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

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Pike grimaces.

“Joy. Yeah, yeah you have my word and bond as Mage of the Second order, Pike, that I shall lift no hand to cause harm to this planet and shall endevour to reverse my spell as soon as I can.”

Magic flares around the Namekian, pooling in his hand as it holds it out to shake one of their hands.

“To seal the deal. You keep me and Pyrus safe, maybe get us home, and I do what I can to help you get the Doctor. We need to shake to make it binding.”

Before anyone can stop her, Eva does so. A flare of magic wraps around hers and Pike’s hands when they meet, and after a moment, it stops and they release hands.

“A binding contract done. Seems I’m your doorman now.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

He truly is in the dark. Nearly as much as we are.

"All the better if you can retrace his steps," Ochazuke said, "A man who reneges on his promises should be held to account."

For the moment, he withheld that there was a means to return them home the Namekian, ironically, was not privy to. Albeit, it would take a year. I doubt we have that time.

"The barrier was created by the chaff of your supporting force as they burned in the atmosphere. You're the insider, Pike, so if you want to get home, tell us what we are contending with here."



"I would advise you stay alert and keep your wits about you, then, or it will be your grave."



Two weeks?

"...then we need to disperse the barrier before Grinthorn makes his move. Few secrets hide from him, cheh."

“The chaff paint was old tech. Never seen it before. I did hear him mumble something to this weird robot Samurai thing that it was, and I Qi ote, ‘a marvel of the First Race now long forgotten’, whatever the hell that means.”

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

When the Oni sounded, Parsley reacted somewhat strongly. Her head whirled around, eyes wide and tear stained. The suddenly, exaggerated movement nearly through her entire body off-balance and almost caused her to fall off the edge of the Lookout, but she caught herself in time.

She sat awkwardly on the ledge, staring up at the blue Oni with a curiously unnatural - for her - expression. She was unsure of what to say. Oh, she heard what was asked of her. "Is something wrong," but was unsure of how to answer. It was a stupid question, regardless.

Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. The truth was there, right there on the tip of her tongue. She knew that she wasn't okay, just like she knew that anyone with eyes and a brain could also. Yet, she couldn't say so. Was it because she didn't want help? That was the old Parsley's way, certainly; but the old Parsley was dead, still inhabiting the grave her sister had her pitched into unceremoniously.

"Why do you care?" she decided on as a reply. It wasn't spoken with the cold, biting tone of bitter derision that Parsley used to be capable of. It was a simply question asked in a matter-of-fact way. Why did Ishtar care, when her sister clearly didn't.

In the first moment of acknowledgement, Parsley nearly feel off the Lookout; and in seeing this, Ishtar couldn't help but frown.

She was most certainly not doing well.

That she had clearly been crying when she turned around as well, however, proved to be far more of a red flag than all that'd been on display before. A concussion could explain away the former ... tears -- a thing Saiyans, and especially the more prideful ones -- could not be explained away by anything short of true grief. And importantly, it gave context to the snippet the Oni had caught upon her approach; the unheard syllables now guessable.

Why am I alive ?

When the girl sat then, and after several moments asked why she cared, Ishtar shrugged her shoulders. "How could I not ?" Knowing that that was hardly a sufficient answer however, she fell silent a moment to consider the question, before offering a slow sigh.

"I care because, contrary to what you might believe to be the case, Sarada does." Giving Parsley a moment to process, the Oni carefully made her way to the Lookout's edge then, before sitting down an arm's length away.

"I felt it when you died. How much it hurt her. Even now she still feels in some way ... responsible for it; and those feelings have been a part of her, and by extension me ... for little less, than a year." Ishtar explained, slowly. "And while I cannot say we started on the best of terms, those feelings have certainly influenced how I feel."

The Oni shrugged again.

"So I suppose, long-winded explanations aside ... to a lesser degree, I have come to care for you as a sister."

Clearing her throat then, she asked softly, the question that had precipated all of this.

"So ... is something wrong ?"

[Tami]

Pike grimaces.

“Joy. Yeah, yeah you have my word and bond as Mage of the Second order, Pike, that I shall lift no hand to cause harm to this planet and shall endevour to reverse my spell as soon as I can.”

Magic flares around the Namekian, pooling in his hand as it holds it out to shake one of their hands.

“To seal the deal. You keep me and Pyrus safe, maybe get us home, and I do what I can to help you get the Doctor. We need to shake to make it binding.”

Before anyone can stop her, Eva does so. A flare of magic wraps around hers and Pike’s hands when they meet, and after a moment, it stops and they release hands.

“A binding contract done. Seems I’m your doorman now.”

As this happens, Meagan lands on the Lookout, becoming visible again as she does. Looking around, "Seems I missed the party again." then walks towards the others.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Pike grimaces.

“Joy. Yeah, yeah you have my word and bond as Mage of the Second order, Pike, that I shall lift no hand to cause harm to this planet and shall endevour to reverse my spell as soon as I can.”

Magic flares around the Namekian, pooling in his hand as it holds it out to shake one of their hands.

“To seal the deal. You keep me and Pyrus safe, maybe get us home, and I do what I can to help you get the Doctor. We need to shake to make it binding.”

Before anyone can stop her, Eva does so. A flare of magic wraps around hers and Pike’s hands when they meet, and after a moment, it stops and they release hands.

“A binding contract done. Seems I’m your doorman now.”

Eva shot in to seal the binding contract before anyone could even contemplate stepping forward. "Then, it's settled."

“The chaff paint was old tech. Never seen it before. I did hear him mumble something to this weird robot Samurai thing that it was, and I Qi ote, ‘a marvel of the First Race now long forgotten’, whatever the hell that means.”

As this happens, Meagan lands on the Lookout, becoming visible again as she does. Looking around, "Seems I missed the party again." then walks towards the others.

With the contract bound and sealed, Sarada listened to what he had to say about the chaff littering the space just outside the planet's atmosphere. Old, of a kind the Namekian had never seen before. However, it wasn't what attracted her attention. "The First Race?"

Immediately, when she noticed Meagan landing, she called out to her. "Meagan! Where are the capsules with all the stuff stored from Terra?"

She remembered that information on the First Race was stored on one of Wilhelm's tablets, but didn't get a chance to read it herself. Someone did, so likely they would speak up on that regard. She wanted to see it for herself so there weren't any mistakes made due to poor memory. "Terra was attacked by a forced that called themselves the First Race, right?" she asked Ochazuke. "If so, and if this guy is from another universe, then I'm willing to bet that whoever this Doctor is is related to them in some way. Maybe even a part of it somehow."

Perhaps he was a member of this so-called First Race. It would explain how he was so old and powerful. It didn't, however, explain what he wanted with Jinzi and Zurvan.

[grampagen]

“The chaff paint was old tech. Never seen it before. I did hear him mumble something to this weird robot Samurai thing that it was, and I Qi ote, ‘a marvel of the First Race now long forgotten’, whatever the hell that means.”

The First Race? The memories of Wilhelm's archive, the history of his burned-out, ashen world raised themselves. What is this plot the Doctor is contriving?

The mention struck him so that the mention of Kenbo came as a lesser concern, but for the sake of present company.

"So the Ronin's master has been revealed. Seems you have a part to play in this as well," Ochazuke said to Nevanlinna, "whether he will see his job through this time, it shall not be a matter to contemplate idly."

Nor would the nature of the atmospheric chaff, the medium by which all manner of communications and transports sealed off this world.

How ironic. What would leave this world apart from the meddling forces of the greater universe has left us trapped, with nowhere to escape the ravenous clutches of the enemies among us.

[Miburo]

"Yo, Jinzi, You home?"

The Nevadian tapped lightly on the door to the inventors room. "I mean, I'm sure you're not asleep, but are you in there?"

Well, I guess there's some blessing to being stranded on this planet, I was so busy running around the stars, I almost forgot to see if he managed to repair my old ships black box.

[grampagen]

Eva shot in to seal the binding contract before anyone could even contemplate stepping forward. "Then, it's settled."





With the contract bound and sealed, Sarada listened to what he had to say about the chaff littering the space just outside the planet's atmosphere. Old, of a kind the Namekian had never seen before. However, it wasn't what attracted her attention. "The First Race?"

Immediately, when she noticed Meagan landing, she called out to her. "Meagan! Where are the capsules with all the stuff stored from Terra?"

She remembered that information on the First Race was stored on one of Wilhelm's tablets, but didn't get a chance to read it herself. Someone did, so likely they would speak up on that regard. She wanted to see it for herself so there weren't any mistakes made due to poor memory. "Terra was attacked by a forced that called themselves the First Race, right?" she asked Ochazuke. "If so, and if this guy is from another universe, then I'm willing to bet that whoever this Doctor is is related to them in some way. Maybe even a part of it somehow."

Perhaps he was a member of this so-called First Race. It would explain how he was so old and powerful. It didn't, however, explain what he wanted with Jinzi and Zurvan.

"It was the warring of this First Race that caused the men of Terra to summon the power of the Cairn," Ochazuke confirmed. "Perhaps long ago the very same craft descended on that world as they did on Earth."

For an invading force with seemingly limitless resources it would seem to be quite the inescapable tactic, attacking with unmanned craft and letting them rot in the fallout with no escape. The Terrans managed to prevail only by sacrificing everything and turning the planet into a grave.

He would not let that happen.

"I'll see about this barrier, and analyze the makeup of this metal," he said. "Find Wilhelm. If anybody would know how to counteract its effects, he might know."

With that Ochazuke turned to leave, pacing towards the Lookout's edge.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Yo, Jinzi, You home?"

The Nevadian tapped lightly on the door to the inventors room. "I mean, I'm sure you're not asleep, but are you in there?"

Well, I guess there's some blessing to being stranded on this planet, I was so busy running around the stars, I almost forgot to see if he managed to repair my old ships black box.

“Down in the labs, Held.” A voice calls back.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

In the first moment of acknowledgement, Parsley nearly feel off the Lookout; and in seeing this, Ishtar couldn't help but frown.

She was most certainly not doing well.

That she had clearly been crying when she turned around as well, however, proved to be far more of a red flag than all that'd been on display before. A concussion could explain away the former ... tears -- a thing Saiyans, and especially the more prideful ones -- could not be explained away by anything short of true grief. And importantly, it gave context to the snippet the Oni had caught upon her approach; the unheard syllables now guessable.

Why am I alive ?

When the girl sat then, and after several moments asked why she cared, Ishtar shrugged her shoulders. "How could I not ?" Knowing that that was hardly a sufficient answer however, she fell silent a moment to consider the question, before offering a slow sigh.

"I care because, contrary to what you might believe to be the case, Sarada does." Giving Parsley a moment to process, the Oni carefully made her way to the Lookout's edge then, before sitting down an arm's length away.

"I felt it when you died. How much it hurt her. Even now she still feels in some way ... responsible for it; and those feelings have been a part of her, and by extension me ... for little less, than a year." Ishtar explained, slowly. "And while I cannot say we started on the best of terms, those feelings have certainly influenced how I feel."

The Oni shrugged again.

"So I suppose, long-winded explanations aside ... to a lesser degree, I have come to care for you as a sister."

Clearing her throat then, she asked softly, the question that had precipated all of this.

"So ... is something wrong ?"

Ishtar cared... because Sarada cared?

Parsley was silent.

She knew that the Oni couldn't tell a lie. Every word she chose to speak was enshrouded with an undeniable truth that left nothing to ambiguity or confusion. What she spoke could be taken to be as true as the sun rose in the east and set in the west. When she stated plainly that Sarada grieved so terribly over her death, to the point that she felt responsible for her demise, Parsley had no choice but to take it as the truth.

Sarada...

It was in line with what Shek'hinah told her. Even though they said so many terrible things to one another, that Sarada still felt enough love in her heart for her wicked sister so as to shed tears over her fallen corpse...

Parsley's body shook as more tears fell down her face. What had she done to deserve such affection? Why her, of all people? Why should someone like Ishtar come to consider a sister of all things? Why should Sarada care about her enough - despite everything Parsley had done and said to her - to mourn her death instead of celebrate it?

Why?

How?

"I don't deserve love," she wept quietly. "Do you know how many people I killed?" Her voice hitched when she remembered the titanic number of lives she had taken with glee and without remorse. "350 million lives. Gone, because of me. Does someone like that deserve to be loved? Deserve to be mourned over? Deserve to be alive?"

She knew the answers to all three of those questions were the same; no. Sarada and Ishtar were wrong. They were wasting their time with a monster. "You were right, before. I am a monster. And monsters deserve to die."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"It was the warring of this First Race that caused the men of Terra to summon the power of the Cairn," Ochazuke confirmed. "Perhaps long ago the very same craft descended on that world as they did on Earth."

For an invading force with seemingly limitless resources it would seem to be quite the inescapable tactic, attacking with unmanned craft and letting them rot in the fallout with no escape. The Terrans managed to prevail only by sacrificing everything and turning the planet into a grave.

He would not let that happen.

"I'll see about this barrier, and analyze the makeup of this metal," he said. "Find Wilhelm. If anybody would know how to counteract its effects, he might know."

With that Ochazuke turned to leave, pacing towards the Lookout's edge.

So, she was right. And it seemed that Ochazuke was the one who read on the First Race. The moment Meagan found the right capsule and handed it over, Sarada would read up on them as well.

The martial artist stated his intent to examine the barrier to divine its properties. If there was anyone better suited for such a task, she didn't know them. In the meantime, she turned on her heels to find Wilhelm. "Wilhelm?" she called out once she reached the main building. "We have need of your experience with the First Race. We may be dealing with a member."

[Miburo]

“Down in the labs, Held.” A voice calls back.

"I shouldn't be surprised." The Nevadian muttered to himself as he walked down to the lab.

Does he ever go on vacation? Maybe I should have nabbed him when me and Jack went...Then again...Things got out of hand, even for my tastes...It's a small miracle we didn't die.

"Yoho?"

The Nevadian stuck his head through the lab door, surveying the area.

"Long time no see. How's my favorite billionaire playboy been?"

[KingofPie]

“The chaff paint was old tech. Never seen it before. I did hear him mumble something to this weird robot Samurai thing that it was, and I Qi ote, ‘a marvel of the First Race now long forgotten’, whatever the hell that means.”

The first what? Blizzar swore if the entire GP relocated their base of operations to Earth, they'd cut the investigative process down by half. Not only was it an object of desire for the large majority of the nefarious forces of multiple universes, but any who inhabited could aquire knowledge of the darkest of intergalactic secrets to boot. What a fascinating world...

With the contract bound and sealed, Sarada listened to what he had to say about the chaff littering the space just outside the planet's atmosphere. Old, of a kind the Namekian had never seen before. However, it wasn't what attracted her attention. "The First Race?"

Immediately, when she noticed Meagan landing, she called out to her. "Meagan! Where are the capsules with all the stuff stored from Terra?"

She remembered that information on the First Race was stored on one of Wilhelm's tablets, but didn't get a chance to read it herself. Someone did, so likely they would speak up on that regard. She wanted to see it for herself so there weren't any mistakes made due to poor memory. "Terra was attacked by a forced that called themselves the First Race, right?" she asked Ochazuke. "If so, and if this guy is from another universe, then I'm willing to bet that whoever this Doctor is is related to them in some way. Maybe even a part of it somehow."

Perhaps he was a member of this so-called First Race. It would explain how he was so old and powerful. It didn't, however, explain what he wanted with Jinzi and Zurvan.

"I'm at a loss here...what is the his First Race...?" Blizzar questioned. "As for the Doctor, while I cannot rule him out as one, the Namekian did explicitly describe him as a human. But, perhaps that was simply an approximation."

The First Race? The memories of Wilhelm's archive, the history of his burned-out, ashen world raised themselves. What is this plot the Doctor is contriving?

The mention struck him so that the mention of Kenbo came as a lesser concern, but for the sake of present company.

"So the Ronin's master has been revealed. Seems you have a part to play in this as well," Ochazuke said to Nevanlinna, "whether he will see his job through this time, it shall not be a matter to contemplate idly."

Nor would the nature of the atmospheric chaff, the medium by which all manner of communications and transports sealed off this world.

How ironic. What would leave this world apart from the meddling forces of the greater universe has left us trapped, with nowhere to escape the ravenous clutches of the enemies among us.

"A Ronin?" Blizzar asked. "Another enemy of yours, I take it?"

[Tami]

Eva shot in to seal the binding contract before anyone could even contemplate stepping forward. "Then, it's settled."





With the contract bound and sealed, Sarada listened to what he had to say about the chaff littering the space just outside the planet's atmosphere. Old, of a kind the Namekian had never seen before. However, it wasn't what attracted her attention. "The First Race?"

Immediately, when she noticed Meagan landing, she called out to her. "Meagan! Where are the capsules with all the stuff stored from Terra?"

She remembered that information on the First Race was stored on one of Wilhelm's tablets, but didn't get a chance to read it herself. Someone did, so likely they would speak up on that regard. She wanted to see it for herself so there weren't any mistakes made due to poor memory. "Terra was attacked by a forced that called themselves the First Race, right?" she asked Ochazuke. "If so, and if this guy is from another universe, then I'm willing to bet that whoever this Doctor is is related to them in some way. Maybe even a part of it somehow."

Perhaps he was a member of this so-called First Race. It would explain how he was so old and powerful. It didn't, however, explain what he wanted with Jinzi and Zurvan.

"I left them with Jinzi, though knowing him he probably forgot about them."

Cyanna chimed in, "I can go them them."

[grampagen]

The first what? Blizzar swore if the entire GP relocated their base of operations to Earth, they'd cut the investigative process down by half. Not only was it an object of desire for the large majority of the nefarious forces of multiple universes, but any who inhabited could aquire knowledge of the darkest of intergalactic secrets to boot. What a fascinating world...


"I'm at a loss here...what is the his First Race...?" Blizzar questioned. "As for the Doctor, while I cannot rule him out as one, the Namekian did explicitly describe him as a human. But, perhaps that was simply an approximation."


"A Ronin?" Blizzar asked. "Another enemy of yours, I take it?"

Ochazuke stopped for a moment and turned his head toward Blizzar.

"We met him once, in the heart of the Junjo Slavers' bazaar on some repurposed, dead rock in the middle of an asteroid belt," he said, "Your P-Sta surely must have reported this."

"When the riot broke out and we freed their chattle from their bondage, if the mechanical Ronin was an enemy it was not that day. Moved by one of our own, he cut through Auctioner and Buyer alike. How to describe such a technique? When the blade was drawn from his scabbard, Kenbo seemed to cut through time itself in a suspended moment."

"However, his purpose was to act as a proxy for his master. And he had specific designs to assist a certain Threshling party by ridding them of royal competitors. I suspect what our Doctor wants is to excise undesirable elements from across the universes, but to that end, we have our work cut out for us."

With that, he continued on his way, walking to the edge of the Lookout.

Taking a knee, Ochazuke reached down, and set his hand on the surface of the Lookout. This far up from the Earth, there was still an intuitive connection that drew this silent watchtower upon its path around the planet. Touched by that sublime grace, he felt a connection there and reached for it then. Arming his powers of perception, he cast out his Meditation Field with increased vigor, reaching from this height out and upwards with Muhen Seikai Keihatsu, in an increased span of focus to examine just what it was that lingered in the atmosphere and caged them in.