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

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Caliban, before he can speak, looks sharply at Koorimaru just as Inanna appears. Perhaps as one of the only ones capable of sensing her arrival, even as the pressure wave of her landing shook the entire planet, his chair didn’t even wobble.

He looked at her, eyes narrowed slightly.

“Miss Inanna.”

He nods slowly to her, keeping his eyes sharp.


Some ways away, Charco touches his chest and narrows his eyes as he looks toward Inanna’s arrival. He gestures to Praxat, Jack, Tasure, and Totoma.

“Stay back for now. This is…..not a safe confrontation, I think. Be on guard, but don’t interfere. For now.”

"Right," Praxat said. Praxat gets on guard and places a plasma barrier around herself, Jack, Tasure, Totoma, and Charco." We will observe from my Telsa Strike Barrier Formation," Praxat said.

Telsa Strike: Barrier Formation / Standard Formation.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Caliban. I've no quarrel with you."



"A book full of ancient insight. Names. Places... Leads. A means to get ahead of what is now threatening all you care for... and you just decided that one of the missing Gods of Destruction was irrelevant?" Inanna said, cutting through the bullshit.

"What a waste. Did you do anything, but leech off of the hardwork of others?"

"Ochazuke, Zaofan, and I did a good deal of investigating a few months ago," Parsley answered. "We spoke to Banespell, found out he had been cursed by Alakazah and freed him. We spoke to Beast God and Last Daughter and formed a partnership with them. Caliban informed me a great deal of Alakazah and Sakin when Etrina and I trained with him." She sighed heavily and touched her forehead.

And then there was...

"Sarada. Save the pleasantries." Inanna replied, deadpan.

"I am going to you, once." Inanna said, turning away from Parsley.

"Did. You. Know?"

Sarada was taken aback. "Know what?"

A deadpan greeting and some vague question? That was all her wife had to say to her after a year of being apart? "Is that all you have to say to me after all this time?" she asked, an angry edge growing in her voice. "I spend four months alone mourning your death and coming to terms with what happened on Darkle and that's how you come at me?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"Ochazuke, Zaofan, and I did a good deal of investigating a few months ago," Parsley answered. "We spoke to Banespell, found out he had been cursed by Alakazah and freed him. We spoke to Beast God and Last Daughter and formed a partnership with them. Caliban informed me a great deal of Alakazah and Sakin when Etrina and I trained with him." She sighed heavily and touched her forehead.

"So you admit you did little, if anything, of worth." Inanna noted, not bothering to return her gaze to Parsley. "I am... ultimately not surprised. Without the work of others to pilfer and profit from, you have little else to offer. Or... are you going to prove me the liar? Explain how you explored the Way Between Worlds; or something else of worth?"

Sarada was taken aback. "Know what?"

A deadpan greeting and some vague question? That was all her wife had to say to her after a year of being apart? "Is that all you have to say to me after all this time?" she asked, an angry edge growing in her voice. "I spend four months alone mourning your death and coming to terms with what happened on Darkle and that's how you come at me?"

Inanna ignored most of what Sarada had to say, it was all so... worthless. 'I mourned', 'I had to come to terms'; as if none of what Inanna had experienced over the past year mattered, the moment she returned. Only how it had impacted Sarada.

What was far more meaningful was...

"Four months. That was what I was asking." It was almost comical, where it not so utterly disappointing.

"Did you bother to speak with my mother in that time? Attempt to investigate the how of it?" Inanna asked, knowing full well she didn't. "You know..." she stopped herself, knowing it'd ultimately end poorly, and without attaining the answers she came for. Though, based on this brief exchange...

"It doesn't matter. I'm not here to find out what I already know." That she had been left to her fate by loved ones, and former allies; for no good reason.

"I'm here to find out whether or not I should let you all live."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"So you admit you did little, if anything, of worth." Inanna noted, not bothering to return her gaze to Parsley. "I am... ultimately not surprised. Without the work of others to pilfer and profit from, you have little else to offer. Or... are you going to prove me the liar? Explain how you explored the Way Between Worlds; or something else of worth?"



Inanna ignored most of what Sarada had to say, it was all so... worthless. 'I mourned', 'I had to come to terms'; as if none of what Inanna had experienced over the past year mattered, the moment she returned. Only how it had impacted Sarada.

What was far more meaningful was...

"Four months. That was what I was asking." It was almost comical, where it not so utterly disappointing.

"Did you bother to speak with my mother in that time? Attempt to investigate the how of it?" Inanna asked, knowing full well she didn't. "You know..." she stopped herself, knowing it'd ultimately end poorly, and without attaining the answers she came for. Though, based on this brief exchange...

"It doesn't matter. I'm not here to find out what I already know." That she had been left to her fate by loved ones, and former allies; for no good reason.

"I'm here to find out whether or not I should let you all live."

There was a time to stay silent and there was a time to speak. At that moment, it was a time for the latter, but no one could find the words. Sarada had never felt such a yawning chasm of disappointment radiating from her wife in the entire time they had been linked together and from when she was linked with Ishtar. No. Not her wife. Not anymore. The woman she had married died in Otherworld.

For Parsley, it was the blunt realization of her short-sightedness. The day she had been investigating with Ochazuke and Zaofan should have been the day they traveled to Otherworld to consult with Sheki'hinah and figure out what happened. Perhaps it was partially because she wanted to avoid Inanna until she was forced to face her - like right then - or her just being tired, but she didn't. They didn't.

"I'm sorry," she said. "For everything."

The heartfelt apology would likely mean nothing. That was fine. It wasn't her right to receive forgiveness. All that matter is that Inanna knew that she was sorry.

Then, Inanna's true intentions were made known. Not to shame them, rightfully, for their inaction and offenses. Rather, a decision. Should she let them live or let them die. Parsley knew that was the duty of a Destroyer, to judge for fitness to exist. Given how exhausted they all were after fighting She Who Stalks, they were at her mercy. She was fresh physically but perhaps fractured mentally. Exploiting that may have spelled their doom, should things explode into conflicted. Given how practically they all were as a group, they certainly wouldn't survive.

"Because there are trillions of people in this universe that have fuck all to do with what you're talking about," Avoca said as she stepped around a still silent Parsley. "Trillions more in other universes. We're the only ones who can kill Sakin. I know you think this is a hard decision, but it really isn't. If you want nothing to do with any of us, fine. Whatever. But you can't fuck over everyone else just because your life went to shit. I mean, there are people on the other side of the universe that have never heard of any of us before today. Do they deserve to die just because of what literally less than ten people did?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"I'm sorry," she said. "For everything."

At the end of it all silence, broken only by a heartfelt apology. There were a great many things Inanna needed at this moment. Something to eat, that didn't turn to ash in her mouth. To rest, and sleep... Not that.

"That's it?" Inanna asked. "Couldn't even be bothered to ask how I'm doing? How it was in Hell? ... How I feel, finding out Sakin is the reason I'm alive right now, and that the person I loved couldn't even bother to tell my mother I was dead?"

Then, Inanna's true intentions were made known. Not to shame them, rightfully, for their inaction and offenses. Rather, a decision. Should she let them live or let them die. Parsley knew that was the duty of a Destroyer, to judge for fitness to exist. Given how exhausted they all were after fighting She Who Stalks, they were at her mercy. She was fresh physically but perhaps fractured mentally. Exploiting that may have spelled their doom, should things explode into conflicted. Given how practically they all were as a group, they certainly wouldn't survive.

"Because there are trillions of people in this universe that have fuck all to do with what you're talking about," Avoca said as she stepped around a still silent Parsley. "Trillions more in other universes. We're the only ones who can kill Sakin. I know you think this is a hard decision, but it really isn't. If you want nothing to do with any of us, fine. Whatever. But you can't fuck over everyone else just because your life went to shit. I mean, there are people on the other side of the universe that have never heard of any of us before today. Do they deserve to die just because of what literally less than ten people did?"

At Avoca's outburst, Inanna couldn't help but laugh.

"What mortal arrogance. You all barely managed to beat She Who Stalks; and look at the state of you." Battered, and exhausted. "What's even more delicious, is that the final blow Held managed, that manipulation of divine energies, and Reshlan's Leylines? Who do you think put that energy there?" If it wasn't obvious, it should have been now. To repair the damage Auroc had done to the heart of the planet, Inanna had sacrificed what remained of her 'ascension' at the time.

Ignoring Avoca's petty jabs at a history she knew nothing about, she realized there was a level of hypocrisy here that was on its own grounds to kill them all and not lose sleep.

"How many billions, did the Saiyan Empire destroy? How many trillions? I know full well Parsley alone has quite the body count." Inanna said calmly. "Where was this call for decency then? Or is it different because you said sorry?" The woman shrugged.

"Truth of the matter is, you only care now because it's your life on the line." She stated. "Why should I care about that, when the woman I love couldn't be bothered?

[grampagen]

One moment, Parsley had been preparing to respond to Koorimaru. The next, her words died on her tongue. There, standing directly beside him without pomp and circumstance was Inanna.

For a long moment, she simply stared at her, face neutral. She had long pondered how their eventual reunion would go. The last time they saw each other, to say things didn't go well was an understatement of cosmic proportions. She had already admitted, to herself first then others, that she was in the wrong, but never got the chance to smooth things over before Inanna left for her training. Then she died.

She was back, but it didn't seem that there would be much talking. The tension in the air multiplied a hundredfold. She slowly moved to interpose herself between the former Oni and Avoca, who was carefully watching.

"Kuh kuh kuh...what's the matter, simian? ," Koorimaru laughed, "No glib remark? No pithy comeback? Tut, that single taste of godliness must have brought out only the basest desires within you."

The cold red eyes stared, narrowing with a thin glimmer.

"Always, an obsession with submission girdles your hearts. Such a simple thing, pity there is no art to the matter. No art at all, even when standing in the shadow of the handiwork of a Kinslayer you'd only fathom your pleasure! But I guess you didn't see that did you-"

Pitiful.

How easy it would be to simply slaughter them all, and be done with it. Leave Sakin to his petty conquest; and be free to live her life, finally... but she had agreed to seek them out, for an answer Lampton could not provide. So she would humor him, and spare them... In the hope, she might be given the justification for her life of suffering and servitude.

As she descended to the planet's surface, two snippits stood out among the tedium... and for a brief moment, she reconsidered her mercy.


Appearing beside Koorimaru without, Inanna's presence was precipitated by a pressure wave felt across the planet.

"Is this what I return to? An admission of stagnation? For your sake, I hope not." The only introduction- and warning- they deserved.

Caliban, before he can speak, looks sharply at Koorimaru just as Inanna appears. Perhaps as one of the only ones capable of sensing her arrival, even as the pressure wave of her landing shook the entire planet, his chair didn’t even wobble.

He looked at her, eyes narrowed slightly.

“Miss Inanna.”

He nods slowly to her, keeping his eyes sharp.


Some ways away, Charco touches his chest and narrows his eyes as he looks toward Inanna’s arrival. He gestures to Praxat, Jack, Tasure, and Totoma.

“Stay back for now. This is…..not a safe confrontation, I think. Be on guard, but don’t interfere. For now.”

"Hoh?"

The immense pressure shook the world they stood upon, and Koorimaru instant felt the shadow grow behind him. Strangely, his sadistic smile only grew as slowly he turned to inspect the new arrival. His eyes were impassive at first as if he had entirely expected this would happen...

...but when he looked over Inanna, the anticipation on his face thawed, and his expression shrank.

"...ah...I thought you were the other one, but you...you're not her," he replied, his tone less resigned and more contemplative as he studied Inanna's features, "the Ruination by this point would neither be so subtle nor restrained...."

With Caliban's cautious air and even the dinosaur boy shrinking for the moment, as if punctuated by realization Koorimaru's tail suddenly struck the ground and lay in the hollowed row of earth, stilled.

No presence seemed to surround her but the threat carried in her very being, and this caused him to still as he silently put himself on guard.

"How interesting..what are you...?"

"No," she finally answered. "We've been busy preparing and learning this last year. Trauma is irrelevant, so she wasn't on the list."

Sarada's eyes narrowed as she finally spoke as well. "Hello Inanna. Nice to have you back. I trust your training with Lampton went well?" Or perhaps it didn't. An Angel would have been the only few beings capable of killing her.

In spite of how elated much of her was that her wife had finally made her return, she was wary and ready for anything. Darkle had been a shitshow and Inanna made it clear she wasn't going to return. That she had only meant that she had either had a change of heart after death, like Parsley, or had nothing but ill intentions. The immense malice she felt earlier only gave evidence of the latter. Her eyes shifted toward the others. Jack was staying back with Charco, as were Tasure and Totoma. That was good; if things degraded the way she felt they would, it was about to be very dangerous very quickly.

Lampton...?

"My, my...how very interesting indeed..."

[grampagen]

Sarada was still sore that she missed the Hammer fight, but not nearly as much as she had been before fighting SWS. The thing about that one was that Hammer was undead, a zombie god, and apparently much weaker. Then again, they were much stronger than they could have even comprehended back then. If they fought together, they could accomplish anything.

"I wasn't there for that fight, so I had almost forgotten about it," she admitted. "These bastards have been a pain in our asses since the beginning."

As for their next move, it was simple. "We rescue the hostages." As long as they were within Sakin's grasp, he could hold their lives over their heads to buy himself even more time. Sarada knew that she and Parsley and Avoca wouldn't do anything as long as Garnish's life was in danger. She knew the others felt the same way. "We take them off the board and that's one less advantage Sakin has against us."

Strip him of his advantages and that would make their pending battle less of a mountain and much more manageable. The fight against an Angel was going to be hard enough as it was; knowing that innocent people could be turned against them, possibly literally, was a harrowing thought.

"It's my fear, though, that Cancer is watching over them." In fact, she was sure of it. "She's more straight-forward than SWS, but she's far more devious. Parsley and Avoca can tell you more about her, since they both faced her on Sarada. ...And almost died."

"Oh, I wasn't there either, but I'll never forget the effect a God of Destruction had on Terra and what the people there had to do to stop it," Zaofan replied. "I still may never understand just how those Cairnstones work, but I know what happened to the world as a result of it, and from the notes, Universe 18 did not fare much better."

Digging a small pocket of sand underneath him with his staff, the katchin within it seemed almost airy, held in these hands which had ushered the Heka flow.

"What'll be the result of what we're doing right now...nah, I have to admit, I don't like our chances. That, however, does not mean we have no chance whatsoever, the proof, so to speak, is in the pudding."

They did as much as they'd said they'd promised they would when they had arrived here in the Gotengo. Despite all odds, they'd slain the storm, and the golden sun shining down from the hole in the sky shone all the clearer.

"Ochazuke and I told you. In the end, it's not about who's stronger; it's about finding the moment," he nodded with a smile, "And speaking of Cancer's hostages-

At the end of it all silence, broken only by a heartfelt apology. There were a great many things Inanna needed at this moment. Something to eat, that didn't turn to ash in her mouth. To rest, and sleep... Not that.

"That's it?" Inanna asked. "Couldn't even be bothered to ask how I'm doing? How it was in Hell? ... How I feel, finding out Sakin is the reason I'm alive right now, and that the person I loved couldn't even bother to tell my mother I was dead?"


At Avoca's outburst, Inanna couldn't help but laugh.

"What mortal arrogance. You all barely managed to beat She Who Stalks; and look at the state of you." Battered, and exhausted. "What's even more delicious, is that the final blow Held managed, that manipulation of divine energies, and Reshlan's Leylines? Who do you think put that energy there?" If it wasn't obvious, it should have been now. To repair the damage Auroc had done to the heart of the planet, Inanna had sacrificed what remained of her 'ascension' at the time.

Ignoring Avoca's petty jabs at a history she knew nothing about, she realized there was a level of hypocrisy here that was on its own grounds to kill them all and not lose sleep.

"How many billions, did the Saiyan Empire destroy? How many trillions? I know full well Parsley alone has quite the body count." Inanna said calmly. "Where was this call for decency then? Or is it different because you said sorry?" The woman shrugged.

"Truth of the matter is, you only care now because it's your life on the line." She stated. "Why should I care about that, when the woman I love couldn't be bothered?

Gobsmacked, Zaofan had fallen silent the moment Inanna arrived, and his knees had turned to quaking jelly so fast he could do little more than stare back and forth between the newly returned Destroyer, the Saiyans, and back as they quarreled.

...*ahem*...

Now, whatever had happened to Miss Ishtar...that was something that, too, only truly came to light to him during the course of his recent training. He hadn't quite made the acquaintance of this new Oni, not since the fight against Auroc, and she was practically a stranger.

...AHEM...

A year ago when the Ulthan struck, that was the fracture point that split their group. He didn't have the heart then to blame anybody...

...A-H-E-M-!!!

Then again, this was not the first thing he was left out of the loop on, now was it? Too often, problems came to his doorstep, and time and time again, he'd done his best to address it. A sudden favour here, a cosmic horror there, but there'd been a pile of stockpiled secrets that he'd been left out of, despite having felt he'd proved himself apt at reading the situation.

So after clearing his throat - to varying levels of feigned necessity - Zaofan's stance affirmed as he looked Inanna up and down.

"...you're not looking so hot yourself. When was the last time you had something decent to eat?"

Of course, with her rather cutting dismissal of Avoca, well, hearing that trillions of lives would be of no relative consequence, depending on who's calling the shots...well perhaps that part of the Martial Chef that'd been told time and again that his was not a voice that mattered, too, found its footing.

"Let's all calm down here. I can't say how sorry I am about your untimely passing, but I...well, frankly, I actually don't know the rules of the Afterlife and they just got weirder..." Thumbing his chin, he felt his words grow small, uncertain, then shook his head. "Guess it's sharing time? Alright. It's easy to judge and condemn when you decide everyone's beneath your notice. I sat down with a guy that called himself the Judge, after all, and getting to the bottom of the Ulthan, let me tell you that was quite the undertaking. They took Etrina, too, so I know they sold you short as well before you'd even done anything."

In a manner of speaking, perhaps they all did. Zaofan drew a deep breath before continuing.

"Take it from me, I've learned quite a lot over the last year, trekking across the universe to meet peoples among many places across distant worlds. Judging a population based on a fixed picture of them, that's the easy part. But to get to know them, to realize you need to rise above your plateau and meet them by opening new doors together to reach a new destination, that requires a different kind of strength."

"It started small, Earth and Nevada, but now, we're talking entire star systems here! And just like the Earth, we found many worlds pushed to the side with nothing but a Guardian that inherited a mission to see it done, they had no idea there was anyone else out there, or that for everything that could be feared about coming into contact, there'd be so much more to learn! It wasn't always easy, but we got them talking to each other, let them in on the things listed in that journal you translated to prepare for what's coming, and..."

Fumbling for a closing point, he fanned his hands around at the ruined capital and the host of Threshlings that still stood.

"You're here, now, so I'm guessing you heard the call. If you died and nobody wished you back, I figure that's the way you got out. So you know that this is bigger than us, everyone's lives are on the line here. But I dare to say it wasn't mortal arrogance which defeated She Who Stalks, it was quite the opposite. It was the faith of Reshlan itself," he said.

"...I know, because I held their prayers on my hand and it gave me the strength to look a God of Destruction in the eye. It also made me more vulnerable than I'd even felt before. To stoke and guide the hope of an entire world like that, knowing that they depend on you? A-and the consequences if you fail...that wasn't quite as empowering as you might think, it made me question myself for the entire time I had to bear it."

[grampagen]

Last Daughter responds.

“They are widespread. Sakin has enabled them to cross into this universe. Soul Meisters and Craven Hunters, the majority. They have devised means of cloaking themselves to even the finest of senses and Sakin has had them going hither and yon during his initial chaotic spree here.”

The Beast King speaks up than.

“The Hunters are gathering objects of power from places while everyone is confused, busy, or defending themselves. Temples, old Guardian shrines, ancient ruins, etc……we intercepted one and….interrogated them, that’s how we discovered he has an entire network of near undetectable agents stealing things for some sort of final ritual. This main attack he launched has served as a well played decoy, it seems. Beyond that……..we also discovered they have my wife’s final reincarnation orb with them. The Cabal, that is. Sakin must have had them bring it to threaten us with in case we tried something.”

He seems angry as he says this. Last Daughter chimes in after with one last bit of of info.

“Lady Binder is also at least present on Sakin’s world. To watch or aid, I can’t say, but she’s there.”

"Soul Meisters and Craven Hunters," Ochazuke repeated, "They cannot be detected you say...cheh."

Laying the flat of his hammer down upon the control chair, the rune-energies animated the Gotengo's anti-intertial drives. As they slowly came back online, the starship screeched as it turned to right itself.

"It seems we too have intercepted one of these sacred objects," he replied, referring to the Shell of Asha'rah Zaofan safeguarded in secret on his person, "Perhaps for once the Eternal One has found himself in a hurry, for things may not be going as planned for him either."

At the revelation that the initial Clarion Call itself was a ruse, Ochazuke had certainly only expected as much, but that the cataclysm had not yet come to pass in spite of it as they fought was telling. Through the Beast King's snarling rage and the Last Daughter's latest intelligence on the elusive Lady Binder, he weighed their options.

"'They'. Be specific. Who has the final reincarnation orb?" He asked, "And where might we find them?"

There was scarce time to act. But Koorimaru's gambit had all but halted the ritual as the Sakin had envisioned it, which meant he was searching for a substitute, and a source of Creation Energy.

"He means to keep you in check...it's a fool's ransom, for your Prant may be the key to the next step of his plan," he said.

Just then, landing gear lost is levelling, and the Gotengo's communications were shocked for a moment as a malicious gale shook the planet.

So...she's arrived...

That Innana deigned to notice the convergence upon Reshlan wasn't so much a surprise. Even as she had lived previously, her curiosity had only been measured by a taste for the dangerously eventful.

That she had arrived too late to make a difference in their fight let any satisfaction ring hollow, and the palpable rage and awful power swelled even from this distance...and suddenly the plots within plots rooted opposite of the Fallen Angel were forced to expand.

"Quickly now. Send me the coordinates of every stronghold you've found, the Rings of Location the Forger granted you will allow me to find your trail to the path there."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

" Jack, Tasure, Totoma, and Charco, let's keep listening, shall we. What Zaofan said about judging a population based on a fixed picture of them. That's how I felt before I had come to Amperior. Judging a population I didn't yet know based on my awful grandmother," Praxat said.

" I had yet known of the struggles that planet went through. when I had arrived there, I learn That Amperior lost almost everything. Its remaining population living underground. The surface of that planet is littered with ruins," Praxat said.

" People who shut themselves off because they had believed they need no help from others. A planet that had been overrun with close-minded elitism. Not everyone on that planet is like that, though," Praxat said.

When I was on Amperior, I came across a ruin that looked like a Guardian once lived there. I had theorized the people of Amperior many decades ago tried to protect their Guardian. With no one to help them. They lost almost everything, including their Guardian," Praxat said.

" It's a planet I had decided to help improve and, that meant fixing it of its close-minded elitism. Getting its people to open up to cultures of other planets, to new ideas outside their own. That if they need help, they didn't have to go at it alone. It wasn't easy," Praxat said.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Soul Meisters and Craven Hunters," Ochazuke repeated, "They cannot be detected you say...cheh."

Laying the flat of his hammer down upon the control chair, the rune-energies animated the Gotengo's anti-intertial drives. As they slowly came back online, the starship screeched as it turned to right itself.

"It seems we too have intercepted one of these sacred objects," he replied, referring to the Shell of Asha'rah Zaofan safeguarded in secret on his person, "Perhaps for once the Eternal One has found himself in a hurry, for things may not be going as planned for him either."

At the revelation that the initial Clarion Call itself was a ruse, Ochazuke had certainly only expected as much, but that the cataclysm had not yet come to pass in spite of it as they fought was telling. Through the Beast King's snarling rage and the Last Daughter's latest intelligence on the elusive Lady Binder, he weighed their options.

"'They'. Be specific. Who has the final reincarnation orb?" He asked, "And where might we find them?"

There was scarce time to act. But Koorimaru's gambit had all but halted the ritual as the Sakin had envisioned it, which meant he was searching for a substitute, and a source of Creation Energy.

"He means to keep you in check...it's a fool's ransom, for your Prant may be the key to the next step of his plan," he said.

Just then, landing gear lost is levelling, and the Gotengo's communications were shocked for a moment as a malicious gale shook the planet.

So...she's arrived...

That Innana deigned to notice the convergence upon Reshlan wasn't so much a surprise. Even as she had lived previously, her curiosity had only been measured by a taste for the dangerously eventful.

That she had arrived too late to make a difference in their fight let any satisfaction ring hollow, and the palpable rage and awful power swelled even from this distance...and suddenly the plots within plots rooted opposite of the Fallen Angel were forced to expand.

"Quickly now. Send me the coordinates of every stronghold you've found, the Rings of Location the Forger granted you will allow me to find your trail to the path there."

“The Cabal are holed up on some moon orbiting Sakin’s planet. Couldn’t get close, but that’s where the reincarnation orb is, we could both feel it. Got at least one God of Destruction hanging around on it too, with some janky looking Arcosians with her.”

The moon’s coordinates fill his screen. Seventeen other ones do as well, locations where the elusive Craven Hunters and Soul Meisters had struck. A few familiar names, some not, but most either going to planets with rich magical history or deceased Kami that could not longer protect their once sacred temples.

Ones have visited, or might still be on, Reshlan, Earth, Sarada and Chroma even now. The one they intercepted was attempting to steal from Darkle when the Beast God and Last Daughter….intercepted him.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"Hoh?"

The immense pressure shook the world they stood upon, and Koorimaru instant felt the shadow grow behind him. Strangely, his sadistic smile only grew as slowly he turned to inspect the new arrival. His eyes were impassive at first as if he had entirely expected this would happen...

...but when he looked over Inanna, the anticipation on his face thawed, and his expression shrank.

"...ah...I thought you were the other one, but you...you're not her," he replied, his tone less resigned and more contemplative as he studied Inanna's features, "the Ruination by this point would neither be so subtle nor restrained...."

When Koorimaru addressed her, Inanna turned away from Avoca, to give him her full attention. As it was at the very least interesting to see him, considering their last 'encounter'.

"You survived then? Amusing."

Knowing full well he wouldn't have been wished back, she could only assume he had been too crafty to die to something so simple as a shot to the head. That he also had more to say than self-serving apologies, and appeals to her decency; also meant she could actually have a conversation.

"Believing me Her... I suppose you're not far off the mark." Both failed 'experiments' of Zurvan, in the end. "Tell me, how was she when you saw her last... Ishtar? Still a pawn for Ruination?"

With Caliban's cautious air and even the dinosaur boy shrinking for the moment, as if punctuated by realization Koorimaru's tail suddenly struck the ground and lay in the hollowed row of earth, stilled.

No presence seemed to surround her but the threat carried in her very being, and this caused him to still as he silently put himself on guard.

"How interesting..what are you...?"

She looked down at herself, before shrugging. "An abomination, you?"

Lampton...?

"My, my...how very interesting indeed..."

"Not according to the Saiyans... they solely concerned themselves with... hm, I've already forgotten. Must not have been all that important."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

At the end of it all silence, broken only by a heartfelt apology. There were a great many things Inanna needed at this moment. Something to eat, that didn't turn to ash in her mouth. To rest, and sleep... Not that.

"That's it?" Inanna asked. "Couldn't even be bothered to ask how I'm doing? How it was in Hell? ... How I feel, finding out Sakin is the reason I'm alive right now, and that the person I loved couldn't even bother to tell my mother I was dead?"

“Fine. How about I ask how you got there in the first place,” Parsley said. It was clear Inanna had no interest in forgiveness, so Parsley felt no need to grovel for it. She was angry - for good reason- and spiteful, if the jab at her race’s history was any indication.

As far as she knew, she had left to train with Lampton, as they agreed when the two of them visited him in his Hell-hole last year. He did say that she may not have survived the training. If that was the case, then she would have simply had her soul processed, at which point, Sheki’hinah would have been informed by simply doing it herself. That she was supposedly ignorant of her daughter’s death gave evidence that something else happened.

Something wasn’t adding up.

At Avoca's outburst, Inanna couldn't help but laugh.

"What mortal arrogance. You all barely managed to beat She Who Stalks; and look at the state of you." Battered, and exhausted. "What's even more delicious, is that the final blow Held managed, that manipulation of divine energies, and Reshlan's Leylines? Who do you think put that energy there?" If it wasn't obvious, it should have been now. To repair the damage Auroc had done to the heart of the planet, Inanna had sacrificed what remained of her 'ascension' at the time.

Ignoring Avoca's petty jabs at a history she knew nothing about, she realized there was a level of hypocrisy here that was on its own grounds to kill them all and not lose sleep.

"How many billions, did the Saiyan Empire destroy? How many trillions? I know full well Parsley alone has quite the body count." Inanna said calmly. "Where was this call for decency then? Or is it different because you said sorry?" The woman shrugged.

"Truth of the matter is, you only care now because it's your life on the line." She stated. "Why should I care about that, when the woman I love couldn't be bothered?

“Brilliant comeback,” Avoca snorted at the mention of the Saiyans’ slaughter of billions. A slaughter that they had paid for dearly, and continued to make amends. It was such an old and tiresome argument that she didn’t deign to dignify it with a response. At some point, they had to be allowed to move on.

“I suppose that’s your way of explaining away the fact that we killed one of your contemporaries. Exhausted or not, regardless of the means or who struck the killing blow, it happened.” Avoca was somewhat disappointed that Inanna was insistent on underestimating them. She apparently knew the group by... watching through Ishtar’s eyes? Siphoning the knowledge out of her head? However, she knew them. She should have known that it wasn’t the first time they had killed a GoD, and should have felt confident that they would do it again. Then again, seething anger made one blind to many obvious things.

“I haven’t been around long and know these guys even less than you do,” she continued, “but even I know not to underestimate them. If they fight together, they can win. Especially if he’s around.” She pointed to the Gotengo. She had seen Ochazuke in action against Sarada in Vaikuntha those months. He may not have been as strong as her, but he could more than hold his own through other means. He and Zaofan could do things that the Saiyans could only dream of. And with Sarada being stupidly more powerful since she became a god herself, Avoca was feeling real good about their chances against anyone.

“Don’t know why you gods are so quick to dismiss anyone you decide is lesser than you. And you, specifically. Why don’t you explain that to me.”

[MrSandman]

"...So that's what that was...." With a graceful landing, Etrina landed just short of the group, her eyes locked upon the new arrival and familiar face...thought perhaps not as familiar as it had been in the past. "Been awhile, Inanna. You've....." The mage tilted her head. "...put on some weight? No...more then that......and what's with the look, I mean don't get me wrong its good to know that you're alr..." Etrina paused, the thought of Inanna being ok just because she was alive quickly beating a hasty retreat from her mind. "...alive. Not that I was expecting any different....even so"

Etrina took a cautious step closer and examined her old friend with more detail from a moderate distance. "......,do you mean to have us believe you've come all this way to be arbiter? Decide if we life or die on your whim? Honestly rather undecisive for a God of Destruction to be on the fence about destroying.....wouldn't you agree?"

"Well....out with it." Etrina looked up, green eyes locking on Inanna. "If your going to judge me I'd at least like to hear the terms before I tell you where to shove them....with respect of course."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

“Fine. How about I ask how you got there in the first place,” Parsley said. It was clear Inanna had no interest in forgiveness, so Parsley felt no need to grovel for it. She was angry - for good reason- and spiteful, if the jab at her race’s history was any indication.

As far as she knew, she had left to train with Lampton, as they agreed when the two of them visited him in his Hell-hole last year. He did say that she may not have survived the training. If that was the case, then she would have simply had her soul processed, at which point, Sheki’hinah would have been informed by simply doing it herself. That she was supposedly ignorant of her daughter’s death gave evidence that something else happened.

Something wasn’t adding up.

Parsley was... ignored.

“Brilliant comeback,” Avoca snorted at the mention of the Saiyans’ slaughter of billions. A slaughter that they had paid for dearly, and continued to make amends. It was such an old and tiresome argument that she didn’t deign to dignify it with a response. At some point, they had to be allowed to move on.

“I suppose that’s your way of explaining away the fact that we killed one of your contemporaries. Exhausted or not, regardless of the means or who struck the killing blow, it happened.” Avoca was somewhat disappointed that Inanna was insistent on underestimating them. She apparently knew the group by... watching through Ishtar’s eyes? Siphoning the knowledge out of her head? However, she knew them. She should have known that it wasn’t the first time they had killed a GoD, and should have felt confident that they would do it again. Then again, seething anger made one blind to many obvious things.

“I haven’t been around long and know these guys even less than you do,” she continued, “but even I know not to underestimate them. If they fight together, they can win. Especially if he’s around.” She pointed to the Gotengo. She had seen Ochazuke in action against Sarada in Vaikuntha those months. He may not have been as strong as her, but he could more than hold his own through other means. He and Zaofan could do things that the Saiyans could only dream of. And with Sarada being stupidly more powerful since she became a god herself, Avoca was feeling real good about their chances against anyone.

“Don’t know why you gods are so quick to dismiss anyone you decide is lesser than you. And you, specifically. Why don’t you explain that to me.”

Inanna didn't bother turning back to Avoca, she was far more interested in her conversation with Koorimaru to bother. Though this bout of blistering idiocy was at least worth something. "All this talk of 'contemporaries', and my misestimation. You know far less than you should, considering who's bed you keep warm." Tilting her head, she offered Parsley a bemused glance. "Did you not bother to tell them of how I'd planned to kill any God who refused to make way for a Universe that no longer needed them?" Inanna glanced at Caliban, "I'm sure you remember. You were there of course, when my ... more idealistic self expressed a desire of a Universe free from the shackles of divinity." Of course in the end, that plan had died when she did.

Inanna cast a glance at Sarada, who had been silence since she offered up that excuse of an apology. "And you. Letting your 'yes men' speak for you now? How fitting... Little God."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"...So that's what that was...." With a graceful landing, Etrina landed just short of the group, her eyes locked upon the new arrival and familiar face...thought perhaps not as familiar as it had been in the past. "Been awhile, Inanna. You've....." The mage tilted her head. "...put on some weight? No...more then that......and what's with the look, I mean don't get me wrong its good to know that you're alr..." Etrina paused, the thought of Inanna being ok just because she was alive quickly beating a hasty retreat from her mind. "...alive. Not that I was expecting any different....even so"

Etrina took a cautious step closer and examined her old friend with more detail from a moderate distance. "......,do you mean to have us believe you've come all this way to be arbiter? Decide if we life or die on your whim? Honestly rather undecisive for a God of Destruction to be on the fence about destroying.....wouldn't you agree?"

"Well....out with it." Etrina looked up, green eyes locking on Inanna. "If your going to judge me I'd at least like to hear the terms before I tell you where to shove them....with respect of course."

All these interlopers... Though, the Fae-bound Mage had- like Koorimaru- more to offer. "No judgment, no terms. Not that any of you could 'shove them', had I any on offer. For the moment I'm simply entertaining myself; though that's likely not to last." Thinking for a moment, Inanna flashed a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I suppose if you're desperate for absolution, I could judge you."