All in the Technique
By Moonraker One
2. Late Dragonball
Chapter Four – Maron versus Tenshinhan
Gong. The tone of the gong ringing indicated that this match up was underway. Maron saw Tenshinhan fly towards her with all of his speed, which almost was faster than she could see. She carefully dodged to the left, making sure that none of him touched her. After said attack, she lifted her arm to block a punch which was hurled at her so fast that only they and Goku were capable of seeing it. He was strong; she had to admit that.
He was also fast; she could barely keep up with him, even though she was as skilled as she was. He tried a kick to the head, which was dodged, allowing her to launch a fist at his face, forcing him backwards onto the ground. He got up-rather, he flew up-and began a flurry of attacks that consisted of punches and kicks each with lightning speed. Each one that she dodged was slightly faster than the one that was before it. Even though they couldn't see it, they all heard the distinct crack that meant someone was thrown backwards. Once the speed had slowed down from the attack, they saw that Tenshinhan was the one that was sent back.
"I…never thought that a girl could fight like this," Tenshinhan said, trying to catch his breath. He knew that she was obviously the strongest opponent he had faced yet, even more so than Jackie Chun, the opponent he fought in the last round. As he got to his feet, he noticed that even though he was open, she was not attempting a counter-offensive. That's when he realized her aspect of the training; one should always be on the defensive. He was wrong.
A loud sound was heard throughout the stadium; it was the sound of her elbow hitting his head and sending him towards the wall. He righted himself to stop moving, but as he was doing so, she appeared behind him and sent him upwards with a well-placed kick. He moved his jaw back into its proper position, then attempted to stop in midair. This was a mistake because she leaped above him and nailed him with a perfectly timed axe handle smash. He put quite the hole in the ring when he crash landed. She walked over and lifted him by his collar.
"Tenshinhan?" She asked, carefully examining his face. She knew that she had seem him somewhere before, but couldn't place it. She seemed to be confused as to who he really was. "Do you remember someone named Tynorou Shinhan?"
Tenshinhan cleared his throat. "Y…yes!" He croaked. "I'm his little brother!" She seemed to gasp when he said that. He realized that she knew him from somewhere else, but couldn't place it. His eyes grew in size when he remembered why she also seemed familiar.
"YOU!" She screamed, making sure her voice carried. "YOU STOOD THERE AND LAUGHED WHILE YOUR BROTHER DESTROYED MY VILLAGE!"
He blinked; she was the little girl cowering in the corner while he taunted her. Now, here she was, far greater than he, getting her revenge for what had happened. "You will never get revenge on my brother!"
"Why the heck not!?"
"Because he's dead!"
As you should be, she thought.
He jumped to his feet. "TAIYO-KEN!" he screamed, his blinding flash of light catching her off guard a moment. She struggled to regain vision while in the meantime he launched a series of rather powerful attacks knocking her completely off her feet and into the wall near the entrance to the ring. Against the wall, he continued to pound her with fist after fist as she fought to break free and to see what was going on. He did not let up for even a second, which was the warrior-like thing to do. She had to break out on her own.
Unfortunately for him, he let up when he thought she could take no more and was about to fall unconscious. She dropped to the ground while he conceitedly praised himself for his victory. As the announcer was prepared to count to ten, Maron disappeared from sight altogether. Tenshinhan, who was not usually tricked by rapid motion done to avoid detection, could not see her move even with his third eye. He spun around, feverishly scanning the area for her. He simply did not understand how she, who he defeated before, could now be too fast for him. He hoped that she would reappear.
Boy, did she ever. She reappeared directly behind him, and launched a knee to his head. It was such a powerful strike that he felt several bones in his neck crack under the sheer force of her assault. His eyes became as large as eggs as he fell first to his knees, then flat forward on the floor. The whole crowd was silent from the sheer velocity of the match. She stood up and wiped the dirt off of her skin as she raised her arm in victory. Tsuru-sen'nin and Chaozu, who were behind in the crowd area, stood there with jaws wide open as could possibly be. Neither of them could believe it; Tenshinhan, a member of the prestigious Shinhan family, was defeated by a girl. It was unbelievable that a warrior who could take down even Tsuru-sen'nin himself had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher with a neck brace around his neck.
"Maron," the announcer yelled into his microphone, "is easily one of the greatest competitors we've ever had! Why, I suppose possibly even Son Goku might not be able to defeat this one!"
Goku realized that perhaps the announcer was correct. After all, Goku knew that he would probably be a match for Tenshinhan, but if she was able to defeat him easily, she was far greater than he. Thus, she was more powerful than Goku as well. In any case, the match that was about to begin, in just a few minutes, was what was going to be the single greatest match that they'd come across yet; the match between the indestructible Son Goku and the seemingly-limitless ki reserve Maron. Walking into the resting area from the ring, Maron, noticed she was still in her yellow tank top. After that, she created a new shirt from pure ki.
Goku came running up. "W…wait a minute, Ms. Maron!" Goku cried, trying to get her attention as she walked away. Hearing her soon-to-be opponent, she stopped walking forward and turned to face him. She had in her eyes a "you'd better make this quick" look.
"What do you want," she inquired. "I'm gonna take a break before our fight. I haven't fought someone from the Shinhan family before and that was quite an intense battle."
"I want to know who taught you how to fight like that," he asked. "I haven't seen anyone quite as powerful as you in my life, so who taught you what you know?"
She smirked. "Boy," she replied, "you are too ill-bred to know of Hebi-sen'nin?"
Goku shook his head innocently. "No, who's Hebi-sen'nin? Is he better than Kame-sen'nin?"
Maron's eyes widened with shock; how dare he imply such a rude statement?
"Better than Kame-sen'nin!?" She shrieked. "HEBI-SEN'NIN IS THE GREATEST MARTIAL ARTS MASTER EVER!"
With that, Goku backed off because he had learned what he wanted to know. Maron slid open the creaky door to the pre-match area and sat down. From behind walked Hebi-sen'nin, her master. He had a look of surprise on his face. It was actually less surprise and more shock.
"You defeated Tenshinhan?!" He asked, a sense of urgency in his voice. "Do you realize what you have done? No, it wasn't enough to defeat him! You had to break his neck!"
She lowered her eyebrows. "What's the problem?" She asked, questioning his reasons. "I saw that it was the easiest way to permanently end the match!"
He rolled his eyes, indicating that he knew something that she did not. "He's a SHINHAN! THEY'VE NEVER BEEN DEFEATED!"
She shook her head. "And…?" She replied.
He grabbed her by her shoulders. "You still don't get it do you?" He yelled. "The prestigious Shinhan clan of martial artists is the single most powerful martial arts family ever! None have ever fell in battle! Now that you've beaten him, the entire family will not stop until you are dead!"
"You…mean they're gonna try to murder me!?"
"YES! THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULD'VE EXCERCISED CONTROL!"
She stood up. "I'll be damned if I'd lose a match on purpose. I don't give a crap who I'm against, or who their family is!"
Hebi-sen'nin smiled. "That, my dear, is why I taught you the Daimaoh-ken."
After that, he walked out, and she went back to lounging in the chair. She set her mental time-sense to wake her up in twenty minutes, and then fell asleep in the chair. Warriors of the Snake style could set a minor bit of ki to signal them when a certain time had passed, and also could sleep with both eyes open. She knew that if she was to fight Goku it would take all she had up to this point.