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

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

When Sarada reached outside, she started scrolling through her PDD. She had to catch up with Pois and see if she managed to catch Sellerie . Hopefully, she had and it wouldn't be much longer until they could head out.

"Kami," she muttered. "How long were we on that dust ball?" She checked her watch to see how long it had been since the attack on the Lookout.

Three days or so since Held was killed on Reshlan.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

With that, and a single glance spared toward Inanna, she headed outside.

Inanna sighed, before following her out.

It would be the least she could do, to tell her what she was planning: to disappear for awhile.

[KingofPie]

OT: Main office.

IC:

Miras Thane has reported that the leader of Earth vanished some three days ago, location currently unknown.

"Three days?" Blizzar raised a brow. "How...wait." Blizzar checks in, accessing his own personnel file. He wanted to check exactly when he clocked back in to work and what exactly he did upon arriving at his own desk.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Three days or so since Held was killed on Reshlan.

Three days?! That wasn't possible? ...How.... why...?

"****," she said sharply. She had no time to rest. If Tundra wasn't already on the homeworld, he didn't have long to go. She wanted to be there before he got there, so she had to leave right then and there.

"I'll have to call Pois when I get there."

Inanna sighed, before following her out.

It would be the least she could do, to tell her what she was planning: to disappear for awhile.

Sarada was tapping on a holographic screen when Inanna found her. She looked up and sighed. "I don't have much time. It's been three days since we left for Darkle... somehow... I don't know anymore. I have to leave to fight Tundra."

She pressed the screen one more time. A yellow circle materialized at her feet. "What are you going to do?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Three days?" Blizzar raised a brow. "How...wait." Blizzar checks in, accessing his own personnel file. He wanted to check exactly when he clocked back in to work and what exactly he did upon arriving at his own desk.

The last time he punched in was when he went to Reshlan.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Three days?! That wasn't possible? ...How.... why...?

"****," she said sharply. She had no time to rest. If Tundra wasn't already on the homeworld, he didn't have long to go. She wanted to be there before he got there, so she had to leave right then and there.

"I'll have to call Pois when I get there."



Sarada was tapping on a holographic screen when Inanna found her. She looked up and sighed. "I don't have much time. It's been three days since we left for Darkle... somehow... I don't know anymore. I have to leave to fight Tundra."

She pressed the screen one more time. A yellow circle materialized at her feet. "What are you going to do?"

Inanna sighed. "Will be visiting someone recommended to me by Lampton; before seeking him out. Won't be hard to find me... for you, anyway."

The others wouldn't be so lucky.

"Will be cheering you on with Tundra, regardless."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Inanna sighed. "Will be visiting someone recommended to me by Lampton; before seeking him out. Won't be hard to find me... for you, anyway."

The others wouldn't be so lucky.

"Will be cheering you on with Tundra, regardless."

Sarada literally had zero idea who Lampton was supposed to be, but she had no time or desire to inquire about it. Her love was about to go train, which would always get Sarada's approval. "Make sure you get nice and strong for me. I'm gonna run you through the ringer when you get back." Just thinking about it was getting her excited.

She floated up and gave her a kiss. "And please take some time for yourself. Not training or anything, but just... rest. Okay?"

[grampagen]

You reach in and all seems...peaceful.

You detect nothing of Grinthorn if that is who you seek.

Nothing of Eldfen...

If what had passed before their eyes in that instant had been real, with any luck the Eternal Dragon would have desist, even if Grinthorn could move through the unfathomable.

However, that wasn't what he sought. The strike of the Forger's Hammer struck up a strange sound. Even now it reverbed through the air, and the subtle spaces between matter. Listening in the manner of the Spider, he extended his meditational field and observed this phenomenon, trying to glean some hint of what had happened.

"Sasheem genuinely can't tell if you fucked up or not," the Majin folded his arms, glancing over at Ochazuke. He didn't even recall being at Balon's temple when he last was on Earth. not too long ago. So why now? And with these two clowns, no less! It was like someone lifted them up and placed them into an approximation of where they were supposed to be. Was the ****-Grin really that strong to just...move them all around? "**** seems...calm. Quiet. Kinda hate it."

Zaofan, who was in equal measure fascinated yet suspicious of the Dragon temple. scratched his head and narrowed his eyes.

"...well now that we know you're still around..." he murmured under his breath. Yet he strangely found himself - silently - agreeing with Sasheem's appraisal of this situation.

"...oh. Oh man! The others! Mistress! Totoma!"

They appeared to be back on Earth, but everybody else, who could say? Hastily Zaofan picked at the communicator in his ear.

"Hey! Hi! Zaofan! Anybody out there?!"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Sarada literally had zero idea who Lampton was supposed to be, but she had no time or desire to inquire about it. Her love was about to go train, which would always get Sarada's approval. "Make sure you get nice and strong for me. I'm gonna run you through the ringer when you get back." Just thinking about it was getting her excited.

She floated up and gave her a kiss. "And please take some time for yourself. Not training or anything, but just... rest. Okay?"

"Training will be a nice change of pace, vacation enough I figure." Inanna responded. "But... best get going now, not a lot of time before Tundra gets where you don't want him to go." Taking a step back, Inanna watched her wife leave, before fishing out the orb Lampton had given her. "Not sure how this thing's supposed to work if I'm honest," she muttered aloud before tapping on it.

"Hello, uh... still alive by chance?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Training will be a nice change of pace, vacation enough I figure." Inanna responded. "But... best get going now, not a lot of time before Tundra gets where you don't want him to go." Taking a step back, Inanna watched her wife leave, before fishing out the orb Lampton had given her. "Not sure how this thing's supposed to work if I'm honest," she muttered aloud before tapping on it.

"Hello, uh... still alive by chance?"

She could have argued, but saw no point. "I'll see you later."

With that, she backed away and tapped her wrist again. In a yellow flash of light, she was gone, whisked light years away in an instant.

The day of destiny was finally upon her.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Ah, so he wanted to know how his people were faring. Well...

"I'd like to say everything's just great, but it's not. Don't get me wrong, the culture's changing for the better, and the empire's got a really strong and inspirational queen in Sarada, and there are... hm... let's see... me, Parsley, Sarada, mom, Avoca that Lantro guy, and Pinach... yeah, seven super saiyans around to help defend it and give the citizens something to aim for when it comes to power and character, but the past few centuries seem determined to catch up with us."

He paused for a moment to let Vocado digest that bit of information. "I live on Earth, so I'm not entirely in the know, but right now, there's an incredibly powerful Frost Demon named Tundra attacking the empire. He's already destroy Vocado--the planet named after you--and then he set off for the... uh, ancient saiyan homeworld, I think? Sarada and I were gearing up to pursue and fight him when we got sidetracked."

"...to be honest, once she's rested and gotten back up to 100%, she'll probably be able to take on Tundra alone," said Totoma. "That battle with the Ulthan or whatever they called themselves was pretty wild, after all."

"But yeah, Maiz did a lot to help change the culture. She raised a lot of the others that helped in that, like Mato. I don't know all or even most of the details, but she... more or less showed that saiyans raised in comparatively relaxed and loving environments typically fared a lot better than those raised the, uh... usual way at the time, which was... harsh and stressful. Most of the movers and shakers that changed the culture have some sort of connection to her. Mato, Sarada, my mom..."

"...although my mom wasn't raised by her. Maiz is the one that convinced her to be more open-minded when it came to how other species did things, which... ultimately led to those better training techniques you mentioned. Even more refined ones are pretty standard in the Empire these days."

Though the ones his mom used herself were even better than those. And even her training wasn't a substitute for actual battle experience--it just prepared one to actually survive and reap the benefits.

"I think, in the long run, everything will turn out fine, but, hey, I'm an optimist at heart," said Totoma, chuckling. "Anyway!"

Totoma jumped back and burst into Super Saiyan, then Super Saiyan 2. He dropped into a fighting stance--Saiyan-do, for now--and flashed a grin. "I'm not one to sit still, and I wanna see what the legend himself can do, so..."

Obviously, he wanted to start the training as quickly as possible. Getting Rutaba to ascend... him learning Super Saiyan 3... figuring out how to merge it with Hitozaru for the ultimate saiyan form... it all made his tail-fur puff up in excitement!

Or maybe that was the bio-electricity.

So, the Saiyans were once again being threatened by an Arcosian. It seemed that the feud between the two races would never end, not until one race or the other was wiped out completely. From the sound of it, it appeared the vile Demons were attempting to do exactly that and declare for themselves total victory. He was stuck on the afterlife and couldn't step up to defend his people as he had two thousand years ago. It was up to this new Queen of theirs, Sarada, to save them from genocide.

"I see." Their race had fallen far from their former glory, but there were apparently seven Super Saiyans. As far as he knew, there hadn't been any from the moment he died until whenever these started transforming. While he had faith this girl could and would win, that was all he had. Faith. The boy before him had it in abundance, as did the barely conscious girl at their feet. "With hope, you will have a race to return to when you are wished back."

Hearing that this Maiz woman had begun the restoration of the Saiyans' integrity was heartening. The fruits of her labor and those who thought as she did was plainly evident. With time, perhaps they would all return to their original mindset and shed the vile thoughts of conquest and domination.

"Good, that is very encouraging," he said with a small smile. When Totoma transformed, he nodded and did so as well. However, he jumped from base directly to Super Saiyan 2. "Very well. Show me what you modern warriors have to offer." He floated upward away from Rutaba so she couldn't be caught in any splashback by mistake.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Before it could seal the doorway between planets, Letchee fired a blast that zipped through the portal. It closed before it exploded, but the outcome was painfully obvious.

"NOOOOOOO!" He glared at Letchee, guilt and impotent rage swelling inside him. "You bastard! You said you wouldn't attack them!"

"I lied," he replied unabashedly.

Smoke and ash, blood and dust. Letchee's last moment attack missed the targets, but it did leave its mark. Langal's portal platforms were located within the Grand Townhall, in the center of the capital, Victory City. The blast struck the back wall and destroyed much of the building. Had the city not been redesigned to minimize damage due to errant blasts, the destruction would have been much worse.

Pois dragged herself to her feet, her eyes immediately scanning through the pitch black smoke in search of the young prince and princess. She tried to speak, but inadvertently breathed in a cloud of smoke. She fell into a coughing fit that rattled her chest and dropped her to her knees.

"Mommy!" came a childish cry from somewhere nearby.

Oh, thanks the Triumverant! She blindly crawled toward the source of the crowd until her hand touched a small leg. "It's okay, Princess." She grabbed her and gently pulled the child into her grasp. "Where's your brother?" It was a question more to herself than Garnish. She could sense that Mais was near, but his energy was still. That wasn't a good thing. That he had energy in the first place was a good sign, on the other hand.

She kept Garnish's head pressed into her shoulder with one hand as she closed in on her brother with the other. She felt his hair; she suppressed a gasp when he didn't move. Oh no! Please! She gently picked him up with her free hand, then rose to her feet to quickly escape. She couldn't see anything in the smoke other than brief glimpses of the adjacent walls and portal equipment. Then, a window cut into her limited field of vision.

She quickly broke into a sprint and shot out the window, sinking down to clear the smoke and give the three of them fresh air. It was then that she noticed the devastation of the Grand Townhall and beyond. The portal room was in the back corner of the building. It was also the only area of said building remaining. Letchee's generic blast destroyed the entire rest of the building, then proceeded to cut a clean swath through the city. The destruction wasn't widespread; but anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire surely would have died.

Sadly, she noticed broken bits of Saiyan armor shortly after landing.

"Pois," Botarega called out as he and three others ran up. "Are you three okay?"

She sighed and moved to hand the young children to him. "He needs medical attention. And she needs oxygen; she may have breathed in some of the smoke."

"Okay. What about you?" As he spoke, he struggled to carry one unconscious child and another that was crying and squirming in his grip. Mercifully, one of the women with him took the girl from him.

"I'll be fine. Just go." She watched them leave. Princess Parsley had entrusted her with the safekeeping of her children. If anything happened to them, heads were going to roll. Literally. With everything going on - the invasion of Vocado, Ruco, and whatever else - no one was going to be in a good mood once all was said and done. Whatever is keeping her and Queen Sarada away must be important, she realized.

Prince Pinach said something about them training in another dimension; he told her what it was, but she was so scatter-brained at the time, she not only wasn't listening, but it sounded unpronounceable even if she had been. Not that it mattered. The man that attacked them was a monster; and if the foot soldiers were to be believed, he was just a high-level grunt himself. That meant Tundra himself was incomprehensibly powerful to have underlings with that kind of power.

She sighed and sat down on a nearby piece of debris. If I was stronger, I could make a difference. Ever since she was made the unofficial emergency care-nurse for the royal twins, the time she would have normally spent training had been reduced to almost nothing. It wasn't like she had much time to train anyway; her position as palace director ate up so much time on its own. She could handle it because she had no choice.

Two invasions thrown on top of them had her near her breaking point.

Her head was cradled in her hands. Sirens wailed in the background as Victory City's authorities attempted to get control of the situation and figure out what was going on. She knew more than probably anyone, but was in no condition to even get up from where she was sitting. She felt like a complete failure. She was too weak to even protect a pair of toddlers without needing someone's help. Because of that, Prince Mais was in bad shape.

She sighed again. This is what it feels like to be left behind, to be helpless and at the mercy of the strong. It left a bitter taste in her mouth, like a bad steak at the end of an adventure at the buffet. It ruined everything positive about the experience and would be the only thing she would remember about the entire thing.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

It took Letchee far longer than he cared to admit, but he did eventually manage to melt the frozen ocean enough for Daroga to free himself. The Draconian was frostbitten, but more than able enough to continue fighting if the need arose. Thus far, it hadn't. He had dispatched the faceless drones who were left after those annoying creatures disappeared to find the Super Saiyan. That he hadn't heard anything back from them since could only have meant one of two things.

Either the Super Saiyan killed them and was still hiding out on the planet, or he escaped. The latter absolutely was not acceptable, so he had no choice but to hang his hopes on the former. Minions were, quite literally, a dime a dozen. That was how much Tundra paid when he hired them from the black market. Waiting until the minion bundle packs were on sale was a very wise decision on his part. They were cheap, so losing one or a hundred was no big deal. So long as the Super Saiyan was still on Ruco, then they still had the...

“Sir!”

Thoughts interrupted, Letchee turned and found what appeared to be a man in some kind of armor speaking to him. He frowned and regarded the strange man curiously. “Do I... know you?”

The man was stunned into a brief silence. “S-sir, it’s me, Appoole. I’m a part of Tundra’s army.” When Letchee’s frown persisted, the man grew greatly distressed. “How can you forget me? You went to my son’s birthday party.”

“I don’t know why I would ever do such a thing, but okay, sure.” He gestured for this “Appoole” fellow to continue. What he heard wasn’t good.

It had been nearly over six hours, and there was no sign of the Super Saiyan. The faceless grunts that had been present on Ruco prior to Letchee's and Daroga's arrival searched high and low, in every nook and cranny, and down every alley. They showed up empty handed.

"Damn it all!" Letchee put his fist through a large piece of debris, sending dust and smaller debris flying everywhere. "That damned ape has to be around here somewhere!"

"Sir, it really seems that Super Saiyan and his allies have somehow escaped."

Letchee growled and started gnawing on his fingernail. It shouldn't have been possible. He was vastly, hilariously stronger than any of them. How the heck did they manage to slip through his fingers? What was more, all of the ships were destroyed in the initial assault, so there was no way they escaped that way. Unless... "A portal?" He thought they deactivated them to keep the army that was on Ruco from moving on quickly to the next planet. If that was the case, they could literally have been anywhere.

"If so, then there is nothing left for us here," Daroga intoned. "Let us be on our way. Our army can handle the remainder of this world's defenders."

He sighed heavily and gave a lazy shrug. "Lord Tundra will not be pleased when he finds out we allowed yet another Super Saiyan to escape. In fact, unless my memory and senses both fail me, that was the same boy you encountered just a short while earlier, was it not?"

Daroga's silence said all that needed to be said.

Still, Letchee continued. "And you said he was carrying the Saiyan Queen with him when you found them. And if he is still alive, what do you think that means?"

The Draconian growled and balled three of his fists. "Damn it!"

He shook his head. "We can leave, but we probably shouldn't return to Lord Tundra while the Saiyan Queen still lives." Suddenly, an idea popped in his head. "I know! Let's find her, kill her for real this time, and present her head to him. That should more than make up for your immense blunder."

"You are not helping," he gritted.

"Hehehe."

Destiny awaits, [Avoca] thought as she stepped through the portal.

Avoca was the first through the portal, followed closely by Tasure. The scene before her was something out of a disaster movie. The perfect, pristine beaches of Ruco were littered with blood and blackened scorch marks. Broken, battered bodies of Saiyan and invader alike were scattered across the ground like trash after a tickertape parade. Massive billowing pillars of smoke rose from barely standing buildings in the distance, coalescing in the sky to create a pitch black ashen storm cloud.

It was deathly quiet, outside of the occasional energy blast and subsequent explosion. Ruco's defenders were still fighting as hard as they could, but even from the sounds of it, they were vastly outnumbered.

Avoca felt herself frown as she took a cautious step forward. I'm here. Nothing left to do but to do it, she thought silently.

Two massive battle powers clued her in on who the big bosses were around there. Pinach told her about the two ultra powerful henchmen Tundra sent to sure up his side when the young hero and his Earth friends started to turn the tides of the battle in Ruco's favor. It didn't last long and the boy had to beat a hasty retreat, but only after everyone who wasn't a soldier was shipped off to Langal. That included her own children.

She had been nervous - scared, even - that something was going to happen to them; especially since she didn't know what planet they had been taken to during Auroc's invasion of Vocado. Knowing they were safe and sound was a big load off her shoulders and one less thing on her mind that could only serve to distract her. The only things left were how Parsley was faring against Auroc, and Sarada's pending battle with Tundra. She already knew her stubborn mule of a best friend was going to fight him alone. The two powers she was feeling only proved that he was far more powerful than she feared Sarada was going to be when she returned from Elf Dimension.

She closed her eyes and breathed in. She'll be fine. She always pulls through in the end. That thought did little to assuage her concerns, but it would have to do.

She turned to her partner. "I can feel the both of them. They're both way stronger than us." The excitement of fighting stronger enemies was tempered, then neutralized by the very real realization that if they lost, Ruco was done for. They were literally the only thing standing between these the planet and instant destruction. Beyond that, they were the only things keeping these bastards from moving on to the other Saiyan worlds. The portals were locked down, so it would take a while, but they would get there eventually. Part of her wanted to have faith that her wife and Sarada would handle things if she and Tasure failed, but the larger part of her refused to rely on faith. She believed in herself and she believed in the woman standing next to her. They were enough.

They had to be.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

It took Letchee far longer than he cared to admit, but he did eventually manage to melt the frozen ocean enough for Daroga to free himself. The Draconian was frostbitten, but more than able enough to continue fighting if the need arose. Thus far, it hadn't. He had dispatched the faceless drones who were left after those annoying creatures disappeared to find the Super Saiyan. That he hadn't heard anything back from them since could only have meant one of two things.

Either the Super Saiyan killed them and was still hiding out on the planet, or he escaped. The latter absolutely was not acceptable, so he had no choice but to hang his hopes on the former. Minions were, quite literally, a dime a dozen. That was how much Tundra paid when he hired them from the black market. Waiting until the minion bundle packs were on sale was a very wise decision on his part. They were cheap, so losing one or a hundred was no big deal. So long as the Super Saiyan was still on Ruco, then they still had the...

“Sir!”

Thoughts interrupted, Letchee turned and found what appeared to be a man in some kind of armor speaking to him. He frowned and regarded the strange man curiously. “Do I... know you?”

The man was stunned into a brief silence. “S-sir, it’s me, Appoole. I’m a part of Tundra’s army.” When Letchee’s frown persisted, the man grew greatly distressed. “How can you forget me? You went to my son’s birthday party.”

“I don’t know why I would ever do such a thing, but okay, sure.” He gestured for this “Appoole” fellow to continue. What he heard wasn’t good.

It had been nearly over six hours, and there was no sign of the Super Saiyan. The faceless grunts that had been present on Ruco prior to Letchee's and Daroga's arrival searched high and low, in every nook and cranny, and down every alley. They showed up empty handed.

"Damn it all!" Letchee put his fist through a large piece of debris, sending dust and smaller debris flying everywhere. "That damned ape has to be around here somewhere!"

"Sir, it really seems that Super Saiyan and his allies have somehow escaped."

Letchee growled and started gnawing on his fingernail. It shouldn't have been possible. He was vastly, hilariously stronger than any of them. How the heck did they manage to slip through his fingers? What was more, all of the ships were destroyed in the initial assault, so there was no way they escaped that way. Unless... "A portal?" He thought they deactivated them to keep the army that was on Ruco from moving on quickly to the next planet. If that was the case, they could literally have been anywhere.

"If so, then there is nothing left for us here," Daroga intoned. "Let us be on our way. Our army can handle the remainder of this world's defenders."

He sighed heavily and gave a lazy shrug. "Lord Tundra will not be pleased when he finds out we allowed yet another Super Saiyan to escape. In fact, unless my memory and senses both fail me, that was the same boy you encountered just a short while earlier, was it not?"

Daroga's silence said all that needed to be said.

Still, Letchee continued. "And you said he was carrying the Saiyan Queen with him when you found them. And if he is still alive, what do you think that means?"

The Draconian growled and balled three of his fists. "Damn it!"

He shook his head. "We can leave, but we probably shouldn't return to Lord Tundra while the Saiyan Queen still lives." Suddenly, an idea popped in his head. "I know! Let's find her, kill her for real this time, and present her head to him. That should more than make up for your immense blunder."

"You are not helping," he gritted.

"Hehehe."



Avoca was the first through the portal, followed closely by Tasure. The scene before her was something out of a disaster movie. The perfect, pristine beaches of Ruco were littered with blood and blackened scorch marks. Broken, battered bodies of Saiyan and invader alike were scattered across the ground like trash after a tickertape parade. Massive billowing pillars of smoke rose from barely standing buildings in the distance, coalescing in the sky to create a pitch black ashen storm cloud.

It was deathly quiet, outside of the occasional energy blast and subsequent explosion. Ruco's defenders were still fighting as hard as they could, but even from the sounds of it, they were vastly outnumbered.

Avoca felt herself frown as she took a cautious step forward. I'm here. Nothing left to do but to do it, she thought silently.

Two massive battle powers clued her in on who the big bosses were around there. Pinach told her about the two ultra powerful henchmen Tundra sent to sure up his side when the young hero and his Earth friends started to turn the tides of the battle in Ruco's favor. It didn't last long and the boy had to beat a hasty retreat, but only after everyone who wasn't a soldier was shipped off to Langal. That included her own children.

She had been nervous - scared, even - that something was going to happen to them; especially since she didn't know what planet they had been taken to during Auroc's invasion of Vocado. Knowing they were safe and sound was a big load off her shoulders and one less thing on her mind that could only serve to distract her. The only things left were how Parsley was faring against Auroc, and Sarada's pending battle with Tundra. She already knew her stubborn mule of a best friend was going to fight him alone. The two powers she was feeling only proved that he was far more powerful than she feared Sarada was going to be when she returned from Elf Dimension.

She closed her eyes and breathed in. She'll be fine. She always pulls through in the end. That thought did little to assuage her concerns, but it would have to do.

She turned to her partner. "I can feel the both of them. They're both way stronger than us." The excitement of fighting stronger enemies was tempered, then neutralized by the very real realization that if they lost, Ruco was done for. They were literally the only thing standing between these the planet and instant destruction. Beyond that, they were the only things keeping these bastards from moving on to the other Saiyan worlds. The portals were locked down, so it would take a while, but they would get there eventually. Part of her wanted to have faith that her wife and Sarada would handle things if she and Tasure failed, but the larger part of her refused to rely on faith. She believed in herself and she believed in the woman standing next to her. They were enough.

They had to be.

Tasure was not a woman given to extreme emotion. Her reputation was that of a cool, unflappable warrior, calm in the face of whatever challenge stood before her. But what she saw on ruco... that made her stomach sink. Even someone like her could appreciate the pristine beauty of the planet, and now... now it had been all but destroyed, despite the best efforts of her boy, his friends, and Ruco's defenders.

...well, they had the resources and will to begin restoring it--once its invaders had been ground into dust. Ruco's defenders, as brave as they were, couldn't do that--that task fell to Avoca and herself.

Closing her eyes, she reached out with her senses, and then she 'felt' them! Two incredible powers, roughly equal with each other. Both of them more powerful than either herself or Avoca. However, such a thing did not worry her--she preferred fighting at a disadvantage, and Avoca's repertoire of techniques was second to none when it came to evening the odds against a superior opponent.

They would win. They had to win.

Still, judging from those powers, it was amazing her boy had survived at all. He hadn't been much stronger than she had been before going into the room of spirit and time, so...

...

...she wasn't going to dwell on that. He'd survived, she was proud of that survival--regardless of whatever insane method he'd used--and that was that.

"Good, then it'll be an even fight," said Tasure, a small grin teasing the corner of her mouth. "My skill, your techniques... more than enough to compensate for a bit of extra ki."

She fell silent for a moment, then put one on Avoca's shoulder, and the other on her forehead. Triangulating between the ki signatures of the two massive powers and the massed power of the remainder of Ruco's defenders, her form and that of Avoca's blurred as she IT'd the both of them to approximately the mid-way point between those two. Close enough to be sensed... and perhaps seen.

And, most importantly, between those two monsters and their soldiers.

"Tch. Let's get to work." Avoca would know what to do, of course.

Planting her feet solidly on the ground, Tasure crossed her arms in front of her, and her golden aura burst to life.



Sand and dust billowed around her, being pushed away by her ki. While she had been in Super Saiyan upon arrival, she had been in a... resting state, of sorts. Now, however, her ki rose, effortlessly surpassing the level of power her son's Super Saiyan form had put out not too long ago. As her ki increased and intensified, the ground--no, the entire planet--began to shake. As she reached her zenith, Tasure threw her arms skyward, and with an admittedly showy burst of ki, signaled one thing to both ally and enemy alike.

The Diamond in the Rough had arrived, sharper, more resilient, and brighter than ever before.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

So, the Saiyans were once again being threatened by an Arcosian. It seemed that the feud between the two races would never end, not until one race or the other was wiped out completely. From the sound of it, it appeared the vile Demons were attempting to do exactly that and declare for themselves total victory. He was stuck on the afterlife and couldn't step up to defend his people as he had two thousand years ago. It was up to this new Queen of theirs, Sarada, to save them from genocide.

"I see." Their race had fallen far from their former glory, but there were apparently seven Super Saiyans. As far as he knew, there hadn't been any from the moment he died until whenever these started transforming. While he had faith this girl could and would win, that was all he had. Faith. The boy before him had it in abundance, as did the barely conscious girl at their feet. "With hope, you will have a race to return to when you are wished back."

Hearing that this Maiz woman had begun the restoration of the Saiyans' integrity was heartening. The fruits of her labor and those who thought as she did was plainly evident. With time, perhaps they would all return to their original mindset and shed the vile thoughts of conquest and domination.

"Good, that is very encouraging," he said with a small smile. When Totoma transformed, he nodded and did so as well. However, he jumped from base directly to Super Saiyan 2. "Very well. Show me what you modern warriors have to offer." He floated upward away from Rutaba so she couldn't be caught in any splashback by mistake.

As expected, Vocado seemed pleased at how the Saiyans were rediscovering their heroic--or at least non-antagonistic--roots. And who could blame him? Being stuck here, probably occasionally hearing horror stories about genocidal saiyans... and then having it all-but-confirmed by his mother... well, to see the people he'd worked so hard and sacrificed so much for to free them from tyranny become a mirror image of their former oppressors, it would do a number on anyone.

Totoma noted that Vocado could jump directly to Super Saiyan 2. He wasn't quite capable of that, having to go through the basic Super Saiyan, even if he didn't need to stay in that intermediate stage for more than a split second. Figured that just skipping Super Saiyan would be something he'd pick up gradually, as he became more familiar with the advanced forms.

...still, he was a bit intimidated, ha ha. Vocado was so strong that Totoma wouldn't have been surprised if just the legend's basic Super Saiyan form was beyond him. Of course, power wasn't everything, but... this was also a guy with millenia of fighting experience on him.

Hoo boy.

Totoma took to the air, as well. Rutaba was still out of it, so it was only natural to do so, to prevent her from getting caught by a stray blast or whatever. She was strong, but even a half-assed blast from him, let alone Vocado, would send her to oblivion.

...quite literally, given what Parsley had told him.

As he ascended, Totoma noted that the gravity here was higher than on Earth. Nothing he couldn't handle, but... yeah, definitely much, much higher than normal. Made sense... weight/gravity training was effective, so of course Vocado would train (or live?... er, un-live?) in places with the most intense gravity one could find in the afterlife.

And now... to show him what he had.

"Well... there's this trick I learned from, haha... an Arcosian that was with my group early on," Totoma said, throwing a punch... which entered a small void tunnel that formed right in front of him, emerging... right in front of Vocado's face. Kind of a cheap shot, but saiyans were about two things when it came to fighting.

Winning and, more importantly, enjoying the fight. Half-saiyan or not, he was mostly the same way... and oh boy did he love using void tunnels. Just...