DISCLAIMER: None of the characters in the following fic belong to me. They are being used without the owner's permission, but I'm making no money off this, so leave me alone.
WARNING: This fic could contain mild language, violence, etc. Nothing to worry about for someone mature enough to enter my fic instead of an inferior one. (no offense to most authors, of course; just the ones that suck)
NOTE: Tao rules!
NOTE2: If you feel a strange urge to contact me with a suggestion, compliment, complaint, flame, bomb threat, etc., I can be reached at hostiledude666@neovampire.com
Krillin got shakily to his feet, holding the side of his face.
"You're getting up? I guess that you're not much smarter than your spiky-haired friend, hm?" Tao mocked him. Krillin made no reply, but instead launched into an insane offensive, striking out at the mercenary with hundreds of blows aimed at various parts of his body. The older man had no trouble blocking all of them using only his legs. Then one punch thrown at the young fighter's head sent him to the ground hard once again.
"Do you actually expect to defeat a martial artist of my strength and skill with feeble attacks like that?" the assassin questioned, swinging his head around so his hair fell over his shoulder.
"That's it!" Goku exclaimed, and walked toward Tao.
But before he could get anywhere, Krillin once again managed to get to his feet. "Stop it, Goku. This is my fight," the bald kid said, pushing aside his comrade. "I can handle this myself."
Tao smiled as he saw Krillin pull back his hands in a familiar matter, gathering energy. The mercenary recalled Goku attacking with the same technique the first time they had met. For someone with such low energy, even the legendary Kamehameha Wave would be no match for him. Suddenly, Tao grimaced. Remembering his fight with Goku had forced him to think of the battle that had ensued the next time they had fought.
The physical pain from the fight was nothing compared to all the wounds that his pride had taken. Surely his brother had heard that he, Tao, was defeated by a mere child. This was the worst pain of all. The only thing he had ever tried to do in his job (besides making money and satisfying his blood lust) was show up his brother. Ever since the day he had been kicked out... The nature of the fight that provoked it was such as it was all but forgotten by this time. But the rage and the hatred remained.
Tao came back to reality as a giant beam of concentrated ki came rushing toward him. But now Tao had had enough of this pointless battle. He would destroy this child so he could fight Goku. It was the only way to restore honor to his family.
"Kamehameha!" Krillin shouted as he unleashed Kame Sen'Nin's famous attack on the mercenary. The martial artist grinned as he saw the powerful attack hit Tao dead on. A giant explosion rocked the very ground on which he stood.
Ecstatic over his victory, Krillin turned to his Saiyajin friend, intent on gloating over his victory. But when he saw the grim look on Goku's face, he knew that something had gone wrong. Quickly, Krillin looked over toward the direction that Tao was in, and saw an ominous figure in the clearing smoke.
As you've probably guessed already, the villain wasn't even scratched; in fact, his clothes weren't even messed up.
"I thought so. I have no use for weak fighters like you." the man said calmly. Then, charging a sufficient amount of ki into his index and middle finger, he smiled grimly.
"Dodon Ray!" he shouted, as he unleashed the charged energy into Krillin's chest.
Goku, who knew that Krillin had no chance of winning the entire time, was watching the match painfully, until he saw the Dodon Ray pierce Krillin's chest and fly out the other side, taking the boy's life with it. But now the young Saiyajin felt his eyes tear up, and he flew forward at immense speeds, shouting insanely, as he intended to take out Tao.
This energy was a surprise to even the super-powered killer, and he was struck a great many times by Goku's kicks and punches. But eventually Tao was able to start blocking all of his attacks, using his simply superior skill. Winding back twice as far as normal, the monkey-tailed boy threw a punch that would go straight through any normal human's skull. But Tao was far from being a normal human.
The mercenary caught the attack and squeezed down on Goku's hand with a vice grip. Goku grimaced in pain and gritted his teeth together.
"No! You can't get away with this, Tao!" he uttered angrily. Then, with incredible effort, he focused all of his ki into the arm that Tao was crushing. His powered-up arm easily broke free of the mercenary's grip, and twisted his arm around backwards in a submission of his own.
Tao grunted in pain for a second, then performed a backflip to relieve the pressure on his tormented arm, and kicked Goku in the stomach with lightning speed. This attack caused the Saiyajin to lose his concentration, and he became essentially a punching bag for Tao's attacks. An elbow to the neck finally sent Goku crashing to the ground. His vision was temporarily blurred, and he felt rather like throwing up.
Tao's laughter rang out over the entire area. In this two of three battle rivalry with Goku, he had come out victorious. "Well, I suppose it's time to finish you off, huh?" he asked the boy, who was still struggling to make it to his feet.
However, before he got the chance to strike a killing blow, he had to jump out of the way to avoid Kame Sen'Nin's flying kick.
"So it is true," the old master speculated, "Goku must have truly defeated the great mercenary Tao."
Angered, Tao answered, "Well, I obviously got him back! And that stupid bald kid with him!" Though he acted tough on the outside, Tao saw that the odds were no longer in his favor. Two kids, however tough they may be, were really no threat to him now. But an invincible old master? Why, this man had more experience in martial arts than he did, no matter the fact that his heart was not wicked and black, as Tao's had become.
Silently, the assassin glared at Roshi. Then he pulled his tree trunk out of the ground, throwing it in the direction of the nearest big city, and jumping on it in his unique way of travel.
---End of chapter 3---
A/N: Damn, kinda left ya' hangin' there, didn't I? Don't worry, I'm working on more chapters even as you read this. Oh, yeah... If you haven't read the manga, then you might not know this, but Kame Sen'Nin is none other than the great Master Roshi.
You see, kame means turtle...
Not to be confused with Kami (the guardian of the earth), whose name means godly, or divine... Like in Kamikaze (divine wind), you know? I apologize in advance for my Japanese, so please tell me if any of it's wrong... Gomen! It's all merely speculation... : ) More info next chapter...
WARNING: This fic could contain mild language, violence, etc. Nothing to worry about for someone mature enough to enter my fic instead of an inferior one. (no offense to most authors, of course; just the ones that suck)
NOTE: Tao rules!
NOTE2: If you feel a strange urge to contact me with a suggestion, compliment, complaint, flame, bomb threat, etc., I can be reached at hostiledude666@neovampire.com
Krillin got shakily to his feet, holding the side of his face.
"You're getting up? I guess that you're not much smarter than your spiky-haired friend, hm?" Tao mocked him. Krillin made no reply, but instead launched into an insane offensive, striking out at the mercenary with hundreds of blows aimed at various parts of his body. The older man had no trouble blocking all of them using only his legs. Then one punch thrown at the young fighter's head sent him to the ground hard once again.
"Do you actually expect to defeat a martial artist of my strength and skill with feeble attacks like that?" the assassin questioned, swinging his head around so his hair fell over his shoulder.
"That's it!" Goku exclaimed, and walked toward Tao.
But before he could get anywhere, Krillin once again managed to get to his feet. "Stop it, Goku. This is my fight," the bald kid said, pushing aside his comrade. "I can handle this myself."
Tao smiled as he saw Krillin pull back his hands in a familiar matter, gathering energy. The mercenary recalled Goku attacking with the same technique the first time they had met. For someone with such low energy, even the legendary Kamehameha Wave would be no match for him. Suddenly, Tao grimaced. Remembering his fight with Goku had forced him to think of the battle that had ensued the next time they had fought.
The physical pain from the fight was nothing compared to all the wounds that his pride had taken. Surely his brother had heard that he, Tao, was defeated by a mere child. This was the worst pain of all. The only thing he had ever tried to do in his job (besides making money and satisfying his blood lust) was show up his brother. Ever since the day he had been kicked out... The nature of the fight that provoked it was such as it was all but forgotten by this time. But the rage and the hatred remained.
Tao came back to reality as a giant beam of concentrated ki came rushing toward him. But now Tao had had enough of this pointless battle. He would destroy this child so he could fight Goku. It was the only way to restore honor to his family.
"Kamehameha!" Krillin shouted as he unleashed Kame Sen'Nin's famous attack on the mercenary. The martial artist grinned as he saw the powerful attack hit Tao dead on. A giant explosion rocked the very ground on which he stood.
Ecstatic over his victory, Krillin turned to his Saiyajin friend, intent on gloating over his victory. But when he saw the grim look on Goku's face, he knew that something had gone wrong. Quickly, Krillin looked over toward the direction that Tao was in, and saw an ominous figure in the clearing smoke.
As you've probably guessed already, the villain wasn't even scratched; in fact, his clothes weren't even messed up.
"I thought so. I have no use for weak fighters like you." the man said calmly. Then, charging a sufficient amount of ki into his index and middle finger, he smiled grimly.
"Dodon Ray!" he shouted, as he unleashed the charged energy into Krillin's chest.
Goku, who knew that Krillin had no chance of winning the entire time, was watching the match painfully, until he saw the Dodon Ray pierce Krillin's chest and fly out the other side, taking the boy's life with it. But now the young Saiyajin felt his eyes tear up, and he flew forward at immense speeds, shouting insanely, as he intended to take out Tao.
This energy was a surprise to even the super-powered killer, and he was struck a great many times by Goku's kicks and punches. But eventually Tao was able to start blocking all of his attacks, using his simply superior skill. Winding back twice as far as normal, the monkey-tailed boy threw a punch that would go straight through any normal human's skull. But Tao was far from being a normal human.
The mercenary caught the attack and squeezed down on Goku's hand with a vice grip. Goku grimaced in pain and gritted his teeth together.
"No! You can't get away with this, Tao!" he uttered angrily. Then, with incredible effort, he focused all of his ki into the arm that Tao was crushing. His powered-up arm easily broke free of the mercenary's grip, and twisted his arm around backwards in a submission of his own.
Tao grunted in pain for a second, then performed a backflip to relieve the pressure on his tormented arm, and kicked Goku in the stomach with lightning speed. This attack caused the Saiyajin to lose his concentration, and he became essentially a punching bag for Tao's attacks. An elbow to the neck finally sent Goku crashing to the ground. His vision was temporarily blurred, and he felt rather like throwing up.
Tao's laughter rang out over the entire area. In this two of three battle rivalry with Goku, he had come out victorious. "Well, I suppose it's time to finish you off, huh?" he asked the boy, who was still struggling to make it to his feet.
However, before he got the chance to strike a killing blow, he had to jump out of the way to avoid Kame Sen'Nin's flying kick.
"So it is true," the old master speculated, "Goku must have truly defeated the great mercenary Tao."
Angered, Tao answered, "Well, I obviously got him back! And that stupid bald kid with him!" Though he acted tough on the outside, Tao saw that the odds were no longer in his favor. Two kids, however tough they may be, were really no threat to him now. But an invincible old master? Why, this man had more experience in martial arts than he did, no matter the fact that his heart was not wicked and black, as Tao's had become.
Silently, the assassin glared at Roshi. Then he pulled his tree trunk out of the ground, throwing it in the direction of the nearest big city, and jumping on it in his unique way of travel.
---End of chapter 3---
A/N: Damn, kinda left ya' hangin' there, didn't I? Don't worry, I'm working on more chapters even as you read this. Oh, yeah... If you haven't read the manga, then you might not know this, but Kame Sen'Nin is none other than the great Master Roshi.
You see, kame means turtle...
Not to be confused with Kami (the guardian of the earth), whose name means godly, or divine... Like in Kamikaze (divine wind), you know? I apologize in advance for my Japanese, so please tell me if any of it's wrong... Gomen! It's all merely speculation... : ) More info next chapter...