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?

10. Darkest Before The Dawn

Chapter 10: Darkest Before The Dawn

"Blood on her skin…dripping with sin…she'll do it again…a living dead girl…"

Rob Zombie, Living Dead Girl

"Tell me what went wrong…cause baby I'm not that strong…I'm walking wounded…"

Tea Party, Walking Wounded

"I wanna live…I wanna love…BUT IT'S A LONG HARD ROAD OUT OF HELL!"

There was no real way to define where Erik was.

It was a place, and yet it was not. It was an idea, and yet it was not. It transcended all forms of catagorization. It seemed to be shifting, filled with constant fluxes. One moment it was hot, the next cold, and the next a feeling beyond human comprehension.

All Erik knew…was that he was falling.

And that he could still feel…if only one thing.

I lost. For all my power and my anger, I lost. After all my efforts, my promises, my vows…she beat me. She completed her collection…………………………

I never did a damn thing with my life. All those years of death and torture, what did I accomplish? I never managed to stop the evils of humanity, no matter how brutal and merciless I was. For every one I cut down, the next one replaced him/her with even more twisted desires and wants. All those I ever dared grow close to…I damned them to death and oblivion. I was too weak to protect them. I couldn't save my family. I couldn't save Celeste. And now I can't save…them. They will have to fight Agony in my stead…they'll never win. She can't be knocked down this time.

So this is what Fate wanted all the time. Nothing but suffering and oblivion for humanity…for life…for me. Have we really gone so far with our sins to be beyond redemption?

Perhaps I…but everyone?

I killed them all.

I was never a savior.

Vagane was right…I am a failure.

Failure…

The landing should have broken his neck. But where Erik was followed the rules of one thing, and they were as ever changing as the landscape.

Erik found though, that he could still feel pain.

He put a hand down on something that he did not know. But it managed to support his weight, as he slowly stood up.

Blackness. Nothing but total and utter blackness. There was no sound but his breathing…if he was still breathing. He knew he was hurting though. Pain trancended all things.

Erik blinked, and felt a familiar feeling. He lifted his hand and felt around the right side of his face, pressing against the flesh.

It wasn't flesh. It was his false covering, torn and shredded, and the metal underneath.

Erik realized with a jolt he could no longer feel his wings, tail, or any other part that he had aquired as Redemption. He had regressed back to his cyborg form.

But his machinery was dead. His eye still saw, and his arm still moved, but that was all. It was as if he had an arm and eye composed of metal, and solely that.

Erik looked around.

There was nothing but darkness around him. He could see himself, and that was all.

He didn't know what to do. Should he walk? Stand? Try to call apon his mechanics or his powers? Scream?

In the end, the question was answered for him.

"Erik…." The voice whispered. It was almost sing song, light and beautiful.

Erik whirled. It couldn't be. She'd died before Agony had come. She couldn't have…

"Celeste…?"

"Erik……………." Came the whisper again. Erik looked around. The place seemed to defy the nature of sound: the whisper seemed to come from everywhere.

Then he saw it, the faint figure off in the gloom. Coming towards him.

"Erik…………………………….."

Erik found himself walking towards the figure, even though part of his brain screamed he shouldn't. Erik ignored it. He didn't know where he was, what he was standing on, what was happening, or anything else. The fact that he didn't know what he was heading towards was just a member of the club, and carried little weight.

"Celeste?"

"Erik…my love…"

Then it was revealed to him.

Erik recoiled in sheer horror as the figure standing before him, of a thin, frail girl in her mid-teens, with skin as pale as a ghost's and with limp, dead hair.

Erik started to shake violently as he looked at the eyes, beaten so much they were nearly squashed, of the bleeding split lips, the shattered teeth, the twisted, broken noise, the face so bruised and battered it looked like the girl was eternally choking. Erik knew that he was looking at how Celeste had once been, at what the monsters of society had done to her as they tried to destroy her.

But the worst was the hole in her chest, leaking blood that poured on the ground. "Celeste" reached up her hands, which were covered with the same blood.

"Why did you let them do this to me, my love? I cared so much for you…and you let them hurt me…they hurt me so bad…"

"No…no no NO! YOU'RE NOT CELESTE!"

"Erik…why did you refuse to love me? Why did you let me think I was a fool for loving you? Why did you let me die…I cared so much and you let me die…I would have given you my heart…"

"No…no…"

"Erik…I still will…"

And then the Celeste being reached towards her chest and plunged her fingers between her breasts, and then she tore out her heart in a spray of gore. Erik recoiled again.

"Take it…please…my love…" "Celeste" said, as blood poured from her mouth.

And then her face twisted into Agony's.

"You know you want to."

Erik turned and ran, ran away from the Celeste thing as it laughed in Agony's voice.

He almost ran into the next figure, and seeing her made him recoil just as hard.

"Jennifer…"

"Oh Erik, you remember me, huh?" said the oriental woman he had called Jennifer. She would have seemed normal, except for the huge bleeding hole in her stomach.

"No…you can't…"

"I thought you were a good guy, Erik. When all my fellows were denoucing you as a monster, I thought I knew better, especially after you avenged my sister's death. I didn't realize how much of a bane you were until you interference in that drug bust. We had it well in hand, but noooooo….that wasn't good enough for you. You had to have your murders. Well, your attack started the shootout that wound up killing seven police officers…including me. Where were you when I was bleeding to death? Oh yes, you had all my fellows chasing after you. Do you know what it's like to die from a shot to the stomach, Erik?"

Then Jennifer's features's twisted, and once again Erik found himself looking at Agony.

"It's lovely."

Erik ran again.

"I knew you would run this way."

Erik slammed on the brakes again as another figure emerged from the darkness around him.

"G-G-G-George…" Erik gasped, looking at the man, with filthy matted hair and torn, dirty clothing. He looked every inch the homeless person he had been when Erik had met him.

The only thing was, his arm was a twisted mutilated wreck, and his head had literally been torn off his shoulders. Blood dripped from the lone stand of muscle that kept his head still attached to his body.

"Remember my gift, Erik? Of being able to see the future? How you used that to kill? You promised me freedom…from the streets and from that curse. I saw my own death, boy. But I didn't want to believe it. But when those punks tossed me under a train, I believed it all too well…I saw how you were a failure and ignored it…"

"No…YOU ARE NOT GEORGE!" Erik screamed. He had had enough of these twisted lies, and he reacted in the only way he knew how to solve a problem: he attacked.

It didn't help, as Erik went right through the apparition he had called George. He fell on his face, his superhuman reflexes seemingly failing him, just as he had failed all these apparitions.

"And to think I've just scratched the surface." Chuckled a familiar female voice. Erik whirled to his feet to find that the mangled body of a man he had known only as George, a man he had dared to call a friend and damned him because of it, had turned into the woman who had damned him. Agony.

"So many memories…so many failures…I think I can go a millenia on just these." Agony laughed.

Erik cracked his knuckles.

"YOU BITCH! DIE!" Erik screamed, leaping at Agony.

Agony, laughing, held up her hand.

Erik stopped dead, floating in front of her.

"You forget where you are, Erik. You're a part of me now. You are at my beck and call. I have total mastery over you." Agony chuckled.

"Bitch…monster…inhuman…why don't you fight me on even terms?" Erik said, trying to use his fury to mask his foolish statement made from utter desperation.

Agony smirked.

"No, that's no fun."

Then she punched him, and Erik gasped in pain as blood (or was it blood?) shot from his mouth. Laughing, she pummeled him, him unable to fight back at all. The sound of her knuckles pounding on his flesh and his cries were all that rang in the silence.

Finally, she tossed him backwards, and Erik tumbled along the ground before he came to a stop. Groaning, he found he could move again.

"I'd love to continue this boy, but I'm afraid that all your stupid friends want my attention now. I have to concentrate on them. Not to worry though. I'll soon have them all beside you…metaphorically speaking. They'll go into my melting pot. But you get to be my personel toy…for all eternity! Isn't that special?"

"No…………..no……"

"Gotta go now! But I think I'll leave you with all these old friends of yours. I'm sure they have plenty to…discuss with you."

And then they were all coming, appearing out the shadows before Erik even as they dragged themselves out of the shadows of his memory. All his victims. The innocents he couldn't save. The innocents damned by him.

He never knew there were so many.

"Bye bye Erik! See you later!" Agony laughed as she floated up.

"AGONYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Erik screamed, trying to get up, to leap at her, to find something within himself to tear her apart.

And then they were on him, pulling at him, hitting him, clawing at him. But the worst of all was the noise, of a thousand accusations fused into one hateful voice.

"Failed us…"

"Failure…"

"You hurt us…"

"Trusted you…"

"We died because of you…"

"Failed us…failure…failure…"

Erik crumbled to his knees, trying to curl up in a ball, trying to get away from their bloody fingers and their hateful, veangeful tones. They clawed at his back, pulling at his hair, trying to hoist him up and tear him to pieces.

"No…no…I'm sorry…no…forgive me…I'm sorry…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And then he was falling again. The sudden sharp jolt was so strong he felt like it nearly broke him in half. His vision swam.

But the hands were gone. So were the voices.

Slowly, Erik raised himself to his feet. He didn't know what was going on, if this was one of Agony's little tricks or not. Therefore, he kept his eyes closed.

But he knew damn well he couldn't keep them closed forever. He had to trust.

Slowly, he opened them.

The shock to his senses was so strong it would have overwhelmed an ordinary man. It almost broke Erik, as he stared as the whispery brightness around him.

It was like a fog…but it was a fog that seemed to emit light. After the total darkness he had been in when Agony had introduced him to his new fate of an eternity of hell inside her, it didn't seem like it was possible that he was in such an opposite room. Indeed, it didn't seem like such a place would exist inside Agony.

It had to be a trick. A setup. Erik's head darted around as he tried to determine what kind of torment would be visited apon him here. Agony had already played with his mind…would she subject his body to unspeakable pain? Tear his soul to shreds? Or maybe she would torment his heart, his emotions…the sheer idea of what she could do to him sent violent shudders through Erik.

Then he heard it.

It was faint at first, and made even more so that Erik couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. It sounded like sobbing.

Erik looked around, trying to pinpoint the sound. Unlike the demonic Celeste that Agony had shown him, this whisper did not seem to come from everywhere. It had a definate direction.

Slowly, Erik began heading towards it. He knew he was acting like a fool, that he was probably walking right into a trap, but he went any way. The sobbing…it was full of such pain…pain and despair. In echoed in Erik. It was a sound he knew all too well. For 20 years, his soul had been screaming the same way the sobbing was.

Erik walked through the silent lit mist.

He saw it. It looked like a lump on the ground at first, but as Erik drew close he found he could make out details.

Torn, dirty blue jeans, quite clearly hand me downs. A dull shirt on which a floral pattern had once bloomed, but the passage of time had withered the painted buds almost to nothingness. Smudged, dirty arms. And a head of short black hair.

Erik walked up to the figure…it was a little girl. She continued to sob.

Nearly all of Erik's mind was screaming that this was a trap.

But he was listening to the remaining part, as he felt the familiar tug of a lifelong duty and vow.

He didn't know what to say…and yet somehow, the words came immediately.

"Why are you crying?"

The little girl, her face in her hands, continued to sob for a bit, but finally she answered in a high feathery voice.

"The bad lady…she's going to hurt those people again…I already saw it…I can't see it again…she always makes me watch…I can't take it…please…mister…you're here now…help me…"

And the girl looked up at him.

Erik recoiled again, not from horror, but from sheer shock as he looked into those strangely tinted red eyes.

He had never seen her before in his life.

And yet, instantly, he knew who she was.

He was looking at Patricia Delhart.

They never saw her coming.

One moment Agony was laughing as her power swirled around her, and the next she was gone.

Then screams exploded from the group as Agony blurred back into existence…on the other side of them, bladed fingers dripping blood. She smirked as various members of the Z Warriors keeled over and down, clutching wounds.

Krillian clenched his teeth as he held onto the terrible wound Agony had gorged across his shin, blood leaking from it in a steady stream. Trunks clutched onto the gash across his back, while his father grabbed a wound that had suddenly appeared on his shoulder.

But the worst was Angie, who toppled over, gurgling as her throat was slashed ear to ear.

"ANGIE!" Ash screamed, as one of his oldest friends went down. He ran to her side as Angie tried to breathe through her torn throat. She was rapidly losing the battle.

"HELP HER! SOMEONE! ANYONE!" Ash screamed.

"YOU BITCH!" Brigh roared, and began whipping a storm of daggers at Agony. The energy laced blades blew through the woman, but she just smiled and began walking forward.

Brigh growled and whipped out a single solitary dagger. Black energy began to crackle on it.

"Ultimate Technique…SHADOW NIGHTMARE INFERNO!" Brigh screamed, and threw the dagger at Agony.

The energy grew around the blade until it was a crackling twenty-foot long arrow of destructive force. It struck Agony and blew her apart violently.

But her pieces quickly formed back together, and Agony laughed at Brigh's horrified face.

"Please."
Then she zapped forward and punched him, breaking nearly evey rib he had as he flew backwards, crashing into a cliff face. He slumped limply to the ground.

Ash looked up in horror as Christine tried to knit the tissues of Angie's throat back together in time.

"Here." Buu said, coming and touching his forelock to the wound. It healed instantly, but Angie did not wake up.

"Ok guys, OUR TURN!" Yamcha screamed, as he charged up. He zapped at Agony.

Agony laughed and fired a black energy spear at him. Yamcha blurred away and reappeared to Agony's side.

"WOLF WIND!"

The power exploded around Yamcha as he leapt at Agony. Agony turned her head, smirking.

"KIENZEN!"

Agony almost looked shocked as the blade sliced her head right off. As it fell, Yamcha connected with his punch and once again blew Agony's body to pieces.

"SHIN KIKOHO!" Tien yelled from up in the air, and Agony's shattered body parts exploded upward in fiery ki energy. Eighteen, Seventeen, and Krillain also flew up and began barraging the area with ki blasts, forming an ever-growing smoke cloud.

Then tendrils of black power flew out of the cloud, lashing the air around them. Yamcha leapt back to get away from it, but Tien wasn't so lucky. He was swatted from the sky like an annoying insect, and he plummeted with a cry, a terrible burn across his chest and left leg.

Agony flew up, going after the air targets. Seventeen blurred away from her charge, and then Eighteen kicked her in the back, sending her flying forward.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Krillian yelled, and fired the attack off at Agony. She vanished in an explosion.

Then she flew up from it, the wounds already healing.

"Is that your best? THIS IS BORING!" Agony mocked, and flew at the three. They scattered.

Agony blurred away.

Krillian threw himself in front of Eighteen in case of an attack.

Then she reappeared. Behind the two of them.

"That's the problem with being in love. You always have to be close."

Then Agony reached out and slammed the couple's heads together with a sickening crack. Marron cried out as her parents fell to earth.

"YOU BITCH!" She screamed, and flew up at Agony.

"MARRON, NO!" Goten yelled, and flew after his wife. Agony whirled.

Marron attacked Agony. Agony laughed and began blocking the attacks with ease. Marron cursed and snapped repeated fists at Agony, then comboed with a spin kick. Agony ducked under the kick and snapped her leg out, driving it into Marron's stomach. Marron doubled over with a gasp.

Then Goten flew over her back and smashed his heel across her face, caving it it as she spun away. But even as she did, she laughed and fired off a huge blast. Goten dove, shoving his wife to the ground as the blast barely missed them. It flew off into the distance and exploded.

"HA HA HA HA HA! You think…?"

Seventeen charged Agony from behind.

Agony whirled, snapping her leg up and out, slamming it against Seventeen's head and breaking his neck. Seventeen went crashing back to earth, bouncing to the ground and no moving.

"Now as I was saying…you think this is an offensive? You just don't get it, do you?" Agony laughed. "You can't beat me! I am the God of Death! MWAHHAHAHHAHAHA! SHINIGAMI!" Agony laughed.

Hey Agony, I've got some guy on my cell by the name of Duo. Something about ripping him off and lawsuits…

"Shut up Soulfire!" Ash snapped, as Agony looked down at the leader of the Legacy. She smirked and flew down in front of him.

"Well, looks like you get to be my next victim!"

Ash's sword blast blew off her right arm.

AU CONTRAIRE, MON CHERE!

Ash attacked Agony as she was recovering, slashing and kicking at her. He cut open several deep wounds, but they were about as effective as firing bullets at a meteor. Agony smiled again.

Hey, too bad Erik trashed the lab! If he hadn't, we'd still be surrounded by computers, and then our location would be surrounded by your situation: TERMINAL!

Agony formed one of her arms into a barbed sword blade and engaged Ash in a duel. Ash fought back, but Agony's speed was beyond belief.

The end was inevitable, as Agony whacked the Soulfire from Ash's hands.

I'm flying! I'm flying!

Agony smirked.

"Scream for me."

Ash tried to dodge away, but he was too slow as Agony slashed him across the arm and then sliced deep wounds across his chest with her knife fingers. Blood splattered, and then Agony kicked Ash backwards into another cliff. He landed, clutching his wounded chest as he tried to get to his feet.

Agony licked Ash's blood off her face, and turned back to the group of warriors who were still standing.

"Who's next?"

As it turned out, it was Piccolo.

Erik couldn't believe it. He had no idea of what Agony was capable of, but seeing this child, this little girl who's matured body Erik knew far too well…he couldn't comprehend it. His mind felt like it was going to skid off the rails and fly off into the darkness of lunacy. Another part of him thought it already had.

"W-W-W…What? How? Why?"

Patricia's look of fear and misery never wavered.

"I've been here ever since she came free…she keeps me trapped in here…she makes me watch. She delights in showing me what she's doing…in my body, in my name…she scares me so much. Please…help me…I know what you mean to her…how you loathe her…help me…please…" Patricia begged.

Erik was silent as he stood, stock still, looking at the frail, pathetic figure in front of him.

"But why…how?"

"I've had to watch since the beginning…she put me here after I finally lost my battle to her. I tried to fight her…I tried to be strong…but she made things happen…her and her master…I couldn't win. And she's kept me here ever since…she's made me watch. Please…I'm so tired…so sad…help me…"

"But you…so peaceful… here…" Erik whispered.

"That's her doing. She does this so I long for it when she takes it away…because she'll be back. She always is…but this time, she'll make me watch her kill all those men and women again…she'll make me watch her destroy worlds…I can't take that…not any more…I have tried to be strong, but I'm not strong enough…help me…please mister Erik…help me…"

"You…you provided the body for her to live…" Erik suddenly whispered. To his amazement, he was starting to get angry. "How can you still be here…?"

"She could never banish me. In our own way, we're linked. But I have no power to fight her. Her control is absolute. Please…I don't want any more people to suffer…I've seen so many die…so many tormented in this…place…heard her terrible laugh…please, HELP ME…"

"Help you…"

Then Erik's claws snapped out as he brought his arm up.

"HELP YOU!?!??! AFTER WHAT YOU LET FREE! AT WHAT YOUR CURSE HAS DONE TO ME?!?!?!?!??!?!" Erik roared. Patricia reared back, her eyes filling with new fear, as Erik advanced on her.

"I can't hurt Agony any more…but perhaps I can still damage her…and I can think of no better way to shake her up then for her to find YOUR CORPSE!"

Piccolo was not dumb. He knew just what Agony was capable of, and he knew that getting around it was nigh on impossible.

But he could certainly try.

And hence he did, as he swung up behind Agony. Agony jerked her head around, smiled and fired.

All she hit was air, as Piccolo flew low and slashed his arm across her legs with such force the limbs nearly exploded. Agony went down with a scream.

"NOW!" Piccolo bellowed as he flew up and away.

"YAHHHHHHHH!" Goten and Trunks yelled together as they dove from the sky, slamming their combined feet against Agony's chest, crushing it inward in a spray of blood as they drove her deeper into the ground. They split up and flew away as Gohan thrust his hands up.

"MASENKO!" Gohan yelled, and fired. Piccolo whirled as energy crackled on his fore and middle fingers.

"MAKKANKOSAPPO!" Piccolo yelled, and fired the spiral beam.

The two attacks blasted Agony at the same time, and the earth shook as a massive explosion blasted into the air. Debris pelted the group.

"That couldn't be it! Stay on your…" Piccolo began to yell.

Then a twisting, wirthing mass of flesh blurred into existence behind him, a seething mass of tissue that extended some of itself as the flesh formed into steel.

"PICCOLO LOOK OUT!" Gohan screamed, as Piccolo sensed it and tried to turn.

He should have flown away.

The blade lashed out, and Piccolo screamed in agony as the sword slashed right through him, cutting him in half. His legs and torso fell in a spray of alien blood as Piccolo landed hard, trying to see past the pain and use his powers to fix the damage.

Agony finished reforming, and Piccolo gasped as she raised her hand and aimed it at him. As weakened as the blow had made him, he would never be able to move in time.

"I still don't like green eggs and ham." Agony chuckled, and fired a giant black blast at Piccolo.

"NOOOOO!" Dende yeled as he threw himself in front of Piccolo. Piccolo's eyes widened.

"DENDE, DON'T!"

Dende took the blast anyway, his frail arms trying to block it. His clothes shredded as the blast threw him through the air and smashed him against the cliff. Piccolo could only scream as the force of the blast carried him upward as well, slamming him into another cliff.

"Dende…" Piccolo whispered, cursing his fellow Namek's sacrifice in the name of fellowship, and then he knew nothing but blackness.

"Ha! Two with one stone!" Agony laughed as she floated down.

"YOU BITCH!" Gohan roared as he flew at Agony. Agony dodged away from his punch and almost lazily dashed backwards to avoid his follow up kick, smirking the whole time. Gohan growled and attacked again. Agony blurred away from his reverse hook kick, flying backwards away from him. Gohan screamed and attacked again.

Then Agony contorted her body backwards, causing Gohan to fly right over her. As he gasped, Agony then snapped her legs up, slamming them into Gohan's abdomen. Gohan cough up a spray of blood as the kick sent him crashing into another cliff face.

"Rookie." Agony muttered as she flipped up to her feet.

The sword was buried in her face and chest, Buffy driving the blade into her so hard she nearly sliced Agony in half. With a grunt of exertion, she tried to yank the sword back for another slice.

The sword wouldn't budge. Buffy yanked at it as Agony's face began to reform. She smirked and clamped her hand over the sword, yanking it out of her and out of Buffy's hands at the same time. Buffy's eeys widened as the sword burst into flames and was reduced to ash.

But she didn't let that stop her, as she punched Agony across the throat, kicked her in the gut, and snap-kicked her across the face before she spun and added a leaping roundhouse. Agony staggered backwards, and Buffy punched at her again.

Agony caught Buffy's, and Buffy let out a small cry as most of her fingers broke. Agony had been toying with her.

Smiling, Agony lifted up her hand.

"Go away little girl. You bother me."

The blast threw Buffy backwards, the burning pain from it multiplying tenfold as she was smashed against a cliff rock face. She slumped and tried to stand again, blood pouring down her face from a large gash across her forehead.

Agony laughed again, and spear of black energy exploded in her hand.

"SHE SHOOTS, SHE GORES!" Agony laughed, and threw the spear at Buffy. Buffy's eyes widened in horror. She would never…

"MOVE!" Spike yelled as he rammed into Buffy from the side, knocking her out of the way. The spear tore off most of his jacket and burned his back as he fell to the ground and rolled away.

Buffy looked at Spike in confusion.

"……SPIKE?"

"Hey look Betty, to her you're just another body. You're my whole damn life. I'll be damned if she gets to kill you! That's my job!" Spike said, and began walking towards Agony. Agony smirked.

"These damn idiots wouldn't have a clue how to kill someone if it bit them on the arse." Spike said, as he pulled the two huge blades he had swiped from Tormentor's corpse off his back, dumping them on the ground. He picked up one, the barbed weapon almost as big as he was. "I, however, do. And now I'm gonna be the one to give you a final and bloody death!"

Energy blasted from Agony's eyes, striking the blade Spike held and melting it away. Spike gaped at his weapon, which was now a charred, ruined hilt.

"But not with that." Spike added hastily, as he picked up the other sword. "Now, I don't have no glitzy battle cry, and every form of threat towards you has been used a thousand times iover, so, well…SOUP!" Spike yelled as he charged at Agony.

Agony, her smirk never failing, raised her arm.

The blade slashed right through it, and Agony's smirk vanished as the blade sliced off her head as well before Spike whirled and sliced Agony's body in half in a rain of blood. The body began to fall as Spike whirled.

"Ha! Who's da man?" Spike crowed.

Then he heard the strange slurping noise and turned as Agony's body flew back together. His jaw dropped as Agony's face reformed. Her smile chilled even him.

"Not you."

Spike growled and stabbed his blade at Agony again.

Agony caught the sword, and as Spike gasped, she cooly twisted the blade around and shoved it right through Spike.

Spike screamed as his own weapon was shoved through him, and then black energy exploded along the blade and sizzled over him. With another scream, he was carried upward and smashed into a rock face with an explosion. He hit the ground hard.

"Well…at least…it was made of metal…" Spike groaned, and passed out.

Agony chuckled.

Then she snapped her leg up as Buffy charged her from behind, her heel coming up and catching Buffy right under the chin. Buffy was thrown airborne, and then Agony spun and smashed her body with a sickening cracking noise as she kicked her back into the rock face. Buffy hit the ground, and this time she didn't get up.

"Can't fault you for effort, girl…but Slayer? I think not." Agony chuckled.

"SATAN MIRACLE…!!"

Agony thrust up her hand and caught Mr. Satan's fist as it swung at her. She twisted her head and smirked once more at the now terrified old man.

"I've met Lucifer, my friend." Agony said, as she lifted her other hand as her fingers transformed into cruelly barbed blades. "You shame his namesake."

Mr. Satan screamed as Agony slashed out her fingers, ripping four terrible gashes across his face. Laughing, she kept slashing, tearing blood-spurting channels across his arms, chest, and legs.

"STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Buu screamed as he rammed into Agony, sending her flying away from his friend. As Satan collasped, his blood soaking the ground.

As Agony flew, Buu dove to the ground, and in a sight that was almost comical, did a forward flip as he thrust himself into the air. With a scream, he began firing hundreds of ki blasts down onto where Agony was.

Then, with a smirk, Agony blurred in front of him. Buu's head snapped up. His teeth clenching and steam coming out of his ears, he brought his hands up to his side.

Agony smirked and mimiced the motion.

"TAKE THIS!" Buu yelled as he fired a huge ki blast at Agony.

Agony thrust out her hands and met the blast with one of the exact same kind. Suddenly finding himself in a standoff, Buu growled and tried to hold his ground.

Agony chuckled, and thrust her hands forward.

Buu's blast was smashed by hers, and Buu screamed as he was carried backwards by burning energy. He hit the ground a bleeding heap and passed out.

Agony smiled at his limp body as she floated down to the ground.

"Can't anyone be a challenge?"

"Remember me?"

Agony's eyes arched at the female voice, and she turned to see Pan, older and with shining golden hair, as she held her hands up above her as golden power shone on them as well.

"MASENKO!"

Erik almost had his hands on the child in front of him, his murderous urges overriding his senses and common sense, his only thought of revenge.

Then it slammed into his mind, like a bolt of lightning.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING!

Erik stopped. He knew the voice, but he didn't want to listen.

That girl is the cause of all my problems, all my grief! It's all her fault!

And you think she wanted this? To have her body used for all those atrocities? To have to watch it all? Do you think that if you can hurt her, you can somehow change the past, make all that has happened go away?

"No…" Erik whispered. His rage, his anger, his desire for revenge, was burning in him, feeling like acid in his veins. He had to release it. But this little voice…it was standing in his way, backing down from nothing. And Erik knew why.

The voice was him, just like the rage was. He had always thought of himself of two people, two sides warring for dominace.

Such as all people. Every person is essentially two, each tied to a side they can't change or escape. But only the inidividual can decide which side will truly be him. You have always desired one side…why are you embracing the other?

No…I can't let her live…I can't!

So, this is the real you? The one who needs a scapegoat for his problems and grief? I think you know that is not true…why are you continuing that lie?

"Mister…Erik, I tried to be strong…I'm sorry…please don't hurt me…" Patricia begged as Erik stood in front of her, holding his head in his hands.

It's her fault…her…fault…

Look at her. Does she look like a monster? Does Agony's evil shine in her eyes? No. Just fear. The same fear you wore when you were her age and Agony brutalized you.

I can't let her…live…not after…

Then Agony was right. You are a murderer, just like her. You stalk the ones who spill blood, and she stalks anything that strikes her fancy. Congradulations Erik. All you have ever fought for, was a lie. Yo're just like the woman you hate. You have become her.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Erik screamed, rearing his head back to the whiteness that was all around him and Patricia. Then he lowered his head, gasping, looking at Patricia.

Patricia waited.

Erik fell to his knees, and took Patricia into his arms. Patricia clutched to him as he tried to comfort her. She began to cry again.

"I'm sorry…it's not your fault…I was a fool to ever think it and I'll never do it again… Patricia…I'm sorry…" Erik whispered. He'd made his choice. All his life, he had thought Patricia Delhart was Agony. He had been wrong. Agony had murdered her and imprisoned her just like all her other victims. And perhaps more then any of them, Patricia had suffered, being forced to watch as Agony used her body to commit all the crimes she had.

"Please…I'm so scared…" Patricia wept.

"I'm here…I'll protect you…" Erik whispered. He had to. Despite all that had happened, Erik could tell no evil lurked in the child he held in his arms. The evil was Agony, a creation of darkest evil that had surpassed her creator in her acts of destruction. She was the one who had to be destroyed.

And then, suddenly, Erik found there was nothing in his arms. Patricia had vanished. He looked in confusion at where she had been.

Then the voice spoke.

"I always knew you would know the right way. No matter what, you never lost that strength."

The voice sent shockwaves through every part of Erik's being. Of all the things he had seen, of all he had learned, he still couldn't believe he was hearing the voice he was. Slowly, he stood up, looking at the faint figure that was walking out the misty light.

Even when he saw him, Erik couldn't believe it. All he could do was make a low sound that sounded like a cross between a whisper and a squeek.

"………………..Father?"

The Masenko pierced through Agony as she screamed, toppling over in an another spray of blood. Pan watched with an intense look of hatred, behind which lurked desperate hope. This had worked once before. And Fate could not be cruel enough to…

Laughing, Agony flipped back up to her feet, the hole closing and healing. Pan felt her heart fill with ice.

"Age. With it comes wisdom, the experience of new things, a whole new life…but also the loss of total innocence, and the inability to strike a blow without feeling some kind of rage. Rage leads to violence. And violence is my blood." Agony said.

"And yes, I do remember you, little girl, and if I remember correctly…I OWE YOU."

Pan was sent flying backwards as Agony snapped her leg up, kicking the young girl backwards. Pan reeled from the blow as she flipped over and tried to recover.

Then Agony slammed into her from behind. Pan screamed as Agony smashed her foot into her back and lanced twin blades through her, piercing through both her shoulders. Pan crumbled to the ground, blood leaking from the twin wounds as Agony laughed and turned her arm into a sword to bring it down on Pan's head.

Gohan smashed into Agony, blazing with fury as he pummeled her and smashed her into the ground. A dozen Z Warriors and Legacy members immediately pounced on her and began hitting anything they could with fists, feet, weapons, and energy attacks.

Goku watched in horror as the group of warriors attacked Agony on masse.

"No…don't…you're playing right into her hands…"

Goku's warning helped no one, as no one could hear him. But his ability to predict the situation proved deadly accurate, as The Z Warriors and Legacy were suddenly all thrown backwards as Agony laughed, her wounds healing up. She swirled her head around, picked a target, and flew up after it.

Goku grit his teeth as he saw this, and his resolve steeled as he made his decision. It may mean his death…it may lead to nothing…it may cause both…but he could no longer sit here, as weak and wasted as his body was.

Slowly, Goku raised his hands, and prayed to all the gods he knew for one last gift.

Agony's chosen target was Bra, who shook her head and then looked at Agony with wide eyes as she floated down in front of him.

"You know little girl, you are making me kill you and your friends in the wrong order. Come here so I can correct it!" Agony laughed as she reached for Bra.

Bra's hair blazed up as she went SSJ again and blasted Agony's arm aside before she smashed in her face with about twenty-five punches. Flying backwards, she let loose with a storm of golden ki bolts, blowing Agony up in an ever widening smoke cloud.

Laughing, Agony flew from the smoke, half her face a melted charred skull. Bra recoiled from the horrible sight as Agony thrust her hands out at her. Ducking under her blow, Bra thrust her hands against Agony's stomach and let loose with a point-blank ki ball shot. The explosion blew Agony to pieces, but it also blasted Bra into the ground. She bounced off and almost landed on her feet before she crumbled to one knee, breathing hard.

"Bra!" Trunks yelled.

"I'm fine! Get her!"

"You heard your sister, mister, let's do it!" Goten yelled as he flew to Trunks's side. The two assumed the Fusion Dance position.

"FFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-SION! HA!" They yelled as they did the dance.

Agony finished fixing her body as the light exploded across the wrecked battlefield. She blinked.

"THE MAN IS BACK!" SSJ4 Gotenks crowed. "Now, I owe you, bitch! You ain't spearing me on no spear this time! This time, I'm gonna kick your demonic ass so hard you'll be able to floss with my boot laces!" Gotenks yelled. A golden aura exploded around him, and he blasted at Agony.

Agony held up her hand.

Gotenks suddenly stopped in front of Agony with a gasp of surprise.

"I always found you annoying." Agony said, and snapped her arms each way.

Gotenks shrieked and then in a sudden burst of light Goten and Trunks were back. Somehow, Agony had seized them and torn them apart. The shock of it was no more obvious to Goten and Trunks, who were still locked in place by Agony's terrible power.

Agony smiled and pointed at Goten.

"You, there." Agony said, pointing at the ground. Goten suddenly found himself in a direct course towards the earth. He screamed in protest and fury and then hit with a crashing boom and a cloud of dust.

"And as for you, pretty boy…" Agony said, running her hands almost delicately over Trunks's neck. Trunks shuddered.

"I believe this is mine." Agony laughed, and brought back her bladed fingers to slice Trunks's head off again.

Vegeta smashed into Agony, pummeling her, driving her away from his son.

"NOT THIS TIME!!!! NOT THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vegeta bellowed as he smashed Agony with fists and feet of utter fury before he spun and smashed Agony into the ground. Agony bounced off the ground with a spray of broken rock and did backflips as she landed on top of a rock outcropping as Vegeta flew down to another one. He lined up Agony as he landed.

"FINAL FLASH!" he screamed, and fired the golden bolt of power at Agony.

Agony whacked it aside with her arm, and it exploded off in the distance.

"That your best?"

"I'm JUST GETTING WARMED UP!" Vegeta roared, as a golden aura exploded around him, shattering parts of the cliff face. Agony smirked.

"Oh, scary."

Then Agony thrust out her arms and screamed as blasts of black power began exploding off her body, before a black aura blasted outward from her, shattering the cliff under her. Two waves of dark force washed over the area before the ball of power around Agony exploded outward and then flowed back into Agony's body as black lightning and power crackled and swirled around her body.

"Scarier." Agony smirked.

Vegeta didn't reply, instead flying off his ruined cliff at Agony.

Agony blurred away, and Vegeta did likewise. The air rang with cracking blows as the Super Saiya-jin Level 4 and the Herald of Destruction fought.

Vegeta punched at Agony, and growled as she dodged. He tried kicking her and got the same result as she blurred away. Vegeta blurred away and appeared behind Agony. Agony did likewise. Vegeta did it again. Agony also did so, and the two gradually flew higher and higher into the sky.

Then a crashing bang exploded across the air as Vegeta flew from the upper sky. He managed to put on the brakes as Agony flew down and lanced at Vegeta. Vegeta snarled and flew at Agony, cocking back his fist and slamming it right between Agony's eyes.

Agony shrugged off the blow, and as Vegeta gasped Agony smashed him, knocking him downward. Laughing, Agony flew down as she brought her hand up, and as Vegeta hit the ground she thrust it down, slamming her palm down on Vegeta's face. She shoved down, trying to crush Vegeta's skull between her hand and the cliff.

The cliff gave way first as Agony shoved Vegeta into the rock, a huge piece of stone creaking off the main formation and falling to the ground as it came apart from Agony's attempt to crush Vegeta's head.

Vegeta kicked Agony away and flew at her, smashing his foot against the side of her head. Agony tooke the blow, and then her hair extended, wrapping around Vegeta's leg. Vegeta gasped and tried to get away, but more strands came whipping out of nowhere, wrapping around Vegeta's other leg and both his wrists. With a laugh of pure mirth, Agony lifted Vegeta up and slammed him down across her knee, nearly breaking him in half. Vegeta threw up blood with a pained gasp.

"So, your back is still intact. Strong bones you got there…but that makes it more fun for me to break!" Agony said, and lifted Vegeta again.

Her arms flew off as Rod and William slashed them off in a twin display of gleaming blades. The next second a triad blast blew Agony apart. As she reformed, a battered and bleeding Ash twirled the Soulfire with one hand as his wife and teammates assembled around him.

"No more playing around. UNLEASH HELL!" Ash yelled.

Yes, Lord Maximus!

"SHUT UP SOULFIRE!" Ash yelled as he leapt and attack Agony, slicing and carving at her body. Several of his teammates aided him, as the other fired blasts from a distance.

Agony laughed and thrust up her arms, and Ash was thrown backwards with his teammates. He spun and landed on his feet.

"Anyone have any advice?" he muttered.

Um, there is no spoon?

"Real clever Soulfire." Ash said, clenching his teeth. "Any one have any ideas?"

"Yeah, KILL HER!" Christine screamed, furious over what Agony had done to her brother and family.

Can't argue with that, Ash. It's as impossible to answer as "Do these pants make me look fat?"

Despite himself, Ash smirked and charged.

Agony flew up, away from the blades. Ash looked up as Agony raised one finger and aved it at them mockingly.

"They say old legends never die…HOW ABOUT YOUNG LEGACIES!??!?!" Agony laughed, and suddenly clamped her fist shut.

Explosions blasted up from the ground, consuming and blowing away the members of Legacy with various cries and screams of pain. Agony laughed as the members were tossed around like rag dolls, and then laughed even harder when the smoke cleared and the broken bodies were revealed, strewn across the ground. In seconds, Agony had turned the Legacy's battleground into a graveyard.

Her laughter faded as Christine was revealed to still be on her feet. Ash was also, and he was standing by Christine's side, although Christine appeared to be helping him.

"She just won't die…" Ash cursed.

You know Ash…this looks bad…so I just want to say…you and Christine are too loud!

"Shut up Soulfire." Ash muttered, and looked at Christine. She smiled slightly.

"I love you." Ash said, and kissed his wife. It was brief, but incredibly poignant.

"Oh that's so sweet I'm getting cavities! PREPARE TO SEE YOUR BROTHER!" Agony laughed, and thrust her hand out.

And Ash and Christine snapped their weapons up. They had one last trick, but it was big one.

"ULTIMATE CROSSFIRE TECHNIQUE! MIRACULOUS CATACLYSM!" Ash and Christine screamed as they held hands.

A white bolt of power blasted from their weapons, zapping at Agony. She opened her eyes as she felt the aura around the couple and the blast. The love of soulmates.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Agony yelled as the blast pierced through her and then blew her to pieces in a huge white light. The couple nearly crumbled from the force of their own blast.

"Please…please…"Christine whispered.

And then the pieces began floating back up. Christine let out a cry as they reformed into Agony.

"No…that blast is born from our love…you can't stand love…you should be…"

"Dead?" Agony said. "Oh, I might have been…if your love for each other wasn't tainted by the hate you hold for me, little girl."

Christine gasped again. Agony smirked.

"The fallacy of the human heart. It can never be full of one emotion. There must always be some of the others. Too bad. But since your heart is such a problem…I'LL JUST TAKE THEM!" Agony laughed, and flew at the couple.

Ash shielded his wife.

"MASENKO!"

"FINISH BUSTER!"

"BIG BANG ATTACK!"

"RENZOKOKEN SHINE SHINE MISSILE!"

"ARGGGH!" Agony screamed as she was hit with all the attacks at once. The gigantic explosion threw Ash and Christine backwards, and they crashed and lay on the ground, trying to get up as the smoke cloud blasted out from the combined attacks.

As Agony began reforming, Goten flew up as he looked at all the remaining Z Warriors, strong and weak alike.

"This is our last chance…OK!" Goten yelled, as he powered up. "TRUNKS AND BRA, HIT HER HIGH! PAN AND UBUU, HIT HER LOW! GOHAN AND VEGETA, HIT HER HARD! WE'LL FINISH THIS NOW OR WE'LL NEVER FINISH IT!"

"Wait! Look!"

Gohan turned his head at Krillian's yell and his pointing hand, and he gasped.

Then blue light washed over them as Goku floated up, holding the huge Genki Dama above his head. His skeletol figure seemed about to rip apart from the strain, but somehow he held together.

"Father!" Goten and Gohan said.

"Grandpa!" Pan said.

"Kakarott…" Vegeta said, as he watched Goku levitate up higher. None of them had noticed the power Goku was forming, too caught up in the battle with Agony.

Goku spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper, and yet, somehow, all heard him.

"My friends…I have gathered all I can…you must provide the rest…in your heart…in your soul…you must…please…hurry…"

Goten glanced back at Agony as she completed her reforming. Then he looked back at the group.

They all nodded.

As Agony shook her head, the group blurred away and reappeared behind Goku in a scattered group. Videl and Marron flew up beside their husbands.

"Everyone! Focus all your power, all your strength…all your love, your caring, your light within you into this! This is it! For us! For Erik! And for Humanity!" Goten said, as he brought his hands out and brought them to his side.

"KAAAAAAAAAAAA……" Goten yelled.

"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE……." Gohan and Pan joined as they charged as well.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA……." Ubuu, Krillian, and Eighteen added their voices to the war cry as they charged up as well.

"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE….…" Yamcha, Tien, and Chaozu said as they all did their charge up. No matter what, they were going to help.

Agony looked at the gigantic Genki Dama with some alarm, as memories came back to her.

"Oh no…"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the group as they all thrust their hands forward, firing the attack.

And as they did so, Vegeta, Trunks, and Bra flew up behind them, all of them bringing their hands together, as their aura combined into one glowing bright light.

"NEO…" Vegeta yelled.

"FI…" Trunks yelled.

"NAL…" Bra added.

"FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The golden power exploded from the family and flew out beside the group Kamehameha, the two massive blasts combining into one collassal omni-blast that gave off brilliant beams of blue and gold light.

The blast flew into the Genki Dama, and the ball became its point as the attack blasted at Agony. Agony's eyes widened.

"NO!" she screamed as she thrust her hands up.

The Omni-Blast struck her, the attack being at least fifty times her size. Agony's hands began to sizzle as she tried to hold the ball back and away from her. It was like a gnat trying to hold back a St. Benard.

The whole group held the blast and shoved it at Agony, all of them praying for the nightmare to end.

Then Agony laughed.

"NOT THIS TIME, YOU FOOLS!"

Then the blast flew up into the sky as Agony threw it above her. Everyone cried out in horror as Agony deflected the blast.

"Time for you to understand the same thing Erik never could. YOU CAN'T WIN!" Agony laughed.

And then she zapped into the Z Warriors so quickly even Vegeta had no idea what hit him. Everyone was suddenly transformed into a punching bag as Agony zapped around the whole group so quickly it was like she was pummeling each one of them at the same time. Everyone's bodies jerked, danced, and bled from the cracking blows being inflicted on all of them as Agony beat the shit out of all of them at once.

Goku fell, utterly spent, not even able to draw the strength to weep as Agony took all his friends and family apart.

Then Agony blurred away.

Everyone seemed suspended in mid-air.

Agony reappeared above the blast they had fired as her as it prepared to break through the dark storm clouds that had been above the battlefield. Laughing, she held out her hand.

The blast stopped, and then black lightning exploded from the clouds and coursed around and through the attack blast. Slowly, the golden-blue blast turned as dark as the clouds. Laughing, Agony raised her hand above her head and the blast flowed up above her in a mammoth ball of power that seemed to fill the whole sky.

"Love…goodness…light…they are NOTHING BEFORE ME!!!!!!!!!"

And Agony whipped her arm down and hurled the ball down, back at the remaining Z Warriors.

The only one who had time to scream was Pan.

The explosion was beyond the ability for human senses to read. It nearly cracked the planet in half, and around the earth everything was thrown into a frenzy by the sheer power. Cities collasped as earthquakes erupted, volcanos spewed forth the molten blood of the planet as if the earth had been wounded, the seas boiled and thrashed, and all around the world, everyone trembled, even if they had no idea why.

And then it was above, leaving only smoke and a rain of debris that never seemed to end.

Slowly, the smoke cleared.

Agony floated in the air, looking down at her work, the broken Z Warriors scattered all over the ground, the shattered Legacy members amongst them. No one was left standing.

They were beaten.

Agony sighed and smiled. They had tried everything, even the light within the heart of humanity. But this time, it had been unable to defeat her darkness. The art of fighting was her…love ultimately had no place in it no matter how hard it tried to make one.

There was no way anyone who oppossed her could truly hurt her. Vagane, or Fate, or whatever had seen to that.

And now she would thank it…by destroying it.

Laughing, Agony floated down. She had held back for one lone reason, and now she was going to reap the rapture of it and her victory.

Erik didn't even want to blink. He didn't want to take the chance the in the split-second he did, his father would disappear.

"………how?"

His father smiled slightly.

"Look at you Erik. You've grown so big…such a fine young man."

"You have your father's face, for certain."

The shock rang through Erik again, and his eyes moved from his father to the young woman who had come to his side…a woman that looked like an older Christine.

"Mother…Dad…"

"Hey, don't forget us!"

Erik's shock increased tenfold. Two more figures came out of the light…two little girls…his sisters…

This couldn't be happening. It was a trick of Agony's. She was setting him up for something terrible. She had opened him up with that Patricia apparition and now she was using spectres of his family to…

But it couldn't…he knew. He could sense it. There was no evil in the figures before him…only a feeling buried so deep it almost seemed alien.

It was his family.

"Ha! You look so funny with long hair, big bro!" Marianna laughed. Erik couldn't believe it. They'd been trapped in Agony's hell for twenty years…and his sister could still laugh.

Trapped…

"I'm sorry…………" Erik whispered.

And then he broke, falling to his knees as he began to weep uncontrollably. His family was somewhat alarmed at this outburst, but after all he had seen, he couldn't hold it in any more, as the grief and guilt of decades came to a peak within him and then crashed down on his shoulders with a weight no man could withstand.

"Erik……" Charlene Ravensky said, as she watched her son cry. She did what any mother would as she went him to and held him like she had when he was a baby.

"I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!" Erik wailed. "It's all my fault! I was weak! I couldn't stop them! You're in here because of me…all you suffered was because of me and oh god I'm so sorry…….it's all my fault…"

"It's not."

"It is! All the torture…the suffering…I couldn't stop her…please forgive me…please…"

"Erik…we have never been tortured."

That was enough to make Erik stop, as he looked up at his mother, who looked at him soothingly.

"What…how…?"

"After we died…we were in limbo for a while. Agony still had no idea that she stole souls. But when she realized it...first she imprisoned Patricia in here…and then she turned her insides into hell. But…we weren't there. We were here. Patricia brought us here."

Erik blinked in surprise, and then Patricia reappeared, walking beside his father. She still looked sad and scared, but at the same time, she almost had a look of courtesy.

"You…"

"I have so little strength…but Agony is so insane she doesn't bother to see what it can do. I knew, somehow, that your family was special…and so I brought them here. They've always been in here with me…hiding away from Agony when she comes to torment me. They wanted to help me…but I told them not to. Agony's madness kept her from checking to see if your family was ever with all the souls she's tormenting…I wouldn't let them reveal themselves. That I could give souls…peace…as close as one can have it in this darkness…kept me going as long as I have…that, and my lone hope. You are it, Erik."

Erik stared at Patricia. If she was speaking the truth…

"You were never tortured…never made to suffer?"

"We have suffered, Erik, from fear and many other things…but we have held on…waiting…preparing. Now our time has come…" David Ravensky said.

"But…" Erik said, standing up. "I lost. Agony killed me too…I failed you. I still couldn't free you…avenge you…I'm a failure…"

"Erik, stop talking like that, right NOW!"

Erik's eyes widened as his mother yelled at him.

"Why do you think you must always suffer? Was it because you thought we were suffering? That it would earn our forgiveness? Erik…my son…you have nothing to see forgiveness for. No matter what…even if Agony had discovered us…we would have never hated you. We can't. We all love you. We always have."

"Mother…" Erik whispered.

"Son…you aren't a failure. Look at what you have done. You have used your life to save hundreds, thousands of others. You have sacrificed everything to help the weak and downtrodden. You may have killed. You may have done terrible things. But you were just trying to help…when anyone fell, you tried to offer them a hand to get up. You're a hero, Erik. And I'm very proud of you for choosing the path you did." David said.

"Plus, you got to beat up bad guys! Just like Bruce Lee!" Marianna said.

"I would say…dad and Booger's words put it quite well. We've always loved you, brother." Tamara said, lifting her veil of silence

Erik looked at all of them, trying to believe them. He knew they were right. His whole life…he had been holding himself down. He felt he had to, as a penance. But what they told him…that penance had been paid a thousand-fold.

They had always loved him.

"Thank you…thank you…" Erik said, and held his mother close. His father came closer and he held them too, as well as his sisters. He never wanted to let go.

"But…I still failed to kill Agony. At least…I can join you…I couldn't protect you then, but I will do my damnest to protect you now…"

"No son."

Erik looked at his mother. His mother looked back at him, smiling. She couldn't believe how big he had gotten.

"What?"

"This is not your destiny…not your fate."

"But…I lost."

"Perhaps you did. But that was not your fault. When Agony came into our lives, she infected you with her darkness. You have come to believe that it is your only source of power, that you are to always be one with it, and it alone. Your body…as the Angel of Death…that is the ultimate peak of the darkness that you wield, but also the darkness that blights your heart and soul. But it is not the true you, Erik. It is only a part of you…and one that could not defeat Agony. For no matter how great the darkness you wield…hers will always be deeper. But to possess such a great darkness within you…it must be matched to keep a balance…it must be matched with an equally great light!"

Erik's eyes widened as his mother took his hands…and they began to glo, with the same soft white light that infused the air around them.

"What…what…?"

"We have waited a long time, Erik. We have studied, watched, learned…and we have gathered all the power we can. We give it to you Erik…it is our love for you…your forgiveness that you craved so badly…it is the light within you. Take it."

Erik stepped back, looking at the glowing light on his hands.

"But…"

"Please…Erik…you must free us…all the souls Agony had taken…" Patricia said, stepping forward. "I have done my own preperations…but I can only do this once. You are my last hope. Please…stop her."

And Erik found himself levitating up, even as the glow on his hands increased, forming into a sparkling shape as big as his leg. But he was more preoccupied with the fact he was being taken away from his family.

"No…wait! I don't…"

"You don't belong here, son. Go. Claim your ultimate destiny…and know we will always love you. And no matter what, we will always be with you. Always." David said.

Marianne and Tamara waved.

"Go get her, big bro! I wanna see something else then all this mist!"

"Goodbye brother…tell Christine I love her too."

"Go son." Charlene said, as his family vanished from sight. Erik was filled with feelings beyond description. Light filled his vision, and as it did, he heard the last words of his mother.

"You are human, my son. Humans can be knocked down,. But you have spent your life offering your hand to those who have fallen. Now we, and all those who care for you, will offer their hand to you. Agony…is not human. She does not deserve to be human. She thinks she can never be knocked down…show her that when she is, there will be no hands there to keep her from falling into her final oblivion."

Agony laughed as she landed on the ground, looking at the bodies strewn around her. Some movement caught her eye. Some were actually trying to get up. Their endurance would have impressed anyone, except Agony.

"Fools." She muttered, and then smiled, her eyes shining.

"All my life…I've been taking the souls of those unworthy to live…which is pretty much everything, come to think of it." Agony chuckled.

Bleeding from his nose, a gash in his forehead, and a lip so badly busted it was little more then shredded flesh, Vegeta tried to get to his knees as Agony rambled. But he couldn't. He felt like every bone in his body was broken. He had no strength at all.

"Bitch…one day…someone will get you…one day…" Vegeta whispered, blood dripping from his face.

"But as I found out…stealing souls…can get tiresome…so you get the new and improved treatment!" Agony crowed, and lifted up her hands.

And then black tendrils of flesh flew from her palms, snaking out and across the battlefield.

And then they plunged into the scattered warriors, ripping right through the flesh like a hot knife through butter.

The battlefield was suddenly awash with screams as Agony violated them. The screams were joined by Agony's laugh.

"You like Erik so much? Well, you can all die the same way he did…be absorbed into me for eternal hell, in body, mind, heart, and SOUL!" Agony laughed as she began breaking every down.

The pain was beyond comprehension, as Agony began taking apart the flesh of all her opponents at a molecular level. But there was no way they could resist. All they could do was scream in terrible torture and woe that they had failed to beat her.

And all above it, Agony's laugh.

"That's it…SCREAM FOR ME! OH YES! OH YES!" Agony laughed.

Then her eyes widened.

"What the…?"

Then light exploded from Agony's body as she shrieked in surprise.

And then something slashed out and severed all the tendrils of flesh. The pain faded as the bodies of the Z Warriors, Legacy, Buffy, and Spike were no longer burning with fire as the tendrils spasmed and burned to ash.

Agony recoiled as her tendrils were cut and her breaking down process was stopped cold. She growled.

"What the fuck is going on!?!??!" she cursed.

Then the light faded.

Agony's eyes widened, and so did everyone's as Erik slowly floated down in front of her. He landed slowly and opened his eyes.

"Erik…" Christine whispered, unable to believe it. But in her heart, she had always known that Erik would no be able to be defeated that easily.

"Erik." Agony said in a half growl. She couldn't believe it either. No soul had ever been able to escape her! How the hell had he managed to, along with getting his body back in the process?

"Agony." Erik replied. Agony growled at his calm tone.

Then she saw it. The glowing white light floating about seven feet above him.

"What the hell…?"

"I never thought that there could be light in you, Agony…but there is. But you destroyed it. Just as you destroyed everything that crossed your path. Well Agony, you failed to destroy me. I'm not broken. I will never break."

Agony growled again, greatly annoyed. She had lost Erik. She had lost the powers of destruction he had given her via his death and absorption…

Then she smirked. She could use this.

"Well Erik…I am impressed, and that is a rare thing. So you get to be the first again…you can be the first one to ever die at my hands, TWICE!" Agony laughed.

Erik cocked his head slightly, and the glowing light floated down to his hands.

"Not this time."

And then there was a brief flash, and Erik's hands were holding a sword.

It was perfectly formed, a work of art. Four feet long, it fit perfectly into Erik's cyborg hand. The hilt seemed to be carved from pure ivory, and the blade was composed of an even brighter, more radient white colour. White jewels and extensions ran down the hilt as Erik brought the blade up.

"I always thought they would hate me. That they would blame me. But now I know…they never did. This was their last gift to me…this is my true redemption, Agony. This is the Redemption blade…this is my light."

Agony smirked.

"Oh, your light. How very impressive…NOT!" Agony laughed. "Well Erik, since you wanted to come back so bad you actually managed to escape…I have a gift for you!"

And Agony raised her arms.

Purple-red energy suddenly exploded around all the Z Warriors and Legacy members. They all cried out as Erik jerked his head around. He hadn't been expecting this.

There was a series of purple flashes, and then suddenly all the people were encased in crystal. But yet…somehow they could still move. Erik watched in horror as Agony floated the crystals up and around her.

"Stop that! This is between you and me, it always has been! Leave them out of it!" Erik yelled.

Agony smirked.

"No way. That'd be no fun at all. You want to stand before me…you claim you won't break? Well if you won't break…take a look."

The Z Warriors floated in front of Agony. Erik stared at them, looking in despair, not knowing what to do.

"The warriors of this world. Perhaps the strongest beings anywhere. People who dared to befriend you…and now, they are gone!"

And Agony clenched her fist.

The crystal containing Tien suddenly shattered, and Erik cried out as Tien's mouth opened in a silent scream as he was shattered into pieces with it. Chaozu cried out in grief, and then he shattered. A terrible chain reaction as the Z Warriors realized what was going on and doubled their efforts to get free.

There was no escape.

"STOP! NO!" Erik shrieked as Agony broke all the Z Warriors one by one. Agony just laughed and moved Trunks and Bra in front of Vegeta so he could see them shatter. Vegeta only gone a second to scream before he was shattered as well.

Purple crystal rained down, along with shards of material that was not crystal. Erik stared in utter horror as Agony was left with Goku, Gohan, and Goten.

"Stop…I'm begging you…" Erik pleaded. Agony smirked.

"These were perhaps your best friends…NOW THEY'RE DEAD!"

The crystals shattered with a final silent scream from the Son family. Erik was rooted to the ground.

Agony smirked. The stupid boy. Rooted in his emotions, she had managed to push him to the brink easily. Now she would break him, and leave him to be easy pickings.

"A young woman named Buffy Summers…" Agony said, as she floated Buffy's crystal prison in front of her. "This was not her fight…not her world…and not her problem. But she had a brave enough heart to come into the unknown and fight with you…and now…she is gone…"

Buffy didn't scream, but the look of horror on her face as Agony shattered her into pieces was worst then any noise she could have made.

"Please…stop…" Erik begged.

"Spike…eh, no one cares about Spike." Agony said, and threw the crystal aside. Spike's mouth formed the words "BLOODY HELL!" before he was dashed to pieces on a rock.

"And finally…the Legacy. Your allies and teammates. They always distrusted you, you know, Erik. They thought you would lead them to ruin. Even as they grew to tolerate you, befriend you…even love you…they always had that doubt. It has been proven right."

Erik stared, his feet rooted to the spot, as he looked at all his teammates staring at him from the crystal. Pleading with him to do something, anything.

But Erik didn't know what to do. If he moved, Agony would just shatter the crystals. With the powers Agony had absorbed, there was no way he could match her speed now, not without the dark side of his Redemption powers, and they were futile against her any way.

He was helpless again, just like he had been all those years ago. He could do nothing against Agony.

"For now…"

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"They are gone." Agony said, smiling.

All the Legacy shattered at once. Erik would have cried out, but his voice was too frozen with grief to do it.

There was one crystal left. It was Christine's. Agony smirked and floated it right in front of Erik, so close he could read Christine's lips.

"Your little sister. The lone one I missed."

"Erik…help me…please…"

Erik reached out, trying to get to the crystal, shatter it, save his sister. He wouldn't let…

Agony laughed and clenched her fist.

Christine shattered with one final cry, and Erik, with a lone cry of horror, was left holding a shard of material that had once been her hair.

"And now…she is gone. They all are. You see the fate of anyone who you touch, Erik? You won't break? They did instead."

Erik dropped the shard of cryustal as a lone tear trickled down from his organic eye. He lowered his head.

Agony smiled. He may have not been encased in crystal, but he was as shattered as they could ever be. And with all the interfering people finally out of the way, she could truly amuse herself with him.

But first…the souls. Agony smiled and began drawing them into her.

Erik stared at his hands. He'd failed all over again. He'd been too weak to keep Agony from murdering his loved ones. No matter what…he would always be…a…

Then his blade began to glow again.

Erik's eyes were drawn to it, as it shone, brilliant beautiful light.

Agony paused in her absorption.

Erik stared at his sword as it glowed.

"No." he hissed.

Slowly, he raised his head up.

"Not again. Not now. NOT EVER!" Erik bellowed, as he raised the sword up and charged at Agony.

Agony's face showed some distaste. Didn't this boy ever learn that he had lost.

"Idiot! You think you can stand before me? All these people did, and I broke them into pieces! And I can do the same to you! BREAK INTO PIECES, ERIK!" Agony screamed, and held her hand out.

Explosions began rocking the ground as Agony blasted the fires of hell themselves upward, burning hands trying to clutch Erik and destroy him.

Erik never slowed, the ground exploding and burning all around him as he bore down on Agony, raising the sword above his head.

Agony's eyes widened as he leapt.

"GIVE THEM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A blast of light blazed from the slash and the noise blew across the whole field. Erik hit the ground and rolled, flipping to his feet.

The glow never left his sword, and the same glow enfused his eyes. He knew what he had to do.

Slowly, he lifted his sword up, pointing it towards the sky.

Tendrils of light, msity energy began flowing from the sword, spiralling out along the field, flowing through the scattered crystal shards. The same tendrils flew from the ground around Erik and joined it's brothers, lifting up the shards, bringing them together.

The flash of light would have put heaven to shame as it consumed the whole battlefield.

The Z Warriors and Legacy sat up in confusion.

"What…I'm alive?" Ash said.

"But I…how…?" Vegeta said, looking at his hands.

Christine got up, looking at her brother as he lowered his sword. And she knew.

"He brought us back…he pulled us from the abyss…"

Goten stared along with Christine, and then everyone did.

And then everyone's eyes drawn to Agony.

She was still standing. Her outfit was unmarred.

The only thing that was different was the cut on her forehead.

And the look of sheer horror in her eyes.

Slowly, she raised up a hand and touched her fingers to the wound. They came away coated in her blood.

And Goten realized the wound wasn't healing. It stayed open, continuing to bleed.

Erik had hurt her.

"No…this can't be happening…" Agony whispered, his voice filled with fear It was like music to Vegeta's ears. The bitch was afraid.

"Oh, but it is, Agony. This is what my family ultimately granted to me…their love. A love I always had…but now I know I have. Love…the sweetest pain…the only kind you can't stand. This is what this blade is forged of, Agony. Not of metal, which does you no harm. Not of anger or of hate or of any of the darkness that lurks in the human heart, a darkness you suck down like the finest elixir. This is the love of a parents for a child…a sibling for another…a family's ultimate bond. This is your downfall, Agony. This blade is the Anti-Agony!"

"NO! THAT PIDDLING WEAPON CAN'T STOP ME!" Agony screamed as she threw up her hands. "I AM INVINCIBLE!"

And Agony thrust her hands forward, firing a huge blast at Erik.

Erik reared back his Redemption blade and smashed it aside. The blackness was repelled, flying off into the distance.

"Your father thought so too."

Agony lowered her hands.

And then she started to laugh.

"Oh, very impressive boy. You think you can beat me with that sword, the love of your family, huh? Oh, when I find them…I'm going to give them your head!"

Spike had regained his feet, amazed that one second he had been broken into pieces and the next he was back with no injuries. Indeed, all the wounds and fatigue of the Z Warriors and Legacy were gone as well. Erik's blade had healed them even as it restored them, counteracting all the damage Agony and her power had done to them.

However, it didn't keep the big rock from smacking Spike against the back. He squawked and fell over as Agony ripped something from a pile of shattered ground. Spike shook his head and looked as it flew over him.

It was Tormentor's body, along with his ruined axe. Agony stopped the corpse in front of her.

"Come fellow lover of pain. The boy wants to play, so you shall be my toy." Agony crooned, and jammed her hand into Tormentor's back. With a sickening snapping and ripping noise, she tore out his spine.

Tormentor's corpse then burst into flames and burned to ash as Agony floated the axe down to her other hand. With a laugh, she brought them together.

Black energy flowed over the two items, crackling and sizzling. A terrible smell filled the air.

Then the black energy began expanding outward and curved out at one end, and then it exploded outward.

It was a scythe, worthy of being carried by the Grim Reaper himself. It was nearly twice as big as Agony, as black as pitch, covered with barbs, spikes, and other tools of injury. The blade was nearly eight feet long, and seemed to constantly be dripping blood from its black metal teeth.

"You want to play with toys, boy? Well, here's mine…and you'll find yours…is just one last failing effort."

Yeah, and it's nowhere near as cool as me either…wait a minute, I'm supporting Agony! Bad Soulfire! Bad Soulfire!

Agony's eyes were drawn to the noise, and she growled in her throat as she saw all the Z Warriors, Legacy, and Buffy standing and watching. She had had their souls and Erik had torn them away from her, and it aggrivated her greatly. Well, she would fix that. Once she'd carved Erik into a million pieces.

Erik did not budge as Agony twirled her weapon a few times, testing it out. The blade had to weigh at least five hundred pounds itself, but Agony used the weapon like it was as heavy as a piece of paper.

"Didn't you see it, boy? When you returned? If you were too busy looking at me, let me fill you in. They were lying there, bruised, broken, bleeding, in a word, BEATEN! And together, they formed perhaps the strongest army in the history of any world! But they were no match for me…they never will be. It's time for you to learn, boy…the battlefield…will always be my home…my dominion…my kingdom. And boy, you are standing in MY YARD."

Erik slowly raised the sword, pointing it at Agony.

"Your yard…is in the middle of MY WORLD."

Agony growled and twisted the scythe around to fight, black lightning crackling on it. Erik prepared the Redemption blade, the glowing misty light suffusing it.

For a moment, the battlefield was silent.

"Just one…last fight…and I'll be history…"

Erik and Agony leapt forward and locked weapons with a crashing bang.

"I've got to help him!" Christine said, only to find herself being restrained by Ash and Goten.

"Stay back, Chris! Erik is the only one who can hurt her! This is his fight!"

Vegeta looked at Erik and Agony as they held weapons, each trying to win out. Oh, the irony. He had always prided himself on being the strongest, that love was for weakling and fools. Yet…as he always found out, the opponents who seemed invincible always went down to it. Agony was his greatest opponent…and Erik, who possessed perhaps a 1/10 of his might at his utter peak, had managed to do what he could not: wound her.

He wished he could be the one to destroy her…but fate was cruel. But this was a cruelty he could live with.

With a shriek, Agony slashed her weapon out and won the duel, throwing Erik backwards. Erik crashed against the rock face with a yell of pain.

"Is that the best you can do, boy? I will finish you off with my next blow!" Agony crowed, leaping skyward and slashing the scythe down.

Erik leapt to the side and Agony sliced the cliff completely in half. Erik flipped and charged forward, swinging the Redemption sword.

Agony brought her scythe up and blocked, and the two began slashing, parrying, and blocking as each of them tried to hit the other. The ground shuddered.

Erik ducked under Agony's slash as she slashed through a whole cliff face. Erik stabbed as her, but she dodged aside. Erik didn't have time to do any more moves as the cliff collasped on them and he had to leap away.

Agony dodged away as well, and leapt at Erik again, laughing. Erik brought his sword up and blocked Agony's scythe, thrusting it away. Agony staggered backwards, and Erik sliced at her. Her blade tangled around the chain of the necklace Agony had stolen from him.

"This is mine." Erik hissed, and yanked. The chain snapped and Erik held out his hand as it flew into it.

Agony growled as Erik brought the necklace to the hilt of his sword, and with a flash of light, the locket fused into it, the chain wrapping around the bottom of the blade as it turned a radiant gold colour again.

Agony slashed her scythe upward, but Erik flipped over her and kicked her in the back. Agony tried to turn and get her scythe up.

And then she screamed as Erik slashed out, cutting open a deep wound on her shoulder. She grabbed it as blood poured from between her fingers. She let loose with a snarl as the wound failed to close. She couldn't absorb the pain. And she didn't take any joy in it either. In fact, it was even worse then Pan's Masenko four years ago.

"That was for the Z Warriors." Erik snarled back.

Agony slashed out her scythe, throwing a huge cutting blade of black power. Erik leapt aside as Agony fired off more of her version of the Kienzen. The blades sliced through the rock, the Legacy had to dive for cover as one nearly cut though them.

"That was close." Brigh said.

"A little too close." Angie agreed.

"This battle seems rather tame."

"Yeah a little too tame."

Erik leapt up on a cliff face and then leapt forward, flipping through the air and slashing his sword down. Agony blocked it with her scythe, and the two went into another fury of slashes. The air rang with metallic shrieks, and a faint noise that sounded like souls screaming.

Erik finally thrust Agony's scythe upward and kicked her backwards. He slashed downward, but Agony spun and kicked Erik across the head, sending him flying into another cliff face. He leapt to his feet and leapt over the blast Agony fired at him. The cliff exploded as Erik slashed down at Agony.

Agony blocked with a smirk.

Which vanished when she saw that it was Erik's claws she had blocked.

Erik's blade tore a deep wound down her calf, and she screamed again and hopped back, trying, for the first time, to stand on a leg that was crippled.

"That was for the Legacy." Erik growled.

Agony shrieked, and twisting her head, she snapped her hair at him. Erik slashed at the strands with his sword and claws, trying to keep them away from him.

Then Agony severed her hair and slashed at Erik again.

Erik blocked and tried to duck.

Agony's scythe smashed through his metal hand, snapping off the talons and mangling the fingers. Erik growled as if he was injured and leapt away as Agony fired a black spear at him. Smiling, Agony looked at him as he was about to land and thrust her hand out. Black spikes of cutting rock lanced out from where Erik was heading.

His eyes widened.

Then he thrust his hand out and yelled as he fired a blast, throwing himself backwards. He twisted as his legs hit another rock face and then he thrust off it, lancing at Agony as she stood in shock.

Then she screamed again as the Redemption blade slashed through the air again, ripping a deep wound in her side. She clutched it as Erik landed and flipped over, looking at her.

"That was for Christine."

Oh dammit. By the time I get a dedication, Agony will be in so many pieces they'll be able to bury her in a matchbox! THIS IS PREJUDICE!

"Shut up Soulfire."

Agony brought her hand to her wounded side and stared at it, unable to believe the fact she was looking at her own blood.

"Heal. Damn you, HEAL!" Agony cursed, but underneath that curse was fear.

"Not this time, Agony. Xaxargas made you so that you could never fall down. Well, the time had come for you to learn that once you fall, you ain't getting back up."

Agony's eyes blazed.

"Damn you…DAMN YOU! I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!" Agony screamed, and leapt at Erik again, slashing her scythe.

But her anger was clouding her aim and judgement, and Erik dodged aside. Agony howled as Erik slashed a long cut along her forearm.
"That was for my father!"

Another slash, ripping open the flesh on the top of Agony's right hand.

"My mother!"

A great slash that tore across the top of Agony's chest, ripping a wide swath of gore.

"My sisters!"

Agony staggered back, and Erik twisted the sword up and held it above his head.

"And this is for me."

And he slashed his sword down. Agony's head jerked twice as the blade slashed down and then sliced back up in a quick one-two motion.

Erik leapt back as Agony staggered, her mouth open in shock. She raised up her hand as she felt the two cuts Erik had made, starting at one end of her temple, cutting down to her chin, and then slicing back up to the other side of her temple.

A perfect V.

"Now who's marked?" Erik finished.

Agony took her hand away from the V Erik had cut into her face. Then black fire exploded in her eyes.

"EEERRRRRYAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHI'LLKILLYOUYOUMOTHERFUCKINGBASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Agony roared as she slashed her scythe up. Erik blocked, but Agony immediately attacked again, hitting Erik with a fury she had never used before.

Erik blocked another slash and then Agony smashed him with a punch, throwing him backwards. He landed as Agony leapt and slashed at him again. Erik tried to get his sword up.

There was a great clang and everyone cried out as Erik's sword went spiralling out of his hands, flying through the air and impaling itself in the rock.

"The sword!" Gohan said.

"NOW DIE BOY!" Agony said, and began to pummel Erik, keeping her scythe in check as she blasted Erik with punches and kicks. Erik tried to fight back, but Agony was too strong and utterly maddened. Her flesh peeled away from her fingers and she slashed her knife fingers out. Erik gasped as they seized on his throat, cutting into his flesh.

"Oh no, not this way boy. I'm going to burn the flesh from your miserable bones!" Agony hissed, her face full of anger and pain, pain she couldn't suck down.

And she threw Erik backwards, right through another cliff face. Erik crashed to the ground in a hail of shattered rock.

Growling, Agony pulled her scythe back out and brought it above her head as black power crackled to life on it, sizzling and burning.

"I can't be killed, Failure. These little knicks are nothing, NOTHING!" Agony raged. "Now…learn the true anguish of impossibility…and the full fury of the wrath of PATRICIA DELHART!"

And she thrust the scythe down and out. The air warped around her and then a massive bolt of power blasted from the scythe, as dark as night, as dark as Agony's soul.

Erik pullled himself to his feet, his outfit ripped and tattered, his body bleeding from a dozen wounds, as the bolt bore down on him. For a moment, he was again filled with despair.

"ERIK!"

Erik jerked his head as Goten flew up, holding the Redemption blade in his hands.

"CATCH!"

Goten tossed the blade through the air, hoping that his aim was true.

The earth seemed to stand still.

The blade slid into Erik's fingers, and Erik lifted the sword at the bolt bore down on him.

"YOU'RE NOT PATRICIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The impact nearly crushed him, as the blast struck the sword and began pushing against it. The shockwave of force threw all the Z Warriors and Legacy backwards again.

"AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA! DIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" Agony laughed.

Erik locked his legs and held his ground, feeling the sheer power bearing down on him.

"Here I stand against darkest night…"

The clouds above the battlefield thundered, and then rain began to pelt the battlefield. But this wasn't any ordinary rain.

"Dear kami, is it raining BLOOD?" Vegeta said, as he looked at the dark liquid splattered on his body.

"Yes! It is!" Goten said, looking at it in amazement. This was Agony's power, brought to earth on her fullest scale.

"Yummy!" Spike said, holding back his head with his mouth open. But he immediately lowered his head, spitting.

"It tastes like piss! Ye gods, poison!" Spike gasped.

Christine paid no attention to the blood soaking her body. Her eyes were on Erik as he held back Agony's ultimate blast with his Redemption sword, the misty white illumination holding back the terrible power.

"My blazing blade…the only light…"

Pain shot through Erik's body as more and more force was brought to bear on him. Agony licked her lips, and Erik could see her wounds start to close as she fed off his pain.

"My destiny is finally clear…"

"The invietable bites, doesn't it?" Agony smirked, and redoubled her efforts. Erik felt like all his bones were being crushed in a vice.

"But what final fate is drawing near…?"

"Won't give up…never…won't…break…"

A hundred miles away, every window in a city shattered.

Five hundred miles away, animals both in captivity and in the wild roared and cried as they sensed a final approaching doom.

All over the world, children woke up screaming.

"A final death, or the redemption that I crave…?"

Erik looked over, and his eyes fell on Christine as she stood, watching. Their eyes locked.

"Give me the strength to carry on…let me avenge all the fallen…"

Christine knew.

"They were my family too."

Christine thrust up her bladestaff and began to draw apon what she had left, all the strength she could give.

Goten blinked as he tried to shield Marron from the rain, and then he understood.

"EVERYONE! FOCUS YOUR POWER ON THE BLADESTAFF!" Goten said, and held out his hand. A misty white light began flowing from it, flowing around the bladestaff.

Everyone held up their hands, and the same power flowed from them. The only one left out was Spike, who looked as the same power even came out of Buffy.

"Godammit, I'm always the odd man out."

The power wrapped around the staff.

Screaming in mad triumph, Agony prepared for the final shot that would annihalate Erik once and for all.

Christine's bladestaff transformed into a glowing golden arrow of power. The power flowed down her arm as she twirled the bladestaff and cocked back her arm.

"For all of us…our gift…Erik…this is our hand…NOW DIE YOU BITCH!"

And Christine hurled the bladestaff, firing it off like a bullet. The weapon lanced through the air, an arrow from an angel's bow, the spirits and goodness from the souls of heroes.

Agony's eyes widened.

"NO!"

Her scythe was shattered, blasted into pieces as the arrow smashed right through it. Her power exploded into nothingness as she reared back.

Erik was already running.

Agony reared back to see Erik raising the Redemption blade, swinging up, turning…

The sword plunged through her, piercing right through her heart and exploding out her back, dripping black blood.

Agony's mouth dropped open, and a small noise of surprise and utter disbelief came out, a sound as weak as a newborn baby. Her eyes were as wide open as her mouth, as she stared into Erik's face.

"I have spent…seemingly…my whole life…hating you…" Erik whispered. "All my visions, my dreams, my futures…they could never bloom, because I couldn't live with you still living. But now…I know the whole story. The truth. You never had a choice, Patricia. You were conceived in violence and evil, born in blood and baptized in hatred…raised in cruelty and tempered with the dark side of humanity. You never had a chance. Forces beyond your control made sure this happened…made sure you would never be able to stop this evil from ever being born. You did all you could…in the end, you were as strong as I ever was…stronger…"

Erik looked into Agony's eyes, hoping she could hear.

"I forgive you, Patricia Delhart. I only hope I can grant you peace."

And for a moment, the madness, the devouring lust, the evil, faded from Agony's eyes, and Erik found himself looking into a young woman's face…perhaps the young woman Patricia would have been if Xaxargas had not destined her for her cruel fate. The eyes were filled with grief…but also gratitude.

"Thank you." Patricia said.

And then she was gone, and Agony was back.

But just like Patricia Delhart, all those years ago, it was far far too late for her.

Light began to blaze from the wound, and Agony threw back her head and screamed. A scream of utter terror.

Light blazed from her back and front, bursting out from the wounds Erik had inflicted. It exploded from her eyes and mouth, burning away the black orbs of hate and the terrible mocking laugh as Agony screamed.

She had been shown the true face of fate.

The light began utterly blinding.

And then it exploded out, consuming everything. The Z Warriors, Legacy, Buffy and Spike were all thrown backwards, twisting through the brightness as it flowed everywhere.

The power exploded upward into the clouds, and then with a final shriek from Agony, it blasted outward, blowing away the darkness, leaving only the innocent darkness of the night sky.

Erik opened his eyes as the light finally faded, looking at Agony's body, now totally composed of ash, her mouth locked in her final death scream.

And then, her body bgena to break up, the ash crumpling and being blown away by a wind. Her arms, legs, and body crumbled as Erik stood, his sword still out and impaled through the ash.

The ash crumbled away from his sword, leaving only the head. It was the last to go, as the face Erik had hated his whole life finally vanished forever.

Agony was dead.

For a moment, Erik could only stare at where she had been.

Then blueish light exploded up from where her body had been. Erik stood as it swept over him…staring at all the strange dots of light that were now flying around him.

Erik could hear the laughter of many people, of men, of women, and of children, a thousand stranger's voices. They flowed around him.

And then Erik's eyes settled on four dots that were floating in front of him. For a brief moment, he saw his family standing in front of him.

"Well done Erik."

Erik heard his mother's voice speak in his head. He lowered his sword as he reached out a hand.

"No…don't go…"

"We have to, son. We have been freed…we do not know what awaits us, but we will go wherever it is with glad hearts. You have made us proud."

"Way ta go, big bro!"
"Well done, brother…"

A dot flew by his eyes.

"Thank you…"

Erik gasped at Patricia's voice as it flew around him and then flew off into the sky. As it did, Erik heard one final cry of joy.

"Mommy! Mommy, mommy…"

The dots began to fly after Patricia, hundreds apon hundreds, all offering thanks.

"My son…we must part now…but we will always love you."

Erik sniffed.

"I know."

For a moment, Erik almost swore he felt a hand stroking his hair.

And then the dots were flying away, up into the sky. Erik watched them go as the blue light began to fade around him.

"Goodbye…my son…we will see you again…some day…until then…make a new dream…and by our blessing…be happy…goodbye…"

And then the dots were gone, as was the light. Erik looked off into the sky as one final tear trickled down his cheek.

"Goodbye…my family."

And then all the strength went out of him, and Erik fell to his knees, tired beyond belief. He held onto the Redemption blade as it lay on the earth, its job done. Erik stared at the ground.

So…this is victory…ultimate victory…but…I still feel…so empty…

CL-ICK.

The sound rang through Erik's ears, and he slowly looked up to see the gun pointing at him, held by Dr. Thanatos Vagane.

Vagane was an utter mess. His left arm was mangled beyond repair, his right leg was ruined, and the left side of his face was a burned, scarred mess. But he was alive, and he was pointing a gun at Erik's face.

"Oh ho ho. All that fighting, all those lightshows, all those heroics for nothing. The irony." Vagane chuckled.

Erik stared at the gun. Normally, he could have just grabbed it, especially with Vagane as wounded as he was (How did he survive his own daughter's blast?). But his body was utterly spent. He had no strength left at all.

"And so…we are back here…and once again, I am the master. I always was, Failure." Vagane chuckled.

Erik blinked.

"Go ahead, Vagane. I have done all I can do on this earth. I have nothing left to live for. But by all that I hold holy, I will never show you fear. Never again. You may kill me…but you will never rule me. You never did."

Vagane sighed.

"Ah Failure…together we could have done so much…instead, all I have are ashes of dying dreams…but that is more then you have. You have nothing. So, any last words?" Vagane smirked, and cocked the hammer back.

Then he screamed as twin blades burst from his chest. Erik's eyes widened as big as they could as Vagane was suddenly lifted off his feet by Celeste.

"Yeah. NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON AN ENEMY!"

And then Celeste hurled Vagane away, his boyd tearing off her daggers after she had jammed them in his back and lifted him off the ground. His body crashed to the ground as his gun spiraled off into the distance.

Erik was utterly dumbstruck. Was he already dead? Was this heaven?

"Oh Erik." Celeste said, turning around and dropping her bloody daggers on the ground as she fell to her knees in front of Erik. "Are you ok?"

"………………….Celeste?"

"Yes Erik. It's me." Celeste said, smiling slightly.

Erik dared to blink. She was still there.

"But…you…I…how?"

"I don't know…the last thing I saw was your face…and then I was in some kind of void…just nothingness…and all I could do was float…and somehow sense that you were in trouble…trouble that grew worse and worse. But then…it was gone….and suddenly, there was another presense there with me…he told me how to come back. I didn't know who he was…but I somehow sensed he knew you…that he cared for you…and then I was waking up…and I just knew I had to save you, just like you saved me."

Erik blinked again.

By our blessing…be happy…

His family's final blessing.

"Celeste…"

"Erik…" Celeste said, putting a finger to his lips. "I won't be afraid any more. I love you. I always have…ever since I met you. You complete me…you…and only you…"

Erik looked into Celeste's eyes, the green shining as she offered her heart.

"Oh Celeste…I'm sorry…"

Celeste's heart sank. He was rejecting her. After all they had been through, he still couldn't…

Then Erik put his hand to the side of her head.

"I'm sorry…that I denied my feelings for so long…I'm sorry that I hurt you in my foolishness in trying to protect you…and I'm sorry I didn't do this a long long time ago…my raven…"

Their lips met.

Celeste closed her eyes at the soft touch. It was better then she had ever dreamed. She raisd her hands and tangled them in Erik's hair as she returned his kiss.

For an eternity, it was only them, finally coming together.

As fated.

A low chuckling finally broke through their bliss. Erik opened his eyes and took his lips from Celeste's as Vagane sat up.

"Oh, how very sweet." Vagane chuckled, kneeling as he tried to use his less injured arm to support himself.

"Vagane. You're harder to squash them a cockroach!" Erik growled, his fingers lowering from Celeste's face and seizing around the Redemption blade.

"Oh, don't bother getting up, Failure. Of all the things I know…if when I have lost. You have beaten me Failure…instead of becoming creation, I'm dying on this black rock…what a miracle you have been granted so this has come to pass. But even so, I can still laugh…laugh at you, Failure, and how futile it is."

Erik growled, and was somewhat shocked when Celeste growled at the same time. They looked at each other, and then back at Vagane.

"So, what do you plan to do, Failure? Take this woman as your soulmate? Marry and spawn tiny versions of yourself? Teach them all you know, so you can have a whole family of guardians to fight evil? You fool…what a waste! You can never win! For every one you strike down, ten more will rise up to take their place. Even though even I have fallen, someone will be along to replace me…maybe not in genius, but in drive, or in desire. No matter how many you strike down, Failure, there will always be more. That is why you are a fool. Your whole life is wasted already trying to do the impossible."

Erik kept his angry eyes on Vagane, not noticing Vagane's hand slowly moving towards his lower leg…at the one-shot pistol hidden in his ruined boot.

"I can do the impossible. That is humanity's gift, Vagane." Erik shot back.

Vagane chuckled again.

"Or so you think. You will learn the truth one day, Failure. All those you try to save…you can't do it. For every one you lift up another will be lost. My kind will always be there…squashing them like the insects they are. They can never save them all. You can never win, Erik."

Erik's eyes widened as Vagane finally spoke his name.

And then Vagane's hand was tearing his pistol out, swinging it up and aiming it right between Erik's eyes, his finger squeezing on the trigger as he screamed one final time.

"YOU CAN'T SAVE THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The pistol exploded as a bullet blasted from it. Erik's eyes widened as it shot at him.

Then the hand came out of nowhere, clamping down on the bullet, stopping it as dead as Vagane had tried to make Erik.

Vagane's eyes widened.

And Erik stared at Goku, as he stood, as muscular and proud as he ever had been, his power finally restored to him by the death of Agony.

Vagane stared at his former servent, the man he thought would be the key to his ascent. Goku smirked at him, and dropped the crushed bullet on the ground. And then, just to show how mad he was at Vagane, he gave him the finger.

And then Erik was up, somehow finding one last burst of strength within him. He pulled the Redemption blade up as he charged at Vagane.

Vagane screamed.

Erik jammed the sword right through him, ripping through a heart as black as Agony's. The sword almost seemed to sing.

Vagane gurgled as blood exploded from his mouth, looking into Erik's furious eyes. History had come full circle, as he once had stood and looked at the ruined body of Erik as a child, looking in delight at the fear in him. Now his body was ruined, and Erik was the one standing.

"I…CAN…TRY." Erik hissed.

Then he brought back his mechanical hand, the hand which Vagane had built, as dark power exploded on it.

"AND MY NAME IS VENGEANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Vagane screamed as Erik thrust his hand forward and let loose, and then the flesg peeled off his body before it was burnt to ash, as Vagane was sent tumbling into the same hell to join his daughter.

Erik yanked the sword up, looking at Goku.

"Goku."

"Erik…" Goku said, as Celeste got to her feet.

"Goku…you saved me."

"You saved me, Erik. You saved us all…thank you."

The Z Warriors, Legacy, and Buffy and Spike stood, looking at the scene.

"Did we win?" Yamcha said.

Erik blinked.

And then the Redemption blade began to dissolve. Goku's eyes widened.

"Erik…your sword…"

"It's ok…Goku. Its job is done for now. But it will always be a part of me…just like the darkness of my Angel of Death form, it too is redemption…if not for me, then those I protect. Light and darkness…in balance. Together…we have triumphed."

Erik looked over to Celeste.

"But…there is one thing still to finish."

Goku looked confused.

"What?"

Erik said nothing. Instead, he walked over to Celeste and swept her up into his arms, and their lips met once more.

Goku's eyes widened slightly, and then his face broke into a big goofy grin.

"ALL RIGHT! YOU'RE IN LOVE! YAHOO!" Goku whooped, and walked over and clamped both Erik and Celeste in a hug.

"ARGH! Goku, you're crushing us!" Erik gasped.

"Oh sorry. GUYS! WE WON!"

"We WON!" Bright whooped, and everyone began to celebrate. Old couples joined the new one in a kiss, and friends and family exchanged hugs, handshakes, and various other signs of celebration.

"I still wish I could have killed Agony." Vegeta grumped.

Eh, well, relax! You can spit on her corpse…wait, she turned to ash and then the wind blew her away…um, just spit anywhere! You'll probably hit some part of her!

Vegeta tried to resist it, but he grinned anyway.

"Shut up you stupid baka weapon…" Vegeta said, and then started to laugh. There was nothing like a victory to bring out his good side, as he grabbed Bra and swept her around, glad that his family was safe and sound.

The sun began to peak up over the horizon, and the world breathed a sigh of relief. Once again, it was safe.

"Oh great. He saves the day, kills the bad guys, and gets the girl. How appallingly Disney." Spike scoffed, as he watched Erik and Celeste kiss. "They ever have the sunrise backing them…wait a minute…AH! THE SUN!" Spike yelled, as he pulled his coat over his head.

"Ah, there, now I just have to…"

Buffy calmly reached over and lifted up the back of Spike's jacket. There was a sudden sizzling and woosh as the rays hit the hole in Spike's pants.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! MY BUM'S ON FIRE AGAIN! MY BUM'S ON FIRE AGAIN!" Spike yelled as he ran around. He finally found the shade of a big rock and crawled into there, cursing the Slayer.

Buffy just laughed.

"That felt SO good." She chuckled, and joined in the celebration. She still liked tp party and this was as good a time as any.

"Yay! Celeste is alive! Celeste is alive! I told you Dende!" Buu crowed, jumping up and down.

"Amazing…how?" Dende marveled.

"Such a strong soul…it can't be defeated that easily." Mr. Satan said, and then Pan was hugging him and he was returning it.

Hold it!

Everyone stopped.

"What?" Ash said.

Come on! With our track record, Goku is suddenly going to go evil again, or Riot and Bloodbath are gonna come back, or the Boogeyman is gonna show up, or something else!

"Oh can it! Nothing else is going to…"

Then some rock nearly began to move, and suddenly weapons were drawn and ki-charged hands were all aimed at it.

Then the rock tumbled away as Tring pushed his way out, and everyone relaxed.

"What were you doing there, brother?" Piccolo said, laughing.

"Hiding! Now if we won, can I go back to Namek? I miss the daily drudgery of my life." Tring groaned.

Look out! That's not Tring! That's, um, EVIL TRING!

"SHUT UP SOULFIRE!!!!!!!!!!" Everyone yelled at the sword.

Oh, why do I even bother…maybe I should go live with Nik Nak, she'd appreciate me…

"Live with who?" Ash said.

As the argument continued, Goten gave Marron another hug and then flew over to where his father was. He hugged him and then smiled as Erik and Celeste continued their kiss, their embrace never breaking.

"Ya know Dad, it's not that hard playing Cupid."

Goku smiled.

And then Erik broke away from the kiss and glanced over at Goten. Goten smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"We won Erik!"

Erik smirked, and held out his hand in a classic peace sign.

V for Victory.

There's a time…when the moon...reveals its place in the clouds…

I let out a sigh, and want to cry out loud…

But deep in my heart, I feel love so alive…

In the depths of my soul I know I will survive…

I'm the one…they would break, in their greed and their pride…

But deep in my heart, I feel love so alive…

In the depths of my soul I know I will survive…

To be Concluded!

Editor's Note: See Paladone? Sucker for a happy ending. But not before I drag everyone through hell first.