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

[Tami]

It was Cyanna... after she had seen him sob like a child. For a moment as he "Ah" and "Um"d , he kept his eyes to the ground, hoping to find a hole big enough to crawl into. Eventually, it didn't matter anymore, he decided, as a long sigh escaped his lips like the air escaping an old tire.

"I don't know where to begin." He asked, practically mopey at this point, "I got some dino ghost demon after me. At first, I could ignore him, but now I'm not sure if I can get through a fight without wondering if I need his power. I mean, someone threw a mountain at me... well, maybe not me, but I got caught up in it. That's a pretty reasonable moment to let someone help you, right? I dunno... then there's the fact I don't know what's going on with the others and it just seems like I'm just a nuisance to everyone nowadays..."

He hadn't really meant to let loose all that verbal diarrhea, but it didn't matter now. Charco was already at the bottom of the barrel with things how they were right now.

"Now I have to go talk to my sensei-- no... I have to talk to my grandmother, although I don't know if I'll get anywhere there, aside from more trouble.

With a soft smile, Cyanna put her arms around him and gave him a hug, "Thank the Goddess you're still alive and you're still you." she then loosened her hug slightly to look him in the face, "You're one of the strongest guys I've ever met, and not just physically either." She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, "Still, If you need backup, I'm here for you. Maybe that Demon can't be all bad if he helped you out, but if he acts up we'll chop him into Ghost Demon Dino Steaks and feed him to, whatever eats that kind of thing. What does eat ghosts?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Parsley's gait as she returned to the others was slow and deliberate. The destruction all around - the decimated and gutted buildings, the deep craters, the multitude of dead bodies littering the ground - was overwhelming. She had seen death before. She had created death and surroundings exactly like this. There were times when she would be the only living soul remaining on a planet full of nothing but death and destruction. But this...

Her mind was focused. Not one taunt or boastful commented left her mouth. Despite her knowing that victory was all but assured against these vastly weaker enemies, she took nothing for granted. Observational Focus had shown her the width and breadth of the battlefield. Nothing the Tuffles had was hidden

Her hands began to shake. At first, it was a soft, gentle tremble, as if she was suffering hunger pains.

What she didn't expect was the white gas that spewed out of the missiles the moment they were blown up by her blasts. The gas quickly spread through the block, filling every crack and every crevice. She held her breath as she quickly flew through it. Even still, she felt herself getting weaker and more tired. Her eyelids felt heavy and it quickly became harder to stay airborne.

I have to... get out... of her... Her lungs were burning. She had to take a breath. Just one breath wouldn't hurt, right?

She breathed in, slowly as if that would keep the gas from intermingling with the fresh air as it entered her lungs for much needed refreshment.

“What... have you... done to me?”

“The gas is working!” the Tuffles cheered.

Parsley fell to the ground. She could feel herself growing weaker by the second. “Need... help... Someone... hel...”

She fell in slow motion, her face hitting the hard pavement with a hard thud. Her eyes fluttered closed with the last thing she saw being the Tuffles...

Parsley stopped, her legs suddenly feeling both stiff and like jelly at the same time. The air was thick. It was an arduous, herculean task just to breathe. The world around her started to spin. Or, maybe she was the one spinning. Either way, she collapsed to the ground, fingers digging deep trenches in the pavement as she shakily heaved in as much air as she could. What... what's happening to me?!

Her breathing increased to a rapid degree, but her breathes her shallow. The more she inhaled, the less air she seemed to draw in. The world kept spinning, reaching such a fever pitch that colors and objects started to bleed together into one blob of incoherence. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her head between her hands in a vain effort to stop the spinning and keep herself calm. Here, in a darkness of her own making, she was safe.

"You'll never be safe," a voice whispered to her. "Not if I can help it."

[Yun Lao]

With a soft smile, Cyanna put her arms around him and gave him a hug, "Thank the Goddess you're still alive and you're still you." she then loosened her hug slightly to look him in the face, "You're one of the strongest guys I've ever met, and not just physically either." She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, "Still, If you need backup, I'm here for you. Maybe that Demon can't be all bad if he helped you out, but if he acts up we'll chop him into Ghost Demon Dino Steaks and feed him to, whatever eats that kind of thing. What does eat ghosts?"

"Us apparently... if the tales are true."

This whole thing began when his ancestors happened to eat an immortal dinosaur and who knows what would happen if you exorcized a spirit that was bound to your DNA.

"Thanks, Cyanna. I feel better now." He replied, hugging her back with a gentle squeeze. Standing back up on his own two feet, he glanced to somewhere in particular in the horizon. "I guess I need to go and do this." Hesitating for a moment, he turned back to look back to her, "Wanna come? I can't say it's as fancy as the temple back in Chroma."

[Tami]

"Us apparently... if the tales are true."

This whole thing began when his ancestors happened to eat an immortal dinosaur and who knows what would happen if you exorcized a spirit that was bound to your DNA.

"Thanks, Cyanna. I feel better now." He replied, hugging her back with a gentle squeeze. Standing back up on his own two feet, he glanced to somewhere in particular in the horizon. "I guess I need to go and do this." Hesitating for a moment, he turned back to look back to her, "Wanna come? I can't say it's as fancy as the temple back in Chroma."

Standing up also, "I want to, but I have to check with Dash. We captured a Fire Lady, only someone tried to kill her. Kai is trying to heal her, so I need to check to see if they need me to stay or not. Come on, it'll only take a minute to find out." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, then headed towards where Kai and Dash were.

[Yun Lao]

Standing up also, "I want to, but I have to check with Dash. We captured a Fire Lady, only someone tried to kill her. Kai is trying to heal her, so I need to check to see if they need me to stay or not. Come on, it'll only take a minute to find out." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, then headed towards where Kai and Dash were.

He nodded, watching Cyanna leave. Still feeling awkward about the condition he was in when he had left the others, he chose to remain there and wait. Once the girl was gone, Charco turned back and looked to Eva, "To be honest, I'm a still bit scared. Going back home might not give me the answers I need... but... as long as I have those who still care for me, like Cyanna and you... I think I might find a way."

[KingofPie]

" It's been fun blowing shit up, but there's clearly something seriously wrong with the damn planet if the robot can't even break the atmosphere," Sasheem informed the Katchin Squadron, all set to find the exit to the mech.

"Wait! We were going to use Majin-Robo to assist in the repair of the city!" P-Cee responded, flying in front of the Majin and looking at him sternly.

"Let's be real, do you really want Sasheem helping you out with repairs?" The Majin asked.

"..." the Katchin Squadron fell silent, nodding in agreement, before stating in unison, "Good point!" The Majin was promptly booted out of the mecha with an energy blast and sent rocketing through the skies as the individual components of Majin Robo dispersed behind him.

Sasheem irritably corrected his course in mid-air and sped off towards the Lookout, hoping Evangeline would have some answers as to just what the hell was going on. "Ungrateful show-offs, all of 'em!" The Majin grumbled. "Could've at least given Sasheem a, 'thank you!'"

[MrSandman]

Chrona hopped upon a recently toppled bookcase and scanned the environment. This was certainly the place....a rather tragic view given the circumstances. Alot of the knowledge contained here had been horded by Fate over hundreds of years, it seemed almost tragic is should all get buried and forgotten. Still, its not like she couldn't devote a little spare time to collecting some of it for later....if there was something she had, it was time.

Her eyes scanned past the fractured spire of magicite, the focal point of the cavern. The destruction of Haven had triggered a massive spike of energy down the spire, and though it had sundered she could still feel it radiating unchecked energy from where she stood. It made it...difficult to pin down any other power source in the cavern, but the time familiar had a fairly good idea where to find what she was looking for.

With a moment more scanning, she found the crator left behind by Ishtars attack...and a little further Etrinas body seated quietly against the side of a rock wall.

Chrona approached her carefully, watching for any sign of a reaction....but found the young mages eyes closed.

".....Fate?" Chrona tried to sense her former masters presence, but couldn't detect anything. All that seemed to remain now was a shell....an important shell, but an empty one. Whatever had become of fate, she couldn't guess.....and perhaps it was better that way.

Taking the young mages body in her arms, Chrona opened a gate and allowed the body to slide through.....then with a twirl of her finger time groaned to a halt around her. "........Hmm.....well, now comes the hard part......"

With a sigh on monumental proportions, the time familiar honed her senses and floated off in the direction of the time frozen spire....

~~~~

After everyone had made their way through the gateway left by Chrona, they found themseleves just beyond the Stoltengarde family estate. From their vantage point both the gardens and manor were visable....and the violent rumbles from deep beneath the earth were as well. The manor was already in the process of collapsing when the ground beneath it gave way, opening like a sinkhole....sucking everything down into it. The manor, the hedgemaze.....two places with a dark history all their own, were consumed before them into the maw of the earth.

The scene before them, they could be forgiven for not noticing Etrinas body appear on the grass behind them....at least until a not to subtle cough grabbed their attention.

Chrona, her clothes more in line with the future version, sat next to the body. She gave them a smile....and seemed to take a moment to think before pointing to Zaofan. "....Got your girlfriends soul still right? Well....everything is set over here.....you just need to rest that crystal on her and then enchantments will do the rest." The time familiar got up, then chuckled. "Oh....and you'll need to give her a kiss, sleeping beauty rule."

The time familiar seemed to be in good spirits despite the surrounding destruction as she hopped her way over to Ishtar.

".....and now, the fate of our favorite little Id.....and by the gods I've been waiting a long time to get this off my chest. My best work....well, so far anyways...." The Familiar eyed the oni over, then held out her hand. "Magicite please.....you remember, the one I gave you a long time ago?"

The familiar waited quietly until the oni had provided her what she needed....the now blueish purple magicite stone, glowing with a faint aura of temporal magic.

"So....How was it? Helped you out when it came to sniffing out Fates machinations right? Of course....she was happy to help too...." Chrona held up the stone and gave it a once over in her hands, seemingly checking its shape and stability. "....Excellent...the heart is stabilized. Soo....I guess an explanation is in order now.....I'll try and make this simple for the less temporally minded..."

Chrona took a deep beath, collecting her thoughts.

"Well....Right after I put the cook into the spire, my future self broke a piece off the magicite spire and passed it too my younger self...who then delivered it to the past where a certain mage could find it, use it to engineer a homunculus and eventually lead to it being assimilated into Erosa as a magicite heart. That attunment is what allowed the little scamp to bypass the field around the spire room so easily." The familiar took another breath, then pointed to Asha'rah. "Then my younger self came back to the present..and played her part with you in keeping Fate distracted until Erosa could blow the spire. Then she got you and the others out....and as a moment around a minute back she us busy gathering up the shards from Erosas broken magicite heart......by the way, it took 2 years to find them all in that mess........your welcome."

Chrona cupped her hands together. "Magicite is a memory crystal....It recorded pretty much everything that made Erosa what she while integrated with her. Once my past self had all the fragments, she just needed to fuse them. So she....by this point I should be saying "I"....I brought the reformed crystal back in time, and waited in a spot I knew our fair lady Ishtar would be passing by......and then the rest....as they say.....is history."

Chrona let the magicite rest in Ishtars hand. "That nagging feeling it would give you whenever fate was doing something nearby? That wasn't some built in function....that was your friend telling you when something was up. Shes been inside you the entire time while the crystal was repairing itself using magic absorbed by you. It'll still be a couple on months before she can take her form again....but once she does, the magicite will be able to sustain her body all by itself. She'll be....an entirely free formed entity.

Chrona took a step back, let out a sigh and fell back onto the grass as if she just dropped the worlds largest load. "...Oh gods I need a nap...."

[Tami]

Kai appears, running out and throwing his hands out as elemental energies pour from him. Kai, a master of elemental forces, tries to stabilize the near dead flame.


“I think I can keep her alive, but it will take time.”

"Those black needle things in her back, ah think that's what's killing her. Can you remove them?" Dash asks Kai, while still kneeling next to the fallen enemy.

"Dash," Cyanna, looking down at what her friend was talking about, "How did that happen? Were you ambushed at the cave?"

"Naw, it was just as we left it, 'cept when we got inside she was like this. Ah have no idea how she was attacked, ah mean it has to be an attack, ah doubt she coulda done this to herself. "

Shuffling slightly and looking troubled, "My magic still isn't strong enough. I tagged her, I thought my spell would tell me if she was okay or not, I must have messed it up. Or maybe I just wasn't paying attention."

Finally standing up again, Dash goes over to her, "Don't beat yourself up over this." a figurative 'light-bulb' went off in her mind as she figured it out, "Ah figger whoever did this musta used some kind of portal, like the Mirror Lady uses. Ah didn't know they had someone who could do that. If so, why did they need spaceships? Unless the portal user couldn't make big portals. You have'ta be pretty powerful to make portals big enough for an invasion. We've both seen The Lady make tiny portals before."

Cyanna nods, "Yeah, she'd use them to drop off small items during training. Like when she sent us into that dark cave an told us to find our way out by sensing her Ki. Then we got lost when she played that trick on us, creating multiple Ki signatures."

Smirking slightly, "Uh huh, she dropped us a note saying to hurry up or we'd get left behind. She'd has an odd sense of humor."

They both then looked back down at Kai and the Fire elemental.

Returning back, Cyanna taps Dash on the shoulder, "Hey, how's she doing?"

Dash simply shrugs, then asks her, "where were you?"

"It's Charco, he has a problem and he asked me to help him with it. We'd have to travel to get to where he thinsk his soultion might be, but I needed to see how she was doing and if you needed me here."

They both look down at Kai, Dash considering her reply.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

He nodded, although this would be far easier said than done.

"I'll... I'll need some time to prepare. It won't be pretty when I get there."

While he had left Brick City to spare his family from dealing with the troubles he has caused, he truly doubts the townspeople would have let it be so easy.

“That’s fine. You don’t have to do it now, either. Only when you are ready.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Ishtar blinked.

Zurvan was fine. Yet this worry had to have come from somewhere, and with the conversation she had had with the gas mask wearing fellow ... and Sarada's confirmation that there was something wrong with the time stream. So despite the relief she felt in hearing her 'father' was fine ... Ishtar had no reason to distrust her instinct; so what then, did this mean ? That she had things to say at the very least.

"Earth has been invaded yet again ... and some of the attackers are at the least, a few thousand years old ... Primitive Saiyans ... though their ships were far older, of a kind I have never seen before. And there is one more thing." The golden-eyed Oni stated, slowly. "A conversation was had ... with a man wearing a gas mask, with a cane. Said he and I were familiar ... and yet I have no memory of him. One of you must know, surely ?"

Zurvan does not speak for a long time.

‘That is...troubling. There are.....rules, involving alternate timelines. Ishtar, stay there and see what else can be learned. I need to investigate. Something is....disturbed about this information you have brought me.’

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Meagan turned to Jinzi, "I haven't met Grinthorn yet. Is he a threat? How can a man like him get into power?"

Jinzi remains oddly silent as the geofront rises from underground, buildings re-emerging into the light of of the sun. Where once 90% if the city had been underground, like a lotus blooming the city rose up and become whole. There were missing buildings, and one massive hole and crater on the far outskirts, but it was a true wonder to see the city suddenly seem nearly whole.


Chuan finishes looking and pulls the needles out while applying a few of his own in key places.

“This is dangerous stuff.” He says as the needles evaporate when he pulls them out.

“Trace elements and materials I’ve never seen, and some sort of energy at their tip. Necrotic of some sort. Any other mortal species would be dead, but Namekian’s can regenerate. He should live and be good as new soon.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

First out onto the street are police and rescue, helping escort people home or help with the few places that are damaged.

President Grinthorn walks out and arrives to the group, cigar in his mouth. His face shrouded in shadow under his cap except for his oddly gleaming eyes.



“My, an impressive display of defense. Lieutenant, your majesty, it seems our alliance is even more concrete now.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Kai nods.

“She’ll live. She needs rest, but I’ve rekindled her inner fire. Odd though. I’ve never seen this type of sentient elemental before. Curious.”

[Tami]

Kai nods.

“She’ll live. She needs rest, but I’ve rekindled her inner fire. Odd though. I’ve never seen this type of sentient elemental before. Curious.”

"Thank you, Mr Kai." Cyanna seemed releived.

Dash joins in, "Ah ain't sure why we're so hyped on saving her, but ah glad she's going to survive. Thanks." then turning to Cyanna, ,"you said something about your boyfriend?"

The Chromakai nodded, "he asked me to go with him, to fix a problem he has."

"That what are you hanging around here for? Ah can watch over the Fire Lady, you go on an help your guy."

Sounding excited, "Thanks Dash! I'll keep in touch, I promise. Let Meagan know." with that, Cyanna ran back to Charco.

[grampagen]

Jinzi remains oddly silent as the geofront rises from underground, buildings re-emerging into the light of of the sun. Where once 90% if the city had been underground, like a lotus blooming the city rose up and become whole. There were missing buildings, and one massive hole and crater on the far outskirts, but it was a true wonder to see the city suddenly seem nearly whole.

His attempts to trace the path of the shooter ultimately fruitless, Ochazuke turned his attentions to the city slowly unfolding as it rose up from the ground.

A cursory glance revealed many a familiar presence among them, slowly emerging from the shroud of panic. Those who ran to this shelter were safe.

Balon, the Bedlams...Aiko...

Far too familiar, and with a presence all to near. Slowly, he turned away then and began walking closer to their fallen adversary.

They're safe. That's all that matters.

The time would come when they would reunite and have words. But it was not this day.

Chuan finishes looking and pulls the needles out while applying a few of his own in key places.

“This is dangerous stuff.” He says as the needles evaporate when he pulls them out.

“Trace elements and materials I’ve never seen, and some sort of energy at their tip. Necrotic of some sort. Any other mortal species would be dead, but Namekian’s can regenerate. He should live and be good as new soon.”

Ochazuke pulled the Namekian from the ground and slung him over his shoulder, taking care to leave Chuan's needles settled where they preserved the vital openings along the ki channels.

"Good. I'll take him to the Lookout," he said, "We'll see what else we can get out of him." Without a further word shot off to the sky.