Galerians: Ron
Unleashed
Ron walked the last couple of blocks to his first destination figuring it was better safe than sorry. He stood outside just looking at the building in front of him, silently preparing himself for what he was about to do. The building was large, the second largest in the city in fact. It was only eclipsed by the Mushroom Tower, which held the supercomputer Dorothy that ran the entire city. The building was Michelangelo Memorial Hospital.
In truth not even half of the actually building was used as a hospital. The rest of the building was used for medical research of all kinds. It was among the largest and most technologically advanced research facilities in the world. The top three floors were the ones dedicated to genetics in his father's time here, now it was the top ten. The very top floor was still the one where the real actions was though, and that was his ultimate destination.
This was his first stop mainly because it was the only place he knew of to start looking for clues. He doubted he would find anything directly relating to Lilia, but he may find something that would lead him somewhere that did have something. There was a second reason too if he was truthful with himself. A part of him hoped to find Dr. Lem here. A part of him wanted vengeance.
Ron made his way towards the entrance with a look of grim determination on his face. To many who knew him it would seem out of place there. They would expect him to be walking into danger with a grin on his lips and a joke on his tongue. But he couldn't do that this time. There was nothing funny about what was happening.
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Kim silently made her way through Drakken's mountain lair. She kept a wary eye out, looking for anything that may be a threat. It just seemed too easy so far. The place was empty. No drones, no goons, and no Shego or Drakken so far. Infiltrating Drakken's bases had never been a difficult feat, but this was ridiculous.
She had done a lot of things during missions before, but when she walked into the main room and found the charred and still smoking corpse she did a first. She threw up.
Recomposing herself, she quickly scanned the room for any sign of the murderer. Finding none she ran out into the hall with a hand covering her mouth and nose trying to keep out the smell of burned flesh.
Pulling out her kimmunicator she called Wade. "Something happened before I got here. Someone… well… see for yourself."
With that Kim stood in the doorway so the kimmunicator camera could see. Wade gasped and he just barely managed to stop himself from doing a repeat performance of Kim at the sight. "My God! I'll… ah… run a scan."
A minute passed in uneasy silence as the scan ran before Wade's face appeared back on the small screen. "According to the computer extrapolation that's Drakken! Or what's left of him."
"Any idea who did this?" Kim asked as she made her way out of the lair. She didn't want to be there any longer than she had too.
"No." Wade said. "But I found eyewitness accounts of Shego's jet heading States bound."
"Alright Wade, track her and get me a ride to wherever she's going."
"You got it Kim. I'll call Ron and get him to meet you."
"Wade!" Kim said her voice holding a little annoyance. "He still needs his rest. I can handle it."
"You don't exactly come across many corpses on your missions Kim!" Wade chided, surprising her by actually looking angry with her for suggesting going it alone. "Something is different this time. Either I call in Ron or you walk to the mission!"
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He had made his way up to the genetics area of the building fairly quickly, but had to slow and move more stealthily once there. The majority of the building's security was focused on those levels. The elevators up there were even on a separate system so he had to start taking the stairs.
Ron was five stories from his destination now, hiding behind a pillar as a group of guards were talking nearby. He waited patiently for their backs to be turned to him. Finally the opportunity came and he made his way to the door across the way quietly. He was silently giving himself props for doing so well when it happened.
At the worst possible moment four familiar chimes rang out through the air from the communicator Wade had given him for his birthday only two months prior. By give he means Wade flew it threw his bedroom window scaring the living hell out of him in the process.
He barely had time to register the guards turning as the darts from their weapons hit him. As the chemicals took effect and he fell to the ground, Ron could be heard muttering. "Figures."
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"That's odd." Wade said to Kim with a slightly worried expression. "It's not like Ron not to answer his communicator. There's no answer at his house either."
"What about the microchip?" Kim asked as she began to worry herself.
"Nothing."
Glancing back towards the base a scary thought entered Kim's mind. What if whoever did this went after Ron next? "Wade, maybe you should get me a ride back to Middleton."
"My thoughts exactly."
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Ron awoke only to experience a blinding pain in his head worse than anything he had ever felt. He could feel needles injecting him with something but didn't know what and at this point didn't care. The pain was too great for him to focus on anything else. It was all consuming. At this moment his whole life was the pain.
Help me Rion!
He heard Lilia's voice ring out in his mind. It broke through to him, past the pain and he tried to grab hold. Then he heard another voice. One he recognized all too well.
Be all right. Please God let him be all right!
"Kim." He mumbled. She was worried about something. Scared even. He could feel something in the back of his mind coming to the forefront. Like a wall had finally crumbled and something long hidden had finally been released.
"KIM!" He screamed. The air around him crackled with energy and his eyes rolled back until only the whites showed. Suddenly the heavy metal restraints holding him down to the table burst off him in shattered fragments. The equipment that surrounded him began to explode.
The pain finally subsided and tried to Ron stand up. He lost his balance and used the table for support as he brought his hand to his head. As he regained his footing Ron vaguely noticed he was wearing a hospital gown. His eyes survey the destruction he had caused before settling on the whimpering form of a researcher standing a few feet in front of him.
"What did you do to me?" Ron asked in a quiet voice. When he got no answer he shot his hand towards the man and yelled. "What did you do to me!?!"
The air around Ron's hand rippled and shot out towards the man. The impact knocked him through the door and out into the hall. Ron wasn't sure who was more scared at what he had just done, him or the researcher. Probably him since the researcher was unconscious.
As he entered the hallway Ron noticed a group of a dozen or so guards coming towards him. All armed with automatic rifles.
"They need me!" Ron said as he approached the guards using the wall for support. "They need me! I won't let you stop me from helping them!"
With that he threw both arms out in an arc causing flames to shoot towards the guards. He didn't hit any of them though. That wasn't his intent. The flames consumed the weapons, superheating them and forcing the guards to drop them. He managed control the flame enough not to set off the ammo, even if it was just on a subconscious level.
Using his power Ron threw the guards around the small hall until they were all battered into unconsciousness. As the last guard fell a dozen more rounded the corner. This time they were accompanied by three eight foot tall robotic attack drones. All began to fire their weapons, rifles shots from the guards and laser fire from the drones.
On instinct Ron put his hands covering his face as the onslaught of arsenal came at him. The onslaught met with unexpected resistance though as it was stopped three feet from its target where it met a crackling blue energy barrier. But even that couldn't stand up to force forever and it seemed like the guards were slowly beginning to break through.
Then something happened. Ron screamed in pain as he was engulfed by a blue and white energy. The energy shot out, tearing into the walls, floor and ceiling. Any guard unfortunate enough to be too close suddenly felt a great pain in their minds. It didn't last longer that a couple of seconds before their heads exploded. Ron had lost complete control of his power.
"My God!" A voice exclaimed over the radio. "He's short circuiting. Switch to the Delmeter!"
The guards quickly switched to weapons that fired needles filled with a strange blue liquid and fired at the approaching teen. They did manage to hit him with one of the needles, but by the time it took effect it was too late and all the guards were dead and the drones destroyed.
Ron slowly began to look around as the pain in his head went away and he regained control of his power. It was all he could do not to retch at the destruction before him. The massacre.
Almost on automatic he approached a group of bodies that were lucky enough to have their heads still intact. In one quick motion he removed all of the masks. He gasped in confusion at what he saw. They all looked the same. All were bald with the same impossibly sharp features.
As he stared dumbly something else took his attention. A vial with a needle on the end was next to one of the guards, having fallen from his weapon during the psychic assault. He picked it up and examined it. So this was what had given him back control?
Setting it to the side Ron look at a body that managed to come out without any blood on it. As much as in pained him and grossed him out Ron stripped the body. Tossing the button up shirt and body armour aside, he put on the black boots, green pants and black t-shirt. He'd feel guilty for all this later, but he still had to escape yet and that would be easier if he wasn't wearing a hospital gown.
As he finished dressing all the doors in the hallway closed and seal shut. One opened back up. "I guess I go that way."
It was obvious he was being led somewhere. Whenever he got to a new area all the doors except one would seal, leaving only one path to follow. It didn't matter to Ron right now though. Let them think they were in control
Eventually he ended up in a large room with only one thing in it. A large computer system stood in the centre of the room going from floor to ceiling. At least that's what it looked like at first glance, but there was no keyboard or screen. Deciding to take a closer look, Ron didn't notice that he stepped in a circle on the floor when he approached. The circle lit up and a female computerized voice sounded through the room.
"Please state your name."
"… Ron Stoppable..." He said hesitantly.
"Unknown user. Access denied. Please state your name."
Ron thought for a moment before remembering what his parents had told him. It was worth a try. "Rion Steiner."
"User name accepted. The family program is top secret. Please enter you password."
"Screw this." Ron said as he raised his hand towards the computer sending out an energy pulse.
"Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. Access granted."
The room faded around him only to be replaced by stark whiteness. Beside him a holographic image of himself appeared. Words began to appear in thin air stating his name, age and other statistics. Apparently they didn't know he went by Ron Stoppable now.
After a moment a heading labelled former residence appeared. Ron brought his hand up and touched the words. He memorized the address that materialized before the whiteness surrounding him faded. He found himself standing before a large two-story home in a forested area. The house was so large you could nearly call it a mansion, but not quite. The home that was taken away from him.
As he stared in awe he felt a pressure against the back of his neck as an injection gun was place against it. He looked over his shoulder to see a face from his nightmares. Dr. Lem was standing behind him looking just as he had all those years ago.
"Rion, this drug will cause your brain to short circuit." Lem told him calmly. "You will lose control of your powers and as they spiral out of control they will kill you. You don't what to die do you? Go back to the isolation ward!"
"I don't think so." Ron said as he narrowed his eyes at the man who murdered his birth parents. The injection gun was forced from Ron's neck by an unseen force along with Lem's arm as he struggled to keep hold of it. He lost that fight as his fingers let go one by one before his arm was finally just bent to an unnatural angle and the gun went clattering across the floor.
"Such power! More than I ever thought! But still not good enough!" Lem exclaimed in awe as he turned and backhanded Ron with his good arm sending him sailing across the room.
He landed unceremoniously by slamming against the wall. Pushing himself to a sitting position Ron saw Lem approaching him with calm measured steps. With a wave of his arm Ron called forth his flame and consumed Lem.
The doctor flailed about screaming. Or that's what Ron thought at first. After a moment he realized what was going one. He was laughing. As the flames died down, there standing before Ron was a robotic skeleton that looked like it was straight from a science fiction movie.
"You fool!" It said in a voice much more digitized than before. "I am my God's instrument in this place! You cannot stop one who has been touched by God!"
Before Ron could react Lem had him dangling in the air by his throat. "I don't know why she needed you! You're nothing! And now you die like the parasite you are!"
A battle of wills raged as the robotic Lem tried to crush Ron's throat while Ron used his power to try and keep that from happening. He stuck out his hand behind Lem and with his fading strength called out. The injection gun sailed through the air into Ron's outstretched hand and in one swift motion injected himself with the drug.
The air around him began to shimmer with blue and white energy as Ron short-circuited. Had it been able to change expression, the robotic skull of Dr. Lem would have shown shock. "You fool! Now we'll both be destroyed!"
"So be it!" Ron said as more power was released and Lem was blown apart.
Ron fell to the floor screaming in pain. Blood poured from his nose, ears and eyes as the psychic pressure built. Through the pain he was able to reach into his pocket and pull out a vial of blue liquid. With a shaking hand he was able to bring it up to his neck and inject himself with the Delmeter.
Slowly the pain and destructive power subsided and Ron stood shakily. Wiping the blood from his face he looked at the scattered robotic remains of Lem. "For you mom and dad. For you."
Without looking back he went through the door at the far side of the room. It led into the large office of Dr. Lem. Not wanting to take too much time he quickly searched the office. He grabbed the laptop computer from the desk and shoved it into the bag he found. The other side of the room housed Lem's private lab. Another quick searched and Ron found a cabinet full of various drugs. Among them was a healthy supply of Delmeter. Figuring it was better safe than sorry he stuffed them all in his bag. After debating for a minute he grabbed a bunch of the other drugs too. He didn't know what they did or think he would need them, but after the short circuit incident in the hall he wasn't taking any chances.
Finally done, Ron went to a corner of the office that housed Dr. Lem's private elevator. It took him directly to the parking garage and Ron left the building as quickly as his legs could carry him.