Kakarot didn't bother warning the girls. Without a moment of hesitation, he rushed for the ki signature. He flew through the sky in a blazing line, until the man was in sight. He wasn't flying under his own power, instead riding the head of a statue of some man (Commander Red) that had been snapped off at the neck.
He stopped in mid-air and went through the motions, this wouldn't be like the fights with Grandpa, Kakarot knew, so he might as well start off by testing what the assailant could do. Putting half his strength into the Kamehameha, Kakarot aimed carefully, and released the wave of blazing blue light at his opponent.
Tao, on his end, sensed Kakarot nearly as soon as Kakarot could sense him. Narrowing his eyes at the growing blue light, he sneered "A student of the Turtle school!" he shouted, "It's time you see a real destructive wave! Dodon-Pa!" he jerked his finger forwards, and the glowing beam rushed forward.
The two blasts collided mid-air between them, and exploded with a furious thunder clap. For miles around, people looked to the sky, to check for dark clouds.
"What are you doing, boy?" Tao asked, glaring at his opponent, "How can a student of the turtle use the Sky Dance?"
"What do you mean?" Kakarot asked, raising his arm in a threat display, his tail curling protectively around his waist, "I don't know anything about a turtle."
"Then who taught you that move? The Kamehameha?"
"My Grandpa!"
Tao narrowed his eyes, "What is the man's name, boy?"
"Son Gohan." Kakarot said.
Tao grinned evilly, the son of the Turtle Hermit's famous star pupil! "And where is your Grandfather now, young Son?"
"I killed him."
Tao's smile vanished, and he blinked in honest surprise. He slipped from his perch on the rock, and he hung in the air, floating under only his own power as his vehicle continued to sail towards the jungle. "You..."
"Killed him."
"...Why?" he asked.
"Because he wouldn't let me kill anyone else." Kakarot answered, "And because he was strong, and I wanted to beat him! It took me fifteen years, but I did it."
Tao blinked again, but a smile began tugging at his lips, "You... like killing people?" he asked, a full smile blossoming on his face. What a find!
Kakarot made a savage grin, "People, animals, houses, whatever. It's fun to fight, and if you're weak- well! That's their fault, isn't it? They should have been stronger."
Tao moved closer, and extended his hand. It wasn't a martial arts form, but Kakarot slid backwards in the air, wary, all the same. "Would you like to join my School?" Tao asked.
"What's a school?"
"I'll teach you to kill better than anyone else. So that there exist none who are better at killing- who are stronger, than you."
Kakarot's eyes widened, and he was tempted, to be sure, "Like Grandpa taught me to fight?"
"No. Even better than your grandfather ever could. I will teach you techniques that will make you unrivaled. Your potential- I could see you overshadowing even I some day."
Kakarot considered it for several long moments, before returning back to his martial stance. "I'll do it- if you can defeat me."
Tao grinned. The boy had potential- more than he had ever seen in a student, even more than Tenshinhan. He would be the Crane School's new star pupil. His own apprentice.
But he wasn't assassin material yet.
"Consider this your first lesson, then." Tao began, and attacked.
...
The newly-minted General Dark was one of the first to leave the room, hurrying to get back to the relative safety of the front lines. Red Ribbon's central fortress was the place where most official executions happened. With General Yellow sent after the Three-Star, Tao after the Five-Star, and White's Captain Gero working on the Seven-Star, General Dark wasn't exactly sure what Blue's former forces were supposed to be doing.
What his forces were supposed to be doing. The pudgy man hurried along, praying that orders would be sent over the radio, and that it would be with objectives that were possible. One of the reasons the Red Ribbon had come so far, was that anything the army attempted, they fought to the death to achieve. Because failure was death anyway.
He was already in his plane and halfway back to Blue's- now his, base, when his instructions came in.
March on West City. Take West City. Take Capsule Corporation.
It had been a long-term goal. In the world they lived in, Capsules were nearly indispensable. Everyone bought Capsules, and the vehicles that the corporation made along with them. No matter the nation, no matter the company.
Capturing Capsule Corporation wouldn't just be a huge boon to them, it'd be a hard blow to the rest of the world. King Furry wouldn't be able to replenish his own supply of mechas, while the Red Ribbons would. That alone might mean an eventual guaranteed victory.
It was an important task.
Dark sighed, and began to contact his new forces.
Tao and Kakarot dashed across the sky, meeting in one clash after another, exchanging only a few blows before being knocked apart again.
The elder martial artist had the edge in speed and technique, just as he had expected. While it was true that Kakarot was using the Sky Dance, he was doing it instinctively, while Tao treated it as any other martial art. Kakarot would throw a punch, and where if they were on the ground Tao would have had to exert energy dodging, in the sky he merely allowed gravity to take slightly more of a hold and avoided the attack entirely.
Once he was under Kakarot, he lashed out with both hands, grabbing the ankles of the Saiyan and swinging him around, sending Kakarot into a flying cartwheel, unable to defend against the flurry of scattered ki-blasts Tao threw at him in the meantime.
Kakarot winced as the barrage made contact with him, but he shrugged off the worst of it before going back on the offensive. Ki gathering in his arms he slammed two balls of light together before releasing the channeled explosion at Tao in a quicker almost-kamehameha. Tao avoided it easily enough, before putting his fingers to his forehead. "Solar Flare!"
Kakarot roared in pain as the light brighter than the sun hit his eyes. Writhing, he was unable to respond in time when Tao delivered a kick to his gut, and then a chop to his shoulder, and a shove to the back of his head.
Kakarot spun through the air, until he collided with the side of a tree, splintering the wood in his impact.
"Excellent durability." Tao commented, coming to a land close by. "But stamina alone cannot secure your win. Do you admit my superiority-GAH!" Kakarot grinned fiercely as he released his own wave of light.
The solar flare was a simple thing really- ki produced a bright light as a side-effect. Just channel more energy into the light rather than the substance. It helped that Kakarot had always been a quick study.
His tail snaked around the martial artist's ankle and slammed the man into the ground, and Kakarot crashed through the canopy after him. He landed on top of the older man, making Tao cough roughly and struggle to his feet. Kakarot capitalized on the blindness by punching with everything he had. He pummeled the older man's chest and face, laughing all the while, until Tao lashed out with one foot and caught Kakarot's ankle. The Saiyan spun once more in an unwanted cartwheel. His momentum only stopped when Taopaipai launched another Dodonpa. This time it struck true, and Kakarot was blasted through another tree and back into the open air.
Tao followed, breathing hard.
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