A Short Breath

Gira smiled as Ticoga thanked her and Zuqetta for their vow to come to the aid of his empire if they were ever in trouble. She was especially relieved to hear that the emperor didn't hold her actions-- or lack thereof-- against her.

"That's actually a really big relief. And, uh... sorry for trying to punch you. I wasn't really thinking straight." She gingerly touched Zuqetta's wrist.

"Um... and i'm sorry about your wrist. But I promise, i'm gonna make it better! Call me Nurse Gira, cuz i'm gonna make sure you heal quickly!" She grinned broadly despite the guilt she felt over hurting her beloved, even if the strike that did it was meant for Ticoga. However, what he said next really put into perspective how much worse the situation could have been if it wasn't just her and Yangcong who were left behind to meet Ticoga and his allies. With him and that other woman that showed up, things would have been extremely bloody. It likely would have been even worse if Zuqetta hadn't reminded Gira what was really important to her and got her to instead fight on the right side. While she didn't believe that she would take any lives herself, she was certain that her power had grown to the point where she would have been a handful for the Arcosian Emperor; perhaps even enough to where he wouldn't have been able to effectively support his allies. That being the case, the death toll would have most certainly been higher.

At the mention that her old group of friends had become quite dangerous, Gira couldn't help but agree. 

"Y-Yeah... and Max has gotten really strong, really fast, too. He might even be stronger than me at this point. Marimba might even be as strong as Gan-sensei was. Yangcong is gone... for now, but they still have a lot of power on their side. But... we do, too! And unlike them, we've got a lot more motivation than just power or revenge. We're looking to protect what we care about. That kind of motivation can help you find strength when you think you don't have any." Gira smiled hopefully at the emperor. She had a lot that she wanted to protect, and now she wanted to protect Zuqetta most of all. Things were really messed up these days, but she was confident that this pact that the three of them had made would be enough to put a stop to the threats that were brewing. When Ticoga agreed to keep her up to date on the movements of Max and Marimba, she bowed her head in gratitude.

"Thanks. And don't worry. If I hear anything, i'll let you know. Especially if I catch wind of any plans for the empire. I'll just... need some kind of scouter or something. When you can communicate with people in their minds over long distances, you kinda forget that other forms of communication also exist." She chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, I don't really miss having to carry my phone on me. So there's that, I guess." She reached for another snack, popping the entire cake into her mouth and devouring it in a single bite as Ticoga addressed Zuqetta next. She couldn't help but agree with him about what he said regarding the queen's statement about keeping her from being bad.

"That's right. There's no way you could be a bad guy. You're a better person than I am, so if you're not worried about me, you shouldn't be worried about yourself." Then Ticoga brought up his plans for the empire itself. Gira didn't respond, but her grin broadened. Turning the empire into a force for good in the galaxy echoed Gira's own desire to do the same with the Saiyans back when she had the goal of taking the throne. For the first time in awhile, she felt like she had chosen her allies wisely, especially when Ticoga revealed that he planned to halt the empire's expansion. He mentioned something called the "Galactic Patrol." She hadn't come across this organization before, but it seemed that Ticoga thought that they wouldn't be able to work together. If that was the case, it was unfortunate. The side of evil was gathering allies; they needed to keep doing the same. Everyone who might oppose all of this wanton death and destruction was a potential ally in Gira's book.

When asked about two people Ticoga had met on Earth, Gira stared blankly as she tried to recall if she ever met such people. Finally, she shook her head.

"Sorry, but no. They don't sound familiar to me. Wish I could help, but I don't think i've met anyone like that before." She looked over to Zuqetta as their cheeks were pressed together, the queen speaking on what she believed about these individuals. She frowned with concern at the change in her beloved's tone. However, she could understand where she was coming from. The only real Shinjin she had met was Vale, and that guy was a real asshole. Not only had he attempted to summon a demon army to attack her hometown, but he was also involved in that nastiness in Central City. He was a real bad guy, and one that would be very dangerous if left unchecked. She briefly wondered if all of his kind were like that, but assumed that they must be if Zuqetta thought this way about them. That would be the assumption that she operated under for now, at least. She had to be careful not to be roped into helping evil flourish again. She had to be careful about who she trusted.

When Zuqetta's tail smacked against the underside of the table, it jolted Gira out of her thoughts as she flinched slightly, almost in perfect sync with the queen. However, she would tighten her arm around her beloved's shoulder, patting it gently in a comforting gesture. 

"Don't worry. We're not gonna be led astray by false gods. We don't need 'em. Us mortals are gonna be the ones to fix these problems. We don't need any divine intervention. We've got everything we need to handle our own stuff." She moved her cheek just far enough away from Zuqetta's to look at her and gave her a confident smile.

"Ginko and... Yakito, too." Gira had to take a second to remember the names of the two.

"They're gonna be okay. And we're not gonna let what happened to them go unanswered. Patch, too. Next time this chick rears her ugly head, we're gonna introduce her to our patent pending brand of Saiyan justice; fist-first. Or we can give her a taste of the Yangcong Special. Free of charge." She grinned, referring to their potent combination attack that had eliminated what was left of the war criminal's fighting spirit.

"I don't care how strong she thinks she is. She can't stand up to the kind of power we've got." She hoped that her words and her presence would be enough to calm her beloved down. Gira didn't like seeing her in distress. She saw a lot of that in her love's mind, and she swore to protect her with everything she had from all threats both physical and emotional. If Zuqetta had lots of allies, she would always be one of them. If she only had one ally, it would be her... and if she had no allies left, that would be because Gira was dead.

Zuqetta would laugh at Gira's remark, questioning if Gira could even use healing magic; being a student of Gandigan, she thought it might be possible, but would besmirch Gira's intentions by questioning it. While it was a bit embarrassing to have both Ticoga and Gira countering the notion of she herself being a threat or becoming evil, she was glad to have allies who were so confident in her. As Gira pulled away a bit, assuring her that the two of them wouldn't be led astray again, Zuqetta would feel a renewed confidence, and would push forward, embracing Gira firmly despite Ticoga's presence. "Heheh, you bet!" she'd exclaim, nuzzling against her beloved.

The brief positive mood was interrupted as Ticoga went on to explain the details regarding Rhapsody and the power on Earth. Zuqetta had become much more comfortable, and chose to simply continue leaning against Gira rather than adjust properly; their official meeting becoming a much more casual one.

"She was protecting... plants? Why--" Zuqetta questioned, though would interrupt herself as a strange tightness came to her chest. A deep magical power resonated with her as she tried to say the words, and she was reminded of Ayu. She'd shake her head, giving a sigh and averting her gaze from Ticoga, "I guess protecting plants isn't bad, but if there's really a dangerous power there and she knows about and stopped you, then she can't be trusted. More than some plants are at stake if it's as bad as she mentioned..." she'd explain, the magical resonance inside her dying down.

She smirked when Ticoga mentioned not allowing their pride to become arrogance, she wasn't exactly sure where the line was, but when she thought of her actions on Namek, she realized it was arrogance that overtook her.

"I won't let that happen again... I... I thought I could be everywhere and help everyone, and that was arrogance." she'd explain, her tail coiling up from beneath the table to wrap around she and Gira, "It was costly, but it won't happen again."

Her eye's would glance upwards towards Gira and she'd smile, brimming with confidence as she thought of Gira being with her through future threats. This in itself could have been a form of arrogance however as Zuqetta imagined their being no threat to possibly stand against the two of them together, but Zuqetta in her loving stupor would completely miss this. When Ticoga would go on, bringing up her supposed laugh of strength and desire for a new golden form, Zuqetta couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, if I could resist it I would! It's not like I chose gold, I'm much more partial to pink." she'd laugh, before noticing Rambutan returning with a scouter offered to Gira. Gira's mention prior of lacking a communication device hadn't been lost on Zuqetta, however something would shoot through her as she saw the gift offered to Gira. Without hesitation, Zuqetta would lean over Gira, reaching out and snatching the device before Gira could snag it, "Gimme!"

She'd quickly push back, examining the device before looking over towards Gira, "I didn't know you didn't have a scouter!" she'd remark with a pout, "I've got tons of different models and customized designs! Heck, I even got a "cellular phone", I think is what Russ called it." she'd say, turning her attention back towards the device; she'd roll it in her grip, examining it all around before giving a nod, "Hmmm, it's not baaaad, but pretty standard."

A somewhat sly grin would stretch across Zuqetta's face before the light of her magic would begin to shimmer around the device. With an almost cartoonish poof, the device would be remade into a scouter of Zuqetta's preference, one of a much more unique design than any she'd used before. Rather than a single eye, this new scouter stretched as a visor across both eyes, featuring a rainbow of multiple scouter colors; it maintained it's sleek design of the Empire's new releases, though Zuqetta herself preferred the blocky designs, finding them cute.

"There ya go! And it has all the same features and functions of the Empire's, plus some additional functions, courtesy of moi~!" she'd say with a proud grin, gesturing to herself before offering the scouter back to Gira, "But, if ya really like the Empire design more-" she'd say with a faux tone of disappointment and a psuedo pout, before materializing a second scouter, one revealed to be the selfsame one Rambutan was originally going to give, "I suppose you could just have both." she'd remark, smiling, "Hehe, I have a whole bunch, so no reason you can't too!" she'd say, revealing herself to be a girl who enjoyed a bit of collecting.

Gira nodded slightly at Ticoga's words. She did indeed have a lot that she was working to change. Beyond just her desire to redeem her friends, she also had problems of her own that she was working to fix. Ever since she had begun growing stronger, she noticed an ever-present anger growing inside her. Over time, this has changed into a desire for pain and destruction that grew stronger alongside her. When asked what she was going to do next, Gira immediately knew what her answer was going to be.

"What i'm gonna work on next is myself. I've got a lot of urges... bad ones. Sometimes, they're too strong for me to overcome... like on Namek. If Zuq hadn't stopped me and broken through that red haze to speak to me directly, then... I don't wanna think about what could have happened." There would have been a lot more death and devastation, that was certain. 

"But I know I can do it! With your help, and Zuq's of course, i'll be able to be just the hero that I want to. Once I do that, well, that's gonna be the fun part. Earth is my birthplace, even if it isn't the only place that I call home. We've got a lot of problems there that need solving, and i'm not just talking about the crime. I tried to learn why people turn to crime in the first place, and I think I have the answer. Some people are just greedy and sadistic, but i've met a ton of small time criminals that turned to their evil ways because it was either rob banks and convenience stores or end up on the street. This is especially true for unregistered ki users. They can't get an honest job, and many of them don't have the same advantages that I do. So, when the time is right, i'm gonna try fixing those problems! I don't know how i'm gonna do it yet... but i'm gonna find out." She turned to look at Zuq as she began to ask where Gira planned to look for her friends. This was definitely gonna be one of the hard parts to redeeming them. They weren't going to come back to Namek. That much was safe to assume. She could only determine one possibility. 

"I think they're gonna come after me first. I have something that Marimba is gonna want, and Max... well, Max is gonna want to have a word with me about what happened today for sure." She then listened to what Zuqetta said about her guild, and about the two injured fighters from the earlier battle, even stating that she may have overestimated the amount of force she needed to bring to bear against the Mazoku. Gira smiled and playfully punched her on the arm when her beloved winked at her, telling her that she meant no offense.

"None taken. I don't want ya to go thinking i'm too weak to help you, though, so i'll just have to look for an opportunity to show you what I can really do!" Gira grinned broadly, grabbing a cake from off of a platter and devouring it in practically one bite.

Zuqetta crossed her arms, nodding as Ticoga made his remark; she hadn't thought much further than more joint efforts, but he had a point that Arcose could be left undefended. The air wouldn't be too heavy thanks to Gira's remarks however, to which Zuqetta could help but laugh, her tail casually reaching around and gripping at Gira's bicep.

"Don't worry, I don't think YOU'RE weak in the least~!" she'd remark, tilting her head and giving Gira a wink.

Ticoga stood, apparently ready for their meeting to end; Zuqetta herself felt the same, having not received a response from Russ, she was curious if there was something going on back on Earth. She'd roll back off her bean bag chair, flipping back onto her feet before reaching out to take another cake.

"Nothin' from me, I already let Yaki and Ginko know I'd talk with ya about it, so if you could just let them know, it'd be a great help." she'd smile, "I intend ta take a trip ta Earth next, I'm curious about my friends there, but also..." her smile wavered, a tinge of worry coming to her expression, "Well, we dunno where Lottus' has been taken... I figure you've got Arcose covered, he clearly ain't here on Namek, and the Novas can handle Konats just fine. If he's been sent ta Earth, I gotta prevent..." she pause, shaking her head, "I gotta make sure I'm there!"

She couldn't be sure how Lottus would react when he awoke, but she was sure it wouldn't be good. His ki that seeped from the ice had been heavy, filled with malice; wherever he awoke, she was certain he'd lash out against anything that moved. If this happened on Earth, it'd have been disastrous, and defending his actions would have been impossible.

She spoke with a greater confidence, but there was still clear worry in her voice. Her destination was set however, and she was ready to go; making such a motion to move around the table before taking a bite of her cake. Her tail reaching out towards Gira's hand, wrapping around to guide her along. With a quick realization however, Zuqetta would pause, looking back to Ticoga with a curious expression.

"Ah, I nearly forgot!" she'd remark, reaching down to take one more drink of her juice to clear her throat, before looking back towards Ticoga with a smile, "Ya wouldn't happen ta be in the need of an expert mechanic, would ya?" she'd remark, "I have a friend who's recently come ta Plant from Konats, his name's Tinker. He's pretty handy, lately he's even worked on some special medical machines that go way beyond the bacta tanks we have in Sadala. They can fix up wounds REALLY quick!" she'd say, a wide grin before she'd finish off the last of her cake, "Somethin' ta think about if you're interested, I can send his contact info ta Rammy here!"

Tinker seemed incredibly interested in helping, clearly holding a bit of regret from his inability to do so back on Konats. Getting his name out into the galaxy would certainly help, his machines would surely be needed somewhere, especially with how many got hurt so often. Such was the last that Zuqetta had to say, and with that final bit of information given, she would thank Ticoga for their meeting, assuring that a proper battle report would be transferred soon.

It was especially important for the empire to have information on Yangcong's mana signature, ki and bio-metrics were one thing, but the snake that Yangcong was could easily alter those things with magic. Zuqetta wasn't certain as how helpful it would be, but if the Arcosians could develop technology to utilize the information, then they'd certainly be able to see through any of the monsters magical disguises.