I completely forgot to mention Edgar Wright, whom Monty stole the mask from. He's named after the director of "Shaun of the Dead", one of the greatest zombie apocalypse comedies ever. XD
There is a warning of adult-teen stuff, but in a dream sequence only and nothing graphic. It's not actually happening, so don't flame, please. I'm not spoiling WHO it is, but maybe you'll figure it out.
Chapter Three
The Ugliness Inside and Out
The monkeys were still shaking and holding onto each other despite their master's declaration, which made Monkey Fist scowl and bare his canines, thundering at the top of his normal lungs.
"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR, YOU COWARDLY IMBECILES?!"
That was enough to make them screech and scatter about the dojo before collectively getting to work. And in the meantime, he could use something in his stomach. This called for a trip to the local oriental Asian restaurant. He would have to go incognito, donning his coat and gloves. Not many in England knew who he was apart from Monkey Fist, but he wasn't going to take any chances.
He wasn't going to count on it, but should he hear keywords he'd connect to DNAmy, then that source would be a fantastic way to start.
For some reason, he decided to keep the mask on him, as the inescapable connection attached itself to him to the point where he couldn't take the chance, either, in letting any or all of the monkey ninjas play with it, even if he did hide it well from them. They were too nosy for their own good; they disobeyed him from time to time at their own risk.
But that was not the only reason, for, in the privacy of his chambers, he was grasping his coat and throwing it on himself when he could have sworn he heard the voice.
Take me with you, Monty.
"Who's there?" he called, looking around and getting no response, the chill bristling his spinal nerves. "I demand who you are, intruder!"
That unseen person chuckled. Not physically present - just in your mind. However...take a look at the foot of your bed.
At the foot of the bed happened to be none other than the mask which leered malevolently up at him. How the - oh, blast it. He should have known; the mask was TALKING to him without the lips moving. Why didn't he hear it before back in Wright's shop? And it seemed to read his mind, for it answered.
Ah, because actions speak louder than words. Fate connects without talking aloud. It was destined you'd choose me just as I chose you. You did once proclaim destiny cannot be avoided, did you not?
The red alarms in his brain were going off, and no matter that it frightened him, Monty was amazed that this inanimate object could see right into him - but then it dawned on him that there were other secrets best not learned. He needed to learn to block more of his mind from this thing. Damn it all, this thing knew about the time he attempted to use the Middleton Research Center and Frederick the chimp to fulfill the prophecy. He wasn't sure how to feel about this invasion of his privacy, but he was already deep in and couldn't go back.
And you do need me for an important matter in terms of a certain stalker you made the mistake of entrusting with the changes to your body. He wasn't going to disagree with that, so he intended to correct that issue.
"Can you help me then? Scare her away once and for all? She refuses to accept that her 'love' is a mere fantasy!"
...speaking of "mere fantasy", are you sure you aren't related to her?
Monty started in sputtering shock. "What the - how in heaven's name am I related to her?!"
As in are you sure you're not different from her? Thinking you can tamper with nature and fate with no regard for the consequences? Hasn't life tried teaching you that, with the many run-ins with children and the law? The mask chuckled insidiously. Or perhaps I can remedy that since that's why we are here now.
How could he refuse an offer like that?
"Well, before we dive to work, I need something in my belly. Can't work on an empty stomach, as my mother always taught me."
~o~
It wasn't Wade's fault, but locating Monkey Fist HAD to be on Halloween night of all times. That meant the threat of being late to the Halloween dance at Monique's place, or maybe never going at all.
But when she and Ron returned home after the visit to Lord Fiske's mother, she was still dwelling on the conversation and felt the simple line between black and white blur, causing it to gray little by little. It sort of made her think back to what her dad told her about when he and his college friends wound up laughing at Drew Lipsky and his Bebe's before he became the man Kim knew him as.
It wasn't so black and white, she repeated to herself for the umpteenth time. But then...
Monkey Fist once again struck, but under the cover of darkness to be detected too late. And there was no telling what else Kim and gang hadn't caught him on outside the known past missions. He'd stolen a rare and valuable monkey mask which was one of four, making her remember the Four Jade Monkey Idols. These were discovered on a remote island outside of Japan but within the parameters, unnamed and untouched but not dangerous that was so far known. There was nothing solidly confirmed to the public except to the man who was examining them, and that man was none other than Edgar Wright, whom Catherine and her late ex-husband had known for a long time. The sadness was present in her eyes, same with Bates, as they listened in on Wade's reports.
"These four masks were the product of an ancient monkey god who has similarities to the Chinese Monkey King. Just like Sun Wukong, he was a trickster as well as shared many of the same qualities but was also far more vicious and violent in nature. Granted that this is near Japan instead, it is the dark side of the symbolism of the simians; whereas the monkey was a protector against diseases and demons and was the keeper of fertility and prosperous marriage, this god was an exiled outcast. In Japan, there were supposed to be three monkeys - 'Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, See No Evil' - but the masks are four instead because the number four is an extremely bad luck number in the country. The simian god was called Sarūn if you must know."
In other words: they were all in for something far more menacing and dangerous beyond comprehension - beyond what Monkey Fist craved, and he might as well have endangered all of them as well as himself, based on what else Wade revealed, breaking out into a cold sweat himself, just as Ron huddled into Kim, teeth chattering, and Rufus burrowed himself deep in his master's pockets.
Bates had covered his face with his hands before forcing himself together when Catherine started breathlessly sobbing and demanded a handkerchief. "My boy..." she bemoaned, changing from the composed and kind woman moments ago to a mother worried sick.
"Y-yeah," Wade had said, wishing he had a better way to say all of this, "should you even choose one of these masks, it latches onto your face and never comes off, after four times of removal. After that, it's permanent and molds naturally as a real face. Not only that, but as time goes on, it will change you from inside to out, reflecting the beast within. Except Wright hasn't finished the translation and doesn't know if there is a cure. He's so damned good he might have the results tomorrow. If you guys get lucky and find him as soon as possible, you might stop him from taking over the world as one-fourth of Sarūn incarnate."
Ron stopped sputtering and forced out the question. "What about - Wade, what about the other three masks after one sticks to your face? You said they were four parts of the monkey monster split apart. They shouldn't even be without each other!"
Bad move, but that info couldn't be ignored. Kim had to put her hand over her heart which wouldn't stop beating. Wade's response was all the more reason they had to hurry before it was too late. Suppose Halloween...
All of this was deadly serious, now that she thought about it. Monkey Fist wanted power to rule the world because he was powerless his entire life, wasn't appreciated by his own father and sought something to fill the void that even his own mother had done so much to suffice. She was the only loving figure he'd had, but the damage had been done. Kim understood him, but he should have forgiven himself rather than let the lack of father love and the pressure of society run his life.
Did he want to really stoop low and become a monster? Doubtful.
Didn't he learn after all the times they battled it out? Apparently not.
Would he learn it this time if they could or could not find the answer to removing that mask if it got stuck to his face? Who the hell knew.
And if he were saved, what would he do with his life if his views changed, if not right away? Kim decided to make the big mental leap and say she'd be there for him, too, whether he wanted it or not. Sometimes, enemies could become friends, as she learned in life.
She sounded cold to her own ears, but she had to be firm for now. And right at this moment, she distracted herself by looking at the Halloween costume she picked with Monique. It was magical and seductive, but not enough to make her dad flustered or lecture her in regards to boys. Exquisite midnight blue velvet with a high slit in the front, the neckline plunging gently to show the right amount. Its sleeves were icy blue mesh and scattered at random with rhinestones for a starlight effect. Silvery thread and metallic shimmer formed crescent moons and stars which trimmed the neckline and skirt slit.
Kim Possible was going to be a sorceress.
To complete the look: the earrings being one sun and one crescent moon, both etched with lustrous white pearls, and clear and sapphire gems. Also, a ring with a "full moon" moonstone between the opposite-sided crescent moons and distinctive Celtic swirls, the necklace having the various lunar phases from left to right, going to the center point which was also a moonstone. And she'd wear a headband of studded stars to top it off. Because one day when she grew up, she'd rather not be a princess, so here you go.
Except...she wondered if she'd be able to enjoy tonight. With everything on her mind.
The night before, she had a hard time sleeping because of the dream that ravaged her out of the blue, but not in an unpleasant way much to her irritation upon waking up to the sun in her eyes.
~o~
"You thought you were alone, Monty...but you never were. You have people who are still here for you -"
"Like who, hm? Bates? He might have been a loyal servant and a substitute to make me into the man I became, but everything afterward was all on me. Same goes for my mother, even though I love her - yes, I have it in me to admit something of my life."
"Yeah, familial love, but it doesn't end with blood alone. Bates seems more like the father you never had in your own. But that man is gone now; what happened to getting stronger and making yourself far better than he might have been?"
"Easier to talk than to do. But you are right in a way: I sought to be better than he ever was. He blamed me for nearly causing the death of the woman he loved, my mother. She forgave me, but he didn't. I don't see the point, either, of having 'friends'. It's not like they last, as you naïve children love to imagine. You never know when they will turn on you. It's happened in my world to me and others more times than we could count."
"...to hell with that. I know what it's like to be betrayed. I'm looking at one example right now. I learned a hard lesson that day never to judge the book by its cover. My dad said that once, and I thought I knew that well enough."
"I envy you, Miss Possible. You have a loving father - a whole loving family and everything I never did. But you know what it's like to be pressured into having a polished image for the whole world. A high pedestal where you're not allowed to make an error."
"There should be more to this, then. Monty...you should consider a path where there's hope. Yeah, there are times of downs, but there's ups when you look at the different side of things, and there you can see there's something worth having which great and ancient power can't give you."
There were no more words exchanged, only what bodies could express, and because this was a dream, there was no one else to barge into their private world. And no laws to judge them.
It meant comfort was needed in the physical sense when neither of them asked for it but knew without speaking. In minutes, clothes were discarded and naked bodies gently joined as one, the ripe female fruit being consumed first with care until being ravished intently with uncontrollable hunger.
She pleaded for him to be gentle as this was her first time. He obliged.
Just like her, he never knew the touch of another human being, so to finally taste aged wine had been a wait that was worth it.
Hearts beat in sync, their bodies melding together as they found their missing piece, allowing themselves to sink within their pleasure - nothing but pure euphoria.
~o~
When he awoke, what exactly greeted him? None other than the masculine wet stickiness in his pants, of course. Of all the things -!
He growled and washed himself off as soon as he was up and out of the bed, but even that didn't erase the lingering fiery tingles in his loins.
Damn it, why did his brain have to conjure THAT up: her radiant beauty in the form of the perfect breasts and waist from his vision, her long hair, and everything else that continuously plagued him in his sleep. In days' time, it followed him now, but this time...it felt like it truly happened rather than being a dream alone that took him by surprise. Shaking himself, he forced himself out of bed and yanked off his sleeping trousers, stomping around the four-poster for the adjoined bathroom. He needed a nice, cold shower to get rid of this feeling today.
He walked right past the mask which was sleeping beneath the mattress which he lay atop, which did not utter a single word. Nothing else was on his mind except the phantom that was Kim Possible.
Monty shuddered when the frigid waters coursed over his body, his muscles tensing and his nipples hardening painfully. Still, it was enough to drive away the tightness in his loins as well as clear his head. He stayed the way he was under the arctic spray until he desperately needed warmth and relaxation - which turned out to be a grave error he should have predicted. It flashed before his eyes and reignited the liquid white fire.
Kimberly's beauty returned just like that, showing him at every angle and the sunshine spotlight highlighting everything for him as well as blinding him: her back was to his eye, long flaming hair waving about, and not enough to hide her delectable derriere shaped like a heart. Then she turned around, mane following the turn, but before that, he hooked on her posterior as it went around to leave behind the correspondence of her thighs that was the upside-down shape of dark red. Thankfully, the direction moved north, only for her bouncing breasts to be for his eyes just like apples, hair pushed out of the way and combed through with her hair.
Lustrous emerald eyes shone back at him even when the light didn't reflect off them.
Angrily, he shut off the shower and stomped out of the naturally formed tub, taking great care to not yank off the crisp white curtain as he stalked across the neutral-hued tiled floors to lean over the sink, glaring at his own reflection in the mirror - at the wet wild man he really was. He clenched the sides of the sink so hard he threatened to remove his fingernails. His hair was matted against his scalp, some strands plastered to his forehead. Further down, the water crossed over and between his clenched pectoral muscles, ending where his pubis began as the rest of it was hidden by the counter. Didn't excuse the intensity of his craving he was extremely frustrated to not get rid of.
It was as though he were possessed.
If that was the case, he hated it with the utmost passion.
It took all of his restraint to not smash the mirror in front of him. Should he just get it over with and get back into that shower, just yank it off to completion as laymen put it? Perhaps he should do just that and satisfy himself so that he could not worry again, then get tea mixed with brandy afterward.
Monty slid down to his knees, grunting as he stroked himself, back and forth to the blunt head. He gritted his teeth, the noises escaping increasing into groans and hisses at the powerful courses of energy throughout his body. He shifted on his knees, his entire body jerking with the jolts. He threw his head back and growled, letting out her name like a hymn - like a rhythmic song he could never get enough of.
Lost in the haze, he could think of nothing except her. If not solely the fantasy of her ripe, young body, then the kind of creature she was: independent and holding her ground, but still so much to learn of the world. Strong, capable, and beautiful.
Everything Amy Hall was not, except the capable part.
Spent and tired again in this time of morning, Monty Fiske collapsed to his side, clutching onto the tub's rim and laying his head on one side, closing his eyes and threatening to pass out. Look how the mighty had fallen...
Aside from this unwanted lust, the conversation continued to echo in his memory. She listened to him and understood, offered her help. It was just a dream, and yet it didn't feel like one. It seemed so real.
Just, blast it, at his most vulnerable, why did he have to get exposed like that?!
Oh, come now, Monty boy - you don't want to waste all morning like that, do you? You have work to do?
The damned mask chose now of all times to call for him. Snarling, he forced himself onto his feet and this time settled on a second cold shower just to wash his seed off himself as well as evade another possible fantasy.
~o~
She'd really been thinking about this a lot, all day when she and Ron hit Bueno Nacho for a Halloween combo special, and later when she went back home for dinner and family time. She looked forward to the roasted pig her mother brought home and went all out with herself, bringing forth the known fact that Halloween was a Celtic holiday that went all the way back to times of bad harvests and human sacrifices as an emergency. It was sickening, but at least they lived in better times.
Dinner was delish, the day ending and excitement on the rise.
Kim put on the costume and then brought it to the attention of her loved ones. Her mom gushed and called her a queen rather than what she really was, the tweebs did a high-five and declared that they would love to sneak and get her some shots if she wound up with a guy at the party, which all but made her dad grunt and grumble under his breath.
Ron and Rufus showed up in no time, both in a duet costume, but not the musical kind: they had to come as Indiana Jones and his sidekick from the second movie, which she could not get enough of in the reverse roles. The naked mole rat was in the miniature version of the hero's jacket and hat, while his master came in a casual khaki jacket, jeans, and a t-shirt with the Smarty Mart logo. Ron was Short Round while also being himself, which Kim thought was adorable without words.
Thank goodness he was wearing a belt to keep his poor pants around his hips for a nice change.
~o~
"Mother? What in heavens' name -"
"I interrupted an important matter at hand, boy?"
He could not suppress a flinch at that tone of voice she used when she KNEW he'd done something he shouldn't have. But at least her manner of discipline had been mild compared to how his father would have done it. "No, not at all. I was simply surprised. I didn't expect you to reach me so suddenly." He twirled the end of the long cord which was so old he was reminded by an invisible force to have a cordless update.
Catherine scoffed on the other end. "I beg your pardon, but you always tell me that you are too busy to talk to your own mother, and how often does that happen? You can explain the mess with Edgar that I have just learned of," she said sternly, making him stiffen and his eyes widen. "And don't try to weasel your way out like you often have, Montgomery Edward Fiske! If you think I won't give you a whipping at adult age, you're gravely mistaken."
"Mother," he said through his teeth, "it isn't anything like the last several times. It was vital and might help me with Dr. Amy Hall."
Safe to say that his mother was dismayed he had to go to the extremes in terms of enhancing his bodily strength the way he did, going far to say she would have agreed for once with his father in that the family fortune shouldn't have been wasted on something so natural and inevitable, that he didn't need to push himself so hard. And also told him time and time again that he should have a restraining order against Hall, which was just a piece of paper and nothing more to keep stalkers away. Little good that ever did in every country. "I'm not going to do anything permanent to her, but she will indefinitely remain away from me," Monty told his mother, and there was a long pause.
"...you're not going to kill her, are you?"
"Absolutely not!" Oh, Monty, not just yet. You talk big about ridding yourself of your enemies, but you're too weak and always get beaten at your own game. I can show you how it's done. That old bag who brought you into the world clearly is afraid of you; you know I'm telling the truth. He ignored the voice for a moment. "Just simply scare her, using what I found."
"No, because you have no idea what you're going to unleash on yourself and the world after just this one person. I would have thought you'd taken the time to thoroughly examine as you used to, but you're just so fixated that you don't give a damn anymore - my own son!"
He'd heard her lectures time and time again, but something in his mind snapped like a thread that just became fragile over time and was finally wearing thin...ultimately breaking apart at her words.
Ah, yes, you get me. Put me on your face and I will scare her into not contacting you today or even tomorrow.
This caused him to freeze, and everything but his heart was not functioning. He forced himself to leave the phone on the nightstand in his bedroom for the moment, taking the blasted thing out for this frivolous reason only - and too late did he realize what he'd done as soon as the words left his mouth in a guttural growl which no doubt caused his poor mother to cry in terror.
"I'm never good enough no matter what I do. Even now does Father's ghost haunt my soul. So, is this what this damned call is about if not taking what I wanted from poor foolish Edgar who does nothing but remind me of him? I'm such a bastard disappointment that you secretly agreed with the old man, didn't you - old woman?"
He hung up then and there without waiting for a reply, almost shattering the device in a close call.
~o~
Even now did Monty Fiske wonder what he had done, but he came so far to turn back now.
It started after he tried to remove the mask from his face after the surreal conversation he had with his mother - damn it, why did he have to say those things to her, the woman who was always there for him his entire life?! - and it was as if it were stuck to his face, almost like tape. For a moment, he panicked and bellowed for Chippy, Lili, and Svan to help him.
He thought he was going to suffocate or suffer a heart attack by the time the visage was removed. He fell to his knees, staring at it in shock while it was handed back to him by Lili, Chippy's mate, who ooked in worry. He ignored her and glared at the thing, hoping it would speak to him telepathically again, but there was no response.
"You'd better owe me an explanation as soon as we find her," were his words before he and the monkeys left. He just prayed it was only fooling around with him and nothing else.
He wished there had been something that he could find on these monkey masks if he hadn't been pressured for time. But it hadn't failed him yet thus far...
When he found Amy at last in Japan, it was plainly obvious she assumed he'd be here after the last time they crossed paths. She was near Mount Fuji in the mountains after her last lair was destroyed by the cheer squad, of course. He smirked; it absolutely served her right.
Did she think to settle here in the land of the rising sun based on her misguided delusions? He would show her how frightening things could be here.
She never knew what hit her by the time it was too late. This newfound strength was more than he could ever dream of! All her Cuddle Buddies sustained serious damage in their limbs but not enough to kill them. None of them ever stood a chance, and that lobster mutt of hers cowered back into hiding in terror. He sneered at it, baring his teeth in a feral snarl which poured out drool like a savage beast, making it whimper, as did its mistress when he returned his attention to her.
"Wh-who are you, you monster meanie?" She backed away into her collection on the great shelf, which he thought was childish and pathetic at its finest. Did she honestly think her own creations could protect her?
The voice escaping through his mouth wasn't his own - it was a more throaty, distorted version.
"Just a messenger. A messenger from the pits of simian hell - sent to you by the one you mistakenly desire."
She really didn't recognize him at all, did she? Perhaps she assumed that he could have been someone else, as she'd seen ninja attire before. "Monty wonty - why would he send a horrible thing like you?" Amy cried, bringing her knees to her chest. "What did I do?"
His lips felt so stretched they might have frozen in place. "It's what you've BEEN doing. You just can't take no for an answer, can you, you pitiful excuse of a scientist? You were hired just to give him what he wanted and nothing else, but when you make something by your hands, you assume it's all yours, don't you?"
"I...I love him!" she blurted, the tears coursing down her cheeks and blotting her glasses which she had no pride in taking off to clean in her distress. "I just love him so much it hurts! Is that too much to ask? I had a miserable life and thought he meant those words he said as well as that nice dinner when he asked me for help in making his body strong, and to replace that foot he lost in the dig! I never expected to..."
She never expected to develop feelings, was that it? Personally, he thought she should have returned Drakken's, according to the mad doctor in prison.
"And you just have to learn the hard way. Perhaps you should have stuck to someone who had it in himself to return the so-called love you rejected," he growled, fingers at his sides curling into claws. "If you won't accept Monkey Fist's wishes, then you will wish you were never born."
And so it was done: he bellowed so monstrously that it must have turned her hair gray, almost white, and she passed out from the shock. Even going far as to cry, sob, and soil herself. He flinched at the wretched aroma and got out of there as fast as he could. If he did this right, then he assumed she might come out of it in days.
If he saw her again, then he would follow through on making sure she'd wish she wasn't born.
He shouted for the monkey ninjas who had watched him with sheer terror at the brutality, and he just chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, you fools, that was the greatest I have pulled, thanks to everything that led up to this moment. Perhaps this is indefinitely the key to becoming the Ultimate Monkey Master, after all! I have nothing to fear any longer! All will -"
He stopped speaking just as he was trying to take the mask off, but something went terribly wrong that even the mask refused to communicate with him to help him.
"What the - well, don't just stand there, my monkey ninjas!" Monkey Fist almost screeched when the realization dawned on him. He traced the edges of the mask which felt like the separate material it was from his real face but said edges were a different story entirely.
It felt as though the rims had molded with his skin, naturally and smoothly transforming to the wooden surface. His heart just about erupted like one of those water balloons.
The mask was attached to his face.
The info on the Japanese monkeys and Sun Wukong of Chinese myth (the inspiration here) comes from the internet articles on "Sun Wukong" on Mythopedia and "Monkeys and Monkey Gods in Mythology, Folklore, and Religion".
So, the monkey deity (not Yono this time) has a name, which is actually Saru no Un, and it translates to mean "monkey luck", but don't be fooled by the silly simplicity. ;)
Kim's thoughts on Monty still being a man after everything she heard were inspired by ch.8 of "Accepting Defeat" by debronze. That's where I halted in the story for now while reading it, but it is so far a great read. :)
Ron and Rufus go as Short Round and Indy from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" - in reverse roles. :3
The names of a few of the monkey ninjas, sans Chippy, are from my various past Monkey Fist stories, so I'm reusing them and not gonna waste my time finding new names to not keep track of. XD
No one has reviewed once. I said no flames, but I appreciate loving feedback.