Assemble (Invite)

"Let's see... canned chickpeas, shredded cheddar cheese, lamb chops, cream of mushroom soup, and... rice. What's she gonna do with this stuff anyway?" Gira's mom had sent her out shopping today. Usually, her mom was the one who got the groceries, but she was at some sort of conference in Central City until tomorrow morning. That was when the beeping started in her ear. Lightly tapping the earbud in her left ear, her friend and honorary sidekick, Kaci was on the other end.

"Hey, Gira. You seeing this?" Gira's glasses lit up, showing a video feed of a strange, yet somehow familiar creature speaking.


"...In any case, we should all give thanks to the brave warriors who defended this city from the heinous attack it has suffered. We should all do our best to reward them."

"You were with the group involved in that scrap, right? This is your first real public mention, even if it is just part of a stump speech by some politician. This is a huge deal!" Kaci's voice was raising in pitch as she was getting more and more excited.

"Calm down. It isn't like I did it for the recognition. Still, at least now it's clear to anyone with evil ideas about attacking West City that it's well-defended. I don't think anyone will try something like that again for awhile... hopefully." Then she had a feeling like an intrusive thought. No, not like that. It was more like someone speaking directly into her mind, using their own mind to communicate with her. It appeared to be the man from the video. He seemed to be trying to establish contact with those who were at the battle.

"...Gira? You good?" Kaci spoke after a long moment of silence.

"Uh... yeah. How do I explain this? That politician guy just spoke to me inside my mind." 

"Like... telepathy?"

"Yeah, it was really freaky. Apparently, he's got some kind of opportunity for the people who were at that battle." Gira wondered about his invitation though. He spoke of a reward. That wasn't all too interesting to her. Saving people was its own reward. The opportunity, however... that was what interested the hero. Kaci noticed this second long pause.

"You're not... you're not actually gonna go, are you?" Kaci's tone sounded worried, and for good reason. Gira was an unregistered ki user. While she wasn't sure what the punishment for that was, it most certainly wasn't simply a stern talking to. Still, Gira wanted to hear the guy out. At the very least, she wanted to meet him and take his measure. 

'What did he say...? Follow his power?'

Reaching out with her sixth sense, Gira began to feel out the other powers in the area. It wasn't hard to find him. His power stuck out like a sore thumb around here. Now Gira was certain she wanted to meet him. Someone that powerful had to be a good fighter. Maybe he'd be willing to go a round with her? Based on his position relative to hers... it appeared he was in the seedy part of town. Perhaps in one of the many abandoned buildings. A secretive spot, if a little creepy. "Don't worry, Kaci. He's alone, and he's in an area where the authorities won't see me. It'll be fine."

"I've got a bad feeling about this... but okay. I'll observe and provide support if needed. Activating SaiyaCam." Kaci had been hard at work making new tech for Gira's hero exploits, and the Stealth Glasses were her newest design. An upgraded, incognito version of the Great Saiyagirl's helmet cam, they matched the Saiyan's prescription, and they also had the same functionality as a smartphone. Kaci could even assume control to feed info to Gira in real time. The glasses also had a camera so she could see, which Kaci affectionately named the "SaiyaCam." With Kaci receiving a live feed of what Gira was seeing, the hero took off in the direction of the large battle power she sensed. It didn't take long for her to pinpoint the building where she was meant to go. 

"Thank Kami for the ability to sense ki." The girl muttered to herself. Landing on the ground next to the door, the Saiyan cleared her throat and knocked. "Uh... hello! It's me! One of the people who were in that battle! I got your message and, uh... I wanted to see about this opportunity you were talkin' about!"

"Real subtle, screaming in the middle of the street." The Saiyagirl's friend teased her.

"I can scream way louder than this." Gira reminded her in a sassy tone with a cheeky smile. 

---

PL | 24 000
TWC | 777

Once she and the Megis had met, he invited her inside. "I'm Gira nice to meetcha." Gira introduced herself as she followed Megis inside, taking a look around when she passed the threshold. It seemed that she was the only one here. Or maybe she was just the first one to show up? That was when her host asked that everything she is being told be kept a secret for now. That sounded kinda... sketchy. 

"...Is this guy being serious right now?"

'Oh, that's right.' The Saiyan had forgot that her friend could see and hear everything that was going on via her glasses. That made secrecy a little complicated, but Kaci was basically her eyes and ears anyway. Her "Oracle," like in the old stories. Gira's eyes lit up when Megis produced a canvas out of thin air, as if by magic. The girl always had a childlike wonder when it came to magic. Sure, she could fly around and shoot lasers, but creating random objects out of nothing? That was way cooler. She'd at least trade the lasers for that. Her wonder grew when the Presidential hopeful began explaining his master plan. A team. Not just any team, but one comprised of heroes like her.

As she gazed at the painting that magically appeared on the canvas, her imagination ran wild. This was just like her comic books. She could be apart of a cool hero team, and protect the people of Earth to boot. It was everything she could have dreamed of!

"Guy seems pretty confident that he's gonna win the election. If this whole hero team hinges on that, that's a big if." What Kaci said was true, but still... a hero team. Who could pass that up? Even if it was just a chance, what was really the harm in signing up?

"Wow, uh... I gotta admit, Mister... what did you say your name was? Megis?" It was clear that Gira didn't follow politics. "Anyway, I gotta admit, i'm pretty excited about the idea of being apart of a hero team and helping people. The magic was also a nice touch. If i'm gonna agree though, I gotta know a thing or two first." Even though the young woman didn't follow the horse race of politics, it appeared she was familiar with the concept of playing politics itself. "First, what about those heroes who have the power to help others, but aren't allowed to under the law? This hero team is a really awesome idea and all, but it's not gonna include everyone, right? Like, everyone on Earth who can fight?" Gira frowned and furrowed her brow, thinking back on her frustration that led her to becoming a hero in the first place. "Lots of people want to protect their communities, and they're told they have to just sit by and watch bad things happen. No matter how many of us there are on this team, if people aren't allowed to defend each other, it's just a matter of catching us off guard." Gira looked Megis in the eye, uncharacteristically serious from how she had presented herself so far. "What would you do? If you were President and you could change things?"

---

TWC: 1314

"Your first act, huh?" The Saiyan liked the sound of that. Empowering local heroes to solve the smaller problems by giving them places to grow their abilities, while the stronger ones would be made part of an elite team to deal with the planetary threats... and she would be part of this team. A special force for the Planet Earth. Gira thought back to the battle, when she aimed the strongest attack she could muster in that moment towards the demon, Chervii. She was swatted aside easily, like one would swat a fly. That strange creature who opened the portal in the first place. There were many powerful people with less than noble motives who could threaten the safety and peace of the planet if they decided to. For the first time, Gira got to lay eyes on a plan such as this firsthand.

While the fighting excited her in the moment, she couldn't help but fear that one day, the bad guys would outnumber the good ones... or more likely, they would become more organized than the good ones. Gira maintained eye contact with the Majin before giving him a nod. She made her decision. Earth had the potential to be a bastion of heroism, and its been held back because those in power fear the potential of rogue actions from a few bad apples. That could change. They could be organized and form a multi-prong defense strategy for the planet that involves any hero with a fire in their heart and a desire to protect their communities. The hero smiled in the direction of her new acquaintance. "I'll do it. I'm in." She made the decision to believe in this man for now.

He was speaking of freedom for people like her, out from under the thumb of the surveillance state. Not only that, he seemed to have a solid plan to secure the future of Earth and keep it safe from outside and inside threats. "So, uh..." She didn't even ask the guy about his chances in the race. He just seemed so sure that the hero trusted the whole thing was locked down. "...so how's the election looking? You seem pretty sure you're gonna win. Is it gonna be that much of a landslide?" Gira didn't follow electoral politics often, but she did catch rumblings here and there, and she gathered that winning a planetary election was never a simple feat. Earth was home to a diverse range of peoples, a lot of whom had contradicting opinions.

However, the one thing that caused the teen Saiyan to shed her doubt a bit was the thought that the safety of the planet was something everyone could get behind, regardless of political divides. Some would likely have issues with repealing the accords, but heroes like the ones she saw during the most recent battles would convince the people that they had nothing to fear from them.

---

TWC: 1802

What he said about the current President made sense to Gira. Most people want to see or hear from their leader, and if they don't, they could lose confidence in them. With no other candidates, Megis did appear to be the heir-apparent to the Presidency... barring any last minute entrants of course. But those sorts of people would be at a huge disadvantage entering so late into the race. He was indeed the favorite. That much rang true. When the conversation turned back to the events in West City, Gira began to sweat nervously. 'Uh oh... hopefully this guy didn't just recruit me cuz he thinks I can lead him to the others.' The Saiyan could remember their faces, but names escaped her. She wasn't exactly looking to exchange introductions at the time. Oh! but she did meet one of them beforehand. The ones she went to the ice cream shop with. But... what were their names again? At that moment, while Gira was thinking of something to tell Megis, Kaci's voice came from Gira's phone tucked in her pocket. 

"Just finished analyzing the recovered footage from your helmet cam that day. Cross-referenced that with publicly available data, so now I have a list of names." She put herself on speaker. Of course. The teen forgot that her friend could take control of her phone. 

"Uh... this is my intelligence... person. We're best friends. You can trust her. She goes by Oracle." 

"What? No I don't!"

"Well, you do now. C'mon, you need a hero name too." The girl on the other end sighed. 

"Fine, Oracle. I guess it's kinda cool." She cleared her throat. "Now, the names?"

"Go ahead. Just the good guys, please." The teen Saiyan crossed her arms and grinned, almost as if she found the other girl's mild annoyance amusing.

"Okay, well, first there is Bean. A.K.A. "Captain Bean." That guy made finding his name easy since he screamed it several times. SaiyaScale(tm) Designation: Hero. Maximum Known Battle Power: 96,000." Gira blinked in confusion.

"Saiya... Scale... tee... ehm...?"

"Don't interrupt, i'm not done. Next is Meara Sealgai. You're familiar with her, Gira. You two met at the West Bank and Trust job. She had some friends with her that day, but they were absent during the battle. She's skilled in magic. Her designation is "Hero," Max battle power, 221,925. One of the powerhouses. Then there is Lieutenant Commander Kimono of the C.O.C.I.S. Disciplined. Definitely a soldier type. Battle power, 83,808. Next up is Alva. She was... frustrating. Clearly a powerful combatant. Based on the footage I saw, she performed well, but... the only detectable battle power from her was a paltry 5. I think the lion's share of her combat abilities come from that metal exoskeleton. Really nice piece of work, that. Wish I could ask about it, but I digress. Morrigan is next."

"Oh, that's right. She was the one that stopped me from attacking the guy opening the portal. She's SUPER strong." Gira nodded to herself, sure of Morrigan's strength. Being able to stop her Justice Smash with so little effort was impressive indeed. 

"Yes, she is very impressive. With a battle power of 99,000 to boot. She isn't a joke. Then there is Sagan, battle power 32,170. Though his strength ranks him towards the bottom here, he's got spirit and I think he'd actually join up. It's just a gut feeling though. He kinda reminds me of Gira a bit. Then there's that bug guy, Kyten." Gira visibly shudders remembering him standing so close to her, but Kaci continues regardless. "He was using some form of energy suppression, so we have no readings on his battle power. Uh... but I guess I can mention Tekira. She was the one you tried to save from that demon chick. Her battle power is... pathetic, honestly. Probably no better than mine. At least she has a gun, I suppose. Chomei is a similar story to Kyten. No clear readings on battle power. But yeah, I think that's all the good guys. At least, as far as I can tell."

"You were able to get all of that from some video and research on the internet?" Gira was impressed. She knew there was a reason Kaci was her sidekick beyond just the bond they shared. 

"Yeah, but don't get me wrong. It wasn't exactly a picnic."

---

TWC: 2543

"I didn't talk to Chomei much, but he did scream a lot. Guess I can't really say anything about that, though. I screamed a lot during that fight too." Gira laughed nervously. "I think he protected one of the other fighters too. In my book, he's a pretty cool dude." The Saiyan was happy to hear that Megis already had connections with some of these heroes. It definitely added to his credibility. Gira was curious, however, about what kind of incident happened with Morrigan to make her dislike him. She seemed to be good-hearted. Her nature made the Saiyan reconsider her approach to the villains she faced going forward. Megis seemed like a good person too. Where could they have been at odds? She didn't get a chance to ask, however, as the Majin asked Kaci about the threat that they faced. "This pink guy was trying to open this evil-looking portal. The energy coming from it was... well, it didn't feel good let's put it that way. It just felt really dark and ominous."

"Indeed. From the audio logs, it appeared that the main threat came from a Shinjin by the name of Vale. Though, I did hear him referred to as Mr. V by Bean. He was attempting to summon an army of demons in the Furnace of Eight Divisions by summoning a portal to the demon realm, claiming it to be some sort of cultural exchange. Ludicrous. Thankfully, no one was dumb enough to fall for that. The damage to life and property was minimal thanks to the many powerful heroes that showed up. This Vale guy's power was respectable, clocking in at 120,000. Same as yours when you're angry, Gira." 

"Yeah, but I bet I could have taken him, rage boost or not. He didn't strike me as a real fighter."

"Don't underestimate him. Do I need to remind you that fighting prowess isn't everything?" Kaci shot back.

"Yeah, but he wasn't the biggest threat if you really think about it." This was true. In terms of power, there was someone else.

"True. I think that situation with the demon was the real determining factor here about how that was gonna go. We're fortunate she just decided to leave before anyone died. She even manhandled you and your power was higher than i've ever seen it before."

"Yeah, but i'll get stronger. Then let's see her try to hurt anyone on my watch!" The girl on the phone laughed. 

"I'm sure you will, especially if you put your mind to it. Anyway, Chervii's power was off the charts. 355,000 in fact. Earth's Special Forces would have their hands full should that one decide to attack."

"Yeah, I thought she felt ridiculously strong." The eager young Saiyan began to do squats, trying to work off some excited energy. "You think she's training too? I hope so. It'd suck to train and get super strong, then just win the fight in two seconds."

"We must proceed under the assumption that yes, she is. I know that excites you, Gira, but we have to keep an eye on that one. She's too much of a wildcard." Kaci knew her friend's Saiyan biology well. Craving battle and seeking out ever stronger opponents was in her blood. The teen Saiyan looked back at Megis. 

"I think Alva knew Chervii. The way they were talking, it seemed like they were awfully familiar with each other. You said you know Alva, do you know Chervii too?" Gira turned her head to the side and looked directly at the Majin, eager to hear his answer.

---

TWC: 3131

"I'm not too familiar with Kais or Shinjin or whatever they're called either. I hope they're not all like Vale though. Guy's real slimy. But yeah, I agree that he isn't really a serious threat. He struck me as more of a guy who makes plans too big for his means and relies on his tongue to get his way. I don't like people like that. Someone who wants to fight is easy to understand. There's nothing to really read into. Nothing's more honest than a punch to the face as I always say!" Gira frowned. "I don't like having to wonder if i'm being lied to all the time." Saiyagirl sighed and stopped her squats, standing straight again. When she heard of Megis's plan to track them all down.

"Chervii wasn't really working with the Shinjin Kai Dude. Didn't really help stop him either, though. But, no. Of course we didn't finish them off. They ran and, well, they didn't kill anyone. We stopped 'em cold. I doubt they'll try something like that again with us around, and we're gonna be stronger next time too so that'd be a bad idea." Gira smiled at Megis. "I mean, come on, no need to turn a mostly bloodless situation deadly, right? Besides, once you get this program of yours off the ground, people like that won't even be able to threaten the Earth without the full force of its best fighters coming down on them!" Megis's estimation of Gira was mostly accurate. Indeed, she was a very innocent, naïve girl. She would never willingly kill another person.

She was also an idealist, with utopian dreams for her planet, and maybe one day the whole universe. A place where people fought not for petty disagreements or evil plans, but for the sole purpose of testing their limits. Such a place would be a dream come true for someone like her. "But yeah, Chervii and Vale both ran. Vale was clearly outmatched and I think he knew it. Chervii though... who knows? If she wanted to kill someone, she would have. Hell, she could have killed me when I went berserk and attacked her to avenge Tekira, but she didn't. I gotta admit, i'm still not sure about her. She's definitely not a good guy. But maybe she isn't exactly a villain either." The girl took a moment to think.

Chervii had been on the Saiyan's mind ever since the battle. She was so incredibly strong. The young warrior wasn't even aware that someone could have so much power. She wanted a rematch one day soon. She had to have a rematch. She wanted to bring her anger under control first, though. Only then can she truly use the massive boost in power it gave her. The Saiyan teen's berserker assault on the demon was sloppy. Easy for any experienced fighter to respond to. She had to find a way to banish the rage and keep the power it gave her. "Hey, I gotta ask a favor. When you go after Chervii, I wanna come. Our fight didn't really have a conclusion, and we got a score to settle. She called me an amateur. I'm gonna prove her wrong."

---

TWC: 3668

Gira wanted to hug the little pink dude when he agreed to let her come along when they looked for Chervii. "Nice! Thanks a ton. Yeah, Chervii's really strong. We gotta make sure we've got some power on our side as well. But hey, we got lots of good guys to recruit for help." While it definitely hurt the young Saiyan's pride, it was just reality that she wasn't strong enough to take on the demon on her own... not right now, anyway. It felt like the battle made her stronger, but she wasn't near strong enough to actually take on the demoness and win. However, with some training, Gira was convinced that she could get ahead of her. 'You better be training too, cuz you're gonna be in for a shock when we meet next.' The Saiyan grinned at the thought of their next meeting.

She couldn't contain her excitement. That was when Megis asked if she knew where the villains were headed. She thought Vale mentioned something about meeting with Earth's Guardian, whatever that meant. "Um... well, Vale said he was gonna meet Earth's Guardian. I dunno who that is though, or where they are. You seem like you meet all kinds of people though, so maybe you've heard of 'em?" Gira took a moment to think about where the demon could possibly be. Did she even mention anything about where she was going? "Chervii, well... she showed up and attacked Kim, then we traded fists for awhile. After that, she kinda just... left. I dunno, maybe she just thought she'd lose if we kept going. There were a lot of us and she did expend a ton of energy very quickly."

The Saiyan sighed. "Sorry, but when she left, she didn't mention where she was going." Gira frowned. While Vale was a troublemaker, he wasn't too scary as long as someone was around to stop him. Chervii though... she actually had some power backing her up. Right now, she wasn't strong enough to truly threaten Earth by herself, but that could change very easily. "It hasn't been long, so maybe she's still on Earth? If she is, at least we won't need a ship to go after her." 

---

TWC: 4038