Earth appeared to be in a state of uproar for the next few hours as people all over were trying to understand exactly what was going on. They knew that a group of one hundred individuals would randomly appear bringing dragonleaf and then leave; they didn't know much else.

For instance, scientists worldwide were all desperately trying to analyze the newly-appeared dragonleaf; however, whenever a dragonleaf frond was being studied, it would immediately trigger a tiny, dormant organelle-like bacteria in its cells that would cause the plant to self-destruct.

That was one of Bath's rather simple contingencies.

If Bath was serious about this church business--and about conquering Earth as his first stepping stone--he needed to keep up this air of mystique and awe concentrated around the Church of the Dragon. If any old human could just rip off and clone his dragonleaf, what would be the point? He needed people to think of dragonleaf as something inscrutable, mystical.

After finishing with all the dragonleaf deliveries, Bath returned to campus. It was now late at night, though Bath knew immediately after arriving that Lisa was awake. He quickly appeared in her room behind the chair where she was working.

"Lisa."

He immediately heard a sigh. "You idiot."

"I thought the dragonleaf was a pretty good plan," Bath said defensively.

"You should've taken me along as one of your disciples!" Lisa pouted, now turning around. She stood up and walked over to where Bath appeared. "You could've changed my appearance and everything. Just the thought of watching people's faces go slack with awe...moreover, I could've influenced them with my mind manipulation."

Bath smiled at her. "You would've slowed me down. And, anyways, why would I need your mind manipulation?"

Lisa scowled. "When don't you need mind manipulation?"

Bath laughed raucously, then led Lisa over to her bed so they could both sit down. "True, true. Next time. You won't have to wait long to get involved, anyway; you're going to be the high priestess of the Church of the Dragon, after all."

"Who said?" Lisa gave him a pointed look.

Bath shot her a confounded expression. "You don't want to be the high priestess?"

Lisa just groaned. "Did you even look at my hierarchy tree?"

Bath blinked. "Yeah."

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Did you look at it again after I initially showed it to you?"

Bath gave her a sheepish look. "Perhaps...for a few seconds."

"If you had read it, you'd already know why I'm not the high priestess." Sighing and shaking her head in exaggerated disappointment, Lisa activated the chip reader and pulled out the hierarchy of Church of the Dragon positions. "Do you see a high priestess position here?"

Bath scanned the top of the hierarchy, then frowned. He didn't. In fact, despite the fact that the Church of the Dragon was, if its name was anything to go by, a church, its positions were all fairly secular in name. Or, at the very least, they didn't match up with traditional religious positions, such as a bishop. Now that Bath looked at the list...there wasn't a single position actually called "priest."

Bath looked back at Lisa. "Then what is your position?"

Lisa grinned mischievously. "What's at the top of the page?"

Bath didn't even have to look back at the hierarchy. "There are three positions--"

"The top of the page," Lisa repeated again.

"...The Church of the Dragon?" Bath said slowly, unsure if this was what Lisa meant.

"Exactly."

"That's an inanimate object; actually, maybe it's just an idea," Bath pointed out, as though these statements of fact would modify what Lisa had just said.

"I'm the Church," Lisa said haughtily. "You're the dragon. I'm the spirit, you're the body. I change minds, you change bodies. Simple. We're like Yin and Yang."

"I suppose," Bath said after a moment of contemplation. "Anyways, what's our next step? I'm tired of planning."

"I know, it's my turn to handle things. After all, I am--"

"Yes, I'm aware, the mind--"

Lisa slapped him on the shoulder. "The mind doesn't like to be interrupted. I'm tired, so I'm going to make this explanation quick..."

---

Lisa's plan was so simple that Bath was actually rather annoyed. "How does she keep it so simple?" he grumbled to himself as he returned to his suite and reestablished the network of essence and monitoring nodes around campus.

Lisa didn't even need Bath to actively make an appearance for this part of the plan. No, this part of the plan was on her. In disguise, of course.

Lisa had found the face of a gorgeous model online, then made Bath promise to use her as the template for Lisa's temporary transformation. Lisa has been more than satisfied with the result.

When Lisa had asked for a ride to the area in which Bath had found the most success with his dragonleaf, Bath claimed that he had no idea. He didn't stick around to watch people use the dragonleaf, after all. Rather annoyed, Lisa asked for a ride to New York in the morning instead.

Then she shooed Bath away, saying that since he did the first plan by himself, she would likewise do the second plan alone. After all, as far as the Church of the Dragon was concerned, the Church and Dragon were equals.

Bath didn't know exactly what had happened after he dropped Lisa off, staying true to his word to stay away, but when he turned on the evening news, he sighed in appreciation. The headline was, "Superhuman Takes Responsibility for Dragonleaf, Invites Disciples." The reporter explained that a strange woman suddenly appeared in Central park. She displayed superhuman abilities, such as jumping to the top of a large rock fissure. Then, she called out to all people nearby, somehow drawing all their attention to her booming voice, as though they couldn't ignore her even if they tried. She had brandished a frond of dragonleaf, taking responsibility for its global appearance. She then stated that she was the leader of a body called the Church of the Dragon.

A clip of Lisa's modified self appeared on the news feed:

"All those wishing to become strong, all those wishing to indefinitely postpone death, all those wishing to change destiny...Come to the Church of the Dragon. Wealth, fame--nothing matters before pure might. All who come will be accepted and all will be made anew."

The video feed cut out, to be replaced by an image of the rock face that Lisa had supposedly jumped onto. Inscribed on the rock was now a message, clearly gouged into the wall in a crude matter. Bath could tell that Lisa had used her finger.

"Church of the Dragon

The perfect void devours every name.

From nonbeing all is derived;

From unity all is parted.

Your heart is not a mirror to reflect what others will.

Finding purpose is the Way of the Dragon.

churchofthedragon.org"

Bath frowned at the weird message. "The perfect void...?" Bath supposed that Lisa probably was referring to himself. After all, he devours creatures, and is driven to devour those with 'different names.' He can seemingly spontaneously generate matter, so that explained all deriving from nonbeing. Also, he can endlessly partition his unified whole.

The next part was a bit different, though no less of a declaration than the first part. To the average person, Bath presumed that the second part probably made more sense.

Bath didn't dwell long on the poetic message. In actuality, his main reaction to the image of the message as, "We have a website?"

Bath grabbed his computer and typed the website's name into his browser. Soon, a modern-looking website popped up, complete with a multitude of pages such as "Beliefs," "Mission," and "Join." The front page had the message Bath saw just a moment ago front and center, with an explanatory blurb underneath.

"The Dragon of the Church is like a black hole that devours everything in its path. Before the Dragon's ultimate might, everything can be destroyed; similarly, anything can be made. By embracing the limitless path of the Dragon, you can create an affinity between yourself and the Dragon and become capable of receiving its power. All are welcome to join."

Bath clicked on the "Join" menu item. A new page loaded: a form. All a person needed to do was provide a first and last name and an email address.

Bath frowned. What good would a name and email address do? What was Lisa planning?

Bath's train of thought was interrupted as another headline popped up on the evening news.

"Alens Scientist Discovers Fossil of Largest Ever Terrestrial Lifeform." Bath's mouth popped open and he narrowed his eyes. Sure enough, a few seconds later, was a picture of Professor Scranton next to what Bath realized was the obsidian deposit in which his Permian-Extinction-causing form was "preserved." How she'd gotten it out of the water and on to dry land, Bath didn't have any idea.

"Is that really the best headline they can think of?" Bath muttered crankily. "Largest ever terrestrial landform..." Bath snorted. When Lisa gave him the go-ahead, he would set the record straight.