Pzzt!

Quash’s head sharply turned in the direction he felt the energy from. “Huh?” He exclaimed, seeing an energy laser come out of seemingly nowhere! He stopped in his tracks, just barely being able to react. Knowing he couldn’t dodge it completely, he thought he could at least change the adjust where it would land. The attack dug through his clothes and split the top of his shoulder open, rather than hitting it dead on. A stinging pain could be get as blood began to pour out from the shallow cut and flow down his arm, it was various obvious from his facial expression that he was a little irritated. ‘A surprise attack? Seriously?’ He thought, clutching the wound with his opposite hand. At least he managed to maintain to use of his shoulder. Entering a battle handicapped would’ve sucked. A lot.

Looking back at the direction the attack came from, he began to get serious. That energy he felt was hers, there was no doubt about it. He hadn’t noticed her presence until the attack happened. Had she learned to conceal her energy? It looked like he wasn’t the only one who had gotten busy training. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Quash flew toward the energy’s source as fast as he could. Once he got within walking distance, he’d lower himself to the ground. With his newfound resolve, it was time to prove his worth to himself.

“Come on out, Liari. Last I recall, you weren’t very fond of cowards. Isn’t that right?” He said. Hopefully he’d be able to tease her enough to get her to come out. He didn’t want to have to play a game of cat and mouse. If she came out and approached him, she might notice that the air around him was completely different now. There was more fear and uncertainty. There would only be confidence and determination.

WC: 327

Quash stopped in his tracks when he heard her. He remained alert and ready to move at a moment's notice once he heard the laughter emanate from all directions. Playing games was typical for someone like her, so he couldn't say he was surprised. That being said, playing games meant that she was full of surprises. With all her wacky abilities at her disposal, he wouldn't be surprised if she revealed some new ones too. Every encounter was something else, and he never knew what exactly to expect. With his Ki Sense, he knew Liari was here... but where?

It looked like Liari might be able to read minds, because as soon as he began to wonder there she was. He looked up at the cliff she stood on top of and looked her right in the eyes, unafraid.

Except, there was something else.

One by one, the Liari clones appeared to his left, right, and rear. Quash rolled his eyes when she displayed ANOTHER power she didn't have before, just as he expected. They were laughing arrogantly at him as if the battle had already been decided. The clones were able to flawlessly continue each other's sentences. It appeared that despite being divided, they all seemed to share the same mind. He'd bring his hands up and crack his knuckles. He'd make sure to teach her (them?) a lesson in humility.

As they approached him simultaneously, he slowly began to take his fighting stance. He wouldn't use his golden power immediately, instead wanting to warm himself up first. Besides, he wanted to get a feel for her new abilities for kicking things up to the extremes. As Liari reminded him of the warning she gave him, he'd grin slightly.

"Sorry, I must've been asleep for that."

He looked at each clone raising their hand towards him, powering up an energy attack as they were prepared to fire at him. Right when Quash was about to make his move, it looked like he was just a hair's breadth too late. Liari had already made hers, collapsing the ground underneath him. His eyes widened as he saw what was underneath it. The wild movement of those tentacles made his skin crawl. This must've been her real plan this whole time! How long had that been there?

There wasn't a moment to lose. Quash used his Savoy Sword, spinning around like a top to slice the tentacles that tried to grab him. He'd propel himself upward and into the air, continuing the motion in an attempt to make the clones hesitate to pounce on him during his ascent. Should he reach the air, he'd stop spinning and look down on the clones. A drop of sweat trickled down the side of his face. That was... too close.

He'd grab his weapon from his hip and unravel it, fully extending the Three-Sectioned-Staff. He held it in the middle sections and the end closest to him. The third one, furthest from his body, would dangle in front of him. This was the part that Quash used for his offensive maneuvers. He thought it'd be fitting to defeat Liari using the same weapon as the person she killed.

"Enough already. Come at me. All of you!"

WC: 541
TWC: 1207

Quash didn’t let himself get riled up by her taunts. If he lost himself to his emotions and started attacking recklessly, it was game over for sure. There was one that seemed to be the leader of the small group, as she was currently organizing the others. He assumed that one had to be real Liari. It looked like she had accepted his challenge too, flinging each of her clones toward him one by one. Each of them launched a different attack at him and, while the old Quash probably would’ve run for the hills, this time was going to be different. It was time to meet these attacks head on! He propelled himself forward, aiming to get through the clones so he could get to the real Liari!

He ducked to avoid the spear like move, letting the first clone soar right over him as he continued his pursuit. The second one appeared to be already planning for this, aiming for a clothesline! Quash refused to falter, performing a single spin to build up momentum to carry it into a powerful attack! A shockwave radiated out from the two fighters as the attacks met one another! An audible grunt left the saiyans lips as the end of his staff met the arm of the second clone. He had used the Lightning Lash Technique, something that he had picked up over his short training arc. Unfortunately, despite his effort, he ended up coming up short. His own attack couldn’t quite match hers, and so what remained of the overpowering force sent him into a stationary backwards roll. He was left vulnerable to the remaining attacks, his now dizzied state leaving him wide open.

“Agh!” He cried out as the third clone managed to clamp down on his feet. Looking up and seeing the fourth clone shooting her tentacles at him, Quash knew he had to think of something quick before he got trapped in her hold. Gritting his teeth to fight through the pain, he’d make an attempt to do a flip to get the third clone to be above him so she’d act as a human, er,
majin shield. If this worked, he’d turn his attention to the real Liari, who had made it more than obvious that she was currently charging an attack that she was storing a lot of energy into.

Not wanting to let her get the attack off, he sprang into action. He flew at breakneck speeds toward the blue majin. Keeping in mind that the other clones were likely still around and might be on his tail, he’d use the afterimage technique to make himself a harder target to hit! Before, he was only able to create one image. Now, he could create way more than that! Hiding in them as he approached her, what appeared to be five Quash’s were rushing the Majin in roughly a straight line. Once he got close enough, he’d launch a flying knee at her stomach from her far right.

WC: 511
TWC: 1718

Quash almost threw up at the sight of the clone dissolving into some weird nasty goo substance before plummeting to the ground below to join its sisters. That was definitely the most disturbing thing he's seen in a while. On the bright side, at least he managed to stop Liari's energy attack and the clones she made before they caused any more trouble. He was getting sick of her avoiding him directly, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen any time again. Well, for now, anyway. He didn't know the nature of the blob that was currently sitting beneath them. Right now, it seemed like might just be safe enough to assume that it was just the two of them. Just the way he liked it.

Liari didn't seem to take losing her clones very well at all, because she was all fired up and ready for some payback! Quash put up his Beetroot Barrier as she struck, an energy sphere that surrounded his body to act like a shield. It barely held up against a simple jab from someone who was as powerful as she was. It cracked as it was struck, which was a testament to how much she was currently holding back. If she had been going all out, it probably wouldn't have held up at all.

It certainly didn't against her follow-up move. The overhead smash tore clean through Quash's defense like it was nothing, striking him on the head so hard that he managed to let go of his weapon. The impact sent him crashing into the ground below, forming a crater where he was now laying. His weapon joined him on the ground, landing right next to him. It took a moment for him to recover, adjusting into a sitting position and breathing heavily as he looked up at Liari, who had landed in front of him. That afterimage technique took more out of him than he thought it would, but that's what happens when you try to outmaneuver someone stronger than you. The injuries he was sustaining weren't helping either. Oddly enough, this was getting him going. His heartbeat was beginning to quicken, and his adrenaline was starting to kick in. This was getting interesting, and he was looking forward to how the fight was going to progress.

He had forgotten about how tall she now was, but it was more than clear now from the angle he was at. She had merged with the weird blob from earlier, showing that he was right about the clones not being an issue anymore. She continued to talk down to him, literally, about how many times he screwed up. He was kind of annoyed about how she wouldn't shut up, they had a fight to get back to!

"Argh... All you do is talk and talk and talk, huh? I haven't even gotten fully warmed up yet. You must've been slacking while I've been away."

His white aura sprouted to life around him once again.

"You have no idea of the power I now wield."

Suddenly, almost without warning, Quash launched his entire body at Liari's torso shoulder first! He leaned in as he attempted to spear her, trying to push her back as far as he could muster! Once he found that he couldn't go any further, he'd throw out a side kick to her chest to try and knock her away!

WC: 571
TWC: 2289

Quash had a severe case of deja vu as his tackle meant absolutely nothing to her. She had hardly moved at all, just like last time. His kick hadn't exactly done much better either, having no effect on her. He wasn't particularly bothered by it this time around, figuring that she had gotten way stronger. He was still testing his newfound might against her before he REALLY started kicking things up. Once he was able to reset into his fighting position, he was already ready for her to unleash another move. Except, she ended up putting a brief pause on their fight to ask him a question.

He was visibly caught off guard by what she said, not realizing that she was already aware of the golden power. Having discovered something that matched that description merely a few days ago, he could've sworn that it was impossible for Liari to know about it. From what he heard from her, it might be something all saiyans possessed. Was it? Quash hadn't exactly been too familiar with it himself. Back on Vegeta, with how things turned out due to the USD's influence, saiyan culture had been so suppressed that if there WAS such a thing, he doubt he would've heard about it.

Quash didn't exactly want to give away his secret weapon, but he'd be lying if he wasn't curious to know what she knew about it. His gaze followed her as she walked past him so as to not let his guard down. With how much of a wildcard she was, he knew the battle could ramp back up at any second.

"Hmph. And why would someone like you want to ask about something like that?"

His non-answer to her asking if he possessed such power might've been nothing but confirmation to her, but at least he was able to sort of leave it up in the air. He'd turn his body towards her and keep his eye on her as he went to pick up his weapon but holding by its ends in the same way one might hold batons. To a seasoned user, it'd be obvious that he was preparing to engage in additional close combat.

WC: 367
TWC: 2654

"Well, I guess you're just gonna have to- HEY!"

Out of nowhere, Liari had just swiper no swiped Quash's weapon away from him! His aura evaporated as he was completely surprised by what just happened. It looked like she was about to use his own weapon against... or maybe not? He stared blankly at her as she went from an arrogant demon monster to a frustrated teacher! He didn't exactly know what was going on at first but, upon remembering that there was some Callion in her, things started to make sense. 'This couldn't have happened while Jorey and I were getting our asses handed to us? Good grief.' He thought, wondering if this meant anything about how Callion saw him.

Still, Quash thought he was doing pretty well with his Staff training. What was he doing wrong?

There was no time to think about that, as Liari suddenly got ahold of herself. After tossing away the weapon, she had fixated her attention back on him. She urged him to transform or else he wouldn't stand a chance. She had even begun showing off her shapeshifting powers in an attempt to scare him. Quash, acting proud, backed up from her and got simply got in his stance again. He had the slightest of grins on his face.

His aura reappeared, the dirt around him rising alongside his aura.

"To be honest, should I have something like that, I'm not so sure I need it yet. You've done a piss poor job of warming me up."

Suddenly, he dug both of his fingers into the ground.

"HRRRRNNGGGHH!"

He lifted a GIANT platform of rock and dirt and tossed it at Liari. While a giant rock wouldn't do any damage to someone as powerful as Liari, this maneuver wasn't meant to be an attack.



Quash jumped into the air and performed a kick into the giant rock, splitting it into large chunks! The dust and chunks would surround her as they scattered around their immediate vicinity. The saiyan's energy would seemingly disappear as he would use the rubble as cover to maneuver to Liari's rear.

If strikes weren't enough to damage her, he'd simply used her body against her!

Using the Turnip Toss technique, Quash would attempt to grab her arm from behind, aiming to judo-throw her over his shoulder and send her flying away from him!

WC: 395
TWC: 3049