Dragonball M, Chapter 4: Kidnapping! Invasion! A new Threat Strikes First!

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

"Hmph! I have not. But I now know what to engrave on your gravemarker." Oggod threw his arms up in front of him to block the volley of furious blows coming his way. Then, he suddenly jumped back and tossed a yellow energy ball at Totoma. It started bouncy violently against the ground. If he looked closely, he would notice an ominous white line on the ball that curled along its surface.

A... bouncy ki ball? That was something one didn't see every day. Wonder what the weird line was...

Normally, he'd just charge right in and find out himself, but his mom would kill him if he just died to some guy he hadn't even needed to go super saiyan against... yet. So... what would his mom do if she had his techniques and was in this position?

It didn't take much time to realize the answer. There were enemies all around, and his mom would totally use this as opportunity to both thin the herd and see what this attack could do. Totoma's arms shot out, fingers splayed. Ten Threads--five per hand, of course--shot out, each one ensnaring one of Oggod's compatriots. And then to a cacophony of surprised yells, Totoma pulled inwards, swinging the soldiers towards the approaching ball, adjusting the length of each thread as needed to ensure that they'd all meet it at roughly the same time.

Let's see what tricks this doggo knows...

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Sarada and Parsley had changed into heavier versions of their old armor -- each weighing in excess of thirty tons -- in preparation for their training. They would start off with simple sparring and technique crafting until Inanna returned, then they could use her gravity spell to kick things up several notches. Hopefully, by the time Sarada went into labor, they would be ready to challenge these elementals and spar with them until it was time to face Tundra.

They were about to get started when Neva appeared and declared she wanted to train with them.

"Ah, yes, that's fine," Parsley said. "I need to train my magic as well, and you'll make a suitable partner."

"Training for Auroc, hm? Yeah, he was a tough son of a bitch, even if he was on the stupid side." She grinned at Neva. "Alright, you can train with us. Now, strip off that armor and the rest of your clothes, too! Vigorous titty bouncing is great weight training, heheh."

Parsley smacked her upside the head.

Some years ago, Sarada's comment would have caused her no small amount of offense. Now? It slid right off, because she understood that was just who the queen was... and, furthermore, she knew well how royalty must put on a certain facade for the public. It was... tiring, especially for one as free-spirited as Sarada.

...that, and Parsley gave her some comeuppance right after.

"Yes, well..." She held up her hand and began to 'heal' her armor. It would take a while and...

...much to her surprise, it did not. In fact, it "healed" itself almost immediately. She blinked. "My, that was... quick."

After a moment, she shrugged. "Now, how shall we do this? Two on one? Free-for-all? Perhaps tracking down one of those elementals and trying our luck...?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Some years ago, Sarada's comment would have caused her no small amount of offense. Now? It slid right off, because she understood that was just who the queen was... and, furthermore, she knew well how royalty must put on a certain facade for the public. It was... tiring, especially for one as free-spirited as Sarada.

...that, and Parsley gave her some comeuppance right after.

"Yes, well..." She held up her hand and began to 'heal' her armor. It would take a while and...

...much to her surprise, it did not. In fact, it "healed" itself almost immediately. She blinked. "My, that was... quick."

After a moment, she shrugged. "Now, how shall we do this? Two on one? Free-for-all? Perhaps tracking down one of those elementals and trying our luck...?"

Parsley... was secretly hoping Nevanlinna would take Sarada up on her offer, even as a joke. Her sister had told her about the Threshling Princess'... ample curves and she was able to fit it all in that armor she wore earlier. Alas, she would likely never be able to compare the woman's booty to Avoca's, unless she decided to be a creep like Sarada. Parish the thought! Although, if she were to accidentally happen upon her while she was bathing... no! Absolute nonsense.

"Hm. I was hoping to fight the elementals after Sarada had her child. Until then, we were going to spar and theory craft techniques for the future. I suppose that means free-for-all. Is that alright with you?"

Sarada nodded. "Yeah, that's fine by me. And since you're almost as strong as Inanna, that means we don't have to hold back!"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

A... bouncy ki ball? That was something one didn't see every day. Wonder what the weird line was...

Normally, he'd just charge right in and find out himself, but his mom would kill him if he just died to some guy he hadn't even needed to go super saiyan against... yet. So... what would his mom do if she had his techniques and was in this position?

It didn't take much time to realize the answer. There were enemies all around, and his mom would totally use this as opportunity to both thin the herd and see what this attack could do. Totoma's arms shot out, fingers splayed. Ten Threads--five per hand, of course--shot out, each one ensnaring one of Oggod's compatriots. And then to a cacophony of surprised yells, Totoma pulled inwards, swinging the soldiers towards the approaching ball, adjusting the length of each thread as needed to ensure that they'd all meet it at roughly the same time.

Let's see what tricks this doggo knows...

Oggod hadn't been expecting Totoma to use his subordinates to counter his Federer Ball. When the two opposing forces collided, it created a large explosion and a brilliant light show. The soldiers were immediately vaporized.

"Hm. Clever. Let's see how you handle this!" He waved his hands in a circular motion and created a large open-ended container. A bowl or dish, if you will. Inside that bowl was what looked like water. However, the steam billowing up from it was ominous to say the least. "Now, drink!" Like a geyser, the liquid inside erupted out of the dish and hurtled toward Totoma at speed. One pour soul was caught in its path and was instantly reduced to bone, his skin and flesh melted away like melted butter.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

An internal energy feint!? The level of ki control needed to do perform technique was far beyond what most fighters could manage. Certainly within her own capabilities, but finding someone who even knew such a technique...

Tch. Guess I should've give her more credit. There's a damn good reason the three actually deigned to train her.

Her ki did not react automatically as it did before, allowing Avoca to press the attack... with a great deal of success. Such a technique was difficult and draining to use, but also immensely difficult to counter for some reliant on ki to sense an opponent. The chromatic ki clones also made it damn near impossible to track through mere eyesight. As such, Tasure, for a time, was on the back foot, taking an impressive beating from the younger saiyaness.

After a while, however, Tasure adjusted. At first, it might have appeared to just be wild flailing, but whenever Avoca struck the Diamond in the Rough, she struck out. However, each counter quickly became more and more accurate as the saiyaness was better able to judge the angle and depth of attack. And, after several exchanges, at long last, Tasure landed a strike... not a particularly hard one, but the point was, it landed.

It's something my boy would do, but countering just after she hits me seems to work. Not ideal, given that I'm still taking damage, but there's not many options that'll work against this sort of technique...

Given the fact that she could at least land a few blows here and there now and just the sheer concentration a technique such as this would require of its user, she would need only fend off Avoca for a few minutes longer before the younger saiyaness would have to drop the technique. That knowledge helped her refine her training regimen for Avoca.

As the two exchanged blows, Tasure began to speak. "Draining, isn't it? You might have taken your skill with that specific technique as far as you can take it... for now. We'll work on your baseline ki control with meditation on our 'off' days. Won't be as big as improvement as practicing a specific technique, but having a better baseline will help with all your techniques." Sort of a universal improvement approach.

Avoca had the upperhand initially and took full advantage of it. Her blows probably didn't hurt, but taking so many of them should have been wearing her much more experienced opponent. She attempted to press her advantage, but all good things eventually came to an end. Bidrae had few flaws, but Tasure managed to find one of them. Avoca could be tagged after her made contact. Once she found that out, the fight began anew.

They traded blows. The drain of the technique was quickly taking its toll. She was getting tired, and her focus was starting to slip. "Yeah. He told me this would always happen." She breathed out and let it drop. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She drifted back to put some distance between them. Her head was pounding, a consequence of devoting so much attention to something so energy consuming.

"Parsley told me that improving my baseline would lead to greater overall dividends," she responded. "And that it would make Super Saiyan a lot stronger." Not that she would know for sure, so she just took her word for it.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Walking past the the RoSaT, Dash paused for a moment to look at it before continuing her walk. As she did, she wondered about the others who have used this room before. "Shame there ain't no record of who went in. Ah wonder if any of them are still alive?" thinking out loud as she wandered through the Lookout. Her thoughts soon turned inward as she considered how she would train in there.

Praxat meets up with Dash. " So Dash, where did you run off to earlier? Oh, and there's something I want to ask you," Praxat said.

" Dash, What do you think my internal average body temperature is?" Praxat said.

[Tami]

Praxat meets up with Dash. " So Dash, where did you run off to earlier? Oh, and there's something I want to ask you," Praxat said.

" Dash, What do you think my internal average body temperature is?" Praxat said.

"Oh, hey, hi Prax." Dash greeted her distractedly, "Ah remembered ah hadn't closed up my house properly, so ah went back to take care fof that."

As for the second question, she shook her head, "Ah have no idea. though ah'm sure you're about to tell me."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Inanna deigned not to reply. Mindgames were her sthick, after all. Allowing this Angel to get the better of her would just be... well it'd be terrible.

Horrible, even.

So instead, when the Angel teleported behind and summoned the swords that would soon be hers... Inanna simply turned, and pointed towards the 'sky' to fire several pinpricks of Hakai straight up.

"It seems I've missed. What a wretch, I am."

With that, the golden-eyed woman moved to re-engage.

The Angel dodges around, staying ahead of her blows. Her mother suddenly whirled in with a strange grey glaive, staff spinning as she moves to keep the telekinesis controlled swords from attacking Inanna from all sides. The pole arm is a blur, as is Sheki’hinah, as she dances around gracefully around the two combatants, the sound of steel meeting steel ringing all around.

Lampton nods in respect as he keeps his eyes on Inanna.

“Tell Lampton something, little Goddess? What is your preferred outcome here? Do you think you can truly beat Lampton? I who was created and existed long before even your mother? Who strode firmaments with true Gods?”

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"Oh, hey, hi Prax." Dash greeted her distractedly, "Ah remembered ah hadn't closed up my house properly, so ah went back to take care fof that."

As for the second question, she shook her head, "Ah have no idea. though ah'm sure you're about to tell me."

" And here I was hoping you would just guess. Oh well, my internal average body temperature is 30 degrees Celsius / 86 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm neither coldblooded or warmblooded. I am a mesotherm, which is in-between," Praxat said.

" Basically, if a warmblooded human like you is like a furnace with a thermostat, then I'm like a wood-burning stove. In cold enough temperatures. My body will go into a state of suspended animation. In that state, my body produces a natural antifreeze that protects my vital organs from freezing," Praxat said.

" So I can survive being frozen solid at sub-zero temperatures," Praxat said.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

The Angel dodges around, staying ahead of her blows. Her mother suddenly whirled in with a strange grey glaive, staff spinning as she moves to keep the telekinesis controlled swords from attacking Inanna from all sides. The pole arm is a blur, as is Sheki’hinah, as she dances around gracefully around the two combatants, the sound of steel meeting steel ringing all around.

Lampton nods in respect as he keeps his eyes on Inanna.

“Tell Lampton something, little Goddess? What is your preferred outcome here? Do you think you can truly beat Lampton? I who was created and existed long before even your mother? Who strode firmaments with true Gods?”

Inanna pressed the attack, each missed swing and jab compelling her to press harder, and faster. Even when Lampton asked his question, the golden-eyed woman never slowed... and before she even responded glanced up at the 'sky'.

"Beat you? It's possible." Inanna admitted, frankly. "Unlikely, though. I've yet to draw even a bit of blood... but the outcome I'm after?"

The golden-eyed woman disengaged suddenly, swinging her blade to discharge a crescent of Hakai that annihilated the ground beneath Lampton's feet.

"I mean to make a statement. Black Rain."

The beams Inanna had shot into the heavens made their presence known down. The once concentrated beams fragmenting, and now falling back down to the 'earth' like raindrops.

"The 'True Gods' need sorting out; a culling if you will. I mean to be the one to do it."

As the black rain fell, Inanna surged forward. A quest for answers had become a fight for her life; and what would it say about her if she turned tail now...

[Yun Lao]

e"...Huh?" Lantro frowned slightly at the girl that had approached him. She seemed unfamiliar, but why had she....? "I don't quite follow you. One of who?"

Could she had been mistaken? No, her sensors were quite clearly picking up the tell-tale signs of mutant machine technology in him, albeit a drastically smaller percentage than any other. It was doubtful he got it through natural means as the cyber-organic material relied on the same Truffle technology that even hers, a far more advanced form, still relied on.

"My apologies, I have mistaken you for another. Have you ever met a doctor by the name of Sazerac? Dr. Sazerac Absinthe to be precise?"

[Tami]

" And here I was hoping you would just guess. Oh well, my internal average body temperature is 30 degrees Celsius / 86 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm neither coldblooded or warmblooded. I am a mesotherm, which is in-between," Praxat said.

" Basically, if a warmblooded human like you is like a furnace with a thermostat, then I'm like a wood-burning stove. In cold enough temperatures. My body will go into a state of suspended animation. In that state, my body produces a natural antifreeze that protects my vital organs from freezing," Praxat said.

" So I can survive being frozen solid at sub-zero temperatures," Praxat said.

"That's pretty handy ability to have, only it ain't so useful if you'n a fight with an elemental martial artist like me. If'n you an ah are trainin together, ah could just do to you what ah did to that smoke demon. Not that ah would, way too big a risk. So you might want'a imagine what you'd do if someone tried to freeze you solid durin a fight. You might survive it, if that was all he or she did, but you'd be left open and vulnerable to other attacks."

Dash then mused, "Ah wonder if any of the other fighters ever think about what they'd do if they were in that situation."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Inanna pressed the attack, each missed swing and jab compelling her to press harder, and faster. Even when Lampton asked his question, the golden-eyed woman never slowed... and before she even responded glanced up at the 'sky'.

"Beat you? It's possible." Inanna admitted, frankly. "Unlikely, though. I've yet to draw even a bit of blood... but the outcome I'm after?"

The golden-eyed woman disengaged suddenly, swinging her blade to discharge a crescent of Hakai that annihilated the ground beneath Lampton's feet.

"I mean to make a statement. Black Rain."

The beams Inanna had shot into the heavens made their presence known down. The once concentrated beams fragmenting, and now falling back down to the 'earth' like raindrops.

"The 'True Gods' need sorting out; a culling if you will. I mean to be the one to do it."

As the black rain fell, Inanna surged forward. A quest for answers had become a fight for her life; and what would it say about her if she turned tail now...

The form before her shatters and disintegrates under her Black Rain, eaten away by the Hakai.

Even as the swords press on, Sheki’hinah still blocking them, a deep chuckle comes from the one remaining large sword.

“A statement? Lampton can appreciate that. Draw my blood, little Goddess, and I’ll consider the price for my knowledge acquired.”

Lampton emerges from behind the sword once more, black blade pointed at Inanna in a fencing posture.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

The form before her shatters and disintegrates under her Black Rain, eaten away by the Hakai.

Even as the swords press on, Sheki’hinah still blocking them, a deep chuckle comes from the one remaining large sword.

“A statement? Lampton can appreciate that. Draw my blood, little Goddess, and I’ll consider the price for my knowledge acquired.”

Lampton emerges from behind the sword once more, black blade pointed at Inanna in a fencing posture.

"All I need is a drop..." Inanna commented, before exhaling.

It would be the second time since she'd come out of the 'Crucible' that she'd get the chance to do this. The last perhaps, that much was fair to say; but who cared about something so immaterial as one's end? Certainly not she... and at the end of the day she'd grown quite bored holding back.

So taking a deep breath, Inanna's grip tightened on her blade.

"Now fight like you mean it, Lampton."

Fingers curling into a fist, the woman gestured and shot forward far faster than she had done previously; and with far less resistance than should've been possible... had she not been able to manipulate gravity. The form she chose to engage with Lampton in however, was... odd.

Though it allowed for the weaving in of attacks both martial, and magnificent; each swing of her blade accompanied by a flurry of blows, that discharged precision bursts of Hakai. Which would make it obvious at least... that she meant to at the very least cripple the Angel, if she connected.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"All I need is a drop..." Inanna commented, before exhaling.

It would be the second time since she'd come out of the 'Crucible' that she'd get the chance to do this. The last perhaps, that much was fair to say; but who cared about something so immaterial as one's end? Certainly not she... and at the end of the day she'd grown quite bored holding back.

So taking a deep breath, Inanna's grip tightened on her blade.

"Now fight like you mean it, Lampton."

Fingers curling into a fist, the woman gestured and shot forward far faster than she had done previously; and with far less resistance than should've been possible... had she not been able to manipulate gravity. The form she chose to engage with Lampton in however, was... odd.

Though it allowed for the weaving in of attacks both martial, and magnificent; each swing of her blade accompanied by a flurry of blows, that discharged precision bursts of Hakai. Which would make it obvious at least... that she meant to at the very least cripple the Angel, if she connected.

The Angel danced.

With a grin wide on his face, Lampton moves. Black blade clanging off hers, the taller figure matches her intricate moves with a trained air that not even the alternate Samson Balon, who was the best fighter skill wise seen so far, could have matched.

The intricate dance goes back and forth, always the hakai and blade just missing or just being blocked.

Eventually, Lampton performs an intricate blade lock and disarms (only her sword, not her arm) Inanna before leaping back.

“Out of practice. Lampton asks your forgiveness.”

He smirks and gestures, her blade flying back to rest in her hand.

“Lampton shall now go on the offensive. Prepare yourself.”