>>5550615Back with Peppa…
You slowly start to get up, nodding for everyone to follow you. “Come on, let’s walk and talk for a bit.” you tell them, tail letting go of Cocoa to grab your milkshake. The six of you walk together, the Majin girls noticeably enjoying their treat as Basilea keeps trying to hide the fact that she’s enjoying the hot dog she was given.
You think back to some of the earliest encounters you’ve had with Basilea. Fighting her in the Tournament’s Junior Division, with her looking down on you and beating up Videl. And how underestimating you proved to be her undoing, with you knocking her out of the ring in a climactic showdown. How you next met her again after meeting Lime for the first time. And again during Ozotto’s tournament. She was still young back then, young and prideful and a liiiiittle arrogant.
You could understand not really seeking out help back then, to a point… but still, you need to point out, “A lot of this could have been avoided if any of it were brought up earlier. Honestly, think of how much could have been resolved if you opened up sooner.”
Basilea looks away. “…I wasn’t strong enough back then to admit to any of it. I’m barely strong enough now. The only reason I’m even here is because your Towa thought I could serve as a bargaining chip. I meant what I said, I am sorry for what I’ve put you through, and I appreciate you giving me this chance. But it did take extraordinary circumstances for us to get to this point.”
Videl turns back to her, pointing out, “Coulda’ still taken the chance to leave Towa when you were going through with that plan of yours with the Dragon Balls.”
The demon girl shakes her head. “I’m honestly not even sure either version would allow that. If I succeeded, I’d have taken away the one thing that broke my Towa’s total victory. If I failed, your Towa still would have been able to use what we took.”
“Oh yeah, those Leon things…” Videl recalls. “What was the point of that, again?”
“Another weapon to use if a civil war became a necessity, one with several unknowns that Beelzebub wouldn’t be prepared for.” Basilea slowly looks at her, then says, “If I’m being honest though, I think she got into some of Gero’s old shows after a bender and put in the order for a giant combining robot. Then after sobering up she was too proud to admit to the real reason.”
That gets you all laughing. “Okay, that’s probably gonna stick in my mind for a while.”
“Guess they won’t be put to much use, given what’s happened. Probably gonna end up some giant lion-shaped paperweights.” you remark.
“...Weeeeeeell…” Shun Shun speaks up. “Towa, uh… wasn’t exactly that particular about where they were stored…”
Basilea stops, turning to face the two of them. “…You didn’t.”
“We did.” Haru Haru states with a grin. “And hey, she hasn’t done anything about ‘em. So, ours now!”
(cont.)
