The Black Day [CARNAGE]

Well, this all started off rather horribly, didn't it? Taori was quick to confront Lottus head-on, but it soon became clear the other Super Saiyan was not the only element at play, here. Though Taori's scouter had somehow failed to detect them previously, Lottus had an ally on the field, and by the looks of things, they weren't lacking in power by any means. Meanwhile, one of his own men had begun wantonly attacking Lottus, who, obviously, easily avoided the blow, leaving it to fly straight into a building, where it exploded. It was rather unlikely the building had been evacuated already, so... Already had Tuffle blood been spilled.

As for the good news - Vocado and Nasu were here. Taori didn't respond directly to Vocado, though he glanced off in his direction and gave him an affirming nod. And once Nasu arrived, he breathed a small sigh of relief. Together, they stood a much better fighting chance at keeping this from spiraling out of control and into sheer chaos. "Good to see you got my message," Taori commented towards his allied Super Saiyan. Though they had yet to come to any blows, aside from the one rogue Saiyan, it seemed only a matter of time until the beat dropped...

And then, it dropped all at once.

The cold chill didn't go unnoticed by Taori, but by the time he picked up on the fact that something wasn't right with the feeling, it was already too late. "No!" Taori exclaimed as he realized Lottus' magical ally had launched a massive attack - one aimed for all the men below! Powerful as Taori was, he was helpless to block away the incoming wave of black magic for every unfortunate soul he was swept up in the miasma beneath him, both Saiyan soldier and civilian alike. Amidst his hesitations, he eyed Vocado, who, though he was high enough off the ground to avoid the black clouds of death, was being targeted directly by the black mage!

Something deep within Taori stirred. What was this feeling, again? It was, somehow, oh, so familiar... Ah, that's right. He'd felt it that same moment Azoth had betrayed him and killed K414. 

Sheer rage.

"GRAAAAAAH!" Taori roared as, somehow, his power flashed momentarily beyond even what it normally reached in Super Saiyan, and he blitzed over to Vocado's defense. In less than the blink of an eye, he appeared between his old ally and his would-be killer, a barrier of ki erected at just the right moment to soften the incoming blow and take in the full brunt of it himself. The woman's blades clashed against Taori's arms, cutting into his flesh and drawing blood, but, frankly, he was too pissed off to care. Or notice the pain at this point, really. Though his trip had taken him through the woman's dark miasma and stung at his lungs, he took in a deep new breath, exhaled fiercely from his nostrils as his blue eyes glared daggers into the white-haired woman's emerald orbs.

Just as he was about to strike back against her himself, a crimson ball of ki smashed into his cheek and exploded, knocking his head to the side and causing him to briefly see stars. When he looked up at whoever had sent that damn orb at him, he saw, of course, Lottus. He scowled at the recently deceased Saiyan. "In a damn minute, you!" he growled at him. Lottus was the bigger threat here, of course, but... For now, he really, really wanted to kill the woman who would dare strike at both his men and the other innocents below. 

"Nasu!" he shouted out for the only other man strong enough to help him right now. "With me!" And then, he kicked away at the woman before launching himself back, knocking into Vocado to shove him to safety in the same, fluid motion as he pulled his hands to his side. "Get off my planet, you miserable hag!" he exclaimed as he blasted off quite the potent little attack at her with all the might he could muster, and then a little bit more even still. If Nasu was ready, he had angled the beam just so the other Saiyan could swoop in and add his own energy to increase its power. Either way, this was going to lay on the hurt!

Although Taori couldn't deny some surprise at the fact that the mysterious woman was still standing after all was said and done with their unified attack against her, it was clear it had done a significant amount of damage. Still, something that powerful wasn't easily shrugged off by, well, anyone, so the fact that she'd been able to sustain it at all was something to take note of. Either way, the demon woman clearly wasn't finished fighting in spite of the wounds she had suffered, as she set her sights on harming Vocado once again - for some reason, she didn't seem to like him all that much.

Taori was still there, though, and her blow met not Vocado, but him, as he interceded between the two of them, his armor taking the brunt of the attack. "You're not a very focused woman, are you?" he asked her as he glared down at her. "It might be a better idea for you to focus on someone who's an actual threat to you instead of all these cheap pot shots." Taori then slammed his fist down at her skull, before he followed up the blow with a swift blast to the other side of the woman's head.

Still, while his armor had mostly caught her attack, it had cut through and burned his skin underneath, which he was definitely feeling, now. And then, Taori glanced behind him just in time to see Lottus attacking not him or Nasu, but... Also Vocado? He moved to defend Vocado again, but found he lacked the energy to keep up this charade of blocking. That was their goal, then: tire him out by forcing him to constantly keep his friend safe? Taori snarled. "Cowards," he spat at the two of them. "Too quick to piss yourself at the thought of facing me directly after what happened last time, eh Lottus?" he called out to the opposing Super Saiyan. 

"No, I suppose these civilians and un-ascended Saiyans are all you can actually stomach handling, in spite of all your power!"