Scene #1933: Gardening Tips

Owner	Pose
Genghis Rex	Rex has instructed Vegeta to meet him on one of the Citadel's high balconies. As the Saiyan Prince approaches the massive conglomeration of Metal and stone, he watches huge defensive turrets swing to bear on him. Heavily armored dinosaur soldiers point to him and bark instructions at one another. However, no shots are fired - the Tyranno defenders remain on guard, but Vegeta appears ... safe for now. He finds the Tyranno King right where he said he'd be, watching the skies for any sign of his guest. A large table of food is laid out, garnished with local meats, cheeses, fruits, wines, and a freshly roasted Boarcroc as it's centerpiece. It would appear that Rex is very familiar with the Saiyan appetite.
Vegeta	"I suppose I'm here to discuss Kakarot." Vegeta says as he lands on the balcony, immediately grabbing a seat at the table. He's in his usual vest armor, and starts to grab pieces of meat and fruit, one in each hand. "So far you've had the most agreeable response. Though Serori has convinced me to at least give her a chance to work things out, she understands that Kakarot will die regardless.
Genghis Rex	Genghis Rex arches an eyebrow at Vegeta, "Getting straight to the point are we? Well, then ..." He saws off a steak from the flank of the BoarCroc and plops it on his plate, then pours himself a glass of wine. "Care for some? It was bottled on the day I hatched ... one of the perks of being royalty, I suppose. Your birthday becomes a special occasion for everyone ... even those that hate you ..."
Vegeta	"I understand what you mean. The perks of royalty tend to vanish when you're surrounded by people of your own kind who constantly disrespect and disregard it. Serori is perhaps one of the few true Saiyans left, and the men I've taught. The rest, well, the rest will have to learn just what the point in Saiyan royalty is..." Vegeta sounds almost exhausted at the whole situation he's dealing with, which leads him to reach over to cut some of the BoarCroc. "But yes, I'll have some."
Genghis Rex	Rex pours Vegeta a glass and hands it to him, then swirls his own drink and takes a sip before sitting down, staring at Vegeta with his predator's glare, "How long have we been in the confederacy? About the same amount of time, about 3 years, yes ... excluding any extended absences and the like." Rex tears off a piece of the steak with a claw and pops it into his mouth, "We've not crossed paths much, but I have watched you from afar. Aside from your obvious disadvantage of being a mammal, what I've seen from you is someone I could identify with. A young warrior king, denied his rightful place, struggling to claim his birthright. We are not so different, are we?"
Vegeta	"No, I would say we aren't very different at all. Given the dinosaurs on Earth, I never would have imagined that they could evolve into something like this." Vegeta motions to their surroundings, then takes a careful sip of wine. He doesn't gobble this down like the rest of his food. Saiyan royal etiquette is clearly a complex thing, a mixture of gobbling and carefully savoring wine. Beer, on the other hand, one can chug that stuff! "But yes, around the same time, even though I was given the opportunity to re-negotiate after my absence."
Genghis Rex	"Then you understand why this >Kakarot<, this >wretch< that has taken up residence on my doorstep, will die. It does not matter to me what agreements Dracula and Serori think they can make with him." Rex downs his wine then crushes the glass in his palm, "He has threatened my dominion. His slight will NOT be forgiven ... and let's be fair. You have as much reason to kill him as I do. Perhaps more so." Rex allows the shards of glass to fall from his hand, then grabs up the rest of the steak and downs it in a single bite, "Tell me how to kill this man. You know him, or at least a version of him. You are free to do it yourself, but if the opportunity presents itself ... well, knowledge is power."
Vegeta	"I accept that this is not my Kakarot, and that my reasons for wanting to kill him are largely a matter of principle. I -also- accept that he's committed a true and palpable crime against you, and further insulted you with his entitled treachery at that meeting." Vegeta sits back in the chair with his glass cupped in his hand, holding the entire steak up with a fork to take bites out of it. "The problem with this Kakarot is that I don't know the extent of his power. I haven't gotten a chance to truly push him. But I do know that he didn't flinch when I first powered up to my final form, he barely seemed -surprised- by it. Though since I've gotten my tail back, I should be more powerful now..." He considers this, thinking on the question quite hard. "The only true way to defeat any Saiyan is to be more powerful than they are. Know that a single powerful Saiyan can destroy an entire civilization, let alone an army. If anything, taking your army into battle with him would be a calculated sacrifice of your men. It could help, but there would be guaranteed deaths among them. But Kakarot has weaknesses, this one has some of the ones I've seen in even the one I knew..."
Genghis Rex	Rex steeples his claws, "Where is this one called Goku? I understand he is the father of ... what was his name ... umm Gohan? You would think that this Goku person would want a piece of an alternate version of himself, no? As I understand it, your species lives to fight. What better fight could you have other than your own evil twin, so to speak?" the Tyrannosaur waves his claw, "Bah, speculation and conjecture. It does us no good. Tell me of these weaknesses ..."
Vegeta	"Goku is dead in my world, killed by Frieza. I expect he'll return one day, as destiny sees fit to have him humiliate me in every world. But yes, he is the father of Gohan, a half-breed, part human. I'm unsure if this Kakarot cares anything about Gohan." Vegeta sits his wine down and starts to chomp into a particularly large fruit that he holds with both hands. "Their shared weakness that I've confirmed with my own two eyes? Complete and utter arrogance. Not in the way that I've displayed such, but he gives this impression that he doesn't even take fights seriously, even against people who are clearly more powerful than him, or his equal. He -enjoys- it. But more than that, this Kakarot seems to share weaknesses I've had to work hard to overcome. Namely, the fact that he believes that he won't be defeated. He offers theopportunity, but he doesn't truly -believe- it. He could easily be goaded by a mere challenge."
Genghis Rex	Genghis Rex taps his chin in thought, "Goaded into a fight isn't enough ... my species is powerful, extremely so, but we lack certain abilities that yours has innately. Our technology will only get us so far against him. Those of us that fly require wings or ships, our beam weapons are guns that can be destroyed, even our largest Dino-volved race barely comes up to the chest of your beastial forms." "A fair fight would be nothing for the sort, it would be an execution ... How to use such arrogance against someone who wields so much raw power ..."
Vegeta	"We can fly and control ki, but these things have limitations. Energy can run out. You're smart, I'm sure you could even find a way to -drain- energy. I'd hardly consider it dishonorable to fight within your means. But if you truly want to defeat him, you should support me in doing so. I have no true idea which one of us is more powerful, but as much as I hate to admit it, we are more than likely at -least- equals." Vegeta sits his fruit down for a moment, crossing his arms as he stares up at the large dinosaur man. "Or, perhaps, we could -both- defeat him... What if you had my power, and were simply trained to use it? Under most circumstances, your body might not even be able to handle that. But perhaps some sort of technology you could wear, that my power could be transferred into..."
Genghis Rex	Rex cocks his head at Vegeta, taking on the aspect of a confused chicken, he appears to be truly surprised by the offer "You would agree to such a union? THat seems uncharacteristically generous of you, Vegeta. Especially when you seemed so hell bent on killing him yourself just a clawful of days ago ... "
Vegeta	"I'm a reasonable man. A -prince-, no, a -king-, which I intend to announce quite soon. I want him to die, and I -want- to fight and kill him by my name. However, there is a large part of me that isn't sure that you could defeat him. Having my power is not the same as having my skill. I can't teach you to fight like me over night, but you know how to fight like you. Being as powerful as me would at least give you a -chance- to kill him." Vegeta smiles, picking up the half of his fruit he has left to take a bite. "If he truly can't defeat you, then what use do I have in fighting him? It would mean that he was crushed under the mere weight of my power in the hands of someone who barely has any experience with it. Perhaps this is the difficult to understand logic of a Saiyan, but if you kill him before me, I would hardly feel deprived. And, as I mentioned earlier, I mostly want to kill him on principle, he's not -my- Kakarot, I've had time to come to terms with this."
Genghis Rex	Rex nods, the wheels in his brain turning, "There would be ... consequences of joining your power with mine. BUT, there is another way ..." He plucks up a bottle from the table and drinks heavily from it, wine pouring down the corner of his mouth, "Yes! YES! Banner! Do you remember a few seasons ago, we STOLE Bruce Banner'spower. We took the Hulk from him ... we took his power. Now, while the crystal that powered the weapon we used was destroyed and only really drew in gamma radiation ... we could build something new, something similar that could TAKE KI ENERGY!" Rex wipes his mouth and turns his head to Vegeta, his look expectant, "We would, however, need ... a guinea pig ..."
Vegeta	"It could take ki energy and safely apply it to your own body? Or are you suggesting that you attempt to take Kakarot's power from him permanently?" Vegeta asks as he considers the potential implications of such a device. The gears are truly turning in his head as well as he begins to cut that BoarCroc again. "There is a possibility that such a device could be overloaded. But to truly test it, well... Raditz is the brother of Kakarot, and he's gained a power close to mine. He seems like a suitable candidate for such a thing, especially considering his constant and blatant disrespect."
Genghis Rex	Genghis Rex considers, "I have opponents within the political labyrinth that serves Reptilon. Some are polite enough to wave their daggers in my face, while most, are not. To join my body, in blood or spirit, to that of an offworlder, a mammal at that, regardless of whether it were temporary or not, would be used against me to take away all that I have fought for ... even if it saves my world." "My bloodline would be considered tainted an impure and end with me, most likely watching the stars from the end of a pike until the buzzards plucked my eyes and stripped the flesh from my skull." "As far as taking Kakarot's power. That's exactly what I am suggesting. Make him mortal, like the rest of us. Bring him to his knees and make him grovel for his life. Watch his arrogance run down his leg and pool underneath him. And as far as guinea pigs go ... well, you're here now and you just offered to lend your strength to me ..."
Vegeta	"I believe you're misunderstanding what exactly I'm offering you." Vegeta holds his hand up, forming a small perfect sphere of blue energy. "Just as easily as I can create this ball of energy, I can transfer it into a machine. We wouldn't be -physically- joined. You could use the technology you just explained, and build something for yourself, powered by the energy I transfer. I would go to my ultimate form, and if your machine is stable enough to handle it, I would transfer all of my energy into it. Eventually I would gain it back, but for you, it would be enough for one good fight with Kakarot. A chance to kill him." He holds the leg of some large piece of meat in his hand while he tries to think of a way to further explain. "Our energy... it makes us stronger, physically stronger, faster, and yes, able to fire powerful beams and explosive blasts, among other things. If you have such an armor, then who could accuse you of having tainted blood? If you haven't yet created such a thing, then perhaps we should steal Iron Man's and have your people study a way to combine the energy absorbing device with a new one, built for you."
Genghis Rex	Genghis Rex slumps down in his chair, lost in thought, "It >IS< a valid plan. Whether it's possible or not will have to be determined. I will discuss this with Plesio and see what he thinks, I'm not certain we have the time we need to implement such a plan but ... if it works, it would give us a fighting chance." Rex levels his gaze at Vegeta, "You're very good at this. I am impressed ..."
Vegeta	"As Saiyan royalty, I've received far more education than any of the other Saiyans that you know of. They often underestimate me, because they don't truly -know- what this education entails. But I was taught to innovate and critically think. This is why I've been able to achieve the levels that I have, including the level of control over my abilities that I've gained." Vegeta sits his leg of meat down, then raises both hands, concentrating as everything on the table raises, even the wine, without spilling or tilting. Then he very carefully lowers it back down. "I have extremely fine control. So if this is going to work, then it's going to work with me. Just tell me what you need after you've discussed it. I can take care of Iron Man's armor if you want to study it."
Genghis Rex	Genghis Rex says, "Stark will not part with his armor easily. One of his reactors lies at the heart of my battle fortress. We will study that as well and see what we can learn from it. If we need Stark's help, I will ask him. He and I have an understanding. He might be willing to help if it's for the sake of this planet." Rex doesn't sound aprticularly confident of this fact "Regardless, we may be bale to build somehitng wihtout him, our technological prowess is considerable and, in some cases, more advanced than his." "Give me time to consider this and confer with my staff. I thank you for your time, King Vegeta. It has been an honor.""
Genghis Rex	"You re welcome to the remainder of the food, if you wish. You have my blessing to go where you wish on Reptilon, except inside the Tyranno Citadel. That, unfortunately, would be considered a slight to my people that would not go unchallenged." "Also, should you wish to see Lavadome, check with Allo first ... just for safety's sake."
Vegeta	"Yes, this has been rather productive. But know this. I will give you every opportunity, piece of advice, and bit of training that I can manage. But if you fail at killing him, -I- will kill him." Vegeta stands, finishing his wine as he continues to have to look up at the other. "It is on my honor as a king that I am doing this. He wronged and killed your people. He only slaughtered my family in an alternate world. As a king, it is my duty to offer the justice most suited to the crimes of those I rule. And while he may consider himself the King of Saiyans, -I- am his king. And it is my decree that you be offered a fair chance to kill him yourself, which would be a suitable punishment. But only a chance. So make it count."
Genghis Rex	Genghis Rex nods, "WIn or lose, they will speak my name till the end of time. This battle will be the stuff of legend."