Atrocities

by Ash The Wanderer

The sequel to Consuming Madness. A new evil emerges from the world that brought the curse of Agony. Is the greatest evil one of extraordinary birth, or is it all too human? And in the end, will there be nothing but doom...or redemption?

4. Madman's Mind, Murderer's Soul

Chapter 4: Madman's Mind, Murderer's Soul

"The line between insanity and genius has always been success."

"Pregnant?" Erik said.

Goten nodded solemnly.

"We found out two days before this whole mess started…about 12 hours before Vagane must have shown up. She's at almost two months…it's our first child."

Erik's heart was beginning to fill with sickness as new realizations came to him…and ideas of just what Vagane might be planning.

'Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because I made the same connection you're making right now. If Vagane took my wife because she's pregnant…that might mean he took Videl for the same reason. And seeing how this is news to you, I don't think either my brother or Videl knew she was pregnant…I couldn't bring that up in my brother's presense, not with Pan there. Because…because…"

Erik's jaw clenched. Could it be? Could Vagane…have taken…for that…?

"Erik, do you think it's true?"

"I don't know Goten…but if it's true…dear god…"Erik trailed off, unable to voice to Goten what torment Marron must be going through.

Goten saw it anyway.

"Erik…my wife…do you think…she'll be ok? I want you to be blunt, hid nothing. I can take it. I have to."

Erik looked at the hybrid, not wanting to say to Goten what he was sure of.

That girl survived Agony…

Only by sheer luck…

She's tough…incredibly tough…

And that won't mean jack shit. You tried to be tough. You know what Vagane did to you, what he's capable of doing…and just what he's doing to that girl. Tell Goten the truth.

Erik sighed.

"Goten…what Vagane is probably doing to her is beyond your comprehension to understand until you feel it. It's pain and violation beyond belief…it would make Agony proud. Vagane, like her, delights in the pain of the beings he considers his lessers. The truth is…I don't know how strong Marron and Videl are…but it will most likely kill them or drive them utterly insane. And even if it doesn't…once Vagane doesn't have any more of a use for them…he'll get rid of them."

Goten had gone as white as a sheet. He had expected it, but what Erik had said still shocked him to the very core.

"I'm so sorry Goten…it's my fault he came here…if you want to hate me, go ahead, if it will ease the pain…god knows I only deserve to be hated…"Erik said sadly.

"No." Goten said. "I won't hate you Erik. You didn't mean for any of this to happen. You tried to avoid it. But it happened. I don't know why fate chose to be so cruel…but it happened. We just have to rectify it. And I know that you will die to do that. And I thank you for it."

Erik felt shocked. He had underestimated Goten greatly, and reaching out, he took Goten's shoulder.

"Thank you…and I will do everything in my power to save her…I promise…I swear…by everything sacred to me."

Goten, despite himself, smiled slightly.

"And just might I ask…is sacred to you Erik?"

Erik blinked.

Then the FS-X peeled away from his arm as a section extended from it. Erik reached into the metal device and extracted something with a faint clinking noise.

"This. Them."

Goten looked at the pendant Erik was holding in his hand. It was coloured a dull gold, and looked to be at least ten years old. Erik carefully opened it and Goten looked inside.

The picture was dirty and battered, and it looked like if it was taken out of the sealed and airtight section of metal and glass that it was put it, it would immediately crumple into dust. Goten looked at the picture of the people, a man with black hair and a woman with blonde hair, in their thirties, smiling broadly for the camera. In front of them were three children. Two girls, one with blond hair and the other with black hair, looking to be about seven and five each. The smaller blonde had a big, toothy smile on her face, while the older black haired girl had a shy, serious smile.

And between them…a boy. With shortly cut black hair and eyes the colour of dark sapphires.

"Erik…is that…?"

"Yes. That's my family. It's the only picture I have of them. It was a miracle I found it…after all Vagane did to destroy the cottage where my family was. They are what is sacred to me…or rather, my revenge for them. I won't be able to truly look into their faces until Agony…is gone. But at the same time…I couldn't have looked into them after all the people Agony killed here. I could bring them back with my sacrifice…I couldn't do that with my family. But I know I can…but first, Vagane." Erik said, snapping the pendant shut and placing it back into his arm.

"Why don't you wear it around your neck?"

"Too risky. I could lose it in so many ways…and I'm not worthy to. Not after how I failed them. Come Goten, let us go on."

With that, Erik turned and ran, leaping from the roof he and Goten had been standing onto the next one. Goten stared after him, then flew off after the running warrior.

Vagane was greatly pleased. All the programs were run and triple-checked. It was time to carry them out.

"Ah…there's nothing like the sound of humans crying out in fear…it makes how pathetic and worthless their existence is truly obvious. Heh heh heh heh…HA HA HA HA HA!"

The outside of Vagane's laboratory could more precisely be called a fortress. It was composed of a dark material that somehow managed to resemble stone and metal at the same time. The design was simple and yet twisted, tunnels furrowing of of the main structure and twisting into the ground and surrouding cliffs, like evil parasitic roots that desired to suck the earth dry of life and beauty. Tall towers stabbed into the sky, paying homage to the evil castles where magicians terrorized the land of fantasy and fairy tales. Indeed, the whole structure seemed like a mammoth beast at rest, waiting for the time for it to awaken and find a world ripe and ready to be devoured.

And then, a small section of the gigantic lab slid open. The beast was not ready to devour the world, but it was ready to sample it.

Small robots flew out of the laboratory, spiralling up and heading off into different directions. The robots were all different in size, shape, and equipment, but they had all been built for the same reason.

To kill.

Vagane looked apon the large screen, the same screen that, a few hours ago, he had instructed Spike on how to try and kill a girl. Now he watched six different camera viewpoints as the robots flew off. There wasn't anything special happening yet, but soon…

Soon…

"Time to let the show begin. I do hope the Failure and his friends as watching. I think they will find it quite…explosive."

The Z Fighters and Legacy members had indeed arrived back at Capsole Corp, and once again found themselves with nothing to do. After hearing news that Celeste was fine, they had again scattered to their own amusements.

At the moment, Paul was watching a television he had found. Due to the differences in time zones, he had managed to find Leno on one of the channels.

"And today is the 314^th anniversery of the signing of the Declaration of Independence." Leno said, to applause. Paul arched an eyebrow, even as Leno continued the joke. "Yes, it was the piece of paper that gave Americans their freedom, gave us the right to own weapons, etc etc. I hear there was this big celebration in some part of LA where African-Americans were celebrating how the Declaration opened up the door to the end of black slavery. And to this, Strom Thurmond responded. "We can't own slaves anymore? When did this happen? When did…"

Paul wasn't paying attention, and not just because the joke was terrible. He was puzzling things over in his head.

"Wait…this doesn't make sense…"

"What doesn't?" came Bulma's voice. Paul glanced up at the woman.

"Well…the timing on this is all wrong! In my world, it's only been about 275 years since the signing of that bill…and if if it happened later, Leno here doesn't look any older then he did in my world before the change!"

"Hmmmm…that is odd…perhaps not only do worlds change but timelines and events in history might too when you go between worlds…how strange…"

"Argh, I'm sorry I brought it up. I'll just watch TV."

"I wanna watch TV Puppetpals!" Lindsay crowed as she hopped over Paul and grabbed the remote.

"What? NO! I'm watching Leno!" Paul yelled, grabbing the controller back.

"Puppetpals!"

"Leno!"

"Puppetpals!"
"Leno!"

And so the argument went as Paul and Lindsay fought over the TV. Bulma backed away, her eyes full of surprise.

"Are they always like this?" Bulma asked a passing William.

"Prithee, I would say so, m'lady."

The robot had been flying for a while, but only now had it reached its destination. It was located about forty miles north of Portland, Oregon, at the foot of a large town known as Water Dove.

It was known as Mount Saint Helens. It was an extinct volcano.

On May 18, 1980, Mount Saint Helens had erupted violently, taking 60 lives, including the one of one of the former president's of the United Sates, Harry Truman. But in the process, the volcano had seemingly burned itself out. In the time since, the 5,869 people of Water Dove had come to live there, secure that Mount Saint Helens was dead, and even if it wasn't, they would be warned in time to get away.

The robot flew around the base of the volcano, twin drills extracting from its front, and with an inaudible whirring, it began to drill into the extinct volcano.

It didn't take long to get there, as the robot broke through and entered a dark chamber, a sealed away cave. The heat within it was incredible, but the robot was not affected. It had been designed to take far higher extremes of heat.

And it would need them, as the robot flew low and began burrowing deeper.

Within the volcano, forces began to reawaken as the robot drilled through the rock. Eventually, it reached its goal. The drills withdrew and new extensions appeared, even as another one extracted from the top of the robot.

Down on the face of the mountain, a sleepy technician suddenly sat up as his computer began to beep. He yawned and looked at the computer, eyes filled with sleep.

Then it faded as his eyes snapped open. The heat within the volcano was going up.

The technician looked on in horror. He could't believe it. Now along with the heat, the pressure inside the volcano was rising, but at a far higher rate then possible. His eyes went wider and wider as Mount Saint Helens went from extinct to ready to explode within minutes.

But Vagane's robot didn't want an eruption, as it continued to focus specially designed lasers onto certain spots, even as it used a variation of Vagane's shield mechanism to keep the pressure from being released too soon.

Alarms began going off on the computer as readings began to appear on the screen. The technician was trying to decide who to call first when he saw them. He gasped, then abadonned all thoughts of calling anyone. He ran out of his small shack and got into his car, hands shaking as he started the engine and began driving down the road.

But it was too late for him. It was too late for anyone.

The force inside the volcano was reaching beyond the point where even the robot couldn't contain it.

But that was ok. Its job was done.

With a push of a button, Vagane deactivated the shield.

The people of Waterdove were shocked out of sleep by a gigantic jolt of motion as the earth seemed to wrench under their feet, followed by an even bigger explosion. As the town of Water Dove shook, the technician looked in his rearview mirror in horror.

And then he screamed as his Jeep was tossed through the air and destroyed as Mount Saint Helens blew itself to oblivion in an explosion that was a thousand times more powerful then the hydrogen bomb explosion over Nagasaki. From the violent destruction had emerged a pyroclastic cloud, a superheated 200-foot wall of gases moving outward at over 300 miles per hour.

The people of Water Dove saw it coming. Some tried to flee. Some tried to hide. Others didn't do anything, knowing it was futile.

Then the gas cloud hit the down, having travelled down what had once been Mount Saint Helens in seconds. The town of Water Dove was smashed like gnats before a hurricane, buildings ripped apart like they were built of matchsticks and cars tossed off the ground and torn to pieces like wet tissue paper. The superheated gas cloud snuffed out every life in a quick display of burning torment as it flash-fried everyone, sucking the air from their lungs before it cooked them alive. For a brief second, the town was united in one huge scream of agony. Then they all died.

Vagane stared at the destruction in glee.

"That's it, die. Die like the scum you are….mwahahahahahahha! I love it…and it's just the beginning. This wasn't enough. Before I'm done, everyone around the globe will know the true meaning of survival, and how unworthy they are to have it! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!"

The robot flew over the large village, over 3000 strong, in the small nation of Cameroon in Africa. The village was remote, the people simple in their lifestyle and pleasures. They farmed and caught what they could. They meant no harm to anyone.

Unfortunately, Vagane did not feel the same way, as he directed his robot into the large lake the town surrounded. The lake harboured fish and water, and was essential to the villager's survival.

But it would also prove the key to their undoing, as the robot flew down to the bottom, and with one large drill, began digging into it. It didn't have to dig far.

Most of the villagers were eating supper or preparing for bed when the geyser erupted from the lake waters. For eons, pockets of earth had formed beneath the lake, and hundreds of small earthquakes had filled them with the volcanic gas hydrogen sulfate. Vagane's robot has finally released the pressure by tunneling into the largest pocket.

The gas was colourless.

It was scalding hot.

And it was lethally poisonous.

The village was blanketed in seconds, people sitting up as their mouths, throats, and lungs suddenly seemed to fill with burning acid. A simular mass wail went up from the village as they suffocated to death on the burning gas. Some tried to outrun the cloud, but the gas moved far quicker then they ever could.

Within minutes, all were dead.

Vagane watched from afar, a cruel smile on his face. To him it was as lovely as art, the way all the bodies were strewn around. But he didn't look long. He had more things to do.

Goten eventually caught up with Erik, but only because Erik inadvertingly let him. Despite his much higher speed, Erik melted into the shadows so easily that Goten constantly found himself losing the young man. If Erik had stopped for some reason, Goten never would have caught up with him.

Goten saw why Erik had stopped as he drew level with him. Erik was talking on a cell phone. For some reason, Goten almost laughed.

"Good. Keep me posted. See you later." Erik finished, and hung up. His arm whirred as Erik inserted the phone back into it, and then he looked at Goten.

"Who was that?"

"Bulma. She called with some info on our Gateway. She and her scientists have been testing it, trying to see where they can go. I gave her some info and data I learned recently, and she's gotten back to work on it. Which is good. It keeps her away from the battlefield…I don't want what happened last time to happen again."

Goten was silent. Erik looked away, glancing into the night sky.

"I try not to repeat my failures. I've had too many already."

Goten blinked. For the millionth time, Erik was remarking on his supposed failuires, and Goten was getting tired of it.

"Erik, you're not a failure."

Erik glanced back at Goten.

"What?"

"Erik…stop beating yourself up. You were a kid! You did everything you could! The same when you wound up here, and probably with every situation in your life! You're always tormenting yourself with what you couldn't or didn't do! You're slowly killing yourself! The weight you keep on your shoulders is crushing you, and you keep adding to it! Why do you do that?"

Erik cocked his head slightly.

"Because I must."

Goten goggled at Erik.

"But…"

"Goten…I swore in blood over the graves of everyone I ever cared about. This is my life. I am Vengeance…he serves far more use then Erik Damien Ravensky. Maybe it will kill me…I can accept that. Why can't you?"

"Because you have so much more! You have friends!"

"They could live without me."

"You have a sister! Your whole family isn't dead!"

"Maybe not…but in a way, Christine is not a Ravensky. She has no memories of it, only extremely faint ones of me. She's become her own woman. If I left…she would be sad…but she would be able to move on. She has friends and a husband who loves her. She could survive without me."

"Then what about…about…" Goten said, trying to figure out how to verbally voice his observations of Celeste in regard to Erik. There was something there, he could see it, but he wondered if Erik could. When it came to his mission of revenge, for the "Pure" and against Vagane, Erik was as focussed as a laser beam.

"About…?" Erik asked. Goten decided he would just take the plunge.

But he never got the chance, as Erik suddenly turned his head abruptly, his eyes narrowing in concentration.

"Erik? What's wrong?"

"I hear…crying. It's incredibly faint…my systems can barely sort it out from all the other noise…pain, someone's in pain…there." Erik said, as his eyes focussed. Goten looked after him.

"A hospital? Erik, people…"

"No Goten, this is different. This isn't the pain of an accident victim being attended to…this is something…worse…there's fear too. Something's wrong down there!"

Erik had just finished speaking when he took off, running across the roof he was standing on towards the hospital. Startled, Goten ran after Erik.

"Erik! How the hell do you know?"
"I have my ways!" Erik tossed over his shoulder, and then leapt off the roof, flipping in mid-air and falling the six stories down to the ground.

A couple walking down the night street stopped abruptly in fear as Erik landed in front of them, the impact driving him to his knees. The dark warrior paused for a second, gathering his breath, and then straightened up and headed across the street towards the hospital as the couple stared after him.

Then Goten landed where Erik had, and the couple's eyes snapped back to look at him.

"Heh. He's a stuntman." Goten said lamely, and headed off after Erik before the couple could ask any questions.

Paul was bored. Leno was over and there was nothing new on, so he was channel surfing without any clear goal.

"Boring…boring…seen it…FRENCH…"Paul muttered as he flipped through the channels. "Dammit, over a thousand channels and there's nothing on!" Paul complained, but it didn't stop his channel surfing.

"Hahahahhahahaha…"

"…final answer…?"

"…tribal counsol…"

"…To the OR STAT!…"

"…Disaster…."

Paul paused and then flipped back to the previous channle to reveal a stern looking newsman. It appeared to be some kind of all-news channel.

"Early reports are sketchy, but it appeared that the eruption and subsequent destruction of Mount Saint Helens has led to the total destruction of the surrounding area. Scientists are baffled on how the volcano, thought dead after the 1980 eruption that killed former president during the end of WWII and the beginning of the Cold War Harry Truman, could manage to erupt so violently, and so suddenly…"

"What's going on?" came the voice of Rod as he walked up to Paul, who was staring at the TV.

"Mount Saint Helens erupted…"

Rod stopped dead.

"Did you say Mount Saint Helens?"

"Yeah."

"That's impossible. It's extinct. It blew itself out after the last eruption."

"Well, not only did it erupt, it destroyed everything around in a two or three mile radius. The report says they aren't expecting to find any survivors…"

Rod wasn't listening. Instead, he was staring at the TV.

"This couldn't have happened. Mount Saint Helens destroyed itself during the 1980 eruption. Even if it did erupt again, it would take a long time, long enough to warn the people in the surrounding area, and the ruption wouldn't be powerful enough to cause that much ruin! Mount Saint Helens was situated on a relatively calm area, and with the damage to it beforehand, there is no way so much pressure could have built up before being released long before it hit the stage to…it's not natural. Not natural at…Paul, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

"Sure Brain, but where would we put the monkeys afterwards?" Paul cracked in a perfect Pinky imitation. Rod looked at Paul with eyes that said "Paul, don't joke, this is a bad time for it". Paul shut up.

"Paul, I think we had better speak to Bulma."

It was a calm morning at the London Zoo, as the rush of everyday tourists during the summer was starting to build. Parents with wide-eyed kids, teenagers skipping school or doing something rather then nothing, and people who just generally liked to look at animals walked through the enclousure, staring at the animals. For their part, the animals slept, or ate, or stared back at the humans.

It sickened Vagane. Everywhere, mockery was going on, to little kids making faces and throwing things at the lazy lion as it tried to nap in peace, to teenagers tossing various objects into the cages to see if the animals would eat them. These animals were far greater personifications of survival then humanity would ever be, because they relied on instinct and virtually nothing else except their natural gifts. But because they lacked the intelligence to understand that, or the means to prove it, locked behind cages or fences or high stone walls, they stood and took the abuse.

But that was rapidly about to change. These humans were going to see they weren't the superior beings with the god-given right to look down on every other species on the planet. They were going to see they were pieces of meat.

The small droid flew over the wall and headed for the centre of the zoo. A good many people noticed it, but they could do little but stare after it or at it as it finally came to the centre of the zoo. Various personnel of the zoo were at a loss as well.

Vagane began tapping his keys and a strange xtension that looked like some kind of twisted combination of a speaker and a microphone extended from the top and bottom of the robot. Vagane prepped the command, entered it, and with the press of a button, activated it.

The shrieking noise exploded across the zoo, causing every human to slam their hands over their ears. However, with the organs covered, the effect was only a tad unpleasent for them.

But for the animals, it was something far more, as the noise threw them into a panic. The parrk filled with various cries, shrieks, roars, and bellows as the waves of sound Vagane's machine pierced right into their brain. But there was more to sound in the attack. Buried deep within it was a subliminal message specifically set for the waves lengths of the animals's brains. The message was quick, simple, and drove straight to the core of every one of the beasts, in the unspoken language all could understand.

You are in danger. Kill or be killed.

With the animals suitably panicked and ready to stampede, Vagane pressed a few more keys, and the extensions modified themselves. Vagane tapped some more keys, and then pressed the biggest one.

The new wave that emitted from the robot was on a wavelength that neither the humans nor animals could hear. But Vagane didn't need for them to hear it. He just needed for it to be emitted.

The wavelength spread across the park, and suddenly the air was filled with shrapnal as everything seemingly began to explode, as the sound pierced deep into the stone, metal, and plastic restraints around the animals and smashed them to pieces at a molecular level.

Unfortunately for the people, this effected any kind of such material. Violently.

Watches exploded, blowing hands off at the wrist and causing blood to gout from bloody stumps. Shoes seemingly detonated as if filled with nitroglycerine, mangling the delicate muscle and bone structures of feet. One man wearing a plastic belt was blasted in half as the clothing exploded and sliced through him.

The young child who had been teasing the lion hadn't wanted braces. He was afraid he would be teased, and indeed, that was what happened. His anger and frustration, unable to be used on his tormentors, and instead found as many scapegoats as possible, including the lion.

That ceased to be a problem for him, as he felt a sudden surge of pressure it his jaw before his whole head exploded from his braces shattering, spraying his father with shredded cereberal tissue. His father screamed at the sheer horror of seeing this, but he didn't get a chance to fully comprehend it as the lion, freed from his cage, maddened beyond belief, and with the scent of fresh blood in his nostrils, pounced on the father, tearing him to shreds.

All over the zoo, the same thing was happening. Not all the animals fed on meat, but all were frantic and readying to defend themselves by any means necessary. They would have turned on each other, but for the moment, humans were far more plentiful. And easier targets.

Screams wafted from the zoo in a cataphony of pain, fear, and violence. Blood ran in rivers.

Vagane couldn't help laughing.

"Humans. Without their guns and other tools…pathetic. I cannot believe I was once one of them." Vagane said in a grateful tone. He allowed himself to watch the massacre for a few more seconds, but he had other things to do. He still had three more targets.

And one was utterly crucial to the setup he had planned.

Celeste's eyes fluttered open, to find herself staring at the ceiling.

I'm alive…ow, in great pain, but alive…I failed Erik again. I couldn't defeat Adam…I should have. Instead, he had to save me again. Maybe the reason I can't tell him how I feel is because I don't deserve someone like him…

"Oh, you're awake!" came a voice, and then Buu's face filled Celeste's vision. Celeste started.

"Oh sorry. I have to stop doing that." Buu said, backing off. Celeste tried to sit up, disliking how sticky her hair was. Her vision swam slightly, and she put out a hand to brace herself.

"Hey, be careful there Celeste! You're pretty badly hurt." Buu said, trying his best to brace the woman.

"Yeah. I can feel it." Celeste said, raising her hand to feel her bandaged forehead. Buu suddenly looked angry.

"That mean…thing! When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna kick his butt so hard…well, it'll be a huge beating!" Buu said, trying to think of a metaphor to describe how badly he would beat Adam and failing. Celeste blinked.

"What…why Buu? Why would you…?"

"Huh? Why would I beat up the man who did this to you? Because we're friends! And friends look out for each other!" Buu said in complete earnest.

Celeste stared at Buu. Friends…he barely knows me and he considers us friends…this is so strange…if he knew the real me…would he care about it, like so many have? Or would he look past it like Erik…?

"Well…I…ow." Celeste said as pain ripped through her. She became dizzy and Buu had to steady her again.

"You look bad. I know the feeling. It reminds me when I got beat up by my evil half."

Celeste looked at Buu, intrigued.

"Evil half?"

"Yeah! It's a long story, wanna hear it?"
Celeste smiled slightly.

"Sure."

It was a quiet night in Little Frog, Arkansas, and the night of the monthly town meeting, The town was a small one of roughly 1200 people, who lived peaceful lives outside the insane pace and the hustle and bustle of the modern world. In the townhouse, about 200 of those people had gathered to listen to the mayor, Phillip Carol, as he did the usual annoucements. Any problems would then be discussed, and then they would break for the night. Same old, same old.

Not this time.

The first casulty of Vagane's robot crashing through the ceiling was 96 year old Margret Tribal, who had attended every single meeting for nearly fifty years. The shock caused her old, weak heart to give out, and she died with hardly a gasp. Unfortunately, she had sat at the very back of the room by herself, and no one noticed as everyone stood up in surprise as the robot floated downward amid the sifting rubble. Everyone stared at it.

The small droid righted itself in the air and stopped. As the people watched, the top slid open.

Then a hologram suddenly projected itself from the top of the machine, and the cruelly grinning face of Dr. Thanatos Vagane appeared for all to see.

"Hello people." Vagane said to the shocked crowd, and then his hologram figured reached over and pressed an "offscreen" button.

A small tube-like extension extracted from the machine and fired outward into the crowd. It struck Bill Mahon, a man in his forties who ran the town bakery and had a wife, two kids, and a good life. He screamed, and then the stink of burning flesh filled the air as his body was vaporized into ash.

Now the crowd started to scream, and began a stampede towards the lone door. Vagane smirked and pressed the button again, and his tube fired outward and struck the person closest to the door, a divorced single mother named Valerie Redgrave. She got a second to scream before she was flash-fried out of existence. The crowd stopped dead in their movement and noise.

"And anyone else who tries to escape suffers the same fate. And believe me, I can get you all." Vagane chuckled cruelly. Although he had nearly lost his mind, Phillip Carol slowly walked forward and looked at Vagane's evil smirk.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"I am Vagane, and what I want is to wipe all existence so I can get rid of the wastrels who abuse and glut themselves on nature's gifts…but I am rambling. Now listen. This robot is also a bomb, powerful enough to destroy the entire town. Here's my order. You are to seek out every single good person in your pathetic little town. And kill them. Horribly."

Phillip goggled at the request. The man was completely insane, but he also had power under his command. An extremely dangerous combination.

"What…WHAT? Kill every…good…how can we tell who's good?"
Vagane chuckled.

"That is your problem. Kill them or you ALL die. And don't try leaving town, or attacking the robot, or I'll detonate the bomb. Kill them all. Men, women, children, if you want to survive. And I want proof. You have an hour. Goodbye, scum. I have soiled myself enough by talking with your kind."

And with that, Vagane was gone, leaving only a desperate crowd realizing that if they wanted to live, they had no choice but to do what he said.

Ash was trying to get his mind off of the situation at hand by one of the better ways he knew: dueling with his wife. He didn't feel like sleeping, and he doubted he could talk Christine into doing something, if he even felt like doing it. Hence, the duel. He was getting a little rusty anyway.

However, the duel did cause one annoying thing. The Soulfire felt that it had to provide running commentary.

And Christine with a right, and a thrust, but Ash dodges and does a lovely slash at her head, but she blocks! Here we go again! Parry! Parry! Thrust! Thrust! Dodge slash! Dodge slash again! OW! I have repeatly told Ash NOT to use that part of me to block, but does he listen, NOOOO…

"SHUT UP!" Ash and Christine yelled at the Soulfire. "Stop talking like I'm not here! In fact, stop talking!"

I tell ya, genius is never recognized in its own time…

Ash sighed.

"Do you concede?"

"What? No way! You concede!"

"No, I was winning!"

"WHAT? I was so totally kicking your ass, Ash!"

Dude, it is like, so totally henious that you're fighting! Ash, quit acting like a total reekazoid and…

"STOP IMITATING ADAM COPELAND!" Ash and Christine yelled simultaneously again.

Hey, you started it, you barfoid!

Ash picked up his sword and threw it across the room at the wall.

Wheeee! I'm flying! I'm flyi-ow! I have experienced a revalation. Flying is easy, landing is the hard part!

Ash sighed and then suddenly found Christine's blade at his throat.

"I win, Ash." Christine smirked. Ash sighed in an exaggerated tone and did exaggarated surrending motions.

"I have lost the battle. What is the punishment? Death? Dismemberment? Horrible torture?"

Christine didn't answer. Instead, she put her weapon down and leaned forward, kissing her husband. Ash returned it, and Christine quickly slid into his arms.

Normally, people would say, "Ahhh, young love", but after seeing these two play kissy-face as many times as I have…I swear, they must have been hippies in an earlier life…HEY! COME UP FOR AIR!

Ash and Christine ignored the sword, lost in each other.

AHHHHHHHH! THERE'S AN ALLIGATOR OUTSIDE THE WINDOW!

The kiss held.

LOOK OUT! A SNAKE IS CRAWLING AROUND YOUR FEET!

Ash stroked his wife's hair.

RUN EVERYONE! THE GROUND IS CRAWLING WITH SCORPIONS!

"Yep, they're kissing again." Lindsay said as she walked into the room, having heard Soulfire yelling for a bit. Ash broke the kiss, looking at the woman who was always annoying him.

"Something wrong, Lindsay?"

"Yeah, Paul and Bulma wanna see you. There's something we all have to look at."

"Did he give any specifics?" Christine said, as she and Ash headed after Lindsay, Ash picking up his sword on the way.

Ohhh Chris! Is that a hickey?

Ash shoved his sword back into the sheath.

Ahhh no not the sheath…anything but the sheath…

Vagane smiled to himself as the last robot set itself into position. Now everything was ready. Time to begin.

"You think Vagane caused it to erupt?" Ash asked in disbelief. Bulma nodded.

"I checked and double checked. What happened there shouldn't have…unless there was outside interference. But the technology…to cause what happened…it doesn't exist…unless…" Bulma trailed off.

"But why would…I mean, it makes no sense, how would it help him…?" Gohan said in disbelief.

"I think we've established that we can't understand how he thinks, you baka. So don't bother. I just want to know where he is." Vegeta growled. He'd been in an especially foul mood lately, and everyone was steering clear of him except his daughter, who seemed to be taking after him.

"Well, maybe…" began Brigh.

"Hey hey, wait a minute. I got something else…" Paul said as he looked at the computer he had been doing research on.

"What?" came half a dozen replies.

Paul stared as he read. His face paled slightly.

"There was some incident at a London Zoo…it's sketchy on details, But it looks like all the animals…somehow went crazy and escaped at the SAME time…the zoo was nearly full. It looks like a slaughter."

Now a mirror expression of Paul's face was on several of the Legacy and the Z Warriors.

"Do you think…he's doing these monstrous deeds?" William asked. Christine looked sick, and Ash looked at her in worry, before looking off in another direction.

"Where the hell is Erik?"

Had the janitor been half a second faster, he would have been bowled right over when Erik almost exploded through the front doors of the hospital. As it was, the sudden, violent opening the doors caused him to rear backwards and fall on his butt, almost knocking over his mop bucket in the process. He gaped at the large man, dark in hair and clothing, who had just come through the door. Erik glanced his way for a quarter of a second.

"Sorry." He muttered, and was immediately off into the hospital. As he turned the corner, Goten came in, looked around, and cursed as he saw Erik had eluded him.

"Hey buddy, did some dark guy…" Goten began to ask the janitor.

"Yes, he went that way." Replied the maintenance worker, pointing down the hallway and to the right. Goten thanked the man and took off, passing the front desk.

"Excuse me sir…" said the nurse on duty.

"Can't talk later miss!" Goten tossed over his shoulder, as he saw Erik vanished through a set of double doors at the end of the hallway. As they swung closed, Goten read the sign above it, and saw Erik was heading for the emergency room.

And then Goten noticed something else. The hallway was nearly empty. Besides the janitor and desk nurse, there was only one other man, apparently a male nurse, in the hallway, walking towards Goten. He was in the process of looking back towards Goten after Erik had run past him and he had turned his head in interest.

"Hey buddy, where is everybody?" Goten asked the man. He knew hospitals almost always had some kind of hustle happening everywhere, and the lack of it disturbed him.

The man looked at Goten quizzingly.

"Don't you know? It was the Satan City diaster. There was so much devastation that nearly all the doctors in the surrounding areas are there, along with most of the other medical personel. They can't transport the victims here easily because of the damage to the roads, so they're treating them there…"

Goten didn't hear the rest, tossing a quick thanks over his shoulder as he pushed past the male hospital employee and headed off after Erik, pushing through the doorway.

The faint cries hit his ears almost immediately. They were coming from the waiting room. Due to the unalterable tendancy of people to use hospitals as their makeshift clinics, the medical profession had had no choice but to install the facilities for people to wait and be treated. This virtually negated the whole title of "emergency room", for despite the entrance of badly hurt people from accidents and whatnot, they were outnumbered ten to one by people who had corns on their toe or small cuts easily bandaged at home. Call them lazy. Call them paranoid. Call them ignorant. But that was they way it was. Real life wasn't like E.R.

But as Goten rushed into the waiting room, he realized that life was imitating art, for what he saw was definitely an emergency.

The woman lay on the floor, wearing what looked to be a nightgown with a floral pattern. She wore one slipper on her left foot, the other one missing and presumingly long gone. She had short dark hair and a childish face, with even a few freckles on her nose. She was an average woman, except for two things.

One was her stomach, swollen and large with pregnacy. She appeared to be in the very last stages. The baby would be due in a few weeks at most.

If something wasn't terribly wrong, which was the second and far more obvious thing. Around the woman was a pool of blood, dark red but starting to brown. The woman's leg and bottom nightgown was soaked with the same blood, and the woman's hands, clutched painfully onto her swollen stomach, were covered with it as well. The cries were coming from her. Perhaps earlier, she had been screaming, but whatever had happened to her had drained her strength to the point where she could only emit the low cries. She was pleading for help without words.

Three men were around her. The lone one standing looked like an older, male version of the woman, with a head of hair and greying beard of the same dark hair colour and a simular facial structure that suggested a genetic resemblence. The other man was kneeling, wearing a haphazard style of clothes that looked slapped on at the last minute and his reddish hair pasted to his forehead with sweat. He was holding the woman's hand, his eyes filled with fear, worry, and desperation. But for the moment, his eyes weren't on the woman, who Goten presumbed to be his girlfriend, wife, or significant other.

His eyes were on Erik, who was also kneeling next to the woman. Goten couldn't believe it. The woman was obviously suffering a crisis, and somehow Erik had sensed it and been drawn to it. Goten knew Erik could supposedly sense whether you were good or evil innately, but this was something else.

And how Erik had learned to do so posed a darker question to Goten, but he pushed it to the back of his head. For now, his eyes were on Erik.

"…ninety minutes?!?" Erik was finishing saying to the man, as he tried to speak to him and check on the woman at the same time.

"Yeah, I keep being told there's no doctors but there will be soon…" said the man, his voice laced with panic and his own plea for help.

Goten looked around the room. The waiting room was half full with various men and women. Some were watching the spectacle, but most weren't, calmly reading or doing their own things. Their total lack of caring appalled Goten. The woman Erik was tending to had obviously been there for some time, and while some continued to look, none had made a move to help her. It seemed society became more aloof and non-caring every day, people only looking out for themselves, and damn be anyone who got in the way or fell by the side.

It made him wonder if Vagane had a point.

"No doctors? Bullshit! This is a hospital, there's always doctors! Where the hell are the doctors?"

"They've been called away to the Satan City destruction. The hospital is almost empty." Goten suddenly piped up. Erik jerked his head towards Goten, his long dark hair swirling around his head. The look on his face said that Erik was coming to the same conclusion.

"Shit…….." Erik cursed, and then turned back to the woman. "What's your name, miss?"
"K-K-Kate…" the woman managed to spit out. Erik took Kate's other hand and held it firmly but gently. A gesture of assurance.

"Hang on Kate, I'm going to get you some help. This is inexcusable and I will not stand for it." Erik said, almost in a snarl, and stood up.

"Erik…what's going on?" Goten asked as Erik pushed past Goten and headed towards the empty desk that stood at one end of the waiting area.

"Kate's pregnant, as you might have guessed. She was going to bed when she slipped and fell down the stairs. It was a bad fall. I think the placenta seperated partially from the uterus because of it. If the baby isn't removed, the placenta could separate fully and the baby will die, and Kate could bleed to death in the process. They should have been treated the second they walked in, but the lack of doctors had made them wait here for nearly an hour and a half! Well, I'm going to get this woman a doctor come hell or high water!" Erik snapped, and he reached the desk and began banging on the bell as hard as he could. The loud ringing rang through the room, and after a bit the door behind the desk opened and a nurse emerged.

"Take a number, and wait…"she began. Goten looked at her. She was in her forties, obviously overworked, and very tired.

However, that cut her no dice with Erik.

"That woman is suffering from a fall, and if she doesn't get help, she will most likely suffer a spontaneous abortion which could very well kill her too! She needs help, and she needs it YESTERDAY!" Erik yelled. The nurse's eyes widened, a bit blown away by Erik's intensity and strange look.

"I'm sorry sir, but all our doctors are gone and tied up in something. It's the same for everyone else here…"

"EVERYONE ELSE HERE IS NOT ABOUT TO DIE!" Erik roared, and even Goten was a bit taken aback. "NOW I WANT HELP, AND I WANT IT NOW!"

The nurse was now looking a bit scared, and Goten could see in her body language she was looking for a way to call security without tipping off Erik. Goten figured she had about as much chance of that as she did of winning the lottery, but he figured he would point it out to Erik anyway. Despite his harshness, the woman obviously needed help.

But before he could, and just as the nurse was about to respond, Erik's head suddenly darted sideways. He'd seen something.

Then he left the desk, heading off in the direction his head had turned, and Goten looked over and saw what Erik had seen.

A man stood there, dressed in jeans, a blue shirt, and a white coat that was universal with doctors and scientists. He was carrying a clipboard and looked to be in his mid-thirties with short, dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a strange pale complexion. He had been heading out a door and away from the emergency room when Erik's sudden and abrupt stride towards him stopped him in confusion and curiosity.

"Doctor…are you a doctor?" Erik asked, although his tone sounded more like he was ordering the man to be a doctor.

"Yes…" the man said in confusion.

"Can you deliver a baby?"

"Well, I…"

"Good. Come with me." Erik said, grabbing the doctor's arm.

The doctor yanked it away from Erik, and Erik, already in the midst of turning the doctor around and beginning to yank him towards the couple before the doctor had pulled away, whirled.

"What are you doing?" Erik asked.

"I should ask you the same thing! How dare you touch me…!"

"WHAT?" Erik said incredulously. "Are you BLIND? Can't you see her!?! She's bleeding to death on the floor and she needs help…!"
"And she is not my problem. The private patient I have been called to is."

Erik was silent

And then, it seemed like Erik's anger turned off, almost as if a switch had been hit. But while he no longer looked angry, he still looked deadly serious.

Goten felt a shiver run down his spine. What was coming off of Erik now wasn't anger. It was far far worse.

"That woman is dying. Why are you refusing to help her?" Erik said quietly.

"She's not my problem. She doesn't pay my salery, and neither do any of the one-brain celled idiots who come through this room every day. My private patients do, so I could care less about her. Not get out of my face before I call the…"

The doctor didn't get to finish his sentence, as Erik's right hand suddenly snapped up and seized him by the throat as Erik's fury came roaring back.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Erik screamed, and with one quick movement he tossed the doctor across the room. Cries of surprise and shock filled the room as the doctor crashed against the opposing wall, falling onto a push tray of equipment and knocking it over. Goten's eyes widened. His disbelief that the doctor had outright ignored the woman and her problem shocked him, but Erik's furious and violent reaction that the doctor wasn't going to do a damn thing had shocked him even more.

"You're not worthy to have taken the Hippocratic Oath." Erik snarled, as everyone stared at him, most of all Kate, her husband, and the other man. Goten's eyes caught movement, and he spun to see the nurse Erik had been yelling at before he had tried to get the doctor to help dialing the phone.

Then Goten heard a clicking noise.

"Put it down."

Goten looked back at Erik and his eyes widened at the gun that had appeared in Erik's hand. Later, Goten would theorize that Erik had somehow extracted the parts from his arm and assembled them in a second, but at the moment he had been more concerned about the fact that Eik was pointing a gun at the nurse.

Screams started to erupt in the room.

"Shut up." Erik said, his voice low but very dangerous. Somehow, he got to everyone, as everyone fell silent, except for Kate's muffled sobs of pain. "Now miss, put the phone down."

The nurse listened.

"Now, Nurse…?"

"Jessica." The nurse said in fear.

"Jessica. Do you know how to deliver a baby?"

"I…I only know how to help…I can't actually…"

"Good. With this piece of shit not giving a damn about human life, instead caring about his fat wallet, I am left with no choice. Get ready, I'm going to deliver the baby."

Goten would have verbally exclaimed his disbelief, except the nurse named Jessica beat him to it.

"WHAT? Sir…do you have medical training?"

"No, but I know how to do it. Trust me." Erik said, keeping the gun trained on the nurse as he began walking towards Goten.

"What…sir, I can't allow you to do this! You'll kill…!"

Erik cocked the hammer back.

"Her life or yours, Jessica. Choose now."

Goten began moving towards Erik. Erik glanced at him, then looked back at the nurse. Goten reached Erik's side without trouble.

"Erik, what the fuck are you doing?" Goten hissed to Erik in a whisper.

"Goten, it's obvious no one is ready to help this woman. And she's going to die if she doesn't get help. But it's obvious that these people aren't going to let a stranger walk off the street and deliver a baby unless he points a gun at their head, which is what I've been forced to do. I'm not going to kill anyone, but if I don't bluff that I will, they won't listen to me. And I need their help. And yours."

Goten felt cold metal in his palm, and he looked down and realized Erik had passed him another gun.

"What? What, Erik…?"

"You'll need to hold them at gunpoint. I need my hands. Goten, trust me. If you're worried I'll kill her, don't be. I've got virtually every common medical procedure in the data banks in my head, delivering children is one. Trust me Goten, if I don't help this woman NOW…"

The pleading in Erik's tone and eyes was obvious. Goten swallowed and hoped that he was doing the right thing.

"All right! Everyone except her clear out! Now!" Goten suddenly yelled as he turned around from Erik and held the gun at the people gathered in the waiting room. The people didn't need to hear anything else, as they immediately cleared out. Erik's eyes widened. Goten may have been reluctant, but he was a good actor as well.

"Thank you. Goten, get a stretcher…!"

"Sir, I cannot…" Jessica began to protest, but shut up when Erik aimed the gun at her again. Keeping it level, Erik headed back over to Kate.

"I'm going to help you Kate. Don't worry, soon the pain will be over, and you'll be able to hold your newborn." Erik said to Kate. Then he turned his eyes to her husband.

"Sir…I assume you are her father?"

"Yes." Said the older man.

"I figured. What's your name?"

"Micheal."

"Micheal. Well Micheal, I know this may seem crazy, but if I don't help your daughter NOW, she'll most likely die. I need you to trust me. You too sir. I may seem to be threatening her life, but that's just a bluff to get people to listen. I swear on everything that's holy that I will do everything in my power to save her. If you think not…then you can kill me afterward. But now, I need to get her prepped, so I am begging, PLEASE trust me." Erik said in a rush. He knew that if the father and husband saw him as a threat, things would get even worse. But by saying he would be delivering the baby and enforcing the decision with a gun, it was hard not to send that impression.

"I…I…" Micheal said.

"Dad…please…he wants to help…please…" Kate suddenly spoke up. Micheal glanced down at his daughter, then looked back at Erik.

"She could always tell who to believe…if she believes you…can you deliver the baby?"

"Yes. If anything, I know that." Among many other things. Goten, where are you, if she keeps bleeding like this for another five minutes…!

"He should have been back long ago. He's no slouch, even if he decided to take his time. So why isn't your brother here, Chris?" Ash asked his wife.

"I don't know…maybe he…no, not possible…"

"I doubt he is dead, but we don't need his absence right now! If anyone here can understand Vagane to a degree…and tell if he is doing these things…then we need him here, not elsewhere!" Vegeta said. He didn't really care about the massacres, but if they were connected to Vagane, they could lead them to him. And Kakarott.

"Calm down Vegeta, sweetie…" Bulma said.

"DON'T CALL ME SWEETIE!"

"Save your rage for the battlefield father. I don't want another fight between you and mom. Not now." Trunks interjected in a deadly serious tone. Vegeta glanced at his son, then looked back at his wife.

"Agreed. Very well Bulma, what were you saying?"

"I was saying, you forget who I am, I think I can do what Erik can and try to…"

"Understand me? Impossible. Impossible for the Failure, and even more for you."

Everyone whirled in an extreme jerking motion when they heard the calm, cruel voice behind them, all the Legacy drawing their weapons in mid-turn.

Then, as one, everyone gaped at the hologram being projected from the small robot that was floating in the air behind them. It was a hologram of Vagane, his fingers interlaced and his chin above them, a slight smirk on his face.

"You…!" Gohan suddenly hissed, his fingers clenching into fists. His reaction and expression was mirrored in all the Z Fighters, but most strongly in Gohan, Pan, and Vegeta. If Goten had been there, he would have matched the other three in sheer intensity.

Ash couldn't sense all the power the large group of warriors was giving off, but he had a idea, and even that blew him away. The air sang with the sheer force and might that all the Z Fighters could bring to bear as one.

"Please. Enough with your charades. I will not be impressed."

"You…you…you…you…!" Gohan seemed unable to say anything else. Vagane smirked.

"Worried about your wife, Son Gohan? Figures. You couldn't understand the great deed she is doing. You saiya-jins have been corrupted by humanity's weaknesses. Pity…but I can rectify it. In time."

"How dare you come into this building, you son of a bitch!" Bulma suddenly screamed. Vagane turned his eyes on the woman.

"Be silent woman, or I'll leave before you get to see the show."

Bulma's eyes widened.

"It was you…you did cause them…"

"Ah, but of course. I rather like the zoo one myself, the role reversal is delicious. But that's not all."

"You monster! How dare you think such cruelty is amusing! When I get my hands on you…!" Ash began, but Vagane cut him off.

"Don't be so self-righteous, boy. It sickens me. Why do you bother protecting humans? They don't deserve to live! What are they? A smoldering sack of ruinous desires, schemes, and hatreds! The only reason they mask it is because society believes that it can punish them…which is even more foolish then humanity. Humanity created society, and now society thinks it can reign humanity in? Don't make me laugh!"

The group was silent, unable to think of a response. Vagane smirked.

"You do not believe me. Very well, I will show you." Vagane said.

Then the image of the robot split. On one side was Vagane, and on the other…

Christine gasped. It looked like a small town, except it had been turned into a warzone. Various buildings burned, cars were overturned, ruined, or burning wrecks, and bodies lay everywhere. But it was not soldiers who ran amongst the streets, but other ordinary people, some armed and covered with blood, others fleeing in terror. But it seemed they had no where to run, as the armed humans found them and cut them down with no mercy. The whole town reeked of death, fear…and hatred.

"Look at it. Humanity in the middle of the highest society. All I had to do was threaten their lives…and they let it all out. All their hatreds, their resentments…their fears. And this is the result. Give humanity an outlet and it will lead itself to ruin. And this would be a fitting fate for them, if only…"
"YOU MONSTER!" Gohan suddenly screamed, as his hair flared up and went SSJ, and he flexed his legs to leap up and fly out of the room.

"I would not recommend you do that, Son Gohan. If you wish to save lives, you will stay put!" Vagane snapped. For some reason, Gohan stopped, or at least long enough for Vagane to press a button.

Another hologram appeared next to Vagane's floating figure. It appeared to be some kind of map of a country boardering on a body of water. Besides that, the identity of the landmass was unknown. But Vagane swiftly provided it.

"California, one of the fifty states of the United States, which I will note, is where this little sordid event is happening." Vagane said, indicating the continual picture of the bloody violence that had consumed Little Frog. "Unfortunately…it is located along a very unstable length of earth which you humans have dubbed the St. Andreas Fault or something like that. Thus, California is continually shaken by earthquakes…but relatively minor ones compared to what this fault could do. I have a droid right at the very centre of that fault line, people. Any of you move a muscle…and I'll activate the robot and it will sent the fault line into such a frenzy your "Richter Scale" will overload before it can measure it, and California, and everyone in it, goes into the Pacific Ocean!"

The group was stunned into silence. Even Vegeta was floored. He had destroyed far bigger things, including whole planets before. But he had always had a purpose in it. But the total destruction of such a landmass and the casualties that would result in it would serve nothing…except to make Vagane happy. Vegeta had destroyed Arlia and other planets due to Freiza's orders, but he'd taken no joy in it. Vagane would.

"You wouldn't dare." Ash hissed, as angry as Gohan and co.

Um, completely insane, remember Ash? You know, thinks up is down, black is white, etc etc?

"Ha! It figures that the only non-organic would have some sort of understanding, even if it is completely wrong. Ah Ash, you think I can't do it? You obviously weren't paying attention at Satan City. Very well, I can give you a reminder." Vagane said, glancing below him as if he was looking at a watch. He tapped a few keys.

The viewpoint of the warzone that was now Little Frog changed. Now it was as if the Z Warriors and the Legacy were looking through a camera.

What they saw was a desperate looking man, wearing torn and bloody clothes. He was clutching what looked to be a splintered and bloody length of wood, and his eyes were wild and full of fear. He appeared to be looking at whatever was projecting the picture. Behind him, several figures, some male, some female, lurked, all looking simular to the man at the forefront. No one except he knew that he had once been Phillip Carol.

"It is done…is everyone there? We did it…we had to kill most of the town but we killed all the good people…god forgive us, we did it…" Phillip said in a pleading, desperate tone.

"But you seem good. Why are you still alive?" Vagane said. He could very well have been speaking to the Z Fighters and Legacy, but it was clear the man heard him too.

"NO! I just commited mass murder, how could I-ARGH!" screamed Phillip as the figures behind him pounced, bludgeoning him down and off the camera view. His screams wafted up as the people beat him to death, without any caring on their faces. Their motions showed only one desire: survival.

A low sound underlaid it. Gohan realized Vagane was laughing. He didn't think he could get any angrier, but somehow he did.

"Ah…such utter brutality. That is the true face of humanity, people. Kill anything that stands in their way of survival. It almost makes them worthy of survival."

Ash's eyes widened. Almost?

"But then I remember why they are pathetic…and not worthy of survival. Their most prevalent quality will forever damn them. Sorry I didn't mention that before, people." Vagane chuckled, and pressed a button as all the people who had beat Phillip to death suddenly had faces filled with terror. One even tried to scream.

Then the picture vanished, and was replaced by another, a long far away shot.

Then the whole hologram shook as it went completely white, and then the picture returned. Everyone's jaw dropped as they saw the massive mushroom cloud rising up.

"Oops! I also forget to mention that bomb was a nuclear one! Detonating a nuclear weapon in the heartland of America! Silly me!" Vagane laughed, before turning back to the group. "Still believe I don't have it in me, boy? It is my sworn destiny."

"You're insane. You're beyond insane." Ash stammered, his whole body shaking. Vagane smirked.

"No boy. You just can't understand the way I'm thinking. Speaking of thinking, Videl is thinking of you, Gohan, and she sends her regards." Vagane said, pressing another button.

And the screams filled the room, projected from the robot device. The screams were ones of horrible pain and even worse violation.

They were Videl's.

Ash couldn't tell who got angrier, Gohan or Mr. Satan. But the evidence was more clear with Gohan, who's hair rearranged itself into spiked locks as his legs tensed again.

"Ah ah!" Vagane said, waving a finger. "Move and no one will ever be getting a tan on the west side of the U.S again."

Ash didn't know how Gohan contained himself. Virtually everyone else was shaking with rage, but Gohan had gone beyond even that.

"My god…what control…I thought by now steam would be coming out of his ears." Ash whispered to himself.

His ears, if we're lucky!

"What do you WANT?" Gohan said, his voice dripping with fury. He was beyond even the point where he had wanted to torment Cell. His mind raged with thoughts about Vagane that would have made Erik and Celeste proud, for both were absent. The fact that millions of lives were tettering in the balance was barely enough to keep him from snapping.

Vagane's eyes suddenly darkened.

"What do I want…? Didn't the volcano tip you off? The lake? The zoo? And my little explosive? I want to correct things, Son Gohan. I want things to be right, to be perfect the way they should be."

"What do you know of perfection?"

Vagane's face darkened more.

"I think perhaps you are as dense as your father and younger brother. You should know damn well. Creation made this world as it made everything. It created nature, life, and the act of survival. No animal could go against creation's rules, or it would die. No exceptions. Even the dinosaurs fell to this, because Creation is forever changing its rules, gradually, or in the extinction of beasts that had ruled over the earth for countless aeons, in one big shot. But one rule never changed. Creation was absolute. It was not to be defied. Survival meant that above all else. If you did not adher to creation, you died. Then…came man."

If there had been a psychiatrist present, he would have surely noticed Vagane's mind beginning to dip even farther into incomprehensable madness. But everyone there was too absorbed in anger and in Vagane's words to try and ponder the workings of Vagane's mind.

"Man ruined everything. As a joke, creation took away all the best gifts of survival, and instead granted him the most complex and complete brain on the planet. Creation must have thought that the species would quickly die out. Instead…it overtook the planet. Man defied everything creation had set out! Instead of adapting to an enviroment, man adapted the enviroment, so that it fit his preferences! Humanity should have been wiped out quickly for this grave sin. It was not the way of survival. Natural selection is, and it should have foretold that all men would be devoured. But somehow…creation didn't listen. It ignored man. And man…it went on and destroyed the laws of natural selection. A species is supposed to only have a few sources of food and a few enemies. This may lead to the doom of one species eventually, but creation would always keep a balance. But with man, anything it chose to hunt, or considered a threat, became doomed! Man threw the balance completely out of order, warping it to his needs as it warped the enviroment! Eventually, all creatures who should have devoured man long ago had to learn to fear man to survive. Those who didn't…they all died. That is why the tiger barely survives today, while its superior cousin, the saber-tooth, is long dead. Tigers learned to hide away from man, but the saber-tooth was bold. Why shouldn't it be? It had jaws that could crush steel bars, much less the fragile bodies of human beings. Why should it be frightened of men? They should be frightened of it! So it matched itself up against man. Man with their knives, their spears, their bows and arrows, their fires, and their ability to think. The saber-tooth lost. As did anything that stood before man. Before long, man ruled the whole world with an iron fist. A joke had become omnipotent. It should not have been that way."

My god, Ash was right. He's beyond mad. I think if I tried to grasp his way of thinking I would lose my own mind. Christine thought in horror.

"Creation should have righted this. It should have damned mankind. But for some reason, it didn't. Perhaps it had grown lazy. Perhaps it had grown ignorant. Perhaps it had even grown afraid. And out there, among the infinate length of space, and thousands apon thousands of species who are just like man, or even worse. But man started it all. Now it rules everything, and slowly it is destroying everything. All for its useless, all consuming NEEDS. Needs that will lead to the total waste of everything! So what do I WANT, Son Gohan? I want to make things right, and I WANT TO WATCH THEM ALL DIE!"

And with that, Vagane reached up his hand, and Ash realized with horror he had planned to do it all along.

"NO!"

But there was nothing Ash or anyone could do except watch as Vagane pushed the button.

The map only showed the true horror of the situation near the end, as with the course of thirty seconds, a long crack developed across the continent and slowly caused the landmass to separate and slide into the ocean. The greedy water swallowed it like a gormand at a feast.

"You want a listen?" Vagane asked, and then flipped a switch. Suddenly, the room was once again filled with screams, of men, women, and children, as their world collasped around them and took them down as well. It was a butcher's symphony.

Vagane loved it.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GOODBYE LOS ANGELES! GOODBYE SAN FRANCISCO! GOODBYE DISNEYLAND! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Vagane laughed.

That did it, Ash could take no more. With a scream, he picked up a chair and threw it at the hologram in a futile gesture of rage. It flew through it, causing the picture to fade a bit for a second, and crashed against the wall.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU…!" Ash screamed. Vagane only smirked.

"Oh really?"

Then something lanced from the robot. Ash threw himself to the side along with the rest of the room, expecting an attack.

But instead, the fired projectile inserted itself into the computer behind the group. The screen lit up, flashed a few times, and then a map appeared.

"There I am." Vagane chuckled, before his face became deadly serious. "Come and get me."

And then the hologram vanished, and with a faint electronic failing noise, the robot fell and clattered on the floor. Everyone stared at it for a second, then looked back at the map.

Gohan spoke first.

"Bulma…is that an actual map?"

Bulma turned and sat down at the computer, tapping keys.

"It is…that's the Loki Mountains, they're located about 20 miles west of here…"

A scream suddenly and once again reverated through the room as Gohan whirled and threw up his hands. A green ki ball lanced from them, throwing itself upward towards the upper wall and ceiling. The room shook as it exploded, debris raining down as the smoke cleared to reveal the hole.

"Gohan, what are you DOING?" Bulma yelled.

Gohan glanced at the woman, and Bulma felt his veins fill with ice. Gohan's eyes were burning with intense rage and hatred. Vagane had driven him to the brink of sanity, and now the result was about to emerge.

"I'm going to find that bastard, and I'm going to rip his head off." Gohan said, and his voice was more dangerous then virtually anything Bulma had heard. In truth, Bulma wanted nothing more then for Gohan to go do that, but as usual, her damn intelligence had to show up to spoil the fun.

"Gohan, don't you see what this is? He did this on purpose! He's most likely luring you right into a trap!"

Gohan looked at Bulma again, and she shivered. If this look was even worse then the one he had given Perfect Cell, she almost pitied Vagane.

His eyes were afire with righteous rage.

"I don't care."

And before Bulma could say anything else, energy exploded around him and he flew up and out the hole.

Bulma blinked, and then energy exploded around Pan and she flew off after her father. A chain reaction spread around the room as everyone powered up, battle auras flaring destructive power in a rainbow of colours.

"Vegeta! Don't…!"
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO WOMAN! IF HE'S THERE, SO IS KAKAROTT, AND I WON'T REST UNTIL HE'S GROVELING AT MY FEET!" Vegeta screamed, and flew off after Gohan and Pan. Bra and Trunks, both in SSJ, flew after their father, and everyone followed suit, all of them as enraged as Gohan. Bulma watched them go. She shown have known rational thought would be useless after the mind games Vagane had played. And she had a feeling he knew it too. In seconds, the only ones left were the Legacy, Master Roshi, and Mr. Satan. And the looks on their faces showed that if they could fly, they'd be going right after the Z Warriors. She turned to them.

"Guys…!"

Then Ash turned his head to Paul.

"Do it."

With those two words, Paul raised his gun, and Bulma shrieked in surprise as he opened fire on the wall. After several laser shots, the whole wall collasped. Bulma threw up her arms as the dust cloud enveloped her. Ash's voice drifted through the dust.

"Sis."

Bulma heard several strange noises, and then the dust cleared and she screamed again in surprise as she saw the massive dragon that now filled the room. The Legacy was rapidly climbing on board.

"Mother, stay here and tend to Celeste. You're still tired from your previous efforts. We'll take care of this." Ash said, and then clamoured aboard his sister's now "dragonized" back.

"Ash, don't do this! He's going to…" Bulma tried again.

"Save it Bulma. We can't stand by and let Vagane get away with this. He has to be stopped. Everyone knew that, even your husband. Vagane wonders why mankind wiped all those so called superior species off the planet, despite our supposed lack of biological tools? It's because we're a social animal, and we avenge our own. Man did it for those they lost all those years ago, and despite all the changes and advances humanity has done in the past, we have to do it now. So we're going. But if anyone here doesn't want to go, speak up now."

There was silence. Bulma began getting desperate. If they did fall into a trap…

"Ash…"

Talk to the hand, lady, because these guys ain't listening!

"Vicky! Take off! We don't want to lose those guys!"

Victoria roared and spread her wings, and with a few quick, careful steps she flew out the hole and launched herself out of the building and into the air.

The four remaining people stared after them, then Bulma sat down and began typing furiously.

"Come on guys, gather round. I can track them on this. So at the very least…should the worst case scenario happen, we'll know what to do."

"And what do we do if that happens, Bulma?" Master Roshi asked. Bulma looked back at the aged former martial arts champion.

"I don't have a damn clue."

Vagane stared at the darkened screen. Although he had hid it, he was a tad displeased.

"Strange. The Failure was not there…this is most annoying. This whole plan was based on him infecting the others with his sure to have had desire to come after me, especially after all I did to infuriate him. While the hybrid proved a worthy substitute…where could he be?"

"Maybe he's at some bar having a post butt-kicking drink." Spike piped up from his position behind Vagane. Adam glanced sideways at Spike, knowing Spike was eluding that he had lost the fight with Erik, which was not true, and wishing he could kill the vampire right then and there, future usefullness or not.

"Not. That is not like the Failure…hmmm. I will have to change the plan a tad…but that is not a problem." Vagane said. "It is time, my allies. Are you ready?"

"I will truly enjoy this spectacle. It will put the previous one to shame." Alexia said.

"I would prefer to be out there myself, but playing observer has proven to be somewhat entertaining." Adam said.

"I want one to play with afterward." Tormentor growled gleefully.

"Sod that, I'm gonna watch and drink Bloody Marys." Spike said, still feeling the effects of Celeste's beating.

"You would." Adam muttered. Spike returned the glare Adam had given him a few seconds ago.

With his allies saitisfied, Vagane turned to his trump card.

"All is ready and in place. You know what to do. Have fun." Vagane smirked.

The same evil smirk adorning his face, Goku nodded. Vagane glanced elsewhere, his eyes alighting on a certain screen. He smiled at the progress. Soon they would be born.

"Now where is the Failure?"

Goten couldn't believe it was moving so fast, and yet so slow. It seemed like an eternity since he had entered the hospital, and at the same time, everything had seemed to go at the speed of light after Goten had come back with the first stretcher he had found. Erik had apparently found some way of pacifying/convincing the husband and father that he truly meant to help their daughter, because they helped him lift Kate onto the stretcher. From there, Erik, wearing the face of a dangerous lunatic, for the sake of getting people to listen to him, had brought the girl to the nearest room with the proper facilities. The fact that Erik had a gun didn't take long to spread, the hosipital was quickly in an uproar. Security had confronted Erik, but a few (false, but they didn't know that) threats to Kate's life and they had been disarmed.

Even as he did it, Goten was in total disbelief that he was acting the way he was. When Erik motioned for him to get another nurse, Goten had done it, and done it in a way that the nurse was practically in tears. Goten felt terrible, but he knew he couldn't back down now. If he did, someone could jump or otherwise distract Erik, and that most likely would be bad for Kate. Her haemorrhage had not been as severe as it could have been, but the sudden motion was making it worse. If they didn't get some blood into her, she would die. And if Goten stopped his act, he had a feeling that Kate would be forgotten in the process of trying to disarm the "dangerous man" Erik was portraying himself to be.

He couldn't allow that. So in the end, Goten continued to amaze himself with his acting ability. People could truly adapt during times of crisis.

"Oh, and and don't call the police. I even hear the slightest hint of sirens, I put a bullet in her head! Understand?" Erik was yelling at the aforementioned disarmed guards. "You, you, get her into that room and prep! Goten, you stand guard, I have to get ready!" Erik yelled at the nurses, and then Goten, as he vanished into a small room.

A crowd was gathering, watching at the fringes of the hallway.

"Goten! Send in the husband!" Erik suddenly yelled. Goten blinked, then played along, gesturing his gun at the man in a way that said "Do what he said". Looking nervous, which Goten knew was no act, the husband quickly made his way into the area where Erik had gone.

A little while later he reemerged and walked over to Goten.

"He says that he'll need you to handle all the weapons at the moment…he needs his hands free. He said we can't be in the room either…but you can…Sir, despite his claims, I am very scared for my wife…are you sure he can deliver the baby?"

Goten gulped. He didn't know what to say.

"…If anyone can do it, Erik can…sir. I'm sorry about all the hubub…I don't think Erik wanted it to be this way…but he can't control fate. But no matter what he or I say, he means no harm. I know that, if anything…you'd best get back to your father in law, this will look suspicious…"

The husband listened, going back to Micheal's side and continuing to look worried. Goten glanced over to where Erik had sequested himself.

On the other hand, this never would have happened if Erik had been able to control his temper…that guy was a real bastard though…argh, I can't make up my mind! Is this right? Am I commiting a crime, or trying to do a good deed? I wish I was as decisive as Erik on the matter…

"Ok Goten, let's go! Don't let anyone in or out!" Erik said as he strode through the curtain. Goten almost giggled. The large plastic gloves Erik had put on looked rather silly with the rest of his outfit. He was holding the gun wrapped in wax paper, which he handed to Goten.

"Good job Goten. Thanks. I know how hard this is for you." Erik whispered, and then headed into the room where they had placed Kate. Goten took one last look at the crowd of various hospital personel and patients that had gathered to watch, and then headed into the room, giving one last glance at Micheal and the still unnamed husband that he hoped was asserting.

"You, what's your name?" Erik was saying to the other nurse he had "stolen" to help him do the procedure. She looked scared, even without Erik holding a gun.

"…Joy…" she stammered.

"I see. Well Nurse Joy, I need you to start giving her saline and whatever her blood type is! Jessica, you…"

Goten wasn't sure exactly what Erik said next, for he wasn't speaking directly to Goten. But Goten had a feeling that even if he had, he would have still be clueless, as half the stuff that Goten made out sounded like total gibberish.

Jessica's eyes went wide.

"You…you know about those?" she said incredulously.

"I said I knew how to deliver a baby, don't you think I would? Now do it!" Erik said. Jessica promply scadaddled. Apparently Erik had asked for various medical devices as well as various medicine.

As the nurses went about attaching various mechanisms, Erik lifted up the blood-soaked bottom of Kate's nightgown and carefully removed something. He tossed it aside, and Goten saw it was blood-soaked panties. He began to feel ill.

"Damn, the bleeding is getting worse! Nurse, I need…" Erik said, as he examined the genital area. "Kate, how far apart how your contractions?"

"I…don't know…the pain…" Kate managed to gasp out. Goten glanced outward where Micheal and Kate's husband stood, watching with wide worried eyes, surrounded by strangers who all wore the same look.

"Kate? Kate?" Erik was saying, and Goten turned his head back to see what was going on.

His eyes widened.

"ERIK! SHE'S TURNING BLUE!"

Erik tore himself from his examinations and looked at Kate, who was indeed starting to darken. He cursed inwardly. He should have noticed Kate had gone limp, indicating she had passed out.

"Shit! She's having a ameniotic-fluid embolism! We'll have to do a C-Section! Joy, get her oxygen, quickly! Jessica, scalpal!"

"What's going on? Goten said, overwhelemed but this sudden turn for the worse.

"She fell down the stairs, right? Well, it damaged the protective sack the baby's in! I think the sudden movement from the waiting room to here caused it to rupture! The fluid the baby was in is leaking into her bloodstream and robbing her of oxygen! If I don't get the baby out and drain the sack, she'll suffocate, and the baby will as well!"

"How long before that happens?"

"At the most, three minutes!" Erik said, grabbing the surgical knife from Jessica's hand as Joy carefully cut away Kate's ruined night clothes. Erik was beginning to despair. Moving Kate had caused this new problem, but if he hadn't moved her, she would have bled to death on the hospital floor. He hated the lesser of two evils situations.

Even though they seemed to dominate his life.

Goten watched, the guns limp and forgotten in his hands. With the nurses, it seemed forgotten as well, as they rushed to do everything they could as Erik poised himself to start cutting. Oh kami, don't let her die…not after all this…

Even through his rage, the structure chilled Gohan. My god…it almost looks like it's alive…

A few seconds later, Goten landed on one of the stone extensions that seemed to extend from everywhere on the mountain range that Vagane had suituated his lab in. He glanced down. God…can earth naturally be this dark? It's like his presense has stained everything, tainted it with his essence…such evil…it almost seems to match…her…

A slight WHOOSH filled Gohan's ears as his daughter landed next to him. He looked at her, planning to say something. But in the end, no words came to mind. It had been her mother that Vagane had taken. She had every right to be here.

Videl…

The long trip can caused Gohan to cool slightly, but it took very little for the flame to whip itself back into an inferno.

More slight winds filled the air as the other Z Fighters started arriving, landing behind and near Gohan. Gohan gave them a glance, then turned back to the laboratory, as his anger hit the peak.

"VAGANE!" he suddenly screamed, causing everyone's heads to snap towards Gohan. Even as they looked at him, Gohan's hair flared up into the spiked locks of SSJ2 as he thrust up his hand. Golden energy exploded on his palm and enveloped his fingers as he aimed at the nearest section of the gigantic lab. The air sang with power as Gohan fired his blast, which zapped out and slammed into the building. An explosion filled the quiet air as the blast detonated, spraying out a cloud of rock, dust, and smoke.

"COME OUT VAGANE, YOU BASTARD! COME OUT AND I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU RATHER PAINLESSLY!" Gohan screamed, even though in his heart he knew he was lying. His hand glowed and another golden ki blast shot from it, detonating another section of the laboratory.

"YOU FUCKING COWARD!" Gohan screamed, firing another ki blast and blowing up another section of the lab. Everyone stared at Gohan, their own anger temporarily forgotten as they watched the furious beast he had become. Even Pan was a bit scared at how angry her Dad at become, even though it would only take her a few seconds to recall a rage of equal strength. But for now, his saiya-jin blood boiling in his veins, Gohan was at center stage, as he screamed again and raised his hand to fire another blast.

"Tsk tsk. Such behavior…and I thought you mother tried so hard to teach you manners. I guess your defiance was just late in coming." Chuckled a voice. Everyone froze, especially Gohan, as he looked up and saw his father floating there, wind tossing his hair and the martial arts belt around his waist.

"Toussan…" Gohan whispered, his mind now a confusing boil of emotions. The rage was still there, but now uncertainity was there as well, mixed with confusion and a little fear.

"Kakarott…" Vegeta raged, his ki instinctively beginning to built. Goku ignored his lifelong rival, focussing on his son, a cruel smirk on his face.

"Such language too…your mother would be appalled…she'd probably try and spank you, the domineering bitch. We're lucky you didn't wind up the second coming of Norman Bates. If only I'd know what marriage was, I would have run away the second I met her. No, better yet, I would have blown her away. Your mother never did understand me. Too bad for her. He was never good enough for me."

"No…you don't mean that…it's not true…that's not you…!"

"Oh, I think this is the true me, Gohan. I finally see it clearly. Everything. Vagane is not a lunatic. He is a visionary…with views you could never understand. He blessed me with them…and never have I seen more clearly. You can't hope to understand that. Which is why you'll end up on the wrong side." Goku chuckled. Gohan goggled. He'd seen this before, but he still couldn't believe that his father had been warped into what he saw before him. It just didn't seem possible.

How could fate be so cruel?

"KAKAROTT!" Vegeta suddenly yelled, floating up into the air as his hair flared and went SSJ. As Vegeta drew level with Goku, Goku looked up at him.

"Yes, "my prince"?" Goku said mockingly. For some reason, Vegeta smirked, a familiar one-sided smirk.

"I know the truth, Kakarott. You didn't beat me. You stabbed me in the back. Vagane was aiding you somehow, dampening my power. But he's not here now, Kakarott! And that will prove fatal for you! I will show you the true meaning of viciousness, your third-class baka!"

Goku smirked again, and then he lifted his hands and began to mockingly clap.

"Bravo, bravo. It appears I didn't kill all your brain cells after beating you so many times, Vegeta. Yes, I will admit it. Vagane did not take your power lightly when he learned of it, and he spent much time studying it along with you. When I fought you however, he had developed a solution. Within his chair lurked a small generator that powered a device he created, one that dampens ki powers. Not that knowing that will do you any good."

Vegeta ground his teeth.

"Maybe not, but it will do you harm, Kakarott! THE CHAIR AIN'T HERE NOW! SO PREPARE TO TASTE MY WRATH!" Vegeta screamed, and zapped at Goku.

Goku didn't block.

He didn't dodge.

He didn't even move.

Instead, he calmly reached under his gi and withdrew a small device that looked like a modified walkie-talkie, on which lurked one lone small blue button. Almost with a bored attitude, he pressed it.

And suddenly Vegeta found himself falling, the sense of weightlessness torn from him in an instant. His eyes widened as he saw the ground heading towards him.

"TOUSSAN!" Trunks and Bra cried in unison, and both leapt to save him.

And found themselves slamming right into the ground after going a few feet. With no one to save him, Vegeta's eyes widened even more as the ground rushed up to meet him.

"NO!"

He hit the ground hard, the rough cold black stone sending jackhammers of pain shooting through his legs, arms, and midsection. Even his fillings seemed to hurt.

"Father…no…"Bra gasped as she saw her father spawled on the ground, even as a more horrifying realization came to her. It was coming to all the Z Fighters as well, as they sensed it.

Or rather, could not longer sense it. A huge part of all of them had been torn away, leaving only a gaping void, as Goku floated down to Vegeta, who was trying, despite his numerous injuries from the fall, to get to his feet.

"As you said, Vegeta, the chair "ain't here". Yes, Vagane's small, personel dampening device is not in the area. However, you are standing on Vagane's base…a base he took the precaution of equiping with a far larger, more sophisticated device then the one he had in his chair. It doesn't just dampen your ki powers. It blocks them. Completely. I just decided that now was a good time to turn it on."

Now it was coming to them. Vagane had indeed lured them into a trap. And they had willingly gone into it.

And there was no one more obvious to this then Vegeta, as he spat blood. On unsteady feet, he looked up as Goku as he stood before him, arms crossed lazily, the device held in one hand.

"Kakarott…" Vegeta choked, every breath causing pain to shoot through him. "What honour is in this? How can one truly battle as a saiya-jin like this? This defeats the whole purpose of the reason we crave the battlefield…it is not your way!"

Goku smirked, and then suddenly his hand came crashing down on Vegeta's right shoulder in a grip of steel. Vegeta screamed as Goku's clamp broke his clavacle, and then he was driven to his knees by Goku's incredible strength. It was true, he didn't have any power at all. He was as helpless as a baby.

Smirking, Goku crushed the remote in his hand.

"I have no way. I live to serve Vagane, and Vagane wishes your destruction. He changed his mind last time, deciding to let you live with the humilation of your defeat for his amusement, but he is no longer amused. He wants you all destroyed…and I will obey. And take great joy in it…for the irony is quite delicious. The great Vegeta, the great Z Warriors, utterly powerless! I would say you have become far worse then I, a "third-class weakling", as you put it so many times. You have become human. I am the prince now, Vegeta. KNEEL!" Goku laughed, forcing Vegeta downward. Vegeta's rage exploded, and he somehow found the strength to yank away from Goku's grip and punch him in the stomach.

It didn't do anything. In fact it was detrimental, as pain raced down Vegeta's arm. He felt like he had punched a brick wall. But that didn't stop him, as he fired punch after punch into Goku's stomach and chest. Goku smiled and took the blows, as Vegeta hammered on him, and kept doing it until his breath was ragged in his lungs and his arms felt like leaden weights. Finally, he could punch no more, and he stared at Goku. He hadn't been affected at all.

"Quite effective, isn't it? Those punches could have once shattered steel…now I can't even feel them. The ease in this almost makes it boring…but I take joy where I can get it." Goku smirked, his eyes shining with cruelty. "My turn."

The blow sent Vegeta flying backwards, blood gouting from his face as he zapped past the Z Fighters, who had stood, frozen in horror and disbelief, as Vegeta had tried to hurt Goku. Vegeta sank to the ground, his pain now increased tenfold and his pride a shattered ruin.

"Father!" Bra said, running to Vegeta's side. "Oh god…Trunks, what are we going to do?"

Trunks looked scared, but he also looked determained, as he scooped up his father's limp body.

"WE RUN! This device has to have a range limit! We get outside it!" Trunks said, and broke for it.

The Z Warriors looked after him, and then they all started running. They didn't have a choice, even though it pained them. They could make a stand once they were no longer in a place where any stand they made would be pointless.

Goku stood, snickering.

"Oh yes…this device does have a range limit…"

Then Goku blurred away, and Trunks stopped dead as he appeared in front of them. Goku smiled cruelly.

"But what makes you think I'm going to let you get away?"

Goten stared in horror, wanting to tell Erik to slow down, as the cyborg sliced through layer after layer of muscle and tissue in the manner of a high-powered weed whacker.

Erik didn't know of Goten's worries, as he had his own problems. The human arm was meant to cut either carefully or quickly, and one them tended to suffer if they were combined. Erik couldn't afford any errors, but he couldn't slow down either. Any second wasted was another hoarde of brain cells dead from lack of oxygen, and a step farther into the darkness that was trying to consume Kate.

The outside of the hospital stood in silence, watching in horror and some amazement. Despite the nature of the situation, they couldn't help but be amazed that the man was actually trying to deliver the baby with the skill of any surgeon.

"Come on, come on…" Erik cursed, as he thrust aside another layer of muscle and the nurses tied it back. He was grateful he had aquired their services, and even more grateful they were aiding him with their skills. Whether he had convinced them or they wanted to help the girl themselves, Erik didn't know. He was wholly focussed on his task at hand.

And then, he was there, as he saw the small, delicate body encased in a sack that had maintained its life and yet was now draining the same life from the baby's mother. With a quick slice, Erik cut through the material.

"Suction! Get this fluid out of her!" Erik yelled, as he put the scalpal aside and lifted the fetus out. Goten marveled at the small body Erik was now holding in his hands. He felt like patting Erik on the back.

Then he saw the expression on Erik's face, and knew the time for celebration was not then.

"Shit…" Erik cursed as he looked apon the fetus's dark pallor. It had gone a dangerously long time without oxygen, and Erik could sense the little life it had fading rapidly. "JOY!"

Erik didn't need to say anything else, as Joy took the child from him. In a blur of motion, Erik tied off and cut the cord, and Joy took the baby away to another corner of the room. Erik took a deep breath, as Goten looked at him.

"What's wrong?" Goten asked.

"Baby's not breathing. Joy's trying to revive it …but the fetus is so delicate…just a short time…I just hope…"

A rapid beeping emitting from the monitors attached to Kate suddenly grabbed Erik's attention. He looked at them and his heart plunged.

"SHIT!" Erik cursed. He'd been a fool. He'd been so busy trying to save the baby that he had forgotten the original problem, the haemorrhage. The whole time Erik had been operating, blood had continued to leak from Kate's genatalia, and the surgery had caused her to lose even more. Jessica had been giving her blood, but it had been pumping out of her faster then it was coming in, and the body had finally had it as the heart began to fail.

The beeping intensified and became more frantic as Erik hurridly lifted up Kate's legs and tried to block the flow of blood from within her. Goten stood, feeling worthless and sick.

Then the beep trailed off into a single loud high-pitched tone. A flatline.

"GODDAMNIT!" Erik cursed, moving up to Kate and furiously beginning CPR. The flatline persisted. Goten barely felt the guns drop from his fingers.

"Paddles!" Erik yelled, and Jessica rapidly handed him the twin devices. "Charge to 150! CLEAR!"

Kate's body jerked as the electricity zapped through her. The meter spiked, then continued back into the straight line as the single long beep again filled the room.

"A gram of epi! Charge to 300! CLEAR!" Erik said, and again pressed the paddles again Kate's chest.

Her body bounced. The flatline persisted.

"Another gram of epi! Charge to 360! CLEAR!"

ZAP! The flatline went on. It seemed to permute the whole room.

"Two grams of epi." Erik was saying. Jessica's eyes widened.

"Sir, that's danger…!"

"DO IT!" Erik screamed. Jessica listened.

Goten and everyone outside prayed.

"360 again. CLEAR!" Erik yelled, and pressed the paddles against Kate's chest.

ZAP!

The flatline held.

And then, Erik's body seemed to lose all the strength in it, as his shoulders slumped and his arms, still holding the paddles, dropped to his side. Goten felt his heart sink. No…

Erik lowered his head, not wanting to look at Kate's ravaged body, at her blood all over him. He thought he had won. He thought he had yanked Kate from the darkness that fate had put her in.

But once the darkness had you, it rarely wanted to let go. And humans could only hang on for so long.

He'd failed.

"…………………………Time of death……..1:39 AM." Erik said in a dead tone, looking up at the clock. He looked over to Joy, hoping against hope.

Joy shook her head sadly. Erik almost fell to his knees. His failure was complete.

"……..Same for the baby." Erik said in the same tone. He looked at Kate.

"I'm sorry……..I'm so sorry…" Erik whispered.

And then he headed for the door. Goten and the nurses stared after him, and then Goten began to follow him, the guns left behind and forgotten.

The people parted like the sea as Erik came out of the room, not knowing what to make of him. Then they saw his eyes, and they knew.

Erik approached Micheal and Kate's husband, not knowing what to say. Micheal looked numb, the realization just starting to hit him. Kate's unnamed husband stared at Erik, with a kind of depesperate hope in his eyes. Erik knew the look. The man was trying to still believe that his wife was alive…a belief that wouldn't waver until Erik shattered it.

In the end, Erik didn't have to say a thing. The man looked into Erik's face, and then he broke down in tears, grabbing his father in law and crying on his shoulder. It was rather an awkward moment, but the man was too consumed by grief to care.

Michea understood, holding his son in law as he looked at Erik, a million emotions raging within him and wondering which one he should let win.

Then Erik spoke.

"I'm sorry…I made a promise and I failed…I failed you…I'm so sorry…so sorry…" Erik said. Goten winced at the tone. It was the tone of a man who had failed, and the pain was so great that it infected everything about the person. Erik had tried to save a life, and his inability to do so was hurting him more then any wound Goten could inflict on him.

Erik felt like the fact he was allowed to meet Micheal's eyes made him dirty. He didn't. He promised this man his daughter's life, and he had lost her. He'd let him down in a way no man deserves to be let down. If Micheal decided to pick up a weapon and bludgeon Erik to death, Erik wouldn't resist at all. He'd failed him.

Just like his family.

Just like all the people who had tried to befriend him in the pre-Change time.

Just like Celeste.

"Please…forgive me…"

Looking into Erik's face, into his eyes filled with sorrow and grief, Micheal wanted to do so many things to it, all of them violent. But the anger faded quickly as he saw into Erik. And he knew. Like Goten, he could see that what Erik was doing to himself was far worse then anything he could do.

Erik awaited the blow. Instead, it was a hand placed calmly on a shoulder.

"….It's not your fault…you tried…thank you." Micheal said, and then turned his attention fully to his son in law. Erik knew Micheal had no more words for him, even as he was surprised that Micheal had understood, and even thanked Erik for his effort.

It didn't make him feel any better though, and with that Erik moved on past him. The grouped people parted from him as he walked down the hall, slowly stripping off his blood-soaked surgical gloves and dropping them on the floor in a gesture of defeat. Behind Erik, Goten followed him, trying to find words that could bring comfort to Erik's tormented soul.

He knew there were none. But he tried anyway.

As his son in law continued to cry, Micheal looked up to see one of the nurses approaching. Whether she was approaching him or just heading past him, Micheal never knew.

"Nurse." Micheal said, his voice filled with grief. "Did he cause this?"

With her own kind of sadness in her eyes, Jessica shook her head. She'd seen this before, but the situation somehow made it poignent.

"No…he didn't. He spoke the truth. He knew exactly what he was doing…he knew and he tried to save her…but it was simply too late. If she'd gotten help when she'd come in…maybe…but his efforts, though, valiant, just came too late. He tried to save them…he did…I could see it…I even feel bad for doubting him."

Erik heard none of this as he walked down the hall, Goten following him. His walk was strange, disjointed, almost as if he was limping…or carrying a great load on his shoulders. Goten's heart went out to him.

Erik continued his slow walk, feeling worthless and dirty. I'm cursed…my face and blood carries the omen of doom. Everyone I loved or tried to help…anyone who was important to me…I've destroyed them….Mom…Dad…Tam…Mari…and Celeste. How much pain, how much suffering did she endure because I cursed her with my touch? Why did I ever embark on this mad quest to begin with? Maybe I should have taken my life on their graves…maybe that is all I deserve…

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Erik's head glanced up, and Goten's look turned from Erik to the voice. His eyes darkened.

It was him. The same doctor who, an eternity ago, had refused to help Kate. Now he was heading down the hallway towards Erik, his stride clearly showing he was angry. Goten could feel his sadness being pushed aside by anger. What does this asshole want now...?

"How dare you touch me the way you did! You have no right to it, you piece of shit!" The unnamed doctor yelled as he finally drew close to Erik. Erik was silent, looking at him as he continued to spew venom.

'Do you have ANY idea who I am? Who I know? What I'm capable of!??! Do you think I was near that room to help the people there? That's for the lower doctors and the idiots who think they can make a difference! I wouldn't go near that den of filth and scum if I hadn't had to! And you tried to make me HELP ONE OF THEM? You dare make me try and dirty myself?"

"One of those "dirty" people died because you ignored her. Her baby died too. Why? Why didn't you care?" Erik asked.

"Oh, you'd better stop carry about some dead pregnant whore and start caring about yourself, because you're gonna learn just what happens when you assault me!" the doctor shot back. Goten was utterly appalled at the man's callousness, ignorance, and overall coldness. Not being a private patient who could pay automatically made Kate a whore in his eyes. Goten wondered if the doctor would be thinking the same thing if he'd had to watch Kate die.

And came to the conclusion that nothing would change. The man had set his attitude a long time ago and liked it that way. Goten could see Erik was coming to the same conclusion.

"She was a living human being. She laughed, cried, bled, and everything else you do. How dare you think any less…how dare you…"

"No, HOW DARE YOU! Punching me because I didn't want to help some slut! Well, you're gonna pay for it! I'm gonna sue you for every penny you have, and then I'm gonna have your ass thrown in jail! I know people, and I'll make sure you have a nice long sentence so plenty of people can make you their bitch…!"

And then Goten saw it as Erik suddenly straightened up in a quick snapping motion, his eyes open. Goten could see many emotions in Erik's eyes, including some pity. But one was all consuming.

Rage.

Goten was never sure what happened next, because the speed had been astounding, as Erik suddenly snapped his arm out and slammed it to the side through a glass door. Goten had started at the sudden shattering as Erik smashed his hand right through the material.

Then Goten saw what it was. It was one of the sections sealed away in case of fire, containing a variety of materials to help extinquish the flames or otherwise help, such as an extinguisher, length of hose…

…and an axe.

If the doctor had just stepped back…

Or ducked…

But he didn't, as shock had frozen him still, as Erik yanked the axe from the chamber. Goten saw Erik grip the weapon and the fear in the doctor's eyes as he realized what Erik planned to do.

"Erik…!" Goten screamed.

And then with his own scream, Erik brought the axe up and chopped it into the side of the doctor's neck.

To Goten, the worst thing was that there was no scream. As the doctor's mouth opened as blood gouted from his neck, his brain on fire with pain, Goten could see motion but could hear no sound, as blood sprayed all over the floor and Erik, mixing with the dried blood of Kate.

A combined scream and gasp went up around the hallways as everyone finally realized what Erik had done, even as he yanked the axe from the doctor's neck with a wet ripping noise, brought it back, and with another scream of righteous rage, buried the axe in the left side of the doctor's face.

As bone chips flew, the doctor's body spasmed once and then fell, dropping onto the rear and then falling onto the side. Blood began to form on the floor in a puddle.

The whole process had taken less then two seconds.

Erik stood, not moving, looking down on the doctor's body with disgust, contempt, and saitisfaction. Then he spat on the corpse and moved on, heading towards the exit.

There was a quick one-two series of clicks as the security men suddenly appeared in front of him, guns cocked and ready to fire. They had stood by, unable to do anything when Erik had seemingly first gone nuts. Erik's attempt to save the baby had dropped their guard however, and with the nurse confirming that Erik had not tried to harm the late Kate in any way, they had even considered letting him leave the hospital.

Then the doctor, blind with anger and hurting from damaged pride, had made the mistake of confronting the distraught Erik and heaping scorn on him and his efforts. It had proved to be fatal for him, and suddenly the security found they once again had to regard Erik as an enemy. They could disallow an unknown man trying to deliver a baby, but they couldn't walk away from a clear first-degree murder.

"Ok buddy, don't move." One of them said, in a calm yet firm tone. His partner glanced sideways at him, at the same time making a slight noise in his throat that said "Careful! We don't want to set him off. Let me do the talking."

"Ok buddy…just stay calm…we know how you feel…you tried to help that woman…we'll make sure the courts know that…just don't hurt anyone else, for your sake."

Erik had lowered his hand, his hair now laced with drying blood. He appeared to be staring at the floor. Behind him, Goten stared himself, feeling helpless. He didn't know what to do.

Then Erik spoke, in a low quiet tone.

"Get out of my way."

"Sir…with all due respect, we saw you kill that man, we just can't let you walk out of the…"

Then Erik's head snapped up, his eyes ablaze.

"I SAID, GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

And then the FS-X on Erik's hand and arm shredded as his talons shot out, even as it drew away from the left side of his face, exposing cold metal and a burning red eye. The backlash of force hit Goten a second later, lancing through his head. It wasn't ki…but it was certainly powerful…almost…sinister, and it was radiating from within Erik.

Then the hospital began to shake, as black energy exploded around Erik and enveloped him like the ki battle aura Goten had worn many times. Small pieces of the panel underneath Erik's feet began to break off and float upward from the force Erik was giving off. Goten gaped. Jesus…is this the power of Erik's world…or is it something else?

The guards stared in horror. Within seconds the man they had tried to detain had somehow turned himself into a monster straight from their nightmares. Fear racing through their veins, they dropped their weapons and stood aside. A spreading match of darkness appeared at the crotch of one of the guard's pants.

"Thank you." Erik said, glancing back behind him at the corpse of the doctor. Goten could see the contempt radiating from his eyes.

"He earned his fate. He had a chance to walk away, but he was too much of a fool to take it. I would recommend you learn from his failure…hence I go after you." Erik said. "Come Goten. We must go."

And with that, Erik calmly walked out of the same door he had entered seemingly an eternity ago. Goten suddenly found dozens of people staring at him, most still terrified and looking for answers.

Goten gave none, headind out after Erik and leaving the hospital behind. It reeked of death, both the undeserved and the justified.

Trunks stared in horror, not knowing what to do, as Goku calmly and joyfully cut down his former friends one by one, reveling in their total loss of power. Trunks knew the block was complete. He couldn't do anything at all. His repeated attempts to summon strength, any strength at all, had met with failure. He had lost everything.

And now Goku was stepping on them like bugs, blurring before the warrirors as they tried to flee and smashing with with an errant blow that probably didn't even use a fraction of Goku's strength.

"That was for trying to rob me as a kid." Goku said cruelly as he smashed Yamcha aside into a rock face. "That was for beating me in the 22^nd TB." Goku said as he smashed Tien next to Yamcha. "And you're a midget and a mime, I never liked either." Chaozu was deposited next to the humans as Goku advanced on Krillian, Eighteen, and Seventeen.

"You cheated when we tried to both train under Master Roshi, causing me to miss dinner." Goku said, smashing Krillian aside. Eighteen cried out, but Goku quickly hit her as well. Her brother quickly joined her.

"You two tried to kill me. Nuff said. And speaking of killing me…" Goku chuckled, blurring in front of Piccolo. Despite the situation, Piccolo showed no fear. He wouldn't let Vagane have that saitisfaction.

Because in the end, that was who was brutalizing them. The body of Son Goku may have been inflicting the blows, but the mind was that of the mad doctor.

"I can't forget about you, can I, "GREAT DEMON KING?" Goku mocked. With a pistoning blow, Piccolo was smashed aside.

"I thought you would make a great pupil. How wrong I was." Goku said as he smashed Ubuu aside and began to approach Pan, who looked like she wanted to cry, her anger forgotten.

"Grandpa…please."

"You were an annoying brat." Goku said without hesitation, and Pan screamed as Goku sideswiped her, tossing her into a rock face as he approached Gohan. "But I'm not surprised. She came from you. You! You let me die because you didn't want to fight, because you refused to unleash your true power! After all the effort I put into you, after all the time I spent trying to remove your mother's influence, you turned out to be a pussy anyway!"

"You're not my father." Gohan said. Goku smirked and then backhanded his son, sending him spawling next to his daughter.

"Such disrespect. All of you. All claiming to be my friends. How many have you abused me, used me, or outright tried to kill me! And none of them were worse then you, Vegeta." Goku said as he came to where Vegeta was lying, Trunks and Bra standing before him in a futile effort of protection. Goku smirked and raised his hand as black energy exploded onto being and enveloped it.

"So you shall die first. Any last words?" Goku asked, smirking cruelly.

Yeah, HEADS UP ASSHOLE!

Then the energy blast smashed into the side of Goku's head. Goku wasn't staggered at all, slowly turning his head to look at where it had come from.

Standing aboard the back of a majestic dragon, the Legacy looked down on Son Goku, weapons drawn and ready. At the forefront of them, Ash stood, trying to hid his disbelief that Goku had taken one of his Aura Blasts and hadn't even blinked behind a mask of anger and would-be heroism.

Goku reached up and felt the side of his head.

"You messed up my hair." He said.

"I plan to mess up a lot more then that! As you might of guessed, your little machine doesn't block our abilities! So if you don't mind, I think I'll give you a new do! How about a complete part right down the middle?" Ash yelled, and leapt upward, bringing up the Soulfire as red energy exploded onto being onto it, falling down towards Goku as he stood and watched.

"SLAUGHTER…"

Then in a blur of motion, Goku's hand snapped up and Ash found himself crashing to the ground as he caught Ash's blade in mid-slash and dumped him onto the ground.

I told you bad things happen when you try and make the bad jokes! And do you have any idea where he grabbed me?

"Foolish child. You think your power is anything? I have more power in my pinkie then you ever will. Your stand is utterly futile."

Snarling, Ash flipped onto his feet and brought up the Soulfire. Goku smiled diabolically.

"Ok. I'll play it your way." Goku chuckled, and brought up his right forefinger, black energy suddenly encasing it. "Hit me, little boy."

Ash did just that, going into a fury of sword slashes. The smirk never wavering, Goku moved his hand up and down and blocked every single slash with his finger.

Come on Ash! Hit him! He's standing right in front of you! HIT HIM! HIT HIM! Rah rah rah and all that crap!

Ash wanted to tell his sword to shut up, but he was too focussed on trying to break through Goku's guard. But as the exhaustion began to build in him, Ash realized that Goku wasn't faltering at all. Finally, Ash couldn't slash anymore, his sword dropping down as his shoulders heaved up in down as he drew in long breathes…

Dammit…uhhhhhhh…well, your finger is gonna feel that in the morning!

"Shut up, you blasted sword." Goku said. Ash looked up, defiance in his face.

"Take your best shot."

Goku smirked and then his fist came slashing out, slamming right into Ash's chest and sending him flying backwards twenty feet before he smashed into a rock face. He gasped and then spat up blood. If he hadn't been wearing armour, the blow would have surely killed him, and even with it, he felt like he was dying anyway.

Hey Ash, welcome to Idiotville. Population: YOU!

"God…such power…how on earth am I gonna defeat him…he's as strong as Xaxargas and he hasn't even powered up…" Ash spat, trying to get to his feet. The Legacy watched in stunned horror at how Goku had manhandled their leader.

What are we gonna do? WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO? I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!

"Soulfire, you're 70,000 years old."

You insensitive jerk! How dare you be so callous in revealing my age!

"Excuse me, are you going to keep argueing with your weapon, or are you going to let me humilate you some more?" Goku catcalled. Ash spat. He wanted nothing more then to shut Goku up. But he feared it lacked the strength.

Well, lessee…hitting him doesn't seem to work…maybe I can annoy him to death! Hey Buddy! You know why they call you SON Goku? Because I'm gonna be your daddy! You hear me! I'm gonna be your daddy!

"Oh really? How?" Goku smirked.

Because I got the Three I's! Intensity, Integrity, and Intelligence! It's true! It's damn true!

Goku snapped out his arm and a black ki blast fired from it. Ash's eyes widened as it flew towards him and struck the Soulfire. The explosion knocked Ash over, and he pushed himself back up as the smoke cleared to reveal the Soulfire, smoking and blackened with soot.

Ow…I'd like to add another I: Incredibly Strong Pain. And THAT is true. Waiter, check please! I wanna go home!

"Ready to give up, Ash?" Goku sneered. Ash looked down on his sword, then looked back up at Goku.

"I'll never give up!"

"Then I have no choice but to kill you. Wait, I was gonna do that anyway." Goku chuckled, and extended his hand.

Then he yelled as four blasts of power slammed into him simultaneously, staggering him. Goku turned to his to find the Legacy wasn't just watching anymore.

They were on the assault.

Goten found Erik several blocks away from the hospital, standing on the roof edge, bathed in moonlight. He appeared to be in deep thought.

"There you are." Goten said, landing next to Erik. Erik glanced over to Goten.

"It was a boy." Erik said bitterly, and then looked back out onto the street. Goten stared, and then it started pouring out.

"Erik, what the hell were you thinking!?!?!? You just grabbed that axe and…that was…that was…insane! You killed him!"
"You are quite observant, Goten. What is the point?"
"The point!?!??!?!…..Erik, you just killed a man!"

"As I have many times. It is hardly a new occasion for me."

"But…the way…the reason…that was just…just…just…"

Then Erik whirled, and Goten could see the anger in him.

"What, Goten? Insane? Unpractical? Inhumane? Oh no Goten. That was justice! That was just part of the eternal purge of the Corrupt from the ranks of humanity! I did the world a favour, Goten."

"A favour? But…"

"Let me ask you something Goten. Do you know what makes a man inhumane, what makes him commit true atrocities? Hate? Fear? Lack of information? No Goten. Hate is usually fueled by the other two, and in the rare cases when it is genuine, it is invariably justified. Is a man inhuman because he is afraid? No. Is a man inhuman because he doesn't know the whole story? No. But what you saw Goten…that is what inhumanity is born from. Indifference. The total lack of any kind of caring at all."

Goten was silent, unable to say anything else.

"You saw it Goten. He saw that girl bleeding on the floor, and if I hadn't confronted him, he would have just turned his back and walked away. He thought she was garbage. He didn't hate her. He didn't fear her. He didn't know everything about her. He just didn't care. Just like the way Agony murders. Just like the way Vagane does. To kill for the sake of killing, or to meet an insane agenda, or just because you don't care, the disregard for life is the same. That is inhumanity, Goten. Indifference. And I will not stand by and let it live on to commit new crimes. I took the name Vengeance for that reason, Goten. And for Kate, I claimed it. I hope that wherever she is, it gave her peace."

Erik turned, ready to leave. But Goten wasn't done.

"So that's it? Just cut him down like that? How do you know, Erik? Maybe he had a wife and kid who loved him, and he loved them too! Maybe he had friends who care about him, and who he cares about! Hell, maybe he even has a sick mother or something! But did that even occur to you, Erik? Or could all you see was his evil in walking away from Kate? He may have murdered her indirectly Erik, but if you cut them all down like that, with as little regard as he paid for Kate, you're no better then him! You're no better then any of them!"

Erik turned again, and then he raised his metal fingers, moonlight shining off them. For a second Goten though Erik was going to attack him.

But in the end, he just spoke one sentence.

"Goten…I never said I was."

And with that Erik turned and leapt off to the building to the next one, vanishing into the shadows. Goten stared after him. He understood what Erik was saying. To keep his sanity, Erik had long ago divided his view into clear sections of black and white, and he didn't waver from them at all. He couldn't.

Don't try to blur them into shades of grey, Goten. For his sake…and yours.

Looking up, Goten blinked as he saw Capsole Corps on the horizon. I came with him on his trip back so I could tell him my ideas in private…now I know far too much about him…perhaps it is best if I leave the decisions of life and death up to him…and just hope it doesn't damn him…if anything, he doesn't deserve that.

He'd cut the doctor down like an animal.

But that doctor had sealed his own fate.

No. He doesn't deserve it…I just hope to kami I'm right…

Erik knew something wasn't right the instant he set foot back into Capsole Corps. The atmosphere was too quiet, and yet at the same time, extremely tense.

Goten entered in the door had used, and he also immediately stopped. He felt it too.

"What's going on?" Goten asked.

"I don't know…where is everyone?"

"Erik, Goten, at last you came back!"

Erik turned his head to see Master Roshi heading towards them, deep lines of worry and dread creasing his already lined face.

"Roshi…what's wrong?" Erik said, his heart filling with dire feelings.

"Just follow me! I'll explain along the way!" Roshi said.

Erik did so, and Roshi did his best to simplify all the events that had led to the Z Warriors and the Legacy going off after Vagane. Erik's face grew darker and darker as Roshi went on. Once again, it seemed like an eternity, and yet an instant, when Roshi reached the main computer room where Bulma and Mr. Satan still were.

"My kami." Goten said as he looked at the huge hole in the wall. "Roshi was right. They must have been utterly furious."

"After all I saw, I don't blame them." Bulma said, walking towards the two men. Erik's look scared her, but she did it anyway. She quickly filled in Erik and Goten on everything else.

"That bastard…that motherfucking bastard…" Goten cursed, his hands curling into fists as his eyes flashed green. If Videl was being tormented, then Marron…I'll kill him! I'll rip him apart with my bare hands!

"This is my fault." Eik said, his voice low and dripping with rage. "Vagane did this to get to me. All those innocent lives…he knew I would come after him. I knew I couldn't stand down…all those lives to lure me in…"

"Right into a trap." Bulma finished. Now her face was filled with worry.

"I started scanning my friends and yours almost the second after they left…something's very wrong. They all reached a certain place…and then suddenly, they all seemed to disappear."

Erik looked over. No…

"Are they…?"
"No. I was originally tracking by ki signatures, but when they all vanished I panicked and switched to vital signs. I'm reading them by those now. They're all still alive…but when I tried to line up ki signatures with vital signs…I couldn't. It's like…like…"

"They don't have any power at all?" Erik asked. Bulma nodded. Erik cursed inwardly.

"I should have known. My theory that Vagane was cheating at Satan City is true, and it's even worse then I thought. He lured them in and turned off their powers…he planned to use me to accomplish this…" How long has he been studying the Z Warriors to have learned so much about them that he figured out a way to do this…what fate have a damned them to by ever encountering Agony all those months ago...?

"What about my sister and my allies?" Erik asked. The worry lines increased on Bulma's face.

"I managed to pick them up…but something else worries me far more. Your friends don't use ki, so I couldn't attach a signature to them…but I could for one person. Only one of them still has a ki signature and life sign...it's Goku. He's fighting with them."

"Shit…" Erik cursed, beginning to despair. For all their power…they're no match for Goku…and with all the Z Warriors down…

"What are we going to do?" Goten asked, his tone frantic.

"We go after them."

Everyone turned as Celeste walked through the doorway, trailed by Buu and Diana. Erik's eyes widened slightly.

"Celeste, you're…ok."

"You got that right." Celeste said, and indeed, the woman no longer had a scratch on her. Even her outfit was patched up. Erik looked over to Diana.

"Diana…"

"Save your thanks, Erik. It wasn't me. It was him." Diana said, pointing to Buu, who smiled broadly. Erik looked at the fat creature.

"Buu…why didn't you go with the others?"

"I was telling Celeste a story, and I wanted to finish it!" Buu replied cheerily. Behind Erik, Gohan facevaulted.

"Yeah, and midway through the story he remembered that he had the ability to heal people using his forelock. And it's a great healing talent. I feel better then ever." Celeste said, flexing her arms and legs. Erik goggled at Buu.

"You can heal people so quickly and completely, and you FORGOT you could do that? How…?"

Buu shrugged.

"I've got a bad memory." Buu replied. This time Erik nearly facevaulted.

"Well, that settles it. Celeste is right, we have to go in." Goten said.

"But Goten, if you go in your abilities will surely be blocked too! You'll be as helpless as the rest of them!" Bulma said. Erik turned to her.

"We don't have a choice! We have to go in and rescue them, or they're dead for sure! Once we've pulled out, we can think of the future, but for now, we have to get to them quickly! Buu, can you fly us there?"

"Sure!"

"Right, Bulma, where's the location?"

Bulma told Erik.

"Thank you. Let's go." Erik said, heading towards Celeste and Buu. A quick thought hit him, and he reached into his outfit and withdrew the Ruined Soul daggers.

"These are yours." Erik said, handing them back to Celeste. Despite the situation, Celeste looked happy.

"Thank you." She said. Goten cocked his head, looking at the dark-haired woman, and watching how after handing her the daggers Erik barely glanced at her again, heading over to Buu. Goten looked back at Celeste.

My…does he even realize the way she's looking at him…but I can save that for later!

"Goten!" Erik suddenly said, and Goten jumped as Erik motioned to him. He flew over, wondering if Erik had somehow read his mind.

"Something just occurred to me." Erik said, and outlined his plan quickly. Despite the situation, Goten smiled.

"I think that might just work." Goten said.

"I pray it does. I don't think we'll be able to escape Vagane's grasp otherwise." Erik said, as he began to climb on Buu's back. I hope to god Vagane's arrogance has transitioned to Goku and he decides to toy with them instead of taking them seriously. But if I'd been here I would have surely done the same thing Gohan did and lured them all into Vagane's grasp. His mistake would have been mine, even if I never made it. But even so, I will try and rectify it. Hang on guys, I'm coming!

Brigh was doing his best to hang on. Goku's back that was.

He'd thought for sure he'd had it when he'd teleported behind Goku as he floated in the air, randomly firing ki blasts at the Legacy members who were trying to attack him, forcing them to scatter. Once he'd accomplished that, he'd tried to put a dagger right through the back of Goku's neck.

But somehow, Goku had known, and he had shifted in mid-air. His dagger thrust now useless, Brigh had clamped onto Goku's back to try and set up another stab.

That lasted about two seconds before Goku slammed his head back right into the middle of Brigh's face, knocking him silly. His limp body fell off and crashed onto the ground ten feet below.

"Damn, he has a hard head…" Brigh groaned.

Goku glanced downward and suddenly he found himself bathed in fire. He flinched, and then looked downward again where Chastity was standing, her arms up as she poured fire against him. Goku smirked and began floating down, oblivious to Chastity's attack.

"The fuck…no matter how much flame I throw on this guy he doesn't even seem to register it!" Chastity cursed as Goku landed in front of her. Furious, Chastity switched the fire off and snapped her whip out, sending the barbed length at Goku's head.

Goku snapped his arm up and the whip wrapped around it. Goku set his legs and yanked, sending Chastity flying towards him.

Right into his fist. Chastity gasped in agony as Goku's punched her in the stomach, and then Goku snapped his leg up and kicked her in the head, sending her flying backwards. He raised his still clenched fist, enjoying the lingering feeling of Chastity's bare skin against his knuckles, ore more precisely, the way it had contorted and warped from his blow.

Then a clawed hand swung at him. Goku dodged to the side as Lindsay swiped at him again, ducked as she kicked at his head, and then jumped up slightly as she tried to sweep his legs out.

"You call that fast?" Goku mocked.

Lindsay didn't see the punch, but she felt it, as the front of her chest plate shattered as Goku kicked her, bouncing her along the ground before she finally came to rest to where Krillian, his wife, and his brother in law were crouched, watching the fight.

"You ok?" Krillian asked.

"I've had worse." Lindsay lied, and promptly passed out.

Goku was barely done dealing with Lindsay when there was a conbined yell of two males and Rod and William leapt at him, their massive blades sweeping back to cleave Goku into pieces.

Goku snapped up his arms and the swords slammed against them, stopping dead.

"Ki shields are a bitch, ain't they?" Goku said, then opened his palms and fired twin ki blasts, sending the two men flying backwards. Rod hit another rock face, while William crashed next to Vegeta and his children.

"Worry not, M'lady. I will not let this scoundral get his filthy hands on you or your father!" William said as he struggled to his feet, his armour seared and damaged. Vegeta, who had come groggily back to life, glanced at his son.

"What did he say?"

Trunks shrugged.

Goku was brushing himself off when the bladestaff suddenly lanced at his head. Goku snapped his head to the side and the weapon flew past him, spiralling around and back into Christine's hand as she stood, helping an injured Ash. Goku chuckled.

"Oh, the loving couple. Till DEATH DO YOU PART!" Goku yelled, and fired a black ki ball at the two.

The couple brought up their weapons, crossing them and holding them in front of each other, as the ball slammed into them. The strain from the ball's power was clear on their faces, but their weapons held before they simultaneously thrust them up, sending the ball up and off into the distance. The ground rumbled from the explosion. Goku smirked.

"Oh, you blocked it."

Goku brought his hand up, palm up, and a black ki ball exploded into being above it and began to grow until it was the size of a house.

"Block this."

Goku never got a chance to throw the ball though, as the ground around his feet suddenly exploded. Goku made a noise of annoyance as he fell into the earth up to his waist, his concentration lost and his attack disipating. Growling, he pulled himself up and out.

Then he snapped his hand up as he caught a bullet aimed at his face. Lowering his hand, his composure returned, as he smirked at Paul, who had blown up the ground around him and fired the bullet, looked down his gun with some worry.

"You caught the bullet. Ok, let's see just how many bullets you can catch!"

The barrel of the Flatliner twisted and warped, forming into the six prongs of a mini gun. With a loud chattering noise Paul opened fire, steel-jacketed hollowpoints tearing up the ground and surrounding rock faces. Various Z Warriors and Legacy members dove for cover.

Goku didn't even waver, as he blurred through the storm of bullets, each one missing him by a mile, as Paul tried to get a bead on him in a futile effort.

Then the ammo ran out.

Smirking, Goku blurred in front of Paul, and before Paul could switch to another ammo type Goku had grabbed the barrel of his gun and thrust it aside, holding it up and away from Paul. Goku chuckled.

"I believe that movie put it best. Only human." Goku quoted.

Then there was a blur of movement, and Goku suddenly had the barrel of a small pistol pressed against his shoulder.

"Likewise, DODGE THIS!"

Goku yelled as he felt the projectile rip into his shoulder, even as Paul tossed the small pistol aside and re-cocked the Flatliner. Goku snarled. The pain nor injury wasn't bad, but the fact that Paul had actually managed to shoot him was ten times worse then anything else the boy could have used.

"What the hell was the purpose of that, boy? Do you want me to kill you painfully, because I certainly plan to now!" Goku roared.

"That was to implant you with my tracker. It's the first step to my Copycat bullets. Once one of them hits the target, THEY ALL DO!"

And then Paul opened fire again. With some annoyance, Goku blurred away. He'd had enough. Now he was going to…

Then his eyes widened as he found himself staring down a wealth of bullets again. He blurred away again.

And found the same thing. Cursing, he blurred away once more, much higher up in the sky. He couldn't believe it, the bullets were tracking him!

Goku blurred away several more times, but the bullets kept finding him, even as more and more were added to their number as Paul continued to fire. Goku could feel the anger building within him. The boy was making a fool out of him with a glorified peashooter!

"ARGH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!' Goku screamed, and thrust his hand out, vaporizing one group of bullets with a ki blast. More came at him, and he turned and vaporized them too, firing a wealth of ki blasts everywhere as he tried to destroy all the projectiles. Explosions rocked the ground in and around the fallen Z Warriors and Legacy members, but Paul held his ground, continuing to fire.

"Dammit!" Goku cursed as he continued to vaporized bullets. "You have to run out of ammo eventually, and when you do, I'm gonna tear you and all your friends apart with my bare hands."

Then a black blur leapt from the rocks and Goku suddenly found Erik behind him.

"Not on my watch."

Then Erik brough his laced fists down, sending Goku crashing into a rock face, even as Erik began to fall. He landed on a cliff, taking deep breaths. He'd had to use every single ounce of his cyborg strength enhanced with his power to create such a blow, and even then, Erik doubted Goku would be down more then a few seconds.

"Goten, HURRY!"

Trunks looked up as his best friend suddenly scrambled over a rock face, looking tired and scared.

"Goten! What…?"

"Trunks, Erik figured it out! Whatever device Vagane is using, it appears to be programmed by genetic signatures. That's why Goku's not affected!"

"And how does that help us?" Vegeta snarled, trying to get to his feet. "I may have no power, but I'll be damned if I let Kakarott have the last word!"

"No father! You'll die for sure!"

"I would rather die then…!"

"VEGETA, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Goten screamed. Vegeta looked at Goten with wide eyes, unable to believe that Goten had actually done that. Goten turned back to Trunks.

"Trunks, as I was saying. Vagane must have the genetic signatures of both you and me…but he might have the signatures of BOTH of us, know what I mean?"

A grin suddenly appeared on Trunks's face.

"I do! It's worth a shot!"

Then a scream of rage filled the air as power exploded outward from where Goku was buried. Goten looked at the spot in horror, and then turned back to Trunks.

"Trunks, HURRY! We don't have much time!"

As Goten and Trunks took their position, Goku rose up from the ground, his outfit torn. He couldn't believe that Erik had managed to hit him so hard, but that didn't matter. He was through playing around. Even if he nuked half of Vagane's base in the process, he was going to kill every last one of the insects who had held him down, abused him, and outright used him during his life.

Then he heard the cry.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUU-SION! HA!"

Goku turned as the bright light exploded up from the ground. Goku shielded his eyes until the light began to fade.

And in the eye of the hurricane, as magical power flowed and coursed through two beings as they combined to form one, Goten and Trunjs could feel the power, surging back within them. One truly cannot appreciate something, no matter how important it may seem, until it is taken away.

Come on Trunks! We have to push ourselves to the utter limit! Our powers are back and combining, WE HAVE TO GO TO THE VERY PEAK!

I'm up to it Goten! I…I…I…

The light faded, and everyone looked in shock at the new figure standing on the torn-up ground.

"HEY HEY HEY! I'M BACK AND BETTER THEN EVER!" Gotenks crowed, as his tail lashed around him. Goku couldn't believe it. Not only had Vagane not programmed his device to block Gotenks's power, but in the transformation, somehow, by some means, Gotenks had managed to transform into an SSJ4.

And he was loving it, as he crowed to the sky in the triumph of ascending to that level. He wore blue pants and red boots, and his hair extended down to his waist, along with the deep brown-red fur that sprouted on his chest and arms.

"Well little man, it is booty kicking time, as I, Gotenks, will…"

"OH JUST SHUT UP!" Goku yelled, and fired a ki blast at Gotenks. Gotenks reared back his arm and easily whacked it off into the distance.

"Fine. I will. NOT!" Gotenks yelled, and blasted up at Goku. Goku gasped as Gotenks slammed his fist into his stomach, smashed his other fist across his face, and then axe-kicked him back into the ground.

"I am just so cool!" Gotenks crowed, flashing the peace sign.

Down on the ground, Erik leapt over the last expanse of rock and landed next to Vegeta, Trunks and Bra.

"Come on! We're gonna retreat while Gotenks holds Goku at bay!"

'What? I'm not leaving. I…!" Vegeta said before his son and daughter looked at him. Erik shared the look.

"Vegeta…you can't win here. Retreat is not always the way of cowards. Run away now, and you'll live to win tommorow. Stand and you'll die with no honour. You have two seconds. Choose."

And with that Erik turned and ran off, going from group to group. The other way, Vegeta could see Celeste and Buu doing the same.

"Fine…but you will pay for this Kakarott. In blood!" Vegeta cursed, and followed Erik.

With a scream, Goku exploded from the rock Gotenks had buried him in, floating up to face the fusion, who smirked and made faces at him.

"Ok, you want to play? LET'S PLAY!" Goku screamed, as black ki exploded over his body, enveloping his form in the burning power of darkness. Then the ball exploded outward, and Goku was in SSJ4 as well.

"Yech! I look a lot better then you, ugly!" Gotenks mocked, and then dove forward to engage Goku in a war of blows. The impact of thunderous punches and kicks rang across the sky.

"Victoria! Lindsay!" Erik was saying.

"Erik! What is it!" Victoria's voice came as she emerged from behind a rock face.

"Tactical retreat! We need your dragon body!"

"You got it!" Victoria said, as she began to transform. Erik ran on, indicating to the Z Warriors and Legacy members to start climbing on board. They listened, even as Gotenks and Goku's thunderous battle continued overhead.

"Shit. Gotenks is strong, but he's not as strong as SSJ4 Goku. Paul!" Erik yelled to the Legacy's gunsman, who looked up from his weapon.

"What?"

"You have any of those homing bullets left?"

"Yeah, that new guy gave me time to reload!"

"Use them! We need to keep Goku distracted!"

Gotenks kneed Goku in the gut, but Goku responded with a pistoning hook that sent Gotenks flying across the sky. Gotenks backflipped in mid-air and thrust out his hands.

'RENZOKOKEN SHINE SHINE MISSILE!" Gotenks screamed, and began firing hundreds of golden ki blasts at Goku, who vanished in expanding explosions and clouds of smoke.

"Lindsay!" Erik said, as he reached the side of the woman to find Celeste kneeling over her, trying to revive her.

"Goku really rang her bell. I think she might be in a coma." Celeste said in worry. Erik knelt as he opened his metal palm, a small tube snapping into it from within his arm.

"Let's hope not. Come on Lindsay…" Erik said as he waved the smelling salts under Lindsay's nose.

A few seconds later Lindsay began to cough, and she opened her eyes, blinking.

"No mommy, I don't wanna go to school…oh, Erik! What's going on?" Lindsay asked as she sat up, confused on what was going on.

"We're getting out of here. Transform! You guys, climb aboard!" Erik said to Krillian, Eighteen, and Seventeen. Lindsay's body began to change, and Erik moved on, heading back to Victoria.

Gotenks has ceased his onslaught, but before he could flash the peace sign Goku exploded out of the cloud of smoke, slamming shoulder first into Gotenks and then flipping around and kicking Gotenks into the ground, sending him crashing into the ground.

"I grow tired of this. KA-ME-HA-ME-ARRRGGGHHH!" Goku yelled as the bullet tore through his shoulder. He whirled, blood leaking from the wound, and saw twenty more heading towards him. He cursed and blurred away, but they followed him.

"Not this again!" he cursed as he vaporized the slugs, but more came as Paul kept it up. Goku looked down on the man in fury.

"Forget about me?" Gotenks yelled as he slammed both his feet into Goku's back, sending Goku crashing through two more rock faces. Goku blasted the rubble off of him, then blurred away as bullets raked the ground where he had been. He flew back up and Gotenks attacked him again, and Goku, snarling, tried to fight on while dodging the bullets at the same time.

Inside the lab, Vagane watched with some annoyance. This was not going as he had planned. Tapping some keys, Vagane took one of the cameras away and put it on Erik, who was helping Chastity load Yamcha onto Luna's back. He kept the camera on him, even as they finished getting Yamcha up and Chastity scrambled up next to him. She gave Erik a thumbs up and Erik turned and ran off, heading back to Echo, who was also finishing having injured Z Warriors and Legacy members loaded onto her. With a leap, Erik landed on Erik's back, and then he turned and reached down.

Vagane's eyebrow suddenly arched with interest as Erik helped Celeste up onto Echo's back. Then he smiled.

"Perhaps this incident is a greater boon then I thought…I think so, yes…" Vagane saw, as he looked at Celeste. He now had an idea. While his original plan to break the boy had failed…he now saw something far greater.

It pleased him.

Erik's head darted back and forth as he looked from Luna to Echo. He was right, everyone was there.

Except Paul.

And Gotenks.

"Lindsay! GO, GO, GO!" Erik screamed, and Luna spread her magnificenmt wings and floated up into the air. An energy blast flew past her, but she ignored it as she spun and flew off into the distance. Sure that she was safe, Erik turned back to the ruined mountain ranges where the battle with Goku had taken place.

"PAUL! WE ARE LEAVING!"

"Yeaaaahhhhhhh!" Paul yelled back, partly in response and partly as a battle cry as he began backing up, firing the whole time, spraying the air with bullets that continued to zip after Goku. Goku was suffering because of them, the constant distraction keeping his superior power from getting the edge on Gotenks, and he was getting steadily angrier.

"Yeahhhh! Yeah! Yeahhhhhhh….." Paul yelled as he continued to run backwards, his gun blazing as bullets continued spraying out…

…before they stopped. Dry clicks emitted from the Flatliner instead. Paul was out of ammo.

"SHIT!" Paul cursed, and picked up his pace, stumbling over the jagged rock ground.

Up above, Goku vaporized the last group of bullets and was surprised when no more came. He glanced downward at a fleeing Paul, and a cruel smirk once again broke over his face.

Gotenks flew forward, fists cocked, but Goku dodged aside and spun, smashing Gotenks in the back and sending him crashing into a cliff face. Still smirking, he aimed his fist down at Paul.

"Payback's a bitch, buddy!"

Paul looked up in horror as the black ki energy on Goku's hand expanded and then fired, sending a huge ki blast directly at him. As it rushed up to him, Paul realized he had nowhere to hide and nowhere to run.

"OH SHIT!"

Ash's eyes widened as he saw the blast bear down on his best friend.

"PAUL!"

Then it hit him, and Paul vanished in a gigantic smoke cloud as the earth shook. Goku smiled triumphantly.

"PAUL! NO!" Ash cried, trying to get up and leap off Echo's back. But before he could, Erik restrained him.

"He's gone!"

"No he's not…!" Ash cursed, trying to shove Erik aside, maddened beyond belief and planning to bury his sword in Goku's head.

Erik changed his grip and shoved Ash backwards.

"FORGET IT! THAT BLAST HIT HIM DEAD ON! HE'S GONE!" Erik yelled. Ash slumped, not wanting to believe it.

"No…Paul…"

"Look!" Christine said, pointing. Erik turned.

His jaw dropped.

"I don't believe it…" Erik gasped, as the smoke cleaed to reveal Paul, holding his gun up. His coat had been reduced to a few ragged tatters and his shirt and pants had been shredded, but he was alive. Slowly, he loweed his gun, which was now glowing with a burning red energy.

Up in the air, Goku clenched his fists so hard blood oozed out from between his fingers. It wasn't possible. There shouldn't have been anything left of Paul but ashes. How in the holy name of sanity had he survived?

"HOW DID YOU…" Goku screamed, voicing his disbelief as audibly as he could.

"DYNAMITE KICK!"

"ARGGHHHH!" Goku screamed as Gotenks shot from the cliff face and slammed into him with an incredibly powerful kick, sending him slamming into the ground and flying through three cliff faces before he was buried in a mountain.

"GOTENKS! WE'RE GETTING OUT OF DODGE! I SUGGEST YOU COME WITH US!" Erik yelled up to the fusion. Gotenks glanced over to where Goku had been buried.

"Eh, this fight's messing up my hair anyway. Another time, loser!" Gotenks mocked, holding his fingers against his forehead in an L. Then he turned and swooped low to the ground, grabbing Paul and flying onto Echo's back.

"GO SIS!" Ash said, and Echo lifted up and took off as the ground began to rumble. On the dragon's back, the Legacy and Z Warriors looked in amazement as Paul, who was badly battered but alive.

"How did you live through that?" Ash said.

"I believe I have an answer." Erik said. "Paul's gun draws energy from around him and converts it into ammunition through some process even I'm not sure of. Paul, you simply opened up the gun and absorbed the ki blast directly into your weapon. Ingenius. How long have you known how to do that?"

"About twelve seconds, Erik." Paul said, coughing. Gotenks stared at the three men, then looked down at the gun. His eyes widened.

"Paul! I can sense the energy of that blast! Get rid of it, your gun can't hold it much longer!"

Paul looked at Gotenks, then brought the gun up and aimed it back at Vagane's base, as an extension popped up and slid over Paul's eye as he locked onto Goku.

"You got it wrong buddy. Payback's MY bitch."

And then the barrel glowed and Erik and Ash were nearly knocked off their feet as a huge black projectile shot out of the barrel and headed off into the distance. Paul was knocked off his feet, but on his face was a look of saitisfaction.

"Bishop, eat your heart out."

As Goku floated back up into the air, he suddenly found himself staring down the ki blast he had fired to destroy Paul. While he wanted to curse the ironies of fate, he only had time for two words.

"Kami dammit."

The distant sky suddenly lit up in a gigantic explosion of light, and then a roar swallowed everything as the blast detonated. Echo swayed a bit as the shockwave hit her, but she rode it out and continued her lazy flight back towards Capsole Corp.

"We got away…we have more luck then the Irish, I swear." Bra said as she looked at the smoke cloud off in the distance. "Nice blast there Paul."

"Yeah. If we're lucky it gave him a bruise." Erik muttered, his mind trying to work over the new development. Not only did they have to deal with Goku's overwhelming power, but now they couldn't get anywhere near him without having the stronger ones in their ranks become as helpless as babies.

And then there was the problem that had started it all. Erik stared off at the distant cloud which he knew was near Vagane's lab.

Just what are you planning?

A slight cough filled the now silent air, as the smoke cleared to reveal Goku, who was a little singed but nothing else. At the level of SSJ4, he hadn't even had to efficiently block a ki blast that could destroy a planet to keep it from harming him.

Even so, it didn't calm him down, as he stared at the fleeing dragons in the distance. He snarled, his eyes flashing with anger. He should have been able to annihalate all of them as Vagane had asked, but his own arrogance had allowed them to flee.

But they weren't going to get away. Goku thrust down his arms and screamed as a golden energy aura exploded around him, and the earth rumbled as the air filled with floating pebbles and jagged hunks of rock.

"Hold it Goku. That is enough."

The aura faded as Goku looked down as he heard his master speaking to him via some contraption Goku didn't see.

"But master, I failed. You wanted me to destroy them and I couldn't even kill one. I cannot present myself to you until I have rectified this failure."

"You have not failed, Son Goku."

"But master…"

"The fact that they all live does not matter. They were just a means to an end…and in the end, my desired goal was accomplished. You must save your strength Goku. Let them run. They will return…and then, Son Goku, you can have your revenge. You will be sure they won't flee a second time. You will have a chance to avenge all the crimes they commited against you, while claiming to care or love you. You will avenge your betrayal, and all their lies about how they supposedly cared for you."

Goku nodded.

"Yes master." He said as he fell out of the SSJ4 state. "I will have my revenge."

The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon and look into the windows of Capsole Corp, but no one noticed.

Despite the situation, Goku's arrogance had caused no serious or fatal injuries, and with the help of Buu, everyone had quickly been cleaned up, in terms of injuries. Before anyone else could do anything else though, Erik had called an emergency meeting.

It was a mess. Vegeta was utterly raging over another defeat, and his son and daughter could barely keep him calm. Goten, Pan, Gohan, and Eighteen were utterly despondant with the knowledge of Videl and Marron's pregnacy and what it might mean for them. The remaining Z Fighters were either silent or trying help the despontant ones. Even Piccolo was trying to help Gohan, which was a moment some of them wish they had recorded on tape.

The Legacy was even worse. Ash was giving Vegeta a run for his money in how furious he was, and everyone else was either questioning their fighting skills, their sanity, or if they were going to get through this with their lives. Even the Soulfire was silent.

Once again, Erik found himself at the forefront of the ragtag group. But this time was different. After the night he'd had of battling Adam, failing to save lives, and then rescuing his friends and allies, Erik was on his last legs. As he tried to get the attention, an argument suddenly broke out between Goten and Vegeta, and almost at the same time, one broke out amongst the Legacy. The room was filled with loud noises and angry words, as the neutral sides looked in between the warring parties and tried to figure out what to do.

Erik was the one who acted though, as he suddenly slammed his fist down on the large table, breaking it in half. The room fell into a shocked silence.

"That is better." Erik said, his voice laced with strain, and underneath it, resentment. "Now, we must…"

"You know Erik, I'm getting tired of you always taking the lead! Oh, you're all ready to get to the forefront when it's time to talk, but where are you when the action starts? I'm getting sick of it!" Ash said, standing up. Erik looked over at his brother in law.

"If you are insinuating that I am some kind of coward…"

"No Erik. I think that you're turning into a selfish prick! We arrive here and fight monsters, you're off doing something else! Vagane commits atrocities across the planet as a way of getting to you, and you're not even there to see them. We get our collective ass kicked by Goku, you're off wandering the city! But just when it gets bad, you show up and act like the hero! You, just you! I think you've forgotten something Erik, we're a team, and there's no I in it!"

Erik's look turned into a glare.

"There's no I in Vengeance either, Ash. If you knew what I was doing…"

"SCREW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! If you haven't noticed Erik, the whole center here is you! Vagane is doing all this to get to you! We're all getting hurt because of you, and your blood feud with Vagane! You should be focussed on Vagane like a laser beam, not wandering off in other directions! You claim to be leading us, but you're never there to lead, just to save! So tell me what that is!"

Some murmers of agreement were beginning to come from within the group. Looking worried, Christine stood up.

"Ash is just upset Erik…he doesn't mean this, I…"

"Chris, I DON'T NEED YOU TO TALK FOR ME!" Ash yelled. With a look of shock and hurt feelings, Christine sat down again.

Now Erik looked angry.

"Ok Ash, you want to talk leadership? Well then, how about the fact that you have perhaps the most obvious example of undeserved leadership in this room!"

"WHAT? How dare you! You all chose me as the leader! And I deserve it! I'm a hero!"

"I didn't see a hero when I first met you Ash. I saw a sniveling whiny boy who was furious at the world for supposedly rejecting and hurting him, and who just wanted to be a hero so he could have gloating rights and a sense of self-righteousness! I let you be the leader, when I would have been a much stronger one, because I believe that if I didn't do something right there and then, you would wind up destroying us! I thought the responsabilities matured you, but apparntly I was wrong, because you're playing the blame game again. Ash, you have NO IDEA what it's like to be hurt, and I think you have no idea how to be a leader also!"

"You motherfucker!" Ash yelled back, trying to draw his sword. The blade wouldn't budge. 'Soulfire, what are you doing!?!"

I'm not letting you do this Ash! It's wrong and you know it! Plus I was napping and I'm not done!

"Argh! Fine! I don't care how many blasted martial arts you know, I'll beat you to a bloody pulp you…!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Celeste screamed, and Ash fell silent as everyone looked at the woman, who no longer looked frail and shy. Instead, she looked pretty angry herself.

"Don't you see what you're DOING? You're doing exactly what Vagane wants. We have to work together, and he knows it, so he's using us to drive a splinter in between each other! Well, I won't allow it. Ash, Goku is far stronger then you, but you didn't back down. That is nothing to be humilated about! And all of you, Vagane cheated! He knew you could defeat Goku, so he changed the rules in the middle of the game! But you know them now, and next time you'll be prepared. And as for YOU, Erik…I see what you're doing. You knew Ash was aggrivated and you set out to use it. What were you going to do next to separate us from you, huh? Were you going to call the Z Warriors and your teammates idiots for clearly falling into a trap, and let that escalate until everyone hated you, so you would have no choice but to take Vagane on by yourself? Well Erik, that ain't happening. You aren't taking all the responsibility to keep you from hurting us. We won't let you stand alone, even though you feel it is your fault and your penance. We're all in this together. In each our own ways, we all owe you that. We're helping you. And that's that. Live with it."

Erik stood, stunned. Celeste had seen right through him. Now Christine was standing up.

"Oh Erik…why do you feel you have to take the weight of the whole world alone? Why do you think everything is your fault? Why do you have to always be in pain to go on?"

"It won't work you know. Redemption is not found in martrydom…it is found in caring. In friendship. Erik, you cared enough for our world to make that wish you did…why do you think we won't do likewise?" Goten added. Agreement came from around the room. Even Vegeta agreed.

Erik let out a long sigh.

"Thank…thank you…I guess in the end…my greatest foe is myself…but that's going to change. Vagane has dared to go against us…we'll teach him the error of his ways. And if we can…we'll get Goku back. But…"

"But nothing, Failure."

Erik whirled, and his eyes widened as he saw the hologram of Vagane behind him. Vagane looked back, smirking. Apparently the robot that had spoken to Gohan and co before still worked.

"You…you dare come into our presense!?!?" Erik hissed, and Goten could feel the same power that Erik had given off in the hosipital flash through the room again.

"Oh Failure, that was so sweet on how everyone said they supported you. But it doesn't change anything. Your fate is already sealed."

Erik was silent, his whole body boiling with rage. Vagane laughed.

"You think you can stand before me? You think you can stop me? No one can stop me, most of all you, Failure! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT WILL BE DESTOYED, AND YOUR SOUL WILL BE SHATTERED LIKE GLASS! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA…"

The hologram vanished as Erik brought his metal fist down on the small robot, crushing it like an egg. It hit the ground, and Erik crushed it underfoot, his teeth clenched in a snarl.

"I won't let you take anything else. Never again. Never." Erik hissed. "I don't care if you have an amry of a million Gokus, I will avenge myself Vagane."

Which begs the question. Just how are we going to stop Tall, Dark, and Insanely Powerful?
Erik fell silent, as did the room, as they all tried to think of something.

Then the door opened, and Bulma came in. In her hand she held a small disc, and on her face was a triumphant smile.

"Guys, I think I've got something."

Everyone turned to Bulma as she walked up to the computer that Erik had used to describe Vagane nearly 12 hours ago, and slid the disc in, tapping at the nearest keyboard.

"As you know, I was keeping track of you via computer. When you had your powers turned off, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. So I stared scanning Vagane's base…lo and behold, I found something special emitting from one of the lowest levels of it. I think Vagane was so wrapped up in watching Goku that he didn't even notice I was scanning his base. And guess what I found? How about a machine that emitted these strange energy waves, that might, oh, I don't know, block ki?"

There was a collective of raised eyebrows, and people began standing up to look as a map appeared on the screen and everyone found themselves looking at a 3-D mountain range. The camera zoomed in through the mountains until it alightened onto an artist's idea of Vagane's base.

"By the time you guys were heading back, I had scanned the whole base and surrounding mountains. The base is well protected from attack by any angle…and from my readings, Vagane has scanners that would see you coming from miles away anyway. The technology he has come up with is astounding…as you guys might have figured out already. But all the scanners are designed to scan the area around the base…but not underneath it!"

Now everyone was up and watching, as Bulma smiled again.

"Now, Vagane surely has technology that will keep us from directly drilling into the base from below…at least to the point that he'll know we're coming. BUT…he ain't the best architect when it comes to planning. Take a look."

The camera zoomed away from Vagane's base and out through the mountains, going a fair distance until it came to the outskirts of the mountain range, panning down until it alighted on the entrance. Erik blinked.

"Is that…"

"Yep, old mining tunnel. Long abandonned and forgotten…but it's still standing. And it goes deep into the mountain…and if one takes the right path…" Bulma said as she tapped keys and the models switched views to show the twisting, branching lengths going deeper and deeper into the mountain. "…one will end up right here."

The path finally came to an end. Bulma tapped a few keys, and two models superimposed themselves on each other to show the path came within knocking distance of one of Vagane's underground rooms.

"The path takes you almost all the way. Get though some rock and metal…and you're in. But that's not the best part. This is."

Bulma tapped some more keys, and the model began circling around.

"From my readings…and I'm pretty damn sure I'm right…the machine that emitted those rays is right HERE." Bulma finished with a flourish, and a blinking dot appeared on the model.

It was right in the room where the mine tunnel exited out of. With another smile, Bulma spun around.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking guys?"

"I have a damn good idea."Erik said. "Go in and take out the machine…with a small group, Vagane won't even realize it until it's too late…and if we coordinate another attack on the main base at the same time…he'll be ours for the picking."

With a wide smirk on his face now, Vegeta suddenly walked forward and swept Bulma up, planting a big kiss on her, much to the surprise of everyone.

"MWMM-WA! I love you, woman! Who thought that you would be helpful in defeating Kakarott?"

"I don't think Goku is the main problem, Vegeta. Vagane is…my friends, I need to figure out a complete plan. Until then, I suggest you rest up or do whatever you can do to relax. I think that we'll be returning to Vagane's doorstep soon…we need everyone at 100 percent. If this fails…"

Erik let his silence provide the answer. Slowly, the grouped Z Fighters and Legacy once again seperated and moved off. They all knew what was ahead of them. They were going to make the most of their freedom. Soon, Erik was alone with Celeste.

"I taught you too well." Erik said wryly. Celeste smiled shyly, lowering her eyes.

"You saved my life in so many ways, Erik. To not do the same for you…"

Erik looked at his pupil, the lone woman he perhaps truly called friend. And after all I did to her...all the torment and humiliation…have I saved her…or warped her? I only wish I knew.

"I suggest you get some rest, Celeste. You've had a busy night…I need you fresh. It's going to be one hell of a battle…one we might not come back from. Are you ready?"

Celeste nodded, and Erik turned and left. Celeste stared after him.

"Erik?"

Erik turned.

"Yes?"

Celeste opened her mouth, but nothing came out again. Her vocal cords were paralized. Finally, her mouth shut again.

"Nothing."

Erik nodded, then turned and left. Even after he was gone, Celeste continued to stare after him.

"Oh Erik…you seem so confused…it baffled you why I couldn't let you go and die…but at the same time, I am baffled…if only I could tell you…why can't I say it…"

Celeste lowered her head, no sound coming from her mouth, but her lips moved, and to Goten, as he watched from behind a door, it was as clear as day.

"I knew it…but what do I do…what can I do?" Goten asked himself as he walked away. Her words had been silent, but Goten could hear them echoing in his head.

I love you.

Vagane chuckled to himself at Erik's destruction of his droid. Now he knew for sure.

"Fools. All of them. Think they've escaped, have they? No one escapes from me…especially not you Failure. I can see it. It began with my gift, and now my actions have escalated it. Now it is time…time for you to break, Failure. Soon…soon…"

The door opened, and then Belinda stepped into the room. She knelt almost immediately.

"Master…it is done. We have extracted the fetuses from the bodies of the two women."

"And?"

"It is a success, my lord. The cells and genetic alterations were a complete success. The two are perfect in every aspect."

"Yessssssss!" Vagane said, clenching a fist. "After so many failures, so many attempts…at last I have bred not one, but two! My destiny is finally at hand! Belinda, transfer them to their chambers and begin maturing them. I want them at full adulthood in three hours, and no more!"

"I will do it, my lord, but what of the women? With the fetuses extracted, they serve no more use. Should we dispose of them?"

Vagane chuckled.

"No…sew them up and keep them alive. I think it would be far more…amusing…to kill them when their loved ones can see it…yes, that would be much more fun. But if their loved ones do not survive…destroy them. And do the same to the two aliens as soon as the Messiah Project is complete."

"Yes, my lord!" Belinda said, and left. Vagane turned back to his screen, smiling in triumph.

"Ah Z Warriors…Legacy…and the pretty thing called Celeste. All so precious to Erik. And that will be his downfall. They think Goku is their problem…if only they knew…Goku is but a means to an end…"

Vagane trailed off into a series of chuckles, the looked up with an insane smile.

"So come, Failure. You will find me and my allies ready and waiting…and you will find that the true nightmare lies not within Goku…but within the ones that will make me the new creation!"

Vagane's insane laughter filled the room, and floated down the hallways, fading as it went down, growing softer and softer, to the point where human ears could no longer hear it.

Eventually it washed over a black metal tube, so faint that only powerful instruments could pick it. As it did, it flew through the tube.

And inside, a small eye opened, and a voice responded.

"Daddy…"

Next Chapter: He Dies!

To Be Continued!

Editor's Note: Sorry Nik Nak, there was kind of a lack of Spike in this one. No worries. Anyway, I know some people might be saying "Hey this is DBZ, not ER!", but I hope that won't be an issue. If people also want to say that the whole situation with Kate sounded far-fetched, I based it on a true story of a friend of mine. Fortunately, his daughter survived. But the baby did not. Blame who you will.

Also, from now on, I'm going to be doing a little in-joke. From each chapter now on, there will be a tribute to one popular anime. That is ANIME, not cartoons. See if you can spot the one in this chapter! As usual, I like long reviews, so please try and leave one. And write on!