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I had fun writing this...but I am grateful that it's come to an end.

"Stoppable!" Once again Monty shouted his name. For a brief moment, he forgot about the sticky situation they were in. Was the bone-monkey still after them? Was it watching from afar? Was it stalking them like a lion does a deer? No matter what the answer was, he knew he had to get himself, and Ron, to safety.

His body was light, similar to carrying a pillow. Of course it made sense for him to be thinner than before, what with imprisonment, walking the deserts, and posessing so much emotion eating him away. It made sense for Monkey Fist to be the cause of it all, he knew he was, but it still made him...feel. It was a bad feeling he experienced when realizing it was his fault. It...made him feel horrible. Was this guilt? He had so rarely felt it that it was nearly impossible to describe now.

Monty turned on his heels to head to a place he hoped would be safe but paused. There was a sort of...rumbling sound around them. It wasn't like a stone rolling down the hill like he had encountered at least a handful of times in his earlier missions. No, it was slow and yet menacing. Then it grew louder...and louder...and louder. By the vibrations sent through the ground, he felt that the source was far away but it was a great force, the sound harsh...whatever it was, there were multiple ones. What in the world...?

Soon his eyes focused in the dim light there was around them. They became sharper as they adjusted similar to a bat's yet piercing as a hawk's. What he saw made him wish he had never been able to see in the dark; four statues around them were of monkey heads, twice the height and width of Monty, with their jaws moving quite rapidly. It was a parody of Hungry, Hungry, Hippo, and they were the white balls the 'hippos' must eat!

The mouths were moving just slow enough to where, if timed properly, Monty might be able to make it to the ceiling/floor. Of course the added on weight on Ron made him hesitate for a split second only to recall the fact that Ron was now thin. The diet of absent Beuno Nacho obviously had its good effects too!

If he miscalculated or even slowed down for a moment or two, he risked losing his foot and quite possibly his life as well as Ron's. Yet he had to take a gamble. Had he not done so in searching for the monkey statues? Had he not risked a lot when he employed Kim for help? Or when he got DNAmy to make his limbs more monkey-like? Okay, of course these two things backfired but nevertheless he was a man of chance, of risks.

Holding his breath, he calmed himself enough to place his foot in the opening mouth, and then pushed off onto another. Soon he found himself on the noses and, as the four monkeys grew closer, landed on their bulging eyes. Throwing Ron up a secret passage, Monty grabbed the edges and jumped up, scrambling almost.

Just as the thud of the monkeys smashing together reached his ears, he landed on the unconscious young man. Oddly enough, his subconscious mind decided to recite something he had seen in a book not too long ago.

"…for without deep emotion, power cannot be possessed with ease."

…Surely this did not mean…?

Could it?

Perhaps it meant that he was supposed to care for his enemy, the very one who stole away his powers and pranced about as an imposter. How weird…how 'divine' it would be to forgive and forget. Part of him already had while the other part wanted Ron to fall into a bayou.

From here, he heard nothing. It seemed that for now if at all, there was peace. How odd. Had they passed all the 'tests'? Had they escaped all the traps? If so, where was the true power? Monty frowned as he stood, examining the area.

Suddenly another verse came to mind.

"It is true when two becomes one something special will happen; it will change not only those two but the world. Yet those who manage to become one in the special way as the old days will never be a true one until they visit the Temple of Mooka.

The beautiful deserts that surround Mooka will guard it and protect it from those undeserving. Those who try to get through the challenge will fail if they are weak or divided into two when they should be one. Yet the one who reaches the Temple of Mooka will have power above all else."

Waking to silence was far beyond depressing. Usually there would be an alarm going off reminding Ronald of school or some other important event. If not, if it was a uneventful weekend, he would find himself waking up to hear the annoying birds. His mother would be humming and cleaning while his father crunched numbers; bottom line, he never awoke to silence. Even getting up at Monty's had its own sounds of the pipes groaning!

His chocolate eyes dared to open only to be greeted by a dimly lit room, not a sound in the place. Was he alone? The thought scared him, alone in this…temple. What if he was locked up? Lost? Left for dead? Monkey Fist made it clear despite their shared lust that he hated him…was this the chance he had been waiting to rid himself of this 'imposter?

As soon as he sat up, his panic was squashed. Instead, relief bloomed from it like a dying vine with a flower appearing. The monkey loving man sat but a few feet away meditating…how could he do that in such a small dank dark place? Amazing…that was one thing Ron always secretly admired about the man; he had control.

"You're up." Whether he had been faking, was just starting to meditate, or just ending, Ron knew not but that didn't stop the flood of emotion from attacking him when Monkey Fist spoke. "How are you feeling?" Strangely enough, the man seemed…calm.

"Sore but okay. Where are we?"

Swiftly but effectively he explained to the younger male about what had happened. By the way he had turned pale, Monty's guess was correct; Ron had dreamt of it and it came true, the 'monkey head pac-men'. It was final; Monkey Fist's assumptions about the text he had read had to be right.

Quietly he recited what he recalled. "Those were the only bits and pieces I read about the Mystical Monkey Powers."

"Yes, yes, and?" As if entwined with a good horror story around the camping fire, Ron sat up straighter and listened intently. Ha! If only he could pay attention like this all the time, what a difference that would make!

"I believe…it is saying we must…be and confess that we are in…love." No matter how many times he had thought it and muttered it without a word, it still felt weird to say it out loud.

"…In love? Why?" Ron asked after a moment, unable to breathe correctly.

Sitting up straight since Ron had leaned forward to hear every word whispered and uttered, he looked away briefly. Clearing his throat, he knew he risked a lot with this. Then again, if this didn't work, he could always just make the boy a sex slave. "For me, the dominate one to…retain the power…completely."

It was almost humorous of how uncomfortable Monty was…almost. Closing his eyes, Monty waited for the young lad's next move. He had said his piece and did what he thought had to be done; now just to wait the results anxiously. Would Ron laugh? Get mad? Run off…though there was no real place to run to?

"…Then you are to have the power completely to yourself." Stoppable said after a long moment, shocking Monty's eyes open. Instead of being a foot away as he had before, there was barely an inch between their faces. "Because I love you."