Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Just a bit further in, Ishtar seees a circle of grey cloaked people chanting around a central figure, taller than the others, holding aloft a basketball sized crystal so dark light seemed to be absorbed into it. The dread feeling comes from the central figure.

Ishtar grunted at the sight. Ritual magics, old and powerful; and in the center of the ritual circle stood a haunting figure holding aloft an orb of dark magics, and dreadful intent..

'I have found a circle of ritual mages,' the Oni sounded quickly. 'I will attempt what I can, but know that something is coming.'

Her course set, then, the Oni made ready to move in for the orb, before a familiar presence brushed against her consciousness.

Ishtar feels a presence move nearby, follow by a familiar verbal uttering in her head.

It seemed an Id was nearby and ready and assist her.

'Hello, young one.' Ishtar sounded mentally, to Erosa. 'Your assistance in this matter will be appreciated,' let us put an end to this nonsense.'

Knowing how wont mages were to magical protections, Ishtar waited for the Id to prepare herself then, before using her remaining moment of invisibility to utilize a massive leap, with the intent of bringing herself down on top of the assembled cloaked mages with the hope of either pentetrating whatever barrier was in place around them, or creating enough chaos to provide Erosa an opening.

[Tami]

Zaofan turned the instant he heard his name being called. "Etrina! Not you, too!" He rushed over to her side, keeping low to avoid fire, and carried her with ki-covered arms, bringing her to Meagan behind a wall. Zaofan gently lay her down, and examined her leg. "Yours, too. Meagan was hit there as well. It seems our enemy seeks to immobilize us."

He ripped off his left sleeve to fashion a bandage. "I'm not going to lie to you. Your wound looks terrible." He gently tied the bandage around her leg, "We need to get the both of you to a healer. Chuan, Slak, Kai, anyone..."

Making sure Etrina was as comfortable as possible under the conditions, Zaofan peeked over the wall again.



"Whoa. Sarada did it! She got the sniper!"



However, some time had passed anyway. "Something's not right. In past exercises, the environment would fade or we would be transported once we achieved our objective. But we're still here."

With a sense of dread, he turned to Meagan and Etrina. "It's not over. I don't know why, but it's not over. And we can't stay here."



Zaofan nodded. "If the sniper is down, and there's no more fire. Yes, I can fly."

He took the staff and handed it to Etrina. "Here, you might need this." He then picked her up, and then followed Meagan to the air, cautious and wary of any possible further sniper attacks. "Can you produce another shield?" he asked Meagan.

"I can, but I doubt it would do much good. Best to get Etrina under cover, stay with her if you need to. I've been hurt worse than this and survived, so I'm going in. Once we beat this the scene wlil change and I bet our injuries will go away as well." Meagan then focused her hearing until she heard the chanting. Zeroing in on it, she headed that way, ready to shield herself if need, but saving her Ki for battle.

[The Chou Lives]

“
Good. Heading your way.”
Locked into Ishtar as he pierced the buildings with his spiraling fist. As he got close, retracts to normal size, still hurts as he was on the scene like a demented kook aid man:

[Tami]

Ishtar grunted at the sight. Ritual magics, old and powerful; and in the center of the ritual circle stood a haunting figure holding aloft an orb of dark magics, and dreadful intent..

'I have found a circle of ritual mages,' the Oni sounded quickly. 'I will attempt what I can, but know that something is coming.'

Her course set, then, the Oni made ready to move in for the orb, before a familiar presence brushed against her consciousness.



'Hello, young one.' Ishtar sounded mentally, to Erosa. 'Your assistance in this matter will be appreciated,' let us put an end to this nonsense.'

Knowing how wont mages were to magical protections, Ishtar waited for the Id to prepare herself then, before using her remaining moment of invisibility to utilize a massive leap, with the intent of bringing herself down on top of the assembled cloaked mages with the hope of either pentetrating whatever barrier was in place around them, or creating enough chaos to provide Erosa an opening.

Slipping into invisibility, Meagan continued flying until she saw Isthar up ahead.

[grampagen]

The hillside in front of Ochazuke erupted once more as Ishtar continued her hit-and-run tactics, disappearing and reappearing moments before the rank and file of the surging Demons was disintegrated or swallowed up by a ground that was no more. And of demoniac voices crying out in anguish carrying over the din of the battlefield as the old, familiar enemy was steadily silenced; brief mental contact was made with the resolute warrior.

'The Hill is mine'.

Though it was not to be, for much longer ... and with a shifting the room transitioned into a different scene, and one that brought genuine surprise to the eyes of the Oni.

As the reflected Dodonpa mowed down a trench into the sea of malformed equine bodies, the earth sunk in a beautifully engineered circumference as if in parallel. And as their group turned the tide and expanded their circle, Ochazuke simply smirked to himself witness to these works.

After all, what challenge was the ambition of a mindless throng next to a creature with the vision to escape Hell itself?

Ishtar pressed forward, regardless of the city that burned down around her.

Yet as she pressed deeper into the smouldering ruins of present and distant memory, a familiar feeling welled up: Dread. A sign that she was headed in the proper direction at least, and yet ... touching on the connection provided by Slak's persistent mental link, the Oni informed the others.

'On your guard. There is more than simply unseen archers hidden among the smoke and flame.'

She did not have much time now, before her deception wore off however, and pressing forward regardless, the golden-eyed Oni attempted to spy the source of the feeling before she was forced to withdraw.

A shift in scenery from the burning plains to the fallen ruin of a city rendered lifeless. As the beams of greyed energy punched through fliers and shield alike, again Ishtar had gone off on her own.

Ochazuke focussed, intuition spread to sense-awareness as he attempted to ascertain where the source of the attacks, following some distance behind the Oni between the group at large.

Ishtar feels a presence move nearby, follow by a familiar verbal uttering in her head.

It seemed an Id was nearby and ready and assist her.

Ishtar grunted at the sight. Ritual magics, old and powerful; and in the center of the ritual circle stood a haunting figure holding aloft an orb of dark magics, and dreadful intent..

'I have found a circle of ritual mages,' the Oni sounded quickly. 'I will attempt what I can, but know that something is coming.'

Her course set, then, the Oni made ready to move in for the orb, before a familiar presence brushed against her consciousness.

"You two go do what you can, then. I'll watch your backs." he relayed, straight to the point.

[Ptrvc]

With an opponent exposed and fried, Jack's first instinct is to hunt down another grey cloak and shank him, and then another, and another until, at last, there would be no more. But at the same time he remembers how the demons Jack loosed his anger upon had shifted into familiar faces as he had cut them down. People he had faced, been friends with, and cut down in the past.

Something was fishy. No, that was wrong. Something had been fishy. For years at this point. Jack had just been ignoring it, shoving it down, pretending it was not there. But that did not make things like this go away.

Maybe he had to try something different

Jack notices Ochazuke concentrating on surveying the landscape, stretching out with his senses. Jack's senses were not nearly as sharp as the former Crane Disciple. This is supposed to be training though, right? Can't get better without practice.

Jack let his ki sense expand and followed Ochazuke, taking up the rear.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Those taking flight back towards Ishtar’s position are bombarded by more grey beams, at least seven snipers still remaining.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Ishtar grunted at the sight. Ritual magics, old and powerful; and in the center of the ritual circle stood a haunting figure holding aloft an orb of dark magics, and dreadful intent..

'I have found a circle of ritual mages,' the Oni sounded quickly. 'I will attempt what I can, but know that something is coming.'

Her course set, then, the Oni made ready to move in for the orb, before a familiar presence brushed against her consciousness.



'Hello, young one.' Ishtar sounded mentally, to Erosa. 'Your assistance in this matter will be appreciated,' let us put an end to this nonsense.'

Knowing how wont mages were to magical protections, Ishtar waited for the Id to prepare herself then, before using her remaining moment of invisibility to utilize a massive leap, with the intent of bringing herself down on top of the assembled cloaked mages with the hope of either pentetrating whatever barrier was in place around them, or creating enough chaos to provide Erosa an opening.

Like a fragile egg, the barrier around the mages shatter and they scream as the Oni appears.

But Ishtar is almost immediately laid prone from the overwhelming dread now directly targeting her.

[Ptrvc]

Those taking flight back towards Ishtar’s position are bombarded by more grey beams, at least seven snipers still remaining.

Jack defends against the grey beams, dodging as parrying as he can, keeping his senses extended and focused. As more and more beams bombard himself and the others he focuses on where the must be coming from.

After a few moments attempting to get a lockdown, Jack returns fire with several ki blasts to where his best estimation the nearest sniper is.

[MrSandman]

Zaofan turned the instant he heard his name being called. "Etrina! Not you, too!" He rushed over to her side, keeping low to avoid fire, and carried her with ki-covered arms, bringing her to Meagan behind a wall. Zaofan gently lay her down, and examined her leg. "Yours, too. Meagan was hit there as well. It seems our enemy seeks to immobilize us."

He ripped off his left sleeve to fashion a bandage. "I'm not going to lie to you. Your wound looks terrible." He gently tied the bandage around her leg, "We need to get the both of you to a healer. Chuan, Slak, Kai, anyone..."

Making sure Etrina was as comfortable as possible under the conditions, Zaofan peeked over the wall again.

However, some time had passed anyway. "Something's not right. In past exercises, the environment would fade or we would be transported once we achieved our objective. But we're still here."

With a sense of dread, he turned to Meagan and Etrina. "It's not over. I don't know why, but it's not over. And we can't stay here."

Zaofan nodded. "If the sniper is down, and there's no more fire. Yes, I can fly."

He took the staff and handed it to Etrina. "Here, you might need this." He then picked her up, and then followed Meagan to the air, cautious and wary of any possible further sniper attacks. "Can you produce another shield?" he asked Meagan.

"Obviously its not over because we only killed one sniper...." Etrina gripped the staff tightly. ".....and that what concerns me.....This is obviously a scene of historical significance. The sacking of a city by invaders, if I knew who and when I may be able to make a judgement call on our attackers....but common sense would dictate that one sharpshooter along doesn't burn a city down. In fact...." Etrina attempted to lift herself up with her weight on the staff. ".....Until we're certain.....We shouldn't jump to any conclusions about the size of the attacking force, or wither they are the ones we were sent to fight here..."

'Hello, young one.' Ishtar sounded mentally, to Erosa. 'Your assistance in this matter will be appreciated,' let us put an end to this nonsense.'

Knowing how wont mages were to magical protections, Ishtar waited for the Id to prepare herself then, before using her remaining moment of invisibility to utilize a massive leap, with the intent of bringing herself down on top of the assembled cloaked mages with the hope of either pentetrating whatever barrier was in place around them, or creating enough chaos to provide Erosa an opening.

A mental gao confirmed that she had been heard loud and clear, and she moved to position herself for an ambush while keeping tabs on the chanting figures.

[The Chou Lives]

(!Retcon)
Since he was in mid flight to area along with others, he was sniped at, bending and twisting his body with circus trained acrobatics in dodging the blasts as he then lasts two snipers by locking in on blast origin, crushing them in his hands.:

[Cyke]

"Obviously its not over because we only killed one sniper...." Etrina gripped the staff tightly. ".....and that what concerns me.....This is obviously a scene of historical significance. The sacking of a city by invaders, if I knew who and when I may be able to make a judgement call on our attackers....but common sense would dictate that one sharpshooter along doesn't burn a city down. In fact...." Etrina attempted to lift herself up with her weight on the staff. ".....Until we're certain.....We shouldn't jump to any conclusions about the size of the attacking force, or wither they are the ones we were sent to fight here..."

"Good point," Zaofan nodded in exhaustion. "We need to assume that what we're up against isn't just capable of razing a city of this size, but is every bit as formidable as the army demon centaurs. And we're getting picked off one by one."

"I can, but I doubt it would do much good. Best to get Etrina under cover, stay with her if you need to. I've been hurt worse than this and survived, so I'm going in. Once we beat this the scene wlil change and I bet our injuries will go away as well." Meagan then focused her hearing until she heard the chanting. Zeroing in on it, she headed that way, ready to shield herself if need, but saving her Ki for battle.

Zaofan nodded in agreement, but decided to continue cruising just a bit behind Meagan just to gain some distance. "I should hope you're right," he said, as he followed Meagan's lead.

Slipping into invisibility, Meagan continued flying until she saw Isthar up ahead.

Zaofan had drifted behind Meagan just enough that he did not see Ishtar (and thus Meagan's reason for engaging her cloak). When Meagan disappeared, Zaofan took that as a sign to heed her advice. He began his slow, careful descent, one that he had practiced several thousand times over with his wushu air galloping.

Those taking flight back towards Ishtar’s position are bombarded by more grey beams, at least seven snipers still remaining.

Seeing a shot coming at him from a distance, though, Zaofan dodged right; something he wasn't used to with the added weight of Etrina. "Hold on! We need to get to cover!" Zaofan saw a barrage of beams coming his way. He ceased his float and went into free fall, using his ki to push himself however he needed to dodge the blasts. He aimed his fall towards a tall, narrow building, so that he could use the tower as cover, and then used his air gallop to slow them down again. "Etrina, I saw them. There were more snipers. Maybe a half dozen or so. We're in trouble."

"You two go do what you can, then. I'll watch your backs." he relayed, straight to the point.

With an opponent exposed and fried, Jack's first instinct is to hunt down another grey cloak and shank him, and then another, and another until, at last, there would be no more. But at the same time he remembers how the demons Jack loosed his anger upon had shifted into familiar faces as he had cut them down. People he had faced, been friends with, and cut down in the past.

Something was fishy. No, that was wrong. Something had been fishy. For years at this point. Jack had just been ignoring it, shoving it down, pretending it was not there. But that did not make things like this go away.

Maybe he had to try something different

Jack notices Ochazuke concentrating on surveying the landscape, stretching out with his senses. Jack's senses were not nearly as sharp as the former Crane Disciple. This is supposed to be training though, right? Can't get better without practice.

Jack let his ki sense expand and followed Ochazuke, taking up the rear.

Zaofan peeked around the corner, with all the intense fire ahead. He could see Ishtar far in the distance; he reasoned that Meagan saw her too since she was ahead. And.. is that ... Erosa? He looked behind and saw Ochazuke and Jack far behind as well, covering the rear like they said, but relieved at the sight of two familiar figures. He and Etrina remained hidden behind the wall, but they were as good as pinned down. He waved at Ochazuke and Jack to alert them of their position.

Hopefully if they regroup, they could figure out their next steps to aid Erosa and Ishtar, and to take care of those snipers.

[Tami]

Those taking flight back towards Ishtar’s position are bombarded by more grey beams, at least seven snipers still remaining.

Dodging the beam, Meagan visually traced it back to it's source. Turning on the speed, dodging all attacks, Meagan called her sword and beheaded the sniper with one swipe.

[grampagen]

With an opponent exposed and fried, Jack's first instinct is to hunt down another grey cloak and shank him, and then another, and another until, at last, there would be no more. But at the same time he remembers how the demons Jack loosed his anger upon had shifted into familiar faces as he had cut them down. People he had faced, been friends with, and cut down in the past.

Something was fishy. No, that was wrong. Something had been fishy. For years at this point. Jack had just been ignoring it, shoving it down, pretending it was not there. But that did not make things like this go away.

Maybe he had to try something different

Jack notices Ochazuke concentrating on surveying the landscape, stretching out with his senses. Jack's senses were not nearly as sharp as the former Crane Disciple. This is supposed to be training though, right? Can't get better without practice.

Jack let his ki sense expand and followed Ochazuke, taking up the rear.

As he fell into the expanse of awareness granted by his meditation field as ki spread wide, he became aware of another presence.

He had not had words with Jack since he had attempted to destroy the Dragonball in Cask and the wandering Gambler let him hear his full pronounced fury, the heightened fear of a threat towards the town he loved; the home he abandoned.

Perhaps that was the source of the renewed, burning strength inside of him.

Jack defends against the grey beams, dodging as parrying as he can, keeping his senses extended and focused. As more and more beams bombard himself and the others he focuses on where the must be coming from.

After a few moments attempting to get a lockdown, Jack returns fire with several ki blasts to where his best estimation the nearest sniper is.

"You've ascertained it as well."

Ochazuke from his position without turning his head cast a Flash Cutter across the ground, the orb gliding above the ground, tilting its reflective razor's edge at an angle.

The shortest course between two points was a straight line. By casting their beams out there in the darkness, though Ochazuke could not perceive their presences, as Sarada had revealed, the angle of their shots were limited the height of the buildings. Their choice of targets in the heat-haze of the burning city made it ever simpler.

When the reflector was in position, he wordlessly fired a Dodonpa into it and bounced the beam upward.

[MrSandman]

Like a fragile egg, the barrier around the mages shatter and they scream as the Oni appears.

But Ishtar is almost immediately laid prone from the overwhelming dread now directly targeting her.

They were laid bare, and they did not detect her coming.

Such was the way of the hunt.

The ground in several points around the circle erupted as maws burst forth, biting into the flesh of the cloaked men. This too however was but another distraction, and Erosa herself had taken the opening to slip up to the one that was holding the orb. With quick and fluid motion she spung forward, hand outstreched to grab the orb from the mans hands while bringing her claw down on the wrists that supported it.