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

[grampagen]

Not a day had yet passed by since the forceful abdication of Auroc, yet the smoke over the Threshlings' ruined Capital seemed thinner. The shattered images of the Majin god lined the ashen streets, leaving the remaining visage of their people engraved in so many ancient facets around the foundations standing in worship of something absent.

As Zaofan wandered the old roads on a restless dawn walk, across what he supposed was a former high street he'd passed by many marbled statues arrayed at the side of the roads. The stilled, dust-clad figures stood reclining behind their raised hands, couched in fear and awe of something that was no longer there, and the gracile fingers pooling into long shadows that stretched across their faces as the sun and sky bore down upon them.

They'll be going it alone from now on for the first time, aren't they?

The martial chef stood there in the sunrise, brushing a few stray hairs out of his face as he watched the sky flood in; Periwinkle, red, blue. On Baradur they worshipped the sun, until the Threshlings taught them to hold Auroc above even that.

The very thing that yoked them to isolation, the very source of their intense fear for everything outside of this corner of the universe had been the exact same thing that had shielded their people from the horrors that awaited.

A Guardian by any other name? No, not quite, he pondered. A hollow pang rising within him, stretching his stomach thin. He hadn't slept well, nor had he eaten after the previous day's labour. He was so set upon staying back and making sure things were taken care of he hadn't the strength to support the others, and he was already beginning to regret that decision on top of all of this. Suppose that wasn't much of a direction to go in, guided by the worst parts of yourself. But where do they go from here?

Pick up the pieces and move forward. Day by day, that's all they could do, and in the face of all this injustice, there may not be something, someone, to hold all this to account. Often, the best thing that could be done was to persevere.

Just then, the shearing of starship engine blowback against reentry followed by a stiff landing sounded out not a half-mile away. They must've returned! Cresting over the hill he saw the dispatch party that had left for Cortis II, and Zaofan moved to meet them...and by the look of them, despite their retreival of Maiz, they'd been through something serious. Ochazuke in particular had seemed to be in one of his contemplative moods as the martial brothers reuinited.

"What did you find out there?"

"Koorimaru...and the Remnant, Inda'ren." A brief accounting of what had transpired followed. "Diminished though he may be, he is still a God of Destruction enhanced with the Power of Creation."

"This is heavy...does anybody know where Asha'rah went?"

"If he can't find her, assuredly he will find fragments of her power. It's only a matter of time."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Genesis, and the Ulthan are foremost. Of which my alternate version self, is a member. Specifically drafted with my death in mind, I presume." Inanna replied. "She Who Stalks, and depending, the Vampire GoD as well."

To say nothing of the others.

"I have made quite a few enemies."

Lampton taps his chin and whistles.

“Quite the assortment. Very well, you still won’t survive my training but......I know someone who can train you up enough you’ll survive mine. It will be six months if he’ll, Lampton thinks, but that should be sufficient.”

He waves his hand and an orb appears that floats over to Inanna.

“Train with the entity on the other side of the orb. She’ll get you up enough to train with me and survive. Just concentrate on the orb and you’ll be taken to her.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Not a day had yet passed by since the forceful abdication of Auroc, yet the smoke over the Threshlings' ruined Capital seemed thinner. The shattered images of the Majin god lined the ashen streets, leaving the remaining visage of their people engraved in so many ancient facets around the foundations standing in worship of something absent.

As Zaofan wandered the old roads on a restless dawn walk, across what he supposed was a former high street he'd passed by many marbled statues arrayed at the side of the roads. The stilled, dust-clad figures stood reclining behind their raised hands, couched in fear and awe of something that was no longer there, and the gracile fingers pooling into long shadows that stretched across their faces as the sun and sky bore down upon them.

They'll be going it alone from now on for the first time, aren't they?

The martial chef stood there in the sunrise, brushing a few stray hairs out of his face as he watched the sky flood in; Periwinkle, red, blue. On Baradur they worshipped the sun, until the Threshlings taught them to hold Auroc above even that.

The very thing that yoked them to isolation, the very source of their intense fear for everything outside of this corner of the universe had been the exact same thing that had shielded their people from the horrors that awaited.

A Guardian by any other name? No, not quite, he pondered. A hollow pang rising within him, stretching his stomach thin. He hadn't slept well, nor had he eaten after the previous day's labour. He was so set upon staying back and making sure things were taken care of he hadn't the strength to support the others, and he was already beginning to regret that decision on top of all of this. Suppose that wasn't much of a direction to go in, guided by the worst parts of yourself. But where do they go from here?

Pick up the pieces and move forward. Day by day, that's all they could do, and in the face of all this injustice, there may not be something, someone, to hold all this to account. Often, the best thing that could be done was to persevere.

Just then, the shearing of starship engine blowback against reentry followed by a stiff landing sounded out not a half-mile away. They must've returned! Cresting over the hill he saw the dispatch party that had left for Cortis II, and Zaofan moved to meet them...and by the look of them, despite their retreival of Maiz, they'd been through something serious. Ochazuke in particular had seemed to be in one of his contemplative moods as the martial brothers reuinited.

"What did you find out there?"

"Koorimaru...and the Remnant, Inda'ren." A brief accounting of what had transpired followed. "Diminished though he may be, he is still a God of Destruction enhanced with the Power of Creation."

"This is heavy...does anybody know where Asha'rah went?"

"If he can't find her, assuredly he will find fragments of her power. It's only a matter of time."

“I think Korrimaru mentioned, when he went after Eva, that only he knew where Asha’rah was. Eva seemed to think he’d taken her.” Dash says, happy to be back on solid ground once more.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

“I think Korrimaru mentioned, when he went after Eva, that only he knew where Asha’rah was. Eva seemed to think he’d taken her.” Dash says, happy to be back on solid ground once more.

"So, in other words, we're completely fucked," Maiz said before sighing deeply. "Because I highly doubt the boy is in any position to tell us anything helpful. And I doubt this Remnant will just tell us where he's keeping the final component of his master plan."

As far as Maiz knew, there was nothing more they could do until Inanna and Parsley decided to return from wherever they took off to. What was the name of the world? Khoolis? I think that's it. She was far, far out of her depth, and was certain she would be of no help. She needed to get back to where she would be of some use. She had been seeing snippets of the war with Tundra's army thus far. It was starting to expand far beyond Ruco. Every Saiyan world was under attack, and with Sarada away and Mato dead, they needed some kind of leadership, a hand to guide them. That, obviously fell to her.

She sighed. The sooner she returned, the better.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Lampton taps his chin and whistles.

“Quite the assortment. Very well, you still won’t survive my training but......I know someone who can train you up enough you’ll survive mine. It will be six months if he’ll, Lampton thinks, but that should be sufficient.”

He waves his hand and an orb appears that floats over to Inanna.

“Train with the entity on the other side of the orb. She’ll get you up enough to train with me and survive. Just concentrate on the orb and you’ll be taken to her.”

Inanna grumbles some manner of expletive before palming the orb. "Got a name for this entity?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Anubis, who had been cleaning... himself while watching Held attempt to teach the unteachable, perked his ears up when the unthinkable happened.

"Huh."

Turning toward Durive's assumed direction, the Tulpa then asked. "Hey boss. This that 'extremely painful and nonsensical assupll' you warned me about?"

[KingofPie]

Anubis, who had been cleaning... himself while watching Held attempt to teach the unteachable, perked his ears up when the unthinkable happened.

"Huh."

Turning toward Durive's assumed direction, the Tulpa then asked. "Hey boss. This that 'extremely painful and nonsensical assupll' you warned me about?"

Durive arose from the pile of leaves he had hidden himself in, wondering how the dog-thing had sniffed him out. Sniff....oh maybe that was it. Either way he had a question to answer. He nodded as much as he could with no apparent neck and slowly rose a small he was grasping onto with his tiny stick arms. It read, "Countdown to Next Edit."

[Miburo]

Praxat uses flash hop to get close in on Held and quickly reverts back to boost mode. Then unleashes a condense wave of raw electromagnetic energy at close-ranged at Held." Having a transformation that's only good for openings is pointless!" Praxat said.

" I've been searching for a better way of increasing my power than that transformation you just saw. To unlock a transformation that enhances my abilities across the board. I came to a conclusion during my time with Dash in the RoSaT. That inflating my body with Ki isn't the best way of increasing my power," Praxat said.

Skysplitter


Condense wave of raw electromagnetic energy with enough power to smash through a barrier. Smashes into Held at point-blank range with her eyes flicking blue with electricity. Condense wave of raw electromagnetic energy sends Held flying backwards. Before flying backwards Held would sense Praxat's power level fluctuating. Spiking to a point where it's unusually high for her, then suddenly dropping, and then rising again in a repeating process.

The Nevadian quirked an eyebrow as the Toadian increased her speed dramatically. It was not enough to vanish from his renown sight, nor was it unexpected, knowing how she intended to close the distance. As such, her path was easy enough to chart.

"I don't think you're getting the point...." Held began to explain, before the Toadian launched her close range energy attack. The Nevadian raised a leg, throwing a push kick into the maw of the wave, jamming it slightly.

Or so it should have. Surprisingly, the gadgeteers power level began to swell, much further than the Nevadian had estimated to be within her ability, throwing off the precise calculations needed to simply nullify her attack. Rather than forcing himself to rise to the occasion to counter the display of power, he simply went with the flow, allowing himself to be flung backwards. The barest hints of Ki manifested around his feet as he glided along the wave of power, like a surfer navigating a somewhat turbulent sea wave.

Praxat eyes stop flicking blue with electricity revert to normal, and her power level stops fluctuating. ( It happen again. What the hell is going on with my body, what I'm trying to tap into?) Praxat thought.

Praxat then gets on guard, ready to counter, dodge or block Held. ( Whatever I'm trying to tap into, it didn't feel like Max Mode, Power mode, Boost mode, or efficiency mode. It felt different than those, a lot different,) Praxat thought.

The wave dissipated as Praxats newfound strength suddenly vanished, and the Nevadian gracefully returned to the earth below, the dusty battlefield having all manner of debris blown away as he landed.

He nodded in appreciation.

"Well, I suppose on the plus side, this will be easier than I thought, if your body is this responsive to a threat...." He said, more to himself than to Praxat, "I suppose I should know when to save my breath on unheeded advice, and focus on generating enough trauma to help you ascend...."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Durive arose from the pile of leaves he had hidden himself in, wondering how the dog-thing had sniffed him out. Sniff....oh maybe that was it. Either way he had a question to answer. He nodded as much as he could with no apparent neck and slowly rose a small he was grasping onto with his tiny stick arms. It read, "Countdown to Next Edit."

"Wait, so..." Anubis trailed off, as a bird flew by momentarily distracting him.

"Uhh... do we need to kill it now? Or does this one need to happen for 'justifiable use of force'?"

[KingofPie]

"Wait, so..." Anubis trailed off, as a bird flew by momentarily distracting him.

"Uhh... do we need to kill it now? Or does this one need to happen for 'justifiable use of force'?"

Durive contemplated this for a moment. Or perhaps, he was also distracted by the bird. Either way he ended up making a couple of calculations on the monitor....and was visibly vastly displeased with the results. He flipped the screen over which read, 'DEATH TOO CAN BE RETCONNED'. Durive, for the very first time appeared unsure of the proper course of action. He was not going to sit idly by however! Something MUST be done!

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Durive contemplated this for a moment. Or perhaps, he was also distracted by the bird. Either way he ended up making a couple of calculations on the monitor....and was visibly vastly displeased with the results. He flipped the screen over which read, 'DEATH TOO CAN BE RETCONNED'. Durive, for the very first time appeared unsure of the proper course of action. He was not going to sit idly by however! Something MUST be done!

"Maybe we should ask Inanna. Pretty sure that funky black **** she can discharge from every orifice can make things unretco-" Anubis gave up. The bird was back, and it reminded him of someone he once knew but long ago forgot. "HOLY **** WHERE'S GUZA?!"

Some thousands of light-years away... in a bar at the end of the Universe.

There it was again, that damned itch at the back of my earholes. I slammed my empty glass down on the counter, tossing several glimmering coins- my blood money- inside.

"Thanks Dame."

The buxom barmaid giggled, and the coins disappeared, soon as they stopped clattering. "Anytime, Sugah. Now don't be a stranger~" But the words found empty air, and a swinging door, as their recipient was already gone.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

The Nevadian quirked an eyebrow as the Toadian increased her speed dramatically. It was not enough to vanish from his renown sight, nor was it unexpected, knowing how she intended to close the distance. As such, her path was easy enough to chart.

"I don't think you're getting the point...." Held began to explain, before the Toadian launched her close range energy attack. The Nevadian raised a leg, throwing a push kick into the maw of the wave, jamming it slightly.

Or so it should have. Surprisingly, the gadgeteers power level began to swell, much further than the Nevadian had estimated to be within her ability, throwing off the precise calculations needed to simply nullify her attack. Rather than forcing himself to rise to the occasion to counter the display of power, he simply went with the flow, allowing himself to be flung backwards. The barest hints of Ki manifested around his feet as he glided along the wave of power, like a surfer navigating a somewhat turbulent sea wave.




The wave dissipated as Praxats newfound strength suddenly vanished, and the Nevadian gracefully returned to the earth below, the dusty battlefield having all manner of debris blown away as he landed.

He nodded in appreciation.

"Well, I suppose on the plus side, this will be easier than I thought, if your body is this responsive to a threat...." He said, more to himself than to Praxat, "I suppose I should know when to save my breath on unheeded advice, and focus on generating enough trauma to help you ascend...."

"Thanks I appreciate it Held. Now that we're taking a little break. I like to confessed something. I'm technically not a full-blooded Toadian. I actually have the blood of a subspecies of my race in me, called Intoadians. Althena is an Intoadian, and my grandmother, who you don't know, is an Intoadian," Praxat said.

" They're are the only Intoadians I know and have seen," Praxat said as she does some stretches.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Inanna grumbles some manner of expletive before palming the orb. "Got a name for this entity?"

Lampton smiles.

“Cleos, former Guardian and Queen of Amonra.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"So, in other words, we're completely fucked," Maiz said before sighing deeply. "Because I highly doubt the boy is in any position to tell us anything helpful. And I doubt this Remnant will just tell us where he's keeping the final component of his master plan."

As far as Maiz knew, there was nothing more they could do until Inanna and Parsley decided to return from wherever they took off to. What was the name of the world? Khoolis? I think that's it. She was far, far out of her depth, and was certain she would be of no help. She needed to get back to where she would be of some use. She had been seeing snippets of the war with Tundra's army thus far. It was starting to expand far beyond Ruco. Every Saiyan world was under attack, and with Sarada away and Mato dead, they needed some kind of leadership, a hand to guide them. That, obviously fell to her.

She sighed. The sooner she returned, the better.

‘I apologize, Maiz. I believe you tried to contact me earlier. My name is Eva, a pleasure to meet you finally.’

A warm voice fills Maiz’s head and a silvery butterfly seems to float by her as Eva makes contact.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

‘I apologize, Maiz. I believe you tried to contact me earlier. My name is Eva, a pleasure to meet you finally.’

A warm voice fills Maiz’s head and a silvery butterfly seems to float by her as Eva makes contact.

An unfamiliar voice entered her head. It was warm and friendly, one that put her at ease. Before the woman introduced herself, she already knew it was Eva. 'A pleasure to meet you, Eva. Sarada has spoken very highly of you.' She noticed the butterfly that hadn't been there a moment ago. 'If she's still there with you, can you let her know I'm alright. I know she has an important battle ahead of her and I don't want her worrying about me.'