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  1. #3976

    Default Disciples of the Dragon VII: The Legacy of Zxu'ro [Ochazuke]

    "Not a single brick of this place was part of the original. Surface, that's all this is. Feh," Across the distance, she folded her arms, a bittersweet smile on her face, though her body trembled with a silent rage. Her voice shook as she spoke. "I wouldn't expect you to recognize the difference. After all, you were only with us for a little over a year."

    Even though he left the Cranes all those years ago, the enmity between the Five School still ran deep. The monk elder was planted here. They'd seized everything from them, from the very land, their holy orders, the eyes of the people... He'd spent so long apart from this world, rediscovering the remnants with Balon, healing the mend with Zaofan, treading the dangerous mysteries anchored within Sasheem, the dream had become more real to him than the two thousand years of conflict. As Ochazuke knelt over the fissure, at last he understood the depths of her grief, for nothing remained of the Tiger School but memories.

    "'Palace of the Tiger King,' nothing more than a hollowed out mausoleum for a world that no longer exists. Do you think the smarmy fucks who want to sell postcards and trinkets know anything about what happened here? About what any of this meant?"

    Kenshiko rubbed the welt on her jawline, licking her lips as she moved forward, her pace hardly broken. Drawing up his right hand, Ochazuke's thoughts raced as she moved forward. Left. Right. Where would the attack come from?

    "This is what happens if you don't fight, Zosui," Her right leg darted forward, arced up, and smashed over his left shoulder from above. "You'll lose everything!"

    In blinding pain, Ochazuke roared as the world crumbled below him, and the Tiger dragged him forward into the abyss. Together they he passed into the darkness, grappling in that long fall through the concrete, all the while the sting of her fury pressed into him. Seizing upon the pain that she threaded through him with each pointed strike, the orchestration of agony disrupt his rhythm, and this close, there were no angle to cut off for counter attack. Everytime his guard expanded, she contracted and struck; every time he tensed she drew him off-line and created a new opening. Hard bone gnashed against his flesh. He lift his legs to guard and it was as if her limbs passed through his. He knew the course he must take, but so battered, his numb body would not respond, his body trapped in a silent prison of delirium where the passage of time fell seconds removed.

    Everything came to an abrupt halt when they came crashing down on the steel walkway. Ochazuke coughed up blood from the knee buried in his abdomen. and at last Kenshiko threw him off. Entrenched in the cratered remains of what were once metal stairs, he buckled to his side, hacking clumsily as she looked over the place. Inlaid over the natural cave system far below the Royal Palace, endless rows of blinking consoles fed by steel cables lay under the working hands of freshly panicked technicians. Frightful screams sounded over the treading workboots, and a claxon rang throughout the makeshift facility. More than the chaos they had rained from above, it was apparent that they were not supposed to be here, and they scattered like discovered insects A stray glance at what the data carried over the cables showed why.

    Arrayed over on the walls were two parallel images of the world. The continents lined on one slowly fed the other in a minute delay as they shift slowly. A screen of weather patterns gliding over the major regions of the world, fed into crystal clarity. A multitude of monitors littered the place, pictures of a world feeding into one collective. Images of well-dressed men speaking to their fellows; village girls arraying a fresh row of Capsule houses; A city that never slept under the winding path of neon lights; the migration of a herd of beasts searching for new grazing grounds; Drifting satellite debris cresting between the view past the moon.

    This far above, the multitude of humanity and the wild. Each living presence as they crawled about the world from this distance indistinguishable motes where they lived their lives. Their paths could be traced with the utmost clarity from corner to corner, unawares they were being watched. The minutae of this blue planet, everything all fed out to a large communications array, and unmarked though it was, Ochazuke recognized it from the array fed to the Coldlight, the monitor feed was from the Galactic Patrol signal. The satellites arrayed to the defense of the Earth also turned a covert its view toward it.

    Even where he stood over the world from the Lookout and felt the presences over the world in his meditations he peered over his fellow man, but this sea of humanity presented visually in this manner fixed in him in equal parts fascination and horror. Yet given there was another voice near, and hers was filled with disgust.

    "Grinthorn's eye in the sky," Kenshiko snarled. "So that's what those Crane bastards were guarding under here."

    "...Grinthorn...?"

    "Already had the world in the palm of his hand, I guess that just wasn't enough. He wanted to hold a gun to every civilian's head just in case, and the Offworlders handed it right to him."

    With her attention off of him for the moment, Ochazuke turned Kyokushin Keihatsu toward the signal array. It was an innocuous thing, a thin trace of energy that glid through silent circuitry, but with the fall of the Palatial Towers the integrity of the signal was less orderly, drawing and feeding right into the machines that drift above in a garbled mess.

    When Evangeline had used the Creation to challenge the President's sovereignty, his power to see and hear everything upon the globe at a whim had been much diminished. Nobody could move a project like this without the capital- Then it hit him. The rot of his old order seeped deeper than he could imagine. He'd never made the connection until now.

    "Kru...," Fighting between gasps, Ochazuke slowly stood to his feet. His ki would slowly realign itself, until then he would have to rely on grit. "...you can't..."

    "Maybe he was smart enough not to get screwed over by the Xenos. But not enough to put everything in one basket." The static click of her talkie clipped on. "Are the charges set?"

    "Think about what you're doing...!"

    His limbs were heavy, and racked with agony, Ochazuke threw himself onto his feet, grimacing in pain through ragged breaths as he dragged himself after her.

    "I have. That's why I'm the one who has to press the trigger." The detonator unfastened from her belt, all that stood between her thumb and the button was a plastic cap. As she grasped it in two shaking hands, she began to rise upward as she flew above the scattering personnel.

    "The cave system...it runs further than the palatial grounds!" He plead desperately, "The inlet! The Shrine of Bya Kau...you'll have nothing to return to!"

    "Your master already took that from me. This time, it'll be on my terms!" A mirthless, wistful grin spread over her face. Kenshiko's amber eyes twist as they fought to against the words she spoke. "The past for the chance for a future. A steep price to strike Grinthorn blind. I pay it gladly."

    And when the bombs went off, a cacophony of immolating fury ripped through the foundations of the palace for miles around. The last shapes of an empire sworn to stand against the ages for a thousand years descended in a quagmire of symbols, ground to ash, stripped of their memory and meaning, for those who sought to follow in the steps of the ancient gods found nothing; in her rage, she reached out to slay them.

  2. #3977

    Default Disciples of the Dragon VII: The Legacy of Zxu'ro [Ochazuke]

    Thousands of people flocked to the Palace of the Tiger King to take in the grand vista. One of the WG-sanctioned Wonders of the World, it had once been a thriving cosmopolitan centre, a crown jewel of civilization miles off the beathen path from the harbour town of Ori City. In the myriad of images, sparse words were engraved, for its history was inlaid with mythology were displayed on every inch of the place as arrayed in the intricate bas reliefs. Stories of gods, of kings, a timeless tale of humanity striving to ascend above the bondage of all-too mortal failings and become something greater than they were had been washed away in a heinous act of terrorism.

    On the last day it stood. the resident monks, the locals shopkeeps, and tourists from around the globe all fought to try and get one last glimpse of it. Testimony changes when folks get emotional, and when everything falls apart and nothing makes sense, the memory has a strange way of burning a focal point into our recollection. Some swore they heard the brass prayer bell call out the last time, others a visage of an eight-armed deva ascending to signal a new age. Yet all accounts agree that when the explosion shook the grounds, there was a faint shroud that rose over the forest that sequestered the walls of the forest, Like a strangely iridescent mist that swallowed the heat and sound.

    Battered and wounded, despite himself Ochazuke lost his footing. As he fell forward, hastily he clasped his hands to the ground, and through Ishiki Toei he had braced the super structures of the blast radius drawing it downward. Localized entirely into this room, the that would funnel the damage directly towards himself. And as the strain knotted his muscles as he contained the energy and threw it under his feet.

    Kenshiko, hands still clasped over the trigger, momentarily let her eyes glaze over, and felt the explosion wash beneath her as she ascended. In the hollow frame, the inflamed issue only seemed that much further. It had already been long since her symbol of her ancestry, the history that had passed to her had been hollowed out, nothing left short of empty prayers and commodified imagery, yet her flight had been a slow one, and the sounds of ruin were a lonesome company.

    As if ascending out of Naraka itself, an ashen shape tore upward after her, carrying a gutteral roar that filled the burning pit. Carried from the raucous tide of destruction below, Ochazuke rocketed after Kenshiko and swung wide. Her eyes narrowed as she threw up her guard, shifting about in the air and ramming a knee, shattering his left collarbone. She felt the bone break, and knew she'd struck true, yet found herself seized by a sudden surge of hidden strength that tore her off her intended course.

    When she freed her hands, she fought back, and in this ocean of fury, to Ochazuke everything slipped away but for the scars etched on his person and the steps of mighty forebearers he'd walked in. Though his body had weathered grave injury, his left arm quite useless by now, the strength drawn from The Bear allowed him to press off with the fleetness of The Wolf, and in this desperation, a synthesis of the Crane, Turtle, Dragon propped him up in the shadow opposition to the Tiger. Kenshiko framed off her shots, and Ochazuke met them head on, and in some cruel, perverse way, they communed a certain accord. Driven purely by instinct, the will to survive, nothing else but this moment existed for them. The eons past, the undetermined future, the ego of heritage, the heirarchy of student and master...nothing but this fatal moment should matter. A desperation to survive, her skill seemed to have been refined to the pointed; he felt it now as well. and by his own life would mete it out or die trying.

    Spikes of agony knead a sudden change in his condition. For so long he had waited for this moment, but the thought of striking down a friend, even with all that had transpired, caused him to hesitate; and when he relented, she seized her opening. A fierce kick took his footing and as he careened forward she smote him to the ground.

    For she had been in this place far longer than he had. In the face of danger the eyes of a true Tiger saw only her own survival; and for that, one can only push through and seize the lethal advantage before the opponent. Yet for a finishing strike, she hadn't taken in account where he'd taken her and started back with a gasp.

    Ochazuke stood before Kenshiko before the six tusks of Girimekhala set in the gleaming, fanged ivory arch. Here in the hallowed place where the Tiger School began he had forcefully dragged her back there. Choking on acrid smoke, blood and pushed well past his threshold of agony, he could hardly speak. One eye swollen shut, the other caked in blood, he could scarecly see, and yet in this heightened state, he was aware, even as three others joined the field.

    The Vermilion Unit flanked their squadron leader, arms raised. Silently she snapped a hand up and called them off. Gritting her teeth, she cranked her neck from side to side.


    "You're not going to give up, are you?"

    As he stood there between the Red Raiders and the focal point of the Tiger School, he teetered deliriously.

    "...learned it...from you...two..."

    Slowly, her aura began to manifest as she made her way forward. "Then I suppose the only way forward will be through you."

    No way forward but through...he spoke the words to himself every time he'd put his life behind kikojutsu. In truth, that may have been the only thing allowing him to stand right now.

    To lay one's life on the line and seize opportunity from the most daunting odds, a synthesis of mind and body where the self and the world move as one. In martial arts, this was the acme of human expression, and a quality he'd seen this in only one other person before.

    Holding Kaibyo's trembling hand, he could feel the life ebb from her frame with every beat of her weakening pulse, dragging breaths flickering. He was silent then, for what could he say? She knew his secret. Even so, together they found something yet undiscovered. All too soon it was taken from them both. In the throes of utter defeat, perhaps his greatest regret would be that even when she was reduced to his, he was still going to die first.

    "I've taught you all I can." She laid her palm upon his heart. Light cut through the fugue, and the rain seemed to grow that much colder as sense returned to him. But more than anything was the burning as she forced the wound on his chest closed and her ki fell into him.

    "You're going to make it through this. When you do, please remember that you won't be alone." Even at the end, Kaibyo always found the most confounding time to smile, even through her final tears. "More than that, Zosui...be there for her."
    What could a master do for a student that brought them to ruin? It never made sense to him, and when he buried one twin, the dread and shame he felt at the thought of confronting the other sister made him create a wall between them and their shared past. But now he realized he had understood it all wrong. From Master to Student, returned from Student to Master, the skills that passed from one to the next was a fundamental bond stronger than the will to fight. The interconnection between one another, carrying that through and forward, that was the true meaning of legacy. Now he stood between the Red Raiders and the last remnant of what he and Kenshiko had shared in the past. Ying-yai Seua Wat, below the face of the Founder. Beneath the banyan tree knotting the bricks and holding the ruins fast together, it was proof that what they had those years ago was still here; that it was still real.

    This was the truth. A belief he would die to defend, even if he had to strike her down to get her to see it at last.

    Her entrance was elusive, precise as she would always make it. A calculated approach forward, leading with one leg, then effortlessly switching to attack the committed angle. Ten thousand strikes honed her technique perfection, the shin shattered his left shoulder on impact and Ochazuke sunk downward. A calculated sacrifice, he sought to half the range, so when he threw a palm forward he would not miss.

    I have to stop her movement.

    The first strike fell, and when she attempted to parry, he threw his pull counter and Zanshin Touki continued to press upon her. The Iron Wind clashed against her hand blew her guard wide open.

    Now!

    Gilded with The Bear's Strength he'd drawn on a reserve of strength from the Earth disrupt her ki, and more besides. Drawn into the bracers of Zxu'ro, he felt his strength redouble, and sent it sailing forward, and the entire forest quaked and rustled as he threw a blow with five times his strength behind it straight towards her. Kenshiko slowly turned towards him, and in an instant her eyes widened.

    The explosion cracked over the forest, carrying a gout of fire that spat in a ring, twisted around that spiralling inferno towering into a hole in the sky. Black ash scattered into the tropics for miles. Ochazuke laid, his back pressed in a heap, collapsed stone and earth beneath him slowly cooling from a red hot glow. His left arm splay uselessly above him, and it felt as if every breath forcefully threatened to be his last.

    This energy...!

    She'd caught his hand, and in the bridge of contact slid to the inside, and struck straight into his chest. Tekka Kagami the Iron Mirror. The force absorbed returned to him was a familiar Tiger's technique, but it had been augmented, and given new live through the fire of a Phoenix. Her hand quivered outstretched before her, her curled fingers dripping with his blood.

  3. #3978

    Default Disciples of the Dragon VII: The Legacy of Zxu'ro [Ochazuke]

    BGM into the Dusk

    Slowly she paced over, and standing over him, her eyes pored over his broken body. Through the blood trailing from the corners of his mouth, Ochazuke murmured something. Kenshiko shook her head; pausing suddenly, she held in a sudden, sharp breath as she lift a hand to her lower lip. With a slow exhale she lowered it again, and gilded it in ki. Silently, she knelt down by his side and raised a fist, poised to strike, but stilled for a long moment as she looked around her. By some miracle, the old shrine still stood. In the midst of the ashes of still-burning wood, there was something in the air that preserved the greenery of the canopy, the laterite walls that weathered the ages, the great banyan tree pristine as its roots braced this place, intersecting with Bya Kau's unblemished visage, smiling in detached bliss.

    Blood-flecked speech left Ochazuke. Raising his hand, he weakly seized hers.

    "Any last words?"

    "Zxu'ro...awaits...please..." The glow of her hand slowly diminished. She saw that the stroke of his heart beat with a power that was not his own. Within that familiar presence she understood that this was not his life alone to lose.

    "The Master of Masters really is alive?" she said. Kenshiko's visage lowered, and for the first time in ages, he saw her smile. "So the Lion guardian wasn't full of **** after all."

    "Leon...?"

    "Heh. Would you believe that he told me to return where we came from?"

    The world burned around them and her face wreathed with burning shadow, and yet the two of them, despite everything shared a laugh. Had he reached her at last? She took his hand in hers, and for a moment, he'd almost allowed himself to believe they were at the old training camp. Whenever one of her students fell, she'd pick them right off the canvas.

    Why do we train today? So you can become more than you were yesterday! To reach the next level, you've got to keep going!

    Would that they could return to those lost days.

    "Don't you see? The entire world's suffered and gone to ****. Why has Zxu'ro been hiding when we need him the most?!"

    The words twist through him with a wrenching agony that made the ki lacing her every blow pale in comparison.

    "Is that his higher purpose? To leave humanity behind?! Look around you, Ochazuke." A shrine in a grove stood along among the ashes. Were they merely acting out a destiny their forbearers had determined for them, of the Five Heads of jealous clans moved to spite? Tilting his head toward her, he saw a blurry shadow manifest in her hands. He'd lost a lot of feeling with the blood. When had sh frisked the Dragon Gauntlets from him? Had he the breath, he'd curse, but only red left his lips.

    "Not you. Not me. Not even these things." Slick with his blood, they fastened themselves to her all too readily. When she flew her arm out, a blade slashed through the air and split the river bank behind them, mangroves teetered as they bled out into the muddy river. "Ten different branching sects of arts to deal in death. This is his legacy."

    "Need...to stop...President..."

    Arms girded with new strength, Kenshiko clashed her fists together, a low, husky scoff shaking her frame.

    "What makes you think we'd take on a Dragon if we weren't prepared to slay him?"

    She knew? Through the grogginess and fatigue, the thoughts raced, stirring a dull cough from his limp frame. Willa. Arthur. Zxu'ro. As far as they had come, there was still so much missing. Even now there was so much he'd yet to learn from the Twin Tigers.

    "K-Kaibyo..." His final retort. "Is this what you would have wanted?"

    At this she visibly flustered. She turned away from him for a moment, leaning her head back against her hands. The destructive feedback from the Phoenix Reversion had blown a hole in the back of her tank, and he saw that even marked on her flesh she always kept a piece of her past with her.

    "It all comes back to her, doesn't it. That's all I am, huh?" she shuddered as she folded her arms.

    "They always called Sis the Master. Always left everything to her. I'd take care of the training while she-" Pausing, she drew a hand over her brow. Sweeping the loose crimson fringe from her eyes, Ochazuke stared starkly into that face, weakly lifting he head up. "Is that who you see? A spare? A do-over?"

    He spoke no answer, only looked at her even as his one eye welled and stung.

    "The world belongs to us, Ochazuke. Not Grinthorn, or some master, or anybody else!" She clenched her fist. "If Zxu'ro wants to see the worthy, then I'll bring them to him myself."

    Even diminished as he was, he knew her unit watched their every move. Soldiers without uniforms. They had something more than a worldwide border to fight for. The battles had come with such frequency as of late again he seemed to lose sight of things. Just like him, she had given them the strength to realize their way forward.

    "What will you do...?"

    "The men and women that fell to bear this standard to stand against the corruption of the WG, we won't allow them to be forgotten. And if Zxu'ro won't stand with those who fight to throw off Grinthorn's shackles...then to hell with him."

    Without so much as a goodbye, Kenshiko and the Vermilion Unit fled silently into the ashes, carrying with them the secrets of the Phoenix and the Lion. Again, he had been helpless to move in the face of her darkest hour, and as the haze drift into the clouds overhead, by the idle sound of the brook and calls of birds he had a long time to contemplate what just had transpired.

    How long had it been since they passed? The earth beneath him had come to a frightful chill, but he could hardly move. Torn asunder by the hands that made him, everything felt exceptionally brittle, and with a great effort he attempted to lower his hand to his ear. The worst part of being a fighter was even at this echelon of frightening power he and his comrades had accrued...was the body's contradictory tendency to try and strangle itself as inflammation put wounds to mend.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cleric of Hell’s Brigade View Post
    Balon pauses on the stairs, then slowly walks back down.

    “I’m going to await Ochazuke.”

    He disappears from Sasheem and Zaofan’s sight, only to reappear at the cave entrance walking up the steps on the island once more.

    He pauses and reaches out, seeking Ochazuke’s energy, wondering where he had gone.
    But he had been brought to unthinkable lows before. The difference between then and now was that he still had much to lose, and with miles yet to go, he had people he could call upon. With great effort, at last he reached the comm in his ear.

    "Eva...Kai...help," he grumbled, cycling through the singular channels - those who could arrive to assist in any reasonable time. "Zao...Zaofan...Lookout...meet at the Lookout..."

    Slowly, he succumbed to his wounds, and darkness took him. Falling back into that curtain between life and death, as his senses dulled he knew there were those he could rely on. No matter how many times it took, he would pull her from threshold, for there were things yet unsaid between student and master.

  4. #3979
    Voice of the Authorities Cleric of Hell’s Brigade's Avatar
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    Ochazuke’s body is quickly stabilized by Ronin Kai, who appears amidst a swirl of air. The in training Kami works to start to heal the wounds, while Samson Balon arrives moments later.

    Samson lands and carefully picks Ochazuke up once Ronin Kai has made sure Ochazuke is healed sufficiently.

    Kai nods and the three vanish in a swirl of air, only to reappear on the Lookout, Eva anxiously guiding them into her personal room to lay Ochazuke down in.
    Black Knight of SO
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  5. #3980
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bruceleegreyhulk View Post
    Killrog and Praxat holding her sister Fraxat go with Cyanna.
    Leading them to the guest quarters, Cyanna talked along the way about many things. About the Temple and all the interesting places inside, about Chroma, about Meagan and Jinzi and the prospect of becoming an Aunt for the first time on her life. Most of it was from excitement about being back home, and from a kind of decompression after the events on Quecera.

    As they arrived at the rooms, the Sister was just finishing setting it up for them. Cyanna smiled and gave her a hug, "Sis and I don't knwo what we would do without the Order's help. Thanks, Sagene."

    The Sister hugged Cyanna back, "We're just grateful to have you and Lady Meagan watching over us. This place has been crying out for a Guardian for so long." Letting go, "I feel bad that Lady Dash had to return to her own home world."

    Cyanna nodded, "I'll be visiting Earth soon, when I do I'll go looking for her. I'll let her know you and the others send yoru regards."

    "Tell her that we also send out thanks, we know how much she helped out here in the beginning or Lady Meagan's tenure."

    "I will, and thanks for getting everything set up for my friends."

    Sagene smiled, then bowed to Praxat crayying Fraxat, Killrog, "I wish you well and good health, long life, and the blessings of Iris." With that she left.

    Cyanna then took them inside, Praxat and her sister sharing a room, Killrog having the room next door to himself. As they settled in, Cyanna stiffened slightly, "Oh, that must be the Doctors. I'll stay with you while they are here."

    ------------

    Four Chromakai doctors arrived, two went to examine Fraxat, the other two went to Killrog. An hour later, after some consulting with Meagan, they came up with a plan of treatment. It would not be easy, and it would take several weeks, but the challenge excited the Medical Scientists. Meagan made sure to oversee the process, to insure that they were well taken care of.

    During this time, before Cyanna left for Earth, she showed Praxat around the temple, including the library letting her know that it was available for her use.

    Cyanna had also taken the time to fill Meagan in on what happened, and on Althena's request.

    As predicted, it took about three weeks before they were healed well enough to return to their home world. Meagan accompanied them back, while ther she worked with Althena to set up a Guardian Network room and instructing her on how ot use it. Emphasizing that only Guardians could enter, and that it should only eb used in cases of urgency or emergency.

    Once done, Meagan invited Althena to Chroma when the time was right for both of them. After that, she said her goodbys and returned to Chroma. There was still the issue of trying to convince Lady Maize to join the Network as well, and the short time she had left to finish installing Network rooms fro each of the known Guardians before needing to prepare for giving birth.

    --------

    Back on Earth, Cyanna had her own obligations and self-determined missions to complete. Both there, and across the Galaxy.
    Original join date: 11/23/2004
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  6. #3981
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
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    The feminine scream erupted out of the entrance to the middle corridor. “Shit!” Avoca broke into a sprint, throwing herself haphazardly into the pitch black darkness. Stones were crushed to pieces under her heavy steps. Vines snapped against her throat, offering no resistance to her rapid progress. “Hey! Hey, can you hear me?!” Seeing more than a few feet in front of her was impossible; there were torches attached to the walls that once offered some rudimentary light, but their flames had long died out ages ago. Or rather, recently. She could smell faint traces of smoke from each of them, as well as the kindling used to keep their fires going – dry leaves and small twigs.

    A chill ran up her spine as a harrowing thought crossed her mind. This planet wasn't as deserted as she initially thought. A thought that should have excited her in that moment made her feel nothing but dread. “Sellerie!”

    A savage roar, followed by a muffled scream and the scuffling of feet on the stone floor, were all the answer she was getting.

    Her violet eyes attempted to pierce the darkness and caught an amorphous shadow moving in the distance. Another muffled scream preempted a deep, baritone grunt. Sellerie sailed, literally, into Avoca the next instant, knocking both women to the ground.

    “Some kind of creature,” Sellerie choked out, voice strained from being strangled. “We have to—”

    Before she could finish, the creature in question made itself known. And it was no creature. A literal beast man leaped into their field of vision. The darkness obscured many of his features, but there was no mistaking the feral yellow eyes and razor sharp fangs protruding from his snarling mouth. Brown fur covered his body with the exception of his bare chest, face, and head, the latter of which carried with it a bushy mane of black hair. Lastly, to remove all doubt, they caught faint traces of an eerily familiar brown tail curled downward as a menacing omen to the primal rage soon to follow.

    “A Saiyan,” Avoca uttered. She hoisted both herself to her feet, Sellerie offering no resistance when she was yanked to her feet as well. “Easy, big guy.”

    “He can't understand you,” she warned. To confirm this, the primal Saiyan growled and started to stalk toward them.

    He lunged, punching Sellerie in the chest to send her careening back toward the opening of the corridor while grabbing Avoca by the head and slamming her into the wall. Her skull was being smashed into the brick, the latter thankfully giving way first. She wasn't sure how long that would be the case. This Saiyan was far stronger than she would have thought just by looking at him, which was saying something.

    “Get... off... *******!” she grunted before ramming her boot into his solar plexus. The bestial man grunted and flew back into the wall opposite where she was having her head added to the masonry work. He rubbed where she kicked and didn't seem worse for wear. All it did was buy Avoca a little time, and she took advantage.

    A quick glance behind her showed that Sellerie was smartly retreating back to the others. Perfect, that meant that Avoca could fight these thing off without worrying about killing her. A ball of ki suddenly formed in her hands, its impossibly bright light illuminating the halls and blinding the Saiyan. He recoiled and covered his eyes, giving her an opening to shove it into his chest and blast him back.

    The beast was thrown back, howling in pain as he disappeared into the darkness.

    She quickly turned and ran out of the corridor and into the light. “We're getting the **** outta here,” she said to the other three. “Get your bags and come on!” She slid to a stop and turned around, keeping her eyes on the opening she sprinted out of. If that beast man recovered quickly and tried to stop them, she was ready to make him reconsider. Yet, it was her who was forced to reconsider the current planned course when she caught a whiff of several distinct smells from the jungles behind them.

    They ran outside and took the the air to quickly get back to their ship.

    The jungle canopy rustled and shook just before several figures shot out of the foliage and chased after them. Avoca hazarded to look behind her and saw several primal Saiyans flying after them. “Shit, they can fly?!”

    One of the Saiyans fired a yellow beam from her hand. It quickly overtook them and expanded into an energy net. The moment it touched them, they felt their ki drop to near zero. Without the power need to stay airborne, they plummeted like stones in a shallow pond. Before they fell too far, the woman grabbed the net and carried it to the ground.

    No, this is not happening, Avoca lamented. The primal Saiyans circled around them, whooping and howling like animals about to dive into a fresh kill. Some of them ventured forward and sniffed and captured Saiyans and roughly poked and prodded their hairless flesh.

    Avoca thrashed wildly within the net in a futile attempt to break free. She knew that there were two and only two ways this was going to end – 1) they were going to get eaten, or 2) they were going to get bred, or breed in Okcho's case. She gritted her teeth; initially, there didn't seem to be any way out of this without something fucked up going down. Okay, think. What can I do? These beasts are a lot smarter than they look, that much is certain.

    The savages continued to close in, hemming them in like rats trapped by a pack of cats with zero avenue or hope of escape. The net dissipated and they were grabbed and yanked to their feet. One of the women sniffed them and growled softly. It was then that Avoca noticed that they were all wearing some rudimentary form of clothing, likely made out of animal skins. They were even wearing shoes and basic jewelry.

    “She says we don't look very appetizing,” Sellerie translated, voice shaking with nearly every word. “There's someone coming.”

    The crowd parted, allowing a lone brown-maned man to enter. He was far shorter than nearly anyone else, even some of the women, but he was also far more powerful. Avoca was still the strongest person there, but there was no way she could fight off this guy and all these other savages without one of hers getting killed. Gotta think. I can feel my ki returning already.

    The man, clearly the tribe leader, approached and gave a low growl.

    “He asked who we are and why we're here.”

    “Well? Answer him.”

    Sellerie hesitated, but did try to say something. While she spoke, giving a single feeble growl that sounded more appropriate coming out of a small child than a grown woman, her eyes didn't even reach his kneecaps.

    “God, show some backbone,” Avoca chided sharply. “They can smell fear. If you act like prey, they'll treat you like it.”

    Sellerie cut her gaze at Avoca, then forced it upon the man standing before her. His cold, hardened glare bored into her like a drill through solid stone. Any effort to stand up to him and hold her ground evaporated as quickly as dew in the morning sun.

    The man chuffed, to which Sellerie attempted to imitate in answer. Whatever she said elicited rambunctious laughter from not only him but the other savages. “They don't think we're Saiyans!”

    “Tch. Whatever. Let them think that. I have a plan. My power is returning. I can charge up enough to blind them, then we make a break for the jungle. We need to get back to the ship and get out of here.” Sarada needed to know there were hostile beings on this planet before she decided to send a bunch of scientists to get eaten, bred, or even worse.

    Not that there was much worse than either of those things, but being turned into an effectual caveman's plaything wasn't an ideal life course.

    The tribe leader gestured, prompting four to emerge from the crowd and grab Avoca and the others.

    “They're taking us back to the temple,” Sellerie informed. “Whatever you plan on doing, hurry up.”

    “I'm trying,” Avoca grunted. “I'm starting from zero over here.” For what she wanted to do, it needed a fair bit of ki. The attack itself under most normal circumstances was very low maintenance, but she was going to need something extra to blind this many people at once. It was times like this that she wished Parsley had taught her the Corona Flash or something like that.

    She had one shot. If she didn't get it right, they were going to die. Or, at least she was; which meant the others weren't going to be far behind.

    As they walked, she turned her head subtly to get a measure of the spacing. The savages were grouped tightly, which was a point in her favor. It meant she didn't have to expend as much energy as she feared. She could either do it now, or wait and charge a bit more to give herself a little to work with during their escape.

    She opted for the latter. “Hey. When I give the word, close your eyes and run into the jungle.” As the sun started to set, she let her eyes drift close for a second. In that second, her fist clenched to hide the small ball of absolute darkness she formed. Most of the power she gathered was poured into the darkness, leaving her with only a little to work with once she and the others started their escape. Overall, she estimated she was hovering around ten to fifteen percent of her normal levels. Not great, but far from helpless. Still, a fight was the last thing she wanted to get involved in right now.

    “Now!” She squeezed her eyes closed and tossed the ball in the air. Midnight Bloom unfolded like a flower in spring, expanding quickly into a dome of utter and complete darkness. Any light from the setting sun was absorbed and diffused, resulting in pitch blackness within the dome. It was like they were standing in the dead of the night.

    The savages were alarmed and staggered. Their grips slacked just enough for Avoca and the others to slip free and make a mad dash to their left, into the thick jungle.
    DBM | Sarada | Parsley

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!

  7. #3982

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    Leading them to the guest quarters, Cyanna talked along the way about many things. About the Temple and all the interesting places inside, about Chroma, about Meagan and Jinzi and the prospect of becoming an Aunt for the first time on her life. Most of it was from excitement about being back home, and from a kind of decompression after the events on Quecera.

    As they arrived at the rooms, the Sister was just finishing setting it up for them. Cyanna smiled and gave her a hug, "Sis and I don't knwo what we would do without the Order's help. Thanks, Sagene."

    The Sister hugged Cyanna back, "We're just grateful to have you and Lady Meagan watching over us. This place has been crying out for a Guardian for so long." Letting go, "I feel bad that Lady Dash had to return to her own home world."

    Cyanna nodded, "I'll be visiting Earth soon, when I do I'll go looking for her. I'll let her know you and the others send yoru regards."

    "Tell her that we also send out thanks, we know how much she helped out here in the beginning or Lady Meagan's tenure."

    "I will, and thanks for getting everything set up for my friends."

    Sagene smiled, then bowed to Praxat crayying Fraxat, Killrog, "I wish you well and good health, long life, and the blessings of Iris." With that she left.

    Cyanna then took them inside, Praxat and her sister sharing a room, Killrog having the room next door to himself. As they settled in, Cyanna stiffened slightly, "Oh, that must be the Doctors. I'll stay with you while they are here."

    ------------

    Four Chromakai doctors arrived, two went to examine Fraxat, the other two went to Killrog. An hour later, after some consulting with Meagan, they came up with a plan of treatment. It would not be easy, and it would take several weeks, but the challenge excited the Medical Scientists. Meagan made sure to oversee the process, to insure that they were well taken care of.

    During this time, before Cyanna left for Earth, she showed Praxat around the temple, including the library letting her know that it was available for her use.

    Cyanna had also taken the time to fill Meagan in on what happened, and on Althena's request.

    As predicted, it took about three weeks before they were healed well enough to return to their home world. Meagan accompanied them back, while ther she worked with Althena to set up a Guardian Network room and instructing her on how ot use it. Emphasizing that only Guardians could enter, and that it should only eb used in cases of urgency or emergency.

    Once done, Meagan invited Althena to Chroma when the time was right for both of them. After that, she said her goodbys and returned to Chroma. There was still the issue of trying to convince Lady Maize to join the Network as well, and the short time she had left to finish installing Network rooms fro each of the known Guardians before needing to prepare for giving birth.

    --------

    Back on Earth, Cyanna had her own obligations and self-determined missions to complete. Both there, and across the Galaxy.
    After her sister, Fraxat was treated, by the doctors on Chroma, Praxat went back to Qacriea to spend time with her family but mostly with her sister Fraxat. To help her sister Fraxat relearn some things using the information from the books she read in Chroma's temple's library while she was there. " It's going to be okay, Fraxat. I will be by your side every step of the way through this, " Praxat said.

    While she was helping her sister Fraxat, Praxat requested the help of other sisters Craxat, Sraxat, Draxat, Nraxat to help with Fraxat. Praxat and her sisters helped Fraxat with her memory problems. It took two months before Fraxat could live somewhat normally. By, this time she relearned some of the things she knew.

    Still, she had some memory problems and occasional confusion. Even though she knew that her sister Fraxat would never bee the same, Praxat was just happy her sister Fraxat could live somewhat normally. To help her sister Fraxat with her occasional confusion. Praxat built a robot assistant for her sister Fraxat.

    On the next month, Qaztoh came back to Qacriea, and a meeting took place to discuss rather a new government should be established. Toadians and Replitas were at the meeting to discuss this. Also, at this meeting was Praxat and her family.

    The discussing last for five months and Toadians, and Replitas placed their votes on what type of Government they wanted. During those months. Many types of Governments were mention, but only one Government was chosen.

    In the fifth month, by a large number of votes. A crowned republic was chosen as the new Government for Qacriea. Qaztoh kept her status as Queen and was made Head of State.

    She was turned into a ceremonial figurehead. Reduced to having little theoretical power. That couldn't be used under normal circumstances.

    Praxat and her family all vote for a crowned republic believing it to be the best choice. Praxat and her family believe this was for the best. Qacriea needed a leader, and Praxat and her family knew in their hearts that Qaztoh wasn't it. That forcing her into a position she didn't want would be wrong.

    Many votes were passed as to who would be the head of this new Government, but many Toadians and Replitas voted for Praxat's mother Uraxat. She end up being the Prime Mister, The Head of Qacriea's Government. Which was named The Republic of Qacriea.

    Once the new Government was established. Praxat stayed on Qacriea. To helped Althena do repairs to the Gukraimano with the help of her sisters and Killrog. The task of doing repairs for the Gukraimano took weeks. After the repairs were done.

    The Gukraimano was as good as new. After doing all this. Praxat did a bunch of training in a remote area on Qacriea to practice mastering compressing her limbs to boost the force of her strikes, and to hone her water sense ( lateral line).
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  8. #3983
    This Isn't Home Yun Lao's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MrSandman View Post
    ~Other side of the Tomb~
    ~15 min prior~

    While one group begins their trek into the bowels of madness, another continues his pursuit with entirely different motives.

    Rex had left the corpse of his attendant and continued on after the weakening traces of his new prey. The atmosphere had grow increasingly restrictive the deeper he followed...and thought he could still sense them ahead, his limits were being dampened by some trick of the surrounding. What was more aggravating however, was the consistent use of delaying tactics against him. Weither the aid had intended to lead him astray or not....the old man and his maid had no intentions of letting anyone follow.

    Shuttered doors barred his path. Explosives, Flash Bangs, Sticky Nets, armed Morgans. None of them were a legitimate threat...persay. But they appeared with such frequency that even the act of going down a single hallway was akin to pulling teeth.

    Still.....there was nothing to halt his advance for long......

    ~~

    Yet in the growing annoyance of the pursuit...and the growing suppression of his senses......it had not clicked until he rounded a corner that there were energies ahead that were not his quary.....

    .....until the ignition of a blinding red light cast aside the shadows and revealed to Rex what was ahead.

    .....a bunch of familiar faces.....and a girl he had never seen before tapping viciously away at something on the wall.......

    She took one glance in his direction, turned several shades of blue, and seemed to grow several times more desperate to do whatever she was trying to do.
    His rage had not subsided but was no longer at the forefront of his emotions. Instead, it stewed away at the back of his mind, each obstacle and distraction adding more and more to it, waiting for his permission to boil over. Still, if the old man thought he would be spared in the end, he would find himself in for a deadly surprise.

    After some time, however, Rex began to notice some drastic changes in the ki signatures he followed. They felt familiar, too familiar.

    Emerging into an opening, the saurian found himself before the others along with a small girl.

    "I should have expected some of you to have followed me here."

  9. #3984
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
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    Default Home of the Warriors IV

    She let the Bloom remain for a few seconds longer, just long enough for them to gain a sizable lead before allowing it to dissipate. It wasn't long before the angered roars of the savages echoed through the trees.

    The jungle was a thick maze of twisted trees and knobby roots that threatened to steal their balance from them with each step. With the sun steadily disappearing below the horizon, visibility was fading quickly. They hoped that was a plus in their favor, but the savages likely knew this jungle like the backs of their hands.

    “This way!” Corra shouted while taking a sharp left. “Ship's back this way!”

    Enraged howls erupted from a short distance behind them. The savages were quickly gaining on them. There wasn't any need to guess what was going to happen when they finally caught up.

    The only solace they could gather from this dire, literally life-or-death situation was that their ki was quickly returning. The downside to most ki draining techniques was that they were only temporary. Permanently negating a person's ki usually came at great personal cost, or was too time consuming to initiate, or took too long to perfect. Regardless, it frankly wasn't a very practical avenue when doing it for a short time was usually more than enough to win the battle.

    That these savages – or at least that one – knew that was more than enough evidence that there was very little savage about them. Combat and war were second nature to Saiyans, no matter the era and no matter how sophisticated they were. If nothing else, that was how they could get through to these people: by repeatedly and forcefully punching them in the face.

    The was the Saiyan way.

    “There!” Through a gap in the upcoming trees, they could see the landing gear of their ship. It hadn't been destroyed or tampered with from the looks of it, so getting away was only a matter of getting on board.

    As the reality of a clean getaway become clearer, their hopes and strength were renewed. They ran a little faster. Their eyes seemed to pierce the darkness like high-beams, letting them easily avoid knotty tree roots and the massive vines that were hanging from equally massive tree branches.

    They passed through the clearing, only to skid to a complete stop. “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

    Another group of savage Saiyans were inspecting the ship, poking and prodding and sniffing everywhere they could. Two of them were even using a big stick to try and pry the hatch open. The sudden intrusion garnered their attention. Yet, unlike before with the other savages, their reaction was more curious than confrontational. The tribe leader frowned and cautiously approached him. Like the leader of the previous tribe – the tribe that was only a few seconds away from being on top of them, mind – he was far stronger than anyone else in his tribe. And the previous leader, as an aside.

    Unlike the other one, he was actually of average height. At least he was the same height as Avoca, unlike shorty back there.

    Speaking of, he and the rest of his gang leaped into the clearing from the jungle. Almost immediately, the docile and curious demeanor of the Saiyans in front of Avoca and the others evaporated, replaced by seething anger.

    The feeling was quickly and immediately reciprocated.

    The two primal tribes moved to face off, having completely forgotten about their would be prey and the object of their curiosity. Like packs of wild animals, they growled and let out low, guttural roars.

    “The Vegeta tribe crossed over into the Kakarotto tribe's territory. It seems they're rivals,” Sellerie explained, voice still shaking, both from fear and unease and from exhaustion. “If we stay still, they'll focus on each other.”

    “And we can leave once they start fighting,” Okcho finished, giving his sister a nod.

    Corra started tapping on her watch to remotely start up the ship. The engines roared to life just as the two tribes lunged at each other. It was like one of those nature documentaries in living color, just as vicious and brutal as they imagined. The two leaders locked up as the others chose their opponents and tried to kill them as painfully as possible. They struggled against each other, neither one gaining or giving any ground.

    The two sides seemed evenly matched, neither one having much in the way of actual fighting skills; unless one considered wildly swinging haymakers and blocking punches with their faces as skills, in which case, this lot had it in spades. As much as Avoca wanted to sit and observe how Saiyans fought in the past, there was no way she was going to play winner.

    They took advantage of the volatile distraction and boarded the ship quietly. Without any delay, they took off, leaving the savage Saiyans and their equally primal world behind. For the first time in what seemed like hours, Avoca breathed out and let herself relax. She dared to glance at her companions, the so-called intellectuals. As she expected, they were all shivering like lambs. She would wager than none of them had been in any real combat situations; Corra likely had when she was trapped on Turrip, but that was it. All the simulated training exercises in the world would and could never replace real life experience.

    Avoca sighed and turned back around. Not only that, but being confronted by the alpha of the first tribe showed a serious flaw in their more pacifistic thinking. When they should have asserted themselves, they shrunk back. Those primal Saiyans were the epitome of the alpha-beta dynamic. The strongest were the leaders and everyone else did what they told them to. When met with strangers, they attempted to assert dominance. Shrinking back made that all the easier.

    There was going to be a lot to consider if they still planned on going through with their original intentions. Their beta intellectual nonsense was only going to get them killed in a world like this.

    The Saiyan homeworld was quickly fading from view as they began their trip back to Vocado. It was just as quiet as before, but gone was the quiet excitement that was present. In its place was exhaustion and lingering doubt. And shame. They had come a long way since the days the entire race shared the same values and prerogatives as those savages. Many of them thought themselves far more civilized, and in many ways, they all were. Yet, in doing so, they may have – perhaps – lost what made them Saiyans. They were all still arrogant pricks, but...

    She didn't know. She hated to pick on her – not really – but Sellerie was the only one who really shrunk away. Even Corra, the most intellectual out of all of them, showed at least some backbone. Perhaps it was more of a personality thing than anything else. That still spoke poorly of Sellerie, but... eh. Whatever.

    She had her own things to worry over. There was so much to worry about.
    DBM | Sarada | Parsley

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!

  10. #3985
    Lin Kuei Grandmaster Sub-Zero MKA's Avatar
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    Default Home of the Warriors, Epilogue

    When the day's trip came to its end, the ship came out of hyperspace and began its descent. The moment it docked and the gangplank opened, Avoca grabbed her bag and disembarked. Instead of heading home, she headed straight for the palace. …Which... was home. She would never get used to that.

    “Hey!” She slowed her gait but didn't stop when someone called after her. Okcho jogged up to catch her. “Hey, thanks for helping us get away back there. We probably wouldn't have survived without you.”

    “There's no 'probably' about it,” she remarked. “You pansies would have been passed around like a trio of prison bitches, then killed. No doubt about that.”

    “...”

    She continued just before entering the palace doors. “If you three plan on going back at any point, I suggest you find some balls and a spine, quick.”

    All Okcho could do was sigh tersely.

    He seemed to understand, proven by him not arguing or even replying. Then again, he may have been insulted. Either way, she made her point. She herself planned on going back once she got stronger. There was no way she was going to let those cavemen get away with manhandling her the way they did.

    Easy to say that now that I'm home. I'll have to make my future training count.

    Sarada was in her garden speaking with a servant. When she cleared her throat to get her attention, she immediately dismissed him. “What the hell happened to you?”

    It was then that she bothered to take stock in her appearance. There was dried blood on her face, and caked in her bangs. Her armor was cracked, and her stockings and tights were ripped in various – some precarious – places. “That planet you sent us to investigate was inhabited.”

    “Awesome!”

    Avoca held a hand up to stop her before she got too excited. “By primitive Saiyans. They managed to capture us for a bit. No telling what they would have done to us, but I have a few... ideas. The point it, we need to seriously think about whether or not bringing them into the fold is even worth it.”

    “It's totally worth it,” Sarada responded, as if Avoca hadn't said a word beyond “primitive Saiyans”. “Don't you realize just how much of our race's history is locked away on that planet? There are so many secrets we can unlock, it's crazy.”

    “You know what else is crazy? Them. Sarada, they're uncivilized. It'll take literal years before they can even understand half of what we say, much less trust us enough to share their secrets with us.” She sighed and raked her hand through her hair to get the dried blood out. “All I'm saying is I'd think twice about being all gung-ho about this.”

    Sarada wanted to argue, she could tell. That she didn't was a surprise. “Fine. As soon as I have this baby, I'll head over there and see what's what. Until then, I'll shelve.”

    Avoca was impressed by that. The old Sarada would have surely brushed off her concerns and left right this very second to prove they weren't that strong. Compared to her, they weren't, but that wasn't the point. “You're pregnant?” she replied with a question that was completely on topic.

    “Yep! I found out yesterday.”

    She wanted to ask how, but that really wasn't any of her business. And when she remembered that she turned down Maiz's offer to procure a genetic sample from a strong man, she realized that she really didn't want to know. “Congratulations.”

    “Thanks.”

    She stretched and winced when her back cracked. “I need a shower and some food. Let's get some lunch when I get back.”

    Sarada grinned and threw an arm around her shoulder as they walked back inside. “You're on! I guess I'll pay this time.”




    Meanwhile, the Vegeta and Kakarotto tribes were licking their wounds long after the civilized Saiyans departed. Not because of anything they did to each other. For the most part, they were all evenly matched, with the exception of some of the bottom feeders.

    No, the battle garnered the attention of something else. Something far worse and something far stronger.

    A beast in the far mountains, who lived in solitude with nothing but his thoughts and his strength. A legend feared throughout the planet due to his monstrous power and his brutal savagery.



    He noticed Avoca and the others the moment they arrived. Their power wasn't even close to making him break a sweat, but they didn't feel familiar. If more Saiyans were around, they would likely come.

    And he would be waiting.
    DBM | Sarada | Parsley

    ROLL TIDE ROLL!

  11. #3986

    Default The Mountains of Madness

    Quote Originally Posted by MrSandman View Post
    ~Other side of the Tomb~
    ~15 min prior~

    While one group begins their trek into the bowels of madness, another continues his pursuit with entirely different motives.

    Rex had left the corpse of his attendant and continued on after the weakening traces of his new prey. The atmosphere had grow increasingly restrictive the deeper he followed...and thought he could still sense them ahead, his limits were being dampened by some trick of the surrounding. What was more aggravating however, was the consistent use of delaying tactics against him. Weither the aid had intended to lead him astray or not....the old man and his maid had no intentions of letting anyone follow.

    Shuttered doors barred his path. Explosives, Flash Bangs, Sticky Nets, armed Morgans. None of them were a legitimate threat...persay. But they appeared with such frequency that even the act of going down a single hallway was akin to pulling teeth.

    Still.....there was nothing to halt his advance for long......

    ~~

    Yet in the growing annoyance of the pursuit...and the growing suppression of his senses......it had not clicked until he rounded a corner that there were energies ahead that were not his quary.....

    .....until the ignition of a blinding red light cast aside the shadows and revealed to Rex what was ahead.

    .....a bunch of familiar faces.....and a girl he had never seen before tapping viciously away at something on the wall.......

    She took one glance in his direction, turned several shades of blue, and seemed to grow several times more desperate to do whatever she was trying to do.
    Even as the walls seemed to cave in with a veil of noise, Zaofan continued facing forward maintaining the spread-shot of the Ruby Taiyoken. Casting the red light without the typical optic punch was an effort he could sustain about as easy as breathing...although, light being light, there was the problem that it didn't quite have the force to clear out the path before him.

    And these catacombs were so, very dusty.

    "No pressure or anything Morgan but uh..." he said, straining not to blink, "something's coming this way. Really, really quickly."

    Ochazuke, in the meantime, had silently ascertained the shape of their coming adversary, and despite it all was oddly calm.

    "He's here," he muttered. Zaofan, maintaining the flood of light dared not swivel his head.

    "Who?"

    Ochazuke said nothing, only crossing behind him, past Morgan, and forcefully ripping something from the chamber of wailing glass containers they had passed earlier.

    Quote Originally Posted by Yun Lao View Post
    His rage had not subsided but was no longer at the forefront of his emotions. Instead, it stewed away at the back of his mind, each obstacle and distraction adding more and more to it, waiting for his permission to boil over. Still, if the old man thought he would be spared in the end, he would find himself in for a deadly surprise.

    After some time, however, Rex began to notice some drastic changes in the ki signatures he followed. They felt familiar, too familiar.

    Emerging into an opening, the saurian found himself before the others along with a small girl.

    "I should have expected some of you to have followed me here."
    Indeed they had, and yet, for a long moment, there was no response, but a sputtering flood of crimson light that flickered beneath weary eyelids. Suddenly the red ray from Zaofan's eyes seemed to warp in its integrily, first a small glint as if it passed through glass, until it slowly began to bend revealing a thin film of a shadow.

    Noiselessly, one of the dinosaurs in their glass cages came at Rex. Suspended in its fluid tomb of living death, the creature thrashed and screamed as Ochazuke hurled it at the Mountain's Crownless King from the side in an effort to send him careening into the wall of blinking mold.

  12. #3987
    This Isn't Home Yun Lao's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grampagen View Post
    Even as the walls seemed to cave in with a veil of noise, Zaofan continued facing forward maintaining the spread-shot of the Ruby Taiyoken. Casting the red light without the typical optic punch was an effort he could sustain about as easy as breathing...although, light being light, there was the problem that it didn't quite have the force to clear out the path before him.

    And these catacombs were so, very dusty.

    "No pressure or anything Morgan but uh..." he said, straining not to blink, "something's coming this way. Really, really quickly."

    Ochazuke, in the meantime, had silently ascertained the shape of their coming adversary, and despite it all was oddly calm.

    "He's here," he muttered. Zaofan, maintaining the flood of light dared not swivel his head.

    "Who?"

    Ochazuke said nothing, only crossing behind him, past Morgan, and forcefully ripping something from the chamber of wailing glass containers they had passed earlier.



    Indeed they had, and yet, for a long moment, there was no response, but a sputtering flood of crimson light that flickered beneath weary eyelids. Suddenly the red ray from Zaofan's eyes seemed to warp in its integrily, first a small glint as if it passed through glass, until it slowly began to bend revealing a thin film of a shadow.

    Noiselessly, one of the dinosaurs in their glass cages came at Rex. Suspended in its fluid tomb of living death, the creature thrashed and screamed as Ochazuke hurled it at the Mountain's Crownless King from the side in an effort to send him careening into the wall of blinking mold.
    Rex was prepared for the "heroes" to attack, yet he had to admit that he hadn't entirely been prepared for a dinosaur to be thrown at him.

    However, if they expected him to be knocked aside, they were clueless of just how much rage he had been storing since this journey began. The captive dinosaur, flung by Ochazuke as a projectile, was halted in mid-air, the poor beast screaming as they heard the meaty rip of teeth tearing into flesh. With its life energy sampled, Rex allowed his Tithe To The STRONGEST to drain the rest of the dinosaur's energy into it, leaving it nothing by a mere husk in a scant few moments. As flakes and dust of former flesh and bone dispersed into the air, Rex wiped the viscera from his mouth.

    "Let me guess... that little one gave you a sob story, perhaps? Of a perfect utopia that was destroyed by a villainous... what was the name they gave us? Ah, yes... wyrm I believe it was... but that hardly matters. The kingdom they preached was nothing more than a facade used to hide the rotting core of corruption."

    The energy the dinosaur had given him had taken effect as the remainder of the gash Shōchū had given him was completely gone.

    "I don't know why I continue to explain myself, you would rather paint the world black and white than question the greys."

  13. #3988
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yun Lao View Post
    Rex was prepared for the "heroes" to attack, yet he had to admit that he hadn't entirely been prepared for a dinosaur to be thrown at him.

    However, if they expected him to be knocked aside, they were clueless of just how much rage he had been storing since this journey began. The captive dinosaur, flung by Ochazuke as a projectile, was halted in mid-air, the poor beast screaming as they heard the meaty rip of teeth tearing into flesh. With its life energy sampled, Rex allowed his Tithe To The STRONGEST to drain the rest of the dinosaur's energy into it, leaving it nothing by a mere husk in a scant few moments. As flakes and dust of former flesh and bone dispersed into the air, Rex wiped the viscera from his mouth.

    "Let me guess... that little one gave you a sob story, perhaps? Of a perfect utopia that was destroyed by a villainous... what was the name they gave us? Ah, yes... wyrm I believe it was... but that hardly matters. The kingdom they preached was nothing more than a facade used to hide the rotting core of corruption."

    The energy the dinosaur had given him had taken effect as the remainder of the gash Shōchū had given him was completely gone.

    "I don't know why I continue to explain myself, you would rather paint the world black and white than question the greys."
    Morgan didn't take her eyes off the door controls, but she bit her lip in a sudden surge of frustration. "T...Then stop explaining.....Nothing about what you did was grey. We just wanted to be left alone...we never....started a fight. You did." She banged her fist into the wall off to the side.....then immediately continued pressing symbols. ".....So just.....go away......." A look of horror briefly passed over her eyes and she realized she'd just back talked the destoryer of her civilization and continued tapping away with a cold sweat. "...p...please...."

  14. #3989
    Astonishing Member KingofPie's Avatar
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    Default Clashing Justice!!: The Next!

    Quote Originally Posted by Twiliteknite06 View Post
    Hops froze for a second as the green dot hovered over his chest. His mentor, Durive stood with his arms up as a younger, sprier Durive aimed a gun at him. "You've got the wrong guy!" Hops shouted, eyes darting around to the places he could sense the others Ki. "I've been pulled from my own time and wound up here. I was a captive of the Doctor until the M-Fighters found me. He reached for a glass full of juice behind his back and quickly flung it at P-Cee before diving down and making his way to his room for his weapons. He wasn't going to go quietly, and if it was a fight they wanted, it was a fight they'd get!

    Jumping out of his bedroom window, he slung his belt over his shoulder and held his pistol at the ready, sword drawn in his left hand. Seeing they hadn't caught up just yet he managed to affix the belt around his waist and began the link between it and his weapons. A quick ki charge and he was ready for the lawmen. His first target, the one who dared to draw a sniper on him. "Come out and fight you, coward!" He shouted, leaping into the air and darting toward the small capsule home across the street. Luckily, his neighbors weren't home, so there was no risk of any civilian injuries! He hoped he could kite the patrol somewhere out of the neighborhood, but right now he had to try and take them one at a time and unlike his experience in the Time Patrol, time was certainly not on his side
    "Damn, he's fast!" P-Cee commented as Hops threw the cup at her before quickly darting through his own window.

    "P-Cee! You alright?!" X-Bo's voice blared out over the communicator.

    "No..." P-Cee began solemnly.

    "What?! What he do What happened?!" X-Bo asked, concerned.

    "I had my uniform dry cleaned and hour ago. Now juice is all over it, this is terrible..." P-Cee noted.

    "...." X-Bo responded with audible silence. Not only because of his exasperation over his sister's overblown complaint, but because he had sensed Hops' power level heading towards N-Ten's direction. Quickly he hopped above, atop Hops' roof to give chase. P-Sta soon followed, opting to circle around the house instead as Dr. Cast stayed behind to monitor the situation. After a moment of meandering, P-Cee managed to hold back her dissatisfaction with her current state of her uniform and join her brothers while N-Ten remained in position, her sights trained on the Time Patrol officer.

    "Blood, scorch marks, tears are fine, but get a little bit of juice on her uniform..." P-Sta shook his head, muttering to himself as he tailed Hops. He alerted the others on his communicator, reminding them, "Do not engage alone! Remember, he's a Saiyan! He seems to be trying to lead us out of town. That's a mark for him, don't you think!"

    "Maybe so...but Saiyan or not..." X-Bo began, leaping off the rooftop and backflipping into the air, tucking his legs tightly to his chest in some sort of reverse cannonball as he leaped above P-Sta, and soared over Hops."Like I said, I wanna test his skills!" He eventually reached the building that N-Ten was perched on. Loosening his legs, he touched down on the metal walls of the capsule building, bent his knees, and launched himself forward at Hops, drawing his blade, xCaliber as he did so.

    "Call my sister a coward, huh?" X-Bo taunted, raising his sword to strike Hops. "But you're the one who went and ran, buddy!"

  15. #3990

    Default The Mountains of Madness

    Quote Originally Posted by Yun Lao View Post
    Rex was prepared for the "heroes" to attack, yet he had to admit that he hadn't entirely been prepared for a dinosaur to be thrown at him.

    However, if they expected him to be knocked aside, they were clueless of just how much rage he had been storing since this journey began. The captive dinosaur, flung by Ochazuke as a projectile, was halted in mid-air, the poor beast screaming as they heard the meaty rip of teeth tearing into flesh. With its life energy sampled, Rex allowed his Tithe To The STRONGEST to drain the rest of the dinosaur's energy into it, leaving it nothing by a mere husk in a scant few moments. As flakes and dust of former flesh and bone dispersed into the air, Rex wiped the viscera from his mouth.

    "Let me guess... that little one gave you a sob story, perhaps? Of a perfect utopia that was destroyed by a villainous... what was the name they gave us? Ah, yes... wyrm I believe it was... but that hardly matters. The kingdom they preached was nothing more than a facade used to hide the rotting core of corruption."

    The energy the dinosaur had given him had taken effect as the remainder of the gash Shōchū had given him was completely gone.

    "I don't know why I continue to explain myself, you would rather paint the world black and white than question the greys."

    Ochazuke said nothing at first, watching silently as Rex consumed his own kin without hesitation. Though it had once been the remnants of Charco's flesh and blood, the transformation that had occurred left little of his ki, and where the bones and sinews were stretched into this ancient, fearful shape,

    "From one who would snuff out a life merely to give purpose to his own, you know your words are inadequate."

    Where there had once been ambition chasing towards immense potential, this bottomless well of hatred and hunger stolen that boy's future to the curse of generations.

    And yet, so long as he still stands among us...

    "I've seen enough of your Grey, worm. Tethering your dependent life to the deeds of others, staking your claim in misfortune, then demanding respect by sowing your impotent fear." Standing across the way, he stared down the hellish creature from a distance, noting the signs of scuffle knotted in the oily sheen of his scales. Crouching forward, he lift his left hand before him, a subdued fury lining his frame.

    " Did the Strongest flee to this foetid place seeking refuge? To lick your wounds among other lingering, forgotten things?"

    Quote Originally Posted by MrSandman View Post
    Morgan didn't take her eyes off the door controls, but she bit her lip in a sudden surge of frustration. "T...Then stop explaining.....Nothing about what you did was grey. We just wanted to be left alone...we never....started a fight. You did." She banged her fist into the wall off to the side.....then immediately continued pressing symbols. ".....So just.....go away......." A look of horror briefly passed over her eyes and she realized she'd just back talked the destoryer of her civilization and continued tapping away with a cold sweat. "...p...please...."
    Finally allowing the beam to break, Zaofan took up a position between the two and Morgan. Somehow on the return flight aboard the Coldlight, he'd missed this thing entirely. The comms had gone off, and they'd all felt as if the Nebula itself had lurched as Charco made his last stand against the Doctor, but seeing Rex, the familiar energy that washed over him filled him with a different sort of terror than the forces that lurched within these accursed walls.

    And though he would guard her, he too had his doubts.

    "Morgan," he said briskly, "You're saying he's returned here, then it must be for a reason."

    He dared not take his eyes off the impending battle before him - they were quicker than his hands, after all - yet they knew whatever was at the heart of this, the fall of the Royal Guard, the diaspora of the Attendants, and the cultish orders that sprung up in the scattering of Amdapour, it was all connected to this point. "You don't need permission to take a stand, least of all from him. But I need you to tell me."

    "What's behind that door?"
    Last edited by grampagen; 12-18-2019 at 08:58 PM.

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