"I am…I don't know who I am," the woman introduced herself. "Just call me Shadow. That's what I am: a shadow."

"Very well," the Guardian said. "I am here as a guide, to help you decide."

"Decide what? Where am I? Do you know who I am?" Shadow asked.

The Guardian sadly shook her head. "I don't know who you are, Child. I may not know either, to ensure impartiality. You see, you have withdrawn from the circle of birth and rebirth. You escaped the grasp of my sister; the Guardian of the Ghost Roads, whose task it is to guard the cycle of birth and rebirth. You are here to decide your fate in the afterlife. And I am to be your guide in that."

"So, you're telling me I'm dead, and I'm here to chose what to do with my afterlife?" Shadow decided not to comment on the Guardian calling her 'child'.

"Basically, yes," the Guardian responded.

"Do you know who I am? No, stupid question, you already told me that. Can you find out?"

Again, the Guardian shook her head. "I can not. There are billions upon billions of souls here, and not all souls travel here immediately. Judging by the fact that you remember nothing, it is very likely that you have died a long time ago."

"You mean I could have been dead for hundreds of years?"

"More like thousands, judging by the fact that you don't even remember your own name. But, that is something that will not trouble you for much longer. You have reached heaven. Chose your pathway. Look at any of these roads, and you will feel sure which one to take."

Shadow nodded, deciding to trust this strange woman for now. She walked to the different paths, looking down them, but feeling nothing out of the ordinary. As she returned to the place where the guardian of the Crossroads was waiting, she said,

"I don't feel anything special with any of them."

"Very well," The Guardian said. "Descend to the next level," the circle both women were standing on started descending. Soon Shadow looked around a whole different set of roads.

"I do have some questions," Shadow said.

"Please, ask them, Child."

"What are these roads? How can I chose my path if I don't know what each one represents?"

"In your present form, your spirit form, your soul will tell you which one you must follow. As to those roads, every one represents something different. I can not tell you which one is which, to ensure impartiality."

"I mean, with what can I end up? I don't want to be stuck with something I don't like at all!"

"If you patiently feel out each option, you will have chosen a path that will entice you into eternity," the Guardian explained. "For instance, there is a road for creative efforts, writing, painting, etc… if you have a writer's soul, it will tell you to follow that path, so you can converse with people like Shakespeare from now until eternity. Or, if you have a painter's soul, you can go to Picasso, and learn to paint form him, or any other of the great masters. Or, you can just become an observer, taking in the beauty of the work of the other spirits. There is a pathway for every possible choice. Do not be alarmed if you do not find your pathway immediately, because you will find one."

Shadow nodded. "I understand," she responded. "Nothing here either," she told the Guardian after having scouted the pathways.

"Descending to next level," the Guardian said, and the platform dropped once more.

 

How many levels have I had now? Forty? Fifty? I don't remember…

"Hello," Shadow said, halting in front of a specific road.

"Is this the one?" the Guardian asked.

"I am not sure. I definitely feel something, but I am not sure if it's the right one," Shadow responded, sounding confused.

"Then this must be a pathway that is close to your soul, but is not totally your chosen path. You could be happy here, but not content to the depths of your soul," the Guardian responded.

"Could you write this one down?" Shadow responded. "That way, I could return here if I can't find something else."

"You will find something else, but I will do as you requested. Pathway 5312," Guardian noted.

"The twelfth pathway of the 53^rd level, no doubt?" Shadow asked.

"Of course. Descend to next level," the Guardian said.

Many more levels passed before something caught Shadow's eye. One of the pathways seemed to glow in a bright light, and it seemed to call out to her, beckon her…

"Do you see that?" Shadow asked the Guardian. Guardian smiled faintly. The smile disappeared when she saw which pathway Shadow was walking toward.

"I do not," the Guardian responded. "It seems you have chosen your path."

"Why are you so glum, Guardian?" Shadow asked.

"The path you have selected is the only one that could lead to the death of your spirit."

"Explain," Shadow said.

"That is the pathway of the Universal Savior. The pathway itself is one long road of training, enduring pain, and hardships. But, if you complete the path, you will be resurrected into mortality. On the other hand, you can also die at the hands of those you will call teachers. Of the 13 souls who ever entered this path, only one ever made it."

"I thought you were to remain impartial, and not influence my decision at all?" Shadow asked, a smirk on her face.

"This is the only path with a warning, Child. This is the only one the souls enter fully aware of what they have chosen. Path number 5312 is the path of the warrior, and that was the reason you didn't feel completely sure about it."

"Sounds to me like you're trying to persuade me not to follow this course," Shadow responded, smirking wider now. "Don't bother. I'll do it. I don't know why, but I feel I have to do this."

"So be it," the Guardian said. "Good luck, Child. I will be there to guide you along your path, but I can only show it to you. You must walk it."

"Thank you. And thank you for your assistance," Shadow responded, turned, and walked to the chosen path, her steps resolute and deliberate. She knew what she wanted.

Shadow appeared in a room, fully decorated in white. It resembled one of those classic Japanese houses, with walls made of wood and paper. The only difference here was that the walls were padded as well. Shadow looked around. A sleeping mat, a small incense burner, a small stove, some pottery, some dishes, and that was it. She looked at herself, and found that she was wearing a workout outfit consisting of a sports bra, t-shirt, and stretch pants that reached to just above her knees. Then, the door slid open. Shadow turned around… and froze.

The man before her was impressive, to say the least. Over two meters tall, he towered above her smaller 1.60-meter tall frame.

"I am your sensei. In my mortal life I was a warrior who became known as Thor."

"I am Shadow. I remember nothing of my life. But I do know Thor. Wasn't he supposed to be the God of Thunder in Scandinavian mythology?"

"Reality and mythology are far apart," he responded. "Now come. We have wasted enough time." He led her outside.

"Hang on that beam," he told her, pointing at one of the thick, oak support beams of the roof. Shadow jumped up, and clung to it.

"Pull yourself up, and hold your legs horizontal."

Shadow obeyed. To her surprise, Thor started putting stones on her legs. Her arms burned as they held up her weight, as well as the stones. Her abdominal muscles threatened to rip because of the added strain of the stones, and her legs were feeling as if they were on fire under the weight of the stones.

When Thor had put about 10 kilograms worth of stones on her legs, he looked at her red face. Shadow's breath came in short gasps, and sweat poured down her face. A look of immense pain was visible on it.

"Take longer breaths, Girl," Thor said. Shadow tried to comply, and with a cry of pain, she fell to the ground.

"That was awful. I've seen children do better," Thor scowled at her. "Now, run around the lake!" he yelled at her. Shadow struggled to get up, and started jogging, her legs threatening to go on strike. She judged the distance around the lake to be at least 5 kilometers.

"I said run, Girl! Now you'll do it four times!" Thor yelled at her. Making faces, Shadow started running. When she finally made it back, Thor had a bicycle ready for her.

"Now you'll drive ten times around it!" he shouted at her, not giving her the chance to rest. Shadow sighed, and jumped up the instrument. She started peddling, and the bike disappeared behind some bushes.

When Thor counted nine laps, he jumped up in the air, and flew across the lake. He waited for Shadow to arrive on the other side of the lake.

"Alright, Girl. You can stop now," he told her. Shadow fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"But, it seems like our quarters are on the other side of the lake," he told her. He grinned savagely at her stricken face. "You have a couple of options. One: you run the rest of the way," she whimpered, "you can ride the bike," another whimper, louder this time, "You can stay here, but I wouldn't want to be you in the morning, or you can swim across."

Shadow looked at him, her eyes pleading for mercy. There was no way she was going to run or ride the bike. Her legs had completely given up. That left staying here, on the hard ground, and who knew how cold it got here at night? Or she could swim across… freestyle, putting her weight more on her arms then her legs. Then, she remembered the earlier workout, all the weight on her arms. She got up, and walked over to the water on shaky legs.

Shadow looked at Thor. "With or without the clothes?" she asked.

"If you decide to swim without, you'll have to get them first thing in the morning," he told her. "I sure as Hell won't carry them for you."

Shadow gave a curt nod, and jumped in the lake. The cold water chilled her to the bone. Deciding to spread the burden on her body, she started doing the breaststroke. After only 20 meters, she gave up, and switched to the freestyle, allowing her fresher arms to carry her body's weight.

Thor grinned internally. This one had warrior spirit. She reminded him of the other warrior… also a female. That one had been even feistier than Shadow. He could remember how she had taken the bike, and finished the ride. He had later heard she was the only one to actually make it.

Shadow swam with long, deliberate strokes. She was purposely taking long, slow strokes, to keep the burden on her body down. Suddenly, she saw Thor…flying across.

Bastard! He can fly! I'll show him… I vow that I'll show him! If she hadn't been determined before, she sure was now. She slightly increased the speed of her strokes.

When she finally made the 500-meter swim, she was freezing. She was shivering cold, and she wondered whether spirits could get pneumonia. Thor threw her a package. Her arms screamed in pain as she grabbed the package thrown to her. Her face remained impassive. She refused to let him see her suffer.

"That's your dinner. In one hour, I'll be back to resume your training," Thor said, disappearing into the house next to hers. Basically, the small houses were just a room with a roof on top. Shadow walked into her house on shaky legs. She collapsed next to the stove, barely able to lift her arms. She was drained, her body and mind exhausted.

She opened the package, and found some small packages inside. Rice, vegetables, fish… but no water to cook with. She did find an empty vessel in the package. Cursing loudly, she crawled to the door, righted herself, gritted her teeth, and walked outside. She had determined that the water in the lake was drinkable, since she had involuntary swallowed about half a lake worth during her swim across. She filled the flask, walked back inside, and once more collapsed next to the small stove.

Then came the next surprise. How to light it? She looked for a fuel source, but found none. After determining that wood would be the desired fuel in this case, she walked outside on her aching legs once more. She found no wood. She did find an axe, though. Casting her eyes to the heavens, she had to do her very best not to cry out. She took the axe, and let it rest on her shoulder. Her arms no longer had the strength to carry it.

Her legs hurt more with each step she took, the heavy object on her right shoulder was digging into her flesh, and she just wanted to eat and crawl into bed. Yet Shadow pressed on. She reached a nearby pine tree, and started hacking at one of its branches. After it fell off, she chopped a second one, just to be sure. She took the axe, put in on her right shoulder, and she clamped the two branches under her left arm. Loaded like that, she walked back to her house.

She dropped the axe near the spot where she had found it, and entered her house. She broke the first branch in a couple of pieces, and put it in the stove.

"Don't tell me…," she grunted to herself. "How do I get fire?" she really felt like crying now. She refused to give up, and seeing no point in delaying, she stripped out of the workout clothes she had appeared in, to allow them to dry. She ate the rice and vegetables cold. The fish was not something she was looking forward to try, but she managed to get it down anyway. She had just put her back to the sleeping mat as the door was rudely opened.

"Come on…" she grunted. She got up, and looked at Thor. Then, a small bell rung in the back of her mind. "Clothes…" she mumbled, diving for her wet outfit.

"Don't bother," Thor said. He threw her a robe, which she readily dove into.

"I see you enjoyed your dinner," Thor added, looking at the empty package.

"Next time, I'll have to find out how to make fire, though," Shadow said. Thor remained silent. They stared at each other for a couple of moments.

"Alright!" Shadow shouted. "I'll go first! What is the next piece of training you want me to do?"

Thor looked at her. She didn't ask… she has pride. The pride of a warrior. She'll make a fine student!

"I will now teach you how to use your mind," Thor said, pulling up the incense burner. Refusing to take her bait, he snapped his fingers, lighting the incense sticks that way.

"Teach me how to do that," Shadow said.

"No," Thor said. "You will learn it when you're ready."

Shadow cast her eyes skyward again. Dear Gods, what have I done to you to deserve this?

Thor taught Shadow to meditate, to calm her mind, to find the inner peace the young woman needed. She felt herself slip into the blissful darkness of sleep… when Thor rudely shook her.

"No sleeping during class!" he shouted at her. "Give me two laps around the lake!"

Shadow looked as if she had seen a ghost. What had the Guardian told her again? You can also die at the hands of those you will call teachers. Of the 13 souls who ever entered this path, only one ever made it. Shadow thought she was going to be sick as she got up on her screaming legs. Knowing better than to jog, she set a brisk pace.

Thor looked at her as her form disappeared behind the first bend. She didn't even protest… she sure is strong. She knows she did something wrong, and accepted the punishment for it. And that fire thing is troubling me as well. Why didn't she just ask for some? But, if she doesn't ask, I'm not going to volunteer.

Thor managed to get his face back to angry as Shadow came running by. He didn't want her to think he was anything but mad. Shadow looked as if she were going to die. She was going from the left to right of the small path, swaying dangerously. Thor was a little concerned for her… but once again, he would not volunteer anything. If she wanted something, she should ask.

Shadow didn't ask. She just went on, pushed harder, gritted her teeth more, and stuck her tongue between them when that didn't help anymore. Her vision was clouded, and she was having problems thinking straight. All that went through her mind was: I will make it. It's not that far. I will make it. It's not that far.

Shadow didn't remember when she got onto her sleeping mat, or how she got there, either. All she knew was that she felt the blissful unconsciousness of deep sleep. After a couple of hours, she woke up, though. Her teeth rattled in the icy cold of the night. In a last attempt to feel warm, she put the sheets on the ground, and pulled the mat on top of her. The added weight didn't make her feel warmer per se, but the feeling that it would help was enough to lull her back into the black voids she so desired.

The next morning, Thor woke her up with a surprise shower. Free of charge, and icy cold. Shadow let out a surprised yelp as she struggled to get out of the soaked robe. She dove for her clothes, which had thankfully dried, and put them on.

"Good," Thor said. "Today is combat training. This will be our pace in the beginning: one day of strength and endurance training, like yesterday but more elaborate, and one day of combat training. This will vary from hand-to-hand to knives and swords. Anything requiring physical combat. So no guns, but bows and arrows. Now, drink this."

He threw her a bottle. Shadow drank, and nearly spit it out. She did get it down, her empty stomach complained louder about the lack of food than the vile looking, smelling, and tasting concoction she had just drank.

"What's in it?" she asked.

"Raw eggs, seaweed, some vegetables, some raw meat. Everything you need for a good and healthy breakfast."

Shadow thought she was going to be sick. She managed not to.

"Now, are you ready?" Thor asked, leading her inside.

Shadow gave a curt nod. Thor got in a combat stance.

"Defend yourself," he said.

Shadow looked at him as if he had grown an extra head, but mimicked his stance anyway. When Thor came racing towards her, Shadow absolutely had no idea what to do. But her hands and arms seemed to have some idea, as she managed to block two or three punches, and her aching body managed to dodge a few others. Then she was flat on her butt, her stomach being hit by Thor.

"Get up," he grunted. "Only when you're on your hands and knees, feeling its power first-hand, will you learn how to respect and control the attack."

Shadow grunted as her body protested. She did manage to get up, and her face set in a resolute look of determination. She got in the same combat stance as before. She had indeed felt the power of Thor's attack, and she had seen how it was done. She was pretty sure she could avoid it this time.

Thor attacked. She avoided. Thor changed a little on his attack, and Shadow found herself on the floor again.

"Good. You avoided my first attack. But then you got careless. You thought I was going to stop. Always fight to the death, girl!" Thor shouted at her.

Shadow nodded. "Yes, sir." She got up. Again. Thor smiled inwardly. Again.

All day long, Shadow found herself on her butt, on the mat. She felt bruised, her body ached, and she felt like something the cat threw up. But still she pressed on. At lunch, Thor left her another package, and once again, Shadow found herself eating its contents raw. The food did manage to make her feel better, though.

During the afternoon, the same thing happened again and again. She was more on her butt on the floor than she was in actual fighting with Thor. But while she was fighting, she felt exhilarated. She didn't feel pain; she didn't feel the stress and fatigue of her muscles. She felt charged, poised, she wanted more! And she would do anything for that feeling of battle.

But, even though she loved fighting, she was learning another valuable lesson: fighting always hurts someone. And she knew SHE didn't like being hurt, so no one else would enjoy it, either. By pounding her like that, Thor had not only managed to strengthen her resolve, he had also taught her not to fight unless necessary.

 

One day, after Thor had woken her up in his usual fashion, Shadow got ready for a day of intense physical training. She gobbled down the vile breakfast (she was beginning to get used to the taste by now), and awaited the first order.

"Today is Sunday," Thor said. "We have a day off."

Shadow looked unsure. "Alright," she allowed. "What do we do on our day off?"

Perceptive girl, Thor thought. "We go on a hike. There is a beautiful waterfall, and a small lake, 10 kilometers north of here. We hike there, relax all day, and come back here by evening."

"Ten kilometers… that's a 2-hour walk, maybe one and a half if we push it," Shadow said.

"We can always run," Thor suggested. Shadow thought it over. She had run a lot further, with her continuous laps around the lake.

"Alright," she responded. "We'll run there."

"Great!" Thor exclaimed, threw her a backpack, and started running. Shadow lifted he heavy pack onto her shoulders, and immediately regretted her decision. Without loosing losing any more time, she began running, and caught up with Thor in no time.

"What do you have in here? Rocks?"

"Flint," Thor responded.

"Flint stones? You weighed my pack?" Shadow exclaimed, not too surprised he would do such a thing.

"Yes," Thor said, increasing the pace. Shadow knew that, if she stopped to get the stones out, she would never catch up to Thor before he disappeared from her view. And she didn't know where the lake was. So, she decided to run with the weighed pack.

It took them 45 minutes to cover the 10-kilometer distance. Shadow was huffing like there was no tomorrow. Dropping the pack, she immediately took the offending stones out of it. In a fit of rage, she started throwing them into the lake. Thor looked on.

Good to know that she HAS a limit… Damn, I wouldn't want to be the one to piss her off.

After she found no more stones to throw, she walked over to Thor. The killer-look in her eyes hadn't died out yet. Thor knew he could take her, for now. But just in case, he knew where to run to if this didn't work out like it was supposed to. He had made the same mistake with the other girl, and if his memory served him correctly, he had gotten his ass handed to him.

"Pack," Shadow just said, extending her right hand. Thor looked at her, shrugged, and gave her his pack. He expected her to open it, to look if his was weighed. To his surprise, she seemed to judge its weight. She grabbed it firmly with both hands, and gave a cry. The pack disappeared into the water of the small lake.

Thor was flabbergasted, but he did not show it on the outside. Shadow didn't turn back to him. She just walked to her own pack, opened it once more, and started chewing on a sandwich. Slowly and deliberately.

Thor was at a loss for words. What a vindictive bitch! I like her! A grin appeared on his face. The grin became a smile, and the smile became laughter. Shadow didn't look up. She just chewed on her sandwich, staring out over the calm water of the lake and the small waterfall that cascaded down from the rocks on the other side.

The surroundings were nice too; the small grassy clearing they were on was hidden from view by a dense lining of trees. The only way in was by the pathway she and Thor had used. Shadow looked back at Thor, who was still laughing like a lunatic.

"Will you be quiet?" she asked. "This is supposed to be a day of rest, and I can't rest if you keep laughing like that."

Thor shut up, and looked at her. Now what do I say? He asked himself. Oh, well. Lunch first, talk later. He walked over to the small lake, and attempted to retrieve his backpack. After getting it out of the crystal-clear yet freezing water, he dropped it on the shore.

Now it's my turn to laugh, he told himself. He could see Shadow watching him intently. Thor opened his pack, and retrieved his lunch… packed in waterproof containers. The look on Shadow's face was enough to set him off again. It didn't take long for her to join him. Like two old friends, they laughed at each other's expense.

"You should have seen the look on your face when I threw that thing in the lake!" Shadow hollered.

"And yours was priceless when I retrieved my lunch in water-proof containers," Thor shot back. Both laughed harder.

When the laughter had finally died down, Shadow relaxed in the warm sun. This might not be so bad after all, she mused. With one day in the week where we can be just friends instead of him bullying me around all the time, this might actually be enjoyable. Of course, we both have to keep ourselves from talking about the training…

Unknown to both Thor and Shadow, both were thinking similar thoughts. Thor thought about the fact that he had yet to break her down, and that, with this one day of recovery, both might enjoy the game more. Of course, with the others, this day of rest had been more of a death march, but with Shadow, this was a day he might actually enjoy.

It had been six months since Shadow had begun her training. Thor had quietly filled his bucket with water, just like every morning, and snuck into Shadow's house. He dumped the bucket over the sleeping girl, who just grunted a little, turned over, and continued sleeping. Thor was surprised, to say the least. Sure, the last few weeks he had noticed that Shadow didn't yelp, or scream, anymore. She would just get up, and dress herself calmly.

"Alright, sleepy-head! Time to get up!" he shouted. Shadow's eyes flung open. Only then did she notice the empty bucket and the wet sleeping mat.

"Did I sleep through your shower?" Shadow asked, getting up and walking over to her clothes.

"At least you got the shower," Thor said. "Here's your breakfast. I expect you to be ready in five minutes."

Shadow gulped down the contents of the bottle, and jumped into the remainder of her clothes. There was not much left of them after six months of grueling training.

"Are you finally there?" Thor asked. "Get up."

Shadow lifted herself effortlessly up on the support beam, and pulled her legs up horizontally. Thor started lifting big rocks up on them. Shadow's breathing remained normal.

"Ready?" Thor asked.

"Yep," Shadow responded. Thor put his hands a little above Shadow's ankles, and pushed himself up on them. Shadow let out a small grunt, but her breathing remained normal. Thor started counting seconds. When he reached 120 seconds, he got off, and told her to let go. Shadow did so.

"Run 20 laps around the lake, bike 50, and swim ten times across," Thor told her. Shadow set out a very brisk pace. Run 100 kilometers, ride a bike for 250, and swim five kilometers. Big deal. I can do that in my sleep, Shadow said to herself. Quietly, she calmed her mind. She allowed her body to do as it had done countless times before, and focused her conscious on the deeper recesses of her mind.

It took her some work to combine the effort of running and the effort of finding the small ball of warrior aura Thor had shown her, but she managed. She stroked the small ball, and it purred like a kitten. Her mind poked at it, making it grow. Soon, it happened: the aura awoke, and it surrounded her. Shadow's pace tripled.

Thor had senses the outburst of aura. DAMN! She shouldn't be able to combine it yet! But, now that she can, it's time to teach her the rest as well. Thor jumped up, and flew to Shadow's location. He dropped down, and ran along with her, matching her pace.

"If you're going to use your aura, you'll have to make sure it's shrouded. Now, shroud it within the next ten seconds, or I'll make you double your physical workout for every second it lasts longer!"

Shadow shrouded her aura, but not to Thor's satisfaction, and she knew it. There was still too much power seeping through, and she found herself without options soon. Her ten seconds were about to elapse. She could either deactivate the aura and do the exercises the normal way, or she could continue to train her shroud. She decided on the latter. She never saw the look of satisfaction that was on Thor's face for half a second.

Shadow managed to shroud her aura, masking it completely from Thor's detection, in 25 seconds.

"15 seconds," Thor said. "That's a lot of doubling, girl."

"I know," Shadow said. "But I managed to shroud my aura under actual conditions, so it's worth it."

Thor nodded. "I'll let you off lightly because you did manage it, and because you were brave enough to keep trying. I'll just quadruple your schedule."

"Yes, sir," Shadow said. "That's 400 kilometers to run, 1000 kilometers to ride, and 20 to swim."

"You don't have to do them all at once," Thor said, acknowledging that it was above human possibilities to do so.

"I will do as much as possible," Shadow said with grim determination. "I failed, and have to face the consequences." She boosted her aura, making damn sure it was kept shrouded, and quadrupled her pace once more. Thor looked at her with a look of pure astonishment.

I wonder how long you'll keep that up, girl.

Thor was right. Shadow collapsed after running for 105 kilometers. She had burned all her energy. Thor watched on in surprise as Shadow filled herself up with food, meditated for ten minutes or so, and took off again. Her aura was fully visible now, ruby-red flames of energy surrounding her young body, but Thor still couldn't detect it with his energy sense.

This time, she held on for exactly 120 kilometers. This time, eating was out of the question. Thor ordered her to stay in bed. Thor sat outside, staring over the lake, until the sun had set. He needed to think. Shadow was an extraordinary warrior, but unless she learned control, she would kill herself doing the impossible.

When Thor finally got in bed, he was more or less relaxed. Half an hour after he had closed his door, he opened it again. He heard huffing outside. Fearing the worst, he looked outside. He was right. The dark night was illuminated by the bright red flame that was Shadow's body as she ran around the lake

She didn't seem to notice him as she raced by him. Thor shook his head. He knew that there was no way to stop her. Even if he dropped the punishment, she would still do it. She saw this as a challenge, and she wouldn't stop until she had completed the challenge. Thor knew that this was the sign of a true warrior, a sign that told that she would be very strong one day. Thor just hoped that she wouldn't kill herself first.

As Thor dropped on his sleeping mat, his room seemed brighter somehow. He looked around, and found…her…standing there.

"Guardian," he whispered.

"Yes, Thor," the Guardian of the Crossroads responded. "I come here to tell you not to worry about Shadow."

"Why? She is killing herself!"

The Guardian shook her head. "She is not, Thor. She knows when to stop."

"Last time, she fell unconscious!"

"That was her time to stop," the Guardian responded. "And now, she's stronger and more energetic. Don't tell me you have forgotten how spirits train in this realm."

Thor looked sheepishly at her.

"I knew 300 years was too long for you to be without a student. Spirits here grow stronger with every near-defeat."

"Oh, yeah, I knew that one. But she's not defeated. She's exhausted!"

"She is defeating herself, Thor," the Guardian admonished. "The young woman out there is battling herself, her mind is battling her body."

A look of understanding came on Thor's face. "I understand now," he responded. "Thank you."

"No problem, Thor." The Guardian disappeared.

Shadow never went to bed that night. When she felt herself growing tired, she would stop for a good ten minutes or so, to meditate and recharge herself. For some reason, she felt herself getting stronger and stronger. It was an incredible feeling for the young woman, literally feeling herself getting stronger every time she rested.

By 6 the next morning, she had done her running. Deciding to let the bicycle rest until the night, Shadow did some strength exercises. She tied 50 kilograms of boulders to her legs, jumped up on the beam, and started pull-ups. By the time Thor woke up, he found her doing pull-ups with one arm. To his surprise, she didn't switch arms by lifting her other arm, and taking over. A sharp intake of air, and Shadow pulled herself into the air, remaining airborne for a couple of tenths of a second, all that was needed to get her other arm on the beam, and resume her exercises.

She gasped as her other arm bore the full weight of her body, the boulders, plus the fact that it had to stop her downwards movement. Thor walked up to his student.

"How long did you sleep?" he asked.

"Sleep is for losers," Shadow responded. "I found out I don't need sleep."

"That is true, but you can't get used to it. It would be damaging to try and survive without sleep in the real world," Thor told her as he helped her untie the boulders from her legs.

"I understand," Shadow responded. "But as long as I am here, I will continue my training in this fashion."

"Of course," Thor responded. "But I will not give you extra training. If you want to train during the night, you'll be free to train as you see fit."

"Thank you," Shadow responded.

"No matter, just go in the house. It is time for swords training."

Shadow dipped her head in acknowledgment, and went in her house as Thor walked over to his.

One minute later, both stood face-to-face, each carrying a weapon.

"These are real swords," Shadow stated, drawing her katana.

"How else are you going to learn the power of a technique?" Thor responded to her statement.

Shadow saluted as Thor got in a combat stance with his broadsword. Thor just dipped his head in greeting, and charged. He disappeared from before Shadow's eyes, and the next moment, she felt the cold steel of his sword at her throat. The metal had dug slightly into her tender flesh. Just as Thor had said: only when on your hands and knees at its power do you learn a technique.

Even though she was obviously outclassed, Shadow did manage to provide a little match for the big brute's strength. By the evening, her body was beaten and battered. Once more, meditation seemed to recharge her. For a full half hour her eyes remained closed, and her mind ascended to higher regions.

As soon as she had finished her meditation, Shadow walked outside. She took the bike, got up on it, and started riding. Her aura flashed up in second nature by now, her shroud keeping her power completely invisible. That is, invisible to anything but the naked eye, as a woman, riding a bike, and surrounded by a ruby-red aura is not easily ignored.

She actually managed to finish the fifty laps by morning, and Thor found her doing pull-ups once more.

Nine months had passed since Shadow had joined Thor to train. Once more, Thor and Shadow stood, facing each other, in Shadow's house. She was carrying a katana, while he carried his broadsword.

Thor vanished. Shadow blocked and retaliated. Master and student disappeared as both executed complex martial arts techniques. Left, right, both people were moving at Divine Speed, invisible to the naked eye.

When the ballet of death ended, Shadow's blade was at Thor's throat. He grinned in approval.

"You have mastered the ground," he said. "Now, you must master the air."

"Now will you teach me how to fly?" she asked.

Thor just closed his eyes. Why did she insist on this stupid trick? Oh well, if it would make her happy, he'd teach her how to fly.

"Close your eyes, and focus on your inner aura," Thor instructed. Shadow closed her eyes, and stroked her aura into existence.

"Make it carry you," Thor told her. Shadow followed his instructions. She felt a tingling floating sensation. As she opened her eyes, she found herself floating above ground. The shock made her loose her concentration, and she fell back to the ground.

"You've gotten the beginning. I'm sure you can do the rest on your own," Thor said. "Now, can I teach you what I need to teach you in the first place?"

"Sure," Shadow responded, and drew her sword once more. She saluted as Thor just nodded. Suddenly, she felt curious as she noticed that Thor's battle stance was different.

Thor no longer moved at Divine Speed. He no longer moved on the ground either. Shadow closed her eyes, and stroked her aura into existence. She would show Thor that she had been learning by herself as well. Her aura supplied her with a useful sense: a sense to detect power. And even though her own power was shrouded, Thor's was leaking. She had refused to give up her edge, but in this case… she wanted just to show off.

When she felt him approach, all she had to do was put out her blade to block his Supreme Dive Speed attacks. Thor, unable to believe his eyes, increased his speed even further. Shadow had no other choice if she wanted to keep this up. Her aura flared into visibility, as she needed it to speed her up.

This supplied Thor with all he needed to know. "You cheated," he stated.

"I used my abilities," she replied. "Your aura is leaking, and I used your weakness against you. You yourself taught me that."

Thor gave an approving nod. "So I did. I will correct the problem. Now, learn!" Thor disappeared. Now Shadow understood why the walls were padded: Thor bounced off them as his Supreme Divine Speed attacks were executed. Because he now jumped all over the place, using not only the length and width of the room, but also the height, the room needed to be reinforced.

The next morning, after a full night of flying-practice, Shadow thought she had the skill mastered. Deciding that she could use some fun, she filled the bucket with the cold water of the lake, snuck into Thor's house, and dumped the water on top of him. Shivering, cursing, and yelling, he woke up. Stripping quickly, he went to the stove, and lighted some firewood using a lighter.

"So THAT is how you make fire?" Shadow shouted. "And I used to freeze to death at night, and I had to eat everything cold! I should kill you!"

"All you had to do was ask," Thor responded. He threw her a lighter. "Here is yours."

"MINE? You held back MY lighter? You bastard!" her aura flared up in angry ruby flames around her body.

Oh, fuck. I screwed up… flashed through Thor's mind as unconsciousness settled in. His peace didn't last long as the still pissed-off Shadow dumped another bucket of cold water on him.

"Fix that black eye of yours, and make sure you're ready for training in ten minutes," she told him, and walked out of his house…carrying both lighters. Thor could curse himself.

By now, Shadow had been in training for a full year. She had progressed to the stage where she was forced to hold back if she were to learn anything. Fights became more and more interesting for Thor, who found out that his student's warrior aura was fully shrouded, and the visible signs were decreasing steadily, until it was only visible under the most extreme of usages.

"Your training has been completed," Thor told her. "You have progressed beyond me in every field, and it has been my honor to have trained such a fine warrior such as yourself."

"Thank you, Thor," Shadow responded. "It has been my honor to have been your student. You have taught me many things, and I will use your teachings wisely."

"I know you will, Shadow. I only hope that I will see you at the Crossroads again some day."

Shadow knew exactly what he meant: if she died on the path of the Universal Savior, she would not return to the Crossroads. If she died while mortal, however, she would return.

Shadow gave Thor a final hug good-bye, and turned to the Guardian of the Crossroads, who had come to take her to her next teacher.

Shadow and the Guardian appeared in a large hall, with a lot of people waiting in a long line. A literally HUGE man sat behind an equally HUGE desk. And I mean huge. The man was at least ten meters tall, if not taller. He motioned them forward.

"It's good to see you again, Guardian. And who is your friend?" the man asked.

"It is good to see you again, King Yema. My friend here is called Shadow. She has chosen her path."

The man looked at her intently. "Which is?" he asked.

"Her chosen path is the path of the Universal Savior."

The man said a silent 'oh'. "I take it you want her to walk down Snake Way, to try and reach King Kai?"

"I do," Guardian said with a bow of her head. Shadow remained silent. It was obvious these two knew each other, and she had no idea who this King Kai was. Or what Snake Way was, for that matter. She looked around, and found that everyone there had a strange aureole above their respective heads.

"Very well," King Yema replied. "You may pass, Shadow. The Guardian of the Crossroads will no doubt show you the way. Good luck."

"Thank you," Shadow answered, adding the necessary amount of respect. She decided against a formal bow. Her clo… she noticed she was wearing a gi for the first time.

"This way," the Guardian said, motioning in a certain direction. Shadow gave a grateful nod to King Yema, and walked behind the Guardian. After a walk of maybe half an hour, the two halted in front of a large snake, whose body was a road. Shadow found out that the place she had appeared was called the check-in point, where all deceased souls had to pass before being allowed into heaven. King Yema decided on the souls' fate.

"Snake Way, I presume?" Shadow asked.

"Yes," the Guardian answered. "But I must caution you, child. You are still in the Spirit realm here, but when you complete your training with King Kai, you will be brought back to the Mortal Realm, where you will remain until your training is complete. From the moment you are brought back, your life will be in danger. So far, you have not been in any mortal danger, but once you are brought back, you will. You will also require food, drink, and sleep."

"I understand," Shadow responded. "When will my path have ended?"

"I know that this might frighten you, Child, but the only one who ever completed the path of the Universal Savior required 300 years to do so."

Shadow's eyes went big. 300 years? "How long is the Snake Way?"

"It is said to be 16,000 kilometers long, Child." (Author's note: in DBZ it is said to be 10,000 miles. I took a conversion of 1.6 kilometers to one mile.)

"Piece of cake," Shadow responded. "Anything else I should know?"

"Don't fall off," the Guardian replied, before disappearing.

"Don't fall off… great advice," Shadow sarcastically responded. She tried to activate her warrior aura. She couldn't find it. Panicking, she started looking around, and she finally found it, much closer to the surface of her mind…and at least a thousand times stronger than it had been.

When she tried a little power, she literally burnt a black spot on the floor where she was standing.

"Damn," Shadow muttered. "This could be a cool place." She gently lifted off. She turned horizontal, and decided to take little chances, and use only a little power to fly. But, since she was used to having to deal with an aura that was a thousand times weaker than it was now, 'a little power' catapulted her over the speed of sound.

"If this is how my aura behaves, I wonder what a LOT of power would do," Shadow grunted as she flew over the bends and crosses of the strange Snake Way. Why didn't they build this thing straight? This is getting me dizzy!

She didn't dare boost her power, so she continued on her mach 1+ pace. Suddenly, after a couple hours of flight, she flew over a palace. She halted, and hung in the air, deciding on what to do.

The Way goes on, so this is not the end of it. Besides, I haven't been en route long enough to have covered 16,000 kilometers yet.

So, Shadow engaged her souped-up aura, and the journey continued. It took her another couple of hours to reach the end of the Snake Way.

"Now, where is this King Kai?" Shadow muttered, seeing nothing at the end of Snake Way. A quick glance up revealed a tiny planet. "Of course. What else?" Shadow said, engaged her aura, and flew towards the planet. Soon, heavy gravity had her in its grip. She landed with a hard 'smack' on the grassy planet.

What is this place? I must be at least ten times heavier than I normally am.

She pushed herself up from the ground, and stood up. She had to use every bit of her strength to stay up, and walking became a very strength-intensive exercise. She did notice that it became easier over time. She approached a small house, with a monkey frolicking in front of it.

"Hello?" Shadow called. "Anybody home?"

A short, blue man with large antennae on his head came out of the house. Her aura warned her. He had a TREMENDOUS aura. And he didn't shroud it, she could tell. This man must have unbelievable strength. But then again, this planet had such a huge gravity that it was not so strange.

"Excuse me, but I am looking for King Kai. Are you he?" Shadow asked.

"I am," he responded, eyeing her strangely.

"I am Shadow. The Guardian of the Crossroads sent me to receive training from you," Shadow told him.

"Another one for training. Only if you can make me laugh," King Kai told her.

"Make you laugh?" Shadow responded dumbly.

"Yes. Tell a joke, do a sketch, something! I will only train someone with a sense of humor."

Shadow eyed the man strangely. A strange master, but then, so was Thor. "Alright," Shadow began. She hadn't heard a single joke since she had lost her memory, so she had no idea how to tell one. What she did posses was intelligence. She decided to use wordplay in a funny made-up scene.

"Uhm… listen to this one," Shadow began. Kind Kai approached her, listening intently. "Uhm… there was this very rich woman, and uhm…she bought a pet monkey. So, the shopkeeper tells her that it's a special monkey. If you tell it 'Karate something', it would destroy that something using karate. The shopkeeper demonstrates 'Karate, that table'. The monkey completely destroys the object. So, proud as a peacock, the woman goes home with her pet monkey. Uhm, and then the husband comes home. He's not happy with the pet, and wants to kick it out. So, the woman demonstrates the monkey's abilities. 'Karate, couch'. The monkey destroys the couch. The man grumbles, and says 'karate, karate! Karate my ass!'…"

King Kai looks at her, as if to say 'is that it?', and Shadow began to fear she would have to make up something else. Then, a smile comes on King Kai's face, and he begins to chuckle. The chuckle evolves into a loud laugh, and Shadow's heart stops beating so hard. She had made King Kai laugh.

"Alright," King Kai says. "You're human, right?"

"Yes," Shadow responds.

"Then it's a small miracle you're standing up. But hey, it's your choice. You have to catch Bubbles, that's my monkey. Don't go ape over it, like my last group of students."

Shadow eyed him strangely. King Kai turns his back to her. "Forget it, I'm not training someone without a sense of humor."

Damn. Don't tell me I have to laugh at his stupid jokes all the time. But, if that is what it takes, I guess it'll build character. Forcing herself to laugh, Shadow managed to please King Kai, who calls out his monkey, Bubbles.

"Alright, Shadow. If you can catch him, we'll go to the next stage."

The monkey begins to run. Shadow dashes after him, her enormous weight now keeping her speed down. "King Kai? Can I use my warrior aura?" she asks, turning back to him.

"Aura?" he asked.

In response, Shadow stroked her aura into full force, making visible. King Kai was obviously shocked.

"How did you do that? And why can't I detect you?"

"Huh? What do you mean? I don't understand," Shadow stuttered.

"You have a very large ki for a human, yet I can't detect a trace of it. And you powered up so fast I barely saw it happen!"

"Ki? Power up? I don't understand any of this!" shadow exclaimed. King Kai sighed.

"Alright. Let me explain. What you call your aura is basically your fighting soul. It offers tremendous energy to those who can use it. The stronger the soul, the stronger the ki. You can use it to accomplish many things."

"Well, basically, I can use it to be faster, and to fly."

"That's good," King Kai said. "But you can also use it for other purposes. But that will be explained later."

"Very well," Shadow said. "But then, tell me, what is the power-up you mentioned?"

"A power-up is gathering the energy of the soul, to harness it to do things."

"I understand. Now, can I use my … ki to catch the monkey?"

"No. You have to train your body. Training your body will make your ki stronger."

"Very well, King Kai. See you when I have captured the furry animal." Shadow dashed off once more, her body's movements strange and uncoordinated in this Strange Land of Great Gravity.

King Kai thought he had accepted a madwoman. She didn't sleep, eat, or drink. When she got tired, she managed to recharge herself with five to ten minutes of meditation. She caught Bubbles in a matter of hours.

Then came a new task. Much to Shadow's surprise, she was handed a huge hammer. She was told to hit a fly named Gregory on the head with it. Now, in normal gravity the hammer would have been heavy. In the ten times gravity of the small planet, it was next to impossible to carry. She refused to give up, and trained in the use of the heavy object. She mastered it in a matter of minutes, and tricked Gregory.

She was simulating a not-so-great training. As she had expected, Gregory came to taunt her. She was using both hands, and lifted the hammer in the air with the appropriate straining noises and the look of pain on her face.

"Come on, you'll never hit me if you keep this up!" Gregory taunted. To his surprise, her face changed, the strained look disappeared, and the hammer came flying towards him at an incredible speed. Before Gregory had time to react, the hammer had left a firm bump on his head.

Needless to say, King Kai was impressed. She had mastered speed, reflexes, and strength in less then a day. And she had used her brain as well. He realized that she might not be as strong as some of the other warriors he had trained, but she had one huge advantage: she used her brain.

So, King Kai decided to train her in the martial arts form of Kao Ken. Shadow was in for the big one. It took her 5 months to master the form. King Kai was impressed. Very impressed. She was certainly stronger than most humans.

"Today we'll test your abilities," King Kai said. "You can then return to Earth. I have contacted someone there who will wish you back."

"Wish me back?" Shadow asked dumbly.

"Yes, with something called the Dragon Balls. When all seven are collected, the Eternal Dragon appears, and it will grant any wish. The balls are then scattered all over the planet."

"I see. So, once we have determined my level, I will be able to return to Earth?"

"You'll have to go back down Snake Way, but yes."

"Very well," Shadow said. She got in a standard runner's pose, next to Bubbles. "I'm ready."

King Kai held a stopwatch. "Go!" he shouted as he pressed the button. Bubbles and Shadow launched themselves from their starter's position. It took Shadow 1.1 seconds to catch the furry animal.

"That's very good! Almost as fast as Goku!"

Shadow had soon found out that this Goku fellow was the best student King Kai had ever had. She was honored to be compared to such a warrior, certainly after she found out that Goku was an alien, possessing strengths that no human could ever hope to gain.

The next test was with the sledgehammer, and Gregory. Gregory blasted off. Shadow threw her hammer. Gregory came back with a lump on his head.

"1.1!" King Kai shouted. "That was faster than Goku!"

"What?!" Shadow exclaimed. "How did I do that?"

"Goku went after Gregory. You just threw the hammer at him… your superior mind has done that!"

"I didn't just throw. I used my aur… my ki to guide the hammer to its destination," Shadow told him. King Kai nodded in approval.

"You used your brain," he said. "Something Goku only had a limited supply of, I'm afraid."

Shadow chuckled, as she now knew when King Kai wanted her to.

"The next part is the spirit bomb. Are you sure you want to do it? It's dangerous to Saiyans (That's Goku's race), I think it's a lot more dangerous for humans"

"I'm sure," Shadow replied. "I've had to do worse than gather the energy of living creatures to build myself a weapon."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Ride 1000 kilometers on a bike, without stopping," Shadow responded.

King Kai just eyed her funny, and proceeded to get a boulder ready. He lifted it up in the air using telekinetic powers, and asked her: "Ready?"

Shadow focused her mind. She began gathering energy. "Ready," she said.

King Kai threw the boulder towards her. Shadow focused, and shaped the energy. As she did so, she released her mind, allowing it to guide her. She threw the bomb. The boulder exploded. Shadow just remained standing in her position, a serene look on her face.

"You've done it!" King Kai shouted. "I must remind you that, since every living creature, animal, plant, and even the particles in the air contribute energy to the bomb, and since you've mastered it on such a small planet, the power on Earth will be much bigger. And if the sun happens to be shining, it too will boost the power of the bomb. And, since it will be such a destructive weapon, I would like it if you refrained from using the bomb, except for the largest f of emergencies."

"I understand, King Kai. I will do as you ask," Shadow responded. "So, how do I get back?"

"The wish hasn't been made yet. You'll know when it's been made. And once it has, all you have to do is travel back down Snake Way, to the check-in point. You can fly down from there."

"Alright. I'll wait here, then. The extra gravity can do nothing but good for my training," Shadow responded.

King Kai approached Shadow's training form. As usual, her ki was totally invisible to him. He had grown accustomed to the fact that he had to find her on his own, the old fashioned way.

Shadow was doing pushups, balanced on one finger. King Kai looked on, surprised. She was gaining strength rapidly. And from what he had seen late at night, she was gaining speed as well. Suddenly, she threw herself upwards, and switched fingers, from index fingers to the middle fingers. Shadow struggled to find a balance. Once she had done so, she continued her pushups.

"You have been wished back," King Kai told the pumping form. Shadow jumped up.

"That means I will have to leave you now," Shadow said, with a decent amount of sadness in her voice.

"Yes," King Kai said. "You have been a great student, Shadow. And I know that you'll succeed in your quest. Good luck."

"Thank you," Shadow responded. "I will never forget you. I have a special place in my heart for those I call teachers. So, I fly down Snake Way, to the check-in point, fly down, and just see what to do from there, right?"

"Someone will be waiting at the base of Corrin's tower. You'll see that, once you start flying down, you'll fly alongside a large tower. That's Corrin's tower. At the base, there will be someone waiting for you. I don't know who it will be, but the people on Earth promised to have someone waiting for you."

"Thank you," Shadow answered. "Thank you for the training, and your hospitality. I think I'll go, then… I wouldn't want to keep that person waiting. Goodbye, King Kai. I will never forget you." Shadow jumped into the air, her ki boosting her back to Snake Way. King Kai watched her depart.

"You were an extraordinary student. I will never forget you either, Shadow."

Shadow blasted at full power along Snake Way. She didn't know how fast she was going. All she knew was that a) she felt light as a feather, and b) her aura's strength had increased immensely. It took her no more than a couple of hours to reach the check-in point.

All right! I've reached the check-in point! Now I fly down…

She changed her course, and flew through the thick layer of clouds that supported everything in this Spirit Realm. She found she penetrated them quite easily, and soon, she could see Earth, approaching rapidly. Indeed, she passed a tower. She flew alongside it, until she reached its base.

"Hello?" she called. "I am Shadow. King Kai sent me… hello? Anybody here?"

No answer came. Shadow sunk to the base of the tower. She was alone, in a strange world, and she had no idea what to expect. She knew she could handle herself well, but without someone to help her out, all she would end up doing is living alone in a forest somewhere. Shadow got up. Maybe this was what she was supposed to be doing… live in a forest, learn how to fend for herself without company.

She had just lifted off to look for a forest, when she felt an aura approach. It wasn't shielded, but a lot of it had been hidden. Shadow turned to the strange aura that was approaching her at great speed.

Shadow touched down once more, and decided to wait for the mysterious stranger. The man soon touched down.

"You wouldn't happen to have seen a warrior here, would you?" the stranger asked. She looked over the strange man. He was very short, and was bald. He didn't have a nose either. In its place were six tiny holes.

"Except from me, no," Shadow responded. "I am waiting here for my … escort."

"You're King Kai's warrior? Shadow?" he asked, surprised.

"I am," Shadow responded. "Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all!" the man said. "I'm Krillin," he introduced himself. "Sorry to have kept you waiting."

"No problem," Shadow responded.

"Come on, the others can't wait to meet you. King Kai said you were a very impressive warrior. And I'm sure that the others will be very surprised to see you." Krillin took to the air. Shadow followed.

"How so?" Shadow asked.

"Well… everyone kinda thought that you would be a man." Krillin said quietly.

"A man? King Kai lied about my gender? I'll KILL him!" Shadow grunted.

Krillin looked as if she were growing an extra head. "Uhm, no… he just never told us, and we kinda assumed you would be a man… you see, all our strongest warriors are men…"

"I see…" Shadow responded. "Well, it doesn't matter. As long as King Kai didn't lie. I can't stand liars."

"So, since you've trained with King Kai, you must be very strong now, right?" Krillin tried to change the subject. Shadow was just glad to be able to talk about the subject she knew best.

"I was already very strong before I trained under him," Shadow said. "But his increased gravity training and his Kao Ken techniques have increased my full potential significantly."

"You mastered Kao Ken? Wow! He only trained Goku in it, claiming the rest couldn't handle the technique," Krillin said. "So, how come I can't sense your ki? You're flying, so you're using it, yet I can't sense you."

"I keep it shrouded," Shadow explained. "It's a very difficult technique, and it took me a lot of power to get it right. Not to mention the trouble it caused me when it started leaking when I was using my aura at full potential."

"WHAT? You mean, even when you're using your ki at its fullest it's invisible?"

"To power senses, yes. Unfortunately, at the higher levels, it turns visible. Like this," Shadow said. The ruby red flames erupted along her body. Krillin nearly fell.

"You power up that fast?"

"That was my ki at maximum. I can supercharge it, but only at great cost to my endurance. But, with the Kao Ken techniques, that won't be too much of a problem."

"Wow," Krillin managed. This was incredible. Maybe he could talk her into teaching him this shrouding technique? "Hey, Shadow, want to race?"

Never one to back down on a challenge, Shadow responded, "Sure. Whereto?"

"Just head straight forward. When you sense a group of large powers, that's the place. It's a small island in the middle of the sea. It belongs to my old master, Master Roshi. You can't miss it."

"Very well. See you there," Shadow responded. The next moment, ruby flames erupted alongside her body, and she was off. Krillin looked surprised, and kicked in his own power. He took off after her.

Unfortunately for him, he had picked an opponent who had learned to fly with a ki that was practically non-existent, and who had just finished training her Divine and Supreme Divine Speed attacks in ten times normal gravity. In other words, he didn't catch up with her until he met her, flying not far from the island.

"Why haven't you touched down?" Krillin asked as he met up with her.

"Because of something you told me," Shadow responded. "They are expecting a man. I did not want to risk anything."

"Oh. All right. Come on, I'll introduce ya."

Krillin and Shadow touched down on the small island. Immediately, everyone looked at Shadow, who felt very, very uncomfortable with all these people staring at her. Especially that old man… he gave her the creeps. Shadow looked around. There was a man with three eyes there, as well as a small guy with white skin, a larger man with a scar on his cheek, and a woman with green hair. The old man had some white hair on the sides of his head, but that was it. But the strangest thing to her was a pig that was dressed and walked on two legs, and a cat that was flying.

"Krillin! I thought I told you to go pick up Shadow! What are you doing here with a girl?" the green-haired woman started shouting at Krillin.

The old man spoke, while eyeing her in a fashion that made her totally uncomfortable, "And a pretty girl she is!"

"But Bulma!" Krillin addressed the green-haired woman, "This is her. Everyone, meet Shadow."

Everyone stared even more at her. She swallowed nervously. "Hi, everyone…" she tried.

"Shadow, this is Bulma," he introduced the green-haired woman," this is Yamcha," he pointed to the larger man with the scar, "This is Sao-tsu," he pointed to the little guy with the white skin, "this is Tienshinhan, just call him Tien like the rest of us," Krillin pointed to the three-eyed man," this is Master Roshi," the old man, "and those two are Oolong and Puar," Krillin pointed to the pig and the cat.

"That can't be her!" Yamcha grumbled. "She has no ki."

Shadow looked intently at him. "My ki is shrouded, to avoid detection when moving at speed above sight."

"What?" Yamcha tried once more.

Shadow sighed. "My ki is hidden from all power senses to avoid detection when I move at speeds that make me too fast to follow with normal eyes."

"You didn't tell me you could move that fast!" Krillin said, exasperated.

"You didn't ask," Shadow returned.

"I don't like it. Who says that you're not lying?" Tien asked.

Shadow blinked in existence right in front of his eyes. No one saw her move. "This is why," she said. "I hate liars, and you calling me one is a great insult. Apologize."

"Shadow… He's one of our strongest warriors. Are you sure you want to force the issue?" Krillin whispered in her ear.

"He's about even with Thor. And I wiped the floor with Thor before King Kai trained me at Kao Ken," Shadow told Krillin.

A lot of surprised gasps were audible. "What?" "How?" "He taught you Kao Ken?"

Shadow gave a crooked grin. "Yes, I was taught in the Kao Ken techniques. And in it's most lethal technique, the Spirit Bomb, as well. King Kai told me I was the only one except for Goku to ever be able to learn it. Since the training went without too much trouble, I'd say he's right."

Tien, his face stricken, hurriedly apologized. Shadow dipped her head and gave him a warm smile. "Accepted," she responded.

"Hey, who are you?" Krillin asked a woman that suddenly appeared next to Shadow.

"Guardian," Shadow answered Krillin's question. "You have returned."

"Yes, Child. You must stay here. Every one of these people can teach you something. I will come for you when the time is right."

"I understand, Guardian. I shall await your return," Shadow said as the two women walked to the shore of the small island, to have some privacy. Not that there was much privacy with all these people listening in intently.

"Thor also wanted you to have this," the Guardian said, extending a sword. Shadow beamed as she took the object. It was her first present.

"This is so light," Shadow said as she unsheathed the blade. The Guardian nodded.

"It has an iridium-titanium shell to hold the edge, and a softer titanium steel core to give it the necessary resilience," the Guardian told her. "Here's an incense burner. Thor said you could use one for your mental training. He also wishes you his best. I have to go now, Child. Good luck in your training. I have every confidence in your abilities. You passed King Kai's Kao Ken training without problems, a stage that killed most other applicants."

With that, the Guardian disappeared. "Wait…" she was too late. "Where do I live?" she quietly added. Sheathing the sword, she walked further towards the shore, and stared out over the water.

"Thank you, Thor. Your gift will always remain by my side." Shadow felt sadness creep up on her. She was surrounded by people, yet she felt truly alone.

"Hey, who was that?" Krillin broke through her dark mood.

"That was the Guardian of the Crossroads. She is my guide on my path."

"What path?" Krillin asked.

With a sigh, Shadow turned back to the group. "There is a lot that I have to tell you," she said. "First of all, I am dead, and I remember nothing of my life. I don't even remember my name, that's why I call myself Shadow, because I am but a shadow of my former self. The woman you just saw is called the Guardian of the Crossroads. When I died, she guided me on my task of finding my path in the afterlife. When I made my choice, she said that it was the only one that could lead to total annihilation. I chose the path of the Universal Savior. In order to accomplish this, I have to train. Long and hard. And I can die during my training. If I die, my spirit will be lost forever into nothingness. King Kai was the second stage of my training."

"So you don't remember a thing from your life? Who you were? What you were?" Krillin asked.

Shadow shook her head. "I have come to terms with it. The Guardian said that, in order for me to loose that much memory, I have to be dead for at least a couple hundred years, and a few thousand is more expected."

"So there's no going back to your old life," Bulma said. Shadow shook her head.

"I was sent here to train. Apparently, you all have something that would benefit me," Shadow said. "But first, I must secure myself some lodging. Since I don't use money in the afterlife, I'll have to make due. Krillin, is there a forest nearby? Someplace where I can build myself a shelter?"

She felt most comfortable with him, probably because he was the first one she had talked with.

"Nonsense!" Bulma shouted. "I have plenty of room. You can stay with me."

"Are you sure?" Shadow asked. "I mean, I won't be too much trouble, will I?"

"Of course not!" Bulma said. "You're most welcome."

"Thank you," Shadow answered.

Soon the people present started discussing events among themselves, and Shadow managed to avoid talking too much. She was not a great conversationalist, and to be honest, she was bored beyond belief. Suddenly, she felt an aura. A huge aura. She turned towards a certain spot in the sky, and focused her own aura.

"Shadow?" Krillin asked as he saw her looking intently towards the sky.

"A huge aura is approaching. It doesn't feel human… it's too wild, barely controlled. It has an underlying darkness that I don't understand."

Krillin extended his own senses, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Slowly, he detected something, but it was still too far away. The others had joined in by now, curious about what Shadow would have detected.

"It's Gohan!" Krillin shouted.

"Gohan?" Shadow asked.

"Goku's son," Krillin explained. "He's half-Saiyan. That's probably where the underlying darkness comes from. Saiyans are a race of warriors. They love to fight. But he's so far away that I can barely detect him. How did you do that?"

"You keep forgetting that I learned to use my ki, and detect them on a world where they're a thousand times weaker. On this world, where the ki is a lot stronger, my senses are far more accurate than yours," Shadow said.

Ten minutes later, the air-car carrying a woman and a child landed on the island.

"Sorry we're late," the woman said. "I had to go to school with Gohan."

"Shadow. These are Chi-Chi and Gohan. Goku's wife and his son," Krillin introduced.

"So this is Shadow?" the boy asked, jumping out of the car. "You don't feel that strong," he told her.

"That's because all my power is shrouded. Instead of hiding it, like you do, shrouding works even when using your ki at full power, and it doesn't require time to use your full potential."

"Wow," the boy said, gaping at her. Shadow repeated her earlier explanation about herself for the boy and his mother.

Not long after, conversations had resumed. Shadow quietly made her way away from the group, and returned to her old spot, staring at the sea. For the first time since her training, she missed her memories. Seeing how these friends act together made her wonder if she had her own friends somewhere. Or if she used to have them. She looked down at the sword of Thor strapped to her hip. Yes, she had a friend now as well. In Thor, she had found a teacher as well as a great friend.

Sounds of battle penetrated her mind. The slapping of bare hands and feet broke her mood. As she turned around, she saw a couple of the people spar.

With the mind of a trained warrior, Shadow examined the fights. All these warriors were great, truly excellent. But she noted that they weren't as fast as she was. What did surprise her was the fact that they threw their ki at each other. Shooting blasts of ki at one another seemed to be a waste of energy, until she thought about it. Her aura was strong, and possessed great reserves. Maybe she could try it as well. King Kai had shown her how to boost her aura, how to increase her strength and speed with the Kao Ken technique, but he never showed her how to use her ki as an active offensive weapon.

Krillin broke up from his spar with Yamcha.

"So, what do you think?" he asked Shadow.

"You all posses potential. Your speed is not as great as mine, and the fact that your auras are not shrouded leaves you open for detection."

"Could you teach us how to shroud our ki? I mean, how hard can it be?"

"It's very difficult. It requires a great strength of will, but I am willing to try."

"Great! Hey, guys! She's going to teach us to hide our ki!" Krillin shouted. The group was exhilarated.

Shadow stopped their yelling. "I am not going to teach you to hide your ki. Hiding is not a good way to go into battle. It takes time to raise your ki out of hiding, time you require to do battle. Not to mention that people like me can see right through hidden ki. But I must warn you: shrouding is a very difficult technique. It requires a great strength of will."

Whatever she called it, the group didn't care. They wanted their ki to be invisible as well.

"So, when can we start?" Krillin asked.

"The ideal time for such training is during the evening, or at night. Darkness help to focus the mind," Shadow told them.

"Great!" Yamcha exclaimed. "We'll all meet at Bulma's at … let's say 10 p.m.?"

"Hey!" Bulma exclaimed. "You're not going to use my house as a meeting place every night!"

"Bulma is right," Shadow said. "I have no intention of abusing her hospitality. Is there a place where we can train in peace, without hindering anyone?"

"Sure. I know a place," Krillin said. "I'll show you tonight. Right now, I want to get some practice. Come on, Shadow. Show us just how strong you are."

Shadow never backed down from a challenge. The people present formed a circle. They all wanted to see Shadow fight. Shadow and Krillin faced each other.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Always," Shadow said, getting in the Supreme Divine Speed attack pose.

"Hey, no swords! I'm unarmed," Krillin said. Shadow gave a small dip with her head, and the sword fell down onto the ground. Her attack pose remained the same. Thor had taught her to combine the Supreme Divine Speed techniques with hand-to-hand combat.

"Your move," Shadow said, awaiting Krillin's attack.

"Alright," Krillin said. He brought his ki to life, and began powering up. Shadow was not impressed, already knowing his full strength even before he used it.

Suddenly, he charged. He seemed to get a hit in, when he passed right through her. Everyone was stunned, and looked at the woman.

"How did you do that?" Krillin asked, getting up from the shoreline, where had he had fallen.

"Supreme Divine Speed evasion technique," Shadow said. "I stepped out of the way, and back to my original location, at such a speed that it looked as if I had remained in place. But you are still hiding your strength. That was not your fastest, nor your strongest attack. Why do you not attack me full force?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you," Krillin grunted, getting back in front of Shadow, getting back in an attack pose.

"You won't hurt me," Shadow assured him. "I have taken beatings since I started training. I can handle some injuries."

"If you say so," Krillin said. "Destructo Disk! Activate!" he shouted, outstretching his left hand above his head. A flat, spinning disk of ki energy appeared above it. It was about a meter in diameter.

"Interesting," Shadow commented.

"Engage!" Krillin shouted, and he flung the disk at her. Shadow jumped up, made a quadruple summersault somersault over the spinning disk, and landed right in front of Krillin. The next moment, her knee landed in his stomach. As he doubled over, her elbow landed in his neck. Krillin sunk to his knees. He got up fairly quickly.

"Your attack, although quite strong, lacks accuracy and leaves you open for retaliation," Shadow commented.

"Is that so?" he asked. "I'd like to see you try better!"

"I have dodged your first attack," Shadow commented. "I could try to duplicate your technique, but without experiencing it first-hand, there is no way I could control it wisely."

"Huh?"

"That is the way I have been trained. In order to be in control of a technique, you must experience it, be on your hands and knees from feeling its power. Only then will you be able to use it wisely."

Jennifer sat in the command chair of the Ortega. The day after Frederic's funeral, the entire ESMF had shown up for duty, just as if they had never left. Neither she nor Daphnix issued a return code, yet they had all shown up as if were normal to do so. Jennifer drew strength from seeing her old friends again, Commander Harris, Admiral Decker, and all the familiar faces of the command crew of the Ortega.

Borlan continued to take the place of his still stricken sister. Everyone knew how hard this was for him, and everyone made sure to thank him for his trouble. Borlan on his part never complained, even though he had been forced to make thousands of changes to his programming to accommodate the requirements. It was a difficult transition period for all of them, and they all coped in their own way.

For Jennifer, it meant pulling double shifts, only leaving to eat, drink, sleep, or go to the bathroom. David and Jessica stayed with their aunts on Earth, helping out in at Alpha labs on the moon. Both kids had just assumed they were expected to help, and joined in without being asked to. At first, everyone had looked at them strangely when they just showed up for duty, but everyone had gotten used to them in a couple of hours. After all, their help was greatly appreciated. When the two of them got their minds set on something, there was nothing that could stop them. For them, this was all a game. While everyone else was dead serious, the two children solved the most complicated problems, and had fun doing it.

It was a sight to behold: the two children, resembling the age of barely five, working on difficult chaos theory calculations for the latest engines. And progress they made. Even though both children were barely above six months old, they could find their match only in people like Frederic.

Jennifer just sat on the bridge, staring at the screen, which still only showed the same boring star field. Then, the call they had all been dreading came.

"We've detected an unauthorized dimensional crossing."

Defcon 4! Borlan immediately stated. His voice was as cold as always, but internally, his processors buzzed with finally being able to do what he knew best: war.

"Prepare zero-point weapons," Jennifer said. "Daphnix, get me a firing solution, and I want it ten minutes ago. O'Connor, get us there ASAP. Prepare to scramble fighters."

Her orders were swiftly carried out, and the massive ship came out of relocation directly in front of Sorcerer's fighting force. Thanks to Vicky and Sarah's tactical information, everyone knew that Sorcerer's ships were robot ships, stripped of all their enhanced biological parts.

"Solution ready!" Daphnix shouted.

"Scramble fighters, and prepare to implement!" Jennifer shouted. Daphnix assumed command, and the fighters started blasting. In less than 24 hours after they had returned to the Ortega, all the fighters had been assimilated and brought up to standards. In doing so, the Ortega's 5000 fighters, as well as the Ortega itself, had jumped at least three generations. The shields were capable of withstanding up to five times as much as the old ones, and its weapons did at least double damage compared to before. Not to mention two totally new zero-point generators that could power the entire planet without problems, and the new engines that were capable of literally relocating the vessels.

"What do we have?" Jennifer asked as the two fleets squared off.

"Thirty-five hundred fighters of an unknown type, and a warcruiser," Daphnix told her.

"Damn," Jennifer grunted. "We're outnumbered."

Even with BorgFred's technology, they still weren't up to standards with the Earth Imperial War Fleet, which had been at war for its entire existence. The defenders' only hope was the fact that the ships were robot ships, and that the neural computer cores had been removed.

Their hopes were dashed quickly as the Imperial War Fleet engaged its targets. Daphnix countered, but soon found out that he was fighting men in armor with sticks and stones.

The defenders were standing their ground, but the War Fleet, even though outnumbered, continuously kept the initiative. When the warcruiser joined in, the Defenders' fate was sealed. Without too much trouble, the attackers started picking off individual fighters. The Ortega, meanwhile, had no other choice but to keep the zero-point weapons at bay. The blast could destroy their own fleet in the process, and there was no way of calling them back now. That would give the offenders too much time.

So, the Ortega's only choice was to limit itself to the super-charged phasers and Quantum Pellets. The fighters swarmed through one another, with the warcruiser joining in with gusto. The Ortega, due to its large bulk, couldn't join in the battle itself, and limiting itself to phasers and quantum pellets meant that it could as well have been in a dock someplace. It wasn't more than a nuisance for Sorcerer's fleet.

"Our fighters are failing!" Daphnix shouted.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Jennifer pleaded.

"No, sir. Our weapons are simply unable to hit fighters. We need to find a way to do so."

"Recall the fighters! We'll destroy the bastards with zero-point weapons. Let's just hope they don't destroy us first. And transmit our findings to Alpha!"

Jennifer's orders were quickly followed out, and the 2000 remaining fighters fled back into the Ortega's bays, pursued by Sorcerer's robot ships. The warcruiser started pounding the Ortega's shields, while the fighters went after the fighters of the defenders'. Chaos ruled as shields flickered and weapons discharged. The defenders' ranks shattered as total chaos broke out.

"Shields down to 75%! We're loosing losing ground!"

"How long before we can get the Endeavor here?"

"She won't be ready for another five hours!"

"Relocate her!"

"Sir, she has no weapons."

"Get the Yamato. She hasn't been assimilated yet. She can help us with her old weapons!"

"Sir, with all due respect, you saw what happen to the Ortega when she fought un-upgraded."

"Right. Prepare to relocate to Earth. We need to get away!"

"Shields down to 50%! We can't relocate without all our fighters! We can't abandon those people!"

"Damn," Jennifer muttered. "Aim for the warcruiser! At least get it out of commission!"

The Ortega pointed its entire weapons array towards the smaller but more heavily armed and shielded warcruiser. Its shields flickered as quantum pellets and phasers bore down on it. They were too close to use zero-point torpedoes.

Then, the call came. "All our fighters are inside! Preparing to relocate!"

A panel burst into flames.

"Shields down to 25%. They've taken out the relocator. Nanoprobes are fighting to get it repaired in time."

Acrid smoke filled the bridge as more systems were damaged, or destroyed. Jennifer could imagine the nanoprobes replicating to counter the massive damage. She could also imagine the Quadranium hull healing itself, if given the chance.

"Prepare zero-point torpedoes. Maximum yield, full spread."

"Yes, sir," Daphnix followed her order. At least they'd be taking a lot of the bastards with them to Hell.

"Wait!" Daphnix suddenly shouted. "Ship coming out of modified quantum tunnel!"

A sleek vessel came out of the red tunnel, and it turned towards Sorcerer's ships. The defenders' didn't know what it was firing, but whatever it was, it was effective. Sorcerer's ships started falling like flies, and soon they retreated.

"Sir, I can't scan it. It has a sub-quantum interference field around it hull."

"Hail them," Jennifer said.

BorgFred's face appeared on the screen.

"I told you I'd be back with a surprise," he said. "Meet the WS2 Punisher. It's the very latest in warship design. We'll escort you back to Earth, and we can talk there."

"Sure," Jennifer said, and the Punisher took a flanking position to the much larger Ortega.

BorgFred, BorgJenny, and the BorgAmazons of 503 were seated at the front of the conference table of the Ortega. Jennifer, Daphnix, Decker, and some representatives from Alpha Labs were seated at the other side.

"We have been doing a lot of research since defeating the vampires on our planet," BorgFred began, "and this is the result. The second-generation Warship Punisher. The WS Ortega is being upgraded as we speak, and will be here to join in the war in a matter of hours. A lot of new technologies have been incorporated into the Punisher. It uses a fifth-generation QDD, propelling it to speeds up to 500,000 times the speed of light. It can cross dimensions in seconds rather then minutes. As to defense, it has shields, deflectors, a cloaking device, and a quantum-pusher. Offense: phasers, quantum pellets, zero-point torpedoes, multi-gravity beam, and a zero-point CICS. Other abilities include a spatial relocator with a range of 10 light-years, Quadranium hull, nanoprobes of the seventh generation."

"Now, allow me to explain the new technologies. The quantum-pusher literally pushes us out of the space-time continuum, generating the interference that disrupts all sensors. This makes it impossible to lock-on with targeting sensors, or to find out anything using sensors. The multi-gravity beam can exert a force of up to 10,000 times normal gravity on to a ship. Now, the G-dampers on a ship are designed to negate G's resulting out of acceleration or deceleration. This is different. Imagine being caught in a star. Same results. The multi-gravity beam uses zero-point energy's gravity properties."

"The Zero-point CICS, or Close In Combat System, is designed especially for dealing with fighters. It offers less power, but higher maneuverability and higher speed for the weapons. And for the record, less power for the CICS still means that its phasers are stronger than yours. We only got it to work half an hour before we joined you into battle. Sorry we were late."

"We lost many good people today," Jennifer said. "But we will have time to grieve later. What are the upgrades for the battlecarriers?"

"Stronger shields. Deflectors. Next generation Quadranium hull, and upgraded nanoprobes. The weapons, engines, and generators will all be upgraded as well. So will the computer core, and you'll be equipped with a CICS, a quantum-pusher and a multi-gravity array. But the largest upgrade will surely be the fighter bay. The hologrids will be augmented by a replicator array, enabling you to replicate entire ships at once. It takes about a week to replicate a ship like the Punisher."

"Great. And we can use the shipyard on the other side of the moon of 001 and 003 to replicate new battlecarriers."

"Replicating a battlecarrier may take up to 4 weeks," BorgFred warned her. "You can use the shipyard of 503 as well," he added.

"Thank you. Is the system of assimilation still the same?"

BorgFred gave a curt nod. "It is. But the time has been reduced to one fourth of yours."

"Great! Begin on the Ortega at once. Too bad we need to boost power with the ships that aren't being assimilated, so we can't assimilate all of them at once."

"Use the Punisher. It generates enough power to assimilate a fleet of ships."

"Thanks," Jennifer said. "Now, the more difficult things. Who will get command?"

"I thought you'd ask that," BorgFred said. "Just leave me and my crew on the Punisher. I'll be more than happy to lend a hand under your command. I don't think I'd be useful as overall commander. People might resent me."

Jennifer nodded her appreciation. "The Slayers have joined the ESMF as ground crews, protecting Alpha Labs and F² on Earths 001 and 003. You want to join as well?"

"Technically, I am still a part," BorgFred said with a grin. "But I think we'll all accept your offer."

"Very well," Jennifer said, telling Borlan to add the Punisher to the ESMF list of ships, and its crew to the ESMF crew manifest. Borlan acknowledged.

"What happened to Linda?" BorgJenny asked.

"She took Fred's death hard," Jennifer said, her face twisted in grief. "Borlan has been kind enough to help us out."

"You know, I can't help but wonder what happened to Fred's Swords, and his Necklace," BorgFred muttered to himself after Decker and the rest of the ESMF crew had left, leaving only Jennifer and Daphnix with BorgFred and his friends.

"Maybe back where he found them?" Daphnix suggested.

"If so, I wonder if I could…" BorgFred's voice trailed off.

"You could!" Jennifer yelled. "And with that added power, you could destroy Sorcerer!"

"Great! I'll go look for the Oech-anya Necklace and the Ketari Sword. I don't think the Human Sword will be possible… after all, there are still Humans alive."

So, BorgFred set out with the Daedalus III. He returned not long after.

"I can't claim them," he said. "There seems to be a dimensional protection on the powers. They can only be assumed by a person from their home dimension. And I come as close to being from the home dimension without actually being so. They can be transferred form Phalanx to Phalanx, but the powers can't be assumed from the weapons," BorgFred explained.

"Do you still have access to Avalon?" Daphnix asked. "All our weapons have disappeared… all except for Jenny's Dragon's Blade, because that is her weapon, not just borrowed from the vaults."

"I can try," BorgFred said, and used the incantation. To everyone's relief, BorgFred's access hadn't been revoked.

The Wise One looked on. One of the other Gods interrupted.

"Are you sure that it's such a good idea to return his access?"

"He is helping the side of good. Besides, after the dimensional protection on the Phalanx powers, they deserve a break," the Wise One returned.

"Why not just lift the dimensional protection as well? Or eradicate Sorcerer ourselves while we're at it?" the God muttered.

"Because that will get the Destroyers to attack en masse. We can only interfere in small ways, and granting BorgFred access to Avalon is only giving him back what he already had," The Wise One said, looking intently at the God who had just spoken. "Anyone else want to question me?"

When no one spoke, the Wise One turned back to the wall, where he could follow what was happening to BorgFred and his allies.

Sorcerer paced his throne room. He could feel the anger burn deep inside him, an intellectual hate that scorched the deepest regions of his soul.

"You asked for me, My Lord?" Arlon, his minister of Science entered his throne room.

"Arlon! Yes, I want you to revert all our ships back to the old nanites. Yes, I know they're weaker than the biological ones, but we need very bit we can get! They had unknown weapons at their disposal, and I just witnessed one ship destroyed over 1500 fighters and a warcruiser! We've lost 7150 people in total. Do you know how long it takes to train people? This can NOT be allowed to continue! "

"Of course, My Lord."

"How far are we with the reinforced dimensional gateway?" Sorcerer barked at his poor minister.

"Theories are always completed, My Lord. We should be ready within the next few months."

"Good. And tell Baral that I am ordering him to triple construction of ships. I don't care if he has to draft every slave we've got in the damn Empire to man the replicator fields, I want the production tripled!"

"Yes, My Lord," Arlon said, not feeling anything for his unfortunate colleague, the minister of War Fleet Operations.

"That will be all," Sorcerer turned back to the window, and stared out over the vast expanse of space. His space. He was so deep in thought he never heard Arlon leave. When Sorcerer finally realized he was alone, he fell onto his throne.

How did they do that? We couldn't even scan it on sensors! And those weapons… they crushed our ships like bugs. We need to upgrade, and we need it soon! Normally, our ships would have been victorious, but now… Damn this barrier!

Sorcerer jumped back up from his throne, and started pacing the room.

"Computer! Get me slaves Barbara and Michelle, numbers 002 and 003. Have them sent here."

Acknowledged, the computer's male voice responded. Barely two minutes later, the two slaves were escorted into the room. At a sign of Sorcerer, the guards left.

Sorcerer fell back on the throne. He felt worn. At a motion of his hand, the two women approached his throne. He closed his eyes and gathered his strength. He needed a recharge, and he needed it bad. He just didn't dare leave now. His mental abilities reached out, and phased out the two women.

He also knew what was bugging him on the other side. Deleting his emotions had been fine for a limited amount of time only. Even after fusing his secondary personality with his primary personality his emotions had returned. For some reason, his body developed them back after he deleted them. The feelings of loneliness, the regret over killing slave 001, it all kept him wake at night.

After phasing his two slaves out, he removed their slave programming. He copied the backup in place of their old personalities, but he was smart enough to add an unconditional love clause to them. Thus he ensured they wouldn't turn on him as well. Sorcerer didn't know if he could handle that. He knew that he was evil, but he also knew that his Humanity was doing fine, and he wasn't such a bad leader. He knew that this had great potential for harm, and he also knew that he wouldn't want to be under his rule if he were harmed too much.

He let them come out. The two women blinked their eyes a couple of times. Those were the only two remaining slaves he actually had emotions for, so it was no miracle he had chosen them.

"I need your help," Sorcerer began, walking back to the window. The two women walked after him, and flanked him. Barbara stood on his left, Michelle on his left.

"With what?" Barbara asked.

"I…Four days ago, I killed…Jennifer. She had driven me over the edge. I know it's no excuse, but… I handed her my heart, and she stomped on it." Sorcerer's voice was about to break. Sadness was not something he was accustomed to, and he didn't know how to deal with it. Guilt was another one of those emotions he had attempted to delete, but that stubbornly kept coming back to haunt him.

"You did abuse her," Barbara carefully ventured. "She was hurt, and when she finally had a chance to come out, she took her chance to strike back."

Sorcerer looked at his sister. He looked to his right, to Michelle. She was nodded. Grief crosses Sorcerer's face.

"You're right… but still, I…I…feel these things, and I can't get rid of them."

"What you're feeling is guilt. Guilt, and you're probably feeling sadness as well. And as long as you know what you did, those emotions will keep coming back," Barbara said.

"What can I do? I don't want this to continue!"

"Undo what you did, and beg for forgiveness," Michelle told him.

"Beg? I don't just beg! I'm Sorcerer! I am the Emperor of the Earth Empire! I don't beg!"

"Suit yourself," Barbara said. "But you know that Michelle's right."

Sorcerer nodded. He walked to his throne, opened a case of mana potions, and drank one of them. The artificial less-powerful mana filled him. He cast a time-view spell. He saw back in time, until the exact time where he could see himself incinerate Jennifer. He then cast a time-vortex spell, allowing him to travel back in time. He did a time-stop at the exact moment the fireball was about to hit her.

He pushed her aside, cast a mirror image, and knew that he was about drained of mana. Taking Jennifer's stopped image in his arms, he walked back in the time-warp. He felt it collapse the moment he was inside. Jennifer came to life at about the same time the two of them appeared back in Sorcerer's throne room.

Sorcerer knew that he was inviting problems. The time-line had been eroded enough with his meddling in World War II. Actually saving someone and bringing her forward in time for four days would have its repercussions. He didn't care at this stage. Jennifer still stared at him with her eyes filled with anger. It drove a stake through Sorcerer's heart to see her still mad at him.

"So, you used your magic on me," she stated. "What did you do this time? Place me under your control? Fazed me out, so you could rape me again?"

"I saved your life," Sorcerer said. "My past self would have destroyed you. I saved you."

"Yeah, right," Jennifer grunted. She noticed she wasn't alone with Sorcerer for the first time.

"He did save your life," Barbara said.

"I didn't stop myself. I created a mirror image of you, and that image was the one destroyed. I needed this lesson, to learn that…that…I am still human," Sorcerer whispered. His voice was breaking, and he could feel himself weakening. He had lost all his mana, his energy reserves were dangerously low, and was under severe emotional stress.

"Meaning?" Jennifer asked.

"That you're right. I am alone. I also know that I shouldn't have treated you the way I have."

"So? Why should I stick around? You can just do whatever you want to me, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"I wouldn't do it again, but I know that it's not an absolute guarantee. There's nothing I can say or do to make sure of that."

"Besides, I wouldn't want to stick around even if you could somehow make it an absolute. The shit you did… it's just too much."

Sorcerer closed his eyes, once more bracing himself not to let his emotions betray him.

"I'll just leave. Goodbye," Jennifer said, and turned around. She started walking towards the exit of the throne room. Sorcerer's hands rose, stretching out as far as it could, almost in an attempt to touch her.

"No, please…" his voice was so quiet, not even a whisper. "Not again…"

"What was that?" Jennifer turned around. When his head rose, she could see into his eyes. To her surprise, she could see bottomless depths of pain etched onto that pair of eyes. The unshed tears he was forcing to keep inside.

"Please, don't go," he whispered. "I need you." There…another weakness. Sorcerer could feel himself loosing losing control. His last tads of self-control were slipping away.

"You're really breaking down, aren't you?" Sorcerer saw the same flash he had seen before… the flash indicating that there was still a part of her that felt something for him.

Sorcerer summoned everything he had. He hated being this weak, and certainly was not going to let Jennifer believe that he was as close to breaking as she thought he was. He knew very well that he was, in fact, *closer*.

He got up from his throne. The emptiness of his mana reserves washed over him, and he had to grip at the armrest to keep form falling over. A fact that was not lost on the three women in the throne room. But, countless years of war had shaped Sorcerer. He was the leader, the commander. He couldn't be weak. Everyone drew their strength from their commander.

Jennifer looked at him, her hands linked behind her back. She had turned around, yes. But she had not returned to her previous position. If he wanted to be close to her, let him come to her.

Sorcerer stood on wobbly legs. Drawing entirely form the Force that surrounded him, he supported his body. He didn't know why it refused to have the same stamina that kept him going from weeks on end, without eating, drinking, or sleeping. Was she right? Did the loneliness of his existence run ruin his immortal body? Why was he deteriorating so rapidly? He had been fine a week ago!

It had all started with those damn flashbacks. The images of him and Jennifer when they first met, and how he had destroyed everything that could have been on that fateful night. The same night he had destroyed his one and only friend because he could be a threat to him. Sorcerer knew that it had been too much…every month he would have to repair the timeline, and every month he would need to draw mana from the universe to do so. And every month it would give him the same flashbacks.

"Jenny…," he croaked. "I…" his strength left him. He was imploding. He was alone, and he knew it. The first encounter with Jennifer had opened up wounds he never new he had, and now they refused to heal. Sorcerer knew the cure. It was standing right in front of him. "I can't go on," he said in the same below-whisper voice.

"Right! And what will you do when I don't please you enough? And what will happen when you grow bored with me? Then what? You'll reprogram me? *Force* me to like you? To be with you? To be what you want me to be?"

Sorcerer shook his head wearily. "I wouldn't…I made that mistake once. I won't make it again." His voice gave completely, and he sank to his knees. With a tremendous application of will, he forced himself to his legs. His body was limp, and he was supporting it like a rag doll in a shell of mental powers and Force. He struggled closer to her. When she, involuntarily, made a step backwards, he cast his eyes to the ground.

"I understand," he said. His voice no longer came from his completely failed body. It was his mind that spoke, reverberating through the room. He knew he needed more time. Time his body no longer had. With a mana potion, he might be able to support himself for a few more minutes, but that would be it. He would be near-death when it ran out.

Using what little power he had left, he telekinetically brought a mana potion to his lips. The unrefined artificial mana filled his body, perking him up a bit.

"There might be a way," Sorcerer said. "But it might be dangerous."

"A way for what?" Jennifer asked.

"Link us. But it would entail trust as well. I would have to activate your Amazon powers again, so a power-link can be established."

"You? Mess around in my mind? Forget it!" she shouted. "I knew I couldn't trust you again!"

Barbara held on to the woman, as she was about to run out of the throne room. "If he had wanted to reprogram you, he would have done so already. Do you really think we would be here if it weren't for some programming of ourselves? We may have been slaves for a long time, but we're smart. Both Michelle and me I know that we should hate him instead of helping him. The very fact that he is trying to talk to you should be proof enough."

Jennifer looked at Sorcerer. "No, that's not it. It's because he's a wreck. Look at him! He can barely stand on his legs!"

"And why do you think he's a wreck?"

Jennifer looked at Barbara, and then at Sorcerer. He was shaking like a leaf, and Jennifer could see how much it took for him to remain standing.

"Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Thank you. Please, come here… I'm not strong enough to do it from a distance," Sorcerer's voice was perking up, drawing the last shards of strength from her acceptance. When Jennifer reluctantly approached Sorcerer, his one hand touched her forehead ever so slightly.

With his last strength, Sorcerer entered her mind. He walked to her command center, and deactivated the mental cabinet. He crawled to the cabinet, opened it, and activated all the powers there. He put the box back in the cabinet, and closed it. He wanted to give her all his knowledge as well. Sorcerer crawled to the command center. He didn't make it.

Barbara and Michelle watched Sorcerer collapse. One minute, he was standing there, the next he was on the floor. Jennifer woke up from her daze. She could feel her power ripple through her mind. She saw Sorcerer on the floor, unconscious. Using what little she knew of her new powers, she entered her own mind. She saw no programs.

She opened her eyes again, and looked at the person that had caused her all this grief. Yet, when he was like this… there was something about him. a vulnerability, a spark, something that drew her to him. she took him in her arms effortlessly.

"Computer, transport us to his room."

Access to transport denied.

"Computer…grant unlimited…access to …Jenny…," Sorcerer whispered.

Acknowledged.

Jennifer, angry with the computer, barked her transport order again. This time, she and Sorcerer disappeared. Michelle and Barbara looked at each other.

"How about we go back to our quarters?" Michelle asked. Barbara just nodded. Together, the two former slaves left the throne room.

Sorcerer woke up with a start. Sweat shone on his kin as he frantically looked around the room. Jennifer stared at him from the other side of the bed. His heart pumped as adrenalin raced through his system. He jumped out of the bed, looking like a frightened animal. Then, his thoughts dwelled back on the happened not long ago. His adrenalin gave out, and his sunk to his knees, gripping at the bed for support.

Jennifer calmly walked around the bed, and supported him. She helped him into the bed.

"Thank you," he whispered. His voice was still weak. Jennifer settled next to him.

"Welcome," she said, looking back at him.

Sorcerer just watched her, his eyes never leaving her. Was that a hint of fear she saw in those eyes? Then, realization hit her. He had given her full mental powers, and he was scared she would use them against him in his sleep. Her heart told her to help him, while her mind told her that he was an animal that didn't deserve better.

As she touched him, she could feel his weak muscles stiffen, and she knew she had guessed correctly. Sorcerer was afraid of her, of what she would do. Jennifer realized that he had made the first step yesterday. He had given her mental powers. He trusted her. Now it was her turn to make a move. She moved over closer to him, and grabbed a hold of him. as she put her arms around him, she could feel him trembling.

Deep inside, below all the layers of anger and resentment, Jennifer still wasn't a cruel person. She had wanted to hurt Sorcerer, yes, and she had done so. His situation was clearly an indication of that. But she never meant to torture him, not like this. As she closed her hug, she could feel Sorcerer relax in her hold.

As he relaxed, so did she. Suddenly, she could feel him move. He moved only slightly, but she was startled when his head rested on her shoulder. He had nested himself into her arms, and she could feel him sleeping.

A small smile decorated her lips as she held the sleeping man in her arms. Her thoughts dwelled on the fact that Sorcerer slept calmly. Ever since he had risen form his unconsciousness into normal sleep, he had been twisting and turning, plagued by who knew what nightmares. Now, he was sleeping peacefully, held by a woman that had wanted to hurt him as much as she could not days before.

Jennifer settled closer to him, allowing herself to drift to sleep as well. The peaceful darkness of sleep soon overtook her, but not before she could realize that holding Sorcerer like this felt so right to her.

Sorcerer awoke the next morning, feeling more relaxed than he had felt in ages. In fact, he couldn't remember a time when he had last felt so secure, so warm, so… protected. When his eyes opened, he seemed to realize that something was amiss. He could hear a heartbeat that wasn't his own. He could hear breathing, and it wasn't him. he felt two arms wrapped around him.

Please, don't tell me this is another dream, he thought. One more of these dreams, and I'll go insane!

His eyes opened completely, and the feeling remained. He sighed, and looked next to him. The sleeping face of Jennifer greeted him. His head was resting on her chest, the reason he could hear her heartbeat, and her breathing. Not knowing what to do with himself, Sorcerer just stared at the woman who quite literally saved his life. He felt so good… so peaceful. And he knew that she would probably leave him.

The thought of her leaving sent spikes of pain though his heart. He knew he wouldn't make the same mistake. If she wanted to go, he would let her go. But the thought of her leaving… it made him feel so empty inside. Tears welled up in his eyes as the thoughts of loneliness kept coming. Shifting his position, he hugged the sleeping form of Jennifer, and let himself cry.

For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself to cry. So immersed was he in the terrible feelings that welled to the surface that he never felt Jennifer's arms tighten around him, her words of encouragement, her gentle stroking of his hair. He clung to her like a frightened child, crying, sobbing, moaning.

"Please…," he whispered though his tears.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Please don't leave me," he begged.

He's BEGGING? Jennifer thought. A thought crossed her mind. Now he's vulnerable. With a single blow I can shatter him. That'll show him! But Jennifer's gentle and caring personality dismissed the thought. She no longer saw the man that had raped her, abused her, reprogrammed her. What she saw was a frightened boy who had been given something he couldn't handle, and who had made mistakes. He attempted to make it up to her, and it had nearly killed him.

She held him tighter, hugging him to her chest. She rocked him gently. "No," she said. "I won't leave you."

Sorcerer started crying again "Thank you," he whispered. Slowly, the sobbing subsided, and Jennifer could feel him breathing rhythmically. Knowing that he was asleep once more, she gently eased herself and Sorcerer back in the bed.

Shadow woke up with a slight headache.

"What the…? Training wasn't that hard yesterday," she grunted to herself, getting up from the soft bed. She had slept on a sleeping mat at Thor's realm for the first 6 months of her training there, and she hadn't slept since. So, the soft bed was definitely a change for the young woman. When she moved her legs, she felt something sticky in between them.

Frowning, she lifted the sheets, and peered under them.

"Oh, no…," Shadow grunted. "I haven't been here for 24 hours, and I'm already having female problems. I think I'd better get some money…" Shadow was definitely embarrassed. Thor had taught her some basics, reading, writing, maths, and biology. Biology was mostly focused on medicine and edible plants and animals. But, one of the lessons had been about procreation, and there she had learned about the female problems once a month… problems she was now facing head-on. In the spirit realm, this had not been a problem, since women didn't have period when dead. But now that she was back alive, it appeared as if her body was striking back with a vengeance.

She had eaten like there was no tomorrow yesterday, and she had slept like a brick. But now… Shadow felt she had to talk to Bulma. Maybe she could help her out.

Shadow first took a shower, and dressed in her gi. She walked downstairs, to find the place deserted. A small note was left for her.

Shadow, my dad and me are already at work. Grab something form the fridge if you're hungry. I guess I'll see you at lunch. Bulma.

"I'm certainly lucky to have found her," Shadow said, opening the refrigerator. She never stopped to question how she knew what a fridge was.

Shadow fixed herself something, and wolfed it down. After cleaning up the kitchen, she went to find Bulma. Thor had told her about customs, that these kinds of problems were not openly discussed. So, when she found Bulma working with her father, Shadow got Bulma's attention, and got her far enough away from the man.

After Shadow explained the problem, she thought that Bulma was more embarrassed than she herself was. Bulma just told her to get the dirty sheets into the washing machine, and that, for the time being, Shadow could borrow some tampons form her.

Shadow thanked her extensively, and disappeared into the house. After getting the dirty sheets into the washing machine, Shadow went into the bathroom; to get the tampons Bulma had directed her to.

Shadow examined the objects in question. She read the instructions carefully, and was even more apprehensive about using them after she read the instructions. Knowing that she was still a virgin, she was apprehensive about inserting the tiny sticks of absorbing material. Deciding it couldn't hurt to try, Shadow did as the instruction told her to do.

Well, that went better than I expected, Shadow thought. At least it didn't break anything. Now, I'd better hide the rest of these things.

Shadow was doing her exercises outside the house. First, the moved through the katas Thor had taught her. Her body and her mind relaxed, moving to the soothing rhythm of the ancient exercises.

After half an hour, she ended up sitting on her knees, her hands resting just above her knees as she sat down on her ankles. She opened her eyes, and stood up straight.

First stage completed. Initiating second stage: advanced training of the physical body.

She got into an aggressive-looking attack pose. Shadow's form blurred as she raced around the yard, doing her Divine Speed exercises. As she felt satisfactory with them, she moved on to real training.

Letting out a war cry, she vanished. Shadow reappeared at a different spot in the yard, and vanished again. Time and time again, she reappeared, only to vanish once more. Her Supreme Divine Speed moves were executed in complete invisibility, only to be detected by those who were proficiently trained in the technique themselves.

As Shadow reappeared in the center of the yard, she took a couple of deep breaths. A shining layer of perspiration was visible on her skin, and her breath was ragged. She had moved at nothing but Divine Speed and Supreme Divine speed for over 2 hours.

Second stage completed. Initiating third and final stage: advanced training of the mental body.

A single thought provoked her red aura, making it flare up around her body. She squatted, and cried. A long, guttural cry pierced through the air as the red flames rose higher into the air. Shadow was supercharging her aura, pouring strength into it, making it stronger and stronger. Her endurance would be cut greatly, to the point where the actual supercharging of the aura was exercise. This was the point she was training at.

She rose into the air, crying continuously as her aura kept growing and growing. Her black hair moved on the strong currents of aura that flared around her body, and her green eyes flared dangerously as the young woman let go of all humanity, and became the embodiment of the warrior. The first time Thor had witnessed her like this, he had told her she had even greater potential than the last student to actually make it. Thor had subsequently heightened her training.

Right now, Shadow was floating about 5 meters above the ground, her head tilted back, her hair flying loose in the aura-currents, her body engulfed in ruby-red flames of energy.

Shadow could feel herself weakening, and she lowered herself back to the ground.

At that moment, Bulma and Krillin ran up to the yard after hearing the last of her cries. As they saw Shadow touch down, still engulfed in large flames, they stood and watched. Shadow's fists were still clenched, and her eyes were closed. She grunted, and began forcibly regenerating her reserves. Bulma and Krillin did a step back as they saw the flames die out, only to be replaced by a large, red sphere of energy. The sphere was apparently being fed by streaks of energy that came from the ground, and rose up to enter the sphere.

Shadow opened her eyes as the sphere died out. As she saw Krillin and Bulma watching, she simply closed her eyes, and allowed herself to calm down. She walked up to her audience.

"Wow!" Krillin exclaimed. "What was that?"

"Advanced training of the mental body," Shadow said. "Third stage of my morning training."

"Third stage?" Krillin asked.

"First stage consists of warming-up exercises, to prepare the body was extreme taxation. The second stage is training the physical body, which consists of executing Divine and Supreme Dive Speed techniques. The third and final stage is the mental body: consisting of supercharging my aur… my ki, to as high a level as I can get it, and keeping it there was as long as I can. For the moment, I can keep it up for about ten minutes, at a significantly higher level than my first attempts at supercharging."

"Wow," Krillin said. "That is incredible!"

"Just a lot of hard work, really. There were many times when I was near death when learning these techniques, but I have to accept the fact that this hard training has made my body exceptionally resistant to injuries. I heal very fast, according to both Thor and King Kai."

"Will you teach us how to do that as well?" Krillin asked, with a little of a greedy look in his eyes. Shadow sadly shook her head, her black hair swaying form left to right.

"You have shown how little control you have over your ki yesterday. You need to learn the fine-control first. As long as you can't warm the wick of a candle to the point where it glows red but doesn't ignite, I can not teach you. What you witnessed last, forcibly recharging the aura is a very dangerous technique to learn and execute on top of the training. It has nearly killed me on many occasions."

"Why?" he asked.

"You don't know how much you have already charged. It takes a great deal of control to charge yourself, and not over-charge yourself. It is very dangerous to charge yourself with too much energy. What I consider as super-charging is not actually doing so, but it is more a way of boosting the output of my ki by opening the gates to my reserves further. As of now, I have yet to master the Direct Flow technique. Thor claimed it took him over 100 years to master it."

"What does it do?" Bulma asked.

"Direct Flow is a technique to supercharge one's aura with energy drawn from the surroundings instead of using internal energy reserves. It is the combination of supercharging and recharging. Again, very dangerous and highly lethal. Supercharging with surrounding energy means you have no way of knowing how far you've gone, how much energy you've charged into yourself. Too much energy leads to insanity, and death. But the rewards are infinitely greater, namely unlimited energy."

"You mean, infinite stamina?" Krillin asked.

"Yes. The body and mind are kept charged thanks to the aura, which in turn is kept charged thanks to the Energy Flow technique. Thor taught me how to do it, but I have yet to master it to the point where I can keep myself charged. I keep feeling that I am drawing too much energy from my surroundings. It takes tremendous fine-control over the ki to master."

"Even more than the candle?"

"Way more than that. Try a toothpick. Warm the very edge of one point, and do so until it smokes. Burn the entire pick without making a single flame erupt."

"That doesn't sound too hard," Krillin remarked.

"Remember that a toothpick grows thicker towards the center. When you approach the center, you have to use more ki than at the edges. Also remember that, once you have burned the center, you have to diminish your ki to go with the lessening of the material as you approach the other side," Shadow told the man.

"I see your point," Krillin said. "So now we have something to work towards to. Can you tell the others what you just told me? I'm sure they'd be interested to know."

Shadow nodded. "No problem," she said.

"Great. I know where they are. Come on! Bye Bulma!"

Shadow watched him take to the air, and sighed. She turned towards Bulma.

"See you later, Bulma. And thanks for helping me out this morning."

"Hey, no problem," Bulma said. "See you later."

With a last nod, Shadow flew after the rapidly disappearing Krillin. Her aura flashed. Briefly. She caught up with him.

Shadow settled in on the world over the course of the next 2 weeks. She learned about economics, so she settled in for a job as a martial arts instructor, not earning a lot, but enough to at least buy some clothes, and personal hygiene items a woman required. She had assured Bulma that she would start paying rent, as soon as she found a job that paid more, but Bulma had refused, telling the young woman she should do something she liked, rather than do it for the money.

She trained during the day, did her job as martial arts instructor for a couple of hours each afternoon, and trained Krillin and the others in the mental disciplines for a couple of hours each night. She felt her life had finally gotten some rhythm into it, when a man appeared. A man possessing a warrior aura the likes of which she had never seen. The man's name was Vegeta, the last prince of the race of the Saiyans, now almost extinct thanks to the destruction of their home world.

The man, although small in stature, wore a measure of dignity around him. When he had first met Shadow, and was told about her, he had not believed her. In fact, he was very insulting, expressing his thoughts that he didn't think she had anything to offer.

"Listen Mr. Vegeta," Shadow said. "I am not a liar. If you do not wish to participate, you don't have to. I don't care. But you will respect me, and you will apologize for calling me a liar."

"Why don't you make me?" Vegeta said, glaring at her.

Shadow glared back. Krillin, not wanting things to go haywire, tried to calm her down. He knew Vegeta wouldn't. He was mistaken if he thought he could calm Shadow down.

"Get out of the way, Krillin. This insolent man has to be taught a lesson."

"You know he's got a way higher power level than you do. You're going to get yourself killed!" Krillin said, not budging.

"Yes, but you haven't seen me fight. Yet," Shadow responded, shifting her glare from Vegeta to Krillin, who backed off as he saw the daggers in her green eyes.

"So, the girl has spunk," Vegeta sneeringly commented. "I'll be at your funeral."

"Hah!" Shadow snorted. "You'll be guest of honor at your own."

Vegeta's leg shot out, trying to kick her in the stomach. Shadow slapped his knee with the palm of her hand. Vegeta cried out in pain.

"That's going to bruise," he said, getting back in an attack pose.

"You should be grateful," Shadow commented. "The Iron Hand is strong enough to shatter a man's bones."

Vegeta, outraged completely now, attacked. Shadow dodged, not even reaching Divine Speed. Vegeta fell to the ground as she moved out of the way of one of his attacks.

"How did you do that?"

"You have strength at your side, Vegeta. I possess intelligence, superior techniques, and speed. Strength and power alone will not cut it with me."

Vegeta cried out, and flung a huge ki blast at Shadow, who dodged once again at just-not-Divine Speed. As Vegeta cried more, he flung one blast after another at her. Shadow kept dodging, never needing to use full Divine Speed. Then, she began to grow tired of the game. She jumped to Divine Speed, and her form materialized right behind Vegeta's back. She tapped his shoulder.

Startled, he turned around.

"What?" he angrily cried. She sighed deeply.

"Strength and power does not cut it," she repeated. "You have to be faster. Because you can't lock on to my ki, it's nearly impossible for you to hit me when I am moving at Divine Speed, and it's impossible to hit me at Supreme Divine Speed."

Vegeta just grunted.

"I am not strong enough to defeat you, and we both know it," Shadow continued. "But, when you can't hit me, you can't defeat me either."

"You'll grow tired," he commented.

"In our fight I only used Divine Speed once, and that was to get behind your back. When training, I can move at Supreme Divine Speed for two hours. When I'm fighting, I can go for double that, at least."

Vegeta's eyes went open in surprise. This Human was that fast? And that strong? The rest was still staring in full shock at Shadow. They had never seen someone do that to him. She couldn't defeat him, and he couldn't hit her, so it was a stalemate.

Per Vegeta's request, Bulma's father had created something called a gravity room. Basically, it was a specially designed training room, with the ability to increase the gravity. This particular one was able to go as high as 400 times normal gravity. Shadow, still remaining at Bulma's, trained in the room during the nights, enabling her to have her workouts under the higher gravity conditions without being interrupted.

It was then that Shadow learned to survive on four-and-a-half to five hours of sleep a day. She slept from 7 to about 12 each day, did some normal warming-up exercises, did her job as a martial arts instructor to get really warmed up, and she would go into the gravity room at around nine or teen every evening, only to emerge at 7 the next day.

Due to the fact that she could increase the gravity in the room, Shadow no longer needed to use weights. She started out at 10 times normal, about the same as King Kai's planet. She soon found that 20 times would be better, so she trained at 20 times normal gravity. Vegeta's shock began to wear off after a couple of days, and one evening, he simply showed up during her training.

"So, how come you're that fast? Are you on drugs or something?" he asked sneeringly.

Shadow didn't interrupt her training. The room had been set to 25 times normal, and Shadow was pulling herself up, her legs held parallel to the floor. Not interrupting her rhythm, she responded, "Because I am following a special training course. It is designed to increase the strength of the muscle fibers, not increasing the amount of muscle fibers. Less fibers means more speed, and more strength without sacrificing speed."

"I see. And could I learn this?"

"One hundred fifty," Shadow counted, and dropped of the bar. She increased the gravity to 30, and got ready to execute her Divine Speed techniques. "You could,' she said, and blurred as she started moving around the floor of the gravity room. "But it will take very long for you to get your amount of muscle down while maintaining your current strength. Not to mention how much longer it will take before you actually start seeing a gain in both speed, or strength." Shadow's voice was eerily distorted as it came from her blurred form.

She screeched to a halt right in front of Vegeta, sweat leaving a shiny layer on her skin.

"Forget it, then. And this ki-hiding of yours, how about that?"

"Shrouding is a state of mind. It required tremendous willpower. It takes months to build it to a level where it can actually be used in combat," Shadow responded. She increased the gravity by a couple more G's, and got into position for her Supreme Divine Speed techniques. "Oh, and before we continue, I'd suggest you take a few steps back. I would not want to hurt you." Shadow drew her sword, and got into position to launch herself. Vegeta snorted at her last comment, and remained where he was.

"It sounds to me like you're making excuses so you wouldn't have to teach someone. Possibly not to give away your edge, right?"

Shadow disappeared. Her disembodied voice reverberated through the room.

"No, Vegeta. Ask Krillin, or anyone else for that matter. They had trained under me for a couple of days, and they all gave up. Ki-control techniques are very hard to master, as are the Divine Speed and Supreme Divine Speed techniques. It took me one year to get to the level where I was able enough to use them in actual combat. I still haven't mastered them, even after King Kai's Kao Ken training."

"What? He taught you Kao Ken?"

"He did," Shadow confirmed. She still wasn't visible. When Vegeta saw a couple of his hairs fall to the ground, he stared at them in disbelief. He hadn't felt how they were separated from the rest of the black hair on his head.

"I told you that I didn't want to hurt you," Shadow said, still invisible. Vegeta was becoming agitated. He couldn't see her, and he couldn't detect her, either! And with the sword she was carrying, she could just as well kill him without him ever knowing about it. He knew he was greatly her superior in strength, and in experience, but she was so fast and she was completely invisible!

"Show yourself!" he demanded. "And face me like a warrior!"

Shadow immediately materialized right in front of him, startling the hell out of Vegeta.

"Good," he said, and threw a punch at her. Shadow fainted to her left, and kicked him in the stomach. It would leave another bruise, but it wasn't enough to even hurt him. Vegeta tried to slam his elbow in her back, but Shadow had disappeared once more, and was now standing at his other side.

"This can go on for hours," she said, apparently unaffected by the great gravity. But, inside, she knew she wouldn't be able to go on much longer. She was forcing her breathing to appear normal, and she was forcing herself to sweat less, to appear unaffected. Her deception worked, as Vegeta had no clue to her real status.

"I will find a way to beat you, woman!" he growled, and left the gravity room. As soon as she was sure Vegeta had gone, she turned off the gravity, and collapsed. She had felt his elbow go straight over her back, and she knew that her Supreme Dive Speed training she had been doing before she had to confront Vegeta had drained her of most of her reserves. She had made a fatal mistake by going after him. By closing the distance, she minimized the speed he had to use in order to hit her, and she had maximized the speed she needed to get out from under his attack.

Taking deep breaths, Shadow decided to regenerate. She drew in ki from her surroundings, recharging her own dwindling reserves. She used her ki to charge her body. Deciding she had enough physical training for tonight, Shadow got into a meditative position. She lifted into the air, and her mind cleared. Her body relaxed from its high, and her ki settled.

She didn't see much of Vegeta after that, and decided not to pursue it. She had the unpleasant feeling the Saiyan prince was going to surprise her one day, but she decided not to let it affect her.

Shadow's peace would last long. One day, she woke up with a feeling that something was terribly wrong. A few seconds later, after her senses had come out of the daze of waking up, she found that two huge powers were approaching Earth. Literally huge. They were both larger than Vegeta's, who was the highest power she had detected on the planet so far.

Not quite knowing what to do, she got up, washed, dressed, and ate some breakfast. If those two powers were trouble, Shadow wanted energy to fight. She set a course for where she thought the two powers would land, after telling Bulma that she would be away. Bulma notified the others. They all came, all except for Vegeta, who didn't trust Shadow's senses. As long as he couldn't detect something, he wouldn't go.

Of course, a couple of hours later, he was forced to eat his words as he too, detected the two huge powers coming to Earth. To Shadow's surprise, a new player showed up as well: a tall, green alien known as Piccolo joined the small group. He just grunted as he was introduced to Shadow, and accepted that she could shroud her ki. He ignored her, so she ignored him back. There was no reason to start trouble.

Everyone was gathered at the place where they thought the two powers would land.

"Anyone you know?" Shadow asked Krillin.

"Yeah, and I hope that I'm wrong about this," he responded.

"Why?"

"That is Freeza's power signal. I don't know who the other one is, though."

"That's King Cold. Freeza's father," Vegeta said.

"And what is so bad about this Freeza character?" Shadow asked.

"He wants the Dragon Balls to rule the universe," Krillin answered.

"Bad," Shadow just said, getting ready for battle. A remarkable transformation came over the young woman, and the others noticed. She was not the friendliest of people, but now she looked even less inviting than Vegeta. A dark look entered her eyes as her emotions were buried deep within her subconscious. Her fists clenched, as she got ready to erupt her ki. She was stroking the small ball of concentrated energy. It was growling like an angry tiger, coercing her to release it.

Slowly, a spaceship appeared at the sky. It hid in a cave, and the two men, along with an entire army of underlings, walked out of it. Shadow was ready. She was waiting for one sign. One sign, from anybody, and she would fight. For the first time since walking this path, Shadow would fight for real. To the death.

The man known as Freeza ordered his minions to destroy all life on Earth. Shadow geared up. Her ki flared. She was ready to fight. Then, out of nowhere, a young man of about 16 or 17 years of age jumped in to join the fight. Actually, he was the fight as he trashed the underlings by himself. Shadow looked him over. His was nicely built, had lavender hair, and moved with a speed and grace that was impressive.

"I will destroy you, Freeza," the boy said, and he wasted no time in it either. To Shadow's surprise, his hair turned golden, his eyes turned a deep turquoise, and a golden aura erupted along his body. With barely a few attacks exchanged, the boy slices Freeza in half, and blasts him into tiny pieces.

King Cold used some trickery to get the sword from the still glowing youth. It was obvious to Shadow that the man known as King Cold thought that the youth's power was in his sword. King Cold attacked with the boy's own sword, attacks the boy simply blocked. The boy takes the blade from Cold, and kills him with it. Cold's pleas fell onto deaf man's ears.

As the youth flies towards the group, Shadow is unsure as how to react. Deciding that caution is advised, she starts getting ready to fight. her ki is growling like an angry tiger once again.

"Follow me to Son Goku's landing location," the once-again lavender-haired youth says. Seeing the others do as he asked, Shadow decided to follow as well. What Shadow did notice, however, was the fact that Vegeta was terribly enraged about something.

"Hey, Krillin, what's Vegeta's all worked up about?" Shadow asked.

"Another Saiyan has turned super before him," Krillin explained.

"Alright, and now in English, please," Shadow said.

"When a Saiyan is really outraged, he can become super. It's a tremendous boost in strength and speed, and only the very strongest of the Saiyans can do it. so far, I only know of Goku doing it."

Shadow nodded in response. "I understand. Thanks."

"No problem," Krillin responded.

Shadow noted that it was to the surprise of everyone there that Goku did indeed arrive at the exact coordinates the youth had indicated. As soon as Goku landed, Shadow was impressed by the large aura coming from him. He was indeed the strongest of them all, and Shadow had no doubt that he could have handled Freeza and his father even better than the youth had.

The youth took Goku to the side, and talked quietly to him. Suddenly, he drew his sword, and Goku didn't flinch. Then, he started charging. Shadow wanted to intervene, but was held back. Goku blocked the youth's attacks quite easily. Then, they talked some more. At the end of their conversation, the youth just flew off. Shadow followed him with her gaze. The youth turned around, cast a final glance at her, and disappeared after using his overdrive.

As Goku returned, he tried to relay the message the youth had given him. Apparently, a couple of androids would wreak havoc. But, Goku had forgotten the exact date and place of landing of the androids. However, Piccolo, with his enhanced hearing, had listened in. he supplied the group with the exact data. Shadow now understood what King Kai had meant when he had told her that Goku had brains only in a limited supply.

However, she sensed that both Piccolo and Goku were holding something back. Since holding back wasn't exactly lying, she decided not to embarrass Goku and Piccolo in front of their friends, and to ask about it later. Then, she was introduced to Goku.

"So, you learned Kao Ken as well, huh? I never thought a human could learn it," he commented.

"So far, I'm the only one," Shadow said.

"We should all train. It sounds like those androids are tough," Krillin said. "But the plus is that we've got three years to prepare!"

Shadow just nodded.

"Plenty of time to teach us those shrouding techniques. Are you interested in giving us another try? After all, we'll need every edge we can get," Tien asked.

"I am if you are. But this time, there will be no dropping out. You either finish the technique, or you die trying. Believe me, there is no way to motivate a student more then to promise death in case of failure," Shadow said.

"You're kidding, right?" Krillin asked with a tremor in his voice.

"I am not. Are you still interested?"

"Sure!" Krillin said, after thinking for a moment or two. That day, Shadow got the following students: Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, Sao-tsu, Gohan, and to her surprise, Goku and Vegeta as well. Especially Goku was enthusiastic, after hearing that her ki remained invisible even at full power.

Shadow's eyes were closed as she sat at the shore of the lake. Her mind traveled to other places and other times as she meditated. One by one, the others flew in. when everyone was there, and Shadow made no sign of stopping, Goku decided to try something fun. He attempted to sneak up on her. At the last moment, Shadow's eyes flew opened, and her green eyes locked on to him.

"Good, you are all here," she said, gracing Goku with a steel-hard glare. He looked sheepishly at her. "Are you all ready?"

One by one, her students nodded. A faint smile decorated Shadow's lips. "Good,' she said, and picked up her backpack. As she opened it, everyone could see that it was filled with candles. There must have been at least a hundred virgin white candles.

"This is your training equipment," Shadow said, handing out a candle to everyone. "Now, all take your candle, hold it out in front of you, and sit down, cross-legged, like I'm doing now."

As her students assumed a position similar to hers, Shadow explained further. "The first thing you must learn in control over your ki. In order to do tha…" she broke off as she felt a new power approach. The others felt it too, not long after. To everyone's surprise, Piccolo touched down next to the group.

"You want to learn the shrouding technique as well?" Shadow asked. As Piccolo grunted, she motioned for him to join them. She gave him a candle, which he took and eyed strangely.

"The first exercise is simple," Shadow said. "In order to master the ki, one must first control it."

"This is stupid. Everyone here knows how to use their ki," Vegeta shouted.

"Yes. You can use your ki. But you do not control it. I will show you. Use your ki to warm to very tip of the candle's wick. But, you must warm it so it glows orange, but it can not smoke, or burn."

"How hard can THAT be?" Vegeta sneered, looked at the offending candle, and focused. He gave a startled yelp as half the candle disappeared. Shadow gave a knowing smile. She gave him another one, and put the backpack in the middle of the semi-circle. Everyone could reach the pack, but the others would notice. The embarrassment of actually having to take a new one would be enough to motivate the students.

"Now you understand that you do not control your ki. Everyone, please try. If you make your candle burn, blow out the flame, and try again."

"I don't have time for this!" Piccolo shouted after his third try. "What will it get me anyway? An invisible ki. Big deal. I'm out of here."

"It is your choice. The others took the vow of learning, and this motivates them. They know they either learn the shrouding techniques, or they die. You have not taken the vow; therefore I have no hold over you. Please leave, and do not return. This place is for those with the strength of will to continue." Without giving him another look, Shadow turned back to her students, who were looking at her with wide eyes. Vegeta grinned at her, a newfound respect for his teacher on his face. The others were wide-eyed in shock. She told Piccolo off?

"You couldn't enforce the vow on me anyway," Piccolo grunted. The next moment, Shadow was directly behind him, floating above the ground so she was even with the Namek's head. Her sword was drawn, and the blade was resting on Piccolo's shoulder, its edge pointed towards Piccolo's neck.

"Believe me, I do have what it takes to enforce the vow of learning. As a teacher, I have the right to enforce it. Now, please leave. You have nothing left here."

Now the others looked at Piccolo. Shadow had called his challenge. What would he do now? To their surprise, he started grinning.

"Alright. I want to take this vow as well. It looks like you've got what it takes to actually teach me something."

"Very well. You do understand that there is no turning back? Good. Now, do you swear to either learn the shrouding techniques, or die trying?"

"I do," Piccolo grunted.

Shadow dipped her head. "Then go back to your place, and focus on the candle." Shadow turned her back to Piccolo, and took her own seat, in front of the semi-circle of students. Piccolo took his seat, and focused on the candle once again. The ones who had studied under her before were able to keep it down to barely igniting the wick. The new people's results varied from lighting the wick to melting half the candle.

After four hours, Shadow called it a day. She told everyone to be back at the same place the next day. It would take many more days before they would get it down. A lot of them managed to hold the candle's wick at orange, only to see it erupt in flames after a few seconds.

So, everyone broke apart to train on his or her own, and all would reconvene at night to train in the shrouding techniques of Shadow. She asked but one thing in return. All would teach her one of their strongest techniques. All of her students accepted.

So, Shadow's time as teacher and student began. Thanks to a large supply of something called 'senzu beans', she was capable of taking near-death wounds, and be healed instantly. All she needed to do was eat the bean, and her wounds would heal and her energy replenished. She learned to use Krillin's Destructo Disk; she learned Tienshinhan's multi-form technique, enabling her to create four clones of herself.

Sao-Tsu taught her the solar flare, enabling her to temporarily blind her opponents. Yamcha taught her how to remote control her ki blasts. She thought that this one was especially useful, since she often complained about the fact that her beams of ki only flew in straight lines, and were easily dodged.

Piccolo taught her his special beam cannon, a double-beam blast. Very strong, but requires a lot of time to build up. It consists of a straight beam, with a second one coiling around the first one.

Gohan taught her to use his masenko. It consisted of powering up a blast above her head, one palm behind the other, and bringing the hand down to fire it.

Goku taught her how to use the Kamehameha, an extremely strong and reasonably fast ki blast. Shadow would bring her hands to one side of her body, and gather energy. After that, she trusted her hands forward, palms facing forward, to fire the blast. Another useful treat she learned from Goku was his teleportation technique. It consisted of locking on to a ki near her intended destination, and teleporting that way.

Vegeta taught her something called the 'galac gun', a ki blast with the strength to blow up a planet. Vegeta went off into space to train on his own after he mastered the shrouding techniques. By the time he returned, he was a Super-Saiyan as well. It was clearly visible than his lack to turn Super-Saiyan had been eating away at him.

In return for her help, Vegeta taught Shadow the Big Bang attack; an attack by with she had to put one hand at a 90° angle to her body. It is a slow-moving beam of energy, yet doing massive damage, and it didn't take long to charge. He also taught her the Final Flash, something he didn't do with anyone else. It was similar in nature to the Kamehameha, but it took longer to charge. As a trade-off, it does massive amounts of damage over a larger area than the Kamehameha attack of Goku.

At the very beginning of her training, Shadow had gotten the full story out of Piccolo. Agreed, it took her a lot of convincing, but she managed. The boy's name was Trunks, and he was the son of Vegeta and Bulma. He came from the future to help out, because the androids had destroyed his home. He had traveled to the past to change the timeline, so the androids wouldn't destroy the world. Trunks' identity should remain a secret, because otherwise, his father and mother might not get together. Shadow swore herself to secrecy. Piccolo, after seeing her reaction to lying and to deception, accepted her vow.

Faster than she wanted, the date for their meeting came. As Shadow approached the island, she saw that it was a large city. As Shadow had somewhat expected, Vegeta had kept his relationship with Bulma a complete secret. And that they had a relationship was noticeable very clearly: Bulma had a baby. Trunks. Shadow smiled inwardly. Trunks' existence was safe. Future Trunks was there as well.

All the fighters, all except for Future Trunks, were now fully capable of shrouding their ki. Unfortunately, the androids had no ki to detect, so the fighters had to go look for them the old fashioned way. Suddenly, Shadow was contacted by the others. They had found Yamcha. He was drained of his energy. Shadow blasted to the place. These people were her friends. She wanted blood.

By the time she got there, she noticed that the battle was causing a lot of casualties. She touched down, and joined the fight. The arrival of a fighter of her magnitude was tipping the scale in their favor. They did break off the attack, however. There were too many casualties. As the warrior retreated back to the hilltop that was their meeting place, Yamcha was given a Senzu bean. He revived instantly.

When the warriors and the androids fly to an island to duke it out, the warriors notice that Goku is winded from just flying. When he and the androids known as #19 start fighting, Goku is clearly winning. But, he is weakening visibly. As #19 overpowers him, Vegeta gets the android off Goku's back.

Shadow was seething by now. Goku never took the medicine Trunks brought for him? Why didn't he? Shadow was fuming, and she only had a few targets to release her anger at. As Vegeta is going after #19, Shadow took #20. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Vegeta take care of #19. The android known as #20 is clearly astonished that someone that strong could possibly exist. As he tries to make like the wind, Shadow grabs him, and slams him into the ground with a fierce cry.

Her frustration over Yamcha, Goku, and this whole situation released itself as her ki flared to 300% normal. As she slammed her hand in the android's stomach, a big dent was visible in the android. #20 attempts to steal her energy. Shadow grins savagely. The android doesn't realize just what Shadow was capable of.

She closed her eyes and began regenerating herself. Drawing in the energy from the surrounding universe, her ki flared higher and higher. The android was surrounded in angry red flames along with Shadow's body. Suddenly, he screamed.

"Impossible! There is no way you could…." He never finished his sentence. Shadow opened the flow completely.

If I die here, so be it. A warrior has no fear of death.

A huge explosion surrounded Shadow's body as #20 exploded. The others shield their eyes until the blinding light subsided.

"Shadow…" Krillin whispered. Everyone stared intently as the smoke subsided. "I hope she's alright," Krillin said.

Then, coughing brought the warriors back to earth. Shadow was severely hurt, and was given a senzu bean to heal.

Meanwhile, in the lab of Dr Gero, a.k.a. android #20.

#17 looks at the monitor. "We should activate #16," he said.

"Yes," his 'sister', #18, agrees.

The two androids activate #16, even though their creator, Dr. Gero, has warned them extensively.

"What are your goals?" #17 asked #16.

"I was created to destroy Son Goku," the android replies.

"It makes me sick to think about why we were created," #18 said. #17 just nodded.

As the Z fighters watch, the three androids come blasting out of their secret lab, hidden deep inside a mountain. Everyone realizes where the androids are headed. Goku's house. Shadow, fully regenerated from her ordeal with #20, was angry for them going after a sick person. Vegeta was just plain mad because he was passed up for a good fight.

Then, they notice the three androids debating something on the ground. All fighters touch down, and the female android, #18, tells #16 to fight Vegeta. To Vegeta's anger, #16 refuses. He tells them clearly and matter-of-factly that he was created to kill Goku.

As Vegeta and #18 begin fighting, Shadow looked over #17. As she was debating with herself whether or not she should take him, a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Not now," she said, waving off whatever hand was placed on her shoulder. She was sizing up #17, who was watching the fight.

"Come, Child," the Guardian said.

"Guardian? Oh, no! Not now!" Shadow said. "These people are my friends. They deserve for me to help them!"

"Hush, child. These warriors are more than capable of taking care of themselves. You must go now."

"NO!" Shadow shouted.

"You already helped them enough, child. They are capable of hiding their ki, and their speed has increased dramatically as well."

"But their training in the Divine and Supreme Divine speed techniques is not finished! I am needed here. I will not leave."

The Guardian closed her eyes. "Very well. I will grant you another 3 hours to finish this battle. After that, you will leave."

Shadow looked ready to kill the Guardian. "Three hours. I could just as well leave now."

"Then you will."

Shadow closed her eyes. "Very well. I will use those three hours to help in this battle wherever I can." The Guardian disappears, and Shadow resumed watching the fight.

"Those things have infinite stamina," Shadow noted. The rest just nodded, not knowing what to do. As Vegeta is getting weaker by the minute, #18 starts landing critical hits on him. Trunks intervenes with his sword, which chips on impact with #18. Taking their cue, Piccolo, Tien, and Shadow engage #17. Krillin realizes he has no chance, and decides to wait it out.

#17 makes quick work of Piccolo and Tien, but Shadow's wide variety of skills make her a much harder opponent. She created a number of clones of herself, and with five of them, they attacked #17. Shooting Kamehameha blasts at the android, the Shadows notice that their ki just wasn't strong enough to make much of a dent. Even with five of them, and their superior speed, the android manages to get a hit in here and there. When he finally lands a critical hit on the original Shadow's severely weakened body, the fight ends. Shadow realized that she had spent too much energy on the Kamehameha blasts.

To Krillin's surprise, the androids don't finish off the fallen fighters. Instead, they tell Krillin that their goal is to kill Goku, and to give his fallen comrades senzu, to heal them. As they leave, #18 gives Krillin a peck on his cheek.

When everyone was back in shape, Piccolo was extremely frustrated at something, and just flies off. Shadow too, was not too happy. She only had three more hours, and right now, she didn't even have enough power to dent the bastards. She needed the Direct Flow technique. And she knew she hadn't mastered it. In short, the young woman was frustrated.

"Look at that, guys. Piccolo's flying towards Kami's place. I think he's going to rejoin with him!"

"Who is Kami?" Shadow asked.

"Kami is the god of the Earth," Krillin tells her. "Both he and Piccolo are like separated. Piccolo is Kami's evil half. They hate each other passionately, and for them to rejoin, it must be dire."

"I understand. Thank you," Shadow responded, sinking back in her own thoughts. There was no way she could master the Direct Flow technique in three hours. She was beginning to get frustrated once more.

Noticing that the three androids are taking their sweet time, the warriors notify Chi-chi, and Goku is put into an air-car, and flown to Master Rochi's house. During their flight, they get some more information from Bulma. A second time machine has been found. As Trunks and Gohan go off to inspect the machine, Shadow looked thoughtfully at Goku.

When he was brought inside, Shadow was still deep in thought.

"Chi-chi, I would like to try something," she finally said.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The Iron Hand technique is more then a way to do battle. Theoretically, it can also heal. I would like your permission to try."

"Can it do damage?" Chi-chi worriedly asked. Shadow shook her head.

"Not to Goku."

"What do you mean? It can hurt you?"

"I don't know. It might, but I am willing to try. Goku is more needed right now."

"Alright, but only if you're sure."

Shadow dipped her head, and put both her hands over Goku's heart. She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to drift into the comforts of meditation. This was the state of higher reasoning, the higher state of being she needed to heal Goku's body. Shadow glowed red as she let her energy drift over into Goku's ailing body. The heart virus was still doing its destructive job on Goku's body as her consciousness reached deep inside.

Then, she allowed her energy to heal Goku, and to battle the virus. A feint smile decorated her lips as she found her energy doing its job. She could feel herself weakening, but she knew that Goku would soon be all right. The virus was losing, and her energy, teamed up with the medicine, was repairing the damage done to Goku's body.

When Goku finally opened his eyes, Shadow fell forward, totally exhausted. Chi-chi supported Shadow, putting her upright in her chair, away from her husband.

After Shadow was given a Senzu, Goku and Gohan teleported to Trunks and Vegeta, to train in a room where one year's training can take place in one day. Shadow knew then that her students would master the techniques she had taught them before the battle would break out in full force. She teleported herself to the meeting place, and said her goodbyes.

Some found her a traitor for leaving, others thought her a coward, but after she explained how much she wanted to stay, how much she had already risked by standing up to the Guardian, they all wished her good luck. Shadow wished them the very best, and told them that she had no doubts whatsoever that the warriors would be successful in vanquishing the androids, and ridding their world of whatever evil that plagued it.

"Before you go, take this with you. It's a bag of senzu beans. You never know," Krillin said, extending a package. Shadow took the bag and thanked him extensively.

The Guardian appeared directly behind Shadow as the young woman said her last goodbyes.

"I am ready," Shadow said, sadness creeping into her voice.

"Do not worry, Child. These people have been instructed well, and I am sure they will be victorious."

Shadow knew that the Guardian wasn't a visionary, so this was just an expression of faith, not of knowing the future.

Shadow turned back to the people she had called friends for the last three years. "Goodbye, and I hope to see you all again some day."

Before anyone could say something else, Shadow and the Guardian of the Crossroads were gone.

 

As Daphnix walked onto the bridge, he saw Jennifer was still there. How the woman had kept herself going for seven consecutive days now, he didn't know. All he knew was that she barely ate or drank, and that she didn't sleep. Sure, she dozed off every now and then, but she always managed to get awake again, and replicated herself another raktajino, the Klingon equivalent of coffee. It contained seven times more caffeine than normal coffee. Jennifer had switched to it after the first three days, when normal coffee no longer worked on her system.

Sure, it was hard on all of them, but he ate regular meals, slept regular hours, and pulled double shifts, like most of the people. He would pull one bridge shift, and work a second shift with Daphne, Sarah, Vicky, and sometimes, BorgFred. They would go over tactical data, try to come up with countermeasures, countermoves, or they would embark on theoretical strategies on destroying Sorcerer in his own universe. Those scenarios were always based on assumptions, but they always turned out bad.

Vicky and Sarah had seen the technology, had seen it in action, and had done their homework by collecting data on it. of course, it was supposed to be something to study, another challenge, for Vicky. Neither Vicky nor Sarah had ever thought that it would serve as the backbone for scenarios concerning Sorcerer.

"Status?" Daphnix heard Jennifer ask.

"The first three annihilator class battleships will be fully staffed in four hours," Barbara's on screen image responded.

"Good. Keep me informed. We might need them sooner than we like. Ortega out. Daphnix, what's the universal integrity status?"

"No ships detected, sir," Daphnix responded as he looked at his station.

"I don't like it. Who knows how many ships that evil bastard has converted by now," Jennifer muttered.

Daphnix could only nod. Everyone in the ESMF was in total agreement: Sorcerer hadn't launched a single attack since the skirmish the day after the funeral. Some were hoping that Sorcerer had blown off his attack. Daphnix knew that this was exactly what Sorcerer was aiming for: by not attacking, he was letting his enemy's fears work for him. There were those people that feared Sorcerer was amassing a huge army, and there were those people who thought he had cancelled his campaign. By not attacking, he was playing both sides against each other.

Morale was not that good to begin with. Everyone had returned to duty without complaints, but Frederic's death had taken a heavy toll on ESMF morale. Daphnix wasn't sure if it could ever be restored to what it was before…

A blip on Daphnix's screen caught his attention.

"Alert!" he yelled, "Five Warcruisers detected!"

"Defcon5!" Jennifer shouted. "O'Connor, plot a course and engage. Harris, contact Earth, tell them to hurry on those annihilators. Call BorgFred, tell him to bring the Punisher. Borlan, fighter status?"

Forty-two hundred Sixteen fighters have been assimilated, and can be used in battle. Five hundred Forty-five are in the process of being assimilated, and are unable to be used in battle. Two hundred Thirty-nine fighters are still in their original form, and shouldn't be utilized in battle.

"Great. One week, and our fleet still isn't up to standards," Jennifer grunted.

As the massive battlecarrier came out of displacement close to the five Warcruisers, it turned to face them. The five enemy ships just sat there. As Vicky and Sarah's data had told them, the ships were devoid of live, and biological matter. The sensors did detect that there were nanites on board, but their level was way lower than the nanoprobes used by the Ortega.

The Ortega itself was fully operational, and was fully up to standards. Therefore, it had the advantage of being unreadable on sensors. As the five ships started shooting with their weapons in 'normal mode', firing dead ahead without targeting sensors, the Ortega's upgraded shields flared up in an angry bluish light.

"Shields down to 75%!" Daphnix reported.

"Where is my solution?" Jennifer shouted back.

"Almost done!" he shot back, concentrating on the station.

"Don't address me like that!" Jennifer shouted. "I am still your superior officer. Remember that! Now get that solution, and get it NOW!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Daphnix shouted. "Solution ready. Implementing."

As the Ortega turned to battle against five ships of very-nearly its own strength, the brave ship's bridge crew was in turmoil. Daphnix's strategy was strong, and took advantage of the Ortega's superior technology, but the human factor had been totally miscalculated. The ESMF was unable to repeat the same feats it had taken for granted during the Ketari war.

Without Frederic's leadership, the army was falling apart. And having Jennifer making emotional calls due to over exhaustion wasn't helping. In other words, if this situation had taken place during the Ketari war, there was but one outcome: victory. Right now, the ship was loosing losing. Badly.

As BorgFred's Punisher joined the fight, it was still not even. The Punisher was manned by an army the ESMF used to be, but one ship against five were too heavy odds. The Ortega, providing what little she could, just didn't cut it. It was only when the three new annihilators, the ESMF equivalent of the Punisher, joined in the fight was the tide turned.

The five Warcruisers self-destructed, using their massive reactors to produce massive amounts of surrounding damage. Thankfully, all the ships had their shields up, minimizing damage.

"What in HELL did you think you were doing?" Daphnix shouted at Jennifer, as soon as he got her into the private cabin off the bridge.

"I am your superior officer! You will treat me with respect!" she shouted back. "And if you don't like it, you can get off my ship!"

"YOUR ship? May I remind you that this ship is property of the ESMF?"

"And Fred OWNED the ESMF."

"Listen to yourself," Daphnix said, forcing himself to be calm. This was not a time to go haywire and shout at one another. The situation was just too dire. "The ESMF is a group of people, dedicated to protecting Earth and Humanity. It isn't property. And it needs a strong leader. Someone who is strong, who eats, sleeps, and drink at normal times."

"Are you calling me a bad commander?" she shrieked.

"YES!" he barked. "You haven't eaten, or slept, in a week. And you keep yourself awake with raktajino. If this continues, I will relieve you of command. Fred has instituted that I could do so when I thought that the commanding officer was unable to perform his duty under wartime conditions."

Jennifer closed her eyes, and she leaned against the desk. "You're right," she mumbled. "But I just can't go back… it's so empty…"

Drawing the woman in for a hug, Daphnix whispered, "I know. It's hard for me, too. You know what? You can sleep in here. We'll get a couch or something in here, and you can use the replicator to get something to eat. And don't say no to me, or I'll have the doc pull you off duty."

Jennifer nodded. "I'll be good," she promised.

"Good. Now, Borlan, replicate a couch, and get it in here. Wartime authorization of Daphnix Omega-four."

Replicated. Transporting.

The chair was beamed away, turned into energy, and stored in the power grid for re-use. The couch appeared in its place.

"Now, get in that thing, and sleep. Don't argue. Sleep. We'll deal with morale later."

Jennifer nodded noting for the first time how tired she was. Even though she was still pumped up on adrenalin and caffeine, she was asleep before her head touched the pillow.

Daphnix gave another curt nod, and left the small room. He locked it with a privacy code, and returned to the command chair. The entire bridge crew stared at him.

"She's asleep. Too bad it took a breakdown to get her to realize it," Daphnix told them, and focused back on the main screen. He called his regular station up on the armrest consoles, and continued doing his job.

David awoke from his four hours of sleep. He jumped out of bed, and into the shower. After washing, he got dressed, gobbled down a bowl of cereal Borlan insisted he eat every morning, and knocked on the door of his sister's room. Both children had been given a room in the Alpha lab complex, minimizing the amount of travel. Jessica and Alakazam came out of Jessica's room almost immediately.

"Ready?" David asked. Jessica nodded. The two children and the Alakazam, which was still substantially taller than they were, walked to the laboratory complex. Nobody paid special attention to them. It was the most normal thing in the universe for the two children of Frederic Fromthefield to walk into the lab, and do work that most other scientists would have difficulty with.

As the children started typing, their minds linked to Alakazam almost instinctively. His tremendous IQ boosted their own enormous intellect even higher, allowing them to do the most complex of calculations faster than most computers could do them. Today, they were working on the latest results of the quantum stress tests.

But, even though they had an intellect and a knowledge that would baffle 99.9% of the adults, David and Jessica were still children. As such, they craved pleasure in their endeavors. Everything here was made a game of: they competed against each other to find the next stage in an equation, or they raced through the list of results to finish it first. To minimize the amount of mistakes, the one who finished last had to double-check the first one's work. Only when the work was done 100% correct was the point allowed.

The child with the most points by the time they went off-duty got a special treat from Borlan. It could vary from an extra ice cream to deciding which field would be tackled the next time. They went off-duty for about five hours every 48 hours. This allowed them to recharge, while still doing a lot of work.

The grown-ups noticed the game between the children, of course. Everyone tried to persuade the winner to join their team next, because the team that got the children sure could sport a tremendous boost in efficiency and output. No matter how playful their methods, the children produced results.

"All done," David said.

"Alright," Jessica allowed. "Let me check." Her abilities reached out, and read David's mind. The entire list of results had been catalogued. The drive to win would push the checker to find mistakes in the other's work. Allowing a point signified to the winner that his work had been done to the best of abilities. "Fine. Your point," she allowed. She copied his knowledge, and integrated it into her mind.

"Next point. Relieving quantum stresses during dimensional crossing by 1%," Jessica read form the schedule.

"Got it," David said. Both children started working on the quantum harmonics equations, a book quite literally as thick as a phone book of a sparsely populated country. It would take most of their day to get through it.

Somewhere along the way, Alakazam disappeared in his pokéball for a few hours, to rest. The children, slowed down due to the missing intellect, pressed on nonetheless. When Alakazam rejoined them, the fest could continue.

Vicky and Sarah's shirts were drenched in sweat as they ran around the outer hallway of the Ortega. This was a deck full of crew quarters. This and the one directly under it were the only ones where the two girls had access to. The lower one housed holodecks and recreational facilities. Vicky understood why their access had been severely limited. Both girls had yet to prove themselves.

Both were breathing hard as they completed their second lap around the massive battlecarrier.

"Twenty-eight kilometers," Vicky said as the girls entered their quarters.

"And it took us 58 minutes," Sarah panted back. Vicky nodded.

Both girls dropped to the floor, and started doing pushups, first with both arms, then switching to one arm.

After they finished their daily physical workout, Vicky and Sarah took a shower, dressed in fresh clothes, and continued working on their plan. Both knew they hadn't proven themselves, and this plan was being designed to do exactly that: prove themselves. While Vicky provided the technological part, and the actual implementation of the plan, Sarah covered the tactical and strategic parts. Both girls felt completely comfortable doing what they had been trained to do: infiltrate, do the job, and extract.

Sorcerer went over the last battle with Jennifer.

"By killing their leader, I crippled their forces," Sorcerer said. "They didn't even launch their fighters. Their morale must be going through the ground."

Jennifer just nodded. She looked around the throne room, where a second throne had been placed for her, right next to Sorcerer's. Both she and Sorcerer had talked a lot in their few days together, and she felt like she was really making an impact on him.

Now that he actually had someone to care for, and someone who cared for him, Sorcerer's attitude changed: he still conquered, enslaved, and burned, but now he actually gave his opponents reasonable terms for surrender, and he no longer just destroyed the outposts by blowing up planets. He allowed them to surrender. In his command role he was improving as well. He no longer barked at his underlings, but explained things to them. He had also disregarded the robe and hood. Sorcerer now dressed in a full body armor, the two swords strapped to his hips.

An understanding underling would carry out his job ten times better, and Sorcerer was beginning to reap the benefits. His ships were coming in faster, his research was progressing better, and his economy was climbing to new heights.

On the other hand, Jennifer was changing as well. At first, she was repulsed by Sorcerer's way of doing things. But now, after only a few days, she could see the benefits of such an approach. After all, humanity was prospering, the standard of living was extremely high, even among slaves, and life was more or less easy. She still had difficulty with conquering and enslaving, but when she saw that the conquered people actually had higher standards of living in slavery than they had free, she was beginning to doubt.

"Their morale is lagging. And I don't think that they'll ever regain it completely. Not after loosing losing their leader. Personally, I don't they'll last much longer," Jennifer said.

A chime notified that someone wanted to speak them. Sorcerer allowed the visitor entrance. Baral, the minister of War Fleet Operations, entered the throne room.

"I apologize to intrude, My Lord. The fifth and sixth fleet of Warcruisers is ready to depart. The ninth, tenth, and eleventh fleet of fighters has been placed under their command. They are now forming the Second Tactical Wing. Control has been transferred to the dreadnought Poll Pot, and it is ready to embark on operation Enlightenment."

"Very well, Baral. That should be enough to ensure that the Saiyan revolt will soon be over."

"I think so too, My Lord."

"Dismissed."

"My Lord."

Baral turned on his heel, and marched out of the throne room. The door closed behind him.

"Who are those Saiyans?" Jennifer asked.

"A race of warriors. I gave them the same chance I gave anyone else. They sent their strongest warrior to fight me, and he lost. Too bad he was royalty, a prince named Vegeta. After I kicked his butt, the Saiyans took exception, and attacked me. So I fought them, and enslaved them. Now it seems they're acting up again. This time, I'll kill them all."

"I see. And? Was this Vegetable a good opponent?"

Sorcerer grinned as he imagined the prince's face after being called that. "I had to go to the second level. In that respect, he was far stronger than my counterpart was. And he used an unknown type of energy beam. I still haven't figured it out, but as it was defeated by me, I guess it can't be THAT strong, can it?"

"I guess not," Jennifer said, smiling at him.

"Now, let' get back to important business. Operation Counterpart," Sorcerer said.

"We need to press our advantage further. They have numerical superiority. We need to close that advantage."

"I agree…"

Another week had passed. The war continued to be a frustrating experience for the ESMF, who had to wait for Sorcerer's hit and run tactics. Morale improved every time they destroyed one of Sorcerer's fleets, but it dropped over the next few days when the waiting set in once more. More and more people wanted to get back at Sorcerer. They had the technology, and the ships were pouring in.

No matter what Jennifer and Daphnix tried, they just couldn't convince the ESMF that they still were vastly outnumbered on Sorcerer's home field in technology, manpower, ships, and experience. Jennifer and Daphnix also knew that the loss would be such a destruction of morale that the ESMF as a whole could very likely fall apart.

Jennifer still camped out on the bridge of the Ortega, only to take a few hours rest in the small compartment off the bridge. Everyone respected her for it, but even here morale was intervening. People were beginning to wonder how a commander who barely slept, ate, or drank could lead a fleet successfully.

"So, what have you decided?" David asked his sister when they were walking to the lab area.

"Weapons," Jessica said, grinning.

"Research or development?" David asked. Jessica just smiled at him. He nodded. "Research," he concluded. "Jessie, you know we limited Weapons Research to one time a week. We don't want to grow tired of it, do we?" Weapons research was one of their more enjoyable fields. They had total carte blanche to develop new weapons, and new types of weapons. It was a field in which they could allow themselves total freedom of creativity, and therefore, they enjoyed it tremendously. But, so not to grow tired of it, David and Jessica had agreed not to do it for more than one session a week.

"I know, but… come on! It's so much fun! Just this once? Please?"

David threw his arms in the air. "Why is it that you can always get me to do things against my better judgment?" he grunted. As usual, Alakazam decided to stay out of it.

"Because I beg so much better than you do?" Jessica answered.

David shook his head in resignation.

Vicky and Sarah stared at each other.

"We're done," Vicky said.

"Yep," Sarah responded. "All done. Now all we need is the right time."

Vicky nodded. "Then we'd better double our training, and start looking out for when the correct time is. I need to be in top shape when we execute this."

"It won't be easy," Sarah agreed. "Vicky, if something happened…"

"It's more than likely I won't survive," Vicky said. "But I will make sure that everyone knows that we did this together."

Sarah sadly nodded her head. "I understand. I just hope that…whenever this happens…our plan works."

Vicky reached out, and took Sarah's hands in her own. "We have to prove ourselves. This is the best way to do so. Sarah, don't be sad. You always knew that this could happen."

Again, the young girl nodded. "I just never thought that I would be left behind," she said.

Now it was Vicky's turn to close her eyes, and her face took on a sad look. "If you are that desperate, come with me."

Sarah seemed to think that over. "If I go with you, we can perish together. Then our action holds no benefits. I will remain."

Vicky dipped her head. "I knew you'd understand."

Shadow looked at the valley. She had helped her trainers with the defeat of their nemesis, an emperor known as Shao Khan. He was the emperor of something known as 'Outworld', and he had opened something called a 'portal' into Earth, merging his own desolate world with the green and flourishing Earth. Earth was very slowly being destroyed over the course of six days. Shadow had joined the team of fighters to overcome Shao Khan's death squads. Since she was an offworlder, she was unable to join in the last and final battle, but she was able to defeat her share of the troops that plagued her comrades on their journey to the battleground.

Now, after Khan's defeat, her comrades had granted her wish, the training in their strongest fighting techniques.

Shadow let her gaze once more trail over her comrades. A nice looking brunette, a queen named Sindel, had taught her the Sonic Scream, a very powerful attack based on a resonance sound produced by the vocal cords. There was a dark-skinned man named Jax who had taught her the Earthquake Slam. It wasn't very damaging to opponents, but the shaking of the ground would throw them off guard, enabling her to press an attack.

A man, dressed totally in a blue gi, was named Sub-Zero. His teachings allowed the use of ice as a weapon. She could freeze opponents, or create an ice-statue as a decoy. Sub-Zero had assured her that a lot of other gimmicks were possible with the ice technique, and that Shadow should experiment.

"Try it, Shadow," Sindel said. "The Sonic Scream can destroy large areas. Just put your mind to it."

Shadow looked over the valley. She could use the Sonic Scream against opponents, but this was something else. She took a deep breath, and screamed at the resonance frequency taught to her. The sonic wave produced by her vocal cords had not been focused on an opponent, so it radiated outwards, and ran alongside the valley walls. As the wave passed over the rock, it appeared unaffected. Then, a few seconds after the wave had passed, the outer layer o rock was blasted inwards, towards the center of the valley.

Shadow looked at her handiwork, shocked beyond belief. "Impossible," she muttered. "What damage…"

"Shadow, the Sonic Scream, when allowed to run rampart, shatters bounds of every design. The only reason it is unable to do the same when its focused on an opponent, is because of that: it has to be focused, and looses loses its strength," Sindel said.

"I understand now," Shadow responded, looking at the damage she caused.

"Now, let's get down, and continue with the show," Jax said. "The Guardian said she would return tonight."

"Agreed," Sub-Zero responded. He was his usual, cool self. It had been a small miracle they had found him in the first place. Not to mention the large miracle that he had been willing to teach Shadow.

After the four people reached a tree, they decided to use it as target practice. Shadow froze it, per Sub-Zero's instructions. She then used Jax's Earthquake Slam to shatter it, not per anyone's instructions.

"Hey, nice work," Jax complimented her, hitting her shoulder. She just smiled at him.

"So, we've tested her, and she has passed," Sub-Zero said. He turned to her. "You are ready to go."

"Yes," Shadow agreed. "I am. Thank you for everything. I wish there was something else I could do for you."

"You helped enough with Shao-Khan;" Sindel said. "Go and enjoy what we taught you."

"Thank you. Good-bye everyone," Shadow said, and called out, "Guardian! I am ready to depart!"

The guardian appeared directly behind the young woman. Shadow gave one final smile to her new friends, and disappeared along with the apparition in the white robes.

Shadow appeared back in the domicile the Guardian had given her. In between trainings, Shadow was allowed a few days rest. Above all else, Shadow was still human, and the continuous strain of training was getting to the woman, so the Guardian had given her this place. When in between trainings, Shadow would stay here, in the house that was aptly named the ShadowZone, a place in between life and death.

Her house consisted out of storage faculties for the weapons she had mastered, gifts she had received, or items she had purchased along the way. The house featured an Olympic-size swimming pool at the base of the hill the house was constructed on, a smaller recreational pool on top of the hill, and had a lake at running distance. It was also built in a wooded area, giving the young woman the possibility of training in the forest.

Shadow sat down at the desk, and turned on the computer. She added her new skills to the list. It had grown nicely in the twenty years Shadow had been training so far. The young woman opened the refrigerator, and took out a six-pack of beer. She then opened a cupboard, and took out a bag of chips, a bag of pretzels, and a box of salted and roasted peanuts. Armed with enough snacks to feed a small army, Shadow walked outside, and sat down in the comfortable chair next to the pool.

She opened a can of beer, and downed it greedily. She then opened the pretzels, the chips, and the peanuts. She opened a second can of beer, and ate and drank while watching the sun as it slowly dipped below the horizon. By the time she reentered the house, Shadow was feeling exhilarated, probably more due to the alcohol than to having a few days off. After disposing of the trash, she took another beer, and walked to the base of the hill.

She stripped, and dove in the Olympic-size swimming pool. She loved feeling the cold water against her naked skin, with nothing but the moon and the stars to light the spectacle.

Sorcerer and Jennifer looked at the holographic screen, floating in the middle of the throne room. As they watched the tactical display of the latest fight against their counterparts in the alternate universe, the two warlords discussed improvements.

"They've finally launched their fighters," Sorcerer said. "And Baral was right, as usual: their poor fighting spirit makes them easier targets." Baral was of a race called the Alvechians, and they possessed an uncanny ability for war. Their defeat at the hands of Sorcerer was due to nothing more than this ability. Because they understood war so well, the Alvechians didn't fight one another, and never discovered space-travel. Therefore, they never met other sentient races, so there was never any need to develop weapons.

"Switching to third tactical view," Jennifer said, while nodding at her companion's remark. "I want to see the tactics from their point."

The view changed, and the couple was now looking at the fight from in between the fighters of the ESMF.

"What's the status on the two Warcruisers?" Sorcerer asked as he followed the fight. Jennifer glanced at the displays, and answered,

"The Zulu is 100%. The Superior has 75% shields, and its weapons are fully operational. The Zulu has 2,535 torpedoes left, the Superior 1,752."

Sorcerer nodded. "Thanks."

The fight itself was going well. Out of the two Warcruisers and the 1,500 fighters they had sent over, only 512 fighters were lost so far, while the Warcruisers were secretly powering up their doomsday weapons. Sorcerer's fighters, outnumbered 5,000 to 1,500, held their ground steadily as the Warcruisers prepared to take out a battlecarrier.

"Weapon armed," Jennifer reported. The two Warcruisers edged their way to the battlefield, careful as to not to draw too much attention. It didn't work, as the battlecarrier Ortega arrived out of nowhere, and turned on the Zulu. The two robot ships apparently received new orders from Baral, as they turned on the command ship. The two ships closed in on each other, and powered up the doomsday weapon.

The magneto-induction beam was fired towards a single point in space, where they met, joined, and blasted towards the Ortega. The large ship was unable to dodge, and it lit up in a fiery glow. All the ESMF fighters stopped at the sight of the massive ship engulfed in flames, giving a huge advantage to the robot vessels of Sorcerer. By the time the ESMF people got back to fighting, they had lost many good men and women.

The Ortega, meanwhile, came out of the glow unscathed. Or so it seemed. As soon as the glow died out, the ship began shaking, and explosions rippled across its hull. Entire sections exploded as the magneto-induction beam altered the course and intensity of the power lines. The ship tilted dramatically, and all the lights went out before the final explosions rippled across, making the ship totally defenseless.

The fighters, having seen their lead ship blow up before their very eyes, had trouble focusing on the battle, and as such, their numerical superiority could not be fully exploited. The Orient, the latest battlecarrier out of the Earth docks, had more luck. The fighters were now loosing losing rapidly, but the two Warcruisers now fully joined in the fight. Their magneto-induction beams were fried; the massive energies needed to generate the beam had melted the weapon.

The war cost the ESMF greatly that day. The Ortega was totaled, the nanoprobes, the few that were left, had been unable to repair the engines. The Orient had to throw them an energy line. After the generators were repaired, estimates became clear. It would take almost as long as building an entirely new ship: 24 days. Thanks to BorgFred's Punisher, reinforcements for the nanoprobes were introduced, and the repair time could be brought back to 19 days.

Jennifer stared out into space. Her wounds had been healed by her immortality, but the loss of all the lives was beginning to take its toll on her. Her eyes were glassy as she looked over the multi-colored specks against the silky blackness of space. The only good thing that had come from this was the fact that Zells, who had been in a cell on the Ortega, had died during the explosion.

"Jenny…" It was Daphnix's voice.

"We can't win, D," Jennifer managed. "He took out the Ortega, through the shields, deflectors, and so on."

"Jenny, we have to hold on! We can't let him win! Fred died to protect us from him. We can't let his sacrifice be in vain!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Jennifer shouted. "Every minute of every hour of every day I think about Fred. He died. And for what? War still broke out, and we're still loosing losing! If he had only stayed here, we might have had a chance. But now…"

"We can't give up hope," Daphnix whispered. "We just can't. Fred DIED for this, and we are just going to roll over a die? No! I won't allow it! We will win! For Earth! For Fred!"

Jennifer's chair swiveled around. She looked into Daphnix's eyes. They stood resolute. The destruction of the Ortega had brought him out of the daze Fred's death had put them all in. Jennifer knew this. They had all been in a daze, operating on autopilot, ever since Frederic died. Now her moist eyes took on a hard look.

She got up form the chair, and walked into the War Room of the command center.

"Get me a full audio and video for the entire ESMF," she barked. The operator made it so.

"This is Jennifer Fromthefield. The destruction of the Ortega has taught me a lesson. The lesson is this: we have all been in a daze since Fred's death…"

All over the ESMF, only a very limited amount of people watched Jennifer's broadcast. Here and there, and monitor flickered with her message. But, as more people heard her strong words, the monitors started glowing more and more with her message.

"My husband died to protect us. He gave us a priceless gift, his own life, and what do we do with it? We WASTE it feeling sorry for ourselves. Instead, we should be fighting for our very lives, for our very survival! Yes, my husband is dead, and he won't be coming back. But I don't want him spinning in his grave because we foul the greatest gift someone can give."

All over the ESMF, everyone was watching, a resolute look on their faces.

"We have to band together, fight as we once did. Ladies and Gentlemen! For Frederic!"

All over the ESMF, people shook their hands resolutely, and shouted "For Frederic!!"

Shadow looked at her latest teacher, Rei. He was a tall man, with silver-gray hair and a haggard-looking face. As everything in this desolate wasteland, Rei was hard and tough, hardened through the deprivations in this post-nuclear wasteland. Rei was her master in the Nanto Swan style of martial arts.

Shadow now looked at the band of thugs threatening her and her teacher. She was still at indecision.

"Just give us the girl, old man. I'm sure we can take better care of her than you can," one of the thugs sneered. Shadow felt anger build up inside her as the thugs spoke of her like a piece of meat.

"Sensei?" she asked quietly.

"This girl might be more than you can handle," Rei said. The thugs all burst out laughing.

"Why? Because she scratches? I like a little pain, and I'm sure she'll enjoy pain as much as I do," the same thug sneered.

"If you think you can handle her, I'm sure you won't mind sending your strongest man against her," Rei spoke again.

The thugs laughed even harder this time. "Enough talking. Get her, men," the leader said once more.

Five men stormed forward. Shadow wanted to take them on, but she had learned control over her many years in training. When Rei took a step back, Shadow knew that the signal was given. She launched forward, finally able to use her latest technique, the Nanto Swan style.

The thugs, not expecting her to run towards them, stopped dead in their tracks. Shadow's arms moved. Fast. Red lines of ki were left behind her hand, drawing intricate lines in the air. When she reached the first man, she spread her fingers, and the one line became four. She slashed her hand next to the thug's face. She moved past the second and third man, hitting them in the stomach and the head, respectively. The fifth man, looking at her as if she were a ghost, didn't fare much better. Shadow slashed him with her red lines in the face.

Shadow stopped dead in her tracks directly in front of the leader. The first man screamed, and his face fell apart in slices. The second thug's stomach opened up, and he fell forward as his body was cut in half horizontally. The third and fifth man both with their heads sliced, but the third one had been cut horizontally, while the fifth one had been sliced vertically.

The leader and the fourth man looked scared shitless at her. The fourth man, deciding to make a run for it, turned around and ran. Shadow jumped up, her arms moving her hands in intricate patterns. The red lines of ki trailed her spread fingers as she reached the fourth man. She came to a brute stop in front of him, after racing past him.

"You lost something," Shadow pointed out.

"Huh?" the man looked down, and his arms lying in the sand, and he was just in time to watch his legs falling. The rest of his cut-up body hit the dirt not long after. Shadow drove her one finger through his eye into his brain, ending his pitiful existence.

The leader of the thugs had run the other way while Shadow entertained his last crony. He was too far away by now to reach comfortably by normal speed. She looked at her sensei. She had told him about herself in the last few months, but this would be a whole new shock to him.

She kicked in some more of her ki, and used her Supreme Divine Speed to reach the leader. She smashed her right hand in his chest. Her fingers penetrated deeply into his lungs and his heart. The man made a few incoherent grunting noises, then turned limp on her hand.

When she withdrew, the man fell forward into the dirt. She looked at her sensei, who was staring at her, shock on his face.

"Sensei, there is more to my story…" she began.

"I'd think so too," Rei said. "Let's make camp first, then you can tell me all about it," he walked off in the distance. Shadow followed him, looking for a good campsite.

"Thank you for everything, Sensei," Shadow said. "But the time has come for me to move on,"

"To a new world?" Rei asked. Shadow shook her head. "A new teacher. One named Kenshiro."

"Then maybe I could accompany you," Rei said.

"You would?" Shadow asked.

Rei shrugged. "Why not? We have traveled together for over a year now. I really enjoy your company, and there is nothing preventing me from looking for my lost sister while traveling to find this new teacher of yours."

"Thank you," Shadow said.

"No problem," Rei said, smiling. "Like I said, I enjoy your company."

So, they set out into the post-nuclear wasteland to find Kenshiro, master of Hokuto Shinken, the North Star techniques. According to the information the Guardian provided Shadow, Hokuto Shinken is a study of human energy points, also known as vital points. The Martial Arts style composed of hitting those vital points with the body's full power, literally disabling an opponent in a single assault. The knowledge of the vital points could also be used to heal some disabilities, by subtly manipulating the energy flow of the vital points.

Shadow was really looking forward to learning the technique, because, according to Rei, it was extremely fast, and Shadow liked fast.

It took the two travelers over a month to find Kenshiro. It took them another month to convince him to teach Shadow. In the end, a visit from the Guardian convinced the man. Then her training started, and Shadow was indeed pleasantly surprised. Hokuto Shinken was indeed fast. Faster, in fact, than Shadow was. she dubbed the technique's speed 'Ultimate Divine Speed', keeping up the stages of speed: Divine, Supreme, and Ultimate Divine speed.

A full year had passed, and only now did Kenshiro, or Ken as she got to call him, allow Shadow to start learning martial art. Until now, she only got to study the body's vital points, and how to manipulate them. he told her it took him over 15 years to get the technique down, and that he was very surprised at her progress. He also expressed his doubts concerning her repeating the same thing during the actual martial arts training. He was proven wrong as Shadow literally improved by the hour.

When Ken was forced to fight his brother Raoh, he told her not to intervene. She didn't, but she did slip Ken a senzu bean after he was lying unconscious on the floor. Only the fact that Raoh let Ken live saved his life. Shadow was more than capable and willing to take him out, but her promise to her sensei prevented her from doing so.

Ken revived thanks to the Senzu bean, and challenged his brother once more. This time, Ken was victorious, and he returned to training Shadow. Together, they trained while Ken sought his missing lady, Yuria. After two more years of studying the extremely complex style, Shadow finally surpassed Ken's abilities, and he complimented her on her great abilities.

The Guardian came, but Shadow requested to be allowed to say goodbye to her first sensei on this world as well. This was granted to her, and Shadow used the teleportation technique Goku once taught her to lock on to Rei's ki and to transport herself to his location. After saying her goodbyes, she left this world for good, and once more appeared in the ShadowZone.

After logging her new styles in the computer, Shadow took a six-pack of beer from the refrigerator, and put it on the table outside, on the terrace next to the small swimming pool. Shadow went in the house again, and emerged five minutes later holding a small metal pipe and a package. After filling the pipe with the marihuana from the package, she lit it. Shadow took a long drag, and allowed the drug to numb her brain.

Mindlessly, she opened a beer, downed it, and opened a second, followed not half a minute later by a third. The combination of drugs and alcohol spaced the woman out completely. The stress of the recent years fell off her shoulders as she fell into a drug-induced deep sleep.

Shadow woke up a couple of hours later, shivering slightly in the chilly evening air. She lit the pipe again, took a long drag, and walked inside carrying the pipe, the bag of pot, and the remains of the six-pack. She left the sliding door open, allowing for the drug's smoke to flow into the outside air. Shadow fell into a deep sleep on the couch in the small living room after finishing off the six-pack, and the pot in the pipe.

Shadow awoke the next morning with a hangover the size of the universe. Pain went through her body with each step she took, and finally reached the small kitchen. After throwing some stuff into the blender, she drank the foul-looking, and fouler-smelling concoction that resulted. Immediately after drinking it, the potion did its magic. It tasted, smelled, and looked horrible, but it was guaranteed to cure any hangover a person could get.

It was one of the benefits of hanging out in sleazy bars on some of the worlds she had visited. Shadow cleaned up the cans, put the pipe and the pot away, and took a morning jog to the lake to wash up. She didn't need breakfast. One other benefit of the concoction was that it contained everything needed for a healthy breakfast. True, it was all mixed together, but it was there.

After washing herself in the cool lake, Shadow felt like a new woman. All the stress had left her, and she felt totally calm and relaxed. She took a nice jog back to the house, and disappeared into the gravity room until lunch.

"Are you still working on that? I told you it won't work!" Jessie told her brother when she got at work. Her brother was already there.

"There has to be a way!" David grunted. "If Sorcerer can penetrate Zero-point shields, we should be able to do it as well!"

"Sorcerer can only do it with the magneto-induction beam, and we've reconfigured our zero-point shields to repulse the inversed magnetism that opened the hole," Jessie said, shaking her head.

"Yes, that's true," David admitted. "But, chances are that there is still a way. Take a look at this." He shoved a stack of papers to her. Jessie took the papers, and started reading. Her face registered shock.

"An inversed zero-point field to trash the shields," Jessie said. She shook her head. "It won't work. You'll need to know the exact frequency of the opponent's zero-point field. How are you going to do that?"

"This is still experimental, but maybe we could do it with this." David moved a single piece of paper to his sister. It contained a simple sketch. Jessie whistled.

"Test-fire," David said. "When you detonate a high-yield anti-matter torpedo, the resulting explosion will be repulsed by the zero-point field."

"Than all you need to do is scan the bleed-off of zero-point energy," Jessie said.

"Right. The problem is scanning it. The zero-point field reseals itself in trillions of a second. No sensor is fast enough. Our sensor beams are just not fast enough."

"What if…" Jessie took the same drawing David had given her. She added a few things, and passed the paper to David.

"Simple and ingenious," David said in admiration. "By hooking a high-power ultra-speed zero-point sensor to the antimatter torpedo, it should be able to scan the zero-point field before it's destroyed in the blast from the torpedo. But, won't the blast reach the sensor too fast for it to scan the bleed-off?"

"Trial and error," Jessie said. "We conduct a series of tests to determine the correct distance from which to scan the zero-point field, and to transmit the data before it's destroyed."

"Mr. Adrian! We need the test room," David yelled to the supervisor. Everywhere, the typing stopped, and the people looked at the two children. In the two months the kids had worked here, they never needed the test room. All their work was done on paper, the test run in their minds. Their requesting the test room was … unsettling. Everyone knew that the war could be decided here.

"It's all yours," the supervisor said. "Jensen, Huato, get out of there," he yelled at the intercom. The two men exited the test room, located just off the laboratory area.

"What is it?" Jensen asked.

"We're going to give our latest theory a test drive," David said, walking to the controls. The two men looked as shocked as the rest of the people had looked mere minutes ago.

"Give us 20 minutes to get things wrapped up," Huato said, and he and his colleague disappeared back into the test room. David and Jessica kept themselves busy with entering their parameters into the room's holographic matrix. Basically, the test room was a particle-synthesis room, and it was linked to ten times the amount of processing power needed to run an entire battlecarrier, plus its fighters. Particle synthesis was the next evolution of the holodeck, but required so much energy and processing power that it was not yet implemented on the ships.

As a test facility, there was nothing better. When Jensen and Huato exited the room twenty minutes later, David and Jessica were ready.

"Test facility, run first simulation," Jessie said. The room changed to a space setting. The entire lab had come to a full stand-still, everyone looking at the gigantic monitor in front of the laboratory. Even though the lab had been split into different groups, there were no walls, and all the groups were together in the same lab, enabling the interaction between the different groups. The gigantic screen in front was linked to the test facility, enabling the different groups to join in if things were required.

Audio was provided by ear-sets, so people who didn't want to be disturbed, weren't. In this case, everyone requested live audio over the lab's system. The people wanted to talk to each other. When asked what their new system was, the kids responded it was a combination of new systems. Everyone expected some new, high-tech weapons system. Something as much of a revolution as the Quantum Pellet gun had been in the Ketari War.

The screen indicated two ships. A battlecarrier, and a Daedalus-class fighter.

Test facility ready. Parameters entered. Weapon X-5498 loaded. Systems enabled.

"Begin simulation," David said, looking at his panel. To everyone's surprise, the fighter was the one equipped with the new weapon. To everyone's best guess, it was some kind of torpedo, dragging something behind it. The torpedo impacted with the battlecarrier's shields, doing no damage.

Damage: none. Test: failure. Received data: negative.

"Limit simulation, do not destroy the sensor, and test theoretical weapon first," Jessie told the test computer.

Simulation reset. Restarting.

The small fighter launched the modified torpedo once more, and it slammed into the Battlecarrier's shield.

Zero-point frequency determined. Firing inversed Zero-point beam. Enemy ship's shields are fluctuating. They are down. Relocating zero-point explosives into enemy engine room.

Everyone was ecstatic as the large ship was brought to its knees by the small fighter. What a truly destructive invention! When the explosive did its job, it ruptured the zero-point reactor, causing it to blow up in an explosion that would make a small nova jealous. The fighter was caught in the blast wave, but that was considered a minor bug in the weapon. It would be worked out.

Then, the simulation ran rampart. The zero-point reactor drew in its energy from leakage of energy at the quantum level. The reactor, which had exploded in full operation, had ruptured the space-time continuum. The simulation ended approximately .5 seconds after the rupture formed, as its safety measures engaged.

The silence in the lab was deafening. A dropping pin would sound like a gunshot in the silence that hung like a thick smoke over the room.

"Impossible," David whispered. "Why did it do that? Computer, what happened?"

Detonating the zero-point explosive in close proximity to the reactor caused a fatal quantum-feedback loop, tearing the fabric of space-time apart at the sub-quantum level.

"We plugged the holes," someone remarked. "We stopped the bleeding of excess zero-point energy."

"No," David said, shaking his head. "We caused a zero-point black hole. By detonating the explosive, we caused a ripple in the space-time fabric. All zero-point weapons have that. We know so. But, what we didn't calculate on was the fact that the reactor itself is also such an explosive, only in a controlled manner. The reactor didn't explode due to the explosion of our weapon, but due to the instability of the space-time fabric. The ripple then became a hole, drawing in zero-point energy from all around it. Computer, calculate maximum radius."

Calculating……………Calculating……………Calculating……………Calculating……………

"Oh, fuck," Jessie said. "It's huge."

Calculation complete. Maximum radius of the Fromthefield-hole is expected to be between 8,000 and 10,000 light-years in diameter, depending on the amount of available zero-point energy. One should be warned, however. Bringing any non-natural zero-point energy into the Fromthefield-hole will result in a massive expansion of the hole.

"Fromthefield-hole?" David didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "We got the most destructive occurrence in History named after us," he muttered.

"Why doesn't it keep growing? It has unlimited zero-point energy," Jessie muttered.

"Yes, but the computer said non-natural zero-point energy made it bigger. It is very likely that non-natural zero-point energy, since it's been harnessed, has a much higher yield, and therefore, this is the only energy capable of actually destroying the fabric of space-time further. Natural energy is still shielded because it only exists at the quantum level. We bring it out in the open, so we can use it. Apparently, the hole needs it to be brought out as well."

"I'm just thinking of something," Jessie said, shuddering. David grabbed her in a hug. She clung to him, her entire body shaking. Knowing what they just did…what they had created, it was too much for the two children. Now they knew how the people who built the Atom Bomb felt, times one million.

"What if this happened in a fleet of ships… with their vast amounts of reactors, and stored zero-point energy in warheads, reactors, shields, and so on?" someone muttered.

"Exactly," David muttered. "Mr. Adrian, we're not feeling too good… can you delete every trace of this ever happening? Wipe the entire computer core if you have to. Me and my sister will get rid of all the paper work, and then we need to go lie down."

"Yes, of course. We can never allow this to fall into the wrong hands. I'll take care of it."

"Thank you," David muttered, suddenly feeling very weak. He had the strength to recall Alakazam into the pokéball. Holding each other upright, he and Jessie shuffled over to their desk, where they collected all the paperwork on the weapon. Once in their quarters, the paperwork would be disintegrated in the replicator. This would be the only time they slept together without one of them having it bad about their father.

The next morning, Jessie awoke alone. She looked around the room, and saw David staring out the window.

"Still depressed?" she asked.

"Just thinking. The concept is good, but there's nothing we can do with it," he responded.

Jessie looked shocked at her brother. "You know just as well as I do that we shouldn't be talking about this. You saw what happened."

"I've been thinking about using conventional charges," David said, his eyes still sad.

"That won't work! The reactor is shielded by a class-25 force field! It can withstand a full zero-point torpedo explosion! Why do you think we used the high-yield zero-point mine?"

"I know that," David answered, dejected. "And using an energy weapon is out of the question as well."

"So, let's forget about it. David, we blew up the universe! Don't cause any more damage!"

David looked down from the window, and stared at the floor. He nodded. "It's just that…with this war and all, we're losing so many good people."

Jessie nodded in confirmation. "I know. But we can't blow up a section of space with a diameter of 10,000 light-years. Not to mention that, if we actually did this, we'd blow up a large space-fleet as well, making the hole grow who know how much bigger. It's just too dangerous!"

"You're right," David whispered. "You know, I really don't feel like going to work today… I still feel sick from last night."

Jessie nodded. It had taken some time for the shock to wear off. Once it did, both kids realized how sick they felt, and she and David had taken turns at the toilet, retching. They had felt sick to their very cores. As such, it was a small miracle they could discuss this so openly, barely a few hours after they had finally managed to close their eyes without seeing the universe's fabric being torn apart by their invention.

"I don't feel 100% myself," Jessie admitted. "How about we go visit our aunts?"

David gave a small, weak nod. Both kids were still shaken up, and their exhaustion was an indication of it. After taking time to get a long breakfast, both kids dressed themselves, gathered Alakazam's pokéball, and walked to the transporter room. From there, they contacted the lab.

"We won't be coming in today, Mr. Adrian," David said in the communicator.

"I understand. Take as long as you need. There are a lot of people who haven't come in today, so don't worry about it."

"Thank you," David said, and terminated the connection. They stood up on the transporter pads, and allowed their molecules to be turned into energy, beamed to a satellite, which them beamed the energy to a satellite in orbit around Earth, which in turn beamed it to F² headquarters. There, the energy was reassembled into molecules.

"David! Jessie!" Barbara shouted, not expecting to see them. When she saw their condition, the pale faces, the deep-set eyes, the dark circles around the eyes, she immediately knew that something was wrong.

"What happened?" Michelle asked. All five of them were alone in the big office, but still, David and Jessie wouldn't take a chance.

"We can't tell you," David said quietly. "Not here."

Barbara, Michelle, and Sonya looked at each other. This was bad.

"We can't leave right now," Barbara said. "We're still reorganizing F² and the ESMF to optimize personnel use. Why don't you go home, and we'll talk tonight?"

David looked at his sister, who nodded. He gave a weak grin to his aunts, and asked for transport to the Fromthefield home on Earth, where they immediately fell asleep, and they slept until the evening, until long after Barbara, Michelle, and Sonya had returned home.

"Dear God," Barbara grunted. "No wonder you're feeling sick. You're right to keep this a secret, especially form the ESMF."

"But I am wondering why you didn't go visit your mother," Michelle said.

"Mom wouldn't understand," David explained. "She's a fighter. We are the scientists who discovered the A-bomb. We won't make the same mistakes they did, and give it to the military. Curtis LeMay, former commander of Strategic Air Command wrote the following on the hydrogen bomb: 'a single B-52 can carry all this fire-power to anywhere in the world, drop it off, make it go off, and it will bruise the stars, planets and satellites listening in'. Now here comes the Fromthefield twins, who don't bruise them, but we blow them up!"

The three women were stunned by the wisdom behind David's words. They also knew that he was right. Let the ESMF know about this, and they would hesitate only very little in using the device to destroy Sorcerer's universe. How much it would hurt to see ESMF people die, it would hurt more to simply destroy a universe because it just happened to have one bad apple in it.

"Besides, the ESMF's morale is almost up to religious fanaticism. They're butchering Sorcerer's ships like there's no tomorrow. I hear that some pilots cry out dad's name when they leave the fighter bays," Jessie said. David just nodded his head in agreement. The three adult women just smiled now that Sorcerer's fleets were unable to cause as much damage as they once were able to.

Shadow inhaled the last line of cocaine lying on the small handheld mirror. The drug entered her brain within seconds. Letting out a contented sigh, Shadow relaxed in the chair. She had no idea how long she had been on the path of the warrior, and she didn't care anymore. All she cared about was the training. She loved improving her mind, or her body, and she loved the challenge of doing so in a way that was faster than most could only dream about.

Shadow also relished in these interludes: a week, or maybe two, alone in her house, relaxing during the evenings and at night, and using the gravity room and the various training methods during the day to keep her body in shape. It was a good intermezzo she had developed, and she loved following it.

Her drugged brain thought back to the latest training: Yoga. First, she had been taught how to focus the conscious mind. She had stared into the very heart of a flaming candle, the black center. She had allowed the darkness of the center to envelop her, and she was told to focus on who she loved best. Not knowing who else to take, Shadow focused on the face of the Guardian.

Her Yoga teacher told her that it could take over 20 years to learn to focus for longer than three minutes, but that there were exceptions: people who mastered it in a few years. Shadow's mind adapted, and she learned to focus on the face of the Guardian for over 5 minutes at a time, and it took her exactly 9 months to do so.

Then, the next stage of her training was initiated: the training she was actually here for. She was taught to use her internal senses. In other words, Shadow learned to see without her eyes, to hear without her ears, to feel without touching, to smell without her nose, and to taste without using her tongue. All that was required is that there was a piece of skin that could 'see'. Any piece of bare skin would do. In other words, her skin became a sensor array, seeing, smelling, touching, tasting, and feeling at a distance.

It was very useful to her, for when an opponent would manage to blind her, for instance. Thinking about her Yoga master, Shadow allowed herself to slip into the silky darkness of sleep.

The next morning, Shadow woke up from her sleep, cleaned the living room of her empty beer cans and the remains of the cocaine, fixed herself breakfast, and went out for a jog. After her morning jog, she dove into the gravity room immediately. By the time she had passed her warm-up stage, Shadow was training at 500 times normal gravity. She was just about to turn it up to 550, when the Guardian appeared behind the window of the gravity room.

"Guardian!" Shadow exclaimed, punching the emergency stop button for the gravity room, allowing the Guardian to enter the room.

"A next place of training has been determined," the Guardian said.

"Where is it, what will I need, and who's my trainer?"

"The place is Japan, late 1870's - early 1880's. You'll need your sword, and you will get a diversity of trainers. Be warned, however. Swords are forbidden, and you'll need yours to train with. And also be careful of the training. The teachers you will receive are both trained the same way you were trained by Thor. Both almost died receiving the training you will be getting. Their names are Sagara Sanosuke, and Himura Kenshin. You will need some persuasion to receive Kenshin's training, however."

"I understand," Shadow answered. "I will get ready."

She exited the gravity room, and took a shower. After washing herself, she dressed in a gi, and strapped her sword to her hip. her black hair was tied in a pony-tail.

"Are you ready, Child?" the Guardian asked

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," Shadow muttered before answering, "Yes, I am."

Shadow appeared in Tokyo. The Guardian wasn't with her, and the young woman looked around. Even though she had an old mind, her body still looked only twenty. The Guardian had explained that she was semi-mortal now, so her aging had stopped. She couldn't get sick, but injuries healed at a normal pace, and accidents and injuries could kill her as easily as they could any mortal.

Shadow noticed how people eyed her strangely, and she remembered the Guardian's warning: 'swords are forbidden in that time period of Japan'.

Now, how do I find these people? Maybe if I asked someone…

"Excuse me, sir, but do you know where I might find Mr. Himura Kenshin?" she asked a passer-by. He was very helpful, and directed her to a place called the 'Kaimya kasshin dojo'.

Shadow went along her way, and found the school in question. She knocked on the door. A woman opened it.

"Excuse me, but I am looking for Mr. Himura Kenshin," Shadow explained.

"He's not here at the moment," the woman said. "You can wait inside, if you want."

"Thank you," Shadow said. "That is very kind of you. Shadow saw that the woman had noticed her sword. She also noticed that the strange woman didn't trust her completely.

"What do you want with Kenshin anyway?" the strange woman asked.

"I was told he could teach me something. Something I need," Shadow told the woman. Shadow was delegated into the house.

"Really? And what is that?" the woman asked. Suddenly, a boy came running into the house

"Koaru, someone's been asking about…" he broke off his yell when he noticed Shadow.

So the strange woman is called Koaru. I wonder what the boy's name is.

"I am Shadow," Shadow said. "I was the one asking about Mr. Himura."

"Really? If it's to fight, let me assure you that you'll have to go through me first!" the boy challenged her. He had noticed the sword as well. Shadow sighed.

"I have better things to do than fight those who can teach me," Shadow said. "As I explained, Mr. Himura can teach me something I need."

"And what is that?" the boy asked. Koaru obviously didn't appreciate the way he talked to Shadow, and hissed, "Yahiro!"

"A form of martial arts," Shadow said.

"I'm very sorry, but I don't intend to pass down the Hiten Mitsurugi school," a friendly voice said from behind Shadow. Everyone jumped, except for Shadow.

"Mr. Himura, correct?" she asked, before turning around.

"Yes. But as I said, I do not intend to pass down the Hiten Mitsurugi style."

Shadow looked into his eyes. Kenshin stared back. Shadow could feel the kindred spirit, the spirit of the warrior, deep in this man's eyes. But, her mind was older than his, and it was shaped by countless years of training. So many years, in fact, that it had forgotten the correct number of years. The training, the hardships and deprivations of some of the worlds she had survived in had granted her a titanium-steel will. His will was extremely strong as well, but his lack of experience was what caused his downfall. Kenshin looked away.

"You have suffered more than I have," he whispered. "Your eyes…I never saw anything like them. I would have expected them more in old and wary fighters than in a young woman such as yourself."

"I was told you would need convincing. I opened my soul to you. Please do not abuse what you learned. But, you have suffered greatly as well. I feel a kinship with you."

"I feel it as well," Kenshin responded. "Maybe if you told me why you desire the Hiten Mitsurugi style."

Shadow glanced to the other two people, who were still staring at her and Kenshin.

"Everything that is said here won't leave this house," Kenshin said, answering her unspoken question.

Shadow dipped her head, and everyone sat down once more.

"I was selected to perform a mission," Shadow began. "But before I explain my mission, I will have to ask you to keep an open mind. A lot of what I will tell you will sound crazy, but I can assure you that it is all true."

After everyone gave her a strange look and a nod, Shadow told her story. As she had expected, Koaru and Yahiro thought she was crazy. Kenshin, on the other hand, seemed to believe her, and he told the others so as well.

"There was no indication that you were lying. But then again, your ki is hidden, and I can not tell for sure," Kenshin said.

"Then maybe I can persuade you," the Guardian said, appearing in the middle of the room. Everyone was shocked, to say the least. Shadow, being used to the Guardian's abrupt appearances, didn't even raise an eyebrow.

After the Guardian had left, Kenshin asked for time to think. Shadow told him she needed to find a place to stay anyway. Koaru very generously opened her school to Shadow, who gratefully accepted the offer.

Somewhere outside the city, Shadow and Kenshin are facing each other on a nice green field, next to a river. Six months had passed since shadow's arrival, and she had managed to learn the basic techniques of the Hiten Misturugi Mitsurugi style. Kenshin told her she evolved much faster than he did, as it took him five years to do the same.

"I am now going to teach you the succession technique," Kenshin said. " Don't move an inch, or you'll be killed. But first, a review of the attacks in Kenjutsu. First, the Karatake (downward stroke), Kesagiri, the slantwise downward stroke to the shoulder, reverse Kesagiri, right Nagi (belly stroke), left Nagi (reverse belly stroke), right upward cut, left upward cut, and the Sakakaze, upward stroke. Finally, the stroke that pierces at the shortest range to the chest, the Tsuki. In all the schools there is no killing technique that does not aim for one of those nine points. Naturally, the stances of defense were developed to correspond to these same nine points. But…"

Kenshin moves forward, at the same speed Shadow learned during the Hokuto Shinken, Ultimate Divine Speed. He blazes past her, and she remains stiff as a board, not knowing what else to do. Shadow is left with a tiny scratch at each of the nine points.

"…if you move with the godlike speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi style, and strike at all nine points at once, there is no possibility of defense. This is the Kuzuryusen of the Hiten Mitsurugi School," Kenshin finished his sentence.

Impressive technique. Impossible to block…and it's a good think I froze.

"Now give it a try," Kenshin said.

Shadow nodded. She had been trained in the same way Thor had taught her: on her hands and knees.

I saw the attack clearly. Here it goes…

Shadow jumped towards Kenshin, and moved at the Ultimate Divine Speed. Kenshin smiled.

"You learned it," he complimented her. "Now, use it. Full force."

Shadow charged. Kenshin charged. They meet again and again, until Kenshin is on his back. Shadow is shocked.

"What did I do?" she asked.

"Nothing," he told her. "But it's your strength and weight that counts. I may weight more, but you have far more strength than I do."

"I see," Shadow said.

"But, you haven't defeated it. You blocked it, and you blocked so hard I was struck to the ground, but you didn't defeat my Kuzuryusen. In order to do that, there is the greatest secret of the Hiten Mitsurugi School: the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki."

"You did that on purpose!" Shadow said. "I thought that the Kuzuryusen was the succession technique!"

"The Kuzuryusen was designed as a test. In order to be fully skilled, one has to defeat the Kuzuryusen of the previous master. Only then is the initiation complete. Think about the Kuzuryusen. It'll give you the general idea of the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki."

There is no defense, or flight. Only attack can hope to defeat it. How do I surpass Ultimate Divine Speed? Only the battou-jutsu could be fast enough…

"The battou-jutsu," Shadow said.

(author's note: battou-jutsu. This is a technique of very quickly drawing the sword, accelerating the attack. It leaves the user defenseless if the attack fails.)

"Yes," Kenshin said. "Surpass speed with greater speed of the battou-jutsu. But, can you surpass the Kuzuryusen?"

Shadow thought for a moment, and comes out of the Battou-jutsu stance. She squares of against Kenshin.

"Sword away, and in formless stance? You plan to use the Haisui no Jin? That's foolish!"

(Author's note: Haisui no Jin is an attack in which one exhausts all his strength. There is no recovery if the person fails.)

"I know, but still… I need to master the succession technique."

Kenshin sheaths his reversed-edge sword. "You have not learned a thing. Wait until tomorrow, and find in your heart what you are lacking. Otherwise, you will be throwing away your life trying to master the ultimate technique."

With that, Kenshin turns around, and walks away, leaving Shadow behind. The woman turns to the river, finding it surprisingly hard to keep her tears at bay. After all these years, she was denied training for the first time on the base of her method of learning. She missed something. Something in her heart. What could it be?

The next morning, Kenshin and Shadow face each other. Apparently, neither got much sleep.

"Did you find that which you lack?"

Shadow cast her eyes down. "No," she whispered.

"So you do have limits," Kenshin said. "You are incomplete, and mastering the succession technique or finishing the path of the Savior will be meaningless unless you can find that which you lack. Instead of the succession technique, prepare to die. I have sworn never to kill, but this is different. My final duty as your master."

Kenshin draws his sword at a truly amazing speed.

Shadow's mind raced. Why am I shaking? I know I can take him. No…I'm not sure. Am I scared? Scared of Himura Kenshin, the wandering swordsman who has sworn never to kill again?

Shadow's fist clenched. No, I'm not scared. I was prepared to die a long time ago. Even if it costs me my life, I will learn the technique.

Kenshin launches. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Kuzuryusen.

A storm of memories clashed before Shadow's eyes as she can see death flashing towards her. Real death. Permanent death. She never told anyone about the senzu beans, so they don't know how to revive here if she were still alive.

Shadow remembered everyone she helped. How she had helped Kenshiro find his lost woman, how she helped Rei with his sister, her help to Goku and his friends, people she had helped during her voyages… and finally, the Guardian, the strange woman who helped Shadow on the path of the Universal savior.

I can't die! I have no reason to die yet!

Shadow's sword is drawn. Her sword clashed with Kenshin's. She sees him falling, a red gash across his chest.

"Damn!" she shouted, running towards him.

"You'll be able to use…the Amakakeru ryu …no Hirameki freely and well," Kenshin grunts. "Don't be…sad…it is the destiny of master and …student of the sword…in passing down the technique…"

"NO!!!" Shadow dives for her belt, and retrieves the bag of senzus. There are only a dozen or so left. She puts one in Kenshin's mouth, and tells him to swallow. Barely able to, he does so. The gash closes, and Kenshin sits up straight.

"These are Senzu beans," Shadow explained. "Unfortunately, I only have ten or so left."

"Well, they certainly seem to do the job," Kenshin remarked. "So, you mastered the succession technique. There is nothing more I can do for you now."

"Thank you for your teachings," Shadow said, bowing to her master. "Now I must go to Sano."

"Sanosuke? Why?" Kenshin was genuinely surprised. As surprised as Shadow had been when she first found out that Sanosuke was a good friend of Kenshin's.

"His Futae no Kiwami is a very strong fighting style. He already agreed to teach me, if I ever survived the Hiten Mitsurugi training," Shadow answered.

Sanosuke was a tall man, with a very…original hairstyle. He didn't seem tot take much care of it, since his hair jumped all over the place. But, the Guardian had assured her that the Futae no Kiwami would be a great asset, so here she was.

"I learned it in a week, but I don't expect you to," Sano said. "My teacher gave me a month, so I'll give you the same amount of time. But, I'll have to follow his rules. This is a secret technique. If you don't master it, I can not allow you to live."

"I understand. Kenshin's Hiten Misturugi Mitsurugi Ryu had the same rule," Shadow said.

"Let's get started, then," Sano said, shooting her a smile. "The Futae no Kiwami is theoretically very simple. Basically, you hit something, and once you encounter resistance, you hit it a second time. Only, you have to do it very fast, one after the other."

"Simple," Shadow responded. "Maybe it's effective."

"It shatters about anything you hit, like this," Sano held out a stone. He demonstrated the Futae no Kiwami technique, reducing the stone to dust.

Shadow's eyes opened. "That's not shattering," she said. She took a rock of her own, hit it with all her strength, reducing it to several pieces. "That's shattering. What you just did is called 'pulverizing'."

"My mistake, then," Sano said, grinning at her. "Give it a try."

Shadow took another stone from the forest floor. She held it in her left hand, and put her right fist on top of it, like Sano had demonstrated. She hit until she encountered force, and hit it a second time as fast as she could, the Above Ultimate Divine Speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu style attack Amakakeru ryu no Hirameki. To her great surprise, her second hit encountered no resistance at all. As her fist hit her open hand, she could see the stone-dust flying everywhere.

"What the…" Sano began.

"Fascinating," Shadow brought out. "This is incredible."

"I'll say. It nearly killed me trying to do it in one week, and you just got it down from the first try."

"Maybe it was a lucky hit," Shadow said. "Ah, there's a boulder." She and Sano walked over to the large boulder, literally half her height, and three times as wide as she was. Shadow squatted to be at the ideal height, and attacked with her right hand. She encountered resistance, and punched with the Above Ultimate Divine Speed. The rock was pulverized.

Shadow smiled. Sano stared unbelievingly. After the shock wore off, he hit her on the shoulder, laughing hard.

"You're an amazing woman, Shadow. Kenshin must have had fun teaching you," he said, still laughing.

Shadow smiled. "I'm sure he did," she responded.

Jennifer sat in the small room off the bridge of the Ortega, staring out the small window out into space. It was now three and a half months since Fred died, and it appeared that the ESMF was finally getting into the spirit of things. There wasn't a day there wasn't a new update of some sorts. She looked at the small posts of today's updates.

Hmm. Another .5% shield efficiency, and there's another 1% maneuverability gained. Hello…this is new. A 'last resort measure'? What's this?

Jennifer tapped the entry, and the data filled the screen.

I see. This measures the shield frequency, cancels the shields out, and relocates 20 antimatter torpedoes all over the ship. That sure would do the trick. The problem is that Sorcerer will know we can drop his shields… and he'll counter it with a random frequency shift built into his shield controls. It will only be effective once. But I wonder why they're not using zero-point weapons… maybe because of the blast wave.

Jennifer started thinking. It was calm on the Ortega anyway. The blast wave would be tempered by the ship's hull, so she knew collateral damage can't be it… what else could the reason be? It can be so easy that they just didn't think of it. Or it has to be something more. Than Jennifer remembered a message she received a couple of weeks before, requesting to limit the use of zero-point weapons to the absolute minimum, that they caused damage to the space-time fabric. Her mind put two and two together.

Space-time damage plus a zero-point reactor… oh my. This could prove interesting.

Jennifer tapped the armrest. "Linda," she whispered. The AI had gradually come out of hiding the last few weeks, and everyone made sure to treat the AI as they normally would. No mention was made of her hiding, as if it were normal. They knew the AI was grateful, and that their reaction probably delayed her coming out by a few days at least.

"Get me a search. Theoretically, what would happen when a zero-point reactor was destroyed using a zero-point charge?"

Result would be a catastrophic failure of space-time, due to feedback loop in the reactor, caused by the zero-point explosion.

"Has such a thing been researched?" Jennifer asked.

I am not sure, Linda answered with doubt in her voice.

"How so?" Jennifer asked, sitting upright.

When I attempted a search, I got no results. But when I cross-referenced the zero-point research, I got references to something called an FH. Just those two letters.

"Maybe some top-secret research project."

I would have had access to it.

"Right. Linda, get me David. I am going to have a word with him. No, wait! Get me Jessie… she's more likely to respond."

Contact established with Moonbase Research facility Alpha. Jessica Fromthefield on screen.

Jennifer smiled as she saw the face of her daughter.

"Jessie!" she greeted.

"Mom!" the girl squealed. "Why are you calling?" she suddenly turned serious. This was war, and people didn't just contact each other for idle chitchat.

"I was going over the updates. Why aren't you using zero-point explosives to relocate to the enemy?"

Jessie didn't miss a beat. She and David had thought it was a very large possibility their mother would ask questions.

"It didn't work out, mom. It was better to use a couple dozen antimatter mines than the zero-point mines."

"Why?" Jennifer asked.

"Mom… there was an entire team put on this problem. Believe me, antimatter is the best solution."

"Alright…" Jennifer switched strategies. "Linda came across something called FH in the zero-point research files. Can you tell me what it is?"

Was that a hint of panic she saw in her daughter's eyes? And why was she so nervous all of a sudden.

"I can't tell you, mom. Gotta go. Bye," Jessie broke the connection. Jennifer stared at the screen unbelievingly. Her daughter had certainly known more about this FH. And she had cut off her own mother. Jennifer smelled something fishy.

"Linda, did the children leave Alpha at any time since their arrival there?"

They left for 48 hours. They transported to Earth, F² headquarters.

"Get me Barbara," Jennifer said.

"Barbara, what is FH?" Jennifer asked without giving the woman a chance to say hello. Jennifer's hunches were confirmed when Barbara suddenly turned pale, and panic crossed her face. "Spill it," Jennifer grunted.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have a lot of work. See you," Barbara said, and cut the connection. Now Jennifer really smelled something fishy.

"D, could you come in here for a minute?" she called in her communicator. Daphnix appeared not long after. Jennifer told him all she had found out. Daphnix grew suspicious as well.

"Linda, get me David," Daphnix said.

David appeared on the screen, looking kind of haggard.

"I thought you'd call me next," he said. "Mom, Uncle D, FH is none of your concern. Please, don't go after it any longer."

"David Lonandram Driavezst Fromthefield," Jennifer grunted. "You tell me who or what FH is, right now."

David sighed, and motioned for someone off-screen. Jessie sat down next to her brother. She too, looked uneasy.

"What we're about to tell you is classified Omega-9," David said. The two adults were shocked. Such a clearance level didn't exist!

"That doesn't exist!" Jennifer yelled. "Don't play with me, young man!"

"It exists now," David responded. Jennifer sunk back in her chair, shocked that there was something out there she didn't have the clearance for. "Basically, FH stands for Fromthefield Hole."

"Fromthefield hole?" Daphnix asked.

"Named after its discoverers, me and Jessie. Basically, it forms after a zero-point reactor is destroyed by a zero-point explosive, when that explosive is less than five meters from the reactor core. The hole that forms is a total void of space-time fabric, destroying everything that dares to enter. The hole itself is between eight and ten thousand light-years across."

Jennifer and Daphnix stared at the screen. "So that's the reason for the antimatter," Jennifer said. "A zero-point explosive might create such a hole… and now I understand why you wanted us to limit the use of zero-point weapons."

"Yes," David confirmed. "But there is more. Every source of non-natural zero point energy that enters a radius of 2 light-years around the Fromthefield hole makes it expand. Big time. Our tests resulted in a hole of 8,500 light-years, with one fighter and one battlecarrier as sources. Imagine an entire fleet, the size of Sorcerer's."

"It could destroy the galaxy, possibly more," Jennifer said, thinking for a minute. She then said, "If we build a robot ship, and tell it relocate a zero-point mine to one of Sorcerer's ships in his own universe…"

NO!" both kids shouted at the same time. "This is exactly why we didn't tell you. Please, mom, don't do it. The people in Sorcerer's universe deserve to live as much as we do."

"Honey, our people are dying too. We should save them," Jennifer said, on a tone like she was talking to an unreasonable child.

"Mom, all the data on the FH has been destroyed. Just like the data on the super-weapon. The only ones capable of building such a device are me…and Jessica. We both swore our lives never to build such a weapon. I am very sorry, but you know about the weapon but you will never use it."

"Than I will build one myself," Jennifer said resolutely. "I won't be told what to do. Our people are dying, and I am going to give the ESMF the best chance for survival."

"Mom, please don't make me do this," David pleaded. "I have here a secure connection pending to Sorcerer's universe. If I can't persuade you, I will have to transmit the data concerning the shield demolisher to him. All he has to do is set up his shields for a random frequency modulation. Our shields are already equipped to do so, his aren't."

"You wouldn't dare!" she screamed.

"Mom, please… Dad wouldn't want this to happen," David said. "He wouldn't destroy a universe to get rid of Sorcerer."

Jennifer forced herself to calmness. Her emotions buried themselves as she raised her emotion inhibitors, and felt the calmness wash over her. She took a couple of deep breaths.

"You're right," she finally allowed. "I won't pursue this."

"Thank you," David said. Jessie just smiled weakly, and gave a small, yet grateful nod. After exchanging good-byes, the connection closed. Light-years apart, two groups of two very different people sighed as they simultaneously sat back in their respective chairs. All had the sinking feeling that they just avoided universal destruction. That wasn't what scared them. What scared them was what if Sorcerer discovers this too?

Sorcerer paced his throne room.

"Jennifer! Finally!" he let out as his love entered the room.

"What's wrong? I haven't seen you on edge like this since the Saiyan revolt!" she put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Look at this," he shoved some papers in her hand. "Arlon's latest research has discovered something potentially disastrous."

Jennifer's gaze went over the papers. "Oh, my…" she whispered.

"We can't ever use it, Jenny," Sorcerer said, falling onto his throne. Jennifer sat down next to him. "First, because I want to make them my slaves, but second, because blowing up the universe is not the kind of evil I want to be. I want to be 'tremble in fear' evil, not 'totally insane blow up the universe because if I can't have it no one can' evil."

"Would they use it?"

"As long as my counterpart was alive, not a chance. But, I've killed him…now I'm scared that they will," Sorcerer admitted.

"Have the countermeasures been implemented already?"

"They have. But what if they have another way of blowing our shields?"

"Fred, you're talking crazy." Jennifer was the only one who got away by calling him by his given name. "There are no other ways to blow zero-point fields, except for wearing them down."

"I know, Love. I know." Sorcerer's head rested on her shoulder as her arm traveled around his shoulders. Without knowing she did, she stroked his hair. Both people were lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Sorcerer tapped a communications panel.

"Baral, report here. On the double!" he shouted, and closed the connection.

"You really shouldn't shout at the poor man that way," Jennifer admonished. "Even if it's fun to see him treble when he enters the room."

"Some harmless fun, my love. Allow me to have at least something."

"You already have something. A lot of somethings. You have me, the harem, and your exploits as warlord."

"The first one is still my favorite, Love," Sorcerer said, stealing a small kiss from her before sitting up straight. A stern mask slammed down on his features as Baral came running into the room.

"Cancel the use of all zero-point explosives and torpedoes. Tell Arlon to stop researching zero-point weaponry. Tell him to refocus on energy and antimatter weapons. That is all. Dismissed."

Baral was still trembling as he hurriedly made his escape from the throne room. He never heard the laughing from behind the heavily soundproofed doors.

Shadow looked over her 'garden'. She had asked, and received, two years to grow Senzu beans. She only had five of them left, and she was determined to grow them. Finally, after two years of hard work, did the small plants peak out of the dirt. She doted on the fledgling plants as if they were made of pure gold. She only had one bean left, since she planted the four others.

She didn't know how much longer it would take for the plants to reach maturity, and to produce beans of their own. Shadow would ask the Guardian to keep an eye out for the small things. Shadow really thought of the plants as her children. She had given up her drugs to be more clear-headed in the mornings, so she could take better care of them.

Finally, now that her hard work seemed to be paying off, did Shadow allow herself a hit of the narcotics. After spacing out from the cocaine, Shadow dreamed of mountains of beans, with entire fields of Senzu plants.

The next morning, Shadow walked to the garden. Her eyes nearly fell out.

"What happened to my plants?" she asked. "Those aren't the things I saw peeping up yesterday!" the four plants were at least half a meter high by now, and had grown to become beautiful plants. Shadow tied them up on a rack normally used for climbing plants, and examined the now growing plants carefully.

(Author's note: since I don't know anything about growing Senzu beans, I just took my liberties here, making it very hard to get the beans to grow, but once you get them to grow… J )

Shadow didn't know how long she had until the Guardian would come with a new mission, and decided on learning as much as she could from her 'children'. She looked at the leaves, the stem, and even made a small hole with her finger to examine the roots. The location she had planted the beans in had plenty of sunlight, and it was very clear that the plants enjoyed sunlight, since all the leaves seemed to be turned towards it.

The next day, the plants were almost a meter tall, and Shadow could see small lumps forming along the stems of her plants. Not knowing what to do, Shadow just let the things be. She didn't allow herself to think those lumps might be beans. They were. The next day, Shadow could 'harvest' her beans, and received about 20 beans from her four plants.

Shadow sighed happily after her first harvest, knowing that her Senzu problems are solved. She was just thinking about the fact that she could now leave on a mission with a clean conscience, when the Guardian arrived.

"Have you been reading my mind?" Shadow grunted.

"NO. Why do you ask, Child?" the Guardian asked.

"Don't call me child, Guardian. And I asked because I was just thinking about you."

"Well, I have a new training for you. It's time for some decent knowledge. You will be spending 10 years at the Universal Library. Be warned, however: limit yourself to the human knowledge. Investigating alien races will only give you headaches, while you don't learn anything. One last thing, there is an extensive martial arts library, as well as a training ground, so you'd better be prepared for martial arts training."

"Very well, Guardian. I'm ready." Shadow took her freshly harvested Senzu beans, tied her sword to her hip, and prepared for the transfer. But they didn't transfer before Shadow elected a promise from Guardian to check up on the Senzu plants. Shadow smiled at the thought of the Guardian, with her virgin white dress, on her knees in the dirt to take care of some plants.

Shadow felt like she had entered a candy store. Sure, she wouldn't receive the same training from a book as she would if she were training with a real master, but the theoretical knowledge was immense. Shadow didn't limit herself to martial arts, however. She studied from books of war, studying strategy and tactics the great warriors and commanders once used.

Physically, she was still twenty, and thus her body was capable of great feats. One of them was surviving on very limited amounts of sleep. Shadow slept only three or four hours a night, and was often found reading deep into the night. The Universal Library was not a place one could just walk into, so she was alone most of the time. Because of her intense concentration, developed over countless years of martial arts training and meditation exercises, Shadow was finished in the library in eight years.

The Guardian brought her home, to a lush garden filled with Senzu plants. Shadow couldn't believe it when she was able to fill her pouch to the brim with fresh home-grown Senzu beans.

 

Four months had passed since the start of the war. Jennifer sat on the bridge, and looked at the raging battle.

"Firing phasers and quantum-disruption torpedoes!" O'Connor yelled.

"Multi-gravity beam is locked on target, and is being fired!" Daphnix yelled. "Fighters are at standard omega-twelve overpowering pattern."

Outside the Ortega, the 10,000 fighters of the Ortega and the Yorkshire clashed with Sorcerer's 8,500 robot fighters, covering the four Warcruisers. The fighters swarmed around one another, while the capital ships took care of each other. The quantum-disruption torpedo was the latest gizmo is a long line of experimental weapons. The torpedo was designed to weaken the bonds between individual atoms, effectively shattering them. Most of the time, they just weakened the hull. Their greatest advantage was that the shields in fact caused the effects. The torpedo would explode on the shields, weakening them, while the harmful radiation penetrated the shields and weakened the hull.

One Warcruiser exploded as the torpedoes, for once, had their full effect, and the ship's hull shattered. Without a hull to keep it together, the ship broke up under the stress of it own engines, causing damage no nanoprobes could repair. After all, without a hull, there were no G-dampers, and without those, the ship would feel every turn it made.

The fighters slowly overpowered Sorcerer's fighters, while the two battlecarriers drove the three remaining Warcruisers backwards, away from the fighters. Their supply of the fancy new torpedoes exhausted, the two larger vessels switched back to the good old-fashioned antimatter torpedo. It was a Mark 35 torpedo, latest of the latest, but it was still based on the good, old-fashioned antimatter principle.

Since she wasn't actually needed now that Daphnix was in command, like he always was during a battle, Jennifer allowed her thoughts to drift. She thought back at the time when she told BorgFred about the zero-point dangers. He hadn't known about it, which surprised her, and he immediately said that the knowledge should never leave the room, which surprised her even more. The biggest surprise was the fact that he immediately agreed with the children that the weapons should never be used. He was backed by BorgJenny and the BorgAmazons. Jennifer and Daphnix had accepted the fact that it would never be used, and had moved on.

Jennifer refocused on the battle on the main screen. The ESMF now clearly outnumbered the robot ships, and she could see her fighters slaughter the robot ships at an ever-increasing pace. The Ortega and the Yorkshire turned on the last Warcruiser to remain, the two large ships' shields barely hitting the 60% mark. The concentration of firepower from the two large ships quickly disposed of the Warcruiser: phasers, torpedoes, quantum pellets, CICS, it was all thrown into the fight.

Jennifer smiled slightly as she remembered the brave crews of the fighters. She smiled wider as she thought of their small ritual: before going into battle, everyone would yell 'For Frederic'. Some pilots had started this, and now it had become an unofficial ritual. Jennifer didn't mind. They could do whatever they wanted, as long as it made them fight better. For all she cared, everyone could get in the cockpit naked if they thought it would help.

When the two massive ships joined in the fight against the fighters with their CICS, it was all over very quickly. The fighters were recalled, and a death count announced. Out of the 10,000 fighters launched, 1,500 were destroyed with all hands on board. Another 4,000 were disabled, and their crews were recovered alive. All in all, it was a good day. There had been worse days, with more deaths.

Shadow was stoned. And drunk. Laughing uncontrollably, she was flat on her back on the shore of the lake. She was rolling over and over, laughing like a madwoman. Suddenly, the Guardian appeared. For some reason, this was incredibly funny to Shadow, who laughed harder, and muttered, "Looks like an angel's come for me…"

"I'm not an angel," the Guardian muttered. "Let's get you inside. I had another training for you, but it can wait until morning."

"Are you sure you're not an angel?"

"YES!" the Guardian shouted, not enjoying dragging a laughing and giggling Shadow to the house.

"Are you mad?" Shadow giggled.

"No," the Guardian said.

Shadow looked at the Guardian with dazed eyes. "You sure?" she asked with a frown on her face. "You look mad to me."

"I'm annoyed. Now be quiet," the Guardian said.

Shadow shut up, and put on a very sad face. All of a sudden, she started crying. Hysterically. "You hate me!" she cried. "You don't want to help me anymore!"

The Guardian looked up at the air, as if to beg whatever God she pissed off to grant her leniency.

"No, I don't hate you. And I still want to help you. Now, be quiet, so I can get you home," the white-clad woman said.

Shadow perked. "You're still my friend! Angel's my friend!" the young-appearing woman starting chanting. "Angel's my friend! Angel's my friend!"

Guardian sighed very, very deeply. "Yes, I'm your friend," she said, finding a laughing Shadow better than a crying one. Silently, Guardian told herself she would never, ever come and get Shadow when she was either stoned, or drunk.

When she finally got Shadow into bed, and Guardian wanted to leave, she heard a small voice

"Tell me a story," Shadow asked in her best 'little girl' voice. Since her body was still quite young, she managed to fairly well.

Guardian wanted to cry herself. "Uhm… there was a prince and a princess. She was beautiful, and an evil which cursed her to eternal sleep because she was so beautiful. He found her, kissed her, and they got married. They lived happily ever after. The end," Guardian rattled off.

Shadow looked at the Guardian, who actually thought she could get away this time. No such luck. Shadow started crying.

"Not a good story! Tell a better one!"

Guardian fell on a chair in the woman's bedroom, and told the story of 'Little Red Riding Hood', if for nothing else than to preserve the peace. She did note, however, that she would enjoy payback some day… when she would tell what Shadow had done this very night. Finally, the Guardian got Shadow to sleep, and teleported out of the room.

The next morning, Shadow awoke with a nice little headache. She went to the kitchen, and retrieved the pitcher with hangover cure from the refrigerator. After drinking two glasses (she had become immune to the taste by now), her memory of last night started to return. If the drug had cured her sick feeling, the memories sure did their job of making her relapse.

"Oh no," she groaned. "Don't tell me I actually begged the Guardian to be my friend."

"You did far worse than that, Child," the Guardian's voice told her. Shadow didn't respond to the fact that Guardian once more called her 'Child'.

"Oh no," Shadow groaned, falling onto a chair. "How big a fool did I make of myself? Most of last night is still blank."

"Well, after begging me not to be mad, you asked for a story." A painful groan escaped Shadow's mouth. "When the one I told you wasn't to your liking, you started crying." A pitiful whimper came from the young-appearing woman on the other side of the table. "I finally got you to sleep after telling you a second one."

Shadow looked as if she wanted to sink through the floor from shame. Guardian decided to pour salt in the wound.

"Don't worry, I'm not angry. But it will make a nice little anecdote to tell at certain gatherings," Guardian said. Shadow wanted to cry. Really, she did. Only the thought of this getting out as well when Guardian would spill the beans kept her tear-ducts closed.