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

[grampagen]

The girl in the water slowly reaches out and takes the oar in her hands.

With a strong heave, Ochazuke would attempt to pull her up and into the boat.....and be taken aback by the intense amount of weight that seemed to be holding her down. Little by little she rose out of the watter however, and the shadow that lay beneath shrank the more she was pulled from the water until it finally gathered and vanished as her feet emerged.

All at once the overwhelming weight vanished, and like a newly released butterfly....the girl flew up into the air.

......and then fell back gently untop the front of the boat, her form not even disturbing it in the slightest. She was ethereal, almost ghostlike in her form and mannerism.

"What a strange dream.....Ochazuke." The girl looked down at him. "They dwell here...your loved ones, but they are but memories."

As if realizing the disturbance she offered to his dream, the girl stepped down into the boat and sat....eyes darting between each figure on board. She then seemed to....play along.....with what was happening.

"You have my thanks, I do not...swim.....very well. What a nice boat you have."

"I can see why, you're rather heavy for one so small."

As he pulled Cthylla aboard, the boat had not shift at all, and the droplets that rose were frozen in the air almost as soon as they were rendered about them. In this fixture of the past, Ochazuke's face was less hardened then, his eyes warmer. When he gazed up at her, it was only to marvel at the spectral countenance.

But when she stated his name so directly in this place, the slowing moment froze in totality to a fragile stillness. Kenshiko faced forward to a common destination, Kaibyo reared in deathly repose, lips taut over her favourite poison.

The visage of the world around them froze, noiselessly.

"...moreover...you're not from around here, are you?" The fish corpse dragged behind the boat began to dye the water red, and the heady scent of seeping blood began to fill the air.

Suddenly the rush of beating wings swept around him, the sharp sounds of feather's flight cutting through the deathly silence of this all too fragile suspension.

"Are you lost, traveller?"

[grampagen]

It was like her Zaofan had never died; it was surreal seeing him after all the grief and acceptance of his passing. Shōchū stared at him as he raged and shouted, threatening others with utensils, that it took her longer than it should have to realize just why she was shouting.

"It was I," She admitted without remorse, although she did pause a moment before adding, "I still prefer your Yardratian Instant Hangover brew, but uhh..." That's right, she was confusing him with her Zaofan once more.

"My apologies," She finally said, bowing at the waist in a show of genuine remorse over his inconvenience, "It might not soothe your anger, but it was consumed for a good cause."

At the sounds of a confession made from an unfamiliar voice, Zaofan spun around. The way he pointed his brewer's ladle held in his hand made it seem as sharp as a knife.

"Oh great! "Consumed for a good cause!" Really?" Even while his hands were curled around utensils and foodstuffs, he still took the effort to bunch his fingers into airquotes. As Zaofan spoke, his face curled with exhaggerated furor as he lengthened the words he spat out. "Well I bet you would! A good cause of all thirty-six gallons of a reserve, you-"

Wait a second.

Short hair. Sizeable pauldron to cover the blindspots on the backswing. Long skirt, high-slit, firm legs. Concealed the defensive footwork, the better to to shift the momentum of that big stick with the weighted ends.

The fuming disgust that kneaded Zaofan's frowned features slowly melted, softened, and reversed themselves into puckered confusion. His raging eyes slowly narrowed and his lips pursed.

Somehow, the sight, her posture, even that bow was uncannily familiar, but...

"...wait, who the heck are you again?"

"Oh.....well I suppose if someone enjoyed your booze that much you shouldn't take it too hard, better you bark for me then at the moon in futility anyways." Etrina chimed in, seemingly in a rather pleasant mode from watching Zaofan run around expressing a a little untapped fury. With a smile she directly her attention to Shōchū. "You are old enough to be drinking correct.....can never tell with the people around here. Etrina by the way, Etrina Stoltengarde. Forgive me for not paying attention....You are....?"

Mistress. Instantly his eyes snapped open, and his reddened face drained.

"I- ghk," he stammered as his eyes moved from surveying the new arrival to a very focused, fixed spot on the Lookout grounds before her. "It was supposed to-" He spun around, pointing the ladle from Etrina, to Shochu, then back again. "-you don't just pour it out for~!"

With a sputter, Zaofan at last hung his head and sighed.

"...there's chocolate pudding in the fridge, might as well help yourself to that, too," he muttered.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

" Dash can you take care of Asozer for me? Make sure she gets fed. I have to go to Capsule Corp. There's something important there I have to do." Praxat said.

Later in her Lab at Capsule Corp Praxat in a hazmat suit successfully mimics the results of her last test to find a new form of radiation. Praxat records her discovery, and just like last time she gets the same strange readings on her monitor.

Praxat sees the same strange flashes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and white lights as she did in one of her earlier tests. With further testing, Praxat comes to the conclusion that she has discovered a new type of radiation. One that is high energy and non-ionizing, and possessed strange properties.

Praxat happy with her findings raises her right hand in triumph. ( Yes this is what I been looking for. I can use this for my X-ray mod for my combat goggles,) Praxat thought.

Praxat then goes on to further study the radiation's properties, and tests it's penetration power on many objects include metal objects. Her readings confirm that the radiation can pass through solid metal objects.

Praxat increases the intensity of the radiation and discovers that the radiation starts turning physical objects into chocolate. (Okay, that is quite bizarre,) Praxat thought.

As she bumps up the intensity of the radiation. It starts doing weirder things to the objects around it. (This radiation I discovered is astonishing) Praxat thought.

( What should I call it? Base on its strange properties. Maybe I should call it Enigma Radiation or I could name it after my self. I could name it after Dash,) Praxat thought.

[Yun Lao]

At the sounds of a confession made from an unfamiliar voice, Zaofan spun around. The way he pointed his brewer's ladle held in his hand made it seem as sharp as a knife.

"Oh great! "Consumed for a good cause!" Really?" Even while his hands were curled around utensils and foodstuffs, he still took the effort to bunch his fingers into airquotes. As Zaofan spoke, his face curled with exhaggerated furor as he lengthened the words he spat out. "Well I bet you would! A good cause of all thirty-six gallons of a reserve, you-"

Wait a second.

Short hair. Sizeable pauldron to cover the blindspots on the backswing. Long skirt, high-slit, firm legs. Concealed the defensive footwork, the better to to shift the momentum of that big stick with the weighted ends.

The fuming disgust that kneaded Zaofan's frowned features slowly melted, softened, and reversed themselves into puckered confusion. His raging eyes slowly narrowed and his lips pursed.

Somehow, the sight, her posture, even that bow was uncannily familiar, but...

"...wait, who the heck are you again?"

"Oh.....well I suppose if someone enjoyed your booze that much you shouldn't take it too hard, better you bark for me then at the moon in futility anyways." Etrina chimed in, seemingly in a rather pleasant mode from watching Zaofan run around expressing a a little untapped fury. With a smile she directly her attention to Shōchū. "You are old enough to be drinking correct.....can never tell with the people around here. Etrina by the way, Etrina Stoltengarde. Forgive me for not paying attention....You are....?"

"I am Shōchū of the Last Call... from another timeline," It was beginning to become awkward having to introduce herself so many times in one afternoon, but she continued, "As for my age, I am twenty-four... or so I have been told," Between the time under Rex's influence, the lack of accurate methods to tell the time and date while moving from planet to space station to etc, and the time during her conversion, it wouldn't be out of question to add or minus a year or so to that estimate.

"As outlandish as it may sound, I didn't drink it all for pleasure... mostly. It has been a while since I had tasted any of your handiwork and I felt nostalgic."

Mistress. Instantly his eyes snapped open, and his reddened face drained.

"I- ghk," he stammered as his eyes moved from surveying the new arrival to a very focused, fixed spot on the Lookout grounds before her. "It was supposed to-" He spun around, pointing the ladle from Etrina, to Shochu, then back again. "-you don't just pour it out for~!"

With a sputter, Zaofan at last hung his head and sighed.

"...there's chocolate pudding in the fridge, might as well help yourself to that, too," he muttered.

To say a sliver of jealousy didn't lurk deep in her scarred heart would have been a lie. Her Zaofan had acted as her older brother, father, master, and unrequited crush and to see him, albeit an alternate version, look to Etrina like a subservient dog exposing his belly, twisted her emotions in ways she wasn't expecting. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, her organic mind pleaded with the cybernetic to erase that vision from her brain but received no salvation.

"Perhaps as payment, I could give you a recipe from another timeline? It would be one you... an alternate version of yourself, perfected."

[MrSandman]

The uneasy feeling didn't completely go away, but the more they talked the more it lessened. It was kind of like being close proxmity to drinking the first time, the strong stuff knocked you off your ass but you could build tolerance for it. Would it be exactly the same for some strange cosmic outside force? Probably not exactly, but through out all the stuff she had seen and been through she didn't have any references for this.

The older woman(or really it was relative at this point) frowned as they went on. "Okay, stop that No need to keep beating yourself up. But for starters, if you want people to listen to you, you need to learn if possible how to speak more naturally and not the monotone. You have my attention, so I'll listen: What exactly do your kind want? And this is important, why did you decide to go against them?"

The first was data, the second was too but of another kind like getting into the head of the young woman, their character. Even if they were seemingly odd they had to have some sort of formal thought process.

"Keep beating myself up?" Cthylla asked as if the statement made little to no sense. "My kind do not partake in self mutilation, nor do I have any desire to start. I am merely started observational facts."

After seemingly processing the rest of her statement, Cthylla continued. "It is not a matter of poor communication skills. This is the easiest way to communicate via this suits speech generator.....making pitch variable adjustments and adding emotional relevance to spoken dialogue is difficult, and creates an unnecessary long wait time on responses. I tend to avoid it unless for short exchanges or long, pre scripted speeches. I have no mouth, and I must emote." Cthylla paused once more, then raised her hand. "You however, have asked questions for which I have prepared answers with emotional dialogue support......so listen, as I explain."

Like a switch being flipped, Cthylla suddenly turns from an almost robotic posture and look....to one so animated Aleka wouldn't be wrong to mistakenly think she was suddenly center stage to some sort of theatrical production of a space opera. Like some overdramatic, overexcited roleplayer, Cthylla exploded in sound and emotion.

"Since the first isle of creation rose amiss the eternal, perpetual sea of the void....We, denizens of the Void, have floated upon its currents and transversed it endless depths...some in search of our progenitor, great Azathoth. Others, like myself, gather upon the edge of the spheres to observe the ways within creation to expand our knowledge.....and many more use their connection to those within to play games for amusement. As it has been for millions of your years.....thousands of our cycles of birth. That all changed when the Brood of Shub-Niggurath began their aggressive efforts to manipulate the races of your sphere from beyond its boundaries. Their goals remain unknown to us....but I have ventured here to both warn and prepare you and yours for the coming threat."

Cthylla, who had been posing wildly with what amounted to the smirk of a over-imaginative 8th grader, finished and immediately switched back to her neutral expression and stance. "If I had to answer you question of why I wish to help.....it is because my brood are observers and are very fond of the natural exploits of you peoples. We watch, but very rarely do we interfere. Others do not share this view....and with each cycle there machinations grow ever bolder, and more disruptive. We....I fear that eventually they will poison your universe through their own will to manipulate it....or worse, bring about its end."

[MrSandman]

"I can see why, you're rather heavy for one so small."

As he pulled Cthylla aboard, the boat had not shift at all, and the droplets that rose were frozen in the air almost as soon as they were rendered about them. In this fixture of the past, Ochazuke's face was less hardened then, his eyes warmer. When he gazed up at her, it was only to marvel at the spectral countenance.

But when she stated his name so directly in this place, the slowing moment froze in totality to a fragile stillness. Kenshiko faced forward to a common destination, Kaibyo reared in deathly repose, lips taut over her favourite poison.

The visage of the world around them froze, noiselessly.

"...moreover...you're not from around here, are you?" The fish corpse dragged behind the boat began to dye the water red, and the heady scent of seeping blood began to fill the air.

Suddenly the rush of beating wings swept around him, the sharp sounds of feather's flight cutting through the deathly silence of this all too fragile suspension.

"Are you lost, traveller?"

"One cannot be lost......where time is meaningless, we are always where we decide to be. Where we want to be. Where we desire to be." The girl let her fingers trail into the water trail in the water, eyeing Ochazuke intently, before passing that gaze across those on the boat.

"Thank you, for letting me share this path......Are these your friends? Family?" The girl gestured to the ones around him. "They are nice....it is good to keep friends close, family closer."

[MrSandman]

"I am Shōchū of the Last Call... from another timeline," It was beginning to become awkward having to introduce herself so many times in one afternoon, but she continued, "As for my age, I am twenty-four... or so I have been told," Between the time under Rex's influence, the lack of accurate methods to tell the time and date while moving from planet to space station to etc, and the time during her conversion, it wouldn't be out of question to add or minus a year or so to that estimate.

"As outlandish as it may sound, I didn't drink it all for pleasure... mostly. It has been a while since I had tasted any of your handiwork and I felt nostalgic."

"Oh....from another timeline you say." Etrina laughed pleasantly while the aura around her shifted to that of a black hole, sucking in all light and hole as she began to chuckle mercilessly. "What a pleasant surprise....another time traveler, exactly what I wanted. Aha....Ahahahaha......Zaofan, I was wrong. Stealing that booze was a grave offence. Clearly she needs to be spanked til she cries like a baby." In a swift, almost choreographed move, Etrina pulled a paddle bat from magic and took several menacing practice swings.

"I'll go first."

[MrSandman]

Jack frowns, puffing on a cigarette.

He radios in, telling Eva, Jinzi, and whomever else was in comm range where Rex was going and what Jack wa a feeling from the place.

Then, with a shrug, he wrapped his Grave Magic around himself tighter, and slowly walked on into the unknown, following a trail of monsters and madness.

Back on the lookout, Erosa was guzzling down the chocolate pudding Zaofan believed was still safe while fuming alone to herself after sarada had been stopped just short of giving that damn dinosaur a deserved ass kicking. Why eva allowed him free roaming when it was only going to bit them all in the butt later...literally, was beyond her.

Stupid lizard was out on her planet, marking her territory, eating her meat, EATING HER MEAT, acting like the damn alpha when he was at best a beta.....maybe......whatever was after beta......Cata?

Stupid Lizard.

Perhaps it was fate she'd catch the communication from Jack as she was leaving the kitchen area. Dumb lizard was up north, writing his name in the snow with hakai piss or something........

"GAO!" Erosa yelled, stomping her away towards the edge of the lookout.....doing a return detour to grab a dozen more cups of pudding, then preparing to head out...herself if she had to....and catch that damn dino before he pissed on anything that was hers.

[Yun Lao]

"Oh....from another timeline you say." Etrina laughed pleasantly while the aura around her shifted to that of a black hole, sucking in all light and hole as she began to chuckle mercilessly. "What a pleasant surprise....another time traveler, exactly what I wanted. Aha....Ahahahaha......Zaofan, I was wrong. Stealing that booze was a grave offence. Clearly she needs to be spanked til she cries like a baby." In a swift, almost choreographed move, Etrina pulled a paddle bat from magic and took several menacing practice swings.

"I'll go first."

There were many questions she wanted to ask, all of which she was unsure if she wanted the answers to, so she wouldn't bother to ask them. "I do intend to pay, in one way or another, for my consumption, but I will not do so in such a demeaning manner, which..." A split-second pause was given as she weighed the options of saying what she planned to say only to continue on, "... which you seem to have confused as a public display of affection with him."

[Sion Reaver]

"Keep beating myself up?" Cthylla asked as if the statement made little to no sense. "My kind do not partake in self mutilation, nor do I have any desire to start. I am merely started observational facts."

After seemingly processing the rest of her statement, Cthylla continued. "It is not a matter of poor communication skills. This is the easiest way to communicate via this suits speech generator.....making pitch variable adjustments and adding emotional relevance to spoken dialogue is difficult, and creates an unnecessary long wait time on responses. I tend to avoid it unless for short exchanges or long, pre scripted speeches. I have no mouth, and I must emote." Cthylla paused once more, then raised her hand. "You however, have asked questions for which I have prepared answers with emotional dialogue support......so listen, as I explain."

Like a switch being flipped, Cthylla suddenly turns from an almost robotic posture and look....to one so animated Aleka wouldn't be wrong to mistakenly think she was suddenly center stage to some sort of theatrical production of a space opera. Like some overdramatic, overexcited roleplayer, Cthylla exploded in sound and emotion.

"Since the first isle of creation rose amiss the eternal, perpetual sea of the void....We, denizens of the Void, have floated upon its currents and transversed it endless depths...some in search of our progenitor, great Azathoth. Others, like myself, gather upon the edge of the spheres to observe the ways within creation to expand our knowledge.....and many more use their connection to those within to play games for amusement. As it has been for millions of your years.....thousands of our cycles of birth. That all changed when the Brood of Shub-Niggurath began their aggressive efforts to manipulate the races of your sphere from beyond its boundaries. Their goals remain unknown to us....but I have ventured here to both warn and prepare you and yours for the coming threat."

Cthylla, who had been posing wildly with what amounted to the smirk of a over-imaginative 8th grader, finished and immediately switched back to her neutral expression and stance. "If I had to answer you question of why I wish to help.....it is because my brood are observers and are very fond of the natural exploits of you peoples. We watch, but very rarely do we interfere. Others do not share this view....and with each cycle there machinations grow ever bolder, and more disruptive. We....I fear that eventually they will poison your universe through their own will to manipulate it....or worse, bring about its end."

Interesting.

Aleka had thought she had seen enough with the time travel and alternate time lines, and deities but apparently there was yet more craziness beneath the surface she had yet to even scratch the surface of just yet. She had a feeling she was going to need drinks, and plenty of them at some later date. From what she was able to gather this woman had a self interest in keeping them alive which she could understand. There was no call of being altruistic and doing just out of the kindness of their heart and that she could some degree trust. It was not to say people wanting to help didn't exist but rather the later required more trust then self interest.

"I think I get it now, but you have an problem..." Aleka started once she was done. "When I said stop beating yourself up? That's just a expression, or a metaphor. We have a lot of those. On top of that, while from a logical and self interest perspective what you say makes sense, you need a bit more then that to rally the support you need. That means learning about those little nusances, and the emotion thing to. If Jinzi can, maybe ask them if he can help? As things stand now you need to work that much harder to get trust and that's counter productive. You usually can't just appeal to sentient beings self interest and logic alone."

Most of the time. There was exceptions to most of everything. There was one more thing however...

"..And to be frank, I don't know how we're suppose to deal with them. I don't know how strong they are but the scale sounds different, and not sure how effective our attacks will be. I think the best of us can what, blow up a star maybe?"

Definitely lot's of drinking after this conversation.

Tasure shook her head. "All I know is that he went after Jagam... best guess is that he ended up in Threshling space, which I thought might be in the uncharted reasons... and I was right. Still gonna be a challenge and a half to actually find your old man, though."

The Saiyaness turned her attention to Nevanlinna, who was busy checking some control panels to monitor the ship's condition. "Hey, you, princess... you heard of any non-threshlings making a stir in your people's Empire? Friend of ours--Karine's father--went there looking for that dumb **** Jagam."

Nevanlinna regarded Tasure for a moment, then spoke. "Yes, I have heard rumors whispered of someone or something on the planet of Baradur... interfering with our activities there. That, however, is the extent of what I kn--"

"Good enough. Starmap coordinates. Now." Her tone made it clear that this was not a request, but an order.

Nevanlinna scoffer. "I simply cannot hand out such information so casua--"

She soon found Tasure's intense gaze right in her face, having floated up to make up for the height difference. She said nothing, for her expression said everything that needed to be said. The Threshling Princess fidgeted for a few moment, then, finally, relented. "...very well." Turning around, she took out a datachip, booted up the star map, punched in a few coordinates, inserted and then removed the chip, and handed it to Tasure.

Tasure smiled in that classic smug saiyan manner. "Thanks." She turned back to Totoma, who was kind of flabbergasted at his mother intimidating an ally into doing what she wanted, and Karine. "Guess our road trip's gonna resume once we've had a chance to get some R&R in, eh?"

".............."

Karine sighed a bit, shaking her head. "I apologize for that Nevanlinna." it was no her fault but she just felt the need to do it anyway. "And I suppose so once we are all rested. Today has been more then a bit tiring.."

[grampagen]

"One cannot be lost......where time is meaningless, we are always where we decide to be. Where we want to be. Where we desire to be." The girl let her fingers trail into the water trail in the water, eyeing Ochazuke intently, before passing that gaze across those on the boat.

"Thank you, for letting me share this path......Are these your friends? Family?" The girl gestured to the ones around him. "They are nice....it is good to keep friends close, family closer."

"On the contrary." Cornered on a boat adrift to nowhere, Ochazuke surveyed the figure where she stood in the fixture of this memory. The flow of time stopped, his recall of these days so long ago stilled the further this divergence progressed.

"Time, passed without purpose, rather swiftly loses its meaning. And adrift without direction, that can hardly be called decisive."

The silence around them was gradually broken by the trill over the horizon.

"And if where we are is not sufficient, it can hardly be the place where you desire, wouldn't you agree? Therefore, who is to say, truly, that they have both the capacity to make and understand their choices for themselves? Perhaps you presume too much."

The low, guttural call of birds. The sound of a thousand wings began to fill the air. Stuck between the Twin Tigers, the only thing he could do was settle in this semantic reprieve with the visitor.

"Them?" he said in response to her question. "There was a time I might have called them family. But friends...even now, that would be a lie."

The water around them thickened, opaque, as the blood spread around them. Though unable to escape this vision, Ochazuke pressed back and withdrew into himself. He knew all too well that the calling Cranes were not native to this area. They couldn't see it either, where he stood to carry them until it was far too late.

"...but you're forgetting, stranger. What do you do with enemies?"

Raising his hand, he pointed a finger straight towards Cthylla. A Dodonpa.

"They never knew my name. How is it that you speak it so freely?"

[grampagen]

"I am Shōchū of the Last Call... from another timeline," It was beginning to become awkward having to introduce herself so many times in one afternoon, but she continued, "As for my age, I am twenty-four... or so I have been told," Between the time under Rex's influence, the lack of accurate methods to tell the time and date while moving from planet to space station to etc, and the time during her conversion, it wouldn't be out of question to add or minus a year or so to that estimate.

"As outlandish as it may sound, I didn't drink it all for pleasure... mostly. It has been a while since I had tasted any of your handiwork and I felt nostalgic."



To say a sliver of jealousy didn't lurk deep in her scarred heart would have been a lie. Her Zaofan had acted as her older brother, father, master, and unrequited crush and to see him, albeit an alternate version, look to Etrina like a subservient dog exposing his belly, twisted her emotions in ways she wasn't expecting. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, her organic mind pleaded with the cybernetic to erase that vision from her brain but received no salvation.

"Oh....from another timeline you say." Etrina laughed pleasantly while the aura around her shifted to that of a black hole, sucking in all light and hole as she began to chuckle mercilessly. "What a pleasant surprise....another time traveler, exactly what I wanted. Aha....Ahahahaha......Zaofan, I was wrong. Stealing that booze was a grave offence. Clearly she needs to be spanked til she cries like a baby." In a swift, almost choreographed move, Etrina pulled a paddle bat from magic and took several menacing practice swings.

"I'll go first."

In the last of the swings, Zaofan crossed Etrina's cricket bat with his brewer's ladle and stopped it cold.

"...hold on now" Fatigued from the length of the fighting, sunk his shoulders low with a sigh.

Perhaps after all that had transpired in that distant nebula, he may have forgotten his place. As sore as he was about the loss of his little brewery project, it seemed In more than one respect, he'd forgotten himself.

"Another, another alternate timeline, huh," he chuckled, though his laugh was quite hollow to match the weariness he felt within. "At the very least, she's not as hostile as those others were, Etrina. Sound like she only just got here, there's no way she would know how we do things around here, right?."

"Besides, nobody drinks that much, not unless they're hurting," he said, "all things considered, I'm glad you liked it. Maybe uh, take it little easy though?"

"Perhaps as payment, I could give you a recipe from another timeline? It would be one you... an alternate version of yourself, perfected."

Of course Alternate Earth, alternate...new-girl, of course there'd be another, other, alternate Zaofan. The mention of an alternate self caused his fatigued smiled to ripple over his white teeth, but ever since the Sheriff had departed, the sore spot he left behind him had calloused.

Why is it always me?

"...well, far be if for me to be an enabler, but a perfect brew you say?" Hastily he freed up a hand, and offered it to her. "Challenge accepted, Shochu!"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

After concluding her business on Earth, Parsley returned to Vocado with Azura in tow. When she stepped through the portal, it proved to be the first time she had stepped foot on her homeworld in over a year. It looked much the same as it did when she left, but there was something noticeably different about it. She wasn't sure if it was her or the place, but it didn't... quite feeling like home.

It was her home. All her family and loved ones were still there, but she felt like a stranger.

No.

She felt like an outsider. An outsider still. Memories of her defeat at the hands of her sister were still fresh thanks to her conversation with Asha'rah. With them came the backlash from her comments just prior to that. The protests against her potential rule that flooded the planets within the Empire. They all said the same thing: that Queen Parsley would be the worst thing to happen. They were completely against her. Only Callion supported her, which was actually worse than having no support at all.

She had been banned, if she recalled correctly, from Ruco and Langal. If she hadn't, she was sure she wasn't welcome.

So much time had passed, but was it enough for her to feel welcome? No; she didn't feel welcome, and likely never would again. The mistakes of her past were still biting her in the ass. Some homecoming. She had been nervous, and this was why.

It was late at night, so there weren't too many people outside. No one of note noticed her standing on the portal platform before she flash-stepped outside. From there, she lifted into the air and started flying.

Azura sped up to fly beside her. Parsley really wanted to wait at least a little while, but found herself unable to postpone the girl's visit. That was bound to make this first night difficult. It would have been better if it was daytime, but that couldn't be helped now.

She wanted to see Maiz more than anything, but that could wait until tomorrow. Tonight, Avoca's ass was hers. She had been waiting for a whole entire day, and nothing was going to get between her and those beautiful, round cheeks.

She landed on the balcony of her apartment. Avoca had been living there still all this time. The sliding door was unlocked, so she opened it and walked inside. It still looked the same as it did the last time she was there. Scarcely decorated with the bare essentials. Plain furniture, simple china, and very little in the way of décor. A far cry from some of the places she had been. “Hello?”

There was a rustling coming from the bedroom, followed by rapid footsteps leading down the short hall. “Oh, hey.” Avoca was wearing a tanktop and a pair of small short, so she must have been in bed. “You're home.”

It was a simple comment, nothing very remarkable. Yet, hearing those two words – You're Home – hit her harder than she thought they would, or should. Her shoulders sagged, as if she had been relieved of an immense weight, but was too tired to hold herself up high.

She was tired. She was so, so very tired. Days of constant fighting was enough to wear out even the mightiest Saiyan. But combine those constant battles with the constant thinking and observing and analyzing and having to maintain her patience when dealing with imbeciles, it all took a weighty toll on her. “I'm home.”

She trudged forward until she bumped into Avoca, and laid her head on her shoulder. A pair of muscular arms wrapped around her and held her close. For the first time since her resurrection, she felt at peace. Here, in her love's arms, breathing in her scent and listening to her heart beat steadily, she felt normal again.

“Uh,” she grunted. “Who are you?”

No, I forgot she was there already!

“Hello. My name is Azura. I am here to visit Parsley's home,” Azura responded in a politic tone. She was nothing if not polite and direct.

“Oh, a friend from Earth. I'm Avoca. I'm her mate.” One of the arms left Parsley's waist to offer a handshake. Silence followed. “Oh, um...”

“Ah.”

Parsley turned her head and noticed the girl staring at the hand, a contemplative frown on her face. “Ah.” As if realizing what the gesture meant, she took Avoca's hand within her own and shook it once. “It is nice to meet you, Avoca.”

“So, are you hungry, Azura?” Parsley asked.

“Yes. This form requires physical nourishment.” Her head tilted to the side curiously. “I do not know what to eat.”

“Ah,” Avoca hummed while scratching her head. “I got some meat in the fridge. I can warm that up for you.”

Azura nodded and followed her into the kitchen. Parsley brought up the rear, only so neither person could see her face. It hadn't even been five minutes and she was having doubts that this was a good idea. The girl was highly intelligent – Midori must have spared no efforts in educating her in the ways of life – but intelligence was not a substitute for experience. The girl was naive, for lack of a better term. And with naivete came unbearably awkward moments like that one.

She repressed a sigh. She supposed that this was the reason she brought her here. Tomorrow, she would introduce her to Pinach and Rutaba and hope their youthful exuberance rubbed off on her.

Avoca placed a rack of frog's legs in the preheated oven, then sat down across from her. “Alright. What's your story?”

“My name is Azura. I have a genetically engineered biological organism created by Mother, Midori Pantaloons. I was created by Mother mixing her DNA with a genetic sample of First Race DNA.” At this point, Avoca was already completely lost. Parsley would explain later. “I was simply a genetic mass when Parsley and Ishtar stumbled across my containment room. Parsley attempted to kill me, but was unable and agreed to let me live.” She smiled brightly at Parsley. “Thanks again.”

“You're welcome.” She wouldn't necessarily agree that she couldn't, simply that she would have needed more than a single try. She didn't really put up the kind of effort she could usually muster. She was also exhausted from the final battle and didn't have the energy necessary to... oh, whatever.

“O....kay.” Everything had gone over Avoca's head. “So... you're mother... if you're here, I assume she's back on Earth.”

“No. She's dead,” Azura answered promptly. “She was responsible for the annihilation of at least seven universes before she stumbled across this one. Her intentions to destroy this universe plus an addition six more warranted her death.” She frowned slightly. “She wanted to have a life with her parents, and was going to use a set of dragonballs constructed from the temporal energies siphoned from the previous seven universes she destroyed to build a utopia, a perfect universe for herself and her family. She would have succeeded if not for Parsley and those united with her.”

The summary was succinct, factual, and devoid of any real emotion outside of the frown. If she didn't know any better, Parsley would have thought Azura was reciting the weather report, not regaling Avoca with her mother's heinous and vile plan. This aloofness... was it a result of her First Race heritage? Midori was close, but not to this degree.

Avoca had an utterly perplexed look on her face that had persisted since this conversation began. “...Alright. Well, I don't know what the **** even half of that is supposed to mean.”

“I can explain in greater detail if you would like.”

“No thanks. The legs are done.” She stood and removed the now hot frog legs from the over and put them on a plate. “These here are a delicacy in my house.”

Parsley took a seat between them. “Since when?”

“Ever since I saw those stupid giant frogs and those meaty legs.” She grabbed one and tore into it.

Parsley took one and bit into it. Succulent, flavorful meat and juices besieged her tongue. The skin was crunchy, but not overly so. She could taste a hint of... olive oil and... “What did you season this with?”

“Parsley,” she answered with a smirk.

Her face soured.

Azura chuckled. “You're named after a seasoning.”

Was that a question? A statement? “I am. We Saiyans name ourselves after vegetables.” Saying it aloud made it really weird. She supposed that was why they never actually acknowledged it.

Azura picked one of the legs up and bit into it. If either Saiyaness was expecting her to spasm with jubilant happiness, they were slightly disappointed. The girl hummed curiously, then ate the rest. “So, this is what food tastes like.” She grabbed another and ate that one even more quickly than the rest. Then another and another, until there was only one left. There had been twelve previously. “Oh. I apologize for my rudeness.”

Avoca waved her off. “Don't sweat it, kid. You're our guest, after all.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

They stayed up for a few more hours. Parsley told Avoca – and Azura – everything that had happened in the past few days since the former had last been on Earth. She also explained – as simply as she could – the multiple timelines, universes, and the alternate versions of themselves that she encountered.

It was a difficult concept to grasp for someone who had never known time travel or alternate universes existed. Avoca wasn't a genius, but she wasn't stupid, either. She understood it eventually, but the entire thing went over her head somewhat.

Ah, well. Life didn't depend on her understanding completely the ins and outs of temporal manipulation.

It was close to midnight by the time Parsley finished. “There's another bedroom you can sleep in tonight.”

Azura nodded. “This new form... I'm not used to having to sleep and rest.” As if to emphasize this, she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

“Rest is good. It keeps you sharp the next day.” Parsley led her to the bedroom. It was as simple as the other bedroom, with a bed, a dresser, and a closet full of spare clothes. “I think I have some night clothes in the dresser.” She checked and found a few shirts, shorts, and... something she forgot she had. She quickly shoved that up her shirt and pulled out some clothes for Azura. “Here you go. Have a good night.”

“Good night, Parsley.”

She stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind her. A beat passed before she was sprinting through the apartment toward the other bedroom. Avoca was waiting for her. With a lecherous, amorous grin that seemed more familiar on Sarada's face than Parsley's. “I've been waiting for this.” She climbed onto the bed and laid on her back.

“Oh? I think you need this more than I do. Try to keep quiet.” She leaned down and kissed her softly, gradually growing in intensity.


Parsley laid with her head nestled in the crook of Avoca's neck. Their limbs were tangled together, resembling a sweaty, naked octopus. She wasn't the bottom often – perhaps only twice in her entire life – but what just transpired was... delightful. Avoca was right – she did need that. Badly.

She would return the favor tomorrow, but tonight, she was content to let her love be her rock. And she needed it.

Sleep was fleeting. When she closed her eyes, she saw her. She heard her voice. She felt her slaps across her face with icy accuracy.

The door to her cell opened. “Finally awake,” Appel said. Her heels clacked against the floor as she approached, only stopping when she was within reaching distance. She leaned down and fisted Parsley's hair to yank her head upward. “Hm. Pupils dilated. You got some nasty looking dots on your eyeballs. Then again, I'm just a chemist, not a medical doctor. You lot killed all of them.”

“I... didn't... kill your,” she tried to reply. The strain of just talking was great. It felt like her throat was ripping itself apart with every word.

“Shut up,” Appel snarled before slapping her across the face. “Shut your goddamn mouth!!!” Her fist slammed into Parsley's head, cracking her skull with enough force to draw blood after the second hit. She kept punching until the Saiyan's left eye was swollen shut. “You didn't kill my husband? My daughter? My sons? But your kind did. Those animals in those crude pods fell from the sky and started slaughtering us in droves. I watched my children burn when those giant apes started flinging fire everywhere!” Tears started falling down Appel's face. “You may not have been there personally, but you're just the same as they are. I don't care how 'sophisticated' you make yourselves out to be, you're still the same now as you were then.”

Parsley tried to argue that it wasn't her, that the Saiyans that killed her people didn't even live on this world, but every time she opened her mouth, Appel slapped the taste out of the mouth. “Enough!” She pulled another syringe out of her coat pocket, this one with a bright orange serum. She unceremoniously jammed into the side of Parsley's neck and pushed down.

Slowly, her vision started to blur even worse than it already was. The room started to spin violently, causing her to spew vomit all over the floor.

“Hmph. What an animal.” With that, Appel left.

The room kept spinning and Parsley kept vomiting. Her stomach was already empty from having not eaten in what she assumed to be at least a day, so soon, she started to vomit blood. Her body started shaking, thought whether it was because of the constant emptying of her stomach or the serum, she wasn't sure. Please, she begged silently as tears streamed down her face and her body was wracked with violent sobs, Please, someone help me!

Her breathes were shuddering. There was a tremble in her body, like a child standing against an icy breeze. Even though she was in Avoca's strong arms, she felt so alone. It was like no one could understand what she was going through, what she was feeling inside. Who could she talk to? Who could help her deal with these feelings of helplessness and despair that she still felt a year later?

“Parsley?”

Avoca's voice was distant, even though she was right there under her. “Yes?”

“...Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” she responded. She hoped silently that she believed her and left it alone.

She did, but squeezed her tightly. “Okay. I...love you.”

So simple, yet it hit harder than she expected it to. “I love you, too.” Maybe she'd feel better in the morning.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

“I.....don’t know for sure. I want to..I want to do better. To help fix mistakes made in the past, but I find myself oddly.....afraid.”

Understandable. This was uncharted waters for the fallen goddess. So sure she had been in her actions, only to be proven so undeniably wrong by her own memories. The urge to repair what was in disarray was strong, but the path was unclear.

In this, Asha'rah would be better served seeking advice and guidance from another. But Parsley did have one thing to say. "Perhaps the best thing to do is nothing. Ishtar has set about repairing what is damaged in the universe, setting things right and all that. Perhaps your best move is to leave it to her.

"Either that or attempt to aid her. Though, I'm certain that bridge is now a pile of ash."