Author's notes: It took me five hours to write seven pages worth of material. I had to finish it today, because I will not be able to write anymore. I let myself go a bit to the grim side in this chapter. Please enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing.

Disclaimer: all the characters belong to Disney, no commercial usage intended. The name of the university is used purely as a pun and not as an advertisement.

Thanks to: CajunBear73

Possibilities: Self-esteem

Ron stared at the ceiling. No thought crossed his mind, it was blank. He lay there for what felt like days. He knew that his mother and father did come to visit him on several occasions. They were talking with their son, but their words could not reach Ron. He just was there, and wasn't anywhere at the same time. His spirit being completely broken could no longer support his body. The boy was not in such a state when he just got back from university, but he kept thinking about his situation over and over, putting himself deeper into depression each time. However it was not an unpleasant state as well. It felt like a bliss to not think, not dwell anymore. With no emotions present, feelings of uneasiness and guilt disappeared as well. There was something happening around, but it wouldn't disturb Ron anymore.

Sharp feeling of pain quickly pulled the boy back to reality. Angry at whatever disturbed him, Ron took a quick look around only to find that the source of pain was his friend Rufus. Naked mole rat sank his teeth deeply into the flash of the boy's palm while viciously growling. Noticing, that Ron came to his senses, Rufus quickly climbed on his chest and started shaking his friend by the shirt's collar.

"Rufus, whats wrong with you!" Ron tightly grabbed the little guy and closed his face in, staring with anger. In a moment he felt teeth closing in on his nose and received another bite mark, releasing the grip. Rufus jumped to the ronnunicator that was on the table besides the bed and started hitting the buttons, finally getting the boy's attention to the right thing.

It appeared that Ron missed quite a few calls from Wade, as the genius had to leave a message. "Ron, I do not know, what is going on with you, I've been trying to reach you for a day now. As soon as you get the message – move out to the MIT. I traced its funding and all of it came from the villains you and Kim defeated before. Kim went there to find out what was going on, but I lost contact with her. Here are the last seconds of what kimmunicator recorded."

Ron witnessed how Mr. Diego Sivil turned into Shego and saw all of the enemies being introduced. After that the kimmunicator was crushed and video ended.

Wade continued: "I sent my best stealth spy robot there, but it was destroyed by laser guns before it could pick up anything at all. Now I am planning to..." Suddenly the image started shaking and part of the ceiling in Wade's room fell down. Mechanical manipulators moved in searching for the prey. Panicking genius turned to camera and started talking really fast "Ron they are onto me, most likely they will take me to the same place Kim is at. I have a GPS on me, your device can track it, Rufus should know how to use it. Ron... ahhhh!" Wade couldn't finish the sentence as the manipulators finally closed in and immediately snatched him away. The message was three hours old. All this time Rufus was trying to get his friends attention, until finally becoming desperate enough to bite as the night was closing in.

The situation was so critical, that Ron didn't waste a single second. He rushed down the stairs, grabbed his helmet and was off on his scooter, remade by Kim's dad as a present, from start setting it on full power. Miniature Kepler engines moved out of its body and propelled the device at sonic speed, making it hard to even sit on it. Ron was quickly closing in on the GPS signal, it was coming from Middleton Institute of Technology.


The sextet of villains was having a heated argument.

"I say we through them to the crocodiles!" Dr. Drakken raised his voice.

"No way!" Shego shuddered remembering her encounter with those things at Senior Senior Senior's lair. "And no sharks too," she continued, as the memories from the encounter with Zorpox were not the most pleasant ones as well.

"Gentlemen, we should not forget, that we must give her a chance to escape. That is the villain tradition." Senior Senior was as always courteous.

Rest of the group leered at him.

"Father, she has tried to escape six times already! I think it is more than enough chances we have given her."

"Seven," commented Shego, as she looked at yet again empty cage.

Several minutes later henchmen brought in the unconscious bodies of Kim Possible and Wade and threw them back into the cage.

Meanwhile the discussion continued. Prof. Dementor suggested strapping the prisoners to the rocket and sending them to blow up on high altitude. Others disagreed, that it wasn't evil enough, while certainly efficient. The argument kept going until the alarm suddenly went off and red lights started blinking.

"Something is approaching the first line of defense at super high speed. Bringing it to the screen." Dr. Drakken pressed a few buttons and a blurry image appeared on the main screen. As it became sharper, the villains stared at it with amazement and then averted their angry gazes to Drakken.

"Didn't you say, that your 'oh so perfect' plan would make sure the sidekick never shows his face again?" Shego was clenching her fists in a mix of anger and fear.

"And where did he get that rocket? You told us, that as soon as we get the genius, there will be no help from outside at all?" This time it was Duff Killigan, more annoyed than angry at another miscalculation in the Dr. D's plans.

"It is a scooter, not a rocket," noticed Prof. Dementor.

"Father I want one!"

"Yet another fail, how many will you have to experience before you get your own incompetence!"

Archvillains started yelling at each other, ruining even the small amount of cooperation that were able to build up till now.

"WILL YOU EFFING SHUT UP!" everyone froze, staring incredulously at the sudden explosion from usually pushy Drew. "This is the buffoon we are talking about! Shego, you saw yourself, that he is broken. We conditioned him with this thought for half a year. He can't do anything!" He turned to other villains. "This base has seven layers of protection. We put best of our minds and inventions in creating this masterpiece. Our archnemesis, Kim Possible, was not able to go anywhere past the fourth one when escaping, even though the defense is meant to keep people out, not in. We have over ten thousand henchmen in this lair, ranging from Duff's golfers to Senior Senior's analysts and strategists. The bunker we are currently in is deep below the surface and can withstand a nuclear strike. In total we spent two months planning and six more finding holes in security and plugging them. This fortress is impregnable. Nothing, you hear me? Nothing can make my plan fail this time!" Finally out of breath, Dr. Drakken inhaled deeply and started giving out commands to the base operators. Rest of the group stood there in silence, seeing seriously pissed off blue-skinned genius for the first time. "Why do you still stand there? Go to your battle positions, as we discussed them earlier." To their own surprise, villains followed the command, while quietly muttering curses. However not a single one dared to raise their voice, even Shego. The lair was readying to defend itself.


Ron saw the MIT from afar. Its activated defense systems changed the look quite a lot. Ron could tell that just by looking at what used to be parking lots. Where used to be neat and logically organized car spaces now towered a mass of lasers and guns, chaotic at the first sight, but actually set so that they wouldn't be on each others line of fire. This impressive belt surrounding the school was the first line of defense, being able to wipe off the ground a small army. And behind them towered a large wall, completely sealing off the view of anything that was inside. Occasionally blue sparks erupted from the wall's surface, indicating that it was under high voltage.

The boy had no intention of sneaking in silently, trying to dodge the sensors. Instead he sent the scooter engine into overdrive and initiated the emergency ejection sequence. In a second he was shot high in the air, opening his wingsuit at the highest point. At the same time the Kepler powered scooter was approaching the laser gun belt at the speed ten times greater than the speed of sound. The speed was too high for the lasers to catch and shoot down the target. However even without external damage the construction was starting to fall apart from the force of air resistance, despite the fact that it was made from rocket parts. It barely held till the moment of impact, however still serving its purpose. The experimental railgun projectile weighs seven pounds and can deliver damage exceeding that of a Tomahawk missile. Ron's scooter weighed much, much more. Propelled at such a high speed it created a tremendous blast wave, instantly vaporizing every weapon in a hundred meter radius and blasting away or rendering useless others on this side of campus. Ron however utilized the blast wave to his advantage, using it to glide over the wall, which was the second line of defense.


"Perimeter breached!"

"First line, north sector, annihilated!"

"First line, west sector, 10% operational!"

"First line, east sector, 25% operational!"

"Second line, heavy impact detected, extensive damage, structure unstable!"

Voices were echoing in the command center, as the on-screen Ron glided over the wall. In a second image changed to another angle, as the spy-bot was destroyed by a blast wave.

Blue face got distorted with anger and hands in black gloves clenched so hard, that blood started dripping from them.

"So, Dr. D, your favorite lasers didn't work. Again." Shego facepalmed. "And that wall? It did cost a lot, but had no use at all, look he just flies over it. Just like they ALWAYS do."

"It did prevent the damage to the campus itself, shielding most of the explosive power," replied insulted Duff Killigan. After all it was his idea to build this wall. It was supposed to shock whoever tried to climb over it.

"It is my turn now, he will not pass through my... I mean our henchmen." Prof. Dementor smiled. "I had the best henchmen and Shego knew how to fight. We changed everyone's bodies and trained them to a completely different level. Now they are well-versed in both the psychological and the physical warfare. Let the show begin!"


As soon as Ron landed, hundreds of henchmen rushed towards him. With fear and amazement he saw the faces of students and teachers he met during the half of a year he spent in college. Those were same faces, but different bodies – everyone was muscular, but moved with amazing agility and speed. In seconds they covered the distance to the boy, barely giving him any time to prepare. Instead of attacking one by one, or getting in each others way, as they used to do, those henchmen executed excellent teamwork. Ron had to give it his all, remembering everything he ever learned during his missions with Kim and training in Yamanuchi school, just to barely avoid or block all of the hits that were aimed at him. The henchmen that fought him often traded places with the ones standing aside, changing the styles of attack and not letting the boy to get used to the rhythm of the onslaught. Those who stood aside also didn't spend time doing nothing. They were performing psychological attacks, by yelling things, that made Ron loose his spirit before. They reminded him of how he failed his team, of his low class, of his failed studies and how he was the first person to be expelled from the new university. Constant barrage of attacks on all levels started to get to Ron, he missed a few blows and was starting to give in. To increase the effect, the large screens on buildings lit up, showing the commanding center, where all of the villains gathered, and where the cage with Kim and Wade was. Ron could not throw a single glance towards the screens, completely focused on the fight. He had to concentrate so much, that he even ignored the sounds coming from dynamics. Dr. Drakken didn't like it. He ordered for Kim Possible to be pulled out of the cage. Shego gladly obeyed, pulling the girl out by hair, making her yelp with pain. That single sound tipped the scales for Ron, as that was the only one he could never ignore. He lost his balance and was instantly captured by his former roommate, the Russian guy.

"Kim..." gasped the boy in horror, looking at his girlfriend on the screen.

Kim Possible attempted to escape seven times. And failed seven times. The defense systems didn't kill her, but they did not limit their force capturing her as well. Teen hero was thrashed and tattered. Her body was covered in bruises, burns and scratches, left eye swollen so much she couldn't be open it. Her mission clothes were ripped to shreds, barely covering the girl. Kim looked like she barely held to her consciousness, a small stream of blood flowing down her face from under her hair, indicating she recently took a blow to the head.

"Kim," repeated Ron as tears started streaming down his cheeks. "Kim I am so sorry! If only I didn't shut myself in... If I went with you... this wouldn't have happened! I am so sorry, this all is my fault!"

Supervillains on the screen started smiling with delight, seeing that finally their common foes were both reduced to such a state. At last, after many tries their plans were working as intended.

"You know, this sight is almost worth the trouble of working with you lot," admitted Prof. Dementor to the rest of the vile group. Others nodded in agreement.

"Please, let Kim go, I will do anything you want. Absolutely anything... Just, please..." begged Ron, his face covered with expression of such pain and guilt, that even the villains were taken aback a little, trading some unsure gazes amongst themselves. Everyone, but Dr. Drakken.

"Dr. D, I guess we could do that. Then while we have him, Kim Possible would never dare to do anything to us. Plus there is no fun in defeating her like this," said Shego as she put a hand on Drakken's shoulder. Deep inside, even though she didn't want to admit it, she knew that she enjoyed fighting Kim Possible. That could end now in a boring way, or could provide her with entertainment for a long time, if Ron Stoppable was captured. Others did not share similar thoughts, but for some reason still felt uneasy. Everyone, but Dr. Drakken.

His plans were always so close to the succession, but every single time they were thwarted by the heroes. And here it was, his most epic, absolutely perfect creation. The one he poured soul in designing and making. The one envisioned with the sole purpose of capturing and destroying Kim Possible in a most efficient manner. The one that now was close to failing again because of his own allies and their emotions. Because of this random "Ron Factor". He just couldn't let it happen. This feeling, the anger at the time he had to spend in jail, the sorrow about wasted time and resources, the desire to rule the world, all the despair and pain he shut off for so long – all melded together in a single sinister emotion, overwhelming him, breaking apart his personality and creating anew. Deep within evil blue genius's eyes a change was occurring. His natural goofiness and naivety that made him a constantly failing, but charismatic villain were disappearing. And their place was being taken by the malicious, maniacal gleam. His evil grin changed slightly, now looking more like a grin of the ferocious beast.

"You know, I think, I have a better idea." Dr. Drakken snapped his fingers and seven tubes of thick plexiglass fell down from the ceiling. Wade, Kim, Duff, Dementor, Shego and both Seniors were now jailed in transparent prisons. "I think, I will let young Stoppable watch you all die. Then I will capture him, and let him watch how I take over the world. All while knowing it was him, who made it possible. And about how I will kill you? I will flood the tubes with water, slowly drowning you. However for fun, or as Senior Senior would say 'for traditions' I will give you a chance." Now completely evil scientist looked down on Ron from the screen. "Those tubes will be full in 10 minutes, anything more would be boring, and less would be not as entertaining. You could try to save them. Of course you can't and that makes it all the more fun," said Drakken and burst out in a raspy, croaking laughter.

Ron looked at the screen, where villains were struggling and failing to get out, but saw only his beloved. Kim's lips moved, as she whispered something with a voice too weak to get through, and she lost consciousness, leaning heavily against the glass walls. The boy couldn't hear the words, but he knew what she said. His head fell on his chest.

"I love you, Ron Stoppable," echoed in his mind. He was with Kim since preschool. Despite them being so different, they never separated for long. "I love you." She loved him, no matter how he behaved, no matter how he failed. He was such an idiot. And now, because of his selfishness, she is going to die. "I love you."

Strange humming noise filled the air, rapidly increasing in intensity until it became so unbearable, that Drakken had to reduce the volume. In the dark of night cameras spotted a projectile leaving a bright trail appearing in the sky. Moments later something hit the ground in front of Ron Stoppable with tremendous force, sending shock waves through the ground strong enough to make everyone nearby, except the boy, fall. Dr Drakken cursed, as the cloud of dust from the impact blocked the cameras. To his joy it got dispersed enormously quick. What he saw next made him raise a brow in disbelief. The projectile that hit the ground was some kind of the sword. And it was glowing with blue light by itself. What was even more strange to him, was the fact that similar glow was starting to form around the Stoppable boy, with the only difference being the color. Glowing bright red, he stood there for a moment before reaching for the blade. Sparks started flying between his hand and the blade, becoming more intense as he closed in on the blade handle. As the boy raised the blade it started to change into countless forms with amazing speed. Arcs of electricity were hitting the ground from the place, where the hand touched the blade, but Ron did not even flinch from pain, his head still lowered he put a second hand on the handle. The sword started crumbling, within mere seconds the rate increased from a small specks of glowing dust to a constant stream flowing towards and being absorbed by the red aura. This was enchanting, but at the same time somehow terrifying spectacle. Dr. Drakken could have sworn, that the shape surrounding the boy vaguely looked like a monkey. Angry at his own nervousness he yelled through dynamics: "Henchmen, get up and get the boy. Those were just special effects, so do what you are being paid for!"

At his words people, who were down due to the sword falling and who remained on the ground in awe of what was going on, finally started gathering themselves. The glow around the boy started fading as well, reassuring them that their boss was right. The glow completely disappeared and the boy was surrounded again. Ron Stoppable finally raised his head and looked directly at the camera. The next moment camera went offline. Evil genius made a few wobbly steps back and fell into the chair, struck by the last image camera transmitted. In a few short breaths he regained composure, and rage began boiling inside his evil mind. That he, Dr. Drakken, the one, who captured all of his competitors and the teen heroes, would be afraid of some little boy's glance! This matter could not be left unattended, he shall resolve everything himself. He will show the world, who will be its leader.

"Contact our troops and order them..."

Drakken was interrupted by the operator's shaking voice: "Third line, all sectors, no response."

Before the evil scientist could ask any questions, another report followed: "Fourth line, all robots offline." Operator gulped, and continued: "Fifth line, all traps destroyed. He is coming here, boss." Panic started spreading through the room.

"I-impossible, this is not humanly possible!" on the last word Drakken's voice broke on yelp. "Unseal project 'Nemesis', I will use it. Stall this monster while I fire it up," he yelled running towards a secret door.

Blue evilman knew, that this project was his last hope of winning. Project that he created a very long time ago, before he met Shego, was meant to provide him with muscle to fulfill his evil plans. He tested it only once, and sealed it forever after that, swearing not to unleash it ever again, for his own sake. Though, he always did find it amusing, how he never used the most powerful weapon ever created. He remembered that Tuesday all too well. Drakken shuddered at the memories as he arrived to a room containing a small safe, now open. The only thing inside was a neatly folded dark blue suit, waves slowly traveling across its surface.


Ron was rushing forward at a great speed. The time was running out, as he had to spend too much of it taking out every henchmen, without destroying them, like he did with robots. And now he had to hurry. Even though there were good five minutes before the tubes will be filled, he didn't know if Kim slid lower due to being unconscious, so the boy pushed himself even more. He had a hard time getting through the sixth line of defense, as it was a changing maze, but due to the MMP he was able to force himself through. As he approached the large bunker doors, he started feeling, that the new way of using the power is taking a heavier toll on him than he thought. Instead of emitting the aura, he took it in, strengthening the body from inside, rather than outside. The downside to this was the fact, that his body was not used to containing such powers and was slowly breaking.

Casting thoughts aside as meaningless at this point, Stoppable gathered a charge in his hands and slammed the door with a concentrated ki strike. Door bent in, but stood. Ron stood there for a moment in amazement, then gathered even more power and repeated the strike, this time sending the door flying across the command center.

People inside: operators, analysts and other non-combat personal, who just witnessed a three feet thick reinforced steel door being destroyed in two strikes, didn't even think about "stall him" order. They raised their hands and prayed to stay unnoticed.

Their prayers were heard, as Ron didn't look at them even once, rushing to the filling tubes. He was there barely in time, as water was reaching Kim's nose. Just as he suspected, she slid down, so it was a wise decision to push himself to the limits. With a single chopping motion he cut the tube open and pulled his girlfriend out. After making sure she was safe, he proceeded to cutting open Wade's tube as well.

"Ron, you can't believe, how happy I am to see you!" Wade was completely drenched as he had to swim in the tube due to his low height.

"Get us out as well!" yelled the villain quintet almost in unison.

Ron faced them and his eyes narrowed. "You made Kim into this state," evil group gulped and tried to move away from angry Ron as far as it was possible within their tubes. "I do not have a single speck of interest in helping you. I will close the water off, but you will stay here till the officials come. And if you ever dare to break out of jail..." The boy didn't finish, but everyone had already witnessed, what he was capable of. At that point they would rather spend all their lives in jail, than meet Ron Stoppable face to face.


Drew Lipsky reached for the costume and hesitantly touched it. In a split second, as if it was liquid, the costume flowed onto him, nanomachines tightly gripping his skin. The costume he made so long ago, was once again united with its master. It held enough power to vaporize the mountain, but at the same time it was trying to completely merge with its owner, constantly changing his body. "Lets see who is stronger now, Ron Stoppable," uttered the man through the clenched teeth.


Ron shut down the water and looked at the henchmen remaining in the room. "Call the ambulance and the officials. After that you can quickly get out of here, before I change my mind."

The boy turned back to his girlfriend right in time to see her opening eyes. He rushed to Kim's side. "Hey, KP, how do you feel? Kim, answer me!"

"Ron..." called Kim with a weak voice.

"What, Kimmie?"

"Behind... you..."

Ron spun on the spot only to see Dr. Drakken slowly walking through the secret door.

"Drakken!" anger and hatred were seeping through Ron's voice. "You will pay, for what you have done to Kim!"

"My name is Drew Theodore P. Lipsky. Dr. Drakken is a name of a looser I took upon myself afraid of what I did as a Lipsky. You see, the suit I am wearing is not my usual one. I designed my usual attire as a way to remember about this one, about how I exploded my own house and my father while trying to take it off." A hint of sadness sparked in his eyes, quickly disappearing soon after. "Funny story isn't it, the creation rebelling against its creator. You have seen this happen to me quite a lot, haven't you?" Drew let out a sarcastic laughter. "Officials thought it was a gas explosion, but it was just a single burst of energy from this suite of mine. You see, this thing melds with my body, and doesn't want to get off, as it is a first and only artificial symbiont. I am its life, and it is my power. And now I will use this power to kill you, kids, and then go take over the world." After those words crazy doctor charged at Ron. The very same moment Ron charged at former genius, now simply mad scientist.

It was a strange fight to witness. Blows strong enough to shatter safe doors and crack open the earth were missing their targets by a hair's breadth. Creating loud booming sounds as they released the energy after the miss. Both fighters were exploiting their all in order to win, experience and intuition versus extremely enhanced speed and reflexes on the other. Fluid Ron's Monkey Kungfu motions versus sharp and mechanical barrages of Drew Lipsky's costume. Magic and technology clashed in a battle surpassing the human limits. Involuntary witnesses watched as the speed of the blow exchange kept increasing, soon it was too fast to not only follow but even understand what was going on. The booming sounds now created an effect as if a machine gun was endlessly shooting. And at the same time the pair of fighters barely moved from the same spot, utilizing only the minimal amount of movement necessary to avoid receiving damage.

Ron felt, that blood is rushing from his nose and ears. He knew that his body was reaching its limits. However he could also see, that using costume takes a great toll on former Drakken as well. The evil madman's face got almost as blue as his costume was, his eyes sinking deeper into his face from strain. This was not the battle of power or skill, but the battle of endurance and determination.

Suddenly Ron's vision blurred and turned pinkish. The boy immediately understood, that he started bleeding from eyes. In a split moment he decided to close them and rely on the rest of his senses and Mystical Monkey Power to guide him. This had won him another few minutes, but he felt, that he is giving in. His consciousness started fading. The last thought he had before loosing it was: "Kim".

The fight stopped. With the wet and slippery sound Drew Lipsky's hand slipped out of Ron's stomach, falling along his body. Without a sound naked and dark blue former evil genius fell flat on his back, his nano-suit blown onto the wall behind.


Ron found himself somewhere in the dark. The last thing he remembered was him loosing consciousness in a fight. "Kim!" He tried to move, but found nothing to move. He wanted to ask: "Did I die?" but had nothing to ask with. It was as if only his mind was present.

"That is correct, Stoppable-san," told him the familiar voice.

"Master Sensei?"

"Yes Stoppable-san, that is me. You are not dead, but simply unconscious. After all you used a very dangerous technique."

"Sensei, but why was I able to use it? I couldn't use MMP at all before. And why didn't you tell me about a way to use MMP better before?"
"Stoppable-san, it was important for you to learn not to rely onto the magic powers. Mystical Monkey Power comes to you only if you truly need it. You shall have courage to fight even without it. It came to you as soon as you made your resolve to fight without regard for your life. As for the technique itself... So far you have been using only the Yang, or the white energy. But Yang is only a part of the whole, today you embraced the second part of the circle – the Yin, or the dark energy. However one's body can't hold both at the same time, as there are no truly balanced people. Over the time one of the energies increases in the amount, and if one still holds them both, he will die. That was the reason the last person who wielded both, Toshimiru, created the Lotus Blade, as a means of keeping the Yin under control. By withstanding its power, you are now wielding them both as well, and only time will show how it turns out.

"Huh?"

"Stoppable-san, you didn't get a single thing, did you?"

"Absolutely nothing. And I was asking why didn't you tell me, that I can put MMP inside my body?"

"Ah that... To tell the truth, Stoppable-san, I had no idea myself." Sensei chuckled. "It is a mysterious power and little is known about it. You will have to search for its uses on your own."

"Uh... okay." Ron automatically tried to scratch his head and suddenly felt something.

"Stoppable-san, it looks like it is time for you to wake up. After all, there is someone who is waiting for you," said Sensei as he winked with the smile.

After Ron's consciousness returned to the real world, Master Sensei's figure started to appear. "Looks like it will be indeed a very amusing fellow to watch." He uttered, smiling to his thoughts. Then turned and started walking into the dark, becoming taller and broader in shoulders with each step. Lotus Blade appeared on his hip, and the set of samurai armor enveloped him, the last piece to appear being an ancient samurai helmet. Then he completely disappeared in darkness leaving behind only a light chuckle.


Ron found himself somewhere in the dark. Then he decided to open his eyes. For a moment he saw a hospital ceiling, the image being instantly replaced with happy Kim's face.

"RON! You are awake!" Kim kissed her boyfriend. And again. And a third time. She gasped for breath and cried: "Everyone, Ron is awake!"

The room immediately filled with people, families and friends, who were waiting outside, all rushed in.

Chatter filled the air, and Ron thought to himself, that now he is at last content.