Liari had been so pleased with herself that she didn't even notice the stranger's power until she was close enough to speak. Liari blinked and whirled around to face the warrior and... it was a rather fetching young saiyan woman. Shorter than Liari, noticeably, but she walked right up to her with a sort of confidence only a saiyan could have. After all, Liari was a GIANT in terms of power compared to the girl. All it would take was a mere flick-of-the-tentacle and she'd be sent flying! ...And yet, here she was, coming right up to her like they were old friends or something, expecting nothing of the sort. She wondered if this girl had seen what she'd done before the majin had died, the giant ape-monster rampaging and KILLING one of Earth's more prominent defenders as if he were nothing, devastating the city in the process. She wondered if she knew of Zero and Ryme before Liari before Liari had eaten them, or of the other Saiyans Liari had consumed. It HAD to be ignorance that this girl would approach her this way. There was no WAY anyone that knew of her... with THAT power level would saunter up like that!

    ...THen she spoke... And Liari's face FLASHED with a dark blue blush. 

    "B-Beautiful...!?" Liari stammered! NOBODY had ever called her that before! EVER! The majin recoiled a step, her hands shooting up to cup her burning cheeks as if somehow her palms could soothe them. Her breathing grew rapid, almost labored as her eyes flashed to a deeply nervous silver, the mix of suddenness and the compliment wreaking havoc on the majin! 

    "She called me 'beautiful...'" She whispered, turning away from the saiyan... and almost seeming to forget she was there! Compliments of any kind were almost an attack in it of themselves to the majin! They could stun her, cause her to blush and giggle, maybe even distract her from a fight! ...But this....? THIS!? This wasn't just any kind of compliment! It was a FLIRT! A FLIIIIIRRRT! And a blatant one at that! She had "gotten used to" Moire's because they were so gentle and almost hidden behind innuendo and suggestion! But...

    "Beautiful..." Liari mumbled again, her blush growing deeper and deeper, steam starting to rise off her face! 

    ...This was different. It took SEVERAL minutes for the surprise and SHOCK of the sudden compliment to subside and a handful more for Liari to gather her wits, the taller majin turning back to face the stranger, her face still several shades of blush darker than they had been before!

    "...Wh...What did you say to me....!?" Liari grumbled, trying to sound angry! BEING ANGRY WAS BETTER THAN BEING FLUSTERED! At least she knew what she was doing when her temper was flaring, okay!? ...But it was a poor attempt indeed. Anyone with any kind of awareness could hear the trembles of uncertainty in the majin's voice, see how her body trembled lightly as she made her accusation, read the twitches of a voiced expression upon her face.

    "Wh... Who even ARE you!?"

WC: 517
TWC: 1093

    Liari's blush FLARED further as the saiyan continued to poke her, the majin's jaw clenching tighter in genuine outrage... outrage still yet smothered by flusteredness!

    "S-STOP SAYING THAT!" The majin demanded, STAMPING her foot! She had unintentionally SMASHED it into the ground hard enough for a jagged 'x' shaped crag to explode across the landscape. nearly touching the horizon in either direction! "MY NAME IS LIARI, GOT IT!?" ...She continued to call her 'beautiful.' WHY did it have to be this way!? She had seen other women (when she was younger) shrug off compliments like this like their were but rain-drops rolling off their backs! Why was it so hard for HER!? She HATED IT! She hated not being confident! It felt so... so VULNERABLE! Liari shook her head and cursed something inaudible under her breath, determined to gather herself. One way or another, she was going to RIP that part out of her... She would not be undermined by a compliment... and one as benign and common as THAT! She was MAJIN LIARI! ESCAPER FROM HELL! GIANT MAJIN APE-MONSTER! SURVIVOR OF JANEMBA! WHAT WAS A COMPLIMENT TO HER!?

    ...She ignored the silent response of her still-burning cheeks. 

    "The better question is..." Liari growled, attempting to swallow her stammers! "...What are YOU doing here? Who just goes up to a woman and says stuff like that!?"

    'Sayains.' A part of her answered, the memory of Callion popping into her head.

    'Shut up.' Liari thought back. 

    "...If you MUST know, I was out here training. I have a busy schedule day-in-and-day out and only just now got some time to myself. I DON'T need some random saiyan coming up to me saying I'm-" Liari paused, the word sticking in her throat. "'...beautiful.'" God, even in her own ears, her statements sounded shallow... What, was she gonna have to throw a punch to get this girl off her back!? Liari looked her up and down again, her silver eyes reading into her a little deeper. Did she have more power than she was letting on...? Her current level was somewhat awkward to hide her energy at if she were to do it so... maybe there wasn't anything she was hiding. What was more, Liari couldn't help but take note of Tanya's beauty. for a saiyan, she was rather fetching, between her confidence and her natural form. Maybe in another time, Liari might've even been interested... 

    ...Maybe.

    "Look, is there something you want?" Liari grumbled. "A fight, maybe? I know how saiyans like to fight. Come on then... Let's skip... whatever this is and just jump to the part where you punch me."

WC: 440
TWC: 1533

    

    ...And suddenly, Liari felt like a jerk... YEAH, MAYBE Tanya shouldn't just go around calling people "beautiful" like that... And MAYBE she was a little bold for manners... But she meant well... Even the flustered, aggravated majin could see that. Instantly, a pang of regret flashed through her chest as Tanya revealed what her intentions were: Just a good time of fighting and eating. Maybe getting to know each other better later! ...In essence, she was just being a saiyan and just being friendly on top of that... and Liari just smacked her good intentions aside.

    "...Wait." Liari beckoned, reaching a hand out to the girl in a gesture to stay. "...I'm sorry, I just... I wasn't ready for you." Liari smiled awkwardly, shifting from foot-to-foot. "...Nobody ever called me... 'that' before... And I just met you so... I really wasn't ready. I'm... I'm sorry." Liari would then move to approach Tanya, taking her in with clearer eyes. She really was a model of saiyan beauty by Liari's standards. She was no wall-flower, with hardly a hint of softness about her, but Tanya was built for both form and function, anyone with eyes and SENSE could see that. ...She wondered if she and Moire knew each other... Somehow, she imagined these two would get along.

    "Let me reintroduce myself, huh? My name is Majin Liari... And its nice to meet you. I mean that." She offered her hand to Tanya. Whether or not she shook it, Liari would smile warmly, her silver eyes flicking to a very tender pink. "I AM interested." Liari assured, hopping back a step and dropping into a battle stance! "...Lets fight, then, yeah? I'll lower my power so that we are both equal. That way, its a test of skill and not just power! Then, afterwards, I'll treat you to a meal for my rudeness. How does that sound?" She couldn't imagine a saiyan, ANY SAIYAN, turning that offer down! Dinner AND a show, heck, Liari herself would've been crazy if she rebuffed such an offer! ...And besides, Tanya didn't strike her as the overly arrogant, hot-headed type. A fight with her will be one to the finish, Liari judged, where they'd have to outwit and out-maneuver each other every step of the way! What fun!

    "So let's do this." Liari encouraged, even going as far as to lightly touch her own cheek with her finger. "I'll even let you take the first swing! Right here, Tanya. Let's fight!"
__________________________________________________-
WC: 414
TWC: 1947

    "...I guess because nobody really looked at me that way... except..." Liari trailed off, her mind immediately flicking to Moire. Although it was never spoken overtly, Liari and Moire acknowledged each other's beauty in more ways than just visually. They knew so much... LOVED so much about each other... How they feel about one another, how they feel, how they... "know" one another. It was all quiet, unspoken, relayed through the smiles they give each other, the time they spend together, the warmth that flows from their hearts whenever they hold each other's hands or touch the other's face. It was subtle... gentle, even, as if the majin need not bother with the verbal expression of it all. ACTUALLY HEARING IT, though... That was something else entirely. 

    Liari couldn't help but blush once more, but she wasn't as debilitated this time. Heck, she even managed to meet eyes with Tanya this time. Although her heart still pounded in her ears and her blood rushed through her veins like cold water, Liari... was starting to hold her ground against the mighty compliment. Maybe... Maybe she was learning to accept that part of herself... that there was actually something GOOD about her. The nightmares accusing her... The things she did with those voices screaming in her head, the cruelty of Janemba as he forced her to work on HIS terms rather than hers... And Babadi... All of these things have plagued the majin's self-worth over and over... Perhaps today, she was starting to learn that there was something others admired in her, that she wasn't just some terrible monster. 

    "Well, believe it or not, I know your language better than some." Liari smiled, somewhat dryly. How little Tanya knew to what extent. The hotblooded drive of the saiyans had been her hotblooded drive. The hunger for battle had been HER hunger compounding that which she already possessed! Merely the suggestion of a fight was enough to get her going before.

    ...And she had to admit... It stuck around long after those bodies were purged from her system. Eager to begin, Tanya threw herself at Liari, swinging her leg around in a roundhouse kick towards her head! Seeing it coming from a MILE away, Liari brought up her arm to deflect the kick, Tanya's shin crashing into it sharply... but manageably. Reacting fast, the taller majin would reach out to grab hold of Tanya's leg near the ankle before SWINGING her up into the air! Shooting up after her, the majin would SWING her knee up to SLAM into Tanya's chest before swinging a fist around to CLOCK into her cheek!

WC: 438
TWC: 2385

    Poor Tanya. For all her wit and confidence, she could defend herself little from Liari's onslaught. With a sharp toss into the air, a knee to the stomach, and a punch to the jaw, it seemed as if the young Saiyan was on the ropes! Honestly, Liari was expecting more than to just... ragdoll this poor girl... You know, maybe getting a punch or two for her trouble! Indeed, it seemed as if Tanya was just sitting there and taking those hits, doing little, if anything, to fight back against her! 

    ...That was, until she smirked.

    "What's that look about?" Liari questioned, a curious grin of her own starting to grow. "I don't see how getting knocked around would be funny... for you." It was odd indeed... Then a thought occurred to her: Tanya wouldn't be one of... THOSE people, would she...? The kind that actually... LIKED pain? The majin's face scrunched up in concern at the idea. It... would make sense in a manipulative-kind-of-way for Tanya to act this way towards her, pretend to be all nice and stuff, get her all buttered up... just to walk her into something like this! Not only would that have been gross but-

    OH! It just seemed like Tanya was holding back a bit! As the young saiyan's power began to EXPLODE, Liari felt an odd mixture of both relief and excitement flood her nerves... then SHOCK as Tanya's aura and hair... FLASHED GOLD! The majin's jaw DROPPED as a cold flood of anxiousness and recognition rushed up her spine, the majin jerking back involuntarily as the woman completed her transformation in a dazzling explosion of ki! It... wasn't quite what she remembered when it came to what that Saiyan had done, but it was close enough. Her hair, while black, glistened gold with the brilliant shades of her new aura, her eyes whited out as white energy enveloped them. Her form appeared slightly bulkier, enhanced by the sudden explosion of power... though the growth hardly matched the overflowing energy signature coming from the young girl!

    "That... That's not right..." Liari uttered, her voice edged with anger! "...You... you can't DO that..." But... here it was. Standing before her now... as a GOLDEN Saiyan, a... SUPER saiyan... Liari's mind flicked back to the three that she knew of: Quash, the Saiyan General, her PLAYTHING... or at least had been. She hadn't seen his face since her last stay in hell... Was he not one of the ones that could come back? Callion, her old master. She had heard from her daughter that the old Saiyan had been looking for people to help defend Earth! Now he had disappeared... Where could he have run off to?

    ...And then the faceless one: The one that killed her. Liari still felt the spot where her head had been torn from her neck, where his fist had smashed into her jaw. Liari rubbed a hand over her throat anxiously as Tanya stared her down... She... She wasn't as strong as that FREAK at least, even if her energy felt like his... She couldn't do that to her... probably. 

    "...It doesn't matter." Liari grumbled, hiding her insecurity behind a mask of gruff anger! "...You're not going to win with THAT level of power-" BAM! Liari's face INTENTED BACK into her skull as Tanya had INSTANTLY closed the distance between them and SHOVED her fist DEEP into her head! 

    ...Ouch. For as impressive as Liari's strength was and how IMPRESSIVE her healing factor could be... It would probably never not hurt to get socked by a Super Saiyan. Once Tanya retracted her fist, Liari's face would POP back into place, her expression one of disorientation... then pain... then ANGER as her anxiousness over Tanya's new transformation ENFLAMED the hot-blooded retaliation bubbling up from the strike! Liari would then fire back with her OWN punch, aiming to crack Tanya across the face before raising her hands over her head, interlocking them together, then SWINGING them down in a sledge-hammer strike on the Half-Super Saiyan's head in an effort to send her crashing towards the ground!

WC: 686
TWC: 3071

"Tch." Liari grunted irritably, watching as the Saiyan JERKED to a stop just before hitting the ground. ...Those last couple of hits didn't even put a dent in her. What was she even MADE of? Liari raised her fists... then paused as she held one up to her face, catching it moving- no, shaking! She stared at it, her silver eyes flashing RED with anger as she CURLED it into a fist, squeezing the FEAR arching up her tendons and forcing it still! That golden hair Tanya had... Just looking at it made her neck itch along the spot where it had been torn from her body. He could still feel her forehead wet and cold with anxious sweat, her belly squirming in anticipation. Ghosts of images danced across her vision, of seeing her own great-ape body as her head was flung from her shoulders, feeling as her life ebbed away, completely out of her control...

    ...Helpless... 

    "Stop smiling..." Liari rumbled under her breath, locking eyes with Tanya. Look at her, grinning like this was FUNNY or something, like she was PROUD of herself. She really didn't understand WHO she was fighting, did she!? She didn't KNOW what kind of POWER Liari had at her command!? ...Well, she would. She WOULD. By the time this fight was over, Liari was going to BEAT the blonde out of that Saiyan and take some of her own agency back... At the very least, she could feel that strength again, that self-assuredness... before that faceless Saiyan took it all away. 

   Tanya RUSHED straight at Liari like a bull charging its fighter! Ah, how Liari remembered the days how she fought like this... Perhaps a little more impishly, but painfully direct as well. With expert timing, Liari swiveled to the side to avoid Tanya's gut-punch, the fist flying just wide of its target as Liari drifted back. The Saiyan was quick to keep the attack going, however, turning on a dime to swing her leg around in a roundhouse meant to take Liari's head off!

    ...Take her head of...

    A flash of anger FLARED through the majin as her face contorted with anger, Liari raising her forearm up between the leg and her face, blocking the attack! She would then reach out to grab Tanya's extended leg before she could withdraw it, the majin SWINGING her up over her head like a mallet before THROWING her towards the ground! If she managed to send Tanya flying, a the air would suddenly begin to shimmer right above the ground she was headed towards before OPENING UP into a portal before her eyes! If Tanya couldn't stop herself, she would fall through, appearing ABOVE the majin at falling-speed, Liari BACKFLIPPING to send her boot CRASHING up into Tanya's jaw as she fell! If this connected, Liari would suddenly EXTEND her arm out like a snake, her fist SHOOTING up to follow up that kick-to-the-jaw... with a PUNCH-TO-THE-JAW!

    "Having FUN yet, 'Super Saiyan?'" Liari asked, her voice dripping with sarcastic venom. "I hope so... because this is where things get a WHOLE lot harder for you!" 

    Liari would lower herself to the ground and clench her fists. With a roar, her aura EXPLODED all around her, LEVELING the ground a meter surrounding the majin! Wind twirled in helixes around Liari, twisting up into the sky as rocks and sand, lose grass and dirt unraveled around her in a chaotic dance! Tanya might feel Liari's power SHOOT past her own... if she had that ability, the majin grinning with anticipation as the carnal, self-satisfying impulse of revenge tainted her intentions. 

    "Come here, 'Super Saiyan...'" Liari beckoned, the slightest edge of madness on her tongue. "Show me what makes you so special."


WC: 623
TWC: 3694