Fighting the Whirlwind! Danger of the Blue Rose!
Goku frowned at the blade-covered monster that was bearing down on her and Krillin. She didn't know how to attack it so she charged forward and threw a powerful punch to the chest of the machine. She was surprised that it didn't try to block and she hit it dead on. Immediately though, she pulled her hand back and cried out in pain. She stared down at her knuckles in shock. She was bleeding. Not a cut, scrape, or busted lip like when she'd been in the world tournament, she was really bleeding.
"A-are you okay, Goku?" Krillin asked in horrorstruck shock. If this thing could hurt Goku like that then what chance did he have? She nodded and flexed her fingers. She put on a smile even though she winced.
"I'm fine," she promised, "We just have to be careful!" No sooner had she said that then Android Nine charged at them in a flash of silver. They barely dodged in time as it swung one leg in a crescent kick that sliced through stone and showered sparks down onto them. They both rolled to their feet and, purely by accident, threw out simultaneous kiai waves that knocked the Android off its feet and sent up another shower of sparks when it landed. Goku gasped with stars in her eyes and clapped her hands to her cheeks. "You can do the kiai now, too?" she asked Krillin excitedly.
"Me and Yamcha pushed each other to learn it," Krillin said with a grin. Goku clapped in appreciation and Krillin was so distracted by praise that he almost didn't notice Android Nine barreling down on them. "Look out!" he cried in warning. They leaped simultaneously to the opposite sides and let Android Nine slam into the wall. "If we keep hitting it with kiai, it can't touch us!" Goku nodded and the two of them quickly got into their guards as the robot charged at them again. Whatever else it was, the machine was fast. They threw swipes through the air and let out kiai, Goku's distressingly trailed by blood, that slammed into the Android. This time, they only staggered it. They struck again but this time the Android dodged. It was learning. It clung by its feet to the ceiling and threw out its arm. To their shock, its hand shot out on a steel chain. Goku grabbed the chain out of the air and yanked Android Nine down to the ground. She swung it around, slamming it against the walls. Krillin smiled excitedly. It looked like they were going to beat this guy no problem! Until Krillin noticed that the more Goku did, the worse she started to bleed. "Be careful!" he cried.
Goku smiled despite the pain and shook her hand. "I'm fine!" she assured Krillin even as blood flew everywhere. Krillin paled at the sight but their attention was pulled away as the chain shifted in Goku's hand. Android Nine slowly rose to its feet and several of its blades were chipped and bent. For a moment, that made them optimistic before the android shook the broken blades off like a dog shaking off water and new blades burst into place where the exposed metallic skeleton had been. Goku went to tug at the chain again but the android, seemingly in a fit of insanity, hacked the chain away and found itself with one less hand. At least until it grew another hand entirely out of sawblades.
Goku and Krillin went back into their guards as the Android's siren wailed and its blades revved. Goku was determined to overcome this challenge. Krillin was determined not to scream and run. The three charged at one another, all screaming for different reasons.
OoOoOoO
Bulma had given up on unsuccessfully performing The Twist and was now trying her hand at The Running Man, standing in place as she pumped her arms backwards and moved her legs… well, as if she was running. The door was not impressed. Suno had been watching with her hands on her hips and shared the door's opinion.
"Not that this isn't fun," she said dryly, "But why don't I try?" With that, she put her hands across her chest and started kicking her legs out in front of her. Bulma stopped her dance to gawk at Suno incredulously before she burst into a fit of laughter.
"What kind of dance is that?!" she asked. Suno huffed but didn't stop dancing.
"It's a traditional dance back in Jingle Village!" she said defensively. Bulma gave a derisive snort and Suno's face reddened. "Well let's see you try something!" Bulma rose to the challenge and promptly flopped to the ground. Suno was so confused that she almost stopped dancing before Bulma suddenly started doing The Worm.
OoOoOoO
Goku and Krillin were sweating and breathing heavily with exertion as Android Nine was hunched over and waiting like an animal coiled and ready to strike. Goku winced as the sweat got into the cut on her hand. The good news was that it was the only cut she had gotten since they were using kiai to keep the android away. Krillin was pretty much unhurt for the same reason. The bad news was that they weren't hurting the android much and it wasn't getting tired. They'd need some way to hit it without having to actually touch it.
Android Nine made a strange clicking noise and tilted its head inquisitively to the side as if waiting for them to make a move. Goku reached for her Power Pole on her back… only for her fingers to run through empty air as she remembered that she'd given the Power Pole to Suno. Her eyes looked around the room for something she might use as a weapon when her eyes fell on the broken chain that the android had cut away. She went to reach for the chain but the second she made a move, a rocket-powered piece of chainsaw fired out at her. It was only Goku's superhuman speed that kept her from losing a finger. She hopped back and looked at Krillin in a silent proposal of a plan. Krillin nodded his agreement and Goku ran for the chain. Android Nine launched another chainsaw at Goku but Krillin buffeted it away with a wave of kiai. It fired another but Krillin blocked it again. Now the machine's full attention was on Krillin and it fired a barrage of self-replacing, rocket-powered chainsaw blades.
"How many chainsaws does this thing have?!" Krillin cried in exasperation as a few of the deflected blades still barely missed his shiny head which was all the shinier for his nervous sweating.
OoOoOoO
Several weeks earlier…
Archimedes Gero rubbed his mustache as he looked up at the bare-minimum mountain of chainsaws he'd requested and looked back down at his blueprints. His eyebrows furrowed in thought as he frowned and "hmmm'd" and "hrmmm'd" and had to come to a decision. Given the amount of chainsaws he had in relation to the design he had for Android Nine, he would either have to build an android that was ten thousand feet tall- which was a design that he both lacked the resources, time, and manpower for- or he would have to break the laws of physics.
"What the hell," he muttered as he strapped on his mad science goggles and pulled on his mad science gloves. "I've always wanted to invent a pocket dimension!" He laughed a mad scientist laugh and got down to some mad science.
OoOoOoO
Goku swung the chain over her head so fast that she was creating an updraft as she kicked up a chunk of the floor and hit it at Android Nine to get its attention. It whirled on Goku and made another horrible metallic shriek as it prepared to charge. She let one end of the chain fly with a fraction of a second to spare. The steel wrapped around the mechanical monster and ensnared it. It squirmed and thrashed but Goku held it in a vice-like grip with all her strength.
"Now, Krillin!" she called. The monk nodded and moved his arms with blurring speed to strike the android with an unrelenting barrage of kiai from which it had no way to escape. It writhed and shrieked under Krillin's assault before she yanked up on the chain to fling Android Nine into the air and yanked it back down to smash it into the ground. The walls shook and the floor cracked with the force of Goku's slam. There was a long silence when the rumbling stopped and for a moment Goku and Krillin thought they had beaten it. Then there was a horrible wrenching sound as the chainsaws pushed against the chains and tore them apart. Android Nine stood slowly as the broken blades were once again replaced with new ones. It spread out its arms and legs in an X-shape and splayed its blades out wide. There was a flash of red and it was all the warning Goku needed. She sprinted over to Krillin as the cave was filled with a whirlwind of shrieking, screaming, bloodthirsty steel.
OoOoOoO
Suno was committing to what could only be described as the world's most aggressive Riverdance while Bulma did an excessively competitive rendition of The Robot. They both came to a stop and took a tired breath.
"Well, this isn't getting anywhere," Suno said in exasperation. Bulma looked back up at the carving on the ceiling and frowned, tapping a finger against her bottom lip.
"There's two people over the door," she observed. "Maybe we have to… dance together?" Suno gave a resigned sigh and stood next to Bulma. They took a few steps back and leaned back before leaning forward, then turned to the side and sidestepped a few times to the left and the right before turning again. It was at this precise moment that they realized how awkward it was to do The Electric Slide to no music.
OoOoOoO
Sawblades were jutting out of the stone walls in all directions and the ringing in Krillin's ears finally subsided from the horrible sound of metal on stone as the last few sparks slowly trickled down. Krillin opened his eyes to discover that he was unharmed and that Goku was standing in front of him with her arms spread wide. She was breathing heavily and Krillin had never seen her in such pain, not even when Jackie Chun had used the Bankoku Bikkuri Shou on her.
"G-Goku?" he asked in a tremulous voice. She gave him a pained smile and fell forward. It was only then that Krillin understood the source of Goku's pain. Her back was a raw, bloody ruin with gashes along her arm, legs, and back; cuts going in every direction. His face paled before he looked back up to see Android Nine. It was bare and hunched forward. It turned to look at him with that same frozen, chilling expression. Krillin bit his lip and took a step back in a panic before he looked back down at Goku. She'd saved his life. If those blades could hurt Goku then they would have torn him to shreds.
A sudden and steely determination filled Krillin up. He wouldn't run. He wouldn't be afraid. Not anymore. Not when Goku needed him. Time seemed to slow down as Android Nine shrieked with murderous intent as the blades burst out all over its body again. It spread its limbs and splayed its chainsaws… and Krillin saw it. An exposure of the glowing red core. Krillin knew it was his only shot and he knew what he had to do. The six incense burns on his forehead glowed white as power filled his whole body and was drawn down to his hands as he put them at his sides.
"Kamehameha!" The bleam flew from his hands like a blue cyclone and struck Android Nine in the exposed core. It gave one last shriek as it exploded although this one seemed to hold more terror and pain than rage and hate, as if it knew that it were dying. Krillin threw himself to the ground as fiery shrapnel exploded in every direction. When everything had finally settled, Krillin got back up to his feet and carefully helped Goku up. "Can you walk?" he asked her. When she gave no reply, he put her over his shoulders and started to head out of the tunnel.
"Hey," Goku said weakly as Krillin walked, "I knew you could do the Kamehameha." Krillin smiled and nodded. She'd been right. Goku was usually right about those sorts of things. Krillin tried to blow sweat away as it dripped down his face since his hands were occupied. It was getting kind of warm...
OoOoOoO
General Blue heard an explosion and sighed. That probably meant that the ridiculous metal monster had been destroyed. This day was turning into a disaster.
"If you want something done right…" he muttered to himself as he undid his tie and unbuttoned his shirt to toss them both aside before handing his hat to one of his soldiers. With a weary sigh, he entered the cave.
OoOoOoO
Suno and Bulma were down to the last dance they could think of. They'd taken to singing a capella beats to make the dancing less awkward and were now swinging their hips from side to side in time. They stuck out their arms with the palms up before folding their arms one over the other. Then they brought their hands up behind their heads and down to their hips before throwing their arms up in the air at the music's crescendo. They waited for a few seconds to see if anything would finally happen.
The door was still unimpressed. Suno shrieked in frustration and ran to the door, pounding her fists against the stone.
"We tried every stupid dance we could think of!" she moaned in impotent fury. Bulma joined her and the two beat a percussive demand on the doors.
"Open!" they cried in unison. "Open, open, open open, open!" Finally they threw their bodies against the doors… which flew open with no resistance. They laid there for a few moments in shock before rolling onto their backs and staring up at the ceiling. They looked at each other before slowly turning to look at the door's hinges.
It was a push door.
They slowly looked at each other again. Bulma spoke, "This never happened. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
Bulma was the first to get up and held out a hand to help Suno to her feet. Suno smiled and took the hand as the two of them took stock of the room they'd danced their way into. It looked like some sort of burial chamber. A skeleton sat on a stone chair in the center of the room and was covered with somewhat crude jewelry and the walls were festooned with what they assumed were religious tokens. Standing behind the skeleton in a row were solemn-faced stone statues that were armed and armored. But most importantly of all was the Dragon Ball. It had landed oh-so perfectly in the skeleton's hands.
Bulma took a few careful steps towards the skeleton with Suno close behind. They were both waiting for some new horrible trap to assail them as they tip-toed closer and closer. Bulma stuck out her tongue in concentration and wiped sweat from her forehead as she reached out with her other hand and delicately grabbed the Ball. Bulma went to pull the Ball away…
The "Crack!" that echoed off the walls made both girls want to jump out of their skin. Bulma slowly looked down at the Dragon Ball in her hands. There were also… hands in her hands. She fought the urge to scream and carefully pried the hands away and put them in the skeleton's lap.
"Hey," Suno whispered, "Did one of those statues move?" Bulma shook her head nervously and sucked in her lips. Statues didn't move, right? One of the hands slid out of the skeleton's lap and clattered to the floor. The two were so on-edge as it was that the sound made them shriek and run back the way they'd came with Bulma carrying the Dragon Ball high overhead.
OoOoOoO
Krillin heard the screaming and looked down the right pathway with concern. He had to jump back to avoid Bulma and Suno bowling him over as they ran right past him and were still screaming. Eventually they came back to him, running backwards. After that they stopped screaming.
"So, what'd you guys…" Bulma started to say before she noticed Goku on Krillin's back. "Oh my gosh!" she gasped. "Put her down, quick!"
"What happened?" Suno asked with wide eyes. What could possibly hurt Goku this badly? She took off her knapsack and opened it as Krillin let Goku gently down. She pulled a canteen out of the bag as Krillin spoke.
"There was some kinda… chainsaw robot," Krillin said numbly as Suno poured the water over Goku's cuts. The other girl squirmed slightly. "I think it was the Red Ribbon Army's. I mean, it had to be, right? She put herself between me and the blades and then… I blew it up with the Kamehameha." Bulma, meanwhile, was taking off her shirt.
"What the heck are you doing?!" Suno asked incredulously. It became clear soon enough as Bulma tore her shirt into strips and crouched down to wrap the strips of cloth around Goku's cuts. She fastened the strips with little knots and dumped the Dragon Ball into Suno's knapsack before hefting Goku onto her shoulders like she was giving the other girl a piggy-back ride.
"Oof," she muttered, "You're heavy for not being very big." Goku only groaned in reply. With that, the three continued their way back up the tunnel and towards the light of day.
"Hey," Krillin said in a weary breath, "Does it seem… warmer to you guys?" They all blinked as they realized that, yes, it had gotten quite a bit warmer than when they'd started walking down the cave. It wasn't just the fact that they were sweating because that could have come from physical exertion. The air was heavy and the ground under their feet was warm. Suddenly, the ground under their feet was also shaking. They blinked again before they started running in a panic.
"Stupid crappy magical piece of crap!" Bulma screamed in dismay. "Can't even freeze a stupid volcano for more than twenty minutes!" They kept running as the rumbling seemed to grow worse and worse. The light seemed to grow brighter and it looked like they'd be able to get out of the cave no…
"Well, well, well," said a shirtless, blue-eyed, and blonde-haired muscular man in blue pants and jackboots. Despite the terrifying circumstances, Bulma felt heat rise in her cheeks. "It appears you've done me a great service. I'm General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army," he held out a hand towards them with a smug expression on his face. "Now give me the Dragon Ball."
"No way!" Krillin and Suno said in unison as they moved into their guard stances. General Blue chuckled and adopted a guard of his own. It was, without a doubt, the strangest guard Suno had ever seen. He turned his hips to the side and that made enough sense but his back arm was pointed up and curled at the elbow as if he were flexing and his front arm was brought up with his forearm under his chin. Suno knew that Goku had said that Odori looked like dancing but this really looked like General Blue was going to dance with them. It seemed like a guard designed less for protection and more for… presentation.
"Then you have done me two kindnesses," he said and bent his knees slightly. "Because now that you have defeated the doctor's android, I can prove the superiority of man over machine. More specifically the Übermensch. You are welcome to try and defeat me but it is useless. You are children, merely human. I am something greater. I am the Übermensch. I have built myself into something superior. I was bred to be superior. The pinnacle of human achievement." He stuck a thumb proudly against his muscled chest and grinned smugly, "Now come and face the ultimate human, the perfect human. Come and face the Übermensch."
"You keep saying that word," Bulma put in suddenly. "I don't think that means what you think it means." The fighters blinked but maintained their guards. "I mean," she went on, "I guess technically an Übermensch could be seen as just a generic 'superior' man but it traditionally means a philosophical disconnect from the predetermined rights and wrongs of a society and living by your own moral-" Krillin cut her off by throwing a flying kick at General Blue's face. "Hey, I wasn't done!"
Krillin and Suno launched themselves at General Blue with ferocious attacks, Krillin's confidence spurred on by having performed the Kamehameha. To General Blue's credit, he was blocking their attacks and keeping pace with the pair. It was clear that he wasn't entirely talk although he did seem to show a predilection for protecting his face. He struck back with elegant twisting kicks and almost unnaturally smooth punches and chops. Although when they hit, despite the man's musculature, they didn't seem to have as much weight behind them as they should. Clearly the General favored style over substance. General Blue went for a sweep that Krillin and Suno jumped over in unison. Suno struck first with a knifehand blow that the Blue just weaved out of the way of which left him open to a palm strike to the nose from Krillin. He slammed against a stony wall from the force of the impact and brought a hand up to his nose. He looked down as he pulled his hand away… and started to tremble when he saw his blood.
"Y-you…" he spat as his whole body shook with fury. "You ruined my face!" Bulma thought that was kind of an overreaction. He was still pretty handsome, it was just a bloody nose. "I'll teach you to trifle with the mighty General Blue!" Something flashed in those crystalline blue eyes and suddenly… Krillin couldn't move. He tried but his muscles wouldn't listen. He couldn't even speak! General Blue charged forward and drove a hard kick up into Krillin's chest that launched him up into the air where he was battered with a series of lightning-fast jabs. Finally, General Blue raised one fist overhead and slammed it into Krillin's back to drive him into the ground with a hammerfist strike. Now it was down to two. General Blue wiped his nose and turned his attention back to Suno. He took a calming breath and resumed his guard. "Now then," he said, gesturing for her to approach him, "to the dance!"
They charged at each other and it truly was a dance. The both of them leaped and whirled through the air with spinning attacks, parrying each other and counterattacking and striking and retreating with blurring speed and elegant technique. Bulma supposed that, to someone who would be interested in this sort of thing, it would look really impressive. Goku would be loving this if she were lucid. Bulma herself didn't have any time for this crap. The volcano was going to finish thawing at literally any second and she was still too pretty to die.
"Hey, hot stuff!" she called to General Blue. When he didn't look, she whistled and squished her bra together to try and accentuate her C-Cup. "Over here!" she called in a singsong voice. Anything to get his attention and give Suno an opening.
"Give it a rest, child!" he scolded while never taking his eyes off of Suno. "As you say, I am pitching for the other team!" Bulma blinked as she figured out just what he had said.
"Oh, all right," she said as she unslung the foam gun from her shoulder. "Screw it!" she muttered and fired. She'd never shot the gun at a person before but he seemed like a dick anyway. The beam struck him in the back and Suno jumped out of the way to avoid being trapped in the gelatinous purple mound with him. Krillin finally stood up as it seemed that General Blue's control over him had been broken. "Let's go!" Bulma shouted and the three of them ran again. Thankfully, there were no Red Ribbon soldiers for them to deal with as they'd run away when the mountain started to shake.
"Nimbus!" Suno called and she and Krillin jumped onto the cloud as it swooped down. Bulma threw Goku onto the cloud and strapped on her sonic discs and the four flew off.
"This is not over!" General Blue swore as they left him behind and the volcano continued to rumble more and more violently. "This cannot hold me! I cannot be defeated by such tricks! You have not seen the last of me! I swear it! I am the Übermen-" he was drowned out suddenly by the volcano's eruption.
OoOoOoO
The foursome watched the volcano's eruption from a safe distance. It was scary to think that had almost been them but at the same time there was something… strangely beautiful about the sight.
"Do you think that General Blue guy survived?" Krillin asked. Bulma shrugged.
"Who cares?" she said flippantly and looked down at the radar. "Okay, the next Dragon Ball is… that way!" she pointed off towards the east and they took off. Goku gave a sudden groan.
"What'd I miss?" she asked wearily as she started to sit up. The other three just laughed. Goku laughed too although she wasn't sure why.
OoOoOoO
Mark Satan, better known by his "stage" name of Hercule, had really needed this trip back to North City. After his disastrous go in the Tenkaichi Budoukai, it was good to see his master again.
"I just don't understand," Mark told his master as the two sat in a noodle shop over two steaming bowls of udon noodles. "I trained so hard for so long and then I get kicked out in the first stage? It's not fair, Master!" Mark angrily picked up a shrimp out of his noodle bowl and bit into it. Mark's master, Lucian Ferris, was a great bull of a man that seemed to exclusively wear gi that were torn at the hems. His face had only two expressions; either a disapproving scowl or a proud smile. Three if you counted a distorted snarl of rage. He had thick gray eyebrows and a gray moustache. His head was bald save for two huge wings of gray hair that stuck off the sides of his head and connected to his gray mutton chops. He reached across the table and smacked Mark on the top of the head with the blade of his hand.
"I will not hear this whining from you!" he scolded and Mark looked down in embarrassment. Lucian struck him again. "You will look when I speak to you!" Mark winced and looked back up. "This man who defeated you. Did he disgrace himself in the tournament?"
"No," Mark began to say and shook his head, "He won the who-" Master Lucien struck him again.
"I know he won!" he snapped. "You are my star pupil, do you think I do not take interest in your endeavours?" Mark wearily rubbed at the slowly-growing welt on the top of his head and said nothing. "So this man who defeated you was the best. An old master with skill and experience that you are not prepared for. This does not mean that you are weak. It means that you must grow stronger. I have faith in you." Mark smiled gratefully.
"Thank you, Master," he said with a bow of his head. The two ate their udon in silence for a few minutes before Master Lucien spoke again.
"It is not only your abilities as a fighter that I have faith in," he told Mark. "I have faith in you as a person. You have a charisma to you, Mark. People listen when you speak. They believe in what you say. I see great things for you, my pupil. You will be a leader of men. A hero." Mark bowed his head gratefully again and Lucien looked over his shoulder. He snickered and Mark looked up at him with one eyebrow raised. "The man behind you at the bar. Look at his hair." Mark slowly looked over his shoulder.
The man sitting at the bar with his back to them was lean, dressed in green slacks and a beige polo shirt. He had jet black hair that was tied back in a ponytail that went down the middle of his back. There was a ribbon at the end of his hair and the ponytail was split into little spherical sections.
"The ribbon's a little silly," Mark said in a low voice, "But I don't see-" Master Lucien cut him off with more snickers.
"Doesn't it kind of look like a string of beads that women put up-" Master Lucien couldn't finish the sentence before he broke down into laughter. Mark blinked and stared at the hair. Now he couldn't unsee it and he was laughing too. They were reduced to helpless peals of laughter and Master Lucien was pounding his fist on the table. When they sat up and wiped the tears from their eyes… the man was standing in front of them. He had a hard, narrow face, beady dark eyes and a thin mustache.
"Is there some great joke that I have missed?" he asked with a cultured voice. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back and looked for all the world like someone who was supposed to be important. Master Lucien snickered again.
"Oh, nothing," he said and broke into a grin. "It's just… your hair!" The lean man raised an equally lean eyebrow.
"You are hardly one to talk," he said while flicking a finger at one of Lucien's silvery hair wings. Lucien's eyes widened with rage and Mark knew that the ponytailed man had made a horrible mistake. Lucien Ferris took great pride in his hair. He stood up out of his seat and scowled down at the other man.
"I'll teach you to mock me!" he snapped and dropped into a fighting stance. Before Mark could stop his master, he threw a powerful punch at the man, the kind of punch that Mark had seen shatter concrete pillars.
The other man stopped it with a finger.
"If my good clothes were not at the cleaners," the man said irritably as Mark and his master stared in shock, "You would not have been so foolish as to mock me." Lucien pulled his fist back and swung with a powerful right hook. "It's not often that I kill someone for free," the man said even as he effortlessly evaded Lucien's blow. In the blink of an eye he drove two fingers into Lucien's chest and punctured his heart. Then he used those same two fingers to crush his windpipe and finally drove those fingers into Lucien's brain. All too fast for Mark to see. He pulled the fingers away and Lucien slumped back into his seat. Dead. The man turned and started to walk for the door as Mark stared at his master's corpse in shock.
"Master?" he asked in a whisper. It was a struggle to get the word out, his voice thick with sorrow and disbelief. How… how could Master Lucien die so easily? Mark couldn't just let the man get away with this! He stood up from his seat with tears in his eyes and charged the man. "You bastard!" he screamed and let out a roar as he leaped into the air to attack. The man turned and with two strikes dislocated Mark's left hip and right shoulder. With one thumb, he sent Mark hurtling through a window to smash into a car in the street. As Mark sat in absolute agony and as unconsciousness came to swallow him up, he could only think of one thing: He had to get stronger.
OoOoOoO
Tao Pai Pai sighed as he headed out the door. He really hadn't wanted to kill anyone today. Not because he had a problem with killing- he was an assassin- killing was work but that was precisely the issue, he reflected as he walked down the street. Because killing was work, he tried not to take that work home. Besides, he was having a sale today. Who was going to pay fifty million zeni for him to murder someone when he'd kill them for free if he was angry enough?
"Excuse me," said a young woman's voice. "Mercenary Tao?" He looked around and his eyes fell on a young woman with blue-green eyes and purple hair cut in that "flapper" style. How… how had she snuck up on him? She wore a green sleeveless shirt with the insignia of the Red Ribbon Army as well as orange pants and dark red boots. "My name is Colonel Violet. I'm with the Red Ribbon Army. My commander understands you're having a sale today?" Tao smiled to himself and cracked his knuckles.
"Indeed I am," he said, unable to hide the murderous twinkle in his eye.