GambolMuse

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"The person we're looking for doesn't know we're looking for them, so why would they hide? Besides, the best place to hide sometimes is in plain sight, in a crowd." If they were doing that too though then wouldn't they be dressed to blend in? That completely ruined their plans of just picking a face out of the crowd, albeit that wasn't the best of plans to begin with anyways. "Maybe we should rethink how we're doing this..." Takeshi commented, frowning as he came to a gradual stop with his sibling. Gazing around them he could see plenty of people, but goodness knows who any of them were or what they were doing. An idea came to mind though, one that seemed rather simplistic. Why not inadvertantly question someone they knew, someone in power, to see if they could get anything? Smiling the Saiyan looked around for a familiar landmark, spying a towering structure with an insignia on the side as one. The military headquarters was beyond that a ways, so that's where they'd go. "Come on, I think we're going to pay the General a visit. He might know something about all of this," Takeshi explained, leading his sibling off towards their new destination.

Prying and pushing for sensitive information wasn't the ideal way to go about anything. It was risky, often intrusive and in many cases painful, but Yumi couldn't see any other way to do it. She'd only been with Viral again for so long, but by his behavior she could imagine none of the others had ever spoke with him about what happened. A traumatic event like experimentation didn't simply go away, not that easily anyways. She knew Vira would be reluctant to speak, so Yumi clung herself to him in a hug, refusing to let go until he started to open up. Sooner or later it would all come out one way or another, it was better to do it while support was available. Looking up at her friend hopefully she almost smiled as he started to speak, vaguely but still he started. Hearing him talk like this was heartwrenching, and it gave some insight as to just how truly beaten up the Beastman was. Tentatively, as he spoke Yumi lifted a hand, starting to gently rub his back in a gesture to assure him she was there for him.

"I'm not just going to lie down, not while we have to talk," Yumi stated bluntly, though in a gentle enough tone not to sound demanding. This time she embraced Viral again, but rather than her hiding she managed to get a hand behind his head, easing it down onto her shoulder as her free arm wrapped around his midsection, holding him close. "Tell me what happened, let it all out," she whispered, giving his head a gentle rub to try coaxing him. "Cry, shout, I don't care what you do, I won't think less of you. Everyone can express themselves Viral, and that includes you." He was obviously having difficulties, now more than ever, and at the moment they were closer to a breakthrough than ever before. The most challenging part now was to break through the shell he had formed around himself and get to the grit of it all, where the damage really was. It wasn't physical, not really, Yumi was certain of that now. "Talk to me Viral... What did they do to you?"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"I'm sure it was buddy, and you can tell me more when we get back home." Takeshi was curious to see this city for himself, and this Queen that Shu and Yumi spoke of. He'd give it that it didn't take much to unnerve his sibling, but if the Beastman seemed timid as well then the woman had definitely left an impression. Focusing more on the matter at hand he kept an arm around his brother, starting to glance around at various structures and the people around them for some kind of clues as to what was important. There were military personnel every few dozen meters or so, mostly just gathered around chatting with one another, hardly reason to raise red flags. With the city being so militaristic it might be tricky to move around freely, depending on what kind of clearance if any the general had given them. Putting on a false smile Takeshi leaned down to whisper in Shu's ear, gesturing to a building vaguely to feign pointing it out. "Keep an eye out for anyone who looks important. We know what the regular people look like. Someone with colorful clothes seems to be powerful, so that's who we want, got it?"

Yumi couldn't settle for a "it will pass" reply. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, and she also knew it wouldn't work well. Telling someone that an issue will go away was the most passive-aggressive thing you could do when reassuring somebody. It didn't help at all and ultimately it made the issue fester, becoming worse gradually. As these thoughts passed through her mind she had somewhat of an epiphany, coming out of her moping to look at Viral concerned. Wordlessly she went to him, taking up a paw in her grasp and trying to ask him once more how he felt. "You keep saying artificial... But you're still a person. You laugh, you cry, you get angry. Everyone but you considers yourself a person. You're not human, sure, but you are a person." How absurd to say he had no emotions, he was displaying some now even. Looking up at him Yumi held the Beastman's gaze in her own for a moment, searching for something in his eyes that might elude to how he was truly feeling.

"Don't apologize, please stop that. You have nothing to apologize for." Shaking her head dismally Yumi then abruptly wrapped her arms around Viral in a hug, hiding her face against his chest as she held him. He had it all completely wrong and backwards, and thus far they hadn't really addressed that. "It DOES matter what happened to you, Viral. What is going on now certainly does matter too, don't say it doesn't. Please, don't act like you're unimportant, because you ARE important. To me, to Vegeta, to Shu and Takeshi, to so many people." Tearing her face from his person Yumi looked up at his eyes again, her own starting to tear up as she shook her head. "You just what? Viral... Talk to me. I know you can't be okay after all you went through. I care about you, we all do, and we want to help. But we don't know how if you don't talk to us. Please... You can tell me, I won't think any less of you for it, I swear."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Yeah, I'm glad I didn't do it either. Especially not if you and Yumi were down there... That would have been awkward." Takeshi mused, chuckling sheepishly with a small smile. He could almost picture himself storming in, all fired up to get that deed over with, only to run into his brother and their friend eating with royalty. If that wasn't going to make them some enemies then goodness knows what would. As they entered the city once more out of the corner of his eye he could see Shu becoming a little unnerved, probably not keen on what they were doing. To help with that he slung an arm around his sibling's shoulders, hugging him against his side gently. "Yeah, we can get to know some of the people too. If they turn out to be jerks though then I guess we know who the good guys really are, yeah?" Right now these city residents, or their leaders anyways weren't looking too swell. Handing down an order to kill people wasn't something that was done lightly, and doing so through a Saiyan was another matter entirely. Either there was some really big misunderstanding here, or someone was going to great lengths to be done with the other side. "No more talking about the Queen, okay? We don't know anything about that while we're in public."

From being denied any proper sort of payback to lashing out at her closest friends Yumi was feeling a bit emotionally drained. It was hard to hold everything in and not express her fury or discontent on working with who she considered to be the enemy. Viral had to understand that much at least, he'd been put through the same thing by Saiyans. She heard the Beastman enter the room after calling out to him, immediately regretting saying anything as she wasn't sure if she wanted the answer. In his typical blunt manner though Viral have his opinion on the subject, making her cringe inwardly. It wasn't fear that was driving her crazy, not exactly. There had been pain, yes, uncertainty too, but she didn't think she felt afraid. He could be right though, it may just not have sank in yet with all of the turmoil going on around them. Lifting her head up for a moment she turned and held Viral in her gaze, rising out of her chair slowly and going over to him. For a brief moment she kept silent, not entirely sure what to say to that at all. Eventually she took one of his paws in both of her hands, looking up at him with a pained expression. "What about you...?" Yumi whispered, giving his paw a gentle squeeze, "Do you have fear or pain...? Something really bad was done to you... You have to be feeling something over it. Talk to me Viral?"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"I have freedom, whether I'm in the house or not. It's what is best for everyone though, I guess..." Yumi replied dejectedly, shrugging it off. It was worth noting how Viral seemed to be getting impatient with her, or at least annoyed, and she didn't want that. It was hard though, seeing the people responsible for your misery and being incapable of doing anything about it. Stepping over some low brush and into the back yard she made a beeline for the door, swinging it open and having it nearly snap off the hinges from the force. Yumi made it halfway inside when Viral questioned their spending time together, or more precisely how she behaved with him. Frowning she turned to look at him sternly, placing her hands on her hips. "What do you mean annoyed? I wasn't annoyed with you." Yumi huffed and turned round again, storming towards the kitchen and dropping herself into a chair. She didn't get annoyed with Viral... Did she? It was hard seeing him like that, and harder still to help it, but she didn't think it had come across as her being annoyed by him. Hearing him come into the room behind her the Beastman laid her arms across the table, her head down across them with a heavy sigh. "How do you do it...?" she mumbled, closing her eyes, "How do you deal with what they did to you? It's driving me insane..."

Takeshi hesitated for a moment as Shu asked his questions, not entirely sure how truthful he wanted to be here. The orders were not the kindest in nature, he had known that when receiving them, but was willing in order to keep his friend in good graces to heal. "My orders were to find the city and whoever was in charge and bring them to the General..." he said, frowning as he looked straight ahead, tensing slightly. "I was also told to eliminate anyone who tried to stop me, as they were responsible for attacking towns. They were all supposed to be the bad guys, you know? But from what you're telling me they might be the victims here... Wow, dodged a bullet there..." The Queen sounded like someone who could handle herself, and definitely not a pushover. That might be why whoever had been given orders had asked a Saiyan to do the job, maybe by Kaesstrian standards she was really powerful. It made sense, in a way, seeing as no one had yet tried to fight her themselves. Hearing the sounds of the city starting to fill the woods as they drew closer Takeshi smiled a bit, trying to get into an act that wouldn't show he was snooping. "Figure we'll be on a tour of the city, yeah? That's our excuse for walking around."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Yumi really didn't feel much better after splitting the log in two, having hoped that she would have cooled off by letting some anger out. She was relatively calm compared to a few moments ago, but it was definitely still there and bugging her. Voicing her complaints over the situation she turned her head to glance at Viral, frowning at him. "I know I am my own person Viral, and you also know you're not able to fight right now. Not against two Saiyans." If both of them were wanted still then they were better off together, rather than separated and alone. While Vegeta had one of the Saiyans with him the twins were on their own, and she still scarcely trusted them. If the twins came around they had a far better chance than if they were on their own of evading capture. Inhaling sharply through her nose Yumi then exhaled, managing a weak smile as she saw the house beginning to come into view. "Besides, I want to spend time with you without everyone else crowding, so this works. You can relax and I get to cool off, so I guess it works."

"Dreams or no dreams, just keep in mind I'm willing to help you." He wouldn't chance Shu becoming miserable, he couldn't bear to see the kid that way. After a brief hug the two were back on their way towards the city, though hardly in any sort of hurry. Takeshi wasn't entirely certain what their next plan of action was. Given he knew the ultimate goal, but working towards that was utterly vague. This detective nonsense, he'd never done it before, and he was darn certain that neither had Shu. Voicing his confusion as well Shu asked exactly what was on his mind. "Honestly... I've got no idea," Takeshi admitted, laughing softly as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "We can't really go asking everyone since we might tip somebody off I suppose. So... Well, I guess look around? See what we can find without asking questions. Plus now that I think about it I still need to report to the General, maybe I can find something out by him too." It'd have to be with roundabout questioning, otherwise he might alert the wrong people. Someone as high up as the General likely knew something, even if it was just rumors or idle chatter. "If we find who did it then we bring him to whoever is in charge, I guess. Or... Maybe back to that Queen of yours. I don't know really, since we can't beat them up."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"I'm just trying to find a way to keep myself from killing someone," Yumi said a bit sharply, forcing a smile. "If you don't want me touching your clothes then fine, I won't. Just figured I'd offer since they got a bit dirty." So that distraction was out the window, ah well. There'd be something around the house she could do, maybe even cook again if Viral was hungry. This entire task she'd been handed, of staying home, just seemed piss poor to her from the start. She was perfectly capable and knew exactly what was going on, so why couldn't she help? Groaning in discontent she struck out at the nearest thing, an unfortunate fallen log which she kicked clean through, sending the two halves off in separate directions. They had best be quick about this investigation of theirs, she didn't want to have to play maid all day while waiting.

"Yeah... Everyone is different..." Three people he considered close now had undergone some kind of changes with his father, all three of which were around him right now. Yumi was furious and vindictive over what had been done to her, Viral didn't seem quite himself, and now he was completely aware of how his sibling had been faring. With Shu in particular he had no idea that it was so bad, as they'd never really spoken about it, and for good reason. Takeshi stopped in his tracks after a moment, looking down at the ground somberly before his brother. With no prompt he stepped forward and hugged the younger boy, holding Shu against him and smiling sadly. "Listen... You know you can talk to me right...?" Takeshi asked, glancing down at the little Saiyan. "If you have nightmares or start to feel bad then let me know, I'll try to help." He didn't want Shu becoming vindictive like Yumi was, or falling into a rut as Viral had. His little brother was hyperactive, friendly and just overall nice to be around, and he wanted to keep it that way.

They had things to do besides stand here and hug, so after a moment Takeshi let go of his brother, giving his hair a gentle ruffle. "Come along then, let's get back to it, hm?" They still had a lot to do, and as nice as this world was they couldn't stay here forever. Patting Shu on the back the older boy continued on towards the city, feeling a little bummed now as opposed to before. A good part of him felt like he hadn't properly been there for Shu, just assuming he was okay as they had pushed on. He had to wonder, was Viral collapsing from the same lack of support? That put the Beastman's misery in an entirely new perspective, and now suddenly he didn't feel nearly as though it was Viral's fault, or lack of motivation to try. Maybe the problem was with the rest of them.

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

The General had told them all they were at war over energy, and thus far that's what they had been going on. Taking over a city to that end seemed odd, but maybe there was something in there that they needed. Regardless of the reasoning behind it that certainly painted the ones above ground in a lousier light, but it still didn't point them in the right direction. "A corrupt one, huh...?" Takeshi mused, still with absolutely no clue himself as to who that may be. Whoever it was obviously was causing all of this, that was the only certainty. Sighing to himself the elder prince stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking to the twins. "Okay, we'll split up here. If anyone stops you tell them you're with me, helping in the efforts to put down the enemy. I called you in for help, that's what we're sticking to. When you're done we've got a home on the western side of the city, a wooden house tucked in between the edge of the forest and a storage building. We'll see you then." Gesturing for Shu to follow along with a nod of his head, padding off into the thicket.

"This is ridiculous... I can't believe we're working with them," Yumi spat, tossing a glare over her shoulder in the twins direction. She and Viral were already out of sight by now, but that didn't stop her from loathing that trio. The fact they'd served with Takeshi was hardly a reassurance, if anything that made it worse. Even if it had been on someone else's orders too they had carried it out, that they were unquestionably guilty of. She wasn't going to beat them to a pulp now, but she sure as hell was going to hate them for it. Sighing bitterly the Beastman looked at Viral, frowning slightly seeing how dirty he was from laying on the ground. "When is the last time your clothes were cleaned...?" She couldn't think of the last time really, it had been ages. "When we get back how about we find you a change and I clean them for you? I don't want to have to think about those imbeciles any more than I need to."

"One city, that we know of, and hundreds if not thousands of people to check up on... Damn it all..." Takeshi mumbled, exhaling and lifting a hand to rub his forehead. They got into some odd situations, but this was going to be the most tedious and infuriating by far. They were fighters, not dang detectives. It might be nicer if a proper fight was waiting for them at the end of this all, but if it was a Kaesstrian then they were far too weak to raise a hand against. Jailing someone just seemed anti-climatic to a struggle, but if that's how it had to end then so be it. "Hey Shu, I've been meaning to ask you..." he started, droning off briefly. Looking at his brother he gave him an uncertain glance for a second, biting his lip and itching at his nose idly. "I know you don't like to talk about it, but I've been concerned, with Viral being down and all... Is there anything that you want to talk about that's been bothering you at all? About your time with father, anything?"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Takeshi didn't know what the new bit of resentment was between Vegeta and Viral, but decided not to press it. Sighing softly he lifted a hand and rubbed at his head, looking at his friend uncertainly. "I know Yumi will appreciate it. And we all do too, seriously. There's no knowing if these guys came with anyone, so we've got to keep both her and you safe. Better to have strength in numbers, yeah?" Offering a small smile the Saiyan reached over, patting his friend's shoulder in a kind gesture. "And for what it's worth, I'm glad you're okay." Pushing himself up to his feet Takeshi went to Yumi to talk to her, frowning as she went right by him without a word to Viral instead.

"I heard what you were talking about, thanks for asking me." Yumi said flatly, kneeling before Viral. In front of him she became a bit more of herself again, smiling faintly as she offered him a hand. "Come on, we'll walk back to the house. We got some fruit from the others too that you've got to try, it's delicious." Snatching the basket in question up she looked over her shoulder at Shu, biting her lip before reaching into the basket and tossing his piece of fruit to him. "Might as well eat it now, you guys are probably going to be busy and you don't want it to go bad."

"All right guys, we should probably get started as soon as we can. The quicker this gets figured out the sooner we can get everyone to safety." With Viral and Yumi heading home that left six of them to work on their invesitagtion; Kai and Choi, himself and Shu, and Vegeta and Kabocha. The best way to do this then was to break into pairs, but that last group was a little disconcerting. Looking between the two lone members a timid smile crossed Takeshi's lips, getting puzzled looks from each parties. "What do you two think about working together? If we want to be efficient we ought to do groups, and you two are the only ones without someone to team up with."

Vegeta made no secret of his dislike for that idea, groaning audibly at the prospect and giving Takeshi an incredulous look. "I'm already helping out someone who hurt my friend, now you expect me to team up with them?" he asked in surprise and disgust.

"They really aren't bad guys Vegeta, honest!" Takeshi replied, smiling a bit as he waved his hands dismissively. "They were following orders, I'm sure they're sorry about what happened."

"Yeah, I'm sorry if this doesn't work..." Kabocha grumbled, earning a miffed look from his former leader. Huffing he placed his hands on his hips, scuffing the toe of his boot into the dirt for a silent moment. This whole situation was less than ideal, but on the slim margin of chance it did work they would feasibly be free. Finally relenting he looked up at Vegeta, extending a hand to the other boy stiffly. "All right, I guess we've got no choice really. If it means getting my mom and dad out safely I'll do it."

"And if it means keeping my friends safe then fine, but don't expect us to get along." Vegeta added, more to Takeshi as he shook Kabocha's hand. Letting it go he sighed, giving the elder brother a curious look. "So before we run off, mind explaining exactly what's going on? What's the deal with these people anwyays?"

Takeshi thought about that for a moment, biting his lip trying to recall what they'd been told. Really all he had to go off of was what the General had told him, plus idle chatter from soldiers, and that was a pretty one sided view of it. In a small epiphany he looked to Shu hopefully, figuring his brother could fill in some blanks. "Can you tell everyone what you and Yumi learned? We need to know exactly what the situation is."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Yumi groaned in detest towards Choi, rolling her eyes before giving him an incredulous look. "We know that, we're not ACTUALLY going to fight them," she stated, "Not all of them anyways." T'charrl had mentioned something that had her gears turning, something about a 'corrupt one'. That person was in the city, whoever it was, and by the sounds of it the one responsible for all of this. In order for them to end this war shy of wiping out the offending military they had to find the sole person responsible for it all and bring them down. The others had no idea about the other people though, so first she'd need to fill them in.

"We know this already, but there's a battle going on between the two people here; those who live above ground and those who live underground. So far we've only met those above ground and had their side of the story. Shu and I ran into someone from below ground earlier, literally, and got to meet some of the people from there. They had a totally different story for us." It was a regular nature vs technology dispute, one wanting to expand and the other wanting to preserve. It seemed silly to expand on a world like this, even in the city they had gone to there was plenty of living space. "T'charrl, the one we found, told us about this 'corrupt one', someone in the city who is pulling the strings in this civil war. I'm thinking if we find who that is and take them down then this whole fight will stop." Far easier said than done, certainly. No one knew who this person was, not even the people who had told them about it in the first place.

"It's got to be someone in power... Yeah? Someone who can use leverage to make things happen." With utterly no knowledge of how these people operated it was going to be awfully difficult to pinpoint who that might be. So far they'd met maybe a handful of such individuals, some of which only had been encountered by Yumi and Shu. Considering that the ones the latter had met were asking for the war to end it was either not them, or a terribly clever ruse to throw them off, which was doubtful. Frowning to himself Vegeta rubbed at his head, trying to think this through carefully. "Who would benefit from this? The military is fighting sure, but they're having to spend a lot and lose men to do it I'd imagine, so they're not getting anything. I doubt it'd be a civilian, so that leaves whatever political people they might have..."

Takeshi was having a tought time thinking of it as well, unable to pin it on anyone himself. The only person he'd really met thus far was the General and some of his men, and while not his favorite person he didn't seem to be a war monger. It was a little biased in his concern anyways, he hated militaries. "We're going to have to do some digging I guess, ask around..." he mumbled, frowning at the thought. Not his strong suit, but they'd have to do it in this case. Looking at the former squad before his friends he sighed to himself, tapping a foot. "Crap... I was supposed to be doing something for the General too. Finding the other people and beating them. Not that I planned to go through with it..." They'd need to dance a thin line while doing this, otherwise they could tip someone off or take down the wrong person.

"Looks like we're going back to the city then... But what do we do about them?" Vegeta asked, gesturing to the twins and noble boy.
"We're right here you know!" Kabocha shouted, bothered by being referred to so indifferently.

"We know you are dimwit, the whole world can hear you shouting," Yumi snapped, still really wanting to at least hit that one.

"I guess they come back to the city with us? We'll need more feet on the ground to get to more people, and they're basically stuck here until everything is settled." Not anyone seemed thrilled with the forced colaboration, but again what choice did they have? Now that their agreement and plan of action were settled Takeshi went to Viral, kneeling down before him. "I know you're going to hate my asking this, but can you stay at the house with Yumi? She needs someone capable with those three driving her mad to keep her settled, and I can't think of anyone better for it than you. If you don't want to of course I can ask Vegeta."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"You're right, Goku can't fight for us, but who said he would have to fight?" Takeshi smiled as he held up a finger to keep Shu silent, wanting to get his thoughts out before they were derailed again. "Our father knows who Goku is and what he's done. So does everyone else I would bet. Do you really think anyone would want to fight him? Especially if he can't die, that'd be crazy. And with his instant transmission he could get their parents out before anyone even knew what was going on." To him it seemed like a foolproof plan. Goku would be the only one who could feasibly make it out alive with the king so close, and he was the only one strong enough to protect the parents, at least until they were somewhere safe. It was kind of an underhanded move, but Takeshi was positive that if he brought up saving people then the since-passed Saiyan wouldn't possibly be able to refuse. "What do you think? Sound like a good plan guys?"

Kabocha listened closely to the hair-brained scheme, it sounding more ludicrous by the second. Sure he knew who Goku was, as did the twins probably, but how was he supposed to help them? "How in the hell do you even get in touch with a dead person? Aren't they, you know, dead?" Dead was as far gone as you could get, that was it. For all he knew there wasn't a single way he could think of to get in touch with someone deceased. Clearly the princes knew something he didn't, though even with their confidence the whole plan seemed insane. "Let me get this straight, you want us to trust our parent's lives to some dead guy who may or may not be willing to help? And just where are we going to send them?"

"Goku will help us, I know he will," Takeshi answered firmly. He had before in the past after all, so why wouldn't he now? Before it had just been Earth that was in jeopardy, now it was the entire galaxy, certainly that couldn't have gone unnoticed. It was a little worrying that Goku hadn't done anything yet himself, but maybe that was because he needed an invitation of sorts to come back. It had to work, as there was no other feasible way for it to. "There is one problem though..." Takeshi mumbled, cupping his chin as he looked up into the sky puzzled. "How the heck to we talk to him out here...? And where would we even bring them after they're saved...? Here maybe?"

"Here sounds like a good idea as any." Vegeta spoke up, looking to the trio a bit sternly. "Don't get the wrong idea guys, I'm opting to help out so we can get on with more important things. But think about it..." he paused, looking to his friends this time. "This world doesn't seem to be one that the Saiyans are after, and it's big enough to hide people. I'm willing to bet that the people in the city would be willing to take in a few more if we asked. I mean, they put us up after all didn't they?"

Yumi cringed slightly at hearing Vegeta's plan, if only because of what she knew. Looking at her friend she sighed, giving a shake of her head. "The city won't work... Trust me. Shu and I know a place that we can find help, but we'd have to see to settling this civil war first. After we do that I bet we can get them a safe place to live for the time being." The Beastman looked to the twins and Kabocha disdainfully, folding her arms across her chest. "You're just soldiers after all, so think you can help finish a war?"