Wanderer3: Monique will be turning up soon with an important part to play.

Thanks to: campy, Anghammarad, MatthewC, Spyke the Hedgehog, Visigoth29527, Triaxx2, Lydia King, RamaFan, demon-sword and FAH3.

Kim paused in her walk and raised her camera. A waterfall was visible through a gap in the trees. She studied the sight through the viewfinder. It was lovely, but she couldn't really see that much of it. Still, the camera was digital, and had plenty of memory, so Kim took a shot. Then she started down the trail again.

It was three weeks into Ron's time at Yamanouchi, and Kim was taking her now customary mid-morning hike. Ron was in class (or rather, under instruction) from four a.m. until noon, either doing martial arts training or being tutored by Sensei in various aspects of the mystical monkey power. After the midday meal Ron had an open schedule. Kim had expected him to use most of it eating or catching up on his sleep, but he'd surprised her by actually using some of the time to study on his own. That was so unusual that Kim actually found it a little unsettling, but she had decided she could live with it. Besides, Ron rarely kept at it for more than an hour. After that he was his usual goofy, fun loving self, eager to spend time with her. True, there weren't many of the usual American teenager type pass-times to be had at Yamanouchi, but there was an intramural baseball league, and various other sports. Some of the female students had taken Kim under their collective wing, and she had even run into Hirotaka, the boy who had come to Middleton as part of Sensei's exchange program. He was as dreamy as ever, but it turned out he had a steady girlfriend who, according to Yori (who turned out to be Hirotaka's sister), he was going to marry upon graduation.

Kim considered the matter of Yori. She clearly liked Ron, but just as clearly said liking went only as far as friendship, whatever it might have been in the past. For his part, Ron seemed both to recognize that fact, and be okay with it. His new crush, whoever it was on, apparently made up for the 'loss' of Yori's affections.

Kim snorted. "I think that's enough relationship analysis for one day," she said aloud. Forcing those thoughts from her mind Kim returned her attention to the trail. And just as well, for as she turned the next corner she found herself standing at the brink of a precipice. It was a canyon, about a hundred feet wide and a little deeper, with a fair sized stream coursing along the bottom. A short distance upstream Kim could see the waterfall. The stream only dropped about fifty feet, but the fall was pretty none-the-less. Unshipping her camera again, Kim snapped a few pictures.

'Nice,' she said to herself, 'but the angle from here isn't so good. If I could just get across the valley...'Kim pondered a bit. The trail branched here, one leg following the stream downriver, the other snaking down into the canyon and up the other side before continuing around the mountain. The climb involved wouldn't be that difficult, and Kim was heading for the cliff edge when she had an other idea. Facing the canyon she backed up, took a few running steps and jumped. She sailed across the chasm and landed with room to spare on the other side.

"Too easy," she murmured, walking back to the edge, the waterfall momentarily forgotten. A look down showed that the bottom of the canyon was composed of boulders of various sizes, all coated with moss or slippery looking green goo. One rock caught Kim's eye. It was fairly large, with a flat upper surface. With it as her target, Kim jumped.

The green goo was as slippery as it looked. Kim landed okay, but her feet went out from under her and she fell face first on the stone. She lay still for a moment, slightly stunned, then carefully pushed herself up. Since the rocks offered only treacherous footing, Kim walked out into the stream. The water was fast moving but not terribly deep, and she had no troubling standing in place. The walls of the canyon were rough, with plenty of ledges and cracks. Picking a ledge halfway up one wall, Kim gathered her legs and jumped. She overshot just a little, and had to use her outstretched arms to keep from doing another face plant in the canyon wall, but overall she was pleased. Two similar jumps and she was out of the canyon, following the trail along its edge.

A little farther on the sound of roaring water told Kim she was approaching the big canyon just below the school, though a little downstream of the rope bridge. The stream she was following made a spectacular waterfall as it joined its larger sister. Kim stood for a while, just admiring the view. She was immediately tempted to repeat her jump to the bottom experiment, but was daunted by the depth. Five hundred feet was a long way. She'd be moving really fast when she hit, and breaking her legs wasn't high on her list of priorities.

'Still,' Kim told herself, 'I've got my grapple gun. I'll just have it ready in case I start having second thoughts.' Slipping off her backpack Kim rummaged through her mission gear (which she had brought with her out of long habit, rather than from anticipated need) and snagged the hairdryer shaped gadget. A quick check to see that it was loaded and in good order and Kim was stepping up to the brink.

'Here goes,' she thought, and jumped.

The rock walls of the canyon flashed past with ever increasing speed. Kim looked down calmly. She had picked another large, relatively flat boulder as a landing point, but there was a wind blowing down the canyon and it was carrying her off course. Kim kept a steady grip on the grapple gun as the canyon floor rushed up at her. The big boulder was sliding off to the side, a field of sharp looking rocks moving in to take its place. Without thinking about it, Kim willed herself toward the big rock. Obediently it moved back under her.

Kim was so surprised she forgot all about landing, and hit the ground as limp and unready as a rag doll.

"Ow," Kim moaned as she collected her thoughts. She was lying on her side atop the big rock. Various body parts protested injuries done to them, but a quick assessment showed only minor damage. Kim rolled over and sat up. There was a sharp pain on the side of her head, but she wasn't bleeding. A glance at the rock showed a good-sized, fresh chip knocked out of it where her skull had struck. The grapple gun had been dashed to pieces on impact. Kim found bits of it strewn amongst the stones.

'Did that really happen?' Kim wondered, thinking about the moving boulder. 'Maybe it was a sudden change in the wind?' That made a certain amount of sense. After all, no normal person could alter the path of a fall just by wanting to. But then, she remembered, she wasn't exactly a normal person.

'I think I'll try that again,' she decided, and started climbing.

Ron strolled toward the guesthouse. He was done with the day's training and lessons, and was looking forward to relaxing for a while. From within a handy fold in Ron's gi came a soft snoring sound. Rufus, having stuffed himself at the midday meal, was now sleeping soundly.

'That's a pretty good idea,' Ron grinned to himself. Getting up at four in the morning wasn't the most fun. Being high up on a mountain made for cold mornings, even in the summer. The hour of vigorous exercise that followed the wakeup call did a lot to push back the chill, as did the hot breakfast served afterward, but it didn't really warm up until late morning. After breakfast came two hours relentless drilling in martial arts. Both armed and unarmed styles were practiced. After drills students went to their academic courses, where they studied everything from international relations to the correct way to perform a tea ceremony.

Ron, however, spent his time after drills with Sensei, who instructed him in the secrets of the mystical monkey power. Naturally the lessons covered what Ron could do with the power as he became more skilled, but they also included a good deal of philosophy, and discussions about what he couldn't (or rather, shouldn't) do. Some of the things he might one day be able to do were downright terrifying, for all that he was unlikely ever to rise so high. Apparently, becoming a Great Master, as Sensei referred to it, required a lifetime of study and devotion, something that Ron, by his own admission, was highly unlikely to commit himself to.

But even if he never got above middling proficiency, Ron would (if he chose to) be the deadliest warrior alive. He would be faster than any other human being. He would be more nimble, able to pull off stunts that would be impossible for anyone else to match. He would, sensei told him, be able to walk unnoticed through a crowd, killing as he went, and escape unseen.

Ron had shuddered at the thought. "I can't imagine ever wanting to kill anyone, Sensei," he'd declaimed. Sensei smiled sadly in response.

"Alas," the old man said, "For we mere mortals, what we want to do is sometimes overshadowed by what we need to do."

That was followed by a long discussion of how a warrior didn't always have the luxury of waiting for a perfect solution, especially if he was a champion of the innocent. "A good solution now is better than a perfect solution too late."

Every lesson with the old man gave Ron a lot to think about, and he did a lot of thinking. But, Ron reasoned, he thought best on a full stomach, and while the midday meal had been both nutritious and filling, he was a growing boy, and one who had worked hard all day. His body had already made enough progress on what he'd eaten that he was getting hungry again. If Kim was back from the hike she was going to take, he'd whip up a snack/meal for the two of them.

Rounding the last corner he saw a thin plume of black smoke rising from one of the chimneys. Kim was or had been heating water. Pushing through the front door he was greeted by her voice.

"Ron, is that you?"

"Yeah, K.P., where are you?" he called.

"In the bath," she answered. Ron made his way to the room in question. Closing his eyes and putting a hand over them he eased the door open, then backed into the room.

"Bit early in the day for a bath, isn't it, Kim?" he asked, feeling his way to the stool he knew was in the room and sitting down, still facing away from her. This arrangement had come about not long after their arrival, when Ron had tried to talk to Kim through the closed bathroom door. Such a conversation was possible, but not terribly enjoyable. So a compromise had been developed. Ron (or Kim, as the case might be) could be in the room, but had to keep his back turned. It worked well enough that they didn't even ask any more.

"Not after what I've been through today," Kim answered languidly.

Ron's curiosity got the better of him. He opened one eye and turned his head just enough that he could see Kim's head and face. She was sunk down in the tub until only her head and the tops of her shoulders were visible above the layer of soap bubbles on top of the water, her eyes closed, a relaxed look on her face.

"What have you been through today?" he asked. Kim looked fine physically, so maybe she'd had a stressful day or something.

Kim opened her eyes and looked at him. Ron went beet red and looked away, causing Kim to giggle.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"For what?" Kim demanded. "It's not like you can see anything, after all."

"True," Ron admitted. He was about to turn back when his gaze fell on Kim's clothes. The cargo pants and long sleeved shirt she'd been wearing had both been spotless and intact the last time Ron saw her. Now they were torn, stained, wet and filthy. The pants were so shredded in fact, that they looked fit for the rag bin, or the garbage.

"What did you do?" Ron demanded, turning to confront her. "You clothes look like you've been riding in a cement mixer or something."

Kim favored Ron with an impish grin. "Or something," she teased. Then her expression changed to excitement. "I learned something today," she confided. "Let's go for a walk later and I'll show you."

"Sounds good to me,' Ron grinned, relaxing. Knowing Kim she'd spent the day somersaulting down the mountain, just for kicks. "Hey, that reminds me, I have something I want to show you."

Kim looked at him expectantly.

"I just mastered it today," Ron explained, rising. "Although Rufus has been able to do it since the first day of our first trip here."

At the sound of his name Rufus awakened, stretched, looked sleepily about, then went back to sleep. Ron gently lifted Rufus from the folds of his gi and placed the still sleeping naked mole rat on a towel near the cast iron boiler.

Returning to the stool Ron sat down again, facing Kim.

"Watch closely," he cautioned. Kim affected a scowl of concentration.

Ron vanished.

Completely.

Kim started. Her eyes narrowed as she brought first infrared, then x-ray vision into play. There was no sign of Ron. Equally astonishing, she couldn't hear him at all, no heartbeat, no breathing, nothing. It was as if he wasn't there anymore.

"Ron? Ron!" Kim called, sitting up in the tub.

Ron became visible instantly as he fell backwards off the stool, a frightened yelp escaping his throat as he went over.

"Ron!" Kim exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

"Gah! Ah! Fine, yes, I'm fine," he stammered, trying to sound reassuring, his hands clasping over his eyes.

"What happened?"

"Uh, you sat up in the tub, K.P. Kinda broke my concentration," Ron explained.

Kim glanced down and understood. Except for a few soap bubbles here and there, a couple of things were plainly visible. Kim blushed and slipped down into the water again.

"Sorry," she apologized. "You startled me is all. How did you do that anyway?"

Ron clambered to his feet and took a minute to compose himself before explaining.

"It's simply, really," he finally said. "I used the mystical monkey power to hide myself from your mind."

"Not 'turn invisible'?" Kim asked skeptically.

"Not in the sense of turning transparent," Ron denied with a shake of his head. "Sensei said a camera would show I was here the whole time. The light reflecting off me was still hitting your eyes. Your mind just wasn't processing the information, that's all."

"That's all," Kim echoed, thinking. Her eyes narrowed again, this time in suspicion. "And just what are you going to do with this newfound power of yours?" she asked.

"I don't know what you mean," Ron protested innocently.

"So you aren't going to sneak into the girls locker room at school?" Kim accused, not quite able to keep a grin from turning up the corners of her lips.

"No!" Ron denied loftily. Then he hesitated, casting a furtive gaze about. "Well, maybe," he allowed. "Once, anyway."

"Ron! That is so wrong," Kim scolded, her tone righteous.

"This from little miss I use my x-ray vision to peek into the boys locker room," Ron retorted playfully.

"Just don't do it while I'm in there, okay?" Kim asked, surrendering.

"Promise," Ron pledged solemnly.

Later, after lunch, Kim led Ron to the edge of the cliff near the rope bridge.

"So what's this thing you have to show me?" Ron asked, looking cautiously over the edge.

"Do you trust me?" Kim asked by way of an answer, her tone frank.

"With my life," Ron answered unhesitatingly.

"Climb on then," Kim ordered, turning her back to him.

"Aren't we a little old for piggy-back rides?" Ron joked as he wrapped his arms around Kim's neck and shoulders and pulled himself up. Kim gripped his legs, then asked, "Got a good hold?"

"Sure," Ron said.

"How about you, Rufus?"

"Hnk-hha!" Rufus chirped happily, giving Kim a tiny thumbs up.

"Okay, boys. Here we go," Kim said soberly. She took three steps forward and jumped into the canyon.

Ron felt a stab of wild panic. They had no grapple guns, no ropes, no parachutes, no flying packs. Kim might be able to survive the fall, but he and Rufus would be...

...Ron noticed a load on his arms and legs. Kim was slowing down! The deceleration continued all the way down, until they landed on the valley floor as lightly as a feather floating down onto a velvet cushion.

Ron slipped off Kim's back and stared at her wide eyed. "How did you do that?" he demanded excitedly. "That was awesome!"

"Cool, huh?" Kim grinned.

"I'll say," Ron agreed before frowning thoughtfully. "Umm, how are we going to get back up?"

Kim opened her eyes. Outside the open window of her bedroom the full moon shed a cold, white light on the snowy slopes of Mount Yamanouchi and the bit of the school wall visible from Kim's vantage point.

What had awakened her? The night sounds coming in through the window shouldn't have. Super keen ears went into overdrive as Kim sought for the trigger of her wakefulness. Silence came from Ron's room. No, not silence. Rufus was there, breathing steadily, apparently asleep. Ron was absent. X-ray vision went looking, and found him standing on the patio at the back of the house, staring out at the neighboring mountains.

Kim crawled out of her bed and pulled her night robe on over the tee shirt and panties she wore as sleeping attire. Sliding her feet into her slippers she headed for the balcony.

"Hey, K.P.," Ron greeted her softly, not looking back. He seemed troubled by something. Gliding almost soundlessly across the paving stones Kim came up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist in a gentle hug, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Trouble sleeping?" she whispered.

One of Ron's hands settled over hers, while the other reached up to brush its fingers against her cheek.

"Yeah," he confirmed quietly. "I just feel...weird. Like something is about to happen."

"Something bad?" Kim wondered.

"I don't know. I just get the feeling that something is out there," Ron said, nodding his head at the nearest peak.

Kim said nothing, just peered at the mountain in question. It seemed to zoom closer as she stared, another ability she'd discovered, and quite a handy one at times. She didn't see anything, which didn't surprise her. Between the forest covering the lower slopes, and the valleys and ravines etched into its flanks, there were far more hiding places on the peak than she could search in a short time.

"Between us, we'll handle it, whatever it is," Kim said confidently. Ron turned his head and looked at her, brown eyes looking into green. He smiled, and Kim felt...something. She noticed, too, that they were a lot closer than usual. And that Ron was bare-chested. And that he had defined muscles. And that she suddenly felt warm.

"You're the best, K.P."

Kim fought off an urge to lower her eyes and look up at Ron through her lashes. What was going on here? This was Ron, not some super-cute guy.

If Ron noticed her unease he didn't let on. But he did come to Kim's rescue by turning and slipping his arm around her midsection, then guiding her toward the house.

"Let's get back inside before we get chilled," he suggested amiably.

Kim grinned. "Ron, I don't think I can get chilled."

"Okay," Ron amended without missing a beat, "Before I get chilled."

Away on the other side of Mount Higashidate, Monkey Fist and his monkey ninjas watched a chuck of the mountain tear itself loose. A hulking figure shook bit of broken rock of itself and stomped toward the monkey master, each step of its enormous feet shaking the earth. The moonlight revealed an elaborately carved statue of a monkey, thirty feet tall, armed with a massive club, with a malevolent green glow lighting up the basketball sized emeralds that served as its eyes.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" the living rock asked, its voice like an earthquake.

"Carry us to the Yamanouchi School," Monkey Fist commanded. A massive hand came down, palm open. Monkey Fist stepped onto it as his monkey ninjas swarmed over the stooping form of the giant statue. When all were secure the great figure started through the trees, pushing them aside as needed to clear a path. Monkey Fist cackled insanely. By the end of this day, Ron Stoppable would be dead; he, Monkey Fist, would wield the Lotus Blade; and all the world would bow to the true monkey master.

In Middleton, Duff Killigan rapped smartly on the front door of the Possible residence. Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible had each just departed for their respective workplaces, leaving their twin sons at home alone. Kim Possible, Killigan had learned shortly after arriving in town, was in Japan and wouldn't return for some time. That made his job a lot easier.

Killigan had never worked in America, but the skills of a master thief travel well. It hadn't taken long to glean that the Possible family's home had a custom-built alarm system, which made breaking in undetected pretty much impossible. So Killigan had opted for the direct approach. After observing the Possibles for a week, he'd decided the best time to strike was in the morning, after the parents left for the day. That time was now. Through the door he heard running feet. The lock clicked and the door swung inward, revealing a pair of youthful faces.

"Can we-" one of the boys started.

"-help you?" the other finished.

Killigan smiled broadly at the two. "Aye, lads," he nodded, even as he squeezed a small bulb concealed in his off hand. Killigan was well practiced with the device, and a stream of clear liquid splattered in the boys' faces. Their eyes rolled back in their heads and they slumped to the floor.

Killigan stepped into the house and closed the door. "You lads have a nice nap," he said to the unconscious pair at his feet, "While your old Uncle Duff has a look around."

Killigan examined his prize with a dubious eye. His employers had struck him as an odd pair, not the least because of the strange make-up they wore at all times. Of course, he'd heard rumors that their odd complexions were their real ones, but in truth all Killigan cared about was the color of their money. And money Dr. Drakken and Shego had possessed. In sufficient quantity to induce Duff Killigan, Europe's greatest thief (alleged thief, that was. Nothing had ever been proven, no matter what the national police of Europe's various countries might suspect) to travel to America and steal...one of Kim Possible's baby teeth.

When Drakken had said what he wanted Killigan had been a bit nonplused, to say the least. But when Drakken offered a tip as to the location of the item he wanted, as well as double Killigan's usual fee, well...

"I still can't believe Drakken is obsessed enough about this Possible girl to learn that one of her mother's friends has a blog where she mentioned that Mrs. Dr. Possible kept some of her children's baby teeth," Killigan muttered quietly. Oh well. The teeth had been right were Drakken had said they would be, in a small plastic bag stapled to one of the pages of Kim's baby book.

Killigan tucked the bag into a pouch on his belt. Working quickly he positioned the Possible boys on the couch in the living room, then turned on the TV and tuned it to the Science Channel. He had donned rubber gloves before touching anything in the house, so he didn't have to worry about prints. The drug he'd used on the boys caused short term memory loss as a side effect. With luck, they would think they had simply fallen asleep while watching TV, and no-one would ever suspect that Killigan had been there.

Twenty-four hours later Drakken gleefully clutched the bag of baby teeth while Shego paid Killigan the balance of his fee and sent him on his way.

"At long last, Shego, we possess Kim Possible's DNA. There's no doubt this time!" Drakken crowed when Shego returned. He practically sang the words, he was so happy.

"Uh huh, uh huh," Shego nodded "If there's any dentin left in them, and it's intact enough for us to get a useful sample."

"Must you always be so negative, Shego?" Drakken demanded.

"Just pointing out a relevant fact, Drew," Shego said calmly.

"You pointed it out when I got the idea, and several times since as well. I admit it's a bit of gamble, but we don't have many avenues left open to us," Drakken retorted.

Shego nodded, a bit glumly. Kim Possible's DNA had proved an elusive beast. None of the DNA samples they had collected showed any unusual characteristics, but then, none of them could be definitively linked to little Kimmie, either.

Shego held out her hand. "Give me the teeth. I'll start processing them," she said, sounding a bit downcast.

"Here you are, Dr. Gogh," Drakken said formally as he handed her the bag, "I'm sure your efforts will bear fruit."

"I hope so, Dr. Lipsky," Shego answered. "I'm getting tired of beating my head against a brick wall."