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

[MrSandman]

For a long moment he had appeared to ignore the hail of that familiar voice. It was Etrina, that much was unmistakable, and tet the familiar presence he'd felt within the Room of Spirit and Time still lingered elsewhere on the Lookout.

So for a long span, even as he had words with Parsley, Ochazuke had been pouring the font of his sense-awareness into the little blue globe, through the energy interactions attempting to unravel this mystery as he examined its energy - the difficulty as such no doubt contributing in some small part to the rise of his current choleric disposition.

On his way back across the observation deck to join the assembly of warriors, when he was alone, produced it from his pocket and spoke to it directly.

"...and what small marvel of sorcery are you?"

"One that doesn't take kindly to being kept in your pocket like spare change." The orb berated Ochazuke suddenly. "You should show a little respect. Hrm.....I'll forgive you if you clear your ears out and listen."

The orb flashes briefly, then shifts and expands, taking on a crystaline shape similar to that of a small humanoid before its features slowly came into focus.



The tiny figure that results was barely bigger then a baseball standing on Ochazukes palm, and had the appearance of a smaller version of Etrina down to her robes.

"I'm Etrina Von Stoltengarde, Master Mage of Time and Space.......I'm a girl of high standards and like my men handsome and submissive...." The tiny etrina rubbed her chin and looked up at Ochazuke. "....ehh.....two strikes for you then. I suppose if you get on your knees and beg I might give you a chance as my footstool. Ahahahaha.....I'm joking, I kid. Maybe a little....."

The small creature points to herself. "I'm a Channeling Foci, if your having trouble understanding......imagine if you had a third hand that could run around and punch people in the face. That hand is me, except instead of punching you in the face I cast magic."

[Tami]

From an area of the Lookout devoid of people, a blueish light formed, grew and became a portal. As it did, Cyanna walks through, carrying one large box. A few moments behind her, Dash comes through carrying two more of the same boxes.

The portal fades into nothingness as the two head towards Meagan, who is talking with Evangeline.

Placing the boxes a few feet behind them, "Well, now here they are." Dash rubbed her hand through her multicolored hair, "Do you need anything else?" She then leans over, "Oh, hey, whose the new lady?"

Cyanna, having put her own box near the other tow, also takes a look, "Your kinda familiar. Oh, yeah, the Guardian Lady had a halo like that too."

[Yun Lao]

It is with a flash of blue and green that two people suddenly arrive on the Lookout. One is a rather battered looking Jack Knave. His clothes are torn, his breathing heavy, and he looks like he was just in a fight. A lit cigarette hangs from his mouth.

The other....is Evangeline. Only, this one is not cybernetic. No, in fact, this one is wholly human looking. She seem...younger somehow, a smile on her face as she looks around the Lookout, and her entire demenour seems to be as if a burden had been lifted from her.

“Well done, Jack. I knew he had a portal stone in his desk. Sorry about underestimating how many guards there were though.”

Jack just looks around and collapses to his back, still smoking.

“Everything hurts. Damnit, being alive actually hurts more than being dead. Figures.”

Eva looks at those still hear and grins.

“Hello. Terribly sorry about being gone so long.”

Seeing those two in the flesh brought a great relief to Charco, almost as if the very weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Eva's passing and Jack's death had affected him way more than he had let on, or at least more than allowing himself to be possessed by Rex in his grief.

"Welcome back..." He said, quietly, not sure where to begin with his words on how he missed them. In the ends, such words didn't matter.

"... you're just in time for the big fight." Was ultimately the choice of responses he decided to go with.

[grampagen]

"One that doesn't take kindly to being kept in your pocket like spare change." The orb berated Ochazuke suddenly. "You should show a little respect. Hrm.....I'll forgive you if you clear your ears out and listen."

The orb flashes briefly, then shifts and expands, taking on a crystaline shape similar to that of a small humanoid before its features slowly came into focus.



The tiny figure that results was barely bigger then a baseball standing on Ochazukes palm, and had the appearance of a smaller version of Etrina down to her robes.

"I'm Etrina Von Stoltengarde, Master Mage of Time and Space.......I'm a girl of high standards and like my men handsome and submissive...." The tiny etrina rubbed her chin and looked up at Ochazuke. "....ehh.....two strikes for you then. I suppose if you get on your knees and beg I might give you a chance as my footstool. Ahahahaha.....I'm joking, I kid. Maybe a little....."

The small creature points to herself. "I'm a Channeling Foci, if your having trouble understanding......imagine if you had a third hand that could run around and punch people in the face. That hand is me, except instead of punching you in the face I cast magic."

"Hmm. Intriguing." Incorrigible little thing.

He examined the facsimile Etrina, drawing his hand in to get a nearer view. It was a remarkable likeness in every way , from its form, its cadence, and the strongly worded turn of phrase spoken so boldly in its lilliputian air of authority.

"Tall order," he replied, eyeing the form where it stood. Raising his glance over to the strategic assembly, sure enough he found among them the same white hood-and-robe of a more familiar Etrina. "Seems to me you are one of many little Masters."

He raised an eyebrow there as the little being described her purpose.

"So you are fashioned of a fragment of Etrina's spirit then?"

[Tami]

From an area of the Lookout devoid of people, a blueish light formed, grew and became a portal. As it did, Cyanna walks through, carrying one large box. A few moments behind her, Dash comes through carrying two more of the same boxes.

The portal fades into nothingness as the two head towards Meagan, who is talking with Evangeline.

Placing the boxes a few feet behind them, "Well, now here they are." Dash rubbed her hand through her multicolored hair, "Do you need anything else?" She then leans over, "Oh, hey, whose the new lady?"

Cyanna, having put her own box near the other tow, also takes a look, "Your kinda familiar. Oh, yeah, the Guardian Lady had a halo like that too."

"You need to be more respectful to the Guardian of the Earth." Meagan then addresses Eva, "I like your new look. Seems your time away has been good to you. Excuse me,"

"Dash, Cyanna, one more task. One of the boxes is marked, 'Jinzi'. Please fly that box down to him at the Capsule Corps building. Tell him it's from me, a gift that he might find useful for his inventions."

Moving the top, unmarked box, aside, they fidn the one Meagan indicated. Picking it up, "Dash and Cya Delivery Service. We get it there real fast." Dash smirks as she lifts off. Cyanna then follows after her, the two moving fast until the vanish into the distance.

[grampagen]

"I intend to make use of my ability to manipulate gravity, and the Earth itself, to turn the battlefield against them." Ishtar replied, after appraising Ochazuke a moment.

"The spires of stone will act as extensions of myself, backed by my own Ki, and can be used to provide cover, along with unexpected angles of assault. I will seed the battlefield too, with magic m.. carved by hand and gifted strength by blood to obscure the truth of their design ... and these can be used in a multitude of ways ... to warp the trajectory of attacks, to slow, and pull, and stymie the advance of Jagam and his ... Witch," the mention of the Threshling, it would be noted, came forced, the Oni clearly more concerned with this enchantress more so than the Saiyan Killer.

"There is a thing I will do also ... that will encompass the entire battlefield, and yet I will not tell you the whole of it openly. For fear of prying eyes, and ears. Though know it will be one of two last resorts, and a thing I would not offer lightly."

Ishtar fell silent a time then, to allow Ochazuke time to think over what was said.

"What say you, then."

Under the hidden examination of the hidden foe scrying from afar, the depth of field of the Sorceress would be unknown to them. Mutually they all knew they had a common destination, and that was all.

In light of this, Ishtar's open statement of intent to his ears sounded more like a direct challenge to the invaders, and to Jagam's companion directly.

So considered and with the intimate knowledge of that which awakened behind the Oni's golden eyes, he simply folded his arms, offering no more than a short nod and a curt grunt.

[MrSandman]

"Hmm. Intriguing." Incorrigible little thing.

He examined the facsimile Etrina, drawing his hand in to get a nearer view. It was a remarkable likeness in every way , from its form, its cadence, and the strongly worded turn of phrase spoken so boldly in its lilliputian air of authority.

"Tall order," he replied, eyeing the form where it stood. Raising his glance over to the strategic assembly, sure enough he found among them the same white hood-and-robe of a more familiar Etrina. "Seems to me you are one of many little Masters."

He raised an eyebrow there as the little being described her purpose.

"So you are fashioned of a fragment of Etrina's spirit then?"

"Ha! Tall order. You making fun of my size!" The little Etrina shook her hand at the giant ochazuke and grinded her little boot heel into his palm. It had about as much effect as one would expect.

At his question, the little mage smirked. "Ha, that's not it at all. Fragmenting your soul just ain't healthy. Nope...A Channel Focus is a conduit for magical power. Etrinas magic animates my form, and her psyche gives me autonomy. It's like a hand puppet....or one of those voodoo dolls in reverse......though I forbid you to use any of those examples!" She stated as a matter of fact. "For all purposes, I'm Etrina. It'll make it easier on your brain to consider it that way."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Praxat arrives at Capsule Corp and puts on the breaks just before smashing straight through the front entrance saying " whoa now that's was close on ." " we don't want to have to pay for unintentional destruction or be splatter against a wall." Praxat spots Jinzi saying " oh so you here too!" Praxat goes out of Hyper Charge licks the dead bugs that are on her face and eats them.

Praxat looks at herself and sees that she's cover in debris saying " wow I'm filthy!" " man this new technique is a pain in the ass to handle. " " it's difficult to maneuver when using it." " the technique is all speed but no control."

" as for why I'm here ?" " well I'm here to see if Capsule Corp will let me use their lab to make myself a special pair of goggles." " it's for preparation for the coming battle!" " my vision is poor and will be a hindrance for me on a battlefield. "

[grampagen]

"Ha! Tall order. You making fun of my size!" The little Etrina shook her hand at the giant ochazuke and grinded her little boot heel into his palm. It had about as much effect as one would expect.

At his question, the little mage smirked. "Ha, that's not it at all. Fragmenting your soul just ain't healthy. Nope...A Channel Focus is a conduit for magical power. Etrinas magic animates my form, and her psyche gives me autonomy. It's like a hand puppet....or one of those voodoo dolls in reverse......though I forbid you to use any of those examples!" She stated as a matter of fact. "For all purposes, I'm Etrina. It'll make it easier on your brain to consider it that way."

As the arrogant little Focus brought her foot down, little pinprick fell far sharper than he had expected. The hand she stood upon started with a small twitch. Ochazuke's expression darkened and five calloused fingers began to slowly curl inward, trembling where they threatened to close over her.

"Her spellcraft has certainly gained a greater complexity over the past few months..." A gnarled half-smile spread thin to match the usually solitary man's patience. The encroaching digits stopped their descent over her and soon lay flat again. Folding his thumb over the crest of his palm, he offered the little sprite a seat.

Crest over the index finger of his other hand he roused a small sphere of energy.

"With a little effort, a manifestation of ki is crafted simply enough, and by will so it is intuitively controlled," he mused, the incandescent dot rising like a small sun, spinning for a moment before spreading apart in fine shimmering motes. "In the finer expression of it, I understand well enough course of manifesting one's intent..."

He leaned in slightly and cocked one eye directly upon her, "...but I cannot say I've created life before."

"Etrina's psyche being yours as well, perhaps you can answer why she brought you forth," ... and possibly still others like you...

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Seeing those two in the flesh brought a great relief to Charco, almost as if the very weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Eva's passing and Jack's death had affected him way more than he had let on, or at least more than allowing himself to be possessed by Rex in his grief.

"Welcome back..." He said, quietly, not sure where to begin with his words on how he missed them. In the ends, such words didn't matter.

"... you're just in time for the big fight." Was ultimately the choice of responses he decided to go with.

Jack throws him a thumbs up, still flat on his back.

“Yippie. Knew there was a reason. How’s it going, Charco?”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Praxat arrives at Capsule Corp and puts on the breaks just before smashing straight through the front entrance saying " whoa now that's was close on ." " we don't want to have to pay for unintentional destruction or be splatter against a wall." Praxat spots Jinzi saying " oh so you here too!" Praxat goes out of Hyper Charge licks the dead bugs that are on her face and eats them.

Praxat looks at herself and sees that she's cover in debris saying " wow I'm filthy!" " man this new technique is a pain in the ass to handle. " " it's difficult to maneuver when using it." " the technique is all speed but no control."

" as for why I'm here ?" " well I'm here to see if Capsule Corp will let me use their lab to make myself a special pair of goggles." " it's for preparation for the coming battle!" " my vision is poor and will be a hindrance for me on a battlefield. "

Jinzi, having arrived only like a before, nods.

“Sure, I can help design some for you. Follow me inside.”

He leads on into Capsule Corp.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

While the others spoke with the newly revived ones and to each other in regards preparations for the upcoming battle, Parsley remained at the edge of the Lookout, arms folded and eyes closed. To those ignorant of her ways, she may have appeared to be arrogantly ignoring the preparations in preference to trusting in her own might.

That couldn't have been further from the truth. While Parsley trusted that she was strong enough to survive long enough to give herself the advantage, by no means did she feel she was strong enough to win this fight one-on-one. Well, she could, assuming Jagam wasn't a Super Saiyan. That was an unknown she was unwilling to grant herself just to placate her pride. No, strength alone wasn't going to be enough to win the day. If she was going to survive this fight and see Avoca again, she needed to fight smart.

Unfortunately, her arsenal of techniques were very few on the offensive side, and even less on the supportive side. In short, she wasn't equipped to fight as smartly as she needed to.

No matter. She had observed the fights during the tournament, all of them. She memorized the appearance and mechanics of dozens of new techniques she had never seen before or never had the occasion to put into practice.

There were four in particular that she needed to emulate.

“Heh, fool. Now! Corona Flash!” An impossibly bright light, aided by the natural brightness of the sun, flashed, blinding Keel for just a few moments. Those moments were more than enough for Sprout to close in and land a series of devastating punches and kicks that left his opponent reeling. He finished this up with a massive energy blast detonated at point blank range.

Suddenly, Coliflo tossed an energy ball at him. He moved to deflect it, but it exploded into thousands of tiny pinpricks that pierced his flesh. The pricks flashed red twice, then turned solid yellow. The next moment, Sprout dropped out of the air.

Akchoy growled and thrust her hands outward. Now's my chance! “Vine Bind!”

Suddenly, dozens of green energy whips erupted out of the ground under Parsley and wrapped themselves around her. Every inch of her was incapacitated.

Akchoy sneered. “Perfect. While the vines are wrapped around you, you can't move. More importantly, you can't defend yourself against this!

He coughed up blood, but still refused to stay down. “I had dreams of being king since I was a little boy,” he slurred. “I won't let you take that from me! I WON'T!” He bellowed and charged her with every ounce of speed he could muster. “THIS IS MY DREAM!! I WON'T LET IT DIE!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAH!!” His fist became enveloped with a sterling silver ki that shined more brightly than the morning sun. “SILVER FANG ATTACK!”

A wolf's head erupted form his fist and hurtled toward Sarada.

By putting her own spin on those four techniques, Parsley was setting herself up to give Jagam more than his could handle. Combined with the others, she felt that they stood a very good chance of winning.

In years past, Parsley would have balked at the very suggestion that she learn from other fighters. She felt that her array of abilities was perfect the way it was. After all, it had served her very well throughout her training and life, so why fix what wasn't broken? It wasn't until her humiliating loss in the tournament that she realized that learning from others was the key to growing stronger. It was why she was so willing to train with Avoca just before coming to Earth, so willing to learn from her. No one would confuse Avoca for the mightiest warrior in existence, but the girl possessed a clever mind built to come up with unique abilities and put her own spin on ones that already existed.

Learning from those weaker than her was actually more beneficial to her than learning from someone stronger. Those with strength depended on that strength. Those riddled with weakness needed creativity to compensate for their lack of strength. Learning and observing the likes of Elery, Akchoy, Sprout, and Coliflo would do her more good than observing herself or Sarada.

There was no greater compliment someone like her could pay to someone like Sprout than using his technique. She was sure he would have been proud that Corona Flash was used to kill the Saiyan Killer, regardless of who used it.

Parsley opened her eyes and cast her gaze skyward. The moment to Jagam's arrival ticked ever closer as seconds passed by one by one. The people of this world would bear witness to a fight for the survival of a people of another world. No one stood to gain more from a victory than Sarada, yet where was she? Off training with one of her friends on another planet? Unless that training took a turn for the vicious, Parsley knew that one sparring session mere hours before a life-or-death battle would do very little good. If this training session was designed to trigger a zenkai, then Parsley would love to know why she was excluded?

It was very logical and reasonable to strengthen both Saiyans... well, at least Parsley thought it was logical. Evidently, this woman thought differently.

No matter. She was strong enough to survive and had more than enough techniques to give herself the edge.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

At first she didn't see them arrive, but when she did a feeling of relief went through her. Meagan tried not to move too quickly as she went over to them, obviously very happy at their arrival, "Welcome back."

Eva nods to her, smiling.

“Thanks.”

Jack meanwhile throws her a haggard salute from his position laying on the floor.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Of course."

Pulled into the hug then, Ishtar simply chuckled and returned the hug with equal fervor. "You look well, for one who has spent six months in the realm of the dead ... though I am afraid we do not have much time to rejoice. Jagam and his Threshling Witch will be here in less than a day."

The Oni sighed.

"Tell me though, did you manage what you set out to do in Otherworld ?"

“Somewhat. Jack discovered a big more about himself, and I discovered a few leads. However, for now Jagam and his Priestess are our issues.”

She smiles and walks over to Kai, who bows. Ignoring that, she hugs him instead.

“I am proud of you, Kai. You did extremely well in my absence.”

Kai just mumbles something, embarrassed at the praise.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Parsley watched this human Sarada was so fond of ignore her in lieu of looking to see who was talking. Perhaps Sarada had spoken about her to him. A shame; there was no telling what misinformed garbage she filled his head with. Regardless, she didn't have time to seek attention from anyone.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you."



Sarada avoided the massive palm seeking to swat her into the horizon, but doing so left her completely vulnerable to the floating orb crashing down on top of her. She was smashed into the ground.

A soft groan escaped her. Those things hurt a lot more than she thought they would. Which was bad, because mere moments later, before she had time to recover and come up with a strategy, the orb came crashing down on her again. Again and again, each time burying her deeper into the ground. Even as strong as she was, her body has its limits. She could feel her bones cracking and growing dangerously close to breaking.

The question Asha'rah posed to her echoed through the air. What did she hold most dear?

An easy question. Ishtar, without a doubt. Without her love being by her side, there was little doubt she would have been able to stay focused enough to win the Tournament of Destiny and win the crown. She wouldn't be as strong as she was, and she certainly wouldn't have been as happy. She was the love her Sarada's life, and the future father of her children. That she was willing to cast aside all hatred and animosity she felt toward half-breeds so she could form a family with her spoke boundless volumes.

If Jagam killed her, there was no telling what Sarada would do. She couldn't let that happen!

She dug down deep and found the fortitude necessary to dash into the air during the lapse in time when the orb returned to Asha'rah's hand. "My love, Ishtar!" she responded with full confidence, despite her apparent injuries. "I won't let anything happen to her!!"

She roared and flared her power. "Galick Gun...FIRE!!" The massive purple beam streaked through the air, then curled downward before arcing upward to curve under the giant goddess' guard and strike her in the chest.

Jack chuckles.

“Maybe. Probably pissed at me fer what I did. Do it again if I had to.”