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

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Much appreciated!" Blizzar thanked the Saiyan Queen, punching back the tendrils so that the blast would hit him. Absorbing the energy into himself it took the form of his Undauntedshield that would hopefully repel the tentacles back long enough for him to accomplish his goal...which was to punch the Wolf God's book, directly into his face with a , "Supernova Straight!"

Like with Sarada, the tendrils overwhelm.

However, Ochazuke’s burning helps burn them away so you do get to land a blow against the book.

Your blow sticks and Blizzar watches as his hand is taken into the pages of the book.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Sarada and Blizzar, the tendrils are burned away now by Ochazuke.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Inanna cackles, and stares down at the teardrop of Creational Energy she wrestled away from Stine's arm. "Say what you will, I've a lot of respect for your durability." But with hours gone, and many millions of more to go, Inanna wasn't going to rest on her laurels. She needed to incorporate it into her body.

And so she attempted to, slowly absorbing the energy into herself.

Once again, it seems to fight her but slowly, slowly, she absorbs in into herself.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"The fae...." Etrina nodded. "....I've only recently become aware of their existence. Still not sure what to think of them....I've only met the one, an associate of yours"

Pondering what she had been told so far, Etrina stirred her tea thoughtfully. "I won't comment on the Alakazah part.....but I'd imagine given our present situation you can guess I've some reservation on the Irony of how this entire trap played out. So...You fancied yourself a more proactive type of guardian then, seeking to prevent a repeat of history.....and to do so you sought out the fae voluntarily with the purpose of preempting threats to the universes order.....So...."

Etrina eyed Banespell, a serious look crossing her face. "...What did the fae teach you?"

“The Oracle showed me futures. Specifically, she showed be Genesis, and she showed me Inanna. She showed me the potential damage either unchecked could cause. Universe ending damage.”

He sits down and pours a cup of tea for them both.

“I watched, plotted, and waited. Gathered intel and items and allies. Ishtar was dangerous, but not a threat, but when she became Inanna she no longer had Ishtar’s....restraint. Like Genesis, Inanna acts out of desire without concern for collateral. When Sarada was almost taken by Auroc, Inanna almost blew up the planet.”

He ticks his fingers.

“On Reshlan, she almost did the same. And Parsley was spurned on to do something much the same just recently, almost blowing up Darkle to get at my allies. Millions, billions dead that had no hand in the deaths of your friends.”

He shakes his head.

“What’s worse is Inanna, like Genesis, keeps looking for more: more power, more ways to transcend. Even using a tainted Angel like Lampton to learn how too. And much of this she has withheld from her companions. Night, Remnant, Lampton, and other examples of her seeking power without contemplating the consequences. She’s playing fast and loose and eventually, it will be too much. I even have an example on hand: The Ishtar in my company already fell, and though her potential is less than Inanna’s, she still has the same flaws.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"I would love to, but I have so much I have to do." Held grumbled, "I have to finish filing paperwork, I need to coordinate a relief effort, I need to...."

Held felt older with each passing moment. More tired. He felt the shackles of duty tighten around him once more. It was only now that he realized that this place offered him a reprieve, no matter how temporary.

Perhaps he could learn what it meant to live again.

"....On second thought, I will gladly take part in your generous hospitality. I could use some time to rest...."

He peered outside the room, leading into the rest of the Grand Priest's Palace.

"...And I can't call myself an explorer if allowed such a once in a lifetime opportunity to pass by."

He laughed loudly.

"Besides, maybe I'll learn a thing or two while I'm here."

In the back of his mind, Held hoped the others didn't lose their minds too much over his current state.

Eh, I'm overthinking things. Those guys always have things under control. I wouldn't be surprised if they threw my body on my ship and waited for me to revive. We already dealt with Auroc, so it should be smooth sailing from this point on.

Vados claps.

“Excellent! Now then , are you hungry? We were about to have breakfast.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

He grins and suddenly her mind is filled with whispers that get louder and louder, drowning out her own thoughts.

“Whispers of Madness.”

In her distraction, he rakes his claws across her arm, knocking her weapon aside by severing the tendon in her wrist.

What? Whispers in her head?

It felt like there were hundreds, if not thousands of other voices in her head, whispering in that hushed hiss that was just loud enough on an individual level to be irritating. Combined with near countless others, she couldn't hear her own thoughts. She clapped a hand over an ear to drown it out, but it did nothing. Her teeth ground together like a mortar and pestle. "Damn it," she growled.

This, however, was the least of it. A slash to her wrist not only knocked her ax away, but also severed her tendon. Her hand was useless. She grit her teeth tighter to keep from crying out in pain, but still let out a growl that sounded muffled. "Damn you!"

She fired a Dark Spiral beam at Balac in hopes of striking something important.

2

[KingofPie]

Like with Sarada, the tendrils overwhelm.

However, Ochazuke’s burning helps burn them away so you do get to land a blow against the book.

Your blow sticks and Blizzar watches as his hand is taken into the pages of the book.

"Not...what I had in mind, I must say.." Blizzar shook his head, swinging his arm to free it of the book's grasp.

OOC: Can his hand feel anything on the other side?

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

...well, this entire course of action was probably a dumb idea on their part. Everyone that had gone through was getting bodied. Alright, what to do...

"Well, I certainly did not expect to see you here, my boy," said a voice from behind and below him. He knew it well... Voyavoda. The old soldier floated up beside him and cocked his head. "Oho, your Super Saiyan form looks... different. And you're much stronger than before. Impressive."

"...okay, it's great to see you, jiji, but, uh... sort of busy."

"That much is apparent. Held's assassin, I presume?"

...he sure sounded non-chalant about Held's death, but... eh, made sense. He was old and had seen a lot, and the only person he was close to in the group was, well... him. And mom, of course, but she was on Ruco. "Yeah. That guy escaped, but the others are fighting... some magic guy. Strong. Lots of magic tentacles."

Voya's brow furrowed. "...vague, but I get the idea. Very well, I shall add my meager abilities to this effort.

Voyavoda's aura burst into existence, then compressed into him, and his body began to shine with a fiery light as his Phoenix Nuova Armor came into being. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the nearest Void Tunnel--had he ever told the boy what a marvelous technique this was? useful in so many ways--and was greeted with many of this group assaulting a single individual... or attempting to. Of them, only the Arcosian seemed to be successfully (?) mounting an offense... by punching the enemy's book.

...

Dropping into an offensive fighting stance, Voyavoda shot at Gallow's Lord, bobbing and weaving through the use of Ma-Tobashii. His Phoenix Nuova Armor would protect him against... whatever this fellow was doing, to an extent, but he did not fancy testing his luck against it. Better to simply evade--a task he was eminently qualified for--and close to distance.



Coming to mirror Blizzar's movements and speed, Voyavoda added his tried-and-true Phoenix Eye Fist to the frost demon's Supernova Straight.

[Charge: 1 Post]

Blizzar’s fist is stuck in the book right now.

The Wolf God’s left leg strike sour and attempts to kick Voya back through the void lens.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

After calming down, Praxat eyes revert to normal, and her power level stops fluctuating and reverts to normal. She then walks right next to Hilda and Held. Then uses the X-ray mod of her goggles to examine Held's body.

Held is gone, as is Hilda. She has removed him from the field.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The effect is minimal, the tendrils swarm.

Like with Sarada, the tendrils overwhelm.

However, Ochazuke’s burning helps burn them away so you do get to land a blow against the book.

Your blow sticks and Blizzar watches as his hand is taken into the pages of the book.

Sarada and Blizzar, the tendrils are burned away now by Ochazuke.

Sarada, by some miracle, was freed from the tendrils. It wasn't her own doing, that much she did know. The incorporeal energies - that probably wasn't the right word, but sue her, she was pissed and preoccupied - she felt right before then felt like Ochazuke. Heh, that human; always fighting from a distance and for maximum efficacy.

Freed, she drew her knife and prepared to move forward. She watched Blizzar's hand vanish into the book and grimaced. Alright, book is a big problem. Tch! She flashed forward, flanking the Gallows' Lord while he and his book were busy with Blizzar. She dipped low, brining her knife to bear and slashing the blade across the tendons in his knees.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Koorimaru..."

Under the duress of what they had encountered yesterday, and all that befell for them now, it would always be too soon for Ochazuke to hear that name. The gathered power innate to Kizuna fell into their collected pool of strength, and within him a chasm of deathly hatred began to expand.

"Cheh...he might have finally caught up to you, for a change, even if he lost himself in the process."



Now that he could see them marked, Ochazuke clenched his hand, and the fire of Karura no Kaen burned. Their opponents were strong, but through this collective spell they were linked.

The first thing the fire did was destroy the collective power of those gathered, and though their physical forms and ki outstripped their own, the fire adhered, spreading as it locked onto their signatures, burning upon the tendrils that ensnared the Saiyan Sisters in a bid to immolate the very energies that gave the constructs their structure.

"Now..." Ochazuke seethed, "is the time of retribution."

Before he passed through, however, somebody else had moved first. On this side in the Reshlan air, he felt nothing more than perhaps a slipstream in the wind...but on the other side of the portal, joining the rest of the company, help came bolting in at a speed that seemed to nearly outpace light itself*.

The Binder, she was an uncannily familiar shape to him at this time, a Faerie casting a portal to parts unknown.

Unfortunately for her, she was not the Pixie Zaofan was looking for when he came in swinging.

"WOLF FANG FIST!"

*Zaofan: Fully amped! Wolf's Prowl + Pressure Kicker + Kaiten + Fist of the Altered Beast has amplified Zaofan's speed! Put behind the footwork of Wuxia Levitation and behind the Wolf Fang Fist it's increased it to around 8x!

The fires burn the tendrils and the Rings all seems to be melting as well.

Zaofan’s blows shatter the Containment Sphere the Last Daughter was inside with Lady Binder, the only thing that probably saved the Fae’s life. It happened almost too fast to be seen, but instinct and her own super speed gives Binder just enough time to gasp and recoil as the barrier fails.

The Last Daughter lunges and pushes Lady Binder through the portal to safety, taking Zaofan’s blows upon her back and roaring in pain as the human hammers her from behind.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Something rushed past him, quick as lightning--or even light!--and joined the fray. Distracted as he was, Totoma didn't physically catch sight of him, but the energy signature was familiar. It was, of course, Zaofan! 'bout time he arrived to add his ingredients to the stew of battle.

...but then, a master chef needed an impeccable sense of timing, so his arrival was surely just when it was needed.

Stepping through the portal himself, Totoma spread his arms and offered the Kizuna to all of his friends fighting. The power offered was a drop in the bucket at this point, especially for his fellow saiyans, but Ochazuke had robbed the enemy team of their... knockoff ring-kizuna, or was in the process of doing that, so what better way to tip things, hopefully, in their favor, than by allowing their side to coordinate better.

He scanned the battlefield for 'the Judge', as Ochazuke had called him. "The Judge. Hmph, presumptuous of you... though I'm one to talk. As you've judged my friends, and no doubt others, I have come to judge you! May whatever gods you pray to give you mercy, for I have none to spare. Not today...."

...maybe this form was getting to him, but he didn't care. Totoma wanted blood. Now where were you, you so-called Judge.

A half broken cybernetic pile is slowly reforming further in the woods. It moves its head to the side and looks at Totoma.

A different gun forms in his hands and fires several shots at Totoma.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Found you..."

Although the Beast God was an absolute stranger, one he had only heard in passing, the aspect of him that had once been Rex had deemed him worthy enough of a hunt and as much as he would have liked to distant himself from the saurian, he could not escape his more primal instincts. Seeing his prey bat away a blast so casually only made him want to fight even more, to discover if the void within could be truly filled with combat.

While the others fought their chosen enemies, the being known as Charco followed the Beast God, not yet attacking but rather studying the other's movements. After Genesis, it had become more beneficial to be patient rather than rushing in.

The Beast God is almost at the portal when he stops and turns around.

He licks eyes with Charco and a tension fills the air. His tail radiates a pulsing energy and a fanged smile fills his face.

Charco, you recognize an Apwx predator.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Present time

On Darkle, Praxat spots Totoma scanning the battlefield for the judge." " If any one's going to kick this Judge's ass, it's going to be me. That bastard is going to pay for what he did to Held!" Praxat said.

Dash shoots past her and into Totoma’s portal.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

What? Whispers in her head?

It felt like there were hundreds, if not thousands of other voices in her head, whispering in that hushed hiss that was just loud enough on an individual level to be irritating. Combined with near countless others, she couldn't hear her own thoughts. She clapped a hand over an ear to drown it out, but it did nothing. Her teeth ground together like a mortar and pestle. "Damn it," she growled.

This, however, was the least of it. A slash to her wrist not only knocked her ax away, but also severed her tendon. Her hand was useless. She grit her teeth tighter to keep from crying out in pain, but still let out a growl that sounded muffled. "Damn you!"

She fired a Dark Spiral beam at Balac in hopes of striking something important.

2

It seems to unravel as it approaches him, fading into nothingness.

He stalks forward, a red gleam in his eyes and burning white light fills his hands.