Inside of the hidden cave, Eddy stood only a few steps away from Corey and Drew's graves. His hands pressed together as he bowed his head in a prayer. Never in his life had Eddy thought that he'd ever pray for anyone, but he knew that these two deserved that much and more. But for now prayer was all that he could offer them.

"I can still remember that day" Eddy thought to himself "The day when everything changed."

-
The cul-de-sac, once known as a –mostly- peaceful suburban neighborhood had seen a lot happen in the past couple of weeks. But none of that compared to what was happening now; a battle so fierce that it was threatening to level everything around it. Buildings were destroyed, the ground itself torn apart, and in the center of it all was a shining light. This was where the battle would meet its end, however, this may not be the end that many had hoped for.

In one last attempt to subdue the mad scientists one and for all, the two saiyan warriors from the School Wars put everything they had into one final attack. However they were not the only ones to do so. Utonium himself had one last trick up his sleeves as well as he put all the energy stored in his suit into a massive death ball.

Upon unleashing the massive ball of energy, Corey and Drew retaliated with a dual Kamehameha to counter it. Both put every ounce of Ki they could spare into the attack, even going so far as to push their Kaioken's farther than they ever have before. And in that moment the realized that all of their training, all of the hardship, and all of the battles they had gone through together.

Was not enough.

"It's no good!" Yelled Corey as the death ball drew closer to him and his cousin. Drew did not respond, all of his focus on retaining his beam despite his bodies wishes for him to stop. Off the corner of his eye Corey saw three figures flying towards them. "Eds!" Corey called out to the three boys trying to reach them. They were just as badly beaten as the cousins, probably more so, their Ki nearly depleted. Corey knew that even if they had helped it wouldn't have made a difference. So in the end Corey knew that were was only one decision.

"You have to get out of here!" he ordered them. In that moment they all stopped due to their total surprise. After everything they put into this battle, they were being told to run away?

"You can't be serious!" called out Eddy "We're not wussing out of this, we're gonna see it to the end!" he yelled.

"There's no time to argue!" yelled Corey before he let out a grunt and fell to a knee. "That death ball will level everything and everyone in the city, including you three!"

"That's right you saiyan filth!" said Utonium "You will all die here, and now!" he roared as he forced more power into his attack. Next was Drew who fell to a knee as the force of the attack increased as it grew closer. The Eds could only watch powerlessly as Corey and Drew slowly began to lose in the struggle, it didn't look like they'd be able to get out of this one.

"If we all die here then there will be no one left to stop him, you three have to live on!" yelled Drew. He didn't want to run, he wanted to join them, help them when they obviously needed it. But against his own will to fight Eddy managed to turn around to face his two friends.

"The others are still here, we have to get them out of here!" he told them. Both Ed and Double D looked back at Eddy for only a moment before the nodded. Then simultaneously they all vanished from sight heading towards where the other kid stood in wait. After they were gone Utonium could only laugh in amusement.

"It doesn't matter, I'll find and dispose of all of them once I'm done with you!" With one final push Utonium's death ball pushed forward faster than before as it completely overwhelmed Corey and Drew's Kamehameha's.

"Laugh it up now Utonium," said Core, a smirk appearing on his face "But they will come back stronger than ever, and they will take you down."

"And when they do, we'll be sure to be there." Said Drew with the same smirk as his cousin. As the death ball finally reached them they both let out a roar, showing Utonium that he could not destroy their pride as saiyans.

-
Outside of Peach Creek hidden below the dense forest of trees, the Eds along with the other kids of the cul-de-sac watched as a great light engulfed everything. And as the light vanished it was replaced with a massive ball of fire and smoke. The shockwave was so powerful that it nearly knocked the onlookers into the air. And then there was nothing, no buildings, no cul-de-sac, and no Peach Creek; all that was left was a graveyard.

Eddy was the first to snap out of the initial shock of what was seen, silently he took a few steps forward.

It felt like a nightmare, I wanted nothing more than to just wake up and see that everything was fine. That the battle had never happened and we were still training for the day when it would. And when it did we'd be ready for it. But as the seconds passed by I slowly began to realize that it wasn't a dream, and that it was real.

With his fists clenched Eddy fell to his knees and shut his eyes tightly. Tears began to stream down his cheeks as he tried to fight off the pain he was feeling.

It was also in that moment that I realized something else.

Beginning to sob Eddy began to punch the ground beneath him causing it to crack further with each blow. The others could only watch as it happened, this was a side of Eddy they'd never seen before, and they didn't know what to do to help him. Finally Eddy turned straight up and stared into the sky and let out his grief in one final yell that echoed all around "Dammit!"

That I'd failed you.

-
Inside of the graveyard that was once Peach Creek, Professor Utonium landed on the ground to admire his work. There wasn't a trace of anything or anyone for miles, not a soul could have survived an attack of that scale, which meant only one thing. "I've done it," he said "After all these years I've finally done it, I've killed the saiyans!" he yelled as he erupted into a manacle laugh. He had finally killed the saiyans who had been a torn in his side since the school wars, and now there was no one who could stop him.

"Or rather, there won't be." Utonium knew that the Eds had gotten away, but he also knew that they were in no shape to fight. All he had to do was find wherever it was that they were hiding and finish the job. "Now where have you gone?" he asked as he activated his visor, at first it began to scan the area for power levels, but then it began to flash red.

"What?" the scouter picked up something, but Utonium wasn't sure what. All he knew was that the numbers were scrolling faster than he could count them. Soon it couldn't take the strain any longer and an error appeared before the visor cracked. Utonium stood in confusion for several seconds as he tried to figure out what had just occurred.

"Tch, must have malfunctioned." Utonium finally concluded, his suit had taken a significant amount of damage during the battle after all. "Doesn't matter, I'll find them soon enough, and then they will meet the same fate as the others." He said as he slowly lifted off from the ground "But until then, there are some other matters that I should attend to." He said as he flew off leaving behind the sight of his greatest victory.

We don't know why Utonium didn't come after us, but we just figured that we got luck and he didn't see us as a threat anymore. Thinking about that hurt a lot at the time, but in the end we were still alive to feel it. We thought that if we stayed out of sight long enough then we'd get some help, we did have the government on our side, right?

That's what we thought at least; that is until what happened about a month later.

-
Inside of an abandoned junkyard, the kids of the former cul-de-sac sat around a small TV that Rolf had hooked up to a generator Kevin found and fixed up. While the TV was running there was static as Rolf and Kevin tried to work the antenna. "Try turning it that way." Said Kevin as Rolf worked on one side and he worked on the other.

"Rolf says it is this way!" said Rolf as he did the opposite of what Kevin asked of him. The two continued to argue over the correct method until:

"Hold it!" called out Double D when he noticed an image appearing on the screen. Both Kevin and Rolf stepped back as Double D made some final adjustments to it removing some more static. It appeared to be a major news announcement.

"Today President Bush has called for a press conference for an important announcement." Said a female voice as the video showed the very president stepping up to the microphones. Everyone went silent as Double D turned up the volume of the TV. This could be what they were waiting for, the government's retaliation on Utonium. Using his finger President Bush tapped his mic twice to test it before he was finally ready to speak.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming on such short notice." He began, the room fell silent as they listened carefully. "I'm sure that by now you are all aware of the sudden destruction of the town known as Peach Creek. This was due to a battle of which the earth has not seen for many years now. A battle between Professor Utonium and the saiyans." At the mention of the battle the crowd of reporters in the room erupted into questions.

"Why are only now hearing about this?"

"Why has the government not tried to subdue the scientist before this attack could begin?"

"What of those who lived in Peach Creek?"

Questions like this were all said one after another, each reporter wanting to get as much details over the battle as they could. But among all of the questions, one seemed to come up the most, this question asked at least once by each reporter in the room.

Who won?

After the questions stretched on for long enough the president raised his hand and slowly began to lower it. This was to notion the reporters to settle down "Please, I know you all have questions, and you deserve answers." He said after the crowd had quieted down "You all want to know who came up on top during that battle, and I can assure you that it was humanity."

In that moment everyone who was seated around the TV let out a sharp gasp. After all this time Bush finally decided to tell the people what happened, and he ended up lying to their faces. "I don't believe this!" yelled Eddy as he sat up from his seat, some of his aura flaring from his anger.

"Eddy control yourself!" said Double D who stood up as well.

"No!" Eddy snapped "We put our lives on the line Double D, we lost everything that day and he's trying to cover it up!"

Needless to say, I was angry, I was angrier than I had ever been. You two gave up your lives for us and it looked like the world would never know. But during my time of anger, I wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The group continued to watch the broadcast, Eddy having calmed himself only slightly. "So the saiyan did it, they finally defeated Utonium for good?" asked one of the reporters.

"I never said that." Was the president's response causing the reporters to fall into a confused silence.

"But you said that humanity won?"

"And we did, but I never said Utonium was defeated." Bush answered again. The questions stopped as the room fell into a total silence, no one knowing how to respond to that. After a while Bush let out a small chuckle "It seems I may have lost you," he said "But I'm sure you'll all understand in a moment." The crowd watched as Bush stepped aside from the mics and turned around.

"Alright, time to come out." He said to the red curtains. Everyone's attention shifted to the curtains, all wondering who Bush was talking to. And after a few seconds someone stepped out, and the sight of that someone caused everyone watching to pause in horror. From behind the curtains stepped out the one man that no one wanted to see, Professor Utonium.

The crowd didn't move, even the reporters who had their mics and recorders held out couldn't bring themselves to say a word. This man who had been behind the school wars so many years ago was now standing before them. "Y-you've got to be kidding me." Said Eddy whose anger had given way to total shock "Why is he there?"

This was a question that everyone was asking themselves, but no one had it in them to say it out loud. During the silence Professor Utonium walked up to the podium, there seemed to be a strange look on his face. "As I stand before you today, I see nothing but fear." He began, a notable sadness in his voice.

"All I can say is…I don't blame you. You have every right to be afraid, over the years I have done awful things, and I am truly sorry." The room remained silent, only now the fear that everyone was feeling was starting to subside in exchange for confusion.

Professor Utonium is apologizing?

After some time a reporter was able to work up the nerve to say what everyone was thinking "Professor Utonium, do you believe that a simple apology will be enough make everyone forgive you for what you've done?" Utonium looked towards the reporter who was now starting to regret asking that question.

"No, you're right, a simple apology will never make my crimes disappear." He said "However I believe that when you hear my story, you will understand why I did what I chose to do." With one foot already in the water, another reporter decided to speak up as well.

"What possible reasoning could you have to justify your actions?" Utonium paused for a moment before letting out a small sigh.

"All these years I have been living a lie." He began "Every moment of every day I wore a mask which made me out to be the villain. I even went so far as to start a way which took the lives of so many innocent people." Again Utonium paused, almost as if he had caught a hitch in his throat.

"But I did it for one reason, the same reason why I attacked Peach Creek. Because the world did not known who the real threat was, and that they had been right in front of you this whole time!" Everyone watching waited patiently, each of them wanting to know just who this 'real' threat was.

"Just like I, they have been wearing a mask as well, only one to make them look as if they were the heroes. I am of course talking about the ones you may have believed in the most…the saiyans." The room fell silent as Utonium revealed this secret to them, everyone taking in what he had said. And then, laughter, first few among the crowd but then it spread to everyone in the room. They knew all knew it was a lie, how could Utonium really expect them to believe that the saiyans who have fought to protect them were really the villains this whole time?

Nodding his head Utonium stepped aside so that Bush could take his place "I can understand you inability to believe this, hell even I didn't believe it." He said "But then Utonium provided me with something I never thought I'd see…proof." The crowd went silent "We tested the evidence that Utonium provided us and we found that it was legitimate. Folks, I know this may be hard to accept, but the saiyans who we thought were protecting us were really preparing to stab us in the back."

"Utonium knew this from the start, but before he could say anything the saiyans had already made themselves out to be our protectors, and branded him the villain. Since then he's has swallowed his pride and played out that part in hopes that he would be able to rid us of the true enemy." Everyone was finding it hard to believe, the saiyans, the ones who they thought were protecting them, were actually plotting to kill them off?

"We are fully prepared to make the evidence public, and when you see it I am sure you will believe that it's true. I know it can be scary, these saiyans have grown powerful over the years, but we still have hope. On the day Peach Creek fell Utonium managed to kill two of the saiyan threats, which leaves only three. But rest assured that they will be caught, and as of this moment the saiyans known as Ed, Edd, and Eddy are now placed on the top of Americas most-

Bushes sentence was cut short thanks to a blast of Ki that struck the TV. Everyone turned to towards Eddy who had an unreadable expression on his face. "Ed…Double D." he spoke in a monotone voice "Get everyone out of here." Neither Ed nor Double D said anything in return, they knew what Eddy was going to do. So in silence they grabbed the others and moved them away towards a safe distance. And the very moment they were clear, the junkyard erupted in a violent flash of light.

-
"We still don't know how Utonium did it, but he did." Said Eddy as the last of his memories from the day flashed away. "He managed to turn the whole world against is, make them believe that he was the saint all along. And since that day we've been on the run with no other allies and a big fat bounty on our heads…all of us." Eddy clenched his fist at the sight of not only his own face on the most wanted list, but of all of friends as well.

"Three years running, three years hiding, all so that we could stay alive." said Eddy as he reached up for his cloak "But it wasn't in vain." He said as he removed his cloak to reveal his physic. Three years ago Eddy's body was slim with minimal muscle mass, but now his body had nearly tripled in that alone. "Even though we've been in hiding we didn't allow it to get away with our training, we're not the same kids from back then, and soon we're going to show it." Said Eddy as he placed his cloak back on.

Bowing his head Eddy gave his respects one last time before turning around "Soon we're going to make our move, and finally get back at the mad man who caused this all. And we will do everything in our power to put an end to this dark future."