[DBitp] Fruits and Veggies

[Emperor Ing]

The Lookout

You are forgiven. Apfel smiles to Yakara. He then looks at Starlight, shaking his head very subtlety.

Whoa, hey! Hey there... Apfel is surprised by Vodkana's sudden display of affection. Unexpected, but welcome. Where the hug might have been crushing against others, Apfel could withstand it. He got low, hugging Vodkana back with one arm, patting her on the back.

We'll all go to Donut, my treat, once our business with Hailing is concluded. Until then, I *have* to know: Apfel stands back up and accepts the cake. While the concept of poisoning crossed his mind, he had no reason to disbelieve what Spoon told him before, that because the Nyagato can metabolize virtually everything, the concept of poison simply doesn't exist in their culture. As such, he accepted a slice of cake, masking his eagerness with dignified poise as he takes a fork to slice off a chunk and eat it.

However all semblance of poise and dignity go out the window once the morsel touches his tongue. His body siezes up briefly, back arcing backwards, eyes widening in shock. What ever semblance of self-control he had could only chew and swallow.

WAAAAH-HOOW!! He exclaims in abject joy. It is as though the gates of Heaven have opened! I am bathed in the radiance of all that is holy, good, and delicious in the universe as choirs of angels sing epics to the heights at which flavor may achieve!

[igordragonian]

Vodkana

Vodkana wagged her tail happily, and even blushed a bit.
"Nyanyayaya! My pleasure! Spoon also have taught me good things, as well! Nyayaya! And since I have met my new friends, I had a chance to train my cooking for the people I like!"

[Lucyfah]

Lucifer the magnificent has magneftically petted his moustach!
"Money? Aeghh... I meant glory?" He looked at his sword with a sly smile.
"Sure! I am Sir Martin Lucifer The Magnificent will let the world enjoy my overwhelming power! Actually, since I am the most powerful warrior on Earth, everyone should have a chance to fight in order to get into the final battle- against me! hahahaha!" his fans already awakened.
"How generouse are you!!!"

[Ishimi]

Ryuichi sits down with everybody as the cake is being served, though he doesn't take a piece for himself.
He is watching Vodkana, mentally noting how quickly she bounced back from Spoon's death. Spoon's demise was certainly of his own making, but this felt off for some reason.

Perhaps it was best to simply let it go, he din't want to ruin the apparent joy of the moment.

Apfel's response to the cake causes Ryuichi to atartle for a moment, but other than that everything seemed... normal? No, that certainly wasn't the word... the details were unimportant.


He turns his head to 22, though he is speaking to the group in general.

"So, what do we plan on doing next?"

[Lord Raziere]

The Lookout
"Uuuuummmmmmm......"
Android 22 says with widened eyes. Technically the next thing on the list was to figure out how to get the Dragon Balls working again-but she knew enough that 23 wouldn't want the Dragon Balls revealed yet, especially when Arcos was around and clearly loyal to Hailing! Especially when it wasn't clear what Apfel would think of them yet. Double-especially when 23 wasn't even back yet, to know what her stance on Arcos would be.

Though 22 could guess: 23 would outright question why Arcos was here, and then probably make some reference to the dangers being overly trusting and merciful, but try to politically work with things just so that Apfel wouldn't be against them while actually hating Arcos like she did with Spoon. 22 herself could see the threat that Arcos posed and 22 would want to fight her because Arcos was basically a soldier of an evil empire out of a sense of justice and protecting the earth, but again Starlight and Apfel wouldn't allow that- 22 would attack her right now if she wasn't confident that both Apfel and Starlight would try to restrain her. Maybe she could try some form of honorable combat to the death?

Though she did know a place to go to fix the Dragon Balls after the week of research: a planet called Talsaiga. Browsing the news archives of the future lead her to a headline that said "STRANGE DRAGON BALLS AND DRAGON DISCOVERED ON ISOLATED PLANET" during the Year 987.

Therefore why not kill two birds with one stone?
"....The next thing to do is figure out how to solve Vodkana's framing problem!"
She says.
"I have found the perfect planet to do that! Talsaiga! Its an isolated, out of the way planet. If we use the Space-Twitter plan, we can say that Vodkana is going there on vacation as an exotic locale everyone will be lured there, then if we get there fast enough, we can solve the entire thing by nonlethally incapacitating them, before anyone is harmed!"
Hopefully by getting to the Talsaigan Dragon Balls first then making a wish.

Meanwhile Arcos thinks:
It seems.....that I'm not in a winning position here. My squad seems to not overly be concerned about desertion, Apfel seems to be acting strange. I'm starting to think that my allies do not share my sense of loyalty. Which means my real position is that I am outnumbered an outmatched. I am alone. The same position that Spoon fool found himself in not too long ago. If I make aggressive moves, Apfel will stop me, but why? If he is really trying to trick these barbaric scum, he doesn't need to- we are powerful enough to defeat them easily! Is he trying to worm their way into their confidence so that he can sabotage their plans of attack? That doesn't make any sense. We know where they are, we know that they are small in number and probably not as powerful, why are we still here? There is no reason to be so covert ops and double agent about this, they are hardly a threat.

The only conclusion....is....the unthinkable. Apfel is.......a conspirator. He is fully intending on going through with this just to usurp Hailing and put himself on the throne. The arrest, the court, all just methods to discredit Hailing without killing him because he is too cowardly to actually fight him, knowing that any effort to do so would fail. But then again, it was kind of strange that he just handed over his planet to the Empire as if he already knew they were coming. What if he was planning all this from the very beginning? I've been fooled all this time. I'm clearly not winning this battle. The only good tactic for this situation is clear: retreat and call for reinforcements. Everyone here except for me are threats to the Empire. If I can report where we are, I may lose this battle, but I will win the war.
She just had to wait for Starlight's response then find a good excuse to get out of here and alert the closest Arcosian forces of the plot, if not Hailing himself.

Masala and Lucy
"Glad to hear it Lucy!! The more fighters the merrier! Hey, Fenrir liked fighting, think I should invite him as well?"
Masala asks, seemingly unaware of how bad of an idea this is.

[igordragonian]

Vodkana smiled softly. as hedonistic girl, she had hard time to stand suffering and grief.
She used to numb her pain with physical pleasures. Lately her denial arsenal has expanded to- cartoons, hanging out with friends, cooking for them, and even pain of training.

But at some point.. the grief will hunt her.



[Lucy]


"my name is Sir Martin Lucifer The Magnificent! Not LUCY!" the knight scolded her.

the tribemen gasped.
"Fenrir is an evil beastman!"
"He want to eat all the humans!"

[Emperor Ing]

There appears to be a human standing on the hull of the ship and rapping on the window. He's dressed in black clothes and a white cloak. Maybe he wants in? He waves to the ship's captain as a greeting when he knows he's been noticed.

Earth's Orbit

The airlock opens into Apfel's ship, but it only opens into the chamber, not into the interior of the ship. Still, a hissing can be heard as the chamber repressurizes with the human still inside.

Earthling. A voice can be heard from within the chamber, spoken through an intercom system. What were you doing outside? Please identify yourself.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Halls of Waiting]

As 23 knocks, an assistant demon arrives to let her in. "Please don't shout. Just get in the line like... oh wait, this is your first time here? *sigh* Follow me."

The demon quickly leads them to the line of souls waiting for judgement. It doesn't take long before they get before Yenma. The ogre gives Spoon an incredulous stare as the nyagato makes his pleas, glancing at his book every once in a while.

"Hahaha! Well aren't you a funny guy. I have to admit hearing all this praise this early in the morning is kinda flattering. Unfortunately for you..." The ogre leans over his desk, looming over Spoon's ghost, suddenly looking twice as big and very menacing.

"... I have it on good record, Mr. Spoon, that you're a liar. And if there's something I hate, it's dishonesty. And for all the lies you've told others and yourself, you will be going to Hell."

Yenma's massive hand reaches to grab Spoon with lightning speed, to fling him down from the snake way and into a fiery pit.

---

[Earth Orbit]

The black-clad human(?) floats into the airlock. "Oh, I'm just a passer-by. I noticed you have a really nice ship here. Never seen anything quite like it. Would it inconvenience you too much if I broke it apart to see how it works? I would, of course, provide alternative means of transportation. Ha. Ha. Ha."

[Emperor Ing]

Earth's Orbit

A passerby in space...? The voice asked back, disbelieving. Um, yes. Yes it would. The voice replies. This ship is the property of Segmentum Governor Lord Apfel, so I humbly suggest you identify yourself. Even if he isn't here you have no right to dismantle his ship.

The Lookout

Talsaiga? Why would you want to go there? Apfel asks. Though his knowledge of the planet consists of only a knowledge of its name, its classification as a habitable world, and the fact that people don't want to visit the world for reasons the Incirrian has never bothered to delve into. He thought to bring up his affiliation with Ulgo, the reporter who posted the story in the first place, but that might go over very, very poorly.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Earth's orbit]

"Ah, I believe you misread me. I was asking for your permission. But if the owner of this ship - this Apfel person - is not present, I guess I better find and ask him. Ha. Ha. Ha." The human(?) turns around in the airlock, admiring its interior design. "A Segmentum Governor. First I've heard of such a person. Sounds important. U Unfortunately, I cannot give such titles much weight. This system is under the claim from the Red Planet Army, in the name of our Lord and Saviour Trombone the Second. But I suppose such matters ought to be settled with, hmmm, Lord Apfel personally. Surely you agree. Ha. Ha. Ha."

[Lord Raziere]

The Lookout
Android 22 thinks upon her answer then says with an odd smile:
"I dunno Appy! Why would you unite Cirra months ahead of the Arcosians arriving then immediately swear loyalty to them? Seems pretty weird behavior to me!"
She has a point you know.

Sailor's Cirra and Arcos raise their eyebrows and look at Apfel.

Spirit World
Android 23 watches with a bit of a smile. if she was being honest with herself, she was taking some karmic satisfaction from this.
"Whelp. My job here is done. Nice to meet ya Yenma, hope we have a good working relationship, and uh sorry for not knowing how things work yet....uh.....whats-your-name assistant guy, Yama kind of trained someone else but then through a weird set of circumstances I came to be the Guardian, so I kind of have to learn this on the job, but hey if I didn't do this, Oxyribo would've been the one who would have it instead and I figure after the last snafu we had with him in the Spirit World, that it'd be best to avoid repeat incidents y'know? Hehehehe. Anyways, I'm busy, Have a good day y'all, I promise I'll use the line next time."
She turns to leave.

Masala and Lucy
"Oh. Eat all humans.....Thats not the tournament spirit! The tournament spirit is fighting foes willing to fight you back and not kill them for the sake of fighting and perfecting the art of fighting. I must fight and save the tournament spirit from Fenrir! I'll simply fight and save the day from him again!"
Wait what? Before the narrator could make sense of what she was talking about, Masala had already flown away to find Fenrir.

[Emperor Ing]

The Lookout

The short version is that their imminent arrival wasn't uncommon knowledge among those in the Royal Court. Our King thought little of the, at the time, small but growing Empire, and thought that we could fight them back if they came to Cirra. I disagreed. Apfel answers cooly. He's had a lot of time to think about and reflect on his actions. It was hardly a topic that could catch him off-guard. In overthrowing the bone-headed Royal Family, I averted a war that would've cost billions their lives. At the cost of a war that merely cost millions their lives, Apfel thought to himself. Not his proudest moment. I fail to see its relevance to Talsaiga.

Earth's Orbit

They should. The voice calmly agrees. He is on Planet Earth should you wish to meet him. How you find him, well, that's up to you.

Would you like me to release the airlock?

[igordragonian]

[Lookout]

Vodkana forced her smile, digging into her cake, trying to ignore the grief.


[Spirit World]

about dozens of Nyagato souls stood in line led by a golden fured Nyagato, dressed up like kind of Pharaoh. Amon-Kami- God of Planet Meal.

He smiled widely as Spoon fell, cursing and begging into hell.
"Meroworow!" he laughed happily. "I would never miss this moment for anything in the world! Merorowowow! Well.. expect lava cream, that is.' he said.
He looked over 23.
"You don't look very godly... anyway, I hope you don't feel to bad for him'

[Masala]

It's quite easy to find his army- his three remaining armies floated on three fleets of dracar longships(viking ship) a few miles from South City. more than 100,000 beastmen eager to kill and bring Ragnarok around.

each fleet had a flag- the northren army had grey flag with an emblem!of white snowflake. the beastmen of this fleet consisted mostly from thundra and arctic beastmen.

the eastren fleet had a white flag with chibi panda emblem.the beastmen looked samuraish kind

and the biggest fleet- the central fleet had a blue wolf emblem on red flag.

there also were monsteouse sized ship in the middle of it all

[Frozen_Feet]

[Halls of waiting]

Yenma's eyes narrow as Amon-kami arrives. "You shouldn't be so epicarycacious, God of Meal. Who knows where you'll end up yourself."

Then he looks at 23 and shouts after her. "Yeah, I heard about Callin Flowers. I sent a psychopomp to find him while he was dying, after all. They got back a little ahead of you. Too late to fill in that old God of Earth, though. He went and died a week prior. Oh well. Have fun."

---

[Earth's orbit]

"Don't worry. I have a hunch of where to start looking. But yes, please do let me out. I think it would be quite inconvenient to you if I let myself out. Ha. Ha. Ha."

[Emperor Ing]

Earth's Orbit

Fortunately the Captain has enough sense to not test that theory. Traveling with a world-annihilator tends to do that. One moment, please. The airlock depressurizes again, before the door opens back into the vacuum of space.