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

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"So, who is it?" Cyanna's questions began almost rapid fire, "Do you think this person will be willing to take on students? I hope Charco doesn't change his mind, or has his mind changed for him. I told Charco to meet me here, with you, only I don't know how long he'll be. Maybe we should wait til he comes, or maybe I'll need to know more to try and encourage him to do this. I'm really worried about him, he hasn't been himself, literally. Sarada thinks that kicking him in the ass is all he needs, but I don't think so. I really want to help. Meagan is going tg o be furious with me for sneaking out of the temple, but I just knew I had to find Charco and I'm glad I did, only I don't know if I can help. But maybe this person you know can help him." she finally began to calm down as her voice trails off and she glances back briefly towards where she last saw him.

“There is an elderly psychic in Ash Peak City that owes me a favor. Her name is Morgana. She’s......a bit unique, but most likely she could help Charco.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Wilhelm calls out.

“First video......ready.”

After a moment, the screen plays a recorded video.

A slightly older Jinzi, clothes battered and torn, is seen sitting down looking at the camera. His eyes are red rimmed and bloodshot. When he speaks his voice is hoarse.

“Day 1,212. Attempt seventy failed. Any technology outside this capsule house simply fails. Eventually the perpetual tech rot reduces it all to dirt and ash. I’m having a hard time simply maintaining the outer walls of this place. Not sure why she left me this. Punishment, perhaps. But that doesn’t seem right. Not cruelty, but curiosity then. Yes, that seems more accurate. I’m an experiment. She wants to see what I’ll do. Attempt seventy one will begin in two days. Hopefully...the food situation will improve. Jinzi out.”

Wilhelm pauses and then starts the next one. This time Jinzi seems more haggard, and one eye is faintly glowing.

“Day 2,578. Food situation became untenable, so I did the only thing I could. The small part of Adam that I had on me came in handy. I used it and the remnants of the Big Ghetti Star Halo Eva bestowed upon Mea....”

He pauses.

“On us. On Meagan and I. Between the two I’ve injected them into myself and they have presented a solution. They can suck what little ambient energy out of the atmosphere exists and convert it to an energy I can live off of. It is not a pleasant sensation, but few things are now. I can’t even remember the last thing I ate or drank. I can’t even recall what either thing tasted like.”

He pauses again, his non-glowing eye looking off in the distance.

“Attempt one hundred eighty seven failed.”

The video stops and Wilhelm points.

“There are four more videos and one audio only file left. Everything else is scrambled or deteriorated.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

It does so just fine. No traps.

With that, the mission was complete. Parsley nodded once and pocketed the Nexus device.

Wilhelm calls out.

“First video......ready.”

After a moment, the screen plays a recorded video.

A slightly older Jinzi, clothes battered and torn, is seen sitting down looking at the camera. His eyes are red rimmed and bloodshot. When he speaks his voice is hoarse.

“Day 1,212. Attempt seventy failed. Any technology outside this capsule house simply fails. Eventually the perpetual tech rot reduces it all to dirt and ash. I’m having a hard time simply maintaining the outer walls of this place. Not sure why she left me this. Punishment, perhaps. But that doesn’t seem right. Not cruelty, but curiosity then. Yes, that seems more accurate. I’m an experiment. She wants to see what I’ll do. Attempt seventy one will begin in two days. Hopefully...the food situation will improve. Jinzi out.”

Wilhelm pauses and then starts the next one. This time Jinzi seems more haggard, and one eye is faintly glowing.

“Day 2,578. Food situation became untenable, so I did the only thing I could. The small part of Adam that I had on me came in handy. I used it and the remnants of the Big Ghetti Star Halo Eva bestowed upon Mea....”

He pauses.

“On us. On Meagan and I. Between the two I’ve injected them into myself and they have presented a solution. They can suck what little ambient energy out of the atmosphere exists and convert it to an energy I can live off of. It is not a pleasant sensation, but few things are now. I can’t even remember the last thing I ate or drank. I can’t even recall what either thing tasted like.”

He pauses again, his non-glowing eye looking off in the distance.

“Attempt one hundred eighty seven failed.”

The video stops and Wilhelm points.

“There are four more videos and one audio only file left. Everything else is scrambled or deteriorated.”

The videos Wilhelm noted he found were ready for viewing. What she and they saw was sad. Jinzi had apparently been on his own for around seven years, give or take. There was very little indication about what happened to reduce the planet's population to one, but he kept referring to a woman who opted to keep him around as an experiment.

"Seven years in isolation. No wonder he went mad," she murmured.

At this point, he had made over a hundred attempts to... something. The purpose of his attempts were unrevealed, but she silently posited that they were either attempts to escape this broken world, or attempts to fix it. Regardless, he was met with nothing but failure.

"Play the other videos," she said to Wilhelm.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The third video shows an older Jinzi than before, more gaunt and haggard. The glowing eye more prominent. The features seem a bit stiffer too, less life to them.

“Day 5,000. I saw her when I woke up. She appears every so often, never says anything but just stands there, blue green eyes judging me. Never stays long. I pleaded with her to kill me.”

He pauses and shakes his head.

“But I’m still here. Still stuck on a dead world. Attempt....three hundred and two, I think. Yes, three hundred and two failed. Nothing I make or send out lasts longer than five minutes. Next attempt will be in a week or so.

He pauses again.

“I don’t sleep well. Or much anymore.”

Video cuts off. Wilhelm uploads the next one. Surprisingly, this one showcases a more...determined Jinzi. Only the look in his human eye is more...manic, like his old self, but clearly tinged with a growing sense of madness.

“Day 5,635. Attempt Three hundred and seventy partially successful. Release of unknown Ghetti-Adam nanites from my own system created an artificial relay in the atmosphere. Lasted twenty minutes but long enough to scan the entire planet. There is nothing left. Not one sign of human life, not one building, not one iota of anything. I understand now. She said this was to be a new Genesis, a new beginning, but I understand what she’s really is. Desolation. But I can effect things now. The nanites proved I can build even through her tech rot. Before the relay went down, I did get a blip of something....odd. A temporal energy. Will investigate further.”

The video cuts off again.

[KingofPie]

With that, the mission was complete. Parsley nodded once and pocketed the Nexus device.



The videos Wilhelm noted he found were ready for viewing. What she and they saw was sad. Jinzi had apparently been on his own for around seven years, give or take. There was very little indication about what happened to reduce the planet's population to one, but he kept referring to a woman who opted to keep him around as an experiment.

"Seven years in isolation. No wonder he went mad," she murmured.

"Aw, boo-hoo," Sasheem sneered, munching on a handful of fries. "What, only seven? Guess this Jinzi isn't as smart as he thinks he is. You'd think a mega-genius would've been able to think of something to end his boredom. But, nope! No imagination, this guy!"

The third video shows an older Jinzi than before, more gaunt and haggard. The glowing eye more prominent. The features seem a bit stiffer too, less life to them.

“Day 5,000. I saw her when I woke up. She appears every so often, never says anything but just stands there, blue green eyes judging me. Never stays long. I pleaded with her to kill me.”

He pauses and shakes his head.

“But I’m still here. Still stuck on a dead world. Attempt....three hundred and two, I think. Yes, three hundred and two failed. Nothing I make or send out lasts longer than five minutes. Next attempt will be in a week or so.

He pauses again.

“I don’t sleep well. Or much anymore.”

Video cuts off. Wilhelm uploads the next one. Surprisingly, this one showcases a more...determined Jinzi. Only the look in his human eye is more...manic, like his old self, but clearly tinged with a growing sense of madness.

“Day 5,635. Attempt Three hundred and seventy partially successful. Release of unknown Ghetti-Adam nanites from my own system created an artificial relay in the atmosphere. Lasted twenty minutes but long enough to scan the entire planet. There is nothing left. Not one sign of human life, not one building, not one iota of anything. I understand now. She said this was to be a new Genesis, a new beginning, but I understand what she’s really is. Desolation. But I can effect things now. The nanites proved I can build even through her tech rot. Before the relay went down, I did get a blip of something....odd. A temporal energy. Will investigate further.”

The video cuts off again.

"So this is how he discovered time travel, right?" The Majin shrugged. "What the hell's a tech rot, though....and what's up with this Desolation chick? She's the first thing in these logs that sounds remotely interesting."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Before Wilhelm began the next video, Parsley's eyes narrowed in contemplation. "Curious how Jinzi claimed the tech rot was eating away at the building itself, to the point that he could barely maintain the outer walls. Yet, the building remains long after his departure. Unless he somehow managed to find a way to negate it before he left." She rubbed her chin in thought. It wasn't much more than an idle thought that popped in her head at the moment, but it was interesting enough for her to voice it aloud.

The third video shows an older Jinzi than before, more gaunt and haggard. The glowing eye more prominent. The features seem a bit stiffer too, less life to them.

“Day 5,000. I saw her when I woke up. She appears every so often, never says anything but just stands there, blue green eyes judging me. Never stays long. I pleaded with her to kill me.”

He pauses and shakes his head.

“But I’m still here. Still stuck on a dead world. Attempt....three hundred and two, I think. Yes, three hundred and two failed. Nothing I make or send out lasts longer than five minutes. Next attempt will be in a week or so.

He pauses again.

“I don’t sleep well. Or much anymore.”

Video cuts off. Wilhelm uploads the next one. Surprisingly, this one showcases a more...determined Jinzi. Only the look in his human eye is more...manic, like his old self, but clearly tinged with a growing sense of madness.

“Day 5,635. Attempt Three hundred and seventy partially successful. Release of unknown Ghetti-Adam nanites from my own system created an artificial relay in the atmosphere. Lasted twenty minutes but long enough to scan the entire planet. There is nothing left. Not one sign of human life, not one building, not one iota of anything. I understand now. She said this was to be a new Genesis, a new beginning, but I understand what she’s really is. Desolation. But I can effect things now. The nanites proved I can build even through her tech rot. Before the relay went down, I did get a blip of something....odd. A temporal energy. Will investigate further.”

The video cuts off again.

Make that fifteen years at minimum. Fifteen long years of isolation would make any idea that had even the smallest mote of success one worth driving towards with every ounce of fervor manageable. Hence, his insane plane to undo time itself to undo whatever this Desolation woman did.

Parsley wished he had given a name, but other than desolation and genesis, there was none.

"Hm."

She recalled hearing that word before, genesis. Not as a description, but as a name. "Genesis." She glanced at Ochazuke. "You all met someone who went by that name, didn't you? Some years ago on the Junjo asteroid, right?"

Ishtar mentioned a Genesis during her tirade against Asha'rah some days ago. Afterwards, Sarada filled in the details as best she could. It was scarce, as was often the case with second hand stories, but she could the gist of it.

The mystery behind The Doctor continued to unravel, yet there were still critical details missing. Who was the woman responsible for the planet's condition; Genesis or someone else? Why did she do whatever she did? How? And would something like this happen in their timeline?

"Aw, boo-hoo," Sasheem sneered, munching on a handful of fries. "What, only seven? Guess this Jinzi isn't as smart as he thinks he is. You'd think a mega-genius would've been able to think of something to end his boredom. But, nope! No imagination, this guy!"

"So this is how he discovered time travel, right?" The Majin shrugged. "What the hell's a tech rot, though....and what's up with this Desolation chick? She's the first thing in these logs that sounds remotely interesting."

Parsley said nothing, but snatched several fries out of the Majin's hand and ate them. "There should be two more videos and the audio recording, right?" she asked Wilhelm.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

" Watching this is so bleak and depressing. It's like I'm watching fame graphical novelist Miura masterpiece Termite Man come to life," Praxat said.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Wilhelm nods and plays the next one.

This time Jinzi’s eyes are wide, mad, erratic.

“Day 6,450. I did it. I managed to siphon the power of the sun. Dimmed the entire thing permanently to forge the crystalline structure to house the temporal nexus I discovered.”

He starts laughing, a low and mad sound.

“This planet will never house life again. I finished what she started with the desolation, I just made it permanent. The sun is dimmed forever, and I have the beginnings of what is necessary. I’ll travel back and stop this all. I’ll.......”

He stops, clutching his head and breathing heavily.

The video ends. The last video plays a few seconds later. Jinzi looks into it, and nothing of Pantaloon is left in that gaze. It’s a dead, mad gaze of a zealot. A fanatic.

A man of utmost purpose.

“Day 7,407. The crystal and device is ready. My plans are ready. She showed up again, yesterday. She looked at me and smiled, proud or happy. She took part of the nexus for herself and then...left. It doesn’t matter. Whatever she is, whatever her plans are, I don’t care. Nothing matters but the plan. My plan. I’ll break everything, the whole universe, if I have to. Nothing and one one can stop me. I’ll save them all.”

The video ends, with only an audio file remaining.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Parsley stared blankly at the screen.

17 years of experimentation and failures. 17 years of isolation. 17 years of apparent torment and torture at the hands of some mysterious woman. The dive into the crumbling psyche of a man who had lost everything had been hard to watch, yet what he admitted at the outset of this final video was ridiculous.

"He drained the sun." It wasn't even a question. It was more her trying to wrap her brain around something of that magnitude. She, and everyone standing around her, was strong enough to vaporize the moon and destroy planets. Yet, the sun was on an entirely different level. There was no way to even imagine the process needed to drain the energy from a star the size of the sun.

If Jinzi still had that capability, they were going to be hard-pressed to defeat him.

The mania-laced determination he displayed in the last video gave the full scope of the kind of person they were dealing with. Someone who planned and was prepared to stripped the universe down to its last atom to save his family and friends. He would stop at nothing, which meant they needed to have the same conviction.

"Play the audio."

Slightly less important but potentially more distressing, whoever this mystery woman was had a piece of the nexus. Which allowed her to travel between timelines. Something to remember later on.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The audio file distorts and sounds rough before Jinzi’s voice comes through. It sounds flat and hollow, but perhaps...perhaps less mad.

“I can’t sleep. Haven’t in years. I...see things. The perpetual energy I can siphon from the atmosphere keeps me going, keeps me...sustained. Gods, I’m not even...human anymore. I don’t.....I don’t think I’m myself, anymore. I’ve found notes I don’t remember writing. I....I think this is it for me. This last bit of the man I used to be, of Jinzi Pantaloon. It gets harder and harder each day to remember Jinzi. I have a new name. The Doctor. Jinzi failed but the Doctor can and will fix things.”

A momentary pause. And when he talks again, the voice seems...more human. More the Jinzi of old.

“The Doctor doesn’t know about this file. This last little bit of me that’s....me has enough left to do this much. Please...please for the love of all that’s holy, whoever hears this......kill me. Don’t let him, let me, do what he plans on doing. It’s monstrous. Project Parting Glass. It’s in my note book.”

Another pause, a heavy breathe.

“Good luck. Forgive me, please.”

The audio file stops and that’s it.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The audio file distorts and sounds rough before Jinzi’s voice comes through. It sounds flat and hollow, but perhaps...perhaps less mad.

“I can’t sleep. Haven’t in years. I...see things. The perpetual energy I can siphon from the atmosphere keeps me going, keeps me...sustained. Gods, I’m not even...human anymore. I don’t.....I don’t think I’m myself, anymore. I’ve found notes I don’t remember writing. I....I think this is it for me. This last bit of the man I used to be, of Jinzi Pantaloon. It gets harder and harder each day to remember Jinzi. I have a new name. The Doctor. Jinzi failed but the Doctor can and will fix things.”

A momentary pause. And when he talks again, the voice seems...more human. More the Jinzi of old.

“The Doctor doesn’t know about this file. This last little bit of me that’s....me has enough left to do this much. Please...please for the love of all that’s holy, whoever hears this......kill me. Don’t let him, let me, do what he plans on doing. It’s monstrous. Project Parting Glass. It’s in my note book.”

Another pause, a heavy breathe.

“Good luck. Forgive me, please.”

The audio file stops and that’s it.

With that, the final bit of information they had available to them had been divulged. Whatever small bit of this human side of Jinzi Pantaloon was long dead by this point. But, a small piece of him managed to hold out just long enough to work in secret to provide a, presumably, means to defeat his alter ego. Project Parting Glass, the plans for which were stashed in his notebook.

The notebook that Praxat found.

"Give me the notebook," she said to the toad.

[Sion Reaver]

The audio file distorts and sounds rough before Jinzi’s voice comes through. It sounds flat and hollow, but perhaps...perhaps less mad.

“I can’t sleep. Haven’t in years. I...see things. The perpetual energy I can siphon from the atmosphere keeps me going, keeps me...sustained. Gods, I’m not even...human anymore. I don’t.....I don’t think I’m myself, anymore. I’ve found notes I don’t remember writing. I....I think this is it for me. This last bit of the man I used to be, of Jinzi Pantaloon. It gets harder and harder each day to remember Jinzi. I have a new name. The Doctor. Jinzi failed but the Doctor can and will fix things.”

A momentary pause. And when he talks again, the voice seems...more human. More the Jinzi of old.

“The Doctor doesn’t know about this file. This last little bit of me that’s....me has enough left to do this much. Please...please for the love of all that’s holy, whoever hears this......kill me. Don’t let him, let me, do what he plans on doing. It’s monstrous. Project Parting Glass. It’s in my note book.”

Another pause, a heavy breathe.

“Good luck. Forgive me, please.”

The audio file stops and that’s it.

Aleka found more pity then contempt for the man the more she heard details of their story and how the 'Doctor' came to be and the man known as Jinzi slowly wittered away, It was both disturbing and sad to the woman but she couldn't think of why. Who was that woman and what were her motives? What matter of being was she? She had no answers and using Nature Lore had yieled no results what so ever.

"..It seems the kindest thing we can do what was once Jinzi is to put them out of their misery." Aleka gave a tired sigh. "That woman though..she's a complete unknown and that will be an issue."

With that, the final bit of information they had available to them had been divulged. Whatever small bit of this human side of Jinzi Pantaloon was long dead by this point. But, a small piece of him managed to hold out just long enough to work in secret to provide a, presumably, means to defeat his alter ego. Project Parting Glass, the plans for which were stashed in his notebook.

The notebook that Praxat found.

"Give me the notebook," she said to the toad.

While Aleka was mulling over things mentally, she decided to ask the rest of the group as they had been here longer. "The woman he mentioned, does it ring any bells to anyone you met in the past? If not its worrying having another complete unknown player on the board, but not surprised if it is."

[Tami]

OOC: Why not

IC: Soon after they returned to Chroma, to the Temple of Iris, the three found a contingency of Government Representatives accompanied by a senior Sister of the Order. It wasn't long after that Meagan was then rushed out to an emergency meeting with the rest of the Planetary Council. Before she left, she gave strict orders to Cyanna and Dash to remain in the Temple until her return.

An hour later, Dash was carefully running through the building. It was only moments earlier that realized that Cyanna was not where she expected her to be, and she feared the worst. Praying that her assumption was wrong, she began her search for her Chromakai partner. Her voice echoing through the building as she called out the girl's name, along with a few choice swear words.

Eventually she made her way to the Portal Room, stopping at the entrance and staring up at the gateway. There were signs that it had been used recently. "Gosh dammit Cya, why'd you go an do that for? Where'd you go, an what the blazing heck am ah to do now?" She spoke her thoughts out loud into the empty cavern, feeling torn and frustrated as she did.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

With that, the final bit of information they had available to them had been divulged. Whatever small bit of this human side of Jinzi Pantaloon was long dead by this point. But, a small piece of him managed to hold out just long enough to work in secret to provide a, presumably, means to defeat his alter ego. Project Parting Glass, the plans for which were stashed in his notebook.

The notebook that Praxat found.

"Give me the notebook," she said to the toad.

Praxat hands Parsley the notebook." I can't believe it, he drained the energy from the Sun that's just nuts. The Sun contains proximally 384.6 yotta watts of energy. Draining all that energy from it would cause it to turn into a white dwarf, and he did it. Worse still a even more massive star, if it was drained of all its energy would collapse into a black hole," Praxat said.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Praxat hands Parsley the notebook." I can't believe it, he drained the energy from the Sun that's just nuts. The Sun contains proximally 384.6 yotta watts of energy. Draining all that energy from it would cause it to turn into a white dwarf, and he did it. Worse still a even more massive star, if it was drained of all its energy would collapse into a black hole," Praxat said.

As Praxat babbled on about something or another, Parsley opened the notebook and flipped through its pages. Specifically, she was looking for where Jinzi's plans for this Project Parting Glass.

While Aleka was mulling over things mentally, she decided to ask the rest of the group as they had been here longer. "The woman he mentioned, does it ring any bells to anyone you met in the past? If not its worrying having another complete unknown player on the board, but not surprised if it is."

"No," she responded simply. The meeting with Genesis was before her time in this group, and they had not met anyone else whom she would suspect capable of something like this.

And her suspicion of Genesis was based purely off speculation, nothing more.