Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Held responded, his calm calculated approach being deflated by the sudden chaos. The implication of a singular person being behind it also did nothing to help soothe his ire.

One of his would be lovers? Or did he screw someone over? I guess Karma comes for us all, sooner or later.

Admittedly, it had more to do with the timing, the waste of such a picture perfect entrance, than any actual threat.

The chaos that was now percolating throughout the ship made it clear the moment was gone, as was the peaceful day he had enjoyed.

He sighed slightly.

I guess I could see what the commotion is....Or better yet...

One should always take a challenge, and find the opportunity within it.

His gloomy mood evaporated, as his more conniving instincts took over.

"I'm not entirely sure what has you so flustered, Mr. Pantaloons." Held called out after him, shouting in his general direction as he followed, "But I'm sure I'd be able to help you out if you're in such dire straights you have to run as soon as you touched down! You seem to have the kind of problem I'm really good at fixing!"

Held wasn't entirely sure what said problem was, but it was easy enough for him to figure out that someone was chasing the billionare, someone he did not want chasing him. That was easy enough for a man of his caliber to handle.

As he speaks, the ship rocks again and Jinzi curses. Looking back at Held, he gestuures towards the door.

"Fine, if you can help, do it ,and you'll be rewarded. Escort me back to the hover deck so I can deploy my plane and get out of here. She should follow me and leave the ship alone if I do so."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Charco came to a stop, the soles of his sneakers skidding harshly across the concrete sidewalk. The sight of the mysterious musician was enough to turn his blood into slush, but the children solidified it into pure ice. To say he regretted running into this situation was an understatement, but one cannot wish away the hornets after shoving one's head into their nest. Out of instinct, the teenager took a defensive fighting stance.

"...man...**** this..." He whispered to himself before speaking aloud, "Who are you? Are the one behind all of this?"

Ajna blew past both Ishtar and Charco both, rushing to reach the children in an effort to keep them getting near the Piper. Just as he stretched out his hand to grab one by the arm, he had the good sense to reach out with his Empathic ability to the child. They had no way of knowing what was going on here, and while letting the kid get any closer to that guy was clearly may be bad news, it wouldn't do to get sloppy and be affected by some strange infectious ki.

The person pauses, then the hood falls back and reveals.......


Darkness.

Shaped like a human being, with arms and legs and a head, the person shape was all black. No eyes, no mouth, no discerning feature at all. Yet, when the flute was put to its lips, sound was made.

Whatever it was, it was not good, however, as ill intent seems to roll off of it. Ajna's empathetic powers let him feel nothing but ill will towards them, and an unhealthy desire to take the children and go somewhere. To it's master?

The children are surrounded by a hypnotic feeling coming from the person, so Ajna's powers tell him.


As he gets closer, the shadowed man darts toward Ajna and palm strikes him in the chest, knocking him backwards away from the kids.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

As Meagan disappears, looking for Rose and the other missing people, something shifts under the snow and Sarada finds her ankles grabbed and pulled out from under her, causing her to face plant into the snow. As this happens, a being made up of, seemingly, the snow begins to emerge from under her, still gripping her ankles.

[Lord Falcon]

Those in Dusk City:


The eerie sound leads them on closer and closer to town center, until they spot a strange shadowed form with a mysterious pipe at his mouth. The sounds and music are coming from this person, and as he plays, they see two children slowly walking towards the form, their eyes glazed as if in a trance.

Asha'rah had felt herself drawn here. Not to a place, but to...a presence? More than one, and they had moved over time, but now they were all here. Presences to which she felt not kinship, but at least some level of association, deep in her core. It had been a strange feeling when it started. Asha'rah had never learned to sense the presence of people to any extraordinary degree, yet she had sensed these over many miles. The sensation was strange, yet oddly familiar. Five years had passed since she left her home temple. She had traveled far, training with and learning from many. She had been enriched by her experiences, and she believed those whose lives she touched generally felt the same, but there was always some fundamental sense of detachment. But not here, not quite. So she floated on through the forest, admiring the chirping of the birds and nature's beauty. As the sun began to set, she cleared the treeline and entered the suburbs.

Odd. Asha'rah turned her head from side to side, then realized what was wrong. The birds had gone silent, but there were no sounds of humans to replace them. No dogs barking, no cars on the road, nothing. Most odd indeed. She looked around for road signs, reorienting herself. This settlement appeared to be called Dusk City. Perhaps a festival was going on at sundown in the city proper?

She floated on, her sense of unease growing with each passing minute on the deserted streets. Where were the people? Where were the children? Her necklace of orbs expanded outward, forming a protective sash around her torso. She could still sense the presences, so she continued on. She was getting close. Then her audio receptors picked up a sound, the whistling of a wind instrument. Ah, blessed wonders! She had found a musician! Perhaps they could enlighten her on where everyone was in this strange city. She floated on, leaving no sound of footsteps. Then she saw them. The musician was shrowded in shadow, but was indeed playing a pipe. Near him were two children who - Asha'rah would have blinked if she had eyelids - appeared to be drugged. Their eyes were glassy, their sense of awareness gone. And the presences...there! Three people were approaching the musician as well. One rushed forward and grabbed the children, a dark-skinned young man with a mane of shocking white hair. He seemed quite grim.

A mysterious musician, children unaware of themselves, and the presences she had been seeking. Things seemed quite tense. She let her orbs spread out even further into orbit around her, and spread her hands receptively.

"Greetings, friends. I confess I am new to this land. You are the first souls I have met since entering this fair city. Do you know where the others have gone?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

It became something like clock work with enough practice and dedication; just having the right amount of material and supplies before going out into the world. Traveling was an custom Karine's people had taken very seriously as an bench mark to adulthood for a number of reasons. The obvious was meeting new people and experiencing new things but more then that it was felt important to travel out of one's comfort zone and bubble. Karine had traveled before of course, but this would be her longest bout with traveling alone.

Not that she minded. Karine loved the new experiences along with the knowledge of the world she gained. It had made her that much self reliant, and in her opinion that much more of a better person because of those said experiences.

Of course, it did come with its host of downsides. The bitter cold that nipped at her face was an constant annoyance she'd have to deal with as long she was within this small town of Cask. Her sweater, scarf, and gloves only seemed to hinder the cold from everywhere else except her up face. It was, however, an great deal better then the alternative of wearing her usual clothes and freezing to death or coming down dreadfully sick.

She hadn't intended to stay long, not really. There was a few historical facts she could find here at least supposedly and the people, if nothing else seemed friendly enough to warrant staying a bit longer. The Nosferartu only intended to stay that long and be on her way until she hear rumors. Whispers of people vanishing seemingly without a trace. An creature perhaps? Some type of strange serial killer out in the wilds? Regardless of the cause, she couldn't in good conscious just ignore it; the final straw being the news of the young girl gone missing just today. This town lacked any proper police and they seemed rather pushed for funds.

Karine knew she couldn't blame a certain childhood friend for a partial to heroics for this. It was her too, even if she was less..eccentric with it.

With a mental sigh, the young woman resolved herself, red eyes glancing briefly at the people who went about their lives as she strode forward. The first order of business was get an picture of this young 'Rose' girl, there should be something posted on the billboard; the second was to ask around. As loathe as she was to admit it though, the chances of finding them safe were distressingly low on the realistic side. If the cold didn't get them, the creature(assuming it was some type of animal in the first place) or person may have gotten to them by now.

She didn't want to think about it. Having a younger sister, the unofficial case hit a bit too close to home.

After a few moments, you are directed by the local tavern owner to head north towards the frozen river. Apparently, a small group of people just left not too long ago towards there, looking for Rose.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Etrina tapped her foot impatiently, eyeing the empty street in both directions with a growing look of distaste.

The trip to Dusk City was turning into a monumental waste of her valuable time. Getting catalyst material directly from the source had seemed like a rather clever idea when she had it, being able to judge the quality in person, negotiating a good price. The quality of the material went a long way in the success and effect of any resulting experiments, and the rare material extracted in Dusk City had a list of exciting applications that she couldn't wait to start exploring.

But waiting she was. Her contact was nowhere to be seen....and neither was anyone else for that matter. She had been waiting at the requested spot for 30 minutes with not a soul to speak of showing up. Surely a place called Dusk City would have some manner of people milling around after dark.

At the very least her counterpart wasn't hounding her steps for once.....though in a way the silence that came with her absence was all the more unnerving. It was usually the calm before the storm.

Prepared to just call it quits for the night and find the closest place to rest, Etrina let out a sigh and turned too....




"......Oh..?" Etrinas ears perked up at the sound on the wind. Perhaps there was someone around here after all. Starting at a brisk walk she starting heading towards the source, oblivious to the shadow skulking close behind her.

Beyond the whistling, as you follow it, you can hear some faint sounds of people talking. Headind that way you spot three people confronting a shadow made humanoid figure, with two kids standing nearby.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

A predictable answer, but there was nothing wrong with it. According to the theory that she'd been taught, those who were strong or were destined to gain power tended to wrap themselves in ever more elaborate circles of encounters. Or died swiftly. Hopefully Slak was of the former sort, that would be very convenient, and the possibility made it worth attaching herself to him.

Besides, to be honest, she had no plans. Training in some mountain for decades felt thoroughly unappealing.

"I don't sense anything that we wouldn't be able to handle, so I'll do what I can to assist."

There was always the chance that there was some great and invincible threat just hiding itself, but that was the kind of logic that would leave her unable to act at all.

With a nod to further show her agreement, she moved toward the scene alongside him.

The whole thing was chaos. There were two females (?) who he could see but whose energy he could not feel fighting. However, there was no time to time to ponder that oddity. One group was aiming their weapons at the people and one was not. That was all Slak needed to know at the moment.

"I'll target the weapons," Slak announced before leaping into action.

His eyes glowed purple before he fired thin beams of Ki at the trio of shooters.

Midori frowned at the sight of the dangerous-looking knife, and decided to remove it from play before he tried to attack her with it. So she her eyes began glowing again and she fired precise green laser beams into the blade to either cut through it or melt it.

Shiro meanwhile gave a small growl as these monsters, so like the Blue Devil army from the war in Saito, started firing not just at her and her mysterious new partner, but at innocent people. So she turned her attention to them and began alternating firing her finger beams and eye beams at their hands, looking to completely remove their ability to attack the innocent without killing them.

More help arrives in the form of two new strangers, and now the robbers are in real trouble. Midori melts the knife and the taller stranger melts the assault rifles alongside Shiro.

The now disarmed and mildly burned bandits (around their hands) huddle backwards. Even the, seeming, boss backs up.

Then, on the faint wind, you all hear something incoming. The sound of rocket engines blasting towards the scene as an unmarked hover begins coming in hot.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

?!?!?!!! : His first thought were the kids as he went back to see what he could do, and rich man. Must be tied together.:

“ Who ruined my vacation!?”

The ship rocks again, and once outside, Chou can see what looks like a large, red, aircraft deposit a few people on the top most deck and then take off again before firing a few small guided missiles into the cruise ship, targeting it's engines and other important bits.

[Yun Lao]

The person pauses, then the hood falls back and reveals.......

Darkness.

Shaped like a human being, with arms and legs and a head, the person shape was all black. No eyes, no mouth, no discerning feature at all. Yet, when the flute was put to its lips, sound was made.

As he gets closer, the shadowed man darts toward Ajna and palm strikes him in the chest, knocking him backwards away from the kids.

Yeah, this about played out like he had feared, however, the sight of the piper striking Ajna brought some relief to the teenager. He might not have understood what was going on, but he definitely understood what to do when fists flew. Stuffing his ear buds back into his ears, the sounds of conflict faded away and Charco was greeted by familar fast beats and thunderous bass.

He quickly filled in the gap left by Ajna by lunging forth, launching a superman punch towards the piper's center mass.

[Lord Falcon]

The person pauses, then the hood falls back and reveals.......


Darkness.

Shaped like a human being, with arms and legs and a head, the person shape was all black. No eyes, no mouth, no discerning feature at all. Yet, when the flute was put to its lips, sound was made.

Whatever it was, it was not good, however, as ill intent seems to roll off of it. Ajna's empathetic powers let him feel nothing but ill will towards them, and an unhealthy desire to take the children and go somewhere. To it's master?

The children are surrounded by a hypnotic feeling coming from the person, so Ajna's powers tell him.


As he gets closer, the shadowed man darts toward Ajna and palm strikes him in the chest, knocking him backwards away from the kids.

Oh dear. The person playing the flute was even darker skinned than the young man. Asha'rah couldn't tell where his, her, their? eyes were, or nose for that matter. She hoped she wasn't being racist. Then the dark musician struck without warning, charging forward and delivering a strike at the grim young man. Asha'rah would rather not assume villainy, but in any case she would prefer the children not get caught in the crossfire. Five orbs flew forth from her defensive ring as she a hand into a meditative stance, sharpening her focus. Four went to the children, scooping them up out of harms way and bringing them to Asha'rah's side while the musician was recovering their balance. The fifth stayed in place, spinning rapidly as a defensive ward between Asha'rah and the musician.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Edited!!!!!!!!

[Sion Reaver]

After a few moments, you are directed by the local tavern owner to head north towards the frozen river. Apparently, a small group of people just left not too long ago towards there, looking for Rose.

The timing was a close coincidence, considering they said a small group had been looking for the same person just moments ago before she arrived. She heeded the advice of the owner and opted to attempt to find this group. According to what was said, one wore Sayain armor and a tail, so that was rather hard to miss. The others didn't stand out as much from what she had gathered though of course it was hard to beat a Sayain in armor far as standing out.

It wasn't the first time she ran into one, though she did wonder what one was doing in practical middle of nowhere.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Yeah, this about played out like he had feared, however, the sight of the piper striking Ajna brought some relief to the teenager. He might not have understood what was going on, but he definitely understood what to do when fists flew. Stuffing his ear buds back into his ears, the sounds of conflict faded away and Charco was greeted by familar fast beats and thunderous bass.

He quickly filled in the gap left by Ajna by lunging forth, launching a superman punch towards the piper's center mass.

Oh dear. The person playing the flute was even darker skinned than the young man. Asha'rah couldn't tell where his, her, their? eyes were, or nose for that matter. She hoped she wasn't being racist. Then the dark musician struck without warning, charging forward and delivering a strike at the grim young man. Asha'rah would rather not assume villainy, but in any case she would prefer the children not get caught in the crossfire. Five orbs flew forth from her defensive ring as she raised her arms in a posture akin to a double palm strike. Four went to the children, scooping them up out of harms way and bringing them to Asha'rah's side while the musician was recovering their balance. The fifth stayed in place, spinning rapidly as a defensive ward between Asha'rah and the musician.

The shadowed man, having just dealt a palm strike against the white haired young boy, turns towards her.

It has no face.

Despite this, as if sensing an unknown threat, it raises it's flute and a bolt of dark energy the size of a baseball flies out of it towards Asha'rah.

Or would have, had Charco not bounded in and delivered a punch that sent the no-face spinning, the dark orb sputtering out before it finished forming at the flute's end. Recovering, it turns and "looks" at Charco, and then lunges forwrad fluidly, attempting to grab his head in one overly long fingered hand while the other brings the flute back up to play again.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The timing was a close coincidence, considering they said a small group had been looking for the same person just moments ago before she arrived. She heeded the advice of the owner and opted to attempt to find this group. According to what was said, one wore Sayain armor and a tail, so that was rather hard to miss. The others didn't stand out as much from what she had gathered though of course it was hard to beat a Sayain in armor far as standing out.

It wasn't the first time she ran into one, though she did wonder what one was doing in practical middle of nowhere.

You catch up enough, moving quickly and following what it left of this group's tracks, and arrive just in time to see the Saiyan face plant into the ground as something begins forming under her, holding her ankles.

[grampagen]

As Meagan disappears, looking for Rose and the other missing people, something shifts under the snow and Sarada finds her ankles grabbed and pulled out from under her, causing her to face plant into the snow. As this happens, a being made up of, seemingly, the snow begins to emerge from under her, still gripping her ankles.

As soon as the snow took her under, Ochazuke started for a moment, but relented and resumed his stance.

Calm down. To act hastily may put her in worse danger, to say nothing of the rest of them.

He inhaled deeply the frozen air, a pillar of calm as the snow on the canopies fell and the ground shifted. Concentrating his ki, he slowly spread it around the area where Sarada had been taken, searching to discern the true nature of the beast; its shape, its form, and if any luck, a weakness in these structures.