Dragon Ball: After the End
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Jaron figuring out there is a tournament and insisting on being allowed in. Honestly don't know how he is kept in the dark when he is so close to everything and has such good senses.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Kakara having a few helpful undirected visions and making a fortune in bets.
ElleonXan
Self-Proclaimed King of the Dumpster Fires
- Location
- USA
Well, I'd like to see many things, though one scenario sticks out in my mind as the optimal one, should you be doing a Tournament Arc:
So to start out, Maya blackmail us into competing in the tournament. (Don't ask me how or why, I have no idea.) We have a completely underwhelming preliminary round, where instead of fighting we do something stupid, like punching things or seeing who can get their power level closest to the tournament's limit without going over. Then we have the Junior Division where Mato and Jaffur's heretofor-unnecessary-for-the-plot-thus-not-focused-on younger sibling breeze their way into the finals, where they face each other. The tournament then takes a break.
During the break Mato and Jaffur's sibling have their own sidestory where they try to knock out one of the competitors to steal their clothes and take their place by riding piggyback with one another. (Which totally fails, by the way, because the people running the tournament aren't idiots.)
Then we get to the main tournament, though it doesn't last long as a Kai appears and tells us that an evil demon (Abura Ka, elder brother of the infamous Demon King) is about to attack, causing two thirds of the competitors to leave the tournament and go try to stop him...
Wait a minute... this scenario seems awfully familiar for some reason. I'm sure I've seen this all before somewhere. I wonder where?
Aah, I'm sure it'll come back to me eventually.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
One, the speed disadvantage may be more significant than we'd think, depending on how the mechanics work.
Two, oozaru are big targets for some really nasty long range ki attacks, the ones that normally only work as finishing attacks. Even if they weren't slow, their sheer size would make it hard for them to dodge even with a power level advantage.
Three, if you go oozaru, so can your opponent...
Awww, thanks!
While I'm not sure whether or not Nail Gun is ready for prime time yet, I'd be delighted to see Mitsuba* of House Idunnowhat** show up.
Stipulating that she exists for the sake of argument, she's really been pushing herself lately. Trying to break out from "keeps making it into the last elimination rounds of the tournament" to "da champ" territory is tough, but she's got hopes.
If I had to pick one defining thing about her personality, it's that she's the sort of person who takes the time to come up with an outside-the-box way to achieve her priorities, then really goes after it. After Maya revealed herself and the outlines of the "stay Masqued while looking for the aliens" plan started going public, she'd have started doing as much training as possible in Masque relatively early on, for example- possibly even before Berra announced the Masqued tournament depending on how fast he moved on that front.
__________________________
*[Yes of course she has a Japanese vegetable name, just an obscure one.
]**[No idea what House, except that she's Gokun. Tempted to say that she comes from the pudding house just for giggles.
]
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
First 3 tournaments in Dragon Ball got all the way to the end. Admittedly, the 3rd one wrecked the arena totally, but still. It was only the one in the Buu arc that got interrupted.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
The fourth tournament in Dragonball seems to have gone pretty smoothly too, except for the part where every powerful living ki user on Earth was busy training to fight the Androids (or on Namek, I forget which), allowing a merely human guy to win for a change instead of having it be a contest of superheroes.
Quest
The Great One
- Location
- Everywhere
I think it might be worth participating in the tournament. Event XP is a thing that happens and would be useful prep for the invasion.
I wonder if we could fight under the Saiyin Masque. It would help with training that.
@PoptartProdigy Just out of curiosity, what would be the participants' reaction to that?
I wonder if we could fight under the Saiyin Masque. It would help with training that.
@PoptartProdigy Just out of curiosity, what would be the participants' reaction to that?
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Not allowed the whole point is to fight under a human mask.
Quest
The Great One
- Location
- Everywhere
I have absolute confidence in our ability to convince people to let us do that. I'm just wondering what reaction will be.
Regardless, participating in the tournament would be a good idea as it may help us advance some skills.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Saiyan masque? Probably a combination of confusion and "hey no fair." Probable way to get disqualified.
I honestly am not so sure the tournament is a good idea, because with power levels strictly limited, Kakara's probably going to lose hard against an adult competitor. We have some strengths, but the typical saiyan athlete on the dueling circle will match our greatest strengths and outmatch us in our areas of weakness.
Now, training for the tournament would be a great move, but training would be a great move anyway. I suppose we could fold training for the tournament in with everything else, as long as we don't expect to win.
I honestly am not so sure the tournament is a good idea, because with power levels strictly limited, Kakara's probably going to lose hard against an adult competitor. We have some strengths, but the typical saiyan athlete on the dueling circle will match our greatest strengths and outmatch us in our areas of weakness.
Now, training for the tournament would be a great move, but training would be a great move anyway. I suppose we could fold training for the tournament in with everything else, as long as we don't expect to win.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Berra is trying something* to recruit skilled fighters for his rapid reaction squads that are intended to fight the alien army. Since this will have to be done Masqued, he's holding a tournament (as the Exiles often do), with the unusual caveat of having everyone wear their Masque. The idea is to attach prestige to the idea of fighting Masqued, and to encourage strong fighters to train in Masque rather than neglecting it.
________________
*Um, I don't want to steal credit but I think I might have been the one to suggest it... maybe? Not sure.
________________
*Um, I don't want to steal credit but I think I might have been the one to suggest it... maybe? Not sure.
Bakkasama
There is always a greater fool
- Location
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Pronouns
- He/his
The point is finding fighters for the alien invasión, so we have to test their fighting skill under masque. Why would it be unmasqued?
Well, tournament 21st had Goku turn Oozaru and the moon destroyed. Tournament 22nd had master crane try to cheat so that Tien killed Goku and he was blasted out of the audience by a kamehameha from Roshi. Then tournament 23rd had Piccolo declare his return and his intention to conquer the world plus god being captured plus Tao attempting an assassination on stage and two of the participants becoming engaged...
It mostly depends on what you consider a disruption, if it is something that stops the tournament or outside interference that makes a pause in it.
As for things to see... someone we know under masque? A Frieza stylist? Someone giving an speech in the middle of it declaring that he is fighting for a reason completely unrelated to why we summoned the tournament? Some political maneuvering? Someone trying to cheat and having their ass handled for it? An intermission involving entertainment that is not fighting? Papparazzi? A Hammy fighter that takes the chance to dress as superhero? Some political maneuvering? Pudding Adds? Interesting arenas to simulate real life combat conditions? Strategy?
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Deep confusion warring with flattery that the Scion is participating (basically the only reason Berra would allow it would be under the condition that you test those against whom you fight, so your opponents would read it as a potential shortcut to the objective).
More like you and Berra had the same idea at the same time. You can share credit.
One thing I'm wondering is how good they are under Masque. While training under Masque does help, why would they have trained under it previously? What need was there for such training?Saiyan masque? Probably a combination of confusion and "hey no fair." Probable way to get disqualified.
I honestly am not so sure the tournament is a good idea, because with power levels strictly limited, Kakara's probably going to lose hard against an adult competitor. We have some strengths, but the typical saiyan athlete on the dueling circle will match our greatest strengths and outmatch us in our areas of weakness.
Now, training for the tournament would be a great move, but training would be a great move anyway. I suppose we could fold training for the tournament in with everything else, as long as we don't expect to win.
This produces an interesting scenario, where the major tournament winners and hermit masters are likely to be suffering a disadvantage they normally don't, putting them on a more even level with those who focused on having a Masqued life.
I mean, no point of the tournament if the results are already known.
Which may result in Kakara being a genuine contender. She keeps 80% of her power while Masqued, meaning that as part of the tournament, she could have a PL of 12,000,000, and she has good Hand-to-Hand combat skills.
Honestly, I've been wondering how Kakara compares, skill-wise, to others in a fight for a while.
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Quest
The Great One
- Location
- Everywhere
There's a PL limit.One thing I'm wondering is how good they are under Masque. While training under Masque does help, why would they have trained under it previously? What need was there for such training?
This produces an interesting scenario, where the major tournament winners and hermit masters are likely to be suffering a disadvantage they normally don't, putting them on a more even level with those who focused on having a Masqued life.
I mean, no point of the tournament if the results are already known.
Which may result in Kakara being a genuine contender. She keeps 80% of her power while Masqued, meaning that as part of the tournament, she could have a PL of 12,000,000, and she has good Hand-to-Hand combat skills.
Honestly, I've been wondering how Kakara compares, skill-wise, to others in a fight for a while.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Okay. He gets the spiky blonde's share of the credit.More like you and Berra had the same idea at the same time. You can share credit.
But I get credit for the best quote about the idea, so there.
"A problem that can be solved by telling a bunch of saiyans to hold a martial arts tournament, is not a problem."
You're absolutely right. At the same time, training up Masque affinity isn't actually that hard; we got to 80% with no more than one or two years' actions, starting from the baseline of an average eight year old Exile child. And we didn't try very hard (no more than one action per year).
Furthermore, it's likely that at least some of the great Exile competitors in their own tournaments are martial artists in their Masqued lives as well, and we know that's a quick, natural route to high Masque affinity for Exiles.
So it's going to cause a shakeup of the normal pecking order, but the only people who really get left behind are those who have great fighting skill normally but totally neglect their Masque training... which is exactly the point.
I suspect the top-performing Exiles are close enough to one another that the question of who wins a tournament has a considerable degree of uncertainty at the best of times.I mean, no point of the tournament if the results are already known.
Which may result in Kakara being a genuine contender. She keeps 80% of her power while Masqued, meaning that as part of the tournament, she could have a PL of 12,000,000, and she has good Hand-to-Hand combat skills.
Honestly, I've been wondering how Kakara compares, skill-wise, to others in a fight for a while.[/QUOTE]Our best skills are likely to match those of high-end competitors, but they'll have major skill advantages over us in other areas that we can't avoid having to confront (like style mastery).
A Masqued power level of twelve million and good hand to hand will make Kakara a contender, but I'd expect her to lose out to most of the really committed people she might go up against, because neither of those things are unique to her. It's just a question of how high a bracket she places into; don't bet on her to win.
Well, technically, we were combining it with our other training, so probably a bit more then that. Plus, we were living amongst humans a lot, so passive grinding there.
Actually, I disagree on that being likely. I think it's far more likely such competitors live near to entirely Saiyan-focused lives, and for good reason when you think about it. What benefits is there to live amongst humans, and suffer through the decreased capabilities of the Masque, when amongst Saiyans they're celebrities, and can spend their time and energy improving themselves freely. Thus, those who live amongst humans/under the Masque find themselves outpaced by those who don't.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
None of what you're saying is wrong as such, but there don't have to be very many exceptions to the rules you cite, for me to end up being correct.
Remember various estimates that typical high-end NPCs might have, oh...four, five actions to play with a year, after school/work/whatever considerations are taken care of?
The NPCs we're talking about have been around for decades. They don't have to consider Masque affinity training to be a very high priority to spend one or two actions out of their whole lives on it.
My argument is basically just that of the probably thousands of fully trained-up saiyans with power levels of fifteen million, there will be at least dozens who have Masque Affinity at Talented or better. Many of these dozens of individuals will have mastered one or more martial arts styles and hit Talented/Exceptional in all the key combat skills (i.e. Dueling, Ki Manipulation, beam attacks of their choice).
Which means that any one of these dozens of people probably has something approximating a 50/50 chance of defeating us in a Masqued duel if we're limited to a power level of twelve million. Our chances of battering our way through several layers of such individuals, up to and including the greatest of them all, are not good.
Hell, of the many many max-power regular saiyans we'd face in the tournament, I bet at least ONE of them has Exceptional Masque Affinity and will genuinely out-power us if we don't cheat.
On the Grill
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Your Sight.
-[X] Keep it secret.
[X] Jaron
-[X] Praise his courage and desire to protect people.
-[X] Decline to speculate on whether the Seal is slipping.
[X] Personal life.
-[X] Justify human focus.
-[X] Acknowledge relative lack of saiyan focus as growth area.
[X] The Sealing.
-[X] No comment. (In and of itself an implied comment, given the official story and Dandeer's now-public hatred for you.)
[X] Relationship with Lady Vegeta.
-[X] No comment.
[X] Romantic Concerns
-[X] Not a particular priority, you haven't really thought about it. Ask again in a few year?
[X] The Faith
-[X] Confirm stance taken during the Council.
[X] Maya
-[X] Status as a mutant and benefits for masquerade, acknowledge potential concerns.
[X] Personal Combat Skills
-[X] Admit difficulty in finding the right style.
[X] Invasion.
-[x] All known intelligence is on the table for the asking.
[X] Thoughts on the partial breach of the Masquerade
-[X] We were already preparing to reveal the existence of Ki. Those preparations turned a crisis into an opportunity.
-[X] Keep it secret.
[X] Jaron
-[X] Praise his courage and desire to protect people.
-[X] Decline to speculate on whether the Seal is slipping.
[X] Personal life.
-[X] Justify human focus.
-[X] Acknowledge relative lack of saiyan focus as growth area.
[X] The Sealing.
-[X] No comment. (In and of itself an implied comment, given the official story and Dandeer's now-public hatred for you.)
[X] Relationship with Lady Vegeta.
-[X] No comment.
[X] Romantic Concerns
-[X] Not a particular priority, you haven't really thought about it. Ask again in a few year?
[X] The Faith
-[X] Confirm stance taken during the Council.
[X] Maya
-[X] Status as a mutant and benefits for masquerade, acknowledge potential concerns.
[X] Personal Combat Skills
-[X] Admit difficulty in finding the right style.
[X] Invasion.
-[x] All known intelligence is on the table for the asking.
[X] Thoughts on the partial breach of the Masquerade
-[X] We were already preparing to reveal the existence of Ki. Those preparations turned a crisis into an opportunity.
On the Grill
Fren shimmies in her chair, looking quite comfortable. "Thank you for agreeing to come. We know you've tended to stay out of public before."
You shrug, smiling. "Dad always said there'd be time for that when I was older."
"Well, you certainly are older now," she says, chuckling. "It's a pleasure to have you with us." She gives you a smile. "So, what have you been doing out of the public view for so long? Of course, even the Garenhulders know that you have an active social life as a human, but we Exiles have hardly seen you at all."
Communication [Kakara vs. Papata]: 78 vs. 72. Pass.
You relax a bit. You'd prepared for this question, although it's not the one you'd expected to come first. "Honestly? I'm not really that happy about it. I only really have one saiyan friend, and I always wanted more."
Fren tilts her head. "So why spend time in the human world? You have quite the group of friends there. I'm sure you could have made friends in our world."
You shrug, and it's not simply easy to put a flash of pain on your face; it's natural. You have a tougher time keeping it to just a flash. "I tried. Back before I was a Super Saiyan, I tried to make friends with a lot of people. It didn't work."
The audience mutters uncomfortably, doubtlessly remembering that it was entirely thanks to their efforts that their children avoided and ridiculed you, before the Sealing. You feel a flash of contempt, although you stamp on it before it shows; they're usually quite content to forget about that when you're not pointing it out.
Fren nods. "Of course. It couldn't have been easy. But surely that's not a problem anymore?"
"Maybe not," you say. "But it's hard to go looking when I still remember how it used to be."
Silence. Shamed silence.
You smile. "Still, I hope I'll find people to make friends with eventually. I like people. And you're my people. I'm hoping the tournament that's coming soon will give me a chance."
"The tournament, hm?" asks Fren as people begin to mutter, this time in excitement. "You will be attending, then?"
"Of course I will," you say, shrugging with a smile. "It's tradition, after all!"
A few people cheer at that, and Fren nods slightly. "Will you be participating?"
Improvise [Communication, Kakara vs. DC]: 61, Pass.
"I haven't decided yet," you say. "There are a lot of reasons either way, and Dad's only closing the competitors' list the day before."
"Fair enough," she replies. "So, what does have you so busy in the human world? We know you have friends, and of course everybody knows about Miss Webley. What drew you to them?"
You giggle. "That was Sophie."
Fren raises her eyebrows at you. "Sophie...Schultz, I assume?"
"Yeah," you say. "She's the one who brought us all together. She was friends with Jenny and Maya, and then they met Gemma and brought her in. Sophie decided she wanted me to be their friend too later."
Fren covers her mouth, eyes sparkling. You can't help but notice that her expression is visible from one of the camera angles. "Decided, hm?"
You snort. "If Sophie wants you to be her friend, you wind up as her friend quick, believe me."
General laughter follows that, and Fren's hand comes down, revealing a wide grin. "She sounds like quite the girl. But she's not the only one in that group. What about Maya? She's been on everybody's minds lately. Your father has said that she's a ki mutant. Was that what prompted you to start paying her special attention?"
You chew your cheek, pondering how to respond. "Well...kinda? Maya was my friend before I learned about her being a ki mutant. She noticed that I never really got hurt like other people did and thought I was like her, and I noticed her watching me more than the others did, but I didn't only just start paying attention to her because I knew she had ki."
"Oh, of course," says Fren, waving her hand. "But once you did know..."
"I knew that I had to train her," you say. "She already knew about ki -- well, she thought it was superpowers. But she knew she had it, and she knew I had it, and she was my friend. I would do the same for any of them."
"And indeed you have," she replies. "We've all felt you training them. They're improving rather quickly, for humans. I suppose they have a good teacher?" She gives you a teasing smile.
Your cheeks pink. "I mean, I guess? I don't...well, okay, I guess I do know a lot about this stuff."
Everybody starts laughing at your false start at modesty. Really, a Scion trying to be modest about her knowledge of ki -- that's funny.
Fren shakes her head, giggling. "And what about Scion Jaffur?"
Silence. Ringing silence.
"Oh, excuse me," she says, pulling out a note card and glancing at it. "'Jaron Somerlad,' I believe he's called while under human Masque." Her voice echoes in the sudden hush as she pockets the card. "We've certainly all felt him. I never thought I would again, once we received...well, the news."
You blink, hauling yourself under control. You were not expecting a change in subject like this. "I'm sorry, what were you asking?"
"Oh, I'm being vague," she says, still smiling. "My apologies. What brought on his sudden surge of strength when the scouts attacked your school? Is that him, breaking through the Seal his mother set?"
You swallow. "Sorry, I don't really know. I only saw Jaron."
She gives you a very slow and deliberate blink. "And is that so big a difference? Lady Dandeer has told us that they're the same person."
You smile, mouth dry. "Honestly, I really can't say. I never really knew Jaffur, but Jaron's my friend. I didn't see him acting any different when he powered up from what I'd expect from him."
Fren cocks her head. "And what is that? He's been very shielded since the Sealing. Few people have had the chance to get to know him."
"Jaron is one of the bravest people I know," you say. "He had no idea what was going on, but he jumped right in with Maya and me. He helped me take down the leader despite how scared I know he was, and ever since he's been asking me to teach him how to fight so that he can help when the invasion comes."
Communication [Kakara vs. Papata]: 89 vs. 67
She blinks. "He's going to be helping during the invasion?"
"He doesn't know," you say. "But he wants to be able to. Honestly, I really don't want any of my friends out during the invasion. But Jaron hates the idea of sitting around while other people fight to keep him safe."
She nods slowly. "I see. And his mother gave permission for this?"
"His Lord did," you say. "Lord Vegeta is still Lord Vegeta, even Sealed. He gave permission."
Fren gives you a sharp grin, all teeth. "Ah. Well, I'm happy to hear that." She leans back. "So on the topic of the human world, Scion, a lot of us have noticed that you're focusing much of your efforts there. You're training all of your friends, you're scheduled to appear with your father at the Garenhulders' Congress of Nations later this year, you're studying hard at school to remain a good student...by contrast, your planned appearance at your father's court last week was actually canceled, and you've essentially vanished from public life recently. In fact, you've rarely involved yourself in the saiyan world at all, even beyond your difficulties making friends. What is it about the humans that justifies so much of your attention compared to us?"
Communication Kakara vs. Papata]: 107 vs. 98
You actually relax a bit; you prepared for this question. "The things going on the the human world right now are very important to us. The Aramaians used nukes, and my Dad and I had to stop them. My friend is a ki mutant. The scouts are coming, and the humans know. We need to focus on the humans, because even though the ki secret is out, the rest of the Masquerade is still up, and the humans are the first part of keeping that together." You shrug. "I do know I need to spend time with my people, though. Like you said, my Dad has been planning for me to start sitting in when he's working."
"And also as I said, you've stopped going," says Fren. "What changed?"
You shrug. "I'm sorry. I can't talk about that just yet. Soon."
Her eyebrows shoot up. Perhaps she didn't expect you to, "no comment," her on that particular topic. "I see," she says. "Are you certain?"
You nod. "My Dad will be talking about it soon. He'll let you all know." You turn out to address the audience with that last bit. Then you look back to Fren. "I'd be happy to talk about something else."
She gives you a lidded gaze for a moment. Then she smiles ruefully. "Well, if you're offering."
You get the distinct feeling that you won't like her next choice of topic.
"I suppose there's one thing that always comes to mind when people talk about you, Scion Kakara," says Fren.
The smile slides right off your face.
She tilts her head in acknowledgement of the tension, but doesn't let it distract her. "The Sealing, of course. You helped your father and Lady Dandeer Seal Scion Jaffur. What happened that day? Details have been very sparse, aside from the broad strokes. What prompted you to join on their side?"
You return her look with one of stone. "No comment."
For the first time, you see her caught truly off guard. "I'm sorry?"
"No comment," you say, heartbeat pounding in your ears.
Fren cocks her head, blinking. "...none at all?"
"None."
She masters herself after a moment of silence. "Do you have any comment regarding Lady Dandeer's recent hostility towards you? Whenever the two of you appear in the same place, she gives you hostile glares, and she appears to be avoiding you as much as possible. What caused this breakdown? Previously, we knew that you met with her in private, but as far as we know, there's been no significant contact between you two save at the Ancestral Council. How did things devolve this far?"
"No comment," you repeat, folding your hands in your lap.
Communication [Kakara vs. Fren]: 78 vs 237
"Two questions, same answer," she says, propping her chin up on one hand. "In the wake of the Sealing, Lady Dandeer generally spoke well of you, Scion. Yet now she by all appearances hates you...and you answer, 'no comment.' The official story of the Sealing places you in line with your father, and it occurs that you have been not simply silent, but absent on the matter. And when asked...'no comment.' What exactly is it that you want to avoid discussing? Did things really happen as we've been told?" He eyes, despite her easy demeanor, are razor-sharp and gleaming.
You feel pressured and trapped by your own words. You swallow. "No comment."
Fren stares at you for a moment, still intent, before her gaze softens and something in her body language goes loose again. "Of course." She looks aside for a moment and then smiles, falling back into her public face. "Oh, it's about time for our break." She looks back at you. "Thank you again, Scion. We'll be going off the air for a few moments now." She turns to the audience. "We'll be back in a few minutes, everybody. Thank you so much for watching! We'll catch you again after the break!"
The tension dissolves as people start to cheer under her effortless charisma, and she stands.
"Backstage is open while we're on break," she says, smiling down at you. "Coming?"
And then you feel the brush of telepathy at your mind. If it's not too much to ask, I'd like a word in private before we're back on the air, she says.
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED
Papata Fren's Elite Talent is that when pressing somebody for details they have implied but neglected to say outright, she gets exploding dice. Any time she rolls a 70 or higher (before bonuses), she rolls again and adds that to the results, with additional 70s continuing to explode. This doesn't force somebody to speak who -- like Kakara -- has resolved in advance not to say anything, but successes trip them up and snarl them, caught off-guard by the sudden conversational aggression and thereby revealing more than they intended.
Which is a pretty broken talent for a professional interviewer, honestly.
We close out this bit with the next update, folks, and then it's tournament time! But before then...will you have a word in private with Papata Fren?
Enjoy a simpler vote, folks, and I hope you had fun with the update! See you all next time!
TWO-HOUR MORATORIUM
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- Location
- USA
I think we should meet with her? If she likes us we have a solid ally with the Saiyan populace. Especially if we can court her to our side of the Conspiracy.
