Disclaimer: I do not own/am not affiliated with DBZ in any way

Warning: All of this is happening several days before Raditz' arrival onto Earth, so be forewarned of that in the future.

Blue looked upon the ocean, seeing nothing but the blue water, "how am I supposed to get there," he muttered to himself, "there isn't a ship that would take me there, is there?" He asked himself as he looked over to the ports and saw that no boats were presently docked, "no, I guess not."

He turned back to head into towards the emptiness that he had come from, but as he looked past a forest to his right, he saw a village. Maybe they'll know something, he thought to himself as he began moving towards the village, "I just hope there aren't any criminals here," he said to himself.

Approaching the village, he noticed graffiti on the small wooden cabins that all read the same thing: ROUGHRIDER TERRITORY, written in red spraypaint. Blue reached in his belt, "damn, he must have knocked my club out of my belt when he knocked me to the ground." Blue still continued on however, knowing that he had to reach this master to gain the knowledge and skill to defeat Gero's Red Ribbon Army.

He entered the village expecting a "welcoming committee," but he was met with eerie silence. However, he could feel an ominous presence. "Hello?" He asked but was met with no answer. When he went to ask again, he heard several dozen footsteps behind him. He turned around to see around 30 or so thugs that had the same patch that had 'RR' written on it. If it hadn't been for the graffiti that he had seen, he would have figured these guys to be Red Ribbon rejects.

"Stop it right there, you intruder!" One of them said in a very southern accent(southern as in south east United States). "What in tarnation are you doin' here?" He finished.

Blue would have laughed at the man's hilarious accent but all of the thugs had guns, so he held back and instead acted dumb to the thugs, "um, I'm looking for someone to take me across the island, any takers?"

Another thug came forward, "don't mock us boy, if you haven't seen, we're the ones with the guns here!" He spat on the ground and crossed his arms defiantly.

Blue scratched his head, "guns aren't the determination of power," Blue said, quoting what he had heard from the Royal Army Academy, "it's the skill of the gunslinger that determines who has the power. In that regard," Blue smirked, showing his father's side of his personality, "I think that I have the power." He said simply, which infuriated the thugs.

The one that had spoken to him first took several steps forward and came within a few feet of him. Looking upon Blue he said, "shoot, this boy is nothing but skin and bone!" He said as the ones behind him laughed, signaling to Blue that he was he was in charge, "I don't even need my gun to fight you, hell I can probably knock ya out with just one punch!"

Blue egged the man on, "fine then, I'll give you a free shot," he said as he pointed to his chin, stuck his face out slightly, and closed his eyes.

This angered the man, "why I oughta!" He yelled as he reared his right arm back and swung it as hard as he could at Blue, who took the blow and managed to only stagger back a few steps with minimal damage taken. The man looked at Blue with a smirk but his look changed to one of anguish when he saw that Blue was smirking back at him, unharmed, "boy, you ain't human is you?!" The man asked and gasped and fell backwards, turning to his comrades, "get the boss! Get the boss!" He said as if chanting to them.

A few of the ones in the back of the pack yelled and went off to go get the unnamed boss, Blue was intrigued, "so who's this boss of yours?" He asked quizzically, raising an eyebrow.

"That would be me!" A voice called from above Blue. Blue turned around to see a man in a pink chang pao and black undershirt and black pants standing on a lamppost. The man's attire wasn't what shocked Blue but the metallic or semi-metallic head that he had. As Blue took notice of that, he also noticed that the man had robotic arms and an even, tight ponytail sticking out from his head.

"What in the hell are you?" Blue asked. Blue fully turned around and took off his shirt, revealing his pale torso.

The man smirked as he leapt from the post to the ground with the utmost of ease and grace, "they call me Mercenary Tao, the greatest mercenary to ever exist!" Tao said, laughing maniacally.

Blue's eyes widened and he took a step back, "I thought there was something familiar about you! In the Royal Academy, our training is based off of your style of martial art!" Blue yelled, "but that can't be possible, they said that you died years ago! You have to be over a hundred years old!"

Tao sneered, "well I am over a hundred years old - in fact I am well over 200 years old," Tao said as he laughed again, "but what was it you said about the Royal Army, something about them teaching you my ways, shouldn't I be paid royalties for that service? And furthermore, that explains the resemblance," Tao said as he took a few steps forward as if trying to examine the young man further.

Blue took another step back, "what do you mean 'that explains the resemblance'?" he asked, afraid of the answer that he might be given.

Tao frowned, "but I was certain I killed you," he said to himself but shrugged his shoulders, "maybe I have lost the touch. Anyway, you wouldn't happen to be that General from the old Red Ribbon Army, would you? You bear a striking resemblance to him, but I don't think you are him, but then again, I could be wrong."

Blue grinned uneasily, "you're right, I'm not him; I'm his son!" Blue finished dramatically.

Tao nodded slightly, "that would explain the presence I felt when you first entered my domain. My men were foolish to think that they could so easily defeat you, just as you were foolish to want my confrontation," Tao then turned away, "but, you are worth nothing to me. I can see it in your eyes that you and him weren't alike in more than one regard and one of those regards is power. You may have potential, but right now, you aren't even at his level. And I killed him using my tongue alone," Tao said with dryness in his voice; the type of dryness only a mercenary with hundreds of years of experience under his belt could have.

Blue gasped, "only your tongue?! How is that possible!"

Tao laughed evilly, "I guess you'll never find out," and he went to walk away but was halted by Blue.

"I cannot let you walk away for I have to cross that ocean," he said pointing to the ocean, "to find this martial arts master. His name is Master Roshi and I must see him and become his student."

Tao's eyes widened and he spun around, "you want that old fool to train you?" Tao snickered, "that bumbling fool is nothing but a washed up fighter. He is no longer the master you so seek."

Blue clenched his fist, "and how would you know that. Have you even ever met this guy personally?"

Tao burst into laughter, "only for hundreds of years, give or take. Boy, I'll let you in on a little secret: you have no idea what you are up against. So I'll propose an idea: we venture to Roshi's island together, for I know where he lives and would like to pay him a visit."

Blue narrowed his eyes, "pay him a visit? What for?"

Tao smirked, "to prove to you that he is nothing in his old age. To also prove once and for all that I am the better warrior; I am going to kill him."

Blue gulped, "then I have another plan." He said simply, which grabbed the attention of Tao.

"What plan is this, do tell," Tao said with a hint of superiority.

Blue got into his fighting stance, "me and you, the winner is the one that goes to this martial artist's home, deal?"

Tao then raised one hand, signaling Blue to come get him, "deal." He said as he placed both hands behind his back, "I haven't had much exercise since this new Red Ribbon Army began destroying everything. But you should make for a good morning workout," Tao said, hoping to anger Blue as he had done to his headstrong father, with no luck. Tao was pleasantly surprised, "well I guess you aren't like your father after all; he was such a headstrong fighter. And it ended up getting him killed. Though, it doesn't matter; you'll end up the same way: dead!"