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

[grampagen]

Her hand freezes an inch from proceeding with injecting the nanites in.

Wilhelm walks up, concerned, but with faith Ochazuke knew what he was doing.

“What...is it?”

Standing right at Gero's side, Ochazuke raised his hand, arm stretched and slowly pressed forward until he had gradually wedged a barrier between her and the pod. At the threshold, between Gero and her realization, a cold stare at her left a warning.

"This isn't the sort of disposable issue meant for trial and error," he said, his tone slowly righting itself. "You said it yourself Wilhelm, if the process is an exacting one." His meditation field swept again over the Cryo-Tube, the crack in the surface an increasingly pernicious gash. Pressing his lips together until they blanched, his brow furrowed.

"Passing into sealed space even with a 'passive' breach like this, that would rupture a delicate, contained balance." He turned around, tracing the origin point of the pattern, studying the surface interface, trained upon the silent details left behind apart from its steel and glass.

"...Adam, come here." He held a folded finger before his chin. "Can you reiterate what your course of action was here?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

OT:

Huh.

Didn’t expect that.

IC:

Emerging from under Ishtar in a swirl of mist, claws just starting to form another Hakai orb to slam into Ishtar’s chest, the Ruination Goddess has just enough time to widen her eyes as Ishtar’s foot slams into the ground.

Almost right on top of her.

Power shreds the mist form as the world shatters beneath the Oni’s blue feet, the explosion obliterating everything around.

When devastation stops, when silence reigns once more, Ishtar is alone on a shattered remnant of a world. She felt the simulacrum of her alternate die, a slight tremor that only a fellow Oni could feel at the passing of another Oni.

And so Ishtar stands, alone, injured, but alive and victorious. Like Zurvan has said, the goddess might have been more powerful, but Ishtar was stronger. Determination and will vs lust and cruelty.

As with everything that was offered out of Ishtar's mouth, when her foot struck ground she smote the world beneath her; and in the remnants of what remained -- an unknown world, in a timeline that had suffered enough already -- the golden-eyed Oni could not help but find a bitter humor in what she had done to put a stop to little more than a clone of herself. A thing she had succeeded in, shockingly. Yet there had been no mistaking it, that otherwise imperceptible tremor -- that rang through clearly as the world was torn to pieces -- that signified to an Oni the end of another of its kind. So ... the facsimile Ruination Goddess was dead.

A truth Ishtar could not help but chuckle weakly ... soundlessly in the face of. She was to be after all a corpse herself before long.

So the golden-eyed Oni tilted her head back and allowed herself to drift slowly through the remnants of an alien world. Only to catch a flickering energy signature of something ... someone, familiar a short time later.

She quickly retreated to the hole in space Etrina created. Even if there was a battle to fight, Parsley was unable to fight in it. Saiyans could not survive in outer space. 'The invasions is over. Your alternate's army is defeated and the Nexus is secure. Move your ass so we can leave,' she transmitted to Ishtar before passing through the hole again and returning to Earth.

Move your ass ...

Ishtar tilted her head toward the source of the 'disturbance', and responded with simply. "... Saiyans." Yet if what Parsley had said was true ... and given she had been located -- and could ever so faintly sense the energy signatures of the others -- there was no sense to remain here waiting to die. Though before she left.

Scanning the ruins, Ishtar attempted to find her Alternate's Corpse ... provided there was anything left of it.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Standing right at Gero's side, Ochazuke raised his hand, arm stretched and slowly pressed forward until he had gradually wedged a barrier between her and the pod. At the threshold, between Gero and her realization, a cold stare at her left a warning.

"This isn't the sort of disposable issue meant for trial and error," he said, his tone slowly righting itself. "You said it yourself Wilhelm, if the process is an exacting one." His meditation field swept again over the Cryo-Tube, the crack in the surface an increasingly pernicious gash. Pressing his lips together until they blanched, his brow furrowed.

"Passing into sealed space even with a 'passive' breach like this, that would rupture a delicate, contained balance." He turned around, tracing the origin point of the pattern, studying the surface interface, trained upon the silent details left behind apart from its steel and glass.

"...Adam, come here." He held a folded finger before his chin. "Can you reiterate what your course of action was here?"

“To discover the mechanisms by which the tube has remained secure and active, map out its functions and create an instruction guide to deactivate it safely and open it to bring the occupant to awakened status safely.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Morgana?"

Charco couldn't say he was familiar with the name, the lack of recognition bringing with it the dread of realizing that some people born in this alternate timeline may not exist in his own.

"So... confronting him is the only way, huh."

The boy couldn't say he was too thrilled with the prospect, but he knew, deep down inside, that he would have to endure the worst before it got better.

“She’s a psychic who taught me how to connect to and battle Rex. As to confronting him.....there are other ways. You could wish yourself separate if you have dragon balls. Maybe.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

As with everything that was offered out of Ishtar's mouth, when her foot struck ground she smote the world beneath her; and in the remnants of what remained -- an unknown world, in a timeline that had suffered enough already -- the golden-eyed Oni could not help but find a bitter humor in what she had done to put a stop to little more than a clone of herself. A thing she had succeeded in, shockingly. Yet there had been no mistaking it, that otherwise imperceptible tremor -- that rang through clearly as the world was torn to pieces -- that signified to an Oni the end of another of its kind. So ... the facsimile Ruination Goddess was dead.

A truth Ishtar could not help but chuckle weakly ... soundlessly in the face of. She was to be after all a corpse herself before long.

So the golden-eyed Oni tilted her head back and allowed herself to drift slowly through the remnants of an alien world. Only to catch a flickering energy signature of something ... someone, familiar a short time later.



Move your ass ...

Ishtar tilted her head toward the source of the 'disturbance', and responded with simply. "... Saiyans." Yet if what Parsley had said was true ... and given she had been located -- and could ever so faintly sense the energy signatures of the others -- there was no sense to remain here waiting to die. Though before she left.

Scanning the ruins, Ishtar attempted to find her Alternate's Corpse ... provided there was anything left of it.

She finds two things. An arm and a horn (ironically the same side arm she lost).

[Yun Lao]

“She’s a psychic who taught me how to connect to and battle Rex. As to confronting him.....there are other ways. You could wish yourself separate if you have dragon balls. Maybe.”

"I dunno."

Separating himself with the dragon balls sounded tempting, yet at the same time, he would release an immortal dinosaur onto the earth in doing so.

For now, he was still on his own.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"I dunno."

Separating himself with the dragon balls sounded tempting, yet at the same time, he would release an immortal dinosaur onto the earth in doing so.

For now, he was still on his own.

The Deputy smiles kindly.

“I understand. It’s a tough burden. But you aren’t on your own. Here.”

He takes a strange bracelet of dinosaur teeth off his wrist and puts it on Charco’s.

“It’s a focus. With this, it will be easier to not only stay in control but to push Rex back. It’s made from his teeth.”

[Yun Lao]

The Deputy smiles kindly.

“I understand. It’s a tough burden. But you aren’t on your own. Here.”

He takes a strange bracelet of dinosaur teeth off his wrist and puts it on Charco’s.

“It’s a focus. With this, it will be easier to not only stay in control but to push Rex back. It’s made from his teeth.”

"Made from his teeth?"

He felt weird taking it, but if it worked as well as the Deputy said, then it wouldn't hurt, "Thanks."

[grampagen]

“To discover the mechanisms by which the tube has remained secure and active, map out its functions and create an instruction guide to deactivate it safely and open it to bring the occupant to awakened status safely.”

Ochazuke lowered his head with a brief grumble. Beside himself, he raised an upturned palm with a short chuckle. "To stand as an observer within the subject, one necessarily interferes with its condition. Whether that means pulling it apart or otherwise interfering with these very mechanisms, even on a miniscule level."

But there was an underlying matter that seemed to have escaped even the objective-oriented machine. Perhaps this fixation was one of Gero's dubious enhancements, for so easily does a man - as had Adam - become fixated on extruding answers that he forgets himself.

"In seeking the truth, first we must observe the matter for what it is." The track of the pattern on the surface of the Cryo-Tube was fresh in his mind as he paced around it. "Only when we understand that can we take the first step."

Without a further word, standing next to Wilhelm, Ochazuke lift his palm to a certain point of the surface-screen, and pressed upon it.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

She finds two things. An arm and a horn (ironically the same side arm she lost).

In scanning the area all she could find was two things. An arm, which ... in a perhaps calculated twist of Fate; was of the same side of the one she removed herself a short time prior. There was also ... curiously, a single horn. Useful at the very least, for tracking.

Securing what remained, Ishtar unceremoniously made her way back to the 'source' of the energy signatures ... and when she beheld the glowing green tear, she mouthed a simple 'figures' before forcing her way through; falling a few feet down from where she'd entered with a rather ... wet sound, all things considered.

Ah right. The arm.

Stained with hers, and her Alter's blood, the Oni scooped herself off of the hardpacked ground and staggered her way back to the others. Though not without sounding the call.

'Zurvan ... it is done.'

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Ochazuke lowered his head with a brief grumble. Beside himself, he raised an upturned palm with a short chuckle. "To stand as an observer within the subject, one necessarily interferes with its condition. Whether that means pulling it apart or otherwise interfering with these very mechanisms, even on a miniscule level."

But there was an underlying matter that seemed to have escaped even the objective-oriented machine. Perhaps this fixation was one of Gero's dubious enhancements, for so easily does a man - as had Adam - become fixated on extruding answers that he forgets himself.

"In seeking the truth, first we must observe the matter for what it is." The track of the pattern on the surface of the Cryo-Tube was fresh in his mind as he paced around it. "Only when we understand that can we take the first step."

Without a further word, standing next to Wilhelm, Ochazuke lift his palm to a certain point of the surface-screen, and pressed upon it.

Wilhelm gasps slightly as the pod’s panel lites up under Ochazuke’s hand. Instinctively, Ochazuke can see the pattern of the next twelve touches and patterns needed to be drawn on the surface to open the pod.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Made from his teeth?"

He felt weird taking it, but if it worked as well as the Deputy said, then it wouldn't hurt, "Thanks."

He nods.

“Stay strong, me. You’ll prevail. Trust me. I am you after all.”

He grins.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

In scanning the area all she could find was two things. An arm, which ... in a perhaps calculated twist of Fate; was of the same side of the one she removed herself a short time prior. There was also ... curiously, a single horn. Useful at the very least, for tracking.

Securing what remained, Ishtar unceremoniously made her way back to the 'source' of the energy signatures ... and when she beheld the glowing green tear, she mouthed a simple 'figures' before forcing her way through; falling a few feet down from where she'd entered with a rather ... wet sound, all things considered.

Ah right. The arm.

Stained with hers, and her Alter's blood, the Oni scooped herself off of the hardpacked ground and staggered her way back to the others. Though not without sounding the call.

'Zurvan ... it is done.'

With a large flare of light, the portal back home opens.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

With a large flare of light, the portal back home opens.

The way home had been opened. The battle of AT2, ultimately, wasn't exactly what Parsley had been hoping for. She didn't get to clash with the Goddess of Ruination. But, she wasn't leaving empty-handed.

Sarada, on the other hand, was.

The elder Saiyan sister slung the exhausted younger sister, who had fallen asleep, over her shoulder and stepped the portal.

"PANTS!" she called the moment she was back on the Lookout.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The way home had been opened. The battle of AT2, ultimately, wasn't exactly what Parsley had been hoping for. She didn't get to clash with the Goddess of Ruination. But, she wasn't leaving empty-handed.

Sarada, on the other hand, was.

The elder Saiyan sister slung the exhausted younger sister, who had fallen asleep, over her shoulder and stepped the portal.

"PANTS!" she called the moment she was back on the Lookout.

Jinzi walks around a corner, stops once he sees them, and raises an eyebrow.

“Really? What is with you people and losing limbs.”

He moves over and with Eva’s help takes Sarada towards his mobile lab.

“Come alone, your highness. Jinzi is quite talented at limb replacement.” Eva says, just her presence bolstering the young monarch.