A/N: Alright, Nass, Kevin, Ralph, Johnny, Edd, and Marie are 17 in this story.

Prologue

A shadow- covered room with a large raised table along one wall sits beneath the night club Fire. Eight robed people sit at the raised table, looking down among those standing or kneeling before them.

"Is everyone present?" asks one of the robed figures.

A man approaches the table and kneels down before it. "Everyone who is coming is accounted for," he confirms.

"Very well, then lets begin. As many of you know, the Water Dragon's were disbanded eight years ago when we struck their main base. Most of the survivors fled, though some smaller groups stayed and have since been fighting against us," stated one of the robed figures.

"And as many of you know, in that strike the leading family of the Blue Dragon's was killed, but their youngest daughter successfully escaped. However, recently, a source has managed to pin point the location of their daughter."

An image flashes up behind the table.

"Her current alias is Marie Kanker and she is living in a trailer park outside of the city near a suburban cul-de-sac," continues another robed figure, this one a female.

"This girl has great blood, strong in leader-ship and strategy skills," now the robed figure at the head of the table has begun to speak. "She is the key to the reformation of the Water Dragon gang, something we can not allow to happen. I am placing a bounty on her head of 3,000 doll-."

"NO!"

The hall falls silent as one of the figures who had been against the back wall hurries towards the front of the room. He bows quickly before continuing.

"Sire, you can not be serious about this," exclaims the figure. "She is 17 years old and knows nothing of her past. She doesn't know she's a Water Dragon gang member!"

"And how do you know this?" commands the robed figure who the boy referred to as Sire.

"Because, I have spoken with her and she knows nothing. She once said to me when I caught her crying that she wished she knew why her parents abandoned her. She knew nothing of who I was. Marie Kanker is unaware this world even exists," the boy assured them.

The robed figure at the head of the table sighed. "Then what do you propose we do?"

The boy paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and giving the only response he could think of.

"Convert her," he replied. "Make her one of us."

The council of robed figures was quiet for a moment, all eyes on the man at the head of the table. Through this time it seemed as if everyone in the hall was holding their breath, knowing that this boy could be killed for such an outburst.

"Very well," the head robed figure finally replied. "She is yours to convert, but she may never leave your side once this has been done. I am placing a large amount of trust in your hands D. Your parents were close friends of mine and your father saved my life once. I am doing this because I trust you. Do not fail me."

"Yes Sire, I understand." The boy kneeled before his Sire.

"This meeting is closed as of now. You are dismissed and remember, not one of you may harm Marie Kanker as of now."

The eight robed members of the "court" as it may be called, disappeared into the shadows behind their table as everyone else left the hall through the doors in the back wall, leaving the boy, D, alone in this great hall.

What have I gotten myself into? He wondered as he too turned and left the underground meeting hall.