A blond haired man sat within a small circle, his hands at his sides as he gazed upon the chalk, fascinated with the intricate designs, he leant forward to trace the lines and symbols, a flash of red shot forward, and he pulled back his hand as if he'd been burnt. He had. The now burned hand was well again as a spark of blue light traveled to it and made it whole. He gasped. He had not realized that, within this circle, he had no control over his own mystical monkey power. He had certainly never had it manifest as self healing to this extent. Somehow he knew that it no longer belonged to just him. He felt a consciousness, bubbling within his own, made up of pure emotions. It reached his mind and took a corner of the mind as its own. It looked around.

Ron was shocked when his muscles began to move on their own. His head jerked shakily to take one look at the symbols on the floor, and then, just as a monkey's would, a great laugh burst up from his belly. Ron was shocked, he might have laughed a small bit since Kim's betrayal, but he had never before, even in the company of his once best friend, felt this kind of mirth. It was a complete antithesis to his sadness, the exact opposite. When that occurred to Ron, he thought that he must somehow be fueling this new being, and he decided to give it full control.

Instead of fighting to regain the ability to move himself and to find his surroundings, Ron concentrated on all of the emotion he had, his hate for Mankey, Kim, and everyone who had subjugated him in Middleton, his undeniable sadness as he thought about the fiery mane and emerald eyes of his one-time beloved. He filled mind with murderous thoughts of a man who had threatened his life, of the men who had attempted to kill him, at the villains of the world, at the man who had started this, Monkey Fist, and at the man who had captured him.

The new being was confused by these thoughts, but he felt the power this boy was sending to him. He hooted a quick thank you and then used his tail to blur the chalk. Only to find that he did not have a tail. What was this? How could he not have a tail? He had always had a tail! Hooting in frustration he used his feet. He would find out what was wrong with him later.

Ron finally wrested control from the being who he found to be passive and benevolent, if a little curious. Seeing as he was not yet truly evil, merely vengeful, he decided to seek out his new enemies. He faintly heard something in the back of his mind complaining about 'losing my tail,' though to be honest, the voice was not the least bit important to him.

Ron stared down at the former villain before him. It figured Dementor would want to steal him. He cackled viciously. Dementor would never steal another breath, let alone anything important. The voice was horrified.

.

Sheila, or Shego to anyone who did not want to die a long and painful death, was sitting on the wall of Yamanouchi, watching the road Ron had taken out of the school. He was supposed to be returning to the school at noon, but she secretly hoped he would return sooner. She so wanted to ask him for help. Drew had been too worried lately, and as Ron was becoming more like his old self, he might be able to help. He was an expert at 'marinatin' as he put it. Sheila shook her head. No one had ever returned from a mastery retreat so quickly. It was widely believed that no one ever would, for the simple reason that the time limit was imposed as a limit to allow only the most skilled to succeed. She was about to give up when she heard a piercing screech from beyond the walls.

Gazing around, her hand on the bell she was surprised to see a flaming sphere in the sky. "Ron!" She was so startled that she accidentally set off the alarm. He was back. He was back early, and it seemed that he had more than a mastery of his chosen field. It seemed he had perfected it.

The whole of the school of Yamanouchi was gathered in the courtyard, watching in awe as a man who had learned among them landed more powerful than their sensei. In point of fact, Sensei was standing at the front of this group, gaping at the most powerful man since Toshimiru. Surely this man was not the same who had caused so much destruction to the school. Surely this man was some spiritual incarnation of Toshimiru himself. No, he thought, Father has never been able to manifest his power since he died, this could not be him.

.

Ron glared at his victim. Feeling the horror of his companion only sent him more power, and he flew into a killing frenzy. "How dare you try to steal me, to control my power, to mold me into your weapon? I'm not some sort of machine you can control. And to make sure you never attack me again, you must die."

Dementor soiled himself as a bright flash of gold signaled that his opponent had unlocked another facet of his power. The now horrifying buffoon stood before him, radiating power. Dementor finally understood the firsthand meaning of the term 'foxhole Christian' as he prayed to every god or goddess he believed to be able to take him from this visage of terror.

Ron was surprised as his arm seemed to emit a golden light for a minute before it shot forward from his bicep, taking the form of a sword. He felt his soul, his very essence within the sword and he finally understood the true power of the lotus blade. It was not merely a magical blade; it was the very soul of the single most powerful entity to have ever lived. Second-most powerful, he internally corrected.

As he stood before the quivering mass of flesh before him, he willed the sword into the form of dual katanas, their blades sharp enough to take the hair off his face, all of it, with no problems. He cackled as his swords spun in a wildly turning funnel a storm of blades that seemed to blend the corpse of his one-time captor into a mushy cannibal-smoothie. His body started to glow with an indescribable fury, a red and gold flame bursting into being all over his body. He shot into the air on the way to his new home.

.

Kim watched the news that evening, her eyes puffy and red. She was nearly certain that she saw Ron's face among a massive anomaly, a moving fire that went nearly all of the way around the world to disappear in the mountains of Japan. She was so busy crying that she entirely missed the reporter say that the phenomenon originated in the former-lair of one 'Dr. Dementor,' though she barely caught the fact that Dementor had been brutally murdered and was no longer recognizable.

.

Shego was stunned. How could he have become this powerful, when he had once been the comic relief? How could Kim have done this to him? And, most importantly, what would happen now? For the first time ever, Shego feared what Ron could become.

.

Ron was fascinated with the new entity, as he had taken to calling it. He learned from it the true art of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, the art that few humans had ever been introduced to. The simple reason for this was that few humans had ever had tails. He found that his sword would take that form unless he called to it. He really enjoyed the new training, and he rarely spoke to anyone.

.

Drew was very nervous. Not only was it finally his wedding day, he feared he would soon be caught in a fight between his mother and his bride to be. Not only that, but his best man was one who he had merely called the buffoon for a large portion of their relationship. He was also both powerful and protective. He was not a man to be trifled with, and this was the first time in three years that he had left the hidden ninja school's grounds, other than his brief time as Dementor's captive. Suffice it to say that Drew Lipsky was terrified.

Ron cornered Drew, pulling him into a small room of the beaten track. "Listen Drew, I wanted to wish you good luck. I know that you know and like Sheila, and I hope that you find happiness with her, but know this. If you ever intentionally hurt her, I will hunt you down, and you will wish for Dementor's fate." At this Drew paled considerably. "However, I would hate for that to happen and I know that you will do everything in your power to keep her happy. If that continues to be your goal, I hope we can have a lasting friendship."

The wedding was beautiful, and everything proceeded as planned. However, when the happily wedded couple, and the man who gave the bride away, was the best man, and would take them to their private island for their honeymoon as well as provide security while they were there walked outside, a group of men in black cloaks stopped them. "We are sorry for the inconvenience, but you must die," was their only message, but their attempt could not be a worse idea. Ron's eyes turned into a burning flame within his face, their new intensity scaring the men. They all brought their weapons to bear, and fired at him. He made no attempt to dodge.

When the red haze finally dissipated from Ron, he, Drew, and Sheila were all on the honeymoon island, their attempted assassins were strewn in small pieces all over Moscow, and he was much nearer to death than was comfortable to Drew and Sheila. Luckily for them, small golden flames broke out all over his body and he was soon entirely healed. Unluckily for them, though neither of them would ever complain about it, he then collapsed. Needless to say, their wedding night was not quite as enjoyable as they'd expected.

A/N: Wow. I don't think I would still be reading this after that long of a wait. I did have a bit of an excuse, but still. I guess the fact that I am an incurable slacker, coupled with the fact that I just got a five-F report card, including English class, should dissuade me from devoting much time to this. Of course, with me, should and will only rarely coincide. This might be it for a while, because I have to study up for AP Stats. I just got a 48% on a practice AP test, and the real one's on May 5, so I should not be able to work for forever.

Does anyone listen to the ramblings of a madman? Ah well, anywho. I won't deny the fact that I've been reading more angsty works than I ever have before. I still like a bit of the romance and stuff, but there's something intoxicating about listening to someone else's problems for once. If anyone who knows me is reading this, I can safely assume that you have no life. If you know me, are reading this, and have a life, I apologise profusely.

Speaking of this story, a bit more intrigue has entered. For those who are utterly confused at this point, I'm sorry. I tend to write in a very roundabout way. I like having a bunch of tiny surprises rather than making one big twist. The twist is still there, but the other little innovations should serve to lessen the blow. I know that I said that I wouldn't tell you guys what Ron told Kim, and I won't, at least not verbatim, but the information is covered in these chapters. There's only one thing that is still hidden from Kim, as opposed to all of you. Mwuahahaha.

Speaking of me, I've been working diligently at everything that I care about, and I'm starting to get pissed at some of the people who have been telling me too study, do my work, take care of my body, sleep, etc. If my body dies its because it can't take the heat. So don't be surprised if I start a bunch of random one-shots, of varying fictions. I'll only take on one big project at a time though, so don't spend too much time cussing me out.

I have made the discovery that flaming kerosene is very painful to the bare skin of my chest.

Is the game of life similar to Russian Roulette?