Dragon Ball: After the End
- Location
- PLANT Earth
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
-[X] Accept his request.
I give it 3 days for the bigger/richer houses.
I think we should keep in mind that Zuccha Balor is not our only audience here. We're in public. The crowd started screaming about how unfair this was the instant the five year deal was announced. If we grant this request, we are saying to everyone: "We have capsules and you don't! Hey, I know. See this guy who just publicly admitted that he's not great at running a business? Let's let him alone, and not any of you, be in charge of all our capsules forever!" Not a good look for the People's Princess.
Our relationship with the Balors is sturdy enough to weather us upholding our father's already-generous offer to the praise (or... lack of further dismay) of our people. Or, if it's not sturdy enough, it's easier to fix that than to fix a monopoly we ourselves created. Anyway, I don't think they're going to betray Jaffur in the next three weeks over greed, unless Zuccha is just a total asshole.
Weak preference, though. I'm happy as long as we don't call a hearing to demand that he prove that he's not lying to his Lord about his Lord's project.
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Deny his request.
Our relationship with the Balors is sturdy enough to weather us upholding our father's already-generous offer to the praise (or... lack of further dismay) of our people. Or, if it's not sturdy enough, it's easier to fix that than to fix a monopoly we ourselves created. Anyway, I don't think they're going to betray Jaffur in the next three weeks over greed, unless Zuccha is just a total asshole.
Weak preference, though. I'm happy as long as we don't call a hearing to demand that he prove that he's not lying to his Lord about his Lord's project.
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Deny his request.
- Location
- Academy City
- Pronouns
- They
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Deny his request.
-[X] Deny his request.
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
On what grounds should the request be denied? None of the groups party to the deal object to the extension.
The groups that might be party to future deals five years from now certainly object. Our goal isn't just arbitration. Our goal is to look after the long-term well-being of our Clan. How many capsules our people can get, and how soon they can get them, certainly qualifies.
Also, Berra's consent isn't public knowledge, otherwise I'd be all for it. But he's ceded his voice to us on this matter.
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CaesriusPolybius
Worldgate Mechanic
- Location
- United States. Ish.
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
-[X] Accept his request.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Vote Tally : Dragon Ball: After the End - Sci-Fi | Page 1117 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 27919-27938]
##### NetTally 1.9.8
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
No. of Votes: 13
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Deny his request.
No. of Votes: 2
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Escalate to a full hearing in a couple of weeks.
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 16
##### NetTally 1.9.8
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
No. of Votes: 13
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Deny his request.
No. of Votes: 2
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Escalate to a full hearing in a couple of weeks.
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 16
We are decisive today.
Notice to all, I'm feeling antsy today and want to write. I'm going to close this vote within the next few hours. Shorter than usual, but I really want to write something here.
OfSpaceandTime
Chaotically Inclined
- Location
- Ohio
- Pronouns
- Anything non-rude.
Welp, may as well jump on the bandwagon.
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
KnightDisciple
Love God. Do Right. Fear No Man.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
-[X] Accept his request.
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Escalate to a full hearing in a couple of weeks.
-[X] Escalate to a full hearing in a couple of weeks.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Vote Tally : Dragon Ball: After the End - Sci-Fi | Page 1117 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 27919-27947]
##### NetTally 1.9.8
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
No. of Votes: 18
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Deny his request.
No. of Votes: 4
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Escalate to a full hearing in a couple of weeks.
No. of Votes: 2
Total No. of Voters: 24
##### NetTally 1.9.8
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
No. of Votes: 18
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Deny his request.
No. of Votes: 4
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Escalate to a full hearing in a couple of weeks.
No. of Votes: 2
Total No. of Voters: 24
There's the win!
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
Vote closed. Solid victory today.
On the Brink
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Yeah, you think you know what to do at this point.
-[X] Accept his request.
-[X] Accept his request.
This chapter contains mention of suicidal thoughts and actions. Discretion is advised. Summary at the end.
On the Brink
You set your elbows on your knees and lean forward. "Head Balor, I grant your request. Asking for a change because of what your experts have to say just makes sense. In order to keep what we both wanted out of the contract, I'll agree to this change."
He bows his head, expression unchanging. "Thank you, Scion. This will give us all the time we need to set up."
You nod, and he falls back into the crowd. Dad steps forward.
"Next petition!"
You watch as a man and a woman step forward, shooting each other foul looks, and sigh.
It's going to be a long day of this.
* * *
You were wrong; it was not a long day. It was many long days in a row, working nine hours in the Hall during your nights to sort through an unending ocean of complaints and disputes. Every day you go home exhausted, fall asleep thinking, and wake up tired. It's not that you're physically tired -- you could just take off you Masque if it was that. No, you're mentally drained. Sleep, once a recreational luxury, has become a daily necessity to recharge your batteries. You despise it.
Your father eyes you, after one such restless night. "You look exhausted."
You slump into your chair at the table, putting your head down. "I don't know if I can do this again today."
You feel his fingers threading through your hair. "I know. That's the job. Why do you think I've had you doing these shifts?"
"I figured it out," you reply through a yawn. "Don' do that. Makes me sleepy."
He chuckles and takes his hand back. "Well, you're off today."
"Oh, thank the kais." You let your eyes close.
He nudges you. "Go on back upstairs. Have some more sleep. It's the weekend, so you don't have school. Take some time and recharge for the day. We'll pick up with things again next week."
Your eyes open, facing away from Dad. "Yeah," you say. "Next week..."
There's a moment's silence on his side of the table, and then you hear him standing. "C'mon, kiddo. Upstairs before you pass out on the table."
"Yeah, yeah, okay." You pull yourself up.
"What are you doing today?" he asks.
"I think I'll go see Jaron," you say, yawning again. "He's been quiet lately. Night, Dad."
"It's morning," he chuckles.
"Whatever," you mutter, stumbling into your room. You're out before your head lands on your pillow.
* * *
A few hours later, you make good on your word.
Valentine opens the door, and smiles when he sees you. "Oh, hello, Karen! Here to see Jaron?"
"Here to bug him about ditching us," you reply, grinning. "He's been hiding."
He snorts. "Yeah, well, boys will be boys. They all think they're too cool for anybody else." He turns around. "Jaron? Jaron!" Nothing. Valentine turns back, shrugging. "He must be listening to something. I swear he goes off in his own little world when he's focusing on something."
"I noticed," you say.
He nods. "Doreen's not around. She'll be disappointed she missed you."
Only if she's talking about ki blasts. "Oh, is she not?" you ask, checking again to make sure that she hasn't left the Hall. "I'm sorry I couldn't see her."
"I'll let her know," he replies, smiling. "Jaron's up in his room. First door on the left, off the stairs."
You smile. "Thanks, Mister Somerlad!"
"Sure thing," he says. "Have fun."
You nod and turn, heading for the stairs. You pause at the door Valentine mentioned, listening inside. Hearing nothing, you check your ki senses. Sure enough, there's Jaron. You knock. "Hey, Jaron, it's me!" You turn the handle, and swing open the door.
Stepping inside, your eyes track right, to where you felt his ki signature. You open your mouth as you see him sitting on his bed, a pencil and a pad of paper next to him, and you get ready to tease him for laziness-
-knife-
-before you can even think about what you're doing, you lunge, your hand flashing up to hook the pommel of the weapon and tug it away from your friend's throat. His power level begins to spike, his eyes widen, and his aura flickers on the edge of sight.
You ignore him, focusing on twisting his arm around and bringing his hand down to the bed. As soon as it makes contact, your hand flickers up to your forehead-
vip
-and you reappear on an uncharted island in the ocean east of Aramaia. You wrench away the knife and lunge back as his power level finally spikes enough for him to flare.
Jaron doesn't say anything. He just darts towards you, reaching for the knife. You skip back and away, taking to the skies where you know he can't keep up.
You're shaking. You're hot. You're ice. You're numb, too. You point a hand at him -- fingers would take entirely too much dexterity, at the moment -- and try to scream, "What are you doing?!"
Try. In reality, it comes out more as a hoarse whisper.
He scowls up at you, his lips twisting. "...I wasn't gonna do it-"
"WHAT WERE YOU DOING, JARON?!"
He flinches as the sudden burst of noise echoes once around the island before fading away over the waves. The two of you stare at each other. You don't move -- frozen, one hand still held out. He stares back at you.
At length, he looks away. "...deciding."
The word hangs in the space between you.
Deciding. He was deciding.
vip
You don't even notice that your hand is on your forehead and that you've run the calculations before you blink and find yourself on another island, miles away. You drop to your knees, staring off at nothing in particular. Eventually, you realize that you still have the knife. You hurl it into the sand, unable to bring yourself to touch it even a second longer. You take several quick, shallow breaths, and suddenly everything comes loose. Your breath comes faster, harder. Your vision starts to swim. Tears come, and you can't even try to stop them. You whine and shiver, holding yourself in a futile attempt to restore some measure of stability.
It's hardly a conscious decision, when you thread your fingers through your hair, white out your eyes, and jaunt away.
* * *
Gone.
* * *
You appear inside the Seal, behind Jaffur.Gone.
* * *
Your fellow Scion is staring up into the sky, hands slack. You remain slumped on the ground, trembling and crying.
"...I never even guessed," he says. He's never sounded more lost.
You manage to push yourself up against a rock, finding the limited dignity of slumping against that far preferable to huddling on the floor. You try, and fail, to reign yourself in.
At length, Jaffur turns and drifts over to you, sliding down next to you. At some point it strikes you that tears are sliding down his face, too. First time you've ever seen him cry. He shudders. His face twists before smoothing back over. "...Kakara, what do we do?"
"I don't know," you mumble. "I don't know what to do, and I really wish that I did. What the heck are we supposed to do about this?"
He shudders again. Before you can think about it, you lean into his side. He flinches. You go still, hoping that he's not about to pull away.
He stays.
"...he picked up the pencil and paper, and put them on the bed," says Jaffur, staring at the floor. "Then he got the knife. He grabbed the pencil again in the other hand and just started...weighing them. Just...lift one hand, let the other fall, let the one hand fall, lift the other, over and over and fucking over. He put down the pencil, and then-" He swallows, hard. "I was screaming at him. I begged. I threw blasts. Anything. Tried to bore through the Seal, but I couldn't focus enough, wasn't goo-" He stops, drawing in sharp breaths through his nose. "He just- couldn't hear me-"
He's shivering, now. He bows his head, letting his hair drift over his face. He bends further forward. Further. His head's nearly between his knees, now.
His shoulders shake, once.
You let your head drop onto the shoulder nearest you, and the two of you start crying in earnest.
* * *
You don't even have a word for the arrangement you two ended up in, by the time you stopped crying. Something vaguely like sitting, but you both were twisted into knots by the sobs. Eventually, though, you find it in yourselves to straighten. You don't pull apart, though. Seems...petty, somehow.
"...you just keep saving us," whispers Jaffur.
You close your eyes again. "I don't even know how it keeps happening. I'm just...always there." You tremble, but only a bit. You don't have much left in you for more.
Jaffur breathes, or maybe gasps. You're both so drained that it's hard to tell. He glances up. "...he's just standing where you left him."
You wipe at your eyes. "Hasn't said anything?"
"If he did, I missed it."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
You stare down at your hands. "...I need to tell somebody. Maybe your Grandpa. Somebody to keep an eye on him."
"Why not you?" asks Jaffur.
"Your Mom would throw a fit," you reply. "I'd spend more time arguing with her than watching him."
Jaffur nods. "Grandfather would be able to watch without being yelled at. Good idea."
You nod. Silence falls again. You and Jaffur lean on each other. Jaffur keeps staring up at the sky, to make sure Jaron isn't trying anything.
You sigh, closing your eyes. "I need to bring him back home."
Jaffur nods. "Yeah. Probably."
You nod, and reach out to grab his hand. You give it a squeeze. He doesn't even flinch. After who knows how long of sobbing on each other, this doesn't bother either of you. You stand, and pull him to his feet as well.
He doesn't meet your gaze, brushing down his clothes. "...thank you."
You stare up at him. "...Jaffur. There are only seven days left, tomorrow."
He meets your eyes, and his eyes harden. "Yes."
"We're going to get you out," you say.
He nods. "Yes."
You stare at each other for a long moment. Looking for something, maybe. If you are looking for anything, though, you don't find it. Eventually, you just look away. "I have to go. Time's almost out."
"Don't."
You look back, eyes wide. Jaffur's hand is half-outstretched towards you. A myriad of emotions play out across his face, most negative. "I just...stay. Just a little while longer, please."
You stare back. Eventually, you nod, and the two of you sit back down until you need to go back to your body.
* * *
Back.
* * *
You blink, coming to. For a moment, you sit still, charting out the aching stiffness in your limbs. Then, wincing, you stand. You cast out your ki senses, and sure enough, Jaron's still where you left him. You sigh, put your fingers to your head-Back.
* * *
vip
-and appear on the sand beside him. "I'm surprised you didn't just fly out," you say in a quiet monotone.
After a startled flinch, he looks away from you. "I don't know where I am. What good would it do?"
You acknowledge that with a nod. "Come on. I need to bring you home." You hold out a hand.
He goes tense. "...you're not going to tell anybody, are you?"
You don't reply. You just...don't have it in you to have this discussion right now.
He turns to you. "Please, don't tell anybody."
"Take my hand already," you growl.
He looks down and away. "...can I have my knife ba-"
"No."
He flinches at your tone, and take your hand without further prompting.
vip
You immediately drop his hand and turn towards the door of his bedroom. You pause before going through it. "You have no idea what it would do to us if you actually did it."
"You'd be fine," he mutters, sitting down on his bed.
You make a disgusted sound. "We'd never get over it. Any of us. Just...talk to us, Jaron. We're your friends. We'll listen. We want to help you."
"I hadn't actually decided," he says.
"You were holding a knife to your throat," you snap. "It should never get that far. Just- just talk to us, Jaron. Please?"
He swallows. "Can you give me some time?"
"Sure," you say. "But not too long. And remember..." You tap your temple and flare. "...I'll be watching. Don't try this again."
He nods, his face scrunching in a way very familiar to his brother when he's in distress.
You nod back, a lump in your throat, and walk out.
Yammar has been informed. For once, he had nothing snide to say.
Kakara issues her ruling and spends the next several days working full-time in the Hall under her father's direction. Eventually, after he judges her sufficiently mentally exhausted that realities of the job have been driven home, Berra gives her time off. She goes to visit Jaron, reasoning that he's been quiet lately.
She walks in on him holding a knife to his throat. She disarms him and teleports him somewhere deserted. Between yelling and talking with him, and a visit to Jaffur, she figures out that Jaron was only considering suicide. She resolves to tell (and tells) Yammar what happened so that he can watch Jaron. She returns Jaron to his home. Kakara and Jaffur, in their chat, both break down completely, ending up leaning on each other for support.
She walks in on him holding a knife to his throat. She disarms him and teleports him somewhere deserted. Between yelling and talking with him, and a visit to Jaffur, she figures out that Jaron was only considering suicide. She resolves to tell (and tells) Yammar what happened so that he can watch Jaron. She returns Jaron to his home. Kakara and Jaffur, in their chat, both break down completely, ending up leaning on each other for support.
What's next? You may make a plan incorporating up to three of any of these items, reflecting your use of multiform.
[ ] You said you'd give Jaron time, but you said nothing about space. Spend as much time with your friend as possible, and support him.
[ ] You have juice for another vision coming up. Time to cash in. [Write in subject here.]
[ ] Spend time with your saiyan friends. Things are about to change in a big way. This might be your last chance to see them in an informal setting for a very long time.
[ ] It's unlikely, but the Unsealing could turn messy. Now that you know the kinds of things of which Dandeer is capable, you want to get the Misfits under cover, when the time comes. The issue is: realistically, this would involve giving them a fair amount of information on what's happening. Not all of it, but enough that they'd accept protection, even when you specifically exclude Jaron. Maya already knows enough that she'd figure it out. Gemma is smart enough that she might draw some conclusions, too.
[ ] Meditate. You need to be centered, when this all comes due.
[ ] Jaffur intends to kill his mother. His recent terror for Jaron's sake only heightens his anger. You're worried that he'll blow the plan by going straight for Dandeer's throat the moment the Seal drops. Visit him again and talk to him. Try to convince him to stick to the plan.
[ ] Write-in.
APPROVAL VOTING. MANUAL MORATORIUM.
Seven days until the Unsealing.
Sometimes, there are no easy answers, and a twelve-year-old is not equipped to walk in on one of her friends mid-suicide-attempt. This is a sensitive subject, and I trust you all to handle it appropriately. In particular, I do not welcome critiques of the scene's verisimilitude. It's ripped straight from a very real incident involving my cousin and one of my closest friends. It's realistic enough.
We're almost there, folks. This ends in seven days. Hold onto your hats, and choose your options wisely.
See you around the thread. I hope the update was engaging!
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