He floated down until his feet gingerly touched the ground.

Aubus stood with hands held behind his back, observing the area around them. It was dark here, far darker than the surrounding areas. It was what drew his notice in the first place. In the second place, he could not sense the myriad of mortal ki signatures in this place, though due to the dense population of houses and vehicles, there should have been plenty.

He sensed only one, and so that was where the Kai began his investigation.

His pale yellow gaze swept impassively up and down the length of the neighborhood streets. Not a living soul in sight, save for the trees and well-kept lawn. There was no sign of battle, not a modicum of the chaotic energy often left over from a powerful blast that could have wiped out the entire area. Everything was calm and quiet.

Quite strange, indeed.

Finally, as if he'd only just heard the man speak that he'd been standing behind for well over five minutes now, Aubus lifted his gaze to meet the human's eyes. Aubus considered ignoring the mortal, but then realized he might have some information pertaining to this weird phenomenon.

With a sigh, almost as if it were a chore, Aubus addressed him.

"Sneaking implies I had a reason to remain hidden, which I did not. You should consider knowing the purpose of an individual rather than relying your own base assumptions."

He blinked placidly, hardly a hint of emotion pervading his wooden demeanor.

"Would you happen to know what's going on here?"

word count: 268 | total: 268 | Marku

Aubus could tell he was a warrior. If not from the manner of his stiff gait as he walked, then certainly from the offensive stance he assumed. It was a familiar martial style, perhaps of the Crane School. Aubus had never visited the school himself, but he understood it produced some of Earth's finest warriors.

He did not take offense to the stance nor did he feel he was in any sort of danger. While this human boasted a considerable amount of ki, it wasn't malicious in any sense. If it had been, Aubus' line of questioning would have been far different.

"You are correct, mortal. I am Aubus, a former candidate for apprentice to the Supreme Kai. If that means anything to you."

Aubus began to float up into the air, until he and the human were at eye level. It was always disconcerting being so small in comparison to the myriad of beings he often encountered.

"It is shameful to admit, but I've never encountered such a situation before. What I do understand is that we have an obligation to discover the source of this incident. Lives may be at stake. Rest assured, if something foul is underfoot, we will get to the bottom of it. And deal with the culprits accordingly."

Holding out his open palm, a glowing orb of light appeared, brightening the area around them with the same effect as a powerful lantern. It's soft purple glow illuminated their surroundings.

"This should do. We shall begin our search here."

word count: 260 | total: 528 | Marku

He was facing a bit of a conundrum.

While he was a Kai, it was quite lawful to respect the dwelling abodes of the lower sentient creatures. Old habits died hard, and Aubus wasn't one to throw his weight around simply because he was a divine being. Mortals weren't to be viewed as obstacles or annoyances, regardless of his personal opinion.

They were like children, headstrong and foolish without the proper guidance of the Kai.

Hence, conundrum. A problem which was promptly resolved as Marku kicked open the door and entered the home unbidden. This allowed Aubus the moral freedom to enter the premises, since it wasn't himself who had in fact, broken in. He floated along behind his Earthling companion, idly observing the portraits that dotted the wall of the foyer. It was a small family of four—a husband and wife, along with a pair of twin girls. The girls were smiling and laughing.

A small portion of the peace he hoped to bring to the universe as a whole. One problem at a time.

As Aubus floated into the living, hands still held calmly behind his back, he caught the tail end of Marku's statement. "Explain to me what, exactly?" He glanced at the contraption before Marku. It seemed to work similar to the viewing orbs the Kais used. "Did you find something useful?"

word count: 236 | total: 764 | Marku

Aubus did not object when Marku stated he would check the noise upstairs. The Kai knew if there were any threat, the warrior would be more than adept at dealing with it. It pained him to admit it, even quietly unto himself, but Aubus had an inkling this Earthling was even stronger than himself. Not that he would make it obvious.

Instead, he continued to float before the glow of the laptop computer, studying the strange specimen upon the screen. It resembled some sort of putty-like substance, anything in its path covered in a thick, slimy goo. If possible, it was even more disgusting than a Majin, which were revolting in and of themselves. However, Aubus noted a particular detail. Only the humans it devoured were captured by the creature—everything else it slid over came out the other end relatively unharmed.

That meant the creature was selective. It was purposefully taking humans. But to what end? Aubus felt the strange tugging of familiarity at the rear of his mind, as if the creature evoked some distant memory buried in the annals of his thoughts. Where have I seen that specimen before? One thing was for certain. It was quite dangerous.

A loud explosion rocked the side of the house.

He skillfully deflected the bits of debris that flew at him, knocking aside chunks of brick and plaster with a swipe of his hand. As the dust settled, Aubus realized he could see the night sky, the glittering blanket of stars shining brightly above him. A gaping hole had been blown into the side of the house.

Standing just outside in the front yard was the very creature they had just witnessed on the security camera's feed. Only it had morphed into a humanoid shape.

Aubus calmly floated over, stopping just a couple of feet away from it.

"Strange... very strange. What are you, foul creature?"

Either it refused to answer Aubus' question, or it did not possess the capabilities of speech. It simply lifted a hand, charging a blast of powerful energy before igniting it.

A second, and by far more powerful explosion, rocked the house.


word count: 362 | total: 1,126 | Marku

Catching a kitten was a terrifying experience.

Aubus had no experience with the fauna of Earth. In truth, aside from recent times, he was still very much inexperienced in terms of what the blue and green continental planet truly offered. Breaking his cool facade of indifference, his eyes widened as his hands fumbled to catch the flailing critter whilst Marku dealt with the invader.

It had the comical effect of one fumbling an American football.

Eventually, both god and cat were secured, and the kitten purred its gratitude, curling into the crook of Aubus' elbow, bright yellow eyes round and curious as it observed the carnage around it. It was... strangely endearing.

"Perhaps... if we cannot reverse the misfortunes of your owners... I could find you a new place to live."

It was the least Aubus could do for such an endearing beast. But he needed to refocus. As he glanced up, he saw the wreckage across the street, and the scattering of debris as the creature erupted from within, its murderous intent almost tangible. It lunged for Marku, and that was when Aubus had had enough.

Calmly, he set the kitten down on the ground, watching as it scampered to safety beneath an overturned sofa. Then, he powered up, his purple aura flaring to life as he shot up from the ground with incredible speed, hurtling up into the air. Once a good mile or so from the ground, Aubus shifting his trajectory, plummeting back toward the ground. Just before the creature could reach Marku, Aubus slammed into it with great force, causing giant fissures to erupt all around them as the earth cracked and shifted beneath the force of the blow.

The resulting aftershocks shook the entire neighborhood, kicking up a large plume of dust and debris. Once all had settled, the creature was little more than bits and pieces of slimy goop. Aubus mopped them up, firing tiny beams of crackling energy from the tip of his index finger, zapping the pieces into nothingness.

"I'm afraid I was mistaken earlier," he calmly informed Marku, squashing the last bit of sentient goo firmly beneath his foot. "I remember now. I've seen this sort of entity before."

Replacing his fists behind his back, he met Marku's eyes with a cool glance.

"I must insist you abandon this quest. I should hate to see another mortal perish before my eyes. Perhaps I could handle this from here? It is as you mortals say... the point of no return."

word count: 418 | total: 1,534 | Marku

What an impressive power level.

It was difficult not to admire the resolve of the mortal. Even more so, it seemed Marku lived up to the reputation of the Crane School. Aubus could only grin as he powered up and took to the skies, dispatching of the slime creatures, raining down death upon them.

A pupil of the legendary Z-warrior, Tienshinhan... he must be proud.

Despite the chaos of the scene, Aubus calmly floated up until he met Marku in the air. Hovering just a bit over his shoulder, one glance told Aubus his help would not be needed. Marku was handling the problem with extreme efficiency. His energy was better spent educating the mortal. If he were going to insist on pursuing this lead, he should at least know what awaited them at the end.

"As I mentioned before, I have encountered this entity before. It was well over fifty years ago, when I still studied under my master. We made a trip to Earth to observe a few of its inhabitants and came across this... pestilence."

One of the creatures fired a blast of crackling ki at them. Aubus deflected it skillfully, and resumed his conversation.

"It is sentient, sure, but no more intelligence than, say, a stone. It receives its order telepathically, and moves accordingly. While this is the face of the threat, it certainly is not its source. Would you be so kind as to not completely obliterate all of them? I should like a sample for further analysis. Perhaps I can discover its ki signature, and the culprit behind it."


word count: 411 | total: 1,945 | Marku

The blow from Marku's fist as it shot forth like a cannon drilled into the pliable, gel-like substance of the creature's head. It made a strange squelching noise, at once immaterial and solid as its massive frame was lifted from the ground and thrown headlong into a parked van. The windows exploded in a shower of sparkling glass shards, the metal crunching like aluminum beneath its crushing weight.

It roared in protest as it wrenched itself free, metal screeching as it shredded from the creature's serrated nails, taking out its frustration on the van before charging at the Earthling once more.

Aubus grinned, his eyes alight with amusement as he watched Marku split into three copies of himself and engage the fiend. Though he wasn't able to observe the melee for long.

A dark fluid began pouring from the wrecked van, pooling outward from beneath the mass of crunched steel. An errant flame licked at its edges. If it were to catch flame, Aubus understood even more damage could be done to this residential area. He raised a pale hand and flicked his wrist, sending a cold snatch of frosty air to douse the flames, causing a thin layer of ice to form over the encroaching puddle. That would keep the van from exploding, and catching anyone unawares in its harmful radius.

Now to assist with the problem at hand.

His hair and clothing stirred as Aubus flickered from view, only to reappear behind the struggling creature where two of Marku's clones held it firmly in place. Hearing the warrior's warning, Aubus ducked behind the creature, using it to shield his eyes from the blinding light that filled the street. Even through shut eyes, the brightness was uncomfortable. Aubus could only imagine the painful restricting of the creature's pupils as it caught the flash full force in the retinas.

It worked as intended, and for a brief moment, it stopped struggling—shaking its head as if to clear the pain. Aubus would not allow it to recover, however. His crimson eyes narrowed with concentration as a large ball of energy began to grow and flourish in his outstretched palm. It pulsed and ebbed with swirling purple energy.

Aubus lifted his free hand, concentrating as purple aura coated it, the shifting energy giving it an undulating, serrated edge. Hardening the aura so as to make it sharper than any sword, Aubus sliced a diagonal wound from its hip to its shoulder, creating a gaping, oozing wound of pink ooze. It was oddly odorless, though no less disgusting.

Begone, foul creature.

Aubus thrusted the ball of energy deep into the crevice of the creature's wound. He leaped up onto the creature's shoulders and propelled himself forward, somersaulting through the air before landing with grace next to Marku.

"Though we may strike it, our physical attacks and energy blasts are useless against its gel-like structure and regenerative abilities. So, I tried a different tactic. Point is... you might want to clear the area."

With that said, Aubus made it a point to vanish—only to reappear several meters away, taking refuge behind another overturned vehicle. The resulting explosion was going to be, however unfortunate, necessary.

With a snap of his fingers, Aubus ignited the chaotic energy he'd shoved into the foul fiend's back. It would be blown to bits, or so the Shinjin could only hope.

word count: 569 | total: 2,514 | Marku

"C'mon, c'mon! Hurry it up!"

The pirate bellowed, brandishing a large fist. He thrust out a foot, nailing one of the human captives in the rear—a teenage girl. She fell to the ground, choking back a sob. A man, clearly her father, seemed defeated as he bent and helped her up to her feet, her dark hair snagging at the dry grass beneath their feet.

They, much like everyone else in the swaying, single-file line being marched into the back of the pirate's freighter ship were coated in a sticky, goo substance—the same foul, odorless putty that made up the creatures which had ambushed them in their homes and neighborhoods.

"I said hurry it up! Getting a bonus to bring you back to Doc alive. But that's optional."

He was a tall Heran with dark blue skin. Upon his head he wore a grey bandanna, his deep brow half hidden and casting a shadow around his eyes that made him seem even more menacing. His compatriots, also jostling and taunting the humans, were xenos of various species. All of them were big, burly and mean.

All of them up to no good at all.

---

Following Marku, Aubus could also detect several powerful ki signatures. None were significant. That is to say, none surpassed himself and Marku. It would be a simple matter to detain them. But they couldn't risk the humans that were taken from becoming hostages, or worse, collateral damage.

Coming over a large hill, they finally spotted the caravan of one large freighter and a few smaller Arcosian battle pods, arranged in a semi-circle.

Aubus slowed his speed to a crawl, frowning at the scene below him.

"How do you suggest we approach?" he inquired of Marku.

word count: 298 | total: 2,812 | Marku