Karin Tower
"T-T-Three years?!" Both Gokū and Caulifla stammered out in pure disbelief.
"It took Muten Rōshi Three years to nab that flask from you?!" Gokū reiterated, making sure he heard the story correctly.
"Correct," Karin nodded.
"We don't have that kind of time!" Caulifla cried out, absolutely flabbergasted at what this cat was suggesting. "It took us 8 months of training and our tails growing back to get on his level during the Tenka'ichi Budokai!"
"Well, you'll never know if you don't try, right?" Karin retorted, shaking the flask from his cane in a taunting manner. Much to his delight, the goading caught the attention of both children.
"Oh, it's on now!" Caulifla smirked, accepting the challenge laid out before the ancient cat.
The two proceeded to bolt around the gazebo and surround the hermit master, leaving several after-images in their wake in an attempt to daze him. Karin picked one and proceeded to jump for it, only for the illusion to fade as he phased through it, and the duo diving down from behind with eager grins on both of their faces…
...Only for Karin to deftly leap out of the way, sending them careening to the floor, and the two of them hitting their heads rather painfully.
"Nice try kiddos!" Karin laughed. "I know how to work around the good ol Zanzoken technique and throw it back at ya!" 'These two are pretty good. To leave behind so many after-images at once is quite the feat I haven't seen before… This could be interesting…'
The duo panted heavily as they pushed themselves to their feat, Gokū speaking up first. "Why am I… out of breath already?"
"Altitude, lad," Karin answered with a chuckle. "Since we're so high up, the air is thinner than what you're used to."
The blue cat gestured his cane towards his pupils. "And when the air is thin, wasting movement in your attacks will cost you stamina, and by extension, leave you gasping for air like you are now."
"Soo… we have to hold back, conserve our stamina?" Caulifla theorized.
"Not quite," Karin corrected. "The aim is to conserve stamina, but not hold back either. What you should try to accomplish is not to overshoot."
The duo folded their arms and pondered the words fed to them. "That said, your climb up here has also helped condition your lungs for a thinner atmosphere. We just need to add to that conditioning is all."
Karin then outstretched a paw, and in his grip was a satchel - the very same one that held Gokū's four star Dragon Ball - much to his surprise and dismay.
"H-How did you get that?!" Gokū stammered out in pure surprise. "Give it back!"
"Okay, but you'll have to go get it,~" Karin responded, a cheeky tone in his voice that irritated both children greatly. What he did next spurred them into a mad frenzy, as he tossed the bag over the side of the gazebo and down to the world below. Gokū and Caulifla quickly jumped down with a vault, climbing down the tower with newfound speed to retrieve the nonchalantly discarded Dragon Ball.
"What in the hell was he thinking?!" Gokū cried out as he vaulted down the tower.
"Does he not realize what'll happen if the Red Ribbon gets a hold of it?!" Caulifla snarled as she raced down the tower.
It was not long before the base of the tower was in sight, and the two landed with a heavy thud, looking for the fallen bag. Much to Gokū's delight, it had fallen just a few meters from the base of the tower, and the relic was still inside. The boy's delight fell to infuriation as he looked back up the tower.
"When I get my hands on that cat, I'm gonna yank his whiskers off!" Gokū growled as he began climbing up the tower at unparalleled speed. Well, unparalleled except by Caulifla, who was just as livid as her friend. By the time they reached the top, they were once again out of breath and staring daggers at the blue cat, who seemed unfazed.
"Welcome back, you two,~" Karin greeted, a hint of playfulness in his voice.
"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?!" Caulifla shouted in frustration. "Just throwing the Dragon Ball off the edge like that?!"
"What, you don't appreciate the training I just put you through?" Karin retorted, his expression unfazed, leaving the two confused as to what he meant. "It took you a whole day to get up here the first time, but you two managed to pull off a round trip within three hours. If that's not progress, I don't know what is."
The two stood in silence as they looked at their hands with odd wonder. They did just climb up and down the tower in a fraction of the time it took in the first place, and it was indeed a round trip. All the while, Karin was pondering his new students, his blank face betraying his inner thoughts. 'Those two are truly something else. Muten Rōshi took a month to make a similar round trip after I tossed one of his magazines overboard. I wonder if it has anything to do with their heritage? Questions for later I suppose…'
"Alright, back to business," Karin called out, pointing once again to the ornate flask hanging from his cane. "Try to nab the Chōshinsui from me."
"Alright!" Both children agreed with renewed vigor, as they worked to claim the Chōshinsui flask from Karin. The monkey children kept at it until the sun began to set over the horizon. The two were once again lying on their backs, burning from exhaustion.
"Alright, we'll call it there for today," Karin announced to his ragged students. "Let's get some shut-eye, shall we?"
With that, the blue cat slumped along one of the columns of the gazebo and shortly after, snored very loudly, all while the duo began to drift off, fatigue beginning to grip them, but Gokū sat up, wanting to try one more thing. This did not go unnoticed by Caulifla, as she noticed her friend tip-toeing over to where Karin was adrift in slumber. The boy slowly reached for the flask that was dangling from the hermit master's cane, but hesitated for a moment.
"Nah," Gokū whispered, as he retracted his hands from the flask. "That would be too easy. I want to work for this."
"Couldn't agree more," Another whisper assaulted the boy's ears, who turned to see it was Caulifla.
"Caulifla?" Gokū exclaimed in a hushed manner. "Were you gonna try and nab it while he's sleeping too?"
"Well, I was considering it, but decided against it. Besides…" Caulifla admitted before hesitating and looking away from the boy, a faint blush forming on her cheeks. "I… just wanted to say, thank you, for saving my life yesterday."
A similar blush formed on Gokū's face as he nervously scratched the back of his head. "Oh, uh, it was nothing, really," Gokū chuckled nervously. "If anything, I should be thanking you for reviving me."
The two stood in awkward silence for a minute trying to avoid eye contact with one another, before Gokū quietly cleared his throat to break the silence. "Uh, w-well, we should get some sleep."
"Y-Yeah," Caulifla hastily nodded before the two of them fell back to their slumber.
Unbeknownst to them both, Karin was very much awake and witnessed the entire ordeal. 'N'aww, those two are adorable,' Karin mused within his mind. 'And they're both quite the honest warriors as well. A welcome step in the right direction compared to their previous mentor.'
Two days later
Over the course of two days, Gokū and Caulifla had improved considerably. Their pauses for respite had become shorter and further between as their endurance was built up to accommodate the thin atmosphere. All the while Karin was beginning to struggle to keep the decorated flask out of their grips. The two had come close on a few occasions, but never succeeded. Karin also tossed the Dragon Ball two more times over the edge, and the two, while certainly not thrilled with how their master was treating the relic, climbed down and back up each time, their newfound endurance shaving the round trip down to a mere half hour in the end.
"Alright!" Gokū exclaimed, taking a fortified stance, Caulifla following suit. "We're getting that flask today!"
"Good luck with that," Karin nodded, no edge of sarcasm or mockery present in his voice.
The two launched forward in an attempt to grab either the cane, the flask, or both, from their feline mentor. While the two were certainly struggling to take the items in question, Karin was now on the back foot doing all he could to keep the flask out of their reach. Suddenly Caulifla vanished from the cat's field of view while Gokū deviously smirked and began to tickle the furball's belly, causing him to lose focus as well as grip on his cane. As soon as Karin realized his grip was slacking, Gokū threw up a kick to the pointed end of his cane, knocking it clean out of his hands, where Caulifla jumped in and grabbed the flask, landing gracefully and holding it up in triumph
"YEAH!" Caulifla cheered in celebration. "We got it!"
"Alright!" Gokū cheered in response. "And we beat Rōshi's record with less than 3 years to spare!"
"Hold your horses!" Karin interrupted, breaking the duo from their cheering. "You may have gotten the flask, but only one of you can have it."
The two immediately began to frown.
"I'm just kidding!" Karin laughed, causing the two to comically fall backwards in exasperation, but they couldn't help but smile. The hermit master then pulled out two clay cups and held them out. "You two are surprisingly coordinated, and I think you've earned the right to drink up."
Caulifla beamed with a big smile as she uncorked the flask and poured out the water into the two cups. She and Gokū took a cup and toasted to their victory, chugging their portions of water down completely, exhaling with a satisfied sigh. Their satisfaction soon warped to confusion as they looked at themselves, wondering if something was supposed to happen.
"Huh," Gokū hummed curiously as he inspected himself. "I don't feel any different."
"That's because you two drank simple rainwater," Karin answered, causing the two to sputter with surprise.
"R-Rainwater?!" Caulifla stammered with surprise and frustration. "So it was a myth after all?!"
"You duped us?!" Gokū exclaimed, now visibly irritated. "We spent three days chasing a well-decorated flask of rainwater?!"
"Oh come now!" Karin retorted, smiling the entire time. "I never said the Chōshinsui alone was going to increase your strength several fold!"
The duo's collective temper began to cool somewhat as Karin now had their attention.
"Believe it or not, all that chasing me around and round trips down and up my tower was training in disguise! The promise of magic water was just a key to get you going is all. I daresay your individual prowess could defeat this Tao Pai Pai character with ease now."
At first the duo were surprised. This whole time, chasing a blue cat was actually training in disguise. Then they felt excitement. Their strength had increased by several fold thanks to the hermit master's discrete training. They then felt a welling eagerness to test their newfound strength on the monster that assailed them three days ago.
"I'm sorry I doubted you, sir," Caulifla apologized, followed by Gokū.
"Think nothing of it, lass," Karin waved off. "Go down to the world below and put your new skill to the test."
The two gave a small bow as they began to go downstairs to begin their descent, until Gokū paused for a moment.
"Oh!" Gokū exclaimed. "I almost forgot!"
"Oh yeah!" Caulifla nodded. "We still gotta do that!"
"Hm?" Karin hummed, now confused.
Before Karin could peek into their minds to find out what they were thinking, Gokū rummaged through his gi and pulled out his capsule case, pulling out a capsule and tossing it to the ground before it exploded with its trademark 'POI' revealing a table with several delightfully seasoned fillets of grilled marlin, sided with bowls of fried rice and dumplings, and a platter of sticky rice cakes sprinkled with shaved coconut for dessert.
"We didn't feel right staying here without some form of payment," Gokū clarified. "And we figured you might want a change of pace in terms of food from what I can guess is a diet mostly of those senzu beans."
Karin stared at the table of food with a blank expression, but his expression was soon betrayed by a small dribble of saliva rolling down his chin, and a slight purr rumbling from his throat. The blue cat took a small sniff, and the small dribble soon developed into an open-mouthed waterfall of culinary lust. Karin quickly snapped himself out of his food-centric reverie and turned to his two pupils and cleared his throat.
"Well, truth be told, I wasn't expecting payment of any kind," Karin elaborated, now feeling a tad bashful for the unsightly display he had just made. "I train folks mostly based on their merit as a person."
"Well, consider it a 'thank you' gift for training us!" Caulifla retorted, giving a warm grin and thumbs up.
"You two are truly something else," Karin commented, smiling the whole time. "Good luck down there. Oh, and say hello to Muten Rōshi for me, if you get the chance."
The two bowed and proceeded to make their way down the tower. Once Karin was left alone in his gazebo, he turned to the table of food with newfound hunger and proceeded to dine like he had not done in centuries.
Karin Sanctuary
Upa peeked out from behind a tree and looked around to see if there was any sign of Tao. Fortunately he still has not come back. With a tomahawk in one hand, he surveyed the skies to make sure that Tao wasn't coming in riding a stone column or perhaps a tree. No signs of his approach were apparent, so he stepped out and approached the massive totem pole, awaiting Gokū and Caulifla's return.
"They've been up there for three days now…" Upa muttered to himself, looking up at the totem's zenith. "I wonder if they made it to the top?"
Upa was snapped from his musings when a very loud and very close crash came from a few meters behind him. The boy turned around, and much to his horror, it was the same man who had murdered his father, his hands folded behind his back, and his unorthodox method of travel skewering the soil next to him.
"Where are the graves of those brats?" Tao demanded, his gaze as cold as ever. "I appear to be missing a Dragon ball, and I know one of those two had it. Now tell me where they are."
Upa responded by throwing his tomahawk at Tao's head, only for the master assassin to casually tilt his head to the side, leaving the axe flying for hundreds of meters. Tao responded to this attack by lightly kicking at the boy's feet, upsetting his balance. Before he could fall, the assassin grabbed Upa's throat in a vice and held him aloft, much to the boy's futile struggle.
"Perhaps you're hard of hearing," Tao spat, his tone more dangerous than before. "Where is the Dragon Ball?"
"I'll… Never tell you!" Upa defiantly responded, still struggling with the older man's grip.
"You just don't want to make this easy, do you? If you won't tell me, then my contractor's newly acquired radar will. Have it your way then."
With that, Tao threw Upa towards the totem with ease, and well beyond terminal velocity. It wouldn't be long before-
"KINTO'UN!"
Upa was cushioned by a fluffy yellow cloud piloted by two older children. The same children Tao thought he had killed, only to find out they were alive and well, much to the assassin's chagrin.
"You guys made it!" Upa cried out, now seeing his two friends once again. "You visited the hermit master and drank the Chōshinsui?!"
"Yeah, and this is why you should've stayed hidden," Caulifla lightly chastised Upa, who simply recoiled a notch, but was too happy to see them again.
"You stay up here, alright?" Gokū ordered as he cracked his knuckles. "We'll take this guy down."
Upa obediently nodded as the two jumped down from Kinto'un, staring daggers at their assailant, who had a dumbstruck look to find his targets not only alive, but alive and well.
"If you're after the Dragon Ball, you're not getting it," Gokū stated flatly.
"You brats managed to survive my attack?" Tao questioned, his cold expression returning to his face. "How did you two do it? No one survives Tao Pai Pai's Dodonpa!"
"That's none of your business," Caulifla answered, her glare unwavering.
"Well, whatever the case, you two must simply be lucky," Tao said, a sinister smirk warping on his face. "However, luck will not save you twice. You should've stayed in hiding, or kept playing dead. Now I plan to make sure you stay dead. Hand over the Dragon Ball, and I will report your status as such."
"Bargaining with your targets? How unprofessional of you,~" Caulifla retorted in a mocking tone. She was not sorry in the slightest. "Besides, we won't be tossed around by the likes of you again."
"I planned to kill you regardless," Tao retorted, his smirk faded.
"I call first dibs," Gokū requested, smacking one fist into his other palm. "I want payback for what he tried to do."
"All yours, Gokū," Caulifla nodded as she stepped a meter back.
"Ha! You truly are a fool, you realize this?" Tao laughed at the duo's bravado. "I could end just one of you in three seconds!"
Gokū simply smirked at this and wrapped his tail comfortably around his waist, settling himself into a fortified, yet comfortable stance. Tao was the first to move, charging forth with the same speed he demonstrated three days ago, but Gokū was able to follow his movements this time, and feinted backwards, surprising the assassin. The surprise was compounded when Gokū planted his hands on the ground and vaulted into a kick directly into Tao's abdomen, sending him flying. The spiky-haired boy followed his motion to land on his feet, and sprung upwards to meet the assassin in the air and kick him directly in the solar plexus to send him flying, and crashing against the tower, which held strong.
Gokū landed with grace while Tao fell to the ground, landing on his knee.
"What happened to 'killing me in three seconds?'" Gokū jeered, much to the assassin's chagrin.
"W-What just happened?!" Tao muttered in pure disbelief. "You never got the jump on me like this three days ago!"
"That's because we weren't hiding this whole time," Gokū retorted, his smirk ever present. "We were training up top that totem you crashed into."
"Training?!" Tao gawked at the boy's choice of words. "No amount of training in the span of three days would make you supersede me!"
"I guess you've never met Master Karin, then?" Gokū inquired, his smirk deepening ever so slightly.
"K-Karin?!" Tao stammered. "As in the Hermit Master?!" Tao began to sweat, but quickly recomposed himself. "So, the legends are true, eh? Figures that we would meet here in Karin Sanctuary. Folly of me to believe those legends as nothing but myth. A folly I will not let be known elsewhere."
Gokū's smirk faded as he stood up. He turned to face his friend. "Hey Caulifla!" he called out. "You wanna take a turn?"
"I don't see why not,~" Caulifla nodded, followed by a roll of her neck with a satisfying crack, also wrapping her tail around her waist. "Let's see what you got, donkey tail."
"D-Donkey tail…?!" Tao muttered with indignation and seething frustration as his eye began to twitch. This girl was clearly referring to his choice in hairstyle - a braided ponytail with a bow tying the end. "You dare insult the great Tao Pai Pai?! Prodigy advocate of the Crane School and the world's greatest assassin?!"
Gokū leaped back as Caulifla stepped forward. "Quit spitting out speeches and make your move!" Caulifla demanded, now settling into a fortified stance. "No one's gonna give you a standing ovation for just yapping about!"
"Ooooohohohoho, you just love pushing my buttons, don't you?" Tao chuckled mirthlessly, his frustration slightly getting the better of him, but quickly breathed to calm himself. "Very well. Time to play seriously."
"Your move," Caulifla offered, a smirk forming on her face.
Tao complied and launched himself forward to deliver a swift kick to the girl's head, which was adeptly blocked by her forearm. Every attack that Tao delivered, barring the odd left hook, was parried, and most of Caulifla's attacks hit home, frustrating the assassin even further. A successful axe kick to Caulifla's back sent her flying to the ground, but she was quick to rebound her momentum and bolt towards the totem pole, bouncing off that to deliver an axe kick of her own to send Tao into the dirt, his legs sticking up like a disgruntled weed.
The disgraced assassin forced himself out of the earth and stared at his target with unbridled fury. Seeing that his gi robes had been ruined once again, he tore it off with one swift motion, leaving his pants behind and revealing a decently built upper torso.
"You... miserable ingrate!" Tao shouted, all former composure he possessed now evaporated. "There's no way in Hell you could've gained this much strength!"
"Why don't we test how far we've come then?" Caulifla suggested, grinning at Tao's misery. "How about you fire that dodo pie of yours?~"
"IT'S CALLED THE DODONPA!" Tao snapped, his shrill voice reaching a near fever pitch. The assassin soon caught on and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Your efforts to rile me up won't work anymore. But if you're so insistent on seeing it again, I will oblige. In fact..."
The assassin devilishly grinned as he outstretched both of his arms, pointing his index fingers each at Caulifla and Gokū. "How about I try for two at once?!" The older man cried out. "DODONPA!"
True to his word, two instances of the technique emitted from his index fingers, one aimed at Caulifla, and the other heading for Gokū. The two simply smirked and held up their hands to take the blast.
"Bring it!" The two cried out in defiance.
The assassin's respective blasts impacted the duo's hands, pushing the two children back for a few meters until the beams died down. Tao's devilish grin faded to a look of pure disbelief as Gokū was gingerly blowing on his hands to cool them, and Caulifla was comically dancing about, shaking her hands to cool off.
"Hoo, Hot! That friggin stings!" Caulifla squeaked out as she began to blow on her hands to cool the burn.
"It… can't be…" Tao muttered, almost refusing to believe what just happened, his body now trembling. "To actively block my Dodonpa technique…"
"Third times the charm?~" Gokū suggested with a smirk.
"That does it!" Tao shouted as he pulled a capsule from his pocket. He gave it a click and toss, and from the following explosion came a barbed scimitar which the assassin promptly caught, staring at his two targets with murderous rage. "I will turn the two of you into monkey sashimi!"
The duo's respective smirks faded as they jumped away to avoid the mad killer's surprisingly sharp blade. Caulifla ducked behind a tree, only for Tao to cut through it cleanly, and also shave a few bits of hair off her head as well, which got her angry.
"Hey!" Caulifla snapped. "You're lucky that'll grow back!"
Tao immediately turned his focus to Caulifla, completely ignoring Gokū. As the man swung rapidly, a large red pole slammed itself upon the assassin's wrist with a sickening crack, causing him to drop the sword and reel back in agony. The Nyoibō retracted to its usual length and Gokū tossed it aside, bringing his fists to the forefront. Caulifla proceeded to kick the scimitar away from the man's reach, also squaring up to face down their foe.
"If you're done playing with knives, how about we settle this bare-handed?" Gokū asked.
"Settle this?! Bare-handed?!" Tao repeated, his frustration mounting yet again. "You plan to beat me bare-handed?!"
"Yup," Gokū flatly nodded. "In fact, since I broke your wrist, to keep things fair, I'll fight with one hand behind my back."
"Same here," Caulifla agreed as she placed one hand behind hers.
"Is it any wonder why I hate children?" Tao sighed. "They always want to play games!"
"And we're winning,~" Caulifla cheekily added.
Tao immediately unleashed a flurry of punches with his good fist, and a number of kicks that sent the two staggering backwards. The assassin kicked the two upwards and then proceeded to jump up and stomp them down to the ground. Once they landed, he landed both of his knees onto their sternums, and the two lay there motionless. Upa watched the entire ordeal atop Kinto'un and was mortified, while Tao stood up laughing.
"You fools!" Tao laughed almost maniacally. "This is what you get for trying to go toe-to-toe with the world's greatest assassin: Tao Pai Pa-"
"Oh shut up," Gokū and Caulifla shouted with exasperation as they sat up, Gokū smiled while nursing a bruise on his arm and Caulifla wiping a stream of blood from the corner of her mouth.
"You know, I'm glad that hurt," Gokū commented, his eyes now locked on his foe. "I was afraid this was gonna be too easy."
"Sucks that he has to constantly pat himself on the back as the 'world's greatest assassin,'" Caulifla added, adding air quotes to Tao's title. "Keep it up and you might slip a disc."
"Slip a disc?" Gokū repeated, somewhat confused about Caulifla's choice of words.
"I heard someone complain about it once." Caulifla elaborated. "I think it has to do with their spine going all weird?"
"WILL YOU TWO BE QUIET FOR TWO SECONDS?!" Tao shouted, his voice almost threatening to break.
"Look who's talking," Caulifla jeered with a grin.
"Besides, we know your moves and how to counter 'em now," Gokū added, a similar grin forming on his face.
The duo charged forward and landed a simultaneous kick to Tao's gut. Gokū leaped up and delivered a double hand chop to his neck while Caulifla came in from behind and kicked the assassin in the side of the head, knocking a tooth out and sending him on his backside.
'This… This is impossible…!' Tao despaired mentally. 'I can barely see their movements, and they're pummeling me to paste! Damn it! I have one option left. It's humiliating, and may tarnish my reputation, but what choice do I have?!'
"Forgive me!" Tao cried out, proning to his good hand and knees. "I'm sorry for what I've done! I swear I'll never commit evil deeds ever again!"
Gokū and Caulifla were left truly puzzled at what Tao was doing, his face warped in a most uncomfortable smile that was trying to look apologetic. Caulifla was the first to pick up on this.
"Could you have a lousier poker face?" Caulifla commented, keeping her stance firm. "I've met some terrible liars, but you take the cake."
"Gonna have to agree with her on this one," Gokū nodded. "You're trying to get us to lower our guard and then pull a fast one."
"I-uh," Tao stammered, now realizing his feint had failed. He had always been upfront with his intentions and never saw a need to lie, so his ability to lie was indeed terrible in hindsight. "Think fast!"
Tao swiftly drew from his pocket a cylindrical grenade with the pin ripped clean off and threw it at the duo. Before either child could register the explosive, Tao leaped up, laughing the entire way. "Farewell fools!"
"Grenade!" The duo cried out as Tao continued to fly upwards well away from the group. Gokū swiftly grabbed his Nyoibō and Caulifla kicked the fragmentation explosive towards the boy, who extended the red pole and swung to hit the grenade upward right towards Tao.
"Oh…" Tao muttered as the explosive came eye level with him. "Oh fu-"
BOOOOOOOM!
When the dust cleared, Tao was gone.
"You guys did it!" Upa cheered out from Kinto'un, which gingerly descended to allow its passenger to disembark. "You actually did it!"
"Yeah we did!" Gokū cheered with satisfied jubilation. "That guy got what was coming to him, and it blew up in his face!"
"You could say we, knocked it out of the park?~" Caulifla gleefully joked with a goofy grin, but was met with a blank expression from Upa and an expression from Gokū that just said 'Really?' "B-Because you swung your Nyoibō like a bat, and the grenade was the baseball, and… Nevermind."
"That one was a bit forced," Gokū muttered.
"Well, excuse me!" Caulifla snapped back. "All my wit was used up during our fight with Tao!"
Gokū chuckled at that remark. "Maybe not all of it," He muttered, stifling a chuckle, which began to elicit a stifled giggle from Caulifla.
"Here's the bag Tao stole from you!" Upa gleefully offered the bag that the assassin had taken from the duo, which Caulifla took with a warm smile.
Gokū pulled out the dragon radar and gave it a click. "Hm, There's 3 here, and 3 gathered in this zone over here. Probably where those Red Ribbon goons are hoarding 'em."
"So, that's 6 you can count for?" Caulifla said as she looked at the device. "Where's the 7th?"
"Huh," Gokū hummed as he adjusted the dial on the device. "It's not on the map?"
"What could cause that?" Upa spoke up, now curious about the device Gokū was carrying.
"I dunno, but we'll find it after we storm their base," Gokū suggested, tucking the radar away.
"B-But after that fight with Tao Pai Pai?!"
"I'm guessing he was the best they could throw at us," Caulifla mused aloud. "And as we are now, a bunch of machine gun-wielding mooks shouldn't be any trouble."
"Even less trouble, since we've encountered them several times before," Gokū added, hopping aboard Kinto'un, followed by Caulifla. "We'll be back once we gather all seven, alright?"
Upa nodded and steeled himself. "Be careful out there!"
"Right," Gokū nodded before he turned to his friend. "You wanna do the honors?"
"Sure," Caulifla nodded with a smile as she looked down at the yellow puffy cloud she was on. "Alright, Kinto'un! To the southwest!"
With that, Kinto'un gladly answered the call and took off to the skies to aid its masters in their hunt for the remaining 4 Dragon Balls, three of which are being held at the headquarters of the Red Ribbon Army.
A/N: Okay, this was a fun one to write. I enjoyed having Caulifla taunt Tao to no end, though now I worry I may have overdone it there. Up to the reader to decide on that I suppose. Surprisingly more fun to write than the fight with Purple back in Muscle Tower, probably because I incorporated tag-team tactics. Also, Karin drooling over a plate of food just sounded too good to pass up. Is Tao Pai Pai truly dead though? (Of course not. I still want him to come back as a cyborg like in canon :P ) Next up! Red Ribbon HQ and its dismemberment! Hope this was a fun read. Leave a review and let me know your thoughts. :)