Chapter 13

'Time'

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AN: I did again. Again I created a monster chapter that got away from me. Then again it may have been my newly found muse, who kept insisting she got some time in the spotlight. Now for the bad news, my trusty beta DoWnEr can no longer combine his daily life with doing beta reading for me, so I guess I'm in the market for a new beta reader. The job offers advanced insight in the newest chapters, plus chances to help shape the story as I like to bounce ideas off beforehand. The downside, my chapters tend to be huge. So..., do you hunger for a true challenge?

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"Oh my head!"

Ferucca reached for her head, the inside of which was pounding harder then Slayer's Dave Lombardo playing the double bass drums while doing Angel of Death. By the seven Hells of Jerherherod! Going Ozaru never hurt so much in the past. Reaching for her head she opened her eyes. Instead of seeing the familiar rubble of a destroyed civilization, as she had come to expect after going Ozaru, she looked up against a canvas like cover. Her eyes scanned left and right. It looked like she was in some sort of canvas tent. One that seemed to be moving as she noticed a subtle swaying movement underneath her, like she was on a boat or something

She sat up and looked around further. She appeared to be in a rectangular canvas box with a wooden floor, stacked with boxes, foodstuffs (at least she hoped they were foodstuffs) and the boy Angela had wanted to rescue sitting against a large box peering at her intently.

"Rejoined the land of the living?" the boy said curiously.

"It would appear so," Ferucca replied as she rubbed her head for a moment, "Where the hell am I?"

"You're in a…" the boy tried to say, then he looked unsure, as if he couldn't find the right words, "I'm not sure really. It's really the craziest creature I've ever seen and believe me, I've seen more then I care to remember. Just imagine a creature with a back as flat as a board, eight legs, several horns and enough room on that flat back to build all this on."

The boy gestured around indicating he meant the canvas tent they were in.

"How, how did we get here?" Ferucca said as she closed her eyes and began to rub her scalp, "Damn my head hurts!"

"So going Ozaru hurts, huh?" the boy asked grinning, "I figured as much. The Big Guy never told us, but since Oz says going werewolf hurts like hell I figured going Ozaru had to hurt too."

Ferucca stopped rubbing her head and suspiciously eyed the boy. Okay, firstly, why was she still in control of this body? Granted, it was originally hers, but still, shouldn't control have reverted back to Angela by now? Especially since she had been out cold apparently after having gone Ozaru. Which begged the second question, why had she been out cold in the first place? She was a Saiyan Elite. She possessed the powerball technique. Only those Elites who were able to maintain control over their Ozaru form were taught the powerball. She should have been in control of the whole process from start to finish. And thirdly, how in Priya's name did the Earth boy know about Ozaru?

The boy proved an interesting enigma. When she had resided in Angela's subconscious she had done more then just drive Pozcatetl mad. While the Pakatchikal know-it-all had been busy keeping Angela out of trouble Ferucca had delved into the girl's memories, trying to learn more about the boy. While she cared little of him other then him being the mission, she was intrigued by the Saiyan influence on him. It was obvious he had been taught Saiyan martial arts. And pretty advanced Saiyan martial arts to boot. At least elite level techniques. Only Saiyan Elites had access to those techniques. There were some in the Royal Household who coveted those techniques and it was rumored that they tried to copy them. But the Elites always tried to keep one step ahead of those lower class Household. After all, with birth came certain advantages and certain standards to uphold.

The boy had never really explained to Angela who had instructed him, although he had hinted often to somebody called 'the Big Guy' in a place called Sunnydale. Even more worrying was that he somehow possessed Saiyan genes. As was evident by his short tail. Humans didn't possess tails. Saiyans had never encountered a human race or culture that had them.

Still, it wasn't completely unheard off. The practice of sending their weakest offspring into space sometimes produced unwanted results. Many years ago the Royal Registers discovered that a weak male baby had once been sent to a planet in the Betae Lyrae system and been forgotten. That was over a century ago. A major oversight by a retrieval squad of that time. When a new retrieval team went to Betae Lyrae they found that the boy not only had survived, he had mingled with the original inhabitants. Creating a more powerful hybrid. And quite the number of them too. The shame was so great that the families of the offending retrieval squad of a century ago were ordered to cleanse the planet to reclaim their family honor.

So it was possible that if the Royal Retrieval Service had made one oversight, they could have made another. It would explain the boy's ancestry. On the other hand the Betae Lyrae scandal had created quite some impact in Saiyan society, causing the Royal Registers to meticulously scrutinize the records of the Royal Retrieval Service and they had found no other discrepancies. That left only one other option, 'the Big Guy' was a Saiyan. One who had survived Freeza's Great Purge. It would also explain the Saiyan genes. He either fathered the boy or his offspring did.

But few if any Saiyans had survived the Great Purge. Prince Vegeta and his little entourage did, but he was in the care of Freeza himself at the time. Who for reasons unknown had spared the Prince (a vicious rumor before the days of the Great Purge had it that the evil tyrant had taken fancy with the young prince, and not in the sense of let's hang out and watch a movie together. Unless it was one of those kinds of movies.). There had been some units off planet at the time of Vegeta's destruction. Most notably the 7th and 11th regiments. But all evidence pointed towards their destruction. For three years Ferucca had survived by the skin of her teeth evading Freeza's assassins and she had never found any sign of other survivors. Let alone the elusive regiments.

But logic dictated there had to be some. With a space faring race it was statistically impossible to kill everyone just by destroying their home planet. Besides the off planet units there were traders, emissaries, spies and mere travelers, like Ferucca. On her journey towards safety she had heard rumors of some survivors possibly escaping to Goa'uld space. While the worms wouldn't want to risk angering Freeza, she just knew the idea of having their own little secret Saiyan mercenary force would be impossible for some of those worms to resist. Especially the likes of Ra, Apophis and Baal.

And then there were the outcasts. Banished criminals like the infamous Taures. Or dissidents, like the king's own sister, Lanthir, who had dared to question the very foundations of his rule and tried to overthrow him. Ferucca never liked the bitch but fate had proven her right in one respect, the alliance with Freeza had come to bite him and the Saiyan race in the ass.

There had been other dissidents who had lived off planet. Most of them were religious nutters, claiming the Saiyan race had lost its way and abandoned the true gospels of its main Goddess Priya. Yet in all her time on the run she had never found any of them. She had to admire the horned toad's thoroughness in making sure no Saiyans survived. Except for his pet boytoy Vegeta of course.

She studied the boy's face. His hair appeared to have the Saiyan wildness, but none its strength. She remembered from seeing him in the dungeon how disheveled it had been. Which was characteristic of hybrids. A true Saiyan maintained the shape of his hair regardless. That seemed about it though. No black iris eyes, very un-Saiyan like facial features. Maybe she was wrong in thinking 'the Big Guy' was a Saiyan. Maybe his teacher was himself a hybrid and the Retrieval Service was at fault for making yet another mistake, only one that happened even longer ago.

But then again, that didn't explain his mastery of Saiyan techniques either. Someone had to pass that knowledge onto him. And by the looks of it, not that long ago either. It presented an interesting enigma and if anything Ferucca loved unraveling enigmas. But not now. Splitting head aches and mysteries just didn't go together.

"Yeah it hurts," she said, rubbing her head again to illustrate her point, "this time more then normal."

"Must be this accursed universe," the boy suggested somewhat sympathetically. And he could be right. Damn this oppressive dampening field. It was like she was in Saiyan hell or something.

"But to answer your other question, your buddy Fisk had something to do with it," Xander continued as he pointed to a flap in the canvas to his right, "I have to say, the guy's more resourceful then I gave him credit for. While you were busy trashing the city, Chakotay and his girlfriend rustled us some wheels. Or should I say legs? It's not exactly a Humvee but I guess it gets better mileage per gallon."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ferucca said as she gave him a glare, then she reached behind herself and found her sword gone.

"Where's me sword?" she asked worried, "Damnation! Don't say I lost it going Ozaru!"

The boy reached beside him and pulled up the sword Kahanthus.

"Your pigsticker's safe," he said and pulled the sword halfway from its sheath to admire it, "nice sword."

"The mage gave it to me," Ferucca said indifferently, "a sword's a sword. Normally I couldn't care less but as you may have noticed, this is not a normal universe."

"Indeed," the boy agreed as he put the sword down again, then he held up a bag and from it he pulled forth the Axis of Pythia.

"Careful," Ferucca said holding up a hand, "once that thing starts shining you'll lose all track of time. Trust me on that!"

"Really?" Xander said and looked at the damn thing, "I've been staring at it for over an hour and nothing happened."

Ferucca gave him an odd look, then she shrugged.

"Maybe it was the temple's effect," she said. Xander gave the Axis one more look and then put it back in the canvas bag.

"Chakotay pulled it from you…., well I guess you know where you put it," Xander smiled, then he gave a little wink, "don't worry. He didn't look. Much."

"Whatever," Ferucca said casually.

"He told me you had one of those magical pouches Shimrod had," Xander continued, "but he couldn't find it."

"They took it from me," Ferucca said, "and I didn't have the time to look for it."

"A shame," Xander nodded, "we could have really used it. Did it come with a grow big-grow small house?"

Ferucca nodded.

"Damn, that means no comfy beds or free hot meals," Xander sighed wistfully, "I could so use one of those comfy beds or hot meals right now.

"I've had worse," Ferucca replied casually.

For a moment Xander kept quiet, then he looked down and bit his lip.

"I owe you an apology," he said uneasy, "I, I was rude. I….."

The moment the boy started to make his apology Ferucca's mind began to wander off. Saiyans weren't prone to making apologies, let alone listening to a lengthy one the boy was trying to make. You fucked up, you promised not to do it again, you moved on. That was the way it should be done. So instead of paying attention Ferucca went inside herself, as in deep inside, materializing in a room with no view save one. There was also no one else there, save her.

"Hello?" she said tentatively, "Anybody here?"

There was no reply and Ferucca wandered through the room. It looked absolutely trashed. Like an Ozaru had rampaged through the place. Which considering she lost complete control was not so far of the mark. The couch lay in tatters, nothing seemed to work, nothing was spared.

Next Ferucca tried looking in other places. Memories of Angela, recreations of their own worlds Ferucca and Pozcatetl had used to train Angela. It was all in vain. There was no sign of either personality to be found. Everywhere Ferucca looked. But she found no sign of either Angela or Pozcatetl.

But where could they have gone? It was like they were completely gone, expunged by the raging fury that was the Ozaru. It made no sense for them to still be hiding. The transformation had ended. There was nothing to hide from. Of course Pozcatetl had been angry that she had taken over but come on, Angela had been losing. Badly! There is no honor in dying. At least they were still alive, weren't they? Now, Pozcatetl hiding somewhere, that Ferucca could understand. That bitch gave new meaning to carrying a grudge. But Angela? She was neither as spiteful nor as skillful.

Which made it all the more likely that going Ozaru had driven them out. It was after all a state native only to Saiyans and possibly some of their hybrids. And one that took a terrible toll on both mind and body. It stood to reason that non-Saiyans subjected to it may not fare so well.

That was probably it. Making one more last round through her inner mind Ferucca returned to the room with no view save one. From there she could see the boy was still blabbering on with his excuse. She paid no attention to it and instead willed the sofa to be whole again so she could have something to sit on.

Sitting down on the renewed sofa Ferucca began to think. What was she to do now? With no more Angela her mission was basically over. The kid was free, he had his precious thingy, she was basically a free agent again. But also one with a very limited lifespan. Unless she made it back to Shimrod's when the black moon was in the right position she'd die on this godforsaken world. It gave her a lot to think off.

As she did she also began to observe the boy. While still dirty and disheveled from his ordeal he was still attractive. She could see why Angela felt attracted to him. He'd make an excellent protector for her. And knowing that when he was healed and got rid of his control collar he'd be more powerful then she was meant he would make for an excellent mate. Too bad he was a hybrid. The very idea of a pure blooded Saiyan Elite mating with a lowly hybrid was of course anathema to a Saiyan like Ferucca.

Still, it didn't mean she couldn't have some fun with him. As long as she didn't get pregnant there was no shame to be gotten. Having your way with a lower life form was considered acceptable. It was only the begetting offspring part that wasn't. Plus there were other advantages….

Meanwhile as she pondered her options Xander was in a totally different position. He had gone from being one of the strongest humans to abject misery as a condemned captive. And when the rescue party had come he had behaved like a complete ass towards them, demanding they'd get him the Axis so he could finally cross over to Buffy. He had been god awful.

It wasn't that he had been that obsessed, it was just that while in captivity, with constant pain and abuse for company his mind had wandered off to other places. One where intense gravity and a certain blond figment of his imagination liked to dwell. Which probably made him a little more obsessed then he should have been.

It was of course no excuse. And the least he could do to make up for his behavior was to make a big apology towards his rescuer. Who for some strange reason didn't seem to be much interested in hearing any of it. Going all Angel on him in what seemed like the mother of all broodings. He was about to ask her if she was listening when she suddenly came alive and jumped on him.

"You talk too much," she grinned and then kissed his lips.

Next came what only could be described as a bout of semi-rape, with the Saiyan girl having her way with him. Of course a noble lad like Xander was more then willing to oblige a lady in need. Even if it did cause him the occasional severe discomfort. But after being a former prisoner he was no stranger to pain.

And at least this time it was a good pain.

"Well, that was interesting, " Xander said after she finally rolled off of him, "I think I discovered some new muscles for me to hurt with."

"You're such a baby," Ferucca snorted as she shook her head and sighed contently. It was good to scratch that itch again. There had been so precious little opportunity for it when she had been on the run.

"Well, I wasn't the one doing all the raping and stuff," Xander countered but Ferucca just grinned as she made herself comfortable next to him. Then she tapped his leg.

"So, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk. Tell your auntie Ferucca a little about yourself."

"Auntie?" Xander said raising an eyebrow, "I know we're not in Kansas, but it doesn't mean we have to behave like we are."

To his surprise the Saiyan girl raised an eyebrow and her eyes looked upwards, like she was checking something in her brain or something.

"Kansas, a state in the continental United States," she then droned on, then she raised a finger like she checked something else instead, "you're all dancing around like a bunch of Kansas City faggots."

"Hey, nice quote from Blazing Saddles," Xander grinned, "Mel Brooks' best movie! I didn't know you Saiyans had taste. Although technically Kansas City's in Missouri. So when did you see the movie?"

"I, uh, didn't," Ferucca stammered. Technically it was true. It was Angela who had seen the movie. Just prior to her Xander's return from whatever shady business he had been on to gain access to Shimrod. Also why the hell did she reproduce that obscure quote when she was looking for information? Damn that mage for stuffing her head full of other people's rubbish!

Meanwhile Xander tapped her leg.

"I'll make you a deal," he said, "I'll tell auntie Ferucca about the Xandman when she tells the Xandman about herself."

Damn! She'd rather learn about him first. That way she could get an idea of which buttons she could push. But then again, sharing information was always a good way to get information. And she wanted information. So she began to talk.

"Like I said before, I am a magical construct fueled by Earth blood," she tried to explain, "But once I was Ferucca of house Tangari. Once I was a Saiyan Elite and the universe was my playground. Then I died by Dodoria's fat hands, henchman of the traitor Freeza. Now I am Saiyan once again, but I remember things I did not do. Memories of other things. And I dream of places I have never seen."

"Must be weird," Xander said sympathetically.

"You have no idea," Ferucca said shaking her head.

"Here's something I don't understand," Xander said raising a finger, "you say you're a Saiyan now. And I can see that now. But at the jail you acted different. And you said you were the mixture between a Saiyan and something called a Pakatchi-something. Now, again I can dig the whole bodily Saiyan thing, as I can plainly see. But why did you act differently and what does the Pakatchi-something contribute to the mix?"

Oops. The boy was more astute then she had given him credit for. While the boy looked at her with soul piercing eyes she struggled to come up with a good answer. Eventually she decided in true Saiyan fashion that that the best defense was a good offense.

"You're right," Ferucca said deadpan, "I did behave differently. Apparently Shimrod considered us Saiyans too fickle for the job. Good for driving but not good to be in the driver's seat. So he stuffed another personality in here. She was the one you talked to earlier. She agreed to get your precious Axis. Which is probably for the better cause if I had been in charge I would have said no and told you to suck it up."

Xander inadvertently glanced at the canvas bag holding the Axis.

"Ain't I the lucky one?" Xander said rhetorically, "Must have sucked not being in the driver's seat, huh?"

Ferucca just shrugged like it meant nothing.

"Ah well, its not like I noticed much of it anyway," she lied, then she leaned forward, "and probably never would have if she didn't make the mistake of going for the powerball to become Ozaru. When the beast takes over it's like a storm that rages through both body and mind. I guess she wasn't quite prepared for that beast. No Saiyan really is. Once it was gone I woke up, she was gone and it was just me."

There. Close enough to the truth to be believable and sad enough to win the boy's sympathy. If she was lucky he would ask the right questions to gain her even more. And maybe she would learn a little more about him.

"Typical," Xander said shaking his head, "wherever a Saiyan's gone, you'll only find scorched earth in their wake."

Ha! So he did know Saiyans. Was his Earth a hidden refuge where others of her race hid from the horned toad?

"That's who we are, baby," she said sporting a big grin, deliberately withholding further information so he would be tempted to ask further questions. And he took the bait, hook, line and sinker.

"I'm curious though," the boy asked curiously, "where did Shimrod find you and how did he create you?"

Bingo!

"I was traveling in a spacepod when Freeza's henchmen caught up with me," she said trying to sound as casual as possible, "I had been on the run for three years after the horned toad destroyed my homeworld and mercilessly slaughtered those of my race which had survived. I was on my way to Goa'uld space when that fat pink slob Dodoria ambushed me. And while Dodoria may be fat, he is to be reckoned with. He killed me. Or at least I think he did because I have no further memories after he broke my body. As for how I was made, the other personality may be gone but I can still access some of its memories. From what I gather the mage made a matrice copy of me and the other one just before we died and mixed it together. So I'm not even the real Ferucca. I'm just the copy."

She could see on his face that the boy was moved by her story. Good. And now for the coup de grace.

"And to make it worse, I only have a limited shelf life," she said, trying to sound as casual and offhand about it as possible, like it meant nothing, "unless I get back to Shimrod when that portal opens in Asphrodiske I die."

"That sucks," he exclaimed sympathetically and she shrugged again.

"It is as it is," she said stoically.

"No it's not," the boy said back, then he fell silent as he thought things over. Good, she had his sympathy.

"When we return I'll ask Shimrod to do whatever he can to keep you alive."

"What makes you think he'll do that?" she asked him.

"Oh, I can be quite convincing," the boy said resolutely. She reached out towards the collar around his neck.

"I'll bet you can be even more convincing once you lose that."

The boy let out a mild snort.

"Oh, with or without my power I can be quite convincing. Especially when I'm pissed," he said, then he gave her a funny look, "but why are you so calm about it? I'd be livid. And I'm not even a Saiyan."

Because there is no way in hell Shimrod will make me permanent when he still thinks there is a chance he can dig out something of Angela from me, Ferucca thought, and you'll be cheering him on all the way once you learn your favorite sex worker was the control personality?

"It is as it is," she shrugged again casually, then she gave him a slight smile, "but hey, at least now I managed to cheat that horned toad Freeza for three years? There's no way he thinks I'm here, right?"

The boy looked at her funny.

"But he's already dead," he said. And suddenly Ferucca's world was turned upside down. Freeza was dead? What the hell happened?

"That c…, that can't…., it cannot be," she said flabbergasted, "He was the strongest being in the universe! How….?"

"The operative word being was," the boy grinned, "He ran into something more powerful then he was."

That added to Ferucca's confusion.

"What? Who? Tell me!"

The boy then proceeded to tell her a strange tale of how a seemingly simple Saiyan, who had forgotten his heritage, had found it in himself to defeat the tyrant, and that Freeza's favorite boy toy, prince Vegeta, had not only turned against him as well, but was also still alive. But most important of all, he told her of Super Saiyans.

She had always thought the tale of the legendary Super Saiyan to be a myth. And a pretty stupid one at that. Everybody knew Saiyans transformed into giant apes, not legendary golden warriors. But now it all appeared to be true. And more then just one. It wasn't just a case of there being just one legendary Super Saiyan in all of Saiyan hood. There were multiple ones and there was room for more. If the boy was to be believed that is. But if it was it meant she had to change her plans. It was now all the more imperative that she wrested from Shimrod the rest of her life so she could make it to this Earth. Besides life she now had to learn the secret of how to become a Super Saiyan as well.

"And what about you?" she asked tentatively, "where do you fit in? Are you the offspring of either this Goku, or prince Vegeta?"

"Me?" the boy snorted so much he had to wince in pain, "The son of either the Prince of Dorkness or Forest Gump? Haven't you noticed? I'm way too smart and handsome for that."

Ferucca rubbed her chin and pretended to look the boy over.

"I don't know," she finally said, "I do remember a certain somebody acting like a whiny sniveling bitch in a certain dungeon."

It was a gamble, pretending to mock the boy but he seemed like somebody blessed, or cursed, with a strong sense of sardonic humor. He looked like he was pretending to be hurt.

"I had a bad day, okay," he said trying to sound aggrieved, "we all have those."

"But you are part Saiyan, right?" she asked. The boy looked up, biting his lip, not sure how to respond.

"It's complicated," he finally said, "and a long story."

Ferucca gestured around her.

"It appears we would have plenty of time."

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That evening (or what passed as evening as it was just as light as the rest of the day) Fisk had halted what he called the carpet wole so they could have something warm to eat. It was Ferucca's first look at the massive eight legged black beast. Well, not exactly of course. It was the same kind of beast the Progressive Eels had used in their caravan from where Angela had saved Fisk. But then Ferucca had just been a subconscious observer and the beasts were miles away. Now she saw one up close.

Carpet woles reminded Ferucca of insects. Somehow the disgusting bugs found their way to nearly every planet she'd been on. Maybe evolution favored the disgusting things above all else, maybe they had spread using the Goa'uld network of Stargates. Maybe it was a combination of both. In the end it didn't really matter. She just stamped on any bug that had the misfortune of coming near her feet.

Of course the carpet wole was too big to stamp on. The massive eight legged bugs looked straight out of Starship Troopers (why by the seven hells of Jerherherod did she come up with those strange memories?). But despite the many horned protrusions you could walk on them, as their 20 feet long backs were as flat as a board, which explained the large canvas structure built on its back.

Fisk had explained to her that in the aftermath of Ferucca having gone Ozaru on the city of Mang he had used the massive confusion to steal a carpet wole and some other things as well. After which he had looked for her and picked her unconscious body up and in an act of sheer bravado he had followed the main caravan trail to the south, heading straight for the Tang-Tang steppe. Undoubtedly hoping that their trail would be obscured by that of the many supply caravans carrying tribute to the city. She had to admit, the guy may be full of himself but he had balls of Tanjecterlian steel and was resourceful.

The same couldn't be said yet of the pregnant whore he had rescued from the city. But at least she knew how to cook and help change Xander's bandages. So she'd probably make for a good serving wench.

One of the first things they did as they halted (other then start a fire for dinner) was break the boy's leg. Fisk was somewhat hesitant as he had little medical experience, and Xander objected loudly, but Ferucca would have none of it. Besides the art of combat all Saiyans were taught basic medical training. Injuries were as common in the practice chamber as they were on the battlefield and common wisdom held that correct rapid treatment helped prevent a prolonged stay in the houses of healing.

It was clear from the crookedness of the boy's left leg that it wasn't healing right. Xander of course preferred to wait until he was back on Earth, but they had no idea how long that would take. While Shimrod's flexible armor with its sword sheath had prevented the loss of Ferucca's sword, everything else was lost. The pouch with the magical gadgets and most importantly the annoying little talking earring. All lost when she went Ozaru. Maybe just as well. The little thing was insufferable anyway.

Of course, now their only guide to the town of Asphrodiske was Fisk and it had been a long time since he had been there. So there was no way she could let the boy's bad leg heal wrongly. She may not really care much for him, but until she managed to get her hands on Shimrod he was useful so she had to feign she cared. So she broke it, causing him to pass out from the pain.

That meant he was out cold for the remainder of their dinner break. Ferucca didn't mind. She had learned everything she needed to know beforehand. While they were still traveling the boy had basically given her his life story. In fact he had told her things she was sure he had never even told Angela. As Fisk's whore gave her a bowl of warm hearty stew she mulled over what Xander had told her.

There were three Saiyans on Earth. With a fourth one, a hybrid, having journeyed from the future. With both Goku and Xander's mentor Belmovekk having fathered hybrid kids of their own. And the same went for prince Vegeta, but whose mate hadn't delivered yet. It was Goku and Belmovekk, who together with the future hybrid, had mastered the art of turning Super Saiyan, while prince Vegeta hadn't so far. That must have really pissed off his royal highness, Ferucca couldn't help but chuckle. She hadn't seen much of the little shit when he was still on planet Vegeta, but his monomania with being the strongest had been well known even then. Served him right!

But his monomania would serve him well now in one respect. Now that there was a way to become a Super Saiyan prince Vegeta would eventually find it. It didn't matter how long, or what sacrifices he would have to make but he'd find it. And unlike the others who had become soft he would be more amenable to her approaches. Goku she didn't know, but from what Xander had told her he sounded as soft as he was stupid. Belmovekk seemed to be the Saiyan she had once heard of as Movekk, a rising star within the Royal Household and slated for a position in the Royal Court. Last she had heard of him he had been appointed head of the 7th regiment, one of two regiments that had been off world when the Great Purge happened. While she was eager to learn how he had escaped the Great Purge and what had happened to the 7th, he also appeared to have grown soft.

No, Vegeta appeared to be her best bet, once she returned to Earth. The question was, could she return to Earth? What other things then build a ticking timebomb on her lifespan had that mage done to her body? Was she still true Saiyan or had he turned her into a hybrid? Her plans with Vegeta depended on her being a true blooded Saiyan. That and how she was going to convince the mage to keep her alive? Those were the questions that were on her mind.

"Milady?" a voice asked, interrupting her train of thought.

As she looked up she saw Fisk was looking at her.

"What do you want!" she said gruffly causing Fisk to wince. She regretted her tone of voice immediately. Unlike the boy, Fisk had spent days with Angela and gotten to know her quite well. It was why she had asked the boy not to tell Fisk of what had happened to her when she went Ozaru. Fisk may be attached to Angela and may not feel so inclined to help them get to Asphrodiske if he learned Angela was no more. If she acted differently he might notice something had changed.

"I'm sorry, Fisk," she said quickly, "I was thinking and I'm still not fully recovered from what happened in the city."

"If you say so, milady," Fisk said, seemingly accepting her explanation.

"What were you trying to say?" she asked him.

"Well, I wanted to know where we should be going once we reach the Tang-Tang steppe," Fisk said, "I assumed you wanted to go to Asphrodiske, as you once mentioned."

"You assumed correctly," Ferucca said approvingly, "the way home is through Asphrodiske."

"To your legendary Earth?" Fisk said as he used one hand to cup an elbow so he could use his free hand to rub his chin. Damn! If she remembered well Fisk doubted the existence of Earth and he and Angela had argued about it extensively. She should have paid more attention to it subconsciously at the time, instead of wandering off to peruse more interesting memories of Angela.

"Look, "she said as she stood up, "I know we've been over this before, Fisk. Earth is real. You just take us to Earth and then you can go wherever you want to go. Don't your people live near Asphrodiske?"

"Like they will be glad to see me return," Fisk scoffed, more at his people then at her, "they sold me into slavery once already. I'm sure that the Gnasters will be more then happy to sell me again."

"Then don't go," Ferucca shrugged, then she spread her arms around, "the world is your playground."

"I suppose," Fisk said without much enthusiasm, "but the world is also full of Mang Berserkers. And they don't forget so easily. I'm leaning towards the idea that anywhere but Tanjecterly may be preferably to Tanjecterly."

Ferucca raised an eyebrow and looked at Fisk suspiciously.

"What are you implying, Fisk?"

"I was thinking real or not, Earth may be a much better place for me and Liana to go to once we get to Asphrodiske," the man from Tanjecterly said solemnly, earning more weird looks from Ferucca. If she were still Angela this might be a momentous philosophical breakthrough in their relationship. One that Angela would have rejoiced in. But now the only thing that came to Ferucca's mind was added complication. Before she could say something Fisk spoke again.

"Of course, not that it would matter much," the man from Tanjecterly shrugged stoically, "since we have the Axis the Berserkers will catch up with us long before we reach Asphrodiske."

x

x

Once they had traveled far enough south the river Bose became shallow enough to cross over. Besides separating the plains of Woe from the Tang-Tang Steppe, this was the main cross over place for the caravans to and from Mang and Fisk was certain that it would be heavily guarded by Mang Berserkers. But to their surprise they found the crossing completely unguarded.

"This is uncanny," Fisk said as he let the carpet wole cross the river, "Now I wish there were some Berserkers here. This suspense of when they will catch up with us is starting to kill me."

"Priya be praised for small favors," Ferucca shrugged indifferently.

"Who?" Fisk said as he glanced at Ferucca.

"Nothing."

x

x

Once they had traveled a day across the Tang-Tang steppe Fisk left the caravan trail and moved in a more southerly direction. While the plains of Woe had been largely flat and blue grassland only, the Tang-Tang steppe was a little more varied in its vegetation and terrain, slopping gently here and there, with small pockets of occasional mustard-ochered or black and maroon trees. Fisk welcomed this variety as it afforded him more cover to hide from the inevitable Berserker search parties he was still expecting.

In a way it was weird. Fisk had always been so confident in himself and his abilities that it bordered on narcissism. But the further he got from Mang, the less confident he became and more and more certain they were going to get caught. His fatalism was growing into almost Saiyan-like levels.

They quickly learned however that those small pockets of forest presented their own dangers. At one of them the carpet wole was suddenly assaulted by a pack of what could only be described as two legged wolves. Because Fisk was absolutely paranoid that using chi blasts would give away their trail to any Berserker search party, Ferucca was forced to use only her sword. It mattered not as she quickly spread death with the blade, reducing the pack considerably until they gave up. It was only when she thought she was victorious that a scream came from inside the canvas tent. She jumped inside to find a horrified Liana screaming while one of those wolves was using rasping orifices in its forepaws to suck blood from an unconscious Xander. Naturally she swiftly dispensed with the vile creature in one stroke with the blade Kahanthus and threw the carcass from the back of the moving carpet wole.

Elsewhere on the steppe they encountered small humanoid looking creatures living in the top of trees, who made an awful noise as the carpet wole passed along. From the branches of their tree dwellings they hurled insults and excrement at their passing and it took the gift of the gab from Fisk for Ferucca not to blow the annoying critters to kingdom come. Eventually she settled on unleashing just a wave of pure chi, which merely knocked half of the critters and their dwellings of the tree branches.

"What?" she said as she faced Fisk's look of exasperation.

x

x

And so the journey went on across the seemingly endless Tang-Tang steppe. Until finally they reached the river Haroo, signaling the end of the Tang-Tang steppe. On the northern side, where they were, there appeared to be nothing but wilderness. South of the river they could see the first signs of civilization, between the slopes of black and yellow brown mountains there were farms, a road and interspersed at regular intervals watchtowers. Since the river was too wide and too deep to cross Fisk drove the carpet wole downstream until they came to a bridge. A town lay on the southern bank of the bridge while armed men stood at the northern end of the bridge.

"Go sit in the back and tell Liana to come sit next to me, milady," Fisk said brusquely as he reigned in the wole. Naturally Ferucca did not take kindly to be ordered.

"Who by the seven hells of Jerherherod do you ….," she tried to say but Fisk cut her off.

"Please, milady, not now," he said pleadingly, "You don't understand, these people, they are tributary to the Berserkers. Please, go."

Ferucca wanted to say where Fisk could stuff his suggestion, but decided not to at the last minute. Mumbling something Ferucca climbed over the coach box.

"You're relieved," she said gruffly to Liana. And the deathglare she shot at the poor girl was enough to send her scrambling.

"Do you have to be so rude to her?" Xander said, sitting on an improvised mattress.

"Oh shut up," Ferucca bit back angry as she sat down opposite him, "what do you care? She's just a whore."

"She's a nice girl," Xander said pointing to where the girl had disappeared, "and she was forced to do such things. Besides, I don't see you being such a paragon of virtue. You practically raped me, remember."

Ferucca rolled her eyes and sighed.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it was just a harmless bit of fun. I didn't hear you complaining when it happened. Or the other times when it happened."

Xander looked away and coughed guiltily.

"My leg's broken," he finally said, "there's little I can do whenever you fancy a bout of rape."

"Oh puhlease," Ferucca snorted, "you're stronger then me. If you really wanted to you could fend me off."

Xander coughed and tapped the collar around his neck.

"Besides, a gentleman does not hit a lady," he replied haughtily, "even if she's from planet Trailer Trash."

"I resent that," Ferucca said as she got up and jumped on his lap, "You're like a book to me, Xander Harris. You act all coy and like you're so much better then me. But you're no better then me. I want, I take. Yeah? So what? That does not make me a whore. She allowed herself to be taken, and I never would. That's what separates me from her. As for you, Mr. Xander Harris, you talk the big talk, but deep down you want to be taken by a girl who's strong. You slaughtered your way to get to Shimrod just so you could get to a girl who ran away from you. By the seven hells, you lived with your pornstar for weeks and never laid a finger on her. But I take you one time and you become like putty in my hands."

Xander wanted to say something, but the more he thought about it, the more her words rang true. He did want to be taken by a girl who was strong. Damn himself for being so fucked up. Damn the stupid Wonder Woman comics he used to read. Damn her for seeing right through him. Damn her for making the ultimate burn. He'd need a snappy come back.

"You talk too much!" was all he could think off.

"I learned from the master," Ferucca smirked back, then she kissed him.

"Curse your evil debating skills," was all Xander could say.

x

x

Outside on the coach-box of the carpet wole Fisk sat holding the reigns together with Liana.

"Are they at it again?" he asked somewhat exasperated. Without even looking Liana nodded.

"Yes," she said, then she shook her head, "they are the oddest couple."

"At least they're quiet while they're at it, Thorn be praised," Fisk said dispiritedly, "Not only do they argue loudly, they argue more then an old couple."

"They don't seem to mind," Liana shrugged.

"I tell you, this is all his fault," Fisk said disapprovingly as he steered the carpet wole into its final approach towards the bridge.

"Xander's nice," Liana said almost smiling, earning her a suspicious look from Fisk, "he always treats me nice. She on the other hand, she treats me like a Berserker after he had his way with me. Worse even, cause they at least were sometimes nice to me before. She's never nice."

"Like I said," Fisk said as he waved his hand dismissively, "it's all his fault. He brings out the worst in the lady Ferucca."

"You always call her that," Liana said provocatively, "I've yet to see a shred of evidence that she's a lady. The only time she was nice to me was when you two freed me from the slave pen."

"She's got a lot on her mind," Fisk said and reigned in the carpet wole as it finally neared the bridge and the armed men in front of it. The armed men came forward cautiously, holding their spears up as one of them, somewhat better dressed then the others, walked up to Fisk.

"Good day to you, good sir," Fisk said holding up a hand, "whom do I have the honor of addressing?"

"My name is subconstable Theodris," the man said as he examined Fisk's face carefully, before moving on to Liana's, "what brings you to our fair city of Pude?"

"I'm just passing through," Fisk smiled amiably. Subconstable Theodris didn't seem impressed with that answer.

"Normally that answer suffices," he said as he examined the carpet wole, "but these aren't normal times. I don't know if you have heard of the Mang Berserkers?"

"Who hasn't?" Fisk said giving a slight snort, which wasn't to Theodris liking as he shot a glance at Fisk.

"There is no need to be snide with me, mister," he said somewhat annoyed.

"I meant no offence, subconstable Theodris," Fisk said as he put his hand on his heart and bowed slightly towards the official, "I just meant….."

"I know what you meant," Theodris said disdainful, his nose twitching, "and I know what you are."

"You do?" Fisk said without batting an eyelid. Upon which Theodris pointed towards the tattoo on Fisk's face.

"Your tattoo identifies you as part of the Fy'unch clan from the steppe of Sore Beggars. We don't like your kind here. You lot always cause troubles. Stealing good jobs from honest men and if you can't get a job you steal whatever else you can. You're not fooling me, mister. Not one damn bit."

Fisk jumped off the carpet wole and landed next to Theodris.

"Look," he said pointing to himself, "I know my people have a bad reputation. But do I look like I'm poor? I own a flourishing trading business in the city of Kaprun up north, by the river Mys. All I want to do is travel back home to attend the Goddesh festival and show off my new found wealth."

"I see," Theodris said, sounding still disdainful, "well, if you're on your way to the steppe of Sore Beggars you'll need to make use of our fine bridge. A bridge which was built through the hard work of good honest Pudians. You'll need to pay a toll."

"Sounds reasonable," Fisk nodded and put one foot on a leg of the wole so he could climb back on the coach box, "I shall get you your toll money. How much is it?"

"For a medley as I see before me, twenty dibbets," Theodris replied.

"A fair sum," Fisk said. He was about to climb onto the coach box when Theodris spoke again.

"Of course, I must also search your wole."

"Why?" Fisk asked as he let himself lower down again onto the ground, "I carry no contraband."

"Hey," Theodris said as he pointed with both hands towards himself, "if it were up to me I would be content with just collect the toll money. But unfortunately those Berserkers have other plans. Only two days ago a large force came by and ordered us to closely inspect all travelers coming up from the steppe and detain and report all suspicious ones."

"Why would they do that?" Fisk asked deadpan, "I thought that Mang's Men contented themselves with keeping the peace in exchange for tribute?"

"The way of Mang's Berserkers are known only to Mang," Theodris shrugged, like it explained everything, "all I know is what the Constable told me and I would be in dereliction of my duty if I were to ignore their orders."

"Hmm," Fisk said as he cupped his right elbow and used his right hand to support his chin, "this complicates matters."

"Why?" Theodris asked, "surely an honest business man as you claim to be needs nothing to fear from close inspection?"

Fisk laughed nervously.

"Clearly you know little of the cutthroat nature of today's business, subconstable," Fisk said, "I carry with me many secrets to my success, which my competitors would love to pay handsomely for."

"Pude is far from Kaprun," the subconstable said dismissively, "Any fears you may have of your secrets leaking out to Kaprun are ill founded."

Fisk moved his right hand from his chin and put it on the subconstable's shoulder.

"Much trade from Kaprun passes through Pude," he said deadpan, "and with them also many ears."

"Are you implying that I and my men would speak to them?" Theodris said gruffly, "If so I must take offence."

"No, no," Fisk said, making a pacifying gesture, "my faith in the men of Pude is unshakable. Still, as my late grandfather used to say, trouble avoided is trouble averted. Could it not be that in exchange for a contribution to the good city folk of Pude a lot of unnecessary hassle gets…., averted?"

"I see," Theodris said as he stared towards the ground for a moment, "of course, if the Berserkers were to learn of this Pude may face retribution. They do not take kindly to dereliction of responsibility."

"My grandfather also used to say, what the Berserkers do not know, does them no harm either," Fisk smiled amiably, "After all, who could harm them to begin with?"

"A fair point," Theodris echoed. And thus the haggling began.

Fisk and Theodris settled on an additional toll of 100 dibbets for the subconstable and 20 dibbets each for his five men. Money was exchanged and Fisk was finally able to mount the wole again when suddenly there came some noise from within the canvas structure and which sounded suspiciously like a moan.

"What is that?" Theodris asked suspiciously.

"Merely my children," Fisk smiled offhand as he signaled the wole to start crawling again, "Good day, subconstable."

Leaving the bewildered subconstable behind Fisk crossed the river and rode the wole through the town of Pude. The greedy subconstable may have called it a city, it was a town at best and the wole crawled through it in no time. Beyond Pude lay the road of Round Stones and he spurred the wole on to make greater speed.

"What was that all about?" Ferucca said as she stuck her head through the canvas flap that separated the inside from the coach box.

"It is as I feared, milady," Fisk said, "we may have avoided the Berserkers on the Tang-Tang steppe, but Berserker search parties only came by here two days ago. So now they're ahead of us. And they're putting everybody on the alert. It is probably better from now on to avoid the towns and cities on our way to Asphrodiske. In fact it may even be better to avoid the road as well."

Ferucca just shook her head.

"Do as you see fit," she said, "just get us to Asphrodiske before that damn moon's underneath the pink star."

x

x

In an attempt to avoid detection Fisk drove the wole off the road of Round Stones and onto a small road that would bring him close to the Dark Woods. Claiming that since the main road basically skirted around the Dark Woods this was not only safer, it was also a shortcut. Since she and Xander were obviously not of this area (or universe) Ferucca decided to let Fisk have his way.

Which made it all the more strange when Fisk halted the wole on the outskirts of the great forest near a small deserted village where only a single house still appeared to be inhabited, Fisk jumped off the coach box to knock on the house's door.

"What are you doing, Fisk?" Ferucca called from the wole's coach box, "What happened to keeping a low profile?"

"We need directions," Fisk said back.

"I thought you were from around here?"

"Around here is relative," Fisk replied back, "and it doesn't help that it was a long time ago. Like my late grandfather used to say, it pays to listen to the lay of the land. So I'm gonna listen."

Ferucca wanted to say something but was interrupted by the sounds of heavy bolts being shifted on the other side of the door. Then the door swung open.

"Yes?" an old man said suspiciously, standing in the doorway. The man's skin was weathered from a lifetime of hard work underneath the two suns and his hair was whiter then white. Despite his advanced age however he still appeared to be quite agile.

"Greetings, venerable one," Fisk said formally with his right hand on his heart, "we are travelers on our way through the forest. Considering this is the last village before the woods I was hoping if I can bother you with directions?"

"Directions, huh?" the old man sniggered, "well, if you're smart you'll head back the way you came and take the road of Round Stones around the Dark Woods."

Fisk folded his hands in front of him.

"The road of Round Stone is full of travelers, venerable one," he said, then he leaned over, "and not always the right ones. So I choose this road. But I need to know where to go next. And as my late grandfather used to say, it pays to listen to the lay of the land."

To illustrate his point Fisk put his left hand on his purse. A point the old man didn't fail to notice. His stance shifted from weary suspicion to amused interest as he began to rub his chin.

"Your grandfather was a very wise man," he said slyly.

"The best," Fisk grinned, "so can you give us any information as to what road to follow?"

"That depends on where you're going," the old man grinned back, causing Ferucca to groan back on the wole.

"You've got to be shitting me!" she exclaimed, outing her annoyance.

"Hush," Fisk said without looking back and untied his purse, "let's just say I want to come back on the road of Round Stones as far south as possible, venerable one."

Fisk pulled out some coins and dropped them into the waiting hand of the old man. Who shoved them immediately into a pocket. Then he spoke and pointed towards the forest.

"Well, in that case you should just follow this road into the Dark Woods. In time as you go along you'll come across a great clearing. This is the Darrow Downs, where in older times, before those Mang bastards came along the old priests would once a solar inference come to pay homage to the Old Ones and sacrifice twelve virgins."

"An unsavory custom," Fisk said, but the old man shrugged.

"It had its uses," he said offhand, "it kept the woods free and safe. And if the virgins didn't want to be sacrificed they could always engage in swift intercourse with each other. They never did so I guess they didn't mind."

"I see you have a valid point there," Fisk nodded, "how do I proceed from these Darrow Downs?"

The old man said nothing and just smiled with his hand palm outstretched. Fisk taking this as his cue to take out some more coins and drop them into the old man's waiting hand. Who eagerly accepted them and put them away.

"Besides the road you came from, three other roads come together at the Darrow Downs," he continued and pointed to three imaginary directions, "the first is a dead-end and leads to the lair of a syaspic feroce. He does no harm to travelers in general but he will attack anyone coming to his lair. So it may be better to avoid that road."

"Again sound advice," Fisk said endorsing.

"The second road leads to an old ruin that is so old even time has forgotten who built it. Nobody ever goes there yet no grass ever grows on that road. I've never gone there myself but when I was young a friend of mine did. When he returned he never spoke again to anybody and wandered the moors the rest of his short life to wail at the black moon. So I think it's safe to assume that that road should also be avoided."

"Indeed," Fisk nodded, "so I should take the third road then?"

The old man didn't speak, only held up his hand again.

"Aw come on," Ferucca called out annoyed, "it's clearly the third road, the old goat's just greedy."

"My late father used to say that women should be seen, not heard," the old goat smiled, not taking his eyes off of Fisk, thus ignoring Ferucca, "that once a woman opens her mouth to speak only gibberish comes out and that to listen to that only invites disaster."

Fisk didn't reply. Instead he took out some more coins and dropped them in the waiting hand.

"A wise decision, my friend," the old man said approvingly, "now the trick of making it to the Dark Woods is not taking that third road either. Oh, nothing dangerous will happen to you if you go there, you'll just find that that particular road will never come to an end leading to anywhere."

"This makes no sense," Ferucca sighed loudly but Fisk ignored her again.

"Then how do I make it out of the woods?" he asked. The old man just smiled and held up his hand again. Fisk sighed and reached into his purse again.

"The trick of making it through the Dark Woods is to retrace your steps from the Darrow Downs and go back the way you came," the old man said deadpan.

"Ha!" Ferucca said victoriously, "I knew he was an idiot!"

"I don't understand," Fisk said confused, "how does going back get me through the Dark Woods?"

The old man took Fisk by the shoulder.

"You must understand that the Darrow Downs were once a place where powerful priests came, young man. They didn't want their holy place spoiled by outsiders. So they placed a powerful enchantment there. You'll find that by going back the way you came you'll emerge exactly on the other end of the Dark Woods."

"Magic can be so confusing," Fisk said shaking his head disapprovingly.

"It is as is," the old man shrugged, then he grinned again, "for an extra ten dibbets I will tell you another secret regarding the Dark Woods. "

Ferucca wanted to explode again but Fisk signaled her to not say anything.

"I thought you have given me all the directions I needed to make it through the woods?" he said to the grinning old man.

"You have," the old man said and pointed to the woods, "but that doesn't mean you know everything you need to know."

Fisk looked into his purse, then he sighed and took out ten more dibbets to give to the old man.

"You're a fool to throw away your money, Fisk," Ferucca huffed.

"You must understand," the old man said as he put away the money, "when the priests still sacrificed in the woods it was kept safe. When the Mang idiots put an end to it that's when the trouble began. See this village?"

The old man gestured around him, to the various deserted and crumbling houses.

"This used to be a thriving village once. Now I am but the last one left."

"What happened, venerable one?" Fisk asked.

"Here it comes," Ferucca snorted to herself up on the wole, "a scary story to wet one's pants."

"Spirits awoke and took possession of the Dark Woods," the old man said.

"What did I tell you?" Ferucca called from up on the wole as the old man continued.

"While you travel through the forest the spirits will seek to influence you. They cannot harm you but they will say things. Most of them are harmless, just idle chatter in the wind. They probably just want somebody to talk too. But there is one amongst them. It's is evil and rotten through the core. It tells you dark things, terrible things. Things you want to keep hidden. It will whisper things into your ear that you do not want to hear. Things that can drive a person mad. Truths, past, present and future."

"I can see why this will cause discomfort to those who travel through the woods," Fisk said, then he gestured around, "but why did that cause this village to become deserted?"

"When the wind blows from the Dark Wood, so can the whisperings of the spirits be heard and it in particular. Over time fewer and fewer people could take it," the old man said, and pointed to a crumbling home, "one day old man Delvin there had enough and killed his whole family and then himself. Over there the miller Jayce killed his wife and then farmer Buetter. Blacksmith Tifèn ended up climbing into his own furnace. Most people just left. My wife left me twenty years ago saying enough is enough. Can't say I've missed her much though. The last person left twelve years ago and I've been alone since."

"It must be terrible," Fisk said aghast but the old men just shrugged.

"I was born here in this village and no man, woman or spirit is ever going to stop me from dying of old age here. By now I've grown so accustomed to that spirit I don't even hear it anymore. That spirit has told me every hidden truth there is to know about me. Nothing it says can shock or surprise me anymore. I even know my own time of death and it didn't scare me. It has grown bored with me years ago."

Fisk nodded, not knowing what to say, then he took out some more dibbets and gave them to the old man.

"I thank you for your wisdom, venerable man and I salute your courage and spirit. Here's ten additional dibbets. Of course it speaks for itself that you never saw or heard of any of us."

"Ask him if there is still a smithy standing," Xander's voice suddenly called from inside the canvas covering.

"Is that wise?" Ferucca said as she opened a canvas flap to speak to Xander.

"I'm fed up with this thing around my neck," Xander's replied, "and if there's a smithy still standing this will be our opportunity to finally do something about it."

"Have you seen this dump?" Ferucca replied, "You're lucky to find bugs and rats in here."

"Clearly Chakotay is paying him a fortune for information," Xander's voice replied, "surely he can spare some extra so we can get to a smithy."

Fisk turned to the old man but he shook his head.

"That one is free," he said, "you'll find a smithy by the river. There are still tools there. Feel free to use them, but just don't take them. I use them myself."

"That is most generous of you, venerable one," Fisk said as he handed over the final hush money.

"You would have easily found it anyway," the old man grinned as the money followed the rest in his pocket.

"Remember," Fisk said as he brought a finger to his lips, "hush is the word."

The old man looked around as if he had heard something and grinned.

"What is this that I've heard? I can't see anything. It must be more of these damned spirits from the Dark Woods. Surely it can't be real. Nobody ever comes here."

Continuing to pretend they weren't there the old man went back into his house and closed the door behind him. As the bolts could be heard closing Fisk climbed back on the carpet wole.

"If you continue to throw your money away like that you'll run out of it before we reach Asphrodiske," Ferucca said disapprovingly.

Fisk shrugged as he put let the wole move again and steered it through the almost deserted village towards the river.

"I doubt it will be of much value when we get to Earth," he said, "so why try to take it with me? Besides, in the language of my people the Dark Woods are known as the home of the Restless Spirits. It's a place where the dead have to dwell before they can go to their final resting place on Yrrtsch, the black moon. One cannot know enough about such places."

"You people are weird," Ferucca said gloomy, then she got up, turned around and opened the canvas flap that gave access to the canvas covering. Inside Xander was chatting merrily with Liana until they saw her.

"Scram it," Ferucca said to Liana as she gave the girl the patented Saiyan deathglare. By now of course Liana knew better then to argue and swiftly moved past Ferucca to join Fisk on the coach box.

"See you later," Xander called after her as she disappeared through the canvas flap. Meanwhile Ferucca laid down next to Xander.

"I see you're being your usual nasty self," Xander said to her, "What's crawled up your butt and died?"

"Shut up," Ferucca said and sat down at the other end where she reached for her sword and began to polish it.

"Well, I don't care if it's your time of the month," Xander said with a dreamy grin on his face, "if what the old coot said was correct I'm finally going to get rid of this stupid collar round my neck."

"That's if what the old coot said was correct," Ferucca snorted, "And I still don't see how a few tools could unlock what's supposed to be a magical collar. Kinda defeats the purpose if you ask me. What's next? Encrypted computers that you can easily break by taking out some chips?"

"Fisk said he thinks he can do it, if he has the right tools," Xander countered, leading again to a loud snort coming from Ferucca.

"Fisk is a tool," she said disparagingly.

"You know he can hear you," Xander said pointing to the front but Ferucca was not impressed.

"Good, then I don't have to repeat myself."

x

x

It turned out the old smithy did have a selection of tools still available. So Fisk took Xander to the smithy and placed him beside the anvil.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Chakotay?" Xander asked worried as he saw Fisk reach for a hammer and some sharp tools.

"I have no doubts, Earthman," Fisk replied confidently then he pointed towards Xander's collar, "now if you hold your neck like that and be still."

"This isn't going to work," Ferucca said pessimistic, leaning against a wall on the other side of the smithy.

Fisk placed the edge of the collar on the edge of the anvil so he could then put a sharp looking tool on the collar. Next to Xander's horror he hammered it with his hammer.

BAM!

Nothing seemed to have happened. Other then Xander barely avoiding that he'd wet his pants.

"Told ya," came Ferucca's snotty reply.

"Have faith, milady," Fisk said as he hammered the tool another time.

BAM!

"A chain is only as good as its weakest chain," Fisk said as he put down the hammer and the sharp chisel like tool, "and this collar may be magically enchanted, it is not tamper proof."

Fisk picked up some smaller tools, some similarish to a screwdriver, then he returned to Xander's collar.

"This collar is a standard Berserker slave collar," he explained as he began to probe and prod on the collar, "which means this was the best they could come up with on a short notice."

"AUW!" Xander yelled as One of Fisk's tools slipped and scratched his neck.

"Be still," Fisk said concentrated.

"That's easy for you to say," Xander said hurt, "do you have any idea how close that is to my jugular?"

"Closer then you would care if you don't keep still," Fisk replied, "so don't tempt me, Earthman."

"So you're actually saying the best these Berserkers could come up with to control an insanely strong hybrid was to put a standard collar around his neck, give it some mojo and yet they didn't even make it foolproof?" Ferucca said incredulously.

"Well, in their defense, these collars are pretty foolproof to begin with," Fisk said concentrated, "it took me five years to learn how to overcome the mechanism. I am sure that they didn't think Earthman here was clever enough to do the same in less time."

"You think you're so smart, aren't you Chakotay?" Xander muttered, "AUW!"

"Oops," Fisk grinned, as his tool scratched Xander's neck again, "did I slip again? How clumsy of me."

"Just do what you have to do," Xander grumbled.

x

x

It was hard to tell whether it was night or day on Tanjecterly without a watch as it was always daylight. Angela had carried one but it had been lost once Ferucca had gone Ozaru. Xander's had been taken away from him by the Berserkers so now they had no means to know what time it was. They could only rely on Fisk and Liana to tell them the time. Which luckily they seemed to know to a second. This ability they seemed to have to instinctively tell time fascinated Xander to no end. All the more since he had always found it hard to keep track of time with a watch.

After he had removed Xander's collar much to Xander's relief he had told them to that there was no rest for the wicked and they had moved on. Upon entry into the woods Fisk had hauled ass like the devil himself was on his heels until he had reached the clearing the old man had spoken about. There he suddenly halted and told them to make a fire and prepare dinner.

"Is it night?" Ferucca asked as she jumped of the wole. Naturally she didn't bother to help Xander get off, she left that to Liana.

"No," Fisk said shaking his head as he looked around the clearing nervously, "we still have a long way to go and we're not going to stop for sleeping."

"Then why stop here?" Ferucca asked, looking around to see what all the fuss was about. Seemed like a perfectly good woodland clearing to her. Be it that the trees looked way off color.

"This place is evil," Fisk said dispirited, then he used his foot to brush aside some grass and a human bone became visible, "Bad deeds have been wrought here. I'd rather move on, but it is easier to keep going after a hot meal has raised the spirit."

As Fisk moved off to gather some firewood Ferucca knelt down in the grass to examine the human bone. It had been picked clean by local scavengers so when she picked it up it was completely bare.

The old man had said people had been sacrificed here to appease the forest. It was a concept that boggled her mind. Sacrificing their own kind was anathema to Saiyan culture. Saiyans would willingly engage in ritual combat for the Gods, sometimes even to the death. But never was sacrificing the living to appease the supernatural the point. One honored the Gods through the holy act of combat, not senseless slaughter of the defenseless. With fights to the death only being the highest form of holy combat. And even then there were strict limits, as both fighters absolutely had to be of equal strength.

Humans on the other hand however seemed quite willing to sacrifice their own. Sometimes even their own children. To her disgust she had seen countless examples of it happening on Goa'uld worlds and others. It was part of what made them a lesser species in the eyes of Saiyans, why intermingling with them was forbidden and why it was okay to cleanse human worlds. A species that treated their own with such little respect and honor did not warrant the same courtesy and respect Saiyans had for each other.

Ferucca threw away the bone. Fisk was right. Bad things had been wrought here. This whole sorry planet stunk to high heaven of bad things. She couldn't wait till she got off and was back in the real universe. Force the mage to grant her a normal lifespan and then go to Earth and learn the secret of becoming a Super Saiyan. And after that resume her search for other Saiyans. By the seven hells, even running out of time and dying was preferable to staying here.

But first she had to make it to Asphrodiske. And cross this damn forest. The old man had also been correct that three other roads left from here into different directions. If you had your back to the way they had came from, then at 8:47 was the first road that supposedly led to some dangerous creature. 10:52 led to the ruins of doom. Ferucca walked to the beginning of that road and stared. The road seemed pretty straight and she thought she could see something at the end. It looked artificial. It could be the ruins the old man had spoken off. Part of her wanted to go there and see what all the fuss was about. The other part, the sane part, counseled against it. It didn't matter even if it were true or not. It was a distraction. What counted was the mission. Getting a new lease on life, then to Earth, not exploring some old ruins was what really mattered.

Of course the whole bogus story wasn't true to begin with, because so far they hadn't heard of these so-called spirits the old man had prattled on about. And they never would, as spirits didn't exist. If you died you went to the afterlife to join Priya's elite guard. That's what the priests said. If you weren't a religious freak, like Ferucca was, then dead was just dead. And all that mattered was how you lived your life in the now.

Ferucca now eyed the third road, the one at 2:00. The old man had said that went nowhere, some sort of loop into infinity. It all sounded bogus like the rest of his story and it clearly went into the direction they should go for. She walked up to the beginning of that road. She couldn't see anything in this reaction as the road meandered into the infinite green. But unlike the other two roads the tracks seemed to be regularly used, like a lot of traffic had passed here.

"Milady," Fisk's voice suddenly called out behind her, "don't go there!"

Ferucca turned her head around and saw Fisk holding a bundle of firewood looking worried at her.

"That road is cursed, remember." Fisk called out, but Ferucca waved her hand dismissively.

"The old man was talking shit," she said and walked onto the road, "see nothing's happening."

Fisk wanted to say something when suddenly Liana screamed.

"IIIIIHHHHH! FISK, THE SPIRIT!"

"Don't go any further," Fisk said at Ferucca, then he dropped the firewood and ran towards Liana who was now seriously freaking out. Ferucca of course ignored the racket. After all, what was the whore to her?

"There's nothing wrong here," she said out loud, more to herself.

Then why not go there? A little voice inside her mind said.

"Pozcatetl?" Ferucca said surprised, then she went internal, to the room without a view save one. But it was empty. As were a few other places she quickly visited. After a fruitless search for the gone personalities she returned her attention to the forest. With only a few steps down that road she had barely began. The clearing was still behind her. She could still go back.

Suddenly she was no longer so sure of herself anymore and a feeling of dread began to take hold of her.

"This is ridiculous," she said to herself as she found herself taking a step backwards involuntarily. Then it hit her, the old axiom, if it's too good to be true, it usually is. The road looked too perfect.

"Maybe the fool was right," she muttered as she took another step backwards. Then a cold wind blew from the road, rustling some dark blue leaves around her feet.

"Ferucca," a ghostly voice suddenly whispered.

Ferucca looked wide eyed around her. By now she was still used to having personalities buzzing around in her brain. But this sounded like somebody whispering in her ear from behind even though nobody was there.

"Show yourself!" Ferucca said as she assumed a fighting stance, but nobody showed. Then the wind blew again.

"If he knows the truth he will never let you go to Earth," the voice whispered. Ferucca spun around but again no one was there.

"This isn't funny," Ferucca said angry. For a moment things were silent again. Then again that cold chilling breeze.

"When he learns of your existence you will die here on Tanjecterly."

"Goddamn fucked up crapplanet!" Ferucca yelled frustrated. With her anger flaring up her power shot up to her maximum and her chi-flame came into being.

"If I had my full power I would level this whole shithole planet," she yelled as she raised a hand into the air, a swirling orb of greenish death forming above her outstretched hand, "Instead I will just content myself by leveling this forest!"

She was about to throw her attack when suddenly her hand was held in an iron grip.

"What!" she snarled as she looked back. It was Xander. Who just shook his head calmly. Finally free of his collar he had leaped the distance with his improvised crutch faster then Fisk, who was still running their way.

"Let! Go!" she hissed angrily.

"We're on the run, remember?" Xander said unintimidated, "Whatever crawled up your butt, suck it up!"

Ferucca's eyes shot fire. If looks could kill (which you never knew for certain with chi fighters) Xander would be dead by now.

"I'll kill you," she said softly. She tried to break free her arm, but Xander's grip proved to be unbreakable. It only served to remind her that despite his broken leg Xander was now stronger then she was. That he had absorbed the same amount of skills she had through that strange spell he had told her off and in the figure of Movekk had one of the best teachers ever. Back in the old days it had been told that Movekk had been one of the few Saiyans who had mastered all six of the Saiyan martial arts styles. It had been rumored that he was in the running to become personal trainer to both the king and his annoying little princeling. A position of great power and not given lightly. Which meant Xander's own skills couldn't be taken lightly either.

"Don't," Xander said again resolutely as he shook his head. The stand-off continued for a moment, with Fisk too afraid to come any closer.

"Whatever it is, we will find a way," Xander finally said, giving Ferucca a way out from the stand off. Which she took as she absorbed her attack and stood down.

"Fine! Have it your way," she said as Xander let her go and she stomped back towards the wole.

"Lady Ferucca," Fisk said as she stomped past him, not giving him a moments notice. Then he hobbled after her, leaving Xander alone.

"It's just got to be Monday," Xander said to himself, shaking his head in dejection.

Then a cold wind suddenly blew against him and for the first time Xander heard a disembodied voice speak against him.

x

x

In the end not even the prospect of a comforting hot meal could entice them to stay in the clearing. Ferucca stomped off and climbed into the canvas covering not to come out no matter what. Liana was also terribly spooked as she climbed on the wole's coach box wanting to get away. Xander also seemed disinclined to stay, constantly looking over his shoulder. Fisk was the only one who still wanted to make a fire and cook something until he also jumped into the air. Unlike the others he didn't make for the vole. Instead he sat down on a stone on the other end of the clearing and just stared ahead blankly, occasionally glancing towards the carpet wole. In the end Liana had to come down to him and implore him to get them out of this place.

Fisk finally assented and he drove the wole off the clearing, back the way they had came from. True to the words of the old man they soon discovered that they were suddenly on a whole different road. Finally confident he was on the right road Fisk pushed the wole to go as fast as possible. With Liana huddled against him the two of them rode in silence. With one of them occasionally shuddering as a cold wind only he or she could feel blew against them.

On the back of the wole, behind the canvas covering there was also a small bench and this was where Xander now braved the forest. Usually the bench was empty as Ferucca preferred to sit up front and Xander had to stay inside, with Liana looking after for him. But with the front bench now full and Ferucca sulking inside Xander had nowhere else to go but the back bench. From there he'd rather brave the forest and the occasional cold chill then watch Ferucca brood.

Not only the old man's weird forest trail had come true, also his dammed spirit, Xander thought and he mused what the spirit had revealed onto him. And was still revealing. Most were pretty straightforward. Him killing his best friend Jesse, him lying to Buffy, the breakup with Cordelia. Those were demons he was familiar with. If that was the best the spirit could do then what was the fuss about.

But then two different truths were revealed. Or maybe they were predictions of some sort. Unlike the old ghosts from his past he was familiar with, these hinted at things about to happen or things that were happening even now.

Even now your love sleeps with your friend.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Or even worse, did he even want to know?

Because of you she has fallen into darkness.

Another cryptic one. Who was she and what happened to her? Almost perversely Xander hoped the spirit would visit him again, hoping that another revelation might shed more light on the matter. All that these revelations did create was a growing anxiety that maybe he should either make haste with crossing over to Buffy, his Buffy, or return home to Sunnydale.

A noise behind him awoke him from his musings as Ferucca came from behind the canvas coverings. Without making any apologies for her behavior and/or like nothing had happened she sat down next to him. She didn't even look at him. By now it didn't even bother him any more. Her being the fourth Saiyan he had gotten to know she was in many ways the most Saiyan of the four. Goku was clearly the most human of the four, Vegeta the most self-centered. Ferucca reminded him a lot of Vegeta in many respects. She could be very self-centered, but so could the others to a point, Vegeta being just the extreme in that department. She shared the strong black and white worldview Vegeta and Belmovekk also had. And which in a way even Goku shared, only his was a lot more rosy. And like Vegeta she never made any apologies, she just pretended nothing had happened. As she did now.

"I hate this place," Ferucca said as she watched the purple leaved tries go by.

"The forest can be overwhelming," Xander echoed, "once the Big Guy dropped me and Buffy off for a whole week in a forest and told us to survive, just by our wits."

Xander's eyes turned dreamy as he remembered what he considered some good memories.

"Neither of us knew how to camp, let alone how to survive in the bush. We were city kids. To us foraging for food meant going to a super market. We weren't allowed to use our chi, we were cold, hungry and frightened. We once evaded a bear, whatever food we found tasted like it came from its behind, we had to practically sleep together to survive the cold nights. It was terrible. And yet I'd give anything to do it all over again and experience the kind of closeness me and Buff had."

"He had you do the Hez'màta?" Ferucca said, for the first time looking at Xander, then she shook her head, "this Buffy, is she the one you love? The one whom you went to all this trouble for?"

Xander scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, "uh, yes and no. It's, um, kinda, uh, complicated. Technically there are two of them."

Ferucca just shook her head and said nothing.

"But this Hezma thingy, what does it mean?" Xander asked curious.

"Hez'màta you dunce," Ferucca sighed rolling her eyes.

"Whatever."

Again Ferucca rolled her eyes. Then she explained.

"In our culture arranged marriage is the norm. I know there are other cultures where people are allowed to look for their own spouse but we believe that some things are too important to be left to the judgment of young people in love. Not that we frown on it when it happens but unless you get the approval of the head of the family it will go nowhere. Mostly though our marriages consist of our parents seeking out a suitable group of suitors from which we get to choose. Saiyan Elites on the other hand don't leave anything to chance. To us marriage is about procreation and bringing forth good and healthy offspring while maintaining our blood purity. Love does not come into play at all."

"But what if you two don't match?" Xander asked, upon which Ferucca shrugged.

"That happens only rarely and if so you can petition the King for a separation. Overall our parents tend to choose wisely. Choosing a husband or wife for your child is not taken lightly. The aid of marriage brokers is often solicited and it's considered a most noble profession."

"That sounds all fine and dandy," Xander interrupted, "but that doesn't explain the Hezma thingy."

SMACK!

"Auw!" Xander said after Ferucca had swiped him on the head

"I was getting there, you idiot!" she said angry, then she took a moment to compose herself before continuing, "Even our society knows love doesn't come on demand. Sometimes it has to be helped a little. One of the surest ways to do so is the Hez'màta. The shared experience. In our star system there was a large gas planet with a moon that was habitable. It was a wild and rugged place, a harsh environment to survive in. Before we sent our weakest to survive on other worlds they were sent there. Then it became a place where the Royal Household trained in the art of survival. Until a marriage broker hit on the idea that surviving together in that wilderness was a great way for a new couple to bond together. Now the Hez'màta is often done to bring together a troublesome couple."

"Sonofabitch!" Xander exclaimed loudly, "That son of a bitch lied to me! He told me it was just some survival training to cheer Buffy up! And all that time he was trying to couple me up!"

"Off course," Ferucca smirked, "telling the truth would defeat its purpose. The couple would need to be dropped in the wilderness with no prior warning."

"Sonofabitch!" Xander exclaimed again and looked away. He was so wrapped up in his anger that he didn't notice that suddenly Ferucca began to shiver, her eyes growing wide as she looked aside.

"I hate being the goddamn butt monkey, including his!" Xander said angry, then he turned his head and saw she looked uncomfortable, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said shaking her head, "Like I said, I just hate this place. And not just this maroon hell. I hate this whole fucking planet. I want to get off this hellhole and go home. Even if it is just a debris field where my time runs out. If I am to die, I want to die where my people died!"

To Xander's surprise she suddenly threw herself at him and began to wail. Over the past time she had done many things to and with him, a lot of which he had enjoyed. What they commonly referred to as fancying a bout of rape. But breaking down and crying in his arms wasn't one of them. So a little hesitantly he took hold of her and took her into his arms and let her sob in his lap. It went on for a while, then it quieted down..

"Do you think Shimrod will let me go to Earth with you?" she suddenly said, causing Xander's eyes to grow big .

"Uh, sure," he said hesitantly, not knowing what to say. Especially since he wasn't really planning on returning to Earth if things could be helped.

"Why do you want to go to Earth to begin with?" he asked instead, "It's a silly place really."

"Vegetasei's gone," she sniffed, "everybody and everything that I know is gone. I've been on the run for three years straight and I never found another one of my kind. Earth has three of them. That makes it as close too home as I've come across."

"Planet Vegeta must have been a silly place as well," Xander chuckled. Then both said nothing. Xander sat there with a goofy grin, the forest no longer depressing him.

Ferucca on the other hand felt different. She lay still in Xander's lap, only she couldn't think of a good excuse to extricate herself. All she could think off was that somehow she had let her depression get the better of herself. This had never happened before. A Saiyan Elite doesn't just show emotions to anyone. Least of all a lesser species. Any feelings of depression she may have had evaporated as well, a new feeling beginning to take hold of her. For the good of all that was left Saiyan in the universe Xander Harris had to die.

x

x

When the carpet wole finally left the Dark Woods Liana had become a basket case and Ferucca had gone back inside the canvas covering to brood. Fisk was also brooding, giving Angel a serious run for the money as well. The only one relatively unaffected by the passage through the forest was Xander.

With the group in general disarray Xander implored Fisk to take them to a place where the food was hot and greasy, the bathing water warm and soapy, the beds soft and vermin free and the beer foamy and amnesia inducing. It took some convincing but finally Xander persuaded Fisk to go to an inn. The man from Tanjecterly preferred however that if they were going to stay in an inn, a town was preferable to a small village like Xander had first intended.

"Isn't a small village better?" Xander asked, "I thought you wanted to stay away from the towns and cities? Submerge in the country side?"

"Village inns are hotbeds of gossip," Fisk replied, "they're closed communities where strangers tend to stand out like sore thumbs. And while they may be loath to betray their own to the Berserkers, they would sell us out in no time. At least in towns and cities we wouldn't be the latest new thing to have ridden in."

But unfortunately for Fisk the nearest town was Asphrodiske itself and it was still a few days riding away so he had no choice but to go to a small village inn. As luck would have it they came across an inviting country inn alongside the road they were on. With the ladies still in no mood to come down it fell to Fisk and Xander to go inside.

Inside a fire burned warmly, with the Tanjecterlian version of chickens roasting above them on the spit. The smell of which making Xander's mouth water. Hobbling on his crutch he made for an empty table and sat down. While Fisk was at the counter talking to the innkeeper Xander looked around the place. The decoration was strange. Like he was at a lost and found or something, an odd mismatch of stuff and implements that people seemingly had lost over the years adoring the wall.

Next he looked at the patrons. Peasants mostly, a tradesman with a similar facial tattoo like Fisk sitting in a table in the corner. Which was good, they weren't the only strangers. Even though the peasants were still eyeing him like he was a Twinkie.

Deciding that the best defense was a good offense Xander leaned over to the nearest peasant occupied table.

"Excuse me," he asked, "are those any good?"

He had no idea what 'those' were but he thought pointing at the roasting whatstheirnames above the fire was preferable to asking what they were.

"Sure," one of the peasants said, "youse new in these parts?"

The accent was thick and creamy, just like the Tanjecterlian equivalent of butter Xander had been accustomed to.

"We're passing through," Xander nodded. The peasant looked at the counter, where Fisk was still negotiating with the innkeeper, then he leaned over as well.

"A word of advise," he whispered, "do not accept anything that youse dinnot order. For hese gonna charge youse for it no matter hows small or smallish. That's hows I lost me gammer."

The peasant pointed to an object on the wall. Xander had no clue what it was, or what is was supposed to do. Only that it meant something to the peasant.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Xander said, then he gave the peasant an odd look, "if he cheated you, why do you still come here?"

The peasant lifted up his tankard of ale and grinned.

"Hese makes some fine beer," he grinned. Not knowing how to respond to that Xander returned a sheepish laugh, then he reclined in his seat.

"Making new friends, Earthman?" Fisk said as he patted Xander on the shoulder and walked past him, "sit tight. I ordered some dinner. I'm getting the girls."

He wanted to go to the wole when suddenly Xander took his hand and stopped him.

"Be careful," Xander said, "I heard the owner is a bit of a swindler."

"All innkeepers are," Fisk shrugged, "have no fear, Fisk's on the case."

"That makes me feel so much better," Xander muttered after Fisk had gone.

x

x

Dinner tasted even better then it had smelled and Xander wolfed down his food with great gusto. Any misgivings over the innkeeper were forgotten once the food was being served, soon followed by a large pitcher of the man's finest ale. Hot food and beer helped lift Liana's spirit. The poor girl being hit hard even more then the others by what had happened in the Dark Woods. Fisk also seemed more relaxed, even though he seemed to be eyeing Ferucca a lot.

Who strangely enough was the only one not relaxing. She barely even touched her food. Xander had always thought that the sentence 'I'm not hungry' wasn't part of the Saiyan vocabulary, yet Ferucca proved her wrong. He wanted to prove her wrong by daring her to eat when Fisk stood up.

"I'm going over there," he said pointing to the table of the tradesman, "he's also from the steppe of Sore Beggars, be it from a different clan though."

"Now that you mention it, Chakotay," Xander said and pointed to his own face, "I did notice he also wears one."

"Clan N'Kay," Fisk nodded, "Look after the girls Earthman. I'm going to see if he can tell me what's going on around here."

"Why would he talk to you, Chakotay?," Xander called after Fisk, but the man from Tanjecterly waved back.

"We all look out after each other off the steppe, Earthman, it's the code."

Turning his attention back to their own table Xander saw that Liana had finished her meal and was now nursing her tankard. Ferucca of course still hadn't even begun touching her meal.

"Why don't you eat?" he asked her.

"I'm not hungry," she replied evading his gaze.

"Come on," Xander said pointing upwards, "everywhere Saiyans are spinning in their graves like dynamos on hearing you utter those words."

"There are no Saiyans spinning in their graves because all their graves were obliterated, along with the rest of my planet," Ferucca said morosely, then she looked away.

"Come on," Xander said as he broke off some of the mystery meat and held it in front of Ferucca, "eat at least something. You have no idea how much trouble I had convincing your boy Fisk to get us here."

"Then maybe you should have asked me first," Ferucca bit back, "now piss off and leave me alone."

Seeing that Ferucca was in no mood to talk Xander reclined in his chair and looked at Liana.

"Luck of the Irish," he grinned at her, "at least she's no demon."

The look Liana gave back told him she thought otherwise.

The two of them talked together for a while before Fisk returned from his chat with his countryman.

"So, how fares your little corner of the world, Chakotay?" Xander asked as Fisk sat down in his chair again, "miss anything on your version of Days of our lives?"

"As usual I have no clue what you're talking about, Earthman" Fisk replied, "but things are worse then we expected. Roshenk told me the area is riddled with Berserkers. He encountered a patrol only yesterday. And they're hanging our descriptions up everywhere along the main road."

"No," Liana said aghast.

"How do they know where to find us?" Xander said, "I thought we had taken away their shiny looking toy?"

"They're Mang Berserkers," Fisk shrugged like it explained everything, "It is said they know how to commune across great distance. Even without the Axis they can still coordinate a search. To be honest I'm amazed they haven't caught us already."

"Forever the optimist," Xander said frowning, "What happened to your cheer and bravado?"

"It's how they caught me every time," Fisk said stoically.

"Then I reckon we've gotta haul ass tomorrow, Chakotay," Xander said. Fisk didn't immediately reply and looked to Ferucca for guidance. But the Saiyan girl was in a world of her own.

"Alright, Fisk said and dipped a finger in his tankard to wet it. With the wet finger he drew some lines on the table.

"We are here, Earthman, Asphrodiske is there. The road of Round Stones goes like this. Because it bends here like this in order to get to Asphrodiske we need to cross it at some point. Roshenk told me most Berserkers are still to the north of Dark Woods here. While there is a patrol nearby they seem to be spread thin. Which is why they are relying on local informers and a high reward money. I have to admit the amounts of which are very flattering. The moment we become known to them all Berserkers will convene on our last known position and give chase. At which point it would be best to, as you say, haul ass."

"That's a pretty dire situation, Chakotay," Xander said looking up from the ad hoc map on the table, "is there nothing that speaks in our advantage?"

Fisk began to stroke his chin for a moment.

"Well, so far they don't seem to know where we are going. If they did they would be concentrating all their efforts between us and Asphrodiske. I think that if we manage to cross the road of Road Stones unseen and continue our journey through the countryside making a wide curve towards Asphrodiske we will be alright. But if we make it to Asphrodiske and find Berserkers there waiting we would have to fight our way in."

Fisk gave Xander a stern look.

"Are you and Ferucca up to it? I know she is but are you? I'd hate for her to transform and have that dreadful monster running rampant again."

Xander didn't immediately reply. His leg was still bound up with splints and any attempt to stand on it still hurt like hell. Although as long as the splints held he figured he could brave the pain. But one look at Ferucca was enough to tell him that she wasn't up to the task. Xander didn't know what god-awful truths the spirit had whispered in her ear. In fact nobody had talked about it. But while it had saddened Liana to no end and took the cheer out of Fisk, Ferucca had totally withdrawn from them.

"Have no fear, Chakotay," Xander said confidently, "when the going gets tough, the Xandman get going."

Fisk shook his head gloomily.

"I feel so much better knowing that, Earthman."

x

x

That night, or better yet, that period of the day when everybody slept, a window suddenly opened and a shape jumped out. Like a cat it landed on all fours, then it looked around to see if nobody had seen it coming out. Once it was satisfied it ran until it thought it was reasonably far away from the inn not to be seen. Then it launched itself in the air and flew away.

Its departure however had not gone as unnoticed as it had hoped though. Not far from the spot where it had flown away a man rose up from a ditch and watched it disappear into the distance. Then he sank back into the ditch.

While he waited for its return Fisk had a lot to think about..

x

x

"This is outrageous!"

Fisk's voice yelled through the inn's main room. They had spent the night in warm comfortable beds, bathed in warm soapy bath water and had a hearty breakfast. It was a gamble to lose this much time but they were still on schedule and they had been in dire need of some much need morale boost after the passage through the Dark Woods.

But when they wanted to depart the inn they were suddenly faced by the innkeeper with the bill from hell. Even though Fisk had claimed he had agreed with him on a price beforehand, it didn't stop the innkeeper, the spitting image of a certain barkeeper from Sunnydale in spirit but without the sniveling, to add all sorts of outrageous stuff to the bill. He charged them for stuff like bar ambience (a traveling musician that had played that evening), the warmth of the fire, additional tankards of his beer, for fluffing up the pillows, for providing additional blankets, the expensive soap used in the baths, the condiments and spices used to hearten up breakfast and Xander's particular favorite, the usage of the outhouse.

It was all fun and amusing for Xander, watching Fisk argue and haggle over the bill. After all, he had tried to warn the man from Tanjecterly, but he had ignored his warnings. The man was resourceful with a firm belief in his own cunning and abilities. But ten years of being a slave clearly had clearly robbed him of dealing with hustlers. It was amusing to watch until it became clear Fisk had no more money and the innkeeper wanted to take possession of their wole as payment.

"But it's not so outrageous," the innkeeper said without blinking an eye, "there are costs I have to make to keep my business running. I would be a poor business man if wouldn't include every cost that I made."

"Most businessmen calculate their indirect costs into their final selling price," Fisk countered, but the innkeeper seemed unimpressed.

"I've heard some people ascribe to that model," the innkeeper shrugged, "but I do not. In my opinion it does not allow for accurate record keeping and proper allocation of costs."

"Cost allocation my ass," Fisk yelled angry, "you're nothing but a crook."

The innkeeper just leaned back and smiled amiably.

"I'm sorry to hear that but it is as it is. You'll just have to pay the bill. I am willing to take satisfaction with your carpet wole. That is my final offer."

"But that would leave us with no form of transportation," Liana said aghast.

"I'm sorry to hear that, madam," the innkeeper said without sounding sorry, "but your friend here should have taken that into consideration before he engaged my services. If I were to fall for every sorry story that I heard I would be without a business."

"You lying swindling sack of shit," Fisk said and threw some coins on the counter, "I will pay the price we agreed upon beforehand and not a dibbet more."

"Then you leave me no more choice but to call in the Berserkers," the innkeeper said, even as he swept all of Fisk's coins together, "as luck would have it a patrol of them is in the nearest hamlet of Sputhrake. I anticipated your obstinacy and already sent word to them. They will be here within the hour."

Xander expected Fisk's head to explode. But before the man from Tanjecterly could do anything it was the innkeeper's head that exploded. Literally.

BLAM!

As blood and gore splattered the room and their faces the innkeeper's lifeless body fell to the ground. And then all eyes turned to Ferucca. Who had her arm outstretched after having just fired off a chi blast.

"What?" she said deadpan as all eyes fell on her like nothing had happened.

"Please tell me you did not just do that?" Xander said horrified,

"He was cheating us," she said as she lowered her hand and nodded towards the corpse, "and he was going to call the fuzz on us."

"He had already called the fuzz on us," Xander said annoyed. Off all the times for the old Ferucca to come out of her depression she chose this time.

"What's the fuzz?" Fisk asked but Xander ignored him.

"I mean, Ferucca, if you had to absofragginlutely kill the guy couldn't you just behead him with your sword? Instead of leaving your calling card behind that tells them that we were here?"

Ferucca looked at Xander, then at the corpse, then back towards Xander.

"I, uh, I didn't…."

"Saiyans! No wonder you guys had to work for Freeza," Xander said angry, "no way you guys could have built an empire on your own. Let's go, Chakotay, remember us talking about haulin' ass yesterday? Time to put it into practice!"

x

x

Be it providence, sheer luck, or just Belmovekk's two guys upstairs looking out for them, but somehow their little expedition made it to the road of Round Stones without the Berserkers hot on their heels.

Leaving Ferucca in the back so she could keep an eye on any signs of pursuers, Fisk, Liana and Xander were huddled in the front. With Fisk and Liana both on the coach box and Xander hunched through the flap of the canvas covering.

"So far, so good, right?" Xander said as the road was empty on both sides.

"Do not tempt the Gods, Earthman," Fisk said as he let the wole cross the road, "for they have a mercurial sense of humor and often strike a man down just as he's about to reach his goals."

Xander shook his head and let out a sigh.

"God, I never figured you for an optimist."

x

x

Asphrodiske.

x

For so long that single name had dominated their journey.

x

Asphrodiske.

x

That's where the road to home began

x

Asphrodiske.

x

Somehow Xander had imagined more of the place.

They were lying in the hills to the south of Asphrodiske, the wole resting behind them, using a feeding tube to eat some grass. Without the help of Shimrod's army surplus binoculars they had to settle for the old mark I eyeball. From their vantage point in the hills the town seemed deserted. A perfect little sleepy town, constructed from gray stone. Slightly outside the town, towards the hills they were in, but not obscuring the town was a large low flat dome, seemingly made from gleaming gray-silver metal.

"Earthman, do you see an iron post?" Fisk asked him but Xander shook his head.

"Unfortunately my supposed Saiyan genes don't include the Saiyan hawk eye. And if it did I probably ruined it watching too much TV."

"As usual I have no clue what you're talking about," the man from Tanjecterly said, then he looked at Ferucca, "Ferucca, do you see anything."

"Nope," she said somewhat disinterested, "can't see shit from up here. Must be on the other side of that pancake."

"Are you sure?" Fisk asked, causing Ferucca to roll her eyes.

"No, I'm making it all up as I go" she said sarcastically, "look, that stupid earring knew everything but it's gone, Okay? Should I have paid more attention to it? Probably. But it was also boring and highly insulting. So I'm not sorry it's gone. All I know is be in Asphrodiske when the black moon is underneath the pink star and then strike a big iron post with the key to go back to Shimrod's. How hard's gonna be to find a big iron post in that place? Unless they paved the whole town with them it shouldn't be so hard to find, don't you think?"

"I suppose," Fisk nodded, then he got up, "we might as well go now. Yrrtsch is in the right position."

"Wouldn't want to disappoint good old Yrrtsch," Xander echoed as he glanced briefly at the creepy black moon as he also got up, "let's saddle up people. We've got a train to catch."

For the final stretch it had been decided to abandon the wole and fly the final stretch. Xander would carry Liana, while Ferucca would carry Fisk. Since they were abandoning the wole they would need to gather their meager belongings. Not caring about anyone else seeing her Ferucca stripped naked so she could pull on Shimrod's armor. She may have lost the pouch containing all the other useful magical items, but she still had the key to strike the iron rod with. Maybe it was sheer coincidence, or maybe the magician was more prescient then she gave him credit for, but the key back to Earth had not been in the magic pouch. With a sense of humor that was typical of him he had hidden it inside her armor. Between the section for her cleavage to be precise.

Ferucca strapped the sheath of the sword Kahanthus on her back, then she pulled it out and examined it one last time. The pure blue metal glistened in the two suns light. Ever since they had developed the art of chi fighting Saiyans had abandoned weapons of any kind except for ceremonial duties. A few forms remained dealing with weapons for the interested, but otherwise unarmed combat was the norm. Ferucca in particular had always frowned on weapons of any kind.

Still, in her time here on Tanjecterly Ferucca had grown fond of the blade. At times, when it looked like the place grew too much and a 'bout of rape' with Xander no longer amused her, she would pull out the blade and look at it. Not only did it spoke of great craftsmanship, it also spoke to her of great battles, great deeds that had been wrought with it. And it held the promise that one day she would experience those great battles again.

"Admiring your shiny toy," Xander's voice said behind her.

"Unlike you it always stays hard when I need it too," Ferucca smirked as she sheathed the sword on her back.

"Auch," Xander said pretending to be hurt, "major burn to my manhood."

"Don't worry," Ferucca smiled as she patted him on the shoulder, "I'm sure that once you're back on Earth you will finally get a chance to impress me."

"Have you ever tried to be nice?" Xander said as he watched her walk back to the wole.

"Have you?" she called back disinterested. Xander lifted up a finger wanting to come up with a clever retort, then he thought better.

"That proves it," he said gloomily to himself as he scratched his shoulder, "Cordy also has Saiyan genes."

Ferucca climbed in the back of the wole, only to find Fisk there sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor on top of a chalk drawing chanting some words.

"What by the seven hells of Jerherherod are you doing?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, nothing much, lady Ferucca," Fisk said hurriedly, I'm just invoking the blessing of Mashhh, the seven eyed God who travels across the steppes, it is considered good luck to do so."

"I never saw you do it before," Ferucca said surprised, "why now?"

"We are about to travel to another world, milady," Fisk said as he picked himself up, "another universe even if I'm to believe. I just thought that invoking Mashhh, patron God of long journeys might be a good thing."

Ferucca gave Fisk a stern look, then she shrugged.

"Whatever," she said and turned away, "do whatever religious crap that you like. But do it quickly. I'm just getting my stuff and the Axis and then we're outta here."

"I'm finished already, milady," Fisk smiled, then he walked past her.

"Weirdo!" Ferucca mumbled after he had left, then she began looking, "now where's my comb?"

Outside the wole the group waited for Ferucca to come out. When she did Xander spoke up.

"You got the Axis?"

Ferucca patted a bulge between her breasts.

"You're keeping the Axis there?" Xander exclaimed, "why not give it to me?"

"And let it slip from your butterfingers while in flight?" Ferucca sneered, "I think you'll already have your hands quite full carrying Liana, Xander Harris."

"Hey, I resent that," Xander said pointing his finger at her, pretending to be outraged, "better take good care of that thing."

"Oh, I will," Ferucca grinned as she patted the bulge. Then she gave the bag carrying her meager belongings to Fisk.

"Shall we?"

x

x

Back in the real universe traveling the short distance from the hills to Asphrodiske would have taken them just seconds. Now it took them way longer then Xander would have liked. Damn universe. At least the end was now in sight. Literally. As they neared the large dome he could suddenly see a large platform with on it what appeared to be a large post.

"Hold on, mama," he yelled in glee, "good times are 'bout to come!"

"Fisk's right," Liana said, holding on for her dear life on his back, "half the time you're unintelligible, the other half you're talking gibberish."

"It seems like Chakotay is getting way too cheeky behind my back," Xander grinned, "but that's okay, if we make it through the portal I'll accept all the cheek, smack talk, ribald humor and political incorrectness he can utter. Oh, by the way, be a dear Liana and scratch my left shoulder will ya? Oh yeah, like that. Thanks."

The four of them finally flew over the large dome. Which looked even bigger up close.

"What the hell is it?" Xander asked, "It looks like the mother ship from Close Encounters took root here or something."

"Fisk says it's some kind of old temple," Liana replied, "nobody knows who built it."

"For something old it still looks fairly new," Xander mused, "this looks way beyond space age technology to me."

Finally the group landed next to the platform. With its five foot in height a ramp with steps led up to it. On the platform stood a ten foot high and one foot wide iron pool, free of any sign of rust. On the pole were ten bands of carvings, which at closer inspection turned out to be maps. One of them, the seventh upwards was a map of Earth. Be it slightly different then normal as Xander could make out a large set of islands southwest of the British isles.

"I'm glad that's over," Xander said as he dropped off Liana and rested his weight on her, as he was now without his makeshift crutch, "damn my shoulder's itching!"

"I still cannot believe we evaded capture," Fisk said worried, "it sounds too good to be true."

"You're just paranoid," Xander said, scratching his left shoulder like a mad man, then he turned to Ferucca, "if you would be so kind to go up there and open the Red Sea for us?"

"What's wrong with your shoulder?" Ferucca asked as she came over to him to examine him, "you're scratching like Jerherherod himself wants to come out."

"I don't know," Xander said scratching a particularly difficult to reach part, "it suddenly came before we left and now it's getting rapidly worse. It's driving me m….."

Before he knew what was happening Xander's left arm, the one he was using to lean on Liana went numb and he fell forward into his face.

"What the… " Xander said surprised as he tried to move his left arm. There was no movement in it whatsoever. Worse even, his right arm was now also starting to get numb. He tried to get up, with the aid of Liana and Fisk but the numbness was now spreading like wildfire. Soon he couldn't move anything but his head.

"I can't move," Xander said as he fought down a rising panic, "What the hell is happening to me?"

In response Ferucca hunched down in front of him and held up her left hand. She was carrying a ring with what looked like a stamp attached to the inside of her hand.

"It's a paralyzing agent," she explained, "just tap a person with it and they'll go numb. They gave it to me."

Next came a loud noise from the round dome as its doors opened and a small army of Mang Berserkers erupted, storming towards them and encircling them with their weapons drawn.

"You?" Xander gasped in shock as he looked from the encircling Berserkers to Ferucca.

"Yes," Ferucca said as she stood up to welcome the approaching Mang Berserkers as they surrounded them. Both Liana and Fisk were captured and forced to their knees, their hands tied behind their backs. Liana in particular was devastated, crying uncontrollably. Fisk on the other hand just looked stoically. The man had escaped several times and was captured each time. A part of him was kinda expecting it to happen. Or maybe he just wasn't going to give the pricks the satisfaction of losing it. Xander on the other hand was losing it.

"You lying Saiyan harlot!" he yelled angrily at Ferucca as two Berserkers put his paralyzed upper body up against the platform, "You sold us out to these bastards!"

"Relax," Ferucca waved towards him as she discussed something with the Berserker commander, "if it makes you feel any better, it wasn't personal."

"Well, it's personal to me!" Xander yelled, then a Berserker kicked against his ribcage, "OUGH."

For a moment everything turned black for Xander, then as the world returned Ferucca was hunched over him.

"Feeling better?" she asked impersonally.

"Of all the double crossing backstabbing…., " Xander coughed, "Why? Why did you do it?"

"Simple," she said deadpan, "I don't want to die. My time is almost up and I want Shimrod to make me permanent."

"Is that it?" Xander exclaimed, "We talked about that. I would ask Shimrod to make you permanent. You didn't need to betray us to these clowns to do so."

"But you see, Xander Harris," Ferucca said as she reached out and touched Xander's chin with a finger, "I do. There is no way Shimrod was gonna make me permanent."

"Why?" Xander asked surprised. Upon which Ferucca smiled coldly.

"You see, pretty boy, I lied to you. When Shimrod made me he did more then just shove Pozcatetl down my throat. He put your friend Angela inside me as well."

Xander wanted to say something when suddenly the implications of what she had said sunk in.

"Pozcatetl was never in command of my body," Ferucca continued, "Shimrod just wasn't as good as Murgen. So what he did was put Angela's personality, her memories, her essence, her soul, into my body. But he knew I would overwhelm her in no time. Pozcatetl was only in here as well to help Angela and keep me in check."

"No," Xander said aghast as tears began to roll down his face, "you mean that when…. when you…."

"Yes," Ferucca nodded, "when I went Ozaru more then just Pozcatetl was erased. Angela was also erased."

"Who is Angela?" Fisk asked and Ferucca turned her attention towards him.

"Well, she was the one who rescued your sorry ass, Fisk. The one you kept calling milady. She just used my name because… well, she was a nobody really. A whore who could only make a living selling her body for money. She fell in love with pretty boy here. I guess she wanted to make a break with the past so she called herself by my name. Who knows, maybe deep down she probably wished she was me. Maybe she even hoped pretty boy here would finally notice her."

"Angela..., no. Why?" Xander wailed.

"Oh shut up," Ferucca hissed at Xander, "maybe if you had stopped pining for what you had lost, if you had given her the good shagging that she craved for then all of this could have been avoided. You only have yourself to blame."

"Angela," Xander moaned, "no…."

"So that's why you acted so differently," Fisk said nodding, "I understand now."

"It took you long enough though," Ferucca snorted contemptuously.

"It's not going to work, you Saiyan bitch," Xander said, looking up with fire in his eyes, "whatever it is you're planning it's not going to work. Shimrod will see right through it."

"Oh puhlease," Ferucca snorted, "Before I knew there was no chance in hell Shimrod was going to make me permanent. He would rip me apart in the slim chance that deep down, maybe something of Angela remained. But now, he has no choice. Now I have you for bargaining."

"And these clowns," Xander nodded towards the Berserker that stood next to him, "what do they get out of this deal?"

Ferucca touched the bulge between her cleavage.

"Why this of course. They're reeling, pretty boy, they're reeling badly. I hurt them good when I trashed their city. For now they're managing to keep it a secret but once word gets out all their subjugated nations will rise up. When that happens they need the Axis. It's the only way for them to coordinate their war effort. It's worth more to them then we are. I get what I want, they get back what they want. And maybe they keep you around as well for shits and giggles."

"And them?" Xander said nodding towards Fisk and Liana.

"Who cares," Ferucca shrugged casually, "they mean nothing to Shimrod. As slaves they belong to the Berserkers. I guess they could still use his manual labor. And she's still a pretty little whore. Of course he did knock her up and broke their rules so they're probably going to geld him."

"You bitch!" Xander said angry.

"And to think I've went to all the trouble to keep you alive," she said shaking her head as she got up. As she did Xander shot her a death glare.

"I'll hunt you down, bitch, even if it's the last thing I'll ever do!"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" she countered vehemently, "I'm desperate! Unlike you my entire existence hangs in the balance. And I can tell you, I've done the dying part and I don't want to die again."

"Can I ask you something?" Fisk asked, interrupting their conversation.

"What?" Ferucca asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

"When did you betray us to the Berserkers?" he asked, "Was it before or after the Dark Woods?"

"After," she replied, "I was thinking about it before but when we passed through that maroon hell that damned spirit kept whispering to me. Kept telling me that unless I stopped Xander my existence would come to an end. Like the old man said, remember? Truths, past, present and future. I knew I had to make a move."

"I see," Fisk nodded as he looked downwards for a moment, then he looked up and began to smile, "but the spirit did not just talk only to you. He also told me something."

"And what's that?"

"An evil entity has taken over your lady and she will betray you."

Ferucca laughed out loud.

"Then maybe you should have done something about it," she said once she had stopped laughing.

Suddenly Fisk leapt up from his knees and launched himself at Ferucca, coming close enough to spit something at her. Suddenly her face was covered with wet white powder.

"Who says I haven't?" Fisk grinned as Berserkers threw themselves onto him and held him down, but he was still able to speak as he began to chant in an unknown tongue.

Ferucca began to wipe the smudge from his face, then she picked off the Berserkers lying on Fisk, grabbed him by the throat, picked him up and threw him against the platform.

"What did you do to me?" she yelled angrily.

"I watched you leave the inn to betray us to the Berserkers," Fisk said grinning viciously, "So I went to Roshenk. He carried many interesting goods. There are many of us living elsewhere, Ferucca. Working, doing odd jobs. But they all long for the steppe. So salesmen like Roshenk carry many goods from the steppes that we miss."

"The powder I sprayed you with, it's made from the dried root of a small bush. Our shamans use it to drive out evil spirits. Our lore has it that there are many evil spirits, and that they're everywhere. So salesmen like Roshenk always carry some powder. I used the powder and I just chanted the rites of exorcism. I will drive you out like a bad smell!"

"Fool!" Ferucca exclaimed, "How can I be an evil spirit? This is my body. If anything your precious lady was the possessive spirit, not me. I've only reclaimed what is rightfully mine."

Ferucca threw him hard to the ground, turned around and walked over to the Berserker Spectral Master who was in command.

"Remember our deal. Once I get what I want, you'll get what you want. After that do with Xander Harris as you wish. But him, I want him punished now!"

The Spectral Master said nothing at first, he just looked at her like a tiger in a zoo who wants to strike at the visitors, if only he wasn't behind bars. Then he raised his hand and gave a hand signal. Next Fisk and Liana were grabbed and dragged away into the temple.

"No!" Liana called out as she was being dragged away, Fisk just said nothing, he just looked at Ferucca and grinned viciously.

"What makes you think they'll honor their deal?" Xander called out as his friends were dragged away, "Why do you think they won't slap you with the same poison you used on me?"

"They could," Ferucca shrugged, "off course, like you know firsthand, it's not the fastest agent. The moment any of them touches me or I feel something itch, I'll crush the Axis like a grape."

"With your tits of death I suppose? And what guarantee do they have that you'll return?" Xander asked. Ferucca nodded towards the Berserker commander.

"Other then my word you mean? It turns out both Saiyans and Berserkers have the same adage, 'A little trust goes a long way. The less you use, the further you'll go. I'm not going back to Shimrod alone. He's giving me a platoon full of Berserkers to go with me. He says it's to help me, but we both know they're coming along to keep an eye on me as well. Once I get what I want it's they who return with ….."

Suddenly Ferucca stopped talking and she started looking around herself in bewilderment.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" Xander sneered, "Your new friends playing tricks already?"

"I….., " Ferucca tried to say, then she fell on her knees and reached for her armored collar as if she couldn't get any air to breathe.

While in a perverse way it was satisfying to think that Ferucca's newly found friends gave her the slip as well, the first sign that something was wrong was when Xander saw the look of horror on their faces as well. She had threatened to destroy the Axis at the first sign of trouble and she was crazy enough to do it. Whatever was happening to Ferucca, it didn't appear to be their doing.

"Get it!" the Spectral Master yelled breaking the revelry.

And that's where all hell broke loose.

x

x

Inside the body that in many ways resembled that of a Saiyan warrior girl who was once called Ferucca something was stirring. When she had gone Ozaru Ferucca had basically unleashed the psychic equivalent of a fire storm into her mind. And it had swept the place blank. Later, after she had come back to her senses, Ferucca had scoured her mind for a sign of where the consciousnesses of both Pozcatetl and Angela had gone to. But she couldn't find a sign of either of them. She looked through her entire mind until she came up empty. Then she stopped looking and never looked back.

Everywhere she had looked save one place.

There was a place inside a Saiyan's mind which they called the red zone. It was said this was where the Ozaru slept between full moons. A primitive part of the mind, animalistic, brutal, savage. A raging hellhole of unbridled fury.

It was also a scary place.

While going Ozaru was considered a perfectly good and honored tactic, comprehending the savage beast and what it was exactly was not something most Saiyans willingly did. The increased power of going Ozaru was something to be desired, the state of mind that came with it however was not. Which wasn't that surprising as the vast majority of all Saiyans lost control when going Ozaru.

Suppressing that primitive state of mind while at the same time using that power became the main focus of a whole martial arts discipline, Ozar'itsu. Means were devised to tame the beast. Various techniques, like meditative forms, exercises, diets, whatever it took. Preventing it from coming out when the transformation was triggered. But even most followers of Ozar'itsu didn't dare go into the red zone.

Overall Ozar'itsu practitioners were considered a weird bunch by their fellow Saiyans. While the practitioners of Ozar'itsu, the Ozar'itsui, had developed the techniques that allowed a Saiyan to maintain control when going Ozaru, the holy grail of Ozar'itsu was to be able to harness that power and transform at will without a full moon. One of the end results of this soul searching had been the powerball technique. Why bother waiting for a full moon if you can create one yourself?

There was however a subset of Ozar'itsu. They had their eyes set on bigger goals then just mastering a transformation which could only take place at a full moon, real or not. They reasoned that in order to truly tame the beast they must not be afraid to enter its lair and face it.

Only the staunchest followers of Ozar'itsu dared do this. And only after decades of mental training and discipline. It was they who were also the greatest believers in the legend of the Super Saiyan, believing that when a Saiyan managed to transform into Ozaru at will the secret of the Super Saiyan would also be revealed to him. Like the Legendary Super Saiyan who had come and gone so long ago. So they continued to train themselves to go into the red zone, to be able to withstand it for longer and longer of periods.

But even they didn't stay there indefinitely

Ferucca was no Ozar'itsui. As a high powered Elite the ability to experience a controlled Ozaru was good enough for her. If she needed to go Ozaru beyond a full moon the powerball technique was equally good enough for her. Since she was more into Mal'ki'itsu, entering the red zone for mystical purposes held no appeal to her either. So it was only natural for her to skip it on her search for the others. After all, if she couldn't go there, what chance did the others have?

The Saiyan mind is as strong as their trained bodies. It can weather the storm that comes from unleashing the beast from the red zone. Like a tree that has its roots firmly in the ground it weathers the storm and recovers after it has past. Some hybrids also inherit this ability. For centuries an academic argument raged as to whether this ability would be passed on or that progeny of hybrids would grow weaker with every generation. The smart answer of course would have been empiric observation of hybrids and their offspring. Of course Saiyan cultural custom and prejudice would have none of that.

When Ferucca unleashed her Ozaru, both in body and spirit Angela's consciousness stood no chance to survive its onslaught. The beast crushed everything in its path like an avalanche.

But Angela's consciousness was not alone in there.

As Angela's guardian consciousness Pozcatetl did realize what was going to happen. Unlike Angela she had spent more time with Ferucca then she had cared for and she had learned a few things. As the guardian consciousness she had delved into the Saiyan girl's memories and witnessed the horror that was Ozaru. Recognizing the storm that was going to come she did the only thing she could do.

She took Angela's consciousness, enveloped it with her own and fled into the one place where for now she was safe. She fled into the red zone.

With the beast unleashed the red zone was now the safest place to be. But what she didn't know, because Ferucca had never cared much of Ozar'itsu, was why it took so much dedication and training to survive in the red zone. Even with the beast unleashed it was like the Eye of Jupiter, center of a raging storm going on for centuries. Relatively safe because it was the center of a raging storm around it, but the keyword being relative for even the Eye of Jupiter was still as lethal as the rest of the planet. When the beast finally did return Pozcatetl couldn't make it out in time and she died.

But in her death she encapsulated as much of her core persona, her strengths, her passions, her fury, around Angela. She may have died but her sacrifice was not in vain. Somehow she had created a shield layer no Ozar'itsu ever had between them and the red zone. She bought time for Angela to survive.

Surviving in the red zone at first was like being immersed in a sensory deprivation tank, cut off from the outside world. Only difference was she wasn't floating in a salt water solution, she was floating in a blacksmith's forge. As her protection slowly dwindled away she was tempered like steel. Tempered until her protection finally fell away and she was alone with the beast in the red zone. And there she faced the beast directly.

And survived.

In the red zone she learned what none of the Ozar'itsu had yet fathomed. That the beast was not something to be denied, avoided, faced or tamed. For doing that meant denying a part of yourself. A house divided cannot stand. And in order to be all that a Saiyan could be, he or she had to embrace the madness that was inside them and become one with it. And only by doing that could a new equilibrium be reached.

Having learned this truth in the red zone Angela survived. But she couldn't come out either as the red zone was a place so carefully contained, only when a certain light spectrum of 17 million zeno units per second hit the Saiyan eye and a gland in their tail was triggered did the dam burst open. With growing anger she watched the events and Ferucca's treachery unfold, unable to do anything it.

And then Fisk performed his exorcism spell. The spell was crude, the magic rudimentary. But it was done with much gusto and hatred, and it hit the mark. Because Ferucca was wrong in one respect. The body she was in wasn't hers either. It was only based on hers. Fisk's spell sufficed to make a small crack in the dam that through millions of years of evolution had served to contain the fury that was inside the Saiyan body. It was all Angela needed to get out.

x

x

"I….., " Ferucca tried to say, then she fell on her knees and reached for her armored collar as if she couldn't get any air to breathe. Taking in a deep breath she gasped for air. Only to taste something different. The air felt foul to her taste, like there were pollutants in the air. She looked up and around herself.

No longer was she on Tanjecterly. No longer were there two suns, one green, the other lemon yellow in the sky. A single, dark yellow sun shone in the air and it was hot. She now stood on a road of black compressed stone material, covered in yellow and white markings. Large buildings stood around her. She was in what seemed like a vast urban metropolis, standing on an intersection between two roads. Yet there were no people. And then she recognized the place. They weren't her memories but somehow she was at the corner of South Broadway and West Jefferson Boulevard.

"LA? You've got to be kidding me!" Ferucca sighed as she threw her hands in their air, "Of all the times she chooses to reveal herself, she chooses this. Well, let's get on with it. Show yourself, Pozcatetl!"

"Pozcatetl is no longer here," a voice called out calmly from up in the air, causing Ferucca to smack her forehead.

"Dammit, Ferucca," she said beratingly to herself, "first rule of Lokta'itsu, remember? Combat is three dimensional."

Having berated herself Ferucca looked upwards. A hundred feet into the air a person floated in the air. To her surprise it wasn't the Pakatchikal girl, it was the whore Angela.

"Oh look," Ferucca said as she lifted herself up into the air to meet her challenger, "the whore is back. And look who went to get herself a new outfit."

She was of course referring the blue and white Saiyan composite amour Angela was wearing.

"Finally come out of hiding?" Ferucca sneered as she leveled herself ten meters in front of Angela and slowly folded her arms contemptuously across her chest. Angela didn't reply, she just intensified her gaze.

"What, no posturing?" Ferucca asked after Angela maintained her silence, "Shouldn't you be boring me with empty statements as to why what I am doing is wrong and why I should stop?"

Silence.

"Well, I'm not going to stop," Ferucca said as she unfolded her arms and pounded her chest, "I will not lay down and go down! I'm not going to die again! Ferucca of house Tangari will not be snuffed out with the rest of her race!"

Ferucca was nearly fuming with anger when she finished her speech. After which Angela finally spoke up.

"If you feel you did nothing wrong, why the need to defend yourself?"

"I….," Ferucca tried to say, then she shook her head dejected, "oh, fuck it! I am talking to the whore. Who gives a shit!"

Ferucca raised her power and white chi flames surrounded her. Then she charged headfirst into Angela. The impact of which knocked the girl back with so much momentum she crashed into the nearby Los Angeles County Municipal Court building below. Ferucca immediately dove after Angela to pound the girl into submission. Storming in through the broken wall Ferucca entered a courtroom where she found Angela lying in the rubble.

"You should never have come back, whore," she said viciously as she kicked Angela across the courtroom, then she hopped after her and punched her so violently Angela crashed through the floor, "you should have let Pozcatetl fight your battles, whore. She at least knew how to fight."

Ferucca jumped after Angela into the room below and began to pummel her some more.

"Should have left fighting to the grown ups, whore," she said as she finally stopped pummeling Angela, pointed her hand towards the walls, blew a hole in them, then grabbed Angela by the hair and dragged her outside on Hill street.

"Show yourself, Pozcatetl," Ferucca said as she took Angela in a choke hold, ready to snap her neck, "show yourself or the whore gets it!"

There came no reply from the empty city.

Instead Angela began to laugh. Which sounded a bit odd as she was still in a choke hold.

"Don't you think that if Pozcatetl was still around she'd picked a different battlefield?" Angela managed to say despite Ferucca's hold. Next Angela raised her own power and her chi flames came into life as well. A backhanded blow and suddenly she was free from Ferucca's hold. She somersaulted out of Ferucca's reach and turned around mid air to land on all fours facing Ferucca.

"The whore learned some new tricks," Ferucca said derogatory. Angela said nothing, she just smiled. Then she began her attack. Launching herself at Ferucca like she had done earlier she crashed into the Saiyan girl. Only the Saiyan girl was prepared and met her head on, matching Angela move for move.

Still as the fighting moved up north on Hill Street, across the freeway, Ferucca was surprised by the ferocity and level of skill Angela now displayed. Whatever she had done during her absence, she had improved dramatically since her battle in the city of Mang.

"You've improved," she said without missing one of Angela's moves.

"Thanks," Angela smirked back, neither relenting in her attacks.

"It won't do you no good, whore," Ferucca sneered, "it doesn't matter how good you've become, you're still no match for a Saiyan ELITE!"

Shouting the word elite Ferucca reached for more power inside herself and went on the offensive, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks so fast it looked like she had ten arms and legs to the casual observer. But Angela wasn't a casual observer and while Ferucca's onslaught drove her back she countered every move she made.

The fighting went up north, up the street, then down into the Civic Center metro station, all the way to the platforms and into the tunnel itself. On and on until the two emerged again at Pershing Square station and out into the open again, into the air above Central LA. From there it headed north until both were above the deserted crossing of routes 110 and 101, west of Chinatown. There they disengaged.

"Not bad, whore," Ferucca wheezed heavily as she watched Angela float twenty feet away, "a remarkable improvement."

"It's not too late, Ferucca," Angela panted back, "end the madness before you really cross the line."

"End it?" Ferucca snorted, "I've not even begun! You've shown remarkable growth, whore, but this is the end of the line for you."

Ferucca clenched her right fist, then she opened it upwards and a light blue ball appeared above her hand. Normally she wasn't one to do this lightly, but she was pressed for time at the moment. Priya knows how much time was passing in the real world.

"This is it, whore," she yelled, "You've had a good run for your money but this is it."

Then Ferucca threw her energy ball into the sky, while Angela calmly watched on until the ball disappeared in the upper atmosphere. Then came the flash, the bright light, and a small artificial moon in the Earth's upper atmosphere was born.

"Come to mama!" Ferucca cried in triumph as she stretched her hands out as if to welcome the new moon.

But nothing happened.

Where was the heart pounding heartbeat? The throbbing veins that signaled the transformation's beginning? The growth of canine teeth?

"Looking for something?" Angela called out impassionate. Ferucca looked at her hands which showed no signs of changing either.

"I don't understand," Ferucca said, more to herself.

"Don't you get it?" Angela said, "That's an external trigger. It doesn't work in here. It only works on the outside."

Ferucca let go a whole series of colorful expletives in her native Saiyango.

"It doesn't matter," she finally said, "I'm still Saiyan Elite and you're just a whore with delusions of grandeur. I will just beat you into a pulp the old fashioned way."

Then Angela began to smirk for the first time.

"I on the other hand don't need outside stimuli."

Angela threw her hands into the air and before Ferucca could drop her jaw in utter amazement Angela's eyes turned to red, then some of her teeth began to grow, then the rest of her body began to change.

"No way!" Ferucca exclaimed in amazement as she saw Angela transform into Ozaru. Her mind told her to act while she still could, only her body refused to move, mesmerized by the spectacle before it. Part of her mind even wondered, was this how all of her victims had felt when she had transformed in order to kill them? Soon Angela was even too big for Ferucca to do anything at all.

When she was still in training as a teenager her Satiya brought her to Phili, an uninhabited planet that was part of the Saiyan Sphere, the small cluster of star systems that were under Saiyan rule. While others provided food, services and goods, Phili offered nothing but a place to train. Its breathable atmosphere, emptiness and rugged terrain offered excellent training grounds. But best off all, Phili's small moon went full moon once every eight Phili days. Ozar'itsui flocked to this place and even maintained a small permanently manned station there.

On Phili Ferucca and her fellow students were instructed in the art of Ozaru combat. How to fight one, how to use that skill and finally, to experience that condition themselves. While going Ozaru for the first time had been overwhelming, few things in life made for a more lasting impression as seeing her Satiya go Ozaru before them. It was a sight to behold. A sight that struck awe and terror in her mind. A feeling she now felt again.

Fighting an Ozaru was like trying to let water flow uphill. The tenfold increase in strength, speed and agility made the monster absolutely lethal. The size differential made attacking one in hand to hand combat extremely hazardous. Her Satiya told them that unless they were stronger in power an Ozaru only had two weak spots. Unless the transformed Saiyan was an Elite, an Ozar'itsu master or a really advanced or experienced Royal Household member they tended to be quite mindless and animalistic. Which meant you could outsmart them. And no matter how strong you were, a directed killing blow to a weak spot like the throat or a pressure point still killed or disabled a superior opponent.

The second weakness, one that every Ozaru shared, was their tail. Remove the tail and the gland that supplied the signal to the brain that triggered and maintained the transformation was taken out of the picture. Without that constant electrical impulse the transformation faltered.

But never in her entire life had Ferucca seen (or heard) of a Saiyan who new how to transform into Ozaru without their tail like the Earth whore was doing now.

"Please let her be stupid," Ferucca mumbled hopeful, "please let her be stupid."

Once Angela had completed her transformations she roared defiantly, clenched her fist and seemed about ready to jump on Ferucca. Instead she belched up a fireball of pure destruction. Ferucca braced herself for impact.

But the impact never came.

As she opened her eyes she saw the fireball move north until it finally came down against Dodger Stadium and obliterated everything in a square half mile. While the shockwave of the explosion did hit her she finally felt some confidence return to her.

She's mindless! I still have a chance!

The feeling was however short lived as something happened to Ozaru Angela. She began to shrink again. The giant wereape crossed its arms before its face and brought it legs close to itself as the shrinking continued at an ever greater pace.

She can't maintain the transformation, Ferucca thought elated, it's over for her.

"Couldn't do it either?" Ferucca said, feeling confident enough to start smack talking again, "Of course, I'm not surprised, as an Earth whore you're just…."

"You really don't have a clue as to the true power of your race," Angela suddenly growled as she was still eight feet big, "let me show you."

And then she exploded in a blaze of golden chi that struck the make belief city of LA like a ground level atomic bomb. As she was struck by this sudden explosion of raw chi power Ferucca could only utter a few words before she was enveloped by oblivion.

"No way!"

x

x

While in a perverse way it was satisfying to think that Ferucca's newly found friends gave her the slip as well, the first sign that something was wrong was when Xander saw the look of horror on their faces as well. She had threatened to destroy the Axis at the first sign of trouble and she was crazy enough to do it. Whatever was happening to Ferucca, it didn't appear to be their doing.

"Get it!" the Spectral Master yelled, breaking the revelry.

And that's where all hell broke loose. As five close by Berserkers jumped on her Ferucca got up and in an explosion of golden chi she not only threw them off, she literally exploded.

Had this been Earth Xander would have been confident he'd be at the center of a high yield nuclear explosion. Now the explosion was less violent but still powerful enough to visibly level anything in a 400 feet radius. Xander was lucky that he was shielded by the stone platform as Ferucca's explosion happened just around the corner. As the dust settled he could see that somehow the stone structure survived the blast intact. Any Berserker caught on the other side wasn't so lucky. Fully half of them lay dead or scattered in parts, including their Spectral Master. Xander looked the other way and saw that those Berserkers who had been on the other side of the stone platform had survived as well. To their credit some of them were already recovering. A sub commander was already shouting orders, telling them to get to their feet. At least that was what Xander thought he did as his hearing was completely ruined. Only now did he became aware of a loud ringing noise in his ears that signaled the slow return of his hearing.

Then someone stepped around the corner. It was Ferucca

Only it wasn't Ferucca. It wasn't that she had completely changed. She was surrounded by a halo of golden chi that blazed furiously, her hair had turned to gold and stood up straight, gently swaying in chi that welled up from inside her, her eyes turned into the coldest shade of blueish green.

Okay, so she had turned into a Super Saiyan. That was a big change. But what had really changed was her face. No longer did she wore that thin veil of Saiyan arrogance, the 'I'm better then you' attitude. Instead she looked all business.

She halted for a moment to look at Xander, her face softening in a smile, then she said something he couldn't hear. Then her resolve face returned and she charged into the remaining Berserkers.

Moving faster then anyone or anything had ever moved on Tanjecterly Angela moved from Berserker to Berserker and quickly dispatched them one by one. She now had enough power and speed to spare, even in the accursed conditions of this universe. But that didn't meant she had to be sloppy and just lob a few chi blasts here and there. That was the Saiyan way. She had done enough damage that way by defeating Ferucca and going Super Saiyan. Besides, why should she? With her increased agility and reaction it looked like every Berserker moved like in slow motion. It only took a few moves for her to dispatch them one by one.

It was after she had killed the last one that her attention turned to the temple, where they had taken Fisk and Liana. She walked inside, only to find a giant maze of corridors and tunnels. Luckily she didn't have to look for long to find the both of them. Liana was dead, her stomach ripped open to tear out her baby, the dead fetus lying in front of her. The girl looked like she had died in great pain and anguish. Letting out a tear Angela knelt next to her and put her hand on Liana's face, closing her eyes.

"Sleep well, gentle Liana," Angela said gently, "I'm sorry. For everything."

"Milady," a voice said behind her. Angela turned around and saw Fisk chained to the wall behind her, sitting in a pool of his own blood. When Ferucca had said he was to be gelded she wasn't kidding. His cut off genitals lying in front of him he was left to bleed to death.

"Don't talk, Fisk," Angela said as she moved over to his side and knelt next to him, "save your strength."

"For what?" Fisk said mournfully, then he looked her in the eyes, "is it really you, milady?"

"It is, noble Fisk," Angela nodded as she tenderly caressed his hair, "you saved me. Your spell set me free again. Ferucca is no more. The Berserkers are all dead."

"Then I am glad," Fisk smiled weakly, "they made me watch as they tore our child away from her."

"I am sorry," she said, still stroking his hair, "I am sorry I couldn't have helped you any sooner."

"The fault is mine, milady," Fisk said shaking his head, "I should have realized you were taken over by that evil spirit. I noticed she behaved differently but I didn't want to know it. Liana tried to warn me but I didn't listen. I only have myself to blame."

"Don't say such things," Angela said aghast, "you couldn't have known."

Neither said anything for a moment.

"I am going to die aren't I?" Fisk suddenly asked. Angela didn't reply, not knowing what to say. The man from Tanjecterly looked terribly pale and judging from the pool of blood he was sitting in he had lost most of it.

"Don't say such things," Angela said as tears rolled down her cheek.

"It's okay, milady," Fisk coughed, "my only regret is not using my spell earlier. I just wanted to be certain. At least Liana and I will die together. I ask only one thing, milady."

"What, Fisk?" Angela asked tear stricken.

"Since you have changed, how much power do you have now, milady?" the man from Tanjecterly asked.

"Near infinite, good Fisk," Angela replied.

"Then could you go back to Mang and destroy that city utterly?" Fisk asked serious, "Destroy that city and erase what's left of those abominable Berserkers once and for all. When Mashhh of the Seven Eyes comes to take me to Yrrtsch I can then rest comfortably that my enemies will be made to serve me in the afterlife."

It was a great thing Fisk asked of her, and not one in her character to do so. But she need only look at Liana's ripped open body to see the cost Fisk had paid for her. She knew that there was nothing she could refuse this man.

"Consider it done," she said as she wiped away her tears and put on her resolve face.

"Good!" Fisk said. Then he died. She gently closed his eyes as well, then she got up and walked away. Not looking back fearing that if she did she would cry and fall apart. Fisk had been an annoyance, a guide, but above all a friend. No matter how distasteful she was going to carry out his last wish.

Once outside the temple she walked back to Xander who still lay there paralyzed.

"Who are you?" he asked worried.

"Don't," she said as she stopped and knelt next to him, "it's me, Angela. Ferucca's gone. I purged her out. Fisk's spell set me free."

Xander raised an eyebrow at that.

"I didn't see that one coming," he said looking away for a moment, "how.., how's Fisk? And Liana?"

She shook her head and her chi flames sprung back into life.

"They're dead," she said coldly, "and now they're going to pay for it. Wait here. I'll be back."

Then she launched herself in the air and flew northwards in a trail of blazing golden chi. Tanjecterly's accursed conditions no longer able to stop her flying all the way north. What had taken them weeks to get away from she now reached in an hour as she hung in the air above the citadel city of Mang.

The city had suffered much from Ferucca's rampage, but it was not beyond salvage yet. And there appeared to be working crews active clearing way rubble.

"This is for Fisk!" she yelled as she stretched her arms into the air and created the mother of all fireballs above herself. The green orb of death doubled in size every second until it absolutely dwarfed her.

"And this is for Liana as well," she yelled as she threw down her fireball on the city, "burn in hell you bastards!"

The fiery ball of death hit the city right in the center of the ninth level and disappeared into the ground creating a huge crater. But it didn't explode right away as she kept it from doing so. Instead it dug deeper and deeper into the earth. Mang was built on a hill top. Which meant that an explosion on top or on the sides meant some of the city would be spared as the blastwave was deflected. That's why despite being a heavier bomb the nuclear attack on hilly Nagasaki killed less people then its smaller cousin did on Hiroshima, which lay on flatlands. In order to truly destroy Mang Angela waited until her ball of death had penetrated to the centre of the hill.

And then she let it explode.

There was no deafening noise at first, but suddenly the entire hill moved upwards, then it erupted like a volcano and what remained of the city was destroyed entirely as the entire hill it was built on was thrown over an area as big as Rhode Island.

Nodding appreciatively Angela turned around and flew back. It was done. Fisk had his revenge. And she had seen enough slaughter to last her a lifetime. With her anger gone it took her half an hour longer to fly back to Asphrodiske where she landed next to the platform where Xander still lay. Some of the townspeople had ventured onto the scene of battle and begun looting the corpses. But upon seeing her approach they had fled again.

Xander was still paralyzed but it looked like he had regained some movement as his hands had moved.

"About time," he remarked, "any longer and the locals would have robbed me as well. There's only so much you can do to scare them away using fingers and slight of hand."

"Well, I'm back," she said.

"Had Super Saiyan fun much?" Xander asked her as he looked up to her.

"Not really," she said shaking her head, "but it had to be done."

One of Xander's eyes narrowed as he examined her.

"Is it really you, Angela?" Xander asked, "You look different."

She nodded and smiled at him. Which gave Xander sort of the creeps. The whole Super Saiyan ambience just wasn't conducive to create a tender moment. Even more then the Motley Cruë hair it was the eyes. You just couldn't peer in those cold green blue eyes and not find something else you'd rather look at.

"It's me, Xander," she said and she wanted to reach out to him. Noticing his apprehension at her present form she detransformed.

As soon as she did that however she felt utter exhaustion. So much so she hardly had any energy left to stand and before she knew it she keeled right over and fell straight on top of him, her head coming to a hard stop on his shoulder.

"What the…," Xander exclaimed in surprise, "I knew you liked me, but to throw yourself onto me like this, are you sure Ferucca's gone?"

"She is," Angela tried to say reassuringly, only her voice came out like she had difficulty speaking, "but even if she didn't it doesn't matter."

"I don't like the sound of that," Xander said, finding it hard himself to talk with Angela's heavy weight on top of him. Her human body may have weighed next to nothing, but Saiyans tended to be a whole lot heavier then they looked. In one moment of disgusting too much information overload Joyce had sent Buffy screaming from the room when she had said that when she and Belmo were having sex she preferred to be on top. And with the Ferucca body being no exception to the heavy weight he could finally understand why.

"Angela?" he asked tentatively

"Yes, Xander?" she answered with some difficulty

"If you're not drawn to my sexual magnetism, then what's going on here? Are your tired? I have it on good authority that going Super the first time can be quite, um, overwhelming?"

"I'm not sure, Xander," Angela replied after some thinking, "I don't feel tired. I feel….., I feel like I'm running on empty. Like my batteries are running low. I…. Xander, I think I'm dying."

"Okay," Xander said calmly, like he had heard something different. Then the enormity of what she had said sunk in and he looked at her wide open eyes.

"No," he exclaimed in horror, "don't say things like that. Don't even think things like that. We're go back to Earth, and Doc's gonna fix you."

"I don't think we can make it," she replied softly, "this body only had a limited time and its time is up."

"Oh yes we can," Xander said vehemently, "all I need is to get control back over my damn limbs and we go back together."

"You've been here for almost three hours," she chuckled weakly, "and look how much progress you've made. What makes you think you'll get up in time?"

"Goddamn Ferucca and her stupid poison," Xander muttered angry, "stupid bitch! She makes Vegeta look sane and sociable by comparison."

"Don't blame her," Angela said softly, "she wasn't really evil. She didn't know any better. And she was desperate. She didn't want to die."

"Then why aren't you?" Xander bit back, "Why are you so ready to give up? Fight dammit!"

"It is okay, Xander," she said tiredly, "I repaid my debt to the Golden Angel, I became the Golden Angel myself. I can die in peace now."

"No!" Xander called out angry, "I can't accept that! I'm tired of the nice people paying my price. I'm tired of being destiny's butt monkey. Get up, Ange, I want you to get your sorry ass off of me and go back to earth. Strike that pole, go pole dancing on it if you have to, but for the love of our kind Green God, go back to Earth.

"I can't," Xander," Angela replied tiredly, "I've got nothing left to give."

"Then go Super," Xander countered, "you did it before. Why can't you do it again?"

"I think that's why I'm dying," she said, "I think it accelerated this body's end. If I go Super I'd probably die before I reach the post."

"No!" Xander yelled angry, "this isn't happening. This shouldn't be happening. It's not fair!"

"Fair Schmair?" Angela chuckled, causing Xander to roll his eyes.

"I'm trying to be angry here."

"Sorry to rain on your parade, Xander," she said, then with her last effort she moved her body so she could nestle her head against his.

"You shouldn't have come," Xander said, cautiously shaking his head, "you should have stayed with Shimrod's. Better yet, you shouldn't have come at all. You should have stayed at home!"

"You would have died," she said softly, "Now you don't. It's a good trade off as far as I'm concerned."

"I beg to differ," Xander countered in frustration, "I'd gladly die in that little hellhole in Mang if it meant you living to a ripe old age."

"Ripe old age," she chuckled again, "are you listening to yourself? I'm a porn actress. I fuck guys on film for money."

"And demons," Xander quickly added, "let us never forget the demons."

"And demons of course," she said, "the point is, using what's between my legs is all that I know, Xander. I don't know anything else. Once my looks fade what do you think would have happened to me?"

"I'm not a crystal-gazer," Xander said, "and neither are you. Who knows? You may have met a nice guy who would take care of you."

"I found you, didn't I?" Angela said, then she shivered slightly, "Xander, I'm cold."

"I'd put my arms around you," Xander said gently, "but as you may have noticed I'm somewhat pre-occupied with some poison at the moment."

"That's okay," she said softly, "I'm fine where I am."

For a moment neither said anything.

"Xander?" she eventually said, "can you kiss me please."

"Sure," Xander said and moved his head so he could give her the clumsiest kiss of his life, "talk of being awkward."

"That's alright," she replied whispering, "I got what I wanted. I'm ready to go now."

Seeing her die slowly like that Xander looked away for a moment and let his tears roll. For a moment he could no longer take it and wept like a little boy.

"This isn't fair," he eventually said. She didn't respond. He turned his head and looked at her. Her eyes were closed.

"No," Xander wailed, "not you too!"

"Did you say something?" she suddenly whispered softly, eyes still closed.

"Yes," Xander said as he sniffed his nose, "I love you, and I don't just mean like in the friend zone. I love you, Angela Henderson."

She didn't immediately respond, nor did she open her eyes. But she did smile slightly.

"No you don't," she eventually said, "but it's nice of you to say…."

Xander bit his lip, not certain what to say. He wanted to yell at the universe for allowing yet another giant turd to fall on him. Howl in his grief and flail his arms in mad frustration. To his surprise he noticed that suddenly he could move one arm. So he did the only thing he could do. He put his arm around Angela.

"This is nice," she whispered. With his arm around her he could feel the minute rise and fall of her breathing.

And then it stopped.

"No," Xander wailed as he drew Angela's body in a tighter embrace.

He held her like this for several minutes. Then suddenly she slowly began to disintegrate until she was nothing more then a swirling mass of three different colors of energy, each fading away separately until there was nothing left but her empty amour, the Axis, Xander and his grief.

x

x

Eventually Xander's paralysis ended and he was able to walk again. First thing he did was to go over to the temple looking for Fisk and Liana's bodies. Seeing their mutilated bodies Xander had to retch. After he had composed himself he took both of their bodies outside and dug a grave for them. Putting them next to each other he covered them up and made two impromptu crosses for them. He may not know the burial customs of their cultures, so he followed the customs he knew instead. In closing he said a small prayer for both of his friends.

"Goodbye, dear friends, you were good companions. You helped where you could, above and beyond. You never complained. I don't know which Gods you worshipped, and to be frank, I don't care as they let you die. But on the off chance that they or you two are listening, take good care of the souls of Fisk and Liana and their unborn son. I rode with them, I have no complaints. Give 'm hell you two!"

Wiping away a tear Xander turned around and walked back to the platform and Angela's empty armor. He picked up her sword and strapped it to his back. Ferucca may have soiled it with her touch, but nothing a good polish couldn't remove. And Shimrod had given it to her so it was basically Angela's. Next he fished a small rod from the inside compartment of her armor, the key with which to return home. Then he picked up the Axis and put it into a small leather bag, together with a small memento each of Fisk and Liana.

Having done that Xander walked up the platform ramp, towards the iron post. Like the platform it had also survived everything unscathed. Taking the small rod in his hand Xander examined it. There really was a map of Earth on it, stretched around the post. So he guessed each of the ten bands was a map of each of the ten interconnected worlds.

"There's no place like home," he finally said and then he struck the iron post.

No sooner had Xander struck the pole as the scenery changed. Gone were the heathergray sky and the two suns. Instead the sky looked a familiar azure blue with a familiar yellow sun shining brightly.

He was now in a town square, only this one looked straight out of a spaghetti western, a deserted sleepy looking Mexican town. With the sun high in the sky and a sweltering heat it looked like Xander had arrived somewhere during the siesta.

"Hey, miester, you Xander?" a voice said behind him in a heavy Mexican accent. Xander turned around and saw a young boy standing there, holding a cheap Spanish guitar in his hands and looking curiously at him.

"That depends," Xander said wearily, "who wants to know?"

The boy shrugged and reached into his shirt pocket and held out a sealed envelope towards Xander.

"Some gringo paid me $10 a day if I were to wait for some guy called Xander to appear here. Plus an extra $50 if I gave you this letter."

Xander took the letter in its small sealed envelope from the kid. Its wax seal was marked with a giant letter S.

"So you're not phased by people appearing out of nowhere?" Xander asked the kid as he opened the envelope. He couldn't be any older then nine.

"No miester," the kid said shaking his head, "strange thinks happen here all the time. Only last month thies guy came to town with a guitar case full of guns and he killed Buchco and all of his men. And he had thies friend with another guitar case that was a rocket launcher."

Xander raised an eyebrow, then he smiled.

"So I'm not the strangest thing to hit the town then?"

"They say there's also Chupacabra in the hills," the kid said deadpan. Xander nodded impressed. If there was any doubt to where he was it was now taken away.

"Alright, thanks for passing on the message, kid," he said.

"Sure thing, miester," the kid replied with a big grin and ran off. Xander waited till the kid had disappeared, then he glanced one last time at the tall iron post, identical in size to the one in Asphrodiske but without the markings, then he sat down on the platform ledge and began to read the note.

Greetings, Angela and Xander,

I hope I find you both in good health after your ordeal in Tanjecterly. Pending your safe return I can be found in a small villa in the hills to the north-east of this town. You cannot miss it, it's the only one there. For some reason the locals think something called Chupacabra lives here. I guess I'm to blame for that rumor. They probably saw one of my servants. It helps to keep the place quiet though.

Anyway, come quickly to my place and I'll restore Angela to her own body.

Your loyal servant,

Shimrod

Just reading her name was enough for Xander to come crashing down. Angela. The poor girl. Who had asked for so little. And given it all. Crumpling the note Xander buried his face in his hands and began to cry, reliving the moment when she had died. Because of him.

He sat there crying for several minutes until he had no more tears left. Then he wiped his face, blew his nose, got up and launched himself in the air and flew in a north easterly direction. Despite his depression it felt great to feel the wind in one's face again, to be free of that oppressive universe, to be able to let your chi flow freely and eat wind again.

He reached Shimrod's place in minutes. It really was the only place in this direction from the sleepy Mexican town. He landed in the courtyard, looked around and walked up to the main building.

"Doc?" he yelled anxiously as he stepped inside. As he did he half expected to be back in Shimrod's endless hallway of a thousand doors. Instead he stepped into a normal hallway.

"Xander? Is that you?" a surprised voice called from another room, soon followed by Shimrod's head sticking out of a door, "I'll be damned, it is you!"

The magician stepped into the hall, his arms outstretched to take Xander in a hug.

"You made it! You guys really made it!"

"I guess we did, Doc," Xander said, the mage still hugging him. Then he let go and stepped back and raised a finger at Xander.

"You had us all quite worried there, young man," he said beratingly.

"Lucky me," Xander said, then he held up the bag with the Axis and revealed the figurine, "brought you a present?"

"You found it?" Shimrod gasped excitedly as he took hold of the small statue, "How? I thought…. Wow, this is really exciting. The Axis of Pythia."

Half looking at the Axis Shimrod turned around and began to walk away, with Xander limping in his tow.

"To think this hasn't been seen by anyone in thousands of years," Shimrod said excited as he opened a door and went down a stairway to the basement where it turned out he had an extensive laboratory, "not even Murgen ever got to lay his eyes on this."

"I think plenty of those Berserkers stared at the thing," Xander said dejected, "it's the only way they were able to pull those Saiyan moves I saw them do against me."

"Of course, of course," Shimrod said absentmindedly as he put the Axis on a table and looked it over from all angles, then he waved towards a chair, "why don't you have a seat while I examine this thing."

"I'd like to, Doc, but I think I broke something," Xander said pointing to his still splinted leg, "it kinda hurts when I sit down."

"Oh dear," Shimrod said as he turned around and looked Xander over, "now that you mention it, you do look kind of beaten up. Do you need help? Are you in pain?"

"Only when I breathe, Doc," Xander said deadpan, "only when I breathe. And when I sit down. Or stand up. Or lie down. Or walk."

"We can't have that now, can we," Shimrod said befuddled, then he walked over to a wall where a set of cords hung and he pulled one of them. Within seconds one of Shimrod's ethereal creatures appeared carrying a tray with a small box on it.

"You're in luck, my young friend," Shimrod said enthusiastically, like a collector about to show of his most prized collection piece as he took the box and opened it, "I got these a few years ago and they can cure any physical ailment."

To Xander's surprise Shimrod took a senzu bean out of the box.

"That's a…. that's a…. " Xander said speechless as he pointed to the bean in the mage's hand.

"So you have heard of these?" Shimrod chuckled enthusiastically, "Yes, magnificent aren't they? And quite rare. I'm told there is only bush in the whole world that produces these. And its crop varies from year to year. That this box contains a whole year's harvest?"

"That's a…. that's a…." Xander continued to utter as Shimrod dropped the bean in his hand.

"Would you believe I was once offered the GDP of a whole small country for one of these," Shimrod chuckled again as he closed the box and put it back on the tray carried by the ethereal creature, "of course I refused. What need do I have for money? Go ahead! Eat it!"

Xander stared at the bean in his hand. He didn't have the heart to tell Shimrod that it wasn't the first time he had a senzu. So he popped the bean in his mouth and bit down on it. No sooner had he swallowed the bean as his body tingled all over, and then the now familiar surge rushed like a tidal wave through his body, healing damaged tissue, repairing bones that had healed wrongly, taking away the pain that had been his constant companion since he had received the smack down at the hands of the Berserkers.

As the tingling feeling died down again Xander looked at his hand and balled it into a fist. While he did Shimrod cupped his chin and looked around.

"I feel like I'm overlooking something," he murmured absent-minded, "but what?"

"Let me give you a hint, Doc," Xander said somewhat sarcastically and tapped the sword on his back, "it's not a thing, it's a who."

Shimrod clasped his mouth in shock.

"Please, Xander, by the love of all that's good and holy, tell me she's alright."

Xander slowly shook his head, to Shimrod's horror.

"No," the mage moaned as he began to pace, "Not good, not good, this is not good."

"Well, how do you think I feel, Doc," Xander said pointing to himself, "I had to watch her die. She died in my arms and then she disintegrated. Why on Earth did you do a thing like that? She was no fighter. She was just a poor unfortunate girl."

Xander emphasized the last words, then he looked downwards dejected.

"We had no choice, Xander," Shimrod said, sounding quite dejected himself, "it was the only way we could do to save you."

"Then you should have let me die," Xander replied sullenly, "my life for hers, not a trade I would have made."

Shimrod gave Xander a weak smile.

"I think you forget the depth of her commitment towards you, my young friend. If I hadn't given her that body she would have gone into Tanjecterly as she was. She was that committed. By giving her that body I gave her at least a fighting chance."

Xander shook his head dejected. In the end it didn't matter much. It had happened. All that remained now was to tie up the loose ends.

"Can I see her body," he asked, "her real one?"

Shimrod nodded, stood up and gestured Xander to follow him.

"Come," he said mournfully as he walked to the stairs. Xander followed him as they went upstairs, then left into the hallway and through a door into what looked like a hospital room. There, lying on a bed, hooked up to a bag of IV fluid and with one of Shimrod's ethereal creatures in attendance was Angela's body.

It wasn't quite what Xander had expected. He walked over to her side and saw that her eyes were open. And to his surprise she looked at him. His eyes went wide in shock and before he knew what was happening he knelt by her bed and took her hand.

"Angela, sweetheart," he said teary-eyed, "it's me, Xander."

"Don't bother, she's not in there anymore" Shimrod said as he tried to take Xander's shoulder, but the teen shook himself loose to continue his ministrations. Shimrod took that as his cue to step back and let Xander live out his renewed grief. He nodded towards the ethereal creature and signaled it to leave. Then he let Xander prod Angela's body until the teen gave up and began to cry again. After a while Xander turned around and looked at Shimrod.

"I'm sorry, Xander," the mage said, "when I transferred her in the other body everything that made her who she was went into it. Her consciousness, her hopes and dreams….., her spirit. All that remained is this empty hulk."

"Don't call her that," Xander said choking, "she's alive. She reacts to what I'm saying, she looks at me."

"An earthworm also responds to outside stimuli, Xander," the mage said gently, "it doesn't mean it's conscious."

"So this is it?" Xander said shaking his head, "this is how she has to end out her life? Hooked on machines? Feeding through tubes?"

"It doesn't have to be like that," Shimrod said gently, "I could end it for…."

"Don't!" Xander hissed angry at the mage, "Don't even think that! All I want to hear coming from your mouth Doc is how you're going to fix her."

"I can't, I….," Shimrod said but Xander silenced him again.

"Positive thinking, Doc, I don't want to hear what you can't do, tell me what you can do."

Shimrod wanted to say something, then he thought better of it and reached for a set of chairs for the both of them.

"I take it she died in Tanjecterly?" he asked as he sat down, "tell me what happened. All of it."

Xander gave the magician a detailed account of what had happened. When Shimrod heard of how the Ferucca personality had taken over he looked shocked and surprised.

"Dear lord," he said, staring ahead blankly, "I had no…. you have to believe me, Xander, if I knew that would have happened I would never…. "

Xander said nothing and just looked at the mage.

"How could I've been so blind," the mage said shaking his head, "I should have known! Curse my poor grasp of magic. I'm just not as good as Murgen was. Had I been I could have done just with Angela's blood. Then Pozcatetl would have been the dominant personality and the only contribution Ferucca would have made would have been her body."

"An unfortunate series of events and circumstances, Doc," Xander replied, And you want to know the real kick? I'm used to it now. Curse of the Xandman. I am like cursed."

"I think if you had been the object of a curse I would have noticed," Shimrod said and pointed to parts unseen around Xander's body, "there would have been minute unnatural distortiae in your aura, especially the felis glandae and the fibulae tertia minoris."

"Then why do I feel cursed?" Xander countered, "It's like everybody I touch gets the curse of the Xander. My best friend Jesse? He gets turned into a vampire and I had to kill him. Buffy? I lied to her and she had to kill her boyfriend. Giles? He lost his job thanks to a scheme I willingly participated in. The Big Guy, driven into booze. The other Buffy? Well, she ran away, probably the smartest thing she ever did. And now her. I should have chased her away the moment we met. At least then she would still be alive."

"You couldn't have known," the mage said sympathetically, "not unless you have the gift of foresight. Which is a whole different burden in itself. It still doesn't mean you're cursed, my young friend."

Xander looked at Shimrod and sighed.

"You know, sometimes I feel like I'm in one of those Greek myths, Doc. You know those?"

Shimrod nodded.

"The Romans brought many things to the Elder Isles, including Greek literature, my young friend. Although I have to admit I only got around to reading them once they and the Elder Isles were gone."

"Those Gods are some sick fucks," Xander continued, "I mean, normal entertainment for them seems to involve playing a game of the Sims with us mortals. But they'd really go medieval on a mortal that dared piss one of them off. Sometimes I think I pissed off one of those Gods."

"In which case the question becomes, did you do something piss them off, Xander?" Shimrod asked deadpan.

"I screwed up a prophecy once, big time," Xander and held his hands apart to illustrate his point, "a certain girl was destined to die. You know, into every generation a girl is born to fight the forces of darkness and all that crap."

"The Slayer!" Shimrod said raising an eyebrow.

"The same," Xander nodded and continued, "well, let's just say I had the hots for her at the time and I wasn't going to take a prophecy as an excuse to sit back and do nothing like the rest. So I stepped in and saved her. Which ended up creating this odd imbalance of there suddenly being two Slayers."

"I see," Shimrod nodded and thought it over for a moment, "I can see why you think you are being punished. But the Olympian Gods don't affiliate with the Slayer. She's the domain of the Powers That Be."

"The who?" Xander said in surprise. Shimrod made a quick gesture with his hands, like he was warding off the evil eye.

"If it is the various demon lords and entities that try to invade our realm it is the Powers That Be that have fought them to a standstill and kept the Earth from being overrun with demons," he said, "Murgen once speculated that it was they who were behind the creation of the Slayerline and the Watchers, as they are part of their arsenal in the fight against the darkness."

"I hate them already," Xander snorted in disgust. Shimrod looked at the teen and began to chortle softly.

"What?" Xander said suspiciously.

"I don't think you're cursed at all," Shimrod chortled, "More that I think that by saving that Slayer and ruining that prophecy you signed up to become part of their plans."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Xander exclaimed but Shimrod shook his head.

"No, I'm dead serious," he said deadpan.

"Then unsign me," Xander said vehemently, "I'm not anyone's butt monkey but my own!"

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way," the mage replied, "once you're their tool the only way out is once you're dead and buried."

"Bastards!" Xander said angry and looked for something to pound his fist into. Since he couldn't find anything he just grimaced and cursed inward. Meanwhile Shimrod stood up.

"Look, Xander, there is little I can do for you now. Had she died in this celestial plane, who knows, now…. Maybe I should leave you alone for a …."

Xander reached out with a hand and grabbed the mage.

"Are you sure there is nothing you can do, Doc?" he said nodding towards Angela's body, "cause I know these things, I don't know if you've heard of them, but if you collect a certain group of balls you can call forth a dragon. And it can grant you some pretty big wishes. Even restore the dead."

"The Dragonballs," Shimrod said nodding, "I've heard of them. And no, my young friend, it won't do your friend any good. Angela's spirit did not die in this realm. The eternal dragon can't grant you where it cannot reach. Her soul is lost to us in this realm."

"But…."

Shimrod kneeled down in front of Xander and took his hands.

"Look, Xander. I won't say that there is no hope at all. Restoring her is just beyond my capabilities, or that of the eternal Dragon's."

Xander stood up.

"Then I'm going to find someone who can," he said solemnly, "There has to be somebody out there who can. And I am going to find that somebody."

"Don't," Shimrod said shaking his head, "I am not going to lie to you, my young friend. There could be someone or something that can help you. The knowledge may be out there. Know this, I will do my best to do whatever I can. That is my promise to you, my young friend. Promise me this in return. Whatever you do, do NOT go to the likes of Wolfram & Hart. I know they made you do things so you could get to me. Like they owed me a favor or something. When the truth is that I would seen you anyway. They lie, my young friend. When you ask them for a cure for Angela they will say they can. And who knows, they even might. They have means to their disposal that I don't. But they will exact a terrible price from you in return. They will end up owning you. You may even lose your own soul. And for what? Something they may not even have themselves. Don't go to them. Or to others like them. It would not be what she would have wanted. Her choice to sacrifice herself for you was her choice. Do not take that away from her. Will you promise me this?"

Xander looked at the mage, then at Angela, who was looking up to him, a little drool slipping down her mouth.

"I have to do what I have to do, Doc," he said, "I'm taking her with me."

"I can't let you do that, my young friend," Shimrod said resolutely, "not unless you promise me never to go to the likes of Wolfram & Hart."

"And how are you going to stop me?" Xander said, standing up to the mage and letting his power rise as a not so subtle reminder of what he could do."

"I am not without my own powers, my young friend," Shimrod said friendly yet firmly, "Yet again I appeal to your better judgment. Is this what she would have wanted from you?"

Xander didn't immediately reply, as a range of emotions raged through him. Then he let his head go down.

"Alright," he said sullenly.

"That's not good enough," Shimrod said shaking his head, "I want your promise, on her body that you will not do what I just said."

Xander looked at Angela, seemingly still holding the promise that she may recover at some point. Angela. Who had given so much and asked for so little. Even though she would have liked for something. Then he looked at Shimrod. The magician had offered his help and all he had to do was not go to the likes of Wolfram & Hart. Was that such a big promise to make? Especially considering they tricked him the last time?

"Alright," he said again, "you win Doc. No evil lawyers. I guess all they're good for is losing souls, not finding them."

Shimrod looked at Xander intently but he couldn't detect any lies coming from the teen.

"Good," he said patting Xander on the shoulder, "now, you can leave her with me. I will take good care of her and…."

"If you don't mind, Doc, I'd like to take her with me," Xander said as he interrupted the mage, "I owe her that at least."

"Are you sure?" Shimrod asked cautiously but Xander shook his head.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life, Doc."

x

x

A little later and Angela had been prepared for her journey with Xander, courtesy of the seemingly endless supply of ethereal creatures that inhabited Shimrod's homes. He was about to go off and looked for Shimrod to make his goodbye when the mage called to him from his basement laboratory.

"Xander, could you come here for a moment?"

Walking in the basement he found the mage hunched over the Axis of Pythia and the thing was glowing.

"Hey, it's glowing," he said surprised, "Ferucca said it had glowed for her but it never did for me."

"Before you go, don't you want to have a look at least?" Shimrod asked pointing at the Axis.

"Thanks, Doc, I'm no longer interested," Xander said shaking his head. Shimrod looked around and raised an eyebrow.

"I thought this is what you've wanted?" he asked surprised.

"Wants change, Doc," Xander replied. He wanted to turn around when the mage spoke again.

"I think you should have a look," Shimrod insisted, "I have found her."

That stopped Xander in his track..

"Already? That's fast, Doc," Xander said as he couldn't help himself and walked over to the glowing statuette. Shimrod gestured for him to sit down in front of it and look into the glowing Axis.

"Like I said before, my young friend, the problem wasn't in finding her," the mage said as he put a hand on Xander's shoulder, "it's getting through to her universe. With the right tools however, no job's too big."

"I'll take your word for it," Xander said, then he looked into the light.

He looked into the light for more then a minute. Then he swallowed deeply and got up and walked away.

"So that's what that spirit meant," he said, his voice choked, "Truths, past, present and future. Thanks, Doc, you were right. I should have seen this."

Xander got up and walked away.

"For what it's worth, Xander, I'm sorry," Shimrod called after him, "for everything."

"That's alright, Doc," Xander replied as he walked up the stairs that went out of Shimrod's basement, "She did warn me not to come after her. I should have listened and realized that nothing good ever comes from wishing for something."

"Know that I won't rest until I found a way to restore Angela," Shimrod said, reiterating his promise, "I'll devote any spare moment I have in doing so."

"I appreciate that, Doc, I really do," Xander said as he left the basement. It was time to go.

x

x

In another reality Buffy woke up and looked around the bedroom drowsily.

"Xander?" she said sleepily but there came no answer from the darkened bedroom. For a moment she felt something, something familiar, something very familiar, but now it was gone. It probably had been a dream.

"Something is wrong?" the man lying next to her in the bed asked. Damn he was a light sleeper! She patted him on the tattooed shoulder and put her head next to his and closed her eyes.

"Go back to sleep, Moe."

x

x

Carrying Angela's limp body Xander flew as fast as he could over Chihuahua province, then he crossed the Rio Grande and headed for the nearest city, El Paso. There he landed outside the hospital and carried her body inside the intensive care, causing quite the stir as he walked past several people. He would have created an even greater stir if one of Shimrod's ethereal creatures hadn't wrapped up Kahanthus in a leather casing so it wouldn't draw any attention.

"What's the problem," the attending nurse asked as she got up from behind her desk.

"You've got to help her," Xander said as the nurse briefly examined her face. Angela looked with interest at the nurse. New faces always seemed to draw her attention.

"What's wrong?" the nurse asked Angela. But she didn't respond and soon lost interest.

"What happened to her?" the nurse asked, "She doesn't respond. Can you tell me what happened?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I tried," Xander said shaking his head.

"We can't help her if you don't tell us," the nurse countered, but Xander just shook his head again.

"Just do whatever you guys do. It's a long shot anyway."

"Put her over there," the nurse said pointing to an empty bed and called for a doctor to come. Xander put her on the bed and waited by her side for a doctor to arrive.

"What happened?" the doctor said once he arrived on the scene.

"The patient was brought in by this young man and she's in a coma," the nurse explained as the doctor began his examination, "I couldn't find any clear cause, nor did I receive any explanation. She seems awake but she doesn't respond. All she does is look. If I didn't know any better I'd say she's like an infant."

"Strange," the doctor said as he perused the sides of Angela's head, much to her interest, then he looked at Xander, "there doesn't appear to be any head trauma. What happened to her?"

Xander shrugged.

"Like I told the nurse here, you wouldn't believe me if I tried."

"Try anyway young man," the doctor said sternly, "If you don't I'm forced to call the police."

For a moment Xander didn't know what to say. Back in Sunnydale whenever they had gone to the hospital they usually made up a story. Gangs on PCP usually did the trick. Either the doctors accepted that explanation or, and that was something Xander had begun to suspect, they accepted it as something that was understood but which was never said aloud.

But that was in Sunnydale. He didn't know what to say here. In El Paso gangs on PCP may not fly. Nor was Angela suffering from any physical injury he could think off. She basically wasn't there at all, only her body was.

"I'm not sure what to say," Xander said hesitantly as he began to scratch the back of his head while the doctor continued to look at him.

For a moment the doctor didn't know what to say either. Normally people who were hesitant to tell what had happened were usually trying to cover things up. And usually it was their own involvement. Over the years he had gotten quite good at ferreting those people out. The teen before him didn't look like he was trying to cover something up. Something else was going on here.

"Look, kid, I can't help her if I don't know what's happened to her," he said pointing towards Angela. In response Xander bit his lip and looked downwards.

"I guess it all boils down to what you believe, doc," Xander eventually replied.

"That's not an answer, young man," the doctor answered somewhat surprised.

"Oh, more then you think, doc," Xander said nodding, "it's the defining question, really."

"You're not making any sense yourself, young man," the doctor began to ask worried, "were you two involved in some kind of accident together? Was she exposed to anything"

Then Xander reached out and took the doctor's hand in an iron grip.

"Magic's real, doc," Xander said deadpan, "it's as real as the air you're breathing. A magician took what made her who she was and put it into another body. And that body got killed. Before he had a chance to put her back. And now she's gone and this is all that's left of her."

For a moment the doctor looked wide-eyed at Xander. Then he yanked his hand free.

"You're not making any sense, young man," he said as he made a step backwards.

"That's alright doc," Xander said as he turned towards Angela and caressed her hair, "I wasn't having much hope you'd believe me anyway. Or that you could help. But I had to try it. Just do whatever you can."

After that the doctor stopped asking him questions and focused his examination on Angela instead. Since he couldn't find anything that might explain her condition he ordered she be admitted and be moved to a bed in the intensive care ward. Xander followed suite and positioned himself against a wall in her room as more doctors and staff were brought in to help explain her condition.

But no matter what they did they couldn't determine what happened to her or why she responded with her eyes yet seemed so absent in mind. She didn't require a hook up to life support machinery to keep her alive, she just didn't respond beyond looking to any stimuli nor did she show any brain activity when she was hooked up to a scanner.

It was when they were at a loss and ordered for a CAT scan when suddenly the door to Angela's room opened and a group of armed soldiers burst in, their guns at the ready.

"FREEZE!"

x

x

Cue dramatic music

x

bTime/b

Anastacia, Album: Anastacia

Lyrics by: (you guessed it) Anastacia

Time keeps running away no matter what's left behind it keeps on moving

Oh time, time

They say timing, is everything, but nothing you control

Cause there's always, tomorrow, but tomorrow never knows

Its one day at a

Time keeps running away no matter what's left behind it keeps on moving

Tomorrow's not in today and all of your yesterdays are only a matter of time

Time

Every journey, of a lifetime, will begin with one step

When you're climbing up that mountain, it's so easy to forget

It's one step it up

Time keeps running away no matter what's left behind it keeps on moving

Tomorrow's not in today and all of your yesterdays are only a matter of

Time keeps running away no matter what's left behind it keeps on moving

Tomorrow's not in today and all of your yesterdays are only a matter of

Time, oh time

I said now,

Time keeps running away no matter what's left behind it keeps on moving

Tomorrow's not in today and all of your yesterdays, your yesterday

Time keeps running away

I said tomorrow's not in today and all of your yesterdays are only a matter of

Time ,time

Your yesterdays are only a matter of time