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

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"I'm Praxat, the eldest daughter of Uraxat Luue, the Prime Minister of The Republic of Qacriea. It's nice to meet you, agent Tanaki. Yes, I've been itching to check out this engine room," Praxat said.

" Unfortunately, I'm also the eldest granddaughter of the criminal sociopath mass murderer Araxat McFrog. I'm not proud of that fact," Praxat said.

Tanaki sweat drops at this, looking vaguely.....overwhelmed by Praxat’s info dump.

“That’s.....and interesting introduction.”

She coughs and gathers herself.

“Anyways...yes, this is the engine room. Capsule Corp Mark III Pulse Engine. Remarkable, isn’t it?”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Hilda smiles.

“Yes, it will be good to see him. Especially since he won’t be able to....escape this time.”

Parsley shared the smile. Silently, she was thankful that she and Inanna planned on training up until the next day. The very last things she wanted to hear were the impotent mewls of a sad man finally cornered and forced to realize his duties. She would have said that aloud, but that hardly seemed appropriate. Or smart, considering this woman's capabilities.

Speaking of, "Anything in your tea in regards to me?" she asked after watching Hilda divulge visions of the future for a few of her teammates. Some were curious, such as in Sasheem's case. Others were disconcerting and deeply troubling, like Etrina and Inanna. Anyone who could capture a mage of the former's caliber was a formidable enemy.

How exciting!

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Hilda frowns, then seems to...flicker. Her gaze turns sideways, and her body almost seems to go partially incorporeal.

Her form fades back to solidity and she looks at Inanna.

“How passing strange. I cannot see them as a whole. I know they do not live in this universe, however.”

"There seems to be an awful lot of that," Inanna replied after folding her arms. "I suppose it's to be expected though. The boundaries that once were no longer seem to mean much; not as if there's anyone alive at current capable of enforcing them." She certainly couldn't after all. Too weak yet, and too much on her plate already. Otherworldly incursions would simply needs be dealt with on an instance by instance basis.

"I appreciate the attempt however; I suppose I'll just have to do yet more digging as time permits."

[grampagen]

The ability of Threslings to take punishment was mind-boggling in and of itself. Had the Nevadian not been so taken aback by the depths of their religious fervor, there was no doubt that their ability to simply ignore wounds that would debilitate others in the span of seconds.

The priestess had been skewered like fresh meat over a spit, her body lanced all over, all but crucifying her. And yet, her concentration scarcely faltered, still finding the wherewithal to cast her dreaded spell, glorifying her lord.

It took a moment for the Nevadian to parse the veil of ignorance. He had surmised the entire building to be a trap of sorts, but he had no idea just how correct he was, the magical energies surrounding the building powering the various runic seals, the blood of the priestess being the final catalyst to spring the trap.

The Nevadian cursed under his breath as the spell began to manifest itself.




The Nevadian gave no reply save for the the ball of energy manifesting itself at the tip of his spear, tendrils of energy rotating around the nexus point, quickly growing to a feverish pace. He drew his weapon backwards, preparing a mighty thrust as the energy he put into the attack intensified, the orb and tendrils growing bigger in response.

I can't half ass it....I'm not sure how many shots we'll get if I screw up...


Teeth were grit as the Nevadian funneled energy into the attack. Energy equaled speed, and speed equaled power. The azure orb of Ki was moving at such a speed as to make its rotation all but unseen to untrained eyes, and the tendrils around it blinked in and out of existence, moving from the side of the orb, to the very tip of it, forming a spiral shape in front of it.

Now!

The Nevadian thrust the implement of his will forwards, and from it, beams of dazzling blue light appeared, twisting, wrapping, weaving

Spiraling

Around itself, rotating with such speed and vigor, grinding untouched stone and rubble to dust with the merest hint of its presence. It was poised to utterly penetrate anything unfortunate enough to stand between itself and it's prey, the Gate Of Auroc.

Horn Burst!

Held's spiralling beam loosed just as the intensity of the Priestess's lightning increased, its trajectory coalescing forward in a precise path of obliteration.

Not a moment too soon. In this battle where their opponents clashed with forces sufficient to level planets, precision in each shifting moment was key. There, in the space between seconds, swifter than the fall of thunder and the slipstream of white-hot energies invoked in Auroc's name, there was a narrow path to take.

The call divine fell to light the path of the Threshling God. If it were to align with the seal, it would draw the source of their worship towards the fatal prayers of Priestess Cin, and their excursion would have been for nothing.

The Fire of the Phoenix, Hoyokusen! A technique that was formerly brought to arms under a Red banner now dashed against the light of Threshling fanaticism! The hard, jagged shapes of the thunderbolts fell upon them, a divine lash to smite them to ruin, but when Ochazuke and Zaofan threw hand and eye forward, a thousand burning feathers folded into two great, flaming wings, crumpleing the collected energy into a white plume, arresting its fall just so as it reverse the energy flow.

Yet even with both of their efforts in diverting the energy, the font of prayers from the Faithful Converted gathered such sheer mass towards the wounded body of the Threshling Priestess that with its nigh endless surplus to tap into, it continued to slowly bear down on them. Flashing current discharged into the remnants of the ziggurat, each flash of ligh seeming to grind stone and alloy alike to smoking ash.

Tethers of energies began to cascading below, converging towards those seven focal points where the runes stood, emblazoned with that energy. To behold it was to know the shape of their true energy, and in their minds briefly raised the spectre of that day of the Great Eye wreathed in fire vermilion and viridian. The flash of its horrible gaze fro some distant star was to cripple what it beheld with fear and call knot the yoke of servitude.

Then the spiralling horn cast from Held's spear pierced the rune array, and the foundation holding the Priestess' spell together unravelled. With nowhere to go, the raw energy crashed over the focal points, twisting directionless...and outward, snaking through and shattering the ki constructs of Piercing Horn Forest as it washed over the rapidly disintegrating Ziggurat's peak.

In the final push with Zaofan, Ochazuke's eyes widened as he sensed a sudden discrepancy. The energy collected and put into this battlefield, something in the ether was pulling at it, twisting it upward into the sky, to the atmosphere above and towards...

Without further hestation, he seized upon the retreating thunderbolt. Banjakuza!

Fathoms below under the jungle canopy, the Navigators under Captain Ulysses had marshalled a final peacekeeping effort, encircling the Converted and forcing a surrender. When teh column of white fire alit from the peak of the Ziggurat and tore a hole in the sky with such fervour that darkness bled into the day, the locals on either faction could see it. The awe as much as harrowing terror rose in them just as well as the Silver Knight Canon, and the Lord Herald Blacktongue where they were restrained as the eyes of Auroc's effigy lit up for a moment, then collapsed entirely as it toppled and fell gracelessly down the stories of steps to the ground below.

And in the end, amid the smell of the blooming ashes little remained. Crouched in the collapsed mass of the ceiling, Ochazuke, Zaofan and held now stood before Cin, High Priestess of Baradur. Divested of her strength, she had diminished to something frail, rendered all too mortal, her eyes, empty amber pools, stared ahead listlessly from her swarthy face, a gentle quiver upon her lip carrying no words, only shallow gasps of utter disbelief.

[MrSandman]

The steam swirls and shows Etrina in a cage, not one of iron bars but of magecraft instead.

"I suppose its against the rules to divine the part where I'm winning.....Pft, typical." Etrina crossed her arms and reacted with the usual amount of mage smugness while secretly making a mental note to be extra prepared for magical imprisonment.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"I suppose its against the rules to divine the part where I'm winning.....Pft, typical." Etrina crossed her arms and reacted with the usual amount of mage smugness while secretly making a mental note to be extra prepared for magical imprisonment.

“I can not control it. When I soothsay, I can only see what the steam wants me to see. Apologies, Tempus Magi.“

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Parsley shared the smile. Silently, she was thankful that she and Inanna planned on training up until the next day. The very last things she wanted to hear were the impotent mewls of a sad man finally cornered and forced to realize his duties. She would have said that aloud, but that hardly seemed appropriate. Or smart, considering this woman's capabilities.

Speaking of, "Anything in your tea in regards to me?" she asked after watching Hilda divulge visions of the future for a few of her teammates. Some were curious, such as in Sasheem's case. Others were disconcerting and deeply troubling, like Etrina and Inanna. Anyone who could capture a mage of the former's caliber was a formidable enemy.

How exciting!

Hilda weaves the steam back and forth, and an image of Parsley and a larger male figure are seen doing battle.

The male seems to have a larger aura than her, and is wearing a modified Threshling armor.

Knight Kakarot.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"There seems to be an awful lot of that," Inanna replied after folding her arms. "I suppose it's to be expected though. The boundaries that once were no longer seem to mean much; not as if there's anyone alive at current capable of enforcing them." She certainly couldn't after all. Too weak yet, and too much on her plate already. Otherworldly incursions would simply needs be dealt with on an instance by instance basis.

"I appreciate the attempt however; I suppose I'll just have to do yet more digging as time permits."

Hilda bows her head.

“My apologies that I could not be clearer.”

[KingofPie]

“Not related via blood. More......because he exists, you exist.”

"Now that's just depressing," Sasheem grumbled

She smiles.

“My mother was a Story Keeper and Soothsayer, and she taught me. I am able to alter the steam and use it for story telling or divination. Very perceptive, Inanna.”

The steam from her cup swirls into what is clearly Inanna’s form, fighting what looks like an armored man with a long gun.

“Interesting........”

It swirls away, to be replaced by Sasheem and another figure, intertwined and attempting to absorb each other.

Sasheem's attention had drifted for a bit, futilely attempting to to stab Parsley in the elbow with a butter knife, before he remembered the images in the tea he had spotted out of the corner of his eyes.

"Hey...lady...okay the one with me back. That tea got a rewind function?" He asked.

[Yun Lao]

Metal shrieked as talons scraped across the surface, small, shallow lines in the paint surface following their wake. His blood boiled from irritation and impatience, beginning to believe the prolonged wait was on purpose. Had he not the capability of surviving in space, he would have destroyed the ship and flew to the destination himself, but for now, he enacted his revenge for this perceived slight as he dug his talons beneath the wall's surface and tore out the paneling tossing it behind him with a clatter. Beneath lay several of the ships countless wire harnesses and the insulation protecting them; however, despite exposing them, Rex did nothing else, content in his vandalism as he trotted away to find something to ease his boredom.

"They best pray we arrive shortly..."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Hilda weaves the steam back and forth, and an image of Parsley and a larger male figure are seen doing battle.

The male seems to have a larger aura than her, and is wearing a modified Threshling armor.

Knight Kakarot.

The soothsaying steam showed Parsley images of herself and another male locked in combat. He had a larger aura than her, which she assumed meant he was stronger. That, plus the Threshling armor he wore, left only one person.

Kakarot.

"Interesting. I get to test my powerful against this undead traitor." She didn't sound particularly worried. Even if he was stronger than her, she had other advantages that she doubted he had counters for.

She stood from the table. "I need to get back to training for tomorrow. It was a pleasure speaking with you, Hilda. I hope things with Held work out in your favor."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Now that's just depressing," Sasheem grumbled



Sasheem's attention had drifted for a bit, futilely attempting to to stab Parsley in the elbow with a butter knife, before he remembered the images in the tea he had spotted out of the corner of his eyes.

"Hey...lady...okay the one with me back. That tea got a rewind function?" He asked.

She swirls it around, showing Sasheem’s again.

It clearly shows Sasheem and another majin attempting to absorb each other.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The soothsaying steam showed Parsley images of herself and another male locked in combat. He had a larger aura than her, which she assumed meant he was stronger. That, plus the Threshling armor he wore, left only one person.

Kakarot.

"Interesting. I get to test my powerful against this undead traitor." She didn't sound particularly worried. Even if he was stronger than her, she had other advantages that she doubted he had counters for.

She stood from the table. "I need to get back to training for tomorrow. It was a pleasure speaking with you, Hilda. I hope things with Held work out in your favor."

She nods.

“My thanks. One last warning though:”

She swirls the steam and shows Parsley being consumed by an energy blast from the other.

“Ware his power, Princess of the Saiyans. This fell Knight has more than one surprise in store for you.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Metal shrieked as talons scraped across the surface, small, shallow lines in the paint surface following their wake. His blood boiled from irritation and impatience, beginning to believe the prolonged wait was on purpose. Had he not the capability of surviving in space, he would have destroyed the ship and flew to the destination himself, but for now, he enacted his revenge for this perceived slight as he dug his talons beneath the wall's surface and tore out the paneling tossing it behind him with a clatter. Beneath lay several of the ships countless wire harnesses and the insulation protecting them; however, despite exposing them, Rex did nothing else, content in his vandalism as he trotted away to find something to ease his boredom.

"They best pray we arrive shortly..."

“Another hour or so.”

Edan Mourn leans against the side, eyeing Rex.

“Please refrain from destroying my ship.”

[Yun Lao]

“Another hour or so.”

Edan Mourn leans against the side, eyeing Rex.

“Please refrain from destroying my ship.”

Rex sighed, although Edan might have heard it as a viper's hiss.

"It's an absurdity that a mere container of metal and plastic would be all it takes to transverse space. Even more so, it's maddening being cooped in here... what was the term for it? Cabin fever? Yes... I struggle to think how those such as yourself can handle it."