Dragonball M, Chapter 3: In Blood, Bone, and Ash! The Way Forward Unlocked!

[Sub-Zero MKA]

A Dreadnaught heart beat within Midori. That she can see for sure. Something else seems off about her too. She doesn’t.....move right. Nor is her energy.....right.

It was clear as day, and to say Parsley wasn't surprised was insufficient. Midori had given herself a dreadnaught heart. What was more was that her movements were off. Her energy was odd, as well. That appeared to be the extent of what Parsley could see, but that was enough to tell her that this battle was not going to go the way many among them hoped it would.

'She has a dreadnaught heart,' Parsley silently announced to the others. 'And her movements and energy are both off. I can't pinpoint how, but there is something not right about her.'

She watched Ishtar and Sarada attack. Sarada knockout gas took no effect, while Ishtar had no trouble pinning the woman to the ground. Is it magic? No, I would have sensed it. Could it be this creation energy that's protecting her?

She halted and watched and waited. She needed to see more.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Wrestling ? No." Ishtar commented, before looking up at the Dreadnaught heart that had empowered the barrier. "Just acting the distraction." Calling out again telepathically, Ishtar made her target fairly clear. "HIT THE HEART."

An explosion enough to kill a Super Saiyan ... it would have to do for now.

And should the heart be struck, and successfully detonate, the Oni had a plan for that, too.

In a chiding voice, Midori speaks to her.

“Clever, but pointless. It will power down in three, two, one....”

And it does so. The field goes a way and the Dreadnaught heart empowering it shuts down.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

In a chiding voice, Midori speaks to her.

“Clever, but pointless. It will power down in three, two, one....”

And it does so. The field goes a way and the Dreadnaught heart empowering it shuts down.

Despite the seeming failure ... Ishtar flashed Midori a smile.

Producing a capsule from her pocket, the Oni opened it to reveal Glacia's heart, and before Midori could bother powering it down, Ishtar said simply. "I brought my own." And with an influx of energy, the Oni triggered the heart to detonate. Throwing up a Void Barrier to amplify the blast while mitigating the damage it might deal the others.

[grampagen]

Where senses failed, memory remained. The place, the energy being seized from the facility itself worked to show what the Doctor hid behind the barrier.

Creational Energy, as expected.
Some ki and psychic energy, also expected.
A Dreadnaught Heart within her body.
Big Ghetti Star nanites.

The facility memory of the Doctor shows a temporal loop within her, like the snake eating its own tail. And the memory also shows seven twisted objects laying within storage behind her.

Taken at a glance, it appeared the Doctor's power was manifest as a fixed quantity, one they'd be hard pressed to surpass. Its component sources were well known to him and the others that went into the silent dark of that hollow world. It spread among this metallic forge like the sheen of oil runoff upon water. Machines. Infernal machines to augment the manifest energies. Like Dr. Char Banner Gero herself to the silent swarm pulsing through the presence of that distant body. Consume. Replicate. Replace.

Hidden from conventional view, however, was something akin to a Nexus Point itself. Time energy. Even now, Nail's Artifact resonated with it, this ruptured piece of Time.

More than that, however, was the sense of something else. He traced it to seven sources within the walls of the room. Concentrating upon the memory, Ochazuke sought to discern what they were...and how they were connected to the source of the chronal disruption that bled all over this place.

As he did so, he lift the two mech cannons, one of each shoulder, and made his mark. With Ishiki Toei, he began to pour energy into the long bullets, and so silently reinforced they began to glow with the energy of Kongosho.

OOC: 3

[KingofPie]

Sasheem arrived, late but in better shape than he was previously. "The Doctor," Parsley responded. "Meagan's and Pants' daughter, Midori. She's manipulated events in our timeline to some unknown degree to ensure that we are as strong as we possibly can be for when we face Genesis in five to ten years."

"Oh shfit, fer reall...?!" The Majin commented, chowing down on a platter of clams, as he await his moment to strike, if neccesary, the food powering his Majin Metabolism and amplifying his power level.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

She looks at Sarada.

“A+ for not just punching, I suppose. Didn’t expect knockout gas.”

No effect is had.

To Ishtar’s surprise, she easily pins her.

“Are we wrestling, Ishtar? I don’t think Sarada will appreciate that.”

"Wrestling ? No." Ishtar commented, before looking up at the Dreadnaught heart that had empowered the barrier. "Just acting the distraction." Calling out again telepathically, Ishtar made her target fairly clear. "HIT THE HEART."

An explosion enough to kill a Super Saiyan ... it would have to do for now.

And should the heart be struck, and successfully detonate, the Oni had a plan for that, too.

In a chiding voice, Midori speaks to her.

“Clever, but pointless. It will power down in three, two, one....”

And it does so. The field goes a way and the Dreadnaught heart empowering it shuts down.

Sarada growled and stepped back again. Her gas didn't work and Ishtar's plan failed before it even had a chance. So far, nothing they tried was working and it was pissing her off! Parsley said she had one of those dreadnaught hearts in her chest. Did that have something to do with it?

No. The others before her that had one could still be hurt by their attacks.

She frowned and glanced at her sister. Just mere moments ago, she was making her way toward them. Now, she was stopped and was just watching them. Tch. Damn it. There must have been something more if she and Ochazuke were both doing that hard staring **** they always did.

"A+," she uttered with mock cheerfulness. "I'll take it."

She clenched her right fist and started to cycle ki through it. "In return, you can take this."

She may have moved on from him, but she hadn't forgotten about her Earthman.

OOC: 3

Despite the seeming failure ... Ishtar flashed Midori a smile.

Producing a capsule from her pocket, the Oni opened it to reveal Glacia's heart, and before Midori could bother powering it down, Ishtar said simply. "I brought my own." And with an influx of energy, the Oni triggered the heart to detonate. Throwing up a Void Barrier to amplify the blast while mitigating the damage it might deal the others.

What the ****?! She had heard that these hearts had the power to kill a Super Saiyan, though Parsley and Totoma both survived by throwing up shields at the same time. ****, and Ishtar is right fucking there! She gritted her teeth and erected an energy barrier to protect herself. She hoped that her love hadn't overdone it this time.

[Miburo]

Despite the seeming failure ... Ishtar flashed Midori a smile.

Producing a capsule from her pocket, the Oni opened it to reveal Glacia's heart, and before Midori could bother powering it down, Ishtar said simply. "I brought my own." And with an influx of energy, the Oni triggered the heart to detonate. Throwing up a Void Barrier to amplify the blast while mitigating the damage it might deal the others.

The Nevadian heard very little of whatever the Oni uttered to her would be lover of another dimension. He was--at best--vaguely aware of what a dreadnaught heart was, but at this moment, it was irrelevant.

Only one thing mattered at this moment.

The barrier had been breached.

Even as the darkness of the void overtook the two as they grappled, the Nevadian sensed them perfectly through the Shingan.

There was no telling how long she would remain vulnerable, no telling what she had planned. It was a difficult shot, hitting one, but not the other, even if they were not rolling on the ground, arms locked around each other. As the situation currently was, it was hardly impossible, but required a concentration a timing Held was not at the moment afforded the luxury to possess.

Controlling his breathing, pushing back his anger, his will shaped the size of the attack, trading the width of the attack for sheer intensity. It required far more focus, but the alternative might have been taking off the entire upper body of the Oni.

Gritting his teeth, he focused deeper.

The size of the orb shrunk to that of a pea, the tendrils surrounding it, the size of flower petals.

So, he made no attempt to avoid the Oni, simply deciding to make the best of a bad situation. She seemed resolved to do whatever it took, and that would have to be good enough, he supposed.

"Ishtar!" He shouted, his only warning to his comrade to prepare herself.

She was a sturdy one, after all, and so long as she survived, it was likely Held would be able to help her recover...Probably.

Muscles flexed, he prepared his attack, the spinning drills of energy rotating at a fever pitch.

Dual Spiraling Horn Burst!

The twin beams, narrow in scope, drilled forth through the air, thin, pencil width narrow beams of azure destruction, threatening to spiral through anything that was foolish enough to stand in front of it. He had taken care to try and avoid any vital areas on the Oni with the highest precision, as they shot forth to penetrate both her and the doctor.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

In her power armor, Praxat points at Midori." Everything that comes out of your mouth royal pisses me off." However, it's that smug attitude of yours that pisses me of the most. You want me to thank you," Praxat said.

" You know what I say to that, screw you!" Praxat said.

Althena takes out a strange tube of swirl energy ." You should be ashamed of yourself," Althena said.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Despite the seeming failure ... Ishtar flashed Midori a smile.

Producing a capsule from her pocket, the Oni opened it to reveal Glacia's heart, and before Midori could bother powering it down, Ishtar said simply. "I brought my own." And with an influx of energy, the Oni triggered the heart to detonate. Throwing up a Void Barrier to amplify the blast while mitigating the damage it might deal the others.

OT: I forgot about Ishtar’s collection.


The explosion is contained, for sure, a shaped charge almost directed right at Midori. Ishtar will eat some of it, but the majority is taken right at Midori’s face.

For a third time the facility is rocked, the explosion not quite on par with Charco or her earlier blast, but close. A massive hole firms and the two fall into it, plunging into the depths of the facility a few hundred feet below, ending in another space dock with a few ancient shuttles still inside.

Ishtar, you’ve been hurt, bad. Surprisingly all your limbs are intact, but overall you’ve been burned bruised and battered by the explosion and everything hurts. In fact, if you did t know better, you would almost think Midori had helped protect you somehow.

As to Midori.........

The woman rises up and smiles at the wounded Oni, no visual damage done. She walks over and shakes her head over Ishtar, flipping her hair back she leans over and sighs.

“That was close, silly fool. Be glad I helped you survive. Maybe now you can understand.”

She bends down and kisses Ishtar’s forehead, grinning into her eyes completely unharmed save her clothes are gone. Body wise Midori is quite beautiful, but the look in her eyes and her smile belay that beauty.

“The truth is I’m Time Locked, Ishtar. I cannot age. I do not need to eat or drink. This physical vessel before you literally is locked in time, little love. And when something is locked in time, well, that means you cannot damage it, you cannot alter it, you cannot destroy it. Not even your pretty Hakai energy can beat time. Blow me into space, toss me into the sun, try to transmute me, nothing works. In all my vast travels I made myself truely, and utterly, immortal. And even if you somehow did, well....that’s what my new heart and the nanites are far. Contingencies within contingencies.”

She bops Ishtar’s nose with a finger and then gestures.

“Farewell.”

Midori jumps upwards, and after a moment lands back in the same ruined lab Charco destroyed as before, eyeing the rest of the group with glee. Completely nude and unharmed, she gestures down to the hole.

“Might want to get her. She’s a bit banged up, and it’s time for me to go. My villainous monologue distracted you all long enough for Plan B to finish. I was worried there for a bit when Charco blasted everything, but you were all too eager to sit and listen to me gloat and draw upon righteous indignation. Idiots. Make them look one way, so they don’t see another.”

From within the computer she had been using, the one protected by a Dreadnaught Heart (the barrier had withdrawn, but still protected the computer behind her) seven glowing objects emerge from a tray under the computer and float to her.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Taken at a glance, it appeared the Doctor's power was manifest as a fixed quantity, one they'd be hard pressed to surpass. Its component sources were well known to him and the others that went into the silent dark of that hollow world. It spread among this metallic forge like the sheen of oil runoff upon water. Machines. Infernal machines to augment the manifest energies. Like Dr. Char Banner Gero herself to the silent swarm pulsing through the presence of that distant body. Consume. Replicate. Replace.

Hidden from conventional view, however, was something akin to a Nexus Point itself. Time energy. Even now, Nail's Artifact resonated with it, this ruptured piece of Time.

More than that, however, was the sense of something else. He traced it to seven sources within the walls of the room. Concentrating upon the memory, Ochazuke sought to discern what they were...and how they were connected to the source of the chronal disruption that bled all over this place.

As he did so, he lift the two mech cannons, one of each shoulder, and made his mark. With Ishiki Toei, he began to pour energy into the long bullets, and so silently reinforced they began to glow with the energy of Kongosho.

OOC: 3

Ochazuke, you know what these are.

Dragon balls.

But twisted, so very twisted. Temporal energy lay within them, and your keen discerning nature sees them for what they are.

Each one created by the death of a timeline, focused into and locked into the sphere, kept alive instead of turned to stone by her Creational Energy.

Each glowing sphere swirls with twisted energy, a different sacrificed universe to make it, each a bit different in size and color, and you can only fear the type of chimera dragon such an abomination will create when summoned. Apparently, the computer behind her had been showing directed temporal and Creational energy to further stabilize the spheres and, with the time Midori bought by monologuing, they finished.

[Tami]

OT: I forgot about Ishtar’s collection.


The explosion is contained, for sure, a shaped charge almost directed right at Midori. Ishtar will eat some of it, but the majority is taken right at Midori’s face.

For a third time the facility is rocked, the explosion not quite on par with Charco or her earlier blast, but close. A massive hole firms and the two fall into it, plunging into the depths of the facility a few hundred feet below, ending in another space dock with a few ancient shuttles still inside.

Ishtar, you’ve been hurt, bad. Surprisingly all your limbs are intact, but overall you’ve been burned bruised and battered by the explosion and everything hurts. In fact, if you did t know better, you would almost think Midori had helped protect you somehow.

As to Midori.........

The woman rises up and smiles at the wounded Oni, no visual damage done. She walks over and shakes her head over Ishtar, flipping her hair back she leans over and sighs.

“That was close, silly fool. Be glad I helped you survive. Maybe now you can understand.”

She bends down and kisses Ishtar’s forehead, grinning into her eyes completely unharmed save her clothes are gone. Body wise Midori is quite beautiful, but the look in her eyes and her smile belay that beauty.

“The truth is I’m Time Locked, Ishtar. I cannot age. I do not need to eat or drink. This physical vessel before you literally is locked in time, little love. And when something is locked in time, well, that means you cannot damage it, you cannot alter it, you cannot destroy it. Not even your pretty Hakai energy can beat time. Blow me into space, toss me into the sun, try to transmute me, nothing works. In all my vast travels I made myself truely, and utterly, immortal. And even if you somehow did, well....that’s what my new heart and the nanites are far. Contingencies within contingencies.”

She bops Ishtar’s nose with a finger and then gestures.

“Farewell.”

Midori jumps upwards, and after a moment lands back in the same ruined lab Charco destroyed as before, eyeing the rest of the group with glee. Completely nude and unharmed, she gestures down to the hole.

“Might want to get her. She’s a bit banged up, and it’s time for me to go. My villainous monologue distracted you all long enough for Plan B to finish. I was worried there for a bit when Charco blasted everything, but you were all too eager to sit and listen to me gloat and draw upon righteous indignation. Idiots. Make them look one way, so they don’t see another.”

From within the computer she had been using, the one protected by a Dreadnaught Heart (the barrier had withdrawn, but still protected the computer behind her) seven glowing objects emerge from a tray under the computer and float to her.

Dash, looking angry and worried, yells out, "Don't go an do anything god damn foolish. You're already racked up enough as it is."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Dash, looking angry and worried, yells out, "Don't go an do anything god damn foolish. You're already racked up enough as it is."

“I’m just assuring my vision. After today, you’ll never see me again, Dash.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Ishtar!"

The pained scream ripped from Sarada's throat. She was helpless to do anything. Her love was still alive, but was badly hurt. Sarada felt only a muted rupture of agony, but it was still enough to drop her to a knee.

She grunted and hissed, drawing in breath through gritted teeth when Midori arrived from the hole the dreadnaught heart explosion created. Ishtar didn't return with her. She noticed the seven glowing objects floating toward her and felt her blood run cold. No, it can't be...

There were very few things those could be. If they were dragonballs, then everything they had been fighting for for the last week would be undone. It would all have been for nothing.

More power poured into her arm, flowing down and coalescing in her hand. Doing it twice killed him. It was only a simulation, but she remembered it and the aftermath like it was yesterday. It was a vile precursor to him losing his life for real. She would be more careful, and make sure she only needed to do this once. I'll probably lose my arm, she realized. Ah, well. Another prosthetic for her, it seemed.

The veins in her arm began to glow red.

OOC: 2

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

Parsley glanced at Sarada dropping to a knee and knew Ishtar had taken the worst of it. Midori arriving completely unscathed in every possible way except clothing proved it. Yet, something wasn't right. The blast should have done something. Even the most powerful of enemies could be hurt with the right means, with the right timing. That she wasn't, plus what she had seen only moments earlier with her energy and movement proved that Parsley was missing something. Something vital.

"You seem to have this all figured out," she noted as she watched the seven glowing objects floating toward Midori. "Dragonballs? Wishing to make your victory permanent? Or perhaps wishing your parents away to paradise to wait for you?"

Once again, the power of Observational Focus fell upon Midori. Parsley would know what she was hiding. She poured energy into, heightening the focus beyond its limitations. A sharp pain in her temple made her wince. Her body wasn't used to this level of acuity, but she had to know. It was right there; she was only missing it.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Ishtar!"

The pained scream ripped from Sarada's throat. She was helpless to do anything. Her love was still alive, but was badly hurt. Sarada felt only a muted rupture of agony, but it was still enough to drop her to a knee.

She grunted and hissed, drawing in breath through gritted teeth when Midori arrived from the hole the dreadnaught heart explosion created. Ishtar didn't return with her. She noticed the seven glowing objects floating toward her and felt her blood run cold. No, it can't be...

There were very few things those could be. If they were dragonballs, then everything they had been fighting for for the last week would be undone. It would all have been for nothing.

More power poured into her arm, flowing down and coalescing in her hand. Doing it twice killed him. It was only a simulation, but she remembered it and the aftermath like it was yesterday. It was a vile precursor to him losing his life for real. She would be more careful, and make sure she only needed to do this once. I'll probably lose my arm, she realized. Ah, well. Another prosthetic for her, it seemed.

The veins in her arm began to glow red.

OOC: 3

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

Parsley glanced at Sarada dropping to a knee and knew Ishtar had taken the worst of it. Midori arriving completely unscathed in every possible way except clothing proved it. Yet, something wasn't right. The blast should have done something. Even the most powerful of enemies could be hurt with the right means, with the right timing. That she wasn't, plus what she had seen only moments earlier with her energy and movement proved that Parsley was missing something. Something vital.

"You seem to have this all figured out," she noted as she watched the seven glowing objects floating toward Midori. "Dragonballs? Wishing to make your victory permanent? Or perhaps wishing your parents away to paradise to wait for you?"

Once again, the power of Observational Focus fell upon Midori. Parsley would know what she was hiding. She poured energy into, heightening the focus beyond its limitations. A sharp pain in her temple made her wince. Her body wasn't used to this level of acuity, but she had to know. It was right there; she was only missing it.

“Dragon balls are mighty but often limited in scope and cannot effect those more powerful then themselves directly unless allowed, most of the time. Since rewriting everything is out, thanks to all of you, these custom made dragon balls of my own will create a utopia timeline that should have been. One she cannot touch. One I’ll be happy in. My family, my Ishtar, and maybe you all will be there too.”

She drifts upwards and towards the energy barrier keeping the vacuum of space at bay, the dragon balls with her.

Parsley, you see the Orobourous of temporal energy within now, constantly circling itself.

A Time Lock.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

“Dragon balls are mighty but often limited in scope and cannot effect those more powerful then themselves directly unless allowed, most of the time. Since rewriting everything is out, thanks to all of you, these custom made dragon balls of my own will create a utopia timeline that should have been. One she cannot touch. One I’ll be happy in. My family, my Ishtar, and maybe you all will be there too.”

She drifts upwards and towards the energy barrier keeping the vacuum of space at bay, the dragon balls with her.

Parsley, you see the Orobourous of temporal energy within now, constantly circling itself.

A Time Lock.

Finally, she saw it. Something Ochazuke likely saw much more easily, but she could not allow herself to be fooled and blinded any longer. With the truth revealed, she knew how to proceed.

A timelock, she marveled. One that was keeping her from being damaged. That fact proved one thing: that she was locked in a fixed point where she was uninjured. Meaning, in all likelihood, she didn't need to eat, sleep, drink, breathe, or bath. It was the perfect status effect, one where even the natural progression and processes of her body would fail to take hold.

"Hm, I see. A child wishing for her perfect life to come to fruition. There was a time when I would have wished for the same, for everything bad that happened to my family to be undone and for us to be happy again. Then, I grew up and realized that such is impossible. Or, it was. You figured out. And all it took was eight dead universes. Impressive. Very nice."

As she spoke, her mind wandered else, with a message of instruction. 'She has a time locked body. Persist in your efforts, but know they will not have any affect,' she told the others. Then, she focused on one person. 'Etrina, you're the only one of us who can undo this. Focus. Calm your rage and act. We don't have time for anything else.'

With that done, she floated upward, ax in hand. "However," she said to Midori, "I can't allow you to finish. And I certainly won't let you take Pants." She exploded forward, intent on slicing into Midori with her ax.