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

[Tami]

As predicted, the galactic officer responded defensively when she charged that his organization was incompetent. Whether that was true or not, it did speak to his devotion. Whether that devotion was well-placed or blind was unknown.

Not that such mattered at this point. Her mind was made up, and only a sound explanation explaining this gross oversight away would change it.

"Yee, I–"



With three simple words, whatever reply she had prepared died before it found coherent thought.

He was there. Him. Jagam. At the lookout. With Eva and Ronin by themselves.

The guardian was well behind her, so Sarada already knew she stood no chance of defeating him. She wasn't sure about Ronin, but he wasn't the training type, so she doubted he was that far ahead of Eva, if he was at all.

"No."

The sole word was whispered harshly, filled with disbelief that their entire plan had fallen apart before they had even arrived. If he went Super Saiyan at any point during the fight, they were done for!

No! She would find a way. They would find a way, just like with Battersea, Willa, Fife, Chroma. Every obstacle put in their way, no matter how insurmountable it first appeared, was overcome when they fought together. This would be no different.

"As soon as we get within Earth's atmosphere," she said to Totoma, "activate Hitozaru as high as you can safely. I figure we can reach the lookout faster flying ourselves, plus that'd give us the element of surprise."

"Air drop might eb our only chance. I'm going too."

Meagan then called out, "Jinzi, when will we hit the Earth's Atnospher?"

Jinzi cursed, then began tapping at various controls.

“I’m maxing it’s engines and overclocking them to the point of shattering. Once the ship hits atmosphere we’ll only be a few miles from the Lookout, so abandon ship and fly there.”

The ship lurches forward even faster.

“Two minutes and you abandon the ship and make for the Lookout!”

"What about you?" Meagan asked with serious concern, "You had better take care of yourself, Jinzi. Don't crash with the ship once we eject."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Air drop might eb our only chance. I'm going too."

Meagan then called out, "Jinzi, when will we hit the Earth's Atnospher?"

Jinzi cursed, then began tapping at various controls.

“I’m maxing it’s engines and overclocking them to the point of shattering. Once the ship hits atmosphere we’ll only be a few miles from the Lookout, so abandon ship and fly there.”

The ship lurches forward even faster.

“Two minutes and you abandon the ship and make for the Lookout!”

Two minutes. Not enough time to think of a solid plan, so they were going to just have to come up with it on the fly. "Okay, thanks Jinzi."

She got up and made her way to the air hatch, ready to open it the moment the two minutes were up and it was safe to disembark. Hang on Eva, Ronin, Nunlil. We're almost there.

[KingofPie]

Ishtar sighed silently.

Evangeline expressed a feeling of unease that echoed what had been offered by Ereshkigal. Proof at the least that whatever it was that was coming was indeed a threat to Earth, and the Kami upon it. Yet there was a sudden- jerking- stop, and before the young Guardian could finish her thoughts, there came only silence.

Then Kai was screaming about someone being there ...

"Jagam is there. He just arrived at the Lookout."

The Oni spoke, loudly enough to be heard by those who sat beside, or stood near, yet oddly muted. After all they were too late ... at least to train, and plan ... even with the boon they had received to expedite travel. Though one supposed it didn't matter anymore what was coming, beyond what needed to happen next.

Jerking up in her seat, the golden-eyed Oni shot like a bolt toward the cockpit; and when she arrived the blue-skinned woman clamped her hand down around the young genius' shoulder.

"Mr. Pantaloon, we need to get there, now. How do we make that happen."

"Darn! I was hoping this wouldn't be the case, but...it seems our resolve will be put to the test here!" P-Sta exclaimed, punching a fist into an open palm.

Jinzi cursed, then began tapping at various controls.

“I’m maxing it’s engines and overclocking them to the point of shattering. Once the ship hits atmosphere we’ll only be a few miles from the Lookout, so abandon ship and fly there.”

The ship lurches forward even faster.

“Two minutes and you abandon the ship and make for the Lookout!”

"Sounds like a plan!" P-Sta agreed quickly, shifting into his Katchin mode. "But first things first..." P-Sta drew out his datapad and immediately dialed a call in to GP HQ. "HQ, do you read me! There's a major situation on Earth, a Guardian in danger! Did you get my report on the Half-Saiyan Jagam? I believe him to be the culprit!"

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

As predicted, the galactic officer responded defensively when she charged that his organization was incompetent. Whether that was true or not, it did speak to his devotion. Whether that devotion was well-placed or blind was unknown.

Not that such mattered at this point. Her mind was made up, and only a sound explanation explaining this gross oversight away would change it.

"Yee, I–"



With three simple words, whatever reply she had prepared died before it found coherent thought.

He was there. Him. Jagam. At the lookout. With Eva and Ronin by themselves.

The guardian was well behind her, so Sarada already knew she stood no chance of defeating him. She wasn't sure about Ronin, but he wasn't the training type, so she doubted he was that far ahead of Eva, if he was at all.

"No."

The sole word was whispered harshly, filled with disbelief that their entire plan had fallen apart before they had even arrived. If he went Super Saiyan at any point during the fight, they were done for!

No! She would find a way. They would find a way, just like with Battersea, Willa, Fife, Chroma. Every obstacle put in their way, no matter how insurmountable it first appeared, was overcome when they fought together. This would be no different.

"As soon as we get within Earth's atmosphere," she said to Totoma, "activate Hitozaru as high as you can safely. I figure we can reach the lookout faster flying ourselves, plus that'd give us the element of surprise."

Totoma nodded at Sarada. He'd been thinking the same thing. Transform, get there, hit him with every-fucking-thing they had before he could react. Unfortunately, with but two minutes--and counting--they didn't have much time to make a better plan.

His heart was beating a million times a minute, but he was soon overcome by a... warm comforting, loving feeling, almost like a mental/spiritual hug, and he calmed down a bit. Glancing out the window into space, he knew that, somewhere out there, Karine had felt his apprehension and, yes, fear, though their bond, and had sent that little... burst of comfort his way to help him. Heh, Kari... even when not physically present, she was always his greatest source of strength.

Like hell would he let Jagam kill him--again--and destroy the Earth. Yeah, he definitely wanted to protect the Earth's people, but, selfish as it may have been, he wanted to protect that happy future he and Karine had been planning and working towards. Jagam stood in the way of that future, and if he didn't get the hell out of the way, Totoma would have to go through him.

"Let's do this."

[rhyvurg]

Hearing that Jagam is at the lookout, Adam reintegrates with the ship and begins charging to timejump.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The ship lurches as its breaks atmosphere going far faster than any safety regulation on it recommends. Warning lights scream at Jinzi as he dashes the ship across the sky at speeds that were breathtaking. He slaps a button and the rear hatch ramp drops open.

“Go go go go!”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The ship lurches as its breaks atmosphere going far faster than any safety regulation on it recommends. Warning lights scream at Jinzi as he dashes the ship across the sky at speeds that were breathtaking. He slaps a button and the rear hatch ramp drops open.

“Go go go go!”

Sarada was among the first ones out of the ship the moment Jinzi opened the hatch. The time was upon them, so the time for second guessing or coming up with any further strategies had ended.

*Click*

Her blutz lamps activated, filling her eyes with blutz waves that traveled throufh her body and into her tail. Her eyes filled red for the brief moment it took for her body to grow in size and become covered with dark brown fur. Hitozaru x6 was the highest she could go, but only for a short while before she had to power down. Any longer and she would be inflicted with crippling pain that would surely lead to her death.

That, she hoped, would be enough when combined with whatever Totoma had in store.

"Let's go!" Her crimson aura wrapped around her like a flame before she took off as fast as she could for where she sensed the lookout. Hang on, Eva. We're coming!

OOC: Hitozaru x6 is active. Current PL is 141,000.

[grampagen]

Ochazuke had remained curiously silent during the whole Chromakai liberation battle. Well, not surprising, really, since Ochazuke was often a man of few words. And what words he did utter were carefully chosen, almost always cutting right to the heart of the matter--or the person he spoke to. This time was no exception.

Totoma thought back. "He--his style--was brutal and accurate, being very similar to boxing, but with quick, effective joint locks, breaks, and the such added to it. I distinctly remember that he didn't kick very often, even when doing so would be the best option. So I guess, compared to everyone here, his style does have at least one distinct shortcoming. As for ki attacks... he could use the eye beam technique, or a variation of it, an energy wave that came out in the form of blades, and some sort of seeking energy blast that constricts around you before it explodes."

"Maximum result, minimum effort." Ochazuke's grunt was a short affirmation. For a moment he could do no more but close his eyes and lower his head in further contemplation.

Now why would a ruthless one such as Jagam - if Chuan's cursory glance at the GP file was true - with a monster's reputation growing every day have to gain from holding himself back?

He was toying with you. The thought came to the surface in an instant, but he stilled his tongue short of saying it aloud.

"I would suppose enjoyed it, didn't he? Leveraging his power." Fashioned as such, even after so much as a child, the cruelest Saiyan qualities Totoma had described months ago - the same he'd witnessed in both him and Sarada at their lowest - were hardly unique. Such torturous nonsense. If he faced off against him for that length of time as a child, there can be little doubt.

He holstered the two Neural Stunners in his inner coat pockets and snapped the shoulders of his war-stained white jacket. A sharp, hot exhale left him. It was overly familiar a sentiment he'd seen. The strong affirm their place by prolonging suffering, as if they could no longer tolerate even a thought of struggle and secure their place by fixing their place with blood as their mortar. Ochazuke snapped his neck from side-to-side, and the idleness of thirty hours was cleared.

"Swift, efficient technique, to kill with a glance or a single move, there can be no doubt of his refinement," he said, "there may be a small opening there if he should err in hubris."

The portrait of Totoma's phantom, the shadow that trailed behind the entire Saiyan race, stretched longer as they head into it. Yet the battle is always decided not only by a clash of wills, but the shift in relation between opponents.

"It is a crude estimation of our chances, but, again, only you have the measure of our foe. Give me a number."

[Tami]

The ship lurches as its breaks atmosphere going far faster than any safety regulation on it recommends. Warning lights scream at Jinzi as he dashes the ship across the sky at speeds that were breathtaking. He slaps a button and the rear hatch ramp drops open.

“Go go go go!”

With a brief glance back to Jinzi, Meagan then took the leap, her aura flaring up as she did, her speed multiplied as she Reached for the Light and flew as fast as she could. An instinctual knowledge, born of the months she spent there, lead her directly to the Lookout.

[KingofPie]

The ship lurches as its breaks atmosphere going far faster than any safety regulation on it recommends. Warning lights scream at Jinzi as he dashes the ship across the sky at speeds that were breathtaking. He slaps a button and the rear hatch ramp drops open.

“Go go go go!”

P-Sta leaps though a window in Katchin mode, pushing forward as fast as he could.

In the distance...

The Majin yawned irritably as he sped through the stars. So all he had to do to to fully restore his lost power was get help from someone genuinely good. Stoo-pid. The wizard who cursed him was. And so were his former allies. The only good people he knew that he hasn't killed or tried to kill. And so was Earth....except for the food. The food was one reason to not destroy all of this planet....maybe.

He was almost there now. Maybe there'd be something interesting happening on Earth. There it is now...the stoo-pid blue planet as stoo-pid as it ever wa-wait. What was that. Something speeding through it's atmosphere...a crashing ship? Sasheem wondered if he could make it crash faster...

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

The ship lurches as its breaks atmosphere going far faster than any safety regulation on it recommends. Warning lights scream at Jinzi as he dashes the ship across the sky at speeds that were breathtaking. He slaps a button and the rear hatch ramp drops open.

“Go go go go!”

"Jinzi you keep Ereshkigal safe !" Ishtar commented, before giving the man a firm pat on the shoulder.

Turning away then, even as the others began to rocket off towards the Lookout, the Oni simply turned, and made her way over to the young Oni that had fallen into her care. Kneeling down in front of her quickly then, the Oni smiled and gave her hair a gentle ruffling before handing her one of the black feathers that served as the collar for her armor.

"I have to go take care of something, okay little one ? Mr. Pantaloon will make sure nothing bad happens to you alright ... and I will be back soon."

Raising back up quickly, the golden-eyed Oni turned then and vanished in a burst of blue ...

Reappearing a moment or so later, on the surface of the Lookout.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

"Maximum result, minimum effort." Ochazuke's grunt was a short affirmation. For a moment he could do no more but close his eyes and lower his head in further contemplation.

Now why would a ruthless one such as Jagam - if Chuan's cursory glance at the GP file was true - with a monster's reputation growing every day have to gain from holding himself back?

He was toying with you. The thought came to the surface in an instant, but he stilled his tongue short of saying it aloud.

"I would suppose enjoyed it, didn't he? Leveraging his power." Fashioned as such, even after so much as a child, the cruelest Saiyan qualities Totoma had described months ago - the same he'd witnessed in both him and Sarada at their lowest - were hardly unique. Such torturous nonsense. If he faced off against him for that length of time as a child, there can be little doubt.

He holstered the two Neural Stunners in his inner coat pockets and snapped the shoulders of his war-stained white jacket. A sharp, hot exhale left him. It was overly familiar a sentiment he'd seen. The strong affirm their place by prolonging suffering, as if they could no longer tolerate even a thought of struggle and secure their place by fixing their place with blood as their mortar. Ochazuke snapped his neck from side-to-side, and the idleness of thirty hours was cleared.

"Swift, efficient technique, to kill with a glance or a single move, there can be no doubt of his refinement," he said, "there may be a small opening there if he should err in hubris."

The portrait of Totoma's phantom, the shadow that trailed behind the entire Saiyan race, stretched longer as they head into it. Yet the battle is always decided not only by a clash of wills, but the shift in relation between opponents.

"It is a crude estimation of our chances, but, again, only you have the measure of our foe. Give me a number."

Maximum result, minimum effort. Yeah, that was a good way to put it. It wasn't a bad mentality for a warrior to have, Totoma thought. Still, facing an enemy with that mentality was an unnerving prospect, especially when said enemy likely exceeded their power by an incalculable amount at his zenith.

"Enjoyed it... yeah, yeah he did," said Totoma. "He's... pretty brutal, and obviously willing to torture and kill children." Totoma sighed, shaking his head at the memory. Despite Eva's fix, his feelings in regards to those memories, over the past months, had somehow resurfaced, though at a much more manageable intensity.

Next, Ochazuke asked about their chances. That was a difficult thing to estimate, but he could say one thing for certain... "If he can transform into a Super Saiyan and we give him the chance to do just that, we're dead. Plain as that. If he can't, then our odds improve considerably, and we may, in fact, have the advantage. If he can't go super, but somehow figured out the Hitozaru, then I'd say we have something like a 1 out of 10 chance of winning. It'd be difficult as hell, but not impossible."

Sarada was among the first ones out of the ship the moment Jinzi opened the hatch. The time was upon them, so the time for second guessing or coming up with any further strategies had ended.

*Click*

Her blutz lamps activated, filling her eyes with blutz waves that traveled throufh her body and into her tail. Her eyes filled red for the brief moment it took for her body to grow in size and become covered with dark brown fur. Hitozaru x6 was the highest she could go, but only for a short while before she had to power down. Any longer and she would be inflicted with crippling pain that would surely lead to her death.

That, she hoped, would be enough when combined with whatever Totoma had in store.

"Let's go!" Her crimson aura wrapped around her like a flame before she took off as fast as she could for where she sensed the lookout. Hang on, Eva. We're coming!

OOC: Hitozaru x6 is active. Current PL is 141,000.

And there was his cue. Dropping out of the spacecraft right after Sarada, he flooded his eyes--and the rest of his body with Blutz Waves using the his Blutz Flash technique, quickly transforming into his Hitozaru form. As of right now, he could access... about 80% of his Oozaru form's full power, though if he maintained that too long, he'd experience crippling pain after reverting. Still, he had no time to worry about that sort of thing. With a small bit of concentration, Totoma activated the Kizuna technique for the group, with each, if they accepted, having their power bolstered while it was active, including his own.

With that, his aura flared into existence and he rocketed towards the lookout. There was a good possibility that, as skilled as she was, that Eva was dead, but he hoped that was not the case. He owed her a debt that he probably wouldn't be able to repay. And, well... he'd wanted her to survive to meet the 'other' Eva... the child he'd promised to name after her in her honor.

(Hitozaru x8 active, current powerlevel is 160,000. Kizuna, if accepted, will boost the base powerlevel of the individual by 25%.)

[grampagen]

The ship lurches as its breaks atmosphere going far faster than any safety regulation on it recommends. Warning lights scream at Jinzi as he dashes the ship across the sky at speeds that were breathtaking. He slaps a button and the rear hatch ramp drops open.

“Go go go go!”

The roar of shearing wind and the howl of depressurizing air behind the spacecraft left little doubt of Pantaloon's intention even as the screaming air swallowed his words. The others soon mobilized, and Ochazuke with a low grumble stood from his seat and casually walked against the drop hatch toward the pilot's seat.

"If a man does not know his limitations, he is going to die."

'Have no limitation as limitation,' the spirited paradox that was a maxim at the heart of martial arts were words often unexamined and taken at face value. In the brief time he'd been in Jinzi Pantaloon's company, Ochazuke had often wondered if fortune and bravado had broken the man's tether to reality, boring skies under the earth or ripping across the galaxy from star to star. What had become abundantly clear as the days passed was he was certainly not one lacking in passion for either proclaiming himself to the universe or the deepest inner secrets of this single planet.

The destined moment had come for then all. Many in their company had sprung to act and change the course and go to the defense of the Guardian. When Ochazuke came to the pilot's cabin and the shaking pandemonium on the controls within, he was quick with his words as the moment to make any difference might soon pass him by.

"We may not return from this engagement. If that should come to pass, the duty falls once again to you alone."

He withdrew the extra handheld Neural Stunner and placed it in a compartment before Jinzi.

"The weapon of the Junjo may yet be redeened in defending a planet rather than enslaving it. The planet may be divided, but it is our home, Pantaloon. Be prepared to defend it with everything you have."

"Jinzi you keep Ereshkigal safe !" Ishtar commented, before giving the man a firm pat on the shoulder.

Turning away then, even as the others began to rocket off towards the Lookout, the Oni simply turned, and made her way over to the young Oni that had fallen into her care. Kneeling down in front of her quickly then, the Oni smiled and gave her hair a gentle ruffling before handing her one of the black feathers that served as the collar for her armor.

"I have to go take care of something, okay little one ? Mr. Pantaloon will make sure nothing bad happens to you alright ... and I will be back soon."

Raising back up quickly, the golden-eyed Oni turned then and vanished in a burst of blue ...

Reappearing a moment or so later, on the surface of the Lookout.

Thunder shook the skies around the ship and echoing lightning fell upon the Lookout in the distance. In that moment, Ochazuke knew it was time. Crossing back across the passenger cabin, he looked down on the little Red Oni, his meditation field raised in prelude for the combat to come.

"In this instance, foreknowledge was key, but I haven't any taste for providence," he said, looming over her. "When you open that tome again, perhaps the page shall be rewritten in the blood of the fallen."

His words spoken plain, the last shred of doubt and regret left his spirit. He had delayed enough, and for those who stood above the world and those who awaited below, Ochazuke raised off the ship's floor and in a supersonic rush the cabin disappeared around him as it sped off. Now some distance from the battlefield, he made his preparations, rousing his focus with Kei'i-Ken, increasing his alertness as he craft his insights over his approach toward the battlefield. His thoughts drift back to Totoma's analysis of their odds.

Maximum result, minimum effort. Yeah, that was a good way to put it. It wasn't a bad mentality for a warrior to have, Totoma thought. Still, facing an enemy with that mentality was an unnerving prospect, especially when said enemy likely exceeded their power by an incalculable amount at his zenith.

"Enjoyed it... yeah, yeah he did," said Totoma. "He's... pretty brutal, and obviously willing to torture and kill children." Totoma sighed, shaking his head at the memory. Despite Eva's fix, his feelings in regards to those memories, over the past months, had somehow resurfaced, though at a much more manageable intensity.

Next, Ochazuke asked about their chances. That was a difficult thing to estimate, but he could say one thing for certain... "If he can transform into a Super Saiyan and we give him the chance to do just that, we're dead. Plain as that. If he can't, then our odds improve considerably, and we may, in fact, have the advantage. If he can't go super, but somehow figured out the Hitozaru, then I'd say we have something like a 1 out of 10 chance of winning. It'd be difficult as hell, but not impossible."

Could they place their faith in a vain hope? A mind affixed to doubt will only see it realized. Yet he was the one who asked Earth's Saiyan for the number. Exhaling slowly, the notions which no longer served him were burned away as he moved through the slipstream.

1 in 10, from the man preparing to fight Jagam for a decade. Not impossible. Yet as Ochazuke palmed the capsule in his hand, he also had a number to play, and he prepared to realize it soon.

[Cyke]

(Hitozaru x8 active, current powerlevel is 160,000. Kizuna, if accepted, will boost the base powerlevel of the individual by 25%.)

Feeling a familiar tingle, Zaofan welcomes the aura, feeling himself greatly powered and eager for action. He follows Jinzi's order and flies close behind the others, flying 25% faster than his top speed, crediting it to perhaps the rush of battle or the urgency of the situation, but feeling invigorated nonetheless. Taking no chances, he quickly pops out Bojack as he charges ahead with the others.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Nevanlinna had remained quiet and listened to the others speak of Jagam with some trepidation. Understandable, given how vicious he was. Still, it seemed this little side-show she had found herself embroiled in would soon come to an end, at least if it was, indeed, Jagam. Rendezvous with him, then work out what to do about that damned robot after her head.

When it came time to abandon the ship, Nevanlinna was one of the last off, her aura flaring to life just after she dropped out. Crossing her arms, she began heading in the same direction the others had headed off in. It would be interesting to see how Jagam dealt with this group--the two saiyans, in particular, were quite powerful, she had to admit, and she wondered whether he had a counter? Perhaps he, too, would prove capable of that man-ape form? Or perhaps their fears were justified and he could transform into a "Super Saiyan."

Or perhaps he would prove to have no counter and die. A shame, as he was technically her half-brother, but he was a warrior and understood the risks. Though, if he were to blow her cover when they met... hm, that could be trouble.