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

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Sarada and the others arrived to the sight of a hellacious battle already underway. The ground down below shook and trembled from the blows being delivered and received.

She floated, mouth slightly agape. Finally free of the interference, she could at last sense her love in full. Her power was so weak, nearly completely depleted. She was one step from death! And yet, so ferociously she fought, matching blow with devastating blow.

Further still, her vibrant, brilliant golden aura was replaced with one as black as midnight with gold interlaced. It wasn't something she had seen before, but she had an idea.

Is this... the power of a Goddess of Destruction?!

It had to be. What other explanation could there be?

To see Ishtar feel so weak, and yet prove herself this creature's equal... it was so amazing!

It was so incredible!

It was as so hot!

No. No, focus.

Ishtar's form was off, so it wasn't like she was going to come away with an easy win. "She's injured," she commented. Those didn't look fresh. Those must be from when she fought that Nergal guy.

Alright. It was obvious that Sarada was going to have to get involved at some point. The only question was when.

Feeling the creature, it was powerful. Much more powerful than she was.

Good.

"Meagan, you can make people weaker, right? Like drain their energy or something."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Ishtar nodded.

"We met ... briefly." She started to explain. "She purchased a considerable amount of the metal, Katchin, some months ago. I tracked her down before she departed ... and we touched minds, briefly."

Ishtar offered.

"She is young ... no more than five years old ... and already so strong. Yet she wants more power. For what I do not know." The golden-eyed Oni sighed.

"I had planned to track her down, later. In light of what she has done, however ... I should probably do so, sooner."

Shek’hinah narrows her eyes.

“You will not. We still have to talk about your reckless behavior recently. Nergal, Ishtar? “

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Asha'rah straightened, allowing her feet to touch the ground out of respect for the two beings before her and the gravity of their situation. Sihn had been assigned the task of hunting down the traitorous angel faction - plenty powerful as he was, he also had the weaponized might of a God of Creation in his holster. Yet there he stood, crippled on one side, arm broken and eye obliterated. What had he stumbled upon that left such destruction on a being such as he? Even when he had the backing of a being such as Zurvan? The God of Time had suffered serious wounds himself, teeth dislodged, clearly winded and arms too mangled to withstand another punch. Would Zurvan even resort to a punch? Asha'rah realized she could not recall him ever having to resort to a physical blow before, at least so far as she knew.

She addressed the man in charge of the universal clean up first, as was proper.

"Greetings once again, Sihn. When I sent Shimmer to help you find trouble, I assumed our enemies were hiding from you because they were too weak to oppose you. It seems this belief no longer holds water?"

Then she turned to the God of Time. The sleeping giant of the War in the Heavens, now reduced so soon after finally rousing himself to stand for something he cared about.

"And greetings, Zurvan. They say time heals all wounds. Yet here you stand, God of Time, bleeding on Mrs. Landinghorn's clean floor. What befell you so?"

Sihn sighs as he sits down.

“One, Shimmer has been a, heh, godsend. He’s the one that tipped me towards Stine’s appearing in Terra. Two, as to opposing me...no. No I had Hammer dead to rights, and Zurvan was holding his own against Stine. We would have had them beat if this Genesis had not interfered.”

Zurvan smiles even as his teeth start to reappear, his wounds mending.

“Let me show you.”

A temporal vision befalls the room as Zurvan uses his powers to show them what happened.

Amidst a familiar setting, Terra’s Cairn Yard, Zurvan’s strange power combats the rebel Angel Stine. The muscular blue skinned humanoid is surrounded by temporal energy, rifts and blades of compressed time bouncing off Zurvan as the aspect glides about, halting and countering the older entity. Perhaps the only one in the sealed off universes properly capable of doing so. When barriers fall, Stine seems to get desperate as the two get physical. Stine is stronger, broader, but Zurvan is quicker. Eventually, Zurvan manages to destroy the Angel’s staff. The blowback stuns Stine and the Aspect swoops in, physically striking him with compressed time enhanced punches. Each one feeling like decades of punches striking the Angel.

Meanwhile, Hammer is throwing out miniature hakai grenades at Sihn, who’s staying one step ahead of the Namekian. Last Whisper sings out, shot after shot, and the world shudders as Creational energy blasts through his weakened hakai like tissue paper and starts taking chunks out of the reborn GoD. Where they land he doesn’t heal, and eventually Sihn has him pinned on the ground about to blow his head off.

Zurvan and Stine suddenly get slammed into from behind, a massive blow that flings the two through a mountain and into space. When Sihn turns around, he’s blind sided by a flash of grey light, a bullet taken from his gun even as he’s sent sailing into another mountain after being punched in the eye. Hammer’s arms are ripped off and then the woman, who Ishtar recognizes as Genesis, disappears in another flash of grey light:

Stine reappears, grabs the near dead Hammer, and the two vanish in a spray of colors. Moments later Shek’hinah and Landinghorn appear and collect the two wounded deities.

The vision ends.

“She was smart. She waited for us to tire each other out before striking. Smart is dangerous.” Zurvan says.

[Cyke]

The Train, making quick work of the opposite wall, continues onward with several consecutive crashes confirming the successive walls did little to stop it.

Zaofan, for his part, made an attempt to peek through the opening that had been made by the projectile train to make some sense of what the hell had happened. The hallway beyond the doorway was pitch black, the train emerging from a inky black formless cloud just beyond the threshold. Then....the tail end if the train emerges and continued past zaofan, ripping from remained of the wall on its exit and showering the cook in dirt and dust....

.....and in that moment of confusion a shadow spung forth, covering his entire vision. A hand, a very large black-tinted armored hand.....closed around his head before there was time properly react to it amiss the madness. With a jerk that would have tore the head off a normal man, Zaofan was yanked off his feet and propelled upwards...his body used as a makeshift bulldozer to smash clean through the celiing above them, and the celing above that....and finally the roof.

Now outside, the grip released itself as it casually tossed Zaofan upwards...clamping now onto his leg and swinging the cook around midair. In that instance, his vision catches the flowing golden hair and dark armor like clothes of one he had the displeasure of dealing with in the past.

Fight before he found himself being flung earthbound.

Dizzy from the sheer force of the grip around his head, as if his ears were boxed in, Zaofan finds himself knowing that he's hurtling down, but that his synapses can barely fire in the first place. "S-S-Scar-"

Chrona gives the goddess a quick wave and smile before vanishing from sight, taking Erosa with her.

Off the corner of his eye, Zaofan can see a flash, but his disorientation is so bad that although he notices it, he can't focus on it. He can barely focus on himself. Flying down from the great heights, he shakes his head clear. "SCARLET SHIELDO!"

Zaofan's body turns from a white comet to a momentary red meteorite that smashes into the ground. Within the crater, Zaofan coughs up and is a bit rattled, but is otherwise okay thanks to the split second protection afforded by his personal force field.

He struggles to his feet, coughing out the dust both from the initial train, and the surrounding dust, as well as the sheer force of impact from his giant foe.

"koff koff KAAFF... Parsic?! HERE?! Butbutbut WHY?!"

Ah, the old foe from the tournament. For once, just as quickly as his shield, Zaofan reconsiders the nature of his relationship with Etrina. But now is not the time for that.

"Parsic! My, how you've grown since the last time we've met! But you're looking brutish, too. Tell me, eat any good books lately?"

Zaofan takes up a fighting stance. He quakes a little, trying his best to hide his trepidation. The last time they fought, Parsic had very nearly killed him by sheer madness itself. A purely physical fighter, Zaofan had no defense whatsoever, aside from his willpower.

Remembering that fact, Zaofan instead tries to think positively. His bravado shall be a weapon once more. "Oh, Parsley Parsley Parsley... You've done it now. I've fought giant skeletons, the giant Namekians, an evil beast from my friend Chou, Simon Battersea, and even giant squids and dinosaurs, And ya know what?! I've come to realize that I GREATLY enjoy battling foes that dwarf me. It's harder for my enemies to dodge, and more opportunities for ME to hit. Things. I will dance CIRCLES around you, pal!"

He snaps into a different pose, hands up, legs ready for action.

"Secondly, I spent the better part of a day working on that spread. And it was almost done! Erosa's feast was to be a crowning achievement! And now it's splattered all over the kitchen! Ooooh, now my head's turned into a pressure cooker."

Finally, he snaps into another pose denoting offense, one hand forward and another hand behind him, with his eyes now charging up with energy.

"Third, and so infuriatingly: the last time we fought, you took me to your... realm, your mindscape, what have you. But not only did you ruin Erosa's birthday gift, but you destroyed a kitchen. That is unforgivable! You're on MY TURF NOW, P-Bag!"

Zaofan optic blasts the portion of the ground on which Parsic is standing with his load-bearing leg, tripping him forward. As his head juts forward, Zaofan fires another optic blast at the center of his forehead, snapping his head back and pointed upward. Using the Crimson Dynamite Comet, he rockets forward a fraction of the second, over his head, and blows into his eyes a cloud of Capsicum chili pepper spice.

Fun fact: This breed of Capsicum Chili, better known as Pepper X, measures 3.18 million units on the Scoville scale. Thus, Pepper X is among the hottest peppers in the world. Zaofan had planned to use this spice on some appetizers until P-Bag ruined the kitchen.

Though all the kitchen ware was scattered or destroyed, Zaofan lifts up a cast-iron pan and a saute pan, holding them in a fighting stance. "You wanna cook? Let's cook. ORDER UP!"

[Lord Falcon]

Asha'rah can detect Zaofan, Etrina and three other rather large PLs within in the building proper.....one which seems to be blinking randomly around while etrina and the remaining two are separated from the other.

Chronas mildly displeased voice then responds from behind. ".......For a goddess you sure are naive......As long as you keep playing the game, fate will keep playing you for the fool. But fine....My timetable never really needed any particular action from you....So by all means, Keep striving. But you may want to strive a little more towards the west side of the home for the sake of the cook." Chrona pointed towards the manor in the distance just in time a rumbling sound to erupt from within....followed by a train ejecting from the west wall of the manor, skidding along the ground and erupting into a fireball.

Moments later Parsic explodes out from the roof carrying Zaofan and flings the weakened cook towards the ground.

"Zaofan!" Erosa cries out in panic and moves to launch forward just as her body freezes in place, the time familiar wrapping both her arms around the Id from behind and holding her suspended in time. ".....This one however...I need to take a time out for a little....."

Chrona gives the goddess a quick wave and smile before vanishing from sight, taking Erosa with her.

Asha'rah did not dignify Chrona with a response. Those who felt they saw every possibility laid bare before them, every possible outcome from every possible moment, were the most prone to tunnel vision. So brightly did fate shine before them that they became blinded to the value of choice, of hope, of the will to strive to make the impossible possible. It was for this reason above all others that she regarded Evangeline in high esteem, even now. The Kami had touched the strings of fate, and come away with her sense of possibility intact.

Chrona, on the other hand, was a curious case. Not wearied to the point of apathy like Zurvan had been till just recently. She was more like...a teenager having learnt half a concept and now felt she knew better than everybody. Asha'rah did not begrudge her such notions too harshly. Such were the passions through which the young experienced the world - spending or misspending their youth, it wasn't always clear.

But what was undeniable now was that Chrona had spirited Erosa away. And that, as much as Asha'rah wished to pursue, the most efficient path and pressing matter lay along the same path before her. She needed Etrina. Oh, and she should probably help Zaofan out too. The man seemed to be particularly conflicted in the moment, terror at facing Parsic again warring with rage at the destruction of kitchen supplies and wastage of his cooking.

Asha'rah brought her hand up slowly, palm outwards, and from the ground two dozen luminiscent forms emerged. They were soft, furry, round, and brimming with the energies of creation. Life's Splendor. These ones lacked the extra instability of an explosive touch, so they would simply fade eventually when their energies were exhausted. But for now, they lived. They strived.

"Go forth and greet Zaofan, little ones."

The small horde of glowing pandas bounded towards the cook with as much haste as clumsiness, bounding and rolling down the landscape and climbing all over the cook to cover him in their warm bulk. One of them licked his face. And then they promptly fell asleep, hugging him like a living blanket of creation energy.

Asha'rah's conflict at facing Parsic was more...philosophical. She came from beyond the universe, in a place that should have been empty. Parsic had no place in the plan of the Great Founding, but yet she still existed in the void between universes. Along with others of her kind. She didn't know precisely how to feel about those who lay beyond. But she have some grasp on familiars, and the fine line they walked between being assistants...or slaves.

"Greetings once again, Parsic. Do you remain miserable in your employ?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Before Shek'hinah begins her 'ripping into' of Ishtar, Zurvan and Sihn fill in the gaps -- at Asha'rah's behest -- of the battle that had left them this injured.

Sihn sighs as he sits down.

“One, Shimmer has been a, heh, godsend. He’s the one that tipped me towards Stine’s appearing in Terra. Two, as to opposing me...no. No I had Hammer dead to rights, and Zurvan was holding his own against Stine. We would have had them beat if this Genesis had not interfered.”

Zurvan smiles even as his teeth start to reappear, his wounds mending.

“Let me show you.”

A temporal vision befalls the room as Zurvan uses his powers to show them what happened.

Amidst a familiar setting, Terra’s Cairn Yard, Zurvan’s strange power combats the rebel Angel Stine. The muscular blue skinned humanoid is surrounded by temporal energy, rifts and blades of compressed time bouncing off Zurvan as the aspect glides about, halting and countering the older entity. Perhaps the only one in the sealed off universes properly capable of doing so. When barriers fall, Stine seems to get desperate as the two get physical. Stine is stronger, broader, but Zurvan is quicker. Eventually, Zurvan manages to destroy the Angel’s staff. The blowback stuns Stine and the Aspect swoops in, physically striking him with compressed time enhanced punches. Each one feeling like decades of punches striking the Angel.

Meanwhile, Hammer is throwing out miniature hakai grenades at Sihn, who’s staying one step ahead of the Namekian. Last Whisper sings out, shot after shot, and the world shudders as Creational energy blasts through his weakened hakai like tissue paper and starts taking chunks out of the reborn GoD. Where they land he doesn’t heal, and eventually Sihn has him pinned on the ground about to blow his head off.

Zurvan and Stine suddenly get slammed into from behind, a massive blow that flings the two through a mountain and into space. When Sihn turns around, he’s blind sided by a flash of grey light, a bullet taken from his gun even as he’s sent sailing into another mountain after being punched in the eye. Hammer’s arms are ripped off and then the woman, who Ishtar recognizes as Genesis, disappears in another flash of grey light:

Stine reappears, grabs the near dead Hammer, and the two vanish in a spray of colors. Moments later Shek’hinah and Landinghorn appear and collect the two wounded deities.

The vision ends.

“She was smart. She waited for us to tire each other out before striking. Smart is dangerous.” Zurvan says.

After watching what transpired in full, and seeing what it was precisely that Genesis had done however, there were several questions Ishtar had ... and as she had done when she'd first met her uncle, Sihn; the golden-eyed Oni fired off the questions one after another.

"Do you have an idea of what she wishes to do with one of the bullets from Last Whisper ? What of the arms she ripped from Hammer ? Why did she not kill you, when she clearly had the opening, and chance ? Will Stine be capable of mending the injuries Hammer suffered without his staff ?" There was one more question, too, that Ishtar had to ask ... and after a moment of silence, she asked it, almost too softly to hear.

"... how can I track her down ?"

Shek’hinah narrows her eyes.

“You will not. We still have to talk about your reckless behavior recently. Nergal, Ishtar? “

Ishtar had expected this from Sihn, at least ... given their previous conversation about 'remaining alive'; yet hearing it from Shek'hinah, and making a note of her tone of voice, Ishtar grimaced. Though it wasn't as if she could lie her way out of it.

"Yes, Nergal," the Oni said with a frown. "He ... tracked me down. Wanted answers I was not willing to give." She explained. "Nor was I willing to hide away, here, while he killed his way to what he wanted ... I realized too that I had spent far too many years of my life, simply watching ... so I decided to do something about it. I will admit I was not strong enough to confront him directly for very long ... but it is as Zurvan says. Smart is dangerous."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

for Cleric

Qaztoh finds Jinzi and speaks to him saying " while it's been several weeks now has my ancestor Althena been successfully thaw out yet?" " also I been very busy lately with fixing Mr. Gazakai and making the Mark II version of my teleportation device." " so I haven't kept in check with Praxat. " " what has she been up to?"

" the Mark II version of my teleportation device has a more efficient CPU with higher processing power. " " this version can teleport a larger group of people than the old version could." " it's range is also greater." " the Mark II version can teleport a person to another planet in another Galaxy base on my assumption."

"I went though several blue prints and failed tests to finalize the Mark II version of my teleportation device." " I have yet to actually test out the finalize Mark II Quantum Transmission subspace pocket teleporter watch." " also found out what was wrong with my bot Mr. Gazkai." " apparently the Captain of space pirate crew I had been with for 3 years the Stratovarius Buccaneers , Captain Stratovarius!"


" decided it was a good idea to install his dancing software in my bot which I had told him was corrupted." " his freaking corrupted software give Mr. Gazakai a virus that corrupted it's programming." " so I had to wipe out Mr. Gazakai entire software program and write a new one. " " dammit Captain Stratovarius is such a blockhead."


"I also updated Mr. Gazakai security system to improve his anti virus protection, and adjust his heat ray." " it now has variable temperature settings so that it can better cook and reheat food." " it took me 2 days to fixed Mr. Gazakai and 4 days and 4 weeks to finalized the Mark II version of my Quantum Transmission subspace pocket teleporter watch."

Praxat show up saying to Jinzi and Qaztoh " Hi there boss and your highness." Qaztoh looks at Praxat saying " so tell what have you been up to lately I'm been very busy lately." Praxat replies to this saying " well besides my daily marital arts training ." " I have been busy working in the mechanical engineering wing."


Praxat looks at Jinzi saying " Jinzi sir I believe that every thing should be ready for thawing Qaztoh's ancestor Althena Orpheus out safely now ." " it's been several weeks since the operation start sir!"

[Yun Lao]

"I think I'll go with the tropical rice with tempura eel and then some grand marlin." Closing the menu reluctantly, it was fairly apparent that Charco was restraining himself this meal. With how hard the earthling fought, his body had developed quite the appetite, one that possibly rivals their Saiyan comrades. Of course, such a hunger would be... problematic for such a public restaurant on their wallets.

I'll have to go hunting after this...

If he was to continue his training right after, he would need those calories, but he wasn't going to object relaxing just a bit with Cyanna for the time being.

OOC: In case this got lost.

---

After eating with Cyanna the two of them would go their separate ways; she would go to seek out her sister and he remained on Papaya Island. He had recalled Cyanna mentioning this place had hosted the Martial Arts Tournament several times in the past before, making it the perfect place for him to train he had decided. Still, before he could get to his training, he had to take care of some unsettled business.

Sometime later, he would be found seated on the sandy shores of the beach, grains of sand sticking to his damp skin as he stared with anticipation at the fish he was cooking over an open fire. The savory scents of fire-roasted fish and wood smoke paired well with the briny salt of the ocean and along with the gentle sounds of waves lapping the shore, created a sense of peaceful content that threatened to lull him into a slothful state. Reaching out, he grabbed one of the skewers holding one of the fish to the flame and pulled it from the fire and began biting into it without waiting for it to cool. The painful scorching heat reinvigorated his resolve and soldiered through it to sink his teeth into the cook fish's crispy flesh to tear out another mouthful.

He wasn't sure when, but for some time, he had lost something. What exactly that something was, he didn't know. There was only the sensation that he had lost some sort of link between him and the others. The Dino-School of martial arts warned its practitioners that it was often a lonely room, but that sense of 'otherness' he felt around the others had grown far beyond what even he would deem normal. His only saving grace had been in combat but even that was being threatened nowadays. Ever since the fight with Jagam, or rather, the lack of one in his case, Charco had become desperate to train and grow stronger. He couldn't be left behind by the others! Or could he?

The thought genuinely scared him more than any threat of death. Martial arts had saved him and if he couldn't be useful with that, then what good was he? No! It was far too early to be thinking thoughts like that. Taking another bite of fish, his conflicting thoughts waging a war, Charco began to plan out that night's training routine.

[Tami]

Sarada and the others arrived to the sight of a hellacious battle already underway. The ground down below shook and trembled from the blows being delivered and received.

She floated, mouth slightly agape. Finally free of the interference, she could at last sense her love in full. Her power was so weak, nearly completely depleted. She was one step from death! And yet, so ferociously she fought, matching blow with devastating blow.

Further still, her vibrant, brilliant golden aura was replaced with one as black as midnight with gold interlaced. It wasn't something she had seen before, but she had an idea.

Is this... the power of a Goddess of Destruction?!

It had to be. What other explanation could there be?

To see Ishtar feel so weak, and yet prove herself this creature's equal... it was so amazing!

It was so incredible!

It was as so hot!

No. No, focus.

Ishtar's form was off, so it wasn't like she was going to come away with an easy win. "She's injured," she commented. Those didn't look fresh. Those must be from when she fought that Nergal guy.

Alright. It was obvious that Sarada was going to have to get involved at some point. The only question was when.

Feeling the creature, it was powerful. Much more powerful than she was.

Good.

"Meagan, you can make people weaker, right? Like drain their energy or something."

Observing the battle, "Isthar should not be able to fight, much less stand in her current condition." She then turned to Sarada, "Yes, I should be able to weaken the fire elemental. I assume you are planning on getting directly involved." Meagan knew Sarada well enough to make this a statement of fact and not a question.

Reopening her Third Eye, Meagan stretched her arms out as if to 'feel' all of the energy around them. In a moment she had isolated the energies of the Fire Elemental and began playing with them like Zaofan might play with a recipe. She changed some, and began draining away the rest, all to weaken him enough to give Sarada a fair shot at helping Isthar.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Before Shek'hinah begins her 'ripping into' of Ishtar, Zurvan and Sihn fill in the gaps -- at Asha'rah's behest -- of the battle that had left them this injured.



After watching what transpired in full, and seeing what it was precisely that Genesis had done however, there were several questions Ishtar had ... and as she had done when she'd first met her uncle, Sihn; the golden-eyed Oni fired off the questions one after another.

"Do you have an idea of what she wishes to do with one of the bullets from Last Whisper ? What of the arms she ripped from Hammer ? Why did she not kill you, when she clearly had the opening, and chance ? Will Stine be capable of mending the injuries Hammer suffered without his staff ?" There was one more question, too, that Ishtar had to ask ... and after a moment of silence, she asked it, almost too softly to hear.

"... how can I track her down ?"



Ishtar had expected this from Sihn, at least ... given their previous conversation about 'remaining alive'; yet hearing it from Shek'hinah, and making a note of her tone of voice, Ishtar grimaced. Though it wasn't as if she could lie her way out of it.

"Yes, Nergal," the Oni said with a frown. "He ... tracked me down. Wanted answers I was not willing to give." She explained. "Nor was I willing to hide away, here, while he killed his way to what he wanted ... I realized too that I had spent far too many years of my life, simply watching ... so I decided to do something about it. I will admit I was not strong enough to confront him directly for very long ... but it is as Zurvan says. Smart is dangerous."

“I would imagine she wants to use them somehow. That the only reason I can think of. I clearly wasn’t the target, so I suppose she had no point to kill me. Not that she could have. Maybe to healing Hammer. The staff is a concentrated and concentration item. He can restore it, but it will take time. I’d guess both will lay low for a while. As to finding her, you don’t.”

Sihn looks at her deadly serious.

“This is above your pay grade. Don’t screw with this Genesis.”

Shek’hinah resumes speaking next.

“That was beyond foolish, my daughter. Nergal was far too dangerous. You should have fled and sought help and then taken him on. As is you are lucky he toyed with you for so long. Do not rush so headstrong towards death, Ishtar, please. I have died before. It is not a pleasant experience.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Praxat show up saying to Jinzi and Qaztoh " Hi there boss and your highness." Qaztoh looks at Praxat saying " so tell what have you been up to lately I'm been very busy lately." Praxat replies to this saying " well besides my daily marital arts training ." " I have been busy working in the mechanical engineering wing."


Praxat looks at Jinzi saying " Jinzi sir I believe that every thing should be ready for thawing Qaztoh's ancestor Althena Orpheus out safely now ." " it's been several weeks since the operation start sir!"

Jinzi nods.

“Indeed. You can have the honor.”

[Lord Falcon]

Sihn sighs as he sits down.

“One, Shimmer has been a, heh, godsend. He’s the one that tipped me towards Stine’s appearing in Terra. Two, as to opposing me...no. No I had Hammer dead to rights, and Zurvan was holding his own against Stine. We would have had them beat if this Genesis had not interfered.”

Zurvan smiles even as his teeth start to reappear, his wounds mending.

“Let me show you.”

A temporal vision befalls the room as Zurvan uses his powers to show them what happened.

Amidst a familiar setting, Terra’s Cairn Yard, Zurvan’s strange power combats the rebel Angel Stine. The muscular blue skinned humanoid is surrounded by temporal energy, rifts and blades of compressed time bouncing off Zurvan as the aspect glides about, halting and countering the older entity. Perhaps the only one in the sealed off universes properly capable of doing so. When barriers fall, Stine seems to get desperate as the two get physical. Stine is stronger, broader, but Zurvan is quicker. Eventually, Zurvan manages to destroy the Angel’s staff. The blowback stuns Stine and the Aspect swoops in, physically striking him with compressed time enhanced punches. Each one feeling like decades of punches striking the Angel.

Meanwhile, Hammer is throwing out miniature hakai grenades at Sihn, who’s staying one step ahead of the Namekian. Last Whisper sings out, shot after shot, and the world shudders as Creational energy blasts through his weakened hakai like tissue paper and starts taking chunks out of the reborn GoD. Where they land he doesn’t heal, and eventually Sihn has him pinned on the ground about to blow his head off.

Zurvan and Stine suddenly get slammed into from behind, a massive blow that flings the two through a mountain and into space. When Sihn turns around, he’s blind sided by a flash of grey light, a bullet taken from his gun even as he’s sent sailing into another mountain after being punched in the eye. Hammer’s arms are ripped off and then the woman, who Ishtar recognizes as Genesis, disappears in another flash of grey light:

Stine reappears, grabs the near dead Hammer, and the two vanish in a spray of colors. Moments later Shek’hinah and Landinghorn appear and collect the two wounded deities.

The vision ends.

“She was smart. She waited for us to tire each other out before striking. Smart is dangerous.” Zurvan says.

Zurvan summoned a vision of what was. He and Sihn had tracked down Stine and Hammer, the latter reborn thanks to Stine altering the flow of time. Their battle showcased the power of gods in their heyday, manipulating the fabric of reality with each exchange. Zurvan and Sihn were at a distinct advantage, and were on the verge of victory when they were blindsided. A third party ambushed them, this "Genesis" lady, attacking the pair that she simply wanted out of the way first, before moving on seamlessly to the pair she wished to steal from. Good target prioritization. Zurvan and Stine would doubtless have stopped her in her tracks otherwise while she was busy raiding her spoils. From Sihn, she stole a bullet. From Hammer, she stole his arms. Why?

"She wanted both a bullet from a weaponized God of Creation and the flesh of a God of Destruction."

Asha'rah tapped her chin thoughtfully. No matter how she tried to think otherwise, only one conclusion seemed a reasonable possibility. She blinked slowly, letting out a sigh of part resignation, part acceptance.

"I never disclosed how exactly I ascended through Indar'en. It would not stop others from trying to tread the same path forever, of course. But the War in the Heavens was never meant to have an aftermath this long. It seems Genesis, like Hammer before her, is hazarding her own guess. Hers is not the same path I forged. But as to whether the results will be as she seeks, who is to say?"

She turned to Ishtar, her wounds thankfully being addressed by Shek'hinah, and pulled out an old horn. A powerful compatriot of the traitors lay within, powerful enough that Shek'hinah had warned her months ago not to blow upon it immediately. But here, with Shek'hinah, Sihn and Zurvan to back them up, there was scarcely a more secure location in all the sealed universes.

"Now seems like as good a time as any, don't you think?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Observing the battle, "Isthar should not be able to fight, much less stand in her current condition." She then turned to Sarada, "Yes, I should be able to weaken the fire elemental. I assume you are planning on getting directly involved." Meagan knew Sarada well enough to make this a statement of fact and not a question.

Reopening her Third Eye, Meagan stretched her arms out as if to 'feel' all of the energy around them. In a moment she had isolated the energies of the Fire Elemental and began playing with them like Zaofan might play with a recipe. She changed some, and began draining away the rest, all to weaken him enough to give Sarada a fair shot at helping Isthar.

It is not easy, wrestling the fire away from one who possesses dominion over it; yet as the Oni and the Elemanti struggle, Meagan finds a way.

A few seconds pass, the energy trickling out from unseen springs, and then a few more where the trickle becomes a stream ... by the time a full minute has passed, Meagan feels she cannot draw further however. She has however, drained enough to offer an much greater chance than before.

OT: The Archon of Lasair has been sapped of 40% of its PL, and cannot be drained further. Similarly, due to clever thinking/the energy siphoned, Meagan can now offer a single attack at 140% her maximum attainable PL.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Observing the battle, "Isthar should not be able to fight, much less stand in her current condition." She then turned to Sarada, "Yes, I should be able to weaken the fire elemental. I assume you are planning on getting directly involved." Meagan knew Sarada well enough to make this a statement of fact and not a question.

Reopening her Third Eye, Meagan stretched her arms out as if to 'feel' all of the energy around them. In a moment she had isolated the energies of the Fire Elemental and began playing with them like Zaofan might play with a recipe. She changed some, and began draining away the rest, all to weaken him enough to give Sarada a fair shot at helping Isthar.

It is not easy, wrestling the fire away from one who possesses dominion over it; yet as the Oni and the Elemanti struggle, Meagan finds a way.

A few seconds pass, the energy trickling out from unseen springs, and then a few more where the trickle becomes a stream ... by the time a full minute has passed, Meagan feels she cannot draw further however. She has however, drained enough to offer an much greater chance than before.

OT: The Archon of Lasair has been sapped of 40% of its PL, and cannot be drained further. Similarly, due to clever thinking/the energy siphoned, Meagan can now offer a single attack at 140% her maximum attainable PL.

Oh hell yeah.

The elemental was weakened, though not nearly as much as she hoped. It lost about forty percent of its power, which would still put it well about her and Meagan. But, them together with Ishtar and Asha'rah should prove too much for the creature to handle.

"Great job, Meagan," she commended. "Now."

She let loose a primal roar. Hitozaru was an even bigger risk now than it was when it was just her tail at risk. Her power, her techniques being impacted gave what she eat trying to do even greater danger.

Whatever. As long as the fire creature tasted her fist, that was all that mattered!

Scarlet red eyes glared down at the battle below. Surely by now, the creature knew something was up. Knowing the element of surprise would fade into nonexistence in only a few short moments, Sarada fired a seemingly tremendous directly at Ishtar and the creature she was fighting.

When it crossed halfway and seemed likely to engulf the both of them in a wave of destructive power, it detonated, filling the air with a bright red light.

"Now!" she repeated. She charged into the battle, fist cocked back. "Get the **** away from my Oni! CRIMSON FIST!"

[Lord Falcon]

The Archon of Oighear watched the group depart, and for a time that would be enough. Until the Eldest, the Archon of Criostalach, arrived ... it would be too problematic for her to interfere otherwise.

Leaving it to the 'visitors' was simply prudent ... regardless of how they fared in the end.





It would not take them long, to find Ishtar and the Archon of Lasair.

Though it was strange, Ishtar did not seem herself, the golden Ki that was her typical outward display, was gone. In its place was a half-shell of a familiar black interwoven with gold; that perhaps Sarada -- and Asha'rah -- would understand well. Though stranger still, was Ishtar's power-level ... now free from the electromagnetic interference that had crippled their senses for most of the time spent on Tatenen's surface, they could feel it clearly.

The Oni's power-level was no higher than one.

Despite this, the Oni and the Fire Elemanti did not cease their warring; the duo breaking away long enough to catch their breath before colliding once more with force enough to reshape the world around them ... and on the surface it seemed as if Ishtar was holding her own. Yet Sarada could feel ... and very quickly the others could see; that she was not doing ... well. Her form -- a thing she had long worked to hone -- was weaker than it should have been, and she was nursing wounds both old and new ... to say nothing of how she only struck with her right. Bound in Katchin, it seemed all her left arm was good for, was blocking the Archon's blows.

And with the beating she was taking though, even with what blows she blocked; there was no telling how much longer she might have lasted.

Unaware of the three of them in the moment, however, Ishtar and the Archon of Lasair continued on; the golden-eyed Oni providing the others time to plan, and perhaps catch the Elemanti she struggled against off-guard.

OT: Ishtar is currently under the effects of Aēšma Sij, and Unknown.

They found Ishtar locked in mortal kombat with a fire elemental. This in itself was not too surprising, given their encounters thus far with the beings of this planet. One of her arms had been rendered useless, a development as inevitable as the tides where Ishtar was concerned. Yet while the oni was giving almost as good as she got, Asha'rah could sense no power exuding off her form. No great levels of ki or hakai were to be found. Based on supernatural senses alone, Jinzi would have been able to beat Ishtar into a pulp in her current state. Yet their physical senses defied such estimations, showing as plain evidence a battle worthy of Ishtar's customary level.

"Meagan, my eyes and my senses disagree. Ishtar feels like she has the power of an ant, yet she continues to hit like a mountain. Mayhap this be an illusion? What does your third eye see?"