The Strength of the Tower! The Mercenary Meets His Match!
Suno sat in the middle of a clearing with her legs crossed. Her eyes were closed and her mind was clear as she felt the world around her. Upa's meditation was easy to learn once she connected it to her master's teachings. What her master had been trying to teach her and what Upa was trying to teach her were different only in name and application. While neither would precisely lead to her end goal, she knew that they were a large step in the right direction.
Truth be told, Suno hadn't attempted to perform the Kamehameha once since she started meditating. She still switched to physical training when her mind grew tired but she hadn't bothered with the Kamehameha just yet. She seemed to lack some basic attunement to ki that Goku and Krillin possessed that allowed them to perform the attack and she didn't feel that she had reached that level of attunement yet. She was very much aware of her own ki now and could tell how much of it she had without having to focus but her attempts to channel it outside of her body in what Goku referred to as kiai were met with failure. It wasn't a complete failure as it created a strong wind but it wouldn't even be useful as a distraction, let alone an attack.
However, Suno's three days of meditation had certainly met with more success than failure. Aside from being able to effortlessly feel her own ki, what she now knew to be her ki sensing was on a whole different level. She still couldn't sense another person's ki without concentration but it took her far less time to reach that level and the range at which she could sense things had greatly increased while things nearby could be sensed with even more detail than even looking at them could give. If she could get her ki sensing to the point where she could get that level of clarity without the need for overt concentration, it would prove to be exceptionally useful.
As she was meditating, Suno felt something rather far away but approaching quickly. Even though she could just barely sense it, she knew that it was very powerful and very evil. It could only be Tao Pai Pai that she was sensing, likely returning to retrieve the Four Star Dragon Ball. Goku still wasn't back yet and she couldn't even sense her but she wasn't worried. As Tao grew closer, she could tell with some precision just how much of a gap existed between her and him but that didn't matter. Even if she could somehow perform the Kamehameha, she was certain that it'd do nothing to him but that didn't matter, either. Suno wasn't worried because she had absolute faith that Goku would arrive soon.
The ground shook as Tao Pai Pai's pillar impacted with the earth. Suno hated to admit but it was a testament to the man's precision that the pillar landed in the exact same spot as last time. He stalked towards Suno and the tower as Upa came charging out of the trees with a rock clenched between his fists and Suno put out an arm to hold Upa back. She could understand how he felt but trying to fight Tao Pai Pai was suicide.
"The Dragon Ball," Tao said bluntly, "Where is it?" Suno only glared up at him. Tao sighed and squeezed his fists until the knuckles popped. "I'm not a patient man, girl, so I will only ask this once more. Where. Is. The Dragon Ball?" Suno smiled.
"I don't have it," she said calmly. She knew Tao Pai Pai could kill her but she had no reason to fear. She closed her eyes and could feel Goku's presence.
"Then who does?" Tao asked incredulously as he cast his eyes at Upa. To the boy's credit, he didn't flinch. Suno only smiled sweetly and slowly pointed up. Tao looked up suspiciously.
OoOoOoO
Goku was flying down the length of Korin Tower on Nimbus back towards the ground and grinning was the wind whipped through her spiky hair. She was feeling so much better now. She knew that if she found Tao Pai Pai again that she could kick his butt! Which wouldn't be a problem with the Dragon Radar. Suddenly, Goku's ears twitched and she heard a sound from far below. She could hear Tao Pai Pai and Suno talking. That worked out pretty well! Now she wouldn't have to go looking for Tao Pai Pai! She hopped off Nimbus and hurtled toward the ground feet first.
Those feet were soon driven into the face of Tao Pai Pai and smashed him into the ground. She hopped away from him and put herself between Tao and Suno and Upa as Tao pulled himself out of the ground while holding the back of his head.
"Hey Goku," Suno greeted her casually. Part of Goku wanted to hug Suno but she knew that this wasn't time though she did look over her shoulder to smile at her friend. Then she turned back to Tao who was looking at her like a ghost.
"How?" he asked in disbelief. "How are you alive?!" Goku didn't say anything. She had nothing to say to him. She pivoted her body away from Tao and glared at him with her fists balled at her sides. Tao glowered at her and tossed away his longcoat. "Fine!" he spat as he moved into a guard. "I'll just charge twice for killing you!" Tao pulled back a fist and charged forward but he was so slow to Goku. Had she really been so afraid of this? She put out a hand to block Tao with plenty of time to spare. Tao tried to pull his fist away but Goku wasn't letting go. She yanked on Tao's arm to pull him down and stuck out her other fist to punch him in the jaw. Then she stomped on his foot and pivoted to drive her elbow into his chin and at last released Tao to send him flying. As Tao got to his feet again, Goku could see the look in his eyes. Now he was the one afraid. That made Goku feel good.
She darted towards Tao Pai Pai and dodged his roundhouse kick with an afterimage to appear beside him and throw out a kick of her own. By the last fraction of a second, Tao was able to leap away and handspring backwards twice to create some distance. Distance that Goku closed immediately before she leaped into the air to hammer him across the mouth with a left hook. Tao staggered away and brought a hand to his mouth as Goku landed. His fingers came away bloody and his eyes widened in shock.
"It appears… I underestimated you," Tao admitted as he returned to his guard. "It's time for me to get serious!" Tao charged her again and Goku was actually surprised by his speed this time. But it still wasn't enough. Goku and Tao sprinted across the clearing in a blisteringly fast precise exchange of punches and kicks. Tao had the longer reach by far but Goku made for a small target. Tao managed to finally get enough breathing room to swing his arm in a wide underhanded arc that released a cluster of yellow balls of light from his palm. They flew at Goku but she ducked under them easily and the treeline behind her burst apart in a violent explosion as she leaped up to drive her knee into his nose.
OoOoOoO
Tao Pai Pai had known all his life that almost nothing could challenge him. Maybe the Demon King could have but he had been sealed away before Tao was old enough to fight. For a brief time, his older brother challenged him but, in time, Tao had far surpassed him. For hundreds of years, Tao has known he was all but invincible. Now for the first time in his life, Tao was being tested. Challenged. And he was crumbling.
Tao could not remember what it was like to be pushed to the limit. He could not remember what his limit was. He had lived so long and won every battle so easily that to have an opponent that was his equal, that was his superior, was terrifying him. Because of this, even though the girl had yet to land a killing blow, Tao was dying. Because that fear was eating him alive from the inside out. It was slowing him down, making his strikes erratic and his blocking staggered. She was going to kill him. How could she not? He'd tried to kill her, after all.
Faced with his own mortality as he continued the desperate struggle for his life, Tao began to feel every minute of his near three hundred years. All his triumphs, all his battles. Everyone that he had met and killed, his impeccable taste and his refined dignity. His martial arts skill and power. Everything he'd known, everything he'd done and been. They were all just… chains. Chains that were weighing heavy on his soul, bending his neck before the axe.
OoOoOoO
Goku and Tao leaped away from each other again and, despite how angry he made her, Goku couldn't help feeling a little worried for Tao Pai Pai. While his breathing was labored and he was covered in sweat, her pulse was steady and her breathing measured. His eyes were wide and crazed and bits of foam flecked at the corners of his mouth. The guy looked rabid. He stuck out his arm and pointed a finger at her. This time, Goku could actually see it start to glow.
"I will not be killed by the likes of you!" Tao declared defiantly as Goku brought her hands down to her side. Tao sneered at her. "Fine! Match your pitiful Kamehameha against me! I will show you its inferiority once again!" For the first time since she landed, Goku spoke.
"Kaaaameeee… haaaameee…"
"Dodonpa!"
"Haaaa!" The wide blue beam collided with the thin yellow beam and they struggled against one another as the ground was scorched under their collision and wild sparks of energy burst and flittered away. Tao gripped his wrist with his other hand and tried to push more energy into the Dodonpa but Goku thrust her hands forward and the Dodonpa was overwhelmed and Tao was hit dead on to fly backwards and burrow into the ground. Goku let her hands drop to her side as Suno and Upa let out a cheer. Until Tao's hand burst out of the earth and those cheers turned to shrieks.
"How?!" Tao Pai Pai demanded as he clawed his way out of the ground. He was bruised and bloody and missing a tooth. He was on his hands and knees and his whole body was shaking. "How can you be this strong?!" Goku didn't say anything, she just kept glaring. Why did she have to tell him anything? "It's not fair! I was only gone three days!" Then Tao did something that shocked Goku. His arms fell out from under him and his face fell into the dirt as he broke down into sobs. "Please… please don't kill me!" he begged. "I don't want to die!" Goku frowned at the beaten man. It was… a little sad.
"I don't want to kill you," Goku assured him. Well, part of her did, but inside she really didn't. Especially now. It was different than if she were fighting him and if it just happened. Now he'd given up. To kill him now would… it would be wrong. "But I don't want you to hurt anyone else, either." She pointed an accusing finger at Tao Pai Pai and he looked up at her. "I want you to promise me you'll never hurt anyone ever again!" Tao nodded furiously, grabbing for any chance at life.
"I promise, I promise!" he pledged on his hands and knees, bowing before Goku like the student before the master. Goku nodded.
"And I want the Dragon Balls back! Where do you have them?"
OoOoOoO
That was it. That was Tao Pai Pai's out. He forced himself not to laugh as he pointed over to his longcoat.
"They're in my pocket!" he told her and ran over to the discarded clothing. That wasn't all he had stashed away in his coat. He could feel Goku following close behind and had to fight to keep from grinning. 'That's it,' he thought, 'Stay right behind me.' Tao Pai Pai had never had much love for conventional weapons. They were costly and annoying and he was stronger than them anyway. But in this case…
Tao Pai Pai leaped into the air and left Son Goku far behind on the ground below, cackling as he turned to look down at her. He held up a grenade in one hand and pulled the pin with a manic glee as he tossed it down at her. "This is what you get for taking Tao Pai Pai lightly, you stupid brat!" he called as the grenade flew at her, "Now die!"
OoOoOoO
Goku watched Tao leap away although she wasn't surprised by his actions. More just… disappointed. She was getting ready to jump up after him when something fell out of the sky. It got close enough for her to see it and, although she had no idea what it was, she was pretty sure it was bad. She glared at the strange device and smacked it back up into the sky with an open-handed slap.
OoOoOoO
All Tao Pai Pai had to do now was wait for the explosion. It would kill the little brat or at least injure her enough to take away her advantage and then he'd kill her again. This time he'd shoot her in the face. After that, it would just be the two other brats and he would be one billion zeni richer. But more importantly than that, Tao Pai Pai would once again be the strongest thing on planet Earth, invincible and unopposed. It was at that moment that the grenade came sailing back up into view, less than an inch from his face.
"Oh," Tao said in a small voice just before the grenade detonated. The heat melted his skin and drove shards of shrapnel into his lungs, throat, and eyes. The force of the explosion sent him hurtling away. And suddenly, all of Tao Pai Pai was nothing at all.
OoOoOoO
Goku watched the explosion before looking back at Suno and Upa. She smiled at them and they ran to hug her. Goku giggled as she hugged her friends back and lifted them up off the ground, spinning them around in a circle before setting them back down.
"Upa?" she said to the younger boy. He nodded at her and Goku could already see the joy of the moment starting to disappear. "We're going to wish your father back." Upa gasped in surprise although it was clear he wasn't quite sure what that meant. Goku walked over to Tao Pai Pai's longcoat and fished the Dragon Balls out of his pockets. She handed them to Suno, who tucked them back into her knapsack as she spoke. "We're going to wish back everyone who was taken away by the Red Ribbon Army!" Goku said with a defiantly balled fist. "And I'm going to make sure they don't hurt anyone else ever again!" Suno's eyes widened both with understanding and surprise at Goku's newfound determination.
"Goku," she asked, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Goku nodded and put a hand on Suno's shoulder as she smiled at her friend.
"Suno, you and me are going to take down the Red Ribbon Army once and for all!" She threw back her head and called out to the sky. "Nimbus!" The bright yellow cloud swirled down triumphantly from the skies and Goku hopped onto it, pulling Suno up with her. "You'll have your father back soon, Upa!" She promised before Nimbus flew off again. Part of Suno was wondering just how the two of them were going to defeat the Red Ribbon Army but she knew she really had nothing to fear. She was getting stronger herself and it seemed like Goku was getting stronger all the time. What could go wrong?