Serious Schooling (Jagaimo)

Jagaimo might not have had the full picture, but she was right about something: he didn’t understand. He thought he did but all the finer details of the war were of course going to be lost on someone who was never actually there to see it unfold, especially when he was the definition of biased.

When he was effectively cut off from the species he believed he was supposed to support, for now the only way to keep tabs on them was to dig up every piece of information concerning Plant that managed to reach the blue marble. Presumably hours of digging through news feeds and searching dark corners of the internet for what were supposedly leaked Tuffle documents would have educated him on the plights of both sides but that didn’t account for him being… Well, him. It probably wasn’t the intended outcome when some Tuffle with questionable ethics decided, among other things, to treat people’s minds like a canvas but brains were fickle and Tarine was a little too easy to wind up for his own good.

So that ceasefire mentioned? Yes he knew it existed, at first he was even relieved- it was great news! The war would be over without him having to lift a finger! Despite some individuals thinking it was possible, he'd thought the idea was way too optimistic... but there was a small part of him hoping it was true so he could sleep peacefully knowing his people weren't destined for extinction.

But then she came along, she invaded his life, admitted to killing his people and suddenly everything comes crashing down again. Of course he shouldn't have been trusting them, did all the hours spent digging though decades of war reports mean nothing? They pillaged villages, destroyed cities for the hell of it! And when the Tuffles retaliated by rendering portions of their own planet unlivable to keep the Saiyans from occupying them? That... was self-defence. He'd get to it when he'd get to it.

So yeah, he would have ran the argument in circles because he was right- and if it hadn't been for the Power Ball being the last straw he would probably kept going until Portobello decided to knock him out to keep the peace or he tired himself out- and who knew how long that would take. Fortunately they didn't have to wait because he'd pissed this person off enough that they were prepared to transform- and that fed back into his anger until he'd attacked his second person of the day and caused some rather serious property damage that would have probably terrified a bunch of people outside who would soon be calling the cops.

Tarine presumably did have it in him to feel some guilt over his actions, otherwise he was lacking the charisma necessary to worm his way into getting a future job inside the same building he'd partially destroyed. To be fair, if he was still standing when this fight reached a close there was a non-zero chance of him grovelling at the feet of at least one person. He just wasn't capable of that when he was still contending with both the belief he was facing a completely immoral individual and adrenaline pumping through his system now he'd finally reached his full power.

But one good thing was about to come from this- his "mission" was starting to become a lot clearer- It hadn’t changed, he still needed to deal with the Saiyan but instead of countless thoughts buzzing round his head demanding some variation of "revenge for his kin”, he could focus on the actual evidence proving this Saiyan was everything he thought she was. Jagaimo might have unknowingly done him some good in the long run, being able to clear his head even partially was enough for some of his human side to come creeping back in- Now instead of making her into the scapegoat for crimes committed decades before she was born, he was presently more furious that she had dared attempt to unleash the destructive force of an Oozaru in the middle of his hometown.

Now he was still blind to the fact this situation was his fault... but at least he wanted to stop something for arguably altruistic reasons?

---

Tarine's mind might have been slightly clearer than it was before but he was still hyperfocused on this one individual who'd decided to cause trouble in his hometown. There was a hiss behind him as he went to launch forward towards the hole opening the building up to the outside world, he'd barely even heard it over the blood rushing to his ears. Placing a hand on the sides of the hole to steady himself, he climbed out, eyes squinting shut briefly due to the sun assaulting his vision. There were people yelling and hastily attempting to evacuate the street for blatantly obvious reasons but he wasn't looking at them. What he was after and what his eyes narrowed on was the Saiyan gearing up for another assault.

His muscles tensed up, and with a fraction of a second to think he attempted to fire a blast of ki towards her, attempting to throw her off just enough that he'd be able to avoid the full might of her barrage. He'd let out a few grunts as he ended up receiving a few hits anyway but instead of responding in kind like before, he'd attempt to shove her away with as much force as he could muster and use opportunity to perform a ki-empowered leap backwards to create some distance between them so he had more time to form a plan. His eyes then darted towards a building, then back to her, and with some quick deliberation, sparks erupted from his feet and he attempted to use the same ability from before to jump upwards with enough height to take him up to the roof.

If not foiled in his attempt he'd manage to just grab hold of the ledge, there was a moment of panic where he almost slipped and his legs would begin to kick around wildly until he'd manage to pull himself up and over. He'd then jump to his feet as quick as possible, shoot a glare back down at the street below before proceeding to take a running leap at an even taller establishment to climb to an even higher vantage point.

Portobello was not happy- she'd invited this innocent-seeming martial arts hopeful into her establishment, promised to teach him everything she could and he took that trust and threw it in her face. She liked to think she had gained some perspective in her later years, but what the hell? She had been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, some half-formed theory on Saiyans being the subject of some previous trauma was what had kept her from knocking him out earlier but this behaviour was getting way out of hand. Right now she wanted nothing more than to knock some sense into that skull of his, however the blow to her nose had exposed an unfortunate weakness of her species- she was suddenly overcome by a fit of sneezes, forcing her to postpone her interference in a fight she fully intended to stop.

Frankly there wasn’t much time to plan ahead in a situation like this, so Tarine needed to claw every second he could from his opponent. It turned out sometimes that involved running... lots of running.

But not running away as it may have looked- he couldn’t do that... he’d rather die than let her walk away after seeing the sort of person she was. His plan, if you could call it that, was to create distance, to give himself a vantage point over someone who should have trouble keeping up…Though the words that began reached his ears gave him half the mind to abandon his honestly rather shaky sense of reason and go right back to swinging with wild abandon, this Saiyan was going to dare call him a coward again? Him- for standing up for people she freely admitted to killing? People he cared about? If anything that made him a hero!

His hands dug into the ledge all the harder as he felt his anger at the girl bubbling up to the surface again, cracks formed and concrete flaked from under his palms as he made one last push and practically threw himself onto the roof. He quickly sprung to his feet, taking a few steps inward as his muscles began to tensed up and his eyes darted around for the next location to bolt towards, however that niggling sensation in the back of his head signaled his opponent was on the move. Internally he cursed himself for not giving enough attention to his opponent's ki, half of this fight had to be predicting her next moves- and as it stood, her ki was basically a shining beacon giving off he exact location at all moments, not exactly knowledge he could ignore.

He'd swing back round to spot where his foe was headed, eyes narrowing as he glared at the street below- It wasn't hard to see her running... he had the similar idea to pepper her with ki blasts before her plot was put in motion... though on bringing his hand up, tracking her movements with a small spark of ki forming in his palm... he couldn't quite bring himself to fire. Hypocritical as it was, now he'd pulled himself together somewhat he could both see and feel the civilians running away, hidden behind the walls of the other buildings on this street, and his morals were still intact enough that he didn't want them to be injured by his hand- This so-called soldier on the other hand was a completely different beast.

…Maybe there were some creeping doubts in his head over that but they were quickly quashed under a host of other thoughts compiling his "evidence" of the opposite.

Realising he was unwilling to take his primary course of action- and thus had nothing to stop her reaching him, the spark died out and his hand lowered. He let out an annoyed huff as he tore his eyes away to scan the area for alternatives. His eyes latched on to something green in the distance, a park maybe? It was large enough for... well, it wasn't perfect but better than trying to jump from building to building. 

He used the small amount of time he had before Jagaimo would complete her manoeuvre to rush for the side closest to his target location, whirling round just in time to see her rolling to a stop. He didn't have anything to dignify her arrival with so he stuck with the tried and true glare of contempt. Speaking of exertion, he wasn't hurting quite as bad- the adrenaline certainly helped in ignoring that, but he was breathing similarly hard. He wasn't in the mood for witty responses, why would he be when he was dealing with a real-life criminal? She didn't deserve a response- and so he wouldn't give it. What he would do is glare at her, then turn his head to look over his shoulder, then back to her- then he'd turn around, and with another explosive burst of ki at his feet that made several deep cracks in the roof's surface, he'd launch off for another building, and if Jagaimo didn't stop him, another... and another, intending to hopefully draw her into a chase to move this fight steadily towards the more open spaces of the distant park. 

His half-formed idea seemed to pan out as he could sense his opponent following in close pursuit. Almost too close actually, he thought he was fast but she didn’t seem to be having any trouble keeping up pace. Even if this was his plan, he couldn’t help but feel some frustration in how quickly she adapted to what he was throwing her way and channelled this additional source of annoyance into pushing himself that much harder, what previously wasn’t leaving much of an impact was now leaving scorch marks as his feet touched the rooftops for another burst of ki to send him flying back up moments later.

But despite his efforts to stay ahead of the Saiyan, what he hadn’t accounted for was her suddenly gaining control of the skies, or that was what he could assume judging by the increasingly floaty movements he was sensing. But with the little time he had to think before bowling over the edge of the building Tarine could only think to spring forward into a running jump, one last kick sending him over the edge and out above an open street.

Faintly aware the Saiyan was rapidly accelerating towards him, an idea hit him, something impulsive took the reins and instead of going down feet first he flipped onto his front, sending him down on a dive that with its current trajectory would have smashed him into the concrete. Now obviously this wasn't what he wanted, frankly this particular sight combined with the wind rushing past was enough to finally start up the twisting feeling of anxiety he typically felt when performing objectively reckless stunts, so trying to push those reservations down so he wouldn't be doomed by his own hesitation he kicked out behind him, a similar pulse of ki to the ones he'd used to jump further exploded out and he shot forward, and with the other foot he repeated this trick until he was catapulting himself through the air in an ungraceful zigzagging manner that brought him closer to his goal across the street.

The civilians down below probably would have heard a series of shockingly loud bangs in quick succession, whether they were confused for gunshots or something else, some would have likely been driven into a panic, not that Tarine was particularly aware of this with the pace he and his opponent were moving, if anything it might benefit the fighters for the immediate future as people began to flee what could be a battleground.

In spite of his more unconventional methods of air-movement, Tarine would still end up being hit by the living bullet. Though instead of getting a mouthful of dirt he was lucky enough that she'd only succeed in clipping his leg, however the force would still be enough to knock him out of the air and with a gasp of pain he was sent plummeting down. Fortunately it wasn't a hard impact as he'd crossed the boundary between a concrete jungle and one of Central's more natural spaces, so the shock wouldn't last long and he was already scrambling to get out of the dirt and back to his feet.

Catching his breath after the initial fall, Tarine powered on despite slightly pained protests from his body, he might have been able stave off the discomfort for now while running on adrenaline and stubborn belief but he was still just about as battered as his opponent, carrying plenty of welts, bruises and scrapes that would come back to haunt him later. Not keen to experience a mouth full of dirt, he pushed down with his hands and quickly began scrambling back to his feet. On high alert, hearing Jagaimo call out he instinctively whipped round to face her direction. His head turning faster than the rest of him allowed him to meet her gaze from the corner of his eye, his own expression hardening in reaction to the grin… something about it bothered him but before he was allowed the chance to dwell on it she was already rushing forward.

His eyes widened just as he finished pivoting round, instinctively he stepped back, arms taking a defensive posture as his ki surged back up reactively- his current mental state forcing him to take offence to this action instead of taking the more reasonable route of evading the Saiyan’s incoming fists, he grit his teeth, ki pouring into his muscles as they hardened in preparation to take the blows.

…It wasn’t the wisest choice as it turned out, her first fist would be met with a well-timed block with his forearm, the force of the impact pushed him back slightly, digging his heels even further into the ground- point one to him… then came the rest of the attack, he managed to deflect a few hits, pain shooting through his arms each time though he was making a good effort at not letting it show, disguising what could have been a wince behind tightly gritted teeth and a potent glare for when Jagaimo came too close for comfort- but then the blows came in faster, outpacing his sloppy and inexperienced attempt at defence until she got a solid hit right in his jaw.

Blindsided, he stumbled backwards with a grunt, the sting stunning him momentarily before his condition was swiftly taken advantage of and even more punches came rolling in- blow after blow came and he was forced to backpedal in a vain hope to avoid the onslaught, though the luckiest he got was his arm moving up just in time to save his face. No part of him was spared, several blows to the arms and chest in and they were starting to ache, slight cuts and bruises forming from the repeated assault, another blow and his lip was split, the taste of blood filled his mouth… he wasn’t faring well and in a bout of fury-tinged desperation he lashed out.

With one last blow to the face sending his head spinning to the side he snapped back to attention with a similar fury in his eyes to when he'd reacted to Jagaimo's past, his ki surged out, flickering orange light battling with Jagaimo's own aura- his power somehow climbing above its previous limits, and with immense speed he swung his fist forward with a snarl. He felt a heat building in his arm as it resisted a level of power he wasn't quite used to, but that wasn't about to stop him, mid-swing his fist opened up to reveal a growing ball of ki that despite it's intent as a more technical attack, in its user's current mind was the strongest tool they had to strike back- with all the force he could muster, he'd attempt to slam the blast straight into the Saiyan's face.

The energy bursting out of Tarine’s palm had remarkably been enough to send the girl flying and give him some breathing room- and not a moment too soon at that. Pushing against the limits of his body too soon warranted some retaliation and his ki began to sputter and shrink back as a brief sensation of dizziness came over him. He stumbled forward and his vision wavered as he pulled in short breaths through gritted teeth… on top of his other injuries he really didn’t feel so good right now, but he could still power through, he had to- he shouldn’t have to remind himself this was a murderer in front of him, if they got away they’d do it again, maybe here, maybe more Tu-

Likely obscured by Jagaimo’s still wavering vision, a twitch of… fear came over her opponent’s face? To Tarine a chill in the air was very apparent, a creeping feeling of dread came over him because if they died- if they died- if he let her- that blood was…

No- resolve was important, he would not fail.

Having to deal with the disorientating crash of emotions and sensations in his skull again took his focus away from reality longer than it should have, but he had it under control, of course he did. Forcing the pain aside was a whole other issue but he could do it, deep breaths and- then a voice cut through the silence. Catching him off guard, the air caught in his throat and he tensed up as his head rose to lock eyes with the figure in front of him.

The mention of cowardice struck a nerve, maybe some part of him thought there was truth but hearing it from her of all people made his blood boil. “Coward?” Tarine half mumbled under his breath as the spark of fury in his eyes flared up. He expected the lunge, however the forceful drawing of previously untapped power and mounting wounds left him more sluggish than anticipated- still he barely slipped to the side as the first swings came in. Presumably she’d still attempt to follow his movements but in the moment his adrenaline caught up to him and he thought he saw an opening in her defences. Not eager to pass up on another chance, he twisted around trying to dodge her more unpredictable hits while pulling his arm back as if preparing to swing.

“Not a coward…” His voice was strained, punctuated with similar heavy breaths as it was forced out despite similar levels of injury. Then with all the force he could muster in his energy-drained state he swung his fist back round in an attempt to get a clean shot at the side of her head.

“I’m… fighting for people who need me!”

Somehow he broke through her defences again and the girl went flying. He wasn't in the mood for the criticism of whatever spilled out when his emotions were running high so the nerve struck by her comment was mostly brushed aside in favour of keeping himself from falling forward due to his excess momentum. He was somewhat hoping she could stay down this time, let this be over with. He... didn't know what he'd do in that situation, add too much adrenaline and an unhealthy dose of tunnel vision to everything else his body was being put through then he really had no idea what the consequences of his actions were about to bring.

While he stumbled as he struggled to stay upright, his head tracked her descent. He still wasn't quick enough with his reflexes and limited combat instincts to capitalise on a downed opponent, but he tensed up preparing for anything she might think to pull next.

An equal frustration at her endurance would have been accurate, she was already attempting to get back to her feet.

"You stay down!"

He stepped forward confrontationally, expecting to be thrown into another bout of melee... then he saw what she was holding and he recoiled immediately as his mind raced with possible outcomes. 

"What the...!"

There were a lot of things he could have thought in this moment, of course he really didn't want to face an Oozaru, he knew enough to guess that would be horrible for him and the rest of the city. But that she was willing to do it? That honestly made him a hell of a lot angrier again and earlier that went only one way- but a sliver more clearheadedness and a few more blows to temper him since then meant he was more willing to choose a different tactic...

"You would..." His expression darkened as he muttered that out. "Stop. You want to fight? Do it without stupid tricks! Just hit me!" Quickly rising to a shout, he ended by hitting his chest, as if trying to goad the warrior into taking his dare.

No one said it was a smart tactic but he was in a volatile mood today.