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

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The battle outside was nearly won, but who could say how long this place would be safe?

Enemies just popping out of the ground, like daisies!

The only thing they could do was confront the fact that invading Earth on their watch was an idea that would land them in very deep trouble. Confidence in his allies - and Sasheem - in his mind, for a moment Zaofan turned prepared himself.



Speeding off through those familiar hallways, checking for any scientists and staffers where he could, he knew as well as any of them that the Geofront had been designed to house everyone in Capital City if need be. That made clearing each level of this place the utmost priority.

Because if there's anyone who'd make himself a target...it'd be Jinzi Pantaloon.

And so he started from the bottom, working his way through till he reached the CEO-come-Presidential office.

Usually, Adam's on duty up here, but if he's down there fighting, where's our guy?

The entire place is abandoned.

Not a single soul inside, until you run across Jinzi’s office. There are several puddles of odd goo in the hallway outside, and voices can be heard coming from within.

“Left! Left flank!”

“Dang-it, that’s my right you fool!”

“Reloading!”

“Begone!!!”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

So that was why this Cancer had attacked them. Kidnapping. Tch, pathetic.

...

Wait. Tasure's eyes widened as a horrible realization dawned upon her. Cado was on Earth, with only Bekon to protect him. While Bekon was strong... he wasn't strong enough to fend off these sorts of fighters. Damn it!

Putting her fingers to her forehead, her form blurred and disappeared.


~~~~~~~~~~

Neva's consciousness slowly re-emerged out of the nothingness Cancer had sent her to with that knock-out blow. Her entire body hurt, probably from the backlash of her hozon (mis)usage. Still, she was alive... Cancer could have easily killed or hakai'd her while she was out, so why didn't... she?

The voice she heard jogged her memory. Just before being knocked out... she had sensed something quite unexpected: Sarada. While Sarada joining the fray of battle was not at all unusual, it was the nature and feeling of her power at that time that had been unusual. It had felt like the power of a deity. Or rather, it felt like that to the part of her that was Narayana.

...well, rather, she was more like a part of narayana, than the other way around? No matter, that connection allowed her a perspective on that feeling that would help her contextualize what was going on.

She opened her eyes to find the Saiyan Queen staring at her, looking uncharacteristically worried. Nevanlinna sat up, the effort making her body scream. She ignored the pain.

"Worry not, I live," she said. She glanced at Sarada, taking note of the fading embers of the Saiyan Queen's god form. "...how interesting. You've achieved... apotheosis. I'm pleased that my hopes for a miracle were not in vain..."

All of this could have gone much worse--they were alive, after all, and that was something most who came up against a God of Destruction could not say--but there was one thing she wanted to know..

"How? And is Cancer dead, or merely driven off?"

Bekon and Cado are gone, your home in ruins.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Totoma landed on the lookout, dropping the corpse unceremoniously onto its surface. While his face was calm, anyone with any familiarity with body language--let alone saiyan body language--would be able to tell that he was agitated and worried. Muscles tense, tail flicking about at random... he couldn't suppress the subconscious indicators of stress. Or just didn't care to.

After a moment, he spoke: "...went to my house. It was destroyed, and my family... they've been kidnapped. Found this in the bubble--probably Karine's doing--and brought it here for someone who actually knows what they're doing with sensing crap to see if they can do something."

He sighed and sat down. There were still hotspots, but most were winding down, and he could sense the others at the major ones... they were all capable warriors, and wouldn't need his help to clean things up. That, and he felt like there was a good chance that if he left, this vampire frostie would spring back to life and kidnap Eva, too. That's how these things always went, it seemed like.

And so, he was staying here, for the time being.

Totoma sighed and slumped forward a bit. "...should've gone home immediately instead of coming here to show off."

Eva lays a hand on his shoulder as Kai starts scanning the dead body.

“It will be ok, Totoma. None of us could have anticipated this sort of tactic. We’ll get them back, I promise.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Maiz sighed. "Mais and Kumara are okay, thanks to you. Garnish was taken." She already knew her mothers weren't going to respond well to that. "Thank you again, Meagan. It would have been far worse had you not shown up when you did."

Meagan nods.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help Garnish.”

She sits up and touches the silver torch on her neck.

“Cyanna, I’m here. Are my kids still safe?”

A moment, and Meagan relaxes.

“She’s taken them to a room in the Temple that only I and Cyanna can enter.”

She levers herself up and takes out two senzu beams.

“I was saving these, but we both might need them now.”

She offers one to Mais and eats the other one.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Parsley gave Tasure's vanishing form a glance. If she remembered right, Avoca told her she had another son. That was yet another hostage for Sakin to take. What kind of coward would target innocent bystanders that had nothing to do with the fight? Sakin likened himself a savior, but he had spent the better part of the previous ten millennia lurking in the shadows and hiding in wait. He was a coward, and that strategy did nothing but provide evidence of such. Mere children, infants and toddlers, couldn't fight back. They were easier targets than herself or Sarada.

The wisest thing to do would be to meet up with the rest of their allies and form a strategy. Parsley knew that, but couldn't compel herself to stand up. She had been on her knees ever sense she arrived. She knew what to do, and what had to be done. So, why couldn't she stop shaking? She knew that Garnish wouldn't be harmed, but the worst case scenarios wouldn't stop running through her mind even with that irrefutable fact. Images of Garnish being erased with Hakai kept flashing through her head. She felt her stomach lurch every time her girl's blood-curdling scream was cut short by her erasure.

"It'll be alright," Avoca said softly. She felt her hands grip her underarms and pull her to her feet. "Come on. We can't do anything else here."

Part of her wanted... needed to travel to Sakin's world to get her daughter back. The other part knew that was suicide. She, as she was right then, was no match for him. She wouldn't live long enough to draw out the fight and even if she would, she doubted she could beat even his weakened fallen state. She knew it was a terrible idea, but it felt so appealing at the moment.

Unconsciously, she had pulled out the capsule for her ship and opened it.

"Parsley, what are you doing?"

"Get in."

"Wait!" Maiz's single word came from where she and Meagan were laying on the ground some distance away. "Parsley, whatever you intend on doing, don't."

She looked at her mother with a neutral expression. Only the occasional twitch showed she was feeling anything. "..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect them all," she said regretfully. "You trusted me with them, and I failed."

No excuses, even though she had a valid one. Those vampires were likely stronger than Maiz. Even if there weren't any vampires with Cancer, the GoD by herself was too much for most anyone, besides Sarada apparently. "I don't blame you." She said nothing more and climbed inside her ship.

Avoca frowned and followed her. "We'll be back."

Parsley's First Race vessel lifted off and took off, exiting the atmosphere then hurtling itself through space.

The lone two occupants rode in silence. The ship was on autopilot, allowing Parsley the opportunity to clear her thoughts. They were cluttered with worry and agitation. If she hadn't been so weak, she could have been there to help Sarada. Garnish wouldn't have been taken, and they could have driven off Cancer and her slaves sooner. She was a warrior, and also a mother, and couldn't do the one thing mother's were supposed to do: protect her child. There was no telling what Sakin had in store for Garnish and any other hostages he may have taken. She did know, however, that it wasn't going to be good.

"Hey," Avoca said suddenly. If she was expecting any words of conventional wisdom, she was disappointed. "There's a message from your Aunt. GP is under attack."

She didn't respond. If Enoki bothered to call them for help, then it must have been bad. Yet, the last thing she wanted to do was fight, not while her mind was preoccupied with other things. Still, they were likely only being defended by Blizzar. Depending on what he was facing, he may not have been enough.

She set coordinates for the GP base and let the ship direct them there.

---

When Neva sat up, Sarada let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I assume you were fighting Cancer before I got here. Thanks. That's a few that I owe you." For saving Parsley and for helping defend Ruco. She supposed the slaughter would have been even worse than it already was. "Cancer's gone, but she made off with my niece." She let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know how to get her back."

Suddenly, her fiery aura disappeared and her hair returned to its natural brown hue. "Guess that's it for the god power." She didn't know what apo...apothetheory?... meant, but she assumed it had something to do with her god powers. "Thank E Bekon for that one. He helped me transcend into godhood." Her aura was gone, but she could feel that the God Ki remained. "I think I'm stuck with this god ki stuff." She couldn't wait to show Inanna that she finally ascended. After getting her ass kicked every time they sparred, she could finally fight her wife on an even keel.

...whenever she felt like coming back, that was.

Shaking that thought aside, she continued, "You needed me to take you into Vaikuntha so you can heal? You look exhausted."

The GP base is under attack, and out in space Blizzar is fighting three Icers.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

"Two hundred years?" A day on the outside was a year in Vaikuntha, so spending two centuries was more than possible. It was just that Sarada couldn't imagine spending that kind of time doing anything. She could pretty much master all of her forms - well, her new form - with that kind of time, overcome her mental hangups, and discover new things about herself that she otherwise wouldn't have had time to find; she also could become a colder and more isolated version of herself. Since she thrived off interacting with other people, even just one person, it was something she could never do. Neva seemed to be different. Then again, she wasn't alone.

She figured there was more to that First Race stuff than what they found in Midori's hideout and on Terra. Artificial intelligence was still a bit beyond her and the Saiyans. They hadn't grasped it yet, beyond computers being able to do simple things. Computers that could fully interact with them like they were real people? That was still a distant dream. Anyway, having another person - albeit mechanical - to train and learn with would stem some of the loneliness, she supposed. And the fruits looked and sounded promising.

Neva's workshop looked like a mix of Parsley's magic library and the labs on Turrip. A perfect blend of magic and science was possible, she guessed. While her feelings on magic had lightened up over the years, it was still a mystery to her. And to be fair, so was science. "Don't understand much about science or magic, but a combination of the two is definitely potent. And having your own AI, what's that like? We still haven't figured it out, but I imagine it's like having a servant always on tap."

Ah, the armor. Sarada excitedly took it and looked it over. She could see where Neva took hints from Saiyan design. What she was currently holding, though, was far more regal in aesthetic and more befitting of a warrior queen than her current royal armor. "Thank you, Neva. You didn't have to, and I really appreciate this."

She grinned and quickly shed her old armor and started to don her new armor. The bodysuit worn under it was snug and comfortable. The self-cleaning aspect was especially appealing, since she could barely be bothered to wash her tights. Of course, she had servants whose job it was to tend to her practical needs, but she could wash her own clothes - when she remembered - damn it! She put on the breastplate next. It conformed to her figure nicely, so she still looked like herself and not a block of metal. Her movement wasn't restricted in the slightest, which was the most important aspect of any kind of armor, especially for an infighter like herself. Donning the boots, gloves, and cape, she threw a few rapid-fire punches and kicks to test out her range of motion. It was the same as her old armor.

She also felt lighter on her feet and having the added protection made her feel better about facing off against those magic nerds in the future.

Everything fit well. She found a mirror and looked herself over.



"Whoa, nice!" she exclaimed. "Looks great and gives me exactly what I need. Thanks again!"

"It's... rather like having a disembodied person around," she said. "Syneva, the AI I have monitoring the facility, is an... off-shoot or copy of the one I encountered on Reshlan. Though she is more... limited in some respects, owing to a variety of factors such as the difference in computing power between my systems and the first race ones. Mind, on a per-unit basis, my systems are in no way inferior, and may be a bit better, but the ship makes up for it in sheer volume."

Regardless, the systems she had in place where more than enough to run a highly efficient and intelligent AI on, so it didn't bother her... too much.

"And you're welcome. I know I didn't need to do it, but it served dual purposes: crafting these items was good practice for my training, and the end results would improve our chances in future fights. And it... uh... well, gave me one more thing to stave off boredom during my long... long stay here. Fruitful as it was, becoming a... technomagical hermit this past year was a mistake, in retrospect."

Sarada cut a dashing figure in her armor. She had, of course, incorporated some threshling royal sensibilities into the armor--the more ornate golden parts, mostly--simply to spice up the normally... austere stylings saiyans had, even for their royal armor. She understood why they did so, mind--too much ornateness and an armor would become impractical--but she felt a queen needed at least a bit of adornment. Finding the right level of that without compromising the armor's effectiveness had been... surprisingly challenging, but she was pleased with the final result... and it seems Sarada was too.

"I would ask if you wanted to give it a try in a spar, but while your godly flame has receded, it still burns within you," she said. "...or in less poetic terms, you still retain enough of its strength that, to be quite honest, I would not be surprised if you could defeat our entire group at once, as things stand."

"And... we've both through been a lot today," she said, moving over to what appeared to be a small living area tucked into the corner of the room. She had a few of these scattered around the facility, just so she always had a convenient place to recharge. "...so instead, let's have something to eat. I'm famished, and I can only imagine how hungry you are."

The kitchen area of the living area was small and obviously designed for one person. The cooking implements were a curious mixture of both tried-and-true primitive ones and what appeared to be high-tech ones. Neva quickly got to work cooking up something... relatively quick to make, but also filling. "I'm not the best cook... certainly, we've multiple in our group that put my skills to shame in that respect, but none of them are here... and, ah... what's that old saying? Hunger is the best spice?"

Ah, what to make. Maybe... ah, yes. Pork stir fry, with nevadian frost-peas. Something she had learned from an earthling cookbook.

She checked if she even had the needed ingredient in the right amounts... which she did. Pork tenderloins she had acquired on Earth, from Totoma's relatives. It had cost a pretty penny, but the meat from Zhu pigs was reputed to be among the best any planet had to offer. Next was... the bell peppers. Again, an Earth import, and one she had in abundance. And finally, the recipe called for snow peas... but she had once thought to substitute them with Nevadian Snow-peas, which were an able substitute, and with Reshlan's trade relations with Nevada... far more convenient to acquire.

With the main three ingredient secured, and in sufficient amounts for a saiyan guest, she got the rest of what was needed together--oil, soy sauce, sugar, brown rice, salt, pepper, sesame seeds, and got to work.

"Tell me, how do you feel now that you've stepped into the realm of gods?" Knowing Sarada... excited, proud, and looking forward to seeing how far she could push her new power. She wondered how long it would be before the others in the group ascended; not long, in all likelihood... once one of them broke their limits, the others usually followed shortly thereafter.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Meagan nods.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help Garnish.”

She sits up and touches the silver torch on her neck.

“Cyanna, I’m here. Are my kids still safe?”

A moment, and Meagan relaxes.

“She’s taken them to a room in the Temple that only I and Cyanna can enter.”

She levers herself up and takes out two senzu beams.

“I was saving these, but we both might need them now.”

She offers one to Mais and eats the other one.

Maiz takes the bean and eats it. Her eyes widen as she felt her energy suddenly return. "Thanks."

She rose to her feet and cracked her neck. The carnage left in Cancer's wake was far-reaching. Hundreds of dead bodies laid strewn across beaches, streets, and in alleyways. There was a lot of work to be done clearing out the dead and giving them a burial, cleaning up debris and rebuilding on both Ruco and Sarada, and figuring out how to move forward. Their defenses needed work, that much was certain. Facing a literal god was an unfair litmus test, but they weren't going to face anything much stronger than that.

She hoped.

Tailoring their defenses with that in mind would leave them untouchable for anything weaker.

"Glad to hear about your children," she said after appraising the damage. "I have to start coordinating cleanup. If you want to head home, you can."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Haru eventually disappears in a brief portal like puff of grey power, leaving Praxat to slowly watch Dash and Sickle battle each other fairly evenly.

After Praxat is done healing herself. Praxat gets up having age biologically by one year. ( Okay, from doing this and using that tech which I have dub overclock twice. I was going to call it unleashed potential but decided on overclock instead,) Praxat thought.

( I'm now biologically 41.6 years old,) Praxat thought. Praxat turns herself into pure electromagnetic energy . And within a flash goes near the speed of light. Praxat hits Sickle with a hard kick before he even notices.

Quickly turn into her physical form to strike and back to her pure electromagnetic energy form to speed away. Praxat appears next to Dash before Sickle has time to register the attack. Praxat throws up her stomach and puts it back in. ( ****, that wasn't as easy as Uncle Bulllick made it look,) Praxat thought.

( Going back and forth from my pure electromagnetic energy form to my physical matter form made me queasy. Clearly, I'm not fully ready to use such a maneuver,) Praxat thought.

" Dash, I'm alright now, and my mind is clear. I should have blasted you with all the ambient electromagnetic energy I had previously stored and accumulated so you could channel it through your gauntlets. So you could have taken out that hybrid you're facing. While I had used the tech, I learned to take out Haru," Praxat said.

" That's what I should have done, but in my insane state of mind, I decided to use ambient electromagnetic energy in the tech I learn. To take out Haru when it wasn't really needed. I could have just used my raw electromagnetic energy for the tech," Praxat said.

" The tech I used on Haru destroys a body from the inside out. It wreaks havoc on motor neurons, peripheral nerves, and internal organs. It's a tech I learned on Ameprior from my grandmother's uncle, my great-great-uncle Bulllick. Who I met there," Praxat said.

" The fact it made Haru's left side explode means that using all that ambient electromagnetic energy on top of my raw electromagnetic energy was excessive. Well, he's gone now, and only this one is left. Let's take him out together, Dash," Praxat said.

Praxat points at Sickle." That cheap shot of yours isn't going to work this time," Praxat said. Praxat then takes out her ancestor's sword and throws it past Sickle, and makes the sword levitate behind him

Praxat fights alongside Dash using her sense of electroreception to anticipate sickle's attacks and to keep track of him and Dash. " Dash, even though I can't see right now because of the blindfold I have covering my eyes. I still have a sense of what my surroundings look like. I'm using a sense that is not Ki sensing, hearing, sight or smell, To perceive my surroundings," Praxat said.

Levitating Sword Style.

[grampagen]

The entire place is abandoned.

Not a single soul inside, until you run across Jinzi’s office. There are several puddles of odd goo in the hallway outside, and voices can be heard coming from within.

“Left! Left flank!”

“Dang-it, that’s my right you fool!”

“Reloading!”

“Begone!!!”

Slowly he crept just at the edge of the doorway, his ki suppressed, coiling silently within.

A man may be wary of the tigers hidden in the grass, even as he is ignorant of the dragons hidden in the water... A precept he'd long kept in mind for training the ki-adept and not-so-adept, it applied just as well for talent as it did for talented enemies.

First, Zaofan sensed for the ki of whoever was in the room, taking account of their numbers and perhaps muted powers. He pressed a finger to the comm in his ear, signifying his position through the Capsule Band for those with Communicators.

Then as he wheeled around the door he prepared the business end of his staff.

[KingofPie]

The two outside sneer but keep from blasting for now as the third, the one trapped inside with you, launches his own blistering counter flurry of punches. He looks battered, but determined.

Blizzar held up his guard, defending against the Incenio's blows before unleashing a volley of punches of his own. He had to keep aware of the other two. They stayed their hand for now, but he didn't trust them not to try anything. He began to launch a round of Meteor Jabs at his opponent's torso, careful to conceal which hand controlled the telekinetic bubble as it went flying out of control, knocking into one of the other Incenio's...but not on purpose, of course.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The two outside sneer but keep from blasting for now as the third, the one trapped inside with you, launches his own blistering counter flurry of punches. He looks battered, but determined.

Blizzar held up his guard, defending against the Incenio's blows before unleashing a volley of punches of his own. He had to keep aware of the other two. They stayed their hand for now, but he didn't trust them not to try anything. He began to launch a round of Meteor Jabs at his opponent's torso, careful to conceal which hand controlled the telekinetic bubble as it went flying out of control, knocking into one of the other Incenio's...but not on purpose, of course.

The GP base is under attack, and out in space Blizzar is fighting three Icers.

The ride was spent in tense silence. Parsley kept her attention outside while Avoca's eyes remained closed. The latter was in deep thought, but the former's thoughts were far afield. It was a struggle to keep her thoughts from drifting to her daughter, but she was of no use to anyone if she couldn't focus.

"Look!" Avoca said suddenly. Parsley's gaze drifted from the side viewing window to the one straight ahead. GP headquarters was under attack from several ships, most likely belonging to different crime syndicates. Off a little ways was Blizzar, fighting off three Arcosians. The three looked the same, from what she could tell. Perhaps related, or exactly the same.

"Before we head out," she said, then trailed off. Blood seeped out of her pores. She cast a spell to allow them both to survive in outer space, then flicked some on Avoca and on herself. "Let's go."

They flew out of the ship and powered up to Super Saiyan 2. Blizzar was fighting an Icer one-on-one, so they both took on one of the other two.

Telekinesis was an Icer's greatest weapon, so that needed to be neutralized first.

Avoca thrust her hands forward, sending a pressure wave of ki-negating force at the two Incenios.

Attack Denial

[KingofPie]

She neutralizes it with a quickly summoned Death Ball, the two attacks clashing and throwing both back, with Glacia escaping his grasp.

Sasheem's arm severs in the blast and as he quickly regenerates another one, he plants a Cobra Curse on Glacia, a stealthy piece of his own ki latching onto her tail. Sasheem himself dashed towards her, intent on keeping her focus on him as he connived a way to end this bout quickly.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

She wondered how long it would be before the others in the group ascended; not long, in all likelihood... once one of them broke their limits, the others usually followed shortly thereafter.

Sarada supposed having something that was intelligent, even if it was artificially, would be like having another person around. As she figured, the AI - Syneva was her name - provided much needed company, among other things, for Neva during her extremely lengthy stay within Vaikuntha. Beyond anything else, having someone else to talk to staved off insanity and things like that.

“Making things for friends is a great way to practice, yeah,” Sarada said with a laugh. “Oh, that reminds me!” She stepped over to her discarded armor and fished out her capsule wallet. Clicking one open, she caught the small jade statue that was held within. “I’ve been taking up some new hobbies in my spare time, expanding my horizons beyond fighting, I guess.” The statuette portrayed Neva and Seri happily sitting under a tree. It was simple and didn’t do anything beyond serve as a glorified paper weight, but she spent a lot of time on it. That, she felt, made it valuable.

She smiled and handed it to her. “Hope you like it.” After that, she gathered up her old armor and capture it inside another capsule. Except her amulet, which she slipped around her neck. What was a Queen without her crown, after all? Still a Queen, but still...

“I think the God Ki replaced my regular ki,” she said. “When that form I was in faded away, my... godly power remained. I think the form has a limit, but I’m still a... a god.” That fact that she had transcended was still dawning on her. “To be honest, I’m still coming to grips with the whole thing,” she said as Neva started preparing a meal for the two of them.

She had been thinking that moment, dreaming about it, wondering what it would be like to pass beyond the Saiyan race and be counted among the strongest in creation. There were times when she was practically giddy with excitement. Other times, she realized it was only the latest step in her journey. There was more to achieve. She didn’t know what at that time, but she just knew that there was something else higher than simply being a Saiyan God.

That Ultra Instinct thing Parsley told her about sounded like a goal to achieve, once she found a chance to speak with that Caliban character.

“I mean, part of me is super pumped and can’t wait to test out what this form and this power can really do. But the other part of me knows it’s just another step. There’s something higher out there for me to grab. I just know it.” After her fight with Cancer, one thing was certain: the power she had right then wasn’t enough. She only managed to lay one punch on the GoD and it wasn’t enough to kill her. She wasn’t sure if she hurt her or how badly, but that didn’t matter. If she was going to protect her people from the strongest creatures in U15 and beyond, she needed to get stronger.

Not just her, but Parsley, Avoca, and the rest of the defenders.

When Neva mentioned before about her being able to beat the entire team by herself, she didn’t respond. There was little doubt she was right, if she targeted the right people first. But that was something she would never dream of doing. That vision, though... Members of the team stood in opposition to the force that included herself. However that came about, her powerup spelled doom for the others. Even more so if Parsley managed to transcend before it happened. Them individually would be close to too much for the others. Together or, gods forbid, fused would be an impossible obstacle.

I hope it doesn’t come to that.

No, it wouldn’t. Regardless of the circumstances, she wouldn’t fight her friends. She knew they felt the same way. If Sakin dared threaten the hostages... then she would have to figure something out.

Wait, ****. Neva is on our side in that vision! Sarada had completely forgotten about that. It would have been prudent to inform her of that, if she wasn't already aware. “I just remembered we were given a pair of visions by Tiamat a few months ago. Have you heard about those?"

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Sarada supposed having something that was intelligent, even if it was artificially, would be like having another person around. As she figured, the AI - Syneva was her name - provided much needed company, among other things, for Neva during her extremely lengthy stay within Vaikuntha. Beyond anything else, having someone else to talk to staved off insanity and things like that.

“Making things for friends is a great way to practice, yeah,” Sarada said with a laugh. “Oh, that reminds me!” She stepped over to her discarded armor and fished out her capsule wallet. Clicking one open, she caught the small jade statue that was held within. “I’ve been taking up some new hobbies in my spare time, expanding my horizons beyond fighting, I guess.” The statuette portrayed Neva and Seri happily sitting under a tree. It was simple and didn’t do anything beyond serve as a glorified paper weight, but she spent a lot of time on it. That, she felt, made it valuable.

She smiled and handed it to her. “Hope you like it.” After that, she gathered up her old armor and capture it inside another capsule. Except her amulet, which she slipped around her neck. What was a Queen without her crown, after all? Still a Queen, but still...

“I think the God Ki replaced my regular ki,” she said. “When that form I was in faded away, my... godly power remained. I think the form has a limit, but I’m still a... a god.” That fact that she had transcended was still dawning on her. “To be honest, I’m still coming to grips with the whole thing,” she said as Neva started preparing a meal for the two of them.

She had been thinking that moment, dreaming about it, wondering what it would be like to pass beyond the Saiyan race and be counted among the strongest in creation. There were times when she was practically giddy with excitement. Other times, she realized it was only the latest step in her journey. There was more to achieve. She didn’t know what at that time, but she just knew that there was something else higher than simply being a Saiyan God.

That Ultra Instinct thing Parsley told her about sounded like a goal to achieve, once she found a chance to speak with that Caliban character.

“I mean, part of me is super pumped and can’t wait to test out what this form and this power can really do. But the other part of me knows it’s just another step. There’s something higher out there for me to grab. I just know it.” After her fight with Cancer, one thing was certain: the power she had right then wasn’t enough. She only managed to lay one punch on the GoD and it wasn’t enough to kill her. She wasn’t sure if she hurt her or how badly, but that didn’t matter. If she was going to protect her people from the strongest creatures in U15 and beyond, she needed to get stronger.

Not just her, but Parsley, Avoca, and the rest of the defenders.

When Neva mentioned before about her being able to beat the entire team by herself, she didn’t respond. There was little doubt she was right, if she targeted the right people first. But that was something she would never dream of doing. That vision, though... Members of the team stood in opposition to the force that included herself. However that came about, her powerup spelled doom for the others. Even more so if Parsley managed to transcend before it happened. Them individually would be close to too much for the others. Together or, gods forbid, fused would be an impossible obstacle.

I hope it doesn’t come to that.

No, it wouldn’t. Regardless of the circumstances, she wouldn’t fight her friends. She knew they felt the same way. If Sakin dared threaten the hostages... then she would have to figure something out.

Wait, ****. Neva is on our side in that vision! Sarada had completely forgotten about that. It would have been prudent to inform her of that, if she wasn't already aware. “I just remembered we were given a pair of visions by Tiamat a few months ago. Have you heard about those?"

Neva accepted the gift and examined it closely. It was not the work of a master, but considering that she could only have been practicing for a few years, it was impressive quality. But, more importantly, it being a gift from a treasured friend made it invaluable... and if she were to allow herself to be a bit nostalgic, it reminded her of, ah, simpler times. Oh, how she sometimes wished to return to those more carefree days...

Focusing her will, a peaceful, barely perceptible glow flowed from Neva into the jade statue, as she infused extremely pure Hozon into it... ensuring that it would endure for all eternity, or close to it. Neva smiled at Sarada.

"Thank you," she said, placing it on a nearby desk. "It's good to have hobbies beyond fighting and... I presume statecraft. And for having only a few years under year belt, it is of impressive quality."

Not surprising, really. Sarada was the type to give her all to any task that interested her, after all. Talent was useful, but effort was equally as important.

Next, Sarada relayed what could only be called a dire portent Tiamatm, the Earth's wish dragon, had regaled part of the group with in response to a wish. Oddly, it sounded vaguely familiar, and about halfway through the story, she remembered that Zaofan had already relayed this to her... but that had been, from her perspective, centuries ago, and she had actually... forgotten it during her long (mostly) isolation.

Oh dear.

"I... see. Zaofan did tell me this when he visited Reshlan during the past year, but I... well, I am ashamed to admit it, but it was crowded out of my mind by the passage of time and other matters, until you reminded me..."

It was a troubling prediction, and even taking into account their hostages, she couldn't really see any of the group joining Sakin.

"I will admit, it's worrying, but I believe that future is only a possibility," she said. "...after all, in that vision, you were a mere super saiyan, were you not? And as you are now, you're more of a... Super Saiyan God."

...

That felt wrong, somehow. If she were a Super Saiyan God now, then if she transformed, would she not be a Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan?

Absolutely not. That was a stupid name and she would strike that from her mental record.

"...perhaps 'Saiyan God' would be more accurate a term," she said, correcting herself. At this point, the Stir Fry was done, and she loaded up a huge portion for Sarada and a considerably more modest portion for herself.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"...perhaps 'Saiyan God' would be more accurate a term," she said, correcting herself. At this point, the Stir Fry was done, and she loaded up a huge portion for Sarada and a considerably more modest portion for herself.

"I also picked up gardening as something me and my daughter can do together." Now that Sarada thought about it, that must have been wear Kumara picked up her strange obsession with leaves. Besides that, it was a great way for mother and daughter to bond since Kumara was still too young for her to start training her. "Well, I'm glad you like it. I made something for everyone. It's nothing fancy, but," she shrugged, "I find that the simplest gifts are the most memorable."

The conversation shifted to the vision of Tiamat's. Turned out that Zaofan had already told Neva all about it. Good; that meant Sarada didn't have to waste her breath and could move on to the possible implications. It was already confirmed that Sakin was going to go after families. And since Neva was supposed to end up on his side, that meant that her mother and Seri were in serious trouble. And while the vision they saw was just one of innumerable possibilities - one that was currently impossible, as Neva pointed out - that varied literally by one action over the other there had to have been a reason Tiamat showed them that one, as opposed to of the countless others. Even still, that was no reason to go into it overconfident. They had already been caught off-guard and it cost them Garnish.

"Saiyan God," she confirmed. It had a nice ring to it. "You're right that the vision we saw already can't come true, but we also know that your mother and Seri aren't safe. Especially you're mother. It'd be best if you head back to Reshlan, just in case." Neva's mother was powerful, but she wasn't anywhere close to as powerful as those vampires. That was, of course, assuming Sakin had Cancer take Neva's mother and didn't send someone or something else. "Where is Seri, anyway?"

The food was placed in front of her. Sarada, as was the case nearly every time, forewent manners and scarfed her food down like a starving wolf. In mere moments, the plate was clear. "Ah! That was great. Thanks." She stood to walk to the sink and started washing her dishes. "Tell you what. Since you helped us out, I'll head to Reshlan with you, just in case. If I'm right, then you'll likely need the help. If I'm wrong, well, I never did get the chance to meet your Mom." I wonder if her **** are as big as Neva's.