[IC] Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

[Mogtaki]

Shu kept a tight hold on Takeshi, wobbling around a little as he tried to balance as his tail swung around. The future was certainly feeling like a confusing place right now, he didn’t know what was going to happen next or whether it was going to go as well as it did with the woman. Keeping a hold of Takeshi as he was bounced around, he squealed a little before giving Takeshi a tug again, “You got some so I have nobody to share with!” Looking to Takeshi, he tilted his head slightly as he talked about the plans with T’charrl, giving a little smile to try and encourage himself, “I think he really can, I don’t think he couldn’t at least try”, he nodded, looking behind, “Hopefully his mother won’t be mad, I don’t think she liked the thought of T’charrl using his abilities at all. I wonder if there’s other people here who can do that sort of thing, or even what it is…”

Viral was pretty angry at himself and Vegeta, he couldn’t shake it off quite that easily when it was mainly his fault that there were problems and Vegeta being annoying when he had no idea how he was supposed to deal with it all. He didn’t know how unstable he actually was, he could easily end up going crazy again even when his cells were finally repaired and that made him worry. If he had done this all before, there was no stopping it from happening again. Upon arriving back at the house, Viral came to a stop and let Vegeta wander on towards the house, the smell of food just making him feel quite sick. The flashbacks were getting a bit too much, to feel ill when the smell of delicious food in the air just continued to spell trouble. Letting out a groan he turned back to the forest, keeping to the edge as he leaned against a tree.

Kai felt a little confused nonetheless, shrugging a little when Yumi spoke to him before his attention went to what they were making. It was rather odd stuff, but it was hardly food he needed to feel concerned about when he was much more curious about whether he would enjoy it as much as before. Letting out a sigh, he turned to look at Vegeta coming in, almost worried that it was actually Takeshi instead. He would have to prepare himself for that, hopefully it would go right and he won’t go mental over him asking about his relationship with his brother. Looking to Yumi when she spoke of Choi, Choi also turned around and smiled nervously with Kai catching onto this rather quickly. It seemed Choi was an easy target for affection, there didn’t quite seem to be anything going on between those two but Kai still had to be cautious just incase he was missing something.

[GambolMuse]

"Maybe when we get back to Earth you can do that, but not now, and not on this world." Vegeta said, earning a disappointed pout from Yumi. "We need to keep moving, and the boys should be nearly done with their work. As soon as that's out of the way we ought to get the parents to safety and head out." Reason for concern had sprouted up not a moment ago as a pertinent fact dawned on Vegeta. Frowning to himself he looked at the twins then Kabocha curiously, hoping they had the answers he was seeking. "I never thought to ask this before... But how did you three find us? We certainly weren't followed to this planet, I know that."

Kabocha returned a curious look when asked how they'd found the group. At first he could't fathom the reason behind the question, though recalling the mission they'd been sent on it quickly became clear. "Oh! We followed the tracking chip in Yumi, that's how! Until we actually entered the orbit anyways, then our instruments went haywire." Vegeta bore an annoyed look and Yumi a nervous one. Evidently it had never been covered that she had such a thing in her, though come to think of it hadn't Shu and Viral at some point as well? Kabocha thought all experiments were given one to keep tabs on their progress. "With the energy storms on this world the signal is iffy, so if you're worried about being found the chances aren't very good."

"You found us though," Vegeta pointed out, sighing as he rubbed his forehead. "And I would imagine that someone could find her again. I'm an idiot, I should have thought of this sooner, it would make sense..." Takeshi's old squad wasn't exactly weak, but in comparison to some of the other Saiyans out there they were a cakewalk. If someone stonger should come to Kaesstra, or gods forbid even the king, then there'd be no means of helping themselves most likely. Yumi met his gaze as he looked over, her expression one of understanding and uneasiness. "You know we're going to have to remove that... Right? As soon as possible. We can't risk being followed by the Saiyans, not while we're on innocent worlds."

Takeshi could only smile thoughtfully and shrug a bit in reply to Shu's questions. What T'charrl could do was strange to them and evidently to the Kaesstrians as well. If anyone else could do it, which wasn't completely out of the question, then it was a very well kept secret. It was a mystery precisely what it did or how it worked still, which gave the Queen every right to be hesitant about allowing its use. If it could save his squad's families though then they'd have to make use of it whether Eslaria liked it or not. "She has to let us... I can't think of any other way to save the parents..." Takeshi mumbled, sighing. "If we really have to then maybe we can get a hold of Goku, though last time Dende helped us, and since he's not here I have no clue what to do."

"Know what though? It'll work out," Takeshi continued, smiling again. "Things usually do for us one way or another. I bet there are other ways we could save their families, though flying there ourselves is definitely not one of them..." On a random transition of thought he wondered just what the rebels were doing right about now. It had only been a few days since they'd seen anyone, but with a big victory like they'd had no doubt momentum was on their side. Knowing Korian and his passion for stopping the king there were probably more attacks planned, if not going on right now. Hopefully it was going well, as it'd really be sad to see someone get hurt, even if relationships were strained right now. Walking through the city and into more dense commercial areas gave Takeshi a rather disdainful reminder; noise was an awful thing. Kaesstrians were bustling about, and unlike before a good few were flying overhead, their wings giving off a soft droning noise. Grimacing at all of the sound he tried to block it out, grumbling softly. "Man... Why can't we ever go somewhere quiet...?"

[Mogtaki]

The twins made glances between Yumi, Vegeta and Kabocha as everything was discussed, the pair standing beside each other and looking fairly mellow. If it wasn’t for Choi having prepared the food and looking slightly messy, the pair would be indistinguishable to each other. It was true that they had used Yumi’s chip to get here, but it wasn’t as if they had some help along the way with power levels being raised and finding the Beastman all out on his own. It was certainly a great deal of luck they had at that point, but there was still a variety of questions that they could probably ask right now while the food was cooking, “We might want to get our pods back too…unless they can’t fit on your spaceship”, Choi spoke up, pointing behind him, “If the aliens found them, they might just blow up; otherwise the most that can be done would be to send them out into space with some coordinates”.

Kai didn’t really like the sound of sending the ships back to the King, seeing as how they might just be used on some other mission and giving the King spare ships incase he needed to launch a full on attack with all of them. Scratching his head he looked towards the window, letting out a sigh, “Where do you guys even plan on going after this place? I mean, once you get that chip removed”, he spoke, shrugging a little, “Along with the King having men everywhere and your Beastman wandering around with PTSD, I don’t have a clue where you’re going to find a place where you won’t find trouble or where he would end up getting you all into trouble”.

Shu still felt a little sad that they’d have to leave so soon, anywhere with fruit was always a bountiful and pleasant planet for him to be on. He was a little sad that the others didn’t like fruit as much as he did. Letting out a sigh, he nodded a little, looking around as their scenery continued to change, “I have faith in him, he can at least try too”, he said quickly, staring up into the sky as he watched the aliens fly around, “I just hope that Mister Goku will be able to do what he does…and even then, what do we do with the parents? I mean…do they come on the ship with us or do we ask him to send them to Earth…but then what? Where on Earth? How will they know what’s happening and where to go…? What if they get really mad? Or scared? It’s a scary thought, you know…”

[GambolMuse]

"They're going to have to trust us, that's all. We'll think of somewhere to bring them, right now I don't know where that is though." If they sent the parents right to Earth then there'd be room for a lot of difficulties. No one there could help them adapt, unless they got in touch with someone like Corgan or Kamina. The only issues there then were having to contact them and expect whoever it was to remain in a new spot indefinitely. Letting his head hang and sighing softly Takeshi wondered if they should just come aboard the ship and travel with them for now. It was big enough... Sort of. "I know it's not a perfect plan Shu, but what else can we do? Neither of us know anything else, and besides the twins and Kabocha we've spent the most time out here in space. Plus... I kind of feel like it's our job and responsibility to keep these people safe..."

As much as he loathed to admit it Kai was right. Considering who was with them the chances of getting anywhere peaceful was slim to none. "I've got no idea honestly. We sort of left the rebels in a hurry and came here, I guess we haven't made much of a plan beyond this yet." There'd been a fair bit of events since landing on Kaesstra, as such they'd been more focused on the here and now than anything else. "PTSD...? You think that's what's wrong with him...?" It was embarrassing to admit, but as far as that went Vegeta was moderately clueless on the subject. Fact of the matter was that in his position in life he'd never needed to learn precisely what it was, though he generally was aware of it. How to deal with it was another thing entirely, and if that was the case then maybe they finally had a name for what was plaguing Viral. "Hang on, backtrack for a second. Do you know of any ways to help deal with PTSD?"

"Therapy is the only thing we know," Kabocha said, shrugging his shoulders. It seemed obvious to him as it did Kai, they'd never said anything since they knew everyone else knew what it was. Vegeta gave him a look as if not expecting anything helpful from Kabocha, to which in turn a small smirk was given. "We're not just mindless soldiers you know. The guy's moody, stressed and depressed, sounds perfectly like PTSD to me. Even the king was aware of the problem and tried to deal with it, since in his eyes a mentally weak soldier was useless. There's no surefire solution, but therapy is your best bet."

"None of us are therapists though. How do you expect any of us to help him when we wouldn't even know where to begin?" Yumi wasn't thrilled with the diagnosis, it was beyond their helping. It was definitely an issue Viral would need assistance with, but when they were all utterly clueless on the matter they couldn't do a thing. "Maybe if we can get him back to Earth we can find someone to help..."

There was going to Earth again, a concept Kabocha still wasn't thrilled with. Seeing the concern for Viral's well being though and the clear cluelessness on how to handle it the Saiyan had a rare spark of sympathy for the others. "I can probably help him..." he mumbled, getting a skeptical look that made him flush light pink. "I know some of the stuff they use! I'm not a therapist, but I could try a few things anyways. And with how bad he is it's better we do something now than wait." The longer the issue persisted the harder it was to deal with, and the more danger it posed to the victim. "You could have Kai or Choi do it too, we're all familiar with it enough to know what we're talking about."

The walk to Ka'shras home was proving to not take too terribly long at all. Knowing the general direction of it at least the boys rather quickly found themselves in familiar territory. Their housing wasn't too far from where they were now, and while tempting that wasn't where they wanted to be. Instead Takeshi made it a point to turn towards the military headquarters, or in the general vicinity of it. Soon enough they'd be making their last stop of the day hopefully, albeit this one was looking to be the most difficult. A retired warmonger if he had to guess, not the most pleasant of people to talk to. "Do you want to sit outside while I'm talking to this guy?" Takeshi asked, giving Shu a smile over his shoulder, "It won't take long I don't think, and I don't expect him to be a nice guy. It might be for the best."

[Mogtaki]

Kai felt a little confused already, it sounded as if Vegeta didn’t actually know what the hell PTSD was and how to identify it. It was rather common with their soldiers who weren’t Saiyans, it even affected half-Saiyans too depending on their species so surely he would had been able to identify it pretty quickly. It was probably what the control chips did too, suppressing intense emotion like that was the easiest way to make the perfect soldier. Looking between them all as they discussed it, Kai and Choi glanced to each other before both reacted when Kabocha willingly volunteered to do something about Viral’s problems. That was quite the strange turn, definitely something they didn’t expect for one from someone like him, “Wait…you’re actually willingly wanting to? Thought you hated the guy”, he spoke, glancing to the window, “Will he even accept our help? He’s not the most forgiving guy, not to mention he looks like he might try and kill you if you got close to him.

Shu kept a hold of Takeshi, watching all the aliens fly around and go on with their day as if it was the very start of the morning. They were certainly active at all times of the day, but he did notice the colourful ones were always out during the day while the dark ones like at the city enjoyed the darkness and came out at night. He did wonder whether there was an underground city under this one too, that would had been fairly interesting to know about. By the time he had finished thinking about such things, they were soon at the place they needed to be with the worrying thoughts coming straight back to him again. Frowning a little, he squeaked when Takeshi suddenly spoke up, staring at him before he gave a little glance towards the house, “Stay outside…?” he repeated, thinking it over, “O-Okay…okay, I’ll stay outside. It will be good, right? Things will go okay…? Cause I hope so…”

[GambolMuse]

"We're going to need everyone we can get if we want to kick the king's butt, and that includes Viral... So yeah." Being accused of hating Viral all Kabocha could do in reply was shrug his shoulders. They were only hurting themselves by refusing to help, and when their own families depended on things working well here it just made sense to lend a hand. Shooting Kai a look at being questioned Kabocha smiled slightly. "He'll accept it if we explain it to him... I think... Besides, he probably wants to get better, even if he's not willing to admit it. So if one of us brings up the real problem don't you think he'd be at least a little interested?" Viral certainly wasn't the easiest individual to deal with, as pointed out, but it needed to be done. Besides, seeing him sulking around and being fawned over was already getting old fast. If one of them could fix it then just as well. "Why don't one of you twins go get him? Or would you rather I do it," he paused, grinning, "Just incase he snaps?"

Now actually being at Ka'shras home Takeshi was admittedly less than enthusiastic. Noting that Shu was beginning to fidget again though he sighed softly, deciding then and there to take it upon himself to speak to the man. "Yeah, just wait out here and everything will be fine." he repeated, easing his little brother down. It shouldn't be too hard to get things done hopefully, they only needed a bit more to go in order to get their man after all. "Go ahead and snack on some of your candies if you want, or even..." he paused, fishing out the ones given to him and setting them in Shu's hands. "Have mine, I didn't really like them anyways. Be right out buddy." Giving Shu's hair a routine ruffling Takeshi looked to the house before them, definitely smaller and less extravagant than Miss S'uma's had been. There were no guards either thankfully, so no unneeded scrutiny trying to get in. Exhaling the Saiyan made the walk up to the front door, pausing before actually knocking and waiting for a response. It took a few seconds, but soon enough someone came to answer.

The door was pulled back and opened, revealing behind it a fairly large Kaesstrian. His stature was pretty impressive, definitely up there with the largest they'd seen so far. Silver hair adorned his body, the bits on top cut back to a fine, brisk buzz. He was dressed in a very plain and somewhat raggy robe, securing around his waist by a strap. Definitely not what one might expect a general to look like, but the manner in which he carried himself definitely suggested military. Looking down at the boy with a curious stare Ka'shra cleared his throat, folding his hands behind his back. "You're that Saiyan boy that's been running around..." he grumbled, stating the obvious. Looking past Takeshi he spotted Shu, curious as to why he was all the way out there. "What do you want boy? I'm not exactly open to visitors, so you'd best have a good reason for coming here."

Takeshi felt a little imposed by this man, probably his large size. Nonetheless he stood as he was, having to crane his neck a bit to look face to face with Ka'shra. "We came here to give some news, and I was hoping to talk to you a little bit." he explained, "And I was hoping to talk to an experienced soldier while we were here. I'm part of the Saiyan military myself, and I'm really curious to see how you people operate here." S'uma had rather easily given into flattery and compliments, but it was looking as though Ka'shra wasn't quite as gullible. He continued to give Takeshi a cold stare, making the boy fidget in place.

"So you came here for a chat, that's it...? And the news had better be about progress in the war, otherwise you're going to be made to regret bothering me." Sighing heavily Ka'shra stepped to the side of the door, waving Takeshi in with no small reluctance. "I suppose I had best hear you out though before I send you off. Just be quick about it, I've got things to do today boy."

[Mogtaki]

Kai looked fair doubtful that it was going to work, the whole thought of talking to Viral just made him feel nervous considering if they said the wrong thing, the guy was probably going to end up running off again. Looking between Choi and Kabocha, he tried to place his finger on the situation just to what was the best way to approach this and how it might work out, “I don’t suppose you have any idea how to treat somebody with it, because Choi and I weren’t exactly trained in therapy because we were never expected to be team leaders. It’s very risky either way, the guy’s unstable and still part animal. He’d probably claw your face off before wanting to talk to you”.

Choi looked fairly mixed in response towards this whole problem, especially when they didn’t know how to deal with the problem itself. Feeling fairly confused by it all, he looked between the two before giving a glance to Yumi and Vegeta, “Why not Yumi or Vegeta get him? I thought Vegeta went to get Viral anyway, why is he not here?” It was fairly confusing, the guy coming back and acting like nothing had happened was pretty strange. He didn’t really want to go and get Viral, if his friends couldn’t bring him back then there probably wasn’t going to be much that would be able to get him to come to the house, “I don’t think one of us going there would help…unless Kabocha and Vegeta went with Kabocha apologising for making Viral angry and dragging him further away from the house”.

Shu tip-toed down onto the ground when he was put down, pulling down his top a little before he looked up at Takeshi. He would wait patiently for Takeshi to hurry on in and see what’s going on, he really didn’t want to go and see this guy when the other woman was probably the tamest out of the pair. Staring at Takeshi, he took hold of his sweets, looking a little disappointed that he didn’t actually like them, “Really…? O-Okay, I’ll keep them”, he nodded, lowering his head when his hair was ruffled before Takeshi went on to the house.

He felt quite alone once Takeshi was away from him, his eyes shifting to the house all the time but also into the sky just incase guards would drop out of the sky and tell him to back off. He’d probably get lost if he had to go on his own elsewhere, he didn’t know this place at all. Slowly sitting down, he waited for Takeshi to come back, giving himself a scratch every so often either out of nervousness or being plain itchy. He’d keep the sweets for now, he didn’t want to eat them all at once. It felt like Takeshi had been talking to the guy all day, his eyes still looking to the door while they talked and away again so he didn’t look too nosey. Pressing his fingers together, he soon decided to take one of the sweets and eat it, sucking at it to calm his nerves.

[GambolMuse]

"Treat somebody...? Do I look like a therapist to you?" Kabocha sighed and rubbed at his forehead, wondering just how he was going to pull this off. Viral wasn't listening to his friends, why would he then listen to the punk that had just been fighting with him? "But at least we're familiar with PTSD, so it makes sense for one of us to be the ones to go. And I'm going out on a limb here, but it's probably best I go anyways. At the very least I'll get his attention so he'll listen to me." There was a fair bit needed to know in order to really do anything though. As they all knew PTSD was caused by some nasty events, something that really left a mark on you. I know it's got to have something to do with what was done to him, but what exactly?"

"Bring Yumi with you, Viral seems to be more inclined to talk around her than anyone else." Vegeta added, turning to look at his friend. "Make Kabocha apologize if you have to, then try to get him to say something that'll help us. We can't keep dragging around trying to help him like this, we've got to figure out what is bothering him."

Having Kabocha along for the ride didn't seem like a good idea at all, he butted heads just too much with Viral. An apology from the kid though was definitely needed, and maybe it would get the Beastman in a little better spirits. "All right... But don't expect any miracles from us. I mean we've all already tried talking to him." Yumi reached out and snagged Kabocha by his collar, starting to near drag him towards the back door despite protests of being handled like that. Once outside she honored his complaints and let him go, stepping back and looking up at the roof. "Viral? Are you up there? I want to talk, come down please!"

Ka'shra led Takeshi right into his home, through a cluttered dining room and into a den. Leaning over and plucking a stack of sheets off of one chair he dropped it onto a small end table gesturing for the boy to sit down. "Now what are these news that you've got to share with me?"

"Right! Well we went to visit Katas earlier, and before we left he asked us to run some errands for him. One of them was to stop by here and ask if you could go to his office. He's got something he wanted to share with you I think."

"Share with me...? Why is that nutjob asking for me? I'm retired, I've got no stake to any of his business and I scarcely know the man." That was a terribly curious request, Ka'shra couldn't fathom a reason for it.

Takeshi had to take a pause for a moment as he thought that over, trying to bide time for an answer. "It's some military tech I think, something he's hoping to give to the troops," the Saiyan answered, shrugging his shoulders. "He didn't say why, but I'd guess he wants a veterans opinion about it. Maybe to see how you think it'd be used?"
"That's nothing he couldn't ask the general for, no reason to ask for me. This entire request is a waste of my time." Ka'shra was about to dismiss the Saiyan until he spoke up rather hastily.

"He doesn't want the general knowing about it!" Takeshi said a bit panicked, biting his lip nervously as he was scrutinized for that. "W-Well... He said that it's a prototype and... If it fails he's worried about being in trouble for wasting resources. So uh... He figured asking you first was safer, since you're not in charge of him." Crap, there was nothing to hold over this guy like there was in the case of S'uma. Now he was stuck blowing it out of his rear trying to come up with something convincing.

[Mogtaki]

Choi gave a little shrug, a tiny smile on his face before he turned back to the cooker. At least Kabocha was being mature about all of this, even if it involved a rather testy character to work with. Choi could guess it was the experimenting he went through that caused such bad effects, the guy seemed to be a warrior at heart if he got upset over looking weak against Kabocha; then again, he didn’t know whether anything else happened during the time Takeshi left them. He kind of wondered whether the kid had PTSD too, but he hadn’t seen any signs of it that he was familiar with so it was a fairly questionable thing right now, “We’ll just watch over the food, it won’t burn under our watch so don’t worry about it! Just go help your friend before he runs off, or something”.

Viral was keeping his distance from the house, fair on the verge of retreating back into the forest just to stop him from feeling sick. He could always go back when they weren’t cooking, but he was fair contemplating on that too when the Saiyans were all there still. Sitting in the shrubs beside the trunk of a tree, he rubbed his face slowly before his ears caught the sound of his name. Feeling a little curious to what was going on; slowly he peered out from the side of the tree, seeing Yumi yelling up at the roof thinking he was there. Feeling a little curious at first, he let out a groan when he saw Kabocha was there with her. She was probably going to force him to apologise; well, that didn’t need to happen because the guy didn’t do anything wrong other than show just how weak he was. Letting out a grumble he sat down again, trying to ignore their presence.

Shu didn’t like the fact that he was outside all alone now seeing as how Takeshi had gone inside, but Shu didn’t think he’d want to be in the house in the first place. The guy didn’t sound very nice when he came to the door and there was an odd smell inside the place, so it definitely was best for him to stay outside rather than feel even more nervous. Looking up to the sky, he let out a sigh as he tried to relax, breathing in the odd air before he slowly fell backwards, lying down instead of sitting. It was nice being outside rather than in a little room for once, but he only hoped that Takeshi was able to find what he wanted and not end up screwing up somehow.

[GambolMuse]

"I know he's out here... But where the heck did he go...?" Yumi mumbled, a frown pulling the corners of her lips down. Exhaling in a sigh she slowly rose up into the air to get a peek at the roof, and after not spotting Viral anywhere landed back on the grass. He couldn't be too terribly far, he'd come back with Vegeta after all. Glancing around the area she sniffed at the air, trying to pinpoint his scent amongst all the strange others. Amongst all of the other odors she managed to pick her friend's out, turning about and smiling brightly in the direction of the shrugs. "There you are! Why are you trying to hide from us?" Cutting across the lawn Yumi stopped shy only to make sure that she was being followed, frowning and waving for Kabocha to come with her, which he did begrudgingly. With the Saiyan at her side she looked down at where Viral was hidden, putting her hands on her hips. "Kabocha has something to say to you, don't you?"

While inside and relatively safe it was easy to talk about speaking to Viral. Now that he was out here though, perfectly vulnerable to an agitated Beastman, suddenly this plan didn't seem so great. He was here though, he had little choice otherwise than to go with it. Smiling slightly when prompted the Saiyan stepped forward, slowly, and nodded his head. "Sorry for earlier..." he grumbled, not even looking in Viral's direction. Getting a smack in the arm he growled at Yumi before deciding to try again. "Look... We're not going to get along amazingly, I know that. But... I was out of line earlier, and I had no right to say anything that I did. Maybe I harbored some resentment towards you, or whatever, but I'm willing to look past that right now. There's something else I need to say too..." Diagnosis time, how would Viral take being told that something was seriously wrong with him? "The twins and I think we know what's been bugging you, I mean really bugging you. It's pretty common, but we think you've got PTSD. Know about it?"

Ka'shra wasn't fond of this little messenger, he seemed nervous and a slight tick idiotic. First impressions meant a lot and so far the little Saiyan was doing a poor job of it. "So he's trying to surprise the general with his latest toy, is he? And I'm meant to be a guinea pig of sorts...?" Shaking his head a bit the old Kaesstrian smiled slightly, rubbing at his forehead. So this is what he had been reduced to, an adviser of sorts. "I will not lie, I've been curious as to what's been going on. I suppose I can come take a look, if he's that desperate for my input. He's at his office, yes?"

"Yes sir, he told us that he'd be there for a while, but he'd prefer if you can get there as soon as possible." Okay, so they had the man going to Katas' place, but they still needed information. The fact alone he'd managed to convince Ka'shra of that much allowed him a sigh of relief, leaning back in his seat with a meek smile. There was more to be asked though if they wanted this to be worthwhile. "Katas mentioned it was for the war, though not exactly what it was. From what I gathered he was eager about it though, like it can get you a big advantage or something. I'm guessing you're hopeful for the war to end too?"

"End...? Yes, I suppose you could say that. I'm just hoping that our goal here is successful, we're putting a lot of weight on the chances of it working in our favor."

"What is the end goal of the war exactly?" Takeshi asked, looking to the retired general. "I mean... I'm guessing its to get the energy, yeah? Develop the cities more. That's got to be a big order to fill. Have you been advising what's been going on? I can't see one person handling all of this themselves, seems like a lot of work."

Ka'shra shook his head again, looking at Takeshi amused. "I'm retired boy, or are you deaf? No, I've very little input in how things are carried out. I offer advice when asked, but its the general who keeps everything together. The man is a visionary, he'll lead our people to the future and to greatness. Soon we'll be among the races traveling the stars, and it all begins with getting the power to do that." The general, realizing he was rambling slightly shook his head, going over to where he'd placed the papers earlier and scooping the sheets back up. "I really must get back to work, and you've had your question. Go right ahead and show yourself out boy, we're done here."

"Oh yes we are..." Takeshi mumbled under his breath, grinning as he pushed himself up from the seat. He couldn't believe it, the old coot had just given them exactly what they wanted. Nearly laughing on his way to the door the Saiyan threw a wave over his shoulder as he stepped outside. The general, the jerk who had been yanking their chain this whole time, he was honestly surprised. That guy hadn't come across as one who could pull an operation like this, he just seemed like too much a fighter and not a thinker. When he got back out to Shu he spotted his brother laid out on the grass. Still grinning Takeshi leaned over his brother, reaching down and booping his nose. "And we're all done. Ready to go stop by the house?"

[Mogtaki]

Viral was keeping fairly low, he didn’t want to show himself and hoped that they would give up and eventually go back inside. Leaning back to try and relax against the tree, he closed his eyes for a moment before he felt the presence of someone’s gaze gradually building up. Opening them again, he tried to keep quiet and still, hoping they would pass by and head on back to the house; however, Yumi’s voice made him jump a little as he let out a groan, rubbing his forehead slowly. There was no point on running, they would probably catch up with him easily seeing as how they could fly. Trying to ease the pressure building in his head, he looked to Yumi when she finally approached him, giving her an annoyed look before simply letting out an annoyed sigh when she mentioned Kabocha, “Oh good…just what I needed…”

Viral wasn’t happy at all, he could do without all this nonsense and didn’t need the Saiyan here. Keeping his eyes averted, he slowly folded his arms as he just tried to ignore Kabocha. He knew it wasn’t going to be honest so he had nothing he had to be concerned about missing out on. Grunting as Kabocha made his weak expected apology, he only made a quick glance up at him before immediately looking away again, shutting his eyes. If he tried to ignore them for long enough then maybe they would go away, but with Yumi prompting the Saiyan he was having to put up with it for just a while longer. Growling lowly as he continued to speak, he was caught off-guard when the mention of something else. Opening his eyes, he couldn’t help but feel a little curious to what he was going to say; however, when it was mentioned it made him very uneasy very quickly, “What? What are you talking about? You’ve been talking about me behind my back?” he growled lowly, not at all pleased, “And now even your lot are trying to get into my mind?? I don’t know what you’re talking about…but if you’re calling me crazy then you can go back to where you came from before I tear your face off!”

Shu felt like he could fall asleep if Takeshi was going to take any longer, the sweet having disappeared long ago and all he was left feeling was hungry for food. Rubbing his stomach slowly as he stared up into the sky, he got a fright when the door suddenly opened, his eyes going to him immediately as he slowly rolled over in the grass. It was good that Takeshi was finally out, it meant they were finally done and hopefully everything would be going just as planned once more. Watching as Takeshi came over, he rubbed his nose after it was pressed before getting up off the grass, turning to him quickly, “Uh huh! I’m ready…I’m really ready!” he said with a quick nod, “I’m really hungry now…did it go okay…?”

[GambolMuse]

"Yes we were talking about you," Yumi said quickly, deciding to step in. "But about helping you. They're trying to make it up to us by using what they know to help Viral, that's all. No funny business, I promise. And I'm the one that put Kabocha up to this, so if you're going to be mad at someone be mad at me." He'd been defensive before, but now he was really getting on edge. If he attacked them she would have to restrain her friend, it was all that could be done to prevent a fight from breaking out. With a tentative smile she held her hands up defensively, taking a small step towards the Beastman. "Come on... Just hear him out, please? He and the twins are really onto something."

Hopefully having Yumi here would prove to help things. Kabocha certainly knew he couldn't keep Viral calm, not after their interactions. All that was keeping him from being attacked was this girl, and even she was looking to have a challenge of it. He'd agreed to come out and do this of his own volition, and damned be if he turned around just for getting spooked a bit. "You're suffering from PTSD, Viral. It happens to a lot of soldiers, and it's definitely nothing to be ashamed about. A lot of our Elites have gone through it before at some point, and that includes you. Now I'm not trained to help you with it, but I kind of know what to do, so if you'll hear me out..." Man, what in the hell am I doing, Kabocha asked himself. He was no shrink, and really this was no issue for him to be tackling. Sighing and mentally kicking himself the Saiyan put on as passive a look as he could, offering a small smile. "Whatever was done to you is making you act like this. If we can find a way to block those thoughts then you'll get better. Tell me, you want to be better, yeah? You want the voices or whatever to go away?"

Takeshi was feeling mighty triumphant right about now after having successfully gotten what they needed. Stupid old man, he mused, letting that kind of information go. They'd need to pass it on to either Katas or to the Queen directly, depending on where they wanted to go. Grinning at Shu as he sprung to his feet the older boy flashed a thumbs up, nodding his head. "Couldn't have gone better really, I think we're all done!" A huge bulk of stress had just been taken off of his shoulders, and boy what a relief it was. They'd gotten what they needed before anything bad happened, and saved who knows how many lives. With a cheerful chuckle Takeshi walked back towards the edge of the property, stopping just at it and pointing over his shoulder with a thumb at his back. "Come on little buddy, let's go have some lunch! Then we can take a load off and play for a bit if you want!"

[Mogtaki]

Viral didn’t like how he was being confronted, he wasn’t exactly ready for such a thing and was feeling uneasy about it all. Looking between Yumi and Kabocha, he glared in mild confusion and distraught with every intent to try and get away from them if they got too close to him. Yumi still stank of food and it was just making him feel completely off, then there was Kabocha approaching him and calling him out for having some mental problem, “Why would you do this to me?” he questioned Yumi, staring up at her, “Why can’t anyone here just leave me alone with my own thoughts?”

He was fair bit annoyed at always being caught out like this, now he was being accused of having something he didn’t quite understand. He didn’t know all of these terms, he never did research anything like that and to him it sounded a bit insulting. Letting out a low growl, he backed up against the tree as he looked to Kabocha, feeling cornered. Of course having something unknown along with everything else was something to be ashamed of, he was supposed to be a hardy warrior and not affected by things like that. He just wanted to get out of here so badly, his eyes on Kabocha in a somewhat unfocused gaze as if he was staring right through him, “What? The voices…how are you-…what could you possibly do to help me? You barely know me…besides; I can deal with my own problems myself. I appreciate the…’effort’ you put into this…but I’m better off remaining by myself”.

Shu gave a quick nod to Takeshi, smiling a little before he looked towards the house, “I hope it’s all okay…I’d hate for something bad to happen…” he mumbled, soon looking back to Takeshi with a smile, “I’m glad that we’re all done for now, I’m just worried about what will happen now”. Following after Takeshi as they left, he looked back curiously at the place, just wondering if the guy had actually gotten suspicious or was just truly under complete confidence that they were still on their side. Letting out a sigh, he tried to focus on the future and getting food, “Uh huh…lunch! Luuuuunch…it’s a funny word…huh? Play? Yeah! We can play after lunch! I want to eat and then play and then visit! That would make me happy…”

[GambolMuse]

"Because it's your thoughts that are causing this in the first place," Kabocha pointed out with a sigh. "Seriously, did you listen to a word I was saying?" Advancing slowly towards Viral the Saiyan had to abrupt stop himself as the Beastman pressed up against the tree, seeming rather uneasy now. Was the Commander not familiar with PTSD either? Unbelievable, him of all people he'd have thought would know. Kabocha could now see why the others had been having difficulty with this, there was very little cooperation on Viral's part here. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," the Saiyan continued, crossing his arms, "Common among people who've gone through traumatic events. In other words, it's normal and nothing to be ashamed of, it can happen to anyone. And to help you..." Again came the glaring issue that aside from knowing WHAT it was, he really didn't know how to fix it. It had been one of those subjects you heard in the messhall or in passing, but he'd never thought to get the details of it. Shaking his head and growling at himself in frustration Kabocha gave Viral a hard look. "You have PTSD, there's no doubt about it. And there are ways to help it, we just need to figure it out. Staying on your own like this is only going to make things fester, you're worse off for hiding."

Takeshi was elated to be done with it all finally, now he could focus on things closer to home. Namely the young boy at his back, who he'd really sort of been neglecting aside from a few supportive words. "Everything from here on out is going to work just fine buddy, the worst of it is over." They could wash their hands of this war at least, as soon as they passed on the information it'd hopefully be brought to an end. And maybe they'd spend one last day on Kaesstra, if only to see how everything went. Glancing down at his stomach as it growled Takeshi smiled sheepishly, putting his hands on his tummy. "I guess it's a weird word? And yeah, we'll do all that. I bet everyone's itching to know how things went, so we should hurry back!" On that cue he began to jog towards the house, throwing a grin over his shoulder in Shu's direction. "I'll race you back home!"

[Mogtaki]

Viral was having a pretty difficult time actually taking it into acceptance, probably because it was Kabocha of all people saying it to him. He didn’t even know where to start, he was probably supposed to react somehow but he just wasn’t and couldn’t get around to doing it. Staring up at Kabocha, he gave him a fairly focused glare as if he was intimidating him just by calling him out on his problems, his eyes looking away slowly as his mind raced, feeling a little insulted that it was a disorder. He didn’t want to see himself as crazy, but after what happened on the cold planet it was definitely a possibility that he truly was. Slowly pulling himself up with a paw pressed against the tree, he kept a hard glare on Kabocha, “You’re certainly quick and ready to try and help me…just why?” he questioned him, not enjoying feeling cornered, “I’m sure I can get over it myself. I’m not going to the house either when it stinks like that, so head on back to the house and I’ll stay here…got it?”

Shu felt pretty hungry, but only now that he had been relieved of a massive amount of pressure had been lifted off his shoulders for now. It would probably come back, but he didn’t have to worry about that until something happened. There would probably be fight after all this, but hopefully his friends would be okay after it unless they protected them well. Nodding quickly before walking after Takeshi, only to start jogging when Takeshi started to, “I guess! Maybe they’ll like that we did something good today”, he said quickly, trying to keep up with Takeshi’s slow jog. Looking to him when the challenge for a race came up, Shu smiled before immediately bending forward, running forward with a quick push, “Okay! I’ll get there! I’ll get there!”

[GambolMuse]

"Because... Our group is only as good as it's members... And with you like this we're all being put in trouble." Apparently not the nicest way to phrase it as Kabocha was given a hard shoulder to the ribs. Cursing under his breath the Saiyan rubbed his side, shooting Yumi a look before smiling slightly. "I mean... We've all got to be on top of our game to keep moving on, and that means everyone, including you. I don't want to see any one of us be left behind or feel like they're a burden, so I want to help get you back on your feet." Being courteous was a change of pace, one that Kabocha was having a rather difficult time adapting to. Groaning when Viral argued he was fine on his own the Saiyan put his face in his hands before running them through his hair, inhaling and exhaling to calm himself. "No, you're not. PTSD isn't something you "get over" or "deal with alone". There are some things in this world that people just can't do alone, and this is one of them. Seriously, you want to know what I think?" Kabocha asked, lowering his hands and returning Viral's glare. "I think that you're an incredible warrior and one hell of a fighter, or you can be. But only if you get over this pride or whatever and let someone help you. You were the biggest concern about going to Earth initially, did you know that? And many of the Elites did and still do fear you. But if they saw you like this think they would? If you want to get your strength back you need to let someone who knows what's going on help you!"

"Of course they'll like it! We helped save people, what's not to like?" Takeshi grinned broadly as their race started, watching Shu dart off ahead of him. He knew his brother was faster, but in a busy city where they had to avoid things he was curious to see just how much that speed helped. "I'm going to beat you! And when I do I'm going to tickle you until you wet yourself!" he shouted, laughing despite the various confused looks from Kaesstrians. From his jog Takeshi took off into a sprint, certainly slower than Shu's but in all rights still quick. Weaving through crowds of unexpecting people and even leaping over a stand he kept his eyes trained on his brother's back, trying as best he could to catch up. Running as they were they'd be home in mere moments, but it was a fun little competition nonetheless.

[Mogtaki]

Viral gave Kabocha a fair good glaring at before he looked away, feeling as if that was the way things had gone for him when it came to being useful to everyone else. He was just there getting people into trouble, he was the one who had brought the others into trouble because he had ran off hoping he could train himself up without help. Looking back at him when he spoke again, he searched him for the answers he was needing to try and help himself through what was wrong with him. He should had been able to handle something like this himself; he was a born warrior, he wasn’t a coward who would let some bad experiences get to his head. Grumbling as he rubbed his forehead, he averted his gaze as his mind was dragged away into the problem, wondering how he was supposed to help himself with this when he couldn’t even heal his body properly.

Looking back to Kabocha, he noticed his tone changing fairly quickly, his voice a little more sincere and yet oddly deceiving, yet that could had just been his own problem or ‘disorder’ as they called it. He found it difficult to see the truth, he didn’t know anything about this and the way he was treated definitely didn’t say that either, “They only fear me because they see me as a wild animal, something they can’t fully control”, he spoke, lowering his angered glare, “But now…I’m backed into a corner by the likes of you, being told I am damaged…like a thorn in the paw of a deadly beast; difficult to deal with, difficult to get rid of. You’d have to wonder…with the thorn so deep, how do you help such a problem? How does an unknown problem become solved when it’s not crystal clear to either the bearer of the problem or to the bystander themselves? How am I supposed to know how you intend to help me?”

Shu was trying to keep his speed high as he ran off, looking to Takeshi to see if he was still there as they went. He could only guess the way home when it was pretty difficult to find his way through a city and to the house that they had only been at for a few nights. Jumping passed people and sliding around and away obstacles, he tried to keep ahead of his brother just so he could get there before Takeshi caught him and tickled him like he said, “No! You won’t catch me!” he squeaked, going down on his hands and pushing himself forward, managing to use his small frame to get between the aliens and into clear areas. Even in the clear, Shu darted around, trying to stop Takeshi from taking any leaps at him as he raced towards the house.

[GambolMuse]

"We'll solve the problem by wearing it down gradually. We know exacty what the issue is, it's PTSD, we're all certain of that much. It's only a matter of finding a solution that leaves us stumped right now. We're going to help by finding a solution that'll help you recover, that's all I can say. There are ways to help it, I know some people who have been through it. We just need to figure out what they did." Kabocha was earnestly frustrated he couldn't do more. The fact he was incapable at anything was a blow to his own ego, and he did suppose that some part of him, however small it may be, sympathized with Viral. They'd seen him prior to this, a proud and strong warrior. He was now a shadow of his former self, and as a Saiyan he could definitely understand the feelings that must bring.

Yumi kept to the side during most of the conversation, still mulling over what exactly PTSD was. It was stress, she understood that much, and that it had to stem from what was done to Viral. Thinking about it that way the answer seemed rather obvious, a small and hopeful smile creeping to her lips. " Viral...? Remember what we talked about? It has to be what happened to you during captivity that's causing this, it's got to be. So..." She stepped forward, trying to snatch up one of her friend's paws whilst looking up to him hopefully. "Well if the thoughts are bothering you so much... Don't think about them?" Yumi wasn't too sure how else to word that, averting her gaze for a moment as she fought for the words. "When something bad comes to mind... Think about something else? Something happier? If you drown out the bad thoughts then they can't bother you, right?"

Takeshi knew he'd be slower, but as soon as Shu went to all fours the rate he was pulling away was a bit surprising. Nonetheless he was determined to catch his brother, pushing himself as quickly as he could. "Am too! Come here you!" It was great, feeling like just two kids having fun again, it had definitely been too long. Racing through the streets as blurs the house was coming up rather quickly now, and Shu was very much in the lead. Groaning at the realization he'd not catch up he slowed a bit, watching as Shu very easily bounded into the yard, coming in a few seconds after the younger boy. Panting slightly from exertion Takeshi smiled to himself, putting his hands on his hips whilst trying to catch his breath. "No fair... You got a head start..." he whined playfully, moving his arms to stretch up over his head. With a breathless chuckle he sniffed at the air, smiling widely at the scent of food coming from the house. "Oh boy...! It smells like they just finished cooking!"

[Mogtaki]

Viral was not understanding the entirety of what was supposed to be happening right now, all they were doing was talking to him and it was fair making him uneasy as they barely gave him any room at all. With a lowered gaze, he tried to understand just what they were planning on doing to get rid of the problem before it became too drastic; however, it didn’t sound like they even knew how to deal with it. It was a rather depressing, his mind not finding an easy solution either considering he didn’t even think there was a name for it other than his mind being completely damaged, “I don’t think you actually know how to get rid of it”, he muttered, giving him a fair blank stare, “There has been many things done to me that could easily be the problem. Saying what they are doesn’t help, so what are you getting at…”

This whole thing seemed just a bit all over the place, the guy didn’t actually know how he was supposed to help him so that was going to be a problem definitely. If he didn’t know how to get rid of it and Viral himself had no idea how to fix his own problems, then there was probably no real solution to it all. Looking away for a moment, he looked back when Yumi spoke, giving her a blank stare. Looking down to her hands as she grabbed one of his, he looked back up at her only to sigh at what she said. It was awfully naïve to think of it like that, it wasn’t as if he purposely thought of them just to make him miserable. Lowering his head, he gave it a little shake as he tried to think of something happy to make her happy; however, it was fair difficult when absolutely nothing was coming to mind. He couldn’t say that he was unhappy raising them; he was content when he was raising them but that was about as much happiness he could think of. Letting out a groan he shook his head, his eyes not looking terribly focused, “…I can’t. I don’t even know what you want me to do with that instruction. Besides, you’ve told me what it is, now go back to the house…get your food…”

Shu was determined right now, but he did hope that he could keep it up without something absolutely terrible happening like he fell over and Takeshi caught up with him that way. It was quite scary yet fun, like being chased by a wild animal and being able to outrun it if only slightly. Looking back as he panted away, he raced onwards before coming to a halt once he finally arrived, nearly flipping over accidentally onto his back as Takeshi came running in as well. Smiling up at Takeshi, he slowly pushed himself back up. As he gradually yet fairly quickly got his breath back, he turned to look at Takeshi with a smile, shaking his head, “You said race me first! So I win!” he said quickly bouncing around before turning his head towards the house, sniffing out the food, “Oooohhhh…yes! Are they all inside? What if they’re already having food…?” he asked as he slowly made his way to the house, sniffing the air, “It smells really good…”

[GambolMuse]

Yumi knew they were onto something, being filled with confidence at finally having a name for Viral's problem. Even while they struggled for a solution to it she knew now it was just a matter of time before they found the right way of going about it. Being dismissed as they were wasn't going to sit terribly well then, not when they were getting close. Giving a shake of her own hea the Beastman looked back at Kabocha, waving him off. "Go on, I'll come with you in a moment." she ordered gently, already turning back to Viral. "I want you to think happy thoughts is all, and replace the bad ones with those. You must have some, even if they're not recent. I know I've got a ton of them growing up." Yumi stayed quiet for a brief moment until Kabocha finally walked off, exhaling softly and taking a seat beside the tree. Smiling up at Viral she pat the spot beside her in hopes he would join her. "Now let me see here... A happy memory..." She mused, tapping at the ground thoughtfully. There were plenty to choose from, but what might Viral remember the best? "I've got it! Remember when Vegeta and I were really little? We must have been like... 7 or 8 at the time... But it was a snow day and we didn't need to go to class, so you spent the whole day playing with us!" Beaming now Yumi giggled a bit as she reminisced. "We went out of the city and to the hills to go sledding. You were just helping us at first, but then you joined and started having fun too." Lips curled into a smirk she leaned over and playfully prodded Viral's shoulder, giving him a wink. "You were smiling and laughing then, you know. So why not think about that?"

"Yeah... Well whatever, I still say you got a head start," Takeshi retorted playfully, sticking out his tongue. The smell of food was pretty strong as they stood in the yard, and it was so tasty it had his stomach grumbling. Smiling brightly he began to walk towards the door as well, falling right in behind Shu. "If they're starting already then we'll just have to crash the party! We need food too after all!" Pushing the door open with his brother the boys wasted no time in heading right to the kitchen, Takeshi stopping to stare in excitement at the meal laid out on the table. There was a good sized roast of some kind in the center, smaller bits surrounding it. A few trays of fruit, some seared and some al dente. It all smelled so good, and by the looks of it everybody was just now sitting down getting ready to eat. Clapping his hands together cheerfully the Saiyan chuckled and walked around to one of the free seats on the other side of the table, plopping himself down and gesturing for Shu to come join him. "Cmon, let's dig in already guys!"

Kabocha had only just sat himself before the princes had come in. They seemed to be in awfully good spirits, their little task must have gone well then. The first thing out of Takeshi's mouth was a randomly delightful cheer, not something that he or the twins were used to. Cringing slightly at the sound he looked to Kai and Choi, gesturing to their old leader discreetly and smirking. "See? He's a total whack job when around his brother," he whispered, taking a small glance back at Shu as well before looking back to the twins. "Are we sure he's not the one going mental?"

"So everything went okay then?" Vegeta piped up, purposefully talking over Kabocha as he shot the boy a warning glance. Knowing how poorly Takeshi took failures, and the good mood that Shu was in bode well. Hopefully that meant this matter was done with, they could finally then get these boys their families and be on their way. Since Yumi was not joining them just yet Vegeta grabbed a knife and fork, standing up and beginning to slice up the roast as evenly as he could. "Just be sure to save some for Yumi guys, she'll be here in a bit."

Takeshi gave a curt nod in reply, already starting to snatch up food for himself as the others slowly began to as well. Yumi probably had something else going on, he figured, no reason to wait for her on an empty stomach. Though he could probably eat everything on the table right now he settled for just a portion of it, albeit a fairly large one at that. Still plenty to go around, and it was enough to hold him over until supper.