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

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Eventually, between their efforts, Voyavado pilots the ship out of atmosphere and back into space.

Koorimaru does not follow, and the ship leaps into hyper space just fine. Dash sighs heavily, slumping against her seat.

“Well, that was....terrifying.”

It was over. It took the efforts of nearly all of them and they still only just managed to escape. It helped that the bastard decided not to give chase. If he had, Maiz had no doubt he would have not only caught them, but killed them.

She let out a shaky breath and wiped the cold sweat that had accumulated on her brow. Another exhale breezed as she pushed herself away from the terminal and spun her chair to stand to her feet.

She was silent for a long moment before letting out an airy chuckle. "Haven't been that close to death since my mate was killed. Everyone okay?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"Punishment? No." Inanna commented.

"He's stronger than Shek'hinah. He chooses to be here."

[grampagen]

Koorimaru does not follow, and the ship leaps into hyper space just fine. Dash sighs heavily, slumping against her seat.

“Well, that was....terrifying.”

It was over. It took the efforts of nearly all of them and they still only just managed to escape. It helped that the bastard decided not to give chase. If he had, Maiz had no doubt he would have not only caught them, but killed them.

She let out a shaky breath and wiped the cold sweat that had accumulated on her brow. Another exhale breezed as she pushed herself away from the terminal and spun her chair to stand to her feet.

She was silent for a long moment before letting out an airy chuckle. "Haven't been that close to death since my mate was killed. Everyone okay?"

Still mulling over what they had encountered as they exit the atmosphere of Cortis II before they'd taken off to Hyperspace, Ochazuke peered into the void as the stars began to stretch around their speeding vessel.

To Maiz's question, he replied bluntly. "The Remnant of Inda'ren has been awakened."

The manifestation of the Ancient Destroyer only roused more questions and suspicion within him. Who had killed Koorimaru? Was this hobbled manifestation the goal of this third party? And then there's the matter of the Gate...

This were all pieces to a plot their present company had little, if any, bearing on. They needed to reconvene with one who could make sense of this.

"We will need to prepare, for this will not be the end of it."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Still mulling over what they had encountered as they exit the atmosphere of Cortis II before they'd taken off to Hyperspace, Ochazuke peered into the void as the stars began to stretch around their speeding vessel.

To Maiz's question, he replied bluntly. "The Remnant of Inda'ren has been awakened."

The manifestation of the Ancient Destroyer only roused more questions and suspicion within him. Who had killed Koorimaru? Was this hobbled manifestation the goal of this third party? And then there's the matter of the Gate...

This were all pieces to a plot their present company had little, if any, bearing on. They needed to reconvene with one who could make sense of this.

"We will need to prepare, for this will not be the end of it."

Remnant had awoken. Maiz couldn't help but feel that they had failed in some way, even though she had a feeling that things were out of their control. She knew nothing of the cosmic grand scheme of things outside of whatever the spirits of the previous Guardians could tell her, which wasn't much. This stuff about Remnant and Gods was out of her scope of understanding. Even with Parsley and Sarada relaying information to her, it was too much to comprehend. She was much more suited to worrying about her own race, not the state of the entire universe and the people who operated on that unfathomable scale.

She sighed and slumped back into the chair that she had originally been sitting in. Touching her forehead, she said, "Inanna probably knows something about this. She's been flitting to this place and that place the past few years. I can only imagine she's either training or talking to these god people. She never says where she's going, so I doubt she visiting old friends. Either way, she's the one whose brain you need to pick."

As for being prepared, she would do what she could to make sure her girls were ready and understood the scope of what they were dealing with. Parsley would be easy, Sarada was the one whose desire to punch gods needed to be reigned in before she got herself killed.

[grampagen]

Remnant had awoken. Maiz couldn't help but feel that they had failed in some way, even though she had a feeling that things were out of their control. She knew nothing of the cosmic grand scheme of things outside of whatever the spirits of the previous Guardians could tell her, which wasn't much. This stuff about Remnant and Gods was out of her scope of understanding. Even with Parsley and Sarada relaying information to her, it was too much to comprehend. She was much more suited to worrying about her own race, not the state of the entire universe and the people who operated on that unfathomable scale.

She sighed and slumped back into the chair that she had originally been sitting in. Touching her forehead, she said, "Inanna probably knows something about this. She's been flitting to this place and that place the past few years. I can only imagine she's either training or talking to these god people. She never says where she's going, so I doubt she visiting old friends. Either way, she's the one whose brain you need to pick."

As for being prepared, she would do what she could to make sure her girls were ready and understood the scope of what they were dealing with. Parsley would be easy, Sarada was the one whose desire to punch gods needed to be reigned in before she got herself killed.

"Agreed," Ochazuke replied, "Whatever we will yield from this encounter will do us no good without the proper context."

One look at Maiz suggest that even for one that had been raised to the station of Kami, it would be difficult to unravel this mystery even with these powers bestowed.

"We've blundered into a conflict that spans back to the beginning, all of us. If anybody would know, it would be Inanna, and perhaps another who was there at the beginning..." he sighed and shook his head. So much ruin lay at Asha'rah's fate spanning from then until now.

There was one other, perhaps, but...

"Regardless, Inanna went to Parsley to Khoolis. Whatever had happened there to Koorimaru was hardly as final as his assailant had hoped for."

Assuredly there would be, perhaps, a corpse and a hollow amulet, but what else have they found there?

"Suppose it would be best to regroup for the moment. Voyavoda, how long until we reach Reshlan?"

[Miburo]

" Yeah, Let's do this. I learned the Way of Compression, the Way of Inflation, and The Way of Sparking from Althena." Surprisingly, Aoem masters who came before her knew a lot about Toadian physiology," Praxat said as she goes into boost mode and gets into a guard stance similar to a Muay Thai guard stance.

( This is the Zawk guard stance my ancestor Melina / Althena's martial arts teacher used over 2,000 years ago. ) Praxat thought. There's a strong and solid foundation in Praxat's Zawk stance. Her feet are about Shoulder Width Apart. her heels are slightly off the ground.

She's placing more weight on her right foot. her right hand is at the rear. Both her hands are touching her face. Her back is slouched. Her elbows are slightly out from her body . Her hips square to Held, and her tongue is slightly out

"That's a bit risky, fighting with your tongue out, isn't it?" The Nevadian inquired, "After all, I think the power of your skull and cutting ability of your teeth far exceed what your tongue can endure...."

He paused, recalling his battle with Frogspierre, the latter using his tongue in a manner that made it more of a third appendage, rather than some sort of sensory organ with little effect on it.

He decided to say nothing to correct himself, seeing if the Toadian would be able to resist the corrective temptation she was known for.

"In either case...."

The Nevadian reared his leg back, preparing a strike.

"Let's see what you've got."

In a burst of motion, the Nevadian loosed a powerful soccer kick, lacking massive car sized hunks of the shattered earth at Praxat and her defensive stance.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"That's a bit risky, fighting with your tongue out, isn't it?" The Nevadian inquired, "After all, I think the power of your skull and cutting ability of your teeth far exceed what your tongue can endure...."

He paused, recalling his battle with Frogspierre, the latter using his tongue in a manner that made it more of a third appendage, rather than some sort of sensory organ with little effect on it.

He decided to say nothing to correct himself, seeing if the Toadian would be able to resist the corrective temptation she was known for.

"In either case...."

The Nevadian reared his leg back, preparing a strike.

"Let's see what you've got."

In a burst of motion, the Nevadian loosed a powerful soccer kick, lacking massive car sized hunks of the shattered earth at Praxat and her defensive stance.

( ****, I have an urge to correct him, but I have to focus on the incoming attack,) Praxat said as she guards against the attack.

Praxat uses her tongue like a chain whip to deflect the car-sized chunks of shattered earth back at Held as she moves her tongue fast enough to create sonic booms. Like the crack of a whip.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

"Agreed," Ochazuke replied, "Whatever we will yield from this encounter will do us no good without the proper context."

One look at Maiz suggest that even for one that had been raised to the station of Kami, it would be difficult to unravel this mystery even with these powers bestowed.

"We've blundered into a conflict that spans back to the beginning, all of us. If anybody would know, it would be Inanna, and perhaps another who was there at the beginning..." he sighed and shook his head. So much ruin lay at Asha'rah's fate spanning from then until now.

There was one other, perhaps, but...

"Regardless, Inanna went to Parsley to Khoolis. Whatever had happened there to Koorimaru was hardly as final as his assailant had hoped for."

Assuredly there would be, perhaps, a corpse and a hollow amulet, but what else have they found there?

"Suppose it would be best to regroup for the moment. Voyavoda, how long until we reach Reshlan?"

"Not long," said Voyavoda, as he checked over the instruments. Things were running normal, thankfully. He'd plotted a quicker, albeit more haphazard route back to Reshlan that should get them there in roughly half the time as their initial trip. "About half the time as it took us to get to Cortis II, thanks to the alternative route I sent us on. Now..."

He swiveled to face the others. "...who or what is this Inda'ren you are talking about?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Punishment? No." Inanna commented.

"He's stronger than Shek'hinah. He chooses to be here."

Parsley raised an eyebrow upon receiving clarification. Stronger than the Death Goddess, and chose to be there. She could only imagine his choice was informed by a fear that the God of Gods, this Zen'o wanted him captured. "I see. I assume he's here in hiding?"

[Miburo]

( ****, I have an urge to correct him, but I have to focus on the incoming attack,) Praxat said as she guards against the attack.

Praxat uses her tongue like a chain whip to deflect the car-sized chunks of shattered earth back at Held as she moves her tongue fast enough to create sonic booms. Like the crack of a whip.

The Nevadian quirked an eye brow as he received no reply to his taunt like inquiry. Somehow, Praxat had managed to resist the bait he had set. Her tendency to explain things in the midst of battle often left an opening--and while such things may be tolerable when among allies, when faced with enemies, monologing about the strength of ones body and techniques was an extreme liability.

"Huh. So you can focus when you feel like it!" He exclaimed with an approving voice. "I don't even want to tell you what I was going to do if you got distracted again..."

Shifting his weight slightly, he crouched, allowing the earth to sail over his head by scant inches as he advanced forward at a casual pace.

He jumped slightly, another bolder tumbling and crashing into into the horizon. No sooner than he had landed, the onslaught continued unabated, coming upon him like an avalanche, and he masterfully dodged numerous attacks. To a warrior of his skill, dodging attacks like this was a simple task, Shingan or not.

Lifting his left leg of the ground, it began to glow with an blue aura, before the Nevadian lazily extended it towards the boulders.

Unicorn's Tail Cleaves Mountains in Twain!

Instantly, a wave of cutting energy erupted from his leg, on a collision course with the Praxat's counter attack, neatly cleaving the stones into halves, sprawling into various directions narrowly missing the Nevadians position.

The wave continued, poised to slice into the Toadian.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

The Nevadian quirked an eye brow as he received no reply to his taunt like inquiry. Somehow, Praxat had managed to resist the bait he had set. Her tendency to explain things in the midst of battle often left an opening--and while such things may be tolerable when among allies, when faced with enemies, monologing about the strength of ones body and techniques was an extreme liability.

"Huh. So you can focus when you feel like it!" He exclaimed with an approving voice. "I don't even want to tell you what I was going to do if you got distracted again..."

Shifting his weight slightly, he crouched, allowing the earth to sail over his head by scant inches as he advanced forward at a casual pace.

He jumped slightly, another bolder tumbling and crashing into into the horizon. No sooner than he had landed, the onslaught continued unabated, coming upon him like an avalanche, and he masterfully dodged numerous attacks. To a warrior of his skill, dodging attacks like this was a simple task, Shingan or not.

Lifting his left leg of the ground, it began to glow with an blue aura, before the Nevadian lazily extended it towards the boulders.

Unicorn's Tail Cleaves Mountains in Twain!

Instantly, a wave of cutting energy erupted from his leg, on a collision course with the Praxat's counter attack, neatly cleaving the stones into halves, sprawling into various directions narrowly missing the Nevadians position.

The wave continued, poised to slice into the Toadian.

Praxat quickly goes into Max Mode and transforming into her 8-foot hulking form. Then switches to Vion style and uses her reflexes, flexibility, and vastly increase speed in Max mode to dodge the wave.

As she dodges the wave, she moves like a graceful dancer. Her movements fluid and acrobatic with a sense of beauty and style, making it look like she's dancing. Praxat then counter-attacks by sending out a barrage of balls of electricity at Held while charging up a wave of electromagnetic energy in her arm that's still healing.

( I need to keep Held's attention away from my right arm. The training I did to improve Max Mode in ROSAT with Dash. Has help it become somewhat manageable, well as manageable as it's going to it. it still consumes a lot of energy, but not a much as it used to) Praxat thought.

As Praxat fires balls of electricity at Held, her body is in constant motion.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Agreed," Ochazuke replied, "Whatever we will yield from this encounter will do us no good without the proper context."

One look at Maiz suggest that even for one that had been raised to the station of Kami, it would be difficult to unravel this mystery even with these powers bestowed.

"We've blundered into a conflict that spans back to the beginning, all of us. If anybody would know, it would be Inanna, and perhaps another who was there at the beginning..." he sighed and shook his head. So much ruin lay at Asha'rah's fate spanning from then until now.

There was one other, perhaps, but...

"Regardless, Inanna went to Parsley to Khoolis. Whatever had happened there to Koorimaru was hardly as final as his assailant had hoped for."

Assuredly there would be, perhaps, a corpse and a hollow amulet, but what else have they found there?

"Suppose it would be best to regroup for the moment. Voyavoda, how long until we reach Reshlan?"

Maiz nodded idly. She supposed that, besides Inanna, this Asha'rah being had most if not all of the answer. According to Sarada, the universe's disarray could be placed squarely at her feet. Evidently, that was not the only thing that could be placed at her feet.

Battling a god, even one had fragmented as this Indar'en, was going to be much more involved than simply punching and blasting him until he disintegrated.

She didn't know what all he could do besides come within a hair's breadth of killing them with a single blast. She supposed that was one of the things they would learn in the near future.

"Not long," said Voyavoda, as he checked over the instruments. Things were running normal, thankfully. He'd plotted a quicker, albeit more haphazard route back to Reshlan that should get them there in roughly half the time as their initial trip. "About half the time as it took us to get to Cortis II, thanks to the alternative route I sent us on. Now..."

He swiveled to face the others. "...who or what is this Inda'ren you are talking about?"

"From what I've been told, Indar'en was this universe's God of Destruction from eons ago. He was killed and his power stolen by his friend, Creation God Asha'rah, as part of her failed war in Heaven. Apparently, enough of him survived and created this... Remnant that almost killed us." She shrugged. "That's about the extent that I know and understand. He was replaced a short while ago by my daughter-in-law, Inanna. Sadly, that means this **** show falls to her." She sighed.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Maiz nodded idly. She supposed that, besides Inanna, this Asha'rah being had most if not all of the answer. According to Sarada, the universe's disarray could be placed squarely at her feet. Evidently, that was not the only thing that could be placed at her feet.

Battling a god, even one had fragmented as this Indar'en, was going to be much more involved than simply punching and blasting him until he disintegrated.

She didn't know what all he could do besides come within a hair's breadth of killing them with a single blast. She supposed that was one of the things they would learn in the near future.



"From what I've been told, Indar'en was this universe's God of Destruction from eons ago. He was killed and his power stolen by his friend, Creation God Asha'rah, as part of her failed war in Heaven. Apparently, enough of him survived and created this... Remnant that almost killed us." She shrugged. "That's about the extent that I know and understand. He was replaced a short while ago by my daughter-in-law, Inanna. Sadly, that means this **** show falls to her." She sighed.

Gods of destruction. Gods of creation... oh dear, it seems he'd gotten involved something far beyond his ken. It was interesting, though... it made him want to keep involving himself in this matter. Very rarely did he encounter novel situations, and yet... with this group, he'd encountered several in the span of a day.

"I had no idea the Queen Consort was a woman of such importance... heh... gods. I've killed a few self-proclaimed gods in my day, but your tone suggest the gods you speak of are a bit more than... self-proclaimed."

Voyavoda paused for a beat, then sighed. "I would very much like to help with this matter, but my life has entered its twilight and I will weaken and... die, in a manner of speaking, soon. Beyond this point, my current self would be nothing more than a burden..."

"As an aside, before I forget, Guardian Maiz... if you wish it, I can share the coordinates to Cortis II. It has... historical significance to your people, and mine. Vocado himself once strode into battle there, against the Nevadian Emperor... who later became his father-in-law," he said. "There are records there that could help your people flesh out their ancient history more completely. Assuming, of course, that Inda'ren leaves the planet intact."

The thing did not strike him as the most rational creature, so the possibility that it might tear the planet asunder weighed heavily upon his mind.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Parsley raised an eyebrow upon receiving clarification. Stronger than the Death Goddess, and chose to be there. She could only imagine his choice was informed by a fear that the God of Gods, this Zen'o wanted him captured. "I see. I assume he's here in hiding?"

"Waiting out the coming shitstorm, more like." Inanna said with a shrug.

"Works well enough for me, took a considerable amount of jiggering to keep him alive in the first place; once Sihn figured out he was here. In a manner of speaking he's my 'ward'." One of those bridges that might need burning, in the near future. "Remains to be seen whether or not it'll bite me in the ass, but... he did give me the means to briefly find myself on an even playing field with Genesis. Can't be all bad."

[Miburo]

Praxat quickly goes into Max Mode and transforming into her 8-foot hulking form. Then switches to Vion style and uses her reflexes, flexibility, and vastly increase speed in Max mode to dodge the wave.

As she dodges the wave, she moves like a graceful dancer. Her movements fluid and acrobatic with a sense of beauty and style, making it look like she's dancing. Praxat then counter-attacks by sending out a barrage of balls of electricity at Held while charging up a wave of electromagnetic energy in her arm that's still healing.

( I need to keep Held's attention away from my right arm. The training I did to improve Max Mode in ROSAT with Dash. Has help it become somewhat manageable, well as manageable as it's going to it. it still consumes a lot of energy, but not a much as it used to) Praxat thought.

As Praxat fires balls of electricity at Held, her body is in constant motion.

"....It's a shame your transformations are such a tell." Held replied to his opponents change of approach, growing into a giantess in the space of a second, "As things are, the very act of transformation gives me some idea of what you have planned...."

The Nevadian tarried forth, advancing to meet the Toadian head on at a casual pace.

"Still, it could be a good learning experience."

He made minor adjustments as he continued forwards, shifting his body in ways almost imperceptible to the untrained eye in their subtlety, the orbs seemingly simply missing their mark by a stroke of misfortune.

"For instance, someone like Sarada and her Super Saiyan form seems to result in an improvement in abilities across the board in an even skew...Her transformation tells me nothing, outside of her power level increasing."

It was as if the orbs moved in slow motion by comparison to his swift, efficient movements.

"Your transformations lend themselves to certain specialties which basically write a script of what you may be up to on your body. It would be more prudent to avoid transforming until an opening of some sort presents itself."

The Nevadian watched with tired curiosity as he watched Praxat's ballet recital, wondering what the point of her diversion was.

"And if you were searching for an opening, I would hope you have something else planned other than a variation on a theme I saw through a moment ago..."

He retracted his middle finger, before flicking it outwards at an approaching ball. The sheer air pressure stopped several of the orbs in their tracks, sending them careening into one another, disrupting the constant barrage.

She's clearly hoping I don't get a bead on her, but is it because she fears my power at close range.....No, then she wouldn't bother to turn into such a muscle head. That body type is almost made exclusively for close range combat...

"It also doesn't help that I know you can't maintain that form for long because you told me...But let's pretend you didn't, eh?"