Chapter Nine
Kabale, disguised as Kim, stood in plain sight of the blond boy and the man with monkey hands and feet. Personally she thought it rather exotic, but even though he was evil, he really wasn't her type.
"KIM!" Ron shouted, catching her attention. She waved back.
"Monkey ninjas! You have your orders! Attack!" said Fiske, pointing at her. She waited until the monkeys were almost on her, then took off back the way she came.
When she got to an open spot she used another power and split into six Kims. They scattered in different directions, and after a moment's confusion, the monkeys split up and went after all of them.
The original Kabale kept running back toward where Raf was waiting. She hoped the angel would be ready to stop them. She was doing Raf a favor. By splitting up the monkeys, the angel would have fewer to deal with at a time. Her copies would lead them to the ambush one at a time.
She ran past a rock and sensed Raf hiding behind it. Transforming back to herself, she flew up to be out of the way. Once at a safe altitude she turned and watched.
As the ninja monkeys went past her, staring up at the devil-girl, Raf stepped out and gestured at them, and all of them fell to the ground, asleep. Raf was using her Think Fly power, the same one she used for telepathy. Pretty clever, Kabale had to admit, though not ever to the angel.
There was a cliff by her, cutting off the view to the valley where the other two were, so to check on things she flew up higher. Just as she got even with the top, a monkey ninja appeared on it. It pulled out something shiny and threw it at Kabale.
The object separated into four throwing stars and all four struck the devil-girl. She screamed in pain, and started falling.
Raf looked up and saw what happened. She took off quickly and caught her rival about ten feet in the air. "Gotcha!" she said. Then she turned and landed by the rock with the sleeping monkeys nearby. She lay Kabale down carefully and looked at her injuries.
"Kabale? Can you hear me?" asked Raf.
Moaning, the devil-girl opened her eyes. "Yeah, I can. Ohh, it hurts..."
"I can heal you, if you'll let me," said Raf.
"Yes, yes, do it! Now! I'm bleeding! I hate these human forms!" she answered.
The blond angel spread out her hands, and her wings changed, growing somewhat larger and taking on a green glow. The glow moved over Kabale's form and seemed to swirl around it. The stars suddenly fell out of her flesh, the wounds closed, and the blood disappeared.
"There. How do you feel?" asked Raf.
Kabale lay for a moment, then said, "I feel fine, now." She sat up, and Raf moved away from her a bit.
Suddenly the devil's hand lashed out and struck Raf hard in the cheek. Shocked, the angel put a hand to it and stared at the other girl.
"Wha- why did you do that?" she asked.
"You're an idiot, you know that?" said Kabale. "That was your chance to be rid of me forever. All you had to do was let me fall and be killed, and you would never have to put up with me again! Or me with you!"
At the Golden School, everyone wondered how Raf would respond. They were all holding their breaths.
A green glow surrounded Raf's hand for a moment, healing the blow. Then she lowered her hand, and to the shock of all, smiled at Kabale.
"I couldn't let that happen," she said.
"Why not? I would have," retorted the other.
"If you had died, the Lower Circles would have just sent a replacement for you, right?" asked Raf.
"Yeah, so what?" answered Kabale, wondering what Raf was getting at.
"I don't want a replacement. Far better to have the devil I know, rather than the devil I don't," said Raf. She smiled, blue eyes twinkling.
"The devil you-" said Kabale.
There was silence for a moment, then Kabale cracked up. She lay back and laughed until tears were pouring from her eyes. The same reaction was going on at the school.
Finally getting her mirth under control, Kabale sat up. "Okay, okay, you got me there. Good one!"
Raf stood up and held out a hand for Kabale. She took it and stood up as well. "Let's take care of the rest of those monkeys!"
KP/AF KP/AF KP/AF
"Monkey dude, you are goin' down, once and for all..." said Ron, hefting the Lotus Blade.
"Not likely. Bring it, buffoon," answered Fiske.
The boy ran toward the evil monkey-man, and the fight began in earnest.
Kim, the real Kim, stayed hidden, watching the fight. She was proud of Ron, who was holding his own against a foe with superior ability and experience.
Fiske easily avoided Ron's clumsy attacks with the Blade, but it did leave him open to the occasional blow from a foot or Ron's other hand. Finally deciding enough was enough, he waited until he saw an opportunity and grabbed Ron by the arm, using one of his monkey feet to grab him by the leg as well. He spun around and threw Ron and the Lotus Blade away, where they landed about ten feet away.
Kim gasped, but saw Ron stir and sit up. Raf's voice was suddenly in her head. "Kim, I think we're finished! The last of those monkey ninjas are asleep."
"Good work, both of you! Thanks!" she thought back, hoping the angel would hear it. She took off toward Ron and Fiske.
"She said thanks, to both of us," Raf reported to Kabale, and the devil-girl nodded. She was looking over the pile of monkey ninjas. There had to be fifty or so.
Without warning a yellow glow surrounded both of them, accompanied with a burning, itching sensation over their entire bodies. It stopped after a few moments. They both fell to their knees.
"Ugh, what was that?" asked Kabale.
"It felt like what brought us here," answered Raf.
"Yeah, it did, at that," agreed Kabale.
Just then a ninja monkey they missed came up. It was staring at its sleeping companions, but did not seem to hear or see them, even after it looked around.
"Guess that answers that," said Raf. She put the latest addition to sleep. "Let's go check on Kim." The Guardians took off to see about their charge.
Ron sat up and looked at Fiske. "How are you doing that? I can barely lay a finger on you!"
Fiske grinned. "Hadn't you heard? Age and treachery will beat youth and enthusiasm every time!" From a pocket he pulled out a small black ball and threw it at Ron. It landed by him and exploded, releasing a dark red gas.
Ron coughed a couple of times, then groaned and fell back, unmoving.
"RON!" shouted Kim. She ignored Fiske and ran over to her boyfriend. "Ron? Ron? Can you hear me? Ron!" She put a finger to his ceratoid artery, but failed to find a pulse. She picked up his hand and felt for one on his wrist. Nothing.
Rufus jumped from her pocket and tried to get his owner to respond, with no luck. He collapsed on Ron's chest, crying.
Raf and Kabale arrived just then, both horrified by what they found. No one saw them.
"The pretender is dead!" crowed Monkey Fist, "I am the Ultimate Monkey Master!"
Kim's head snapped around toward him. Tears poured from her jade eyes, and her features became a snarl of rage. She reached over and picked up the Lotus Blade.
KP/AF KP/AF KP/AF
"This is it!" said Arkan, "This is the Crisis Point! What she decides to do now will affect her, her friends, family, and indeed the entire world!"
Sulfus looked at the teacher. "She's that important?"
"She has been a hero for several years now. Her morals and ethics are strong, but nobody has ever dared push her past the breaking point before. She may take the path of evil, or she may not," said Arkan.
"Kabale and Raf were selected by the Upper and Lower Circles just for this moment," added Temptel.
"Go, Kabale!" said Cabiria with a grin.
"Kill him!" said Gas, not bothering to cover his popcorn-filled mouth.
"You can do it, Raf! Keep her on the good path!" shouted Urie.
Sulfus said nothing, watching Raf closely.
"E-VIL! E-VIL!" shouted the devils, trying to drown out the angels.
"GOOD! GOOD!" responded the angels, just as loudly.
"QUIET! ALL OF YOU!" shouted Temptel and Arkan, together. "Pay attention!"
KP/AF KP/AF KP/AF
Kim stood up, the Lotus Blade in her right hand. Fiske felt uneasy, pinned by her glare, but he hid it.
"That won't do you any good, Miss Possible," he said, "You can't use it."
"Are you so sure?" she asked softly, wiping her eyes.
"Give me the Blade. I'll kill you quickly, and you can join your boyfriend in the afterlife," he said, holding out his hand.
"When I join Ron, it won't be because YOU sent me to him," she snarled. The Lotus Blade suddenly changed forms, becoming a chain and weight. The sun, now near the horizon, gleamed off it.
Fiske's eyes bulged, unbelieving. He quickly glanced at Stoppable, but saw he hadn't moved, and his pet was not paying any attention.
"Th- that's impossible!" he protested, "You have to have the Mystical Monkey Power to wield the Blade!" He took a step back.
"Three words," said Kim, "Monkey. King. Amulet." She took a step toward him.
Fiske remembered a couple of years earlier, when Possible had taken the Amulet from him in a museum in China. It turned her into a monkey, but she somehow reversed it. She HAD been touched by the Power! He was in trouble, and he knew it.