before their comrades could take a single step in retreat. The opposing front lines were swathed in a deadly spray of arrows and dozens more enemy soldiers were brought down.
Kimono heard horse hooves behind her. She turned to see Hidesato and Masaharu riding up, having been retrieved by an astonished scout. Their jaws hung open in abject wonder.
Leaderless, and without armor, the opposing lines began to collapse and fall back.
Then the arrows ran out.
The opposing lines hesitated, turned, and charged at the wagons.
"That's right!" Drakken taunted the enemy soldiers, "Charge at us! What could possibly go wrong for you now?"
Drakken signaled to several builders who were hiding behind rocks nearby. Six men scrambled out of their hiding places and ran to the wagons, two to each. They lifted the box at the top of the apparatus off and replaced it with another that had been lying near by. The cranks resumed turning and once more, arrows streamed out of the 'barrel' of each 'tank'.
Timed almost perfectly, the opposing lines ran headlong into the deadly projectiles. Once again, they turned and were now in a full panic.
TJ stepped forward and slashed the air in front of him with the Black Orchid Blade. A wave of darkness spread out before him. Enemy soldiers were suddenly convinced they were struck blind and the panic was fueled even further. They began to collide with each other, blindly trying to escape the wrath of these strange wagons and the sudden, though temporary, darkness.
Drakken motioned again, and the builders began to push the wagons forward, spewing arrows into the seething, confused mass of humanity that struggled to retreat from the pass.
The first of Hidesato's soldiers arrived, their jaws also hanging in amazement.
Hidesato dismounted his horse, organized several companies of soldiers, and ordered a charge The lord of Mutsu would lead the first wave. Masaharu was to stay behind and order subsequent pursuit charges, but they were ordered not to pursue further than the village of Itsu.
TJ, caught up in the heady excitement of victory, charged in at Hidesato's side. They easily caught the retreating soldiers, who were stumbling over each other to get away, and began to decimate the enemy forces.
Drakken ceased firing and the wagons rolled to a stop.
Kimono stepped over to the wagon where Drakken was standing and looked up at him in open admiration.
"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed, "You actually found a way to use science to help us out!"
"It's not just science, my dear Kimono," Drakken said, beaming at his daughter, "It's MAD SCIENCE! THE DOPEST, FRESHEST, HYPEST SCIENCE THERE IS, YO! MWAAA HAA HA HA HA HA HA HA…"
Drakken stood on the center wagon in triumph, laughing maniacally as wave after wave of Hidesato's soldiers charged forth. Drakken's assistants – whom TJ would later dub The Drakkenites – all assumed that this was some sort of traditional victory celebration in whatever world Drakken was from.
So they joined in.
Drakken stood surrounded by twenty Japanese builders and carpenters, all with their fists clenched, all laughing maniacally.
It was such an absurd sight that Kimono couldn't help bursting into laughter herself, and The Drakkenites all figured she was just joining in the celebration.
And, after a moment, that's just what she did. She climbed up on the wagon next to her father, clenched her fists, laughing maniacally with the rest of them.
He stood alone in a small room in the castle. There were guards posted at the only door.
Then, a familiar face climbed silently through the window.
"Yori?"
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean 'not exactly?'"
"I think you know who am, Ron. You have figured it out before."
"I don't understand. Why are you whispering?"
"Because Apollyon might overhear."
"Apollyon?"
"Yes. Do you not understand? You are still trapped within the simulation."
"Huh?"
"Appolyon still has you trapped within his simulated world."
"But Kim-"
"Is not real. She was programmed to draw you away from reality…. I am the real Kim. I am your wife. Just like last time."
"But last time you had green eyes."
"Yes, but Apollyon has learned from that trick. Now I must look, act and sound like Yori so he will not know."
"…"
"I know, it is a lot to absorb… sweetheart. But we will get through this together. You must trust me."
"All this time… Kim was… Oh, man… I need to sit down."
"Ron, you must… but he is coming! Ask him who he really is… I will hide under the bed. Do not tell him about me or we will both be killed."
The half-man/half-monkey strode into the room.
"Well, well, Stoppable, what shall we do with you, eh?"
"Tell me something."
"What is it?"
"Are you really Monkey Fist? Or do you go by the name Apollyon?"
"So… you figured it all out. Bravo young warrior. I was beginning to believe you would never catch on. Now that you know who I really am, I suppose I should just… but no matter. You cannot escape from this world because I have learned from the last time you tricked me. If Yori shows up, green eyes or no, I will kill you both."
And he left. Yori crawled out from under the bed.
"I can't believe this. What should I call you? Yori or Kim?"
"Whatever is comfortable for you…darling. Do you believe me now?"
"I… I guess I do."
"Good, then I may know of a way we can escape. At least, we can escape the castle, and hide from him within this simulated world while we figure a way to get out."
"Oh…OK."
"Ron?"
"Yes?"
"There probably isn't time for this…but would you do something for me?"
"OK."
"Tell me you love me."
"I… I love you…Kim."
"I love you, too."
She put her arms around him and kissed him.