I have made an effort to include italics tags, in that there is a fair amount of telekinesis being thrown between characters. While I should have done this in a few previous chapters, I did not do so. Though I apologize, I doubt I will do much better in the future.

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Shin walked past the Afterlife warriors, not heeding their calls. This should not have been possible, it just wasn't right. He was the Enforcer, his was the strongest power in the galaxy. There should never have been anyone capable of matching him, much less beating him as easily as the saiyan had done. Something was wrong, power in the galaxy seemed to be uneven, like there was something great taking place.

Grating his teeth, Shin slammed a fist into his palm. Could it be that he couldn't keep up with the new outbreak of power? Could he really have been left behind? It wasn't right. Without him, the galaxy could fall apart, chaos would reign. This evil, too, was approaching, and he had no idea what was causing it. Earth had been a stepping stone, he should have been there just long enough to find out what seed was placed there and exterminate it. Not only couldn't he stop it, he'd been beaten as well.

Turning swiftly on his heel, Shin moved toward the mirror. Maybe answers could be found there. These disturbances had to be causing some sort of problem on the deepest level of reality. Going through finely crafted arches, Shin strode toward his goal, too wrapped up in his own dark thoughts to notice anything around him.

The mirror stood at the other end, completely silent and mysterious. Shin touched the silver outlining of it a second, caressing the cold metal. How many times this had given him greater insight into what was really going on in the galaxy were countless. Dai Kioshin could pretend to be in charge, but when it came to power, Shin was the master, and he protected the galaxy.

Priests cared for the mirror, and now they fluttered around him anxiously, speaking words of caution that he didn't hear. He knew that the mirror could be dangerous, that he saw things as they were, on the level that was deeper than deep. But whatever dangers the mirror held, he was more than a match for, because he was the Enforcer.

As reality swirled around him and left for an instant as he entered the mirror, a sliver of doubt crept into his mind- was he?

Coming to amidst a wash of sound and light and color, every feeling, emotion, sensation possible flooded at him, completely uncontrolled. Shin tightened his mental control and found where he wanted, making everything else fall away. Only a softly flowing green floated around everything, infusing the plane he was in. There had to be an answer here somewhere, the galaxy seemed unbalanced and that unbalance should be obvious here.

Why would that be? There was some power that wasn't right, something that should not have been. This could have consequences that would destroy the galaxy, if he wasn't careful. Or it could just be a false alarm. What could it have been? The saiyan, and his determination came to mind. If he honestly was strong enough, he could overturn laws of reality. If he and the Legendary One ever came into contact, it could rend the galaxy into pieces. There would be nothing but anarchy.

Surely Dai Kioshin understood this. His power would be of immense help in the struggle to come. There were resources at his command that could have sensed this long before, why hadn't he said anything? Unless, the thought came to him with a slow dread. Unless Dai could benefit from it somehow. If there was a way that a universe without rules would help him, he would have done it. But why?

Slowly but surely, an answer began to formulate in his mind. Unnoticed behind him, the green plane began to crack, and a black force forced it's way in, growing in power and circling behind the unwatchful Guardian. Shin's eyes opened wide, that was it! There was an answer! If he moved instantly, there could be a way-

As he turned, he saw the darkness collected there in front of him. With all his power he tried to throw it back, but found it to be far more than any normal force in this plane. What was this? Throwing his energy out, he struck the force, but it didn't slow it down as it turned his plane to black. When at last all traces of color had been removed, something else appeared, a Darkness darker than the darkness around it.

"Who are you?" the Kioshin called into the darkness, his power creating a shield around him, sheltering him from the emptiness.

"You mean what am I." The voice was deep, surrounding him, completely evil. Before he could say anything else, it spoke again, its voice full of laughter.

"It is finally time. I am the Darkness you have all feared."

"No! We will force you back!"

"I do not believe so. This dimension will be ended, and all others after it."

"We will fight you together! You will fall, for a final time!"

"Not when you are helping me so."

"What?"

"You never have understood, have you? Your hatred is all that I need from you, and now all my work has come into fruitation."

"We will defeat you!"

"If you chose to believe so. Hope is futile. But in any case, it is over for you, little guardian."

The Darkness whirled around with force beyond anything the normal galaxy knew existed. There was a snap as the barrier around Shin vanished, and then he was dragged down into nothing. He became smaller and smaller within the total darkness, completely alone. In the last instant before he ceased to exist, Shin gave a desperate cry, and then there was silence.

Piccolo calmly walked through King Yemma's office. The giant looked at him and glowered, but had long ago learned he couldn't stop his comings and goings. Exiting one door, Piccolo began walking across Snake Way. When he was sufficiently far, he jumped off the side and dove like a rocket through the yellow clouds below. Flipping and landing on his feet, Piccolo considered the HFIL around him.

Ignoring the spirits clamoring around him, Piccolo began running toward his destination. Speeding across the red lakes and brown fields, he was unopposed until he was nearly in sight of the tree. The two ogres guarding the tree flickered into existence.

They looked as unchanged as they had centuries ago. Both wore clothing resembling basketballs jerseys, labeled one and two. The first was blue and renowned for his strength, the other red and for speed. Now they blocked his path.

"You have no business at King Yemma's Tree," they snapped at him. Piccolo smiled.

"Get out of my way."

"Do you want to try and get past us?" Both began laughing insanely, slapping each other on the back. Before they could even move a muscle, Piccolo zipped past both of them, appearing behind them. They gaped, then the blue one charged at him. Catching him with one hand, Piccolo hurled him over the horizon. The other attacked as well, but Piccolo easily dodged his punch and then struck him on the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious.

Unopposed, Piccolo walked up to the tree itself. Two fruit hung on the fragile branches, and he took one carefully off. King Yemma's Fruit would allow the eater to need no food for a month, but the very first taste granted incredible power, depending on how much you already possessed. While Nameks were never intended to actually eat anything, needing only water, he ate the entire thing.

Instantly power shot around him, and he chuckled. This was real power. It had finally broken through the layer of power that he knew was inside him, but had been locked away. All the training he had been doing was instantly realized in solid power.

Flying upward, Piccolo effortlessly broke through the layer of clouds and landed on Snake Way. Gathering his energy, he tried to send his thoughts out across time and space. The new surge of power the fruit had given him breached the barriers that Dai Kioshin had in place and he got through.

Goku and 18 had just killed one of Babidi's servants, Yamoo. They were just as far as he thought they would be, which was good. Things were going as planned, or at least they appeared to be.

[i]Goku,[/i] he called, [i]can you here me?[/i]

[i]We're here. Nice to hear you again.[/i]

[i]As always, my time is limited. There is a sorcerer on earth called Babidi. He intends to release Evil itself into the world to use as his servant in conquering the galaxy. What he must do is gather energy from any source he can. When he has enough, Evil will be released. Of course, he doesn't realize that what he'd actually be bringing back is the greatest incarnation of Darkness to ever exist- Buu. To say the least, that would be bad, so if you can stop him before then, it will nip the problem at the bud. I can give you the ki signature of the dome, but I'm sure that he has a shield to keep you from just teleporting inside.

In his days, he's gotten quite a number of warriors to help him out, and he has a teleportation spell that he can use if he needs to. If you're careful, you should be able to follow him. Watch out, because if he does manage to get away, he can just continue his mission once more.

How much more time do you have to speak with us?[/i] Goku asked.

[i]Not much; I have a few other things to say yet..[/i]

Dai Kioshin suddenly felt the signal being sent. So the Namek was interfering with his plans again. Well, this time, he was ready for him, he had a trick up his sleeve. Gathering up his energy, Dai Kioshin cast a spell, the strongest in his arsenal. The job done, he collapsed into his chair. But now, things were going to be very difficult for Goku to do anything to hinder his plans. Dai Kioshin sent a message to Babidi. Very difficult indeed.

There was a red burst of energy, and then 18 suddenly vanished. Goku felt for her ki and found none nearby.

[i]What happened?

Dai Kioshin must have used a teleportation spell of some sort,[/i] Piccolo answered grimly, [i]and I don't care to know why. But I'm almost certain that she's at Babidi's dome now. If you hurry, you could probably get her back again. In the meantime she can take care of herself.

Right[/i], Goku nodded, even though Piccolo couldn't see it.

[i]I can't speak much more. Good luck, old buddy.[/i]

Even as he said goodbye, Goku felt Piccolo's consciousness leave his and retreat to the Afterlife once again. Bounding into the air, Goku flew as fast as he could over the horizon. The ki Piccolo had given him was still fresh in his mind, and he flew directly toward it. As things went, it was almost directly on the opposite side of the planet. Calculating quickly in his head, he figured if he didn't want to waste his energy it would take him about two minutes. He hoped that would be soon enough.

Just as he was finally nearing his destination, a ki suddenly flared up before him. Skidding to a halt, he saw 18 in front of him. Still, something seemed horribly wrong, and an instant later his eyes affirmed that observation. On her forehead was the large black M he had seen before.

"What's this?" he asked, his mind trying to figure out what was going on.

"You will be eliminated," 18 responded.

"What?"

Both of them drifted down to ground level, landing softly. Goku recognized a dark energy flowing from the M. Whatever it was, it was affecting 18. Also, her power seemed to have risen sharply. While he understood this well enough, he still had no idea what was going on.

Dropping into a fighting stance, 18 spoke again. "Now defend yourself."

"I won't fight you," Goku told her. "It doesn't have to be this way. You can-"

A right cross hurled him across the ground; he landed painfully but flipped to his feet.

"Fool," Majin 18 spat out. "If you refuse to fight me, even you will die eventually."

"Maybe you can defeat me as I am now," Goku conceded then licked blood from his lip. "But can you as I can be?"

Energy roared out around him, golden flames of power licking the air as they formed an aura around him. Bolts of energy burst in spurts around the aura, but Goku held them closely to himself. 18 seemed slightly surprised, but unhindered. Even so, he was a Super Saiyan 2.

The next time she flew forward to punch, her hand froze on the outside of the aura, unable to penetrate. Forcing all of her energy into her hand, she was able to push in maybe an inch or so, but no further. Jumping back, she eyed him carefully.

"I don't know what happened," Goku spoke again, softly, "but there isn't any need for us to fight. There's still something of you left, and I know you'd never do this."

"Babidi erased all good," was all Majin 18 said, before attacking in a flurry of blows. Each merely bounced off of his aura harmlessly. Jumping backward, she fired a multitude of energy blasts his way, all of which splashed off the aura, which blazed brightly. Charging up a giant blast, Majin 18 launched it, but when the dust cleared, Goku had yet to move from his place.

"Don't fight. You can't win. Please, we need to solve this problem."

"You have nothing to say I want to hear."

"Please."

"Babidi reawakened my evil side. Now I will destroy you,"

"This can't be-"

As a response she gathered energy in one hand, but aimed it toward the city, barely on the horizon.

"I may be unable to harm you, but can you say the same for an unarmed city?"

The blast was fired, but Goku leaped in the way of it, causing it to redirect off course. They both locked eyes a second, at an apparent stalemate. Before she attacked again, a loud sound instantly split the air as hundreds of machine guns opened fire. While they had been fighting, one of the recently made armies patrolling this area had apparently found them and attacked. The bullets deflected off 18 or turned to ash in Goku's flames harmlessly. Tanks rolled into play, but their weapons were just as useless as the others.

Growling, 18 raised a hand toward the army, collecting enough energy to remove all of them from the surface of the planet. Goku quickly fired a blast of his own that deflected her's off into space. She turned back to him, looking annoyed. The bullets and missiles continued to crash against them harmlessly.

"Why did you stop me? They hate you as much as they do me!"

"I won't allow you to just kill innocents, however much they might deserve it."

"What can you do about it then?" she smirked. Goku raised one hand, and began concentrating. A soft wind began to blow from the north, gaining in speed as it neared them. The army was forced to cover its eyes in defense as the biting wind picked up speed. Eventually it even began blowing 18's hair.

"Wind?" she asked, "What good does that do?"

"You'll see." Goku smiled. The wind built up in intensity, and then struck the army full force. They were sent flying through the air and over the horizon. As soon as they were out of sight, Goku dropped the wind and let it return to its natural course. Back to the real fight.

The army landed nearby the city, and miraculously, there were only a few injured. They needed no vote to decide not to go back there again.