A/N: Hey there folks! The next chapter is finally up, but I need to warn you all that its gonna be much darker than the other chapters, so proceed with caution. In this chapter, we finally get to see the aftermath of Ridley's wrath upon Japan, and things will get pretty disturbing from there once Ron gets a close up look at the destruction for himself.

Disclaimer: My OC characters are all that I own.

Chapter 6: Ashes And Ruins

Ron stood in the center of what was once Yamanouchi, now just an almost endless wasteland of ashes and ruins. The ground was black, charred, and completely leveled with the rest of the land. The only remnants of the civilization that had once been here were charred, melted skeletons of smoking metal. The tall ones had been remnants of what Ron assumed had been skyscrapers and apartment complexes, while the smaller ones had most likely been houses. Various charred skeletons of other buildings lay in burning heaps, and that was all there was for miles and miles. Any civilization that had once been here had been completely wiped out. The mountains had survived, but were now charred black hills of ash. Ron could see the remains of what looked like asphalt roads in the ground in other various directions, but they too were charred black like the rest of the ground and even cracked in some places. His heart sank with despair and sorrow as he gazed at what had once been a highly populated and bustling civilization, now gone completely, all wiped out in a devastating nuclear blast orchestrated by some crazed individual whos reasons for this horrible atrocity were still unknown to Ron. It was impossible for him to make out anything for miles, and he could only make out hints of what looked like civilization far far away from where he stood, yet it was only a speck from his current position. In the short distance where Yamanouchi city had once stood was a massive crater where the bomb had struck. It was massive, wide, and round, almost the size of a football field.

The sun was also blocked out by thick clouds of radioactive dust and soot in the air around him, with his protective suit being the only thing that protected him from certain death by radiation poisoning. Ron had already scanned the area, and the radiation levels were way beyond the lethal zone. Had he stepped out onto this scorched land without a protective suit, the radiation would've killed him in less than a few minutes. This wasn't even the worst part of it all though. Even with the suits advanced speaker system, Ron could hear absolutely nothing around him. There were no sounds of birds chirping, voices, or even nature itself, only soft gentle wind that barely blew in the air around him. It was the sound of death itself, and Ron stood in the very middle of it all; the crater made from the bombs impact only about 200 feet away from him. Wade had begun searching various other areas of the scorched Earth for any signs of life in his new fighter craft, yet Rufus stayed behind with Ron. The small mole rat was tucked inside a sealed pouch in the suit with small air hoses inside it to pump fresh oxygen inside, keeping Rufus safe from any exposure to the radiation around him and Ron. As for Ron, he didn't even know where to start searching. He gazed up at one of the charred mountains about a mile away from him and began running towards it. He didn't know if it was the one where the hidden ninja school was once located, but Ron didn't care. His mind was a mess of sorrow, despair, and desperation.

"Yori...," Ron said softly as he ran towards the direction of the mountain, his voice filled with sorrow. "I'm coming, Yori. I won't leave you".

Rufus could hear what Ron was saying even from inside his pouch, and he could tell that Ron's mind wasn't in the right place. He seemed almost delusional as he ran across the scorched land, passing piles of burned rubble and melted metal. It was like walking through the sights of Hell itself. Ron and Rufus were the only ones there in this burned wasteland of ash. Ron was reminded of those horrifying images of the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagisaki, and it was as if he and Rufus had stepped through time and were walking in what remained of the destroyed cities. History seemed to be repeating itself, only it wasn't just mere cities destroyed in the blast, it was three whole regions that were wiped out this time. Ron had no idea just how many people were lost in the nuclear blast, but he was pretty sure it was well over in the millions, and he shuddered to think of Yori being one of them.

"I must find Yori, I must find her" Ron panted as he ran, eventually tapping into his mystical monkey powers to increase his running speed.

"Ron, slow down" Rufus squealed, gripping tightly onto the pouch as Ron ran faster and faster.

"No, Yori needs me, Rufus. I have to save her," Ron replied deliriously, clearly not thinking straight. "She needs us. She needs us all".

Rufus really began to get worried at this point upon hearing how disoriented Ron seemed to be acting. It was clear that seeing all this death and destruction had driven him mad, or rather, slowly driving him mad.

"Please, she's not here" Rufus pleaded.

"NO! She's here! I know she's here, Rufus! She's not dead," Ron said, suddenly slowing down and coming to a stop near the remains of an overpass highway bridge now in pieces. "She'll be there. Yori won't be dead, you'll see".

He sank to his knees panting, then looked up with an expression that read of near madness.

"It... its just a nightmare, all a big... nightmare" Ron stammered, now trembling.

You ran for miles, yet you found only death in your wake. No signs of civilization or life, all of which were now just memories, and those memories slowly worked their way into your be-deviled mind which was driven by determination too ingrained within you to see any other way out. You desired for her, desired to see her alive and well, yet deep within the recesses of your mind, you began to slowly accept that which you believed was too damning to accept. And that harsh truth was that it was only you lying to yourself. Deep down, you knew it wasn't a nightmare, it was reality. You stand upon this land of ashes and death and now realize the futility of it all. The one you love said that there'd be nothing here for you to find, yet you denied this because you didn't want to accept the truth since it was far too damning. You entered this burned land of death only to find that your lover was honest all this time. There is nothing for you here, nothing for you to save. Hope is lost for this land, and those who have perished can never be saved, for death has already claimed them.

Ron's trembling grew more severe as his mind swirled with madness.

You understand now. You understand how futile it was to come to this place, yet only now do you see the folly of you choice to not heed the words of the woman you love. You arrived here thinking you'd find someone to save, yet you now see that no one can be saved, for death has claimed this land you now stand upon. Now you accept that which you have purposefully rejected, and that's the cold hard truth that you have failed. You failed to save your friend, and you failed those now dead, yet you have not yet failed to protect the ones you love. They are still safe, as is the woman you love. Will you continue to hold back for her sake? Or will you accept that the only way to truly protect those you care about is to let go of the morals you put in place as to not lose yourself within the powers you possess?

Rufus saw Ron cover his face visor with his hands as he whimpered softly, his trembling not ceasing.

As you accept this however, you recall what that metal servant of evil said to you the other day. He promised himself a prize at midnight, and it is now that you understand what he truly meant. You know not what his true name is, only that he is a servant of the evil one named Ridley Farcus. You now feel something rise within you, something dark, something sinister, but you continue to hold back for her sake. She was afraid of you, and this is why you must hold back. You mustn't allow her to fear you, otherwise, you will lose everything. Yet your rage begins to overpower you upon learning who the one behind this atrocity is, and it begins to show in a sea of red.

Ron stopped trembling, and Rufus watched as he moved his hands away to reveal his face, now contorted in pure rage. Yet that was not the most terrifying part. Ron's eyes had changed from their usual brown color to that same chilling blood red color again like they did in the freight train yards the other day when he fought that mecha suited servant of the Black Shadow.

"It was him," Ron hissed. "He did this!"

"Who?" Rufus asked, not understanding.

Ron didn't respond. Instead, he suddenly began blasting heaps of burned rubble with jets of red lightning, destroying several large piles of melted metal and charred bricks before finally calming down enough to think straight. Ron's eyes then returned to their usual brown color as he then sank to his knees, grabbing his head in the process.

You felt a taste of your true potential, yet you still hold back. You still cling to that undying fear inside you, the fear that the woman you love and the rest of the world will fear your very existence if you allowed yourself to give in. Are you truly doing the right thing by holding back? Would you have been able to prevent such a disaster if you used your full power?

"N-no! It happened again," Ron stammered with a gasp of shock. "That power... the same one I used the other day? What is this power?".

He had no answer as to what this strange power was, but if there was one thing he knew, it was sinister and dangerous. Ron had also begun to realize that his negative emotions seemed to be triggering it somehow, as he had only been able to tap into this sinister power when filled with an enormous amount of rage, hatred, and despair. Ron wondered if maybe this was some darker variant of his mystical monkey powers, but wasn't sure if that was the case. Whenever Ron used his powers, he never felt anything sinister or malicious within his mind, only peace. However, this new power was the complete opposite of that. Whenever Ron tapped into this other ability, he felt rage, anger, hatred, and despair.

This was greatly concerning, as Ron also seemed to have little control over such power when it emerged. Whenever he got incredibly angry, this power would emerge and Ron would be filled with the urge to just attack and destroy anything and anyone around him. Ron might have done that to that mecha suited thug the other day had Kim not stopped him, yet he now wished he had just killed him then.

"That monster dropped the bomb on Japan. There's no doubt about it," Ron thought, trying to keep his rage under control. "That's what he meant when he told me that he'd get his consolation prize at midnight. He was referring to the nuclear bomb that got dropped on Japan last night".

Ron felt only despair upon realizing how stupid he had been for not figuring it out sooner. He also recalled the thug in the mecha suit saying that he worked for Ridley, and that could only mean one thing.

"The Black Shadow organization... they did this" Ron said to himself darkly.

While he and Kim knew this was a powerful criminal organization and a force to be reckoned with, Ron had no idea just how far this organization was willing to go until now. They were truly a threat to be feared if this was the extent Black Shadow was willing to go to in order to achieve their sick goals. The one thing Ron couldn't understand or figure out though was why Ridley decided to attack Japan. He tried thinking of any reason Ridley would have to do such a thing, but then a thought occurred to Ron that he hadn't considered. It was only a guess, but not too far from being possible. Ron wondered if maybe Ridley had done this to send a message to Team Possible as to just how powerful his organization actually was, and then there was the Yamanouchi Ninja School. Very few people knew of its location since it was kept secret, but Ron knew that Global Justice knew about it, and Team Possible did as well. Was it possible that Ridley had found it somehow and bombed Japan to destroy it? If that had been the case, why would Ridley go so far as to use a nuclear bomb instead of just outright attacking it through other means? Ron had no answers, but if he had to guess, it might have had something to do with being a show of power. Regardless of whatever reasons Ridley had for doing this, Ron knew now that Black Shadow was far more dangerous than anyone could have ever predicted, and Ridley had certainly proved it. He had destroyed three regions of Japan, killed millions, and poisoned the land with radiation that would last for centuries to come. The massive crater from the blast would serve as a brutal reminder of this horrible tragedy. It was the crown to top Ridley's wrath upon Japan, and Ron stood only 200 feet away from it.

He didn't even consider going towards it since the radiation levels were highest near the center of the crater. Ron gazed at the mountains and knew that the Yamanouchi Ninja School was up there somewhere. Deep down, Ron knew that there was no way it could've survived a nuclear blast, but he was desperate to find out what happened to it. Ron rushed towards the mountains again with super human speed using his mystical monkey powers, hoping to find Yori, Sensei, and the other ninjas. It took Ron over fifteen minutes to reach the mountains at his current running speed, then he came upon a wide field of burned trees. He assumed this had once been a forest before the bomb hit, yet now the trees were just charred, burned up sticks in the ground. Ron crossed through the burned forest and eventually came across a hill that led upwards towards the burned mountains, then began climbing up the hill. Ron eventually came upon a road atop the hill where he got a full view of the sea near the edge with a charred, melted guardrail just dangling off the ground at the edge. A sheer drop leading down about thirty feet into the sea could be seen over the edge where Ron caught a glimpse of sharp rocks at the bottom. The road was cracked and burned like the one way back near the remains of Yamanouchi city, only it was in a worse state than that one had been. Ron looked all around the area and began walking up the road towards a higher area of the burned mountain, then came across another burned forest. He reached out with his mystical monkey power senses and caught a faint hint of a familiar scent far across the burned forest.

"Yori, Sensei!" Ron gasped, then began rushing through the forest.

Rufus held on tightly inside his pouch as Ron sped through the burned forest, fearing what they'd find at the end. Ron was far more frightened than Rufus as he passed rows and rows of burned trees and ash. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to like what he'd find at the end, but Ron still clung to that false hope that everything would be all right and that he'd find Sensei and Yori waiting for him on the other side. Once Ron reached the end of the burned forest, he came upon a sight that nearly destroyed him. Although the land had been ravaged and burned from the nuclear blast, parts of the area were still slightly recognizable. Ron could make out piles of charred woods, metal, and rubble that had unmistakably belonged to what was once the Yamanouchi Ninja School. The buildings, once filled with life and beauty, were now nothing but dust, rubble, and ash. The rest of the mountains surrounding the area were also in the same state as the rest of the burned forest. All trees and vegetation that had once existed and flourished were now dead and reduced to ash. Ron fell into despair upon seeing the remains of the Yamanouchi Ninja School, feeling the tears rise in his eyes as he caught a glimpse of something nearby in the burned soil. Upon moving a little closer, he realized that what he saw were human skeletons, all charred black and in pieces. And there wasn't just one or two, they were dozens of them. Ron saw a few skeletons laying in the soil near the remains of the ninja school, then a few scattered in pieces near a few of the burned trees. Ron approached one of them and reached down with a trembling hand and tapped the skull of one of the skeletons, and it quickly crumbled to ash in just one touch. There was no way for Ron to know who these skeletons once belonged to, but he dreaded to think that Yori's might have been one of them. Death was all around Ron and Rufus, and they knew that's all they'd see for miles and miles.

"Ron..." Rufus said, trying to get his attention.

Ron didn't say anything though. He simply stared at the charred human bones with an expression devoid of all emotion. The sight of death and destruction had shattered Ron's spirit, and he didn't know what to do. Ron knew at this point that he'd have to accept the fact that Yori was most likely dead like Kim had insisted earlier. None of the other ninjas had survived, and neither had Master Sensei, so Ron was pretty sure that Yori had perished in the blast as well. The nuclear blast had leveled the land with 100 megatons of destructive force and destroyed three whole regions in the process, leaving no survivors. As talented and skilled Yori was, Ron knew that even she wouldn't be able to outrun a nuclear blast, and he hadn't seen anything so far that would lead underground. Even if Yori managed to get far underground, Ron knew she wouldn't last long due to the radiation in the air. He briefly remembered seeing a manhole cover back near the middle of the road leading down the mountain and wondered if maybe Yori might have fled inside it to avoid the blast. Even if she did though, Ron knew that the manhole cover wasn't full proof and that even if Yori had entered it, the radiation would still leak down through the small openings in the metal cover and flood the underground chamber over time.

"She'd never survive inside a manhole with all this radiation in the air," Ron thought. "And without food or water, Yori would die of thirst and starvation. That is if the radiation didn't kill her first".

Either way, Yori would be plain dead in an environment like this. Ron remembered reading in his history books that many Japanese citizens who had been underground after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki eventually died of either thirst, starvation, or radiation poisoning. The nuclear bombs used in that time period were far less advanced than the ones used today, and those bombs only took out mere cities. Yet the one the Black Shadow used was far more powerful and had taken out three whole regions, and the radiation it left behind was far deadlier and stronger. It would linger for decades, perhaps even centuries. Even with radiation scrubbing technology adapted from Lowardian technology, the land would never be the same again. Japan would be a shell of its former self for years and years to come. Ron gazed at the burned skeletons and the scorched ground around him, wondering if their deaths had been swift and painless. He knew that a nuclear blast would usually vaporize a person on contact, and that was basically the easiest way to go, but those who survived or avoided it would soon wish they hadn't once the fallout radiation set it.

Ron had read how horrible it was to die from the effects of radiation poisoning, and death by thirst or starvation wasn't any better. However, out of the three ways to die, radiation poisoning was probably the worst of them all. If a survivor was struck with radiation poisoning, they'd soon be begging for death after the horrible effects set in. The victim would become nauseous, dizzy, then they'd start vomiting and bleeding through their sweat glands. Their hair would also fall out in the process over time, and then the victim would eventually die of blood loss after bleeding to death through their pores. For one brief horrible moment, Ron pictured Yori dying slowly of radiation poisoning somewhere underground, her beautiful hair falling out as she lay in a pool of her own blood while vomiting and bleeding slowly to death. He couldn't even begin to grasp the gravity of that nightmare, so he forced it out of his mind, not wanting to even consider such a thing. Ron could only hope that Yori's death had been quick and painless, but there was no way for him to truly know. All Ron could do was leave. There was nothing for him here.

"She's not here," Ron said softly in a broken voice. "No one is".

"We go?" Rufus asked sadly.

"Yeah, we can't stay here. It's not safe" Ron replied, then headed back through the burned forest.

He didn't bother running like before. He simply walked slowly across the scorched ground, kicking up flakes of ash along the way. Ron was broken inside, broken over losing one of his best friends, and his spirit was nearly shattered upon the tragedy that lay all around him. As Ron trudged slowly through the rows of burned trees, he remembered what Master Sensei had told him two nights ago about how his time was drawing near, and it all made sense now. Sensei had foreseen a horrible disaster, and he urged Ron not to worry about him and the other ninjas, yet Ron just couldn't understand why Sensei and his ninjas didn't flee Japan if he knew a horrible disaster like this would happen. As Ron thought more about it, he began to feel a wave of anger rush through him. Sensei had known something bad would happen, yet he did nothing. He simply sat back and allowed himself and his fellow students to be burned up in a nuclear explosion. And to top it off, Yori was now dead as well, all because Sensei refused to alert his students and retreat to safety. Ron suddenly remembered Sensei also telling him to "remain in the light" if all went wrong, or the darkness would claim him. Ron then remembered that dark power he unwillingly tapped into when fighting that mecha-suited thug in the freight train yards, and then again just awhile ago.

"Was that the darkness Sensei was referring to?" Ron wondered as he began to approach the end of the burned forest.

He couldn't be sure, but he was pretty convinced that this strange sinister power had to be it. Ron was still curious as to what this power was, but with Sensei now dead, there'd be no way for him to learn more about it. Ron knew so little about these new abilities, and it really worried him. However, he had pretty much guessed that emotions such as anger, hatred, and sorrow seemed to trigger these new powers inside him, given his experience using them. That was the part that worried him. Ron had been trying to keep his emotions under control, but all the death and destruction around him made that impossible. All he felt was sorrow and anger towards the Black Shadow organization for attacking Japan and claiming the lives of millions, including Yori. Ron vowed to make them all pay for this, yet he had no idea where their bases even were, let alone what Ridley looked like. He could only hope that Wade managed to find something, or anything on the Black Shadow organization from the Dark Web. If he couldn't, then Ron and the rest of Team Possible would be completely in the dark on this criminal organization, as would Global Justice. Ron tapped a small wrist Kimmunicator built into his suit and tried calling for Wade, but the heavy amount of radiation in the air made that difficult.

"Looks like I'd better find a spot where the radiation levels a little lower. I can't contact Wade from here" Ron muttered, then made his way out of the burned forest and back across the road.

He eventually saw that same manhole cover ahead of him in the center of the road and thought about opening it just out of curiosity, but quickly dismissed the idea. Ron was pretty sure that no one was in it, and even if there was, they'd probably be dead by now from all the radiation in the air. He simply walked over the manhole cover and headed down the road, wanting nothing more than to get out of the Hell that was once Japan. Once Ron reached the bottom of the mountain, he came across what appeared to be the remains of a small, burned town. Most of the houses were nothing but rubble and ash, and all the vegetation was burned away like the forest. Ron scanned the area with his suit and found that the radiation levels were still too high to try and call Wade, so he continued on through the remains of the destroyed town. As Ron headed closer to the town, he could see the remains of various cars and trucks nearby, all half melted and almost unrecognizable. A few street lamps had surprisingly survived, still mounted deep into the ground yet burned up and completely useless now, and a few traffic signal poles could be seen tilted on weird angles and melted like most of the other vehicles in the area. Ron felt his heart sink even further as he gazed at the remains of various small buildings around him, mostly reduced to rubble and ash, yet still slightly intact. He wondered if the people living here had died quickly and painlessly when the nuclear bomb hit. Ron could only hope that they didn't suffer a slow painful death from radiation poisoning, but he had no way of truly knowing, or so he thought. As Ron passed what he assumed had once been a small store, he heard Rufus suddenly squeal in horror and then whimper.

"Rufus, what is it? What's wrong?" Ron asked in concern.

Ron saw through the see through pouch that Rufus was pointing to the front of the store, and he had a look of pure dread and horror.

"T-there!" Rufus stammered in horror, his skin as pale as a ghost.

Ron looked over to where Rufus was pointing, and immediately wished he didn't. Ron saw that the front door was completely gone, and laying just in front of the entrance was what appeared to be a young man with his legs completely blown off. His entire body was burned behind recognition, but that wasn't the most horrifying part. Turns out, the man was still alive and slowly dragging himself out of the building, moaning and whimpering in pure agony. Ron felt himself tremble in fear as this burned shell of a human came to a stop just outside the destroyed building and rolled over onto his back, letting out a brief scream of what Ron could only describe as pure agony and pain. He couldn't even understand how this person could still be alive after enduring a nuclear blast, but Ron pretty much guessed that the man had been inside the building when the bomb struck, so he hadn't been instantly vaporized like everything else outside. Ron then watched as the man slowly turned his head to face him, and it took every amount of willpower Ron had to not vomit in horror at what he saw. The mans face was almost burned completely off, and Ron could see one of his eyeballs actually dangling out of his head with the other one still barely intact. It looked almost like the burned face of a zombie, and just the sight of it alone sent a wave of horror running down Ron's spine. Rufus whimpered and shook even more as the burned man suddenly raised a burned arm and hand off the ground towards Ron, then muttered something almost unintelligible. Ron had to step a little closer to try and make out what this person was saying, but their voice sounded raspy and broken, so it was very hard to understand anything being said. However, upon turning up the volume on his suit's output speakers, Ron could slightly hear the man saying something in a raspy, almost unrecognizable tone of voice.

Upon listening harder, Ron could make out the man saying, "Oka-san... Oka-san...".

"I... I don't..." Ron stammered, not even knowing what to say as he mind still raced with terror and fear.

"Oka-san..." the burned man rasped again.

Ron suddenly realized the man was speaking in his own native Japanese language, so he activated his suits built in translator, and Ron quickly understood what the man was saying. It was a single word that brought tears to Ron's eyes and almost broke his spirit entirely, as if it weren't already broken enough.

"He's calling for his mother" Ron thought as his heart sank even deeper into despair.

"Oka-san... Oka-san!" the man suddenly called out again, this time in a more desperate voice.

He then said something else before calling out for his mother again, then continued to moan and whimper in agony. Ron's translator managed to translate everything though, and what it said only worsened the sorrow already building up inside him.

"It hurts, Mother! Hurts... Mother!" the translator read.

Ron let his tears flow as he backed away from this burned, living shell of a man. He couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of pain and agony this man must have been going through that very moment, and the worst part, he had been alive long after the bomb hit. Ron wanted nothing more than to help this poor soul, but deep down, he knew that was impossible. This man had lost both his legs, a heavy amount of blood, and was injured beyond the point of no return. The only thing that could possibly be done was to end this mans life and put him out of his misery, but Ron shook at the thought of doing that. Killing two alien warlords had been one thing, but killing another human being was a line Ron had never crossed before, and it was a line he wasn't ever willing to cross unless his own life was on the line. Even now, Ron couldn't bring himself to do it, even though he knew he'd probably be doing this person a favor by killing him. Ron knew leaving this man alive would only prolong his suffering, but he just couldn't bare the thought of killing another human being, even out of mercy. Ron backed away further as the man continued to call out, sounding more and more desperate the further away Ron got.

"I can't... I can't do it" Ron said softly as he ran away as fast as he could, tears streaming down his face.

He had to get away from that place, away from Japan itself. It was as if he were walking through Hell itself, and it was starting to toy with his mind and emotions. Ron passed a row of burned houses and began to feel very dizzy all of a sudden. His head spun as he then turned to face a row of burned houses, and what he saw sent a wave of terror running over him. Ron saw the burned, walking corpses of various victims of the nuclear blast coming out of the remains of their homes, and they were headed right for him. They were all charred, burned, and mutilated like the man near the store just moments ago, only some of them looked far worse and horrifying. Ron saw two female victims with burned off faces and entrails hanging out moaning in an angry way as they stumbled towards him, and several others were missing arms or parts of their skin. They all looked like zombies, and they also looked very angry and eager to taste Ron's flesh. Ron began to panic as the burned zombies suddenly began speaking.

"You left him to die" the burned corpse of a woman rasped.

"Coward!" a burned child corpse snarled as he stumbled towards Ron with his left arm missing and the bones of his ribcage visible.

"N-no! Stay away! Get away from me!" Ron yelled in horror, then began running in the opposite direction, but was quickly swarmed by more burned zombified human corpses.

They all surrounded him in a circle, and they all had eye sockets filled with what Ron could only describe as pure hatred and bloodlust. They were all mocking Ron, calling him a coward and wishing death upon him. He tried to find an opening, but there was no way out. Ron realized he'd have to fight his way out if he was going to get out of this alive, yet he had a hard time tapping into his mystical monkey powers due to the enormous amount of terror, sorrow, and regret flowing through him.

You were a coward. Even though that poor soul was suffering, you still held back and left him to suffer even further. Will you ever learn at some point that some lives must be taken for the greater good? When will you learn to no longer hold back and use your full power? Know that the suffer of others you love and care about will only be prolonged as long as you continue to hold back. If you desire to live, you mustn't hold back.

"We all suffered because of you! Look what you let happen to us!" the zombified corpses hissed as the advanced further towards Ron.

"No! I didn't know! Please, I DIDN'T KNOW!" Ron pleaded and yelled, but the zombies refused to listen.

The souls of the innocent call for your blood. They will subject you to a fate worse than death if you continue to hold back. Stop holding back! Give in to the darkness! You have tasted it before, and you know its the only way to protect yourself and the ones you love. Give into the darkness! Kill them all!

"Shut up! SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ron yelled, sinking to his knees and grabbing his head.

Your weak, and you know it! You know you desire this power! Stop holding back, you pathetic coward. Give into the darkness! Give into the Red Rage!

"Red Rage..." Ron hissed as he trembled.

You tapped into this power, and you desire it even further. Stop denying what you know is true. You desire the Red Rage, you desire the taste of its power. It will give you what you want! GIVE IN TO THE RED RAGE! GIVE INTO IT, YOU WORTHLESS EXCUSE OF A HUMAN! YOUR A WEAK COWARD! YOU DON'T DESERVE THE HONOR OF BEING A MASTER OF MYSTICAL MONKEY POWERS!

Ron felt himself trembling with rage as he reflected on everything that he had seen and experienced since landing in Japan. The Black Shadow had destroyed half the island, Yori and Master Sensei were dead along with the other ninjas, and Ron refused to show mercy to a poor soul dying from radiation poisoning. He hated the Black Shadow, he hated Ridley, and he hated himself most of all for being so weak. In that moment of madness, Ron felt that evil power his mind claimed to be known as the Red Rage break loose, and he refused to keep it at bay this time.

"NO!" Ron roared, as he quickly stood up, his eyes now glowing bright red as that evil aura suddenly surrounded him.

He blasted the zombies with enormous jets of red lightning, sending them flying off and in pieces. Ron didn't hold back. As the remaining zombies suddenly charged at Ron, he spun towards them and then did something he hadn't done until now. Ron unleashed enormous jets of crimson red fire from his hands, instantly setting the zombies aflame. They all screamed in agony as the fire melted their charred flesh, burning what remained of them into piles of bones and ashes. In that moment of madness, Ron thought he could hear Rufus screaming at him to stop, pleading for him to stop, but he didn't care. The only emotions flowing through Ron at that moment was pure hatred, rage, and despair. One of the zombies jumped at him and tried grabbing him, but Ron spun around and suddenly reached out one of his free hands and froze the burning beast in place. He then levitated the zombie in midair and suddenly caused its head to explode into piles of bone, blood, and brain matter. It was as if all Hell had broken loose, but it wasn't over yet. Ron turned and saw what looked like a huge bird like zombie flying in the air towards him. It's body was just as charred and burned as the other zombies, and its head looked like that of a dragon rather than a bird. Its eyes were as red as Ron's eyes, and it opened its mouth wide as if it were flying in to devour him. But instead, the flying monsters mouth fired red beams of energy at Ron, who just barely missed them. Enraged, Ron spun around as the beast flew past him and shot waves of fire and red lightning at it. Most of it missed, but one of Ron's red lightning bolts hit a strange looking energy shield that surrounded the monster.

This only furthered Ron's rage as the monster then flew back around for another pass, and he could have sworn he heard it calling out to him, but Ron paid no heed to the beast. He fired more jets of red lightning at the flying beast which simply hit the strange energy shield around it, then the monster opened its mouth again and fired another beam of energy at Ron. He managed to deflect a few of the beams fired at him with his own energy shield that he generated using his abilities, but one of them struck him in the chest and sent him flying back several feet into the air before slamming into a large pile of ash and dirt, then Ron fell unconscious right after seeing the creature land just a few feet away from him.

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Yori climbed safely out of the drain pipe leading into the abandoned fishing ship yards near the seaports. She had spent over half the day crawling through Japan's underground water treatment system in hopes of finding a way to escape the island. Yori knew that staying in Japan wouldn't be safe with radiation levels being so high, yet she didn't know where to go at this point. Sensei had not told her where to go, only to flee and get as far away from Japan as possible. Upon exiting the pipe, Yori noticed that this area seemed to have been untouched by the nuclear blast, yet she was still worried of the possibility that there may be high levels of radiation in the area. There was no way to tell as to how much radiation there was all around her, so Yori knew that she'd be treading on thin ice wherever she went here. If she ended up infected with radiation poisoning, she'd die a very slow and painful death. Yori approached the docks where several fishing boats sat abandoned, and next to the docks was a large work truck with all four of the doors wide open. As Yori passed it, she saw something hanging out from the side of the back driver side door and realized that it was a Geiger counter. She quickly grabbed it and flipped the power switch on the front of it, hoping it still worked. Yori then watched as a power light turned on near the top, then a small needle began slowly moving up on a dial on the front of the unit that read how much radiation was in the area. Yori's heartbeat raced as she watched the needle move slowly up the green zone, praying and hoping it didn't move up into the orange or red zone. She knew that if the needle stopped on either spot, she'd be done for.

There'd be no way Yori would survive in high levels of radiation. Luckily though, the needle stopped just a few inches below the yellow zone and still in the green zone, and Yori sighed with relief. Realizing that the radiation levels were in the safe zone around this area, Yori continued down the docks where she saw a small fishing boat up ahead that looked safe to enter. She didn't sense any danger as she approached it, yet Yori kept her guard up in case any threats sprang out. As Yori approached the boat however, she suddenly gasped and fell to her knees, almost dropping the Lotus Blade from its scubbard in the process. At that moment, she had sensed the presence of something very powerful and very evil emitting from somewhere a few miles away. Yori had no idea what it exactly it was or who it was, but she knew that whatever it was was clearly hostile. Yori tried reaching out with her ninja senses to try and make out what it was, and for a brief moment, she felt a familiar presence within the evil one. From what the female ninja could tell, it felt as if this other presence was somehow intertwined with the evil one, and this was the one thing that terrified her the most. Because the familiar presence Yori felt was someone she knew all too well.

"N-no! Stoppable-san!" Yori gasped in fear.

This presence she sensed was without a doubt Ron Stoppable, and when Yori pried deeper, she sensed an enormous amount of emotional pain, rage, and hatred coming from him. As Yori reached even further, she realized that this evil presence was in fact Ron himself, and this sent a wave of fear and terror rushing through the female ninja. Ron had tapped into something unholy, something pure evil, and it seemed to be controlling him somehow.

"I have to help him!" Yori said, then prepared to turn back the way she came, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"No, Yori!" the voice urged.

Yori spun around to see the glowing white ghost of none other than Master Sensei standing on the wooden planks leading to another fishing boat.

"Master Sensei?!" Yori exclaimed in shock and surprise.

"Yori, you must not turn back. Stoppable-San is not himself, and if you attempt to confront him, he may strike you down," Sensei warned her. "And even if you could, the radiation levels are far too high for you survive where Stoppable-San currently is. You most flee Japan, and in addition to this, you must stay hidden from the world around you".

"What?! Hide myself away from the public? Why Sensei? Stoppable-San and Kim-San most likely think I'm dead" Yori asked in confusion and shock.

"There is a much more powerful and evil threat out in the world that desired the destruction of not just our entire clan, but you as well," Sensei explained. "This threat is a criminal organization named Black Shadow, and they were the ones who bombed Japan and killed me along with the rest of our clan".

"How are you even here? And how do you know this?" Yori asked, still confused and shocked by the whole experience.

"Death is not the end," Sensei explained. "My body may be gone, but my spirit still lives on in another plain of existence for a limited time, then I shall cross over into Heaven itself. As a spirit, I have access to more knowledge and power than I had in the living world, though limited to what I've been allowed to know, and this means I am aware of all that occurs here".

"If that's true, then where is Black Shadow? And why must I remain in hiding?" Yori asked curiously.

"I cannot reveal everything, as I am forbidden to do so," Sensei replied. "The God of this universe forbids spirits like me from directly intervening in the affairs of our world, so I am only permitted to tell you what I can. And to answer your question, it is because the leader of Black Shadow believes you and the rest of the Yamanouchi Ninja Clan to be dead. This man's name is Ridley Farcus, and he is far more powerful and dangerous than any adversary that you and Team Possible have ever faced in the past. His organization has factions all over the world in hidden secret bases that have remained hidden for many years, and they're members number well over in the thousands. If you were to reveal yourself to the public, the Black Shadow would eventually catch on and discover that one of the Yamanouchi Ninja Clan members survived the bombing. This would place you in considerable danger, so you must remain in hiding until the time is right for you to resurface".

"This Black Shadow, does the world know of it?" Yori asked.

"Not as of now, but there was a time about seven years ago when Black Shadow had been known as a gang of pirates, smugglers, traffickers, and murderers. Once they were caught and detained, their leader escaped into hiding and began slowly rebuilding Black Shadow in secret, operating through secrecy, deception, and manipulation. Eventually, this made them the most powerful secret criminal organization to ever exist on Earth," Sensei explained. "And now Ridley wants control of the world, and to get what he wants, he plans to wipe out anyone and everyone that he believes can oppose him. Our clan was one of his targets, and now he plans to destroy Global Justice, then Team Possible. Once Ridley accomplishes this, he'll reveal himself to the world and force them to submit to his will, or be exterminated. Black Shadow will rule the world by fear and terror, but if certain events I've foreseen occur, then someone far worse than Black Shadow will rule the world".

Yori felt fear rush through every fiber of her being as she took in everything that Sensei told her. She never would've thought a threat like this could exist, and the worst part about it was that it was there all along, and the world didn't even know it was there. The last part Sensei mentioned about a threat greater than Black Shadow ruling the world concerned Yori the most though.

"This threat, the one worse than Black Shadow. Who or what is it?" Yori asked worriedly.

"That I do not know," Sensei replied. "But some of the events I've seen also predict that Stoppable-San may face a horrible fate in the future if they come to pass. That's about all I know, and that's when my vision of the world being ruled by a darker force was shown to me. As I said, I don't know who or what this force is, but what I do know is that it will be a force more powerful and dangerous than Black Shadow ever could be".

Yori felt her heart sink at the thought of Ron suffering some horrible fate at the hands of Black Shadow, and this made her even more eager to help him.

"Master Sensei," Yori began. "If I must go into hiding, where would I go?"

"I will show you the way to a hidden sanctuary deep underneath Japan where no one else could ever hope to find you. There you will be able to live in peace, and in time, hopefully find a worthy successor and rebuild our clan," Sensei answered. "Also, I will teach you how to use the power of astral projection as I once did in life. With it, you will be able to communicate with Ron Stoppable. However, you must never reveal your location to him, no matter how much he begs you to. If Ron were to learn of your location, it could put you in danger were he to be captured by Black Shadow and tortured for the location of your whereabouts".

Yori felt a slight moment of relief knowing she'd be able to tell Ron that she was alive, then she suddenly remembered Sensei saying that he wasn't himself, and she also remembered that Ron was in a deep state of rage and emotional pain.

"Sensei, I sensed that Stoppable-San was in a horrible state of distress and anger. What's happened to him?" Yori asked fearfully.

"Stoppable-San has tapped into an evil source of power known as the Red Rage," Sensei begin in a grave voice. "I don't believe he tapped into it intentionally, but his anger, sorrow, and hatred for Black Shadow somehow allowed him to tap into the Red Rage. It is a very powerful and dangerous source of power that can be tapped into if a wielder of mystical monkey powers has enough rage and hatred in their hearts. The same also applies if their hearts are filled with enough despair and feelings of hopelessness".

"No...," Yori gasped in horror. "I've heard stories about that power. There was one I once read about a ninja warrior in ancient times who possessed mystical monkey powers that tapped into the Red Rage after his family was murdered by a rival clan. He avenged his family by wiping out the entire rival clan and then he went on to do horrible things due to being manipulated by the very same power he used to avenge his family".

"Indeed," Sensei nodded. "And I believe its the same power that Stoppable-San tapped into just now, only he didn't do it intentionally like I said. The ninja warrior in the story did intentionally for the sake of power, but I believe that it was Ron's sorrow and anger that caused him to tap into the Red Rage. This is the reason I want you to communicate with Ron. I want you to help him train his mind so that he will never try to tap into the Red Rage again, because if he does it enough, it will eventually manipulate him to the point of no return like the ninja warrior in the stories you read".

"I'll do whatever I can to help him," Yori said confidently. "He's one of the best friends I've ever had, and I won't let him become a monster".

"I know you will, Yori," Sensei replied proudly. "Now you must leave this place, and do not fear for Ron's safety. His friend has already immobilized and contained him, so he'll be fine for now. I shall show you the way to the sanctuary where you shall begin your training, and I will be there to guide you for a certain amount of time".

"Very well," Yori bowed. "Show me the way".

A/N: Wow, this was certainly a dark chapter. Now we know a bit more about the strange and sinister power Ron tapped into, but what will happen now? Will Yori be able to help Ron in the future? And who was this greater threat than Black Shadow that Master Sensei mentioned? You'll find out soon enough!