Impeachment? [Challenge AT/Vocado]

Vocado’s strike landed flush, allowing the Super Saiyan some breathing room. Twisting in air, he landed safely on the ground, watching with curiosity as Chomei spoke for the first time in a good few moments. Goading, chiding words. The taunts of a pompous fool. A lesser Saiyan would’ve snapped back, but Vocado knew better.

He sensed it. A calm in the energy across the way. Lottus and the others were relaxed, if only very slightly. He had minutes left. Seconds, if they were worried about their precious president.

”Chatty all the sudden, aren’t we? Trying to buy time for your entourage to arrive?”

The taunting words came with a flourish of his hand, and suddenly the chaff buzzing about his aura had begun to dissipate. Slowly, but surely, the aura of obfuscation would fade, leaving versions of the truth in its wake. What came next would be a mystery for a future self to learn.

”Don’t worry. I’ve got friends too. Plenty, in fact. If you’re waiting for yours, perhaps I’ll call mine.”

Tapping his scouter goadingly, he turned the device on, allowing it to whir to life on his ear. He just needed a few minutes to decide who to contact. What to say…

”Think you can kill me before I give the order? There’ll be plenty of bodies on your hands if you come up short! Gyaaaahhahahahaaaa!”

---

And there it was.

In the heart of Vocado, there was deviousness. In the pit of his very being, down behind the self-pity and to the left of his pride. It was a small, putrid little pock mark on his soul. The kind of thing he’d tried hard to keep from the surface. But where the Oozaru let that devious nature run free, the Super Saiyan ballooned it to a mountainous shadow, looming above the rest of him.

In the heart of Vocado, there was coercion. The kind Callion would have shuddered at. The kind Kabe might frown at.

There was plenty of time to dodge this attack. Plenty of time to counter attack and cook up some way to put Chomei in the dirt. But it wouldn’t look good if he did that. It wouldn’t sell his story. So, on this fine afternoon, the Warmaster Vocado, master tactician and brilliant combatant, was “too slow” for Chomei’s draconic brutality.

A palm came up. Deflecting Chomei’s attack. But it wasn’t enough. It was designed that way. Rather than deflect the blow, it simply sent it off course, allowing the strike to puncture clean through the Super Saiyan’s right shoulder. The force of the blow sprayed blood everywhere, staining the powdery snow crimson.

The Super Saiyan tumbled backwards, allowing the kinetic energy of the blow to throw him away. He flopped across the expanse end-over-end, smashing through the mountain and landing in a small crater. Dust and snow popped into the air, clouding the arena for a little more than a minute.

More than enough time.

He could feel his adrenaline burning in his chest. His blood pumped and sloshed blood about the mountain. The hole in his shoulder was massive; the kind that would end the careers of most men. It was lucky, then, that he had a medical machine back at his pod. In fact, he could close this wound up right now with his supply of Senzu Extract, but where was the fun in that?

There was no clever quip. No playful banter or defiance. No, Vocado had other plans in mind. Darker plans. Raising a hand, he summoned a thin dagger of Ki at the tip of his finger, and scraped it across the outer edge of his scouter. The scorch marks were deep, and the crackle of disturbed machinery and fraying wires inside the device gave him clues as to when and where to stop.

He’d practiced this dozens of times. Hundreds. Where to stab, and how to make it look like an enemy’s attack. At the angle he stabbed through, it looked as though Chomei landed a precise and calculated claw strike at Vocado’s scouter, exposing wires.

Luckily, of course, it left the recording function active. Damaged, of course, so the footage would be blurred and the audio distorted, but active. How lucky he was. How fortunate!

The chaff faded from the arena, and Vocado’s scouter coughed and whirred desperately. How fortunate!

It seemed the rest of their battle would be lost to time. It was so unfortunate that the rest of the footage had been lost in the fight. That damn Chomei! So clever to damage his only evidence of this battle.

Vocado howled in pain as he stood, making sure the scouter caught footage of his arm as blood oozed down the length of it and ran off his fingers in rivulets.

”You… bastard! Is this how you treat all foreign bodies, or am I a special case?”

Vocado stepped from the crater, stumbling more than he needed to. His acting was impeccable, and it definitely helped that he was actually in a load of pain. What better way to act the part than to live it?

”I won’t let you use me as your scapegoat! You Earthlings are all the same— Urghk!” He fell to a knee as he coughed blood. That part wasn’t in his script. ”You… President Derry… Jackie… you’re all just waiting! Vultures! Snakes! Any reason to wage war, is that it?! Well, it won’t be me. I won’t be your martyr!”

How much of this was his damaged scouter going to get? He wasn’t sure, but there was no reason not to play it up.

Raising his good hand, the Super Saiyan allowed Ki to form as best he could manage.

”I’m gonna make it home. And I’ll tell EVERYONE what you’ve done here today. Mark my words! CHOMEIIIII!”

Vocado held back a cackle, and instead let loose a defiant roar. Golden Ki erupted from his palm, trying to push back Chomei in a way that looked good for the camera. The blast was incredibly mighty, and would probably deal its fair share of damage, but the Warmaster held back as much as he could. There was no reason to win this fight, after all.

After all, what vengeful war would he wage if he beat his would-be assassin handily?

---

It was thankful that the scouter recorded from Vocado’s perspective, lest his wicked grin be visible for posterity’s sake. The delighted smile was kept way from the camera, though, and even if it had been visible, the smirk would’ve faded quickly when he saw Chomei’s incessant durability push through.

What a fool. Burning through his Ki reserves to kill Vocado was as stupid as it was helpful. Such a brute would have a hard time retelling events as they happened. And with the rapidly-approaching Ki of two Earthling fighters, it would help sell that story ever-further if Vocado had trouble defending against this next barrage.

No, maybe not trouble. Noticeable difficulty, sure. With the camera recording, he had to make sure he put up a reasonable fight.

Pulsing his Ki, he brought a monstrous surge to the forefront as Chomei approached, ballooning his Battle Power as the earthling approached. With just one arm, his defense was admirable, but still fell short. The barrage of endless attacks rained down on him, tearing cracks into his armor and leaving plenty of cuts, bruises and scrapes. Before the final strike blew him away, Vocado loosed a mighty Kiai wave, giving him some much-needed distance.

”Burn your spirit all you like! Char it to cinders if you have to! I WILL NOT FALL!”

A mighty roar, and suddenly Vocado crackled with lightning. His limbs, chest and eyes danced with power. Despite his fatigue, he knew he needed to end this in an “honorable” way.

Vocado’s body blurred.

He reappeared behind Chomei, his eyes deathly serious.

With one, precise chop to the neck, Chomei would fall unconscious.

That is, of course, assuming nobody intervened. By his estimation, it was a fifty-percent chance he’d pull this off. If it was intercepted, however, the foe who did so would be hit by immense force and pressure, and the resounding Ki Shockwave would echo out for miles like a thunderous clap.

Quite the effort for someone trying to knock a man unconscious, but these were titanic men. Nothing less would do, right?

---

Jackie winces at the sudden violent rejection of her mental sitrep. It was like someone threw a mental kiai her way, pushing back any attempt to get any further answers from the President. Something was very wrong here. In her gut, on her mind, she kept pushing on without a hitch despite the momentary setback. Regardless of his answer, the pair of guardians were basically on top of the situation; They'd be there in seconds.

They were close enough and the pair quick enough that even thinking to take the momentary pause to use her sunlight transposition wasn't on the mind. Soaring off after dealing with the Lottus Incident, again, Jackie flared her orange aura and fell in beside Russ. She could feel the battle quickly shifting ahead of them. At current strengths, he'd prove to be just fast enough to pull out ahead of her. She grunts with the effort needed to keep up.

"Don't have to tell me!- There! There they are!"
Russ already took a haphazard dive into super saiyan to stop a dangerous point-blank shockwave coming from the fellow saiyan. Wearing a gold head of hair too, when she hovered in close enough to watch the action she vaguely remembered that face from Plant. No wonder; He had threatened to use the Oozaru on her back then, now he had that same strength Russ, Nasu, all of them had.

"Chomei!"
This attacker was more than beat up by the president; Russ, fresh as he was, shouldn't have much issue holding him off. She instead dove to catch Chomei before his burning, weak body failed to keep him upright. The woman didn't know what exactly was going on here, but she was there at the climax between them and the subsequent aftermath. She recognized all that burnt energy scratching his body up. Chomei must has been pushing his spirit and burning it for power, something she's too familiar with. "Gotcha!" She tried lowering them both, should she get as far as grabbing him. Setting him back down so she had her own might to add to Russ's should it be needed.

"You! I don't know who you are, Vocado, but I'm giving you ONE chance! Leave our home, hurt not a hair on anyone else. I don't care what you two got into, we're NOT doing this!"
Jackie stood tall from the ground and pointed back up at Vocado with her index. Russ knew to roughen people up first rather than skipping to kill shots anyways so she didn't need to say that part anyways. She hoped the saiyan was hurt enough to heed her warning, as she'd get the story once things calmed down. The Kami didn't realize just moments ago he was grinning ear to ear at fight coming out the way it did.

---

Vocado blinked rapidly, barely registering Russ’ arrival. Was he that winded that he’d let his senses fail him, or was Russ simply that fast? Moments ago he felt like he had a minute to spare, but it was obvious now that his calculations were off. It was lucky, then, that he went for a strike that looked only mildly aggressive.

Leaping back, Vocado stood with a wavering stance, his one good arm up in a defensive position. Blood ran down his other, disabled arm like a river, pouring from the gaping wound.

”Tch. Took you clod-chompers long enough.”

This Saiyan. A Super Saiyan, no less… Just who was he? The face and the Ki were entirely foreign, and his Battle Power rested well above Vocado’s maximum. He would be a challenge even for Lottus. Just what the hell were they feeding these Earthlings?!

Another Earthling. Familiar. Did she recognize him, too? Their last encounter was well over a year ago. With luck she’d have forgotten, but she didn’t seem the type.

Her demand was met with a stern scoff.

”Try to help someone out— Urgk!— Once! And this is the thanks I get.”

He tried to figure out his angle as quickly as he could, using his pain as a bridge. Lottus. Lottus was here. He could use that as his excuse. His basis for being here. It didn’t matter why Lottus had come, just that Vocado had followed him.

Thankfully, he had more time to think of the logistics of his tall tale, thanks to the intrusion of Chomei. The bastard was still fighting!

Perfect.

Thinking quickly, Vocado lunged forward, shielding Jackie with his body as the back of his armor splintered yet more from the damage. He grunted in pain, falling to a knee as the hot flames doused him. Another injury for the pile.

”Can ONE of you idiots wrangle him?!”

---

In truth, she only knew about Vocado superficially. Once, they had seen each other but didn't offer so much as a few words as opposing parties. He didn't even have a name to the face before today after meeting with the other two saiyans. Her assumptions coming forward and trying to stop an assault against Chomei were based entirely on the presumption they were dealing with another rogue element from Plant. Lots of those, mind you. Instead, this man quickly defended himself and attempted to spin his own web on this while she, erroneously, assumed her fellow human had the fight beat out of him before. That, coupled with burning his own chi, just about anyone would be out cold.

Jackie's suspicion about this one, in particular, was backed up by what she sensed before the two clashed. The kami lowers her pointing arm, squinting. She had been paying a good deal attention to them. Red and Blue should know Chomei was on his way to meet them rather than get into a scrape with some other saiyan, at least initially. Maybe if she had time she'd just see through this instantly, too. Maybe her warning to get this super saiyan to leave them would have stuck if she had basically any warning about what was to happen next.

Chomei's anger and power spiked. She could feel it suddenly like a dagger in her back, drawing her attention away from the super saiyans and back to the president she had just helped lower to his feet. Never assuming attack from his angle, of them all, he was deceptively quick to suddenly launched himself in a reckless charge on the ground. Stumbling as he was, it was still painfully quick for the untransformed kami to react to. Painful flashbacks of the last time something like this appear before she can even turn to meet her maker.

In some bizarre twist, when she turned, she was not met with a bone shattering palm to her side. It was Vocado shielding her in place, taking the blows with his armor shattering and grit tested. If he were playing a part, he was pretty convincing to the casual observer. A sudden surprise overtook her face before she finally hopped away from the impact zone. Should Chomei or Vocado either decide to do something quickly, rashly. With Russ at least dealing with one half of the equation via his attempts to pin the president down with some telekinesis, she gave both a confused back and forth.

"Good stuff, Blue. But... What was that about!"
She balls her fists, suddenly flaring her light orange aura as her muscles tense up. With a flash of power, the earthling's muscles grow and bulge out ever so slightly as does her relative strength. Without her own fury to match them, she was a drop in the water compared to the men here, but no doubt more capable when pushing ki through her body like this. "No, this is all sorts of wrong... Explain. Both of you." She probably wouldn't even consider entertaining Vocado's word before, given her previous work. But that perfect storm between Chomei attacking her and Vocado throwing anything her way was... Confusing. Jackie really did have her assumption tested here.

"And for the love of the kais, step away from eachother. We're not killing here today."
Whether they do as she suggested was up to them, all the same she took a few careful steps towards Chomei and Vocado. Planting herself between them as she outstretched her hands. The dragon, whether he wanted it or not, would be getting more of that annoying sunlight poured over him. He was in poor condition to explain himself, his side as well. She had no clue she was being recorded, so this was hardly for show either. She really put her palms out at the pair and let an orange, warm glow pour from them. This wasn't some blast, but rather they'd both feel their body covered in a soothing glow. Something that only felt better and eased the pain as they stood in the sun.

"Are we cool now?"
Chomei's reaction to 'backing down', despite what he probably wanted to believe, was no different from her own rage-filled fiery transformation. She knew exactly how this worked. She was just lucky she wasn't a pile of bones and flesh on the floor having to take a punch from him with her guard down. Still, she had to play mediator. "I want to know from Chomei first. The Chomei I know is there letting his power get to him." She still had that hope in there.

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