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

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Amidst the arguments and discussions, a single thing becomes noticeable.

Banespell’s energy just flared, than gutted out like a dying candle.

Moments later, a form emerges from the forest nearby.




The figure stalks forward, bloodied sword on his shoulders, and stops before getting too close. When he speaks, it is a harsh and unused voice, one struggling with galactic common. Banespell’s hammer hangs from his belt.

“You are.....strangers. You.....have been wronged, yes? Lord Banespell......had wronged you, yes? He has...admitted....to murder....and conspiracy....and...others. He has...been sentenced by I, Master Spireward, ......current Lord of Darkle . Restitution affirmed. You must all leave Darkle, now. Your...efforts to help...are appreciated, but....our home must recover....and we prefer...no unknown.....visitors.....”

He eyes them all before settling on Ochazuke.

“Lord Banespell......extends his apologies....and offers this.”

He tosses Banespell’s hammer to Ochazuke’s feet.

“He said.....forge a better...future....because he could......not. See...as Zxu’ro did....and make...the choices....needed.”

Spireward nods, stepping back, apparently glad to be done talking. He stands, watching, clearly waiting for them to leave.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"...I suppose it all depends on the Namekians then," Zaofan smiled weakly. "Has anybody kept in touch with Slak? Fella always seemed to be busy if he wasn't picking up after us."

Part of the reason why he'd put aside extra time during his own training to understand the driving force of the body was to try and keep things moving smoothly. Attacking an opening was a skill he'd always wanted to stay sharp in, of course, but after delving into the lost history of Zxu'ro, to say nothing of Avalon, it made him realize, sometimes, it wasn't enough to just keep fighting if you wanted to keep a thing alive.

"Well, it's as good an idea as any, Sarada. Personally, I'm exhausted, but I know for a fact that they didn't get out of this unscathed." This world aside, they'd retreated, which meant either they were regrouping and plotting for another strike, or this would be the only chance their lot would have to recuperate.

"Rest, boy, that'd be nice." It'd been a half year since he'd departed to search for Reshlan, but it felt like an age since he'd been home. Wiping his eyes and patting Totoma one last time on the back just to make sure things were in order with him, Zaofan sighed and shook his head as he looked back over to Sarada.

"But there's still some things we've left unattended right here."







The forest near where the Forger had first situated his cottage had largely burned away since the first combat, and when Ishtar arrived the battle swiftly moved across the continent. Haze and exhaustion brought with it a foggy air over this former battlefield, that one might have easily slipped through the cracks...if they could move.

Marching through the clearing, ashen earth broke underfoot as Zaofan scanned the decimated forest floor for something. No, for someone. He found him there, a fragmented torso leaning against the trunk of a tree, cast a glance at him, and kept walking.

Only for a moment though, for when he came back from stepping into the brush, the chef returned with a rather ill-fitting rifle at his side.

Aiming from the hip, he point the Judge's own gun back at him.

"Bet you didn't see this coming, did you?"

The mechanical form doesn’t move.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"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?"



"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.



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

“Couldn’t find my way back. Was...weird.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Sarada accepted her offer, but seemed almost... crestfallen at its necessity? Perhaps she had grown attached to it, but the circumstances demanded she be... fully armed before Jinzi (or another) could craft another?

...it mattered little.

Hovering her hands over Sarada's arm-stump, Nevanlinna closed her eyes and 'felt' the Saiyan Queen's hozon. Since it was, well, hers, there should be an... imprint of her full body, so to speak, in it, and... oh! Indeed there was. Through a complicated interplay of her new ability to manipulate hozon and her magical abilities, it should be possible to restore the saiyaness' arm.

Weaving together hozon and magical energy between her hands, the mixture flowed into Sarada's... stump... and began to do its work. The Queen would feel an odd tingling sensation at first, then a... sensation of quick growth--or regrowth, in this case--as her arm began to reform.

Skin stretched, bones, muscle, sinew, ligaments, and nerves regrew and reattached themselves properly, and finally, her ki channels and meridians re-established themselves. The entire process took, perhaps, thirty seconds, and at the end, she had her fleshy arm back, good as new.

"There," said Nevanlinna. "It might very well take a few minutes, perhaps an hour, to adjust to it, and in the meantime it may be a bit numb and clumsy. Unfortunately, this is the first time I've performed healing to this extent, so I'm sort of, mmm, what's the earth saying... 'winging it'?"

She was pretty sure that was the correct phrase to use for her having an idea for the final result, but only half an idea of how to actually pull it off.

"How intriguing. Someone able to manipulate hozon, especially in that manner, is quite rare, young lady," came another voice from nearby. It was Voyavoda. Nevanlinna gave him a sidelong glance.

He was younger-looking now... no, not just younger-looking; he had actually de-aged to some extent. And the cause was immediately apparent... it was none other than an effect of the very energy she had begun delving into, albeit limited only to himself. "I could perhaps says the very same of you... Voyavoda."

Given the similarities between this man and the Nevadian Emperor, the fact that he could at least manipulate his own hozon to some extent, and that Bajie had referred to him as 'the emperor', it stood to reason that this man was the very same one she had seen in that odd little... past life regression. In a manner of speaking, anyway. Two-thousand years was a long time, so he had no doubt changed immensely since then.

Voyavoda cocked his head. "Is there something wrong? You're regarding at me with a rather perturbed expression."

"...is it normal for Nevadians to approach women while completely naked?" Nevanlinna averted her gaze to somewhere else.

"Oh dear... my apologies, princess," replied Voyavoda, as flames erupted from his body, forming a... supposedly modesty-preserving... speedo on him. In some ways, that made things even worse.

"..."

"Right. Ignoring... whatever that is, I must ask you... I have heard that Nevadians can 'jumpstart' themselves back to life if dealt a near-fatal blow. How long will it take?" Held was a companion--not a particularly close one, mind, but still a companion--and beyond that, was assisting in setting up economic and... assistance... ties for Reshlan.

"Truthfully? He should have been back up a few minutes after he was felled. He's certainly not dead--not with Hilda having preserved him--but for unknown reasons, he hasn't jump-started," said Voyavoda, scratching his beard. "Perhaps his soul has been whisked away to a heavenly realm to dine with Angels and Unicorns, and he is so enjoying himself that he has yet to return?"

"...that's silly and you know it." This man certainly had a peculiar sense of humour.

"Just trying to lighten the mood. In truth, all we can do in regards to young Held is wait and hope that whatever is holding up his return passes by soon."

With that, Voyavoda turned his attention to Totoma. "My boy, it seems that Earthling managed to get you back up and running. Wouldn't happen to have seen held lounging about in heaven during your brief trip there, hm?"

He slowly shakes his head negative.

“Sorry, didn’t see anyone.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"You mean the journal that contains most of the information we both know? The one I translated to be shared with the group, hours ago?" Inanna asked with a smirk. "It's almost as if the goal was transparency to a point, from the outset; and what you've asked me to do is share information that goes beyond what's both necessary, or wise to share." There was a pause, "so please. Climb down off that high horse child, and think before you speak."

The woman sighed.

"I've already accepted the guilt of this freely, all you're doing now is satisfying your grief."



Inanna smiled. "You got me. Did you glean that through careful observation; or are you merely hoping~"

The woman was beginning to think she'd made a mistake with Parsley, but there was always room for second chances...



Inanna rubbed her brow in annoyance.

"None that weren't already planning on killing all of us, with or without my interference." She stated flatly, before looking squarely at Parsley. "You all think this is a matter of 'Inanna running around causing problems', failing to understand that these problems have been there for thousands of years; and are only now coming to a head because we are putting down other problems and making it easier for them to operate while also putting a target on our backs as a side-effect."

Really.

"So please. Find another scapegoat to satisfy your egos. I've already got enough on my shoulders."



Inanna simply glanced at her. "While you were busy speaking I crafted a cudgel. We never would've been trapped in there, unless I decided to leave you." The woman then tossed a small bead of condensed energy to Etrina, and waved dismissively. "Now that Cudgel's yours."

It was crude, but she'd know at once what it was. True Magic.

Etrina, with a sickening realization, you know that cudgel is True Magic.

You also know, upon looking at its crafting, that it wouldn’t have cracked that prison. It’s a crude weapon, like a child’s first clay pot, and when compared to a masterwork of Alakazah’s creating, it does not compare.

It’s still a very potent weapon, and impressive Inanna even managed to make it, however.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"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."

“How exquisite! Wonderful!”

Whis says as he comes around and bows slightly.

“It has been many eons since I’ve seen a Unicorn, much less one so majestic. Well done Held!!”

Vados meanwhile was gently helping Held up.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Parsley was unfazed. "Yes, that journal. It was in fact our intention to share its contents with some. I intend to share it with everyone." Her eyes drifted past Inanna, toward the horizon and the lone power that was steadily growing closer with each second. There were certain parts of the journal that they previously agreed to keep from Sarada. She wasn't sure for how long, but at that point, it didn't matter. Not telling Sarada and having her find out later was going to cause her more harm than otherwise. While her personality made diplomacy difficult, they could deal with that when the situation called for it.

"Makes no difference to me, who you share that information with. At this point you've climbed up onto a high horse over things with little relevance to the group." Inanna replied, with a shrug.

The Ossuary and its contents... the location of the Palatine. A few other things that had perhaps slipped Inanna's memory, after the deluge of more pressing information.

"Unless you'd like to know simply everything I'm dealing with; you've already got what you wanted out of me."

She shrugged. "Simple logistics. Eventually, you'll make a bad bargain with the wrong person. Though, I'm probably wrong. You're much more clever than I am."

"I probably will make a bad deal. Likely already have." Inanna admitted, "and when that times comes, or they come to collect, it'll be my end." The woman smiled.

"But I'll ask no forgiveness for attempting to do more than bludgeon everything, and everyone, to death."

The moment Inanna spoke to address Parsley's cutting appraisal, the brittle chill within him began to splinter. Ochazuke did not so much as turn to face either of them, but a vein began to swell in his neck. The wish that was made, perhaps in haste to kill Inanna, that was well known to all of them at this point. So it was not the Forger... But knowledge of this conspiracy for this length of time, however...

"What...book..."

"A diary of sorts. Auroc's." Inanna explained.

"I'd only just translated it, before we departed to deal with Remnant and recover Maiz."

Terse breaths pushed through gritted teeth, and for a moment nothing but the sound of grinding molars came in response to Inanna's...what was this? Cloying apathy? Resignation to circumstance?

Perhaps more starkly than ever before, this being that had emerged from Ishtar's shadow spoke to her departure from that existence that had been cast off.

Even after the narrow escape from the Forger's prison, she glossed over the threat of the First Dragon entirely. Perhaps she knew that whatever else may befall them, she would be sure to survive.

"It hardly would require any sort of True Magic to deceive you," he grumbled, "You've parlayed with the Dragon, but have you seen beyond his shroud? He'll obfuscate everything in cursed smoke and show you only what he wants. Why would a creature born of impossibility be limited to visage alone?"

"He considered Ishtar a peer," Inanna replied dryly. "Deigned to speak with her on that level, for as briefly as she'd attained it; and while still in possession of Mother's blessing, the gift of being able to sense the truth of the heart... she found that half of him was speaking honestly."

There was a pause.

"Even Sarada can attest to this, she was there... if not bored by the conversation."

As Inanna continued, Ochazuke's brow furrowed. His fists bound his frustrations at his side, and the edges of the nak muay ropes that over his hands frayed and snapped.

As he had known Ishtar, from the first moment they'd crossed paths she had chosen her words carefully, a choice expression of that particular nature. Truth spoken, divest of lies, for better or for worse she would speak her mind.

The same manner carried on with Inanna after a fashion, but after seeing her fight that Ishtar of another world, her conduct in a battle of Destroyers that even the Forger regarded as cataclysmic was quite detached from the matter at hand. Standing there with the Ulthan, as Ochazuke witnessed the fight, there had been something in Inanna's bearing during the course of that battle which had been abject.

Truly, it could not be called rage or grievance or any sort of understanable passion in the face of death; there was, at most, a certain, bemused curiosity. Her face and the tint of her soul remained familiar in parts where she walked among their company.

Yet amid the mounting threat to not just their group, but quite literally everything it seemed clear who stood alone. There only came a stir amid matters involving those she regarded...as peers worth considering.

"So that's it. Our lot in this universe is determined by what is deemed necessary for us to know."

Ochazuke's tone was unusually reserved as he spoke, yet something his his voice seemed to quake the air.

"Tell me, Oni. When did you start taking after your father?"

"You speak as if that knowledge is some manner of game changer." Inanna replied. "When have we not had our lot determined in that fashion?"

She let that question hang, before continuing.

"Since the moment we were first drawn together we've been fed breadcrumb after breadcrumb, slowly learning more of the Universes and how fucked we all are. It literally broke Ishtar." From one fight to the next, the veil had slowly been pulled back; and when the truth of her existence and what that meant had confronted her... she could not stomach the truth.

"Taking after my father though, mm?" She fell silent awhile, then. Seeming to consider this question far more than the others posed so far, before she eventually responded.

"Despite my best efforts... I suppose I have, haven't I?" What a bitter pill, that was.

"..."

[KingofPie]

"You speak as if that knowledge is some manner of game changer." Inanna replied. "When have we not had our lot determined in that fashion?"

She let that question hang, before continuing.

"Since the moment we were first drawn together we've been fed breadcrumb after breadcrumb, slowly learning more of the Universes and how fucked we all are. It literally broke Ishtar." From one fight to the next, the veil had slowly been pulled back; and when the truth of her existence and what that meant had confronted her... she could not stomach the truth.

"Taking after my father though, mm?" She fell silent awhile, then. Seeming to consider this question far more than the others posed so far, before she eventually responded.

"Despite my best efforts... I suppose I have, haven't I?" What a bitter pill, that was.

"..."

"Yeah, you both suck," Sasheem interjected unhelpfully, despite remembering or caring next to nothing about Zurvan. A smug shrug followed. "Shame you couldn't have come to this realization quicker...or hey, maybe ya did and started hiding that from everyone too!"

[KingofPie]

Amidst the arguments and discussions, a single thing becomes noticeable.

Banespell’s energy just flared, than gutted out like a dying candle.

Moments later, a form emerges from the forest nearby.




The figure stalks forward, bloodied sword on his shoulders, and stops before getting too close. When he speaks, it is a harsh and unused voice, one struggling with galactic common. Banespell’s hammer hangs from his belt.

“You are.....strangers. You.....have been wronged, yes? Lord Banespell......had wronged you, yes? He has...admitted....to murder....and conspiracy....and...others. He has...been sentenced by I, Master Spireward, ......current Lord of Darkle . Restitution affirmed. You must all leave Darkle, now. Your...efforts to help...are appreciated, but....our home must recover....and we prefer...no unknown.....visitors.....”

He eyes them all before settling on Ochazuke.

“Lord Banespell......extends his apologies....and offers this.”

He tosses Banespell’s hammer to Ochazuke’s feet.

“He said.....forge a better...future....because he could......not. See...as Zxu’ro did....and make...the choices....needed.”

Spireward nods, stepping back, apparently glad to be done talking. He stands, watching, clearly waiting for them to leave.

Blizzar gave an aside glance to the hammer. "Forge a new future...seems to have a more literal definition than I thought it would have..." the Lieutenant noted. "In any case, I agree with him. We should make a swift return to Earth. We dally here any longer and who knows what havoc could unfurl from the claws of that wretched dragon."

[Miburo]

“How exquisite! Wonderful!”

Whis says as he comes around and bows slightly.

“It has been many eons since I’ve seen a Unicorn, much less one so majestic. Well done Held!!”

Vados meanwhile was gently helping Held up.

"Mazy Horn....Dhis." Held slurred, his mind still reeling from the mule kick, "Whis, Crazy Horn."

Crazy Horn payed his ally little mind, lowering his head in a sign of respect to to the Angel, once the surprise of seeing one had worn off.

"He's an Angel---" Held began, groggily as his on board systems continued to reboot.

"I am familiar with what he is Held." Crazy Horn interjected, "Although, I had overlooked them as mere myth, a story passed down the line....Their very appearance proves our folly in dismissing the stories."

Held nodded to Vados, thanking her as she helped him rise to his feet. "You're an Ange--" He paused, realizing this might not have been the best turn of phrase, "--I appreciate it."

He questioned the Majestic Beast. "Why did you kick me?"

"That was not intended for you, although you are not undeserving of it." Crazy Horn explained simply, clearly annoyed that his charge seemed intent on interrupting him before he could speak to one of the Angels. "This may surprise you, but I have business of my own on Nevada, and your summon was so unexpected that I had no time to refuse it. Your injuries are the results of your own impatience."

The Nevadian sulked slightly as he continued to rise to his feet.

".....I died, you know." Held interjected weakly. "This is the afterlife."

"The Halo around your head gave me some indication of what transpired, although our connection told me long before then...." Crazy Horn snorted, "I assume it must have been quite the battle, to overwhelm you in such a way?"

The Uneasy silence lingered between the two for a moment, before the steed shook it's head forlornly. "The shame on your face tells me all I need to know."

It turned it's attention to Whis and Vados.

"I am Crazy Horn, Lord of The Sunlit Planes of Nevada." He continued, "It is an honor to stand in your presence. How may I be of assistance to you? Has the time come to honor the pact between our species once more?"

Held looked around nervously in the background.

....Oh good grief. He's taking this really seriously.....Please don't make me tell him this is because I needed some training....

[Sub-Zero MKA]

If Parsley's words were meant to appraise the situation in a manner that might delineate some sort of advantage, the battle-keen analysis provided little comfort for Ochazuke as he simply shook his head, dark eyes unblinking as his frame trembled.

"Do you really think this creature that has persisted from the dawn of time is so easily defanged? You don't understand. The only one who kept That Man in check and bound his influence to Earth was Evangeline."

She was gone now. Whatever mysterious power had been issued from this to help him find the Ulthan across the span of the universe paled to the echo of the moment he felt her death; and so with harrowing clarity had Ochazuke's thoughts been consumed with desperation.

"You say he cannot do harm? It is written in very Earth itself with the blood of my people to the contrary. Whether he came in the shape of a prophet of ill omen, or a foreign king without a land, always he brought behind him a small miracle, then the catalyst for sowing fear and preying upon vice to set many peoples against themselves. The history is etched in the fallen Kingdom of Vermillion. Arthur's host, they never forgot, which is why with but a pittance of his power he smothered his line to the last...and corrupted those who came after him until nothing remained but echoes of a lost age. Even bound, that was his hegemony, that is his peace, but for an Old Fool that would presume to speak his true name, the tide of his repression was slowly beginning to turn."

What little hope there may have been for the people of Earth to truly start to live would be for nothing.

"You know his way. Suppose he began collecting the other worlds he's had his eye on, made them forget who they are?"

When Parsley told him that Alakazah could not do anyone any harm, she meant that he himself could not directly harm anyone. She knew of the deaths of Jinzi's parents and that the Capsule Corp wunderkin suspected heavily that Eldfen was responsible. She had read in part some of the things that had transpired on Earth during her brief time there, but she admittedly hadn't given it much thought outside of what others told her. She never considered that he could use his influence to sow subtle violence and reap absolute obedience from the denizens of Earth.

What was more, his control of that planet dated back further than she realized. Dating back to the days of Arthur and the Kingdom of Vermillion. She didn't know the date, but it didn't matter. Alakazah's dark shadow had been cast over that planet for two thousand years, ever since he was bound to the world by the Palantines after his defeat. The planet had been holding on to what remained of its identity thanks to Eva, but with her gone, there was little to stop him from molding the world in his image in the same way Auroc mold Reshlan in his.

God-like beings fell upon hapless worlds that were in no position to defend themselves from their influence. It was a state that she and the Saiyans knew well on a smaller scale. Otatop IV was no god, but his influence was beyond his followers' abilities to rebuff. His reign of terror on his own world was a prelude to the reign of terror that they inflicted on the wider galaxy. The reign of terror Auroc inflicted on Reshlan was a prelude on the "benevolent" tyranny he attempted to bestow upon the wider galaxy.

The writing was on the wall and was as legible as professional typography. With his tethers loosened or perhaps even broken, it wouldn't be long before he completed his conquest of Earth, then set his sights on the wider galaxy. It had happened twice before, and would happen again.

She sighed, her shoulders deflating slightly. "I hadn't considered that," she said. She sighed again and set her gaze upon him. "The defense of a world falls upon its guardian and champions. The defense of Earth falls upon you and the other humans. You have Eva's creation energy. I think we both know why she chose to give it to you instead of her apprentice."

Ochazuke, Zaofan, Etrina, Erosa, Master Balon, and whoever else was available and strong enough had to stand firm. Once Eva was brought back, along with Jack, things would get somewhat easier. Not easy, but easier than it would have been without Earth's guardian.

Her gaze drifted far afield, to the other side of the planet. The old fool had no idea what he had done. So absorbed in his own quest, his neglected to consider the consequences of his actions.

A common occurrence, she had found.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Makes no difference to me, who you share that information with. At this point you've climbed up onto a high horse over things with little relevance to the group." Inanna replied, with a shrug.

The Ossuary and its contents... the location of the Palatine. A few other things that had perhaps slipped Inanna's memory, after the deluge of more pressing information.

"Unless you'd like to know simply everything I'm dealing with; you've already got what you wanted out of me."

Parsley didn't know what a high horse was, nor did she know what equestrianism had to do with the matter at hand. What she did know was that Inanna had taken to deciding things on behalf of the group. What was relevant to their interests and what wasn't. What they needed to know and what they didn't, when they needed to know it, and who needed to know it. How she came to the conclusion that these were her choices to make with zero input from anyone else was a mystery. Perhaps she always felt that way. Perhaps the weight of the various burdens that had been heaped on her shoulders led to it.

More likely the latter. One would assume she would be more than eager to share her plate if it was overwhelming. The others, they had all proven themselves competent enough - some less so than others, surely - of handling things under her leadership and guidance. One would think saving the literal universe from The Doctor would provide more than enough evidence thereof, but evidently not.

She sighed, but didn't respond right away. Whatever Inanna was keeping from them - other than the things she herself knew - was such that it couldn't be heard by the wrong ears or something. At that point, she had suffered more than her fill of these ancient beings.

"It'd be in your best interest to start talking."

"I probably will make a bad deal. Likely already have." Inanna admitted, "and when that times comes, or they come to collect, it'll be my end." The woman smiled.

"But I'll ask no forgiveness for attempting to do more than bludgeon everything, and everyone, to death."

"How selfish," she spat. "One would assume having more personal responsibilities would force you to rethink your methodology, but that was apparently a stretch too far." She spat on the ground and turned her attention to a rumbling utterance.

It didn't take long for Ochazuke to turn his caustic attention to Inanna.

The moment Inanna spoke to address Parsley's cutting appraisal, the brittle chill within him began to splinter. Ochazuke did not so much as turn to face either of them, but a vein began to swell in his neck. The wish that was made, perhaps in haste to kill Inanna, that was well known to all of them at this point. So it was not the Forger... But knowledge of this conspiracy for this length of time, however...

"What...book..."

"A diary of sorts. Auroc's." Inanna explained.

"I'd only just translated it, before we departed to deal with Remnant and recover Maiz."

Parsley wordlessly handed him the journal in question.

Terse breaths pushed through gritted teeth, and for a moment nothing but the sound of grinding molars came in response to Inanna's...what was this? Cloying apathy? Resignation to circumstance?

Perhaps more starkly than ever before, this being that had emerged from Ishtar's shadow spoke to her departure from that existence that had been cast off.

Even after the narrow escape from the Forger's prison, she glossed over the threat of the First Dragon entirely. Perhaps she knew that whatever else may befall them, she would be sure to survive.

"It hardly would require any sort of True Magic to deceive you," he grumbled, "You've parlayed with the Dragon, but have you seen beyond his shroud? He'll obfuscate everything in cursed smoke and show you only what he wants. Why would a creature born of impossibility be limited to visage alone?"

As Inanna continued, Ochazuke's brow furrowed. His fists bound his frustrations at his side, and the edges of the nak muay ropes that over his hands frayed and snapped.

"He considered Ishtar a peer," Inanna replied dryly. "Deigned to speak with her on that level, for as briefly as she'd attained it; and while still in possession of Mother's blessing, the gift of being able to sense the truth of the heart... she found that half of him was speaking honestly."

There was a pause.

"Even Sarada can attest to this, she was there... if not bored by the conversation."

As he had known Ishtar, from the first moment they'd crossed paths she had chosen her words carefully, a choice expression of that particular nature. Truth spoken, divest of lies, for better or for worse she would speak her mind.

The same manner carried on with Inanna after a fashion, but after seeing her fight that Ishtar of another world, her conduct in a battle of Destroyers that even the Forger regarded as cataclysmic was quite detached from the matter at hand. Standing there with the Ulthan, as Ochazuke witnessed the fight, there had been something in Inanna's bearing during the course of that battle which had been abject.

Truly, it could not be called rage or grievance or any sort of understandable passion in the face of death; there was, at most, a certain, bemused curiosity. Her face and the tint of her soul remained familiar in parts where she walked among their company.

Yet amid the mounting threat to not just their group, but quite literally everything it seemed clear who stood alone. There only came a stir amid matters involving those she regarded...as peers worth considering.

"So that's it. Our lot in this universe is determined by what is deemed necessary for us to know."

Ochazuke's tone was unusually reserved as he spoke, yet something his his voice seemed to quake the air.

"Tell me, Oni. When did you start taking after your father?"

"You speak as if that knowledge is some manner of game changer." Inanna replied. "When have we not had our lot determined in that fashion?"

She let that question hang, before continuing.

"Since the moment we were first drawn together we've been fed breadcrumb after breadcrumb, slowly learning more of the Universes and how fucked we all are. It literally broke Ishtar." From one fight to the next, the veil had slowly been pulled back; and when the truth of her existence and what that meant had confronted her... she could not stomach the truth.

"Taking after my father though, mm?" She fell silent awhile, then. Seeming to consider this question far more than the others posed so far, before she eventually responded.

"Despite my best efforts... I suppose I have, haven't I?" What a bitter pill, that was.

"..."

"Tch."

[MrSandman]

Inanna simply glanced at her. "While you were busy speaking I crafted a cudgel. We never would've been trapped in there, unless I decided to leave you." The woman then tossed a small bead of condensed energy to Etrina, and waved dismissively. "Now that Cudgel's yours."

It was crude, but she'd know at once what it was. True Magic.

"...what...?" Etrina caught the small bead of power between her closed hands. For a long moment she held it tightly, unsure if she should even unclasp her hands...lest it slip between her open fingers like so much ether. A mote of the so called "True Magic", a fragment of the magic the great dragons used.....magic beyond any mage she had ever known to possess.

Slowly.....she let her fingers open, the shine of eld magic glowing softly out from the gaps. There it lay.....in her hands....hers for the taking....

It was.....it....was....

Etrina, with a sickening realization, you know that cudgel is True Magic.

You also know, upon looking at its crafting, that it wouldn’t have cracked that prison. It’s a crude weapon, like a child’s first clay pot, and when compared to a masterwork of Alakazah’s creating, it does not compare.

It’s still a very potent weapon, and impressive Inanna even managed to make it, however.

"....uesless."

The word slipped from her mouth even before her face began to darken. All the elation, all the wonderment.....

"...Its all useless.....all of it....the doubletalk, the coy words, the secrets." The mage gripped the mote tightly. "The ridiculous rhetoric without answering anything.....when was the last time you spoke honestly with us, and I don't mean just the truth." Etrinas eyes flared. "Oni can't lie....but they don't have to tell the truth either. A thousand mortal lifetimes worth of picking and choosing your words.....I'm surprised you haven't forgotten what the truth is..."

Etrina held out the bead. "The Truth is....you came THIS CLOSE to losing everything. This mote wouldn't have scratched that barrier even in a hundred years.....do you understand? You and I would have been DEAD long before you even made a DENT in that thing....You keep running off, blinded by your own damn designs....mountains on your shoulders and not a care for who gets hurt when the rocks start falling as long as you reach your destination. One day your going to trip....and there won't be anyone left to catch you.....we'll be too far behind or gone."

"So....GET PULL YOUR DAMN HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND FACE REALITY!" Etrina screamed, not giving any more damn to who was listened....and for a moment there was just the tiniest tiny of something sparkling at the corner of her eye. "IDIOT! USELESS! MORON!"

She spun, facing the distance. ".....I need a vacation..."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"How selfish," she spat. "One would assume having more personal responsibilities would force you to rethink your methodology, but that was apparently a stretch too far." She spat on the ground and turned her attention to a rumbling utterance.

"Too busy grandstanding, to even attempt to understand." Inanna said with a sigh. "I'd thought better of you." C'est la vie. Perhaps it was too much to ask of what amounted to little more than a child, to think through in the heat of the moment. "While you're busy censuring me for methodology and personal responsibility; consider a moment your plan to place the weight of an entire species on the shoulders of your sister... while you simply cheer her on at a distance."

She sighed, but didn't respond right away. Whatever Inanna was keeping from them - other than the things she herself knew - was such that it couldn't be heard by the wrong ears or something. At that point, she had suffered more than her fill of these ancient beings.

"It'd be in your best interest to start talking."

Inanna chuckled at this threat. "Only because it'd be in your interest to know; though as I am now you might stand a chance." The woman sighed, before shaking her head. "But no, everything I know, and everything you think you need to know; is in the book you handed to Ochazuke. More than that, even." She said calmly. "At best I only had scraps. Bits and breadcrumbs."

With another sigh, the former Oni attempted to wave her off. "Now leave me be."

"...what...?" Etrina caught the small bead of power between her closed hands. For a long moment she held it tightly, unsure if she should even unclasp her hands...lest it slip between her open fingers like so much ether. A mote of the so called "True Magic", a fragment of the magic the great dragons used.....magic beyond any mage she had ever known to possess.

Slowly.....she let her fingers open, the shine of eld magic glowing softly out from the gaps. There it lay.....in her hands....hers for the taking....

It was.....it....was....

"....uesless."

The word slipped from her mouth even before her face began to darken. All the elation, all the wonderment.....

"...Its all useless.....all of it....the doubletalk, the coy words, the secrets." The mage gripped the mote tightly. "The ridiculous rhetoric without answering anything.....when was the last time you spoke honestly with us, and I don't mean just the truth." Etrinas eyes flared. "Oni can't lie....but they don't have to tell the truth either. A thousand mortal lifetimes worth of picking and choosing your words.....I'm surprised you haven't forgotten what the truth is..."

Etrina held out the bead. "The Truth is....you came THIS CLOSE to losing everything. This mote wouldn't have scratched that barrier even in a hundred years.....do you understand? You and I would have been DEAD long before you even made a DENT in that thing....You keep running off, blinded by your own damn designs....mountains on your shoulders and not a care for who gets hurt when the rocks start falling as long as you reach your destination. One day your going to trip....and there won't be anyone left to catch you.....we'll be too far behind or gone."

"So....GET PULL YOUR DAMN HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND FACE REALITY!" Etrina screamed, not giving any more damn to who was listened....and for a moment there was just the tiniest tiny of something sparkling at the corner of her eye. "IDIOT! USELESS! MORON!"

She spun, facing the distance. ".....I need a vacation..."

You've certainly earned it, haven't you? Inanna wanted to say. The girl with time at her beck and call, screaming like a spoiled whelp that she needs time to rest and recover; to the woman who's spent the last 100,000 years suffering. How brave of you.

Instead, the woman sighed.

Placing a shaky hand over the wound at her side. It was beginning to burn again...

"You're right." Gesturing with her other hand, Inanna offered a word to Etrina. "But the cudgel was never meant for me. It was meant for you to learn from, and repurpose. Frankly, I'd planned on giving the Ulthan what they wanted." There was a pause. "Ask Maiz about it if you don't believe me, when you return to Reshlan."

She was about spent now, but of course respite wasn't in the cards.

"Yeah, you both suck," Sasheem interjected unhelpfully, despite remembering or caring next to nothing about Zurvan. A smug shrug followed. "Shame you couldn't have come to this realization quicker...or hey, maybe ya did and started hiding that from everyone too!"

Inanna smiled. "You got me, Sasheem. Good one." All this talk of Zurvan, and the associations therein however did remind her that Ishtar had done something similiar... so, fishing out the Katchin knife that Ishtar had bound his soul to; Inanna crushed it to dust in her hand.

"Free to go, Lesser Destroyer."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The tension Inanna had been feeling for the last few minutes was making Sarada sick. It was combined with a score of other emotions, none of which really made any sense. By that point, she figured the Oni was getting her ass reamed by the usual parties, so Sarada felt no real need to speed over to listen to a trio of windbags prattle on and on. If punches weren't being thrown, then Sarada felt it could have been discussed on Reshlan or Earth. Hell, anywhere except that damned Darkle. She was sick of looking at it.

At least Totoma was okay.

All that bullshit, and for what? Eva was dead. So was Jack, and for what? So some midget jackass could lock Inanna away under a cardboard box held up by a stick on a string? What a fucking dumbass. Anyone with even a half-functioning brain could have told him way ahead of time that she was going to break out, and she did. Or, she would have had he not let her out first. He potentially released Eldfen for nothing.

Fucking prick.

That was another thing they had to deal with, on top of Genesis, Sakin, and the rest of those Ulthan fucks. It seemed like when they crossed one name off their list, another one helped itself to the vacant space on their to-do list. After Fife, there was the Junjo. After them, there was the Chris the Knife. After him, it was Luop. Then, Jagam. Then, Auroc reared his ugly eye. Then, it was Midori and her time-displaced band of fuckbois. After that, Auroc again. Then, the Ulthan. Now, they had Genesis next on the docket. She couldn't help but wonder who, if anyone, was going to pop up and disrupt things after they dealt with Genesis.

A lesser woman would have been overwhelmed. However, she was the Saiyan Queen, and the most powerful Saiyan in the universe - Parsley and Totoma didn't count. She wasn't going to let that mountain of enemies overwhelm her. Instead, she was going to stand tall and overcome, and use her free time to get stronger so she could do the same to the next enemy in line.

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

It was the Saiyan way. Genesis wasn't going to know what hit her.

Sarada finally landed in the midst of the rest of the group and immediately realized she stepped in a steaming pile of shit. Angry eyes all beamed their wrathful gazes on her wife. Fucking shit. How bad did she fuck up? She tried to speak, but Etrina beat her to the punch.

"....uesless."

The word slipped from her mouth even before her face began to darken. All the elation, all the wonderment.....

"...Its all useless.....all of it....the doubletalk, the coy words, the secrets." The mage gripped the mote tightly. "The ridiculous rhetoric without answering anything.....when was the last time you spoke honestly with us, and I don't mean just the truth." Etrinas eyes flared. "Oni can't lie....but they don't have to tell the truth either. A thousand mortal lifetimes worth of picking and choosing your words.....I'm surprised you haven't forgotten what the truth is..."

Etrina held out the bead. "The Truth is....you came THIS CLOSE to losing everything. This mote wouldn't have scratched that barrier even in a hundred years.....do you understand? You and I would have been DEAD long before you even made a DENT in that thing....You keep running off, blinded by your own damn designs....mountains on your shoulders and not a care for who gets hurt when the rocks start falling as long as you reach your destination. One day your going to trip....and there won't be anyone left to catch you.....we'll be too far behind or gone."

"So....GET PULL YOUR DAMN HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND FACE REALITY!" Etrina screamed, not giving any more damn to who was listened....and for a moment there was just the tiniest tiny of something sparkling at the corner of her eye. "IDIOT! USELESS! MORON!"

She spun, facing the distance. ".....I need a vacation..."

Etrina wasn't one to mince her words. If she spoke, it was to the point. Sarada's golden gaze fell upon the time nerd. Her eyes were wide with disbelief as her mind slowly came to an understanding of what she had just heard.

That... bead... what was it? Hozon? Hakai? Whatever it was, it wouldn't have worked. Sarada knew what that was in reference to. She had told Banespell, to his face, that Inanna was finding out a way to escape, and she had been doing exactly that. Whatever that bead was was supposed to be their ticket out.

And it wouldn't have worked.

She didn't know how she knew that, but she did. Etrina had been studying magic and all that pointless shit her entire life, so she knew what she was talking about.

I.. almost lost her... She knew that it would have been a month before Inanna, Etrina, and Banespell withered away into nothing. Their souls would have been trapped in that fucking dome or whatever the fuck it was for the rest of eternity. Had the Lookout not been attacked, Sarada would have been none the wiser. Inanna often left for extended periods of time, so she would have never blinked an eye at her being gone for more than a month.

"..."

She couldn't find anything to say. She had never felt more relief that someone gave up just shy of the finish line more in her entire life. Banespell... Forger... he would have won.

Sarada told him he hadn't known what he was doing, but she was wrong. She was so fucking wrong. Inanna was as good as dead. Had Etrina not gone with her, she would have walked directly into her grave. It was only because Etrina was there that her wife was standing right there getting her ass eaten like a buffet.

"You're right." Gesturing with her other hand, Inanna offered a word to Etrina. "But the cudgel was never meant for me. It was meant for you to learn from, and repurpose. Frankly, I'd planned on giving the Ulthan what they wanted." There was a pause. "Ask Maiz about it if you don't believe me, when you return to Reshlan."

She was about spent now, but of course respite wasn't in the cards. "

She swallowed. Her breath was shaky, almost like wheeze. She couldn't have heard that right.

She was going to give the Ulthan what they wanted?

"Your life was what they wanted," she spoke, announcing her presence to anyone who may not have been aware. "What, were you going to let them kill you? Kill yourself and them as some kind of suicide mission? And Maiz was okay with that shit? She said nothing to try and rebuke the obvious dumbass reasoning that you probably had to use to talk her into the obviously idiotic plan that any fucking smooth-brained simpleton could see was a terrible idea? Oh, and it was, because you, like a goddamn r****d, walked right into their trap with nothing more as backup that fucking Etrina."

She stopped. Her fist was clench so tightly, her fingers had pierced through her palm and dug into the circuitry. Small sparks of electricity popped from the puncture.

Her breaths were slow and heavy. Her rage, oddly, wasn't as smoldering as one might have thought.

She wasn't even angry.

Her breaths weren't heavy out of a Herculean effort to control her temper to keep from lashing out. No, her emotions swung to the opposite end of the spectrum. She had come so close to losing the one person she loved more than nearly anyone.

And she had heard the small bit about secrets that Inanna was keeping. She had no idea what that was all about. She assumed Inanna had been telling her everything. Sarada told her everything; even about government shit that civilians weren't supposed to know about, just so she could get her input on different things. If she was keeping things from her...

Lashing out in something resembling anger was the only way she could keep it together.

"You fucking piece of shit."