It was just another day's hard work, restoring the past in order to keep the future back in track. It was worth Challah's time, getting a chance to meet the famed warriors of the past and learning from them how to get strong was something only a few could dream of. All it took was beating the daylights out of whoever was causing trouble in the past.

It happened to be just another day of training when Challah and other warriors were called over by Trunks to the mission room. It sounded like some dire emergency has taken place.

Challah was quite excited to get Trunks' message, even more so than usual. "Dire" was her favorite kind of emergency, after all. As quickly as she could--which was pretty quick--she showered, put on her easy-to-move-in shorts and white T-shirt with the words "Let's Fight!" printed in bold red letters on it, and sped through the air toward the Time Nest, her long tail whipping about behind her.

She landed at the base of the staircase leading up to the Time Nest's door and sprinted in.

"So what do we got now?" Challah asked with great enthusiasm, foregoing greetings or pleasantries. "Aliens? Demons? Demon aliens?! Please tell me it's demon aliens!"

"For lack of a better description, we'll go with that for now," Trunks said after letting out a sigh before giving a serious look at those present before him, "Demon Aliens have been showing up during the time of Muten Roshi's younger days. Not only that, but mysterious plant life have been sprouting in the area and people have been disappearing upon venturing into such areas."

Aside from Challah, there were three others who showed up for the mission. A Namek named Pip and an android named Bilt were listening to what Trunks has explained to them.

"So we just take out these... Demon Aliens and raze the plants, right? Shouldn't be tough for the four of us," the young Namek remarked, somehow disinterested in listening on the details, "Let's just go there and get it done, then come home!"

"Indeed," Bilt remarked in a monotone voice while his eyes glowed with lights as he talked, "If there is a problem we must quickly find the solution and execute it before it can get worse."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:11, Mon 21 May 2018.

Challah's tail flicked about excitedly as she said, "Cool! So find the people, mow the lawn, and beat up the Demon Aliens. I'm with Pip, we can't just leave those guys hanging, right? So let's find us some Demon Aliens!"

Challah began reaching for the scroll that would take them to the time period in question, eyes sparkling. Hopefully these time-invaders would prove a fun, unique challenge...

There was little fanfare involved by now in traveling through time, and the group soon stepped out to the edge of a small village. The time travelers were immediately struck by how quiet the place seemed, without signs of people going about the streets. A thin mist lingered in the air of the village.

"... Be careful, everyone," Trunks said as a hand wandered to the grip of his sword while he took a few steps forward to look around the place. One thing to note about the village was the proliferation of unusual plant life which bore strange-looking fruits.

The young brown-haired Saiyan girl instinctively clenched her fists as she looked around. Pip had his arms crossed, and Bilt's arms remained relaxed at his side, though both were equally wary.

"What's with the fruit?" Challah asked, looking one over without touching it. "Huh... Wasn't there a Saiyan guy with a fruit-thing in one of the scrolls?"

"Indeed," Bilt replied. "Turles, captain of a pirate vessel. He sought to increase his power by planting an enormous tree to drain a planet's life energy, and consuming the resulting fruit, known as the Fruit of Might."

"Doesn't sound like the guy that did this, then," said Pip. "Besides, I don't think he knows how to time-hop."

"Prolly shouldn't eat it, in any case. Darn," said Challah, cursing her perpetually-hungry Saiyan biology. "Well, should we get to cutting, Trunks?"

"Yes, let's make sure not to leave any trace of these things," Trunks said as he started by chopping off the ones close to the village, "I have a feeling it would be best to burn them, but be careful not to cause any damage to the village."

"Aside from Bilt, I think it would be a good idea not to touch any of the fruits," the half-Saiyan added as he aimed and shot thinner ki blasts to aim at the fruits, getting them to burn as he chopped the alien-looking foliage to the ground. He then aimed at the roots, burning those away as cleanly as possible.

Deeper in the forest nearby, it felt like there were eyes staring at the group in a hostile manner as they slowly cleared the invasive plants from the village.

The Time Patrollers began clearing the strange plants as well, carefully applying controlled bursts of ki at the roots and burning the rest, before stamping out the fire and moving on to the next plant. Pip, however, kept stopping short and looking around. Challah eventually noticed and spoke up.

"What's up, Pip?"

"Do you guys hear anything...?" Pip asked.

Challah tilted her head with her hand to one ear for a moment before replying, "Mmmm, no. What do you hear?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing when Pip asked about hearing anything. At first there was silence, but then they could hear things approach their position. Seven... eight creatures soon appear from the forest, chittering aggressively as they approached.



"Here they come!" Trunks exclaimed as he drew his sword from its sheath, parrying aside incoming blows and sending one of them to the floor with ease. Challah could easily tell these creatures wouldn't pose much of a threat against them even if they were outnumbered.

Looking at the Demon Aliens--at least, that's what she assumed they were--and having deduced their strength levels, Challah couldn't help but feel just a little... disappointed. Sure, they looked cool, but didn't seem very tough.

They'll work as a warmup, at least, she thought.

"Hello, Demon Aliens!" the Saiyan exclaimed, aiming her palms at the monsters. "I'm here to kick your butts. Hold still, please!"

Moving some of her pent-up ki energy to her hands, she formed a small yellow orb in the center of her palms, then alternately cocked her arms back and thrust them forward one at a time, resulting in a rapid barrage of small explosions aimed at a few of the monsters!

Pip and Bilt were doing work, as well: The Namekian was using his extensive reach to pinpoint-strike the Demon Aliens in vulnerable-looking areas, while the Android delivered powerful punches and kicks.

Despite their disappointing combat capabilities, their durability and persistence could be applauded. The creatures managed to get back on their feet despite having been shot at, beaten, and blasted. They seemed to display some degree of intelligence too, as some have started backing up and retreating into the changed forest for safety. One however stumbled close to a patch of vegetation bearing the unusual fruits. It grasped for one of the fruits hanging about and started eating greedily like a giant caterpillar.

A strange glow formed around the Demon Alien as its outer body split open, revealing a bat-like creature flying out. The bat Demon Alien took to the air, quickly diving a few times in swift hit-and-run to attack Challah and her teammates using sound-based blasts.

"!! They can transform after eating the fruits?" Trunks exclaimed as he moved to find cover amidst the small houses present, taking caution against their aerial foe.

"ARGH!"

Pip hollered in pain while holding his hands against either side of his head, green blood seeping between his fingers after the loud, piercing noises from the creature hurt his sensitive hearing. Challah ended up taking a hit while distracted by him. She slammed back-first into the ground, leaving a dust cloud and a small crater, but she bounced back up and began hovering in the air, looking thoroughly pissed.

"Okay, that's it!" she shouted. "Nobody makes my friends bleed blood!!!"

BWAM! With a grunt of pure effort, Challah's ki levels began rising drastically, then she suddenly brought both hands behind her, cupping a glowing cyan ball that began rapidly growing!

"Kaaa-meeeeh..."

"Mister Trunks," Bilt said, with an almost disconcerting level of calm, "I'd recommend leaving the creatures in Challah's care so you and I can focus on getting rid of the remaining plants! We should prevent the rest of them from transforming, as well!"

"Haaaaaa-meeeeee...!"

The Demon Alien simply fired wildly at Challah's position, clearly distracted by whatever the Saiyan was trying to do. Taking this moment, Trunks agreed with the metallic android to pursue the others and stop the others from getting the chance to transform. Trunks lead the way ahead, letting Bilt follow close behind as they move in to the forest.

Challah cursed as the Demon Alien began blasting and quickly abandoned her charge-up. She took a glancing blow from the first few shots, causing her ears to ring, but flew low to the ground to avoid the next volley and get behind the monster.

"Dammit! I'm gettin' really sick of you!" she hollered, stopping for a scant moment. She held her right hand over her head, a small ball of yellow light rising from her palm and quickly expanding into a flat, spinning disk, and quickly threw it at the creature.

"KIENZAN!"

The Demon Alien was confident in being able to avoid the incoming disc, only to find itself unable to fly away as one leg was held fast by an extended arm coming from Pip.

"Just where do you think you're going!?" Pip exclaimed as he held fast, with one arm still covering one ear. Unable to pull free, the Demon Alien was sliced in half and fell to the ground gurgling briefly before drawing its last gasp.

"Tsk! These things are more trouble than they're worth!" the Namekian added as he got back up to his feet. He was clearly pissed about this outcome against some small fry, but was nevertheless fine.

"Whew! Thanks, Pip! You okay?" Challah asked. Before he could reply, though, a few remaining non-transformed creatures began charging at the Namekian from behind.

"Look out!" Challah dove from the air, fists-first toward the creatures like a living spear. She made sure to put more power into it than her first volley; she didn't like splitting the party.

The remaining Demon Aliens realized they were no match against Challah and Pip, retreating for the forest like a pack of wild animals on a failed hunt.

"I could have handled that one," Pip said, feeling that Challah was going a bit overboard with watching his back, "Let's just get to Trunks and Bilt, see if we can catch up with them."

"Alright," the Saiyan replied, tail twitching. "Hopefully they managed to get the fruit before any more of the Demon Aliens did."

The pair took off sprinting in the direction they sensed Trunks was (they couldn't sense Bilt, since he was an Android). If nothing else, today was proving to be interesting. Challah couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if one of the monsters had eaten two fruits, or if one of the Patrollers had. Not that she had any plans to let either of those things happen, of course.

Challah and Pip would find their way quite deep into the forest, where the place started to look more and more alien with the amount of unusual plant life occupying the place. The two Patrollers would hear sounds of combat further ahead, followed by a loud explosion. Hurrying forward, they would find Bilt leaning against a tree to their left. The android was missing its right arm and leg, visibly cut off by a bladed weapon.

Trunks could be seen looking ahead in front of them, already assuming a Super Saiyan form and slightly out of breath after what looked like a clash. Further at a distance before them stood a Demon Alien of crimson hue, possessing armorlike plates on his body, horns on the back of his shoulders, and a large sword.

The figure began to speak in a completely incomprehensible tongue that Challah has not recognized before. Whatever he was saying, it sounded like he was looking down on Trunks in a condescending manner.

Though loathe to admit it, Challah couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy upon seeing Trunks' now-golden hair standing on end. Super Saiyan seemed so easy for everyone else, yet it constantly eluded her...

Well, if nothing else, Challah had her answer about the multiple fruits thing. In any case, Trunks clearly needed assistance, and the Demon Alien would need to be taken out before they could help Bilt. Challah and Pip both dropped into the appropriate stance, hands cupped behind their backs, a familiar cyan ball of energy forming between them.

"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!"

Both warriors thrust their hands forward in unison, the twin beams merging mid-flight as it speared toward the sword-wielding monster.

"Shyufonboryamu!" the crimson Demon Alien exclaimed partly in disappointment as he brought his blade up to catch the combined attack unleashed by Challah and Pip, before sending it back as a focused blast directed on the ground between them. The explosion was much stronger, with the shockwave throwing both warrior off their feet.

Trunks took this moment to charge forward once again, managing to pin his sword against their foe's weapon and limit his movements. Bilt caught on to what Trunks was thinking, and fired laser beams from his eyes at the crimson Demon Alien.

Challah's fiery Saiyan blood began pumping faster. Maybe the Demon Aliens weren't total chumps after all. She silently wondered if she could get in a one-on-one bout with this thing.

She knew she had a job that needed doing, but she could always hope.

"Pip!" she called to the Namekian, "You circle left, I'll go right! We'll smash its head! Ready, GO!"

Trunks has managed to leap away just at the same moment that Bilt's beams made contact with the Demon Alien, causing an explosion as the sword-wielding Super Saiyan joined his teammates to rush forward and deliver a three-front attack.

Before they could reach the spot where the crimson Demon Alien stood however, the strange plants suddenly moved to grab and pull them down to the ground. The smoke cleared to reveal the Demon Alien unharmed, and did not seem to be even exerting effort.

"Ah... Demushu... Were you bullying some lower life forms again?" a voice spoke from above among the trees, an emerald figure jumped down to land some distance away from the one called Demushu and casually strolled around to take a better look at Challah and the others, "I'm surprised you didn't wipe them right out upon meeting them!"

For reasons Challah couldn't fathom, none of the warriors present could break free from the plants. The young Saiyan felt her heartrate steadily increasing the more she struggled.

"That a challenge? Huh?!" she shouted at the newcomer, still pulling against the roots. "C'mere and say it to my face! Unless you're scared of the little girl with a tail! C'mon, I dares ya! Let me go and fight me like a... whatever the crap you are! You won't! You won't do it! C'MON!"

"I think they get the idea, Challah," Pip said calmly.

"My, Demushu... Looks like you have a particularly noisy monkey in your grasp," the emerald Demon Alien remarked as it got closer, "Unfortunately pathetic and noisy animals like you are of little interest to me... "

"Redyue... What business do you have here, interrupting me?" the one called Demushu asked as he motioned a free hand to drag Challah off the ground and position her before him, "The use of this language is repulsive, but it will have to suffice as you could not comprehend ours..."

"As such, your kind will be wiped out by my hand... Seeing as you are unworthy of the power that lies in wait within the Forest," Demushu added as he raised his blade close against Challah's neck, lightly grazing against her skin, "You are nothing more but food for me to become the next supreme being."

Challah grinned a dangerous, toothy grin. She had to keep herself from chuckling, lest she accidentally cut herself on Demushu's blade. Her Saiyan blood boiled.

"I just learned a cool thing a few days ago," she said softly. "Wanna see it? It's really cool. I'd stand back if I were you, though."

She began pulling harder and harder against the roots than ever before as her skin began to flash red, her hair whipping about as if in a breeze. Her power level raised exponentially as her blood vessels began showing through her skin. Dust and pebbles began flying away from her.

"KAIO-KEN!"

The sudden burst of energy Challah released was strong enough to tear the plants that once held her down. Even Demushu was pushed back by some distance from the amount of power Challah started releasing, bracing himself shortly afterwards.

"Well, the King is calling us for a meeting, but I think you should first handle that monkey first," Redyue said in a mildly amused tone upon seeing Challah suddenly display an increased amount of power.

"Waste of time... Fine!" Demushu hollered as energy started gathering from his surroundings and amass to his body. A dark purplish aura emanated from his person as he started to float from the ground, amassing the energy into a sphere before him.

"Oh, don't worry," the monkey taunted, "this won't take long. Think fast, jerk!"

The glowing-red girl began circling around Demushu, throwing one razor-sharp Kienzan after another as she moved to avoid the big purple ball, five gold discs in total flying in a wide arch to hit the monster in the sides.

"Pizza time!"

"Child's play...!" Demushu exclaimed loudly as he raised the purple sphere of energy over his head, which suddenly grew in size. Challah and the others could feel an incredible pull of gravity from it, and rocks and other loose objects were pulled up into the sphere. Even the energy discs were sucked into the massive sphere, deviating from their path of slicing the Demon Alien to shreds, "Overwhelming might is all that counts!!!"

With that, Demushu floated up into the air and swung the massive sphere down towards the other Patrollers who were still held down by the alien plants.

"NO!"

Challah reversed course as hard as she could, halting in the path of the black-hole-thing with her palms raised to catch it. Pushing and pulling simultaneously, trying to keep the thing from moving but also from swallowing her, drained her energy extremely fast, but there was no way she was letting this monster kill her or her friends that easily.

Grunting from the effort, she managed to shout, "Kaioken times THREE! ... urgh... TIMES FOUR! Nrggh! Just give up already! TIMES FIVE!"

The girl could feel her strength reserves running out, but she kept pushing as hard as she could...

"Feel regret of having to cross paths with me in your final moments," Demushu said with disgust as he then clenched his fist firmly. The energy sphere suddenly felt incredibly heavy, seemingly burning Challah's palms as it pressed down on her no matter how much strength she was using to push against it.

An explosion followed, with a blast of incredible magnitude that Challah could not even hear what they were saying as they called out to her. Their worried faces were the last thing she saw before her vision was robbed by an encroaching darkness.

.

..

...

Challah could swear she was falling for a long time in the cold darkness. This was different from how she knew death - since it involved waking in Hell and lining up to meet Enma among other things (according to Goku and the others). She lost track of time in her fall, unable to even muster the strength to move. The last thing she could notice in the darkness was a young man managing to slow and arrest her fall before finally losing consciousness.

...

..

.

A mild warmth could be felt in her surroundings when Challah finally came to. Her body still felt sore, but any trace of fatigue has already long vanished from her body. Near the fire was a man in his 20s, garbed in what looks like an old warrior or swordsman of sorts.

"Ah, I take it you have recovered young one?" the man asked when he noticed Challah finally stir back to consciousness.

Challah bolted upright, then immediately regretted it as she clutched her stomach muscles. "Oww."

Still, she held her arms in a defensive position between her and the stranger. "Who the heck--ow--are you? And where am I? Where's my friends?! ... ow."

"I have been called many names, but I guess Night will suffice," the man replied as he procured what looked like roasted fish by the fire, "As for where we are, you could say we are literally in nowhere at all."

"As for your friends, worry not," the man added as he handed a stick to the Saiyan, "They have managed to return to their time relatively unharmed. Your loss however weighs heavy in their hearts."

"M-my loss...? But... but if I'm..."

Challah got to her unsteady feet, still wincing as she looked around. "This isn't... No. I've been dead before. This isn't King Yemma's place. I'm not dead, I was... transposed someplace. You're lying."

She pointed angrily at the being calling himself "Night". "You're lying! Tell me where I am and how to get back right now! Tell me why I can't sense any ki! Tell me or I'll kick you so hard you'll see the curvature of the earth!"

"Indeed, normally you will find yourself in the afterlife of your world when you die," Night simply replied as he faced Challah's direction, with the Saiyan noticing that the young man has his eyes closed all this time, "But there were outsiders to your world involved, and your death has forcefully ejected you from your world."

Night then let go of the roast fish on a stick he was supposed to be giving to Challah. The stick remained in place suspended in the air as the unusual man went about his business of cleaning up the campfire before him.

"Then send me back!" Challah shouted, grabbing the floating stick out of the air. "Contact one of the Gods of Destruction to help! I have people counting on me back home! There's things I need to do, timelines I gotta fix! I can't be here!"

Her voice cracked in the middle of the last sentence, tears forming in the corners of her big brown eyes.

"And will that solve the problem that was plaguing your world?" Night responded after a short pause, standing up to fully look to the desperate Saiyan, "Even if you are able to achieve a power up after coming back to life in your world, would it suffice in defeating the things you have called... Demon Aliens?"
This message was last updated by the player at 06:12, Sun 10 June 2018.

Challah's tail slowly fell to the ground to curl around her feet. Her shoulders relaxed, arms rested at her sides. Her eyes closed.

Then opened again. She bit the fish on the stick, finishing the thing in two bites, then snapped the stick in half and threw the pieces to the ground.

"Get me some weights," she said softly. "The heaviest things you can find. Or something strong to fight. Anything. I'm not giving up that easily."

"As much as I admire the determination your race possesses, I can't help but feel resigned to the level of recklessness your kind also have..." Night said as he then made a motion with his right hand for Challah to come at him, "Very well... Let me be your opponent for now. Let me gauge just how strong you are."

"If that's what it takes for me to get stronger, then fine," Challah said, cracking her knuckles.

She took a deep breath and lowered into a familiar fighting stance: Both knees bent, one in back with toes at a 90-degree angle to the side, forward toes 45-degrees. Left hand forward, pointer- and middle-fingers curled into a hook shape. Right hand drawn back to her side and in a tight fist, ready for a heavy strike.

The Saiyan opened with a swift chop using her forward hand...

Night gently swung the right arm to send Challah's chopping strike aside before taking a quick step back and resetting his right hand to wait before him. The young man simply nodded, as if expecting Challah to go ahead.

Challah couldn't help but feel she was being patronized. Feeling her anger flare again, she launched an uppercut toward Night's solar plexus with her back hand.

Night shifted his footing, allowing him to stand sideways and avoid Challah's uppercut from connecting to his gut. He then gave a light prod on the Saiyan's shoulder, with Challah feeling as if a typhoon suddenly blew her off her feet.

"Is this how your kind get stronger?" Night asked as he reset his stance, "Is there an end goal in mind for this sparring you wished for?"

Challah managed to use her ability to fly to her advantage by righting herself mid-air and skidding to a halt in a three-point stance.

"Yeah!" the Saiyan shouted. "I'm gonna get strong enough to beat that bug-thing that beat me, and I'm gonna get back to my own world! Even if I have to tear open a hole in space with my bare hands!"

She quickly launched herself forward again, firing a rapid series of punches at Night.

"I see..." Night said as his right hand seemed to move fluidly in front of him to parry aside Challah's fists that were directed his way, making it look like the very air around the unusual man was moving Challah's punches away from where he stood.

"And what if I tell you there is some way to get much stronger than what you are doing right now, as well as gather allies who could potentially fix the problem that has begun plaguing your world?" Night proposed while he continued to parry before taking a step back to force the Saiyan to reach for him.

Challah stopped short, eyes wide, tail twitching.

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?! Let's go!"

"I was under the benefit of the doubt that you had a solid plan..." Night replied with a shrug as he then began to float off the ground, "Follow me then - best not to wander too far from me, unless you'd rather have a fate being lost in the middle of nowhere..."

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Prologue chapter ended, to be continued...
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ooc: Challah may post in the Nexus thread from here on...