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

[Yun Lao]

Kenbo blocks with his blade, lands, and lunges towards him, point first to skewer him through the shoulder.

It was around that point that Charco realized just how exhausted he was. The fight with Meehsas had been brutal and despite being an oddity, the boy was only human. His steps were sluggish and his reaction time was showing a significant lag, all of which culminated in witnessing Kenbo's blade thrusting toward him much faster than he could safely avoid. It would take most of his energy, but he could probably get away with a grazing blow if...

...

Suddenly, time seemed to slow from his perspective and an ancient memory, not of his own, bubbled to the surface.

He found himself at another tournament, this time facing two opponents at once. Their teamwork was impeccable as one of them, a girl wielding a curious staff, kept him at range while the second, a swordsman, sliced him up close.

One of them would need to be subdued quickly or else he stood no chance of victory.

An opportunity presented itself as the swordsman lunged forth and although he knew there would be pain, it would be nothing compared to what he was about to inflict.

Kenbo's blade pierced his chest near the shoulder, burying itself to the hilt as Charco gave no resistance; in fact, he embraced it. Once it was completely submerged in his flesh did he react, summoning up the remaining dredges of his energy in order to enter the third state of his Thyreophora, his muscles visibly bulking up to the point they were almost completely solid and as a result, trapping Kenbo's weapon within. Unlike with his fight with Meehsas, Charco would not be able to maintain this form very long, prompting him to make his next attack count.

Planting his right foot into the earth, he briefly reared back his fist before letting it go towards the robot's mid-section. Putting everything he could into it, his punch would be enhanced through his Ankylo Smash technique, yet Charco drew deeper this time. Impaled with a sword, it was not hard to walk the line of life and death, allowing him to yank forth the power of Kikojutsu, going beyond for a price.

---
Combat Information
Thyreophora, Third State: Active
Current PL: 1,800,000 (and dropping rapidly)
Posts Until Detonation: 0
Ankylo Smash: Strike hits at full PL
Pachycephalo Strike: Strike hits beyond PL at a cost (much like the Shin Kikōhō)

[Sion Reaver]

Kari wanted to test herself against his Super Saiyan form? Totoma had no issues with that--no, actually, it was great! He smiled widely at her. "Sure thing! I mean, you're my woman and can more than keep up with me, so why wouldn't I train and spar with you? Heck, if you want, we could add mom and your dad and make it a team spar."

Heh, once they found Aiden, his old extended family would be complete again. Aiden was probably super-strong by now--Totoma couldn't wait to find him so he could see how strong both he and Karine had become!

"So, uh... you probably know about what super saiyan looks like--golden aura and hair and blue eyes--but I don't really know what Umbrus Lord looks like. Though... if I had to guess, it probably has some sort of shadow-y quality, what with shadow-powers being a nosferatu trademark." Seemed logical... then again, Super Saiyan's features were kind of inexplicable. You'd think Super Saiyan would be like... Hitozaru or something.

...then again, Hitozaru did exceed Super Saiyan in terms of raw power, so... hm. Well, his mom would figure out how to use that form safely, and once she ascended, she'd definitely figure out how to combine them into, like... a... golden hitozaru? A super hitozaru?

...

Damn, that sounded pretty cool.

Until Totoma had mentioned it, Karine hadn't thought of her father added into things for a team spar but now that it brought up she couldn't help but agree of that being a solid idea. She was sure once they got a hold of them and they got a chance to settle in he wouldn't mind. Besides having them back safe and sound, she truly wanted her father to see how much she not only progressed as a warrior but as a person. Karine was no longer the same person completely of when she first started nor did she think she was done growing yet either.

"So, uh... you probably know about what super saiyan looks like--golden aura and hair and blue eyes--but I don't really know what Umbrus Lord looks like. Though... if I had to guess, it probably has some sort of shadow-y quality, what with shadow-powers being a nosferatu trademark." Seemed logical... then again, Super Saiyan's features were kind of inexplicable. You'd think Super Saiyan would be like... Hitozaru or something.
.

"I'm..not sure. I would assume it does have shadow qualities but other then that.." Karine shrugged slightly. "Nothing I read really said as much of exact details but when I achieve it we can find out together." Like she mentioned before, she hoped it didn't require something as traumatic like what Totoma had went through; though then again and to be fair power like that was hardly, if ever free. It had to require labor of some kind whether from effort, a emotional trial or both but it wasn't going to come free which that she was almost certain of.

The young vampire yawned slightly. "I think I'm going to try to go to bed early, I'm a bit more tired then I realized.." Karine was about to get to bed before something seemed to go off in her head of hers. Going to the dresser, she grabbed a brush pausing briefly. "I know its been a while but..could you brush my hair?"

It was a tiny thing but she enjoyed the small things like that with them made her day. Just like she did having them close made her feel safe and protected despite all the strength she gained and how she had changed that hadn't. Not at all.

Because one thing had remained the same; despite all Totoma's flaws and everything else in Karine's eyes he'd likely always be her personal hero.

[grampagen]

When Asha'rah spoke of the one targetting Kami, Ochazuke's affirmation was swift. "Sakin."

The name of the fallen Angel fell from lips drawn taut. When Ochazuke spoke, it was with an air of familiarity in spite of himself. From the beginning of it all, there was always this fearful name even the gods held to their reflective shame. How curious, her omission.

"From one divergence to the next, the course of a great many things are moved, swiftly changed," he said, "and entire worlds reshaped."

The weight of consequence. Exchanging a prolonged look at her, Ochazuke loosed a cold grunt. "Though it has the shape of it, these are not from our world," he said. "How did he acquire it? With the ability to enter countless worlds at any moment of his choosing, that is immaterial."

It was the Goddess's reaction of the more immediate matter Ishtar had held in her hand which had his attention.

"Curious. You were there at the beginning. If you don't recognize them, then they must call themselves the First for another reason."

“Magic is not something I know a great deal of, admittedly. Even before I lost some of my memories I fear I could not have recognized these symbols. However, your observation is accurate. This does seem to be of the First Race. Curious. I had little to do with them in the past. They migrated from an older universe and asked permission to colonize here, as I recall. I allowed it, but they did not last long. They disappeared around the same time I fell.”

When Asha'rah confirmed his suspicion, Ochazuke cast his gaze to the shattered, ashen Lookout plaza beneath his feet.

"The first mortals to possess the means to transverse realities," he muttered at last, "who sought to colonize, but not to settle. What else did they want?" The more that emerged of these ancient engineers, the longer the shadow of their remnants stretched from an abyss; before even a time of an eyewitness from the start.

Why would you let them in? Was it perhaps another case of honeyed words stirring up and preying upon her passions? The fragmented memory of a fallen goddess emerged from the stagnate shell of a steel jizo. Somewhere in the fog of memory there lay a portion of the truth, writ with glowing runes upon a black spire.

"Cheh." For the moment, this matter can wait. "For whatever intent they had, what they've left in their wake has been seized upon by a madman. The Doctor has repurposed it to the end of slaying Time itself and grasping all reality to his design."

Fist bound, he grit his teeth. "I saw it, Asha'rah. Whatever came before is a microcasm of the Doctor's resources. Now with the Chaff down, his view upon us is unobstructed, and who knows how wide the field is now when we are pit against a man who would seize endless lives from endless splintered realities?"

Staring idly to one side, he exchanged a look with her impassive faceplate. The lines beneath his eyes cast shadows of pronounced fatigue. His clenched fist quaked at his side, stained and blackened with Glacia's blood as if it would dare not loosen in spite of the corpse they had seen before them.

"With just a little more, we will have the means to end it in our grasp, and then..."

Leaving the remaining thought unvoiced, he wordlessly walked with Asha'rah towards the Guardian. One that would destroy the future to live forever in a suspended past has come to the end of their path. If there was to be any path toward surviving tomorrow, it started here, with one step forward.

Jinzi stands up, pissed.

“The hell is that Get your hands off her!” He rages, watching the events on the monitor. Asha’rah and Eva calmly hold his shoulders to keep him contained as he rages.

Jack, nearby, just shakes his head and goes back to...sparring....with Nunlil. The two seem to have struck up an interesting friendship recently.

Heading over to the Room of Spirit and Time, there appeared to be something of a commotion in the aftermath. Indeed something had struck a certain man in particular that he had forgotten himself. For a moment he stood silently as the inventor flailed in frustration, until the sight of it became less cathartic and increasingly more undignified. He spoke straight to the matter then.

"Pantaloon, a word."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Althena takes out her note book and starts drawing on it using her clairvoyance in attempt to pinpoint Meagan's location," I can tried to pinpoint the location the Incenio that is hidden with my Clairvoyance , but it might be difficult due to there being multiple of him. The Psychic Navigation part of my Clairvoyance has a more easier time with tracking one person or object, then it does with tracking multiple people or objects," Althena said.

OOC: for Cleric in case this was miss.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Parsley narrowed her eyes. Meagan, as far as she knew, didn't just do something without thinking it over. If Incenio wasn't lying - and Parsley had no logical reason to believe that he was - and Meagan had been draining power from the guards and even the audience, then there must have been a good reason for it. The timing was suspect. In a fight with an ally - Sarada, at that - made her draining energy for more power - she assumed - to be highly... suspicious.

Or, perhaps she decided to let Sarada pass to the finals without much fuss. However, there were better ways to throw the fight than to get herself disqualified, and potentially lengthen the already lengthy mission by forcing the others to rescue her. A bother, because she was ready to participate in the next mission. That wasn't possible until the others returned, which as of now looked like it was going to take another half hour.

"Tch. What kind of ******* tries to cheat this late in the tournament?" Avoca grunted.

Parsley glanced at her, and quickly realized that Avoca had never met Meagan before and likely didn't even realize who she was.

She didn't bother answering. It wasn't important, and she doubted her taking the lengthy time to explain who Meagan was would change her mind. Bias was an interesting thing.



Speaking of bias; though, she could see why he would be so concerned.

Her eyes cut from Jinzi to Jack. Hm. Seems the pet has changed masters. Interesting.

Praxat is looking at the illustrations she drew of Meagan and Sarada's fight , and of the event that transpire. As if she is studying them , (Hmm there were probably many ways Meagan could have disqualified self without having to do what she did,) Praxat thought.

Praxat carefully studies the illustrations she drew and begins to write something down, and what she writes are multiple plan diagrams that showcase different ways that Meagan could have gone about disqualifying herself, ( Either one of these ways could have been a better way for Meagan to disqualified herself , but what do I know ? I'm just going off a bunch of pointless notes I wrote ,) Praxat thought as two modest Emojis show in her goggles.


Praxat has yet to realize her potential as a tactical genius .

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

It was around that point that Charco realized just how exhausted he was. The fight with Meehsas had been brutal and despite being an oddity, the boy was only human. His steps were sluggish and his reaction time was showing a significant lag, all of which culminated in witnessing Kenbo's blade thrusting toward him much faster than he could safely avoid. It would take most of his energy, but he could probably get away with a grazing blow if...

...

Suddenly, time seemed to slow from his perspective and an ancient memory, not of his own, bubbled to the surface.



Kenbo's blade pierced his chest near the shoulder, burying itself to the hilt as Charco gave no resistance; in fact, he embraced it. Once it was completely submerged in his flesh did he react, summoning up the remaining dredges of his energy in order to enter the third state of his Thyreophora, his muscles visibly bulking up to the point they were almost completely solid and as a result, trapping Kenbo's weapon within. Unlike with his fight with Meehsas, Charco would not be able to maintain this form very long, prompting him to make his next attack count.

Planting his right foot into the earth, he briefly reared back his fist before letting it go towards the robot's mid-section. Putting everything he could into it, his punch would be enhanced through his Ankylo Smash technique, yet Charco drew deeper this time. Impaled with a sword, it was not hard to walk the line of life and death, allowing him to yank forth the power of Kikojutsu, going beyond for a price.

---
Combat Information
Thyreophora, Third State: Active
Current PL: 1,800,000 (and dropping rapidly)
Posts Until Detonation: 0
Ankylo Smash: Strike hits at full PL
Pachycephalo Strike: Strike hits beyond PL at a cost (much like the Shin Kikōhō)

OT: Huh, nicely done.


IC:

Not expecting him to take the stab, Kenbo is just a touch to slow to react.

The mighty blow sends shockwaves cascading around as the front armor of his suit dents in, his body found backwards a star sword is left impales on Charco. Kenbo’s body slams into the stand wall below the spectators and falls out of the arena, his ability to reverse time gone thanks to his sword still being plunged into Charco.

A massive roar reaches his ears as Charco is declared the winner.

Kenbo gets up, looking at Charco with no expression. He gestures, and the sword rips out and flies back to him. He bows, stiffly, and walks off.

A medical bot rolls over and injects Charco with a stimulant that starts healing his wounds and restoring his stamina.

There are five minutes until the next match. He’ll be ready to go by then.

[Yun Lao]

Not expecting him to take the stab, Kenbo is just a touch to slow to react.

The mighty blow sends shockwaves cascading around as the front armor of his suit dents in, his body found backwards a star sword is left impales on Charco. Kenbo’s body slams into the stand wall below the spectators and falls out of the arena, his ability to reverse time gone thanks to his sword still being plunged into Charco.

A massive roar reaches his ears as Charco is declared the winner.

Kenbo gets up, looking at Charco with no expression. He gestures, and the sword rips out and flies back to him. He bows, stiffly, and walks off.

A medical bot rolls over and injects Charco with a stimulant that starts healing his wounds and restoring his stamina.

There are five minutes until the next match. He’ll be ready to go by then.

The Thyreophora's backlash took effect almost immediately after Charco's punch struck, the boy's muscles practically imploding from the stress of trying to control an untamable power. At first, his skin grew red as the excess blood reached the surface, but soon the flesh cracked all over his body, blood spilling freely. Another spray of blood painted the arena as Kenbo forcibly summoned his sword out of the boy's chest.

"...yeah..." Charco gurgled, blood and saliva drooling from his lips, "...**** you too."

Surprisingly, his tired body flinched with more energy than he had at the sudden prick of a needle, almost drawing it out completely, but thankfully the health stimulant was administered and he began to recuperate.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

When Asha'rah confirmed his suspicion, Ochazuke cast his gaze to the shattered, ashen Lookout plaza beneath his feet.

"The first mortals to possess the means to transverse realities," he muttered at last, "who sought to colonize, but not to settle. What else did they want?" The more that emerged of these ancient engineers, the longer the shadow of their remnants stretched from an abyss; before even a time of an eyewitness from the start.

Why would you let them in? Was it perhaps another case of honeyed words stirring up and preying upon her passions? The fragmented memory of a fallen goddess emerged from the stagnate shell of a steel jizo. Somewhere in the fog of memory there lay a portion of the truth, writ with glowing runes upon a black spire.

"Cheh." For the moment, this matter can wait. "For whatever intent they had, what they've left in their wake has been seized upon by a madman. The Doctor has repurposed it to the end of slaying Time itself and grasping all reality to his design."

Fist bound, he grit his teeth. "I saw it, Asha'rah. Whatever came before is a microcasm of the Doctor's resources. Now with the Chaff down, his view upon us is unobstructed, and who knows how wide the field is now when we are pit against a man who would seize endless lives from endless splintered realities?"

Staring idly to one side, he exchanged a look with her impassive faceplate. The lines beneath his eyes cast shadows of pronounced fatigue. His clenched fist quaked at his side, stained and blackened with Glacia's blood as if it would dare not loosen in spite of the corpse they had seen before them.

"With just a little more, we will have the means to end it in our grasp, and then..."

Leaving the remaining thought unvoiced, he wordlessly walked with Asha'rah towards the Guardian. One that would destroy the future to live forever in a suspended past has come to the end of their path. If there was to be any path toward surviving tomorrow, it started here, with one step forward.



Heading over to the Room of Spirit and Time, there appeared to be something of a commotion in the aftermath. Indeed something had struck a certain man in particular that he had forgotten himself. For a moment he stood silently as the inventor flailed in frustration, until the sight of it became less cathartic and increasingly more undignified. He spoke straight to the matter then.

"Pantaloon, a word."

Asha’rah shrugged.

“They wished a place to be free, If my memory serves. I was willing. I see my failure in not investigating further, but I believed them to be truthful. Or at least my memory tells me so.”

Jinzi pauses, composed himself, and looks at Ochazuke.

“How can I help you?”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

OOC: for Cleric in case this was miss.

She is in a private security room with Incenio.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

OT: Tami, we’ll retcon to Incenio walking into the room.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

After a few minutes, Samson looks at Blizzar.

“They are in place. Another ten guards are down too, unconscious. What’s the play?”

[KingofPie]

After a few minutes, Samson looks at Blizzar.

“They are in place. Another ten guards are down too, unconscious. What’s the play?”

"Have them try and sense Incenio's power level. There's two here, one hidden far deeper in the Casino, perhaps the original?" Blizzar questioned. "Have them launch a sneak attack against the Incenio that's closer toward us. Catch him offguard and make sure he doesn't get so much as a look at them. From there get our ally out of there and towards the arena."

Blizzar sighed, "As for the last Incenio...I'm afraid that is something you may have to handle on that yourselves. We've gathered all the information we can and have to report to our superiors soon," the Arcosian explained.

[Tami]

OT: Tami, we’ll retcon to Incenio walking into the room.

OOC: Okay, though I did like the initial interaction.

[Tami]

Retconning:

Meagan, in the room, looks up as Incenio walks in.

Working on getting her cuffs off, she knew she wasn't in the clear just yet.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Charco's battle with Kenbo was brief, but brutal. Sarada was on edge the entire time, her eyes following every move with vested interest.

Then, behind the force of a mighty blow he couldn't defend against, Kenbo flew out of the ring and slammed into the wall. Ring out! Which meant that Charco was the winner and second finalist!

"Haha!" she cheered.

As soon as the bracket was revealed, this outcome was preordained by fate itself. It was the best possible finish. Not only was there nothing standing between them and the gem, but this was going to be the most exciting finish these people had ever seen.

She grinned excitedly. "Let's go!"