Disclaimer: Don't own KP.

A Note from the Authoress: Thanks everyone for all your support! And isn't everyone getting annoyed with the email alerts being down? Hmm . . . anyways. For any of you wondering about the MMP and the Lotus Blade, this chapter's for you. For the record, I'm not a Ron/Yori shipper at heart, but this was rather necessary . . . story will be KR, promise!

Harufu: Hope this will help you out a bit. Thanks for the review!
GargoyleSama: Yes . . . the role it's going to play is . . . interesting to say the least. It most certainly causes the plot to happen, but it isn't actually the plot, so I'll be interested to see what you think of it. Thank you! I'm really glad someone liked that chapter; very key in the story ;) And the other villains . . . ? You'll just have to wait and see. :)

Enjoy, everyone!

Chapter Four

When Ron Stoppable was fifteen years old, he was randomly chosen to take part in a foreign exchange program with a school in Yamanouchi, Japan. At the time, he had thought it rather silly and pointless, as he didn't care a thing about his grades (proving that the selection was, indeed, truly random), and had never shown any interest in traveling to Japan. But, after all, the school was picking up his tab, and he might as well get out a little.

When he got off the airplane, he immediately noticed a Japanese girl, about his own age, in one of those sailor outfits that they wore as uniforms, holding a sign that said "RON STOPPABLE." He approached her, prepared to pantomime his way through this meeting, only to hear a thick accent greet, "Ron Stoppable? I am Yori, of the Yamanouchi School. It will be my honor to assist you this week."

They hit it off right from the start.

Ron had thought he'd finally found a friend.

If only he'd known what was in store for them.

They took a taxi from the airport, which dropped them off at the base of an impressively tall mountain. The driver asked for no tip. After much confusion on Ron's part, Yori managed to explain that the school was on the peak of the mountain and that 'it would be their honor to walk'. He really didn't see the honor in arriving to his first day at a new school all sweaty and dirty, but a few hours alone with a pretty girl? He could handle that.

Three hours and about a thousand complaints later, they arrived at a large rope bridge, leading to a monastery hidden in the peak of the mountain. As they crossed, whatever suspicions Ron had grew, for, on the roofs of the various buildings of the school, people in ninja garb, presumably students, leapt about, performing various styles of kung fu.

He instantly knew he belonged nowhere near here.

The master of the school approached them, a short, old man cloaked in red. He told them a story, a story of how Toshimuru, the founder of the Yamanouchi School, was the master of something known as Mystical Monkey Power. Ron immediately began to laugh, thinking it was all one big joke, but, when the other students held in their eyes that sort of belief you just didn't question, he thought of it, although still skeptically, as something that could be classified only as 'sick and wrong'.

From the story, Ron learned that Toshimuru had carved the monastery from the mountain using only a single sword known as the Lotus Blade that operated on this same principle of Mystical Monkey Power. This man was also a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, Monkey Kung Fu. Ron asked, "Then why did you bring me here?"

And Sensei replied, "The legends wished for it to be so."

And so it was.

Ron did not adapt particularly well to the life of a ninja; waking up before sunrise was not something he was used to at all, and the grueling physical courses made him yearn for algebra class. However, he made it through fairly well thanks to Yori, who helped him in everything he did.

He still wondered if, perhaps, she had had a thing for American boys, because he often wondered if she were crushing on him.

He lost all his baby fat in that week; he never ate. Even getting lunch was a test, and one Yori couldn't help him with as much as he'd like. Never mind every meal consisted of sushi (why, he'd never know), and for sure it had an odd taste that he'd never really acquire.

In the last two days of his week there, the alarm rang at what he was sure had to be two in the morning. He ran outside. The students were looking around, lost and confused, unsure of how to handle whatever situation was before them. Their training had covered battle and strategy, but not the possibility that something like this would actually happen. No, they were prepared to become martial arts instructors, or they would spend their entire lives on this mountain.

He looked around for Yori.

He couldn't find her.

Sensei came forward and informed the student body that the Lotus Blade had been stolen. The assembly gasped, and nervous whispers echoed through the courtyard. The old master remained silent, unmoving for a moment, and the students sensed he had more to say, and patiently awaited whatever that was. He took a deep breath and said the one thing Ron dreaded; Yori had been kidnapped.

Instantly, Ron was dressing for battle. True, he'd only had five days of martial arts training in his entire life, but his only friend was in trouble, and he wasn't about to let anything happen to her.

He made his way through the mountainous region, following any and all signs of a struggle. He called her name until his voice had left him, marching through snow, hopeless of finding her or his way back ever again.

Eventually, he stumbled across, mostly obscured by the intense snow, what appeared to be a small cave. He sought refuge from the storm within it, hoping to wait it out before continuing in his quest. He might not have been particularly intelligent, but he knew very well that he would be of no worth to Yamanouchi, or Yori, frostbitten or dead.

Inside, he saw the remains of a campfire, fresh. But there was no sign of anyone on the outside. Curious, he ventured further in, and found a little trap door at the back of the cave, which he was able to open using some of the sticks that had survived the abandoned campfire. He hauled the rock open, and began making his way down the steep steps, careful to remain as quiet as possible, thinking that, perhaps, he had just stumbled upon what he'd been looking for the entire time.

And for the first time in his life, Ron Stoppable was right.

What he saw there was a lavishly decorated room, full of antiquities and lit by several torches. However, it was uninhabited. He noticed there were four jade monkey statues on little podiums, as if in some form of tradition. Too lost in exploring the room's appearance, he wasn't aware one step was missing, and tumbled down, right into the direct center of the podiums.

Almost right away, a blue, fuzzy light shot from each monkey, and to him, bathing him in the warm glow. He was lifted off his feet, the energy coursing through his veins and taking residence there, adding to him and assimilating into his very being. He felt his eyes mist over, only vaguely able to recall the far door of the room creaking open.

He felt himself falling into shadow.

When he awoke, he was bound to a beam in a room he'd never seen before, one he assumed was just beyond the one he'd been in earlier. "Yori?" he whispered, his voice still hoarse and barely audible.

Somewhere nearby, a door slammed. He wearily turned his head to see a familiar face, that of that archaeologist he'd been forced to do a report on for history, Lord Montgomery Fiske. Oddly, though, he was dressed similarly to Ron himself. He might not have been a star pupil, but he thought he would've known if anywhere had mentioned Lord Fiske had any experience in martial arts.

"Well, now," he said, his British accent taunting Ron's ears. "I see you're awake."

Ron simply glared, and swallowed, trying to regain his voice.

"Did you sleep well?" His voice was laced with venom. "I would hope so, after you stole my Mystical Monkey Power from me!"

The bantering continued for some time, one sided as it was. Ron, bound and trying to regain his sanity and energy, took it, not entirely listening to the man's rants, finding them pointless and absurd. It would be some time before he remembered what had actually happened that allowed him to have Mystical Monkey Power, and that he would be forced to choose what he was going to do with it.

He thought of the story, the one Sensei had told him the day of his arrival, of Toshimuru and the Lotus Blade. He remembered the old master showing him the sword itself, resting in a case padded with velvet, displayed in the main building of the school. There was an alarm, no doubt, and this was proven when Lord Fiske had broken into the school to retrieve it.

But why break into a secret ninja school?

That's what the man was explaining presently, how he believed the legends that Mystical Monkey Power existed, and that it can be harnessed, but one cannot truly be the master without one thing: the Lotus Blade.

He felt something hit the palm of his hand and he held on . . . it felt like a thick needle, worn but still sharp, no longer than three inches.

"Yori," he managed to whisper, his voice cracking. He could sure use some water right now.

The elder man did not answer, but simply moved aside to reveal an occupied mat, the form of his first and only friend settled comfortably on top, a light blanket draped over her. But, as his relieved gaze remained resting on her, his entire body began to tremble; he realized her small chest was not moving up and down in the gentle breathing of sleep.

His despair quickly formed into fury, and that same blue glow emanated from his body, throbbing as he burst free of his bonds, the little pin in his right hand shooting outward, taking on the form of a katana, but he did not attack; Lord Fiske was nowhere to be seen. And so, he knelt by Yori's side, his trembling hand reaching out to take her own, cold within his grasp.

Maybe she'd loved him, and maybe she'd not, but she'd been the first person he'd ever, ever cared for, and he'd never forget her friendship. But, he realized, he'd never be able to tell anyone about her, for, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, she never existed, nor did the school they attended together, or their brief alliance. Alone, he simply broke down and cried.

Yes, Ron Stoppable changed that day.

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