"So you really haven't heard about this new museum?"

"Huh? Why would I?"

"Uh, I don't know… it's Yamanouchi. Figured Sensei would mention it."

Over the New Yamanouchi Museum: Yamanouchi, Japan
August 25th: 11:01 PM

The helicopter hatch is open. Kim's ponytail blows harshly in the wind. Ron stands beside her. Down below, they can see the museum.

Ron sniffs and shakes his head. "No, Sensei hasn't been, uh, too chatty with me lately."

An awkward silence lingers between the two of them. Kim leans in. "How come? I thought you guys were talking, uh, semi-often."

"Semi," Ron sighs. "Until I said no to his plan for me. They're all kind of mad at me now. Especially Yori."

"Oh." Kim frowns. "Sorry."

A patient second passes between them, and Kim stretches her hand out to Ron. Wiggles her fingers. He sighs and claps his hand against hers.

"You ready?" she asks.

"As I'll ever be," he says.

"Okay… and… jump !"

They leap together, hands intertwined. Spinning and pirouetting through the air, the two spiral around each other, eyes locked onto one another's. They swirl and swirl and it's like a dance. They've never done a free fall like this before. It's always been so distant, with Kim carving the path and Ron following on her heels. But today, they stay together.

Kim cracks a smile. It takes Ron a moment to understand, and then they kiss. Softly. For the first time since the incident at the Triangle, everything feels right.

Ron drops a knee to fold his parachute back into his backpack, which he struggles with. Meanwhile, he looks down at the laser matrix awaiting them, then looks back up at Kim.

"You sure this isn't impossible?"

Kim doesn't bother looking up from the dome-shaped skylight. Slowly, she carves out a hole in the lower glass with her laser lipstick.

"Ron," she sighs. "You're getting cold feet already?"

Ron squints through the glass. "It's like—three layers of lasers!"

She rolls her eyes playfully. Gingerly removes the glass from the skylight and sets it aside. "I guess I could handle this solo…"

Ron frowns. "But you said this is impossible!"

Kim looks up at him. Dips a foot through the gap in the skylight. Sticks her grappling hook onto the glass ceiling. A suction device on the backend glues itself to the ceiling, allowing Kim to lower herself down the shaft.

She looks back at Ron. Shrugs.

"Check the name, I guess."

Theatrically, she somersaults herself in and plummets downwards.

Ron's face falls. "Walked into that one."

Kim swerves and turns mid-flight, bobbing around and dodging the matrix of lasers. She clears the trap and slows her descent, landing safely in the middle of the floor. She drops down to her feet, releases the line, and sends it back up to Ron.

Ron clenches his jaw, grabs onto the line, and scrunches his legs up to his chest. He makes the drop, and lasers rush up to meet him. He squeaks, panics and throws his whole body hard to the left with his eyes jammed shut. He swings up and through a gap in the lasers. Drops back down and kicks himself off-course. He inadvertently swings right, clears the grid, and drops down. He falls and falls and—

—His cargo pants catch on to the grapple line, and Ron totally loses his grip. He flops upside down, clean out of his pants, and…

…Kim catches him. She quirks an eyebrow, and Ron laughs nervously—

—only for his cargo pants to then fall over his face.

"Can I give you some advice?" Kim asks while Ron puts his pants back on.

Ron looks at her meekly. "A belt?"

"No," Kim sighs. "It's part of your charm. You just need more confidence. You had that drop down, but you didn't put any faith in yourself."

Ron sighs, "Yeah, I mean with all my powers…"

"No." Kim shakes her head. " You are capable."

Ron massages the back of his neck bashfully, his cheeks a bright red. Nervously, his eyes scroll away from Kim and land on something deeply interesting. He turns towards it and points:

"That's a statue of a giant monkey!"

And so it is.

Kim cringes at the sight of it. She tugs on Ron's arms, pulling him away from it.

"C'mon," she mutters. "We need to make sure we catch the guard."

Ron puts on a serious face. "Right."

They make their way down a dark hallway. Quickly, they find that the entire passage is lined with more statues of giant monkeys. Ironically, the Mystical Monkey Man, formerly a monkey hater, finds himself entranced.

"These statues are pretty badical, I mean: What are the odds?"

Kim nods wordlessly, her jaw clamped tight.

"Hey, Ron?" her voice cracks.

Ron looks back. "What's the sitch?"

Kim opens her mouth and finds herself tongue-tied. What she needs to say falls back down her throat. It plummets deep into her soul and promptly vanishes.

Ron frowns, confused at Kim's hesitance.

She forces a wide smile. "Thanks for doing this with me."

After a long walk down the dark corridor, they reach their next destination: a large square-shaped room with a lone bench at the center. Each wall is home to a magnificently large painting. Each portrays different formations and gradients of blue tendrils reaching across the canvas. Except one wall houses no art. No, instead there is a steel vault door.

The duo hide behind a monkey statue as a security guard saunters out onto the main floor. He's older. Big bellied and bald faced.

Kim massages Ron's shoulders eagerly. "You got this."

"Yeah," Ron exhales quietly. He rolls his shoulders back and quirks his neck. "Mystical Monkey Mimic." Blue light momentarily swirls around his classic sweater-and-cargo-pants combo. The threads unwind and morph into a tucked-in white button-up with a black tie and navy blue slacks.

He struts out onto the floor and waves the guard over. His name tag reads "Geoff"... as does Ron's.

"Hey man. Uh, Gee-off. Hi," Ron says. He extends a hand.

Gee-off shakes on it. "Uh, it's pronounced Jeff. Heh. Don't worry. Common mistake for the uninitiated, uh…" He leans in towards Ron's name tag then promptly leans back with a furrowed brow. "...wait, you're Geoff? As well?"

Ron glances down and sees his mistake. "Oh! I—uh, didn't notice. They must've… must've made a mistake or somethin' on my nametag. Heh. The name's Ron. Ron Stoppable."

Kim slaps her forehead, and the sound echoes.

But Geoff doesn't notice. Instead, his eyes widen. "Wait… you are the Ron Stoppable?"

Ron cringes. "Y-y-yes?"

Geoff breaks into a toothy grin. "Oh my God, man. Wow! I thought you looked familiar, I'm a huge fan, man!"

Ron arches an eyebrow. "Really? Me ?"

"Of course!" Geoff throws his arms wide. "You're like, the Underdog's Underdog! You're a—what are you doing here actually?"

More cringey cringe cringe from Ron. "New gig. Uh, KP kicked me to the curb."

"Oh." Geoff frowns.

Ron continues, "Yeah, and I'm just… like… totally lost here. Like, no one even told me how to open up that vault door right there."

Geoff raises an eyebrow. Pats his chest with pride. "That's because only I can, son. Retina scan followed by a gait analysis."

Ron scrunches his face up. "Gait analysis?"

"Yeah!" Geoff turns on his side and does a little walking-in-place jig with his arms and legs. "Walking. See, as I'm the guy here who's been doing these kinda jobs his whole life, I've been the only one entrusted with nighttime access to this terminal. Don't worry about it, man. I'm surprised you're even here, I mean, I didn't even know we were hiring."

"Oh, uh, yeah." Ron scratches the back of his neck anxiously. "I think, uh, I think someone quit. Or somethin'. Heh. You're sure I don't have to worry about this exhibit?"

"Yep!" Geoff chirps, hands on his hips. "It's not a problem."

Ron tugs at his collar. "But, uh, Cheryl in HR, uh, told me that I would be responsible for the—uh—what'd you call it? Gait analysis?"

Geoff's face falls. "Oh. Uh, really?"

"Yeah," Ron says plainly.

"Huh." Geoff's frown only sinks deeper. He reaches into his belt and pulls out an old flip phone. He opens it up and brings it to his ear. Turns his back on Ron. "I'm gonna have to call corporate, this isn't right."

Ron presses his teeth together. Reaches out, signaling for Geoff to stop, but his back is already turned. Ron winces. Pats the side of his head. Looks back at Kim for guidance, only to see her marching out from behind the monkey statue. Ron blinks rapidly. Notices the dark look on Kim's face and throws his hands up, motioning for her to not do what she's about to—

—Kim grabs Geoff by the shoulder. Squeezes with all her might and the man's head jerks back painfully… and then he collapses to the floor. Kim catches him as his body goes completely slack.

"Help me hide the body," she whispers.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, right," Ron says, lifting Geoff's feet off the floor, his clothes changing back to normal. The two carry him over to the monkey statue and prop his body up against the backside of it. Kim takes out her wallet, then a wad of cash. Rolls through it and slips the cash into Geoff's pocket.

"Where'd you get that?" Ron whispershouts.

Kim doesn't make eye contact. "Babysitting. Listen, I need you to make two copies now. Not just one."

Ron blinks wearily. "I—can we slow down?"

Kim stiffens. She looks at Geoff's body and forcefully sits him up higher against the statue. "No. We're on the clock, Ron. If we don't move now, some other guard will find us. And then the whole thing is blown. We can talk about this later." She looks back at Ron with pleading eyes.

Ron shuts his eyes. Sighs loudly. "Kim, how much money was that?"

She winces. "One thousand."

"One thousand," Ron repeats.

"It's more than enough," she says. "Now, can you please—"

"Who says you get to decide that?" Ron challenges.

Kim stops herself. Arms go slack. She marches up to Ron. Smooths out her hair.

"Ron," she says in a steadying tone. "I know it looked bad, but I've been practicing that. It barely hurt him at all. He'll be fine."

Ron sucks on his lower lip. "...We are talking about this later. Promise me that."

"Ron, I—"

"Kim, you hurt an innocent civilian. You can't argue your way out of that." He stares at her, waiting, hoping for a satisfying response. But Kim says nothing, which leaves Ron to take the lead. He sighs. Stretches his arms out. "Mystical Monkey Multiplication can only handle one, KP."

"It needs to be two," Kim growls, starting to get really irritated now. "Listen, this whole thing wouldn't have happened if you were just off-book like I asked.

Ron leans back, affronted. "Off-book? Kim, you gave me the script like an hour ago, I—"

She cuts him off with the wave of a hand. "I need you to make two copies of Geoff right now. I know you can handle two, Ron, so please."

"Kim, this is getting kinda weird," Ron says.

She shoots him a harsh look.

Ron withers. "I mean, I know this mission is important to you. It's like—anti-colonialism and imperialism, I think?"

Her gaze softens at the words. "Yeah. Those are the right terms."

Ron mirrors the smile, but it's quickly retracted. "But are you sure about this? I mean, is it worth it?"

She blinks slowly. Mulls it over. Sighs. "We are on a time crunch. We need to—"

"Okay, fine. Whatever. I get it," Ron groans. He sighs and seeing no other choice, raises his hand towards Geoff's prone form. A moment passes and blue light glows underneath Geoff's clothing. The light expands and a spasm of pain shoots through Ron. Kim notices, her stone cold gaze faltering for just a moment.

"Are you okay?" she rasps.

"Yeah," he chokes.

Two identical Geoffs appear, sandwiching the real Geoff. Ron nudges the left one to go on patrol, and for the other to follow him. Both Geoffs comply, and Ron walks up to the vault door with his chosen Geoff in store. He gestures for the phantasm to walk up to the retina scanner.

He does. Phony Geoff leans into the retina scanner, and the vault door opens, revealing yet another corridor. A long one. And at the end, a room filled with so many laser grids it's impossible to see what the Idol they're after even looks like. Ron takes a deep breath and motions for Phony Geoff to keep going.

Phony Geoff walks down the corridor, imitating the slack-armed gait of the real Geoff. Two metal devices lodged into the walls trail after him, following his body. Before Phony Geoff gets too far, Kim grabs onto Ron's hand and drags him along into the corridor, tailing after the Phony Geoff.

All too soon, Phony Geoff reaches the end. The metal devices click and roll back into their starting position, the vault door closing behind them. Now it's just the lasers.

Kim looks back at Ron. "You can hang back, I got this." She makes to step into the matrix.

Ron lunges forward and pulls back on her arm.

She looks back at him. "What?"

"KP, if we're going to be a couple again," Ron takes a deep breath. "Then we need to do this. Together."

For reasons Ron can't understand, a guilty expression crosses Kim's face, but she ultimately nods. Steps into the matrix carefully, legs pulling up to her hips. Like treading through a swamp. She motions for Ron to follow.

Ron takes position beside her. Steps into the matrix, sweat beading on his face. Kim moves so quietly, all he can hear is the faint buzz of the lasers. It helps him focus. He ducks below one particularly low laser, nearly scrunching himself into a ball to pass through the gap. He squeezes through and advances ahead, as does Kim.

Eventually, they make it to the center of the room. At the center is a pedestal, and on that pedestal is the Idol Kim's been talking about—

—except it isn't. No. Ron recognizes this Idol. It's the Jade Idol. One of the four Idols that gave Ron his powers. He freezes at the sight of it and looks up at Kim.

"Kim?" he chokes. "What's going on—"

"I'm sorry," she says. And then Kim clubs the Jade Idol against Ron's face, and he collapses to the floor.

Black. Cold. Uncomfortable.

"I'm telling you, Possible—don't make the same mistake every single villain makes," a high, snooty voice says.

Ron feels the bristles of a rope dig into his wrists. He tries to swing his legs, but they are bound too by rope. He chances opening his eyes and sees the back of a tall, thin man in a black coat with golden trim. Kim lurks in the corner of this abandoned warehouse with her arms crossed at her chest. She looks up, thinking she saw something, and Ron jams his eyes shut.

Dilapidated Warehouse: Yamanouchi, Japan
August 26th: 2:03 AM

Now in darkness, Ron notices that something is wrong with the air that flows around him. His hairs not only stand on end, but they sway in place, as if a gentle breeze were passing through. There's a lifting sensation all around him.

"He's my friend, Monty," Kim says darkly. "I want this to go as smoothly and painlessly as possible."

A voice Ron now recognizes as Montgomery Fiske, formerly known as Monkey Fist, speaks. "It's textbook. Let the hero awaken, and you risk their escape."

"Well," Kim says, frustrated. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Ron considers his position and says, "Cross it now, KP. What the Hell is going on?"

"Oh good, he's awake," Fiske drawls.

"Yeah," Kim says weakly. "Awesome."

Ron reopens his eyes and sees Kim standing besides her apparent co-conspirator.

Fiske looks different from what Ron remembers. Gone are the monkey mutations, the man is now bare-faced with sullen cheeks, a smarmy smile, and short, wavy black hair. (His ears are still enlarged from his many surgeries, and there are dark-patches of skin where an overgrowth of hair used to be.)

Worse than that, Ron notices that the air immediately around him is tinged blue.

"Wait," Ron says. He looks around rapidly, and he sees them: All four of the Jade Idols arranged in a square formation around Ron. An ethereal blue mist flows between the Idols, creating a barrier. "No no no no…" He continues panicking while Kim tries to calm him.

"Ron," she says in a steadying tone. "Don't freak out."

"Told you," Fiske snarks smugly. "What sane human being wouldn't?"

Kim rolls her eyes. "Not. Helping."

"Shut up!" Ron suddenly cries out. "Both of you shut up! Kim, what are you doing?! You're working with Monkey Fist!? What is this? Don't tell me you're trying to get rid of my powers."

Kim nods grimly. "What choice do we have, Ron? As long as you have your powers, Global Justice will always chase us."

Ron's face falls.

Kim continues. "I contacted Fiske a few weeks ago. After the fight we had in the Simulation Room. Turns out he already had one of the Idols. I stole two of them, but the last one… I needed your help. There was nothing I could do about the gait analysis… at least ethically."

"Ethically?!" Ron spits. "You call knocking a guard out ethical ?"

"Ooh!" Fiske is charmed. "Good on you, Possible. Didn't know you had it in you—"

"Fiske, shut up," Kim curses. "I gave the guy money, I didn't have to do that."

Ron snarls at Kim. Tries moving the chair, but he can only get it to rock up-and-down on its legs for a few seconds. "What the Hell was that museum?"

Kim sighs. "Yamanouchi's Mystical Monkey Museum. It's new, and it's an exhibit to you, Ron. I'm surprised, but thankful you didn't know about it."

Ron's face falls back into the hatred he had for her at the hotel. "You set me up?"

"I—" Kim starts, her expression caught somewhere between hesitance and anguish. Then something goes off in Kim's mind, and she drifts to a place that's more defiant. For the first time in a long time, Kim looks sure of herself, and she speaks coldly. "—Yes. I set you up."

Ron exhales. "And you really think I'll stay with you after this?"

Kim braces herself for it.

"You're out of your mind, Kim," Ron says.

"Told ya," Fiske taunts, elbowing Kim in the side.

Ron continues, "I know you want out of the game, but I don't. I want this . That's what I've been trying to tell you, and you won't listen! If you take my powers away, there are people that I won't be able to save—they might die. It's not worth it, so please. Untie me. And we can forget about this."

A spasm of rage pulls at the corner of Kim's mouth. "We've been doing this for years. Haven't we given enough?"

Ron shakes his head, fighting back tears. "What happened to you?"

Kim tenses. Steps into the force field with Ron and bows down to his level, looking at him with sympathy.

"I've told you everything I know," she says stiffly. "If you don't understand yet, then I don't know what to tell you."

Ron exhales a dark, angry breath. "Are you talking about GJ putting you on the Disavowed list, Kim? Because we still have time. We can still fix this."

Kim grinds her teeth and whips herself around. Looks at Fiske. "Do it."

"Kim!" Ron cries out, lunging the chair forward. "Kim!"

Fiske nods. He sits himself cross-legged on the floor, pinches his fingers together, rests his elbows on his knees, and closes his eyes.

" Take back what once was given ," he says in a hypnotic trance.

Within the force field, Ron's hairs stick out like needles.

"Hey, wait," Ron pants. A sudden fatigue strikes Ron, and he feels faint. His world sways into a steep incline while he remains perfectly still.

"...just…" he wheezes. He shakes it off. Looks up at Kim. She turns away. He grinds his teeth, tenses his muscles, and thrusts himself forward with all his might. The chair finally unlodges itself from the floor, and Ron stumbles forward on his feet, body awkwardly hunched over. He runs right into the barrier—

—only for it to bounce him backwards. He falls on his back, the chair breaking apart underneath him. The wood stabs into his back and he winces. He tries to boost himself back up, but this time, he can't find the strength. A blue mist appears, flowing out of his body like steam. It flows to the outer reaches of the barrier and rolls up against the walls like tidal waves. Quickly, the energy, the extra surplus of power, drains away from Ron, leaving him weak and so very mortal.

And then there's a mighty CRASH.

"Possible?!" Fiske shrieks. "What are you doing?!"

The blue mist suddenly retracts. It swarms Ron from all sides, violently flowing back into his body in a vacuum. His body convulses as the power that was once his becomes his again. It's not like the first time the Mystical Monkey Magic came to him, this is different. It's violent and terrifying. Blue light crawls across his vision, and he screams.

But his scream is quickly overcome by another CRASH .

The mist vanishes and Ron sees Kim smashing a second Idol into the floor. It shatters into pieces. Fiske backs away from the scene, just as confused as Ron.

CRASH.

The third Idol shatters.

"Kim?" Ron croaks.

She ignores him. The tears on her cheeks reflect white light from the overhead fluorescents. She grabs the final Idol and—

CRASH.

Gone. All gone.

Ron boosts himself back up to his feet, feeling much like himself again.

"Kim," he says weakly. "What did you just—"

She looks at him, her eyes wide, like a scared animal's. She rushes him. Snaps her arms around his back. Pulls him in close, their chests touching.

"I'm sorry." Her voice is as thin as glass, and so unlike her. But then again, Kim hasn't sounded like herself in a long time. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

She keeps chanting it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Stuck in the same bleak emotion. Over and over.

The whole time, Ron stands still, his hands outstretched, dangling in the air. But once her outburst comes to a climax, he almost starts to feel guilty now. His hands fall on her back, patting it tentatively.

Suddenly, Kim pulls herself back up and looks at Ron with glassy eyes.

"Ron," she chokes. "I don't know what I was thinking, I—I—I got scared, I—freaked out. Holy shit, I freaked out. Ron. Ron. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. Do you understand me? I'm sorry!" She falls back into his embrace, head hooked over his shoulder.

He pats her back again.

"It's okay, Kim," he says weakly. "It's okay."

But the look on Ron's face, a look Kim cannot see, says something else. He nervously bites his lip, his eyes scrolling back and forth. Then they stop in place. They glaze over briefly as they burrow into some far off abyss. Only to quickly sharpen with the realization of something. His gaze darkens, and he looks straight ahead.