Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Tami]

"Hmm, challenging. Not impossible, but it's dangerous. I'll see what I can do."

"So, I hear you have more presents?" Meagan asked as she walked a few steps towards him, "It looks like just about everyone is here."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Not in the mood for the monkey girl's mockery, Sasheem, still lying on the ground rolled over towards Sarada and attempted to bite her on the ankle.

He managed to nip her ankle when she was walking away. Of course, since she was wearing armored boots, she didn't feel it.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Jack shuffled in a bit late, stubbing a burning cigarette on his palm and placing it behind his ear.

"Dang man, you've been busy," Jack said before remembering the conversation he and Jinzi had had before Jack had put the inventor in a healing tank towards the end of today's battle. The one about having some automated defenses. Jack had asked simply out of the hope of turning anything Jinzi had on to help finish the fight. Jinzi had taken it a different way.

Jack scratched the back of his head guiltily "Er.."



"Yeah pizza's pretty great," Jack said with a nod, "Smells like Zaofan's pretty good at cooking it too," he added as she slowly deliberately looked around at the saiyains, Erosa, and the Toilet. "Might just grab myself a piece," he muttered as he quickly snatched one away and sprung back as if he was worried that a giant ki explosion was about the erupt around Zaofan's cart at any moment.

Which, considering this group, wasn't an irrational fear.

Jinzi hands Jack a nice looking weighted jacket.

"Something tells me you'll appreciate this, Jack."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Addictive as his musings on Ochazuke and the balls were, it was not too long before the events of the day played themselves in his mind. Though the circumstances remained vague to him, it seemed a matter of fact to Koorimaru that the Kami that had descended to answer the questions he asked was not the one they had known. Rather, it was only a glamour applied by a creature, of the same sort that the unfortunately maimed Ishtar was, used to infiltrate the base and snatch away Koorimaru's precious balls.

Though disturbing a thought as losing his balls were, the arrival of the second Oni was in and of itself a matter of interest. The words she spoke in Kami's stead were not necessarily false, especially insofar as they had been supported by Kai's own appraisal of the situation. What was of greater concern was that now, he knew for certain that the Old Kami was not alone in his endeavours.

He had thought the Old Kami to be operating solely on his own power, any allies in his stead being but mere puppets he had coerced into service. But here was a creature, seemingly of her own free will deciding to serve one whom their benefactor had already condemned as a traitor.

It was for that reason he now found himself in the dungeons, making his way to the Oni's cells.

Stopping at the front, without bothering to check whether she was awake or not, Koorimaru leaned in and spoke, "You seem to have found yourself quite thoroughly compromised. I wonder if your master will attempt a means to recover so loyal an ally... or leave you here to rot for your failure."

The oni stirs, then opens her eyes and looks at him.

"It matters little. My fate is sealed, either way. Weather you kill me or him, I am dead and shall return to that wretched place."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"So, I hear you have more presents?" Meagan asked as she walked a few steps towards him, "It looks like just about everyone is here."

"Indeed. I had to do some research, but I finally found something that the Chromaki consider battle armor. Or did, at least, some years ago."

He passes her a capsule.

"Inside is a training outfit of Chromaki design, with a little CC flair. It's a bit like Saiyan armor, but less resilient and more mobile than theirs. They tend to take hits while you flit around them. It's also weighted a bit to give you a workout."

[Eternal Torment]

"Friend." It wasn't a term that was foreign to Saiyans. Friendship was highly valued on Vocado, in fact. Friends often made the best sparring partners, since there was no animosity regardless of the outcome, provided it was fair, of course.

Ah! Now she understood! Chuan must have meant if she considered Jack her friend. Of course she did, why else would she feel the need to concern herself with whether he got to taste perfection like she had.

"Oh, I get it, now. Yes, I am friends with Jack." She looked at the man in question and gave him a thumbs up and a grin. "And I'm friends with Zaofan, Jinzi, and Charco, too."

She had no idea when she had learned Charco's name. Also, it didn't occur to her how it looked that all her friends thus far were male.

She nodded along with what Chuan was saying, now understanding perfectly what he was getting at. "Yes, Jack is my friend."

There was no way he could have meant anything other than that.

Spitting the pizza violently in Jacks face, Erosa spun around with a frustrated expression. "Monkey lady missing point so badly it make Erosa worry for future of monkey race. No even understand how mating or feeling works."

Jack sat in stunned silent shock, unbelieving of what was going on.

As the pizza started to near his face Jack suddenly snapped out of it, dodged the vomit, and in a single manuever, righted himself and kicked Erosa's legs out from under her, causing her to land face first in her own vomit.

"Reversal Roulette!"

"Wait, wait I get it," Jack said, "Totoma is saying since I didn't get any pizza, and because you, Sarada, have just discovered it, and because we're friends, we should go out, and get some in the city," Jack nodded sagely at this. "Also, because Totoma is bringing this up, that means he's offering to pay, which of course, I accept."

Jack patted Totoma on the shoulder, "Your are so generous, thanks a ton!"

"I... Uhhh...."

Chuan looked to Sarada, then to Jack and Erosa in turn.

What just happened there? Did that just lead to an accidental friendzoning?

Oh, so she'd already made some friends. Or at least she viewed some of the others as friends, anyway. Good, good.

"...I.. see," said Totoma. "Guess I had nothing to worry about, then, if Jack's already been put into the friendzone."

Poor (?) guy. Or not.

Totoma shrugged, walked back to the food cart, and began looking over what was left. He picked up a bowl of chopped fruit salad and a cup of hot green tea. "Well, you enjoy your pizza, then."

Okay, so it did. Chuan was about to speak up again when it just got weirder.

"I know how mating works," Sarada scoffed. "I've mated with males and females way stronger than you." Of course, she was the bottom every time. Only sometimes did she take offense to that. "What do emotions have to do with anything."

Now laying flat on the floor with pieces of cheese and meat stuck to her face, Erosa eyes Totoma with curiosity. "......What wrong idea......Erosa is expert on mating ritual. Can see sparks fly from mile away."

"Monkey lady too clueless.....strength mean nothing in mating. If you always prey, you never lean to hunt." Erosa cupped her head in her hands, eyeing Sarada with big piercing eyes. "You just end up on bottom forever."

"Really? Is this really how it's going to-"

Chuan just looked done at this point, though he made a mental note there.

Openness? Check. Staying on topic? No checks there.

The raunchy talk didn't faze him, but he felt he was taking crazy pills with how the conversation kept on drifting. Maybe it was better to just keep quiet for now.

"Could take you to my father's old shop, too. He trained most of the people running it personally, so they're good. Plus... I... technically own the place. Owner's discount."

"We'll see, halfie. Um, Toto… ma." She scowled and scarfed down the rest if her pizza and wondered off toward Jinzi.

"...seeya," said Totoma.

He turned to Jack and gave him a smirk. "...nice try with trying to pass the cost off to me. But... ya know, I was legit trying to do you a favor there. You two do seem to get along."

"...better than with me, anyway," he said, his smirk fading. He sighed and shook his head. "Ah well, at least she called me by my name instead of mutt or... I dunno, Raditz. Never call a Saiyan that, by the way. Seriously. Just don't, unless you really wanna piss them off."

Chuan looked away to avoid tearing up. No, this was getting his heart all aflutter. People bonding and working through their problems would make him cry in joy, damn it.

[Miburo]

What had brought everything to this point?

This, was the question the Nevadian had as he walked from his room, ravaged by battle, into the training halls.

The Nevadian had been skeptical of the idea of these 'dragonballs'. Mystical orbs that had the power to turn desire into reality, provided you had them all, and....rubbed them the right way?

His skepticism did little to discourage Simon, who proudly bet his in view of the world. It did nothing to discourage Willia, who pursued Jinzi. It did nothing to discourage Jinzi, who aided Kami.

It did nothing to discourage Kami, who gathered them all together, so that they might all fight Old Kami and his underlings in unison.

It did not discourage his underlings from attempting to unleash some manner of feral beast from the heart of his comrade, as another tried to raid the group of their bounty.

And it did not discourage the Nevadian from helping to slay the man who attempted it. He did not cut him down personally, but the wound dealt by his spear was so grievous, anything else was essentially a mercy killing...Or at least, it would have been.

No matter how the Nevadian felt, beings were willing to fight, and die, and kill, for these items. His feelings on the matter did not have relevance, so long as so many warriors did.

While he had joined this quest out of concern for the earth, out of a requirement to solicit Jinzi's aid, out of a debt to Kami that needed to be repaid, he had never envisioned the depths to which those enraptured by desire would sink.


For a moment, Held had no reaction, the absurdity of it all barely managing to reach into his contemplations. Slowly, his focus drifted back towards reality, as he spotted the familiar horns of his friend.

As he looked at her, laid so low, barely having the strength to stand, Held was nothing, if not confused.

Right, her clothes had been destroyed when her arm had initially been damaged. That was nice of Karine to offer her own clothes. Still holding the tea that Zaofan had offered her, Ishtar was unsure how she was supposed to proceed. After a moment, she finally decided that setting the drink down was the only workable option, and shakily set it down before accepting the shirt. But... How was she supposed to put it on? Karine offered to help, but Ishtar didn't want to ask too much of the girl, and with a shaking of her head the Oni expressed as much.

"I need to try." And so she did.

His confusion grew as his eyes did, into shock, and then disbelief.

For anyone watching, the Oni's attempt at putting the shirt on was as awkward as it looked. With one arm, she was relegated to sliding her left arm through the sleeve before attempting to wiggle the other sleeve and collar over her head. It didn't go as well as Ishtar hoped, however, and the collar snagged on her horns.

Eventually she managed to fit it on, but the effort had obviously had taken its tool, on what composure she had left. And so the pants that had been offered were forgotten as Ishtar slowly bent over and recovered the tea.

"You owed nothing to begin with," Ishtar replied softly. The girl turned away before she could say anything however and busied herself with enjoying 'Pizza' for the first time.

For Ishtar there was some small comfort in that.

"Water will suffice." Came the Oni's reply. There was no need to ask anything of the man, considering she had long ago moved past needing food. And for now, at least, the idea of asking anything of someone simply for the sake of a fleeting enjoyment seemed a hollow thing indeed.

Finally, he understood. The concern from earlier, when so many had surrounded her during the height of the battles chaos. Was this the Oni's doing? Was it that abomination that sprang forth from Chou?

The stump where a fully functional arm had once been, now nothing, a void where an appendage had been, the unseemly, exhausting struggle with a mere cotton shirt driving home how far she had fallen with each exhausted, frustrated adjustment.

It was a far cry from the warrior who had stood before him, shielding him with her back against an onslaught of emerald power when they had first met, unharmed in all but the most superficial of ways.

He released his grip on his spear, the sheer weight from the weapon allowing itself to land onto the earth beneath it. But, without it's masters power, it slumped, and then fell, colliding with the floor with a hollow thud.

He stood before her, silently, scanning her features. His gaze lingered on her limb--what would have been her limb---before returning his gaze to meet hers.

"I-I Don't understand how this could---"

He fumbled for the correct words. It was a situation he would have expected from her, least of all.

There was no consoling. She had not struck him as one to enjoy such words, and Held would not know what words to speak, even if she had.

He surrendered. The only thing he could think to ask was an obvious question. It was practically rhetorical, almost insulting in it's simplicity, but it could not be avoided as things were.

"Ishtar...." He said finally, "Are you alright?"

[The Dog]

"Hmm, challenging. Not impossible, but it's dangerous. I'll see what I can do."

"We thank you." Shiro said with a bow, a gesture repeated by Midori. Raising back up, she looked at him curiously when she asked "May I ask when we can perform the procedure?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Jinzi, almost distractedly, closes his eyes and mumbles a few things before he nods and reopens them. A robot comes down the elevator and flies over to Jinzi, depositing a package before him. He nods his thanks and then moves over to Ishtar.

“It is not as pretty as the original one, but for the moment, it should suffice. I swear I shall build a better one for you, but until such a time, please, allow me to attach this to you. It is the most state of the art cybernetic arm I have on me. It functions exactly like a normal one, controlled by thought, but can also channel ki through it.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"We thank you." Shiro said with a bow, a gesture repeated by Midori. Raising back up, she looked at him curiously when she asked "May I ask when we can perform the procedure?"

“Soon. Once we are done with this little gathering, I can perform it. Once we are done with that we can leave here for our next location. I have my satellites trying to locate it right now.”

[Sion Reaver]

Sympathizing with her state, Zaofan tried to be friendly to a near total stranger. He was conflicted other than the fact that he wanted to help make things right for Ishtar, how ever he could. But he wasn't feeling very creative, either. "If you have a certain taste for anything, let me know. I'll be more than happy to whip something up for you."



Zaofan scratched his chin. "Well, I'd love to perfect my hand to hand, but frankly several of us have performed feats that I would have deemed impossible not long ago. There's so much out there than mere fisticuffs."

Placing his hands on his hips, he continued, "Truth be told, I don't know what to call my style. I've never really stayed with one style for very long. It's a mischmasch, basically. I'm kind of versed in the Hokuto Shin Ken, but it's too lethal for my tastes. My training in the Turtle School is to build up my inner strength. My most intense training was at the Crane school, but... looking at what Ochazuke's accomplished so far, I have my doubts. I'm not sure if I went to a Crane school or a Crane school in-name-only. And even then, what he's done is so far beyond me that I wouldn't even know how to begin that journey in earnest."
"

Karine gave a brief nod to the first part. "I've heard of that style thanks to my father during his travels but I believe you're the first person I met that trained in it I met. It may be hard, but if you keep at I'm sure you'll find your own path and way, it just may take time. My father used to say its not so much where you start but where you end up, just before he passed he had roughly a power level of five thousand where when he first started it was only in the high double digits. I'm a believer in that saying myself."

"My style is called Youkai Fist..but what I have is a incomplete one." She admitted. "It was passed from my father you see, but unfortunately never took it fully to heart until recently so many of the techniques I don't know."

"Ya know... it is really weird that humans and saiyans are so similar," said Totoma, scratching his chin. Most alien species had a bipedal, humanoid shape, from what he'd experienced, but couldn't be mistaken for each other. Not like humans, saiyans, nosferatu, and... heck, even nevadians.

Well, maybe god just liked the template or something.

"...hm, so if Saiyans can have children with humans, does that mean they could have children with your species, too?" he asked. Nosferatu were an offshoot of humanity, apparently, so they... should? What would a... Nosferaiyan even be like, anyway? A Saiyan with fangs?
"

That..was a interesting question. She never really thought too much about it before but it was fairly plausible.

"I'm not sure." Karine finally said. "I think its possible, with Nosferartu being a off branch of humanity so more then likely I'd say yes. I just wouldn't count on it too soon since Sayains don't really breed with other races as much and Nosferartu aren't as common anymore."

Right, her clothes had been destroyed when her arm had initially been damaged. That was nice of Karine to offer her own clothes. Still holding the tea that Zaofan had offered her, Ishtar was unsure how she was supposed to proceed. After a moment, she finally decided that setting the drink down was the only workable option, and shakily set it down before accepting the shirt. But... How was she supposed to put it on? Karine offered to help, but Ishtar didn't want to ask too much of the girl, and with a shaking of her head the Oni expressed as much.

"I need to try." And so she did.

For anyone watching, the Oni's attempt at putting the shirt on was as awkward as it looked. With one arm, she was relegated to sliding her left arm through the sleeve before attempting to wiggle the other sleeve and collar over her head. It didn't go as well as Ishtar hoped, however, and the collar snagged on her horns.

Eventually she managed to fit it on, but the effort had obviously had taken its tool, on what composure she had left. And so the pants that had been offered were forgotten as Ishtar slowly bent over and recovered the tea.
.

He surrendered. The only thing he could think to ask was an obvious question. It was practically rhetorical, almost insulting in it's simplicity, but it could not be avoided as things were.

"Ishtar...." He said finally, "Are you alright?"

The urge to help Ishstar was strong as she struggled to get the simple task getting a shirt on before she pushed that feeling back. This was her own personal battle with her own desire to see it through, so helping would cause more harm then good besides respecting her wishes. She did seem to give up after the shirt was put on, looking more tired and weary then before. It broke Karine's heart seeing them in this state and being completely inept of doing anything to help.

She adverted her gaze, unable to look at them much longer in their current state. The bickering and banter of the others were mostly background music to her at the given moment.

Held came to ask if she was all right, the question seemed more rthetoical then anything. Karine mentally sighed, deciding to let Held talk.

Maybe he could help in some way she couldn't at the moment.

[KingofPie]

He managed to nip her ankle when she was walking away. Of course, since she was wearing armored boots, she didn't feel it.

Sasheem snarled in anger, cursing this new present Sarada had gotten from Jinzi. Speaking of which...

"Indeed. I had to do some research, but I finally found something that the Chromaki consider battle armor. Or did, at least, some years ago."

He passes her a capsule.

"Inside is a training outfit of Chromaki design, with a little CC flair. It's a bit like Saiyan armor, but less resilient and more mobile than theirs. They tend to take hits while you flit around them. It's also weighted a bit to give you a workout."

Was Pants just handing thInga out to everyone now? Sasheem hoped so. Maybe the inventor had something acrually useful like a mystical mace...or a bomb. Anything to break this stupid toilet.

"Yardoo!" Sasheem shouted to Jinzi. "Gift!"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Sasheem snarled in anger, cursing this new present Sarada had gotten from Jinzi. Speaking of which...



Was Pants just handing thInga out to everyone now? Sasheem hoped so. Maybe the inventor had something acrually useful like a mystical mace...or a bomb. Anything to break this stupid toilet.

"Yardoo!" Sasheem shouted to Jinzi. "Gift!"

“Heh, majin are tougher. Still, I did find something........”

He fishes inside a pocket and brings out an old, red, stone.

“Magical in nature, created by a majin sorcerer ages ago. Majin normally havethe power to regenerate and stretch to great lengths, but you no longer have that capability. In simple terms, Sasheem, hold this stone and it will make your magic stronger.”

[KamenRaida]

The oni stirs, then opens her eyes and looks at him.

"It matters little. My fate is sealed, either way. Weather you kill me or him, I am dead and shall return to that wretched place."

"The land of the dead." Koorimaru finished for her, "I'm afraid in all my travels, your blue-skinned friend was the first of your kind I'd met. Unfortunately, I did not have much of an opportunity to question her of the nature of your homeland, although I suppose it must have been a sickening place if you sought... freedom from it, was it? My question is, if you'd somehow managed to free yourself from that prison once, why ally yourself with someone like the Old Kami? Surely you know he betrayed those under his protection so many centuries ago. What makes you think you would fare any different under him?"

[The Chou Lives]

: He does not approach Honzi for a present, given how he endangered the team he felt unworthy, even so he does not want a damned thing aside paying the car debit off.:

. he found it hiralous that a race that values surviving near death battle wounds invest in armor though, as defense value lessens said injury.: