"Now honey, you know that Kylo is a made-up persona made to protect the identity of the squad member." reprimanded the mother, "Although most of the upper echelons such as us know Kylo is Ren, most commoners have no idea."
"Yea! I know, but it'd be neat if Kylo were someone else, Ren is so dull when he talks." The child said innocently, eyes wide, "If he were my bodyguard, I wouldn't worry about anything!"
"Hmm, yes, you do have a fair point. Ren is leaving the squad..." the mother replied thoughtfully, "Maybe if we can get to him first, then we could have him be a bodyguard. Alas, he'd be better off joining some other place."
The family in question was going through some hard times; the father had just left, leaving behind the business and a thirty million dollar debt.
Although the money was easy to pull out, the thugs they owed the money to, refused to accept it. Instead, they insisted on the mother as payment.
"Mom, could you try? The other kids at school are pretty mean to me..." The boy trailed off, a small tear welling up in his eye, "I shouldn't have said that..."
"Hot **** they are!" The mother's face turning red, "Who are you talking about?" She glared at the boy, angry at him for not saying so sooner, "I'll rip them limb from limb!"
"Umm, it was the Barkley's," Fidgeted the boy, "They said if I told anyone they'd beat me and take you to the gang... They also said you're a ****, and you only liked my father cause of his ****, but I don't know what that means..."
"Holy ****" The mom cried, "The Barkley's! ****! Yes, we need to get Ren as a bodyguard at all costs!" She had her dignity, and no one would want anyone to be a slave to another.
The duo's eyes hardened in determination. The award banquet for Ren, to be held the next day. They'd received an invitation earlier that day, deciding only now to go.
The next day
"Ms. Shalia and her son Dimitri have arrived." a servant kneeled at a man's feet, not daring to look at his face, "It seems as though they received an invitation."
"Hmm, yes." nodded the man, monocle jangling with his various other bling, "Please go dispose of them, there is no need for Ren to see such trash."
"Yessir." The servant said obediently, hopping up and running towards the entrance to the great hall. The red velvet carpet caused the duo to be dumbstruck in awe.
They had been standing there for quite a while in shock, and thus were quickly found by the servant. "You two trash!" the servant yelled, his gravelly voice grating on the dignified individual's ears, "Yes you! Get out! Our distinguished guest doesn't want to see you."
The mother-son pair snapped back to reality, "Sir, we can assure you that we have the invite." The mother said, showing her invite card, along with her son's identity, "Why must you make such a fuss?"
"Get out, or the governor will kick you out personally!" Threatened the servant, "You have until the count of five." He started to count off, catching the duo off guard.
"2... 1..." the countdown ended, "Oh, okay. I guess I'll go get the governor." He trotted off, beckoning towards the governor, "They refused sir! Please teach them a lesson."
"Hmm, yes." The governor groaned as he stood up, his fat body jiggling with his breath, "Time to take the trash out." The governor looked about, noticing that most everyone had seen what was going on.
The smart people looked away, the knowledge that they couldn't do anything to help, although it made them upset, didn't change anything. Fists in the silent crowd clenched, teeth creaking in frustration.
"Hmm, seems as though the trash has sympathetic people to the cause." A strange glint appeared in the governor's eyes, "Guards, kill the traitors." Snapping his fingers, everyone braced themselves for death.
Seconds ticked by, nothing happened. The nobles opened their eyes in confusion. The governor snapped his fingers and called out again, "Guards!"
Minutes ticked by, complete silence overtook the hall. The lights shut off, scaring a few jumpy denizens. The silence intensified, more than a few mouthes audibly opened, then closed with an audible clop.
The silence reached its peak, and still, nothing happened. A man, about to speak, was cut off before he was able to say anything. "Ladies and gentlemen!" A voice sang, echoing three times, "I present to you, Kylo!" The T.V. cameras swapped toward the stage.
'Boom'
'Shink'
'Whap'
Ren shot up to the stage; fireworks exploded with a base drop of music. His entrance, so dazzling it was, caused many heads to spin. The loud boom knocked out a few weaker folks.
After the entrance, Ren stood there, unmoving. Lyrics undiscernable faded into the hall. A disco ball dropped down from the ceiling, just in time for the music to start.
The music playing was the most popular in the world, Rewind's album Fire, had hit the charts that year. It broke through the most popular songs in history, and nearly everyone had heard of it.
Ren's outfit was a white version of his squad uniform. Kylo's suit was a black uniform that looked like a dragon minus the tail. His primary weapons were the claws, which were razor sharp.
The suit he was wearing now, was the same, but instead of jet black, white and light blue. It was a prototype of the black one and had a functioning tail, meant for battle.
The uniform was Meeper's graduation present for Ren, handmade, and suited to battle at any moment. It had Kylo's teardrop symbol on the breastplate.
Meepers had instructed Ren to wear it at all times. Meepers also taught Ren how to merge the suit with his body, so that it wouldn't ever come off, but wouldn't be a hindrance. After a long speech, the cameras switched off.
The party resumed, the governor decided to drop the issue, for the time being, seeing that Ren was in militant costume. He clambered onto the stage, looking to small talk with Ren.
"Hey! So, how'd you like me to introduce you?" The governor asked, "I'd like to get this party done with..."
"Yes, so would I!" Replied Ren, "Just introduce me quickly, and I'll be okay." He pressed a button, causing the party to die down.
A microphone shot down, landing in front of the governor. He cleared his throat, "So, you all know this is Ren. He's earned many awards..." He coughed awkwardly, "Here they are, and you may go whenever."
He shoved the awards into Ren's arms before waddling off quickly. "What a strange guy." Thought Ren as he turned to leave, "Oh yea! I need to find someone looking for a bodyguard..."
He looked about; no one seemed to be approaching him. Suddenly he felt a tugging on his arm, "Mister! Are you Kylo or Ren?" A small boy smiled, eyes widening in curiosity, "Can you be my bodyguard?"
"Hmm, yea...." He looked at the kid skeptically, "If you can afford it." he waved off the kid, shaking his head sadly. He'd love to help the kid, but unless the little man had money, he just couldn't.
"Sir! Please?" A woman cried, "They'll take me as a prostitute otherwise." Ren looked about, startled. The woman snuck up on him, scaring him.
"Holy **** This woman is a natural! I couldn't sense her!" Ren thought, thoroughly disturbed, "Only someone with a higher QI ability than I could sneak up on me!"
Ren was considered a peerless genius in QI ability. Thus, he'd never think a lady from a noble house to have one higher than him. She'd also have to practice a small number of martial arts even to utilize the QI...
"Miss, did you ever practice martial arts?" Ren asked, "You could protect yourself right?"
"Mm, yes. How'd you know?" She asked a bit surprised, "Only a little bit though. My ability is substandard."
"Yea, I thought so." Ren replied, thinking, "I'll be his bodyguard, but I'm teaching the both of your martial arts. For you to sneak up on me, means you are a peerless genius in QI, and for the little man to be so knowledgeable, he's surpassed you."
"I'll have you know, I'm considered a genius in this stuff, so for you to be so talented, it means you are extremely rare ten billion year talents." Ren said, boasting a bit, "Regarding money, it's enough if you can house me and feed me. I'm sure you have no shortage of money, but knowing a genius pair like you is payment enough."
Ren looked about; the party started to die down even more. Loads of people had left, and less than half remained. The people initially around the three had dispersed, only a few couples stayed.
"Time to set off..." Ren said, walking out with the duo, "Oh yeah, what are your names?" He asked.
"I'm Shalia, and that's Dimitri." Shalia quickly replied, "We live just over there." She pointed at an apartment across the street. "If you need to park, the garage is inside."
Ren bid farewell, walking over towards his jet black Lamborghini. He hopped in and drove the short ways to the garage. Needless to say, although the complex was very wealthy, most people didn't have expensive cars.
A Lamborghini like his was once in a lifetime, the staff member on duty went home that night excited to tell of the new neighbor. Ren parked, making a painstaking effort to be right in the middle, and got out.
He walked over to the garage door, and input a number. He teleported to Shalia's apartment, after checking his phone's time. Ren's eyes fluttered sleepily.
Shalia led him to a bed, which he fell asleep quickly. He had stayed up for the last week, not sleeping a wink, because of various reasons. That night he was out like a light.
Ren's dreams were filled with happy thoughts until a stray bunny ate him. Waking up promptly at five, he reflected upon his ideas, trying to find rhyme or reason to them.
"Ehh, if you can't beat them, join 'em!" He thought, stretching out before jumping out of bed.
"Ehh? Shaddup there!" Yelled a voice from downstairs, "Can't get any sleep!"
"Oh, yea..." Ren thought, quietly getting dressed and ready for the day. With a thought, he materialized White Kylo, finally ready for anything. He faced the bright morning sun, smiling brightly, "Today's a new day!"
Birds chirruped, a slight breeze came through the now opened window, a sense of peace befell Ren. An unbidden thought came, "Calm before the storm?" Ren's eyes hardened, "Bring it on."