Shroom Plan Big [Conquest]

“Pff, naw, she can have it, I don’t mind.” Nero chortled, but maybe a joke match over something that silly would be fun he had to admit.

With a visibly disgusted expression, Nero glared past one of Shroom’s two minions and directly at the Namekian who was more than likely speaking through them. “You could do it without claiming ownership of the castle too. How many times do I have to say it? It isn’t yours. Stop taking what doesn’t belong to you.” Nero had experienced more than enough of folks simply taking things from others, but Shroom had done more than that with his powers, he took people from themselves, and that greatly offended Nero. “If you cared about the land, you wouldn’t use it to serve yourself. The right thing to do would be to restore it and leave it at that, not claim it. What part of that do you not get?” Still, disgusted as he was, Nero would still try to teach a lesson with words first.

Which, honestly, was getting more and more difficult having seen Zerori try and keep herself together, even to the point of knocking her own mother out cold and carrying her away...

Kabe continued to have a go at the thing that skulked around in the ground. At this point Nero could more or less sense it, even if he could hear it down there before. Shroom had a bit of a meltdown at Kabe over it, but Nero assumed that the Namekian just didn’t notice anything under their feet so to speak. With a sigh, Nero waved a hand and used his mystic powers to repair the damaged landscape, it was as good as new now— maybe slightly better, but that was by accident. Eventually the skulking thing showed itself, however, finding the actions of this creature thus far incredibly suspicious, Nero telepathically suggested to Kabe that he keep an eye on them, or even continue combat if he so chose.

In any case, Shroom called out to Nero, it was something about a fight. “No, no, I don’t want to fight. I want to teach you a lesson.” Nero looked over to where that blonde fella was at, who apparently just decided to try and walk away outright. “Yeah, uh, that guy is trying to leave, actually. Pretty cringe, I think, to ditch a friend, if you’re even friends at all.” Nero looked over to Pankaa for a moment. “Honestly, bro? Just kick his ass for that alone.” Looking back to Shroom, Nero gave a deadpan expression. “Also, don’t call my brother an animal. You’re not funny, or quirky, you’re just being stupid.”

As if on on cue, Zerori returned after safely removing their mother from the situation; an aura blazing with such ferocious anger within the flick of a switch. Nero could not and would not blame Zerori for feeling the way she felt, if anything her reaction was entirely relatable— it even came with what Nero could only assume was a twinge of trauma. Goodness knows he understood trauma, his own and other people’s. As he had promised earlier, he would simply let Zerori fly off towards Shroom. Nero did not lift a finger at all, not to similarly attack nor to defend.

Amara on the other hand decided for herself to pitch in— though she didn’t sound too enthused to do it, she did so anyway. That said, she didn’t expend her utmost effort, there was still a wave of power for Shroom to deal with himself. Perhaps Amara thought it was best that way, to not entirely deny Zerori her feelings. While Nero couldn’t be entirely sure, he gave Amara a quick yet thankful nod. If nothing else, her act had given Nero time to think on what to do.

After the impact, wherever Shroom had ended up, Nero swiftly flew towards the Namekian, awaiting such a time where he could get his attention. “This is your last warning.” Nero said sternly. “Leave the castle alone. It is not yours to take. It will be fixed, but not to the glory of one person.” Nero’s gaze turned frosty, what he spoke of next struck him quite hard personally. “You speak of sacrifice but you have not sacrificed anything of your own. You sacrifice other people. You almost sacrificed a young boy’s innocence, almost forced him to kill for your own amusement. You almost sacrificed a woman’s agency and choice of partner, almost forced her to make a choice she would not have made on her own, and right in front of her daughter.” Nero’s aura suddenly exploded at that, his expression growing utterly furious at even the thought, but he still held himself back firmly. “I shudder to think what you have sacrificed of those two Otherworlders or heavens forbid, anyone else you’ve met. Release the hold you have on other people. Their will is not yours to take.”

Nero sharply pointed a finger at Shroom, his tone now ice cold, despite all of this, Shroom was also not actively destroying Namek, but he wasn’t helping it either as far as Nero was concerned. “Right now, you are no better than those with cold dead hearts who see this world and choose to take from it. A Dragon Clan Zealot out to slay the Mazoku for even being born tried to take over Dend Capital. False gods tried to corrupt the Outer Plait, to turn it into a living nightmare. Deranged maniacs tried to turn the Dragon Isles into a desolate hellscape rife with the mutilated bodies of those who live there. Egocentric self centered cowards tried to steal Porunga’s Shrine and carve a second scar into this world.” Nero stepped back, lowering his arm. “But, guess what?” He chuckled. “They failed. Each of them were thwarted by those who love this world and the people on it. They were thwarted by me and my many friends.” Nero looked beyond the bounds of the castle’s grounds, into the Outer Plait, which was thriving as a result of his actions. “You know what didn’t fail? The restoration of the Outer Plait, I gave to it, I gave it my heart so that it could grow. So that it could be a true home for the Mazoku to live in, it is not, and will not be a place for me or anyone to take.”

The glowing blue symbol of Namek’s pride, the Ajisa gently emerged on Nero’s chest. The Guru of Namek held out a hand to Shroom calmly. There was only one way he could think of to really bring peace to the old soul in a way that he thought would matter— it was to teach him, to guide him to a better way of life if there was ever a chance to do so. “Don’t be like the ones that take and hate. Be like those who give and care, then Namek will see you, Namek will know you.” Nero gave Shroom a weary smile, knowing what may happen if the Namekian continued on this dark path, all he would know might end up being pain and suffering, and all of it would be deserved if something was not done about it here and now. “The choice is yours.”