56Chapter 115
"Stoppable-san? Stoppable-san! Wake up!"
The voice of Yori stirred up Ron. His eyes slowly opened as he began to take in his surroundings.
"Yori? Is that you?" he asked weakly, the effects of the sleeping agent wearing off.
"Of course it's me, Stoppable-san! And not to dampen your sprits any further, but we are trapped in a solid steel cage and our hands and feet are tied up!"
Ron struggled to move his hands and feet. As Yori pointed out, they were both tied at the hands and feet with rope.
"Ugh...man! Whatever Fukushima did with the ropes, he sure tied them tight..." Ron admitted, trying to struggle to break free.
"And it seems that my knapsack is tied up to that tree!" Yori added. Her eyes stared at the knapsack that contained her black smokescreen pellets and nail file. It was tied to a tree about 15 feet away from their cage and was suspended about 20 feet in the air.
"Wait...didn't Fukushima say something about restoring honor to his family?" Ron wondered about hearing the last sentence Fukushima said before he knocked them out.
"Yes, Monkey Fist is planning to summon the monkey deity known as Sarukahito once he pieces the puzzle together! And one of the three wishes is for him to restore honor to Fukushima's family!" Yori told of the villains's plan in expansive detail.
"And you know this...how?" Ron asked.
"I overheard Monkey Fist and Fukushima talking about it once my sleeping agent wore off, Stoppable-san! From this point in time, we have only 30 minutes left before he pieces the puzzle together!" Yori replied while also struggling with her bonds.
Ron sighed and replied, "Yori, I'm sorry if I activated the trap and dragged you into all of this. It's also my fault for losing those plane tickets."
"Stoppable-san, stop pinning the blame on yourself!" Yori exclaimed, trying to snap Ron out of his funk. "I know you can help us get out of this mess!"
"How can we, Yori?" Ron moaned, "I can't break free from them!"
He felt a tug on his ninja outfit, and heard a clearing of his throat.
"Yeah, what's the use, Rufus? Maybe I should get used to the life of d..."
Ron turned his head around and shouted for joy,
"Rufus! You can help us get out of this!" he exclaimed. Looking at the tree with Yori's knapsack, he added, "Can you climb up the tree and and get Yori's nail file?"
Rufus nodded his head and sprinted for the tree. Undaunted, he climbed up the tree until he came to the branch where Yori's knapsack was. Rufus carefully maneuvered his way on the branch, which barely supported his weight.
He grabbed the knapsack and found the nail file.
"Yes! Now carefully climb down the tree..." Ron insisted.
Rufus delicately tried to climb down, but he slipped. The nail file bobbled in the air. He grabbed his pink paws onto the branch while using his feet to grab the nail file.
Ron, worried that his pet might fall, suggested something else, pointing to his teeth.
"Rufus, use your teeth! Put the nail file between your teeth!"
Rufus, understanding his owner's command, curled up his feet and bit the file between his teeth. Using his paws, he made his way to the trunk of the tree and scurried on down, still with the file in his teeth, and made his way to the cage.
"Good boy!" Ron smiled, patting Rufus on the head. Rufus then crawled to Yori and put the file in her restrained hands.
Yori activated the blade on the file and began to saw through the rope. After the rope snapped from behind her, she freed her feet as well.
"Now for you, Stoppable-san!" the Yamanouchi student smiled as she cut through Ron's ropes.
Once he was freed, Ron grabbed his wrists. "Man...I hate being tied up like some damsel-in-distress on the railroad tracks."
"Okay, now...for the cage..." Yori said, observing the bars.
"Yori, I think Rufus found a way." Ron replied with a smile on his face. There were Diablo sauce packets on the base of the cage and Rufus picked up a few of them.
"But how can you use hot sauce on...wait a minute...I think I know where you're getting at, Stoppable-san!" Yori smirked, remembering Ron's conversation earlier on the boat. It was the experimental non-edible hot sauce that Ron was talking about.
"It would be your honor to use the sauce on the bars of this cage first!" Yori grinned.
Ron simply gave a nod of his head and began to squirt the experimental sauce on the bars of the cage. The high temperatures of the sauce ate away at the metal.
Yori loosened the bars and set them on the island floor as she, Ron and Rufus climed out of the cage.
"Now we need to find where Monkey Fist and Fukushima are." Yori said as she looked at the sunset. They were running out of time.
"Oh, once we hear Monkey Fist's evil laugh, which will be pretty loud anyways, we'll get a good sense of where those two slimeballs are." Ron replied.
As if on cue, Monkey Fist echoed a hooting laugh, but it was only for a few seconds.
"I can't tell which direction it's coming from, Stoppable-san!" Yori said, putting her hand on her ear.
Ron added, "I don't know either...wait a minute!"
Fist then gave a more prolonged hooting laugh that was for 40 seconds this time.
"The direction came from...the north!" Ron exclaimed, pointing northward. He also sniffed something too. Discarded banana peels were on the floor, presumably from the Monkey Ninjas.
"Bananas! And a whole lot of them! Same direction as well! I'll get Rufus on it"
Ron grabbed one of them and held it to Rufus' nostrils.
Rufus pointed in the northernly direction, following his instincts of the smell. The mole rat ran as fast as he can on all fours.
"Quick, Yori! Let's follow Rufus!" Ron insisted.
Both Yori and Ron followed Rufus through the thick brush of the jungle.
At the northern part of Sarushima Island, Monkey Fist hooted loudly with Fukushima, Bates, members of the Hoturu Brotherhood and the Monkey Ninjas by his sides.
"In about 20 minutes, gentlemen, our long journey of fulfilling this plan will finally end in triumph for all of us." Fist proclaimed with a long hooting laughter as his monkey ninjas joined in.
"I agree!" Fukushima chimed in. "Honor will finally be restored to my family after centuries of bad luck!"
"There's something in it for everyone, Fukushima!" Fist grinned, "And your brotherhood would serve as my personal guard!
"Evil is indeed more fun if we can share the rewards together!" Fukushima agreed.
All of a sudden, a familiar voice interrupted their evil conversation.
"The only thing you and Fukushima will be sharing is a jail cell, Monkey Fist!"
"That voice..." Fist said with surprise, recognizing that angry tone. He and Fukushima turned around.
There stood Ron and Yori about 10 yards away from them, sneering at both the villains.
"The arch-bumbler?! The bloody mess?!" Fist exclaimed, stunned at their improbable escape "How did you get out of your cage?"
Rufus then climbed onto Ron's shoulder.
Fist growled as he looked at one of his Monkey Ninjas and exclaimed, "You didn't tie up the mole rat?! That's the last time I'll allow the Monkey Ninjas to trap the heroes!"
"I do say that Stoppable fellow is a bit determined lad, milord!" Bates said.
"Really, Bates? Really?" Fist groaned, seeing his mutated manservant praise his archnemesis
"You are not going to summon the monkey god guy, Monkey Fist!" Ron proclaimed.
"So hand over the pieces of the Sarukahito puzzle or you will face justice from us!" Yori shouted.
"Uh, Yori..." Ron whispered, "...I don't think the bad guys will accept the first choice."
"Absolutetly not, Stoppable!" Fist yelled, "I am going to be the Ultimate Monkey Master when Sarukahito comes to my aid and that I...I ALONE...piece the puzzle together!"
"Told ya."
Fist chortled and looked at his Monkey Ninjas, eager for a fight, even though they have been beaten twice.
"Anyways, we'll skip onto the fight! MONKEY NINJAS, ATTACK!"