The Battle of Ideals!

"Cute." Amara murmured, idling by the arena's entryway for a moment to place a curious finger upon the drone-deployed shield. It'd do well to catch any wayward blasts. Had the resident expert on hardlight manipulation had any ill intent, though, it would've been about as effective as paper. At some point during the transition off-camera, Amara's casual Earth clothes had been swiftly swapped for her combat gear. Truth be told, it wouldn't provide that much more protection against someone of Zuqetta's caliber if the challenger landed a heavy hit... which is why Amara planned upon not getting hit. As much as she feasibly could, anyway.

Wordlessly she'd step further into the ring, holoblade manifesting from a cloud of hardlight particles. Jagaimo was also technically part of this whole challenge ordeal despite her lack of raw battle power. Amara wasn't sure if it'd be proper to go one at a time or all together - but either way, the weaker Saiyan likely wouldn't be seeing it to the end of this match if Zuqetta's threat of death was taken with any gravitas. While just letting someone DIE was callous, Amara didn't have the luxury of playing frontline for deadweight during a battle to decide the fate of an entire species... for the foreseeable future.

The sheer scale of the construction that must have taken place below the Palace to create an arena this vast was stunning in its own right…but to then have seating around the outskirts that looked down into a pit like the gladiator battles of bygone ages was just as awe inspiring. And now she was standing in the entrance way to history. Jagaimo allowed her eyes to wander around the gigantic space, taking in the shouts and cheers of the crowd as the first blow for leadership of the Saiyans was struck between Zuqetta and Amara, both fighters of noble upbringing, both with power and reputation to their names…power that shook the foundations of the Palace

What was she even doing here? This was a mistake...

The arena practically shook with the roar of the spectators when Zuqetta swung that oversized blade of hers in the blink of an eye. Jagaimo could barely see what was happening but she caught the turn of the blade in the young Saiyan’s experienced hands at the last moment, presenting the flat to her intended target. The force behind that swing was incredible, and the long haired Low Class felt it even from the distance that was still between them as she watched from the coliseums entrance ways. Stepping out from the shadow of the walkway, barely a glance was spared for her, almost all of the viewer's attention on the two powerful individuals squaring up under the watchful eyes of the robotic camera crew.

But whatever they thought when they spotted her, Jagaimo had every right to be here. She had stood out from the crowd like Amara and accepted the challengers' call to test them and find them worthy or wanting to lead the Saiyan people forward into a new stage of their being. One not ruled by the whims of one mind but rather guided by a collective with the wisdom to try and save the people from themselves and any that would try and drive them into another decimating war. External or otherwise.

Refusing to be cowed like she had been in the Radditsu District the first time she’d encountered a being on par with the other two combatants present, Jagaimo launched across the dusty floor towards the Challenger, surging Ki through her limbs, reinforcing them to power into an attack on Zuqetta, fists and feet flying in rapid succession, committed to her futile attempt to oppose the other woman's rise to lead them.

'I wonder where that other Saiyan went,' Amara thought idly, the flat of Zuqetta's blade hitting her with enough force to elicit an annoyed wheeze. She hadn't been trying to ignore the challenger or be silent - it seemed Zuqetta had gone from starting the match to immediately throwing out a flurry of attacks in mere moments! "Ah. Right, keep my guard up..." A second faux slash was headed her way, this time met with no resistance as Amara seemingly phased through the weapon in a flash of blue light. Sparks crackled as the woman loosed a tiny bolt of electrical energy at Zuqetta in return, finally fighting back for real.

While Jagaimo had entered the fight, her initial attack did little to phase its target. "Are you gonna, uh, transform? ...Can you transform?" The lack of big monkey or golden eyes meant the girl was holding back. Intentional or not, pulling punches against a powerful opponent like Zuqetta would be a quick way to get trounced. Not that either of them really had a good chance of defeating the raven-haired swordswoman anyway. Amara's specialty was defensive, reactionary combat... and while it helped keep her in the fight against stronger enemies, it wouldn't let her defeat them.

"Holding back? Heh, hardly. I'm just being... careful." Zuqetta's superior power and bulk would allow her to physically tank any attempt at a massive attack sent her way, and summarily retaliate with one of her own that could end up knocking Amara out right then and there. As annoyingly slow as it was, she didn't really have a better strategy besides trying to control the pace. "If you're trying to goad me, you'll need better material!" The counter taunt lacked any bite, a playful edge to it. ...Beyond Zuqetta being stronger, she was also a pure Saiyan - or at least pure enough for her genes to inherit the adaptive ability the race was known for. The longer they fought, the stronger she'd get...

Amara's eyes snapped to a shining ball forming in the challenger's palm, body shivering as it greedily absorbed the abundance of blutz waves... to no further effect. The woman blinked, forcing the fuzzy feeling deep down and re-focusing on the battle. It seemed Zuqetta was intent on making the fight a spectacle - rather than take advantage of Jagaimo and conk her then and there, she was attempting to power her up. It COULD be an attempt to create a three-way battle depending on how cognizant Jagaimo was while transformed... but somehow, she doubted it.

A swathe of hardlight poured from Amara's outstretched hand, cloaking the arena's floor in a brilliant bluish-white. With a smirk, she clenched her fist, the molten solid below responding in kind as a faux hand reached up to try and crush Zuqetta in its grip.

It became almost instantly obvious to the young warrior that her own arrogance at thinking she could influence this contest was misplaced. Her assault on the challenger had barely ruffled the woman's hair. And what made it all worse was that Zuqetta didn’t even care that she’d been attacked by the weaker Saiyan, she just looked over with that grin of hers as if she had expected more. Run? She was never going to run. Regardless of the outcome and how she felt about bringing about change, Jagaimo wouldn’t be seen running from this fight, people needed to see that you shouldn’t just bow your head to someone because they were stronger than you, any respect that warranted that kind of reaction needed to be earned, not just given unconditionally.

“You know that there's no running away from this. Insurmountable odds or not I won’t back down from you. From either of you. They’re gonna have to carry me out of here in the end.”

Her recovery had moved her out of arm's reach for the moment, and just in time it seemed as an attack from Amara blasted into the other Saiyan woman, taking her attention away from Jagaimo for the time being. She didn’t know much about the blue armoured woman but from her only encounter she seemed to They’d drifted apart somewhat and Zuqetta seemed to be taking everything in her stride, so far she hadn’t even tried to block any attacks against her and yet she was still talking, her words apparently trying to stoke them to increase their pressure on her…

Jagaimo couldn’t help but smirk at the mention of food and bulking up, Zuqetta seemed to think she was too skinny just because she wasn’t carrying around as much bulk as herself. They’d shared one meal together and she’d put away enough food to feed a dozen Earthlings, it wasn’t her fault she never seemed to get any bigger, it's just how she was.

“No…how could you…”

When Jagaimo came to reply the words hung in her throat at the sight of what the challenger formed in her hand, the Power Ball glowing as it shot into the sky above the arena. Whatever else the woman was saying was lost as the waves of energy started to bathe the underground battleground in its false light. Jagaimo staggered backwards, eyes full of despair at the sight of that orb. It had been forced on them during the war with the Tuffles against their will, whole squads subjected to the Power Balls effects and left to rampage without any control or direction. It wasn’t a memory Jagaimo relished reliving, nor was it a change she took any delight in. Unbridled violence was not the path she had ever wanted to walk, there wasn’t any glory in it. But she’d had no choice back then. And now…it was thrust on her once more against her will.

Groaning out loudly as she doubled over, the young Saiyan tried to contain the energies as she’s practiced so many times before, forcing it down inside her where she could control it. Muscles swelled up with power as she swayed on her feet, hunched over with fists clenched, while her body thickened. The long mane of hair over her back stiffened like bristles and her eyes glowed with a dull red light when her body shook for control…holding its shape for a moment longer before a growl escaped her lips and everything went red in her vision. Hair blossomed along her arms and across her face while a snout formed from her jaws, body shifting and ballooning in size until she was towering over her former self as the Oozaru form exerted itself fully.

The change brought her new face level with where Zuqetta had risen to while she unleashed her bladed assault on Amara, both of them focused on each other since the weaker Saiyan was of little consequence to the fight since it had started. Her power had surged far beyond anything that had coursed through her body before but it was still only a fraction of what she was facing…

Great fur covered arms lashed out as Oozaru Jagaimo leapt forward through the open arena to close with her targets, barely able to really differentiate between them except one seemed to be floating and the other didn’t. Once more Ki flashed through the Oozaru’s limbs, reinforcing bone and muscle as she slammed them towards Zuqetta on the downward arc of her leap, trying to drive her out of the air on her pass. As the Great ape slammed into the ground it swept an arm out, digging into the foundation of the battleground and hurling debris of sand dust and stone out towards the blue warrior, banging the ground with its feet as it stamped them down in frustration at the other target being out of hands reach…

As Zuqetta's blades rained down, with Amara avoiding them with ease; it seemed that even as they gave chase, a strange power prevented them from inflicting any form of damage upon the woman. Zuqetta found herself more an more intrigued by Amara's abilities; it would certainly be something she'd look into at some point in the future, assuming she survived of course. For now, there was a battle to focus on; and in a familiar motion, Amara would launch a beam of energy from the blade she held upwards towards Zuqetta. Quickly Zuqetta would summon two of her blades back to her to block the strike; though they would successfully blockade the attacks path, the electricity of the ability would conduct through her weapons and strike out at her with full force.

"Hehehe, I'd be disappointed if it did!" Zuqetta would yell back down to Amara in response to Amara's assessment of the fights duration, "How could we expect our people to take us seriously if things were settled so easily after all?" She'd question rhetorically as she stretched her back and tried to shake off the effects of the electricity.

Her muscles were beginning to twitch and flex, a clear sign of the building damage from Amara's attacks. Zuqetta hardly worried however, instead feeling the exact opposite; she was starting to rouse and grow ever more excited and interested in the fight. That excitement only built further as she heard Jagaimo's deepening groan as her body grew into its Oozaru form. Zuqetta would give a motion with her right hand, sending four of her blades to continue chasing down Amara; as fruitless as the action had seem so far. As Jagaimo leapt at Zuqetta, she would keep her last two blade with herself; sending them directly before her to act as a shield the the Oozaru's massive fists came down upon her.

"HAHAHAH!! That's more like it, Jaggy!!!" Zuqetta would exclaim with a sharp grin as Jagaimo forced her down into the ground; slamming her powerfully into the dirt before thrashing around sporadically.

The battle was finally starting to heat up, and Zuqetta knew she couldn't allow herself to lose focus now. While Jagaimo thrashed about aimlessly, Zuqetta would be quick to dash out from beneath the Oozaru; making sure to keep as far from the ground that Amara controlled as possible. She wasn't sure what the blue enveloping light was all about, but she'd already seen Amara attempt to form a construct with it to grab her, and so remained wary.

"Not gonna let up with those, are you?" Amara muttered under her breath, fingers dancing through the air as motes of hardlight swarmed. Pillars of impossibly solid energy erupted from the writhing ground, meeting Zuqetta's chasing blades. Fighting two opponents - even if one was a fraction of her power - at least kept the raven-haired swordswoman on the backfoot. She'd taken some minor damage thus far, and while nothing to scoff at, it meant little. Amara was still worried about her longevity. Once Jagaimo was out, and Zuqetta thoroughly warmed up, the sheer power difference would snuff out any chance of the hybrid winning. Sure, she could technically never 'lose' with her superior defensive capabilities... but stalling for eternity was no way to conduct a battle like this.

Amara heaved a slightly strained huff, the shimmering floor she had constructed noticeably thinner after her repeated uses. To make matters worse, her whole plan of hanging back and letting the ape hit Zuqetta... didn't exactly pan out. "Bugger." Her body moved, narrowly dodging the agile ape's initial attacks thanks primarily to her superior battle power (and thus speed). Caught up against the shielded wall (and currently unwilling to break through it to endanger the spectators), Amara couldn't evade the oncoming crushing clap. For a moment, it appeared Jagaimo's efforts were successful, the Oozaru's palms meeting no resistance.

A glob of hardlight across the arena's floor freed itself, taking shape as Amara sputtered, a bit frazzled from the experience. She was half-tempted to blow the beast away with a powerful attack, but that'd leave her open to Zuqetta. ...The same technically being true the other way around, not that Amara was all that willing to jump on such a chance.