Galerians: Ron
Showdown at the Babylon hotel.
It was late but the National Security Agency operations building at Fort Meade just outside Washington was bustling with activity. A man and a woman waited nervously in the lobby. The man enough so that it was all he could do not to pace.
After what seemed like an eternity a grey haired man in a dark suit headed towards them from the secure area. The suit did nothing to hide his strong build that, accompanied with his usual stern expression, would make many people uneasy. His expression now, however, wasn't stern at all. He wore a rare smile as he greeted his old friends.
"I almost didn't believe it when I was told there was a Gary and Anna Stevens waiting for me. How've you been?"
"Oh we've had better days Sam." Anna told him as Sam kissed her cheek and shook Gary's hand. "But you seem to be doing well Mr. Deputy Director."
"I am doing well thanks." He told them with a smile before his face turned serious. "But enough of that. I thought you two were gone for good? Disappeared and got a whole new identity to look after that kid."
Ron's adoptive parents sighed in unison before Gary spoke. "Whatever happens, after today we won't need to hide anymore."
Seeing the expressions on their faces Sam Harrison began to lead his old friends to his office where they could have some privacy. "Why don't you tell me what's going on."
"We can only tell you what we know."
---------------0010100---------------
Ron walked into the lobby with a look of distaste. No wonder Lilia had been able to hid here. The Babylon Hotel wasn't a hotel anymore. It was completely deserted and had been for some time now. The floor looked like one wrong step and you'd be heading to the floor below the hard way.
He stopped in the centre of the lobby and closed his eyes as he concentrated as hard as he could. Ever since he spoke telepathically with Lilia she had kept light contact with his mind. On the way over it had suddenly stopped and that worried him. Sighing he shook his head and opened his eyes. Looks like he was going to have to look for her the old fashioned way.
As he made his way up the rather hazardous staircase to start his search at the top floor another group entered the building. There were four men with black trench coats and hats that look identical to the guards from the hospital. They were led by a tall woman with Asian features and hair dyed a bright red. She wore a white tank top and short leather skirt that had straps going up and around her shoulders.
"Lilia is here somewhere." She said to the men in black. "Find her."
They moved out immediately having been given their task. They all moved with the same blank expression on their faces.
"Rainheart." The woman said to the empty lobby. In front of her a rather fat kid in an orange vest rose from the floor. He had a childlike smile on his lips but an insane gleam in his eyes. "You can go and play with Rion now."
The boy smiled broadly as he hovered further upwards until he went through to the floor above.
---------------0010100---------------
Mr. Possible let out a small smile of contentment as he settled into the couch with his newspaper in hand. The boys were out with their mother for the afternoon, Kim was off saving the world again, but more importantly he had the whole house to himself. Despite how much he worried about Kim's missions he was still glad for his brief and rare moment of silent bliss.
So of course as soon as he really started to get involved in his newspaper that bliss was going to be shattered.
"Ah, Mr. Possible Sir?"
Slowly lowering his newspaper he saw that their large plasma screen television was on and filled with the face of a kid. He didn't remember turning it on and he could have sworn that it just spoke to him.
"Mr. Possible." The kid said again.
He just shrugged it off and answered, used to weird stuff happening around his family. "Yes?"
"I'm Wade. Kim's friend."
"Ah yes." He said as recognition finally dawned on him. "You know this wasn't what I had in mind when I bought the satellite dish. How can you hear me through the tv anyway?"
Wade's eyes shifted nervously for a minute. He had 'modified' the Possible's new television before it was delivered so it would be capable of the occasional videoconference. He wasn't sure telling Mr. Possible that he intercepted his order would be a good idea however.
"That's not important. Have you seen the news yet?"
Grabbing the remote Mr. Possible flipped the tv over to the news. He listened intently to the newscaster as the disturbing images filed through the screen. There were images of large groups identical soldiers gunning people down in the street. Other images showed people who looked identical to the first group on with wicked looking claws for hands dismembering their victims or those wearing black trenches simple waving their hands and tossing people and objects aside with an unseen force. There were even robot drones causing their own share of the devastation.
{We repeat for those of you just tuning in. Dorothy, the supercomputer of Michelangelo City has gone completely out of control! It has openly declared war with the human race and has wrestled complete control of the city. All communication in and out of the city has been severed. The images you see on your screen are those being broadcast by Dorothy itself as it has taken over the communications network.}
The newscaster went on as Mr. Possible slowly came out of his trance and spoke. "Wade, wasn't Kim heading for Michelangelo City?"
"Yes." Wade's voice came clearly from the speakers over the broadcast. "I lost contact with her half an hour ago."
---------------0010100---------------
The former Stoppable's sat in Sam Harrison's office looking exhausted. They had just finished their tale and a silence fell over the room as Sam took everything in. The silence was broken as an agent knocked on his door. At Sam's call he opened the door. "You're needed in Sat. Ops. Sir."
"Any particular reason?" Sam asked a little annoyed to be interrupted in his meeting.
"Have you seen the news yet? Maybe you should see for yourself." With that said the agent turned on the small tv that sat in the office. Everyone looked disturbed at what they saw.
"I take it this is one of the parts you didn't know about?" Sam said offhandedly.
---------------0010100---------------
Ron walked down the hall with worry etched on his face. He had already checked three floors and still no Lilia. The building was only five stories to begin with. The only sound in the hall was his own footsteps. Actually the sounds he made as he searched were the only ones he heard period so far. That change as laugh from behind him nearly made him jump out of his skin.
Quickly turning he saw someone rising from the floor. It was a rather heavy looking kid that looked to be only a couple years younger than him. The brown haired kid wore an orange vest and black shorts.
As he looked at the kid he felt an intense pain in his head as images flashed through his mind. Ron saw the kid in a warehouse with a tall girl and a group of black clad men. Before them stood a terrified, yet defiant Dr. Pascalle.
"I'll never tell you were Lilia is!" Pascalle screamed.
The woman gave him a lopsided grin. "You don't have to. Rainheart! You can play now."
The kid stepped forwards. His childlike features were betrayed by a gaze so intense his eyes began to glow. Dr. Pascalle began to scream as a strong force entered his mind. After several long minutes of agony he just couldn't take it anymore and his head exploded under the pressure.
As the body fell the woman came to stand beside Rainheart. "Did you find out where she is?"
He looked down like a child who knew he was about to get scolded and shook his head. The woman put an affectionate arm around him. "It's alright little brother. We still have Rion after all."
When the vision subsided Ron could only glare at the boy in front of him. "You killed Dr. Pascalle!"
"We played!" Rainheart said cheerily. "Now we get to play!"
Before Ron could register what was happening the entire hall burst into flames. They spread to everything and anything, including him. The flames started at his feet as he frantically tried to use his powers to put them out or at least contain them. They climbed higher up his body as the heat from the flames began to intensify to a point where every nerve in his body seemed to be registering the pain. Soon his entire body was engulfed and the halls filled with his pained cries.
The four black trenched men entered the hall seemingly unaffected by the fire or heat. They approached Ron with purpose, despite their orders to find Lilia they had standing orders to kill him on sight. As one they raised their hands and shot a telekinetic blast at him. The force knocked him down the hall right past Rainheart.
Rainheart for his part was mad. He stomped his foot on the ground like a child taking a temper tantrum. "No! Leave us alone! We're playing!"
With that he thrust out his arms and unleashed an amazing force of psychic energy that picked up all four and threw them down the hall back the way they had come. They didn't stop when they hit the wall though. They went straight through and down to the streets below. Those fortunate enough to have survived crashing into the wall didn't survive the fall.
Ron slowly picked himself up from the floor. The flames still engulfed him but he no longer felt any pain. He realized what was going on now. The R series that attacked him had helped him to do that. The fire wasn't real, only a trick of the mind. They say your mind is a powerful thing, well apparently with the right manipulation it can even kill you.
"You want to know the difference between your flame and mine?" Ron asked as Rainheart turned back to face him. "Mine's real!"
With a swipe of his arm he put as much power as he could behind his pyrokinetics and unleashed a devastating flame. It engulfed Rainheart and the boy screamed in agony. The screams stopped moments later as the he fell to the ground charred black.
As Ron approached he saw that there was still a small spark of life in the boy. But something was different. All the malice was gone from his eyes only to be replaced by a pained innocence.
"I didn't hurt anyone. A monster did it." Rainheart pleaded weakly. "They gave me drugs and a monster came out."
Suddenly Ron wasn't in the hotel anymore. He was in a place of nothingness. White all around him. No sky, no ground, just white. He saw Rainheart a short distance away on his knees crying. A man stood before him, an injection gun in his hand.
"It's three o'clock." Lem said calmly. "It's time for your medicine."
Rainheart shook his head and continued to sob. "No! The medicine makes the monster come! He scares me! He says he's going to eat me!"
Lem's voice held no emotion. "Mother wants you to take your medicine. She wants to make you strong. You don't want to disappoint your mother do you?"
The two vanished to be replaced by the burnt and dying Rainheart laying on the ground. As Ron knelt he took the boy's hand.
"Don't tell mother I failed." He pleaded. "She would be angry. Don't tell mother."
"I won't tell mother." Ron assured him as Rainheart faded. As he died tears slid down Ron's cheeks. He may have been a Galerain, but he was a victim too.
Rion!?
Ron's head shot up at Lilia's mental call. "Lilia, I'm at the hotel. Where are you?"
The hotel's restaurant in the basement.
"I'm on my way."
He stood and wiped the tears from his eyes. There was no time for this. With one last look at the body he turned down the hall heading for the stairwell. His face was set. He was determined to end this for both humans and Galerians.
---------------0010100---------------
As Ron entered the basement he immediately saw Lilia. She laid motionless on a couch towards the back. Without missing a beat he was running to her, dodging tables and chairs in his rush. As he reached Lilia her eyes fluttered open. She looked the same as in his dream. The same light brown, almost reddish, hair and brown eyes. Even the same white sweater and black pants.
"Are you alright?" He asked as he helped her into a sitting position.
"Telepathy is the joining of two minds." She explained as she leaned against him as he sat beside her. "We were still connected when you fought Birdman. What you felt I felt."
Ron winced as he thought of that. He had taken one hell of a beating before the fight had ended. His power had only just barely come out on top.
"I held on for as long as I could, but I blacked out while you were on your way here."
He was about to respond when he heard footsteps echoing through the large room. Looking up, Ron saw the woman from his vision earlier coming towards them. Her bright red hair seemed to reflect all the light in the dimly lit room.
"Who are you?" Ron asked as he stood up and got between her and Lilia.
"My name is Rita. It was nice of you to lead us to the girl by the way Rion. Mother seems quite worried about her." She said as she continued her even stride across the room.
"I don't want to fight you, but I won't just hand over Lilia either! Can't you just leave us alone?"
"I'll deal with Lilia soon enough." Rita stopped about ten feet from the pair and levelled her gaze at them. "Rainheart was often lazy and whiny, but he had this childlike naivety to him. He was the most innocent of us. He was my brother and you'll pay for what you have done!"
Both Ron and Rita reacted at the same time. He grabbed Lilia and dove to the side just as Rita unleashed an energy wave at them. The couch exploded in a shower of foam and leather just as they cleared it.
Ron arced his arm towards her enveloping her in flames. She merely laughed as she snuffed them out with her power non the worse for wear from the attack. "Not gonna cut it."
It did what it was meant to though. While Rita was distracted Ron ushered Lila to hid behind the bar. Hopefully she would be relatively safe there. Slowly and carefully Ron followed Rita into the large dining area as they exchange fairly low powered blasts, each testing the others defences.
Suddenly she stopped and Ron barely had time to turned to see the table flying towards him. It shattered as it hit him right on and knocked him backwards. As he fell backwards a chair came at him knocking into his side. Stumbling from the hit he was barely able to blast another chair that was coming at him.
He could hear Rita's laugher as he continued to frantically blast the furniture that kept flying at him. As quickly as the assault started it stopped. With a wary eye Ron looked around. A metallic rattling behind him caught his attention. Just in time he turned to see the onslaught of utensils coming his way. At the last second he was able to put up his barrier, hissing in pain as one managed to get through.
With an almost feral growl he pulled the fork from his arm and tossed it to the ground. He eyes turned white as he released a wave of power in all directions. The remaining tables and chairs burst apart as they were consumed by the wave. Rita merely laughed as she gracefully back flipped outside of the wave's range.
She made a disgusted tsk sound as she leapt onto the hotel's old piano and levitated it into the air. The restaurant had a high ceiling giving her plenty of room to manoeuvre.
Ron let out another yell as he sent another, much more focused, blast her way. The piano swerved to the side with ease as the power sailed right past her. Rita whistled as she looked at the night sky through the hole Ron had just created.
"You're strong that's for sure." She told him almost complimentarily. "But you can't kill what you can't hit!"
It was obvious to Ron that he was quickly losing this fight. He was beginning to tire and Rita was more powerfully than any Galerian he had faced so far. With a hesitant hand he pulled out the yellow vile that he had stashed in his pocket before entering the hotel. The untested drug called Skip.
Bringing it up to his neck he injected himself with the drug. The effect was immediate. His blood felt like it began to burn as the Skip worked its way through his system. The pain was so great a cry couldn't even escape his lips. Then it subsided only to be replaced with a rush of power. It was completely exhilarating.
With one quick action he sent out another telekinetic wave at Rita. This one travelled so fast that even she couldn't move out of the way in time. The piano exploded as impact threw Rita to the ground with a sickening thud.
Slowly, painfully she stood. Spiting the blood from her mouth she pull a fold out injection gun from her pocket. "This drug was made just for me."
As she injected it she looked at Ron. Her eyes glowed white with power as the air around her crackled with an abundance of white and blue energy. Ron knew exactly what she had down, he'd experienced it himself not long ago. She had just short-circuited herself.
Rita captured Ron in an almost affectionate embrace, seemingly oblivious to his cries of pain. "If I'm going to die I'm taking you with me! I don't want to die alone!"
Suddenly Ron found himself in the same white space as when Rainheart was dying. He saw Rita a short distance away sitting in a pool of blood.
"I hate this life." She told him, her eyes sad. "Why do we have to live like this? Why are we only allowed hate? The humans are the lucky ones. At least they get to know love."
As Ron found himself back in her painful embrace he heard her desperate plea again. "I don't want to die alone!"
"Rion!" Lilia's worried cry broke through the pain. He couldn't die here. He couldn't die yet. He still had things to finish. No matter how much he sympathised with Rita it couldn't end here.
"I'm sorry." He said softly as he used as much power as his pained mind could muster to throw Rita off of him. As her body hit the ground the energy around her forced her back up. She kept bouncing off the ground until finally one bounce snapped her neck. The energy dissipated and her body fell limp.
Ron stood there completely exhausted and panting heavily. He stared at the body of Rita with a look of sympathy and understanding. Suddenly there was nothing but burning pain as something hit his back and knocked him to the ground.
Shego stepped from the shadows, her hands glowing with green flame. She came to stand over Ron. He could barely recognize her as he began to fade in and out of consciousness before finally succumbing to the darkness.
"I don't believe it!" She said shaking her head as she looked down at him. The flames died in her hands. "I was sent out into the world to find Rion, joined up with Drakken to cause a little mayhem along the way, and he was right under my nose all this time! Of everyone I came across I never thought it was you!"
She seemed to ponder something for a minute before shrugging. "Alright, maybe I notice the resemblance but I just thought it was coincidence. I mean you're the buffoon!"
"Oh well." Shego said as she ignited her flames. "Time to die!"
Before she could deliver the finishing blow she was tackled to the side by a blur of red and black. As Shego stood to face her new opponent she came face to face with Kim Possible in her black mission garb.
"Oh please! Little miss teen hero showing up to save the day!" Shego sneered mockingly. "Go home Kimmie, you can't win this fight!"
"I've beat you time and time again. This time will be no different." Kim said confidently.
"Wrong!" Shego exclaimed as she lashed out with a telekinetic shove that set Kim sailing across the room. "This time I don't have to hold back!"
Angrily Shego made her way over to Kim idly tossing bits and pieces of debris out of the way as she went. Kim was just pulling herself to her feet when Shego made it to her. Tossing one hand out Shego threw her into the nearby wall and drug her up it a few feet. In her other hand a ball of fire appeared.
"Time to say goodbye Kimmie!" Shego said with a cruel smile on her lips.
Suddenly she felt a sharp pain and her fireball died out. She gurgled as blood spat from her mouth. Looking down Shego saw a large piece of wood sticking out of her chest. Turning around she was able to see a now conscious Ron on the floor with his hand outstretched. With a look of shock Shego fell to the ground dead.
Kim fell unceremoniously to the ground and rushed to Ron's side. "Ron, are you alright?"
Ron nodded as Lilia came up to join them. Kim glanced around at the room that looked like it had been a war zone, the bodies, and finally Ron and the strange girl. "What's going on?"