"Of Friends and Foes"

Epilogue

Kim and Ron walked down the hallway of the hospital. They had been kept overnight for observation. Ron was given a clean bill of health and was released. Kim was beginning to show signs of true Renfield's Disease, and nobody knew what to do. Kim and Ron were going to see the only person they knew who would know. The only problem was that person had been asleep for almost a day. They saw a Global Justice agent standing outside of a room down the hall. They had questions too. He nodded at the two teens as they entered. Lying in a bed was T, who was still asleep. Kim noticed the pendant that she had insisted be hung around his neck, was glowing a bright red and was whole once again.

"Wasn't this broken yesterday?" Kim asked Ron. Ron never got the chance to answer her.

"It grew back," said T whose eyes were wide open now. He sat up in the bed and stared at the door for a second before turning his gaze back to Kim and Ron. "The Ruby Heart, how to explain this, is kind of alive." T said. Kim and Ron stared at him with confused looks. "It's not alive like you and me, but in that it feeds. It feeds off of, and contains the most powerful force in existence. Care to take a guess what it is?" T asked.

"Monique had some idea about it being powered by emotions," said Kim.

"Yes, it is an emotion, but only one," replied T.

"Is it love?" asked Kim.

"It is love," said T. "It feeds off of the love of others that is freely given to you, and as it absorbs it, it grows into a full Ruby Heart. The stronger the love, the faster it grows." T held the pendent in his hand and looked deeply into it. "It connects you to that person, and in effect it protects you. You can even see that other person in a whole piece at times, even if you are far apart."

"Can it cure me of the vampirism?" asked Kim hopefully.

"No," stated T bluntly. He pointed to a satchel in the floor next to the wall. "Could you hand me that please?" he asked. Ron picked it up and handed it to him. He pulled out a black case from the front pocket and set it down in his lap. "I still have the disease that I call Lycanthropic Renfield's. If the Ruby Heart were able to cure a person of either of those two diseases, I would have been years ago." He opened the case and inside were some vials and an injector of some kind that was shaped like a gun. Kim never saw one of them before. "I created a serum for the blood lust," he took a vial and placed it in the injector. He placed it on his arm and it made a hissing noise. "It prevents me from having to drink blood to survive." He removed the empty vial, tossed it in the bag, and inserted another. "Would you open your mouth please?" he asked Kim. Kim opened her mouth and T looked in. Using his thumb, he felt along the tip of her teeth. As he swiped over her canine teeth, they extended a little. Before Kim knew what was happening, T shot the serum into her arm. Kim jumped back and rubbed her arm. "I discovered, once upon a time, that if given to a person who has been bitten, and has not fully turned yet, it would make the disease inert," T said as he packed the equipment back up. "In other words, it can cure you. It will take a while, but you should return to normal within a couple of days." He reached into his bag and pulled out another small box and handed it to Kim. "This is a single dose of the serum. Take it tomorrow around this time. It is in a one-time use injector."

"I have a question for you," said Ron. "What happened in that warehouse?"

T sighed, "Do you want to know about the explosion, or about the whole operation?"

"How about the whole operation thing," answered Ron.

"All right, I was informed that some highly dangerous and illegal weapons were being transported here. Dr. Drakken being the recipient of them. I didn't expect to see Greaper there. I expected one of their human agents to do the transaction."

"Could you please explain a little bit about that?" interrupted Ron.

"Greaper is a Shadow Beast, a demon of sorts. They come in a variety of assortments. Greaper is a contact for his group. His type usually doesn't make appearances to newbies right away. They work for an organization that wants to put the world in chaos. If Dr. Drakken had got his hands on the weapons, he could have easily started the cycle to that goal. As to the explosion itself," T continued, "A Nega-matter bomb was accidentally activated when Shego tripped over it fighting Kim. I was too busy looking for Greaper to notice it and it was too late when I did. Dr. Drakken and Shego escaped in time, but as I was leaving it blew. A Nega-matter bomb only erases positive energies, not the explosion that happened. But it did cause the other weapons to explode, and it caused the Ruby Heart to shift phases. The explosion itself caused it to break. Lost my medallion too."

"That is in my house, or was in my house. Till it was burned down anyway," said Kim.

"Ooh, yeah, I'll fix that little detail, but as for the medallion it will still be there." An awkward silence fell over the three.

Kim broke it, "Could you explain some things about Duke?"

"Ah Duke," spoke T, as if he were bringing up bad memories. "A long time ago, when I was young and inexperienced, I went upon a rescue mission. A girl whom I thought to be dead. She was in the company of the Vampire Clan, a prisoner you might say. She was the niece of the leader of the Werewolf Clan, who they were fighting with. I should draw to your attention that the girl was not herself a werewolf. As I was on my way to a village, I met a young woman who called herself Duchess."

"I've heard that name somewhere before," said Kim.

T nodded and continued, "Duchess was the leader of the Vampire clan. Not just because she was the strongest, but because she was the mother of all vampires. She and her sons are responsible for all vampires that have been made. Because I fought the leader of the Shadow Beasts and survived, uh sort of, she wanted me to give her another son. So she turned me, and controlled me. I did many bad things during that time, but by a bit of irony, I was freed by the very person I had set out to rescue. Duchess wasn't in the least bit pleased at that and took her revenge on me by stealing away the girl. Like she did to me, she did to her also. I tried to use the Ruby Heart on her, but it did not work. To save many, I had to sacrifice the few. I was forced to kill her. Duchess thought this was very funny and in my anger I killed her in battle. That was my mistake. I gained her power and her evil. I became the strongest vampire in existence, and Duke was born. He only had a few minutes free before the Ruby Heart sealed him in. In short, Duke is my dark side."

T looked out the window, "He's still out there somewhere. I was too weak when I fought him, so he was able to escape. He'll be out of commission for a while at least."

"Do you think he'll come after me again?" asked Kim.

"Yes, most definitely. But you will be ready for him next time. I take it you still have the other piece of the Ruby Heart?" asked T.

Kim nodded, "Yes, it was with your medallion."

"Then keep it on you at all times. It will protect you from his influence, and Ron's love for you will make it grow. It will grow stronger and protect you from evil."

T starred at the door again. "Global Justice is out there, aren't they?" he asked.

"Yes," said Kim, "They want to ask you some questions of their own."

"I'm sure they do. You should go now, they are coming. Oh, and don't worry about your house, like I said I'll take care of it."

"I've got just one more question," said Kim. "What does HDPD stand for anyway?"

T just smiled "I'll tell you later, in a place where the walls don't have ears." Kim and Ron left the room. Sure enough as T had said, they saw Dr. Director walking down the hall toward them.

"Kim, Ron," said Dr. Director as she approached them.

"Dr. Director, T just mentioned that you were coming. I think he's expecting you," said Kim.

"Really? He is?" Dr. Director said surprised. She opened the door and walked in. "He's not in there," she said as she came back out. Kim and Ron looked in the door. The room was empty and the bed was made. It looked as if no one had ever been in the room. They checked the windows to find they were locked. "Typical M.O.," said Dr. Director.

A few days later a construction crew came and rebuilt the Possible home, they said it was paid for. When it was finished, furniture was delivered and all their possessions were replaced or at least what could be bought. When Kim went upstairs to her newly built and furnished room, she found a box sitting on her dresser. She opened it up and found the broken piece of the Ruby Heart. It had been refitted and was hanging from a thin gold chain. Also inside the box was a letter.

I have told you about how everything has a purpose, and a reason behind them. What I did not tell you is that most often you do not realize what it is until it has passed. That is what has happened. The events that took place so long ago have been the culmination for recent events. I have found and terminated Duke. He is a threat to you no more, and I did not absorb his evil. The world can breathe a little easier now that one of the major evils has been destroyed. I must thank you for this feat, for without your help I would still be carrying it around with me or worse. I have fitted the Ruby Heart piece you have with a chain so you may wear it. As I said it will protect you and keep you close to Ron no matter how far apart you are. You will also find out in a few days that no one will remember the events that took place. Only you and Ron will remember it, tell no one. As members of the Hyper-Dimensional Police Department (HDPD), you are sworn to secrecy of all HDPD business. We may meet again someday, until then take care.

Guardian T