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

[Sub-Zero MKA]

...twenty-nine...thirty!

For the third round, Zaofan leaned in, trying to determine if Totoma was breathing. His ki-flow persisted, but his pulse only carried through his veins.

With a cry of frustration, Zaofan threw his hands down on the table he draped him on.

"Dammit!"



"Whoa, geez!"



Helping him sit up, Zaofan quickly brought over the last dregs of water in the jug and offered it to him.

"Easy, pal, I'm just glad you're back, ha-ha!"

Little trails streaked down the ash and grime of his face. Hastily, the chef blot them off, but the sniffles, confound it, persisted.

"Well, looks like uh..." There was once a forest here, but it was gone now, and the signs of fighting had long since died off. "...let's call it a draw," he sighed.

"Listen...who did this to you?"

Totoma frowns and thinks hard for a moment.

“I don’t...I don’t recall. I remember getting blasted, but after that.....”

He shrugs.

“Glad I’m ok though.”

He drinks the water and sighs deeply.

“Thanks man.”

He tried to return his laughter, but it came more as like a dry heave, and his smile stretched under the tears that just wouldn't stop coming.

"...ah, boy it's smokey," he fibbed, leaning forward in the midst of a bottled-up cry-laugh, "Ah, what can I say? I'm just glad I found him, it's this guy that did all the real work!"

Sarada grinned and elbowed Zaofan in the gut. "Don't get all weepy eyed on me. Besides, we won! Kind of... And Inanna's back from that dumb prison, so that means Etrina's around here somewhere, too! She's probably Reshlan or Earth."

She supposed they could wrap things up on whatever world they were on currently. Sounded like Darkle, but she wasn't sure. Didn't matter, to be honest. The sooner this whole ordeal was behind her, the better. She needed healing and time to mentally process what all the **** had just happened. She didn't feel comfortable handling any other kind of business until that was straightened out.

She rose to her feet and stretched out. "The others are over there. You just missed the ass reaming me, Ocha, and Parsley gave that Forger guy. Heh, fucker clearly doesn't know what the hell he's doing."

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

A tall and beautiful women steps forward, nodding.

“Ahh, Totoma. Inanna has spoken of you before.”

She leans in and gives him a back cracking hug before releasing him.

“Well done defending these poor souls. You have my thanks.”

Off to the side Jack and Nunlil just chuckle.

Geez, this woman could hug with the best of 'em. Though, she was Inanna's mother, after all, so of course she'd be pretty darn strong. Still, after a hard-fought battle and, uh... death, it wasn't unwelcome. "Uh, yeah, no problem... all in a day's work for the Just Saiyan."

Clearing his throat after the hug, he cut right to the chase: "...alright, so, I'll just cut right to it. For now, I'm dead, but that... probably won't last. Dragonballs and all that, once they're back up and running. Think ya' could point me in Vocado, the Legendary Super Saiyan's direction while I'm here?"

He chuckled. "Figure that he'd be the go-to guy for pushing one's saiyan powers to the absolute max... least for the normal non-god stuff, which apparently exists."

It occurred to him that his mom, having met Vocado while she was dead--or so she claimed--probably made a request sorta like this. Although she definitely would've been way more blunt.

OOC: Oh lawd, possessed Totoma.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

*Meanwhile, back on Earth*

Whatever temporal fault Etrina had tripped on her way out of the Lord Forgers Prison, she was fairly certain she had been behind Inanna.....and yet when she arrived back in the open it felt like the longest period of time had passed since she left.

"....What a bother..." The Mage sighed. Looking around for Inanna so they could proceed back to their friends and take full stock of the damage since they were gone.

Off to her left, sat Inanna.

Apparently teaching a couple of grasshopers how to play poker. With... the tiniest cards ever. "No no, you've got a Royal Flush, that's a winning hand!"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Geez, this woman could hug with the best of 'em. Though, she was Inanna's mother, after all, so of course she'd be pretty darn strong. Still, after a hard-fought battle and, uh... death, it wasn't unwelcome. "Uh, yeah, no problem... all in a day's work for the Just Saiyan."

Clearing his throat after the hug, he cut right to the chase: "...alright, so, I'll just cut right to it. For now, I'm dead, but that... probably won't last. Dragonballs and all that, once they're back up and running. Think ya' could point me in Vocado, the Legendary Super Saiyan's direction while I'm here?"

He chuckled. "Figure that he'd be the go-to guy for pushing one's saiyan powers to the absolute max... least for the normal non-god stuff, which apparently exists."

It occurred to him that his mom, having met Vocado while she was dead--or so she claimed--probably made a request sorta like this. Although she definitely would've been way more blunt.

OOC: Oh lawd, possessed Totoma.

She smiles, nods, and waves her hand.

“Good luck!”

He vanishes and reappears in front of a Saiyan man mid punch, the blow landing squarely in Totoma’s face.

OT:

I’ll let you take over for Totoma’s training.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

He quirks an eyebrow.

“You misunderstand. I visited 1,742 soothsayers, seers, fortune tellers, oracles, and Far Sight Casters. Of them, two hundred proved actually able to forecast the future. Of those 50 proved able to see beyond mere glimpses. Of those twenty confirmed Queen Mab’s vision given to me. I did my homework, and had little reason to doubt it at that point.”

He looks once more to the sky.

“But that does not mean the vision granted me wasn’t altered somehow. I did not believe so at the time, overwhelming evidence on hand, but now.......perhaps they played a far deeper con than even I anticipated. Or not, only time will tell now.”

He shrugs and glances at Inanna.

“The dye is cast now. As to becoming what I tried to stop.......I haven’t quite sunk quite that low. I may ally with monsters, make use of them, but it wasn’t I that threatened to obliterate entire planets because my feelings got hurt or because I got pissed off one day.”

His eyes narrow at Inanna.

“The prison remains, Inanna. And next time there won’t be someone to save you. Remember that, Goddess. Your wife seems convinced you aren’t the monster I’ve seen, and I may even have some doubt now of that myself, but I will be watching. I hope for all our sakes they are right, but I won’t hold my breathe either.”

He touches his forehead and vanishes.

As the final clash of Destroyer upon Destroyer reached its conclusion, Ochazuke did what he could to contain the impact and prevent it from rippling across to planet. To catch and contain this energy, the only place it could be moved to save the world was to shunt it directly upwards.

And when the light faded, the shadowy tapestry of the dark planet's sky resumed itself as the magma pooled below. Gritting his teeth, his shoulders slumped from the exertion.



"Where do you think you're going?"

Though the damage had been done, in time even such a cataclysmic wound would heal itself. Given a chance to turn upon its own power, planets would sustain life, and in stubborn resilience, grow and find their own manner.

He would not let the Ulthan escape to enact their hard-hearted puppeteering. That was a path he'd long since grown disgusted with, but Banespell in particular had incensed his already thin composure.

"All that talk about consequences, of protecting your people. They need you now."

Perhaps for an overlong, foolish moment, he'd stood in solidarity with this aged one to stem the damage. To see him simply walk off in this manner after the fact put fire into his leadened limbs as he took an exhausted step towards him.

"You killed the Guardians, for their sake. Our friends, for a greater good. Yet your very blood has need of you and you run! Have you more empty words to offer them, Forger?!"



"You're hardly alone in this supposition, Parsley," Ochazuke seethed, "But prophecy, cheh, can only determine so much."

The lethal instinct seized upon him. The Old Dwarf was still there. Even diminished as Ochazuke was, he'd only need to lift a finger as he'd done countless times. There was something he'd wanted to confirm first.

"Perhaps only truly open eyes may see the path, but a true believer walks it without question," he continued. "Even with his knowledge of True Magic, he cannot fathom potential."

He returned his glare toward Banespell, lifting he left hand to the air as if reaching for him.

"Creation and Destruction both at you disposal, and you forge only chains."

He vanished, but you can feel him in the other side of the planet amidst other Darkling signatures. He didn’t flee the planet, but actually went to see his people.

In the end, Banespell ran off rather than face the caustic words being levied at him, with no end in sight. Parsley could hardly blame him, but his willingness to run from the initial consequences of his actions despite his insistence that he was more than willing to accept them. Defeat made consequence an occurrence too painful to undergo. Victory was the balm that soothed the vision of a bloody trail that a person left behind. She knew that better than most.

Out of over 1700 soothsayers, only 20 were able to confirm Lady Binder's mother, Queen Mab's vision. She would never profess to be an expert of any sort on psychic visions and prognostication, but she was an expert on manipulation. The art of making a lie seem to be the truth even in the face of so-called experts was a fine one, and one not possessed by many people. Someone who made sport of people's lives and whose daughter was powerful enough to tear a God's soul asunder could easily manipulate a vision to the point that nearly two dozen soothsayers could hardly tell their lie from reality was more than believable.

She was betting that was exactly what was happening.

He was being played, and knew it deep down.

The only question was why. A game? Were these Fae so callous that even death didn't make them blink away from their merrymaking?

She glanced at Ochazuke. The human was seething, for good reason. He cared for Lady Eva more than most anyone in the group, again for good reason. She was the guardian of his world. A world that was currently with very subpar protection. She sighed. "It's becoming clear that Forger isn't in control like he believes. I'm thinking this Queen Mab and her daughter are the true masterminds behind this entire thing. The only question is why?"

They wouldn't know the answer until they found Mab and Binder.

"Someone who isn't creative enough to finesse the power of the gods in a way other than a rabbit trap is the perfect patsy."

[MrSandman]

Off to her left, sat Inanna.

Apparently teaching a couple of grasshopers how to play poker. With... the tiniest cards ever. "No no, you've got a Royal Flush, that's a winning hand!"

"...Is this the small scale version of how gods operate? Descending from on high with forbidden knowledge to doom some poor mortal insects." Etrina coughed, raising an eyebrow in humor. "You really need to watch out you don't courrpt some innocents into a lifetime of gambling."

Walking over, Etrina took stock. "So....we're on earth, don't suppose you can get us back to the others?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"...Is this the small scale version of how gods operate? Descending from on high with forbidden knowledge to doom some poor mortal insects." Etrina coughed, raising an eyebrow in humor. "You really need to watch out you don't courrpt some innocents into a lifetime of gambling."

Walking over, Etrina took stock. "So....we're on earth, don't suppose you can get us back to the others?"

Inanna cackled.

"They're grasshoppers, already a bunch of cheats if the stories hold true." Biding adieu to the grasshoppers however, the woman stood and nodded. "That's why she left me, single use jump back to Darkle." Holding out her hand, the Inanna clone smiled. "Ready when you are."

OT: Soon as Etrina grabs her, she'll jump to Darkle.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Vocado hadn't seen another Saiyan in Heaven ever since the one named Tasure was wished back to life some years ago. They had trained and he had showed her the Super Saiyan form that had, much to his disappointment, become nothing more than a legend told to children to give them something to aspire to, other than murder and tyranny. She didn't seem very impressed, though he had been humoring her by lowering his power substantially. Saiyan women hadn't changed that much and he knew how... excited they became when in the presence of a power like his.

He didn't see another Saiyan again until a few days ago when a young so-called heroine named Rutaba sprinted up to him. For a time, she did nothing but babble about how exciting it was to meet him and she couldn't believe he was there and this and that. Apparently, he had been turned into a legend that the current generations of Saiyans worshipped like a hero or god. It was flattering, but he was just a man.

She wanted to become a Super Saiyan, and he had nothing better to do than train, so he decided to take her under his wing. It was better than training by himself and he had trained with most everyone else that had come and gone throughout the two millennia he had been there. It helped that she already had some formal training, so he could skip the basics. The only issue was getting her power up to a high enough level, and finding her trigger so she could transform. From what he had heard of the circumstances leading up to her death, that would be no issue.

Geez, this woman could hug with the best of 'em. Though, she was Inanna's mother, after all, so of course she'd be pretty darn strong. Still, after a hard-fought battle and, uh... death, it wasn't unwelcome. "Uh, yeah, no problem... all in a day's work for the Just Saiyan."

Clearing his throat after the hug, he cut right to the chase: "...alright, so, I'll just cut right to it. For now, I'm dead, but that... probably won't last. Dragonballs and all that, once they're back up and running. Think ya' could point me in Vocado, the Legendary Super Saiyan's direction while I'm here?"

He chuckled. "Figure that he'd be the go-to guy for pushing one's saiyan powers to the absolute max... least for the normal non-god stuff, which apparently exists."

It occurred to him that his mom, having met Vocado while she was dead--or so she claimed--probably made a request sorta like this. Although she definitely would've been way more blunt.

OOC: Oh lawd, possessed Totoma.

She smiles, nods, and waves her hand.

“Good luck!”

He vanishes and reappears in front of a Saiyan man mid punch, the blow landing squarely in Totoma’s face.

OT:

I’ll let you take over for Totoma’s training.

Vocado's fist hit someone, but it wasn't his young training partner. He blinked, a confused frown creasing his brow. "What?"

"Just Saiyan!" Rutaba cheered happily. It was about a few moments later that she realized what was happening. "Wait, you're dead?! But how?!"

Vocado retracted his fist and backed away. Clearly, she knew this man. He hoped he had a better name than that.

[MrSandman]

Inanna cackled.

"They're grasshoppers, already a bunch of cheats if the stories hold true." Biding adieu to the grasshoppers however, the woman stood and nodded. "That's why she left me, single use jump back to Darkle." Holding out her hand, the Inanna clone smiled. "Ready when you are."

OT: Soon as Etrina grabs her, she'll jump to Darkle.

"She left you? Huh...full of surprises..." Etrina took her by the hand. "No sense delaying..."

----

Mere moments later, Etrina and other Inanna plopped into existence with the others...no pomp nor ceremony, rather anticlimactically.

Everyone in immediate eyesight seemed to be either pissed off or overly smug at something......and the air held the hint of something roasting.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Vocado hadn't seen another Saiyan in Heaven ever since the one named Tasure was wished back to life some years ago. They had trained and he had showed her the Super Saiyan form that had, much to his disappointment, become nothing more than a legend told to children to give them something to aspire to, other than murder and tyranny. She didn't seem very impressed, though he had been humoring her by lowering his power substantially. Saiyan women hadn't changed that much and he knew how... excited they became when in the presence of a power like his.

He didn't see another Saiyan again until a few days ago when a young so-called heroine named Rutaba sprinted up to him. For a time, she did nothing but babble about how exciting it was to meet him and she couldn't believe he was there and this and that. Apparently, he had been turned into a legend that the current generations of Saiyans worshipped like a hero or god. It was flattering, but he was just a man.

She wanted to become a Super Saiyan, and he had nothing better to do than train, so he decided to take her under his wing. It was better than training by himself and he had trained with most everyone else that had come and gone throughout the two millennia he had been there. It helped that she already had some formal training, so he could skip the basics. The only issue was getting her power up to a high enough level, and finding her trigger so she could transform. From what he had heard of the circumstances leading up to her death, that would be no issue.





Vocado's fist hit someone, but it wasn't his young training partner. He blinked, a confused frown creasing his brow. "What?"

"Just Saiyan!" Rutaba cheered happily. It was about a few moments later that she realized what was happening. "Wait, you're dead?! But how?!"

Vocado retracted his fist and backed away. Clearly, she knew this man. He hoped he had a better name than that.

Sheki'hinah had agreed to his request without hesitation--probably because he'd, without hesitation, sacrificed himself to come help Sihn, a man he had no real relation to, simply because it was the best thing to do to protect the universe at the time. And, also without hesitation, she'd just... teleported him.

...right into a punch. Well, not right into it, but close enough that he couldn't really hope to dodge. He did, however, have enough time to burst into Ascended Super Saiyan, allowing him to take the hit without being KO'd.

Knocked a few meters away, Totoma skidded to a stop, teetered on one leg, then fell on his ass, reverting to his basic, black-haired form. The Just Saiyan rubbed his throbbing cheek and jaw. "Jeez, it's almost like she did that intent--"

He was interrupted by a familiar voice--that of Rutaba! His eyes focused on her (...as best as he could focus, given the mean right hook he'd just taken, anyway) and a smile emerged. "Rutaba! Haha, should've known you'd seek out Vocado."

...understandably, she wanted to know why he was dead. "Uh, well, it's a long story, but to make it short, a guy named Sihn, Inanna's uncle, was in trouble, and we--being me and Parsley--needed to get to the afterlife... but we didn't have anyone strong enough for her to lock onto so she could get here, so, uh... well, we took a gamble, sent me here, and saved Sihn... or bought time to have him saved, anyway. The guy after him was a god and a lot more powerful than he was letting on, apparently."

Turning his attention, finally, to Vocado, Totoma remained silent for a long moment, unsure of what to say. He considered doing his usual Just Saiyan entrance, but that.. no, that wasn't appropriate in this situation. "Hm... Saiyan, lots of power, looks just like mom described... you're Vocado, right? Ahh, man, it's so awesome to finally meet you! I'm Totoma, the son of Tasure, who... well, claims to have met you while she was dead."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Sheki'hinah had agreed to his request without hesitation--probably because he'd, without hesitation, sacrificed himself to come help Sihn, a man he had no real relation to, simply because it was the best thing to do to protect the universe at the time. And, also without hesitation, she'd just... teleported him.

...right into a punch. Well, not right into it, but close enough that he couldn't really hope to dodge. He did, however, have enough time to burst into Ascended Super Saiyan, allowing him to take the hit without being KO'd.

Knocked a few meters away, Totoma skidded to a stop, teetered on one leg, then fell on his ass, reverting to his basic, black-haired form. The Just Saiyan rubbed his throbbing cheek and jaw. "Jeez, it's almost like she did that intent--"

He was interrupted by a familiar voice--that of Rutaba! His eyes focused on her (...as best as he could focus, given the mean right hook he'd just taken, anyway) and a smile emerged. "Rutaba! Haha, should've known you'd seek out Vocado."

...understandably, she wanted to know why he was dead. "Uh, well, it's a long story, but to make it short, a guy named Sihn, Inanna's uncle, was in trouble, and we--being me and Parsley--needed to get to the afterlife... but we didn't have anyone strong enough for her to lock onto so she could get here, so, uh... well, we took a gamble, sent me here, and saved Sihn... or bought time to have him saved, anyway. The guy after him was a god and a lot more powerful than he was letting on, apparently."

Rutaba listened to Totoma's recount of his death and the circumstances surrounding it. She didn't know who Sihn was, but if he was related to Inanna, then he was important. Saving him was the right thing to do, even if it came at the cost of his life.

That was why Just Saiyan was a hero's hero! He sacrificed himself so Parsley could help him defeat the bad guy. ...A god. She had never met one of those before, other than seeing Shek'hinah at Sarada's pairing ceremony. It must have been super exciting to fight someone that powerful! Too bad she wasn't there. Or maybe not. She probably would have just gotten in the way. That was why she intended on training as hard as she could with Vocado! And with Just Saiyan there, he could join them.

That wasn't all she planned on doing.

This was totally her chance to prove to Just Saiyan that she, the Fabulous Rutaba, was more worthy of being his wife than that old hag he was currently married to. She was younger, hotter, and would be way stronger by the time their training was done. There was no way he would be able to deny her.

Oh.

Well, when she reached adulthood, that was. By that point, she would have already proven herself!

Turning his attention, finally, to Vocado, Totoma remained silent for a long moment, unsure of what to say. He considered doing his usual Just Saiyan entrance, but that.. no, that wasn't appropriate in this situation. "Hm... Saiyan, lots of power, looks just like mom described... you're Vocado, right? Ahh, man, it's so awesome to finally meet you! I'm Totoma, the son of Tasure, who... well, claims to have met you while she was dead."

"Yes, the woman mentioned she had a son," Vocado affirmed. "Though, from her description, you were much smaller the last time she had seen you." A small smile touched his lips as he recalled the subtle, very well-hidden pride Tasure displayed when recounting how powerful the boy was at such a young age.

"So, Totoma, since you are here, I assume you wish to train with myself and young Rutaba? You've already displayed the level beyond Super Saiyan. Very good. I'm curious about how far you can push your power."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Praxat, in her newly awakened form, turns towards Zaofan with her eyes glowing blue with bioelectricity." Zaofan, Thanks for saving Totoma, and thanks for helping me out earlier," Praxat said.

" I want to reach a new level of power and, I have, but it was through focusing and believing in myself. Your words What will you ultimately learn from them that you can't already get from focusing and working hard at it?" Made me realized I don't need others to teach me to reach a new level of power. I just need to believe in myself," Praxat said.

" I just had to believe in myself, no shortcuts, no sacrifices, and no contracts, just pure focus, and believing in myself," Praxat said.

[Miburo]

“Ehh, Champa and Beerus are both asleep and probably will be for the next few months to years. We’ll have plenty of time!” Whist says, clapping and smiling.

Vados nods.

“Now than, I presume you can summon your Unicorn here, yes?”

"Uhhhhh......."

Beads of sweat appeared on the face of the Nevadian as the Angel made his query. In truth, it was not something Held had ever bothered to ask himself. His golden spear had served as the catalyst to summon Crazy Horn, and that had always been sufficient for his purposes. After all, it was quite rare for the Nevadian to not have his armaments with him or to be disarmed, and even if he had been, it would have been a simple matter to summon the Lord of The Sunlit Planes before that happened.

Unfortunately, Held never considered the idea that he would have to summon from an entirely different plane of reality.

"I mean....."

Confounding matters, was the fact that Crazy Horn had once been sealed within the spear, bone fragments housed within the shaft of the blade, but that had been removed once Held had figured out how to restore him to fully living creature... As opposed to the phantasmal form that he had when they first met. Following that, Crazy Horn resided on Nevada to attempt to restore order to the Mad Planet, while Held continued his duties in the Nevadian Navy.

Even during the battle with Auroc, the Nevadian thought better than to summon his ally, who no doubt was rather busy with his own problems. In hindsight, perhaps had he done so, he would not find himself in uncharted waters.

"....It'll probably take a few minutes....?"

The Nevadian rubbed his chin as etched the runes from his spear into his minds eye. He had studied them endlessly in his time, to the point that using the spear to cast enchantments was entirely unneeded. There was no doubt a series of runes that worked in concert with Crazy Horns catalyst once upon a time, however the situation had changed since then.

"I mean, I don't think he'll appreciate me calling him without proper warning."

...Okay. Think. You can do this Held. This isn't that hard. I just need to figure out how to preform a summoning ritual without any sort of material....But...Me and Crazy Horn have been interacting so long that I know his energy signature better than most of my comrades....A focus shouldn't be needed, especially since our energies were interlaced for so long....

"He tends to be a rather willful type...." the Nevadian continued in a monotone voice, as his mind sifted through arcane knowledge he had not bothered to reflect upon in sometime, combining various ideas and concepts in a desperate attempt to avoid embarrassing himself. He had suffered enough for one day.

Several moments had passed.

"...Okay....That should work in theory." He mumbled to himself, absently scribbling arcane runes into the sauce leftover on his plate, before setting it gingerly to the floor.

The runes glowed with power, before energy manifested around the entirety of the plate.

A flash of blinding light emitted from the plate, causing the Nevadian to look away in discomfort. As the light faded, he turned towards the plate, sensing the presence of his old friend.

"Hah! It worked!" He exclaimed triumphantly, pleased with himself, "Cra---"

Almost instantly, the Nevadian was reacquainted with the hind legs of the Lord Of The Sunlight Plane, colliding with the center of his face, courtesy of a devastating mule kick. The Nevadian was flung violently backward, heels over head before clattering to the ground, skidding several feet before stopping.

"Such Insolence!" Crazy Horn bellowed, apparently somewhat displeased at....something. It took a moment for the majestic creature to realize it's surroundings were not what it had once been. It turned, noticing Held unceremoniously sprawled on the floor.

He tilted his head, somewhat curious. One would get the impression that Held was not necessarily the intended target of Crazy Horn's ire, but that he was not especially displeased with the result. Steam seeped from it's nostrils in annoyance.

So deep was it's annoyance, that for a moment, it was entirely unaware of the two Angelic beings standing before it. Eventually, it's attention did linger on them, clearly intrigued. He turned once more to his friend.

"Explain."

[grampagen]

Sarada grinned and elbowed Zaofan in the gut. "Don't get all weepy eyed on me. Besides, we won! Kind of... And Inanna's back from that dumb prison, so that means Etrina's around here somewhere, too! She's probably Reshlan or Earth."

She supposed they could wrap things up on whatever world they were on currently. Sounded like Darkle, but she wasn't sure. Didn't matter, to be honest. The sooner this whole ordeal was behind her, the better. She needed healing and time to mentally process what all the **** had just happened. She didn't feel comfortable handling any other kind of business until that was straightened out.

She rose to her feet and stretched out. "The others are over there. You just missed the ass reaming me, Ocha, and Parsley gave that Forger guy. Heh, fucker clearly doesn't know what the hell he's doing."

"OOF...who's Forger?" Zaofan said, "Oh, th-that guy..."

Totoma was back, and that took a lot out of him. Zaofan slumped a bit as he reele from the gutcheck. After fighting the Last Daughter, he'd started to space out, and Sarada's hit was like getting slugged in the middle of a dream; cold-cocked straight awake.

"I had a few words with him myself. Wherever he is, I hope he's considered just what he's done," he said, a slight, sad smirk rising in the corner of his mouth.

"The question is, just where do we go from here?"

Praxat, in her newly awakened form, turns towards Zaofan with her eyes glowing blue with bioelectricity." Zaofan, Thanks for saving Totoma, and thanks for helping me out earlier," Praxat said.

" I want to reach a new level of power and, I have, but it was through focusing and believing in myself. Your words What will you ultimately learn from them that you can't already get from focusing and working hard at it?" Made me realized I don't need others to teach me to reach a new level of power. I just need to believe in myself," Praxat said.

" I just had to believe in myself, no shortcuts, no sacrifices, and no contracts, just pure focus, and believing in myself," Praxat said.

"Oh, well look at you!"

In all the recent violence, they'd lost far too much, but even so Zaofan was mindful to be grateful for what they had. As he appraised Praxat's new awakened form, the shocking bioelectricity managed to lift a small smile out of him. Turns out she'd been listening after all.

"I...well," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "it's a little more complicated than that. I suspect you had this in mind the whole time, but Held-"

Then he grew quiet with a solemn frown as he remembered the losses they took today.

Totoma frowns and thinks hard for a moment.

“I don’t...I don’t recall. I remember getting blasted, but after that.....”

He shrugs.

“Glad I’m ok though.”

He drinks the water and sighs deeply.

“Thanks man.”

"You really had me worried there...just what the heck took you so long anyways?"

[grampagen]

In the end, Banespell ran off rather than face the caustic words being levied at him, with no end in sight. Parsley could hardly blame him, but his willingness to run from the initial consequences of his actions despite his insistence that he was more than willing to accept them. Defeat made consequence an occurrence too painful to undergo. Victory was the balm that soothed the vision of a bloody trail that a person left behind. She knew that better than most.

Out of over 1700 soothsayers, only 20 were able to confirm Lady Binder's mother, Queen Mab's vision. She would never profess to be an expert of any sort on psychic visions and prognostication, but she was an expert on manipulation. The art of making a lie seem to be the truth even in the face of so-called experts was a fine one, and one not possessed by many people. Someone who made sport of people's lives and whose daughter was powerful enough to tear a God's soul asunder could easily manipulate a vision to the point that nearly two dozen soothsayers could hardly tell their lie from reality was more than believable.

She was betting that was exactly what was happening.

He was being played, and knew it deep down.

The only question was why. A game? Were these Fae so callous that even death didn't make them blink away from their merrymaking?

She glanced at Ochazuke. The human was seething, for good reason. He cared for Lady Eva more than most anyone in the group, again for good reason. She was the guardian of his world. A world that was currently with very subpar protection. She sighed. "It's becoming clear that Forger isn't in control like he believes. I'm thinking this Queen Mab and her daughter are the true masterminds behind this entire thing. The only question is why?"

They wouldn't know the answer until they found Mab and Binder.

"Someone who isn't creative enough to finesse the power of the gods in a way other than a rabbit trap is the perfect patsy."

"His lack of control was evident by his disposition the moment we arrived here," Ochazuke replied. "Still, he hasn't left this world. I wonder, what words does he speak to his people now that he drew them to the edges of his personal crusade on the universe?"

Right at this moment, he could still perceive the Darkling's essence through his expanded awareness, the cudgel of True Magic rising and falling as he rallied to his people. Whatever absolutist story he'd fed them, the logic he'd convinced himself to act upon, instantly it crumbled away when it was his people that were threatened.

"It is not too far a span to consider, Parsley. 'Yours must die so that mine may live.'"

Asha'rah was lost in some place, spirited off by Koorimaru's cabal, yet even now he heard that idle whisper, equally cruel and profound. Strive.

"To strive to live means another must fail. Perhaps that is the way of things as they had been...but even so the old fool, he cannot see any other way than the path of beasts."

Yet even the gods were hard pressed to create a path outside of this savagery, and while they remained here, the arms mounted to strike back at divinity gathered in the hands of Genesis and the Remnant.

Ochazuke's fist balled at his side. The Earth was unprotected. Alakazah loosed his chains, Evangeline's work undone. He knew all this, yet here he remained lightyears away.

"To hell with the Fae," he said, "I will not be goaded into their games. This is a matter that goes far deeper than a Dwarf's lack of foresight."