I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.

Chapter 77: The Mission

Verto landed on a nearby rooftop, carefully looking the SHARC building over as patrols swarmed the grounds. The structure had taken some damage during the incident, though most of it was inside and below ground level. He considered using the tunnel that he had made himself, but it had been partially filled in from the top. He was just about to blast through the armor plating when he spotted someone familiar below. Upon descending, he found Sonny Satsu directing instructions to an armed forces group dressed in camouflage.

"You and you sweep the top twenty floors. You and you take care of the lobby and above to level thirty. I'll lead the rest through the sub-levels. If you see any strange contacts, report them immediately! If they run at you, shoot first and aim for the head! Let's go!" Sonny ordered. Just as he finished, Verto landed nearby, startling all of the guardsmen.

"Great timing as always, thanks for the other day," Sonny said.

"It's what I do. You think I could get in there for a few minutes before you guys sweep through?" Verto asked.

"No way, you'll just contaminate the scene!" one of the marines claimed.

"Why?" Sonny asked.

"We left something behind during all of the chaos. I only need that particular non-mechanical item."

Sonny looked thoughtful, "You have ten minutes. Feel free to cut down any nasty surprises. And let Miss Briefs know that I'll be contacting her in order to thank her in person."

Verto nodded and went inside as one of the soldiers argued, "He's just a kid!"

"Just a kid? Are you kidding me?" Sonny laughed. Verto rolled his eyes and proceeded inside. He kept alert but sensed nothing as he approached the elevator shaft he had cut open a few days earlier. Dark, quiet depths awaited him below, yet there was nothing. With the power off, it made the building even creepier than before, even with the apparent lack of activity. Verto made his way to the secret staircase with his eyes alone as he carefully stepped through the corridors, not wanting to be ambushed. Nothing felt unusual to him, despite the lack of lighting. Even the emergency lights were out and as tempted as he was to use his energy to see clearly, he didn't trust the shadows. He found the breached passageway soon enough and proceeded down to the lab, passing through the tunnel with no problem. Once he reached the dark lab, he turned on the radar and found the orange ball in a far corner under some rubble. Well, that was simple. Just as he breathed easier, his senses picked up a power signal on the surface, one that he did not recognize. Who is that? It feels like a Psionic signal, but it also feels like a human ki. That can't be right. Guess I better check this out.

Verto came out of the SHARC building and rounded the corner when spotted a tall brown haired teenager wearing a blue suit. He was stumbling around slightly and looked very confused. Sonny Satsu and the other marines were trying to ignore him, but the amount of noise he was creating made that difficult.

"Yukina! Yukina!" he called out repeatedly.

"What's with that guy?" Verto asked.

"Not sure, he just showed up a little while ago shouting for some girl that probably isn't even here. Looks like just a drunk idiot," Sonny replied.

"Well, I'll handle this. I sense a decent amount of energy coming from him. Don't judge based on looks alone," Verto suggested as he quickly walked towards the newcomer. He wanted to know everything he possibly could about another human with potential psychic powers. These mutations are starting to get a little out of hand, and I don't recall ever seeing this guy before. The stranger stopped in mid-shout and turned around, staring directly at Verto as if he could sense his presence. If he can control his power, I shouldn't be surprised. I probably just triggered an alarm in the back of his mind. He looked very nervous when Verto stepped towards him. He had obviously sensed at least a portion of the younger fighter's power. Verto sensed fear dripping off of him, followed by a sudden surge of false confidence.

"Hey punk! Don't you know who you're tailing? No one dares cross paths with the Mighty Kuwabara! The Warrior of Love!" he said.

Huh? Verto thought as he stared back blankly.

"What's wrong kid? You look scared, you better run along!" Kuwabara suggested.

"That had to be the worst introduction I've ever heard. Even Saiyaman could do better," Verto grinned slightly.

"Who's that, some sort of demon? I bet he's the one who stole my Yukina away from me! Where is he at punk, I'll save the day!" he declared.

Verto grimaced, Okay, apparently I'm dealing with a crazy drunk, or a complete moron. I suppose I can test his skills now though if he believes he's a hero. Now to come up with a good enough amount of motivation.

"So, I take it Yukina is your girlfriend?" Verto asked.

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend. And I'll fight for her any time anywhere!"

Verto chuckled, Oh yeah, definitely the type of headstrong moron that's easy to fool.

"I was just wondering what her name was. Saiyaman never told me when he mentioned a kidnapping the other day. I assume that must have been her I saw bound to the bed, ready to be taken," Verto lied carefully. It worked nicely, as Kuwabara went into a fit of rage almost immediately.

"How dare you, creepy kid! Take me to him, I'll teach that punk a lesson!" he shouted.

"I'll do that, if you can defeat me in a battle!" Verto challenged.

"I'm not above tearing up a few little punks. Let's do this outside of town, I don't want these people to see what I do to you! Prepare to fall to the warrior of love!" Kuwabara declared. For the first time in awhile, Verto actually struggled to keep from laughing at this, but others nearby could not help themselves.

"What's so funny?" Kuwabara shouted at the crowd that had formed.

"Is this guy serious kid?" Sonny asked.

"They are probably laughing because they know you can't beat someone like me, but I'll humor you and take this dispute out of their view so you're not completely embarrassed. Let's go!" Verto said as he turned and walked quickly towards the outskirts of town. Kuwabara followed with a large scowl on his face. As Kuwabara walked behind him, Verto intentionally emitted a few small bursts of both ki and Psi energy, just to test his senses. After a few silent minutes, Verto finally turned and walked backwards so he could talk face to face.

"So, Kuwabara is it? Why the long face?"

"Well, I can't figure you out kid. One minute I'm sensing Spirit Energy from you, and the next I'm sensing really strong life energy or something. What are you, some sort of hybrid like Urameshi?" Verto's eyebrow lifted in question, but answered to the best of his ability considering what facts he had so far.

"What you may have sensed was my Ki, which is life energy. You have it to, but you don't seem very adept at handling it judging by what I've sensed from you so far, though you may not have all that much to use. Not sure about your Psionic power yet, it seems strong enough," Verto explained as they reached the edge of town.

"I guess that makes sense, I must not be used to my energy being so strong. Wait a second! You can sense energy too?" he asked.

"Was one of my first lessons, actually. As I was saying, I don't sense much of a ki signal from you, but the amount of Psi energy you have is unmistakable," Verto admitted.

"Psi energy, oh you mean my spirit energy?" Kuwabara asked again.

"Whatever you want to call it, it's the same thing. I'd say we are far enough away, let's get this started," Verto said as they entered a calm field with short grass.

"You don't seem very evil like a demon either, unless you are trying to trick me!" Kuwabara said as he took up position about ten feet away.

"I have my moments, guess you'll find out on your own," Verto replied coolly. He was struggling not to be too confident, but it was difficult knowing that this teenager Kuwabara did not have a chance against him in a straight on fight.

"I'm not gonna go easy on you kid!" Kuwabara warned.

"Bring it on goofy," Verto chuckled. Kuwabara charged forward slowly with a punch drawn back. Verto waited till the last moment to dodge, only moving his head aside. Kuwabara tried again with the other arm, but swung clumsily and missed when Verto dodged again. A few more attempts with a kick or two thrown in passed by, and Verto came away unimpressed. Kuwabara was almost as slow as a normal human would be, though the effort behind his punches was certainly stronger than normal. Verto finally caught the last punch with his hand easily, before turning slightly and throwing Kuwabara to the ground.

"Man, this kid is fast!" Kuwabara muttered as he recovered.

"You have no idea how fast I can be," Verto said as he suddenly phased out and reappeared behind Kuwabara. He took a second to react before Verto kicked him very lightly, putting his face in the dirt again.

"You won't beat me by brawling, I had a few of the best teachers when it comes to that. Not to mention it's in my blood," Verto suggested as his opponent got up again.

"All right then! You have forced me to unveil my super secret weapon!" Kuwabara declared as his hand started to glow with Psi energy.

Verto shook his head, "About time, get on with it."

"Spirit…Sword!" he shouted as a long orange blade appeared in his hand, which he grasped with the other to steady it. It was a very erratic blade, and it pulsed slightly, showing that he might have been kind of new at the technique, or just hadn't trained much. Verto's had been like that initially too, but over a short amount of practice time he was able to perfect it into a rounded off beam of energy. Is that the extent of his power, just a sword?

"Taste my blade, demon kid!" Kuwabara shouted as he charged in. Verto allowed him to get within striking distance before he quickly blocked the erratic sword with one of his own.

"What the, you have a spirit sword too?" Kuwabara asked in surprised as he attempted to overpower Verto.

"That, and much more. But enough about me, let's see what you can do!" Verto said as he pushed him off easily. Kuwabara fell backwards in surprise before getting up and forcing more power into his sword.

"Spirit Sword, get longer!" he shouted.

Verto paled slightly, Ugh, now that is a bad name for an ability. As one might expect from his words, Kuwabara's sword got quite a bit longer and he swung towards Verto's legs, attempting to undercut him. Verto jumped to avoid it easily, and then fired a weak ki ball towards him. Kuwabara was quite surprised by this and dove to the side to dodge it, losing some of the length on his sword in the process.

Not very good concentration skills, he must still be pretty new at using his power, or has slacked any training he has had. Let's see how he adjusts. Kuwabara got up slowly and made his sword longer again, swinging towards Verto from above this time. Verto sighed at the tactics and didn't move, opting to form a small Psi shield above him instead. The orange blade struck it and nearly bounced right off. Kuwabara gasped in surprise before trying again, this time with much more effort. Again the shield blocked it easily, and Verto stared at the struggle above, sensing Kuwabara spend some energy in a fruitless effort.

"Come on dude, this isn't going to cut it," Verto suggested. Kuwabara ignored him and continued his struggle to penetrate the shield. I should try to rile him up again, maybe he will dig into some hidden power. This can't be the extent of his abilities.

"How do you plan to save your precious girlfriend then? You can't even get by me, and Saiyaman is much stronger than me!" Verto declared.

"Shut up you!" Kuwabara growled. Verto sensed his energy suddenly increase the instant his anger grew, by nearly a factor of five. That's more like it, let's see what happens.

"Argh, I'll save you Yukina!" Kuwabara shouted again. He pulled back on his sword for a moment before it suddenly turned gold in color. Hmmm, I was kinda hoping for more. Kuwabara then swung down and smashed into Verto's shield again. Verto energized his shield just a bit in case he had underestimated him, and watched as it blocked the gold sword just as easily.

"Come on man, you gotta do something different," Verto suggested.

Then he saw the smile of Kuwabara's face, "Oh really?" Verto glanced upwards and literally saw his shield being slowly sliced apart. Verto added more energy to it, but it didn't do any good at all.

Uh oh. Verto dodged aside just as the golden sword pushed right through, barely missing his right arm in the process. The new sword didn't feel that much more powerful, but it did feel different from what it was before. All right, I'll try firing a ki beam then. If he can't avoid it, I'll just turn it upwards.

"What's wrong punk? Your shield is no match for my power! My Jigento Sword can cut through anything!" Kuwabara declared.

Verto scowled slightly, "I admit you surprised me, but don't get cocky. Let's see how well you can use it! Galic Gun!" Kuwabara's eyes went wide as a small version of the beam raced towards him, but he maintained composure and sliced into the blast with his long sword. To Verto's great surprise, it literally tore right through the blast like paper, making it split and veer off course, exploding harmlessly on either side of him.

His sword has the power to cut through energy strands, weak ones at least. This isn't the first time I've seen something like that, Lenz's demon could burn through my shield too. I'll try increasing the power until he tops out. Verto fired another beam and kept the effort going while Kuwabara held his sword out in front to block and cut through it. It worked for a moment, but then Verto increased the amount of power he was using by almost ten, and Kuwabara drained quickly. Once Verto felt that he was drained enough to not be a threat, Verto shut off the beam after redirecting it into the sky. Kuwabara's blue coat had torn off during the struggle, but he was unharmed aside from a few bruises and general exhaustion.

"Yukina, I've failed you, I'm sorry my love!" Kuwabara wailed as he dropped to the ground, sword vanishing.

"Not too bad, almost had to make me try," Verto admitted.

"You mean that was nothing to you?" Kuwabara asked in surprise. Verto dropped some of the effort to suppress his power, and Kuwabara's eyes went wide in shock.

"Holy crap! You're just like one of those Super X class demons I heard about! Or maybe it was M class, no wait wasn't there an S?"

Verto gave him a slightly confused glance but shrugged it off, Not sure if I should be honored to hear that or not.

"Well, that's a portion of it, but enough about that,' Verto said as he stepped closer.

"I'll never surrender! You'll have to kill me first!" Kuwabara said with defiant growl.

"Well don't worry about that. I never intended to hurt you, I just wanted to see your power and abilities. If you or I were truly evil, believe me you wouldn't be standing here now in either case," Verto added.

"Oh, I thought you were in league with a demon that took my girlfriend!" Kuwabara claimed.

Verto allowed a confused expression to cross his face, Well that settles that, but this guy seems determined that there are demons here, which isn't too far from the truth I suppose.

"Relax, Saiyaman is a friend of mine, but not a villain. I don't know who this Yukina is either, I just wanted to test you to make sure you weren't a threat. I am curious though, how did you get here? I would have sensed someone like you a long time ago, so you must not be from this world," Verto said.

Kuwabara slowly got up, "I went through a portal that was supposed to take me to Demon World, but then I ended up here instead. I thought these people were food for them or something, but I can't sense any demons around here!"

"You aren't in any demon realm. You are on Earth, but I have a feeling you might have ended up in the wrong dimension," Verto replied.

"Huh, if I'm on Earth, how can I be somewhere else?" Kuwabara asked.

"There is more than one Earth out there. Don't feel bad, I'm technically not from this one either. Different dimensions with the same planet and all," Verto said as simply as he could.

"Maybe that's why I feel so strong here," Kuwabara muttered to himself.

"What do you mean?" Verto asked carefully.

"I'm not sure why, but it was a lot easier to use my power here. And I had a lot more of it. My power never gets so big when I switch swords!" Kuwabara claimed.

That partially explains the power surge, it sounds like the place he's from doesn't have too many warriors. Or perhaps they do and it's much harder to concentrate energy or something. Kuwabara suddenly glanced around as if he had sensed something. Verto picked up on it a moment later when two figures suddenly appeared.

"And it looks like I was right," Verto said with a slight frown.

"Well it's a good thing you came across him first, I could only imagine what could have happened if it were Vegeta instead," Kibito Kai said. The other person with him was unfamiliar to Verto. He appeared to be a teenager of about seventeen, bearing a blue and brown robe with a red scarf. He also had the letters 'Jr' stamped on his forehead and had an unusual feeling to his energy.

"Koenma!" Kuwabara proclaimed.

"As usual Kuwabara, your spiritual awareness put you in the wrong place again. Fortunately it wasn't in Demon World this time, because I'm sure I would be signing your afterlife papers right now if it were. Come with me, its time to go back," the teenager said.

"So who's the purple guy, he feels pretty tough?" Kuwabara asked.

"That is irrelevant, you won't remember him anyway once we take you back!" Koenma said.

"Oh, right, stupid rules. Hiei better not do his weird eye thing again, I hate that…" Kuwabara mumbled as he slowly trudged towards the pair.

"Thank you young man for finding him for us. Hopefully he didn't do too much damage around here," Koenma said as Kibito teleported them away. Verto grimaced as he stared up at the sky, wondering just what that was all about. Maybe I better not wonder about it too much, odds are I'll likely find out sooner than I would prefer.

Verto had returned with the sixth dragon ball by dusk and had called it a night so he would have plenty of rest for the last one just in case there was something else to deal with. Given the encounter he had, he elected not to pressure Bulma or Vegeta for any answers yet. He was sleeping peacefully when he was suddenly hit with a cold, wet barrage.

He sat up quick enough and wiped the water from his eyes, "Okay, who dies first?" As things became clear, he spotted Old Kai standing by with a dripping bucket. He quickly realized that he was no longer in his bed, but on the grounds of the Kai World. Verto glanced up to see Old Kai grinning like an idiot as he tossed the empty bucket aside.

"Old man, is there a particular reason you've chosen now to show your wrinkled face after ducking me the last few times?" Verto growled.

"Young people, so impatient," Old Kai muttered as he shook his head.

"Old fools, constantly asking to die early. Spill it!" Verto retorted.

"Simple, we have a mission for you."

"How about no?" Verto asked as he stood up.

"Now that wouldn't be good for anyone. It's a preventive mission," Old Kai continued.

"And what is it? I don't know if you noticed, but I am rather busy right now. I've been dealing with a lot of shit lately, and I doubt a few days away are going to help matters," Verto said.

"We need you to help save a world," Old Kai continued before cutting short.

"Let me guess, mine? Guess what, I've been doing it every other damn day," Verto growled again. Once his sleepiness wore off completely, Verto noticed two other power signals behind him and they felt familiar.

"No, you need to save his," Old Kai pointed. Verto turned to see Kibito Kai standing there, but with him was the Koenma fellow he had spotted the day before.

"I see, so that stumbling oaf in blue was bait, or a test," Verto summarized.

Koenma nodded, "Both, I have need of your talents. Specifically your combat talents."

"And if I say no?" Verto asked. Koenma frowned and Kibito bit his lip while Old Kai grew angry.

"You'll do what you're told you bum! You should feel honored that we decided to come to you for help!" Just as Old Kai finished, he was immediately staring at Verto's blue Psi sword and backed away.

"Remember who you're talking to Kai, I'm not a fucking mercenary you can just call on whenever you have a problem that you can't handle," Verto snarled.

Kibito dared to step closer, "Verto, please! This is very important!"

"Oh I don't doubt that, it's written all over your faces. So, what are you going to do about it?"

Kibito's frown deepened, "We can force the issue if necessary."

Verto's face darkened further, "Was that a threat? Have fun cashing in on it. Face it, neither of you are suicidal, so don't pretend that your efforts will be very effective on me, I'm not just a small boy who doesn't know any better. Out of all of the people I've learned to watch the most, you two are incredibly close to the top!"

"I have no desire to make you do anything, but you must understand this is a problem of epic proportions!" Kibito claimed.

"I've been getting a lot of that lately. In fact, it seems like every time I try to just relax and take a normal day off, something, a lot like this, comes around to fuck it all up!" Verto shouted.

"Verto, please!"

"No, I'm sick of this shit! I've been trying to make things right in my own corner of the world ever since I got my life back. And, oh lucky me, all kinds of problems are stalling any progress. Now I can't even help people without some random powerful entity showing up for a fight, or taking me to one. And how could I forget, Lenz needs help dealing with her inner demons...literally. Her people have been wiped out by a galactic tyrant who has his sights on not only Earth but whoever is willing to start a war with him. And oh by the way, her people's Saiyan great-grandparents are running around attacking Frost's bases. Hell they can even use Psi energy too, isn't that nice? To top things off, I can't even collect a damn dragon ball without encountering some nut job that got mutated. Oh, he's also from a different world. Then again, maybe I'll just run into some viral infection that turns humans into monsters and the scientist behind it has made an absurdly powerful robot to live in. Never mind, I already did! And if I find out that you two are behind ANY of this, it's not gonna be good. Do you get it now? Can I go home? Or do I start making craters?" Verto finished as he sighed from his venting. Both Kais were quiet as the air settled, but Koenma wasn't.

He promptly broke into a fit of laughter, "He'll do. He's perfect for the job!"

"I don't recall agreeing to anything, don't jump the gun," Verto suggested.

"I admit, my first impression was that you were another young idiot who knew how to fight and spew foul language, I really must apologize. I usually have that wonderful luxury with my most of my fighters. And the smart ones usually end up going psycho anyway,' Koenma chuckled a bit.

"I'm glad you're impressed, now what do you need my help with Junior?" Verto asked.

"Right to the point, huh? Well not to worry, if these two are correct then this should interest you. First of all, you should know that I'm the current ruler of the spirit realm in my dimension, so obviously I keep an eye on things. Well, let's just say that not long ago, we encountered a slight problem. Our timeline began to change, the result of someone going into the past and mucking everything up. Being the ruler of the spirit realm allows me to slip out of the timeline briefly in case of an emergency, but I can't remain in the past for very long nor can I jump too far into the future, since it can cause many complications. I traced the changes to a very specific point where things can be righted again, however, the culprits are not something we can take down very easily. They first appeared at an event we call the Dark Tournament, and due to their actions, specifically the leader's, all of my strongest fighters were destroyed and our Earth spiraled into chaos. I still don't know what he wanted there, but I can only assume he only wanted to kill off the human race, which he effectively did by winning the tournament along with his teammates. It wasn't them that directly caused the dark times to descend on Earth, but it was because of them that it wasn't stopped in time. Other dark forces eventually opened a tunnel to the Demon realm and the entire planet was overrun with evil," Koenma explained.

"That explains some of your story, but not all of it. What are you up against, and why did you call us to help?" Verto asked.

"I traced everything that I could and while I don't yet know how they got into our realm to begin with, I know two things that should interest you. They came from this dimension, and they are called Saiyans," Koenma said with an eerily calm voice. The Renegades can jump dimensions?

Verto cocked an eyebrow at this, "How strong are we talking?"

"I couldn't tell you even if I tried. Our dimension is extremely different compared to this one. Ours has more restrictions on how powerful a being can be. If I were to guess, I'd say I feel nearly a thousand or more times stronger here than there, and I'm nothing compared to most of those guys. We do rate power levels in our dimension, from E rate to A rate, and then the terribly powerful S class. The leader shattered our charts when he finally unleashed his power upon the poor fools that challenged him, and I'm not sure if we even saw the full extent of it. His minions weren't quite on his level, and our stronger fighters were able to match them and take them out, but they didn't hold a candle to the leader. I was able to get through the dimensional rift these Saiyans left behind and call your overseers for help. At first I was skeptical about their choice of which fighter to send, thus why I transported that big dumb lug to your planet to test you while I still could, but I can see why now. I don't think I would have wanted that Vegeta character I keep hearing about, he sounded difficult to deal with," Koenma explained.

"That's one way of putting it. About how long is this going to take? I don't want to be gone for more than a few days, my trainee shouldn't be left alone. Especially after what happened the other day," Verto said as he tapped his foot a bit. Koenma was a bit taken by surprise at this question, thus Old Kai answered for him.

"It will take as long as you take to end it, young whippersnapper! Time might move differently there than it does here. But as far as this place is concerned, it shouldn't be more than a few days if things go well," he said.

"It better not take long, you may or may not have noticed that I'd like to be back quickly," Verto growled back.

"Maybe you should go home for a little while to prepare for this journey. I'll take you back for a few hours so we can get the story straight to Bulma and Vegeta, you know they'll want in on it," Kibito suggested.

"They'll probably want to tag along. After all, you mentioned a tournament. I should go get Goku and Gohan too, then we can just end it quickly. Nothing wrong with a little overkill," Verto said with a wicked grin.

"You may select one of your companions to go with, if we agree with your choice that is. We have another in mind," Kibito said.

"What?" Verto asked.

"We'll cover that soon enough," Old Kai grumbled.

"And I'm afraid I won't be able to transport more than three to my realm at a time. After all, this is damage control. I'd rather things didn't go completely wrong when we're just trying to fix the timeline. I also know that this may not repair the damage, but only lessen it to a degree. I simply have to right the ship though, otherwise even I may be erased from existence, as will the peace we managed to set up in my time. Since I can slip out of the main stream of time, I'm currently immune to the effects, but not for long. I haven't given you all of the details yet anyway and we need to be careful in how we proceed. We can't just rush into it, especially if you are not as strong as your friends seem to think you are," Koenma said with a tone of concern.

Verto glared back at him, "Yeah, I can be patient for a few days. Because if you had said that to Vegeta, you would not have lived through that statement! I expect to be filled in when I get back, let's go get this over with Kibito!"

A/n: If you have not seen any of Yu Yu Hakusho, you might be in trouble here. I will also add that some of these chapters are very long due to the fact that while it is a crossover that will involve timeline changes, I will also be trying to maintain certain aspects of that original story. It may remind a few of you of how I did the rewritten Buu Saga. Note: This has also been rewritten a few times from its original form which I felt to be a little stale. And for those of you who at first thought I was going with a Naruto crossover, fooled ya!

Next time on DBV: You know what….I'm just gonna let you be surprised this time, no hints.

Power levels:

Verto: 312,000,000

Kuwabara: 10,000,000

WDG: So, does that mean he'd give Frieza a reasonably tough fight? Oh dear..

VB: Well, we can leave that one up for debate.