Disclaimer: The Walt Disney Company owns all rights to the characters and situations associated with Kim Possible. I borrow Kim, her family and friends for no monetary gain. I do this only to maybe find a cure for the common cold since I know I could never invent a Ray-X.

The Closet II

Chapter 8

Training

Ron and Yori enter the small room that he would be living in for the next month. Well, room would be too kind of a word for the tiny space behind the sliding, paper partition door. The three foot wide by eight foot long room was dominated by an ornately carved, oak armoire opposite the door, taking up the entire outer wall. The only other things present were a rolled up tatami mat that was maybe one quarter of an inch thick and a set of flat sheets for the mat lying in front of the large cabinet.

"This is your sleeping quarters Ron-san," Yori proudly announced with a grand sweep of her arm. "It is the second largest private cell in the entire school, only slightly smaller than Sensei's."

Ron looked around the room, then looked around it one more time to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "Ah, Yori, if this is suppose to be my bedroom I think there are a few things missing."

"What are you talking about Ron-san?"

"Well, um er," Ron stammered a bit, scratching his head in mild confusion, "where's the bed for one thing and second of all, where's the rest of the room? This is barely bigger than my closet back home."

"Your bed is right there," Yori laughed as she pointed to the rolled up, reed mat. "We sawed up the head and footboard of your bed and used them for firewood and then threw away the metal frame and springs. As I mentioned, this cell is only for sleeping in."

"Was that a stab at my American style sense of humor?" Ron chuckled back as he walked over to the mat, unrolled it and then spread one of the sheets over it.

Rufus popped his head out of Ron's pants pocket and saw the mat. "Oh Boy, Bed!" The naked mole rat leapt from the pocket onto the mat and curled up to go to sleep.

"It was an attempt at your style of humor," Yori giggled. "And I see you brought your pet along with you too." Rufus swiftly raised his head and angrily stared and growled at the Japanese girl.

"Of course," Ron stood up and motioned to the mole rat as he walked back over to Yori. "Rufus and I go everywhere together." He leaned in and whispered in Yori's ear, "Actually, he thinks I'm his pet and he get really upset if you say otherwise."

"My apologies Rufus-san," Yori said aloud with a slight bow to the pink lump on the sleeping surface. "I will not make the mistake of calling you that again."

"Wellll, okay," Rufus nonchalantly waved off the faux pas after a moments thought and plopped back down for a long siesta.

"Your practice gi is in the closet Ron-san," Yori inform her charge. "If you will please quickly change into it and meet me in the courtyard we can begin your training."

Ron walked over to the armoire and found a standard, white, martial arts gi hanging in it with a white belt in the large front pocket. "Okay, I'll be down in a few minutes."

Ron's loose-fitting white gi flapped in the light breeze that was wafting around the courtyard as he waited outside the dormitory for Yori to arrive. Ron only had to wait a minute before she walked out of the door wearing her shinobi shozoku, the tight black fighting garb usually associated with a ninja.

"Before you say anything," Yori raised a hand and cut in before Ron could say a word, "yes, this is the uniform of a ninja. It is ideal for concealment and stealth and I use it whenever I go on missions so I practice in it. Also, I find it more comfortable to wear."

"I was only gonna say you look badical in it," Ron complimented as she walked over to him. "But, shouldn't I get a uniform like that too? I think I'm a little farther advanced than a white belt." He casually flipped the ends of the white sash tied around his waist.

"Not until you have proven yourself worthy of one," Yori said as she led Ron over to an open area that was well away from the other students. "You currently are wearing the practice gi of a first year student which is where all new people that come here start out. Now," the lithe girl firmly said as she turned to Ron and struck an offensive pose, "defend yourself and we shall see where you stand and what further training you need."

With no further warning Yori send a slicing karate chop at Ron's neck. Out of shear instinct, Ron preformed a perfect, sweeping block with his arm and yelped, "Hey, I didn't know we were starting already! Don't we need to stretch or warm up first?"

"Do you or Possible-san warm up whenever you go on your missions?" Yori coyly begged as she shot out a foot in a straight leg kick at his abdomen.

"I see your point," Ron answered as he sidestepped the attack and pushed the leg away to the side. He stepped inside the move and threw a straight punch aimed at Yori's kidney.

"Precisely," Yori said as she quickened the spin Ron had put her in. She parried his punch with her lead hand as her other, balled in a fist, swung around and aimed for his chin with a spinning haymaker. "You must learn to fight at the drop of the proverbial pin."

"Hat," Ron yelped, almost getting hit on the jaw. He swiftly backpedaled away just in time and swatted at the fist as it passed within an inch of his face. He took another step back as he said, "You mean at the drop of a hat. I bet you're confusing it with the saying, it's so quiet you can hear a pin drop."

"Oh, you are correct Ron-san," Yori chuckled as she warily circled to her left. "That is, as you Americans would say, my defect."

"Defect?" Ron pondered aloud as he stood out of his defensive crouch and scratched the back of his neck in confusion.

Yori swiftly stepped in, grabbed the arm Ron was scratching with and hip tossed him to the ground. She leaned over him as she asked, "Is that not the correct response after you do something wrong?"

"Nope," Ron uttered from his prone position on the ground while seeing stars dancing before his eyes. "I think you mean, my bad."

"Yes," Yori giggled as she reached down to help him up, "I believe it was your bad. You were distracted by my deliberately inaccurate banter."

Kim casually stood by with the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer in her hand as she watch Hirotaka fight tooth and nail against Shego. The light green hued villainess and the boy from Japan seemed to be evenly matched since they had been going at it for a few minutes already and neither of them appeared to have the upper hand.

Kim wasn't concerned about Dr. Drakken or his henchmen. At the suggestion of Hirotaka, Kim had taken on the role of the distraction to, as Hirotaka put it, "Frantically run a mile in Stoppable-san's sandals." That's why the goons were now scattered about the lab, down and out for the count while the blue skinned, mad scientist was hogtied and resting uncomfortably under her right foot.

"How much longer are you two going to dance, Hirotaka?" Kim sarcastically begged with a jovial smile. "Don't forget, we need to get back to Middleton and study for that math test we have tomorrow."

"This green demon is stronger than she appears," Hirotaka yelled as he narrowly avoided a plasma blast that was aimed at his face, "and she does not fight with honor."

"You got that right," Shego snarled as she lashed out with a roundhouse kick which missed by a mile. The green hued villainess was obviously getting tired and decided to goad Kim into doing something with a barb. "Hey Princess. Did you finally trade in the buffoon for this newer model? At least he's cuter and can fight."

"Possible-san did not trade in her Stoppable-kun for me, jukeisha," Hirotaka answered, cutting off Kim's remark while using the Japanese term for a prison convict as he stepped inside a punch from Shego and finally landed an uppercut to her chin. "Stoppable-san is in Japan studying hard so he can come back and take you on himself." He followed his punch with a judo throw, grabbed both of Shego's arms after laying her out prone on her stomach on the floor and twisted them behind her back. Hirotaka swiftly grabbed Shego's long, midnight black hair and wrapped it around her hands.

"Ack!" the green skinned villainess shrieked when she realized she couldn't ignite her hands without torching her raven locks. "Talk about fighting unfair!"

"I am only exploiting one of your few weaknesses," Hirotaka said as he lifted Shego to her feet just as twenty Global Justice agents entered the lab and surrounded the villains.

"I gotta remember that move," Kim laughed as she handed the PDVI over to a GJ agent and allowed two others to take Drakken into custody.

Two weeks later

Ron, now dressed in a jet black shinobi shozoku, sat in the Lotus Position as he concentrated on his naval trying to meditate, but certain thoughts disturbed his serenity time. "I gotta improve myself otherwise KP might dump me. I am getting a lot better with my Monkey Kung Fu so maybe she won't leave me. But first I gotta concentrate and ace this floaty, bubbly thing." After a moment he steadied his breathing and realized he was floating only slightly above the ground by an inch or two, encased in a blue aura. Rufus was hovering in his own blue orb at the same level as Ron's head.

"Very good Stoppable-san," Sensei said as he slowly circled his two students. "Like Rufus-san is doing, let the Mystic Power flow through your body like a small river peacefully flows through the landscape. Soon you will be able to direct it to any part of your body and use it as a weapon. The Power has already increased your speed and endurance and soon you will be able to use it as a shield against Shego's plasma or increase the strength of your strikes. When you learn to fully control the Mystical Monkey Power it will be available to you at the drop of a pin."

"Hat," Ron said as he opened his eyes. The blue globe winked out like someone had turned it off with a light switch and he fell back to Earth with a thud. "Ow! Why does everybody here not know that the expression is, at the drop of a hat?"

"I do know the expression Stoppable-san," Sensei said with a slight smirk showing through his snow white Fu Manchu mustache and beard, "but you still easily get distracted and it was a test to see if you had overcome that fault. It appears we need to further work on your concentration. Always remember, even the smallest flea can sometimes sway the mood of a rabid dog."

"What?" Ron gawked in utter confusion. Sensei just placidly stood there, not moving a muscle. The old man had done this a few times over the last two weeks and Ron knew he had to puzzle out the thing. It was a lesson he needed to learn by figuring it out himself.

"Okay Sensei, I think I got this," the blond boy said as he paced back and forth for a few seconds, one hand on his hip the other stroking his chin in contemplation. "A flea is really tiny and if it bites the rabid dog, who's totally focused in its anger…" Ron stood stock-still and looked at the elderly Japanese gentleman as a smile grew on his face as he almost yelled, "…Then it's a distraction; Maybe even to the point that the rabid dog won't attack!"

"You are correct, Stoppable-san," Sensei monotoned with only a small bow of the head.

"As always," Ron said as he slightly bowed with fist in hand, "you're wisdom guides me Sensei. I really gotta learn to concentrate better like Rufus can." The two looked down and saw the pink naked mole rat was still floating in his sphere, unaffected by the commotion and conversation going on around him. "But I guess I'm just suited to be the distraction and being distracted is a part of me."

"There is a difference between being the distraction, a most worthy attribute," Sensei wisely said while laying a firm hand on the boy's shoulder to make his point, "and getting distracted. If you are distracted and unfocused, you most certainly will lose the battle."

"I see your point," Ron nervously laughed. "I'll try not to let it happen again."

"Do not try, do," Sensei huffed to the blond boy. "If you only try, you will fail and that is not the way of Bushido."

Ron looked at Rufus who was still hovering in his blue orb as he thought about what the old Japanese man was saying. After a moments silence he looked up at the teacher and slightly bowed, not taking his eyes off of the elderly gentleman. "You're right Sensei. I need to remember to be Serious Ron while using my Mystic Powers. If I want to keep KP in my life it won't happen again."

A simian screech came from behind the blond boy and he swiftly turned to find a five foot, six inch monkey running directly at him with fangs bared and hands raised with a large stick in one of them. Without a thought, Ron crouched in an offensive posture before he sprang at the oncoming menace.

The blond boy and large but agile simian exchanged blows for a few second, each punch or kick duly blocked, before the big monkey stepped back, dropped the club like weapon and removed its head.

"Very good Ron-san," Yori said as she shook out her short dark hair that had become matted under the monkey mask before she bowed to honor Ron. "You did not react with fear this time when confronted by a monkey. I believe you are finally getting over your monkey phobia and maybe even your fears of combat."

"I think you're right Yori-san," Ron said with a beaming but lopsided grin. "I saw a monkey coming at me this time and recognized it as a threat but I wasn't afraid of handling the sitch; Not even after I realized it was someone in a monkey costume."

"If that is the case," Sensei said as he swiftly raised his hand above his head and snapped his fingers, "then I believe you are ready to face the final monkey challenge." The walls around the courtyard were immediately topped by tens, if not hundreds, of screeching, screaming monkeys.

Ron dropped into a defensive posture as his gaze warily panned around the courtyard walls. His voice sounded firm and confident as he asked, "Are they Monkey Fist's minions? He said something about raising an army of monkeys to rule the world with when we got our Mystical Monkey Mojo."

"What does the Mystic Powers tell you about them?" Sensei cryptically but serenely asked.

"The MMP?" Ron quizzically questioned as his eyes glowed and flashed a light blue for a second before they returned to their normal milk chocolately brown color. He casually stood from his defensive pose and smiled. "It took a second but the MMP tells me they're all just regular monkeys and that I shouldn't fear them. What about you Rufus?" Ron turned to his petite pink friend and saw Rufus was still seated in the Lotus Position, floating above the ground like he had been when Ron and he had been meditating.

"Monkeys… okay," Rufus chirped without stirring a muscle from his meditation.

"Rufus-san is an animal," Yori sagely stated as she led Ron over to a bench to sit down and talk. "And being such his Mystical Monkey Power, which is natural in both its origin and strength, is more in touch with nature so he sensed that the monkeys were not a threat."

"But," Ron scrunched up his face in confusion as they sat down, "I thought my Monkey Powers are supernatural? I mean that they're beyond anything that's normal in nature."

"While the Mystical Monkey Powers seems to be more than natural," Sensei waxed as he stood in front of the two teens sitting on the bench, "they are truly Nature itself. For who else is Nature but the creatures of the jungle… Or Man for that matter. Man is one of Nature's creatures and our DNA is only a mere two percent from that of the monkey."

"Yeah," Ron lightly chuckled as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "I remember hearing that fact in science class a month ago but I didn't make the connection between it and my MMP. And speaking of class and Mystic Powers, I guess a quote from Shakespeare would also fit in here nicely."

"What quote is that Ron-san?" Yori asked.

"I don't remember what play it's from but one of Shakespeare's characters said, 'There is more in Heaven and Earth, my dear Horatio, than is dreamed of in your philosophy.' I guess it's time I start dreaming of more than just what's in my old philosophy now that I've got Mystical Powers."

"That is true Stoppable-san," Sensei said as he turned and walked away. "And thus endeth the lesson."

"Now it is time to review your Tai Sheng Pek Qwar skills," Yori gleefully said as she grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him over to an open area in the courtyard.

"Serenity time is over," Ron chuckled as he helped the young oriental girl out of her monkey costume and the two began to strike and parry. "It's back to the old rough and tumble."

"Hey K," the brunette beauty joyfully chided as she walked passed Kim, arm-in-arm with Hirotaka in the Middleton High School hallway. "I hope you don't mind if I steal your current boyfriend for a date tonight. I know you've finally dumped that loser Stoppable and started to hang out with Hiro here but he's too handsome to be anyone's boyfriend but mine."

"Hirotaka-san and I aren't dating Bonnie," Kim slyly snapped back at her fellow cheerleader as she turned from her open locker to face the brunette rival, "and I haven't dumped Ron. He'll be back here in school in two weeks."

"Do you mean it wasn't a permanent trade, Hiro for Stoppable?" Bonnie squawked and clung on tighter to Hirotaka's arm. An unseen smile tugged at her lips as she thought of Ron and all of his money returning. Until then, though, she would try and tweak Kim by spending as much time as she could with Hiro, Kim's new partner.

Just then Wade's image appeared on the monitor in the open locket. "Sorry to interrupt Kim but duty calls. I just learned that a Dr. Freeman has been captured by Drakken."

"Isn't Dr. Freeman the leading authority in artificial intelligence?" the redhead queried her tech guru.

"Yes he is," Wade said as he typed on his computer keyboard. "His A.I. car, Sadie, just set a message to the website and said she'll be waiting outside the school to pick you up."

"Let us go Kim-san," Hiro said as he broke away from Bonnie's grasp and made for the front doors of the school. "With Freeman-san in the clutches of Drakken, the world is not safe."

"But Hiro darling?" Bonnie squealed in mostly mock anguish, "what about our date tonight?"

"You'll just have to go on it alone B," Kim snarked as she slammed her locker door closed and raced off after her temporary partner. "Have fun on your date!"

"How does she do that?" Bonnie almost screamed as she angrily stomped her foot before turning on her heels and marching off down the hallway. "First it's Stoppable and now it's Hiro!"

The End of the Month

"Ron-san!" Yori called out as she peered around the treetops of the somewhat sparse but lushly verdant forest beyond the back wall of Yamanouchi. "Ron-san, are you ready to leave? You're plane departs tomorrow morning and you need to pack for your journey!"

A slight rustling was heard in the tree above Yori's head before the blond boy with a naked mole rat perched on his shoulder came crashing down and lightly landed beside her. "We're all packed and ready to go," Ron practically sang with a broad smile as he motioned to Rufus after he took off the camouflage head wrap that matched the tree's foliage and the rest of his shinobi shozoku perfectly. He pointed up into the treetop above where they stood. "Rufus and I were just saying good-bye to our new friends."

Yori looked up and saw more than a dozen monkeys sitting on the tree limbs, waving farewell. "It is good that you have overcome your fear of monkeys Ron-san and your Tai Sheng Pek Qwar training was completed a lot faster than Sensei had anticipated, but there is still one more thing you must do before you leave."

"What else do I need to do?" Ron begged in confusion as the two walked through a small back gate into the school's courtyard. "I thought all of my training was over."

"There is one final trial you must endure to find out if you are truly the Chosen One," Yori said as she turned to face Ron and motioned over her shoulder to the building twenty five yards behind her. "You must enter that building."

"Go in there," Ron laughed as he tried to step around Yori. "That's a piece of cake."

"It will not be that easy Ron-san," Yori said as she swiftly moved in front of Ron again, blocking his way and striking a defensive pose. "You must get past me and a few other senior students to reach the building before you can go back to Middleton." As she spoke, nine white clad students appeared as if from out of nowhere and took up positions between Ron and his designated objective.

"Well, if that's the only way to get outta here," Ron slyly smirked as he sat back on his heels and the blue Mystical Monkey Power glow appearing around his clenched fists.

Yori expected Ron to attack her but he merely leapt high in the air, flipped once and landed ten feet behind her in front of another student. Ron quickly squatted low and leg swept the student before he dodged a strike from a third. The blond vaulted again, planting his hands on the third guys shoulders and flipped over him, gently but firmly pushing the white clad senior onto the second who was starting to get up. The two senior students tumbled to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.

Ron landed lightly and swiftly took two steps towards another group of four seniors before he dropped to the ground again and slid into them, knocking them aside like bowling pins. Ron swiftly kipped up to his feet, bringing a glowing fist into the stomach of a eighth student, doubling him over. The blond parried blows from the two remaining students for a few seconds before he stepped back, enveloped himself in a blue glowing orb and simply floated over and past the two.

Ron alit of the steps of his objective and let the blue MMP orb dissipate.

"Very good Stoppable-sama," Sensei said with a tinge of awe in his voice from his spot in the doorway to the building. "You were able to get past ten of Yamanouchi's best students without doing much harm to them."

"It was just like getting past Drakken's goons while trying to get to one of his take-over-the-world devices Sensei," Ron said with a slight bow, fist in open hand. "As you taught me, fighting the hired help is not the prime objective. Reaching your objective is."

"I am please to see you have taken my instructions to heart," Sensei calmly said as he turned and walked into the building. "You have learned much during your stay here and, as the Chosen One, you now have the honor of possessing and wielding one of the most treasured item of Yamanouchi." Sensei reverently took a long, narrow wooden box off of a shelf and turned to hold it out to Ron. As he opened the ornately carved lid he announced, "This is the Lotus Blade which was exclusively used by Toshimu, the warrior who built the Yamanouchi school in the year 338 A.D."

"It's beautiful," Ron marveled as he gently lifted the katana from its resting place, "but I can't take this. I'd never get it through airport customs and I'm only just learning how to use a sword." The simple blade started to glow with the same aura as Ron's hands had when he battle to get into the building

"This is no ordinary sword," Yori said as she entered the room and stood beside Sensei. "As you can see, the Lotus Blade is infused and glows with the same Mystical Powers that you have."

"I understand," Ron said as he closed his eyes and almost instinctively held the katana hilt in one hand and horizontally laid the blade across his other fist. "The Lotus blade is talking to me now, telling me its history and how to use its powers." The katana suddenly changed form becoming a bo staff, then a shield then an elegant candelabra.

"If that is the case then you have become one with the Lotus Blade," Sensei happily intoned, a broad smile showing through his long, flowing white mustache and beard. "At this time no one else, not even Rufus-san or Monkey Fist who both have the Power, shall be able to control the Lotus Blade until you freely give it to someone whom you trust with your very life, or until the day you pass from this mortal coil."

"Until the day I die," Ron echoed as he willed the candelabra to change into a simple silver necklace with a brilliant aquamarine hued stone set in it. The magically necklace rose from his hands into the air and hovered for a moment before it settled around Ron's neck. "I don't see that happening for another eighty years or so… I hope."

"According to the ancient scrolls," Yori said as she walked over to Ron and linked arms with him, "with you now fully in charge of your Mystical Monkey Powers and the Lotus Blade, you and your mate will practically live forever. But, you must pass on some of your Mystic Powers to her so she may help you in your many battles to come."

"Your plane leaves early in the morning Stoppable-sama so it is time to sleep," Sensei said as he turned to leave the room. "Yori, will see to it that Stoppable-sama gets to his plane on time tomorrow?"

"Hai Sensei," the oriental girl answered with a slight bow of respect.

"Sensei, I have a question," Ron interrupted as the old gentleman walked to the door, stopping him in the entryway. "Why are you calling me Stoppable-sama now instead of Stoppable-san?"

"It is because you have surpassed even me in your mastery of the martial arts," Sensei said, not turning around to face the blond boy. "The demonstration of your skills when you attempted to gain entry to this building showed me your compassion for others; That you can control your Powers and martial arts skills enough to get by anyone without bringing great harm to them." The old man hung his head in shame as he left the building and sighed, "I would not have been as gentle with the ten students as you were."

"Sensei is right Stoppable-sama," Yori said as she placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and giggled like a school girl. "As Sun-Tzu once wrote, 'To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.' If I counted correctly, you threw only one punch against ten students during the entire time you fought to gain entry into this building."

"Yori," Ron queried as he turned to the lithe oriental girl and took her in his arms, "why did you kiss me just now? Did you do it because you want to be my partner for all eternity?"

"It is what I have dreamed of ever since I came to Yamanouchi and learned about the Mystic Powers Ron-kun," the dark haired gleefully girl said as she wrapped her arms around Ron's neck and leaned in for a proper kiss on the lips.

"Then I gotta disappoint you," Ron softly said as he grabbed Yori's arms, lifted them off of his shoulders and stepped away from her. "My heart and soul belong to Kim. They always have ever since I met her in Pre-K and I'll never give her up. Besides, didn't the scrolls say something about my partner having red hair?"

"I can dye my hair," Yori anxiously yelped as she flung her arms around Ron's neck again. When her hands clasped together at the back of his neck she received a jolt of blue energy from where her hands and arms were touching the necklace. The energy threw her back across the room where she landed on her butt against the wall.

"I'm sorry Yori!" Ron yelped as he went over to where the Japanese girl had landed and took her hands in his to help her up. "I'm grateful for all you've taught me over the last month but you gotta understand, I love Kim. I can't believe I'm gonna use that crappy old breakup line on such a beautiful girl such as you but…We can always be friends."

"I understand Ron-sama," Yori said as she tentatively wrapped her arms around Ron's neck for a third time. "The Lotus Blade saw through my deception and rejects me as your mate after your declaration for Possible-san. I now accept your friendship and offer you my lifetime loyalty to assist you in keeping the world safe." She leaned in and coyly whispered in his ear, "So now I wish for nothing more than to be best of friends with you. And if you would like, that friendship would joyfully come with certain, benefits."

"Benefits?" Ron nervously gulped as he took a step back and his camouflage gi pants swiftly fell to the floor.