Chapter 11
"TaoPaiPai wins!" The referee announced when the girl fell unconscious to the floor. He was met by cheers from the crowd, mostly street punks and bad guy wannabes who spouted rude words as encouragement. Others were shocked, as they felt sorry for the girl. TaoPaiPai paid no attention to the spectators' reactions. The announcer was about to call for stretchers when TaoPaiPai picked her up. He turned to the announcer. "Don't worry about her. I'll take her to the infirmary."
Tea was very worried now. He was about to jump up to the stage to get his sister away from the man when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to face Videl.
"Damn it Videl. Let go. He'll kill her."
"He won't, or he'll be disqualified," she said. "Anyway, it's our turn now."
Indeed it was. After making sure that Supper was taken care of, the announcer announced the next match. "Next round, Videl versus Tea."
Tea and Videl climbed on to the stage. Tea wasn't so eager to fight anymore. He was still worried about his sister. Although the announcer had assured him that she was fine, he was still worried about TaoPaiPai. The man was not to be trusted. He knew that he was overprotective of his sister sometimes, but he couldn't. help it. After all, she was the only family he had left. As such he didn't concentrate as much as he should in the fight.
"Ready Tea?" Videl asked. Tea didn't answer. He just nodded and got into a defense stance. Videl attacked.
Tea barely dodged Videl's fist. He countered with his own, aimed at her face, which she easily blocked with one hand. At the same time she planted her knee into his stomach, leaving Tea gasping for breath. He recovered quickly and jumped back, legs spread apart, hands positioned protectively in front of himself, ready for the next attack. This time he was able to intercept Videl's kick. Tea dodged and smirked when it missed, only to be hit on the face by her fist. Damn, this is not going well, he thought, wiping a trickle of blood from the side of his mouth.
Videl smirked. "Not so confident now, are you, Tea?"
"Shut up!" Tea forced himself to calm down. He attacked this time; Videl easily blocked his punch, but not the other blow, which hit her neck. He went on to deliver a kick to her side, which connected. She fell down with a thud. As Tea landed from the kick, he suddenly felt his feet being swiped. He lost his balance, falling on his back, too late he realized, at the edge of the stage.
There was nothing he could do now as he fell from the stage and landed on the grass. "Videl wins!" The announcer announced. Tea cursed himself for his carelessness. Videl looked down at him from the stage as he got up.
"I hate to say it Tea, but you do have potential," she said. "If you train well, you could do something useful with your talent."
Tea grunted, not ready to speak yet, as his ego was still a little wounded. He stood up and nodded a little at Videl. "You won, fair and square." Videl nodded back, and they both walked away from the stage.
Meanwhile, TaoPaiPai had just laid the unconscious girl on a bed in the infirmary. He noticed the one-eyed man standing behind him, watching him carefully. He ignored him, waiting for the man to speak first.
"TaoPaiPai." Upa said evenly.
TaoPaiPai didn't turn around. "I notice you've been staring at me for quite some time," he said, his 'eyes' still on the unconscious girl. "Anything I can do for you?"
"You don't remember me, do you?" Upa said, gritting his teeth. Of course, why would he? He was just one of the people who had been on his hit list. Just part of the job. He probably just crossed out the name when he's done with it and that's the end of it for him. "How did you survive?"
"The Red Ribbon Army has very advanced cyborgization technology," TaoPaiPai said calmly, expertly hiding his surprise as he turned around to face the one person who had witnessed his humiliating defeat at the hands of Son Goku.
"I should've known," Upa said. "It's not enough that they created those twin monstrosities, they had to fix you as well. Tell me, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, just passing time," said TaoPaiPai. "If I'm lucky, I might get some potential hirers out there. Maybe you would like to hire my services. But judging from the fact that you're here, I don't suppose you can afford it," he continued haughtily.
Upa ignored him. The man really had no shame.
"What are you planning to do to the girl?"
"What makes you think I'm going to do anything to her?" TaoPaiPai asked innocently.
"You don't fool me TaoPaiPai." Upa said. "You beat your other opponents half to death just for the hell of it, and you've barely gotten warmed up when you knocked her out. You're saving her for later. Why?"
"What does it matter to you? TaoPaiPai asked. "It's none of your business. Besides, it's your turn to fight now."
Indeed it was. The announcer's voice rang out clearly on the loudspeaker. "Videl wins! Next match, Upa versus Tra. Both contestants, please come to the stage!"
Upa gave TaoPaiPai one last look before leaving for the fighting arena. "I don't know who the girl is, or why you're so interested in her, but you better not try anything."
He got to the arena in time to see the dark haired woman and the blond boy, who had been so close to the three-eyed girl, now looking a little bruised but otherwise fine, as they walked away from the stage.
Upa climbed up the stage and got ready for his next fight.
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