Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

As the “training” continues, a lone figure walks through the woods towards the arena area. Jinzi has recently called Adam and asked for his help, and now the Android was once again back at Capsule Corp and had been awaiting Jinzi’s signal to begin helping train the others. Equipped with a special band that prevented the gravity manipulation from working on him, Adam is not hindered.

Adam is now free to step in and help “train” the group alongside Jinzi.

[KamenRaida]

Not that she was expecting it to work. It seemed to her team work was going have to do, so she decided to send a mental message to her 'first' team since she at least knew most of them. The only one extra outside of "Team North" was Held and Chuan, mainly because she hadn't interacted with the others as much though in this case she had to be willing to work with anyone.

"Can you all hear me? I don't think wild single attacks are going to work, we can coordinate together through this link."

A voice unbidden pierced through the fog of Koorimaru's mind. It soon became clear that the assault was nothing of the sort and instead one of the team-mates he'd met in Cask making a much needed attempt at reconnaisance.

Our dear Pantaloon is predicting every attack we have. It's like this entire arena is his brain, and every action within it, including our own his thoughts.

And then, Koorimaru remembered the man's own words.

“Now then, this arena is a bio-mechanical nanite linked server with hardlight projection capabilities tied to my neural mainframe.”

This arena truly were the man's own mind in action. Everything from the fascimile of a machine that attacked them moments ago, to the disk he now rode on were possible only due to his own mind....

....And perhaps the one way to subvert them was through the unexpected aid Karine had provided them.

My dear girl, I fear physical distractions will have a limited effect on Pantaloon. If this arena is an extension of his mind, he will know every move on the physical plane we make. But an assault of the mind on the other hand.... Extend your psychic reach into his mind. No need for anything dramatic, just run enough distraction for us to do something.

[The Chou Lives]

: He wishes he knew what the others were thinking. But thought this was a sadistic child like game and not true training. Old Kami, New Kami, Kais.... they do their job poorly.:

[KingofPie]

Sasheem was quickly growing irritated woth how things were going. This....human builder could beat them all with his strange magic? Was this really training? Was he trying to mock them?

The anger quickly gave rose to hunger in the Majin, who now late on his back in the grass, panting. Waitaminute...Sasheem suddenly sat up. An idea began to develop in his chaotic mind.

"Heheh....HEHEHEHE! He begins cackling madly as he stretches his arms towards a nearby tree and, struggling under the now increased gravity, begins to pull himself up towards the highest branch. From there he swung himself atop the branch, finding it sturdy enough to hold him provided he kept balance. It seemed as if he was on the lookout for something...

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Sarada made it to the trees and found one near the front. Circling around behind it to obscure her movements, she started the difficult task of climbing up to the top. Every time she lifted her limbs, it felt like she was carrying a ten ton weight.

It was awesome!

She could feel every muscle straining to do something as simple as climbing a tree. Adding weight resistance to even the most mundane of tasks was a brilliant, and efficient, means of getting stronger.

Again, she was impressed.

She was breathing hard by the time she reached the highest, sturdiest branch she could. Squatting down on top of it, she surveyed the field to assess the situation.

Everyone was still attacking, with varying degrees of success. Sarada decided to wait until there was an opening to launch her ambush.

[The Chou Lives]

As the net attempt was going on, he chain swings and pulls himself closer to the top of the geofronts ceiling as a means to work out while in motion. The strain in his earthling bones and muscles were there. May not be human, but did grow up on Earth.

[Sion Reaver]

A voice unbidden pierced through the fog of Koorimaru's mind. It soon became clear that the assault was nothing of the sort and instead one of the team-mates he'd met in Cask making a much needed attempt at reconnaisance.

Our dear Pantaloon is predicting every attack we have. It's like this entire arena is his brain, and every action within it, including our own his thoughts.

And then, Koorimaru remembered the man's own words.



This arena truly were the man's own mind in action. Everything from the fascimile of a machine that attacked them moments ago, to the disk he now rode on were possible only due to his own mind....

....And perhaps the one way to subvert them was through the unexpected aid Karine had provided them.

My dear girl, I fear physical distractions will have a limited effect on Pantaloon. If this arena is an extension of his mind, he will know every move on the physical plane we make. But an assault of the mind on the other hand.... Extend your psychic reach into his mind. No need for anything dramatic, just run enough distraction for us to do something.

"...It's worth a try. I'm cutting the mental link for now to concentrate on them."

She would be lying to say she was among the most powerful of mental prowess, there were people of her kind and not which were much more powerful and skilled in that area. With that being said she could certainly attempt to be sufficiently annoying to throw them off. Even if it was only a second, even if only caused a slight blink in a real fight that's all it took for a battle to lead to defeat or success.

Karine stretched her powers, establishing the 'link' with their opponent in her attempt to distract them.

Though with what?

Ah. Of course. Annoying, cliche jokes may do the trick.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Ishtar pitched backwards after the ground erupted around her. The feeling of accomplishment quickly giving way to resolution as Mr. Pantaloon took flight. She knew, that she could not follow in the traditional method, she had denied herself the gift of flight some time ago to strengthen her bond with the earth beneath her feet.

Yet perhaps there was a chance at something...

Watching carefully as Mr. Pantaloon darted around on his flying disc, the woman waited. When he took and flung Jack and Sarada at two individuals she had yet to become acquainted with, an idea formed. Building energy up in her legs, the woman made node of the Majin and Saiyan girl's burgeoning ambush, before reaching out. Both Sasheem and Sarada would feel her first, before she spoke, her mind a clearly resonating point in the chaos around them.

"It seems coordination is key, in this endeavor. I will wait for your your attempts before launching myself at him, yes?" Then, after a pause. "Please forgive the intrusion, besides."

Now all Ishtar needed do, was wait for her opening.

[Eternal Torment]

Many things happen at once. Those that attack Jinzi’s base and not himself find their attacks successful, with the ground erupting and the mechanoid falling back and shattering as dust and smoke cover the area. As others move in to attack, the dust and smoke blow away and reveal.........nothing.

Until the gravity increases again and, above them all, unperturbed by the increase, is Jinzi. He stands upon a hard light disc about thirty feet in the air, arms crossed and smirking.

“Gravity at 2.5 norm and holding. Phase 2 initialized: Mobile Combat!”

Jinzi, flying, or rather surfing almost upon his disc, dives down quicker then their gravity held limbs can react and lands between Sarada and Jack. With ease, he grabs both of them by their necks and with surprising strength, hurls them towards Ochazuke and Zaofan.

Okay, so maybe his idea was useless after all. So, what was next? With gravity weighing down on them even more, there was no way they could reach him with simple jumping. Unless....

Held felt his knees buckles slightly at the strain of gravity putting even more force upon his body. However he was prepared this time, and with a slight grunt, he endured the weight cast on every fiber of his being.

It was a chore to keep his balance in these conditions, with the sudden disruption of the stable earth.

I think we should probably move a bit quicker....I don't what to know how many weight settings he...Put on this thing. he thought to his comrades.

"I guess we should try a bit harder...."

Taking a deep, strained breath, the Nevadian focused his ki throughout his body, before allowing it to sink down within his legs.

Slowly, he jogged, then it evolved into a sprint, labored, as he picked up speed. After a moment, he became a blur of motion, dashing towards the nearest tree.

He jumped towards it, feet first, kicking off of it with his legs.

Unicorns Gallop!

In an explosion of energy, he ascended skyward, the tree kicked over from the sheer force of his jump.

As his momentum flung him towards the sadistic scientist, he reared back his right hand, preparing a palm strike at the center of Jinzi's chest.

Of course! The trees! That said, it wasn't like it'd be easy to use, seeing as how an aerial attack would be really predictable. But then again, getting over Jinzi would be good if they could distract him from attacks coming from above. Running up one of the trees as quickly as he could, Chuan strained against gravity as he made his way to the top.

Karine internally winced at the physic shout, it wasn't an surprise the sudden intrusion would throw at least one person off. Still, better earlier then never. She decided then to leave Ocha alone as they seemed to need the extra concentration for their current task. The link was still open, should they need it however.

"I am unsure myself. Either case, this link is open for anyone with ideas. In the mean time..."

The battle field had shifted once more, making things a much more hectic affair.

When Ocha and Sarada were sent flying, she was only able stop the fall from one of them in time with her tendrils, which softened the landing on the young Sayain. They hadn't gotten on the best start, and she didn't like how they insulted Totoma's parents or himself, but it was about being an adult. Besides, here, all that mattered was the survival and success of the group.

Seeing what Totoma was doing, she attempted her best to assist with the 'ensnaring' thing with her own shadows; part of her training she needed to learn to make more more complicated shapes with them,

Later.

That's good! I've got an idea. Why not keep his eyes on the ground while one of us takes to the skies?

Zaofan noticed that both Sarada and Held headed for the trees. Sarada was no doubt preparing to pounce at the chance, while Held took to the sky.

Standing straight while using Bojack as a cane, he pondered to the rest of the group. "If he can control the gravity on a whim, who knows how much harder -- or lighter -- he can go!"

"But together, we toppled the giant! We can coordinate ourselves again! And we should look for the source of his gravity control!"

Zaofan, go up! Smack him back down to the ground!

[Tami]

Having returned to a position on the far side o the Arena, away from Jinzi, Meagan tried to figure out this Training while avoiding being attacked.

[KingofPie]

Ishtar pitched backwards after the ground erupted around her. The feeling of accomplishment quickly giving way to resolution as Mr. Pantaloon took flight. She knew, that she could not follow in the traditional method, she had denied herself the gift of flight some time ago to strengthen her bond with the earth beneath her feet.

Yet perhaps there was a chance at something...

Watching carefully as Mr. Pantaloon darted around on his flying disc, the woman waited. When he took and flung Jack and Sarada at two individuals she had yet to become acquainted with, an idea formed. Building energy up in her legs, the woman made node of the Majin and Saiyan girl's burgeoning ambush, before reaching out. Both Sasheem and Sarada would feel her first, before she spoke, her mind a clearly resonating point in the chaos around them.

"It seems coordination is key, in this endeavor. I will wait for your your attempts before launching myself at him, yes?" Then, after a pause. "Please forgive the intrusion, besides."

Now all Ishtar needed do, was wait for her opening.

Sasheem was growing quite irritated that people were attempting to speak to hum telepathically, this time the oni. The thought of punching himself in the head so their words would fall out, was one he would quite readily put into practice if not for his current goal of taking down Jinzi. Which....admittedly was supposed to be a group effort.

Sasheem sighed. Very well, the Oni wanted cillaboration, did she? Sasheem sent her a mental note back detailing his plan.

The Oni and perhaps the monkey girl if the thought was shared would see a clear image from Sasheem's mind. A shining beacon amidst the swirling chaos thay was the Majin's mind. An image so distinct, it could not be mistaken for anything else.

Melted cheese.

[Ptrvc]

Deception is the key to succeeding in a game of poker. If you cannot read your opponents as well as keep them guessing, then you're not playing poker.

You're just playing a game of chance.

Jack charged forth seemingly intent on knocking Erosa's head off her shoulders.

In the long run you cannot hope to win at games of chance. The house always wins, the set the odds after all.

"Dead!" Jack roared, as he neared Erosa.

Jinzi was the house in this case and he set the odds. This arena was a game set to test them. A game can always be rigged.

"Man's!" Jack continued as he sidestepped past the I'd and continued towards his true target.

So how does win a rigged game? Something designed to be unfair? In Jack's experience, cheat and lie.

"...bluff...," he whispered as the excess energy disappeared and he ducked low as he could grabbing the Mecha around the waist before falling back hoping to suplex, or toss the suit into his allies attacks.

[Lord Falcon]

Jinzi leads them steadily downward through the mess of hallways until they reach a massive freight elevator big enough for even all of them at once. He gets them all on and presses a button, taking the group lower and lower. After what feels like over a minute of straight going down, the front view shifts as light and color breaks through.

Before lays a massive underground training facility that dwarfs the actual Capsule Corp building in size by a heavy multiplier, with forests, a lake, and even a small mountain. Artificial light, cleverly hidden, imitates sunlight perfectly and there even seems to be clouds in the sky. Right below, about thirty feet away from the elevator, was a more traditional raised training arena.

Looking up, they can see they are hundreds of feet below the surface. Right above they can see the bottom of the main Capsule Corp building, along with what looks like other buildings, all set to be lowered in case of an emergency.


Jinzi throws his arms out wide and grins.

"Behold! Capsule Corp's very own Geofront! Built to house millions in a potential crisis and to lower several square blocks around Capsule Corp under the ground in case of attack, this shall be our training facility. Now then, if you'll step onto the arena here......."


Jinzi exits the elevator and makes his way up into the raised training facility, still grinning.


OT: Yes, I ripped the Geofront off of Evangelion. I always thought the idea was cool, so there. ^_^

OOC: I smell a lawsuit! ;P

IC:

Their host was Jinzi, a dapper young man she had seen on the news before. He led the group through the facility till they reached an expanse. Asha'rah stopped short, taking a moment to realize they were still underground. It was hard to remember in a cavern with a ceiling higher than skyscrapers. And inside, clouds, sunlight, trees and buildings, an entire city ready to be deployed.

"Your vision leaves me in awe, Mr. Pantaloon."

As they step into the arena, Jinzi takes his over jacket off and throws it out of the arena. He cracks his neck, then turns and looks at them all. An oddly.....particular smile on his face. An almost...gleeful excitement.

He pauses once, looking at Asha’rah.

“Once we’re done I would like a word, miss.”

A talk with the host, later?

"Of course, Mr. Pantaloon. I look forward to it." She nodded.

Asha'rah marveled at the massive underground structure. How much work went into shaping this place, how much planning? There was granduity of vision, nobility of purpose and roaring industriousness in this place. It was a good place to take shelter in, and a better one to meditate. Asha'rah floated gently to the ground, assumed the lotus position, and turned inward. Her necklace of orbs spun in place even more slowly than usual as she re-centered herself. Bit by bit, her thoughts began to settle into order.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"It seems coordination is key, in this endeavor. I will wait for your your attempts before launching myself at him, yes?" Then, after a pause. "Please forgive the intrusion, besides."

Now all Ishtar needed do, was wait for her opening.

For the second time in mere minutes, someone else butted their way into Sarada's head. This time, it was Ishtar. "I might as well get used to it."

Who knew; maybe this could serve as anti-mind reading training. What was that called? Telephony? No, wait; telepathy. Yeah, that was it. This could serve as anti-telepathy training.

"I think the mutt's bitch is going to try something. I'll jump in after her."

Sasheem was growing quite irritated that people were attempting to speak to hum telepathically, this time the oni. The thought of punching himself in the head so their words would fall out, was one he would quite readily put into practice if not for his current goal of taking down Jinzi. Which....admittedly was supposed to be a group effort.

Sasheem sighed. Very well, the Oni wanted cillaboration, did she? Sasheem sent her a mental note back detailing his plan.

The Oni and perhaps the monkey girl if the thought was shared would see a clear image from Sasheem's mind. A shining beacon amidst the swirling chaos thay was the Majin's mind. An image so distinct, it could not be mistaken for anything else.

Melted cheese.

Suddenly, an image of melted cheese probed her mind. What? It must have been that stupid toilet thing. She noticed him climbing one of the trees near her -- while still in his toilet, mind -- and lying in wait.

"Why would you thinking of food at a time like this?

Mmm, cheese...

No, focus! Now look at what you've done! Now I'm hungry again."

[Lord Falcon]

He looks at them all again.

“Now then, this arena is a bio-mechanical nanite linked server with hardlight projection capabilities tied to my neural mainframe.”

Jinzi gestures to his neck, where a glowing circular patch could be seen suddenly.

“It is, essentially, capable of limited construction of nanite-assembled reconstructive hardlight projections and manipulation of local environs. Example.”

Jinzi waves his hand and a thin translucent barrier wraps around the arena, locking them all in with him, then gestures again and the group of you would find the gravity had increased dramatically around them.

“Times 2.2 Earth’s gravity. I have found, in my studies, that ki, chi, qi, chakra, prana or whatever you want to call it is hard to build upon once accessed. However, I have found that to build it quickly, stresses upon the body need to exceed a certain point before the ki will recoil and start to reflexively build upon itself. Battle can do that, however, under a controlled environment, I have discovered that I can replicate and even improve upon the results of basic training very quickly.”

He smiles widely, and light gathers around his arms and manifests as two wrist blasters.

“Gravity training lesson 1: DODGE!”

And he begins blasting towards the group.

Busy looking deep within herself, Asha'rah felt an instant heaviness. Heaviness in her arms, her legs, her head, everything. And then a word from the outside.

"DODGE!"

"Wha-" was all Asha'rah managed to utter before being blasted into the ground under a rain of fire. I am pain.

Four orbs rose from Asha'rah, a touch slower than usual as they adjusted to the increased gravity. Aura spun out, connect them to each other. Then they accelerated in a circular pattern, and golden light flowed like water into the gap between them, whirling and dispersing the incoming fire. Heaven's Gate!

Safe for the moment, she looked about and got her bearings. It appeared Mr. Pantaloon had started a training session with little warning. How rude. How effective. The others were attacking his machines with great success, but much less so whenever they tried to attack the man himself. Her teammates were all demonstrating formidable skill. A demon with with pallid yellow skin and a violet crest seemed to bend space itself to launch destructive crimson beams from odd angles. There were at least two tailed warriors (Saiyans) in the mix - a muscular woman who for the cover of the forest, seeking to fight on ground of her own choosing; and a male in a splendid blue and wheat gold robe who launched bands of ki in a net shape. A pointy-eared lady (Chromakai) danced about like a leaf in the wind, nary taking a scratch from the blasts around her. A bronze-skinned man leapt up to meet Mr. Pantaloon head on, kicking off from a tree at blurring speed like a horse might smash a foe to its rear. A man in a white gi catapulted himself into the air with a bo staff like an Olympian before shooting lasers from his eyes. Someone in a yellow cloak was trying to surf a tree.The man with the strange hair cut from earlier faked his fearsome attack from before, using the opening created to suplex the robot he was fighting. The man fought smart too.

Amid all this craziness, familiar animal-like movement caught Asha'rah's optical receptors. There was Etrina! And Erosa, tearing up the ground itself for projectiles to hurl at her opponents before leaping through the air, whirling with claws at the ready.

"Spin-to-W~in!" Erosa yelled. Oh my. Asha'rah knew a very good martial artist back in Kame who would have an aneurysm if he heard that.

What an odd place for a toilet.

Ah, and there! Ishtar, her light blue skin standing out anywhere. The ground around her seemed broken by design, and she was waiting for a chance to strike. Perhaps Asha'rah could create that chance for her. Concentrating on the oni, Asha'rah summoned an illusion to make Ishtar look like just another pile of rubble like what lay around her. Visions in the Desert.

Many things happen at once. Those that attack Jinzi’s base and not himself find their attacks successful, with the ground erupting and the mechanoid falling back and shattering as dust and smoke cover the area. As others move in to attack, the dust and smoke blow away and reveal.........nothing.

Until the gravity increases again and, above them all, unperturbed by the increase, is Jinzi. He stands upon a hard light disc about thirty feet in the air, arms crossed and smirking.

“Gravity at 2.5 norm and holding. Phase 2 initialized: Mobile Combat!”

Jinzi, flying, or rather surfing almost upon his disc, dives down quicker then their gravity held limbs can react and lands between Sarada and Jack. With ease, he grabs both of them by their necks and with surprising strength, hurls them towards Ochazuke and Zaofan.

Yet even in this increased gravity, Mr. Pantaloon seemed to retain all his mobility and more. He easily dodged every attack, nary a hair our of place, and manhandled two of the stronger looking physical fighters, throwing them into another two. If they were to prevail, they needed to slow the owner of Capsule Corp down...or at least make him feel slower. Asha'rah sent six of her orbs out to form a wide net, coordinating to cover maximum ground alongside the ki bands of the male Saiyan. Then she connected them with her aura, letting them flow into a shield more akin to a curved, moving wall. Heaven's Gate. There was more than one way to use a shield.

She pressed in with the ki wall, not seeking to hit Mr. Pantaloon outright so much as to narrow his movement options. Her orbs could fly, allowing her aura wall to track his vertical movement as well as horizontal. Like a living thing, the wall closed in on Mr. Pantaloon, threatening to envelope him and forcing him to dodge in unfavorable directions, herding him into a fatal position towards the ground where Ishtar lay in wait, camoflaged by Asha'rah's illusion.