Chapter 1: The Eternal Song of War

It was the twilight of a day as Shawn Uptas went merrily about his business. His business was stealing purses.

Crouching low in the alleyway, trying to blend his body into the shadows as much as he could while still keeping himself in a position where he could maintain maximum visibility for a suitable victim. He had to be quick, the sun was about to go down. When it did, suitable prey vanished, and people who would more likely prey on him would come out. That was the last thing he needed.

Shawn's eyes scanned slowly back and forth. His black hood, made of soft but durable cloth, bunched at his neck and he took a moment to smooth it out and adjust it before he went back to looking. His black sweatpants were made of the same material. Only his running shoes were white.

Shawn slowly licked his top lip, feeling sweat begin to bead in his frizzy hair. He didn't like standing in alleys while he waited for a suitable victim. All the rotting garbage and worse things gave off a wet heat that was incredibly uncomfortable to him. But he couldn't seem to hold down any other job, mainly due to the fact couldn't stand being told what to do. Thus, he did what he did. And he was fairly good at it. He could run fast and was pretty good at looking inconspicuous. The rest came with practice. It was a dangerous practice, but he could be doing worse things. In his opinion, the police knew it too. He just swiped purses and took whatever he could from them, leaving the rest. He didn't use violence. Hence, the reason he had yet to be caught. He could be classified as a bad apple, but his core wasn't rotten as it could be.

There were worse people.

And hence here he was, watching the ever-thinning crowd and getting more and more annoyed. There seemed to be a shortage of idiots these days, people who walked along with their guard down or with no guard up at all. People who thought the world was a safe place, or at least their chunk of it was. In fact, Shawn mused, he was no more of a purse thief then he was a deliverer of…well, something. Something that made people wake up and realize that the world could be very very dangerous. He just took their money. Money could be replaced. You couldn't say the same thing about mental health. Or life.

Shawn's alert eyes finally spied something. Good. While idiots seemed to be running low these days, they hadn't died out yet.

The woman that Shawn had spotted definitely seemed to be out of place. She had a stride that gave a suggestion that she wasn't walking, she was floating. She may as well have been floating for Shawn, for his eyes had immediately gone down to her feet to scope it out. Not because he liked legs, although she had some nice ones. It was to see what her running situation was. As Shawn expected, she was wearing heels, and pretty high ones. Shawn couldn't understand how she could walk in those, let alone run without hurting herself (hence the reason to him that it appeared that she was floating, she seemed to have to to be able to get anywhere in those shoes).

Having observed and calculated that she wouldn't likely catch him herself, Shawn evaluated on how much she was likely worth. Her purse wasn't that large, but that didn't matter to Shawn. What mattered was that it had a wallet that was large.

His observations and decision were made in seconds. He would go for it.

Tanya Mirra never knew what hit her. One moment she was walking along, hoping she wasn't going the wrong way, and the next thing she knew there was a great jerk on her shoulder and her purse was gone.

Tanya gasped, even as her eyes were drawn to the movement of the man in black clothes who was running away from her. The movement drew her eyes. The fact that he had her purse in his hand held them.

"STOP HIM!" Tanya yelped, instinctively trying to give chase. She got four steps before she tripped and fell, sprawling heavily on the concrete. She made a small cry of pain as the concrete grated against the bare skin of her legs, even as her eyes filled with desperation as she watched her assilant slip away through the crowd.

"HELP! POLICE! THIEF! MY PURSE!" Tanya cried futilely, and while some passerby came to help her, it was ultimately too late. The thief was long gone.

Shawn could hear the woman's cries for assistance as he took off, her purse clutched tightly in his hands. Sorry lady. You should actually try yelling fire, that would get you more help!

Head down, Shawn could only see the lower part of the people he was running through, but a born-with grace and a great deal of practice allowed him to weave, almost masterfully, through the throngs of people filling the street. His speed was a great part of his success, and not just for getting away. It was also needed so that by the time people became aware of his presense, he was gone.

Still running, Shawn burst around the corner, nearly knocking a couple over in the process. He ran past them, not bothering to apologize, heading for his getaway, a flight of stairs at the end of the street that led into a subway station. What Shawn liked mostly about this particular entrance was at the bottom of the stairs were six different tunnels. And casual people had been trained by modern society to not be very observant.

Reaching the stairs, Shown hurried quickly but carefully down them, muttering "excuse mes" to the people he shoved passed so that they would just think he was in a hurry. He had long tucked the purse under his shirt, and he had learned how to hide things so they didn't look suspicious. Reaching the bottom, Shawn glanced around, then took off down the second tunnel to the left.

As he reached the end of the tunnel as it began to bleed into that part of the main station, Shawn slowed and causually glanced behind him to see if by some chance there was some kind of pursuit.

There was none. There had never been. Shawn gave a grin of saitisfaction and made his way to a train.

The sun was setting when Shawn returned to the topside of Ginger City. Shawn sighed and wiped sweat from his forehead and pushed back the hood, knowing he was in the clear. Smoothing his hair, Shawn headed into Elder Oak Park, the largest natural reserve that existed in a major city in Japan. Well, outside of Satan City that was, but it was big enough for him. Making his way through the wooded areas and man-spared plains where people flocked during the day but were abandoning by this time, Shawn finally stopped at the edge of another open area and sat down at a tree base to finally inspect his catch.

"Lessee…lipstick…tissue…lipstick stained tissue…makeup…makeup…man, why do women always bury the good stuff under these chemical wanna-be fountains of youth?" Shawn complained to himself, as he began to dump junk out of the purse. His fingers itched under his gloves, but he could scratch them later, when he didn't risk leaving prints.

Shawn's questing fingers eventually found they wanted.

"Jackpot." Shawn said, as his fingers seized around Tanya's wallet and pulled it out. Laying the purse aside, Shawn undid the snap and looked inside.

"Aw man…only a twenty? Don't tell me I went through all that…YES!" Shawn crowed to himself as he found a credit card. Then he found another, and a third.

"Ha, the purse strings are opening, literally! I'm sure I'll be able to get some early Christmas shopping done with these before she gets it through her head that she has to cancel them. Ha!" Shawn laughed, looking at one of the cards.

"Cost of police reports, god knows. Cab trip home, who cares. Multiple phone calls to deal with her problem, ya got me. The fact that I'll be on Easy Street for at least a week, priceless. Some things are beyond price, but for eveything else, there's…"Shawn began, before his nostrils twitched.

"Ugh…what is that…is something burning?" Shawn said, his eyes tearing a tad. Standing up, Shawn began to look around.

Shawn had no idea what he was smelling. Neither did he know that four years ago, a portal from another world had opened in the park he stood in now, bringing with it a terror beyond imagining. Shawn HAD perished in Agony's worldwide massacre, but he had believed Capsole Corp's cover story without question.

Shawn wasn't stupid, but even he couldn't have understood that he was standing at ground zero of where that terrible week had began.

And history was about to repeat itself, as the stench of ozone, for that was what it was, increased as a hum began to rise in the air. Shawn looked around in silent confusion.

Then he gasped in shock and fear as a sudden crackling noise filled the air and the open area was suddenly bathed in a dancing, flashing blueish-white light as a hole tore open in mid-air like the fabric of reality was made of paper. Shawn made an odd squawking noise as he fell backwards onto his rear, staring at the phenominal sight before him.

"What…what…what's going on…how…what…" Shawn stammered as he watched the crackling opening, as the light continued to pour from it and strange energies danced on its edges.

Then the light brightened, and suddenly a girl emerged. The strange squawking noise once again came from Shawn's throat as he instinctively hid behind the tree he had been sitting on moments before. But his natural desire to survive was soon overcome by his natural devil-may-care curiosity, and he peeked from behind the tree to take another look.

The girl was lovely, wearing a skin-tight red outfit with a trim, shapely body. She appeared to be human, at least to Shawn. She had black hair cut closely to her skull in a short but yet still somehow fashionable style as well.

But Shawn didn't get to look at the girl's face much longer, as the girl turned and looked apon the rip as her body set into a certain position. Shawn recognized it. It was a position of expectation. Shawn blinked.

Then the light suddenly brightened once more, and another girl emerged from the rip. Shawn blinked again as his jaw dropped. The two girls were clearly not related, but the resemblance was uncanny. The hair cut was the same, as was the outfit the two girls wore. They were even practically the same size and shape, except the new girl was somewhat fuller at the waist and hip. The two looked at each other, then turned back to the rip. Shawn's eyes looked with theirs.

More girls emerged, all of them with the uncanny resemblences in look and body language. However, the resemblence ended there, as the girls that came out were of all shapes and sizes, of different skin colours and nationalities. They all wore their hair cut short, and all wore the same skintight body outfits, abet in different sizes. Some of the girls were huge, easily reaching past 6'6 and with arms, legs, and bodies that rippled with muscle. They all entered the same way. The new arrival inspected the other girls even as they inspected her back, and then they turned back to the rip.

Then a new person emerged. And it wasn't a girl.

Shawn watched on, fascinated and horrified at the same time. A man had come out of the rip. He was a tall man, and was in as good, if not better shape then the girls that had proceeded him. He didn't wear a skin tight body outfit, but was instead clad in dark-cloured jeans, a black shirt, black shoes, and a black leather trenchcoat that swirled around him slightly as he turned back to look at the rip. But he didn't look at it in expectation. He looked at it as if he had just enjoyed something greatly. As he swirled back around, the smirk he wore confirmed it.

"Whooo! It worked! What a rush!" came floating over to Shawn, and Shawn cocked an eyebrow. It was English, abet accented English. But it was a normal, human, cockney accent, as the man ran his hands through his very closely cut blond hair and turned around to look at the girls.

"The rest are on their way, along with the rest of your galpals. Lemme tell ya thought, that trip made me hungry. It's not every day you get taken apart at a molecular level and reassembled in a whole new place and time. Is there anyone to eat around here?" the blonde man said.

The words of the blonde man washed over Shawn as he tried to comprehend them. Other place and time? Where were these people from? Heaven? The future? Somewhere else entirely?

As Shawn puzzled, even as he continued to watch, more girls emerged from the rip. They were coming quicker now, and starting to spread out. Shawn switched sides of the tree, trying to keep from being seen while trying to continue watching.

Then a new figure emerged from the rip, and Shawn wished he had simply run away, as his fascination was washed away by an overwhelming tide of horror.

This figure, or the man, if man he was, was HUGE, even bigger then the large girls who had come through the rip beforehand. He wore military fatigues, or at least the pants and boots of them. The rest of him was bare, exposing a bizzare pattern of colours, metal grey, rotting green, and a grotesque pinkish brown. Only the upper right portion of the being's face and head bore the natural pink-beige colour of "white" people, and only that allowed Shawn to even consider calling the creature a man. But he wasn't a man, it was an inhuman monster.

The creature slowly stepped away from the rip, his head slowly turning, looking around, before turning his eyes to the blonde man who had come through before him.

"So it did not destroy you, William. There are actually other worlds besides the one we come from." The monster said. The voice grated on Shawn's nerves. It was an unnatural sound, a mixture of something organic and mechanical. The sound seemed to be the personification of deviance.

"You would think that. We HAVE gone through the Gateway before, Adam. We just didn't know it at the time." The blonde who the monster had called William said.

"Correction, vampire. I knew exactly what was going on. I always do. It would be more typical of your shadow-crawling kind to not know what was going on in a light. You shun it. I half-expected the Gateway to shun you as well." The monster William had called Adam replied. A look of anger and darkness descended on the features of William. It was clear Adam's words had not made him happy.

Shawn continued to watch, although his mind screamed for him to get away before he went mad. More girls continued to emerge from the Gateway, as it had been called. Their numbers were getting quite large, approaching twenty or more. Shawn didn't even notice. His eyes were fixed on the two called William and Adam.

"Listen, you…"William began.

"Do not waste my time, vampire. You cannot win an argument with yourself, much less a god." Adam replied, his sinister voice charged with an undercurrent of disdain. "It does not matter. We are allies, unrelunctively but still so….but I don't have to think you are worthy of this."

"Let me tell you something, mate…" William began to shoot back, but then the crackling increased again and William fell silent as a woman emerged from the Gateway.

This woman was not like the other gathered around the vampire (Shawn had accepted the fact that William was one, although he didn't want to believe it) and the inhuman beast named Adam. In reality, the woman, though a picture of beauty, looked rather frail. And while the other women all had short hair, this woman had long blonde hair, combed carefully. She wore an old-fashioned dress that went down to and covered her feet. Unsteady, but still dainty, the woman stepped away from the rip, waving away some of the other women who tried to aid her. William cocked his head.

"Huh. You made it Alexia. I'm surprised." He sneered. The woman looked in annoyance at the vampire.

"I am more surprised your foul flesh made it, vampire, and for the last time, you will address me as Lady Ashford!" Alexia Ashford said curtly. William growled, but for some reason, he held back. Shawn couldn't begin to guess why, the vampire looked like he could break the woman in half with one hand.

"Oh, the high and mighty thing again, huh girly?" William sneered. "Lemme tell you something LADY, you can act like royalty, but the only thing you are is a royal pain in the…"

And then again William was interrupted, as the Gateway swelled with crackling energy. William put a hand over his eyes.

"Blasted Gateway…wish it came with a dimmer switch…" William growled.

And then the biggest figure yet emerged from the Gateway. This time, Shawn didn't even think of running away. He was rooted to the spot in fear.

If Adam was a giant, this creature was a behemoth. And this time, Shawn had no problem dubbing it a creature. While Adam looked faintly human, this creature's only resemblence to the human race was that it walked on two legs. There was nothing else in its hideously scarred flesh, nightmarish face, and a seeming aura of death and destruction that seemed to float around it that was human. To call it a he would be a blasphemy against the male part of the human race.

But Shawn was sure they would manage, so he dubbed the creature a he. It did somehow look male, but with its throbbing, crimson-pink flesh, it was impossible to know for sure. Shawn saw various parts of the creature twist and move as if the parts had a life of their own and was almost sick on the grass.

"I gotta get away…gotta warn…somebody…" Shawn said. His good intentions died alongside his desire to move when he realized that A) One of them could see him, and B) No one would believe him anyway. Hell, Shawn could barely his own eyes.

The gigantic monster fell into place behind Alexia, towering over the woman. Spike looked at the behemoth with distaste.

"I guess the gangs all here…except for Wheels…or Floaty…"

"His name is Dr. Thanatos Vagane. You would do well to use it with respect, vampire. It is he who brought us together, as much as I dislike it. But only we, together, can overcome the obstacles…to the power that will make us all gods. Including you, although why we need you if something only Vagane can see." Alexia said coldly.

"Godhood means nothing…I just want to destroy…kill, maim, and hurt…"said the giant yet unnamed monster.

"You will get your chance, Tormentor. You desire to kill will be glutted on this world of fools…a world that will make us immortal and give us total control of all…it is the lone reason I actually allied myself with Vagane. His body is frail, but his mind…his ideas…his discoveries…it may lead to a existence of a species that mirrors my perfection…a species that could spread to far greater then a lone world. If Vagane's greatly ambituous plan can actually succeed…."Adam mused, lightly stroking his chin. He was as far above humans as he could be, a god amongst mortal living beings. It occasionally disturbed him that he had thrown in his lot with the doctor known as Vagane, who was not only human, but a damaged and broken human as well. But where Vagane lacked in body, he made up for in mind. His genius far outstripped anyone's he had ever met, including his creator and "mother", Maggie Walsh. Vagane had shown him things that even HIS mind had not thought of. So for now, he would be his ally…but if Vagane showed even the slighest human weakness, Adam would have to see he remodeled the partnership. And while he was doing that, maybe he could rid himself of the annoying vampire as well.

"Plan? What plan? All he's done is spoke of bringing us here and telling us that here is the power to make us all gods. That's it! For all I know, he's going to feed us to the "mighty warriors" that supposedly inhabit this world for jollies!" William snapped, more to Alexia then at Adam.

"It truly shows you level of intelligence, "Spike", that you would let Dr. Vagane poke around in your head and turn off that chip that caused you so many problems, yet you do not trust him to deliver on his promise." Alexia replied, her tone calm but totally acidic.

William, or Spike, Shawn wasn't sure which, growled, and then to Shawn's continued shock, his face changed. The area around his nose, eyes, and lower forehead suddenly seemed to bulge out as if an extra layer of bone had been added there. If Shawn had been close enough, he would have also seen Spike's eyes retreat slightly back into his head before the whites turned a feral yellow colour. As the change happened, Spike's growl rose into a snarl as he opened his mouth, baring sharp fangs that had appeared. There was no doubt now. Spike really was a vampire.

"Listen, you bitch…"

Then there was one final surge of crackling, and three final figures emerged from the Gateway. Even through the noise, Shawn somehow heard the cool, calm male voice that spoke as it happened.

"Come now, that is enough…"

Two of the figures who had emerged from the Gateway were two more of the large group of girls that had gathered in the area. The third was a man in a wheelchair. Or more precisely, a wheelcair that had been designed to hover.

And then finally, the crackling noise faded as the rip slowly closed, finally vanishing as if it had never existed. The man in the hoverchair turned his head as if making sure, then looked back at one of the girls at his side.

"Did everything go well, Belinda?" he asked. The girl, not meeting his eyes, lowered herself to her knees, her head bowed. Shawn blinked as all the other girls followed suit.

"Yes, Master Vagane. We all made it through the Gateway. Everything is settled."

"Good." Dr. Vagane said, before drawing his eyes to Spike, Adam, Alexia, and Tormentor. "Come, my friends, we must not argue amongst ourselves. That is a human failing."

"Agreed." Said Adam. Spike didn't look happy, but slowly his face altered again, sliding back to his normal human look.

"My allies…" Vagane was saying, but Shawn had heard enough. With the rip in reality that had been called the Gateway closed, the tiny part of Shawn called common sense spoke up and told him that maybe he had better leave before he was spotted. He took one last look and turned to leave.

Only to find two pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Going somewhere?" said one of the women in the service of Vagane, a large blade that crackled with electricity in her hand as she was shadowed by one of the bigger woman holding a club of cast metal.

The wallet, long forgotten, finally fell from Shawn's fingers.

"Master!" came a voice, and suddenly the small crowd of Vagane's Valkyries parted as two of the women came towards the doctor with a third struggling figure. Vagane turned his vision from where he was speaking with his four associates, and then turned his hoverchair slightly to face the women as they dragged Shawn before Vagane and dumped him on the ground.

"Yes Catherine, Betty?" he said.

"We found this man watching us behind a tree nearby!" Catherine said quickly, keeping her head lowered. Vagane shifted his gaze to the terrified man laying in front of him, looking at him with eyes that were beginning to tear from terror.

"Please don't hurt me…I'll do anything…don't hurt me…" Shawn begged. But as he looked at the man the girls had brought him too, at his closely cut hair and slight beard streaked with grey, at the metal extensions that replaced some of his fingers, and at his utterly emotionless eyes, and he knew that mercy was probably the last thing he would receive.

"Human…I suppose you saw us enter this world, didn't you? I'd say curiosity proves be as fatal to you humans as it supposedly does for the feline species, wouldn't you say, my girls?" Vagane said, addressing the Valkyries.

"Yes master." Betty replied. Vagane's allies began to gather around his hoverchair, looking down at the young thief. Shawn got a close look at Tormentor and nearly lost his mind then and there. The reason parts of them moved like they had a mind of their own was because they DID. Twisted human heads, faces, and even the part of the upper body were attached to Tormentor's massive frame. And they were alive, as their eyes rolled, their body twitched, and their mouths constantly opened in silent screams. Tormentor's beyond cruel eyes saw Shawn looking at him, and he smiled, a mouth full of black, rotten sharp fangs. Shawn made a dim whimpering noise as he wet himself. A look of disgust crossed Vagane's features.

"Humanity. In individuals like this, it is shown just how pathetic they are. Look at him cower…disgusting." Vagane muttered. "It sickens me to think I was once part of their race."

"But…you are…" Shawn said, as even in his complete terror his logical thinking manage to pop up for a second. But then the sharp nails of one of the females standing beside him sliced into his flesh as she grabbed him violently.

"Don't even THINK you have the right to question the master, you scum!" the girl hissed, smashing Shawn's head down against the cold, rough earth. Shawn kept his head down and continued to whimper as the female withdrew her hand. Thin trickles of blood began run down the side of his face.

"Hey mate…this guy just happened along…he can't serve us in any way…whatdasay? Can I eat him?" Spike said with an eager tone. Shawn looked up just in time to see Spike's features contort and warp back into the look of a feral beast.

"No William. He has a purpose for me." Vagane said quietly. Spike look at the doctor with a combination of incredulous surprise and anger, and then with a slight growl his features shifted out of his "game face" and back to his normal good looks.

"Very well…but if I don't eat someone soon, I think I'll be forced to eat you, Vagane. And for the last time, call me SPIKE!"

Vagane chuckled.

"Don't worry…Spike. Have patience and you will be able to gorge yourself in time. Time that we shall save some of now that we have this pathetic piece of garbage." Vagane said.

"But Vagane…you spoke of how he is a wretched human…how could he have use for us?" Adam asked. He had expected to a degree that Vagane would eventually prove he was as weak as the humans he claimed not to be a part of, but Adam hadn't thought it would be so soon.

"He? Himself? This weeping baby does have no use for me…but I can make a few changes so that he does." Vagane said. "Catherine! Betty! Restrain him!"

The girls moved in and seized Shawn's arms. Shawn's panic meter shot off the charts, and he began to struggle furiously. But the grip of the Valkyries was like iron bars and chains, and try as he might, Shawn was helpless to break their grip. Vagane punched a few buttons and a small panel slid open by his hand, offering a long syringe to the doctor. Vagane took it.

"Belinda." Vagane said, and the girl was instantly by his side. "Do it."

"NO!" Shawn shrieked as the girl moved towards him, the needle seemingly staring at him like a mavolent eye, pointing at him like an accusing finger.

"You should be grateful, you pitiful fool. Your life is a waste of creation's resources, just like the lives of all your fellow humans, a foolish sqaundering of her gifts. With this you shall become something far more useful, the first step to my ascent…your name would be spoken about for centuries…if there was anything left to record history." Vagane chuckled. His allies did the same, as Belinda reached forward. Shawn let loose one final scream before they jammed the needle into his neck.

The three girls and the surrounding Valkyries immediately backed off, as Shawn suddenly went limp and spawled downward onto the ground. A low keening sound began to come from his throat.

"Um…mate…I don't hold a million degrees in everything so might I ask, what did you inject into him? It looked like cow urine." Spike said, his features flinching slightly at the continued keening noise Shawn continued to emit.

Vagane smiled, a cruel evil smile…almost like a twisted version of a smile a father might wear if his child presented him with a drawing that had no artistic merit but was full of heart.

"While humanity is weak…their flesh and bone that their body is made up of can be surprisingly strong. And with my…talents…I can make something of that flesh…something far more useful!"

Then the keening became a snarl as Shawn reared up as the dull pegs that served as human teeth suddenly began to elongate and sharpen into a mouthful of fangs. The shirt and sweatshirt Shawn wore suddenly split and tore as his flesh turned a dark purplish-red. The skin and flesh around the tips of his fingers suddenly burst and began to peel away as razor sharp black claws emerged from each finger. Spike whistled in admiration.

"Very nice…but what is it?"

"A mutogenetic virus I developed. Look Spike…look how the marvelous creatures reshape his entire skeletal structure…delve into his muscle mass and make the organs grow as the fat is burned away. Look apon how it takes humanity's blueprint and builds into something worthy to live…something that I have created…a creation worthy of survival!"

Shawn's legs contorted and turned almost insectile as they folded within slightly even as his toes extended and widened slightly. More darkish purple liquid suddenly bubbled onto his skin and hardened.

And then…it was over. The keening gone, the monster that had once been Shawn Uptas rose to his feet. He swayed slightly, emitting a constant half gurgle, half snarl.

"Magnificent." Vagane said, marvelling at the creature Shawn now was. "Being that stands before me, what do you do in my presense?"

"Maaasstter." The Shawn Monster gurgled, kneeling on one horribly distended leg before the group. Vagane smiled.

"Creature…I have a task for you. Go and find the nearest place where many people live. When you do, kill them. Men, women, children, old or young, I do not care, slaughter them! Rip out their hearts and crush their skulls in your hands! Feast apon their flesh, as in your birthright."

"Yeesssssss." The Shawn Monster gurgle-growled. But as it began to rise, Vagane held up a hand.

"Wait. I have one lone condition. If you encounter anyone who can fly, or move far faster then any human possibly could, do not try and kill them! Flee from them…do not engage them unless you have no other choice. If you do, flee! Am I understood?"

'Yeesssss…I wiiillll dooo yyyouurr biddinggggg massttteeerrr…." The Shawn Monster gurgle-growled. Then it's powerful legs clenched beneath it and suddenly it leapt into the air, flying hundreds of feet. The group watched as the beast vanished into the horizon.

"After all my calculations of all the major factors that would go our tasks here...after all my observations of this world…it is always the minor things that pose a problem. But I have turned our problem into something for our benefit. That creature now lives to obey me, and he will provide the suitable distraction while we go about our tasks." Vagane said. His hoverchair whirled around, and he looked apon the four.

"Now…while some of you all feel this is below you…and I understand that…speed is of the essence. These tasks have all been tailored for you…and they will be done far quicker if we all separate to do them. Spike…here is your equipment." Vagane said, as another panel slid open on his hoverchair. They bore two small devices. As he handed them to Spike, he looked at them with some distaste.

"What do these do? They won't turn me into a copy of Mr. Leapo Leapo Leapo, will they?" Spike said, indicating where the Shawn Monster had gone. Vagane smirked slightly.

"Have no fear Spike, although I know you never feel fear. No, the smaller device is your Molecular Remote Reassembler."

"And in English that means?"

"Your teleportation device. I've set the cordinates. Once you are done at one location, go to the next. Once the button no longer takes you anywhere, press the other button, and you will be brought to our determained resembly place. It also doubles as your tracker, use it to locate what you need to find easily. The other one is your Stealth…"

"ENGLISH!"
"…Your cloaking device. Press the button and you will be rendered invisible, soundless, without scent, or lacking any ways that you could be "seen". Try not to damage it, it's very delicate, and I don't think you want it shorting out. You could find yourself in a very bad situation."

"Got it, press this, swipe that, when do I get to eat?" Spike complained.

"Soon, Spike. Adam, here is your MRR." Vagane said, as another panel opened and he handed the hybrid a small disc-shaped object, Spike glanced over to it.

"Hey, how come his looks so different?"

Taking the disk, Adam raised it to the disc drive built into his chest and inserted it, his eyes blinking as he read the data.

"Nevermind." Spike muttered.

"It is a simple task…but I do try and learn everything I can…I will look apon this as the experince to aquire some new knowledge, however small…for now." Adam said.

Vagane turned to Alexia.

"My lovely Alexia…" Vagane said. Alexia smiled slightly, even shyly, as Vagane removed two other devices from his chair.

"Your MRR…it is much more powerful then the other two, and will transport two people so you and Tormentor can go together. And here is your other device…you know what to do with it." Vagane said.

"Yes Vagane. I understand." Alexia said. Tormentor remained silent. For now, he would trust that his task would let him wreck havoc. If not…

Vagane turned back to his Valkyries. Once again, they all bowed.

"My girls…all of you know what you must do. You already have your equipment. Belinda, Kate, Alonna, you're with me. You know the mission."

"Yes master. We are honoured." Said Belinda.

"Good. My allies…my Valkyries….it begins now. Let us go."

"Daddy, can we go home now?" said the little girl as her father brought her through the door of the school. Her father sighed. He couldn't blame his daughter, the Parent-Teacher meeting had gone far longer then he had expected, never mind how long that would seem to the childish mind of his six year old daughter.

"Yes honey, we can…" the man began to say, before the creature landed in front of him. "WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!"

The Shawn Monster let out a snarling sound of anticipation and leapt forward, cruel claws extended as the little girl began to scream. The screams increased as the man put himself instinctively in front of his daughter and the creature fell on him, his cries of pain mixing with his daughter's terrified screams as the creature tore him to shreds.

"DADDY! DADDY! AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!" The girl screamed. Her childen's sanity broke a second before the creature lashed out with a clawed hand and cleaved the girl's head from her shoulder in a great gout of blood.

As the head bounced off the door, the creature lowered it's head and began to tear at the flesh of the man, riping it off in great chunks and swallowing it before its ears caught a new noise and it looked up to see the woman and her two boys standing before him.

"MOMMY!" one of them shrieked, as the woman stood rooted to the spot in shock, unable to comprehend how the simple area leading to the parking lot could so quickly turn into a slaughterhouse.

Then the monster leapt at them, and their screams echoed through the air and into the hallways of Ginger City's Elementary School.

"So, now I'm nothing more then a common thief…what a waste…but I do have to admit, this is really cool…" Spike said, as he slowly walked through the hallway of a house, his boots making no noise on the plush carpeting below. However, as Spike had discovered, he could have been walking on the driest of leaves and he wouldn't have made a sound. Vagane's cloaking device had worked like a charm. The house had security and some servants, and he had stood in front of them and jumped up and down while making faces. They hadn't seen a thing. So now he was making his way down the hallway, following his device and glad Vagane had included it. The house was huge, and he would have easily gotten lost, not to mention he would have no idea where to look.

The device indicated he should enter the next room, so he did. The door opened to a plush master bedroom, beautifully furnished. The door suddenly opening startled the maid in the room, but the fact that no one seemed to come in calmed her down again almost immediately and she went back to dusting the mantel beside the bed.

Then she felt a hand clamp around her mouth and her scream was muffled as sharp fangs suddenly buried themselves in her neck. The maid writhed in Spike's grip, but her struggles eventually grew weaker and weaker and finally she went limp. Spike let her go and she collasped, as he lifted his head and reveled in the task of drinking blood. It had once been as common to him as a human eating or drinking, but the Initiative had seen to it that his simplest pleasure was robbed of him. It was only then he realized how marvelous it was, and now that it had been restored to him via Vagane's hands, he was going to do it whenever he could.

Licking the blood from around his lips, Spike shoved the maid's body under the bead with his food. He felt good, better then he had in a long time. He had fed before, but it had been on one of Vagane's girls that he offered him as a sacrifice, and he had always had to stop short and let the girl live. Part of the whole experience was to not just steal the blood from the victim but the life as well, feeling it ebb out of the person even as their life liquid slid down your throat. Smiling, Spike reactivated his cloak and began rummaging around in the same mantel that the maid had been cleaning. It didn't take him long to find the bag. Lifting it out, he smirked at the image that it seemed to be floating in mid-air by itself.

"Well, here's the first one. I find it hard to believe that these silly beans can actually heal any kind of injury…but if Vagane wants them out of these people's hands so badly, they must have something going for them. Well, one down, more to go. And maybe I'll find more things to eat in the process." Spike said as he looked at Vegeta's personal bag of Senzu beans. He smirked to himself, and pulled out his MRR and pressed the button to bring him to his next location.

Blue and red lights flashing, several police cars roared to a stop in front of Ginger City Elemntary School. As officers jumped out they fanned into position, several staying behind the cars for cover while half a dozen others drew their weapons and headed for the front door of the school. The bodies in front of the school made most of the officers sick to their stomach, but they pressed on, the proof of the cry of terror that they had received from a phone call before it had been abruptly cut off was real and serious. Deadly serious.

Taking position in front of the door, three on either side, the superior in this situation signaled back to his fellow officers at the cars and then burst through the door with his companions.

And found a butcher shop. Blood covered the walls and was caked into the floor, as parts of people lay scattered everywhere. Lengths of intestine twined across the floor, human hands lay with fingers outstretched in a gesture of mercy that had never come, and in one place a bullaten board for kindergarden pictures had become a whole new kind of art as a child's leg lay embedded in the board, dripping more blood onto the soaked floor.

Four of the cops promptly lost of their lunch, including the superior. But as they vomited, one of of the two policeman who had managed to keep the contents of his stomach inside heard it.

"What the hell is that?"

Then the Shawn Monster emerged from around the corner, holding a tiny body in one cruelly clawed hand. It took one last bite and threw the ravaged corpse aside.

The police didn't bother with warnings of any kind, as their survival mechanisms kicked in full force and they immediately opened fire.

The Shawn Monster cocked its head and took a step back from the force that the barrage of bullets brought against it. But besides being staggered slightly, the onslaught did nothing else, as the small pieces of metal and plastic designed solely to kill bounced off of the armour that had hardened on the creature's skin. Not amused, and with an undying hunger placed in it by it's creator, the Shawn Monster leapt forward.

The new screams blasted from within the school, startling the police standing at guard outside. The cries of pain sliced into them, and though their training told them to go help, their sudden fear compelled them to stay.

And then the door exploded outward as a mangled corpse was tossed out through it. It bounced across the walkway and came to a stop a few feet away from the officers. The policemen stared with horror at the body, who had once been one of their own, before he had lost an arm, most of his legs, and any chance of his face being recognized.

A gurgling growl, like someone trying to snarl through a mouth full of seaweed, came from the entrence and then the creature that had once been Shawn Uptas ran through the doors, heading for the police, a thought of its past warping and twisting into another murderous rage.

The men tried to protect themselves, but their weapons were futile, and the creature ripped through them in another cataphomy of screams. One of the officers gave up firing and reached for his radio as his comrades were slaughtered.

"HELP! WE NEED HELP! MONSTER! CAN'T STOP…ARRGGGHHHHHHH!" The man screamed as his car was suddenly lifted up and toppled over onto him, crushing the life from his body.

The Shawn Monster's inhuman face twisted into a terrible version of a smile, and it began to feed again.

"STOP!!!!!!!!!!"

Its attention drawn, the creature looked up to see the man wearing a green and black outfit with a white cape, white turban, and sunglasses floating in the air above him.

Gohan had been floating in the air for a good ten seconds before he had spoken, but his voice had been robbed from him by the sheer disbelief and revulsion that had swept over him when he had arrived. He had gotten the frantic report via his Great Saiyaman watch-device, and his amazing speed had allowed him to change and be at the scene in seconds. He had heard the sheer fear in the man's voice, and had prayed he would not be too late.

But he was. The stench of death was everywhere, and Gohan had briefly had a nightmarish flashback that culminated in the fear he would see a terrible, familiar face. In the back of his mind, he was relieved that it was only a monster. But his horror at the canopa of death laid out before him still chilled him to the bone. It wasn't déjà vu, but it was just as bad.

As Gohan finally found the strength to speak, and the creature's attention was drawn to him, Gohan felt his shock, horror, and grief at the lives that had been lost begin to turn into rage, a burning fury that swelled up within his heart and exploded outward through his veins.

"WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS!?!?!?!?!?" Gohan screamed, as his rage bypassed the greater powers of his Mystic ability and linked to his ki powers. The turban flew off his head and his sunglasses melted and vaporized as Gohan's hair flared up and exploded into the golden shimmering spiked locks of the SSJ2 state.

"Why….what did these people do to you to deserve…." Gohan spat in sheer rage as his knuckles whitened under his gloves. He didn't care what happened to him, his saiya-jin blood had taken full control of his mind and was screaming for him to rip the monster apart with his bare hands.

But he never got the chance, as the beast suddenly turned and leapt away, flying hundreds of feet with no effort at all. Gohan gasped slightly, then ki energy exploded on his hands.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" he bellowed, and thrust his hands out as he fired a golden beam at the retreating monstrosity. But the creature somehow twisted in mid-air and the blast flew by its side, slamming into a building that began to buckle under the explosive power that the blast unleashed against it.

Gohan's cooler side then finally regained control, and his mind realized what his error had done. While he had been lucky that the building he had hit was condemned, there were still people around it. And it was about to fall on their heads.

Cursing that he would have to let the monster get away, Gohan zapped over to where the building was finally collasping, scooping up the people who had been unable to run far enough to get away. As the building fell down, Gohan fled the scene, taking a small saitisfaction that he had managed to keep anyone from getting hurt in that situation.

Leaving the people to be attended by the city, Gohan blasted back into the air, frantically pressing at his watch. He finally activated what he wanted.

"Bulma? It's me, Gohan! Call everyone you can and tell them to get to Ginger City as fast as possible! I need all the help I can get!"

Karin was taking yet another catnap, Yajirobee ironically mused. The cat may have been a mighty warrior once, back in the days before Goku, and while he was pathetically weak now, like him, he could still handle himself in a fight with any normal man, which was about the only thing Yajirobee wanted to fight any more. However, considering how much Karin napped, it was amazing he didn't get as weak as Master Roshi's turtle.

Then again, he grew the Senzu Beans. That made him as important to the Z warriors as the mightiest of fighting power. Karin may not have been there to help fight their battles, but had he not given them those magical beans out of the goodness of his heart, Earth would probably be long gone.

Yajirobee smirked as his musings went full circle, coming back to his original pondering on Karin's sleeping.

"Rest well, my friend. You have earned…"

Then the whole tower shook violently, and Yajirobee was snapped out of his thoughts as quickly as Karin was snapped out of sleep.

"What's going on Yajirobee!?!??!" Karin yelled as the tower shook violently again.

"I don't know! It feels like someone's trying to…AHHHHH!" Yajirobee screamed as the ground suddenly surged underneath him and he was thrown onto his rather large ass. It provided a good cushion, but it was his eyes that saw that the tower was lurching dangerously to one side.

"Karin! The tower's collasping! We have to get to the…"

Too late, as there was one last violent jerk and suddenly the top of the tower was falling, seized by gravity's greedy hold. The force of falling caused Yajirobee to fly up and bounce of the ceiling, his sword flying out of his hand and into the great beyond as the impossibly tall tower collasped onto itself, taking the top part on a one-way trip to the ground.

"KARIN!"

"YAJIROBEE!"

And then it all came crashing down on top of them as the ground finally caught up to them and the ball-esque top of the tower shattered like a raw egg on top of the huge pile of rubble that now lay where the tower had been.

Yajirobee may have been only a man, but he was a mighty man, and fueled by adrendaline and a desire to save a being he called a friend, he managed to ignore the terrible pain lancing through his broken body and shove the heavy broken stones off of him.

"Karin?" he coughed.

Then he saw the twisted nightmare of organic and mechanical parts standing some distance from the wreckage of Karin Tower, and he gasped in fear.

"Hmmm, you live. Amazing." Adam said, and a slight humming filled the air as Adam brought his right hand up. Yajirobee screamed.

And then the wreckage of Karin Tower exploded and Yajirobee's screams were swallowed as destroying energy devoured his body. Adam lowered his hands and regarded the flaming wreckage.

"It is strange that Vagene would require the destruction of such a odd building to destroy a crop of beans…my records show that bean crops are usually grow outdoors in fields…but if these beans truly did what Vagane claims they did, as incredulous as it was…perhaps they were worth protecting. But now there is nothing to protect. And with such ease too, I thought it might be harder to destroy such a tower. What a waste of my abilities."

"You called me on such a simple search and destroy mission? What a waste of my abilities." Vegeta muttered. Gohan looked at the saiya-jin angrily, as he floated in mid-air with everyone Bulma had been able to get. The rather ragtag group of Yamcha, Krillian, Eighteen, Ubuu, Trunks, and Goten took a brief look at Vegeta, then looked back to Gohan

"Can it, Vegeta. This creature murdered people, including children, and it's somewhere in this city. I looked as much as I could while I was waiting for you to arrive, and I couldn't find it. I need numbers, I don't want for it to escape or kill more because I'm just one man. That's why you're here. Split up everyone. If you find this creature, destroy it immediately. And remember Vegeta, if this thing murdered children with no remorse, it could very easily go after your daughter."

"Bra can take care of herself, I have seen to that after those two…incidents. You could see how well she has learned from her father if Bulma had allowed me to bring her. I swear, that woman just hears the word "monster" and she…"

"Later Vegeta. Let's go guys." Gohan said, and the group all split up and flew off in different directions. Gohan's eyes scanned the ground, look for any sign of the monster he had seen before. He felt a brief tap on his shoulder and almost broke his younger brother's hand off.

"Whoa! Watch it big bro." Goten said.

"Sorry."

"Before I go, I just want to know, where's father? This seems like something he would gladly help out with."

"I don't know. He wasn't at Mother's house and there was no answer at mine. He might be training Pan, and if that were the case he probably wouldn't notice anything else, you know how he gets."

"Tell me about it. Well, I'll do my best Gohan, but I have to ask, is it smart for all of us to be grouped together like this? What if something else happens?"

"Goten, if anyone else of any importence happens, or was happening, I think I would know."

It was a lovely day on Planet Namek, and the main Namek Elder, a middle-aged (by Namek standards anyway) Namekian by the name of Tring was getting ready to start his day. Finishing his glass of the cool water that came from the spring in the nearby mountains, he prepared to go to the village he looked after to see if there were any problems that needed his assisstance.

His hearing was better then his sense of smell, so he heard the faint screams first. Then he heard the WHOOSH and suddenly his nostrils filled with the stench of smoke.

"What!?! What's going on?" Tring said, as he headed for the door in a quick walk. He shoved it open and strode outside.

Then his jaw dropped. His house was slightly away and above the main village, which seemed to be the only reason that it was spared. A huge wall of fire surrounded every other house in the village. The wall, at least twenty feet high, seem to lap greedily at the Nameks inside. Tring could hear his people's cries, and watched in shock as a Namek tried to fly up and over the wall only to have a tongue of flame leap up from the top of the firewall and envelop him. He got off one lone scream before he was incinerated.

"My people! Who, how…" Tring said, fear and desperation rising in him. He had to put the fire out, or all his village would perish…but what kind of demonic flame was it that it killed a being that was trying to escape?

Then he saw them. Had he not been a creature thoroughly grounded in reason, he would have thought he was dreaming. Standing some distance away was a woman, a human woman. She wore a red dress and look to be as frail as crystal. Then his eyes fell apon the towering figure behind and slightly to her left, and he gasped in sheer terror as he looked apon Tormentor's hideous face and body. The look got him an evil smile in return. More then any reason then he didn't want to go crazy, Tring returned his eyes to the woman.

Then he saw that the woman was holding her arm out, her fingers causually spread. The arm was pointing at the wall of fire that had imprisonned his people within their own village.

"Are you the High Elder? The one who controls the magical artifacts known as the Dragon Balls?" Alexia said, her voice cold and emotionless.

Tring took some time to answer.

"Yes…I am…why…who…"

"I am Alexia Ashford. I am the head of the great Ashford family and the commander of the power of the T-Veronica virus…and I want you to call the Dragon Balls to yourself, NOW!" Alexia said coldly. Tring gulped. The woman's voice was as cruel as a polished blade.

"No…I won't…" Tring said in a brief surge of bravery. A look of annoyance crossed Alexia's face, and she flexed her fingers slightly. The wall of fire began to move, drawing inward into the village. The screams of terror increased.

"NO! DON'T!" Tring begged.

"I know you possess the power to summon the Dragon Balls from where they are hidden on your planet. The Namek elders gave themselves that ability after a series of crisises convinced them that they might need to call apon the Balls's power again quickly. Now summon the Balls to yourself, or your people will all fry like that fool who tried to escape. Your choice, there are thousands of Nameks on this planet I can cook until the Balls are mine."

"No. Don't kill them…I will obey you." Tring said, his voice tinged with angry resentment that the woman held such a blade over his head. Slowly, he raised his hands and summoned the heirloom of his planet, the powerful magical pearls that had saved the universe more then once. Hoping that the woman would just take them and leave. But at the same time, he realized that if she knew about his power to call the Dragon Balls, a power he had only aquired a little while ago when he became the High Elder of Namek, she would also most likely know that in order to use the Namek Balls you needed to speak in the Namekian tongue. He shuddered inwardly and hoped that whatever she wished it did not result in more death. He'd seen his planet destroyed along with himself, he didn't want to see it again.

A short time passed, and then one of the golden balls floated down from the sky, landing on the ground between him and the two creatures that held his people hostage. Then they came, gradually but not too slowly, until all seven of the pearls were there.

"There you are. Take them and wish whatever you want, just leave my people alone." Tring said in a voice that was partly a hiss. Alexia looked at the Namek with amusement.

"Wish? I desire no wish."

Alexia glanced over her shoulder.

"Tormentor!"

And then the huge brute stepped forward, as he drew from his back an axe as big as a man. The axe was black all over, skulls forged into its hilt and bones weaved through its handle. The blade had a radius of over four feet and was cruelly barbed. It seemed to be the act of bloodletting forced into a weapon.

"Do it!"

"DESTROY!" Tormentor roared as he brought up his axe and brought it down on the Three-Star Dragon Ball, the artifact breaking like glass under the weapon as the bright golden-orange shards turned to the dead grey of stone.

"NO! NO!" Tring screamed as Tormentor continued to destroy his planet's greatest treasure, and he ran forward to try and stop the mammoth demon from doing so. Alexia smirked.

"Fool."

Then the Namek's feet suddenly lit on fire, and Tring fell to the ground, yelling at the flames seared him. His eyes jerked up as Tormentor destroyed the second to last Dragon Ball and Alexia withdrew a small device from the bodice of her dress, aiming it at Tring. He screamed again.

Then the device fired, and a purple light lanced from the device and struck the Namek. His scream cut off as a bright purple light flashed, and suddenly the Namek was frozen in place, sealed away in a dark-purple crystal, his mouth opened in a permanent cry of fear and grief.

Tormentor destroyed the last Dragon Ball and looked up with great desire as Alexia put the device away.

"Why not kill him?" Tormentor said.

"He also commands the power to remake the Dragon Balls should they be destroyed. The future may bring a need for him to do so, for us. Thus I have sealed him away per Vagane's request. If we do not need him after all…he will be destroyed. But for now, he comes with us back to Earth." Alexia said as she withdrew her MRR and began to reprogram it to take three beings back to Earth at the predetermained meeting place.

"Alexia…what of the other aliens?" Tormentor said, indicating the wall of fire where cries of terror still wafted from.

Alexia smiled cruelly.

"Kill them all."

"YEESSSS!" Tormentor said, as he raised his terrible axe and walked right through the wall of flame. Alexia did not let it concern her. Tormentor's power would see he would not be harmed.

The screams suddenly increased into a symphony of noise, terror and pain, mixed in with a demon's laughter. Alexia closed her eyes and listened as Tormentor tore the Nameks apart, the destruction of an inferior species music to her ears. The screams, the screams, the screams…

…alerted Gohan as he flew across the sky, desperately searching for the monster that had escaped him back at the school. Sick fear raced through him. NO! Don't tell me that beast had struck again!

But as he raced towards where he had heard the screams, he could see the blood and knew that it had.

The Shawn Beast tore the woman he had been devouring alive in half and then looked up in annoyance. He had kept to the shadows via his master's orders, skulking around and killing anyone who discovered him. But finally, he could take no more, and he had waited until the flying one had gone elsewhere before he had reemerged to feed and kill. He could not believe he had been found again so quickly.

Flexing his legs, the monster abandoned it's meal of the small tour group it had slaughtered and leapt upward onto the nearest roof, Gohan in furious pursuit.

Gohan whipped back his hand and then thrust it forward, sending a spiraling ki energy projectile at the beast, but the beast leapt forward several hundred feet and all Gohan managed to do was blow up a good part of the roof. The beast continued to leap from roof to roof, as Gohan fired off several more inaccurate shots that only resulted in the destruction of more roofs.

But finally, the Shawn Monster ran out of easy leaps as it looked ahead and saw that it had come to one end of the city. A massive twisting maze of freeway roads led to the beginning of the next part, which was at least a thousand feet away. It growled again and prepared itself, knowing that it could jump across the entire series of roads and land on a building on the other side. It reached the edge and exploded off into the air.

And then Goten flew up from above, his fists laced together.

"I don't think so!"

Then Goten brought his clenched hands down on the creature's head, stopping its jump cold and sending it falling down towards a raised section of highway road. Cars screeched to a halt as the monster was smashed right through one section of the road before coming to a dead halt in the muddy, gravel-strewn ground beneath the freeway passes.

Gohan didn't even thank his brother, as he quickly altered his course and flew down under the raised freeway roads. He finally had the creature cornered.

The Shawn Monster slowly raised itself to its feet as Gohan landed some feet away. It growled in pain, looking at its shattered right leg, the pulverized mass of muscle and bone that was the result of Goten's blow. Then it turned its burning eyes on Gohan, whose eyes were equally filled with rage.

"Monster." Gohan hissed.

The Shawn Monster hissed back. It couldn't flee anymore.

"FOORRRR THEEE MASSTTTEEERRRR!" it squealed and charged at Gohan, claws out to tear the hybrid to bits. Gohan didn't move, but instead threw up his arms and thrust them down at the creature.

"MASENKO!"

The golden beam exploded from Gohan's hands and enveloped the charging monster, and it squealed before the burning energy blew it off the face of the earth, burning it's virus-corrupted flesh to ash.

Gohan lowered his arms, breathing in anger and exhaustion. There was a slight noise of wooshing air and then Goten landed next to him.

"You get it bro?"

"Yes. Yes I did." Gohan said, his voice indicating he took no joy in his apparent success. There were more noises as the Z warriors Gohan had summoned to help him landed next to him as well.

"Is the monster dead? BAH! What a waste of my time!" Vegeta cursed, and then he was gone again, back to his home. Krillian looked at the ashes.

"Nice one Gohan. Looks like you didn't need us after all, as Vegeta put it so rudely, but hey, it's not like he can do it any other way…hey Gohan, what's wrong?"

"The monster…before I killed it…it spoke…it said it served a master…as if it did all this for this master…and the sheer insanity of the way it killed those people… it just got me thinking…could it be…could she…"

There was silence, a silence overlapped by fear. Goten spoke up first.

"No Gohan. She's gone. She's locked up back in Erik's world without any memories of ever coming here, and even if she could remember, it was a one-time thing! There is no way…no way…"Goten said before trailing off. Now even he didn't believe himself.

"Those who died in that holocaust did not remember what happened during that terrible week. I don't, and I'm glad of it. She died, Gohan. She may have been able to break seemingly every rule, but I think that was one that was iron-clad. It can't be her." Krillian said, but he took his wife's hand as he spoke.

"Be thankful you can't remember, Krillian. I do all too well. I still see her in my nightmares, those terrible inhuman eyes…I'm just thankful I'll never see them again." Yamcha said.

"Yes…but can such evil really die…can the memories that we lost be lost to her as well…because if not…maybe you're right, brother." Gohan said, wiping sweat from his eyes. "But who else could create a creature that would kill with such reckless abandon…such mercilessness as she showed? Who could match her inhuman desire for such senseless destruction?"

Dende's eyes snapped open and he sat up with a cry. He could feel it. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.

"My people…dying…must…argh!" Deende said, stumbling of his chamber and out of the palace. He dearly hoped Piccolo was there, instead of off in some godforsaken corner of the planet meditating. He could feel his racial bond to his people continue to pour out terrible jumbled images of death, fire, pain…and laughter.

Luck was not with him, Piccolo was gone. Still scared and confused by the images pouring into his head, Dende began to head down the stairs, trying to clear his head enough to contact someone on his planet.

Then he saw them, and his old fear was forgotten, as he looked apon the man that sat in the hovering mechanical chair before him, flanked by three young women.

"You are Dende? Kami and protector of Earth?" the man asked calmly. Dende looked at the man with the grey-streaked hair and beard.

"Yes, but how did you get…who are you…" Dende said. The main smirked slightly.

"I have my ways."

Then Dende, for not reason other then the purpose of breathing, sniffed.

And the shock came flooding back. The strench of blood coming off the man was terrible, flooding Dende's senses in a way they hadn't been flooded in years. It brought back terrible memories of the madwoman who had invaded his tower four years ago…a female personification of death that had nearly killed him and everyone he cared for.

"What are you…" Dende said, and then gasped as the women suddenly leapt forward and grabbed him, holding his arms.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! LET GO!" Dende said, struggling with all his might. The women strained to held on, their strength closely matching Dende but their desire to succeed far stronger then his ever could be. They knew what would happen if they failed.

Drawn by the noise, Mr. Popo ran out of his palace chamber and saw his god and his best friend being assaulted. Instinctively, he ran for his aid. Vagane's eyes filled with annoyance as he saw the short man in a turban running towards him.

"Blasted interfering insects!" he growled, and pressed a few more buttons. Dende's eyes widened as a tube suddenly slid out the front of Vagane's hoverchair.

"MR.POPO, RUN!"

Too late.

The burst of blue energy shot from the tube and enveloped Mr. Popo. As the smell of cooking flesh filled the air, his scream mixed with Dende's howl of protesting denial, and then a burst of power shot down the length of the beam that was wrapped around Mr. Popo and cooking him alive. He burst into flames as he was flung backwards, vanishing over the edge of Kami's Lookout as his screams faded.

"MR. POPO! NO!" Dende howled, and then with a roar of pure rage and a surge of strength he never knew he had, he threw the girls aside. They sprawled on the ground, but they were on their feet with terrible speed and running back to Dende to restrain him again.

But that was long eneough for Dende to gather his power.

"YOU BASTARD!" he screamed, and thrust his hands forward, sending a bolt of green energy at Vagane. Vagane threw up one arm even as he thrust the other down, and then the ki struck him. As the explosion consumed him, the three girls stopped dead.

"MASTER!" Belinda wailed in pure grief and fear as she stared in horror at the cloud of smoke where the doctor had been. Dende kept his angry eyes on the cloud, his dark side revealing in his successful destruction.

Then a purple beam lanced from the cloud, and Dende's jaw dropped in shock. Then he screamed as the beam struck him. His body contorted backwards and then suddenly he was encased in purple crystal. Coughing came from the smoke cloud as it finally cleared, revealing the "good doctor" none the worse for wear.

"Master! You're ok!" Belinda said joyously, but her happiness turned to fear as Vagane turned angry eyes on her.

"Of course I'm ok! Did you think that such a pathetic attack could possible penetrate the shields I have developed?" Vagane said. Belinda hastily kneeled.

"No master! I never doubted you for a second!"

"Good." Vagane said, as he looked at the imprisoned Dende. "I am disappointed. This weakling is the God of this planet? It did not even take me a minute to capture him! If he is the god, perhaps the warriors on this planet are far weaker then my observations led me to believe…but that does not matter. Fall in Valkyries. If the others have succeeded as easily as I did I will be a good mood, and thus your punishment for failing to keep that weakling held will be less severe!"

"Yes master." Said all three of the girls, their heads bowed submissively.

There was a crackling noise, and then suddenly Vagane and his three Valkyries materilized on the cliff face. Angry waves lashed the bottom as the sea seemed to sense something terrible was about to happen. Long ago, a saiya-jin prince had stood on this cliffside with plans to take his own life. Now many stood on the cliffside, and they planned to do was take lives.

"Good to see you again, mate." Spike said as Vagane floated over to where his four allies had gathered.

"As well, Spike. I trust your mission was not as bad as you thought?" Vagane asked.

"I got to eat." Spike said, licking his lips. Vagane smirked slightly.

"Were you successful?"

"I figured since you let me eat I would try, and yes, I got them all. At least I bleeding hope so, if those beans can do what you say I don't want them in those bleeding warrior's hands…" Spike muttered. Vagane turned to one of the Valkyries. She kneeled.

"Marie?"

"Yes master. I checked his MRR, he went to all the locations and found all your marked places. We have all the beans that those people once had."

"Excellent. Adam?"

"It was a great waste of time, but I succeeded in destroying the tower you said those "senzu beans" were grown at. They are gone, and so is the knowledge of how they are grown, if that cat creature you said truly was the only one to possess such knowledge. A pity…it would be quite useful to possess such knowledge once I have been given what you said we will all receive…but I am sure I can replicate it, if that little animal was able to."

"I am sure as well. Ah, Alexia…"Vagane said, the affection obvious in his voice. But it wasn't love, it was a twisted feeling of admiration…and something else. Alexia smiled slightly.

"We were successful as well. The Dragon Balls of the Planet Namek were destroyed…along with a good many Nameks. But we spared the Elder and captured him as per your request."

"Wonderful. Your skills are as great as your beauty, my lovely Alexia." Vagane said. Adam and Tormentor ignored Vagane's obvious liking of the young woman. Tormentor did not care, and Adam was secure in his superiority, and also respectful of the incredible power that lurked underneath the frail body that Alexia Ashford seemingly possessed. Spike, however, was annoyed.

"I'll tell you one thing, if he starts calling me "My lovely William", I don't care if he promises me everything in existence, I'm still gonna rip his head off!" Spike muttered. Vagane heard the vampire, but he ignored it as he turned to his grouped Valkyries, indicating with a gesture that they did not have to kneel.

"Were you successful, my girls?"

"Yes my lord. We aquired them all, without any losses or suspecion." Said one of the women, and seven of them broke away from the pack and laid the seven golden-orange pearls, all marked with stars, in front of Vagane, arranging them in a perfect circle and then withdrawing back into the group.

"The Earth possesses these as well?" Alexia asked, looking at the Dragon Balls with interest. Spike leaned over Vagane's shoulder as the Valkyries filed behind Vagane to keep out of his way and to serve as guard.

"What are these, mate?"

"They are a source of great, great power, Spike. And they are the second step in our plan. Behold." Vagane said, and raised his arms.

"COME OUT SHEN LONG, AND GRANT MY WISH!"

Gohan was flying home when he saw the sky darken. His brow furled.

"Odd…is someone summoning Shen Long?"

All around the world, men and women who possessed power far beyond that of mortal beings looked up into the sky and wondered the same. In the forest, Tien stopped stacking wood and looked up at the sky with his wife Lunch, and Chaozu. Out in the forest, Seventeen looked up from his snares. Outside his house, Mr. Satan looked up from his conversation with Buu at the sky. As they flew back to where they had been before Gohan called them, Goten, Vegeta, Trunks Ubuu, Yamcha, Krillian, and Eighteen all looked at the darkneing sky and wondered out loud the same thing Gohan had. Bra emerged from the gravity chamber and looked up, even as Marron looked out the window from her house and Videl looked up from the path she was taking to get home. Piccolo, meditating on a mountaintop, ceased his concentration and looked as well.

And in a field near Gohan's house, Son Goku ceased his sparring with his granddaughter and looked up into the sky as it crackled with thunder.

"Grandpa?" Pan said. Goku didn't answer. The feeling had sprung up in his gut, a feeling of dread and horrible forebearence.

"Something's wrong. Very very wrong."

The balls glowed and then the power exploded forth from within them, the beams of golden energy flying upward and forming into the massive body of Shen Long.

"Whoa." Spike said.

"Impressive, I suppose." Adam added.

"I am Shen Long, the Eternal Dragon. Speak two wishes and I will grant them if it is within my power." Shen Long said as he looked down at the group. In his heart, Shen Long felt some unease. He had appeared to all kinds of people and beings, both good and bad, but there was something unique about the man who sat before him. And it was not good.

"Shen Long, my first wish is that in a location I have chosen, I wish for a massive fortress to be build for me and my allies. It will take me a great deal of time to describe the details, so I know it is within your power, read my mind and take all details from it."

"It will be done." Shen Long rumbled, and closed his eyes in concentration. Power surged around the dragon for a while, and then Shen Long opened his eyes. But there was something different about the dragon this time.

"It is done…it is built on the ground as you wished. What is your second wish?" Shen Long said, the unease within his heart swirling into a storm. He had felt fear very rarely, and never this strong, but when he had touched Vagane's mind in concurrance with his wish the evil he had sensed was utterly mind-boggling, even for him. Silently, Shen Long waited for the second wish.

"For my second wish…there is a man on this planet, Shen Long. A man with the power to destoy solar systems with a wave of his hand and make galaxies crumbled into the space dust that gave them birth. I wish for this man to be my servent, in body, mind, heart and soul, forever! I wish for him to be my slave!" Vagane said triumphantly

Shen Long blinked his huge lashes. It was just as he feared.

"I…cannot do that." Shen Long lied, hoping the madman in front of him would be fooled. Vagane cocked his head slightly.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. It is beyond my power. You must wish for something else." Shen Long bluffed. Vagane smirked and raised his finger in a "Ah-ah-ah" chiding motion.

"You lie. It is within your power, you just do not wish to do it! To think that I am the first being who the Eternal Dragon ever refused to grant a wish to! I almost feel honoured. But I am afraid you cannot refuse, Shen Long. You were created to grant wishes within your power, and this is within it! You cannot deny me it! NOW DO IT!"

Shen Long lowered his head slightly, knowing that Vagane spoke the truth. He could refuse no longer. And he dreaded what he would be forced to do.

"It shall be done." He said grudgingly, and closed his eyes again.

An even more brillant flash illuminated the landscape, blinding most of the Valkyries and Spike. As the vampire cursed, Shen Long opened his eyes, longing to take back what he had done to the man he had considered the greatest being on this planet.

"It…is…done…" Shen Long said. "Fare-"

Then Vagane slammed his head down on a button he had prepared as the dragon had granted his wish. From behind the wheelchair the top of Vagane's chair slid away as a large-bore cannon slid out. Shen Long's eyes widened.

"WHAT?"

Then Vagane slammed his hand down on another button and the cannon fired, sending a huge black blast at the dragon. Shen Long only managed a lone roar of defiance before the blast struck him. The explosion blasted all the Valkyries back and even staggered Adam and Tormentor. Only Vagane did not move, as his face broke out in a sadastic grin as he watched the pieces of Shen Long's body fall into the sea, where the angry waters devoured them. When the smoke cleared, there was no more Shen Long.

"Be careful who you grant wishes to, you just might "get it"." Vagane chuckled, as his allies made their way back to his side.

"You killed him." Alexia said, looking at where Shen Long had been.

"Yes, and we destroyed the way to summon his Namekian brother. That way, he cannot be used against us." Vagane said, the sadistic smirk still on his face.

"Just one question mate. If he could grant wishes, why didn't we just ask HIM for godhood?" Spike said, looking a tad displeased.

"True Spike. You could have asked, and he could have given it to you to a degree…but with me, you will truly know what godhood is. The second step is complete. We no longer have to fear the mighty warriors on this planet, for the mightiest of them all is now in our service."

"Oh really? Where is he then?"

"Coming right towards us." Vagane said, pointing at the small figure who had appeared off in the distant sky. In seconds, he had flown the distance and landed in front of Vagane, kneeling as he did so. Adam looked at the man with some disgust.

"THIS is the mightiest warrior on the planet? He is but another pathetic human!"

"Ah Adam, he may look like one, but within his frame lurks power beyond imagining. More power then all of us put together. Power that now lives only serve us, and our purpose. Isn't that right, Son Goku?"

Goku raised his head. The normal good cheer in his eyes was gone, along with the deadly seriousness he wore in battle. In it was a look that he had never worn in his life. It was the same look Vagane wore in his eyes.

"Master." He said, bowing his head again. Vagane reared back his head and laughed.

"Soon…soon…and even sooner for you, Failure…"Vagane whispered to himself. "Goku! Fall in beside me!"

Goku obeyed with total obediance. The four allies looked him up and down.

"I agree with Adam, as much of a miracle that is. He doesn't look like much." Spike said. Vagane smirked.

"Goku."

"My lord."

"Power up and show them just what kind of might you possess."

"Yes master. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Goku screamed as his hair flared up into the golden locks of the SSJ state. As Spike's eyes widened, Goku whirled back out to face the sea, thrusting his hands to his side.

"KA-ME-HA-ME-HA!!!!!!!!!!" Goku screamed, and thrust his hands forward, throwing a gigantic blue bolt of power. It flew off into the distance, and then the whole sky lit up and the ground shook as it detonated. The blast of wind was so strong it knocked half the Valkyries over, along with Spike. He quickly got to his feet and looked with wide eyes at the massive mushroom cloud that was rising in the distance.

"Ho.Ly. Shit." Spike said dumbly.

"And that is but a fraction of his power. I have been planning to aquire his…services for some time. You can guess why now. And speaking of now, it is time to move on to step three. We must aquire the Omega Triggers."

"The Omega what? Mate, first of all, start speaking english, and second, I want to know now just what your plan is! You've given us bits and pieces and keep promising us godhood. I want to know how we're gonna get it, now!" Spike said. Vagane chuckled again.

"When we arrive at our new home, the lab that Shen Long set up for us before his unfortunate…accident, I will explain my plan completely. But first, we must aquire the two Omega Triggers. And we shall kill two birds with one stone. In getting the Omega Triggers, we can also draw out all the other warriors in this world. I do not need them interefering with me, so once we have drawn them out, Goku here will…deal with them, in a swift and final way. Isn't that correct, Son Goku?"

"Yes master. It will be my pleasure." Goku said with complete obediance.

"And how do you propose we draw these warriors out, Vagane? I am anxious to see just how strong they are." Adam said. As if on cue, a sharp blade of hardened bone burst from within his inner wrist and extended several feet past his hand.

"Ah Adam. You are a virtual god already, why should you get your hands dirty in a fight? Your powers could be used in far better ways then a simple battle. Did pummeling the Slayer give you anything?"

Spike's face darkened at the mention of the word "Slayer". Adam, on the other hand, seemed to be giving the matter some thought.

"I suppose not…but I do think that such a battle would be a learning experience in some way." Adam said, as his bone blade slid back into his arm. Spike turned away.

"Slayer…when this is over…I will use your neck as a chalice and your body as an abbatoir!" Spike growled, briefly shifting to his game-face before shifting back. He turned back to Vagane.

"As for the warriors of this world…nearly all of them have a lone weakness. They feel a responsibility to protect the pathetic people of this world…just like that group the Failure belong does. So what we must do is simple. We find a city, and we massacre them. They'll come running. They always do, and those who don't want to help the pathetic people will come looking for a good fight. And Goku will show them the true meaning of power. They thought he was strong before? They haven't seen anything yet." Vagane smirked.

"Oh. And do you have a place?" Alexia asked.

"I do. They call it Satan City, named after a famous fool who considers himself a warrior. It's population is gigantic…so let's go slaughter a few million of them."

"YESSSS! KILLLLL!" Tormentor crowed with evil glee.

"Wipe the stain of them from the planet…truly delicious." Alexia said.

"They shall see who is truly the lord and masters of this earth." Adam added.

"Killing…mate, I'm beginning to like you." Spike finished.

"Indeed my friends. We shall show them just how much of a failure their race is…just how unworthy they are of survival…how they don't even know the concept of it. Let's go." Vagane said, activated the strongest MRR he had.

And like that, the group was gone.

The shit hit the fan when Gohan opened the door to his house and found his wife crouching over his daughter as she lay on the couch. Gohan took one look on how she had been brutally beaten and fear exploded in his heart.

"Gohan! Oh Gohan…" Videl said as she turned around to face her husband as he ran to a couch. "I came home and heard her cries…she was laying in the field…she's badly hurt…DAMMIT GOHAN WHERE ARE THE SENZU BEANS!?!?!?" Videl screamed, sharking her husband. Gohan removed his wife's arms and he headed over to the desk where he kept them, his pulse racing. He could have sworn he had told Videl where the beans were. In her panic she must have forgotten.

"Videl, they're right…"Gohan's voice trailed off as he opened the drawer and found the bag of senzu beans gone. The fear came back full force, and Gohan tore the desk apart. But there were no beans, in the desk or anywhere.

"They're gone." Gohan said incredulously.

"THEY'RE GONE!?!?!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE GONE!?!?!?!?" Videl shrieked. Gohan ran back over to the couch, fumbling at his boot.

"Don't worry Videl…I always…keep one on me…for emergencies." Gohan said, finally getting his boot off and opening a small pocket inside. Withdrawing a senzu, Gohan gently took his daughter's head. His fear began to mix with rage as he saw how badly it was bruised.

"Pan, can you hear me?" Gohan said calmly as Videl hovered over the two, tears leaking from her eyes. The battered teen nodded her head slightly.

"Ok Pan, I want you to eat this…be careful, ok?" Gohan said as he gently placed the bean in Pan's mouth. Pan's mouth moved labourously up and down a few times before her throat bulged slightly to indicate she had swallowed. There was a sudden jolt throughout her body, and then the bruises began to fade. In seconds, they were gone.

"Oh Pan…" Videl wept, hugging her daughter as hard as she could. Gohan added to the hug, and Pan hugged her parents back. Gohan pushed his glasses back up his nose as he withdrew, looking at his daughter.

"Pan, who did this?"

Pan's eyes filled with sadness. The pain had kept her distracted, but it was gone now, and so was her her ability to put off what had happened.

"Grandpa."

Gohan and Videl's eyes went as wide as they could.

"What?" Gohan croaked, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"Grandpa…it was grandpa…but it wasn't…the sky went dark and he said something was wrong, and then suddenly he bent over screaming and holding his head, and when he bent back up…it wasn't him. Not anymore. It was something else. Something bad…very bad." Pan said, before she collasped into sobs. "What happened to grandpa?"

"Gohan…what's she talking about…?"

"I don't know…Pan…when he bent back up did he have a big M on his forehead?"

"No…he was the same…except…his eyes…not grandpa…bad…bad!" Pan said, the pain and fear causing her to regress back to earlier levels of maturity. Gohan raised his hands in a gesture that said he was unable to understand.

"Videl…call Mom, I have to speak to her…something's wrong…" Gohan said. Videl got up and headed for the closest phone, which was by the window that opened into the front yard.

"Now Pan…you must tell me…"

"GOHAN!" Videl shrieked. Gohan leapt back to his feet and whirled. His daughter was safe now, he could afford to have his attention diverted. He ran over to Videl, who had her hands on her face in shocked surprise.

"What?"

"Out there…the yard…"Videl said, pointing. Gohan looked out the window and his eyes widened.

"MR.POPO?"

Indeed it was, but not in any way that Gohan had ever seen the servent/friend to Kami and Dende. Gohan burst out the door and headed for the prone figure, who lay on the carpet that had managed to take him to Gohan's house. Gohan took one look and gasped. Even with Mr.Popo's very dark skin, Gohan could see he was badly burned. Very badly.

"Mr.Popo? How…what…?" Gohan stammered.

"Gohan…made it…nearly died…managed to summon carpet as I fell…through the pain…you closest…" Mr.Popo whispered, his voice wavery. Gohan clenched his teeth. The Senzu Bean he had given Pan was the only one he had had on his person. And he hadn't moved his other store of beans, and with them missing, Gohan was at a loss of what to do for the poor man who lay before him.

"Mr. Popo, what did this?"

"Monster…evil terrible monster…her…"Mr.Popo whispered, and fear flowed through Gohan. But Mr. Popo was not done.

"…as bad as her…inhuman…Dende…help…please…I…I…"

And then the light faded from Mr. Popo's eyes and his body went limp. Gohan sighed and lowered his head slightly, closing Mr. Popo's eyelids. Even with his horrible injuries, it still made him look like he was at peace.

"Rest well friend. We'll avenge you. I promise." Gohan said, getting up and picking up the body to carry inside. He would figure out what to do with it later.

"Gohan…"came Videl's voice as he opened the door, carrying Mr. Popo's body.

"Mr. Popo's dead. Something terrible has happened at Kami's Lookout…he used his last breath to tell me that…"Gohan said before he realized Videl wasn't listening to him. Instead she was staring at the TV with Pan. Gohan put Mr. Popo's body down on the couch where Pan had laid minutes ago and put a sheet over him.

"Gohan, look." Videl said, pointing at the TV. Gohan did so. It was a news show, and the announcer looked very frazzled.

"This just in…Satan City is under attack by unknown forces…we go now live to our correspondant…" the frazzled annoucer said, before the camera switched to a jerking, swaying view and a male reporter who was obviously terrified.

"Colin, the city is being bombarded by immense forces! It's killing everything in its path! I don't know how safe it is here…" the reporter said before he happened to glance behind the camera. His eyes went as wide as saucers.

"OH MY GOD! HELP ME! HELP ME!" The reporter screamed, and the camera jerked violently around as the cameraman tried to turn around to see what was behind him. Gohan caught a blurry shot of burning, collasping buildings. Then there was another scream before the camera could complete a full 180 trip and then static filled the screen.

Gohan, Videl, and Pan stared in horror.

"I was right…it's her…she's back…dear kami help us all, she's back…" Gohan said, before whirling to his feet as he rose from his half crouch.

"Pan, call Bulma and tell her to get ahold of EVERYONE! Not just those she can phone, EVERYONE! I don't care if she has to use smoke signals, telepathy, ANYTHING, JUST GET EVERYONE! We're gonna need them all!"

"But Dad, what are you going to do?"

Gohan's face hardened into a look of determained fury.

"I'm going to Satan City. To stop whoever's doing this."

The park plain was even more quiet then before, as if the animals, insects, and every living thing could sense that the people who had arrived from another dimension earlier that night had corrupted the land, and that to stay on it would be poison.

Then the crackling noise started up again, and then the air split anew. It did not take long for another figure to emerge from the Gateway. It took a few steps forward, looking around, and then it's head jerked to the side.

"War…I smell the scent of war…and death…I must act…I am sorry my allies, I must go on ahead, I know you will find me." Said a female voice.

There was the sound of metal being unbound, and then moonlight glinted on twin daggers, long, barbed, and cruelly sharp. The female broke into a run, and the shadows devoured her as quickly as the light had given birth to her.