Zaho's Deadlock

The final Sarbal Daga that ever took place on Sorberia has come to be known as "Zaho's Deadlock" in local year 10,842 PK, (Earth year 1529 AD).

## Overview

The current monarch at the time, Nov'Ma Pureblood, had reigned for almost 6 Sorberian years after taking the throne from their Ra-Za, Va Varti Pureblood. Nov'Ma was widely respected for fabled mastery over their Sar, their immense strength, their tactile prowess, and the feat of becoming youngest official monarch in Sorberian history at 24 years old. Nov'Ma was kind and welcoming to other races if they wished to attempt tourism, as some had the technology to withstand Sorberia's gravity. They even welcomed Azmuth as a royal guest for a time, and contributed their own Sorberian DNA to the Omnitrix. However, much to the chagrin of their fellow Pures, they were an advocate for Scorned rights, wishing for equality and a "fair shot for anyone to rule." This prompted much pushback from their Pure Raho, set stone in their ways. They were challenged time and again, but was never once close to felled, and never once enjoying seeing one of their dear Raho slain because of their belief in supremacy. Nov's chaotically good morality and need to do right by people drove them to blind rage at times. They started to resent their position of power, feeling a hypocrite fighting for equality from their throne. Nov'Ma couldn't even use their power to do what they most wanted to do and outright decree equal rights for Scorned, because the Pures would surely lash out against them all at once, kill them and take the Scorned rights right back. Not even their head commander, their best of friends, their twin Zaho, Pen'Ma Pureblood, was on their side when it came to justice for the Scorned.

Pen and Nov had been close since birth. Literally. They were born from the same soil, a couple centimeters from each other. (Pen hatched first by nearly half a rotation, a point they would hold over Nov for life.) Named after the twin stars of Jabada, Monarch Va Varti's twins were, they felt, just as bright and twice as fiery. Pen used their half-rotation head start well, learning how to project their very first Sar blast the very day they were born, a milestone the average Sorberian newborn couldn't accomplish for around a week or two. The young one was uniquely gifted, covetous of their control, and hungry for power from the moment they laid eyes on the twin Crozarkium Crowns adorning their Ra-Za's horns, exemplifying Va Varti's status as monarch. As Pen and Nov grew, so too did the Zaholy bond they shared. Whenever Nov fell, Pen was there to pick them back up. However, Pen would always be a bit stronger, a bit faster, a bit quicker to learn, and this frustrated kind, emotional Nov under the surface. The Zahos' rivalry was far more bitter than the picture painted by known history. The two would reportedly get into savage arguments, usually brought on by Pen's control freak nature, which would escalate into ferociously violent brawls that lasted days without resolution. But in the end, their love for each other would always bring their Zahohood bounding back together. At the age of 20, Pen'Ma would use their status as direct descendent of the monarch to challenge his Ra-Za for the throne the young warrior so prized. Va Varti hardily accepted, ever proud of their spawn and eager for the bout. Pen chose Nov as their counsel. Nov, however, was torn inside between wanting their Zaho to be happy and not wanting them to die, and that this is one of the motivations that drove Nov'Ma's coming actions.

On the day of the Sarbal Daga, Va Varti was nowhere to be found. A grand search began, combing all of Sorberia for the lost monarch, possibly turned coward. They were finally found in a local ore processing plant, twitching and writhing on the ground. The middle-aged Sorberian had suffered from a minor seizure, a side effect of their now-diagnosed Rydorak's Disease. This neurological disorder would slowly eat away at Va Varti's brain, starting with the lobe that controls healing abilities, and signaling a number to the poor monarch's days. In a fit of confliction, Pen'Ma proclaimed that this was not the fault of Va Varti, and that taking their life in this state would be a dishonor on us all. Nov'Ma agreed and argued to Va Varti's counsel that the old one had earned the right to a warrior's death, and that the Sarbal Daga should be delayed to a day when medical science has done all it can. The love for the monarch prevailed, and Pen'Ma Pureblood would take over as temporary monarch while Va Varti healed.

4 Sorberian years would pass. Temporary Monarch Pen'Ma Pureblood, off-world to Luas Tapa for an alliance hearing with Pulsoar leadership, would reluctantly leave Nov'Ma in charge of Sorberia. The reluctance was absolutely not in Nov'Ma's leadership, but the relinquishing of the political power Pen'Ma had come to be addicted to. It was all Pen could do to stay patient for the glorious day when they could shed the "Temporary" from their title. Still, they knew Nov'Ma would do the demi-monarch proud while they were away, and they were right. Temporary Monarch Nov'Ma Pureblood took quite well to their position, terrified as they were. This temporary monarch's reign was noticeably less... authoritarian and tyrannical. A monarch of the people. If such a thing had yet to exist, Nov'Ma was now the concept's Ra-Za. The young Pureblood was settling a dispute between a Scorned factory worker and their Pure boss, when the doors to the Dome Palace flew open. "ZA-RA," roared the monarch Va Varti Pureblood, eyes the color of Scorned blood. "The day has come!! After four long years, our destined duel will finally be realized, Raho!! I INVOKE SARBAL DAGA!!!" Countless thoughts and emotions stormed and flurried about Nov'Ma's suddenly panicking mind. The rightful monarch, recovered to full strength, but evidently not full perception, had just challenged the wrong Za-Ra to trial by combat. To the death. A trial that cannot be refused upon punishment of death. Cannot be escaped before tomorrow upon punishment of death. A trial that, regardless of the outcome, will result in Nov'Ma's death. Either Va Varti to slay Nov'Ma on the battlefield, or Pen'Ma will slay them when they find out they've been usurped. Betrayed by the one who loves them most. Destiny denied. Dishonored. How could I do that to my only Zaho? ...And then, an ugly question emerged, like a tiny bubble in this swamp of anxiety. I could be a better leader. A kinder one. Bubble. I could change this world into a free one. Bubble bubble. Free the poor Scorned, cursed from birth. For they are created the way they are, they too are divine. Bubble bubble bubble. Pen'Ma, I love them, but they don't understand. Must I watch my family die? Must I stand idly by and watch Zaho kill Ra-Za? Bubble. Ra-Za kill Zaho? BUBBLE BUBBLE BUBBLE BUBBLE. Or do I finally follow Pen's example... and control fate?... Yes. I will do this myself.

"I accept your invocation, old one. One rotation from now, your eyes will meet your Za-Ra's on the battlefield. No disease will keep us from destiny!" The words flowed from Nov'Ma like the blood that they would soon spill. The echoes of Va Varti's hardy guffaw would haunt Nov'Ma for the next rotation

Pen'Ma Pureblood walked down the ramp of the royal fleet's ship. They were back, but Sorberia felt alien. They heard no sound but the ringing in their head. A solid, high-pitched, grating squeal. Monarch Nov'Ma Pureblood approached Pen'ma, but they did not hear the blood-soaked Sorberian's words. It was all Pen'Ma could do to nod and put on a brave face as this demon... this betrayer... grovelled in front of them. Pen'Ma had never felt a rage quite so blindingly white hot, so paralyzing, that they could not even let loose a molecule of the pressure building and boiling within. In this moment, Pen knew one truth. Their Nov was dead. They had no Zaho. Before them only stood their greatest curse. This curse that fooled Pen'Ma into loving them, and then when back was turned, took away Pen'Ma one purpose in life. Both of their loves, with a single utterance, were gone. And so, Pen'Ma Pureblood would vow then and there. This curse will suffer.

This was the day that Pen'Ma had longed for. Endless hours of training his Sar and body were finally about to be put to purpose. The curse, in its foolishness, has decreed that Pure and Scorned would no longer be. That we will all be equal. And though Pen'Ma had forced the monarch's hand, had fooled feebleminded Nov'Ma into believing they still had a Zaho, and that Zaho was on their side, Pen'Ma would never let this fantasy of animals at the dinner table come to pass. On the balcony of the Dome Palace, as the monarch made his address for a new age, the head commander cried, "HEATHEN!!! You would damn us all, chosen and forsaken! You would deface the divine plan we all know sacred and true for your despicable, unholy plot to drag us all down! I will not allow you, demon. I disown you! You have no Zaho! You have no Raho! And it is my solemn duty to make you hear the words: I!! INVOKE!! SARBAL DAGA!!!!!"

Silence. 50,000 beings in one place, once impassioned, screaming, scandalized, hopeful, crying, outraged, jubilated, livid... now all unmoving. Mute. Paralyzed. And most of all was the good Monarch Nov'Ma Pureblood. The history books would remember this day, and not for the reason they dreamt of. The words started to seep out of the ruler's Sarpol, one by one, emotionless. "I accept your invocation. And though you have killed me already, Pen, I swear one final oath to you. I will not fall."

The beginning of the end commenced on the field next to the cave where the Zaho were born. Seemed only fitting. End it all where they began. Pen'Ma shot first.

Days passed, then months. The entire planet was enamoured. This was turning into the fiercest Sarbal Daga that any Sorberian had ever seen. Never before had there been two combatants so powerful, so equally matched, but so stubborn, so dead set on beating the other. As months turned into years, society would return to an uneasy norm. The Zaho would remain locked in combat, their Sar still growing larger by the day, their shouts of "I LOVED YOU" and "I TRIED TO SAVE YOU" and "I WILL NEVER STOP" as ambiance in the background of Sorberian life. Their counsel would switch out to take over monarchal duties while the intense brawl raged on. A decade past. The masses started to worry. The g-force of Zaho's Sar blasts were starting to effect the operations of local technologies. Specialists were worrying that the size and immensity of the battle could cause serious collateral damage if the Zahos lost control. Petitions piled in for the counsel to stop them or relocate them, but the rules were always recited back: "If one intervenes in the match, absorbing the Sar or otherwise disrupting the trial, the interrupter will be put to death and the trial will begin anew within a rotation of the interrupter's death." No one wanted to pointlessly die for the eventuality of coming right back to this. And then one day, Nov'Ma destroyed a factory. They obviously didn't mean to, it was just in the way. 1,784 dead, even more injured. The counsel tried to step in, but they were vaporized. It was too late. The pair of Zaho had turned feral, and they were going to destroy anything that got in the way of destroying eachother. People tried to flee in what little Sorberian spaceships there were, but the gravity of the Sar blasts was too great. The ships were pulled right back into the ground, hard. They tried to kill the Zaho with their strongest warriors and weapons. It only made them stronger. One final gambit - A Sorberian ark. They finished building the beast within 5 years and filled it with every Pure remaining, along with which ever Scorned could fit in coach. The ark actually escaped Sorberia's atmosphere, only to be sucked in by the gravity of Pen. The star, not the Sorberian. Some say it was an error made in haste, some say it was a sabotage by a crazy, vengeful Scorned engineer to get rid of all the Pures once and for all. History will never know for sure. All that's known from observation is that event brought down the population of Pures to two.

Another decade would pass. The last Scorned would be vaporized, Sorberia would be in pieces at this point, and there would be no end in sight for the battle between these two ruthless, tameless, mindless beasts. Though Sorberia was the only planet in the Jabada system, all species in the Vandh-y galaxy would be evacuated and temporarily relocated by the Galactic Enforcers and other spacer volunteers while the situation played out. (The Sorberia Situation was the working name for the battle at this time. It didn't stick.) Other species had only just learned of the battle because Jabada was so many lightyears away that the nearest system hadn't seen the flashes from the fight until 50ish years later, even with their advanced technology. Side note: At this point, the Pulsoars had silently nullified their previously negotiated alliance with the Sorberians and made a statement speaking out against the violence on the Extranet. It was their most liked post.

One more decade past. Sorberia was now a collection of pebbles and space dust. The two Zaho floated between the two stars they were named for, unbothered by the ludicrous amount of gravity pounding their bones, and the vacuum of space that begged to tug their atoms apart. One final volley of Sar, one last gargantuan orb of pure energy that was just big enough to classify as a tiny star of its own. No one saw who threw the last punch. In the end, it doesn't really matter. It had been over for years. But with this one, the gods, beyond the shadow of a doubt, had enough. The gravity of the Sar was finally enough to beckon Nov and Pen (the stars) inward toward Nov and Pen (the Zahos). And like a pair of cosmic hands clapping together on a pesky gnat, the twin stars collided on the last two living Sorberians, collapsed, and went supernova. Boom. Big boom. Big long boom. And then... nothing. A 60 year Zaho's Deadlock, an extinct race, a destroyed galaxy, and potential residual radiation still coursing throughout Vendh-y. All for nothing.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/live/RzLptJ7Vp8w?feature=share