Author's notes: Alright that's it. People, this fanfic, as some of you might have suspected, isn't going to end in neither 40 chapters nor 100.

Nuggets: Uh-oh. Bold claim alert!

It's going to be dragged across time and space. Yes, these pesky sparks of awesomeness are nothing compared to the plans I have. I'm just starting the engine. And boy if my hands were as fast as my mind… so what am I getting at? Hold it, I'm getting there.

This story is going to raise some pretty powerful heroes, and what every great hero needs is a great villain. Looking at the villains in the KP verse… I fear that I either have to nerf my heroes or… make poor ol' Ron face armies of ravenous Zergs, thunderous Terrans and the futuristic and mysterious Protoss.

Nuggets: Why? Can't you just make Ron a playboy monkey master, tell him to beat the crap out of Monty and put happy ending at the finish?

*Props up an eyebrow*

Nuggets: I know dude, I'm just playin' ya. We're evil, duh!

Anyway, I have reached a decision. My fellow fanficioneers (yes, I'm gonna call you that from now on or maybe ficfans, hmmm...) I have decided to cross this story with the universe of Starcraft. Dun…dun…dun…dun…

Reader1: That's it?

*frowns* Anyways… I'm getting WAY ahead of myself. Let's just read on.

Reader2: The hell is StarCraft?

*facepalms* DUDE! Will you please? The Night Hunter knows what I'm talking about. *sigh* Don't worry. I'll hold your hands the entire way. I don't expect everyone to know about the game so I'll be as descriptive as possible.

...

BUT WILL THE ANSWERS PRESENT THEMSELVES?

"Let's see how diplomatic they're feeling." Kim put the device into her pocket and continued searching the forest aimlessly for about twenty minutes. Wade was right; the woodwork is pretty dense around here. It was until she reached a sort of clearing to her left and right. Actually it seemed like a natural path. As if though the forest was cut in half.

Kim tapped the ground hard a few times. The dirt was hard so it meant that it wasn't dug out, at least not recently. She took the right in hopes that it might lead to something. Interestingly about the path wasn't wide enough for large vehicles such as a car. So it must be old, but that didn't explain why the path was free any form of vegetation.

The mystery grew intense when she saw tracks and footprints. It was raining yesterday. She took a quick picture and hurried along the direction the footprints lead to. From the distances between them she could tell their owner had been running.

"What is this… an obstacle course?" She complained as she vaulted over a fallen log but gasped as she noticed blood on the bark of a nearby tree. "This doesn't look good. if it was Ron then what was he running from?"

She kept running until she reached a strange giant cliff formation with many cracks and pointy edges on the sides. It was an obstacle course! She used her grapple gun to reach the top, hoping to find whoever's responsible for Ron's odd behavior or at least bump into her best friend.

Before she ventured any deeper, her eyes fell on some splinters of wood that lied on the ground. What could all of these mean? She felt like the pieces of the puzzle were right in front of her eyes but she just couldn't put them all together.

But she could tell she was being watched...

"Alright, I give up. Come on out. I know you're out there." She suddenly yelled out loud.

"Impressive." The deep voice chilled her to the bone. She had been caught in villain's lairs before…

Suddenly something zipped past, just two inches away from her, and disappeared between the trees in front of her. It took her a second to get over her the surprise and also realize it was a throwing knife. She instantly spun towards the direction it came from and prepared to dodge more.

…but this one was different. She could feel it.

"Shock!" Pyro commented on her reaction. "It will paralyze you; it will present the opponent an opportunity, and that WILL kill you someday."

"Don't worry though; I'm in no humor for killing today." He declared. Kim was used to dealing with threats anyway.

"Look, I don't know who you are or what your deal is but better LEAVE RON OUT OF IT." she shouted with anger. She kept looking around, desperate to find him. Then she heard something.

She turned to her right and found a shadow tapping a blade to a tree. It was trying to get her attention.

"Tell me Kimberly, what do you know about my work? What makes you so sure that I am harming him?" The shadow sheathed his blade to the scabbard on his back and then crossed his arms.

"He's not the same anymore, he won't talk, he won't laugh, he won't smile. You took him away from us." She grabbed her grapple gun and fired towards him. Pyro merely sidestepped the attack and watched the gun line hit a tree. He frowned as he saw the harmed tree. But from Kim's perspective he was momentarily distracted.

"He won't be expecting this." She thought as she pushed a button on the device's controls.

The gun shuddered and suddenly she was zipping along the line. She used her flexible body to aim a kick to his face. Unfortunately Pyro sensed the line reverberate beside him so he slashed it so quick, Kim didn't know why she fell to the ground. She cleaned the wet dirt off her face and got up only to see the cut rope. She dusted her mission jacket and started looking for the sly character that just vanished.

"What have you done to him?" She screamed. "Scratch that, what made you think you had the right to do anything to him?" she caught glimpse of something at the edge of her vision, so acting on instinct, she spin kicked and caught something with her leg, or rather, something caught her leg. She looked behind her... Oh, it was him alright.

"He was dead when I found him..." Pyro shouted as he deflected her elbow attack and then ducked a high kick. He was still holding her other leg so when she landed on her other foot (from her high kick), she was off balance. So much that a simple tackle had her on the ground.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she fell on a piece of rock and when she opened her eyes she found herself face to face with him. His long hair blocked out the little light that the moon supplied. It left her to focus on his white eyes. He looked terrifying in the dark contrast.

"I apologize if his sense of humor did not survive the revival process." his tone of voice rising fiercely.

But Kim didn't let this stop her. She kneed him in the crotch; Pyro shuddered and gritted his teeth which weren't visible. He held her by her shoulders but her arms were free so she punched him in the face and retracted her body into a ball then kicked him off her with both legs, making him back off a few feet.

She jumped to her feet and took stance. Pyro stood tensed but then he took a deep breath and arched his back before slowly moving backwards. Was he retreating? Maybe he wasn't as tough in melee combat.

"Tell me what happened or I'll break your teeth and feed them to you through a straw." she growled angrily. Excessive violence wasn't her way but a psychological strategy seemed to be useful here.

"Mmmm... You would do that, wouldn't you?" He said unimpressed right before slowly stepping behind a tree that broke her line of sight. She dashed after him but found nothing behind the tree. She looked up the branches in a fruitless attempt. He wasn't there...

SOMETIMES IT'S JUST EASIER TO RUN

A wave of emotions and instinct kept him running even though he was out of breath. What were these emotions? Fear... Depression... Guilt... Confusion... Or all in one.

The noise of his feet pounding against the pavement was a little louder than he cared to make. He didn't know why but he was sensitive to noises lately. He vaulted over the fence without touching it and then over a table like an animal, his appearance the only thing differing him from a wolf.

LIES ARE TOXIC

"Come on, you dragged me into this, now you're gonna be the reason we'll be late!" Jean stoppable shouted into the kitchen. "Coming dear." a voice responded. "Just let me leave Ron a note." He shook his head with a smile and walked towards the door. As he turned the handle...

...The momentum was undeniable. His clouded mind led him into this. Should have paid attention... He was going to crash.

"Oh well, at least the 'rents aren't home." He thought but Ron Stoppable was about to see the opposite of his statement come before his very eyes. Out of shock a momentarily paralysis overcame his legs when he saw his father open the door he was supposed to crash into.

But at the last second he recovered and threw himself aside. Mr. Stoppable's eyes widened as Ron skidded across the door frame, passing him like a blurry image. As soon as Ron avoided impact he hit a wall with his left shoulder causing him to spin as he knocked over a flower pot and a small table it was standing on. After he fell to the ground his hand darted for the falling pot and his foot wedged itself under the table, preventing any damage as a result of his intensive training.

There laid Ron breathing heavily with exhausted lungs. He looked around the living room slightly embarrassed. His father who had been previously frozen with shock turned to him and asked. "What just happened?"

"Uhhh..." Ron muttered ashamed as he looked around and noticed that his mother was staring at him, mouth agape. "I fell."

He put the pot on the table and pushed it back to its original position with his foot, then rolled backwards till he got back on his feet. "Hey mom, did you prepare my... Uh..." He pulled back his hood and noticed that his parents were dressed up quite nicely. "Ughh... are you going somewhere?"

She suddenly crumpled the note she was writing on. "We're... Uhhh... Going to a romantic restaurant." she stuttered as she put it in her handbag.

"Then what's with the suitcase?" Referring to what his father was carrying as his eyes followed her hands before he spoke up. At this point, he had put his hands wide on the table to rest his legs, unintentionally posing a menacing figure with the frown on his face.

"Well, we're going to stay at a hotel for a week... To..."

"I thought you were going to a restaurant." he interrupted.

"Well you know... The restaurant is far away and these company representatives from Sweden are meeting us there..." she walked over to her husband as Ron turned still leaning on the table. "... After we pick 'em up at the airport and give them a tour of the city..." Suddenly Ron raised his hands in defeat.

"You know what... whatever." He turned and walked over to the kitchen. He had enough headaches to worry about.

"...It's going to take a few days..." She went on. "So basically we're going to a business interview."

"We are?" Mr. Stoppable suddenly asked.

"Go start the car, dear." she quickly said without taking her eyes off Ron. Confused, her clueless husband walked out of the house as Ron ducked his head into the fridge and began to rummage through its contents.

"Uhhh... Ron..." Her mother began. "You're early today, aren't you supposed to be at Bueno..."

"Skipped it." He cut in, abruptly closing the fridge and walking off towards the stairs with a bowl of salad in his hands. "That's what's been happening for these past few weeks."

"Oh... well dear, you know I support you laying off the junk food but I've noticed that you've been acting very..." She stopped to find the right word. Ron slowed down to a halt to listen. "...tense lately."

"I'm… fine, mom; just a bit tired, is all." He sighed, turning to her; anger eating him from the inside as he formed a smile on his face. "Teen stuff, you know."

"Oh... Good." Thankfully she didn't pry into the matter. She started moving away as Ron's smile faded. He was reaching the top of the stairs when his mother shouted. "Ron, I've also noticed that you've been shedding lately."

But the only response was the thud of a door as Ron shut it. She shrugged, exited the house and finally joined her impatient husband.

As Ron moved towards his room he started to get a headache. With some difficulty he pulled out a bottle of olive oil from his secret stash that he once filled with all sorts of cheesy goodness (Sadly his tongue has lost most sense of taste for any of that now). He poured a little bit of olive oil on his plate. As he watched his parent's car drive off, eating the salad proved to ease his headache.

"Gahhh..." Suddenly he felt bolt of his headache in his brain. He accidentally knocked over the plate and rested himself against the wall to support himself. It took a couple of heavy breaths to calm down. He groaned as he got a look of the mess he made.

"Rufus, where the heck are you when I need ya?" He sighed but then joked. "Oh right, he only eats Mexican." He smiled at the memories that brought him joy. It was these memories that gave him the strength to get up.

He had time to clean up the mess. Right now he was tired. So he headed towards his bed's embrace. Just as he threw his jacket away, another bolt of his headache made him fall in to crawl. He screamed in agony just as his heart almost felt like it was going to rupture from overuse. His eyes felt like they were burning. If he looked into a mirror he would have been shocked to see his eyes burning a piercing dark blue.

With all difficulty he managed to crawl into his bed, and after a while of calm he fell into an uneasy sleep.

... In the woods...

MOTH TO THE FLAME

It was scary before, now it's just frustrating. She groaned once again as she checked behind yet another tree. She was sure he was behind this one. Either it was her imagination, it was the wind or... He was really, really fast.

"Look, I just wanna know what happened to him and why won't he talk to me about It." She eased her tone.

"Let me ask you this..." he once again evaded the question but at least he was talking so it would easier to pinpoint his location. "Why do you even care?"

"WHAT? What kinda question is that?" She snapped angrily.

"He is weak." He unveiled. "A lost pup, a fool desperately looking for affection that lack of which kept him undone. And you are the one that gave it to him. Now he follows you wherever you go. He does whatever you want him to do…" He let his words trail off.

The shadow calmly stepped out from behind a tree, caressing it with his hand, his torn cloak portraying him as an ethereal being.

"And what do you do? You take him for granted; you bar his growth and manipulate his life." At this point Kim balled her fists and clenched her teeth. She figured if she jumped him now he would vanish again but he was really pushing it now. She had been cutting some Ron-time to hang out with Monique a bit more after she signed up to work with her at club banana, but that was it. He was totally exaggerating.

"But I think our boy actually likes being leashed and dominated." The shadow fell back into the dark. But what he said made Kim snap. She pounced on what she thought was her tormentor but air was all she could grasp. He had slipped away again. But his chatter didn't stop.

"Tell me something, Kimberly... Did you know that Ron has been harboring feelings for you?" She froze dead in her tracks. She suddenly felt the cold creeping through her jacket. Did he just say that?

"You couldn't mean..."

"The sort of passion that burns cities to the ground." he assured. He paused to let it sink in. "But rest assured, I want nothing to come between this 'bond' of yours, but I'd rather exploit it." She was brought out of trance with these words.

"What do you want with us? Who are you?" She tried to calm herself. But she needed to know who had been studying them for a seemingly long time.

"You see, I had taken his internal breakdown as the ideal opportunity to work on him. Now I just need you!" She felt cold again as her mind was reaching a horrifying conclusion. "I knew you'd fall to your curiosity." She suddenly felt and heard a huff of air from behind her. She turned quick as a snake. But nothing was there; even though his voice sounded closer than ever. "It's only natural…"

"Oh, and if you're still wondering…" She spun around only to see him a second before her foot was snatched right from under her. "This is a trap!"

Such was the velocity of the trap that she almost hit the ground before her leg was pulled upwards. "And you've walked into it in more ways than one. I knew you'd come here; I was counting on it."

"What do you want with us?" She exclaimed upside down. This wasn't exactly the first trap she sprung on herself, so she quickly grabbed a military knife, bending her torso as she grabbed the rope. Well, you should never grab a snake by its tail.

Just as she was about to cut away at her confines, a dark hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Another emerged from above and grabbed her throat. She struggled against her captor, trying to force the choke hold away. She tried bending his fingers backwards but they wouldn't budge; worse yet the more she tried the more pressure he focused on her airway, painful yes but not aimed for passing out. That would be her major blood veins that supplied her brain.

"Oh, how considerable of you to ask! But would you honestly care if I get what I want?" She pulled to eye level to see his silhouetting face. His white eyes were the only indication that he had a face under all that willow-like hair.

"To be *cough* honest, I don't give a damn." She spat out with venom in her voice even though it was difficult to speak.

"Good." A pause before he said. "That was to be expected!" After which he eased the grip. "Now, it is time to for you…"

"What?" There was a bewildered look in her expression as he said that and was presumably letting her go.

"…To FORGET!"

As abrupt as lightning he let go of her throat and grabbed her forehead, instantly paralyzing her thoughts and body. Her eyes, visible through his fingers, rolled to the back of her head.

Her body seemed lifeless but stiff. Crouching on the large branch, Pyro's normally colorless iris shone with a menacing orange color and revealed strange patterns on them.

Out of nowhere an orange circle appeared around Kim's head. It too had strange patterns on it. And these patterns moved and twisted together until they formed signs and symbols which held no meaning by any language on earth. But they resembled ancient runes.

"…Ra'u ee'nauk mak'tul…" The conjurer took to mumbling under his breath; seemingly in the same untold language as these runes for as he started, they all began to flash briefly one after another. After some time the glow of the runes dimmed while only one shone brighter.

"…en aru'muk avi'nali…"

That rune too began to fade but as it but as it did, something took to glow behind Kim's eyes. As if her eyes were mere curtains to a shadow play going on inside her skull.

"…En taro Khas!" He finished.

As soon as his uttering was over so were all the orange runes, Kim's hidden glow and the color of Pyro's iris.

Suddenly her stiff body loosened and she would have fallen if not for Pyro grabbing her other arm. He lifted her body and held her in a bridal carry, pulling her closer for further examination.

He stayed like that for some time; just looking at her for reasons beyond his knowledge. He just looked…

She was here finally; after so much time away, after all that time; and so too shall Ron. But for now…

His hand moved to brush off a strand of hair in face… But stopped and fisted his hand instead.

No… there was no… it could not happen… not again… it would be best if he were to just end it right then and there…

He closed his eyes as he rested his hand on the branch. Soothing energies flowed through the trunk. It coursed through his mind and body. He would often use these energies for the peace and calm of his mind.

But it wouldn't be nearly enough this time. There was just too much anger to contain, too complex of an algorithm to solve. A damnable forsaken code in the DNA he had tried to override for too damn long. It just can't go away without loss of the burdens that kept him who he is. Many would shudder at the thought of what would become of him lest he loses himself… and he is one of them… he is indeed afraid of what he would become. He is afraid of himself!

The few creatures close to his caliber, the ones that understood his crisis, a handful of them would beckon him to carry on with his pain, to never lose himself, never lose his faith; that destiny will ease on him eventually.

However most would agree that he is a fool to even hesitate. To cut off his strings to mortal weakness is to set himself free. Nothing will ever affect him. He would break out from the cage of his own mind. All would pay the price for his decision… and yet he would simply not care. He would be invincible.

Pyro squeezed his eyelid together in anger!

The others did not factor into this. The ravaging so-called-immortals had lost their way. Their minds were clearer than most but their sanity is heavily questioned.

The ones that held on to themselves had moral support from their brethren in arms. No one had been in his place. Not even close. And there were none like him to lend a hand.

A fierce amount of energy traveled from the branch to his mind, which eased him.

But they were there to mend his being. Even though not of his caliber… but they were always there.

Pyro then breathed and directed the mental energy away from his mind and on to a task regarding the location of a certain apprentice of his.

He wasn't nearby the forest… or even out of his room for that matter…

He sighed.

Perhaps it was for the best…and he would let him off the hook for now. He got up and took one final look upon Kim's unconscious form.

…

Ron woke up with a cry of pain. He sat upright to clutch his cramped left calf. The sudden painful contraction of his freshly toned muscles was excruciating but he eventually learned how to overcome it.

He roughly grabbed his calf as the pain stopped then he slowly kneaded them until he could control the disobedient muscle.

After that he fell back on the bed, wiping the sweat from his brow. He started going through the strange dreams he had, slowly trying to tell the unreal from reality. He had already forgotten most of them.

"But damn they felt real." He thought confused over his mind's reaction to this new phase of his life. His dreams never made any sense whatsoever. But these dreams; they seemed to have…purpose.

(Dream fraction)

He saw blood… a giant monster ravaging many soldiers… he felt like he was falling…horizontally?... he felt energy; a lot of it… he was talking to weird creatures… he felt great misery and sorrow for no apparent reason once he saw a disfigured corpse … consilience from close ones filled his ears. It was weird. He didn't know any of them… but strangely he acknowledged them as if he did… they did have an air of familiarity about them though…

He had another rather clearer dream sequence…he saw a figure running at full speed… a robed man… his feet carried him so swiftly and so naturally that his cloak blew gracefully in the wind. Many figures approached him, big and small; they tried to bar his way… however this man quickly rolled and raced around their limbs and clutches… he revolved with their arms so they could never catch him, he vaulted over, under and even through them. When he couldn't he used his robe to distract, he threw one into another, and he would bash through the others…

He stopped dead cold…the cloud of dust he drew from the ground blew past him… he stood unmoving…oblivious to the thousands of his pursuers closing in on him… surrounding him… he fell to his knees in an emotionless manner…his head slowly turned to his left and right then he lowered his head to stare at the ground between his legs…

The murder of shadows around him grew closer and closer… only to be halted by a scream so loud that it echoed through the astral plane of Ron's mind… the man emptied his lungs… as soon as the figures started charging at him again the ground shook and shattered causing disarray amongst the ranks of the pursuers.

He rolled out of way as a great monster rose from the very earth he stood upon. With its back turned to him, it growled and tore through the shadows with its mighty claws. They took to the air in hopes of aerial superiority but the creature jumped at them and drew blood.

It shook the very ground it landed upon. It slammed its claws to the ground, straightened it's back and screamed an unearthly growl that could be heard for many…many miles. The shadows disappeared and dissolved into thin air.

But before the creature could find comfort he sensed an aura behind him. He turned and noticed the one different from the others. The robed man watched him but didn't attack nor runaway. He just watched him in silence. He could not possibly best him in combat. So why was he simply standing there? Interestingly, some oddly familiar feeling beckoned the creature to go forward.

The near-colossal creature slowly came towards him. It growled so he would know his place and not try anything stupid like the others. Yet the man stood there unfazed, almost motionless like a statue…

Then suddenly he knew why he didn't simply trample this man. Why he didn't attack him… why he felt different about this one… could it be?

The monster BOWED down, closed his eyes and lowered his head to his human! The man reached out with his hand and caressed the fur on his head.

"I knew I'd find you here…"

(Dream fraction)

Ron sighed. He couldn't remember any more. Not like it was important, just a bit ominous. What was important was that he was late. As true as Rufus can make a tray of Mexican food magically disappear with the opening of his mouth, the longer handle of any current clock has past the twelfth mark by now.

"Shit." Ron grabbed his jacket from where he tossed it and stormed out his home, nearly slipping on the contents of his mess from earlier.

It was always rough getting up from the sweet embrace of bed. At first angry suicidal fervour granted him energy for a few weeks but now he was tired of it. It was energy consuming, mind numbing and not to mention painful.

But this wasn't the reason as to why he still fought. His mind was a shell of what it once was. The rapid aching of his mind was easily fixable with a rest. But like an abused limb it would be sensitive to touch afterwards. True peace of mind would only be a dream now… well, there is one exception…

The woods held an atmosphere, an air of fresh breeze and oxygen. It gave him a balanced mind. Only then he could think clearly. And he would need it!

…IM THE ONE WITH THE WARRIOR INSIDE…

Pyro waited from atop the tree for the one he met there for the first time. He had checked his blades, cleared the ground and set the fluid to the ground. It was time for him to show himself…to unravel the mystery… to rip Ron mind, body and soul apart!

He was here. He ran until he found the meeting place. In his hooded coveralls he slowed down to a stop and looked around. Something wasn't right about the pattern of the trees. He remembered them to be different. Nevertheless it was time for him to get some answers and stop his suffering as it was promised to him.

"PYRO." He shouted to call him. "I know you can hear me. I'm here."

He cocked his head to a side as he heard a distant grinding sound. He slowly walked towards it. There from across the river a shrouded figure sat on the ground with his back to him, doing something with a shining object.

'Ding…ssssss…ding…ssssss…ding…ssssss…'

It sounded like something was grinding itself against metal, like the sharpening of a blade.

"Pyro… I'd appreciate it if you could get up and tell me why the hell are you screwing with my mind? I'm getting sick of this." Ron shouted to get his attention. The warm social pleasantries were spared apparently.

"Did you not want change?" The grinding stopped to be replaced with the gravelly voice.

"STOP ANSWERING ME WITH QUESTIONS. Tell me what exactly you're doing to me! You promised me that you would." Ron retorted, frustrated with all the confusion. Pyro only resumed to grinding his blade.

Ron blinked. It hasn't fazed him a bit. He's just sitting there, not minding him at all. Yelling obviously wasn't going to work. He was testing him…once again. He sighed, swallowed his pride and lowered his tone.

"Pyro look. I've been trusting you to bring me hope. If it wasn't for you I'd be long gone." The grinding stopped. He was listening! Ron pressed on. "But in these days I don't know if this is all real anymore. I can't think. I can't feel anything but pain. I need to know where this is headed, DAMNIT!"

Ron felt all weariness return to him now. Tears were threatening to burst out. All the unthinkable pain he had endured during a very short time had been bad and yet to know it had been all for nothing… that would ultimately break him. He suddenly felt like he was about to pass out. Who knew? Maybe this was a dream… he was in stranger ones before… or maybe this was an afterlife! A cruel alternative to hell he had been sent to in order to purge his soul from his mortal vices and to prepare him for heaven?!

"Pyro?" Ron called out to him as he fell to his knees. "Am I still alive?" Then he heard Pyro sigh.

"That you are, Ron." Pyro was in the shadow of the trees around him but from his faint outline he could tell he extended his left arm to a side and dropped his grinding stone. From the ground he picked up what seemed like two strange gleaming weapons and then he got up to his feet.

"Your mind is distorted, I understand. But the only way to remove the nerve blocks of your cerebral cortex was to break it. If you only knew what powers lay sealed away in those locked cages of yours… well, let's just keep it a surprise." He started his explanation before he was interrupted.

"Heh, yeah I know. Ron the potential boy…coming your theaters soon." He showed his disbelief with strong sarcasm.

"This is no mockery, boy. You've been exposed to the radiation of a very potent energy source. And that source is now transferred into you and locked down." His voice gained a tough edge as he turned towards him. He abruptly twirled his blades towards his elbows. They suddenly disappeared as he spread his arms like a magician who just 'poofed' something out of existence! "Of course it is more of a server than an energy source but that is tale for another time. For now the time has come to test your worth!"

He walked towards the river separating them. Ron slightly grimaced looking at the fresh wide wounds in his body. From the dim moonlight he could barely make out a sort of white coating on him as if he was covered in thick dust and some of the blood from his injuries. Barely.

As Pyro approached the water, he removed his torn cloak and let it slide off of his body and onto the ground. He then casually walked into the river spreading his arms as they floated in the water line until he disappeared into the deep water.

"What are you up to, Pyro?" Ron wondered, getting up on his feet and slowly moving towards the river.

Slowly Pyro reemerged from under the water clean from the white coating and his wounds started disappearing! They were healing almost instantly!

"The water?" Ron was perplexed. "But that doesn't…" He was cut short!

It took Ron by surprise. The ground was illuminated by sudden and rapid bursts of what seemed like lightning. But no sound came. Ron looked up and saw the moon… the freaking moon… growing in size and seemingly coming closer to earth! But it kept appearing and disappearing like a distorted hologram!

As soon as Ron saw a punch coming for him it had already impacted and he fell to the ground for it. He then heard Pyro chuckle.

"Heh… It is easy to distract you." It didn't take much to realize that Pyro had dashed through and knocked him to the ground. Ron was vexed but he rose to his feet and turned to brace himself.

"What was that?" He asked. He looked at the moon again while cautiously eyeing Pyro lest he planned to surprise him again. Once barely larger than a dot in the sky, the moon now was so big now that it seemed surreal and it covered one sixth of the sky! It seemed so close and so beautiful with the clouds covering some parts of it.

"I merely used your illusion to enhance your vision." Ron looked around. Even though it was apparently a hallucination the moon lightened up the atmosphere to the point where he could see where he was going but not much further.

"Fine you win." He surrendered but didn't let down his guard. You could never read his next move. "Now... TELL ME WHAT I WANNA KNOW."

"Oh no, Ron." He could see a smile nestled between his shadow-casting long hair strands. "You have to fight for it first. You must fight for the truth; To EARN your knowledge." Ron opened his mouth to protest but Pyro held up his hand to make him silent.

"Before you begin let me say this; you are not as lonely as you think you are." He dropped his hand and then moved towards him. "Your friend had been looking for you for a very long time." Ron's eyes widened, marking his surprise. "But this time she risked herself because I didn't allow any… indirect methods."

From a distance far away in the woods a scream echoed throughout the forest and reached their ears. Pyro turned his head the side, halfway in the direction of which the voice came. Then turned and grinned at Ron.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" This filled Ron with utter rage. He didn't even wait for an answer. He ran at him, but with the intention of running past him to save Kim. Knowing that Pyro may try to stop him, he feigned left then bolted right. Pyro fell for it at first by leaning left but instead of following him as Ron switched to right, he spun to the other direction and grabbed his captive by his jacket and threw him back where he was, using his own momentum and sweeping him off of his feet.

Before his fall could be counted as a faceplant he put his hands on the ground and kicked himself off the dirt and rolled back to his feet to face his tormenter in a battle stance.

Pyro brought his hand in front and conjured a threatening bright ball of fire.

"Whether you want to know what you've been drinking or you want to see your friend…" The conjurer glared at Ron and suddenly threw the sphere of flame at him. "You have to fight me first!"

Ron rolled to his right and out of the way. The fireball barely missed him and hit the ground about five feet away. When he looked back his eyes widened at the sight of the ground burning around them. They were in the middle of a ring of fire!

This might not turn out well but he had no other choice. With a long exhale of hot breath that formed a white cloud he emptied all the negative thoughts and worries. And with cold crisp breath in, he brought all of his attention to his would-be-mentor. The fire provided ample light for him to examine his opponent.

He was only wearing a dark brown, layered and possibly fur skirt and a pair of equally brown coverings of an unknown fabric that served as his shoes. Other than that his only covering was the cloak he removed earlier and some strange bundles of metal that were strapped to his arms. The barbaric wardrobe would leave anyone cold in this weather but he didn't seem to mind it at all!

The most notable aspect of his appearance was probably his green skin. Not pale as Shego's but a dark tone in its stead. Next was his imposing figure, one would say he had a very lean frame if not for his unnaturally developed flesh. First off, his forearm muscles looked to be actually bigger than his biceps; his moist abs were all shining in the moonlight. While they looked like they were worked out for an entire lifetime his body looked so thin and malnourished that ribs were poking out and flanking his pack from the top; if they could actually be called ribs, strangely twisted and formed as they were. Ron also noticed that Pyro's legs weren't as overly large as they have previously been which was very strange.

All in all, under the right conditions he could easily be portrayed as an bloodthirsty monster. And right now, he looked to be very savage one at that!

He faltered at the predatory gaze of the creature. How could he hope to defeat such a monster?

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH'

But suddenly another scream broke through the silence of the woods, setting all bets off in Ron's mind. He glared intently at his deadly opponent. Suddenly he did not care… he MUST get to Kim. At. All. Costs.

He charged at him, ready to deliver hell. But Pyro ran and leapt to come barreling down on him. The aerial strike would have knocked him off his feet if not for him rolling sideways.

As Pyro landed and crouched, he knew Ron will be retaliating with a counter attack. So he turned and deflected Ron's kick with his leg. Then with the same leg he shot Ron in his stomach. Ron grunted and slightly bent over but didn't let him attack him further by back-pedaling away from a punch that came for his head.

Next he threw a kick aimed at Pyro's abdomen but it was predictably blocked by his forearm. Pyro now aimed to strike his head but Ron dodged under the punch and rushed to his opponent's unprotected back. He quickly stomped the back of Pyro's knee and made him kneel.

Now his window was open to strike. He spun 360 degrees to build momentum and then kicked Pyro's head; or would have if Pyro didn't grab his ankle a few inches away from his own head and then hurled him unto the ground; and proceeded to beat the lights out of him.

This angered him. Pyro had hurt him and was doing something severely painful to a loved one. That alone was something that enraged anyone with a pinch of territorial instincts. For Ron… he was not only mad but something inside him had started…BURNING.

He's eyes serving as a minor exhaust point for his inner sapphire ignition; he grabbed a punch that was coming to him. He pulled Pyro's arm and propelled himself upwards to plant a fist to his attacker's face. Even though Ron had broken through tough wood before, the punch didn't faze his Pyro much, just enough time consuming to allow Ron to get up and prepare himself for the onslaught that he knew was coming.

They went at it again more vicious than ever, Pyro was more powerful and quick than he was originally letting on as his attacks would tend to put Ron off balance more often…

It was tough to open a strike window. Pain was all around his body, as rapid as lightning the pounding continued to wreck his sides. Pyro kept kicking his ribs so fast that he couldn't defend himself and squeeze in a counter attack at the same time.

The pain was so much he wanted to fall right there and admit his defeat, hollering from the pain and broken from all agony. But suddenly he remembered that the fight had gone on for a long time… uninterrupted by Kim's screams of pain!

…And at the times when Ron was losing, something would happen… some powerful energy would let itself loose…

At that moment something A LOT more potent that adrenaline filled his veins. He aimed his elbow at the incoming right kick. Ron's bone almost shattered from the impact but he felt little of it! Ron couldn't be sure if his deflection was painful for Pyro but the next strike surely came a little slower.

Ron was prepared for it. He swiftly grabbed and locked Pyro's left leg and smashed the same elbow on Pyro's knee. Then he smashed his knee on the other side of Pyro's with mighty strength.

Ron didn't expect Pyro to stay still and just accept the punishment. Surely enough Pyro retaliated with a left hook.

Ron let go of his leg and spun counter-clockwise to avoid the hook. By dodging the blow he brought himself closer to Pyro. So he used the momentum and elbowed him in the side of his face.

Pyro pulled his head away too late but he wasn't too distracted by the Ron's series of counter attacks. Pyro spun around and swiftly kicked Ron in the back of his right knee. Ron momentarily lost balance but he recovered just fast enough to raise his forearm in front of Pyro's right hook and deflect it.

Then he swiftly brought his right knee up and snapped his leg open to unleash a powerful kick on Pyro's chest.

He grunted and the kick knocked him back a two feet, giving enough space for Ron to execute a Philippine's spin kick.

Unfortunately, his deadly strike rested harmlessly in Pyro's hands with an audible thud. He suddenly pulled on his leg, drawing him in and planting a left uppercut on the underside of Ron's jaw, nearly breaking it!

With Ron momentarily stunned, Pyro spun on his heels, brought his left leg up and unleashed a powerful axe kick on the area between his neck and his shoulder.

Even though Ron moved to block the attack with his forearms, he wasn't fast enough and he felt the immense pain on his bone. He screamed with agony, but like a savage animal he primed the scream turned into an angry roar. He spun, tuning the last of his furious strength into his left hook.

Although surprised at the youngling's will, Pyro easily grabbed the unbalanced strike by his forearm. He twisted the arm to bend him over. This was not a simple submission move however. He placed his palm on Ron's stomach and, with unearthly might hidden in his usually underestimated body; he hurled the boy over his shoulder and over the circle of Fire around them!

Thankfully the boy landed mostly on his back but the back of his scalp took some damage. Pain wasn't the issue. It was the blur. He couldn't see clearly and his head was a whirlwind of blood. He couldn't control his limbs properly and was coughing up some blood. He deduced that this is what happens when you don't faint when you're supposed to.

"You're too weak to survive the procedure." The sad voice ushered him to tilt his head to his left. He saw Pyro approach him. He stood in the flames! The brightness of the fire below gave him a sinister contrast. His image was blurry but he could see him grab a pair of blades from seemingly nowhere. He was going to finish him off! He was done.

He saw Pyro coming closer to him. He didn't bother to keep his eyes open. Blackness overtook his vision as he fell into oblivion…

…into a dream world…

He opened his eyes to see the demise of Middleton…the arrival of the visitors…the end of hope and time…he saw the humans being hunted down by the shadows of oblivion. The last of the humans fell to the darkness…he then saw the shattered dark globe of what was once the planet of Earth…it was dark for a long time…then the surface shattered and lava erupted…it filled the pits of the planet and offered a global red and black contrast to the planet…dark towers of harvest were erected…they sucked the energy from the core of the planet…huge chunks of earth defied the failing gravity and flew to space…

Suddenly, from the edge of his vision, Ron saw a vortex appear in space. Even though sounds did not travel the through space, he heard lightening coming from it. The glow of the vortex tripled and he somehow felt that the vortex was ejecting an entity into the space. The glow disappeared and a powerful suckle drained the light of the planted of Jupiter itself. He felt the pull…it was surely a black hole.

The shadows inhabiting the Earth combined into big clusters and they took off to space. Ron felt their fear. They were fleeing the doom that awaited them if they stayed in the solar system. The pull stopped and darkness erupted from the black hole almost as fast as the speed of light. The clusters had no chance. Planets fell into darkness. Earth was next to fall. The fleeing shadows exploded and EVERYTHING succumbed into darkness…

…

Ron staggered himself slightly awake. He felt a high presence close by; multiple beings of great power. They were talking in a language he did not understand.

"…fallen one will eventually betray us one last ti…"

"…he is devious, granted…how..ca…that is severely farfetched…"

"…we..ha…no choice…we mus…all the energy in our possession…"

He could hear tad bits of their conversation in English; then they would revert back into the unrecognizable language…

"…enough of this for now. He has awakened…"

Ron felt like they were talking about him. He opened his eyes to see nothing but white brightness; pure whiteness… and yet he felt that his left cheek had pressure on it. He realized that he was on the ground.

He put his hands on the ground and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He could hardly believe his eyes! There standing in a short distance in front of him where these tall creatures he had never seen the likes of…ever before…

He could see four of the strange humanoids. But their images were blurry; which was strange, considering he could see his hands clearly.

They turned to him and the one in the center spoke to him. But he didn't understand a word of it. Another creature to the left of the speaker told him something and pointed at him. This one had a leaner frame which led Ron to assume it was female.

The male in the center acknowledged her and held his hands in front of him. They emitted a faint glow and he pulled them apart, tearing through the blur and offering a clear vision to Ron.

"Ah, this is better. The connection was waning but now it has been re-established. Greetings Earthling." The center creature explained to him in a mechanized old and deep voice that echoed throughout his mind.

They were so tall they looked down upon him. They wore a sort of robe crossed with armor. Their white attire was adorned with shinning material and engraved with runes so beautiful they beamed with pride. Their arms were long and they had each had four long and white bangs attached to the back of their head. Ron wasn't sure if they were hair though, considering their exposed flesh had the color of dark blue and the bangs were mildly floating in air. They could be part of the outfit but one couldn't be sure. Their legs were not visible as they could be hidden beneath their skirt or simply non-existent.

They each wore different helmets to cover their faces. Their face had a rhombic frame with the bottom slightly stretched downwards where the mouth would be. One couldn't see anything that resembled an eyeball in their sockets but blue and hypnotic lights in their stead.

Ron didn't know whether he should be scared or gape at them in awe. In the end he chose to gape like an idiot.

"We are known as the Xel'Naga, or so our creations have dubbed us. In your language it would be 'Wanderers from afar'. Not very descriptive but we prefer it that way." The seemingly older one introduced his kind.

"Ah…A...are you gods?" Ron was dumbstruck. If they weren't, they sure looked like it. Ron was technically Jewish but he never took it seriously. After the things he's been through, he was just about ready to believe anything. Even to accept that there is more than one God.

"Huh, Terrans…" The female huffed; amused by Ron's stupidity. "As primitive as they are, they will evolve their intellectual strengths; even though common sense will never be one of them."

They broke into a hearty short yet chuckle as Ron just looked at them confused, like a kid too young to get an inside joke. What's a Terran?

"Indeed…huh…huh…! Oh, do not affiliate us with your specie's deities, youngling." A male to the right explained to him. His helmet had most of the lower section of his face exposed, just showing skin where at least one mouth should be. They had no mouths! They must be communicating via telepathic means. Holy nacos paraded inside Ron's mind! "We had no hand in your kind's creation and we were no less mortal than you are."

"Besides, our life giving and gene manipulating days are over. And that may be for the best." The older one to the far left said to the Ron. "I wonder if we should refer to his kind as humans, considering they call themselves so instead of Terrans at this stage."

"Oh, so we're Terrans! Wait, wha…?" Ron wondered out loud.

"I concur… Now, we have more important matters to convey to him." The tall one in the middle brought the conversation back into focus. "You are the one they call Ron; a human of young age, chosen to be inhabited by the spirit of the champion of the Khala."

"We are not sure what he saw in you. But we are the last ones to underestimate subtlety." The elder added.

"Yes, you'd do well not to disappoint us. But we will try to help you with that. So here we are… to help you understand."

"No doubt, you are eager for answers. So let us begin." Ron swallowed the lump in his throat. He asked for it many times. But now that it was here… He wasn't sure if he's ready to hear it. "You should have noticed the abnormal changes in your mind and body by now. You currently wield roughly three times the amount of energy you could have possibly absorbed through the sustenance in your daily meals."

"Yeah, I couldn't understand that." Ron thought back on it. "So it was that vial, right? But I don't understand how a simple drink can give me so much energy, one that tastes like dirt..."

"Vial?" The tall humanoid questioned him. "Unfortunately, I know not of this… drink you speak of."

"Well, uhh… Pyro gave me…oh wait…" He realized they probably didn't know him either. "Well there was this really scary guy I met at my school's field trip..." He started explaining but as he progressed he realized he had to say some other stuff to explain the stuff he was currently explaining. It was a stuffy situation. And Ron was so caught up in his rant that he failed to notice the alien in the middle slightly lower his gaze in sorrow. The female looked away, the elder closed his eyes but the other male just stared at him in deep focus.

"Now, you'd think he's scary but when you get to know him… He's actually worse than mister Barkin. Well the sadistic punishment is worse but he's not as loud; the guy's pain in the ass to be perfectly honest..." The middle humanoid brought his gaze back on him. He was still mumbling about one thing or the other.

"Pyro…" His weary and heavy voice echoed loud into his mind to silence him. "…One of the many titles of the dark one, given to him by his victims no less. A youngling who was left orphaned by his late creators, had his saviors and home torn down and brought to ashes before his very eyes, left to die in between conflicts…"

Ron felt slack and fell silent. He felt stumped by all this; to know this much about the misery of someone you hated was the equivalent of having a bucket of ice cold water dumped on you. But the humanoid was not done and after a short pause, what he said next terrified him.

"He should have died. There was no way… no way he could have mustered up all that strength." Ron felt the alien gazing off into the artificial horizon as he spoke these words. "But there was something wrong with that one; an unnatural aura of dread in his veins that day. He bent the reality of war and slaughtered and burned millions that set against each other. Some had done him wrong. Most were merely in the way."

"He is indeed the one who oversees your training from now on." The other male spoke, shifting the conversation back into focus. "We have finally persuaded him to help guide you. Now we have taken a great risk at hiring his assistance and I am personally still skeptical towards this but as my companions have reminded me, we have absolutely no other choice."

"You see Pyro is…complicated; more so than you can imagine." The female tried to clarify. "He is unstable and as a result…very powerful. He can be manipulative, even to the extent to drive men into believing he is a saint. He can make unity and order fall to chaos and back again. He serves no leader neither does he pose as one. And yet he can pull the strings and drive factions to work to his bidding."

"He tends to train disciples; agents to help him in this endeavor. He grinds them to their breaking point… then he grinds them further. He kills and remakes them many times until their minds and bodies are viable for his intentions. Only shadows meant to serve as a proxy, unstable just like him, deadly just about like him!"

"We will be honest and upfront with you. We have requested him to break you, not as a shadow to serve as his proxy but as a beacon for the Khala." The other male added.

"What's this Khala? What are you going to do to me?!" Ron cried out as he felt he was getting more questions bogging his mind than answers to clear things up.

"Do not be frightened. Answers will come in due time. And then you will be given a choice. Ultimately, it will be up to you whether you want to pursue our directions or not." The one in the center calmed him.

"And why would I?" There was a pause as the humanoid developed his answer.

"Everyone with compassion protects his loved ones. But there is limit to how much effort he puts into it. Death usually stops them all."

"The vision you saw…is our gift to you." The female spoke. He remembered. "Now tell us how much would you give to prevent the destruction of everything we know?"

Ron felt cold. He remembered the vision he had. He thought of it as only a bad dream. "Are you telling me that was real?"

"It will happen and the fallen one will terminate all of the corresponding timelines; yours included." The other male answered.

"NO!" Ron shouted with anger. "THAT CAN'T HAPPEN."

"Adun tells us that you will come to see our reason and you will push beyond death to prevent it. Will you?!" The male in the middle stepped forward and spoke louder. "Pyro sees you as a failure because of your inability to defeat him. HE IS ABOUT TO KILL YOU! And he won't bring you back!"

All the aliens joined and held each other's hands. "FOR THE SAKE OF ALL YOU HOLD DEAR, DO NOT LET HIM. PROVE YOUR WORTH AND STRIKE HIM DOWN IN THE NAME OF THE KHALA!"

Ron felt their tremendous energy coursing through his veins. He felt powerful. He glowed with power. He closed his hurting eyes and cried out at the top of his lungs!

…

He opened his eyes to see the blade coming to his throat. He wouldn't let it happen!

He brought his right hand in between and tried to backhand the blade away. But instead of the slashing sound the blade would have made upon meeting his flesh, there was a sound of metal clashing! Moreover, his hand was so bright he couldn't make it out!

He felt none of the pain. He willed his himself back to his feet. He twirled and swung the glowing entity at Pyro to slash his gut. The same entity he once thought of as his hand.

Pyro was quick on his feet though. He leapt backwards to dodge him. He then took a moment to examine the otherworldly creature before him.

"I'm impressed Ron. You warped in a psi blade!" Pyro praised him as he put his blades back to…wherever he pulled them out of earlier.

Ron was perplexed as he saw the glow slowly dim and his hand which was still there. But now he was holding a glowing blade; one that felt familiar.

"Oh I see." Pyro pulled a beautifully engraved, curved and black blade from the scabbard on his back which was hidden under his cloak from before. "This isn't just any psi blade. It's the one you humans call the Lotus blade!"

Ron felt shocked. He looked at it again to see a thick dark blue mist covering it. He brought the blade above his head then shook it back down to disperse the cloud. He saw an exact replica of the sword Pyro had; only this one was glowing white…

"Now are you ready to die as a victor?" Came the cryptic question.

He didn't know how to answer that. But he did answer!

"YES, WE ARE!" He shouted with a confidence that surprised himself.

…Ron wasn't sure if he was himself anymore, but he knew he was in absolute control and he could feel every fiber of his being respond to his opponent with unbridled power.

…The twin blades clashed against each other at speeds only veteran swordsmen had. They were dancing and it was a dance of death…

Ron was incredibly fast on his feet, a lot more than he previously was. His footing was precise. Quick steps came to him naturally. He wouldn't think about that. All of his attention was set on his enemy. He was unpredictable and fast, uncanny and powerful. They were a complete match in battle! They weren't mirror images but opposites and contrasts of each other.

Pyro's sword cut through a part of his hood and slashed his face. Pulling back wasn't the perfect dodge but he didn't die so he didn't feel it. He just pushed himself and went back into it.

Pyro had a series of cuts and jab wounds on his body himself. But they disappeared pretty quickly. Ron noticed this but felt powerless to do anything about it. He knew his mentor was making it easy for him. He, on the other hand, was at his edge…

He ducked under a slash and dashed to another side. He felt like he was running out of time. Soon he would tire and his opponent would claim him.

It was almost obvious. Pyro was standing upright, keeping his sword hidden at his flank, staring at Ron, keeping a calm and subtle stature. On the other hand Ron was panting heavily, choosing to opt a crouching stance. He was savage so far, landing a few strikes in but suffering heavily himself.

"The boy can take it. Give him more power before I kill him!" Pyro suddenly ordered. Ron had no idea who he was talking to but strangely his lips moved and uttered and answer.

"How observant of you!" Ron replied in an annoyed tone. He didn't know what caused him to say it but he didn't think much about it. He had to focus on his opponent now.

Ron stepped forward and struck downwards only for Pyro to block him. Ron's sword was occupied so Pyro tried to kick him away. But Ron was quick and he stomped his leg back down. Upon seeing this Pyro used his upper body strength to push the locked swords aside and then he punched Ron's forehead. Ron felt a little dazed but he immediately struck Pyro's left.

Pyro was surprised at the speed of his recovery but he managed to raise his forearm to block the sword. He then immediately palmed it down. There was some sort of metal strapped to his forearm to cover the damage.

Ron decided to follow the momentum of his sword and spun around to land a wide attack. However Pyro was waiting for such an opportunity. He intercepted the blade, making it seem like he was parrying him. As they locked swords he suddenly took a step forward, angled his blade almost vertically upwards, then he brought the tip down to the other side of Ron's sword. All the while applying pressure to all sides and confusing Ron as to why he was demonstrating this move. Once the tip went below his blade, Pyro immediately yanked his sword up, catching his enemy off-guard, disarming him and throwing the other sword several feet away.

Ron had no time to take in the loss as Pyro offered no mercy, taking another step forward and swinging at his neck. Luckily, Ron was fast enough to duck under it and to his left. Pyro didn't stop his onslaught though. Chaining up his attack he took another step and swung at the other side of his neck. Ron responded with another duck to his right. Pyro seeing him back-pedaling decided to risk a leap forward while spinning around to cut at his flesh!

Ron leapt and leaned back as the blade was swung at him.

"Fast evasion yet still…" Pyro observed as he eased his stance and brought his sword down.

Ron suddenly felt stinging pain etched across his stomach. He held his hand to it and brought it in his view. Blood!

The slash had deeply cut through his jacket and flesh. Ron staggered backwards while keeping his determined eyes on Pyro and covering his wound as best as he could with his hands. All the while Pyro was calmly and slowly moving towards him.

As soon as Ron distracted himself by checking his wound again Pyro dashed and unleashed a flurry of hooks that overwhelmed Ron. He had a hard time dodging because he couldn't clench his gut. Finally Pyro knocked through his guard and hit his stomach with so much force that doubled over and lifted Ron off of his feet.

He fell, feeling pain worse than he ever had before. He just wept there, growling in utter pain behind clenched teeth.

"A basic reality of warfare." Pyro declared while raising his blade as Ron barely managed to rise into a kneeling position. "Offence is the best defense. This is what you get for backing out when you should have been countering."

He was ready to end Ron's life but then he heard something that made him reevaluate everything.

"I knew you'd let your guard down!" Ron whispered. He suddenly cried as he lunged at Pyro, tackling him. The twin blue glowing eyes took Pyro by surprise. He could only assume it was powers that were re-awakening.

Ron noticed that, even though his tackle had enough force to throw a young horse off his hooves, Pyro was quick to adapt by regaining proper footing. He instead clenched his fists and started smashing them against Pyro's abdomen. Suddenly he changed his plan of attack. He reached around his body and grabbed Pyro's blade by its hilt, spun around and elbowed his opponent's face, pulling the sword and efficiently disarming him.

Before Pyro had the chance to stagger back to recover, Ron took a stride forward after spinning and slashed Pyro's cheek and some of his hair as he barely managed to pull back in time.

Instead of circling around and waiting for another opening, Ron decided to keep pressing the momentum. He lunged forward and brought his newly acquired blade down on his opponent.

Seemingly staggered, Pyro sprang back to action and deftly grabbed the sword by the both sides before it could be buried in his skull, his hands safely away from the sharp edges.

"Aaaghh…" Ron kept pushing the blade down but it was no use. Even if he did match Pyro in strength, he had no good leverage. Momentum was lost but at that moment something shimmered in the background and Ron saw it way behind Pyro. He had an idea.

He brought his right fist down, clenching it while keeping a strong grip on his blade so Pyro wouldn't yank it away. Strangely he also closed his eyes and lowered his head. Pyro had little notion as to what he was going to do so he kept his absolute focus on Ron's body movements… A wrong move that cost him victory…

Ron pulled his hand back fiercely and Pyro felt great pain as something tore through his flesh and was now jutting out of his body. Looking down he saw himself impaled by the Lotus blade!

He grunted as he pulled back and let go of the other blade. Ron saw the opportunity and took it. He quickly stepped forward, took a long stride, planted his feet behind Pyro's and stabbed him in his chest, hopefully piercing his heart…

…

Ron opened his eyes and was met with an unbelievable sight.

The hilt of the weapon was still in his hands. He was kneeling upon the body of his master; blood trickling down his chin and joining his master's. One bright blade had torn through Pyro's abdomen and his own dark one that was sitting in his chest. Pyro was struck down by his own pupil, as he was instructed to do.

All was silent save for Ron's ragged breathing. Even the flames had died down. It was dark but he felt no fear, only confusion.

Ron wondered about his fate. What now? He had killed his master as he was provoked to do but it felt eerie. It even somehow felt wrong. As if it wasn't supposed to happen. How in the world did he do it anyway?

He never felt so powerful, so strong in his entire life!

"But how…?" Ron contemplated. He felt dizzy at times when he was fighting, like as if he was going to lose his footing or get his head cut off at any moment. But he fought on anyway. It felt instinctive. It felt eerie…it felt like a dream.

"Instinct? It never helped me before…" It sounded strange but life has been surprising him recently. It could be it. He accepted it as a temporary explanation and tried to stand up. He had more important matters on his mind for now.

Suddenly tremendous pain shot throughout his body and pulled him into a crawl. Whatever that was blocking out all the pain was out of his system now. With little strength he had left he painfully limped to a nearby tree to rest against its bark. He then tried to get up, using the tree as leverage but failed.

"…Ughh, don't bother…She's not here…you won't find her…" The voice chilled him for a second as he realized who it belonged to!

"What..?!" Ron turned his head to stare at the one-presumed-dead with disbelief!

"Mmm…She was never here…at least not when you arrived…" Pyro cringed as he pulled out the dark blade from his body.

Ron struggled as he finally got up to his feet, alarmed for another battle. He watched as Pyro struggled to pull the other sword out while rolling to his side to ease the removal.

Using both hands, he finally pulled it out. Slowly but calmly getting back up, as if he was never in any danger. This frightened Ron. The poor boy had little hope of beating him again. Let alone the fact that Pyro can simply walk away from a finisher like that.

He couldn't see his wounds, now that (for some reason) it was dark again. The 'moon' was tiny again. But he was sure that there had to be, not one, but two deep holes in his chest and abdomen. How he was standing, he didn't know.

Pyro turned him. No visible threat to be detected in his body language (which is perhaps even scarier than the alternative). As if the fight was over…and practically, it was so…

"What?" Ron failed to keep his composure as his words were drenched in fear. "How? I killed you. I JUST KILLED YOU!"

"Let us not get emotional; killing is harder than it looks." He spoke sternly as he strode forward, quickly forgetting to hold his hands over his injuries. "Though the concept of severing the major blood veins come to mind, one has to also think of the opponent whose body can adapt to such harsh situations."

"Right…you can heal…very fast…" Ron sighed. He disbelieved every word as soon as they came out of his mouth. "I can't believe I'm just accepting this."

"Right, now that we've reached comprehension, to an extent; let us move on to contemplate as to what's to be done with you." It almost felt like they were having a civilized conversation there. Pyro's deep yet gentleman-ish tone was certainly helping.

Ron's eyes widened. Good rarely came outta that.

"…First of all, your prize!" Pyro spoke as he crossed his arms. "You wanted answers. Now ask. I'll answer the ones you're ready to know."

"Where is Kim?" Ron felt somewhat relived. But he was still holding his breath.

"In her bedroom, still asleep…presumably." He answered without hesitation. His question was predicted.

"…What did you do to her?" He asked suspiciously. Pyro slightly frowned.

"Nothing harmful. And that is all you'll know for tonight." Ron didn't like that answer; though he felt Pyro's tone getting rather assertive. "I suggest you change your line of questioning."

"Right…" Ron felt skeptical about it. "What about Rufus?"

"Still Alive. He could have been worse but he is rapidly improving."

"That's awesome." He sighed in relief. "Now about me...what were in all those vials you had me drink?"

"That is a good question." Pyro was content with that as he uncrossed his arms and turned around to start walking. He explained.

"To explain what I had you drink will more than likely confuse you. Let me instead explain its purpose, many purposes in fact. But only one of which concern you. So I will center on that."

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow an extra limb…to fly…to grow strong , smart or fast…to EVOLVE?" Ron moved to followed Pyro and thought the possibilities. "So many ways to evolve…"

"But the drink doesn't do that to you." He suddenly turned to face him. "Rather, it prepares you for it. So many have tried to manipulate their own genes only to discover that they have only served to destabilize it. The results…they're not pleasing." He shook his head and turned to walk away again.

"So my method is to take things slowly, to let the subject gradually improve so he or she doesn't turn into a miserable abomination. This is where the drink comes in. It coaxes the flesh and mind to evolve. It challenges you. It fights you. It will also give you headaches but you drank all you had to as evident by your display of prowess. Now it's time for the gene manipulation stage..."

"Wait, wait, wait… I didn't agree to be your damn guinea pig, Pyro!" Ron lashed out. Pyro in turn frowned at his outburst and answered with a fierce tone of voice.

"We may not have signed contracts but I know, deep down, you still prefer this over the life you had! I know you had no goal in life prior to our sessions. This way you can live to fulfill a purpose…even though it was not of your choosing…" Pyro dropped his tone. "Besides, you are the only one who can do it."

Ron felt conflicted as he huffed and crossed his arms. "I don't…am I really?" He had no self-esteem apparently. Pyro saw this…and he allowed himself to smile.

"Ronald, you've done nothing to prove me otherwise!" Ron looked up to him confused as to what he heard was true. He heard a vote of confidence!

Suddenly Pyro dropped his smile and scowled. "Ron…the procedure isn't done; whatever pain you've been through until now…it's just the start. What's worse is that…" He stopped mid-sentence and moved his hands towards his opposite shoulders and grabbed the pieces of metal that were strapped to them.

Ron squinted to see what he was doing. Suddenly he backed up when Pyro quickly unclasped the metal pieces and spun each in his hands. The pieces unrolled and turned into a pair of deadly scythe blades!

"…Before I move on with the procedure…I'm going to have to kill you." He spoke as he dangerously moved forward.

"Hold a sec; I thought the fight was over!" Ron backed up again and called the Lotus blade to him. It flew swiftly back into the hands of the owner.

"Ah the Lotus blade. It has my blood on it. But it won't save you this time." He seemed too sure of it as he didn't even falter in his onward stride. "Say, you may find out another mystery by simply looking at it…"

Ron was confused but as he examined his blade realization dawned on him. It disgusted him. It terrified him. Then again he had no time to bend over and throw up about it.

After barely two seconds, after a clash and a swoosh, Ron found himself impaled on a scythe with his blade nowhere in sight.

His body shook in seizure then he coughed out blood. He was barely able to register it. He thought he had Pyro's moves down by now. He thought he was fast enough to respond. But he wasn't; not fast enough for Pyro when he truly wanted to kill. It was evident by the mere fact that he was inches above the ground…impaled by his master's blade.

As Ron struggled to take in the pain and shakingly remove himself from the death hook, Pyro moved closer to his ear and whispered. "Save your energy, Ron. You'll need it when you are fighting death..."

Pyro pulled out the blade and threw him over his shoulder. Ron blacked out instantly.

…

"Dra'ul, Heat up the recreational chamber. Elevate the pool and keep the outpost on high alert. It's time to initiate project redemption."

"Subject. Human."

"I know. Let us hope Adun wasn't acting on humor when he chose him."

"Adun. Unknown factor. Subject's survival rate minimum. Invalid for project. Stronger subject recommended."

"Wrong Dra'ul, this one will survive. His mind is prone to shattering. But it has psionic potential. He shall surpass his human limits in the chamber. He shall become a harbinger and then something greater."

"Psionic development hazardous for humans. Energy overflow. Psionic leak imminent after procedure. Subject prone to insanity. Also prone to feral aggression."

"His purpose and desires will set his path. It shall keep him from getting astray. It may seem implausible and yet you shall see the differ. I promise you that."

"Promise. Meaningless."

"They are, aren't they. The meaning of promise is lost to you. You understand only subjection by force and chain of command…So let me put this in another way…"

"I. COMMAND. INITIATION."

"…"

"Proceeding to initiate pre-programmed protocols."

"Splendid."

…Author's Notes…

FINALLY! I finished the damn chapter. I feel like screaming to the world…until someone tells me to shut up…then scream some more…

So, I tend to ramble and get side-tracked so let me make this short. (Or at least try to)

1. I plan to add review sections to my chapters so people can see my answers and not bother asking me the same stuff. It's a shame that fanfiction isn't like any other website and doesn't bother to make a proper comment section were the replies can be seen. But maybe it has an underlying reason to it. Meh, what do I know?

2. The 'mystery' that Pyro mentioned is should be easy to figure out. Nah, it's not. So theorize people. I hope you all get it. Otherwise I'll drop a hint.

3. Yes, Rufus was never dead. And I don't intend to kill him...I think...

4. Pyro's favored weapon is his customized double-bladed scythe and I'll describe it's complications later on.

5. I know my battle scenes are a pain to read but I'll improve it; aiming towards shorter and more descriptive terms. They are very hard to write but a good author knows how to make the reading fluent. We all know this battle happened lot faster than the time it takes to read it. I want to change that.

6. I love the feedback; your messages give me goosebumps. So remember! If you want to give me a heart attack just leave a review! I welcome critical feedback too. It keeps my ego balanced if nothing else.

7. Every review probably means another update so I'll PM you directly (If you want to have a chat) AND give my response in the chapter.

7. I probably won't make my chapters this long anymore so that means shorter but faster updates.

8. My other story 'The Withering Lotus' is a story narrated by Ron himself (Not really himself by you get the point). How he copes with hardships and his moralities will be tested. And it might have two endings…just like this story.

That's all for now. I'll see you in the next update. Farewell ;)

But wait! The reviews are already rolling in soooo...

COMMENTS' REPLY TIME!

The first subject goes by the alias of 'Harbinger Of Kaos'. Name unknown. Age unknown. Subject displays a confusingly odd profile pic. The word 'Kaos' is suspected to be misplaced with or a misspelled 'Konfusion'. His message reads:

Harbinger Of Kaos: "What was with the StarCraft references?"

(We see as this, once again, Konfusing reviewer forgets to clarify his question. Further interrogation has revealed that he actually meant:)

"...As for the review I forgot to add, that is it still an AU with minor reference of SC or will it crossover with StarCraft in some form?"

My answer: "After I'm done with the 'So The Drama' episode I'll send poor old Ron to the StarCraft universe and eventually bring him back. At least he'll have the support of four people who will stand by his side...so you could say it's a crossover."

The second subject is all famous...all reviewing...all narrative...CanjunBear73! One of the four hosts of the annual kimmie whatever awards (too lazy to check the name). YAY!

CajunBear73: "Now to see what Ron is to become, and if Kim has a place with him..."

Ma answer: "Hey, Glad to see you again. And I apologize for the late response.

Welp, Pyro calls them harbingers but what do I know? Maybe it's a sort of Sports car. Ya! That's probably it. :D

Ever so concerned of Kim's destiny, eh? Alright, I won't have Ron ditch her for any other girl if that's what you want...

Nuggets: But I thought it was already planned out to be Kim.

SHUT UP! Don't go yappin' spoilers to the readers...!"

Hold on. We have an anonymous review from someone who calls himself 'Guest'...

Guest:"Amazin plot and nice characterisation of coldly competent ron I hope you update soon."

Ma answer: "Wow, Thanks a ton! It's good to know I've managed to depict his emotions accordingly. I'm pretty self-conscious about that; always worrying about it and such.

Another issue I want to talk about is Ron losing his bubbly character. I hate having to change him and people have been worrying about it but fret not! He is merely responding to intense scenarios. He will get used to it eventually..."

I'd rather have my reviewers login so I can talk to them if needed so bear that in mind. It's nicer knowing there are personalities behind every review.

Next up. We have someone(place) called 'SecretPlace'. Reality Confusion. WARNING! ERROR ERROR ERROR!

SecretPlace: "This is really good! Update soon."

Maaa anserw: "ARRGH...NUUUU! I...MUST...PROCAS...TINATE..."

Systems Rebooting...

It's heart-warming to see new reviews again. Wow...I missed this...

Final Edit (rant): Huh...Reading this after two years of absence is a weird experience. Especially considering what I plan to do to it. Okay, I'll just get to it. I'm ending the story. Skip to the list at the end for the reasons why. For now, let's talk about the story.

Ya know, I'd like to think this story is a piece of glorified shit. Or maybe not. Listen, it had a good short run but let's be honest. It's VERY unprofessional. The lines are cringey, the story has no solid structure, has obvious teen angst oozing into the story and worst of all, I give out too much information where I should just leave to the imagination of the reader. And ugh... the authors notes are the cherry on the top. Needy as HELL. It make me wanna vomit.
I think my only selling point was...well... not knowing but having an inkling for what is needed to hook in the readers and create a sense of mystery.

And I think I knew how horribly inept I was. I was desperately searching for criticism as you can see. At least I had that going for me. I knew I was the shit but very inexperienced. My intuition told me I was doing a lot of things wrong. Yet, I had no one to guide me. Still though, It's funny because I had enough ego to advise other authors like I knew what the hell I was talking about Lol... look at the ego on that spring chicken. Meh...at least It wasn't all garbage.

Having said all that, I think I did the best thing I could with my limited knowledge. START WRITING. As a youngling, you shouldn't be afraid of judgement. You have a sensitive ego and you don't wanna get hurt. It's your unconscious mind trying to keep you in the safe zone where you don't develope. So I swallowed up my ego and started writing, holding my breath until the inevitable backlash hits me.

Unfortunately for me, it barely hit. The good thing about this site is that you get a lot of exposure from by riding on top of giant franchises. That was smart of me. I wanted lots of Immediate feedback so I targeted this site. And made an edgy lowkey clickbait summary that grabbed a lot of attention. Good move.

Bad news, the site is populated by other angsty teens that eat up my edginess like a fat kid does cake. In return they gave tons of validation. You reap what you sow. My story was targeted at those fat kids so I shouldn't be surprised if my cake is gone. Why am I ragging on this? Simple. I wanted to improve. I was waiting for some badass to tell me my story ain't shit, tell me why and point me towards a golden article about how to be write an actually epic tale, or something like that. My ego didn't want that though. It wanted more validation.

I've grown older, I have more wisdom and my thoughts are more organized now. I'm aware of social-power dynamics and different story elements I've been COMPLETELY ignorant of before. That means if I had time to sit down and write an actual story, it would be epic. But even now I need more practice. I'm sure if I wrote something, years later, hell even months later I'd look at it with disgust.

I know, I imagine reading this mustn't be pleasant if you thought the story was 'awesome' or whatever. In fact, I'm shitting on your opinion now. For that, I don't apologize. But don't take it personally because A) I'm being overly harsh on purpose. B) I'm an asshole. C) This rant is more for me than you. Ya'know, a final nail on the coffin.

And finally, here's where I talk about the reasons for ending the story. They are listed in no particular order.

1) I have no time for it and my priorities are different now.
Seriously, that boogey man writers talk about, REAL LIFE... It comes for us all. I don't want to end up sleep on the streets because of my passion for imagination and maybe getting lucky and writing a bestseller. I want to live in glory instead of dreaming about my imaginary characters living in glory. I want long-term happiness, and I have to sacrifice a lot for it. This story is a minor sacrifice. The author in me has to go to hibernation for now.

2) The Kim possible universe and its characters aren't fit for where I wanted to take them.
It's a good show but obviously, It's a kid's show. The fact that it's good makes people stick around but it's still immature and very unrealistic.

3) My philosophy has changed and it has put me at odds with the show.
Years later, I look at the franchise and see a depressing premise where a friend-zoned chump follows a girl around trying to put kindness coins into her until sex falls out. The 'You go gurl' female empowerment undertones are everywhere, accompanied by emasculated and incompetent males almost everywhere. I mean, really... Ron and Drakken's incompetence is the comic relief. And it's so well done it's the major charm of the show. The damage is done when young boys watch it and see Ron as a role model who's happy to be Kim's lapdog and is finally rewarded in the end with Kim's love (NEWS FLASH: Nice guys don't get the hot girls in the when they are most attractive, it only happens when she's over thirty and needs someone to pay the bills, or when she's temporarily tired of hot guys and wants someone to listen to their problems, not that sex happens there a lot either. That's what they mean by nice guys finish last). Indoctrination at it's best.

There is one other reason but that one's private.

So yeah, that's it. Take me off of your alert list cause I'll probably never return to the story. Maybe I'll recycle the premise and write a story about an alpha(Pyro) that teaches the beta(Ron) how to be a badass and stop worshipping girls. The former love of his life(Kim) gets heartbroken, climbs down from the high horse to be more humble but realises that it's too late and the new badass is now fucking girls left and right and she's gotta be more careful to keep a part of him to herself. Oh, it would have been epic and very educational for the angsty teens who can relate to Ron. Shame it has to go...