The gavel hit the block, a sign of finality to the bidding war.
"Fifteen-hundred! Sold to number twenty-one!" the auctioneer shouts.
Some of the participants groan in their seats while others snicker with their heads shaking. Regardless, everyone's expression remains hidden in the darkness of the theater, with only the stage and its items to display.
Murmurs begin once more as the audience waits for the next auction item. Somewhere on the outskirts of the seating arrangement, a man in a hood and robe stares down the stage with little interest, slowly tapping the number sign on his lap. If anyone could see through the dark, they might find a shady individual, but in the light, they would see a priest wearing white robes.
Regardless, both representations might be correct to describe this figure.
"You're a real pain in the ass, Mikogami."
The man's eyes seem to shine out of his hood like gems and are the only thing that can be discerned amid the darkness of the theater. He turns his head towards the croaking voice, who takes the empty seat next to him.
No, not actually sitting in the seat but floating above. The old woman sighs as she sits perched on top of a floating crystal ball that could easily fetch for millions of zenis in this auction if they knew its value.
Mikogami smirks, his smile hidden, but his eyes tell unfathomable appreciation as he meets his old friend once more. Even in the dark, he can recognize her short stature, drooping and aging face, and pointy black hat.
"Baba," he acknowledges, "...it is good to see you again."
The witch scoffs with the annoyance and impatience that you'd see in an old woman who's lived too long. "...and you haven't changed! Six hundred years and only now have you've decided to reach out to me!"
Mikogami chuckles dryly and returns to staring at the stage. The next item hidden in red cloth is moved to the center of attention and without breaking his gaze, he responds to the old witch.
"There is no need when it comes to you. Looking into the unknown is one of your specialties, after all."
Baba frowns, turning her attention to the stage as well. She normally wouldn't get involved in such a crowded gathering, but the witch could not let the opportunity go, even if she did not know why her old friend is spending his time here. Regardless, if he was reaching out to her, it had to be important.
"It's all unknown when it comes to you," she grumbles, "...even when you were the guardian of Earth."
"That's long past."
No emotion could be felt in his voice and although he's usually like this, it still ticks off the old witch as she clicks her tongue. She presses him further.
"You damn fool...I'm sure Mr. Popo would be happy to see you if you stopped by. Are you even aware that there's a new guardian?"
"I felt a subtle shift a few years ago, but it is not my concern. Besides, the genie has lived even longer than I, so I trust him to support whoever observes this planet," Mikogami muses.
Baba sighs in annoyance and adjusts her hat. Any sort of reminiscing seems pointless for the former guardian, so she decides to cut to the chase.
"So why would a so-called 'priest' seek my attention?"
Mikogami hums, slightly amused by the title. He leans his body forward a little. "Have you heard of any news regarding the Demon Realm?"
Baba yawns, the lack of light getting to her old eyes. At the mention of the Demon Realm, she could not help but snort. At the tip of the universe, the happenings in that realm elude many, even her and the Kais'.
"Not much has changed in one-hundred or even two-hundred years. There's little we know other than pockets that open from time to time. We usually can close those before they get out of hand, or they close by themselves. Other than a few demons getting out, it's largely sealed."
"I wouldn't dismiss those pockets, if I were you," he warns.
Baba suddenly shivers. She recalls a time when young Goku had saved a princess from the hands of Shula, a higher demon who opened a door to Earth. Thinking about it and how close of a call that was to unleashing demons upon the lands, she understands Mikogami's concern.
Still, it's difficult. "We can't keep track of every pocket, but we at least keep track of the demons."
"Is that so?"
Baba's eyes twitch at Mikogami's bemused attitude and growl. "What? If you know something, say it!"
"...and ladies and gentlemen!" the auctioneer announces, cutting into their discussion while the audience quiets down.
"As part of our main offering, we have a special item procured! Supposed to be one of seven items that when together, would grant you your every wish, we have in our possession the six-star dragon ball!"
The audience roars with mixed reactions and Baba sputters, her eyes wide towards the center stand where the orange-starred ball shines brightly amid the stage lights.
"How did one of the dragon balls end up here?!" she shouts, her mind in a panic.
"Calm yourself, Baba," Mikogami urges, "...there are many seekers in the world. It shouldn't be surprising to see such a ball on auction. It might've been discovered on accident even."
Baba shuts her mouth, then clears her throat as she resettles on her crystal ball. "Still, who could be selling that ball?"
"Me."
Baba freezes, her eyes comically wide. She turns her head, looking at the mysterious man and wonders if she simply misheard him.
"Excuse me?" she questions.
Mikogami reiterates himself without breaking his line of sight. "I'm the seller."
Baba's hand quivers as she leans forward from her crystal ball, then grabs the man's robes tightly and proceeds to shake him violently. The apparent seller of the dragon ball appears unfazed towards his old friend's violent action and he even flashes a mysterious smile.
Rather than being disturbed, this only makes Baba angrier.
"You damn fool! You've lost it, haven't you!? You want to risk another villain gathering the dragon balls, huh?! Is that it?!"
The shaking goes on for a few seconds too long and Mikogami had enough, throwing her small arms off his robes before patting them down. As he readjusts himself, he explains further.
"I'm not planning on selling it of course."
Baba gnashes her teeth, barely holding it in together as she is being led by words from the former guardian. She points accusingly at the man.
"Of course you are! If you're the seller, then why else would it be here!?"
Mikogami hums thoughtfully before his senses alert him. He quickly stands up and before Baba could question in irritation, he answers her with his usual calm.
"Bait."
On cue, gunfire explodes in the background and screams from the audience follow. All lights in the auction house are turned on by the intruders, exposing the participants and their immediate panicked expressions. More chaos follows as thirty men come pouring around them with the gear: black vests, goggles, and spherical helmets. None of the intruders can be distinguished easily, but they appear very organized.
A few remain by the exits and fire more rounds in the air, the loud banging forcefully catching the audience's attention with fear.
"Everyone out! This auction is under our control now!"
By this time, Mikogami had already walked around to the back of his seat. He pulls the shocked Baba and her floating ball with him. As they were in the last back row, they remain out of the way of the impending stampede of buyers which would quickly follow.
Screams and cries are heard around as some armed men push people out, hitting them with the side of their rifles. Hearing these noises, Baba shakes her head, bringing herself out of shock and screams at Mikogami.
"You knew this would happen!? Tell me sooner, you bastard!"
The witch's complaints are ignored as the priest focuses all his attention on the stage where most of the armed men push past the audience members to get to the ground floor. The auctioneer on stage shakes and looks at any direction he could escape to but when guns are aimed at him, he freezes.
Baba sighs, a small sweat dripping from her forehead. Of course, she has been in more dangerous situations so she could hardly worry about some armed men. More important is the fact that a group or organization is searching for the dragon balls again.
Looking at the armed men standing guard by the exits as they force people to empty the theater, she notices each of them has a red armband with the familiar logo: RR.
"Red Ribbon. These damn fools again?"
She knows that there still exist offshoots, but they would always be a former shadow of itself after Goku destroyed most of their strongest generals. That said, the creation of Cell and the androids proves that are geniuses within the organization, so any remnant can't be dismissed either.
"Perhaps, but maybe not quite," Mikogami responds to Baba's observation causing her to frown.
Regardless of who they are or what sort of branch these terrorists come from, they need to be stopped. Since this is part of Mikogami's plan, Baba figures he's going to get involved.
...and yet, he's still standing with her and observing with his usual glimmering eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?! Aren't you going to stop them from taking the dragon ball?! Go already, you fool!"
Mikogami only chuckles causing the old witch to turn red with fury. She flails her hands at the man as he watches the Red Ribbon soldiers approach the shivering auctioneer.
Naturally, the priest is not worried about being noticed as the crowd continues to flow around them but it would be only a matter of time before he and the fortune teller are seen, that is if their strange appearances don't already give them away. Then again, he isn't concerned by that either. Instead, he looks at the stage with far more anticipation than he did when the auction was going on.
The real show is about to start.
On stage, the same enthusiasm can't be said for the auctioneer whose legs quiver and seem ready to collapse at any moment. He raises his arms up as the apparent leader jumps onto the stage and shouts at him. Unlike the rest, his armband is black, possibly to help his team members identify him as they are all wearing the same equipment.
"Hand over that dragon ball! After that, you'll be guiding us to the rest of the auction items, you hear!"
Despite feeling overwhelmed, the auctioneer still does his best to smile for his life as he shakes. "G-good sirs, p-please don't kill me! I...I'll hand over the dragon ball o-of course! H-here it is!"
He takes the orange ball in his hand and extends it towards their leader with the gun to his head. However, to his shock, the man takes it, inspects it only for a few seconds, then smashes it to the ground!
It shatters like glass on the stage, breaking into many shards.
Baba can't hold in the sight and screams in horror as the dragon ball's many pieces reflect in her eyes. Her purple hair stands up on its own in fright.
"No! The dragon ball has-"
The old witch stops herself, her mind catching up and passing her initial shock. She quickly shuts her mouth and smacks her face, groaning. It's obvious to anyone who knows that the supposed dragon ball on display is just a fake. If a real dragon ball could break that easily, then it would have been already broken a long time ago.
She grits her teeth harder, glancing at the priest who had deceived her. Granted, things happened so fast that there wouldn't be time to explain but even if there was, she knows Mikogami enough to learn he loves secrets and fooling with people.
The armed men clearly had also taken a false dragon ball into account before storming the auction. At the sight of the shattered stone, the leader grimaces and pushes his gun further against his the auctioneer's head, causing him to whimper in fear.
"Bastard, are you trying to fool us? Where's the real damn dragon ball?"
The auctioneer struggles to explain.
"W-well s-sir...I..."
Trailing off, his body halts. His quivering ends in an instant and his arms descend back to his side. Straightening up his posture, the leader watches the auctioneer become suddenly calm.
"...I'm afraid that's seller's privilege around here," the auctioneer continues with a sudden shift in tone, his eyes staring firmly at the leader with a professional smile.
The unexpected change surprises the leader and his men but before he could become angry, he hears a crack against his body and then sees the world spinning around him.
Except, it's him who's spinning.
The rest of his men are stunned as their leader is seemingly smacked and lifted into the air. Nobody saw much and at best, some only saw a black blur moving across him and the auctioneer. Regardless of the reason, their eyes lock on their leader's projection in horror to witness him crashing into multiple seats on the upper levels. Dust and small pieces of wood fly into the air and creates further panic among the remaining audience.
"Sir!"
"Leader!"
Some of them cry out as they shake the initial shock but their focus is pulled away as black feathers begin to fall and dance before their eyes. Their confusion and anxiety can't have been any higher but their biggest mistake might be looking away from the source of it all.
A shadow creeps beneath their feet from the stage, blending in the feathers on the ground. Slowly, the Red Ribbon men's attention is pulled back to the stage. What they see causes them to freeze.
Before their eyes, the sounds of stretching and bones cricking from the auctioneer echoes across the theater. Slowly, a horror grows on each of the men's faces as they bear witness to the transformation.
Only a small breath is heard by one as the auctioneer changes: his black hair growing out from his red hat, his vest tightening as curves form outwards, and the biggest of them all - multiple pairs of black wings that spread out like branches on a tree, overshadowing their surrounding formation.
The auctioneer has just transformed into a winged woman before their eyes, her face entirely different than before. Against the shocked expressions, her violet eyes stare calmly at the men around her.
She frowns and takes off her red hat, throwing it off to the side.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted," she mutters with disappointment.
Nobody knew what to think except Baba, whose eyes widen in surprise as the winged lady burns in her eyes. "A...witch! You were never alone!"
Mikogami's eyes shine with intensity as he silently acknowledges the fortune teller. His gaze momentarily departs from the stage as he senses that majority of the audience has left the building. As a result, the upper-level men by the exits begin to notice the two.
Despite witnessing the shocking transformation and dismissal of their leader, a few of them pull themselves together and aims their guns at the witch and priest.
"You two, don't move!" one of the pairs calls out to them. Although they could have been part of the audience, the fact they're observing calmly and also looks out of place makes them suspect to the happening of their leader.
Mikogami doesn't budge or glance at the pair as they approach him. He only flicks his finger from behind his back.
Baba watches with raised eyebrows as the two men are flung by an invisible force and their bodies smash into the nearest wall. Sparks from the high voltage wires behind add to their crash and their screams alert their comrades.
The noise is also enough to catch the attention of the younger witch below and she notices a new floating witch beside Mikogami. Her eyes widen a little in surprise, not having heard of this meeting beforehand.
"Who is that?" she asks out loud, cocking her head.
She places that thought away as one of the men screams, taking the first shot against her out of building fear. It's now put together that she had to be the one who wrecked their superior.
They aren't wrong, of course. Ruby even internally worries if she overdid it.
The witch's wings act fast, collapsing around her as if it had its own mind and shielding her body on all sides. Against common logic that feathers wouldn't be able to stop a bullet, the metal rounds all bounce off the closed wings while small sparks fly out.
The lack of damage doesn't occur to them as all the rest joined in firing, but soon enough, their hearts collectively drop. The sounds of their metal rounds clinging on the ground slow as they're forced to recognize the lack of effect.
After just several rounds and a few empty clicking noises, they all stop firing and watch with their eyes bulged out as the witch's wings fidgets and unravels, revealing a bewildered girl.
She pats herself and coughs as the smell of the gunpowder fills her nose. Ignoring it as best as she can, her eyes scan across the astonished men. With mild annoyance, she calls out to them.
"Hey, so which one of you is a demon?"
Only the sounds of uncomfortable shifts in their guns could be heard as the men start dripping sweat from their faces.
The witch sighs to herself and shakes her head. "Ah, that was a dumb question, wasn't it? Of course, you wouldn't tell me that, would you? Or...maybe you don't know? Anyways..."
She doesn't waste any more time as her wings positions themselves horizontally across from her waistline in an arch, then spins and fold, blurring a black circle around her.
Feathers are ejected out from her wings, faster than any bullet. Each one of them flies in a straight line towards the men. Like an arrow, the base of the feather hits through each of their vests.
The momentum of the feathers cause each one of them to fall, some bouncing a few feet from their position, and others having the wind knocked out of them. Regardless of how well they take the attack, rifles can be heard clattering to the ground in unison, then subsequent groans as they all lie sprawled out. A few more were unfortunate to get hit with multiple feathers resulting in dislocations.
Baba's shoulders slump at the strange sight of piercing feathers, which honestly looks ridiculous if she's honest. She doesn't heed Mikogami's efforts as all of the upper men had either escaped in fear or were similarly slammed into a wall by his outreaching power.
Slowly, the old witch takes a deep breath.
"Good god Mikogami," she exhales, "...so creating this ruckus and luring a bunch of terrorists out. This was your plan?"
"No, these humans were never the target," he answers, his eyes scanning the armed members. He recognizes them to be alive to some degree, but his head stops at the sight of where their leader crashed.
He calls out to the winged girl, his voice clear as the entire theater is now fully vacated.
"Ruby."
The witch named Ruby blinks, staring at the priest for a moment before turning her attention towards his line of sight, the seating arrangement she arbitrarily smacked the leader into.
She understands his suspicion and jumps, floating in the air and clearing the area of dust as she settles down. She crouches low before straightening her posture and folding her wings.
Scanning the mix of wood and metal beams that supported the audience incline, her eyes widen as she sees the leader stretched out among the broken chairs...except he isn't what he seemed.
With his goggles and helmet torn away from the impact, she sees that the man's skin turned a shade of blue and his ears had become long and pointed. He slowly opens his eyes, revealing a yellowing color with a sharp pupil that makes him look like a snake.
Blue blood slides from the corner of his lips as he smirks. As he opens his mouth, he unexpectedly coughs out some blood, quickly breaking Ruby out of her initial shock.
The witch acts quickly, searching his body as she worries that she might have gone too far with him, but to her surprise, she sees a dagger with a strange handle design stuck to his chest.
It finally occurs to her that he did this to himself, but at what point after sending him flying, she doesn't know.
Ruby frowns as Baba and Mikogami float to her side. Seeing the demon, the fortune teller inhales silently then starts to understand the meaning behind the priest's earlier concern before all this chaos occurred.
"You coward! I thought demons were supposed to be tougher than this!" the old witch nags at the dying leader, only annoyed because due to her presence, she might have to guide him to the other world.
In fact, it's clear that Mikogami and Ruby intended to capture the demon alive but it seems that the demon somehow foresaw the intention.
The demon chuckles, coughing more blood as his life dwindles down. His eyes focus on Mikogami with a small recognition.
"Fooling us is pointless, old man. Our king will descend on this planet one way or the other. Hell on Earth is coming!"
"Where is the rest of your people? Is this Red Ribbon army a cover for your plans?" Mikogami asks coolly.
The demon cackles, his body quivering as it becomes harder to breathe. "You can ask them...yourself...on the other side..."
His body glows, a faint red energy gathering with electricity sparking around him. Ruby quickly reacts and picks Baba's stubby body off her orb. The fortune teller's hair frizzles in response to the gathering of energy and yelps, not resisting the younger witch who takes off with her wings.
Mikogami only remains and harrumphs, his hand glows yellow as he swipes horizontally at the demon's neck. Pit against the demonic energy, an explosion occurs enveloping them.
Baba shrieks, holding on to Ruby's vest as debris flies out from behind them. Luckily the blast does not travel far, only completely destroying the audience side where they stood.
Ruby understands that there wasn't much choice. If the demon was allowed to build any more energy, the damage would have been far greater.
Settling down on the other side, she places Baba down on a chair whose hair remains frizzled. With the unplanned action she had to endure, she begins breathing in and out repeatedly.
"Sorry, dear respected sister," Ruby apologizes, recognizing Baba as a fellow witch and one that had clearly been around for a long time.
Baba stops her breathing and listening to the young witch, then scoffs. "At least you have your manners. Ruby, is it?"
The winged witch nods.
Having calmed down enough, Baba stands on the chair and pats dust off from her dinky robes. She clears her throat and stares at the grey cloud they escaped from.
Neither she nor Ruby is worried as they see Mikogami come out and holding her orb too. Even though none of them could see the priest's expression, they could feel a small frustration emanate from his body.
Floating to their side with somewhat tattered clothes, he throws Baba her orb which she takes in a fumbling manner, nearly dropping it.
She growls. "Fool! Be more careful!"
Mikogami ignores the old witch's complaints and turns his attention to the other witch. "You'll have some explaining to do for your master."
Ruby knows it as well and sighs in resignation. "She won't like it, but nothing ever goes right anyways."
The priest hums thoughtfully but otherwise does not give any consolation to the young witch. He finally stares at the venting fortune-teller who grumbles to herself, wiping her orb clean with her arm sleeve.
"Baba, I'd like you to alert the other world of this," he requests.
Baba's eyes twitch without looking at him as she stares at her own reflection in the orb. "Of course, bring me into your plans why don't you!"
"Only you can do this," Mikogami insists, "...I don't think I need to explain any further than this troubling wind could affect the other world as well. The Kais must be alerted."
Baba continues looking into her orb for a moment, taking in her reflection of old age. She sighs.
"It's not something that can be ignored anyway. I'll alert the higher-ups in the other world. What's left of the demon?"
"Nothing, I'm afraid."
Baba clicks her tongue. "How foolish. Do these demons have any respect for themselves? It'll be a pain, but we'll track down his soul. Having that much negative energy will certainly stand out in the waiting line."
Her eyes narrow. "...but what will you do now? The current guardian's name is Dende. He may still be young, but he should know about this. I don't know how long you've known, but it'll be better if you explain. After all, I have the feeling you know more to this than what is seen here."
Mikogami hums then repeats the name of the new guardian.
"Dende, is it? Perhaps."
Baba sighs towards his non-affirmative attitude. "Always secrets with you."
She then turns her attention to the young witch. Although they would have to part ways soon before the local police arrive, she had to confirm something.
"You are Lady Oyakata's apprentice, aren't you?"
Ruby blinks, then a bright smile follows that even Baba could not help admire. "Yes! How did you know?"
Baba takes a moment to recover from the witch's surprise attack, then closes her eyes and snorts. "Those wings of yours resemble that of a crow. Only that woman could resonate with such a dark bird. I remember when that girl was about your age. To think she's gained such a cute apprentice."
"C-cute? Oh, no, not at all!" Ruby dismisses with a laugh and a light blush on her face.
Baba smirks. "Well, if she has an apprentice, perhaps she is doing well. I'd happily take you in as my apprentice if you want. What do you say?"
Ruby smiles appreciatively, then bows her head. "There's more I must do to help her. She had indeed been holding resentment, but things changed after everyone was revived."
The old witch nods, understanding she's referring to the wish granted to bring back all that was killed by Cell. Although it was a chaotic event, she saw the upside in that many people reevaluated their life choices. As a result, there was an uptick in the number of people going to Heaven in the other world.
Of course, things are coming back down to the usual rates of Heaven vs Hell as people forget about the threat and how they should live their life with more meaning. The only people who truly wouldn't forget are the ones that revived.
"Yes, I suppose things have changed for many," Baba stares blankly, now thinking about Goku - the only one who didn't want to be revived.
Ruby agrees, repeating her words similarly. "Yes, many many things have happened."
After a few seconds, Baba snaps out of her thoughts and clears her throat. Hopping back onto her crystal ball, she levitates and turns towards the priest.
"By the way, Miko-"
She halts, her voice going nowhere as the priest had already left.
"Son of a bitch," Baba spat, her mood turning sour again. She wanted to ask about another old fart.
Ruby cocks her head. "Will everything be alright?"
Baba sighs and waves her hand. "Yes, yes. I'm not taking responsibility for the mess, but I will do what I can in the other world. What will you do, girl? I assume you aren't going to be taking responsibility for the happenings here either."
Looking at the amount of destruction in the theater and scattered debris, Ruby rightly remains mum but deeper in her head, she wonders what sort of punishment she would receive if she were caught by the police.
Baba cackles at Ruby's silence, unaware of her true thoughts and floats up. "Then, send my regards to your master. Oh! What is she doing nowadays? Still tending to her flower field, huh?"
Ruby smiles a little and a book materializes in front of her, flipping a few pages on its own. As she prepares to leave the scene as well, she answers with pride.
"She's going to be replacing the Orange Star High School director soon!"
Baba nearly falls off her orb after hearing that. Thinking that her old friend was slowly overcoming her resentment for humanity, entering society and teaching other humans was the last thing she could have imagined.