Dragonball M, Chapter 2: Lighthouse! Across the Shores of Shattered Time!

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"I see. Somehow I don't think that'd be too... ah, acceptable these days." She was pretty sure neither Jinzi nor Meagan wanted her to be standing around wearing leave and moss and ****. "I guess what I have on it fine. If not, I got that covered."

Althena replies to this saying " wait so I don't have that?" Praxat replies to this saying " yeah that Toadian wedding custom is out of date sensei modern Toadians don't actually do that anymore." "the modern Toadian wedding custom still involves the banquet but male and female guests wear fancy dresses while the groom wears a fancy suit and the groom wears a lovely fancy white dress." " a red ruby is giving as the item to seal the marriage not a Oily."


Althena replies to this saying " see so Toadian wedding custom has change since I been frozen." "if earth weddings are anything like the modern Toadian wedding custom then fancy dresses and fancy suits would be required."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Althena replies to this saying " wait so I don't have that?" Praxat replies to this saying " yeah that Toadian wedding custom is out of date sensei modern Toadians don't actually do that anymore." "the modern Toadian wedding custom still involves the banquet but male and female guests wear fancy dresses while the groom wears a fancy suit and the groom wears a lovely fancy white dress." " a red ruby is giving as the item to seal the marriage not a Oily."


Althena replies to this saying " see so Toadian wedding custom has change since I been frozen." "if earth weddings are anything like the modern Toadian wedding custom then fancy dresses and fancy suits would be required."

"Yeah, that makes sense. They seem to take this more seriously than we do," Sarada replied.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Sarada departed after speaking with Althena in search of the best gift she could scrounge up on short notice. She saw that Parsley brought Meagan some flowers. That... was unexpectedly thoughtful of her, especially since she wasn't one to care for this kind of proceeding.

Sarada, if she was being honest, didn't either. Even if it was still a ways away, she was dreading her own pairing ceremony with Ishtar. She just knew that the council was going to insist that she hold the ceremony on Vocado in front of millions. For what reason, she didn't know, but she knew that was exactly what was going to happen. Maybe I should do what Meagan's doing and have a second, smaller ceremony here with my friends. She thought Ishtar would appreciate that; something to discuss with her at a later date.

For now, it was Meagan's day, and thus, she set off to find the perfect present.

She thought about making up an aphrodisiac to make their first night together as life-mates memorable, but the only recipes she knew were tailored to Saiyan men. If Jinzi took what she had in mind, his dick was going to stay hard for ever, and then he would die. Not preferable.

Hm. What to bring... what to... got it!

During Saiyan ceremonies, it was customary for a friend of the life-mates to toast their pairing, almost always over a glass of alcohol. To her knowledge, they were bereft of alcohol, so she decided to make some. Since everyone was strong as ****, normal alcohol wouldn't affect them.

Thus, the only recourse available was to buy several of the most powerful beers this planet had to offer and mix them all together into one unholy concoction that was fucking sure to put hair on even Nevanlinna's divine chest.

Ha! What a fucking great idea! I can't wait.

With luck, Capital City had a wine and spirits store. She wasn't sure what the **** ghosts had to do with wine, but eh, Earth-****. She walked in and immediately asked for the strongest alcohols they had available.

She ended up buying several:

Devil's Springs Vodka - 80%
Sunset Rum - 84%
Good Ol' Sailor Vodka - 85%
Balkan 176 - 88%
Bruichladdich x4+1 - 92%
Everclear - 94%
Spirytus - 96%

"Goddamn, what a load. This **** will knock Jinzi's clean the **** out." She laughed and headed back to the Lookout.

She arrived shortly after leaving Capital City and quickly ran into the kitchen. Grabbing a large container, she poured the entire contents of the each bottle inside. The results were, well,



"AHHAHAH! This is perfect!" She grabbed a metal spoon to mix it all together.

The spoon melted.

"... ah, well. I'll only give Jinzi a little taste."

She stirred it with her finger, with no ill effects, and poured it all into a fancy looking bottle she purchased for 186K goddamned zeni. Sheesh.

"Alright, this is good." She decided to hold onto it until the toast was to be made, then she'd pour everyone a glass.

[Tami]

So, this wedding thing is happening now.

Parsley still meant what she said when she resolved that this... announcement meant nothing to her, but she still couldn't help but be intrigued. She had been to a few pairing ceremonies in her time. Saiyans were spartan in many things, and something of this level of import was no different. The entire affair lasted on a few minutes, the majority of which was spent with the life-mates repeating an ancient creed meant to ensure they enjoyed fertility and happiness. The rest was the actual bonding ceremony. The two cut their palms open simultaneously and let their blood drip and coalesce into a bowl, after which they drank it. Originally, such a thing was thought to empower both life-mates, but nowadays, it was nothing more than a tradition.

If anything, it was more figurative of the bond they would then share for the rest of their lives.

She didn't know how human or Chromakai pairing ceremonies worked, so she supposed she'd pay attention and find out.

I should find them a gift.

Her first instinct was to find them meat (for Jinzi) and herbs (for Meagan), but she wanted something more... original. It was Saiyan custom to offer the two being paired food for their first meal as life-mates, but that was certainly about to be handled by Zaofan.

A brief perusal on what passed for Internet on this world showed that it was customary for the bride - she assumed was Meagan's role in this affair - held flowers while the ceremony commenced.

Alright, that was easy enough.

She quickly left the Lookout and flew down to the surface. Any forest should have had exactly what she was looking for. She assumed that the Chromakai wasn't picky when it came to flowers, especially since this entire thing was last minute and left them with literally no time to prepare. As such, whatever Parsley managed to find should have been good enough.

She found a forest quickly, and went about searching it carefully to find the best this area had to offer. She found a patch in a clearing and started to carefully cut and bundle them, tying them together with some paper she had on hand. She smiled and brought them to her nose. "Ah, they smell nice."

As she returned, she caught sight of a pair of deer. She killed them before they even knew she was there, then carried them and the flowers back to the Lookout.

For someone who doesn't care, I'm going through a lot of trouble for these people. Perhaps she cared a little. There was nothing that ruined a day like this more than apathy, even by someone who wasn't well acquainted. Maybe especially. Besides, it wasn't that much effort. It took her maybe fifteen minutes tops to find these flowers and kill these two deer. It wasn't like she went completely out of her way.

And it wasn't like Meagan was a complete stranger. Further, Sarada told her how Meagan offered condolences after finding out she died. It'd be a pretty dick move to then completely disregard her important day because she simply wasn't into things like this.

With those reason in mind, Parsley landed on the Lookout and tossed the deer at Zaofan's feet. "Meat."

She walked up to Meagan and presented the bouquet. "I read that it was customary for human women to hold flowers while getting paired with their mates. So, here."

Accepting the flowers, Meagan smiled broadly as she smelled their fragrance, "They're beautiful, thank you Parsley." With that, she made up her mind, "Parsley I would like to ask you and your sister Sarada to by my Witnesses, my Maids of Honor as it is called on Earth. I would be honored if you both shared this with me."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Accepting the flowers, Meagan smiled broadly as she smelled their fragrance, "They're beautiful, thank you Parsley." With that, she made up her mind, "Parsley I would like to ask you and your sister Sarada to by my Witnesses, my Maids of Honor as it is called on Earth. I would be honored if you both shared this with me."

Meagan shockingly asked Parsley and Sarada of all people to be a part of the ceremony. She... she didn't know what to say. She only got the flowers to be nice, and now she was being offered a spot at Meagan's right hand?

"I...I accept. It would be an honor," she answered honestly.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Tasure had taken the time to rest and center herself, situating herself behind the main building of the lookout, on the edge. Specifically, away from the others. They weren't intolerable, but they were... distracting. And so, she sat, legs crossed, in a shallow meditation, channeling her ki.

During her 'rest', Totoma wandered over and sat down next to her. "Heh, thought you'd be here, mom. You never used to do this before... ya know. Something you picked up in the afterlife?"

"Yes."

Totoma remained silent. If he expected elaboration, Tasure would not give it, for there was nothing to elaborate on. It was indeed, a habit she'd picked up in the afterlife... what more was there to tell that was relevant? After a while, he spoke up again.

"Ah, so... Meagan and Jinzi are getting married. Feels sorta like she sprang it on him without warning, but... hey, there'll be a party, so that should be fun."

Ah, Jinzi Pantaloon. She knew him... used to eat at Bekon's restaurant often. Earth's smartest son--a Turrip type. Not her cup of tea, but he was worthy of respect, as far as humans went. And the person he was marrying, Meagan... Meagan.

...Meagan.

...

Who the hell was Meagan? She didn't pay attention to the members of this group besides the Saiyans, Ishtar, Zaofan, and to an extent, that Ochazuke fellow, so she hadn't even bothered to learn the others' names. Presumably, Meagan was one of the females, so that cut down the potential list of people it could be...

...did it really matter? She could simply attend the ceremony and figure it out then.

"I see. Good for them."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Sarada took a sip of her concoction to get a feel of the taste.

It tasted like pure spite and hatred. Like, literally trying to swallow fire. Her throat was literally burning. Her throat; which only meant one sip and Jinzi was going to turn into a pile of incredibly wealthy ash and Meagan was going to be a widow within minutes of being paired.

Yeah, that wouldn't have been a fun conversation.

"Well, there goes this idea," she muttered as she placed the bottle of demonic elixir in a capsule for safe keeping. She'd sip on this with Ishtar later. Her love was in desperate need of an outlet after learning her father was dying.

But this left her in a dire predicament: she didn't have a gift to give. Ooh, I know!

New mates went on a brief vacation after their ceremony. In times past, that meant conquering a planet together.
Nowadays, that meant just taking a trip somewhere where they could mate in peace.

There was no better place than Ruco. Meagan already said she'd be willing to go with Jinzi; what better time than now?

It was decided. Sarada was going to send them on an all expense paid trip to paradise. Heh. That beats flowers any day.

She stepped out to the Plaza to tell Meagan and Jinzi. There, she overheard the former offering Parsley and herself an opportunity to serve as her witnesses during the ceremony. She didn't know what that entailed, but she felt compelled to accept.

"Me, be your Witness? You got it Meagan. So, what do I have to do?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

“It is your call. The RoSaT will take two, maybe three days to get ready to become a multi-layered temporal portal. You’ll have until then to decide and so as you will.”

Ishtar frowned thoughtfully.

Three days... It was undoubtedly, all possible things considered, far longer to wait than the Oni would have hoped. After all, her father sat dying slowly — as a mortal might — from wounds inflicted by a doppelgänger, of a man she had come to know on friendly terms. And it was because of that, that so much of her wished for nothing more than to be able to embark on this quest to eliminate what had been stolen from Zurvan, preventing his death in the process, and return to the things she enjoyed most in life and perhaps the way things had been no more than a week before.

And yet... A small sliver understood that this time would be beneficial.

That these three days could be used to train and ensure there was a greater chance of survival and success, was undoubtedly a benefit. Not just for herself but everyone else who sought to offer assistance in this ... and as Ishtar stood there in thought, as the others set themselves to task preparing for the impromptu — and perhaps, too long awaited — wedding: it was that sliver that won out.

So at this time it was merely a matter of getting to training, and making sure that when the time came... She was in the proper place to perform what was necessary to save Sarada and Zurvan, and ultimately, everyone else.

"Hey, what do people usually wear at this wedding thing?"

Upon hearing that her lover ask what she needed to be wearing to the wedding, Ishtar pried herself from her thoughts and offered Sarada a response.

"Formal wear, of the kind you wore during the celebration feast on Chroma." The golden-eyed Oni answered, with a slight smile. "Anything more revealing than that, might make the others jealous."

Granted... there was nothing particularly wrong with that.

Asha'rah pinched her nose, rubbing in slow circles even as she smiled. What a giant headache, and yet she could not help but be impressed. It was hoped for creation to eventually surpass the creator. But the means of surpassing...well, that would often lie beyond the vision of the creator.

"Time travel is a dangerous drug. Through it, one may alter what is and what has been. One may undo the striving of countless trillions, and all their fruits and consequences. I respect you and the work you do, Zurvan. But we gods should have forged time so tight as to make altering it impossible, and your role obsolete. Of course mortals, ravaged by time, wish to be its masters. That we left this path open was our failure."

It was around this time too, that Asha'rah approached Zurvan and spoke to the failure of Gods.

How they should have, in the beginning -- hindsight being what it is -- crafted their works in such a way as to limit mortals ... Who after suffering the ravages of time and tide and... Life strove to improve their lot. And in the moment of perceiving it, the irony of Asha'rah's words stood against her ethos plain as day. Not solely for that ethos but for what it was, truly, she was saying; and in the end as the golden-eyed Oni twisted it over in her mind, again, and again, she recognized something. Perhaps something she might not have realized until far later had this not have happened ... and provided her threat to murder Chrona with the Hakai she stole not come to pass some months prior.

And that realization was that Asha'rah was a...

"Hypocrite."

Ishtar voiced somewhat conflicted, as she made her approach.

"Has that not been offered, time and again from your own tongue? All things strive ?" The question was rhetorical. After all, all who had spoken with the ruined goddess knew without qualm, that that was a phrase offered up time and again. "So what then, is this lamentation of yours. That you wish you would have bound the hand of mortal-kind so that they might not what? Perform the exact thing you champion, and strive ? ... So is there a limit to this striving of yours, then?"

The Oni stopped an arms length away and eyed the Goddess curiously, conflict falling away as she worked through it aloud; even as the understanding danced behind her golden eyes.

"Or is it that you lament that this chance to strive, and despite it all come to bend time.. was ever an option ? "

All questions to be answered at another time perhaps, and things that could perhaps be answered. Asha'rah's lament perhaps being that Time could be manipulated by those for wicked ends, and yet that did not speak to the underlying hypocrisy. No, it did not at all come close... Though that hypocrisy was a thing Ishtar was more than willing to utter, now that Asha'rah had opined on the subject of Time.

"... Do you feel similar, in regards to Hakai?"

Once more, the answer did not matter. Not now, perhaps not ever.

"Yet how could that be ?" The Oni asked herself, a thing she pondered a moment before continuing down the path. "You slaughtered your friend to strive, Asha'rah. Your friend. All so that, in your own words; it might 'aid in your rebellion'. And to 'ascend beyond what any God of Creation or Angel was intended to be' ... and for what ? To fight a battle, you knew you would lose. Simply to prove you were justified ? ... and how many did that cost ? What has become of the Universe, as a result of learning you could obtain Hakai by stripping it from another?" Ishtar allowed those questions hang in the air for a moment, before continuing on to her point.

"So for you to stand here and tell Zurvan that you regret that something that one might use — Time itself — to "undo the striving of countless trillions" is being used for such, and wish it had been created differently ? It is nothing short of blatant hypocrisy. After all, despite disagreeing with this Doctor, this Alternate Jinzi, in his quest to rewrite time... all he is doing now, is what you did one-hundred thousand years ago. Striving, to make things right as he sees — and as you saw — fit."

The Oni resisted the urge to turn away... at least for the moment.

"And... before you start. That your cause was proven proper in the end, is not some ... saving grace. Though perhaps, in a way that you did not intend... it is justification that the balance you perverted, when you killed Indar'en, is in dire need of reinstatement." It was then, the Oni turned and walked off, away from Asha'rah the Fallen, to prepare for the wedding ... though not without a parting jab.

"And it is a shame that you prevented that from coming to pass, by proving to the Multiverse that the balance you created was flawed from the start."

[KingofPie]

North-East City

Roti drove the limousine in silence, Sasheem lazily slouching in the back seat, eating the rest of his sandwiches. Upon arrival, Roti simply stopped the car in front of a pristine looking office building, bug neon letters labeling it as the headquarters of Scone Pharmaceuticals. The meeting ground for the Scone family. Sasheem yawned, kicking the door of the limo open. Walking towards the building's front entrance, the limo's front widows rolled down and Roti inquired, "Er...should I follow you inside or?"

"Nah, just stay in the car," Sasheem replied simply.

Roti sighed in relief, relaxing back upon the front seat, glad the creature had decided to spare him at the very least. He still had all of his money, stockpiles of it from the years of service to the Scone family. All he had to do was...Why was the limo moving?

***

The head honcho of the Scone family, sat around a table with five of his closest associates, playing a game of poker inside a storage room in the building's basement. Roti was supposedly attending an impromptu meeting with Lofe and all of his allies and they'd decided to pass the time as they awaited his report. Boss Scone's right hand man, Masu, was the first to notice something amiss outside. Faint noises of some sort of commotion could be heard through the other side of basement door. Standing to his feet, Masu began to approach Scone and lightly shook his shoulder in an attempt to divert his attention from the game for a moment to take notice of whatever trouble may be brewing and potentially take their leave.

Unfortunately for them, none were near fast enough to duck out of the way of the limo that was suddenly into the room, smashing through the brick walls and crumpling them into rubble. Scone's accountant was hit directly by the wayward automobile, crushed beneath it as it's driver's corpse jettisoned through the front window and onto the floor.

Scone backed off, shaken. "By God...that's Lofe's car!" he said standing up, fearing the worst, and reaching for the pistol in his jacket pocket. Masu and the three remaining criminals followed suit. And judging from the dozens of footsteps that could audibly be heard marching downstairs, Sasheem could tell that more would be joining the party soon enough. Not that it mattered in the end.

"Fuckin' moron...you come up to my establishment...alone?!" Scone asked, a dangerous smirk on his face as he nodded to the wall of goons lining up behind Sasheem, firearms trained directly at him.. "Light 'im up, boys and girls," he grinned as his henchmen began to open fire upon the blue invader.

The storm bullets would've simply bounced off anyway, but Sasheem felt the need to show off...at least a little bit. He activated his Katchin Mode, and turned around to face the hail of gunfire, motioning his arm to direct the ricocheted bullets back at their gunmen. A pile of bodies before him, Sasheem yawned and turned to face Scone once more, who looked as if he were in a panic. "Sorry about the mess. Didn't mean to take it this far, but you forced Sasheem's hand" the Majin replied in a blatantly amused tone. "Either way, looks like this is the end for you, sum'bitches. Say hi to Lofe in hell," he grinned, a ki blast forming in the palm of his hand

Masu's eyes widened as broke out in a cold sweat and looked apologetically at Scone before shrugging and shouting at the Majin, "Wait! I'm a cop!" This seemed to take Sasheem slightly by surprise. The Majin had to admit, he wasn't quite expecting that. Scone, understandably, looked even more taken aback. A gamut of emotions, ranging from the feeling of shock, to betrayal, to anger, eventually resulted him pushing Masu aside and waving his arms in front of Sasheem.

"Don't listen to him! He's just tryin' to weasel his way outta whatever he has comin'!" Scone pleaded. "Keep me alive! I've been an informant to the cops for years!"

Another of Scone's associate's butted in as well, stating, "No....no I'm cop! I can tell you my precinct, my badge number! Everything!"

"Sasheem doesn't care..." the Majin shrugged, first shooting a piercing ki blast through Masu's side and launching a pair of, "SAMEHADA!" at the remaining mafiosos.



And with that, the Scone family was no more. Most of them, anyway. Masu appeared to be bleeding out and crawling towards the remains of the table he had once been playing poker on moments earlier, leaning against it for support as he clutched his side. Sasheem sneered at how easy it this entire endeavor was. The police would probably be on their way soon. Not really a problem, but it's not something he wanted to deal with just yet. Still it'd be nice to relax. It had been a fairly busy day after all.

Sasheem pulled up a chair, the only one still intact after his assault on Scone's hq and sat across from Masu. "So...how you holding up?" Sasheem asked the dying man in a mocking tone. "Y'know if you can make it three blocks or so, ya might just reach the hospital..."

"Heh...not how I expected this to end.." chuckled Masu leaned his head back towards the table and sighed. He reached into his jacket pocket and for a brief moment, Sasheem wondered if this moron had the audacity to draw another weapon on him...but to his surprise he drew out a badge. "I wasn't lying to you...when I said I was a cop," Masu wheezed in a half laugh.

"Sasheem wasn't lying when he said he didn't care," The Majin said in retort, starting to stand up. "Well...Sasheem was just wondering if you were tellin' the truth. That's some **** luck ya've got, buddy."

As the Majin turned to walk away, Masu called out, "Wait! ...Just...just hold up. For one second. I gotta know somethin'..."

Sasheem sighed, turning around. "Better make it quick. Not sure you've got much time left, old timer..."

"Most.." Masu coughed. "Most likely not. But I just wanna know...why you doin' this? You took down Scone, Roti, Lofe...three of the most influential crime bosses in the world."

"Actually six if ya count Brioche, Ciabatta, and Pita," Sasheem added, helpfully.

"Well ****..." Masu shook his head, sitting up further as he took a glance at a hand caked in blood. "You some...kinda extraterrestrial vigilante? Descending from the depths of space to save the populace from monsters like me?"

"Monster? Sasheem questioned. "Thought you were 'sposed to be one of the good guys or somethin'. That a fake badge?"

"No, no...I'm...a cop," Masu replied, shrugging slightly. "I think. Scone was right...I was tryin' to weasel my way out...don't know why. Always knew it'd end this way..." Sasheem, feeling a sob story coming up decided to make it a priority to leave and slowly stood up as Masu continued on. "My little brother, Bengaru...about ten years younger'n me almost...he died about a couple years ago. Or at least I just found out a couple years ago. I can't say I was surprised. He followed the path..."

Sasheem was taken by surprise. The path? If this what this old cop was referring to was what he thought it was....then this truly was a day of fortuitous coincidence. "The path of what...?" the Majin inquired.

"The Tiger's Path. We were born into it...it was our way," Masu continued to cough, blood dribbling down from his chin to his tie. "My family's way...not mine. I sought the path of justice," Masu muttered. "Me and him, we went our separate ways, but we were close. We respected eachother. We always kept in contact...and then nothing. Knew somethin' was wrong, but...what could I do. Wasn't my world. Then one day, I get a letter, no return address. Told me Bengaru died. Didn't say why, didn't offer me any sympathy. Told me not to go looking for the body, at least. Too dangerous. But to be honest...I didn't know where to start lookin'. If I did, I'd find him no matter what."

Masu coughed more violently, spitting out a mixture of phloem and blood onto the floor as his breathing grew more sparse. "I was angry. Started taking more dangerous assignments...assignments like this one. Thought maybe...maybe if I had underworld connections, I could figure out...something. But, I just ended up gettin' lost..." he shook his head. "Haven't contacted my superior officer in a year. Family probably thinks I'm dead. Haven't wrote to them either."

"Ah, just like your brother!" Sasheem pointed out. Sasheem had a vague recollection of the fate of the Tiger School. That woman in the Red Raiders...he remembered overhearing something. Perhaps the dodonpa bastard knew, perhaps not. The Majin was in no mood to ask him anytime soon. "Sasheem understands. Parallels. You're life truly is one giant wreck after another."

"Can't...c-can't say you're wrong..." Masu smiled bitterly, shakily reaching into his jacket pocket once more.

[KingofPie]

"To answer your question before, you could call Sasheem a vigilante if you want," The Majin scratched his chin. "He doesn't really give a damn about the populace though. He doesn't care about justice or the greater good. Sasheem was born chaos and destruction incarnate...But see, Sasheem also follows a path...like your brother. Only his path is laced with hidden truths and forgotten history. So he must go against his very nature and follow this path. To be proactive and cut off evil at the root, for the death of one evil could spare the lives of thousands," Sasheem stated form memory, quoting one of the few sources on the Snake School that he trusted. "But doing such a thing would only start up about a cycle. Of revenge and bloodshed. And soon the greater good gets sort of lost in the grand scheme of things and becomes another evil. Maybe the greatest evil...it's real paradoxical, you see...At least to Sasheem it is."

"But...he figures there must be something to this," he shrugged, walking back towards the chair and taking a seat in front of the dying officer. "And all this crime and assassination and bloodshed'll just lead him to what he seeks, eventually. And find what he seeks."

"So..." Masu shook his head, not following entirely. "What is it exactly you seek?"

"Peace of mind, ironically," Sasheem snorted. "Honor...in Sasheem's own way," The Majin thought further. "The honor...in evil."

"Hate to tell you, Sasheem..." Masu closed his now glassy eyes. "...but I think you got your fuckin' work cut out for you..."

"Yeah...seems that way," Sasheem nodded, standing up once more to leave. The officer was wheezing his last breaths so the Majin figured he didn't have much more to say. Flying back up the way he entered, the Majin took to the skies to continue his self-imposed quest, however fruitful, however futile.

[Tami]

Sarada took a sip of her concoction to get a feel of the taste.

It tasted like pure spite and hatred. Like, literally trying to swallow fire. Her throat was literally burning. Her throat; which only meant one sip and Jinzi was going to turn into a pile of incredibly wealthy ash and Meagan was going to be a widow within minutes of being paired.

Yeah, that wouldn't have been a fun conversation.

"Well, there goes this idea," she muttered as she placed the bottle of demonic elixir in a capsule for safe keeping. She'd sip on this with Ishtar later. Her love was in desperate need of an outlet after learning her father was dying.

But this left her in a dire predicament: she didn't have a gift to give. Ooh, I know!

New mates went on a brief vacation after their ceremony. In times past, that meant conquering a planet together.
Nowadays, that meant just taking a trip somewhere where they could mate in peace.

There was no better place than Ruco. Meagan already said she'd be willing to go with Jinzi; what better time than now?

It was decided. Sarada was going to send them on an all expense paid trip to paradise. Heh. That beats flowers any day.

She stepped out to the Plaza to tell Meagan and Jinzi. There, she overheard the former offering Parsley and herself an opportunity to serve as her witnesses during the ceremony. She didn't know what that entailed, but she felt compelled to accept.

"Me, be your Witness? You got it Meagan. So, what do I have to do?"

"Thank you Sarada." Meagan then thought on this, "Earth custom, from what I understand, usually involves an exchange of wedding bands, matching gold rings. The Witness would hand the ring to bride, and his Witness would have the ring to the groom near the end of the ceremony so that they could exchange them and seal the bond. Beyond that, the most important thing for a Maid of Honor, to do it to stand near the Bride as the ceremony is conducted. To insure that everything goes as it should, to bear witness to it. On Chroma, it's very similar, except that our Witness' lead everyone gathered in song, however we can skip that skip that part. No one here knows, or could even sing, any of the traditional Chromakai wedding songs except Cyanna and me."

She then summed it up, "Just to have you both stand with me as Jinzi and I exchange vows is more than enough. Thank you." She then gave them both a slight bow, a traditional sign of respect and appreciation.

[MrSandman]

Sarada glanced at Etrina curiously. "..." Then what she said finally registered.

An id... behind me...



"Grrrr!!!! *******!" She whirled around and started to swiped at the air. "Stop hovering behind me like a pervert and show yourself!!"

Sarada swung wildly, but only connected with the air. Yet in effort to hit she swung a little too wide and left herself open...and a shimmer ducking in under her swung took advantage, catching the Saiyan with a tackle that floored her under an invisible weight.

"Sa~Ra~Da." A familiar voice sounded out and the air shimmered a moment before revealing the speaker.



"Of all the things this one does, peeking over your shoulder is the least perverted." Erosa pinned the saiyan to the ground with her chest. "Besides....I'm a ghost, and that's what ghosts go ~Ero."

With a wink she did a handstand, pecked the saiyan on the forehead with her lips and did a full on forward flip to land among the group. "Hey everybody! Long time no Ero~!"

[MrSandman]

"Thank you Sarada." Meagan then thought on this, "Earth custom, from what I understand, usually involves an exchange of wedding bands, matching gold rings. The Witness would hand the ring to bride, and his Witness would have the ring to the groom near the end of the ceremony so that they could exchange them and seal the bond. Beyond that, the most important thing for a Maid of Honor, to do it to stand near the Bride as the ceremony is conducted. To insure that everything goes as it should, to bear witness to it. On Chroma, it's very similar, except that our Witness' lead everyone gathered in song, however we can skip that skip that part. No one here knows, or could even sing, any of the traditional Chromakai wedding songs except Cyanna and me."

She then summed it up, "Just to have you both stand with me as Jinzi and I exchange vows is more than enough. Thank you." She then gave them both a slight bow, a traditional sign of respect and appreciation.

"Excuse me."

Not so much the voice, as the presence behind it, seemed to materialize behind Meagan like a sudden fog.

"I've been following your proposed plans for today. I'm interested in the idea of this wedding...and would like to participate in some capacity." Cthylla stepped around to address Meagan, an aura of curiosity betraying and other neutral expression. "Bonding Ceremonies between finite lifeforms are one of many experiences I'd like to observe with a closer viewpoint."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Sarada swung wildly, but only connected with the air. Yet in effort to hit she swung a little too wide and left herself open...and a shimmer ducking in under her swung took advantage, catching the Saiyan with a tackle that floored her under an invisible weight.

"Sa~Ra~Da." A familiar voice sounded out and the air shimmered a moment before revealing the speaker.



"Of all the things this one does, peeking over your shoulder is the least perverted." Erosa pinned the saiyan to the ground with her chest. "Besides....I'm a ghost, and that's what ghosts go ~Ero."

With a wink she did a handstand, pecked the saiyan on the forehead with her lips and did a full on forward flip to land among the group. "Hey everybody! Long time no Ero~!"

"Oof!"

Sarada was suddenly tackled to the ground, with an eerily familiar voice sang her name out in that same annoying manner. Soon thereafter, the owner of that equal parts familiar and annoying voice made herself known.

Erosa!

She had been spying on Sarada this entire time, just waiting for her to say or do something that pertained to her, probably!

!!!

It was then that she realized she had done nearly exactly that. Back when she lamented having to fight Erosa, Ishtar asked why. She very nearly said so out loud, but refrained because she was afraid Erosa was doing exactly this, hanging around invisibly and spying on her. Had she ignored that divinely sent paranoia, Erosa would have heard loud and clear that Sarada thought her **** were huge and distracting and very much didn't them bouncing around in her face.

Speaking of, Erosa had her pinned to the ground by said boobs. Their ample chest squished together, right in Sarada's peripheral vision.

Hey.

Sarada tried to look elsewhere, but couldn't.

Hey. Imagine if you were both naked.

...

MOOOO! I mean, NOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey! Stop that!" she demanded, unclear of whether she was talking to her brain or the Id. Regardless, she had to get out of this precarious situation.

Mercifully, the Id did stop, but handstanding and actually daring... having the balls to plant her gross lips on Sarada's forehead. She was gone, off to make her presence known to the others, leaving Sarada on the ground still and feeling very frustrated.

If I was single, I'd show you something, you *******, she thought bitterly. Oh, well; she was more than happy with Ishtar and was more than willing to spend the rest of her life with her. Erosa was nothing more than a wet dream, something to be fantasized about when a person needed some special alone time.

It then dawned on her.

With the introduction of these alternate timelines in the public - that being their - consciousness, there was a very real possibility that... that she and Erosa were... mating...

...

The very thought was disturbing. Had they gotten off on a better foot, then perhaps their relationship in this timeline would be better.

She sighed and stood. To be fair, her hatred of the Id was only because of her repressed... attraction to her. Ugh, disgusting! There was no reason they couldn't be... friends. Ugh, disgusting!

"Hey, Erosa," she called out. "I assume you heard what I said to your crystal yesterday?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Upon hearing that her lover ask what she needed to be wearing to the wedding, Ishtar pried herself from her thoughts and offered Sarada a response.

"Formal wear, of the kind you wore during the celebration feast on Chroma." The golden-eyed Oni answered, with a slight smile. "Anything more revealing than that, might make the others jealous."

Granted... there was nothing particularly wrong with that.

Finally, a real answer.

So, during an event like this, it was customary to wear formal wear. What Sarada was wearing at the moment might have counted, but it would be better to go something a bit nicer. She had a feeling that what she had in mind was going to resonate with her beloved. That was because she still had that stretchy green dress on her person. Since it would have been a dick move to try and upstage Meagan on her big day, she felt that was the way to go.

"Alright, I can do formal." She winked and was about to walk away when...

It was around this time too, that Asha'rah approached Zurvan and spoke to the failure of Gods.

How they should have, in the beginning -- hindsight being what it is -- crafted their works in such a way as to limit mortals ... Who after suffering the ravages of time and tide and... Life strove to improve their lot. And in the moment of perceiving it, the irony of Asha'rah's words stood against her ethos plain as day. Not solely for that ethos but for what it was, truly, she was saying; and in the end as the golden-eyed Oni twisted it over in her mind, again, and again, she recognized something. Perhaps something she might not have realized until far later had this not have happened ... and provided her threat to murder Chrona with the Hakai she stole not come to pass some months prior.

And that realization was that Asha'rah was a...

"Hypocrite."

Ishtar voiced somewhat conflicted, as she made her approach.

"Has that not been offered, time and again from your own tongue? All things strive ?" The question was rhetorical. After all, all who had spoken with the ruined goddess knew without qualm, that that was a phrase offered up time and again. "So what then, is this lamentation of yours. That you wish you would have bound the hand of mortal-kind so that they might not what? Perform the exact thing you champion, and strive ? ... So is there a limit to this striving of yours, then?"

The Oni stopped an arms length away and eyed the Goddess curiously, conflict falling away as she worked through it aloud; even as the understanding danced behind her golden eyes.

"Or is it that you lament that this chance to strive, and despite it all come to bend time.. was ever an option ? "

All questions to be answered at another time perhaps, and things that could perhaps be answered. Asha'rah's lament perhaps being that Time could be manipulated by those for wicked ends, and yet that did not speak to the underlying hypocrisy. No, it did not at all come close... Though that hypocrisy was a thing Ishtar was more than willing to utter, now that Asha'rah had opined on the subject of Time.

"... Do you feel similar, in regards to Hakai?"

Once more, the answer did not matter. Not now, perhaps not ever.

"Yet how could that be ?" The Oni asked herself, a thing she pondered a moment before continuing down the path. "You slaughtered your friend to strive, Asha'rah. Your friend. All so that, in your own words; it might 'aid in your rebellion'. And to 'ascend beyond what any God of Creation or Angel was intended to be' ... and for what ? To fight a battle, you knew you would lose. Simply to prove you were justified ? ... and how many did that cost ? What has become of the Universe, as a result of learning you could obtain Hakai by stripping it from another?" Ishtar allowed those questions hang in the air for a moment, before continuing on to her point.

"So for you to stand here and tell Zurvan that you regret that something that one might use — Time itself — to "undo the striving of countless trillions" is being used for such, and wish it had been created differently ? It is nothing short of blatant hypocrisy. After all, despite disagreeing with this Doctor, this Alternate Jinzi, in his quest to rewrite time... all he is doing now, is what you did one-hundred thousand years ago. Striving, to make things right as he sees — and as you saw — fit."

The Oni resisted the urge to turn away... at least for the moment.

"And... before you start. That your cause was proven proper in the end, is not some ... saving grace. Though perhaps, in a way that you did not intend... it is justification that the balance you perverted, when you killed Indar'en, is in dire need of reinstatement." It was then, the Oni turned and walked off, away from Asha'rah the Fallen, to prepare for the wedding ... though not without a parting jab.

"And it is a shame that you prevented that from coming to pass, by proving to the Multiverse that the balance you created was flawed from the start."

Ishtar just laid into Asha'rah. Sarada blinked mindlessly during it all, following every pointedly stated word the Oni leveled at the goddess with unabated interest. When words like hypocrite were thrown at someone, there had better have been some proof to follow. And there was.

Asha'rah - though she was only half-listening - lamented the fact that the gods didn't do more to restrict time to prevent mortals from abusing it. She stated to Zurvan that they should have made it inaccessible to mortals, thus rendering his occupation obsolete before it really because necessary.

A laudable thing to say, if not made in hindsight. Sarada didn't necessarily feel to comfortable with placing those kind of limiters on her kind simply because it had been abused. There were plenty of aspects of creation that had been abused - ki, magic, strength - and yet those were still freely used by all who had the mind and will to use them. Hell, even Asha'rah abused an aspect of creation - Hakai - during her rebellion in the heavens. When Ishtar pointed that out, she found herself nodding in agreement.

When the name of Asha'rah close friend - whom she murdered to strip him clean of his hakai - was thrown out, Sarada had a feeling this was going to get good. Surely, the goddess wouldn't let this slide, even if she knew that Ishtar was right. The comparison between her actions and the alternate Jinzi who sought to undo the established order of time and reality itself to assert himself as ruler over all was especially damning. It was, essentially, the same when all motivations were stripped away. It was two people who rebelled against the established order to rework the universe in a way they saw fit. That Jinzi was perhaps doing this for selfish reasons didn't change this. He, and Asha'rah a hundred thousand years ago, felt they were both right and justified in doing every sordid act the committed, and had yet to commit. From plucking people from their timelines and killing all who stood in his path, to ambushing and killing her own close friend to wage a war she knew she had no hope of winning; it was all the same when all things were considered.

Sarada stayed silent and awaited Asha'rah's response. If there was indeed a response. There had to be, when Asha'rah's character was being called into question.