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Dragon Ball: After the End

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Crazy idea: We seal their powers and reduce them to the size of a house cat. Then we build a house cat sized city for them and make a theme park out of it!

We just need to find a way to keep them on the planet before that...

Or we could pass the buck, give them supplies and have them explore for an apropriate planet even further away from the center of the galaxy.
 
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Quite the Impression
  • Threadmarks
    • [X][JOB] "Sight training." Jaffur's been sitting for a week, and he has to be getting antsy. Time to get this off The List.
    [X][GOALS] No.

    Quite the Impression
    ​
    Humming quietly to yourself, you slip out of the house and fly into the wilderness. Flying to the Senzus' mountains, you enter a cave system you uncovered last year and proceed down into the caverns until you find a quiet corner, out of the way.

    And then you settle in, cross your legs, and open your Sight to the world around you.

    * * *

    Gone.

    * * *
    ​
    The caves whip by at lightning pace -- your usual pace, but filtered through eyes a twentieth as powerful as normal. In a screaming rush, you blur through rock, sky, and cloud, ripping up and then back down towards Garenhuld, hurtling towards the skull of a very young teenage boy with curly blond hair and bright blue eyes.

    To your surprise, he senses you coming, and you feel his ki start the startled flinch which will touch off the physical startled flinch that will presage an actual reaction.

    Impressive reflexes, given how fast you're incoming.

    Still, Jaron only catches the barest hint of something incoming, at the relative time scales, and by the time his ki has finished flinching and he snaps his head around, you're already rushed in through his ear, and are nowhere to be found.

    * * *
    ​


    Jaffur, by contrast, notices you immediately, his eyes fixing in on you the instant you land. He's transformed, and it again catches you that Jaron has his eye color directly from Super Saiyan, now that it's staring you in the face. Your fellow Scion holds your gaze for a long moment before releasing his transformation with a flicker of thought.

    You can't read him right now. Neither Jaffur nor Jaron are the most expressive of people at the best of times, but right now Jaffur's face might as well be made out of stone. You freeze, abruptly and acutely aware of the fact that even were you at full power, he could likely take you down even if he hasn't improved himself in the slightest over the past few years. And then-

    -he breathes.

    It's nothing, really -- people breathe all the time. But he wasn't before, and when this breath comes, it's short and quick -- and, just a little bit, quivering. You reevaluate his silence.

    "That-" he rasps, twitching slightly. He pauses. Breathes again. Closes his eyes. You actually see him shifting away from the typical Vegetan forms. He opens his eyes again and meets yours. "That," he says, voice clearer. "That...that. The Genki Dama. That..." He swallows, looking away. "...it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

    You stare back, wide-eyed. You have no idea how to handle this. This is more than just praise for an achievement. You don't know what this is.

    "I..." he says, shaking his head. "I don't think you really understand, what it was like in my home. It...everything had a purpose. Ever since I could talk, I've been making plans and setting goals. And ki...it was always just another tool. A powerful tool, and I'm good at it. I'm great. I don't think anybody but you even comes close. And it's fun. But...it's a tool."

    You stifle yourself, even as you feel the impulse to scream at him that that's wrong, that that's how monsters like Cell see it, and he'd be so wasted if that was all he ever got out of it. You stifle yourself, because even in the face of that instinctual outrage, you know that now isn't the time.

    He shudders. "And then I felt what you did, and it...it had a point, yes, but I could feel everything you were putting into it, everything you were drawing into it, and it just felt..." He looks at you again. "...you really, really love ki, don't you?"

    You nod slowly. "I do. It's...it's life, Jaffur. I know a lot of people think of it as just another tool, but it's so much more than that. And I can always feel it moving." You close your eyes and stretch, fingers clawing at the air. "Every time I twitch, and even if I don't move." You sample the flow of ki intensifying as you flex your internal pathways and smile.

    When you open your eyes, Jaffur is staring at you with a fascinated expression on his face. He nods, not breaking eye contact. "Yeah. And...when you called the Genki Dama...I felt that. I saw that. And then you let me be a part of it." He gives you a look you don't know how to decipher, still looking you straight in the eye. "...thank you, Kakara."

    You avert your own eyes, giggling. "You know I think that's the first time you've used my name."

    He blinks. "Surely not."

    "I...I think so?" you say, casting your eyes up and searching for the memories. "I mean, it's been a few years..."

    He laughs, a distinct note of self-deprecation in his voice. "Well. I apologize, Scion Kakara, for my appalling poor manners." He offers you a formal bow.

    At this you outright cackle. The formality is overblown even by Vegetan standards, deliberately so. Then you look closer. "...you're blushing!"

    "No I'm not," he says, face perfectly straight as he stands up. "I never blush."

    "You are!" you say, grinning. "Right here." You trace your fingers along your cheekbones.

    He snorts and rolls his eyes.

    You smile at him. "...I'm glad I could show you."

    He blinks, sliding back onto the prior train of thought. His expression grows solemn, and he nods. "I owe you-"

    "You don't owe me anything," you say.

    His expression then is...lost. He stares at you with no understanding at all, and a painful awareness of that lack. He then shakes his head, looking away, and murmurs, "Thank you." He looks around the mindscape. "...so, what brings you here?"

    "I wanted to catch you up on what happened," you say, stepping past him and hoisting yourself up on a rock. "I know you probably felt the fight, but I figured I'd let you know what it was like on the ground." You massage your shins, growling quietly.

    "Growing pains?" he says, with the voice of experience. "And yes, please." He hops up and sits down next to you.

    "I don't know how humans put up with these for all those years," you gripe. "At least I'll be done by the end of the year."

    "And still short, too, by the look of it," he says, smirking.

    You roll your eyes and shove him. At your present respective strengths, he barely even shifts. "Not all of us can be..." You give him a measuring gaze. "...how tall are you, anyway?"

    He gives you a slightly scornful look. "What, you think I know? Oh, sure, let me just get out the tape measure!"

    You sigh and flop back on the rock. "Anyway. I'm perfectly average height, thanks."

    "Short to me," he says.

    You scoff. Then you frown. "I was supposed to be telling you about the fight, right."

    He nods.

    You take a breath and sit up again. "Well, I was off spending time with Maya when he showed up. The dragon. His name is Dazarel. I managed to stall until the others showed up, and then we started into it. Your grandpa spent the most time up close. He just let Dazarel pound on him to give the rest of us room to move. Still, it wasn't a very even fight. Dazarel is psychic. Mostly TK, from what he said. He used it to mess with us without us noticing."

    Jaffur hisses. "That could be crippling if he used it right."

    "And it was," you say. "I'm not convinced that he doesn't have some mental powers, because I didn't notice until I was clear of the fight. Then again, that might have just been the fight. Dazarel at full size is...pretty distracting. But yeah, looking at it from the outside, even Maya thought we were sick or off our game somehow. We weren't moving right. Didn't help that he was as durable as an arcosian, either. Nothing was working. Maybe we could have beat him. Once I figured it out, once we adapted, once we got our act together..."

    You remember the never-ending storm of ki blasts, the all-consuming effort you had to put into knocking them out of the sky. You remember the shock of your stock of senzu beans suddenly being empty, the strategic reserve left after House Senzu's isolation down a quarter of its size in one battle.

    "Scion?" says Jaffur.

    You shake yourself. "If I'm honest, somebody would have died. Probably your grandpa. But maybe we would have won."

    Silence, for a moment. And then Jaffur says, deliberately or otherwise ignoring what you just said, "But then you called the Genki Dama."

    You tilt your head back. "And then I called the Genki Dama. And then it was over." You fingers prickle at the remembered sensation of that horrid stretching as your body tried to contain all of that power, and the transcendent warmth that followed. Enough power to put out the stars. Truly the power of all the world. You snap out of it. "Afterwards I held him down to let the sorcerers work."

    "They sealed him?" asks Jaffur, an eyebrow raised. He snickers when you give him an apprehensive look. "Don't be so worried. Why should I care about Dazarel?"

    You shrug. "Yeah, I guess. But yeah, they sealed him. Locked away his powers and, um. Reduced him. A little."

    He frowns. "Reduced? What does that mean?"

    "They...sort of gave him a smaller body. He was the size of a mountain before. Now he's about, um...this big." You hold your hands around two feet apart. "Nose to tail."

    Jaffur gapes for a moment, stunned.

    And then he throws his head back and roars with laughter.

    You flinch at the sight and sound of it. Honestly, Jaffur's laughter is fit for a super villain. But it's loud and free and honest in a way you have honestly never felt from him. You've seen him raging in the midst of combat, but mostly the way your describe your fellow Scion is, "subdued." Not...this.

    He does subside quickly, and just like that, he's back to his usual restraint. He's still smiling, but it's back to a small smirk. "I needed that," he admits, flushing despite his words. "Thanks."

    You laugh. "No problem." You shift, slip a little, reach out to steady yourself-

    tsew

    Jaffur's hand closes over yours. Startled, you look up at him, wide-eyed, and see him staring right back at you.

    "Don't touch these rocks," he says, letting go of your hand.

    "I. Um." You swallow. "Why? Why not, I mean."

    "We're not in a pleasant spot right now," he says. "These aren't good memories." He bounces a booted heel off of the rock on which you sit. "You don't seem to get sucked in like I do when my skin touches them, but trust me, you don't want to take the chance."

    You look down at the rock, and then all around you at the nearly-featureless expanse. "I...how can you tell where we are?"

    He gives you a rather hollow smirk. "Only one way." He presses a hand to the rock in demonstration. His gaze goes distant for a moment before he shakes himself and regains control. He snatches the hand back like the rock is burning him. He growls quietly. "If you want to get anything done in a place like this, you learn to push them away. Still, you haven't learned, and even if you did, you really don't want to see it."

    You give the rock a considering look-

    His hand lands on your shoulder. "Kakara." You look up, startled, right into his eyes. He looks absolutely serious. "You don't want to see it."

    You nod, mouth a little dry at the intensity of the stare and the sudden contact. "Yeah, okay."

    He nods and withdraws, looking off into the distance. "How long are you going to be here?"

    "Good question," you say, drawing your feet up. "I've gotten better since last time, so...longer? I guess we'll find out."

    He nods. "Hm." He pushes his hair out of his eyes.

    Noticing the gesture, you give the mop he's wearing a critical look.

    He looks over at you after a moment. "...what?"

    "Doesn't that ever...get in the way?" you ask, pointing at the edifice atop his scalp.

    "Not really?" he says, his eyes flicking up to his bangs. "I don't really notice it."

    You frown. "That one that comes down in between your eyes is down to your lips. How do you not notice it?"

    "Because it isn't important," he says. "I don't pay it any mind."

    "But there's so much of it!" you say. "It's down to your waist in back by now!"

    "Why do you care so much?" he asks, sighing.

    "Because it's messy!" you say, folding your arms.

    Jaffur scowls in irritation. "Look, there aren't exactly a lot of barbers in here, okay?"

    "So why don't you just..." You make a snipping gesture, ki flashing. Then you look at him again. Wait a second... "Jaffur!"

    He groans. "What is it now?"

    You point at his chin. "That!"

    He finally loses patience, throwing up his hands. "What?! I don't have a mirror, Scion! We've got rocks here! Rocks for miles!"

    You frown at him. "You're getting scruffy."

    He blinks. "Wait, really?" He feels at his chin; sure enough, he feels the tips of the hair you can just barely see poking through his skin. "Well, huh. That's new." He goes back to staring into the distance.

    You stare at him, wondering how he can be this stupid. "...are you going to do something about it?"

    He grumbles, leaning back onto the rock and closing his eyes.

    "Hey, don't ignore me!"

    He rests his hand over his eyes.

    "Jaffur..."

    Jaffur is ignoring you now.

    You huff, crossing your arms. Still, there's a smile hanging on your lips, one mirrored on his own.


    What's next? As always, write-ins welcome. Bear in mind that your Sight time is not unlimited, particularly at your current level of mastery; if you want more visions in the near future, it may be best to leave shortly.

    [ ] Leave in fairly short order.
    -[ ] Write in your intentions for what to do next (until you all find a plot thread to which I can tie you, this is going to stay pretty open-ended, so expect more write-ins).
    [ ] Hang around for a bit.
    -[ ] Touch the rock.
    -[ ] Suggest some training. While there are probably some people as good as Jaffur, they all have other things to do.
    -[ ] Nag him more about personal presentation, the state of his hair sets your teeth on edge.
    -[ ] Offer to start the (incredibly) finicky process of teaching him the Genki Dama.

    TWO-HOUR MORATORIUM. THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.

    Added, "Keep in contact with Jaffur Vegeta," to the To-Do List as a Moderate Goal. If that placement displeases you, just prioritize above other things until it arrives at the appropriate place; the list will be in flux for some time until things settle down. I have also updated the To-Do List with descriptions of the various priority levels. Finally, I have gone through the Relationships list for some much-needed updates (I can't believe I forgot to add Dazarel to the Enemies section).

    Hope you like the update, folks! I always have fun bouncing these two characters off of each other.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • I'm thinking we touch base with Dazarel next, maybe. Either him or the conspiracy.
     
    I'm now imagining Jaffur eventually being released from the seal to much fanfare, only for the spectators to fall silent at his glorious handlebar mustache.
     
    Training on Ki Refinement would be welcome. Nagging him about personal presentation is kind of a waste of time under the circumstances, though the hilarity potential is strong. People who want to ship Jaffur-and-Kakara hard may want to vote for this one.

    Touching the rock is a bad idea, because it's an intrusion on Jaffur's mental privacy. Plus he may resent us for knowing whatever it was; that's hardly an common reaction from abuse victims when an outsider sees.

    I don't think we're going to be able to teach Jaffur the Spirit Bomb for a looong time, among other things because he's the only living thing in here. What would he draw energy from except us, and we're around for like, a couple of hours a month tops?

    PoptartProdigy said:
    (Was tempted to add, "work towards Perfect Multiform," as an Insignificant Goal, but felt that goading you all was beneath me :rofl:)
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    Well gee, we de-prioritized it to deal with literally the end of the world, thanks!

    ...Also, out of curiosity, we're still on approval voting, right?

    NeverDies said:
    I'm now imagining Jaffur eventually being released from the seal to much fanfare, only for the spectators to fall silent at his glorious handlebar mustache.
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    Me too. Me too.
     
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    PoptartProdigy said:
    Was tempted to add, "work towards Perfect Multiform," as an Insignificant Goal, but felt that goading you all was beneath me :rofl:)
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    There needs to be a 'mean' version of like for this. :wtf:

    On another note, wouldn't this be a good time to ask if Jaffur would mind us Seeing what happened between him and his mother the night before she showed up asking for help with Sealing Jaffur?
     
    @PoptartProdigy I have a write-in suggestion that'd I'd like to see if it's valid. You said at some point that if Kakara tried to she could get Jaffur and/or Jaron wrapped around her finger pretty easily. Since she's better at social than us, I'm assuming we can trust her to handle that without getting into the minutia of how she would go about doing that.

    [] You might as well start down the path of getting Jaffur wrapped around your finger to be your friend. It'll probably be for the best if you can talk him down from doing stupid things after all.

    The general thought to this is that Jaffur won't necessarily be the picture of mental health when he gets out of the Seal, and we don't want to spoil relations by having to fight him. So we want to be able to talk him out of doing anything stupid and that tends to require social leverage -- like being very close*. Double edged sword since that also makes it easier for them to drag you into their problems, but I think we're pretty safe from Jaffur talking us into doing something stupid.

    *friends or otherwise
     
    Blonddude42 said:
    @PoptartProdigy I have a write-in suggestion that'd I'd like to see if it's valid. You said at some point that if Kakara tried to she could get Jaffur and/or Jaron wrapped around her finger pretty easily. Since she's better at social than us, I'm assuming we can trust her to handle that without getting into the minutia of how she would go about doing that.

    [] You might as well start down the path of getting Jaffur wrapped around your finger to be your friend. It'll probably be for the best if you can talk him down from doing stupid things after all.

    The general thought to this is that Jaffur won't necessarily be the picture of mental health when he gets out of the Seal, and we don't want to spoil relations by having to fight him. So we want to be able to talk him out of doing anything stupid and that tends to require social leverage -- like being very close*. Double edged sword since that also makes it easier for them to drag you into their problems, but I think we're pretty safe from Jaffur talking us into doing something stupid.

    *friends or otherwise
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    I don't moderate write-ins for this quest, so you needn't ask for permission. That said, this seems like something where the means could be important to the end result. If they're important for you, you may want to specify, lest it ends up in my hands and my preference is different than yours.
     
    [x] Leave in fairly short order.
    -[x]train multiform
    -[x]ask Grandma to train you in mind delve.
     
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    PoptartProdigy said:
    I don't moderate write-ins for this quest, so you needn't ask for permission. That said, this seems like something where the means could be important to the end result. If they're important for you, you may want to specify, lest it ends up in my hands and my preference is different than yours.
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    Always better safe than sorry. Some GMs get really mad when people vote for write-ins that haven't been approved.

    For extra details, Kakara able to make a reasonable showing at planting the seeds for a crush on her in Jaffur*? ...That sounded a lot better in my head, but the point stands. As a pretty girl that can social for days, Kakara's best way of keeping Jaffur from doing really stupid things through pure social probably if he has a crush on her. A boy's first crush can have ridiculous sway over them without even trying after all.

    [ ] Hang around for a bit.
    -[ ] You might as well start down the path of getting Jaffur [s]wrapped around your finger[/s] to be your friend. It'll probably be for the best if you can talk him down from doing stupid things after all.

    Gonna have a plain text copy of that so people can get the strike-though part in it if they want.

    *I will never try to hid that I'm gonna ship Kakara and Jaffur hard if Kakara's sexuality allows for it.

    Edit: Voting is open so...
    [X] Hang around for a bit.
    -[X] You might as well start down the path of getting Jaffur wrapped around your finger to be your friend. It'll probably be for the best if you can talk him down from doing stupid things after all.
     
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    [X] Hang around for a bit.
    -[X] Suggest some training. While there are probably some people as good as Jaffur, they all have other things to do.
    --[X] Ki Refinement, assuming he's still okay with others learning it now the fate of Garenhuld isn't in the balance.
    -[X] Offer to start the (incredibly) finicky process of teaching him the Genki Dama.
     
    We really should hang out with him when we can.

    [x] Hang around for a bit.
    -[x] Suggest some training. While there are probably some people as good as Jaffur, they all have other things to do.
     
    If we really wanted to wrap him round our finger all we'd really need to do is keep doing what we're doing. Going out of our way to specify it feels way too manipulative, especially since it would be at odds with making him a friend.

    [X] Hang around for a bit.
    -[X] Suggest some training. While there are probably some people as good asJaffur, they all have other things to do.
    --[X] Ki Refinement, assuming he's still okay with others learning it now the fate of Garenhuld isn't in the balance.
    -[X] Offer to start the (incredibly) finicky process of teaching him the Genki Dama.
    [X] Hang around for a bit.
    -[X] Nag him more about personal presentation, the state of his hair sets your teeth on edge.

    @PoptartProdigy what would genki damage training even entail? Would we be able to tell him it's a ki sense technique rather than ki control?

    And on that note I really want to tell someone about our talks with our ancestors. Sensei would be a good person to talk to about it, seeing as how other Seers have managed it at some point, andI kinda want to tell Jaffur, if only so he knows we didn't get it completely on our own.
     
    Blonddude42 said:
    Always better safe than sorry. Some GMs get really mad when people vote for write-ins that haven't been approved.

    For extra details, Kakara able to make a reasonable showing at planting the seeds for a crush on her in Jaffur*? ...That sounded a lot better in my head, but the point stands. As a pretty girl that can social for days, Kakara's best way of keeping Jaffur from doing really stupid things through pure social probably if he has a crush on her. A boy's first crush can have ridiculous sway over them without even trying after all.

    [ ] Hang around for a bit.
    -[ ] You might as well start down the path of getting Jaffur [s]wrapped around your finger[/s] to be your friend. It'll probably be for the best if you can talk him down from doing stupid things after all.

    Gonna have a plain text copy of that so people can get the strike-though part in it if they want.

    *I will never try to hid that I'm gonna ship Kakara and Jaffur hard if Kakara's sexuality allows for it.

    Edit: Voting is open so...
    [X] Hang around for a bit.
    -[X] You might as well start down the path of getting Jaffur wrapped around your finger to be your friend. It'll probably be for the best if you can talk him down from doing stupid things after all.
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    Put like that, Kakara is going to simply start establishing herself as somebody to whom Jaffur would be wise to listen (to be fair, after this update you might imagine that to be somewhat simple). Kakara is, alas, as sharp and incisive as a river stone when it comes to matters of romance.
    Karnax626 said:
    @PoptartProdigy what would genki damage training even entail? Would we be able to tell him it's a ki sense technique rather than ki control?
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    Instruction would be prefaced with a warning that there's a trick, and the whole thing falls apart if Kakara just shares the trick. Amateur philosophy lessons would then ensue as Kakara tries to break down the Exiles' usual concept of personhood without ever directly mentioning what she trying.
     
    PoptartProdigy said:
    Instruction would be prefaced with a warning that there's a trick, and the whole thing falls apart if Kakara just shares the trick. Amateur philosophy lessons would then ensue as Kakara tries to break down the Exiles' usual concept of personhood without ever directly mentioning what she trying.
    Click to expand...
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    Why does it fail if someone tells someone the trick?
     
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