Sweat ran down Goku's back and through his already drenched gi as he dropped to the ground. Making his way to a nearby tree, he held himself up on it and allowed his screaming muscles to take a rest. He was sore all over, but it was a good sore, the type that only came after an all-out workout. At last he had attained complete mastery over all of his new power, which meant his ability was at its peak. Now the only feasible next step was to get even more power, one way or another.

That could wait. Goku slid down against the tree and let his breathing slow to a more normal pace. While more power was always needed, it was great to be in complete balance. Closing his eyes, Goku allowed himself to relax, let his ki regenerate. It had been completely spent; he doubted he could fly if he wanted to.

His eyes snapped open as he felt a ki. That alone was cause for concern, since the only other person in the nearby area with any serious power was 18, and she couldn't be sensed that way. He stretched his long unused senses out to whatever it was and tried to get a feel on it. The very nature of its ki resisted him, but Goku was still one of the best, and after a while he got a feel for it.

Evil. That one word shot through his mind. There was something within this presence that spoke of a horrible wrongness. Cell or Frieza had felt evil, but not this spirit-pervading darkness. The word darkness also seemed to fit extremely well. Also, it was coming his way, with malicious intent obviously in mind.

Considering his options, Goku remained sitting, not wanting to waste his strength. He didn't have enough energy to teleport to 18, and he wasn't up to flying, much less a chase. This thing was flying at a pretty high speed, and in his weakened condition he couldn't stay away from it five seconds. Could he contact 18 psychically? No, he decided, his efforts there had been mostly wasted. There was no question about if he would figure it out one day, but he needed something now.

So few options. He winced slightly, not liking what he thought of. Resigning himself, Goku closed his eyes and allowed the soothing calm of ki to surround him. There was then no choice but to fight. Silently he began to gather ki from the planet around him. While he waited, extending his perceptions out to the world, he sensed something else happening as well. It was a portal, he had no doubt about that in his mind. Right now it was closing, and it was that energy that had attracted his attention. Doing a swift calculation, Goku figured that the dark ki must have come from it. An interesting development. Already the portal was gone, and he had little time to wonder about it.

Wind roared in the distance as a figure rushed into his range of vision, a purple aura flashing about it. The instant it spotted him, Goku whipped all the energy he had collected from the planet into the fastest Spirit Bomb he had every created. Taken off guard, the creature was hit dead on by it. Slamming into an opposing cliff face, it fell to the ground, then seemed to nearly flow to its feet.

Goku shook his head. Because he had used the planet's energy instead of his own, he had been able to use a relatively powerful blast. There was no way he could do it again at close range, however, and his own energy was woefully inadequate. At least a bit of it had regained from his short rest.

His opponent did not attack, and Goku took the time to restore his energy, and to look his opponent over. A black mist swirled around the creature's feet, slowly creeping up the night-black body. Goku realized he actually saw only a bit of the creature, the rest was merely a lack of light his eyes filled in because of their lack of anything sensory. Something in the creature's nature absorbed the very light. What he saw, however, was vaguely human shaped.

"Son Goku," it's voice seemed to come from nowhere, if anywhere it was from the two glowing green eyes where the creature's face was. Goku decided the voice seemed male.

"And who are you?"

"A... triviality." the creature seemed slightly amused. "You do not need to know."

"What are you doing?" His sixth sense told him not to trust this creature. The dark figure merely laughed.

"I should ask you. Weren't you the one who launched the attack? A casual flier could accidently get blasted around here."

Abruptly the creature's sentence ended and it moved, a blast of solid darkness flying from it. Goku summoned the strength to jump away from the beam, narrowly avoided the cold wave that swept past him. The tree he had been leaning against was simply gone.

"Don't be afraid for yourself." The green glow intensified. "I'd be more worried about the planet."

Gathering a bit more ki easily, the creature fired once more. This time the dark energy ripped through the ground, but it merely blasted all the surrounding rock, not the planet-destroying attack the creature had intended.

"You'll have to do better than that." Goku smiled slightly. "I've linked my ki into the planet's. As long as I live, it will too."

"An admirable move." The creature must have smiled, a shimmer appeared in his dark face. "But it hardly matters. My goal is to destroy this dimension, the planet is hardly a concern. And I can go through you first."

Instantly he flew forward, attacking with a skill Goku hadn't anticipated. Still, he was a bit too overconfident, and allowed Goku a split second too long of an opening. Goku had been slightly worried that his blow would do no damage, but it hit something solid and the dark form was knocked backward.

Leaping forward, Goku attempted to attack once again, but the darkness blocked his strike, and he quickly retreated to avoid the reversal that followed. Twisting backward, Goku avoided his opponent's next attack and struck him again, sending him flying.

His muscles screamed in protest as he drove them to attack again, smashing into his opponent multiple times, sending him flying backward. As the dark creature landed, he supported itself with one hand and held the other to his side, faint wisps of darkness leaked from him and into the atmosphere. Seeking to gain a bit more time, Goku smirked slightly and glanced at his opponent, keeping up a facade of strength.

"So anyway, how about telling me your name now?" Goku glanced at the creature, which hissed.

"You can call me Ebony. I have no need for real names."

Before Goku responded, Ebony suddenly stood, whatever damage had been done to him restructured, leaving his surface again a complete darkness. So he had been stalling as well. Goku leapt over his attack and slammed a foot into Ebony's head and used the momentum to vault himself into the air. He wasn't fast enough, and Ebony grabbed his ankle seconds before he reached safety.

Pulling downward, Ebony slammed Goku through the ground. Shaking off the damage, Goku fired a blast that forced the monster to let go of his leg. The blast drained out more of him than he would have liked to admit. Ebony attacked again, and by now Goku acknowledged he couldn't do this. His only hope was to finish the fight now.

Pouring his energy into a swift offensive, Goku forced his opponent backward and delivered many quick blows before his energy was spent. Getting to his feet, Ebony looked drained, but still very much alive. Goku groaned, then spent every last bit of his energy on a Kamehameha. He witnessed with horror the sight of Ebony avoiding the blast and arcing over it, slamming into him.

Falling backward, Goku felt pain explode through him as blow after blow racked his body. Eventually his survival instinct kicked in, and a wave a ki shot around him, slightly singing Ebony, who jumped backward. His momentary surge of power gone, Goku barely made it to his feet.

"Why do you fight? You cannot win." Ebony didn't attack, and Goku allowed him to continue speaking, every second his damaged body slowly healed.

"You'll see."

"Maybe, but you won't. You have nothing to hope for. I know how fast you can heal, and I won't allow it."

"That's not why I'm fighting you."

"What do you mean?"

"18 has surely felt our battle, and recognized my ki. She'll be here soon, and then you'll have to fight an opponent who is at full strength."

"She won't be here fast enough." Ebony smirked, no doubt surfaced in his mind, "but thanks for telling me your genius plan. I'm ending this."

He leaped forward, and Goku considered if he could dodge. Just as his muscles tensed, however, a shot blasted from over his shoulder and into Ebony, nearly taking his head off and sending him into the rock face nearby. Goku nodded to 18, who stood behind him, fingers smoldering.

"Who is this guy?"

"Something evil. Name's Ebony." The words were painful, but Goku didn't care. The battle was over now. "Pretty strong, but not enough. Caught me when I was weak. You should... have no problem."

"Right."

Ebony shattered the rocks around him and launched a beam of darkness, which splintered off of the shield that 18 erected. A second later she rushed forward, slamming a knee into his face. Flipping away, Ebony attacking viciously, but to no avail.

Turning aside blows, 18 briefly considered her position. It hardly mattered, her opponent wasn't strong enough to beat her, and Goku had apparently taken a bit out of him. Eventually Ebony's strength faded and his blows came slower as his energy dropped. Knifing her hand across his chest, 18 sent tendrils of misty black into the air. Falling backward, Ebony crashed to the ground. A second later he leaped into the air, catching her off guard and sending her flying. She was prepared to stop his follow up, but realized he instead zeroed in on Goku.

Just before he smashed into Goku, Ebony stopped as 18 ruptured a hand through his darkness. Blackness exploded around, and Ebony was flung over the ground, collapsing on the other side of the field. He slowly made it to his feet, and gathered darkness from the air to repair himself. From his position, Goku took the time to investigate further, and discovered something quite interesting. The darkness Ebony used came from the hate that enveloped the ki of the planet. There had to be a link between them.

Swiping a hand through the air, 18 sent a solid wave of air that buffeted Ebony back. He glanced at them once, then dove into the other direction. 18 began to give chase, but space seemed to open up before Ebony, and he was through a crackling purple portal before she could reach him. It flickered open in the air, and 18 glanced at it a moment before flying back to Goku.

"Are you alright?"

"Not really. I'll live, if that's what you mean."

"Good. What now?"

"We have to follow him."

"Is that safe?"

"Probably."

"No, I meant with you in this condition."

"Oh. No, not really, but it will close soon and we don't have another choice. You can protect me until I get better."

"Sure?"

"Yes."

"Alright."

Both leapt to the portal, which was already showing signs of shrinking. Barely making it inside on his own power, Goku was suddenly swept away as another force took control. 18 hurtled along beside him as they broke to a higher speed, then were surrounded by a darkness. For a brief instant there was nothing, and then a series of pale, luminescent rings formed around them in tunnel form. He realized there were some stray energies flying around, and he absorbed what he could. Not enough to rejuvenate him, but perhaps enough to restore some of his energy.

"What is this?" 18 asked from across the tunnel. Goku barely managed to twist to face her without anything to push off of.

"A portal to another dimension, at least that's what it looks like. I'm just speculating, but I'm guessing this is the gap between them. We're surrounded by unspace, or unreality, if you prefer."

"Will we be able to get back?"

"I don't know how as I am now, but I've done a study of the magics involved. In any case, I think I can figure it out, given a bit of time."

"Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"None." Goku shook his head. "But we'll follow Ebony there. Maybe that's where he comes from, or he might have just randomly thrown open a portal to escape. Either way, we're going to want to stay there a while anyway."

Beside them, if they could actually refer to anything as beside, something other than darkness appeared. Both struggled to face it more directly, just as it neared them. As it drew closer, Goku began to appreciate the immensity of it. It was a distance away from the tunnel of rings they were going through, but still quite large. Tendrils and whirls of a smoky substance fluttered around some sort of invisible core.

"What is that?" 18 was the first who managed to speak.

"It should be a dimension."

"You mean an alternate reality to our own?"

"Or perhaps we are a separate reality from whatever is real. But what is truly real?"

"Let's not get into that. What did you mean, it should be?"

"From what I've read, it should look more alive, all that's left is a shadow of a universe. As if it was somehow entirely destroyed. And I don't mean everything in it was vaporized. The very vacuum of that dimension is gone."

"How is that possible?"

"I have no idea. I didn't think it was."

Before they could ponder it further, the rings vanished again, and after the instant of profound darkness, they plummeted from the sky into a world once again. The portal closed behind them shortly, but Goku was more interested in slowing his fall and landing safely. 18 floated a few yards off the ground and glanced around them.

"There isn't any sign of Ebony, or anyone else."

"He was a ways ahead of us. But I haven't sensed another portal, he should still be here."

"Do you recognize this place?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure its Earth. The weird thing is, I can't sense anyone on it. There are a few odd kis here and there, but nothing like a race of people. And yet, there's activity like there are entire cities."

"Is it possible your ki sensing is being obscured?"

"I suppose. Can you sense anything?"

18 was still for a moment, then shook her head. "Exactly as you described it. However, I think the biggest center of activity is relatively close. Should we head there?"

"Sure. I'm strong enough to fly. Maybe there's a way for me to get healed there."

Lifting up to join 18, Goku flew off toward whatever it was. He wasn't really going very fast, and he didn't put up a ki shield, because he needed to conserve strength. As it was, wind whipped around him sharply, but he ignored it.



Ebony slipped through reality, hiding himself in another plane of the planet. This was a perfect place, so rife with hatred. The two of them may have followed him, but that was exactly what he had intended. Their own world was actually a normal one, and he couldn't do nearly what he could here. In this place, the very essence of matter strengthened his being. Already he was healed. Now to plan.



A mountain range blocked their view and both rose over it. They were immediately shocked by what lay before their eyes. An entire city sprawled on the other side of the mountains, lights rushing around inside it, energy being consumed and transferred. Yet in the entire thing, Goku felt only one ki. How was that even possible?

The thought occurred to 18 before he thought of it.

"What if everyone in that city really isn't living?"

"That's ridiculous..." Goku's voice trailed off, as 18 gestured to herself. "That's a crazy idea, but there has to be an explanation somewhere. My question is, how is that even possible?"

She shrugged. "I know nothing about this. Gero didn't either."

Something clicked in Goku's mind, and he thought back to the time when Cell had arrived.

"Back when Cell was here! There were a lot of androids that came from somewhere, and I never got an explanation of where. I had forgotten about it until now!"

"Really?" 18 cocked her head slightly. "You never told me about this."

"I didn't think it was worth the time. But maybe they came from here, in some sort of portal. That would explain how the one who claimed he wasn't created. How could there really be a world entirely full of androids?"

"Hmm. You know, you're right. This place doesn't feel correct, like there's something off about it. In theory it should be the same time of day as it was in our dimension, but I think it's a bit later. It's like this dimension was created by someone who didn't know what they were doing."

"Dimensions aren't created-" Goku stopped himself. "At least, I don't think they are."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Follow Ebony. He's probably hiding in the city somewhere with his power lowered. I don't know all of the special abilities that he might have. After we finish him, I suggest we stay here and figure out more about this."

"Shall we go?"

Goku nodded, and both of them descended, landing a ways away from the city. They entered, and Goku fought not to stare at the crowds around him. Bustling, vibrant, alive, but completely lacking a ki. Part of him was tempted to find out if they really were androids by taking one apart, but the rest of him snapped him out of something as ridiculous as that. Plus, his better side reminded him, if what you believe is true, they have all the rights anyone should have.

Scanning about in the same manner he did to find 18, Goku found that he did sense something now. Improbable as it seemed, maybe they were right about this. It would at least explain where all those other androids had come from. But who would have created them? From what he'd seen of Gero's work, he didn't think androids were actually capable of procreating, but then again, maybe these were far more advanced than Gero's androids.

They didn't actually seem all that powerful. After being around 18 so long, Goku had managed to develop a bit of sense of how powerful non ki-using entities were, and none of them seemed to really be warriors. So then, why had any of this began? Mentally shrugging, he devoted himself to searching for Ebony. This mystery could wait.

Something instantly caught his attention. A malicious intent, very close to them. It wasn't directed his way, but it reeked of Ebony. Either he was doing something there, or it was just something evil. Goku would have given a good bet that the two things felt nearly equal.

18's expression showed that she felt the same thing. They veered off toward what it felt like, carefully moving through the crowds. In the end, the trail took them to an extremely dark alleyway. Soon the sky was entirely eclipsed by the buildings overhead. Goku couldn't sense anyone further down, and he was about to ask 18 when a voice bit into the silence.

"Don't move or you're history!"

Focusing on the source, Goku purposefully used his heightened eyesight to look through the darkness. So here was the source of the problem. Two rough-looking androids had cornered three female ones, and all eyes were now fixed on the two of them, standing nearby. Most likely not what they were looking for, but then again, it did feel a lot stronger than just some mugging.

"Why?" 18 was of course ready to take off the nearest android's head.

"Listen to him!" One of the cornered androids called. "He has a gun!"

On one level, Goku allowed himself to be herded into the corner, and signaled 18 to do the same. Deeper, on his subconscious level, he was silently wondering. Even if these androids didn't have much power, a bullet couldn't actually deal that much damage. Why would they be worried about a gun? Maybe it was different, somehow.

"That's better," one of the men said gruffly. "Now back to business."

Whispering on a nearly inaudible level, Goku spoke to 18. "Let me do this. I can take their energy and heal myself."

She nodded nearly imperceptibly. In the next instant Goku hurtled forward, kicking away one of the attacker's guns and grabbing the other. The hand around the gun unconsciously shifted into the metal claw form and snapped the weapon in half. Lightly tapping one in the temple, Goku sent him reeling into a wall and grabbed the other. Slamming his forehead into his opponent's, Goku felt metal give way. Gripping him with his metallic hand, Goku drained all of his energy. Much better.

The other mugger staggered to his feet and attacked, whipping out a knife. Almost casually, Goku caught the blade and lightly tossed it to the side, a cuff knocking out his opponent. Holding him up, a few feet off the ground, Goku drained the rest of the android's energy and let him drop. He actually felt fine after doing that. 18 was leaning against the wall, looking almost bored. The three other androids were looking on in shock.

"Wow," one murmured. "I guess you're a warrior. I've never seen anything like that!"

"Thanks," another offered. Goku nodded, but then caught a fraction of something else. Ebony's presence had been trailed here, he could nearly sense him. When he closed his eyes and looked with ki-sight, he saw a trail leading somewhere. Perfect.

"I think I found something," he told 18 quickly. "I want to follow it up. Stay with them and figure out what's going on around here. We could well have more on our hands than Ebony."

"Sure."

With a wave, Goku launched into the air, leaving the four androids beneath him.

"Wow," one said again. "What make of android is he?"

"He's really good," the other muttered with a low whistle. "I should have thanked him."

"Yeah."

"Why'd he leave?" one of them finally turned to talk to her. 18 shrugged.

"He has something he needs to do. He'll be back."

"I see. Do you want to come with us?"

For an instant, 18 didn't respond, taken aback at the strangeness of the question. That was not something she thought she'd ever hear again. It was an odd feeling, not being the usual outcast. Shaking herself from her thoughts, 18 deigned to give them a slight smile.

"Sure."