Post by Vocado on Sept 8, 2020 6:57:03 GMT -6
"Seriously? This is how far we've fallen?"
Vocado looked down at the illusion before him. It was his younger self, sitting in his bed some two decades back or so. He'd wet the bed, or so it seemed, and was whimpering in the dead of night. Why was he being shown this of all things? The mere idea of this being part of some sort of test or puzzle set his anger alight. Seeing himself as this scared little thing wasn't humiliating, but it was annoying at the least. With a harsh huff, Vocado turned on his heel, and walked back out the door.
One might expect him to end up in the hall of some palace on Vegeta, or at least the living room of some common house, but instead he found himself in the center of a large maze-like portion of the cave. Whatever that room was, it was connected to today's challenge.
It was starting to get boring, all things considered. The maze was littered with these doors. They were plain, simple wood, and each one led to some part of his own history. He'd already seen himself as a young teen, failing to impress a girl who blew him off. Another door led to one of his birthday parties, where another kid activated the blutz generator on the prince's father's spacepod. As one might expect, the up-scale event turned a bit... Wild.
It didn't make much sense, and unlike before, the ghostly figure who'd so kindly showed up to explain the problem to him was absent. Would he have to figure this one out on his own? Maybe there was a pattern to all of this. Some connecting piece that each scene included. Was it his brash nature? Some sort of rude thing he'd done or nasty comment he was prone to make? What habit could he possibly have that The Shape would want to belittle him for?
His mind wandered as he inspected each door. The maze was shifting around him as he watched. Doors slid in and out of the wall, and bricks shifted above him in sets of five or six. Once in a while, a door would open on its own, but Vocado hadn't been enticed by anything inside just yet. Most of it was more of his childhood. More awkward conversations, more failed events and broken noses.
It took a long time to find one that enticed him, and when it did, he couldn't help but feel a sting of pain.
When the door swung open, looking back at him was his own face. He was barely a year younger, though it was hard to tell exact dates. His younger self was fresh out of a makeshift healing chamber somewhere on Namek, conversing a litany of his old allies. Auber and Cress; Kalabas too, who seemed distinctly more alive than usual. Whatever their chat was about didn't matter. What mattered was that this may very well be the last time he'd been happy.
Not happy in the joyous, giggling sense. Happy in the way someone feels protected. This was sometime after his defeat against Ramen, before the corrupting seed of doubt and hate had been planted in him. Here he was still a King. Still... Nice.
For a while he simply watched from the doorframe. The details of the quartets afternoon were fuzzy, and so too was the illusion. What mattered was that they were together. Alive and working for a common goal. Now, he'd turned Cress into a war criminal. He'd let Kalabas die alone in some dingy house. And Auber? Who knows what happened to that poor soul. Surely a fate worse than all three.
Did he want this life back? Maybe. It'd be a hard sell to retrieve it, and the end result might be some faulty copy. Some ineffectual bargain-bin life. The door closed itself, and the answer was clear. Like he'd told so many in the waking world, he had no intention of going back to the way things were. Even with infinite time to reflect, he knew he'd never find peace. Not in the way a pacifist might describe it, anyway.
The room scrambled itself again, and a more vicious memory took the old ones place. Right in the middle of his first battle with Kayen, the door opened. The two were great apes, brawling across lava lakes. This memory was clearer; more annoying. Without a second thought, he stepped inside, and felt a heaviness in his chest. That sinking, sinful feeling wormed its way into his system, enhanced three-fold from its original self.
Walking into the memory was far different from simply inspecting it as an onlooker. He'd only experienced the sensation briefly before, but plunging himself headlong into this one gave him a much greater feeling of vertigo. The world seemed to rearrange and mold itself as he walked. Liquid silver-like material pulsed with each step, creating more of the scorched earth they'd founded their forward-operating base on.
He'd forgotten how brutal this battle was. Each of them had been giving it their all, and it seemed he arrived to this flashback near the crescendo. The two apes were on each other like wild beasts, biting and pulling and screaming. If he recalled correctly, this was moments before Kayen's signature strike laid him out.
He heard her battle cry, "FINAL SLASH", and the memory felt all the more real. The pain of being swept up in that tornado of Ki. The shock of learning Kayen's true heritage mere moments later. It made him angry all over again. It made him want another crack at this day.
And suddenly, the room slowed down.
"All people can fail."
"Oh no..."
There he was. The Shape spoke through him again as he appeared. He was much more solid this time. The outline of some form of clothing was visible now, rather than the abstract shape his chest used to be. It seemed so very formal, and entirely alien. Like some higher being, which he supposed made sense given the circumstance.
"All things are worthy of success, just as all things are able to fall short of that success. Understand this. Learn this. And--"
Vocado pushed his jaw closed, stopping the invisible word sludge from pouring out. The Shape vanished moments later, though the room didn't return to normal. Instead, the floor began to shift and dance. The Saiyan felt something tug on his chest, and before he could react, he was whisked into the sky as his body began to grow. Vocado looked on in horror as his body convulsed, limbs cracking and popping as they expanded. Fur grew in rapid pace, and his face elongated to support his larger teeth. It'd been so long since he had a tail, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to become an Oozaru.
With the transformation complete, the Saiyan tried to compose himself. Standing in this strange, ever-morphing room, he couldn't help but notice a growing numbness in his gut. It wasn't until a few moments later that he realized he was covered in wounds... From Kayen.
And now the room was normal again. It was Namek again, and in front of him was Kayen. She was an ape too. Wounded and drained, but still ready to fight. Fateburn was held above her like some grand trophy, and it was filling to the brim with energy. He'd just watched this moment, hadn't he? Why was it happening again? Before he could understand the severity of his situation, Kayen screamed out her attack's name.
“FIIIINAAAAAAAAAL”
"Wait... Crap! I need to--"
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
In an instant, the maelstrom of Ki erupted from her blade. It surged through him, engulfing every inch of his very being. The pain was so familiar; so obviously real. How had he survived this the first time? Vocado closed his eyes...
Standing across from Kayen, he blinked harshly. Hadn't he just been attacked? What happened?
“FIIIINAAAAAAAAAL”
There it was again. That same moment in time. Like a broken record perhaps? He knew it was coming this time. What strategy could he use to avoid it? In his wounded state, his options were limited. Vocado readied himself for Kayen's advance, and as she brought the blade up, he met the attack with his own Ki.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
And again, the energy was simply too much. Vocado shrieked in pain as the attack launched him skyward, burning each and every nerve in his body with immeasurable pain. He closed his eyes again, and the moment restarted itself all the same.
“FIIIINAAAAAAAAAL...”
"This is gonna take a while..."
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Dead.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Mortally wounded.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Missing a limb.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Lost his tail.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Somehow, he'd gotten Tarch killed alongside him.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
"ENOUGH!"
The room paused around him. Kayen's attack was frozen in time, along with the many spectators. Vocado huffed and puffed, breathing in through his jagged ape teeth. This was ridiculous. If he had more time to think, maybe he'd have a real chance. If he could go further back in the fight? Maybe that'd change everything.
As if reading his thoughts, the room rewound around him. He watched as Kayen darted across the battlefield, attacking a phantom opponent as the world reshaped itself. He felt his body shrink, and suddenly he was a good mile to the right. They were in the center of the base now, and she had finished her decree mere moments ago. He assumed, based on the faces of the spectators, that he'd accepted. If he recalled correctly, this was when he made the first move. He'd attacked with a combination that ended in a knee, right?
For a moment, he contemplated his next course of action, and decided that matching his memory of the fight was his best bet for now. It was a long and arduous process, but he let muscle memory take its course for each phrase of the combat. When it was all said and done, Kayen was about ready to send out her Final Slash yet again, and Vocado opted to have the room play things back again.
He tried what felt like an endless combination of things. Letting her take charge of the fight first ended it faster. Being more aggressive ended with a handful more broken ribs. It was infuriating, but for some odd reason it kept driving him forwards. Each time he failed, he found a new break in the fight. An attack he hadn't thought to dodge the time before, or letting a hit in to ensure he had energy for another.
Surely he hours in here. If he could spend an entire year replaying this fight, he surely would.
At the end of his time, he finally found a way to perfect the fight. Each swing of the sword was perfectly dodged. Each energy blast deflected and every last quip was met with a defiant and confident retort. This time, there was no Final Slash. Kayen lie dead in a crater, her Oozaru form slowly shrinking. Vocado, on the other hand, was spotless. No blood, no sweat. He smiled confidently, but as time slowly ground to a halt, he couldn't help but feel wrong.
This wasn't real. Kayen hadn't been beaten so effortlessly. Vocado had given her a proper fight, and they both came out broken and battered. It wasn't right. This was a lie.
"Run it back."
Vocado shifted back to the center of the base, and went through the motions of the fight one last time. He made sure to play it identical to its original self, and when the Final Slash erupted, he felt nothing. No pain, no joy. Just compliance. He closed his eyes, and sighed. As the Ki engulfed him, he could feel that sinful weight fall off his shoulders again.
"Excellent."
When he opened his eyes, he was back in the cave again. The maze was gone, and instead he was situated in a strange portion of the cavern. Dazzling gemstones were hidden in the rocks around them, and in the center of the room was a lake of luminescent liquid. Floating above the water was The Shape, who, if Vocado could see through the blur, was smiling.
"You've done well thus far. I wanted to congratulate you."
This time The Shape did not use Vocado's mouth, but instead his own. His voice was kind and considerate. The type you'd want to hear from a customer service agent. Way too nice to be real.
"Tch. You again. What was the lesson this time, blob boy? Try hard enough and I can get anything I want? Maybe next time you can teach me that stealing is bad!"
The Shape chuckled to himself, before descending to the water's surface. His feet touched it ever-so slightly, rippling the water on contact. The light beneath the surface danced, and suddenly the pool, as well as the room itself, sported a calming purple hue. "You can think that if you like, but I would hope you'd stop the sarcasm by now and see the big picture." He gestured to the wall, and on it were three images.
First was the Saibaman. Its arms were crossed in a sinister way, and it seemed to be looking down on the viewer no matter how they viewed it. Next was a throne room, with that bland boy cheering in the center of the frame. Lastly was what he'd seen moments ago; Kayen was attacking with Final Slash.
"These were all tests, as I'm sure you realized. Each one had a specific purpose. Do you realize what they were?"
Vocado inspected each one carefully, trying his best to decipher them. He had a vague idea, he supposed, but he was more focused on getting through the cave than he was solving any riddles. At the end of all of this he figured he'd just kill this shadowy thing and be done with it all, but now he wondered if there was a deeper meaning to it all.
"I can tell you're missing something, so maybe I should spell it out? There's no shame in being confused. I did make it a hard puzzle to decipher, after all."[/b]
"Fine. Get on with it."
"Well, the theme I was trying to instill in you is that you aren't infallible. Falling to what you see as lowly was the easiest way to remind you that nothing is invincible. Finding your rivals defeated by someone else was to remind you that the world isn't yours alone to handle, and I'm glad you solved this recent puzzle so fast. I'd have let you pick any fight that caught your eye, but the idea was that you needed to remember that anyone can fail, and doing so isn't bad."
Long-winded as The Shape's explanation was, Vocado was still confused. He rolled his eyes, and stepped closer to the waters edge.
"And then the next test is going to remind me that it's okay to be gullible? That it's okay to take candy from strangers? I don't get it. What's the point? I knew all of this already by a wide margin. You think I'm some narcissist? Of course I can fail! How do you think I ended up here?"
"Sure, you knew those things, but you hadn't taken them to heart. Applied them to yourself." The Shape stepped off the water, and the lights suddenly went a dull gray. "You blame your failings on others, overthink things when you succeed. You hate those who are better than you, both physically and morally. By all accounts, you are a terrible person."
"Tch. You're a real charmer yourself."
"See? The challenges I present to you would be nothing to someone of pure intentions. It's because you've let yourself become corrupt that I challenge you the way I do, and my hope is that you'll come to your senses."
So it was a therapy session in disguise all along. How annoying.
"I don't expect you to change overnight. In fact, I suspect this won't do anything at all. The fact that I'm trying is enough for me, and the fact that you haven't left yet is inspiring. Oh! Speaking of leaving..."
The Shape gestured toward the wall again, and the cave wall tore itself in half. Behind it was a blinding light, and at its center was Shenron. The Eternal Dragon stared into the cave, its eyes flashing deep crimson. Chime and Oboe stood in front of the dragon, and it looked like... Cress? Was this real?
"The next leg of this journey is going to be... Arduous. If you want to leave now, you can go back to the living world and forget I ever existed. If you want to see what else I have to offer, however..." The lake shifted, and a set of stairs appeared. It lead deep below the water, to somewhere new.
Vocado was torn. Real or no, he wasn't sure that revival was a good option. He'd only died barely a month ago, right? His allies were scattered, and his enemies emboldened. He'd have no chance to win, let alone survive to make the trip worthwhile.
Without a word, Vocado stepped past The Shape, and into the sea.
"There's hope for him yet..."
Vocado looked down at the illusion before him. It was his younger self, sitting in his bed some two decades back or so. He'd wet the bed, or so it seemed, and was whimpering in the dead of night. Why was he being shown this of all things? The mere idea of this being part of some sort of test or puzzle set his anger alight. Seeing himself as this scared little thing wasn't humiliating, but it was annoying at the least. With a harsh huff, Vocado turned on his heel, and walked back out the door.
One might expect him to end up in the hall of some palace on Vegeta, or at least the living room of some common house, but instead he found himself in the center of a large maze-like portion of the cave. Whatever that room was, it was connected to today's challenge.
It was starting to get boring, all things considered. The maze was littered with these doors. They were plain, simple wood, and each one led to some part of his own history. He'd already seen himself as a young teen, failing to impress a girl who blew him off. Another door led to one of his birthday parties, where another kid activated the blutz generator on the prince's father's spacepod. As one might expect, the up-scale event turned a bit... Wild.
It didn't make much sense, and unlike before, the ghostly figure who'd so kindly showed up to explain the problem to him was absent. Would he have to figure this one out on his own? Maybe there was a pattern to all of this. Some connecting piece that each scene included. Was it his brash nature? Some sort of rude thing he'd done or nasty comment he was prone to make? What habit could he possibly have that The Shape would want to belittle him for?
His mind wandered as he inspected each door. The maze was shifting around him as he watched. Doors slid in and out of the wall, and bricks shifted above him in sets of five or six. Once in a while, a door would open on its own, but Vocado hadn't been enticed by anything inside just yet. Most of it was more of his childhood. More awkward conversations, more failed events and broken noses.
It took a long time to find one that enticed him, and when it did, he couldn't help but feel a sting of pain.
When the door swung open, looking back at him was his own face. He was barely a year younger, though it was hard to tell exact dates. His younger self was fresh out of a makeshift healing chamber somewhere on Namek, conversing a litany of his old allies. Auber and Cress; Kalabas too, who seemed distinctly more alive than usual. Whatever their chat was about didn't matter. What mattered was that this may very well be the last time he'd been happy.
Not happy in the joyous, giggling sense. Happy in the way someone feels protected. This was sometime after his defeat against Ramen, before the corrupting seed of doubt and hate had been planted in him. Here he was still a King. Still... Nice.
For a while he simply watched from the doorframe. The details of the quartets afternoon were fuzzy, and so too was the illusion. What mattered was that they were together. Alive and working for a common goal. Now, he'd turned Cress into a war criminal. He'd let Kalabas die alone in some dingy house. And Auber? Who knows what happened to that poor soul. Surely a fate worse than all three.
Did he want this life back? Maybe. It'd be a hard sell to retrieve it, and the end result might be some faulty copy. Some ineffectual bargain-bin life. The door closed itself, and the answer was clear. Like he'd told so many in the waking world, he had no intention of going back to the way things were. Even with infinite time to reflect, he knew he'd never find peace. Not in the way a pacifist might describe it, anyway.
The room scrambled itself again, and a more vicious memory took the old ones place. Right in the middle of his first battle with Kayen, the door opened. The two were great apes, brawling across lava lakes. This memory was clearer; more annoying. Without a second thought, he stepped inside, and felt a heaviness in his chest. That sinking, sinful feeling wormed its way into his system, enhanced three-fold from its original self.
Walking into the memory was far different from simply inspecting it as an onlooker. He'd only experienced the sensation briefly before, but plunging himself headlong into this one gave him a much greater feeling of vertigo. The world seemed to rearrange and mold itself as he walked. Liquid silver-like material pulsed with each step, creating more of the scorched earth they'd founded their forward-operating base on.
He'd forgotten how brutal this battle was. Each of them had been giving it their all, and it seemed he arrived to this flashback near the crescendo. The two apes were on each other like wild beasts, biting and pulling and screaming. If he recalled correctly, this was moments before Kayen's signature strike laid him out.
He heard her battle cry, "FINAL SLASH", and the memory felt all the more real. The pain of being swept up in that tornado of Ki. The shock of learning Kayen's true heritage mere moments later. It made him angry all over again. It made him want another crack at this day.
And suddenly, the room slowed down.
"All people can fail."
"Oh no..."
There he was. The Shape spoke through him again as he appeared. He was much more solid this time. The outline of some form of clothing was visible now, rather than the abstract shape his chest used to be. It seemed so very formal, and entirely alien. Like some higher being, which he supposed made sense given the circumstance.
"All things are worthy of success, just as all things are able to fall short of that success. Understand this. Learn this. And--"
Vocado pushed his jaw closed, stopping the invisible word sludge from pouring out. The Shape vanished moments later, though the room didn't return to normal. Instead, the floor began to shift and dance. The Saiyan felt something tug on his chest, and before he could react, he was whisked into the sky as his body began to grow. Vocado looked on in horror as his body convulsed, limbs cracking and popping as they expanded. Fur grew in rapid pace, and his face elongated to support his larger teeth. It'd been so long since he had a tail, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to become an Oozaru.
With the transformation complete, the Saiyan tried to compose himself. Standing in this strange, ever-morphing room, he couldn't help but notice a growing numbness in his gut. It wasn't until a few moments later that he realized he was covered in wounds... From Kayen.
And now the room was normal again. It was Namek again, and in front of him was Kayen. She was an ape too. Wounded and drained, but still ready to fight. Fateburn was held above her like some grand trophy, and it was filling to the brim with energy. He'd just watched this moment, hadn't he? Why was it happening again? Before he could understand the severity of his situation, Kayen screamed out her attack's name.
“FIIIINAAAAAAAAAL”
"Wait... Crap! I need to--"
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
In an instant, the maelstrom of Ki erupted from her blade. It surged through him, engulfing every inch of his very being. The pain was so familiar; so obviously real. How had he survived this the first time? Vocado closed his eyes...
Standing across from Kayen, he blinked harshly. Hadn't he just been attacked? What happened?
“FIIIINAAAAAAAAAL”
There it was again. That same moment in time. Like a broken record perhaps? He knew it was coming this time. What strategy could he use to avoid it? In his wounded state, his options were limited. Vocado readied himself for Kayen's advance, and as she brought the blade up, he met the attack with his own Ki.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
And again, the energy was simply too much. Vocado shrieked in pain as the attack launched him skyward, burning each and every nerve in his body with immeasurable pain. He closed his eyes again, and the moment restarted itself all the same.
“FIIIINAAAAAAAAAL...”
"This is gonna take a while..."
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Dead.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Mortally wounded.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Missing a limb.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Lost his tail.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
Somehow, he'd gotten Tarch killed alongside him.
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
“SLAAAAAAAAAASH!”
"ENOUGH!"
The room paused around him. Kayen's attack was frozen in time, along with the many spectators. Vocado huffed and puffed, breathing in through his jagged ape teeth. This was ridiculous. If he had more time to think, maybe he'd have a real chance. If he could go further back in the fight? Maybe that'd change everything.
As if reading his thoughts, the room rewound around him. He watched as Kayen darted across the battlefield, attacking a phantom opponent as the world reshaped itself. He felt his body shrink, and suddenly he was a good mile to the right. They were in the center of the base now, and she had finished her decree mere moments ago. He assumed, based on the faces of the spectators, that he'd accepted. If he recalled correctly, this was when he made the first move. He'd attacked with a combination that ended in a knee, right?
For a moment, he contemplated his next course of action, and decided that matching his memory of the fight was his best bet for now. It was a long and arduous process, but he let muscle memory take its course for each phrase of the combat. When it was all said and done, Kayen was about ready to send out her Final Slash yet again, and Vocado opted to have the room play things back again.
He tried what felt like an endless combination of things. Letting her take charge of the fight first ended it faster. Being more aggressive ended with a handful more broken ribs. It was infuriating, but for some odd reason it kept driving him forwards. Each time he failed, he found a new break in the fight. An attack he hadn't thought to dodge the time before, or letting a hit in to ensure he had energy for another.
Surely he hours in here. If he could spend an entire year replaying this fight, he surely would.
At the end of his time, he finally found a way to perfect the fight. Each swing of the sword was perfectly dodged. Each energy blast deflected and every last quip was met with a defiant and confident retort. This time, there was no Final Slash. Kayen lie dead in a crater, her Oozaru form slowly shrinking. Vocado, on the other hand, was spotless. No blood, no sweat. He smiled confidently, but as time slowly ground to a halt, he couldn't help but feel wrong.
This wasn't real. Kayen hadn't been beaten so effortlessly. Vocado had given her a proper fight, and they both came out broken and battered. It wasn't right. This was a lie.
"Run it back."
Vocado shifted back to the center of the base, and went through the motions of the fight one last time. He made sure to play it identical to its original self, and when the Final Slash erupted, he felt nothing. No pain, no joy. Just compliance. He closed his eyes, and sighed. As the Ki engulfed him, he could feel that sinful weight fall off his shoulders again.
"Excellent."
When he opened his eyes, he was back in the cave again. The maze was gone, and instead he was situated in a strange portion of the cavern. Dazzling gemstones were hidden in the rocks around them, and in the center of the room was a lake of luminescent liquid. Floating above the water was The Shape, who, if Vocado could see through the blur, was smiling.
"You've done well thus far. I wanted to congratulate you."
This time The Shape did not use Vocado's mouth, but instead his own. His voice was kind and considerate. The type you'd want to hear from a customer service agent. Way too nice to be real.
"Tch. You again. What was the lesson this time, blob boy? Try hard enough and I can get anything I want? Maybe next time you can teach me that stealing is bad!"
The Shape chuckled to himself, before descending to the water's surface. His feet touched it ever-so slightly, rippling the water on contact. The light beneath the surface danced, and suddenly the pool, as well as the room itself, sported a calming purple hue. "You can think that if you like, but I would hope you'd stop the sarcasm by now and see the big picture." He gestured to the wall, and on it were three images.
First was the Saibaman. Its arms were crossed in a sinister way, and it seemed to be looking down on the viewer no matter how they viewed it. Next was a throne room, with that bland boy cheering in the center of the frame. Lastly was what he'd seen moments ago; Kayen was attacking with Final Slash.
"These were all tests, as I'm sure you realized. Each one had a specific purpose. Do you realize what they were?"
Vocado inspected each one carefully, trying his best to decipher them. He had a vague idea, he supposed, but he was more focused on getting through the cave than he was solving any riddles. At the end of all of this he figured he'd just kill this shadowy thing and be done with it all, but now he wondered if there was a deeper meaning to it all.
"I can tell you're missing something, so maybe I should spell it out? There's no shame in being confused. I did make it a hard puzzle to decipher, after all."[/b]
"Fine. Get on with it."
"Well, the theme I was trying to instill in you is that you aren't infallible. Falling to what you see as lowly was the easiest way to remind you that nothing is invincible. Finding your rivals defeated by someone else was to remind you that the world isn't yours alone to handle, and I'm glad you solved this recent puzzle so fast. I'd have let you pick any fight that caught your eye, but the idea was that you needed to remember that anyone can fail, and doing so isn't bad."
Long-winded as The Shape's explanation was, Vocado was still confused. He rolled his eyes, and stepped closer to the waters edge.
"And then the next test is going to remind me that it's okay to be gullible? That it's okay to take candy from strangers? I don't get it. What's the point? I knew all of this already by a wide margin. You think I'm some narcissist? Of course I can fail! How do you think I ended up here?"
"Sure, you knew those things, but you hadn't taken them to heart. Applied them to yourself." The Shape stepped off the water, and the lights suddenly went a dull gray. "You blame your failings on others, overthink things when you succeed. You hate those who are better than you, both physically and morally. By all accounts, you are a terrible person."
"Tch. You're a real charmer yourself."
"See? The challenges I present to you would be nothing to someone of pure intentions. It's because you've let yourself become corrupt that I challenge you the way I do, and my hope is that you'll come to your senses."
So it was a therapy session in disguise all along. How annoying.
"I don't expect you to change overnight. In fact, I suspect this won't do anything at all. The fact that I'm trying is enough for me, and the fact that you haven't left yet is inspiring. Oh! Speaking of leaving..."
The Shape gestured toward the wall again, and the cave wall tore itself in half. Behind it was a blinding light, and at its center was Shenron. The Eternal Dragon stared into the cave, its eyes flashing deep crimson. Chime and Oboe stood in front of the dragon, and it looked like... Cress? Was this real?
"The next leg of this journey is going to be... Arduous. If you want to leave now, you can go back to the living world and forget I ever existed. If you want to see what else I have to offer, however..." The lake shifted, and a set of stairs appeared. It lead deep below the water, to somewhere new.
Vocado was torn. Real or no, he wasn't sure that revival was a good option. He'd only died barely a month ago, right? His allies were scattered, and his enemies emboldened. He'd have no chance to win, let alone survive to make the trip worthwhile.
Without a word, Vocado stepped past The Shape, and into the sea.
"There's hope for him yet..."
