The Saiyan Way [Invite]

Well, that certainly seemed to push the lizard's buttons. Alpinia looked more disappointed than anything that Azoth simply could not swallow his own pride, although Taori couldn't say he was all too surprised when Azoth proved beneath his shell of kindness was the same, fragile ego he'd come to expect from types like him. Frankly, Taori was through trying to meet this walking amoure-propre halfway. ...Not that he'd been trying all that hard in the first place, anyway. 

"Just can it, asshole," Taori firmly replied after Azoth had finished yet another self-righteous spiel. "You threaten my wife for telling you not to act like a jackass, and come out of that feeling like you're the bigger man? Yeah, you're right - mercenary group probably isn't an apt description. I'm sure it's more just a gang of thugs like you." Maybe that was somewhat too aggressive of a response, but Taori had had it with Azoth's superiority complex.

"If you're so damn fragile that a suspicious glance and a few opposing viewpoints is going to send you into a tantrum, then I don't see how in the hell you're emperor of anything. In fact, your 'highness,' I cordially invite you to be emperor of my as-" "Taori!" Alpinia cut him off at the last second, her nostrils flared. "Okay, yes, he's a dolt - but don't keep provoking him, yeesh." 

It was probably time to go - if they stuck around any longer they'd all just keep bickering. "Come on, I think you've had hostile interactions with leaders of planets enough for this week. Maybe next, you can go piss off the President of Earth," Alpinia grumbled as she grabbed hold of Taori's arm and began to lead him away from the Arcosian. She glanced back at Azoth and said, "I'd apologize for his behavior, but... You're being a jerk, too, so..."

She shrugged, then led Taori off, who gave Azoth one last displeased look before he started walking with her. "You know I was totally in the right there, right?" Taori asked Alpinia as they walked off, and she rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "Uh-huh, sure," she sarcastically replied. "I think you've been hanging out with Vocado too much - he's rubbing off on you." Taori shook his head, "Believe me, if I were Vocado, I'd have started blasting the second I even heard his voice." "Probably."

It was a good thing Vocado wasn't around to escalate things any further. ...Right?

Taori had, naturally, assumed that he and Alpinia could just get on with their days after that rather frustrating encounter with the two unsavory figures. Laugh about it on the way home, have Alpinia lecture Taori about being nicer to strangers, have Taori reluctantly admit he'd stepped a bit out of line, the usual works. Although, it seemed things wouldn't be so simple this day. 

The beeping on Taori's scouter was what gave him the heads up that the lizard was about to try something. And, given the fact that his wife was right there, and this lizard had quite proudly proclaimed himself as the 'strongest thing in the universe,' Taori immediately fell on edge, particularly when the lizard suddenly zoomed in front of them to block their way. And, in fairness to the lizard, his claims of being the strongest in the universe probably weren't without some solid foundation.

Taori felt the wind get knocked out of him as a fist slammed into his stomach, and he gripped Azoth's wrists tightly as he tried to pull the lizard's arm away. He had to say, aside from the indignation, the biggest feeling that welled up in his chest was rage. This pompous bastard thought he was so far above Taori that he couldn't even take some verbal jabs without throwing a tantrum? That he somehow viewed himself as justified no matter what? That he was the bigger man, here?!

That was bullshit.

"You're so full of shit," Taori spat at Azoth as his aura suddenly flared up. Anger, frustration, desire to harm the damn lizard in front of him, all these feelings welled up inside of Taori as his aura flared and his power surged! It spiked up to the point where it matched even Azoth's power, and as Azoth fired his blast, Taori shoved his hand away and stepped back just in time to raise his arms and block the blow!

It still blew him back quite a ways, where he landed on a nearby rooftop - his feet skidded across the roof tiles for a few meters until he came to a stop, where he paused to briefly clutch his stomach, then stared down at Azoth. Alpinia, meanwhile, slowly stepped back with wide eyes and pursed lips as she could tell a fight was about to begin, her brows furrowing in disapproval at both Azoth and Taori's antics.

"I guess you only have thick skin when it comes to trading physical blows, huh?" Taori shouted down at the lizard. "The guys are gonna love it when I tell them I reduced the 'mighty emperor of Arcose' to a temper tantrum with a few minor insults." He knew he was being a bit pedantic at this point, but it was clear that while Azoth probably had no physical weaknesses to take advantage of, there was one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb: the lizard's ego simply could not stand to be ridiculed.

Well, this was certainly going to be an interesting, if fairly short experience for Taori. As Azoth powered up yet again, Taori briefly recalled being lightly smacked aside by that other Arcosian when he'd been at full power. It was really the sort of motion one would apply towards swatting away a fly, rather than a full intent to cause serious bodily home. That was the only other time he'd experienced even a fraction of the full might of an Arcosian. But, now? This lizard fully intended on causing him some harm, and he was even stronger than the other one had been. As much as Taori was not going to much enjoy the pain he was about to receive, a small part of him did relish the chance to see just what it was like when these behemoths went all out.

But if he really wanted to see Azoth fully exert himself, he was going to have to try a whole lot harder too. A growl left his throat, which quickly grew into something more of a prolonged grunt, then a shout. "HrrrraaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAH!" he exclaimed as his power level went up, and up, and up, until, finally, it plateaued. This was... This was the best he could do right now. 140,000! Practically nothing in the face of Azoth's overwhelming power, but it was something.

It was at least enough to handle this incoming attack. But he was never going to even have a shot at winning if he didn't make some attacks of his own. Taori crossed his arms in front of himself again, this time not bothering to waste his ki to weaken the blow as Azoth made a grab for him again, followed by a blast of ki that sent a shockwave throughout the area. Taori himself was launched back yet again, both his arms and forehead burnt from that blast, but... Well, he was still alive.

He skidded across yet another rooftop, until he finally came to a stop once more, and caught his breath. This was clearly not a sustainable strategy, but at the very least, he wasn't going down in one or two hits. He was making Azoth work for it. "You know, maybe it's good you're getting involved in this whole conflict we've got going on, here, after all," Taori called out to Azoth from across the rooftops. "You're clearly just as well acquainted with being a thug as most of us Saiyans are. Here I thought all Arcosians were too high and mighty to care what we thought - yet here is the leader of their entire race, unable to withstand the insults of a filthy little monkey."

Just as Taori began to brace himself for whatever the Arcosian was about to throw at him next and got ready to respond in kind, Azoth began to talk about how Saiyans were more than just monkeys, and how he had let his pride cloud his judgment, and then he... Powered down? Taori raised an eyebrow and slightly lowered his guard at whatever the hell the lizard was doing. Their fight was just ramping up - why stop there? What, had Taori's monkey comment thrown him that out of sync? "Uh, we call each other filthy monkeys sarcastically all the time, Azoth," he replied, using the lizard's actual name for the first time. "It's kind of a term of endearment, of sorts." 

Well, either way, that sort of killed the mood. Taori couldn't exactly punch a guy in the face as he was begging for forgiveness. "Bah..." Taori grumbled as he powered himself down as well. "Not much fun fighting a guy who doesn't want to fight back. And here I was gearing up to throw my strongest attack at you." He was almost disappointed he didn't get the chance to launch that one off, though he supposed it may have, er, blown off some nearby rooftops if he'd set it off, so maybe it was best left unused.

He thought back to some of what Azoth had been saying, and sighed. "Look, it's not like I actually think every single Arcosian is rotten to the core. ...I've just only really met Arcosians that were pretty nasty. As far as they go, though... I guess you're not so bad. Just, uh, don't attack everyone who insults your pride, or you might accidentally piss off the wrong guy. Even you can't afford to make enemies everywhere you go."

Somewhat reluctantly, Taori shook Azoth's hand, vaguely surprised at the texture and lack of warmth from the lizard's skin, though he didn't comment on it. A moment later, an exasperated Alpinia suddenly arrived, having flown after the two of them when their battle took them across the rooftops. "Taori! Are you-" she started to ask, but he quickly replied, "It's alright, we're done fighting. For now, anyway." He glanced back over at Azoth, and Alpinia breathed a sigh of relief.

"What were you two thinking?!" she angrily asked, now that the threat seemed to have cleared. "If you're gonna fight, at least take it outside the city - someone could've gotten hurt!" Taori nodded, and held up his hands in submission. "You're right, you're right - next time we fight we should take it outside the city, right Azoth?" he asked, eyeing the Arcosian with a smirk. "I'll be able to give you more of a challenge next time, too, I hope."

It felt strange being even vaguely chummy with an Arcosian like this, but, well, it had been a weird day. It was starting to sound like Taori and Azoth had both just happened to catch each other on a bad day, which was sort of a relief and sort of a disappointment for Taori. A relief, because it was clear that Arcosian Emperor wasn't a complete psychopath, but a disappointment because it would've been nice and easy for Taori if he could just easily blanket all Arcosians under the term 'evil.' Why did reality have to be so much more complicated than it could be? Taori shrugged. "Eh, I'm sure you royal folk have it rougher than us commoners realize," he mused.

Though, his empathy was fairly short when it came to Rosemary. Her level of high and mightiness made Azoth look like a humble child. Alpinia looked at Azoth a bit nervously for a few moment, though she sighed and nodded her head when it became clear that whatever thread he had been posing had passed. "Just don't do that again, please?" she politely asked him. "I don't think it'd look very good for you if people happened to see you assaulting my husband in the street." 

Taori, for one, couldn't wait to tell Vocado about how he'd provoked the Arcosian Emperor into attacking him and had lived to tell the tale, though that was a story for another time. "I wouldn't mind having another go at it," Taori replied to Azoth, "Though, uh, not right now. I'm kind of sore. And, uh, severely outmatched." He didn't think he'd ever quite be a match for Azoth, but maybe he could put up a decent fight later down the road.

"You said you're trying to mediate the Saiyan-Tuffle War, right?" Taori asked, though it was a rhetorical question at this point. He didn't wait for an answer before he continued, "I don't know if you can quite work enough miracles to make that happen, but if I can help somehow, let me know. We all want this thing to end just as much as the Tuffles probably do."

Taori could agree, at least, that fighting an opponent when he had a massive power advantage over them wasn't a whole lot of fun in comparison to a nice, even battle between two people. Though, he also didn't like having to limit himself in order to even the odds, either. He had to imagine that, as much as he might relish having strength superior to the entire galaxy like Azoth did, there would always be a part of him that wanted someone else to be on his level.

Azoth could probably never go all out without finishing off his opponent in just a few maneuvers. Meanwhile, Taori knew there were plenty of powerful warriors across the galaxy he could attack with everything he had, and they wouldn't so much as break a sweat - that was the sort of thing that excited him, pushed him to want to be stronger. What motivations would someone like Azoth have to keep growing in strength other than just to keep their title as the most powerful? As nice as it probably was at the top, it had to be lonely, too.

"Well, I'll keep pushing myself, bit by bit. Who knows, maybe all it'll take to give you a run for your money is a highly determined Saiyan? I'm sure a Super Saiyan could make short work of you," he added the last bit with a chuckle. Alpinia scoffed as Taori mentioned that old legend, though. "I think if those were real, we'd have seen one by now," she replied, but Taori teasingly elbowed her as he said, "Hey, never say never!"

As for Azoth's stance on the whole conflict, Taori had to say he was awfully optimistic and idealistic - if it was really so simple as getting people to sit down in a room and talk things over, it was doubtful the war would've lasted entire generations. Still, if Azoth wanted to try, Taori wasn't going to tell him it probably wouldn't work. He'd just let the lizard have a go and see the results for himself. If he worked a miracle somehow, great - if he didn't, then it wasn't like they'd be any worse off for it.

"Well, I'm just a soldier - I get told to do things and do those things," Taori replied. "Not exactly a negotiator. We had a Saiyan who could negotiate, but he, uh..." Taori crossed his arms and sighed. "Well, some Saiyans weren't so keen on resolving the war peacefully, we'll say." Alpinia solemnly nodded. "I don't think people would be all too happy for the war to just end with some negotiations at this point," she added with a shake of her head. "We're a race of 'proud warriors,' after all. I'm sure you have good intentions, but I think if you tried to enforce a peace treaty, a lot of Saiyans would be angry."

"Eh, nothing, really," Taori replied with a shrug as Azoth inquired about what a Super Saiyan was. It wasn't a dishonest answer, though Taori supposed he ought to elaborate a bit further to satiate the lizard's curiosity. "Just an old legend about an extraordinarily powerful Saiyan warrior who supposedly surpasses the might of all others in the galaxy." Alpinia chimed in, "Kids like to tell it to each other as a motivational tool when they're training. You know, 'you'll never be a Super Saiyan with that kind of attitude!' That sort of thing." 

It worked on adults, too, as Taori had found with Vocado, he quietly thought to himself with amusement. Speaking of Vocado, he was one example that came to mind when Azoth mentioned that most Saiyans he'd spoken with seemed in favor of ending the war peacefully. "You must not have met most of the infantry," Taori replied. "I think plenty of civilians and higher ups are in favor of ending things, but... Well, I won't say the stereotypes about low class Saiyans loving nothing but a good fight aren't true."

"I'm sure Vocado would be peeved if things ended anticlimactically," Alpinia added, practically reading Taori's mind. "Yeah, especially after what happened with his brother," Taori replied. "He uh, was killed in an attack orchestrated by this crazy old loon named Yangcong," he further elaborated to Azoth. "Guy hates Tuffles more than anyone, I'd say - and not without reason."

Though, what Azoth said about the Saiyans requiring a strong leadership to keep things in check, reign in the dissenters and figure out how to coordinate things. Was Rosemary really the right woman for the job? She wasn't unintelligent, but she wasn't all too cooperative. Any ideas that contradicted her own beliefs were quickly dismissed, and she seemed to view the very people she ruled over as mindless, battle hungry apes. Was she really someone to put the fate of the Kingdom in the hands of?

Taori cleared his throat to dismiss these sorts of thoughts, then said, "Well, I think Alpinia and I ought to head back home. I'm glad we were able to, uh, work things out a bit." Alpinia nodded. "Yeah, we live over in Tarbel Village, if you ever want to stop by for a visit. There's lots of empty bluffs outside, so it wouldn't be a bad place for you two to have your little sparring match - maybe some of the local kids can watch." "Watch me get my ass handed to me, you mean?" Taori added with a snicker.

He gave Azoth a nod, then, provided the Emperor didn't stop them, they both waved their goodbyes and started heading back off the way they'd come from - this time without getting into a fight, if they had any luck.