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

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Parsley waited for a response.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Inanna sometimes took a bit to respond, especially if she was busy, but this was just plain rude.

She tried again, then a third time. After getting no response, she cradled her head in her hands and let out another profoundly irritated sigh. "The distance must be too far. God-fucking-damn it."

The realization that she faced a day wasted was then unavoidable. On the bright side, at least I get a chance to unwind and relax.

She stood up from the pilot's chair and laid down across the longer seats against the walls of the ship. She used some spare clothes she had stored in a capsule as a pillow and blanket, then went to sleep.

Parsley, just as you start to drift off, a single thought echoes in your head.

That star map looked....odd. The complete one was far too advanced to have been done. Held’s people are good, but to have one like that out and about in a private citizens hands........almost impossible.

[grampagen]

“Ahh, hello old friend.”

Over the comm system, transmitted via one of the drones given to him by Jinzi so long ago, is Korrimaru’s voice.

“My little friend tagged along on your journey and was watching the whole time. I must say I was quite impressed.”

That voice...

Ochazuke's eyes started in disbelief, followed by silence as he grit his teeth. Where he flew near the drone he maintained distance.

The last time he'd encountered one of these, it had merely been a prototype, but Koorimaru had projected his abilties with it with such potency, the forestry of the Capital City Geofront had become a burning clearing the instant the Death Beam struck it.

...Parsley and Inanna did warn us this craven opportunist was still out there.

"Still making with the hollow pleasantries," he growled. As he flew, his finger remained planted in his ear as he hailed the signal. "You'll forgive me if I don't return them."

Reflexively, Ochazuke established his meditational sense-awareness, and examined the drone with Kyokushin Keihatsu as he spoke.

"It's rather disingenuous, for the man who got exactly what he wished for."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Parsley, just as you start to drift off, a single thought echoes in your head.

That star map looked....odd. The complete one was far too advanced to have been done. Held’s people are good, but to have one like that out and about in a private citizens hands........almost impossible.

Curse her overactive and inquisitive mind. A thought occurred to her just before she was lovingly embraced by a sweet and silent rest. Pui's Astro-globe, the one Parsley wanted but was rebuked because it was a 'personal item', was peculiar. Mainly because of how complete it was.

She growled and climbed back into the pilot's seat. She exited hyperspace, turned around, then flew back to Pui's shop as quickly as she could.

Nevada's Navigation Guild is famous around the cosmos. They're good, but not that good. To have a complete map of the universe, from one side to the other, would take countless millennia. So long that most would t bother. Even the Saiyans, who had star maps compiled from the five hundred years of conquest across multiple galaxies, hadn't managed to explore even a portion of the known universe.

So, how did Pui? Or, how did she manage to come across the person who did and create that globe? Further, how did she manage to break into Nevada's Navigation records. She knew little of Nevada, but those archives surely weren't opened to just anyone for any reason. Considering the bureaucratic methodology they indulged in, almost unnecessarily, most wouldn't bother with even the most mundane. She could hardly imagine the amount of paperwork and meetings that would need to be filed and held to open the maps penned by the Cosmic Cartographers.

She grimaced. Something isn't right. And I need to find out what. What a fucking bother.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

After Etrina, and Dash depart; Inanna sets her focus on the Blood Magic spellbook.

"Just how different can it be?"

[MrSandman]

Dash addresses Etrina, "Ah'll walk with you to where the food is, though ah may ask a question or two as we head there."

"Far be it from me to deny a question or two.....though at the speed I'll be walking you best make them quick." Etrina felt her stomach rumble and let a tsk escape her before motioning for Dash to follow and heading for the lunch area.

[Tami]

"Far be it from me to deny a question or two.....though at the speed I'll be walking you best make them quick." Etrina felt her stomach rumble and let a tsk escape her before motioning for Dash to follow and heading for the lunch area.

As soon as they exited the room, "Actually, it's less a question than a thought." Dash spoke quickly, "Ah'd like to try my Earth Armor on that ingot. Inanna said that it was difficult to mold as it would absorb the energy used to do so, but ah'd still like to try anyway."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"The technology is a robotic drone. This drone can fly/hover and can lift heavy objects with a tractor beam. It will move objects as needed, to clean out fallen buildings and move debris and other objects from streets efficiently," Praxat said.

" It will also be designed to help with construction. The energy source that would power this robotic drone would be environmentally friendly," Praxat said.

OT: For Cleric.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

"Dying? Surely you..." The princess started, only stopping once a feeling set in that what this man had just said was the truth. "...I'm... dying? But... I... there's still so much I yet have to do! See Seri grow up, Restore Reshlan... fall in love..."

Her normally calm demeanor melted as a sense of existential dread set in, her mind and emotions overcome by that gnawing inevitability of oblivion every living thing felt, deep within them. For one presently talking to, effectively, a past life, the idea might have been silly, but this was not a rational fear. If she'd been in her physical body, she certainly would have cried and gnashed her teeth.

"Is there nothing that can be done? I don't want to die? I... I..."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down... don't worry. Dying's not so bad, and besides, preserving your life--the individual you, I mean--is possible. We are bits of 'the preserver', after all. It won't be easy, and you'll have to go on a bit of a... spirit journey, I guess you could say, but our friend has laid the seeds," said Varaha. He cocked his head. "Or, well, you laid the seeds and that friend provided the fertilizer, I guess? God, my metaphors suck."

And now she was just confused. Varaha sensed this and continued.

"Remember when you were a kid and you planted that seed from Vaikuntha? It only grew so much, but it persisted, despite how things were on Reshlan. Well, that Inanna just provided nourishment for it to grow."

Yes, she remembered that tree. It had been a silly little experiment she'd performed after discovering Vaikuntha in the first place. She'd taken a seed and planted it, and it had grown... to a point. And then stopped. Not withered and died, just... stopped. It was still there, seemingly... preserved... in time, even after all these years. "I... see. And what must be done?"

"Well, you've gotta connect a bit more with your greater self--don't worry, I gotcha on that--and then 'root' yourself to the material plane using that seedling. You'll be stuck on Reshlan, at least for a while. and... uh, any other places with... crap, what was it called... Vaijayanti, I think? The Garland of Victory or Triumphant Victory, depending. Planted one on Earth waaaay back in the days of yore, heh, once ol' gold-eyes was beaten down and sealed."

So she could still visit Earth... because one of these Vaijayanti had been planted there? But if she couldn't leave Reshlan, then how could she travel to Earth...

...on second thought, that was a question to be answered another time. For now, it was best to make haste with this... spirit journey or whatever nonsense she had to go through.

"Hey, hey, it's not nonsense. Or at least it's not nonsense to me, since you're gonna be reliving a few memories from your past life as me. So... ya ready?"

So she'd be experiencing this... fellow's life, or parts of it at least. And by doing that, she would, however slightly, strengthen her connection with her... greater self? And in doing so, her life would be saved or at least extended. All of this was mad, utterly mad, and yet that persistent feeling of all this being the truth and nothing but the truth was impossible to shake off.

Without further hesitation, she sighed. "...very well, please proceed."

The man smiled. "Awesome! Oh man, it's gonna be so great o see Afelia and Toto again, even if it's just in our memories. Kinda funny to say that, I know, I know, since I am literally just a really clever and talkative memory, when ya get down to it, but... bah, I'm getting off-topic again. Focus, Varaha, focus."

...god, she hoped this guy's personality didn't bleed over into her own because of this.

"Anyway... awaaaaaaay we goooo!" exclaimed Varaha as his figure shone brightly and he dived into and merged with her. There was a sense of movement--mental and temporal, not physical--as Neva's consciousness was jolted backwards, to a time nearly two millenia ago...

[Tami]

As soon as they exited the room, "Actually, it's less a question than a thought." Dash spoke quickly, "Ah'd like to try my Earth Armor on that ingot. Inanna said that it was difficult to mold as it would absorb the energy used to do so, but ah'd still like to try anyway."

"Yah see, ah think ah can use my Earth Armor to change the shape of that green metal. An if ah can't, then at least ah'll know a little more about what my armor can do or can't do."

[MrSandman]

As soon as they exited the room, "Actually, it's less a question than a thought." Dash spoke quickly, "Ah'd like to try my Earth Armor on that ingot. Inanna said that it was difficult to mold as it would absorb the energy used to do so, but ah'd still like to try anyway."

"Firstly, explain to me what you mean why *try my Earth Armor*..." Etrina asked curiously. "While I doubt the material can be damaged barring something extreme, I'd like to avoid anything happening to the sample before Inanna forge friend can give us a better assessment."

"Yah see, ah think ah can use my Earth Armor to change the shape of that green metal. An if ah can't, then at least ah'll know a little more about what my armor can do or can't do."

"Hmm....I suppose as long as it isn't damaged." Etrina mused. "....It couldn't hurt. Just remember, don't force it....if you can't easily manipulate it, its best left to a professional.....wherever we find one."

[Tami]

"Firstly, explain to me what you mean why *try my Earth Armor*..." Etrina asked curiously. "While I doubt the material can be damaged barring something extreme, I'd like to avoid anything happening to the sample before Inanna forge friend can give us a better assessment."



"Hmm....I suppose as long as it isn't damaged." Etrina mused. "....It couldn't hurt. Just remember, don't force it....if you can't easily manipulate it, its best left to a professional.....wherever we find one."

Smiling slightly, "Ah figure you'll want to eat first, so we can try it afterwards."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

That voice...

Ochazuke's eyes started in disbelief, followed by silence as he grit his teeth. Where he flew near the drone he maintained distance.

The last time he'd encountered one of these, it had merely been a prototype, but Koorimaru had projected his abilties with it with such potency, the forestry of the Capital City Geofront had become a burning clearing the instant the Death Beam struck it.

...Parsley and Inanna did warn us this craven opportunist was still out there.

"Still making with the hollow pleasantries," he growled. As he flew, his finger remained planted in his ear as he hailed the signal. "You'll forgive me if I don't return them."

Reflexively, Ochazuke established his meditational sense-awareness, and examined the drone with Kyokushin Keihatsu as he spoke.

"It's rather disingenuous, for the man who got exactly what he wished for."

The drone seems perfectly normal.

“I did get what I wished for. But then I got more. Much, much more.”

A beat, then he continues.

“On Homeworld, there was....a beat. A sound, a call. It was overpowering. Nearly my entire race went looking for it, but it was I who claimed the Amulet in the end. It was intoxicating. So much power.....”

He pauses, then continues.

“But I have started to have second thoughts, perhaps. Remnant is...unstable and........domineering.”

The drone turns and looks at Ochazuke.

“I need your help.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Curse her overactive and inquisitive mind. A thought occurred to her just before she was lovingly embraced by a sweet and silent rest. Pui's Astro-globe, the one Parsley wanted but was rebuked because it was a 'personal item', was peculiar. Mainly because of how complete it was.

She growled and climbed back into the pilot's seat. She exited hyperspace, turned around, then flew back to Pui's shop as quickly as she could.

Nevada's Navigation Guild is famous around the cosmos. They're good, but not that good. To have a complete map of the universe, from one side to the other, would take countless millennia. So long that most would t bother. Even the Saiyans, who had star maps compiled from the five hundred years of conquest across multiple galaxies, hadn't managed to explore even a portion of the known universe.

So, how did Pui? Or, how did she manage to come across the person who did and create that globe? Further, how did she manage to break into Nevada's Navigation records. She knew little of Nevada, but those archives surely weren't opened to just anyone for any reason. Considering the bureaucratic methodology they indulged in, almost unnecessarily, most wouldn't bother with even the most mundane. She could hardly imagine the amount of paperwork and meetings that would need to be filed and held to open the maps penned by the Cosmic Cartographers.

She grimaced. Something isn't right. And I need to find out what. What a fucking bother.

Perhaps it was because she was tired. Perhaps it was because she was distracted.

As she comes back to the planet she just left, Parsley takes her first good look at it.

Blue fiery rings wreathe almost the entire planet, like a cosmic aurora borealis. Beyond that, her scanners show her the city she left is massive. Almost continent spanning large, bigger than anything she’s ever seen.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

OT: For Cleric.

“That’s quite impressive. We shall see if these can be incorporated. Our thanks.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Perhaps it was because she was tired. Perhaps it was because she was distracted.

As she comes back to the planet she just left, Parsley takes her first good look at it.

Blue fiery rings wreathe almost the entire planet, like a cosmic aurora borealis. Beyond that, her scanners show her the city she left is massive. Almost continent spanning large, bigger than anything she’s ever seen.

She never looked back when she left the first time. Perhaps that was a mistake, but at the time, she was only concerned with getting back to the others. Her works there, she thought at the time, was done. This had been proven false; as a result, she got her first look at the world she just left.

Azure blue rings, almost like hoops of cosmic fire, wrapped around the planet. It was like a Aurora Borealis, the ethereal phenomenon she saw on Earth one time. "Amazing." She had seen many beautiful worlds over the years. This one was just one of countless dozens. Still, she could appreciate the beauty of another world, one with wonders both within and without that were different from the ones she has known her entire life.

A pity to those who refuse to leave their own world and see the greater cosmos, she thought when she made her approach. They only rob themselves of sights like this.

As she re-entered the planet, she found the city she left with ease. It wasn't hard; it was practically the entire continent. How a city could be that large, that expansive, was completely beyond her. Some world had cities that spanned miles, but those were few and far between, and they were completely eclipsed by this.

It would take her days to simply cross from one end to the other by foot, and months to fully explore just the important bits. She had no illusions to becoming fully immersed with every nook, every cranny, and every shady alleyway. "I'll have to come back, I suppose. One day."

Her flight log directed her back to where she started, in front of Pui's shop. She exited the ship and returned it to its capsule, then walked inside.