4) Under no circumstances is a Creator allowed to work without a Beta. This will ensure continuity and that the creation will remain cohesive.
March 15th, 169,187 A.D.
Middleton, Colorado
7:15 A.M.
Something was different today.
Ron couldn't quite place it but something was definitely different about the way this particular day was beginning and even as he lay looking up at his ceiling he knew something unique was about to happen.
He studied the intricate marks on the cave ceiling above his head and reached a hand towards the images carved into the solid rock as he struggled to wake up. Even though he had carved those images thousands of years before it still caused him to wonder what he meant at the time.
From his perch next to Ron, Rufus continued snoring but as Ron turned his head to study his lone companion he noticed a smile on Rufus' face even as he twitched nervously in his sleep. He could've been dreaming about happier times or getting stepped on, Ron couldn't tell either way. All that mattered was making sure Rufus slept soundly.
Ron slowly sat up and swung his legs quietly over the side of his stone bed and into his shoes. Even after the countless millenia he had yet to figure out a way to keep the rusty dust out of his cave and for that he was forced to wear his shoes indoors.
Seeing that Rufus was still asleep, Ron set about the morning chores in utter silence. After all, there was no sense waking Rufus before the sun actually rose. The last time he'd done that Rufus had been grouchy all day and a grouchy Rufus meant a grouchy Ron.
"Blade," he whispered softly and with a hiss of air, the Lotus Blade appeared in his hand from its mounting on the opposite wall.
With hardly any effort Ron transformed the blade into a broom and proceeded to sweep the dust out of his cave. While Ron knew that he could have created a fan or something easy and efficient, Ron liked to keep himself occupied with whatever tasks he could find. When he finished sweeping his cave out he held the blade at an arms length and sighted down the blade. Thinking back Ron performed a talent that he had learned some sixty-eight thousand years ago. First, Ron imagined a bucket of water and just like that, the blade shimmered in light for a brief moment before finally transforming into a pail filled with cool, fresh water.
Taking a long drink from the blade turned water filled bucket, Ron concentrated only on the soft caress of the liquid as it tumbled down his throat and for several minutes the only sound heard was Ron taking in his fill of water that he conjured out of thin air.
When he had his fill, he removed the bucket from his lips and wiped at his mouth with the back of hand. He let out a gasp as he felt Rufus' tiny claws dig into his side and climb up his torso. With effortless grace, Rufus climbed onto Ron's shoulder and giving a high pitched, "Ta-Da!" he dove head first into the bucket.
Thunk
Rufus groaned and emerged from the bottom of the bucket rubbing his head. Chittering and pointing a claw angrily at Ron, Rufus proceeded to chew out the last man on Earth.
Ron waited patiently for several minutes until Rufus stopped to take a breath before interrupting, "Are you done? Or do you want to keep going?" he saw Rufus snarl angrily but Ron could see the mock anger, "I mean, as soon as you're done I'll fill the bucket back up-"
Rufus was out of the bucket and on Ron's shoulder so fast, Ron would've sworn the naked mole rat had teleported.
With the same amount of effort as before, Ron used his Mystical Monkey Power to fill the bucket again and when it was full he set it lightly upon the floor. Even though the bucket looked like it was made of wood, the bucket gave a metallic clink as it was set upon the stone.
Rufus dove from Ron's shoulder and into the bucket and this time was rewarded with a splash that spilled water from the edge.
Swimming around in the water Rufus chirped softly to himself and Ron took the free time to walk to the edge of his cave and look out over the dead city stretched out before him.
The towering peaks of skyscrapers were now nothing more than a memory, their former splendor and glory reduced to piles of rusted rubble that blew away with each passing day. Every year, a little more was forgotten in time.
From his cave, Ron looked over the remains of the dead city and had to momentarily shield his eyes as the sun rose over the horizon, it's blood red color bathing the landscape in a deep scarlet. The only thing of Ron's not actually affected by the sun was his jersey which remained it's constant red. Everything else however, from his golden hair to the brown pants were lowered to a darkened color of red.
"Well that's new," Ron commented offhandedly as the sun continued to climb into the sky.
He felt a weight on his shoulder as Rufus, fresh from his morning bath scurried up to a vantage point and took in the view.
Pointing to the blood drop hanging over the horizon Rufus nodded and chirped. Ron was silent for a moment before nodding back, "I don't know either Rufus..." Ron trailed off as he stared at Rufus and before he could contain himself, he let out a laugh that cut through the ghost of a town. Rufus cocked his head and looked at himself before joining in the laughter.
Simply put, Rufus looked like an over ripe tomato with whiskers.
The sun's rays not only changed the color on Ron's clothes but also on any exposed skin. Looking at Ron's face Rufus started laughing in return before pantomiming a mirror to show Ron.
Ron called the Lotus Blade over and transformed it into a mirror. Looking in it he started laughing as well as he saw his skin matched that of Rufus'.
It may have been juvenile, it may have been pointless but their laughter carried far across the empty world and for the first time in countless millenia, both man and animal forgot all about the desolation before them and remembered the best times they had shared.
For a moment, the world was whole.
October 18th, 185,217 A.D.
Middleton, Colorado
12:03 P.M.
It was noon. Or rather it would have been noon had Ron still worn a watch. But seeing as the last human who actually cared about time died out over 200,000 years ago, Ron really didn't see the need for one.
True, the waters had vanished 150,000 years prior but humanity was dead long before the planet was. It just took longer to kill a planet than it took to kill a species. But here at the end of the universe, time was irrelevant and Ron simply didn't care about anything other than going to see Kim.
As he and Rufus walked through the remains of Middleton towards her cemetery, Ron felt the silence of the dead planet more than he actually heard it. It felt like a weight attached to his shoulders that constantly beat him down and though he longed to collapse to the ground and simply die, something inside him kept him standing.
Somewhere in the distance a space scraper tumbled to the Earth in an enormous display of destruction and even from twenty miles away the rumblings could still be felt. As he walked along his well worn path through town he saw a pile of rubble collapse in on itself with a loud crash.
shree-dao
Instantly Rufus was on Ron's shoulder as the sound of the MAMA was carried over the wind to the Naked Mole Rat's sensitive ears.
Ron looked at Rufus in confusion as his pink friend tugged wildly on his ear while chittering loudly. Ron felt a paw direct his face and felt his stomach drop as Rufus pointed off into the distance.
Towards Go City.
Schink
Instantly the Lotus blade was in Ron's hand as he tried to find what Rufus was pointing towards.
"I though Kim killed it." Ron hissed against the dead wind as he braced himself for the MAMA's attack all the while praying that it had not heard him.
Rufus was silent as he listened for the MAMA.
Ron held the blade at the ready and he struggled he remember Sensei's teachings about combat.
Rufus tapped silently on Ron's cheek and the man turned to regard his companion who was listening with his eyes closed.
Rufus was silent for a moment as he listened for RS but stopped when he heard the creature move away.
"I thought it was dead," Ron whispered to Rufus, "Kim did drop a city on it."
Rufus looked as terrified as his master as he struggled to figure out how it had survived all these years.
Rufus listened again but heard nothing as the MAMA had gone silent.
"I think it would be a good idea if we never went back to Go City," Ron observed quietly as he felt Rufus nod in agreement.
October 18th, 201,275 A.D.
Middleton, Colorado
4:03 P.M.
Ron and Rufus made their way to the graveyard even as the golden sun sank in the sky. As they approached, Rufus hopped out of Ron's pocket and scampered away to his hole away from home.
Ron watched his friend leave with silent respect, "Thank you old friend," he got a chittering from Rufus' general direction and then turned back to Kim's gravestone, "Activate Kim Stoppable hologram."
Nothing.
"Please activate Kim Possible hologram?" he ventured.
Still nothing.
Ron was panicking now. Kim, his Kim was gone.
"Activate Kim Stoppable hologram now," he ordered forcefully.
He heard a clicking sound as if something was trying to start and with a jumble of contrasting light and heavy sound, the hologram of Ron's late wife appeared before him.
"R-ron Stop-able-Stoppable," Kim's patchy voice was breaking up through the hologram, "i-de-idea tr-trans-mach-"
Ron tried to place a comforting hand on the hologram but the myriad of light and sound batted it away, "d-d-don't em hcout," the program stuttered, "me tcouh no," Kim's body slowly formed through the storm and her face was contorted in pain, "Ron," she gasped in her first coherent word, "Ron...don't...touch...m-me." She spoke so slow that Ron could barely make out what she said.
"Kim what's happening to you?" he asked even though he knew the problem.
"M-my gram-program is fialnig," she stammered and the hologram flickered, "my hard drive is falling apa-apart apart apart apart apart," she kept repeating, her program reset and she spoke coherently, "Let loose the bonds and shrug this mortal coil, only then will the path to the creators open."
Well, she spoke clearly at least.
Ron was at the side of her gravestone in an instant, "Can I do anything?" he begged...pleaded.
The holographic Kim smiled, ".me help to late too it's, no,"
Ron reorganized the words in his head before shaking his head in defiance, "There's gotta be something I can do."
Kim shook her head as a holographic tear coursed down her cheek before disappearing, "Let go of me," she laughed hysterically before snapping back to a dour mood, "die me let."
Ron ignored her and shouted, "BLADE!"
Instantly the Lotus blade was in his hand and he gazed at the sword before imagining something that could save Kim. He didn't know what so he just thought, "GIVE ME SOMETHING TO SAVE KIM!" he shouted to the blade.
A glass of water appeared in his hand.
The holographic Kim saw the water in his hand and all of a sudden the swirling colors formed the Kim her remembered, the Kim he knew from high school.
"Ron," she said in a perfectly clear voice.
Ron's head snapped up, "Kim? I-"
"Father?" Ron looked at Kim in confusion as she flickered in the afternoon sun.
Kim's image had changed appearances and instead of his wife being there, Ron was face to face with a teenage girl. Her petite face and almond eyes accented her Japanese heritage but her golden hair suggested a mixed parentage. Her black robe had been torn and sown back together so many times Ron was not entirely certain any amount of original fabric was in the robe. Before Ron's eyes, the girl pulled at a golden lock of hair that had fallen over her eyes and she tucked it behind the red headband she wore proudly.
"Father?" the girl asked again, love and devotion written across her features, "Kim said you died in her arms."
Ron looked at the girl, struggling to understand what she was saying, "who are you?"
The girl was silent before the pieces fell into place, "You don't know who I am. Do you?"
Ron shook his head.
"Well then in that case," She shook her head, "Don't speak Father, just listen," the holographic Kim flickered back into view for a moment but she was replaced with the young Asian girl, "She's coming with the power from beyond stars. She'll need what you have right now and what only you can give," Ron's face showed confusion and she smiled before continuing, "the only thing-" the girl stopped and snapped stiff to attention for a moment before she was interrupted and replaced by the Kim hologram, "Program deleted, we apologize for this inconvenience. Please contact your local maintenance staff for assistance."
With that, the hologram of Kim Stoppable vanished into thin air as if someone threw a switch.
Ron dropped to his knees in front of Kim's gravestone and just stared even as he felt the weight of Rufus on his shoulder.
Kim was gone. Truly dead.
A single tear coursed down his cheek.
For the first time in several hundred thousand years, Ron truly felt alone.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except my ravishingly good looks. Disney owns the characters and Horace Heidt owns the song.
Author's Notes: Originally I was going to include a section detailing more of what happened leading up to the world being in this state but I don't think so. Some things are better left to the imagination. In addition, to put in new sections detailing all the events leading up to this point would be an entire separate book entirely.
That being said, I don't think we've seen the last of Ron here. Not by a long shot.
Special thanks this week goes out to Mr. Wizard (It's a little early for a solution isn't it?), Taechunsa (You were close kid...but not close enough), Darev (There's no run like a suicide run), CajunBear73 (With humanity gone the Bears will inherit the Earth), Katsumara (Don't let it go to your head), Sentinel103 (Or maybe it's something else), Magic Flying Spud (Best screen name ever), temporaryinsanity91 (Predictable is boring).
Thank you all for all the reviews and if you leave a review I will respond.
And if you find a grammar issue, feel free to drop me a line.
Until next time,
TRS