Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

“Kai too, and maybe one or two others.”

"Kai should not be hard to convince," Ishtar commented. "However I do not know of another... And I do not see any remaining behind willingly." Shrugging again, the Oni deferred to Jinzi.

"Who might you suggest."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Macey winced at that and looked down in shame.

"Hmph."

With that settled, Sarada ate and paid attention to Brutus. It sounded like he had invaluable information about Battersea's fighting style that she needed to know if she was going to beat him at the tournament.

“Nah, he’s strong. Stronger now too. But back then I was better. He had the long game, but up close he couldn’t match my wrestling skills.”

So far, it sounded like he had long range attacks. "You mean like ki blasts and that sort?"

[MrSandman]

“Taken her to healers and witch men and doctors. Never seemed to help before.”

"True, I can understand a skeptic...especially one that was been through as much as yourself. But I can assure you you've not likely brought her to the people I know. You have nothing to lose from the venture in any case.....I'll personally cover the transportation there and back again. If we fail, she'll get a small vacation out of it at least....if we succeed.....you'll not have to worry about where she'll get her next fix of ki." Etrina nodded. "We still have dinner of course, so think it over."

[MrSandman]

At hearing that, Sarada could finally relax. She still wasn't happy with what happened, but could and would rest easy knowing that that was all that would have happened. "Okay, then."

Her visage softened a little, if only because her stomach started growling. The soup smelled delicious, and would hopefully settled her stomach. "I'll let what you did to my friend slide, I guess," she said as she gathered some in a bowl and started eating. "But, I will never forgive you for what you did to my pizza. You can rot in hell for that."

"...........your priorities are as sideways as Erosa." Etrina shrugged her arms with a sigh. "....I suppose I've grown use to this sort of thing though."

[KingofPie]

“Nah, he’s strong. Stronger now too. But back then I was better. He had the long game, but up close he couldn’t match my wrestling skills.”

"Ah..." Sasheem wiped his forehead and sighed in relief at the fact that his allies would still face potential danger. But there was something else Brutus mentioned that was interesting.

Sasheem pointed at the chef, "Still....strong?" He asked.

[Lord Falcon]

Before Kami comes to the Old Library



As she sat, Meagan found herself falling asleep. Then she found herself floating alongside Asha'rah in what looked like a battlefield.



Watching what was unfolding, it was like observing gods fighting. Never in her life had she imagined something like this, it both scared her and fascinated her at the same time.

"Oh, interesting." Meagan found this news to be fascinating and disturbing, "I think this is an investigation worth pursuing. Lady Kami, I have a suggestion. If you don't mind, I would like you to contact my Mentor, the Mirror Mage. She has traveled extensively through the galaxy and has many contacts. If you can discuss this with her, I think you will find that the both of you can be of help to each other. There isn't much I can do while also being active on the upcoming missions, but if I find anything I will let you know."

Asha'rah stirred at last. She was not whole, not yet. Perhaps she would never be again. But she remembered so much more now, and the experience left her invigorated. She had grown in the absence of memory, living as a wandering pathseeker. Now that she had found who she used to be, she had to reconcile that with who she was in the now. It was a thrilling prospect.

She turned her attention outwards. She was in the library, Meagan by her side. Right, Meagan had shown her Arthur's journal here, leading to the rush of memory. And Meagan had apparently waited by her side all this time while she recovered.

"Thank you, Meagan. I feel better now."

More than better.

[Ptrvc]

“Gods, yes!” Macey says, a horrified look on her face at Sarada’s suggestion.

“I swear that’s all. It’s just easier when the person is......pliant, aroused, or drunk. I went with all three. But there is just something in Jack’s ki, I swear I’ve never felt it before. It’s old ki, from a powerful line.”

"I wasn't that... whatever," Jack grumbled. Not gonna lie.

The rest of what she was saying, however.

"I come from poor frost farmers," he frowned at the memories.

“I have an idea too. What’s yer plan, boy?”

"Your daughter took my strength, so I want yours," Jack cracked his neck, "I need to beat Battersea, so teach me what you know."

"Help me do this and we'll call it square."

[Tami]

Asha'rah stirred at last. She was not whole, not yet. Perhaps she would never be again. But she remembered so much more now, and the experience left her invigorated. She had grown in the absence of memory, living as a wandering pathseeker. Now that she had found who she used to be, she had to reconcile that with who she was in the now. It was a thrilling prospect.

She turned her attention outwards. She was in the library, Meagan by her side. Right, Meagan had shown her Arthur's journal here, leading to the rush of memory. And Meagan had apparently waited by her side all this time while she recovered.

"Thank you, Meagan. I feel better now."

More than better.

"Asha'rah, are you really that powerful?" Meagan asked with some hesitation.

[The Dog]

"My sadness is also irrelevant."

"That's also sad." Midori answered, frowning slightly as she heard that.

"You are unaware? Odd, considering your creator endowed you with sexual characteristics that are within .001% accuracy of human females. Most sapient species engage in mating practices for pleasure, rather than purely for procreation. It is my understanding that there are some who do it as a performance, professionally."

Midori looked down at her body as she replied "Dr. Nijimoto just said that he created this way so that we wouldn't suffer from low self-esteem and self-consciousness and attempt to take over the world. But what exactly do you mean by 'mating practices' and why is it something that you could make a profession out of performing it in front of people according to your wording?"

[Lord Falcon]

"Asha'rah, are you really that powerful?" Meagan asked with some hesitation.

The memory. Battling Indar'en, her once trusted friend. It had been a painful time, but a necessary one. All rebellions pitted brother against brother, and Asha'rah had judged it worth the cost, as had Arthur. But for now, she had a question to answer, one which called to mind all that her rebellion had cost her, and all that she had experienced since. She let out a chuckle, shaking her head.

"Not anymore. Perhaps never again. But you have helped me on my path, and I remember now what I once was."

She now knew her body for what it was intended: a prison. It was her punishment, perhaps it was her penance. All Asha'rah regretted was that she had lost, and the universe was now condemned to the consequences of her early obedience. Bit by bit, she had chiseled away at her prison, until now, she could at last see the outside. She could stick out a finger and feel the wind of freely moving air. Asha'rah had no idea how far she could go, but she had no intention of stopping.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

As the fighter struggles to land his strikes, so a man may choose to speak; but he can neither decide which blows land or choose how his words are heard. Yet standing here with Totoma, Ochazuke seemed to have coaxed from his previously guarded nature an oddly personal confession. Who was he to hear the words of a stranger who sought his counsel? Yet he listened in turn.

Only a game of wills played with blood.

Was this the Saiyans' perspective? Or the child's?

"We are all prepared to win. To accept that which is easy, which takes no effort," he said curtly, "You know well the consequences, then, of such a narrow focus-" Pausing to consider the follow-through of his words, Ochazuke stopped his spoken train of thought, "My condolences."

It was a battle he was not present for, so what he could appraise for Totoma would be limited. To some matters, eyes on the outside could appraise little. It was plain to see, however, that the loss of his mother fractured the young man to his core in every facet.

"Tell me, Totoma. If you find Jagam once more, what will you find before you? Redemption? Vengeance? An opportunity to relive that moment?"

"Thank you," replied Totoma. He knew the condolences were genuine--Ochazuke wasn't one to offer hollow niceties. "As for what I'll find..."

He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Many things. Redemption, vengeance... yeah. Reliving that moment... no, I've been doing that every night for ten years. I've fought that battle, in my dreams, well over three-thousand times. I've engraved his movements and techniques into the core of my being. Yes, he's doubtlessly improved, but... it's better than going in completely blind," said Totoma, clenching his right hand in front of him. "But, above all, I seek..."

Another pause.

"...closure. Killing Jagam won't bring my mother or father back, it won't undo the past ten years, and it probably won't even stop the nightmares, but... at least, without that bastard's shadow hanging over me, I can put my past behind me."

Scratching the back of his head, he sighed. "And that's why I asked you to... teach me, though perhaps that was the wrong way to put it. After all, you yourself said you couldn't sort out my life for me, but... I was looking for a more technical lesson."

"Not even formal instruction. We fight, I learn."

Ah, there it was again. The two of them, Totoma and Karine, were ever inseparable.

With her pallid contitution - Ochazuke'd since learned it was a trait of her people, but it did little to stymie that eerie quality - and his eagerness to speak to matters of the Saiyan Warrior Race - when Sarada missed an opening - with what transpired on the Geofront arena, Ochazuke's initial impression was that it was he who bore her up on this mixed-up journey they fell into.

Just the opposite, he considered. Entrust your burden to another, and one will bear the weight of both. How nostalgic.

"You are here, now, and here you have chosen to remain. So has she. If that is the rationality of idiot children, then there is little matter to consider. Is that so?"

A sharp exhale between a grunt and a chuckle escaped Ochazuke. He'd struck out on his own to avoid this kind of sentimental nonsense.

"Your focus has been so put upon what she is to you."

Unburdened by intrusions, his path was wholly his own. Yet such a simple, human problem still captivated his attention. Some things, eyes on the outside could see plainly.

"Have you considered asking Karine what you are to her?"

Wait, what? Was Mister Ochazuke giving him... relationship advice? Okay, that was... yeah, unexpected.

For a split second, Totoma's expression betrayed his surprise at the advice, before his usual mask returned. "...gotta say, I didn't expect this."

Yet another pause. "Yes, I've considered asking her, but I..." He trailed off.

"...I'll take it into consideration," said Totoma, after a long pause. He hadn't been able to figure out a legitimate reason not to.

Crossing his arms, he turned to Ochazuke fully. "Still, you surprise me, Mister Ochazuke. I... did not expect you to have any interest in this... this sentimental nonsense."

[rhyvurg]

"That's also sad." Midori answered, frowning slightly as she heard that.



Midori looked down at her body as she replied "Dr. Nijimoto just said that he created this way so that we wouldn't suffer from low self-esteem and self-consciousness and attempt to take over the world. But what exactly do you mean by 'mating practices' and why is it something that you could make a profession out of performing it in front of people according to your wording?"

Adam is silent for several seconds. "If the transport were here I could access several examples, and I suspect it is inappropriate to demonstrate. Primarily because the Lookout seems to lack sufficient privacy."

[The Dog]

Shiro sighed as she walked through Kami's Lookout, her plan to investigate the memory chip given to her by the Silver Lady having hit a dead end that she couldn't pass until the group who took the transport returned with it. And having taken a bit of a headcount and realizing that both Sasheem and Chou had went with it, the question wasn't only when it returned, but if it returned.

Thus without the distraction the chip provided her, and without a spar to occupy her, Shiro found herself going over the revelations she'd received today. The revelations that Dr. Nijimoto, her creator and the man she looked to as practically her father, had planned to deactivate both her sister and her so he could work on their minds. He claimed that he was going to do it so that they wouldn't remember their actions during the war, but how could she be sure of that?

'No, he was doing it for our own good!' Shiro thought, but the doubt argued 'How can you be sure of that? He was essentially going to reprogram the both of you, so he could do anything and you would never know. In fact,' the doubt continued, 'how do you know he hasn't already done so before, and you can't remember because of he erased everything that would let you know, or even suspect something like that?'

'He loves us! He said so himself!' Shiro countered, but that same doubt remarked 'Sure, he loves you. Loves you like someone loves a car, or a computer, or a phone. He loves you like property, not people.'

'Shut up! That's a lie, because he's said he loves us like daughters!' Shiro thought, and the doubt commented 'Loves you like daughters he planned on deactivating and reprogramming. Because that's what you do when property has a problem: you go in and fix what's broken in them.'

"SHUT UP!" Shiro screamed, swinging her fist into the wall, punching a large crater into it, sending bits of stone and dust into the air. A second punch, a second crater and more bits of stone and dust filling the air. Shiro screamed at the doubt in her mind again and again to shut up, punching the wall with each cry. As she punched and yelled, her words devolved into wordless screams, tears flowing down her face as she took her emotions out on the wall, each strike of her fist creating another crater in the surface.

After several minutes of screaming and punching, Shiro's screaming subsided into nearly silent sobbing as she finally slumped face-first against the damaged wall before sliding down into a kneeling position, still banging her hand weakly against the wall as she cried.

[Tami]

The memory. Battling Indar'en, her once trusted friend. It had been a painful time, but a necessary one. All rebellions pitted brother against brother, and Asha'rah had judged it worth the cost, as had Arthur. But for now, she had a question to answer, one which called to mind all that her rebellion had cost her, and all that she had experienced since. She let out a chuckle, shaking her head.

"Not anymore. Perhaps never again. But you have helped me on my path, and I remember now what I once was."

She now knew her body for what it was intended: a prison. It was her punishment, perhaps it was her penance. All Asha'rah regretted was that she had lost, and the universe was now condemned to the consequences of her early obedience. Bit by bit, she had chiseled away at her prison, until now, she could at last see the outside. She could stick out a finger and feel the wind of freely moving air. Asha'rah had no idea how far she could go, but she had no intention of stopping.

"'Follow the path of light and you shall never know darkness', that's a saying my people learn from a young age." Meagan then smiled, "My people are full of sayings, like this one, 'The Powerful and the Powerless share the same footprint and see the heavens through the same eyes.'"

"I've always liked those two." then fidgeting for a moment, "And I'm very glad you are feeling better."

[The Dog]

Adam is silent for several seconds. "If the transport were here I could access several examples, and I suspect it is inappropriate to demonstrate. Primarily because the Lookout seems to lack sufficient privacy."

Midori tilted her head slightly as she confusedly asked "Why would it be inappropriate enough to need privacy for you to demonstrate something that you said is done as a profession for others to view?"