Chapter 29: A Deal for Power, and an Ultimatum for Destruction

(Opening Theme: Unbreakable by Fireflight)

Conton City

They all arrived back in Conton City, Kenshiro and Pearl went in two different directions. "Uh, Kenny, the Time Nest is this way," Pearl said. "I know," Kenshiro said, "But I need to get something for Elder Kai so he'll do it." "I'm sure if we explain the situation he'll unlock your Potential," Pearl said. "I doubt it," Amaya said, "Remember, to unlock Gohan's Potential, Goku had to tell him he'd get a chance to feel up Bulma before he would do it." "That's terrible," Kaoru said. Amaya shrugged, "Maybe if Pearl gives him a lap dance he'll do it." "HELL NO!" Kenshiro and Pearl both yelled. Pearl went up to Amaya and said, "I'd rather strip naked, smother myself in honey, and jump head first into a horde of angry fire ants than give that dirty old man a lap dance!" Kenshin and Kaoru were both staring at the scene before them, and Kenji said, "Oka-san, what's a lap dance?" Kaoru blushed and said, "Something your Father will explain, when you're older, MUCH older!"

"I'm sorry, Kenshin-san, Kaoru-san. You don't have to stay with us if you don't want to," Kenshiro said. "This one is curious now," Kenshin said. "I'm going to go take Kenji home for now, it's about time for lunch," Kaoru said, and she and Kenji left while everyone else headed for Pearl, Kenshiro, and Barit's apartment. They went in and Hirohito said, "This looks too clean." "Alright, Barit's room," Kenshiro said, and went in. He emerged five minutes later with a manila envelope. "Um, Kenshiro-san, what is in there?" Kenshin asked. Kenshiro said, "Something I'm not showing in front of a kid." "Now I'm curious," Amaya said, then hid Hirohito's eyes with her hands. "HEY!" Hirohito said, but Amaya kept her hands over his eyes. Kenshiro opened the manila envelope and pulled out The Pictures of Pearl and Shurayuki. Kenshin's face turned a deep shade of red, Rachel had a small nosebleed, and Amaya blushed. "ORO! Barit-san drew that!?" Kenshin asked. "No, Ryo did. Apparently in his Universe we're a show, and people wanted 'art'," Kenshiro said. Pearl had to cover her mouth to keep herself from throwing up at the thought of what Elder Kai would do with the pictures.

Kenshiro put the pictures back in the envelope and Amaya let go of her little brother. Kenshiro immediately got on his knees and took Pearl's hand, "I am so sorry, Pearl, if I didn't think it was absolutely necessary, I wouldn't be doing this." "I understand," Pearl told him. Kenshiro stood up and kissed her, "I'll make it up to you somehow." "I know," Pearl said, and they all headed out of the apartment, straight to the Time Nest, Pearl thought she heard Kenshiro mutter, "I'm going to go to Hell for this." They went inside and saw the Elder Kai sitting down with his back to them. "Elder Kai-sama," Kenshiro said. The Old God looked back and quickly hid the dirty magazine he was reading then stood up, "Oh, Kenshiro, what brings you here? There are no missions today, Pearl." "Actually, Elder Kai-sama, I was hoping that you could Unlock my Potential," Kenshiro said, then showed him the envelope. "Oh? Really? And why exactly should I do that? I haven't even done that for Pearl, and she's the one that's protecting the Timeline," Elder Kai said.

"My village is in trouble, and I need to get stronger really fast. I think that we can both agree how important it is that one keep one's home safe," Kenshiro said, and opened the envelope and slid one of the pictures out. Elder Kai looked at it closely with a sly smile on his face. "Indeed, keeping your home safe is very important, and you were one of the strongest Patrollers we ever had. I think that just this once I can do this for you," the Elder Kai said, some blood was already dripping from his nose as Kenshiro handed him the envelope. The Ancient Pervert skimmed through the pictures and turned to Kenshiro with a smile almost too big to be believable, "Alright then! Please stand over there and we'll start the ceremony!" "Alright, thank you sir," Kenshiro said, then turned to Pearl, "Pearl, I'll see you in 25 hours I guess." "Yeah," Pearl said. They gave each other a kiss and Kenshiro got into position as Elder Kai started his Dance.

Pearl, Kenshin, Amaya, Rachel, and Hirohito left the Time Nest. "This 'Ceremony', are you sure that it will work?" Kenshin asked. "It will," Rachel told him, "Decades ago Elder Kai did it with Gohan, and he became even more powerful than Super Buu, a being who wiped out whole planets as easily as snapping your fingers!" Rachel snapped her fingers for emphasis. "I see. Well then, farewell, I hope Kenshiro-san gets stronger," Kenshin said, and he flew off to his and Kaoru's apartment in Conton City. "Well, what now?" Amaya asked. "I'm going to go on some more Parallel Quests. The blood I drain from the warriors there works almost as well as the real world, and the fighting experience helps get me stronger as well," Rachel said. "How does that work?" Hirohito asked. Rachel explained, "A vampire gains half their victim's power if they drain their blood completely. I'm only half-vampire, so I only get one-quarter of their power, but when you drain the blood of say someone like First Form Frieza, well…" Rachel's aura shined out and Pearl activated her Scouter Glasses.

"Holy smoke! Rachel, your power level is already 575000!" Pearl said. "I know. And I've been really training on my Warper abilities too, I think I'm level 5 now," Rachel said. "Yes, you are," Amaya said, "And I heard that Ryo got your nickname changed. Your new nickname is 'Dhampir Demon Slayer, the Bloodborne Avenger' Rachel Impala." Rachel smiled at that, "I like it, it's a lot more badass than 'Discount Batwoman.' So, anyone else going to train?" "I'll go too," Amaya said, "After lunch." Pearl and Amaya headed to a quick little deli, Amaya had a large ham and cheese sandwich, same with Hirohito and they split their chips, while Pearl had a Deluxe Heavy Hitter Hoagie, with ham, chicken, turkey, lettuce, tomato, spinach, and caramelized onions and cheddar and bleu cheese, and a double order of cheese fries. Hirohito saw all the food that Pearl ordered and said, "How are you not fat!?" "Trust me, this is the most food I've had in a while," Pearl said as she dug in. After everyone ate Pearl sighed happily, it had been too long since she had really eaten a lot of food like that.

Once they were done eating they headed to the Time Machine Station, Rachel was waiting for them when suddenly a portal opened up above the Station and three people came out, armed with large guns of some kind. One was a man in some kind of blue armor with short black hair, the other two were women, twins, muscular with medium length blue hair, one in green armor and the other in red armor. "There's the Discount Batwoman! Get her!" the man yelled as he and the women opened fire. Rachel quickly dodged their fire as Pearl and Amaya went to assist her. "It's the Bloodhound of Mist Vega! Fire away!" one of the women yelled as she and her twin fired at Amaya and Pearl. Amaya quickly dodged their shots as she and Pearl ran towards Rachel's attackers. The man took out an orb and tossed it into the sky. Pearl realized what it was and quickly shut her eyes, just as a loud explosion went off.

When Pearl opened her eyes she saw Rachel screaming on the ground, her hands covering her eyes while Amaya was busy fighting the twins. "HEY!" Pearl yelled at the man before hitting him with a ki ball. The man dodged the blast and lifted an arm, a laser blasted out of his gauntlet. Pearl raised a ki barrier to take the hit and responded by stretching out her hand and slapping her opponent in his left ear, disorienting him. Pearl seized her opportunity and slapped him in both ears before pulling him in to a knee in his face, knocking him out. Pearl turned and saw Amaya pull out her ninjato and turn Super Saiyan 2 before swinging it around in a wide circle, decapitating both twins before they could defend themselves. The bodies transformed into what looked like white flames, Amaya wrapped her arms around the flames and pulled them into her body, Pearl could tell she had gotten much stronger from it. Then she remembered something, "Rachel!" Pearl yelled and went to her friend. "I can't see! I'm blind!" Rachel yelled as she took her hands off her eyes.

Rachel's eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, proving her right. "Hold on," Pearl said as she put her hands over the dhampir's eyes. Pearl focused her power and used Majin Healing to repair Rachel's eyes. Pearl put her hands off and Rachel blinked a few times. "Thanks Pearl," Rachel said as she stood up. Pearl turned to see Amaya was about to stab the man in blue armor. "STOP!" Pearl yelled before Amaya's blade penetrated his armor. "He is an Interdimensional Bounty Hunter, sent by Rebecca Dill to kill Rachel and I, his life is forfeit," Amaya said. Pearl stretched out her arms and grabbed the hilt of Amaya's sword to stop her, "He's out cold, and isn't a threat anymore! I won't let anyone be murdered like that!" "He would not hesitate to do the same to us!" Amaya yelled at Pearl. "That's all the more reason we shouldn't act like him! It's our mercy that shows we're the better people!" Pearl yelled back.

The Supreme Kai of Time quickly appeared with other Time Patrollers. "What is going on here!?" the Goddess demanded. "Interdimensional Bounty Hunters attacked me, Pearl and Amaya saved me," Rachel explained. The Supreme Kai of Time took a deep breath and rubbed her temples, "That was something I didn't want to hear… Was anyone else hurt?" "No, just them," Rachel said, "Pearl already healed my injuries." The Supreme Kai of Time had the Patrollers with her take the man into custody. "Everything is getting out of hand now…Damn that Rebecca, that bitch thinks she owns everything," the Supreme Kai of Time said. "What do you mean?" Pearl asked. "I tried to petition for our universe to be neutral, for Warpers to stay out of it or at least obey the Laws of Reality within our universe, she laughed in my face and said that Warpers would do as they pleased, that they had the right to be evil if they chose. I'm just lucky that our universe doesn't produce many Warpers, until recently," the Supreme Kai of Time explained. The Goddess sighed again, "Troubles just keep piling up."

The Supreme Kai of Time left, leaving Pearl, Rachel, and Amaya in the Time Machine Station. "I'm not in the mood to train much anymore," Pearl said.

Cashew Village

An hour after Kenshiro left with Pearl and everyone else back to Conton City, Shurayuki, Jade, Beate, Barit, Brocc, and Bage left the Hospital and started to fly around Cashew Village's perimeter to look for signs of the Neo-Red Ribbon Army. Three hours passed with them seeing nothing at all, when all of a sudden Beate looked down to see a group of ten soldiers approach with someone who looked like a general, accompanied by five Units. The soldiers were waving white flags around. Beate got out her phone and sent a group text to everyone that said, 'You're not going to believe this, but I think the NRRA's surrendering! A bunch of soldiers, Units, and a General are coming from the East.' Shurayuki responded via text, 'I'll inform High Priest Hideaki and Sheriff Jiro. Don't let them out of your sight.' Beate followed closely as the entourage entered Cashew Village, still waving their white flags.

Shurayuki, Bage, Barit, Jade, and Brocc walked up to them, accompanying High Priest Hideaki and Sheriff Jiro and ten Villagers, the Villagers all had bags of food with them. The two groups stopped in front of each other and Beate flew over next to Brocc. The General stepped forward and Beate had a good look at him. He was a large man, even larger than Bage, with short red hair, wearing a khaki uniform with black leather boots and gloves. The boots and gloves looked worn from use, while the uniform looked new. The General's eyes were hidden by sunglasses. High Priest Hideaki stepped forward, "I am the High Priest of Cashew Village, Hideaki. I speak for my people. It is our tradition that when two parties wish to discuss peace, that they eat together as proof of their good intentions." The General took off his sunglasses to show his eyes weren't natural, they were robotic with steel grey sclera and glowing green irises.

"I am High General Sato Hisashi, I am the Leader of the Neo-Red Ribbon Army. I've come in order to discuss your Village's surrender," the General said, Beate saw Shurayuki flinch when she heard the High General's name. "Let us eat first as civilized men, then we may discuss heavier matters," High Priest Hideaki said. "Very well," High General Sato said as the Villagers set out food for everyone to eat. It was one of the tensest meals Beate had ever had in her life, even worse than the last meal she had with her family before they kicked her out. They were all silent, despite High Priest Hideaki's attempts to be a generous host. Beate took note of the Units with the High General, one was a blue skinned Namekian with a green scar on his face, two others were women who looked alike, with similar button noses and full lips, although one was older with salt and pepper hair, there was a Frost Demon with black skin and eyes like a snakes who had one long horn and one short horn so they resembled a crescent moon, and finally there was a short, muscular woman with black eyes and hair and a scar across her left cheek.

Soon the food was all devoured and High General Sato said, "These are my demands. Your Village shall give half of your produce to my army, and allow my soldiers to lodge with you when they desire. You will never go against my men again, and those that defy us shall be executed immediately. In return, we shall allow you to stay in your ancestral homes, and you will not even hear from us, most of the time, except for when we come to pick up our supplies. And, your strongest warriors shall surrender themselves to be turned into Units. Finally, Oroshi Shurayuki will surrender herself to me, so that I may kill her as slowly as she killed my family." "We cannot comply," High Priest Hideaki said, "Half our produce is too much, and we will not surrender our allies to you. We know how people are made into Units, and have heard first hand how you abuse them." "I have never abused anyone under my command. And the Generals that have were executed last week as a warning to my soldiers," High General Sato said.

"We still cannot comply to your demands," High Priest Hideaki said. "I am sorry then. You have made your choice, now you shall have to accept the consequences. Your Village shall be decimated. Your people starved for a year, and you shall be one of the first to be killed. Your allies are powerful, but we are even more powerful!" High General Sato declared as he snapped his fingers, and all of the Units powered up. Hideaki and Jiro were blown back from the release of power, and the woman with the scar went Super Saiyan 3! "Unit 124, destroy the forest around the village," High General Sato ordered. Unit 124 flew up and blasted ki balls all around. Ki exploded everywhere, blinding everyone in the Village as they tried to shield their eyes. When the light dissipated, the forest was completely gone, nothing but a barren wasteland for over a hundred miles around Cashew Village. Unit 124 flew down and looked blankly at everyone.

General Sato put his sunglasses back on and turned to leave saying, "Our whole army will attack in 24 hours. Make peace with your gods." "Hey!" Brocc said. He flew at the High General, ready for a punch, only for Unit 124 to catch his fist. Brocc went Super Vegeta 2 and he tried another punch, and Unit 124 caught his second punch too. She squeezed both his hands, crushing them. Brocc screamed in pain as he looked at his broken hands before Unit 124 kicked him in his head, breaking his jaw and teeth, and sending him flying through a house and landing on the other side of the Village. "BROCC!" Jade yelled as she flew after him. She found him bruised and bleeding, unconscious. She quickly focused her Majin Magic to heal her boyfriend, while everyone else was paralyzed in shock as the High General and his entourage left the Village. "This is not good," Bage said, "We're in deep shit now."

(Ending Theme: Whispers in the Dark by Skillet)