You regret the choices that have lead you here, to the situation you're currently enduring. You rub your temples as you try to take the ache out of your brain, finding your efforts entirely insufficient in the face of the bickering that caused them. A mixture of a groan and a sigh escapes from you where you sit, and you give a pained look towards the problematic duo causing such bickering to begin with.

"I'M stubborn? ME?!" Nife, the diminutive wizard, exclaims incredulously. "How about you! You're the one that refuses to put anything away! Do you know how many precious instruments we've lost to that alone?" He accuses his partner.

"...There's no point to moving them back and forth from the jobsite if we're only going to be using them here." Dude counters cooly, though you can tell by now that he's saying it in a way that he knows will just tick off Nife more. He's got a mocking smile barely visible through his thick beard, to make it worse. "If it ain't there, then it got trashed because it ain't worth shit." The bounty hunter claims.

"Tr-TRASHED?! Tell me you haven't been throwing away all of my- AUUUGH!" Nife screams, grabbing handfulls of his hair and tugging on it. He storms off soon after, unable to contain his fury at his temporary co-worker.

"Heh. Works every time." Dude says, glancing over to you with a wink and pulling out a handful of magical instruments ranging from wands to vials of rare materials and rune engraving tools. Seems he was just hiding them in his coat the entire time.

"Please, I beg you...stop antagonizing him." You bemoan unenthusiastically, drained of energy as you are. You might normally get a chuckle out of it, but not after a full MONTH of things like this!

"Come on, kid. You and I both know someone's gotta break that stick up his ass so he can walk properly." Dude replies, holding his hands up defensively. "Besides, there ain't shit for entertainment out here. This is the boonies. The only reception we get is static." He gripes.

"Somehow I don't think this is the way to get through to him. Can you at least tell me the results of the latest tests?" You ask, hoping to shift to a less irritating subject.

"Sure. Let's see..." Dude replies, fishing out a notebook and opening it up somewhere in the center. He pours over it for a few seconds with the help of some reading glasses, before speaking up again. "Right, Ife was able to conclude that a Petrification Curse was placed on him with a permanent duration, but that it wasn't resisted at all, which is unusual if he got it from a fight. My cursebreaking array is just about set up, but it could always use a few more sympathetic components if we want to make sure it works - lotta power in that kind of curse, kid. Let's see...and Ahl's notes suggest traces of foreign energy in the statue, but he hasn't been able to identify it. He reckons it's the cause of the cracks."

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You cup your chin in consideration for a few moments, thinking over the new information. You're certain that you could get some extra sympathetic components - after all, you happen to have an in with both Fortuneteller Baba and the queen of petrification, Medusa...though you're not sure that you'll need them, because you DO have a damn fine cursebreaking team assembled. They might not get along well, but their respective expertises cover each other's knowledge gaps excellently.

The fact that the curse apparently wasn't resisted strikes you as extremely strange, but you're not sure how you would follow up on that at all. As for the foreign energy that Ahl found, it must be remarkably slim if you weren't able to find it this entire time - part of you wonders if it's worth following up on that, or if it's just a red herring of sorts, just an odd aftereffect of the restorative magic the Wish used. You could easily get some confirmation on their source from the new Kami if that's the case, though.

>Assemble the team, give the go-ahead to power up the Cursebreaker Array. You're confident it'll work as-is, and curious about the man behind the legend.
>Go see Medusa about getting some extra Sympathetic components. It never hurts to be as prepared as possible with magic.
>Hit up Kami, he might be able to tell you a bit more about that foreign energy. Unknown components like that could wreak havok on what you're trying to do, potentially.
>If it wasn't resisted at all, then maybe the legend isn't entirely accurate? You could try to research the truth by finding some much older tomes on the subject, not like it'd take you long with your ability to cross continents in less than a day.
>Something else? (Write-in)

In case you didn't see the post over at /qtg/, I missed the projected next thread date because I foolishly forgot to account for Halloween and Halloween-adjacent activities. My apologies for the delay, fellas! Hope shit's been as dope for you all as it's been for me. Halloween is pure kino.

>>5818549
>Hit up Kami, he might be able to tell you a bit more about that foreign energy. Unknown components like that could wreak havok on what you're trying to do, potentially.

Cook again OP

Nice to be back!

>>5818549
>Go see Medusa about getting some extra Sympathetic components. It never hurts to be as prepared as possible with magic.
>Hit up Kami, he might be able to tell you a bit more about that foreign energy. Unknown components like that could wreak havok on what you're trying to do, potentially.
Maybe some combination of these?

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>>5818702
Inshallah I will cook.
Also, for anyone that didn't see it last thread, one of our incredibly based anons commissioned this beautiful piece of art that I would say is probably worth more than the Mona Lisa.

>>5818541
The last time I was this early to a Dragon Ball Legacy quest, we were kicking the shit out of a golem. Welcome back!

>Hit up Kami, he might be able to tell you a bit more about that foreign energy. Unknown components like that could wreak havok on what you're trying to do, potentially.
Lets not get a repeat of the whole Demon King thing, alright?

>>5818549
>If it wasn't resisted at all, then maybe the legend isn't entirely accurate? You could try to research the truth by finding some much older tomes on the subject, not like it'd take you long with your ability to cross continents in less than a day.

>>5818706
Supporting this combo.

>>5818549

>>5818549
Fuck yeah it's back!
>Hit up Kami, he might be able to tell you a bit more about that foreign energy. Unknown components like that could wreak havok on what you're trying to do, potentially.

>>5818702
>>5818706
>>5818713
>>5818854
>>5819562
>>5819667
We're hitting Kami up first! We'll see if we still end up seeing Medusa next or not, because what you learn may change things. Writing!

File: Kami's Lookout.png (2.2 MB, 1920x1080)

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A few hours later, after you've finished calming Ife down and convincing Dude to give him his tools back, you find yourself touching down on the familiar stone slabs atop Kami's Lookout. You'd come to the conclusion that you couldn't afford to move forward without identifying the foreign energy embedded within the statue properly, and if anyone could help you with that it'd be Kami. He...may not be much older than you are, truthfully, but his position does grant him some unique insights apparently, alongside earning some Contacts in the Otherworld that may be more knowledgeable than himself.

Mr. Popo is watering the garden as he so often is, and he glances your way as soon as he detects your presence and raises a hand in greeting.

"Wyald Honta! A pleasure to see you again. What brings you up here to the Lookout today?" The attendant asks, setting his watering can down and standing straight, arms tucking behind his back comfortably.

"I needed Kami's expertise on a new development!" You reply, flashing Popo a warm smile. "I hope everything is going well up here?" You ask, out of politeness.

"Well and quiet." Popo replies with a nod, before gesturing to the door. "Kami is expecting you, so it would be better to not keep him waiting." He reveals.

"Of course. Have a good one, Mr. Popo!" You offer him, jogging past him to the doors that seemed a lot bigger to you in the past and opening them up to enter the meeting hall.

Sitting upon his throne is the Kami Formerly Known as Piccolo, which is still a strange sight to you given how many years you saw his predecessor on that same throne and sat before him to learn as one of his disciples. It fills you with a strange mixture of pride and sadness, though you know the previous Kami more than earned his eternal rest.

"Welcome back to the Lookout, Honta. I know what it is that brings you here." Pic- Kami states, his demeanor regal and serious. "I've been watching the developments on that island carefully. Trouble always has a way of finding you, or you finding it...it always pays off to keep an eye on whatever you're doing." He comments.

"I...can't really refute that. So you think this is trouble, then?" You ask, curious.

"Indeed. After communing with some experts on the matter, I've come to believe that it's Mental Energy gathering within that statue, bleeding into it at an accelerating rate. From where, I'm not sure...but it's not an energy that would belong to the petrified victim. He was a warrior, gifted with his Ki and some small amount of magic, but entirely unversed in Psychic Disciplines." Kami reveals.

"So...someone's trying to, what, use psychic techniques on it or something?" You ask, bewildered.

"Or something. I cannot say for certain yet, it's not my forte. But...I do know of some who could help us in that regard. None among the living, unfortunately...but it seems that won't be a problem for you, no?" He suggests with a smile.

File: Kamirror.png (141 KB, 305x291)

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"Oh, yeah! Kami gave me this to help me journey to the Otherworld!" You say, remembering and pulling out the hand mirror he gave you all those years ago. You've kept it safe as best as you can, and beyond a little bit of wear and tear it seems to have held up well. "Except...with him gone, I don't think it'll work anymore. It was bound to his energy." You say, morosely.

"Give it here, I'll imbue some of my own into it. It's the station that matters more than the individual with an item like this, and your documentation should still be valid." Kami replies, holding a hand out. Complying, you hand the mirror over and watch as the God in Green concentrates his energy into it, a hazy multicolored aura clinging to his body that flows down into the mirror and settles within it. Once done, he offers it back.

"Thanks! So, you want me to head to the otherworld to speak to this expert of yours?" You ask to confirm, getting a nod from Kami.

"Among other things. It would be wise to check with the right parties to try to locate and confirm the status of the Warrior's soul, and the Demon's for that matter. You may find it worthwhile to speak with Olibu as well, and...well, any other relevant things you can think of." He suggests, pausing for a few moments after. "Just make sure to mind your manners and the rules, otherwise you could very well find yourself stuck there with no way back...or worse." He warns.

"Of course. I'll..."

MAIN OPTION
>Go right away, there's no time to waste!
SUB OPTION
>I'll meet up with the Psychic Expert first.
>I'll try to find the Warrior's soul first.
>I'll try to find the Demon's soul first.
>I'll try to find Olibu first.
>I've got an idea, I'll try to [what?] in the Otherworld first! (Write-in)


MAIN OPTION
>Go as soon as I've got things ready on this end, just in case.
SUB OPTION
>I need to visit Medusa for some sympathetic components!
>I'll go see Fortuneteller Baba, I have some questions she can help answer!
>I've got to [what?] in the living world first! (Write-in)

>>5820605
Woooow, I dropped my trip on both posts. What a dumbass!

>>5820605
>Go as soon as I've got things ready on this end, just in case.
>I need to visit Medusa for some sympathetic components!

>>5820605
>Go as soon as I've got things ready on this end, just in case.
>I need to visit Medusa for some sympathetic components!

>>5820605
>Go as soon as I've got things ready on this end, just in case.
>I'll go see Fortuneteller Baba, I have some questions she can help answer!

>>5820605
>Go as soon as I've got things ready on this end, just in case.
>I need to visit Medusa for some sympathetic components

>>5820606
It happens. You're on the same IP, so it hardly matters.

>>5820612
>>5820613
>>5820696
>>5820709
Looks like we still have some unfinished business in the living world! Except Honta's not a ghost. Probably. Writing!
I was expecting people to jump at the opportunity to head to the otherworld, so this is a pleasant surprise!

Hmm, I wonder if a gorgon can come with us to the Otherworld, being a suoernatural, semi-divine sort of creature? Or Azalea, for that matter?

File: Partially uncursed!.png (912 KB, 782x1874)

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"...Go as soon as I've got things ready on this end, just in case." You finish saying, earning a curious look from Kami. "In case we need the extra power for the Cursebreaker array, I'm going to go talk with a friend of mine that's pretty much the queen of petrification curses. I figure it'll be useful to have things ready on this end before I go check out the otherworld - just in case, you know?" You explain for his sake.

"Ah, I see. Yes, that does sound wise. Would you like Mr. Popo to drop you off?" He offers, to which you give a nod.

"Sure! I always like spending time with him. I think he enjoys the time to see the world, too." You say, thinking back to all the times you caught him messing around in the past.

"Indeed. I'll have to give him a vacation as soon as I'm able, I'm sure he hasn't had one in a few hundred years at the very least." Kami admits, chuckling. He waves you off soon after.

Exiting the meeting chamber, you find Popo standing right beside it and waiting for you. A brief exchange with him proves that he already knows exactly where to take you, and with a snap of his fingers he summons his magic carpet for the two of you to board. Stepping upon it, one second you're on the lookout and the next the world around you has changed.

The lighting at your new locale is moderately dim, and the scent of tobacco smoke and alcohol mixes together in an unpleasant manner that causes you to wrinkle your sensitive nose up while you cast your gaze around, stepping off of Popo's carpet. Your boots hit a plush dark red carpet very dissimilar to Popo's own, and focusing your eyes lets you take note of the plethora of round tables adorned in silken white cloths surrounding a central stage that has a strange island stretching out into the middle of the room. The curtains are currently closed on the stage itself, disallowing you from seeing whatever might be on it, and the venue itself seems relatively packed for the hour - you can only assume that one of Medusa's shows is due to happen soon.

Thankfully, not only did most people not seem to notice your entrance (with those who did rubbing at their eyes in disbelief before deciding they've had enough to drink), but the lighting growing extra dim and some overhead spotlights loudly clicking on and shining towards the curtains tells you that the show truly is about to happen. The curtains slowly part, revealing the striking form of Medusa - different than when you saw her, though.

You may not have ever seen her face before, but you'd say she definitely earns the qualifier of being beautiful with the soft features on it. Her hair is still as it once was, which is to say full of slithering snakes that seem to have a mind of their own, and her skin is still tinged green, but beyond that she bears little resemblance to what she once was. For one, she actually seems to have legs! And she has nary a scale in sight outside of the ones on her serpentine head of hair. She looks...happy.

Rather than just standing there in a way that makes you stand out like a sore thumb, you choose to make your way off to the side where you cross your arms and lean up against one of the poorly lit walls, your gaze centered on the scene in front of you. A secondary curtain rises up behind Medusa, revealing a couple of crowlike beastmen manning a variety of instruments ranging from a piano to a surprisingly large cello. After a moment's delay, some smooth notes start to drift out, first from the celloist and followed by the rest soon after. You quickly recognize it as some kind of Jazz or Blues beat, and Medusa finally steps up and takes her que from the rythm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UcINdFiMH4

Her voice is as smooth as silk and compliments the music well, and she seems to put on a bit of an enticing show for the audience while she sings, dancing and sashaying across the runway slowly and deliberately running her hands down her body to draw the eye to features like her bust and hips. You resist the temptation, naturally and with practiced eased, but you can see just how effective it is based on the audience's reaction. Hell, one of the audience members appears to be a Wolf beastman that's getting REALLY into it, drooling visibly and bunching up the tablecloth in his hands.

After a few minutes, the song comes to an eventual end and the lights in the room brighten up again once more. The wolf beastman decides to stop holding back, pounding one fist on the table and using the other to whistle loudly in appreciation in an over-the-top manner. You shake your head with a chuckle at his antics, and raise a hand from across the room to catch Medusa's eye. Her amused expression turns to one of surprise as soon as she does spot you, and she quickly bows to the audience before heading off the stage.

You only have to wait about two minutes before Medusa comes out into the main area from an employee entrance guarded by a rather large man, glancing around for you again and hurrying over to you once she does.

"Honta! Hey! I didn't know you'd be showing up here today! You should have told me, I look like a mess, haha..." She says, looking quite flustered at the fact that someone she actually knows watched her perform, face flushed and voice coming out strained rather than smooth like when she was on the stage.

"Sorry, I didn't know how else to contact you! My bad. You look like you're doing well, I take it they were able to get rid of your curse?" You inquire with a tilt to your head.

"Oh, sort of! Demons Will Weep was able to weaken the curse so that people don't turn to stone when they look at my face, but he wasn't actually able to change some of the physical alterations because of how long I was cursed for, apparently." She explains, quickly getting over her embarassment now that she has something to talk about. "I gotta thank you again for telling me about them, it's great! I don't have to be some hag's fighter anymore."

"Well, it's unfortunate he couldn't get it fully removed, but at least he managed the important part." You say, rubbing your chin for a moment.

"No, actually, I prefer it like this!" She says, surprising you. "I don't know if you noticed, but my little snakes up here can help me to add some extra underlaying notes to my singing. It's a one person harmony, you know? I use the ones in the back to keep it a mystery, though." She reveals, giving a secretive wink at the end.

"Oh, even better than! That really does sound useful. Hah, if you were a magician, you'd be a really good one, I bet...you'd be able to chant a few different incantations all at once." You reply, considering what it'd be like if you managed to learn a spell that could do the same...nah, it'd look way too ridiculous.

"No way, I want nothing to do with magic these days. It's caused me too much trouble in my life, you know?" She says, scrunching her nose up and shaking her head.

"I can understand that. S-So anyways, I actually came here to ask you for some...well, to put it bluntly, sympathetic components that I could use to strengthen a cursebreaking array we're using on someone else that's cursed. With petrification, specifically." You reveal, taking the chance to bring it up while the topic is relevant, even if she DID just voice her displeasure with magic.

"Oh, is that all? I guess it's too much to think you came just to see little old me." She teases, sticking a forked tongue out at you. She holds it out there for a few seconds longer than someone normally would, before her face flushes red once more and she retracts it and nervously tugs on one of the snakes on her head. "N-Nevermind. What kind of things did you need?" She asks, swiftly bringing it back on subject.

"Well, considering your ties to people getting turned to stone, just about anything could work. A picture of you from before you weakened the curse, or some scales from the snakes, maybe some venom from them if they have any?" You explain, to which she nods.

"Yeah, some of them have venom! It also turns people to stone. Still does, even." She confirms.

"Oh, that'd be perfect, then!" You exclaim. You hold out a hand and manipulate your Magical Power to take the shape of a small ceramic jar with a rubber top to it, generating the object in a small flash of light and offering it to her. She takes it and gently coaxes one of the snakes to it, where it bites the rubbered top and starts to pour venom into it.

It actually takes a few minutes for her to fill up the jar, and in the meanwhile your attention is actually torn to the stage once more, where a black duck-based beastman and a white duck-based beastman seem to be having a surprisingly physical contest over who can play the piano better. It seems like it's some kind of slapstick comedy routine combined with some upbeat and catchy ragtime music, getting plenty of laughs from the audience and you personally.

Medusa taps you on the shoulder to pull your attention from the comedy show once she's done, presenting you with a full bottle of her venom and a bright smile.

"I hope it helps!" She beams, and you accept the ceramic jar with a grin of your own.

"I'm sure it will! Thanks for the venom, and for the show, 'Dusa!" You say, causing her face to flush red once more. She sure is easily embarassed. You...hope that you weren't the same when you were younger. You definitely were.

"Right, no problem. D-did you need anything else? H-have you had anything to eat yet?" She asks, clearly wanting to be more helpful. You think.

"Well..."

>Yes, I could use some more help, actually. (With what?)
>No, but I could go for a meal. As friends, of course.
>That's all, but I've gotta jet now! I'm on something of a time crunch with this, I think.
>Something else? (Write-in)

>>5824262
>That's all, but I've gotta jet now! I'm on something of a time crunch with this, I think.
>"Sorry, but I'll have to take a raincheck on this, if the stories around the cursed person are true, it could end up like another King Piccolo situation."
Poor Dusa, she has a crush but tiger boy is taken.

>>5824262
>>5824405
+1

>>5824262
>That's all, but I've gotta jet now! I'm on something of a time crunch with this, I think.
>"Sorry, but I'll have to take a raincheck on this, if the stories around the cursed person are true, it could end up like another King Piccolo situation."

All these Betty Boop and Roger Rabbit references! And a cute grigon. Sorry, Medusa, in another timeline maybe.

>>5824405
>>5824441
>>5824451
Calling it then! Writing it up in the mornin, where we'll get to the juicy bit after dropping the venom off: otherworld shenanigans.

"Sorry, but I'll have to take a raincheck on that. If the stories I've heard about the cursed person in question are true, it could end up like another 'King Piccolo' situation, so we're on a bit of a timecrunch." You apologize, rubbing the back of your head awkwardly.

"O-Oh! That sounds pretty important then. I'll leave you to it, in that case." She replies, twiddling her fingers together. "G-good luck, then! Hopefully everything goes well." She adds on after a moment.

You flash her a grin and nod enthusiastically, taking her well wishes to heart. With a two-fingered wave sent towards her that causes her to flush once more, you turn away and glance about the room for Mr. Popo, finding him to be sitting at an otherwise empty table and laughing at the antics of the duo on the stage. It would pain you to interrupt his enjoyment, so...you don't, opting to head towards the exit of the establishment and step outside. The bright and stylized sign of The Underworld hangs overhead, and you take a moment to stretch and limber up before shooting off into the sky.

It doesn't take you too long to fly from Central City all the way back to Papaya Island, and when you touch back down at the jobsite it's to the sight of Mr. Ife shining some kind of instrument into the eyes of the statue. Landing just a few feet behind him, you walk up and glance over his shoulder at his work. He doesn't seem to notice you for a bit, and when he does he jumps up with a start and a yell.

"Gah! Are you trying to give me a heart attack, sonnie? I saw flashes of the Otherworld for a second there!" He exclaims, holding his chest as his heart no doubt pounds in it from the surprise.

"Haha, sorry!" You apologize with a lighthearted laugh. "I was just curious about what you were doing." You admit.

"Hmph. Well, if you must know, I'm measuring mental activity. It's barely there, but he actually is thinking inside of there. I haven't been able to get any clear readings yet to see WHAT he's thinking, but I should be able to cut through the gibberish that the curse's interference is causing if I get enough data." He reveals, turning to shine his magical tool into its eyes once more. The eyes shine with an unearthly light as he does so, giving off an eerie vibe.

"Interesting...good work anyways, it seems like it'd be important to check his intentions and mental state after being cursed for so long." You say, patting Ife on the shoulder. The little man looks smug at that, nodding without looking back at you.

You go to drop off the vial of Medusa's venom in the supplies for the array, slapping a quick label on it so that everybody knows exactly what it is and what it's for, before pulling out the mirror that Kami gave you...and the next Kami re-empowered. It's still weird to think about how they all adopt the same moniker and abandon their names. It's hard to not think of the new one as just Piccolo in your mind.

File: Yemma's Office.jpg (74 KB, 960x720)

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You turn the mirror over to look at the reflective side, and after just a moment's hesitation, you swipe it over your head and down your body. Your entry into the mirror is accompanied by a feeling not too dissimilar from being suddenly submerged into an ice-cold lake, but it's one that quickly subsides as you find yourself in a new locale - standing on a bright red carpet in a massive room, which seems to be occupied by an equally massive desk and an even more massive red-skinned ogre of some kind sitting at it. Behind you is a long line of fluffy white clouds, which you recognize as Souls from Kami's teachings, and flanking either side of the giant's desk are some you-sized lesser ogres with a blue tinge to their skin.

The giant ogre looks up from his paperwork after slamming a giant stamp down on it, and calls out "Next!" In a booming voice. He glances down at you with curiosity, before speaking up again. "You're not dead. State your name and your business." He demands.

"Oh, I'm Wyald Honta! I'm authorized to be here for a visit. The previous Kami should have prepared all my paperwork?" You say, gaining a questioning tone towards the end. You really hope he did.

"Wyald Honta, let's see..." The giant says, shuffling through his papers and squinting down at them to skim their contents. "Ahah! Yes, right here. It looks like this is a reward for repeated heroism, is that right?" He questions you, shifting to rest his head on one of his fists as he continues reading.

"That's right, sir. Most recently, I helped stop King Piccolo with the help of my friends. And, uh, Garlic." You say, earning a grumble from the big man.

"Yes, that's right, I remember something about that troublemaker being offered some leeway. It's not right if you ask me, but it was approved, so I can't exactly complain." He sighs out. "At any rate, welcome to the Otherworld, Mr. Honta. My name is King Yemma, and you'll need to come back to my office when your stay here is done, so we can check you back out. If you see any signs telling you what to do somewhere, obey them or face the consequences - usually that consequences is a stay in Hell. Lak or Kei can give you directions to anywhere you want to go. Now, unless you need anything more from me, step aside so I can continue working." He continues, looming over you as he waits for you to move on.

>"Actually, I wanted to ask you about a specific soul..." (Which? Olibu, The Warrior, The Demon, someone else?)
>"Kami actually wanted me to meet with some kind of Psychic Expert, do you know him?"
>Something else? (Write-in)

>>5826014
>"Actually, I wanted to ask you about a specific soul..."
>The Warrior

>>5826014
>"Kami actually wanted me to meet with some kind of Psychic Expert, do you know him?"
If there's mental activity, then the warrior probably isn't dead, right?

>>5826061
I know, but I want to know if there's any record or something of him in the afterlife.

>>5826061
+1

>>5826014

>>5826014
>Kami actually wanted me to meet with some kind of Psychic Expert, do you know him?"

>>5826014
>"Kami actually wanted me to meet with some kind of Psychic Expert, do you know him?"

>>5826017
>>5826061
>>5826407
>>5826481
>>5826907
Was a bit tied up, but now I should be able to write! Writing our first goal in the otherworld.

"Ahahah, well..." You try not to feel awkward at imposing yourself just a little bit longer when he clearly wants you to move on. "Kami wanted me to meet with an expert on Psychic Disciplines while I was here. Would you happen to know who he was talking about?" You ask King Yemma.

"Mmmgh..." He grumbles, leaning a bit more into his hand and causing the massive wooden desk to groan from the weight it's being made to support. "There's quite a few, so let me check my records real quick." The big man says, flipping through his files with his free hand and idly reading through them in a casual manner that masks the incredible speed he sifts through the information. "Mr. Shima, residing in hell...Kameyama, bodyless spirit...hmm, no heroes that fit the bill on Earth. Maybe...ah, here we go! Tempa of planet Kanassa. It looks like you can find him training on Grand Kai's planet with the rest of the heroes of his caliber."

"Alright, thanks King Yemma!" You say, grinning up at him. He rolls his eyes and makes a waving motion off to the side, at which you sheepishly move off to approach one of the lesser ogres he directed you to previously. "So, can you tell me how I can get to Grand Kai's world?" You ask him.

"Sure can, buddy! Walk with me." The one-horned three-eyed ogre in office attire says chipperly, turning to walk out of one of the huge doorways. You walk beside him, naturally, as you were told to. "First, we've got to get you a plane ticket. It's the safest way to travel around here, especially if you don't know where you're going!" He explains.

"Well, I can fly without a plane, but...if you think it's best, then sure." You acquiesce.

"That's the spirit! Now, if we hurry, we can get to the ticket booth before it closes for lunch." He says, picking up the pace and power-walking at the speed of an athlete in a full-on sprint, never actually lifting both of his shoes off the ground at the same time. The technique is admittedly useless, but it marvels you nonetheless.

The two of you speed along the roads, yellow clouds stretching out as far as the eye can see in the distance. You see the ticket booth clearly marked by a sign right outside of the airport, and you can see planes flying in and out of said airport actively, but just seconds before you would actually arrive...the one-eyed female booth attendant moves faster than your eyes can perceive and places down a sign that says "Out to lunch!" and draws a curtain over the booth.

"Wh- oh, come on, we were right here!" You object!

"Better luck next time, eh? I guess we better kill some time instead, it's my lunch time too." Your guide says with a laugh, apparently not thinking much of it. "Come on, it'll be my treat. We don't get many Heroes coming from Earth, haven't for quite some time really." He offers, patting you on the shoulder with a smile.

"Couldn't hurt, I suppose." You say, pushing the mild frustration aside.

"Great! Heroes always get the best discounts." He says.

He leads you to a building nearby, what almost looks like a blue house with a palm tree off to the side of it, both things seeming to be floating atop the sea of golden clouds. This proves to be relatively untrue as your guide waves a hand on approaching the cloud cover, blowing it out of the way enough to see the hidden stone pathway leading up to the building. The two of you walk up the path, where he politely grabs hold of the doorknob and holds the door open for you, gesturing inside. You bow your head graciously and do so, and vow internally to get the next one for him so as to not be one-upped in etiquette.

Although the building certainly isn't small on the outside, it seems to be a fair deal bigger on the inside, and the interior bears the appearance of a mid-tier cafe being run out of a converted home. It's an odd yet appealing aesthetic, one that puts you at ease, so it must be one that works. The inhabitants of the cafe are far less familiar and far more bizarre, as it's not only Souls and Ogres here, but a huge variety of creatures ranging from Kappas to Tengu to a selection of Tsukami and what you think could be some Kodama.

"Woah, that's incredible! So all of those stories about yokai are true, huh?" You can't help but comment to your guide.

"Well, some of them, at least. Honestly, most stories involving them are the result of a disgruntled worker that breaks the rules and ends up getting pulled from their assignment. Most jobs in the living world don't issue you a permit to reveal yourself to the living, after all!" He says, causing you to blink. It...definitely changes your image of deadly and dangerous yokai, if nothing else.

"How many otherworld natives tend to work in the living world?" You ask out of curiosity.

"On Earth specifically? I'd say a couple billion. It's one of the more populated worlds in the universe, so we have to throw a lot of manpower at it to keep things working well. Coincidentally, that's also why King Yemma never gets a break!" He says, holding up two fingers to the waiter spirit that floated up to the two of you. Said spirit takes you over to a booth, where the two of you get seated and look at a menu.

"That's pretty incredible. Uh..." You trail off, looking at a plethora of unfamiliar terms and items on the menu. "What do you recommend...?" You ask, unsure what to make of it.

"Well, you can't go wrong with Feng! And Stygian Coffee is pretty good, too." He suggests.

"Alright. I'll have what he said, then." You say, nodding over to the floating waiter. Your guide nods and holds up two fingers.

"Make that double." He says, tapping his fingers on the table while waiting after the employee leaves. "Oh, I never introduced myself! I'm Lak." He says, to which you nod and gesture at the nametag he's wearing.

"I figured!" You say with a chuckle. "Nothing crazy happen lately, I hope?"

"Beyond a mass influx of souls followed by a recall order? Not really." He says. Oh.

"I'll tell you, King Yemma was pretty pissed about that. On the bright side, the paperwork for it actually wasn't too bad, because whoever resurrected all of them plopped the forms for it right on his desk, all filled out and organized. Just needed a once-over and a seal of approval to get the ball rolling. Pretty considerate, I'll say - a few thousand years ago some necromancer was going around pulling spirits from the afterlife without even submitting the proper paperwork for it! That was a nightmare compared to this." Lak continues, leaning back and stretching for a moment.

"You guys are pretty big on bureaucracy, huh?" You say.

"Well, we ARE called the Celestial Bureaucracy for a reason. Paperwork makes the universe keep spinning!" He says.

"Th...the universe spins?" You say, a little disturbed at the notion.

"Sure. It works a lot like a planet does, except the universe is kind of layered. I wouldn't bother thinking about it too much, it's one of those things that aren't meant for mortal comprehension and all that." He says, waving a hand to dismiss the subject nonchalantly.

"Alright..." You say, before changing gears and getting into smalltalk with the man for the next few minutes before your orders arrive. A plate is set in front of each of you, atop which is what looks like a malformed gigantic meatball covered in red sauce with two big eyes looking up at you on it. They blink, and you jump with a start, missing the coffee being set down next to the plates in your surprise.

"Thank you for the food! Itadakimasu!" Lak slaps his palms together in front of the plate like he's making a small prayer, before he starts to dig in to the living food! You watch in absent horror as he does so, but...the 'Feng' doesn't seem to mind at all, and with an audible pop it instantly regenerates the chunk he took out of it. Lak chews and swallows his bite, before looking at you curiously. "Not hungry?"

"Uh, no, I am! I'm just surprised. It's fine to eat this...?" You ask, gesturing to the one on your plate.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. They love it, we love it, it's a mutual benefit kind of thing. Good for your digestion, too!" He says, to which you nod slowly and decide to delicately sever a piece of it with your chopsticks and raise it to your mouth.

You chew once, twice...and honestly, it's pretty good! Not the best thing you've ever had, but it has a unique flavor that you quite literally can't describe with your limited mortal vocabulary...though you can definitely say it has hints of vinegar to it, and a texture not too dissimilar to crab or lobster meat. Nodding in approval, you then reach out for your coffee and take a sip.

You are one piece of a grand machination of the cosmos. There is no Honta, only a developing soul nestled within a temporary body, and when that body dies your soul will return to the otherworld to face judgement and one day be cleansed of all that is you to be-

"Wow, that hits hard!" You, Honta, exclaim.

File: Grand Kai's Planet.png (403 KB, 640x480)

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"I know, right? Nothing perks you right up more than caffeine. And temporary disassociation." Lak replies, sipping his own coffee with a grin. "Gets me through the day. I'd snap without it for sure." He jokes. You think...

The smalltalk continues, interrupted only by brief moments of cosmic clarity whenever you sip your coffee, before the two of you are eventually full. The waiter comes back to take away your empty cups and the still-full plates of your regenerating maybe-sentient food, and when he comes back he sets a bill down detailing the price. It's certainly not in Zenni, so you have no idea how much this costs.

"My friend over here, as you can tell by the fact that he's a mortal that still possesses his body, is actually a Hero from Earth. I believe the Hero's discount would be appropriate here, yes?" He confirms with the waiter.

"Oh! Thank you for your service in the Living World, Mr. Hero! I'll apply the discount right away!" The ghostly waiter says, making you feel a little sheepish at the praise.

"I just do what I feel is right." You admit, while Lak slides a plastic card over to the waiter in order to pay. Soon enough, things are paid for, and the two of you are back outside with full bellies.

"Five...four...three...two...one!" Lak says, looking at the watch on his wrist while counting down. "Lunch break is over, we're good to go!" He says, giving you a thumbs up as he starts to power-walk back to the nearby ticket booth.

Actually getting a ticket is a straightforward and easy process, and you apparently don't have to pay for one - the plane shuttles all souls to their destinations free of charge, as long as it's a destination they're authorized to go. You board the plane as directed by a one-eyed portly ogre, and move past the stewardess who could almost pass for human if not for the horns on her head. Once seated, you pretty much just spend your time staring out of the window at the passing landscape, taking note of strange features such as a giant stone snake-themed path that stretches off past the horizon and a variety of tiny planetlike celestial objects floating about above the clouds, usually with buildings on them.

The plane approaches one particularly large planet, one that you're certain would positively dwarf Earth, which the attendant announces to be Heaven - she advises all passengers to enjoy the scenic view of it, as it's the ultimate reward for those dedicated to doing good in life. It lands at an airport there, and every single soul aboard the ship exits, with the attendant checking everyone's tickets on their way out to make sure they're getting off at the right place. You admittedly tried to get off too, but she corrects your mistake by telling you that Grand Kai's planet is the next stop.

After you're back up in the air and sailing, you eventually spot your true destination - a planetoid much smaller than Heaven and Earth, but an order of magnitude or two larger than what you saw before!

File: Grand Kai.png (3.18 MB, 1440x2136)

3.18 MB PNG

The plane finally touches down at your destination, and your body buzzes with an excited energy as you leap down to the ground rather than descend the stairs like any normal person would do. The air here is as fresh as can be, and your keen ears pick up the familiar sounds of warriors running through training drills to perfect their technique. Curious, you find your feet taking you in that direction, eager to meet with legendary heroes from across the entire UNIVERSE that are apparently worthy enough to train here!

What you see is rather surprising, and not at all what you expected. A wiry old man with particularly bushy hair and pointed ears stands there in what you'd generously call a rockerboy outfit, a boombox sitting on his shoulder blasting out some oldschool rock-like song that you've never heard of and aren't even sure originates from anywhere close to Earth. Three individuals with halos above their head run through some exercizes with some particularly massive and heavy looking weights strapped to them, and the old man seems to be trying to hype them up and get their blood pumping while they do so.

"Come on Sarta-chan, you've got this! Just ten thousand more, you're ninety percent the way there, baby!" The old man calls out, bobbing his head to the music. "Mijoriiin, don't falter on me now! Sarta is gonna finish first at this rate!" He encourages the next one. "Tempa-chan, you already know what I'll say to pump you up! But I'll say it anyways, just for you: there's nothin' you can't do if you put your mind to it, son!" He says.

You blink, recognizing the name. "Pardon me for interrupting, but which one of you is Tempa?" You ask, getting everyone's head turned towards you and all movements paused.

"Yooooo! Who's this cool cat?" The old man asks, sauntering up to you while the music plays. He reaches up and hits the pause button once he's just a few feet away.

"Oh, uh, my name's Honta! Wyald Honta! I'm really sorry for interrupting your training, everyone." You say, bowing apologetically. The old man just waves you off when you do so, though.

"No need for all the formal stuff, baby! I like to keep things chill out here, you dig? You can call me Grand Kai, or just Gramps if you prefer it." The old man says. Th...THIS is the Grand Kai? Overseer of the universe?

"S...Sure thing, Grand- Gram- uh..." You start, struggling to decide between your usual formalness and what he prefers. He looks amused at that. "...Boss!" You eventually decide on, a mixture of formal and informal

"Boss, huh?" He asks, stroking his beard for a second. "I like it. Sounds kind of badass..." He nods in approval. "So, what do you need with Tempa-chan, kiddo?" He asks.

>Spill your guts about the whole situation, in full detail! His familial vibes feel trustful to you.
>Tell him only that you need Tempa's psychic expertise, because there's a strange phenominon on your planet you need to look into.
>Get distracted, ask him to train you too!
>Something else...?

Sheesh, got carried away there but I wanted to at least get to a point that felt semi-appropriate for a vote. Hope you all like it so far! I'm trying to slow things down and get a better look at the details and interactions for y'all.

>>5827862
>Resist the temptation to train. But ask if he has any fighting tips.
>Tell him that you need Tempa's psychic expertise to help with an ancient warrior encased in stone, to see if he's good or evil or will cause future problems for your planet.
He seems cool and I wanna tell him what we know, but I don't know if talking about the dragon balls or King Piccolo would be a good idea.

>>5827864
I did! It was fun.

>>5827862
>Tell him only that you need Tempa's psychic expertise, because there's a strange phenominon on your planet you need to look into.

>>5827864
I enjoy this little glimpse of the weirdness of Otherworld, so thanks, QM!

>>5827862
>Tell him only that you need Tempa's psychic expertise, because there's a strange phenominon on your planet you need to look into.

>>5827862
>Spill your guts about the whole situation, in full detail! His familial vibes feel trustful to you.

>>5828093
>>5828101
>>5828263
>>5828797
Keeping things a little on the down low from the Boss! Writing! Wait, does that mean Shin is the Big Boss? That's just terrible.

While you do find it hard to not tell him everything as you would on of your own grandfathers, both of which you've never actually met now that you think about it, you hesitate when considering the possible ramifications of revealing the existence of the Dragonballs and everything that happened involving King Piccolo to him. He seems to sense your moment of hesitation, but doesn't press it thankfully, just waiting patiently for a response.

"Earth's Kami suggested him to me, I'm in need of a psychic expert to advise me on a strange phenominon taking place on my planet. We don't really have any on our home planet, unfortunately." You give him a bone, and he nods in understanding at that.

"That's cool with me then, dude. Is it cool with you, dude?" Grand Kai asks, turning his head to address Tempa.

"I am always glad to help. I cannot come to the realm of the living with you without the proper clearance, but I can at least assist you with the gift of knowledge." Tempa gives the affirmative, standing up from doing pushups and approaching. He gives a strange gesture that you assume is some kind of greeting, so you return it...but you may have been wrong, as he looks slightly confused when you do.

"Awwright! I'll leave you cool cats to it, unless you need me for anything!" Grand Kai butts back in just to announce his departure.

"Well, I don't really have the time to train with you or anything, but do you have any quick fighting tips I can learn from?" You ask him, distracted by the prospect of learning something amazing.

"Hmm..." Grand Kai strokes his beard once more in deep contemplation. "Not every fight is won by beating your opponent." He says in a sagely manner.

"H-huh? That doesn't really make much sense..." You reply, befuddled.

"Sure it does, kiddo. Violence isn't the only means of seizing victory. You would be shocked to learn just how many of the universe's strongest fighters are vulnerable to something ridiculous like tickling." He reveals, laughing raucously afterwards.

"I...never considered the tactical applications of tickling..." You furrow your brow. You wonder if something like that would have worked on King Piccolo? You don't get the chance to ask any more followup questions, as Grand Kai steps away towards his other students at this point.

"Allow me to facilitate privacy in our conversation, young one." Tempa says, though it's only after a few moments that you realize he said so telepathically, his skill with such a thing clear given how it very much fooled you for a bit.

"Thanks, you're pretty good with this technique." You compliment him, before getting to the meat of the matter. "So, on Earth, there's someone that was petrified by a curse. The curse is weakening now, but a foreign entity's mental power seems to be accumulating within it. What are your thoughts?" You think to him.

"There are many possibilities, but there is a single way to know for sure before they free themself." Tempa reveals.

File: Kanassan Hero.png (316 KB, 640x480)

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>>5829305
dropped me pic

"What way is that?" You ask, curious. Tempa closes his eyes in silent contemplation for a few moments, before nodding.

"The power of Postcognition, one of the rarer abilities of my people. I can sense the purity of your heart and the goodness of your intentions, Wyald Honta, so I shall gift you this ability to discover the truth for yourself." He says, bowing his upper body to you for a moment. "You will not be able to use it until you lay your hands on that which you seek to understand." He explains, before straightening up.

Before you can even think of a reply, Tempa has vanished from sight, moving faster than your very synapses. You register a piercing pain in the back of your skull, your whole body stiffening and locking up as you slowly register the fact that his energy is now behind you, and his outstretched fingers are buried into a cluster of nerves at the back of your head. You would ask him why he did that if not for the fact that just a moment later, every neuron in your head seems to fire off at once, a tingling electricity dancing across your brain and surging down into the deepest parts of your gray matter.

Visions of the past flicker past your vision at incredible speeds, memories of your own past from the perspective of a third person observer. Your head throbs. You see a baby in a crib, far too young to remember such a moment normally, being pampered by your loving mother. Your head aches. You see yourself attacking Garlic like a rabid animal, an intense fury you've never seen on anyone before plastered on your face. Your head burns. You see the first time you and Azalea-

You clutch your head and stumble forward, forcibly closing your mind to the influx of memories.

"Ghk- there's...so much information..." You clench your eyes shut, struggling to keep the flow from surpassing your will.

"It can be overwhelming at first, but the ability is at its strongest when first released. It will calm down soon, and you will learn to control it well in time. I pray that you are never cursed with its brother, Precognition, which cannot be so tamed." Tempa says, stepping forward and clasping a hand on your shoulder.

The dam bursts, and you can suddenly see through Tempa's eyes as he's struggling to pit his psychic might against the natural forces of a cataclysmically massive volcano threatening to explode. Even as he began to bleed from his eyes, he sharpened his will further and further to surpress the inevitable. It's a future he refuses to accept, one that cannot be allowed to come to pass. Kanassa and its people will both be destroyed if he fails, for he knows that he is the only among his people that is gifted enough to even attempt this.

Minutes pass, a pool of blood accumulating at his feet. He gives a final push, converting his very lifeforce into even more psychic energy to sustain his efforts. As his life begins to fade, he can see his comrades coming to take over with their combined efforts. They are just in time...

File: Psychic Awakening!.png (1.04 MB, 1024x768)

1.04 MB PNG

I may be a little retarded with how often I drop these pics.

You pull away from him with a sharp gasp, forcing yourself out of the visions of his past.

"Ah, my mistake. I apologize. Here, I shall surpress the ability's strength for a while, so that you can learn to cope with it and control is easier." He says, focusing as he points his index and pinky fingers towards you. His eyes flash with psychic power, and you can feel the firing synapses in your brain immediately calming down. The pressure on your will is relieved to a fraction of what it once was, and the headache you were feeling is nothing more than a dull throb in the back of your mind now.

"That's much better! Sheesh, I wish you did that sooner." You say with a combined laugh and grimace, rubbing the back of your head where he struck you.

"I should have, yes. I am sorry for my failings." He says, casting his eyes down and looking like a puppy that was just scolded.

"It's no big deal..." You try to wave it off, now feeling bad for some reason. "So, this will let me see the past of anything I touch?" You ask, if only to distract him.

"Indeed. Few things can protect from such an ability, but beware using it on those cursed with Precognition. They can sense such efforts in the past, and will likely pre-emptively strike out at you with their mind." He warns, a grave expression on his face. You wonder if he's speaking from prior experience or not.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks though, this sounds like the perfect ability to find out what really happened and what the deal with that energy is." You say with a nod, crossing your arms.

"It should be. What will you do, now that you have it? Will you return immediately, or will you still seek out the souls of the Warrior and the Demon that cursed him?" He asks, surprising you.

"Did you read my past?" You ask, to which he simply nods. "I suppose that's fair, I did read yours too...at any rate, I plan to-"

>Find Olibu, I can find out more about the situation of the past through him. He might know more than the Warrior would about some things.
>Find the Warrior's soul, he's the most relevant.
>Find the Demon's soul, so I can find out if he prepared any nasty surprises for anyone trying to break the curse.
>Find Garlic's soul, you think he could actually help you out once more. And you're pretty curious about what that troublemaker's been up to since he helped with King Piccolo.

>>5829345
Also forgot the obligatory write-in option.
I'm a ditz today

>>5829345
>Find Olibu, I can find out more about the situation of the past through him. He might know more than the Warrior would about some things.

>>5829345
>Find Olibu, I can find out more about the situation of the past through him. He might know more than the Warrior would about some things.

>>5829345
>Find Olibu, I can find out more about the situation of the past through him. He might know more than the Warrior would about some things.

>>5829345
>Find Olibu, I can find out more about the situation of the past through him. He might know more than the Warrior would about some things.

>>5829361
>>5829386
>>5829621
>>5829834
Find the golden-haired adonis! Writing.

"...Find an ancient hero that died long ago on my Planet, someone who knew the warrior personally. His name is Olibu, I believe." You tell him, and his eyes light up in immediate recognition.

"Olibu came from your people?" He asks, and you confirm it with a nod. "You must be proud. I do not say this lightly, but I believe he has the makings of the greatest warrior in the otherworld...among mortal souls, at least." He says, surprising you.

"Huh, really? So he's even stronger than you? I couldn't even see you move before...and even though you're dead, it feels like your energy eclipses mine." You muse out loud with a hum.

"Were he and I to fight, it would not even be a contest. He would win without breaking a sweat. At best I could delay my inevitable defeat with tricks, but he would see them as nothing more than just that - tricks." Tempa admits, humbly.

"Oh man, now I REALLY want to meet him!" You grin at the thought. You almost want to hop in excitement, but you restrain yourself from it in polite company. "So, do you know where he is?" You ask.

"Do you recall seeing a long serpentine pathway made of stone on your way here?" He asks you, and you nod once more. "He is training with Kai that watches over the North Galaxy. The Northern Kai lives at the very end of that pathway, and there is no plane that can take one there. It must be traversed by foot." Tempa reveals.

"Huh...how long do you think that would take?" You ask, a bad feeling in your gut.

"At your current level of power? I believe it would take about half of your years." He responds, and your jaw drops.

"Half a year?! I don't think I have that long!" You exclaim. Your protest draws the attention of Grand Kai, it seems, who inserts himself into the conversation once more as he saunters back over.

"Everything cool here, cats?" He asks.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you. Everything's...fine, I suppose." You say, frustration leaking into your tone.

"Doesn't sound fine. Lay your troubles on me, man." Grand Kai says, producing a beer out of nowhere and cracking it open to take a sip.

"Well, I really need to speak with Olibu next, but the way to get to him would take me far too long to get there." You admit to him. He nods a few times, seeming to mull it over.

"Alright, I'll take you there, kid." He says simply.

"Just like that?" You ask.

"Yup." He takes another sip of his drink. "North Kai owes me a report anyways, and I like to make him sweat every now and then by showing up unannounced." He says with a shit-eating grin, barking out a laugh a moment after. "You can hit up Olibu while I grill him, alright?" He offers, holding out a hand towards you.

"Sounds like a plan!" You say, shaking his hand.

"Cool gravy. Oh, brace yourself for a gravity change, by the way." He says. Before you can ask him what he's talking about, he follows up with "Kai Kai!" and the two of you flicker over to a new scene...where gravity slams down on you.

Five of you, do me a favor and slip me a 1d50! Being so far from the Sun, you don't get your usual daytime buff, unfortunately.

No critfails, this is just to see how quickly you adjust to the sudden change in gravity and to see if you can avoid a momentary pancake impression. You've done 10x before in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but you never completely adjusted to it and this is a bit of a surprise.

Rolled 15 (1d50)

>>5830832

Rolled 22 (1d50)

>>5830832

Rolled 40 (1d50)

>>5830832

Rolled 18 (1d50)

>>5830832

Rolled 22 (1d50)

>>5830832

>>5830845
>>5830861
>>5830889
>>5831052
>>5831126
Sorry for the delay, was enormously busy yesterday! But anyways:
40! Pretty good, Honta! Writing!

File: King Kai's Planet.png (316 KB, 500x485)

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The sudden and intense change in gravity almost knocks you off balance, but your muscles quickly tense and you shift your stance as close to immediately as you can manage. You have to stand low and wide initially, but with a surge of power you manage to bring yourself back up to your usual standing posture, gritting your teeth from the unexpected effort of it. To you, it feels roughly the same as whenever you stepped out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber's resting area, so you imagine it can't be much more or less than around ten time's Earth's normal gravity.

"Fwahh, that was tricky, almost tripped up on that!" You exclaim, Grand Kai looking at you curiously with raised eyebrows before something clicks in his head.

"Oh! It's a little rough for you, huh? Sorry, sonny, I forgot how hard it is for living mortals to adjust to things like this. Spiritual bodies don't have a lot of the limitations that folks like you would, you know?" He apologizes, before turning back to look around the North Kai's planet.

From what you can tell, it's an extremely small planet despite the gravity on it, decorated with almost nothing. There's some neatly trimmed grass, a road that seems to pointlessly circle the planet with a red car sitting idly on it, a simple looking well like what'd you would find back in your home village, a dome-shaped house, and...what you think is a garage. The garage is probably the second most bizarre thing to you besides the road itself, mostly because the North Kai isn't even keeping his car in it.

Speaking of the North Kai, your ears twitch as they suddenly catch sound from the opposite end of the planet. The sound of something heavy impacting the ground and ripping through some of the dirt, you would bet - you're quite familiar with such sounds. Soon enough, a panicked looking monkey zips over the horizon at shocking speeds, followed by a hulking figure lunging towards it. The massive figure that made a desperate jump wraps his bulky arms around it, seemingly...only to be met with pure air, the monkey long gone as he once more impacts the ground and embeds himself in it.

"Hoho, he has you playing tag with Bubbles again, does he? Well, I'm sure you'll catch him soon enough, my boy." Grand Kai speaks up after observing the fiasco.

Just a moment later, a portly figure starts walking across the horizon as well, fist raised up in the air and expression annoyed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to mess up my lawn with this-" He starts berating who you assume to be Olibu, only to freeze and go pale once he sees Grand Kai.

"Yo!" Grand Kai flashes him a grin and gives him a two-fingered wave.

"G-G-Grand Kai! You didn't tell me you'd be visiting today!" North Kai shouts, though you don't think he realizes his voice is still raised.

"That's what makes it a surprise visit, baby!" his superior replies. "I gotta get your report for the century. My friend here is gonna keep your student company, if that's cool."

File: Olibu.jpg (13 KB, 309x223)

13 KB JPG

"Yes, of course!" North Kai says, though you can detect a hint of displeasure on his expression despite his words. He turns to address you next. "Feel free to make yourself at home, a friend of Grand Kai is a friend of mine." He says with a slight bow.

"Ahah...we just met, really, but thank you." You say, rubbing the back of your head. Something feels wrong about some kind of god bowing to you like that.

"In this life, at least." Grand Kai says cryptically, flashing you another cheeky grin as he peers at you over his sunglasses. Before you can reply to that, he walks up and wraps an arm around the wide form of North Kai in a familiar manner and starts directing him towards the house. "Man, what was that thing you told me about North Galaxy last time I was here? Something about spicing up a borin' old planet with some new weather patterns? How did that go?" You can hear him say before the duo cross the threshold of the house and enter, closing the door behind them.

You turn to glance at the blonde-haired muscleman instead, who seems to have collected himself from the ground and dusted himself off while you were distracted. His gaze quickly catches yours, and he gives a warm smile.

"Good day to you, fellow hero! Did you misplace your halo somehow?" He asks you, causing you to blink.

"Oh, no, I'm here alive! I got special permission for it because of some repeated heroic acts, apparently." You say. His bushy eyebrows shoot up.

"A hero among heroes, then! It is my pleasure and honor to meet you then, friend." He says, stepping forward and offering his hand. You move to grip it in a handshake, only for him to grasp you by the forearm instead. He looks a little confused at the fact that you just tried to grab his hand, saying "Oh, it must be a new custom!" before shifting his grip to awkwardly shake your hand instead.

"Something like that. You're Olibu, right?" You ask to confirm.

"Indeed I am! Most interesting that the legends of my deeds still live to this day." He looks proud at that.

"Live and well! Earth is doing well in your absence, I think. My name is Wyald Honta, by the way." You introduce yourself, to which he nods.

"What brings you to me today, Honta the Hero?" He asks.

"Well, to be frank, I need to take a look at some of your past. I think something from your time is going to threaten the world again, so I need to know everything I can about it before something bad happens." You explain, Olibu's expression growing darker with each moment that passes.

"Of course. What do you need to know about?" He asks you, before you shake your head.

"Don't worry about it, a fellow Hero granted me the ability of Postcognition. I'll get the information clearer than any tales or memories can provide, with your permission." You say, to which he nods. You reach out to grasp his hand, and focus on directing your recently acquired ability as soon as you release your mental block on it...

You find your mind swiftly drawn to the past, spiralling back further and further, slowly melding with Olibu's own as it does so. As you regain your senses, you find yourself to be the renowned and legendary warrior Olibu. Right now, you are...

>Training under your first master, right alongside your friend. Your nose is just now detecting the scent of acrid smoke, and worry clenches your gut.
>Standing before a gateway to the Demon Realm, staring down your former friend. You can't allow him to commit genocide, even against your enemies.
>Meeting with your childhood friend for the final time, after a chance encounter. Yet...the company he keeps unsettles you greatly.
>Mourning your friend, at the site of his apparent death. You can't help but wonder if you could have changed this outcome if you'd only done better.

>>5833625
>Mourning your friend, at the site of his apparent death. You can't help but wonder if you could have changed this outcome if you'd only done better.

>>5833625
>Meeting with your childhood friend for the final time, after a chance encounter. Yet...the company he keeps unsettles you greatly.

>>5833244
No worries, QM.

>>5833625
>Meeting with your childhood friend for the final time, after a chance encounter. Yet...the company he keeps unsettles you greatly.

>>5833619
>Meeting with your childhood friend for the final time, after a chance encounter. Yet...the company he keeps unsettles you greatly.

>>5833629
>>5833670
>>5833689
>>5834193
The last time I ever saw him, he looked...tired.
Writing!

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That's right, you're currently standing across from your friend. Your jaw is clenched tight, and your fist is clenched even tighter, a strange mixture of sadness and anger welling up in your heart. You hadn't expected to cross paths again like this, drawn together once more by fate no doubt. You had investigating the rumors of a truly despicable Demon that terrorized the nearby villages at night and retreated to some unknown den by day, and it seems he too had picked up on its trail, leading to the two of you meeting within the Demon's lair.

"Olibu." The man you once thought of as a brother speaks up, eyes locked with yours. Unlike you, all he has is a terse frown to show his displeasure - besides the coldness of his tone.

"Oyal..." You respond, tensing up a bit more before releasing some of that tension. "Why are you here?" You demand to know.

"You know why." He says, turning to face you fully now and placing a hand on the pommel of his sword.

"Haven't you had enough bloodshed yet?!" You can't help but shout at him, knowing what he's been doing around the world. "The wounds of the past won't heal through revenge! Let me deal with this one." You almost plead with him.

"If you think that I'm only doing this for revenge..." Oyal replies, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Then you don't know me at all." He says, a pang of guilt going through your heart. It's true that you only barely know who he is today...had his reasons truly grown since the last time you met? Or...did you misunderstand his intentions in the first place?

"I know that you've been killing anyone who stands in your way indiscriminately. I know that you've been hunting even the Demons that keep to themselves and haven't hurt a single soul. I know that...you slaughtered an entire village of them, and even the noble warriors that tried to stand up and stop your massacre." You say, fists clenched so hard that your hands start to shake.

"Down to the women and the children." Oyal admits. "And I would do it again. I will do it again. Until every last demon is driven from our world, Olibu. I'm simply doing what you lack the fortitude to do." He claims.

"Can't you see the madness in that, brother!?" You try to reach out to him.

"We're not brothers! Not anymore." He says, unsheathing his blade and raising it to point right at your head. "I would never call someone as weak as you my brother. You want to save everyone, yet you refuse to do what it takes to do so. I'll have enough power to do it twice over soon enough. Now...I'm going to tell you the same thing I told all those 'noble warriors' I cut down. Step aside now, or die." He warns you.

"..." You're silent for a few moments, the tension in the air between the two of you almost thick enough to cut. You don't move at all.

"...Then so be it." He says, lunging forward at you, blade slipping through the air in a thrust right towards your chest.

Poor Olibu.

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He was fast - a lot faster than the last time you faced him. You ripped your body off to the side, but found yourself slightly lacking as the blade scores a bloody line across your chest, the razor-sharp edge cutting through your normally harder-than-steel flesh. Your eyes widen in surprise, but you don't let it take you, stepping towards Oyal and slamming a palm strike directly into the side of his head as a swift counterattack.

Oyal moves with the strike rather than opposing it, moving into a sidewards flip and swinging out with his sword once more while still in the process of being flung elsewhere. Quick thinking on your part has you dodge a blindingly fast series of flashes, only earning a single cut across the cheek from them before your opponent finishes his maneuver and lands gracefully on his feet about a dozen feet away from his original position.

"You've gotten faster." You decide to observe aloud.

"And you've gotten slower." Oyal replies, shifting into an unfamiliar stance with his blade raised high and his silhouette minimized. With his free hand, he raises it towards you and gives you a goading gesture.

"I'm just getting warmed up." You say through gritted teeth, pulling the smaller sword you keep at your side and charging forward. You telegraph a swing that would bite into his midsection if not stopped, knowing full well that he's more than capable of doing so, and he seems to take the bait. In the split second when his blade is locked with yours, you continue your furious charge and smash your forehead directly into his nose, feeling the soft cartilage crunch beneath the force and sending him sliding across the dusty floor by a few feet from the energy of the impact.

"Gh!" He grunts in pain, holding a hand up to his now-broken and bleeding nose. "Fighting with your brain for once? That's new..." He gives a faux comment on your tactic.

"I've had to get creative over the years." You say with a smirk, twirling your sword around before assuming a solid grip on it once more. This time, you're the one to raise your hand and taunt him to attacking. He scowls at that, and charges forward to oblige.

What follows is a mad melee, your old training partner pushing your defenses to the absolute limit with thunderous blows and lightning quick strikes that spark the steel of your blades with each impact. You can barely turn his attacks away when you catch them, and you're left with no room to retaliate or counter. Whenever you think you do have an opening, it proves to be a trap that he uses to inflict another superficial cut on you, stacking up at least a dozen before he steps back from his assault.

"Oyal!" You hear an unfamiliar voice call out, your head snapping towards them. They almost look like some kind of monk or travelling priest, but something about them unsettles you. "Why are you toying with him? The Demon of this castle is fleeing now!" He chastises your friend, hardly even acknowledging your presence.

"Tch." You hear the displeasure in Oyal's voice, as he raises his blade to point at you once more. "I can always get him later. Don't interrupt me." He replies tersely to his companion.

"You're not even using your full power, you could kill this guy without even breaking a sweat!" The priest says, disturbingly. Your eyes go wide at the realization that it's true, as while you're covered in wounds and breathing heavily, Oyal has taken comparatively little damage and doesn't seem all that bothered. "He's not worth the time you're wasting on him. You need to become stronger if you want to achieve your dream." He says, and you can feel a strange concentrated malevolence radiating from him on the last sentence, though your friend doesn't seem to notice it at all.

"I don't know who that man is, Oyal, but I don't think he has your best interests in mind." You say with a grim smile, clutching your blade firmer. "Isn't it obvious that he's just using you for something?" You suggest.

"Feeling jealous, Olibu? Akomo is my true brother. The one that's been at my side no matter how dire things got. He's a real friend, unlike you...he's supported me every step of the way. Helped me to grow as powerful as I am today." Oyal says, eyes seeming to unfocus a little as he does so. Your suspicions only grow.

"A friend wouldn't let you walk down this self-destructive path. Power isn't everything, you have to see that!" You beg him to listen. His eyes focus a little more, a frown appearing on his face, and he shakes his head.

"Power could have avoided all of this. We were too weak to stop them from invading our village, from spreading across the world, from corrupting everything they touch. The only way that I'll stop...is if someone stronger than me can prove they have the power and will to protect everything I couldn't. I'll kill every weakling that tries to stop me until then." He explains his reasoning, your heart feeling heavier with each moment.

"Then...I'll stop holding back, brother, and show you that I have what it takes to put your fears to rest." You say with resolve filling your voice. Your muscles tense further, and your power begins to swell at the same time as your friend's, causing a rumbling around the castle as your combined energies start to upset the area. Your own energy is a brilliant and shining gold aura around you, while his is a dark blue with streaks of purple flickering within it oddly enough.

Once the two of you reach your full might, the shaking stops, and the two of you glare at one another with each waiting for the other to make the first move. You're the one to break first, charging forward and smashing his blade aside with a sideswipe so powerful that it shatters your own blade - but you pay it no mind, sacrificing the tool so that you can drive your fist straight into his jaw with enough force that you hear a crack and send him flying into a wall, breaking through SEVERAL and kicking up a cloud of dust.

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You stare into the obfuscating fog of finely ground debris, knowing it'd be too dangerous to wade into it without being able to sense your opponent. Your delay seems to have been wise, as a few moments later something invisibly surges forward from the dustcloud - in fact, the dust itself seems to take the shape of several crescent arcs that shoot right towards you. You bring up your arms in a crossbar to block it, only to be surprised when they actually dig into flesh and slice open some fresh new wounds. Not deep ones, but the force behind a disconnected attack surprises you nonetheless.

"Enough of that!" You yell, shifting and punching forward as hard as you can, a burst of air projecting from your fist and dispersing the obstructive cloud. Yet...you don't see your opponent at all after doing so. Your instincts scream at you to duck, and you do so, narrowly dodging Oyal's massive blade that takes off a good inch of hair from atop your head rather than chopping into your neck.

You think quickly, twisting around to slam your leg into him, but his sword intercepts the blow and holds sturdy surprisingly. He's quick to advance forward and bring his knee up straight into your gut, forcing the air out of your lungs and almost making you want to vomit, though you push through it and take the opportunity to wrap your arms around his waist.

"It's over! This...is my specialty!" You say, while your enemy tries to pry himself free from your grip.

"What are you-?!" He exclaims, before your every muscle tenses and you fling yourself backwards while still holding tightly onto him. He's lifted up high into the air for just a moment before your momentum slams him head-first into the ground, burying him waist-deep into the stone floor and no doubt giving him a mighty concussion. You let go of him and step back, huffing to catch your breath.

"Now, is your tantrum over yet?" You demand to know, watching him warily. The ground rumbles for a moment before it explodes all around him for some unknown reason, allowing him to easily extract himself from what's now a crater in the castle's floor and stand upright. One of his eyes is closed due to a flow of blood from the top of his head, so your attack clearly did some damage to him. Good.

"I didn't want to use this on you, but you're not giving me much of a choice." He says, shifting into a new stance and glowing red with an unknown power. "Demon's Cruel Shadow - Akuma no Zan'ei!" He exclaims, before vanishing entirely from your senses. Something feels wrong. Your ears can hear his sword sliding back into its sheath behind you, and you turn around on-guard, seeing that strange energy around him fading swiftly.

"What did you-" You go to ask, before a thousand cuts open up all over your body. Your speech is interrupted by the fact that you're now coughing up blood, moving to a knee out of necessity from the sudden weakness overcoming you. He turns to look at you, a small amount of regret showing in his eyes.

"He was stronger than I thought he'd be." The man named Akomo speaks up from his position overlooking the fight from the floor above, peering over the railing. "But you finished up quickly regardless, well done, my friend! Leave him to die, we have a hunt to complete." You hear him say, once more unsettling you with the malevolence in his tone.

"I..." Oyal says, hesitating. His expression turns slightly pained, though you don't think he seems to realize it. "...Yes, we have a hunt to complete." He says, while you find you can no longer support yourself in a kneeling position, your breath escaping from you as you lay down flat on the ground and slowly bleed out. Your vision itself starts to fade, but you can still hear just fine.

You hear him walk towards you and take a knee himself, then you feel something small pushed into your mouth. "If you have the will to live...then chew. Don't think about coming after me, or I won't be so kind next time." He says in almost a whisper, surprising you. Is...is he having mercy on you?

You hear two sets of footsteps walking away soon after that, and you're left to your own devices. To bleed out, or...to do as he said. Trusting in your childhood friend, you muster up the last of your strength to chew and swallow the strange hard object he put in your mouth, and as soon as you do, your energy starts to rapidly return and your wounds rapidly seal up. Whatever he gave you, it...restored you to perfect condition.

"Oyal..." You say, frustration welling up in you. You slam your fist on the bloodsoaked stone floor, cracking it even further.

You, as Honta, feel yourself pulling away from that particular vision. You feel as though you could take it further if you wanted to, or pull back to the present instead. You elect to move your conciousness to...

>Training under Olibu's first master, right alongside Oyal. Olibu's nose is just now detecting the scent of acrid smoke, and worry clenches his gut.
>Standing before a gateway to the Demon Realm, staring down Oyal. Olibu can't allow him to commit genocide, even against his enemies.
>Mourning Oyal, at the site of his apparent death. Olibu can't help but wonder if he could have changed this outcome if he'd only done better.
>The present, ending this use of Postcognition. You've learned enough.

>>5838662
>Mourning Oyal, at the site of his apparent death. Olibu can't help but wonder if he could have changed this outcome if he'd only done better.

>>5838662
>Mourning Oyal, at the site of his apparent death. Olibu can't help but wonder if he could have changed this outcome if he'd only done better.
We got a feel for what his techniques were, and what the demon was doing to him. Let's see how it ended, with him a statue, and what nasty surprises might be waiting within.

>>5838662
>>Mourning Oyal, at the site of his apparent death. Olibu can't help but wonder if he could have changed this outcome if he'd only done better.

>>5838662
>Mourning Oyal, at the site of his apparent death. Olibu can't help but wonder if he could have changed this outcome if he'd only done better.

Oh snap. I thought I posted yesterday but I didn't. Anyways, update tomorrow as yesterday and today I am quite busy with Holiday matters. Happy thanksgiving my fellow burgers!

>>5840610
Happy Thanksgiving, GQM!

>>5840929
Hope you had a great time with yours! I had quite a fun time myself.
That being said, I vastly underestimated how busy I'd be the day after. So just one more day off for me, promise! Shit's mad exhausting. And I'm a little retarded for underestimating my family's holiday spirit every time.

On an unrelated note, I'm now picturing the gang in christmaswear. Barbar as Santa, of course. Or would it be funnier if Barbar was an elf and Harum was Santa?

>>5841913
Alas, I'm a leaf
Honta and Azalea as Santa and Mrs. Clause (or Santa and a reindeer, perhaps, as a joke about riding). Harum as the abominable snowman from the Rankin Bass claymation cartoons. Babar as that elf that wanted to be a dentist.

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You pull just a little bit closer to the present, only going forward by a year at most, before allowing your consciousness to settle back into Olibu's past mind. It's a strange experience, like your mind is being engulfed in a warm haze before being sent to 'sleep' as you dream of being another person.

You're standing across from a familiar figure, though not one you'd ever imagined seeing like this. Oyal, cutting as mighty a figure as he ever did, appears to have been turned entirely to stone - and now he stands here for the rest of eternity, posed like a vigilant guardian. Despite all the atrocities that he committed in the name of his corrupt sense of justice, your heart still feels heavier than it's ever been before.

You raise a hand to reach out and touch him, only to hesitate and drop the limb a moment later, unable to bring yourself to do it. You want to feel angry, to grieve as a warrior would, but the only thing you feel right now is a deep sorrow that seems to draw the strength out of your limbs. You've never felt weaker, like a vulnerable newborn that wants to cry. You oblige the feeling only slightly, allowing tears to flow down your face but permitting nothing more.

"Brother...I promise you, I'll protect the world in your place until my dying breath." You vow, knowing he can't hear you. You cast your gaze away from him, looking instead to the bloody decapitated corpse laying just a few feet away from it. It's starting to decompose after the week or so it's been left out here in the elements, though the animals and insects seem to have avoided it for the most part - a small blessing that allows you to get a good look at the being that no doubt sealed Oyal's fate.

This demon seems to have had a deep green tint to its skin, drawn particularly tightly over its head to warp its still-shocked visage into a skull-like appearance. Oyal's final blow must have happened swiftly and unexpectedly, a small blessing. Most curious is the fact that the rest of the body seems to have fallen a few feet further from the head, possibly indicating some ability to operate on its own, before a second blow straight through the heart seems to have finished it off. While it's possible that the head could have gone flying from the slice that severed it, you doubt as much, having seen Oyal's gruesome skill with such firsthand.

Clutched in the demon's hands is some manner of staff, likely used to augment the fiend's natural magic prowess, which is adorned with a disturbing eye that seems to be looking right at you. Merely a coincidence, you're su- no, nevermind. It just blinked at you. You're quick to pick up the staff and break it over your knee, releasing a burst of raw magic power in the process and causing the eye to stiffen up and close for good.

"Tch. Bastard got what was coming to him, at least..." You lament, before considering something. "I shouldn't leave a demon at my brother's grave...it's the last thing he'd want to see." You muse aloud.

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You sling the majority of the demon's corpse of your shoulder, and grab the head by one of its massive horns. After a moment's thought, you tuck the two broken halves of the staff under an arm as well. You turn to give one last look at your brother's petrified form, before giving him a two-fingered wave.

"I'll see you in the next life, brother. Rest well until then." You give your farewell, before walking off with your brother's final kill.

The details of where you hid the Demon's remains are something you kept secret until your own death, unwilling to encourage any to search for what could no doubt prove to be powerful components to a wizard...or worse, to resurrect something capable of bringing down a warrior mightier than you. For this purpose, you decided that there would be no better place to hide it than somewhere that virtually nobody could ever hope of accessing - a place so far out that nobody on Earth could ever find it.

That is, to say, you launched them into the Moon. You certainly wouldn't have good enough aim to do it with the body as it was, of course - trying to throw a winged creature that far is just madness, the air resistance and general floppiness would send it god knows where. No, you relied upon your specialty to get it there safely - you punched an adequately sized hole into the largest boulder you could find, stuffed the body and the staff within it, and then compressed dirt into the rest of the hole until it resembled the stone surrounding it to create a near-perfect seal. Then you lifted the entirety of that boulder and sent it straight up into the moon with your most powerful throw yet!

You feel your mind pulling away from Olibu's as the memory fades. Rather, the ridiculousness of the situation is what made you pull away, and the fading of it came naturally with that. What kind of guy's first thought is to just THROW SOMETHING TO THE MOON to HIDE IT? Is it still up there? You really hope you don't end up needing to get the body or the staff later on, because frankly, that sounds like it'll be hard to do even with everything you can do. You also idly wonder if any aliens happened to see what happened, knowing they apparently exist given Piccolo's whole situation.

Well, at any rate...

>Pull out to the present, you've seen plenty. You know what the demon's true form looks like and where his body is, and you know what his false form and what his general capabilities were. That should be enough.
>Try to push it a little further into the past now, you want to keep going. (Roll 5d50, DC 45. You're still new to Postcognition.)

>>5843686
>>Pull out to the present, you've seen plenty. You know what the demon's true form looks like and where his body is, and you know what his false form and what his general capabilities were. That should be enough.

>>5843686

>Pull out to the present, you've seen plenty. You know what the demon's true form looks like and where his body is, and you know what his false form and what his general capabilities were. That should be enough.

>>5843686
>Pull out to the present, you've seen plenty. You know what the demon's true form looks like and where his body is, and you know what his false form and what his general capabilities were. That should be enough.

>>5843686
>>Try to push it a little further into the past now, you want to keep going. (Roll 5d50, DC 45. You're still new to Postcognition.)

>>5843690
>>5843723
>>5843764
>>5844210
Pulling out! I guess Honta's got a pretty good amount of practice with that, huh?
Writing!

>>5844875
If he doesn't, does a tiger-man and a fairy make a cait-sidhe?

You decide to go with the flow, preparing yourself for a hopefully graceful departure from your Postcognitive trance. You want to be ready and prepared for the unusual gravity waiting for you in the present, rather than overestimate your skill with a new ability and end up ejecting from it suddenly and without warning - something tells you that would be embarrassing if nothing else. You idly wonder if you could refine your use next time - going backwards and forwards at random seems like it would end up a lot more difficult than if you, for example, started as far back in the past as you can manage and just slowed the natural pull back to the present when you wanted to view certain events.

You snap back to reality, feeling the gravity crashing all around you and tensing your muscles for a brief moment. Just like before, the vision only lasted but an instant to everyone else, so it just seems like you had some kind of a twitch or muscle spasm for a moment there.

"So, is there anything I need to do for this to work, friend?" Olibu questions, clearly not having noticed anything off.

"It's already done." You tell him, causing the man's eyebrows to shoot up.

"That was fast!" He exclaims.

"It seems to happen pretty quickly in realtime, yeah." You confirm for him, reaching up to rub your temples. Your head is starting to ache a bit more, likely correlating to your use of the ability. Perhaps not something you'll want to use in a battle you need to concentrate in, then...

"Did you learn everything you needed to?" He asks, tilting his head to the side curiously.

"I believe so. I'm...sorry for your loss, by the way. Seemed like you had a lot of respect for Oyal." You offer your condolences.

"...I did. But that's all in the past now. Hopefully it stays in the past. I wish you luck with whatever you're up to." He says with a frown, contemplation becoming evident on his features.

"Thanks, right back at you. Hopefully your training here pays off for whatever you're training for." You offer back.

"Hm? Well, I'm mostly training because it's all I really know outside of heroics. But there is a tournament that happens every now and then that I'm looking forward to...besides, you never know if the Otherworld might need a hero to stand up someday!" He says, wiping his frown out with a boisterous laugh instead. He certainly cuts the image of a legendary hero.

"Hopefully not, but better safe than sorry!" You agree, nodding along with his words. "Say, what exactly is life in the Otherworld like, anyways?" You ask curiously.

"It's pretty different to when you're alive, to say the least. You don't need to eat unless you want to, sleep is mostly optional, and it takes an enormous effort to completely exhaust all of your energy...plus, you recover that energy a lot quicker than normal. We're also much harder to harm, I've actually never seen something land that sticks for more than a few moments!" He says, posing with various flexes as he explains.

"That all sounds really convenient. Is it like that for everyone that's dead?" You ask.

"Er...I'm not sure, to be honest. I'm one of the few blessed enough to be granted a body in death, but most don't have that privilege. The vast majority are simplistic souls, you probably saw some of them coming in - that long line of yellow clouds at the check-in station." He says, to which you nod with understanding. "I've heard that people in Hell can have pseudo-bodies that make handling and identifying them easier. And Heaven allows you to take on a form reminiscent of the one you had in life, though it's still technically just a bodyless spirit." He finishes explaining.

"Interesting...I suppose I'd have to ask one of the bodyless spirits to see what their experience is like, too!" You say, wondering how many people you've met might be wandering around in some part of the otherworld right now. Hopefully not many, but...now that you think about it, you might be able to find some of your ancestors here if they haven't reincarnated already. You wonder if your grandparents might be here? Probably not on your Mother's side, but almost definitely on your Father's side, considering the lifespan difference...

"Sounds like you're a bit of a socialite!" He says with a deep chuckle, slapping you on the back a bit harder than he probably intended and causing you to stumble forward, waving your arms to the side to keep your balance. "Whoops, sorry. It's hard to adjust for your level of power and deal with this gravity at the same time!" He apologizes.

"Just how powerful are you right now, anyways?" You ask with a bit of curiosity. He gets a wry grin on his face on hearing you ask that.

"You really want to know?" He asks.

"Yeah!" You nod vigorously.

"Then make sure to pay close attention." He says, smirk growing a bit as he steps back and widens his stance. "Haaaaaaaah..." He exhales deeply, before breathing in just as deeply and suddenly expanding his energy at an exponential rate. "HRRRREEAAAAHHHH!" He shouts as his ki flows around him in a roaring blue blaze, the energy so dense that you swear it could start sparking off lightning at any second. The sheer depth to his energy feels insane - it shoots up even higher than even Piccolo's was before he split himself in two! You feel very small all of a sudden, faced with such an enormous well of power.

"S-Such strength!" You proclaim, taking a step back on instinct.

"It's nothing compared to where I plan to be at in time for the tournament. But it still is leagues beyond what I was capable of when I was alive. King Kai's training speaks for itself, doesn't it?" He boasts about his master.

"Damn it, Olibu, stop shaking the planet up like that!" You hear King Kai's voice screaming from the house. Looking over, the buglike Kai is poking his head out of a window and shaking his fist. "You're making all of the dishes jump out of the cabinets like suicidal salarymen!" He continues to berate Olibu.

"Oops! Sorry, Master!" Olibu says, restraining his power in an instant and causing everything to go still. You hadn't even realized he was causing the planet to rumble, caught up in sensing his energy as you were.

"You better be! Come clean up this mess you've made!" King Kai commands, ducking back inside and slamming the window shut. Olibu slinks off towards the door, entering to do as he was told while you watch awkwardly. Thankfully, you're not left waiting for too long, as a few seconds afterwards you spot Grand Kai slipping outside and sauntering his way back over to you - this time with a fresh stack of papers held in his hands.

"Wassup, kittycat? You manage to do everything you needed to here?" He asks, idly flicking through the paperwork as he talks.

"Yep! I learned quite a lot of important stuff. Olibu's a pretty nice guy - he was willing to help me out without asking for anything in return." You admit, Grand Kai nodding along.

"Yeah, that kid's always had a good heart. He's a hero for a reason, you know." Grand Kai says with a shrug. "At any rate, I gotta drop these off at my place and deal with them, but I can always make a pit stop to drop YOU off somewhere, if you want. I don't recommend hoofing it back on foot if you've got somewhere to be in a hurry." He offers, holding a hand out to you.

"Well..."

>"I think I'd like to try running it, actually. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that might be able to help me run it much quicker than what you quoted me on. It'd be good training, too!"
>"Sure, could you drop me off at Earth's check-in station? I want to get back to the living world now."
>"Sure! If you're familiar with most of the spirits around the Otherworld, could you take me to a specific one?" (Who?)
>"I've got an unusual destination in mind..." (Write-in)

>>5846248
>"Sure! If you're familiar with most of the spirits around the Otherworld, could you take me to a specific one?"
>"There's this guy called Garlic, he's not exactly the nicest around. But I'd like to see what he's up to either way."

>>5846248
>"I think I'd like to try running it, actually. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that might be able to help me run it much quicker than what you quoted me on. It'd be good training, too!"

>>5846357
>>5847697
Need some more votes to break the tie here!

>>5846248
Can we ask him if the warrior's or the demon's souls are around?
Just to be sure

>>5847831
Sure. You've probably figured out the answer OOC already, but it doesn't hurt to ask! After all, it may be different than you expect. Or maybe it's exactly what you expect. Who knows?

>>5846357
+1. I'm >>5824451 at work, btw. Sorry, been busy and missed the last update!

>>5846248
>>5846357
+1

>>5846357
>>5847697
>>5847831
>>5848268
>>5848419
There we have it, we're going to see what Garlic is up to! Surely nothing bad, right? And I'll include that question as well, natch.
Writing!

File: Hell's Bloody Pond.png (417 KB, 850x319)

417 KB PNG

"You're probably pretty familiar with the spirits that come here after death, since you oversee everything in the universe, right?" You ask him for clarity's sake.

"Well...I've got a pretty good memory for the reports that come my way, at least. You don't get to my position without having a good head on your shoulders!" He admits in a chipper tone.

"Do you think you could tell me where the souls of Akomo the Demon and Oyal the Warrior would be?" You ask, Grand Kai stroking his beard in consideration.

"Planet and time period?" He asks, taking the inquiry seriously.

"Earth, in the same time period as Olibu." You say, unsure of any exact dates.

"Oh, Olibu! Yeah, I'm familiar with those two, then. Both of their souls recently appeared in the check-out station and were sorted, but they were recalled to the living world not too long ago." He reveals, confirming a sinking suspicion in your gut. Not only is Oyal revived and breaking free of the curse thanks to that wish, but it looks like Akomo is riding along with him somehow. Why? Is his essence trapped in something of Oyal's? Did he possess Oyal for some reason? It bodes ill, but you can do nothing about it quite yet. That'll have to wait until you return to Earth.

"I see...thank you for that. Next, um, are you familiar with a Makyan soul called Garlic? He should have appeared within the last year with a recommendation for a reduced sentence from Kami." You ask next, wondering about your old master.

"Hmm..." He hums, flicking through the stack of papers in his hands and reading through them so fast that the edge of one of the papers ignites. He licks his fingertips and puts it out when he actually notices it. "Yeah, I see that right here. Quite the unusual case, that's for sure. He's in Hell because of the weight of his karma, but seeing as how he committed a heroic that ended up exceeding the crimes he was actually able to commit, he was awarded with a Hero's body. Normally that wouldn't fly at all, but...Earth's Guardian seems to have spoken highly of him and the aid he rendered to your world." He reveals.

"I hope he hasn't been causing any trouble?" You ask, hopeful.

"Not a clue, sonny. The next audit on Hell is in about, oh...sixty seven years. We run 'em every hundred years just to keep a tight ship." He says, giving you an okay-sign and a grin.

"...That's a tight ship? But...can't a ton of things go wrong in a hundred years?" You ask, bewildered. He looks confused by your suggestion.

"It's a pretty short amount of time, isn't it?" He asks back.

"...I guess it's just a difference in mortal and godly perspective?" You offer, to which he shrugs.

"Suppose so! You wanted me to take you to this Garlic fellow, then? I can do that for sure, sonny." He says, clasping a hand on your shoulder. "Kai Kai!" He says, and a moment later you find yourself relieved of the overwhelming pressure of King Kai's planet...replaced by sweltering heat, and the scent of blood.

File: 1691797843657342.jpg (208 KB, 1000x965)

208 KB JPG

You're quick to spot Garlic's familiar figure, flying just over a boiling lake of blood that has a multitude of indefinable cloud-shaped souls trapped within it. He seems to be enjoying himself quite thoroughly as he grins maliciously while holding the form of your long-dead enemy Ei Scream by an ankle, dangling the frosty demon over the threateningly hot sanguineous springs.

"I can do this all day, you pathetic little weakling. You thought the ogres were bad? I'm the one you should really be afraid of in here. For them, it's just a job...but I'm doing this purely for the pleasure." His sinister tone rings out. Somehow, you don't feel too bad for Ei, even watching him wave his hands around with a look of pure panic on his face.

"Not again, please! You don't understand, it's so much worse for me than it is for the others! I-" He pleads, before getting his head dunked into the pool for a few seconds. When it's lifted back out, his eyes are swirling and his head looks roasted. It quickly starts to heal up, though, proving the resilience you talked about with Olibu. "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I'LL TELL YOU!" He screams.

Two ogres stand just a little bit away from where you and Grand Kai appeared, apparently watching the proceedings and doing nothing to interfere with it.

"He's really good at this." One of the ogres says to the other.

"Yeah, we should have contracted out souls like this way sooner! Our torture efficiency is up by 500% thanks to this guy alone!" The other ogre agrees with his co-worker.

"He still gives me the creeps though." The first one admits, getting the second one to nod along.

"Hey, Garlic! Are you bullying people down here?" You call out, raising a hand up to wave to your old master. His head turns to look towards you with confusion, then recognition, and then a spark of anger. He drops Ei's body into the pool entirely, and floats on over towards the two of you.

"If it isn't my beloved student. Why are you bothering me down here in hell? Are you here to ruin things for me yet again? And why did you bring some old geezer?" He asks, completely without manners after his time down here, it seems.

"Hey." Grand Kai speaks up, raising a hand up to Garlic, who watches curiously. Grand Kai then flicks his middle finger against Garlic's forehead, apparently imparting such tremendous force into the flick that it causes Garlic's form to shoot off far past the blood lake and embed into the nearby mountains, shaking this area of hell when he impacts. You find yourself sweating as you glance over to Grand Kai, not having realized just how powerful he was. "I don't like being called that." The old geezer says.

"Uh...I'll make sure not to call you that, boss." You offer, getting another smile in return. "Boss is much better. Kai Kai." He says, teleporting the two of you over to where Garlic landed. You see him groaning, body twisted in a way that would surely be impossible for the living, before he removes himself and starts to heal.

File: Garlic malding.gif (3.01 MB, 500x281)

3.01 MB GIF

"I stand corrected, you didn't bring an old geezer...you brought THE old geezer." Garlic says, still energetic enough to sass. Grand Kai sticks his tongue out at him, but doesn't punish him again for it.

"You should really be more respectful towards your elders, you know." You say, Garlic sneering back at you as you suggest it.

"Whatever. I don't need to play that game down here, I just need to provide results." Garlic says, alluding to the contract he had with the ogres no doubt.

"You're working for Hell these days?" You ask, getting a nod from him.

"I'm in a unique position to offer my services as an experienced torturer. It beats being the one on the other end of the stick." He says, frowning down at you. You forgot just how tall he was in his true form.

"Is that all that's in it for you? I know you, Garlic - you're always planning something." You say, furrowing your brow. You seriously doubt his only incentive for this is to NOT be tortured.

"What can I say? I've turned over a new leaf. I just want to be done with this life and to move on to the next. I'll have far better luck in the next one, I'm sure." He says with his usual malevolent grin. You can't tell if he's making that expression solely to unnerve you or not.

"What makes you so sure of that?" You ask, probing.

"Call it a gut feeling." He says, not revealing his hand. Your frown deepens. "Now, care to explain the visit, or was I on the money the first time?" He asks.

>Ask him for his...expertise, on the current matter. He can't exactly affect anything from hell, and he could provide some valuable insights on the current crisis.
>See if you can...recruit him again? You'll probably have to convince Grand Kai to approve it, but you can't deny just how effective his help was with Piccolo.
>You can't bring yourself to trust him until you know what he's really planning. Try using Postcognition on him.
>Talk to him about something else? (What?)

>>5848959
>Ask him for his...expertise, on the current matter. He can't exactly affect anything from hell, and he could provide some valuable insights on the current crisis.

>>5848959
>>You can't bring yourself to trust him until you know what he's really planning. Try using Postcognition on him.

>>5848959
>You can't bring yourself to trust him until you know what he's really planning. Try using Postcognition on him.

>>5848959
>Ask him for his...expertise, on the current matter. He can't exactly affect anything from hell, and he could provide some valuable insights on the current crisis.

>>5848988
>>5849224
>>5849278
>>5849720
We be tied again, lads! Need a breaker!

>>5848959
>You can't bring yourself to trust him until you know what he's really planning. Try using Postcognition on him.

>>5848959
>Ask him for his...expertise, on the current matter. He can't exactly affect anything from hell, and he could provide some valuable insights on the current crisis.
I’m having a gut feeling that Garlic has some postcognition protection.

>>5848959
>Ask him for his...expertise, on the current matter. He can't exactly affect anything from hell, and he could provide some valuable insights on the current crisis.

>>5850184
>>5850195
>>5850419
There we go, that's more like it. Asking for his thoughts on the sitch! Writing!

You don't answer him for a few moments, stewing on your own thoughts. For some reason, the idea of using postcognition on him gave you a bad feeling in your guts, some kind of buried instinct warning you against it. You're not sure if your intuition is right or not, but going with your gut has rarely ever failed you before - so you'll trust it again.

"I needed your expertise on a situation happening on Earth." You decide to say, Garlic's expression combining his usual sneer with a slight amount of confusion.

"And why exactly would I help you with that? I don't care about Earth. You already know this." Garlic replies.

"Out of the goodness of your heart?" You suggest, jokingly. He actually laughs at that, although it's a mocking one. "Well, at least hear me out first before you reject me outright." You cross your arms with a huff.

"Very well. It's not like there's much to do down here anyways." He says, rolling his eyes. Grand Kai looks over to you curiously; you admittedly forgot he was there for a moment. You'll have to tell a slightly abridged version of events, but you were going to anyways - you DEFINITELY don't want Garlic of all people to learn about the Dragonballs.

"How familiar are you with ancient history, from around the time of the legendary hero Olibu?" You ask, Garlic considering it for a moment.

"Very. I lived through it, after all." He claims. Your eyebrows shoot up.

"Seriously? You'd have to be...so old!" You exclaim.

"I was." He says dryly, staring at you. After a moment of awkward silence, he makes a rolling gesture with his hand. "Get on with it."

"Right, well, a certain demon-slaying fanatical warrior named Oyal was petrified by a certain manipulative demon named Akomo. Due to a series of events, the curse on Oyal is starting to lift. For some reason, both of their souls still remain on Earth, even though Akomo was supposed to have been decapitated and slain in their final encounter." You explain, Garlic nodding along as he listens.

"Well, it's quite clear to me what's going on. And what you need to do, in fact. It's all quite simple..." He says, meandering for a second. God damn it, a shit-eating grin is appearing on his face. You know exactly where this is going. "But I wouldn't tell you what I know for free. You'll need to do something for me if you want to pick my brain."

"I knew it..." You sigh, shaking your head. "What do you want this time?" You ask with exasperation thick in your voice.

"I'll give you a choice in the matter. There's a certain fruit that grows down here, which a certain high-ranking royal Ogre refuses to share. I'd like some, because it's the only thing worth a damn to eat down here." He says, holding up one finger. "But if not for that...I want you to teach me a certain technique you recently learned from a dragon." He finishes, holding up the second. How in the HEAVENS does he KNOW about that?!

>Option one. You'll get him some damn fruit. What's so special about fruit, anyways?
>Option two. Again, he's trapped down here in Hell, so it's not like he can actually do anything with it.
>Option three. No deal. You don't need his help. Reject him outright.
>You know what, you WILL just use Postcognition on him. You'll get those answers from him without paying his price.
>Offer something else that he might be interested in but hasn't considered, instead? (Write-in.)

>>5850849
>Option three. No deal. You don't need his help. Reject him outright.
I got a bad feeling about all of these so unless someone comes up with something harmless he'd actually want, no deal.

>>5850849
>Option three. No deal. You don't need his help. Reject him outright.
If he wants the fruit so much we should go find it and eat some ourselves.

>>5850849
>Option one. You'll get him some damn fruit. What's so special about fruit, anyways?
Yeah, sure, whatever. Damn Makyan diplomacy...

>>5850849
>Option one. You'll get him some damn fruit. What's so special about fruit, anyways?

>>5850849
>Option one. You'll get him some damn fruit. What's so special about fruit, anyways?

>>5850849
>Option two. Again, he's trapped down here in Hell, so it's not like he can actually do anything with it.

Going to have to convince the fruit guards to let us grab one and that could lead to us getting into more busywork quests or into trouble.
I doubt a pre Z dragon ball villain can muster the magic mojo to escape hell or resist reincarnation mind wiping so the technique should be safe to teach.

>>5850869
>>5850875
>>5850885
>>5851095
>>5851100
>>5851553
Fruit wins it! Looks like we're going to play delivery boy!

"There's no way in Hell that I'd teach you that." You reject his second choice out of hand, frowning as you mull over the other choice.

"Then do we have a deal regarding the fruit, or have you simply wasted all of your time coming down here?" He asks smugly. You wrinkle your face up.

"We have a deal. I'll get you some fruit to eat." You say, to which he shakes his head.

"Not just some fruit, but THE fruit. It's called the Ensenji, and it's growing on a tree not too far from here. Supposedly it belongs to King Yemma, but a good boy like you should be able to get some without any problem, right?" He says, gesturing off in the distance towards where you imagine the tree would be.

"Must be pretty desperate to crack a deal with one of Hell's lowlifes. You sure about this, kid?" Grand Kai asks you, one of his eyebrows quirked up. He wanders over to the cracked cliffside that he'd embedded Garlic into just moments prior and leans up against it, crossing his arms.

"Yeah. It's just one fruit, and it could save lives. I've learned not to underestimate the likes of demons..." You say, getting a nod from the old man.

"I get that logic. Good luck then, sonny - the guards down here take their work quite seriously. I'll be staying here to have a word or two with this friend of yours." He says, giving you a two-fingered wave which you return with a smile. As you turn to walk off in the direction of the tree, you can hear Garlic gulping as though nervous. "Now, let's have a discussion about manners, young man..." Your ears pick up Grand Kai starting to say, just before you move out of earshot of the duo.

Once you're out of sight of them entirely, moving through some of Hell's surprisingly scenic ridges, you get the feeling that something is watching you, but you're not sure what. It was impossible to tell when you were in the midst of your company, but now it stands out to your animal instincts distinctly. Is it a soul? Is it one of Hell's denizens? ...Is it someone watching you through divination, perhaps? You're not sure, and just a cursory glance around doesn't seem to reveal anyone. You can't smell anything outside of the stench of blood, your ears don't pick up a single thing, and expanding your ki senses just tells you that there's life a few miles ahead. So what, then, is watching you?

>Five anons, D50 for me! Your DC for today is a humble 35!

Rolled 40 (1d50)

>>5852282

Rolled 33 (1d50)

>>5852282

Rolled 26 (1d50)

>>5852282

>>5852286
>>5852290
>>5852295
Feel free to reroll for the last two at this point!

Rolled 5 (1d40)

>>5852282

Rolled 30 (1d50)

>>5852282
>>5852621
Wrong dice sorry.

Rolled 11 (1d50)

>>5852282

>>5852286
>>5852290
>>5852295
>>5852621
>>5852622
>>5852755
Got wrapped up in stuff, but that's a 40! Pass! Writing.

File: CURSE.png (5 KB, 224x225)

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You go as far as to open up your magical senses, only to find that they too are lacking...which rules out divination of most types, you think, since you'd at least feel a tickle from that. Are you actually being watched? Well, your instincts seem terribly sure of it, but how could you possibly know if none of your extrasensory abilities allow you to tell?

Paranoid...

You look around for the source of the sound. Was it a sound? It was so quiet you could barely register it, but you could definitely make out the word.

What's this bastard even looking for? Move on with it!

There it is again! Louder this time, as you strain to 'hear' it better. You're starting to recognize what this actually is, the thoughts of whoever is watching you...while you already did know a technique to utilize telepathy, it seems that your recent psychic awakening bolstered it somewhat to provide you with clues to whenever there's mental activity near you. You focus harder, and the feeling gains definition and details that weren't there before - like where it's coming from.

Your gaze shoots down to your feet, and with a quick thought you manifest a bright ball of ki to threaten your watcher with. That's when you notice that the shadows gathered at your feet don't retreat from the light, but rather deepen instead, small wisps of black smoke rising off of them. You leap away from it, as the shadow seems to retreat away from the light as quickly as it can manage.

"It's too bright, it hurts! Come on, man!" the Living Curse you had exorcised long ago complains as it rises up to reveal its true form, the glowing yellow facial features warped into a frown and a stylized tear hanging from one eye. It seems like it has its own halo as well, but unlike the golden one that everyone else gets, the curse's is just as black and shadowy as the rest of its body.

"You. Why are you following me?" You ask as you land several feet away, eyes narrowing at it dangerously while you sustain the bright ball of ki just in case you need it.

"Listen, punk, you're the one that randomly appeared on top of ME! I was just waiting for the chance to slip away unnoticed, so I could get away from YOU and that Garlic brute!" The curse jabs a finger towards you accusingly, expression turning harsh but still displaying the tear.

"...Huh?" You let slip. Your mind temporarily slips back just a few moments in the past, thanks to your overactive Precognition, to show you the fact that you did in fact teleport right on top of the Living Curse without noticing whatsoever. For what it's worth, Grand Kai didn't seem to notice either. Now you feel kind of bad about it...maybe. I mean, this guy IS in hell.

"Yeah! You think I want anything to do with you? You hired some freak to kill me! I was just doing what I was created for, you know!" It scolds you further. You extinguish the orb awkwardly.

"Well, I did what I had to do to protect innocent people." You say, crossing your arms and meeting his words with a stern expression.

"Give me a break, I needed a body! I literally start dying if I'm exposed to light for too long. And sure, I'll admit that I went a LITTLE crazy with the idea of being free, but...you know! Come oooon." It tries to reason with you, your expression unchanging. "Fine, fine. I was a menace that was absolutely going to enslave humanity and usher in an era where every child would be born cursed, are you happy? I'm over it now though. I've been attending lots of therapy down here, and I've learned that it's not a very healthy goal. Apparently everyone thinks being cursed is a 'bad thing'."

"It is. I mean, by definition. Curse magic is universally centered around making someone's life worse in some way." You say, frowning.

"So they say. But let's use an example. You remember that broad I possessed, right? He replies, holding up a finger.

"Tento Mushi, yeah."

"She was weak, right?" He asks, to which you nod. "But when I was possessing her, she was almost a match for you and your mustachio'd friend. A curse did that, didn't it?" He finishes, causing you to furrow your brow in thought.

"That's true, but it was only to facilitate destruction and chaos. And before that, you were giving her bad luck nonstop." You retort.

"Ah, but was that bad luck really all that bad? She always wanted to wander the world, and because she always ran into trouble, she always had to stay on the move because of me! And chaos is the spice of life. And destruction goes hand in hand with creation! It's all part of the balance of the universe, you know." It replies, wagging that finger.

"I know what concept you're referring to, but I don't think it's meant to apply to your scenario..." You trail off, frowning. "At any rate, why are you still hanging around here? Didn't you want to get as far away from me as possible?" You ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure, at first. But if you're not going to attack me, then it's safer here with you than it is wandering around anywhere else. You wouldn't believe how many bad cookies are down here! I mean, I'm always trying to keep to myself, I attend whatever meetings the ogres want me to attend, I don't cause any trouble...but some of the people down here try to start fights every day, make an escape attempt every week, and organize a riot every month! Frankly speaking, I think they're crazy. A guy like me's due to get reincarnated in a hundred years, tops. Guys like them? Some of them go a few thousand years without reincarnating. Who wants to stick around this place for that long? He reveals.

"I'm honestly shocked that you're apparently on your best behavior." You admit. "Anyways..."

>"You can follow, but don't touch a thing."
>"Go back to where you belong."

>>5853722
>"You can follow, but don't touch a thing."

>>5853722
>>"You can follow, but don't touch a thing."
This is probably a bad idea.

>>5853722
>"You can follow, but don't touch a thing."

>>5853722
>>"Go back to where you belong."

>>5853722
>"You can follow, but don't touch a thing."

>>5853735
>>5853842
>>5853856
>>5853896
>>5854758
Living Curse (dead) has joined your Party temporarily! Time to unequip everything he has for when he inevitably leaves your party (and possibly tries to betray you). Writing!

File: Goz and Mez!.png (477 KB, 500x372)

477 KB PNG

"You can follow me if you really want to, but don't touch a thing. I'm on important business down here, not a social visit." You warn the curse, which puts a hand up to its forehead in a mock salute.

"Yes sir! I won't touch a thing!" The living curse replies, to which you roll your eyes and walk on while shaking your head. You don't remember him being this friendly, and while you do genuinely hope he's changed for the better from his dark origins, you still hold a healthy amount of doubt and suspicion in your heart.

With your previous stowaway now floating a few feet behind you, you eventually make your way up towards a clearing with a hill situated at the center of it, having seen the leafy top of the tree you're looking for a while back. Unfortunately for you, while you're following the trail of golden dirt leading up to it, you take notice of two intimidatingly large and burly Ogres standing guard on the pathway, arms crossed as they watch your approach.

"Halt!" The red-skinned one with glasses barks out.

"Go no further!" The blue-skinned one with tragically thin facial hair pipes up.

"Of course. Is there a problem, fellas?" You ask, and the duo nods simultaneously.

"Yes!" "Yes!" They both say.

"Goz. You got to handle the last one. It's my turn, remember?" The red-skinned one says to his fellow, turning to him with an angry expression.

"No, Mez, I handled the one BEFORE the last one. I'm taking charge of this one." The blue-skinned one says, facing his companion as well.

"You do this every time! Fine, we'll settle it the way we always do." Mez says, clenching his fist as Goz does the same. The tension between the two rises, and for a moment you think a fight is going to break out...before they each throw their fists forward and stop just an inch away from each other, each holding their hand in a different shape.

"Scissors beats paper! That makes my 4,982,059,435th win to your measly 4,982,059,434 wins!" Goz boasts with a grin while Mez grumbles under his breath, before turning back to you with a serious expression. "Yes, there is a problem! You're about to trespass on King Yemma's private property. None but us and King Yemma are permitted to approach further!" He explains to you. Ah, that could be a problem...

"I see. That's unfortunate, because I need one of those fruits in order to acquire valuable information that could prevent a possible disaster on my world, in the Living Realm." You explain, Goz's expression not shifting at all.

"I don't see how that's our problem. If you don't have permission, you better just beat it, buddy." He says. Something about the way he says it ticks you off, but you have no issue restraining the small amount of annoyance-fueled anger. It looks like you'll have to find some way to get that fruit, one way or another...

>Just try to claim it by force.
>Try harder to convince them diplomatically!
>Trick them with a forgery.
>Ask the curse to distract them?
>Something else! (Write-in)

>>5854903
>Try harder to convince them diplomatically!

>>5854903
>Try harder to convince them diplomatically!

>>5854968
>>5855022
Diplomacy it is. Five of you, please roll be a d50! You may be surprised by the DC, because it's a 45! Bureaucracy strikes again! Asking nicely means nothing in the face of PAPERWORK.

Rolled 26 (1d50)

>>5856007

>>5856019
Welp, we still have like a 40% chance of success to get 45 at least once in four more rolls. Come on, anons!

Rolled 33 (1d50)

>>5856007
If none but them and King Yemma can approach further then why can't one of them go grab the fruit for us? No trespassing exceptions required.

Rolled 49 (1d50)

>>5856007

>>5856023
Clever!

>>5856107
Nice!

>>5856007
Still missing two rolls? Should I roll again at this point?

>>5856967
Yes, please!

Rolled 28 (1d50)

>>5856968
I'll roll again, but I don't think we'll get a better roll than that 49 kek

Rolled 2 (1d50)

>>5856007

>>5856978
>>5856988
Looks like I didn't have to, too close for comfort on the last one too.

49! We got close to a crit there. Also got close to a critfail. You're men of extremes, I see...
Writing!

"Believe it or not, it actually will end up being your problem." You say, causing the ogre to stare at you for a few moments.

"I really don't see how." He replies.

"King Yemma is in charge of overseeing Earth's check-in station, right?" You ask, getting a nod from him. "And every single soul that passes through, one way or the other, will need to get personally reviewed and signed off by him, correct?" You continue, getting another nod. "So if there was a sudden disaster that claimed, let's say, BILLIONS of lives on Earth...all of those lives would have to be reviewed by King Yemma. His workload would explode overnight. And then, if someone had the ability to revive all of those people later on, they would need to be reviewed a SECOND time in order to be sent back." You posit, Goz's mouth upturning into a drooping frown.

"But how's that affect us?" He asks, confused.

"Think about it. Your boss will be overworked, stressed, and pissed off. Some of that stress is bound to be taken out on his underlings. You'll have to pick up extra shifts, take forced overtime, no bathroom breaks..." You say, both of the Ogres growing fearful as you continue. "But if you, through a moment of insight and wisdom, happen to spare him from such a workload? He'd probably be pretty thankful. I know I would be." You finish, both of them seeming to grow thoughtful at that.

"Alright, well...you make a pretty good point, but we still can't let you in. The rules are absolute, nobody except us or King Yemma can tread these grounds!" Goz pipes up, puffing up his chest.

"Of course. And I wouldn't want you to break the rules, they exist for a reason. So that's why I want to ask you to get one of the fruits for me. Just a single fruit, that's all I need to help make sure nobody has to see overtime." You suggest with a smile.

"W...Well, I suppose...that is technically still within the rules..." Goz says, turning to Mez. The two burly ogres whisper loudly to one another, before both turn back to you and nod simultaneously.

"It's a deal!" "It's a deal!" Both of them say simultaneously. Goz jerks a thumb back towards the tree, and Mez jogs over to it and quickly leaps up to snatch one of the fruits from it. He does an unnecessary yet showy series of flips through the air as he does so, and lands like a professional gymnast would, with both arms outstretched in a Y shape over his head. He brings it back over and holds it out to you, a serious expression on his face.

"Don't make us regret this, or we'll make sure you spend a long time down here!" Mez warns you.

"I'll do my best. Thanks for this, by the way - you're good men. Come and visit Earth next time you have some vacation time, I'll be sure to treat you." You offer, the two Ogres chuckling while you take the fruit.

"It's a deal. See you in a thousand years, then!" They say, not sounding at all like they're joking.

"That's depressing..." You mutter to yourself, waving to them one last time before turning to leave.

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Dropped the pic, damn it.

"That went well!" The harsh voice of the Living Curse speaks up in an uncharacteristically chipper tone, swirling back into form from where it was hiding within your shadow once you're out of sight of the Ogres.

"Thankfully, yeah. I hope it serves as a lesson that you can get what you want without having to resort to violence or other immoral means." You say.

"But that's not nearly as fun!" He replies. You glare at him for a moment, and he withers under the weight of your judgmental stare. "J-Just a joke, come on...lighten up a little!" He says after a moment, causing you to sigh.

"Just keep at the therapy. You've made some good progress, I can tell." You decide to praise the curse. It seems to beam brightly at that, contrary to its dark nature.

"That's the first compliment anyone's ever given me!" It says. Then it seems to sag over as it says the same thing in a more morose tone. That's the first compliment anyone's ever given me..."

"Evil beings don't usually get compliments. In my opinion, it's a lot better to be loved than it is to be feared. You'll be a lot happier with that kind of life." You offer some of your wisdom, the Curse going quiet as it contemplates that for a bit.

The two of you walk back in relative silence after that, and your thoughts turn to the fruit in your hands. It has a glittering golden skin that truly sells its otherworldly nature, and you don't have any doubt that it's a mystically powerful object...but how powerful, you don't have a clue. Your culinary side really wants to see what it tastes like for yourself, and your suspicious side is once more doubting how wise it would be to just hand this over to Garlic. Hell, another part of you wants to see if you can get a seed from it and bring it back to the living world with you - Azalea could definitely work some wonders with an Otherworldly seed. You hope the information Garlic has is actually worth it.

When you finally return to the others, it's to the sight of Garlic sitting at a desk that he seems to be chained down to, gritting his teeth as he writes on a piece of paper. 'I will respect my elders. I will respect my elders. I will respect my elders.' Is written over and over, and when the entire paper is filled up, he places it on a massive stack of them next to him. His desk instantly creates a new piece of paper, and he starts writing again. Grand Kai looks mighty pleased with himself as he oversees this.

"I'm back, with the fruit." You announce, and immediately hear Garlic snap the pencil in half.

"FINALLY!" Garlic shouts. "That took forever!" He complains, as the conjured items all disappear into a puff of smoke, leaving him just standing there.

"Oh no, sonny, that was nowhere close to forever. You mortals have such a silly sense of time." Grand Kai chuckles, shaking his head.

"Tch. Anyways, hand it over, a deal is a deal." He demands.

You bring up the fruit, contemplating it again.

>Toss it to him as-is. A deal is a deal. He'll tell you everything.
>Withold it for now, try to convince him to tell you everything first. (Will require a roll).
>Cut the fruit in half and remove the seed, putting the seed away for later and giving the fruit portions to him. You agreed to give him the fruit, not the seed.
>Something else? (What?)

>>5857229
>Don't give him the fruit. You changed your mind.
I still think this is a bad idea, if this doesn' t win though:
>Cut the fruit in half and remove the seed, putting the seed away for later and giving the fruit portions to him AFTER he tells you everything first. You agreed to give him the fruit, not the seed and, unlike him, you value your word.

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>>5857231
Absolute chad move. Local man gets fruit, eats it right in front of man he agreed to get it for.

>>5857229
>Withold it for now, try to convince him to tell you everything first. (Will require a roll).

>>5857229
>Cut the fruit in half and remove the seed, putting the seed away for later and giving the fruit portions to him AFTER he tells you everything first. You agreed to give him the fruit, not the seed and, unlike him, you value your word.

>>5857229
>Don't give him the fruit. You changed your mind.
>Cut the fruit in half, remove the seed, and begin eating the fruit.

>>5857222
>Cut the fruit in half and remove the seed, putting the seed away for later and giving the fruit portions to him AFTER he tells you everything first. You agreed to give him the fruit, not the seed and, unlike him, you value your word.

>>5857229
>Cut the fruit in half and remove the seed, putting the seed away for later and giving the fruit portions to him AFTER he tells you everything first. You agreed to give him the fruit, not the seed and, unlike him, you value your word.

Rolled 16, 44, 45 = 105 (3d60)

>>5857231
>>5857275
>>5857292
>>5857361
>>5857463
>>5858151
Looks like the modified vote
>Cut the fruit in half and remove the seed, putting the seed away for later and giving the fruit portions to him AFTER he tells you everything first. You agreed to give him the fruit, not the seed and, unlike him, you value your word.
Wins it! Five of you, please roll me a d50 against the highest of my rolls.

Rolled 43 (1d50)

>>5858489
Same DC as the ogres huh?

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>5858489

Rolled 26 (1d50)

>>5858489
Whoops, accidentally moved up a tier. A d50 this time.

Rolled 38 (1d50)

>>5858489

Rolled 12 (1d50)

>>5858489

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>>5858535
>>5858511
>>5858498
>>5858494
One last shot.

>>5858538
Should I roll again? Also what happens if we fail? Do we just give him the fruit anyway or are we gonna have another vote?

>>5858540
You will not be forced to give him the fruit, no. But he might withold crucial information with you hardballing him like this. Or try to feed you false information. Or simply say the deal is off. It depends on how close you get on a fail.
Feel free to roll again.

Rolled 45 (1d50)

>>5858549

>>5858549
>>5858551
BRUUHHH why am I rolling so good on /qst/ today? Glad I stayed up so late.

>>5858551
>>5858552
>Your alarm is set to 4 hours and 33 minutes from now.
Okay yeah I better go.

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>>5858554
We thanks you for your sacrifice.

>>5858551
Pretty based save, anon. Enjoy your rest, king, you earned it.

Been having a terribly busy week, so the update will be delayed a little further. Gomanasorry, folks.

You toss the fruit up a foot or two and catch it again, a few times, while thinking about how to handle this. On the third toss, you bring your claws out and slice clean through the apple faster than most people can even blink, catching the two halves of the fruit in one hand and the seed - which in this case is a rather large pit - in the other hand. You pocket the pit immediately, and keep hold of the fruit itself. Garlic's expression looks initially shocked, before a cold fury overtakes it.

"What are you doing? We agreed-" He starts to say, before you cut him off.

"We agreed that you would offer what you know in exchange for the fruit. You never mentioned anything about the seed." You say plainly, and Garlic grits his teeth. It's clear to you that he was actually counting on getting the seed as well, perhaps he even valued it more than the fruit itself.

"Aren't you a clever one. I taught you too well, didn't I?" He says, to which you respond with a laugh.

"I learned from the best!" You proclaim cheekily. "Now, as far as the fruit goes, I have to be sure that it's worth it. Tell me what you know and it's yours. Hell, if I even try to renege on the deal, I expect Grand Kai to sort me out." You say.

"Damn straight." Grand Kai says. "It's important to keep your promises." He continues, evidently in support of the idea. You feel a slight tugging on your brain as a telepathic connection from him to you is formed, and his voice flows into your mind to say "Not that a promise made to someone bad enough to be in hell matters, but he doesn't need to know that, kiddo. I've got your back no matter what you decide to do." He reveals, showing that he doesn't actually intend to enforce any deal that would profit evil.

"Hmph. I suppose if THE Grand Kai is going to make sure you go through with your end of the deal, then I can accept that..." Garlic says begrudgingly, crossing his arms. "Very well, I'll tell you what I know. Akomo was one of many of the Demons that were trying to claim the prize that is Earth at the time, something of a distant rival for me. What few people know is exactly what type of Demon he was, because he was actually quite powerful at everything he put his mind to. Not just fighting or using sorcery, but EVERYTHING he wanted to excel at, even relatively benign things like playing the violin or creating sculptures." He begins to explain.

"How does that tell us what kind of Demon he was?" You ask.

"Isn't it obvious?" Garlic replies with a grin that shows off his fangs. "He was stealing that knowledge. He's a Mind Demon. Actually, to be more specific, when I had been spying on him while planning to take him out, I learned that he was specifically a Mind Parasite Demon. He inhabited about a dozen different bodies in his time on Earth, and I suppose the last one didn't hold up good enough for him. His true form is just a vulnerable little worm, no bigger than a finger." He reveals, and everything clicks into place for you.

>>5859466
No worries, QM. Thanks for the heads up! I hope things mellow out for you soon.

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I really am sorry about all these delays. Outrageously tired these days. Winter, man...

"Of course, it takes a little while before he can control a new host. In that time, he's at his most vulnerable. As it were, when I spied upon his final moments, I couldn't help but laugh at the situation he ended up in...his host went and got himself slain, and when Akomo thought to possess his killer next, the warrior went and used a vial of Demon Spit to petrify himself before the Demon could assume control. I found myself out of the two most troublesome pests of the time, so I kicked back and enjoyed a good century at my castle." Garlic finishes, shrugging with a smug look on his face. He seems to enjoy reliving the memory.

"But you didn't try to take over the world yet, huh?" You point out.

"...No, I didn't. There were still other heroes and potential rivals around, and my power was comparatively poor back then. I had only barely touched upon the sorcerous arts, and I needed to accrue quite the rare resources while biding my time to grow in strength and skill." He admits, a sour look on his face now. "I'm hardly the kind of person to go into something with a half-baked plan, you know. I like to prepare, even if it takes me hundreds of years to achieve my dreams." He says frustrated.

"Well, that hardly worked out for you last time. Maybe you should be a little more spontaneous!" You suggest with a laugh, causing Garlic to growl and clench his fists. A raised eyebrow from Grand Kai sees him immediately sweating and changing his body language, though.

"I'll take your advice into consideration." He says through clenched teeth, struggling to not be rude. "Now...I believe I've provided a great deal of valuable information to you, so if you would please hand me the fruit that was your part of the deal..." He asks, holding out a hand. One of his eyes twitch, and he nervously glances over to Grand Kai again, who seems to be watching impassively. You wonder how things went between the two as soon as you left...

>The information seems worthwhile to you, hand him the fruit. You're still keeping the seed, of course. A deal's a deal!
>The information was good, but...could have been better. You'd say it's worth half of a fruit.
>You're feeling pretty generous. Give him the whole fruit and the seed that he clearly wanted. Maybe a gesture of goodwill like that will help his rehabilitation down here.
>You changed your mind, you're going to keep the fruit and the seed both. And you'll eat the fruit right in front of him. Consider it one of Hell's little punishments, you rascal!
>Something else? (Write-in!)

>>5864196
>The information seems worthwhile to you, hand him the fruit. You're still keeping the seed, of course. A deal's a deal!

Don't sweat it. This IS the season when everyone gets sick, this year seemingly kroe than most on /qst/

>>5864196
>The information seems worthwhile to you, hand him the fruit. You're still keeping the seed, of course. A deal's a deal!

>>5864196
>The information seems worthwhile to you, hand him the fruit. You're still keeping the seed, of course. A deal's a deal!

Oh damn, we're already on page 10. I guess shit's been popping off this month, huh? I'm going to leave this up as the last vote for the thread, then, and archive it. Votes will count until the thread actually dies, so don't be afraid to vote!
Our next thread is going to be around the start of February, because I already know for certain that January is going to be an extremely busy month for me.
Tell me your thoughts on how things are going and what you're looking forward to, any criticisms are always welcome as well. I've tried to slow down my pacing here per previous requests, so let me know if it's working or not in your opinions.

>>5865007
I've been personally having fun. The pacing has been fine, and I'm personally looking forward to when we get to meet some of the space guys (but I know this is some time away) as well as seeing how the world changed so far (and exploring more of it too, maybe tie up some story threads like the techno pirate or how we will develop things in our world and if fairies and half-humans can have babies).

>>5865007
I continue to really enjoy the feel of this quest, and the slightly slower pacing ahs been nice. I feel like we're getting to really explore characters and aspects of the setting more this way! I do miss our loyal friends and interacting with them, so I'm excited for returning to earth to hang with Azalea, Babar, and Harum. While space shenanigans are neat, since there's not likely to be Sayains or Freeza Force appearances for literal centuries, I'm honestly more excited for robo-pirates, mad science, and more magic nonsense! It's an underdeveloped part of the Dragon Ball universe, and thus fertile ground for non-canon prologues and prequels.

Keep it up, GQM! You da bomb!