Chapter Five: “Building An Empire Of Dreams Made Reality.”

By Paul Cousins.

Copyright Disclaimer: All copyrighted places, characters, items, and events, within the story, are held by their current owners. No profit is being made on this work of fiction.

(_)

Black Lagoon anime reality, Chang's penthouse office at the top of Chang's Tower, set above the clouds.

It was mid-afternoon, and the weather outside was warm and partly cloudy.

Chang's huge office reflected his, go big, attitude to life.

His office had a high vaulted ceiling, reaching eighty feet in height, with skylights and old fashioned motorized fans. The center of the fans has soft yellow, covered, light bulbs, which were hooked to dimmer switches. To allow Chang better control of the lighting, during the night time activities in his office.

His office was also two hundred feet in width, by a hundred and twenty feet in depth.

The double-door entrance to the office was across from the windows, in the center of the wall. The double-doors were large, brown stained, oak doors, which were tall enough to allow cybertronians to walk through, unimpeded.

Above the doors were a huge set of flat widescreen monitors hooked together, to project a single video feed, or several video feeds at once. Along with this, there was sound speaker system hidden in the walls of the office, hook to these monitors.

Opposite to the entrance, behind the desk, as the outer wall of the office. The outer wall was made up of several large paned windows, set beside each other. The windows from the outside. Though, there was an emergency release, on the corners of the windows, to allow for the to corner windows to be opened from the inside. But, doing so would set off the security systems.

The windows were a foot thick. The windows were made of a material not native to Chang's reality. The windows were very tough, to the point the windows could handle direct missile hits, while also preventing condensation from forming on the inside of the windows.

The windows were tinted, with a transition film, that would darken, as needed, to prevent only a certain amount of light to come in. During the day, this allow the office to have their curtains pulled back, without to much sunlight being allowed to sunlight come in.

Also, the windows were one way mirrors from the outside. Allowing people to look out, but not for people to look in. This offered privacy, to Chang and others within the office.

The windows even filtered out UV rays, to prevent sunburns.

As such, Chang was not worried about some sniper trying to kill him, through his office windows.

The office itself, like the rest of Genom tower, was temperature controlled, insulated, and well ventilated. With the temperature, in the office, being comfortable to those inside the room.

Everyone that had looked through the windows, from the inside, agree that the view from the height was spectacular. It was above the cloud line, and it lover look Roanapur, the watery bay pass the city, and then out to the Gulf of Thailand.

There were heavy red velvet curtains hidden in closets, on both sides of the windowed outer wall. These curtains were hooked to motors. When activate, the curtains would be pulled out of their closets, and slide along the windows, till they met in the center. The rails the curtains were guided by allow for the curtains to slightly overlap each other in the center, by around two feet.

When the curtains met in the center, they overlapped by the right curtain moving slightly into the office, and the left curtain moving slightly closer to the window.

When the curtains were closed, they offered near total darkness in the office during the day, and they curtains allowed for privacy in office at night.

The flooring in the office was hard, dark green jade tiles, set in patterns. With the tiles being of different sizes. In various locations in the office, several genuine Persian carpets were placed over the green jade tiles.

The Persian carpets were from the Safavid dynasty of the sixteenth century. With the carpets had been imported from various alternate Earths in the multiverse, less than a month after they each had been made.

The walls were painted a dull eggshell white. And except for the skylights, the ceiling was had brown, fine wooden paneling. The dull and dark colors of the walls, floor and ceiling, were to designed to decrease light reflected in the room, and tone down the brightness in the room.

The desk was across from the entrance, by the windows. Though, the desk was a number of feet from the windows, and the desk was set facing the entrance to the office.

The desk itself was made of stained oak. The back end of the top of the desk folded upward, with a large flat widescreen monitor, complete with speakers and microphone, set into the section of the desk. This offered the one sitting behind the desk easy of use of the screen on the desk.

In front of the monitor set into the desk, near where the person would sit behind the desk, was a large touch pad installed in the desk, as well. The touch pad was divided between icons for a keyboard on it, and a place for a person's fingers to be used as a mouse on the computer.

The computer operation system tower was housed below the desk, with said computer connected the other electronics in the room, including he multi-screen monitor above the entrance doors, and to the main computer systems of Chang's Tower.

There were computer hooks outputs and data disc drives hidden above the drawers of the desk, hidden under the lip of the top of the desk.

The office chair itself was a large, cushioned, brown leather swivel chair, with armrests, and rollers on the bottom of the chair.

From the behind the desk's point of view, to the left side of the room. Near the middle, between the interior and exterior walls. Was a set of four white leather cushioned couches encircling a very nice pool table.

On each side of each couch was a small, square, black oak table.

The pool table itself was made of quality brown stained wood, slate, with red quality cloth covering it. The pool table even had return tubes, attached to the button of the pockets, to allow for the balls to rolled down to single point of the table.

On the far left wall, near the middle of the wall, directly behind the pool table and couches, was a bar counter, with a kitchen skin and nice coffer maker to the left side of the counter. In the drawers under the counter were glasses, silver wear, cloth napkins, and plates were house.

The top of the bar counter was set four feet high. There were shelves and cabinets set into the wall behind the bar counter.

Chang had stocked some of the nicest alcoholic beverages he could find from throughout the multiverse. Everything, from Ardbeg Providence to Romulan ale. All of the bottles were quality vintages, which were allowed to age just the right amount of time, before Chang acquired them.

Below the shelves and cabinets of alcohol, and other items, were a refrigerator, an oven, a microwave, a pantry for canned foods, and more drawers for misc items. Including, pocket chips, and decks of poker cards.

On the right side of the bar counter, where open entrance of the counter was a wall mount bracket, with as shelf under it, that was built into the wall. The shelf have was there for misc items for the pool table. The brackets were were the cues sticks went, when not being used.

On the left, a few feet passed the bar counter, was hidden door nearby to a nice bathroom, with shower room, that connected Chang's office to Chang's private quarters, which were located on a door on the opposite side of Chang's bathroom.

On the right side of the office, on the far wall was Chang's personal library. With shelves full of everything from classical books, ancient scrolls, to music CDs and vinyl records, to manga, to comics, to discs for anime, TV shows, to cartoons, to video game discs. Some of these items were from other realities.

In front of the far left wall, near the center of that wall, there were three black leather cushioned couches, surrounding three side a large, square, black oak stained, coffee table.

In front of the three couches, on the empty side, facing the wall, was a large, flat, widescreen monitor with speakers set besides it.

Under the monitor were a vinyl record player, a blu-ray player, various gaming systems, some from other realities, to go with a few of the games in his library, All of them were hooked to his office entertainment system.

Chang has long since had his office video, audio, gaming, and computer systems hooked to every TV and radio channel on the planet. Along, with those electronics being hooked to the internet, and a few communications channels from across the multiverse.

Though, Chang did include firewall and anti-virus software programs, between his electronic, and outside communications. To prevent outside intrusions, or monitoring.

(_)

Presently, the curtains in the office were left open, to allow sunlight to come in to the room. With the only light in the office being from the sunlight. Though, given the time of day, in relation to the angle of the sun, which was overhead. Preventing the sun from glaring into the office.

Even though the windows were designed to control how much sunlight came in during the say, the sun still did glare slightly, during curtain points of the day. But, the glare was minor, and could be ignored, without risk of damage to one's eyesight.

A door bell rang from a speaker, to the left side of the large entrance doors to the office. This meant someone on the outside was asking to be let in.

The bell door ringing continued for a couple of seconds, with the ringing catching the attention of those currently within the office.

Chang sat in his chair, was behind his desk, while he was working at his desk computer. He wore his usual black long coat and suit. And he had on sunglasses over his over his eyes.

Chang set his desk monitor to fold back into the oak desk, as he looked at the door.

To Chang right side, there were three women. All three wore long gray skirts, white button up blouses, gray lady's office coats, and pairs of black, flat soled slippers. Along with this, all three women had short, feminine style haircuts.

All three women had slender, athletic physical builds. And their height was average for a woman of their particular race.

As they heard the knock at the door, the blond haired fair skinned woman and black haired dark skinned woman. Whom were both taking turns playing pool against each other, calmly set their cue sticks gentle onto the red felt. They then calmly walked towards Chang's desk.

The third woman, a dark haired asian woman, was sitting on the white couch facing the bar counter, with her back turned to Chang, and the large doors of the entrance of the room.

The black hair asian woman took a sip from her glass cup of Ardbeg Providence, in her right hand. She then softly setting the glass onto the small black table beside her.

The asian woman calmly got up to her seat, and walked to join the other two women.

The asian stood between the other two women, as all three were standing at attention to Chang's right. The three women stood side by side, as they face the far left wall. The fair skinned woman was closest to the doors, the asian woman was in the middle, and the dark skinned woman was closest to the desk.

When everyone was ready, Chang pushed a button on the touch pad, on the top of his desk, to unlock the doors for his guests.
The large doors then automatically open the doors inward, into the office, under the stopped as a ninety degree angle from the interior wall.

Lotton walked into the office. He was dressed in his usual outfit and black long coat. Unlike Chang, Lotton did not have on his sunglasses.

As Lotton walked towards Chang, whom was still sitting at his desk, Lotton looked around the office. He thought, 'I never get tired of this office. It is the ultimate bachelor pad. And besides what is in the room, there is a large, heated, saltwater, indoor pool, and hot tub, which are located nearby.'

'I mean, his previous outdoor pool, on the terrace of his penthouse his apartment back in Roanapur was nice. But, this indoor one is so much better.'

'And Chang's taste women has only improved over the years. The women we work with all look so great in their swimsuits. Even the boomer assassins to my left are sexy. And Chang even let me have my office be nearly as nice as this one. The man clearly knows how to share the wealth. And he does so.'

Lotton made no attempt to hide his leer, as he looked over at the three women, while he continued his thoughts, 'And he also shares his women, as well. So what if they are boomer assassins. They are all great in bed. I especially like the asian. Of the three, she is the most interesting, imaginative, and entertaining in bed.'

'Though, in bed she is more aggressive than the other two. And she prefers to be on top. Yet, she is passive whenever I see her at her job. She only displays a dominate personality in bed. I hope one night she doesn't go berserk. Like some boomers in sexual situations. And kills me while we are doing it, or in my sleep. Oh well. There are worse ways to go.'

Lotton dropped his smile, to look more profession, as he looked over at Chang. He mentally reflected, 'And Chang is the best employer I have ever had. I love that he made me second in command of this entire organization. My rank comes with a lot of nice perks.'

Lotton went onto happily think, 'I love my life.'

'Chang even stopped torturing, or killing his enemies. He just throws them in a vat to be brainwashed and turned into a loyal chick.

'Why kill a dangerous enemy, when you can turn that enemy into a useful ally and servant? And when they undergo the vat process, we make sure our subordinates are careful to prevent our servants from accidentally becoming breeding stock.'

'Best of all, Chang seemingly respects those under this command. Even those that are brainwashed. And he pays everyone that works for him, very well.'

'To that end. We even took precautions with those people we are using as breeding stock. We made sure that if any of them woke up, that they are programmed so they will not suffer much mental angst at realizing they have been turning to women, being pregnant, giving birth, and become mothers. Along with this, they are now conformable in being women, they are bi-sexual.'

'Chang and I both agreed that there was no need to prolong, or create such suffering. Causing such suffering would only invite possible revenge against us, from our victims. And we made sure they would all be against abortion. Both Chang and I are against needless, wasteful deaths.'

Lotton came to a stop ten feet from Chang's desk. With the three women standing ten feet from him, directly to his left side.

Lotton looked at Chang, as he used his hands and waist to motion. behind him. He stated, in an excited tone of voice, “Chang. I present to you the Hell Sabers.”

Lotton then walked to Chang's left, as he stood at attention across from Chang's boomer bodyguards, by about twenty feet from the three women.

With Lotton at out of the way, Chang saw saw five women began to walk into the room, from the front entrance.

Revy, Shenhua, followed by Sawyer and Roberta, with Arcee walking behind all four of the others, came into the office.

None of them had their weapons on them.

Revy was wearing her usually blue denim cut-offs shorts, and black crop top. Shenhua was wearing her white coat. Under Shenhua's coat was her red qipao dress, with flowers on the it. Sawyer wore a purple and black goth outfit with a short skirt. And Roberta wore her maids outfit, without her fake, unneeded glasses. Nor, did Roberta have on her bonnet. Though, Roberta left her long purple hair untied, to flow down her back, to her waist.

Roberta's clothing and gloves covered up her cybernetic left arm, lower right leg, right index and middle fingers. Though, her cybernetic right eye could be seen.

They soon came to a stop, about five feet from Chang's desk..

Revy inquired, in her usual, boisterous tone of voice, “Chang? How are things?”

Chang shrugged, as he answered, “Same old. Same old. Making plans for multiversal conquest. Keeping the local governments of this planet oblivious to our actions. Sending our boomer squads out to catch people on our target lists, to hijack starships, and collect other weapons and technology we are interested in.”

Revy responded, “One thing I never understood about you. Why don't you just take over the world? This world. With the Star Destroyers and boomer armies under your command. Among other things. Including your vast treasures. We have the firepower and wealth to pulled it off.”

Chang smirked, as he commented, “Because I like the world the way it is. And I cannot have any fun if I am busy ruling over six billion people.”

Revy conceded, “Point taken.”

Chang asked, “So ladies? What do I owe to having your wonderful company, ahead of schedule?”

Revy stated, in a disappointed tone of voice, “We are here to report our latest failure to catch Rock and the others.”

Chang said, in a comforting manner, “Failure happens. The important part is that you do not give up. There will always be a next time. Please. Fill me in on the details.”

Revy then began her report.

As Chang listened to Revy report, while looking at the women, Arcee stood out, as Chang reflected back on their first meeting, and how it went.

(_)

Black Lagoon reality. The past. Over a year after Akira left for her home reality. Just outside the city of Roanapur.

Chang was in his usual clothing, complete with shades, stood in his temporally office, in a lower level of his half completed Tower. The Tower was being building just outside of Roanapur, further inland, from the sea, on the opposite side from where the watery bay was.

As Chang look over at his new office, he saw that there was not much to the room. Just steel reinforced concrete walls, floors, and ceiling. Not even a window. The only door was just a standard steel office door.

Inside, there was just a simple office desk, with steal and metal foldout chair. There was a laptop computer, with a wired mouse, on top of the desk. The computer was plugged by a cord into nearby a wall socket, with enough slack to allow the cord to lay on the floor.

By the wall to the left of the desk was filing cabinet, and foldout table. On the foldout table was a cheap coffee maker, plastic cups, paper plates, plastic utensils, coffee mix, paper filters, and a cheap microwave.

Chang silently reflected, “Moving can be traumatic. But, I had to move, because my old highrise building was too open for spying, and attacks from any of my would be enemies.'

'I may have gotten the local heads of the families on board with my plans. But, that does not mean their superiors, or some government organization, may not take a shot at me.'

'So, I am going to have to make do with this a while, along with my new sleeping quarters. Though, I know it is temporary. As such, I can live with it. The Tower will be completed. It will just take a while.'

'Along with the Tower, my command structure, and organization is starting to really take shape.'

'I have to admire Lotton. He is a great asset. He may not be the best fighter. But, he is loyal, he can follow instructions, and his intelligence and wits are up there with Rock and I.'

'I found it interesting, in how brilliant Lotton came be. Lotton. He was the one that figured how to break the truth to the heads of the other families, including Balalaika and Boris. We just eased them into the truth. The lightsabers we secretly dumped on the black market was just the first step.'

'Though, Lotton was not present during these meetings. As he wisely preferred to work from the shadows. I admire the fact that man knows when it is best not to be present.'

'It did not take a genius to figure out what they were. Everyone has seen those movies. But, everyone else was putting two and two together, and trying to figure out was four meant.'

'And, as we expect, there were a few family meetings of watch the other heads sweat over the fact that lightsabers existed, and were being sold on the black market of Roanapur, without permission.'

'With the meetings take place, in a lounge, in a casino, in town. This allow us all to sit down, around a table, and relax, as we talked to each other. And we had these meeting early in the evening. After dinner.'

'As usual, Balalaika barked, while she tried to rationalize the situation as being some prank taken to the extreme. While some of the other heads started to think the lightsabers might be genuine. Which they are. Though, they had no way to confirm that at the time.

'The only actions I took at those meetings, were stopping any arguments from turning into fights between them. And instead, I just sat back and enjoyed the show.'

'Then, a few weeks later, I went to the next part of Lotton's plan. I came to the meeting with my new bodyguard. I even talked Balalaika to bring Boris along, because having him there would make her feel more comfortable, and in control.'

'After I had the room clear, except for the family heads, their immediate subordinates, such as Boris, and my new bodyguard.'

'I then had a moderately large widescreen TV and video system, with a blu-ray disc player, rolled in, on a cart. The video system was then plugged in.'

'Then, after I had my subordinates leave, I convinced the present, to all to watch the first six minutes, fifty seconds of a english dubbed anime.'

'To be exact. From a DVD copy I owned. I had them watch the intro to the first Bubblegum Crisis OVA, where they watched the blue combat boomer tear through the AD Police, while rock music played in the background.'

'After the scene was over, and I turned off the video. Balalaika was the first to demand why I asked her to sit through, and watch, such a childish video.'

'Without getting up from my chair, I casually stated. Because all things are real.'

'Immediately after I said that, they others watched as bodyguard literally busted out of his suit, and skin, to reveal itself to be just like the blue combat boomer they had just seen in the animation. A combat boomer which I legitimately bought from Genom.'

'None of the others present, moved, as silenced reigned. They all realized they were unarmed in front of a killed cyborg that made the terminator look like a pussy.'

'That really put things in perspective for them.'

'From the look of their eyes, I could tell that Balalaika and Boris were trying to figure out whether it would be wise to fight, or flee. The others were waiting for those two to make their move, so they could take their chances in running for it.'

'It was then that I told everyone to relax. That the boomer was not going to harm them. That the cyberdroid was there to make a point. That fiction was reality. That it was a boomer, just like the one they saw in the anime.'

'I then ordered the boomer to leave, through a back door in the room. So, it would not be noticed. And for it to go to a nearby room I had set up, with spare sets of clothing, for it to compact itself and regenerate its skin to appear human again. This usually took two hours to complete.'

'After it left, the questions started flying about how I pulled this off. And Boris was smart enough to accuse me about the lightsabers. I freely admitted to it.'

'Then, one of the family heads asked me about the lightsabers.'

'With a straight face, I told them that my colleagues, and I, successfully went to one of Star Wars realities, raided the Jedi Temple, killing many Jedi, and stealing their lightsabers to sell on the black market. Along with this, I mentioned that there are counters to force powers, and the force is highly overrated.'

'Then, I used my cellphone to order two of my subordinates to walk into the room, while they to hauled in a chest. The chest was placed in front of the family heads.'

'I got up from my seat, and opened the chest to reveal it was full of gold, other precious metals, and jewels. I told them to take what they wanted. That I over fifty similar chests of treasure back at my highrise building.'

'They all took some of the treasure. Even Balalaika and Boris.'

'When they were done, and back in their seats, or standing next to the heads of their family, I told them to think of this as just a taste of what the multiverse has to offer. That the multiverse was full of riches just waiting to be plundered.'

'Balalaika remarked that I may have been spending too much time with Revy. Because I was starting to sound like a pirate.'

'I stated that I viewed myself as a pirate captain on the high seas of reality. And that she could be one to. If she desired that. Then, I said to those in the room, that the while point to this corrupt city was to become rich and powerful.'

'That I figured out an easy way to do it, that no one else, locally, knew about. And that I desired to include them in my venture.'

'That got everyone's attention. I told them I need competent people under my command. Like them and their local subordinates. While at the same time, I did not want have to worry about infighting here.'

'I wanted to share the wealth and power with them. That I wished for them to think about what I am offering. That everything they had seen in fiction was literally real, and now within their grasp. That nothing sort of godhood itself could compare to what I was offering them.'

'All they had to was join me in my plans.'

'One of the heads of the other families made an interesting point. He pointed out there were other things besides wealth that the multiverse could offer. Such as more life. They none of us were young. And he was right.'

'I agreed with him. And I explained that I had found some chemicals that would make someone younger, as in young adult, not young as a child. While the chemicals also made a person more physically fit, and offered great health and longevity. But, there were limitations.'

'I willfully neglected to mention that the formula. From what my researchers found from tests on blood. That the formula only worked on women, and was fatal to men. Still, I reassured them that I found a was to circumvent this limitation. I omitted that said way was from another formula we discovered in the multiverse, that changed the a male's gender to female, along with having vast regeneration abilities. I would tell them this later, after they had time to realize all the other things I had to offer them for their services.'

'After I vaguely told them about the longevity options I had. It was then, that Boris was the one to ask the big question about our reality. The question being, was our reality a work of fiction? It is intelligence such as that, which shows why Boris is Balalaika’s second in command.'

'If I did not have Lotton as my second in command, Boris would be a good second choice, on that matter.'

'And speaking of second in commands. It was unfortunate that I had to replace second in command, in the triad, in the first place, with Lotton. But, I found out that my second in command was about to rat me out to our superiors in Hong Kong. I had to replace him.'

'Luckily, I stopped him. Still, he has his uses. So, I did not kill him. I just had him stuck in a vat, and I will have him brainwashed to being one of my lower level subordinates.'

'This was why I offered membership to all of them, at the meeting. They each had their uses.'

And on the matter of Boris' question if our reality was a work of fiction. A question I had been patiently, yet eagerly waiting to address, for the entire meeting. I calmly stated, yes.'

'I explained that not only what our reality a work of fiction, to other realities. But, that I also knew the name of the series, and I had a copies of the series. I explained that the series was about us, but as side characters. That it was both an japanese anime and manga series. And from the injuries that happened to the Bloodhound, we in the anime timeline. With the series already ending.'

'And while I didn't say it out loud. I personal found that it to be a good thing that the series ended. Because it meant that everything was wide open for us.'

'Then, I told then the title of our series. That the title name of our reality was, Black Lagoon.'

'One of the heads of the families put two and two together. And he asked if our series was about the Lagoon Company.'

'I confirmed that series was about the Lagoon Company.'

'Balalaika then inquired about Akira. Given Akira's gender bending trick. Even thought Akira has long since returned to whatever reality he came from. By then, everyone had heard of his gender bending trick, but most thought was an urban myth. She wanted to know if Akira knew all this, and if he was from another reality.'

'I guess she was as sharp as I was on this matter. I told them all that it was Akira that told me the name of our reality, Black Lagoon. That after my meeting with Akira, I began my researched on M-Theory. To figured out how to jump and navigate realities. Which, I found was surprisingly easy. To the point I, and my subordinates, could go to any place, time, or reality, in a second. Making travel must faster in so many ways.'

'I then explained that once I could travel realities, tracking down the Black Lagoon series was not difficult. It is considered a good series by those whom had seen it.'

'Next, I dropped the bombshell that I planned on show the series to them, right after they agreed my some conditions, that I had for them.'

'They all knew they had to see the series. There was no question about it. I had literally given them an offer they could not refuse. And in doing so, I had become the Godfather of Roanapur.'

'The first condition was this would remain a secret from everyone outside the room. Except those that were part of my projects. That this was not to be reported to any of our superiors outside of the city, including mine. For if any of our superiors found out about this, or some government found out, that we would all likely be killed to keep it a secret.'

'Balalaika was nice enough to back me up on this point.'

'The second condition was that there no reprisals for anything learned from the Black Lagoon series. As far as everyone understood, our rivalries had end right now. This went double Balalaika.'

'Third, the members of Lagoon Company would be left alone and kept out of the loop. Unless I say otherwise.'

'Fourth, they would join the organization I had created to loot and plunder the multiverse. Merging their organizations, with my own. Making things much easier for everyone involved.'

'Fifth, I would be in charge. I pointed out I set all this up, and I have been running this operations, since then. Also, that I am the most negotiable person in the room. That I was the one that kept the peace between the families for years. And I was the one to offer them all of this, in the first place.'

'After a few minutes of discussion, they all agreed to my terms. Strangely, Balalaika was the first to agree, right after Boris whispered something into her ear.'

'I then had everyone in the room inform their subordinates outside, they would be busy in their meeting. For several hours. And they were not to be disturbed.'

'Meanwhile, I exited the room, retrieved the copy of the Black Lagoon anime that I had hidden, elsewhere, on the floor we were on.'

'And a few of those involved, made some quick trips of the nearby restrooms.'

'Five minutes later, those that had been in the room, during the revelation, were present, and sitting down.'

'I locked the doors to the room. Because, I didn't want to have to kill anyone for accidentally walking in on us.

'Meanwhile, everyone moved their chairs to face the widescreen TV I had brought in.'

'Even the subordinates, including Boris, also getting chairs, to set down, behind the family heads.'

'Also, we made sure we had plenty of coffee made, from a coffee maker in the lounge. We all knew it was going to be a long night, and we were going to need that coffee.'

'With the doors lock. And as everyone else got comfortable. I walked over to the video system. I took out the Bubblegum Crisis OVA disc I had. And I put in the Black Lagoon first disc.'

'I then picked up the disc player remote, and sat down in my chair, which I moved to face the TV screen, as well.'

'After the disc loaded, I set the disc to the American english dub. Before the first episode, I mentioned that our voices would be different, but for them not to worry about it.'

'The first two episodes went by like a breeze. Everyone started to see why Balalaika and I admired Rock. The nazi episodes were just a barrel of laughs for all of us.

'Then, came episode seven, Calm Down Two Me. And we all watched the Balalaika editing porn scene.'

'Balalaika and Boris both kept a straight face. From behind, Boris gently put his right hand on her right shoulder, to offer her emotional support.'

'Because I had seen the episode a few times, I was able to keep myself from laughing. While the other heads of the families were laughing to the point of tears.'

'When the Balalaika on the screen said. Somebody shoot me. The Balalaika here put her face in her hands from the embarrassment. A couple of minutes later, Balalaika raised her head and coldly warned us that if we ever mentioned that event outside the people in the room, she would have us castrated. We knew she was not bluffing.'

'None of use were really surprised that it was the Ripoff Church, that was shipping in the unauthorized drugs. But, that was a way ago. And we had more important concerns to deal with.'

'And later in that episode, all of our collective respect went up for Rock. It takes balls to confront Revy like that.'

'Next was the Maid arc. We learned to never joke about the maid.'

'Then, came episodes eleven and twelve. I think they admired my showing in those. And I did admit, as they laughed at my password. Including, Balalaika and Boris. That the password, may the force with you, was worth a few good laughs from the others.'

'The Vampires Twins and the Tokyo Arc taught the other heads of the families what I already knew, long before I saw the Black Lagoon series. Do not cross Hotel Moscow, nor insult Balalaika. Also, they learned how tragic those the twins, and Yukio's live were.'

'And it seems that Rock rarely catches a break.'

'Between the Vampire Twins and the Tokyo arc, was the Greenback Jane arc, where we all learned how crazy our subordinates are. A number of the people killed in that carnival of killers were members of the other families. And the family heads always wondered about the details of their deaths. Watching these episodes answered a lot of questions for them.'

'And we did have a few restroom breaks.'

'Anyway, fourteen hours later. Long after the sun rose. We had finally saw the Blood Trial arc conclude. Crippled, or not crippled. After watching those events place out. The Roanapur head of the Colombian family swore never to go after the Bloodhound, nor Lovelace family again. Everyone else agreed.'

'Though, neglected to inform them that I had plans in motion for Roberta. But, these plans would only be helpful towards her.'

'Along with agreeing not to mess with the Lovelace household, everyone promised never to mention to anyone, that Revy was a victim of rape, as a teenager, by a cop. But, we did agree that does explain Revy's anti-authoritarian streak, and her general negative attitude towards life.'

'Of course, I refused to show them the omakes. I did not even mention that omakes. I decided to wait on showing them the omakes. Only after they learned of the animated shorts, themselves. In which case, I would cross that bridge when I had to. And not before.'

'Because, I knew that if I had showed the omakes, if Balalaika hadn't killed us, Boris would have.'

'When the series was over, all of us left for home, to get some much needed sleep.'

'But, before we all left, I informed them all that I would deal with the Ripoff Church for their actions of selling drugs behind our backs, spying against us, and having foreign government profit from our misery, by selling us, and our enemies, firearms.'

'But, I would do it of a time and place of my choosing. And they were to not let the Ripoff Church know what they had learned, nor attack them for that knowledge. They all agreed to this. Even Balalaika and Boris.'

'A couple of days later, after some minor negotiations, all the local heads of the families finalized their agreements with me. Including, Hotel Moscow.'

'And in all honesty. The only minor sticking points were that they wanted a few things and assurances in return for serving me. None of which were unreasonable. And I agreed to their request. And soon, all of Roanapur was not under my control.'

'To my surprise, not one of the family heads went insane from learning the truth about our reality. Though, I am happy about that'

'Less than a week later, we began started the groundwork for building my tower. While at the same time plans were being laid out, between Hotel Moscow, and my organization, on our first military raid of a reality. The Bubblegum Crisis reality. Which I had previously traveled too. But, all of us knew that there was much needed to be done before such an attack could take place.'

'It would be months before the attack would take place. And even a few months after that before I could fully begin to reap the rewards of the technologies that reality had to offer.'

'The whole reason I was interested in the technology for the Bubblegum Crisis OVA reality was that, even though it was not the most destructive, nor powered technology, out there, in the multiverse. It was the most flexible. And Genom had figured out how to mass-produce and customize cyberdroids cheaply, while still retaining quality control.'

'From a logistical standpoint. That is a major achievement. I needed an army to build my tower and fight my wars. And Genom offered both. Other technologies, such as possessed by the Knight Sabers, were just icing on the cake. Along with the people we captured.'

'I was honestly shocked at how cheap the combat boomer I had already bought was. The combat boomer I bought cost me less than a small car would.

'It was too bad I had to dispose of that boomer, after I got my own boomer army up and running. I do not know what secret commands Genom put into the boomer I bought. Including the OMS, overmind system, that could in theory be used to control all boomers Genom made.'

'And I made sure that my boomers do not have an OMS system installed. They only an emergency off switches, just in case they try to rebel.'

'Though, I had others project that needed my more immediate attention. Such as creating my own personal elite team to deal with problems I wanted directly handled. I had a five person team in mind. The first three recruits were easy to get. The fourth took time. Because, I need technology from both the Bubblegum Crisis OVA and Star Wars realities. Though, that was not to difficult.

'But, the fifth was going to take some planning. The fifth member being the juggernaut of the team.'

'Lotton said he had a couple of ideas on getting the fifth member. But, he needed time to plan and get supplies for it. I told him that I was in no rush.'

'On the vat process itself. Even just the supersoldier serum requires rest and down time for the process to work on a woman's body. And it is best just to keep them in a vat. This allows for total rest, while using that time to also brainwash them. And the supersoldier serum not only prevents muscle atrophy, but makes the person's physical body healthier.'

'So, those women kept in the vats will not have muscle atrophy. And they will be physically fine, should they ever be let out.'

'Though, there was an interest thing about the supersoldier formula. It would reduce the age of old adults to their mid-twenties. But, we found out that for those that we captured, that are in their late teens, it did not age them, nor make them young. Though, it did slow down their aging process.'

'So, when I decided to recruit my first three team members. Revy, Shenhua, and Sawyer I had told them that I would like for them to spend around a month with me to get some special training, to make them more powerful and dangerous in battle.'

“By then, I had including Lotton in my planning. And he held me convince them.”

“Given the situation. Even though, Shenhua worked for me. If I ordered her to do this, it would decrease the chance of Revy and Sawyer agreeing to my offer. So, I had to make it appear voluntary to all three of them.

“Fortunately, they soon all agreed to my offer. And they told their friends, such as Revy telling the Lagoon Company, that they would be gone. And I now had the time I needed to process them in some vats.

“The evening they had to come to my highrise building, with the luggage. With the pretenses of being training. Later that evening, with Lotton's help, I tricked the girls convincing them to drink some alcohol that I drugged.'

“After they passed out. Lotton and I put them in those vats, that were stationed in the building, for this occasion. I then had some of my trusted researchers and scientist monitor them, in secret, as they brainwashed and given the supersoldier serum. The change took around a month.'

'When they came out of the vats, they were completely loyal to me. And they were more powerful and dangerous than ever.'

'And I did not completely lie about my offer to them. They are not more powerful and dangerous in battle, than they were before.'

'All in all, I found the entire operation to be a masterful stroke, on my part, and Lotton's part.'

'Now, with my begins of my team in place. I put my plan. I already planned for my student, Revy, to be the team leader. I long since realized she had the ability to be a lead. I was just hoping that the responsibility of being team leader to her close friends will finally force her to grow up and mature. And I am starting to see signs from her, that is the case.'

'All the while, I kept my secrets from the Lagoon Company, except for Revy. While protecting them at the same time. The reason I protected them was even before I saw the Black Lagoon series, I knew they were useful. After, watching the series, I realized how valuable they were.'

'When I first met Revy, and decided to teach her. I realized she had the potential to be one of the best gunslingers on Earth. And I knew that someday she could rival me. Talent like that needs to be nurtured. And I did. And I have found that I was right. She has impressed me with her abilities. While she is not at my level yet. She is slowly making her way to that point.

'Dutch? Where to began on Dutch? Okay. If the anime is anything like the manga, on Dutch's past. Then, he likely has faked being a Vietnam vet. But even so, he clearly has military background and training. Maybe he is a spy, or just someone who went AWOL. Either way, he is valuable. Any person that can keep a crazy woman like Revy in line for years on end, while navigating the corruption of this town, and still turning a profit, is worthy of my attention.'

'Rock... Where do I start with Rock? It does not surprise me that Japan did not value Rock. Japan's culture has never been known to value the potential of a person's individuality. But, here in Roanapur, individuality is a needed survival trait. And Rock has truly bloomed here. His mind works like a well made watch. He rivals myself in problem solving, and he is just as good a planner as Lotton. And he is so damn polite and professional, while still maintaining a spine, that I cannot help but respect him.'

'And finally there is Benny and Janet. Both are either near, or at genius level intelligence. They are both sane. They understand the way this city works and live within its rules. And they keep their wits about them, while in this town, and in dealing with crazy women, like Revy. Though, they are not fighters. They are dangerous in their own way. Benny and Janet both have communications and electronics skills. Hiring them for their communications skills alone would be worth it.'

'From what Revy tells me, Benny is a better hacker. But, Janet has shown some skill as well. If I was not just making so much wealth from outright plundering the multiverse, I might hire Janet for her counterfeiting abilities, alone. And they are clearly planning to have kids someday. Which is always a plus for long term planning.'

'Yes. I will include all four of them in my plans. But, not for a while.'

'Still, I am glad that Revy could keep a secret when she wants to. I plan to show her and the other girls the Black Lagoon anime and manga series, later. And even the omakes.'

'Now, getting Balalaika in a vat was a lot more tricky.'

'Balalaika was many things, but being vain was not one of them.'

'But, I could not let Balalaika run free. Given her personality, she would eventually attempt to usurp my authority. And she was to good to try to kill. Last time I tried, we both ended up in the hospital.'

'And I am not sore about Dutch rescuing her that night. She has been more an asset to me than a hindrance. Whether she realizes or not, when we had our meetings with the other family heads, she played bad cop to my good cop, to keep the other families in line.'

'Considering I use to be a cop, I found that hilarious.'

'And in all honesty, I was not sure if my organization could handle taking on the full wrath of Hotel Moscow. And even if I had won, it would have been a Pyrrhic victory. My organization would have been in ruins, my plans destroyed, and I would have brought unwanted attention on myself.'

'So, I had to figure out how to brainwash her. And in doing so, get control of her and Hotel Moscow, without any of them realizing this.'

'Drugging her was out of the question. It takes time in the vat for the process to work. And Boris and the rest of Hotel Moscow would ask questions about her disappearance.'

'I had to figure out how to make her want to have the vat process done to her.'

'Then, I realized the Black Lagoon series held the answer. Almost all the scenes with her, her comments, and her actions, were either her being bored, or her tired with life.'

'While Revy was broken as a teenager. Balalaika was broken as an adult. That is their connection.'

'It makes so much sense that it is scary. As a teenage girl in Soviet Russian, she wanted to learned to shoot to be in the Olympics. That is why she originally joined the Russian military.'

'And while she became and expert marksman, and officer, she ended up instead in the middle of the Russian-Afghanistan war. Where she watched the Olympics on tv while she and her men were fighting for their lives.'

'That war grounded her up in so many ways. With the outward scars she eventually received from injuries merely reflecting the scars of her soul.'

'Then, during that war, she did one humane action out in the open. She saved that child, and instead of being praised my her superiors, they punished her for it.'

'That was likely the when the teenage girl she use to be, fully died, and Balalaika was born.'

'Still, that was the key. I offer her the two things she likely wanted most. Besides going out in a blaze of glory in an epic war. Those two items being time, and a second chance.'

'When I met with Balalaika and Boris, I did not even lie to them. I explained the vat process to her. That it would make her younger. To a woman in her twenties. She will feel young again. Though, it would not remove her scars, it would repair the injuries within her body to an extent that they would no longer hurt her. And she would be in top physical condition. Even her eyesight would be perfect.'

'Boris, whom always support his, captain, told her that it was an offer worth considering.'

'Balalaika told me she needed a few days to think my offer over. I just responded that she could take all the time she needed.'

'Less than a week later, she agree to my offer, and she underwent the vat process.'

'Unlike Revy, Shenhua, and Sawyer, I did not dare completely brainwash, Balalaika. The only thing I did was program her to be loyal to me. That was it.'

'When Balalaika came out of the vat she was in, she admitted that she did feel better, more younger and alive. She even thanked me. And since she acted the same, Boris and the others at Hotel Moscow had nothing to suspect.'

'Still, I had other loose ends to take care of. Fortunately, before I even had the vat process perfected, somebody did much of the job, of dealing with local loose ends, for me. Such, as the Roanapur Police Department.'

'From what I could piece together from witnesses, Watsup crossed the wrong group of teenage girls. That is not surprising for this town. And Watsup, along with the bulk of his police force, were killed by those teenage girls.'

'I would like to thank those unknown teenage girls for that. It saved me the job of taking care of them, myself. I may be the embodiment of a corrupt cop, but I was never a greedy asshole about it. Like Watsup, and most of his police force, were.'

'Though, I, and the other mafia families, did have to cover up the massacre. But, that wasn't too hard a problem. Nobody liked them. Not us mobsters. Not the citizens of Roanapur. Not even their own government superiors. The only ones that did care about them were their families and close their friends. And their family and friends understood how dangerous their jobs were.'

'Still, to avoid being a complete hypocrite on the issue, I made an offer to the surviving officers. Either join my organization, or accept my payments to them, leave town, and keep quiet.'

'Most of the officers decided to leave. I also still had to deal with the surviving families and friends. As I paid the officers that decided to leave, I did the for surviving families and close friends. To leave town, and keep quiet about what happened in this town.'

'The amount I paid each of the families, and officers, was enough to keep them living comfortably for the next twenty years. Without working a single day, during that time.'

'The reason I paid them, instead of just killed them, was that if I had them killed, it would only draw attention to the city. At a time I least wanted said attention. One massacre is a lot easier to hide, than two. Especially, when all the evidence for the first massacre points to an outside group. And I could afford the expense. So, I considered it money well spent, and a good investment.'

'With those loose end things taken care of, I could turn most of my attention to the plans, and preparation, of the attack on Megatokyo. Lotton was a great help in getting those plans to take shape.'

'And I had other longer term projects to deal with, as well. Such as the fourth and fifth members of my personal team. The fourth member being Roberta. While, I already figured out what to offer Roberta, in getting her to join me. I still needed to figure how approached Roberta and the Lovelace household. And for figure out how to keep them from getting suspicious of Roberta being gone from them. I knew that Roberta would have to keep in touch with them, or Garcia would since Fabiola to find out what was wrong.'

'While the young maid may not be a match for me. I do realize that Fabiola is good enough to seek in on my organization, without any of us realizing it. Find out what is going on. Escape. And tell others. Which would cause me no end of problems.'

'Along with this, even I realized the brainwashing I did one my servants was not foolproof. If I harmed Fabiola, or Garcia. Roberta would likely break her programing and come kill me. And I do not dare boobytrap any cybernetics, nor equipment I give her. Because she is good enough to find such traps, on her own.'

'Besides, if the others team members found out, it would cause problems between myself, and them, as well.

'And, along with the fourth team member, I realized the fifth member would also have to wait for later.'

'But, I did eventually solve the problem of getting Roberta on board, while still being able to humor Garcia and Fabiola. So, they would not investigate my organization.'

'As time passed, the three girls made an excellent team, on their own. They raided several realities. Taking riches from those places. I had forgotten how greedy those three could be.'

'But, the three of them loved doing it. And Revy got to be a pirate in a way she could not have imagined before.'

'This helped fund my ongoing projects, such as technology for reality traveling, the vat process, and creating more vats.'

'Eventually, our raid and taking of control of Megatokyo was almost flawless. Except for an annoying resistance movement we would later take care of.'

'We crushed that resistance soon after Roberta came on board. The cybernetics we got from both the Bubblegum Crisis OVA and Star Wars realities, along with the super-soldier serum made, her much more powerful.'

'Lotton and I also had her brainwashing customized to make her not only loyal to me, but far saner than she was. I have no use for a rabid dog. But, a loyal bloodhound is worth her weight in gold.'

'Now, I had an army of boomers at my disposed, while backwards engineering Sylia Stingray's technology. Along with this, my breeding projects were coming along, as well.'

'Life was looking up for me. Even if it is not great for me, right now.'

Chang took another look around his pathetic excuse for an office, as he said out loud, “When this tower is complete, I will have a palace for an office.”

Chang mentally grumbled, 'Still, it has been one constant headache after another.'

'I did not realize the easy parts were figuring out how to travel to realities was the easy part.'

'The harder parts were gaining legitimate control of the island, through land grants. While, I control the Roanapur, through various means. I was still subject to other people's justifications.'

'With various types of land grants, issued by the Thai government, I would gain a measure of sovereign control over my island. But, that was not easy.'

'It cost me a third of everything I had gained so far, enough to by some planets I know of. To pay the necessary bribes and outright payouts to the Thai government, to give me the measure and sovereignty and autonomy for this island that I needed.'

'But, I now have the permissions and land grants. And as such, now my word is law on this island. I can do anything I want here, as long as I do not threaten the Thai government. Which is a fine deal for me.'

'I am now like a feudal lord here. I like the thought of being a lord of my lands... Now, that I think about it, this is almost exactly what M Bison, from the Street Fighter series, wanted to do with his Shadowlaw organization.'

'I was able to accomplish this because of one major difference between Bison and I.'

'I wasn't a jerk about it. I was polite and diplomatic. I paid the right people. Said the right things. I even remembered to send nice gifts to the political leaders, whom I needed their help from, on their birthdays. As they say, it is the personal touch. And my plan worked beautifully.'

Chang began chuckling, as he continued his thoughts, 'But, as tempting as it would be, it would be cliché for me to ditch the coat and suit to dress like a feudal lord on a daily basis. If I did so, I would not only lose respect from all those around me, but I would lose respect for myself. I know I am a villain. But, becoming a costumed villain is too much, for even me.'

'Though, maybe I will dress as an ancient feudal lord at our next costume party, that I convinced the families to hold, a few times a year. Those are always fun.'

'Still, after I got control of this island, breaking ground on the tower foundation started almost immediately. By then, we had control of Megatokyo and an army of boomers. Including, labor boomers.'

'Within six months, we had enough of the tower base built, with need utilities and electrical wiring complete for those levels. It was then that we started shifting our operations over there.'

'We had even install alien electrical generators, that would give us plenty of power for decades. Along, with pulling water from the Roanapur bay, and filtering it, for us to use, and drink. And we had a working sewage treatment system.'

'And on the matter of our move, to this tower. We paid extra care with those people we had in vats, that we are transporting from my warehouses outside of town, to the tower.'

'Yet. Not all of this was good news. It has cost me another third of the wealth I had gained just to pay for these parts of the Tower completion, and my other ongoing plans.'

'The number of gold reserves and treasure hordes I am going to have to have my combat boomers raid across the realities, to pay for all of this, is going to be mind bogglingly.

'My boomers have even started raiding dragon treasure hordes, that Lotton and I know of.'

'And that is an interesting concept. Dragons versus killer robots. Who would win? The answer is simple the killer robots. I can field as many as I need. And they are cheap compared to the treasures the dragons. With my killer robots defeating the dragons through attrition.'

'I have a few stuffed dragons somewhere in this tower. From those successful ventures. When the tower is complete, I will put to them next to the stuffed dinosaurs I plan on hunting, in the near future.'

'When I suggested a dinosaur safari to Lotton, Balalaika, Boris, Revy, Shenhua, Sawyer, and Roberta. They all loved the idea.'

'I even have my clothing already picked out for the occasion. I am going with the classic safari outfit, with the brown leather boots and belt. Light brown, shirt, jacket, and pith helmet.'

'I look forward to bagging a tyrannosaurus rex, and a raptor, with my phaser rifle. That will be awesome on so many levels. And I do wonder if dinosaurs, in the reality we are going to go, to hunt them, are have lizard like skin, or are they like birds, with feathers.'

'I guess I will find out. But, I am not going to our own reality's past to hunt. I do not want to risk creating a paradox in my home reality.'

'We may spend a week there. But, for those here, we will likely only be gone an hour. I love time dilation mechanics.'

'The only reason I don't use time dilation mechanics for the vat process, is because my organization is not set up and ready to use such tactics. But, someday, we will be. Where, I dropped someone I want to process as a servant, into a vat, in another reality for a month. Until the are ready. Then, come get her, and bring her here. With only an hour, or so, of time passing for those in this reality.'

'Such tactics, working both ways, could be very useful for my organization.'

'And on the safari trip, we are just waiting for the hardsuits and motoslaves to be completed, before we take tripped. Facing off against dinosaurs will be a test run for the girls, in their new hardsuits, with their new weapons.'

'Though, I only plan to go on the safari, after the girl has plenty of time to train with the hardsuits and motoslaves. To the point they have no problems with them. And we have worked out all the bugs. But, with the skills these girls have, and the abilities of my scientists and researchers, that will not take long to do.'

'And the girls are already training to work as a team. Even when it was just Revy, Shenhua and Sawyer. And Roberta is integrating well with the team. And things are working out for them. I hope they are able to handle who I have planned for their fifth member.'

'Lotton and I talked about who the fifth member of the team is. And after some dicsusion, we decided on a specific person. Due to a number of reasons, including it allow us to move on with other plans we would like to put in motion.'

'Still, while this is fun, I still have to turn my attention back to work. One of the things I did not realize about the boomers, and large scale construction, was the subtle details that the boomers need to be guided in doing. With them having to be overseen practically all the time.'

'Such as making sure the boomers construction crews are constantly rotated in and out of shifts, to prevent them from breaking down, or going berserk. And to make sure they building and construct things and items, in their proper places, and in the proper ways.'

'That is not even counting the boomers building boomers, a few floors below us, and the boomers getting and transporting materials and supplies from other realities to here.'

'And near those manufacturing boomers, a few floors down, are the technicians and researchers whom were still refining the technology we have gotten, or producing the chemicals and equipment for the vats, weapons, and other items we need for my plans.'

'But, speaking of boomers. There are some boomers I refuse to have anything to do with. I will not build any fusion boomers. Just one of those could wreck my entire operation, if it went berserk and fused with the entire island.'

'Though, even with the headaches, I know in the end that doing all this will be worth it, to me.'

Chang's attention was suddenly broken, as someone knocked on the door to his office.

Chang turned to the door, as he said, in english, “Come in.”

The door opened and Chang saw that it was Lotton standing outside the door. He stated, in english, “She is here.”

Lotton then walked back outside. Chang follow, a few seconds after, with him closing his office door behind him.

They entered, and walked through a warehouse section of the tower, which was mostly complete, except for cosmetic touch up work, at various points.

Chang smiled as he looked see the green lighting of the room cast down on the vats in at the bottom of the room, giving the room an eerie feeling.

Chang thought, 'This is the exact effect I wanted for this room.”

Currently, half of the vats were being used for recruits. While the other half for the breeding projects. Chang and Lotton made sure there were no mix ups between the two groups using the vats.

Both men wanted to make sure that none of their loyal servants accidentally wound up pregnant. Though, if it did happen, Chang and Lotton set up the finances, and corporate assistance programs, from the human resources department, so that the accidental victim would be given a great maternity benefits package. With enough wealth and resources to allow the new mother to now have to worry for providing for her, or her child, for the rest of their lives.

After ten minutes of brisk walking, with them living the area for the vats, and down a large hallway, Lotton lead Chang to the entrance of one of the many reality portal rooms, on the current level of the tower, they were located in.

They came to a stop, at a set of large, metal, double-doors. Lotton turned to Chang. He said, “Chang. I apologize for the distance. But, given who this person is, I was not sure if she was just going to go and attack us once she got here. So, I wanted to put as much distance between you and her as I could. Just in case. Also, given her past, I don't want her to see the vats, just yet.”

Chang complimented, “Good thinking, on both points, Lotton. That is completely understandable. That is why I made you my second in command.”

Lotton nodded, as he responded, “Thank you. Keep in mind. She knows english. Now, I need to go check on the girls. I will leave you to deal with her. Good luck. You are going to need.”

Chang just smiled, as he watched Lotton leave for completed training center of the tower.

Chang then cracked open the right large double-door, into the room, and he made his way inside.

The person Chang was looking for, to meeting stood, by the circular metal ring of the portal machine.

Chang looked up, he saw no one else in the room, except for the at pink cybertronian autobot, Arcee.

Chang thought, 'I must remember that this is the insane, gender bended, IDW Arcee. Whose combat skills are unequaled throughout the multiverse. She is one of the few beings I can think of that is more badass than Roberta. That is saying something.
But, that is one of the main reasons I had her come here. She is the best at what she does. Now, let's see if I can get her to join my organization.'

Chang greeted her, as he said, in a polite tone of voice, in english, “Hello Arcee. I hope you had no difficulties in getting here. I am glad you accepted my invitation. My name Chang. And I believe we have much to discussed.”

Arcee said, in english, “The portal worked fine. Still, I was surprised when I saw a human in a pressure suit, on Cybertron. I was even more surprised he was able to go undetected by everyone, until he found me... Your subordinate, Lotton, promised me satisfying revenge and knowledge on what was done to me, by Jhiaxus. All in exchange for my combat skills.”

Chang stated, “Yes. You are quiet correct. First, as you may suspect, we are in an alternate reality from the one you are from. This allows us to move backward and forward, not only between places between realities, but times as well. You can spend a much time as you want here and then return literally a minute after you left. With no one over there realizing you were gone. So, there is no rush. And I promise you, there will be much excitement for you, if you take us up on our offer.”

Chang could see that Arcee clearly liked what she was hearing. She smirked, as she requested, “Please, go on.”

Chang explained, “We know much about you, Arcee. Information we will share with you, in the fullness of time. Right now, we would like to learn about about you and your body. This will benefit both you and us. You will know more about what was done to you, and through that knowledge, we will be able to help you take your revenge.”

“We suspect that more was done to you than just altering your CNA. That would be wasteful. And from what we know of Jhiaxus' other projects. We know of Jhiaxus is anything but wasteful. We think we know what he had planned for you. Learning this could make you very angry, if we do not first explain to you what we wish to do to Jhiaxus.”

Arcee asked, “What do you have in mind?”

Chang explained his plan to her.

Arcee just laughed maniacally, for several seconds, as Chang remained silent.

Though, as she calmed down, she responded, “If you can do that, I would gladly serve you. But, I may need help in fulfilling my part of the plan.”

Chang smiled, as he said, “There is a human woman I would like you to meet. You will find both her and her men most useful in our goals. She is Balalaika of Hotel Moscow. And after we have concluded this part of my plans, there are other women I wish for you to meet. Women whom I think you will get along nicely with. Their names are Revy, Shenhua, Sawyer, and Roberta.”

Arcee smiled wickedly, as she replied, “I cannot wait.”

(_)

Chang soon found out that Arcee did not care about what was going on in the vats, as long as she got her revenge. And those in the vats were not being tortured. Which Chang had her confirm, was not the case.

(_)

Several weeks later, at the Tower, Arcee and Hotel Moscow had just flawless captured the deception, Jhiaxus, whom was currently bound by large, super-strong manacles and chains.

Arcee stood alone in the room, as she looked at her bound tormentor turned victim, she thought, 'Before meeting Chang, I thought just killing Jhiaxus over and over again was the worst I could do to him. I am feel so much more calmer after doing that. Now, I know what true revenge is. This is going to be so sweet.'

'And it was so easy to get him. I found him where my past self had left him in the cave on the planet Gorlam Prime. After six years, I finally got tired of killing him over and over again... Those were good times. And I left him dead to be resurrected again. I just walked up his corpse, tied him up, and waited for him to resurrect again, before taking him with us. I only brought Hotel Moscow with me, as backup, just in case something came out of the Dark Universe portal.'

A minute later, Chang walked into the room.

Chang looked over at Arcee, as he asked in english, “How is our guest?”

Arcee answered, “Still groggy from being resurrected. But, I delightfully look forward to how upset he is going to be real soon.”

Chang ordered, “Let us get this show started.”

Chang pulled out a remote, with his right hand. He pressed a button and the chains immediately electrified, shocking Jhiaxus awake.

Jhiaxus looked around and saw that he was chained, in a metal room, with small tools and equipment. Then, he spotted Arcee and a human male. He roared, in cybertronia, “You! What is going on?”

Arcee cocked her head to the side, as she answered in a singsong tone of voice, in english, “Wakey. Wakey. Time for fate worse than deathie.”

Chang calmly requested, “Please. Let us conduct our business in english.”

Jhiaxus replied, in english, “Fine, human.”

Chang stated, “Hello Jhiaxus. It is quite an honor to make such ancient and knowledgeable being such as yourself. It is unfortunate that your victim is worth more to me than you are.”

Jhiaxus looked over at Arcee, then back at Chang. He commented, “I take it you offered her revenge, in exchange for her services?”

Chang cracked a grin, as he replied, “Absolutely.”

Jhiaxus said, “Another fool more interested in destruction than creation.”

Chang countered, “Actually, quite the contrary. Truth be told, we are picking up on a project, where you left off.”

This caught Jhiaxus' interest, as he requested, “Please explain.”

Chang continued to look at Jhiaxus, as gestured over towards Arcee. He responded, “The project I am referring to is what you did to Arcee, here. When my technological inclined subordinates studied Arcee, we found that you did more than just change her CNA. We found interesting cybernetic organs from her lower abdomen, to her crotch.”

“You are quite the artist, Jhiaxus. You have figured out how to imitate the female reproductive systems of an Earth mammal. In theory, Arcee here can become pregnant and give birth like a mammal, to a new type of cybertronia. These cybertronia would start out like organic babies. With them growing and maturing like an organic child would, till they reached adulthood. And from what we understand, she can become pregnant without a mate.”

“I must say, Arcee became justifiably upset when she found this out. But, she calmed down when she was informed these organs were turned off, at the moment.”

“It is unfortunate that you species is not equipped for making sexual love making. Sexual orgasms are wonderful experiences. And not being able to do that takes the fun out of such reproductive activities. Though, if those organs work as well as a human female sexual organs, you may have inadvertently solved that limitation. We will find out soon enough.”

Jhiaxus admitted, “I never could get that system to work. And with Arcee fighting me every step of the way, I just gave up, and focused on other projects.”

Chang commented, “I have to agree. Arcee can be a true hellcat.”

Arcee giggled at Chang's comment.

Jhiaxus said, “I doubt Arcee will allow you to continue my work on her.”

Chang pointed out, “Who said it was Arcee that we are going to be experimenting?”

Jhiaxus eyes widened as he realized why he was there.

Arcee stated, “As the humans like to say. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander. And I have to thank Chang for coming up with this revenge. It truly is groundbreaking.”

Jhiaxus laughed. He then pointed out, “Even if you had the tools and resources to do so. You still need a cybertronia scientist, with the knowledge and background experiences, to install, let alone make my systems work. Without such a person, all you will be doing is killing me. One more time.”

Chang countered, “We already have one. One of your former students.”

Jhiaxus watched the large double-doors of the room opened.

A few seconds later, Shockwave stepped into the room.

Jhiaxus became visibly worried.

Shockwave stated, in english, “Greetings everyone.” He turned to Jhiaxus, as he said, “Greetings my former teacher.”

Shockwave then turned back to Arcee and Chang, as he continued, “I must say, Chang. It is very rare when I meet anyone that truly surprises me. But, you have. The... boomer, as you called it, that you sent as a messenger for me, offered me such discoveries. After it gave me your invitation, I found wonders in dissecting it.”

“I once thought your short lived species was completely found wanting in the sciences. I no longer hold this belief, after I saw the work of art that was the boomer you sent. To merge machine and organic technology so seamlessly, not only requires genius, but a touch of artistry, as well. And most surprising of all, the boomer you sent was nothing special, and it was just a mass-produced model.”

“And this was only just the beginning of what your message offered me. Scientific breakthroughs in cross-dimensional sciences. Breeding projects. Organic manipulation. Merging of organic with inorganic. Fusion technology that allow a being access and control to multiple technology, while offering the potential of inorganic evolution seen in real time. Backwards engineering new technologies you have raided across the multiverse.”

“Your offer of a job for myself, as lead researcher in many of these projects, while extending me the free time to learn and research the other projects. Was to much to pass up.”

“How could I not use the remote the boomer had to signal for your organization to come pick me up?”

Chang quipped, “I did everything, but offer you flowers and a box of chocolates.”

Arcee giggled as Chang's joke.

Shockwave agreed, “That you did. Given the temporal mechanics involved between cross-realities. I will not be missed in my home reality, nor shirk from my duties there. While, I will have all the time I need, while here. As such, Chang, you will have my complete and undivided attention.”

Chang responded, “Good. Now, let us deal with the matter at hand. Have you reviewed our findings on Arcee?”

Shockwave answered, “That I have. I found it most interesting.”

Chang requested, “Then please explain to Arcee, Jhiaxus, and I, on the basics and how you plan to expand on our prisoner's research. Even thought he is the one to create the research, it has likely be so long, that even he could use a refresher course.”

Shockwave responded, “Certainly. The idea was simple enough.” He turned to Arcee, as he continued, “But, the execution was with flawed. As seen here with Arcee. First, the subject should have been a volunteer. Second, given the project's goals, care for long term care subject, such health of mind, spark, and body should have been a priority. Which, it was not in Arcee's case.”

Shockwave looked at Jhiaxus, as he continued, “But, I do believe even with these setbacks, we can move for. This project is to important to the future survival of our species.”

Shockwave turned to Arcee, as he inquired, “Would you not agree, Arcee?”

Arcee conceded, “We agree on this sole matter. As long as I am not the one who has to volunteer.”

Shockwave said, “You need not worry on that matter. I prefer sane test subjects.”

“Now, back to the project at hand. This project can be summed up in one word. Reproduction. There has always been limitations to reproduction for the cybortronia species. All cybertronians require sparks to live.”

“Originally, sparks were a naturally occurring event, with sparks being created on the planet. As this lessened, other avenues were researched for creating more sparks, so our species would grow. The great secret to this was that while our public was falsely informed we had discovered a way to merge pieces of sparks from each other to create a spark. The truth was we had discovered how to create sparks from the matrix itself.”

“The problem was that the matrix's power was slowly diminishing, over the eons of this being done. Eventually, someone stole the matrix to protect it from being destroy. After looking over the records of these events, I found this to be a justified theft.”

“There are further limitations to both these types of reproduction. In both cases, results vary greatly, with no way of knowing how the new cybertronians will turn out. And they have no term applications. As long as we have to rely on outside sources for our reproduction, our extinction is inevitable.”

“At this time, we still needed to figure out how to reproduce our population. We are a long lived species. But, unlike some believe, we are not immortal. Even with upgrades and maintenance, our own sparks will eventually give out and we will die. This is better known as cybercrosis. Without reproduction, our species will become extinct. And given our war, our species is already on the verge of extinction. Most of us just do not realize it yet.”

Shockwave turned to Jhiaxus, as he continued, “And that, Jhiaxus, is where I have to thank you, my old teacher. The idea was brilliant in its simplicity. You based the inorganic organs you created for Arcee on Earth mammalian female reproductive organs. With the two main differences. The first being there is no need for a mate. The second, and solution to our main problem, spark replication, with error checking.”

“If Chang's findings are correct, unless other otherwise programmed, the new cybertronian will grow like an organic fetus, and will be a clone of the mother.”

“The cloning will go right down to the spark. The error checking will make sure that the new spark will be just like the mother's spark. In theory, when the clone reached adulthood, it would be just as strong and as intelligent as the mother. Making this venture worth attempting.”

“This is why I refuse to work on Arcee for this project. The thought of risking the creation of clones of her, that are just as insane and dangerous, worries even my cold spark. Still, it is fortunate that the clones will not have the memories of the mother, only the spark, innate abilities, and physical attributes”

“But, Jhiaxus, this is where you made your mistake. You were never one for subtlity when working on your subjects minds and sparks. You considered insanity in a subject to be an asset.”

“I humbly disagree. Even with the organs turned off, when you hooked up Arcee's spark to the error checking technology, you caused a sensory feedback loop that drove Arcee insane.”

Shockwave looked over at Arcee, as he stated, “But, if my findings are correct, Arcee. Your body should have correct the feedback loop by now. With the insanity that is left being from your trauma, and not from the feedback loop itself.”

Arcee shrugged, as she replied, “So, I am getting better?”

Shockwave commented, “Let us hope so.” He then turned to his teacher, as he continued, “These clones, when born, will grow like organic children, until they reach adulthood. Time for development is still unknown. Though, I estimate that it is likely far longer than the growth cycles of organics. And most impressive of all, each clone will also have their own functional set of reproductive organs. So, even if one of these clones survives, the survival of the cybertronian species is assured.”

“It is only fitting, Jhiaxus, that you would be the first to reap the rewards from your labors.”

Chang looked over at Arcee and nodded his head to her. She returned the gesture.

Both of them silently left left the room, leaving Shockwave with his prisoner. Arcee pushed the double-doors behind them.

As they did so, Shockwave move to a table set out by Chang's servants, that had Shockwave's tools on it.

Shockwave picked up one of the tools in his humanoid hand. He approached Jhiaxus, while stated, “Do not worry, this will only hurt you a lot. Though, before we begin with work on procreation, we must first purge and cure you of the Dead Universe energy in you. We do not want corrupted children. Though, given my expertise. That will not be a problem.

The last thing Arcee heard before the doors fully closed, was Jhiaxus struggling against his bindings, as he screamed, “No! Don't!”

Arcee just smiled Jhiaxus reactions. She thought, 'I think I am going to like it here.”

As they continued walking down a large hallway, with no one else around, Chang turned to the insane autobot. He asked, “I was wondering. Who do you think has the strongest spark in your species?”

Arcee answered, “As loath as I am admit it, I believe Megatron has the strongest spark. Some would say Optimus Prime does. But, people forget the matrix strengthens his spark. And that strength has only allowed him to fight Megatron to a standstill.”

Chang responded, “Good. I always liked Optimus Prime. And I did not want to go after him. But, I am more than happy to go after Megatron. Later, I will have you meet with Lotton and Balalaika to draw up plans for Megatron's capture. Though, it may take some time to organize the missions. We have other projects that need our attention.”

Arcee cracked a grin, as she replied, “There is no rush. So, that sounds fine with me.”

Chang inquired, “By the way, have you ever considered going hunting for dinosaurs?”

Arcee turned to Chang, as her grin became a little wider. She said, “That sounds interesting. To me more.”

Chang replied, “With pleasure.”

(_)

Back to the present, at the top office of the Tower, Chang finished listening to Revy's report.

Revy stated, “Chang. We all realize how expensive our equipment, and we do try to not wreck the equipment when we are doing our job. But, things just happen.”

Chang said, in his usual calm voice, “Don't worry about it, Revy. Except for dealing with Rock and his bad company, the number of your successful missions speaks for itself. I think in time, you will catch Rock. But, we all know the clock is ticking on that. So, I suggest you do figure out a solution soon, before it is too late for Rock.”

Revy realized the implications of what Chang said, as she replied, “Yes, sir.”

Chang responded, “Good. You are all dismissed.”

All five of the Hell Saber members turned and walked out of the room.

After the five women left, Chang used a key on his touch pad to close the doors behind them.

As soon as the doors were closed, Lotton turned to Chang, as he asked, “The other two women that are with Akira sound like they are Ranma from the Ranma Half series, and Natsuru from the Kampfer series.”

Chang commented, “So, Akira, Ranma, and Natsuru have joined Rock's group? Interesting that in the reality they came from, their series coexisted. I wonder if any series coexists with in our reality. I just love a good crossover.”

Lotton stated, “As do I, sir. And I will look into it. Also, I will reviewed the hardsuit video recordings to confirm that it is Ranma and Natsuru. Still, this could be trouble. Those three are very unpredictable. I know first hand that Akira alone is full of surprises.”

Chang said, “True. That is why I have you, to come up with contingency plans.”

Lotton responded, “I will start work right away. Though, I am sure the video you made for Rock will throw him off his game.”

Chang admitted, “I know that was evil of me. But still, I want Rock to be on our side. One way, or another. And given what Revy says about his illness, he is going to have to make some hard decisions soon. Or, he will die.”

Lotton replied, “To be honest. I hope he lives. I have come to respect him for his mind and skills.”

Chang responded, “I agree. But, we may have to work something out with him, if we want him to live.”

Lotton said, “That would not be the worst thing in the world. Still, we have more time than he does.”

Chang commented, “Very true. In so many ways. Such a wonderful idea on time management on your part. By now, Rock and the others must think we have a near infinite supply of hardsuits and motoslaves. He probably does not have a clue as to the truth. That we are just taking our time.”

“That the way we deal with other realities is that we set our jumps to a ratio of around a day for other realities between visits, while for us, it is a week, or so. This gives us time to repair and replace equipment, for our various personnel. While, at the same time, giving our personnel plenty of downtime. We do the reverse when going on vacation, outside of this reality.”

Lotton commented, “I do love those vacations we all go on.”

Chang responded, “So, do I. Still, Rock has cost us much. The man has good tastes in picking out his subordinates. Fabiola was a loss, because she would have made a fine addition for Revy's team. Annie would have produced incredibly powerful force sensitive children. And Megatron was suppose to be the one to bring forth the new cybertronia species, were we working on. Speaking of which, how is Shockwave coming along with that project?”

Lotton answered, “Slowly. But, with results.”

Chang stated, “It cannot be helped. I am not going to make the same mistake as every bad guy employer does went dealing with super-scientist has made, by trying to rush results. I will give Shockwave all the time and resources he desires. I know he will eventually produce results. And the possibility of an entire cybertronia species under our control is to tempting to mess up, due to impatience. But, we must continue to keep a close eye on him.”

Lotton responded, “Agreed. He hacked our main computer systems, again. For a third time this week. As far as he is aware, he thinks he has completely control of our computers. In truth, he has only been hacking dummy systems we set up, specifically to fool him into thinking he has the upper hand on us.”

Chang cracked a grin, as he said, “And that is what I want him to continue to think.”

Lotton asked, “Onto another matter. Have you decided what you want to do with Janet, Benny, and Dutch?”

Chang answered, “Not really. Just let them lounge around in the civilian sections of the Tower. Such as their personal quarters, restaurants, shops, and theaters. Hell. Let them use our personal pool and hot tub, if they want. That sort of thing.”

“Right now, I want them to have some rest and relaxation. Because, even I know that the brainwashing is not a hundred percent effective in means of controlling people. The only reason the girls follow me is because I keep giving them new toys, while keep things interesting for them. I want those three to working for me eventually. But right now, I just want them to adjust to the changes we made on them.”

“Having one's gender changed takes time to adjust, even in the best of circumstances. And the brainwashing does help on that matter. Yet, like all major changes, the mind and body both need time to rest and recover.”

“This is one of the major reasons why I have no issued kill orders for Rock and his group. I still want them all back alive. I know if I brought back a corpse, that would turn those three against me. And that would poison my relationship with the Revy and her team. So, we must avoid such a situation.”

“Still, those three do need something to do in the meantime... I know, Lotton. Give Janet a debit card with a fifty thousand dollar limit. Tell her to go take Benny and Dutch shopping for clothes, other items. And get some entertainment in their schedule, as well. That will keep them busy for at least a week.”

Lotton chuckled. He then stated, “Nice idea. A true classic of the gender bending genre. Janet will take Benny and Dutch to the most girlish clothing shops in the tower. We will have to set the security cameras and microphones to catch some of those scenes with the three of them. I am sure it will be a laugh a minute riot.”

Chang laughed for a few seconds. He then said, “I know.”

Lotton commented, “It is no secret that Janet is a nymphomaniac, with a very twisted imagination, when it comes to sex. Revy told Shenhua and Sawyer some of the stuff she and Benny were into. Those two told me and Akira... Damn, now that I think about it. I hate that I am now going to have to figure out how to deal with Akira. Akira is a great friend of mine, both as a he and a she.”

“Well, let me get to work on these new factors on Rock's case. Maybe, I will find an angle that involves not killing anyone we want to remain alive. I really don't want kill Ranma, nor Natsuru. Because I am sure that would upset Akira.”

“So, I need to figure out what to do. Because, just like Rock. If kill Akira, it will upset Shenhua, Sawyer, and eventually the rest of the time. And that is not counting the Lagoon Crew, as well.”

“As such. I need some time to think on this.”

Chang replied, “I see your point. And good luck.”

Lotton turned and started walking out of the office, as he passed by Chang's three secretaries, from the corner of his right eye, he noticed the asian secretary had an ever so slight grin on her lips.

Though, Lotton did not pay the woman a second thought. As he turned his attention back to the doors ahead of him.

While Lotton walked closer to the door, Chang used a key on his desk to open the large office doors.

The doors fully opened just as Lotton made it to the entrance.

A few seconds later, Lotton has exit the office, to head out to carry out his duties for Chang.

When Lotton left the room, Chang used key on his desk to shut his office doors.

As the doors closed, Chang turned his office chair around, and he looked out his large window, at the world he was working to create.

(_)

In another reality, in San Francisco, California, it was late into the next morning, in the mansion that Rock and his group were using to hide in.

Everyone had slept in that night.

And by now, they were fixing breakfast for themselves in the kitchen. And taking their meals and drinks into the dining room, to talk with each other, as they ate at the dining table.

With his cane, Rock came into the dining room. He approached the rest of the human members of his team, whom sitting at table eating breakfast.

As Rock came to a stop, near they, those at the table notice Rock, and turned to face him.

Rock stated, “I admit that I am getting weaker. I know I don't have much longer. To that end, I am going to need to move to a closer bedroom to the rest of you. But, this team still needs someone who can outwit Chang. After some thinking, I know who we need. And I think I know how to get him to freely join us. After breakfast we are going to meet him.”

Akira asked, “Who?”

Rock explained, “The one person in the multiverse that has the skills, intelligence, and experience with alternate realities to fully understand our situation. A crazy, creative, genre savvy genius, with enough knowledge on fiction that would put the rest of us to shame.”

(_)

In another reality, on an alien world, at a beautiful late afternoon, on the white sand beach, with a light breeze, over looking clear blue water, a fair skinned man laid in his reclined beach chair, facing the water, while he smiled.

He wore swim trunks, an open unbuttoned beach shirt, and sunglasses, as he relaxed.

A woman then approached him, she was wearing a black, one piece swimsuit.

She asked the man, “John? Where are the diapers?”

John held up a bag that was by his chair.

The woman took the bag and walked away.

John Crichton turned his head to look at his wife, Aeryn Sun Crichton, take care of their infant son, Drago Crichton.

He then turned his back towards the beach.

John mentally reflected, 'It is so peaceful here... Yep. The universe is about to frell my friends, and I, over one more time. We might as well enjoy the moment of peace while it was here. Experience has taught us that it won't last long.'

He then watched the twin suns of the alien world, as they began to set.

John continued this thought, 'Well, one perk about this life is the view. What a beautiful playground for my family, and I, to live in.'

In a few hours, the Crichton family planned to take their space shuttle back to Moya, whom was in orbit around the planet.

That was the plan. And plans had a tendency to go awry.

To Be Continued.

(_)

Author's Notes:

This chapter was more of a day in the life for the villains of this book.

First, I wanted to show was the upper levels of Chang's Tower looks like, and the office that Chang uses. Which are bright, inviting, enjoyable. To show the contrast to the lower levels, where the vats are. Which are dark and eerie.

Then, as another contrast, I shows what it was like when the Tower was being built.

First, I show Chang's tower office, then I showed the temporary office Chang had, in the past. With past Chang then explaining what has been going on with himself, and his organization. And where he is planning on heading.

Now, I know I was really bending the flashback rules here. You never are suppose to have a flashback in a flashback. But, that is not the case here. I had a flashback, with past Chang mentally reflecting on his past, in a narration. Which is technically not a flashback.

Also, in a later scene, I showed it from Arcee's point of view.

The reason I did this was that there was no other way to fit all the scenes in this section of the story.

If I fleshed out the events that past Chang thought about, and I gave Arcee her own flashback, I would have to right another fifty to a hundred pages, at least. And it would likely dragged the story for you the readers.

And one of the main rules I have for myself, when writing a story. Is to try my best not to drag the story for the readers.

And I admit it. While, I enjoy many of the scenes in this chapter. I am not really that happy at how it turned out. But, it is livable.

(_)

Also, it is possible for someone to get a measure of autonomy, over an area, through land grants and permissions from a government that hold sovereign control over said land. It is just very difficult, and very expensive. And it is usually not done in this day and age. But, it is possible to do.

And Chang had to get that power, to help keep outside influences from effecting him.

(_)

Also, I wanted to show in this chapter, that while Chang and Lotton are being evil towards their victims. They are trying not to be sadistic, towards their victims.

More over, what they are doing to their victims is more of a logistical issue, and not intended to bring suffering to the victims. That is why those in the vats are kept asleep.

This is also the reason Chang and Lotton made it so the brainwashing is designed also helps prevents the victims to suffering at their situations.

Though, Chang and Lotton do have a wicked sense of humor. As shown, by them arranging Janet to take the gender-bent Benny and Dutch, on a women clothing shopping trip.

With Lotton and Chang arranging to film the shopping trip, to watch and laugh about, later.

They are evil. Just not as evil as you may think.

(_)

If you pay close attention to this chapter, you could tell, much like Rock handles each of his subordinates, to keep them loyal, Chang and Lotton do the same for this subordinates.

One of the things in this book that I wanted to do was show the parrellel tactics that both Rock, Chang, and Lotton, imply. With Rock using the tactics against Chang and Lotton. And Chang and Lotton doing the same towards Rock.

Also, I pointed out, that Chang and Lotton don't really want to kill any of those on Rock's team. Including, Rock's new members.

This is for various reasons. But, one of the main reasons is because the brainwashing is not foolproof. And it can be broken. Annie proves that.

Chang and Lotton realize if something happened to Rock, Fabiola, or Akira, it will mess up their relationship, with their Hell Saber Team. And given how dangerous Chang and Lotton have made the Hell Saber team. That could be a fatal mistake.

As such, Chang and Lotton want to avoid situation at all cost.

(_)

Now, showing the heads of the families the Black Lagoon anime. Now, showing the heroes, or one or two villains, the fictional series they are in, is one thing. But, showing most of the major bad guys. That is really pushing the insanity.

Though, I thought about this, and I realized it was likely going to happen in the story, eventually. So, I decided to just have it down in the first place, and move on.

And I did find some of the scenes I wrote in the section of the story to be funny. Such as them seeing Balalaika editing porn, on the Black Lagoon series. And Balalaika response.

(_)

Concerning Arcee.

One of the undercurrent of the IDW Transformers series is the reproduction of the Cybertronian species has been difficult to say the least. I went into detail, to say the least.

This has been a problem since the beginning of their species.

So, what was Jhiaxus really doing to Arcee? What was Jhiaxus' real goal.

First, some background information. CNA stands for, Cyber/Nano Algorithms. It is like the cybertronian genetic code. But, also an identifier for the cybertronian.

This is why cybertronians refer to each other as, he. But, what Jhiaxus did to Arcee was to alter her CNA, to the point others cybertronians refer to Arcee as a, she.

But, why? What would be the point?

Jhiaxus stated he wanted to introduce the concept of gender into cybertronian society. But, for what goal. All that work, just to change a way a person is referenced. That would seen to be a waste.

But, there is a minor point that is forgot. It seems that the CNA was located in the spark, but when Arcee was separated from her body, for a while, she found the experience to be very peaceful. It was when she was placed back into her body, that she started going crazy again.

Something else was clearly don't to Arcee's body. But, what?

This is occurred to me, gender also deals with reproduction. What if Jhiaxus also install of prototype reproduction system in her. That kind of radical change would mess someone up. Especially, if they did not know. And the cybertronian medics would miss it, because they would not know to look for it, let along recognized is.

Jhiaxus is such a mad scientists that it makes since he would try this. But, the system clearly was left off, because he couldn't get it to work.

Enter Chang and Lotton. They look into the matter, and they find it to be the case. And while they want Arcee for her fighting skills. They would like that technology to create their own cybertronian race. And the situation let's them do several things at once.

As payment for Arcee's serves, and loyalty, they help her get a much more thorough and satisfying revenge, on Jhiaxus than she was able too. At the same time, they used Jhiaxus to test his own experimental systems.

And when it comes to cybertronian experimentation in the IDW Transformers reality, Shockwave is likely the best, and more thorough. For all his cold, logical, evil, Shockwave does not take shortcuts on his research. He takes his time.

And Shockwave does have an interest in continuing his species. And he does not really like his former teacher, Jhiaxus. Due to some of the sloppy work that Jhiaxus did on his experiments.

So, it would make sense, after a little bribery, that Shockwave would be willing to work on his research for Chang, and experiment on his former teacher.

Though, later in this chapter, I pointed out that Chang and Lotton are being careful in dealing with Shockwave. And they are taking precautions.

On the next step of this project. Chang and Lotton would want to find the cybertronian with the strongest spark, to create their new cybertronians from.

And that spark would belong to Megatron. So, you now know why Megatron was capture. Though, Megatron likely does not know himself.

(_)

Also, in this chapter, I wanted to show how genre savvy Chang and Lotton were. Such as they are intelligent enough not to do what many bad guy employers do with their scientists. In that, Chang and Lotton are not rushing Shockwave. Instead, they are allowing Shockwave to take his time. Because, Chang and Lotton know that Shockwave will eventually achieve results. Even if the results are slow in coming.

(_)

On the Crichton family.

Oh the plans I have for them. And not just John.

Still, given how genre savvy John is. I was going to have to include him. And John is so much fun to write.

And I already worked out how Rock is going to convince John to work for him. And John is going to agree to it, because it is such a good deal.

Until next time. Have fun.