I want to Protect You Part III (invite, ask to join)

Bernael would be standing on the lookout, stretching a little bit as he walked along its tiles, bored as he didn't know what to do for the time being. Helping out constantly with its rebuilding was always nice as it was helping out his friends and their home, considering that Atsuko herself lived here especially made him want to keep the place around. Plus, he had fought so hard to keep this place alive, he could have easily let Nasu blow the place up to keep his energy at maximum, but the regret and guilt that he would feel for all of this going down would be immense. He had a mental and physical connection to the lookout, both before, and after what went down there. Honestly it was just a matter of time before he decided he wanted to move into the lookout himself, or at the very least have his mother ship docked there whenever he wasn't using it, which it sounded like an alright plan to be entirely honest, considering he could just bring any new recruits into its gravity chamber until the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was finished being repaired. Though, he would probably allow his gravity chamber to be used any time somebody wanted to push their limits, aside from just in times of intense peril.

But then Bernael's day would get a little less boring, as he saw somebody climb up over the edge of the lookout. Had they climbed all this way, no person who wants to destroy the place would just climb up there, unless they didn't know how to fly in which case they would be forced to climb. "Huh..." the demon boy would mumble to himself, slowly looking over at the person who had just come up onto the lookout. "Hmmm, defenders of earth... well, that is what we are indeed, this is the lookout, home of the guardian of earth herself Atsuko..." Bernael would reply to the man with a light smirk on his face. He was happy to see somebody coming such a long way to speak with the defenders of earth. "Also, it depends what you mean by leader... if you mean the Z-Fighter leader... well... that would be Tau of course..." he then said, nodding slowly before smirking a bit more and walking closer to the man. "So... you came all this way JUST to talk to us... Hey... I noticed that you climbed up here.... you didn't fly at all... do you even know how to fly? Or did you climb all the way up here even with the knowledge of flight?" the demon boy would question, his smile growing even wider. "If you climbed up here despite knowing flight... I commend you... that isn't the easiest feat to just decide to do. That alone makes me proud of you sir... but I know I probably am not the best person to be telling you that, I am not that great myself..." he would continue on, cocking his head with a grin before stepping away from the man.

"Any who, hello, and welcome Ermine Greis... my name is Bernael Adonael, let me be the first to welcome you here!" the demon would say, holding out one of his hands that had the demonic scale gauntlet on it, seeming more like a glove but it was actually part of his hand as it was now. "Also, good job on training so much and asking around, you've finished your journey to find us if that was truly your objective! I myself don't know if every story you've been told are true, but if you ask, somebody can probably clarify how true they are! I may not be that good with the history of all of these people and such so I am not the person to really ask, but I can at least try" the demon said before looking down. "Huh, you really want to help us, you want to defend our home? Our glorious beautiful earth? Well, those words themselves will get you in by my book. I might not exactly be one to just directly put you among us, because I wont lie. I haven't exactly been through an initiation myself! I'm just friends with everyone here and help defend earth. As long as you are a good person who has done their part to defend earth, you are already a defender of earth. Just, becoming an official Z Fighter or something like that, will be Tau's part. BUT! I will certainly vouch for you! I may not be an official member, but I am at the very least a friend and ally, all of us are battle bonded... they would take my word for it!" he would then go on to say, smirking fondly at the man before sighing a bit.

"However, I don't know what kind of thing they will do to make you prove yourself, but power isn't the way you get in and fit in around here, at least not to me. Its all about the heart and the determination. And Ermine... you've certainly got both of those considering what you've done! However if they want you to fight... to prove at least your fighting spirit, I can always spar with you or train you a little bit, see how you do and such. Plus anybody else can do it to, just ask! Even if they don't need you to prove yourself, try asking to spar with somebody, anybody honestly. It could be a worthwhile experience don'tcha know!" Bernael would then continue on, before falling silent, waiting to see how anybody else around would respond to this Ermine coming up here, or how Ermine himself would respond. A lot of information was just dumped on the poor guy, and after the long journey he had just undergone, he needed some good friends and support.

WC: 982
[Thread Pl: 135,186 ---> Not in FFD power, but has the looks of it for flavor]

Bernael would nod, accepting the boys answer. "Well, that surely does give you a pass in my book... taking the easy route doesn't mean you will always get what you want. Hard pressing for what is needed from it all was a good idea." he would say, smirking at the boy before turning to see... Aayla? He thinks? He couldn't tell because of the look she gave off, but her voice... it sounded so much like Aayla's even though the form was so much different. Though he supposed there were only a finite number of voices the world could give off, so he would slowly look over at the, well whatever it was, and sigh. "I don't know who you are... or what you are doing here at the Lookout... but this was caused by some saiyans attacked the place, it certainly wasn't pretty" he would say, slowly looking towards the ground.

"There was a casualty on both sides... and they ended up damaging the place badly but it wasn't enough to break it entirely apart... so we are trying to rebuild for now. Anyways, I hope you aren't here to finish the job... I hope you are here on good terms..." he would say, narrowing his eyes. The gap between himself and the person that had just come up here was pretty decent, enough to make a fight right now if there were evil intentions, pretty easy, especially with others backing him up for the time being. Though he had to stay on his toes always, there was forever a chance of them being suppressed or not at their full potential, which scared him now because he never knew is somebody was weaker or stronger or what. For all he knew this person could be twice as strong as even his strongest form, there was no way to really know.

However, he would disengage his focus as Tau would come, there was no need to really worry anymore, there were so many people there that the destruction would probably need more than this one person, just in case their intentions were going to end in bad ways. However the boy would relax now, sitting still and just crossing his arms as he would overhear as Tau would explain things to Ermine, and Ermine would respond back. The boy didn't really have any reason to but in or add anything just yet, so listening was about the best he could do. However specific points would come up that he needed to respond to in the end.

"Hey... its not about what you are... its about what you do. One of our very own is a saiyan... she is wonderful and there is no way any of us would turn her down. You definitely have done a lot to get away from that nasty heritage though. Chopping off an extension of yourself even? That really does sound like a bad time... but if you walk away right now, you wont be able to get to know us better. You know?" he would say to Ermine, smirking lightly. "That is surely a good cause.. you can protect earth with all of us, together we can be a mighty force, we keep on building up and rising more and more as well. Eventually we will be a force that not even the universes mightiest evils can take down, earth can become a protected colony, a bastion you know? But we do have to put our lives on the line every day to ensure that it stays that way, got it? So no slacking off on training either~" he would continue on to say to the man, before slinking back a bit to give everyone some distance for now.

He had no more to really say for the time being as he had never met the person that Ermine and Tau were now speaking of, more focusing on the world around them over themselves.

WC: 660
WC Total: 1642

He sighs, noting her lack of response that carried on for some time, it could only honestly be taken that he was being turned down. "So I get one thumbs up from the guy over there, but just because I reasonably despise a corrupt government and it's puppets, I'm not worthy? That's what I take away from the utter silence. I thought wanting to protect my home was enough, that's what we're all here for, right? Or was that a lie spread by the people too? I don't even know what to say about this, I traveled so far to meet you...I believed in this! I almost died getting away from the empire, why would I ever accept someone like that?"

He sighs once more, looking over at Bernael. "You on the other hand, seem like someone who understands. I'd almost be inclined to say you were the leader, you certainly compose yourself like a protector. But I guess even with your acceptance, one out of three isn't enough, I'm sure." He meant no harsh feelings towards Bern, he was accepting, after all, unlike the still silent leader who seemingly refused to respond for reasons he didn't, and couldn't understand. "As for you..." He points at the woman concerned over the state of the tower, it's damage apparent. "I assume you're with them...I'm not entirely sure what to think of you, to be honest. You're a bit of a wildcard, but you don't look particularly bad."

He was venting his emotions quite a bit, that much was true, but it wasn't exactly unreasonable, he came so far just to join others who wanted to save this world. Was he really going to be turned away? "Anyhow, if what I am isn't enough, I'll just protect this world on my own. Besides, I have people I can trust, people who don't expect me to be perfect. I have my flaws, I won't hesitate to admit it, but I know you have weaknesses of your own." He pointed at the leader, but it could have easily been directed at everyone there, and he wouldn't exactly be wrong, either...No one was indeed perfect. "So if none of you have anything left to say to me, I'll be on my way. I guess it'll be goodbye if so. I doubt I'll come back if I'm not one of you hero types." It was clear he felt defeated, his dreams crushed, only one person accepting him would not typically be enough, after all. Did he really come all this way just to be turned down with absolute silence? It certainly seemed as such. He turned around and began to slowly walk away, still within earshot.

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Word count: 456

Total: 2,108

How could he not tell what she had come to ask help for? She looked completely different than normal and she didn't know why... she didn't know why these transformations kept taking her over and she was growing scared of herself. Was this maybe something Bernael saw often? Something that he was used too and that's why he didn't pick up on the reason of her distress?

She was about to say that she was glad that everything here was under control now, and go on to explain herself about these transformations, when the new man spoke up. He didn't seem very happy at all, and when he pointed at her, unsure of what she was or what she thought, her face flushed, her cheeks turning slightly purple.

"I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean anything by not saying anything... I just... I'm new to this too and I don't think it's my place to judge anyone... miss Tau let me join because I really want to help people even though I'm not the strongest person out there... Please don't leave, I'm sure you'll be a great asset to the team. I don't think your race really matters."
She added that last part as more of a whisper as the thought had occurred to her many times... What if she wasn't human? What if this wasn't just something that could be cured away?