Scene #464: Good Morning, Sunshine

Owner	Pose
Raditz	It's way too early in the Morning for Raditz, at least in so far as he's concerned he should be having more breakfast and be getting ready for a fight... But no, he was invited to take part in the dedication of a city monument in Central City, being a local hero and all. So here he was, dressed semi-formally in so far as ceremonial armor and all. He's got the cape and everything. One could argue that he looks about as Kingly as his Nephew wants to be. Still, Ceremony is important to humans, and Raditz sighs as he standing there in front of the camera, watching the people with the giant scissors and the ribbon, and the statue, just talk to each other and make a show. All he had to do was smile and cut the ribbon. God was this boring... It was boring, and distracting and he'd rather be doing a whole number of other things than this.
Serori	The camera's the first thing to go. It pops apart in a sudden burst. Plastic shrapnel and ruined wiring rain down on the guy who'd been holding it up in Raditz's direction. He's stunned; unhurt, but taken by surprise, he stares at his now-empty hands in confusion. "What the..." The rest of the cameras follow suit, bursting one after the other in rapidfire succession. It's either an incredible coincidence, a bizarre phenomenon, or the result of foul play. Guess what's most likely? By the time the press has been thrown into chaos by the destruction of their tools, Raditz is no doubt looking around, seeking out the source of the trouble. It'd be like him to forego crowd control in favor of immediate action against the person or persons responsible for this affront. Endanger his people, offend his pride, and you're going to be reduced to a smear -- unless, of course, your stupid action is a direct and purposeful provocation. In this case, you're probably prepared for King Raditz's response. Serori is prepared. The crowds conceal her slight figure; her expert ki control conceals her energy signature. The only glimpse he might catch of her is a flash of wicked smirk before she melts away, ducking out of sight. What is this, some kind of game? She did say she wanted a fight...is this her means of getting what she wants?
Raditz	This was precisely the kind of thing that would kill Raditz's boredom right now. Unfortunately it was at the expense of the safety of the people. While it would certainly be characteristic of Raditz to start trying to make a brawl without care for the crowd, Raditz has spent too much time trying to become a better person to start firing into the crowd. Raditz takes his time at first to focus, seeking out Serori's ki, but he's never been quite as good at hiding and detecting Ki as others, even after he learned those skills. So searching out someone who was more in tune with that finer ki control was gonna be problematic when they're actively trying to hide from you. So Raditz does the one thing to get the crowd going in his favor... He rises right into the air, and calls to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is NOT a drill. I've just recieved word of a terrorist threat against this gathering. I need -everyone- to scatter in the direction of Mister Satan." He points right over off to some random direction, "MISTER SATAN IS OVER THERE! He'll help protect you!"
Serori	The crowd races in the given direction. Invoking Mister Satan's name always inspires a good reaction, doesn't it? Despite the fear drenching every person present in a cold sweat, the urge to panic has been cut short, replaced by a nervous sense of giddy relief. The stampede to safety isn't even the reckless kind which would put anyone in harm's way. It's like Mister Satan's presence has triggered a kind of hive mind in the people of Earth, enabling them to work together to a singular purpose otherwise impossible without his guidance. The plaza clears, leaving only two figures behind: Raditz...and Serori. She stands in the center of the square, her back to Raditz, her left hip cocked up into her gloved hand. A brown coat (or something like it) conceals her form and face; she loosens the knot at her neck, and throws the coat off, letting it get carried off by a passing wind. Removing the coat reveals the shining white of her chestplate, the gold tips of her white boots, and the blue of a leotard battlesuit. She wears a scouter over her left ear, but the color of its green lens isn't visible until she turns her head to look at Raditz from over her shoulder. Her tail drapes down toward the ground, swaying in slow accompaniment to her steady breathing. Serori's tail snaps around her slender waist, and she crooks her finger at Raditz in a beckoning motion. "Show me what you've got, /King/ Raditz," she smirks. "You promised me you wouldn't hold anything back."
Raditz	Raditz narrows his eyes as he watches the crowd disperse in his favor, and smirks a little when he spies the one remaining figure who decided to not run, knowing precisely who it is. "Oh, trust me, I'm not holding back... And after I'm done with you, Gohan's gonna feel just as much pain." He grins briefly, before popping his neck from side to side. With the done, he roars and his energy sky rockets, aura flairing up as he takes on his ascended Super Saiyan Transformation, the force of the transformation blasting any glass in the immediate vicinity, and sparks traveling around his body, his golden hair and green eyes kicking in. And without waiting a little more than that, he bursts right into fighting, aiming to drive his knee into Serori's gut, trying not to give her so much as an opportunity to transform herself. The knee is followed by trying to repeatedly hammer his fist into the back of her head.
Serori	Without transforming, she's no match for Raditz's ferocity, strength, and speed. It's possible she could outrun him, but only in the open sky; here, in the limited space offered by the square, she's got no hope of evading him. Not that she tries. Serori remains in her calm, ready pose from the moment Raditz powers up to the moment he's driving his knee into her gut. The only move she makes is to turn and face him properly. His superpowered kneecap drives a superpowered dent into her armor. Serori's chestplate can't mitigate all the forces driven into it, and it cracks, a deep crater left in the brassy ridges decorating Serori's abdomen. What's left to the blow snaps Serori in half. The breath is forced from her lungs, and a muffled cry from her lips, a spray of saliva and blood already sticking to her chin. It's an incredible hit, and it leaves her almost paralyzed. The next two blows to the back of her head annihilate her senses. The world wavers, blurry and dark, as Serori staggers over in dizzy reaction -- -- right before she turns her wobble into an aerial, her legs delivering a kick to his chest and then chin, even her unaltered, natural strength enough to split tree trunks into splinters. As Serori's body completes its flip, she brings her hands up, and fires a quick punch of pure energy at Raditz's chest in an effort to push him back and gain Serori some comfortable distance. Total awareness still isn't brought back to her, though. The propulsion generated by her own energy beam drives her into the pavement. She's going to have to be quick or lucky to actually escape Raditz. Is she still smirking? The expression taunts him.
Raditz	Having managed to get the initial barrage of strikes in, Raditz now has himself the tactical advantage. Good thing to smack the wits out of his opponent, but when Serori makes the flip, Raditz finds himself taking the strike to the chest and grits his teeth as he feels that. It wasn't quite as rough a strike, but still, he sucks in a breath. The Saiyan moves in to follow Serori to the ground and though he spots that smirk. What... Serori was playing a game of her own. What was it...? He stops in mid air. "Why are -you- holding back?"
Serori	"It's not a /game/," Serori snorts, right before two fingers touch her forehead and she vanishes. It's not a high-speed maneuver; it's a true teleport. Serori disappears from the space between his feet, and reappears behind him, fingers stretching for the long mess of wild golden spikes forming Raditz's hair. Serori aims to pull back his head and loop her other arm around his neck -- to squeeze him into a savage choke hold. She jabs her toes into the small of his back to further unbalance him and put a strain on his body. He's well-muscled, powerful, and a capable warrior, but she's cunning, and she knows how to use leverage to her advantage. The low, mocking purr of her sultry voice continues to bait him. "You're as pathetic as I remember. 'King' -- the only crown you're wearing is made of cardboard. A prop and an illusion, just like your rule." Ohhh, yes, she's really digging in. Regardless of how successful she is at holding onto him, she concludes her jabbing words with a flash of ki energy aimed right at his face -- a higher-powered follow-up to the blast that scorched his chest.
Raditz	Raditz growls a bit replies, "What happened to not being here to waste your breath?!" He goes wide eyed as he finds himself put into a choke hold, and tries to slide a hand up in between hers in order to give his neck breathing room as he tries to focus. Another ki blast right to his face, and roars in pain. Ow. Blinding. Pain. Ow. However, rather than fall to the ground dead, he reamins annoyed, singed, pained, and ready to keep fighting. He roars and grabs for Serori's own hair to hold onto her, and rockets to the ground, proceeding to flip himself over as he drops in order to smash her right into the pavement and hopefully get her off of him.
Serori	The pavement shatters under Serori, who cries out like maybe her spine's been left in the same condition. Raditz's supreme strength dominates her own in a fight like this, and it's already taking a hefty toll on her endurance. The impact is not only painful, but debilitating in the way it stunts Serori's movement. Neither her arms nor legs nor core seem to want to respond to her demands for several ragged seconds after Raditz's attack -- and his hand is still tangled up in her hair. Fine, then. Given half a second to /focus/, Serori taps into her inner potential and unleashes it, an audible shockwave ripping out from her sprawled body as she suddenly goes all gold and green. He'll feel the energy surging through his hand, and the heat of her ignited aura. The flash also covers her rise up onto her knee, though he'll certainly feel her fingers grasping for his wrist. Serori licks the blood from her upper lip, and smiles at him just before a column of energy erupts around her, like a point-blank cannon of yellow plasma and sparking fire. Rather than channeling her power through her palms, mouth, or fingers, she uses her entire body as a vector -- a dangerous move, one that'll cost her, but she obviously thinks it'll cost /him/ more. "Too close to the truth? Did it sting? C'mon, Raditz; where's your rage!"
Raditz	Raditz can't help but smirk a little as he watches the woman transform, having given her the opportunity. His earlier attacks had largely been out of annoyance, rage, hatred and all the things that Serori had been meaning to get him to act on. But now that he's had a moment to breathe, he gives into that arrogant side of being a Saiyan that allows his opponents to get stronger so that they might pose more of a challenge. It's right at that point where he goes wide eyed and lets go, pulling himself away from Serori just as he uses her entire body as a means of blast him, though not quite fast enough to entirely evade, and he gets blasted off right into the sky. Raditz grits his teeth as he finds himself flying some and crashes into that statue that had been erected, today, though not toppling it, just creating a small crater in it. He grins and pushes himself right off, and charges a ball of energy into his hand, ready to blow a hole in the city just to get to her... Then he stops. "That's your ploy."
Serori	In the aftermath, Serori manages to bounce up on her feet, light as a feather, nimble as a honeybee. Smoke rises from her armor and she looks a bit ragged, but she's in otherwise pretty good condition, considering. Then, Raditz announces he's seen into her schemes. Scoffing disbelief is Serori's immediate reaction to Raditz's accusation. "What do you think I am? I am not going to endanger Gohan's home planet for the sake of my ego. You're the one preparing to put these people at risk; my attacks have been precise, and my focus kept on /you/. Tch. You really are an /amateur/." Laughing all the way, she races toward him, to throws her fists and feet at him in a flurry. Wherever he goes, she presses. Wherever he counters, she's ready to meet him. It's like she's a surgeon, and he's her patient, all her blows calculated to lead him, or to at least leave her protected and able to defend herself. She knows him too well to be taken easily by surprise... But maybe he has a few new tricks, these days? Serori's confidence has to be rattling, she hopes. She wants him off his game. She wants him enflamed, outraged, and ready to dump all his anger into breaking /her/ before he can think to go after Gohan with the same violent gusto. "You're nothing but a disappointment, and always have been! Even Kakarot was better than you, and he should have been ground into dust under your heels! The afterlife suits you -- you have no place in this world, not anymore!"
Raditz	Raditz narrows his eyes, and lets the energy in his hand disperse, instead of readying himself to go full force at her, he shifts his stance, waiting for Serori to bring it. So when her first oncoming fists come about, he shifts his posture so as to catch her by the wrist, and rather than keep his grip, he uses her momentum to try to push her off balance. The Saiyan doesn't respond to a thing she says, instead he bursts out of her path and begins to play keepaway. "I'm not playing your game. I know more than anyone that I've got the worst temper around, and I don't use my head all that much when I'm angry..." He smirks, "But I'm not stupid, Serori. You tell me not to hold back, but you barely do anything to keep up. You're trying to wear me down, make me angry so I don't have anything left later... Probably so Gohan doesn't get killed if I fight him."
Serori	Serori pursues, flashing across the sky in speedy bursts fast enough to repeatedly punch through the sound barrier, yet Raditz keeps just out of reach, letting her get close but never close /enough/. The effort soon has her panting, but she doesn't stop, searching for the one angle or the one opportunity needed to get her licks in. More frustrating than his constant dodging, however, is his yammering. Raditz finally zeroes in on the truth of her intentions, and Serori stops chasing him down to scowl. Beneath her anger, she is desperate. "Are you planning to kill him, then?!" Serori snaps. "Is your anger going to push you to do it? Kill him, so nobody's left to compete for your rule -- for your idea of the next generation?" Shining like fire, her aura pulses around her tensed form and coiled fists, and flares as she continues to rage at Raditz. "He's ready to restart the empire -- he's ready to bring our people back from extinction, and you want to kill him?!" Serori takes a deep breath before she makes her next plea. "He doesn't deserve to die for what he's done! He let those people live -- the people of Namamura! He took the land for my sake, so we could begin to realize our dreams -- I won't let you fight him if you're too stupid with rage to show him mercy!" Twisting around midair, she casts her glare down on the city below, and considers how viable a target it would be. He'll be able to see her sizing things up. "Just hurry up and kick my ass and get it out of your system!" she snaps at him. A sphere of yellow forms in the air in front of her out-stretched hand, pointed at the city's skyscrapers. She cocks a green eye his way, waiting to see what he'll do.
Raditz	"No, I'm probably -not-." Raditz answer right off the bat, and he says this about as calm as he can be given the situation, but he flies right into the path of the sphere that Serori is aiming at the city, without precisely stopping her, since he can still get her to not fire off the blast. He thinks. The King folds his arms across his chest as he continues, "Namamura wasn't his world to take. I'm going to kick his ass for it, and I'm going to let him go as soon as he agrees to give it back. Find a planet that doesn't have a native populace or something and terraform that if you're so desperate to bounce an empire back to life.. But the PTO is going down, and I'm going to make sure, one way or another, that Yunomi has her homeworld back, because I don't think she can handle a permanent loss." He then turns to put his back to Serori, "Gohan wants to kill me in anycase. Let him come at me."
Serori	The sphere bursts apart into a harmless shower of motes. A moment later, Serori is beside him, looking down on the city without much but a sullen sort of temper showing on her face. "He doesn't want to kill you, either," she mutters. The words send a bead of blood rolling down her chin from her split lip; she knuckles it away. "He'll do what he must to protect himself and his goals, but he doesn't /want/ to kill you." Serori looks sidelong at Raditz. "There can't be /two/ of you, you know. Kings, I mean."
Raditz	Raditz scoffs a little, "I've given him at least a few reasons to take a shot at me, and not enough for him NOT to." He clenches his fist, "Not that I'll let him." He shakes his head and his hair darkens, his aura simmering down. Raditz glances sidelong to Serori and says, "You've been right, by the way. I really am pretty pathetic as a King. The Saiyan race probably will never follow me or my goals, if there are enough Saiyans for me to even rule. I've been fooling myself more than anyone." There's a pause right there where he lingers, "But I'm -not- giving up on this. I fought Vegeta for his title, I BEAT him for it... And as much as you don't like the fact, I'm RESPONSIBLE for the Saiyan Race, and I have to find a way to live up to my promises no matter what. That's all there is to it." He turns to face Serori full on now, narrowing his eyes, "If either of you want me to give it up, you WILL have to kill me, because so long as I live, I -am- King, and I'll see to it that the Saiyan race redeems itself... Because otherwise it's got another Genocide coming... Someone will do it, I guarantee it." A moment more, before he furrows his brow, "-Now get off this planet-."
Serori	Serori remains Super Saiyan for awhile after Raditz lets his transformation go, as if waiting to make sure he means to depower himself in her presence. "You're a poor leader; it's not in your blood. Your father seemed to have it, and I've heard Kakarot did -- or /does/ -- but you seem more concerned by announcing your title rather than earning it through action. What you do in this situation will go far to determine how /worthy/ you really are." Her green eyes narrow to hard slits a moment before their color dulls back to black and her hair settles around her shoulders in wild waves. "More saiyans will be found, and more will be made. Maybe after you've stepped up and proven yourself, some will flock to your side. You've got the power; now you need the skill." Serori snorts in wicked amusement, and tips her head to the side at a curious, teasing angle. "You at least have one saiyan who sees you as King -- Gine. A dozen more like her, and you will be in good shape. Merra will be very busy." Serori laughs, and ducks back before Raditz can think to swat her for her flippancy. "Is it better to have two kings and two kingdoms, or no kings and one kingdom..." She shrugs to herself in answer, and turns her back to him. "Saa. Until next time, Raditz." Then, she leaves.
Raditz	Raditz watches as Serori flies off, and after a moment of just watching, before dropping from the sky and mumbles, "I'm so screwed..."