"Royce, stop it!" Kyle shouted at the top of his lungs.
But that was all he could do. Shout with the remainder of his energy. With both legs shattered, his Peace Maker too far out of his reach and Shepard getting civilians to safety, there was nothing stopping his friend. Tears welled up in Kyle's eyes as he watched Royce drain the life force out of William.
William, one of the strongest men he had ever seen, was now reduced to a frail, weakened mess. His cheeks sunken in and his eyes hollow, William glared into the eyes of his former best friend, who in return flashed his trademark shark grin. This man was not his friend, nor was he ever. If he was to die like this, he'd die by Loki's hand, not by Royce's. William closed his eyes for the last time.
"Royce!"
Many months earlier….

Part One: The Peacemaker

Chapter 1: Kyle

I never knew the rain could beat down on us this hard in Florida.
It's 10:53 AM, October 31st, 2022, my birthday. The weather forecast had said that there'd be some heavy rain this morning, but never has it rained this hard, and on my birthday of all days. I pulled my orange hood up on top of my wet blue hat and picked up the pace, my bag getting wetter and wetter, jeans soaked and shoes squishy as jell-o. William's house was a few blocks away from mine, so you'd think I wouldn't be complaining.

Sorry, sorry. Where are my manners, right? I think a formal introduction is in order.

My name's Kyle. Kyle Pierce if you're feeling fancy. For a 24 year old kid, I've made quite the living. I don't mean to brag, but you can call me a mechanical prodigy. Graduated high school at 16, then went to college to study engineering, mechanics. Hell, even quantum physics. I breezed right on through those four years, living by myself. Kinda got tired of school, so I moved back home with my Mom and baby sister, Zoey. Money was tight for those two after I was sent to college. You'd think this "mechanical prodigy" would have gotten a scholarship. With Zoey only seven years old and Mom working three low paying jobs, the two of them couldn't go on without me. Throughout college, I sent many of my inventions back home for Mom to sell. Zoey couldn't sell anything, since she had developed a case of Vrolik's Syndrome, Osteogenesis Imperfecta if you're feeling fancy, and no one wanted to buy anything from a woman in her early forties that couldn't explain how it worked. I took my toys down to a local museum, hoping someone would walk up to me and, in a fancy Englishman accent, ask me, 'Excuse me, fine lad. What is that peculiar contraption you have in your hand?' And I'd tell him, 'Sir, this here is the KP -77. Hoverboard, if you don't feel like saying KP-77.'

That's exactly what happened. Of course, I didn't get a man with an English accent. Come to think of it, the woman didn't even have the accent.
No, just an ordinary woman interested in my machine. She wanted to know how it what it did and if I could make more. Her name was Lauren Braun, Chief of Crestview Police Department, and she wanted to know if I could make any more HKs. To be honest, she really wanted to see if I could make anything that would benefit her workforce. I told her that I could, but making one took a large amount of work, and an even larger amount of materials. She said that she and her husband would take care of that, and all I had to do was just build the stuff. That's how I met William Braun. William was a tall, stocky African American guy. Nice haircut and an awesome goatee. Will was Mrs. Braun's husband, and he worked in the judicial branch of government. He was a cop of Crestview Police, had a strong sense sense of heart, wanted justice to be served no matter what and knew how to handle an assortment of guns. After I had discussed business with his wife, Will took me down to Starbucks, where we got to know each other a little more. 'If you're going to be working with my wife, I gotta know something about you, K.'. That was his nickname for me. Like Agent K from Men in Black. We talked for hours; him telling me about how many cases he solved and who he busted along the way, me telling him about my time in college. Good times, I might add. Didn't want the man to think I was a sex-crazed runt that would hit on his wife. We've been good friends since then.
Yes, a twenty-four year old genius became good, no, best friends with a forty-year old cop after some coffee. What can I say? Frappuccino brings people together.
I've made hoverboards, hovercrafts, weapons that no longer needed bullets or shells and lots of other things that benefited not just the CPD, but all of America. There were many more people interested in working with me, and soon I was being paid in the millions every couple of months. Life was good for me and my family. We managed to buy a new house and paid off those annoying student loans. Yes, life was very good.

But enough about my origins.

Lauren and William lived in an average sized home. It had a chimney, a two car garage and a nice green lawn. Add a white picket fence and they'd have something that resembled the classic American Dream.
I jogged up to the porch, admiring the sexy Venom GT Bugatti in the driveway and let myself in. They wouldn't mind a short, soaked to the bone hooded figure busting into storming into their front door on a rainy Halloween night. William was sitting in his red leather recliner, sporting a red plaid shirt with a brown sweater on top, along with some jeans and loafers (oh dear God) and watching some sports when I came in. He turned his head towards me and smiled.

"K! My boy! Come on in, come right on in. Happy birthday to us, right?" He stood up from his chair and shook my outstretched wet hand.

I forgot to mention that I share a birthday with my best friend. Well, my two best friends.

"Where's Royce? He late or something?" I asked, denying the couch and sitting on the hardwood floor, leaning against the couch. Pulling off my hood and taking off my hat, I smoothed back my brown hair, getting some water out and onto the floor. William had gone into the kitchen to get something. Hopefully some lemonade.
"Royce is in the bathroom trying to dry that jacket of his with Lauren's hair-dryer." the detective called back, "He should be out by now."
I couldn't help but chuckle at that. Royce took pride in his appearance. He always made sure his slick raven hair was in his preferred style, if his pants never sagged and if he always had his shoes tied. But if there was one thing that man made sure was one-hundred percent clean twenty-four/seven, it was his tailored jacket. It cost him a fortune to have that thing made, so he wanted it spotless wherever he went. The thing is, Royce collects a lot of jackets, yet he'll only wear his favorite. I can't blame the man, since I like to collect hats.

And no one messes with my hats.

William came out of the kitchen holding a tray with three drinks: a glass of pink lemonade for me, a tall can of MONSTER for Royce and a Coke for Will himself. He set the tray down on the coffee table, grabbing his soda, then reclined back in his chair. I took the glass of lemonade and had a small sip. We didn't bother touching the energy drink. Royce gets really emotional when anyone takes his drinks.

And by emotional, I mean bat-** crazy.

And speaking of Royce, here he comes now.

Royce Torres. Thirty-six year old dude. Slick, black hair styled into a faux-hawk, with soul piercing green eyes. That was a rare and beautiful trait these days. He had smooth, white skin with a pretty silly soul patch on his chin. I met Royce through William. We had just come out of a movie theater,and we were just about to cross the street when eight cars flew past us at breakneck speed. William had grabbed me just in time as the first car had almost made me kick the bucket. He snarled as he pulled out his iPhone 10S, dialed a number and raised the phone to his ear.

"Damn it, Torres! You almost hit me and Kyle!"

A pause.

"Yes, that was me standing with the kid. Listen, I knew you were having a street race today, which, may I remind you, is illegal. There's a blockade set up at the end of the road you and your boys are racing down. I advise you to pull out an- YES! Lose the damn race if you don't want to go to jail for the third time in the past two years! Meet me down at the Plaza." William and I crossed the street and got into his Humvee and drove down to the rendezvous. That was my first time meeting Royce. He was a little taller than me, had black spiky hair and was wearing a white dress shirt, green tie and vest, with faded jeans. The man didn't look too happy. He stormed up to William and gave him a quick jab to the gut. William didn't look that hurt, but he did let out a grunt. Probably out of irritation.

"You let the cops know, didn't you? You little slime! I trusted you will my races, and you just go and spit it out to your wife!" He turned towards me and stuck a finger in my face.

"And who the fuck is this *fucking blueberry!? Get him the fuck out of here!"

"Jesus, man! Calm down!" I yelled at him, slapping his hand away from me. This Royce character has anger issues. Some serious anger issues. William, thank God, stepped in between us, hands on our chests. I didn't see why he was holding me back, I'm a damn pacifist. He told Royce to back down, get in his car and drive home. The raven haired man gave his friend one of the ugliest looks I've ever seen, then slithered back to his car. I think it was a green Camaro ZL1. I couldn't admire all the details as he drove off. Will and I went back to his car, and he dropped me off at my place.
You'd think that Royce and I wouldn't become friends after that encounter, even though I didn't do a single thing to him. But one day his car broke down and no one in his remaining crew knew how to fix their bosses car, so William got me to fix it. Royce treated me like a brother after that. He really loves his car.

Back to present times, though.

As usual, he was rocking his favorite black and green edged tailored jacket, along with some black slacks and green Converse sneakers. He flashed us a shark toothed grin as he smoothed his jacket down.

"Baby looks good, doesn't she? Ah, I hate the rain. Everytime it rains my jacket gets jacked up. fucking hell, man." His grin morphs into a snarl when he continues to smooth his jacket.

"Hello? What, no, 'Hey, Kyle. Happy birthday!'?" I ask, faking offense. Double points by placing my hand above my heart and making a face of sadness. Royce responded by giving me three quick jabs to the back of the head, and that hurt. Like a motherfucker!

"I owe you twenty-one more. Remind me."

"I don't see you punching William, man!"
William laughed, "Because he knows I'd drop kick his ass into next week, then have him arrested for attempted assault on a cop."

We all laughed at that. It was then that I remembered my bag.

"Hey, I got you dudes presents." I said, praying to God that my gifts didn't get soaked in the rain. My hands hit something hard, and I pulled it out, showing it to William. His face was all I needed to see from him.

"Will, I know how much you like that old show Breaking Bad, so I got ya this." It was a medium-sized statue of the show protagonist. "This guys name was Walter White. That is his name, right?" I handed the statue to him, and he took it with a large grin plastered on his face. He nodded to me, got up from his recliner, and went to his room. Royce was looking at me expectantly, and I sighed. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a pair of black leather gloves. D22S Fingerless Gloves, if you're feeling fancy. Yes, I have a lot of money, and no, I'm not cheap. Royce drives fast cars, so his hands are bound to get sweaty. He snatched the gloves right out of my hands and put them on. He flexed his hands, then gave me a half-hearted smack on the back of my head.
He usually shows his gratitude to me physically, the **.
"So, what did you get me?" I asked, standing up and stretching my legs. William came back into the living room, holding a box. He nodded at Royce, who nodded back.
"See that car outside?" William asked me, handing over the box. I opened it, confused at what I was looking at. Pulling out the keys, I dangled them in front of my friends' faces.
"So, what, this is it? Some key? To what...no. NO! Are you two serious right now!?" I asked them, barely able to hold in my excitement. The two men nodded, and I pulled my hood back on my head, rushing outside to see my car.
Hours later...
4:18 PM
Lauren had returned from wherever she had went right as I finished fanning over my car. When she finished getting drinks out for us men, I took her on a little drive around the neighborhood. We both enjoyed it, laughing when we pulled up into her driveway and she took that moment as an opportunity to give me my present. She opened a small blue box and pulled out what looked like a ring. The moment I saw it, something compelled me to just take it. I slipped the ring down on my right ring finger and admired it in the light. I felt something, and I don't know what it was, but I decided to ignore it.
"Where did you get this, Lauren? It's beautiful..." I asked, absentmindedly getting out of my new car. The rain had dropped down to a small drizzle, thank God, and we went into the house. I didn't see Will, but I did see Royce taking a nap on the coffee table, a glass of spilt wine on his chest. Lauren scowled. She wasn't the biggest fan of Royce Torres, and giving his knee a hard kick was a clear indication of that.
"I got it from an old pawn shop, Kyle. They were all pretty expensive, and they looked pretty, so I decided to get them for you boys."
"Wait, there's two more of these?"

"Mhm. William already has his. Royce?"

The man in question kept rubbing his knee as he looked up to the women. "Just give me the ring. Thanks for the kick, by the way. Totally needed that to wake up."

The bright green box was thrown at his head, but Royce had seen this coming. He brought his hand up and caught his box, opened it, then slid the green ring on his ring finger.

"Danke, my lady." He said with as much smugness he could muster. Lauren flipped him off and went into the kitchen. When she was gone, Royce looked at his ring with a face of confusion. I could have sworn I saw his green eyes shine brighter. Before I could ask him anything, William came back into the room. I spotted his ring immediately. Bright red, and the ring was on his left ring finger. His right was, of course, occupied.

"I see that Lauren gave you two your rings." He asked us. We both nodded at him, then showed our hands to him.

I had an idea.

"Dudes, we all have these badass rings. We could be like, the Ring Brothers, right?" I asked them, waving my hand around. William shook his head, and Royce voiced his opinion with a "That's stupid."

I pressed on the idea. "C'mon, guys. It'll be fun. Come on, ring bump. Fist me, bro. Get up on in there, you two."

Disgusted, Royce got up and dragged William over to me. "Fine, Jesus Christ. Only if you stop that gay shit, Kyle."

We held out our fists to each other in a triangle formation.

"On three, we shout 'Ring Bros', alright?" I told them. They both nodded, but I could tell they weren't into this. I counted up to three, and we ring-bumped.

If only I had known.

The minute we made contact, I felt a jolt of pain shoot through my arm. I wanted to scream, but something held me back. I looked into Will and Royce's eyes, and something told me they were going through the same thing. A dark light starting to expand from our rings, and kept getting bigger and bigger. Soon I could no longer see my friends, and darkness began to overtake me. I didn't feel tired at all. I felt like I was floating, but I also felt nothing. I could see nothing. Fear was gripping my heart. No sight, no smell, no sense of touch. Was I dead? Did that light kill me? Did it kill William and Royce?

"I will answer your questions with one word, child: No."

What the hell was that?

Who are you? I 'asked'.

" I am Eir. I am your protector."

Protector? What is going on? Where am I?

"All will be answered in due time, young one. But now, we need you to wake up."

Wake up? What do you mean wake-

"I think….-ring."

"Go-...we can ask hi….-ame from."

"-e could ju…..a drunk, B-...nal."

Barely understanding a word these two were saying, I let out a loud groan of frustration to let them know I was awake.

"We don't know that for sure, Watters. Look, I think he can hear us."

I slowly opened my eyes and met two men. One was Asian, the other African-American. The Asian man was looking at me with concern, but his friend's facial features practically spelled out 'I don't play no shit.' He scowled at me.
"Sir, you do realize this is a restricted area. May I ask you why you thought it'd be a good idea to be resting in the lake?"
It was then that I felt I was wet. My jeans, the bottom of my jacket and my hat were all soaked. I let the man know I was sorry as I pulled myself out of the water. He wasn't pleased.

"Sorry? Sir, you just violated one of the Citadel's laws. We're going to have to take you into C-Sec custody. Put your hands behind your head." The African American cop turns me around, and I put my hands behind my back like I was told, (William's done to me this a thousand times before.) but I don't feel the cold slap of handcuffs. Instead, I felt a cool, ticklish...thing...go around my wrist. As we walked away from the lake, I took in my surroundings for the first time. My jaw hit the floor. This Citadel or whatever the man called it was massive! Long walkways, a nice lake, corridors in every direction...did I die and get transported to some other universe? This can't possibly be the 'Heaven' that my mother always talked about. We walk by a large statue of...I don't even know what the damn thing was. I turned my head to my officer and asked him.

"Hey, uh...cop. Could you tell me what that big statue is? Because I sure as hell have no idea."

The man rolled his eyes. "Are you serious, kid? You mean to tell me that you don't know that that's the Krogan Monument? How drunk did you get?"
I couldn't tell him that I wasn't drunk and I was transported here by a magical ring and something named Eir, so I lied.
"Pretty damn drunk, sir."

End of Prolouge

A/N: Hey, Fanfiction. Man, I haven't written a story in ages. Yes, this is my first story, but under this account name. I used to be known as Ghost2291, but I was disgusted by myself with how many times I failed as an author. So, new name and new beginnings. I'd like to thank DJShifty366 for being my beta-reader (you rock, dude), as well as iNf3ctioNZ for inspiring me with his Masses to Masses story. Do yourself a favor and go read that story. Stunning. Anyway, guys, this is RinnzleR, signing off. Take care, everybody.