Note: IÕm sorry for taking so long to update this story and add a new chapter but I have been so busy with finding and keeping my new fall job that when I get home I am just not in the mood for writing fanfics. Still I did manage to get some work done, enough to send this new chapter out to you. Hope you like itÉÉ

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Capsule Corps, 12:30p.m

It took a bit longer than it usually did but eventually the effects of the senzu bean did indeed heal Picollo enough that he was able to regain consciousness. He was still sore but he had lived through worse during his lifetime and this was almost not worth mentioning by comparison. When he opened his eyes his vision was covered with the faces of people he knew well and others whom he wasn't quite as familiar with as he was with the others. The most prominent was Trunks and Goten who were down on their knees next to him while the others merely stood nearbye. Pushing himself up using his arms he managed to get into a sitting position but when he attempted to get to his feet he found that despite the restorative powers of the senzu bean he still had a bit of recovery ahead of him.

"Easy Picollo, you're still pretty banged up." Trunks said as he and Goten helped him over to a chair that Giles had vacated for him.

It didn't exactly improve his condition all that much but at least he could be a bit more comfortable while his body healed itself. His current physical maladies though were not the focus of his thoughts though, no he was focused more on those that had inflicted them upon him. He was still feeling a little light headed at the moment but he could still recall the more important moments of the fight. He had been searching around the mountain region where he had left Gohan to survive all those years ago and when he had finally located what it was he sought after he had been attacked. He hadn't even sensed the approach of his adversaries and had barely managed to get a defense up in time before the powerful blows started raining down on him. What happened in the time that followed angered him greatly but also caused great concern to grow inside of him.

"What happened Picollo?" Gohan asked his former sensei as the hybrid tried to determine what was going on inside the Namek's head.

"Hmph! Isn't it obvious!? The Namek got his ass kicked." Vegita said from his position in the corner.

That earned the Saiyan Prince the customary scowl of disapproval before they all turned back to the injured warrior.

"We've been trying to locate you for the past few days Picollo to tell you about the danger. Where've you been?" Goku asked in his usual straightforeward manner.

"Sorry about staying out of sight but I've been aware of Glory a lot longer than you have." , Picollo said in apology or at least as close as he comes to giving one, "I thought it best that I stay away from you guys since it was a safe bet that you were being watched."

"WHAT?!" everyone said almost at the same time.

"Yeah. As guardian of the Earth Kami kept a close eye on those entities that he felt might pose a problem in the future and Glory was one of them." , Piccolo replied as he drew on the memories of his so-called better half, "Most of the previous guardians did as well since if she were to ever acheive her goal it would most certainly be a problem for the entire planet. Unfortunately when I merged with Kami I lost track of her but was able to recognise the signs of her prescence when the first few mentally unstable people began to show up at the hospitols."

"For a moment I wondered why she had come here when according to all sources the Key was somewhere in Europe or America." , Piccolo said as his tone turned grim, "It didn't take long for me to put two and two together and figure out that she was after the dragonballs. After all why look for a key that you don't know how to locate when you can grab the dragonballs with a piece of technology or a decent spell. With that in mind I was determined to find at least one of the dragonballs as soon as possible since without it the others would be useless."

"So did you manage to find one?" Willow said from her spot on the couch.

"Yeah but I was attacked on my way back here." Picollo replied in a tone that made it clear his pride had been hurt by how he had faired in the fight.

"Some of Glory's goons?" queried Trunks who was surprised that anyone outside of Maijin Buu could have inflicted this kind of damage on someone like Picollo.

"Not unless she recently became an expert in robotics." , Picollo replied with a concerned frown on his face, "They were androids."

This absolutely floored everyone in the room as they remembered the initial appearance of androids powerful enough to beat the crap out of Picollo. It had been around eighteen years ago when the Trunks from the alternate timeline had come to warn them all about the virus that Goku would contract and the killer androids that would appear in three years. He had said that the killer androids would appear in three years on a small island a few miles south of South City and go on a rampage that would claim the lives of all of the Z-team except Gohan. All those who heard the story trained long and hard in the three years they had been given and when the day came they all hoped that it would be enough to combat the seemingly unstoppable threat. It had been a rough time but in the beginning it seemed as though their hard work had paid off as one of the two androids had been destroyed and the other had been moderately damaged. It seemed that all that was required was a mop-up operation but when the Trunks from the future arrived on the battlefield and informed them that the androids they had faced were not the ones that ravaged his time it had started a whole new series of battles and surprises. From the true terrible androids 17 and 18 to the giant android 16 and culminating in the monster Cell and the three forms he possessed. Fortunately thanks to Gohan unlocking the sleeping power within him Cell was defeated and a seven year period of peace was allowed to begin. To hear now that androids were once again in the picture and powerful enough to cause Picollo trouble was both disturbing and shocking.

"Androids?! Are you certain?" Android 18 asked in a stunned voice as she recalled what she had once been.

"No question about it. I managed to wing one of them with an energy blast but that was about all I could do." the Namek replied with a grimace, "They were definitly faster and stronger than you and 17 had been but that wasn't the major difference. They had a whole new bag of tricks to use on me this time and looked more like magic that science. They seemed to be able to teleport vast distances in the blink of an eye and become as intangible as ghosts whenever I tried to hit them."

"Hmph! I bet if I had been there those androids wouldn't have been so much trouble!" Vegita said in contempt for his pointy eared comrade's powers and skills.

"I doubt it Vegita." , Picollo stated as he ignored the Saiyan's jab at his abilities, "These androids weren't even trying very hard and still they were beating me. In any case by the time they were through with me they had the dragonball I had found and would have finished me off if I hadn't caught them off guard with Tien's solar flare technique. Still, I barely managed to get here in time before my body just gave out."

"So now we have a third player out there who apparently has a group of androids on his, her or it's side and they are strong enough to handily defeat a twice fused Namek." , Xander said with his anxiety clearly written on his face, "Can I just take this moment to say that this is not good, heck it's a quick skip from being a catastrphy!"

"Not necessarily." Giles said from his position in the room, a speculative look on his face.

"Huh?!" stated Goten who pretty much summed up the mindsets of everyone else in the room.

"Well we know that these androids are not in the employ of Glory or by now we would be seeing the sky turn black and a storm starting to brew." , Giles explained as he took his glasses off and cleaned them, "It is also a fair guess to say that she won't be getting it anytime soon since the leader of this third party seems determined to keep that dragonball to himself. This buys us a little time to work out a plan since it will most likely be awhile before he or Glory are able to complete their set or even encounter one another."

"You got a plan G-Man?" Xander asked with hope in his usual 'we are *so* doomed' voice.

"Not really. I just thought it proper to point out that we shouldn't lose all hope just yet." Giles replied in a perfectly calm tone of voice.

This almost caused everybody in the room to fall over in disbelief but fortunately they had built up something of a resistance to this sort of thing so they only looked at the former Watcher like he had suddenly sprouted two small horns on his forehead. Once they regained their composure they all agreed that Giles was right, there was still hope and it was up to them to make that hope grow as fast as it could with their efforts. After all as both the Scoobies and the Z-Team knew all too well that if Mr. Murphy was listening in on their conversation anything that could go wrong *would* go wrong sooner rather than later.

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Undisclosed Location, Seven's Office, 1:00p.m

Ahhh, it is so wonderful when a plan falls so neatly into place." Seven thought as he looked at the dragonball he held in his hand.

The androids had returned from their mission to retrieve one of the dragonballs only a short while ago and further pleased him when they stated that they had disposed of the Namek Piccolo. One less non-earther to worry about but the namek was of little concern since he was no longer what one could call a major threat anymore. No only the Saiyans could be regarded in such a manner since their innate ability to get stronger after every battle made them the most dangerous of all threats. Still his androids could handle them if they showed, if only for a brief period of time, and if they were destroyed it was of no consequence since they were only machines. Now that he had this the hell goddess could not make her wish and thus the Earth was saved from whatever ravages she might unleash in fulfilling her desires. It would be soon time to enact the third portion of his plan and it was going to be tricky to say the least given the unstable nature of the target. Still with a little scheming and some preparation he was certain that the witch wouldn't see his true intentions until it was too late. Just then a knock came from the door to his office and while annoyed at this interruption he knew that it had to be Nine since he was the only one of his followers who dared approach this room.

"Come in Nine." Seven said as he placed the dragonball in a box on his desk and locked it shut.

The door opened rather quickly and once it had completed its motion Seven could clearly see an upset Nine standing there with his eyes speaking of trouble. This caused Seven to become concerned as his second in command did not fluster easily and that was one of the reasons he was chosen for the position. He was a calm mind amid this dangerous storm and Seven had always felt that he could count on the man no matter what to keep him in perspective. To see him so upset meant that something serious had happened that might alter their plans significantly or perhaps even destroy them.

"What is it Nine?" Seven asked as he tried to remain calm for his comrade.

"Sir I just recieved news from our supporters still inside the Watcher's Council and they say that the *box* has been removed from the vault!" Nine stated with his voice almost showing panic.

Seven felt his concern mirrored in his own body but he did a better job concealing it than his comrade. The box was one of the most guarded artifacts in the Watchers' possession and held the key to their origins among other things that every inner circle had tried to keep hidden from all but the most trusted members. It had been the contents of this chest that had shaped his view of the world since becoming a member of the inner circle, it was the very reason he had set himself on the course that lay before him. To hear that it was no longer there added a new chaos element that might seriously destablize his plans to say the least but at the moment his mind hunted for the answers to the questions that plagued his mind. He knew that there was no way that the inner circle of the Watcher's council would have voted to remove the box from it's hiding place. After all why remove it unless you intended to disclose their contents to someone and they would not be inducting new members into the inner circle so soon. That left only the Slayers themselves and this the council would most definitley not permit as it would cost them the one advantage they had over their former charges. The situation made no sense to him whatsoever and that was something he most definitely did not like since it was in his nature to be in control of his environment.

"Does the Council have any suspects?" Seven asked in a cautious tone of voice.

"Not as yet but whoever it was managed to remove the box without setting off any of the wards or protective spells." , Nine replied as his own mind attempted to comprehend matters, "That would seem to indicate that the person was either an accomplished sorcerer or a member of the inner circle itself."

It was with that last sentence from his comrade that the answers came into Seven's mind and against his better judgement he was forced to smile in respect at his now revealed adversary. It was now clear to him who had removed the box and what he intended to do with it but the only question that remained was how he planned to do it. Using magic would be too detectable to both himself and his fellow members of the inner circle so that meant sending it by more conventional means.

"Sir? Is somthing the matter?" Nine asked with concern as he looked at his smiling leader.

"No. I have just realised who is repsonsible for the removal of the box." , Seven said as he activated his computor and began looking at various boat and plane schedules, "It was One."

"What!? Impossible! He would never go against the ruling of the inner circle." , Nine exclaimed in denial, "They just recently ruled against his motion that they reveal its contents to the Slayers."

"He would not let that stop him. Once he sets his mind on something he stays with it through until the end." , Seven said as the list on the screen got smaller and smaller, "What we need to focus on for the moment is how he intends to get the box to the Slayers and how soon we can expect his courier to arrive."

"You believe he has dispatched some agent of the Watchers Council to deliver the box?" Nine asked as he tried to follow his leader's train of thought.

"Yes and I believe I have determined the most likely places where the agent would attempt to enter Future City." , Seven said as the computer finished printing the list, "Send at least five of our agents to each location and tell them to keep on the look out carrying something that could be a large metal box. It shouldn't be hard to find someone lugging around a large box with the intention of not being noticed."

"Yes sir." , Nine replied as he took the list and prepared to carry out his orders but at the last minute he stopped and turned, "Sir, shouldn't we send an android to each location as well? We have no idea whom we will be dealing with and the agent might be too much for out comrades to handle."

"No, I have something else in mind for them." , Seven replied dismissively, "Besides it is probably just some lowley green recruit who was awestruck that the famous One had a mission for him."

"I suppose." Nine said as he turned and left the room.

Admirable try One but you will not stop me from carrying out my mission! Seven said as he tapped a cigarette from its pack.

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Capsule Corps Infirmery, 1:45p.m

I'm sorry kid. Picollo thought towards his former pupil.

It hurt him to see them like this and it hurt even more that there was nothing he could do to make things better. In the years since he had come into being he had become a formidable warrior. Not up to the same level as Goku or any of the other Saiyans but he still had his moments and that made up for any lack of power. To know that he could do so much and yet do nothing right now was almost unbearable but for the sake of Buffy and the others he would hold his anger in check. From what Bulma and the others had told him Glorificus had hit Buffy with some sort of spell blast that affected not only the elder Slayer but also Faith and Dawn as well. Bulma's Aunt Beru said that they seemed to be undergoing some sort of transformation but that she couldn't tell what they were turning into or when the process would be complete. Until they got a better idea of what they were up against all they could do was keep the three young warriors as comfortable as possible and hope for the best. That of course was just another way of saying that they were helpless but everyone wanted to feel as though they were accomplishing something.

Whether or not they had time to really accomplish anything helpful was unknown as the agenda's and plans of their enemies were vague at best. Glory was the more clear of the two since she was somewhat single-minded when it came to her objectives, feed periodically and find the Key. Anything else was just an offshoot of that to some degree or another and that made her somewhat more predictable than the mystery group that he had discovered for himself. All they knew about this unknown actor was that he had access to Dr. Gero's schematics for the Androids from which he/she/it had made at least three of them and that the group had one of the dragonballs. What this person or this group wanted with the dragonball was unknown and that made them dangerous since it limited their ability to factor them into any strategies. All they could do was hope that something would occur that would make things clearer for them before the final confrontation began with Glory.

Fighting a battle on two fronts would not be a good thing. Picollo thought as his frown deepened.

Just then he felt a sharp power spike in his immediate area but it was so primal and unfocused that he was having difficulty narrowing it down to a specific spot. That however was soon fixed as the various medical machinery began to make odd noises and some that even began to spark and sizzle. All the machines that were currently hooked up to Buffy, Dawn and Faith were going haywire and the ladies themselves seemed to be experiencing an ever increasing amount of pain. Their faces were twisting into contortions of agony that only seemed to grow worse with each passing moment. Add to that the fact that they were beginning to strain against their restraints and it didn't take a genius to see that the excrement was about to hit the fan. Not wasting a moment Picollo raced to the intercom next to the door and hit the button he had been told to use if there was any change in the trio's condition.

"Yes? What is it Picollo?" Aunt Beru said from the intercom.

"Get down here quick! Something is happening to Buffy and the others and it does not look good!" Picollo replied as he took a quick look back at the beds.

"I'm on my way!" Aunt Beru said as sounds of someone in a rush filled the background.

Almost as an afterthought Picollo said "You might want to get Goku and Vegita in here as well!"

"Why?" Aunt Beru asked in a puzzled manner.

"Because I don't think that the restraints on those kids are going to last much longer!" Picollo replied before he cut-off the connection.

Turning his full attention to the problem at hand Picollo was shocked to see that matters had worsened more than he expected since he had last taken full stock of the situation. The machines hooked up to the patients were now completely fried and the metal restraints were showing signs of weakening. Not wanting to picture what might happen if they gave way Picollo made a quick decision that he hoped he was able to carry out. Brining his power level up he prepared his body and once ready he immediately performed the split-form technique which resulted in two Picollo's being present in the room. Not waiting for the duplication to settle both Picollos positioned themselves between each of the beds and used all the strength they could muster to restrain the patients. He knew all to well that a delerious warrior with control of their energy could do and he couldn't risk Buffy and the others harming themselves as well as others by accident. As soon as they both touched the ill warriors they knew they would not be able to hold out for very long as the energy in each of them was surging upwards. Minute by minute they were getting stronger and it would only be a matter of minutes before they were too strong for him to even be near. Still he would hold out for as long as he could and hope that Goku and Vegita got here soon to take his place.

It was like trying to keep a dam in one piece when cracks were forming everywhere you looked and Picollo was beginning to feel the strain after five minutes. It was taking all he had to maintain the strength needed to keep the girls still and it was only getting more difficult as time wore on. Fortunately it was at that time that the door was flung open and Aunt Beru entered followed by the two Saiyans he had requested. All three were aghast at what they were seeing and feeling but there was no time for that so Picollo had to snap them out of it right away.

"If you three are done gawking I could use some help here!" snapped Picollo in frustration as he felt his hold on the girls beginning to give way.

Nothing needed to be said about what type of help each needed to provide as both Vegita and Goku helped Picollo in restraining the three young women while Aunt Beru tried to diagnos their conditions. With the two Saiyans there to help him Picollo quickly reintegrated his other and focused on trying to keep Dawn from hurting herself. This only marginally improved the situation as he was now able to utilize his full power rather than only half of it as was the case when using the split-form technique. Even with that much power Dawn's rising power still required a stern discipline to keep in check and he could feel that the others were beginning to get a feel for the situation as well. Beru was running around the lot of them trying to get a handle on her part of the job but with every electrical piece of equipment shorting out before she could reach the beds and all others randomly falling apart it wasn't looking good. She tried to give Buffy a sedative to ease her pain but the needle shattered in Beru's hands before it could even break the skin.

"There's nothing I can do for them now!" , Beru exclaimed as the second needle of sedative went the way of the first, "You three will just have to hold them until this episode passes."

"That's not going to be easy!" , Goku said as he raised his own power level to keep up with Buffy's, "Their power is growing exponentially and it's not going to be long before I have to go Super Saiyan to maintain my hold on Buffy."

"Having trouble Kakarot? I'm finding it quite easy to hold onto this one." Vegita boasted but everyone could tell he was feeling the strain as well.

It was then, in that moment of distraction, that the proverbial hammer was dropped as all three patients' power levels jumped over the top. Unprepared for this sudden increase in power the three warriors and one Doctor were thrown back against the walls of the room with Goku protecting Beru from the worst of it. With the increase in power all three of the ill young women's energy fields were visible and only seemed to be growing in intensity and luminesense. For a moment it seemed as though there would be no end to the increase in power within the three bed ridden warriors but then it seemed to seemed to reach its peak with a bright flash of light. It only took a few moments for Picollo and the others to regain their eyesight and once they had they looked back at the source of the recent commotion. As expected, the increase in the girls' power levels had shattered the restraints that had kept them fastened to the beds as well as flinging anything not nailed down to the walls. The only postive portion of news was that all three young ladies seemed to have calmed down and were resting peacefully. It looked like the worst of it was over but as the two Saiyans, the Namek and human Doctor came close they discovered that things might have actually gotten worse. All three of the patients' hair had now turned completely black and had aquired a somewhat wild look that went beyond 'bed-hair' or 'unkempt'. Add to that the fact that their bodies had taken a slightly more muscled look than had been the case beforehand and all of them worried that the transformation spell may have taken a giant leap foreward.

"Oh this is not good!" Beru exclaimed with worry as she tried to find a working piece of equipment.

"Doc, you don't know the half of it." Picollo stated from his kneeling position as his eyes seemed locked on something.

"What is it Picollo?" Goku asked with concern as he tried to understand the look on his old rival's face.

In answer the Namek said not a word but simply flung the sheets covering Buffy to the ground exposing her for all to see. What the rest saw almost floored them right then and there but as a credit to their experiences they stayed upright. It was not easy though since what they saw caused their minds to freeze in incomprehension and disbelief. It was not that they didn't know what Picollo was talking about but rather it was how such a thing could be possible that caused them to stare. All they had supposed and speculated about concerning Glory's reasons and intentions when the ex-hell-goddess blasted Buffy were gone as there was no sane reason to believe that this is what the tramp wanted. This was because now, exposed for all to see was a long furry length of flesh that could only be a tail extending out from an opening in Buffy's hospitol clothes. It was not just any tail but rather one had seen many a time before during the course of their adventures when things got particularly nasty. That however did not explain why Buffy now had such a tail but there it was and nothing any of them could say could make this fact go away.

Extending from just below Buffy's waist and currently dangling off the side of her bed was a Saiyan tail.

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