2036/AWftF: A Reason To Fight

AWftF: A Reason To Fight
Date of Scene:	16 April 2015
Location:	Reptilon <Rep>
Synopsis:	Kakarot resumes his invasion of Planet Reptilon. The defenders pay a terrible price for victory in this renewed conflict.
Cast of Characters:	Deelel, 37, 114, 180, 204, 295, 301, 334, 486, 663, 696, 723, 724
Tinyplot:	A Wish for the Future

---

Kakarot (723) has posed:
The Peace has ended, in the only way it could. With the battle in Freeport and the attempted assassination of Genghis Rex, Kakarot's attempt to end the war before it begins failed.

And now, Reptilon and its allies face the full wrath of the Neo-Saiyan Empire. One does not need to be a multiversal-scale entity in order to threaten a single planet that barely has achieved spaceflight, and the Neo-Saiyans make good use of their space superiority.

Red-Armored Saiyans begin flying through the atmosphere at high speed, identifying targets and feeding the latest information on Tyrrano, Dinosaucer, Confederate, and Union troop deployments to the Bardoc, Kakarot's flagship, where he assembles tactical operations for his disciplined military force of born warriors.

It was time for a display. High above the Lava Dome, noted as being a location of great importance to the Reptilonians, three brigades of Neo-Saiyans hang in the air with Kakarot at their lead. He floats, resplendant in his repaired golden armor and the damage he has sustained from the battle in Freeport mostly healed.

Kakarot is a man who leads from the front. This is why he fights alongside his warrirors and works to preserve their lives. In return, they provide him with respect and loyalty.

"NEO-SAIYANS!" Kakarot calls out. "You, like I, have been waiting an interminable amount of time to deal with the question of this planet. Over and over they have shown our people /disrespect/, hiding behind their otherworldly allies in order to protect them even while they spit defiance and insults at us like a child behind their parent!"

He raises his hand, clenching it into a fist. "But I say no longer! NOW! NOW we will strike! Now we will tear down the delusions that surround these people's lives and force them to accept the truth: There are no finer warriors than the members of the Neo-Saiyan Empire!"

Cheers rise up, as Kakarot gestures again. "I have grown tired of the threats of multiversal entities. They demand that we bow down and serve, just as King Vegeta bowed down before Frieza. I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS! I will die before I see our people chained again! A new future will be written in my blood to help guide us to a new path! I have grown tired of the treachery of princesses and the screaming mania of child-kings! We will cast down their civilization around them, and they will pay the price!"

There is a pause, amidst the cheers. "But you all understand that among our foes are other Saiyans. Do not hate them, my Neo-Saiyan warriors. They are our brothers and sisters just as we know each other. They come from a land where Frieza destroyed our planet. We must show them the same respect we show each other, even as their leaders plot and scheme to destroy the advancements and freedoms we have created. Do not hate our brethren! Hate the greed and evil that has poisoned their minds, the egomania, the naivete, the jealousy of our strong and solid foundation!"

"AND NOW, WARRIORS!" Kakarot shouts, his aura flaring. "WE WILL CRUSH THESE REPTILONIANS AND DEMONSTRATE THAT THERE ARE SOME PRICES THAT WILL NEVER BE PAID! VICTORY TO THE NEO-SAIYANS!"

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita has been paying close attention to Reptilon, and when Kakarot's ships and troops move in to make their attack, she moves quickly. She made up her mind, despite what Serori and Vegeta advised. It is partially for them that she is doing this.

     She flies up as Kakarot is making his speech, then hovers there in air, arms crossed over her chest. "And don't forget to hate the arrogance and stubborness that is leading both sides of saiyans to their destruction!" she calls. She floats forward slowly, her gaze strong and cold. "To stop that destruction, I've come up with a solution. One you yourself suggested, Kakarot."

     Taylita floats forward until she is only about 20 feet away from Kakarot, her hair and her tail swaying in the wind, and the light is glinting of her mirror-finished white armor. "I challenge you, Kakarot, for your throne. I will not allow you to lead these saiyans into destruction simply for your own misguided goals, whether they are noble or not."

Serori (37) has posed:
By coincidence, Serori's already /at/ the Lava Dome -- inside it, too. Sweltering above the superheated lava pools, she watches as Roko twists and coils his way through liquefied rock, magma churning around his long reptilian body like a viscous goo. He seems to be content; the environment suits him, and several times Serori is made to laugh over his pleasure. He's a good pet.

That's when the alert goes off. Alarms shriek over the Lava Dome. Serori's head snaps up, and her eyes go wide. At the same time, Roko lets out a series of loud, snapping clacks, and a hissing skree of a roar that echoes throughout his assigned region.

Something is going on out there.

Multiple power levels assail Serori's senses with the same ferocity as the heat from the lava pools. So much strength mustered at once, so much deployed -- and Reptilon, not yet ready. /Almost/ ready, but not quite.

"I'm responding. Kakarot's initiating an attack." Serori secures her scouter over her ear again, then pushes two fingertips to her forehead. She blinks from the Lava Dome interior to the skies above in a blurring flicker.

The space between Serori and Kakarot is occupied by a familiar red-head. In all the noise, Serori hadn't heard or felt Taylita's arrival, but she hears enough of the challenge to understand what's at stake. Though preparing to power up and resist Kakarot, Serori abruptly tenses and stands down.

A challenge of this nature...

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan hears that Kakarot is making another attack on Reptilon, and it's a swift response. He arrives, not with a fleet, and not in armor, but alone and clad in his Namekian gi. His eyes are sharp, turning green as he flies through a nearby warp gate. He is unarmed, sword left behind in his haste. However, he is no less threatening without the blade, and as his aura towers up high around him he bursts into the sky above the Lava Dome. He snaps to a halt, hovering behind Serori as she arrives from within the Lava Dome. He blinks, frowning at the scene unfolding in front of them. He keeps silent, however. His face becomes like a stone mask, even his frown dropping off of it in a hurry.

    He has no idea what Taylita is thinking. It had seemed like, last time she had seen her, that she didn't want anything to do with seizing control. So, for her to issue a challenge for the crown... He shakes his head, crossing his arms. His mask breaks, and the frown creeps back into his features.

    "W... What are you doing, Taylita? Did I miss something here?" He had, for lack of better terms, been out of the loop, but it still strikes him as sour. "I mean... Good luck! You can do this!" Even if Kakarot did look like his dad, he knew Taylita. It's clear which side he favors in this fight.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
Vegeta arrived here to get a meeting with Rex, actually. He didn't expect any of this. He floats up, arms crossed, watching as this challenge takes place. It's far too late to stop anyone now... "This shouldn't be happening." he says to himself, frowning as he keeps his power low but detectable. "This is a mistake."

Cell (696) has posed:
     Cell's been busy on Earth lately, but he hasn't missed a chance to keep an eye on the goings-on of his greatest enemies, particularly when they're killing each other. Of course, there are certain extenuating circumstances that encourage him towards certain angles, but that's...extenuating. And mostly out of curiousity. Cell is fairly sure he already knows how the whle thing is going to play out, for a very, very simple reason.

     Saiyans don't seem inclined to change.

     Still, he might as well see what he can reap out of the situation. Even if it's just a bite or two, the less he has to expend to profit, always the better.

     Cell just sort of...appears behind the rest of the group. It's not instant transmission - he's just really good at sneaking around. Ambush tactics are basically his specialty. The Red Ribbon Commander is dressed in his usual well-tailored tuxedo and green tie, his tail arcing upwards in a gesture of deep amusement as he parks himself near a group of his greatest enemies - Vegeta, Serori, and Gohan. The horrible nightmare bug perches on a rock, arms crossed over his chest, his lack-of-lips parted in what is probably a horizontal (and awful) grin.

     "Your entire race is a mistake, Vegeta," Cell notes idly, "This? This is just a slaughter."

     "It's going to be hilarious." The tone of his horrible bug voice suggests that if he had lips, he'd be licking them excitedly.

Allo (724) has posed:
Somewhere in the city that surrounds the lower regions of the Lava Dome super volcano, Allo had just finished with another round of meeting with members of the Dinosaucer government. The results were.. less than he had hoped for. There was some grudging admittance that they couldn't fight this threat alone, finally. But much of the elder members felt the Neo-Saiyans were the outsiders' problem and they should be dealing with them. Others were concerned with Reptilon being pulled into other wars because of the assistance. An admittable sensible concern, but as Allo pointed out they were to some extent already so just with the Tyrannos being allied with the Confederates. Did they really think, once this was over, the Tyrannos would not restart their own conquest with the Confederates backing them?

THAT got some ominous quiet when Allo asked it.

However most of the governmental elders, even with the grudging acceptances, were stubborn and set in their ways. They didn't want to give any more than they had to, which frustrated Allo to no end. Eventually he took a course of action that was rare for the very diplomatic Dinosaucer commander.

He turned and walked out without another word to humor their pointless stonewalling.

Minutes later he walked into the commons lounge the Dinosaucers used to meet when planetside and found Teryx waiting there. "Hello Teryx." Allo stopped, crossing his arms. "How did it go?"

Teryx tilted her feathred head to the side. "How did what go, Allo?"

"You went to see Genghis Rex."

"And if I did?" She didn't quite admit it out loud, but it was pretty plain by her expression Allo had nailed that one.

Much to her relief though, he only smiled. "I should be mad at you, if only for going by yourself when we have a war brewing on our doorstep... But it needed to be done. How is he?"

"He's the Genghis Rex we know and either love or hate depending on how intense the feuding is," Teryx replied with a bit of a smile coming to her own beak-like snout. She saves Rex's dignity by not saying what state she found him in. Though Allo probably has a good notion of what it was like, if he's not mad with her.

"Good." Allo unfolded his arms. "I never thought I would be saying this, but I'm getting more cooperation out of REX than I am our own govermen--" And that's when both his and Teryx's comms blare their alarm signal. With reflex Allo tapped it. "What is it?"

"The carrier just detected a large number of Neo-Sayain forces entering atmosphere," the dispatch officer replied.

"Where are they heading?"

"Towards..." A chill ran obvious through the dispatch's voice. "...towards Lava Dome."

Inevitable, and now the other boot was dropping. "So the real War begins," Allo growled. "Call Comissioner Stonebone. Get every Triceracop he can spare out there getting civilians to shelter in the city. But do NOT engage Kakarot if he's spotted. Dinosaucers are on the way.... Let's go Teryx. We've got work to do."

As much as she disliked fighting, Teryx didn't need to be told twice before following her commander out.

Raditz (486) has posed:
    Far enough from where the encounter is going on, Raditz is floating up in the air from a distance, keeping his eyes on the Neo-Saiyans. When Taylita decides to throw the gauntlet, Raditz goes wide eyed and rubs his face, "Nothing we can do about this... Better just sit back and make sure Kakarot doesn't overreact."

Vegeta (663) has posed:
Vegeta doesn't say a word, or even turn his head. He points his finger at Cell without looking, then fires a bullet-thin beam of blue energy aimed at his head.

Bruce Banner (295) has posed:
Riding along through the near portal gate, Doctor Banner approaches the activity at hand. His bag sachels are packed with medical supplies, though his hope is that they will be minimally required. His watch gives a soft beep as his nerves get a little on edge. Never the place he'd figured to be, but sometimes, you don't get to pick you circumstances.

The Stark Bike hums across the landscape as the detector on the bike indicates and homes in on Taylita's location.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
It doesn't take long with the magic of warp gates and supersonic flight, for at least one more of the Union's response team to arrive. Iron Man blows through the cloud cover overhead, riding a flare of orange repulsor energy that trails him like a comet across the darkening sky. He cuts a wide arc overhead around the site, letting Jarvis build up a full tactical sweep of the area for reference.

"So give me the numbers, Jay," he mutters through the grim set of his mouth as the scanner analysis results begin scrolling up his HUD. "How much of a chance does she really have, here?"

"Assuming Kakarot actually holds to the terms of the duel, sir--" Jarvis cuts himself off and changes his tone subtly as he pulls up a shaded overlay of infrared. "--Sir, I am detecting a significant force of what appear to be the Neo-Saiyans converging on the city from the opposite side."

Iron Man's elegant sweep pulls up sharply and he hovers for a moment, his helmet turning in the direction of the Lavadome as he considers this new information. Good thing he made a wide reconnaisance, then. Snapping a short explanation into his radio, he alters course AWAY from the duel, and rockets off toward the city to investigate.

Cell (696) has posed:
     Cell takes the shot through the eye. The beam punches out the back of his head, a nasty blast of green gore exploding out the back and vaporizing from the heat of the ki.

     Cell tilts his head to the side as ropelike muscles rebuild throughout his exoskeletal skull. His eye inflates like a horrid balloon.

     "Naughty, naughty. Don't want to start fighting in a *sacred battle*. You never know who might have hired me, Vegemite. Or what it might provoke."

     Of course, Kakarot *hadn't* hired him. But let Vegeta wonder.

Kakarot (723) has posed:
As Taylita flies up and calls out her challenge, the assembled Saiyans pause. Power levels climb as she speaks, but they go from cheers, to silence.

And then from silence, to laughter. Raucous laughter echoes through the ranks to answer Taylita's challenge. It goes on for several seconds before Kakarot raises a hand. "ENOUGH!" His voice cuts out, snapping like a whip.

The laughter dies. Kakarot, hanging in the air with his cape snapping in the winds of an alien planet, looks upon Taylita with a steely gaze. "Despite her beliefs, she is a Saiyan. And she will be treated with the respect due a Saiyan who has the ambition to challenge the King for leadership."

The brigades break off, flying higher into the air and arranging themselves into a wide circle below. KAkarot nods, speaking. "You do understand that this kind of challenge is traditionally to the death." He smiles to Taylita. "I will give you a chance to retract your challenge. If you think your own goals are any less misguided than mine, then feel free."

He spreads his hands and waits. "Take your best shot." The arrival of the others was to be expected. He does not break his expression as he looks upon the others cheering on Taylita. His Goku-esque smile never falters as he awaits the response. As always, the smile never reaches those eyes, lending a deep sense of unreality to that familiar face. This is her last chance to pull back intact. Does she take it, or is she willing to put it all on the line to end it before it begins?

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita tries to ignore the radio chatter in her ear, and finally she raises a hand to her ear and presses on something, then lets out a sigh. She looks around at the warriors who laugh at her challenge, and it makes her bristle a bit. But, when Kakarot silences them and addresses her, she nods. "I understand what is at stake. If I win, hundreds or thousands of saiyans live. If I lose...well, I guess I'll be dead, and those saiyans will die anyway. But, if I can stop this madness before it truly begins, then everyone wins. Except you." Taylita says.

     When he spreads his hands and waits, Taylita snorts. "You tell them to show respect, then you make it clear how little respect you have for me. That just means another reason I need to do this. So that my own people, despite my misgivings about them, will respect me." She moves into a fighting posture, then shakes her head. "I will not take a free shot. We are warriors, and I pride myself on my honor. Defend yourself, then I will attack."

     Taylita watches Kakarot carefully, and when he either lowers his arms or moves into a proper fighting posture, she will finally attack. She doesn't dash toward him like many saiyans would. Instead, she floats there, and her skin starts to glow. "I will show you that even when we join the Union or the Confederacy, it does not diminish our strength! We are still who we are!" Then, she thrusts her hands forward and a beam of pure light energy nearly as thick as herself sears through the air toward Kakarot.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori watches, tense, as Kakarot gives Taylita the opportunity to back down. Narrowed black eyes dart between Kakarot and Taylita, and the spread-out Neo Saiyan crowds. How /swift/ they are to respond to Kakarot -- he has total control over his people. It's admirable, in a way. More and more, she respects him as a King -- as an enemy.

Taylita, too. Serori's lips press together into a hard frown.

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan watches the stand-off with interest. He has confidence in Taylita's power, even where the others seem to be writing her off. "Show him what you've got, Taylita!" he roars, "I've fought you, I know what you can do!"

    Maybe she didn't have the power to fight Kakarot and win. But he wouldn't be much of a friend if he didn't root for her. And besides... sometimes a little faith could go a long way. "Let's see your strength!"

Cell (696) has posed:
     Cell does what Cell usually does in these situations - make a contract, make fun of Saiyans, and keep an eye on the situation wth a critical eye.

     He is pretty sure Taylita is going to lose. It's not because of her power, of course - Cell is well aware that Saiyans come from behind to kill much more powerful enemies on a frighteningly and depressingly frequent basis. Unlike a lot of such people, he's actually studied the tapes. He's made it his business to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors, and from the mistakes of those whose genes he holds, and from the mistakes of other people in general.

     No. The reason he's sure Taylita will lose is simple.

     He understands Kakarot. And Kakarot understands him.

     Still, Cell can't help but be bothered by the things across the mountain. If it was him, he'd set up an ambush. He'd set up a WMD of some sort, or plant some weapons, or do *something* to rig the game. But would Kakarot? Did Kakarot's people believe in the Saiyan Honor game? Did Kakarot?

     It was a niggling, sticking point. If Kakarot didn't, but they did, he might hedge his bets, but not cheat. If Kakarot did, then his people assuredly did. And if none of them believed in it...well, Cell found that unlikely. Kakarot talked too much of a good game to discard something as useful as 'honor'. 'Honor' made dictators into gods. 'Honor' made stupid people get themselves killed for the benefit of others.

     Then again, more than likely, Kakarot had equipped himself with something to ensure that the assembled forces here wouldn't just sweep him.

     What would *he* do in that situation?

     Damn. It's a distracting problem, and one he's going to be working on all night.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Iron Man, meanwhile to all of the Intense Drama unfolding at his back, speeds upward and over the outer edge of the city, cutting as short a line between two points as possible in order to get a better look at the /whatever/ that he picked up on his scanners. The bio-files beamed over from Teryx get uploaded and processed quickly through Jarvis's databanks, allowing him to filter out for local fauna or civilians. Because damn, there are a lot of the latter milling around below. Stark swears softly under his breath and angles across all of the Reptilonian life signatures to get to that suspicious looking unidentified blob on the other side.

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    For those playing along at home, there is the Iron Man TV. Gazing over a monitor that fades out to the Pacific Ocean, Pepper Potts has pushed aside the jovial mess of the broadband, and was listening in on the goings-on on Reptilon. Ripped jeans and a T-shirt, her hair pulled messily into a ponytail and green eyes set on the screen. Even as BUster brushes against her feet, and she idly reaches to scritch the cat's back, her breath slow and even.

    IT wouldn't be the first time she's "flown" with Tony like this. Sometimes another set of eyes can be useful... right? She watches as Jarvis tags lifeforms on her screen, scanning over the little notations and points of interest.

    ... and there were an awful lot of civilians on the screen. She remembers Greenwich. She knows /exactly/ how destructive a single Saiyan can be.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel has come to show her support to Allo and to Taylita, she has offered ot help where she can and getting an idea about the enemy commander is very imporant. Given the converstation Allo had with her and a few others several days before. She looked out at the pair who were about to fight, she also took in both Kakarot and Tayltia. She is also paying attention to those who are here to wtch the duel as well.

Kakarot (723) has posed:
Kakarot gestures. "Are you right? You are making a lot of assumptions. You /believe/ in this so passionately that you can't possibly understand any other result. Thousands of Saiyans don't need to die." Kakarot's smile widens. "In fact, I am fairly sure far less will die than you expect."

He laughs, then, and nods. "All right, then let's do this the proper way! COME ON!" He yells, immediately charging Taylita with an aggressive motion. There is a blast of light, and Kakarot crosses his arms, taking the impact head-on as the blast washes over and arouhd him.

When the light fades, scorches and blast marks are visible across his body, his golden armor smoking from the power that was just brought to bear. "Not bad! This will be a good fight!" He calls, moments before he explodes towards Taylita like a supersonic freight train, accelerating from zero to supersonics almost immediately. Kakarot's power level begins climbing as he screams, his face almost ecstatic in anticipation as he spins, delivering a roundhouse kick with all of that force behind it.

Meanwhile, the floating circle of Neo-Saiyan observers are watching intently... But about a third of the red-armored Saiyans boost backwards, away from the battle, looking out over the ground. Those who look closely can see each of them have Scouters on their face.

They're looking for something. But what? Are they simply watching for betrayal, or is there something more at play here?

And where are Kakarot's lieutenants? Wouldn't they be here at a time like this?

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Around the sides of Lavadome, searchlights blink on and begin sweeping the sides of the mountain, while the massive Gigas tanks begin powering up and training their turrets on the sky.

Several deploy large javelin-like spears that dig into the ground around them - concussion stabilizers. There are a dozen of these massive war machines evenly spaced near Lavadome's snowline, surrounding the crater. Their powerful twin cannons glow with destructive energy as their pilots look for anything that might threaten the supervolcano.

A voice comes over the Tyranno comlink, "This is commander Deisel of the 501st Battalion - Also known as Rex's Claw. We stand ready to squash a few mammals as soon as they show their bady little eyes."

Allo (724) has posed:
To be fair, the Reptilon public has learned quickly from the past events of Freeport (that's been trashed, what, three times already?). When warnings go out and emergency operations start trying to clear civilians off the streets of the city surrounding the super-volcano, the is little objection as civilians are moved away from the potential epicenter and towards safety shelters.

Lava Dome may be neutral ground between the two factions, but that doesn't mean that both sides didn't prepare for potential conflict out of paranoia or potential double-crossing.

The hallways of the governmental buildings seemed to go on forever when he was in a hurry, but eventually Allo gets out onto street level himself.

Though his first concern is to look back to Teryx following him. Between the medical assistance shifts, her little 'trip' and then flying back to Lava Dome to speak to him had to be exhausting. "Teryx, you've had a long few days. If you wish to return to the carrier--"

"I am not going anywhere else when our people need us," Teryx replied sternly, and crossed her arms. "Besides, as medical officer I could order the same at you, mister spent the last several days trying to get our government to see reason more clearly."

"Touche." Allo turns his gaze back to the sky, though the confrontation overhead was still a long distance off from their position. "There is still a chance it won't come to the worst case scenerio... But we're going to be prepared for if it does..."

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita raises an eyebrow in confusion as Kakarot once again accuses her of making assumptions. Which, she did. She doesn't know war tactics, after all. She figured the two armies would just clash against each other like in one of those old world movies.

     Then, Kakarot is coming for her, and she no longer has time to think about anything but the fight. Freight train is a good term for Kakarot's attack. Even though she blocks it, Taylita is still sent flying away by the force of the hit. It takes her a few moments to steady herself, but when she does she smirks. "Fighting is not all a saiyan can do, you know! It's just something we are good at!"

     She charges in as if to attack hand to hand, but just as she would reach Kakarot she suddenly banks upward and as she starts to quickly circle him she fires shot after shot of ki energy. Looks like she is trying to imitate Vegeta's volley of shots, and like his attack there would be plenty of stray bolts flying away if Kakarot dodges them. Each one would explode with the force of a small grenade on impact.

Serori (37) has posed:
The fight begins. Serori watches the exchange without much passion lighting her expression save the tension in her jaw. Squeezed so shut it's a wonder her teeth don't all break, it's the only sign she's anything other than calm and collected.

Taylita's putting her life on the line, and Serori is surprised to feel the dread welling up from her stomach like a sickening disease. Dread -- dread for what might happen to Taylita, and to what might come of the Neo Saiyans. Dread for whatever Kakarot might be planning.

Serori looks over to Vegeta, to Cell, but her eyes quickly return to Taylita and Kakarot. Her lips move on occasion to let out a low murmur in response to radio chatter, but otherwise, she's focused only on the fight.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
From the eastern sky comes a massive roar, like the sound of a horrifying monster awakening in the night. However, it is soon apparent that it's not a monster, at least not one of flesh and bone. The roar are the twin boosters carrying the Tyranno flagship Tarpits III - a massive mechanical monstrosity in the shape of a 3 story tyrannosaurus.

Smaller, one person crafts begin pouring out of the docking areas of the titanic battle station, lead by a single red ship, piloted by a angry green eyes T-Rex.

"Plesio Tarpits 3 capable of Biointegration?"

Plesio radios back, "Yess, that issss the firssssst thing I fired up before we took off, just sssssay when ..."

Rex nods, "Set down on the edge of the crater, provide support for the 501st. Target the Saiyans, especially if any of them go Ozaru ... have the gear ready for Bioingeration on my command - we may only get one shot so we have to make it count."

Rex blasts over his loudspeaker, "Kakarot! I'm hear you smelly little Bezoar ... We have unfinished business!"

Vegeta (663) has posed:
Vegeta is floating there and talking into a scouter he's taken from a capsule, placing it to his ear to give orders. His ship, Cooler's Ship, is already on its way to carry as many people as possible. Meanwhile, he's already floating toward Cell, preparing to offer up his energy. "I don't trust you, I don't like you. But this is simply because there isn't any other way."

He turns his scouter off, then takes a deep breath, raising his power level considerably. First his hair is a bright yellow, aura flowing wildly. Then his hair shifts again, becoming more rigid and golden, aura sharper and more violent with electricity arcing over it.

He brings his power level up to the exact point that he did when he first tried to kill this Kakarot. Meaning that he's still hiding the power he's gained since then. His only tactical advantage, in case he needs it. "Get this over with."

Kakarot (723) has posed:
Kakarot sets himself to take the incoming attack from Taylita, but the changeup causes him a moment of surprise, a moment that she gets to capitalize on with the forbidden, terrible art of the CIRCLE STRAFE. Ki blasts bombard into Kakarot several times, blasting off chunks of armor and tearing open lacerations across his body, smoking and immmediately cauterized before he drops downwards, letting the rest fly in all directions, letting them land where they will.

Collateral damage? THIS IS DBZ.

With a sweep of his hand, Kakarot grabs the clasp of his royal cloak and spins, whipping it up into the air to impede Taylita's view. She might expect an attack from there, but it doesn't come from that direction. Kakarot moves in a blur, fast enough to leave a high-pitched humming noise in the air as he appears behind her, bringing down his hands in a massive haymaker. Not all that accurate, but as Serori can attest, it will leave a powerful impression.

On Taylita, and the ground below, should it hit.

MEANWHILE, Rex calles out his challenge, and Kakarot doesn't even look to respond. His scouts have already seen the huge machine and relayed it to him. Several groups of Red and Green Neo-Saiyans scatter, breaking off into battle groups as they prepare for a potential ambush from Rex. "Oh, NOW you show up?" Kakarot calls back as he battles. "You should stop letting the people around you sedate you and had gotten this over with. Now, I'm afraid, you're going to have to wait in line. I'm occupied with a leadership discussion."

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan taps his ear, transmitting a quick order. Bring Frieza's ship to Reptilon. Empty of all but necessary crew for an evacuation mission. He closes the comm link to the PTO after the order is given, then sighs softly. He'd be giving up control of the PTO soon enough. Then...

    Then he had to figure out the next step.

    "Frieza's ship is on the way with only enough crew to fly it. Should be a good bit of room," he says to Vegeta, then braces himself. Unlike Vegeta, he doesn't hold any of his energy back. If it was needed, he would give whatever he could.

    That was just the sort of person he was. At least at one point.

Kakarot (723) has posed:
ELSEWHERE:

Zuki sits, legs crossed as she meditates. Flickers of ki quietly whip around her, carefully etching into the rocky ground near the Lava Dome.

Nearby, Gaplan sits there, staring into the distance from the rock shelf they're both sitting under for cover. He grunts.

"This is boring." Zuki replies acidly. "Toma is off whipping around through the air and keeping the lizards chasing their own tails, and you and I are just supposed to sit here and wait for instructions?"

Gaplan grunts again.

Zuki rolls her eyes. "One of these days I'm going to make you say something, you big lug. I guess this is why he always has you take care of the quiet stuff."

Neither of them have any idea Tony is closing in on their location.

Allo (724) has posed:
    True to his word it doesn't take long for the the ship bearing a sail-like structure along the top portion of its hull to be visible closing in to the city.
    Little known tidbit, the dorsal sail was actually a thermal solar collector. One of Dimentro's many attempts to invent something to help with Reptilon's extensive energy needs. Unfortunately he's never been able to perfect it any farther than installing it on his own ship as a side project while the Dinosaucer's were on Earth, and even then it doesn't always operate as it should. It was a work in progress. A very long work in progress, as his presence was constantly needed for other engineering tasks.

The ship sets down near Cell and the others, and Dimentro hurries out as soon as it's open with an audible clattering from his loaded toolbelt. "Alright lads, where's this wee miracle we suppose to be building?" 'Wee' is being used entirely in contrast here.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Genghis Rex blares out over his loudspeaker, "You couldn't lead a lemmings over a cliff, you self absorbed TAILHOLE. I'll see you fossilized and quartered and when I'm done with you, you'll be noting more than a yammering head on a stick ... and I WON'T let you die until I'm satisfied that you've suffered for every single Reptilonian life you've taken."

Cell (696) has posed:
     As Cell puts two and two together, awareness dawns. It is exactly because Kakarot is someone like him that Kakarot would do something like that - would place his Lieutenants in such a position to ensure that Kakarot is safe, no matter what. Holding the planet hostage is the most immediate method of doing so. Holding the planet hostage is, in fact, exactly what Cell would do. It's a simple, direct, and efficient plan. It gets everybody worried, gets people scrambling around like turkeys with their heads cut off (chickens?), gets people angry and off-guard...it's exactly what Cell would do in this situation.

     Which is why, as soon as Raditz mentions that the lieutenants are there, Cell's realized it's exactly what Kakarot *is* doing. After all, Kakarot himself had said it:

<J-IC-Moderated> Cell says, "It's having failsafes. Fallbacks. /Plans/. Backups."
<J-IC-Moderated> Kakarot says, "And if your opponent cannot understand those failsafes, so much the better."

     Who but Cell would think this way among the assembled? Who but Cell was a sneaky, backstabbing soldier? Vegeta was a Prince who thought of himself above it all. Serori was clever, but she was a Saiyan - direct tactics were her lot in life. Gohan, well, he wasn't sure, but from the interaction he'd had with Gohan, he guessd Gohan took after his father - emotional, not tactical. Raditz and Goku were cut from the same cloth, and Taylita, whatever she thought, was engaged in the fight. None of the Unionites had thought of it, either - the dinosaucerers were direct, huge forces, and Tony Stark seemed like an engineer more than a soldier.

     But Cell was a mercenary. Cell was a predator. Cell was a soldier. He'd seen what people do in desperate situations. He'd seen how people behave when they have nothing to lose. More often than not, he'd lost people in those situations. If he was the sort of person to care, he'd drink. Heavily.

     He wasn't. But he occasionally wondered what it might be like.

Cell (696) has posed:
     Cell often dallied with the idea of caring. With the idea of turning on those centers of the brain his father had turned off. He imagined it would feel much like this - putting things at risk, on the line, for the sake of someone else.

     Just without payment.

     Cell assembles a plan like the professional he claims to be. His horrible cicada voice is cool under pressure as he takes position, his tail swinging up into the air, giving out orders like a seasoned General. One can really believe that he is, in fact, what he says he is - not just a monster, not just an abomination, but a *leader*.

     He gets the tightbeam. Of course he had an ulterior motive, but that's...well, he always had an ulterior motive. He just had to operate like that.

     It was better than *caring*, he was fairly sure.

     Even Cell falls silent as Vegeta offers himself up to the Commander of the Red Ribbon Regiment. Cell's horrible eyes look at him with what can only be described as a modicum of actual, for-reals respect.

     "I'm going to feel really stupid if I'm giving the MonkeY King too much credit, you know," Cell jokes, "Monkey poo all over my face. Ruin my skin. I'll never be able to date again."

     "...but you get to look like a real man."

     "Heh."

     And then the needlepoint goes into Vegeta's skull.

     The worst part about it - both for Vegeta, and for onlookers - is that it isn't instantaneous. Oh, how much better it would be if it was instantanteous! No - Vegeta's power is *slurped* through that tail in *lumps*, like a *straw*. Piece by piece, it's drunk, drunk, drunk. It is, as Vegeta observed, much like being a milkshake - as if his muscles, his skeleton, his *skin itself* is being slurped up that horrible tail in chunks. It is probably a little bit terrifying. It is most definitely vile.

     The noise is the worst.

     Slurp. Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.

     Slurp.

     The noise punches over the sounds of battle, over the sounds of evacuation, over the sounds of everything. The horrible slurping noise just pervades the air around Cell, until...

     ...until Cell removes his tail.

     And then he begins.

     His power level spikes. It is noticeable, and ridiculous. He matches Vegeta's power, and then exceeds it, and then *dwarfs* it - and that power, all of that power, every piece of it, pours through his fingertips.

     Cell reads the blueprints like a 3D printer. Before their eyes, in the air, the pieces take shape from literal nothingness. The starship components begin to take shape as Cell funnels Vegeta's vast and immense power into the secret Namekian Art: Magic Materialization.

     When Dimentro arrives, Cell's tail twitches in the direction of the starship components. He's obviously too strained to talk.

Serori (37) has posed:
It's about the only thing to take Serori's attention away from the fight. Slurp...slurp...slurp...the sound of Vegeta's impending demise is spine-chilling. Spine-crawling. Stomach turning. That's her King over there, being victimized, being /fed/ upon. Serori tries hard not to look, but it proves to be an irresistible temptation, and Serori lets out a small cry of choked-back distress. Can't help that, either.

Resolute, she turns her back on the scene. She keeps her glare on Taylita. She tells her pulse to slow the fuck down; more important things are happening than another trial of Vegeta's immortality.

Fucking Cell.

Allo (724) has posed:
Allo ... just lifts one hand to rub the bridge of his snout as Genghis Rex proceeds to yell smacktalk back and forth with Kakarot. "Maybe you got a little -too- much of the old Genghis Rex back in action, Teryx."

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan winces. His eyes twitch at the sound. It was disgusting, and it was horrible.

    And he had volunteered to be next.

    "Holy shit that... I want to puke...!"

    He doesn't. He just screws up his eyes, then attempts to turn back to the fight and hope they had enough energy.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Closing fast, in fact. The unidentified life signs are front and center on his tactical display and Iron Man swoops down lower, skimming the rocks and ruffling the few stingy ferns that manage to find root in the mountainous terrain. He pinpoints the location of the two hiding Saiyan lieutenants, lets Jarvis run a topographical analysis to determine the best approach vector.

Beneath the rock shelf, Zuki and Gaplan will hear a faint thrumming noise, and then a soft 'fwump' and a rattling series of tink... tink... tink... and several small, metal balls with glowing red lights blinking at one end roll down the slope to their feet.

"Avon calling," Tony's voice rings out a moment later from above, and the grenades, as grenades are wont to do, explode in a blinding flash of light and concussive force.

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita is pleased as her attack finds its mark several times, but as expected Kakarot soon starts avoiding the attack. She keeps firing even as he drops down, and unfortunately that sends several shots screaming down toward the lavadome. It can withstand a few grenades, right?

     Taylita's first instinct when that cloak is thrown is to leap back from it. Which means she bumps right into Kakarot's chest just before he brings that haymaker down.

     Again, Taylita brings her arms up to block, but this time, thanks to the distraction and the unexpected bump into Kakarot, she takes the full brunt of the attack. There is a very distinctive sound like someone whistling as Taylita spirals downward, and when she hits it is like a bomb going off. Rocks go flying, the ground trembles a bit, and a dustcloud climbs into the sky.

     A moment later, the dust swirls away as Taylita stands, building energy, her aura flowing around her like a blue flame. The armor she made is broken along one side, and there is a bit of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. But, she still looks determined. "You're pretty fast for a big guy." Taylita calls up to Kakarot, then she takes off again, rising like a rocket. She fires a few ki blasts as she flies, but those are mostly to keep him off balance.

     This time, she really does charge right at Kakarot. She spirals toward him, continuing to fire ki blasts, then at the last moment she brings the energy of her charge and her spiral around into one powerful kick. Much like the one Kakarot himself used to start this match.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Vegeta yells, he yells at the top of his lungs. He's not powering up, he's releasing the ear-shatteringly loud sounds of agony. His arms are stretching and twitching, fingers twisted, legs kicking. His eyes are wide in horror, but he endures. He could have flown away, he could have tried to power his way out, but he instead endures all of it.

Until Cell is finished. Even with the power he didn't summon up, even with the power Cell didn't take. When Cell is done, Vegeta begins to fall. His eyes are still wide, he's still in pain. He's in far too much pain to do -anything-. it's far worse than the feeling of falling, the feeling of any impending death.

It does the opposite of what pain -should- do.

It overwhelms instinct and simply stuns.

Serori (37) has posed:
The Lava Dome is immense. Stark's action is out of sight, but not out of mind; as he reports on the radio, and broadcasts his coordinates, Serori whirls around to face the direction leading to Iron Man.

She starts in his direction --

-- then Vegeta begins to fall. Serori darts after Vegeta, reaching out to snatch him from the air and pull him into her arms before he can fall far. "I've got you," she mutters...but who's got Stark?

After Vegeta's secure, she shouts at Taylita: "TAYLITA! YOU'VE GOT TO FINISH HIM -- FAST!"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is watching the fight it reminds her of the GAMES back home and she doesn't seem to have much like of a set up, this isn't a sport, this isn't a sport at all. She has learned one thing this certainly someone you don't take out in a direct fight. No one has to be smart ab out this but she's also getting a good diea of what both Kakarot and even her ally Taylita can do.

Allo (724) has posed:
Allo growls at the revelations over the radio. They didn't know what for, but just that Kakarot had sent his lieutenants somewhere -other- than the fight that he had come to understand was a very important cultural thing for Saiyan set off more warnings in the more tactical portions of his thought processes that he wanted to admit. They were there, away from the fight but still close to Lava Dome. It meant -something-.

But that was on the other side of the mountain. Ordering a ship to fly over would be too obvious. Which only left... "Teryx..."

He didn't need to say anything else. She had only waited for him to confirm what she had expected as soon as they had heard Stark's report, as soon as she had that Teryx took off.

But it would take even a swift flyer time to circle that far around the volcano. Especially when she's not had long to rest from her previous trip out to the Citadel and back.

Not like that was stopping Teryx from going.

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan... stands there. He can't really aid with anything currently going on. Serori has Vegeta supported, Cell is working, Taylita is fighting... Even scouting is covered. He crosses his arms, allowing his aura to whip up even more. "I know you can do this, Taylita!" he calls, "I can see you giving it all you've got! Keep it up, you're doing great!"

    He'll cheerlead, then.

Allo (724) has posed:
"Iffen ya gonna be sick lad, at least hold it 'til we're done!" is the wonderful encouragement Dimentro has for Gohan.

Granted, he's focusing more on getting the assembly together as quick as he can so he doesn't have to watch... that, himself. That's really weird, and while the scientist in him is a wee bit facinated at the prospect of energy between two living beings like that, this is not the time to let scientific curiosity distract him.

Having noticed the construction project several of the city emergency workers have come to investigate. And after being told briefly, set their own gear aside to pitch in. They can at least do some of the general construction, letting Dimentro focus on the more intricate work. Like the complicated engines.

Fortunately they came along after Vegeta's collapse, and Dimentro quickly gets them to work before Gohan starts his turn.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
Vegeta can feel the energy drained from his body, both physically and mentally. He can feel his muscles much softer, and no amount of power he kept for himself is really helping him recover from the absolute shock of what his body is going through. His brain healed, at least, because he kind of needs that. So the hole closes though it leaves a slowly bleeding wound.

His organs are recovering as well, though the rest of his body, the non-vital parts, those are going to take some time. "That monster could kill us all right now..." he says to Serori, less an observation and more of a warning of caution. "What he does here will teach us more than fighting him a thousand times..."

Kakarot (723) has posed:
Kakarot looks down at Taylita as she goes plummeting like Serori did when he hit her. Unlike Serori, she didn't manage to airbrake in time to prevent spending quality time with Reptilon.

Kakarot dowsn't wait, surging downwards in to the face of the ki blasts. Kakarot respends with a seires of blasts of his own, the beams searing into each other and mutually annihilating with bright blasts, signaling that the battle might be kicking up a notch. The pair slam into each other with a thunderous impact, the roundhouse kick taking Kakarot straight in the side with a lou THUMP. There is a terrible creaking noise as it feels like something in Kakarot is about to give way from the colossal impact, the armor on his own side shattering and driving sharp fragments into his flesh.

But unlike Taylita, he eats the hit, focusing on preventing himself from going flying across the way. Instead, he clamps down, grabbing Taylita's leg. Serori might remember when she first foguht Kakarot: He was using a grappler stance. This becomes exceptionally relevant to Taylita as he focuses his colossal strength into using that leg as leverage to twist the Saiyan around and engage in a painful submission hold. "Is this your best?" He hisses into Taylita's ear. "If this is all of your power, /you are going to die/." He pronounces with a quiet, dark certaintly. "You are going to die and your ideals will pointless, unfulfilled visions with no more substance than those words you were spewing earlier. Show me what you are /truly/ capable of."

He saves his response to Genghis for when he's not in the middle of a life and death grapple. Even with all of the spiking power levels, he has to focus on the battle. Is that what they are counting on?

MEANWHILE:

There is a tink noise as the grenades land, and Zuki's eyes widen.

It's already too late. The blasts turn the small cave into rubble, burying the pair in heavy rock. Were they not Saiyans, one could think that would be enough to kill them.

Their power levels spike as Gaplan erupts from the rubble first with a roar, gold light flowing around him as he surges with the energy of a Super Saiyan. Zuki follows, looking over at Iron Man with a frown. Both of them are scorched, their armor cracked and shattered, with several painful-looking wounds. The first salvo did some damage. Can he manage more?

Zuki hisses, "I don't like Avon." She pronounces, as a burning blast of ki spears in towards Iron Man, while Gaplan reaches down, tearing up a boulder and hurling it at him. The pair begin engaging in harrying tactics, trying to drive him back towards the Lava Dome. Allo might see them out there, if he looks hard enough.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
The lights trimming Tarpits 3 suddenly flare brightly and the gigantic metal T-rex stares up at the sky, it's undercarriage opens and dozens of cables reach down from the open belly.

Genghis Rex blasts in , flanked by two wingmen, pops his canopy and leaps from the spacecraft, landing in front of Tarpits 3.

His ship veers off, on autopilot, as he stares up and the gaping hole in the underside of his Battlestation. The Rex Tyrant slaps the badge on his breast and grows to gargantuan size - taking on his ancient form, then looks up again, and leaps.

The snakelike cables reach out for the Tyrannosaur, clamping around limbs, attaching themselves to nerves and muscle, seeming to devour the behemoth and pull him up into the waiting cavity.

All is silent for a moment before the yellow optics of Tarpits 3 flash green. It suddenly comes to life, moving more organically, less mechanically - as if it's suddenly come alive.

The triumphant blend of Dinosaur and machine might let out a mighty roar, if the saurian pilot inside hadn't heard something he didn't want to hear over his radio.

"Teryx?" his voice boomed as the jaws moved in unison with his voice. "Terxy, stop!"

Tarpits 3 starts running along the edge of Lavadome's crater, "Teryx, come back!"

Cell (696) has posed:
     Vegeta is correct. At that moment, it is entirely possible that Cell could kill everyone. It is entirely possible that he could've simply turned around and fired a Kamehameha right into Kakarot's face, and possibly taken out a substantial portion of the Saiyan army as well.

     The thought definitely crossed his mind.

     But no. That wouldn't be.../him/. That would be Vegeta. That would be Goku. Solving problems with brute force. Cell solved problems differently. It's what made him dangerous.

     Cell continues cranking out parts like a machine. The well of energy seems bottomless. But as he continues, it becomes clear that it isn't - it's dwindling. Little by little, electronic by electronic, it's draining. In a few moments, his power's faded substantially - the brief flare of intoxicating, godlike power has vanished entirely, and Cell looks...well, if not exhausted, at least worn.

     His tail swings upwards, and he turns his eyes towards Gohan.

     Of course, he's not totally exhausted. Cell's...cunning. Vegeta is, after all, correct - if Cell showed off too much, they'd know everything about him. They'd know where he currently was, and they'd know everything he was capable of.

     "I won't be able to do this with just Vegeta," Cell admits, and that much is true. "Sorry, kid."

     The tail swings up. "Your turn."

     "Don't worry. I'm under contract. No killing."

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan grimaces. Looks like someone else was going to have to be a cheerleader for awhile, by the look of Vegeta. However, the young halfbreed's aura surges harder than ever. He won't hold back

    That's the Goku in him, he guesses.

    "Do what you need to do, Cell. I'll trust you not to kill me," he says, "Let's go."

Serori (37) has posed:
Frustrated, Serori snarls up at Kakarot.

"YOUR SAFETY NET IS ABOUT TO BE TORN DOWN, KAKAROT! Zuki and Gaplan don't stand a CHANCE against Tony Stark! Call them back now -- restore your honor -- and maybe this duel will have meaning again!"

Cell (696) has posed:
     Cell does exactly that.

     However bad the process was to hear, for Gohan, it is excruciating to exist in. The tail enters Gohan's chest, rather than his heart, punching through like the world's most unpleasant shot. Like the syringe the tail so resembles, Gohan feels the intense pressure Vegeta just felt, the sucking vacuum of pain as power is drawn out of him and into Cell. The omnipresent slurping sound continues as Cell drinks. And drinks. And drinks. And drinks.

     It's like having his organs, muscles, nerves...everything but his *skin*, sucked through a straw. Soon, it's like having that, too. Each loud, awful gulp is followed by Cell's power level spiking, and more machine parts spawning from his fingertips as he uses the power drawn from Gohan's mentor in another universe.

     Again, just like Vegeta, he removes the tail long before Gohan gets close to zenkai. Again, just like Vegeta, Cell's power level practically explodes. He revels in it for all of a moment - revels in the simplicity of *strength*, and reflects that Gohan may, in fact, be more of a threat than he'd thought - and then twists his tail back down to focus on his work.

     "How's it coming?" His cicada-voice, strained, demands of Dimentros, "Tell me well. This isn't as easy as it looks."

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
So there's two Saiyans buried under tons of rock, job done. Stark is actually turning to canvass back over the area when the rubble suddenly explodes outward, and the two very /angry/ Saiyans emerge. Behind the mask, Tony's eyes widen.

"Um. Shit," he remarks, just as he has to spin aside to avoid being fried to a crisp by Zuki's ki blast. He takes off into a flat beeline toward the Dome and, presumeably, backup, rolling over onto his back in mid flight to fire a deflecting blast upward at the boulder as it sails after him. The big rock doesn't split, but does roll on its axis enabling him to juke aside and resume course. "Maybe it's Maybelline," he manages to quip breathlessly as he pours on the speed. From the hips of the suit, a multitude of tiny rockets eject and explode in a dazzling display of confusing flares.

"I think we underestimated these guys, Jay."

And yet, it's not a full retreat -- not yet. Out of the cloud of flashing, spinning chaff, Iron Man suddenly changes course and blasts directly upward, spinning to get a bead on the Saiyans. From above, repulsor blasts rain down at them in a storm of force.

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita has never hit a target with that attack that -didn't- go spiraling away in the same way she attacked. She grits her teeth as her leg is grabbed. "Even if you are right, and I die here, I will die with honor and give the Multiverse a view of what a saiyan can be other than a killing machine!" Without hesitation, she spreads her arms wide, then brings both in toward Kakarot's head, curling her body to reach him. She aims a hammer fist at each temple on the side of his head, hoping to crush his skull, and at the same time her free leg comes up to try and catch him in the other side of his body.

     She really hopes this works, and she is released. Because if not...she is in real trouble, and she knows it. It is why she avoided close combat for the first few rounds. She could tell Kakarot's sheer strength is beyond her own. And for the first time today..perhaps ever...she does not look 100% certain she will win.

Allo (724) has posed:
It takes a moment for Dimentro to poke his head up out of the assembly work. "We're workin' as fast as we can lad! It ainnae exactly easy to piece one of these baby's together, even with the simplication of the process I gave ya." Then dives back in before waiting for a reply, there's too much work to be done to be sitting on his tail for passive conversation.

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan... roars. It's a blood-curtling scream of utter and pure anguish, and though it starts out as a roar, it soon rises in pitch. His body trembles, every instinct telling him he needs to fight, but his human mind, that rational and ever-thinking facet, forces his instincts to quiet down. So he screams.

    The pain seems eternal. It won't end. Cell's lied to him. He WILL die, and it will be painful and unending until his mind is finally consumed. There's no other outcoe.

    And then the tail retracts. Gohan's scream becomes one through clenched teeth. He feels... infantile. Weak, but he forces himself to remain airborne. He can't count on being caught. Vegeta was no doubt worse off than he was. He slumps in the air, feeling his heartbeat... weak. His arms fall to his sides, muscles refusing to work.

Bruce Banner (295) has posed:
Hearing the distress and the apporoaching forces, Banner takes action. Summoning his inner rage, the doctor closes his eyes a moment, and then flashes them open. The eerie irrodecant green glow indicating the start of this powerful and terrifying transformation. Focusing his rage on the Sayains, with whom he's had enough run-ins, fuel his fire as his muscles expand, his face deforms, and his size increases until The Hulk is here. Hulk throws back his arms and shoulders, pusshing out his chest, and roars! With a single-minded thought, the beast springs into action, taking a gigantic leap toward the direction of Tony's location.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
Vegeta's ship is actually about to land in the city, though they seem to be trying to find a proper place to land.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Tarpits 3 rights straight off the side of Lavadome, leaping at it hits the edge of the crater, the boosters attached to it's back kick in and help it moonjump, arcing up and hurling down through the air, its decent regulated by retro boosters in it's feet.

The titanic Dinosaur pivots in mid air and comes slamming down on the ground, placing itself between where Tony Stark is supposed to be and the city behind it.

The force of the impact craters the ground around Tarpits 3, and sends out creeping cracks through the rock surface for 500 yards.

"Stark? you here." The giant dinosaur looks around frantically ... he's REALY big and y'all are itty bity!

Allo (724) has posed:
You have to give Tony Stark credit, he knows how to make something even as simple as firing chaff at the enemy look like extravagant.

His ego probably wouldn't have it any other way, really.

The aerial display does make it easier to pinpoint Stark's general location from Teryx's vantage point.

... And then Rex comes stomping along with the Tarpits. Well, so much for subtle. On the other talon, by the sound of it over the radio, they might need the monsterous machine.

Deciding to take advantage of the situation rather than try to talk Rex out of it, Teryx pulls up and does a quick aerial spin. Even within that massive machine he should be able to spot her bright plumage.

Then she banks around the Tarpits' head after it's landed on the ground, and comes to rest on its shoulder. "Over that way, Rex." She helpfully points in the direction Tony's approaching signal is coming from, as rediculously as that might be with the size difference. She's like a tiny little fairy on the mechanical behemoth's shoulder.

"But be ready, he's got at least two attackers on him."

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori gives Cell a hard look before she lifts her hand to touch two fingertips to her forehead.

She's gone in a blur -- putting Vegeta into the hands of /his/ saiyans, leaving him to the care of those on his ship. A worried glance is left with him, but almost as soon as he's set down, Serori's gone again, blinking back to the action. The Hulk roars below her feet. The engines of the Tarpits blaze. Over the radio, the only calm voice is Cell's, and it's bristling with enough power to make her skin prickle the moment she returns.

"TAYLITA!" she shouts again. "TAYLITA, /END THIS/! END /HIM/! FOR REPTILON -- FOR THE FUTURE OF THE /SAIYANS/!"

For once, the fury she feels manages to burn out her /respect/ for Kakarot. Serori's growl doesn't leave her voice as she shouts at the duelists.

"CALL OFF YOUR LIEUTENANTS, KAKAROT! If Stark doesn't smash them, the Hulk WILL!"

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
As ridiculous as the whole scene is, it DOES work. Teryx gets Rex's attention and the head of Tarpits turns the direction she points.

The ARC reactor at the heart of Tarpits 3 starts to hum as it begins to build power.

A hatch near the shoulder opens and plesio pokes his head out, offering a claw, "Besssst get insssssside, you don't wanna be out here when he openssss hisssss mouth ..."

All of Tarpits 3's seams glow as massive energy builds up inside it, a similar glow seems to coalesce between its jaws.

Allo (724) has posed:
Teryx glances down towards the glowing form in the Tarpits' chest. You don't need a fancy sensor to tell how much power is building up in it.

"If its anything like his normal ranting, that would probably be wise."

Most dinos would be really edgy about stepping into the enemy war machine. But knowing Rex would have the hide of any Tyranno that just looked at her the wrong way, Teryx doesn't hesitate in following Plesio back inside of the machine.

Kakarot (723) has posed:
Taylita manages to break the submission hold, getting herself enough room. There is a short grunt of surprise as Kakarot's head gets impacted from both sides. There is a loud CRACK as the impact lands, but his skull sadly does not crush. It's clear, however, she run his bell for a moment, as he staggers, clutching his head as stars dance in his eyes. This is just enough time to smash him in the other side with another kick.

This time, the impact blasts through his armor and sends him speeding with a bullet-like crash into the side of the crater. Crimson dust waves through the air, obscuring him for several moments.

Taylita, if she was particularly foolish, would be able to allow herself to believe she has won. But she knows better. She is a Saiyan, and she knows what that means.

The air splits with a roar, a brilliant, scorching aura seething from within the new crater. The air shudder,s as loose rocks begin levitating with the force of Kakarot's rage, sharpened into a deadly implement. Hair seethes gold as the rest of the armor Kakarot wears explodes off of his body, revealing his battered, bruised, and bloodied torso. Power levels spike radically as he begins to allow himself to tap into the pure, unadulterated joy of rage and destruction. His eyes focus up on Taylita, then, burning with the force of that promise.

Playtime is over.

There is a streak of light as Kakarot closes again with Taylita, smashing towards her like a meteor. Except a meteor doesn't also begin punching you dozens of times per second, before turning to unleash a point-blank ki-blast in a brilliant flash of destruction.

Taylita doesn't even get the respite of falling to the ground, as he blurs, turning to catch any movement with a devastating roundhouse to knock her back towards the sky, where she meets Kakarot waiting there for her too, a hand burning with ki. "No. No you won't." Is his response to Taylita's assertion. "You did exactly what every other Saiyan in the history of our people have ever done. For all your pretty words, you cannot understand that some problems can only be solved through force. For all of your naive screeching, you claim you have transcended your people, even while engaging in the same bloody death match duels that you rail against. You can't pick and choose, child. And this is why you are WEAK!"

There is another colossal ki flash as Kakarot relentlessly blasts Taylita again, driving her once more towards the ground. This time, she will allow her to land and think about her actions.

Kakarot then turns, looking down to Serori, and gesturing. "The Hulk isn't going to reach him in time. Stark should stop interfering in things that don't concern him. Do you really imagine that I trust you lot of screeching traitors for a moment? Meanwhile, your loud lizard friend is going to find that three Saiyans are more than capable of obliterating Reptilon, let alone a hundred... Or a thousand. Again, you betray those around you. Why did you not protect him from making this mistake?"

Kakarot (723) has posed:
MEANWHILE:

Zuki and Gaplan find that the Iron Man is far more resourceful than he looks. The blasts don't land, and he turns the tables by using his maneuverability to out-flank and drive Zuki back. Gaplan lunges forward to try to take the shots, but he can move faster than the hulking Saiyan, allowing his repulsor blasts to drive back Zuki, several of them hitting the more vulnerable Saiyan and send her smashing into the rocks with a cry.

Tony is probably feeling really good about himself. All he has to do is just keep moving and-

"HI THERE!" Suddenly, there is a blur of red as Toma smashes into Tony's back from above, blurring to one side to the other to make repeated flyby strikes. He's not as strong as Gaplan, but he is stupid fast.

This all has another effect as Zuki begins to recover, Despite bleeding from Tony's attack, she gets a vindictive scowl on her face as she charges up another ki blast. It's clear after a moment that Toma is trying to keep Iron Man pinned down so he can't evade. It's also clear these three have trained extensively to use their specialties to compliment one another.

And if Tony doesn't do something fast, even the arrival of the fantastically large and deadly-looking Tarpits 3 and the approaching Hulk might not be able to save him in time.

Allo (724) has posed:
Allo is still here too. He's just been doing that thing where characters lurk in the background when the scene is focusing on someone else, waiting to see if he needs to give the orders he's still hoping he doesn't have to, even if by this point he's realized that they, like a lot of things lately, have become grimly inevitable.

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
She was watching on the monitors, a tracker keeping both Tony and The Hulk's positions, and then... the connection went dead.

Pepper had that icy feeling in her chest again. The feeling that she would lose him. The feeling that she would be left alone again. The same lump formed in her throat that she elt when the news broke from Afganistan, when Obidiah Stane told her the news as she worked in an office half a world away.

Reptilon was more than half a world away, the distance measured in miles would be staggering...

    ... but she had to try.

Clad in socks and ripped up jeans and one of Tony's old T-shirts (worn soft by a hundred washes), she rushed down the stairs of the estate.

"Jarvis." Pepper's voice shakes. She grips at the bannister, and she steps out into the middle of Tony's workshop.

"Yes, Miss Potts?"

"Tony's in trouble." she replies, and she stands in the middle of the workshop. She felt lost, and she looked up. "I need a suit, give me... give me something that will help. Anything. I'm not going to lose him. Not again."

She felt her ice resolve to steel. "Not again."

Jarvis processed for a moment, then piped up with:

    "Might I suggest the RESCUE protocol, Miss Potts?"

Serori (37) has posed:
Horror snatches away Serori's breath. For an instant, her entire body freezes, lungs and heart and all else. It feels like her pulse slows to a sluggish crawl. Ice creeps through her veins.

It's not just Taylita earning Serori's dismay; it's Stark...and what Serori senses coming for him.

"...Stark, get out of there. Stark, GO." It's the first time in ages she's tried to do him a real favor, but necessity requires the lines to be blurred. Serori's breath shudders through her aching lungs. It's the /power/ weighing down on her. It's Kakarot's power she feels, and the looming presence of his army. It's the power signature bearing toward Tony at unstoppable speeds.

The pressure is enough to break a lesser woman; Serori, like steel put to flame and hammered again and again and again, is only made /stronger/.

Instead of a terrified wail, Serori looses a defiant and bloodthirsty shout. Power snaps out around Serori's body in a thunderclap of a shockwave, and -- now bearing the Super Saiyan's golden halo -- she makes herself into a retributive spear flying for Kakarot's heart.

"TAYLITAAAAAA! HANG ON!"

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    Pepper pauses, and she looks up at the ceiling.

    "THe /WHAT/ Protocol?"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel watches the fight but she also watches everything go on. She can't say anything about Tony as well he out ranks her, she is about to say something, when she sees what Kakarot is doing and noe she's getting ready to spring into action where she can but she's too far out. However Serori is acting as well? She's getting closeer but given the nature of the fight and those moving in already she may not be needed. Still she moves...

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Of course he's resourceful, he's Tony Fucking Stark. He built Iron Man in a cave with a box of scraps!

Not this particular iteration of Iron Man, of course; it moves far too smoothly for scrap missile parts. Even as he's blindsided, cutting out his radio transmission mid-sentence, the suit's automatic evasion systems kick in and twist him away, putting him in position to fire back with several piston-like rabbit punches into the blindingly fast blur that is the third Saiyan.

But even he can't take on three at once, not at this power level. Out the corner of his eye, as he's battered from all directions, he spots the massive mecha-dinosaur approaching on his HUD, and marks it in his mind as his new retreat destination. But first he has to get /free/ of these maniacs.

"Jarvis," he gasps, "Divert everything we can to the chest RT--"

Externally, the suit's running lights dim as power channels swiftly to the center of the torso, the primary arc unit glowing more brightly as a whine builds for a bare second in preparation to discharge a massive beam of repulsor energy at once--

And then Zuki's ki beam slams into him, and the would-be unibeam discharges with a chaotic BOOM of unfocused power, as Iron Man gets railgunned backward, past the Tarpits 3, over the Hulk, and into the side of the Lavadome.

So great is the force of impact that the dome itself cracks, and chunks of rubble rain down along with the now-limp figure in the metal suit, burying him at its base.

Back in Malibu, Pepper's Iron Man Cam goes black.

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan's vision flickers. He's drained, powerless, and now without purpose on the battlefield. But he won't leave. He floats. There's no superspeed flight here. There's no explosion of energy, pushing himself forward. He floats. He still has hope, however, no matter how he's being proven wrong. As Serori rockets toward Kakarot...

    Gohan floats. And he floats to where he saw Taylita go down. When he can't float anymore, he lands and staggers, drunkenly, toward the site. His vision flickers.

    But he's still walking.

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita grins as she rings Kakarot's bell and sends him smashing into the rocks like she did not too long ago. She is about to pursue him when his power level starts to change, then her teeth clench as she raises an arm to shield her eyes from the light. Then...

     ...Kakarot is upon her. The blows are too fast for even her to stop all of them, and soon her body is looking battered before she is blasted back again. Her weakened form is intercepted and kicked upward, flipping through the air like a ragdoll. She is just about to catch herself when...boom, she is hit again. This time with a gigantic ki blast. The explosion sends her flying back toward the ground, and the energy sears her body and her meager armor.

     And within moments, there is another crater in the side of the moutain. This one with a very battered and possibly broken Taylita in the center of it, eyes clenched in pain. She wasn't strong enough, she thinks to herself as she lies there, trying to get her body back under control. Which is hard with a few broken ribs. She tries to respond to Kakarot's taunting, but all that comes out is a wet-sounding cough. But, she still doesn't seem like she is willing to give up. She gradually drags herself back to her feet, panting heavily in pain and the effort of breathing.

     "S-serori...stay back..." she says weakly, probably not loudly enough to be heard. "...I made this challenge...I have to see it through..." she continues, voice growing stronger. And energy is building in her hands again. She has one more trick she can use. Her most powerful attack. She builds her energy, and anyone with the ability would feel the concentration of her power before she fires a beam upward. It looks more like a signal beam than an attack.

     And a moment later, a comet falls from the sky. Aimed at Kakarot. It flies with the same speed he displayed a moment ago, and upon impact it explodes like..well...a meteor hitting the earth. Atomic-like explosion, mushroom cloud, brilliant blue-white flash of light and power as Taylita pours everything into one last attack. "Star Child!!" she screams out.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Vindictiveness can be terribly destructive to those around you, but most importantly yourself. This is a lesson Zuki is about to learn, as she releases her Ki blast, she fails to take into account the 30 story Godzilla wannabe charging up his Arc Reactor Breath.

The jaws of Tarpits 3 open wide and a column of pure energy, 3 yards wide, punches forth through the air and envelopes the unawares Saiyan and disperses against the side of Lavadome..

The light from the blast momentarily basks half of the mountainside in a daylight-like glow, before descending back into night.
Having dissolved under the intense heat, molten steel drips from where Tarpits 3's jagged teeth used to be

Rex's voice calls out, "Stark? Are you ok? Tony Stark, do you read me?"

Bruce Banner (295) has posed:
The Hulk pounds across the landscape, single-minded, leaping hunderds of yards at a time. His feet make small creators from the impact of his fall and the power of his relaunch. Closer and closer he gets to the Neo-Sayians' location. The monster is focused. If something gets in his way, it gets smashed, punched, crushed, or broken. It is at the very moment that the Hulk sees the battered red and gold streak sail over his head toward the Lavadome and imbed itself within.

With a snap of his head and an eye narrow, Banner's alter ego's teeth griiiiind, his clenched teeth *quaking*! He let's out a MIGHTY ROAR!!

"HULK SMASH!!! HULK CRUSH THOSE THAT HURT FRIENDS!! HULK **ANNNNGRY!!!!!!!!**" Not since the fight against Vegeta has THIS much rage been exhibited by the green monster. ANYTHING that is in the path of the beast now is likely to be crushed. With focused rage, the Hulk *SMASHES* his hands together at lightning speed, cuasing a shockwave of immense power to radiate froward toward the Sayains that attacked Iron Man, his eyes glowering green.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
There's a sudden amplified sound of Vegeta speaking coming from Cooler's ship, even if his voice is weak and pained. From his medical bed, he speaks into the comm. "Taylita... you have nothing to prove to anyone. You don't have to die, you don't have to -kill- to be worthy of being a Saiyan. I kill... I am a killer. But you... no... Do not throw away your life here, Kakarot has no honor..."

Serori (37) has posed:
The power swelling in Taylita's hands calls down a meteor from above. The pure blue light surrounding the descending meteor competes against Serori's golden aura, and in response, she alters the trajectory of her straight charge.

Serori corkscrews away from the point of impact. Though still coming after Kakarot, and after Taylita, she's not foolish enough to get caught in /that/ blast.

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    A silver streak, punctuated by long trails of golden light courses through the evening. Jarvis had calculated the quickest route, and Potts is certain that it's broken a sound barrier. Inside the suit, Potts can see the targeting mechanism, Jarvis outlining the lifeforms, IDing figures on the screen in the distance. She can feel the humming, coursing energy pulsing around her as the arc reactor flares in the night.

    And she's set onto a collision course, heading straight for the Saiyans about to pummel Stark into the rocks.

    The silver and red suit glides along, shooting past the Tarpits' elbow, the disapproving, thin face of one of Stark's suits, built to nearly waspish proportions, a brillaint golden gleam from the chest.

    RESCUE is on-scene, and she follows up Rex's blasts with a few repulsar blasts of her own!

Raditz (486) has posed:
    Raditz grits his teeth as he watches the fight, growling as he too flares up in power, his aura lighting up as and enveloping him in gold. Like Serori, he transforms into the Super Saiyan form in reaction to the fight, though unlike Serori he doesn't attempt to fly in and interfere. Or at least he doesn't fly in the direction of Kakarot.

    Instead he circles around in the general direction of Taylita, putting himself closer to the fight without aggression.

Oh hey, Super move time. That stalls Raditz's approach, as he whistles, covering his eyes a touch to block out the glare.

Kakarot (723) has posed:
And it's at this time that a massive hunk of the rocky terrain breaks, a deadly spire of rock shattered from one of the crater walls as Gaplan leaps into the air, hanging over the fallen Iron Man. With a terrible purpose, the blur-armored, silent man looms.

A shadow falls over the Iron Man, as that hunk of Mountain slams down into his location, a terrifying, ugly punctuation to end a deadly tale. The Saiyan stands atop if ot, heaving as he recovers from the effort.

This means he's not in a position to intercept what happens to Zuki. The massive Godzilla Beam sears towards Zuki, and there's nothing Toma or Gaplan can do about it. Zuki's pupils contract against the overwhelming light, and she desperately marshals another ki blast to counter it, but she's too weak, she didn't have time-

A sickening sound is the result as a charred, blackened Zuki impacts the rock spire Gaplan sits upon. She isn't moving. Is she dead?

Gaplan doesn't know. But just that image is enough to cause his eyes to flare red for a terrifying moment, as he shrieks a bellowing howl that, for a moment, rivals the Hulk for a fraction of a moment.

Toma sweeps up next to him. "GAPLAN! NO! Look, you gotta get Zuki back to the Bardock, NOW, to see if we can save her! GO!"

Gaplan looks towards the Tarpits three, not heeding of the terrfying, unstoppable force of The Hulk approaching.

"YOU HAVE TO GO NOW! THE KING COMMANDS IT!" Toma yells.

That finally gets Gaplan moving. He bends down and scoops up the mangled body of Zuki.

This is where the Hulk takes a more direct hand in things. The handclap resonates through the air and sends them flying backwads. Gaplan does not let go of Zuki, however, though Toma is splattered against a cliff like a red-armored bug for a moment. Gaplan wastes no more time, and launches into the stratosphere as fast as he can go, streaking towards the Neo-Saiyan flagship.

An eye for an eye, perhaps?

Toma looks up at the Tarpits 3 and the Hulk, and does the only sane thing as he peels himself off of the cliff.

He gets the hell out of there. He bolts through the sky, streaking with his intense speed as he trails a cometlike red line behind him as he seems intent on heading to the other side of the planet.

Cell (696) has posed:
     As Cell finishes his self-appointed task, there's still plenty of power to spare. They may even realize he conned them, but that's not really relevant. His hands slide into his elegantly-tailored pockets as Serori leaves, adopting a cool, relaxed pose. The horrible monster's eyes flick to Gohan, then Kakarot.

     He's still burning - boiling, even - with power. Even with everything he used, he's got more than enough to remain completely calm. But even if he didn't, he would anyway. Or at least he'd sure the hell try, and he was damn good at it.

     With a snap of his fingers, Cell materializes a cigar. Another snap lights it. It doesn't do him any good, of course. It doesn't do anything. But he likes the smell.

     Story of his life.

     But he earned it. So he takes a deep smoke from the cigar, watching the makeshift, ramshackle evacuation ship lift off. He tracks everything - his sense of smell, his super-hearing, both pumping overtime. He's glad Bruce isn't closer - that roar would've done some serious damage to his ears. He can hear it from *here*.

     Vegeta was so close.

     Until he'd dropped the h-word.

     Cell snorts, smoke pouring out of his mouth. He'd been so *close*.

     All hell breaks loose, everywhere, all over. Everyone's exploding everything, there's chaos all around.

     It'd be *so* easy.

     Cell quietly curses his own professionalism. He wanted to be impatient. The Saiyan in him wanted to do something very stupid, wanted to do something rash. It would've fucked up everything he'd worked for. Every plan he had. Everything.

     So, his muscles burning for a fight, every part of him supercharged with energy from Gohan and Vegeta...Cell simply stands there, smoking his cigar, waiting to see what he knew was about to happen.

     Patience. Patience was important. His job was, for the moment, done. So now it was time to be patient.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
Vegeta's have actually packed quite a lot of people into his ship at this point. Those PTO flagships tend to be capable of holding small armies. So his ship is already heading into the sky. Though he's more than capable of seeing and hearing what goes on with his ship's monitors.

Thankfully Frieza's race are notoriously sadistic voyeurs.

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    With the Saiyans going, The silver suit turns its gaze to the pile of rubble, and decends. Landinging in a heavy kneel, it whirrs to life, and immediately begins to move the rocks, shoving boulders to the side with ease.
    "Tony. /Tony/! Goddamn it, Anthony Edward Stark /RESPOND/!" Potts cries out over the pile of rocks, searching for a glint of red and gold.

Bruce Banner (295) has posed:
Looking up with an angry glare, following it with a shout of unbridled rage, the Hulk's gaze is all that can chase the Sayians as they attempt to make an escape. While not the brightest light on the Christmas tree, he is smart enough to know even with his leaping power, he cannot catch the escaping foes.

Though this doesn't stop him from punching his heel HARD into the ground, which causes a large fragment of rock to pop upward. It also doesn't stop him from punching his fingers through the rock, swinging around with amazing speed, and HURTLING the rock toward Iron man's attackers. Whether the rock actually hits remains to be seen with Hulk's rage-filled attampt at aiming, but it at least gives the monster a sense of some kind of acommplishment, empty or not.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
The Gigas begin firing wildly at the retreating Saiyans, their plasma beams lighting up the night sky like the a spotlight fanfare!

Teryx is released from Tarpits 3 as it lifts of the ground, in pursuit of the Saiyans. Cannons attached to its hull fire concentrated arc energy wildly at them. It's clear this is all to drive the Saiyans off rather than resume the engagement.

The Battle station stops to hover over Lavadome, in a defensive stance. If they want to keep fighting tonight, they will have to go though the mechanical menace.

Allo (724) has posed:
There it goes. They're pulling out the big guns so to speak... On both sides of the camp.

Allo is already yelling into his radio at first, to make sure Dimentro gets the people on that ship and gets them away from at least the immeadiate danger zone of the fight. If they have to go farther than that... Well, we will cross that bridge when it come to it. Right now, he just wants the civilians out of immeadiate harms way. Followed by trying to get a rescue crew out to Stark's less known location, but that was going to take any land based operation time.

And then he's starting to make his own way towards where the confrontation between Taylita, Kakarot and now Serori is taking place. This was still the Sayains' fight, an all out fracas hasn't started yet, so he wasn't interveining yet...

... But the static over Stark's line and Teryx's shocked words...

... But Allo was damn well tired of being made to stand on the sidelines while other people faught for the planet HE was suppose to be a protector of...

--

Teryx was already on the way out of the Tarpits by the time Rex had finished suggesting she do just that. She takes off and soars towards where the rocks were dropped on Stark. Could even that mechanical marvel of a suit of his survive that?

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Anthony Edward Stark does not respond. After what seems like several tons of rubble are shifted, however, there is a telltale reflection of tarnished gold. One of the suit gauntlets, jutting awkwardly from the junction between two jags of rock, twisted at an anatomically unlikely angle. Upon retrieval it is revealed to be empty. The gauntlet module appears to have been violently severed from the whole. But the rest of the suit must be nearby...

And, after some more digging, it too is revealed. It's barely recognizable, pummeled into a configuration that's painful even to LOOK at. Stark's bare arm protrudes from the foreshortened arm, badly broken, unmoving. More disturbing, the back of the helmet appears to have been significantly caved in. A short distance away the broken facemask lies with a single large crack through the middle, ripped free from its moorings.

Kakarot (723) has posed:
"Who are you to talk about honor, you coward and thief!" Kakarot rages at Vegeta's words, clenching a fist. Deliberately, he turns his back to Vegeta as he lifts off in his ship. He has no doubt that Vegeta will see it.

A moment later, he blurs to one side, the beam firing into the air harmlessly. "That isn't eoough." He says, simply, and holds out a hand to Taylita on the ground. Serori streaks for him like a spear. Can she interrupt what is about to happen? Time seems to slow...

And then speed back up as a giant goddamn meteor slams into Kakarot from behind, sending him blasting into the ground under a colossal hit, the impact annihilating everything around him and throwing great plumes of dust high into the sky.

Trigger warning: Dinosaurs and huge meteors.

There is silence beneath the terrible, glowing comet... And then it cracks, splitting to reveal Kakarot. He is shredded, blood pouring from wounds all over his body. His facs is bloody and beaten, puffing up. Part of his chest looks partially caved in, a piece of comet punched into his side. One leg is twisted the wrong way.

He is beat to hell.

But he is still a Super Saiyan. He is a King of Saiyans. And as long as he can move... He can fight.

"That... That was a worthy strike." He heaves, spitting up blood for a moment. "But it's time to put an end to this, with a thing I saw Cell greet me with when I arrived."

It's at this point that he brings his hands back in that signature pose. Anyone who's seen Goku fight knows what's about to happen.

"Kaaaaaaaaa..." Ki gathers in his hands, his power level still growing somehow as energy circulates through him.

"meeeeeeee...."

His muscles bulge, his body overcharging as he recucles his power, gathering everything together for this strike.

"haAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..." The lights of Reptilon begin to grow dim as he continues to gather power, a terrifying energy growing.

"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..." Perhaps the irony is lost on Kakarot as he uses this attack. Perhaps not. Perhaps this is exactly what he wants. You will know what it is to fight a monster, he said.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The beam explodes outwards, pure, overwhelming, annihilating force as Kakarot channels the destructive power of his own energy through himself and into a massive, sun-dimming blast that shears striaght through the crater wall, surging upwards into the air. Perhaps it is a mercy that it only grazes the Lava Dome. Perhaps it is luck that Taylita and Serori can be only caught in the backwash if they are swift.

But he is making a statement here and now. A terrible, deadly statement. This battle is over, one way or the other.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori rushes forward at blinding speed, hand outstretched toward Taylita.

There's no way Tay can die here.

All Serori's energy, all her speed is devoted to getting Taylita /out of the way/ of that Kamehameha.

"Taylita...!"

Cell (696) has posed:
     Cell heaves a sigh. God save him from overemotional lunatics making his job twice as hard.

     He moves like lightning. He surges off the rock, the mere force of his feet leaving it blasting a crater in the ground. There's a brilliant green streak in the sky, and the furious sound of buzzing wings, as Cell moves to do what might possibly be the most dangerous thing he's done all night.

     The sheer power available to him at the moment is intoxicating and staggering. And...

     And he is going to act incredibly out of character.

     But Allo is correct.

     Cell surges into the path of the Gigas shots at such speed that the force of the *air* is tearing his skin, is shredding his clothes. The shots from the tanks impact him, hammering him fiercely in the torso. There's a wet, sickening *thump* as a shot catches him in the shoulder, blowing off a chunk of it, and another *thump* as it catches him in the chest.

     Cell hovers there in the air, holes carves through him by the blasts.

     As his muscles begin to rebuild, and his tuxedo begins to reweave, he stares at the Gigases from those horrible insect eyes.

     "Mister Allo," Cell warns, "Is correct. Listen very carefully to me. Saiyans do not take warning shots. Saiyans do not listen to warning shots. If you shoot a Saiyan, they will kill you."

     "If you shoot a Saiyan," Cell points at the flaring Kamehameha, "They will do *that*."

     "So turn around. And back off. And listen to me. And get your king's pride to stop getting in the way of tactics."

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    Ice courses through Potts' veins as her stomach leaps into her throat. Banner's in no condition to triage. Potts was no medic. She pushes the rocks to the side, and glances up and down the form on Stark's Mark 42. She feels tears well up in her eyes.

    Kneeling over his form, she faceplate pops open, refealing her exhausted face and her smudged cheeks and streaked makeup. Potts exhales, shakingly, "Jarvis... is he..." she begins, and then she hears the command, a damnation falling from the skies.

     She looks up, confused, but she closes her eyes, and poses herself over Tony's body, protectively, and holds her hands aloft. A repulsar shield forms, glowing with energy as she braces against the ground.

Allo (724) has posed:
"That's it lads, times up!" Screw take off protocol. Screw emergency take off protocol. Dimentro just does the equivilent of slamming it into gear, to get the rushed together ship off the ground and NOPE NOPE NOPE away from the city as Kakarat is charging up his attack.

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita is in no position to move, so unless someone swoops in and grabs her...

     She watches Kakarot emerge from her attack, then her teeth clench as he starts powering up himself. She feels the end is close. She knew that it was likely to end this way, but she had to try.

     But, she is a saiyan. She isn't about to just give up. She tries to build energy again, to try and weaken the attack before it hits her. And then, there is Serori, rushing toward her. Taylita blinks, then holds out a hand. If Serori reaches her, then she will grab Serori's hand. If not...well, Serori might still get a hand to grab.

     Taylita tries to fire a blast, but she is exhausted. Only a thin beam impacts the Kamehameha wave, weakening it only slightly. And just before Serori reaches her...Taylita's form disappears in Kakarot's attack. It picks her up and carries her with it while it flows past her, searing her, burning away cloth and skin and starting on the flesh beneath. Taylita's scream can hardly be heard, and to reach her Serori will have to dive into that beam. Luckily, thanks to Kakarot's aiming of the beam, Taylita is spit out before she disintegrates. She falls from the sky, several hundred feet up, smoking and unconscious. If she isn't dead, the impact with the ground below might finish her off in this condition.

Allo (724) has posed:
Teryx lands next to Pepper and Tony's form, immeadiately getting down on her knees. "Miss Pepper, I know some human medic from my time on Earth... but..." She looks at Tony's battered form as Pepper cradles it and brings up her shield. She doesn't need a scanner to tell how greviously injured Tony is within that armor.

"".. I don't know if there's anything I can do."

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
The frozen face of Tarpits 3 lights up from the "Kahmehahmehah", its deep crimson armor shimmering in from the light. While emotion cannot be seen behind the robotic visage, the silence that spills forth tells volumes.

Cell hears no retort from the behemoth. Behind the green glow of the 'eyes', he can see the large optic sensors following Kakarot's every moment.

Is he considering attacking the Saiyan, is he yielding to Cell's advice, or has the mighty dinosaur simply gone 'Tharn.'

Raditz (486) has posed:
    There is no reason that Kakarot should know the Kamehameha move. Of course, Cell admitted to being the one to teach him that. Dammit Cell.

    NOW, however, Raditz FLARES UP, and Shoots out in flight, putting himself out there, aiming to catch Taylita as she falls from the sky, hoping that he's not too late to keep her alive.

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan stops, staring up at Kakarot. His father's signature technique... and this twisted alternate version, the one that had never known human kindness... Was using it, aiming it at Serori and Taylita. His eyes go wide, his body going rigid. He wants to turn to Cell, force him to return the energy, and stop the wave, but he knows he can't. So he has to watch.

    He can do nothing but watch as the blast sails out and over Taylita. He can hear her scream, if only barely, and his body tenses. He stares. He watches her fall.

    He doesn't remember his face being wet, nor his vision being quite so blurry.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Collateral force from Kakarot's blast splatters against Rescue's protective bubble, scattering a large amount of the surrounding rubble so that she is left kneeling in something like a crater, Tony's broken body beneath her. There's a deafening roar that leaves the ears ringning, and in the wake of it Jarvis replies, softly, "I am detecting no signs of life, Miss Potts."

For an emotionless machine he sounds almost apologetic.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori vanishes into the beam, too.

To save her friend -- to save Taylita -- she'll do what she must. Even if it hurts.

The incredible blast peels back layers of armor. It sears her skin, rakes at her golden hair, and blinds her vision.

Bloodied and battered, shouting her rage, Serori rockets out the other side, still racing after Taylita. Her fingertips brush Tay's.

"H-hang on...!"

Bruce Banner (295) has posed:
Satisfied that the Sayians are gone, or at worst, getting gone, Hulk makes his way over to Tony and Pepper's location. He approaches slowly, and turns his head toward Tony, then Potts. For all the rage of the monster, there is a concerned look and sense of helplessness within his eyes. Hulk steps back a step and throws his head and chest back, roaring LOUDLY, hoping that his roaring will startle the billionare out of his forced slumber. Hey, it's worked before.

Hulk kneels down beside the pair, yet at a distance enough not to intrude on a personal moment. He starts to try and calm himself, his breathing slowing and his focus on Tony and Pepper.

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    Potts is left standing, and slowly, the shield ebbs away. Tears streak down her face. She feels her blood rush and the ring on her finger get cold.

    No. This wasn't happening. Not now. Not Now.

    She turns, and looks up to Teryx,a nd then down to Tony's form, and raising her hands, she seizes the other part of her helmet and pulls it from the chestplate. Her hair, smelling like sweat and passionfruit in the midst of a crater that smells of blood and burnt rock. She slowly pulls Tony over, turning him to his back, easing his arm to the side and drawing the dented back of his helmet to rest on her thigh.

    "Tony..." she whispers, and leans her head forward.

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    POtts starts a moment at the Roar, raising her eyes to the Hulk, and then bites the bottom of her lip.

Kakarot (723) has posed:
In the aftermath of the blast, sound takes time to return, almost as if it the air itself is afraid to conduct sound. Kakarot hangs there, in the air, broken, beaten, and bloodied.

but victorious.

He looks down at the falling Taylita, and the valiant efforts of Raditz and Serori to save her.

He holds forth a finger, a ball of ki gathering. He could finish her right here and now, simply put a bolt of ki through her heart, and she would never return.

But he closes his hand, looking up. Wordlessly, he rises into the air, his army gathering up into formation and flying behind him as they head back to space.

The war is postponed for today.

For now.

Allo (724) has posed:
Teryx on the other hand quite literally jumps at the Hulk's roar, quickly flaring her wings to catch herself in mid-air. She had been so focused on Pepper and Tony that she didn't even hear -the Hulk- stomp up. And frankly she has no idea if that roar was in anger or sadness.

It is, however, not enough to break the somber mood of the moment.

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita's eyes open just slightly, looking clouded from the energy of the attack. But, she still stretches out her fingers, and they brush Serori's before...plop. She lands in Raditz's arms, still smoldering. Her eyes look up at him weakly, then close. And her body goes limp. She is either knocked out...or dead.

     The difference between the two could be how fast she gets to a medical facility.

Deelel has posed:
She was about to get closer but well evertying is just getting closer. She watches a bunch of people who might as well be living gods, from Tony, the Hulk, Serori and others gets mixed up in all of this. Then comes the power spike and she's forced to give up her scramble lesst she gets cubed by the monsterously powerful Ki attack. She however watches and stares at all that ahs happened, she now knows what sort person Kakarot is, and she is ... afraid.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Tarpits 3 stares at Kakarot, it' green optic flaring the anger behind it, "Go home Saiyan. Lick your wounds and rest ... but when you close your eyes, remember, I am there ... in the darkness .. and I am waiting for you."

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony's face is nearly as badly broken as the rest of him, twisted into a horrible parody of his usual confident smirk, one cheekbone smashed inward, blood covering the side of his face that was primarily underneath though it's not flowing now. He's limp in her arms, boneless, and he does not respond to the Hulk's roar.

Gently, Jarvis speaks again, sounding tinny from the depths of the removed Rescue suit helmet. "Miss Potts... I'm afraid he's gone. The force of impact was more than any amount of armor could possibly have nullified. Even if he survived the initial impact..." but the AI, rather wisely perhaps, leaves his analysis to trail off there for now.

Raditz (486) has posed:
    Raditz catches Taylita with a swoop, and then rockts back up with the idealistic Saiyan in arms, in order to catch Serori as well and keep her on the upright and NOT hurtling out of countrol, "GOTCHA!"
    After a moment, he looks to Serori, "I've got Tay. Serori, you going to be okay?" Concerned briefly. He waits until she confirms her own condition.

    With that, he turns and says, "I'm getting her out of here. You get back to medical."

    With that, he takes a risk in order to get her to medical quick, he roars and his power flares up stupid high.

    Lightning crosses his body all over, as he once more transforms, his hair spiking up even higher.

    He hadn't revealed to Kakarot that he was an Ascended Super Saiyan.

    He ROARS at super speed to get Taylita safe.

Raditz (486) has posed:
    As Raditz flies, he takes a breath and gathers some energy into his hand, holding it above Taylita and tells her, "You're not dying on me, Tay." He knows the trick. Giving a bit of energy to someone injured to help them, to keep them going... He presses the palmful of energy against Taylita's shoulder, trying to transfer it over to her, in order to keep her going. "Take the energy, dammit..."

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    Pepper gently draws her hands undearneath Tony's form. Slowly, she lifts his limp form, something she wouldn't be able to do without the suit. She doesn't care. His mangled arm is gently folded over his chest. Potts doens't have a transformation. She doesn't have an aura, or a way to express the deep, stabbing pain she was feeling. She cradled Tony in her arms, and she leaned her head forward, pressing her head to his forehead. She was shaking. But she won't cry.

    She was Pepper Potts. Pepper Potts handles things for Tony. Whatever he needed... she was always there.

    Except this time.

    This time, she failed him.

Cell (696) has posed:
     Cell lands again, his suit almost totally rebuilt. He's worn, heavily. The excess energy is already running low after that stupid stunt, and the supercharge has worn down to a mere high. He touches down near Gohan, cigar in hand, silent.

     They'd lost Stark. Cell didn't know anything about the man, but it was a death. In a way, he'd failed in his job. That irritated him greatly. That...twitching Saiyan anger, in the back of his mind, the same anger Gohan expressed mere moments ago. He didn't know the man personally. He didn't know the man at all. Truth was, he didn't really care that Tony *had* died - TOny was just one more body in a long string of bodies Cell was partially responsible for.

     But he hated failing.

     Cell's foot smashes the rock underneath him, digging in as he vents some tiny portion of his own inherent rage.

     A moment later, he sighs. It's a sad sigh - one of the few Cell has ever had, one of the few *honest* ones he's ever had. He looks over at Gohan.

     "You ready?" He asks aloud.

Taylita (180) has posed:
     Taylita can't really accept the energy, but it does at least flow into her, and Raditz would notice her chest rising and falling again. She is still out like a lightbulb that has been kicked, smashed, crushed, and otherwise broken.

Allo (724) has posed:
Teryx slowly reachs over to rest a hand reassuringly on Pepper's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Miss Pepper.... If those two had done anything to Lava Dome while everyone else was focused on the duel, it... He gave his life saving so many, many more. For what little time we've known him... I think he would be happy knowing that."

She's trying to be comforting, but even Teryx is somewhat at a loss of things to say.

Bruce Banner (295) has posed:
After a respite, a short distance away from all of the carnage and loss, Hulk's inner emotions, those of the good doctor within, seep forth. AS the calming effects take over, the monster reverts, shrinking away, slowly regaining his form, and his composure. Soon, a slightly out of breath and weakened Bruce Banner remains. Taking a few moments to gather his composure, he stands, reteives his medical gear from his motorcycle, and begins to tend to the wounded, and most importantly, his fallen friend.

With a look of sadness, Bruce consoles Pepper. "I wish there was more I could do." he utters solemnly.

Gohan (334) has posed:
    Gohan trembles, then falls to his knees. Taylita survived, but Tony was dead. They... weren't close, no, but to lose someone in the battle, an Elite... And seeing Taylita so broken... He stands up. His body twitches and jerks, like he's on strings. Every ounce of energy he had given out catches up with him, and it's all he can do to remain standing.

    As Cell lands next to him, he looks up at the cicada-monster-thing with a new look. A look of respect.

    "Yeah... I need... rest..."

    "Let's go," he says, and in a lower tone. "Master."

Pepper Potts (204) has posed:
    Potts visibly flinches when Teryx touches her shoulder. She exhales. She slowly inhales. Keep composure. Pepper Potts doesn't cry. She has blood on her armor. She has dents where she hit rock. And she has a few friends. She exhales. She looks to Bruce, and then to Teryx. She inhales, and just gives a nod, and says with a cracking voice "Jarvis... take us to Njorun. We'll see you there, Bruce." she adds, giving a nod, and then takes of with Tony to the nearest transport out.

Cell (696) has posed:
     Dammit.

     Cell takes another drag of his cigar. This was *caring*, wasn't it?

     Shit. This was worse than he'd ever imagined. But he nods at Gohan, and holds out a horrible, cicada-fingered hand.

     And then they're off.

Deelel has posed:
IT takes a moment for Deelel to understand, a moment for the chatter on the union band to sink in. She had not known Tony well in person but he'd always beena stalblizing force in the union, for all his flaws he kept throwing himself in the line of fire, for the sake of others. Now he has died doing the same, Deelel can not sheard tears but she does greive and sinks to her knees. He was the Iron Man to the end....but it seems Kakarot has proven that Iron ... can be broken.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori stands by herself in the middle of the crater Kakarot's attack has left behind. She doesn't seem to notice the low exchange going on between Gohan and Cell, and the change in Gohan's treatment of the bug monster. Serori frowns at the thoughts circling around in her head, at the ache in her body, and at the pain in her heart for Taylita.

Only once Gohan and Cell take off together does she pick up her head to wonder at what could possibly be going on /there/. Another complication?

She rubs the back of her neck.

Damn it.

Allo (724) has posed:
For the longest of time, Allo just stares up at the point in space that Kakarot and his followers disappeared into, letting things sink in.

He knew from personal experience just how resourceful and brave humans could be, even when the odds seemed up against them. He couldn't count on his own claws how many times the Secret Scouts had pulled through for the Dinosaucers on Earth, often without getting directly into the fighting.

But even Allo had no expected one of them to go as far for his home world as Tony Stark had tonight.

Finally he lowered his head and turned to walk back to the buildings he had originally come from.

The time for contemplation was over.

He had a war to prepare for.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Tarpits 3 sets down on the edge of Lavadome, it's belly opens and releases Rex, who immediatley shrinks down to his normal size and shape. He kneels down and peers over the side at the area of gathered people around the fallen Tony Stark. They were all so small down there, but he was the one who felt small at this moment. "Once again, I find myelf appologizing to a corpse."