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

[rhyvurg]

"So, do you know why we're suddenly 20 years in the future?" Shiro asked, Midori trying her best not to think about the fact that Adam was still inside her and monitoring her.

"No, unfortunately. My own efforts have only yielded brief jumps through time. We should get moving, Jinzi seems in a rush."

[Ptrvc]

He leads them deeper and deeper, until they come to a sealed door. He unlocks it with a wave of his hand (a scanner reading his biometrics), and they walk into a large bunker style room with supplies and the like.


Once everyone is in he locks the door and his hood and cloak open up, revealing an older face.



The grey in his hair, his voice, the wrinkles are all different and new, but the near boyish smile and warmth in his eyes isn’t.

“Well, by Kami it’s good to see you all.” Jinzi Pantaloon says, tears in his eyes.

"Jinzi...hey...you're looking a little."

Jack paused.

"It's been longer than six months, hasn't it?"

“I’m in charge as much as anyone is. I am President of the World Government, so.....”

He nods to Ishtar.

“Bring it down when we leave.”

Heh...I could ask him for a pardon, Jack thought blithely, still trying to take all this in.

So, it wasn't his fault, or an oversight on his part. She was glad she kept that snide comment to herself, in that case.

Sarada nodded and sprinted after Jinzi as he dashed down a back alley.

Jack sprinted after Sarada, unsure of what to say. He had been unsure of what he would say after meeting up again, even before all this time stuff.

"So..."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

He leads them quickly, dashing through back alleys and over piles of ruined buildings. More of the Lyne robots began pursuing them, but once they got to a point, Jinzi threw down a small device. It whirled and began glowing blue.

As more Lyne begin showing up, Jinzi smirks and throws a rude gesture to them before a sphere of blue energy surrounds the group and they vanish.

—————

The sphere reappears in what looks like a large warehouse/garage. Multiple assault vehicles and racks of shelving holding parts, supplies, and other things surround them.

“Welcome to Charlie Base everyone.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Jack sprinted after Sarada, unsure of what to say. He had been unsure of what he would say after meeting up again, even before all this time stuff.

"So..."

The single word attracted Sarada's attention. Jack, and he seemed to be struggling to figure out what to say. In truth, so was she. She had been so focused on returning to Ishtar that she had neglected to think of what she was going to say.

Oh, she knew what she was going to do: show him one of the new outfits she purchased on Turrip. One in particular she was sure he would really like. But, say? No, she hadn't given that any thought.

Why was this so hard? It was the same with Ishtar. She struggled to try and find some quality greeting for the blue Oni and ended up stringing together three sentences that made her sound like she was only just then giving it some thought. This... thing she had going on was turning out to be much harder than she thought. It was only supposed to be sex, with no strings attached.

Well, it would have helped if she explained that to them from the outset. Another thing in a long list of things that was her fault.

"Hi," she eventually responded. "You look good. I...I'm really happy to see you." That last thing sounded more genuine that she thought possible. She really was happy to see him, even if their reunion had to take place in this hellish landscape.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

He leads them quickly, dashing through back alleys and over piles of ruined buildings. More of the Lyne robots began pursuing them, but once they got to a point, Jinzi threw down a small device. It whirled and began glowing blue.

As more Lyne begin showing up, Jinzi smirks and throws a rude gesture to them before a sphere of blue energy surrounds the group and they vanish.

—————

The sphere reappears in what looks like a large warehouse/garage. Multiple assault vehicles and racks of shelving holding parts, supplies, and other things surround them.

“Welcome to Charlie Base everyone.”

After a close call with the Lyne, they finally were transported instantly from the alleyway to a massive warehouse of some sort. Sarada looked around, taking in every inch she could see from her position of their new surroundings. Vehicles of war, and machinery littered the area. Jinzi had been busy, it seemed. The fact that there were multiple vehicles meant that he wasn't alone.

There was a resistance, it seemed, a final pocket of humanity fighting back against total destruction.

Charlie Base was the name of this place. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place where she had heard it. Oh, right. From Willa. "Red Raider base? Hm. I assume there's an entire resistance here with you."

[Ptrvc]

The single word attracted Sarada's attention. Jack, and he seemed to be struggling to figure out what to say. In truth, so was she. She had been so focused on returning to Ishtar that she had neglected to think of what she was going to say.

Oh, she knew what she was going to do: show him one of the new outfits she purchased on Turrip. One in particular she was sure he would really like. But, say? No, she hadn't given that any thought.

Why was this so hard? It was the same with Ishtar. She struggled to try and find some quality greeting for the blue Oni and ended up stringing together three sentences that made her sound like she was only just then giving it some thought. This... thing she had going on was turning out to be much harder than she thought. It was only supposed to be sex, with no strings attached.

Well, it would have helped if she explained that to them from the outset. Another thing in a long list of things that was her fault.

"Hi," she eventually responded. "You look good. I...I'm really happy to see you." That last thing sounded more genuine that she thought possible. She really was happy to see him, even if their reunion had to take place in this hellish landscape.

"Same, and same," Jack said with a nod. "Only wish," Jack gestured around to the general disarray, chaos, and destruction that that surrounded them, "All this wasn't going on."

Jack had been mostly isolated since Sarada had left. He had not intended this, but stuff came up, and he only met with the others a handful of times, and only a few of them. Also that guy murdering him in his sleep put a bit of damper on things, but if Jack was to be perfectly honest with himself, a lot of his solitude was on account of mooning over a certain Space Girl.

But Jack was rarely honest with himself.

"So...did you find what you were looking for when you went home?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

After a close call with the Lyne, they finally were transported instantly from the alleyway to a massive warehouse of some sort. Sarada looked around, taking in every inch she could see from her position of their new surroundings. Vehicles of war, and machinery littered the area. Jinzi had been busy, it seemed. The fact that there were multiple vehicles meant that he wasn't alone.

There was a resistance, it seemed, a final pocket of humanity fighting back against total destruction.

Charlie Base was the name of this place. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place where she had heard it. Oh, right. From Willa. "Red Raider base? Hm. I assume there's an entire resistance here with you."

“Well.....two billion or so. Well, 2,567,555,089 people. Resistance fighters in that group....about twenty.”

He shakes his head, sadly.

“We lost about half a billion before I figured it out. Fool that I am, it took me longer than it should have. My greatest failure.”

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

“Well.....two billion or so. Well, 2,567,555,089 people. Resistance fighters in that group....about twenty.”

He shakes his head, sadly.

“We lost about half a billion before I figured it out. Fool that I am, it took me longer than it should have. My greatest failure.”

"That you saved so many is commendable," Ishtar commented when she finally arrived.

"Yet I would know what happened to force the world and its people into such a state."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Same, and same," Jack said with a nod. "Only wish," Jack gestured around to the general disarray, chaos, and destruction that that surrounded them, "All this wasn't going on."

Jack had been mostly isolated since Sarada had left. He had not intended this, but stuff came up, and he only met with the others a handful of times, and only a few of them. Also that guy murdering him in his sleep put a bit of damper on things, but if Jack was to be perfectly honest with himself, a lot of his solitude was on account of mooning over a certain Space Girl.

But Jack was rarely honest with himself.

"So...did you find what you were looking for when you went home?"

"I did," Sarada answered.

When she did answer him, it dawned on her that he had no idea what happened to her in the Meat Market. If she mentioned the tribunal, or Dashir, or her suspicions that her sister had something to do with it -- despite the authorities saying otherwise -- he would have been completely lost. To bring him up to speed on everything she had done would have required she tell him everything. She wasn't sure she could tell that story a fifth time.

But, this was Jack. He needed to know, didn't he?

"I finally achieved the power that I should have had in the beginning," she added with a small smile. She decided that she would decide later. Right then wasn't the best time, and honestly, they had plenty of dreary bleakness surrounding them already.

"What about you, Earthman? I see you're still alive, so you must not have gotten into too much trouble."

“Well.....two billion or so. Well, 2,567,555,089 people. Resistance fighters in that group....about twenty.”

He shakes his head, sadly.

“We lost about half a billion before I figured it out. Fool that I am, it took me longer than it should have. My greatest failure.”

Only twenty out of over two-and-a-half billion were fighting at his side? She knew this planet wasn't combat oriented, but that was ridiculous. Liberating their planet wasn't enough to move the majority to action? What would be?

She shook her head. "Well, we have our work cut out for us, then. What happened?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"That you saved so many is commendable," Ishtar commented when she finally arrived.

"Yet I would know what happened to force the world and its people into such a state."

“Well, about fifteen years ago a lovely alien race called the Lyne from another universe, which is something I didn’t even know was a thing, decided they wanted Earth. But they aren’t great fighters, so they release a dual purpose nanomachine attack. Half work as EMP’s against our tech, the other half shuts down ki, like a planetary ki binder.”

He shrugs.

“After the initial EMP attack, they landed and started taking over. I eventually figured out how to cancel most of the EMP attack and the ki attack out, but by then they had cut Earth off from any outside assistance. GP sent a few cruisers to help, but the nanomachines are concentrated too densely in the atmosphere and any ship coming in crashes. Last we heard they quarantined Earth so the Lyne couldn’t spread.”

[Cyke]

“Well, about fifteen years ago a lovely alien race called the Lyne from another universe, which is something I didn’t even know was a thing, decided they wanted Earth. But they aren’t great fighters, so they release a dual purpose nanomachine attack. Half work as EMP’s against our tech, the other half shuts down ki, like a planetary ki binder.”

He shrugs.

“After the initial EMP attack, they landed and started taking over. I eventually figured out how to cancel most of the EMP attack and the ki attack out, but by then they had cut Earth off from any outside assistance. GP sent a few cruisers to help, but the nanomachines are concentrated too densely in the atmosphere and any ship coming in crashes. Last we heard they quarantined Earth so the Lyne couldn’t spread.”

"Wonderful. We're dealing with an infection here.

Mr. Pantaloon, how has a force of a mere 20 protected all these people?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

“Well, about fifteen years ago a lovely alien race called the Lyne from another universe, which is something I didn’t even know was a thing, decided they wanted Earth. But they aren’t great fighters, so they release a dual purpose nanomachine attack. Half work as EMP’s against our tech, the other half shuts down ki, like a planetary ki binder.”

He shrugs.

“After the initial EMP attack, they landed and started taking over. I eventually figured out how to cancel most of the EMP attack and the ki attack out, but by then they had cut Earth off from any outside assistance. GP sent a few cruisers to help, but the nanomachines are concentrated too densely in the atmosphere and any ship coming in crashes. Last we heard they quarantined Earth so the Lyne couldn’t spread.”

"****."

That was all Sarada could say right then. Invaders from another universe? She wasn't even aware that there were other universes, let alone ones with the capability to cross the veil between universes. It was mind-boggling and bizarre, but didn't answer the most important question: how did they get there.

"Where do we come in?" she asked Jinzi. "How did we suddenly skip two decades and end up here?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

“Well, about fifteen years ago a lovely alien race called the Lyne from another universe, which is something I didn’t even know was a thing, decided they wanted Earth. But they aren’t great fighters, so they release a dual purpose nanomachine attack. Half work as EMP’s against our tech, the other half shuts down ki, like a planetary ki binder.”

He shrugs.

“After the initial EMP attack, they landed and started taking over. I eventually figured out how to cancel most of the EMP attack and the ki attack out, but by then they had cut Earth off from any outside assistance. GP sent a few cruisers to help, but the nanomachines are concentrated too densely in the atmosphere and any ship coming in crashes. Last we heard they quarantined Earth so the Lyne couldn’t spread.”

Ishtar considered what was said for several moments, finding it in herself to nod in agreement when Zaofan called this group a virus. Yet what Jinzi offered was not complete.

"Do you have any idea what would have caused such a tremendous leap of time." Quickly on the heals of that, Ishtar then asked, almost in a whisper.

"What happened to Evangeline?"

[The Dog]

"No, unfortunately. My own efforts have only yielded brief jumps through time. We should get moving, Jinzi seems in a rush."

"Damn." Shiro muttered as she and Midori followed after Jinzi.

He leads them quickly, dashing through back alleys and over piles of ruined buildings. More of the Lyne robots began pursuing them, but once they got to a point, Jinzi threw down a small device. It whirled and began glowing blue.

As more Lyne begin showing up, Jinzi smirks and throws a rude gesture to them before a sphere of blue energy surrounds the group and they vanish.

—————

The sphere reappears in what looks like a large warehouse/garage. Multiple assault vehicles and racks of shelving holding parts, supplies, and other things surround them.

“Welcome to Charlie Base everyone.”

Looking around the base, Midori found herself caught between wanting answers from Jinzi, and using the stuff in this garage to build herself a personalized battle vehicle, because you always need a battle vehicle in dystopian futures.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Wonderful. We're dealing with an infection here.

Mr. Pantaloon, how has a force of a mere 20 protected all these people?"

Jinzi looked a bit....abashed.

“Constant injections are needed to combat the nanomachines that stop ki. Eventually, we discovered that those cut off from ki actually will eventually ‘dry up’ so to speak and die. Humans don’t have a lot to begin with, so we drop pretty quickly when we get infected. I did the math and worked out how much supplies we had and picked those that were the strongest that we had, which was about 50 or so. The rest I may......have but into a crap ton of Capsules as a form of suspended animation.”

The last is said quickly.

“We really didn’t have the supplies or injections, and this way I could transport people easier and they would be protected.....”