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?

5. Last Stand

Chapter 5: Last Stand

"There is greater darkness than the one we fight, it is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos, and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us, we know only that it is always born in pain."

"Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools."

William Faulkner

The blackness was total and absolute, deep in the bowels of the earth, far away from the light of the sun or the artificial light of mankind. Any man who attempted to enter without such light of either kind was either a fool or suicidal, for within the blackness lurked danger and death. Once, long ago, men had tunneled into the earth and ravaged it for its resources, but the earth had gained its revenge throughout time, collapsing stone onto the heads of man and robbing others of their oxygen. Whether men had grown afraid, or simply had found the ground was useless was not known, but they had withdrawn long ago, leaving their holes laced throughout the mountain. Even so, it appeared the cavern still bore a grudge on any humans that dared enter it, without light or maps, and it waited to devour them.

But its desires were futile, and would not come to pass, for the three who walked through the darkness were at one with it. In each their own way, it flowed through their veins and was as much a part of them as the light was. They did not fear being devoured by a vengeful earth.

Their fear was of something far more dangerous then a vengeful earth. And something far more likely to devour them.

Such fear led to caution, as the three slunk through the blackness, like whispers on a breeze and trying to present the illusion of having as much substance as such. Despite all the scanning, they could not be sure if Vagane had posted security precautions down in this tunnel, whether it be to detect or destroy them, and so their pace was slow, one of them standing before the others, head covered by the heavy cloak he wore that enshrouded his whole body. The other two wore the same cloaks, all the better to blend into the shadows and prevent them from being seen by human or mechanical eyes.

The lead man was not worried about the aforementioned darkness. If the earth ever was a sentiant entity of some kind, it would gladly stand aside and let them pass. They were trying to save it, after all. It and all its brothers and sisters, stretching out across an impossible distance beyond space and time. All the same and yet all different, but all worthy to be protected.

No, what worried Erik was not the present, but the future. Despite all they had seen and all Erik had done, only he could truly understand just how insane Vagane was.

No, perhaps that was not correct, even unfair. Erik had seen many kinds of people throughout his life, and even he occasionally thought that the word "crazy" and its hononyms were overextended. Truly crazy people did not go around hacking up people with machetes or planning grand schemes to become the new force of creation or what not. Instead, they mostly sat around and drooled, utterly incapable of looking after themselves. The nature of insanity was a brain, whether by physical, mental, or emotional anguish, to cease to be able to function properly, whether for a time or forever. It made sense that such inability to function would logically be more likely to led to a state where a person would shit him/herself, and not be aware or care about it, rather then commit mass genocide, whether in joy or in delusion.

That came from something far deeper, far harder to grasp and to apply. It came, perhaps, from evil itself. But evil was as hard to define as insanity.

Erik did not want to spend his last moments on earth questioning such things. Whatever they may be, it was clear Vagane had to be stopped.

And for Erik, it was more. He had to learn the truth of some things. Some things he craved more even then Vagane's death.

Little did he know that was exactly what Vagane wanted as well.

And what it would do to him.

It had been roughly eight hours before Erik found himself creeping through the shadows that he had finalized his plan to do so and presented it to the Z Warriors and Legacy. It seemed deceptively simple. Erik and Celeste would go through the tunnel, which Erik had estimated would take about two hours to traverse if they moved as quickly as they could while being careful. Erik estimated it would take another ten minutes to cut through the wall, find the machine, and trash it.

So approximentally two hours after Erik and Celeste had left, The Z Warriors and Legacy would attack Vagane's base. In the ten minutes, Erik had estimated Goku, flush with his newly found arrogance, would show up. Once he found that his ki-blocking machine was no longer working however, everyone would attack head on, holding nothing back. The only wild card in the equation was how long it would take the machine to turn on. Whether it would activate the instant the Z Warriors set foot on the site, or if Goku would activate it and then show up, or he would come out or activate it by remote like last time, or some other factor, Erik didn't know. But he was sure that Goku would underestimate them after last time.

No one spoke up on another possible wild card, which was if Erik would actually be able to make it through the tunnel and easily shut off the machine. They trusted Erik's determination and drive. This was perhaps more personel to him then it could ever be for any of them, and they knew that he wouldn't stop driving towards the goal until he was dead, or the machine was.

But just in case, Erik spoke to the Legacy of back up plans to give Goku the runaround until the machine was gone. As for the situation that Erik would never got to shut it down…no one wanted to think about that.

Erik finished outlining the plan. Bulma and Master Roshi would stay behind at the Capsole Corp and watch from afar. Everyone else would be coming, even Mr. Satan. As the only non-ki using warrior, he could very well be worth his weight in gold. Maybe not against Goku, but one never knew what was around the corner.

As he spoke, Erik had felt the dread rise within him. He had come to the part that he utterly loathed, but it was perhaps the most necessary. It didn't stop him from feeling dirty as he spoke though.

"Now…Goku…I don't know, but I can't help but think that somewhere in that monster using his body he's still there. He was simply too strong to just be winked out of existence like that…but I don't know if he is retrievable. In other words, we may have to accept the fact that Goku is dead. Unless…we have a miracle…I cannot think of any way to bring him back. The Dragon Balls did this to him, and they're gone along with Dende. And it seems that Vagane had continued the poisoning of Goku's mind…" Erik trailed off. He felt his next words would surely damn him to hell. Goku had been such a great man, such an incredible example of why humanity wasn't as damned as Erik thought. He had been the key to Agony's destruction, his inner goodness and ability to love the lone weapon that had annihalated the blasphemous cells of Agony's seemingly unkillable body. He had seen the blood on Erik's hand and still offered his, without a second thought.

To think that he would have to say what he was about to say chilled Erik to his very core. It just…wasn't right, It wasn't fair.

But fate was cruel. Beyond cruel. Unbelievingly cruel. And so it had decided this, it seemed. All Erik could hope was that fate had a twist planned, or he would never be able to shake the terrible betrayal he felt as he spoke.

"The end result…if you can think of something, anything, that is an alternate…use it. But the end result is that he may be gone forever. And with that knowledge…I must ask you all to use lethal force. No, you must promise. Because if you don't…and he's gone…and you hesitate…we're all dead. I need you to promise that you will cut Goku down. I need you to look past all he has done for you, this world, and everything, and kill him, possibly in cold blood. We have no other choice. Under Vagane's control…he'll do the same thing joyfully. I need you to all promise me that you will kill Son Goku."

The Legacy had agreed, along with Vegeta, although there was no relish in his voice. After all Goku had done to him, that surprised Erik.

The rest were harder. All of them had known Goku for so long, some for decades. Some had his blood flowing in his veins. But in the end, they all agreed. They knew.

And they hated it as much as he did.

But they had no choice.

Fate was cruel.

Erik sighed. He longed to take back what he had just made his friends and allies swear to do. But he couldn't. So he moved on to the lone thing that had no effect on the plan…and yet did.

"I have one final thing to say. As you have seen, of all this, despite all he has done to you, Vagane's focal point is me. In a sense, corrupting Goku, taking your wives, mothers, children, killing all those innocent people…its to get to me. But the gravest shot he fired happened before he even came here."

Erik paused. He hadn't told anyone about this, not even Celeste. When Vagane had sent him the package that had included info on how to build the Gateway, he had also sent him something else. Something Erik had craved and hunted for his entire life, something that drove him along with his need to wipe the Corrupt from the earth. Only Erik had seen it, and he had spoken to no one of it.

But he felt that now was the time.

"He told me…something I have wanted to know ever since I began my quest…he told me where Agony came from."

The room was stunned into silence. They couldn't believe it, and even in their deepest subconscious, they could only manage to begin to grasp how grave this was to Erik. Agony had made his life a living hell, and theirs as well. Despite how much he loathed her, all Erik had known was her name. Patricia Delhart. Besides that, nothing else.

But as they looked into his eyes, they saw he knew far more then that now. To think he had had to learn that from Vagane, the man who had twisted and warped his body in his attempt to make him a mindless killing machine…

"I need to know."

Everyone turned to Vegeta, who was now standing.

"After what she did…if Vagane told you…I need to know. I can't go on without not knowing, after what she did to those near and dear to me." Vegeta said. His sentiments were echoed in all the Z Warriors.

Erik almost smirked bitterly.

"Very well. I will tell you."

One of the questions of evil is whether it is innate or just learned. It is impossible to tell, but there are strong cases for both. But anyone who was touched by Agony spent the rest of their lives thinking the former. Such madness and bloodlust could surely not be learned.

The act of conception, sadly, is not always an act of love. Some babies are conceived from the love of two people. Others are conceived from the love of one, or the hormones of two, or even the mistakes of two.

And some are conceived from the dark desires and hatred in the hearts of men and women. Such had been the case of Patricia Delhart.

Patricia's mother, whose name Erik did not know, and like Chastity, one of Erik's closer friends, was a prostitute. But unlike Chastity, who had somehow found a pimp who cared for his girls, and a circle of women who refused to let the street chew them up and spit them out, Miss Delhart was continually browbeaten by a lack of both. Miss Delhart had no self-respect, and would let men do anything to her in exchange for money. She had been raised to seemingly be unable to think she deserved anything more. She was a piece of meat to be used, abused, and eventually crushed underfoot. To never serve a purpose but to be an outlet of others, to be forced to drink the venom of others and like it.

But a mindset like this or not, Mis Delhart was not beyond the impulses of normal humans. If one is continuelly trodden on, one grows angry. But people like Miss Delhart, while they may feel the anger, also cannot do anything about it. They are far too afraid to strike back as those who stomp on them, nor do they feel they have a right to. Instead, they either find scapegoats, or they lock the feelings away to seethe and boil underneath the surface. To be forced to drink the poison of others while being unable to rid yourself of your own inner toxins is terrible, but it is the fate of many people. That's just the way it was.

Until the rape.

Miss Delhart may have let men do anything to her, but she got money in exchange, and they wore a condom, not wanting to catch any foul disease she might have. But one day even that was robbed of her. Erik didn't know the circumstances, except that the man had beaten her horribly to get her to submit, and then raped her and left in lying in the street like the garbage he wholly believed her to be. And instead of money, he left her something else.

His semen, for he had not worn a condom. And the inevitable happened, as Miss Delhart became pregant.

Why the poor woman, so horribly abused, didn't just have an abortion was beyond Erik. Perhaps she couldn't afford it. Perhaps she was too ashamed to admit she had been raped. Perhaps in some corner of her mind, she thought the child would bring her salvation.

Vagane had his own theory. She'd kept the baby because the anger, resentment, and hatred at life was nearing the point where Miss Delhart couldn't keep it inside her any more. She needed a target for her rage, something to beat on like she was beat on, something that couldn't fight back just like she couldn't.

What better then a newborn child?

In any case, her pregnancy soon exiled her from anything but men with the strangest tastes. The last months, if anything, must have been utterly miserable for Miss Delhart. If Vagane was right, it must have only increased the hatred for the child in her womb.

The birth was bad. Miss Delhart wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, which partly explained why she was a prostitute, and thus had no idea when her child was coming until her body was lacked with pain. Her constant use of various drugs and alcohol during the process hadn't helped either. When Miss Delhart finally got to the hospital she nearly had the baby right there in the entranceway. During the chaotic process, the fetus somehow got badly turned around and wound up getting tangled in Miss Delhart's intestines. The birth almost killed her, but eventually she managed to get the baby out.

It was a girl. Miss Delhart named her Patricia.

It didn't take long for Patricia to wind back up at the hospital. While her mother's desire to hurt her was subconscious, the problems of raising a newborn quickly made them come out. If the system worked, the hospital would have taken Patricia away from her mother and she might have never become what she became.

But the system was hopelessly overworked, corrupted, and pretty much useless. And it would prove to be a damnation to humanity, as Patricia wound back in the hospital after her mother shook her half to death because she wouldn't stop crying. Perhaps the worst thing was that when Patricia was brought in, her mother couldn't understand she had done something wrong.

The doctors didn't expect Patricia to live. The infant brain is incredibly fragile, and in the hands of an angry adult it pretty much stands no chance. As Patricia's lifesigns began to nosedive, the doctors prepared to have her mother arrested.

It didn't happen. One second Patricia was on the verge of flatlining, then the light flicked off and then back on, and all her lifesigns were stable. That was enough of a miracle, but it got even bigger when doctors examined her…and didn't find a single injury to her at all. She didn't even have a bruise. It was as if all her injuries had just…vanished.

Erik stopped, looking at the horror on the faces. He knew what they were thinking.

"Coincidentally, on that night, at seemingly about the same time, seven other people died of their injuries or illnesses…just like that."

The room was silent. Erik sighed and turned around.

"I told you that Agony was granted her powers by an evil god-like being named Xaxargas, who had been imprisoned in our planet. However, by the time Patricia was born, the seal was just about over, due to break in 25 years or so. To a being as old as Xaxargas…that must have been minutes. By then, he had probably already begun his plan on how he was going to play with our planet before he destroyed it and the whole universe. With the seal as weak as it probably was, Xaxargas must have been able to manifest himself on earth for short periods of time. I believe this is how he picked his Elite, by coming to them and offering them grand things. I think that somehow, he knew of Patricia long before she was due to exist…probably for years. I think that on the fateful night…he came to her…came into her infant mind…and planted his taint, whispering to her mind of what she could be for him. And then he was gone…but he didn't leave Patricia unaltered. For one brief second, he let her tap into and feed off her own pain, and the pain and anguish of everyone around her…let her taste the power this could grant her even as it healed her injuries…and then he left. Patricia could never have remembered what happened, her mind was far too young to be able to recall it. But his…"gift" was still there…and it manifested itself almost immediately. After they were done checking her, one of the doctors accidentily, or maybe not, dropped his stethoscope. It gave Patricia a good knock on the head. For a baby barely a month old, it would have hurt a lot, and surely started a crying jag. Instead…Patricia giggled."

Everyone was silent.

"On that day…it began. On that day…it began to form within her…and as time went on…Patricia found she was different. She found that when she scuffed her knee, or cut her hand, or bumped her head, she didn't feel bad…she felt good. And if anyone else did likewise…she felt even better."

As mentioned, if the system worked, Patricia never would have been given back to her mother. But the system was hopelessly inept to keep up with the ever multiplying problems of the people who had created it, and with Patricia seemingly no longer hurt at all, there was no evidence that her mother had abused her. So Patricia went back to her mother.

Perhaps the fact that she had nearly been caught in her acts of violence against his child was enough to keep Patricia's mother from repeating her actions…at least at first. Perhaps she had even tried to give Patricia a normal life. But life was not done with its cruelty, and eventually the resentment began to build again, and again Patricia found herself her mother's scapegoat.

It proved to be fatal.

How Vagane had known the next events, Erik did not know. It was events that would have surely only been known to Agony herself. Eventually, Patricia had found her mother once again wanting to take out her rage on life on her. Last time Patricia could be shaken, but this time she was nearly two. So her mother went after her with a knife.

Perhaps if she knew what lurked within her daughter, Miss Delhart would have been wiser to run away screaming. But she didn't.

Thus she didn't stop when her daughter, terrified, stopped at the head of the stairs as if something had compelled her to.

Or noticed that her daughter head cocked as if she was listening to something.

In the end, she only knew her rage.

It proved her undoing, as Patricia suddenly fell to her knees just as her mother reached her. Her mother tripped over her and landed on her own knife as she fell down the stairs. The wound was ugly and cruel…almost as if it had been arranged that it would inflict an injury that would take a while to prove fatal.

It took a long time for Miss Delhart to die…and all the while Patricia was there.

Watching.

Smiling.

Perhaps her death would have been even longer if Miss Delhart had not looked into her daughter's eyes.

Fear can be a powerful stimulant in the process of mortality, and looking into the burning black pits of lust and cruelty that shone out of her daughter's eyes would have scared a grown man to death, much less an injured woman.

Then Miss Delhart was gone.

And the darkness left Patricia's eyes, leaving her only with terrified memories with what she had just done. The presense within her loved it. It was its first true death, and unknowingly, in the process, it had claimed its first soul.

Patricia quickly became a ward of the state…and quickly gathered a reputation for being a curse. Everywhere she went, it seemed that accidents, sometimes terrible ones, followed. No one wanted to befriend or help Patricia. In fact, most would have rather killed her. She terrified them on a level so deep even they weren't fully aware of it.

But it must have been even worse for Patricia. She wanted nothing more then to have friends, companions, and a family. To be loved. But no one wanted to be near her, even adults. And then…there were the bizzare alien feelings she would have whenever someone hurt themselves, or she was hurt herself, feelings of a joy and rapture that horrified her even as it gave her pleasure on levels she couldn't comprehend…a pleasure that seemed to stir something within her, something that begged to be let out, to take control.

Patricia tried to fight it. She spoke of the strange feelings to everyone she could. But no one wanted to help. Kids thought she was crazy, avoiding her even more. Adults thought she was making stuff up, or worse, that she was some suffering from some kind of sadomaschistic mental disorder from seeing her mother die. Even people with experience, psychiatrists and the like, couldn't seem to see into the true nature of Patricia's suffering. They were trained to deal with damaged brains.

What lurked within Patricia, granting her "the gift" of feeling no pain, but being able to feel the pain of others, and take joy in it, was evil itself.

And so it went on for years. Years of lonliness and solitude, of fear and terror of the strangeness that made her kill her mother, that made her feel good when she and others were hurt. For a child, Patricia had a surprisingly strong mind. But the forces pounding against it were relentless.

And then…one day, Patricia made a friend. A girl named Nina dared to reach out to the strange little girl. To Patricia, it must have seemed a godsend. At last, she wasn't alone. At last, she could have someone to share with.

It wasn't a godsend. It was the final step.

Patricia and Nina became inseperable, as close as sisters and perhaps even closer. For a month or so, Patricia had hope.

Then it happened.

The ball shouldn't have bounced into the street. Nina should have been smart enough not to go out after it. The driver of the truck should have been able to stop in time.

Fate wasn't meant to be like that.

The final cruelty was that five tons of 18-wheeler taking an illegal shortcut through a small town should have, at least, immediately crushed the life out of Nina. Instead, she lived on, as terrible agony shot through her ruined body, as Patricia could do nothing but sit, hold her hand, and try and weep.

But she couldn't. She couldn't cry, or sob, or even show any of the grief she wanted to feel. All she could feel…was joy. Total, absolute joy.

Nina died within minutes.

And at the same time, so did Patricia Delhart, as her mind finally shattered under the fact that she could feel nothing but happiness from her friend's death. Broken and defeated, Patricia went down into the darkness within her with a scream no one heard and with grief no one could feel.

And then…she emerged. She had been watching all this time, gathering her strength, feeding off the souls of the dead and the pain of the injured she had caused. Patiently, she had been waiting for Patricia to be unable to resist her anymore, for her time to fully take control of the body she had been given by her lord Xaxargas.

And in the death of Patricia Delhart, Agony was born.

"And after that…there's not much to tell. With Agony now in full control, the deaths around her suddenly went into maximum overdrive. It was utterly baffling to everyone who observed it. Agony killed them of course, but she left no evidence of it. She was careful in that way." Erik noted, his voice bitter. No one else spoke.

"But eventually Agony's thirst for death and pain got to the point where she couldn't keep herself in a normal part of society. So she ran at the age of fourteen. And everywhere she went…she killed. She fed. And even though she didn't know it, at the time anyway, she stole the souls of everyone she murdered. Eventually, Agony came into contact with a cult of some kind. Whatever its original purpose was, Agony quickly changed that, rising to the helm of it with a savagry no one could match. Once under her control, Agony turned all her followers into her own personel tools for killing and continued her murdering ways…and eventually, she came after my family. She killed them…and ruined my body. Vagane did the rest." Erik said, raising his cyborg arm. He stared at it, eyes filled with loathing, and then continued speaking.

"After she was done with me…when Vagane began turning me into his dream of a mindless unstoppable killing machine…she went on, killing everyone she met. She must have commited hundreds of murders a year. But no one could catch her. Despite her total lack of caution, no one seemed able to track her down. It was if she was…protected. And then…Xaxargas was free, And as the Change occurred, Xaxargas came to the woman who was to be his crown jewel, his Herald of Destruction. He was pleased with all she had done for him, and with that, he unlocked her full power. Now not only could Agony feel great joy from her pain and others pain. Now she could feed off of it and draw power beyond imagining. And with that….Agony slaughtered her disiciples,and having been told by her new master that she had all the souls of her victims trapped inside her, she quickly turned her insides into a living hell for all of them. And from there…Xaxargas sent her to me, as his "gift". And the rest is history. You all know what happened afterward."

Goten stared at Erik. If what he said was true…then all the souls Agony had aquired before she had come to his world had been freed when she died…only to be returned to her when Erik had made the wish to alter the timelines. That meant…his family…

"I am not surprised." Vegeta suddenly said, and everyone looked at the saiya-jin, who looked uncommonly solomn. "Normally I would say that to not endure such things makes you weak…but being weak is better then what she was…is. Even I hope I never see her face again."

"You won't Vegeta. Before I came here, knowing that my world would be helpless without me there, I made sure I dealt with her…"

"You killed her?" Goten asked. Erik shook his head.

"I wish. No, what I did was dump her in the middle of the largest desert of my world. Even she, with her unlimited endurance, will take at least a week to walk out of it, and another few days to get through the mountains surrounding the desert. By that time I'll be back…but not before we deal with Vagane. I don't know how he got this information, information which had eluded me ever since I began hunting for her. But if he knew that…maybe, just maybe, he's found out other things. Like a way to kill her. And before he dies, I'm going to find that out. I know how badly so many of you want a piece of him…I do as well. But before he is consigned to his fate, I want to find out if he holds the key to Agony's death. Then I can return to my world and destroy her, so no universe will ever be stained by her presense again."

Again, there was silence.

"That's all. You all remember the plan, I assume. Are there any questions?"

There were none. And after what Erik had revealed, he hadn't expected any.

"Good. We will attack at nightfall. That's roughly four hours from now. Use that time to rest, plot strategy, or whatever you wish to do. Once the time comes…we leave. Don't show up, you get left behind, no matter who you are. We have given Vagane far too much time already. That is all. Pray we live to tell of this."

And so, the Z Warriors and Legacy had found themselves alone with their thoughts. Although all shared a desire to destroy Vagane, all thought differently as well.

Chaozu stood on the railing, long years of martial arts training having honed his balance to perfection, looking out at the soon to be setting sun. His pale face was dark, the bright red spots on his face seemingly dampened by his mood.

The Useless One. That's what people had always thought, No matter how hard he trained, he was always behind everyone else. Perhaps he should be content that he had hit peaks that he had never dreamed of approaching, but that was not like him. If his evil master, long dead, had taught him anything, it was to always strive to be better. It may had been an extension of his desire to outclass and humilate Master Roshi, but Chaozu saw no reason to adapt the theory for his own reasons.

It seemed that as time went on, his lack of use grew larger and larger. Piccolo Daimou had cut him down in seconds. His suicide explosion hadn't hurt Nappa in the slightest. All he could do during the Freiza battle was watch. He was left behind when they had gone to defeat the Andriods, and later Cell. He'd stood by and watched as Majin Buu had wrecked his havoc, unable to do anything, while even Tien had proved to be a little useful, deflecting one lone blast of Buu's to save Gohan. With Taurus, he'd been defeated with hardly an effort on the renegade saiya-jin's part. Garlic Jr, Dr. Wheelo, Slug, Koola, Metal Koola, Androids 13, 14, and 15, Brolly and his clones, Bojack, Janemba, Hildgarn, Agony…he'd been of no help at all.

He'd been mocked for it. Vegeta took particular delight in tearing him apart with words. When he'd been a kid, Goten had even written some silly stories in which various Z Fighters were trying to eat him. Chaozu had laughed at the stories, but deep down they had disturbed him. After all he had done, was he consigned to forever be a joke?

Maybe so.

But he wasn't going to back down. He'd been an emporer once, and he'd cared for his people. He still cared for people, and all he had seen utterly sickened them. Even if he was regarded as useless, he wasn't going to back down. For their sake. Whether it was against Evil Goku, Vagane, or the ghost of Nappa singing "O Solo Mio".

Yes. He may have been the weakest, but he was far from useless. A hug from Celeste for helping her was enough to tell him that.

Who knows? Maybe he would somehow be the one to save the day.

Or maybe not. But he'd go on anyway.

Beside his lifelong friend, Tien was thinking his own thoughts.

How long has it been? Over forty years? It seems like it was just days ago that Goku and I were equals in power, that we fought each other to a standstill at the TB. Then three years later…Goku had grown up, and he defeated me. And ever since then…I've just been falling behind him. Heh, I used to make fun of Krillian being bald and short…now he's stronger then me and he has hair!

Tien shut off the flow of bitterness before it could gain momentum. It didn't help him or anyone to question his worth.

He thought of Lunch, his loving wife, waiting for him back at their home. After Agony, Tien wasn't going to let the battlefield get anywhere near her. He couldn't remember what had happened, indeed, no one who had been killed by Agony could, but the little he had managed to glean horrified him to his very core.

Never again. I won't let her be hurt. That could be her in Vagane's possession, being subjected to inhuman…no. It doesn't matter if Goku had surpassed me on levels I couldn't achieve in a million years. I have people to protect. He may beat me in one punch again, but I won't stop fighting until I drop for good…or he does.

"Neither will I."

Tien looked over at Chaozu, who was still standing on the railing, facing him now. Tien smirked. Of course, Chaozu had ESP.

"No matter what happens Tien…we'll always have each other. In life, death, or anything else."

Tuen smiled and grabbed Chaozu's outstretched hand. He could hear all the silly rumours about him and Chaozu being homosexual lovers in the world, but he wouldn't let it come between them.

Only a true friendship could withstand such.

Whether it could withstand Goku was another story.

William Ward was on his own balcony. He was still wearing his armour, indeed, he had gotten so used to it he rarely took it off any more. His sword was in his hands, providing a useful crutch. William certainly felt like he had a weight on his shoulders.

Xaxargas…pure evil, a demon spawn from the deepest levels of hell…and Goku would seem to have as much power as him, if not greater. Yet Goku…I have heard so much about his great deeds…all the lives he has saved…all the sacrifices he has made…and yet when I saw him all I saw was a life-stealing devil like Xaxargas. My clan worshipped him…and for that he murdered them all. I barely escaped his wrath…and I did the same with Goku. For revenge on what Xaxargas had done to my family and friends…and all the lies he told me…I sworn to uphold honour. I named myself after the act of valiance, and did my best to live up to my title…but will I be doing that if it comes to me to have to strike Goku down? He shrugged off my blade with ease…can I strike him down? Not just in possibility, but in the actual deed?

William frowned. In his name, Ash had struck down Xaxargas for him, standing where he had fallen. And even Ash had looked utterly helpless before Goku. But that was not what bothered him the greatest. He supposed that if fate were willing, a miracle would allow the defeat of Goku, whether in death or not.

No…what bothered him was what Goku had been. Such a great man, a great warrior, everything William aspired to be and more. And yet…now…

A total monster? Or a man imprisoned because of the wish of an evil man? Does Goku still lurk within that death-defying beast I saw? And if I have the chance, by some miracle, to strike him down…knowing that the great man I know of could still be in there…dare I remove him from the world? Do I have a right to?

William sighed and lifted his sword. It was clean, and light gleaned on it as he stared at it.

The possibility…that I could…that I might have to… coat my blade in the blood of a saint and yet a demon…why does fate hoist such decisions apon a mortal man?

Yamcha wasn't on a balcony. He was looking out a window.

I thought I was helpless enough…then Vagane has to rub it in and take away my abilities, as little use as they are. And Goku…I was young, foolish, wanting a piece of the world. I'm sure the real Goku knew…knows that. Erik is surely wrong. Goku must still be in there somewhere. I shouldn't even refer to that imposter in his body as Goku…or should I? Did Goku somehow resent me for what I did all those years ago? Has Vagane merely unleashed all his hidden angers and…no. Goku was not like that. His anger was inflicted apon those with true evil intentions, not those who were misguided or mistaken. Even so…I can't think of anything that will aid me in that knowledge. I can't fight Goku and I can't restore him either. Maybe I am useless. Maybe I should just…

"Hey there handsome."

Yamcha turned to see Chastity standing behind him. He blinked.

"Chastity…" he began, but Chastity put up a hand.

"Yamcha…the fact remains that in a few hours we'll be going off to perhaps the greatest battle of our lives…a battle that one or both of use may not return from. Now, one can spend those last few hours thinking about their role in the matter…and Yamcha, I think that no matter what, we don't know what the future holds for us. So perhaps instead of obssessing over it…we should try and not think about it…maybe have some more…fun."

Although he couldn't believe he did it, Yamcha smirked.

"Oh really?"
"Well…if this is the last night of our lives…we may as well go out with a bang…if you know what I mean, handsome. You know where to find me. I'll be waiting." Chastity said, winking and disappearing around the corner.

Yamcha stared after her.

Huh…after what happened to her…she can look apon the future with optimism…or maybe she's just trying to keep her cynicism at bay with…extracurricular activities. But she has a point. If I'm gonna die…I'd rather die happy!

Brigh lazily tossed one of his daggers up into the air, watching it spiral up and down and then caught it by the hilt. He'd been doing it for the past twenty minutes, and he hadn't had a miss yet.

But he was thinking of a much bigger miss.

I could have kept my business to myself. I could have been a greater thief then Robin Hood. I don't hurt people who don't ask or deserve to be hurt. I don't take stuff from people who can't replace it. But no, I decide to hit on Christine one night and next thing I know I'm fighting for the fate of the world…not like I did much good. Ash did all the big stuff, I just chipped in where I could with some energy and some words of confidence, even thought I thought we were all gonna die. Well, I was wrong there…I'm not so sure now.

Pain suddenly lanced up Brigh's arm, and he looked down to see blood beginning to seep from his palm. He'd finally missed.

And then, suddenly, he began to laugh, as the sheer absurdity of it hit him.

Where can I run to anyway? If the Legacy…my friends, don't come hunting me down for my cowardice, it's only a matter of time before Vagane, or Goku, or someone else comes knocking on my door. No matter how good I am at tossing knives, eventually I'm gonna get cut. Perhaps its best that I have someone to help me bandage those wounds…ok, I'm in! Besides, maybe this will get me in good with Erik, and I won't have to keep looking over my shoulder when he decides that my jobs are bad and he has to stop it…ah who am I kidding, we're probably all gonna die! I wonder if the afterlife has things to steal! HAHAHAHAHAHA…

Krillian was doing pushups, ignoring the burning in his arms, the sweat covering his body, his mind focussed solely on the task at hand. He would be getting a chance at Vagane, the man who had taken his daughter, and he wanted to be at his optimum capacity.

Bastard son of a bitch gonna kill you kill you rip you into tiny little pieces you child-stealing murdering son of a fucking bitch…

"You're gonna have serious competition in that area, Krillian."

Krillian looked up to see his wife, Eighteen, kneeling and looking at him.

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to guess your thoughts by the look on your face. You're thinking of killing Vagane. So am I. But we've got a lot of competition. If Erik doesn't get him first, Vegeta will. Or Gohan. Or Goten. Or maybe even Mr. Satan. There's a lot of people who want him dead, Krillian. Perhaps that's not what you should be focussing on."

Krillian blinked, and then the exhaustion hit him. His wife was right. He'd gone beyond preparing himself and was now exhausting himself, propelled by the incredible murderous feelings flowing through him. He should stop.

Weren't you doing pushups when Marron was being chased by…?

Krillian stopped, leaping to his feet. He sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Why Marron?" Krillian found himself wondering out loud. "WHY! WHY! WHY!"

And then Krillian found himself punching the wall, leaving dents in it as the fury flowed through him. Then he was yanked away by his wife.

"It's ok Krillian. She's all right. I know it. Our daughter is strong. We'll get her back, and then we'll get revenge for her…nothing's gonna stand in my way this time, be it Goku or anything."

"Hell has no fury like a mother scorned." Seventeen suddenly said, appearing out of nowhere. He had apparently been listening in.

The fury was still seething in him, but Krillian finally had enough control to start pushing it down, get it under control. But the second he found a proper target…woe be it.

"Actually, that's woman, Seventeen." Krillian said.

"No, that's what Vegeta calls Bulma." Seventeen replied. Despite his mood, Krillian suddenly snickered at the comment.

"Well, look on the bright side. Maybe if I don't get to kill Vagane, Bulma can finally build that time machine and we can go back in time and kill him again!" Krillian said, giggling crazily. He had to laugh or his anger was going to drive him mad. Eighteen was smiling herself, even though her inner fury was matching Krillian's.

"No, maybe we can get Emma to send his soul back to earth and then we can kill him again!" Eighteen added.

"No! We'll clone him and then we can all have our own Vagane to kill!" Seventeen laughed.

"We'll mass produce Vagane!"

"Charge others to get to kill him!"

"We'll make millions and get revenge at the same time!"

And the man and androids laughed, and that was more soothing to them then any kind of therapy.

And it also put the situation in perspective. They were ready.

Rod was anything but ready. All he could do was stare at the table.

It's strange…I always wanted us to be a family after I seperated from Diana…and yet now, as a group drawn together to defend the world…I seem farther apart from them then ever…

Rod looked over to his ex-wife, who was kneeling in a corner, holding a Rosary necklace and whispering prayers in Latin.

Rod envied her. Partly the reason they had broken up was because Diana had found beliefs that he himself didn't believe in, but in them Diana was at peace in the calm before the storm. Or maybe it was the fact that she wasn't going to fight. Diana knew some attacks, but mostly she served as a healer. It would be the same here. Rod, on the other hand, would be on the front lines, Holocaust blade in hand, ready to die for a world he'd only been in a few days.

Then again…it wasn't just this world. It was his, and god knows how many others. If Vagane somehow…did get the power he craved…no place would be safe.

Rod grimaced. So be it then. His blade was named after one of the greatest acts of human evil ever. It would be only fitting that he would use it to destroy a man who rivaled Hitler in acts of murder and evil.

It was why he called his sword that. The Holocaust had beyond terrible, beyond evil, but by using a blade named after it to save lives…maybe that was an irony that would led to victory.

Then again, Rod mused, as he looked over to his ex-wife as she continued to pray, only god knew.

And soon, Rod knew he might very well be getting to know God.

Buu, in a moment of rarity, wasn't smiling.

It disturbed Mr. Satan on some level. Even when he'd first met Buu, when the obese being was a combination of good and evil, Buu had always been smiling in some way or another, outside of battle anyway.

Fate was strange. The two of them had met when the people of Earth had sent him, their champion, to save him from the destructive rampage Buu's evil side was causing. It was times like those that Mr. Satan had wished he had simply told the truth and not taken the credit for beating Cell. But his common sense had always been crushed by his ego and arrogance, and he'd never said a word. Even after Bojack, he'd kept acting like he was truly the mightiest being on the planet. And people continued to treat him as their hero.

Mr. Satan had known damn well that he couldn't have defeated Buu. But the people didn't know that, and he hadn't planned to back down, although whether it was because of his huge ego or a gained sense of duty, Mr. Satan did not know.

His acts ashamed him now. Instead of dying with honour and taking Buu head on in a futile assault, Mr. Satan had used trickery to try and kill Buu. Buu hadn't been fazed, but his childish mind was unable to see the fact that Mr. Satan seemed to be trying to hurt him.

He should have earned him an eternal enemy. Instead, somehow, it had earned him a friend. Now in his twilight years, Mr. Satan had fully grown to appreciate that, and Buu, seemingly always happy and ready to make friends. He always seemed to be smiling.

Not now. He understood just what he was going up against. He'd fought with his evil half without a second thought to protect his friend, but Goku's power far outstripped Majin Buu. The previous fight with him hadn't even involved Buu, who had dropped Erik and Celeste off after he suddenly lost his power heading towards the battle and then just watched from afar as Goku joyfully played his cruel game with the Z Warriors and Legacy, like a boy holding a magnifying glass to an ant hill.

But he wasn't afraid for himself.

Buu was not like that.

He was afraid for his friends, for Mr. Satan, his daughter Videl, Celeste, and everyone else. He was worried they would get hurt…that they would die, and he would never see them again.

Mr. Satan clenched his fists as memories of his daughter came flooding through him. He didn't care if in terms of pure strength he barely had the power level of Radditz, one of Freiza's henchmen, or Goku's toenail clippings. It was his daughter that was in Vagane's grasp. He was going to get her back, no matter what stood in his or how outclassed he was. And if she had been hurt...or worse…there would be hell to pay.

Buu watched the anger flow through his best friend. And while he continued to worry, his resolve steeled. Things would be made right.

And after all was said and done, perhaps he could smile again.

Lindsay wasn't smiling either.

Of all her teammates, she had always been the one who never took things seriously, always goofing around and playing pranks when everyone else was content on being a Gloomy Gus. Piccolo could be pondering his defeat, Vegeta could be raging over it, Gohan could be sad, it didn't matter, she'd prank them anyway. It drove her teammates nuts, and occassionally it was even called childish or immature. But that didn't matter to Lindsay. It was how she was, and if she wanted to jump up and down while yelling "Jello! Jello!", she'd damn well do it.

But it appeared that the serious nature of the situation, the looming possibility that none of them could escape from this battle with their lives, had infected her as well. Or maybe it was just the fact that despite her (admittingly) great martial arts talent, she had still looked like a child against Goku. She'd tried her best and she hadn't even made a dent, a scratch, a mark, any indication at all.

It was something that could depress the lightest of hearts.

And it wasn't doing her any good.

"I can't just sit around waiting and worrying, I have to do something! Anything." Lindsay muttered, looking around her empty lounge. His eyes fixed on the couch, and once again, the twinkle came back into her eye.

"I know! I'll rummage around under it! Maybe someone dropped a winning lottery ticket, or a free pizza coupon, or something…"Lindsay said as she walked over, lay on her side, and stuck her arm under the furniture.

"OW! Sharp. Ewwww, slimy! AHHH! MOVING!"

Ubuu was doing something he rarely did also, looking in a mirror.

His eyes unblinking, he stared at his reflection, remarking how his unblemished face was so much the opposite of what Ubuu had seen. If it wasn't for Senzu beans and other healing talents, his face would surely be covered with scars, or rotting off. Instead, he was growing into quite a handsome young man. Although his mohawk was starting to annoy him. Maybe he would shave it off and grow his hair out.

Another irony, one to match his face not reflecting his life. He'd originally grown the mohawk because he thought it made him look more like a warrior, and he'd wanted to look as much as a warrior as possible. Image was as much of a problem as power, and Ubuu had wanted to make sure he maximized both before he had gone off to fight in the TB. He needed to, his family and village was depending on him and he had to be utterly sure he was at his optimum state.

He'd thrashed the compition in the pre-lims, but he'd been careful not to get cocky. And it had served him well, as he had found himself staring at Son Goku, his soon to be teacher and sensei, in his first round of the finals.

Despite himself, Ubuu smirked. Staring at Goku and sensing his strength had made him so nervous that he'd frozen, and Goku had had to insult him in order to make him mad enough to fight. The thing was, Goku was utterly terrible at insults.

Hey, your mother wears army boots! Um, you've got a poopy butt! Come and get me poop boy! Your mom's butt is poopy too!

As a kid, it had been enough to rile him up and get him to fight (along with the fact that Goku had kicked him in the face while he said that Ubuu's mother had a "poopy butt"), but if Goku had tried the same thing in this day and age, Ubuu probably would have fallen over laughing. Hell, his retort as a kid had made him laugh later too.

My mother and father do not have poopy butts!

Yes, Goku had meant no harm. He'd merely wanted to test Ubuu's strength, and his impression had been so great that he had decided to train Ubuu, to refine his power and make Ubuu a true mighty warrior, so that they could duel on the battlefield. Goku loved that duel more then anything else, except perhaps his family.

Oh, the times they had shared, the battles and the tests and the adventures. Ubuu had thought his life was going to be boring.

It was anything but…because now, Ubuu was going to face his teacher.

He may have already done it twice, but this time was different. The first time, Ubuu's heart had not truly been in it, and Goku had thrashed him. The second time, Ubuu was fully aware of what he might have to do, only to find the ability to do so taken away from him.

This time…he would be ready. Once and for all.

In some cases, it was inevitable that a student must, or will, eventually surpass his teacher. Indeed, Ubuu had dreamed that one day, he would do just that.

But in his worst nightmares, he hadn't thought it would be this way.

"Sensei…" Ubuu said to himself, putting the mirror down. He had felt his teacher's power, both as the kind great man Ubuu had grown to love and the horrible monster that was in his body, a monster that dared to call itself Son Goku.

Ubuu clenched his fists, and blue power crackled on them.

"Sensei…I will honour you and your memory, even if I have to destroy your body. I think you would want it that way."

While Ubuu pondered over his teacher, another teacher was doing her own pondering.

Angelina sat on a chair, his fingers tracing over the arcane patterns embedded on her staff. Like others, she was pondering her worth.

Once, she'd been a social worker for the Pre-Change organization known as the YMCA. She loved helping kids and teenagers and was glad it was what she did for a living. It was then she had met Ash and Paul.

How different they were then. Ash was in his mid-teens, a lonely boy tormented by many over his lifetime for his seemingly "unacceptable" differences, at least in the class system that existed in public schools, and incredibly angry because of it. Ash loathed the outside world, retreating to his own inner worlds which were far more rich, complex, and rewarding to him then anything the outside world could offer. Ash's message was clear. The Outside world was a cruel place filled with cruel people who lived on the torment of people like him. He'd take his own worlds where he could be a hero and be respected and loved, thankyouverymuch.

Paul wasn't much better. Despite the fact he'd been teased less then Ash, Paul was also a loner, craving love from seemingly impossible places and getting angry when it didn't come true. They'd both been through their own hells. Angie, for that was what they called her, had seen it before.

Slowly, she'd helped them, by being a friend, a mentor, and other things. Slowly, she had tried to help them come out of the shell. Oh the games they would play. Ash and she shared a love of fantasy and they often dragged Paul along for the ride with their AD&D games and other role-playing.

And then the Change occurred, and Angie had found herself asking to be a sorceress. She was never quite sure why she asked for what she did…although she thought that on some level, this would allow her to continue to help Ash and Paul.

Low and behold, it did, as she found the world now resembling something out of her fantasy games, and Ash was a sword-swinging hero on a great adventure. And she'd come along for the ride, aiding Ash, Paul, and everyone else with her powers and magical abilities. She'd even taken down one of Xaxargas's Elite, a dark sorceress known as Necromancer.

And yet…when it was over…it seemed like she had nothing left to do. She'd joined the quest to help Ash and Paul, but in the process of it they'd grown up, and each realized their own dreams. She, on the other hand, really had no idea what to do.

She'd done her best. In memory of the old organization she had once worked for, Angie had founded the Acamy Temple Order of Magic, teaching her skills to others so they could also make use of the power of their new world. She had also begun a relationship with Brigh, but that had ended badly, breaking her heart in the process and making her hesistant to try to go down that road again.

And so her life had gone on, training her pupils and occasionally venturing off with Ash, his new wife, and her other new friends to go on adventures and fight for the side of good and whatnot. It was easy to ignore her feelings of unease in those situations.

Unfortunately, going down those roads had led her, and this situation definitely made her feel ill at ease.

Monsters she could handle, as she had demonstrated quite well when she had first shown up to confront Vagane and co. Goku, on the other hand…

It hadn't been a lot of fun for her. She hadn't been injured, unlike Ash or Lindsay, who had had their bell rung good by Goku. But at least they had gotten to fight. She, on the other hand, had been too close to a ki explosion and been tossed and rattled good. By the time she pulled herself together Erik was already leading a retreat, and she couldn't do much else but climb on.

Would this time be any different? Had she been reduced to the point where Ash and Paul needed her so little she didn't even get to fight?

Well, if that was the case, no matter how much she cared for them, they could both go screw themselves. She'd be damned if she'd just let herself be bowled over.

Besides, as Erik had outlined, if things screwed up, they would need her.

That was all she wanted. In an interesting role reversal, the one who had helped Ash and Paul deal with their incredible need to feel wanted now wanted to be wanted herself.

And after things were said and done, she was sure life would find something else where she was needed.

If she came back alive.

The concept of life was on the forefront of Piccolo's mind, as he floated on the roof of Capsole Corps, legs and arms crossed, head bowed, eyes closed. He wanted to be as thorough in his meditation as possible. It could be the last time he ever got to meditate as a living, breathing being. It could be the last time, period.

Once Piccolo had not understood life. He had been born with the seed of his father's hatred firmly implanted in him, his desire for revenge flowing in Piccolo's veins. The fact that his father was pure evil had meant nothing to Piccolo. He had been charged to bring his wrath apon Goku's head, and he was going to obey. He had seemingly been given life for that sole purpose. If he did not honour it and spend every minute plotting on how to carry it out, it seemed he would cease to exist.

And so he had trained without rest or relaxation for three years, forcing his Namek body to grow up far quicker then it normally would in order to match Son Goku better. He drank, slept, and breathed the thought of Goku's destruction, awaiting the day when he would finally claim the revenge his father had so desired so badly as he died. Finally, the day had arrived.

And he had lost.

He had pulled every single trick in the book and even invented a few new ones, and he had still lost. The whole purpose of his life, a failure. And it had been made even worse by Goku choosing to let him live. Death, at least, would have ended his humiliation at failing at the love purpose he had been created, or so it seemed. In his choice, Goku was being far crueler to Piccolo then he could have ever imagined.

Piccolo had tried to forget the humilation, channeling his rage into even more furious training. Even when he had been forced to accept Son Goku as an ally to battle Garlic Jr, his hatred had never wavered. It was why he had been given life. It was absolute and not to be defied. His life was Son Goku's death.

And then Radditz had come.

Piccolo had thought his humilation was soul-shattering when Goku had defeated him. But the fact that Radditz had taken one of his most powerful blasts without even blinking was infinately worse. Goku, at least, would have had to block to avoid injury. Radditz hadn't even batted an eye.

Despite his loss, Piccolo had believed himself to be the most powerful being on the planet. And suddenly, within seconds, he had been reduced to seemingly nothing, something so small one could barely see it and be even less likely to care about it. His life had been reduced to nothing.

But he wasn't going to stand it, even if he once againt had to enlist Goku's aid. He was going to prove his life had meaning or die trying.

The battle had been long, hard, and beyond painful…but at the very end, it seemed that Fate was finally going to make up for all his humilation. Goku had Radditz held tight, and Piccolo knew that his Makkankosappo would pierce both their hearts. In one fell swoop, he would eliminate the one who had robbed his life of meaning, and the one who had defined his meaning. He would claim the revenge he and his father wanted.

And so he had fired. And so both Radditz and Goku had died.

And Piccolo had felt…nothing.

After all he had been through, Piccolo had dreamed of euphoria beyond imagining, a saitisfaction so great it would seemingly consume him. Instead…there had only been emptiness. And it was not just because Piccolo now knew an even greater enemy was coming. It wasn't because he now had to train the spawn of his worst enemy.

No…it was because he didn't understood why Goku had done what he had done. After how hard he had fought to keep Piccolo from killing him…how hard he had fought to defeat him…Goku had done the equivilant of standing with his arms open and telling Piccolo to blow his head off. He had seemingly given his life up for no reason at all.

Piccolo understood now, but he hadn't understood then. He had felt empty because Goku had not gone down to the blows of a superior warrior. In a sense, he had gone down for the sake of a population who hardly knew of him, of a few people whose lives were semeingly inconsiquental. He had gone down…for love.

It was called sacrifice. And Piccolo had not understood it.

He had tried, as he launched himself into yet another level of intensive training, for himself and for Gohan. He had tried to understand why Goku had done what he had done. And time and time again, he had failed. It frustrated him greatly, almost as much as his frustration that he couldn't become stronger faster.

Then he had started to train Gohan in earnest…and miracle of miracles, he had found the answer in him.

It had come to him in pieces. Despite all Piccolo was doing to him, all the abuse he was heaping on him, Gohan had tried to befriend Piccolo. Gohan couldn't have understood that Piccolo was just doing what he was doing to save his own skin. He'd seen Gohan's power, and he knew he would need it to fight the approaching Nappa and Vegeta. Once they were down (and at that time Piccolo had had no doubt they would go down to his fists), he would blast Gohan in the back without a second thought, deal with Goku once and for all, and then take over the world.

And even so, Gohan had tried to make Piccolo a friend. Piccolo, watching him sleep, had marveled and Gohan's seeming foolishness as night after night went by and Gohan's desire never wavered. Didn't he known who he was? What he had done to his father? What he would do to him as soon as it was all over?

But no, Gohan had never stopped. And Piccolo eventually began to think that even if he had known…nothing would have changed.

And eventually…Piccolo began to understand. This was why Goku had died. So this boy could live. So all people like him could live. Goku had devoted his life to protecting people like his son from people, or beings, like Piccolo. Piccolo had thought Goku's death was empty, a waste.

Instead…it was probably more fulfilling then anything, beyond anything Piccolo could have imagined that he would feel when he defeated Goku.

He was the one who was the waste. For all his power, and all he could do with it…all he cared about was the death of this man.

Surely there was more to life then that.

Even so, Piccolo could not help thinking Goku was still a fool for dying like he had, even as he continued to understand why.

Until he had found himself on the battlefield with Vegeta and Nappa, his offense having proved useless against even the weaker of the two, his glorious power once again shown to be nothing, and his pupil running scared every time the action got near him.

When Nappa had fired that blast at Gohan, he should have let the boy die.

He was useless.

He was weak.

He was the son of his worst enemy. He should have watched his death with relish.

Instead, he had found himself running towards Gohan, placing himself between the boy and the blast, protecting Gohan with his body.

The pain was beyond agonizing, white hot needles ripping through every cell of his body even as they tore his life away. It seemed that Fate had finally excuted it's verdict. Piccolo had been given life to destroy the life of another, and having ultimately failed to do so wholly, Fate was finally taking that life away.

But even as he fell, Piccolo knew that was all wrong. He had been wrong. He had always been wrong.

Life wasn't about the destruction of one man. That led to no fulfillment at all. Life was about an infinate number of possibilities, of futures, of so many things that could happen to one's self.

Goku had known that, and to protect that for Gohan, he had died.

And at last, Piccolo had seen it too. At last he knew.

And as he died…Piccolo had finally felt fufilled. At last he had saitisfaction.

It was ironic. Piccolo had thought he was the greatest curse that would ever exist for Son Goku, and instead Goku had blessed him in ways that Piccolo could never thank him for.

And now…it seemed that things had gone full circle. But at the same time, things had been reversed. Now Piccolo found himself fighting for the future. And Goku…Goku was now tainted by a man who desired destruction more then Piccolo ever could, and was beyond any kind of redemption that could be granted. And he deserved none either.

Piccolo opened his eyes, looking out at the sky. The sun would be setting soon. Soon…it would be time.

He knew he would be able to cut down Son Goku if he had the chance. It was not a matter of power, it was a matter of survival…to ensure that those who died had their revenge for having all their possible futures ripped from them, and for those who still lived not to suffer the same fate.

But…

Goku…such a great man…a great friend…a blessing to anyone he touched.

Piccolo knew that if he had to, he would kill Goku.

But…if Piccolo had to do that, he knew that the emptiness would return. And Piccolo doubted that anything else he could do in his lifetime could fill the void that would be there.

The only empty thing Paul was worrying about was an ammo clip.

The Flatliner had been taken apart and was now spread in front of him in a myraid of pieces. Paul was examining them to make sure no damage had been done to them by absorbing Goku's energy blast. If he was going back into that hellhole, he wanted to make sure absoluetly nothing could go wrong with his weapon. Plus, if it was damaged, his wife Laura would have a fit and make him sleep on the couch for a week.

Paul ceased his examination to think of his wife. He'd been married less then six months, but it seemed like a day. Time passed so quickly when you were with the one you loved.

Yet…Paul often found he wasn't there. He was always off trapizing around the world with Ash and everyone else, protecting those who couldn't protect themselves. It annoyed Paul sometimes, but if he was going to become the future mayor/ruler of Laura's town, Paul figured he should get all the wanderlust out of his body while he was young.

On the other hand…such wanderlust might very well cause him to never see his wife again.

He'd last seen her just before he'd wound up in this world. Her town's scientists had built the Gateway. Paul was sure she was on the other side back in her world, waiting for him and preparing to welcome him home with a kiss. Or maybe a slap. Paul could never tell.

But now…he was going up against a being that rivaled Xaxargas in power and evil.

Paul had fared better then the rest of his allies. He had actually managed to get a bullet through Goku's skin, which had been enough to cause Goku to try and dodge his other bullets. It had certainly impressed Vegeta and co, who were certain that Goku's great power all but rendered his skin bulletproof. Paul didn't know about that, or how his gun had gotten a slug through Goku. His bullets were charged with his power, true, but Goku's power was at least a million times his. Paul hadn't wasted his time thinking that over though. He'd just aimed and fired.

But one thing that the Z Warriors had stressed, especially Gohan, was that it would never happen again. Being shot once was enough for Goku to make sure that it never happened again. Hell, according to Gohan, it shouldn't have happened in the first place. But Paul had pulled it off. Somehow, in Goku's initial concentration on Gotenks, he had dropped his ki guard enough, intent on focussing it into destructive power to bring to bear on the fusion, so that Paul got one shot through. A million to one chance. It would never happen again.

Paul had known they were just warning him to be careful, but he'd also sensed some resentment and condemnation in the warning. But in the end, they were telling him that the decision, if he decided to make it, to shoot bullets at Goku again was the act of a fool.

But what else was he supposed to shoot at him? Goku had shrugged off everything else he had thrown at him without even a scratch. The only thing that had made any impact was that lone bullet. What did they want him to shoot at Goku? Jelly beans? Rubber chickens? Chibi-Usa?

Paul sighed, and started putting the Flatliner back together. He thought of Laura again. She'd built the Flatliner for him, and it had served him well. She was always doing things for him.

Well, he was damn sure gonna do something for her. Even if it was just coming back alive. He could work from there.

In a blur, the Flatliner was back together. Paul loaded some ammo and cocked it with a loud "CHI-CHAK!".

Paul had no intention of dying. And if everyone was saying that his gun would be utterly useless against Goku, well to hell with them.

He was going to see his wife again, and if he had to rain a billion bullets against Goku until one made it through his thick head, he was damn sure gonna do it.

Goten wanted to see his wife too.

Although he did not know it, everyone was thinking about the strangeness of certain things in their lives. Goten was no different. His thoughts went about how he and Marron had gotten together.

Oh, how he and Trunks had teased her as kids and early teens. But it was mostly her fault. She inisisted on tagging along with them and generally being an annoyance in her desire to be a friend of "one of the boys" or whatever her intentions were, Goten had never bothered asking, and so Goten and Trunks had been utterly merciless. While they never tried to actually hurt her feelings (they'd been taught too well for that), they would do their best to bug her or gross her out. Trunks, in particular, had been talented at composing crude and disgusting songs that would never fail to disgust Marron.

But all things must come to an end, and eventually Marron had drifted away from them and found her own friends. Strangely, Goten missed her, as did Trunks. But Trunks had just missed teasing her. Goten had missed Marron period.

Some time had passed, and eventually Marron had come back into his life again. But time truly changed things. Instead of an annoying girl, Marron was now a lovely young woman. However, she was also frail and far too trusting, and Goten, after all he had seen, feared that this would one day get her into trouble. Thus, he had befriended her again, more with the intention of serving of a substatute big brother then anything. People could call him a ladies man, and he had been in those days, but he could care, and after all he had seen, he knew vunerability was exploited by far too many people.

As he predicted, one had eventually found Marron. His real name Goten knew, but he prefered to just call him The Sleaze. After fighting pure evil, Gotne could see bad intentions, and the Sleaze had had them. Goten didn't want to tell Marron how to run her life, but he didn't want her getting hurt either. Thus he'd kep himself at a distance, ready to step in if necessary.

In the end he had had to, when the Sleaze tried to force himself on Marron clearly after Marron was refusing. Marron had tried to fight back, but her father, mother, or friends had never given her any training, and the Sleaze had managed to overpower her. However, he quickly found himself dealing with a very angry Goten. With the Sleaze taken care off, and with a great deal of saitisfaction at that, Goten had let Marron cry on his shoulder.

He hadn't expected to suddenly find them kissing. He's even less expected for Marron to initiate the kiss.

And things had gone from there. The two had grown closer and closer, surving everything, even Goten's bluff that he was giving Marron up to save his own skin when he had fought Agony. The lie had hurt Marron terribly, but it had hurt Goten even worse. Instead of saying the words, he'd wanted to chew them up, spit them out, and stomp on them. But they, in the end, had saved his and Marron's lives by distracting Agony, and Marron had forgiven him for them. Shortly after, they had been married, the ordeal showing Goten that he was ready to devote himself to Marron for life.

Now she was gone, in the hands of Vagane, with him doing god knows what to her, and if what Erik theorized was true, to their unborn child.

Goten bared his teeth in a snarl. Had he earned this somehow? Did he commit some slight that Fate, or Luck, or whatever, was punishing him for?

Had he not appreciated Marron enough?

Had the battlefield tainted him with a curse that he had infected Marron with as well?

Goten didn't know those things, but he knew one thing. Vagane was going to die. Die in pain beyond belief.

And he was going to be smiling.

No.

He was going to be laughing.

Victoria couldn't tell if she wanted to laugh or cry.

She had always loved dragons, the great giant lizards with wings and mystical powers. When the Change had occurred, she had wasted no time in making them a reality, with her at the helm of the largest clan of dragons. Of course, Xaxargas had just created the dragon species so he could laugh as one of his Elite exterminated it. That Elite, a giant brute named Mangle, had done his job well, but eventually he had fallen to Victoria's fangs, claws, and the inner fire all dragons commanded, as well as those of her clan. Then Xaxargas had fallen.

Victoria had come out of that thinking the power of the dragon was the greatest of all. None could compare to it. She even joked she could eat Erik or her brother Ash if they ever fought.

Then she'd met Goku, a man changed by magical artifacts called Dragon Balls, and she'd been crushed.

She hadn't even got to fight him, although after looking at Lindsay she was rather glad of that. Like Angie, she'd been caught by an errant ki explosion, and while she hadn't been knocked senseless, she'd been thrown a fair distance. Not wanting to turn into a dragon from far away and give Goku plenty of time to aim at her much bigger frame, she'd been forced to head back on foot. With the ground being treacherous and the constant shocks from Goku's attacks, by the time she'd gotten back Erik was running up to her and ordering a retreat.

She didn't know whether to sit back and laugh about it, or get angry and sorrowful on how badly she, her brother, her best friend, and all her teammates had been utterly pummeled. She was not used to such abuse.

However, Son Goku would find her nerve would not be lessened. Who cared if he was a member of the mightiest warrior race in the universe, or perhaps anywhere, and that he was the mightiest of that race, the true Legendary Super Saiya-jin? She was a dragon, and got help her, if she could, she was going to make Goku a snack!

Then Victoria smirked. Surely Son Goku wouldn't let himself be eaten. Even if she managed to get him in her mouth, a miracle in itself, he'd probably just punch his way out.

And he probably tasted bad too.

Victoria stood, cracking her knuckles and neck. Well, come what may, she still commanded the power of the dragon, and she had every intention to use it, to the best of her ability.

Son Goku had made wishes on dragons many times. It was time for him to see the power they wielded, and what happened when they were pissed off.

Son Gohan was doubting the power of dragons, or more specifically, the power of Shen Lon.

He remembered it clearly. The day after he'd defeated Cell, when the Dragon Balls had been gathered once more. Once the dead were revived, Krillian had wished for his future wife and brother in law to be human, and Shen Long had been unable to grant it. It was beyond his power.

If Shen Lon had been unable to change Seventeen's and Eighteens's altered flesh back to the normal flesh, like the kind that Gohan had, then surely it could not have completely banished his father to oblivion. He had to be in there, somewhere.

But while Gohan was sure that his father still lived, he was utterly clueless on how to get him back. The only thing he could think of was the Dragon Balls, and they were gone. Vagane had plotted well.

Doubt gave way to despair. Even when utterly furious, he hadn't been able to bring himself to actually hurt his father. Self defense (as good as that had done him) was about as far as he could go. With the Mystic talent, a talent he had neglected due to his rage, Gohan stood the best chance outside of Vegeta of matching his father's power…but what good would it do if he had to kill his father and couldn't?

He had sworn to Erik…but in his heart, he was filled with doubt. Could he murder his own father. He could murder the monster that resided in his father's body with no problem, but the chance that the man who he had held so dear to his heart might still be there, and be condemned to death as well as the inhuman presense that was now pulling the strings…

Gohan felt like crying. His father had tried to give him the killer instinct of a warrior, and his mother had tried to give him the genius of a scholar…and both were utterly useless to him now. He had never felt more helpless.

"I can't do it Dad."

Gohan looked up suddenly to his daughter, who was standing in front of him. She, like him, looked to be on the verge of tears.

"I keep thinking and thinking…and I can't do it. I can't say I will kill Grandfather if I have the chance. I said so back with Erik…and after what he did, I thought I could. I attacked him back at Satan City with no hesitation…but I've been thinking over what Erik said. What is Granddad is still in there? What if he can be freed and we just don't know how? How can I…I can't do it! I can't kill him!"

Gohan stared, looking at the miserable look on his daughter's face. So his feelings were mirroed in her, except hers were even more severe. He sighed.

"Pan…come here." Gohan said, gathering his daughter in his arms. "I know how hard this is. But we have to do anything to free your mother. I know that Grandfather is still in there…I know it. But time is running out. If we don't act…we could all be doomed. So we have to act. And kami forgive us…we may have to kill your grandfather."

"No…" Pan sobbed.

"Pan…I know how much it hurts, and I will claim vengeance on the man who has caused us all this pain…but we have no choice. If it comes down to it…we'll have to kill him."

"But why!?!??!" Pan wailed. For that, Gohan had no answer. Instead, he hugged his daughter tightly.

Vagane…you will suffer…for all the pain you've caused and have yet to cause, for all the lives you've stolen and have yet to steal…I wil take you and your twisted vision and consign it to the fires of oblivion where it rightly belongs! I will send you to damnation, Vagane, and if I can find a way to free my father, and I know there is a way, he'll be by my side when I do it!

Big fight.

"Yeah." Ash said, sitting on his chair and staring at the wall.

Could be our biggest ever.

"Yeah." Ash repeated, his eyes never wavering.

Ok, THAT'S IT! I tried being solemn, but one, it sucks, and two, you are driving me nuts with your broken record act! DO SOMETHING! Scream, cry, laugh, go kiss Chris…did I just say that?

Ash was looking at his sword now, and as the blade spoke, a slight smile crept over his face.

"I do believe that is a first."

Great. Well, the point is Ash, if you're sitting there doubting your power and worth AGAIN, stop it right now or you can go unarmed. Yeah, you were a whiny kid once, but when I met you you sure as hell weren't any more. And while I may see flashes of what Erik decried, I think that those feelings have been locked away and kept under control. You are a hero, Ash. Don't doubt it. Just be prepared to do the duty that comes with it.

"It's not that Soulfire. It's just that…I've been thinking about myself. Not my abilities, myself. What did I want out of life? Two things. I wanted respect from the general populice which I thought was always laughing at me, and I wanted love. I got it. Killing Xaxargas made me a hero, and Christine…it just feels so right with her. It doesn't matter what's going on, everything just feels so right when I'm with her. My dreams…accomplished. I really have nothing else to do. Does this mean my time has come? Am I destined to fall so another hero can come and accomplish what he desires?"

Ah, you are questioning your mortality. You humans.

"Hey Soulfire, you were the one who got blasted. I just got punched. Hard. I can still feel it."

Yeah…well you got knocked down, and you got up again, and you ain't gonna let Goku keep you down…!

"Argh! Ok, I'll stop thinking of depressing things if you stop singing!"

Heh heh heh. Works every time.

"You oughtta do that against Goku. He'll probably keel over and surrender right then and there." Christine said as she came into the room, smiling slightly. Evidently, she had been listening in again.

Ah! I have been spurned! Rejected! I shall…

"Throw yourself into the sea, yeah, go ahead." Ash said, dropping his sword and kicking it under the bed.

Hey! This ain't the sea! It's about 860 miles that way!

"Funny, I don't believe that." Ash said, looking at his wife. Soulfire started to say something else, but then realized Ash's intentions and fell silent.

"Chris…"

Then Christine put her forefinger to Ash's mouth, quieting him.

"Ash, I've never thought about what I would do if I was living the last hours of my life. Know that I thinking about it, there are so many things I want to do, with you and everyone else. But…there's one thing above all. Just hold me."

Ash was silent, but as Christine slipped into his arms, she felt his grip tighten on her protectively and that was all she needed to know.

They stood like that for a long time.

Hey, Bulma needs to hire better help! I don't think this bed was vacumned under since the debut of Pokemon!

Vegeta adjudted his gloves for seemingly the millionth time and continued staring at the wall.

So it had come to this. His final battle against Kakarott…and it was like this. The roles had been reversed. When he'd fought him all those years ago, Kakarott had been the hero defending his planet, and he the savage who wanted nothing more to ravage the Earth, whether or not he got immortality. Now…he was still a savage, in his own mind, all saiya-jins were, but now his priorities had been restructured by life. This planet was inconsiquental, but his family lived on it, and he wasn't going to let it get destroyed while that fact still held.

His family…

Vegeta thought back to Agony. It had been the worst week of his life. He had never truly appreciated what Bulma and his children had grown to mean to him…until they had been taken away by that lunatic bitch. He knew his species would call him weak for such feelings, but if that was the case, then he was weak. That same weakness and grief had allowed him to achieve the SSJ4 state and ultimately destroy Agony for her crimes. And when he'd been reunited with his family, he'd been happier then he'd ever been in his life. He took more joy in them then in any activities he could have had in any other life, whether as ruler of Vegetasei, as a slave of Freiza, or something else.

Yet…once again he was putting his family at risk. Bra and Trunks would be accompanying him to the battlefield, and Bulma would be monitoring it from afar. Vegeta shuddered. Bulma had lost her mind from seeing what Agony had done to Bra/ What if she had to witness a simular brutality, not just to Bra, but to Trunks…or him…?

No.

Without knowing it, Vegeta had found himself up on his feet and walking through the hallways, not knowing where he was heading, and yet knowing better then anything else.

He would not let his son, daughter, and mate…no, wife be hurt again. He was SSJ4 as well as Kakarott. The bastard had singled him out for humilation. He would make sure he paid.

Hell…maybe even a fatal beating would be the thing to bring the "real" Kakarott back. Vegeta smirked. Perhaps the thing he was to face again truly was Kakarott. Perhaps if the gentle, caring nature of the man he had known most of his life returned…Vegeta would start calling him Goku. If Kakarott was what he was to face, he suddenly had a much greater preference for his Earth-give name.

But at the same time…he knew he would cut the saiya-jin down. But not for his revenge. Not to put the final end to the feud between them.

No.

And as the door opened, and Vegeta entered the laboratory, he saw his main reason, as Bulma and Bra looked away from their conversation and Trunks looked up from some notes he was examining.

"Father." Trunks said, as he looked at his father, once again dressed in the chest-plate body armour that he'd worn for so many years. "You're…wearing your old clothes."

Old clothes. How ironic. Old clothes for a new time. A time he would ensure his family had.

Even if it meant his death.

Bra looked on as her father stopped. He appeared to be struggling with something.

Then her eyes widened in shock as her father suddenly hugged her. Trunks was just as surprised as his father did the same to him. Bulma joined the trio in surprised as her husband reached out and held them all together.

"Despite all I have said, or might say, or all that might happen, I just want you to know, that of all the things I've seen and had in life…I treasure you more then anything, and I always will. And I swear…on all my power…we will all come back from this alive, and I will watch you live your lives as I grow old. This is my solemn promise. On my blood, my royalty…and my love. I will make sure you have a future."

The three were silent, as Vegeta broke the hug. Then he smirked with one corner of his mouth.

"Now…let us show Vagane the power of the Briefs family, and of the saiya-jin and human race!"

And in a dark corner, Erik smirked slightly to himself and procceded to leave as he was doing when Vegeta had entered. Perhaps above all of them, of all his teammates, friends, and people he had observed, Vegeta was ready.

Whether it would be enough, Erik did not know.

Celeste was not thinking, for she was asleep.

Unlike Erik, she occassionally needed to rest, and she had decided she had best be totally fresh for the upcoming battle. She needed to be at peace.

But within her head…it was anything but peaceful, as old memories, no longer bound and locked away by the prison of consciousness, came flooding through her, and her ravaged soul was suddenly stirred up into a furious storm.

Little bitch…

Fucking cunt…

Just a tool…

Celeste began to stir in her sleep, as slight noises emerged from her throat, pure sounds of distress and fear. Memories of terrible pain continued to flow through her.

Just my bitch…

Never be anything else…

"No…" Celeste murmured, as her thrashings increased, her hands clenching into tight fists.

Little fuck-bitch…

Worthless…

Should just cut your throat and feed you to the rats, but I doubt they want you either, your little cunt…

Worthless…

Celeste's knuckles whitened.

Little bitch…

Nothing…

Just a tool…

Worthless…

Fuck-bitch…

Nothing more…

Nothing…

Garbage…

Sack of flesh…

Worthless…

Nothing…

NEVER BE ANYTHING BUT WHAT WE WHAT!

"Celeste! Wake up!"

Krillian had passed by the doors and heard moans coming from the room. Quickly discerning that he wasn't interrupting anything, he'd opened the door and found Celeste thrashing on the bed. It was quite obvious she was having a nightmare, and a bad one. Krillian decided she would be happier if she was awake, and had gone to wake her up, shaking her and calling out to her.

Mistake.

Krillian gasped as Celeste suddenly sat up and grabbed him with a grip that was like steel, and before he knew what was happening he was suddenly slammed against the opposite wall so hard it knocked the wind out of him.

Then he felt the cold sharpness against his throat, and he gasped as he looked down and saw Celeste with her daggers stabbed across his neck, pinning him to a wall. She was taller then him and thus had drawn him about a foot off the floor, and the only thing that had kept him from his full weight resting on the daggers's edges was his ability to fly, which had kicked in instinctively to save his life.

"Not your fuck bitch! I'M NOT WORTHLESS! I'M YOUR DESTROYER, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!" Celeste suddenly screamed, and Krillian looked into Celeste's eyes. It was obvious she was still in the grip of the dream.

Krillian, even as he tried to keep his throat and neck from being cut, stared in horror into Celeste's eyes, which were full of anger, hatred, and above all else, a desire for revenge. She wasn't looking at Krillian. She was looking at the images from her past that had torn through her mind.

And then Krillian felt the daggers, crossed over his neck in a V shape, begin to draw tighter, and he realized that the grip of the past was so strong that Celeste might kill him before she snapped out of it.

"No! Celeste! I'm not…!" Krillian panicked, as he felt the blades begin to bite into his neck.

"Kill you. KILL YOU ALL!" Celeste screamed. Krillian finally realized he had no choice and brought up his hands to melt the daggers.

To his shock, his ki didn't do anything, and his panic went into full scale overdrive.

"No! Celeste! Don't!"

Celeste didn't hear Krillian. She was beyond hearing, in the full grip of righteous rage, and she was going to extract her pound of flesh for all that those bastards and bitches had done to her…

"CELESTE! STOP!"

The male voice penetrated through the fog her brain was roiled in, even as Erik ran to her side, grabbed her arms, and forced the daggers away from Krillian. Krillian let out a gasp of relief as the daggers drew away from him, and then Erik yanked them out of the wall. He fell and his knees gave out, as he looked at Erik as he yanked Celeste to face him.

And as he watched, he saw Celeste slowly coming out of the state she had been, the blind murderous rage that had caused her to strike out at him. He felt warmth and reached up to feel blood trickling from the sides of his neck. He'd been lucky. If Erik had been half a second late, Celeste would had cut through both the arteries in his neck, and he'd have most likely bled to death. Taking his hands away, he saw Celeste turn towards him, finally back in control of herself.

"Oh Krillian…oh god I'm so sorry…I…I'm so sorry…please don't hate me…" Celeste said, her voice now filled with realization and pain over what she'd just done.

Krillian didn't know what to say. On one hand, the girl had just tried to kill him. On the other, she had clearly not been herself when she had acted.

Then he saw the look Erik was giving him.

"It's…ok. I understand." Krillian said. Erik had, in his eyes, been asking Krillian to understand, but underneath that look had been one that said "She's hurting badly enough as it is, hurt her any more and I'LL cut your throat". "It was an accident…not your fault." And in the end, it wasn't.

"Go see Diana, she'll fix you up. My apologies that this happened, Krillian. I hope you won't hold a grudge."

"No no." Just an air of caution. Dear kami, I'd hated to be whoever Celeste was seeing me as. Krillian thought as he left the room, holding his neck. Although he didn't want to admit it, he didn't want to be anywhere near Celeste at the moment, and was secretly glad she'd be going after the machine.

Now alone, Erik turned Celeste back to face him. Celeste lowered her head in shame, even as she tried to hold back a tidal wave of feelings. She'd had these dreams before, and she knew what happened. First came pure anger…and then…sorrow. And she wasn't going to show that in front of Erik. I won't…I won't…

"Celeste, don't hold it back."

Celeste looked up.

"I know how much it hurts. Let it out."

Celeste's lower lip began to tremble, and then she began to cry, a torrent of tears as old fears, shames, and cruelties flowed through her.

"Shhhhhh…shhhhhhh…it's ok. It's the past…it can't hurt you any more." Erik said, trying to be soothing as he sat down and let Celeste cry on his shoulder. He knew just what she had been having a nightmare about, and he knew how much it hurt. He knew far too well.

So he continued to hold Celeste as comfortingly as he could, as her body, wracked with sobs, shook in his grip, and her tears moistened the material of his all-black body outfit.

"It's ok. Don't think crying makes you weak. It's ok." Erik continued to whisper, even as he raged inwardly at the people who had done this to Celeste. Celeste continued to cry, holding onto Erik like he was her mother…a mother Erik had failed to save. His first of many crimes against Celeste.

Celeste finally began to run out of steam, but Erik continued to whisper soothingly to her.

"I know…they hurt you…but they're dead. You destroyed all of them…and those who esaped we hunted down and destroyed for their crimes. You avenged yourself. They paid the price for what they did to you. I made sure they suffered ten times what you did." Erik whispered. Celeste drew away from him, wiping away tears, as she looked at Erik, who brushed back her hair.

"I know…but it still…it hurts…"

"I know…I know how much it hurts…but you don't have to cry alone. I'll always be there for you. I swear it. I'll never let you get hurt again. Never. I will protect you from all those who want to hurt you. I let you go once…I'll never do it again. Never. I promise." Erik said, and he meant it. After what he, his arrogance, and neglect had caused to happen to Celeste, he would never let the cruel hearts of men and women touch her again.

Celeste sniffed a few more times as she heard Erik speak, and the feelings flooding through her were suddenly replaced with new ones. Oh Erik…people can call you crazy and a monster all they want, but I know…you've got such a kind, caring heart…and I…I…

And then Celeste found herself leaning forward and up towards Erik, her eyes closing, her actions taking over her thoughts as she drew towards Erik's face.

Erik froze, all his muscles stiffening as Celeste leaned up and towards him. Celeste couldn't find the words, but her body spoke for her.

And then she felt Erik draw away from her, and she opened her eyes to find herself kneeling alone on the bed. Erik was in the doorway, looking back at her.

"Erik…?" Celeste asked, asking two questions at once. Erik looked back…and then turned away.

"I have to go. We're going to attack soon. I have to be ready. Make sure you are too." Erik said, and then he was gone, leaving Celeste alone. She stared after him, wondering if she had done something wrong.

Had she been rejected…or…something else?

And as she knelt there, Goten turned to his brother from where they were watching.

"You see?" Goten said, indicating with his arms. Gohan nodded.

"I think that this might have to be addressed after all…there is definitely something there…and I think for Erik's sake we'll have to confront him. From what I saw…he doesn't seem to want to do it himself, no matter how much he deserves it."

The plan was nice and simple, which was how Goten prefered it. His brother was the brains of the family, and Goten was content to have it that was. If Gohan wanted to sketch out complicated plans, more power to him. In the time frame they had, Goten thought his way would be best.

Confront Erik, point out to him the situation which seemed obvious to everyone but him, and if be, beat him over the head with it until Erik listened or ran off, whichever came first.

He hadn't discussed this plan with his brother, but for once Gohan had agreed to let him do most of the talking. Goten, in his own way, knew Erik better. He'd been there for the hospital scene, which gave him greater insight (and greater worries) into who Erik was.

After hearing Celeste's almost silent and lonely declaration, Goten had done some of his own thinking about Marron when he had spied Erik out of the corner of his eye. Seeing him had reminded Goten of what Celeste had said, and he decided it might be better if he distracted himself away from bad thoughts. He'd follwed Erik until Erik had observed his brother, and when Erik had moved on, Goten had spoken to him. After a brief explanation, made hurried because Goten didn't want to lose Erik, Gohan had agreed to follow Erik as well. Goten had filled Gohan in more along the way, and Gohan said he had noticed some of the same things himself. After the bedroom scene, Goten had decided he was through with the sneaking. Now he was gonna do some talking.

So he and his brother had followed Erik into yet another empty lounge (Goten had never noticed how many lounges Capsole Corp had, but it was a big corperation with lots of employees).

Immediately, Goten was glad he was through with the sneaking.

Erik was standing in the middle of the room, a table near him. He was looking down at the object he was raising up.

It was a modern day six-shooter, the kind police had once carried before it became obsolete. Nevertheless, it was still a gun, and Erik had apparently just finished loading it.

As Goten and Gohan watched in shock, Erik began bringing it up towards his head.

"ERIK, NO!"

Erik paused, the gun held up, as he turned towards the two brothers.

"Oh. Hello Gohan, Goten. I do wish you hadn't followed me, I would have prefered no witnesses in case I fail." Erik said.

"No! Erik, it's not worth it! You can't quit! I know you're strong enough to work through the pain! Don't do it!" Gohan and Goten said practically at once. The out of sync voices degenarated their voices into a confused jumble, but the message was clear.

Then, to their surprise, Erik smirked.

"Oh you two. You think I'm giving in to pain and desperation and commiting suicide? Far from it."

Goten and Gohan calmed down. But the fact that Erik kept the gun raised kept the panic from fading completely.

"Well Erik, if that's not the case, what are you doing?" Gohan asked. Erik chuckled, but there was no joy in it. Only bitterness and mirth.

"Let me just say…it is a test."

"A test?"

"Yes, Goten. As you might have guessed, I have been observing you all, and despite all your individual torments, worries, and fears, you are all ready to go forward, perhaps to certain death. It comforts me, in a way. I am glad to call you friends. You all bear the markings of heros. But…I fear that in our chain, there is a weak link. I think it may be me."

"What? No Erik! You're not weak!" Goten babbled, trying to get Erik to put the gun down. If he was thinking rationally, he would have just gone SSJ and blasted the gun, or used his super speed to grab it. But Goten wasn't thinking rationally, and besides, he didn't know just how fast Erik could be, especially when all he had to do was raise the gun and pull the trigger.

"Maybe not. But I may weaken the team. As you have seen, Goten, everything Vagane does is a way of striking at me. Despite his aloofness, he loathes me. I disgust him. I was to be his greatest weapon, and instead I nearly destroyed him. Becoming a new Creation is one thing, but my destruction is another. And to ensure it, he may do anything. Nothing is beyond him. And I shudder to think what could befall you, my friends…my sister…just for the sake of his revenge. Everyone, in a way, comes through me."

Erik looked down at the gun.

"So…I need to know. I speak of the cruelties of fate, but I have no idea what fate has planned for me. So I have taken this gun to see. Call it Russian Roulette for Fools. The game is usually played with one bullet. I have loaded five."

Gohan and Goten were alike in their looks of disbelief.

"If I am to go with you, then the barrel will land on the lone empty chamber. I will accept the lot and go on. And if not…then Vagane will have lost his prime objective. It may confuse him enough for you to strike him down. Celeste can take out the device by herself, I know it. This is my way of knowing. Can I prevent the possibility of visiting more pain on you because of who I am, or am I bound to go on no matter what?"

"Erik…you don't have to do this! No matter what happens, we won't blame you!"

"Oh, Goten? Will you still think that way if you find your wife dead, or broken beyond repair? Will you think that way, Gohan? Will you think that way if you have to kill your father? Will you feel that way if your brother dies, Goten, or if your daughter dies, Gohan? I do not think ill of you or little of your mental and emotional strength. But sometimes no barriers can hold what emotions bring forth in a person. If I can prevent those emotions…then my death is of no consequence. I need to know if this is the way it is supposed to be. If not…I know you can do it, Goten. Vagane wants me. So I will see if I can deny him that."

Erik began to raise the gun again.

"No! Erik! Your death will just give him what he wants!"
"I doubt it. He wants me to suffer, until I am broken like the ruined child he found. This will be quick and instant. The fact that he was denied all he could do to be may be enough to unhinge him and let you win."

The fact that Erik thought he was helping them by virtually comitting suicide shook Goten. He glanced at his brother, and he could see the same look in his eyes. In a split second, with one look, they knew they would have to switch gears.

"No Erik! You don't have to do this! What about us, your friends?" Gohan said.

"As I told your brother earlier, you may mourn, but you will get over it." Erik said, fixing the barrel against his forehead.

"What about your sister?" Gohan added.

"She has friends and a man who loves her more then anything. She can go on without me." Erik said, as he reached up and spun the barrel around. The slight buzzing noise the barrel made while spinning crashed against Goten like thunder as it came to a stop.

"What about Celeste?" Goten said.

Erik said nothing, as he cocked the hammer back. Goten knew he should have ran forward and tried for the gun. Instead, he found himself screaming.

"ERIK, SHE LOVES YOU!"

The words hit Erik like a series of small blows, his body jerking slightly as he looked back at Goten.

And then he lowered the gun. Goten felt relief flow through him. Erik sighed.

"You think I don't know that?"

The fear exploded through Goten again, as Erik's voice sounded like he was going to bring the gun back up to his head. Finally exploding into action, Goten blasted across the room and yanked the gun out of Erik's hand, slamming it onto the table.

Erik drew away as Gohan came to his brother's side. Erik reached up, rubbing his hand.

"Careful Goten. Mind your strength." Erik said.

Goten stared at Erik, his hands on the table.

"Erik…I've seen it. The way she looks at you, the way she acts when you're around and not around…the way she acted in that bedroom! I thought you were blind, the way you didn't seem to notice it!"

"What seems and what is is quite different, Goten." Erik said, lowering his hand. The fact that moments ago he had been on the verge of blowing his brains out didn't seem to affect him at all. Goten was still shaking slightly. How can he be so cool, so calm? Did he murder his emotions somehow, sparing only those that would aid in his butchery of the wicked and the saving of those he felt were Pure?

"I've known Celeste barely six months. She came out of nowhere. I came to a city and found someone was mimicing my style, killing the wicked, or so it seems. I was not amused. I didn't like copycats, mainly because I did not think that person could truly see those who were beyond redemption and those who still had a chance. So I hunted the person down. Despite their skill, they were still new at what they were doing, and I was able to track them. I expect to find some kind of lunatic. Instead I found Celeste."

"You knew her?" Gohan asked. Erik darkened slightly.

"Yes, but how is not revelant. She was certainly happy to see me. In short, she wanted me to take her under her wing. I refused. I doubted her skills and her abilities. I am happy to say she proved me wrong. She could match me in just about anything, save experience. That, and she saved me from walking into an ambush made me relent and give her a chance."

Erik smirked slightly, the same bitter smirk.

"I never looked back. Celeste and I…we were alike in ways I couldn't believe. We connect on levels I expected no one to ever understand. I always expected to stalk the night alone, and die alone. Suddenly, I had an ally, someone to watch my back and offer a hand when I was down. I actually had…a friend. The Legacy are my friends…but I don't truly know any of them save outside battle and missions. With the exception of Christine, who I later learned was my long lost sister, and Chastity, and occasionally Ash…I never saw any of them outside of missions. My lone friend was the darkness, and justice. And then Celeste came along. It wasn't until I was with her until I learned how lonely the shadows were…and just how lonely I was."

The realization hit Goten like a bolt of lighting. He was a fool for not seeing it before.

"You love her too."

Erik did not answer. Instead he turned away.

Goten cut him off, zipping in front of him.

"Oh no, not again! You aren't running away! I want some answers! Like, if you love her, WHY DID YOU LEAVE? You two should be together back there! Instead, Celeste is still probably sitting on the bed wondering if she did the wrong thing, and you're in here trying to kill yourself!"

"Goten, I wasn't…"

"SCREW YOUR REASONING! THE FACT IS, WHY DID YOU DO WHAT YOU DID!??!?!?!?" Goten roared, getting incredibly frustrated by Erik's masochitic attitude.

"For her sake."

Goten went into a full 180 turn, metaphorically anyway, as his yells of frustration and rage vanished.

"For her sake?"

"Erik, that makes no sense." Gohan added. Erik smirked his his bitter smirk again. He seemed to be doing that a lot.

"Is it?" Erik muttered. "My blood is cursed, infected with a taint of damnation. Anyway who I dare touch, or let touch me…they suffer death, or worse. It began with my family. Did I ever mention I hated my baby sister, Christine, when I was a kid? It was youthful selfishness, because she got so much attention, something I most likely would have grown out of. But that "hatred" didn't extend to my parents and other sisters. I loved them. And lo and behold, Agony slaughtered all but the one I thought I hated. Then Vagane turned me into this before I rebelled and destroyed him and his dream, or so I thought. I spent seven years as a vigilante before the Change occurred. You think I didn't meet anyone during those years? For convience, or by situation, I befriended a few people, from various walks of life. Would you like to know where they are now?"

"Dead." Gohan said, already knowing the answer. Again, the bitter smirk.

"Bravo. I have many many enemies, Gohan, Goten. Vagane and Agony may be the worst, but they are but the tip of the iceberg, the top of the scores of people who want me dead. But I proved to be very slippery. So when they couldn't strike me down, they struck down anyone who had even been associated with me. All the people I dared to befriend, I wound up murdering. No matter how hard I tried to hide any links to people, the truth was invitably realized. Celeste was one of them, but she survived…somehow. But the rest…all dead. All my fault. It continues to this day. Do you know how many people have tried to kill Legacy members to get to me? They have failed because of the power my allies wield, but the attempts will go on until I am dead. Or they all are. I'm working on the latter."

Goten resisted an urge to giggle. Despite his serious and bitter tone, Erik certainly sounded like he was making a joke.

"People went after those I befriended for revenge against me. Even if it was the slightest aquaintance, they killed them anyway. Do you have any idea what would happen if it was revealed to the world I had a woman I loved?"

"But…"

"But nothing. After what I've done to Celeste, after how much I've come to care about her…I can't place that kind of mark on her. I have no right to. I know she loves me…but I can't tell her the same. It will damn her. So…that is the way it must go."

Goten was getting mad again.

"No, it doesn't."

Erik looked over to Goten, apparently planning to offer another rebuttal, but Goten cut him off.

"Erik, you said it. Celeste is as skilled as you are! She can handle just about any threat! And I heard what you said? You said you would protect her. Are you aware in your attempt to keep her from getting hurt, you are hurting her terribly? She's virtually screaming for you to love her, to hold her! Why can't…"

"She may love me, but that won't last. I'll make sure of it. Once that's done, I'll set her off on her own life, so she won't be tainted by me any more…"

Gohan suddenly slammed his hand on the table, cutting off Erik and Goten as he was about to retort.

"There is something more here." Gohan said quietly. "You two will keep running in circles unless I speak up. This goes beyond a need to protect someone you care about, Erik. There is something else more powerful in your determination to keep Celeste from knowing how you feel, despite the knowledge of her feelings. And it's pretty clear to me. Guilt."

Erik was silent. Gohan adjusted his glasses.

"Your body language when Celeste tried to…reach out to you, Erik, was more then a "I can't let her get close" motion. No, it was more along the lines of a "I don't deserve this" motion. You keep talking about what you did to Celeste, Erik. Tell me, what crime in your mind did you commit that you feel you deserve to suffer rather then admit you love her?"

Erik continued to stare, and then he began to chuckle. Once again, only the sound of mirth came from the laugh.

"You are truly quite astute, Gohan. You saw straight to my inner core, my heart of hearts. So, you want to know the truth? Fine. I'll tell you how in the arrogance and foolishness of trying to be a hero, I ruined Celeste."

"Ruined her? Erik…" Goten began. Erik cut him off with a look.

"I failed my family and as penance I was destined to hunt the night alone, until my death. But in my youth I didn't realize this, and I dragged Celeste into it. And in the process, I caused her suffering, torment, and humilation no one should have to endure except the truly wicked. And Celeste was not wicked. She was one of the sweetest little girls I ever met."

"Wait a minute, how old is she?"

"Twenty, but when I met her, she was nine. She didn't have much, since her father ran away the instant he found out that Celeste's mother, Sylvia, was pregnant. But her mother loved her, and she loved her mother, and although they didn't have much money or a lot of the "good things" in life, they were happy, which is more then I can say for a lot of people. They lived a fairly content life. Then Sylvia started dating a man named Donald. Donald seemed to be just the average joe, a numbers cruncher. The two hit it off. Sylvia loved Donald and Celeste liked him too. It looked like they might actually have a complete family. Then it all went to hell. You see, Donald's job wasn't as honest as he said. In reality, he worked for several criminal organizations, including the Mafia. And at the same time, he was stealing from them. They found out. Donald headed for the hills, but not before he managed to give his pursuers the idea that Sylvia was in on it. In reality, she had no idea, but they didn't know that. And what people don't know…can hurt others. A lot."

Look who's talking. Goten thought briefly.

"They went after Sylvia. She didn't know anything about the money, but the men of the people Donald had worked for didn't know that, and by the time they realized it, Donald would be long gone. He'd set Sylvia up as the perfect sacrifical lamb. They took her, thinking Donald cared about her enough that he'd bring back the money. In reality Donald was probably already halfway across the world. Celeste didn't want those men hurting her mother, but she was a little girl, and seeing how they didn't need her, they beat her up and dumped her in an alleyway. Why they didn't just kill her, I don't know. Maybe they had a soft spot. But they still had Sylvia, and the instant they found out she was useless to them she was surely dead. While they might have had qualms about killing a little girl, they certainly didn't have one about adults. So they had Celeste's mother, and Celeste was left crying in an alleyway. Enter I."

Erik ground his teeth slightly.

"Celeste's plight touched me, despite my efforts not to let it, and I swore to her I would get her mother back for her. Here's where I made my first mistake. I should have put her someplace safe, like a hospital or the police. Instead, I brought her with me. Oh, I wasn't an idiot, I didn't drag her onto the battlefield, but I brought her in the vicinity of it because she helped me track down the ones who took her mother. Once I knew, I left Celeste nearby and went on the offense. That's where I made my second, far more terrible mistake. I, Vengeance, at one with the darkness, decided that instead of sneaking in and picking off the kidnappers one by one, I was just going to storm in and ravage the place. I couldn't really help it. I was high on anger at what these men had tried to do to ruin Celeste and Sylvia's happy life. And in the process I ruined it far worse then they ever could."

Erik ground her teeth harder.

"I think the kidnappers had met up with some of their associates for some reason after they'd kidnapped Sylvia, for the number I encountered seemed far too high just to abduct one woman. I went crazy, tearing them all down. But the higher numbers had allowed some to stay with Sylvia, who was trapped on the forth floor of the building the kidnappers were in. One got back to them, and revealed that I was attacking them. I had only been around a few months, but my name had already spread. They panicked, and decided their own lives were better then the money. I'm sure Sylvia had kept insisting she didn't know anything…dear god, if only I'd been quiet about it…"

Erik shook his head, expressing shame to himself.

"When I arrived…the kidnappers were gone…and I found Sylvia, dead in the chair, tied up. They'd shot her in the head just before they'd left. I was so shocked and horrified at my failure that I didn't notice the large number of explosives gathered around her until it was almost too late. Unknown to me, such explosives had been set in the lower levels as well. Apparently, they considered the building expendable if it took me with it. I didn't have any choice but to run. It would have made a great movie scene, as I ran and dove out the window just as the explosives went off. I didn't get too badly hurt…but Celeste…the explosion made her come out of the building across the street I had hidden her in. And she was so shocked that she ran towards the building, just as the lower half exploded. Right in her face."

Oh no…Goten said. He now had an idea where this was going.

"The fact that she wasn't outright killed was a miracle. But she wasn't unscathed. She got a face full of shrapnal, destroying her eyes and nearly frying her brain. I found her crumbled at the other end of the street like a rag doll. She looked so fragile…so damaged…and it was all my fault. I'd failed her and her mother, just like my family. I was so ashamed that all I could do was take her to a hospital and leave her there. I watched her from afar until I was sure she was going to live. At least in a sense. Because when I left, unable to look her in the face, she was in a coma, blind for the rest of her life. My fault. My doing. I tainted her with my damnation."

Erik was silent. So were Gohan and Goten, but eventually the latter spoke up.

"But Erik…she's not blind, is she? I mean, I saw…"

"I was't finished, Goten. The story's just beginning. No, Celeste is not blind. You see, I couldn't forget about her. And eventually, it seemed I stumbled on a way to make it right. Vagane's not the only crazy scientist I've encountered during my life. Another one I encountered, a lunatic named Dr. Fredrick, had created this device that somehow allowed him to switch aspects with another person's body. In other words, he could change it so that if you had an injury, or a deformity, or problems like that, you could literally "switch" that with another person and obtain an uninjured or normal aspect of a human body. He was using it so he could make his body perfect. The only problem was that he was murdering people for their parts. I took care of him, and discovered something interesting. The switching would work on corpses too. So I snuck into the hospital with Fredrick's corpse…and I fixed Celeste. I switched her eyes and the damaged parts of her brain with Fredrick's dead but undamaged optic and cereberal tissue. He didn't need them any more. That's why Celeste has green eyes. Once they were brown, but since I fixed them…they are that brillant green. I think it suits her far more then Fredrick, but enough of him. With her brain fixed, I smashed the device and tossed it and disposed of it and Fredrick's corpse. Then I took Celeste with me. I knew that if a girl with destroyed eyes that everyone knew was most likely not going to wake up suddenly woke up with perfect 20/20 vision, people were going to be rather…unnerved."

Now Gohan resisted the sudden crazy urge to giggle. He didn't think Erik would appreciate it as he unburdened his painful memories.

"Once she woke up, I told her the truth, about everything. I thought she was going to hate me, and I thought that was what I deserved. Instead…while she was terribly sad over her mother…she wanted to stay with me. She wasn't ten years old, and she wanted to come with me, learn my "art". I refused. I had damaged her life enough. She begged and cried, acting like I was a parent who was going to leave, but I didn't relent. I left her at an orphanage, feeling terrible over what I had taken from her and so little I could give her back. I thought that maybe when she grew older she would repress the memories about me and forget about me, or start to hate me. That was my third, final, and gravest mistake. I never knew she would keep me in her heart. Now, I think I should have expected it. I had shown her love and kindness, and having never had that from anyone except her lost mother. I thought that by leaving I would stop the damage. Instead, it had just begun."

Dear kami, if what he says is true, that was the last time he saw Celeste until she came to him years later. What could have happened that would cause him such despair? Goten thought.

"In my own way, I went after revenge for Celeste even as I tried to forget her, as I started a one-man war on that part of the Mafia. But that is another story. In the orphanage, and eventually in foster homes, Celeste began growing up. She was just one kid among many, and no one had time to show her love and affection. But Celeste didn't feel she needed it. She thought I was out there, watching over her, like some kind of guardian. Some guardian I turned out to be. That belief…it began her hell. Her thoughts that eventually I would come back for her…that's where her love began to bloom. But at the same time, she got the idea that I had refused her because she wasn't ready, and she sworn that some day, she would be ready. So she began to prepare herself in various ways, studying certain things in school, and trying to do exercises, like something out of Batman. It must have seemed even sillier because Celeste was once a very frail, willowy girl with very little muscle tone. It was just the way her body had been genetically designed. But she tried to overcome those shortcomings. And on top of that, she gave no reason, She never spoke about me, maintaning the façade that she was just a normal girl with an odd quirk."

Erik sighed.

"The fact that she exercised so much caught the attention of boys, but most in a very bad way. You know how men are with certain things…they think that so-and-so is "theirs" and anyone who is not male is consisted a threat. Eventually, she attracted the attention of a football player named Seth Driggs. Seth came from a wealthy family, one who had spoiled him rotten and made sure nothing could be denied of him. Seth thought that because of this, nothing would happen if he showed Celeste "her place". So he and his group of buddies set out to make sure Celeste knew "her role" as a woman…bastard. He wouldn't have known what being a man was if it jumped up and bit him on the ass."

Just like the Sleaze. They must spawn on damp locker room floors. Goten thought.

"It would have been bad enough if Seth had been direct, but instead, he chose a far more insidious way to prove his point. He approached Celeste as a friend and asked for a date. Celeste was maybe about 14 at this time, and while she most likely still had feelings for me, puberty was most likely confusing those feelings. I suppose she figured that she would date other men until she felt she was "worthy" to be accepted by me. And if bad things happened, hell, she thought I was watching over her, right? I should have been. Instead, I believe I was somewhere in South America, in the midst of taking down a drug cartel."

"What happened?"

"Seth timed it perfectly. He dated Celeste long enough for her to get comfortable with him and his friends, and for Celeste to develop a tenuative trust. Then…one night…he invited her to a party at his place. He said there would be others, but the real plan was just for there to be him and his buddies. Once she was there…he drugged her drink…and then he raped her, and shared her with his friends. Like she was some kind of fucking object to play with. And Celeste couldn't do anything. She was too doped up to resist, but not enough so she couldn't tell what was going on, and to hear what Seth was telling her, that this was her place, a plaything of men and nothing more. Then they dumped her and probably went out celebrating. They'd just taught Celeste "her place", and with the money and power their families had, they were sure they were untouchable. And I'm sure they would have been. You throw money at just about anything, and eventually it will go away. Seth and his goons could have bought off anyone who tried to accuse them. After all, it was their word against hers, a poor orphan, right? But unfortunately, when Celeste recovered, she didn't go to the police. No. She decided she was going to do what I would do instead…if I'd only known I'd affected her that badly…"

"She killed him." Gohan said, and it wasn't a question.

"Nope. First she castrated him, then she killed him. She did me proud there." Erik said with a slight smirk. "Unfortunately, while trying to do what I would do, she was still not me. She got caught. What a spectacle that trial was, but at the time, I was cut off from Western civalization and didn't hear a word of it."

"What happened?"

"She got convicted. It wasn't hard. She couldn't afford any attorney on her own, and Seth's parents, who couldn't have seen what kind of prick their son was if it bit them on the ass, were hell-bent on making Celeste suffer for her "crime". They made sure she got the dumbest, greenest lawyer, and they greased the palms of anyone with influence. She got life in prison, and as a final blow, Seth's parents made sure she went to the hardest, nastiest prison there was, full of true monsters and predators. I'm sure they were content…sons of fucking bitches." Erik said, his hand slowly curling into a fist so tight his knuckles whitened.

"And in there…Celeste went through hell. Despite her efforts, she was still very weak and frail physically. It didn't take long before she became one of the "slaves" of the dominant head of the prison. The whole prison was corrupt anyway, right up the warden. And Celeste began a plaything and punching bag. Any resistance she tried got her horribly beaten, and even if she obeed they beat her anyway. They liked to do stuff like that, when they weren't doing things like raping her anally with a broomstick."

The last part of the sentence hung in the air like a curse. Goten swallowed, the words having suddenly caused his heart to plunge.

"Dear…god…"

"God wasn't there for her. No one was, as Celeste was beaten and raped until she was on the edge of oblivion. Two years of utter torment and suffering, and why? Because she was weak. Because she couldn'' fight back. Slowly, her face was disfigured beyond belief, and her body brew weaker and weaker. But Celeste, despite all the agony, held on by one thing. She held onto me, my image, the idea that some day I would save her. Despite all she suffered, she held onto me…and I was the one who had done this to her in the first place. If I hadn't entered her life…or not tried to act the hero, or just left her alone…it's my fault…all my fault…she never, never should have had to suffer like that and it's all my fault…" Erik trailed off, holding his head in his hands. Gohan wanted to speak up, but found he had no words. It was all becoming clear.

"Eventually though, Celeste became boring to all those who used her for their savage pleasures, and she was scheduled to be disposed of. Like some kind of damn…but before it could happen. Something else happened. The Change. And Xaxargas came to Celeste first, after one of her daily beatings, asking her what she wanted. Can you guess?"
"Retribution."

"Indeed. She asked to be exactly like me, the one who she had held onto during all that time. To know all I knew, on combat, on killing, and on justice. Perhaps Xaxargas would not have granted it if she hadn't added one last thing. She asked that no one else in the prison, her hell, to get a wish. This struck Xaxargas as unique…and he granted it. When the smoke cleared, Celeste no longer had a ruined face or body. She had a strong powerful unscarred figure, a body that crackled with raw power and rage beyond belief. And when people came out to see what had happened, they found her. And she was angry. Beyond angry."

And then, suddenly, Erik smiled, as if he was recalling something that he actually liked.

"It was a slaughter. An utter massacre. The blood ran in rivers and the gore covered everything, as Celeste torn down and tore apart everyone who crossed her path. She left bodies piled everywhere, and their blood soaked her. And as she told me, she loved it. She knew it was right, that it was justice…that it was retribution. That was what she claimed, and that was the name she took. I think that Xaxargas had known this, and had perhaps planned for Celeste to possibly begun one of his Elite down the line. However, he made a mistake. Along with all the powers and abilities that he had given Celeste…my powers and abilities honed from years of training and experience…she had my ability to tell if a person was Pure or Corrupt. There were no Pure souls in that prison, and Celeste had known it. Her job done there, Celeste vanished into the shadows, shadows she now knew were part of her."

And with that, Erik slumped slightly. The emotion of telling Gohan and Goten had charged his body, but the high, for lack of a better word, was ending.

"The rest…is history. While Celeste knew she know knew all that I knew, she also knew that she wasn't experienced in the usage of her new abilities. Her carnage at the prison, which she burned to the ground, had been little more then raw emotion outpouring. She needed to temper and hone her abilities, and use them to develop her own style. And so she spent the next few years doing that, all while watching me as I and my allies eventually defeated Xaxargas. Once he was dead, she finished up her training, and then she came to me. The rest you know."

Erik sighed again.

"I learned all this from her, as she told me, mostly after suffering one of those nightmares. You saw what they do. I knew how much the past can hurt, so once I agreed to take Celeste on as a protogae and realized what she was, I began trying to help her get past it. Her sense of self-worth and confidence had been ground into dust, and slowly I began working on making her realize that she was better then all those who had hurt her. And in the process…we hunted down all those we could find who had hurt Celeste, and we destroyed them for their crimes. Donald, Seth's buddies and his parents, the few who managed to escape Celeste's slaughter…we tracked them all down. A few were given another chance, but the rest…we made them pay. In blood."

No surprise there. Gohan thought.

"But even so…it didn't seem to sate her anger. It's still so strong, so…violent. She keeps it well in check, but should it be unleashed…god help whoever is standing in her way. Her Ruined Soul daggers are forged and composed of that rage, that's why Krillian's ki blast didn't do anything. Those daggers aren't metal, they're fury given form."

"But how…?"

"It's a technique back in my world. Very very difficult. You have to focuss incredible amounts of emotion and infuse it into whatever you want to create. This emotion procedure can create simple things like small bladed weapons…or for more complex things, it can be infused into it to grant it special powers or complexities. Paul's gun is one of such weapons. It was given to him by his love, Laura, and thus her love is infused in it, which is why it never runs out of ammo. It's her love's way of protecting him. But as much as she loves Paul, it took hours of ardous effort to infuse that love into his weapon, and it utterly exhausted her. That was how long she had to focus enough love to be successful. Would you like to know hopw long it took Celeste to forge those daggers from her rage? Less then five minutes."

Gohan and Goten gaped at Erik.

"I see it in your eyes. I think you now have an idea of just how angry she is, deep down inside. But that is more or less under control…but also, she still has those terrible dreams, of the people who did all that to her…and you saw the ultimate result. Under that anger…lies pain and humilation…terrible pain. And it's allmy fault. It's not just because I have to protect her…I don't deserve her love. I made her endure…the most horrible things…all because of what I did, my mistakes. She should cut me down for the crimes I commited against her…not love me. I don't deserve it. I deserve to suffer."

Gohan and Goten were silent, finally understanding why Erik denied both his and Celeste's feelings. It was a terrible situation, made even worst by Erik's seemingly never ending guilt.

But Goten suddenly found himself speaking. Even after all Erik had said, one thing still hung on the forefront of his mind.

"Well Erik…that is a terrible story…I am shocked to my core. I understand how you feel…your feelings of unworthiness…but despite all that, that does not change one thing I saw."

Erik looked at Goten, looking genuningly confused.

"What?"

"SHE TRIED TO KISS YOU!" Goten yelled, slamming his hands down on the table. It creaked from the tremendous impact.

Erik's eyes widened slightly, and before he could say anything, Goten continued.

"You speak and go on and on on how much you made Celeste suffer, how you made mistakes and how much pain they caused her, how you "tainted her", and due to all this you don't deserve to be loved by her. But while you torment yourself over what happened to her, Celeste actually had it happen to her. And she tried to kiss you! Don't you see? If she ever harbored even the faintest trace of a grudge, she long ago forgave you. You keep talking aboyt how she should hate you. SHE DOESN'T! SHE LOVES YOU! She wants you to love her back! She doesn't want to kill you, or hurt you, or anything! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST GIVE HER WHAT SHE WANTS!?!?!?!"

Gohan was floored by his brother's outpouring of words. Either he was taking the whole act of playing matchmaker far too seriously, or there was something more to it.

"He's right Erik. This isn't what Celeste wants. She wants you. No matter what sins you supposedly commited…she wants you. I saw it in her eyes."

"Don't you remember what you said to me just before you left this world the first time, Erik? How life is random, and it is best not to wait because what you love can suddenly be taken from you? How together, one can endure anything? That is what made me propose to Marron, Erik. If you can bring others together…why do you insist on being alone, and hurting in the process."

"Because I have no future." Erik replied quietly. Once again, Goten was struck silent. My god, I'm beginning to think he really was trying to commit suicide.

"Erik, that's…"
"The truth. I told you that because I knew you had a future. You were raised with a family who loved you. You had magical artifacts that could revive the dead. You and your friends would face down any evil that threatened you with all the power you possessed. I knew you would have a future. I, on the other hand…all whom I touch are marked for death, or doomed to die. In my efforts to save people I seemed to hurt those who cared for me. Even if I survive this battle…what about my next one? Or my next one? And what about all those who are willing to hurt others to get to me? I can't subject Celeste to that. She deserves peace and love from a worthy man…not my blood soaked hands and damned soul."

Goten felt like tearing his hair out. What did he have to do, start banging Erik's head against a wall?

"Erik…"

"Don't try to convince me otherwise, and I would appreciate it if you didn't speak of this to anyone. You think I am worthy of her? I can't damn her with my love…nor do I deserve to have it. And I would know better then anyone."

Goten wanted to say and do a million things. He wanted to say that Erik clearly wasn't acting like himself. He wanted to tell Erik that things would be different after the mission ended. He wanted to slap Erik and practically order him to go to Celeste and admit his feelings, instead of keeping them locked away in his undeserved masochistic penance.

It is truly a sad thing when a man, denied of happiness and joy, must warp his own mind to take a twisted kind of happiness from his pain, rather then be denied of it totally. But once one had started doing that, one could very rarely go back. Twisting wires is easy, untwisting them can be nigh-impossible.

But Goten was going to try, even if he had to beat the idea into Erik's head.

But all he planned to say and do was interrupted when a sudden ringing emitted from Erik. He looked down as the small phone extended from his mechanical arm. Gohan and Goten watched as he answered it.

"Yes? Bulma? You did? I see…you're sure? Well, that's a stroke of luck, I hope. I'll be right there." Erik said, before he hung up.

"What was that?"

"Bulma wanted to get in touch with me. Spike and Adam kept talking about this thing…I asked Bulma to see if she could locate a world which had it mentioned. My information panned out. If we're lucky…we might just have one more chance to win. I have to go."

"Erik…"Goten began.

"Goten, and Gohan…I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to help me, and I'm grateful…but at the moment, the point is moot. I have but one goal in mind…whether I am to go forward or not. Perhaps…your interruption was the sign. You two stopping me may be the indication that I am to go on and face Vagane…for whatever happens."

Goten sighed and turned to leave. Gohan did likewise. It was clear he couldn't do anything more.

"But…I have to be sure."

Goten whirled as he heard the buzzing whirling noise again and saw Erik had picked the gun up from the table again, where it had been placed for the whole conversation. Now it was in Erik's hand again, and he was bringing it up.

"ERIK, NO!" Goten screamed, and leapt at Erik. He felt like he was moving through molasses, as Erik brought the hammer back.

"NO!"

Erik squeezed the trigger.

Goten waited for the bang.

CLICK.

Goten stopped in mid-leap. No bullet had emerged. The barrel had actually stopped on the empty chamber.

And while Goten and Gohan stood there, stunned, Erik brought the gun down and looked at it, a slighy chuckle coming from him and eventually evolving into another one of his bitter laughs.

"I guess that proves it. I'm bound by the chains of fate. There is no escape. So be it." Erik laughed, tossing the gun onto the table, turning, and walking out of the room. And just like that, he was gone.

Goten stared after him, trying to turn the events of the last 20 minutes over in his mind.

"Did we just serve any purpose, bro?"

"I like to think we did…but I think we need more. It's like trying to get someone off a drug they're incredibly addicted to…except loving Celeste would do Erik no harm…but he inists on not letting her know. What a paradox."

"It's not right…it's just not right." Goten said. He brought Marron and I together…I should at least keep trying for them…as soon as I get Marron back…and avenge her pain.

"Maybe not…but it is how Erik is. What else can we do?"

"Well…as soon as this is over, and everyone's back, I'm going to lock those two in a room and not let them out until…" Goten trailed off into a sigh. His eyes floated over to the gun.

"That couldn't have happened."

"Hmmm, what?" Gohan said. Goten indicated the gun.

"The odds of it…this had to be some kind of a pschye-up ritual or something. He was just saying he had five bullets in there. It's probably empty, or with just one, at the most. Just trying to prove something to himself. He didn't really think that…"

As his brother was talking, Gohan walked over to the table where Erik had left the weapon. As Goten was finishing, Gohan picked the gun up and snapped the barrel open. Goten fell silent as Gohan did this, and stayed that way as Gohan turned the gun to the side.

Cling-cling-cling-cling-cling.

Goten's eyes widened in shock and horror as he stared at the five bullets that had fallen to the floor.

"Like Erik said…I guess he is bound by the chains of fate…I just hope to kami they won't hang him as well." Gohan said.

Erik knew not of Gohan and Goten's last words about him, but the chains of fate had yet to hang him, nor the black earth he crept inside of had yet to devour him, Neither worried him at the moment. It was just about time.

He had paused only a moment, and kept walking while he recalled everything. With his thoughts had ended his journey, or so Erik thought. He had to be sure.

The two figures drew next to him, and he stopped them with his arms. As well as they knew the dark, Erik was the only one who could actually see IN it, due to an infra-red setting in his cybernetic eye. Using that eye, he began to scan.

He was right. While the mining tunnel continued to lead into the earth and god knows where, he had reached his destination.

He tapped his two companions on the shoulder twice, and they turned with him to the right. Erik brought up his arm. He still wasn't 100 percent sure that Vagane didn't have SOMETHING that would detect him the instant he gave any other indication he was there. The cloaks and their bonds with the shadows had kept him and his companions from being detected so far (or so it seemed), but Erik didn't want to push his luck and add the large amount of noise that would be made when he blasted through the rock and metal to get to Vagane's base.

Erik brought up his arms, his fingers flexed in ready. Despite his thoughts and the need to make sure he wasn't seen or injured during the trip along with his allies, he'd kept a countdown going in his head. And it was on its final numbers.

5…4…3…2…

The fortress of Vagane was as menacing as ever, the various shattered fields of rock on its outskirts doing nothing to eliminate the air of death and menace. Once again, it was silent, as the sun vanished over the horizon, setting for the day.

The air was still.

But the "peace" was false, for at the outskirts lurked men and women who desired only chaos. An irony, since their hearts were not evil, but anger, rage, and the desire for revenge can often do a good impression of such a feeling.

They had been there for some time, those who needed to keep their power levels repressed doing so, and the others merely watching, many of them chomping at the bit to get started.

Inside their heads, the same countdown was going. And zero hour was here.

Erik smirked to himself in the darkness.

"Time's up Vagane."

The silence shattered into madness as several explosions suddenly rocked Vagane's base as the Legacy and Z Warriors emerged from their hiding points and cut loose. They had waited and observed to make sure Vagane had not seen them, until the time had come. Now they were going to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and they forgot the bubble gum.

The Z Warriors were initially on foot, not wanting to find themselves suddenly falling towards the ground if the shield immediately activated as a defense manover. However, the instant they realized that was not true, they took to the air, blasting at various parts of the fortress. It was like ants attacking a St. Benard, but the ants had some serious firepower.

The Legacy stayed on the ground, using high vantage points in order to aim at various parts of the fortress. The only exceptions were Lindsay and Echo, who had immediately transformed and were now strafing the fortress with the Z Fighters, firing incinery flame and boiling acid.

However, the fortress proved to be far from defenseless, as sections opened and weapons slid out. The Z Warriors and Legacy suddenly found themselves being countered by powerful laser beams and machine guns. The latter were no consequence to the Z Warriors, but they gave the Legacy problems as the various members dove for cover. Dodging the blasts, the Z Warriors helped out by blasting every single defensive weapon they could see, and the Legacy helped out by aiming at the weapons that were aimed at the Z Warriors.

Carnage and destruction reigned, and it appeared that the heroes were fully in control of the flames of war.

They had no idea that the flames were being fanned for them.

Vagane watched the destruction on his large monitor. Despite the damage being done to his fortress, he had a cruel smirk on his face.

"So…the flies have come back to the web…go, my spiders…" Vagane said, both as a command and as a whisper to himself, as his eyes stole over to two other camera that showed twin tubes of metal and glass as they crackled with energy.

"My children need nourishment…and so they shall feast…"

A section of the metal wall suddenly bulged and then exploded outward in a spray of shrapnal that blasted across the room, embetting in the other walls. They quiet room was suddenly filled with mettalic noises and shrieks as burnt slags of wall, broken rods of rebar, and a good deal many other material came to rest across the room.

Smoke billowed from the hole.

And then Erik emerged, throwing back the hood of his cloak as his eyes darted around, looking for Valkyries, robots, or defenses of any kind.

He was surpised when he found nothing, but he didn't let his guard down, as his two friends emerged from the hole. Erik turned to them.

"Ok, it might LOOK like we're in the clear, but I severely doubt it. Let's go." Erik said as he pulled the cloak back over his head and crept forward, using the smoke as cover. But eventually it cleared, and Erik removed his hood again.

He almost whistled. The room was huge, at least 500 feet across. But the size was needed, as the lone object that was in the room needed the space.

It was an ugly machine, but Vagane didn't care for looks as long as the machine did its job. It was a twisted creation, with extensions and sparking devices that almost made the shielding device look alive. It was a hideous mechanism.

That didn't matter. Soon it would be a hideous ton of scrap metal.

"Bingo." Erik said.

And then the lights went out.

Chastity leapt off the rock face and did multiple sommersaults on her way down to the ground. She landed perfectly, rising with a grimace on her face.

"Ugh. I've got to stop wearing thongs." Chastity muttered, holding up her hand. A Heavenly Dynamite flame bomb materilized in between her hands and she hurled it at the nearest section of base. It struck and exploded, frying a hole in the wall and whatever was behind it.

Then a blast came down and destroyed the whole section. Chastity glanced up at Trunks, who was moving on to the next section.

"Showoff!" Chastity yelled, shaking her fist at Trunks.

Then a laser cannon popped up next to her.

The next second it was slag.

Goten blew another section to hell and gone, but Vagane's lab was gigantic and all they were ultimately doing were putting a few dents in its main structure. Goten resisted the urge to just wind up and deliver a blast that would blow the whole base to oblivion, but he couldn't. Marron was in there.

Ash was making his way up a rock extension to look down on the battle. There was a slight woosh, and Gohan landed beside him.

"How we doing?"

"Good. It looks like maybe Erik destroyed that device after all."

Cue the diaster…

"Wrong-o."

And then Gohan felt the terrible wrenching feeling rip through him again, and he fell to his knees with a gasp.

"Gohan!" Ash said, kneeling beside him and looking up in shock as the Z Warriors suddenly began falling from the sky, their powers of flight stolen from then again. This time through, they were expecting it, and most landed well. Buu landed the worst, but he was so obese he barely noticed, getting up and smiling at a worried Mr. Satan.

That smile vanished as the voice floated across the air, a mere evil chuckle seemingly as loud as a scream.

"You naughty children." Goku snickered as he floated up from an opening in Vagane's base. Gohan and Goten, although they were apart, shared a gasp. Their father was no longer wearing the orange ki that he never seemed to take off. Now it was night-black, along with his boots and gloves. His eyes almost seemed to glow red as he floated up, arms crossed arrogantly.

"You thought you took us by surprise? Don't make me laugh! Vagane is not a fool! He knew you would be coming, and indeed, you were so pretidable he was able to calculate your moves almost down to the second. Pathetic. Utterly wretched, but what was I to expect from you leechs?"

Ash clenched his teeth, and he and all his teammates shared looks across the battlefield. Erik had been delayed…maybe even…

No, he wouldn't let himself think that way. Erik would come through. Until he…he would have to try and hold the fort.

"GUYS! PLAN B!" Ash screamed. Goku smirked at the yell. To him, it reeked of fear and desperation.

"Plan B? Well, if you're gonna go to Plan B, I'm gonna go to Plan K!" Goku laughed, and then raised his arm.

"K for Kaboom."

The several ki blasts fired in a wide-arcing pattern and the warriors dove for cover as explosions rocked the battlefield. Tien threw himself in front of Chaozu to protect him and found up hurting him anyway as the shockwave smashed him backwards into the mime-like man and sent them both hurling into a rock face, where they slumped, unconscious.

History was repeating itself. And this time, it was playing for keeps.

Erik and his friends were too experienced to be taken by surprise when the lights went out, as they all immediately went into combat positions, their eyes darting around, trying to see through the inky murk. Erik immediately switched to his infra-red.

To his surprise, there were no heat signals coming towards him. Erik switched to motion detectors and again found nothing.

"Need a light, mates?"

And then the room suddenly lit up again, a slow paneling effect that swept past the three and headed towards Vagane's machine.

And as the lights went back on, the ki-blocker suddenly lit up as well as it activated. A terrible grating rumble started coming from the machine, like a monster trying to growl with a mouth full of screws, even as the light continued upward and left the room fully illuminated.

"Enlightening." Spike quipped from where he stood on the machine, leaning on one knee and on his new sword, looking down on the three cloaked people in front of him. "But enough with the bad puns. Welcome to my parlor."

"If this is your parlor, you need a new decorator." Celeste said as she threw back her hood and discarded her cloak, her daggers whipping into her hands. Erik whipped off his own cloak. Spike smirked.

"Oh, we go with the dramatics. Your Tonies are in the mail. So the bitch is back, and she brought her man. How fun." Spike said, as his eyes slid past them and onto the third cloaked figure. "Oh, you brought someone else for me to kill! How nice!"

The conly remaining cloaked figure was still.

" Oh, keeping quiet are we? Well, I do love surprises! Who is it? The thief? Your slut friend? Your baby sister?" Spike chuckled, bringing his new blade up. It was clear that Vagane had improved on the earlier design, as the blade seemed even longer and more barbed. It seemed to scream for there to be bloodshed.

Erik looked back at the third figure, who had not moved. Then he smirked.

"Oh, it's a new friend of mine, Spike. I think you know her well."

And as Erik spoke, the third person lifted up her hands and threw the cloak back.

Spike's look was priceless, as his jaw dropped so far it almost hit the ground. Then his features contorted into his feral vampiric look as he snarled with pure rage and hatred.

"SLAYER!" he hissed, looking at the pretty face in front of him framed by golden blonde hair.

"Said the Vampire to the Slayer." Buffy Summers replied. "Um, something something something, I'm gonna kick your ass."

Erik glanced sideways at Buffy, giving her a wry look for her mutilation of the poem "The Spider and the Fly", which Spike had initially quoted. Buffy shrugged.

"Hey, what do you want? I flunked English."

Spike snarled again and leapt off the machine, falling the thirty or so feet and landing perfectly.

"How the HELL DID YOU GET HERE!?!??!?!?" Spike roared. Buffy smirked.

"Why Spike, I thought you loved surprises." Buffy retorted. Spike looked like he was going to explode, or have a heart attack, which was impossible because he didn't have a beating heart. Instead, he simply muttered a long phrase of syllables to himself that sounded like "Bloody hell", curses in another language, and gratuidous use of the word "fuck".

"How the hell did you get here?" Spike finally managed to spit out again.

"You brought her here, Spike." Erik replied. Spike's eyes widened.

"WHY?" he screamed. "IS THERE SOME BLOODY COSMIC LAW THAT SAYS THAT EVERYWHERE I GO, SHE HAS TO HOUND ME? EVEN WHEN I CROSS DIMENSIONAL BARRIERS!?!?!? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!??!?!?!" Spike wailed. He looked to cut loose any second and start banging his head on the machine. "HOW!?!?!?!?"

"Well Spike, you see, when you fought Celeste, you mentioned someone called "The Slayer" a few times. Adam did the same to Celeste and me. So, I figured that this "Slayer" might have been one of your enemies, and hence possibly a strong ally for us, seeing how people like you always put down those who oppose you as weak, even though you lose every time."

"I DID NOT LOSE EVERY TIME!"

"Uh, yeah you did Spike. I was kinda there." Buffy said. Spike slapped his face into his palm and muttered into it.

"However Spike, while we knew about this so-called Slayer, we had no idea where it was, seeing how we had no idea which world you came from. All we could do was play a multiverse game of pull a number from the hat and see if that place had anything called a Slayer. I thought for sure we'd never find anything though…" Erik said, chuckling, looking over at Buffy. "We hit pay dirt on our fifth try. I still can't believe we were that lucky."

Spike continued to growl, but he appeared to be calming down.

"So lemme get this straight. In twelve hours, you were able to find where Betty over there was, AND convince her to come along with you?"

"No, actually, it took a few days. Apparently times flows differently in different dimensions, or realms, I don't really know the specifics, I flunked science too. But when I finally decided to trust Chris, we arrived in here a minute after Chris had left. And it's BUFFY, Spike."

"Whatever. This proves it. Life hates me." Spike moaned.

"Life hates YOU? I thought I had finally gotten a break! You and Adam just up and vanished! Finally, my main headaches were gone! I could actually do something beside slay vampires, like shop, and be with friends, and shop some more, and study…nah, forget that one. But no! I'm just getting warmed up when this girl comes up to me and says "Hey your missing villians are causing trouble in our universe, and they're sided with a guy whose gonna become a god among gods and wipe out everything in existence so he can create his own perfect life, will you give us a hand?" Do you have any idea how to say no to something like that? Do you have any idea how ANNOYING it is to NOT be able to say no to something like that?" Buffy mock-complained, although Erik sensed a hint of truth in it. However, Buffy's sense of duty when it came to evil far outweighed his selfish desires, which is why Erik already liked her so much.

"OH SHUT UP! I've got the market cornered on bitching here!" Spike shot back. "This ruins everything! I had it all planned! I was gonna get all those new fancy powers Vagane promised me and then I was gonna home, use those powers to kill you, ressurrect you so I could do it again a different way, repeat that about a thousand times, go get drunk, then come back and do it another thousand times! ARGH!" Spike cursed.

"Yeah, well life's a bitch." Celeste said.

"And then you die." Buffy added.

Erik just smirked.

"You fool. You think Vagane was going to carry through on his promises to you? Adam maybe, but not you. You're just easily manipulated muscle. He sent you down here because he expects you to die."

Spike smirked.

"Oh really. Then Vagane must be an idiot. I always thought he had too many wires crossed to really be a genius, what with his constant ramblings and all. Screw his powers. I don't need them. He's already given me everything I need right here."

And with that Spike reached up and yanked off his leather jacket, tossing it aside to reveal his clothing underneath it.

It was certainly a new look for him.

The jeans and dark shirt was gone, replaced with a seamless full-black body outfit that covered virtually every part of Spike, not including his head. It almost looked shiny in places, as light reflected off it and his sword as he raised it. Almost as on cue, electrricty suddenly crackled on the ki-blocking machine that loomed behind Spike, giving him the appearance of great power.

"Check it out, Betty. Do you know what this is? This is a…well I forget the name Vagane gave it, it had way too many big words for my taste. Let's just call it my Butt-Kicking suit. Vagane took the gloves I used on Won't Die over there, and expanded them to cover my whole body. Increased strength and jumping ability was good, but this little beauty not only does that, it also triples my speed, reaction time and endurance. And it's all I need to beat you."

"All that? Gee Spike, maybe you should have invested in a suit that increased your intelligence!" Buffy replied. Spike's good mood expression vanished in another snarl of rage, and he brought his sword down.

"Oh yes! I forgot one last thing this suit has!" Spike yelled as he brought up his hand and pointed as the three. "LASER FINGERS!"

Erik's eyes widened as the tip of Spike's finger glowed.

"MOVE!" he yelled as a concentrated beam of burning light blasted from Spike's finger at the three. Celeste dove to one side and Erik and Buffy leapt to another as the beam raked past them and tore across the wall. The beam traced a glowing line across the metal and then the line exploded, blasting small shards of metal sharpnal across the room. Spike stared at the wall, amazed that the lasers had done that.

"Hey, he didn't tell me it did that! Cool!" Spike said, and turned to Buffy, who was struggling to get out of the cloak. Spike aimed and fired again, and Buffy leapt aside again, tossing the cloak off of her at the same time. The beam caught the cloak and it burst into flame as Buffy rolled and leapt to her feet. She was wearing black pants of some unknown fabric which appeared to be quite flexable, and a blue shirt.

No sooner had Buffy regained her feet when she found Spike pointing at her again.

"Pity. I didn't think it would be this quick." Spike said, and fired again.

And then Buffy leapt forward.

Spike's jaw nearly hit the ground again as Buffy jumped at him. He knew she had strong legs, but she was at least forty feet away from him. The fact that she had just leapt the whole distance towards him while going nearly ten feet off the ground when she went towards him shocked the hell ever out of him. It was like she was on the moon. As Buffy twisted and spun over his back as she headed back to earth, Spike twisted his head to follow her as he managed to get out three words.

"WHAT-THE-FUCK?"

And then Buffy's leg snapped out and Spike found himself airborne as Buffy used her momentum to deliver a cracking mid-air roundhouse kick right across Spike's face. Spike flew across the room and slammed into the wall so hard he nearly left a dent, and even with his cyber-cloth armour it still shook him. He slid to the ground, nearly falling to his knees as he resisted the urge to grab his back. Buffy had landed on her feet, looking very pleased with herself. Erik and Celeste looked at Buffy and then back at Spike.

"Ok. I have lots of really bad memories about Betty here, but I DON'T RECALL HER BEING ABLE TO DO THAT! WHO GAVE HER THE STEROIDS!?! AND THE PILLS OF CONCENTRATED GRASSHOPPER ESSENSE!?!" Spike half yelled and half babbled. Erik smirked.

"There's more differences between worlds then how time flows, Spike. There's differences in power too. Despite all the supernatural forces in your world, I found out that Buffy's world has very strict limits on how strong people can be. However…this world doesn't have those limits. The bar of how powerful a human can become here is set much much higher then in Buffy's world, and yours. In her world, Buffy is at the virtual peak of what she can do. Here…she's barely just begun."

Spike gaped at the trio. If what they were saying was true…

"It amazed me how much we were able to teach her in the short time we had before we left. I think that if we'd had another few hours to spare Buffy would have been able to adapt to this world enough to be flying around and throwing ki blasts. But I hardly think she's complaining. Unlike you, who was too stupid to realize that you could probably do what she was doing as well, instead of having Vagane play dressup with you." Celeste added.

Now Spike was REALLY pissed. The fact that the Slayer was here drove him crazy. The fact that she was being backed up by the Bitch Who Just Wouldn't Die and her boyfriend drove him even crazier. But the fact that on top of that, they had actually managed to teach her how to become even more powerful via this worlds's higher limits or whatever that shit was…that was too bloody much.

But Spike had a great way of therapy: blow stuff up. Starting with the three people in front of him.

Erik and Celeste dove out of the way as Spike blasted twin laser beams at them; apparently he had cannons on all his primary fingers. Buffy dove towards Spike in a tight roll, springing up in front of him. Spike's eyes widened and then Buffy smashed him across the face with a right hook.

Spike reeled before the blow. Buffy could hit hard enough before, he knew that far too well. But with the higher limits imposed, she could hit even harder, with the end result that Spike's jaw was nearly torn off. Buffy comboed it into a left hook and a right roundhouse kick, staggering Spike some more, but he managed to block her follow-up side kick and punch back, knocking Buffy backwards with a slight yell of pain. She might be able to hit harder, but so could he.

With a yell, Spike locked his grip on his sword and swung high and wide. It worked on Buffy about as well as it worked on Celeste, as Buffy ducked under the blow and and swung at the same time, slamming her right leg against Spike's ankles. Spike lost his balance and began to fall forward, and then Buffy snapped her left leg up, slamming her ankle into Spike's nose and sending him crashing backwards into the wall behind him. In a blur, Buffy spun up to her feet as a wooden stake materilized in her hand, and then she thrust it forward into Spike's chest.

The stake snapped off. Spike smirked at Buffy's look of surprise.

"Oh please Buff, give me SOME credit. When I had the suit made I was sure it was above all else, woodproof."

And with that Spike belted Buffy in the chest and Buffy found herself airborne. She spun in the air and landed, only to find Spike already in her face. She ducked under a punch and blocked a knee blow, even though it sent jagged lances of pain down her arms. She countered with an elbow to the stomach, dodged a punch, and smashed Spike with three of her own. Clearly annoyed, Spike slashed at her and then stabbed when he missed, and as Buffy moved to block he spun and kicked in the direction she moved in, sending her down with another slight yell. Spike spun the sword in his hand, throughly enjoying his new abilities.

"Where's your partners when you need them?" Spike mocked.

"PIERCING STRIKE!"

"RAVEN'S BEAK!"

"Oh bloody hell." Spike cursed as he saw the twin blasts head at him, and threw up his arms as they struck him. The wind blast tossed Buffy's hair as she got to her feet, smirking slightly. Once this was over, she had to learn how to do a few of those.

The smoke cleared to reveal a woozy Spike, reeling slightly as his outfit smoked.

"I liked it better when I didn't know where you were. Me and my big…"

Spike never got to finish as Buffy leapt forward with a cracking jab and comboed it into a leaping thrust kick, sending Spike flying across the room as his sword spiraled out of his hand. He slammed against the ki-blocking machine and bounced off of it via a self-imposed riccochet. He glowered at Buffy again, and brought up his fingers.

Then Erik slammed into him from behind, sending him stumbling forward. Celeste suddenly materilized from out of nowhere and snapped her foot up, sending Spike's snapping backwards. Spike snarled as the two drew in front of him, Celeste with her daggers and Erik with his clawed hand.

"Man, I bet you could drop a safe on your kids and they won't even get a scratch." Spike growled, as his sword suddenly slid into his hand and he attacked the two. He ducked under an Erik slash and blocked Celeste's daggers with his sword as he thrust his leg out and kicked Erik in the side, then spun and backhanded Celeste. Erik switched styles and snapped his claws back in as he engaged Spike in a martial arts duel. The two engaged in a series of blocks, dodges, and blows that would have wowed even the most seasoned veterans.

Spike, surprisingly, got the better of Erik, catching his left arm with his sword and ripping open a jagged cut before he nailed Erik with a backwards heel kick. He heard a whirl and ducked as Celeste's dagger slashed over his head, embedding itself in the metal of the machine.

"Give it up, girl! I learned all your moves from last time!" Spike taunted.

Celeste said nothing. Instead, she feinted to the right, and when Spike fell for it, she snapped up her right left and slammed it with every ounce of strength she had square in his testicles.

"Apperently you didn't learn from that one." Celeste replied, and then Erik was by her side. Spike, his hands instinctively clutched in a certain spot, was left wide open for their combined punch, which they slammed squarely between his eyes.

Spike flew backwards, slamming into the machine again. Erik glanced at Buffy as she came to their side.

"Wood was a bust. He made that suit imperveous to it." Buffy said.

"So what else kills vampires?" Erik asked.

"Um, lessee…fire, decapitation, holy water, listening to Yoko Ono…no wait, that's who killed the Beatles…"

"Got any holy water?" Celeste asked. Buffy made a motion at her outfit that said "Does it LOOK like I'm carrying any holy water?"

"I don't suppose either of you happened to be annointed by the Church." Buffy asked. Now it was Erik and Celeste's turn to give the "Gee, you THINK?" look.

"Okey dokey, we're down to fire or decapitation." Buffy said.

"HA! Good luck!" Spike said, pointing at his neck. "I made sure this stuff covers my whole neck. Good luck getting metal through it!"

Indeed, the cyber-cloth armour Spike wore covered his whole neck.

"Great, he had to get the turtleneck design." Buffy pouted.

"I guess we're down to fire." Celeste said, glancing at Erik. Erik smirked and brought up his right arm, and there was a series of whirring noises as his arm reformed and refitted itself into a large barrel.

"Chemical, or au natural?" Erik asked.

"Let's go with the classics." Buffy said.

"Your wish is my command." Erik said.

"It's also my cue to RUN!" Spike yelled, as he realized Erik had a built in flamethrower. Glancing left, right, then up, he decided to head up and leapt backwards, pernching himself on the front of the ki blocker.

Only to find himself staring at Erik's barrel already pointed there.
"Made ya move!" Erik quipped in an annoying little-kid voice, and fired a gigantic stream of flame at Spike.

"OH BLOODY HELL!" Spike screamed before he was engulfed, as Erik thouroughly hosed down the whole front of the machine with scorching fire. Smoke billowed everywhere, and Buffy and Celeste began to cough as Erik finally let up.

"Toasty." Erik quipped, as the flamethrower formed back into his mechanical arm.

Then laughter suddenly issued forth from the smoke, and as it cleared, all three of the people gaped as Spike was revealed, totally unharmed. The machine wasn't even scorched.

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention that this machine is shielded from you people! Only I can actually touch it, without serious pain anyway. So you can forget about throwing any of your special energy fireworks at it, because it won't do a damn thing!" Spike crowed, throughly enjoying his little one-upmanship on the three. In Erik's head, desperation began to set in. How could Vagane have set the machine up to be shielded unless they had known…?

He'd been a fool. He should have realized that the second he'd seen Spike in here. No, he should have realized it long ago. Vagane would never be taken by surpise by such a plan.

Erik wondered with horror was was going on top. If he couldn't even touch the machine…

No. I'll find a way. Hang on guys…I'll find a way around this!

What was going on up top was something Erik would have throughly enjoyed if the situation was reversed. However, the fact that it was Goku blasting away at his former friends and taking great delight in it was not joy, but utter terror.

Goku had struck a terrible blow early on, as he'd aimed right for Diana and Ash had used himself as a shield to protect his mother, hurting himself badly. With Ash down, the Legacy had been thrown into disarray and scattered by another spray of ki blasts. With them removed as a threat, Goku had concentrated on the Z Warriors, toying with them like a cat toys with a mouse.

"Oh come on guys! I just want to play!" Goku said as he fired ki blast after ki blast at the Z Warriors as they scrambled amongst the rocky outcropping. Twice, Vegeta had nearly gotten himself killed by cursing out "Kakarott" and giving away his position. He had only been saved the second time because William had attacked Goku from behind at the same time Goku had fired his blast and had thus missed. Annoyed, Goku had blitzed William with several punches and then hurled him across the rocky outcropping. He landed on and did not move, his armour shattered, scorched, and smoking.

"This is ridiculous! How are we supposed to fight him? He's shrugged off everything we've done with a smile!" Chastity said in disbelief as she watched Goku fire, almost lazily, into a fleeing group of Z Warriors. Yamcha went down, and Krillian quickly followed as he tried to protect his wife and got smashed because of it.

"This is just too easy!" Goku yelled, and turning around, he aimed at another group of the Z Warriors as they futively tried to find cover.

"AAYYYAAAHHHHHHH!" Buu screamed as he charged and rammed himself head first into Goku's back. Goku didn't even flinch, as he turned around with a cruel smirk. Buu gasped, but he didn't give up, firing off a storm of futile punches against Goku's face and chest.

That ended when Goku grabbed the being by the small extension on the top of his head and yanked him up.

"You have flexiable flesh, right?" Goku said, and as if he had immediately gotten impatient with Buu's answer, yanked the extension, pulling it long. Buu screamed as Goku did the same with his face, twisting it into a variety of interesting new shapes.

"HA! Picasso, eat your heart out!" Goku said as he continued his torment. Then he yelled as Buu sudenly reared back and spat right in his eyes.

"Ok, have it your way." Goku growled as he wiped the saliva away, and bringing back his leg, he slammed it as hard as he could into Buu's chest. Buu flew off into the sky with a cry of pain and fear, disappearing into the distance.

"BUU!" Mr. Satan cried as he watched his best friend get brutalized. Then fear exploded in his heart as Goku turned around in response to the cry.

"Oh, you wish to join him? Very well, just let me calculate the angle I need to BLOW YOU TO HELL AFTER HIM!" Goku yelled as he brought his hands to the side. Mr. Satan was rooted to the spot as Goku began charging up.

Videl I'm sorry I failed you…

Then Goku's concentration was broken as a large length of black stone was broken over his head. Goku slowly turned to look at Piccolo, who stood there, holding the stump in his hands and breathing heavily. Mr. Satan took his oppourtunity and ran, heading off in the direction Buu had gone.

"You." Goku said, and then smirked. "Oh poor Piccolo. Created to kill me and yet after all this time you still fail. And yet…this futile assault? What is the point?" Goku asked.

Piccolo's gazed never wavered, and he never let the fear show in his eyes.

"For life." He said. Goku smirked cruelly.

"For life? Very well. For life…at the cost of yours."

And then Goku raised his hand and fired the ki blast into Piccolo's chest at point black range. Piccolo felt himself flying backwards, felt his cloak shredding and his turban flying off his head as it burst into flame, felt the scream tear from his throat and the blood flow from his wound, and felt his body hit the rock behind him and slide to the ground as the darkness began to close in on him.

"At least…I die…fufilled…Goku…" Piccolo spat out as blood trickled from his mouth. "Will you…be able…to say the same?"

Goku's face contorted in rage, and he brought his hand up to blast Piccolo into oblivion.

Then a foot smashed into his face, and Goku's concentration was again broken as he turned to see Ubbu, standing in a battle stance. Piccolo smiled, and then went limp.

"Ah, my failure." Goku said. Ubuu was not rattled.

"Your failure, maybe, but not my sensei's. He taught me to never stand down and never give up, no matter who or what odds you face. And by that, I know you are not him. You will never be him. It only breaks my heart that your destruction will result in his as well. I pray he will forgive me in whatever heaven he has earned. HAVE AT YOU!" Ubuu screamed, and attacked.

Goku blurred to the side as Ubuu tried to punch him, reappearing near him with the same cruel grin on his face. Ubuu dashed and swung low, snapping his arm up in an uppercut. The blow went right through Goku as he blurred away, leaving an after image that held the same cruel grin until it vanished. Ubuu's eyes darted around as Goku blurred around him, not even bothering to attack.

Ubuu leapt at one of the images with a thrust kick, missing once again. Goku reappeared right next to Goku, forever smiling that cruel smile, and Ubuu leapt upward in a sommersault kick. Once again he missed, as Goku blurred around behind him. Spinning on his heel as he turned, Ubuu used every single drop of power he had as he brought up his fists and slammed them against Goku's chest. For once, he had not blurred away.

It didn't matter, as the blow didn't have any affect. Ubuu stood there, panting, not knowing what else to do.

Then Goku's hand snapped out and seized Ubuu by the throat, lifting him up before him as he laughed.

"MY destruction? You think you could destroy me, you little gnat? What did I ever see in you? Well, now I shall make you what I see in you now. NOTHING!"

And the ki exploded upward from above Ubuu, enveloping him and Goku's arm in burning energy. Ubuu screamed at the power lanced through him, burning him on the outside, inside, and everywhere else.

And then with a quick jerk and heave, Goku reared back and tossed Ubuu's smoking body off into the disance. The body never moved as it flew off, descending to whatever fate it might have.

"I grow bored in smoking them out. Maybe there's another way…yes…this should be more amusing."

Goku flew up and blurred away, and the various Z Warriors and Legacy members who were still conscious looked around to try and figure out where he had gone.

Then there was a yell, and then Goku reappeared, floating in the sky above the scarred battlefield where he had staked his dominance.

In his right hand he held Trunks by the back of his neck, his fingers squeezing hard enough to keep his hold on the young hybrid, even as Trunks fought furiously to get free, although there was nowhere else to go but down, and yet not hard enough to cause the young man to pass out.

"BROTHER!" Bra cried, but that was all she got to do as Vegeta pounced on his daughter and yanked her down before Goku could pinpoint the sound.

"Be quiet Bra! If he sees us he'll kill us!"
"But Trunks…!"
"I know!" Vegeta hissed. Bra might have though him uncaring, but the fear Bra had for Trunks Vegeta had tenfold. But that wouldn't help him at all. He cursed his lack of options. Why was fate being so cruel?

"I'm tired of going around chasing you people! So either you come out right now or…need I say more?" Goku smirked, indicating the squirming Trunks.

No one emerged, not even Vegeta, although it tore his heart to shreds to do so. Goku made a noise of slight surprise. The nature of the hero was to listen when the "bad guy" like him had this kind of advantage, but apparently everyone left had enough coldness in their hearts not to listen.

He'd fix that.

"No one? Huh. That doesn't make me happy."

And then Goku reached over and grabbed Trunks's right arm, and then he broke it as violently as he could. Trunks screamed to the heavens. Vegeta felt his heart being torn into ribbons.

"Same thing!…..No? Fine by me!" Goku said, and then broke Trunks's left arm. Trunks screamed and started to cry as the bone tore through the skin. Vegeta wanted to inflict fates beyond human comprehension on Goku by this point, but somehow, he found the strength to stay down and out of sight.

"You know, there are over 200 bones in the human body and I know how to break all of them so I can be up here a long time!" Goku yelled, as Trunks cried in his arms. "No one?"

Goku kicked Trunks in his left leg, snapping the bone in two places. Trunks screamed again.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Goku catcalled, and kicked Trunks in his right leg. More snapping and more screams.

"You know, I'm beginning to think your friends and family have either suddenly gone deaf, or stupid. Well, I've broken the four major bones, let's get to work on something harder. I know! How about your pelvis…" Goku snickered as he balled his fist up.

"STOP IT!"

Goku craned his head, expecting to see Vegeta. He was a bit surprised when he saw Ash instead. He'd thought he'd blown him to hell.

Apparently, he hadn't tried hard enough. Couldn't his mother heal people? His wife too? That might explain why he was know standing and looking fresh.

Well, he would fix that. If he wanted to offer himself as a sacrificial lamb instead of Vegeta, more power (and pain) to him. It annoyed him that they were making him kill them in the wrong order, but it all ended up the same anyway.

Goku opened his hand, letting Trunks drop the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Vegeta dashed from the shadows and caught his badly injured son as Goku and Ash stared each other down. Goku licked his lips. He would enjoy this.

Spike was enjoying himself too.

He'd finally gotten the upper hand after Erik had failed to fry him, after he seperated them with another blast from his lasers and gone after Celeste. She's fought back fiercely, but Spike had learned her style and knew that she was prone to making a mistake. Once she had, he'd gone after her with a vengeance and then thrown her into Erik when he'd come to help. With them down, Spike was focussing on Buffy. Once he crippled her, he could finish off the other two, and then have some well-deserved fun with her.

Buffy dodged to the side as Spike stabbed his sword at her head and thrust a kick into his side. Spike felt it but didn't let up, counter with his own punch and kick that sent Buffy staggering backwards. Spike fired a shot at her but she leapt backwards a few dozen feet and Spike just fried a molten crator in the floor. Spike looked up where Buffy was standing, the gigantic ki machine looming behind her. Vagane hadn't set the shield to block her, but there was nothing she could do to shut it off.

Spike smirked and aimed four of his fingers at Buffy.

And then Erik rammed into him from behind, sending his shots wide as Buffy dove out of the way. The four blasts struck the front of the machine and exploded, blowing metal parts everywhere.

Spike didn't have time to realize he'd just blasted the machine himself, because Erik spun him around and belted him with his metal arm, causing stars to explode in Spike's vision. Erik then knee him in the gut, smashed a right hook across his face, and then a leaping hook kick. Spike staggered, and Erik grabbed his sword arm and tried to get the blade out of Spike's hand.

Spike snarled and slammed his fist into Erik's exposed side, driving the wind out of him, and then grabbed Erik by the neck and hurled him backwards twenty feet. Erik landed badly and bounced another dozen feet along the metal floor. Spike aimed his lasers at him.

"HEY!"

Spike turned his head to Celeste's voice as she raised her fist above her head.

"WORLD….BREAKING!" Celeste yelled, as black energy beams poured from within her fingers, and then she slammed her fist into the ground. Spike gaped as energy suddenly exploded along the ground towards him, a large crackling black ball of power tearing up from the floor and blazing at him.

Spike leapt upward and threw up his arms as the ball reached where he had been and exploded, blasting Spike with blistering heat and force even though he had avoided a direct impact.

As Spike flew backwards, though, his pain was just beginning, as Erik turned and leapt up against the nearest wall, and then riccochet up and off that wall towards the ceiling. As Spike the apex of his trip through the air, Erik shoved himself off the ceiling at an angle and shot at Spike, cracking him across the face with a downward arching dash punch. Spike was send shooting downward, and then Buffy leapt up into the air and kicked his falling body in the back, sending him crashing face first into the same wall Erik had bounced off of.

Spike hit the ground as the three gathered in front of him.

"Wanna do a simultaneous pose?" Celeste joked.

"What? No, Celeste, do you have any idea how corny that would be?" Erik replied.

Spike's scream interrupted the trio as he stood up, blood leaking from his mouth and from a cut on his forehead. He looked mad enough to explode.

"DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And then Spike dropped his sword as he aimed all his lasers at the group, and again they had to scatter as Spike went utterly crazy with his beams, shooting them all over the room and everywhere as he tried to hit the three.

He had more luck with his random patterning then with any of his aimed shots, as Celeste cried out as a beam burned her right leg. She fell to the ground clutching the wound, and Spike aimed all his beams at her as she tried to get up.

"Block this." Spike hissed, and fired eight simultaneous beams at Celeste as she tried to get up. Her eyes widened.

Then Erik threw himself in front of her, his arms crossed as he tried to get his shield out.

Too late.

The beams were devastating, blowing Erik backward and across the whole room. His left arm badly burned, he crumbled to the ground, trying to recover.

"Heh! Not a bad secondary prize!" Spike said, and aimed at Celeste again.

Buffy's fist broke several of his teeth as she attacked him from the side. Spike screamed, and then Buffy leapt up and off the wall, kicking Spike across the side of his face. Spike snarled and went into a fury of slashes that Buffy dodged until her back was against the wall. She ducked under the final stab as the sword buried itself in the wall, and then thrust her leg into Spike's gut. Spike stumbled backwards and backflipped a few times to regain his bearings, and the blocked Buffy's kick and follow up punches. Grabbing one arm, he twisted it and pinned her hand, and then did the same with her other arm when she tried to punch with it. Both arms locked in his grip, he began to headbutt her repeatly.

"How do you like this, Slayer? Huh? HUH?" Spike yelled as he slammed the crown of his skull against Buffy's face again.

Buffy's counter shocked the hell out of him, for as he drew back his head to deliver another blow, she suddenly thrust forward with her own headbutt, breaking his nose as he lost his grip.

Snarling, Spike swung at Buffy, and she dodged to the side and nailed with a left jab. She followed it with a right hook, a thrust kick, and a cartwheel kick, knocking Spike down onto the ground. She tried to slam her heel into his back, but Spike shoved himself up and away, flipping back to his feet.

Buffy got right back in his face, knowing he couldn't zap her with his lasers if she was there. She jabbed at his stomach, but Spike blocked it. She followed it up with a cross to the chest, but Spike blocked that as well. Buffy whirled and Spike ducked under her roundhouse and follow up backwards heel kick, before rearing back his fist and punching her in the solar plexus.

Buffy gasped as her air was driven out of her, and Spike smashed her across the face, then swung his hand back and backhanded her. Buffy drove her elbow into his face in retaliation, and Spike yelled as she hit his already broken nose. Buffy went for a heart punch, but Spike grabbed her arm and locked it in between his two arms. With Buffy's side wide open, he drove his knee into her stomach as hard as he could, and then with a yell, grabbed her and hurled her across the room.

Buffy spun from the throw and hit the wall back first while upside down with a thunderous impact. She crumpled down to the ground, nearly landing on her head in the process, and didn't move. Spike smiled through a mouth full of blood.

"Who's da man?" Spike quipped.

Then he screamed as the dagger slammed into his shoulder, piercing right through the cyber-cloth. The scream was more anger then pain though, as he turned to Celeste, who was standing on one leg, the right one still having trouble supporting her weight.

"Not you." Celeste said.

"YOU BITCH!" Spike screamed as he yanked the dagger out. He thrust out his hand and the sword yanked out of the wall and flew into his hand. "I'M REALLY GONNA ENJOY THIS!"

And then Spike charged at Celeste, who set her stance and waited to block his sword as Spike swung it up.

And then Spike was gone, as he suddenly leapt upward and over Celeste at an angle. Hitting the wall, he bounced off of it and threw himself up into the air and over Celeste as she snapped her head to try and find him. Now above Celeste, Spike gripped the sword with both hands and plunged down at her.

"DODGE IT THIS TIME BITCH!"

"Celeste!" Erik yelled as Spike bore down at her from above. With her injured leg, Celeste would never be able to dodge in time.

"Celeste!" Buffy yelled at the same time.

"DIE!!!!!!!!!!" Spike screamed.

And as the sword loomed at her, Celeste suddenly raised her hands.

"SUPREME RISING RAGE FLASH!"

And then Celeste slammed her hands down and four black bolts of lighting exploded up and around her, twisting upward over her in a spiral pattern.

"WHAT?" Spike yelled as he saw the blast zap upward from around Celeste.

And then it struck him, and Spike was blasted across the room in a black crackling blur, slamming into the ground and bouncing off of it as the energy continued to course through him, making his body jerk and twitch as he tried to get up.

"Bloody motherfucking…" Spike cursed, as he tried to get his suit back to normal. But it refused to obey, and he fought to gain control over it again. Erik blinked.

"Electricity…it damaged the suit…" Erik said, looking around the room.

His eyes fell on the damaged section of the ki-blocking machine. Spike's blasts had lacked the power to destroy the machine or seriously damage it, but he had managed to tear off a section of the armoured front to expose the outside of the innards, so to speak. Inside the hole, one could see various strange mechanisms sparking and moving as they continued to power the machine.

One could also see many electrical wires, some severed and some still intact, sending off flashes of light and crackling energy.

Erik looked at Buffy, who was looking at him. In a glance they exchanged information. She knew as well.

That was all they got to do, as Spike had finally managed to get the scrambled signals of his suit flowing again, and had decided to vent by once again trying to blow stuff up.

Erik ducked as the lasers seared over him, blasting the wall. He heard a groaning noise and looked up just as a badly damaged section of the wall, weakened by the laser blasts and the force of the battle, finally gave up the ghost and fell apart.

"SHIT!" Erik cursed, and then he was buried in debris.

Buffy watched in horror, and then she heard a cry of despair and fear issue from Celeste as she saw it too.

It had the desired effect. Celeste dropped her guard.

Spike raised his sword and tossed it up into the air, and suddenly the hilt seemed to come apart, as pieces of metal broke off and flew at Celeste. Celeste gasped in surprise and then was thrown backwards as the metal pieces slammed against her wrist and carried her backwards right into the wall.

As Spike caught his sword by the now smaller hilt, Celeste hit the wall and felt the metal pieces clamp over her wrists and shackle them against the wall. So the pieces were manacles.

Celeste struggled to get free and cried out as the metal cut into her wrists, the edges razor sharp. Blood began to flow down her arms as Spike approached. She tried to kick him, but the metal only bit deeper into her wrists when she attempted to move. As more blood flowed down her arm, Spike smiled as his features finally became human again.

"Now, if I remember correctly…I owe you a painful and very bloody death."

Celeste's eyes widened as Spike brought up his sword, and she began to struggle furiously. But all she managed to do was cut her wrists open more. Spike licked his lip at the blood now flowing down Celeste's arms and advanced, a cruel smirk on his face.

Goku also wore a cruel smirk as he looked down at Ash. He couldn't believe the boy wanted to go another round after what had happened to him last time. Didn't he understand just how much stronger he was?

"So, you finally listened. You must have a death wish, boy. The follies of being a hero. I am so glad I no longer have to follow that code of ethics."

You probably couldn't have read them anyway, you dunce.

Goku smirked again at the Soulfire's comments.

"You claim to be a hero is folly? Well Goku, you will find that in the end, no matter how long it takes…we are the winners." Ash said

Goku laughed.

"Oh PLEASE! Don't tell me you believe in that whole "good always wins over evil" fairytale crap!" Goku howled, before looking down at Ash, the same smirk plastered on his face. "But if that's true, well by gosh, you must surely be able to defeat me! Go ahead, boy! I'll give you another freebie! HIT ME!"

Ash gritted his teeth, then raise the Soulfire.

"ECLIPSE…" Ash said as he slowly spun his sword around him in a wide circle. "…EYE!"

If one had watched closely, one could have sworn that you almost saw the faint image of an eye opening around Ash before he thrust his sword down and held it before him, and blue energy exploded into being and lanced at Goku, a blast the size of a motorcycle.

Goku didn't move as the blast hit him and exploded, blasting a huge smoke cloud in the sky. Panting from the effort, Ash looked at smoke, hoping against hope.

The smoke cleared to reveal Goku, unaffected and still wearing that godforsaken smirk.

"Please. You call that an attack?" Goku mocked.

And then suddenly, Ash smirked.

"No. I call it a distraction."

Goku's eyes widened slightly. What…?
"ANGIE!" Ash screamed, and down below, out of sight, Angelina completed the last few motions of her spell, the spell she had been charging up for.

"By the power of the Acamy Temple…maybe your black soul be entombed within an ever growing glacier!"

And then Angie thrust her hands up and screamed, and above him, Goku suddenly felt the temperature drop dramatically. He barely had time to register it as frost suddenly sprouted on his hands, arms, legs, and chest, and then suddenly ice began freezing all over him. He roared and charged up his aura, and the ice began to melt. Sweat broke out on Angie's brow as she continued to cast the spell, but Goku was melting the ice faster then she could freeze it.

Then the air was filled with the swooping of wings as Victoria and Lindsay flew up and next to Goku. Goku looked back and forth at the two dragons even as he continued to mlt off the ice. What the blazes…?

And then Victoria and Lindsay opened their mouths and twin beams of incredible cold flew from their mouths and struck Goku. Goku yelled as ice formed over his whole body. He melted and broke it off, but it returned tenfold, and Goku found himself being imprisoned in a block of ice that kept growing larger and larger.

Vegeta and the other Z Fighters stared at the display. Erik had spoken of this plan, but none had actually expected it to work. Goku seemed far too powerful to be trapped. But it was working…for now. Goku may have been trapped, but he was far too strong to be trapped for long. Sooner or later, he'd break out.

Erik had not yet turned off the machine, and they desperately needed to buy time until he could. If he didn't…

Angie could feel the pain start to burn it her. Goku was fighting furiously, and it was taking all her effort to not pass out. On a ledge, Paul wondered if he could help. His gun could fire liquid nitrogen, but he had to be close to do it. At this distance, the gas would dissipate long before it reached the ever-larger ice ball in the sky.

Victoria peered down the length of his ice breath blast. She could no longer see Goku, but she could feel him as he furiously fought to get out of the ice. She had to keep going, Goku had caused so much damage already. Of all the Z fighters, only Gohan, Pan, Goten, Vegeta, and Bra were still standing. The rest had been knocked out by Goku's area attacks…or worse. She couldn't stand by and see that any more.

Ash looked up as the ball continued to form. He had everything crossed that he could cross, and he was calling in every single favour he had. Please…please…

Oh dear god…

"What? Soulfire, what?" Ash said.

I can feel it…Goku's had it, he's gonna…!

And then a scream pierced the air, shaking all those who were still awake to the core. Angie suddenly felt a gigantic backlash of power flow down and through her. She screamed as her brain felt like it was lit on fire, and then she collasped.

And then the ball exploded, spraying hunks and shards of ice everywheer as Goku was revealed in SSJ mode. Ash's heart sank. All our effort and he just powered up to his first stage…

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! TAKE THIS!" Goku screamed as he aimed his hands at Lindsay and fired.

Lindsay took the blast directly in her flank, and she emitted a reptillian screech as she fell from the sky, her scales badly burned. Her natural armour had been tough enough to take the blast without it being fatal, but the wound was still crippling, as Lindsay collapsed on the ground, her body slowly shrinking back into human form with a terrible wound on her side.

"LIN!" Victoria cried as her best friend was so cruelly cut down. That was it. She was through pussyfooting around. Erik said they might have to use lethal force? SHE'D SHOW HIM LETHAL FORCE!

Goku turned around as Victoria inhaled, the cruel smirk already starting to form. What could this girl do…?

And then Victoria answered, as she thrust her head forward and a yellowish green gas spewed forth in great amounts. Goku's eyes widened as the gas enveloped him, and he began to cough and retch and his lungs began to burn.

"I don't care how powerful you are, let's see you try and breathe chlorine gas!" Victoria yelled as she continued to spew the lethal poison at Goku. For all his strength, Victoria was right. He needed oxygen, and even his superhuman body was affected by the gas that had once been used as a weapon in World War I.

Coughing, Goku tried to fly out of the cloud, but the gas distorted and confused hiss ense of vision and he could no longer tell which way was up.

Ash watched as his siter continued to expel the lethal gas at Goku. His mind raced. Would that be enough?

"PAUL!" Ash screamed at his best friend. Paul's head jerked at the yell. "FIRE INTO THE CLOUD! GOKU MAY BE TOO DISTRACTED TO BE ABLE TO BLOCK YOUR BULLETS!"

"Will do!" Paul said, hoisting his gun as the barrel reformed and reformatted itself. "I can't figure out where he is…but I always went with quantity over quality!"

Paul aimed high and fired, his barrel blazing as he fired a storm of bullets into the cloud of gas. Ash once again crossed his fingers.

"ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And then the hurricane force wind whipped up, nearly blowing Ash off his platform.

Look out! Goku's breaking out the wind! He's breaking wind, er, no, um, THIS IS BAD!

Victoria staggered to stay flying as her gas cloud blew away, the thin fumes no match for the powerful gusts. Goku was revealed looking a little worse for wear and ten times as pissed. He couldn't believe this girl had actually threatened his life, even for a second.

"ARRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!" Goku screamed again, and zapped at Victoria, plowing into her shoulder first. Victoria was knocked loopy by the blow, and then Goku laced his fists together and brought them down on her, sending her plummeting towards the ground.

Paul saw Victoria get knocked from the sky, and he ceased fire as he realized she was heading right at him.

"OH SHIT!"

Paul dove for cover as Vicoria came crashing down, the rock face crumbling under her massive bulk.

He almost made it, but the impact made Victoria's tail spasm uncontrollably, causing it to lash out and smashed Paul across the back, nearly breaking his spine. He flew through the air and crashed into a rock face, crumpling to the ground as his gun clattered off into the shadows.

Ash watched this in horror, then turned back to look at Goku, floating in the sky, arms crossed, as he waved one finger in a "ah ah" motion. Ash swallowed slowly.

Ash…

"Soulfire…if it comes down to it…I hope the next person who wields you was as honoured as I was."

And then Ash raised his hand, and suddenly his remaining teammates emerged from their hiding places, where they too had watched their hopes meet with failure. Christine came by Ash's side, and behind him his father, Rod, Brigh, and Chastity. In his heart, Ash was glad his mother had stayed hidden. At least maybe she might escape alive.

Um, I know this isn't what you wanted to hear…but isn't it a BAD things that we all group together like this?

"Maybe so, but only together, can we do this. Let's burn." Ash said, and thrust the Soulfire up.

"ALL TOGETHER! AURA BLAST!"

"SINGING SPARROW!"

"RAINS OF TIME!"

"SHADOWSLAYER!"

"PHOENIX TAIL!"

And as the five blasts shot from the weapons and hands of the remaining Legacy, Goku slowly raised one arm.

"Not worthy."

And then he fired, a huge black fireball of power that shot through the air. The five blasts of the Legacy met it and were shattered, the attacks snuffed out like candles as the fireball continued on it's way towards the group.

"SCATTER!" Ash screamed, and the members tried to run.

Too late.

The explosions bowled over the team as they tried to flee, the men and women tossed away like rag dolls from the force before coming to rest on the ground, burned, battered, and unconscious.

And as Ash felt the darkness closing in as he lay on the ground, he reached over and took his wife's hand. Their wedding bands glittered.

"Forever." Ash said, and then the darkness swallowed him, and the last hope was gone.

Goku threw back his head and roared laughter to the heavens. Down on the ground, Gohan watched, not knowing what to feel. The Legacy had been their last hope, but they may as well have never tried. Goku had crushed them like bugs with hardly any effort. Thy were simply out of their league.

"12 Legacy members lying on the ground, but one more blast, and then there were none!" Goku laughed, as he began to call apon his power. Now that he had all of them at his mercy, he was going to make sure they didn't slither away like insects again. This blast would leave nothing of the surrouding area but ash.

Goku thrust out his hand, reveling in the experience of finally riding the world of those vermin who were so pathetic and yet so annoying. He couldn't wait to see the look on Erik's face. He knew his master would be pleased.

Spike was definitely pleased as Celeste struggled to get away. All the blood coming from her wrists looked delicious, but he wasn't going to snack until she was dead and in pieces.

"Well mate, I would say you have failed to survive. You might of kept winning immunity challenges, but I'm afraid it's finally time for tribal counsel." Spike said, and raised his sword. First, he was going to cut off her nose.

"And you're being voted off the island."

The energy blast hit him in the back, and Spike screamed at the sudden pain. Left open, the blast had managed to fry right through his cyber-cloth and burn his back. He whirled, his features vamping out again.

Erik stood there, arm out, wreckage scattered around him from where he'd tossed it off, his features filled with anger and yet…saitisfaction.

Spike couldn't believe it.

"Why won't you people JUST DIE!?!?!?!??!"

"You first." Erik replied, and then pointed behind him.

And then Celeste yanked her hands from the manacles, ignoring the pain as the blades, slick with her blood and worked a bit loose by her struggles, still lacked enough give to give her a pain free escape. But she had escaped.

Spike felt Celeste's blood splash on his back and neck as she tore her hands free, and almost it slow motion, he slowly turned around as Celeste brought her fists up as black energy exploded to life on them.

"END OF HEAVEN!"

Spike's eyes widened.

"End of Heaven…?" he said in confusion. Those words, and one thought, was all he got.

This is gonna hurt…

And then Celeste blitzed into him as she went into a fury of energy charged punches. Spike was utterly blasted by the assault, which was so fierce it somehow pushed him backwards without knocking him down. All Spike feel was a barrange of constant crushing blows to his head, chest and stomach that torn through his whole body. His sword clattered from his fingers as he was pummeled, the sheer speed and power keeping him from locking, defending, or doing anything else.

And then Celeste stopped, jumped back a few feet, and lanced forward with the final punch, her whole arm engulfed in crackling black energy as she dealt Spike a blow of ten times the previous magnitude. Spike didn't get knocked over or knocked away. Instead, he simply slid backwards like the floor had suddenly become ice and his boots had become skates. Finally, he stopped, reeling from the impact and trying to figure out which of the three Celeste's in front of him was the real one.

"BUFFY, NOW!" Erik yelled.

And then Buffy, who had stood aside waiting for her moment to strike, pounced as she ran forward towards Spike. As she did, she cartwheeled and then went into a series of backflips towards the vampire as his vision finally cleared and he saw the Slayer trying to win the Olypics in the process of heading towards him.

And as Buffy reached Spike, she went into the final flip, spiralling up and over Spike. As she did, she grabbed his shoulder and then swung downward, planting her foot square in his back as a lever, and then using everything she had, she yanked backwards and flipped Spike up and over her into the air.

Spike slowly did a flip of his own as he flew through the air, and as he did, Erik drew by Celeste's side. She smiled at him and then both thrust up their hands at the airborne Spike.

"END OF EDEN!"

The twin black blasts blazed from Erik and Celeste's hands and lanced at Spike. His eyes widened.

Then the beam slammed into him and carried him backwards.

Right into the exposed part of the machine.

Buffy flipped up to her feet as Spike was thrust into the hole, slamming up against the equipment and electrical wires. Spike began to screams the millions of volts coursed through him, dancing out and wrecking the equipment as malfunctions built apon malfunctions and errors spread through the whole machine.

As the explosions began, Spike managed two words.

"BLOODY HELL!"

And then fire consumed him as the machine began to blow up, parts of it bulging outward before spraying out storms of flaming circuitry, melted metal slag, and a myriad of other junk as the machine tore itself apart.

Buffy snatched up Spike's sword. Now that he was dead, she might as well use it.

"Exit! Over there!" Erik yelled as shrapnal pelted them, and the three headed for the small door as explosions rocked the lab and consumed the room with fire, the flames licking at the heels of the Slayer, the Ruined One, and the Dark Angel as they headed off into whatever fate had in store for them.

Goku knew just what he had in store for the fallen Legacy members, and he knew it would drive Vegeta even more crazy then he already was. He was sure his brutalization of Trunks had set Vegeta's veins on fire. Goku only wished he could have broken some more.

"Hey Vegeta!" Goku said, as more and more power crackled around his hand. "I know you're watching! Just wanted you to know I was always better then you, in all regards! And here's the final example!"

Goku smiled triumphantly, and aimed at Ash, who had somehow managed to land so he was in the center of the pattern of his scattered teammates. Perfect.

"BIG BANG ATTACK!"

Vegeta's eyes widened as the energy exploded outward and a ball of pure destructive ki energy fired from Goku's hand at Ash. Well, it appeared to be over.

And what a cruel end. Not only had fate taken away his power, not only had it brutalized his son, but it was going to give him his death via one of his own attacks. With the power Goku wielded, the blast would surely take out everything within miles. There was no escape.

The ball of destruction flew at Ash, and Goku smiled in victory. He was invincible. They were fools to try and stop the true Legendary Super Saiya-jin.

"NO!"

And then the blast came, flying from the left out of nowhere, a green beam of salvation. It struck the Big Bang blast and knocked it off into the distance. Goku watched with wide eyes as the two blasts flew off and lit up the distance horizon in a powerful explosion.

His eyes followed the direction the blast had come from, and aligned on Goten.

Goten was a mess, his clothes torn and dirty, his face smudged with dirt and sweat. He looked like hell.

But he also had a power level.

Slowly, Goten lowered his arms.

And then he floated up off the ground, slowly drawing himself up to the level of his father. He hadn't known when or how he'd gotten his power back. He'd just known and reacted, trying to save the lives of people who had tried to save theirs. He had succeded, but that meant little to him now. He knew what he had to do.

Goku stared at his son.

"No…this isn't…why…how…?" Goku stammered, and looked around as Gohan and Pan levitated up near Goku as well, their faces hard and determained to hide the sorrrow beneath them.

"Bra, look after your brother." Vegeta said, and he said in it such a way Bra didn't put up an iota of protest. Vegeta stroked his son's hair, looking down at the way Goku had destroyed his body.

There was going to be hell to pay.

"I'll get him for you, son. Be strong. I will." Vegeta said, and slowly levitated up to join the other three.

Goku looked around, eyes still filled with disbelief. This couldn't be happening! His master had said the machine would be guarded! How could it have been put off-line? His master had sworn that wouldn't happen!

But it had.

Slowly, Vegeta raised his arms as his hands curled into fists.

"This…is the end of the road, Kakarott." Vegeta hissed.

And then he thrust his hand up, palm outward.

"THIS IS HOW YOU DO THE BIG BANG ATTACK!"

Goku gaped as Vegeta's hair flared up and became the crackling gold of SSJ as power exploded around his fist and fired a golden ball of energy at him. Finally realizing that the ki-blocking machine had actually been taken offline, he quickly snapped out of it and reared back his arm, whacking the ball off in the distance.

He didn't get a chance to do anything else, as Gohan and Goten has gone SSJ when Goku was busy defending himself.

"SWARM HIM!" Gohan yelled, and charged with his daughter. Goten and Vegeta did the same, and Goku barely got a chance to blink before he was crushed between the four bodies and a storm of punches, kicks, and other blows. The mass of bodies gave off shock waves of force that shook the earth and the laboratory, as the four remaining Z Fighters fought with all their hearts to subdue Goku, hoping against hope they wouldn't have to be the one to deliver the inevitable.

Vagane watched as the four continued to pummel Goku, who was lost in between their bodies.

"Master…" said the lone Valkyrie behind him, and Vagane turned his head at the young woman, who immediately bowed. "Is this not…unfortunate? The vampire has failed in his attempt to guard the machine and because of that failure, those warriors now have their powers back. Is it really possible that Goku can defeat them all without any kind of interference? They are the mightiest of them all…" the Valkyrie said.

Vagane looked at the woman, and her body tensed as she expected to be punished with physical pain or even death. But Vagane only smiled cruelly.

"Spike was weak, not deserving of my gifts, and this proved it. Now Goku will have to truly fight for his life…and only by doing that, can he achieve his ultimate potential, his ultimate power level. But you make a point…he could very well use a hand…but I think that those four will find that even at full power, they cannot stop the Legendary Super Saiya-jin…and once he had hit his highest peak…then it will be time."

And Vagane turned back to the battle, his fingers absently tapping a few keys as he prepped something. Just in case.

The pummeling lasted another three seconds before the scream tore from within the mass of bodies.

Then they were all blasted backwards as a dark energy ball pulsing with golden lightning exploded from where they had been.

Then beams of black light poured from within the ball and it exploded outward, revealing Goku in SSJ4 mode. Again, his outfit had changed, his pants becoming night-black and his fur an even deeper red, the colour of crimson, of blood. The red marks around his eyes had seemed to flare up and grow even larger, which made the look of rage in his eyes even more terrible.

"YOU INSECTS CAN'T STAND BEFORE ME!" Goku roared, and dashed at Vegeta, who was still trying to recover and power up to a higher state.

But he was too slow, even at SSJ, as Goku smashed with every ounce of power he had. The front of Vegeta's armour shattered as he crashed into a rock face below. Goku screamed and let loose with a barrage of ki blasts, burying Vegeta under hundreds of tons of black rock and destroying the landscape. Bra heard the terrible cracking and crunching noises and looked up as the cliff nearby began to collaspe towards them.

"TRUNKS!" Bra screamed as she went SSJ and covered her badly injured brother. Then they were both buried.

Goku roared his laugher to the heavens, as Goten, Gohan, and Pan righted themselves. The two looked at each other.

Goten thrust his hands down and screamed as golden beams of light exploded upward from the ground and twisted around him as his muscles bulged, his eyebrows disappeared, and his air grew out down to his waist as he transformed into an SSJ3. Gohan wasn't as dramatic, as a red battle aura swirled around him and his hair darkened again as he summoned his Mystic power.

"Pan, stay clear. If you see a shot, take it!" Gohan ordered, and flew at his father. Goten flew at Goku as well. Goku looked back and forth between his two children, then smiled and blurred away just as they reached him. On instinct, Gohan and Goten blurred away as well.

For a moment, the air was silent.

Then the air was suddenly filled with crashes of thunderous blows so loud they caused more of the damaged cliff faces below to begin to crumble. Pan could barely follow the blurs as they zapped over the sky, appearing only briefly as Goten and Gohan exchanged moves with their father before they blurred away again.

The air crackled with sheer power as Goku powered up even more. He was tired of being opposed.

"BEGONE!" Goku screamed, firing off a score of ki blasts. Goten and Gohan weaved through the blasts and rammed into their father, driving towards and into the earth.

Once again, there was silence.

Then beams of red and blue light exploded out from underneath the ground in an almost beautiful kalideoscope, and then Goku blasted outward, powering raning down around him along with a gigantic field of rock pieces. He stopped and began firing ki blasts down into the ground, blowing a huge and ever growing crator into the ground.

Then Gohan and Goten blurred into place on each side of Goku. Gohan charged at his father, but Goku saw him coming and grabbed him in mid-charge, throwing him off into the distance. Goten almost tried a charge and flew right into a punch that hit him so hard it sounded like a rifle shot. Goten flew backwards, but stopped himself and brought his hands to his side.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Goten screamed, firing the huge blue bolt of power at his father. Goku crossed his arms as the blast hit him and exploded, blowing a huge cloud of smoke in the sky.

Goten didn't let up as he opened fire again, shooting hundreds apon hundreds ok ki blasts into the smoke cloud, causing it grow larger and larger. It enveloped Goten, searing his lungs, but he didn't stop firing until he was utterly drained and had no choice but to stop.

Slowly, the smoke cleared.

There was nothing there. Goten looked around, up, down, all searching for a power level. There was none. He couldn't find his father anywhere.

Could it be…?

Could he somehow…have…?

"Father…I'm so sorry…" Goten said, sadness beginning to flow through him.

"Don't be." Said a voice behind him.

Goten froze, and then slowly turned around and saw Goku floating behind him, having kept there the whole time, his power level surpressed, one arm out, waiting.

"You should know no one is ever dead when the smoke clears, my son." Goku said, smirking cruelly. Goten, however, showed no fear. Only sorrow.

"But I will admit…even though I outclass you in so many ways…you still fought with all your heart. You are my son. You fought like a man." Goku said.

Black energy exploded on his hand.

"Now die like a dog."

"NO!" Gohan screamed as Goku fired a blast straight through his son, a blast that split into two prongs and pierced through both of Goten's lungs. With a bloody gurgle, Goten fell from the sky, wheezing and trying to breath through lungs that could no longer function.

"GOTEN! NO!" Gohan wailed. This was too much. When it came down to it, even Goten had been struck down by his seeming inability to put away his father. And he had paid. Goku had fired that way on purpose, so Goten would slowly suffocate.

The rage exploded through Gohan. If all he had seen before didn't prove it, this did. This monster was not his father. He had to destroy him.

He had no choice.

Goku turned towards his son as Gohan threw his hands.

"MASENKO!"

The blast exploded from Gohan's palms, as big as a skyscraper. Goku's eyes widened and he threw up his arms to block.

The explosion shook the earth again, causing more cliffs to collaspe.

The jarring jolted Christine awake, and she sat up groggily, wondering what was going on. Looking around, she quickly spied her husband lying next to her.

"Ash!" she said, getting up and shaking him.

"Uhhggghhhh…no mommy, wanna sleep more…" Ash muttered. Christine reared back and slapped Ash. That jolted him awake.

"Huh? Wha? Chris? Are we alive? What's going on?"

Huh! I always knew she was the dominant one!

"Does that answer your question?" Christine said at the Soulfire's comments.

"Yep." Ash replied, slowly getting to his feet and looking at the huge smoke cloud. "What's going on?"

"I'm in the dark as much as you." Christine said, as she looked around for her friends and allies. She didn't find any, but she did see someone.

"Goten!" Christine said, heading over the jagged rocks towards the badly injured hybrid.

"Help…me…" Goten gurgled, fighting furiously to breathe through lungs that could no longer process oxygen correctly. Blood kept pouring from his mouth.

"Hang on!" Christine said, kneeling beside him. Ash knelt as well as Christine put her hands on Goten's chest and began to concentrate. The strain was tremendous, because the lung tissue had been badly damaged and Christine had to fix it perfectly or she could cause Goten even more problems, but slowly the holes in Goten's lungs began to close.

The pain was still there, but Goten wound he could now process air in at least one of his lungs. Christine groaned and slumped, and Ash turned to her in concern.

"Tired…battle exhausted me…" Christine said. Ash looked over to Goten and tried to help him as best he could, tearing off strips of Goten's clothes and trying to close the wounds so Goten could get air properly. His blood seemed to be everywhere.

"Brother…last one…pray…for him…" Goten gasped.

Ash and Christine did so.

Goku looked down on his arms as the smoke cleared, the fur scorched and the skin seared. He began to audibly tell the world that Gohan's blast had actually hurt.

And then Gohan was right in his face, smashing with a thunderous punch. Goku flew backwards and Gohan zapped behind him, stopping him dead with a cracking elbow to the back. Goku roared and slashed a kick as his son, but Gohan ducked under it and began another furious onslaught, pushing his Mystic talent to take him to levels he had never reached before.

Goku flew backward and fired half a dozen ki blasts. Gohan dodged them and threw several ki balls at his father, who countered with a ki shield that he turned into a huge blast. Gohan flew up above the blast and fired off a dozen of his own, which Goku dodged. The two blurred away and then air began to thunder with powerful blows again.

A windstorm began to start up, swirling up huge clouds of dust on the ground and in the air. Gohan and Goku continued their war, ocasionally appeared and blowing away the dust surrounding them from the sheer force coming off of them.

Goku flew back, amazed at this son was matching his power, and even angrier. He brought his hands to his side.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" he screamed, and fired the blue blast at Gohan.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Gohan screamed, throwing his hands to his sides and throwing the blast himself. The two met and canceled each other out with a mammoth explosion. Ash and Christine held up the arms as dust flew over them.

Seething, Goku lifted his fists and charged headlong at his son. At the same time, Gohan charged headlong at his father.

The two met, each grabbing and blocking the other's limbs at the same time. Goku swung a kick at Gohan's head, but Gohan ducked and thrust a knee and Goku. Goku blocked and fired off a punch. Gohan blocked that and fired off his own punch.

Goku went to block and found nothing hit him. It had been a feint. His eyes widened.

Then the real punch hit him, directly in the left part of his chest, as Gohan summoned every single ounce of power, strength, and fury he had and channeled it into the blow. Goku's mouth opened and he gasped as blood flew out.

Gohan took full advantage of the pain flare burning through his father's body as he cocked back his fist for the final punch. He had felt several ribs snap from his blow, and now as he completed his fists's drawback, he planned to strike the exact same spot as hard as he could. The ribs would be broken inward and rupture his father's heart…and then it would all be over.

Gohan closed his eyes, not wanting to see his father when he did this. He felt guilt, horror, and grief beyond belief, but he would not let those feelings stop him. He had to. For everyone.

Father, FORGIVE ME!

And then the cannon, extended by Vagane's commands and finally with a bead on Gohan due to his staying still long enough, fired.

Gohan never knew what hit him, as the concentrated laser took him on the side of the head, tearing across the side of his skull with devastating effect. Gohan's eyes snapped out as the needles of fire pierced his brain…and then he was gone, swallowed by darkness.

Goku watched as his son slumped and then fell from the sky, blood flying from the terrible wound across his head. He hit the ground and didn't move.

"FATHER!" Pan screamed, as she ran to her father's side. She had listened to her father and had not interfered…but Vagane had not felt the same way. When his champion was about to lose, he had cheated and cost Gohan the match, and cost him far far more.

"Father…oh kami father…" Pan sobbed, cradling Gohan in her arms and looking at the large cauterized wound across his head, as blood continued to leak from the tore, burned tissues. Vagane had, once again, done this purposely. Instead of a quick, clean headshot, he had instead purposely glanced the skull for the purpose of flash-frying the brain. It was beyond cruel.

It was just what one would expect from Vagane.

Pan looked up, tears streaming from her eyes, as Goku finally realized what had happened. Throwing back his head, he roared his laughter to the heavens again, even as he reached into his boot.

"Don't scare me like that!" Goku laughed, popping the Senzu bean into his mouth, his expression never wavering as his ribs healed. "Well, it's all been done. I've crushed you all like bugs. Now…how to finish you all off? What would be suitable?" Goku asked, his finger tapping his cheek as if in deep thought.

"Dear god, what else can we do?" Ash said as Goku floated in the air, thinking.

Pray for a miracle.

Pan stared at her grandfather…and yet not her grandfather. She had been the first to jump on the bandwagon of attacking Goku after he had brutally beaten her father in Satan City. But now…she had given it thought…and she couldn't. The rage that had been there before refused to come back. All she could feel was sorrow over her father…and what a monster Vagane had made out of her grandfather.

"AHA! I have it! It's brilliant, if I do say so myself!" Goku said, and flew up a bit higher. Pan, Ash, Christine, and Goten watched.

Then Goku stopped and thrust up his arms.

"Come world! Come humanity! Give to me of your true selves! Give me your hate, your greed, your fears! Give me your bloodlust and your desire to destroy any you see as a competitor! Give me the true essense of humanity, so that I can spite my foes with it before I smit them! AHHAHAHAHAHA!" Goku laughed.

And then it began to form, a red ball of energy above Goku's head, slowly growing larger and larger as Goku continued to laugh.

Ash felt Goten stiffen in sheer horror, and he looked back to see the same horror in Goten's eyes.

"What's he DOING?" Ash yelled as the ball continued to grow, red lightning crackling on it.

"It's not possible…my father…is forming…a Genki Dama…but not one of humanity's energy! He's using humanity's evil!"

"He's WHAT?" Ash said, not able to believe what Goten had said.

"Exactly! This isn't possible! One can only form a Genki Dama with a pure heart…and only from the energy of life and goodness! Goku is forming one from death and evil! He's making a Dark Genki Dama!"

"But how can he do that if he's…in the state he's in?" Ash stammered, as the ball continued to grow. Now it was the size of a truck.

Goten looked at Ash with dead eyes.

"He's the true Legendary Super Saiya-jin, a warrior with power unequaled by seemingly anyone. I think he can pretty much do anything he pleases."

"AHAHAHAHAHHA!" Goku laughed, truly enjoying the feeling as the darkness of the human heart and soul flowed through him and contributed to his weapon. This would be the greatest way to finish them all off. His master would be greatly pleased.

Then the voice exploded across the plain.

"KAKAROTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And then a colossal beam of golden energy exploded up from the black rock, and slowly Vegeta rose up in the air, the golden power coursing and flowing around and through him, his arms crossed and his eyes blazing with hatred and fury. Stunned, Goku lowered his arms, stopping the flow of power to his Dark Genki Dama.

"This…is the end. This time, I will not be blocked by power dampeners, blockers, or anything else! You have commited atrocities against me, and as soon as I destroy you, I'm going to hunt down your master and give him a fate even worse then yours. I WILL NOT LOSE AGAIN! IIIIIYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vegeta screamed as he thrust both his arms and legs out. His armour shattered and flew away from Vegeta before golden bolts of lightning blasted down from the heavens and enveloped Vegeta before exploding away into the distance.

Goku smirked, looking at SSJ4 Vegeta, and looked up at his ball.

"Stay there. I'll be back as soon as I deal with my prince." Goku sneered, and blasted at Vegeta, his fist pistoning out.

It hit nothing but air as Vegeta snapped his head to the side. Goku's eyes widened.

"You made a mistake beating me up all those times, Kakarott. Have you forgotten a saiya-jin's power level increases every time?"

And then Vegeta slammed his fist into Goku's stomach. Goku's was doubled over by the sheer power of the blow, his eyes bulging out.

He quickly countered with a kick, knocking Vegeta backwards, but Vegeta dodged away from his dashing punch and smashed a roundhouse across Goku's back. Goku spun in the air several times before regaining control and blasting back at Vegeta. Vegeta blocked Goku's punch and the two went into an exchange of blows that put Goku and and Gohan's to shame.

Warring furiously, the two warriors crashed into the ground and leapt apart from each other. Goku reared back his hand and threw a ki ball, and Vegeta leapt to the side as it flew past him and exploded. Bouncing off the rock, Vegeta flew right into Goku's side, sending him flying alongside a cliff wall. As Goku flew, Vegeta zapped up beside him and grabbed him by the hair, then slammed his face into the cliffside. With Goku's face embetted in the rock, Vegeta kept flying, dragging Goku along the cliff face and burrowing a channel alongside the cliff with his face.

Goku screamed and snapped his leg up and out, but Vegeta flew away. Snarling and with blood leaking from several wounds on his face, Goku flew into Vegeta and the two began twisting in mid air as they exchanged another million punches and kicks.

Goku got the best of it, landing a punch and stunning Vegeta. Goku didn't let up for a second, pummeling Vegeta with scores of punches before drawing his leg back and smashing Vegeta with a axe kick. Not giving Vegata any chances, Goku dashed at him as Vegeta righted himself, throwing another punch.

Vegeta grabbed the arm and twisted it in his grip, causing Goku to yell in pain before Vegeta smashed his head into Goku's face, sending him flying backwards. Goku put on the brakes and zapped at Vegeta with a kick, but Vegeta flew above Goku, and as Goku started to turn around he slammed down ono him, driving his foot into Goku's throat and pushing him all the way back down to the ground, crashing through an overhanging cliff face in the process.

With the wreckage of the cliff falling down around them, Vegeta and Goku began exchanging another blazing series of blows. Finally Goku reared back for a big punch. Vegeta half ducked and half jerked his head to the side and Goku's fist slammed into the rock. Before Goku could recover, Vegeta blurred behind him and punched him in the back, sending Goku's body crashing through the rock face. Goku exploded out the other end, followed closely by Vegeta, who smashed Goku in the back with a kick and send him flying into a rock wall. A huge cloud of dust flew up from the impact.

Goku got to his feet, utterly furious.

"I HATE YOU!" Goku screamed, a large cut on his forehead leaking blood down his face.

Vegeta smirked, and as if he was pulling a switch, his battle aura exploded around him, golden and radient, sending off more dust clouds.

"You're about to hate me even more." Vegeta snickered, and slammed his hands together. "FINAL FLASH!"

The bolt of gold energy erupted from Vegeta's hands, but Goku saw it coming and leapt over it and into the sky. As the mountain behind him exploded and collasped, Vegeta flew up after Goku, firing a gold ki ball. Goku dodged it and Vegeta fired another. This time, Goku reared back his fist and punched the ball back at Vegeta. Vegeta blurred away and the ball blasted another crator in the mountain ranges surrounding Vagane's lab.

Goku turned around just as Vegeta rammed his elbow into his face, sending him shooting back into the ground. Rapidly thrusting out his hands, Vegeta fired of hundreds of ki blast, causing widespread devastation.

Goku blasted up from the explosions and rammed into Vegeta, and the two began another war of blows that carried right back down into the ground again. The two leapt away from each other again, and then Vegeta charged Goku. Goku blocked Vegeta's punch and fired off his own. Vegeta blocked and fired off another punch. Goku took the blow with his shoulder, and fired off another punch. Vegeta blocked it with the side of his fist.

Neither side able to gain ground, Goku and Vegeta set their legs and slammed their hands into each other's. Locking their fingers, they began pushing at each other, their tails lashing around and crumbling and rising around them as each fought to win over the other.

"Amazing! They seem to be evenly matched!" Ash said as he watched from afar. He had watched the whole battle with an open jaw, unable to believe the power and violence. Once, he had fought like this, against Xaxargas, but the whole experience was a blur to him. Goku and Vegeta's fight was crystal clear.

Yes, but this poses a problem. Who is gonna win if their abilities keep canceling each other out?

"I don't think that'll be happening much longer."

Ash and Christine turned back to Goten, who lay against the rock struggling to breathe.

"After all the times…that…that monster in my father's body has humilated Vegeta, I think that fate is finally going to have to let the scales swing the other way."

Yeah, but can you speak for fate?

"Let's hope we can. Vegeta's our last hope."

The war of strength continued as Ash and Goten pondered, a war that Vegeta one, abet by cheating as he brought up his knee and slammed it into Goku's stomach.

Goku felt the blow, but that didn't stop him from retaliating immediately, punching Vegeta across the face. Vegeta reared back from the blow and then blasted forward with his own punch, a cracking uppercut that sent Goku skyward.

Vegeta flew up after Goku and rammed both his fists into Goku's back. Goku spun off the blow and snapped a kick at Vegeta. Vegeta dodged and planted his own thrust kick into Goku's gut. Goku gasped as more blood flew out of his mouth.

Goku fought back with punches, but he seemed to be slowing down. Going at maximum for so long was finally burning him out.

"This can't be! I can't lose to you!" Goku yelled as Vegeta dodged aside from another punch and slammed a knife edge chop into Goku's neck. Goku reeled and Vegeta slammed repeated punches into his face, before flipping around and smashing Goku with a flip kick.

As Goku flew backwards, Vegeta righted himself. With a look of fury and retribution on his face, he brought his hands to his side.

"You want to steal my moves, Kakarott? QUID PRO QUO! KAAAAAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Goku's eyes widened as Vegeta shot his own attack at him.

"NO!" he screamed as the beam enveloped him and he was thrown backwards, enveloped in burning energy, his eyes filled with the smug look of saitisfaction on Vegeta's face. He flew backwards, propelled by the Kamehameha, twisting, burning.

And then the scream pierced the air.

"VEGETA! LOOK OUT WHERE YOU'RE SHOOTING!"

Vegeta's eyes snapped away from Goku as the voice rang through his ears, looking past him.

Staring at the red ball of destruction Goku had left floating in the sky, the Evil Genki Dama that he had stopped forming to fight with Vegeta.

The ball of energy that Goku was being blasted straight towards.

"NO!" Vegeta screamed, cutting off the blast and flying after Goku, desperately trying to stop him.

Too late.

Goku flew into the ball and Vegeta stopped dead. He'd been a fool. He had been so focussed on destroying Kakarott that he'd completely forgotten about the ball. His mind filled with fear as he remembered what Goku had done while fighting Super 13.

And then Goku began to laugh, a laugh intermixed with a yell of concentration and fury as the red energy began flowing into him, surging and burning into his cells. With seconds the ball was gone, leaving only Goku, floating in the air, smiling triumphantly.

"Well done, my prince."

And then Goku blasted forward, charged to new limits by his absorbing of his Evil Genki Dama. Vegeta blinked in amazement as he saw him coming.

He managed to block Goku's punch, but the impact sent shockwaves of pain shooting up his arms. He countered with his own punches and kicks, but he could immediately see they weren't having the same effect.

"You never could beat me, Vegeta. Every time you came close fate righted the scales. Now you know you will forever be second best." Goku mocked.

Goku's words rang through Vegeta's head, and images followed of Goku pummeling his daughter and brutalizing his son.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAIYYYYYYAAAAARHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The axe handle hit Goku so hard it nearly tore his head off. As he flew backwards, Vegeta brought up his hands as golden energy exploded onto being on them.

"Neo…Final…" Vegeta snarled, and them slammed his wrists together "FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Four bolts of power blasted from Vegeta's hands and flew at Goku, all combining into one single mega blast. Goku's eyes widened at the sheer power.

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

And then the beams hit him, and Vegeta was tossed backwards through the air by the insane force of the blast. Ash, Christine, and Goten all went flying, landing hard several dozen feet away. The whole landscape shook, once again rearranging itself around Vagane's laboratory, which had held up under duress.

The only one who stood her ground was Pan, and that was because she fought with all her strength not to be moved, holding down onto the ground so her father wouldn't be tossed, possibly injuring himself even more.

Finally, the force waves stopped, and Pan looked up at Vegeta, who was floating in the air almost above her, breathing heavily from his efforts.

Then the smoke cleared.

Nothing. Goku was gone.

Vegeta took a long deep breath and slowly let it out.

Then he spun around away from Pan, facing away from Pan, fists cocked.

Nothing. There was nothing behind him.

Slowly, Vegeta began to relax.

"Sucker."

Vegeta's eyes widened as Goku blurred into existence…behind him. He had turned around expecting Goku to attack him from the back, and instead he had wound up exposing his back. He tried to fix that error.

Too late, as Goku's arms snaked around him and clamped Vegeta in a crushing bearhug. Vegeta began to struggle furiously, kicking and thrashing, but Goku's grip held strong. Vegeta could feel his hot breath on the back of his neck.

Pan looked up at the struggle, at an utter loss. So many times in the past, her grandfather had seemed unstoppable. Now…it appeared it was that way again. And this time might spell their doom.

She watched as Vegeta continued to struggle furiously, partially breaking Goku's grip and freeing one of his arms, but Goku snaked a leg around one of Vegeta's and held on, blocking Vegeta's awkward blows.

Then Pan saw it.

He's totally focussed on Vegeta. He doesn't even know I'm here. I can take a shot!

No sooner did this realization come to her then a wave of doubt and sick feelings flowed through her. Pan almost collasped under their brunt, but she managed to hold on.

"Ok Daddy, I'll do it." Pan said, slowly lowering her father to the ground and standing up. "I have to. I have to!"

He's your grandfather!

No, he's a monster!

Pan brought her hands to her side. Goku's unguarded flank left several weak points, but she was taking no chances. She would have to shoot him in the back of the head.

Vegeta broke away from Goku's leg grip, but Goku had locked his other arm in a chokehold. Vegeta struggled to breath and keep Goku's other arm away from him at the same time.

Slowly, keeping her power level as low as possible, Pan began to form a Kamehameha. She would have to keep it low until it formed, and hope Goku was too distracted to notice.

He used to tell you terrible jokes and you'd laugh to make him feel better…

That man is gone! Vagane destroyed him! I have to do this for his sake!

One arm already locked down from Goku's grip, Vegeta suddenly lost his other arm as Goku grabbed it.

Pan felt like she was going to throw up or cry.

He used to sing you to sleep…

That man is dead!

How do you know? He could still be in there. He could be freed. Will you murder him for the sake of destroying the evil that has control of him?

I have to! He would want it that way!

The Kamehameha was complete. Now all she had to do was fire it.

Vegeta couldn't break Goku's grip. He was just too strong.

He brought you candy when he trained you…

I can't let him live!

He's your grandfather…

He's a monster! An inhuman fiend! You saw what he did! Goku would never be able to do things like that!

Remember how proud he was when you came to him and told him that you circled the earth? When you won the TB?

Pan began to shake, tears trickling from her eyes.

Grandpa…

Do it! DO IT!

Grandpa…

Kill him!

Goku suddenly felt the twinge of power near him.

Grandpa…

KILL HIM!

Vegeta felt it too, as Goku turned his head to see what it was. Goku's eyes widened as he saw Pan holding a fully charged Kamehameha.

Grandpa…!

KILL HIM!

"I CAN'T!" Pan screamed, lowering her arms as the power faded. She had failed. She couldn't strike the blow. She never could have.

Vegeta felt ice in his veins as Goku turned back to him, smiling cruelly.

"She was weak." Goku said, raising his free hand and forming it into a fist. Vegeta heard every single knuckle pop like a gunshot.

"And you…have lost."

And then Goku reared back his fist and slammed it as hard as he could into Vegeta's exposed back.

Vegeta screamed as his spine shattered, and then he didn't feel anything. All feeling was lost. He went limp in Goku's arms as the power faded from him, leaving him helpless.

Goku smirked and then dropped Vegeta like a sack of garbage. Vegeta fell to the ground, motionless.

"I shall deal with you later. I wish to savour your helplessness before I finally kill you." Goku chuckled. "But first…her."

"We're all dead." Ash said solemnly, looking as Pan's failure caused the last and greatest of them to be cut down.

Goten was silent. He wanted to hate his niece, hate her for being unable to stop Goku. But he couldn't. Had he been in her shoes, he would have surely done the same thing.

And it had doomed them all.

As Goku began floating back down to the ground, Ash reached over and took his wife's hand.

"I love you, Chris. And I'll always be with you, no matter what happens."

"As will I, Ash. I'll always love you." Christine replied.

The two drew together for a final kiss.

While his exterior was calm, the inside of Goku was raging as violently as Vegeta had been.

I left myself wide open. She is nowhere near my power and she could have killed me anyway, even when I noticed her. But she didn't. Why?

Because she is a fool. A weak fool, just like all of them. They can't kill you because they think it is an act of evil. And so they have lost.

Goku pushed the nagging thoughts away as he hit the ground, standing before Pan. Pan was about twenty feet in front of him, her shoulders slumped and her head lowered. She's failed them all. She had been too weak. After all at happened, when it came down to the bottom line…she couldn't kill her grandfather, no matter what had happened to him.

Goku chuckled easily.

"Poor little girl, left all alone. Too weak to do anything." Goku laughed.

She could have done something. She could have destroyed you…

Goku pushed the thoughts away as he began walked towards Pan, his tail lashing around him, as if it itself was eager for the kill.

"I'm sorry Daddy. Forgive me…" Pan whispered as Goku approached her. Slowly, she looked up at him, his black eyes filled with nothing but wild glee from death and destruction.

"You were the first to see me become my true self. It is only fitting that you are the last. Any last words?"

Pan looked into those black pits of pure evil.

"I'm so sorry Grandpa. I promised I'd do it. I promised I'd free you in any way. But I couldn't. I love you too much…please…forgive me…" Pan said, lowering her head and waiting for the pain.

When it didn't come, she looked back up in surprise.

The look on Goku's face could best be described as a human having a heart attack, except Goku was not having one.

But the violence that had exploded in his mind rivaled any pain that a heart attack could cause.

She said she loved you…

No! It's not possible! They used me! All they wanted me for was their tool! Vagane said they never cared about me! She lies! She lies!

She said it to your face, knowing it would not grant her any mercy. Indeed, it granted you mercy after all you have done.

SHE LIES! NO ONE…

You lie. You lie to yourself and to everyone. Vagane could not destroy Son Goku. Instead, he could only upsurp him. He thought his wish made you infinately superior. In truth you are weaker then anything else in this world.

Pan gasped as Goku brought his hands up to his and began to scream, a scream of total agony and terror.

"NO! THE MASTER TELLS NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! I AM SON GOKU!"

You lie. You are not Son Goku. You are not Kakarott. You are nothing. You are a fraud, a shadow, a darkness that belongs locked away.

"NO! NOOOOOOO! I AM SON GOKU! I AM THE TRUE HIM! I AM HIM AT HIS PEAK, HIM BETTER THEN HE EVER COULD HAVE BEEN! I AM SON GOKU!!!!!!!!!"

Liar.

The scream grew even more agonous as Goku hunched over, and then Pan screamed as black oil seemed to start oozing from his mouth, his eyes, his nose, his very pores, like something out of an X-Files episode.

You have caused pain beyond imagining. You must suffer in turn, and there is no greater suffering then total oblivion. JOIN THE NOTHINGNESS THAT YOU ARE! I CAST YOU OUT!

Goku reared back his head and screamed, and then the oil flew up as a black cloud emitted from Goku's mouth, a terrible gaseous thing that seemed to twist and scream in protest as it was expelled. Goku's whole body shook, and then the cloud exploded outward and vanished with a final cry.

And the truth will set you free.

Holding his head, Goku slowly lowered it. Pan stared at him as he took several deep breaths.

Then he removed his hands.

Pan's eyes lit up. The darkness was gone. What stared back out at her was the kind eyes she had known her whole life, eyes wracked with terrible suffering and guilt.

"Pan…" Goku said, holding his hands out in front of him, looking at them like they were the most blasphemous things to ever exist. "Oh KAMI! WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!?!?!?"

Goku fell to his knees, unable to comprehend all he had seen.

"Grandpa…GRANDPA! YOU'RE BACK!" Pan said, running forward to hug her grandfather. A miracle had happened. In the darkest hour a light had shone forth, a light strong enough to cast out the darkness placed within Son Goku.

Pan never got the chance, for as she reached her grandfather, his eyes fixed on her, he suddenly vanished into thin air.

Vagane stared at the screen, his eyes blazing with utter fury.

"NO! THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE!" Vagane screamed, slamming his hand down on the side of his wheelchair so hard he nearly broke the panel. "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I WISHED FOR ABSOLUTE CONTROL! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?!?!?!?" Vagane screamed, turning to the Valkyrie behind him. She shook, utterly terrified at her master's anger, so scared she forgot to bow.

"M-M-M-Master…I ws there when you made the wish. You wished your control to be forever and absolute…but you did not wish for it to be unbreakable…it appears to me that after all you told Goku that they never really cared for him, the girl telling him she loved him somehow…undid everything he believed…in…" The Valkyrie stammered.

Vagane stared, his filled with anger.

Then he snapped open a panel and yanked out a small pistol. The Valkyrie's eyes widened.

"NO! PLEASE!"

As the Valkyrie's brains splattered against the wall, Vagane turned around, still seething, but coming under control.

"It appears I will have to initiate the final step a little earlier…he may no longer be under my control but he has still reached his peak!" Vagane snarled, tapping at keys, locking onto Goku with one of his MRR's and programming it to bring him to the lab next to the computer room where Vagane had been watching the whole battle. Tapping a few keys, Vagane initiated the program and then turned, heading through a door into a laboratory.

It was gigantic, and its main feature was the four tubes, each holding a person. Vagane drew himself next to a panel of keys and waited.

A few seconds later there was a bright flash of light and Goku appeared in the center of the room. He was quite clearly surprised, and he looked around before he saw Vagane.

His hands curled into fists as his tail began lashing, as he slowly rose to his feet.

"You." Goku hissed, anger burning through his veins like acid. "You did this to me! You made me do terrible things, spill innocent blood, hurt and try to kill people I care about! YOU MONSTER! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Goku screamed, using words he had never used as his battle aura exploded around him, shaking the whole room.

Vagane was unaffected, and as Goku powered up, he reached over and hit a key.

And then a new tube suddenly snapped out, encasing itself over Goku. He looked around in surprise, then turned his furious eyes back to Vagane.

"YOU THINK THIS LITTLE TUBE CAN HOLD ME!?!?!?!?" Goku screamed, rearing back his arm to punch the tube.

Then the wires came out of nowhere, tiny thin metal streams that seemed to possess a malevolent will of their own, as they lanced out of the floor and split into a hundred threads, each one inserting itself into Goku's right arm.

Goku gasped, and the screamed as the pain tore through him. It was almost beyond description, a burning, lancing torment that seemed to piece every single fiber of his being, affecting him on physical, mental, emotion, and other levels he couldn't even describe, as they seemed to tear him apart from the inside.

"I won't have to worry about that. You won't be escaping." Vagane said, his voice dripping with contempt.

"NO!" Goku screamed, yanking at the wires and snapping them. But as he was doing so, a new storm of wires zapped from the floor and inserted itself into his back. Goku tore it away, but more and more came, inserting and tearing through his body. Goku tried to focus through the pain to call on ki and blow away all the wires, but he couldn't. The agony was simply too great, too deep and terrible. Goku began slowing down but did not cease his furious struggles.

"Fight all you want. You'll never escape, you fool." Vagane sneered.

"NO! I WILL! I-AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Goku screamed as the pain, as terrible as it was, suddenly increased tenfold. He crumbled to his knees, even as more and more wires pierced into him and suddenly lifted him into the air, spreading his arms and legs as if they had taken control of them. Goku could no longer fight, the pain was too great. But he could scream.

"For someone like you to have such power. It is ridiculous! You have no idea what to do with it but to protect life and humanity! It sickens me! I thought I made you right, but it appears that you simply had to do it the hard way. Too bad for you. You do not deserve that great power, so I am taking it, and I am going to use it in a way that is far more deserving, you pitiful idiot!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Goku screamed, as Vagane turned, looking at readings with a wide smile as bolts of white power flowed from the top of the tube and went twisting and turning throughout the base, each going a different way, before they came to their destination, twin black metal tubes.

The power charged through them, flowing into the two beings inside, even as the screams floated down the hallway. Inside one, a lone eye opened, an eye with a red pupil, as it somehow heard the screams.

It smiled. It was well pleased.

"Did you just hear that?" Erik said, cocking his head slightly. Buffy and Celeste stopped.

"Hear what?" Buffy said.

"That…so faint…sounds like yelling or screaming…" Erik said.

"Are you hearing because you have all those gadgets in your head, or did you just not listen to a lot of loud music when you were young?" Buffy asked. Erik looked wryly at her.

"Hey, it's in my contract. I help you save all existence, I get to make bad jokes." Buffy said. Erik smirked slightly.

"Indeed. Thanks for your help back there. It was appreciated." Erik said, turning back and heading down the hallway.

"Hey, no problem. It's not every day I get to jump tall vampires with a single bound and blow Spike up. That jumping thing is kinda fun. Maybe I'll have Riley have his labs built me some kind of spring shoes when I go back to my world."

Erik didn't reply, his thoughts dark. Their battle with Spike had slowed them down a great deal. God knows what had happened on the surface. Goku could have killed them all…no, I won't think that way. They had to survive! They had to win! And if they didn't…

"One, it gets old fast, and two, whose's Riley?" Celeste was asking.

"My boyfriend. You see, he works for this government thing called the Initiative, which I thought was kinda cool. Then I found out they built Adam and they ceased to be so cool, but Riley is still with them so they maintain some coolness on behalf of his presense…"
"DOWN!" Erik yelled, suddenly jumping backwards and pushing Buffy and Celeste down. A second later the air was filled with noise as the wall behind and above the three was riddled with bullet holes.

"Valkyries!" Erik yelled, leaping to his feet as three women suddenly seemed to melt out of the walls like the T-1000. In reality it was probably some kind of hidden door, but it was still quite effective.

The three attacked, each wielding some kind of hand-held weapon. Buffy swung up her sword and blocked the axe swing of the redhead oriental who attacked, then punched her across the face. The Valkyrie didn't flinch, swinging her axe at Buffy. Buffy ducked and tried to slash at her legs, but the girl leapt upward with inhuman speed and Buffy had to roll out of the way as the axe slashed downward at her head.

"Dammit, Vagane must have hopped these three up with drugs or something! USE LETHAL FORCE!" Erik yelled, dodging aside from the sharp-pointed bo the Valkyrie, a huge muscular redhead, stabbed at him. The girl did some fancy twirls and tried to bring the bo down on Erik's head. Erik blocked it with his metal arm and kicked the girl in the gut, then smashed his elbow on her face. His hand talons snapped out and Erik tried to cut her down, but the girl flipped away, throwing several darts at the same time. Erik snapped his head to the side and they hit the wall.

Celeste brought up her daggers and blocked the slash of her opponent, an almost minuscule blond wielding what looked to be a modified wakisashi, a small Japanese sword. She ducked under another slash and dodged away from a downward stab. She spun, clocking the blonde with a powerful roundhouse. The blonde was so light the kick threw her off her feet, but that was about it, as she twirled on the ground and tried to kick Celeste. Celeste jumped and tried to stab with her daggers, but the blonde rolled away from it and charged her, stabbing with her small sword.

Buffy almost lost her ponytail as the axe smashed into the wall. Angered, Buffy stabbed forward, lancing her sword into the leg of her attacker. Her attacker cried out in pain, but she didn't slow down as she yanked the axe out and tried to cut Buffy in half. Buffy dodged away, leaving her sword stuck in the girl's leg. The oriental yanked it out and attacked Buffy again. Buffy dodged another axe swing and punched her opponent repeatly. It barely seemed to faze the girl. She swung her axe again, but Buffy grabbed it by the hilt and kicked the girl in the stomach. The girl stumbled backwards, letting go of the axe. Angered, she screamed and leapt at Buffy at incredible speed.

Buffy was faster, as she twirled and swung the axe. The girl crashed to the ground, sans her head and most of her right shoulder. Buffy looked sickened.

Celeste blocked a kick and ducked a follow up slash, snapping out her hand and slashing the girl across the leg. She cried out, but didn't stop her attack, slashing furiously as Celeste as she left a trail of blood behind her. Celeste dodged quickly back and forth before the girl wound up for a stab, and then she struck, leaping forward and slashing. The girl screamed as Celeste sliced off most of her left hand, and then she didn't scream anymore as Celeste blasted her in the chest with an energy blast. Her body flew across the hallway and hit the opposing wall, before sliding down with a trail of blood.

Erik's opponent cortorted herself backward as Erik slashed at her head, then snapped her leg out, striking a powerful blow to Erik's knee. Erik almost fell, but he used his near lose of balance as momentum to spin and bringing up his other leg in a modified cartwheel kick. The girl was knocked back, but then she stuck her bo into the ground and spun around on it, kicking Erik across the face. Erik went with the kick, kicking the bo out from under the girl. As she fell, he snatched it out of mid-air and broke it in half.

The girl was getting to her feet, so Erik threw the shards at her. She dodged both and took advantage of Erik's distraction by punching him in the face, then kneeing him in the gut. Marveling at the girl's training, Erik snapped a heel kick at her, but she saw it coming and ducked under it. Spinning,, she succeeded in kicking Erik's legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap.

Erik immediately began getting to his feet, but stopped when he felt the cold metal against his brown and the click of the gun. So this was the one who had shot at them. And she'd actually managed to get the drop of him. She was good.

"My master will be so pleased that I rid the world of the Failure." The girl said. The mention of Vagane's name caused Erik's inside to explode with rage.

"Oh, a gun. Ok, I see your gun…" Erik said, flipping open his metal thumb as a button extended from it. "And raise you to…"

And then Erik's elbow opened and a tube extended, spraying a stream of thick jelly-like guck out of his arm and at the Valkyrie. It splashed on her arm and chest and she began to scream, dropping the gun in her pain. She danced around a bit before she heard the incredible faint noise that sounded like some kind of cracking, and she looked at Erik as he stood up. He had struck a match.

"Napalm." Erik said, no mercy in his eyes, and threw the match.

The Valkyrie screamed even louder as she was lit on fire, the jellified gasoline proving to be even worse when it was lit then by itself. As she flailed around, howling in agony, Erik walked past her towards Buffy and Celeste, who were staring in horror.

"KILL ME! FOR THE LOVE OF MERCY, KILL ME!" the Valkyrie wailed as the flames began consuming her face. Buffy raised her sword to swing and suddenly felt Erik's hand clamp on her wrist. She looked at him.

"She's a servent of Vagane. Let her burn!" Erik hissed, and letting go of Buffy's wrist, he stalked past her, leaving the burning girl behind as she continued to wail. The stink of burning flesh filled the air.

Then the girl collasped, the screams ending. Buffy started at the burning body, then back at Erik, who was walking on as if he had just dropped a penny. She turned her eyes to Celeste.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Buffy asked.

Celeste shrugged, but she looked worried herself.

"Celeste…" Buffy said, as she took one last glance at the burning corpse and headed after Erik. "I need to talk to you. I know Erik isn't evil…but I'm beginning to have my doubts!"

"Are you sure you're alright?" Diana said, looking at her son.

"I'm FINE, mom. Just a few bruises. I got off easy. Save your strength, you're gonna need it." Ash said, looking at the Z Fighters lying before him. He was getting flashbacks of Satan City.

Hey, isn'y anyone gonna ask ME how I feel? I think that fighting gave me a Zyclonawormia Cerbaleuto!

"The fighting gave you a yeast infection in your brain?" Paul replied.

I withdraw my complaint!

"Dear kami, this is terrible…" Tien said, looking at the men lying before him. Piccolo lay, not moving. The wound in his chest had partially closed, and the Z Fighters had picked up an incredibly faint ki sign, but besides that Piccolo gave all the impression of being dead. And he might soon be, if he didn't get help.

Goten was no better off. The holes in his lungs had been healed to a degree, but he was still incredibly weak from loss of blood, and going into battle would surely kill him almost immediately. Beside him lay his brother, not moving, his ragged breaths giving the only indication he was alive. The wound on his head had been bandaged, but the effects still lingered.

And finally, Vegeta. He lay, shirtless and totally paralized, his spine having been smashed into splinters by Goku. All he could move was his eyes and his mouth, barely. Despite that though, the fury still burned.

"Ok…discounting wounded and crippled…let's see who we have left." Ash said. Goku's arrogance with the weaker Z Fighters and Legacy had actually proved to be benificial. Most of the weaker Z Fighters were barely hurt at all, save for some bruises and burns. Lindsay and Victoria had been the worst, as they had suffered blows from Goku. However, their scales had protected them, to a degree, and thus after some healing by Christine they were ready to go again.

Besides the Legacy, the remaining warriors that could still fight consisted of Chaozu, Tien, Yamcha, Krillian, Eighteen, Seventeen, and Pan. Mr. Satan, Buu, and Ubuu were still missing, and after the blow Ash had seen Ubuu take, he was presumed dead.

Hey, maybe we did get a miracle! We're all still alive!

"Yeah, although I'd like to know why if someone up there likes us, why they didn't expand the same mercy to these guys…" Ash said, looking at the fallen Z Warriors. I'm sorry I couldn't prevent this…I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help…but I will go on, for your sake.

"Ok, Mom, do you think…?"

"I don't know." Diana said, kneeling amongst the Z Warriors. "Most of these injuries are so severe, so complex…if I don't want to make mistakes, I have to go slowly. It could take hours…if I can ever do it. But I'll try."

"Good. Hey guys, wasn't there one of you who could heal?"

"That was Buu. Kami knows what happened to him, after what Goku did." Krillian said. He was glad Goku was back, although it did them little good with the way he had just disappeared without a trace.

"Great. Ok, here's what we're going to do…"

"Wait, Ash, Vegeta's trying to tell us something." Diana said, leaning down where Vegeta was trying to speak.

"Where's…my…children…?" Vegeta whispered.

"Where are Bra and Trunks?"

"Dear god, I forgot all about them. Where did they go?"

And then a nearby pile of rock exploded outward. All the standing Z Warriors and Legacy whirled, weapons ready.

But the face that emerged was friendly, as Bra pulled herself up, her hair brilliant and gold. She was holding Trunks, who lay limply in her arms.

That answer your question? Nice entrance, M'lady.

"What's going on? Am I alive? What happened?" Bra said in a daze, walking over holding Trunks.

As she lay Trunks down, people quickly filled her in.

"Oh no…father…I'm so sorry…" Bra said, looking down at Vegeta as he lay, battered, bloodied, and motionless.

"No…not your fault…Vagane…did this to Kakarott…to me…get him for me…my princess…"

"I will." Bra said, her once again greenish-blue hair flashing gold. "I promise."

"What's Trunks's status?"

"Both his arms and legs are badly broken…but I think he is the least hurt." Diana said, as she examined Trunks's wounds.

"Speak for yourself." Trunks muttered, wincing.

"Ok, here's what we do. Mom, you stay behind and try to help the wounded…however, Vagane might still have more tricks, and I don't want to leave you alone…"

"I'll stay." Rod said, walking over to the side of his ex.

"As will I. I could do little before, perhaps I can do more here." William said, joining Rod.

"Count me in as well." Paul said, cocking the Flatliner.

"Good…I think that should be enough. Ok, the rest of us are going to try and find Buu. Provided we do, and he's still alive, we send him back here to heal everyone. Once we find him, we move on and find a way into Vagane's base. I'm sure you people can catch up to us."

"Count…on it…" Vegeta whispered.

"Ok everyone, home stretch. We beat Goku…but Vagane may have more tricks. If anyone wants to leave…go ahead."

No one left. Ash smiled.

"Thank you. Let's go guys."

And the remaining Z Warriors and Legacy headed off amongst the wrecked mountain landscape. Back at base, so to speak, Diana began to work on Trunks.

"Dammit." Erik hissed, as he poked amongst the guts of the electronic lock. The three had gone on after the Valkyrie attack unmolosted, until they had come to the door. Once the door had proven energy proof, weapon-proof, and Pissed-Off-Erik proof, Erik had had no choice but to try and hack the lock. He wasn't having much luck.

Buffy and Celeste were taking advantage of it by resting, watching Erik's back at the same time. But as Erik continued to work, Buffy spoke to Celeste. She had been unable to forget Erik's vicious killing of "his" Valkyrie, and as she had walked, she had begun to think, something she usually left to Willow or Giles. But they weren't here at the moment.

"Erik would have killed her anyway." Celeste whispered. "Self defense, and she did work for Vagane."

"Yes, but while I cut mine's head off, and you blew her away, he set on her on fire and then walked away! Doesn't that strike you as a tad…unstable?"

"Many people think Erik is insane. Believe me, I know him better then just about anyone. He's more sane then most people."

"Maybe so…but that's not what worries me. Celeste, have you ever heard of Jung?"

"That famous mind doctor?"

"Yeah him, I can't remember what he was exactly either. Normally my brain is on auto-pilot when I take classes, but this lecture on him stuck with me." Buffy said. Celeste noticed that she looked a little worried, even a bit…scared.

"Jung spoke of a dark side in every human, where our more "forbidden" desires and wants lurked. Jung called it the "shadow self", the essential dark side of human nature, the one we hide from society and civalization."

"What, are you suggesting Erik is permanetly living as his "shadow self"?"

"No Celeste. What I think is worse. I think that Erik has been, probably his whole life, trying to keep his "shadow self" locked away. Why, I don't know. But they way you told me Vagane had been playing with him…I think the locks and walls are starting to crumble. He's going from sadistic to outright cruel, and I sense it is just beginning."

Now Celeste was worried.

"And what happens if this…shadow self gets out?"

"That…I don't know. But considering the kind of man Erik is…after all that happens to him…all his guilt and rage and desire to hurt the wicked…it can't be good. In fact…it could be bad. Very, very bad. Absolute Armageddon a brewing, rain of toads and Joey picking Pacey over Dawson."

"A HA!" Erik said, and the two ladies turned as the door opened. Erik threw himself to the side and peaked through it.

"Nothing. Let's go. Keep on guard, we're beginning to enter the main part of the building." Erik said.

Buffy and Celeste joined Erik and the three went on into the darkness.

"I am so glad you guys can fly." Ash said as Chaozu lifted him over another badly damaged rock plain. "This would take forever otherwise."

"No problem."

"Find anything?" called a voice. Brigh's.

"Not yet!"

"Hey! Stop looking up my robes!"

"Sorry."

"Geez, this lab is so bloody big you figure it would have a DOOR!"

"Maybe we should just make a door."

"Too risky. We could give Vagane our location or something."

"GUYS! HERE!"

The Z Warriors and Legacy headed over to Chastity's yell. She had struck pay dirt.

"You're here! You're here! You're not there, you're here!" Buu sang, quite pleased to see so many of his allies and friends.

"I found him, but the battle over there was so fierce we literally could barely move. What happened?" Mr. Satan said.

Everyone filled him in.

"So…Goku has returned. Then he vanished. I sense ill tidings…but I'm proud of you Pan. You saved us all."

"Thank you Grandpa."

"Ok Buu, we need you too…hey, where did he go?"

"Oh, not now!"

"MR. SATAN! Look what I found!"

"What? Where?" Mr. Satan said, climbing up on the rock in the direction where Buu's voice had been.

OW! OW! WATCH THE SWORD! WATCH THE SWORD!
"Well, shut my mouth and paint me red." Ash said, as he looked at Buu dancing in front of the huge door. They'd been looking for it forever, and Buu had found it just by wandering off over the hill.

What's with the redneck talk? Can I join in? What fun! Well, shoot the horse and slap me silly! Well, stomp on frogs and shove a crowbar up my nose!

"SHUT UP!" Everyone yelled at the sword.

You know, I think I'm gonna call my lawyers about everyone trying to hold down my witty quotes!

"Enough!" Ash said, as he and his companions headed down the slope towards Buu.

"Buu! You found the door! Great job!" Yamcha siad. Buu blushed with pleasure.

Yeah, now maybe he can find the doorbell. How do we get in?

"I'll handle it!" Buu said.

"But Buu, we need you…"

"Ah, relax! I can open a door with no problem! I'll have plenty of strength left for the others." Buu said. Ash looked around, and the others shrugged.

"Go ahead then Buu." Mr. Satan said. Buu smiled and backed up.

"Um, Buu, just how are you gonna open the door?" Christine asked.

"Simple!" Buu replied.

And with that he charged the door.

"Buu! What are you DOING?" Mr. Satan said as everyone gaped at him.

"Hey, you know what they say! They bigger they are…"Buu yelled as he charged.

That was as far as he got as he rammed into the door head first. As he did was squish his head flat.

"The more bones they break…" Brigh muttered as everyone groaned as the impact. Buu back up as his head popped out of his neck. He shook it and growled.

"Huh. Maybe I just didn't back up far enough!" Buu said, running backwards. The Legacy and Z members squawked as he nearly bowled them over as he ran past them, stopping off in the distance.

"Hey Buu, be careful!"

"Watch it my friend!" Mr. Satan said.

"Don't worry about me, worry about the DOOR!" Buu yelled, charging the door again, blowing past the parted group. "IIYYAAAHHHHHH….!"

In the end, the backing up wasn't necessary, as the door opened on its own, abet quite suddenly. So suddenly Buu couldn't stop.

"YAHHHHHYIYIYIYIYYIYI!!!!!" Buu yelled as he ran right through the now open door, charging headlong into the darkness beyond.

"BUU!" Mr. Satan yelled as his friend charged headlong into the lab. A second later there was a huge crashing noise. "Buu!"

"Did he fall into a trap?" Bra asked.

"No, I think he just came to a stop." Ash said, peering off into the darkness.

Talk about using your head.

"I knew that joke would be cropping up eventually." Angie muttered.

"So what do we do? Go after him?" Christine said.

"May as well. I think he may hit his head hard enough to knock even himself silly." Ash said.

Slowly, the group of Legacy and Z Warriors headed off into the darkness after Buu.

They barely noticed the door closing behind them like a hungry mouth.

Erik peeked around the corner, scanning for any chance of hostile forces attacking. Finding none, he crept around the corner, followed by Celeste and Buffy.

"Before anyone tries, please don't say "This is too easy", because that invaribly jinxs it." Erik said.

"So where do we go now?" Buffy asked

"We go wherever Vagane is, and they we kill him. As painfully as possible." Erik said, no humour in his voice.

Then he heard it.

"Hold it…" Erik said as they approached the end of the hallway. He peeked around the corner, listening.

"I think there's someone around the next corner." Erik said, sneaking forward. Buffy and Celeste followed him, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Yes…definitely voices. Get ready, we'll take them by surprise." Erik said, his talons pooping out. Celeste unsheathed her daggers and Buffy raised the sword she had stolen from Spike.

The two reached the corner.

"On three." Erik said.

"Why three? Why not four?" Buffy asked.

"I don't want to discuss pop culture! We go on three, not four! And five is right out!" Erik hissed. He knew Buffy was trying to lighten the mood, but he wasn't in the mood for it.

"I'm ready." Celeste said.

"Ok…1…2…"

"Four!" Buffy yelled, charging around the corner. Erik wanted to roll his eyes, but instead he reacted on instinct, charging around the corner with Buffy, Celeste by his side.

And found the Legacy and Z Warriors standing at alert, weapons drawn. Apparently they'd heard them as well.

"Erik! You're alive!" Christine said. Erik sighed with relief.

"Of course. So are you. What happened?" Erik said as he walked with Celeste and Buffy into the large room where the Legacy and Z Warriors were. His eyes trailed over to where Mr. Satan, Pan, and Yamcha were trying to pull Buu out of a metal wall, where he was stuck headfirst. "Actually, I don't want to know. What happened with Goku?"

Ash told him. Erik's sour looked increased.

"Well…I really don't know how to react to this…" Erik said, pondering over what Ash had told him.

"Erik, do you think he took Grandpa so he could make him evil again?" Pan asked, heading over from her efforts to pull Buu out.

"I don't know Pan…but it doesn't strike me as his style…but god knows what's going on in his head…" Erik said, looking over those who remained. They survived Goku…they're warriors, no matter how strong they are…what a fine group of people…

"Celeste!" Buu said, and his head suddenly shrank and he pulled it out of the hole. He bounded over and hugged Celeste. "You're ok! I was worried!"

Celeste smiled slightly, and hugged Buu back. He was a strange creature, but when it came to friendship, his heart was true, and Celeste was glad she had met him.

"Oh, you're hurt!" Buu said, looking at Celeste's blood-crusted wrists and the ugly wounds on them.

"No, I'm ok…" Celeste said.

"Nonsense! Let me help." Buu said, taking Celeste's hands. He touched his forelock to them, and the wounds vanished, along with all of Celeste's cuts and bruises.

Celeste looked at her wrists.

"Thanks."

"No problem!" Buu said, and then realized everyone was staring at him. "What?"

"You can shrink your head at any time?" Ash asked.

"Yeah." Buu replied. Everyone facevaulted.

"Well then Buu, you'd best head back to everyone and heal them. One of these guys will surely…" Erik began.

"What? Leaving so soon? You just got here!" came a sudden, all too familiar voice. Everyone whirled.

There he was, on a huge screen that had somehow come out of the same wall Buu had crashed into, as Vagane looked at the people assembled there.

The mood immediately changed, as tempers flared and people drew weapons.

"Vagane." Erik hissed, his hand talons popping back out.

"Indeed. You want to leave already? After all the trouble you had getting in here? How rude!" Vagane mocked.

"It's over, Vagane. We've defeated Goku. Surrender, and maybe I'll kill you rather painlessly." Erik snarled. Vagane sighed.

"Poor Failure. So set in your goals. It honestly makes me wonder why. You suffer so much. Do you ever know why?"

"For humanity!" Ash suddenly yelled, and Vagane looked at him.

"Oh?"

"You might not consider yourself to be human anymore, Vagane. You might think humans are weak, pathetic, and don't deserve to live. Maybe you're even right on some aspects. But whatever humans can be, you are far far worse. Your evil is beyond anything a human can do. You call us fools for our choice to fight for humans? You are the fool! And for humanity, for it's future, we will not let you destroy it!" Ash said.

Yeah, and besides, we get big bonuses every time we take down a major villian!

Everyone yelled in agreement, trying to menace Vagane.

It didn't work, as Vagane merely chuckled.

"You must stop me from destroying humanity? Ah child, when are you going to learn? Humanity sure as hell doesn't need me. Take a look."

And then Vagane's image vanished, to be replaced with other images.

A huge group of people, parading in front of the White House, all with signs saying to destroy or bomb something. They may have all had different slogans, but the people were united in one thing: rage.

Another image, of people wandering through wreckage. One was a woman holding a baby. Suddenly, a group of people, mostly teenage boys, leapt out of the shadows and attacked the woman. She screamed but they ignored her, beating her down and kicking her and her child until neither moved. The teens looted the body and ran off.

With that, Vagane returned.

"As you might have guessed, what I did in the States has generated some attention. In what's left of California, people are doing anything to what they need to survive, even at the expense of others. And as for the bomb…people are screaming it's the Communists, or the Fascists, or the Neo-Nazis, or some other group, and they are screaming that the President must retaliate. The only thing is, the President doesn't know who set off the bomb! But do people care? No! They're screaming for blood and death to others who they see as different, and hence, a threat! What do they care if they force the President into another nuclear war? They need their blood! You have to stop me from destroying humanity? Humanity is quite content to try and destroy itself! It's been trying to do it ever since it crawled out of the primordial soup that created all life!"

"You lunatic. You caused all that!" Erik yelled.

"Maybe so, but I didn't cause all the reactions. This is why humanity doesn't deserve to survive. It can't decide what it needs to kill TO survive! Hence, they will strike at any target they can find. Humanity's large brains have caused far too much strife. It allowed them to adapt a myraid of systems, systems that humans seem to think they can't follow truly unless they destroy every other system there is! And you defend these people? They're just wipe themselves out for their petty greeds and fears, as they've been trying to do for eons! And I could very well stand by and let themselves slaughter themselves to the last child. But humanity isn't content on wiping out just itself. It has to destroy everything around it as well! Thus, I need to get rid of it. When I become creation, Failure, none of this will happen. My life will live in total harmony, with no opposing beliefs and viewpoints. It will be a perfect lifeform…one far greater then all those lifeforms I must cleanse from all the universes that exist."

"A life without inidividuality…without freedom…what kind of life is that?" Buffy said. Vagane looked at her.

"It is perfection, girl from another world. I wouldn't expect you to understand. No one can ever understand a visionary." Vagane said with mock sorrow.

"You fool…" Erik said, and suddenly chuckled. That got Vagane's attention.

"You think you can create? You are wrong. Humanity can create. It may have made nuclear bombs and prejudice and everything else, but it also made all the good things I fight for. You…you can only destroy. Destroy people, things, lives…it is all you can do! You think you can make the perfect life? You wouldn't know how to make a life if it bit you on the ass!"

Vagane stared at Erik, and then he sighed.

"It almost saddens me, Failure. I spent so much time on you. No one ever got as much effort from me as you. I wanted you to be perfect, my destroyer, the one who would make the world I dream of. I tried so hard…and instead you became this. Instead of wiping out life, you decided to protect it. This should not have been. I thought for sure you would be my greatest creation."

"I would rather be your failure then your success!" Erik snapped. Vagane chuckled.

"Yes, that is quite clear. Not as clear as life though. Some of its ironies are so obscure. However, that makes them much more delicious when they are figured out."

"What the hell is he rambling about now?" Ash asked.

"I thought my greatest efforts in life, spent turning this Failure into the weapon he is, would mark him as my greatest creation. Instead…it happened far earlier then I expected, and with far less effort. Eight years of effort…and what I ended up was this. One night of amusement…and I got something far greater. Yes, who would have thought my greatest creation would have come about in my youth, when I capped off a great evening by raping a hooker?"

The words hung there in the air for a few seconds.

Then the realization hit like a twenty-ton bomb. Almost as if on cue, Vagane smiled cruelly.

"Oh…my…dear…god…" Christine said, almost dropping her weapon.

"What? What?" Krillian said, one of the few who hadn't got it.

"Raped a hooker…that info he sent Erik…Vagane…is AGONY'S FATHER!"

For Erik, it felt like someone had taken a dagger of pure ice and cold and stabbed him right in the heart. His eyes, wide and horrified beyond belief, stared at Vagane's cruelly smiling face.

"Why Failure, you didn't think Agony picked your family as a target at random, did you? I was annoyed that your family was so close to my lab, so I got in touch with my daughter, anomously of course, and I merely…pointed her in your direction. I never thought I would get you in the bargain. What a bonus! Or so I thought."

Erik was now making strange noises in his throat, noises that defied description. Everyone was staring at him, his muscles as tight as a bowstring, his hands clenching into fists and blood pouring from in between his fingers.

Bra felt the backlash, the strange power exploded from within Erik. A second later all the Z Fighters did as well. They recoiled. It wasn't ki they were feeling. It was something far worse, far most…apocolypic.

"So Failure, you say I can't create? I created her, didn't I? And what an example! All creation must end in destruction, it is the way of things…I created something that can NEVER BE DESTROYED! AHAHAHAHAHHAHA!"

"GGGGGGYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The scream pierced everyone as the power suddenly flared up from around Erik, a black darkness that tossed his hair around like a spasming body. Vagane chuckled.

"I'd like to stay and watch the fireworks, but I have other things to do. But do feel free to…drop in." Vagane said, and pressed a button.

And then the floor suddenly fell away, and with combined screams of fear and surprise everyone suddenly found themselves in free-fall, plummeting down into an unknown darkness. Erik fell as well, vanishing into the pit with everyone, clawing at the air as he fell as if he expected to find a miraculous handhold.

The Z Warriors immediately called apon their powers of flight and flew back up.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I mention this is the NO-FLYING zone?" Vagane said, and pressed another button. A gigantic pressure suddenly slammed against the Z Warriors, and they fell, unable to keep in flight, all of them vanishing into the darkness again.

Vagane smiled at his work and turned away. He activated a mike on his wheelchair.

"Tormentor? I have something for you to do. There are some wounded rats outside our lab. Do with them as you will." Vagane said with saitisfaction, and turned the mike off. Looking up, he smiled at Goku's writhing form as he tried to keep screaming, his vocal cords having given out long ago, his fists beating weakly on the glass.

"So much to take…but I have enough time to claim it all…take it, my children…" Vagane said, looking at the twin black tubes on individual screens. "Take it, my new greatest creations. You will be everything your mother…my daughter…was, and far far more. Together, WE SHALL RULE EVERYTHING!"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, VAGANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

To be continued!

Writer's Notes: Well Shady, you know what they say…"Be careful what you wish for…you might just get it."

*hands Nik Nak tissues* There there, it'll be alright.

I know you might have noticed the two obvious anime references by name. The one I was originally gonna just do is somewhat more obscure. I'll give you a hint though. It happened during the Erik/Celeste/ Buffy vs Spike fight.

Hopefully the next chapter will be shorter. I call it…

"Chains of Fate"

See you then. Long review please.