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****Chapter 21: The Deathstroke****

The X-Men's Blackbird screeched through the skies over Japan on its return trip to America. Ichigo sat in his seat stretching out the last vestiges of stiffness in his limbs. All his injuries had been healed while still in the Soul Society, but he still felt a dull throb occasionally around his left shoulder.

Yusuke sat with his typical attitude and crossed arms as he waited for Logan to explain what was going on. All he had said to him even before Ichigo came back from his battle in the Soul Society was that Slade had made his move. As to the details of what that move had been, he was decidedly closed lipped about it.

"Yusuke," Kurama said softly. "Perhaps you should put on those translators again.

"Right," Yusuke said, almost forgetting about them. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the small box that Koenma had given him. The box contained four small patches that stuck to just behind the ear and allowed the wearer to both speak and understand any one language; in this case being English.

He put one on and passed the others to Ichigo and Hiei, Kurama and Kuwabara both being fluent in English already. With that done, he turned his attention forward again. "Alright, Freddy Krueger," Yusuke said. "Spill it."

"Freddy Krueger has five claws, idiot," Kuwabara said, making a face at Yusuke. "He only has three."

Logan shuddered slightly, remembering a past lover of his that certainly fit Freddy Krueger's description. "Pipe down," Logan said. "And you call me that again and we're gonna have a problem, although you wouldn't be the first to call me a nightmare." He glanced back with a slight smile on his face that he couldn't help even with the seriousness of the situation as Yusuke snorted in contempt.

Ororo glared hard at Logan, quietly infuriated that he would be making jokes right now. "In the past, Slade has made it very clear that he wants Caliwone," Storm said, shifting her attention to the boys. "He has tried on several occasions to recruit or capture him and has proven time and again to be ruthless in pursuit of his goals."

"He took over one of Apocalypse's pyramid's that was being examined and found a way to reactivate the shields," Logan cut in. "The Justice League is trying to break through it but without that laser system, they can't find a way to short it out."

"What makes you think that Slade is behind this?" Kurama asked.

"Other than the fact that he worked with Apocalypse and is familiar with the technology?" Logan snorted. Anger creased his face. "He's kidnapped Kitty again and Rogue."

Shock was mixed with anger and repulsion at the depths this man would sink. They had all heard what had happened the last time Kitty was kidnapped by Slade. Caliwone had nearly been lost to the Soul Society after she was killed. Even though Caliwone often said he no longer had anything to do with her, it was obvious that he still cared a great deal. When Yusuke and Caliwone had first met, Caliwone had practically punched him out despite the power they both wielded, for insulting her.

"I believe there is nothing to worry about," Kurama spoke up after a moment.

Logan jerked so hard to turn and look back at Kurama angrily that he nearly flipped the blackbird upside down. "What do you mean 'nothing to worry about'?" Logan roared.

"I merely suggest that Slade wants Caliwone to show up," Kurama reasoned. "He is already aware that Caliwone will not work for him, nor does Caliwone offer Slade anything of value any longer; he has already collected samples of his blood and taken his energy. What further value does Caliwone offer?"

"Slade is an assassin," Ororo said. "He could just kill them."

"Assassin's can't be stupid," Yusuke said, thinking hard. "If he wanted these two dead, he would have killed them already and wouldn't have brought such attention to himself by raising Apocalypse's shields."

"I agree," Kurama said, nodding. "There is a grander strategy at work here. He wants Caliwone to arrive for some reason. Maybe fight some new enemy or test some theory. Perhaps his motives are benign and simply wishes a chance to speak with him again."

"I don't know Slade very well," Ichigo spoke up, "but I know a trap when I see one."

"Of course," Kurama said. "And he wants it known that he is behind it by taking Kitty again, the person closest to Caliwone's heart."

"Well, if Caliwone finds out, he will bull rush Slade without thinking," Ororo said.

"If?" Yusuke asked skeptically. "If Slade wants Caliwone, he will make it known to Caliwone personally if he has to."

"Yeah, you'd be better off telling him," Kuwabara said. "Besides, the guy is freaking powerful. Slade already pulled out Doomsday and Apocalypse, how many more super powerful guys can this planet come up with?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to," Yusuke muttered sourly.

"No, he's right," Logan said with a sigh. "Ororo, call Charles and have him track down Caliwone. The rest of the X-Men should already be at the dome."

Caliwone sat on a shady hill top not far from the Mansion with the gift from Rogue sitting next to him, the snow still swirling around gently inside it. He looked out over the calm woodland and the highway that cut through it with slight distaste.

Caliwone.

Caliwone frowned. What? he thought back at Xavier. He knew how much Caliwone hated these mental conversations.

Could you come back to the mansion, please?

I don't feel like, Caliwone growled.

There was a pause. Very well, then, Xavier said. Through the mental contact with Xavier's mind, Caliwone could feel him brace himself for whatever it was wanted to say. Caliwone felt himself unconsciously tense. Slade has shown himself, Xavier said. The Justice League is already taking steps to apprehend him.

Good for them, Caliwone snorted, irritated that Xavier would trouble him with such unimportant information. He didn't care about Slade, even after the whole Apocalypse business. Hell, he had things to answer for too, someday. He was the League's problem. Tell them good luck from me.

It's not that simple, Xavier said, the tension still there. He's hold up inside of one of Apocalypse's domes. Not even that cannon they have can break through it.

Let Kal-El sweat a little, Caliwone said, mentally turning his back to Xavier.

He wants you, Caliwone, Xavier said.

What else is new? Not my problem.

He wants you to come and he took Rogue and Kitty to make sure you would.

The glass on the snow globe Rogue have given him cracked and leaked as Caliwone snarled, sending an involuntary wave of energy rippling through the ground. Relax, he told himself, taking a deep breath. Stay in control. If Slade wanted them dead, they would be. He wants something.

Where?

The pyramid in China. I will guide you.

Scott paced angrily in front of the dome, past experience telling him that even his best, most desperate efforts was not enough to break through this shield. Every attack had been repulsed, violently, and left no damage on the energy shield. According to Yusuke, Ichigo had tried to both walk through it in his Shinigami form and blast it with his strongest attack to no avail.

"What do we do now, then?" Gambit asked, pacing out his own circle in the dirt.

"Perhaps the Justice League might have some suggestions," Beast pondered. "Many of the Earth smartest minds are in good relations with the League."

"If they ever bother to show up," Iceman said, looking up into the sky.

"It's not like they care about us," Rahne said, her pronounced Scottish accent adding an extra harsh quality to her words. "They only care about the world-sized problems."

"That's not true," Nightwing said, returning from walk around the dome. "You just have to remember that the big things tend to step on the little guys."

"And besides," Raven said, walking next to Beast Boy, "even if they did only handle the big things, they know Slade almost as well as we do. Whatever Slade is planning, it is a big problem."

"Not only that, but you guys helped save the world a number of times," Cyborg said. "They will do everything they can to help."

Yusuke exchanged a look with Kuwabara. "Not to burst anyone's bubble or anything but what can they do to help? I mean, if I can't break it-"

"They may be able to shut it down," Nightwing said. "Not every solution involves fists."

"Right," Yusuke said sarcastically. "We'll see how well that theory holds up when Slade comes out. If he ever does," he added.

"He will," Kurama said. "If not by our doing, then by his own free will."

"Once Caliwone arrives here," Hiei finished. "Caliwone will just walk right into this trap."

"He has no other choice," Ichigo said, his words only heard by those spiritually aware.

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, I know," he said, looking to the X-Men as if he was talking to his invisible friend, which he was.

There was a flash of blue light and four figures appeared. "What have we found out?" Shayera asked as Batman, Ray Palmer, and Green Arrow moved around her toward the shield.

"That it repels Shinigami and energy attacks just as well as missiles," Yusuke said with a crooked smile.

"Let's cut the sarcasm," Batman said, kneeling down and pulling out a sensor from the new utility belt of his suit.

"Yeah, sure," Yusuke muttered sourly. "Not like you'd appreciate humor if it bit you in the a-"

"Yusuke," Kurama warned calmly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He is here to help. Try not to insult him."

"Hands off, Fox-boy," Yusuke said.

"Do you ever shut up, Detective?" Hiei asked from where he sat on a nearby rock.

"Quiet," Batman said. "Ray?"

"I've never seen anything like it," the Atom said, examining Batman's readings. "This kind of technology is light years beyond anything that's even on the drawing board right now."

"No kidding?" Bobby said, crossing his arms. "You think maybe it could be alien?" he added sarcastically.

"I doubt it," Ray said, shaking his head. "From everything I can see from the readings, the fundamentals and interactions are all current Earth theories. It's just that no one had ever been able to make them this practical."

"So, what you're saying," Kurama said, taking on a thoughtful look, "is that this may have been created on Earth, just in the distant future?"

Ray shrugged. "Possibly. And it's not like we haven't experienced time travel before."

"This is all very interesting," Hiei said with an heir of impatience, "but can you get through it? Yes or no?"

"No," Ray said simply.

"Terrific," Logan said. "Now what?"

"We see what Caliwone can do," Ichigo said. He waited a moment for the others to respond but they seemed as if they couldn't hear him. He slapped the palm of his hand to his head. Of course they couldn't hear him. He turned to Yusuke to ask him to repeat his words but before he could, the Super Saiyan landed with an explosion of gold that seemed appropriate with his hot temper.

"Stand aside," he said, clapping his hands together for his Burst Rush technique.

"Caliwone, it's been tried," Shayera said but quickly backed out of the way with everyone else. "You can't break through it that way."

"We'll see." Lifting his hands above his head, he threw his attack forward. His blue attack flashed out, disintegrating the ground as it flew forward to crash into the shield with explosive force. Raven sheathed everyone in dark energy as the backlash rippled over the area as the purple shield came into view through the settling dust, it became apparent that Caliwone's attack had bourn just as little fruit as all other attempts. With a snarl, Caliwone lowered his hand to try another attack.

The fortress rumbled slightly as Caliwone's attacks crashed into the shield. Slade tapped a key on the console next to where he stood, bringing up a holographic display of where the attack was coming from. He smiled slightly behind his mask, pleased to see Caliwone fired up and ready to go as well as his former apprentice and the X-Men being present. His eye held for a moment on the Leaguer's, most specifically Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. None were going to be any threat this time, not even the four kids he was unfamiliar with.

He turned to look at his two guests, both restrained but in comfortable environments with several of his assassin robots with the remains of Leach's blood installed into their bodies to keep a watchful eye on them. With Caliwone here, he no longer needed them.

"It would seem that Caliwone has made an appearance," Slade said, walking into the room with the two girls. "I am afraid I must take my leave before he manages to find me and, no doubt, kill me." He nodded to two of the robots who stepped forward and released the girls.

"You mean, you didn't want Caliwone to show up?" Rogue asked, massaging her wrists where the restraints had been.

"My fight is with the League. I have no personal animosity for Caliwone," Slade said simply, turning his back to them. "Nor do I have any towards you two. You are free to go."

"That's it?" Kitty asked, incredulous. "Some assassin you are, giving up at the first sign of trouble.

"Kitty, would you shut it?" Rogue hissed, pulling her arm. "Let's just go."

"Believe me, Ms. Pryde," Slade said, turning to look over his left shoulder, "this is not over." He eyed her for a moment, standing defiant even as Rogue tried to pull her towards the nearest door. It was the same look that his former apprentice Robin had had, oh so long ago. The look of defiance, unwillingness to be deterred even from someone like him. "Be aware that I have explosives placed throughout this pyramid. You may want to get moving before they go off, starting with these droids." He turned and ran for the furthest of the sliding doors.

"Kitty, NOW!" Rogue shouted as all of the assassin robots began beeping in unison. They barely managed to get to the door when the robots exploded, clouding Slade's escape in smoke. Rogue inhaled deeply as she felt the sudden surge of her powers and those of Ms. Marvel, return to her. "We're getting out of here."

Slade ran only a few steps more as he heard the door he had run through close with a hiss. Calmly, he walked another hundred feet and turned into a larger room, poorly lit. In fact, the only light in this room came from the display of monitors that was currently showing the room Slade had just left as well the girls escape attempt and of the heroes outside of the shield.

"You really should become an actor," his apprentice said, an edge of deep amusement in the tone. "You almost had me fooled that this wasn't personal with Caliwone."

Slade stepped further into the room to stand next to his apprentice in the dark. "It isn't," he said. "I intend to destroy the League and the Titans, but Caliwone is the largest threat. We must deal with him before we take on Superman and the League."

"Why's that?" his apprentice asked arrogantly. "I can take both of them."

"Yes, but Caliwone has the ability to grow in strength and mind and the unnerving ability to come out victorious one way or another. The best way to deal with him is to take him by surprise."

"Yeah, whatever," his apprentice said. "Let's just do it already."

Slade narrowed his eye for a moment. "Let us get into position."

Caliwone walked up to the dome, running a hand across it. After a moment he lifted into the sky to look at the shield from a different angle even as news choppers flew by overhead. Paying them no mind, he pulled his right hand back and fired. The beam of yellow energy cut into the ground just in front of the shield. If this was truly a dome, then that meant he could get inside by tunneling underneath the shield.

Dropping down into the hole he had made, his Super Saiyan aura giving off enough light to see by, he came to a stop. Caliwone sighed as he saw the energy shield still alive as it started its curve back underneath the pyramid. It would appear that this dome was, in fact, a sphere. That meant no matter what angle Caliwone chose, he would be met with the same resistance.

He returned above ground and considered the shield for another moment.

"What do you think?" Shayera asked, dropping down lightly next to him. "I don't suppose simply tunneling underneath it and just tossing it into the sun is a viable option?"

"With Kitty and Rogue inside?" Caliwone snorted, then shook his head. "One member of my old team use to have the ability to create a defensive shield like this. It had to have been the strongest defensive ability I had ever seen," Caliwone said, shrugging. "Not even I could break through it."

"So then we are stuck," Shayera said, sounding annoyed. "If you couldn't get through either of the shields-"

"Not yet," Caliwone said. "That shield that my team member had was a long time ago. I am a much different person now." Caliwone lowered his right hand and braced his left hand on his bicep. Blue energy arced around the glow of energy in his hand, his power so great it cracked the ground and lift rocks the size of basketballs into the air.

Shayera's hair stood up, the effect of Caliwone's power was forcing everything around him to defy gravity. Even her wings were pulled straight up as she struggled to remain grounded. "Caliwone," she tried to say, struggling to breathe under his force. She clapped a hand around her throat, nearly suffocating.

The energy in Caliwone's hand was now glowing so brightly, it looked like a miniature blue sun being held by some sort of powerful entity. He leapt forward towards the shield, streaking both blue and yellow lines of energy residue behind him before he drove the Dragon Twister into shield with almost no resistance. Caliwone stopped as his arm drove deep, the shield nearly coming up to his shoulder. Concentrating, his energy rotated, twisting the air and the shield counter-clockwise until a hole just big enough for Caliwone was torn open. Moving quickly, Caliwone flew through the hole which closed up quickly behind him.

The pyramid stood tall inside the shield, dark and foreboding. The shield, no longer looking solid from inside, still seemed to warp the space where the shield was but was otherwise completely transparent. It would seem that Slade was able to see every movement they made from inside.

Caliwone headed up hill to the closest of the entrances that was sealed by a thin stone slab, resolved that this once, he would break his promise not kill another human. He paused suddenly, hearing the quiet sounds of distant explosions from inside the pyramid. Curious despite himself, he punched the stone slab, knocking it completely off to land with a crash on the smooth floor.

"Aaaaaah Caliwone watch out!"

Caliwone looked down the hall and saw both Rogue and Kitty sprinting as fast as they could toward him. Behind them, walls exploded outwards as if in some form of self destruct. The girls nearly bowled him over as the sprinted to him, seeming not to care. They just managed to get past the doorway when the last of the explosions went off, blowing them off their feet with fiery force. Rogue managed to right herself in the air but Caliwone was forced to fly over and catch Kitty before she hit the ground.

"Wow," Kitty said weakly, wrapping her arms gingerly around Caliwone's neck. "Nice catch."

"Come on," Caliwone said, setting Kitty down and allowing her to lean against him for support. She was in rough shape now, that last explosion burning her fairly badly. "This is no place for someone like you." He glanced over his shoulder at Rogue, floating just off the ground and looking unhurt. "Same for you, stripes. Get moving."

To be continued…

And with that, the final plot has begun. Will Slade's apprentice truly be able to stand up to the Saiyan's might? Or will a different strategy be employed? You better believe that everything that has happened so far in this series will come to a head so be sure to stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Dragon Sagas!

Thanks Kobez2.0 for the beta and suggestions!

Please remember, I do not get paid for writing this stuff. REVIEWS are my only payment. Please take the time to send me a review (good or bad) so that I will learn and make my efforts seem appreciated. Thanks.

The Dark Prince