Ava's Earth Quest 10 - Pendulum Room

Pendulum Room

Hard Quest

Requirement: Must have completed Kami's Trial.

Reward: 1,500 zeni and you gain two levels.

After completing his trial, Kami takes you to the Pendulum Room. It takes you back in time to face a an ancient villain, more powerful than yourself. You must survive this encounter to reap the rewards of Kami's special training.

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Everything had gone back to normal. Ava was back to her top fighting mentality and Kami was impressed with her. She had seemed to learn a lot during her stay on the Lookout. No wonder she had advanced so quickly through her previous two masters.
But most of all, he had noticed during her meditation with him, was her calmness of mind. When she had arrived at the Lookout, she was lost and bewildered. Now, her mind was quiet and that made her a more competent fighter.

Kami was sitting having his tea, watching Ava sparing with Mr. Popo out in the courtyard. She was a true Saiyan; she loved the thrill of the battle, choosing her every move carefully and fighting with a smile of her face.

She was ready, ready for her final task. But this would be by far the most challenging task she would have to do thus far. If she died, then there would be no coming back, no wishing her back with the dragonballs. Kami had put it off for a month now.
But it was inevitable. She was getting stronger by the day.

She was ready.

“Ava…” he said softly, knowing she would hear him. She stopped her fight with Mr. Popo and walked over to him.

“Yes master?” she bowed to him, her hands respectfully held in front of her.

“Who is the strongest opponent you’ve ever fought?” he asked her.

She had to think a little.

“In a serious battle or just training?” she asked him.

“A serious battle.” He replied.

She scratched the back of her head, undid her ponytail and tied her hair up again.

“Well, excluding a volcano… Kaval. Back on Namek… why master?” she asked him.

“Kaval is a strong fighter, no doubt. Did you fight him before he was a Super Saiyan?” he asked her.

“No sir.” She said to him.

She didn’t know where this was going.

“Have you ever fought a Super Saiyan?” he asked her.

“No sir.” She answered again.

He nodded curtly at her and stood up from his chair.

“Follow me to your next task.” He said, walking off.

She smiled and looked back at Mr. Popo. She showed him two thumbs up and ran off after Kami.

She followed him in silence, taking in yet another new pathway through the mansion that Kami called home. After a few minutes they got to a door and he turned to face her.

“I cannot go beyond this door…” he said to her.

She looked at the door and then back at him.

“What is my next task master?” she asked him respectfully.

“This room is called the Pendulum Room. It holds the power to take you back in time to a place where you battle a foe.” He said to her and she nodded.

“I wonder who I’ll fight…” she said softly to herself.

“But be warned Ava. You need to do everything and anything to live. If you die in there, you simply disappear from existence. I will not be able to wish you back.” he warned her, pointing his staff at her.

“Ye…yes sir…” she stuttered at his warning.

“Inside, you will face the strongest opponent you’ve ever fought.” He said to her.

“I get a rematch with Kaval?” she smiled at the prospect.

“I don’t know. It’s up to the room where you go.” He smiled and touched her shoulder.

“Good luck Ava. There will be a lamb roast waiting for you when you get out.” He smiled, walking away.

“Incentive, I like it.” she smiled and stepped up to the door. She reached up and put her hand on the handle and pushed down, entering the room.

What she saw was just plain weird. The room was covering in clocks. The floor, the walls, were all peppered with different types of clocks. Clocks with roman numerals, one with normal numbers, square clocks, round clocks, oddly shaped clocks. Every clock you can imagine. She walked in and closed the door behind her.

She turned, walked into the room and looked ahead of her at the slightly raised round podium with a round table in the middle of it. She stepped up onto the podium and floor started to glow in some strange pentagram shape with many symbols around it. She wasn’t sure where the she step up to the table or not.

She stepped up to the table and looked up. There was a giant pendulum hanging above her head. It was still and not ticking.

She didn’t know what to do next. She looked around the room and shrugged.
She lay her right hand palm down on the table.

Then the pendulum slowly began to swing from side to side. She watched as the room swirled and the clocks became a blur of white in the darkness. She crouched down when she felt the wind rushing through her hair, but she kept her hand on the table.

The wind grew softer and the spinning stopped gradually. She opened her eyes and looked around.

The planet she was on now had a dark pink sky and lots of smoke hanging ominously over the ruins of a great city. She stood up and looked around.
“Is this, Planet Vegeta?” she asked, stepping off the podium.

She heard a great roar and looked into the direction of the sound. Behind her was a huge coliseum. And the roaring and cheering was coming from there. She began to make her way over to the green building.

When she got there, she simply walked in. There was no one at the gates to charge her any fees and soon she found herself in the stands of a cheering crowd of rowdy fighters, all holding their fists up and looking down into the ring.

There was a man standing in the centre of the coliseum. He was a Super Saiyan. He flashed down into his normal form and smiled. He was tall and well built with short black hair and black eyes. He was scarred and battle worn. But he was still strong. He was quite handsome for a warrior, his strong muscles all shiny from the battle, showing through his black leather armour. He was holding up a bloodied head of his now dead rival. He was cheering with his free hand, and saw he turned Ava saw that he had a tail, a Saiyan tail.

“A Super Saiyan…” she whispered pushing her way to the front of the crowd.

She watched as the man threw the head across the sand, and it stopped at the foot of a huge private stand.
“There King Moai, here is another head for your trophy wall.” The Saiyan laughed.

A small group of workers came into the coliseum and cleaned up after the Saiyan, covering the bloodied sand with fresh sand. It was as if that man had never existed.

“All hail the Champion, Oren the Golden Saiyan!” the king shouted and the crowd went wild.

They roared so loud and banged so hard on the stadium wall that Ava was suddenly caught in a confusing medley of sounds and vibrations. She covered her ears and stepped back, but she lost her footing on the slippery floor, covering in the local beer, that she fell back, over the railings and into the arena.

The crowd fell silent instantly and she opened her eyes and saw that she was falling. She powered up and began to fly. She stopped falling, flew up right again, landed on the ground and looked around. Everyone was looking at her.

“We have a new contender…” the king shouted and the crowd roared back into life.

He man named Oren looked at her, smiled and flashed into Super Saiyan.

“No, wait… wait…” Ava shouted, but her voice was lost and drowned out by the cheers and whistles from the spectators.

She looked over at the man named Oren and remembered her brother was named Oren, and that he had died on Arlia.

“So you have a death wish, my lovely…” he smiled and walked up to her.

“No, no, I just slipped and fell…” she said, walking up to him.

“To bad, once you feet touch the sand, they leave in a body bag, or I leave in a body bag.” He said, stopping just inches from her.
“Usually it the former.” He smiled, reaching out for her hair.

Then he saw her tail. He stepped back.
“You’re a Saiyan?” he asked her, whispering to her.

“Yes. I am. My name is Kusha.” She told him, using her Saiyan name.

He looked shocked.

“My sister, was to be named Kusha.” He fumbled around the words.

“I am your sister. Aran was our mother, Zepha was our father…” she whispered to him.

“How… how did you know that?” he asked her.
“The planet was destroyed 24 years ago.” He added.

“Wait, this isn’t the past. Planet Vegeta’s been gone for 24 years?” she was confused.

Kami said the room would take her back in time. That meant that Oren was still alive, on stuck on Arlia.

“Yes. I’ve been here for 25 years. Mom got pregnant just before I left.” He said to her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“I…I’m a Saiyan. I was born to fight. And where better to fight than on Arlia?” he said to her.

“And you’re a Super Saiyan…” she said, looking at him.

“A what?” he asked.

“A Super Saiyan. When your hair goes gold and your eyes turn green. Super Saiyan.” She explained to him.

“Oh, that…” he smiled.
“I thought it was just a strange reaction on this planet’s atmosphere.” He added.

“No, I know two other Super Saiyans.” She smiled.
“Come home with me Oren. Come to Earth with me.” she smiled.

He looked at it and hesitated.

“I… I’ve been here to long… this is home now.” he said, looking at her.

She pulled her hand back. She understood. She too was reluctant to leave Namek.

“Okay, that’s fine.” She told him.

“But, I think I need to fight you.” She said to him.

“You want to fight me…” Oren laughed.
“I’m the Champion of Arlia. You don’t stand a chance little sister.” He smiled.

“Try me.” she smiled.

“Okay little sister, but for you, I will not power up into Super Saiyan, okay.” He said loudly, much to the dismay of the crowd.

“You will fight in your golden form.” The king commanded him.

Oren pointed his finger at him and looked at him.

“You will shut it, or I will fight you instead.” Oren smiled.

The king shuddered. This was the most powerful man on the planet. If he decided to go rouge, then the kingship would fall to him.

“Ve…Very well. Let the fight commence.” The king said, sitting down.

“We sure do have a way with words, don’t we?’ Ava smiled at her older brother.

“Sure do.’ He said, flying at her.

She flitted away just as he got to her. She appeared behind him and he looked over his shoulder at her.

“Fast little monkey.” He smiled and turned around and threw a punch at her. She blocked it with her right hand and she kicked out with her left leg.

He pushed it away and pushed his free hand into her stomach and his hand lit up with a red ball of ki. Ava gasped and put her hands between his hand and her body and fired her own blast before he could get his off. The two blasts met in a melding of white and red and expanded between them rapidly, as they both poured energy into their attacks. It threw them both back. Ava dug her feet into the soil and turned her head away as the energy began to burn her face slightly.

Oren saw her weakness and he pulsed a huge surge of energy into his blast, causing an enlarged ball of ki to go flying down his beam. It surged into his attack and over took Ava’s.

She threw her arms up to cover her face as she was engulfed by the blast. The blast rushed over the sand, causing it to ripple away from the red blast. It hit the coliseum wall and stopped it, but only for a little while. The wall began to crumble and the crowd began to run away from it. The blast ripped through the wall, pushing out into the ruins of the city. It slammed into buildings, pushing Ava with it. Oren let go of the blast, ending its stream. It faded gradually, leaving only smoke and dust.

Oren stood with his arms crossed over his chest. The crowd was silent and looked at him. They had heard him call this woman his little sister. That Oren would do that to his own sister scared them. What if he decided to take this planet as his own? Then again, anything was better than King Moai.

A few tense minutes passed and he sighed.
“Come out Kusha. I know you’re not dead.” He smiled.

There was a small crack of white energy off in the distance. Oren saw it but the spectators only heard it. They turned her heads, clambering all over each other to see what was going to happen next. There was another crack of electricity and this time, everyone saw it. As everyone watched, the rubble where she had been plunged into began to rise up into the air. A few huge chunks took off and revealed her standing there; looking down at the ground, white energy swirling around her, cracking like lighting. She began to walk back to the arena, still looking down. She walked back into the stadium and everyone ran to the other side of the stands to watch her carry on fighting.

She walked up to Oren and stopped. She looked up suddenly and he saw her eye colour had changed to green. The wind came up and whipped her long black hair and brown tail to her left.

“Good attack brother. But I’m stronger than that.” She said, looking at him.

“I wasn’t trying to kill you. If I were, you’d be dead by now.” he smiled and creaked his neck and swung his tail erratically behind him before wrapping it around his waist.
“You are just like mother. She was strong too.” He smiled at her.

“Thank you.” She said to him.
“Oh and Oren, my name is Ava. I grew up on Namek.” She said to him.

“Ava…” he smiled.
“Pretty name. Were they good to you?” he asked her.
“They taught me the basics. But I must admit, I needed to learn to fight like a Saiyan.” She smiled at him, moving into her starting position again.
“I think I’ve done quite well, don’t you?” she asked him.

He began to laugh. She face dropped and she looked at him.
“What?” She asked him.

“I was 16 when I was sent away to this planet. On High Lord Chiller’s orders.” He said, beginning to walk around her.
“I was known amongst civilians as his Sword of the Saiyan army.” He continued to talk and walk around her.
She watched him carefully. This was one of her tricks.
“I was given the rank of War Party Commander.” He said.
“I was sent here to kill everyone and claim the planet in the name of High Lord Chiller.” He said, stopping suddenly.
“When I got here. The Arlians slaughtered my war party; I was the only one who put up a good fight. King Atla offered me job as a Gladiator. I took it, defected from Chiller’s army, and started fighting here.” he said.
“You pose is off.” He said.

He walked up to her and tapped the bottom side of her right elbow.
“Lift it up. It’s more energy efficient.” He said, looking at her legs.
He kicked one further forward.
“Stand with your legs wider apart. It warms them up for kicks and blocks.” He said, walking around her.
“And your tail,” he said, grabbing it and wrapping it around her waist.
“Do you feel those muscles working to hold it there?” he asked her and she nodded.
“You need to keep it close to your body. If your opponent grabs it, they win.” He said, walking around her again, to her front.

He punched her stomach suddenly and she doubled over forward, landing on her knees, clutching her stomach.
“Always have it contracted. Don’t get lazy and let it go. Not for one second.” He smiled.

“Is… this how father… trained you?” she gasped for air and looked up at him.

“Yes. And this is how I trained Prince Kaval. Our last king’s son, the crown prince to the Saiyan race.” He said, his hands on his hips looking down at her.

“He probably died in the implosion…” he sighed.
“He was a good fighter. He had a bright future ahead of him.” he said, looking down at her as she struggled up.

“No… he didn’t. He’s on… Earth.” She breathed.

“He lived?” Oren asked her.

“Yeah, he did. He’s a good fighter. He’s a Super Saiyan too.” She whispered.

“Speak up. Don’t be so weak.” He shouted at her.

She took in a deep breath, stood up right and looked him in his black eyes.

“HE’S A SUPER SAIYAN!” she shouted at him.

“Good,” he nodded.
“Now, try again.” he said, moving into his starting position.
It was exactly like hers. She smiled at him and moved into her starting position.
“Ready?” he asked her.

“Ready.” She nodded and smiled.

They flew at each other, kicking and punching at any spot they could. Ava punched out and he blocked it. She kicked out and he blocked it. She pushed herself off his arm and flipped back, landing ten meters further back. She thrust her palms together and blasted several ki balls at him. He smiled and dodged them one by one. She saw him coming closer to her. When he got to her he punched out and she blocked it with her fist against his. She saw him lift his leg and kick out towards her face. She lifted her right arm and blocked him. They both struggled against each other, holding that position, until they jumped apart.

He breathed hard as he watched her. She grabbed her stomach and lent over forward onto her knees.

“Well done sister…” Oren said, walking up to her.
“You’re strong for your frame.” He said, lifting her head to look up at him.

“How’s your flying?” he said, picking her up.

He tossed her up into the air a little and caught her again, winding up for a good throw. He threw her up into the sky like she was rag doll. She flew up and stopped high above the arena. She felt a pain shooting through her body and she involuntarily doubled over forward again, feeling something creeping up her ribcage. She wheezed and looked down. He was rushing towards her, his red aura preceding him. She moaned and flitted away from him just as he got to her. He looked around and found her and rushed towards her.

“No stop…” she wheezed, holding out her right hand to him.
“Something’s wrong…” she said, clutching her belly.

“Stop being weak…” he said, pushing his palms together and forming a red ball of ki in it.

“No Oren, I’m serious. I think I’m dying…” she wheezed at him.

“STOP IT!” he shouted and fired the blast at her.

She didn’t try and block it, or dodge it. She could barely move. She let the blast hit her.

It blasted her down into more rubble. She felt her body weakening and the sharp pieces of metal cutting into her as the blast pushed her down into the ground.
He eased up off the blast and looked down into hole he had made in the ground. She lay at the bottom of the pit and looked up at him.

She had never imagined her brother to be so brutal. Was their up bringing so different that he couldn’t tell that what he was doing was barbaric. She coughed and rolled over to one side and coughed harder. She felt something rushing out of her mouth and grabbed her mouth. She breathed in deeply and shaking, moved her hand into her line of sight. She knew what was going on. She saw her hand was stained with blood. She was dying. He was killing her. She needed to get to the platform before she died here. She pushed herself up against the wall of the pit and saw him flying down to her.

“What, no retort?” he laughed.

“Oren…” she wheezed to him.
“Listen to me.” she added, blood running out the corner of her mouth and down her chin.
“I need to leave now. Before I die here. I can’t get wished back if I do.” She whispered.

“You’re not dieing.” He said, plummeting towards her.

His feet hit her right in the belly. She was unable to contract her stomach and she felt ribs cracking under the pressure of the attack.
She gasped for air as he pummelled her ten more meters down into the ground. She didn’t know what to do. Her brother was a dedicated fighter, no doubt. But was he so blood thirsty that he would kill her without a second thought. If this is what a true Saiyan warrior was, she didn’t want any part of it. She wished she could rip out her Saiyan DNA, become human, or anything. Anything but a monster like him. He flew away from her and looked down at her.

“Oren, get me to the platform…” she begged him.

“If you can’t get yourself there, then you deserve to die.” He said, looking down at her.
“No Saiyan woman is as weak as you are.” He said, taking off.
“Goodbye sister.” He said, flying off.

“Bastard…” she wheezed.
“YOU BASTARD!” she shouted up at him.

She wheezed and sat up. As she did she heard the crunching of her ribs. She reached around her torso and gasped. She concentrated hard and formed a ki plate under her. She lay back on it and started to make it rise up.

It took a while, but soon she got to the top of the pit and looked towards the arena. Oren was already fighting someone else.

“Jerk…” she said, sitting up and looking around for the platform.

With all the fighting and buildings being destroyed, she had lost it.

“Damn it…” she said, looking around.

She absorbed the ki back into her body and began to fly around, looking for the platform.

She searched for what seemed like hours. Eventually she found it, under some rubble. She landed and limped over to it. She began to pick up the pieces of rubble and throw it aside. She had to stop every now and then to rest, but soon, it was clear of all the rubble. She sighed out of relief and smiled. She looked back one last time at the coliseum and sighed.

She had imagined her brother to be different. Like her. She looked at the table on the platform and realized, there really was no one like her. She wasn’t the typical Saiyan. Born of Saiyan fire, taught of peace and logic. Two cultures with two different views of life and fighting. Saiyan and Namekian, two cultures who hated each other. Two different worlds. And she was caught right in the middle.

She decided then and there that she would try and balance the two better in the future. She stepped up onto the platform and limped over to the table. The floor lit up in the strange symbols again and she smiled.

She stepped up to it and she felt her legs buckle under her. She grabbed the edge of the table and leaned over forward. She reached up and put her hand back on the table. She glanced back at the coliseum. She never wanted to see him again.
She closed her eyes as the world began to spin around her. She just put her head down and hoped it took her back to Earth in time before she passed out.

As soon as she felt the wind died down, she looked up and saw that she was back in the Pendulum Room. She pulled herself up with the help of the table and limped over to the door. She pressed down on it and it swung open. She didn’t have much strength left and she collapsed as soon as it was open.
She breathed hard and rolled over onto her back. She had to get their attention.

“Kami…” she whispered.
She waited a few seconds and heard nothing.
“Kami…” she shouted a little harder, but still no one came.
“KAMI!” she shouted with the last of her strength.

Soon she heard heartbeats coming nearer, and then she heard footfalls, running towards her. They were coming to help her. She smiled and sniffed the lamb roast in the oven that Mr. Popo was cooking. She lay there and let the pain engulf her. She saw Mr. Popo and Kami’s face appear just before the darkness clawed at her consciousness.

“Ava, Ava oh my goodness. Kami is she okay…” Mr Popo said just as she passed out.
Kami held his hands out over her and sensed her injuries.

“Move her to her room. She’s going to need extensive healing.” Kami said as Mr. Popo bent down and picked her up.

He took her to her room and lay her down on the bed. Kami pulled up a chair and held his hands over her.

“Contact Kaval. He needs to be here if…” Kami stopped. He had never healed anyone who was this badly hurt.

“Right away Kami.” Mr. Popo bowed and ran off.

“Oh Ava. I’m so sorry. I thought you were ready.” Kami shook his head and began his long healing session.

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“SHE’S WHAT?” Kaval’s voice ran out over the Capsule Corp house.
Agan had called him, after Mr. Popo had contacted him.

“She’s hurt Kaval. She might die.” Agan explained.

“HOW!” Kaval shouted.

“Kami sent her into the Pendulum Room. She fought someone and came out mince meat.” Agan explained.

“DON’T…” Kaval shouted then he saw a maid come walking around the corner.

He waited till she was gone then he whispered back to Agan.
“Don’t refer to my mate as mince meat.” He whispered.

“Get to Kami’s Lookout now.” Agan told him.

Kaval nodded and hung up. He flashed into Super Saiyan and flew right out the door, heading towards the lookout.

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A few days later, Ava felt a tingle in her body. She had been drifting in a black ocean and all of a sudden there was a lighthouse, calling her to shore.

She slowly opened her eyes. And felt the pain hit her. She gasped softly and realised that she wasn’t in as much pain as what she was when she came back. She looked around. She was back in her room on the Lookout; she lifted her right hand and put it over her heart. It was still beating. She was alive. She sighed and then she felt someone holding her other hand and looked over to her left. Kaval was there, holding her hand, his head laid on the bed next to her.
She smiled. She tried to slip her hand put of his to sit up but he woke up with a fright.

“What… what…” he said, looking around wildly.

“It’s okay. It’s just me.” she said, sitting up.
He looked at her and sighed, out of relief she guessed.

“Thank Shenron you’re okay…” he smiled.

“Did I have you going there for a second?” she smiled weakly.
He smiled at her and stood up.

“Just a second.” He said, leaning down and kissing her gently on the lips.

She reached up and out her hand on the back of his neck and kissed him back.
He pulled away slowly a few seconds later and looked into her brown eyes.

“Someone’s coming…” he whispered and stood up right.
Kami stepped into the room a few seconds later.

“Ah, you’re awake.” He smiled at her.

“Master. I failed. I’m so sorry.” She bowed her head.

“How so Ava?” he asked sitting in the chair.
“I told you to fight. Not win.” He smiled at her.
“Who did you fight anyway?” he asked her.

Her eyes shot open and she looked away suddenly.

“I… I don’t want to talk about it.” she whispered.

“Okay, okay. But just so you know. You did pass.” He said, getting up and walking out.

She sighed and smiled at Kaval.

“How long was I out for?” she asked him.

“Five days.” He said, sitting beside her on the bed.
“When I got here and I saw all the blood, I thought you were dead.” He shook his head.

She looked down at her body and saw that she was clean and in her PJs. She looked at him and he smiled.

“Do you think I would let them touch you?” he blushed.

“I washed you off and dressed you. Not an easy feat I’ll tell you now.” he laughed.
She smiled and laughed at him.

“You silly monkey.” She laughed at him.

“Ava, who did you fight in there?” he asked her.
She sighed.

“My brother. Oren.” She told him.

“But… he died, 25 years ago.” Kaval said to her, scrunching up his brow.

“No, he’s alive, and well, living on Arlia. He’s the one who beat me to a pulp. His own sister.” She shook his head.
“You should have seen him, Kaval. He’s a monster.” she looked at him.

“He’s a Saiyan. Our kind was like that. He obviously never found inner peace.” He said to her.
She leaned onto his chest and he put his hand on the back of her head.

“I never want to see him again.” she said, a tear running down her cheek.

“I’ll see to it.” he said, kissing her on top of her head.
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END
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Quest Status – Completed.
WC - 5052