Disclaimer

I do not own Dragon Ball Z. This is a work of Fanfiction using the Dragon Ball Z world. Dragon Ball Z is owned by Akira Toriyama.

Riki had made it to the mountains Ox-King had circled on her map, and she was now closing in on Gohan's home. Almost there. She thought excitedly. Just another hour or two and I'll be able to fight another of the strongest on Earth. The Ox idiot was a disappointment, but from what I heard from those townspeople I questioned Gohan is way ahead of the Ox guy. And he's been living like a hermit so he'll have kept up with his training, so he'll be extremely strong. To bad there's no townspeople in the area for me to hunt. That last town was a blast after I killed the Ox idiot, but Gohan should be strong enough for me to not feel like killing anything after our battle.

She smiled maniacally, remembering the Ox-King's townspeople. After she'd killed the Ox-King she'd proceeded to kill all the people in the surrounding town.

That had been the most fun she'd had in years. She'd had a little bit of everything. Some long-ranged dodging, some close-ranged dodging, and more than a little hunting.

After she'd finished slaughtering all townspeople, she hadn't needed to let them live except for the Ox-Kings daughter since none of them were fighters, she'd gathered all the food in the center of the town. Then she'd drug the bodies, and piled them up in a massive mound around the things she'd gathered.

Then she'd proceeded to eat and drink her fill, admiring the mutilated corpses, and taking pleasure in the feel of blood soaking her skin.

Looking back on it she realized she hadn't changed clothes or bathed since that time, wanting to keep the blood on her for as long as possible.

Now as she ran through the trees she came to a clearing that had a small oriental style house in the center of it. The house had red brick near the bottom, and halfway up the walls, changed to white. The roof was made of what looked like black slate, and the double doors were a sea green with two red symbols in the center. Nice place for a hermit. Thought Riki. Maybe after I'm done fighting the turtle students I can come back here from time to time.

She stopped running about halfway up the path, and walked slowly toward the house, taking her time so she could see potential tactical advantages. Let's see, surrounding trees, perfect for a sneak attack. The clearing itself is pretty open, so if were equal I'll have to keep him away from the treeline so I can use my speed to my advantage. And if things get really dicey I can always aim a Dodon Ray at the house for an easy hit.

She made it to the house, watching her surroundings carefully for any sign of movement. She knocked on the door and waited, tensing as if expecting him to come out attacking.

When no answer came she relaxed. Where is he? This place is in to good condition to be abandoned so I know he lives here. Maybe he's gone for a while. Well since I'm probably going to kill him, I guess it won't hurt to get a good meal. I am pretty hungry.

Riki kicked the door in and walked inside, still watching her surroundings warily. Inside the hut didn't have much. There was a bed, a stove, and a chair that was in front of a desk. And a few other basic household necessities that held no interest for Riki.

She sniffed the air, and followed her nose to couple of pots that smelled like they held food. She opened them and found that, much to her disappointment, they held mostly grains and vegetables, there was very little meat. "How can anyone live off of grains and vegetables? Surely he must like the taste of some bloody meat every night. He must just like his meat fresh, so he hunts some more every day. That must be it, no one eats mostly grains and vegetables." She muttered.

With that she dug into the food, grimacing at the overpowering taste of raw vegetables and uncooked rice. She'd learned how to cook, but usually didn't bother with it and ate her food raw. She usually soaked everything in the juices from her raw meat for extra flavor.

Now she simply sucked it up, attempting to ignore the bad tasting vegetables and hard grains. After she finished eating she went outside and started to stretch, getting ready for what she hoped to be an amazing battle.

After a few minutes she spotted someone walking up the path toward her. He was a short, stubby old man with small dark eyes, and a white bushy beard and eyebrows. He was wearing a sleeveless orange jacket over a long-sleeved black shirt, with black pants, and he wore a green hat, with a white ball on top.

"Hello little girl." He greeted as he approached her. "What's your name, and why are you coated in blood?" He looked concerned.

Riki looked over him, feeling somewhat underwhelmed. He's just an old geezer. He looks around Shen's age, meaning he'll be old and decrepit. I was expecting someone like Ryu, but I'll take what I can get.

"My names Riki." She replied. "And I'm covered in blood because I killed Ox-King and everyone in his town. Then I didn't take a shower, because I wanted the blood to stay on for as long as possible."

Gohan looked at her disbelievingly for a moment. "You shouldn't joke like that, that is serious."

Riki clenched her teeth. She hated it when people treated her like a child, and those that did usually didn't live very long.

"If you don't believe me then maybe this will change your mind." She walked over to her bag, dug around inside it, then she pulled out the Ox-Kings helmet and dropped it to the ground. "Do you believe me now?" She asked.

A look of horror and grief dawned on Gohan's face as he looked at the helmet. Riki smirked, taking pleasure in the pain she was causing him.

"How could you?" He asked after a moment.

Riki sighed, she hated being asked that to. It always led to some speech about morals or whatever, and she could really care less about morals. All she wanted was a good fight.

"I killed Ox-King because I traveled all that way to fight him, and he was a complete disappointment. His people, I killed because they weren't fighters so they didn't need to live." She smiled, remembering killing them again. "That was the most fun I think I've ever had by the way, you should try it sometime."

Gohan opened his mouth to speak, but Riki cut him off.

"Don't give me this crap about moral obligations or anything. I came here to fight you, and we're going to fight." Then she grinned. "Let's just make the rules simply. You fight until you die. Whoever dies loses, whoever lives wins."

Gohan nodded sadly. "I'm sorry it's come to this. But I can see the evil in your heart, and I can see that this is the best thing that can happen."

"Yeah, whatever." Replied Riki as she slid into a stance. "Hurry up and fight."

Gohan sighed and slid into his own stance.

The two sized each other up for a moment, then sprang at each other. Riki fell backwards as Gohan's fist sailed through the air where she had been just moments before. She landed on her back, then pushed off the ground and threw a kick at Gohan's jaw.

Gohan blocked the kick and punched her in the gut and face, then kicked her away.

Riki recovered in midair, then sprang back at Gohan. The old man tried to punch her, but the punch went through an afterimage. He looked around wildly, then was thrown forward as Riki's foot connected with his back.

Riki appeared in front of him, and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks. She finished with a right hook that sent Gohan flying through the house.

Riki continued her rush, but was stopped when blocked her flying kick, and landed a series of punches on her jaw. He ended with a roundhouse kick that sent Riki flying the way she had come.

She recovered, and dashed forward to meet Gohan in high speed combat. As they battled Riki slowly began to worry. She was being pushed back.

Gohan landed a punch to her stomach that doubled her over. Then he delivered a few devastating knees to her jaw, and a punch that sent her flying to the ground.

She lay there, panting heavily, trying hard to make sense of what was happening. How can I be losing like this? He's just an old man! I beat the Ox idiot without breaking a sweat, but this guy's different. Then a delighted grin broke out on her face. Finally, a fight I can possibly lose. I may be able to lose this fight, but there's no way that's going to happen.

She slowly pushed herself up, and grinned manically at Gohan. He looked disturbed. She was still recovering, but she could stand, and this wouldn't be over until one of them was dead.

She yelled as she rushed Gohan, but she was still tired, and that slowed down her normally out of the ordinary speed. Gohan was actually her equal in strength, and he was getting tired, but his experience was giving him an amazing advantage.

Now he was simply waiting her out, so that he could finish her in one attack. As they fought, tearing across the clearing, they both knew Riki was slowing down. They both knew that she would lose.

Riki leapt backwards and aimed her finger at the ground near Gohan's feet. "Dodon Ray!" A yellow energy beam leapt out of her finger and struck the ground near the old master's feet, causing a cloud of dust to spring up.

Riki smirked and rushed to where Gohan was. Her fist connected with his stomach, and she threw a barrage of punches that all connected. After several punches she leapt into the air and threw a kick that connected with his jaw, she followed that up with a roundhouse kick that sent him through a few trees.

Gohan had recovered from his surprise enough to leap further into the forest, out of Riki's line of sight.

Riki looked uncertainly into the forest, then walked in hesitantly. She kept going, until Gohan's foot connected with her face, sending her back into the clearing where she smashed into a rock, leaving a massive dent in it.

Gohan kept coming, and released a barrage of punches and kicks on Riki, pushing her further into the rock. After several minutes of this, Riki was barely conscious, and was pushed deep into the rock.

Gohan leaped backwards and cupped his hands at his sides. "Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" He threw his hands out aiming at Riki. A cobalt energy wave shot out of his hands and towards Riki.

She looked at the oncoming energy wave and smiled. Well… crap. The wave exploded on impact, and the last thing Riki before darkness took her was her skin burning.

Riki opened her eyes, and immediately closed them again, wishing she hadn't woken up. She hurt everywhere. Almost her entire body ached, and where it didn't ache it burned, and she felt like her jaw, and some of her other bones were broken. How was he able to do all that? He's just an old geezer. I bet he's unaware that our battle is still taking place.

Riki started to push herself up, so she could continue the battle. She was able to stand, but her knees were so weak that she fell over when she tried to walk. How can I be this weak? She thought as she started to crawl towards the house, dragging herself through the remains of the rock she'd been beaten into.

She continued to drag herself towards the house. She could see Gohan standing in front of it, talking to a tall girl with blue hair.

Riki got closer, and stopped when she was in the shadows next to the house. If I keep going I'll be dead for sure. And I don't want think a Dodon Ray will be enough, even if I can hit a vital I'll still die. But I've got to try something.

Then she remembered what she'd done against the Ox-King. She aimed one hand at the ground, and concentrated. A yellow energy ball formed in front of her hand. Perfect. She thought as she aimed it at the ground.

"Hey what's that?" Asked the tall girl just as Riki released the blast.

Gohan whirled just in time for Riki to slam into his chest and go straight through it, passing out the other side.

She kept going for a little bit and left a trench in the ground. After she stopped, she crawled back to where Gohan was laying on the ground in a puddle of blood.

I told you our battle wouldn't be over until one of us was dead. She told him, then she began to laugh. I'm not dead, that means I'm the better fighter. She continued to laugh as darkness overtook her again.

She noticed the darkness, but didn't care. She'd just beaten the strongest foe she'd ever gone up against. And if she died she didn't care.

So she continued to laugh, not caring whether that darkness was death, or unconsciousness.

Gohan dies... again. What do you guys think? Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading.