That Time I Got Reincarnated As Future Gohan

Chapter 6: A Snake in Waiting

Several miles outside the limits of Satan City, within a sizably large, dilapidated countryside house far from the ruckus of the now ruined metropolis. There, inside of its walls lies the operation of a recently formed group of bandits, forcibly created by a mysterious man who had managed to collectively unite any or the more unsavory survivor groups nearby. Whether they were motivated solely by greed or the basic desire to feed their families, the men that served under him had proved to be a persistent problem in the region, robbing and or extorting many other people for their own gains.

Sitting on a makeshift "throne", or if you could call a cheaply decorated recliner sat on a couple of wooden pallets one, sat the mighty kingpin in all his glory. Leaning his displeased looking face on his mechanical hand, mercenary... or more accurately bandit leader Tao stared down at the two thugs before him. Both of them with their faces clung tightly to the ground in a groveling position as they sat before their boss.

"Lord Tao, I beg your mercy. We didn't know we'd picked a fight with that Satan brat nor some monster of a man. Honest!" The leftmost man pleaded, the desperation in his voice evident as he shook his clasped hands up and down.

"He's right, even with our guns we couldn't hit them! So please grant us mercy!" Begged the other man, just as much as his compatriot.

"Mercy...?" The ex-mercenary muttered angrily as he arose from his chair, the metallic sounds of his feet stepping down the on the wood below him echoing throughout the house's basement. "Mercy, was me taking you pathetic slobs under my wing when you have no use other than suppling me with resource. MERCY was when I allowed you to live despite your past failure in bringing that girl to me ALIVE!" Tao yelled in utter rage, slamming his fist against the wall, leaving an impact that sent cracks out like a spider's web.

"B-but—!" Before the man on the left could spew out an excuse, he was promptly kicked across the room. His body hit the back wall hard, leaving him an unconscious mess splayed on the floor. The other henchman looked back at his partner with utter terror, with him flinching as the red eyes of the cyborg assassin met his.

"Tell me, what did this other man who intervened look like exactly?" He calmly asked, the shaking fists at his sides betraying his true feelings. The man's face broke out into a cold sweat. He couldn't answer, but he couldn't not answer either. His boss was a volcano about to explode and it didn't matter what he did, he was going to take the full brunt of the eruption. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" his pappy had once told him, the memory painfully flashed in his mind as he muttered.

"H-he had spiky black hair and an orange g-gi..." At those words, an onslaught of tortuous memories assaulted the cyborg's mind from all those years ago. The embarrassment... the humiliation... all caused by that one little shit! His fists clenched as he mentally relived the moment where he got turned into a mere punching bag for that boy, being utterly outclassed as he was beat into an inch of his life. No amount of time could have passed to quell his rage, and this was the opportunity to finally quench it.

"Did he speak his name?" Tao pai pai asked, his demeanor eerily changing to what could be described as happiness. His creepy smile caught the underling off guard as he replied.

"No... he did not." The man sheepishly muttered as he still tried to gauge his chances for survival.

"Hm, fine. You have done an adequate job, so I shall grant you mercy just this once."

The stars in the man's eyes couldn't have been brighter as the fear melted away from him. "Truly boss!? Thank you!" He exclaimed, happy to be spared his partner's fate... or so he thought. It took a moment for the man to process what had happened as the loud sound of a laser pierced the quiet air of the room, and a sudden empty feeling rising in his gut. Or what was left of it.

His gaze turned to look at the smoldering hole that was his abdomen, only having enough strength to look back up at the smugly smiling boss of his in shock. "W-wh...why...?" The words left his mouth along with his last breath as Tao merely chuckled in response.

"Because death is a one-time mercy, I allowed you to have. Though..." He muttered as he returned to his spot atop his junk pile seat. "I will not afford the same mercy to that simian. No, I will make him pay for all he's done to me. MARK MY WORDS!" His exclamation echoed through the buildings halls as more of his henchman assembled around him. The bodies of the two victims being dragged away from disposal.

It seems our hero will have a thorn in his side to deal with the emergence of Goku's old adversary, Tao. See what happens next time on... Dragon Ball Z!