Dragonball M, Chapter 5: Clarion’s Call! The Signal! The Fate of the Universes!

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The Nevadians death glare was cut short, the golden rays of Charco's manueveur being bright and radiant enough to disrupt his train of thought.

Perhaps on some level, he welcomed the distraction. He knew that, logically, Praxat was not to blame for his injuries, she was merely unlucky enough to be one of the last things he had seen before his mortal wounds were administered.

"Charco!" Held exclaimed, happy to see his good friend, "How have you----"

He paused, clearly concerned.

"Charco! You Bastard!" He shouted, now clearly annoyed, "What the hell are you doing to my ship?!? I just got it back and you're going to wreck--"



"Oh." Held said sheepishly with a laugh. "Nevermind then. I guess i'm still a bit sensitive since that one that Saiyan with the huge ass decimated my inventory and my ship ..."

He shrugged, before jumping off the hull of the ship, landing gracefully on the outlook.

He was poised to say something, before his full attention was focused upon the Gotengo.

The magnificent drill like horn--admittedly hastily attached to the hull of the ship-- glistened like a beacon, a symbol of power made manifest. Held could only imagine the penetrative power such a vessel was capable of.

How the hell have I never thought of this?! It's brillant!

He continued to stare at the gotengo in reverant awe. "Ingenious. Absolutely ingenious. Did Jinzi make this?"

He shook his head.

"No....It's a great idea, and the ship looks pretty solid as well, but horn--err, drill---attachment is a bit rough around the edges...I like to think Jinzi's craftsmanship and ego wouldn't allow him to skimp out on the wielding..."

Jack Knave walks up, having just arrived and shakes his head.

“Nah, this ship is Ochazuke’s pride and joy. A defender of the Earth, her first proper warship.”

He nods.

“Just arrived too, Held? I just got back from Otherworld.”

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Jack Knave walks up, having just arrived and shakes his head.

“Nah, this ship is Ochazuke’s pride and joy. A defender of the Earth, her first proper warship.”

He nods.

“Just arrived too, Held? I just got back from Otherworld.”

Praxat senses Jack with her sense of electroreception and with the information forms a mental image of him in her head. She then turns to face him. " Hi, Jack. Oh, It's Ochazuke’s, never pegged him for an engineer," Praxat said.

" Otherworld huh, what's it like? " Praxat said.

[grampagen]

Koorimaru crosse his arms, but eventually nods in agreement.

As Ochazuke puts out his call and awaits responses, an eerie quiet fills the air. Eventually, a familiar voice responds back.

“Meagan Pantaloon, Guardian of Chroma. We still, now and always, stand with Earth.”

Another voice answers back.

“Edan Mourn, Galaxy Police. We stand with ya, Earth. Just point the way.”

More and more affirmations start to pour in, from strangers to old allies to distant planets.

“Breaker Charlie, yo, I’ll stand with’cha. Ain’t no pounced up nerd telling me what to do, ya se?”

“Cardinal Flaven, of the Promethean Home Security Forces. I am with you.”

“Guardian Nef.”

“Guardian Syn.”

“Elder Nail of Namek.”

“Haden of the Palantine.”

“Kyuubi of the Palantine.”

“Durga of the Palantine.”



On and on, familiar names from past exploits to allies across Earth and further claiming bondship with the cause. Dozens and than hundreds of voices called out.

The final confirmation comes from a half stuffed mouth it sounds like, though the voice is all too familiar. An old enemy now, apparently, an ally.

“Looks like I ain’t got a choice. Auroc of Taltok, I’ll fight with you.”


—————

Evan jerks back, eyes flashing.

“I found them!”

Even though his meditation field had been amplified where it intersected with these formidable cosmic energies, there was still more than a small measure of lingering doubt that hung over Ochazuke's head that in the initial silence, he'd hung his head, straining to detect a mote of anything.

The moment he heard the responses, from those echoing across the paths set out from the Guardians of the Universe to those received from the bridges laid out by the peoples who had the means to build them, a long sigh of relief left him.

Focusing just for a moment, but for the exception of Haden in the midst of the nebula from where he watched the universe and Durga whose voice reached him from parts he knew not where. He could feel it in the air; more than strength of those who still remained, victorious, but their font of will.

Could it be possible that this might match the power of the emergent Destroyer...?

And would Inanna even so much as glimpse this, wherever she was?

If this is to be a game of gods, angels and demons, then mortals will have to raise themselves to where they cannot be ignored.

Jack Knave walks up, having just arrived and shakes his head.

“Nah, this ship is Ochazuke’s pride and joy. A defender of the Earth, her first proper warship.”

He nods.

“Just arrived too, Held? I just got back from Otherworld.”

Ochazuke turned about face, stopping before the two of them for a moment.

"Do not be overlong. Reshlan awaits us."

Setting back into his seat upon the bridge of the Gotengo, its systems primed themselves for launch, while the cargo bay from its time as a trading vessel opened for any additional craft to board.

The revolution of these distant spheres amongst the stars had been shaken when Sakin spoke to draw upon their fear. Now slowly it began to turn where their unlikely alliances had aligned.

Silently, Ochazuke began to enact the final preparation. Every foundation began with a fixed point.

Sekai Jiku: Rasen.

To stop the erosion of the universe, at the edge of our hope...

Heka must flow.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

A hand, left behind amidst the carnage, suddenly flies up and punches Sarada so hard she is sent flying back and most certainly broke a few teeth. It floats in mid air and waves at her, before flicking Sarada off.

Sarada landed hard and skidded to a stop. Blood and dirt were smeared across her lips and chin. Her tongue instinctively ran across her teeth; she grimaced when she felt that several were missing, undoubtedly scattered across the battlefield. "************," she grumbled as she raised to a knee, only to find three people standing in front of her. "Oh. About time you showed up," she said, words garbled from the crude and sudden dental work she forcibly received.

Avoca bent down to help her to her feet while Parsley quickly appraised her injuries and the situation. "Where's the Destroyer?"

"A little bit of everywhere," she replied. "I blew her up and scattered her pieces through space. I guess I missed one." She and Avoca moved to flank SWS' severed hand, leaving Parsley behind. Her gaze fell on the appendage, Observational Focus looking to determine how much of her power was left in it.

"Be careful. It can still kill you in one hit," Sarada told Avoca as they landed. She then tried to capture it in a shield to keep it from getting away.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

OOC: Sorry for the massively delayed response. Been adjusting to a new job and various (positive) life changes.

IC: When Sarada had told him to seek out Neva, Totoma had acquiesced and retreated. He handed next to Neva and her mother, the black... energy or whatever slowly covering his body, causing it to go cold and numb.

"So, uh... Neva, think you can do something about this? I think it's magic, and I don't know much about that stuff." Although he could now apparently sense it, if he really strained himself, so that was... something, he guessed. Not useful in this situation, but whatever.

Nevanlinna walked over to him and examined the energy. "...I can try. If not for its source, you could perhaps simply overwhelm it with large amounts of ki--brute force it--but that is certainly not an option. A more finessed approach might work..." Her aura burst into existence, then burst into flames. Placing her hands together, the Aura of Fire flowed off her body and concentrated into her hand. Giving it a moment to stabilize, she then wove Hozon into the fiery ball of ki and magic.

"Alright, now perform that Kizuna of yours with me. Focus, in particular, on syncronizing your energy with mine. When I drive it into you, make it your own and.. hm, how to put this in a way you'll understand..." Nevanlinna paused for a moment. "...oh, just power up after that."

"...ok." Totoma took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reached out to Nevanlinna with the Kizuna. What he felt was... odd? Her ki was there, and spiritually she was there, but the mental part was... not? It was like she was mentally invisible or something. Weird and troubling, because without that, the Kizuna was incomplete. After a moment, however, something answered the call, and Totoma was struck with a sense of... immensity? A weird way to describe it, but whatever it was, he could feel that he was connected to Neva mentally now... albeit through this... whatever it was.

Never look a gift hog in the mouth, as they say.

Sensing the kizuna was fully formed, Nevanlinna gave Totoma a few moments to further syncronize the two of them, then placed the magic-ki-hozon fire onto his chest and willed it into the half-saiyan. Whether or not he could make it his own and use it to expel or burn away SWS' attack was up to him now.

The 'attack' being forced into him elicited a sharp inhale from Totoma, and soon his chest began to burn. It wasn't a painful burn, if that made sense... wasn't pleasant, either, but more importantly, he felt something there. Focusing his will, he wove together his own energies with the mass of Neva's ki, magic, and... something else in there. He wasn't sure quite what it was, because he couldn't actually sense it, but he could feel it.

Which made no sense to him, because sensing was all about feeling and...

Gah, he was getting distracted!

At first, he geared himself up to brute-force his way out of this effect, but then he got an idea!

The gifted energies, interlaced and one with his own ki and psychic energies flowed outward, enveloping SWS' attack. Insulated and filtered by Neva's gifted technique, he focused his will and used the Kizuna... to syncronize his energy with SWS' isolated attack. While he was super strong in this form, he was still way out of his league in this fight... so why not try to make a bit of the enemy's power into his own?

...he wasn't even sure this would work, and it would probably be way safer to just try to dispel or expel it. It was probably crazy to even try, but he was nothing if not crazy!

[Miburo]

" About time you came out of that hotrod spaceship of yours, Held. I want to say this to you, Held. Thank you, because of you and Zaofan. I was able to unlock a new form that I call overclock," Praxat said.

" Since you been gone, I have joined the Galaxy Police, I been to places. One of the places I have been to was my grandmother's home planet Amperior. There I met my grandmother's uncle. He became a mentor to me after I fought him and lost," Praxat said.

" I gave it everything I had when I fought him, but I was just no match for him. The technique he used to defeat me would have killed me if I didn't have an affinity to electromagnetic energy," Praxat said.

Held blinked blankly as Praxat addressed him. It appeared as if she had been up to quite a bit in the time that had transpired since they last met. Something about Galaxy police here, Amperior there, duels and training....

"Well, yes." Held replied, instinctively nodding his head at words that sounded like they made a grammatically correct sentence if nothing else to him, "I'm glad you got something from our time together, even if it was cut a bit shor---"

Praxat turns her attention to the Gotengo," I agree it's a brilliant ship. I wished I had designed it. Makes your ship look lame by comparison. Not that your starship is lame, it's a hot rod, so it's cool, but this ship is just on another level," Praxat said.

Praxat is wearing what looks to be samurai-type clothing with strange symbols on it on top of a Galaxy Police uniform. It seems like Praxat's thighs have gotten thicker. This is a result of her GP training under Miras Thane and having to wear Ki inhibitor during her GP training. " When I joined the GP, it was under a GP apprenticeship under Miras Thane for the first few months of GP training," Praxat said.

The right eye of the Nevadian twitched slightly, specks of blood red beginning to herald the manifestation of his Shingan. Absently, almost reflexively his body considered loosing a burst of Kiai at the grave insult. Through discipline and grace, the Nevadian avoided annihilating the Toadian at a glance for her transgression.

Besides. He had heard worse. It was probably still sore feelings on his end.

He simply decided to ignore the jibe. It was only becoming of a warrior of his station, after all.

Praxat continued on, saying something about joining the GP, mentioning a name vaguely familiar to him.

"...Miras, huh?" Held replied, nodding, somewhat impressed. "She was pretty good with a sword from what I recall."

Jack Knave walks up, having just arrived and shakes his head.

“Nah, this ship is Ochazuke’s pride and joy. A defender of the Earth, her first proper warship.”

He nods.

“Just arrived too, Held? I just got back from Otherworld.”

"I think 'Better late than never' is the saying here on earth, right?" Held inquired, smiling as he met up with his old friend "I'm just doing my best to take after the locals..."

He turned away for a moment, before muttering something under his breath.

"That, and apparently I needed to stretch before doing anything nowadays..."

"Otherworld eh? You and me both it seems. I've been on a...uhh......"

He grimaced slightly, remembering the hellish training he endured to protect the sanctity of his anal cavity from Crazy Horn 'encouraging' him to live up to the expectations of the angels.

"....Let's say I was on a sabbatical in Otherworld. Or something close to it."

He turned his gaze to the ship once more, anxious to change the subject.

"....A warship, huh?" Held repeated, stroking his chin, "I guess it's about time.....You earthlings certainly don't love being babysat, I'll give you that."

Not that they're wrong to feel that way.....Earth, Nevada, Vocado and the others might be on peaceful terms right now, but who knows what the future holds....If nothing else, Willa was right to be weary of entrusting the fate of this planet to others completely, at least.

"...Think he'll let me take it for a test drive later?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The work of cataloguing the dead on Ruco and Sarada, contacting families, and disposing of the corpses littering the ground was time-consuming and tedious. The emotion was absent, for whatever that was worth. For the few in the know, the dragonballs removed a bit of the sting of losing a loved one. For those ignorant, death in the heat of battle was the prime means of death for almost every Saiyan, so as far as they were concerned, their brethren died with honor and were to be celebrated.

Maiz got the task started, then delegated the responsibility to others. She swiftly returned to her temple on Sarada to check on the other worlds and make sure they hadn't suffered the same fate as Sarada, let alone Ruco. There were small portals in her guardian chamber that connected her with each planet, allowing her to spread her senses there. She wasn't just the guardian of Sarada, previously Vocado; she was the guardian of the entire Empire. She wasn't sure if that was allowed or even possible, but she had been making along just fine and no one told her to stop. Anyway, her needs necessitated that some innovations be made.

As she checked on world after world, she found that for the most part, they were doing as well as could have been expected. Some damage needed to be cleaned up and some loss of life, but all in all, nothing on the level of Ruco. She let out a sigh of relief and cut of the connections. "The damage can be rebuilt, and the dead will have their honor and dignity. Maybe we won't need the dragonballs after all." It was a constant debate she had with the Council about when to use the balls. Obviously, they didn't want to abuse them, as they were a great boon that bore a heavy responsibility. Leaning on them as a crutch to undo every instance of dead - even mass death - was something she wanted to avoid. She knew Sarada felt the same way.

"The Earth still stands. Against Sakin, who will stand with us?"

"Oh dear." Earth survived. She wasn't sure what threats they were up against, but it stood tall against the test Sakin through against it. It came as no surprise; from what she had heard, they had been making large strides to catch up with the rest of the galaxy. Sakin posed a challenge the likes of which the universe had never seen and tossed at the feet of the M Fighters, and they prevailed. The gods themselves were forced to bear witness to the collective might of the mortals they thought little to nothing of. Maiz couldn't fight on the caliber of her daughters, but she could help in her own way.

"Guardian Maiz and the Saiyans stand with you."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Held blinked blankly as Praxat addressed him. It appeared as if she had been up to quite a bit in the time that had transpired since they last met. Something about Galaxy police here, Amperior there, duels and training....

"Well, yes." Held replied, instinctively nodding his head at words that sounded like they made a grammatically correct sentence if nothing else to him, "I'm glad you got something from our time together, even if it was cut a bit shor---"




The right eye of the Nevadian twitched slightly, specks of blood red beginning to herald the manifestation of his Shingan. Absently, almost reflexively his body considered loosing a burst of Kiai at the grave insult. Through discipline and grace, the Nevadian avoided annihilating the Toadian at a glance for her transgression.

Besides. He had heard worse. It was probably still sore feelings on his end.

He simply decided to ignore the jibe. It was only becoming of a warrior of his station, after all.

Praxat continued on, saying something about joining the GP, mentioning a name vaguely familiar to him.

"...Miras, huh?" Held replied, nodding, somewhat impressed. "She was pretty good with a sword from what I recall."





"I think 'Better late than never' is the saying here on earth, right?" Held inquired, smiling as he met up with his old friend "I'm just doing my best to take after the locals..."

He turned away for a moment, before muttering something under his breath.

"That, and apparently I needed to stretch before doing anything nowadays..."

"Otherworld eh? You and me both it seems. I've been on a...uhh......"

He grimaced slightly, remembering the hellish training he endured to protect the sanctity of his anal cavity from Crazy Horn 'encouraging' him to live up to the expectations of the angels.

"....Let's say I was on a sabbatical in Otherworld. Or something close to it."

He turned his gaze to the ship once more, anxious to change the subject.

"....A warship, huh?" Held repeated, stroking his chin, "I guess it's about time.....You earthlings certainly don't love being babysat, I'll give you that."

Not that they're wrong to feel that way.....Earth, Nevada, Vocado and the others might be on peaceful terms right now, but who knows what the future holds....If nothing else, Willa was right to be weary of entrusting the fate of this planet to others completely, at least.

"...Think he'll let me take it for a test drive later?"

Praxat senses this with her electroreception and slowly backs away but then stops. As if predicting Held's actions," Yeah, she is, but I didn't learn swordsmanship from her. I learned it from my grandmother's uncle. He's an extraordinary swordsman and, he trained me in the martial arts/hunting style of his family, Mcfrog style Electromagnetokinetic Combat," Praxat said.

" It has six sword styles, but I only know two of them. I learned a lot from my grandmother's uncle. He showed me the true nature of Bio-Electromagnokinesis," Praxat said.

" Oh, sorry for insulting your spaceship, Held," Praxat said.

[grampagen]

"Oh dear." Earth survived. She wasn't sure what threats they were up against, but it stood tall against the test Sakin through against it. It came as no surprise; from what she had heard, they had been making large strides to catch up with the rest of the galaxy. Sakin posed a challenge the likes of which the universe had never seen and tossed at the feet of the M Fighters, and they prevailed. The gods themselves were forced to bear witness to the collective might of the mortals they thought little to nothing of. Maiz couldn't fight on the caliber of her daughters, but she could help in her own way.

"Guardian Maiz and the Saiyans stand with you."

One voice stood out among the rest, and his attention zeroed in on Maiz. A mirthless smile fell upon Ochazuke's face as he replied.

"May it be well with us all, then, for our fight has only begun."

That was the last message he'd left to the gathered collective. Slowly dialing down the instruments, he could still feel them, but let them fall distant one by one until only Maiz and Evangeline remained among the listening Guardians.

"Evangeline's found a lead on Cancer and the children she's stolen away with. That will be next, provided we survive what comes next."

Come what may, for that was not the only new tidings he'd bring at this moment.

"...I felt an emergence through the realms. Unlike the others, this was different, it wasn't part of the initial Calling," he said. "Seems that she'd fallen into death, but this did not stop her. Inanna's returned and forced her way out of Hell."

After confirming others still stood to the fight, it would be, at best, a mixed blesisng, this bad revelation with the illest of intentions.

"Though I could sense her return...I cannot reach her, I doubt any of us here can." he said ponderously.

"However, should we can draw her notice, perhaps we may yet be able to draw her out."

Come what may, they'd already heard another summons to help. If they had no Destroyer of their own, they would see to this themselves.

"We'd known the risks for a year, and we're prepared to deal with them. Should the worst happen, it falls to the rest of you to keep the Universe, our Universe, alive."

"I think 'Better late than never' is the saying here on earth, right?" Held inquired, smiling as he met up with his old friend "I'm just doing my best to take after the locals..."

He turned away for a moment, before muttering something under his breath.

"That, and apparently I needed to stretch before doing anything nowadays..."

"Otherworld eh? You and me both it seems. I've been on a...uhh......"

He grimaced slightly, remembering the hellish training he endured to protect the sanctity of his anal cavity from Crazy Horn 'encouraging' him to live up to the expectations of the angels.

"....Let's say I was on a sabbatical in Otherworld. Or something close to it."

He turned his gaze to the ship once more, anxious to change the subject.

"....A warship, huh?" Held repeated, stroking his chin, "I guess it's about time.....You earthlings certainly don't love being babysat, I'll give you that."

Not that they're wrong to feel that way.....Earth, Nevada, Vocado and the others might be on peaceful terms right now, but who knows what the future holds....If nothing else, Willa was right to be weary of entrusting the fate of this planet to others completely, at least.

"...Think he'll let me take it for a test drive later?"

"It was originally a trading vessel, if you can believe it," Zaofan chimed in. Crossing the way to Held, he fell his hands wide open to the sides. "Funny thing about the Big Ghetti Star, with that much automated engineering behind him Jinzi could go from schematics to testing almost as fast as he could think it! That guy's always ran with an idea as soon as he gets it...but who'd have thought Ochazuke would be part of R&D though?"

Corralling their company into the starship and leading the way into the control bridge, the Chef winced; the inner hull still bore huge scars where some hideous thing had pierced through it, but when the reached the control consoles - the instruments in the analogue pilot seats in the shape of GP standard but arranged in the configuration of a Nevadian Navigator - there were thin spatters of blood on the instruments from the previous crew, and he'd known they'd been in a fight.

Yet though the various instruments remained unattended to, the engines thrummed and screens flickered online, and communications from far off places were live.

At the bridge's centre, Ochazuke had taken his seat in the pilot's chair, and the Gotengo animated according to his will.

"...guess this'll be a ride and impromptu dock if need be," Zaofan continued, "find a seat."

_____

Taking off from the Lookout and the parting in the Planetary Defense Shield, the Gotengo rose from the planet it was designed to protect and moved toward the Nevadian Stargate suspended outside of the Big Ghetti Star.

Picking up on the coded frequency beamed from the ship, the mechanical ring surged with power, sychronizing with the approaching vessel as it plotted a course between two points in folded space and expanded a glowing white portal. Steering the passage through, it carried the M fighters from more familiar surroundings to the latest outpost.

Here, at the edge of the maps charted by the Nevadian star cartographers, in the last year it had been the laneway for traders to set down to port.

From Federation to this outpost on the frontier, the Stargate carried their path over the ringed world where they'd avenged the Earth - and where this fracture in their ranks had began.

"It seems the Threshling and Saiyans both have stolen to the thick of the fighting," Ochazuke's thoughts projected through the bridge comms. Immediately, the Gotengo signaled their allies below through their comms that they had arrived.

They'd emerged some distance away from the planet proper. Now approached the Reshlan sphere, from outside of the terra firma, Ochazuke immediately began to put the ships instruments to work in analyzing the storms upon its surface as he surveyed the planet, and the diagnostic screens translated his sense-awareness into facsimile analytics onto its radar.

Kyokushin Keihatsu surveyed the planetary storm, and slowly, he began to unravel the true nature of their opponent, the unnamed God of Destruction known only as She Who Stalks.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Sarada landed hard and skidded to a stop. Blood and dirt were smeared across her lips and chin. Her tongue instinctively ran across her teeth; she grimaced when she felt that several were missing, undoubtedly scattered across the battlefield. "************," she grumbled as she raised to a knee, only to find three people standing in front of her. "Oh. About time you showed up," she said, words garbled from the crude and sudden dental work she forcibly received.

Avoca bent down to help her to her feet while Parsley quickly appraised her injuries and the situation. "Where's the Destroyer?"

"A little bit of everywhere," she replied. "I blew her up and scattered her pieces through space. I guess I missed one." She and Avoca moved to flank SWS' severed hand, leaving Parsley behind. Her gaze fell on the appendage, Observational Focus looking to determine how much of her power was left in it.

"Be careful. It can still kill you in one hit," Sarada told Avoca as they landed. She then tried to capture it in a shield to keep it from getting away.

A lot.

In fact, all of it.

Observational Focus shows that any part of She Who Stalks can house the entire power of the GoD. Every bit if her is intrinsically tied to one another. Even the storm has flecks of She Who Stalks within it.

Unless every atom of her is destroyed, SWS can use her full power and can pull herself back together. Which she is currently doing even as Parsley sees the body parts hurtling back towards the hand.

Sarada, tha hand flicks you off again and then super speeds away from your attempt to capture it. It punches you again and sends you flying away as it’s other body parts fly back towards it.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Held blinked blankly as Praxat addressed him. It appeared as if she had been up to quite a bit in the time that had transpired since they last met. Something about Galaxy police here, Amperior there, duels and training....

"Well, yes." Held replied, instinctively nodding his head at words that sounded like they made a grammatically correct sentence if nothing else to him, "I'm glad you got something from our time together, even if it was cut a bit shor---"




The right eye of the Nevadian twitched slightly, specks of blood red beginning to herald the manifestation of his Shingan. Absently, almost reflexively his body considered loosing a burst of Kiai at the grave insult. Through discipline and grace, the Nevadian avoided annihilating the Toadian at a glance for her transgression.

Besides. He had heard worse. It was probably still sore feelings on his end.

He simply decided to ignore the jibe. It was only becoming of a warrior of his station, after all.

Praxat continued on, saying something about joining the GP, mentioning a name vaguely familiar to him.

"...Miras, huh?" Held replied, nodding, somewhat impressed. "She was pretty good with a sword from what I recall."





"I think 'Better late than never' is the saying here on earth, right?" Held inquired, smiling as he met up with his old friend "I'm just doing my best to take after the locals..."

He turned away for a moment, before muttering something under his breath.

"That, and apparently I needed to stretch before doing anything nowadays..."

"Otherworld eh? You and me both it seems. I've been on a...uhh......"

He grimaced slightly, remembering the hellish training he endured to protect the sanctity of his anal cavity from Crazy Horn 'encouraging' him to live up to the expectations of the angels.

"....Let's say I was on a sabbatical in Otherworld. Or something close to it."

He turned his gaze to the ship once more, anxious to change the subject.

"....A warship, huh?" Held repeated, stroking his chin, "I guess it's about time.....You earthlings certainly don't love being babysat, I'll give you that."

Not that they're wrong to feel that way.....Earth, Nevada, Vocado and the others might be on peaceful terms right now, but who knows what the future holds....If nothing else, Willa was right to be weary of entrusting the fate of this planet to others completely, at least.

"...Think he'll let me take it for a test drive later?"

He shakes his head and slaps Held on the shoulder.

“Not on your life, Held. Let’s get going.”

He grins and boards before the ship takes off.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

OOC: Sorry for the massively delayed response. Been adjusting to a new job and various (positive) life changes.

IC: When Sarada had told him to seek out Neva, Totoma had acquiesced and retreated. He handed next to Neva and her mother, the black... energy or whatever slowly covering his body, causing it to go cold and numb.

"So, uh... Neva, think you can do something about this? I think it's magic, and I don't know much about that stuff." Although he could now apparently sense it, if he really strained himself, so that was... something, he guessed. Not useful in this situation, but whatever.

Nevanlinna walked over to him and examined the energy. "...I can try. If not for its source, you could perhaps simply overwhelm it with large amounts of ki--brute force it--but that is certainly not an option. A more finessed approach might work..." Her aura burst into existence, then burst into flames. Placing her hands together, the Aura of Fire flowed off her body and concentrated into her hand. Giving it a moment to stabilize, she then wove Hozon into the fiery ball of ki and magic.

"Alright, now perform that Kizuna of yours with me. Focus, in particular, on syncronizing your energy with mine. When I drive it into you, make it your own and.. hm, how to put this in a way you'll understand..." Nevanlinna paused for a moment. "...oh, just power up after that."

"...ok." Totoma took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reached out to Nevanlinna with the Kizuna. What he felt was... odd? Her ki was there, and spiritually she was there, but the mental part was... not? It was like she was mentally invisible or something. Weird and troubling, because without that, the Kizuna was incomplete. After a moment, however, something answered the call, and Totoma was struck with a sense of... immensity? A weird way to describe it, but whatever it was, he could feel that he was connected to Neva mentally now... albeit through this... whatever it was.

Never look a gift hog in the mouth, as they say.

Sensing the kizuna was fully formed, Nevanlinna gave Totoma a few moments to further syncronize the two of them, then placed the magic-ki-hozon fire onto his chest and willed it into the half-saiyan. Whether or not he could make it his own and use it to expel or burn away SWS' attack was up to him now.

The 'attack' being forced into him elicited a sharp inhale from Totoma, and soon his chest began to burn. It wasn't a painful burn, if that made sense... wasn't pleasant, either, but more importantly, he felt something there. Focusing his will, he wove together his own energies with the mass of Neva's ki, magic, and... something else in there. He wasn't sure quite what it was, because he couldn't actually sense it, but he could feel it.

Which made no sense to him, because sensing was all about feeling and...

Gah, he was getting distracted!

At first, he geared himself up to brute-force his way out of this effect, but then he got an idea!

The gifted energies, interlaced and one with his own ki and psychic energies flowed outward, enveloping SWS' attack. Insulated and filtered by Neva's gifted technique, he focused his will and used the Kizuna... to syncronize his energy with SWS' isolated attack. While he was super strong in this form, he was still way out of his league in this fight... so why not try to make a bit of the enemy's power into his own?

...he wasn't even sure this would work, and it would probably be way safer to just try to dispel or expel it. It was probably crazy to even try, but he was nothing if not crazy!

With Neva there to halt and isolate the power, to filter it, Totoma is able to slowly convert the black energy into something compatible with his own energy reserves. It is no longer spreading across his chest, but instead is absorbed into his body. It fells….cold, but not unpleasant. The cold of space, not the cold of a bitter winter wind. Your eyes turn slightly purple, your hair gains a pair of white stripes on either side of your temples, and you feel…stronger.


Congratulations, you have absorbed some of SWS’s demonic energy and gotten a boost from it.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Praxat senses Jack with her sense of electroreception and with the information forms a mental image of him in her head. She then turns to face him. " Hi, Jack. Oh, It's Ochazuke’s, never pegged him for an engineer," Praxat said.

" Otherworld huh, what's it like? " Praxat said.

He responds once they are onboard the ship.

“Busy. Peaceful when you aren’t training a group of Oni Hunters or preparing for a war or scrambling to help yer girlfriend catch escapees.”

He shrugs and pulls out a smoke.

“Wild ride to be sure.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

One voice stood out among the rest, and his attention zeroed in on Maiz. A mirthless smile fell upon Ochazuke's face as he replied.

"May it be well with us all, then, for our fight has only begun."

That was the last message he'd left to the gathered collective. Slowly dialing down the instruments, he could still feel them, but let them fall distant one by one until only Maiz and Evangeline remained among the listening Guardians.

"Evangeline's found a lead on Cancer and the children she's stolen away with. That will be next, provided we survive what comes next."

Come what may, for that was not the only new tidings he'd bring at this moment.

"...I felt an emergence through the realms. Unlike the others, this was different, it wasn't part of the initial Calling," he said. "Seems that she'd fallen into death, but this did not stop her. Inanna's returned and forced her way out of Hell."

After confirming others still stood to the fight, it would be, at best, a mixed blesisng, this bad revelation with the illest of intentions.

"Though I could sense her return...I cannot reach her, I doubt any of us here can." he said ponderously.

"However, should we can draw her notice, perhaps we may yet be able to draw her out."

Come what may, they'd already heard another summons to help. If they had no Destroyer of their own, they would see to this themselves.

"We'd known the risks for a year, and we're prepared to deal with them. Should the worst happen, it falls to the rest of you to keep the Universe, our Universe, alive."



"It was originally a trading vessel, if you can believe it," Zaofan chimed in. Crossing the way to Held, he fell his hands wide open to the sides. "Funny thing about the Big Ghetti Star, with that much automated engineering behind him Jinzi could go from schematics to testing almost as fast as he could think it! That guy's always ran with an idea as soon as he gets it...but who'd have thought Ochazuke would be part of R&D though?"

Corralling their company into the starship and leading the way into the control bridge, the Chef winced; the inner hull still bore huge scars where some hideous thing had pierced through it, but when the reached the control consoles - the instruments in the analogue pilot seats in the shape of GP standard but arranged in the configuration of a Nevadian Navigator - there were thin spatters of blood on the instruments from the previous crew, and he'd known they'd been in a fight.

Yet though the various instruments remained unattended to, the engines thrummed and screens flickered online, and communications from far off places were live.

At the bridge's centre, Ochazuke had taken his seat in the pilot's chair, and the Gotengo animated according to his will.

"...guess this'll be a ride and impromptu dock if need be," Zaofan continued, "find a seat."

_____

Taking off from the Lookout and the parting in the Planetary Defense Shield, the Gotengo rose from the planet it was designed to protect and moved toward the Nevadian Stargate suspended outside of the Big Ghetti Star.

Picking up on the coded frequency beamed from the ship, the mechanical ring surged with power, sychronizing with the approaching vessel as it plotted a course between two points in folded space and expanded a glowing white portal. Steering the passage through, it carried the M fighters from more familiar surroundings to the latest outpost.

Here, at the edge of the maps charted by the Nevadian star cartographers, in the last year it had been the laneway for traders to set down to port.

From Federation to this outpost on the frontier, the Stargate carried their path over the ringed world where they'd avenged the Earth - and where this fracture in their ranks had began.

"It seems the Threshling and Saiyans both have stolen to the thick of the fighting," Ochazuke's thoughts projected through the bridge comms. Immediately, the Gotengo signaled their allies below through their comms that they had arrived.

They'd emerged some distance away from the planet proper. Now approached the Reshlan sphere, from outside of the terra firma, Ochazuke immediately began to put the ships instruments to work in analyzing the storms upon its surface as he surveyed the planet, and the diagnostic screens translated his sense-awareness into facsimile analytics onto its radar.

Kyokushin Keihatsu surveyed the planetary storm, and slowly, he began to unravel the true nature of their opponent, the unnamed God of Destruction known only as She Who Stalks.

Eva nods back and communes telepathically with Ochazuke only.

‘There is a hidden moon ‘round Sakin’s planet. It is hidden from all senses, and only the thin connection back to Cancer allows me to pierce its veil. Cancer is there, alongside her brood and those taken. Be safe, Ochazuke, when confronting this place. One false move….and I fear for the hostages.’


—————

The planetary storm is massive and complex, filled with more demonic energy that Ochazuke has ever seen. It IS part of She Who Stalks, her form and energy filtered between it and the form fighting the Saiyans below. It acts as a gateway for her forces, who the Threshling Knights are holding back.

Otherwise, your senses tell you that She Who Stalks is terrifying. A black hole of power, of God Ki you cannot actually sense. Only her demonic nature, stretched around the planet, can actually be sensed by you.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

He responds once they are onboard the ship.

“Busy. Peaceful when you aren’t training a group of Oni Hunters or preparing for a war or scrambling to help yer girlfriend catch escapees.”

He shrugs and pulls out a smoke.

“Wild ride to be sure.”

After listen to Jack about his experience on Outworld. Praxat tells him about her own experiences on planets she's been to including Amperior in great detail.