Ghosts of the Past

Reality seemed to settle easily enough after the downfall of Isaak Zell. One year after, a Tenkaichi Budokai, hosted by Capsule Corporation, served to both revitalize the power wielder community and Cardinal as a whole. However, as many already expected, trouble had a way of finding the beleaguered people of Earth...

An Impossible Demand

As another regular day dawned on planet Earth, every electronic and magical method of communication in the world suddenly found itself hijacked. An alien being, tiny and rat-like and calling itself Aruka, proclaimed himself to be a great wizard, descendant of yet another great wizard known as Babidi. Babidi had terrorized the world in the past, yet had eventually been slain; the Great Wizard Aruka, as he called himself, demanded revenge for Earth's actions, as well as its immediate surrender to his rule. Aruka meant to turn the Earth into his personal breeding ground for an army, and thus branch out from within it eventually to conquer other worlds.

His threat? He would pluck out enemies from Earth's past, and send them in a destructive rampage against the denizens of the world. Knowing full well that some would doubt his power, while others would think themselves powerful enough to fight back, Aruka summoned his first pawn...

The Return of Isaak Zell

Still fresh in the minds of many, Isaak Zell was Aruka's first chosen thrall. After an initial attack, the maniacal fake human was suddenly found atop the floating Bastion, Capsule Corporation's power wielder haven. Many already knew of its flight and battlecruiser capabilities... especially Zell, whom commandeered the floating fortress to unleash a decimating attack against West City. With a cauldron spewing forth amalgamations sitting on top of the floating edifice, a raging battle around Zell ensued.

The Compass Guard mounted a counteroffensive, yet the Bastion's artillery proved to be a near impenetrable wall they could not punch through. Thus, many power wielders slipped through the din of battle, engaging Zell head on. The more they fought, trying to hold him back from doing unto South City what had been done to West, the stronger his power drew. Eventually another Kusanagi blade was tempered, and Isaak Zell stood poised and ready to slay all of his opponents.

And then the Patron of the Beast Court, along with his Saiyan ally, appeared. Utilizing a daring ploy, the patron allowed himself to be slain by Zell, thus triggering Sylon's Super Saiyan transformation, which allowed him to literally pull Isaak Zell apart, thus ending his second reign of terror.

The True Prince Of All Saiyans

Not one to be daunted, Aruka unleashed his second terror: Prince Vegeta, and his servant Nappa. As both made landfall on Central Capital, demolishing a section of it, they quickly made their demands. They would have Earth's Dragonballs, or simply begin decimating Cardinalian cities.

Power wielders rose to the challenge, engaging the two Saiyans head on. Nappa was swiftly defeated, but Vegeta proved to be much more challenging. Completely obliterating the current Saiyan Prince's body, he turned on the rest of his opponents, which included Compass Guardsmen, Kame Students, and even more Saiyans. The battle was fierce, as Vegeta even intended on destroying the Earth at one point, only to be driven back by even more powerful, raging energies...

Yet still alive, the Prince of all Saiyans used a false moon, triggering Oozaru transformations throughout the battlefield. A transformation which proved useless against the attempts to chop off his tail, as well as Sylon yet again saving the day, punching a hole through Vegeta's chest with his Foxfire Steel weaponry.

With Nappa and Vegeta slain, Aruka would subsequently reveal his greatest weapon...

The Immortal Lord Frieza

Frieza was sly. Sly, and proud.

Rather than wage all out war against Earth, the galactic tyrant waged covert battles. Releasing his minions to scour the world in search of the Dragonballs, Frieza intended to gain immortality, his lifelong dream. A dream that would allow him to rule the galaxy for all of eternity. Pockets of fighting ensued, with most of Earth's fighters repelling back Frieza's minions, and gaining Dragonballs to hold from his grasp. Eventually, tiring of the meddlesome creatures interfering with his plans, Frieza sent one of his best soldiers, Zarbon, to take the fight to them.

Acquiring a Dragonball for himself, the alien prince proceeded to glass what remained of West City's ruined landscape. When power wielders showed up to stop his rampage, Zarbon seemed to be on the losing side... until he triggered a monstrous transformation, proceeding to turn the tide of the battle. One which ended with his victory.

The war took a turn, as Frieza went on a more full on offensive. Zarbon visited South City next, unleashing an EMP device which ground the metropolis to a halt. Holding the city hostage, the alien demanded that the Dragonballs be handed to him, lest he simply destroy another city. Rather than acquiesce, more power wielders joined the scene, intent on stopping him. Yet another Super Saiyan dealt Zarbon the killing blow, ending his short-lived reign of terror... only to reveal that his involvement had been but a ploy. Frieza had already sent his very best, the Ginyu Force, to demolish both the Arcaneum and Kelly I, in order to gain more information on the Dragonballs... if not the Dragonballs themselves.

Displaying superior skills to that which anyone had seen of the aliens yet, the battle was fierce, yet short-lived. Frieza descended upon both scenes, calling a general retreat before he lost any more of his men. The hunt for the Dragonballs abruptly ended, before it had truly begun to take an even heavier toll on Cardinal, and the world proper.

They soon left Earth, leaving Aruka to ponder what sort of evils he must conjure up next.

The Great Wizard Aruka revealed

A great wildlife preserve, stretching from West City all the way to Central Capital, was where the great wizard hid. The Compass Guard, with its vast network of intelligence, sent in a company of four covert agents to extract the diminutive wizard from his own home. Chancing upon him in his own secret chamber, the wizard panicked, and his two insensible android guards managed to jump in, slaying the four guardsmen in a grand explosion. An event that the entire world got to see.

Power wielders flocked to the scene, and a desperate chase ensued throughout the preserve. The androids and Aruka split up into three different paths, setting up traps and ambushes to dissuade any meddlers from catching them. Despite their attempts, however, they were no match for the assembled power wielders. Their strength was not as grandiose as some of the other fighters whom engaged Frieza's forces... but it was more than enough to fell the androids and defeat Aruka. Before long, the wizard was thrown in prison, where he was to await trial.

Of particular note was his actual inability to use magic, instead relying on some strange and very alien technology to conjure up his mischief.

Aruka never saw his trial, however. In the dead of night, in a maximum security prison, the great wizard Aruka was murdered for his crimes by some unknown party. Whether the event spawned foreboding or joy in the general populace... well, that would be up to the people of Cardinal, and the world.

For the moment, at least, a tenuous peace gripped the world.