Chapter 10

To say that Gohan was annoyed was an understatement. He'd spent hours searching, sneaking his way past the cops guarding the crime scene, finding a hidden labyrinth that he could never hope to accurately navigate and still had nothing to show for it.

He'd grown so used to his targets being easy to track down. The people he always looked for either caused a lot of destruction, had very familiar energy signatures and predictable locations or had power levels that dominated wherever they were. Between his energy senses, his logic and his higher than human hearing, he'd never had any trouble before. Unfortunately, this case had proven that magic made all of his advantages useless.

"I was really hoping to resolve this by now." He mumbled irritably as he flew through the darkened sky. The sun had long gone down and that ended it. His time was up, he couldn't stop this before others were risked. Dark Dragon had to be planning something with the rest of the dragons, it was the only reason he would risk doing anything with all of them in one place. That left him with only one option. Go and warn them.

"Wish I could stop to eat beforehand." He couldn't quite stop the pout that formed as the thought crossed his mind. What could he say, he was a Saiyan hybrid and hadn't eaten since before he left to see Piccolo. It was amazing that he didn't stop to pig out along the way, he deserved the right to pout like a child at his rumbling belly.

...

As it was, he couldn't quite stop himself from buying a packet of potato chips and munched away happily as he flew up over the mountain. He enjoyed them so much that he didn't even notice that he'd reached his destination until he flew headfirst into it.

"Ow! Who put a wall in thin...oh, I made it to the mountain." He grinned sheepishly, rubbing his head as he stared up at the giant temple before him. To be fair, the temple did blend into the mountain, made of stone and most of the structure being a similar colour. He just...didn't notice the mountain. "Yeah, I am not telling anyone that. Ever!"

Fighting down the embarrassment, he focused back on what he was there to accomplish and let his senses flare, scanning the area. Not that he really needed to, the moment he shut up, he could hear the soft, merry rumblings of a rather large crowd. All his senses really did was confirm that there were hundreds inside and none of them human. Every energy signature was unique, but all held some consistencies. All humans for example had the human base that was extended on, through a family bloodline level and then a more unique level. Everyone within the temple had the same fiery feeling to them. One that seemed...strangely familiar!

For the second time within twenty four hours, the shadowy form a dragon crossed his mind and as it did, Gohan stunned himself as "Jake" slipped from his lips. It just...felt right, like he just knew that that was the shadowed figure's name. Like...he really knew and cared about the dragon boy he was trying to find.

"Strange." He muttered, staring at his hands and startled to find his energy active and swirling in his palms like a whirlpool. He must have done it subconsciously. And again, it brought what felt like another distant memory to his mind. Him, standing in a metal room, creating the exact same swirling energy pattern as...a red dragon added fire to it. "Ki fire. I've met Jake Long before!" He cried, his brain fully accepting it as undeniable truth, and as it did, more images shot through his head, both of the boy and the dragon. Protecting Kim Possible and another familiar boy from white husks, fighting what looked like a glowing knight, swooping around like a show off having the time of his life, dragging Gohan to a school performance so he could check out Jake and his friends in a rap performance and joking around in what looked like a satellite.

Jake was energetic, excitable, a little too girl crazy, cocky, loyal, easily bored and always there if you needed someone to make you laugh, whether it was intentional or due to his flair for dramatics.

"I know you." He muttered, baffled by the simple fact before his lips curled into a grin. "I'll have figure out how after I've saved your butt my friend."

...

"Master, all of the dragons are in place." Chang informed Dark Dragon as she landed on the ledge before him. "They are only waiting confusedly and irritably for the arrival of the Long family before continuing with the traditional ceremony."

"Perfect." Dark Dragon smirked. Despite the disappearance of Charmcaster, the unexpected appearance of the Super Saiyan, the American Dragon still assumed to be alive and the Phantom discovering their battle, the goals of the plan were still right on schedule. Jake was gone and the Dragon Council had no idea anything was amiss. They were free to start phase two, which when completed would send the entire Order into chaos and leave them hell bent on revenge. With a few tweaks and manipulated motives, he would then be able to push them further to his way of thinking from there and before they knew it, they would assist him in taking their rightful place as rulers of the world once more.

Hate and chaos made invaluable allies.

"So, is this the part where I go in?" Bananas mumbled nervously. Uncomfortable outside his own skin and honestly terrified by what he was about to do, he had scratched and fiddled with every scale on his body. Originally, the plan didn't seem that bad. For a start, Charmcaster would be alongside him, ensuring his safety throughout the whole thing. On top of that, the real American Dragon would already be dead, meaning no one would be coming after him for revenge. They'd simply forever search for the dragon that they'll never find. And of course, every plan sounds a hell of a lot more promising in the planning stages than it ever did once it started its motion. Even without the unexpected variables and changes, the closer you got to a certain part, the more scary and dangerous it looked.

"Precisely." Dark Dragon nodded, roughly dragging their sphinx hair net forward and thrusting the ends into Bananas' hand, the unconscious Loa Shi whimpering as the jagged rocks cut his skin. Not a second later, a dark flash covered his newly freed claw and dissipated to reveal a clear, colourless orb containing wild blue and black magic under a layer of fog. "Say your lines, kill the old man and then throw this at the Dragon High Council. The explosion will kill them and anyone near them and the fog released at the same time will infect every true dragon in the area."

"Suppressing all forms of common sense and order while amplifying their rage and need for vengeance, right?" Bananas asked, taking great care so his dragon claws didn't destroy the orb and kill them all.

"Technically, it suppresses everything and completely unleashes their primal, beastly urges indefinitely, but yes, that is the idea." The Dark Dragon explained gleefully. "And with a target they will never find, the effects will never entirely be resolved. They will be prone to violence and easy to sway to my side in the long run. Even before then, their actions will begin the recreation of this world to one of my rein."

"And you will get me out of there before they can hurt me, right?" Bananas asked, desperation flickering through his voice. "Even without Charmcaster, I will be safe, right?"

"Of course, my loyal servant." Dark Dragon nodded. "Your escape is detrimental to my plan. They must never catch the 'dragon' responsible for this 'tragedy'."

"Oh, good." Bananas sighed, though his body didn't show any lessening of nerves.

"Now, let us begin before the Council becomes too suspicious." With that, black and purple poured out from Dark Dragon's claw with a fiery crackle, surrounding and consuming the fake dragon and his captive. When it all disappeared a second later, both were gone.

Sharing a victorious smirk with her master, Chang spread her wings and flew off back the way she came, her eyes glowing with mixing blue and black.

The Dark Dragon on the other hand, didn't move a muscle, his own eyes glowing to match Chang's. He would watch everything through her eyes, far from the excellent range of dragon eyesight. Chang was much smaller and could be mistaken for another random member up in the air as she allowed him to see the fruits of their labour and know when the time came to pull Bananas away.

He will see all of it, had already caused all of it, and not one good dragon would ever know that he was even there.

...

"It is not like Lao Shi to be late." A dark skinned man at the High Council's table said quietly, sharing his troubled thoughts with the rest of his colleagues. "The American Dragon might be known to procrastinate, But Lao Shi and Haley are always punctual."

"And we cannot wait for them any longer." A woman on the far side of the table stated. "The lunar eclipse will not last much longer. If we d not start the toast now, we may still be inside the temple when it ends and be trapped within it for a thousand years."

"You are both right of course." The high chairman sighed, staring up at the moon. "We shall have to begin now and send a group out looking for the Long family as soon as the ceremony is complete. For all three to be so late, with no warning, something unpleasant must have happened."

"You could say that again!" Startled cries echoed throughout the temple as the sound of roaring flames attracted everyone to the main door as spinning black and purple smoke rose and disappeared, causing another round of, this time, horrified gasps as they found the source of the dark voice standing within. It was none other than a cruelly smirking American Dragon. But what really horrified them was the respected colleague he had, batter and unconscious, in a Sphinx hair net.

"Jake Long! What is the meaning of this?" The high chairman demanded furiously, banging his hands down on the table. "What have you done to your grandfather? Explain yourself this instant!"

"You want an explanation?" 'Jake's' voice was so low and filled with malice that it sent shivers down the spines of everyone listening. Though, the creep factor still didn't quite manage to hide the slightly off accent. It didn't sound any more right coming from the American Dragon than the dark tones. "Simply put, I'm fed up with all of you, of being a selfless hero, of never getting the respect I deserve. I want freedom from this stupid Order. I want power, I want glory. Dragons have the sufficient power to rule the world and that's just what I'm going to do. All I need to do first is get the lot of you out of my way. Starting with this weak old man!"

Every dragon screamed in horror and grief as 'the American Dragon' dropped the net only to raise his sharp claws and plunge them down. Right through Lao Shi's throat.

"No." The chairman whispered, his already pale skin turning whiter than a ghost. He could not believe what he was seeing. It was impossible. But yet, there was the gory proof laying still before them, never to rise again.

Like the rest of his kind, he was frozen in place, horror, sadness, betrayal and rage pouring through all of their brains as they fought against accepting this reality. That one of their own had actually slaughtered his own grandfather right in front of them. And the American Dragon of all dragons!

No, he refused to believe it. He knew Jake Long's history and personality very well. The boy was a handful, of that there was no question, but his love and loyalty to Lao Shi was unquestionable. On top of that, Jake had had many opportunities to see the ruling figures of the Dragon Order slain and had risked his own, sometimes powerless, life to save them.

The accent he'd noticed hidden behind the malice before only proved it. This creature was not Jake Long.

"YOU ARE-"

"You're murderer!" The imposter interrupted with a snarl, already throwing an orb right at the Council. The Chairman only had enough time to widen his eyes in pure terror before the orb hit the table and exploded.

"AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHH!" The entire temple shook at the force of the explosion, coupled with countless screams. The light of the blast was even sufficient to scare countless people walking through the city. Every dragon was struck by the blast, burned and tossed around like ragdolls. However, the Dragon High Council never saw any of it. All of them, plus the additional twenty three dragons in line to become their successors, were obliterated in an instant.

...

Gohan paled chalk white as he watched on. His breathing was strangled at best and his body was shaking worse than the building had. Pain and despair ran wild through his system as he watched the smoke circle around the place, blanketing all of the still breathing dragons. More than half of them would be hospitalised for weeks, some of them probably wouldn't make it even if they got attention now. Others were falling into shock, simply laying on the ground, staring blankly at the far side of the temple. Where the bomb had gone off and utterly destroyed everything. Including far too many lives.

"I can't believe this." His voice came out so soft and weak that even he could barely hear it. Guilt wracked him hard as the smoke began to clear, making the full extent of the damage even more noticeable. He could have stopped this. He was just about to approach the dragons when he saw the arrival of who he was sure was Jake and for a moment, malevolent voice aside, he was sure that whatever had happened was or would be resolved. He was so sure that Jake had escaped, even if it was strange that his grandfather was still in a net. It was a way to carry an unconscious man and he may just not have wanted to waste time getting him out of it while escaping from the Dark Dragon.

It wasn't until 'Jake' started talking that he realised his mistake and too stunned by what he was saying, he failed to notice what his senses were trying to tell him until a split second before a deadly claw left Loa Shi in a pool of blood.

The fiery energy signature of the dragons didn't travel all the way through this being. It was merely a very thin cloak over a very different aura. This creature, however it had gained its shape and aura veil, was not Jake. He wasn't even a dragon.

And with the orb being thrown a split second later, he never had a chance to get over registering the information before the bomb went off.

All those lives could have been saved if he had paid attention to his powers instead of his eyes.

"Man, what a rush." Gohan bristled as the dark laugh met his ears, the smoke finally clearing enough to see the imposter. 'Jake' was completely unscathed, looking around him with cruelly and gleefully as he laughed louder and louder. "Now that did the trick. One second and every single threat is gone in an instant."

"You..." A man growled weakly. However, despite how weak it was and from how far away, Gohan could still hear the venom and animalistic rage dripping from every letter. "I will rip your head off for this."

"Go ahead and try." 'Jake' sneered right back, his claws poised for another deadly slash. "You can be the next dragon to die. An added example to all who try to get it my way!"

That was it! Before anyone could register what had happen, a white aura burst to life, a beacon through the black night, and surged right at the imposter. The mask of confidence and malice instantly shattered to real pure terror a split second before Gohan ploughed into him and took him straight into the sky.

How dare this good for nothing lowlife kill so many good and decent people! How dare he do it wearing the face of an innocent teenager! How dare he cause all this suffering! Guilt, horror, grief, it was all gone now. All Gohan could feel was rage. The rage he'd felt when he learned of his father's fate. The kind that demanded he give in to his Saiyan instincts and make this piece of scum suffer.

"CHANG!" The imposter screamed like a distraught pig, all signs of his old act gone and revealing his very different accent as he struggled in vain. "CHANG! HELP ME!"

"You don't deserve help!" Gohan spat, whipping up his knee and releasing another screech from the killer. "You deserve a painful death!"

"But-but you're the Super Saiyan!" His victim spluttered desperately. "A hero. Heroes don't kill."

"I'm part Saiyan and a Z Fighter." Gohan snarled, swinging around the dragon body and planting his fist right into the dragon's gut, eliciting another agonised, but soundless scream. "I've killed before. And you've pissed me off enough to do it again imposter."

"B...b...but." The killer gasped, barely making it above a whisper as he watched on more afraid than he'd ever been in his entire life as Gohan brought a hand up to his draconic mouth and gathered golden energy in his palm. He was done for. Gohan's rage and loathing had reached its peak. Either the blast would take off the fake dragon's head or go down his throat and destroy his entire body from the inside out. Either worked for Gohan right now.

However, much to his disappointment, a flash of purple and a flicker across his senses force him to spin around and shoot his beam up to counter the one coming down at him.

"You must be Chang. The Dark Dragon's little housemaid." Gohan spat spitefully, almost making Chang shiver despite her indignation at his words. "Good. that means I can wipe out two people responsible for this!" With that, a gold energy ball the size of a wrecking ball appeared in his hand and was thrown right at her. If it were just Chang, she would have been obliterated in an instant. Fortunately for her, Dark Dragon had a greater connection than to just what she saw.

With a flash of dark energy much like lightning shooting from her eyes, the ball was destroyed and knocked all three in the sky back and away from each other with a shockwave. Grunting, Gohan pulled himself to an almost instant stop and surged right back at both of them, but it was too little too late. Before he could even gather any power into his next ki blast, black and purple smoke appeared and consumed both of them. By the time he kicked through the cloud surrounding the imposter and fired a blast at the other, both of them were gone.

"NO!" Throwing his head back, he let out a roar that would have made his Oozaru form proud. His targets were gone. He could do nothing to them and his normally suppressed instincts were running through him like wildfire, demanding that he cause pain and destruction. Without a target his lingering morals could accept anywhere in sight, he let out another animalistic roar and unleashed his power into the sky, wave after immense wave, the power putting on an amazing light show for everyone miles around.

...

"Heh, that child is rather impressive." Dark Dragon mused as his servants appeared beside him, Bananas whimpering in torturous pain and nursing his arm on the ground. The blows that landed on his body were nothing in comparison to the simple grip the Super Saiyan had placed on his arm. It was mangled.

"And appears to be under the influence of the smoke." Chang said, her form flickering with nervousness. "He knows the truth too. With that much power and rage directed squarely at us-"

"I wouldn't worry too much." Dark Dragon stated dismissively as he watched the boy release more and more power. "His unusual physiology may have been susceptible to the fog, but with no magic of his own to feed the spell, the affects can never be long lasting. He will calm soon. As for knowing the truth, that is an irritation, but not a dangerous one. He will never be able to convince the Dragon Order now. They will never see past the face that did this. This mission is a success."

"Then perhaps it would be best to leave." Chang advised, still watching the teen hero going nuts. "If we are discovered here, that could back the boy's claims if he tries to convince the dragons of Jake Long's innocence and if he finds us, he may be dangerous even to you master."

"I suppose that you are correct." Dark Dragon conceded, already preparing the puff of teleporting smoke. "Besides, we probably should have Bananas' injuries treated soon."

"...Bangers." Was all the monkey turned dragon could force out as they were once again consumed by smoke. The plan was a success, the damage was done. It would take a miracle to stop them now and with the one person in all of Hong Kong still capable of doing it busy attacking clouds and wind patterns, they didn't have anything to worry about.

AN: Bet that result wasn't expected. Bet most people thought that the dragons would be saved. Sorry, I believe in realism and realism dictates that even the greatest of heroes fail and fall once in a while. Sometimes, the bad guys win. Sometimes they have to win.

Oh, and thanks for the reviews from the last two chapters guys. Didn't get many, but they still made my day. I'm glad you're still enjoying the story.