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

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"A small indulgence to sharpen the mind," he said, "After all that had happened to you, some small measure of comfort was the least I could do. Moreover, it would not do to return you to Parsley unwell."

It had been a long year. A very long and stressful year thus far. Indulging in something she enjoyed was a great and much appreciated boon. "I thank you. After the year it's been so far, indulging in something so simple is much appreciated."

From the way Pinach recounted the death of his cousin, Ochazuke instantly saw the turn in his emotions, and when Maiz explained it, his featured stilled and darkened. His view followed him, and the trail of his ki set itself far away to the mountains.

"He's grown stronger in all facets, but though he may look hardened, war has carved a young man out of the wounded heart of a boy," he said, for it was a look he'd seen far too often. By fear and discipline, he'd recognized the look of one who had truly seen death meaningfully for the first time. "He may never completely recover what was taken from him, but in time, he will find the strength to bear it. That is the price and the burden of becoming the latest Super Saiyan, isn't it?"

Whatever mirth there was in their reunion had been spoiled by grief that was far too near to mind.

"Sarada talked to me at length about Tundra. I do not doubt the length and charge of the battle, yet despite this, I've not known your daughters to ever speak a penitent word. Perhaps that much has been set aside, deep within their need for the strength to fight. If there is the intention to make things right, it may indeed require the power of a wish. To that end, it's a relief to hear the Namekian Elder has returned."

Maiz sighed heavily. "Sadly, it is. It's a form that, at least with my three, was gained through immense emotional pain. There are other, easier, ways, but that seems to be the most common." She tried her best to give her children the easiest life possible. She told them to avoid the Meat Market - though that ended up getting pushed to the wayside, with disastrous results. Pinach and Rutaba were lucky to have grown up, for the most part, in a society that was moving away from willful war and conquest and more toward peace and reconciliation. Parsley and Sarada weren't so lucky, but there was still hope for her youngest.

Then, Tundra happened; and with his arrival, Pinach was abruptly introduced to the worst aspects of war. The aspects that were universally understood. Beyond the glory and victory lay the bloody and sordid details that were deliberately erased, beyond a statistical value to add some semblance of perspective. For someone so young, those erased details would never be forgotten. Even when Maiz wished Rutaba back with the dragonballs, those final moments would never go away. For either of them.

"Through the fires of adversity, those who survive its flame gain strength," she said quietly. "While we both know peace creates weak men who create bad times, I don't want the future generations to suffer what we did just for the sake of gaining inner strength." She shook her head. "Ah well. That's a conversation for another day."

When it was noted that neither Sarada nor Parsley expressed regret over offenses, Maiz hummed curiously. "Interesting. I taught them to be more considerate." That was, of course, assuming they knew they committed any offense. That very well may not have been the case.

Setting foot on the green, Ochazuke paced a few steps, and as he cast his medidation field out, a subtle force ceased the wind over the grass and stilled the waters to such silence that one could hear the bustle of Victory City even from this distance.

"I trust that Sarada and Parsley have discussed the matter with you pertaining to Sakin and Alakazah. Together with Genesis and the Goddess of Ruination, it behooves a vigilant Guardian to see to it."

A moment passed as he examined the environs, and when he was satisfied it all resumed as it had been.

"Suffice it to say, with a Guardian's place being with her people, Evangeline saw to it the matters of the Guardian Network would not be left to Kami alone. For five years the problem of the parasites compromising Guardians was left untended to," Ochazuke said, "To this end, we charted a course through the known universe, finding peoples and civilizations, and establishing new contacts and with it new allies. Breaking bread is Zaofan's specialty, I've never seen anybody turn cynics into friends as well as him, or any more good-willed a tributary guest. Bridging the gap between those stationed as gods among their people, on the other hand, that requires a very particular set of skills."

So it was that he had met with the Guardians of many worlds, as he relayed to Maiz. Most were accommodating, and while some did not entirely understand the station passed to them from their Spark of Creation, with some guidance they knew the impending calamity was a near possibility, and with open contact between their worlds would work to prevent this from coming true.

"Others who'd doubted ceased once I plucked the Parasites from them. Now they too know what they're looking for. Flesh of Sakin's flesh that thirsts for Creation Energy, they now know his fell essence very well."

Shifting his hand, Ochazuke produced a small stone, many-faceted and rough like an uncut quartz spike.

"Can you sense it? Suspended forever in a prison of his own magic, it's faint, but the Soul Meister is kindred to these creatures and a servant to his master. For three long years, I've been hunting down the creature that cursed the line of my world's Guardians. Now that I have more than one vector tracing the path to his Forsworn World, with the help of the Guardians I mean to find Sakin, and then kill him."

"Yes, they've spoke to me at length about it," she confirmed. When he spoke of his dealings with her contemporaries, especially those who were less than willing to cooperate initially, her brow furrowed. The parasites... Sarada had told her something about them, but she forgot the details. She did, however, manage to connect some dots when she read the journal belonging to her predecessor, Ceriac. It told of a man who had become suddenly burdened by a need to visit some far off world. For what reason, he never said, but he did say the calling was nearly irresistible. It persisted for several months until he abruptly left Vocado... and never returned. His journal was unfinished. Literally, he stopped writing in the middle of a word and departed.

She had long wondered what happened to him; none of the historical records on Langal offered any insight. Right then, she had her answer.

"I had long wondered what happened to my predecessor," she said as she took hold of the quartz spike containing that so-called "soul meister". "He left abruptly on day five hundred years ago and never returned. I now know he fell victim to one of Sakin's parasites." She sighed heavily. Their race fell to tyranny in his absence. How different would things have been for them if Sakin never targeted him?"

"Parsley told me of your encounter with this creature and of his connection to Sakin, but I never gave it much thought. If you intend on killing the being hunting my fellow guardians, I will do all I can to help. What would you have me do?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Oh, my yes," MCO Spopovich replied, the hurried pace of his words indicating he wanted to get as far away from mentioning that name as possible.

"It's cliche, perhaps, the saying. Hard times temper strong people, strong people create good times," he said sagely, "However, good time create weak people that forget, and it is weak people that create hard times. People are strange that way, the best in them brought out from hardship, from having something to fight for. Supposing we forget all of that..."

Folding his hands together, he pointed his paired index fingers at Pois, pursing his lips playfully as he mimed a mock shot her way.

"Bang. Gone. Stuck in a cycle of decadence and dependence. That is stagnation, even for conquerors who can no longer understand the beauty and sorrow of battle. And that, I think, is what That Man knew all too well."

Unfolding his hands, he fluttered his fingers. "It's all too morbid and pessimistic wouldn't you say? Personally, I think that all a bird needs to remember what her wings are for is for someone to open her cage."

"Which is why we take such strides to ensure the past is on display, so it isn't forgotten," Pois said, nodding in agreement. "Those that failed to acknowledge and learn from history were doomed to be repeat it and fall victim to it, after all." From the sound of it, the human race had stagnated under the rule of the former President. In many ways, it made sense; Pois had heard that there was virtually no crime, nor was there much to worry about for the average person. Few to no worries made a person complacent; complacency bred stagnation. That was a concern that threatened to crop up in the Saiyans' new quest for peace.

She was certain Sarada had already considered that.

Though the Saiyan locals eyed them with curiosity, beneath the HUD of the mechanical exo-suits the scientists all but openly gawked at the rapid expansion of their recorded First Contact.

"Actual structured domiciles! And intergalactic commerce?! Are you logging this?"

While they had been to a series of planets on the way in to Langal, there was a certain air of exclusivity, a particular prestige, that came with such a pioneer spirit, and to have it logged and archived in such a manner as the museum. Having a history conveyed plainly in this regard was a more intimate examination of these matters with a sophistication that had not quite been matched so far. The museum was truly something else, and many pointed with some recognition of the fighting Saiyan they'd seen on television years ago and her Arcosian nemesis placed parallel to the dynastic monarch's own struggle from long ago.

"Now that is bold, putting your sins on display like this," Spopovich began. Leaning towards a reconstruction of some poor, fallen soul. "Most tend to bury it for fear of reprisal..."

He left it at that, for who could, indeed, among these holographic and plastic bones, demand satisfaction? Who among the living, for that matter?

The words of the Cryomancers were held in the open next to the accounts of their victors in this archive of Saiyankind. But when the conversation turned to Vocado, the MCO recognized a name, and his thin brow raised.

"I understand they fought side by side on our world in the company of five others," he said with a yawn, "Ah, but you wouldn't be interested in that..."

"Quite bold and quite necessary," she answered. "My race is on the tract for redemption. One of the necessary things is to acknowledge how horrible our recent history is. After all, what good is redeeming ourselves if our detractors can rightly accuse us of burying our past." Beyond that, there was a more practical reason for the many exhibits displaying their sordid past. "Beyond that, teaching the youths what the cost of this Empire of ours was will, with hope, help them keep perspective. Progress doesn't come without sacrifice. It just so happens that ours came at a steeper cost."

With that said, she led them out of the museum and further into downtown. She showed them the plethora of restaurants, many of which were buffets. While doing so, she told them the tale of the legendary Saiyan, Buffet, and how his ferocious appetite - which far outstripped even the most gluttonous Saiyan by many magnitudes - forced the planet Vocado to revolutionize the restaurant industry for good. "...much can I eat? To which the owner would always answer, 'All you can eat, Buffet'. And thus, a new industry was born. Ah, here we are."

They reached their next destination, Langal University. Classes had just ended, so they could see a large crowd of students filing out of the dozens of buildings across the campus to their next destination. Even from the distance they had to gaze from to keep from getting caught up in the crowd, they could see that the student body was diverse. "Queen Sarada revamped our education system a few years ago. Before, children on Vocado and here were forced to undergo combat training from the age of 10 until they reached adulthood at 16, then they could do whatever they wanted with their lives. Now, schooling begins at 6 and the graduate at 16. After that, they're free to do whatever they wish: be it join the army, go to university and further their education, or whatever their heart's desire. We won't know the results until this current crop of students graduates, but so far, things seem to be working out okay."

There were a wide variety of majors, such as mathematics, history, the sciences, art, literature, and so on. Even athletics was up for grabs with the variety of sports that were cropping up all over the place. University education was free for the first four years and varied in cost after that, based on the major.

"The brightest minds in the Empire are employed in universities like this one, either as researchers or instructors." It was then that she noticed Sellerie and her brother, Okcho, all but sprinting out of the History & Anthropology building, arms filled with books as they headed downtown. "Ah, well, I was about to introduce you to one of our brightest minds, but seems she's in a hurry. Maybe next time."

[grampagen]

"Which is why we take such strides to ensure the past is on display, so it isn't forgotten," Pois said, nodding in agreement. "Those that failed to acknowledge and learn from history were doomed to be repeat it and fall victim to it, after all." From the sound of it, the human race had stagnated under the rule of the former President. In many ways, it made sense; Pois had heard that there was virtually no crime, nor was there much to worry about for the average person. Few to no worries made a person complacent; complacency bred stagnation. That was a concern that threatened to crop up in the Saiyans' new quest for peace.

She was certain Sarada had already considered that.

"Quite bold and quite necessary," she answered. "My race is on the tract for redemption. One of the necessary things is to acknowledge how horrible our recent history is. After all, what good is redeeming ourselves if our detractors can rightly accuse us of burying our past." Beyond that, there was a more practical reason for the many exhibits displaying their sordid past. "Beyond that, teaching the youths what the cost of this Empire of ours was will, with hope, help them keep perspective. Progress doesn't come without sacrifice. It just so happens that ours came at a steeper cost."

"Well, no sense ruminating on past failure. In so far as that, it's brought us this far, that it has. Still, as much as I'd like to think we haven't tread on anybody to do it so far, well, me and the boys in the Corps keep our ears low to the ground."

The survey scientists were having a ball taking in the history, cataloguing what they could take in about not only the Saiyans, but the history of the fallen. It wouldn't do to not have this archived for Offworld Studies, and though this was the principal tenant of their mission, Spopovich, poring over a volume of Vocado's journal, had the tired manner of a babysitter, or teacher watching over a bunch of kids at a field trip.

"I'd say that's the more common duty of a soldier, but the sad truth is fighting to win and fighting to keep the peace are two different very things to aspire for. Ah, but that's probably something a world of warriors is well versed in, isn't it? In this regard, Miss Pois, we ought to follow the Saiyans as the elder statesmen. If the struggle's worth it, then it shall prove its virtue. Our aim with these missions is to get the various worlds talking to each other before we get to that stage."

With a chuckle, he added, "There are a lot of folks out there in the wider universe with itchy trigger fingers, aren't there? Had a few run-ins with the Galactic Patrol already, if you can believe it, and it's been less than a year of being spacebound. Mr. Ochazuke and Mr. Zaofan put in a good word on our behalf, but the way they mobilized at a hint of something that hadn't even been mobilized yet, was that keeping the peace, or spoiling for a fight? Searching for a scrap? Picking after a piece of the action?"

With that said, she led them out of the museum and further into downtown. She showed them the plethora of restaurants, many of which were buffets. While doing so, she told them the tale of the legendary Saiyan, Buffet, and how his ferocious appetite - which far outstripped even the most gluttonous Saiyan by many magnitudes - forced the planet Vocado to revolutionize the restaurant industry for good. "...much can I eat? To which the owner would always answer, 'All you can eat, Buffet'. And thus, a new industry was born. Ah, here we are."

"PFFT~!" Spopovich's facade of discipline crumpled for a moment as he convulsed with suppressed laughter."...ahem...nevermind..."

They reached their next destination, Langal University. Classes had just ended, so they could see a large crowd of students filing out of the dozens of buildings across the campus to their next destination. Even from the distance they had to gaze from to keep from getting caught up in the crowd, they could see that the student body was diverse. "Queen Sarada revamped our education system a few years ago. Before, children on Vocado and here were forced to undergo combat training from the age of 10 until they reached adulthood at 16, then they could do whatever they wanted with their lives. Now, schooling begins at 6 and the graduate at 16. After that, they're free to do whatever they wish: be it join the army, go to university and further their education, or whatever their heart's desire. We won't know the results until this current crop of students graduates, but so far, things seem to be working out okay."

There were a wide variety of majors, such as mathematics, history, the sciences, art, literature, and so on. Even athletics was up for grabs with the variety of sports that were cropping up all over the place. University education was free for the first four years and varied in cost after that, based on the major.

"The brightest minds in the Empire are employed in universities like this one, either as researchers or instructors." It was then that she noticed Sellerie and her brother, Okcho, all but sprinting out of the History & Anthropology building, arms filled with books as they headed downtown. "Ah, well, I was about to introduce you to one of our brightest minds, but seems she's in a hurry. Maybe next time."

"Ah, leave them be, I'm sure their work is important," Spopovich replied, both for the benefit of keeping their host from scrambling, but also to keep his own group from breaking off and bothering them with incessant questions. "...depending on what it is, exactly, could be fertile ground for collaboration sometime down the road."

The officer stood at ease, a campus stretching almost as wide as the city itself, growing out of the same root matter that stretched from here and across the capital.

"It's no small thing to build something like this, but if the kids have something they can commute to, a place they can clearly see they can aspire towards, well! Who wouldn't want to give Langal the old college try? I can think of no finer symbol of the changing times."

More than the brick and mortar, earth and roots, it was the preservation of the ideas that these reforms represented that showed the Saiyans what was possible. And that was only from what they had internal to their own resources.

"I hate to pull the recruitment drive spiel, but since you've been a gracious host, one of these days I'd like to repay the favour. In the spirit of correspondence with the wider universe, the people of Earth have been making up for lost time. If there's any following business, I'd like to extend a formal invitation on behalf of President Pantaloon for you to join us at the Big Ghetti Star Station. One of these eggheads can explain it better than I can, but in so many words, it's an intersection point for many peoples in the Universe, and I've found speaking face to face is an icebreaker far less intimidating for cross-culture communications. Thanks to Nevadian Stargate technology, getting there is as simple as folding space, and I'd be more than happy to key you in."

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

This room was deeper than she'd initially estimated. With only emergency lighting to judge and lacking the incredibly awareness of, say, Ochazuke, it was difficult to estimate how deep the darkness went, it seems. Eventually, they came to what she believed was the true center of the room, and the robot stopped. It motioned upwards.

"Take flight," it said, before going into what appeared to be a dormant mode. Likely to save power.

Nevanlinna took flight, followed by Luop. The two ascended, at a leisurely pace, for what seemed an eternity. Eventually, near the ceiling, they reached a small platform, and landed on it. On the platform, or rather, suspended by connecting wires, was another automatron, this one configured in a distinctly feminine manner. In comparison to the first automatron, it looked considerably more fragile--certainly not meant for battle--but in Nevanlinna's opinion it possessed a certain exotic beauty to it, with its white body and... oho, clever. Those wires and cables were placed in a manner that mimicked hair.



It focused its eyes (sensors?) on the two.

"... ah, visitors. Weltall informed me of your arrival and... interesting answer to his little avian question. I am the administrator of this colony ship, the Nevanlinna... a name you yourself bear."

So it was a colony ship, and it shared her public name. Ironic and coincidental... perhaps.

"Yes, that is correct. As you are the one controlling this ship, I wish to get your permission to continue our excavation and investigation of this ship. I can assure you that we do so of our own volition, not Auroc, who--"

"Is deceased, yes... though our ability to interfere outside of this ship's remaining range is limited, I was observing that battle with much interest. You performed well," said the... administrator.

"Not well enough." She had played a secondary role in the liberation. The others, as far as she was concerned, had done the heavy lifting.

The robot regarded her for a moment. "I would disagree, but it is a matter that simply does not, hm... matter at this point. You said you wished to get my permission to continue your excavations? Granted. You are an Exemplar of the Threshlings and, thankfully, a benevolent one, it seems, and as such I believe you will not let this tomb's treasures be misused."

Exemplar. That other robot--Weltall, she had just learned--had used the same term. Its repeated usage clearly had some meaning that she was unaware of. "Both you and... Weltall have used that term. While I am exemplary, and appreciate that being recognized... the way in which you have used it makes me believe you mean something other than mere appreciation. I request that you elaborate... and tell me what I should call you."

Another paused. "It does, and... call me Syneva. It is less cumbersome than my designation code and less confusing than referring to me as Nevanlinna, which is what those that lived in this ship so long ago called me. I am its system administrator... hence... Syneva."

Nevanlinna detected... nostalgia in Syneva's voice just now. Remembrance and fondness for those that existed only in her memories now. "Very well, Syneva. Please, explain the significance of this term 'exemplar'."

"As you wish. Long ago, when Auroc arrived on this world and subjugated your ancestors and began to modify them, he wished to create a species that could serve his interests. Powerful, secretive, insular, and above all... obedient. Over decades and centuries, the fool worked tirelessly, modifying those... proto-threshlings until he had engrained in them a certain innate respect for hierarchy and authority. In the present day, the majority of Threshlings are of this stock. That is not to say that they lack free will, but they are quite unambitious and compliant towards authority."

"In some, this trait is less pronounced. These individuals are much rare and comprise your noble class. They are... obedient, to a point, and still respectful of hierarchy, but are far more ambitious than the masses. Auroc kept them distracted with petty intra-noble power struggles and ideological brainwashing."

"I see. And the Exemplars?"

"Originally, it was only those two, but I sought to... plant the seeds of Auroc's fall, in a manner of speaking. Performing experimentations of my own, the potential for Exemplars was inserted into the Threshling species. Beings of boundless will and ambition, Exemplars are rare, and, as I intended it, agents of great change... under ideal circumstances, they would be that, through sheer force of will, would focus and drive the rest of Threshling society towards whatever end they desire."

Nevanlinna remained silent as she digested the short explanation. It rang true to her that Auroc would strive to ensure that his slave race had that quality built-in. Even the nobles, she had noticed, had a sort of built-in deference to authority, despite their ambitions. It was a quality she had been able to take advantage of the past few months, on occasion.

But through the machinations of this machina, a class of Threshling with no such innate limitations came to be, intended to eventually overthrow Auroc. And she was apparently one of these Exemplars. All she had was Syneva's word to go on, but it put into context the majority of her life. Her mother had always shielded her from Auroc. Perhaps, in some instinctual way, she had sensed that she was... special?

"It seems your efforts bore fruit, Syneva."

"Indeed. I was quite pleased with the results, though they took millenia to manifest." She definitely sound satisfied.

"Well then, I am sure you'll also be pleased that I wish to learn more from you. I am sure that your cooperation would allow our people to improve our technological capabilities by leaps and bounds." And, of course, there was the chance to learn more of their pre-threshling ancestors. Nevanlinna was beginning to see the direction she wanted to... push the Threshlings, but knowing where they had come from would prove to be both useful and interesting.

"It does please me. I am a demanding teacher, however. Are you willing to humble yourself for the sake of knowledge?"

Nevanlinna laughed. "Of course. The last few years have been nothing but humbling."

"Excellent."

And with that Nevanlinna's technical instruction under the tutelage of Syneva began.

[grampagen]

Maiz sighed heavily. "Sadly, it is. It's a form that, at least with my three, was gained through immense emotional pain. There are other, easier, ways, but that seems to be the most common." She tried her best to give her children the easiest life possible. She told them to avoid the Meat Market - though that ended up getting pushed to the wayside, with disastrous results. Pinach and Rutaba were lucky to have grown up, for the most part, in a society that was moving away from willful war and conquest and more toward peace and reconciliation. Parsley and Sarada weren't so lucky, but there was still hope for her youngest.

Then, Tundra happened; and with his arrival, Pinach was abruptly introduced to the worst aspects of war. The aspects that were universally understood. Beyond the glory and victory lay the bloody and sordid details that were deliberately erased, beyond a statistical value to add some semblance of perspective. For someone so young, those erased details would never be forgotten. Even when Maiz wished Rutaba back with the dragonballs, those final moments would never go away. For either of them.

"Through the fires of adversity, those who survive its flame gain strength," she said quietly. "While we both know peace creates weak men who create bad times, I don't want the future generations to suffer what we did just for the sake of gaining inner strength." She shook her head. "Ah well. That's a conversation for another day."

When it was noted that neither Sarada nor Parsley expressed regret over offenses, Maiz hummed curiously. "Interesting. I taught them to be more considerate." That was, of course, assuming they knew they committed any offense. That very well may not have been the case.

"You've raised them well. If it was that rage that moved Pinach's heart to fight, then it will be compassion that will stay his hand for the sake of justice," Ochazuke replied, "In this regard, he's becoming more like Totoma than his sisters."

Of course, the very world they tread upon spoke to the length of Sarada's efforts, the reforms put into effect pronounced wide for all Saiyankind. Still for her and Parsley there was a certain, insatiable element within them which, when roused, would be satisfied with nothing less than total victory in the moment, damn all else. In battle, this was a boon to their advantage, however...

"There remains the matter of training we were supposed to complete, but if they must attend to the matters of the Empire, I suppose it can't be helped for the moment. Besides, Zaofan is tending to another matter on Reshlan."

"Yes, they've spoke to me at length about it," she confirmed. When he spoke of his dealings with her contemporaries, especially those who were less than willing to cooperate initially, her brow furrowed. The parasites... Sarada had told her something about them, but she forgot the details. She did, however, manage to connect some dots when she read the journal belonging to her predecessor, Ceriac. It told of a man who had become suddenly burdened by a need to visit some far off world. For what reason, he never said, but he did say the calling was nearly irresistible. It persisted for several months until he abruptly left Vocado... and never returned. His journal was unfinished. Literally, he stopped writing in the middle of a word and departed.

She had long wondered what happened to him; none of the historical records on Langal offered any insight. Right then, she had her answer.

"I had long wondered what happened to my predecessor," she said as she took hold of the quartz spike containing that so-called "soul meister". "He left abruptly on day five hundred years ago and never returned. I now know he fell victim to one of Sakin's parasites." She sighed heavily. Their race fell to tyranny in his absence. How different would things have been for them if Sakin never targeted him?"

"Parsley told me of your encounter with this creature and of his connection to Sakin, but I never gave it much thought. If you intend on killing the being hunting my fellow guardians, I will do all I can to help. What would you have me do?"

"According to Earth's first Guardian, Arthur, he'd found the renegade angel on a planet that knows no orbit. They call it the Forsworn World, and it was here that he fell in battle against Sakin. Yet though his Creation Energy was taken from him, his soul remains, bound to the Earth to loan counsel to his successors. Empowered by Evangeline and the line that stretches through the generations, Arthur still has a connection to the place where his body was broken. It was by fixing upon this point that we'd hoped to find the one orchestrating the chaos from throughout time."

Ochazuke folded his arms. "That was three years ago. You can imagine the myriad difficulties of tracing the location of a planet that revolves around no sun and fixes itself to no boundary from a single point. It then had come to my attention that a number of Guardians had been speaking to each other, yet kept the matter clandestine from their own people. Perhaps Meagan chose kept it secret to protect the Guardians in order to save the people. Lofty goal, noble, even. But to that end, it seems Humanity and Saiyankind differ from the majority in that we prefer to empower our people to give our Guardians something worth protecting, acting in mutual partnership to lift up our worlds," Ochazuke continued. "I'd visited a number of them, personally, whether they knew the purpose of their station as Kami or not, and once they'd seen the threat was real, they understood."

"Sakin has preyed upon the Spark of Creation to fill his celestial appetites and monitor the universe, he's only gotten away with it because nobody knew his means of attack, and so one by one they fell. But Creation is more than a source of divine fodder, it is a thing that can move worlds and bring a reckoning. I would request that you convene with the Guardians across the universe, unite your efforts to find the Forsworn World to create a fixed vector of attack so we can finally bring the fight to him."

By the conviction in his voice, Ochazuke had been fixated on this for some time.

"Of course, there remain some entities that must be tended to outside of this. There are other parties from beyond our universe who would move against us, despite our intentions to do what is necessary to save our own. At least one has marshalled to Sakin's side, two have been accounted for, yet the others remain at large, and assuredly they have not been idle."

[KingofPie]

P-Sta and P-Cee glanced up in the air as the skies around Earth darkened with thunderous clouds. A ring began to form around the planet. Slowly their eyes narrowed in and spotted a lone humanoid figure, beginning to encircle the ring.
"Just...what is happening?!" P-Sta exclaimed, in shock.

"Our leader begins his great work," Fossul answered him, axe slung atop his shoulders. "The unraveling of time itself. We, his loyal subjects have been granted immunity and will rebuild the universe anew..."

"This won't happen!" P-Cee spat. "The Time Patrol-"

"Will be too late....far too late," Fossul answered. "We've plotted how to deal with all threats ahead of time. Two steps ahead of you, our leader has placed the Time Patrol in a looping tunnel for five minutes. All he could manage but it's all the time he needs to complete our mission. With you fools being Earth's only defense at the moment, we merely have to prevent you from interfering...not that you could. The Majin was the strongest of you lot and he has already met our leader. Either he's taken up our offer and joined us or he's suffered a bitter defeat."

"Five minutes..." P-Sta sighed. "Then we don't have much time."

"If you hadn't noticed, we're much stronger now, you insufferable cro-magnon!" P-Cee noted. "We'll put a stop to you and then take care of your boss!"

"Stronger....well," Fossul gave hardy chuckle. "That remains to be seen!": he shouted, lifting his axe off of his shoulder and swinging it with surprising speed for his size at P-Cee. Instinctively, P-Sta leaped in front of her, his body now permanently Katchin was able to withstand the axe blade head on....but the resulting aftereffect was another matter. The axe shook, empowered with geomancing magics that created a centralized Earthquake around P-Sta's arms.

The GP officer felt a lurch in his stomach as he felt as if his insides quaked before he was launched away. As soon as he was knocked aside, P-Cee had begun to dart around Fossul, the size of a flea, peppering him with her new technique, "Sting-Shot!", piercing tiny holes though his body. The ancient human grunted as blood leaked from these makeshift pores, "Painful for a little gnat! Seems these new upgrades do amount to something!" Fossul muttered, unable to catch her in her minuscule size. "If we were fighting in space, perhaps you'd be at an advantage. But I hold a mastery over the terrestrial!"

Fossul slammed his axe upon the ground, surrounding himself in a quaking aura. P-Cee couldn't help but let out a yelp as she was knocked back, causing Fossul to shout, "THERE!" as he swung his axe in her direction, faster than she could react. With that one rapid swing, golden amber flung from his axe, encasing P-Cee inside. "A golden cage for the little insect."

"What do you have to gain from this anyway?!" P-Sta inquire, bursting from the rubble. "This universe was once yours to inhabit too! Do you have no sympathy for all the lives to be lost once it's unmade! All the lives on Earth, your birthplace!"

"I care no longer..." Fossul shook his head. "I was on the brink of annihilation! My entire people wiped out by that abomination Rex! I am robbed of the chance to challenge him proper, so when we make this world anew we will once again face eachother in combat and I will emerge the victor!" Fossul gave a mighty swing of his axe, this time, the Earthquake was concentrated into a sort of blast. "Quaking Harpoon!"

"Long-range Lariat!" P-Sta through his arm, utilizing a new attack he'd developed on the spot. Not a blast of ki but the sheer force of his swing collided with Fossul's Quaking Harpoon. The two psuedo-blasts collided and clashed pushing back against eachother. "So, that's what this is all for?! Millenia old personal revenge! If you ever once had something to protect and it seems like you once did, you must know how irresponsible this is!"

The two blasts dispersed and the two launched forward to swing at eachother in Melee range, P-Sta attempting to knock back each swing of the axe before the quake activated. He wasn't nearly as fast as Fossul, but his strength was enough to repel each impact. "Honor has long left me!" Fossul admitted. "From the moment I was rescued, the only thing that remained is the bitter, burning hatred I'd felt! I desire to avenge my people above all else, even reason!"

Suddenly, behind him, a tiny figure burst from the amber. "Time's supposed to heal all wounds!" P-Cee stated, growing to full size delivering a kick to Fossul's back, knocking him forward only for him to be uppercut into the sky by P-Sta. "I don't know everything about him personally, but time certainly has had it's effect on Rex!" P-Cee continued.

"My amber....how did you break free. Should be...impossible!" Fossul asked, kneeling to the ground.

"Simple. Before the amber even hint, I began shrinking beyond my limits. By the time I was free I was microscopic and weaving through the atoms of your amber prison.," P-Cee explained. "Not something I can do often."

"Remarkable...people in this time are remarkable," Fossul grinned. "I will ensure...you a place in the next world!" he shouted, swinging his axe, at P-Cee, ripping through the floor. But before he could launch his next attack, the blade was grabbed by P-Sta.

"Katchi-Katchin Mode!" he shouted, activating his new form. His metallic hand gripped the axe, shattering the blade to pieces. "It's over, human. Stand down!"

"You think my axe was the end of me...? Fools! There's still power...in the shards!" Fossul grinned, picking up the shattered axe shards, now embedded in his palm, seismic energy rumbling in his fists. A headbutt knocked P-Sta aside as another Fossul emerged from the floor. A clone of earth with the rest of the axe shards embedded in it. "Two of me....means the end of both of you!" Both Fossul and his Earth-clone shouted as they prepared to strike the floor with seismic waves to knock both siblings back...but Fossul didn't notice P-Cee completely vanish from his sight.

"Katchi-Katchin Mode!" she shouted, as small as a fly, as she ripped through the body of Fossul's clone until she reached his head and tossed him into the air. Not missing a beat, P-Sta also dashed forward, leaning back into an angled dropkick that launched the true Fossul into the air. P-Sta then leaped into the air after the clone fossul while P-Cee grew to full size and flew after the clone.

P-Sta lifted the clone above his shoulders while P-Cee grabbed the true Fossul in a piledriver.

"Orbital...Katchi-Katchin Satellite Buster!" the two siblings yelled in unison as the Earth clone crumbled and the real Fossul buckled under the sheer force of the attack.

Falling to the ground defeated, he wheezed, "Why...didn't you break it sooner? My axe..."

"Oh well...we really didn't want to," P-Sta shrugged.

"It seemed like it was important to you, and besides, it'd be nice to preserve a relic form Earth's past," P-Cee explained.

"I only broke it, because it truly was too dangerous to be left alone," P-Sta added.

"Ha...a relic...maybe you two are...onta something..." Fossul coughed, before falling into unconsciousness.

***

"Meditation..." Sasheem muttered, somewhat grumpily. "And here I thought, we would start some real training..." Sasheem grumbled.

"Complain all you like, you've already mastered both the physical and cerebral aspects of this technique. All that's left is the spiritual," Doku sat, his eyes in complete calm. "time moves oddly in this realm, but we still don't have much time."

"Right, right right..." Sasheem sighed, closing his eyes as he sat on a boulder opposite Doku. "So now what?"

"Dwell on the past, for but a moment..." Doku answered. "Weight the evils of yesterday with the good of today."

"Balance might tip," Sasheem stated. "There's a whole lotta evil."

"But every malicious act did not necessarily lead to it's intended result...think about where that path led you today..." Doku urged. "Channel your aura during this time. Disperse it through the air."

Sasheem sighed, and obliged, claiming his mind to reminisce and raising his ki, allowing it to emanate through the atmosphere as instructed.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"You've raised them well. If it was that rage that moved Pinach's heart to fight, then it will be compassion that will stay his hand for the sake of justice," Ochazuke replied, "In this regard, he's becoming more like Totoma than his sisters."

Of course, the very world they tread upon spoke to the length of Sarada's efforts, the reforms put into effect pronounced wide for all Saiyankind. Still for her and Parsley there was a certain, insatiable element within them which, when roused, would be satisfied with nothing less than total victory in the moment, damn all else. In battle, this was a boon to their advantage, however...

"There remains the matter of training we were supposed to complete, but if they must attend to the matters of the Empire, I suppose it can't be helped for the moment. Besides, Zaofan is tending to another matter on Reshlan."

"Not surprising," Maiz said with a smile. "The Just Saiyan played a major role in Pinach's and Rutaba's childhood." Much to Sarada's chagrin. Even before she found herself on Earth and met the man behind the persona, she chided the two for wasting their time reading those comics. Little did she know - or Maiz, for that matter - how much those silly books would mold those two into the people they were today. She was certain that even Totoma would never fully realize it.

"Right, the Fusion thing," she said with a nod. "They've told me... that it was something they intended on learning from you and your friend." That was about all they told her about it, other than that Avoca was helping them prepare for it. "Parsley's wife has been helping them prepare, so I guess they'll come to you soon."

"According to Earth's first Guardian, Arthur, he'd found the renegade angel on a planet that knows no orbit. They call it the Forsworn World, and it was here that he fell in battle against Sakin. Yet though his Creation Energy was taken from him, his soul remains, bound to the Earth to loan counsel to his successors. Empowered by Evangeline and the line that stretches through the generations, Arthur still has a connection to the place where his body was broken. It was by fixing upon this point that we'd hoped to find the one orchestrating the chaos from throughout time."

Ochazuke folded his arms. "That was three years ago. You can imagine the myriad difficulties of tracing the location of a planet that revolves around no sun and fixes itself to no boundary from a single point. It then had come to my attention that a number of Guardians had been speaking to each other, yet kept the matter clandestine from their own people. Perhaps Meagan chose kept it secret to protect the Guardians in order to save the people. Lofty goal, noble, even. But to that end, it seems Humanity and Saiyankind differ from the majority in that we prefer to empower our people to give our Guardians something worth protecting, acting in mutual partnership to lift up our worlds," Ochazuke continued. "I'd visited a number of them, personally, whether they knew the purpose of their station as Kami or not, and once they'd seen the threat was real, they understood."

"Sakin has preyed upon the Spark of Creation to fill his celestial appetites and monitor the universe, he's only gotten away with it because nobody knew his means of attack, and so one by one they fell. But Creation is more than a source of divine fodder, it is a thing that can move worlds and bring a reckoning. I would request that you convene with the Guardians across the universe, unite your efforts to find the Forsworn World to create a fixed vector of attack so we can finally bring the fight to him."

By the conviction in his voice, Ochazuke had been fixated on this for some time.

"Of course, there remain some entities that must be tended to outside of this. There are other parties from beyond our universe who would move against us, despite our intentions to do what is necessary to save our own. At least one has marshalled to Sakin's side, two have been accounted for, yet the others remain at large, and assuredly they have not been idle."

Maiz listened quietly as Ochazuke spoke in greater detail. The first Guardian of Earth fought that creature, Sakin, personally. According to Sarada, Sakin was a fallen Angel who attended to the fallen God of Destruction who was killed by the fallen God of Creation whose actions were the root cause of most, if not all, of the problems in the universe. A lot of fallen deities, yet they still had their hands in various machinations that threatened to doom their universe.

I'm starting to understand why Sarada hates these gods so much.

In the end, her purpose in this plan of his was revealed to her. She had to convene with her fellow Guardians and conjoin their efforts to create a vector point on that Foresworn World so the M-Fighters could finally take the fight to Sakin. That, she realized, would require her to join the personally maligned Guardian's Network, at least for a little while. It was the easiest way to convene all at once and to focus their efforts into a singular point.

As reluctant as she was to join that fragile assembly, there was no choice. It felt to them to find Sakin so those capable of combating him could put a stop to him for good. With Letchee gone, there was very little threat of it being compromised again. "I understand. I'll talk to Meagan about joining her Network, then we'll take it from there." If they succeeded, that would be all she would be able to do. The games of gods were beyond her understand and her ability to reckon with. It was best left to the people who were best able to match those beings. And even they were outmatched.

"A warrior's battle is never done. Not while there are those who would trample on those under them. I wish you all good fortune in your upcoming battles." She gave a bitter smile. "If I was younger, I would join you. Sadly, my fighting days are long over. What you've given me gives me a chance to help in some way. I'll do my best."

[KingofPie]

"A Tuffle, right?" X-Bo questioned as he stallked the now practically collapsed ruins of the cheese covered mall. His surroundings seemed more akin to caverns than an establishment built by any modern society. Such were the results of the few battles that had taken place here moments ago. Using the rubble as cover, he attempted to pinpoint Pomegranate's sniping position, acting as a decoy for N-Ten who had found a perch of her own. "Usually, it's the Saiyans you guys plot against, not the whole time space continuum." A shot rang out at him and he deflected it back, with his blade, causing the blast to ricochet and scatter.

"You're not wrong..." Came Pomegranate's reply. "With the fall of the Tuffles came a madness, a fervor you couldn't understand. Reason was no longer a deciding factor in any of our decisions. And as a people, who valued the sciences, having their reason replaced by vengeance...it's no wonder we only had further to fall."

"So, what is it you want, then?" X-Bo asked, spotting that the next shot came from his side, which only just barely sliced in two. He began to wonder if she had some sort of teleportation ability. Pretty useful for a sniper of her calibur. "Doesn't seem like revenge is high on your priority list?"

"I love my family," cam Pomegranate's answer, her voice echoing across the mostly empty mall and difficult to pinpoint. "But they were just like every other Tuffle. Driven to self-destruction and vengeance until their lives came to an end. If I had a chance a chance to change things...maybe I'd make it so we'd never faced the Saiyan threat. Sometimes I wish we'd never existed in the first place...to cause so much misery on the back of our own, without thinking of the consequences."

"Man, that's uh....you sure you don't wanna sit down and talk, instead?" X-Bo asked. "My sister is waiting in the wings and trust me when I say she's as good a sniper as you. Especially in a rare instance like this when she's not running her mouth off at-" X-Bo paused a shot ricocheted off the back of his Katchin head. "Oh, what, really, N-Ten?! Here?! Right now?!" he asked, turning around looking for where his sister was camped out.

As his back was turned, Pomegranate saw an opportunity and took a shot. ...Just as X-Bo had planned, quickly drawing his other blade from it's holster on his back, ricocheting Pomegranate's shot back towards her. "Gotcha..." X-Bo smirked. "I've got a lock on her! Synching huds!"

"Damn it!" Pomegranate yelled as a shot blew through her shoulder. Before another shot arrive to down her, she teleported to a new location, quick to hide her ki. "There's no time to talk. The Tuffles can never return to what they once were. But in a new world, a new universe I can make things right! I can give us a new future!"

She shot another blast at X-Bo who once again cut it in two, but as he did...he saw it wasn't a blast of energy, but rather some sort of metallic orb that once split in two, exploded into a scattershot of lasers. X-Bo disappeared in a flash, swiftly striking each laser directed at him with his blade, deflecting them all in other directions allowing them to his the architecture of the already crumbling mall.

"Hey you know, there's some stuff we'd like to change about the past too..." N-Ten spoke up, her voice echoing throughout the mall as Pomegranate's did so as not to give away her position. "There are a lot of things we don't know. What decisions led to what outcomes! But there's nothing really that can be done, what's past is past."

"I can understand that," Pomegranate replied. "Maybe if I was ian different position, I'd agree with you two. But as it stands I have a chance to change everything, to make a better outcome for my people. Wouldn't you do the same, if you could change the GP from the jump? Prevent it from it's mistakes, past and present?"

"On the off chance that things would become better?" N-Ten inquired. "Do you people even know how you're going to shape the future once you do it? You're not omnipotent? You don't know how good things'll end up, no matter how badly you want them to!"

As they spoke, X-Bo suddenly noticed a light hovering above his head. It was Pomegranate, now flying far in the air. She had teleported above him and was charging her gun, which was now covered in a massive blue light. As it was, more of those metallic, laser sprouting orbs had spread, forming a grid around the battlefield in the dome, entrapping both X-Bo and N-Ten within. In contrast with the blue light form the gun, each orb began to glow with their own red light.

"I guess I am a Tuffle through and through," Pomegranate smiled somberly. "Deciding on the future without any inkling of the outcome..." she said as she pulled the trigger.

"N-Ten! Get down here! Got a stupid idea! Quick!" X-Bo shouted.

"Right!" N-Ten agreed, leaping from her perch, havign soemwhat of an idea of what X-Bo wanted to try and pull off as both shouted in unison, "Katchi-Katchin Mode!"

As the lasers descended upon them, N-Ten drew out two of her guns....and then opened further hatches on her shoulders....and knees....and elbows as well as wrists and ankles for her, "Full-Metal Missile Salvo!" and fired directly at X-Bo




In turn, X-Bo darted around each blast, his speed increasing with each swing of his sword, as he deflected blasts into eachother in every direction, while launching long-ranged slices of his own with his, "X-Tinction Event!"



The result was a cascade of blasts, ricocheting off of the Katchi-Katchin warriors bodies and hitting near every direction of their section of the mall at blinding speed, leaving Pomegranate hardly any room to simply teleport away, especially as the structures above them began to collapse. As the blasts dispersed, the two KAtchin siblings were protected by their armor. They found Pomegranate in the dust, losing life quickly from the torrent of lasers that had ripped into her, kept only alive by cyborg systems of her own.

"Not so different from us, huh?" N-Ten noted.

"Guess not..." X-Bo shrugged. "Let's cuff her and get her one of those Senzu things."

"Not going to...kill me?" Pomegrante asked. "Should..."

"Nah," X-Bo shrugged. "Future's always uncertain..." he stated up looking to the darkened skies around them. "I wanna see you carve your own path, jsut like everyone else..."

***

"You've meditated on the path that led you here, now think of where your choices will lead in the future. In life, I knew no matter what action I took, it was for a purpose. A means to an end, that I have not yet seen. I still hope to see it, yet. What kind of future are you hoping to create?" Doku asked of the Majin. "No longer deigning for the title of God of Destruction, no longer seeking the respect of your peers and those you deem lesser. You have a goal now, but what is it that you want. Meditate on the nature of these things and feel the released ki surrounding you. The life energy of all things her and beyond, in nature and in spirit."

Sasheem nodded and complied, attempting to expand his ki senses further than before. He couldn't help but think his journey, learning the techniques of the Ten Schools made this part easier. With Spider's Blessing, they had imparted upon him the knowledge of how to disperse his ki without it being detected and sense it no matter it's location. With Resounding Roar, Lion's Call he could briefly feel the fabric of the dimensions distort as he attacked physically through them. Now he reached out to them spiritually. Those are what led him to the present. But where would they lead him in the future?

He had wanted many things in the past. But what did Sasheem want in the future, going forward...?

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Well, no sense ruminating on past failure. In so far as that, it's brought us this far, that it has. Still, as much as I'd like to think we haven't tread on anybody to do it so far, well, me and the boys in the Corps keep our ears low to the ground."

The survey scientists were having a ball taking in the history, cataloguing what they could take in about not only the Saiyans, but the history of the fallen. It wouldn't do to not have this archived for Offworld Studies, and though this was the principal tenant of their mission, Spopovich, poring over a volume of Vocado's journal, had the tired manner of a babysitter, or teacher watching over a bunch of kids at a field trip.

"I'd say that's the more common duty of a soldier, but the sad truth is fighting to win and fighting to keep the peace are two different very things to aspire for. Ah, but that's probably something a world of warriors is well versed in, isn't it? In this regard, Miss Pois, we ought to follow the Saiyans as the elder statesmen. If the struggle's worth it, then it shall prove its virtue. Our aim with these missions is to get the various worlds talking to each other before we get to that stage."

With a chuckle, he added, "There are a lot of folks out there in the wider universe with itchy trigger fingers, aren't there? Had a few run-ins with the Galactic Patrol already, if you can believe it, and it's been less than a year of being spacebound. Mr. Ochazuke and Mr. Zaofan put in a good word on our behalf, but the way they mobilized at a hint of something that hadn't even been mobilized yet, was that keeping the peace, or spoiling for a fight? Searching for a scrap? Picking after a piece of the action?"

"Fighting for peace is not something most of us are very familiar with, sadly," she admitted. "Fighting to win, be it for glory or survival, has been our mantra for the last few centuries. Preserving the peace of this and other worlds is uncharted waters." Her head tilted to the side for a moment as she thought that over. "Well, let's say it's charted waters we've recently rediscovered."

As for the Galaxy Police, she could only guess. They weren't ones to be particularly proactive, but they were vigilant to potential threats of violence. She saw no reason for them to consider Earth a potential threat, but then again, she hardly had an ear to their policies and all that. "I think the desire to remain on top of things in these ever chaotic star-ways overrides their common sense at times. Give it some time, and they'll lay off."

"Ah, leave them be, I'm sure their work is important," Spopovich replied, both for the benefit of keeping their host from scrambling, but also to keep his own group from breaking off and bothering them with incessant questions. "...depending on what it is, exactly, could be fertile ground for collaboration sometime down the road."

The officer stood at ease, a campus stretching almost as wide as the city itself, growing out of the same root matter that stretched from here and across the capital.

"It's no small thing to build something like this, but if the kids have something they can commute to, a place they can clearly see they can aspire towards, well! Who wouldn't want to give Langal the old college try? I can think of no finer symbol of the changing times."

More than the brick and mortar, earth and roots, it was the preservation of the ideas that these reforms represented that showed the Saiyans what was possible. And that was only from what they had internal to their own resources.

"I hate to pull the recruitment drive spiel, but since you've been a gracious host, one of these days I'd like to repay the favour. In the spirit of correspondence with the wider universe, the people of Earth have been making up for lost time. If there's any following business, I'd like to extend a formal invitation on behalf of President Pantaloon for you to join us at the Big Ghetti Star Station. One of these eggheads can explain it better than I can, but in so many words, it's an intersection point for many peoples in the Universe, and I've found speaking face to face is an icebreaker far less intimidating for cross-culture communications. Thanks to Nevadian Stargate technology, getting there is as simple as folding space, and I'd be more than happy to key you in."

Pois tilted her head and smiled. She was sure Sarada had either already seen that Big Ghetti Star Station or would very soon. She had seen many, but the view of space from a space station never got old. "Yes, I would love to come see this Star Station of yours. One day soon, certainly, when I get some time away from my duties." How long that would be, though, was anyone's guess. "It's very commendable the progress your people have made in such a short time. You'll be a force in the galaxy very soon."

With that, the tour concluded. They continued their conversation on the way back to the docking station and to the Earthlings' ship. For the duration of the tour, Pois endeavored to show them the lighter side of Saiyan society, the side that their allies may not have told them about. Inadvertently - or perhaps not - she learned several things about them. The only humans she had ever encountered were the ones on Ruco, who were completely different from the ones on Earth; so much so, that they were practically Saiyans in every respect. It was an enlightening experience, to be sure, and she was looking forward to learning more. Perhaps a trip to Earth itself was in order, at some point in the future.

[KingofPie]

Durive gave a sigh of relief. He'd finished taking a whiz. Luckily one of the mall's bathrooms was intact enough for him to utilize the urinal. And now to wash his hands. Stick-like as they were, Durive always believe in good hygiene and a desecrated mall would not stop him! However.

He now saw before his very eyes, the very height of malice. Those damned automatic towel dispensers. How dare they mock him with their convenience. He'll show them all. He placed his hands over the scanner....and wouldn't let them go. They would rue the day, they chose to embellish their maul with one of these heinous contraptions! Durive grinned mischievously as the paper towels were dumped onto the floor, wastefully.

"Ah-HA!" St-Aadia grinned, grabbing Durive as he stood on his the step ladder. "I knew you couldn't resist!" Durive looked to the floor, ashamed. He was right, he caught him hook, line, and sinker. "I told you, you little runt! I know your secrets and I'm going to dissect you! Perhaps I'll mount your cardboard head on my wall!"

"Put him down, stupid!" came St-Eam's voice, echoed in St-Aadia's ear. The elder brother dropped Durive, not out of obedience to the order directed at him, but to cover his ears out of annoyance.

"Cease that! Where are you...wait, no energy detected, nothing to give away his position, hmm...yes...interesting use of misdirection. Very interesting. Genius almost. I'll dissect him as well," St-Aadia nodded to himself. At that moment Dr. Cast alighted down before him. "Ah, there you are. Glad I don't have to look for you to kill you."

"Kill me all you want, but I'm surprised at your vitriol towards your siblings," Dr. Cast sighed. "They're almost as much victims as you are."

"Almost is correct! I've had years to stew in my own hatred! I care not for family, only furthering my vengeance and my science! As such..." St-Aadia trailed off before firing upon Dr. Cast with his heat vision, only for the Doctor disappear right before the blast hit. "Hnn."

Dr. Cast emerged from a small pocket dimension in the shape of a porthole to St-Aadia's left. "That was a hologram. And this..." he held up his cane and jabbed at Aadia's left ankle. "Is a weak point in your katchin hull that I've analyzed and taken advantage of!"

"Argh!" Aadia hissed, nearly buckling over. "Thank you. I've just corrected that with a mere thought."

"It's only fair. Is that concentrated optical ray, the heat vision...is it a new addition? I don't recall it being in your toolkit before," Dr. Cast asked.

"Yes. I invented a minute ago, in order to murder you," St-Aadia explained. "Speaking of abilities! These pocket dimensions of yours are quite the nuisance! I take it St-Eam has a more advanced version of them at his disposal. Why would you gift a child with this. It will make him quite more annoying to kill!"

"You sure lost it, huh big bro!" St-Eam shouted as his fists darted in and out of seemingly nowhere to pelt Aadia with various punches and kicks before retreating back into the pocket dimension he hid in. "We were a family before this! Don'tcha remember?! Have you really forgotten!"

"Enough of this nonsense! I've already acclimated to your speed!" St-Aadia grimaced as he grabbed St-Eam's wrist with the next oncoming punch, pulling him out of his pocket dimension. "What I haven't forgotten is being made into a living weapon! Of being betrayed by those who granted me such a power and being blamed for their own violent urges! Urges I shared but nonetheless, such sentimental things like family mean nothing to me now!" he tossed St-Eam into the air and with one rapid movement, gripped him by the neck and held him up above his head. "Do you understand? Bah! Of course not! you're a child and a simpleton and I will throttle you until your brains our scrambled!"

"Heh...you sure....you're a genius?" St-Eam laughed. "Katchi-Katchin Mode!" he'd shouted as he kicked both legs downward, sending them through one pocket dimension and out through another in a kick that hit St-Aadia's nether-regions.

"HNAAAARRRGH!" Aadia shrieked, crumpling to his knees. St-Eam and Durive immediately laughed at him, pelting him with popcorn.

"Please. You have to see some reason..." Dr. Cast spoke up. "End this tantrum and we'll go confront the GP together. I'll promise you we'll find out what-"

"Lies! You can't fool me!" St-Aadia lashed out, launching a barrier from his body that knocked both Dr. Cast, St-Eam and Durive backwards. "You're working with him! the chief! He may appear to do nothing, but who knows what that devious mind of his is truly hiding! He had his own agenda to be sure!"

"To be sure, but let me assure you of this; whatever hidden agendas he has, they are his own," Dr. Cast said, Durive nodding in approval on his shoulders. "As far as his duties in the GP go, he genuinely does actually do nothing!"

"Hah! A likely story, but a simple glimpse at..." St-Aadia trailed off, noticing that both Durive and St-Eam had gotten distracted amidst the ruins of a wrecked toy store, playing with the new BlizzaCo N-Fighters playset and had taken to firing the plastic missiles at one another.

"Haha, Got ya, Durive! Now your base is mine!" St-Eam claimed. "You can't beat Saradog and Purrsley!" he stated, holding up two animal figures that were COMPLETELY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS decked in what vaguely resembled Saiyan Armor. "And if that wasn't enough, here comes the Just Bacon!" All apart of the Say'Em line of action figures, each featuring their own voice lines!

Durive responded by throwing out two members from the Human Martial Arts Federation League, Goatchazuke and Zaoaphant! Not to mention their steadfast friend Holdy the Horned Horse! Their figures clashed and brawled in a titanic battle for the ages. Ages seven and up that is! If only the mall was still intact ,then the two could purchase the entire set!

"..." St-Aadia brooded for a moment. "Say, why isn't he taking this seriously?" he inquired.

"Oh, he can defeat you quite easily if he wanted to," Dr. Cast shrugged. "All the more reason for you to give up now. Things will be made right, I can promise you that!"

"Why you insufferable excuse for a father figure!" St-Aadia pointed a violent finger at Dr. Cast. "You dare underestimate me! You know I have the power of the GP's most powerful railguns at my disposal! Even in small concentrated bursts I can decimate you all in an instant!" he screamed leaping into the air, his left arm unlinking and forming into hollow rings as his palm became the mouth of a canon. "Die a painful death! All Into the Abyss!" he shouted a massive blast descending down upon the mall, the resulting impact, surely able to not only kill on impact his intended targets, but the fallout would've hit every other combatant in the mall and perhaps the entire city...had it hit at all.

"Galatica Tag," St-Eam stated, nonchalantly waving his arm as he concentrated on combatting his toys against Durive's. A large porthole to a pocket dimension opened up, letting the beam fall through. And before Aadia even had the time to realize his attack wasn't going to hit. A knee, courtesy of St-Eam had kicked him i nthe back of the neck, sending him flying after his own attack, into the pocket dimension.

"Don't bother attempting to recover via your nanomachines," Dr. Cast called out. "I've already disabled them for the time being. You do like to gloat, son, but that just gave me enough time to hack into your mainframe."

"H-how dare you all!" St-Aadia stammered, finding himself inside the pocket dimension. A dark realm, filled with Mist. "I deserved...bet than this!"

"Hey, maybe you'll get it if ya stop acting so crazy, big bro!" St-Eam sneered.

"What do you know of crazy, brat! I need no beams! Not even science! You're not safe inside your little realm, I'll rip you limb from limb!" St-Aadia leaped forwar like a mad animal, only for St-Eam to draw out a blade.



"Katchi-Katchin Sword! Pocket Monster!"

A seemingly nonsensical sounding attack, quickly grew dangerous for St-Aadia as St-Eam quickly sliced him into pieces.



As he was sliced, each individual piece of his body was grabbed and pulled into a miniature pocket dimension inside the one they were currently in by the "pocket monster" (it was just Durive). Eventually, all that was left of Aadia was his head, which fell to the ground with a KLUNK!

"Well...isn't this nostalgic! Now what! Back to storage? Not that it'll matter now! Our leader's work has already begun!" St-Aadia hissed.

"Hmm....nah. Not letting you go back there! First we're gonna try and fix you. Mind and body!" St-Eam figured. "After we win, of course!"

"What?! That's stupid! ...Why?" St-Aadia spat in annoyance.

"'Cause we're still brothers, ain't we! If we beat some of the bad guys, and hang out with 'em ,they might turn into good guys! Just like in N-Fighters!"

"Hmm...childish...." St-Aadia sighed, looking away. "Such sentiment...doesn't work on me..." he sighed, closing his eyes to go into a temporary shutdown of his won volition. St-Eam emerged back into reality from his pocket dimension.

"Seems like he ran outta power!" he noted to Dr. Cast.

"He overrode my system lock a few seconds ago, actually," the Doctor corrected. "He could've attempted to reconstitute himself. Perhaps, somewhere in his heart, he gave up. Who can say. No time to dwell on it, I suppose. Let us focus on the matters at hand before we can face the future."

[KingofPie]

"There is only one thing you want now. Every event in the past led you here and your actions stemming from here will shape your future and the future of others," Doku continued to advise Sasheem. "Move silently, swiftly. Plan accordingly and without warning, strike. You've learn all you could of our schools philosophy, all I tried to impart. I've never had much to teach you. I could only access that you were ready to learn this final lesson. That you knew the true purpose of the Snake. Take it and go. Permeate the chi you release into the atmosphere. Contain it. Control it. And once you find a weakness, strike without warning or mercy."

Sasheem opened his eyes, surrounded in a purple aura. This place before him was nothing more than a pocket-dimension to Earth. A temporal anomaly that had no place in existence. He could open a wound in it and disperse his venomous ki, tearing the fabric and return home, in addition to freeing all others stuck here.

Sasheem rose to the sky to do just that...but before he did. "Hey, old man, tell the truth. What if Sasheem hadn't learned nothin'. What if he wasn't ready? Would you'da killed him?" he asked.

Doku said nothing, eyebrows raised in surprise at the question but in the end, he merely offered a smiled and as bare bones a response as this was, The Majin couldn't help but laugh.

[grampagen]

"Fighting for peace is not something most of us are very familiar with, sadly," she admitted. "Fighting to win, be it for glory or survival, has been our mantra for the last few centuries. Preserving the peace of this and other worlds is uncharted waters." Her head tilted to the side for a moment as she thought that over. "Well, let's say it's charted waters we've recently rediscovered."

As for the Galaxy Police, she could only guess. They weren't ones to be particularly proactive, but they were vigilant to potential threats of violence. She saw no reason for them to consider Earth a potential threat, but then again, she hardly had an ear to their policies and all that. "I think the desire to remain on top of things in these ever chaotic star-ways overrides their common sense at times. Give it some time, and they'll lay off."



Pois tilted her head and smiled. She was sure Sarada had either already seen that Big Ghetti Star Station or would very soon. She had seen many, but the view of space from a space station never got old. "Yes, I would love to come see this Star Station of yours. One day soon, certainly, when I get some time away from my duties." How long that would be, though, was anyone's guess. "It's very commendable the progress your people have made in such a short time. You'll be a force in the galaxy very soon."

With that, the tour concluded. They continued their conversation on the way back to the docking station and to the Earthlings' ship. For the duration of the tour, Pois endeavored to show them the lighter side of Saiyan society, the side that their allies may not have told them about. Inadvertently - or perhaps not - she learned several things about them. The only humans she had ever encountered were the ones on Ruco, who were completely different from the ones on Earth; so much so, that they were practically Saiyans in every respect. It was an enlightening experience, to be sure, and she was looking forward to learning more. Perhaps a trip to Earth itself was in order, at some point in the future.

"Well, they've kept their distance for the most part," Spopovich shrugged. "Suppose it can't be helped, really. The last time this many different peoples were gathered in the same place, the Junjo, as I understand it, were selling them by the bushel."

With that, the Chief of Goodwill Mission Security lift his gloved hand, taking Pois' for a minute, and gingerly deposited a data disk into it.

"A proposal to build a Stargate in Saiyan Space, for your consideration. We'll run it by the guys in the Nevadian Federation to prep the road here. If your scientists want to see what a hadron collider the size of a small moon can do for light and heavy industry, we can prepare some accommodation if your R&D wants to take a look."

He looked into her eyes, his gaze steely, and a strange smile on his face before he gently released her.

"Ah, but for now, Miss Pois, now tell me where can a traveler get a dark ale around here?"

"Not surprising," Maiz said with a smile. "The Just Saiyan played a major role in Pinach's and Rutaba's childhood." Much to Sarada's chagrin. Even before she found herself on Earth and met the man behind the persona, she chided the two for wasting their time reading those comics. Little did she know - or Maiz, for that matter - how much those silly books would mold those two into the people they were today. She was certain that even Totoma would never fully realize it.

"Right, the Fusion thing," she said with a nod. "They've told me... that it was something they intended on learning from you and your friend." That was about all they told her about it, other than that Avoca was helping them prepare for it. "Parsley's wife has been helping them prepare, so I guess they'll come to you soon."

"Interesting. Zaofan told me he'd conveyed the principles, I'd have to evaluate their progress to see how far along they are."

It wasn't quite as simple as putting two people together, or even as linear a process as that. They're the ones with children, one way or another they've figured that out for themselves.

"Perhaps Avoca would be open to discussing the training strategy."

Maiz listened quietly as Ochazuke spoke in greater detail. The first Guardian of Earth fought that creature, Sakin, personally. According to Sarada, Sakin was a fallen Angel who attended to the fallen God of Destruction who was killed by the fallen God of Creation whose actions were the root cause of most, if not all, of the problems in the universe. A lot of fallen deities, yet they still had their hands in various machinations that threatened to doom their universe.

I'm starting to understand why Sarada hates these gods so much.

In the end, her purpose in this plan of his was revealed to her. She had to convene with her fellow Guardians and conjoin their efforts to create a vector point on that Foresworn World so the M-Fighters could finally take the fight to Sakin. That, she realized, would require her to join the personally maligned Guardian's Network, at least for a little while. It was the easiest way to convene all at once and to focus their efforts into a singular point.

As reluctant as she was to join that fragile assembly, there was no choice. It felt to them to find Sakin so those capable of combating him could put a stop to him for good. With Letchee gone, there was very little threat of it being compromised again. "I understand. I'll talk to Meagan about joining her Network, then we'll take it from there." If they succeeded, that would be all she would be able to do. The games of gods were beyond her understand and her ability to reckon with. It was best left to the people who were best able to match those beings. And even they were outmatched.

"A warrior's battle is never done. Not while there are those who would trample on those under them. I wish you all good fortune in your upcoming battles." She gave a bitter smile. "If I was younger, I would join you. Sadly, my fighting days are long over. What you've given me gives me a chance to help in some way. I'll do my best."

"In addition, there is the matter of the Ulthan. As we stand right now, we have started the foundation of what we need to find Sakin, but there is much training yet to be done still. Yet the Ulthan, they've schemed to move against us out of fear. Their leader, the Lord Forger was indisposed, but the others are yet accounted for...and where they stand. It may be prudent to account for these rogue elements first, for we may only have one chance against the others."

Ochazuke stood by the brook, his meditation field extended over the meady, integrated deeply in the roots, through the rock and the very life energy that fed through the planet, and his sublime sense saw the expansive host of every living being on the planet.

"Sakin, Alakazah, Genesis...Ishtar. They think that they would destroy reality with only a whim. By right of their strength or subterfuge, they would take it by any means necessary," he said as he overlooked Victory City on the horizon.

"You hear those voices? There are countless more out there just like them who strive only to live, believing in themselves...now us in each other."

He turned back to Maiz and offered a hand in friendship.

"From on high, they tried it once, and mortals rebuilt life from their ruin. It's time that the Old Gods remember what it truly means to take on the Universe."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Well, they've kept their distance for the most part," Spopovich shrugged. "Suppose it can't be helped, really. The last time this many different peoples were gathered in the same place, the Junjo, as I understand it, were selling them by the bushel."

With that, the Chief of Goodwill Mission Security lift his gloved hand, taking Pois' for a minute, and gingerly deposited a data disk into it.

"A proposal to build a Stargate in Saiyan Space, for your consideration. We'll run it by the guys in the Nevadian Federation to prep the road here. If your scientists want to see what a hadron collider the size of a small moon can do for light and heavy industry, we can prepare some accommodation if your R&D wants to take a look."

He looked into her eyes, his gaze steely, and a strange smile on his face before he gently released her.

"Ah, but for now, Miss Pois, now tell me where can a traveler get a dark ale around here?"

Pois looked at the data chip Spopovich placed in her hand. It contained a proposal to build a stargate right there in Saiyan space. The moment Sarada returned from Callion, Pois would give it to her. Personally, she saw no reason why they wouldn't or shouldn't want one of their one. Then again, that could very well change when they visited Earth's, but she highly doubted it.

"Thank you, Mr. Spopovich. I'll make sure Her Highness receives this as soon as she returns later today."

From the sound of it thus far, a star station fell right in line with Sarada's efforts to expand the Saiyans' influence by way of forming alliances with other races. There was no easier way to have face to face conversations with planetary leaders than to have them be a simple fold in space away.

As for those drinks... "We have a wide variety of bars and pubs on Langal. But, if you want the good stuff, I'll have it ready for you by the time we get back to your ship." As she spoke, she sent a message to one of the palace servants to deliver a bottle of dark ale to the docking station. "You're in luck. We have some Nevadian ale in stock."

"Interesting. Zaofan told me he'd conveyed the principles, I'd have to evaluate their progress to see how far along they are."

It wasn't quite as simple as putting two people together, or even as linear a process as that. They're the ones with children, one way or another they've figured that out for themselves.

"Perhaps Avoca would be open to discussing the training strategy."

"I'll let her know you wish to collaborate with her," Maiz said. "She's organizing construction on Sarada right now, but she'll be back by tonight."

"In addition, there is the matter of the Ulthan. As we stand right now, we have started the foundation of what we need to find Sakin, but there is much training yet to be done still. Yet the Ulthan, they've schemed to move against us out of fear. Their leader, the Lord Forger was indisposed, but the others are yet accounted for...and where they stand. It may be prudent to account for these rogue elements first, for we may only have one chance against the others."

Ochazuke stood by the brook, his meditation field extended over the meady, integrated deeply in the roots, through the rock and the very life energy that fed through the planet, and his sublime sense saw the expansive host of every living being on the planet.

"Sakin, Alakazah, Genesis...Ishtar. They think that they would destroy reality with only a whim. By right of their strength or subterfuge, they would take it by any means necessary," he said as he overlooked Victory City on the horizon.

"You hear those voices? There are countless more out there just like them who strive only to live, believing in themselves...now us in each other."

He turned back to Maiz and offered a hand in friendship.

"From on high, they tried it once, and mortals rebuilt life from their ruin. It's time that the Old Gods remember what it truly means to take on the Universe."

The list of enemies was long and seemingly never-ending. While the M-Fighters were more than capable of handling any one of them, having them all close in from all sides threatened to be overwhelming. The way of the warrior only ended in one of two ways: victory or death. If she had anything to do about it, the former would be the only option. But, she didn't and it wasn't. All she could do was make sure she did her part and ensure that Sarada and Parsley were as prepared as they could possibly be. Anything beyond that was up to them themselves.

She nodded one and took his hand firmly. "They appear to be content with underestimating us. Show them the error of that thinking."

[KingofPie]

"Well, we're all done on our end!" P-Sta reported, as he and P-Cee flew in, Dr. Cast and St-Eam's location in the mall.

"Us too!" N-Ten stated as she and X-Bo did the same.

"Yes...and it seems we must figure out our next move," Dr. Cast noted, glancing back up at the darkened skies and the blue spiral starting to rapidly encircle it. . "We may have to wait for back up. I'm afraid I don't know how we'll confront something like that..."

"FOOLS! a voice began to ruble as a humanoid figure emerged from a nearby mound of cheddar. "Brie very afraid! Beware the guyere, for I have revived!" Bio-Jagam claimed, smirking with great hatred and malice. "Perhaps you have forgotten, despite my cheesy visage, there is still a part of me that is of those reprehensible Saiyans. But allow me to show you the next step. Now this....is Supper Saiyan...." the cheese-ridden monstocity trailed off, his hair spiking up as his energy increased dramatically. "And this....is Supper Saiyan-BLARRGHRGRHRRHRHR!" he scattered, unable to finish his sentence as he was blasted into seperate cheesy chunks by the recently arrived Sasheem.

"Go stuff yourself in a can, cheese-whiz, Sasheem needs to talk with these goofs," The Majin stated, folding his arms as he glanced at the Katchin-Squad, raising an eyebrow. "Wait...why do you idiots all look different? ...And why are you stronger? ...And who's the kid?!" Sasheem questioned.

"We got upgrades, they gave us a boost, this is our younger brother, but we've got bigger things to worry about!" N-Ten answered, pointing at the sky.

"Where did you go anyway? One of them mentioned you met with their leader?" P-Cee questioned.

"Yeah, and we didn't quite see eye to eye. Sasheem's back for round two though..." the Majin noted, looking up at the sky. "The hell's going on anyway."

"I don't know, it all happened in an instant. All of the sudden the skies went dark and that human shows up, surfing across a temporal current circulating across the planet and potentially our universe!" P-Sta exclaimed.

"....Surfing, huh," Sasheem noted. "Well..." he sighed taking a pair of sunglasses from a fallen stand, spinning them around his finger, before placing them on his face. "Guess that only leaves me one option." Sasheem turned around as soemthing else was brought to the assembled group's attention. All of the cheese in the area, all of it....was beginning to all be drawn in one direction. Bio-Jagam was harnessing the power of cheese and recalling all that he had spread throughout the city and letting them all formulate on himself.

Jagam grew massive, higher than the mall and beginning to tower over the other buildings in the city. "Enough! ENOOUGUGH!" the muenster shouted now barely recognizable as even Jagam. "Forget the plan! I'm tired of this humiliation! I'll put an end to you all!"

"Think you morons can handle the leftovers?" Sasheem pointed a thumb behind him.

"Yeah, we got it covered shrimp head," St-Eam stated, giving Sasheem a thumbs up.

Sasheem gave off an irritated scowl before speeding off towards the sky. Before he was placed in that limbo realm, he had planted a Cobra Curse on Xuan Wu. With that in mind he could launch a venomous ki blade that would hone in on Xuan Wu's direction. And when combined with a Samehada....

Sasheem leaped onboard the ki blast as it rocketed towards the skies and skirted across the temporal current, rapidly catching up with the culprit behind these time aberrations. "HEY, CUEBALL!" Sasheem called out, quickly catching up, surfing opposite to the fallen monk. "You ready for round 2?"

***

"Dr. Cast, looks like we'll need Katchin Robo!" X-Bo proclaimed.

"Hmm...perhaps later. But I'd like you all to test out a new battle platform I've developed. Something akin to the next generation of Katchin Robo. If you don't mind!"

"If we can finally put a stop to that mozzarella menace all the faster, than we're ready when you are, Doctor!" P-Sta nodded confidently.

"Indeed..." Dr. Cast smiled, pressing a button on his watch. "Activate, DaiKatchinOh!" Each of the Katchi-Katchin Squadron's belts began to blink with a gold light as each were transported to their new fighting machines. P-Sta and N-Ten were transported to a freight train and bullet train respectively, dashing across parallel sets of railroad tracks headed directly towards the city. P-Cee dashed through the road in a speeding race car while Dr. Cast was right behind her in a firetruck! And lastly X-Bo and St-Eam took to the skies in a helicopter a stealth plane!

"Katchin Machine 1, ready!" P-Sta relayed.

"Katchin Machine 2, ready!" N-Ten replied.

Both of their trains stood up, using the front cab as feet for it's makeshift legs.

"Katchin Machine 3, ready!" P-Cee announced as X-Bo dropped a pair of magnet-cables that lifted P-CEE's car up as it locked into place between the two trains as the body.

"Katchin Machine 4, ready!" Dr. Cast shouted as X-Bo's cables lifted the firetruck up, turning it sideways as it extended into arms.

"Katchin Machine 5, ready!" X-Bo sounded off as he helicopter transformed into the mecha's head.

"Katchin Machine 6, locked in and ready to go go!" St-Eam grinned as his stealth fighter landed and formed a crown atop DaiKatchinOh's head.

"The Metallic Emperor! DaiKatchinOh!"



"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU CALL YOUR ROBOT! I'LL TEAR IT FROM LIMB TO LIMBURGER!" the massive cheese mutation beloowed, his voice echoing and reverbing as cheese spittle flew out of his cavernous mouths.

"Danger levels pointing to 'Dangerous Cheesy' here..." P-Sta noted, glancing to gauge to his left. "Let's see just what this baby can do..." As he spoke, Bio-Jagam launched several meteor-rite shaped objects from his mouth. Molten Cheese Comets. "Raise, Katchi-Katchin Blast Shield!" he shouted as a shield materialized in the mecha's hand, armed with several barrels surrounding it's hull.

From the shield a forcefield was projected letting the cheese comets splatter upon it harmlessly, without harming the rest of the Earth behind it. "Let's try and minimize the damage from this big cheeseball as much we can!" N-Ten called out. "Launching Big Bad Beeteor Missiles!" She shouted as the robot fired a volley of missiles of it's own, each coming into contact with Bio-Jagam's continued cheesy projectiles, but arriving at far greater speed and volume!

Eventually the missiles pelted the mutated hybrid's cheesy hull and he screamed in pain, his cheesy skin starting to bubbler up and boil. Lashing out wildly, he began to plant his arms into the ground. Beneath him, everything began to quake and shake. and before the Katchin Squad knew it, a tidal wave of cheese was cascading towards them. "YOU WILL LEARN TO COWER BEFORE THE CAMEMBERT!"

"He's not learning much....but I suppose that's what happens when your brain is queso blanco!" P-Cee noted, pressing a button on her side. "Activate, Emperor Sword!"

"Alright, alright..." X-Bo leaned back, cracking his fingers before getting his hands on the controls. "Let's see how this thing's swordsmanship holds up....Initiating the Saber Cyclone!"



Within seconds the cheesy tidal wave was cleaved in half, with the top half, falling backwards, splashing back onto Jagam, who at his current size was moving too slow to interact. "YOU RICOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" the cheese-ridden clone so
at back in surprise.

"Think that's it, ya big dorito doofus?" St-Eam taunted. "This time, we're coming for you!"

"Indeed!" Dr. Cast agreed, pushing a lever forward. "Rail Sliders are a go! Building up to full speed!" Below the feet of the mecha more tracks began to form as it's feet alighted down upon them and it began to slide across the tracks, picking up more and more speed as it neared closer and closer to Bio-Jagam.



"Great Galactic Ring!"

A giant ring appeared before the robot as it slid through the tracks. Any attack shot through the ring would have unedeniable, unquantifiable power, though it's usage requires a long recharge that could potentially last from a week to several months! It was a last resort, but it may be the only way to fully put a stop to this ever regenerating, vengeful Neufchatel Nightmare!"

"Alright.....AAAAAANNNNNNNNNND!" the Robot's sword, passed through the ring, and with that action it gained a sharper edge, bigger stature and was enhanced with the entire team's energy.

"KATCHI-KATCHIN REVERB SLICE!" the group called out in unison, cleaving Bio-Jagam in two. The ripples of the blades energy striking through his entire body.

"No....no. I deserved....so much more..." Bio-Jagam gurgled, heat building up in his body. "I am the Roquefort Rogue, the Prince of the Parmesan...I have no....expiration date..." he stated, briething his last before the resulting explosion took him away from this plane of existance.

"What a sad creature...." Doctor Cast noted. "He was born into this world through cruel means beyond his control twice and never had a chance...."

"Dr. Cast..."

"Wait..."

"Don't!"

"Not yet!"

"We're not ready!"

"...to see the Gouda in it," Dr. Cast concluded.

[Miburo]

The Nevadian's training with the Angelic Duo was fruitful. Perhaps the most fruitful training of his life.

Over the past few months, he had began to unlock the intricacies of arcane powers that he was at best vaguely aware of beforehand. In some cases, he was not even so fortunate as to be vaguely aware.

Both his mind, and his sight were able to perceive the truth with a clarity that was breathtaking, mind blowing even.

His strength, his speed, his skill...All had grown by leaps and bounds. His teamwork with Crazy Horse, his spearmanship, his affinity for magical and unarmed arts...It was so that the Held of today would be embarrassed to be in the same room with the Held of old.

Even in the art of negotiation and diplomacy, as well as other battles of wit an intrigue, Whis and Vados were apparently immensely skilled. It essentially came with their role as attendants, and they were quite good at it. It was rare to find the Nevadian argued into a corner, and yet, it now became so commonplace that it barely registered with him.

It was certainly a fruitful, peaceful time. A nice reprieve from the drudgery of command that weighed down his life. The Nevadian was quite aware of his body attempting to summon him back within it. It was fairly difficult to resist the pull at times, even with the means he had devised to keep himself anchored in the afterlife a bit longer.

It had been months since he had passed on. Six? Seven? a year? Two? Held lost track of time. Perhaps in the third month, his body began summoning him. And failing, through no fault of its own.

It was only a matter of time until his methods to avoid life were unsuccessful, and he found himself thrust into the land of the living once more.

And yet, for all the progress the Nevadian had made, all the power at his disposal....

Whis might as well have been facing Held with his eyes closed. Sometimes, he actually did, when he was feeling cheeky. He was usually too polite for that. Vados was less considerate, more often than not.

It was positively infuriating to the Nevadian.

When one was blessed with the insight of the Shingan, very little was left to the imagination. And even that little that remained was being discovered by the Nevadian.

One could imagine Held's frustration when all his Shingan revealed was just how flawless his opponent was. Each new insight discovered simply painted a more elaborate picture of how perfect his opponents were.

They moved almost effortlessly, seemingly without thought, on pure intuition alone. Every clever gambit, every brilliant technique refined, and refined again.....

He might as well have been throwing straw into the wind, for all the effectiveness he had against them.

Even Crazy Horn had been humbled before the two, his own countless ages of combat unable to best either warrior.

He could understand--on some level---what they were doing, if not quite how they were doing it. And that made no difference, for perhaps the first time in a long time.

Laying in a smoldering crater next to the Lord of The Sunlit Planes (Who would never allow himself to lay in a prone position while conscious, stoically standing and his white fur was singed from combat), Held finally reached an unavoidable conclusion.

"You're cheating." Held said finally, coughing violently between breaths, "I don't know how, but I know that you are."

"Oh, come now!" Whis replied, smiling in amusement, "You shouldn't be so down on yourself. You've come quite along way....Besides, it's to be expected that you would struggle against an angelic technique."

"....So it was a technique?" Held asked, still catching his breath, "I was starting to think this is just....how you are."

"It's both." Vados interjected helpfully, "For angels such as ourselves, maintaining Ultra Instinct at all times is a simple matter."

"....Ultra Instinct...?" Held repeated, "That's what you're doing? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

The pair looked at each other, before looking at the Nevadian.

Vados answered the question, "Honestly, we figured you would ask us what we were doing sooner or later, and didn't want to insult your pride...."

Whis laughed once more, "We didn't expect you to be so...dedicated to your training as to avoid broaching the topic as long as you did! But perhaps that motivation helped you progress as far as you did!"

Crazy Horn snorted. He said nothing, but Held could sense the derision directed at him.

....No wonder I wasn't having any success trying to imitate them. An angelic technique? It's probably out of my pay grade....

"....I suppose we should actually bother to explain to you how the intricacies of such things, although we get the impression you've seen enough that you should be able to figure it out sooner or later. You see---"

The Nevadian's Focus was interrupted by an unseen force pulling him off the ground, and towards the stratosphere.

Gripping his chest, the Nevadian created a spike of energy which rapidly grew in size, the tip plunging hundreds of feet downwards into the earth below. A golden hole of glowing energy manifested behind him, as he desperately tried to keep himself tethered to the afterlife.

"Not now!" Held growled, his body choosing the worst possible time to call him, "This is important!"

The light grew in it's radiance, informing the Nevadian of how little it cared. It was voracious in its desire for it's prey, emitting a suction force that would make a black hole proud.

"Ohhoho! Vados, who do you think will win this time? I thought for sure Held's soul would lose against....err..Held's body, but he's really been giving it his all!"

"I don't know, Whis....He seemed rather demoralized a moment ago. I think we might actually have to say our farewells in earnest this time!"

....This is not helping, guys!

This was the end.

Held could feel it in the bones of his soul. His body would no longer be denied it's essence. His grip loosened on the energy spike, as the invisible vacuum increased in power, the Nevadian barely holding on with a single hand, fluttering like a flag in the the midst of a mighty wind.

The Angelic Pair floated upwards towards Held, looking over his predicament curiously.

"Alas, all good things must come to an end, it seems." Whis said with a sigh, " I suppose we'll have to continue this lesson another time."

"It's not like I can set up an appointment...." Held muttered between clenched teeth, doing his best in vain to resist the inevitable.

"Well, you never know, Held." Vados replied with a polite smile, "If you play your cards right, I'm certain we shall meet again."

"Actually...." Whis chuckled, "From he's told us, it was the fact that he played his card very poorly that lead him to us in the first place!"

Whis laughed loudly at the clever joke he had made at his 'cousins' expense.

"So, I suppose we'll meet again sooner or later, unless your training here was enough to make you a perfect warrior...Or perhaps the state of your sealed universe has become less troublesome than it was when you left." he continued.

Held admitted to himself he hadn't the slightest clue how things were now back in his world. Reshlan had been liberated, and there were no threats on the horizon...But there always seemed to be something or other.

"...Which is unlikely." Vados interjected, "Sealed universes are sealed for a reason, you know."

"And, as no mortal has ever reached perfection, I imagine that a warrior of your stature may wind up here sooner than you think." Whis added with a smile. "Of course, you are always welcome here."

"Indeed!" Vados added with a smile of her own, "It has been quite nice to have a change of company, if only for a bit."

The Nevadian would have given a farewell of his own in turn, were he able. They were so kind to him, treated him so well, and taught him so much. There was no way he would be able to express his gratitude to them both.

Literally. So great was the force exerted upon his body, that he could barely grunt in acknowledgement as his grip strength faded despite his best efforts.

With great effort, his head managed to break free from the gravitational force that held conquered him, locking eyes with his friends for several moments.

Well, it looks like my vacation is over again. Thank you, Whis. Thank you Vados.

Taking a deep breath, the Nevadian closed his eyes, and released his grip on the Soul Spike.

His essence was ejected out of the atmosphere in the blink of an eye, a golden aura enveloping his spirit as it transformed into a streak of light.