Chapter 57: Tao Attacks!

Even as Yamcha closed with him, Tao darted above his first strike and kicked him in the face, sending him flying backward. He hit the tower and fell to the ground with a bloody mouth. His whole body was ringing with the sensation of pain he had underwent then.

'That's all?' asked Tao 'Piece of cake.'

'Yamcha! Yamcha are you all right?!' cried Puar as she rushed to him.

'Yeah,' said Yamcha 'he… he dodged it. He's fast. But I'm not done yet.'

'I see,' said Tao 'you're a glutton for punishment. Amateur.'

Yamcha surged forward again and Tao made the same movement, yet this time Yamcha leaned back to avoid the kick. He rolled away and landed on one knee, while Tao landed on his feet. Rushing at him he swung a punch, only for Tao to move his head to one side. Around came his ponytail and slammed him across the face down into the ground.

Yamcha leaped back to get some distance. 'I can't connect with him. If I could just get him in one good hit…'

He charged again and unleashed a flurry of low targetted kicks which Tao moved away from with ease. Swinging his fists at him, nothing he could do could even touch the mercenary. The man was like a mirage, always there, but always just beyond his reach. This direction, or another. Then Tao raised a leg and Yamcha leaped back fearfully. Then Tao was right there in front of him. He tried to back away, but Tao's foot caught his and trapped it there. No matter how he pulled he could not get free of his enemy's vice like grip. Then he realized Tao was immobile. This was his chance.

'WOLF FANG FIST ATTACK!'

He sent forth his full fury, and then it stopped as both his hands were caught in place by Tao's hands. All his momentum and power was deflected with ease. The fury of the wolf had been tamed.

'He… he stopped Yamcha's wolf fang fist like it was nothing!' said Puar 'Impossible!'

Then Tao's other foot went forward to trap Yamcha's other foot. He had an awkward position, and Yamcha tried to force him down off his feet. Yet Tao defied all rules. He remained still like a statue, and Yamcha could not escape.

Then Tao struck him in the face with a head butt. The force it it was like a hurricane and Yamcha reeled backward, vision going blurry. As he was released he hit the ground hard. He could hardly think.

Grabbing him by the leg, Tao hurled him bodily against the stone pillar. The impact was horrible and he landed hard on the ground. His breath was knocked out.

'Well,' said Tao 'the fool at least takes a better beating than most.'

That was it. No more holding back.

'Go to hell.' said Yamcha as he arose.

'So,' said Tao 'you're back on your feet. I would advise against that.'

Yamcha made his way forward. The every moment hurt him, but he did. 'Kaaa….' He cupped his hands. 'Meee…' He felt his power flow into a sphere of strength. 'Haaa…' Just like Launch had taught him. 'Meee…' He could do this. 'HAAAA!'

The beam of pure light was unleashed and Tao gasped, before raising his arms to protect himself. The wave burned over him, consuming him utterly in its radiance.

Then the light faded.

Tao was standing there, much of his clothes burned off with many small burns all over him. But he was still standing. He looked up with narrowed eyes. 'You ruined my outfit.'

'No…' said Yamcha.

'Dodon Ray!' roared Tao.

The beam was nothing like Tien Shinhan had fired. Yamcha did not even see it move before it shot him straight in the chest and sent him flying away to land face up on the ground. There he lay very stilll, not moving a muscle. He was still alive, but if Tao thought otherwise he might escape alive.

'You… you monster!' cried Puar.

Get out of the way Puar. Don't fight him.

'Out of the way, cat! I have no time for you!' There was a pause as he picked something up. 'So this is what the army wants so badly? Whatever, I guess my work is done here. But… before I go back I must have new clothes. Thanks to him. That robe was custom made too.'

He walked away toward where Yamcha guessed the pillar was. 'Now…'

'Hey! How could you do that to my daddy?!' cried Upa.

Oh no, the kid was going to get himself killed. There was a cry of pain and someone hit the ground. Then there was the sound of crying. Tao laughed. 'You should thank me for letting you live, little boy.'

Then the pillar was thrown into the air and Yamcha saw Tao leap onto it with the bag. He was gone. Now how was Yamcha alive? Before the former bandit could consider this he lapsed into unconsciousness.

In the Red Ribbon Army HQ, Red laughed triumphantly with his pipe between his lips. 'It seems that Tao now has everything under control.'

'Wait sir,' said Black 'there is something strange on the radar. It would seem that only one of the dragonballs are actually moving. Apparently this one is still in the land of Korin. Here's the ball that we currently have in our possession, but the three that are in motion are heading in the wrong direction.'

Red growled. 'Where is that man going? What's he up to?'

It was a dusty village, veiled in a golden sunset. The trees were tall and thin and the mountains could be seen looming close over it. People bustled this way and that, some using camels for transport. Others carried baskets on their heads. The women wore shawls and had their bodies hidden in robes.

Two drunks made their way along, only to halt dead still as they saw someone pass them bye. Others halted as well, suddenly terrified. Tao made his way down the street carefully. As he did the drunks came up to him.

'What happened to you?' asked one.

'Yeah, what's the matter big guy? Did you get blasted?' asked the other.

'I'm telling you man, you look like something the camel drug in.' said the first.

Tao did not answer.

'Hey, can't you talk?' asked the second 'Did you get hit on the… on the noggin… or maybe you're just senile…'

Tao looked at him hard. They fell still for a moment. 'Fine…' said the second drunk 'I guess you want me to rearrange your face!'

'Be quiet!' said the first drunk, dropping his bottle. 'He didn't mean that!'

'And why not?' asked the drunk.

'Because… take a good look at his face…'

'What about it?' asked the second.

'It's Mercenary Tao!' he said.

And just like that everyone on the street started cowering. Tao looked down on the insects, who weren't worth killing. 'I need a garment made. Somebody tell me where to find a tailor.'

'His shop is over there…' said the drunk.

Tao made his way in, found the tailor and immediately began sketching out the design for his outfit. Giving it to him he paused. 'I want it to look like this. Every detail, everything.'

'Uh, alright.' said the man 'Come back in ten days.'

'No.' said Tao 'You have three.'

'Three days?!' said the tailor 'That's impossible, sir.'

'Oh you'll find a way.' said Tao 'Now I need something to wear. This'll do.'

'Yes, make yourself at home.' said the man.

Tao dressed himself in his chosen garment, then looked to the tailor. 'Now get started. I have a schedule to keep.'

'Yes I've heard about your work.' said the tailor 'Now that I think about it, three days is plenty. Please, call me if you need anything. Anything at all!'

'Where is your telephone?' asked Tao.

'Right over here.' said the tailor.

Tao sat down by it and quickly dialed in a number before putting it to his ear. He waited for a few moments as the call went through. Then someone picked up. 'Red Ribbon Army HQ.'

'This is Mercenary Tao.' said Tao 'Put me through to Red if you know what's good for you.'

There was silence.

'Tao, where have you been?' asked Red suddenly. 'How did it go? Did you take care of the bandit?'

'Of course.' said Tao 'Everything you asked for. I've had to stop on a bit of an errand, but I'll be there in a few days to deliver your prize and collect my fee.'

'He's really gone huh?' asked Red.

'That's right.' said Tao 'And I accept cash only.'

'Yeah I got it,' said Red 'now are you absolutely sure you've collected both of the dragonballs?'

Something wasn't right. Tao opened the bag and looked inside it. 'What? There is only one. Check the fools body. He probably had one of the dragonballs hidden on his clothing.'

'Right,' said Red 'well we can take it from here. He's no longer a threat so I'll just send a man to retrieve the ball. I mean how difficult could that possibly be now?'

'Great,' said Tao 'see you in a few days.'

'We'll see you then Tao.' said Red, before hanging up.

Silver and Hasky made their way down the halls of the Red Ribbon Army, wondering what it was all about. The two of them hadn't had orders for a while, not since they brought back Roshi. Now they had been called up by Gero without warning.

'So this mission Gero wants us for,' said Hasky 'what's this all about?'

'I have no idea.' said Silver 'Likely he is sending us after one of the remaining dragonballs. Last I heard Tao had the situation with the bandit well in hand.'

Hasky said nothing to that, and Silvera looked at her carefully. 'You aren't still attached to those fools are you?'

'No,' said Hasky 'I care about getting paid what I'm owed, that's all. Here we are.'

They knocked on the door and it opened. Dr. Gero's office had a great many machines, some half finished, some complete and some just strange. They lined the walls just in front of many books on scientific subjects. The two of them lined up and saluted.

'Silver and Hasky reporting for duty, sir.' said Silver.

'Yes, I noticed.' said Gero 'This dragon radar blue seized is brilliant. It's very small, but very powerful. Moreover it can be assembled from everyday parts. Brief's must be taken alive at once, her mechanical skills could be of invaluable use to us.'

'As you command sir.'

'And how are you going to find her, old man?' asked Hasky. 'Blue got her dragonballs.'

'That much is true,' admitted Gero 'ordinarily such a mission would take a considerable amount of time to plan. Fortunately the dragon radar operates by sending out a very destinctive signal to bounce off the dragonballs. I tuned this device to locate that signal instead of the dragonballs.

I now know that there are two other dragon radars out there. One in the hands of the late Yamcha, and one in the possession of someone heading in his direction. Logically Brief's first priority would be to reunite with the rest of her group.'

'Wait, you just got that device five minutes ago.' said Hasky.

'Yes?' asked Gero.

'You figured out how it worked, reprogrammed it completely and set it to track others of its kind in that time?' asked Hasky.

'You make it sound difficult.' mused Gero 'Actually there is not much to tell. The device is an improvement upon our own equipment. I merely reverse engineered it.' He offered it to Silver. 'There is a jet waiting for you now. Capture Brief's and also the boy who accompanies here.'

'Why him?' asked Silver.

'He has a monkey tail.' said Gero 'It must be worthwhile to study how that happened.'

'We'll take care of it.' said Hasky. 'Trust me.'

'If you succeed here, I will.' said Gero 'Even now we are finessing the superhuman project. My son believes he can enhance your abilities. Though not quite as much as Silver, you've already enhanced yourself.'

'Fine,' said Hasky 'let's go.'

Launch's emotions were boiling beneath the surface as they made their way out. Hasky tried to ignore them, but there they were. Threatening to force their way back into the forefront. She didn't like it at all. So she shoved it away and focused on her job and the money she'd make from it.

Yes, money.

The body of Bora was buried beneath a mound of earth. The branch of a tree was set into the earth as a marker. Upa looked at the mound that was all that was left of Bora somberly, shovel in hand and refusing to cry.

'Oh daddy…' said Upa 'I wish I had been strong enough to help.' He looked to where Puar was lying alongside Yamcha. 'I wish I could have saved Yamcha and Puar too.' Loosing some earth, he hurled some dirt onto Yamcha.

At that moment there came the infernal buzzing noise. A coptor was approaching, zooming toward the clearing. In a panic Upa ran for cover as the coptor landed. Upa hid behind a tree and watched as a soldier made his way out of the corptor towards the bodies of Yamcha and Puar.

'It is amazing that a group of teenagers could cause the Red Ribbon Army such enormous problems.' said the man. 'We were so careless…'

Then Upa saw that the dragonball Father had given Yamcha was lying on his heart where the beam of energy had struck him. The soldier saw it too and laughed.

'Well what do you know?' he said, reaching for it.

Then his hand was grabbed and an elbow lashed out to bash him across the face. Yamcha arose grimly and threw the man body against his coptor. Joy entered Upa's heart as he rushed out.

'Yamcha!' he cried 'You're alive!'

'Yeah,' said Yamcha 'Puar, are you okay?'

'Yeah…' said the blue cat as she sat up. 'How did you survive Yamcha?'

'I…' Yamcha looked to the four star ball. 'I think the dragonball blocked the worst of Tao's shot.'

'Storing it in your shirt like that must have protected you.' said Upa 'I think it saved your life.'

Yamcha picked it up. 'Yeah, but we've got to keep this out of the Red Ribbon Army's hands. A few more like this and this world is history. I just hope Kakarot and Bulma are doing better than we are.'

At that moment the man returned with a shotgun and raised it.

Yamcha surged forward, knocked the shot away and brought around a leg to kick the man in the neck. There was a crack and he fell limp. Summoning energy into his hands, Yamcha sent a kamehameha wave to destroy the coptor.

'You two had better take cover,' said Yamcha 'there are going to be more where that came from. Maybe Tao too.'

'What about you?' asked Puar.

'I'm going to climb Korin Tower.' said Yamcha 'And get that sacred water. Hate to say it, but without that power I don't stand a chance in HFIL of matching Tao.' He sighed and looked to Upa. 'I'm really sorry I couldn't help your dad, kid.'

'It's not your fault, Yamcha.' said Upa.

For a moment Yamcha thought he wouldn't say anything, but then Upa began to cry and sob. He stood by, feeling helpless. Tao had murdered a man, and everyone close to him was now paying the price.

'This is awful,' said Puar 'now Upa's all alone. Just like we were.'

'Yeah.' said Yamcha 'I wish… I wish we could have saved him.'

'Well,' said Puar 'maybe we still can. The dragonballs can grant any wish! Maybe they can bring Upa's father back!'

'That's it!' said Yamcha 'Puar you're a genius!' He looked to the kid. 'Dry those tears kid, cause as soon as we collect all of the dragonballs we can use them to wish your father back to life!'

'What?!' said Upa. 'Can you really do that?'

'Yeah, well… I don't know.' said Yamcha 'I'm pretty sure we can bring back the dead with them, but there might be some restrictions. Still some hope is better than nothing, I guess.'

'But remember,' said Upa 'the bad man who hurt my father took your bag with the dragonballs.'

'That's why I'm going to climb Korin Tower.' said Yamcha 'If I can get that sacred water I might be able to beat Tao. And if I can do that, I can beat anyone.' He paused. 'I'm going to have my work cut out for me. But don't lose hope kid.'

'Yeah,' said Upa 'I'll bet you can climb the Tower if anybody can!'

'I just hope the stories are true.' said Puar. 'That's a long way to climb for nothing.'

Yamcha looked up. And up. And up. And up. 'Yeah, I hope so too. I'd better get going. Puar, take care of Upa while I'm gone. Keep hidden, I'm taking the dragonball with me so Tao can't get it.'

'Okay!' said Puar.

'Good luck!' said Upa 'And be careful!'

Yamcha walked to the base of the tower, bent his knees and leaped. He leaped high into the air, nearly fifty feet, and caught himself on the rock. Then he vaulted himself further up another fifty feet. Soon he was climbing rapidly upwards as quickly as he could. It went further and further up, but he knew better than to look down.

However soon he found himself climbing through clouds. And still he could see no sign of the end of the tower. Onwards and upwards he scaled, never looking back. He'd find the sacred water, or die trying.

It was the least he could do.

Actually this whole adventure had been kind of cool.

There was a phone call in Tao's apartment. It was a first class apartment with silken curtains and persian rugs. Sofas of gold and velvet were in the living room, and yet now he was distracted from his relaxing by a phone call.

Most annoying. Tao picked up.

'Hmph?' he asked.

'This is Commander Red.' said Red.

'What do you want?' asked Tao.

'Listen…' said Red.

'Hmph,' said Tao 'yes?'

'I think Yamcha might still be alive.' said Red.

'What!' said Tao 'That's impossible! I told you I took care of him, commander!'

'Well something strange is going on over there.' said Red. 'I want you to go and check it out immediately.'

Tao saw what was happening. Red assumed that just because he was paying Tao that his money somehow gave him power over him. Obviously this was not the case, as he would find out if he continued trying to give him orders.

'I'll be available again in three days.' snapped Tao 'Call me then.'

'That will be too late!' said Red 'I want you to go right now!'

'You can't order me.' scoffed Tao. 'I'm not one of your little soldiers.'

This adventure was officially no longer cool.

As Yamcha scrambled hand and foot upwards along the pillar he still could not see the top. Below him he had risked a glance and the world was far beyond his sight. He was stuck in limbo, between clouds and the void above. It was surreal, it was cold, it was wet, and Yamcha was not having fun.

His muscles burned with exertion, and he was so damn tired.

Still, he couldn't afford to rush. One false step and he'd fall to his death. Nobody else had ever gotten up this thing. But not many people had trained like Yamcha had. And nobody had ever survived being marked by Mercenary Tao. So that was something.

The sun began to set and he was bathed in red light. Sweat dripped into his eyes, as his arms and legs hurt. Night fell, and still he was stuck climbing. It hurt, and he could hardly bear to do this any further. The stars came out, and sleep threatened to come onto him, but he forced it away and scaled higher still.

Day rose again and his hands were shaking. He was so tired. Every inch he climbed was harder than the last. It was all he could do to keep going.

He thought about Upa, about Puar, about all his friends he wouldn't see again if he didn't do this. He thought about Tao and the Red Ribbon Army and all the evil deeds that would go unpunished if he succeeded. He thought about Bora, and Suno and all the other people who had lost their loved ones. Loved ones who they would never see again if he fell from this tower.

It was enough and he forced himself onward.

What awaited at the top would just have to wait.

Authors Note:

And enjoy. It's kind of funny. In the original story the Wolf Fang Fist was useful one or two times before being permenantly relegated to the worf barrage. In this continuity though, it has been Yamcha's trump card all this time and has always managed to even the odds for him. Personally I think this way works better.

First rule of having a jobber is that the jobber should be allowed enough victories so that their defeat makes the enemy credible, rather than merely enforcing the status quo. In other words, never have a jobber.