My thanks to Boris Yeltsen, CajunBear73, campy, Eddy13, Mahler Avatar, Jimmy1201, Sentinel103, Quathis, Sharper the Writer, ShadowDancer01 and Ghostface317 v2 for reviewing and to everyone for reading.

Special thanks to campy for proofreading this chapter.

KP © Disney

I.

"You okay, Ron?" Kim asked, concern in her voice. He had been unusually quiet ever since they learned about what Bates and Fukushima were seeking. He was now gazing out the window of the cab taking them to the airport and she wondered what was on his mind.

He continued to look at the passing streetscape, sitting in silence, before he finally turned and looked at her. "This is like a rerun," Ron groused.

Kim arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Path of the Yono, Dark Destroyer," Ron explained, clearly agitated. "Threaten my baby sister, turn my girlfriend into a statue. Seen the episode. Once was enough, been there, done that. Doesn't need a sequel!"

Kim took Ron's hand in hers. "It'll be all right. I promise."

"You sure, KP? I mean, if anything ever happened to Han or to ..." Ron paused and gulped, reflecting on how his girlfriend had been imperiled more than once in recent months, "you …"

Kim looked at her boyfriend, thought of what they'd been through, especially since the day of their graduation, smiled warmly and nodded confidently. "So sure. We know this sitch, so we know what to expect. Honestly, this is more like a reboot than a rerun."

"What do you mean?"

"This time the bad guys will have to deal with my fully monkey-powered BF."

The look of confidence on Kim's face helped to relieve some of Ron's anxiety.

"Thanks for believin'," he said.

"Always," she replied, before she leaned in to give him a kiss.

II.

Kim was the first one to spot Fukushima and Bates amidst the stacks. "Sorry, boys, but your borrowing privileges have been revoked," she said.

"Who are you?" the surly renegade ninja-student asked.

"Your worst nightmare," Ron offered, joining Kim.

"Outsider!" Fukushima raged.

"Uh, dude, unless I'm missing something, we're in the good ole' US of A, so technically, you're the outsider," Ron observed.

"It does not matter what country we are in, Outsider, you will fail."

"Pardon me, but our schedule does not provide for the exchange of repartee, witty or otherwise," Bates said in his most unctuous tones. "With my apologies: Monkey ninjas: Attack!"

"What?" Kim yelped, surprised by what she'd just heard.

"Sick and wrong!" Ron cried out, equally surprised.

Kim and Ron assumed fighting positions as a host of black-clad simian warriors emerged from their hiding places amidst the library stacks.

"Aggghh! I knew school wasn't good for my health!" Ron wailed as two monkey ninjas began pelting the two teen heroes with dusty tomes. "Ow! Ow!"

"Ron, you're the monkey master. Can you stop them?" Kim asked as she dodged a book.

"Hey, I like the way you're thinking, KP!" Ron said. He straightened up, relaxed, centered his thoughts and looked at the monkey ninjas. "Peace out, dudes."

They replied by shrieking and hurling more books Ron's way.

"Bad monkeys! Bad monkeys!"

Kim surveyed their surroundings as she decided on a course of action. If Ron's monkey powers were not an option, they would simply have to employ a more traditional approach. "Ron, we need a distraction!" she said as she ducked out of the way of another flying book.

"I'm on it – ouch – KP!" Ron replied. "Oooo! Look! Bananas!" he said as he took off as if in search of food. As hoped, the diminutive warriors took off after him.

"I must insist that you come back here!" the English manservant demanded of his monkey minions. "This will simply not do!" Seeing the monkeys were more focused on bananas than him, he sighed. "If you will excuse me," he offered with a slight bow to Kim, before he took off.

"So, the Outsider must rely on a mere girl to defend him," Fukushima said as he dropped into a fighting stance.

Kim's eyes narrowed. "You are so going to regret calling me a 'mere girl'."

"I think not. I am a master of seven of the martial arts."

Kim snorted. "So not the drama," she said as she readied herself for the fight. "I know sixteen."

"You lie," an enraged Fukushima said.

"So don't," Kim replied. "And I'm happy to prove it."

"Brag about your supposed skills," Fukushima snapped. "But it is I who have command of an army of trained simian warriors!" he cried out as he launched a kick at the teen hero.

"Sorry to harsh your rant," she said as she gracefully dodged the attack, pivoted, and went on the offensive. "But if anybody has command of them, it looks like it's Bates." As she threw a punch, she couldn't help asking, "How did you two wind up with Monkey Fist's monkey ninjas?"

"They needed a new master," Fukushima answered as he parried Kim's blow. "Monkey Fist is indisposed …"

"That's one way of putting it," Kim murmured, not feeling a need to tell her adversary that she knew all about what had happened to Monkey Fist after the crazed Englishman chose to follow the path of the Yono. She executed a graceful flip, landing behind her opponent and preparing her next move.

"… With the monkey ninjas at our command and the secrets of this text we shall be invincible!" Fukushima raved as he held aloft a manuscript, oblivious to all around him as he greedily contemplated the power he so craved. He had momentarily forgotten about his auburn-haired opponent, his stout if short partner and their wayward new minions, and, critically, the tow-headed teen and former classmate he loathed to admit had once defeated him.

"Aaaaah!" cried Ron, who was still being pursued by the posse of black-clad pint-sized warriors in search of their favorite food, as he barreled into Fukushima, knocking over the churlish ninja pretender and sending the manuscript flying. The Yamanuchi washout's head hit the floor with a resounding thud while Kim executed a perfect flip, grabbing the document mid-flight, before landing in front of Bates, who had been in hot pursuit of Ron and the monkeys, and had the misfortune to arrive just as one redheaded hero had finished besting one ersatz villain. She fixed the valet with a steely gaze.

Bates sighed. "It would appear we have failed."

"Ya think?" Kim smirked as she retrieved the New York library's half of the ancient artifact from him.

As Ron continued running, the banana-seeking ninjas hot on his heels, Kim looked at her BFBF's back, then down at her fallen foe. She looked back at Ron as he turned a corner and disappeared behind some stacks, followed by his pursuers. "That's my guy," she thought fondly.

III.

With time to spare before their ride home arrived, and with Bates and Fukushima in police custody, Kim and Ron decided to explore the campus. The question of why the monkey ninjas appeared to be unaffected by Ron's monkey power could be addressed later. For the moment, the college admission mission had their full attention.

This was their first visit to Llenrock and the college town of Athens, located in Upstate New York's Finger Lakes region. They wandered about spacious green quads with neatly manicured lawns and stately old trees, passed impressive Collegiate Gothic and Romanesque Revival classroom buildings and shiny new labs, and had time to take in the adjacent Collegetown neighborhood, with its restaurants, shops, and theatres, and even some of the majestic gorges that defined the area.

Ron couldn't help but notice that Kim had grown pensive.

"You okay?" he asked.

"You know, I could see myself going to school here."

"Really? You can do anything, be anything you want. You shouldn't compromise."

Kim embraced Ron, overwhelmed by gratitude for his commitment to her academic future. Then she grinned. "I so don't think going to a Leafy League school is compromising. Llenrock is one of the best universities in the world. Going here would not only let me get a great education; it would let me be in a new place, yet able to see you more easily than if I were on the other side of the world."

"Well, when you put it that way … I wonder if there's a Smarty Mart in the area? Maybe Mr. Smarty would let me transfer. This is a pretty neat place."

Kim contemplated the possibilities of having Ron in town with her and smiled. "I so like the way you're thinking, Mr. Stoppable. Though we are so not giving up on getting you into college."

To Be Continued …