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

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

There!

She gave a glance up at Sarada and noticed that she was still heading up to face Ishtar. There was something different in her demeanor. She was too far away to notice, but it wasn't the lustful hunger that fed her charge just moments ago. If it meant she was going to fight seriously, so be it.

Perfect Intuition: Instant Transmission

Parsley vanished, from Darkle, and from the Realm of the Living.

She reappeared a literal instant later in Otherworld, right next to Totoma. "Good work, Totoma." She cut her gaze at the line she was standing beside. An endless supply of newly deceased parties, for one reason or another, stretched as her eyes could see. The sight before her took her back. She spent... hours... days... whatever in this very same line awaiting her fate. Shek'hinah took her case personally. She would have probably received her own personal torment Hell had she not.

"Now, where...There!" It didn't take long for her to find her quarry. He was quickly flying away toward that snake highway thing. The very place that she learned led right to heaven.

She powered up and flew after him. Her ax appeared in her hand, the blade gleaming as she poured power into it.

Parsley appeared and... complimented him. This elicited a smile and a thumbs-up from the half-saiyan. While powering up, he'd noticed the Wolf God flying down some... snake-like highway. Parsley, almost immediately, had shot off after him, and Totoma followed after her.

...god, he hoped the others would be alright. He had faith in their strength and skill, but the people they were up against this time were something else.

When Parsley summoned her Axe, Totoma drew back his hand and summoned his Nine-toothed Rake, and he too began to channel power into and through it. "Parsley, I'll cut him off!"

Concentrating, a pair of Void Tunnels appeared--one ahead of the Wolf God, and one ahead of him. Entering the tunnel, he popped out of the exit tunnel and swung his rake, the teeth ripping a downward arc through the air. He was too far away to actually hit the wolf god, but that's not what he was going for. He recalled a portion of a poem about the rake the Zhu had written centuries or millenia ago...

With this rake to mark my imperial office.
When I raise it, fire and light stream forth;
When I lower it, a snowy blizzard blows.
It terrifies the Heavenly Generals,

...a poetic way of saying that 'lowering it' allowed for the generation and manipulation of ice. Crudely, as far as he could tell, but still... useful.

In the swing's wake, a massive wall of ice formed, which would hopefully block or at least slow the Wolf God's progress.

[KingofPie]

Ishtar stares them down, stopping her drain on Sasheem but not before getting a good deal of energy.

She looks at Ochazuke, and you get a sense or memory of great loss early on and a discovery of her Hakai well before their Inanna did. You also get a sense of...stiltedness, of hunger from her.

Blizzar, as you come back into the atmosphere you see her there confronting Sasheem and Ochazuke.

Sarada, Ishtar looks at you with her amber eyes and smiles widely.

“Well hello Saiyan. Aren’t you....delectable.”

Sarada, what little energy you have seems to start being pulled away rapidly by Ishtar’s Vitalmancy.

It seemed that bartering for an answer with this one was going to be less that fruitful. It had been Ochazuke's aim in the use of his skill, hoping against hope to search for a reason, to hear it from the mouths of these cosmic judges themselves once he'd faced them. There was little in the way that might provide compensation for the death of his friend, but surely the Ulthan would not have acted so rashly had they any other choice.

But to see the Goddess of Runination here, and be ignored entirely, a hollow feeling began to creep through his mind...





Then, at this very moment, he felt Totoma's presence violently extinguish across the shared connection of Kizuna. In an instant, Parsley too had followed.

Death, and utter silence. Now Ishtar sought to consume Sarada's life.

Now having acquired knowledge through Banjakuza of the nature of his opponent, he act swiftly before another one would die so senselessly.

Fading out from where he stood, Ochazuke reappeared in front of Sarada and struck his hand out to intercept the energy tether with Kongosho and seized the very medium of Ishtar's Vitalmancy in his grip.

OOC: 2

She frowns as he stops the drain, countering the vitalmancy.

Blizzar arrived just in time to see Ochazuke, Sasheem, and now Sarada engaging with an enemy that looked remarkably similar to Inanna. Or at least how she was before. Not one to question things at this point, however, he simply hung back in wait for an opportune moment of attack.

"Agh!" Sarada's eyes bulged out of her skull as her shoulder started eroded and rotting away. That ruination energy she had heard about; that was what it did. Eroded. Rotted. Ate away. Stopped growth. Her eyes narrowed as her good arm grabbed her wrist. With a sharp tug, she pulled her cybernetic arm free. The shoulder that was currently rotting away with Ruination was contained in a barrier, cut away from the rest of the arm, which remained in her grasp.

Cardinal Touch

"If you were capable of beating a mere human, you would have done it by now," she sneered. "Yet, you have to shack up with these losers. Tch, some god." Crimson energy coursed through the severed arm, glowing dangerously in the nighttime sky. "You're not even half the goddess my Ishtar was, never mind Inanna. No wonder you're playing lackey, because you suck. A human cut off your legs. A weaker Ishtar even stole your clone's arm. Here, let me make that up to you!"

She hurled her charged cyber arm at Ishtar, detonating it when it was within range and showering her with molten ultra katchin.

In case Ishtar tried to dodge, Sasheem's previous ploy when he had sunk his arms into the ground was now revealed. He had detached two of his arms and regenerated them. Using his Sunken Fangs technique the two detached limbs sprung from beneath the ground, rising forward and wrapping themselves around Ishtar in case she tried to escape Sarada's attack.

[grampagen]

Charco Rex, the attack strikes the Beast God but doesn’t seem to do more than push him back. Rooting himself, the Beast God grins and starts walking through the attack like it was nothing. Another attack starts to form in his hand which he then clenches, a blue and black blade of large proportions forming in his hand.

The Leviathan Blade.

Zaofan, Praxat, and Dash watch as a portal forms behind the Beast God.

Zaofan's staff turned, gathering the currents into a burning vortex around him, stripping the Dragon's Fire off the bark like autumn leaves. He was working up a sweat now, he hadn't had much left in the tank, so he'd saw fit to repurposing the ki he'd already imbued into the forest as it burned around him.

Controlled temp, and stiff peaks...!

A twister of white-hot flame. It wasn't much, but he'd managed to save a bit of what he'd used previously to keep that monster lady pinned down. Striking his staff into the earth, he swiftly changed his angle of attack.

That portal again...why are they trying to run away?!

Despite all the evidence to the contrary...was it possible that they weren't trying to kill them? Zaofan contemplated this as he wound his arm in circles behind him, trying to kickstart the last vestiges of Kaiten into his aura.

Whatever it was, nothing was going to get in or out, even if he had to wing it entirely. After some swift hundred rotations, he took a lunging step forward and punched the burning cyclone, in an instant sending it ripping toward the Beast God and cutting off he hidden partners engineering his escape.

"CHO GATTAI KEN: SCREW PUNCH!"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Agh!" Sarada's eyes bulged out of her skull as her shoulder started eroded and rotting away. That ruination energy she had heard about; that was what it did. Eroded. Rotted. Ate away. Stopped growth. Her eyes narrowed as her good arm grabbed her wrist. With a sharp tug, she pulled her cybernetic arm free. The shoulder that was currently rotting away with Ruination was contained in a barrier, cut away from the rest of the arm, which remained in her grasp.

Cardinal Touch

"If you were capable of beating a mere human, you would have done it by now," she sneered. "Yet, you have to shack up with these losers. Tch, some god." Crimson energy coursed through the severed arm, glowing dangerously in the nighttime sky. "You're not even half the goddess my Ishtar was, never mind Inanna. No wonder you're playing lackey, because you suck. A human cut off your legs. A weaker Ishtar even stole your clone's arm. Here, let me make that up to you!"

She hurled her charged cyber arm at Ishtar, detonating it when it was within range and showering her with molten ultra katchin.

A barrier of Ruination springs up around her and protects her from the molten katchin.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Parsley appeared and... complimented him. This elicited a smile and a thumbs-up from the half-saiyan. While powering up, he'd noticed the Wolf God flying down some... snake-like highway. Parsley, almost immediately, had shot off after him, and Totoma followed after her.

...god, he hoped the others would be alright. He had faith in their strength and skill, but the people they were up against this time were something else.

When Parsley summoned her Axe, Totoma drew back his hand and summoned his Nine-toothed Rake, and he too began to channel power into and through it. "Parsley, I'll cut him off!"

Concentrating, a pair of Void Tunnels appeared--one ahead of the Wolf God, and one ahead of him. Entering the tunnel, he popped out of the exit tunnel and swung his rake, the teeth ripping a downward arc through the air. He was too far away to actually hit the wolf god, but that's not what he was going for. He recalled a portion of a poem about the rake the Zhu had written centuries or millenia ago...



...a poetic way of saying that 'lowering it' allowed for the generation and manipulation of ice. Crudely, as far as he could tell, but still... useful.

In the swing's wake, a massive wall of ice formed, which would hopefully block or at least slow the Wolf God's progress.

Parsley nodded. "Just be mindful. If you die while dead, you'll cease to exist. If things look bad, retreat."

He turned and looked at her, eyes gleaming red.

“Bold, but not good enough!”

He grabs a vila of blood and throws it at her.

Parsley turned her attention from Totoma back to Wolf God in time to see him throwing... a vial of blood at her?

She frowned. It had to be some kind of trap. While she was sure he didn't know she was a Blood Mage, surely...

She grinned and threw her hand out in an attempt to draw the blood out of the vial and take control of it for her own purposes.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Blizzar arrived just in time to see Ochazuke, Sasheem, and now Sarada engaging with an enemy that looked remarkably similar to Inanna. Or at least how she was before. Not one to question things at this point, however, he simply hung back in wait for an opportune moment of attack.



In case Ishtar tried to dodge, Sasheem's previous ploy when he had sunk his arms into the ground was now revealed. He had detached two of his arms and regenerated them. Using his Sunken Fangs technique the two detached limbs sprung from beneath the ground, rising forward and wrapping themselves around Ishtar in case she tried to escape Sarada's attack.

She doesn’t dodge, and Sasheem’s arms scrape across a barrier of Ruination and are destroyed.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Lantro sighs in relief but maintains his focus on pushing the moon downward, he combed the area, looking to see if there was a specific target he had in mind.



The basket's right in front of him, defenders distracted. He pushes the moon towards it's current intended target, arm outstretched as he pours more of his own power as cracks formulate through the air.

COUNTDOWN TO OMEGA DUNK: 1 Post

The Beast God seems engaged with the others and doesn’t notice Lantro.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

A barrier of Ruination springs up around her and protects her from the molten katchin.

Sarada growled and gritted her teeth. That fucking ruination! There has to be something that can counter it. Think!

There was nothing she could do. None of her powers and techniques were suited toward that sort of thing. The only thing she could do was hope that Ochazuke could make a hole for her to blast through. That was the only thing, her only hope of being useful.

"Hiding, huh? Is that all you can do is hide? What's the matter? Too scared to fight a bunch of mortals straight up, oh mighty Queen of the Bloody Stars?"

[grampagen]

She frowns as he stops the drain, countering the vitalmancy.

Now holding the medium of Vitalmancy in his hand, Ochazuke felt the very nature of the Goddess of Ruination; like pressing fingers to a vein, her ki so exposed in this manner all but *******phed the nature of her own spirit for a time.

Overwhelming, consuming, a manifestation of a cruel, unending appetite.

What crude expression.

A barrier of Ruination springs up around her and protects her from the molten katchin.

She doesn’t dodge, and Sasheem’s arms scrape across a barrier of Ruination and are destroyed.

That barrier...he'd never quite seen its like before. Something about it was replete with corruption as it eroded katchin and majin-flesh alike.

Hakai, twisted to fit this particular purpose. Looking at her now, it seemed this was something innate to this Ishtar. It'd be far too soon to fight a Destroyer at all...but something was different this time.

Ochazuke loosed his grip over the Vitalmancy tether, the freeform energy floating before him, and by the wings of a Phoenix given new life.

Houyokusen

Having caught Ishtar's attack, he returned the energy to its caster, the shroud of Vitalmancy twisting about Ishtar in a bid to siphon off and destablilize her energies through her own design.

OOC: 3. Charge complete for next technique.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Totoma, you get a satisfying moment as the Wolf God flies straight into the ice wall and smacks, hard, temporarily stopping him. A look of confusion fills his face, a bit of blood dripping down his nostril.

Parsley, as you try to control the blood the vila shatters and a Sarada made of Blood appears and punches you in the face, breaking your jaw.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Now holding the medium of Vitalmancy in his hand, Ochazuke felt the very nature of the Goddess of Ruination; like pressing fingers to a vein, her ki so exposed in this manner all but *******phed the nature of her own spirit for a time.

Overwhelming, consuming, a manifestation of a cruel, unending appetite.

What crude expression.





That barrier...he'd never quite seen its like before. Something about it was replete with corruption as it eroded katchin and majin-flesh alike.

Hakai, twisted to fit this particular purpose. Looking at her now, it seemed this was something innate to this Ishtar. It'd be far too soon to fight a Destroyer at all...but something was different this time.

Ochazuke loosed his grip over the Vitalmancy tether, the freeform energy floating before him, and by the wings of a Phoenix given new life.

Houyokusen

Having caught Ishtar's attack, he returned the energy to its caster, the shroud of Vitalmancy twisting about Ishtar in a bid to siphon off and destablilize her energies through her own design.

OOC: 3. Charge complete for next technique.

It does so, her Ruination barrier flickering and then fading away.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Sarada growled and gritted her teeth. That fucking ruination! There has to be something that can counter it. Think!

There was nothing she could do. None of her powers and techniques were suited toward that sort of thing. The only thing she could do was hope that Ochazuke could make a hole for her to blast through. That was the only thing, her only hope of being useful.

"Hiding, huh? Is that all you can do is hide? What's the matter? Too scared to fight a bunch of mortals straight up, oh mighty Queen of the Bloody Stars?"

“Those who don’t learn the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. I no longer underestimate mortals.”

Orange light gathers on her amber eyes even as I’ve starts to form on her skin.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Zaofan's staff turned, gathering the currents into a burning vortex around him, stripping the Dragon's Fire off the bark like autumn leaves. He was working up a sweat now, he hadn't had much left in the tank, so he'd saw fit to repurposing the ki he'd already imbued into the forest as it burned around him.

Controlled temp, and stiff peaks...!

A twister of white-hot flame. It wasn't much, but he'd managed to save a bit of what he'd used previously to keep that monster lady pinned down. Striking his staff into the earth, he swiftly changed his angle of attack.

That portal again...why are they trying to run away?!

Despite all the evidence to the contrary...was it possible that they weren't trying to kill them? Zaofan contemplated this as he wound his arm in circles behind him, trying to kickstart the last vestiges of Kaiten into his aura.

Whatever it was, nothing was going to get in or out, even if he had to wing it entirely. After some swift hundred rotations, he took a lunging step forward and punched the burning cyclone, in an instant sending it ripping toward the Beast God and cutting off he hidden partners engineering his escape.

"CHO GATTAI KEN: SCREW PUNCH!"

The fire tornado has little effect on the Beast God, immune to fire as he is, but it does engulf and scatter the portal.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Totoma, you get a satisfying moment as the Wolf God flies straight into the ice wall and smacks, hard, temporarily stopping him. A look of confusion fills his face, a bit of blood dripping down his nostril.

Parsley, as you try to control the blood the vila shatters and a Sarada made of Blood appears and punches you in the face, breaking your jaw.

The blood broke from the vial and shifted, just as Parsley wanted. However, that was where her presumed control ended. A familiar fist slammed into her jaw, shattering it again. Her head swiveled to the side, blood spewing from her mouth. It was a familiar circumstance, one she had faced only minutes earlier.

"ugh, what?" Previously fuzzy, she turned her attention to the new assailant. It wasn't Gallows Lord. It was... "Sarada?"

A Sarada, constructed out of the blood that had been contained in the vial, stood between her and Wolf God. She remembered the exact moment when it happened; his claws raked against Sarada's flesh, drawing blood and dripping it inside the vial. She hadn't given it much thought, but in hindsight, that was a mistake.

Interesting. What an annoying ability.

Observational Focus scanned the bloody copy of her sister in an attempt to determine its composition and pinpoint any weaknesses. If it copied Sarada's techniques, Parsley wasn't worried. She knew what her sister could do as well as she knew her own abilities. It seemed, though, that it increased her strength...

"A pale copy. How boring."

Her aura exploded, erupting into a field of streaking electricity as she powered up to SSJ2. She reached out and tried to trap the copy in a green energy barrier.

Perfect Intuition: Aura of Invisibility

A part of her attention stayed on Wolf God. Totoma managed to keep her from escaping for a brief moment, but she wouldn't allow herself to get too far distracted with a simple magic clone that she failed to keep track of the entire reason she was there in the first place.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Neva had watched the fight between her previous saiyan self and the Nevadian Emperor. It quickly became apparent, despite her preincarnation's tenacity, that she was quite outmatched. Soon enough, she found herself laying on the ground, exhausted and spent, with the Emperor looming over her, clearly intending to kill her.

...only to be saved by a certain figure. A man who radiated kindness and power in equal measure, and one whom the other saiyans in the area--including her preincarnation--immediately treated with the reverence befitting of a Savior. Soon enough, her suspicions were confirmed...

The one who had saved her preincarnation was none other than Vocado.

Exchanging but a few words, she was soon dragged away from the battlefield and, as her wounds were attended to, the area they were in erupted in a battle that made her own efforts seem insignificant in comparison. But that was where her little trip down memory lane ended, as she soon found herself back in Vaikuntha.

"...well, that... seems to have worked. Kinda. You're now keyed into your greater self, and on Reshlan and in Vaikuntha, at least, you'll be able to draw upon a metric crapton of power. Home Fields advantage," said Zhu Bajie, who was sitting on a rock nearby. Neva chuckled, as the man looked rather annoyed, clearly having wanted to show her his own little story instead of the story before his. "Outside of those... eh, you'll probably be stronger than before, but not godlike. Still, better than nothing, eh?"

"Yes... yes it is," she replied. "Is that all?"

"Pretty much. You were out for quite a while. Seri's worried... and, uh, well... your friends might need a bit of help. Been keeping tabs on them through those little trinkets you gave. Held, The Emperor, and Totoma are dead."

What? Those three were extremely formidable, and they'd just... up and died while she was busy having a spirit journey? She didn't particularly care for any of them beyond the level of an acquaintance, but it was still... sad to lose them. Even if only temporarily.

She sighed. "Alright, put me back in my body."

"Gotcha. Once you're back in there and have calmed down Seri, just... hop in here and you can probably get to where they are through their keys. Good luck, and hopefully we'll meet again and I'll get to show you something more interesting than you getting your ass-kicked off-screen."

...off-screen? What an odd way to put it, but no matter... Bajie was an odd person.

A feeling of being pulled soon overcame her, and her consciousness spirited itself out of Vaikuntha, "dropping" into her body, which jolted awake.

Glancing around, she noticed she was in her room... or what remained of it. Nearby, there was a surprised Seri just... staring at her. And then a very excited Seri hugging her.

"Neva, neva, you finally woke up!" The young saiyan had tears in her eyes, though, thankfully, they were tears of happiness, not sadness. "I thought you were gonna sleep forever... I'm... I'm so glad..."

The princess affectionately ruffled her little sister's hair. "Now, now... after a battle like that, I needed some beauty sleep. Don't worry... I feel fine. Better than fine, in point of fact!"

She stood up, oddly feeling not the least bit unsteady or sore. Neva clenched and unclenched her fist a few times. Charging into battle so soon after waking might be foolhardy... but foolhardiness was a habit she'd picked up from her... friends.

"I'll go tell your mom!" said Seri.

Neva nodded. "Yes, please do so... in the meantime, I have business to attend to."

Seri cocked her head. "Business? But you just woke up."

"I did. But... I've been informed that my friends are in trouble, and that they may need my help. Please go and tell my mother that I'm fine."

"Mmm... okay... um, don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Me? Stupid? Perish the thought," replied Neva, ruffling Seri's hair again.

Once Seri had left, Neva concentrated, fading into Vaikuntha far easier than she could have before. Hah, she really had become more... connected with herself, hadn't she? It felt good... very good.

Focusing, she connected with the 'key' she had given the others. Parsley's was... somewhere? And the ones she'd given Inanna and Etrina were... somehow fading in and out of existence. What in the hell?

The others, including Sarada's, were concentrated in one area, so that's probably where she was most needed. Concentrating, she heard a familiar, yet unfamiliar 'voice' carry over into her mind, from the key.

“Those who don’t learn the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. I no longer underestimate mortals.”

Orange light gathers on her amber eyes even as I’ve starts to form on her skin.

"Ah, the alternate Ishtar, is it?" said the key. A bright light erupted from it, forming into Nevanlinna, alight with ki, magic, and Hozon. She smiled mockingly at the 'goddess of ruination'. "Hello... Goddess of Ruination. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but lying is beneath me."

"You are familiar with a counterpart of mine, as I recall, but allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Nevanlinna... the Avatar of Preservation." Her hozon-laced aura flared, washing over the others as she lent them succor to keep them in some sort of fighting shape... as well as beat back the hakai & ruination of the 'goddess' in front of her.



...this was a bit different from what Ishtar may have encountered with the Nevanlinna of her timeline. It was purer, more potent, more... awakened to its true nature. Not completely, but the difference was noticeable.