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

[MrSandman]

As soon as his advance halted, Zaofan let his body go slack as he was carried off-course, and as the whiplash carried him into the wall, grasping firmly upon his staff he would preserve his momentum.

Drawing upon the Bear's Strength, he grappled with the cultist. Maintaining his grip as he was bandied about by that formisable strength, he rappelled to the far end. Shifting his weight inward, he wheeled around, and loosed a sequence of Pressure Kicks repeatedly into his assailant.

Zaofans counter is successful, blowing the cultist backwards in a flailing mass of screaming squid appendages.......and rather unceremoniously lands him in a fate far worst then his brethren.

It was clear that whatever was empowering this elderly lunatic was beyond the veils of time and space as reality bent itself to cross the gap between the two of them and flesh rotted from his touch. Rex would not be able to lazily use his fukushuu and be done with things this time. The lizard part of his brain screamed and writhe, tempered only by the cold intelligence tempered by countless millennia of survival. Still, he could not suppress the snarling hiss of pain as his flesh began to rot away.

A meaty snap resonated in the chambers and with a jerk, the rotting flesh of Rex's seized arm gave way, freeing the saurian whose movement's momentum drove him back several feet with a leap, leaving behind a trail of blood and flesh pieces. Despite the emotional imprints that comprised his fukushuu being altered from this situation, it was still enough to close his wounds, but he would need something more to regrow his now missing limb.

"There. To make things fairer to you, I have given myself a handicap. Surely there will be no question after this that the only failure here is you."

Energy crackled from his body as chi flowed throughout his body, honed by Charco's training and his own experience. Until he found a solution to the old man's rotting touch, hand-to-hand combat would be a no-go, thus Rex would have to rely on dirty fireworks to get the job done. Thankfully, he was in no short supply of those.

"You are so insistent on throwing away your humanity to beg at the feet the uncaring abyss when the one you should be praying to is me."

"Prayer is wasted on on you....as your breath is on me" The remains of Rexs arm melted in Agravain hand, its slurried remains dripping to the floor. "Boast as you will. There is only one way this will end.....the only question is will you die by my hand...or hers."

Miasma seeps from the old mans legs, creating a knee deep carpets of vapours gas that begins creeping along the floor and spreading towards the reptile. Even before it gets close, Rex witnesses one of the other creatures...knocked around by Zaofans efforts nearby, land within the vapor only to emerge a second later with nearby all the flesh in the process of liquefying....a sight that thankfully only lasted long enough for it to sink back below where it was no longer seen nor heard. Not halted by friend or for, it expands outwards and attempts to cover the entire platform.

[MrSandman]

The fell creatures gathered in the tomb prayed at the feet of a corpse. They still recognized the living will that refused to pass to shadow. He'd felt it brush against his meditational field, and even since before they had set foot inside this chamber, had been accumulating it towards himself with Genki. It had always been a small, fine effort, the gathering of these silent voices. Those who sought the power to rule with no understanding of harmony were all but deaf to it, even as it passed in this sealed chamber silent as a drifting breeze, passing from one immortalized cultist to the next.

The Orichalum Shard held in his palm gave him a focal point, measuring his effort against the power imbued in Avalon's ancient machinery. Interfaced with Arthur's Ring, he now seized upon the magic that permeated the whole of this place and used it to amplify his next move. In matters of the spirit, attacking the physical space alone would not suffice.

Ochazuke raised his right hand. A burst of power surged through the environs, between the denizens of ruined flesh and the Void they crawled from as Iron Wind of Kongosho fell. Cutting through the subtle voices calling from in-between spaces, he sought to sever the ties that bound them to Agravain.

Your Voidling's compact is but a brand marking your indentured servitude. The old mage may have held the mark of ancient Kings, but Ochazuke held the instrument of a Kami.

In guarding this world, they spared no quarter.

OOC: Genki Charge: 4

The world held its breath as ochzaukes power expanded over the chamber.....and with it seemed to halt the expansion of miasma as its power cut the source of its strength to an extent.

The cultists, bound in screaming prayer and vengeful servitude, suddenly reared and screeched in a cacaphony of wailing that threatened in itself to shatter the crystal prison below them. Head clutching, moaning, painful screaming. Many dropped dead in an instant...cut so from the void and the authority. Many more seemed to come to some realization and go mad from the revelation.

One immediately threw itself from the side of the plateform into the yawning void below.

One tore at the tendrils upon his face until all that remained was a bloody mess...then collapsed in death.

Madness overtook them, and in some, made them all the more dangerous...even if they no longer knew, nor abided by the authority.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"That Darkling, Banespell ... If he could work magic like we breath, perhaps his spells would've lasted longer than a few thousand years, mm~ ?" Inanna asked, somewhat bemused. Though this certainly had elucidated some of the less known facts about Eldfen, really. Despite the curiosity of his nature, and by that nature his powers; stripped of his free agency to roam the heavens unfettered, he'd seemingly fallen back on a tried and true modus operandi: that of the 'Dominator'.

Rather successful one too it seemed, considering how far his 'Empire' spanned before the Palatine had stepped up.

The why's and wherefores of a being wishing for something so insignificant as domination of mortals occupying her focus now, Inanna fell silent for several moments before realizing somewhat embarrassed, that it'd become somewhat awkward.

"... in any event," the golden-eyed woman said scratching the back of her head, "my ... associates and I have been at odds with Eldfen for some years now; and knowing precisely how you managed to stop him considering what he is, and wields would be of great benefit."

“It was guile more than anything. Eldfen cannot be harmed. Part of his...binding...so to speak. His binding prevents him in turn from directly harming others, thus he used pawns and others to do his work. When we faced him, he was a master of using subtle means and benign effects to beat people in combat: teleporting them away, putting them into long sleeps, intimidation, auras of fear and despair, et.....

“However, several in our group worked a con on him when we finally confronted him on Earth. While Zxu’ro and Durga and Haden held his direct focus, we others snuck off and stole the last of his gathered dragonballs, besting it’s guardians. Then Banespell scattered them to places unknown to Eldfen and severed his connection with them. He could no longer sense them, and as such could no longer drawn upon them to increase his power. Diminished he lost sway over his minions and could not reach beyond the Earth. Eventually, he lost all sway entirely.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Bah..." the Majin spat, arms folded. "You're tellin' me that you went and used the energy of the Earth like this doofus?" He asked. "...Just who the **** are you anyway?! Ain't just anyone who can use a technique like that. You'd think we'd have hear of someone like you before...Ro."

He smiles and holds a hand out.

Nothing happens, then pure life energy, drawn from the nearby plants, gathered in his hand like a miniature Genki Dama.

“A most potent technique, and one only few have seen much less know.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

One Year Ago



Kenshiko's eyes twist behind her shaded lenses as she looked over to the Colonel. Slowly, she plucked the aviators off from the bridge of her nose, and she folded them neatly as she rest them between her collar.

"Our contact in the Capital came through. With the blueprints and components down at R&D, rearmament is ahead of schedule."

Nothing more at first than a rote status report on the surface.

"Our scouts have reported that with WG's new alliances with the Xenos, the head pig in charge has gotten his hands on some new technology. With Pantaloon in the government's pocket, soon they'll have eyes all over the globe, funneling information at a rate we can't keep up with. Even with new weapons, we poke our heads out even for a minute, they will be on to us. While we hole up in here, the world's going to keep slipping away from us."

Every time Grinthorn's grasp expanded, the soul of the people of Earth slowly eroded, and worse yet, they seemed to accept it without question.

"You brought us here and told the reserves that we were going to rearm. I've seen to it myself that the Corps have never been more willing to fight."

The global banner had trampled out and erased entire nations, bringing the battalions and personnel here, to where it had allegedly all began. But the question continued to burn at Kenshiko's mind: For all the lost and condemned funneled under Colonel Willa Raut's banner, whose war were they really fighting?

"Putting guns in the hands of dead men and fielding them on lies and false hope is a line I won't cross, not anymore. If you and Major Damask know something, some way we can actually take the fight to that shark-toothed bastard, now's the time."

She nods.

“There are a few paths open. My....distant cousin just came into, or will shortly, possession of a powerful artifact that could help us. Damask is also not entirely whole, and his true form is staggeringly more powerful.”

She gestures to the ruins around them.

“There is also secrets here from humanity’s first great martial powers. But, beyond that I do know something that will please you and the recruits. The President shall be......greatly reduced in effect soon.”

She smiles and looks at Kenshiko.

“Did you know that visions run in my blood line? It’s a latent gift, one not entirely under control so they come and go more often then I can command them. However, they have always shown me truth: there will be a great sundering for the President. Our Kami, our Guardian, will strike a blow against him that will reverberate across the entire planet. And with that blow, his influence over mankind shall...diminish. He’ll be weakened. And one should always strike when the target is at their most vulnerable, yes?”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Sitting up at the edge of the bed, Ochazuke leaned forward, and propping his elbows over his knees, his broad shoulders shuddered. In spite of the leaps Ronin Kai had made in his healing craft, with every breath he could still feel the air drag and scrape through ruptured tissue and bone.

"Heh, then he got my message," he said through gritted teeth. A most bemusing victory. After all this time, there'd been some hidden truth beneath the fractured expression of the Root Art. Spoken of a language of unity, it would not be reflected through the tribes of the Earth. "Good man."

Yet his thoughts remained feverishly consumed as he pondered beneath a blood-blackened brow. However, Balon-sensei received the communication. Why hadn't Zaofan responded? When the Dragon Master offered him the tea, he swiftly declined, grumbled as stood up slowly, trying to recover his legs.

Ten projections from the Central Axis of the world. Though he was miles away, he could feel it intuitively through the tremor through the Earth. Ochazuke began to slowly peel off the wraps on his hands, dry with blood - much of it his own - when he recalled with burning clarity the ancient treasures stolen from him. The Gauntlets. The Circlet.

"You said the sigils of the Ten were marked upon a door, that it was an entryway. To where? Did you go with them?"

“I did, but I decided I would rather wait for you then go on. Zaofan decided to stay and make sure Sasheem...behaved. The door once opened lead to a descending staircase into darkness, but once we went down, the world altered and we were walking up a temple staircase, exposed to a beautiful blue sky and surrounding trees.”

[Yun Lao]

Babysitting the old man had been trying for Shōchū, his huffing and puffing audibly even from the height she coasted at. Caught between trying to be patient and polite with him and the urgency of the situation, she eventually gave up once she could feel the dark stirring from within the mountain.

"Forgive me, but perhaps you should not linger here," She said, although knew he would not be able to hear before she resumed at full speed.

The Beast was there, that haunted ki signature was unmistakable, yet he was not the only taint of darkness she felt, for there was another. The thought of aiding the beast made her sick, despite Eva's words, yet dooming the planet to settle her grudge was unacceptable.

She would end both of them for the safety of the universe.

"Prayer is wasted on on you....as your breath is on me" The remains of Rexs arm melted in Agravain hand, its slurried remains dripping to the floor. "Boast as you will. There is only one way this will end.....the only question is will you die by my hand...or hers."

Miasma seeps from the old mans legs, creating a knee deep carpets of vapours gas that begins creeping along the floor and spreading towards the reptile. Even before it gets close, Rex witnesses one of the other creatures...knocked around by Zaofans efforts nearby, land within the vapor only to emerge a second later with nearby all the flesh in the process of liquefying....a sight that thankfully only lasted long enough for it to sink back below where it was no longer seen nor heard. Not halted by friend or for, it expands outwards and attempts to cover the entire platform.

Whatever joy Rex had derived from mocking Agravain had started to grow old, almost as old as the man himself. Still, he got a chuckle once he saw the effects of the miasma melt out of the various non-doll weaklings the old man had gathered for his insipid goal. Although scrambled with mystic energy, he recognized the corrupted flow of power, having been introduced to it from the oni.

"Is this all that your begging and pleading to your masters worth? I would pity you if you weren't so pathetic to begin with."

The whispers of the dead grew louder as wisps of ghost hakai grew more visible, becoming coal-black clouds. The warped remnants of destruction energy crackled and sizzled upon contact with the miasma, both eating into one another as they fought for supremacy. Raising his remaining hand, the index, middle, and thumb digits pointing forth, the saurian fired a trio of skewering beams toward the man.

[Twiliteknite06]

"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!"

Hops smirked and drew his own sword, "You really believe I'm going to let you destroy my home? Of course, I ran! I'm going to sleep soundly in my pristine bed once I'm finished with you!" He raised his rapier and readied an attack, which, not to anyone's surprise, X-Bo blocked. The two flew, swords clashing, equals in timing and skill. Hops chuckled a bit as they continued further and further out of town Rolling fields and mountains abounded now and Hops took the chance to unleash a mighty swing, that collided with xCaliber and sent X-Bo falling toward the earth below. Hops thought about charging and pushing the Galatic Patrol Officer into the dirt but realized he should focus on the others coming up behind him first. "Gah, these guys won't stop, but I can't just kill them! They are officers, I don't know what I did, but I can't let them take me out either!"

Drawing his blaster, he drew a bead on the quickly approaching P-Sta, the only one he recognized from two-years ago. "C'mon, you can't believe these charges! You were there, You know I was a prisoner!" He fired a few shots that he knew would be dodged, but they still provided time for him to get a lock on the others in P-Sta's squads Ki. "They aren't going to take it easy on me... I wish I had someone on my side here!" Just then, his communicator crackled to life again, and above his head, a time-space portal opened. "Wha?"

"Time anomaly detected!" The Time Patrol woman shouted as her eyes fell not on Hops, but on X-Bo, who had managed to recover from his free-fall and stood poised to finish their dual. Hops couldn't see who the woman was, only that her armor matched that of his and her equipment looked similar but was clearly of a different make.

"Time Patrolman! You've failed in your duty, you are to cease and desist while I correct this mistake and prevent further damage to the time-line!" She looked around for a moment, "Where is the victim?" She poised the question to Hops while having her blaster trained on X-Bo.

"Victim? What's going on?" Hops questioned, the hair on the back of his neck standing as the other Galatic Patrol members began to surround the two Time Patrollers. "The victim, a male who is pursued by these Officers of Galatic Law for crimes he did not commit! Their interference here has detrimental consequences on the future of the M-Fighters and their coming battles!"

"Uh...they want me..." Hops said with a sigh. Now everything was even more complicated.

"You?!" She cried in frustration, "How could a Time Patrol Officer be on the radar of Galatic Patrol?" A legitimate question, everyone seemed to be asking. "Long story," Hops replied, "For now, how about helping me convince them that they have the wrong guy?"

"Fine." She huffed, swapping places with Hops so he could continue his dual with X-Bo while she handled P-Sta.

[KingofPie]

He smiles and holds a hand out.

Nothing happens, then pure life energy, drawn from the nearby plants, gathered in his hand like a miniature Genki Dama.

“A most potent technique, and one only few have seen much less know.”

"Yeah..." The Majin gritted his teeth, eying the Genki Dama with disdain. "That's basically the gist of what Sasheem was sayin'...so that begs the question, how do you know it?! If ya want him to spell it out further, what are your ties to The Ten Schools?!"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Yeah..." The Majin gritted his teeth, eying the Genki Dama with disdain. "That's basically the gist of what Sasheem was sayin'...so that begs the question, how do you know it?! If ya want him to spell it out further, what are your ties to The Ten Schools?!"

Ro smiles, letting the ball disperse before putting his hand behind his head and chuckling.

“Well, I mean, I kind of sort of started them.”

He drops his hand and looks seriously at Sasheem.

“My nick name is Ro, called Zxu'ro at birth. I am the Grand Master of the Ten Schools, creator of the Chimera Style, Palatine of Earth.”

He grins again, going back to being somewhat....lacking in bearing.

“But I prefer Ro if you please.”

[KingofPie]

Ro smiles, letting the ball disperse before putting his hand behind his head and chuckling.

“Well, I mean, I kind of sort of started them.”

He drops his hand and looks seriously at Sasheem.

“My nick name is Ro, called Zxu'ro at birth. I am the Grand Master of the Ten Schools, creator of the Chimera Style, Palatine of Earth.”

He grins again, going back to being somewhat....lacking in bearing.

“But I prefer Ro if you please.”

Sasheem pratfalled backwards, his face landing in the grass. Kicking himself back up, he glated back at the so called Palatine of Earth, unimpressed. "So, you're Zxu'ro. Master of the Masters..." The Majin scratched his antennae, shrugging with a sneer. "Heh...forgive Sasheem if he doesn't believe you. Ya look and act like some punk-ass kid. ...but the fact that you're aware of any of this at all doesn't quite ease Sasheem's mind. How do we know you're not the enemy?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Sasheem pratfalled backwards, his face landing in the grass. Kicking himself back up, he glated back at the so called Palatine of Earth, unimpressed. "So, you're Zxu'ro. Master of the Masters..." The Majin scratched his antennae, shrugging with a sneer. "Heh...forgive Sasheem if he doesn't believe you. Ya look and act like some punk-ass kid. ...but the fact that you're aware of any of this at all doesn't quite ease Sasheem's mind. How do we know you're not the enemy?"

He shrugs.

“You can always test me, Majin Sasheem.”

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

“It was guile more than anything. Eldfen cannot be harmed. Part of his...binding...so to speak. His binding prevents him in turn from directly harming others, thus he used pawns and others to do his work. When we faced him, he was a master of using subtle means and benign effects to beat people in combat: teleporting them away, putting them into long sleeps, intimidation, auras of fear and despair, et.....

“However, several in our group worked a con on him when we finally confronted him on Earth. While Zxu’ro and Durga and Haden held his direct focus, we others snuck off and stole the last of his gathered dragonballs, besting it’s guardians. Then Banespell scattered them to places unknown to Eldfen and severed his connection with them. He could no longer sense them, and as such could no longer drawn upon them to increase his power. Diminished he lost sway over his minions and could not reach beyond the Earth. Eventually, he lost all sway entirely.”

"Well ..." Inanna trailed off, after listening to the full recounting.

"Very effective, goading him. Ended poorly for the Mage who tried it last. That said however ... parts unknown is fairly inaccurate." The golden-eyed woman stated, with a sigh. "A new generation of heroes has recovered over half of them and of the others I at least have a pretty good idea." Falling silent to consider something, Inanna scratched the back of her head before stating somewhat casually.

"Wouldn't know how to destroy them, would you ?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Well ..." Inanna trailed off, after listening to the full recounting.

"Very effective, goading him. Ended poorly for the Mage who tried it last. That said however ... parts unknown is fairly inaccurate." The golden-eyed woman stated, with a sigh. "A new generation of heroes has recovered over half of them and of the others I at least have a pretty good idea." Falling silent to consider something, Inanna scratched the back of her head before stating somewhat casually.

"Wouldn't know how to destroy them, would you ?"

She shakes her head.

“I doubt anything short of Lord Xeno or......a wish on those dragon balls themselves could destroy them. And for the second I would rather not be anywhere near when that happens. Just in case.”

[Miburo]

Whoops, wrong thread....