Hi guys! Just letting everyone know I'm not dead, and neither is this story! And to the guest reviewer who kept posting that I should continue writing: thanks for the interest! It means a lot to me!

Ash Blaken spit up a wad of blood as the polar bear slugged him again, this time across the face. The panther's body was bruised and battered, a special drug their boss had given him temporarily knocking out his healing factor and his smoke powers in order to make the interrogation effective.

"Come on, Ash." The raccoon said calmly, standing a short distance away with a passive expression on her face and her arms crossed. "We know you've been spying on us; we just want to know who put you up to it."

"I... told you..." Ash murmured. "Nobody... put me... up to it..."

The polar bear frowned and raised his fist again, causing Ash to spit up another wad of blood. He growled in pain and anger.

"Ash." The raccoon said simply as she came closer, staring down at him. "Either you tell us what we want to know, or-"

Before she could finish, Ash's head shot up and he spat in her eye, catching her by surprise. She recoiled in irritation and disgust as the polar bear rushed him. Ash's whole body dissolved into smoke moments before the bear's fist smashed the chair to splinters; said smoke drifted through a ceiling vent as the raccoon hissed in anger.

Ash reformed on the roof, noting how difficult using his powers felt right now; the drug as still in his system, making things difficult for him. He coughed up a little more blood a second later; he knew it wouldn't take long before they'd come after him; he had to move fast. But unless he healed, he would likely get caught again.

He swiftly scanned his surroundings, searching for anything he could use. Unfortunately, there was nothing flammable nearby, so far as he could see... wait, there was some old paper!

He dove for the newspaper sheets floating in the wind, thanking whatever deity was looking out for him that it came right when he needed it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small lighter, swiftly setting the pages alight and absorbing the smoke. Little by little, his wounds began healing.

His ears twitched as he heard a sound before diving to the side, a beam of light lancing through the space he'd previously occupied. The beam struck the ground below and quickly burned its way through the dirt and grass, leaving a smouldering scorch mark. Twisting, he was able to dissipate into smoke moments before the white fox on the edge of the roof blasted another light beam, again burning a hole in the ground. Ash's smoky form rushed the wolf, who was still preparing for another blast. He managed to reform in time to land a kick to the fox's stomach, causing the light conduit to grunt in surprise as he sailed off the roof. Not taking the time to watch the impact, Ash turned back into smoke and made a rush for the street, the fox giving chase moments later, still firing beams of light.

"What do you mean, 'he got away'!" The ram demanded, yelling at the cowering arctic fox over the phone. "With him on the loose, we've got to move our whole operation again!"

"Look boss, I'm sorry, alright!" The fox snapped back, scowling. "I'm still getting used to this whole light-bending thing, and I ran outta juice before I could get him!"

"Enough with the excuses, Hal!" The ram yelled. "Either get your furry ass back here to help us clear out, or you're going to be the next one tied to a chair! This time at the bottom of the ocean!" The call abruptly ended. Hal North gave a sigh that was equal parts resignation and anger before turning and heading back to the compromised cannery.

Twenty minutes later, Ash found himself in the ZPD headquarters, sitting across a table from Chief Bogo himself and the one known as the Origami Angel.

"So, what you're saying is, you were spying on these 'utopia-ists' after receiving an offer to join them, and they caught you before you somehow managed to escape?" The chief asked.

"Yes sir."

"And how do we know you're not just some sort of double-agent?" Bogo pointed out.

"Because I can give you some information on their boss."

This certainly caught their attention.

"He's a ram, controls wires. Wears some sort of weird horseshoe-like wire glove on his hands and feet at all times." Ash said, thinking back. "I didn't get a lot on why he's doing this, but I remember one of them mentioning his name was... I think they said 'Pratt'."

"Wait... you don't mean Henry Pratt, do you?" The Origami Angel spoke up, even more attentive now. Ash shrugged.

"I never got his first name. Who's Henry?" The panther across the table frowned and sighed.

"Someone from my past."

Bogo looked between the two of them before ending the interview, telling the policemen at the door to make sure Ash didn't leave.

"So... who's Henry Pratt?" Bogo asked in another interview room, Nick and Judy at his side.

"I told this to those two before, I'll say it again - I came from a different dimension or something." I replied, frowning. "Somehow, I died there, and ended up here. But that's not important right now - if this 'Pratt' is Henry Pratt, then we've got a big problem."

"How big?" Judy asked.

"Back home, he was wanted in connection with multiple murders and terrorist attacks." I explained. "He approached me at one point and offered me a place in the 'utopia' he had planned. A place where only conduits lived, and any others were kicked out or killed. He religiously believed that Conduits were the next stage of evolution, and that those who couldn't evolve fast enough shouldn't exist. The man's a genocidal maniac, and a strong conduit to boot. If he's here, we're going to have some major problems."

Hey, the villain was finally formally introduced! Yay for progress!

Also, just for future notice: I will not leave this story to die. I may leave it alone for long periods of time, but I will not abandon it.

Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter!