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Post by Kiko Kai on Feb 25, 2020 8:57:27 GMT -6
Kiko’s PL: 64,000
Basil’s PL: 5,000
Concerned. That was how Brand felt ever since he had been released from the Ogretown hospital. Something had happened to Kiko in the Demon Realm. Because he was fairly sure that he had never seen her cry before and she definitely did when he finally woke up at the hospital. Her hands had been covered in blisters and calluses as well. Now, he knew what those were from. Kiko was on a crazy training routine - the likes of which would have put his own to shame. But there was a cost. Brand had pushed himself to the limit. Kiko was pushing herself far beyond her limits. If she kept this up… well. Her health was already deteriorating, but she wasn’t listening to Basil or him. Bravo hadn’t woken up yet… which was why Brand was going in search of the only person that she might still listen to. It had been coincidence that Brand had heard of his arrival. It also explained some of the reasons that Kiko was pushing herself so hard, but not all of it. He couldn’t believe that she didn’t know that Tarch was here. It just didn’t seem possible. So, Brand was left to look for the Saiyan boy in the hopes that he would finally get Kiko to stop acting so rash. Fortunately, Tarch wasn’t too hard to find. After asking a few spirits, Brand landed outside of a school and glanced around for the boy. “Tarch! Where are you, boy? It’s Brand,” he called out to the school. Despite his release from the hospital, Brand wasn’t one hundred percent better. In fact, he likely would never be again. Mostly because of his age. His claw fell to his side where some bandages covered his injuries. The instructions from the doctors had been to take it easy. He was even lined up for something called physical therapy. Ugh. He was not looking forward to that. But he had been more worried about Kiko when he had seen her reaction to the news. It hadn’t been good even though it should have been him that was most negatively impacted. “Tarch?!”
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Post by Tarch on Feb 25, 2020 12:08:07 GMT -6
Tarch PL: 200,000.
Energy Suppressed to 5
The worst part of being dead was without a doubt the loneliness. Tarch longed to see just one person he knew. Sure he made new friends and met new people, but what was he supposed to do whenever he was revived. He’d probably never see them again. What about the people he knew back home? Tarch died months ago and hadn’t seen a single friend or family member since then. Just one familiar face would no doubt bring a smile to his face.
Which was why hearing a familiar voice sent a wave of ecstatic relief through him. Not only was the voice familiar, but it was calling out for him! Tarch peered out the window of the Shark School, finding a rather beat-up looking cat. Not the blue cat he met when he first arrived too. One of Kiko’s disciples!
“Mr. Brand!” Tarch bounded from the school doors to greet the battle-hungry feline. Unfortunately, he looked to be in no condition for a fight. Actually he didn’t even look fit to be walking around. Come to think of it, what was he doing up here? Tarch didn’t see a halo anywhere. More importantly, where was Kiko. “Are… are you okay? Where’s Kiko? Is SHE okay? She’s not… y’know… here too, is she?” Tarch hoped his meaning came across. He didn’t even want to think about the possibility of her death, let alone speak of it.
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Post by Kiko Kai on Feb 25, 2020 14:01:01 GMT -6
It didn’t take long for the little Saiyan he’d met back on Vegeta to come bounding out of the school. He looked… well enough, Brand supposed. All things considered. Tarch seemed happy enough at first. Until, of course, he actually saw the state that he was in. His concern immediately appeared. Brand sighed inwardly. He did not love the idea of being fussed over by yet another child. They had no grasp of the concept of wanting to suffer with quiet dignity. Kneeling down so that he could talk to Tarch at eye level, he scowled a bit.
“Tch. I’ve been better, so has Kiko, but-“ Brand hastily added before Tarch could blurt out and interrupt him, “She’s better than you. You know what I mean…”
Brand groaned and ran his paw over his face. He was very bad at dealing with children. Kiko was fun to tease because she got all puffed up about it, but Brand generally preferred to be direct. “She’s alive. But she’s not doing great. We’ve actually been up here a couple months. Some stuff went down and… I’m not sure what happened exactly. It’s a long story, but the short version is that we all got separated when we headed to this place called the Demon Realm. Kiko thought she could do something about the place. Or something. Anyway, the place was crawling with monsters. I met up with Bravo and Basil, but we got pretty banged up before Kiko showed up and got us out.”
Brand supposed that wasn’t all that short. He shook his head and shrugged. “I got out of the hospital a little while ago, but when I did… well. Tch… maybe it’s just better if you see her.” Standing back up unsteadily, Brand floated up and gestured for Tarch to follow. He was sure the kid had questions and he was fine with answering them. Just on the way. Flying off at the best speed he could manage, Brand glanced back at Tarch just to make sure the kid didn’t have any burning questions right off the bat.
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Post by Tarch on Mar 2, 2020 11:55:42 GMT -6
Tarch let out a deep sigh of relief. So Kiko was ok. Or at the very least alive. From the sounds of things though she was not doing very well. Turned out this whole thing happened because of someplace called the demon realm. Why did Kiko always have to go to the scariest places in the known universe? First the Destron Crags and now a place that from the name alone sounded absolutely terrifying. Granted the hybrid could understand cleaning places like those up. Unfortunately, it seemed that went poorly considering the sad state Brand was in.
Before he could voice any questions though, Brand was already showing him to Kiko. He supposed that was good. Still, the poor Hakai looked wobbly on his feet so to speak. Even flying seemed painful for him. He knew his type though. The two were a lot alike. They would keep going even when they were beaten and broken. Because, as Tarch learned the hard way, if they ever stopped, they’d die.
“Mr. Brand. I don’t know if it’ll help,” he began, flying at a steady pace behind him, “but I have a-” no he didn’t. The tree was back home. In the living world far out of reach without help. “Back home, I have a little bean that can help heal people. If you even find me back on Earth I can give you one.” It’s the thought that counts right? But if what he knew about Brand was true, he didn’t need or want any of that kind of help.
Maybe it was better to change the topic. “So what is this demon realm place? Why would Kiko even try to clean that place up? I mean the Destron place makes sense. You can at least clear up the smoke and stuff there.” But somewhere called the Demon Realm sounded like it was literally meant to be a place for nothing but demons and monsters. Like the one that killed him.
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Post by Kiko Kai on Mar 5, 2020 17:04:21 GMT -6
Brand cast a glance back at Tarch when he mentioned help. At first, he had thought the boy meant helping Kiko, but no. He meant to help him. Brand scowled at the notion and was about to snap at Tarch when he caught himself. The boy was just trying to help him. And, as much as his pride smarted at the idea, he appreciated the sentiment begrudgingly. Really, more than anyone else, he was worried about Bravo who was still in a coma at the hospital and Kiko who was steadily working her way into one.
“Thanks, but no. You focus on your own problems first. After all, I’m still better off than you are,” Brand grumbled in his usual grumpy tone. As much as he wanted to, he didn’t think that he was going to be much use protecting Kiko ever again. So, he would greatly prefer it if Tarch grew strong enough to look after her in his place. The kid probably had people down there. He would be back on his feet in no time. Brand was sure of it. “And focus on helping Kiko too. You two are dating, right? As a man, it’s your job to protect her. As much as she blusters, she cares a lot. I think someone hurt her.”
When Tarch changed the topic, Brand sighed and tried to recollect the series of events leading up to that moment. “I think there was an ogre kid who said something about how Shinjin are lazy and don’t deserve their titles or something, and well. You know Kiko. She took that as a challenge and leaped off to do the most stupid, reckless thing she could thing of… I should have stopped her, but I thought I could handle it. We got separated on the way… it wasn’t pretty for me and the others, I know that much.”
Flicking his eyes down to a familiar glade of trees, Brand slowed down and floated toward two figures in the shadows of the trees. When he got closer, he froze. Kiko had collapsed, and Basil was in his usual panic of tending to her. Brand hurriedly shot down to them and jogged over despite his injuries. Kiko’s face was a shade of purple and her breathing was pretty shallow.
“Basil! What happened?!”
The human disciple jumped and glanced over to Brand and Tarch with a look of relief in his tired eyes. “Brand! You found him! Hello, Tarch. I would say it’s good to see you again, but given the circumstances…”
“Save the pleasantries,” Brand snapped impatiently, pushing the boy aside and kneeling down beside Kiko to take her temperate. Basil stumbled back and looked at Tarch apologetically.
“She was pushing herself too hard again. I told her to stop but… she didn’t listen, of course, and then she passed out.”
“Idiot,” Brand grumbled, although it was unclear if he was talking about Basil or the little goddess.
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Post by Tarch on Mar 25, 2020 10:52:50 GMT -6
“I’m already dead. What problems could I have left that a healing bean could fix?” Was there a bean that could bring back the dead? Or what about those healing pods? Maybe those could heal a dead person! Or make a really gross zombie. Maybe if the person died recently. Sadly that did not apply to Tarch. He died…
“Huh… If I’m not wrong, I died three months ago. Almost exactly.” Just as he was getting lost in his own thoughts, Tarch would soon find himself and Mr. Brand closing in on Basil. More importantly, there was an unconscious Kiko the human was tending to.
He barely acknowledged Basil as he greeted him. “H-hi,” he gasped out, slowly meandering over to the downed kai. He instinctively put a hand to her forehead. Unfortunately, that didn’t tell him anything. Did kais even get fevers? Were their body temperatures the same as humans or saiyans? Could he do anything? He wished he had his bonsai here in heaven. All he could do was watch.
“Mr. Basil, Mr. Brand… do you know why she’s been like this? I know you said something about a Demon Realm. But… Did anything specifically happen to her to make her work so hard?” Tarch hated it when he got like this. When he dropped his happy-go-lucky attitude to be serious. It was a sure sign that things were not okay. But Kiko needed his help. He’d be happy for her where she woke up sure. But now he had to know why she would do this to herself.
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Post by Kiko Kai on Apr 3, 2020 12:39:00 GMT -6
Kiko didn’t feel very good. Everything had gone black all of a sudden. She felt herself coming around slowly, but her head was all swimmy. She could hear voices nearby, but it was like her ears were filled with cotton because they were too muffled for her to really understand. Her eyelids felt heavy. Was this a normal thing for a goddess to feel? Probably not. Her tummy was doing unpleasant flips as she tried to sort out what was going on. She felt a hand on her forehead. It was warm. It reminded her of Tarch a little bit and holding his hand. His hands were always so warm.
She tried opening her eyes and managed to make out some vague shapes and colors. Kiko cursed the fact that it was always sunny up here though. The bright light made her head pound painfully. In a moment or two, her eyes managed to adjust, and she could make out the familiar shapes of Brand and Basil. Of course, there was someone hovering over her. In her hazy state, she kind of expected it to be Bravo given how he fretted over them, but as her eyes refocused, Kiko felt her heart catch in her throat. Her eyes went wide.
“T-Tarch!”
Kiko tried to sit up, but she was too fast and her head immediately went all swimmy again. She flopped back down, feeling pretty winded. Basil and Brand instantly turned to look at her. Brand looked as grumpy as ever. She wondered if he was mad at her for what had happened. Ignoring those two for now, Kiko looked up at Tarch. Her eyes drifted up to his halo. She was too tired to be able to hide her reaction as guilt washed over her face. Senny did this. Sensoa. Did this. It was her fault. She looked away, staring at the grass with an unyielding determination. He would probably hate her. And as much as her pride didn’t allow for apologies, she felt like she owed Tarch at least that, but she couldn’t even look at him.
“Hey…”
She managed faintly, her voice at a mumble rather than her usual near-shout. What was she supposed to say? She wanted to tell him everything, but not with Basil and Brand hanging around. Kiko didn’t want them to see her upset or weak. There was the option of telepathy, but she didn’t really want to do that either. What she wanted to do was crawl back into the fruit she came from and die. Bleh. Kiko simmered in her own melodrama while Brand gave Tarch a shrug in answer to his question. Basil shook his head.
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Post by Tarch on Apr 8, 2020 11:02:51 GMT -6
Thank the kai’s Kiko was awake. Or thank her really. Regardless of metaphor Tarch was glad to see she was at least starting to get better. That being said she still looked awful and sounded worse. More than anything he wished he had his senzu bonsai up in heaven. The teen clenched his fist, cursing lowly under his breath. If the situation were reversed, he could just ask Kiko to go grab a bean for him. Not that it mattered, he was already dead anyway. For now, all he could do was be here like Mr. Brand said.
“Hey,” he called back in a gentle lull, “Are you okay? How… how are you feeling?” Why did that always seem like such a dumb question? Obviously she wasn’t okay and obviously she felt horrible. It didn’t help that she actually turned away from him. Was she upset with him? No, he didn’t do anything but be there. Knowing Kiko it was probably her own embarrassment.
“Geez,” he sighed, carefully falling to his knees, “how did you get like this anyway?” The half saiyan did notice Brand and Basil’s lack of answers. He also highly doubted they didn’t know how it happened. So who better to ask than the girl herself? Tarch was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another. He didn’t care if he had to go to the demon realm place himself, he was going to at least try and make this right.
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Post by Kiko Kai on May 12, 2020 11:04:00 GMT -6
“T-Tired… but, it’s… nice to see you…” came Kiko’s slow answer as she averted her eyes from Tarch, glancing over at her two worried disciples and glaring at them. Basil looked confused, but Brand rolled his eyes, understanding her not so subtle hint. For a moment or two, she wasn’t sure that he would take the hint, but after a moment, he shuffled over to Basil and hoisted the human up by his scruff, whispering something into his ear. Basil spoke up, making an awkward excuse.
“Uh- I’ll get some water and snacks! We’ll be back.”
The two walked away afterward, disappearing behind some trees. With them gone, Kiko let out a soft sigh as Tarch fell to his knees in the grass beside her. Going a bit more slowly than before, Kiko sat up and considered his question with an unhappy frown on her face. Where did she even begin? At the beginning probably. She sighed and rubbed her light head, feeling woozy but also vaguely embarrassed about what she was about to say.
“A door to the demon realm opened up on Earth, and this really annoying ogre said that Shinjin were useless and didn’t work hard. So… to prove him wrong, I… kind of… went into the Demon Realm. Just to figure out how to seal the entrance off! Or… destroy the realm entirely.”
Kiko shrugged. Her original ambition had been purifying the place, but that had disappeared pretty quickly once they’d all been separated. “When we got in, we were all split up. I looked around for them, but some demons saw me… and uh. It didn’t go so well.” Kiko grimaced at the memory of being chased around by a horde. “I ran into this one demon I knew from the Saiyan Kingdom, and he protected and took care of me. He even promised to help me find Basil, Bravo, and Brand. So we went looking around… but then he got word that his super dummy dumb disciple was causing trouble on Namek. So I wanted to help him to pay him back, you know.”
“It, uh, didn’t go well. The Guru was pretty pissed off and hecking vaporized her! And I… couldn’t really do anything…” Kiko deflated even more, remembering how she went so far as to beg. To lower herself that far… She shook her head and flexed her hands. “I realize… now that I have to work really hard to get strong too… Strong enough to be considered for Supreme Kai. I have to make them recognize me. I don’t want anything like that happening again… After that… Senny was really mad about the whole student vaporization thing… He swore revenge on… the Guru and pretty much everything and everyone. Which, uh, not cool? But he was so upset that the Guru killed a child - she was older than me - that… he lost it? I got a really bad feeling that he was gonna do something horrible. He left me alone and… I couldn’t stop him either. And I had to go save my disciples by myself and...”
Kiko sighed and held her face in her hands. If she hadn’t been so weak, maybe none of this would have happened in the first place. Tarch would still be alive. Sensoa would still be alive. Kitiana too even if she was a super dumb dummy. Kiko groaned in misery and mumbled softly under her breath still loud enough to just make out. “I’m sorry, Tarch… your goddess really failed you…”
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Post by Tarch on May 14, 2020 14:04:58 GMT -6
Tarch hung on every word that came from that little blue mouth of hers. Whoever did this was in for the beating of their lives. Although it sounded more like this was her own doing. Since the last person he even considered laying a hand on was Kiko, only tied with Belle maybe, he instead thought it best to support her. Rather than beating anyone up, just be kind and calm. That was until she mentioned someone. A sickeningly familiar description. A demon from the saiyan kingdom. She couldn’t possibly mean…
Senny. A demon from the saiyan kingdom. That alone could either be a scary coincidence or just a particularly evil member of the kingdom. Tarch knew many saiyans in the kingdom that counted as metaphorical demons. But the only person that had a name even close to that was his killer.
“You… know Sensoa?” The young deceased teen didn’t know what to make of this. Was he supposed to be sad for Kiko or angry at Sensoa? On top of all that, what did Oboe have to do with this? He killed someone. Another child. Is that what set Sensoa off? Was he dead because of… No. Mr. Oboe was a good man. A great man! He would never kill anyone unless he absolutely had to right? Right? But that was enough to send Sensoa on a rage. A few rogue tears gently cascaded down the boy's face. But who were they for? Why was he even crying at all right now?
Tarch shook his head clear. He was jumping to conclusions without knowing all of the facts. It had been three months almost to the day since he died. That meant there was plenty of time for other things to happen. Chances were the entire debacle with Sensoa and Oboe was not only unrelated but after he was killed. Meaning the two were likely completely unrelated! Granted Tarch was still left with many questions about Oboe and why he would kill someone barely older than himself or Kiko.
“Hey, Kiko?” he asked, his voice low and calm, “When did all this happen? Because… well… See, the thing is I was killed exactly three months ago, maybe a day before actually. I just want to know because if this happened before then…” The teen paused. If this did happen before then, then perhaps it was not entirely his own fault he died. He let out a long sigh, his hand instinctively scratching at the back of his neck. Regardless of when this all transpired, there was one person he definitely was not going to blame. “I’m just gonna say it. Sensoa killed me.” he quickly brought up his hands as if ready to defend either himself or his favorite shinjin, “and hey! I don’t think you failed me at all! Heck, on earth failing can be a good thing if you learn something. I just want to make sure I didn’t die… because of someone besides me.” No use throwing Oboe under the bus without any proof.
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Post by Kiko Kai on May 15, 2020 8:20:42 GMT -6
Kiko listened miserably as Tarch put it together than Sensoa was in fact the Senny that she spoke of. Oh no… was he going to give up on her as his goddess? She froze up when she saw tears falling from Tarch’s face. He was crying? Why?! Because she had betrayed his devotion both as her follower and his girlfriend? Her heart pounded irregularly in her chest, making her feel really bad all of a sudden. Sitting up became a problem with her stomach doing weird, unpleasant flips. Tarch seemed to stop for a moment or at least compose himself.
That fact didn’t quiet her guilty stomach, but she put her mind to his question. It didn’t take too long to figure out what he was after. She ran her hands through her cloudy hair and tried to think of the best way to answer. She felt his words like a knife when he just out and said that Sensoa killed him. He did his best to reassure her about her failures, but he didn’t understand everything yet. So, Kiko took a deep breath and continued her explanation.
“I know,” she said in a tiny voice, “After we… that is Brand and Basil and Bravo and me - escaped the Demon Realm, they were in really bad shape. You saw Brand… Bravo’s in a coma… He hasn’t woken up yet… A little while after I heard through the grapevine that… you had just arrived here… So, everything on Namek happened well before you died.”
Kiko was overcome by the sudden urge to hug Tarch really tightly but also had the distinct feeling that she didn’t deserve to hug him. “I’m sorry, Tarch. If I had been stronger… maybe it wouldn’t have happened and… and…” Her stomach finally got the better of her, an overwhelming feeling of nausea washing over her. Kiko fell back down onto her back, which helped the feeling a little, but didn’t make it go away entirely. This all happened because she was too weak to stop things.
“I could tell Sensoa was going to do something really bad… when he went into the Demon Realm. The Senny I knew was rough on the outside, but he took care of me when I needed it. He wasn’t a horrible, terrible demon. There was good in him! To turn around and go off on a rampage like he did… I think he had something done to himself so he wouldn’t feel bad.”
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