Chapter 10
The crowd cheered as the announcer/commentator/referee jumped to the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have been waiting for has finally arrived! Yes, it's the final round of the Tenkaichi Boudukai which will determine who is the strongest fighter on Earth! Before we begin let me introduce the contestants who made it to the finals." He then announced the names of the contestants one by one while the crowd speculated which one of them was their mysterious savior who had saved them from the cyborgs. Upa and TaoPaiPai were the favorite bets.
"And now without further ado, we begin the first match. Contestants Arbi and Tra please come to the stage."
The two men went up to the stage and began their fight. After twenty minutes of punching, dodging and kicking, Tra was finally able to knock down Arbi enough so he couldn't get up in time for the tenth count, so Tra was declared the winner.
Next, it was Ry versus Upa. The crowd cheered in anticipation of a great fight from their possible savior. Upa walked to the stage confidently, bowed to his opponent and got ready in a battle stance. The fight began. Ry attacked first. Upa easily blocked every single kick and punch. The crowd cheered loudly. In just the few minutes since this fight started, it was already more exciting than the previous one. Upa moved with surprising speed and agility. Supper was impressed. He's faster than me, she thought, her third eye carefully following his every movement. It was now Upa's turn to attack. Ry was obviously no match for Upa, he was already tired while Upa looked calm as ever as he delivered three quick punches to Ry's head, chest and stomach, none of which he was able to block or dodge. Ry staggered for while, trying desperately to keep his balance, but failed. He fell face down on the floor. The referee started counting, but Ry was already unconscoius, so Upa was declared the winner. The crowd went wild.
And now it was TaoPaiPai against Supper. The crowd was excited as the half man-half robot and the sweet, if a bit too skinny girl went to the stage. Supper adjusted her cap and bowed to her opponent the way she saw other fighters do. TaoPaiPai just watched her disdainfully, as if she wasn't worth the effort.
In the fighters area, a pair and half of eyes watched the fighters intently. Tea was worried for his sister. He knew she was fast and like him, can learn and adapt quickly, but she was no match for the starnge man. He's seen some of TaoPaiPai's fight previously. The man was very strong and showed no mercy to his opponents. He left most of them with serious injury, stopping short of killing them just to avoid disqualification.
Nearby, Upa watched TaoPaiPai carefully. What is he doing here? he thought. How could he even be alive? It was so long ago, but Upa could still remember clearly the day TaoPaiPai killed his father. He would've killed him too, but Son Goku had saved him and killed TaoPaiPai. He saw it with his own eyes. TaoPaiPai had thrown a hand grenade at Goku, but he kicked it back at him and exploded. They were sure he was dead then. But apparently he wasn't. Upa felt sorry for the girl. TaoPaiPai will not be gentle with her. The man had no honor. It was that dishonor that did him in the first time. He feigned repentance, knowing the two naive young boys would believe him. As soon as their backs were turned, he threw the grenade at them, intending to blow them up, but it was he instead who was blown to bits by his own bomb, thanks to Goku's quick actions. And now he's back. Somebody had repaired him. The world sure as hell doesn't need another killer, Upa thought bitterly.
The fight began, if it even could be called that. Supper was quick, and she's learnt a trick or two from her previous fights. But that was nothing compared to the skills of a hired killer and accomplished martial artist from the Tsuru school of martial arts. TaoPaiPai beat and kicked her around, not giving her a chance to fight back, or even to stand up, all the while with a bored expression on his face.
TaoPaiPai was bored. For twenty years he had been hiding while the cyborgs terrorized the populace. He knew better than to mess with the Red Ribbon Army's creations. And all that while, business was slow. Who would want to hire a killer when everybody was being exterminated for free by the crazy cyborgs? So he bid his time, waiting for the day when somebody will finally defeat the cyborgs, or they run out of batteries (or whatever their energy source was), whichever came first. Now that they were gone, he could finally have some fun. So he entered the Bodoukai. He could do with the money, as business was still very slow. Moreover, this could be a great promotion of his skills to potential hirers out there. It was nice to break those losers' bones as well, though it'a pity he couldn't kill them, or he'll be disqualified. But even this was getting boring. He watched the girl in front of him, on her hands and feet on the floor, bruised, blood trickling from the side of her mouth. He hadn't broken any of her bones ...yet. The girl didn't know a thing about fighting. This will be over way too soon. He decided to let her get up. She did, just before the tenth count.
That's it, Supper thought. He's too fast and too strong for me. But she refused to give up. She threw her cap down on the floor and faced him. Just as she thought, he stopped to stare at her third eye. She took advantage of this moment to deliver the strongest kick she could muster, aimed at the lower part of his face, the only part of him she could see that was covered with flesh, hoping to hurt him, if only a little.
That didn't happen. He didn't even seem to feel it as he moved close to her and grabbed her by the neck. "Nice try, kid." she heard him say softly so only she could hear him. "Did Tenshinhan teach you that?" The look of surprise on her face was all he needed to confirm the girl's identity. So, the traitor had spawned a brat. The money can wait, he decided. Revenge comes first. He'll kill the girl, but not here. He'll take her back to his brother. He had a score to settle with the traitor too. With one swift move, his iron hand went against the shocked girl's back and she went limp.
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