A few months had passed since Baba's tournament, and the fighters were getting into the stride of their training. Master Roshi was slowly having the group train away from him. They thought it was odd and chalked it up to him grieving; however, he was actually trying to train in private. Gohan's final stand against the Red Ribbon Army reminded him that there is still some fighting he could do. He also had to limit his training to avoid overexerting his body.
Yamcha and Krillin were beginning to hone their skills and were starting to master the Kamehameha. Chi Chi, in the meantime, was starting to search for other ways to train, slowly pulling away from the training with the Turtle School. She appreciated the training and was glad to have her friends around here, but she felt that she needed to trek out on her own for a while. She was slowly limiting her time with the group, cutting down from training with them every day, to a few days a week, to only one. The other days she was either visiting Baba, or traveling helping out small villages with their problems. The villagers were beginning to talk, and stories started to spread of the Ox-Princess, as some had recognized her as the Ox-King's daughter.
The villagers' warmth and kindness were reminding her of the warmth her father and Gohan had shown her. She decided to visit villages which she had previously helped to help with small tasks such as: moving heavy furniture, carrying barrels of flour to the bakers, barrels of water to help the farmers with their crops, and other similar jobs. During these rendezvous, she would politely try to gather information about the whereabouts of the Mercenary Tao. Most villagers didn't know who she was talking about, but those that did had no knowledge. Those who had heard the legend of Tao had also warned her not to ask too many questions, lest she wished to be found.
On this particular day, Chi Chi was helping the villagers of a town pull radishes from their fields when a commotion started up. A family had entered the village in a rush telling a story about a beast that attacked the town they lived in. They packed everything up and hightailed it out of there, but they were worried that the creature was on a warpath! The father who was speaking was nervous and stated that he had been awake for two days straight. The townspeople brought the family into a building and fed them. Chi Chi questioned them about what happened, and agreed to go out and help.
She took off calling for Nimbus to speed her there. She arrived rather quickly, and was surprised to see that the town was still standing. Some buildings had been destroyed, but overall the town looked like they survived the attack. She asked the people what happened to the beast, and they explained that they paid two martial artists to help them with the creature. They described the pair as a tall and short duo, and one was bald. Chi Chi immediately thought it to be Yamcha and Krillin. How dare they charge these villagers all that money! She thought to herself. She thanked the villagers for the information and offered to help them rebuild. They thanked her but politely declined, stating that it was not much damage and that they could manage. She bowed and left to find her friends.
She arrived at Roshi's place and saw Roshi awkwardly standing in the water.
"Wasn't expecting to see you here!" he said sheepishly as he tried to catch his breath.
"I'm looking for Yamcha and Krillin." She said looking around the island for them.
"Well they aren't here, I haven't seen them since yesterday, what's on your mind?" he states.
"These villagers said that they charged them money to stop some beast that was attacking the town. I want to know why they didn't just save the town? Why the sudden need to charge people?" She said as she hopped back up on Nimbus.
"That doesn't sound like the boys...I taught them better than that….what did the beast look like?" Roshi said, having a sneaking suspicion he knew who it was.
"They said it was some boar with wings and fangs!" She said, making flutter motions and fangs with her arms.
Roshi whispered, "InoShikaCho…" as he thought back to his old friend.
"Ina what?" Chi Chi asked as Roshi shuffled into his house. He emerged with a photo album and began flipping through the pages.
"InaShinkaCho, an old friend of mine…" He started as he showed her a picture of two men and a small animal that slightly resembled the townsfolk's description.
"Which one is you?" Chi chi asked. Roshi pointed at the younger version of himself.
"That's me, and the other man there is Master Shen. He too was an old friend of mine. We trained under the Master Mutaito…"
"What happened to them?" Chi Chi asked curiously.
"InaShinkaCho grew up and got more and more aggressive. Shen must have abandoned him….."
"I've never heard you talk about this Master Shen before, I thought Gohan was your only friend?" She asked, surprised to hear that Roshi had other friends.
"Shen and I lost contact after our battle with the Evil King Piccolo, I haven't seen or talked to Shen in over 50 years….maybe longer…." Chi Chi thought about this and about how she was slowly pulling away from her friends.
"But you guys were friends! Friends need to stay in touch more often than 50 years!" She said projecting her own fears about how she had been treating her friends recently.
"Shen changed…" Roshi started mystified by a past he didn't often think about. "Our fight with King Piccolo changed something in him…..we nearly lost everything and Shen...he took on that burden of loss more than he should have. He became colder….." Roshi snapped back to what happened with Tao. Could it be? Roshi said as he noted the similarities between Tao and Shen. That's right! Roshi thought as he remembered that Shen had a brother. He was so lost in thought that he did not notice Chi Chi had left. He sighed and took a deep breath, as he focused back on his training.
Chi Chi continued her search for Yamcha and Krillin, occasionally glancing at the watch Bulma had recently made her. She replayed the conversation she just had with Roshi. 50 years! I'm not going to let that happen to us, no way! Chi Chi thought to herself as she flew over to one of their training spots. Two or three years, I can see five years is even understandable, but 50! She shuddered at the thought.
She finally found them training in a desert oasis spot near Yamcha's hideout. They were engaged in a Kamehameha struggle, and Yamcha was beginning to push Krillin back. Yamcha was the first to spot Chi Chi and the slight distraction allowed Krillin to win the beam struggle.
"Haha! And you even had home field advantage!" Krillin said triumphantly.
"Just what do you two think you're doing?!" Chi Chi exclaimed, startling Krillin.
"Oh hey Chi Chi…" He said holding his chest. "We didn't realize you wanted to join us today, or else we would have let you know…"
"Where is the money?!" She said in an angry tone. Krillin looked to Yamcha to see if he knew what she was talking about. Yamcha shrugged.
"What money?" Krillin asked, confused. Chi Chi walked up to him and grabbed him by his shirt.
"The money you stole from the villagers to stop that beast!" She said as she poking his head with her pointer finger.
"We've been here the whole time! We would never steal from villagers!" Krillin said shocked that Chi Chi thought them capable of that. She pushed him back and crossed her arms.
"I don't believe you." she said crossing her arms, starting to realize she may have jumped the gun.
Yamcha piped up, "You know we would never do that. If a town was in trouble we would help them for free, but if there's a beast attacking villages, we should go with you to make sure it really has been stopped."
"Wait what made you think it was us in the first place?" Krillin asked. Chi Chi blushed, as she shared the description the villagers gave her. "So you heard a tall guy and a really short guy, and one of them was bald, and thought of us?" Krillin asked annoyed. "What if it was the tall guy that was bald? Did you bother to ask which of them was bald?" Krillin asked, irritated. Chi Chi looked at her feet, as the thought never crossed her mind. Krillin shook his head as Yamcha laughed.
"Anyways, if you need our help, we'll gladly join you…"
"No that's fine!" Chi Chi said jumping on Nimbus and flying off, too embarrassed to admit she had been somewhat impulsive. She looked at her watch and sighed. Great, that was a waste of an hour! She thought. She had started to feel protective of the villages, and she may have let that feeling cloud her judgment. She felt even more embarrassed when she realized she never returned to the village she was picking radishes from, to tell them that the problem was resolved. She rushed back to let them know and help with any other tasks they might have.
When she arrived she was horrified to see that the village had been wrecked. The townspeople were all gathered in the center of the town. She pushed her way through and heard a voice urging the crowd to calm down.
"It's okay people, we managed to stop the beast, before he could cause any more damage! Thankfully we were close by! I would have hate to have arrived a moment too late!" the voice said. Chi Chi pushed forward and saw a tall bald man with his foot on the beast. She felt a pang of embarrassment and made a mental note that she would have to apologize to Krillin. That feeling was quickly replaced by anger, as the bald man's little friend, took off his hat and began to collect money from the crowd.
"Any money you guys can spare would be greatly appreciated, we are struggling martial artists training for a tournament and, well…." Before he could finish his pleas for money Chi Chi stepped up.
"HEY!" she yelled out in anger. "That's enough!" the town gasped surprised to see her acting this way. They were used to her being nice and sweet to all of them, so the sudden change threw them all off.
"I was at the other town, and they said you guys stopped the beast, so how is that he made his way here? Huh?" She said, placing her hands on her hips. The townspeople began to whisper to each other. The family that escaped the other town started to listen in, curious to see how the two men responded.
"I'm sorry you must be mistaken, we were not at any other village, this is the first one we've come across in weeks." The tall bald man stated with confidence. "If this beast attacked another village, then whoever supposedly stopped him, clearly did not possess our fighting prowess. Thankfully we put an end to this beast….see" He said as he poked InaShinkaCho with a stick. The creature did not stir. "Plus what makes you so certain it was us? For all we know you could have had something to do with this."
The town began to pipe up, saying that Chi Chi would never do that to them. That she was helpful and a savior to their people. The bald man raised his hands in defense and apologized.
"I'm sorry, I was just defending myself." He bowed. "I humbly apologize, but I was feeling a little defensive and I felt my honor was being brought into question." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "My name is Tien and this is my friend Chiatzou. We saw this beast attacking the town and felt compelled to help. As I said earlier, this is the first village we have seen in a while, so my social skills may not be the best, so please accept my apology. If I may ask you, though, what description did the people give you that made you certain it was us?" Tien said calmly.
Chi Chi was beginning to wonder if she was doing the same thing she did with Krillin. After all, she had no proof these guys were the same guys that the other villagers were talking about, however they were asking for money so she was suspicious of them. She sighed and gave them the description.
Tien rubbed his chin and nodded. "I see. Then I do not blame you, the coincidence is there, so I too would have thought the same thing." He then smiled and turned to the crowd. "You folks are lucky to have a hero such as this protecting your best interest. We thank you for your hospitality, and will take the body of the beast with us! If you so choose, we would gladly accept any form of payment, however it is not necessary, if we may however we do ask for one small meal as we do not have any money of our own, and have yet to eat today." The townspeople handed over food, while others gave them money. Chi Chi tried to protest, but the townsfolk insisted. The pair carried the beast off and said their good-byes to the townsfolk.
Chi Chi was still suspicious of them, so she decided to join them.
"Wait I'll help you! I'm a martial artist myself and would love to spar with you!" she said this loud enough for the town to hear. Tien and Chiatzou agreed and she walked away with them.
As they walked, Chiatzou kept looking at Tien. Tien gave him an interesting look that made Chi Chi, all the more suspicious.
"So how about we spar after we eat? We are really starving, and we'd like a little privacy to enjoy our meal."
"Fine but first we dispose of the beast, if it's dead let's bury it." Chi Chi said as she walked to a spot on the side of the road. She started digging a hole and motioned for them to join her. They did, reluctantly, and they put InaShinkaCho in the hole, and filled it up quickly.
"Can we eat now?" Tien said, a bit of edge in his voice.
"Sure but I'll join you, we just buried a monster together, I think we can eat together." Chi Chi said, a little more calm this time. Tien grumbled under his breath something she couldn't make out, but she crossed her legs and sat down. She took out the capsule where she packed her lunch and started to eat. The three sat in silence as Chiatzou looked around nervously. Tien looked at him and nodded. Chiatzou stood up and excused himself to the bathroom. Before Chi Chi could say anything Tien started a conversation with her.
"So you said that you were a martial artist? Who is your teacher?" Tien asked
"Well my dad taught me first, and then one of his friends and his master started teaching me…." her voice trailed off as she thought about Gohan's killer. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "How about you?"
"Who's your father? Who was his master? I ask because I have come across alot of 'marital artist' who are nothing more than fakes. People posing as fighters, because they thought it was cool or interesting. A real fighter follows the teachings of their school, and is loyal. We were the symbol of the crane school on our clothes, yet I see no allegiance to any school or following, so excuse me if I doubt your claims. Now tell me, who is your teacher?" Tien said coldly.
This sudden line of questioning threw Chi Chi off. This guy was weird and it made her all the more suspicious.
"Well my master and my dad know better than to use martial arts to take money. You meanie!" She stuck her tongue out at him as she said meanie. "My father is the ox-king, if you must know!" She said as she crossed her arms in defiance. Tien's eyes opened wide.
"The Ox-King? And you said his master is now your master?" He stood up all of a sudden. "You lie!" Chi Chi was surprised. This guy is all kinds of weird! She thought to herself.
"Yeah, but I want to learn things on my own, search for…." Tien laughed at this.
"I see….you had me there for a second. Even if you were the Ox-King's daughter, I don't see how Master Roshi would train someone like you." Tien laughed and packed up his things. "I will not spar with a liar such as yourself." Chiatzou arrived at that moment, and Tien motioned for them to go. Chi Chi clenched her fist.
"Coward!" She said as he walked away. She took a deep breath and cut him off. Her speed threw him off for a second. She got into a fighting stance and prepared for a battle.
"You're a stubborn brat. Fine, but I'm not responsible if you get hurt." He said as he handed Chiatzou his backpack. Tien got into his stance and got ready to fight.
Tien charged at her with intense speed and power, but she managed to avoid the attack. She watched him for a while, dodging his attacks and getting a feel for his moves. She feined some attacks, and faked frustration. She could tell that he was underestimating her because she was a girl, and she was ready to make him pay for that. His attacks were powerful and fast, so she had to time her attack just right. One mistake and he'd win the match. She slipped his fists, and managed to get behind him. She managed to land a barrage of punches, which made himlurch forward. She capitalized putting, jumping on his back and kicking off of his face. She landed and charged in with a strong gut punch. He doubled over in pain, but instead of gripping his stomach, he landed an ax hammer fist over Chi Chi's head, knocking her to the ground. He kicked her up but she managed to slide away from the attack. He snickered.
"Guess you aren't all talk, but I still don't believe your Roshi's student." He said wryly. She ignored him and launched a small ki blast to kick dirt into his face. She jumped into the air and crossed her arms, trying to replicate Nam's attack. As she came barreling down Tien smiled, which startled her. He served her up into the air as if she was a volleyball. Before she knew it, he was up in the air next to her about to spike her to the ground. There was nothing she could do. She came crashing down with tremendous force; her body felt like it was on fire. Tien smirked and turned his back to her. She struggled to stand.
"I'm not finished baldie!" She said through strained teeth. "Ka….me…." Tien laughed and turned around. What he saw made his blood run cold. She was charging up a hot blue ball of energy. "..ha...me…"
"No way!" he proclaimed in shock. He gathered himself; he could stop this no problem.
"...HA!" She yelled as she let out a powerful Kamehameha wave. Tien braced for impact, smiling. The blast started to push him back and he felt his muscles giving in. He sighed and powered up, shocked that this little girl had this much power. He flung the blast in the air and fell to one knee. Chi Chi faltered, but dug in for one more blast. Before she could charge it up, Chiatzou froze her with his telekinetic paralysis.
"Chiaotzu, that's enough!" Tien said forcefully. Chiatzou nodded and let Chi Chi go. She fell to floor, and the pair turned to walk away.
"Wait!" She yelled as she dragged her way over to them. "Let me train with you!" Tien thought about it for a moment, and nearly considered it. He sighed and smirked again.
"We don't train with little girls who can't keep up." He said and walked away. Just then InaShinkaCho ran out and followed them. I knew it! Chi Chi thought as she struggled to get back up. She called for Nimbus and pressed a button on her watch, which sent her coordinates to Bulma.
She yawned and hopped onto Nimbus. "Hey, Nimbus, follow those two quietly for me ok? Try not to let them see us…" She said as she laid down and the cloud to take a nap. Elsewhere a silent pinging went off at Capsule Corp.
Bulma looked up from her work to look for the incessant pinging that was ringing through the garage.
"What is it?!" She yelled to no one in particular. Andre Eight and Oolong looked at each other and shrugged. Bulma rummaged through her stuff trying to find the source of the noise. Oolong walked over to the workbench by the door and grabbed the watch that was flickering on and off.
"Ya looking for this damn thing?!" He asked, frantically trying to turn it off. Bulma walked over and grabbed the watch.
"I almost forgot about these watches! I made two, one for me and one for Chi Chi." She said as she noticed a dot on the screen of the watch moving against a map.
"Great!" Oolong said, rolling his eyes. "Why is it going off though?"
"It looks like Chi Chi triggered the GPS in it. I made them because she was talking about going exploring, and I wanted to make sure she didn't get lost." Bulma said, as she started to wonder if she should go out and see what was wrong.
"Doesn't she have that cloud that Roshi gave her?" Oolong stated as he walked over to water one of the plants that Bulma was working on.
"NO! Don't water that!" She yelled as Oolong was about to pour water into one of her projects. "I'm running an experiment, I've told you not to water that plant!"
"You never told me anything about this damn plant! This is the first time I've ever tried watering it!" Oolong huffed as he put the water can down.
"That was me you warned, Ms. Bulma." Andre spoke up blushing. "I remember. Water once a month, so the seeds don't drown." Andre Eight nodded, remembering precisely what Bulma told him.
"Oh sorry Oolong." Bulma said, as she realized it was Andre Eight, she had to stop watering the plant the last time. "Anyways yes she has Flying Nimbus, but this is in case there's any trouble." She said as the dot on the watch started to slow down. She looked over at the robot suit prototype that her dad wanted her to test out. I could test out Dad's new machine, and help Chi Chi! She thought as she climbed into the suit.
After she had built the jet boots and power gloves, her dad became interested in expanding on it. He wanted to create technology to sell to the world army to avoid another Red Ribbon Army fiasco, and decided to create the suit.
It beeped to life and she was happily surprised. It seemed to be working! She walked outside and launched herself into the sky. She tried to turn, but the suit kept rocketing straight up into the air. She frantically tried to gain control, but the suit started to whip around the sky and then stopped. She sighed with relief as she managed to find the emergency parachute. She grumbled to herself as she put the suit back up and told Andre Eight to pass on the quick notes she had to her father. She then grabbed Oolong and headed off to find Chi Chi.
"Why are you dragging me along?" Oolong said as she threw him onto the ship.
"Because I have some more ideas I need to write down," she said as she handed him the watch and the keys to the plane. "I need you to fly us to Chi Chi." Oolong grumbled and got into the drivers seat.
They found Chi Chi unconscious at the foot of a mountain, after the cloud Nimbus flew up at them and led them to her. They brought her into the craft and flew her back to Capsule Corp, where she could eat and explain herself.
"So these two guys are stronger than you or yamcha?" Bulma asked, surprised. Chi Chi nodded and she finished her food. "Even after that training you did on top of that really tall tower with the cat?" Chi Chi nodded again. "So why exactly were you following them?" Bulma asked, trying to process all this information.
"I was following them, because they're stronger than me. They had a sign on their clothes and said they were part of some school….." Chi Chi grabbed a pen and paper and drew the sign from memory.
"Oh I get it! You wanted to see where they trained so you could get as strong as them...right?" Bulma asked as Chi Chi doodled away. She gave a quick thumbs up and finished drawing the symbol she saw.
"Can you ask Master Roshi about it?" Chi Chi asked as she picked up her dishes and walked towards the kitchen.
"You don't have to do that, the robots can take care of it…" Bulma started to say as one of the robo-assistants tried to take Chi Chi's plates from her. Chi Chi let the robot take it and turned back to Bulma.
"So can you ask Roshi for me?" She repeated.
"Yea, but why can't you?" Bulma asked, confused, as Chi Chi started to walk out the door. Chi Chi turned and thanked Bulma as she hopped onto Nimbus. Before she could take off Mai and Shu walked in.
Chi Chi smiled and waved at them, and they smiled and waved back. Bulma looked confused. "Aren't you the two weirdos who were helping that tiny blue guy gather the dragon balls?" She asked, wondering what the hell they were doing there.
"That's emperor pilaf….." Mai said as she handed Bulma a piece of paper. "...and that's why we're here." She turned to Chi Chi, and smiled and waved at her again. "I didn't know where you lived, but I knew you were friends with her too." Mai motioned to Bulma. "Also sorry if any of your friends got hurt by General Blue and the Red Ribbon Army, Pilaf didn't let us leave his side, after he caught us trying to call you. Anyways he's looking for something in the ocean, and is waiting until the Dragon Balls are up and running again to do it. That paper has the coordinates to where we think it might be. We have no idea what it is, but I think I heard him say it was a Rice Cooker of Doom?" Mai shrugged as she looked to Shu for support. He too shrugged. Mai's phone rang, and the pair took off.
"We were never here!" Shu yelled as they hopped onto their motorcycle and drove off in a hurry. Bulma crumpled the paper and threw it in a drawer next to her.
"I'm still confused as to why they showed up here. Also what was all that about the Red Ribbon Army and rice?" Bulma asked Chi Chi.
"Well the Red Ribbon army came to attack us at Roshi's house after we left your party that one day. You remember when Yamcha…"
"Oh yes! Don't remind me!" Bulma said as she sighed and rolled her eyes. "But why warn us about whatever weird plan their boss has?"
"I think they were trying to warn me, not you. Remember that wish I made we all first met?" Chi Chi asked Bulma. Bulma nodded thinking back to that night at Pilaf's castle. "Well I wished that you, Yamcha, Oolong, and those two became my friends forever."
Bulma vaguely remembered that, but she thought she had dreamt it. "Oh….ok….well before you go, you never mentioned why you couldn't tell Roshi about that drawing!" She said suddenly remembering the drawing that she was clutching in her hand. Chi Chi chuckled nervously as she motioned for Nimbus to start flying.
"I'm going to train at that school!" She shouted as she took off laughing.
"Wait, I don't think that's…." Bulma yelled out, running after her, but it was too late. Chi Chi sped off into the sunset. "...I don't think that's a good idea." Bulma mumbled as she shuffled back into her garage. She decided that she would go over to Master Roshi's first thing in the morning. She sighed and shook her head. Hopefully, that girl doesn't get herself into too much trouble! She thought to herself as she looked at the symbol.
The next morning she went to Kame House to ask Roshi about the symbol, and found him training alone on the beach. When she landed he walked out of his house, acting as if he had been asleep the whole time.
Roshi yawned, "What brings you here this early?"
"You can cut the act, I saw you training on the beach." Roshi remained silent. "I don;t know why you'd feel the need to hide it, and I don't really care to be honest, I'm here to see if you knew anything about this…" She said as she handed him the drawing that Chi Chi made the night before.
Roshi examined it for a moment. "Hmmm. It looks familiar….." He thought about it for a moment, and then it came to him. "Where did you see this at?"
"I didn't. Chi Chi did." Bulma said, crossing her arms. "She said these two martial artists she fought had that logo on their clothes."
"Where is Chi Chi?" Roshi asked, already suspecting the answer.
"Trying to join that school." Bulma confirmed his suspicions. "So I take it you know who or what that symbol is?" Bulma asked.
"Chi Chi came here the other day, saying some beast attacked the villages she helps out at." Roshi said as he walked into his house.
"Hellooo! I asked you a question!" Bulma said, stamping her foot and following him into the house. He pulled out a photo album and flipped through it.
"That mark belongs to the owner of the beast, and my old friend and training partner, Master Shen, of the Crane School. He and I trained under the Great Mutaito." Roshi started retelling the story of his and Shen's friendship, but Bulma interjected.
"Do you know where this school is?" Bulma asked. Roshi nodded. "Can you take me there, so we can get Chi Chi?" Bulma asked in a rushed tone. Roshi reluctantly agreed and followed Bulma into her plane.
Roshi sighed and sat lost in thought the entire ride to the Crane School. They arrived rather quickly and saw Chi Chi yelling at an older gentleman wearing a crane hat. As they got off the plane and approached, the man in the hat howled with laughter.
"So it appears she was telling the truth. You'll train anyone who will listen to you won't you old fossil?" The man said.
"Who you calling fossil you old dinosaur?!" Roshi retorted. He then turned to Chi Chi, "Come on Chi Chi let's go." Chi Chi shook her head and refused.
"I want to train with the mean baldie with the three eyes. I have to get stronger than him!" She said defiantly.
"As I said, No! I refuse to let you train here, we already have one annoying little girl, and we don't need another!" Shen said as Tien, Chizatou, Yurin, and three other students walked out. "Tien! Is it true that you fought this little girl, and almost lost." Shen snapped angrily. Tien looked down at Chi Chi and anger flashed over his face.
"I was nowhere near losing to her!" Tien shouted angrily.
Shen shook his head and smiled, "We don't take students who belong to another school... but seeing as Roshi came all this way to personally ensure you did not join our school…..Welcome aboard!" Shen chuckled gleefully.
"What?! B-But..Master?" Tien shouted.
"Silence!" Shen snapped, silencing Tien. "You will train with Yurin," Shen told Chi Chi. He then turned and stuck his tongue out at Roshi. "If you can't beat Yurin in a spar, you can go back with your pathetic fossil of a teacher, kay? Now fight!" Shen said laughing maniacally.
Chi Chi knocked out Yurin with one punch, and then bowed, and asked for another fighter. Roshi laughed to himself, attagirl! He thought to himself. Shut this old fool up! Chi Chi then took out two more fighters with ease, to Shen and Tien's surprise. Roshi laughed, Bulma cheered.
"Well if you want my student to teach your students a thing, that's fine by me, you dumb dinosaur!" Roshi cackled with laughter. He then stopped and turned to Chi Chi. "If you want to train here that's fine, but I have a question to ask Shen here that you may want to pay attention to." He sighed and took a deep breath. "What's your brother been up to these days Shen?" Roshi asked aggressively.
Shen growled. "How should I know, you old bag of bones? What's it to you anyways? I'm not my brother's keeper."
Roshi paused for a moment and thought of what to say next. He took a breath. "Is your brother the Mercenary Tao?" Roshi asked, trying to bite back his anger. Shen grinned.
"So what if he is..? Did he kill someone you know?" Shen asked laughing. Before anyone could react, Chi Chi and Roshi both pounced with surprising speed. Chiatzou was able to hold back Chi Chi freezing her mid-air as her fist was near Master Shen's nose. Master Roshi had his fist inches away from Shen's gut, and was strongly contemplating landing a deadly blow.
"So he told you?" Roshi said, his body shaking.
"What is that has you lot so jumpy?" Master Shen asked annoyed by their reactions.
"Don't act like you don't know!" Roshi spat, as he tried very hard to calm his rage. "Tao killed Gohan." Roshi said, taking a moment to contain his anger. A vein in his head pulsated.
Master Shen looked shocked for a moment, and then composed himself. "Well I can't be mad at my brother for doing something he was hired to do. If you don't watch your back Roshi, I might send you to see your old friend in the other world!" He tried to laugh, but Roshi punched him in the gut, knocking out his air.
Tien looked on in horror. "Master….why?" he asked as Shen began growl. He stood up and was ready to attack when Tao walked out. "Master Tao!" Tien said, surprised to see him.
"Come to die Muten Roshi?" Tao said as he strolled out calmly. Roshi took a breath and got into a fighting stance.
"Is it true, Master? Do you use your martial arts to kill for money?" Tien asked, shocked.
"How dare you question your mentor!" Shen spat angrily.
"Keep your students in line, brother." Tao said, crossing his arms in disgust at Tien's outburst.
Roshi turned to Tien. "Look son, I know you feel it. There are other ways to do things, and letting these two into your head…." he looked over at Chi Chi, ".. it'll only cause you pain…" Roshi paused and looked at Chi Chi and Bulma, both women in fighting stances ready to strike. He sighed, turned to the other people there, and spoke. "If any of you become disillusioned with their way.." He pointed at Shen and Tao. "...and you are serious about martial arts, there is space for you at the Turtle School." He then turned to face Tao, who was laughing at Roshi's speech and clapping.
"Well done. Moving. How about we show them how your skills pale in comparison to my own?" Tao said as he walked up to Roshi's face. Roshi's eyes flickered down to Tao's finger, which was charging a blast. Tao's hand started to lift into the air.
"Chi Chi, Bulma down!" He shouted as he landed a punch to Tao's gut, just as the mercenary screamed out Dodon Ray. The blast flew above Chi Chi's head and up and out into the sky. Chi Chi powered up and began to charge a Kamehameha to launch at Tao, but Roshi stopped her. He shook his head, and she tried to calm the rage. Just then, Tao prepped his finger for another dodon ray.
Tien panicked and yelled for Chiatzou to intervene. Tao was paralyzed as a small beam of light dissipated from his finger. Roshi looked back in shock at Tao, then over to Tien. He nodded his head to thank the young man, then walked back to the plane. Master Shen had stood there, frozen and not reacting to anything that transpired until Roshi and Bulma were leaving.
"That's right run away cowards!" He then turned his rage to Chiatzou and Tien. "As for you two!" Tien straightened his back and stared forward. Shen began to storm over to them, indicating for them to let his brother go. Chi Chi, who was surprised at Tien's kind nature, spoke up.
"Leave him alone you old meanie!" She yelled at him. Shen blushed from embarrassment and anger.
"You stay out of this and leave our school at once!" Shen snarled as he raised his hand as if he was going to slap her.
"I'm not going anywhere! I'm training with the three-eyed baldie!" She announced to everyone's surprise. Shen began to growl, but Tien spoke up, his voice cracking.
"That's right, she will train with us as we prepare for the World Tournament." he said, his voice shaking as he began to sweat. Roshi looked at Chi Chi, who nodded.
"Fine, but not here at our school, I don't want her ilk staining the grounds of this school!" Shen spat out, also spitting on the ground as he said this. Chi Chi bowed and got on the plane with Roshi and Bulma. As they flew off, Chiaztzou finally let go of Tao, who angrily stood up and smacked Chiatzou across the floor. Tien stood up to Tao, ready to attack, but Tao just looked at his student with disgust. He then turned to Master Shen.
"I'm leaving, you coward. Clearly my help is not wanted here, so why waste my time with such losers? Be grateful you have my blood, big brother, for you would not be left standing otherwise, for letting such trash disrespect the Great Tao! Keep your trash in it's bin brother, or next time I'll take it out myself!" he said, glaring at his former student. Tien gulped. Tao walked off towards the edge and prepared to slide down. Then he stopped, turned his head to the side, smiled, and said, "Maybe I'll join the Tournament myself, to prove that I'm letting you have that small victory…?" He laughed and rolled away.
"See you later big brother!" He laughed as he rode a boulder down the mountain.
