#she feels like a companion from the 70s/80s

[star-trek-dumb-comics]

Am I the only one who thinks Kes feels like a Doctor Who character ? Like she has strong Classic Who companion energy

[hellboundwrites]

GHOULS HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Halloween season has arrived, and I've decided to note some of the headcanons that I've had in mind for the ghouls recently.

Here are my favorite ghouls / by elements

🪐Omega = he's not really a Halloween guy. I mean, they already wear costumes. He can't be bothered to put effort into it. Just to fit in, and because it makes his companions happy, he'll dress up as an alternative version of ghouls. He might come out of the abbey in his true form because it's the perfect opportunity for it, or just add something to his usual look that enhances the "infernal" aesthetic. In the end, he's the one ghoul that actually scares people away, even without trying.

🪐Aether = always wears handmade costumes. It's elaborated with a lot of details but comfy. Halloween is for him the best opportunity to create a look for himself that he usually wouldn't have the courage to wear daily. He might cosplay as a 70-80's rockstar for example, and you'd recognize who he's supposed to be from miles away. Also more importantly, he's the costume-nurse. He always makes sure his costume has an integrated bag or pockets for glue and stitches. Last year for example, he was a jedi, and he was very happy about being able to wear a discreet tool belt.

🪐Phantom = of course, a vampire. But he'll only wear something dark and classic. Think old horror movies. He'll have his hair pull back, very bad fake fangs, red contacts, a cape… He'll also be fully invested in his role all night, so expect to hear some old English come out of his mouth at all times. Just call him by his character's name exclusively !

⛈Zephyr = loves having costumes that include his disabilities. Although he can walk just fine, going trick-or-treating is very long and difficult for him. He decorated his wheelchair as the Scooby-Doo van last year. He's done a lot of physical therapy this year though and feels excited about trying canes instead.

⛈Cirrus = she likes opening to kids that trick-or-treat at the Abbey's doors. In consequence, she will usually wear something that'll be easy to understand for them. Can be a simple witch, Morticia, Emily from the Corpse Bride… Last year she was Maleficient. Her costumes are never modest, though. She puts a lot of work into looking believable. It's a lot of organization and stress, but she always cherishes the kids' reaction in the end.

⛈Cumulus = She's always something evil. She doesn't cosplay as anyone in particular, and only makes her own looks. She loves elaborated makeup. She can paint her whole body if she desires too. Don't ask her who she's supposed to look like, this is always an original from her collection. She's here to impress.

🌿Mountain. Mountain... = he always fails his costumes. Nothing fits him. He never plans long enough in advance for it to work. He's disappointed about it every year, and still can't manage to fix it. This year though, he finally gathered the courage to ask for help. He'll have Sunshine to help him find clothes, and Cumulus for the hair and makeup. He'd like to be a hobbit, but he's starting to think he'll be more believable if he cosplays Gandalf - of course, he's not really hobbit-sized. If he can have an excuse to smoke all night, well...

🔮Sunshine = she doesn't have time for costumes. Her main concern is to be the party's organiser. Before she joined the Project, the ghouls had never planned any kind of gathering together for Halloween. She wants to be with her family and that's the only thing that counts. She'll just put something a bit festive, do her hair and put on some "scary" makeup, (which for her is dark shadow and eyeliner). Maybe washable dye or glitter in her hair this time around ? Nothing that can make dancing and running around uncomfortable !

🔮Swiss = is there a better opportunity to be naked ? On Halloween, his sole missions are to 1.be sexy 2.dance. Whatever year it is, his shirt is always wide open and tucked in his pants to enhance his tight waist, his chest always exposed, and his feet always moving... He doesn't mind any addition of costume or makeup that will make him prettier, but never purposefully goes that way by himself. 🔮Aurora = absolutely has the most feminine costume you'll see the entire night. She cannot not be hot, but maybe not as intensely as Swiss. She's the girl that wears the bunny outfit, the Barbie outfit, the Tinkerbell or Daphne outfit... The hair is down and the skirt is mini. Her only rule is : sexy but always secure. She has to wear warm tights and good shoes. Being pretty shouldn't stop you from running, jumping, and staying up all night. Special mention : this year, since it's their first Halloween together, they want to do a hot-couple-costume.

🌊Rain = has the boring but cute costume. If you don't know him, you can't really see how it's a costume most of the time - to be honest he always looks like that. He just genuinely doesn't need more material than what he already has. He thinks dressing up is cool but hates having to spend his whole night adjusting his costume or being careful with it. Last year he was the Phantom of the Opera, but he found the mask restraining. This year he's thinking about maybe a proper suit, a hat, his usual jewels and a bit of makeup. With some luck it'll pass as a period costume.

🌊 Mist = will always hide herself under her costume. You can never recognize her. The only thing she cares about, is surprising others. If she dresses as a character, it'll be a slay version of them. This year she's doing the Grinch, so expect green manucure, a pink dress and fake eyelashes on that green fursuit. Count on her to wear bad bald caps and colored paint all over her body. She doesn't take herself too seriously and is only here to have fun.

🔥Alpha = much like Omega, doesn't care about Halloween. You'll find him doing his actual job in the Abbey, at the yearly ritual that none of the new ghouls have the decency to assist. Traditions are really lost with the young generations...

🔥Ifrit = was, is, and will always be the guy who shows his muscles. He's into action movies and old rockstars, so it's only ordinary that he dresses as such. He'll be Han Solo, or Freddy Mercury, or Wolverine. Ifrit has the softest heart out there, but he's peak masculinity when it comes to looks, and he cares about his heroes. Right now, he's into 00's sci-fi/horror and still searching for some cool costume that will stick to his skin just *right*.

🔥Finally, Dewdrop = Don't ask stupid questions. Don't joke about Halloween with him. Don't even make suggestions. He has already had everything planned since November 1st. He has notebooks full of dark designs for corpse paint that involve fake (or real ?) blood, and a wide range of colored face paints in his drawer just for that event. He'll spend his afternoon looking for the perfect color, and he'll do intricate designs with extremely thin brushes on his face before the night starts. Dewdrop needs to look like he just sacrificed something in an old forest and burnt a church. He loves the theatrics of wearing long dark robes and being covered in blood. Halloween truly is his way to express himself and explore his own graphic world.

If you come across this post and see your fave missing, feel free to add your headcanon for them.

[blysse-and-blunder]

in lieu of a second chance

10:30pm, sunday, may 12, 2024

wow oh man i have forgotten how to do this!! but it's spring, it's the end of the term, it's the start of a new season and a new burst of creativity and, perhaps, a different routine-- so let's try again.

reading audio-books and ebooks have been my absolute constant companions all winter, but shout-out to the stack of paperbacks on my bedside table, which i am slowly but surely working through. finished italo calvino's if on a winter's night a traveler (a loan from @hematiterings), part of my now intentional quest to read calvino's whole oeuvre, and basically loved it. the whole 'first chapters of various novels you'll never get the rest of' was such a good way to showcase a bunch of cliches from, like, mid-century literary fiction. very meta, and very fun. the connective frame narrative, in second person, was a little more of a stretch (again, very mid-century literary self-referential/ironic/whatever, which unfortunately i did find amusing)-- and calvino's female characters are not great, except for in the nonexistent knight's narrator who i loved)-- but there was a section addressed to a female reader which did, in fact, feel like it read me for absolute filth. other finished reads from the last few months which i will mention here briefly: the angel of the crows, katherine addison; our wives under the sea, julia armfield; the bell in the fog, lev ac rosen; the nutmeg's curse, amitav ghosh; the ruin of kings, jenn lyons.

listening this would have been different if i'd written this last week, but have y'all heard beyonce's album cowboy carter?! i know i'm a few months late but i actually feel like i'm years late, like i haven't responded to a beyonce album this strongly maybe ever. i love the covers, i love the vocal layering and harmonies, i love the samples from old timey radio and everything familiar and texas and country about it...i keep thinking i have a favorite track, but genuinely i like listening to this one all the way through, as a cohesive album, as a work in itself. have a pitchfork review. pull quote:

"On Cowboy Carter, Club Renaissance is swapped out for KNTRY Radio Texas, an AM station hosted by an ever-hazy Willie Nelson. Here she re-contextualizes roots music—Americana, folk, country—for a contemporary moment, reminding listeners that Black artists were the genesis of these forms and never stopped playing them, despite what Hollywood or Nashville might have on offer....Despite drawing from the kitsch and fun of ’70s and ’80s country music, Cowboy Carter has an air of melancholy to it, a quality that reverberates through the scores of songs in minor keys about loneliness on the range.

^^ this is a playlist of the whole album on youtube, if you're into that. AMERIICAN REQUIEM, the opening track, is what hooked me-- i was in from the opening notes. but TEXAS HOLD EM' is also great. fuck yeah, rhiannon giddens.

watching so in addition to rewatching the entire sixth season of dropout's game changer today, last week we finished a truly wild show out of netflix italy: la legge di lidia poët / the law according to lidia poët, which is a historical mystery-romance like only netflix can make. is it bridgerton but for ninteenth century italian lawyers? is it the girlbossification of an actually interesting historical figure? yes, maybe, but everyone is very attractive and the costumes are bonkers in a satisfying way. she has insect themed jewellery, rides a bike, has a lot of sex, finds a decent relationship with her brother and, god help me, i do want a second season.

featuring, hey isn't that pasquale from my brilliant friend? and wow, they probably think this song choice is really cool but it is so on the nose in english it is almost distracting.

playing hollow knight! hollow knight. hollow knight. it's become a problem, actually, since i have quite literally turned my evening yoga time into gamer time, and would you believe, i am less flexible and have higher anxiety levels lmaoo. but i'm getting so powerful i don't care. i probably can't promise myself to beat this game any time soon, and should stop thinking i can, but look! two dreamers down?!

making patched the inner thighs of some jeans-- they will probably remain weekend pants, but they're further from dead than they were. similarly, clumsily darned a hole in my sweater. baked a caffeinated cake courtesy of a b. dylan hollis video (coffee loaf from 1959) . glued a wooden salad tong back together and i feel like the seams are actually quite subtle.

(this wood glue claims to be food safe after curing, pray for me etc etc).

working on ooof. i am done teaching but still owe two-three students emails. i survived my committee meeting but have done nothing to follow the schedule of deadlines we set me, despite being so excited to back on may 2 / so energized to do All the Things back on april 26. i have an article to prep to submit! a chapter to finish tweaking (reworking? reframing? changing from the ground up? lololololol)! not to mention a newsletter to draft and copy edits (almost done) to send back on a friend's article! but i can't stop playing hollow knight in all my free time, and really, what's more important here.

[mokeonn]

Why don't you wanna play your other games cuz you can't turn them honor? What part of honor mode has enchanted you so?

I do enjoy my other games but I am having a TON of fun with honor mode, mainly coming down to the following reasons:

- No reloading.

This has been my blessing and my curse. On the one hand, it makes battles WAY more fun because if they go south, I can't just press the magic undo key. It's changed my battle strategy when I lose from "just reload to before the battle" to "have someone escape and prepare to pickpocket Withers at camp," which is a lot more fun imo. It's also why I had so many problems with the phase spider matriarch and why Poetry is technically continuing with dishonor because I kept running away and leaving camp right back to the fight. (Which was my fault, I forgot you can use waypoints in camp)

It also means I don't have to worry about saving often anymore. No more backtracking more than expected because I forgot to save before or after an event, because I simply can't backtrack!

However this also causes a nightmare, if you fuck up and end up wiping out an entire town or giving a character a bad end on accident, you're stuck with that. I have figured out how to turn the tide in my favor for a lot of events, but for others, I am simply out of luck if I mess it up. Like triggering the Isobel kidnapping scene and not winning the fight, or if something happens to a future companion in a battle where they're an ally. You're just stuck with the consequences, which sucks SO much.

- the difficulty is kinda fun and adds new features to fights that freshens it up

I normally go through the game in balanced mode, because that feels just right for me, but I can't help but admit that the new attacks and enemy features of honor mode freshen up the game a lot more. Take the intellect devourer fight at the very beginning of the game when you pick up Shadowheart, I've done that fight so many times it's more of a chore that gets you to level up than anything else. In tactician mode, it's the same fight, but they hit harder. In honor mode??? Those fuckers got laser beams! That's new! That adds something that freshens up an old experience! I like that a lot!

Many fights are like that where an old fight I've already done at least 5 times feels new. Getting the owlbear fight out of the way? Now there's 2 owlbears, bitch. Does the hag have new attacks? I wouldn't know! I just cheese the fight by arcane locking the stairs to the lair when she first reveals herself.

It really adds a breath of fresh air, and it gets me to think a lot more about equipment, spells, battle strategies, classes, feats, and so on. Rather than simply brute forcing my way through and reloading until I win.

-food system

I understand this is just a general tactician mode change, but instead of 40 camp supplies, you need 80.

I tend to pick up any edible substance I can see anyways, leading to me having over 1,000 camp supplies sometimes. I have to constantly distribute supplies to other party members lest my player character have 70% of their inventory and ability to carry things be taken up by food. I am constantly juggling to make sure I don't become encumbered.

So, having that set to 80 instantly helps me cut down on food and has even caused a little challenge. Due to the difficulty of honor mode, I have to long rest more, which means I now ACTUALLY have to worry about camp supplies. There will be times were the party needs to rest but I don't have enough supplies so I need to either find something, or buy something.

I find the food management aspect really fun actually and it's very interesting to want to long rest only to realize you only have 18 supplies and need to scramble to get 62 more.

-gettin' funky with it

I think the biggest part I like about honor mode as well is that there are areas where you can't simply run away to camp if things go south. So the game constantly requires me to think outside of the box and get funky with it.

Things like using enemies as weapons against other enemies, making a healing circle in combat and throwing a potion down in the middle of it, getting rid of an entire boss fight early by simply getting other enemies to fight them, blocking off doorways with boxes or arcane lock, finding out that darkness is your friend it is SUCH a good spell.

It's REALLY fun to figure out wild solutions to get things done without risking the run ending. A dumb example was in grymforge! I wanted to get all the duegar out of the way before fighting Nere, so I did this by going to the upper platform hanging above the entrance of the main room, and using a berserker Karlach to start throwing things down. Most of the duegar were melee fighters so they would end up dashing around and missing turns, and those that could hit far were taken out first. I had potions lined up the wazoo and made shadowheart throw them on karlach when she got low on health, Astarion was sneak attacking, and Poetry (my durge bardlock) was inspiring Karlach and eldrich blasting.

It got even better because some enemies had javelins they would throw up, which meant that Karlach now had more Javelins to throw down.

It was a dumb battle that ended with a solid 8 turns of everyone wailing on the scrying eye hoping to damage it, because we ran out of thunder spells that could hurt it and most of our damage was negated most turns. It cried for help every time, but no help came.

But I had a ton of fun with it! It was a memorable fight! It wasn't like my first fight in my first playthrough where I had to keep reloading, I just got to win by standing up really high and making Karlach throw every Javelin I had found and gave her throughout the game and then some.

-it justifies my bad habits that make gamers cry

To the joy of all my friends, I have stopped using my inventory system I made up. I used to pick up every backpack and pouch I could find and sort everything into 4 bags in the order of: spell scrolls, drinkables, throwables, and coatables.

This kept everything nice and clean as most things outside of these bags either got a special bag (i.e story items or dye bottles) or just got to be sold. It was a little tedious to grab things during battle, but I used the custom page to make things easier. So it was only really a pain getting things out of someone else's inventory.

I have since found out that an auto sort by type button exists, and I can just use that instead. And that a search bar exists. It took until a friend pointed it out for me to realize this. So I stopped doing the bag system since I could simply throw the story items you can't sell into a backpack and just auto sort everything else.

Plus I used to have a treasure pouch I would sell, which is not necessary! That's what the 'add to wares' button is for! Whoopsie!

So, thankfully, for everyone, I stopped doing the backpack system...

However

I had also developed another habit around the same time I developed the backpack system. I was doing a challenge run where I dared myself to use every object I picked up no matter how useless, and it caused me to develop a habit that makes everyone who plays with me cry:

I press take all no matter what.

That's just how I close containers.

There's nothing that makes a friend playing with you cry more than an inventory full of useless garbage, and you keep picking up more garbage off the ground to mess with them.

In honor mode, the shop prices are HIGH. A 80 gp ring of flinging in balanced mode is over 200gp in honor mode. The gloves of missile snaring that are about 200 gp normally? Over 600gp. If you aren't planning on pickpocketting (which admittedly I am clearly under utilizing and I need to plan on pickpocketting more), you need a LOT of money to buy items you need.

You know what gets you a lot of money? Selling a metric fuckton of armor, weapons, rotten food, bones, and whatever other garbage you pick up!

Hell, if you even give some of these to shop keepers for free, they'll like you more and lower the prices!

So next time your friend yells at you for picking up all of the severed body parts you see in on the risen road, consider that each of those parts net you about 3 gold, and you need that bottle of light blue dye Dammon is selling.

- I want the achievement and the gold dice

I've been getting into achievement hunting and I really like how all of bg3 achievements are achievable through story beats or small fun actions, so I want the achievement. I'm already working on the second hardest one which is busking 100 gold, so I need the hardest one. Boost my ego. Plus I wanna see if it gets the tactician achievement out of the way as well.

Also yeah I want those gold dice lmao

So that's why I have only been playing honor mode lately. I still love those regular balanced games, and I will need to revisit my main game soon since I haven't beaten the game yet and have no idea what act 3 encounters there are, but I am having the time of my life with honor mode. The furthest I have gotten so far is right before the Nightsong and the assault on Moonrise Towers. I would be able to tell you how well that went if I didn't proceed to let my hubris get the better of me and mess up the last light Inn.

Anyways, I highly recommend trying honor mode! It really forces you to get into out of the box thinking and try some spells, classes, and methods you might not have used. Whether that's disguising yourself as a drow to get past the goblin camps conflict free, pickpocketting every shopkeeper you can to save money, or saving every smokepowder barrel you can find; there's a lot of fun to be had in honor mode.

Of course, if you normally do explorer and never balanced or tactician, maybe reconsider idk. Also I am weird and absolutely have been trying new classes I never played before in this mode, I highly recommend playing a class you have played before if you're worried about the difficulty. For me? I got act 1 figured out, so by act 2 I'll be used to the class I picked it's no biggie :)

So far the only honor mode game going REALLY well for me is the one I'm doing with my friend, since he was unsure about honor mode and normally plays explorer. That one he is a druid half-wood elf (which is a fantastic pick as the wild shapes are grand for not dying and half-wood elves get an extra 3 meters to their speed) and I am a war cleric of Selune romancing Lae'zel (war clerics RULE for hitting hard, and I wanted to piss off Shadowheart as much as possible with my build.) So if you have a friend who likes playing tactician or honor mode, you can totally mooch off them. Having another player to control half of the team honestly helps a lot imo.

[agentnico]

MaXXXine (2024) review

Maxine is a star, yet this movie lacks that X-factor.

Plot: In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. However, as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Los Angeles, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.

X was one of the creepiest and entertaining horror films of recent years, as it was a delightful homage to the 70s slasher horror genre, featuring brutal kills, a tense atmosphere, uncensored self-aware sexual sequences and surprising dashes of humour. Still recall the bloodshot red scene where the creepy old lady dances over the dead body of the guy she just brutally stabbed to death as Blue Öyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” blasts through the van’s radio. It was such a stylistic thriller that was a blast. Then the prequel Pearl was a delightfully disturbing companion piece. Mia Goth’s acting was so good in that as every time she started to scream or have a mental breakdown it gave me sheer anxiety. So when I heard Ti West was making a third and supposed final entry to this unique horror trilogy, I was naturally excited and was looking forward to seeing how the third film would connect the aspects of the previous two and deliver another thrilling slice of the X-factor.

The movie is fine. Think 1984’s Body Double mixed in with the love-letter/memory of star power in Los Angeles from 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Like it’s predecessors X and Pearl, this is a gleeful dive into retro 80s move tropes with vivid period evocation, and Ti West’s ambition with this entry is clear - ‘it’s a B-movie with A ideas.” At least that is how Elizabeth Debicki (very reminiscent of Cate Blanchett in this role) as an ice-cool British filmmaker trying to break the status quo describes her ambition, which feels like that came right from Ti West’s heart. If we look at the trilogy as a whole, that’s what he seems to have been doing - paying loving homages to filmmaking aesthetics of particular eras, whilst trying to add a modernised spin. In X we had the Texas Chainsaw Massacre dark and dirty grindhouse flair; in Pearl he tackled midcentury melodrama through the lens of Technicolor musicals; now with MaXXXine we have the 80s murder mystery. In regards to the look the film nails that 80s vibe, from the soundtrack picks to the filters to reimagining the trashy-flashy sleaze of Hollywood Boulevard in that era, the aesthetic is spot-on. The ensemble supporting cast is bigger this time around too, with a lot of familiar faces appearing and having fun in their over-the-top performances.

That being said MaXXXine is easily the weakest of the three films. There’s a real lack of actual horror in the film, as well as the aforementioned X-factor. Look I’m not saying I want to perv on lots of sexual content, but the previous entries have had a lot of fun at mocking the pornographic industry, and I enjoyed how those films let loose and fully embraced the lack of censorship. With MaXXXine however it felt like Ti West all of a sudden became afraid of showing too much, and that included the gore also. I enjoyed the multiple instances of goopy practical effects, however aside from a foot-to-the-nutsack moment, there wasn’t any bloody or violent moments that really gave any shock value. It’s strange, it felt like something was stopping this movie from fully stretching itself. Narratively also this movie suffers from a severe identity crisis, where on one side it wants to play out its 80s murder mystery, but on the other hand it also is the trilogy caper to the X films. It’s with the latter where it really loses itself, as there is no sense of cohesion. Mia Goth is again fantastic in her role (since A Cure for Wellness she’s a unbreakable force among the scream queens), however Maxine as a character is completely different to what she was in the first film. Also from how X ended, I felt like her character was going a certain way, and with how Pearl emphasised the ideology of going psychotically mad for star power, it felt like Maxine was going to go that more mentally turning route, but no, the movie goes for the more generic killer route which was disappointing. I feel as a stand-alone MaXXXine is a passable whodunnit mystery set under the 80s LA backdrop (even if it’s filled with cliches and predictable twists), but as part of an ongoing franchise it fails majorly.

As for the aforementioned cast - Mia Goth is a star indeed. Maxine is the least interesting character she has had to work with during the course of this trilogy, yet she still manages to bring the intensity and determination to bring this persona to life. Her delivery of “MAXINE FUCKING MINX” is spot-on. Giancarlo Esposito for once actually playing a good guy was pleasantly goofy and silly. Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan make for a fun cop duo, with Halsey and Lily Collins in glorified cameos. Kevin Bacon gets to have way too much fun as a sleazy PI, and he chews up every line he gets, even if his role in the long run turns out to be pointless and wasted. Overall though this is Mia Goth’s show through and through, and props to her for managing to make a one-dimensional character pop.

As a major fan of the previous two films I cannot deny finding MaXXXine to be hugely disappointing. On its own it stands as a fashionable knock-off of Body Double (those that movie did it better, just saying), but this is a baffling conclusion to what was a promising trilogy. Ti West you almost had me fooled there for a couple of movies, but no, this one is a waste of potential. That being said I still enjoyed it for what it was, and if ever a boutique physical media label like Arrow Video or Second Sight decide to release a special nifty looking Blu-ray box-set of the X films I’ll happily and proudly have them in my collection.

Overall score: 5/10

[misculenica]

Dreadwolf Speculations - Protagonist + Companions (Part 2 - loong post)

This is part 2 of my Protagonist + Companions speculation for Dragon Age Dreadwolf. You probably will have to read Part 1 to understand the things I discuss in this part.

Some of the pictures I use here will be snips from the BTS trailer from 2020, so apologies for the cropping/inferior quality of some of them.

Much of this (or all of it, really) is speculation, based around teasers, trailers, concept art and leaks. None of it is confirmed, I just wanted to share my personal take on what our companions will beTake that as you will, going forward.

And so;

Part 2: The Companions

So, as of right now we have 3 confirmed named characters:

Rook (most probably the protagonist)

Bellara (female... something)

Davrin (male... probably a grey warden)

Bellara and Davrin may or may not be companions, but I feel it's important to note they're the only named characters whose voices we've heard (from the BTS teaser back in 2020).

There will be 8 companions, at least for the base game (without dlc companions, which I believe Bioware will not do again)

Origins had 8 (+1 secret companion to replace another who leaves late game) - 2 mages, 2 rogues, 3 warriors + a dog)

DA2 had 7 (with a switch of the siblings, based on pc class) - 2 mages (3 if brother died), 2 rogues, 2 warriors (3 if sister died) (+ technically a dog?)

Inquisition had 9 - 3 mages, 3 rogues, 3 warriors.

Let's go from left to right from the image above!

Female mage (probably elven)

I don't think a warrior or a rogue would wear a dress for obvious reasons (restrictive movement, impractical battle equipment). And flowing robe-like attire strikes me as a mage thing. I'm also getting an elven vibe from her, but not dalish - her outfit feels elven (legs for days, flowy, the front part that dips between the legs) and it looks to me like she's barefoot (elves like their toesies out)

Here is some examples of elven armour so you see what I mean;

Make sense?

I also like to believe that she is the woman on the far left of this concept art;

Literally just because she has similar hair and both characters look overtly feminine (and attractive, I must admit)

As for personality/background; I believe she will be rather confident, perhaps flirtatious, she'll probably give you a shock, and will hide some dark secret (I'm calling it, she's going to betray us). As for her background... It depends where we pick her up, really. But I'm positive she's not a dalish elf... If she is an elf at all, but I'm 70-80% sure that she is. Her ears are covered/hidden, so.

2. Female Qunari Rogue

Very obviously a female qunari (long hair on a female qunari!!). I say rogue, because, we've had 2 warriors, and all of the concept art with this same female qunari is of her wielding daggers.

She's going to be stubborn, no nonsense, and will probably question your every move. She'll also probably be romanceable, given how much she appears in the concept art/teasers (compared to others). I would like her to be a tal-vashoth- though I think it would be interesting to see the perspective of a woman who lived under the qun, and possibly left because being a woman within the qun is very different from being a man (and we've only seen men, so far). So perhaps she's a runaway from the qun? Perhaps she disagreed with the order of things? She looks closed off/no nonsense. Perhaps her character arc will be her learning to relax/express herself/trust, like we get to see a softer and more feminine side if we get her approval up?

3. Male.... Human.

I want to say rogue, but when I asked my partner, he said he doesn't look like a rogue or a warrior. So... Possibly mage? The satchels and light-ish armour make me think rogue.... Unless Dreadwolf introduces multiclassing? (I'd fucking love that, not going to lie). This could be Davrin? I doubt it, but... Maybe? I'll settle on a hard maybe - mainly because the other characters in this lineup just don't hit me with that voice. This is a man of triumph, perhaps also of loss. He has something to prove, for himself and for others - he will be... Clever but also valorous, I don't think he's the type to skulk or hide, he'll want to be up at the front and will want you to see (but not in a pompous way?).

Not much else to say on him, unfortunately.

4. Human-male Mortalitasi-mage

The armour, especially the bracers, look like bones - and I'm 100% sure there's going to be a mortalitasi mage as a companion, they've been hyping them up ever since Inquisition and Tevinter Nights was a thing - and no other character looks like a death mage.

I have nothing else on him, honestly. I'm not getting any vibes. I think he'll be interesting to talk to and will provide a great deal of information, and I suspect he'll be very interesting in stopping/killing Fen'Harel - perhaps he'll have a personal grudge?

5. Female rogue... dwarf.

The character looks female, and that looks like a gun - though I feel inclined to say it's a crossbow, just at an odd angle (perhaps one similar to Bianca?). I also say dwarf, because I KNOW there's a dwarf companion, and no other character fits in the lineup. She just gives me dwarf vibes.

This is either Scout Lace Harding, or Bianca - perhaps a completely new character (perhaps Bellara? "The good kind of rumble!" gives me dwarf vibes).

She'll be cocky, and quirky, and fun. Looks entirely like the person to does the whole *pumps shotgun* "it's Morbin' time".

Also;

If it's a female rogue dwarf, I'm 99% sure it's Scout Lace Harding, I mean- look at those freckles, that ginger hair. Maybe not. But they all look like rogues, and 2 images have crossbows... Is the original lineup picture.... Bianca-the crossbow? It looks a lot like Bianca. If so.... Is Varric going to die in Dreadwolf, and this character is going to get Bianca??

OKAY NO. QUICK THEORY TIME. BECAUSE THIS IS GOING TO BOTHER ME IF I DON'T GET IT OUT THERE NOW THAT I'VE CONSIDERED IT.

So we know there's a dwarf character in the next game, who looks a bit like Harding, who wield a crossbow.

It's difficult to get the pictures of Bianca-the crossbow when it's not in active mode, so trust me, it looks a lot like the silhouette's weapon. So- in this wild scenario.... Harding somehow gets Varric's famed crossbow, the crossbow he loves and doesn't let anyone touch? He dies. Varric's going to die, and he's going to either give Bianca to Harding to prevent an enemy from taking it, or Bianca is going to take it off his dead/dying body.

And you ask; what kind of scenario permits this happening? They barely talked in Inquisition.

Well.

Varric and Harding are travelling together in the deep roads, looking for Solas (and hot on his tail), in this comic.

And what does Harding look like in this most recent rendition of her?

Now, go back up and look at the concept art images.

The scariest thing is; I could be SO FUCKING RIGHT. Varric may very well die soon (either in these comics, or in Dreadwolf - I'm guessing Dreadwolf). And Harding is going to get Bianca.

She's going to have a serious, and personal vendetta against Solas.

Okay, dwarf companion complete. Next, before I explode.

6. Antivan Crow? Fellow Rook? Rogue (probably female)

I mentioned before (in Part 1) how I believed since the protagonist is Rook, that in chess, there are 2 Rooks; and in this image;

There are 2 similar looking corvid-themed characters (left ready to grab the guy, right holding the palanquin). I guessed that the right is the protagonist Rook, and the left, is either an Antivan Crow, or a 2nd Rook (agents of the Inquisition).

Tin foil hats, galore. But it would be cool though, to go through the game with a constant companion from the beginning, like Alistair in Origins, or Carver/Bethany in DA2.

I think this is also the Crow/2nd Rook, similar design + weapon. Or, this is the main character.

I believe they're a female character, but that's purely a hunch based on the palanquin piece. Plus, they look like a crow. It'd be weird to have another male crow (I very much doubt it's Zevran).

They seem sarcastic, capable, and probably very likeable (the kind of person it's hard not to like). Probably romanceable to males and females.

7. Male.... Mage??

At this point, I'm just taking wild guesses. He looks human. But I was super hoping for a tranquil, or ancient elf companion. 1 million points if it's Felassan or Abelas. But... I really don't know what to make of this character, but I'm getting mage vibes. Hoping for a tranquil companion. So that's all I'll say for this guy.

8. I Don't Even Know - Abomination?

Looks like a sailor? Possibly pirate? From the concept art, it looks like a lot of the scenery is tropical/seaside/ocean - to that makes a bit of sense.

They look dead, their face looks like a skull, almost. So... A spirit possessing the dead?

Or... I just considered another thing, kind of.

Where have we seen a blue face glow before?

Now, I'm not saying it's Solas, or Mythal. I'm merely... suggesting that it could be... Something to do with this scene where Solas kills Flemeth, on some level. I find it interesting how I remembered this when looking at this pirate-looking character, especially when the colours and imagery are so similar.

We'd have to consider why Solas' face lights and waves around, but part of me always assumed this was like... his spirit-self? (If we're to go with the idea that Solas was originally a spirit who took physical form, like Cole).

So... It's a spirit. Is my best guess XD One that hasn't quite gotten the physical form thing right, perhaps it doesn't look human (or elven, dwarven, etc), and looks how... Hold the fuck up.

It's a spirit, at best guess, who takes OUR side... And doesn't look like a physical being. It's body is completely covered, except it's face, that you can't quite see right because of the glow. And how do spirits look in the physical world?

It's... Not a corporeal spirit, or one that took physical form. It's a spirit existing as a spirit in the physical world. Or.... The veil has come down, and spirits walk freely in Thedas.

It doesn't look like it's really wearing clothes, it looks like it's just covering itself- a mismatch of items its found or conjured by it's own guess at what people should wear, because it thinks it should be wearing things. I don't think it has a physical body, is what I'm saying, or it's not quite a body (or similar to a demon, it doesn't look right).

But if it's a spirit, what is it a spirit of?

We could guess by colour. I couldn't say; but I'd love for it to be Hope, or something else we've never seen before!

And... That concludes it I think, if I've forgotten something I'll just deal with it.

also;

[thedragonagelesbian]

Baldur's Gate 3 Tav Ask List also multiples of 10 for Cyrus <3

:DDD (answering for Pallybarb Cyrus since he's the one I've finished the game with)

BG3 Tav ask list

10. What was your Tav like as a child?

Cyrus was the joy of his parents' lives as they struggled to raise him on the run from Malcolm's archfey warlock patron. He never fussed or complained even as they were constantly on the move up and down the Sword Coast. At 16 (still very much a child by elf standards), he even took his father's death in stride, steeling himself against his grief so he could provide for himself and his mother.

20. Finally, what does your Tav feel as the Nautiloid crashes? Are they scared? Are they thinking of a way to survive?

In Fantasy High, there's a wizard with a frog familiar described as having exactly two moods: 'happy to be here gang' and 'mm i'm not sure about this'. Those aren't Cyrus' only two moods, but he's pretty unflappable so long as no one else's life is on the line, so even as he's like. ostensibly hurtling to his death, his attitude is one of 'well this isn't ideal...'

30. Who does your Tav think of when they go to sleep at the goblin/tiefling party? Or are they lucky and do they get to spend the night with the person they want?

He breaks up with Astarion, flirts with Gale, and chats with Karlach about how desperately they want to fuck each others' brains out. Cyrus maybe has enough wine in him to try touching her anyway & gives himself some third degree burns just to hold her hand for a heartbeat.

(He would've flirted with Wyll too, but Karlach's scene wasn't triggering if I didn't keep the Wyll interaction strictly platonic)

40. Did your Tav agree to kill the Guardian or did they go talk to them instead?

This version of Cyrus had absolute unwavering faith in the Guardian up until the negotiation with Raphael in Sharess' Caress and the Emperor forcing the truth of their agreement from his mind afterward.

50. Does your Tav save the tieflings & gnomes?

Yep! I savescummed so hard to get them all out but yes.

60. Did you clear Moonrise Towers of the shadow curse?

Yes!! I've mentioned this briefly before, but rescuing Thaniel and Oliver is the very first thing Cyrus does after breaking his oath. The scene I have in my head is Halsin feeling like Cyrus losing his oath is yet another casualty of the shadow curse, another good thing lost to his mistakes. But Cyrus promises him that they're going to fix it right now together, and in the portal fight, he debuts his new oathbreaker channel divinity where you can make an undead creature your ally. For him, it's a moment of realizing that he hasn't lost as much as he thought and that these new powers can still be used for good, despite knowing he'll carry a shard of this shadow in his soul for the rest of his life. For Halsin, it's a moment of profound hope and potential. The mists parting for the first time.

I wish they could kiss about it right then and there but they get around to it eventually.

70. Does your Tav make a deal with Raphael?

Yes. 8 wisdom strikes again, Karlach was understandably very pissed with him when she found out.

80. Does your Tav free the slaves from Steel Watch Foundry? Do they side with the Gondians or with Wulbren?

Cyrus was really on team 'blow everything up' until meeting Zanner, at which point the plan became 'save the Gondians and THEN blow everything up'. Sorry, Wulbren, the Ironhands are Barcus' now.

90. Do they betray the Emperor/Orpheus/their companions for the Absolute?

Nope, and like I get why that option is there but it does feel a little silly how many times the game presents you with the thought during what is more or less a strictly lawful good run sdfoijapfsd

100. Did Karlach get upgraded? Did she turn Illithid? Did she return to Avernus? If so, did Tav join her, or Wyll, or both?

Yes, Karlach got upgraded, no Cyrus never sold or let go of a single piece of infernal iron after meeting her (DID sell a scrap of it to Volo for some health potions before recruiting her and felt absolutely awful about not realizing how important it was).

After all is said and done with the Netherbrain, on the docks of the harbor of their hometown, Cyrus is 100% ready to let Karlach go. It's hard and it hurts, but if there's anything that breaking his oath taught him, it's that you have to let go sometimes, and he can't bear to ask her to return to Avernus just to spare his feelings, and he's prepared to rage and hold her through the whole thing.

...And then Wyll makes one last plea for her to come to Avernus with him.

Cyrus hesitates. Assures Karlach that he would follow her no matter where she goes, and Karlach chooses to go to Avernus.

In my head, there's a quick & passionate goodbye to Halsin before Cyrus, Karlach, and Wyll all rush off to the House of Hope as Karlach realizes that what scared her most about returning to Avernus might have been the possibility of being alone again-- and that her husband and her best friend aren't going to let that happen.

...That being said.

There's a lot else that's scary about Avernus. And I have a /real/ axe to grind with in-game (and, to a minor and very petty extent, fandom) presentation of this ending.

Like. There's a Zariel statblock in Descent into Avernus. We know exactly how powerful she is-- and it's powerful enough to grind three unprepared level 12 adventurers beneath her flaming fallen angel heel. The way the Avernus ending is presented, especially now with the epilogue, Karlach's fear of being forced back into the Blood War seems unfounded, because the worst thing that happens to her, Wyll, and her LI is they have to spend like a year fighting fiends nonstop. Which still sucks as a way to live, but the game is much more interested in it being BadassTM and CoolTM than lingering even on this milder form of sucking. In my opinion, it completely rips all the stakes out of the choice itself, because Karlach dying is less of a legitimate narrative choice if the alternative is just... Yeah you have to kill a bunch of fiends, but you literally find the magic solution to everything in fucking six months anyway, so??????

Hells, I was kind of hoping for Halsin to have some negative and unresolved feelings about Cyrus ditching him, just so there would be some sense of consequence for the decision.

And I realize that the narrative complexity I'm seeking won't fit into the minuscule square hole labeled 'ending cutscene & epilogue dialogue' but maybe Larian should've kept working on the game long enough to make fixing Karlach's heart part of it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So. I'm making my own consequences. In my version of things, Karlach, Cyrus, and Wyll have the House of Hope as a safe haven, but only to the extent that it can be protected, defended, and kept hidden from Zariel, which is further complicated by Wyll still being in a pact with Mizora. I need to keep marinating on the details, but some broad ideas are (a) Cyrus getting exposed to demon ichor and dealing with the consequence of that (growing a tail); (b) rescue mission after Karlach gets kidnapped to be taken back to Zariel; (c) I want Dammon to give SOMEONE an infernal iron prosthetic limb... probably Cyrus. Infernal heart + infernal hand??? I think it's cute at least; (d) trying to get Wyll out of his pact (again) (given our average of 11 int and 10 wis, this can ONLY go well)

[covenscribe]

multiples of 10 for amour & the latest tav asks

10. What was your Tav like as a child?

They were routinely kicked out of their parents house when they didn’t feel like being parents anymore so Amour grew as a self reliant  kid who hated all adults and stole anything they thought they could get away with. They also bit people a lot, very feral child.

20. Finally, what does your Tav feel as the Nautiloid crashes? Are they scared? Are they thinking of a way to survive?

Amour really thought they were going to die on impact and is thrilled when they wake up alive. Though quickly they try to think of ways to survive, they have never been away from Baldurs Gate further than Rivington and any knowledge about the outside world from the limited amount of books the brothel would get. Admittedly most of them were just inaccurate naughty books.

30. Who does your Tav think of when they go to sleep at the goblin/tiefling party? Or are they lucky and do they get to spend the night with the person they want? 

Amour drinks too much at the tiefling party, flirts with everyone but after Astarion’s “I love you” line, laughs really hard and basically says “Ha I know you’re lying because no one actually loves me.” Walks away and takes their bedroll to sleep against a tree away from the party alone.

40. Did your Tav agree to kill the Guardian or did they go talk to them instead?

Is very tempted to kill the Guardian but decides against it because they trust Vlaakith less and the Guardian does seem to be the only thing keep the mind flayer infection at bay

50. Does your Tav save the tieflings & gnomes? 

Yes! It was their first priority to rescue them

60. Did you clear Moonrise Towers of the shadow curse?

They found the House of Healing on the way to Moonrise Towers and were able to clear the shadow curse after rescuing everyone during the first trip to moonrise

70. Does your Tav make a deal with Raphael? 

Nope, would never trust him.

80. Does your Tav free the slaves from Steel Watch Foundry? Do they side with the Gondians or with Wulbren? 

Frees the slaves and sides with Barcus

90. Do they betray the Emperor/Orpheus/their companions for the Absolute?

No, destroying the absolute and protecting their friends was their goal

100. Did Karlach get upgraded? Did she turn Illithid? Did she return to Avernus? If so, did Tav join her, or Wyll, or both?

 Karlach was fully upgraded but turned Illthid for the final showdown with the absolute.

[streetsofaesthetics]

I think Sal and Sonia having a good, adult relationship is limited to their millennial counterparts, or AUs were I want to pretend oppression against those who are different is minimal. 

Because realistically 90s (80s, 70s, 60s) Sal would have cut Sonia off for not just her sexuality, but her taboo masculinity. It would not have been done by choice, as Sal actually loved Sonia for being more like a brother, but due to localized peer pressure with his companions. Yes, he would have screamed at her in public when all eyes were on him. Yes, he would have called her a freak. And this is one of many regrets he would hold as an old man and ultimately edges him towards gay tolerance when he's in his 50s - and has gay kids. It's his personal atoning, setting things right. And no, Sonia would never forgive him. They would go their separate ways, with the only thing connecting them being Rosaria who has unconditional love for her sister.

1940s reverses the situation a bit. Sexuality isn't a component of their fallout. Because while Sonia becomes more 'masculine' during WWII, it was that 'acceptable' feminine, female factory worker masculinity. Sal and Sonia's conflict instead arises from her sex work and supposed 'neglect' of Stefano. Meanwhile Sonia's disdain for Sal emerges from him becoming affiliated with the Italian-American mob, because it makes him the sort of abusive man that she and Rosaria were married to. She shuns Sal, Rosaria shuns Sal, Sal has to form a new, separate life in another part of New York where he meets Eve.

Millennial Sal's stance on sexuality, race, and gender is that you shouldn't be an asshole to others. It's old fashioned and backwards. So he's fine when Sonia says she's gay. He's fine when she's masculine. Which, Sal already knew her to be, because even when she was feminine when they're together they play the same video games, watch the same shows, have the same opinions. It's been that way since they were toddlers. Sal didn't approve of her stripping, camming, or pornstar stint for 99 toxic masculine reasons, and he also feels like factory work keeps her away from family and Stevie too much.

Beyond that, Sal being separated from Sonia consistently hurts him (and vice versa) on a deep level because all of his earliest memories revolve around interacting with her. In contrast, Rosaria and Sonia are pretty unbreakable with their bond. It’s partially rooted in being women. Partially rooted in Sonia being a heavy maternal figure/person to vent to when she’s lost and confused in college. Even when Rosaria is into politics, she’s all about being progressive and she’s not afraid to say: ‘this is my sister! i want to make the country better for people in her community!’

[finalgirlminamurray]

prequels tend to have a bad reputation just by their very concept - whenever one is announced i feel like general reactions are always in the vein of "we don't need this". while most of the time i get why additions to a franchise that clearly only exist to further capitalize on the brand name are considered pointless, i am a defender of the concept of prequels because when done right they can be really really good. unfortunately they are often not done well.

horror franchise prequels in particular often feel pointless because they aren't really interested in being prequels, or if they are they aren't allowed to be. if it's too different from what most movies in the franchise are like then it's assumed it will not be profitable, so it has to be forced into the same formula. if a movie is billed as THE BEGINNING or ORIGINS or THE FIRST MURDERS you can bet it's going to be indistinguishable from a generic slasher or whatever kind of movie the first one or most of the sequels are, with a new roster of generic characters to be killed off, except this one is taking place Before the events of the first movie. if it's billed as a villain origin story that's probably going to take up the first 15 minutes, max, of the movie before immediately switching to follow the newest crowd of victims. it probably won't even be able to go that far back into the past because then you're basically making a period piece and no one wants to watch that, right?

sometimes prequels fail because the origin story of the villain or the monster didn't need to be told and the original movie is better off without knowing much or anything at all about them, i grant that. but i also will fully admit i'm a big fan of delving into backstory and exploring what shaped a person or led to certain events happening and again it can be done very well. but the kinds of stories that would be most interesting to tell in a film aren't usually the ones that get told in big studio franchises that have to stick to a formula for every film instead of taking what would be seen as too big of a risk. i'm mostly thinking about slashers here because those are some of the most formulaic kinds of horror - prequels to films that don't have a set formula tend to be better executed. also if it's a franchise that doesn't have recurring characters (protagonists or villains) that audiences expect to see then they have a little more freedom.

the first omen was great - i definitely liked it better than the omen, but then again it had enough liberty to do its own thing while still being clearly tied to the original, and it was in the kind of genre that allows for different types of stories. prey was fantastic, and predator is a franchise that has that kind of freedom that comes from no real recurring characters aside from the alien species that serves as its antagonist. (it's also the only predator film i've seen, because you don't need to have seen the other films to understand one of them.) i absolutely loved pearl which IS a slasher prequel but it's to a film that didn't have a franchise built up and also has a director who's enough of an auteur that he could do what he wanted, including releasing both films as more companions than two entries in a series.

i just think prequels aren't an inherently bad idea when it comes to horror franchises. i'd watch a nightmare on elm street prequel about the parents of elm street trying to solve the disappearances of their children before it ends with the trial by mob of one fred krueger (i guess that would just be fritz lang's m but set in 70s-80s ohio. but i mean that could still be a good and interesting story.) i'd watch a friday the 13th prequel about pamela voorhees taking a job at a summer camp and then dealing with the unexpected death of her son, which ends with her deciding to murder the people she blames for it. (i do love a good character study of a murderer; see pearl, albeit a very different kind.) even though i hate the tcm remake i'd watch a full movie about the disenfranchisement of slaughterhouse workers in 1960s texas as seen through the eyes of the hewitt family, who eventually turn to cannibalism to survive. (despite this only being in the opening of the prequel to the remake, i actually think that it's a better movie than the remake itself, due to actually engaging with the themes of the original film and doing more with its specific period setting, and when it does introduce its own victim characters it seems more interested in them as people than its predecessor. don't ask me what leatherface 2017 was trying to do, though - while it definitely does something different it also seems to be actively trying not to be a texas chainsaw movie, which is kind of weird. whatever.)

not that i actively Want any of these films, because really i think most slasher franchises should probably just be left alone at this point. but you do have to appreciate when one actually does something different and interesting with a sequel or prequel that still fits into the franchise's continuity. a shame that those are often unlikely to happen.

(also when people say that a prequel is pointless because "we already know how this ends" or "we already know none of these characters are going to survive"...i just have to accept that they have different ways of engaging with fiction than me because if you genuinely believe that there's no point in watching or reading something if you already have even a vague idea of "how it ends" - i disagree. to each their own i guess.)

[academy13]

I know jack all about Australia's weather, but I assume that since there's a fuck ton of desert, it's probably hot as balls in areas but humid in other's (I imagine depending on where you are, like the coast is gonna be different than more inland). And I also don't know at all how much it rains there, but from what I know of deserts it's pretty sunny all the time and you have shades of beige intersped with greenery from the air.

I understood Rey so much when I went to Florida in 2019 because I've never seen so much greenery in my goddamn LIFE. What I'm saying is I am a total desert rat and I'm plopping my knowledge of desert bullshit on to Tegan. Like girl walks out of the TARDIS once and the other's are like "Oh my god!" at the heat and she's just like "Oh that's a scorcher." And the Doctor is confused for a second before he remembers her standard for weather is not England, unlike the vast majority of his other Human companions who are English and consider anything in like the 80s or 90s hot as balls (which to be fair if its humid out, is awful), but instead is used to weather in like the 80s and 90s with anything below 70 being cold and triple digits being Hot As Hell (I'm used to triple digits in summer and honestly, once you get past like 105 it all feels the same. Even before it hits 100 its just like sun, beating on you. And I apparently get more sunny days than Tegan's hometown of Brisbane, but they get weather closer to the US South, you have to go inland to hit more what I'm used to... so I'll assume that she's been out in that area a few times because of family or something. But in any case her tolerances are in a different place than the English companions.), Adric is just going "I'm sorry did I just walk into an oven?" And Nyssa is trying not to die of heatstroke.

What I'm getting at is Tegan reacts to hot weather in a way the other three don't expect and then there's an entire explanation that Human's are a little bit crazy and also very adaptable, and the conversation is a lot like that post about humans being space orcs.

[paganpoetrywrittendown]

Agnetha's legacy (aka Attack Of The Swedes)

At some point, I will have to write about ABBA. They were the first band i ever got into...i was like 10 or 11. Back then, the fact that they were Swedish was a novelty. Now, being Swedish is no big deal...there's is a virtual Scandinavian invasion afoot. So Attack Of The Swedes, here we go

With Every Heartbeat-Robyn You might remember Robyn from a few years back. She was this short Swedish chick with a Pink-esque look and had some minor hits (i think they both hit the Top 40) with Show Me Love and Do You Know What It Takes. Catchy tunes, yes...but kinda blended into the pop/r&b landscape (although i actually liked the former). And then she disappeared.

Well lo and behold, she's back. Now older, Robyn left the major labels and puts out her own music, using the web and MySpace to promote her music. She was linked up with Max Martin (future Britney Spears svengali) and was irritated that she lost control of her music. So she bailed. Kinda cool. I read about her on another blog...she had a song out last year (although the album is just out in the UK) called Be Mine. Insanely catchy, it should have been an enormous hit. Over skittering beats and massive strings, it's all angst and girlish tears (it opens with the fabulous line "it's a good thing tears never show in the pouring rain"...basically she sees her ex-boyfriend with another girl. It all features a fantastic spoken word interlude about the scarf that she gave him and the new girl. Honestly, shoulda been huge. Maybe still will...who knows.

Two other songs worth nothing hit the web. Robotboy (also great pop) and Konichiwa Bitches, which is about 2 minutes long in its original version and featuring a much lauded Trentemoller mix. Both good....

but this....simply gorgeous. Again, it's pop. But its brilliant. It's on the cd as well as being out on a single where its credited to Kleerup featuring Robyn. In any event, she opens the song singing about how she and her love should keep working

maybe we can make it alright we could better sometime maybe we can make it happen baby we could keep trying....

and then, in a moment that i can only call a "Joy Division" moment (i know sacrilege) the song literally sounds like it is lifting up...she sings...."but things will never change, so i don't look back, still i am dyin' with every step i take." And then the beat comes in. And thats it...she just walks away while the song goes on to talk about why the relationship will never ever work and how it hurts "with every heartbeat." Its a beautiful sad song. It reminds me of If You Leave by OMD, I am sure because of the subject matter and the phrase "If you leave, don't look back." Maybe its the companion piece or its her answer. But it has that same feel...surely one of the more beautiful melancholy Number 1's of the 80's. Please seek out this song...its wonderful and charming and cool.

Anyways, you can check it out on www.juno.co.uk or on www.beatport.com or on her website,http://www.robyn.com/index.html and you can check out some of the other songs i mentioned on her myspace site, http://www.myspace.com/robynmyspace

Lose You-Linda Sundblad

Another Swede and another MySpace denizen (http://myspace.com/lindasundblad), where i ran into her. This is a song that you could easily imagine hearing on the radio. It definitely sounds a bit like some of the better selections from Sheryl Crow...it has that casual rock-chick feel. Also, its very summer. Honestly, it reminds me a bit of the 70's...very Fleetwood Mac...i don't know, the chords or the organ sound.

Keeping with the blonde, gorgeous yet dark & melancholic Swedish vein, the song starts out all casual about meeting a boy

Pounding heart on a Saturday night sneaking peeks down my velvet skirt cutie talk not to witty or bright but your beauty was the kind that could hurt l could tell from the look in your eyes l was trigging your insanity l just knew l could see it that...

and then the song goes from a pensive meeting to a much darker and twisted place

...i would lose you, i would lose you from the start

Very Bergman, if you ask me.

Sit Down-Flunk

Ok. Not Swedish. Nobody knows this band. I think like 4 people outside of Norway (1 is me, 1 is Carlos). It's a shame. At the risk of labeling them with an adjective often considered bad, they are often lumped into the chillout genre. I consider them soul music, really.

This is their new single. It's beautiful, pensive, kinda sad sounding. Very late night. Very glass of red wine...you can check it out here....http://flunkmusic.com/personale/

but what i really want to write about is this song

On My Balcony-Flunk 3 minutes and 10 seconds of sexy sexy sexy. Has a vague hip-hop beat and a funky guitar. And that's kinda it, save the languid vocals of Anya Oyen Vister. Anya has a very Scandinavian voice...its hard to explain, but she has that chilly/warm combo that you hear in many artists from that area.

Like i said, the song is very sensual...i'd even say erotic, although not explicit in any sense.

Here comes summer Beaming in through my bedroom window There´s a song on the radio You used to hum back then Here comes summer Still feels fresh as morning air Today I'll just stay here And do, well, whatever I´ll do whatever Please, make summer last forever All I wanna do Is sit here on my balcony And think about you and me And how happy we could be

And thats kinda it. From my perspective, the song is kinda ambiguous. You don't really know if they will be happy, i guess. However, its hopefully, not only in the tone, but i get this image of her on her balcony in the early morning, maybe her lover is still sleeping. Its early, both literally and in the relationship, and she's hopeful that it will always stay just like this. Summer as a metaphor for the beginning part of every relationship, before things get tough (and sometimes end...Linda Sundblad knows its gonna end right from the start)

Find the album Morning Star....you can hear it there. Sexy sexy sexy, i swear.

[newsworld-nw]

'Fingernails': See 'The Bear's Jeremy Allen White in New Sci-Fi Romance (Exclusive)

What if you happen to may take a take a look at to ensure your companion is one hundred pc for you?That is the premise of the upcoming sci-fi romance Fingernailswhich star the bearof Jeremy Allen White and an Olivier winner Jesse Buckley As Ryan and Anna, a pair whose relationship is put by the ringer when Anna begins working at The Love Institute, a facility that runs simply such an experiment. Sadly, that is an intense one."You pull the fingernails of every individual within the couple and put them right into a machine and it tells you if it is a one hundred pc match," provides Riz Ahmed, who performs Anna's colleague Aamir. "Whether it is, then the couple is in love. If it is 50 p.c, then just one individual is in love, and if it is zero, then nobody is in love."The black mirrorFrom writer-director Christos Nico, stems from the ubiquity of recent courting apps and the way that digital disconnect impacts the way in which we meet potential companions."It was actually fascinating. He began speaking about cell telephones and the connection of your finger to your cellphone, and the fingernail was a part of the method of swiping proper and swiping left," White defined of assembly Nico concerning the movie. "So we needed to take it out of this world -- there have been a number of fascinating particulars."Whereas the take a look at referred to as into query Ryan and Anna's relationship, Buckley mentioned there was no such issue connecting with White on set."Actually, the primary day, we have been bare within the bathe collectively, so it is like a baptism of fireside as as to if or not you are going to date somebody," she remembers with amusing. "He made it really easy. He is such an incredible actor. Typically you come to work and it simply matches and it feels very easy, and that half felt so necessary to me as a result of I needed it to be troublesome for Ryan and Anna. No matter. One thing else."Additionally acted within the movie Luke Wilson As Anna and Aamir's boss, Duncan, and actor, he mentioned he was drawn to the mission each due to the distinctive premise and his proficient co-stars."Once I learn the script, I did not know what to anticipate in any respect, and that is very uncommon," he remembers. "And likewise, once I learn the script I knew that Reese and Jessie and Jeremy have been going to be in it, and all three of these guys I've grow to be followers of.""I am 51 years previous, so there's part of me the place it is like, the music I like, the folks I really like are all older, the actors I really like are from the 70s and 80s," she added. "To see new actors which can be so fascinating and so dynamic... it is nice to see younger actors."The movie was produced by the Oscar winner Cate BlanchettAdditionally starring Annie Murphy, Nina Keary, Claire McConnell, Juno Rinaldi, Jim Watson, Varun Saranga, Christian Mir, Amanda Arcuri and Katy Brier.Fingernails A restricted theatrical launch on October 27 adopted by an Apple TV+ streaming launch on November 3. All interviews are carried out previous to operating The SAG-AFTRA strikewhich began on July 14, 2023.Associated Content material: #Fingernails #Bears #Jeremy #Allen #White #SciFi #Romance #Unique Read the full article

[megamattzx]

Dragon Ball New Frontier Shroud of Memories Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Approximately a year before Goku returned to life for the second time, in another timeline different from the one we know, a Saiyan child struggling to sleep from a terrifying nightmare woke up screaming, which caused Goku’s wife Chi-Chi to wake up. Running towards the child’s room, she quickly ran and gently hugged him to assure him he was safe. She saw he was shaking and terrified as she softly spoke to him. “Shhhh,” she told the child, continuing to comfort the boy. “It’s okay, Goku. You’re just having a nightmare, Kiddo. You’re safe. I’m here, your brothers are okay. We're safe. You're safe…. No one can hurt you…”

The child, Son Kakarot Goku Jr, who was adopted after his unconventional birth through the Dragon Balls and named after his late adopted father, was crying. He tried to explain what he saw in his dream, though Chi-Chi didn't want to hear it. She wanted her son to know he was safe. "Mama, that dream was horrible! I was older, and you and a man that looked like me were taken in front of me! So were Gohan and Goten! And a few shadowy figures and… and…."

Before he could continue, Chi-Chi began to softly sing a tune. A soft song that she had sung to her by her father, the Ox King, when she was a child. And Goku Jr was seen, calming down and slowly drifting to sleep. Her voice was comforting, and whenever she sang this small song, every time, he felt safe. It was no surprise that she continued to sing this to him during his childhood. This was her lullaby. And she, in turn, made it his lullaby. The Saiyan's mother ensured her voice was soft enough to where only he could hear her. His breathing slowed down and became more relaxed as he slowly drifted to sleep as she sang. Though he always listened to the whole thing and slept peacefully afterward.

“🎶Fear no more, what you’re fighting for, Will bring you peace forevermore, Only you know the passage to, The haven in your heart, Courage will keep you safe, Flowing throughout your veins, Please remember all your strengths, Time will tell what our future holds, Cling too tight, the world might fall, This moment now conquers fear and doubt, Please stay strong, don’t go, Raindrops will paint the clouds, Calling all the fairies down, With their colors, they’ll bring dawn.🎶”

Once she finished the song, she checked on her beautiful little boy. Peacefully asleep in her arms. Smiling, she kissed his forehead and gently placed his head on his bed pillow. The Princess of Fire Mountain took a moment to whisper to him softly. “Goodnight, My Little Saiyan Prince of Mount Paozu and Fire Mountain…..” She told her dreaming son. “May you have the sweetest of dreams.”

Many years later……

It has been 56 years since multiple versions of the Dragon team were gathered by the Supreme Kai of Time and all their companions and friends they met along the way. The day that the Time Patrol was founded. For that 55 years, the current Supreme Kai of Time Chronoa and now her predecessor who had been redeemed, Aeos, had kept these Time Patrollers Young physically, so that they could continue doing the work that they do. This became evident with Goku Jr, who, despite physically being in his early to mid-20s, was actually well over 70 and approaching 80. Though he wasn't complaining because he knew everyone he knew vowed to protect all of reality for as long as they had to, which was a most likely eternity.

Although admittedly, things never stayed boring for long in the Time Patrol. Currently, in a reality where Goku did not go by his Earth name and only went by his Saiyan name, Kakarot, Goku Jr was seen using a glider across a very high point. He never truly needed the gliders due to his ability to fly, aside from the fact that he had times when it was necessary to preserve his energy on certain occasions as well as operating stealth missions. Currently, he was dealing with neither. There was something about gliding that gave him this feeling of freedom. He had to thank his brother, Goten, from the Xeno timeline for the idea. Gliding from high places in certain realities and specific locations in them felt liberating to a degree. Plus if he needed to be discreet when patrolling a reality, this was also an excellent method to do so. 'It's like killing two birds with one stone,' Goku Jr thought. Feeling the breeze reminded him of the sensation and freedom he was currently feeling. Though he remembered he was not on vacation. Instead, he was on a small patrol. 

Looking around while using his glider to glide through the sky safely, he couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful scenery he was currently looking at—the vast landscape of nature and its beautiful green lushness of land. The grass and trees perfectly lined together. The beautiful mountains, carefully crafted by the artist that was nature. He wished his parents were here to enjoy the beauty he was currently seeing. Goku Jr stopped counting the number of times he and his mother, Chi-Chi, spent hours upon hours talking about the different natural sites they visited together or the number of times he and his father, the original Son Goku, reminisced of the times when they went on adventures and saw so many beautiful worlds forming right in front of their eyes.

He missed them. He missed all his family, in fact. He missed all the times he pranked Goten on a regular basis. The times where He and Xeno Goten watched several movies together. The several instances where he studied with Gohan to find a clue or a puzzle or solve a riddle together. He missed the times he trained with his father, as well as his Xeno and GT counterparts respectively. He missed hanging out with his little niece Pan. All the times he heard his sister-in-law Videl talking about her dojo, or perhaps when he rolled his eyes at GT Goten talking about Velese a lot. 

He should reconnect with them all. Work had been hectic as of late, mainly since the Outbound Flight Project but that was going to be pretty straightforward. The chaos was starting to die down again which was a good thing because it gave time patrollers time to rest properly. And the outbound flight mission he was on was one of the most hectic missions he was a part of. And he made a lot of difficult decisions during that duration. It had been 10 years since that fateful day. He could still remember vivid details of everything that happened. Even to this day, there were still nights when he didn't get any sleep due to nightmares. Still, he was glad that the whole fight was all over. Things would be more peaceful without Zamasu around before he showed up again. 

It had been 10 years since Zamasu showed up and caused trouble across the entire Omniverse, but Goku Jr didn't want to take any chances with him. He knew damn well that Zamasu could return it any moment. His best guess was that Zamasu was biding his time. But right now, there was not much he could do regarding that man. For right now the small Patrol was what mattered. Still feeling the breeze as he glided through the sky, he drew closer to the ground and still got a good glimpse at Fire Mountain. The beauty of that place always caught his eye no matter which reality he was in. However, he did personally always enjoy Mount Paozu a lot more though. However, that could be a childhood bias kicking in as Mount Paozu was his original home for a large portion of his life. He remembered all the times he spent with his family there—both the good and the bad.

He closed his eyes as he began to remember one memory in particular. It was on Mount Paozu. Everyone gathered to celebrate a birthday around August. The then-18-year-old Goku Jr was sitting on the grass near Mount Paozu. It looked like he was deep in thought, as he looked at the atmosphere around him. Everything was peaceful. The spring wind blew his hair around as well as some leaves of Grass, the river flowing near the Son Family residence, as he sat there contemplating something. 

He oversaw his parents, Goku and Chi-Chi talking; the smiles on their faces implied it was something good. Even so, he just sat there and observed them. He also looks to observe his brothers Gohan and Goten along with his sister-in-law Videl, his niece, Pan, his godfather Piccolo, his grandfather, the Ox King, and the father of his sister-in-law Hercule, also enjoying their time.

Goku Jr also noticed his most recently adopted brother, Uub was also sitting down with Goku Jr's friend Puck. He then gave a faint smile as he observed them, but there was one person missing from that whole group. The very person that was supposed to be there. It was Goten's 18th birthday today. But it wasn't just Goten's. It was the second person that was missing who was also a birthday boy that Chi-Chi wanted there. Goku noticed he wasn't around and excused himself from everyone else before using instant transmission.

The moment he got the energy of the person he was looking for, he was gone. This caught the younger Goku off guard he quickly got up and tried to look for him. Only for the older Goku to appear right behind him before speaking.

"You know everyone else is missing you down there, right bud?" Goku merely said a small smile on his face causing Goku Jr to be surprised as he quickly turned to face his father, his tail tensed up a little bit.

The boy let out a sigh of relief when he realized it was Goku."I didn't want to intrude on Goten's special day..." Goku Jr then said, before he then began to look away.

The older Saiyan then noticed this as he made the remark. "It's not just Goten's special day, you know." He mentioned trying to get his son to understand. Goku Jr then looked at his father, somewhat confused but Goku wasn't too surprised. The young Saiyan boy's insecurities and naivety were always his most significant flaws.  "Kiddo, I understand you're trying to be considerate to your brother, but you're forgetting one crucial detail." 

The Saiyan father then continued. "You may have been created from the Dragon Balls and maybe a clone of me. But you forget that you were a baby when you were born. When Gohan found you, your mom had already given birth to Goten. Hasn't she taken you in ever since?"

The younger Saiyan didn't know what to say. Yes, he was right about that, but why did he bring that up? "Yes, but what does that have to do with today? Goten's birthday?"

Goku then placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "Because all of that happened today, 18 years ago."

This shocked Goku Jr that Goku knew this, but then again he remembered that Gohan and Chi-Chi explained what happened, after Goku came back to life. "Right... So Mom made preparations for me too, but I didn't get it…"

Laughing and rolling his eyes, Goku then placed his hand on Jr's shoulder again as he then got the fingers of his other hand on his own forehead getting ready to use instant transmission. He wasn't going to let Jr be miserable on this day.

 "Huh!?" The startled younger Goku jumped a bit from this as he then turned to his father. "Dad!? What are yo-!?"

Goku didn't let him finish as he grinned while saying the following. "Not letting you be sad today, Son!" Goku said. His smile was still there as he said that.

This causes the boy's eyes to widen as Goku uses instant transmission to get back to the family. They were surprised but happy to see that Goku Jr was back.

Gohan then walked over to the first adopted son of the Son Family. "Hey, bud," Gohan said, patting Goku Jr on the back. 

"Hey..." Goku Jr said as he was trying to process everything as Goten then was seen as rather tense. But what Goku Jr thought was wrong wasn't actually the case as Goten then began to approach him with something.

"Hey, Goku." The younger hybrid said nervously.

Goku Jr noticed Goten was holding something as his eyes began to widen at it as he looked at Goten before trying to deny it. "Come on, bro you don't have to give me anything! It's your day, after all!"

Goten only shook his head. "Wrong, Goku. It's OUR day…"

Goku Jr couldn't help but notice everyone looking at him as the young pureblood began to fight back tears. He had forgotten all along that his father was right. It wasn't just Goten's birthday. It was also his birthday. He forgot that today was the day he was born as well. Goten had already received all of his gifts earlier, but Goku Jr had left before they could even give him his gifts. They knew he couldn't be far, however. Chi-Chi then placed the gift she had for Goku Jr as well on the table, followed by Gohan and Videl.

The Ox King and Hercule also placed gifts down too. Last but not least was Goku. All of the presents were still wrapped as Goten wanted his gift to be opened first by Junior which was fair considering that Goku Jr did ask for Goten to open his first. Goku Jr began to unwrap it, until he was able to open the box as his eyes then began to widen and he stared at what was inside. It was a picture. Specifically the photo of the two of them at the beach taken by Chi-Chi a few years back when they were both still kids.

Aside from Goku Jr.'s tail, they were completely identical. They still had Goku's hair when it was taken. Even though Jr kept the hair due to being a pure blood. Tears started to fall from Goku Jr's eyes. "Goten...." He said in a nearly broken voice.

Goten only smiled when he saw Goku Junior's reaction. He could tell that he was happy with Goten's gift. Despite their rivalry, the prank wars, and their animosity at times, the two still loved each other. They were still Brothers. That was clear. The last thing Goten said is what caused the other 'twin' to break down, not out of sorrow but out of happiness. Causing the rest of the family to hug him as well. "Happy Birthday Son Kakarot Goku Jr…"

Back to the present, Goku Jr was seen tearing up as he let out a faint smile as he remembered that happy moment in his life. Landing on the ground, that memory reminded him what day it was, so he definitely needs to see his family now. It was his 80th birthday. However, he looked a lot younger than his actual age due to Chronoa keeping him physically in his twenties. Time Patrol really did have its perks as well as its cons. Well, the Omniverse did need protecting, so he didn't really complain much.

Taking a deep breath, Goku Jr then slowly turned on his communicator as he then began to reach out to the Supreme Kai of Time. "Everything's currently normal in this timeline, boss," he told her truthfully. He was clearly making an official report from this and the sooner the better in his eyes as he wanted to be able to enjoy his birthday for a little bit longer. "No distortions or unwanted visitors from another reality currently. Coast seems to be clear."

"Well done, Kaka," Chronoa acknowledged. Her voice sounded a bit cheerful as she said it. "Report back to the Time Nest, and we can call it a day. Also, before I forget ...."

"What is it?" Goku Jr asked only for Chronoa to answer quickly.

"Happy Birthday."

Goku Jr couldn't help but smile from that while he took a deep breath, his mind feeling a little bit at ease as he took one last look at the beautiful scenery. It was also peaceful; he could daydream all of his pleasant memories here if he really wanted to. Remember all the good times. "Thank you, Chronoa…." He told her, and he could feel her smile from behind the communicator. 

Once the communication began to end, Goku Jr started packing his things and preparing himself to go back home. The spring breeze felt like a Haven of safety while he did so, and he couldn't help but reminisce about the past as he remembered all the good times. The times when he and Goten looked completely identical if it wasn't for his tail. The times he spent with Gohan and future Gohan. The times his mother caught him studying on the couch or perhaps even when his father trained him and taught him very important lessons that he took to heart. He missed those days. He missed his youth. He missed the simpler times. He missed the times when he didn't have to worry about the world, let alone the entire Omniverse. To be frank, he'd do anything to just for another moment have that back. But on the same token, he knew he couldn't get it back. But that's actually what made those memories even more special.

He was looking at the sunset, idolizing its beauty with the clouds lining up in different colors from the sunlight. The Saiyan was seen smiling as he remembered all the times he spent with Pan as they watched the sunset together. He missed his niece. He loved that girl as if she was his own daughter. She was actually one of the reasons why he dreamed of being a father in the first place. She was innocent and pure at the time when they spent time together. He missed that innocence. But now everything was all in the past now. All he can do now is appreciate what he had. And besides, it wasn't like there wasn't anything that he enjoyed now. He felt free at times, even when he was working. Small patrols like this, even if they were very easy and straightforward for him, gave that sense of freedom—that sense of Liberty. Gliding through the sky as he admired the scenery around him, even though he could fly, felt liberating. And it was because he was doing it purely because he could, not because he had to.

Once all that was said and done, he took one last good look at the sunset before leaving that timeline with a smile. Flying through the vortexes that the time portals always brought, Goku Jr felt himself traveling back to Conton City. Home of the Time Patrol, and the center point of the Omniverse. Every time he went on an adventure or was just coming home, he always noticed himself humming to an all too familiar tune. The tune that always made him feel safe in his darkest of times and always gave him hope. The song guaranteed his smile as he did so. 

Flying back to the time nest, the Saiyan admired the beauty of the night sky of Conton City, which was multiple versions of every location that they've been combined into one area. Beautifully lit-up city at night, filled with life and Hope. He observed carefully as communities question acting like communities and actually helping their fellow men. The breeze of the night, long at his hair and touching his skin, made him feel more at peace as of late as he couldn't help but wonder if something else would have. Upon reaching his destination, Goku Jr landed at the bottom of the steps and slowly started walking up them to get to the Time Nest.

Taking a deep breath as he walked up the steps, the Saiyan continued his walk up the mountain's long steps to the time nest, and once he got to the entrance, took a step forward inside. It was always an excellent way to clear the mind when walking up the steps to mentally prepare himself for either a mission briefing or even a report back. Because he knew damn well there was no way to know when something could happen until it actually happens. Walking inside, he then started to walk straight towards the building itself inside the time nest. This was the central part of it. Though he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the scenery outside the building. Trees lined up as if nature had a perfect balance with man-made civilization, the reality-distorting atmosphere of the area seemingly having some form of natural order to it as well that he couldn't get his grasp on how he found it beautiful. It was like an artist carefully unleashed chaos upon their work of art. To make the crafted work seem chaotic it is orderly at the same time. And the scenery was constantly changing too. It was a nice change of pace, though.

Walking inside, he saw Chronoa and Aeos waiting for him. Their pointy ears and currently short exterior seemed rather pleased that he came back, let alone so early. "You two look surprised," the Saiyan said in a joking manner causing the two supreme kinds of time to laugh a bit.

"We thought you'd be enjoying the scenery for a little bit longer," Chronoa fired back in a teasing manner, causing Goku Jr to roll his eyes. "At least you didn't experience any complications, and that's all that matters."

At that moment, there was an alarm across the entire time nest as the televisions of Conton City could be heard being turned on randomly, and a voice in the audio could be heard once it was all picked up. What the hell is going on? It wasn't supposed to be an announcement at the moment. Just then, the voice became unfamiliar to everyone as it began to speak. Goku Jr quickly deduced that the one responsible was wearing a mask and even using something to hide the true voice, like a voice changer, for example. 

"People of Conton City," The voice could be heard as a mysterious masked figure was seen finally emerging from the holograms and television screens. "I have come to bring concerning news for the time patrollers….. You see, while a certain Time Patroller was currently on a Small Patrol, earlier today, I managed to take the liberty of….. let's just say, sending a forceful invitation to his family, and I do mean the various versions he interacts with on a regular basis ...."

 Goku Jr was confused at first, but the more he spoke the more the Saiyan Time Patroller began to realize that the mysterious perpetrator was referring to him. The perpetrator didn't even wait for Goku Jr's reaction as he spoke again. "That is right Son Kakarot Goku Jr." The figure said as he turned the camera to show his versions of Goku, Chichi, Gohan, Goten, Pan, Videl, Hercule, Uub, the Ox King, all of their GT counterparts, and Xeno counterparts, as well as the other two versions of Bardock and Gine that he was familiar with. He even had different versions of Piccolo and Future Gohan. "I have kidnapped the versions of your family you're close to. And moreover, I have Unleashed raiders, Titans, and legendary beasts, across five timelines."

Goku Jr took a moment to figure out what was happening. He hadn't felt this amount of anger towards anyone in a long time. A little over 70 years ago, to be exact.  His eyes were closed, and he began to remember that day. All too vividly when he wrongfully lashed out at his father. Only for him to remember two other memories that made him understand his father even more.

It was a dark rainy day. Lightning and thunder could be heard across the background as Chi-Chi could be seen desperately trying to search for Goku. Through the storm, she could hear the crashing and burning all around the area she was in, and she went to investigate. As she wanted to wear the source, she gasped in horror as one of her worst fears came to light. Son Goku, her beloved husband, is seen getting the crap beaten out of him by another Saiyan who looks nearly identical to him except for the fact that he looks younger and has a tail. In her opinion, the younger Saiyan seems to be acting entirely out of character as her heart begins to sink. She was quickly able to tell that Goku was indeed holding back, but not because he was trying to be reckless. He was being desperate. Desperate to reach out to the younger Saiyan, she knew fully why. It broke Goku's heart just as much as it broke hers for him to fight this boy like this. 

'How could this happen?' Chi-Chi thought to herself as her heart sank and tears started flowing through her eyes, watching her husband deal with this Saiyan that she knew all too well. Much longer than her husband. But she could also tell that it hurt him just as much as it hurt her for him actually to fight this young Saiyan.

The 17-year-old Saiyan didn't budge, however. Lunging at Goku out of pure anger, he transformed into a wrathful state, punching Goku right in the gut, causing the older saying to cough up blood. He went as far as kicking Goku in the face before Goku could recover as he flew towards a rock before catching himself. Struggling to catch his breath, Goku was seen with a pained expression as the younger saying looked at him with pure rage and resentment for some reason. "Kaka…." He said, trying to reason with the boy.

"Save it!" The younger Saiyan yelled. Clearly, having no intention of hearing him. "All these years, you always favored Gohan and Goten over me!" Those words sounded like venom when he said that. It was like Goku had a knife plunged into his heart by the boy. 

"JUNIOR!" Goku tried to explain to the younger Saiyan. "You know that's not true!" It was at this point Goku was pleading with the younger Saiyan. Begging even. Trying to get through to the boy. This was very personal indeed.

"Then how come you were harder on me!?" The younger Goku then declared. "How come you and Mom let Gohan and Goten have it easy compared to me!?" The younger Saiyan's blood was boiling at this point. Before Goku could say anything else, the younger saying then leaps towards Goku and then kicks him square in his stomach. The power he put into the kick was enough to catch Goku back as he was still trying to reach out to the boy. 

Goku couldn't help but feel his heart being smashed into a million pieces from this ordeal. How could he have let this happen? How could he have failed this miserably? How could this boy have so much resentment toward him? He couldn't give up on the boy. 7 years he missed Goten and this boy, 7 years he could never take back. And he was a lot harder on Goku Jr because he was trying to prepare him for the hardships that would come in his life simply for being his biological clone. But he didn't see him as a clone. It was what he thought was the only way he could protect. "Kiddo… Please…. I don't want to hurt you…."

"It's too late for that…." The younger Saiyan responded with. And before Goku could react again, the team fired a massive energy blast toward him. Goku had no choice but to form an energy shield to block the attack as he quickly tried desperately to stay on the defensive as he then couldn't help but wonder what caused him to feel this way. 

Was Goku too harsh on him? If so, how could he not have noticed? What's the fact that he was trying to ensure he didn't endanger himself? What did the boy expect him to do if that was the case? How could he allow this boy, his son, to get himself killed? He would never forgive himself if he did that. He already felt immense guilt for the amount of suffering his other sons went through and the suffering that Goku Jr was going through. But he wasn't going to give up. He refused to fail him. He had to get through to him. He just had to. He wasn't going to abandon him. Clone or not adopted or not, he was still his son. He never wanted to play favorites. And he would take as much damage as he had to to get through to this boy. 

"If you truly feel that way," Goku said, a hurt but determined tone could be heard in his voice. Chi-Chi watches this unbeknownst to both of them. "Then do your worst…" still holding back so that he didn't harm Goku Jr, he then entered a fighting stance with his son doing the same. The rain poured upon them as the two transformed into their most potent forms. 

Chi-Chi had no choice but to watch as the two charged at each other, with Goku remaining on the defensive and only countering Goku Junior's attacks, as the boy was still lashing out in anger. The bitterness was evident in his eyes as he continued desperately to lay a punch as the two began to remember some of the moments they had together with much more clarity.

One memory, in particular, was 4 years ago. Goku Junior was doing a training exercise with Goku. Goku was making the training extremely difficult by placing weights on Goku Jr while also making all of his clothing weighted clothing. Increasing the consequences every time ensured that it would never become easy for the boy. As the boy tried desperately to continue to push forward, the more complicated it became, and he struggled more. The young boy then started to doubt himself to the point where he beat himself up, believing himself to be worthless. It hurt Goku to see him like this. It was never his intent, and he then tried to talk, but the boy would refuse to listen. Goku was losing his patience with Goku Jr as he couldn't bear to look at his son beating himself up over something difficult intentionally because of Goku. He then began to speak. "Kaka, you have to keep trying! You won't succeed until you push yourself!"

Goku Jr couldn't believe his father. Why was he hard on him all the time? He's always been harder on him over Gohan and Goten, but he doesn't realize it's because he was a pure-blooded Saiyan, so Goku had to be hard on him. He didn't need to be with Gohan and Goten. Goku Jr didn't see it that way. "Dad! This is nearly impossible!" The boy said as he tried to make a case. "Most of the people we fight Aren't nearly half as good as Uncle Vegeta, or you, or Gohan, or even Uncle Piccolo!"

"That's the point!" Goku said. Goku Jr looked away, but the father then continued. "Look, Goku; I know it's hard...." Goku Jr budged when Goku continued. "But I want this to be difficult for you..." This caught his son off guard. How could he think of that? But he began to understand as Goku continued. "This training is about life and death, kiddo. And as your father, it's my responsibility to protect you. But there will always come a time when I won't be there to do that. The same applies to your mom, Gohan, and Goten. The best way that I can protect you is by teaching you how to protect yourself." This shocked the boy. He didn't know what to think. "And if you can always keep up with me, your brothers, Vegeta, and the others, you'll always be ready for anything." 

Goku then sighed. He was making it clear that he was now explaining his actions as of late."I know I've been harder on you than I am with your brothers. But the only reason why I am is that you're a pure-blooded Saiyan. If I'm not hard on you, you won’t be able to handle the hardships that come from being one. I want you to be able to take it." Goku only continued. "Your mom wouldn't be able to teach you in the way that I'm teaching you now. This is how you need to learn. Your mom won't be able to be this hard on you, Kaka. You're not like your brothers. That's why I have been disciplining you." Goku Jr then began to understand his father more. Goku only continued, though. "I have to make sure you're prepared for when your mom and I aren't there to help you. When we won't be there to help take care of you. To protect you." The older Saiyan gently placed his hand on the younger Saiyan's head and rubbed it as a father would towards any of his sons. "Besides, you may not notice, but you're improving. You're getting better at this. Keep pushing yourself, and you'll go far...." It was Goku's last words that caught the younger Saiyan off guard. "I'm proud of you, bud."

Goku Jr stood there in both shock and disbelief. He wasn't expecting his father to say that but seeing the genuine smile he always saw, he knew his father was telling the truth.

Back in the present, Goku Jr could be seen taking a pause for a second when he remembered that moment. Was he misunderstanding his father?  Was his anger clouding his judgment? No, it couldn't be. Clearly, there was more to this. All he wanted was his father's respect. All he wanted was for his father to accept him for who he was and not who he wanted him to be. It's all Goku Jr ever wanted. That's all he could have asked for. And in his mind, Goku didn't give him that. Lashing out again, he then charged at Goku and tried to attack him repeatedly. Goku was only blocking, countering, and dodging his attacks as he did so, and the more Goku did this, the angrier and more frustrated Goku Jr became. He was charging a massive Kamehameha wave. The boy is clearly over-exerting himself as he does so, much to both Goku and Chi-Chi's dismay.  

"Kaka! Please!" Goku continued to plead. The desperation in his voice as he tried to reach out to his son could be heard. "You have to stop! You'll kill yourself if you keep over-exerting yourself like this. Whatever you're going through, let me help you through it!"

"And let you view me as a disappointment!?" The younger Saiyan responded. "No! I'll continue doing whatever it takes to ensure I'm not viewed as such!"

"What do you hope to get from this!?" Goku shouted the confusion in his voice as he desperately tried not to hold back tears.

"YOUR GODDAMN RESPECT!" And as soon as the boys shouted that, he fired the massive energy wave towards Goku, forcing Goku to catch it and try desperately to push it upwards so that it didn't cause any more damage. It was a struggle, but he could do so, and much to Chi-Chi's dismay, only Goku Jr to punch him in the face. This time Goku didn't get back up when he fell. He just lay there looking his son in the eyes. He could see the anger still there. "I just want to be accepted as your son!" Clearly, he was holding back tears as if something was causing him to believe that Goku didn't see him as such. "I just want you to see me how your mom sees me, Dad! As your son! Just like how you see Gohan and Goten! I don't want you to believe you only have two sons…."

Goku was shattered by this, and so was Chi-Chi. How could he view this about himself? How could he believe that Goku didn't see Goku Jr like this? He did all the discipline when he came back to life with this boy, he raised this boy, even trained him. He made sure he studied as Chi-Chi requested him to. He made sure that he went through all of this. Why would he believe that he wasn't seen as Goku's son?

"Son Kakarot Goku Jr!" Chi-Chi said, causing both the sayings to be caught off guard and shocked as they turned to see her there with tears in her eyes. Her heart had been broken by her son feeling this way, and she could tell Goku was also heartbroken by this as he started to get up. "Your father may have been harder on you than he was on your brothers, but that's because he felt that he needed to be. Not because he favored Gohan and Goten more than he favored you. He loves you just as much as he loves your brothers. You are not an outcast as you believe yourself to be. You are already part of this family, and you always have been."

Goku Jr then turned to face his father, and he saw the same tears lying down his face as Goku then said it. "I did most of the discipline with you because I needed to make sure you could deal with the hardships that came with life as a Saiyan kiddo! I never wanted you to be jealous of your brothers. I have three sons. And you're one of them. What made you think that I felt differently?" Goku Jr was quickly able to tell the concern in Goku's voice when he asked that last question as he showed that he genuinely cared about how Goku Jr felt at the moment. That feeling of being worthless to Goku was a feeling that Goku had seen him have repeatedly throughout his childhood. Something that he saw that he still needed to help overcome. Something that he would have to help him gain was that sense of self-worth. "Was it the tournament?"

It took a little bit to answer Goku's question as Goku Jr was processing everything happening. Everything you were hearing and being reminded of was all finally coming back to him as he began to remember one of Goku's heart-to-heart with him a couple of years back. It was an apology if he remembered correctly. He closed his eyes and dug deeper into that memory to try to remember it vividly. 

It was in the middle of the day. Saturday, to be exact. Goku was having Goku Jr take a break from training to enjoy being a kid. He could be seen looking off to the mountain tops of the forest, but the two of them were in as he reflected on his life choices. Everything he had done in the past. Every accomplishment and mistake he made. Everything he could have done differently. Especially with Gohan, Goten, and Goku Jr., he missed a lot of time, and he did regret it. Though he would never openly admit it. There were many things that Goku regretted, many things he felt he would never be able to make up for.

Goku Jr was seen reading a book she gave him simply because she felt he would like it due to his love for adventure. The Hobbit, to be exact. She was right. He loved reading the book. It was one of the few things he would enjoy doing besides fighting and training. He read a few chapters before he saw his father still staring out into the world as if his head was in another place. This caused quite a bit of concern for the boy as he couldn't begin to imagine what was going on in his father's mind. He then began to approach his father as he then began to ask.

"Dad? Goku jr said, raising an eyebrow. “You've been staring off into space for a little bit now. Is something bugging you?"

"I'm just reflecting, kiddo. On Life choices, to be exact."Goku quickly answered. The tone in his voice shows that he had been deep in thought for a while now. The boy was obviously confused. He didn't expect his father to say that, but he could tell it was bugging him. He didn't know what to think.

"What do you mean by that, Dad?" Goku Jr asked his adoptive father, confused. He never saw his father like this. He never seemed this bothered before by anything. Goku could see the confusion in his son's expression. He may be a pure-blooded Saiyan like him, but Goku then remembered that he and Chi-Chi raised him as if he was their son. As Goten's twin brother, even if he wasn't a twin. He then took a deep breath.

"Kiddo, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. Some of them because I was an idiot at that moment, other times when I thought I was making the right decision only to find out that it was a mistake after I made that decision." The father answered his son honestly. There was clear regret at that moment. Goku's voice implied this in his tone. He wished he was there for his sons more, but he wasn't. He was venting at this point in a way that was clearly an apology to Goku Jr and maybe even Gohan and Goten. Something had to have caused him to think seriously about this, but Goku Jr couldn't exactly understand what it was. However, his father only continued.

"If I could go back in time and rethink that decision and choose differently, I certainly would. But I can't...." Goku continued as he tried to hold back some tears to stay strong for his son. "

What are you saying, Dad?" Goku Jr asked, even more confused.

 "I'm sorry, kiddo." Goku then said. "I've been a pretty lousy father at times. No other way for me to put it. I've messed up a lot, and there's no excuse. I've been selfish to some extent too. I should have been there for you more. Same with your brothers. Your mom even."

"But you're here now." The boy tried to explain. He did understand how Goku being around now wasn't good enough, but Goku knew that his son still had some naivety at his young age. He still had a lot of growing up to do. Goku envied his son's naivety.

"It doesn't make up for the times that I wasn't, kiddo," Goku explained as he thought about this. "I made a lot of mistakes. Made reckless choices." Goku only continued as he was admitting his flaws."I'm always going to love fighting, and I'm always going to save the world, but even so. You guys deserve better. I may not be the most patient, understanding, or loving father, but damn it, kiddo... I do care."

Goku Jr was shocked by his father's words. Goku only continued. "I only have one wife and three sons... At least right now, when it comes to children... But to be honest... I wouldn't have it any other way....." Goku only smiled as he finished that last part, then hugged the younger Saiyan, who couldn't hold back light tears. Goku Jr was touched by that moment when his father reflected on his choices. There's something about those words that got to him. He would carry on that moment for the rest of his life. One he will never forget with his father.

Snapping back to reality after remembering it, tears of regret started to fall down his face as he began to place his hands on his head and realized what he was doing. He was lashing out at the world and taking his anger out on his father, the man who didn't deserve it. He never felt more ashamed of himself for letting his insecurities get the better of him. His jealousy. How could he let this happen? How the hell could he have blamed his father for all of this? Chi-Chi couldn't help but hug her son to try to comfort him; while Goku placed an arm on his back to do the same.

"It's okay, bud." He said to reassure his son. "Let's head back home, and you can vent to us. You need to let all of this pain out."

Back to the actual present once more, Goku Jr opened his eyes, a small tear of pain and regret seen on his face, though the perpetrator wouldn't be able to notice. Goku Jr then wiped tears from his eyes and slowly began to make the next move knowing that he felt the man would demand something. "What the hell do you want for their release?" The Saiyan then asked. He could try to make a negotiation and convince the person to come up with an agreement. "I'm sure we can negotiate an agreement for something you would want in exchange for their safe return…."

The masked figure only laughed as they then continued. The more he did so, however, the more it became clear that they were putting the Time Patrol in a position where they could negotiate. "You think I want money, power, or technology? If I did, I would not have gone through so much effort with this elaborate plan; I haven't even mentioned the last crucial detail. The fact that I planted bombs in 16 different realities that once detonated would instantly destroy them." The three people in the Time Nest eyes widened as they realized how mad this terrorist was. And here, he hadn't even demanded anything yet. "Oh no, I don't want any of what you might have to offer. Oh no Son Kakarot Goku Jr. All I want is you….."

Goku Jr's eyes were wide even more as he couldn't begin to fathom what this person could have wanted from him. But now it became clearer to him that this wasn't a simple terrorist across the Omniverse trying to cause chaos for the sake of Chaos. This was a personal vendetta. So you don't know what he did. "W-what!?"

"It's simple, Saiyan," the figure responded as if he heard the shock and Goku Jr's voice. Their tone and posture ensured they were leaving no room for debate or negotiation. "You and you alone will go to these five timelines where I have five raiders and fifteen Titans, and twenty five legendary "monsters", I have carefully placed in each of those five timelines, wreaking havoc and terror, you will defeat every one of them, and you will face them without the assistance of the Time Patrol, after that, you shall face me in combat. Each timeline and each warrior that I have unleashed on the world of each one carries clues to my location. You will use them to find me."

The figure then quickly held a detonator as they slowly began to position themselves to where they could press a button within the detonator. "Because if you don't, I have 16 bombs dedicated to a respective timeline that I will detonate, completely eradicating them. And to prove that I'm not bluffing," they said before pressing one of the buttons, causing a massive rumble in the Time Nest Chronoa and Aeos looked at the scrolls and then began to look back at Goku Jr in horror. "That was timeline 2374b - 1907. I suggest you follow my demand unless you want the blood of 15 more realities on your hands, boy….." 

The figure then placed the detonator back down onto a dish that he had it served him on. And before he ended the communication, he then spoke again. "Clock is ticking…. Your destiny is calling you….." 

And with that, the communication was gone. Goku Jr was now horrified as he could tell from his superiors' faces that the person responsible for kidnapping his parents did destroy that reality and that they were holding his family hostage. That was enough to know he was not bluffing about anything he just said. This was not someone that he could negotiate with. He had to go after them. He had to stop them. He knew deep down that this was a trap. But what choice did he have? 

"I'm going after them…." Goku Jr gravely said, knowing that they would try to object, but given their situation, he knew they would eventually back down.

"Are you crazy!?" Aeos tried to convince Goku Junior not to do what he was planning on doing. "Whoever this is, they are doing this to get to you! If you do this, you're giving exactly what they want. They know this personally drives you because they made it personal by kidnapping your entire family."

"And that same bastard just blew up an entire timeline to prove a point!" Goku Jr countered by reminding them of the bombs. "We know there's 15 more. You need to find where they are. The rest of the Time Patrol needs to focus on that."

"But Goku…." Chronoa tried to point out to him though she was a bit hesitant to do so. Despite this, she pointed this crucial fact out. "...You know that this is a trap……."

"I know it's a trap!" Goku Jr told her bluntly. "But what choice do I have?"  He then took a deep breath and began to process everything that was happening before he finally finished his thought. "Besides, that bastard has my family. And I intend on getting them back." 

At that moment, the Supreme Kais of Time could no longer argue with him. Signs of defeat from both of them; they knew damn well that they were walking into dangerous territory.

"If you're going to face whoever this is on your own," Aeos started with hesitancy in her voice. "Then to go visit the homes of the family members first and grab all of their gear. You're going to need all the equipment and tools you can carry. And I suggest you get whatever gear you have at your place."

Goku Jr nodded in agreement. He knew deep down that he was going into enemy lines. And he was going in alone. He was walking into a trap, so he shouldn't be stupid. He had to get all the weapons and equipment he could carry. There's a difference between courage and stupidity, after all. And just at that moment, he then began walking away. Once he exited the time nest, he quickly flew to his apartment to grab the first set of weapons and equipment that he would need because he was going into a fight and might as well be adequately equipped for one.

Entering his apartment, he slowly went to a safe he had been holding from ever using unless there was an emergency. Well, now was a good time to be considered an emergency. Placed his hand on the handprint security thing and then allowed the safe to scan his eyes; the safe slowly opened; upon completing the process and lo and behold, inside with three fully customized pistols. Pistols could fire rounds that more normal firearms were utterly incapable of. He was going in for the fight of his life on his own; he could be equipped with stuff that would allow him to preserve his energy and deal as much damage as possible with all of them. They're also other equipment, such as the various traps he had seen survivors use. And even decoys, Senzu beans, healing items, smoke bombs, and airstrike requests, the Saiyan pod could be called upon, among many others. Those will come in handy as well. Placing them into a capsule, Goku Jr closed the safe and quickly started heading out onto the rooftop.

He felt the wind blowing at his hair and onto his skin as he cried out for an Old, reliable friend that wasn't even alive, or at least from how most people would have seen it. "Flying Nimbus!" He called out, and he saw the all-too-familiar yellow cloud flying toward he could imagine himself smiling at the all-too-familiar cloud, and for once, he was glad it was around. Once it reached where he was, he quickly climbed on top of it and started heading towards the Son Gohan residence. There was one particular piece of equipment that he was going to need from Gohan. And besides, since Gohan was recently abducted, Goku Jr assumed that poor Gohan would have no problems letting his soon-to-be rescuer borrow his weapon, in order to do so.

Upon arriving at Gohan's house, Goku Jr quickly reached out to his pocket with a spare key given by his older brother to unlock the door. This allowed him to walk closely toward the armory of Gohan's house. Gohan only really used the armory as a display of some kind to help him remember the old days. Goku Jr wasn't too concerned about that. He was only here for one thing and one thing at the moment. Reaching the armory and entering, the saying began to walk towards the very thing he was looking for, which was on Central display at the other end of the room. Gohan's old trusty sword during his training with Piccolo. Goku Jr was originally not going to take it, but considering that he was probably going to need all the gear he could get, he reconsidered it; taking a deep breath, Gohan's younger brother was seen taking the sword as well as a scabbard for it, to begin getting everything ready to go and putting them in a concealed bag that was capable of carrying a massive amount of weight.

Two places down, one to go. Two if you count one of the houses there as a separate house entirely, but they were so close together that it was more of a home when they were together. Goku Jr then slowly walked out of the house and, after locking the door behind him, climbed back onto the nimbus and flew off to Mount Paozu.

It only took him a couple of minutes to get there. But he quickly started to walk towards the house to open the door soon. His best guess was that Goku and Chichi were taken when they were at home if the door was unlocked. In this case, it made his job a lot easier. And granola nails, without a doubt, put those homes under surveillance for now. Walking into the house, you couldn't help but bask in the memories he had spent there. All the time, he was studying for school or training with his father. All the pictures in the house of him and his family. Specifically, Goku and Chi-Chi were in a photo with the whole family. And in the dead center in front were then 11-year-old Goku Jr and Goten. The two would have looked completely identical had it not been for Goku Jr's tail and the different choice of clothing. Goten wore Chinese-style outfits similar to Gohan, while Goku Jr wore a blue martial arts gi that his father passed down.

He then turned around and saw another photo of him and Goten when they were 17. Goku Jr had already had his growth spurt, and Goten's hair had already started to change. He couldn't help but remember some of those memories. Closing his eyes, Goku Jr took a deep breath as he remembered this day.

Goku waited for his father to show up at the World Martial Arts Tournament stadium. It had been a while since the two had spoken. Traveling across the Multiverse and all. He waited patiently as a young man all too familiar with the boy. walked up to him, thinking that he was THE Son Goku.

"Wait, Dad, I thought you were with Mom at the moment doing some shopping for Goku's return home from his adventure." The boy said. This caused Goku to cock an eyebrow. He immediately recognized the younger man, but then he remembered that he had his growth spurt while he was off-world, so Goku was about to surprise this young man, which would be a pleasant surprise.

"Dad? Wow, guess that growth spurt made it hard to tell me apart." The Saiyan casually said. He then began to show his tail which was still around, causing Goten to widen his eyes. Making him realize that this wasn't his father. But he recognized who it was.

"Goku!? I barely recognized you, bro!" Goten said with a smile on his face.

"Not surprised. I was away when I had my growth spurt. It's almost scary how much I look like a younger version of Dad."

"Well, to be fair, you are biologically a clone of him." Goten lightly remarked. This only caused the two of them to laugh as the two brothers clearly were bonding again after not seeing each other for a while now.

"How are Mom and Dad, by the way? How's Gohan, Vidal, and Pan?" Goku asked his brother with a smile on his face.

"They're doing okay," Goten answered honestly. "They all missed you, though. You have gone for a while, and I'm sure there's a lot that they want to talk to you about."

The pure-blooded brother couldn't help but smile from that as he then turned to Goten. "Oh, I bet!" Goku then told his brother as he couldn't contain the excitement in his voice or in his expression. "And I have a lot of stories I want to tell them about my adventures away from home. I'm waiting for Mom and Dad right now. They'll be here in a few minutes."

Several hours later, after a massive family reunion that ended quite pleasantly, Goten and Trunks were waiting by the door to the living room of the Son Family residence, looking at the kitchen while Goten gave a mischievous grin.

"Goten? Are you sure that pranking your brother is a good idea?" Trunks were seen showing some bit of concern.

"It's fine!" Goten casually said. "What's the worst Goku Jr gonna do? Prank me back!?"

Goku Jr was walking around when he headed towards the fridge, only to be hit by a fine to the face. "Very funny, Goten," he said in an unamused tone. "Got my just desserts, haha. You just wasted a perfectly good pie, I hope you know that, Goten!" He continued as he tried to find paper towels, only to find they were not where they were supposed to be. "Really? Hiding the paper towels? How mature, bro...." The Saiyan said sarcastically as he tried to find the other paper towels to wipe his face. As he did this, however, another pie was launched in his face, and he fell on his butt. Goten could be heard laughing in the background. That was the last straw for Goku Jr, but they no longer let this stand. He made the declaration of war. "Ohohohoho... It's on!"

Thus another family tradition between two brothers began with the typical son-brother style Saiyan Prank War....... Some things never change......

Snapping back from memory lane, Goku Jr then continued to look at the photo a little more. A bit, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of pain and even a hint of regret. "I wish this never happened to Goten," Goku Jr said to himself softly. "And to make matters worse, you were also kidnapped. The truth is I could use your help right now, Brother. I would never have succeeded in defeating Zamasu ten years ago if it wasn't for you."

That was true. If it wasn't for Goten, Vegeta Jr, and Trunks assisting him, he might as well call himself a goner. Zamasu, or Goku Black as he was better known as, would have probably killed him or, worse, tortured him as he did before the final battle. But this time, here he was being forced to go rescue his brothers from three different timelines as well as his parents, his niece, his sister-in-law, his brother's father-in-law, his adopted maternal grandfather, his paternal grandparents, and his surrogate uncle and godfather from various timelines as well. What made it worse was that he had to do it alone.  

Sighing, he then reluctantly turned away from the photo as he headed towards his parents' room. He took a small minute to look around before opening the closet and noticing what he was looking for. He reached out and grabbed it.  Taking the box, he breathed before staring at his reflection. It was terrifying how much he looked completely identical to his father. If it weren't for the fact that he still had his tail, he would have looked completely identical to his father. The second Earth Saiyan then sided and stared at the photo of his father, Goku on the vanity stand of his mother. She loved that photo. But there was something else that he didn't notice until now. It wasn't just that photo anymore. He took a deeper look, and his heart arched a bit. Not at what he was looking at but at the circumstances that he was currently in. It was a picture taken on his 21st birthday with him and Goten drinking. 

He remembered a lot of times when he spoke with his mother. And he couldn't help but remember when he spoke to his mother 56 years ago. After the first mission of the first two versions of the Dragon Team, who joined the Time Patrol and became its first members, it was a quiet day at Capsule Corp after their timeline was merged with Conton City's world. This also included the different versions of the various timelines connected to it. The day before, there was a very dangerous mission that left a lot of people shaken when it ended. Demigra was threatening every plane of existence of the entire Omniverse. Demigra was defeated at the end of the day, but it wasn't an easy victory.

Bulma wanted to throw a huge celebration with all the different versions of everyone they joined forces with, and there was a huge party as a result. Everyone was seemingly happy. That was when one particular younger pureblooded Saiyan, that looked nearly identical to Goku, except that he had a tail, started to walk out of the building and lean towards the end of the balcony. He originally thought no one would notice or care, but he was wrong.

A woman noticed. She was wearing more of a teal-colored Chinese dress this time around and had her hair in a bun with her bangs showing. She was wearing an outfit better suited for fighting earlier, but she didn't feel the need to wear it now. When she noticed this young man walking out suddenly too, this caused her to raise some eyebrows but not out of suspicion but concern. Concern for the boy's well-being in her eyes. This was Chi-Chi, Goku's beloved wife, and Gohan and Goten's loving mother. And apparently, she was close to this young Saiyan as well. How so? Well, she made it very obvious when she approached him as he stood over the balcony looking at the sunset. Something was bothering him, as she noticed.

She was overbearing at times, but at least she overcame it. There were also instances where she was justified or, at the very least, understandable. As she approached him, she then remarked. "You know it's rather lonely out here, Karrot." She remarked in a teasing manner as the younger Saiyan then responded to her.

"Mom... You know I don't like that nickname. I never did.."

Chi-Chi only rolled her eyes as she walked over to stand beside him. This saying was someone who meant so much to her. This was her little boy. But he was all grown up now. It broke her heart to see a little Saiyan warrior like this, especially with what she had seen him go through with his depression. She could easily say something was bothering him. She wasn't angry with her approach but rather direct, making it clear that she wasn't going to leave him alone until he opened up. She always had to take a similar approach to her husband. "All right, kiddo, I'll bite. What's wrong?" She said in a tone that showed her willingness to listen to him. Part of her knew that the young man struggled to find the words to describe it.

"It's just... This whole Time Patrol stuff, it's not something I'm used to. It's all new to me."

"This is new to all of us kiddo. Your father is still getting used to saving things beyond Earth, let alone a whole Multiverse, or, nowadays, the entire Omniverse." Chi-Chi pointed that out, knowing her adopted son would open up more. She always made it to where he opened up.

Despite adopting him due to the circumstances that led to his birth, which is why he was a pure-blooded saiyan, to begin with, she always saw him as her son, nothing more, nothing less. Bringing up Goku was obviously the best course of action whenever she needed this boy to vent. Goku Jr then looked at her in surprise, but she only continued. "I was heartbroken that he wasn't brought back, but Gohan brought you home. My heart couldn't let you be abandoned with nowhere to go. No home to come to. I spent years raising this little Saiyan Boy. Something I never thought I would ever expect to do. But I raised a pure-blooded Saiyan, nonetheless. I named you after your father because I knew deep down that you were like him. Not just from looks, either. You were so innocent...."

This caused the Saiyan to be surprised. She noticed this and only continued.

"And when your father returned seven years later, he accepted you with open arms. Alongside your brother Goten. We both ended up seeing you grow up. Going from this little boy to a little man." Goku Jr only listened to her. It was clear that she was being genuine with the way that she was speaking to him.

"And that little man ended up being so ready to take on the world no matter how cruel it can be. To see this big world for what it was." She only continued. "And that big world had been cruel to him. That big world made that little man, my little boy, sometimes feel powerless. I've seen him at his worst. So has his father. And I've seen him multiple times the way you are now... Afraid of the unknown."

It was at that moment Goku Jr realized that she was describing him. He remembered all the times Goku trained him. Even the times Chi-Chi had as well. Remembering all the times she saw him pushing himself too hard, even times where he had injured himself. All the times he had pushed himself so hard, he ended up with bloody knuckles from his injuries. Chi-Chi then only continued.

"But I also saw that little man take back his life. Took the world head on and, even when the odds were against him, faced it with a smile." The Younger individual then began remembering all the times he had fought impossible odds. All the times he nearly died. Majin Buu, Frieza, Zamasu, Moro. That's just a few names then he could think of as well. Chi-Chi then continued. "Now this little man is doubting himself again because now he's coming to terms with the fact that he is in a much bigger world than he realized."

Goku Jr was shocked by everything she just said because it was true. She was always that wise. He couldn't hide anything. "That's exactly what it is. How are you always this wise?" She could only chuckle as she then said.

"Goku, I am your mother. I named you after your father to clarify that you are my son. That you were your Father's son." She only smiled as she continued she had to get through to him somehow, and yet there was something about her son that always made her feel like she did right. "You are one of the kindest and most courageous people I've ever met. And I'm proud to call you my son." She smiled more as she finished her last bit. "And like your father, you're also fearless, and it's not because you don't have fears; it's because you're willing to face your fears head-on even if the odds are against you. The world is scary, but as long as you still have the courage to face it, you'll be fine."

Goku Jr then gave a faint but genuine smile; he could see why his father loved her. He couldn't help but simply respond with the following. "Thank you, Mom... For everything...."

Returning to the current moment, Goku Jr escaped from his memory again and took another deep sigh. He then started to open the box revealing a key to something. Luckily he knew what it was and where to find it. But before leaving the house, he took a deep breath and looked at the pictures again. "Mom…. Dad…" he said. He was fighting back the tears. He was afraid. Afraid of losing his family. The only family you ever knew and ever will know. "Gohan… Goten… Videl…. Pan…. Everyone…. Wait for me….. I'm going to bring you all back home. I promise!" He said when he made that last declaration. He then began to walk out of his parent's bedroom. Slowly leaving towards the door, he will take another look back at the house, letting all the memories kick in while he exits, but not without locking the door behind him.

As soon as he left the house, he walked towards another building nearby, the wind blowing at him. He felt the breeze touch his skin. He couldn't help but feel the fear slowly turn into resolve as he quickened to steps. Before he knew it, he slammed the door open, but not enough to break it. Carefully walking towards something that Goku pretty much kept tied away, the first adopted son of Goku took a deep sigh, before he started to take a large chest out from Goku's hiding place. Looking at the key for a minute, the Saiyan inserted it into the lock and turned it. Once the chest was unlocked, he opened it and found exactly what he sought. His father's bo staff. The power pole. As well as the Bansho fan, there are some other things like different forms of clothing and furs. That is definitely what he was looking for. And before anyone knew it, he took everything he had already acquired from the other places and started to equip himself with everything he had just gathered. Right there in his father's adopted grandfather's house.

He started with the clothes. Strapping pieces of armor on his shoulders, knees, elbows, and wrists added more layers to the gauntlets that he now wore. He's additional armor platings on his boots, reinforcing them. Next, he holstered all three of his pistols in the holsters that he had also strapped on to his clothes, then strapped the scabbards of the swords before slowly putting the swords in the scabbards to avoid hurting himself in the process. He then carefully placed the Bansho fan on the bottom part of his back before putting the Bo staff on his back. And now that everything was equipped, at least everything he knew about which, he assumed that he was going to get more equipment over time as well on this journey purely because he was going to need it, he then slowly began to head out. He received an unknown text revealing the location of the timelines that he needed to go to. Whoever tried to get him to take the bait was serious about this.

Calling for the nimbus again, he knew damn well where to go now—flying towards a good area to start heading towards his next destination through the Time Patrol wormholes. As he continued, his fears purged from his mind and were replaced with his resolve. The next thing he knew, he was no longer in Conton City. Traveling through those things with the nimbus was something he never imagined himself doing, but here he was, armed to the teeth and flying his family's nimbus, off to fight who knows what danger he was about to face. Ironically to save 20 timelines and his family. 

The more he thought about it, the more he remembered what his mother had said. All those years ago. How he was so much like his father, and the more he thought about it, the more he remembered it and realized that she was right. So willing to go into danger no matter how cruel the world could be. He was still willing to take on the world. And not only that, he was now willing to face whatever dangers and fears he would be forced to face alone. 

Upon arriving at the first reality, a timeline where Goku went by Kakarot, similar to the one he was previously in, Goku couldn't help but notice something was different in this reality somehow. At least different from the reality he was in. Perhaps he should check on the history of that place once he landed on the ground. Soaring through the sky more, he felt his courage overcoming his fears and his resolve giving the strength to push on his new quest. The quest to save his entire family. His determination sparked by his memories of his family and he also had a gut feeling that those same memories were somehow going to help him through this quest. 

No, Son Kakarot Goku Jr wasn’t going to allow this bastard to win. As long as he still has a fight left in him, he will find a way to defeat him.  Whoever this was, they just started a damn war with the saiyan. He took a moment to pull out something out of his pocket, he pulled it out and revealed something that was all too familiar to him. It was a red bandana. The head band, one of the versions of Bardock, had given to him as a gift. He took a moment to think back on it before opening his eyes and slowly putting it on his forehead and tying the back to keep it in place. Now fully ready for battle, he flew the nimbus to his first destination.

Meanwhile, in an undesignated location, Goku Jr was being observed for the footage as a couple of folks could be seen observing as the two then spoke. “It seems The saiyan has taken the bait,” the one closest to the door said. “The Time Patrol will most likely be looking for the bombs and wouldn’t be able to help him.”

The masked figure then spoke, and now that the mask was removed, the voice of a male could be heard from where he was sitting. “Excellent,” the man in the chair said. "The son of Goku and Chi-Chi rushed into danger just as we convinced him to. And to make it worse for him, he's going to have to face us and all of our forces might do whatever it takes to keep him from finding us, alone. Granted, he would have to destroy them anyway, in order to acquire the clues to our exact location. Although you do have to admire his courage."

"But sir," the other man tried to protest. "He's armed to the teeth. Has all the various weapons that his family has used and more."

"And did you really expect him to go after us with nothing but his brute strength and powers?" The leader mentioned. "There's a difference between courage and stupidity, Mr Haruto. The fact that Goku Jr took the time and effort to get the equipment that he felt he would need on his journey as well as a means to provide him support should he need to preserve his energy and power, should not be credited against him. In fact, he should be praised for his resourcefulness. And I'm also certain that he's going to grab more gear throughout the journey too. As well as potentially look for leads that could get him to where he needs to be. Either way. He's following the bait. And he will get stronger, no doubt. I'm simply curious how strong he will be when he reaches us."

Haruto took a bit of a moment to pause and process everything he just heard. None of this didn't even seem to make sense until he remembered that he was speaking to another Saiyan. "You actually want to face him yourself….." 

"Correct," the man said as he then slowly began to get up. "Though I don't want to make it too easy. Oh no. I want him to go through all of hell and back just to get to me. The only two reasons why we drugged his family rather than attacked them head on was because if we were to fight any version of Goku or Gohan, we would have certainly lost. Baking this whole plan obsolete and pointless. Another reason why we put restraining braces that prevent all of them from using their abilities as long as they wear them. And they can't take them off without the proper codes."

"But sir," Haruto began to point out. "You haven't mentioned the Bounty Hunters, inquisitors, WarChiefs and Captains."

"All on purpose," the Saiyan responded with. "We don't want to make things too easy for him, now do we?"

"No sir," Haruto answered. "But don't you think he will be dealing with more than enough of this Army? He could potentially use each battle and his training to surpass you through his zenkai boosts."

"A risk we must be willing to take," Haruto's master responded. A smile was seen on the man's face as he then continued to walk towards Haruto. Revealing spiky but messy hair but he wore a different type of armor. He wore Saiyan armor as well but it was heavily modified, and he had military grade earth pants underneath the armor too that was baggy. His grin was that of a devilish smile. Seeing Haruto look at him nervously also allowed him to know that he could easily keep the human in line. "It will only be a matter of time," he said. A hint of confidence could be heard in his tone. "Let's see just how strong this Saiyan can become."

A few hours passed as Chi-Chi was seen leaning towards Goku while he held her in her arms. The two seemed rather calm, all things considered. Their counterparts as well as the different versions of their sons, Goten and Gohan, their daughter in law Videl, and their granddaughter, Pan were surprisingly calm as well. Though this shouldn't be a surprise considering how long they've been in the Time Patrol at this point.  So they couldn't help but feel worried. Goku Jr was out there, most likely risking his life to save them. Though it was always easy to put faith in him whatever he was needed, Goku couldn't help but worry for the boy he raised and trained. And Chi-Chi had the same worries too. Always more concerned for his safety than theirs. 

Still, it's not like they were in a position to do anything about it now. Taking a deep breath, Goku softly whispered to his wife as he tried to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. "He'll find a way to succeed," he told her. His voice calmed as he did so. "He's as strong as I am, as smart as you are, and he's as stubborn and patient as both of us combined."

Chi-Chi gave a faint smile from that remark. "Just like his brothers." She told him back. She held him tighter as her smile faded. "Still…. That's our boy, risking his life for us." 

Goku understood that she was still worried for Goku Jr's well being. He couldn't blame her. He was worried too. That was THEIR son out there. Sure he wasn't biologically their son, due to him being a clone of Goku but they raised him. Raised him as if he was their own flesh and he loved them both. The boy cherished them. "I know," he told her. "But right now, all we can do right now is trust him. Have faith in him."

Chi-Chi nodded in agreement, albeit reluctantly. She understood that Goku Jr was able to hold his own but she hated the idea of her children running into certain danger. Especially if family is involved. "I know, but Goku….. Kaka is walking into a trap…" she told him softly. And technically, she wasn't wrong and Goku knew this. 

"I think he already knows that….." Goku told her. He knew his son too well. Always running straight into danger. Just like him. All too much like him, if he was going to be honest. Chi-Chi could tell her husband was trying to not only be calm, but also put faith in his son. And was their ability to use their ki not available to them right now, due to these damn bracelets, he has to. They all did. He was worried about his son, just like the rest of the family was, but deep down, he also knew that he was worried about them too. 

Thinking about that reminded him of the time Goku Jr was 21. They just finished planning everything for the farm so they decided to get some training in for a little bit. Goku Jr  had tried various tricks to try to catch his father off guard, only for it to backfire on the younger saiyan.  Hours upon hours passed of no talking, just sparing before the two just got tired, I even ended up panting and laughing together.

"I still can't believe that after all these years, I still can't compete with my old man," Goku Jr jokingly said. His laugh was still lighthearted as ever. But then he'd notice Goku absolutely staring at him. "Dad?"

Goku looked at Goku Jr and he couldn't help but not shake off the feeling that he was staring down at a younger version of himself. Memories overwhelmed him as Goku jr tried to wave his hands towards him. 

"Dad!" Goku Jr said, trying to reach out to his father. Goku couldn't help but snap back to reality as he saw his son showing a small hint of concern as he then began to ask.

"Dad, are you okay? You spaced out for a good minute there!"

Goku only smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay kiddo. Just noticing just how much you look like me."

Goku couldn't help but snap back to reality as he saw his son showing a small hint of concern as he then began to ask.

Goku Jr cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked and Goku could easily hear both the confusion and the concern in his son's voice.

"I'm fine." Goku reassured him. "You just remind me of myself when I was your age. That's all...."

Looking back at it now in the present, Goku could tell that his son was very much like him indeed.  "The truth is Junior inherited our heart dear," he softly told Chi-Chi. "He cares about us. We're his family. We raised him. He grew up with his brothers in his life. He would rush in to save us. Because he thinks we would do the same." He took a deep breath before finishing. "Because he KNOWS we would do the same for him."

Chi-Chi reluctantly nodded. She knew he was right but that was still her son. Their son, in fact. She didn't care that he was adopted, or the fact he was a pure-blooded Saiyan. That was still her little boy. She raised him from the very beginning and it's something that only became easier when Goku came home. She loved him as if he was her own flesh and blood. Even with his more wild nature. Strong appetite and the ability to tap into her husband's abilities up until his death against cell, mainly due to the wish that resulted in his birth, allowing him to do so. She was lucky Gohan and Goku were both there to help raise him.

"I know he'll succeed Goku," she told her husband. A pained smile formed on her face for a little bit before he faded. "But if he's anything like either you or any of our other boys, he will suffer before that happens…" Tears could be seen falling down her face when she came to that realization. He was no longer the naive innocent little boy she sang lullabies too, however she also understood that throughout all the suffering that he went through, Goku Jr slowly and surely went from being that naive little boy to that wise man charging into danger. But knowing this fact actually made her genuinely smile. "But…" she said softly as she placed a hand on her chest, thinking more about it. "He'll become a much wiser man because of it. His suffering will only make him stronger… after all, we're the source of his resolve…"

Goku held his wife tighter, gently kissing her forehead as he whispered softly to her. "That's right," he told her. "We made him the man he is now, and with how much he's grown, I can't be even prouder. But none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for you, the first 7 years of his life."

That last remark caught Chi-Chi off guard but she couldn't help but smile from it. Sure Goku did most of the discipline when it came to raising Goku Jr, because he felt that he had to, but for him to acknowledge the 7 years that he wasn't there, due to being dead. And was such gratitude, well it meant the world to her.  She always knew he meant it of course, through him always telling Jr to go easy on her and to cut her some slack. Or the times he took the helm with discipline in Goku Jr's case, to make it easier for her. Or even times he gave their adopted son advice. All those heart to heart moments they had. It all helped Goku be an even better father than he already was. It also helped Goku Jr become the courageous man he was now.

“We just have to have faith in him,” She finally said, resting her head on his chest. “I know he’ll find a way. After all, he’s a lot like you.” she felt her husband's smile for her remark as he gently wrapped his arms around her.

As all of that Goten was looking at the ceiling as he thought about who their abductor was. Whoever they were, clearly had a personal vendetta against Goku Jr. He could tell that much. Staring blankly at the ceiling above him, he couldn't help but wish they could do something aside from waiting for his "twin" brother to come to their rescue. But what could their abductor want from Goku Jr? What did Goku Jr do to pissed that bastard off, this badly? The thoughts continue to swirl in his mind as he tries to decipher what could possibly be the reason. Well, he guessed he was about to find out with everyone else as they all then heard footsteps approaching them. 

"Kinda took a cowardly approach, knocking each and every one of us out the way you did," Goten told the people approaching, as if he was calling them out. 

"Hard to be honorable when you know you're going to lose in a straight up fight, which would ruin the whole point of a plan," the person responded. "I understand none of you would necessarily agree with that, but I could care less about fighting any of you."

"Of course not!" Chi-Chi said sardonically. "What the hell do you want from my son!?" A hint of her protective Instinct was kicking in, despite her current situation.

The man being questioned couldn't help but be intrigued by the family he abducted. He could see why a strong Saiyan like Kakarot would want to be with a woman like Chi-Chi. Even if she was a human. Her fiery passion and conviction, her stubborn personality. And her feisty attitude. 

"Son Goku Jr?" The Saiyan outside of the cell asked. Already knowing the answer. "It's quite simple really. I just find it interesting that there's a Saiyan Clone that has his own personality." he said. "And to think he was a clone of your husband….."

Goku felt a hint of anger build up inside him before Chi-Chi placed her hand on his chest, letting him know that their captor was trying to get under their skin.

 "There's a lot of things you underestimate about him," Chi-Chi declared. Her confidence unshaken as she got up and walked up to the bars. "My third son is stronger than you know. He isn't going to allow you to win. He's stubborn, determined, persistent, patient and most importantly,  a fighter who refuses to give up, just like his father …. And his brothers….." She didn't even let him speak. She continued to taunt him, despite her situation. She clearly put her faith in her son.  "Your mistake was making Kaka go on this quest. Because now he's going to get stronger. Stronger than you can possibly imagine. He's one of the strongest, bravest, and fiercest people I know. Only my Goku here has shown the level of tenacity that my son shares." She then grinned. Not out of malicious intent, but out of pride and confidence. "You're mistake is underestimating MY son! You are right about one thing only. Son Kakarot Goku Jr is going to come to you! He will come, and when he does, he will defeat you! Underestimating him WILL be your undoing!"

The captor paused. He didn't know how to make what he just heard. He then tried to get under her skin. "Do you really think he will defeat me…. Mrs Son?"

"I KNOW he will!" Chi-Chi countered.

The masked individual then slowly took off his mask, revealing the Saiyan in question. This shocked everyone. He looked EXACTLY like Goku and Goku Jr. Nearly identical in every way. His grin shows malus and arrogance. His voice sounded like the two as well. "I'm looking forward to it…." He said before walking away. The others remained silent until he was gone and they were the only ones present.

"That was not what I expected…." Xeno Goku said as he tried to process everything that he just witnessed. 

"You said it" Xeno and GT Goten said simultaneously as they also tried to put all the pieces together.

Goten then remembered what he just thought about. The apparent personal vendetta against Goku Jr. The fact he kidnapped everyone except him. And now the fact that he looked like him. Could it be? No. It couldn't, could it?

"What are you thinking about Goten?" Gohan asked, breaking Goten's train of thought as a result.

"Huh!?" Goten responded with, showing he wasn't expecting Gohan's question. "Oh! I'm just thinking about who this person might be. I don't know if this is actually the case yet, but… I think he could be Goku's counterpart…." Everyone knew he was referring to Goku Jr. That was who he always referred to when he said Goku's name. 

"What makes you think that?" GT Goku asked. The confusion seen on his face. "Most versions of Goku Jr aren't a clone or son of Goku. That's a rarity.."

"I know that…." Goten said. "Maybe he's from a rare timeline. One where that version of Dad was either cloned or had a son who looked identical. It's the only theory that makes sense as to how." It was clear he had been thinking about the possibility the entire time they were here.

"Regardless of the reasons, he kidnapped us all," GT Chi-Chi pointed out. Her voice and posture are calm and rational, like Chi-Chi's. "And with these brackets preventing us from using our abilities, we're sitting ducks. All we can do now is wait. Have faith in Kaka. We know damn well he has what it takes. Not just strength…" a faint smile formed as she continued. "But also his courage, resolve, patience and compassion. And if this person is who Goten thinks he is, then chances are he's hurting. He must be in great amounts of pain. Just like Kaka went through. So if anyone can understand enough to try to reach out, it could be him. If we can find a way to communicate with Kaka, we could maybe help him. Find out who this Saiyan really is. Let Kaka know that he's never truly alone. Then maybe, just maybe…. He can help this damaged soul."

The others took a brief pause of this. They were clearly thinking about what could be done. Goku then turned to Xeno Gohan. "Could you find a way to override the bracelets?" He asked. "Enough to avoid suspicion and with the codes needed for them? If we can disable them without attracting suspicion, maybe we could have a way to contact your brother."

Xeno Gohan nodded. “It’s tricky due to the tech and people coming in and out, but yes. It can be done.”

"Do what you have to do," Xeno Goku told him. "They can't suspect a thing."

Xeno Gohan nodded and quickly got to work. Doing absolutely everything in his power to disable the bracelets, with some override, without getting caught. Everyone else could be seen keeping their eyes out for anyone who could walk in, to give him a signal to stop.

Elsewhere……

 Goku Jr was seen flying on the nimbus, navigating with a map he had to try to search for leads, while also learning more about this timeline. Goku went solely by Kakarot but to his knowledge, Kakarot didn't come to Earth. At least that's what he thought. But then, he knew he could be wrong. That's when he remembered that he was in the timeline six years ago. But he didn't interact with many people there so he could have missed some important details. Then he actually decided to use his device to learn more about the timeline. At this point, the more he knew, the better. He could potentially learn more about the timeline while also being able to navigate through it as a result. That's when something he found interesting came up. 

It seems Kakarot actually crash landed on Earth. It has actually been a while since it happened. Apparently he already met Chi-Chi and things have been tense at times. Apparently there was a lot more to this timeline than he originally realized. Raditz turned out to be alive and Planet Vegeta was still intact? Clearly a curious development indeed for a timeline. Though if this was all the case then it was probably best for him to avoid all of those people as much as possible. He wasn’t sure how they would react to him. So it was best to not encounter them if possible. Now looking for potential leads on the monsters, titans and raiders, which he also labeled as breakers. Goku Jr sored through the sky on the nimbus as he looked for a nearby town where can get some information. Flying towards the nearest village, he hid his tail around his waist and had the nimbus park a few feet away from the first village before sending it off for a little while. 

‘Best to travel on foot for a bit’, Goku Jr thought to himself as he then started to head to the village. He felt an overwhelming amount of people staring at him. Possibly due to him being an outsider, armed to the teeth or possibly both. Walking markets, he noticed many of the people were looking in with malicious intent but rather curiosity. This village also somehow had a familiar aura to it. But he couldn’t put his finger on it. Though he also really thought that it was more of a city than a simple village.

Wandering around the markets, he then decided to start asking around about rumors that may have recently occurred. Walking towards a merchant, the Saiyan then began to calmly ask the man for information on said rumors. "Excuse me," he said, modestly, which caught the merchant off guard. "Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if there was a place you know of that would talk about rumors that may have recently popped up."

"Best bet would be to head to the fire mountain inn then, young man," the merchant said in a polite manner. "You adventurous folk tend to go there. And I can tell you're looking for an adventure."

"You could say that, my good sir," Goku Jr responded back in a polite manner. Best not to disclose the real reason why he was there. "Would you mind telling me where this inn is?"

"Oh sure thing lad," the merchant said with a chuckle. "It's a few blocks from the town square, to your right, once you pass the clock in the square, you should be able to see the big sign to the place."

"Thank you so much," Goku Jr said as he gave the merchant some Zenni. This caught the merchant by surprise. "Here's some money for your trouble."

"Much appreciated lad," the merchant said, looking at the handsome amount of ten thousand Zenni. "But…. It's not necessary."

"Please, I insist," Goku Jr responded. Showing that he was genuinely giving him the money. Causing the man to accept the reward. Money wasn't an issue for Goku Jr. Him ensuring his family's safety was all that mattered at the moment. As well as saving the 20 other timelines dragged into this madness.

"Thank you," the merchant said, taking the money. "Mighty generous of ya."

"It's no trouble at all," Goku Jr told him before, following the directions the merchant gave him. The crowds were browsing the wares of the markets where the square was. Musicians were seen playing music in the square, no doubt to get money from people. walking around mord, Goku Jr could see all kinds of people in the area. Merchants, wealthy commoners, nobles, aristocrats, you name it. 

The Saiyan couldn't help but feel a sense of uneasiness around him. There were a lot of people, too many people for his liking and far too many guards and police around it seemed. He walked cautiously to the tavern and carefully went inside, trying not to rub law enforcement the wrong way with his mere presence. Once he was in the inn, some of the weight was now off his shoulders. Music was playing all around, with a hint of a mix between western, medieval and even Celtic music.

Walking towards the counter, Goku Jr took a deep breath before sitting down as a bartender was seen walking up to him, what surprised him was the fact that it looked like the bartender was a female Saiyan from the looks of it. Possibly from Universe 6. "What can I get ya mister?" The bartender asked in a polite tone.

This also caught Goku Jr off guard, though it might be best to play along for now. "This might sound like an idiotic question, considering the name of the place," he said but continued cautiously. "But would you happen to have Fire Mountain Ale, Liquor or Brandy?"

The bartender smiled at the modesty. "Surger, we have all the Fire Mountain alcohols, ale, liquor, brandy, whiskey, red and white wine, beer, rum, bourbon, ya name it. I'm surprised you're so modest about it though."

Goku Jr cocked an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked as if he wasn't expecting it.

"Well you know our kind" the bartender responded with a smile, confirming his suspicions about her. "No matter if they are from universe six or seven, most of us Saiyans can be a bit of a beast to tame. Out of all the universe 7 Saiyan customers this bar has, you're our most modest." Goku Jr could tell he was being teased by the girl before she began introducing herself. "The name's Celia by the way. What's your name?"

Goku Jr was taken aback by this but then decided to return the gesture to be polite. "G-Goku. Son Goku."

"Odd name for a Saiyan," Celia said. "I like it though. Something tells me it really suits you."

Goku Jr chuckled a bit while he blushed a little, due to being embarrassed. "Awww shucks…. hehehehehe…."

Celia smiled, eyeing Goku Jr, she couldn’t help but feel there was something different about him. Something most Saiyans lacked from both universe six and universe seven. Something about him that makes him different. Unique for the most part.  She didn’t find him attractive. At least she didn’t think she did. But something piqued her curiosity. “So what brings ya to these parts, Mr.Son?” she asked with a hint of her curiosity. 

“Just looking for some adventure and glory,” Goku jr answered, though not completely truthfully. He couldn’t tell her the truth. It would only cause complications. “Ancient temples and dungeons that may need exploring, legendary monsters and titans that need slaying, and villages that need saving. That sort of thing.”

“Well now,” Celia responded with. “If you're looking for adventure, there are several rumors of “Monsters” terrorizing the folk around earth and namek. Titans residing in temples running the show and four big “WarChiefs” leading them all.”

'WarChiefs? She must mean the Raiders,' Goku Jr thought in his mind. At this point, he figured there was only one way to find out. "Where can I find them all?" He asked. "Perhaps I could deal with them for all of you."

"Well…." Celia started as she eyed the Saiyan in front of her. "The "monsters'' won't be too hard to find. They are wreaking havoc anywhere they can, so finding them will be easy. The Titans on the other hand will be more difficult. They each reside in a dungeon or temple. I don't know all of the locations, but I know at least ten of them. I'll jot them down for ya."

"Much appreciated," Goku Jr said, thanking the girl in the process. "How can I repay you?"

"Ya could take me with ya on your adventure," Celia told him with an excited tone. "My adopted brother told me that I can always come back and tell him all about it if I go on one."

"Well…." Goku Jr said as he slowly put some thought into it. On one hand it would probably be too dangerous for her, but on the other he could use the extra help. "All right, fine. You probably know a way into the dungeons anyway."

Just then a few explosions and screaming can be heard coming from the market areas near the bridge that lead into the city. Upon hearing this, out of instinct, Goku Jr rushed towards where it was coming from. Struggling passed the panicking crowds, go to Junior uses this to use his telekinesis, to slowly but surely and carefully, putting together pieces of old devices he used to use of his old equipment, to build some type of weird handle-like device, well also forming a large portion of his energy and then reforming it into two crystals of some kind of a sapphire color. Once the crystal was created the metal pieces got it around it. Little did people know his "guns'' had a similar "energy crystal". Once the strange object was created, Goku Jr then grabbed it and strapped it onto his side. As he continued to push through People to the action, he remembered a similar situation during his second year in the Time Patrol.

It was a mission where Goku and Goku Jr were sent to defeat a version of Cell, Frieza, Buu,  and Vegeta, along with Nappa the Dodoria, Zarbon, Spopovich and Yamu. They were causing chaos in a timeline where Goku stayed dead after Buu. These raiders were causing chaos wherever they went and Goku and Goku Jr split up to defeat them all. Goku Jr fought Spopovich, Yamu, Nappa, Dodoria and Zarbon, while Goku fought Vegeta, Frieza, Cell and Buu.

Goku Jr was forced to face his targets in a village, all at once,  which wasn't ideal for time patrollers for a variety of reasons. One they didn't want to attract unwanted attention to themselves. Two, they didn't want to worry about collateral damage, and three didn't want people to get hurt in the crossfire. Upon reaching them, the younger Goku could be seen entering a fighting stance, and mentally preparing himself for battle as the others charged at him. Quickly dodging all of their attacks, Goku Jr could easily try to launch a quick counter attack but the amount of people attacking him at once, that would probably not be a wise decision.

Continuing to evade all of his enemies in just his base form, the young Saiyan male was seen mentally preparing himself to launch a counter-attack. He just needed to find the right opening and then.... Just then he noticed Nappa was wide open, giving the young Goku Jr the opportunity he needed. 

Just then, Goku Jr then raised his right hand and fired a massive ki blast at Nappa, blasting him a few feet away, before he then delivered a massive left roundhouse kick, hitting Yamu, and nearly knocking him out in the process. He then delivered a flurry of kicks from both of his legs upon Dodoria, and then a flurry of punches as well, and a few other different fighting actions in regards to martial arts, such as open palms attacks, tiger claws, and various other techniques that he had learned over the years.

Is it that moment where all of his opponents started losing their patience and started targeting the people around them causing Goku Jr to look back in absolute horror. How could he have screwed up with this!? How could you allow himself to get this cocky!? Quickly transforming into a Super Saiyan, he then did everything in his power to deflect all of the blasts, and even some of the saibamen that Nappa planted. Dispatching each of them was one punch. Nappa, Yamu Spopovich Dodoria and Zarbon on the other hand would not be that easy. And before he knew it a lot of the people in the village got hurt, some even killed because of his reckless actions.

This sparked a great amount of rage in the young  Saiyan. Not just the enemies he was currently facing but also at himself. How could he have been so reckless!? How could he be this fucking foolish!? Before he knew it, he then began going all out but this time going Super Saiyan 2. Though he wasn't actually going all out in all of his transformations he figured Super Saiyan 2 would be more than enough to take them down at this point. And besides he wanted to end this as soon as possible now. Quickly punching a hole right through Yamu's stomach, he went through the same hand, fired a ki blast through Spopovich before sending it back to hit Dodoria who is currently in the sky, causing a massive explosion resulting in his death.

Three down, right then and there. And before Nappa and Zarbon could do anything about it, Goku Jr then charged at Nappa and delivered a massive punch, killing him instantly. Zarbon did transform but it didn't really do much when Goku Jr punched a hole through his stomach somewhere similar to how he punched a hole through Yamu's, before firing a massive energy blast to the sky through Zarbon's stomach.

And just like that all of his enemies were done for. But he couldn't even imagine how these people viewed him due to the fact that he was cocky when he started fighting them before he quickly used instant transmission and left. Never realizing how grateful those people were for his help. If it wasn't for his actual efforts they would have actually died.

Hours have passed and it is now nightfall. Goku Jr was seen, on a rock, observing Mount Paozu. Hints of sadness in his expression along with guilt, anger, resentment, and so many other negative emotions. Son Goku, who had just managed to find him after his fight, was seen sitting down next to him and quietly looking at his son.

"It wasn't your fault kiddo," Goku tried to say. "All of those people would have been dead, if it wasn't fo-"

Before Goku could even finish the clone and adopted son of Goku, quickly got up and angrily shouted. "QUIET!" He then turned to his father and could easily tell that he was trying to hold back tears. He could only lash out and vent all of his anger and frustration at himself and he was lashing out at his own father because of it. Because his father would be the only one that would be willing to listen, at the moment.  "Look, don't you get it Dad!? I FUCKING SCREWED UP! I mean, for a damn moment, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could actually do SOMETHING COMPLETELY RIGHT, FOR ONCE IN MY DAMN LIFE! BUT I FUCKED IT ALL UP BECAUSE OF MY DAMN ARROGANCE!!!!!! People got hurt and died, BECAUSE OF ME!!!!!! I..... I....just ..." He then walked to a tree, placing hands on his head in frustration. "Agh!!! I just.... Just..... Just forget it..... Forget it... Maybe I shouldn't have been born..." Goku Jr could only look away leaning against the tree.

Goku couldn't help but feel hurt at the fact Goku Jr was still being this harsh on himself. The difficulty of Goku training him, the tournament of power leaving mental scars in his son's mind. The times he and Chi-Chi saw their son pushing himself too hard in his private training, to the point of even injuring himself. The times he was reckless to the point of being suicidal, all of it caused Goku pain. He stared at his son, and he could tell that he was broken, lost, confused, and hurt.  A look of pain was seen on Goku's face as he then began to shake it away.  Getting up, he then walked towards the younger Saiyan, before grabbing his shoulder.

"Now you listen to me, Son Kakarot Goku Jr!" Goku calmly told the young man as he forced him to look at him. "Life will never be perfect! All of us have made mistakes, and we all will continue to do so. But we are filled with the potential for greatness, if we learn to overcome our own faults. Learn from our mistakes. Even you have the makings of greatness in you. But you have to be willing to take the helm and set your own course. And stick to it, even when things get hard. Because NOTHING that's worthwhile is easy! You're just as fallible as I am. But you're also just as capable of greatness. All you have to do is push yourself. And the road WILL be difficult! You will stumble and fall. But you have to be willing to get back up. And when the time comes, you get the chance to prove yourself and show what you're made of."

Goku then smiled as he continued. "And to be frank, I hope I get the chance to be there to catch some of the light from you that day." 

There was a pause of silence for a second as Goku Jr processed everything that his father told him. The bright smile his father always had always showed that despite all the pain, there was always hope. Tears fell from Goku Jr's eyes as he then began to softly cry. Goku wrapped his arms around his son.

"There there. It's alright Kiddo," Goku softly told his son. "It's alright....."

Back in the present, Goku Jr then began to finally approach the group causing all the chaos, walking towards them. These were normal raiders, at first glance but the Saiyan can feel the energy around them. These were a few of the "monsters" that he had to defeat. The men in question each had a small army of ex military, raiders, bandits, outlaws, battle droids or other mechanical bots. Goku Jr calmly continued his approach, his weird device in his hand as the forces he approached faced the Saiyan. Using his full power was not an option. Too many people could be hurt. Good thing he could use his weapons but this was a great opportunity to test his new toy.

"Well, look what we have here?" One the leaders asked. "Is that a Saiyan I see?"

Goku Jr then stopped and with the press of a button on his device, a royal blue sapphire blade of pure energy ignited from what was now revealed to be a hilt. "You've terrorized these people long enough," the Saiyan said calmly as if he was giving an order. "I'm only going to give you all one chance. Walk away…."

"Oh, look at this," one of the raider leaders said as he observed Goku Jr. "This brave little fool managed to replicate a Lightsaber. Doesn't matter. We're here to take this town, and I'm not gonna be intimidated by a man with a Death Wish. Kill him."

Just then when one of the mercenaries pointed a gun at Goku Jr, the Saiyan then took out his revolver looking pistol and fired an energy bolt through the roof chest. He knew what he was thinking when creating these weapons. This was to preserve his energy but to where he could still fight. As the mercenary fell onto the ground, a few of the mechanical warriors tried opening fire, only Goku Jr to quickly deflect many bolts, while putting the blaster away and pressing the other button, igniting another blade, on the other end. Many of the mechanical warriors were the ground from each timed and calculated deflection of the energy bolts. 

Entering a fighting stance, the Saiyan prepared himself to end this fight as soon as possible. And then, as he expected, many of the remaining warriors then charged at him. Goku Jr saw many of the attacks coming before he quickly used his saber staff to block and parry many of their attacks, while also dodging those he wasn't able to. Quickly countering a few as well, stabbing a few men or slashing their chests, killing them nearly instantly. Detaching the smaller part of the double bladed weapon, causing the smaller hilted saber's blade to shorten, Goku Jr then started seeing tons of attacks of opportunity and started going on the offensive. Slashing at many of the men that were trying to kill him, countering and parrying any incoming attacks, giving him the perfect opportunities to strike. Also going on offense, breaking their defenses to give him an opportunity to finish his target at that moment, whenever he could. Eventually, he closed the shorter blade and holstered it back on his belt.

"We have a real fighter here," one of the remaining outlaws said. Charging at Goku Jr before he attempted to slam his advanced ax, only for the clone and adopted son of Goku to counter again, slice off the top part of the handle off, before holding his own advanced weapon backhanded and using a back handed technique to kill the current attacker. Aside from the three leaders, only four men remained now. It was clear the Saiyan was being calculating in his fighting and not being arrogant. Confident but not arrogant. Re-entering his fighting stance, the son of Goku, mentally prepared himself for the fight to continue. What actually happened was something he didn't expect.

One of the leaders, a cloaked and masked figure with a hood, was clapping towards Goku Jr. Judging by the figure of the person, they were clearly female. "Still have it on you I see," the figure said. This actually caught the others off guard as well. "I remember the fighting improvisation of Time Patrol."

"Who are you?" Goku Jr clearly questioned. 

"One of the many factors of the game my master didn't tell you about," the figure said, clearly taunting the Saiyan. Goku remained in defense mode, preparing to battle again. "He didn't want to make this too easy for you, after all. I'm one of my lord's Inquisitors. Each timeline is filled with twelve of them. Like the "Raiders", "Titans", and "Monsters", you would be required to defeat us, and a few other threats as well." The masked woman only chuckled as she continued. "Most people believe the Raiders are the WarChiefs of my master but that couldn't be further from the truth. There are eight WarChiefs you must destroy as well. And thirty Captains. And all in each timeline you must venture forth and destroy all of us. As well as those twenty-eight Bounty Hunters that he has hired to destroy you. Each Raider, Inquisitor, Titan, Monster, WarChief, Captain, and Bounty Hunter, holds both a piece of information you will require to both find a reach my Master, and also items that would be the key to allow you to do so."

It was at that moment she started walking away. "As much as I would like to see just how much potential and power my master sees in you to justify all this madness, I must really be off," she said in a taunting manner. "I have more important matters I must attend to." And before Goku Jr could even try to stop her, the inquisitor then looked at the remaining forces, and gave them the signal to attack. "Sargesh, remind our Saiyan friend why his disgustingly pathetic warrior race is supposed to be dead."

Upon hearing that order, one of the warriors then started to prepare for battle, forcing Goku Jr to do the see as he was forced to do nothing but to allow the inquisitor to leave. The other warriors doing the same, as they circled all around him. Goku Jr took a deep breath, channeling one of his focus on the enemies around him. These guys in particular are easy, but deep down, he knew that this was only the beginning, and that the battles were only going to get harder from here. If inquisitors and bounty hunters were also present and after him, they're going to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. A factor he now had to consider.

Tightening his grip on his lightsaber, Goku Jr mentally prepared his next move. And as soon as the others began their attack, he quickly pressed a button, causing two ends up the blade to open up, igniting two other smaller energy blades formed as if it was a guard on the blade and the main blade to extend, and slashed down onto the biggest for straight from the chest down. The brute fell onto the ground, lifeless, as the second to last foe, trying to attack from behind, before Goku Jr parried the attack, and lunged the blade right into his attacker's stomach. Switch backing to the normal stanced blade after taking the blade out of the bandit, Goku Jr looked at his last enemy, entering a defensive stance, clearly waiting for his opponent to attack, and he did, with Goku Jr parrying many of his attacks and then finally slashing the man's chest, ending him.  Seeing the people gathering around him, he deactivated his weapon before holstering it on his belt.

'Two primary targets down, and many more to go,' he thought to himself, checking the bodies for the leads he needed, which ended up being a holographic map, fragmented as if turned into pieces of a puzzle. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. He was gonna have to start hunting soon. But luckily, he also discovered that they also show Intel he could put to use. Whereabouts and locations and estimated destinations for the Monsters, WarChiefs and Captains. 'Good,' Goku Jr thought more. 'This is a start. If I can eliminate the and the monsters first, maybe I cannot only get the Intel I need, but also be able to put a dent into their command structure.'

There were a lot more threats standing between him and whoever abducted his family than he originally thought. He should have known not to trust the word of that person. Oh well, nothing he could really do about it now. Captains and monsters were all over the place, but constantly moving to look for chaos, so finding them wouldn't be too difficult. In fact, it would be likely that he would fight them often, and more frequently. The WarChiefs, he would have to draw out but with the captains protecting them potentially, they would be a lot more vulnerable. The "raiders" would no doubt have to wait until he had dealt with everyone else. There seemed to be, for the most part, a well established chain of command. 

Once he had finished getting all of that Intel, he noticed the villagers were just starting to gather around him to check why the battle had stopped all of a sudden. Many of them were seemingly praising him quietly or gossiping how he was able to take them all down.

"Thank you stranger," one of the villagers said. Clear gratitude heard from his voice as Goku Jr then turned to him. 

"It's no trouble at all," the Saiyan said. Clearly getting ready to set to leave as he then took the last of the Intel he needed. "These people have been terrorizing other places as well as this one for far too long. That's actually why I'm here. I'm here to deal with this madness." That was only some of the truth but these people didn't even know the true reason why they were here and he might as well keep them in the dark on this. The last thing Goku Jr needed was for people to get in his way. Luckily his new weapon can be shifted into different types of lightsaber. Five different ways of fighting that he could utilize with it. Though he shouldn't completely over rely on his advanced weapon. His Brother's sword was advanced enough and was made with a steel that would be more than enough to withstand the energy of his saber. And his father's power pole definitely was enhanced by Magic allowing it to withstand his sabers energy too. All three weapons would come in handy. 

Not to mention the equipment that he could potentially obtain in the future as well. Considering that for the most part he may be on his own he was going to need all the resources, gear, and help that he could get at this point. Time Patrol is being forced to not get involved due to needing to find the bombs that this unknown person placed in different timelines. So their assistance was practically impossible at this point. At least until the bombs were found in disabled , which considering that it was only 15 bombs and its seemingly infinite timelines, which meant infinite realities, it was nearly impossible to be certain of that. 

Goku Jr also knew there was something preventing his family from using their abilities as he knew there was no way to contact them. Not even telepathically. Knowing how resourceful his family was though they were probably trying to figure out a way to do that at the very least. Especially if they know they can't escape. Though there was also a possibility that whoever has them might also be aware of the possibility of them trying to do that from the very start. If he was able to catch his father off guard of all people, as well as his brothers, he must have done extensive research on the whole family.  Goku Jr grimaced at the thought, but this was a possibility he had to consider.

Another possibility he had to consider was the possibility of his family's captor increasing the amount of people in the timeline too that he would have to face. If he was able to keep him in the dark about the Bounty Hunters, Inquisitors, WarChiefs and captains up until now, what else would they be hiding? Not mention the various monsters and potentially additional enemies that he might not even know about at the moment. 

Taking a deep breath, Goku Jr then continued. "I intend to rid you of all of your biggest threats at this moment. The various factions that have been terrorizing you as of late, their leaders as well as the various beasts and monsters that have been giving you trouble."

"Why don't you stay," another villager suggested. A voice sounding a bit pleading. "We could use someone like you in the village."

Goku Jr shook his head, knowing what this man was implying and he had no intention of staying permanently. "No, this is something I have to do," he said calmly as he then looked at everyone. "My responsibility is to ensure that they are never going to be a threat again. I intend to hunt them down. Which means I'll have to set out as soon as possible. If any of you have any leads, now would be the time to share them." He showed that he was adamant on this goal.  His posture and tone are still calm and determined. "I'm pretty much hunting each and every one of these guys down."

"Stay a couple days then," another Town's folk mentioned. A hint of insistence in her voice. "You could rest up here so that you could prepare for this journey."

Goku Jr hated to admit it, but these people did have a valid point. Plus it wouldn't help to just rush in without any rest at all. It was probably best to be as prepared as possible. "Only a couple of days," he said with a stoic look. "Then I'll be on my way an-"

And as soon as he said that, a few other villagers started running up with a bit of an urgent manner. "Mister Mayor!" One of them called out. A bit of a panic in their voice. "One of the bandits snatched one of our daughters and is holding her for ransom! You must do something"

Goku Jr.'s morals suddenly kicked in as soon as he said that and before anyone else could say anything, he then began to address them. "I'll get her back," he said with a confident tone. He knew he was fully capable of it and would get the job done quickly but his priority would have been making sure that child was safe. The last thing that he wanted was for someone to die because of him.

"Oh thank you," the other villager said. “They are holding her in the nearby abandoned temple! It’s been full of monsters and other horrible things as of late.”

"Noted," Goku Jr said before he then began to head towards the gate of the town to head to the temple. "I'm leaving right away. The sooner I leave to get your daughter back, the better her chances of survival." Before anyone could object, Goku Jr then continued to leave, showing that he had every intention to get her back as a result. Upon leaving the city, the saiyan would then continue to push forward, towards the temple. The temple where the girl was being held. Although he wasn't planning on going after them right away, he would be killing two birds with one stone this way and possibly more if any of his original targets try to go after him. The final point being a likely synopsis as well.  Little did he realize that Celia was following him from the very beginning but from a pretty good distance that he wouldn't notice.

As this was happening however, Goku Jr's true Target had been observing from the safety of his castle. To say that he wasn't impressed by Goku Jr's quick handling of the first batch of warriors would be a lie. Perhaps he underestimated him after all. It would seem he would need to increase the amount of forces in each of the five timelines. Perhaps quadruple the amount but that would leave the castle completely defenseless that would not be an option. Instead he would have to think of something. Either way he would have to lower the defenses of the castle by depriving them of some of his best warriors. Hiring more bounty hunters and assassins and even mercenaries would not be the difficult part but he can only spare so many resources to do so. 

The Bandits and Raiders were also cheaper and their chaotic in predictability allowed them to be a good distraction. But even then it didn't compare to the skill level of the assassins and bounty hunters. And it would be best to have a war chief in command of the various groups in order to ensure that they obey orders whenever they actually are given them. Both of these factors were a must but this would be the final time he would be able to do this potentially so he would need to do this now and ensure that this would go into fruition. Doubling the amount of people there would probably increase the efforts of taking Goku Jr down. So another factor is that he would probably have to find some way to give Goku Jr a Fighting Chance. Perhaps by releasing someone he had captive to assist Goku Jr.

As soon as the mysterious Saiyan was truly deciding to plan out how he was going to deal with this revelation, Haruto then entered his chamber. "My Lord," Haruto said hesitantly. "We just received reports that Goku Jr made light work of several patrols to the first temple and abandoned the rating led by two of our captains as well as a couple of inquisitors."

Haruto's Master took a deep breath. Not one out of anger or frustration but rather concentration. "It seems that the Saiyan's mother was right about how we should not underestimate him. No matter. I will not allow myself to be beaten by him so easily. But I must admit that. He is exceeding my expectations already. I wasn't expecting it to be done this quickly. But that goes to show that a Saiyan should not be underestimated. It would probably be best to double the amount of forces in each timeline. Double EVERYTHING. In the meantime we can prepare to replace our defenses for the castle and get as much of the defense done as possible through cloning and manufacturing of robots and Androids. Even normal droids. The last thing we need is for him to make it through the first timeline with the same amount of ease. Also prepare to release Son Goten and send him to the timeline that Son Kakarot Goku Jr is currently in. We'd want to give him a fighting chance now, don't we?"

"But sir," Haruto hesitantly said. "Sending your best men across the different timelines but leaving the castle mostly defenseless."

"A setback I am currently aware of," the unnamed Saiyan said.  "But with the recent acquisition of the other several versions of some of the best warriors across various timelines, they will very much replenish the castle's defenses for the most part. Especially its command structure. They have the experience, and skill to back it up. The rest of our numbers we can replenish by hiring mercenaries, cloning, summoning monsters, manufacturing machines, droids, robots and Androids, and perhaps even getting new enlistees. Goku Jr is not going to reach the castle in one day, I assure you."

Haruto only tried to speak again. "My Lord I implor-"

"Don't forget," his master interrupted him. "It was I who wanted to face Goku Jr, myself in combat. I knew that none of these men would keep him contained but I wasn't expecting him to be this strong or skilled. So this would give me more time to prepare myself to face him in combat."

"Very well sir," Haruto said, defeated. "And I'm sure you're aware that the prisoners are trying to sabotage the devices?"

"Why did you think I took the precautions preemptively to ensure that they weren't going to be successful?" The Superior mentioned. "At this point they would have already figured out that I was aware that they were going to try it. Though, I guess it wouldn't matter if I'm going to send Goten to assist his brother."

The two remained silent for the next 7 minutes as they then began to walk to the holding cells the Son Family were being held in. Upon the family noticing the two, it was at this point the Saiyan then began to speak. "It was only a matter of time before you would have tried to sabotage the bracelets," he said in a tone that outright confirmed that he knew about it. "Unfortunately for you, I have taken the extra liberties to make sure that you would not be able to. All you can do is wait for Son Goku Jr to try to save you."

Before anyone else could say anything, Goku then quickly got up, walked quickly to the bars in the cell, and tried to aggressively grab his captor, only for the man to back away in time. "I SWEAR, IF YOU DO ANYTHING TO MY SON, EVEN SO FAR AS TOUCH HIM, I WILL TEAR YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB!" The Earth Saiyan yelled. His character was truly getting to him by taunting him about Goku Jr. Whatever he had planned for his son, Goku wouldn't allow it to happen if he had the power to prevent it. But he remembered he was now in a position where he couldn't even do anything. Chi-Chi placed a hand on his shoulder to try to help him calm down. She could tell that his blood was boiling at this point.

The Saiyan that was currently free only laughed. "Maybe you would be able to do that, if you didn't have that device that is designed to suppress your power on your wrist," he merely remarked. His words sounded like a complete taunt. "Face it, Mr Son. Right now, you are completely powerless. Your adopted brat is your only shot at being free." Goku's blood only began to boil hotter. His heart rate began to increase purely from anger. Something his captor quickly took notice of.

"Touch a nerve, did I, Son Goku?" The overlord taunted even more. His voice showed more confidence as he continued to do so. "Though I must admit, I do applaud you for wanting to protect your son, despite your current situation. But because your son is doing so well and far exceeding my expectations, I'm going to have to double everything. But it might piss you off even more but I do believe that I would love to give your son a Fighting Chance. Perhaps by sending someone to aid him in his quest no strings attached aside from not being able to communicate with you, like I don't know, your other second eldest?"

At this point, even Chi-Chi's blood was boiling. "So you're going to put my other children through hell as well!?" She yelled out. Her voice sounded like she was about to make a death threat. "If it wasn't for these restraints you put on us, I would have torn you apart myself!"

"It's not like you really have a choice in the matter but to allow the different versions of Son Goten to assist Son Goku Jr," the overlord said, reminding her of the situation she was currently in. "Besides I hear that they're an indestructible Force to be reckoned with when working together. I want to put that to the test. Again I'm not giving any of you a choice in the matter. The three versions of Goten will suffice after that, the rest of you will remain here."

"Just me or No deal," Goten responded, causing everyone to be shocked because they turned to him. Goten only grinned as he looked at his Family's Captor. "I assure you that'll only take the two of us to take all of your forces down." He said with all of the confidence in his voice. "You said it yourself, me and my brother are an unstoppable force when we work together if you really want to test that out. Send only me which is the version of Son Goten he works best with. After all, we did grow up together." He shrugged as he finished that statement and Chi-Chi and Goku could see the confidence that their second eldest alongside Goku Jr was giving.

The Saiyan overlord only smiled. "You must really have faith in you and your brother's ability, Son Goten," he said with a seemingly arrogant but rather intrigued smile. "I do hope that faith is not misplaced." He finished when the cage door was opened and guards escorted Goten out of the cell. But not before Goten secretly gave Pan something. 

Perfect, it's probably best if it was just him and Goku Jr anyway. It was possible that he would only use the four of them as more of a means to prepare for the inevitable arrival. And besides he didn't know just how rigged this game was in this Saiyan's favor. So as long as Goten knows at least a little bit of the knowledge or is able to keep track of his tactics, perhaps he and Goku Jr would be able to beat him at his own game. He just needed to be patient and wait for the right opportunities to come to fruition. Though he also had to be aware of the fact that he would probably anticipate Goten and Goku Jt's next movements going forward. So he had to be careful not to underestimate him. 

"You won't be disappointed," Goten remarked. A hint of seriousness was heard in his voice. But his confidence was left unwavered. "I'll promise you that much."

"We shall see," the other Saiyan told the hybrid before Goten was taken away from the cell with the leader following. 

Chi-Chi and Goku both grimaced at the situation. They were now having to deal with the fact both Goku Jr and Goten were now gonna be charging into danger again, just to save them. Chi-Chi held onto Goku as she tried to hold back tears. While Goku wrapped his arms around her too. Trying to comfort her.

Gohan was trying to contain his anger as Videl quickly went to comfort him. Wrapping her arms around him, she then rubbed her hand on his back. "They're going to be okay," Videl reassured him. "They're a lot like you and your dad. They won't let this guy win."

Gohan then wrapped his own arms around his wife. "I know…." He said reluctantly. But they're still my little brothers……."

"I know," Videl said. Comforting her husband as much as she could. "But we're going to need to have faith in them."

Everyone just watched as Goten was taken away. A hint of worry was present in their expressions as they saw this. Only being able to watch and being completely powerless to stop this. 

That is all this happened, the newly selected Raider that was a Vegeta, was assigned to bring Goten to the timeline that Goku Jr was currently in and that he would be assigned to. After the nod of acknowledgment this supposed Vegeta began to lead Goten away. It took a few hours to get them to the timeline that was their destination but once they actually reached it, the Raider then spoke to him directly.

"They're doubling the amount of people in each timeline," he said, which caught Goten off guard and he had no idea why he was being told this but then truly since his energy and noticed this was an energy reading he immediately recognized. Of course it would be an old friend. How this person was able to trick the Son Family Captor was a mystery to him but right now he didn't have time to ask how this particular "Vegeta" was able to pull it off. Still it was nice to know that an old friend was going to be helping him and Goku Jr. "Though I don't think I'll be able to trick him for much longer," The pure blood Saiyan in question continued. "It's possible I'm going to have to help you and Kaka going forward at some point. I'm going to wait for an opportunity to strike before that happens though."

"Sounds good," Goten said with a smile. "But when that happens you're going to have to tell me and Goku how you were able to pull all this off."

"In due time," the saiyan told him. "For right now, too many eyes and ears. I'm only telling you this now because we're at a location I currently have not many of the overlords forces around. So if I don't leave now it'll raise suspicions."

"Find out whatever you can about the increased defenses as well as the layabouts in this timeline and reality," Goten said. His voice showed the level of concern as well a hint of a tactical strategic level of thinking. "We don't know what we're up against at the moment and it would probably benefit us and Goku more if we know at least a large portion of what we're facing."

"My thoughts exactly," the saiyan said before he began leaving the hybrid. He also continued to give information that he had already as he left to hopefully give Goten some ideas. "They're probably also going to hire more mercenaries and bounty hunters too. Many of them would have some good gear that you could use to help you preserve your power. Their weapons could come in handy as well as their other equipment." 

"Thanks for the tip, Veg," Goten finally said, causing the undercover Raider, who turned out to be Vegeta the fifth AKA Vegeta Jr, to grin. "Good luck and be careful out there."

"You too," Vegeta Jr said before heading out. No doubt heading to his current objective. And as soon as he was out of sight and out of mind, Goten then started heading out himself to search for the bounty hunters that Vegeta Jr mentioned.

This is going to be a test that would take him a little bit to do so. Goten knew that much. The first thing he did was check this reality's course of history. Currently the version of his father that went solely by Kakarot in this reality, and the others were currently off-world, including this reality's version of his mother, Chi-Chi so he didn't have to worry about dealing with anyone that they knew. Aside from anyone that may have been pulled from other realities and brought to the five that their enemy set pieces of the chessboard into, for lack of a better term. Right now the hybrid knew that him and Goku Jr would be playing right into his foe's hands at the moment. Luckily if he could plan it right though, perhaps he could turn the game of his family's captor against him. He just had to find the bounty hunters Vegeta Jr mentioned first.

Stealing their equipment would probably prove useful for him. Considering what he was up against, it was probably best for him to try to preserve as much of his energy as possible. It took him a few hours to find the bounty hunters, but Goten managed to track them down with his ki sensing techniques. They were setting camp in the forrest path leading to some temple. Possibly a Temple Goku Jr was heading to. But until Goten was able to acquire a means to listen in on the radio chatter, and as a result, keep track of their movements, it would be impossible for him to know for sure. 

The bounty hunters were just sitting around. Perfect! The seeds were being planted, and Goten observed the bounty hunters carefully. Patiently waiting for his moment to strike. seeds were being planted, and Goten observed the bounty hunters carefully. They didn’t suspect an amubush. That was much clear. Goten could use this to his advantage. If he could time his attacks right, he could deal with these guys, without much trouble. But he needed to move fast for that. He needed to wait for his perfect moment to strike,and then when that happened, he needed to be fast. Then his opportunity arrived. Taking a deep breath, the second biological son of Goku and Chi-Chi swooped down and struck on off the Bounty Hunters and fired a Ki Blast towards the rest. Most of them dodging the attack as Gotne entered a fighting stance while his enemies circled around him before they charged. Goten quickly swipped on off his feet with a lower kick before, kicking him again, sending him towards a handful of the others. 

One of the bounty hunters launched a metal cable, which quickly wrapped around Goten, catching the hybrid off guard for a second there. Struggling to break free, Son Goten quickly started to charge up his energy knowing that he was going to have to kick it up a notch. Electricity wrapping around him as this happened, the Saiyan hybrid quickly channeled his energy, trying to overload the Bounty Hunter's equipment, in the hopes that he could break free. As long as he was in the bond that he was in, he was an easy target. These guys were good. Really good bounty hunters. Whoever hired them wasn't playing around. And all his years in the Time Patrol, he wasn't expecting to face bounty hunters with this level of experience. Guess there’s a first for everything. Channeling his energy through the wire, he then started to overload the Bounty Hunter holding him in place's gear. And ince to see what's free of his restraint, Goten immediately charged at a few more of his enemies. Delivering a massive kick to another Bounty Hunter, before punching the third one standing and firing an energy blast at the fourth.

After an explosion killed most of the other bounty hunters, Goten looked at the remaining two foes he was fighting. Pulling guns on him. The two last enemies quickly opened fire, only for Goten to quickly catch their bullets. His speed was faster than the firing rate which was to be expected of the Time Patroller at this point. As soon as the bounty hunters burned out all of their ammo, Goten then opened his hands, revealing that he caught all their bullets, even the handgun ammo. And before his enemies could react, the hybrid quickly delivered the final kick in a final punch to both of them with the kick hitting one in the punch hitting the other, in that order.

Goten, like any of the other Son Family members, never enjoyed taking a life. Only doing so when it was absolutely necessary. And knowing that he just took the lives of all those bounty hunters really did bug him. Even though he was justified in this situation.  Still it couldn't be helped. Grabbing the gear he needed, Goten took some extra gear to give to Goku Jr. Figuring he would need it.  All the ammo, three adaptable rifles and pistols each, two highly advanced hammers, clearly designed for combat, and a makeshift lightsaber with an orange blade. These will come in handy. Finally, an adaptable sword similar to Gohan's new sword, the one Goku Jr currently had, and various types of grenades. These will definitely come in handy.  Hopefully they'll get more gear throughout their journey. Considering what the two brothers were up against, they were going to need all the gear and the help they could get. The last thing he grabbed was a com link. Useful for him to keep track of enemy movements. 

Upon putting the commlink on, he overheard the chatter about Goku Jr heading towards the temple close to Goten's location and that they were planning an ambush. Goten could use this to his advantage. Rushing towards the temple, the second biological son of Goku only hoped that he would be able to reach his brother before the other Bounty Hunters did.

It took Goku Jr a few hours of travel, traversing the terrain, battling through wildlife, and small patrols of his enemy's forces every now and then, but nothing significant so far. Taking those men down really wasn't difficult at all. In fact it was too easy. Then again these words simply foot soldiers. Nothing to really be worried about, at least at the moment. Once he noticed that he was getting close, he suddenly was attacked but surprised by a group of men and women, wearing strange armor. With one grabbing him and flying up with their jet pack while Goku Jr tried to fight them off. 

Once Goku Jr broke free of his attacker's hold, after the two crashed on to the ground on a higher point near the temple. Goku Jr then got up and took out his father's bow staff. That's when he finally was able to get a good look at the assailant as the others quickly joined him. He should have known. Bounty Hunters. They must have been waiting for him for the time to strike and there might have been a lot more enemies his way. He did encounter a few assassins of various kinds throughout his journey to this Temple, which he was conveniently a lot closer to, so it was unlikely that they did this on purpose. 

The bounty hunters quickly drew out their weapons as they then began to prepare themselves for the inevitable encounter with the Saiyan. Many of them holding highly advanced ranged weapons like crossbow style casters, as well as longbow style blaster rifles, and even highly advanced melee weapons designed to give all of the gear Goku Jr had to run for his money. 

Goku Jr took note of the Bounty Hunters and their movements. Slow and hesitant, as if they were trying to find a weakness. Carefully, the son of Goku gripped the sword in his hand. Preparing himself for their inevitable attack. He took deep breaths as he did so. Carefully planning his next course of action, the adopted son of Goku tried to carefully reach for one of his pistols, only for one of the bounty hunters to shoot it out of his hand which caught the saiyan off guard. 

They're quick, Goku Jr will give him that. They were clearly trained professionals he was dealing with. Unless you were to catch them off guard even a capable time patroller like perhaps versions of Son Goku himself, as well as his various family members, could be given a lot of trouble. Especially if they were fighting a whole group of them like Uncle Junior was. So grabbing weapons wasn't going to be the best way to go with this. He was going to have to use his power at least for the time being. Reaching for any of his weapons at the moment will cause him to give his attackers an opportunity to attack. He just learned that the hard way. Luckily the Time Patroller already had his father's bo staff out. So he didn't have to worry about grabbing it. 

Taking a deep breath, Goku Jr quickly entered a defensive fighting stance. If he wasn't careful, he could end up having to be forced to use a large portion of his power in at least Super Saiyan potentially. Not ideal if he's trying to preserve his energy as much as possible for the long road ahead of him. He wouldn't have been armed to the teeth or was ideal for him to only utilize his power in the long run. This wasn't going to be easy, especially with the amount of stress he was going through right now. His heart raced a few beats faster as he could feel a trickle of sweat fall from his cheek. To say he wasn't sure if he could easily get it out of this situation would be the understatement of the century. 

The wind blows around the area, causing the leaves to sore in the air and the Saiyans hair to wave around. Goku Jr felt the breeze touching his bare skin as chills were present from the suspense of it all. Goku Jr tried to find the perfect opportunity, even if it meant waiting for his attackers to make the first move. Hopefully if they did make the move, it would be a fatal mistake on their part but the chances of that happening weren't very likely.

Unfortunately, Goku Jr was right not to expect a mistake, as the Bounty Hunter to his left then saw the opportunity to take out a small rocket launcher and fire it at Goku Jr. Sending him flying, and causing him to drop the bo staff. "Great!" the Saiyan frustratingly told himself. "You left yourself wide open, good going Goku! Smart move for sure" he said sarcastically and sardonically as he berated himself quietly. As the other bounty hunters begin to open fire causing Goku Jr to have to dodge as many of the attacks as possible. It would be easy if they were firing normal rounds with bullets but some of them were actually firing energy weapons so he unfortunately had to avoid the energy bolts. 

He tried grabbing the other two pistols that were on his person, only for another Bounty Hunter to shoot them both out of his hands. 'Damn!' Goku Jr internally said to himself they're quicker than he thought they were. Kicking one of the Bounty Hunters, Goku Jr then fired an energy blast towards another Bounty Hunter as he then started to roll over and grabbed his father's power pole, before striking another Bounty Hunter with it. He then slowly smugged it towards a small group, extending it, catching the three mercenaries off guard with only one of them able to dodge the attack.

As he entered another fighting stance, the Saiyan Clone and Adopted son of Goku noticed a few ships, flying towards the area. Figures. They must have expected to have trouble with him. Which means this had to be a trap. Drones, droids, Mecha, and other mechanical bots and machines designed for war are clearly present. Goku Jr grimaced. Figures they would have this type of fire power just to combat him. Taking deep breaths, Goku Jr slowly but surely observed his enemies. It was at that point, Goku Jr knew he had to use at least some of his power. Using his advanced technology, he summoned up all of his weapons, and concealed them into his cloak which dematerialized once they were all inside. After that, he entered a fighting stance. Now it's time to actually show these bastards what he can really do.

Now that all of his weapons were currently in his inventory, it was time for the second Earth raised Saiyan and the Saiyan Prince of Fire Mountain to let loose. Powering up in front of all of the waves of enemies he was going to be fighting, Goku Jr then prepared himself for a proper bottle as he then charged towards his enemies. A Battle cry being present in his voice as he did so. As soon as the bounty hunters realized what the Saiyan was doing, they immediately tried opening fire only for Goku Jr to deliver a kick right to one of the mechs, and then a flurry of punches and kicks followed suit with each mechanized weapon. This caused all of them to immediately crumble and fall apart. However, Goku Jr noticed that they were sending a lot of infantry troops too from the main Army as well, meaning he was in for a long flight. 

The swarming troops tried surrounding the Saiyan but the Saiyan quickly caught on to what they were doing. Charging up an energy Goku Jr quickly fired it, pulling at least a couple hundred of them away. It wasn't enough considering he was up against a lot more than just a couple hundred. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from looks of it, not including the bounty hunters. Sure they had the numbers to their advantage and didn't notice that a lot of these men were weak in comparison to him. Many of them couldn't even use ki properly while others were only around the strength Frieza was when his father fought  him on Namek. And everyone he knew was a lot stronger than that now. And those were just the strongest out of the group that he was currently fighting. 

He knew the regular enemy troops of various kinds wouldn't be much of a challenge at all so he wasn't too worried about that. What did worry him however were the bounty hunters and the numbers that he was dealing with. They're overall power wasn't much in comparison to him, but what they lacked in power that could have given him a challenge, they certainly made up for in numbers. Many of the enemies try to attack but with each time they try to attack however, the second Earth raised Saiyan tries to counter whatever his enemy. Various flurries of punches and kicks as well as various other martial arts style aisle attacks such as the open Palm flurries, various flip style kicks, and even punches, as well as various ki blasts. He even tried to dodge as many of the attacks as fast as he could as well. Though it wasn't a flawless effort as the numbers were simply too much. There are plenty of times where various enemies got lucky and got quite a few hits in and caught him off guard. 

Though he would be lying if he didn't wonder what this was all about if they were going through so much effort to stop him here and now. This Temple might actually have more value here than just a kid. Perhaps one of his targets is here. If so it would probably be best to deal with the enemy here and now. Especially given the fact that he would know that Goku Jr was here. 'Damn it!' the Saiyan adopted son of Goku and Chi-Chi muttered to himself in his head. 'I wasn't wanting to fight any of the "Titans" or "Monsters" yet! Not until I dealt with the regular Overlords Captains and WarChiefs. It would have made my job easier to eliminate their chain of command but it looks like I'm going to have to deal with at least one of either one of these two types of targets here and now. This might actually be tougher than I thought!' With that, the Saiyan then quickly charged a ball of energy from his right hand as he then continued to think to himself. 'I'll need to make this quick, if I wish to preserve my stamina. I'm going to have a long fight ahead of me from the looks of it.'

And with that, Goku Jr then quickly began to let out a blood curdling roar of Battle cry, right before he fired a massive Final Spirit Cannon that he learned from his grandfather a few years back while training with him, wiping out at least 25,000 of the various different types of warriors that this secret emperor had recruited from various versions of all factions. He was probably going to need to utilize more heavy ki based attacks to try to thin out the numbers. Figures. Goku Jr grimaced to the idea that he would have to use more energy than he wanted to, but it's not like he was really in a position to really make a big stink about it. He figured he'd use the Kamehameha for the next  big attack. Maybe a small Spirit bomb afterwards too or the masenko. Maybe the Special Beam Cannon too that you learn from Piccolo. He might have to use all of those techniques regardless, but considering how many forces he was up against, it wasn't like he had much of a choice in the matter. 

Although that attack only took out a small fraction of the total numbers, Goku Jr could tell that he did put a decently sized dent from that attack alone. Not including the various enemies he managed to take out beforehand. Again power wasn't the issue in this particular case, it was sheer numbers. Part of him had a feeling that they were hoping to exhaust him and overwhelm him in order to defeat him. If that's the case, he was going to need to kick it up a notch. Powering up his ki, the Saiyan Prince of Fire Mountain then quickly entered a powered up State without transforming or using Kaio-Ken. This was his Saiyan spirit being activated. It wasn't as strong as Kaio-Ken but it was definitely something that could give him the edge. 

His attacks became more and more ferocious as he continued his assault. But he would be lying if he said that this wasn't a challenge for him. His enemies really made him put into work. He felt his sweat breaking as he kept fighting through his enemies' driving force. Seeing his opportunity, he then clenched his hands together in a tiger claw like position for both of them as he then pulled them back. As soon as that happened he then began to build up the bright blue and white energy that would begin to manifest from his hands as his voice began to recite something all too familiar to him. "Ka…. me….. ha….. me……" He waited for his enemies to get into the right position before he finally fired the massive wave of energy that he had been charging up. His shout sounded like a roar as he fired the massive way of energy. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And just like that another 100,000 of his foes have been wiped out.

Though he was starting to feel the strain. He needed to find something, anything that could end the fight quickly and soon. Closing his eyes, Goku Jr slowly but surely, thought about a memory suddenly about when he trained with Hit. This was when Goku pretty much hired Hit at the time to teach Goku Jr how to use the time skip. Goku was quite curious how it worked so he decided to learn it as well.

 It was quite a few years ago. A few decades even. Goku Jr was 15 at the time. Unlike most other timelines, Goku didn't put a hit on himself to get hit to come to Earth, but rather hired him to teach Goku Junior how to use the time skip and then decided to learn it himself. Goku observed Goku Jr carefully, noticing that the only thing that Goku Jr was lacking to learn the time skip was focus. Goku had finally mastered all of the basics but he noticed his son struggling and Hit wasn't really helping much.

"He's supposed to continue doing it until he gets it right," Hit tried to tell Goku that but the Saiyan simply walked past him.

"He's just a boy, Hit," Goku explained. "He's not going to learn exactly how you want him to. Not everyone's capable like that." Upon saying that Goku then began to walk towards his son. Noticing that Goku Jr was still struggling. Yep, it's definitely a lack of focus. The Father then carefully approached him. "Having trouble bud?"

"Yeah..." Goku Jr admitted. "It's more advanced than I originally thought."

"You got all the other things down," Goku mentioned. "The only thing you're lacking is focus, Kaka."

Goku Jr wasn't surprised. And he did notice he was getting a lot more frustrated which only made this issue worse. "Well how do I rectify that, Dad?" He asked.

Goku then smiled. "Close your eyes." His clone and adopted son compiled before he continued. "Now take a deep breath, channel all your thoughts and energy into the technique. Find your center, clear your mind...." The son complied with his father's gentle commands. "Focus your thoughts on your goal....." The father continued and it was clear that he was simply guiding his son. The guidance he needed. "Hold your breath, channel your thoughts." The boy quickly complied and merely a few seconds after Goku then gave the last part. "And let go!" Upon hearing those words, Goku Jr then delivered a punch causing the effects of time skip to kick in, he noticed that time seemed to have been frozen in his perspective, as he moved around kicking several trees before returning to the area his father was. 

Upon doing this the effects of the time skip wore off and the trees were then torn apart as if they had just gotten hit. Goku then ruffles Goku Jr. 's hair causing the younger Goku to chuckle. "There you go! I'm proud of you buddy!" Goku declared. His son needed this. Encouragement.

Back in the present, Goku Jr observed his foes carefully. Points that could prove useful before he then started to close his eyes and focus. Deep breaths as he did so. "Focus my thoughts on my goal….." he said to himself softly as He focused on all of the energy points. "Hold my breath, channel my thoughts….." The bounty hunters and other enemy forces only circled around him further before Goku Jr then suddenly opened his eyes, and then shouted, "And let go!" Before firing a massive air punch towards one of the bounty hunters, taking him down as a result. Bounty Hunter's tried the circle around him but the saying quickly caught on and delivered a massive punch to another one. For Goku Jr it was like time was frozen but in reality, he was skipping time to try to gain the other hand. It also allowed him to see weaknesses as well. Each Bounty Hunter received a barrage of attacks in each of the weak points that each of them had. So when time skip stopped taking effect, they ended up receiving the full force of Goku Jr's attacks.

All the remaining bounty hunters collapsed onto the ground as Goku Jr then quickly saw the rest of the forces retreat when they realized their commanders were down for the count. The saiyan observes them carefully. Without their captains, there's no point in staying in fighting. His best bet was that they were retreating to a base that was more info fortified and more organized. He noticed them actually heading straight into the temple which meant they were probably fortifying the defenses of the place which only confirmed his suspicions. 

"Damn!" Goku Jr cursed under his breath. "So I really am going to have to fight a high ranking enemy after all."

It was then that Goku Jr then noticed Celia's energy and immediately recognized it as he quickly realized that she was putting herself into danger by following him as he then turned around to confront her. "You shouldn't have come Celia," the Saiyan then called out, making the female saiyan realize that he found her out. "You realize how dangerous these guys are? You could have been killed if something were to go wrong."

Celia only walked towards Goku Jr before taking a deep breath. "Look, I'm not going to let you take all the fighting when it’s my world in danger!" she told him bluntly. “This timeline is my home and these guys are on my planet! If helping you can get them out of my home, I’ll gladly do it and I won’t let you stop me from helping ya out!”

Goku Jr was shocked by this. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from this last. Her feistiness reminded him a little bit of his mother. He then remembered that she was a Saiyan after all. So it wasn't surprising that she would be stubborn. And even if he kept telling her no, she would continue to persist.

"All right, fine," Goku Jr reluctantly said. "But if things get a little too dangerous, you run and don't look back, you understand?"

"Oh please," Celia responded with. "As if I'd run away from a fight! I may fight all the time, but I am a Saiyan, after all."

Goku Jr only rolled his eyes before he sighed. "Fine! But don't expect things to get easier."

Celia then nodded in acknowledgment and then the two and then began to turn to the temple and started walking towards it. Goku Jr wasn't expecting to get an ally but there were a couple allies he also didn't know about currently either. Whatever dangerous he was going to face in the temple, the Saiyan then mentally prepared himself for. And as this was happening, Goten quickly started to reach where they were and saw them heading towards the temple. He was very much angry at the fact that he didn't make it in time to help his brother but he was pleased that he was to to handle it. Seeing them approach the temple, Goten quickly tried to catch up with them while he still had the chance.

[katzirrart]

ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE... also thank you, I try very hard for cute njkfgh but also THANKS I MISS PEOPLE ENGAGING WITH ME LOL

Puts this under a cut for you because it is...long, friend!

My phone crashed after I got ALMOST DONE typing this and I'm so sad... onto the PC I guess. At least now I can reference a specific video :D

For reference; I'm in my early 30's so I was like growing up with Sailor Moon hitting TV for the first time with seasons R-SuperS and it was a BIG DEAL at the time. I watched it religiously up until SuperS hit, then school kinda clashed with the time slot, so it was mostly the tail end I caught of it. I rewatched it in my 20's but never... finished it because work... watching a 200 episode, monster of the week anime wasn't really... holding me at the time. Recently my girlfriend and I decided why not check out the new dub because I wanted something on I could draw to!!

I see a lot of people dog on the redubbing of it, and so I started to kinda... look into comparison videos of characters/voices to see just how BAD some might be - I also was worried that...ya'know, maybe my nostalgia glasses for Sailor Moon especially, of all things, could cause me to be overly critical of it? So I kinda...went in preparing myself to give it a solid chance to sit with me lol I think that mindset helped me appreciate the actual WORK that went into it -

Like, being a kid who grew up on the internet from 1995 onward, and you had to DIG for half the shit we had back then... I grew up with intimately knowing the struggles Sailor Moon had getting over here in some ways... I knew I was going to respect it TECHNICALLY even if the dub annoyed me in the end! So that's kinda my personal intimate experience with SM :0??

I'm a huge fan of older 70's, 80's and 90's anime and a lot of that is the WEIRD charm of the voice acting some times in dubs? Also the style GOSH, but the voice acting is either HORRENDOUS or iconic as hell.

But I also grew up with Brooklyn Molly, and Linda Ballentyne's Usagi being a thing and uh... they're something. The latter is a nightmare to me LMAO... so I'll give anything a chance.

I'm gonna reference a video for the three voice actors, I linked hopefully to each's segment :0 BUT UH, this person did these videos up through S, and it was SUPER COOL to reference these and kinda COMPARE CONTRAST some of them with my girlfriend when we watched recently!! A FUN COMPANION TO THE SERIES TBH!! :0!!!

In R we get the really iconic voice Tracey Hoyt had. Rini~ had this weirdly little deep and monotone voice. It was iconic to her, and I liked that, but I... hated how she did emotions. Hated it. So much. Which I think is where it really starts - it's 100% voice acting issues honestly. Writing too.

There's a few scenes that stick with me in my memory of being like shut the fucK UP?? and one is the flashback to Neo Tokyo when she trips in the rain. She's asking her parents for help and crying about PLEASE HELP ME!! And something about what Tracey does is she does VOLUME = EMOTION in a way. I don't like how flat her lines feel. I don't like how she does emotional readings at all and it's so WEIRD to me looking back on it now? I wasn't like some SNOB as a kid, I just... I dunno :0 I knew I didn't like her.

ALSO ANY TIME THE BLACK MOON CLAN GOT HER CRYING AND HER MOON ALL BAT-SIGNAL MODE UH.... her screaming/crying is NOT GREAT :D Super dislike it, and it made me hate her a lot LMAO???

In S we get Sugar Lyn Beard [Stephanie Beard].... our SQUEAKY Rini~ Uh. This is the one that most people remember, she did her for the rest of the show. So S and SuperS. Uh. S is my favorite arc. Manga. Anime. CHEF. KISS. I love the scouts, the plot, the fucking ROGUE GALLERY~

I was like... in the trenches with the wild shit this was when it hit america. I was like on Sailor Moon forums and shit ... I WAS SO STOKED ABOUT HOTARU...

Hotaru's plotline and her relationship with Chibi Usa, however fans see it, is so near and dear to my heart. And to a degree I have a nostalgic fondness for Sugar's performance, but I also don't like it at all. In that video at like 10:39 or something we get her just saying Hotaru's name over and over and like HER VOICE IS SO BALLOON LIKE AND WATERY IN WAYS that I just usually felt annoyed? She's two clicks from being that warble cry filter to me...

Which might be why I really liked the redubbing, Sugar is who we have through the REAL BIG CHIBI USA IS THE STAR SEASONS and we have this voice that just feels so.... idk it's weird how much I nose wrinkle at it.

It feels... idk, like I said, I'm by no means a voice actor/performance snob, but in the face of everyone having beefs with a redub I felt did a good job it's VERY curious what people go up to bat for? :0 Different strokes, different folks or whatever! :D

She sometimes feels like she's just...reading a line - but it's also this strange little lilt and hnh~ that happens at the end of a lot of lines? It's interesting to dissect I guess!! I never put TOO much thought into why I disliked her, I just... did for majority of my life and now I surprisingly found myself being like hey that's my GIRL???

To be honest though the whole uh... reign of Linda Ballentyne as Usagi was difficult for me LMAO Like I straight up WOOF... but that's me, she might be someone's favorite Usagi lol But it made those seasons hard at times.

In the new dub we get.... Sandy Fox. I think she hits this EXCELLENT mid point between the two. It's high and kiddish, and she has an interesting tone and lilt? I love how she does emotions with Chibi Usa and it just MAN. IT BE HITTING RIGHT. She was the biggest improvement to me in the casting and performance, and IT MADE THE REWATCH SO SMOOTH TO ME HONESTLY, BECAUSE SHE BECOMES SUCH A MAIN CHARACTER TOO.

I also think the writing being redone helps more in the grand scheme of things too!!

Like, for all the shit the redub gets, I was REALLY happy to have names fixed, lines fixed, dialogue reworked, VOCABULARY added, THE MUSIC FIXED - ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES.

I found some of the dumb shit like Chibi Usa's O CHRONOS~ lines to be silly, but a FONDNESS for the fact they decided NO. We're gonna DO THE THING. Like, hell yeah, man!! I can fuck with a team getting the rights and PROBABLY GETTING INTO ANIME AND WHAT THEY DO, BECAUSE THEY GREW UP ON THIS ONE - like can you IMAGINE that being your passion project in life is to get into the industry to advocate for REDOING THE ONE ANIME from your 80's/90's childhood that was treated like Sailor Moon was?

ADVOCATING FOR STARS TO FINALLY BE SEEN BY AMERICAN AUDIENCES NOT ON CRUNCHY PIXELATED REALMEDIA VIDEOS YOU DOWNLOAD THROUGH SKETCHY FORUMS AND STUFF...

Like that's so NEAT TO ME LMAO... I'm not a fan of the season but there was something deeply settling in my heart to like... know where I was as a kid on the forums watching videos of it with no subtitles, or fan subtitles and seeing it on a STREAMING SERVICE, cleaned up, crisp, with SPOKEN ENGLISH.... like idk it's silly but that was so... idk. My heart felt a lot of happiness for that? It was a treat, just for me LOL

But!!! It also is to the benefit of the redub that they got to do it all at once! One voice actor per character as much as they could help it, and just have that CONSISTENCY. Having an actor KNOW their character and roll forward with it, versus getting the show season to season, and having contract issues and having to get someone new in the seat, who maybe doesn't get the role right in the long run.

It's also kinda sweet to think the people doing it, and a lot of the new faces in voice acting these days, got into it BECAUSE of growing up on things like Sailor Moon!! There's weird levels to the redub that kinda hit me in my heart like that. I still like and enjoy how clunky the OG dub is, and I like the japanese sub of course, but there's something very SWEET about the care that has actually been put into the new dub, y'know?

Preservation of media and stuff too!! I'm big on that topic, and the redub was a team seeing opportunity to FIX a weird editing job where so much was SCRUBBED...

It's wild the hate I see when I think there needs to be some celebration for what it achieved, honestly. At 12, I never thought I'd SEE all of SM dubbed, or ACCURATELY. I grew up on Mixx comics SM manga where she was BUNNY, and watching the Dic dub, like I never thought I'd see the UPHEAVAL to revise and FIX the americanization.... SHIT IS SO FUCKING COOL TO ME.... HOW CAN I NOT THINK IT'S WORTH PEOPLE'S TIME and effort??

Again, to each their own opinion but I think there's a certain...view people need to have about what some shows like SM go through and how cool it is, it got to be fixed and to BE a passion project in doing so, you know? I was originally in the camp of OH WOW... WHAT A LAZY CASH GRAB, VIZ... but... nah dog, nah. Not anymore.

That healed some weird part of my childhood I didn't know needed it? LMAO...

BUT UH, let me get off that tangent of being soft about that shit. I'm sure there's some bullshit people could tell me about how difficult it was or how insensitive shit was - which honestly idk I think the redub handled a LOT of things very interesting and well... but this post isn't about WAXING POETIC about the redub.

The point is; that video was a REALLY COOL resource to me. My mind remembers things different a lot, so hearing the comparisons was REALLY fucking cool and it really highlighted what a GREAT JOB Sandy did as Chibi Usa honestly!! I loved her a lot, and that... helped a lot.

I guess as a kid, my annoyance with the script of R-SuperS and my lackluster care of Chibi Usa as a character made me just find her tedious and annoying. Why are we focusing on her~ this show is called Sailor Mooooon lol

But in R, sure she's a little brat and man IS SHE A BRAT... and I found myself disliking her still, but I wasn't annoyed because how she sounded. She was annoying because she's a spoiled little kid, who... I as an adult can see kinda what she's been through better with her parents, y'know? I can sympathize better now than I did at like...10/11 LOL

With S... I really grew to LOVE her because they started to really focus on her being a brat, but she's a little older now. She's little sister energy now. Y'know, we all forget she's like 900. She spends 900 years pretty much being....4? 5? Wild. No WONDER she's a fucking brat??

But with S we see her MAKE FRIENDS...!!!!! FRIENDS HER AGE!!! We see her meet Hotaru, and we see how much like her MOM she is. Her dad too! She's got a big heart, and a firey side, just like her parents and it's nice to see that come out in her determination towards Hotaru and being her friend and ENRICHING HER LIFE. Fighting for that friendship!! And I ADORE THAT. And a lot of that, again, didn't always come through because how the scripts and voice acting were handled.

I mean even in that video we HEAR some of the script changes, there was so much CONTEXT added to various scenes it's interesting! To me at least :0

S really benefited from the redub, I'm sorry fans of the OG but fuck. That shit was painful no matter WHAT and I think honestly... I grew to love the S redub the MOST ESPECIALLY HOW THE WITCHES WERE HANDLED, FUUUUUUUUUCK!~!!! AUGH. MAN!!!! Love.

I just... I dunno. We got a really good performance on her, and like it really helped the character arc SHINE in what a kind hearted girl she's gonna be growing into? It's not flippant and weird like it is in the OG, it's sincere and there's a sort of childlike not...wONDER BUT?? The vibe is BETTER??

But... SuperS is really where it started to solidfy. I mean, I joke a lot about her being GASP.... THE ORIGINAL HORSE GIRL and I am not immune to my childhood self being so heart eyes at the MERE AESTHETIC OF HER AND HELIOS, GOSH... but like, yo. That character growth in SuperS is FIRE.

She... has this day dreamy/lovely sort of vibe to her, she's experiencing first love and we're dropping the obsession with Mamo because of it, we're experiencing her having real deep questions about the world around her and people's hearts - and these are conversations she's having with someone who isn't a senshi. She's having these conversations and thoughts with her new ethereal friend. I can't imagine some of these topics with Usagi.

I love her, but she's so... unserious to a point? She has her moments, but with Chibi Usa it can be this coin flip of mocking her, or being serious, y'know? And like... she really starts to be mature beyond her years at times, she'll say things that are so wise seeming and it's our reaction and the senshi too... to be like whoa what did you say? She becomes very selfless, and yet a streak of selfishness still lives in there that all children have... and overall we really see her become a kind hearted lady. She becomes her title; Small Lady. And I love that.

I love that so much. Just how tender she is as a character in SuperS. It's so GOOD.

She comes a long way from the selfish demanding brat in R, but she's still Chibi Usa. She's still got those moments of being a defiant BRAT but.. she's sweeter. Grounded?? She's becoming a person her mom and dad can be proud of, she's becoming someone that would make her hero and ours; Sailor Moon, proud of her.

And I kinda love that by the end. She's gonna fulfill that role some day, y'know? Why SHOULDN'T we like her. Why shouldn't we acknowledge all the text and subtext about her character in those kind of ways. AND THAT MIGHT BE MY OVER ANALYTICAL ASS BUT LIKE...

A good performance carries a character's writing!

I mean, I even as an adult saw things to relate to with my own childhood I hadn't thought before which... I dunno. Steps to liking characters is relating to them, or having something resonate right? Something about sometimes saying things that shouldn't be coming out of a child's mouth, that's advice to people easily almost ten years her senior... yeah.

SORRY FOR THE LENGTHY POST... but yeah just uh... Sandy Fox did a LOT of good for the overall performance and read of Chibi Usa, and that video REALLY highlights that for me, and the script work and love from the team to do right by how Sailor Moon was edited for American soil paid off, and just... being able to appreciate things in a different way than when I was a kid did a lot for just...seeing what a good character arc that little brat gets!!

She's a wonderful little spunky dork, and I love her now where as before I just felt eye rolls incoming when I saw her!

-pet owner voice- my widdle pwincess....

Finished Sailor Moon with the girlfriend recently and have to admit the new dub honestly made me like Chibi-usa a thousand times more ;w;

[tropes-and-tales]

Absolutely Certain

CW:  Pure angst

Word Count:  4447

AN:  There is a sequel here.

Requested by: an anon commissioned this and asked that it be shared with Tumblr  🌻

You meet Marcus Pike in high school.  You are a freshman; he’s a senior.  Luckily for you, he’s short an art credit, so you find him in your studio for drawing and painting class.  He takes the empty seat beside yours in the studio, a lanky, skinny kid with curly brown hair and big brown eyes that crinkle when he laughs.  

You meet him in the beginning of September.  Before the month is out, you are friends.  He’s goofy and funny.  He sits with you at lunch, and it gives you a certain cache to be friends with a senior.  He drives you to school in his rusty Honda, and he serenades you with the cheesy pop love songs of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s until you are laughing and singing along with him.

It takes less than a month after that to fall in love with him.

It’s pure, one-sided infatuation.  Puppy love, your mom calls it.  Marcus has a girlfriend, so you pine in silence.  You read Jane Austin novels, you read “Jane Eyre.”  You picture yourself walking on the English moors, broody and silent and full of unrequited love.  In real life, you just tuck yourself into your oversized hoodies and fix your eyes elsewhere when Marcus waxes poetic about his girlfriend.  

Her name is Lauren.  It’d be easy to hate her if she were the stereotypical mean, popular girl.  If she were a cheerleader with perfect hair and teeth and a rotten temperament that made her bully the outcasts.  But she’s perfectly lovely.  She’s kind.  She gives you little half-hugs when she’s around, and you realize why she’s so nice to you:  you aren’t a threat to her.  

Marcus sees you as a friend.  Nothing more.  

No wonder they call it a “crush.”  Sometimes when you look at him, you feel like your chest is being caved in from the pressure.

-----

Marcus graduates.  You are a sophomore.  Art class feels lonely without him.

You think, maybe, that your friendship will die off once he goes to college, but it doesn’t.

Instead, your friendship deepens.

He calls you.  He emails you.  He tells you amusing stories about college life, about his classes in art history.  He tells you when he and Lauren break up, the distance too much for a relationship.

You feel your heart beat faster when you read that email.  You feel hope—misplaced, outsized, stupid hope.

Over spring break, he brings home a new girlfriend.  This one, named Ana, is disgustingly cool.  Effortlessly cool.  She spares you a single glance and then dismisses you as the markedly un-cool little kid that you are.

Marcus dates Ana for two years.  You don’t date at all.  All of the boys in your school seem childish, immature by comparison.  

When Marcus and Ana break up, that misplaced hope returns.  Haven’t you grown, after all?  Aren’t you cooler now too?  You’ve abandoned the oversized hoodies; you’ve played around with the type of woman you want to be.  Dyed your hair, changed your wardrobe.  Explored music and books and philosophies.

“Look at you,” Marcus says when he graduates from college and comes home to visit.  He hooks an arm around your neck, companionable, but your heart still stutters at the contact.  Marcus has always been physically affectionate with all of his friends, but you pretend he’s only that way with you.

“Missed you,” you reply.  You tell him about the colleges you’re looking at, the places that have promising scholarships that may swing your way.  You want to leave Austin and go east.  You’ve never been there, but you have an idea in your head of what it’s like.  You have a mental image of yourself wearing a navy pea coat, walking through crisp autumn leaves, a scarf wound ‘round your neck.

Walking hand in hand with Marcus, who’s told you about how he’s interviewing with the FBI.  How he thinks it’s a sure thing, joining them to work with art theft.

Which is why Georgetown is your first choice.  They have an art history major, and a great graduate program afterwards.  If Marcus were in Quantico, couldn’t you be together?  Both of you adults, and maybe Marcus would finally see you as a grown-up too, no longer separated by those measly few years that felt like a gulf before.

You get accepted early to Georgetown, a nearly full ride scholarship.  You are so excited you practically vibrate when you call Marcus.

“I have good news,” you tell him, breathless with the possibilities of the future.

“Me too,” he says, and you think, this is it.  He’s going to say he got the job with the FBI, then…

“I took a job with the FBI here in Austin,” he says, and your heart sinks.  

“And I met someone too,” he adds, and your heart shrivels up, blackens, blows away on the breeze.

-----

You go away to college, and you try—you really, honestly try—to move on from Marcus.  

You meet a guy.  Lose your virginity, and you wonder why it was built up to be some grand thing.  You break up, date another guy.  They are nice guys.  Kind guys.  Normal, perfectly fine guys who treat you well.

None of them are Marcus.

When he calls you to say that he’s getting married, your heart breaks all over again.  He asks you to stand with him and his fiancée, to be a bridesmaid for her.  You agree, stupidly, and you’re glad the conversation is over the phone so that he can’t see the tears running down your cheeks.

-----

You try to be impartial, but you really, really cannot see what Marcus sees in Chloe.  

She’s certainly pretty.  On paper, she looks like a great catch, but she’s just so mean.  Rude.  Dismissive.  She’s all the things that Marcus isn’t, yet he doesn’t seem to see it.

He overlooks it when she berates a waitress for her order being wrong.  He overlooks the dismissive way she speak to his mother, who you’ve come to love like a second mother.  He overlooks the little teasing comments she makes to him about his shortcomings, and how they are just a shade too mean to really be teasing.

He overlooks how mean Chloe is to you.  Marcus’s little friend, she calls you.  He just insisted she be in the wedding party, like he has no other friends.

You do the bridesmaid stuff with Chloe and her equally mean friends.  You go dress shopping, plan a bridal shower.  Go to the bachelorette party, and try not to imagine that it’s you preparing to marry Marcus.

At the bachelorette party, one of Chloe’s friends makes a joke over the male dancer, how it’s Chloe’s last chance to touch a different man.

“Only if I plan on getting caught,” she laughingly replies.  

“Isn’t Marcus an FBI agent?” another asks.

“Yeah, but he hasn’t caught me yet,” Chloe says, and the girls laugh at her.

-----

There’s no good way to warn Marcus, but you’re young and stupid, and you still try.

“I think Chloe may be cheating on you,” you tell him the day before the wedding.  

In your mind, it goes down the way it does in the movies, on T.V.  In your mind, Marcus sits down, stunned, then thanks you profusely for looking out for him.  For always having his back.  In your mind, he heals quickly and realizes that he loves you.

Instead, he laughs.  “Yeah, okay.”

“Seriously!  She was making jokes at her party—”

Marcus waves you off.  “She’s always making jokes like that.  She has an off-color sense of humor.”

You swallow hard.  You regroup in your head.  “Are you sure you want to marry her?”

He turns to you and smiles, and you wish he would have smiled at you just once like that.

“I’m absolutely certain.  She’s the one,” he tells you, earnest.  Hell, his voice cracks a little at the emotion he’s feeling.  “I’ve never met a woman as wonderful as her.  I’m lucky to have found her.”

That hurts, a direct hit to your self-esteem.  You feel a little crazy, like you’re seeing one person in Chloe and Marcus sees someone else entirely.  If he thinks she’s so wonderful, what does he think about you?

You only nod at him.  Offer him a hug, and the next day, you walk up the aisle.  Your mind wants to slip into the familiar fantasy—that you’re marrying him—but his eyes aren’t looking at you.  They are fixed past you, waiting for his real bride.

Of course it’s painful, but here’s a thing you’ve learned:  when you get used to pain, it starts to lose its power over you.  You start to learn to live with it.

-----

Marcus and Chloe settle in Austin.  

You flee.  Past Georgetown, all the way to Rome where you have a fellowship in your graduate program in art restoration.  In Italy, it’s easy to forget your life back in the States.  It’s like you’ve left your love on the shores of the U.S., and in Italy, you can explore who you are without Marcus.

He still writes you emails, but infrequently.  You answer every three of his with one of your own, and you keep them surface level.  You hear more from his mom, a lovely woman who treats you like a daughter and who harangues you to make sure you’re eating and sleeping properly.

It’s easy to heal in Europe.  Easy to find yourself, like you’re in a poorly-written travelogue, but it’s true.  You take advantage of rail passes and lose entire weekends in Prague, in Madrid, in Munich.  You walk the same streets where Vermeer walked.  You see the Sistine Chapel.  You find little hidden away museums, and churches where old oil paintings have cracked under age and candle smoke.

You meet a man in a gallery in Rome, and he’s your first, bona fide, certifiable lover.  He’s older.  He knows what he’s doing, and he romances you.  Seduces you.  He’s no fumbling college boy, and he teaches you all about pleasure.  

Not once do you think of Marcus.

But your time in Rome has a time limit, and when your fellowship ends, you and the gallery owner break it off.  But it’s another revelation:  that things can end amicably, that it’s okay when things reach their natural ending.

-----

It surprises you when Marcus calls you.  He never calls anymore.

“Chloe and I are getting divorced,” he says almost immediately.  He hesitates for a beat; you can hear the pause on the line.

“She was cheating on me,” he adds, and you are terrible at pretending you are surprised.

-----

Just like that, you’re pulled back into his orbit.  You feel like a comet that keeps trying to escape his pull.  You get distance and time away from him, but he pulls you right back.

And it’s so easy to fall into the trap.  You graduate with your master’s, and you get into a PhD program in Austin.  

It’s so, so easy.

You’re not a child anymore.  Not a teenager, and neither is he.  You’re both adults, and you have experiences now.  He’s got a divorce under his belt that’s left his shine a little dulled.  You give him space, but it’s easy to fall back into that high school friendship.

You go out to late dinners together.  He drives you around (no longer in his rusty Honda but a sensible hybrid) and the two of you talk, sing along to the radio.  You tell him about your studies, and you see a gleam of jealousy in his eyes.  He opens up about his marriage, and it seems like it was rarely a happy one.

He comes over to help you study.  Sometimes he just comes over to be with you, watching your T.V. while you research restoration techniques of the seventeenth century for your thesis.

Sometimes he falls asleep on your couch, and you can’t help but brush the errant curls off of his forehead before you cover him with a blanket.  You cannot help the way your heart swells with foolish love for the man who has never seen you as more than a friend.

-----

As he heals, it seems like he’s finally seeing you.  Not as a high school art class pal, not as the kid-sister buddy.  

He seems to study you more.  You catch him sometimes staring at you, a little smile on his face.  

“What?” you always ask him, and he always shakes his head with that same smile.

“It’s nothing.”

It goes on for months.  You submit your thesis to your advisor for an initial review, and you gnaw your fingernails to the quick with worry.  Marcus is busy with work, but he still finds time for you.  He takes you on those long drives, going long into the Texas night and chatting and singing and keeping your mind off of everything.

Once, he takes you close to the border where there’s an amazing Mexican restaurant.  Over fresh tamales, he lays his hand over yours and looks you in the eye.

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me get on the other side of this divorce,” he says.  “I felt really lost, and then suddenly there you were.  Like you showed up just when I needed you.”

You clear your throat.  It suddenly feels dry, like all of the moisture has been sucked out of the room.

“I did show up because you needed me,” you admit, and Marcus’s face splits into a wide grin.

“That’s why you’re the best,” he says.  He squeezes your hand, and the fluttery feeling settles into your gut, just like when you were a kid with a painful crush.  “You’re my very best friend.”

So it’s not a declaration of love.  You convince yourself on the drive home that the distance from best friend to girlfriend is a short one.

-----

It’s easy for you to think that it’s only a matter of time before Marcus finally sees you.

You’re his best friend.  That counts for something.  He knows you’re there for him in ways that his ex-wife never was.  He knows, now, that you turned down a better PhD program for the one in Austin.  

You spend almost all of your free time together, though it isn’t much.  You are in the final push of your thesis, and he’s busy with work.  But the rest of the time, it’s just you and him.  Dinners, movies, hanging out.  Long drives.  Sometimes dinner at his parents’ house, where his mom and dad give each other sidelong glances that Marcus never catches and that you pretend not to see.

You spend your birthday at a wine and painting event with him, where he whispers in your ear about the cheesy painting you’re doing, using a mock-snooty voice about the pre-Raphaelites until you are laughing so hard that you snort.

You spend his birthday in Galveston, and while he doesn’t kiss you, he does get more touchy than usual—hugging and pulling you against him, brushing his fingers along your bare shoulder when he drapes his jacket over you at night.

-----

You’ve grown up since you met Marcus.  You aren’t the shrinking, shy girl you had been in studio drawing and painting, all those years ago.  You’ve got multiple degrees, and you’ve traveled to Europe.  You’ve worked with experts in the field of restoration, and you’ve grown to love the idea of preserving works of art for future generations.

You make a deal with yourself:  once your thesis is approved and you earn your PhD, if Marcus hasn’t made a move, you will.

You never once consider that Marcus has never held back with other women.  That he’s never waited and been prudent with his declarations of love.  You never question why he was so quick to love Lauren, and Ana, and Chloe…yet never says a word to you beyond declaring you his best friend.

All of those thoughts will come later, when you tear every single thought and interaction apart and put them under the microscope.

Your thesis is approved.  You earn your PhD.  You set up a celebratory dinner with Marcus, who cancels at the last minute.  There’s an art theft case he’s working, some gallery owner killed and some sting operation being set up, so you reschedule.

And he accepts.

-----

You can be blasé about pain, make lofty comments about how you are untouchable, but it’s a front.  You realize it the night of the celebratory dinner.

You put so much effort into yourself.  You do your hair and makeup.  You wear a cute dress that flirts with being just a little sexy.  You wear heels, for God’s sake, and you never wear heels.

Marcus is late.  He comes jogging into the restaurant out of breath, his hair mussed and his tie loose around his neck.

He gives you a hug and presses a kiss to your cheek, filling you with that warm, lovely feeling you always have when he touches you.  That fluttery feeling in your stomach.

“Sorry I’m late,” he says.  He releases you, sits down, and gifts you with that megawatt Marcus Pike smile.  “The case I was working on—”

“No worries,” you reply, cutting him off.  He talks about his work a lot, but for once, you want to talk about your stuff.  Your thesis.  How you’re about to be no longer a miss but a doctor.  How you’re the first person in your family to go to college, let along become a doctor.

And from there, you want to tell him—finally—how you feel about him.  How you’ve always felt about him.

“I have good news,” you tell him, breathless with the weight of finally confessing your feelings after you get past the news of your PhD.

“Me too,” he says, and your brain catches on to the déjà vu before your heart, thinks, this is going to hurt, whatever he’s about to say…

“I met someone,” he says.  “Her name is Teresa.”

You’ve lived with this pain for almost as long as you’ve known him, but it still hurts.  Badly.  Like a fucking knife in the chest, twisting and scraping at your ribcage, killing off that fluttering feeling.

“What’s your good news?” he asks, and the joy of getting your PhD is gone too.  

Each bite of dinner—where Marcus chats endlessly about Teresa Lisbon—tastes like ashes in your mouth. When he goes to pay, you shake your head once, hard.  You put down your card and pay for it, and Marcus frowns at your obvious low mood.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, but how can you even begin to explain?

-----

You don’t explain.  You do what you did before:  you flee.

You land a job in D.C. with the National Gallery of Art.  There’s a hefty grant around the study and conservation of pigments in sixteenth and seventeenth century paintings, and you are hired on in a coveted role.

You don’t bother to see Marcus in person to say goodbye.  He’s easy enough to dodge now that he’s seeing Teresa, and you realize something far too late:  he’s really only ever been a fair-weather friend.  You’ve really only ever been his backup plan for not being lonely, his fill-in friend until he could find the next woman to break his heart.

You do go say goodbye to his mom in person.  Mrs. Pike was a second mother, a gentle maternal presence who cared for you separately from Marcus.  She gives you a huge hug, and she looks at you with a sad expression.

You think she probably knows how you feel about her son, and you can’t stop the heat rising in your cheeks in late-found embarrassment.

“Take good care of yourself,” she tells you.

You pack up your apartment, and you are brutal in what you purge.  You throw out everything Marcus ever gave you.  Little notes he passed you in art class, the painting you did together for your birthday.  

The day before you leave, he texts you.

Wanted to see you before you leave, it says.  Can I stop over?  Am out with Teresa and want you to meet her!

You leave him on read.  When he sends a second text, you ignore that one too.

When you pull out of Austin in the morning, the last thing you do is block his number.  Block his email.  You’ve wasted too much time on Marcus Pike, years and years of frustrated, painful pining.

You will find someone who will make you their first choice.

D.C. will be your fresh start.  

*****

For the life of him, Marcus can’t figure out why you didn’t say goodbye.  It hurts to have his best friend just ghost him—to read his texts but not answer them, and he’s not even sure his later texts are even going through.  They don’t show as read, and you don’t answer his calls either.

He wishes he knew what he did wrong.  He’d apologize, he’d make it up to you.  

He loves you dearly.  You’re his very best friend, his rock and most stalwart defender.  When Chloe cheated on him and left him bereft and broken, you shifted your entire life around to come home to Austin and help him heal.

Who else would do that for him?

He wanted you to meet Teresa before you left.  He values your opinion more than anyone else, but when he told you about her, you had gone strangely flat.  The open look of anticipation on your face at that dinner had fallen, like a light being turned off.

Looking back, he thought maybe he had stolen your thunder.  You had grown up lower middle class, working class, so a PhD was even more of a big deal…

You’ve been gone for a month.  Two months.  Three, and Marcus finally goes to see his parents for dinner.  His dad wanders off at some point to check the scores of the football games, but Marcus stays at the table with his mom and chats.

The discussion invariably turns to you.

“She really loves her new job,” his mom says, and it surprises him.  He knows that you and his mom are friendly, and that she’d sent you care packages in college sometimes, but he had assumed you had ghosted everyone.

His mom marks his surprise, and she sighs.

“She hasn’t talked to you since she left, has she?”

He shakes his head.

She sighs again, and she traces an abstract pattern onto the grain of the wood table.  She doesn’t look at him, but she says, “it’s probably for the best, in the end.”

“What do you mean?”

His mom looks up at him.  “Are you telling me you never noticed it?”

He shakes his head a second time.  “Noticed what?”

“That girl’s been in love with you for as long as I’ve known her.”

Marcus laughs, but it comes out sarcastic.  Incredulous.  “What are you talking about?”

“She’s loved you since you were in high school.  You never noticed?  She looks at you like you are the only person in the world.”

“That doesn’t make sense…” He says weakly, but the pieces start to fall into place.

“Of course it makes sense,” his mom argues.  “You were two buddies in high school, and then you left for college and she used to mope around the neighborhood.  She’d come here and see me and I swear it was just to get me to talk about you.”

“But she never said anything.”

His mom gives him a pitying look.  “She’s younger than you, Marcus, and a little shy besides.  And you were always dating someone else.  It says something about her character, that she never tried to cause issues with your girlfriends.  She just suffered in silence.”

Marcus scoffs.  “She didn’t suffer, mom.  Don’t be dramatic about it.”

“Would you like to be the groomsman at the wedding where your unrequited love is marrying someone else?” she asks gently.

It makes sense.  Now it makes senses, years too late.  All that quiet support, the way you dropped everything to be with him after he got divorced.  You had probably hoped that once he healed, he’d finally notice you…but instead he moved on to Teresa.

It hits him like a punch:  that final dinner with you.  How beautiful you had looked, how he had wondered why you’d put in so much effort for just him.  The dress and makeup, the heels on a woman who lived in flats or sneakers.

The way your face fell.  The way the light went out of your eyes when he told you about Teresa.  

Marcus realizes, months too late, that the dinner wasn’t just to celebrate your PhD.  You were probably going to confess your feelings for him.

“I’m with Teresa now,” he says, his voice small with the shame of having missed what was right in front of him for years.  

“And that’s why I think it’s better that she left,” his mom says.  She stands up and walks over to him, pulls him into a hug that makes him feel like he’s a kid again, safe and protected and without a single worry.

“Best to leave her alone,” she adds as she releases him.  “Let her move on and find someone new.”

“She deserves that,” Marcus says, and while there’s a sting of jealousy at the thought of you with another man, it’s faint and he doesn’t register it.

“She does,” his mom agrees.  “She’ll make someone very happy.”

Marcus stands up too, and he kisses his mom on the cheek.  He goes and says goodbye to his dad, and he drives home.  He has a date later with Teresa, so he showers and shaves.  He gets dressed.  He leaves his house, gets into his car.

On the drive to pick up Teresa, he tries to put you out of his mind.  He can’t believe he was so blind, and he wonders if it was a willful blindness or a genuine blind spot.  The FBI agent in him wants to solve the puzzle—why you never said anything, why he never caught it—but then he’s at Teresa’s door and he pushes you out of his mind.

He’s with Teresa now.  She’s wonderful, and he can see himself marrying her, having kids with her.  Maybe in another life he’d end up in D.C.; maybe he’d have the chance to rekindle his friendship with you with this new intel.  

But not in this life.  He’s with Teresa, and he’s certain that she’s the one he’ll end up with in the end.

He’s absolutely certain of it.

~~~Tag List~~~ @bananas-pajamas  @massivecolorspygiant​   @imspillingcoffee​   @amneris21​   @paintballkid711​   @mad-girl-without-a-box​   @bestattempt​   @rosiefridayrogersunday​   @strawberrydragon​   @hoeforthefictional​   @greeneyedblondie44​  @leannawithacapitala​   @stardust-galaxies​  @buckybarneshairpullingkink​   @isvvc-pvscvl​   @mrschiltoncat​   @danniburgh   @stillshelbs​   @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics​    @tobealostwanderer​   @nuvoleincielo​  @knivesareout​  @frankie-catfish-morales​    @prostitute-robot-from-the-future