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

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The Tuffles' transport ship touched down on the small planetoid Appel directed Lantro to a few days ago. It was mostly barren, save for a small, white building with a translucent dome protecting it from the harsh environment of outer space. Appel pressed a spot on her forehead, opening the dome slightly and allowing the ship to pass through before the dome closed again. She and one other scientist named Agrep placed helmets on their heads and hooked up breathing apparatuses to their suits before venturing inside the building.

The building was a ghost of itself. Papers, equipment, and mysterious fluids littered the floor, showing without restraint the haste with which the Tuffles acted the last time they were there. It was a genetics laboratory. The clones of Appel were created there, as well as the genetic splicing required to create their ultimate weapon.

The building was quickly constructed and cheaply made. Half of the lights weren't operational and there was limited oxygen available, hence them keeping their breathing apparatuses on. Still, in the dimly lit halls, Appel strode as if she had the way to her destination memorized.

They walked swiftly, and found themselves standing before a large metal door. She inputted a fifteen digit code into a number pad placed on the adjacent wall, then stepped back and waited for the door to open.

A giddy, excited smile appeared on her lips when the door fully slid open. The room it revealed was pitch black, with thick wires criss-crossing haphazardly across the floor. It was mostly empty, with the exception of a single six-foot tall clear tube filled with a single body floating in a mysterious green liquid.

“At last!” She ran over to a console tucked away in the corner, tripping twice over the wires on the floor. She ran her fingers over the keyboard, entering in a 150 letter and number sequence needed to activate the creature held within the tube. When it was complete, the lights throughout the facility flickered and died. The creature's hands twitched slightly.

“Hello?”

Its eyes opened. It looked around curiously. A hand raised and pressed against the glass. Then, suddenly, its entire body turned into glass, allowing it to pass through to the outside with zero trouble.

“Incredible,” Agrep marveled.

Appel chuckled and handed the creature a set of clothes she picked up off a nearby table. “Teen's adaptive abilities seem to be fully operation.”

The creature, Teen, turned and looked at them. It's form shifted into something more appropriate.



“Welcome, Teen. My name is Appel, and I am your creator. Can you speak?”

Teen frowned slightly, then opened its mouth. “Yes,” it answered, in a soft but masculine voice.

She breathed in and smiled proudly. “Excellent. Your parameters have already been uploaded, yes?”

“Affirmative. Primary objective: overseeing restoration of Tuffle homeworld. Secondary objective: ensure destruction of Saiyan race.”

“Perfect! Come, our destiny awaits.” Appel, Agrep, and Teen exited the facility quickly, and boarded the transport. “To Bananan.”

“Ma'am,” a woman chimed the moment she spoke. “I'm been seeing reports that there is a restoration crew from Vocado and Ruco on Bananan as I speak. We'll meet resistance.”

“Tsk! We have Teen now, Lemo. What do we have to fear from those dirty apes?” She nodded at Lantro and strapped herself in. Teen remained standing in the back of the transport, undisturbed by the jostling of the ship as it was hoisted upward and dragged through space toward the Tuffles' homeworld.

There, without doubt, another clash between Tuffle and Saiyan warriors would ensue.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

There is nothing else of note here.

There was nothing else worth looking at. Parsley tucked the journal away safely, then turned to leave. "Nothing else here. Let's go so we can meet with the others."

Her hand was still trembling. Years and years ago, Vocado walked this planet. Whatever this journal contained was worth cursing and warding the door to prevent someone from finding it. It was also worth the Saiyan King to travel for days -- or years, as technology wasn't nearly as good as it was nowadays -- from his namesake planet to Earth. "Whatever this place was protecting, it was worth Vocado traveling light years to this world to form some kind of alliance with Zxu'ro. It seems our worlds have connections that run far deeper than any of us realized."

The answers were in this journal. Once it was translated, the pieces would begin to come together.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Still one month into the Timeskip.

At her Lab in Capsul Corp after one month had passed. Praxat has successfully made The X-ray modification for her combat goggles. It was a lot of grueling work with the Ultra Katchin being incredibly hard to mix with other materials. ( **** this stuff was a pain in the ass,) Praxat thought.

( To mold and forge with other materials, but I managed to do it. No to mention I had to wear a heat-protective suit just to work with the stuff, ) Praxat thought. Praxat then reassembles her combat goggles and installs the X-ray modification.

Praxat takes off her work goggles and puts on the combat goggles. Praxat then takes the modification for a test drive. The result of the test is an astonishing success. ( Good the Ultra Katchin is able to harness the Luue Radiation,) Praxat thought.

( There's no radiation leak detect by my equipment. This is so wonderful. I can see through stuff, even metal. Just like a comic book superhero,) Praxat thought.

[Sion Reaver]

He nods.

“It is...a long tale.”

He begins telling her, voice growing a bit more smooth and comfortable. He tells her of advanced Terra in that other universe, of the wars and the fighting, of how Terra threw back Saiyans, Arcosians, Majins, the First Race, and everyone else before eventually succumbing to themselves. He tells her of his King and Queen, of the oath made to protect their daughter, Karis, and of his long sentinel stewardship as the last man alive on Terra. Of how he had used cryogenics to prolong his life unnaturally so he could continue to serve his oath, and he tells her how the M-Fighters came to meet him and took them back here. Finally, he tells her Karis is to be awoken soon and how he is nervous, for they have never properly met and she has no knowledge of what befell their world.

Aleka hadn't been expecting anything like this or for him to tell her more about the story but once he started she politely stayed silent and listened. To say the man had been through a lot had been a understatement, to say nothing the fact a version of earth managed to find off all those races including the so called 'First Race'. She still had no clue if that was their true name, or they were just that ego driven to call themselves as such; if the former it might further explain some of their actions. A group of people that had that amount arrogance to them was bound to have some type of superiority complex at best, and at worse..

On that one she didn't need to elaborate.

Being honest with herself she wasn't sure if she would have that strength of character to pull through if put in a similar situation. Perhaps if it came down to it, she would have but there was no way for her to know.

Once the last man of Terra finished, she was silent for a moment both to gather her thoughts and give the proper weight of what he had told her to settle in. "I didn't expect that, but thank you for feeling your story to me. You and your world have went through a lot; I'm not sure if this one would of been able to or not now, but I believe it its potential." There was a pause a bit. "I'm not sure if Terra had the same reputation as earth, but here most look down on her and its citizens. Backwards, primitive and will never amount to much according to those same people. The same was said for my own, until it wasn't the case anymore. I'm too young to know personally, but back then my people were in a similar position,. Used as slaves, sometimes our skin used for certain..things. No one listened and no one cared for a long time, so had to make our own way. Thankfully earth never went through the later portion.."

She supposed it was mostly due it happening further back, and her planet being in the ass backwards of that part of the galaxy. It was better, not perfect but definitely a lot better now that the Galaxy Police was a thing. "I think that's a part of what drives me around here, self interest aside. I don't fancy myself a hero or anything, just a person trying to do the right thing in a increasingly crazy world that seems adamant about flipping my previous beliefs on their head. If I'm honest, I feel in over my head on a lot of this stuff but I just power through it."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Aleka hadn't been expecting anything like this or for him to tell her more about the story but once he started she politely stayed silent and listened. To say the man had been through a lot had been a understatement, to say nothing the fact a version of earth managed to find off all those races including the so called 'First Race'. She still had no clue if that was their true name, or they were just that ego driven to call themselves as such; if the former it might further explain some of their actions. A group of people that had that amount arrogance to them was bound to have some type of superiority complex at best, and at worse..

On that one she didn't need to elaborate.

Being honest with herself she wasn't sure if she would have that strength of character to pull through if put in a similar situation. Perhaps if it came down to it, she would have but there was no way for her to know.

Once the last man of Terra finished, she was silent for a moment both to gather her thoughts and give the proper weight of what he had told her to settle in. "I didn't expect that, but thank you for feeling your story to me. You and your world have went through a lot; I'm not sure if this one would of been able to or not now, but I believe it its potential." There was a pause a bit. "I'm not sure if Terra had the same reputation as earth, but here most look down on her and its citizens. Backwards, primitive and will never amount to much according to those same people. The same was said for my own, until it wasn't the case anymore. I'm too young to know personally, but back then my people were in a similar position,. Used as slaves, sometimes our skin used for certain..things. No one listened and no one cared for a long time, so had to make our own way. Thankfully earth never went through the later portion.."

She supposed it was mostly due it happening further back, and her planet being in the ass backwards of that part of the galaxy. It was better, not perfect but definitely a lot better now that the Galaxy Police was a thing. "I think that's a part of what drives me around here, self interest aside. I don't fancy myself a hero or anything, just a person trying to do the right thing in a increasingly crazy world that seems adamant about flipping my previous beliefs on their head. If I'm honest, I feel in over my head on a lot of this stuff but I just power through it."

He nods.

“That is..admirable. It shows...great strength to keep...pushing forward to do the...right thing. Jinzi....Ochazuke...both share......that quality. You....fit in with them...quite well.”

He smiles and raises his lemonade.

“To...pushing forward.”

[bruceleegreyhulk]

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post4614467

After doing a session of community service. Including reading to children at an orphanage, helping the homeless at a shelter. Recusing stray pets and taking them to animal recuse center, and generally spreading goodwill.

Althena heads towards the Lookout. Upon heading there. Althena's infrasonic hearing catches the sound of a heartbeat under a block of frozen ice. Althena lands on the frozen lake and sees that there's a small child trap under it.

With her Panoramic vision, Althena could the kid had fallen through a small hole in the ice. Althena quickly breaks the ice dives into the cold water and retrieves the kid. Althena hears that the kid is barely breathing. So she quickly acts and uses her healing ability to save the small kid's life.

The small kid a girl when she opens her eyes is startling by Althena at first but then hugs her for saving her life." Thank you, Rog lady, I thought I was a gonna," the girl said.

" Child, your parents must be worried sick about you," Althena said.

" Well, Mommy and Daddy told me to be careful playing on this lake, but I saw this really nice fish. So I had to catch it. I put my hand in that hole over there. " the small girl said.

"I had almost had the fish but accidentally slip and fall through the hole. Mommy and Daddy are going to be so mad at me for not listen," the small girl said.

"Well, next time you should listen to your parents. I'll escort you home. Now, where do you live? " Althena said.

" I don't live far from here, but Mommy and Daddy said I should trust strangers unless they are good people. You're a good person, so I can trust you." The small girl said.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Held isn’t on the Lookout.

[grampagen]

Something lurched the moment he touched her hand, and at once he found himself floating in the void alone.

"I want you to imagine a Sea of Void, with no concept of Space....no end. No concept of time....no beginning. Within dwelling being so unfathomably powerful as to dwarf in scale those who would come after.....but then, the concept of after did not exist then. There was only now, expanding forever."

A blinding light flashed before Ochazukes eyes, in the midst of the perpetual darkness, a sphere took shape.

"Have you ever struck a match in total darkness.....watched the world illuminate around it. Where there was no form beyond the pitch black, now there was shape. In much the same way was the first universe born. Separation...for the first time the void was not infinite. For the first time, there was a first time. Protected within its creators confinement....the concepts of space and time took hold, and bleed through through the barrier until it poisoned the void outside it. The first sphere. In its shadow....Azathoth was born, the progenitor of my kind."

Around him, in distances he could not measure.....pinpricks of light formed, one after the other.

"Time means very little to us....but because it bleeds through into the firmament, we feel its rhythm. We understand there is a cycle...a series of events that has, and will, play out. Azathoth drank deep of the void sea, and produced his offspring. They in turned drank deep and produced offspring of their own. It is by this that we measured what time means to us.....and there has been billions of these cycles since the the first sphere. Other spheres soon doted the void....though none produced a being on part with Azathoth every again. Our kind spread, we used those pins of light to guide our path.....used to the steams of energy that vein through the void to feed us. Our journeys were long....cycles so large no number you hold can contest to them. But for us there was nothing else. These are the memories of my ancestors....forever in twined within the dream that connects us all. Azathoths dream."

Ochazuke would have attempted to shield his eyes from the vision, but found he could not. The experiential rapture of dreams had a way of swallowing the senses and slipping wholly from control, and so in silence he surveyed the vision he was thrust towards.

What Cthylla described as a Void was more of an intersection; that space-between-spaces where ancient beings that crossed into this plane resided. And while it was quite alien to his sensibilities, birth bloomed from the briefest of thoughts, it was a sense of isolation he had known well when another voiced her intent and design. A vision in kind despite the bluster, lingering blind and listless.

For dwelling there in the outer reaches of the cosmos past this planet itself were any number of infernal denizens that fell from heaven. In a manner of speaking, the denizens of the Void Cthylla passed by his sight were not entirely unlike Banefire, Auroc, or even in some respects the Doctor. Scarce, subliminal presences, those which could hardly be said to exist at all, even less to be perceived, their machinations for ill never held to account for none ever saw them and only the results remained.

Yet these Voidlings who stood apart from the Creation, afflictled less of their fatal, mortal designs that permeated this world and others. Many of them simply were, but for those who sought to prey on this world. This acknowledgement at this point had hardly been a mad or scarce one. He scarcely had to imagine much for he knew this shape of cold fear all too well.

And yet across these intersecting realms, they met at a crossroads. Only those who could perceive what things lay in the ether could see it for what it truly was, and in turn be aware of those who gazed back.

The sphere grew closer. It was almost too large for him to comprehend, yet at the same time he felt he could reach out and hold it....a con flux of shapes lay within it, a universe. No matter what angle he looked upon it something new shined out from it.

"I was born here, on the edge of your sphere. Yours is the only one I have ever known....and there are many many more like me, my kin. We observe you and yours through the barrier, and we strive to understand. We mold our dream with knowledge scraped from the barest fragments of what we know....and we touch the dreams of those within to sate our desire for knowledge."

Ochazuke felt a presence behind him.

"....and there are those who seek to play your kind as mere puppets to entertain their ever ended egos. Those who would seen chaos sewn for their own glee. Those who would upset the balance regardless of the consequences....all so they can bare witness to something that has never transpired. The reasons are endless....they are profound, and shallow. Forever twisting to the fleeting fancies of eternity. Now look....gird your mind and look upon what you must face...."

A force slowly turned Ochazukes body away from the sphere, and in the cosmic darkness behind him spread an endless sea of monsters....large and small, grotesque and strange.





The one closest to him moved in closer, its form burning his mind in a sort of sensory explosion.



"I am Cthylla, spawn of Cthulhu, Daughter of r'lyeh. Look upon me.....and If your mind is worthy, there may yet be a hope for you and your kind."

As he gazed up into that fearful shape, Ochazuke felt a sensation of falling, his limbs seized as a visceral terror welled within him. Everything saw before him rendered in oblong forms of no earthly conveyance, their preening dark eyes lift to see a world he could scarcely imagine...and yet despite being quite visibly daunted, he lift his shaking countenance shambling forward ass he stared at the true form of the Voidling's face.

"So this is who you truly are."

Sharply his ki began to manifest in the dreamscape, and the shape of his spirit burned through the veil of Cthylla's projection. Karura no Kaen, the fire to cleanse impediment rendered the shape of this dream to ash, and soon only that visage of hollow eyes and twisting feelers remained, the image of a solitary creature suspended in the hollow, unknowable darkness.

For to truly know fear is not to deny the weight of it, to distort it to something else. The stark truth may not set you free, but it was preferable to madness to be caged by layered falsehoods.

The form that burst from the shroud of her humanlike shape simply was. Incomprehensible, perhaps. But so spoken, Cthylla's nature was no longer unfathomable to him. Void cannot exist without the Form to demarcate its separation, a matter he had been privy to for he did not merely perceive with his eyes.

Observer and subject; at this suspended moment, for both to whom time meant little in the endless fitful dream, who could say was designated which? A great looming power towering over him there in the quintessence of the Void; yet Ochazuke was all too aware that it was she who first reached into the dominion of his mind.

"Chaotic whims are hardly unique, only for the fact that your kin would presume to slither past unseen. Situated upon this sphere, however, you will find that time has more value than the fickle idling of listless eons."

"So speak. What is it that you plan to do?"

[grampagen]

He draws upon it, an image of a brilliant light inside his mind, comforting and warm, as he does so.

“I am uncertain. The connection was always more one sided. I could possibly find where it had been and possibly you could track it from that.”

Arthur sighs.

“I’m afraid he fought from ambush. When I landed, I was blinded by images within my head and while stunned, he struck from behind with a strange dagger made of liquid and glowing silver, like mercury. He wounded me straight away, and after that we dueled. Whatever the dagger was it poisoned me, my strength fled quickly and he overwhelmed me. That poison......never the like had I seen before. It ate away my ki reservers like water through a sieve.”

As he spoke, Ochazuke gripped the store of energy in his hand under his ring-laden hand. Creation, its spark of potential, carried with it a breadth of warmth, of inexaustible assurance. He felt it then, as if what he desired could be rendered with a thought to be. Was it the same for the Guardians when they first held it?

"The Doctor seized this essence from a desire to remake a world to his desire," Ochazuke said, his voice tightened even as his grip eased. "Evidently, the power of stewardship was found insufficient. Like Arthur, Fife, and so many others, they had fallen prey to the madness of this cosmos."

With that said he pulled at the edge of his collar and revealed another legacy artifact of a Guardian where it hung from his neck. Elder Nail's Dark Sphere. Even now it still chased after the lingering portion of the Doctor's essence, and another piece of Creation embed itself in its conjured composition.

"But we all know ours is not the only world that Sakin would feast upon, and what Asha'rah impart to you was only a fraction of the whole. Those parasites still roam, meaning his appetite has hardly been whetted, even after all this time."

He looked to both the First and the Present Guardian. Channeling the power of Creation though his hand, even a tiny trickle of it made him feel his possibilities were boundless, but standing before these two with all he had come to know, whatever ti had granted him he knew would cause him to lose sight of its limitations. Perhaps those best suited to wield it were those who had centuries, millennia, to master it.

"We must move to find him before his strength returns in full, for who knows what hell may emerge from unchecked ambitions. If I use this energy to fully restore this chamber, will it sharpen your sight?"

Arthur listens with a sad air to know Willa controls Damask and used him for ill. Upon asking about Alakazah, however, he nods slowly.

“The Old Dragon, First of his kind. Called Alakazah by his own choosing, named Grinthorn by Earth, born Eldfen by Lord Zeno and the Grand Priest. Bound to live a half life, no wishes granted until either a peer makes a wish upon his very form. Or, if the old legends are true, his dragon balls start to re-emerge and he manages to get them. He’ll wish himself free then.”

"Eldfen." He repeated the name and his eyes narrowed, though his tone pricked up, bemused. "It seems the First Dragon's current shape suits his mercurial nature. He can hardly govern his own existence, small wonder his sense of self lacks integrity."

Yet the mention of the Old Legend caught Ochazuke's attention. "What legend? We have one of the Dragonballs in our possession," he said, looking over to Evangeline as he spoke. "Is that what he's after? A half life for an Eternal Dragon that walks free. I suppose this is a relative affliction."

A Guardian sat astride the world, awaited those deemed worthy to approach. But the President of the Earth...

"In the domain of masters and kings, the fearful look upward, searching for a saviour," Ochazuke continued "And Alakazah hears them. Through the enchantment of his newest name, he has an unimpeded view into the minds of mortals. In the deep knowledge of all we fear to lose, the Dragon still hears wishes, you understand."

"Through this he has purged the planet of those he'd call enemies, and made the multitude forget the bloodshed. In their ignorance he has more than given them the image of exactly what they desire," he continued as he looked at Arthur and Evangeline "Such perfect peace. In the collective consciousness of humanity, he had an impeccable model to draw from. It has served him well for over twenty years upon the Earth."

Gods. Kings. Heroes. The President of the World fashioned a presentation befitting of all three.

"Those who fight to take back their lives against such slavish submission find themselves pit against their fellow man, and all the while Alakazah merely watches," he said.

In a snap, Arthur's golem disappeared back into the capsule from which it had emerged, a piece of history, shattered, diminished, as if it had never been. The strong survive. The weak perish. After all this time there was no deeper answer than this and it twist within Ochazuke, his eyes falling heavily on the Guardians.

"You'd fought to keep humanity safe, but in turn they grew devoted to masters." Even he himself chased after a ghost in search of answers. "You never taught them how to truly live."

[grampagen]

Qaztoh enters the kitchen and sees Zaofan looking at ingredients for Zeef Roast. Qaztoh decides to help by pointing out which ingredient is which. " Okay, the thick blue liquid is Xoysauce. The pink crystal stuff is Zarlic Alhio," Qaztoh said.

" I can tell from the minty aroma. The black powder is Black Vepper. The reddish-brown powder is Dry Zustard powder. The white liquid that has a strong smell to it is white Zinegar," Qaztoh said.

The thick oozy green liquid is Voney. The blue powder is ground Xinger, the purple stuff is Zelery seeds. The orange powder is Xornstarch. The brown liquid is melted Vutter," Qaztoh said.

" Then there's the meat in the middle which is derived from a Xow. That cut of meat is a high-quality grade. I can tell it came from the rump of a healthy and mature Xow," Qaztoh said.

"I see...hmmm..."

Ponderously, Zaofan looked from one exotic ingredient to the next. The names were, at least, phonetically familiar, but there was a separation between the sound of the words and the sights and the smells he was expecting.

"...I have an idea. We'll simplify the method, and sort these out into two piles."

Carefully he separated the spice powders and liquids into a series of Dry and Wet ingredients, and kept the browned Vutter as a fat.

"Right then. It might be a bit different than what you're used to, but eh-heh, you have to understand."

Pouring the seeds and powders into a mortar, Zaofan began to work the ingredients into a powder.

"I've never seen a Xow in my life. But that won't stop me from trying!"

Clicking on a burner, he placed a small pot containing the liquids over the fire, and over gentle heat a pungent glaze began to form.

"ZAOFAN ERO!" Erosa opens the door to the kitchen and marches in. "No time for cook, Found Rex ero....need your time to beat him up......eh..."

The Id eyed the mess of random containers spread all across the kitchen table, then passed her gaze over to the two standing awkwardly next to it, then back to the food.

"Gao, whats this......Why yes I'll have some ero." The Id neither waited not expected nor had any care for approval. With the speed of a lecherous old man grabbing some booty, she swiped the container marked Vutter off the table. "Who wrote label...Butter not spelled with a V." Swiftly ripping the lid off, she threw back a moutful of Vutter and immediately regreted it with every fiber of her magical existence. With the force of a sonic boom she projectile launches her mouthful of Vutter into the Kitchen wall where it sticks like a giant, brown loogie.

"FfFFFFfffgggGHHHHkkKCCCLCKKK *spitspitspit* Gaaao! *spit* *coughcough* What.....Blleeeeggghhhhoorrrggg......taste awfuluuggh....." In a attempt to throw something in to cover the taste, she grabs the bottle of Zinegar from the table and chugs it.

Immediate Eye Bluging, Mouth frosting stomach incinerating vomehameha.

By the time she drops back onto the ground their is a new entryway to the kitchen that cuts through at least 3 other rooms.

Sprinkling a pinch of salt over the cut of meat, Zaofan cringed as Erosa dipped into the Vutter, but stuck to his task. Then he bent over as he continued to season, until he was practically shielding the entree from the clatter and ruckus of the collapsing kitchen walls.

...maybe I was a little too hard on Kai, he thought to himself, pressing blanched lips together as a vein stuck out on his neck. After all, everything that happened to the Lookout, the Apprentice silently saw to repairing it; and as of late, there had been a great deal of damage done to it. Erosa went on a bit of a tear, but she was after all, styled an Id, and that meant pleasure - and a preternatural skill at sniffing it out.

"Erosa it surely can't be that bad," he said. "Perhaps it's more suited for a Toadian palate?"

Swiping a tasting spoon though the Vutter, he took a small sampling. A small shudder spread through him as a numbness spread across his tongue and he winced.

Shrugging, he started spreading the dry rub across the surface of the remaining meat with his bare hands, massaging and mixing the spices into its natural juices.

"Well, it's a little bitter, maybe but but not like it's-"

Suddenly, Zaofan paused. His eyes widened and his face seized. The colour drained from him as he buckled at the waist and fell forward on the counter, then fell off as he hit the floor like a sack of bricks.

Qaztoh and Erosa could see quite clearly that he wasn't breathing.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

As he spoke, Ochazuke gripped the store of energy in his hand under his ring-laden hand. Creation, its spark of potential, carried with it a breadth of warmth, of inexaustible assurance. He felt it then, as if what he desired could be rendered with a thought to be. Was it the same for the Guardians when they first held it?

"The Doctor seized this essence from a desire to remake a world to his desire," Ochazuke said, his voice tightened even as his grip eased. "Evidently, the power of stewardship was found insufficient. Like Arthur, Fife, and so many others, they had fallen prey to the madness of this cosmos."

With that said he pulled at the edge of his collar and revealed another legacy artifact of a Guardian where it hung from his neck. Elder Nail's Dark Sphere. Even now it still chased after the lingering portion of the Doctor's essence, and another piece of Creation embed itself in its conjured composition.

"But we all know ours is not the only world that Sakin would feast upon, and what Asha'rah impart to you was only a fraction of the whole. Those parasites still roam, meaning his appetite has hardly been whetted, even after all this time."

He looked to both the First and the Present Guardian. Channeling the power of Creation though his hand, even a tiny trickle of it made him feel his possibilities were boundless, but standing before these two with all he had come to know, whatever ti had granted him he knew would cause him to lose sight of its limitations. Perhaps those best suited to wield it were those who had centuries, millennia, to master it.

"We must move to find him before his strength returns in full, for who knows what hell may emerge from unchecked ambitions. If I use this energy to fully restore this chamber, will it sharpen your sight?"



"Eldfen." He repeated the name and his eyes narrowed, though his tone pricked up, bemused. "It seems the First Dragon's current shape suits his mercurial nature. He can hardly govern his own existence, small wonder his sense of self lacks integrity."

Yet the mention of the Old Legend caught Ochazuke's attention. "What legend? We have one of the Dragonballs in our possession," he said, looking over to Evangeline as he spoke. "Is that what he's after? A half life for an Eternal Dragon that walks free. I suppose this is a relative affliction."

A Guardian sat astride the world, awaited those deemed worthy to approach. But the President of the Earth...

"In the domain of masters and kings, the fearful look upward, searching for a saviour," Ochazuke continued "And Alakazah hears them. Through the enchantment of his newest name, he has an unimpeded view into the minds of mortals. In the deep knowledge of all we fear to lose, the Dragon still hears wishes, you understand."

"Through this he has purged the planet of those he'd call enemies, and made the multitude forget the bloodshed. In their ignorance he has more than given them the image of exactly what they desire," he continued as he looked at Arthur and Evangeline "Such perfect peace. In the collective consciousness of humanity, he had an impeccable model to draw from. It has served him well for over twenty years upon the Earth."

Gods. Kings. Heroes. The President of the World fashioned a presentation befitting of all three.

"Those who fight to take back their lives against such slavish submission find themselves pit against their fellow man, and all the while Alakazah merely watches," he said.

In a snap, Arthur's golem disappeared back into the capsule from which it had emerged, a piece of history, shattered, diminished, as if it had never been. The strong survive. The weak perish. After all this time there was no deeper answer than this and it twist within Ochazuke, his eyes falling heavily on the Guardians.

"You'd fought to keep humanity safe, but in turn they grew devoted to masters." Even he himself chased after a ghost in search of answers. "You never taught them how to truly live."

Arthur pauses, then nods.

“Yes. If the chamber is restored by the Creation Energy, I believe I can find the Forsworn World.”

He pauses again when thinking about the Legend.

“Legend passed from Guardian to Guardian, says that Eldfen is trapped until wished free by a peer or if he gathers his own dragonballs. Hard to do since much of himself is bound.”


As Ochazuke finishes, Arthur has nothing to say about Ochazuke’s final statement, but Evangeline seems to take those words to heart. A bit of sadness gleams in her eyes as she looks away, a bit ashamed.

“Neither of us became Guardian in peaceful times, Ochazuke. Neither of us had much time to teach our charges to be free. Nevertheless, your words are true. We protected, but we never spent the time to guide and teach. In that we are failures.”


She looks at him again, and a hard determination fills her eyes.

“Once you restore this room, may I see that vial of Creation Energy?”

[KingofPie]

Appel gestured for someone to find the spare suits. He returned a few minutes later with his arms full. She took one and started to get dressed. "You're a half-Saiyan, huh?" She looked him up and down. Her initial thought was to condemn him, but was it really his fault? It wasn't his fault his mother had horrible taste in men. That was assuming she had any choice in the matter.

She wouldn't put it past one of those deplorable apes to just take a woman as a prize and impregnate her. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm assuming your mother had no choice in the matter."

A few minutes passed before Appel and her fellow survivors were clad in the spacesuits. "Given how Saiyan despise your kind, I now know you have a personal stake in this."

At this, Lantro had chosen to remain silent. He was never quite sure himself of the events that resulted in his birth. His mother was sickly all his life and when she passed away his father just grew worse than he already was...yet his mother was never angry nor bitter towards him, nor did his father treat her poorly.

Lantro, on the other hand...his father made it clear what he thought of him. He knew he was supposed to be less than nothing. Lantro suppressed a sneer as he instead chose to focus on his current assignment. Aiding the Tuffles in enacting justice.

The Tuffles' transport ship touched down on the small planetoid Appel directed Lantro to a few days ago. It was mostly barren, save for a small, white building with a translucent dome protecting it from the harsh environment of outer space. Appel pressed a spot on her forehead, opening the dome slightly and allowing the ship to pass through before the dome closed again. She and one other scientist named Agrep placed helmets on their heads and hooked up breathing apparatuses to their suits before venturing inside the building.

The building was a ghost of itself. Papers, equipment, and mysterious fluids littered the floor, showing without restraint the haste with which the Tuffles acted the last time they were there. It was a genetics laboratory. The clones of Appel were created there, as well as the genetic splicing required to create their ultimate weapon.

The building was quickly constructed and cheaply made. Half of the lights weren't operational and there was limited oxygen available, hence them keeping their breathing apparatuses on. Still, in the dimly lit halls, Appel strode as if she had the way to her destination memorized.

They walked swiftly, and found themselves standing before a large metal door. She inputted a fifteen digit code into a number pad placed on the adjacent wall, then stepped back and waited for the door to open.

A giddy, excited smile appeared on her lips when the door fully slid open. The room it revealed was pitch black, with thick wires criss-crossing haphazardly across the floor. It was mostly empty, with the exception of a single six-foot tall clear tube filled with a single body floating in a mysterious green liquid.

“At last!” She ran over to a console tucked away in the corner, tripping twice over the wires on the floor. She ran her fingers over the keyboard, entering in a 150 letter and number sequence needed to activate the creature held within the tube. When it was complete, the lights throughout the facility flickered and died. The creature's hands twitched slightly.

“Hello?”

Its eyes opened. It looked around curiously. A hand raised and pressed against the glass. Then, suddenly, its entire body turned into glass, allowing it to pass through to the outside with zero trouble.

“Incredible,” Agrep marveled.

Appel chuckled and handed the creature a set of clothes she picked up off a nearby table. “Teen's adaptive abilities seem to be fully operation.”

The creature, Teen, turned and looked at them. It's form shifted into something more appropriate.



“Welcome, Teen. My name is Appel, and I am your creator. Can you speak?”

Teen frowned slightly, then opened its mouth. “Yes,” it answered, in a soft but masculine voice.

She breathed in and smiled proudly. “Excellent. Your parameters have already been uploaded, yes?”

“Affirmative. Primary objective: overseeing restoration of Tuffle homeworld. Secondary objective: ensure destruction of Saiyan race.”

“Perfect! Come, our destiny awaits.” Appel, Agrep, and Teen exited the facility quickly, and boarded the transport. “To Bananan.”

“Ma'am,” a woman chimed the moment she spoke. “I'm been seeing reports that there is a restoration crew from Vocado and Ruco on Bananan as I speak. We'll meet resistance.”

“Tsk! We have Teen now, Lemo. What do we have to fear from those dirty apes?” She nodded at Lantro and strapped herself in. Teen remained standing in the back of the transport, undisturbed by the jostling of the ship as it was hoisted upward and dragged through space toward the Tuffles' homeworld.

There, without doubt, another clash between Tuffle and Saiyan warriors would ensue.

Lantro was...surprised to say the least. He had heard taken of the Tuffles scientific advancements, but this facility went above and beyond his expectations. All this technological advancement after their world had been annihilated. It must've taken years of research and dedication to get it as up and running as it did.

The Tuffles of the last, he knew were not a violent race. Lantro wondered if deep down they hated what they had come to utilize their technology for. Hated the Saiyans for what they made them become.

But to fight a race of warmongers, peaceful scientific advancement wouldn't cut it. And the results...the fruits of their labor some might say...this Teen creature. Just what was he supposed to be? Looked like a kid, to Lantro, but supposedly he was their ultimate weapon?

Lantro couldn't help but attempt to ascertain the artificial Tuffle's power level before reaching Bananan. If he was a weapon made to combat the Saiyans, he would have to be up to the task.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Thanks to Shek'hinah's blessing, when Ishtar returned to Tatenen; it was as easy as breathing. One minute, she was standing next to Sarada, the next, her feet planted firmly on Tatenen's splintered earth.

The drain that resulted however, caught the Oni off-guard, and all but pitching forward she couldn't help but chuckle dryly when righting herself.

I will need to be better about that ...

Looking around, she saw the familiar spire of the peak she had fought beneath, it seemed there was no threat ... for the moment. She was certain that the Archons knew she was here, of course. Luminaries as they were, any shift however slight within their sphere of influence was immediately made known; and with Cloche, especially. The very earth upon which she now stood, serving as an extension of itself. So with that in mind, the Oni simply made a chair for herself and settled in to wait. A wait that turned out to be shorter than she expected, the only hint as to who her guests might be coming in the form of a stiff southern wind; and a sharp crackle of lighting.

"Gaoth ... Tintreach." the Oni said with something of a smile. "Not who I expected. Though given you are the swiftest, I should not be surprised."

There was a murmur between the two -- perhaps some debate between who might speak first ? -- and only after some moments did Gaoth step forward, and offer softly the winds of welcome. "There was a fluttering among us, over who might ride upon the winds to meet with you." It whispered, "yet in the end we two proved swiftest and for that I am grateful ..." It said, before falling silent; only for Tintreach to step forward and continue on. "Those who did not meet you upon your last ... electrifying visit, have been ever curious to know what became of you. Gaoth first and foremost. For it was Gaoth, who --alongside its sibling, Uisce -- who tended you when your spark of anamacha was flickering." It gestured then at Gaoth, who seemed to darkle before returning to its normal hue.

"You might call this ... shyness." The Archon of Lightning explained the basset .

Ishtar smiled at that, understanding then that Gaoth was 'younger' than its other siblings -- save Lasair -- and simply nodded her head in understanding.

"In any case," Tintreach crackled, "we did not arrive on swift wind, and thunderbolt, to sate our curiosity." And again the Oni opted to remain silent, head bobbing along as the thunderous Archon spoke while keeping an eye on the bashful Archon. "It was to hear out the reason for your return, while awaiting the arrival of our ... siblings."

At this, Ishtar's eyes widened. "Do you mean ..."

A nod from Tintreach cut her off. "Yes, remaining ten, will be here soon. What else did you expect, after you -- and those who rushed to your aid -- scattered the ashes of the Youngest across the Cinderplains ?"

Ishtar made ready to retort, only to end up remaining silent when she realized it had a point. It was true the Archon had not truly died, true immortals as these Elemental were; but the strength necessary to overpower their physical forms certainly warranted their concern as much as it might warrant their curiosity.

"I understand." She finally managed. "As to why I have come," Ishtar proceeded to say, "it is to extend an offer."

At this Gaoth -- the Bashful -- seemed to shake off its previous state so it could draw closer, a light breeze kicking up in the process. "What is it ?"

"I wish to bring Tatenen somewhere safe. Afford it the chance to heal the damage I caused; and when the surface of this world is mended, I would restore its Moon ... after a fashion. Perhaps even," the Oni said before trailing off. Continuing only after she shook her head, "no ... that last will wait for now. It will not serve to speak to what I yet am not sure is possible."

Though it seemed what she was already offering, was more than enough to set the Archon sputtering, though the less humanoid of the Elementals ... it was hard to truly know for sure. And only after several heartbeats had passed, did either of the two offer up a response.

"While it is for the Eldest to decide, in the end," Gaoth's offered in a gentle whisper, "I am hopeful this news will be well received." Looking to Tintreach, the Lightning Archon simply shrugged. "I would hear more before I surge toward a conclusion ... though at the least, your offer is not what was expected."

Ishtar, understanding the gravity of what she was offering, and knowing the importance of the 'system' held by the Twelve, simply nodded. "All will be known, when the others arrive ... in the meantime however," the Oni gestured as two seats sprang up from the ground.

"While we wait, would you care to hear of my travels while we wait ?" The two Archon offered their assent with a crackle, and flutter of their give elements before accepting the offered chairs -- as a show of good faith -- before Ishtar nodded once more and crossed her legs.

"I will start with where I wandered then, in the years immediately after the Fall ... and of the planet Irem; and of what I found thereupon ..."

[MrSandman]

As he gazed up into that fearful shape, Ochazuke felt a sensation of falling, his limbs seized as a visceral terror welled within him. Everything saw before him rendered in oblong forms of no earthly conveyance, their preening dark eyes lift to see a world he could scarcely imagine...and yet despite being quite visibly daunted, he lift his shaking countenance shambling forward ass he stared at the true form of the Voidling's face.

"So this is who you truly are."

Sharply his ki began to manifest in the dreamscape, and the shape of his spirit burned through the veil of Cthylla's projection. Karura no Kaen, the fire to cleanse impediment rendered the shape of this dream to ash, and soon only that visage of hollow eyes and twisting feelers remained, the image of a solitary creature suspended in the hollow, unknowable darkness.

For to truly know fear is not to deny the weight of it, to distort it to something else. The stark truth may not set you free, but it was preferable to madness to be caged by layered falsehoods.

The form that burst from the shroud of her humanlike shape simply was. Incomprehensible, perhaps. But so spoken, Cthylla's nature was no longer unfathomable to him. Void cannot exist without the Form to demarcate its separation, a matter he had been privy to for he did not merely perceive with his eyes.

Observer and subject; at this suspended moment, for both to whom time meant little in the endless fitful dream, who could say was designated which? A great looming power towering over him there in the quintessence of the Void; yet Ochazuke was all too aware that it was she who first reached into the dominion of his mind.

"Chaotic whims are hardly unique, only for the fact that your kin would presume to slither past unseen. Situated upon this sphere, however, you will find that time has more value than the fickle idling of listless eons."

"So speak. What is it that you plan to do?"

"I bear witness no longer." Cthylla voice boomed around the lone human. "But neither can I act directly.....our kind does not oppose each other in the void, down that path lies a folly so unspeakable we have only bore witness to it once in our eternity. When god battles god the worlds trembles, when those beyond battle the sphere quakes. But.....we are all bound in how we may act and interact within your world, and even the most powerful of my kind can be defeated with the cunning of a skilled move."

The monstrous form raises a misshaped claw above, an all consuming void expands outwards and rushes over Ochazuke like a tidal wave....and in a moment he finds himself sitting across from Cthyllas Human form, adored in casual clothes, with a game board sitting between them covered in various human and nonhuman shapes.

"That you could stand my presence for so long is no coincidence....you have untapped potential of the mind. Tempered, your will could allow you access to places beyond the trappings of dream manifested past." The other pieces turn to dust, leaving only a Ochazuke and Ishtar shaped piece on his side. "Only you and those with the will to ascend the dream and survive can hope to challenge my brethren....but I will not force this upon you. You must make the first move yourself. Whatever your choice...I will hold you no ill."

[grampagen]

Arthur pauses, then nods.

“Yes. If the chamber is restored by the Creation Energy, I believe I can find the Forsworn World.”

He pauses again when thinking about the Legend.

“Legend passed from Guardian to Guardian, says that Eldfen is trapped until wished free by a peer or if he gathers his own dragonballs. Hard to do since much of himself is bound.”


As Ochazuke finishes, Arthur has nothing to say about Ochazuke’s final statement, but Evangeline seems to take those words to heart. A bit of sadness gleams in her eyes as she looks away, a bit ashamed.

“Neither of us became Guardian in peaceful times, Ochazuke. Neither of us had much time to teach our charges to be free. Nevertheless, your words are true. We protected, but we never spent the time to guide and teach. In that we are failures.”


She looks at him again, and a hard determination fills her eyes.

“Once you restore this room, may I see that vial of Creation Energy?”

"Then Alakazah already knows," Ochazuke replied to Arthur, "and that enchantment that forbids him from enacting direct harm will mean nothing. He would send the entire Earth to bleed itself out for his sake if it meant realizing his ambitions."

The three of them knew that he had done it before. The fallen House of departed Vermilion was now headed by Willa Rautt, its last legitimized heir. The Red Colonel and her Raiders lashed out against the world, assured of their cause, zealously paying any price until their bloodshed brought emancipation. Under Grinthorn's hegemony, Arthur's tarnished legacy existed solely in fearful, ancient fragments, and as far as his World Government was concerned, they had always been at war with a convenient enemy. The excised history reframed the truth, made it all too simple to lose and forget everything.

And when the Dragon stamped out the enduring will of humanity, their people would applaud their own demise, none the wiser.

In this light, Evangeline's words did not escape him. Neither peace, nor time. And little hope that matters would turn. Still, the station of Guardian had endured to the present. Is that why you continue to stand watch?

Studying the fractured structure in the ancient stone, Ochazuke cast the vector of his sense-awareness through the chamber, and where the energy of his meditation field brushed against the diminished frame of this once hallowed place, he sought the foundation where he could rebuild.

"Drowning in a sea of troubles, one finds there is always ample time to spare to draw a breath," he said, "If they can move to find it." Looking down upon his right hand, his eyes briefly crossed the serpentine shape of Zxu'ro's Dragon coiled about his forearm.

Channeling the essence of entire fallen worlds and the lives gathered for their stewardship, Ochazuke coursed a portion of the Creation Energy through Arthur's Ring into the Hall of the Guardians, and affixed the dull chamber once more. After the deed was done, he then turned to Evangeline. In silence, he offered the vial to her freely.