WMAT B1 Serori vs. Taylita

WMAT B1 Serori vs. Taylita
Date of Scene:	26 June 2014
Location:	WMAT Arena - Northern Mountains
Synopsis:	Taylita kicks the everliving daylights out of Serori.
Cast of Characters:	32, 37, 83, 86, 180, 316

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Taylita (180) has posed:
Mountains. Taylita had always liked mountains. She was raised in a mountain monastary, after all. So, as she comes flying in over the mountains, leaving her signature trail of blue ki energy, Taylita lands on the top of a mountain, then grins and stands there, arms folded over her chest. She looks the terrain over, then looks up at the sky, then around for Serori. All the while, her tail is swishing and twitching in excitement. This is going to be an epic battle! And she might get a cake afterward!

When she sees the camera's, Taylita hees before waving and winking at one. She has to make sure her adoring fans (all one or two of them) get a good picture of her. "Alright! Who's ready for the most awesome fight you'll probably see in this tournament?" she calls out to the fans and cameras. She looks like she is just having fun with this, although she does expect this to be an awesome fight.

Serori (37) has posed:
The next meteor to shoot across the sky is none other than Serori, aura blazing so hot and furious it's like a piece of the sun has come crashing to the ground. And crash she does! The ground shudders under her feet and /gives/, sinking and spreading out into a wide cracked crater, rocks bursting into pebbles, trees snapping into splinters. Yeah, sure, it's showy as hell, but as the whipping air blows away the dust plume to reveal Serori's broad and confident smirk, it's clear the powerful display reveals only a small fraction of a potent ego.

Like Taylita's, Serori's tail snakes in the air behind her, twitching side to side in eager anticipation.

Lightning seems to crackle across the gulf separating the two saiyans. "I'm ready!" Serori calls. Leaning her weight into the balls of her feet, she shifts her stance into a posture of readiness. Fists cocked, head up, body tense, she nods once to Taylita. "Show me what your training's done for you, Taylita!"

Courier Six (32) has posed:
Johnny's up in one of the anti-grav viewing platforms, a radio on one side of himself and his co-announcer on the other. "Folks, it's a fantastic night for a fight and we're live from the Northern Mountains. Both our competitors are looking fired up and bristly-tailed tonight and this looks like it could be shaping up into something magnificent. Sarah, why don't you give us a rundown on these two ladies?"

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
Somehow, despite the excellent weather, Dracula is here. He looks out of place among the usual tournament-going crowd, to be sure, but as with most situations like this, he doesn't seem to care. The Lord of Darkness simply lounges in a section of seating which nobody else really wants to take, mostly due to his very presence, and looks over the arena with his hands folded contemplatively in his lap.

And how is he here anyway? Well, that would be thanks to Death, as the reaper hovers above him with his tattered cloak allowed to billow freely as a shade against the sun. Not the most elegant of solutions, and probably another reason nobody wants to sit near that area, but nobody can say it doesn't work.

Slogra and Gaibon are off to the side as well, but their excitement is much more blatant than that of their master. They both even have t-shirts with "GO SERORI" and a crudely-scrawled picture of a monkey on them, though Gaibon's sleeves had to be torn to get them around his wings. Still, they both whoop and holler from their vantage point, shouting various roars and squawks of encouragement.

Sarah (316) has posed:
This kind of terrain isn't much of a problem for one whose soul is essentially stapled to the primal force of creation governing water. After all, ice is just a different state of water. The Runebearer Sarah is, very literally, in her element.

She's sitting on the other end of the commentator's box from Courier Six, wearing her usual style of elabourate, layered dress; and over that, a warm coat with fur trim from several unfortunate forest creatures, and a white scarf wrapped around her neck.

Sarah is not bored, even if she looks it. Some small part of her hopes Serori gets taken down a peg or two, but she's not unprofessional enough to give voice to that part. Heh, heh.

She's also clutching a cup of tea, because she might be in her element, but /damn/ it's still cold up here.

"Certainly, Mister Tallbranch." Her voice is quiet and almost whispery, just as it is on the radio; every nuance of her screaming 'self-control.' Sarah turns her pale, almost colourless eyes on the field, regarding the two combatants thoughtfully.

"On one side of the battle, we have the Saiyan warrior and Union member Taylita, quick to act and quicker to prove her power. On the other side, we have Colonel Serori of the Confederacy, a fellow Saiyan warrior of great power and skill, as well; one whose expertise I can personally vouch for."

She pauses, demurely sipping at her tea. Aaah, that's good.

"What is the term? Ah, yes. 'Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.' Both of our combatants are spoiling for a fight. Mister Tallbranch, why don't you lead them off?"

Courier Six (32) has posed:
Johnny smiles, grabs the mic, and points out the window. "LADIES! LET'S GET IT OOOOOOOOON~"

Sarah (316) has posed:
In the commentator's box, Sarah sighs a deep, long-suffering sigh and hunkers into her seat.

Men.

Taylita (180) has posed:
Taylita just grins all the more at Serori's entrance. "Alright, if you insist!" she calls out to Serori, then...like a rocket, she launches herself from her landing spot and right toward Serori. As she is flying, she fires a quick ki blast, just to give Serori more than one thing to worry about. She follows it in, staying right behind the shot.

But, when Serori responds to it, Taylita doesn't just follow it right to Serori. She uses some of that saiyan speed to get around beside Serori right as the first shot is coming in, then fires another small ki shot. This one she does follow all the way in. Taylita comes spinning through the air, bringing all the momentum around and into a powerful kick.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori doesn't waste a second more on taunting her opponent. The smirk she wears vanishes into a scowl of concentration and determination, cocky arrogance replaced by pure ambition in the flickering silence between two heartbeats. Taylita is bigger and stronger in this form, Serori knows that, just as she knows the difference in strength means she'll need everything to win today. There's just not much room for fucking around!

Taylita lunges toward Serori, and Serori lunges, too, both figures a blur highlighted by their own unique energy auras -- Taylita in blue, Serori in pale yellow. As Serori twists to try and get a bead on Taylita, the first energy sphere cracks into her side and bursts, leaving a smoky smudge across her blue battlesuit. The impact drives her sideways, /just/ out of the path of the second energy sphere, but leaving her perfectly in the path of Taylita's spinning kick. Serori instinctively raises her arms to brace; she's knocked to the ground.

The momentum behind Taylita's kick sends Serori into a skidding tumble. Somewhere in the midst of that, she finds her feet -- then rockets into a vertical leap. No more than six or seven feet in the air, she cups her hands together and fires a column of power at Taylita's position, the beam flexible and quick enough to bend to a pursuit if Taylita's fast enough to try and evade. Serori physically pulls the beam into its new arrangements almost like she's tugging on a really stubborn fishing pole.

"You'll have to do better than that!" she snarls.

Courier Six (32) has posed:
Johnny just grins a bit, and then settles back into his spot as the action starts, eyes flickering to keep up with the opening salvos. "And as I supsected, we're getting started with an explosion of momentum as Taylita opens up with a spot on blasting feint attack." Johnny does sit forward though as Serori lets out that beam attack, whistling. "Beam attacks, we've got fist lasers, folks! Serori unleashing a blistering wave of energy. I've never seen one of those in person folks, that certainly is impressive! But can it land on Taylita?"

Taylita (180) has posed:
When that beam comes down, Taylita goes up. She is pretty speedy, so avoiding a relatively slow guided beam isn't too hard. "You'll have to do -way- better than that!" she counters with a grin. She flies around with Serori's beam following behind, then...flies right at Serori!

Of course, she doesn't actually think the ol' hit yourself with your own seeking thing will work, but just in case, she flies right past Serori, then once she is on the other side of her fellow saiyan, Taylita turns around while still flying backwards, then plants her feet in the ground. Her arms swing out to her sides, then toward Serori, and twin beams of Ki energy fire from Taylita's outstretched palms. "Kyaaa!!"

Sarah (316) has posed:
"It looks as though our two competitors are off to a lively start." Sarah calmly sips her tea, the very antithesis of the two raring warriors on the mountainside. There's a lot of glare from sun against snow, but they can still be seen pretty clearly.

Those colourless eyes actually slide closed. Is she even watching the fight?

"Alas. Taylita does indeed manage her mark. The Colonel is sent tumbling in the snow with all due grace and elegance." Tea-sip. Sarah doesn't even bother opening her eyes; Johnny might notice that there's a mark on her right hand, pulsing in gentle blue-white light. "The Colonel propels herself straight up in the air, attempting to outdo her opponent by main force, firing energy directly down upon her. The question is, will it be enough to, ah, 'discourage' Taylita?"

Serori (37) has posed:
It's one thing for Serori to go flexing her muscles against the dregs of the Multiverse; it's another thing entirely to pit herself against a full-blooded saiyan. Beaten down a second time, skin seared and uniform torn, blood leaking from the scraped-up mess the rocks have made from the side of her face, she suffers more than frustration. The complex emotion pounding in her heart is as proud as it is furious, nostalgic as it is shamed. Kind of a thrill, really. Too bad she shoves it all in some kind of mental toilet and flushes it down in a flood of wounded pride.

"You're not /better/ than me!" Serori snaps at Taylita. "Don't get too confident yet!"

Serori plants her feet, and the ground shivers. "HAAAAAAAAAH -- " All the power she wields whips around her body like a vortex of heat, light, and incredible wind. Debris gets caught up in it, only to become ash and dust after it's incinerated by Serori's incredible energy. Beneath her feet, another shallow crater begins to dent the mountainside, but it doesn't spread until Serori really /braces/ herself and flings both her hands at Taylita -- releasing a veritable /storm/ of energy bursts.

They fly from her palms like bullets from a machine gun, streaking the sky, scorching the earth, and all of them bursting on impact. As the power is super-condensed, the bullets explode in ludicrous proportion to their baseball-ish size.

Courier Six (32) has posed:
Johnny's much more excitable when it comes to sports, it would seem. "It's a clean whiff from the Major! Taylita's a speedy gal as she deftly dodges that beam, shooting straight up into the air and launching a massive counter attack with a PAIR of fist lasers! Serori takes that right on the chin but keeps herself upright. She's following up with some machine gun style ki attacks! This is some high energy aerial combat folks and I'll be surprised if we can keep up here in the booth. Camera 9, keep on them!"

Sarah (316) has posed:
In counterpart to Johnny, Sarah doesn't seem excitable at all. Is there anything that actually excites her?

"Mm." Tea-sip. "Taylita's abilities are certainly impressive, but I wonder if her endurance is up to the task. Then again, she is a Saiyan warrior. If the Colonel's skills are any indication, I would expect no less. The question is, will it save her from Serori's retribution?"

Even with her eyes closed, Sarah winces; it's pretty clear she's sensing what's going on /somehow/. And that hit was enough to make her feel some sympathetic imagined pain, there.

"I do not expect this to end well for Taylita if she continues to goad Serori like this. The Colonel is a tempermental one. And as you can see, when angry, she acts quite directly. With overwhelming force in answer to the offense. However, hmm. I do not believe I have seen her do /that/, before."

Taylita (180) has posed:
Taylita blinks at Serori's outburst. "Hey, you started it!" she says, huffing a bit. She starts in toward Serori, only to get caught in that storm of energy blasts. It takes all of Taylita's concentration not to simply get blown away. As it is, she takes several direct hits, and even more damage from flying debris. She growls in pain as she disappears in a cloud of dust and smoke and fire.

And a moment later, a momentary bulge forms in the top of that cloud before Taylita bursts free, trailing smoke behind her. Despite the attack, she is grinning. "There we go!" she says encouragingly to Serori before she comes flying in toward the other saiyan. She builds speed, appearing as though she intends to tackle Serori, but at the last moment, when she thinks Serori will have had to commit to a defense, Taylita pulls up and somersaults, then comes back down, bringing one leg down in a powerful kick that can very likely crush Serori into the ground, though not necessarily crush Serori.

Serori (37) has posed:
Power level isn't everything. Seriously, look at Raditz. At the time of his first arrival on Earth, he dominated in terms of power level, but he ended up hugged to death by a guy with busted ribs and killed by a lucky shot. Skill and determination often exceed pure power, a point that's proven again when Taylita's heel comes crashing down like a fucking meteor to paste Serori inside her fancy crater. Only one of these two saiyans can go Super, but the way the fight's going, well...if you didn't know better, you'd probably think it was Taylita!

So yeah, Serori's smeared. Paying the price for her arrogance? Or just getting her come-uppance? The ground cracks, bones /crack/, blood's running around all over the place where it /shouldn't/ -- is that a groan of agony, or a growl of rage? Serori flips over onto her back, and gasps stiffly at the sky while waiting for the stars to clear. Laughter, warm and genuine, slips out between the pained breaths. "Aah -- ahaha -- ha -- haaa...aah, Taylita, you say you're only having fun, but your actions...say otherwise...ohh, you want this as badly as I do!"

Serori puts her palm to the ground, and the mountain explodes.

Power funnels deep into the rocks, blasting from Serori's hand in a sudden concussive /THOOM/ that'll leave /both/ saiyans caught in the resulting geyser of fire, stone, shrapnel, and smoke. Serori's only at an advantage because she's in control of it and knows it's coming, and because her ROOOOOOOOOOAR and her will protect her inside another resurgent aura. Huge boulders fragment into an avalanche that would threaten the stands, if it didn't completely fall to pieces before it got anywhere.

Basically, Serori makes a giant mess, and Taylita has to eat it. EAT IT.

Courier Six (32) has posed:
Johnny growls, looking up at the cloud and then his camera feed and yelling. "She's lost in the clouds, Camera Nine, find her. Hold on folks we can- There she is, Taylita bursts out of the cloud of smoke Serori kicked up with those blasts and delivers a KICK. My GOD the IMPACT. Serori's going to feel that for days! Wait, what's going on down t- EXPLOSION! EXPLOSION! Serori's literally BLOWING UP MOUNTAINS to get to Taylita! I'm sering fire ice and everything under the sun tonight folks!

Sarah (316) has posed:
Beside Johnny, Sarah's expression never quite changes, and her eyes remain closed. Her hands clasp around her teacup, pausing occasionally to sip from it. It is nice and warm.

She can still 'see' perfectly fine through that mess.

"Taylita is staggered by the blow, but she is not sundered. She conterattacks, speeding so quickly she can barely be seen, and flashes right past the Colonel. Instead, she comes up and then back down, attempting to drive Serori into the ground with a leg. I imagine it will be quite painful if it connects."

"Serori appears to be laughing, though I cannot say I understand the reason why; what she says does not make sense to me." Wait, she can hear that?? "The Colonel retaliates with sheer destructive force, and Taylita is made of sterner stuff than I imagined if she can manage to shrug this off." Tea-sip. "If Serori herself doesn't lay hands on her, the debris will."

Taylita (180) has posed:
Serori may have been in control of the blast, but that doesn't mean Taylita is just going to eat those rocks, no matter how tasty they might be. When Serori roars, Taylita just grins. She starts kicking and punching and blasting rocks to avoid having to eat them, then with a 'Oooo-aaaaah!!' her aura flares again, surrounding her in blue energy that repels most of the rest of those incoming bits of mountain.

"Of course I want this." she says to Serori, her expression turning a bit more serious. "You wouldn't listen to my words, so maybe you'll listen to my fists!" There might be just a smiiidge of some kind of grudge there. "And besides, there is no reason that having fun and going all out can't be the same thing." she adds.

As a particularly large boulder flies by, Taylita catches it, then holds it above her head and leaps into the sky. She flies upward a short distance. "Oh, and...I really want that cake!" she says with a grin before she somersaults, using the power from the flip to throw the giant boulder down at Serori. Even if Serori is injured, Taylita knows that Serori is one tough little saiyan, so she is fighting in earnest to defeat her friend. Taylita might not be better than Serori.

But then again...she might be. And the only way to know for sure is by who wins this battle. It's a battle for pride and honor as much as anything else, and Taylita tries to get as much of those two things as possible.

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
Up in the stands, Slogra blows a vuvuzela for several seconds while holding up a 'YOU CAN DO IT SERORI' sign before he suddenly finds himself set on fire by a snap of Dracula's fingers. The encouraging vuvuzela is, thankfully, abruptly silenced.

Serori (37) has posed:
"Wha -- "

/BOULDER/.

If that's not a sound effect before, it is now.

The whole world disappears behind the silhouette of a single immense stone thrown so perfectly and with such exquisite force there is simply no avoiding it. Serori feels gripped by an astounding paralysis, amazement and wonder overwhelming all her years of honed warrior instinct. Like the kick which left her questioning what purpose a rib cage /has/ if it can break so easy, she just cannot move aside. The boulder's black silhouette grows larger and larger --

Serori chokes a mouthful of blood out onto the ruined mountainside, and a second. Dizzy, all sound muted to a dull sort of /ring/ she can't shake, she struggles just to understand what the /hell/ has just happened. All around her body, the boulder has been split apart into ragged chunks, the biggest of which is still crushing her right knee. She shoves it off almost lazily, then cries out as pain shoots up her thigh and down to her toes.

Well. At least she can still feel it. That's all she needs, really.

Blinded by hurt and by a rage that's swiftly eclipsing her brief show of good humor, she goes vertical again, hurtling toward the heavens like a very confused lightning bolt. When she stops and suddenly cuts into a streaking descent, a shockwave ripples through the sky. A second one rips around her as she puts all her speed behind a screaming dive.

Serori twists herself into a drill, corkscrewing wildly, too fast to be checked. The point of it is her good foot, extended heel-first, blunt and heavy. Without even considering the consequences of getting in close again, she does her very best to introduce her foot to Taylita's pretty jaw.

Courier Six (32) has posed:
Johnny winces a bit. "Taylita seems to have dodged the worst of that massive explosion, and is staking backwards... And throws a MASSIVE BOULDER at Serori... and she takes it in the face, GOODNESS. She returns that attack with a vicious kick but at this point I'm not sure how well that's going to help, she's taken a BEATING out there tonight folks. I'm not sure what to say other than Taylita DEFINATELY came into this fight more prepared than Serori. This is a blistering display of force from the young Saiyan, and we're certainly getting a show of what we might see further in the tournament."

Sarah (316) has posed:
"Sadly, I do not think the boulder will help improve Colonel Serori's appearance in the least," Sarah comments dryly. She's opened her eyes to watch by this point. "I suppose I will be standing by in the event that someone needs to patch the Colonel back together again."

Taylita (180) has posed:
The impact of that foot on Taylita's jaw echos through the mountains much as the crash of boulders did a few moments ago. Taylita is starting to move, but all she manages to dodge is having her face smashed in. Instead, her head snaps back and she goes somersaulting backwards through the air several dozen meters before she can stop herself. She rubs at the indention in her jaw that wasn't there before, then dabs a finger at the blood flowing from her lip, then hees and grins. "Not even having part of a mountain dropped on you can stop you, huh?" she says to Serori.

Although the attack brought her in close, the result put a distance between them again, and Taylita takes advantage of it. She stretches her arms out at her sides and widens her stance as she floats there, and her skin starts to glow softly as she absorbs the sunlight streaming down through the clear blue sky. In only a few moments, she seems to be glowing almost as brightly as the sun itself. She holds her hands above her head, then spins in place, and as she does, all that glowing energy moves from all over her body, coalescing and concentrating just in front of her palms. Which, as she comes out of her spin, Taylita aims right at Serori. "Solar Blast!!"

A thick beam of yellow-white fires from Taylita's hands, creating a sound not unlike thunder as it superheats the air it is lancing through. It is likely to superheat Serori if she is not careful!

Serori (37) has posed:
The Solar Blast punches through the barrier mustered by Serori almost like the barrier's not there. Once more, the smaller of the two saiyans is obscured, but this time it's not rocks smothering Serori, it's a white-hot cannon of blistering power. The beam gradually fades until it's no more than a few sparkling motes, revealing the /wreck/ Taylita's made of her opponent.

Oh, she's still standing -- pride, the armor left most intact, won't let her do otherwise -- but /how/ she manages it is a mystery the medics will have to figure out later. The light chestplate she wears is splintered into pieces. Her battlesuit is ripped to shreds. Bleeding gashes show through the tears in the tough material, and that's where Serori /isn't/ burned and oozing. Her arms hang limply at her sides, and her head hangs slightly, too, mouth open and panting, blood masking her face, shoulders rising and falling in an uneven rhythm.

Yep -- she's hurt.

But not done.

"You /can't/ beat me..." Serori growls. "It's /impossible/."

A low groan rises into a furious shout as Serori twists around and launches high into the sky again. Flying so fast the air shudders and so high the air gets thin and weak, as she flies, she concentrates, preparing her mind and body for the technique she's about to unleash. Down at ground level, the pebbles don't stop bouncing and the ground doesn't quit shuddering until she's in position.

"Hrrrraaaaaaa..." Serori 'plants' her feet at shoulder width and snaps her weary arms forward, hands cupping loosely together at face level. In the space between her fingers, energy begins to crackle and coalesce. "...aaaaaaaaahhhh..." Something /surges/ around her body and /pulses/, electric-feeling, intense enough to stir dread. "...hhhhaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The feeling /snaps/, leaving stillness behind. Serori's arms spread open.

"FINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"

Her body becomes a conduit for all the power she's got /left/. It devours the distance between Serori and Taylita in a blink, a single massive column of unstoppable, malicious /power/.

Courier Six (32) has posed:
It's little Johnny can do at this point but wince as the next blast comes in from Taylita. "Taylita's showing off I think at this point, channelling the RAW POWER OF THE SUN into this attack folks, and it's getting hot out here on the Mountains. Serori's doing her damnedest to keep in this though! Not giving up! No sir! Wait what's that, we're reading a massive energy surge in return, could we see a CLASH OF THE TITANS? THERE IT IS! FINAL FLASH! WE'RE SEEING SIGNATURE ASSAULTS NOW, EACH WOMAN IS THROWING HER HEART INTO THIS!"

Ragna the Bloodedge (86) has posed:
Damn, this fight is making a hell of a racket. Ragna the Bloodedge can hear this fight from a mile away, and it only gets louder as he approaches, finally reaching the stands of the mountain arena. The commentators make sure that he knows what's going on without being close enough to actually see it (i.e., that Serori is losing), though he has enough of a grasp of the energies in the air to have a good idea without it.

He arrives just in time to see Serori to unleash her Final Flash, a column of overwhelming power. The blowback from it whips through his unruly white hair, and briefly has to cover his face with his left arm.

And then he lowers it to his hip, surveys the arena, and utters a low, "Heh."

Sarah (316) has posed:
"Hot for you, maybe, Mister Tallbranch." Sarah calmly sips her tea, eyeing the action on the mountainside. "In any case, it certainly does look as though Taylita is absorbing power for something big. It is in fact quite big, as she unleashes a massive blast of energy against Serori."

The Runebearer pauses long enough to glance, sourly, at her co-commentator when he gets loud and excited.

Sarah snaps her fingers; an ice cube is summoned in the general vicinity of somewhere just above the back of Johnny Tallbranch's collar.

Why, yes, Luc is a bad influence, using cosmic power for mischief.

"Colonel Serori may be down, but she certainly isn't out. She absorbs that Solar Blast in what is guaranteeably a most painful manner, and I genuinely don't know how she's still on her feet. She answers Taylita in kind; sumoning her own energy." Sarah has the look of somebody who swallowed a lemon. She doesn't like electrical energy. "It feels electrical, and she's hurling all the power she can muster at Taylita. I expect it will be very unpleasant."

Taylita (180) has posed:
Taylita can feel that building power. She fan feel the determination behind it. And it is exciting! She is grinning wickedly as she prepares to just try and block the attack. As that column of power flies toward her, Taylita lets out a growl of her own. When it hits her arms, held out in front of her in an X in front of her torso and face, the beam hesitates just a few moments, then splits around Taylita.

Then...just engulfs her. The column of power is pretty much unstoppable. Taylita's growl quickly grows to a scream as the energy assaults her body. Even her clothing starts to flake away from the attack. But, she refuses to try and escape the beam. She wants to feel Serori's full power, and then wants Serori to feel hers.

When that beam FINALLY passes, Taylita is still there, though she is smoking badly and probably showing a bit more skin than even she usually does. But, she is still grinning. "Nnng...n-not bad..." she pants, coughing up a bit of blood herself. "My turn." She stands in the air, similar to Serori, then holds up a hand. Energy coalesces around her and up into that hand, which she raises above her head before firing a blue-white beam up into the atmosphere. "This is an attack my master taught me, in honor of how I came to their world. He said to use it only in the most important of circumstances." Taylita says, plenty loud enough for everyone to hear. "It is called, the Star Child!"

For a moment, it seems maybe the attack was a dud. All is quiet, and Taylita is just staring at Serori, one hand held above her head as that blue-white beam continues to fire into the sky. Then, Taylita's beam comes to an end. And in that moment, something streaks down from the sky. It looks like a comet or meteor, it even leaves a burning trail in its wake. But, it is solid energy, collected from the purest source, the unfiltered radiation of sun and space. It plummets almost as fast as Serori's own attack, but there is still a moment to stare wide eyed before the falling star hits. It is aimed to pin Serori against it, then plummet down and hit the ground. Whether that happens or not, it impacts with the force of a nuclear bomb, along with the same cloud, except the cloud is formed of blue-white searing energy that slowly dissapates.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori hangs in the air, trembling in exhaustion. It feels like she's been burned from the inside out. The Final Flash technique is potent, but it saps her to her very dregs, leaving her fragile and unable to do much for quite some time -- time Taylita doesn't allow Serori to enjoy.

"Star Child...?"

White light silhouettes Serori in blinding radiance. Pure force plummets down from above, striking her directly before she has any opportunity for desperation. First, she is crushed against its burning surface, the impact startling out a thin wailing shriek quickly lost in the Star Child's roar; then, she is pulverized, buried in the mountains beneath a cacophony of noise, pressure, and light. The only feeling left to her is pain. The agony pursues her as her mind slips into darkness.

She's pinned beneath rubble, in the end. Completely out.

Courier Six (32) has posed:
Johnny just stares in the booth up at the incoming attack. "God almighty." Then he remembers he's on the air. "Taylita takes the Final Flash square on the jaw but gets right back up and calls down a celestial body of some sort, I assure you we are OKAY up in the booth and the fans in the stands have been moved to a safe distance and... good lord the devestation down there is catastrophic. We will need to be using OTHER PARTS OF THE LANDSCAPE in the next match, that's for sure! And OTHER MATCHES is the operative word there because SERORI IS OUT. THAT'S IT! TAYLITA WINS!"

Sarah (316) has posed:
In the booth, Sarah's eyes widen very slightly as she looks up at the power of Star Child, building like a looming hurricane--

She instinctively snaps a barrier into place before she even realises what she's doing; water envelopes the commentator's stand, distorting the battle beyond.

"Oh, Heavens--" Sarah breathes. And then
a goddamn /star/ smashes into the battlefield.

Sarah instinctively throws an arm over her face to shield herself, briefly, as the commentator's box shudders under the impact; even her shield of water seems to fluctuate. Safe distance, maybe, but not untouched!

Once she's certain Star Child is done for, she cautiously lets the water wisp away, evapourating into mist. Blinking through the dust and debris, coughing a bit, Sarah half-stands and leans over the railing to stare into the gloom.

"I suppose that was it for Serori." Sarah sounds oddly disappointed. "I sense her in the wreckage, but I sense her faintly. I do not believe she will be standing up again. Taylita has indeed taken this match. If you will pardon me, Mister Tallbranch, I had best go scrape what remains of the Colonel out from beneath the mountain and take her to the medical faciltiies. Congratulations, Taylita."

And with that, Sarah is suddenly not in the commentator's box any more, but instead reappears in a blink of blue-white light and a swirl of mist not far from Serori's point of impact. Burial. Whatever.

She almost feels sorry for the Colonel.

...almost.

Courier Six (32) has posed:
Johnny slaps his hands on his desk. "And with a LITERAL SHOOTING STAR as a weapon, Taylita completes her clinic against Serori, taking this first round in Bracket B at the World Martial Arts Tournament! My god folks, this has been an exciting night and we're seeing a bright shinging star about to head up through the ranks of the tournament this year! Sarah is already heading down to the field to get Serori out of that wreckage, but I'm sure she's in good hands. That's it for tonight's fight, folks, I want to thank our camera crew and all of the fans around the Multiverse who have tuned in to watch this tonight! Tonight's match brought to you by Starfleet and the Bei Fong Foundations, promoting sportsmanship across the Multiverse! Thanks again to Miss Sarah for helping me comment tonight, and stay tuned for the after match breakdown with the fine folks back at the New Vegas Sports Book Center. Good night everybody!"

Ragna the Bloodedge (86) has posed:
If nothing else, Serori can say this: she pushed Taylita enough that she had to unleash an attack that powerful. ...Too bad it ended up kicking her ass. When the energy comet bombs down from the heavens onto the area, demolishing most of it, even Ragna the Bloodedge has to back the hell up, with quite a lot of juice poured into an ars barrier to boot. There's no seeing anything with that mushroom cloud in the way, but it doesn't take long for it to clear, and the result... well, Serori's not going to be happy about this tomorrow morning, is all the SS-class criminal can say.

"God damn," he mutters, eyeballing Taylita before looking back over at Serori's prone form, trapped under the rubble. He frowns, eyebrows knitting in concern, and listening to the commentary declaring Serori's defeat with half an ear, he starts making his way into the arena with the intent of digging her out.

Sarah, when she teleports in ahead of him, gets the hairy eyeball, but--right, she must've been the one talking about taking her to the medical facilities. Nonetheless, he keeps going until he's close to the burial site, then looks at Sarah. "You got this?" he asks.

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
Flashes, explosions, the last two forcing Dracula to lift his hand to shield his eyes when they go off, only lowering it when the blinding light finally ceases. He winces faintly when he sees the aftermath of Taylita's attack, and a glance over to the commentator's booth confirms his guess as to the results of the match and that Serori will soon be receiving medical attention.

The Lord of Darkness gives a shake of his head before looking up to Death. "Let us be off, then, Death. I believe we have preparations to make back at the castle now." Death simply nods, his billowing cloak lowering over Dracula before the two vanish in a whirl of darkness.

Slogra and Gaibon (the former still scorched and smoldering) are left behind. Gaibon gives a low, gravelly chuckle before bumping Slogra in the shoulder. "Pay up, birdo. I got the win this time!" Slogra just grumbles as he fumbles in his shirt for money. "You know I'm gonna tell 'er you bet against her when she wakes up, traitor. Why are you even wearing that shirt anyway?"

"'Cause you didn't bother to make any others," the gargoyle rumbles, chomping down on Slogra's hand when his winnings are offered and simply eating the money. He rumbles through a full mouth, "What do you think she's gonna do, anyway? Punch me through a wall? Hah!"

Sarah (316) has posed:
The hairy eyeball is returned with a calm, flat stare from the pale woman. Either she's unimpressed, or she's just good at not showing any nerves. One brow rises incrementally when Ragna asks his question.

"Some assistance would be appreciated. Help me unbury her. While I can teleport her directly to the medical facilities, I cannot do it with so much debris in the way." Sarah gestures toward the heaviest rocks with her staff. "You look quite capable." Which is a nice way of saying 'chop, chop.'

There is a brief, slightly awkward pause. If this were any other situation it's a fair bet Ragna would be trying to turn her into paste. And probably succeeding.

"Thank you."

Taylita (180) has posed:
Once the cloud of energy clears, Taylita is right behind Sarah. Or possibly in front of Sarah, digging out Serori. She is careful, and despite her own injuries (which are relatively mild compared to Serori), Taylita digs until she finds Serori, using her energy sense to locate the buried saiyan. When she finds Serori, she carefully lifts the Colonel out of the wreckage and craddles the defeated saiyan in her arms. "Good fight, Serori. Guess my training was pretty good after all. Or you couldn't concentrate."

Whether Serori is awake or not, Taylita keeps talking as she walks toward Sarah. "Would you like to take her to medical, or is it alright if I do? They have a medical center here for the games, right?" she says before looking over at Ragna. The saiyan does seem concerned, and is holding Serori like someone holds a person who is dear to them.

Ragna the Bloodedge (86) has posed:
Ragna's plenty capable. He's just not as fast as some, like certain Saiyans who beat both of them to the punch. That aside, whatever awkwardness Sarah feels isn't reflected by the Confederate ally, and he's in the middle of responding to her thanks with a, "Whatever," when Taylita pulls out Serori.

"Wh--that was fast!!" he utters, surprise clear on his face. He hadn't even had the chance to start digging!! Still, it looks like Serori's opponent is on good terms with her; Ragna sees the way she handles her prone body. He frowns at her, but...

"You've got your own healing to do," he tells her bluntly. "I'll take Serori, and you two," he nods to Taylita and Sarah, "can take care of yourselves."

Once that's all ironed out, it's back to the Citadel for Ragna and Serori.