Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Sub-Zero MKA]

All things considered, Sarada hadn't fared as badly as she feared she would. Getting caught in a point-blank explosion should have left her unconscious and badly injured, but somehow, someway, she made it out with only a few injuries. The bits of her body that weren't covered in armor were burned, but not so badly that she couldn't stand.

Jack tapped Sarada with the toe of his boot, "Hey, girl, you okay?" he asked after a moment, "You need some juice or something?" Honestly, she looked a bit better than he had yesterday, or Totoma for that matter. Two friendly fire episodes in as many days. In a real battle this kind of behavior was going to cost lives. Probably his, which was...eh...but the rest of the group did not deserve this.

Except the Toilet. Why was the Toilet unscathed? They should really kill the Toilet.

Jack sat down next to Sarada, "Looks like you did not have any better luck then me huh? I could not seem to touch Miras, nothing I did worked, and by the time I prepared the only thing I know that might have done anything it was too late. And apparently this is only some of her power." Everybody just keeps upping the ante.

Totoma approached Jack from behind, having gone to see if anyone else needed help. Seems Sarada had gotten caught in the blast. Should have known.

"...she alive?" he asked, stopping next to the sitting man.

Probably was. Saiyans were hard to kill, especially just from a single explosion, no matter how violent and unexpected. She'd probably pull ahead of him after she recovered, but it didn't really matter to him right now.

Meagan walked over, "Need help with Sarada? Anyone else injured?""

Jack was silent for a moment as he looked down at the Sarada, she did look pretty...out of it. Pretty out of it. That is what he meant.

"Uh...psh...hrm...naw," Jack said after a minute of thought, "If she wakes up and sees a bunch of people crowding around her she'll all 'Grrr my pride, grr!' I'll take her to a healing tank in a minute if she doesn't wake up."

"Don't wait too long. Sayians are tough, but they are not invulnerable." Meagan then went to check on the others.

Jack sighed in relief as Miras disappeared. She was nice enough for a lawman, but she was still a lawman. That made Jack nervous, especially when they were stronger than him. Which she was.

Man, where are the space weaklings? Gottap be someone weaker than us out there, right?

He knelt down and gently picked up Sarada, "Come on, let's get you to that healing tank, Space Girl."

"Get off," she growled.

She was certainly fine, but the void that the pain would have filled was instead filled to capacity with an intense rage that she hadn't felt in a long while. For the second time in as many days, some moron with tunnel vision nearly nuked half the team into oblivion. Yesterday, it was hilarious because the mutt was caught up in it. Today, it wasn't nearly as funny.

She shot out of Jack's grasp and fell to her knees. She was sore; too sore to move on her own without extreme labor. It would have been practical to allow Jack to carry her to the healing tanks, but fuck that. She was a Saiyan. She refused to let anyone see her vulnerable, weak, or helpless. She would crawl to the healing pod on her hands and knees before someone helped her there.

Low, deep growls rumbled from her throat as her wide, wild eyes scanned the group. At least half a dozen, including the annoying green android and Karine, had been caught up along with her. Not Jack, though.

Not that she cared; she was just pointing that out.

Her eyes settled on Chou, who had moved near Charco. Like a dog, his guilt gave him away. "You," she snarled.

Wobbly, she rose to her feet, her eyes boring holes into his chest. "You'll get yours soon," she promised, a sinister grin appearing.

[Yun Lao]

For some, this might have been considered karma for what he had put the group through yesterday. Perhaps they would hope that taking his own medicine might make him think differently to avoid such pains again. Unfortunately...

"Huh...so that's what it feels like..."

As he had told others, the Dino School did not practice sparring due to the aggressive nature of its users and techniques, so this would be the first time he had encounter being hit by a ki blast, although Ishtar had taken a good portion of the sting out. It wasn't too bad, for it only hurt when he moved, or breathed, and he couldn't help but feel some minor pain pain whenever his heart beat. Living up to his name, his suit tracksuit was black and charred, with the top mostly destroyed.

Thankfully, his communicator survived unscathed, otherwise, he might have actually been upset.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

As before, Ishtar was enveloped in light, and heat, and sound; the only difference the fact that the woman had imparted her gift of fortitude to everyone but herself.

Doing so would have prevented her gambit from working. The internalization of her technique a boon for herself, yet a damnation for others ... yet the blade had acted as an extension of herself, and in its sundering she had discharged a blessing in the guise of an attack. And while it was true that the Oni was unsure if such a move would prove fruitful, the challenge levied against everyone on this field of battle warranted a reply.

The explosion would have been enough, combined with other energies, to sunder the automaton she resided in. However, Ishtar's protection and several people's own quick thinking/own shields hold up, and when the dust settles, while some like Karine are battered a bit, all are alive, conscious, and whole. In fact, thanks to Ishtar mostly, those in the blast range are better off than those caught in Zaofan and Charco's Dueltech yesterday.

When the last of the dust settles, a crater has formed in the area Miras had stood. Nether her or her clone are present, and in fact, appeared to have been disintegrated.

The pain is louder than the explosion itself, tearing through the Oni as she holds firm in the wake of Chou's impulsive foolishness. Her sword, now the shattered fragments of its original form, was cast aside as she weathered the explosion, feet planted firmly in defiance.

And as the heat and light slowly fade away, the woman feels her Ki- flowing through the bodies of so many others- burn away into nothing. It had worked, perhaps not as she had hoped ... but enough to prevent the full intent of Chou's actions. And while the pain they suffered at the hands of an ally would stick with them; the young ones would live. She saw it then, too, with her own eyes once the smoke cleared.

Some had brought their own defenses to bear, further mitigating the explosion ... others had been forced to rely on the Oni's aid. And while several were relatively unscathed, only suffering cuts, scrapes, and bruises; others still were in worse ways.

It was catastrophe personified. The explosion of the day before forgotten in the wake of this senseless act.

Midori, the green haired construct had lost her arm. Charco, Sarada and Karine lay unconscious, their injuries unknown. In time, the Oni would perhaps come to understand the reason behind this folly; but all she felt now was anger. It filled her battered and broken body, held her upright on legs to weak now to stand on their own. Yet it was a blessing of its own, as it prevented memories from rising to the fore. Of a time where loss, and pain, and suffering, had been the way of her world. And those memories ... were better left for silent contemplation.

After a long minute of silence, people getting healed up, another silvery robot walks up to the arena again and slowly morphs back into Miras' form. She looks around at them and whistles, nodding.

"Well, not my favored tactic, though effective. Sacrificing some against a stronger opponent to win is....not going to garner you any friends, that's for sure. I'm not overly happy with the move, Chou, but your blast did beat my host body, so there is that. Ishtar, wonderful use of your power, strengthening everyone."

Ishtar shook her head at this, outwardly calm despite the anger that held her upright.

"The ... idiocy of a child should ... n-not be afforded any justification, Officer." And why should it ? This had not been a situation where force of that caliber had been necessary or warranted. It had been the impulsive action of a child, nothing more. Though the conversation she had asked for with the woman after the day's events was lost to time, as Officer Thane left the battlefield, leaving those left to mend and recover and the anger that sustained Ishtar was spent.

And once her image faded in its entirety, the Oni dropped to her knees, eyes cast down towards the now cracked and glassed floor.

It was then she noticed that the explosion had burned away her clothes; and that while her whole body had suffered the full force of Chou's explosion ... her right arm had taken the brunt of it ... and it did not look well. The blue skin was gone, replaced by burned and cracked flesh all the way up to the woman's shoulder and while pain filled every extremity .. she could not feel it nearly as loudly in the now blackened limb. The naked Oni, blinked slowly, before letting out a shaky sigh to steady herself.

"Oh."

Hopefully she would not lose her arm.

[The Chou Lives]

“ You would not be the first sayian chick pissed off at me.”

He said as he had Not hint of fear in his voice. Deep down he was disturbed. For, he did not do it. Big bomb was one of his techniques. But, his body obeyed another voice deep within. Still. Had no fear, for she fought like a violent happy clown, leaving herself open to everything. On purpose.:

The only ones he was concerned were Midori and Shiro. Because he actually liked them.:

[Sub-Zero MKA]

“ You would not be the first sayian chick pissed off at me.”

He said as he had Not hint of fear in his voice. Deep down he was disturbed. For, he did not do it. Big bomb was one of his techniques. But, his body obeyed another voice deep within. Still. Had no fear, for she fought like a violent happy clown, leaving herself open to everything. On purpose.:

The only ones he was concerned were Midori and Shiro. Because he actually liked them.:

He didn't seem too concerned about anyone but those androids. "Just remember your first on my schedule." That would have to wait. She needed to heal and, more importantly, she needed to calm down. If they went at it right then, she was liable to try her best to kill him, or at the very least severely maim him. That wouldn't do and it would only place her in the same short-sighted category that Chou and Charco belonged in.

From what she heard, Charco had been trained to be this reckless -- she questioned the logic in training fighters to fight with so little abandon -- what was Chou's excuse?

[The Chou Lives]

For some, this might have been considered karma for what he had put the group through yesterday. Perhaps they would hope that taking his own medicine might make him think differently to avoid such pains again. Unfortunately...

"Huh...so that's what it feels like..."

As he had told others, the Dino School did not practice sparring due to the aggressive nature of its users and techniques, so this would be the first time he had encounter being hit by a ki blast, although Ishtar had taken a good portion of the sting out. It wasn't too bad, for it only hurt when he moved, or breathed, and he couldn't help but feel some minor pain pain whenever his heart beat. Living up to his name, his suit tracksuit was black and charred, with the top mostly destroyed.

Thankfully, his communicator survived unscathed, otherwise, he might have actually been upset.

“ Can you walk or you want to be carried more man?” Looking to Midori/Shiro.:

“ Ladies. I am.. sorry back there. I have no idea what came over me.” A true telepath would know the situation well like Laminor Slak. There is more than one, thing in Chous Head and they are fighting for control. It is tasking. The, Monster won that last time.:

Edit:

: He looks to see blue. Naked and her arm burnt. His heart sank in his chest then. His core heart anyway.:

[Cyke]

As before, Ishtar was enveloped in light, and heat, and sound; the only difference the fact that the woman had imparted her gift of fortitude to everyone but herself.

Doing so would have prevented her gambit from working. The internalization of her technique a boon for herself, yet a damnation for others ... yet the blade had acted as an extension of herself, and in its sundering she had discharged a blessing in the guise of an attack. And while it was true that the Oni was unsure if such a move would prove fruitful, the challenge levied against everyone on this field of battle warranted a reply.



The pain is louder than the explosion itself, tearing through the Oni as she holds firm in the wake of Chou's impulsive foolishness. Her sword, now the shattered fragments of its original form, was cast aside as she weathered the explosion, feet planted firmly in defiance.

And as the heat and light slowly fade away, the woman feels her Ki- flowing through the bodies of so many others- burn away into nothing. It had worked, perhaps not as she had hoped ... but enough to prevent the full intent of Chou's actions. And while the pain they suffered at the hands of an ally would stick with them; the young ones would live. She saw it then, too, with her own eyes once the smoke cleared.

Some had brought their own defenses to bear, further mitigating the explosion ... others had been forced to rely on the Oni's aid. And while several were relatively unscathed, only suffering cuts, scrapes, and bruises; others still were in worse ways.

It was catastrophe personified. The explosion of the day before forgotten in the wake of this senseless act.

Midori, the green haired construct had lost her arm. Charco, Sarada and Karine lay unconscious, their injuries unknown. In time, the Oni would perhaps come to understand the reason behind this folly; but all she felt now was anger. It filled her battered and broken body, held her upright on legs to weak now to stand on their own. Yet it was a blessing of its own, as it prevented memories from rising to the fore. Of a time where loss, and pain, and suffering, had been the way of her world. And those memories ... were better left for silent contemplation.



Ishtar shook her head at this, outwardly calm despite the anger that held her upright.

"The ... idiocy of a child should ... n-not be afforded any justification, Officer." And why should it ? This had not been a situation where force of that caliber had been necessary or warranted. It had been the impulsive action of a child, nothing more. Though the conversation she had asked for with the woman after the day's events was lost to time, as Officer Thane left the battlefield, leaving those left to mend and recover and the anger that sustained Ishtar was spent.

And once her image faded in its entirety, the Oni dropped to her knees, eyes cast down towards the now cracked and glassed floor.

It was then she noticed that the explosion had burned away her clothes; and that while her whole body had suffered the full force of Chou's explosion ... her right arm had taken the brunt of it ... and it did not look well. The blue skin was gone, replaced by burned and cracked flesh all the way up to the woman's shoulder and while pain filled every extremity .. she could not feel it nearly as loudly in the now blackened limb. The naked Oni, blinked slowly, before letting out a shaky sigh to steady herself.

"Oh."

Hopefully she would not lose her arm.

As Zaofan turned to head out the door, lost in himself as the others argued, he felt his foot brush up against a bump. "Oh? What's this?"

He bent down and found the green arm, completely separated and charred. And he felt a bit of shame as well. The cute little green android didn't deserve this. Zaofan was willing to brush aside Chou's ... indiscretion... as a repeat of the day before, but this time it literally cost someone an arm. He picked it up and brought it to his friends. The clock was ticking, there was confusion, and the team, though performing together, still weren't the cohesive unit that Mr. Pantaloon was grooming them for. "I found this," he said, as he presented the green arm to the next closest person, Ishtar. And it was only then that Zaofan noticed Ishtar's arm was in terrible, exposed state. He rushed over to Ishtar's side, dropping to a slide across the floor towards the kneeling Ishtar.

"CHUAN! KAI! ANYONE! HEALER! WE NEED A HEALER!"

Zaofan had never seen damage like this before to flesh, at least not before amputation in all his travels. Zaofan's arms still shook, and even then that was only because he was at the absolute edge of the blast. His mind struggled to contemplate the force of actually being caught in the middle of it. The soup could wait, dammit. Both Ishtar and Midori were in bad shape.

[Yun Lao]

“ Can you walk or you want to be carried more man?” Looking to Midori/Shiro.:

“ Ladies. I am.. sorry back there. I have no idea what came over me.” A true telepath would know the situation well like Laminor Slak. There is more than one, thing in Chous Head and they are fighting for control. It is tasking. The, Monster won that last time.:

: He looks to see blue. Naked and her arm burnt. His heart sank in his chest then. His core heart anyway.:

"You can...yeah, just toss me over there."

It was hard to tell what "there" was considering his position and lack of pointing anything out.

"It'll be good training."

Another tenet of the Dino School was reaching your limits and overcoming them, and as much as he would liked to be cradled to the healing tanks, he was here for training.

[Hazard]

Any tenseness or simmering anger in him vanished the moment he heard that Karine would be all right. He released a sigh of relief, and a distinctly un-saiyan-like smile spread across his face. "Hehe, that's great news! I owe ya, I really mean it."

"Although, being a Saiy--er, half-Saiyan, I don't have many useful skills beyond fighting and... cooking," said Totoma, scratching the back of his head. "And I don't really think someone that can survive only on water would really have much interest in a meal, no matter how tasty."

He tapped his chin a few times, then shrugged. "Ah well, I'm sure one of us will think of something, yeah?"

A half-Saiyan. He is sure that means something to them. As it is, it is just another facet of sexual reproduction that eludes Slak.

"It is alright," he says as the Saiyan tries to think of how to pay him back. "I would have helped her regardless so there is no need to repay me"

Slak smiles as the Saiyan finishes speaking. "That is a common misconception. While we can survive on water, we can eat just about anything."

Namekians have canines for a reason.

"Is Karine okay?" Chuan sniffled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand as he did. "She took a real bad hit there. I didn't think that Chou would go hog wild on us, especially not after what Charco did."

He had never even heard about Namekians before, so this mysterious healing they could do was something he couldn't quantify. That said, it seemed to be working out fine, so he was fairly sure that their teammate could be counted on. Since Totoma and Slak inquired into his condition, he answered as quickly as he could.

"I'm not really that fine, but thanks. I'll manage somehow." His wounds were still fixing themselves up, but what really hurt was how useless he had been in this situation. Damn it all, why did he put off the testing? He should've known better after what happened with Charco! "And yeah, I get it. It's lucky that Slak was here. I'm not sure if I could've done his job if I had gotten there first. I still haven't had the chance to figure out if my needles would've worked on her properly."

He already understood that fact, but they didn't. Saying it out loud made him feel even worse, but he had to do it. It wasn't an easy choice for him even if it was the right thing to do. Sure, they'd think less of him, but he didn't want them to rely on him until he could prove that his techniques could do their job reliably.

"I didn't check any of the people I was unsure of. I just kept putting it off because I thought things wouldn't go so terribly. I guess... I guess I was wrong to expect that." He looked away from Totoma for a second, eyes watering up again as he looked to the injured members of their team. "It's not happening again. As soon as everybody's fixed up, I'm doing my tests. There won't be a shortage of healing ever again, I promise you."

"Be at ease. She is well," Slak says.

The Saiyan wants him to heal this one. The earthling, however, asserts he is fine.

"Very well," Slak says, inclining his head. "I will defer to your judgment."

The earthling seems to be a healers of sorts. The accident seems to have inspired him. "That is hearting to hear. I must admit I find the lack of healers in this planet rather alarming."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

And once her image faded in its entirety, the Oni dropped to her knees, eyes cast down towards the now cracked and glassed floor.

It was then she noticed that the explosion had burned away her clothes; and that while her whole body had suffered the full force of Chou's explosion ... her right arm had taken the brunt of it ... and it did not look well. The blue skin was gone, replaced by burned and cracked flesh all the way up to the woman's shoulder and while pain filled every extremity .. she could not feel it nearly as loudly in the now blackened limb. The naked Oni, blinked slowly, before letting out a shaky sigh to steady herself.

"Oh."

Hopefully she would not lose her arm.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sarada noticed Ishtar fall to her knees. Unsurprisingly, since they were both right there at the epicenter of the explosion. However, whereas Sarada had come away with only relatively minor injuries, Ishtar looked so much worse. Her clothes were gone, and her right arm looked a charred and burned chicken tender. It was horrible.

How? They were practically right next to one another. There was no way for one to come away from that senseless attack looking almost okay, while the other one practically lost her arm.

It didn't make any sense... unless Ishtar somehow help her survive at the cost of her own limb. A glance at the others and how they were all in better condition than the Oni proved that she defended them at great cost.

Respectable.

She wanted to approach her to nod her appreciation, but Zaofan charged in to give her much needed support with a cry for any available healer. Knowing she would only get in the way, Sarada stayed put beside Jack, but kept her eyes on the Oni.

[The Chou Lives]

“ Fuck that and your doctrine. Your health comes now. When your healed then you get better results. Do not give me that mucho crap.”

As he then tags Charco with tk aura and took him to the regen area and hooks him in. It may have been against his will but even his trainers with their sick punishments always healed him after a beating. And to make sure Charco did not escape he karate chops him to knock him out. Before putting him. In.: “ You will thank me latter.”

: As he was worried now. He did lasting damage. Charco did not do that.

We are the apex predator here.

“ Fuck you. We are supposed to be a team, outbsaving the world!

-mentally.:

[Yun Lao]

“ Fuck that and your doctrine. Your health comes now. When your healed then you get better results. Do not give me that mucho crap.”

As he then tags Charco with tk aura and took him to the regen area and hooks him in. It may have been against his will but even his trainers with their sick punishments always healed him after a beating. And to make sure Charco did not escape he karate chops him to knock him out. Before putting him. In.: “ You will thank me latter.”

: As he was worried now. He did lasting damage. Charco did not do that.

We are the apex predator here.

“ Fuck you. We are supposed to be a team, outbsaving the world!

-mentally.:

"All right, bud."

Charco wasn't entirely in the position argue, so he gave no resistance, although he was slightly annoyed with that first response. Like his injuries, he would get over it soon enough. Hopefully the same could be said for the others.

For all of their noble attempts to build a team, Charco couldn't help but feel as if Jinzi and Kami's training sessions needed reworking. It wasn't the first time this came to mind, as he had verbally stated it during their earlier briefing, but he was almost certain of it this time. Control and moderation were concepts that had hampered him this session. Chou had proven his strength by meeting the objective in one attack, and they were as strong for enduring it. It was going to be difficult for him to break free of this thought process for the tournament if these were the end results he was witnessing.

"ugh..none of this makes sense..." He muttered to himself, "...why are they living in a yellow submarine? This song makes no sense."

Unable to resist Chou's decision, Charco was unable to resist the random nature of his music stream.

[Eternal Torment]

"Be at ease. She is well," Slak says.

The Saiyan wants him to heal this one. The earthling, however, asserts he is fine.

"Very well," Slak says, inclining his head. "I will defer to your judgment."

The earthling seems to be a healers of sorts. The accident seems to have inspired him. "That is hearting to hear. I must admit I find the lack of healers in this planet rather alarming."

"It really is scary, Slak. Most of it is technology based, since we don't have any innate healing abilities. Few know how to use ki for constructive purposes, too. As you can see, we're mostly a bunch of attackers."

He wished it wasn't the case, but they were far too destructive for their own good at times. Perhaps this demonstration refuted the thought of learning more deadly techniques in the future.

"We have to do what we must. I wish I could keep on talking, but duty calls."

Totoma, with great care and gentleness, picked the unconscious Karine up, bridal carry-style. Sometimes he forgot just how small she was, in most ways. Not frail, of course, but... yeah, next to him, she was tiny--about 36 centimeters shorter, or around 14 inches.

...a bit heavier than one would expect for that height, though. Huh.

He paused and listened to Chuan, his brow furrowing. "Don't beat yourself up. I'm sure your needle-healing would've worked fine, and... you didn't waste any time coming to her aid. Our friend here was just a bit faster, and I, um, wasn't in the state of mind to notice."

In truth, had Chuan arrived first and his healing not worked, he might have reacted badly in that state of mind. And if it had caused an adverse reaction...

...well, he wouldn't mention those things. He was trying to cheer the guy up, not depress or scare him.

"Hehe, all that matter is that she's alright. Hopefully the others pull through, too," he said. "...though I'm not looking forward to Sarada lording her power advantage over me after she recovers. But..."

Having mulled on Ochazuke's advice and... something Karine had said during her brief talk with him, perhaps he should adopt a "sticks and stones" approach.

"Anyway, I'm gonna get her back to our room, so she can rest," he said, looking down at Karine's unconscious/sleeping(?) face. "Not sure what I'll do after that. Probably keep an eye on her... or maybe go have that brawl with Jack that keeps. Getting. Delayed."

"Anyway, thanks again," he said, as he began making his way towards the dorms.

"I know. You care about Karine a lot, and I... I didn't want to let you down, Totoma." Chuan lowered his head, almost guilty as he breathed out slowly. "You're right, though. All we can do is hope things don't go wrong from here. I just... It's hard sometimes. We already have so many obstacles ahead of us, but we're hurting each other worse than anybody else has so far."

He clenched his teeth, shaking his head forlornly before he got a handle on himself again.

"You take care of her as you always have. And don't thank me, Totoma. Not until I do something worthy of it."

It was time for him to do what he could.

For some, this might have been considered karma for what he had put the group through yesterday. Perhaps they would hope that taking his own medicine might make him think differently to avoid such pains again. Unfortunately...

"Huh...so that's what it feels like..."

As he had told others, the Dino School did not practice sparring due to the aggressive nature of its users and techniques, so this would be the first time he had encounter being hit by a ki blast, although Ishtar had taken a good portion of the sting out. It wasn't too bad, for it only hurt when he moved, or breathed, and he couldn't help but feel some minor pain pain whenever his heart beat. Living up to his name, his suit tracksuit was black and charred, with the top mostly destroyed.

Thankfully, his communicator survived unscathed, otherwise, he might have actually been upset.

"Stay still, please. I don't want to mess this up." Chuan said quickly, inserting a few needles into Charco's sides and one into the base of his neck. He pulsed some ki through each of them to induce an euphoric effect that'd take the edge off. "If I were you, I'd hold still for this next part. I detected an irregularity due to the big hit, and the flush's awful tricky."

Breathing in quietly, he focused his ki in his thumb before lightly tapping a point over Charco's heart.

Ba-Thump

Well, the good news was that he wouldn't feel the full effects of what Chuan did. The bad news was that it would still feel like being hit with a defib.

"Oh... Sorry about that." Chuan winced. "I did it right, but it always hurts pretty bad. At least you'll heal quicker for a short while. Now, rest up. I'll take you to the regen tanks to finish up after I check on the-"

Ishtar shook her head at this, outwardly calm despite the anger that held her upright.

"The ... idiocy of a child should ... n-not be afforded any justification, Officer." And why should it ? This had not been a situation where force of that caliber had been necessary or warranted. It had been the impulsive action of a child, nothing more. Though the conversation she had asked for with the woman after the day's events was lost to time, as Officer Thane left the battlefield, leaving those left to mend and recover and the anger that sustained Ishtar was spent.

And once her image faded in its entirety, the Oni dropped to her knees, eyes cast down towards the now cracked and glassed floor.

It was then she noticed that the explosion had burned away her clothes; and that while her whole body had suffered the full force of Chou's explosion ... her right arm had taken the brunt of it ... and it did not look well. The blue skin was gone, replaced by burned and cracked flesh all the way up to the woman's shoulder and while pain filled every extremity .. she could not feel it nearly as loudly in the now blackened limb. The naked Oni, blinked slowly, before letting out a shaky sigh to steady herself.

"Oh."

Hopefully she would not lose her arm.

Once he heard Zaofan's call, he turned to see what was going on.

In some ways, he wished he hadn't.

Chuan froze. Once he saw the state of Ishtar's arm, he rushed over to her, still stumbling and wincing from his own injuries as he did. Dropping onto one knee beside the oni, he reached out to touch it before he stopped himself, fingertips just inches away from her blackened flesh. Even if he was certain about his methods working on her, he definitely couldn't heal it entirely. Even his mentor would find it hard to repair such an extensive wound, and he was half a world away at best.

There was something he could do. It wasn't much, but giving her a chance to keep her arm was the only thing he could do at this stage.

Taking his shirt off, he passed it over to Ishtar to help cover her up before he started taking his needles out. It was untested and dangerous, but at this point, a desperate attempt to make things work was all he could do. He inserted one into his own temple, gritting his teeth as he temporarily increased his focus. Alright, there was extensive damage in the limb. It was almost like 4th degree burns, such was the horror that had been visited on her arm.

So, what could he do? He inhaled sharply before he palmed the unburnt portion of her shoulder, seeking to find even a hint as to the proper location of her ki channels. He didn't want to pulse, not when it could lead to rupturing the already damaged vessels within her arm. Sweat trickled down his forehead as his fingers moved around, trying vainly to figure out the configuration in her body before he sensed a single channel. Okay, that was something. Trace it down, find the outlets... There!

Oh, no. He shouldn't have looked. His hand went slack as he considered giving up right then and there.

"It's really, really bad." Chuan looked into Ishtar's eyes, his chest gripped with regret as he looked back down to her limb. "I thought I could at least save the arm, but... I can't guarantee anything. It might end up being easier to just have it removed. But if you're willing to take the chance, I'll do what I can. I just need to tell you, even in the best case scenario, I can only preserve function. I can't restore full strength, and it may end up being disfigured. I'm sorry, Ishtar. I really am."

[Sion Reaver]

fter that. Probably keep an eye on her... or maybe go have that brawl with Jack that keeps. Getting. Delayed."

"Anyway, thanks again," he said, as he began making his way towards the dorms.

"Something bothering you kiddo?"

Karine had found herself starring off into space more so then normal, her cup of tea at the table momentarily forgotten. She would have lied, if it was possible to do so regularly with her mother who seemed to have a supernatural sense when she was; she blamed it on maternal instinct more then anything else. "..No. I'm not okay."

There wasn't an immediate response, Nikki sat down at the other end from her daughter. "Is about what happened earlier?" They both knew it was, the question seemed more like a prompt to further the conversation then an actual inquiry.

"I just.." Karine paused, then sighed. "I'm not even sure what exactly is even happening to me anymore. I know about our kind has its quirks but this feels different."

"You're just growing older with it. As you adjust, it'll fade away into the background and you'll be just fine." Nikki gave her daughter a gentle squeeze of the shoulder. "It happened to me, it happened even to your father and now its you. Your case is just a bit different. Granted, there are a lot of things we lost and don't know about, but we do know this much."

Karine didn't respond, starring into her cup. "And if I can't?" She asked, her voice wavering.

Nikki said nothing before going closer and giving them a hug. "You'll be fine." She repeated, her voice more gentle but firmer. "I won't sugar coat and say its going to be easy, but I believe in you. So do your sisters. You'll find out how to better control it. It saved you and everyone else..granted it wasn't completely clean. You're a much stronger young woman then you give yourself credit for, but that also means while we can help you, you'll also have to conquer it alone. Something you're fully capable of doing."

While some part felt she was a bit too old for this, the natural "I'm an adult now." sort of thing, at the moment she didn't care. "..Can we stay like this for a while?"

A small chuckle came from Nikki, slight mirth in her voice. "If you want. But, since I'm not charging services today it means instead of money you'll have to watch some of my old movies with me as I hold you hostage."

Karine almost rolled her red eyes, but couldn't stop the small smile forming. "..Deal.."

________

Karine slowly awoke, still groggy as she tried to collect her bearings. The wounds had been dealt with thankfully but she was still in some slight pain that was more a dull ache at this rate. Her magical depletion meant she was sluggish and tired regardless of not being in any moral danger anymore, something rest would fix. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was...

Then it seemed to hit her all at once what happened before she was knocked out. She had nearly died but somehow had managed to pull through with strength she hadn't realized she had normally. On some level that blast was probably beyond her ability to deal with, yet not only had it saved her but Held as well; at least assuming so considering she had protected them both. If it had broken at all, it would have sure killed or crippled them both considering.

At the moment, she couldn't even summon the mental energy to be mad at Chou, too tired too.

I was so scared that was going to...

Karine shuddered, forcing the emotions back even as her eyes felt a bit wet but unable hold them back completely. Maybe she needed this, as much as she tried to control this aspect of herself just letting things go felt better then bottling the emotions in until they exploded outwards. She loathed showing this type of weakness often, if only because crying never solved anything.

But she'd..just let herself have this moment of weakness. Totoma was in the room but sleep in the nearby chair so for now, she just let the bottled emotions go for a bit. It was better then letting them build up and become mentally unhealthy.

[Ptrvc]

Jack scratched his head awhile before shaking it. He had been ready to risk his own well being in the training, but Chou's took the cake with his little stunt.

He had put his whole team in danger, for what? The glory of winning a training exercise? No point in lecturing him though, his expression said enough. Also the rest of the team, and Ishtar's injured arm.

Just like Manco...

Now someone was maimed, and they had yet to even meet the enemy.

He stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

"If this shit keeps up we'll be dead when we meet the enemy," he muttered. It just went to show.

Never rely on anyone else.