Chapter 4: Undercover

Author's Notes: In this chapter... Something nasty is going to happen "off-screen" that'll affect a few characters. Just to warn you.

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"Broly, Mirage, I've been commissioned to build something for some 'contacts'. In the meantime, I'm sending you on an under-cover mission to become familiar with your foes. Be careful."

Broly's eyes scanned the streets that lay before him. He was curious. He had no idea as to what the city was like, but he could tell that a man at his stature was rather unusual, due to the looks that passers-by gave him. He decided to ignore them, on Mirage's advice.

The pair soon reached a huge and uniquely designed complex, which was obviously Chaos Combination's headquarters. Broly was rather impressed. However, the next surprise, he didn't see coming. "Who are you…? A Sayian?"

Broly turned to the side, to see Vegeta approaching. He kept his cool, and nodded. "Yes, I am. My name is Broly."

Vegeta's expression changed to one of shock. "Oh… Impossible! So… You survived the destruction of our home planet?"

Broly, in response, used his cover story. "Apparently. I cannot remember how."

Vegeta suddenly grinned. "I see… I am Vegeta, prince of all Sayians! Well, this'll be an interesting re-union. I'll fetch Kakarot for you!"

Obviously, Vegeta had been fooled by the lie that Broly had just told him. But… Re-union? What was he talking about? Vegeta activated his communicator. "Kakarot, I have something urgent to show you. Just-"

Suddenly, Goku appeared near him, holding his fingers to his head. "Hi, Vegeta. You just caught me right after lunch! What is it-Oh, hello!"

To Broly, Goku looked to be a friendly sort, in contrast to Vegeta, who spoke. "This is Broly, another survivor of planet Vegeta's destruction. You two might not remember, but I heard your pods were both beside each other when you were babies!"

Goku and Broly looked rather shocked at this revelation. Vegeta continued, laughing, "I even heard that you, Kakarot, were crying to the point that Broly here got upset!"

Broly and Goku looked at each other in the eyes. Broly realised why Goku was so familiar. The crying in his dreams… It was Goku! However, Goku surprised him with a smile. "Broly… I know it's behind us, but sorry about that. Nice to meet you! You CAN call me Kakarot if you want, but I prefer to be referred to by the name 'Son Goku'."

He… Apologized? Broly chuckled. "It's no big deal, Goku. It's a pleasure to meet you, too."

They shook hands. However, Mirage interrupted, looking rather impatient, but trying to not give herself away. "Excuse me if I'm interrupting anything, but I haven't been introduced yet. I am Project Mirage."

Goku asked, "Project? Like… Shadow?"

"Yes. I was created on the ARK alongside him."

"And... Why are you with Broly here?"

"We crossed paths on our travels, but then started traveling together."

Goku smiled, and motioned for Broly and Mirage to follow him. "Well... Come on in. I'll give you guys a tour of the place!"

For Broly, this was just too easy. Not long after the pair moved in, they found themselves heading towards the conference room. A voice sounded. "We've got a situation around the island where the Jeweled Scepter is hidden. Sonic and Blaze will check it out. I should also note that Luffy and crew have somehow ended up sailing through a portal that took 'em over there, so help them out as well, eh? The other situation is at White Forest. Doc Kliener and Doc Magnusson have decoded the message the Combine was sending. It's co-ordinates for the Combine Overworld. They've built a rocket to kill the portal over the ruins of City 17. However, we need people over there to protect the rocket if there's a chance of Striders trying to get at it. Also... The Rabbids are back, and they're preparing an invasion of Earth. Funny thing is... They're hiding out in a shopping mall."

Barney was making his instructions clear and concise, speaking like a true leader. He suddenly noticed Broly and Mirage. "Hey, Goku! Brought some guests?"

Shadow crossed his arms, as he looked at Mirage, and emerged from the crowd. He could sense her blood, the Chaos power in her. "Who are you?"

Mirage stared the one she was created to kill straight in the eyes. "I am Project 119.14, Codename Mirage. I was created on the ARK alongside you… To destroy you in case you ever went out of control."

A lot of people around were whispering among themselves. Broly decided to kill the discussion. "My name is Broly. I am another survivor of the destruction of planet Vegeta. Goku and I kinda go back quite a bit."

"Cool! We've got two re-unions at the same time!"

Unexpectedly, Broly found Arioso getting a piggy-back ride on him. Mirage scoffed. The kid was a machine, for him to have feelings like that just seemed so… Unnatural. But Broly didn't mind, he even chuckled at the surprise. As Arioso hopped off, Broly suddenly sensed something behind him, he turned around, fired a ki shot, and warned, "MOVE!"

Everyone took cover. The red and black robot that had came in avoided the shot, and armed twin machine-guns from his hands. Broly dashed out of the way of the incoming fire, and dashed at the robot. The attacker armed his normal hands, and locked hands with the Sayian. They broke away, and the pair started going at each other with their fists. The robot, after dealing and taking a few hits, jumped back, and fired his machine-guns once more. "OPPONENT IDENTIFIED AS – SAYIAN WARRIOR. FULL-ON ASSUALT INITIATED."

"Omega, ENOUGH!"

Broly shielded his face, as bullets pierced his skin barely, sometimes even bouncing off. Shadow's voice made 'Omega' stop in place. "STAY OUT OF MY WAY. MY TARGET IS DOCTOR EGGMAN."

Eggman groaned, "Oh, dear… He's still angry over me de-activating him. Omega, I apologize for what I did! I was a fool to underestimate your power!"

Omega took a second to recognize the apology. He then suddenly disarmed. "APOLOGY RELUCTANTLY ACCEPTED."

A series of sighs of relief echoed across the room, as Mario suddenly came up, and checked Broly's wounds. "Very-a impressive! Any normal human would-a have been shredded in seconds. Removing these bullets by hand should be an easy task, followed up by a senzu bean…"

Mario suddenly pulled out, and put on, a rubber glove, and began making short work of removing the barely-stuck in bullets from Broly's skin. After that, he handed Broly a senzu bean, which the saiyan ate. "I heard you were a plumber, not a doctor."

"Oh, I have-a many occupations. Before I became a plumber, I-a was a carpenter. I even hand-crafted some of the furniture around here. I also-a am a doctor, as you have already noticed, an archaeologist, a toy maker, a professional athlete-"

Mirage interrupted, with a rather annoyed tone. "We can tell that you're multi-talented, already."

Arioso rolled his eyes at this. "Talk about attitude!"

Shadow nodded to Eggman, and they left the room together. Around the corner, Shadow whispered, "I have my doubts about those two. Was there any record on the ARK of 'Mirage'?"

"Not to my knowledge. I'll look into it. But it does seem very suspicious, I agree. Another Project, as well another Saiyan survivor, appearing at the same time? Can't be a coincidence. But we can't go making accusations at this point."

Mirage suddenly noticed something out the window. Two figures, one looked like a hedgehog, the other, who seemed to be giving chase, looked somewhat humanoid. "Excuse me."

She suddenly dashed out, Broly following. Shadow had noticed the two figures as well. "Should we pursue?"

Eggman looked around. "And I can't help but feel someone is missing..."

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Soon enough, Broly stopped Mirage in an alleyway, grabbing her shoulder. "Look, I think it was a bad idea for us to come. I noticed Shadow and Eggman sneak around a corner, they must have been talking. I think we might be a little too suspicious."

Mirage shook him off. "Broly, I'm not much of an actor, believe me. Blame the screwed up personality that Nega gave me. You go back, I'll investigate."

Broly nodded, and dashed away. As soon as he was gone, Mirage crossed her arms, and spoke. "How long have you been there?"

Trilby emerged from the shadows, wearing his old grey pinstripe which he used to wear in his days as a thief. "I'm impressed. It's going to be hard to get past you. I heard everything. Nega... You mean Eggman Nega?"

Mirage sighed. Her cover had been blown. However, what Trilby said surprised her. "What I heard is practically useless without evidence, however. You'd better be on your guard, because in a while... We might just uncover the whole truth, whatever it is."

Trilby suddenly pulled out a smoke bomb, and threw it to the ground, completely veiling Mirage's eyesight. When the smoke cleared, Trilby was gone. Mirage turned around, and dashed in the direction of the pair that she was pursuing. She never liked the look of Trilby, and now she was starting to dislike him even more. Her little 'trip' took her past the city, and into the countryside, as she kept up with the pair. The chase went on for a while, and Mirage had lost count of how much time she had spent in pursuit…

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As Broly got back to the HQ, he noticed Trilby show up. "Sorry about that, I was busy."

The thief walked up next to Eggman, and was quick to whisper in his ear, "Nega."

Eggman perfectly knew what this meant, luckily, he was able to hide his suspicions. Broly apologized himself, "I'm sure Mirage will be back. Well, I am glad to have met all of you."

Goku slapped him on the shoulder, laughing. "Hey, a fellow Saiyan who isn't inclined to destroy everything is a good guy in my book! Feel like a spar, sometime?"

Broly nodded. "I'd like that."

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"Dammit, stop following me!"

Mirage hid behind a rock, as the pair she had been pursuing stopped. The green hedgehog turned around, pointing at the surreal, jester-like character that stood a meter away. The jester chuckled, as he answered, "That's better. All I want, is to give you advice. Prince Ashura…"

Ashura growled, as he stood his ground. "But first, who are you?"

"I am Dimentio, master of dimensions. Beyond that, my identity is not important. What matters is, that you seek out the Twilight Emeralds."

"The Twilight Emeralds? Those things are myth, nothing more."

"Wrong, young Prince. All those signs you've been following are leading you to them. Keep going, and you'll discover wonders beyond your imagination! Oh, it makes me giddy like a schoolgirl thinking about it!"

"Whatever. Just… Stay out of my way, okay?"

Ashura suddenly created a portal, which he dashed through, disappearing. Dimentio had a smile on his face, as he suddenly announced, "It's safe to come out, Mirage. Do not worry, I am an ally of your master, an in turn, an ally of yours."

Mirage emerged from behind the rock, annoyed. "Well, since 'Ashura' has disappeared, I'll make my leave as well."

She prepared to leave, but Dimentio hovered over in front of her, blocking her. "No, no! Before we part, I need to inform you, as an ally, something very important. Chaos Combination is but no danger to you, in comparison to your fellow Project."

Mirage raised an eyebrow. "Broly? He wouldn't rebel against Nega. He couldn't."

"Oh, not while sane, at least. You see, Broly has two sides to him. First up, is the more positive person you know has 'Project Legend'. The real 'Broly', brought back from an infant death, is quite insane, and quite naturally, the two will have to fight for control over the body. If 'Broly' wins… Not even you can defeat him."

Mirage scoffed at this notion. "What would make Broly so powerful as to be unstoppable?"

Dimentio chuckled, as he explained, "Project Legendary… Such an interesting name, no? Broly is one of a kind. He is part of a class of fighters that are in a league of their own. These fighters have two of three attributes – power, speed, and endurance. When he attains this level of power, Broly will have the first and third of these qualities. Oh, dear, have I said too much? Oh, well. Like it'll help your chances when he goes nuts."

Dimentio suddenly began to disappear. "I will no longer bother you, Mirage. Thank you for your patience… Heheheheh… Ciao!"

The warp looked as if Dimentio was affecting the very fabric of space and time, Mirage, relieved that the jester was finally out of her way, began making her way back to the city… Unaware that someone was watching her.

A voice called out to Mirage, coming from the top of a large rock, "What would a girl like you be doing all the way out here?"

Mirage turned around, "Who said that?" she called out, "Show your face!"

She could hear a chuckle, before a figure landed at the foot of a nearby rock. Mirage could see the headfins, and the dark brown karate gi covering the armour underneath. "You didn't answer my question you know," he remarked.

"The correct term is woman," Mirage replied, her voice as clipped and precise as ever. She narrowed her eyes, "Wait... you are Bass!"

"Oh, so you know who I am, then... Indeed, I am Bass 'Wily', Doctor Wily's greatest creation and the student of the legendary warrior, Akuma." Bass smiled, before raising an eyebrow, "Who are you, though?"

"I am Project 119.14, Codename Mirage," Mirage replied curtly, "I was made on ARK and my sole purpose for existing is to destroy that which threatens the greater good."

Bass shrugged, chuckling again. "I don't know about the 'greater good', as you put it, but... My goal in life is to be the strongest of warriors. That is why I became Akuma's student... You were made on the ARK? Like Shadow? I didn't know there were other projects that had been made up there to accompany Shadow..."

"I was made to destroy him," Mirage replied. The complete lack of emotion in her eyes as she informed him of that would have given any normal person the willies, "Now, I do not have the time to converse with mere robots. Good day to you, sir." She turned to walk away from him.

"WAIT!" Bass yelled, curious. "Made to destroy Shadow, eh? I never got the chance to fight Shadow himself, but... Before you leave, I wish to test your abilities." He got into the normal Ansatsuken fighting stance, before warning her, "I do not fight with Chaos... I fight with Hadou."

"I decline, I do not have the time to play games with the likes of you, Bass," Mirage waved her hand at him, "I do not fight for fun, robot."

"Fun? I fight to become stronger!" Then, Bass had performed an Ashura Warp, appearing right in front of Mirage, grinning. "I do not take no for an answer!" He then attacked with a Gou Hadouken projectile.

Mirage narrowed her eyes, "Chaos Shield!" she shouted, and a glowing green bubble surrounded her, deflecting the fireball, "Pathetic," she said scornfully, as her shield faded again, "I only fight when it is necessary, Bass. Do not make it necessary for me to kill you."

Bass laughed, clearing enjoying her resistance. "Oh, really... It won't be as easy as you think!" Immediately, he preformed a triple jumping uppercut combo A Messatsu Gou Shoryuken, trying to keep Mirage on her toes.

Mirage somersaulted backwards, catching Bass a kick in the face as she did so, "Chaos... TEMPEST!" she shouted. Something that looked like a green energy bolt arced from her outstretched hand towards Bass. If it connected, he would die, quickly and painfully.

Bass quickly acted, teleporting away... And seconds later, coming down on Mirage with a chop from above.

"Ugh!" Mirage was knocked forward, but she took it into a forward roll, and turned with a high-kick aimed straight at Bass' chest. It knocked him back a few paces, and her claws slid out of her fingers. She aimed a slash right at his eyes.

"Oh, sharp ones, nice..." Bass remarked as he ducked her slash, and grabbed her by the arm, turning around, and using an over-arm toss to send her into the air. He then attacked with an even more powerful fireball, using her position in the air to his advantage. "Messatsu... Gou Hadouken!"

"Chaos Shield!" Mirage shouted, as she landed on her feet. The fact was that you could fire a nuclear warhead at a Chaos Shield and it wouldn't get through. But it did knock both her and the shield backwards several paces, and she scored a shallow trench in the ground. She straightened up again, "What is the point of this fight?" she growled at Bass, "I have nothing you require."

"I fight to become stronger, that is all that matters to me... And beating my greatest rival." Bass answered firmly, before he dashed at Mirage. He was circling her, keeping her on her toes. And suddenly, he stopped, right arm raised into the air, eyes closed, "That was nothing compared to THIS!"

He then slammed his fist straight into the ground, creating a huge wave of flames. The punch itself could crack Ayer's Rock in two.

And yet, it had no effect on the Chaos Shield that Mirage put up to block it. But he could see she was sweating slightly. It wasn't the effort of keeping things out; it was the effort of putting the shield up in the first place; it drained her of a lot of energy, "That is a foolish reason to fight," she sneered magnificently, "Do you expect me to just... give up?" She spread her arms wide, and the rocks behind Bass began to crumble on top of him.

"No, but I do expect you to exhaust yourself!" Another uppercut strike got him out of the rocks, and he was still smiling. He leapt into the air, and fired off two single-handed fireballs, intent on wearing Mirage down.

Mirage put up a Chaos Shield to deflect them without even thinking about how much energy she was using. The first one went into the sky, but the second was deflected towards Bass.

Bass used his arms to block the full force of his own projectile, and formed his buster gun on his right hand. Firing a few plasma shots, then a fully-charged blast, he knew that Mirage would lose her energy sooner or later; it was only a matter of time.

Panting, Mirage realised that she couldn't go on using the Chaos Shield like this, but likewise, she couldn't give up, "What do you want, damn you?!" she shouted at Bass.

"I want to see how long you can last... Because I think I've found your weakness," Bass replied, still firing off assorted projectiles at her, before he decided to go for another big strike. He dashed at Mirage, and preformed a kick on her shield that was enough to smash a ship in half. And he wasn't showing signs of losing his energy. One perk of being a machine, was that one couldn't get tired.

Mirage gritted her teeth, anger in her eyes. She spun on one heel and kicked him in the chest, then continued her attack, fast and fierce. Despite the lack of specialist training, she was immensely strong and agile.

Bass responded by performing a backflip, before he whistled. A purple wolf-bot appeared beside him, growling at Mirage. "You haven't seen half of what I can do! TREBLE BOOST!" Bass leapt into the air, the wolf getting onto his back, and creating a flash. When it subsided, Bass was hovering in midair, covered in a special purple armour, as well as a purple aura surrounding him. He then muttered, "Misogi..." before suddenly disappearing. Once more, he had teleported above Mirage, attempting to chop at her, but this time, with the same power of the punch he had used to create the fire wave from before. And he was quick enough for only someone with a split-second reaction time to avoid...

Fortunately, being related by blood to the Ultimate Lifeform, a split-second was more than enough for Mirage, "So, you need to call on your friends to bring down a feeble woman," she hissed, and slid easily into a fighting stance, "Chaos DRAIN!"

Bass lost his Treble Boost, and watched, bemused, as all the surplus energy in the general area was concentrated into the palm of Mirage's hand. She twitched one finger, and a stream of Chaos Energy flew towards him, wrapping around his legs and neck.

Bass choked slightly as the long stream tried to break him in two, "Funny... I was saving my full power as a treat for you, since you've held on for so long. Messatsu... Gou Rasen!" As soon as he said that, he used the full force of his ki to perform several spin kicks in the air, spinning upwards like a tornado, tearing away the Chaos Energy around him.

"Impossible!" Mirage shouted, and twitched her hands again. The Chaos Energy reformed into a rope and wrapped around his neck, "You are dead!"

Bass landed, making his next move. "Sorry, you just made yourself open from my finisher! Shun Goku Satsu!" He roared, as he glided towards Mirage, quickly grabbing her. "Too late." One flash. Fifteen hits. Normally, this move would kill the opponent, but Bass knew that he'd need every punch to take something as durable and persistent as Mirage down. This time, he wasn't using demons.

The final hit knocked Mirage flying. She staggered back to her feet, blood tricking from her forehead and lips, "I... cannot just give up!" she growled at him. She straightened up, "And I have had it with you!" She charged at him, claws outstretched. Just before she got into range, she leapt and aimed a kick at his face.

Bass smiled, as his back turned to Mirage, and he felt the Kanji for 'Heaven' burning on his back... Then, he swiftly turned around, and countered with the perfect anti-air attack. "Metsu Shoryuken!" he roared, as his jumping uppercut flowing with the ki that made the Shoryuken seem near-invincible...

Mirage was knocked back again with the force of the punch. Once again she skidded in the dirt. Gasping, she started to rise again, making it to her feet with much more difficulty this time. She could no more give up the fight than humans could breathe water. She faced Bass again, dark blood running down her face and chest, gritted her teeth, and staggered forward to attack - or die trying.

Bass laughed, as he made a burst of ki from his right hand that imitated Dan Hibiki's Gadoken attack, except slightly more powerful. It would feel like a slap to the face, from Mirage's point of view. Literally, in fact.

Mirage gasped and staggered, but continued towards him, "Nobody… but nobody…" she snarled, more like an animal than a person. Bass grinned like a maniac, and slammed his fist into her chest, knocking her down.

Shaking, she managed to get back onto her hands and knees, "I will not... just... give up..." she hissed at him, her quills falling forward and casting her face into shadow.

"Good," Bass chuckled, before walking over, and pushing Mirage back down onto the ground with his foot. Whistling, he grabbed Mirage by her left arm, dragging her all the way to the nearby stream, and dunked her head in it to wash the blood off her face, "Face it, you've lost. Now... What am I to do with you?" he muttered, before turning her over onto her back. After looking her over, he seemed to be having thoughts which were even more obvious when he started to take Mirage's vest off.

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Broly had long been concerned as to why Mirage had not returned. As good as his time was with his 'enemies', he knew Mirage and he would probably have to get back to Nega soon. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

When he had the opportunity, he spoke. "I apologize, but Mirage hasn't returned yet, and we really must be going. I'll go find her. Thanks…"

Goku grinned. "Hey, no problem. If you want to come back, you're always welcome!"

"Thank you, Goku. I shall bid you all farewell."

He left the building, and zoomed off, flying into the distance. He knew the general direction Mirage had gone. Getting there was an easy task, due to the speed of his flight. Soon enough, he saw two figures in the distance. One, he could recognize as Mirage, the other as Bass. Something was even more wrong. What was Bass doing…?

"Oh, God…"

Broly was looking on in horror and disgust, as he rushed to the scene as fast as possible… To him, Bass was as good as dead.

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Bass suddenly looked to the side, and he was sent crashing over to the over side of the stream, much to his shock. A familiar Sayian man stood next to Mirage, and he looked very pissed off.

"You... MONSTER! I will tear you apart for what you've done to her!" Broly roared, as Bass got up.

"Oh, HELL. I'm outta here..." Bass, sensing Project Legend's incredible power, quickly teleported away.

Mirage turned her face, "Broly..." she gasped, "You... are too late..." With that, to Broly's amazement, she began to get up, despite the fact that she was clearly in no state to even try.

Broly sighed, as he picked up Mirage's vest, and then picked her up as well. He wanted to go after Bass and tear him a new everything, but right now, getting Mirage some medical care was important, "Please, don't exert yourself. The doctor will help you... I'm sorry for not getting here sooner." With that, he took off, flying towards Eggman Nega's laboratory.

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As soon as Eggman felt it was safe, he announced. "My friends… It appears we may have been deceived. When both Mirage and Broly had gone outside, Trilby had overheard a conversation. Apparently… They're affiliated with someone called 'Nega'. It's possible that this 'Nega' is my alternate, Dr. Eggman Nega."

Blaze growled. "Nega… I had a feeling that Mirage girl was acting strange."

Shadow smirked. "I knew it. Nice work, Trilby."

Trilby tipped his hat, a sly grin on his face emerged. "Gathering intelligence is a skill I picked up in my thief days. Snatching up information to blackmail ProtoCorp with was easy."

Goku crossed his arms. "I don't know about Broly, though…"

Eggman nodded. "He's either a very good actor, or he's actually friendly, though misguided. We won't know for sure, until we know more."

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Mirage tried to focus on what always kept her stable - the part of her personality that always knew exactly what to do because she was always calm and logical... and she soon knew who was to blame for this. She didn't usually show emotion in her job, but wasting Wily's stringy ass was going to be a real pleasure... she smiled weakly, just before passing out.

Broly's mind was concentrated on the guilt he felt for not being able to save the only friend he knew. He didn't care about revenge at the moment, only to see that Mirage would be okay.

As he set foot in the lab, Eggman Nega looked in shock. "My, what happened to Mirage?"

"She was raped... By Bass," Broly groaned, "Don't ask how."

Nega nodded, as he lead them to the medical room. Broly lay Mirage down on a table, while Nega prepared a special healing chamber. As Broly looked down at his unconscious and molested friend, he could only think one word - Why?

To Be Continued

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Author's Notes: ZOMG. Yeah… The world isn't just some happy-go-lucky place where really nasty stuff can't happen, you know, and I'd prefer to cement that into the minds of the readers. Besides, it serves for some really interesting plot implications later. The Satsui No Hadou can do some nasty shit to the user and his/her victims…