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

[Tami]

Quick Time Skip: The Next Morning

Praxat is talking to Qaztoh saying " hey Qaztoh can you make something useful like a " Mark III Version of your Quantum Tunneling Stealth Suit?" Qaztoh replies to this saying " huh I can't just make what your asking just like that." " stuff like that takes time and materials." " I need at lest a week and additional 5 weeks of testing."


Praxat replies to this saying " well that's not good." " you know a Quantum hair generate ray is like the most useless invention why even invented something like that." Qaztoh replies to this saying " because I want to impressed my girlfriend Nadila !" " she has such beautiful hair. "

Praxat replies to this saying " so you just invented that useless device to impressed your girlfriend got it." " oh shit I have to be with Megan right now." Praxat leaves Qaztoh and meets up with Megan , Cyanna and Dash eight minutes later saying " Okay sorry for being late, but I'm here now and ready to begin training, I had a little talk with Qaztoh. " I got her to start making something useful but the bad news is it's going to take 6 weeks to finish."

"oh and I found out why she invented that useless hair generate device ." " she want to impressed her Brench-seijin girlfriend." " which is kind of pointless since he girlfriend isn't even on this planet." " also what the hell is a Brench-Seijin anyways?"

"Praxat, glad you could make it. I assume you are ready for training." Meagan then lifted off the ground, followed by Dash and Cyanna, "Let's get going. The training ground I picked out is some distance away."

With that, they began to take flight, heading down, then to the South-West.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Etrina had paused her advance upon Saradas entry on the field. The sisters attention was focused parsleys....talking her down from whatever rage she had build up. At first it seemed as though she would be unsuccessfully, but at the mention of the younger saiyans that were currently on the lookout she relented.

Fear for the children had stayed her hand....good, it seemed as if she wouldn't need to be beaten into submission afterall.

.....

Etrina shook her head.

With the threat passed her head seemed to clear...at least a little.

"Huh...."

Perhaps she had taken a bit more of a head beating then she had thought. Near the end she had gotten......what....



"Ahh? Oh yes...yes of course...." Etrina let her power seep away.

The mage pressed her hands together nervously, suddenly aware of a number of eyes on her.

"......"

She felt stomach sick, the vile sort. Dirty and scummy. She never meant to escalate things to that level...especially in a sparring match, and yet....something in her had been worked loose.

"...Yes.....quite right....I....I've forgotten myself....."

Sarada sighed when Etrina also relented. "Great fucking job, you two. Now Eva's gonna be pissed." She shook her head. "Can't believe you two, of all people, let it escalate this far. I thought you had more self-control than that."

Even though she was talking to both of them, she directed her chastisement more toward Etrina. She knew why Parsley blew up, and understood more than many how volatile one could become when a traumatic episode was triggered. It didn't take much to start, and what it took to end it varied from person to person. But, Etrina... she thought she had a better lid than that.

Whatever. The important thing was that it was over and no one was hurt.

"Tch!"

The scoff from behind her forced her to amend that. No one was too badly hurt.

"Forgot yourself," Parsley spat acidly. She said nothing more and stalked inside.

Sarada watched her leave and heaved out a heavy sigh. "Damn it."

[MrSandman]

Sarada sighed when Etrina also relented. "Great fucking job, you two. Now Eva's gonna be pissed." She shook her head. "Can't believe you two, of all people, let it escalate this far. I thought you had more self-control than that."

Even though she was talking to both of them, she directed her chastisement more toward Etrina. She knew why Parsley blew up, and understood more than many how volatile one could become when a traumatic episode was triggered. It didn't take much to start, and what it took to end it varied from person to person. But, Etrina... she thought she had a better lid than that.

Whatever. The important thing was that it was over and no one was hurt.

"Tch!"

The scoff from behind her forced her to amend that. No one was too badly hurt.

"Forgot yourself," Parsley spat acidly. She said nothing more and stalked inside.

Sarada watched her leave and heaved out a heavy sigh. "Damn it."

".....I...." Etrina stammered, watching Parsley stalk away. ".......I didn't mean for it to go like that....." The mage bit her thumb nail nervously, glancing around with a nervous expression before spinning away. "I...I'm sorry....I need to go....I need to think..."

Cyanna came up to her, "Are you alright? That fight, I never saw you look that scary before."

"I said I need to think." Etrina snapped, a look of surprise passed over her face not a moment after. Then she simply stepped past Cyanna in the direction of her room.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Quick Time Skip: The Next Morning



"Praxat, glad you could make it. I assume you are ready for training." Meagan then lifted off the ground, followed by Dash and Cyanna, "Let's get going. The training ground I picked out is some distance away."

With that, they began to take flight, heading down, then to the South-West.

while flying South- West Praxat says " I'm still wondering what a Brench-Seijin looks like." " Qaztoh says her girlfriend is a Brench-Seijin but I have never met one before." "Megan , Cyanna , and Dash have you three ever met a Brench-Seijin before?" " if so what are they like?"

meanwhile Back at the Lookout Althena is about to train Qaztoh saying " okay today's training is resistance training." " Qaztoh you will be doing 5 push ups , a 30 second plank , 5 leg rises and 10 jumping jacks with your weighted training outfit ." Qaztoh moves around in her weight training outfit saying " well it's not as heavy as before so you I think I can manage this time." Qaztoh then thinks to herself ( hmm I hope big sister Praxy likes that training music I put on her cellphone. )

(it's one of my top favorite songs from my band Max Freeze. I copy the song from my cellphone on to hers. I'm such a thoughtful little sister. )

[Sub-Zero MKA]

".....I...." Etrina stammered, watching Parsley stalk away. ".......I didn't mean for it to go like that....." The mage bit her thumb nail nervously, glancing around with a nervous expression before spinning away. "I...I'm sorry....I need to go....I need to think..."

"I said I need to think." Etrina snapped, a look of surprise passed over her face not a moment after. Then she simply stepped past Cyanna in the direction of her room.

Sarada was silent. Etrina was at a loss. She hadn't meant for it to get that bad was a relief -- at least she wasn't the type to injure a teammate on purpose.

Still, this isn't a good look. We're supposed to be working together, not using each other to work out pent up... damn it.

Was this not the very same thing she suggested when Ishtar's animosity toward Asha'rah revealed itself? Had she gotten her way back then, blood would have been shed for sure. Just like it had been here. Parsley's arm was broken, but not as broken as the rest of her was. And she didn't have any idea what was up with Etrina, but there was something wrong.

"Tch."

This close to the most important mission they've had yet, and things seemed to be falling apart.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

nothing to see here

[KingofPie]

Xiùlán sobbed as she stood over Yūsha's dying body. Sasheem just stared a bit before chiming in with, "So, you're his girlfriend, then? Guess you're bound to be upset in some way..." he trailed off, sensing her ki flaring up. He might have a real fight on his hands for once from these so called deadly gangsters and assassins.

"Wife..." Xiùlán muttered in a harsh whisper, her hair casting a dark shadow over her eyes.

"Oh?" Sasheem yawned. "Well, what is it that they say? 'Til death do you part? That was always my favorite par-"

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Xiùlán screamed, firing with one arm, though instead of firing a blast, as Sasheem was prepared for, she aimed her arm backwards to propel herself at the Majin. Hurtling towards him at extreme speeds, she raised her hand, the energy from the Kamehameha still cupped in her hand as she launched her fist into the surprised Majin's stomach, causing him to rocket into the sky.

Xiùlán knew the Majin was stronger than her, that she should take Yūsha somewhere safe, where he can die peacefully, and she could be at his side. But an uncharacteristic anger had overtaken her. For all that she had lost. Because of this creature who knew nothing of their plight and had destroyed everything they worked so hard to build. She drew out her Bansho Fan and swung it once.

Sasheem had finally managed to recover as he shot through the air. The girl was strong but not strong enough...He'd charge in once more and...what the hell was this?! A massive gust of wind seem to shoot forward from the woman's location, powerful enough to render him unable to fly properly. The trees in front of Xiùlán began to sway back dangerously, their roots beginning to uplift as smaller debris from Bing Lao's damaged estate was launched into the skies.

Xiùlán swung the bansho fan twice. Thunderclouds appeared in the air, pouring down rain and crackling with electricity. The harsh winds continued as the various buildings in Lao Bing's Estate began to lift up, they're structures irreparably damaged, followed by the trees, lifting apart from their roots, several of them burning to cinders with a strike of lighting.

Xiùlán swung the Bansho Fan a third time. She knew that being on the countryside, there wouldn't be too many casualties...but now the damage would be too visible to ignore. She would sacrifice everything left for her revenge. As a giant monsoon began to pour over the countryside, multiple high-speed winds developing into miniature tornadoes, a part of her wondered if this act of rage, of revenge made her more like her father. Still, even so, she was fighting for something he would never understand. She leaped forward, hopping from piece of rubble to piece of rubble to reach the Majin.

Sasheem was launched uncontrollably through the air, he wondered just what the hell ability could manipulate the weather like this?! Normally, hurricane winds were nothing he couldn't fly through but this storm was different. Mystical, perhaps? She used the Kamehameha, a technique of the Turtle School...did they hold an ability like this. And now a building was flying towards him...great. Unable to control his flight due to the extreme winds, he managed to stretch his arms forward and grab onto the building and swing himself towards it's sides.

He then spotted before him the woman running up towards him rapidly along the side of the building, the scythe of her dying spouse in hand. Sasheem smirked as she leaped towards him, slashing at him with the scythe. Each swing, each slice was blocked by Sasheem's arms, currently coated in Katchin.

Cling!


Cling!


Cling!

Sparks flew as steel clashed against Katchin. As the woman swung once more, Sasheem ducked down and grabbed her by the waist, before stretching backwards, suplexing her through a window of the building behind them. They freefalled, through an office,m slamming through a few desks before crashing through another window, only to land on the stony surface of another building that was hurtling through the air.

"Too bad..." Sasheem shook his head the first to get up, as Xiùlán lay bloodied on the side of the building, moving slowly, struggling to get up. "You put up a good fight, but unfortunately for you...it has to be this way," He stated raising his arm for the killing blow. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks as he noticed some sort of glyph appear under him? The girl was using magic now?! ...No...this technique was the demon's! He still drew breath, it seemed. Barely. Before the Majin could move, a pillar of lightning shot forth and blasted him off the side of the building where he was launched beneath a thunder cloud...which had also begun top crackle with electricity, giving the Majin a powerful jolt once again as he was shot downwards.


By now Xiùlán had recovered and had begun to leap towards Sasheem, once more hopping on debris to reach him. Scraping Yūsha's scythe along the building she leaped forward and sliced the left side of the Majin's body. As he began to regenerate, she shot him with a one handed Kamehameha that sent him flying into a building below, which subsequently shattered upon the impact. IT was the Majin's turn to smash into the glass window as he hurled into another building. "Just how many damn buildings are in this compound?!" the Majin wondered aloud as he flew back and hit something...rather comfortable.

It was a sort of throne, that he presumed belonged to Bing Lao. Sort of pretentious, but he supposed it was fitting enough for crime lord who thought he was bigger than his station. And given that the throne was here, this must've been the main building, the tower Bing Lao had formerly housed himself in. The woman was flying towards him, unable to track his ki, but perhaps seeing his trajectory, she guessed where he ended up. Sasheem preempted that by leaping off the throne and tossing it at her through the window he had fallen through.

Sasheem leaped forward, back through the window and climbed atop the side of the building, where the woman seemed to have fallen through the opposite end of. She got her bearings back quickly and begun to charge at him, fighting against the winds, scythe in hand. Sasheem charged as well with more of the demon's glyphs elemental erupted from the building's sides. The Majin dodged fire, ice, lightning and more, quickly stepping to the side, using what short bursts of flight he could, coupled with his mamba boost. He then shot a, "SAMEHADA!" through the building towards Xiùlán, splitting the structure in two as it sliced through.

Xiùlán barely managed to avoid the cutting ki, technique but as she glanced around, she appeared to have lost track of the Majin. Sasheem had latched on to a piece of rubble, and stretched it over towards himself. It was large enough for him to plant his feet on as he hitched a ride on top of the cyclone of one of the tornadoes that had formed around the surrounding area. Surfing on the rubble and picking up speed, he hurtled towards the woman and activated the Bear's Claws which he quickly plunged through her stomach. Retracting his bloodied arm, Sasheem let her plummet to the Earth below. As she did, the Bansho Fan, fell from her back and swept through the air, it's motions causing the weather to calm.

Sasheem, taking a sigh of relief as he landed back on the grounds, now being pelted with rubble. Surveying everything it seems he did indeed put an end to Bing Lao's gang...except for the man himself. He'd have to search for him. The Majin then caught something in the corner of his eye. It appeared that with his last bursts of strength, Yūsha had caught Xiùlán's body before she hit the ground. So it'd be a slow death for her as well instead of an instant one.

Sasheem glanced back at the two, curiously as they gently touched one another's face and sobbed in eachother's arms dying slowly. He simply shrugged and flew on his way. Some things he just didn't understand.

Such was the tale of Bing Xiùlán and Ma Yūsha.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Parsley's arm hung uselessly by her side as she angrily marched into the nearest bathroom. She went through cabinet after cabinet until she found enough bandages and gauze to set her broken arm. She grumbled under her breath as she struggled to set it between two pieces of wood she found. It was broken in such an awkward way, near the elbow. It was hard to stabilize it long enough for her to start wrapping the bandage around it, which of course only soured her mood even more.

Eventually, after nearly ten minutes of failing and sharply cursing under her breath, she finally got it. After setting it in a makeshift sling -- her jacket -- she... sat down on the floor. Using her foot to close the door, she sighed and relished in the temporary silence that being alone in a place like this provided. She could still hear the muffled voices of the others, but she drowned them out.

It hadn't gone well, the fight back there. It was already a fair bit rougher than she should have let it get to, but she wanted to see how good the mage was at fighting without her magic. It turned out that she was better than Parsley thought, but not because of any training. Apparently, the girl had died before. How that translated to Parsley having her arm snapped like a twig, she didn't know.

It wasn't like Saiyans didn't suffer injuries during sparring. With how brutal their fights were, it was inevitable. But, they never intentionally tried to hurt one another. It wasn't a law, but it was like a code of etiquette. Their battles with other races often delved into attrition; the same didn't need to happen when fighting with each other for the sole purpose of bettering each other.

What Etrina did, intentionally snapping her arm like she was trying to kill Zaofan... it was unheard of. She wanted to know why. How could someone as supposedly reasonable and level-headed as Etrina turn into that?

And then there were her own problems. It was obvious that her trauma was a highly sensitive subject, with scores of hairpin triggers that could set her off on some emotional outburst at any moment. Before, being called a beast would have elicited nothing more than a derisive laugh and some comment about it being an unoriginal insult. Now, the reaction it garnered could vary from her going into some psychotic rage-filled rampage or just... shutting down. It was the inconsistency and the requirement that the others basically walk on eggshells around her -- not that many of them even knew anything was wrong with her -- that irritated her about this entire thing.

She needed to talk to someone, someone who wouldn't have their thoughts on the matter colored by how she acted when she first encountered them. Ochazuke helped a lot, but there had to be someone else.

She wanted to talk to Maiz, since she always knew the right thing to say, but she was a million miles away, and there was no way to even call her thanks to that damned chaff infesting the atmosphere.

"Tch. Damn it."

She huffed and rose to her feet to walk out of the bathroom and into the hallway. She intended on heading the sleeping area so she could do exactly that, sleep. Maybe she could figure this nonsense out later.

[Tami]

while flying South- West Praxat says " I'm still wondering what a Brench-Seijin looks like." " Qaztoh says her girlfriend is a Brench-Seijin but I have never met one before." "Megan , Cyanna , and Dash have you three ever met a Brench-Seijin before?" " if so what are they like?"

Meagan was flying ahead of them and didn't respond. Dash juts shook her head, but Cyanna did give an answer. "According to my studies, Brench-Seijin look a little like Chromakai except that they are taller, and have more human like ears, and their hair is all wild, like they never comb it. They are also, usually, more violent and like to fight."

It wasn't long before the reached the training ground. An open grassland between a forest and a mountain. Landing, Meagan took Dash and Cyanna aside and spoke privately to them. Soon, the two had taken off again.

Meagan then turns to the third of her trainees, "Praxat, I've sent Dash and Cyanna off to retrieve something that we will use for training. I discussed your problem with Sarada and we've come up with a training method that might help you. But you have to stay focused."

It wasn't long before the other two came back up an armfull each of small stones. Enough to create two piles.

Meagan then speaks to them, "Praxat, Come with me." She then leads her to a area near a large rock outcrop. "You are to stand here." Turning to Dash and Cyanna, "Dash, you have a good throwing arm. I want you to stan about 15 feet away from Praxat, you can take a pile of stones with you."

The to all of them, "The idea is, Dash will throw stones at Praxat. Praxat, it is your job to avoid them. Don't let yourself get hit. Don't try to fly away or escape, and don't, in any way, come in contact with a stone. Dodge, evade, jump, move, but don't escape."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Meagan was flying ahead of them and didn't respond. Dash juts shook her head, but Cyanna did give an answer. "According to my studies, Brench-Seijin look a little like Chromakai except that they are taller, and have more human like ears, and their hair is all wild, like they never comb it. They are also, usually, more violent and like to fight."

It wasn't long before the reached the training ground. An open grassland between a forest and a mountain. Landing, Meagan took Dash and Cyanna aside and spoke privately to them. Soon, the two had taken off again.

Meagan then turns to the third of her trainees, "Praxat, I've sent Dash and Cyanna off to retrieve something that we will use for training. I discussed your problem with Sarada and we've come up with a training method that might help you. But you have to stay focused."

It wasn't long before the other two came back up an armfull each of small stones. Enough to create two piles.

Meagan then speaks to them, "Praxat, Come with me." She then leads her to a area near a large rock outcrop. "You are to stand here." Turning to Dash and Cyanna, "Dash, you have a good throwing arm. I want you to stan about 15 feet away from Praxat, you can take a pile of stones with you."

The to all of them, "The idea is, Dash will throw stones at Praxat. Praxat, it is your job to avoid them. Don't let yourself get hit. Don't try to fly away or escape, and don't, in any way, come in contact with a stone. Dodge, evade, jump, move, but don't escape."

Praxat stands where Megan tells her saying " thanks for the Info on Brench-Seijin earlier Cyanna." " now I can get a picture in my head of what Qaztoh's girlfriend might look like." Praxat cell phone rings and she takes it out , turns it on and reads text message that pops up saying " so Qaztoh has uploaded training music on my cell phone oh dear." Praxat looks at the song and who the band is saying " so it's a Death metal song by Qaztoh's favorite band Max Freeze , yeah defiantly not listing to that garbage."


Praxat delates the song from her cell and puts her cell back in her right pocket saying " I seriously question Qaztoh's taste in music." " okay so I can only dodge, evade , jump or move but I can't escaped got it ." Praxat thinks to herself ( shit that limits my options. Okay Dash is about 15 feet away from me ,and she's going to throw stones at me.)

( let's see I have to factor in angle the stones will be thrown at, the wind resistance , acceleration of the stones , their velocity and finally their momentum. now base on those factors and my limit options what would be my best option? it nice what Sarada's cousins are doing with that Amusement Park . I got some ideas to spice up the park with new rides and attractions. )

( one of them is to put in a petting zoo where kids can feed and pet animals for free. the animals would have to be either domesticated or docile enough to be pet and feed. a lot of paper work needs to be done in order to do this and some one has to supervise kids to make sure their careful around the animals.)

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

After handling the more pressing aspects of her own training, Ishtar found herself -- in the time remaining before the appointed time to embark on their 'quest' -- seeking out those she'd promised combat.

And one of the first on the list, as the Oni 'stalked' the Lookout ... or rather the first indidivual she came across was ...

"Charco."

Ishtar approached, as the young man was himself caught up with training of his own. Meditation it seemed, from the look ... or perhaps he'd simply found himself daydreaming of young love.

"It has been some time since we agreed to a fight. A thing I would like to make good on, now."

The Oni would not go so far as to pressure the boy for it, of course, but remembering nature; she did not doubt he would decline.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

After the affair with Hastur, and Parsic, Ishtar had been informed of the outcome of the fight between Etrina, and Parsley ... and how the latter had seemingly snapped as the result of some ... trigger of her recent trauma; and had as a result triggered a surprisingly feral response from the young Time Mage.

Not one to press the issue -- at least in this -- immediately after, however, the golden-eyed Oni had waited until tempers had cooled and bones had been set, before going out of her way to approach the Saiyan Princess. Though as much as her interest was in offering Parsley comfort, Ishtar also sought her out now for another reason.

So when the Oni found the young Saiyan off on her own, as was typically the case more often than not, she cleared her throat to announce her presence before saying.

"Parsley. I heard about what happened, yesterday ..." the Oni trailed off, a brief moment, before asking simply.

"Care for a distraction ?"

[MrSandman]

"It is ... 'apple does not far from the tree'. A thing that can be used both as a compliment, and an insult." Ishtar corrected, before responding to the rest.

"But yes, Cthylla came to visit the 'Sphere', as you call it, for a matter most pressing. And after offering my aid, she has begun to refer to me as 'Bond Ishtar' ... I suspect a 'cultural' affectation of her ... brood ?" The Oni added, questioningly. After all, she knew little of the Void and its creatures.

"Bond? Oh dear....I hear wedding bells in your future." Hastur waved her hand, a semi serious expression that quickly shifted into a humored smirk. "Allow me to dispel the illusion of any grand meaning....If she had just said partner it wouldn't have sounded half as intimate, but what can be expected from a brood of dreamers.

Though that was the point of this endeavor ... to a point.

"She warned me about you, as well. The voice that whispers less benign than I seemed to take it. Though to be frank ... I imagined you were not unlike a being I am hunting. Auroc, Charlatan God of the Threshling." Ishtar added, eyes glimmering faintly. "As for this theft you speak of, I merely made use of a corpse Parsic provided. That she snapped her own neck is no fault of mine. I merely struck her with a train she had vomited up."

At this, Hastur broke into a fit of snickering. "Ahh yes, I'm aware. I've no pity for a loser....even one cut from me. That she even has the chance to make up for it is but my infinite charity. It seems you are also the one to thank for the premature termination of my contract with house stoltengarde...I suppose some deals were never meant to work out."

Nearby, Parsic glances at the floor, suddenly appearing a lot more vulnerable then she ever had in the past.

The golden-eyed Oni turned toward Parsic briefly, and offered another smile.

"As for this bargain you seek to make," the Oni reutned to the topic with a finger held underneath her chin. "I seek knowledge for a purpose, of this I am sure you know. How to slay your kind. Learning to manipulate your ... energy source, is a step towards that; and yet there is surely more direct methods, yes ?"

Ishtar cracked a smile.

"Though what is it you wish in return?"

"Your Hakai." Hastur said, bluntly and without humor. The words hung heavy in the air and the atmosphere of the small space for a moment seemed to grow unbearably claustrophobic. The Hastur broke into a chuckle. "You have to admit its a fair trade is it not....You want to know the easy way to kill my kind, I teach you in return for the easy way to kill yours. But if that price is too high I understand....Hakai is the tool of the sphere afterall, the hammer of the gods, what use would one such as I need of it...."

The Voidling smiled, it was a pleasant expression...too pleasant.

"I'm satisfied just watching you grow...perhaps I've picked up a bad habit from my brother. I am a friend to all, Ishtar. But I am an ally to nobody....I admire your curiosity and abide your pursuits because it is interesting to see how far a being such as yourself is willing to go. Perhaps one day you will even be of use to me in another capacity. But as I've said...ours is a relationship of equivalent exchange. Please be careful....in the requests you make to me. Remember...regardless of the loss on her part, that was my property you pilfered. Perhaps one day I'll take whats owed me from your remains....So be sure to play safe."

The Voidling winked.

When Parsic spoke up again and spat venom -- perhaps understandably -- the Oni simply chuckled.

"As I said, you broke your own neck. I merely made use of your coprse. That you are not dead, or lacking in power is proof enough that you did not suffer much ... so why then, the venom ? ... Is it that I took a bite of your first ?"

"...No....." Parsic said, golden eyes facing the ground. "....You destroyed the peaceful paradise....I had helped build. Haven. You and that cook....and that ratty familiar.....You broke it. I'll never forgive you...for taking away the one thing I could have given Etrina...."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

After the affair with Hastur, and Parsic, Ishtar had been informed of the outcome of the fight between Etrina, and Parsley ... and how the latter had seemingly snapped as the result of some ... trigger of her recent trauma; and had as a result triggered a surprisingly feral response from the young Time Mage.

Not one to press the issue -- at least in this -- immediately after, however, the golden-eyed Oni had waited until tempers had cooled and bones had been set, before going out of her way to approach the Saiyan Princess. Though as much as her interest was in offering Parsley comfort, Ishtar also sought her out now for another reason.

So when the Oni found the young Saiyan off on her own, as was typically the case more often than not, she cleared her throat to announce her presence before saying.

"Parsley. I heard about what happened, yesterday ..." the Oni trailed off, a brief moment, before asking simply.

"Care for a distraction ?"

The day of the ill-fated fight with Etrina, Parsley had been by herself. She alternated between trying to sleep and thinking about how she could move past the crippling trauma before it hindered her from being useful in the innumerable battles to come. Around midnight, the struggle for sleep proved to be a fruitless one, so she got dressed and walked outside. The cool nighttime breeze licked her face, providing a measure of comfort at a time when there was little to be found much anywhere.

No one understands what's in my head.

The lingering sting death dealt her was one that few had the displeasure of experiencing and living again to deal with. In most normal cases, once a person died, that was it. There was no chance of them living again to deal with the fallout. She wasn't as fortunate. She had those that cared for her enough to wish her back to life; in doing so, they unknowingly damned her to a lifetime of silent suffering.

...

This back and forth between self-deprecating grief and acceptance was becoming a pain. If there was any strain of consistency to be found, she would gladly take it. Alas, it seemed she was doomed to waffle for how ever long she was destined to be stricken with this lingering debt her death left her with.

Until such a time came, she would keep this to herself until she found a person she determined wouldn't grow sick of her switching back and forth between two extremes. There were few that she knew of; the number of those who could understand and relate was even fewer.

She sighed. Not even one of those therapists could help. How can anyone?

Hours passed by until Parsley found herself bathing in the morning sun's radiance. She had been standing at the edge of the lookout all night, without a single wink of sleep. It was the second night in a row where sleep eluded her. At this rate, she was going to be too ragged to of help to anyone.

She spent that day dragging listlessly from one meaningless task to the other. She pointedly avoided the others to prevent anyone from asking her if she was okay after yesterday. The last thing she wanted to talk about was that. Not because getting her arm broken had traumatized her -- even before she died, she had suffered far worse than that -- but because she knew that there was a good chance someone was going to ask why she blew up the way she did.

It was a conversation she wasn't ready to have. Believe it or not, telling people over and over again that she died wasn't going to make accepting it easier. That was a common misconception perpetrated by people who had never suffered more than an inconvenience before. Acceptance and moving forward was a process that started within, with a willingness to not let it govern and dictate how she lived her life.

That was the hardest part.

Sigh. I suppose divulging the details of my death will make it easier. Damn it, I don't know! It was hard and frustrating. Why couldn't it just go away and let her live in peace?!

Life wasn't forgiving, especially not to people like her.

The day mercifully passed and was replaced by the pitch black blanket of darkness. The moon shone brightly in the night sky, joined by its distant, twinkling companions, innumerable in their assembly and mesmerizing in their beauty.

Parsley's eyes fluttered opened, unveiling to her a blurred world of indistinguishable shapes and blobs. She tried to reach up to rub them, but found that both her hands were tied down. ??? She jerked her arm up to break through the bonds that kept her restrained, but found that her strength was nearly completely sapped. She barely had enough power to struggle futilely, much less actually bust free. What is going on?! Panic started to settle in. Her heart started racing, her head was throbbing as the possibilities of what was to come ran through her head one after the other, each more horrendous than the previous.

She remembered fighting the Tuffles after sensing that the four Saiyans she was looking for were nearby. There were missiles, then some gas, then nothing.

How long had she been unconscious? Where was she? These questions kept repeating in her head incessantly until someone walked inside. “Ah, so you're finally awake. Great; we can begin?”

She tried to speak, to ask who the woman was and how she thought she could get away with this, but all that came out was a string of incoherent gibberish.

“Heh. That gaseous concoction you breathed in earlier slowed your “higher” brain function down, so now you sound like the gibbering baboon you really are.” The doctor laughed derisively, a sound that Parsley had never heard directed at herself before. “There's no doubt that child Queen of yours already knows what happened here, especially if a monster of your acclaim was sent here. As such, we need to be prepared and make sure that when we wipe the rest of your miserable kind from existence, it hurts as much as I hope.”

Unbeknownst to Parsley, that doctor was Appel, the head behind this incursion. Hatred poured out of Appel's eyes as she peered menacingly at the young Saiyan from behind her large-rimmed glasses. Slowly, without ever once taking her eyes off her victim, she circled around the foot of the table to the other side, where a silver platter was waiting. Slowly, as if to prolong the horror that Parsley was feeling in her chest, she perused the assortment of medical tools. Before picking one, she turned to a spot in the room where Parsley couldn't see. “Remove her armor. I don't want her to have a shred of dignity.”

“Hmph. You think being naked is going to bother her?” replied the man.

“Just do it. And I didn't say anything about her being naked. I'd like to keep my lunch where it is, thank you.”

Parsley was powerless to stop the handheld saw from cutting through her Super Elite armor. It was cut down the middle, then roughly snatched out from under her. She was left in her black tights. Another soft mumble escaped her, which elicited another harsh laugh from her captor. “Don't bother trying. Your brain isn't evolved enough to form coherent sentences on a normal day, let alone after breathing in the Brain Dead Gas.”

She picked up a syringe filled with a noxious green liquid. Without a word, she plunged the needled into Parsley's arm and squeezed down.

Immediately, her arm felt like it was on fire, a sensation that gradually spread through her entire body. A soft, weak moan left her mouth.

Parsley was unstrapped from the table and literally dragged to a nearby room. It had originally been a sleeping quarters for the scientists who had lived there previously, but now it was only four walls, a ceiling, and a floor. She was flung against the wall, where the back of her head smacked against the unforgiving steel. Intense pain pulsated through her skull, beating in a rhythm like a bass drum. Her hands were lifted and chained to the wall.

The men who took her left without a word, closing the door and leaving her in the dark.

Another nightmare, so vivid that it felt that she was actually back in that damned laboratory with those monsters staring down at her, kept her wide awake. It was nearly midnight, and she was so tired. Sleep eluded her the night before, and it seemed that the same would happen tonight.

Someone behind her cleared her throat. It was Ishtar, with offerings of a distraction.

She sighed tiredly, but nodded. Perhaps it would tire her out enough that she had no choice but fall asleep. "Sleep hasn't been easy for me lately, so maybe this will help." As she prepared to start, her movements were sluggish and not nearly as confident and precise as they normally were. "Begin when ready."

[Tami]

Praxat stands where Megan tells her saying " thanks for the Info on Brench-Seijin earlier Cyanna." " now I can get a picture in my head of what Qaztoh's girlfriend might look like." Praxat cell phone rings and she takes it out , turns it on and reads text message that pops up saying " so Qaztoh has uploaded training music on my cell phone oh dear." Praxat looks at the song and who the band is saying " so it's a Death metal song by Qaztoh's favorite band Max Freeze , yeah defiantly not listing to that garbage."


Praxat delates the song from her cell and puts her cell back in her right pocket saying " I seriously question Qaztoh's taste in music." " okay so I can only dodge, evade , jump or move but I can't escaped got it ." Praxat thinks to herself ( shit that limits my options. Okay Dash is about 15 feet away from me ,and she's going to throw stones at me.)

( let's see I have to factor in angle the stones will be thrown at, the wind resistance , acceleration of the stones , their velocity and finally their momentum. now base on those factors and my limit options what would be my best option? it nice what Sarada's cousins are doing with that Amusement Park . I got some ideas to spice up the park with new rides and attractions. )

( one of them is to put in a petting zoo where kids can feed and pet animals for free. the animals would have to be either domesticated or docile enough to be pet and feed. a lot of paper work needs to be done in order to do this and some one has to supervise kids to make sure their careful around the animals.)

Once Dash is set up, Meagan calls to Praxat, "Stay alert! Dash will start off slow, but her pitches will keep getting faster. Dodge them or you will get hurt."

Meagan then counter, "Ready, set, go." as she motioned for Dash to start throwing.

---

Dash did as instructed, throwing a softball pitch intended to come close but not hit Praxat. A warning shot to make sure she was paying attention. Then the rocks gradually came faster and harder. Her aim was intended to hit the target, she was no longer pulling any punches.