Aug 8, 2022 21:22:15 GMT -5
Post by Majin Liari on Aug 8, 2022 21:22:15 GMT -5
BABADI MEDITATION CHAMBER: 4x boost!
"After your last experience in the chamber, I am not at all surprised you would want to go back in." Babadi mused dryly as he floated towards the meditation chamber, Liari trailing right behind. Indeed, his little servant had made quite the stride in power since her brief experience. NOT ONLY was she crushing her friends, as far as the wizard could tell, but she was doing it with gusto! NO resistance at all! Perhaps, if he could keep her mind under his control and dominate her thoughts, then allowing her to do the same would only EXTEND his reach! It was like implanting an arm into the palm of your hand, allowing your once insufficient reach to double or even TRIPLE in length! He could just imagine it, the same way that a spider, fat on its feast, stands at the center of a web, A thousand strands tying back to the single one for the wizard to pluck, each one ending at a knot which branches off into a dozen new strings! With patience, Babadi's reach would be ENDLESS and his forces equally infinite! In just a few short weeks, if he played his cards right and had the majin firmly within his grasp, he would have this planet WELL in hand! From there, he could use this dirtball as a breeding ground for new soldiers, his most powerful... or his most loyal being sent out as a sort of mental enslavement force to dominate the wills of the free, the criminal or other anomalous elements and incorporating them into his army!
...And it all would start here, this first extension of his long, shadowy reach across the universe. Babadi had learned from his mistakes of the past when it came to being at the spearhead of the operation! Trusting his minions with his DIRECT safety...? After what happened to him the LAST TIME he was on Earth!? But trusting them to recruit for him, to pull the puppet strings JUST ENOUGH so that his toys had enough autonomy to THINK they were making their own decisions... then he would have ultimate power. This was TRULY why he was taking Liari through this very special chamber, one he saves only for those most essential to his plans or those that might become such in the event times grow desperate. Babadi, as a puppet-master, demanded quality tools to make his dark ambitions come true. He had achieved that once, long ago, the entire universe at the gloved, misshapen fingertips of his greatest ever puppet... but he had pulled too hard, FOUGHT his servant rather than manipulated. He had grown cocky, arrogant with his birthright in hand, never considering for a moment that, perhaps, this birthright had a will all its own.
...He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, nor would he simply employ the same methods from a safer distance. THIS TIME, Earth would be his to command... All from his lair where none would expect to find him... or, at the very least, be far to distracted with their world coming undone at the seams to DO anything about it!
"...I must learn all I can, lord Babadi." Liari muttered through a determined grimace, her eyes focused on the door to the meditation chamber. "...There's something out there, a force... I can FEEL it... and I'm going to KILL it when it gets here."
...Ever since that night, Liari had found herself staring into the sky, trying to get a read on that ENERGY signature! She had NEVER felt it before, let alone anything like it! Its sheer force EBBED across the stars like a MASSIVE splash into the vastest ocean in space and the Majin was only just barely picking up on the residual waves! What is that, she wondered, staring up into the endless blue. It couldn't have been Quash up there; his power was PATHETIC! It couldn't have been anyone she knew as she had been keeping careful track of their VERY SLOWLY ascending power levels so... What WAS that power...? Whatever it was, it was drawing too close to her own for comfort and the unknown motives of its generator was FAR TOO DANGEROUS to allow it to come HERE for long.
...This was really why she was going into that chamber. It wasn't for BABADI nor out of some sense of obligation for the wizard. No, even speaking his preferred moniker of "lord" was enough to make her throw up a little into her mouth no. She sought POWER. CONTROL. She wanted it all for herself and she was going to KEEP IT! Whether she had done anything out in the open to secure it into the minds of those who lived on this rock, LIARI had dominion over this place. Like a big cat patrolling her territory, when the majin detected a potential threat, an INTRUDER, she was going to leap upon it and tear it to shreds. This planet, she had decided, was HERS to do with as she wished because SHE had the power to make that decision! It was HER home, HER stuff, HER place and no stupid power, no matter how big was going to track intergalactic DUST all over her newly claimed floors! ...In short, Liari resented the fact that there was an energy out there large enough that she could sense it from Earth and EVEN MORESO that there was something familiar about it that she couldn't place!
...Things were coming to a head, soon and Liari was going to make SURE she'd BREAK the head of that intruder.
"...Indeed." Babadi responded, tilting his head. For some reason, he couldn't exactly READ Liari in the moment she made that declaration... Odd. Was she hiding her thoughts somehow...? He narrowed his eyes at the majin, trying to read into what she had said with just his senses of perception alone... before eventually letting out a huff through his nose and turning back towards the meditation chamber.
"You can expect forces like that to never fully disappear, my minion." Babadi advised, his warning only souring Liari's expression. "...Once you have reached the peak of what these FOOLS consider power, there will be no end to the number of parasites, saboteurs and traitors aiming to take what you have. You will have to come to accept this in time and, rather than see them as annoyances that need to be squashed, to see them instead as opportunities to add them to your bag of tricks."
Liari blinked at that and looked down at the wizard, quite a drop from eye-level as far as Liari was concerned!
"Then... you will teach me THAT technique...?"
"OF COURSE, I WILL, YOU DOLT!" Babadi spat... before quickly recomposing himself! "I did say that I would, didn't I...? There were merely preparations that needed to be completed before i could begin to train you!"
"...Right..." Liari muttered, sighing heavily. Obviously, Liari wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was losing patience with the wizard. FIRST, she couldn't believe that his training was so easy that she'd be able to learn EVERYTHING about the mind-control technique all in one day! SECOND, all of this GRUNTWORK! Couldn't Babadi FEEL her power!? Didn't he understand that she was ABOVE this kind of thing!? Fighting worthless opponents, retrieving raw energy... She swore, the first and only thing he had done for her up until this point was sitting her down in the meditation chamber from some basic, if effective, training! ...Probably the closest thing to satisfaction she had in ALL OF HER TIME TRAINING HERE was beating up those illusions.... She could remember the smirk on her face as she thrashed Quash, giving him the beating he deserved! After how he left Callion there, his fate SEALED as he was surrounded by Liari at the front and Zero at his flank. ...And then there was Zero... No matter how cordial he was, not matter HOW MUCH he wanted to pretend they were friends, Liari would have spit on the "grave" of Callion before she considered him such. No word... STILL NO WORD ON ANYTHING OF WHICH SHE HAD ASKED FOR AND NOW, as far as she knew, he was off in space doing Kami-knows-what with his brother! All of that hope, all of that NEED... and for what...? She had given her time, her patience, and her services to that man and all she had gotten in return was silence or MORE menial work! As far as she was concerned, what she had done to his illusions were nothing more than a TRIAL RUN of what she might do to the real thing once he had returned and she was ready. There was always a breaking point for someone, always a point where people lost their inhibitions and gave in to their darkest desires. Liari was rapidly reaching that point! …and the Wizard could feel it! He couldn’t hide the small, evilly charged smirk crawling up the corners of his lips, his golden-yellow teeth glistening in the low light of the ships interior as they both reached the meditation chamber. All the hostility… the RAGE he felt boiling inside Liari would SURELY HELP her push her training even further and her mind into an even more easily malleable state! Anger, after all, was the most basic and the most easily twisted emotion imaginable! Happiness was too addicting and subject to interpretation, far too diverse among those that felt it for Babadi to exploit! Sadness was usually more of a demotivator than a motivator so using it to craft SOLDIERS OF CONQUEST was hardly suitable for his needs! …But rage…? So blinding, yet so stimulating was this feeling that all one needed to do was point their weapon in a direction and watch them run! No need for justifications or reasoning except WHY someone should hate that person and the things one might do to someone they hate… it was all to perfect for the Wizard’s needs…
“I have searched your mind, Liari, and created an opponent for you quite suitable to your needs.” The Wizard informed her, opening the chamber! “You will see once you step inside.” Liari tilted her head, turning to Babadi, her eyes narrowing in speculation. What did he mean by THAT…? Something in his tone… didn’t sound quite right…
“…Is it that power...?” Liari uttered… but Babadi only smiled wider.
“Not immediately, no. Though, if you DO get past the challenge I have in store for you, I may be persuaded to let you have a crack at that energy signature… After all, I know exactly what it is!”
“YOU DO!?” Liari gasped, the raising of her voice shocking bot BABADI, who recoiled slightly… and Liari who flinched herself! “…I mean… You do, Lord Babadi? Who is it?” …But the wizard wasn’t happy, being taken off guard like that.
“JUST GO INSIDE AND FIGHT YOUR WAY THROUGH THE ILLUSIONS TO FIND OUT! …And besides, you only have two this time. Conjuring multiple illusions like that is FAR too taxing for me for a task as simple as this… Instead, you will be facing TWO of the strongest warriors of which I am aware! After that, and IF I consider you worthy, I will grant your request and teach you how to manipulate and control the minds of suitable pawns!”
“…Fine.” Liari muttered. Babadi blinked. Did… Did he heart hat right? ‘FINE?’ Where was the gratitude, the SUBMISSION!? And why was she being so testy with him all of a sudden!? She should be kissing his BOOTS for what he was declaring she’d give her! But, before he could question her, perhaps even CHASTIZE HER for her tone and lack of tact… the door closed behind Liari, sealing her inside.
The room… was different this time, not taking the form of a wasteland. This time, Liari found herself in something like a grassland with a large lake to her left… and a forest to her right. The sun shined brightly overhead, but not oppressively so, a kinda-pretty sight… in any other circumstance. If Liari wasn’t fuming so hard, her anger and frustrations borderline boiling over, she might have even considered it nice.
“Whatever…” She grumbled, crossing her arms and looking out over the land. “Babadi seemed pretty eager to get me in here after last time… He must have something different in store for me now.”
…And, as if in cue… the force descended from the sky above. Liari blinked, surprised she didn’t sense him before he had made himself known, a man… a SAYAIN, judging by his tail, dropping down before her roughly a few meters away. She cocked her eyebrow, unimpressed with his outward appearance. Black and reds? Oooo scary. She was so very intimidated by his choice in color-scheme… NOT. What was more, she didn’t seem particularly special except for this odd… WHANG, this near-twist to his energy-signature that didn’t quite match up with other sayains she had met… A half-breed maybe…? Wait… he felt like Maycair… so he was….
“A half-demon, huh?” Liari muttered, putting her hands on her hips. “…And who are YOU supposed to be anyway?”
“…Your death.” He said flatly, dropping down into a half-squat, as if getting ready to power up! …Liari blinked, not… really anticipating that kind of response.
“…You what? Do you have any idea WHO I AM?” Liari scoffed, walking towards the sayain and cracking her knuckles. I’ve seen regular gorillas with higher powers than you. What do you think you can do to me?
…The man only sneered… and let out a ROAR, A SCREAM THAT SHOOK THE HEAVENS! His aura SWELLED, PULSATED… then turned GOLDEN, his black hair starting to match the color of his energy as his eyes flashed green, the ground EXPLODING beneath him in a shower of sand and minerals! Liari was actually thrown BACK a step or two as the man transformed into something… something ELSE, something different than a great ape! It was… SO MUCH POWER packed into such a small frame, resembling Liari’s OWN transformations somewhat with how much energy SURGED from him!
“…This is new.” Liari remarked with a smirk, dropping into her own battle stance! “Alright, you sayain-freak. Lets see what you can…. What…?” SUDDENLY and without warning, the golden stranger’s energy BLINKED OUT OF SIGHT… and his MASSIVE SIGNATURE SUDDENLY APPEARED BEHIND HER! A cold shiver of shock ran down what Liari considered her spine as she glanced over her shoulder… He… he couldn’t be THAT fast, could he…? Even with this new form, this man STILL wasn’t exactly stronger than her! A Rival to her power, certainly but…. He couldn’t just BLITZ her that way!
…Liari caught sight of one thing before his fist SMASHED across her jaw, the sight of two fingers lightly pressing against his forehead… and the arrogant smirk flashing across his lips! The impact of his punch sent SHOCKWAVES through Liari’s body just the same as if someone had struck a water-bed, her eyes nearly POPPING out of her skull as her head tilted in and around his fist, her balance being torn from the ground as she was LAUNCHED BACK OVER THE PLAINS! ALREADY, she could feel her jaw throbbing, perhaps even the coppery taste of purple blood in her mouth as she deftly FLIPPED back over onto her feet METERS AWAY, growling as she brought her head up… and he was gone again!
“…What in the-“
A FOOT SMASHED DOWN INTO THE TOP OF HER HEAD, SLAMMING HER FACE-DOWN into the rocky soil with enough sudden force to utterly SHATTER the ground beneath them both! Liari’s eyes were WIDE with utter SHOCK and disbelief as she was being PUNTED around the battlefield… and it wasn’t even because she wasn’t TRYING right now! After the third of fourth hit, the majin had been doing everything she could just to not be PING-PONGED all over the arena, attempting to anticipate the points where the man might appear from and counter… ALL IN VAIN! Between his already INCREDIBLE NATURAL SPEED and his ability, seemingly, to pop IN AND OUT of reality at will, the majin was struggling to even KEEP UP, let alone counter him!
“RRRGH! STOP IT!” She roared, only to get a fist THROW STRAIGHT DOWN HER THROAT! The majin blinked, CLAMPING DOWN on his arm with her teeth… but the blonde man only smiled, Liari… feeling a HOT PRESSURE BUILD UP IN HER THROAT! SUDDENLY, her body would begin to bulge, her face, PUFFING OUT as if she were trying to hold in a sneeze, her face sweating as if she had just eaten the HOTTEST PEPPER EVER before-
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
In a FLASH of blinding ki and light, Liari had exploded, steam rising from the sayain’s hand and blood running down from where he was bitten… but he didn’t at all seem bothered. Little blue pieces fell around the ground all over the place, squirming and twitching as the man turned away, ASSURED of his victory… before all the pieces suddenly CAME TOGETHER FROM ALL AROUND AND ABOVE HIM, gathering into once central mass behind the sayain as her form SLOWLY regenerated a bit at a time!
“RRRRGH! CURSE YOU!” Liari RUMBLED as he head POPPED out from the misshapen mass, followed by her body and arms! “…I won’t be defeated yet… NOT THAT EASILY!”
“Shame.” He responded, turning back to her and resting his fingers on his forehead again. “…I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see your ugly face again.”
“UGLY!?” Liari ROARED, her energy SURGING TO WHOLE NEW HEIGHTS! HER ENERGY SPIKED, HER POWER SURGED, HER BODY BEGINNING TO SWELL AND TWIST AS HER VOICE GREW LOWER, MORE GUTTERAL! Liari’s arms and legs EXTENDED AND SWELLED, taking on the proportion of an ape as she grew to TOWER OVER THE MAN! Her hulking form, at least a DOZEN STORIES TALL, TOWERED OVER THE GOLDEN-HAIRED WARRIOR AS THE HULKING BEHEMOTH, HER CHEST-BEATING CAUSING SHOCKWAVES THAT BLEW AWAY THE CLOUDS AND UTTERLY RENT THE PLANTLIFE FROM THE SURROUNDING EARTH!
“I’LL SHOW YOU UGLY!” A THUNDROUS ROAR EXPLODED FROM THE APE, her jaw and lips not even contorting in ways that should have formed words! It was as if the intent, the feeling behind the scream burst out into the intended sound by sheer force of will alone… or perhaps there was another power at play here that Liari, in this bestial shape, was not yet aware of! The mysterious Super Sayain, though… he didn’t seem phased. If anything, he seemed AMUSED! A small smirk flashed across his lips as he gazed up at the giant ape, his emerald eyes GLINTING with fire!
“…You think that form is worth anything…?” He muttered with a smirk… before DISAPPEARING! …What the man didn’t seem to know… or perhaps forgot, was that the Great Ape was MORE than just a powerhouse! It had instincts, HONED to fit its animalistic shape! JUST as the golden sayain reappeared right beside Liari’s ear, the majin’s hand WHIPPED around at rapid pace, CLAMPING AROUND the man and SQUEEZING HIM TIGHT! The majin ape brought her hand around and CLAMPED HER OTHER HAND about him, SQUEEZING AND CRUSHING HIM… until the man let loose a HUGE BURST OF KI, BLOWING THE APE’S HANDS OFF!
“RAAAAAAUURRRGH!” The ape SCREAMED as the man retreated, his aura FLARING BRIGHTLY…. As the hands reconstituted themselves, pieces of flesh gathering together around the stumps and molding themselves into viable instruments once more! …The battle was ferocious and short, David clashing with the Goliath as the two monsters HURLED AT ONE ANOTHER! However, as the battle dragged on, there was one thing that was certain about how it was going: That the sayain was losing steam. Sure, Liari was getting hit just as much, if not MORE than her opponent, but while Liari could close almost ANY WOUND she sustained and keep fighting as if it never happened, the monkey-man simply didn’t have such a remarkable ability! In a matter of a few giant punches, the man was on the ground, his golden power flickering as if his body was using every ounce of energy it had left just to keep it alive! With one last triumphant ROAR, Liari LIFTED her hands over her head and sent them CRASHING DOWN ON THE SAYAIN, SMASHING HIM BENEATH HER GIANT HANDS!
“…Don’t… get cocky…” The man whispered beneath her palms. The giant ape growled, grinding the man deeper into the earth… but he still… kept… SPEAKING! “…I…haven’t… even… started…”
….When Liari lifted her hands… he was gone.
“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUURGH!” Liari ROARED, RAISING HER HULKING APE-HANDS OVER HER HEAD IN TRIUMPH! SHE HAD WON! SHE HAD BEATEN THAT FREAK OF A SAYAIN! SHE…
“…You never did listen to anyone, did you?”
…The monstrous ape froze as a new voice touched her ears, its pitch… so very familiar but the cadence, the WAY of speaking… was so different so… dead… jaded… Slowly, the creature would turn its head over its shoulder, spotting… someone that looked exactly like HER! Well… not as she was now, but… she looked just like that child-like body she used to inhabit but…. The clothes were all wrong… Instead of a sayain breastplate, this one wore one that resembled more like decorated medieval armor, complete with a red cape and yellow gloves! Other than that… they were virtually identical, Liari’s first form and this girl’s… The sight of her… made Liari freeze… This… This was the woman from her nightmares, the one who constantly tormented her, screamed at her, dragged her around, made Liari her SLAVE! She…
“…Look at you, a hulking brute… You couldn’t achieve what you wanted alone so you took those idiotic sayains and stole their power. How gross.”
“RRRRRRGH….” A WAVE of primal RAGE overcame her fear for a moment, the majin ape SPRINGING into the air and bringing its foot DOWN on the spot where she stood!
“…But then again, considering you were ALWAYS like this… perhaps this form suits you best.”
…AND SHE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER! The majin girl sat on the bridge of Liari’s nose as if it were a bench in a park, one leg cross over another, her hands resting on her thighs! She was treating this like this was a game, as if this were a joke but… But she wasn’t smiling. The face on this majin was dead serious with not an ounce of life, joy or even a macabre sense of pleasure sparking in those sanguine reds. …Just frustration… and exhaustion. This majin looked like a mother who never got away from her bratty children and had been worn down by their incessant noise… The lines at the corner of her mouth indicated a constant frown, the furrow in her brow comfortable, as fit the muscles there had grown used to them being furrowed. The sharpness in this girl’s eyes resembled most closely that of a creature FAR OLDER than the softness of the majin’s face might suggest, someone who had long since forgotten the happy joy-joys of childhood… and instead, been submerged in the responsibilities of adulthood her entire menial life.
“RAH!”
Liari SWIPED HER HAND OFF HER NOSE… ONLY TO GET POPPED AT THE FRONT OF IT WITH A SUDDEN, BRUTAL BLOW! THE IMPACT NEARLY PUSHED THE WHOLE THING DEEP INTO THE APE’S HEAD, CAUSING IT TO RECOIL AND COLLAPSE ON THE GROUND IN A THUNDROUS HEAP! A low groan of pain escaped its snarling lips as it slowly sat up… ONLY TO BE STRUCK WITH A SHARP COMBINATION ACROSS THE FACE, EACH ONE JERKING THE APE’S MASSIVE HEAD ALL OVER THE PLACE!
“Pathetic. You always thought this sort of thing was a game, something you could afford to play with. You still having fun, Liari? Do you still want to play this game? Is it still fun to you?”
“GGGGRRRRRRGH!” HANDS SWUNG AROUND AND CLAPPED where she thought the uppity Majin stood, only for her to pull back her hands and reveal… NOTHING! SHE’D MISSED! SUDDENLY A fist no smaller than the tip of the ape’s finger SMASHED DOWN on the back of her head, causing Liari to SLAM down into the earth, burying her face within it!
“…You don’t remember do you? We’ve done this so many times, I can scarcely remember.” The majin mumbled, kneeling so that her lips hung as close to the buried ape’s ear as possible. “…And you always lost… You never thought about what you were doing.”
“SHUT… UUUUUUUUP!” The beast SCREAMED in a surge of KI, its PINK AURA EXPLODING AROUND IT WITH FORCE ENOUGH TO LEVEL THE ENTIRE ENVIRONENT! ROCKS THAT MET A CERTAIN HEIGHT WERE INSTANTLY OBLITERATED! THE SKY DARKENED INSTANTLY AS FLASHES OF LIGHTING, TINTED WITH THE COLOR OF LIARI’S KI JUMPED BETWEEN CLOUDS! THE EARTH RUMBLED AND TWISTED AS IF INTIMIDATED BY THE DISPLAY, WRITING AND TWISTING IN PROTEST OF THE MAJIN’S POWER! …And yet, the stranger appeared completely unimpressed… In fact, she might have just yawned in the midst of Liari letting EVERY OUNCE OF HER POWER OUT AT ONCE!
“…You used to be so much more than this.” She sighed… BEFORE STABBING A PUNCH SO DEEP IN LIARI, THE SHOCKWAVE OF THE IMPACT BLUE A HOLE OUT HER BACK THAT SPLIT UPON MOST OF HER TORSO! Liari froze… shivered….. and collapsed in a heap once more… her form slowly reconstituting as it shrunk back to its original size and shape. The smaller majin did, however, show some interest in this new from, so tall… adultlike… hardly reflective of the person inside… Still a child despite the… very old soul she felt within her. The childlike majin sat herself down on one of the few rocks to survive Liari’s sudden episode, hiding a knee up against her chest as the much taller… and far less mature majin slowly stirred.
“…We were never supposed to end up like this.” She began… and Liari sat up, her sanguine eyes cast into the sky. “…For the longest time, we did nothing but get along. We saw everything together, you and me… But then, you got greedy. You wanted more than I could give you, more than you should have taken… You wanted everything.”
“Sh… SHUT UP…” Liari SPAT almost drunkenly, trying to stand on two shaky legs… before collapsing to her hands and knees, DRY-HEAVING! She still felt that fist in her stomach, it almost causing a rather… violent upsurge in her lunch… The younger Majin seemed completely disinterested in her lookalike’s reaction though… and simply continued.
“You have no idea how many times we’ve done this dance, do you…? You always lost your patience with me when I tried to reason with you, always striking first when all I wanted to do was explain… You were always so sweet and curious… I remember when you used to smile and point at the alien live-stock as we flew by… I never could figure out what changed in you… How you ended up like… this.”
“…STOP TALKING…. LIKE YOU KNOW ME…” Liari demanded, FINALLY finding her feet, wiping her bottom lip with her wrist! “…All you’ve done… since I woke up… was scream at me… DRIVE ME MAD in my sleep! All I hear is your STUPID VOICE… You… YOU HATE ME! Stop pretending… YOU DON’T!”
The younger-looking majin tilted her head, looking at Liari with a stare of confusion… and mild curiosity, hopping off her rock before walking up to the taller majin! She reached out to her gently, her hand stopping just short of her face, her eyes closing as a pulsating rings of energy surrounded the majin…
Liari SCREAMED in rage and threw a sharp PUNCH at the girl… only to hit nothing and for an ELBOW to SLAM into her face, PUSHING IT INWARDS as she fell back HARD on her spine, clutching at her face!
“Oh dear… Liari, have you hit your head recently…?” The strange majin uttered. “…Fore it was not I sending you those images… It would seem that your memory… had been lost some time ago…”
“What are you…. Talking about…?” Liari whined… before throwing a SHARP, desperate kick at the smaller majin’s stomach… only for her to disappear AGAIN and feel one of her own SNAP across her face, LIARI SPINNING on the ground almost 90 degrees, her eyes certainly bouncing around in their sockets as if they were PONG boards!
“…It seems like your memory is returning a fraction at a time… starting with the more recent memories… I suppose that….” …The majin blinked, raising her hand to her face, suddenly starting to see it fade! Her eyes widened in panic, realizing what this was, what this could mean… That wizard… he was undoing the magic that had called her here, the illusion from which she was able to establish form! CURSES… and she was FINALLY going to make herself known to her in full after all these years!
“Listen. For the first time in your stupid life, YOU LISTEN TO ME.” The majin GROWLED, GRABBING Liari’s head by her tentacles and JERKING IT UP so that their eyes had no CHOICE but to meet! “…You are going to wait HERE on this world for me… I am coming to get you. When I do, you WILL NOT resist me like you tried today. You WILL comply. You don’t have any CHOICE.”
“…I… don’t… know… YOU…” Liari sputtered, her hands reaching up to weakly pry at the fingers digging into her scalp… but, even FADING, the illusion was FAR stronger than her!
“…You will again soon, so help me.” The majin hissed… before Liari faded through her fingers… and she was gone. Without a word… Liari slowly stood up… and walked out of the meditation chamber, trembling, shaking, hiding her face in her hands… fore that, was all a majin in her position could do when given such an order.
WC: 5060
"After your last experience in the chamber, I am not at all surprised you would want to go back in." Babadi mused dryly as he floated towards the meditation chamber, Liari trailing right behind. Indeed, his little servant had made quite the stride in power since her brief experience. NOT ONLY was she crushing her friends, as far as the wizard could tell, but she was doing it with gusto! NO resistance at all! Perhaps, if he could keep her mind under his control and dominate her thoughts, then allowing her to do the same would only EXTEND his reach! It was like implanting an arm into the palm of your hand, allowing your once insufficient reach to double or even TRIPLE in length! He could just imagine it, the same way that a spider, fat on its feast, stands at the center of a web, A thousand strands tying back to the single one for the wizard to pluck, each one ending at a knot which branches off into a dozen new strings! With patience, Babadi's reach would be ENDLESS and his forces equally infinite! In just a few short weeks, if he played his cards right and had the majin firmly within his grasp, he would have this planet WELL in hand! From there, he could use this dirtball as a breeding ground for new soldiers, his most powerful... or his most loyal being sent out as a sort of mental enslavement force to dominate the wills of the free, the criminal or other anomalous elements and incorporating them into his army!
...And it all would start here, this first extension of his long, shadowy reach across the universe. Babadi had learned from his mistakes of the past when it came to being at the spearhead of the operation! Trusting his minions with his DIRECT safety...? After what happened to him the LAST TIME he was on Earth!? But trusting them to recruit for him, to pull the puppet strings JUST ENOUGH so that his toys had enough autonomy to THINK they were making their own decisions... then he would have ultimate power. This was TRULY why he was taking Liari through this very special chamber, one he saves only for those most essential to his plans or those that might become such in the event times grow desperate. Babadi, as a puppet-master, demanded quality tools to make his dark ambitions come true. He had achieved that once, long ago, the entire universe at the gloved, misshapen fingertips of his greatest ever puppet... but he had pulled too hard, FOUGHT his servant rather than manipulated. He had grown cocky, arrogant with his birthright in hand, never considering for a moment that, perhaps, this birthright had a will all its own.
...He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, nor would he simply employ the same methods from a safer distance. THIS TIME, Earth would be his to command... All from his lair where none would expect to find him... or, at the very least, be far to distracted with their world coming undone at the seams to DO anything about it!
"...I must learn all I can, lord Babadi." Liari muttered through a determined grimace, her eyes focused on the door to the meditation chamber. "...There's something out there, a force... I can FEEL it... and I'm going to KILL it when it gets here."
...Ever since that night, Liari had found herself staring into the sky, trying to get a read on that ENERGY signature! She had NEVER felt it before, let alone anything like it! Its sheer force EBBED across the stars like a MASSIVE splash into the vastest ocean in space and the Majin was only just barely picking up on the residual waves! What is that, she wondered, staring up into the endless blue. It couldn't have been Quash up there; his power was PATHETIC! It couldn't have been anyone she knew as she had been keeping careful track of their VERY SLOWLY ascending power levels so... What WAS that power...? Whatever it was, it was drawing too close to her own for comfort and the unknown motives of its generator was FAR TOO DANGEROUS to allow it to come HERE for long.
...This was really why she was going into that chamber. It wasn't for BABADI nor out of some sense of obligation for the wizard. No, even speaking his preferred moniker of "lord" was enough to make her throw up a little into her mouth no. She sought POWER. CONTROL. She wanted it all for herself and she was going to KEEP IT! Whether she had done anything out in the open to secure it into the minds of those who lived on this rock, LIARI had dominion over this place. Like a big cat patrolling her territory, when the majin detected a potential threat, an INTRUDER, she was going to leap upon it and tear it to shreds. This planet, she had decided, was HERS to do with as she wished because SHE had the power to make that decision! It was HER home, HER stuff, HER place and no stupid power, no matter how big was going to track intergalactic DUST all over her newly claimed floors! ...In short, Liari resented the fact that there was an energy out there large enough that she could sense it from Earth and EVEN MORESO that there was something familiar about it that she couldn't place!
...Things were coming to a head, soon and Liari was going to make SURE she'd BREAK the head of that intruder.
"...Indeed." Babadi responded, tilting his head. For some reason, he couldn't exactly READ Liari in the moment she made that declaration... Odd. Was she hiding her thoughts somehow...? He narrowed his eyes at the majin, trying to read into what she had said with just his senses of perception alone... before eventually letting out a huff through his nose and turning back towards the meditation chamber.
"You can expect forces like that to never fully disappear, my minion." Babadi advised, his warning only souring Liari's expression. "...Once you have reached the peak of what these FOOLS consider power, there will be no end to the number of parasites, saboteurs and traitors aiming to take what you have. You will have to come to accept this in time and, rather than see them as annoyances that need to be squashed, to see them instead as opportunities to add them to your bag of tricks."
Liari blinked at that and looked down at the wizard, quite a drop from eye-level as far as Liari was concerned!
"Then... you will teach me THAT technique...?"
"OF COURSE, I WILL, YOU DOLT!" Babadi spat... before quickly recomposing himself! "I did say that I would, didn't I...? There were merely preparations that needed to be completed before i could begin to train you!"
"...Right..." Liari muttered, sighing heavily. Obviously, Liari wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was losing patience with the wizard. FIRST, she couldn't believe that his training was so easy that she'd be able to learn EVERYTHING about the mind-control technique all in one day! SECOND, all of this GRUNTWORK! Couldn't Babadi FEEL her power!? Didn't he understand that she was ABOVE this kind of thing!? Fighting worthless opponents, retrieving raw energy... She swore, the first and only thing he had done for her up until this point was sitting her down in the meditation chamber from some basic, if effective, training! ...Probably the closest thing to satisfaction she had in ALL OF HER TIME TRAINING HERE was beating up those illusions.... She could remember the smirk on her face as she thrashed Quash, giving him the beating he deserved! After how he left Callion there, his fate SEALED as he was surrounded by Liari at the front and Zero at his flank. ...And then there was Zero... No matter how cordial he was, not matter HOW MUCH he wanted to pretend they were friends, Liari would have spit on the "grave" of Callion before she considered him such. No word... STILL NO WORD ON ANYTHING OF WHICH SHE HAD ASKED FOR AND NOW, as far as she knew, he was off in space doing Kami-knows-what with his brother! All of that hope, all of that NEED... and for what...? She had given her time, her patience, and her services to that man and all she had gotten in return was silence or MORE menial work! As far as she was concerned, what she had done to his illusions were nothing more than a TRIAL RUN of what she might do to the real thing once he had returned and she was ready. There was always a breaking point for someone, always a point where people lost their inhibitions and gave in to their darkest desires. Liari was rapidly reaching that point! …and the Wizard could feel it! He couldn’t hide the small, evilly charged smirk crawling up the corners of his lips, his golden-yellow teeth glistening in the low light of the ships interior as they both reached the meditation chamber. All the hostility… the RAGE he felt boiling inside Liari would SURELY HELP her push her training even further and her mind into an even more easily malleable state! Anger, after all, was the most basic and the most easily twisted emotion imaginable! Happiness was too addicting and subject to interpretation, far too diverse among those that felt it for Babadi to exploit! Sadness was usually more of a demotivator than a motivator so using it to craft SOLDIERS OF CONQUEST was hardly suitable for his needs! …But rage…? So blinding, yet so stimulating was this feeling that all one needed to do was point their weapon in a direction and watch them run! No need for justifications or reasoning except WHY someone should hate that person and the things one might do to someone they hate… it was all to perfect for the Wizard’s needs…
“I have searched your mind, Liari, and created an opponent for you quite suitable to your needs.” The Wizard informed her, opening the chamber! “You will see once you step inside.” Liari tilted her head, turning to Babadi, her eyes narrowing in speculation. What did he mean by THAT…? Something in his tone… didn’t sound quite right…
“…Is it that power...?” Liari uttered… but Babadi only smiled wider.
“Not immediately, no. Though, if you DO get past the challenge I have in store for you, I may be persuaded to let you have a crack at that energy signature… After all, I know exactly what it is!”
“YOU DO!?” Liari gasped, the raising of her voice shocking bot BABADI, who recoiled slightly… and Liari who flinched herself! “…I mean… You do, Lord Babadi? Who is it?” …But the wizard wasn’t happy, being taken off guard like that.
“JUST GO INSIDE AND FIGHT YOUR WAY THROUGH THE ILLUSIONS TO FIND OUT! …And besides, you only have two this time. Conjuring multiple illusions like that is FAR too taxing for me for a task as simple as this… Instead, you will be facing TWO of the strongest warriors of which I am aware! After that, and IF I consider you worthy, I will grant your request and teach you how to manipulate and control the minds of suitable pawns!”
“…Fine.” Liari muttered. Babadi blinked. Did… Did he heart hat right? ‘FINE?’ Where was the gratitude, the SUBMISSION!? And why was she being so testy with him all of a sudden!? She should be kissing his BOOTS for what he was declaring she’d give her! But, before he could question her, perhaps even CHASTIZE HER for her tone and lack of tact… the door closed behind Liari, sealing her inside.
The room… was different this time, not taking the form of a wasteland. This time, Liari found herself in something like a grassland with a large lake to her left… and a forest to her right. The sun shined brightly overhead, but not oppressively so, a kinda-pretty sight… in any other circumstance. If Liari wasn’t fuming so hard, her anger and frustrations borderline boiling over, she might have even considered it nice.
“Whatever…” She grumbled, crossing her arms and looking out over the land. “Babadi seemed pretty eager to get me in here after last time… He must have something different in store for me now.”
…And, as if in cue… the force descended from the sky above. Liari blinked, surprised she didn’t sense him before he had made himself known, a man… a SAYAIN, judging by his tail, dropping down before her roughly a few meters away. She cocked her eyebrow, unimpressed with his outward appearance. Black and reds? Oooo scary. She was so very intimidated by his choice in color-scheme… NOT. What was more, she didn’t seem particularly special except for this odd… WHANG, this near-twist to his energy-signature that didn’t quite match up with other sayains she had met… A half-breed maybe…? Wait… he felt like Maycair… so he was….
“A half-demon, huh?” Liari muttered, putting her hands on her hips. “…And who are YOU supposed to be anyway?”
“…Your death.” He said flatly, dropping down into a half-squat, as if getting ready to power up! …Liari blinked, not… really anticipating that kind of response.
“…You what? Do you have any idea WHO I AM?” Liari scoffed, walking towards the sayain and cracking her knuckles. I’ve seen regular gorillas with higher powers than you. What do you think you can do to me?
…The man only sneered… and let out a ROAR, A SCREAM THAT SHOOK THE HEAVENS! His aura SWELLED, PULSATED… then turned GOLDEN, his black hair starting to match the color of his energy as his eyes flashed green, the ground EXPLODING beneath him in a shower of sand and minerals! Liari was actually thrown BACK a step or two as the man transformed into something… something ELSE, something different than a great ape! It was… SO MUCH POWER packed into such a small frame, resembling Liari’s OWN transformations somewhat with how much energy SURGED from him!
“…This is new.” Liari remarked with a smirk, dropping into her own battle stance! “Alright, you sayain-freak. Lets see what you can…. What…?” SUDDENLY and without warning, the golden stranger’s energy BLINKED OUT OF SIGHT… and his MASSIVE SIGNATURE SUDDENLY APPEARED BEHIND HER! A cold shiver of shock ran down what Liari considered her spine as she glanced over her shoulder… He… he couldn’t be THAT fast, could he…? Even with this new form, this man STILL wasn’t exactly stronger than her! A Rival to her power, certainly but…. He couldn’t just BLITZ her that way!
…Liari caught sight of one thing before his fist SMASHED across her jaw, the sight of two fingers lightly pressing against his forehead… and the arrogant smirk flashing across his lips! The impact of his punch sent SHOCKWAVES through Liari’s body just the same as if someone had struck a water-bed, her eyes nearly POPPING out of her skull as her head tilted in and around his fist, her balance being torn from the ground as she was LAUNCHED BACK OVER THE PLAINS! ALREADY, she could feel her jaw throbbing, perhaps even the coppery taste of purple blood in her mouth as she deftly FLIPPED back over onto her feet METERS AWAY, growling as she brought her head up… and he was gone again!
“…What in the-“
A FOOT SMASHED DOWN INTO THE TOP OF HER HEAD, SLAMMING HER FACE-DOWN into the rocky soil with enough sudden force to utterly SHATTER the ground beneath them both! Liari’s eyes were WIDE with utter SHOCK and disbelief as she was being PUNTED around the battlefield… and it wasn’t even because she wasn’t TRYING right now! After the third of fourth hit, the majin had been doing everything she could just to not be PING-PONGED all over the arena, attempting to anticipate the points where the man might appear from and counter… ALL IN VAIN! Between his already INCREDIBLE NATURAL SPEED and his ability, seemingly, to pop IN AND OUT of reality at will, the majin was struggling to even KEEP UP, let alone counter him!
“RRRGH! STOP IT!” She roared, only to get a fist THROW STRAIGHT DOWN HER THROAT! The majin blinked, CLAMPING DOWN on his arm with her teeth… but the blonde man only smiled, Liari… feeling a HOT PRESSURE BUILD UP IN HER THROAT! SUDDENLY, her body would begin to bulge, her face, PUFFING OUT as if she were trying to hold in a sneeze, her face sweating as if she had just eaten the HOTTEST PEPPER EVER before-
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
In a FLASH of blinding ki and light, Liari had exploded, steam rising from the sayain’s hand and blood running down from where he was bitten… but he didn’t at all seem bothered. Little blue pieces fell around the ground all over the place, squirming and twitching as the man turned away, ASSURED of his victory… before all the pieces suddenly CAME TOGETHER FROM ALL AROUND AND ABOVE HIM, gathering into once central mass behind the sayain as her form SLOWLY regenerated a bit at a time!
“RRRRGH! CURSE YOU!” Liari RUMBLED as he head POPPED out from the misshapen mass, followed by her body and arms! “…I won’t be defeated yet… NOT THAT EASILY!”
“Shame.” He responded, turning back to her and resting his fingers on his forehead again. “…I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see your ugly face again.”
“UGLY!?” Liari ROARED, her energy SURGING TO WHOLE NEW HEIGHTS! HER ENERGY SPIKED, HER POWER SURGED, HER BODY BEGINNING TO SWELL AND TWIST AS HER VOICE GREW LOWER, MORE GUTTERAL! Liari’s arms and legs EXTENDED AND SWELLED, taking on the proportion of an ape as she grew to TOWER OVER THE MAN! Her hulking form, at least a DOZEN STORIES TALL, TOWERED OVER THE GOLDEN-HAIRED WARRIOR AS THE HULKING BEHEMOTH, HER CHEST-BEATING CAUSING SHOCKWAVES THAT BLEW AWAY THE CLOUDS AND UTTERLY RENT THE PLANTLIFE FROM THE SURROUNDING EARTH!
“I’LL SHOW YOU UGLY!” A THUNDROUS ROAR EXPLODED FROM THE APE, her jaw and lips not even contorting in ways that should have formed words! It was as if the intent, the feeling behind the scream burst out into the intended sound by sheer force of will alone… or perhaps there was another power at play here that Liari, in this bestial shape, was not yet aware of! The mysterious Super Sayain, though… he didn’t seem phased. If anything, he seemed AMUSED! A small smirk flashed across his lips as he gazed up at the giant ape, his emerald eyes GLINTING with fire!
“…You think that form is worth anything…?” He muttered with a smirk… before DISAPPEARING! …What the man didn’t seem to know… or perhaps forgot, was that the Great Ape was MORE than just a powerhouse! It had instincts, HONED to fit its animalistic shape! JUST as the golden sayain reappeared right beside Liari’s ear, the majin’s hand WHIPPED around at rapid pace, CLAMPING AROUND the man and SQUEEZING HIM TIGHT! The majin ape brought her hand around and CLAMPED HER OTHER HAND about him, SQUEEZING AND CRUSHING HIM… until the man let loose a HUGE BURST OF KI, BLOWING THE APE’S HANDS OFF!
“RAAAAAAUURRRGH!” The ape SCREAMED as the man retreated, his aura FLARING BRIGHTLY…. As the hands reconstituted themselves, pieces of flesh gathering together around the stumps and molding themselves into viable instruments once more! …The battle was ferocious and short, David clashing with the Goliath as the two monsters HURLED AT ONE ANOTHER! However, as the battle dragged on, there was one thing that was certain about how it was going: That the sayain was losing steam. Sure, Liari was getting hit just as much, if not MORE than her opponent, but while Liari could close almost ANY WOUND she sustained and keep fighting as if it never happened, the monkey-man simply didn’t have such a remarkable ability! In a matter of a few giant punches, the man was on the ground, his golden power flickering as if his body was using every ounce of energy it had left just to keep it alive! With one last triumphant ROAR, Liari LIFTED her hands over her head and sent them CRASHING DOWN ON THE SAYAIN, SMASHING HIM BENEATH HER GIANT HANDS!
“…Don’t… get cocky…” The man whispered beneath her palms. The giant ape growled, grinding the man deeper into the earth… but he still… kept… SPEAKING! “…I…haven’t… even… started…”
….When Liari lifted her hands… he was gone.
“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUURGH!” Liari ROARED, RAISING HER HULKING APE-HANDS OVER HER HEAD IN TRIUMPH! SHE HAD WON! SHE HAD BEATEN THAT FREAK OF A SAYAIN! SHE…
“…You never did listen to anyone, did you?”
…The monstrous ape froze as a new voice touched her ears, its pitch… so very familiar but the cadence, the WAY of speaking… was so different so… dead… jaded… Slowly, the creature would turn its head over its shoulder, spotting… someone that looked exactly like HER! Well… not as she was now, but… she looked just like that child-like body she used to inhabit but…. The clothes were all wrong… Instead of a sayain breastplate, this one wore one that resembled more like decorated medieval armor, complete with a red cape and yellow gloves! Other than that… they were virtually identical, Liari’s first form and this girl’s… The sight of her… made Liari freeze… This… This was the woman from her nightmares, the one who constantly tormented her, screamed at her, dragged her around, made Liari her SLAVE! She…
“…Look at you, a hulking brute… You couldn’t achieve what you wanted alone so you took those idiotic sayains and stole their power. How gross.”
“RRRRRRGH….” A WAVE of primal RAGE overcame her fear for a moment, the majin ape SPRINGING into the air and bringing its foot DOWN on the spot where she stood!
“…But then again, considering you were ALWAYS like this… perhaps this form suits you best.”
…AND SHE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER! The majin girl sat on the bridge of Liari’s nose as if it were a bench in a park, one leg cross over another, her hands resting on her thighs! She was treating this like this was a game, as if this were a joke but… But she wasn’t smiling. The face on this majin was dead serious with not an ounce of life, joy or even a macabre sense of pleasure sparking in those sanguine reds. …Just frustration… and exhaustion. This majin looked like a mother who never got away from her bratty children and had been worn down by their incessant noise… The lines at the corner of her mouth indicated a constant frown, the furrow in her brow comfortable, as fit the muscles there had grown used to them being furrowed. The sharpness in this girl’s eyes resembled most closely that of a creature FAR OLDER than the softness of the majin’s face might suggest, someone who had long since forgotten the happy joy-joys of childhood… and instead, been submerged in the responsibilities of adulthood her entire menial life.
“RAH!”
Liari SWIPED HER HAND OFF HER NOSE… ONLY TO GET POPPED AT THE FRONT OF IT WITH A SUDDEN, BRUTAL BLOW! THE IMPACT NEARLY PUSHED THE WHOLE THING DEEP INTO THE APE’S HEAD, CAUSING IT TO RECOIL AND COLLAPSE ON THE GROUND IN A THUNDROUS HEAP! A low groan of pain escaped its snarling lips as it slowly sat up… ONLY TO BE STRUCK WITH A SHARP COMBINATION ACROSS THE FACE, EACH ONE JERKING THE APE’S MASSIVE HEAD ALL OVER THE PLACE!
“Pathetic. You always thought this sort of thing was a game, something you could afford to play with. You still having fun, Liari? Do you still want to play this game? Is it still fun to you?”
“GGGGRRRRRRGH!” HANDS SWUNG AROUND AND CLAPPED where she thought the uppity Majin stood, only for her to pull back her hands and reveal… NOTHING! SHE’D MISSED! SUDDENLY A fist no smaller than the tip of the ape’s finger SMASHED DOWN on the back of her head, causing Liari to SLAM down into the earth, burying her face within it!
“…You don’t remember do you? We’ve done this so many times, I can scarcely remember.” The majin mumbled, kneeling so that her lips hung as close to the buried ape’s ear as possible. “…And you always lost… You never thought about what you were doing.”
“SHUT… UUUUUUUUP!” The beast SCREAMED in a surge of KI, its PINK AURA EXPLODING AROUND IT WITH FORCE ENOUGH TO LEVEL THE ENTIRE ENVIRONENT! ROCKS THAT MET A CERTAIN HEIGHT WERE INSTANTLY OBLITERATED! THE SKY DARKENED INSTANTLY AS FLASHES OF LIGHTING, TINTED WITH THE COLOR OF LIARI’S KI JUMPED BETWEEN CLOUDS! THE EARTH RUMBLED AND TWISTED AS IF INTIMIDATED BY THE DISPLAY, WRITING AND TWISTING IN PROTEST OF THE MAJIN’S POWER! …And yet, the stranger appeared completely unimpressed… In fact, she might have just yawned in the midst of Liari letting EVERY OUNCE OF HER POWER OUT AT ONCE!
“…You used to be so much more than this.” She sighed… BEFORE STABBING A PUNCH SO DEEP IN LIARI, THE SHOCKWAVE OF THE IMPACT BLUE A HOLE OUT HER BACK THAT SPLIT UPON MOST OF HER TORSO! Liari froze… shivered….. and collapsed in a heap once more… her form slowly reconstituting as it shrunk back to its original size and shape. The smaller majin did, however, show some interest in this new from, so tall… adultlike… hardly reflective of the person inside… Still a child despite the… very old soul she felt within her. The childlike majin sat herself down on one of the few rocks to survive Liari’s sudden episode, hiding a knee up against her chest as the much taller… and far less mature majin slowly stirred.
“…We were never supposed to end up like this.” She began… and Liari sat up, her sanguine eyes cast into the sky. “…For the longest time, we did nothing but get along. We saw everything together, you and me… But then, you got greedy. You wanted more than I could give you, more than you should have taken… You wanted everything.”
“Sh… SHUT UP…” Liari SPAT almost drunkenly, trying to stand on two shaky legs… before collapsing to her hands and knees, DRY-HEAVING! She still felt that fist in her stomach, it almost causing a rather… violent upsurge in her lunch… The younger Majin seemed completely disinterested in her lookalike’s reaction though… and simply continued.
“You have no idea how many times we’ve done this dance, do you…? You always lost your patience with me when I tried to reason with you, always striking first when all I wanted to do was explain… You were always so sweet and curious… I remember when you used to smile and point at the alien live-stock as we flew by… I never could figure out what changed in you… How you ended up like… this.”
“…STOP TALKING…. LIKE YOU KNOW ME…” Liari demanded, FINALLY finding her feet, wiping her bottom lip with her wrist! “…All you’ve done… since I woke up… was scream at me… DRIVE ME MAD in my sleep! All I hear is your STUPID VOICE… You… YOU HATE ME! Stop pretending… YOU DON’T!”
The younger-looking majin tilted her head, looking at Liari with a stare of confusion… and mild curiosity, hopping off her rock before walking up to the taller majin! She reached out to her gently, her hand stopping just short of her face, her eyes closing as a pulsating rings of energy surrounded the majin…
Liari SCREAMED in rage and threw a sharp PUNCH at the girl… only to hit nothing and for an ELBOW to SLAM into her face, PUSHING IT INWARDS as she fell back HARD on her spine, clutching at her face!
“Oh dear… Liari, have you hit your head recently…?” The strange majin uttered. “…Fore it was not I sending you those images… It would seem that your memory… had been lost some time ago…”
“What are you…. Talking about…?” Liari whined… before throwing a SHARP, desperate kick at the smaller majin’s stomach… only for her to disappear AGAIN and feel one of her own SNAP across her face, LIARI SPINNING on the ground almost 90 degrees, her eyes certainly bouncing around in their sockets as if they were PONG boards!
“…It seems like your memory is returning a fraction at a time… starting with the more recent memories… I suppose that….” …The majin blinked, raising her hand to her face, suddenly starting to see it fade! Her eyes widened in panic, realizing what this was, what this could mean… That wizard… he was undoing the magic that had called her here, the illusion from which she was able to establish form! CURSES… and she was FINALLY going to make herself known to her in full after all these years!
“Listen. For the first time in your stupid life, YOU LISTEN TO ME.” The majin GROWLED, GRABBING Liari’s head by her tentacles and JERKING IT UP so that their eyes had no CHOICE but to meet! “…You are going to wait HERE on this world for me… I am coming to get you. When I do, you WILL NOT resist me like you tried today. You WILL comply. You don’t have any CHOICE.”
“…I… don’t… know… YOU…” Liari sputtered, her hands reaching up to weakly pry at the fingers digging into her scalp… but, even FADING, the illusion was FAR stronger than her!
“…You will again soon, so help me.” The majin hissed… before Liari faded through her fingers… and she was gone. Without a word… Liari slowly stood up… and walked out of the meditation chamber, trembling, shaking, hiding her face in her hands… fore that, was all a majin in her position could do when given such an order.
WC: 5060
