Chapter 7: A New Room?
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ
A/N: First chapter of the week! That means you get at least one more this week. Though, last week saw 6 chapters, so chances are there will be more this week as well. I want to thank everyone who left a review, I really appreciate those. Especially the ones telling me how awesome my story is; makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Gohan ran towards Piccolo, dodging a volley of ki blasts. He sent out a series of lightning fast blows that Piccolo blocked. A feint followed by a leg sweep took Piccolo's legs out from under him; he responded by blasting the ground, preventing his fall and sending dust into the air.
Gohan cast his senses out and discovered Piccolo was above him. He sent a blast of ki straight up and followed it closely. Piccolo deflected the blast but took a heavy blow to the chin, sending him flying higher into the air. Piccolo stabilized himself and shot at Gohan, initiating a high-speed exchange. Gohan was knocked back, and Piccolo chased, but he shot a few Stingrays; forcing Piccolo to dodge. They both settled on the ground and caught their breath.
"Gohan really has improved. He's giving me this much trouble in his base form. If he transformed I wouldn't be able to keep up!" Piccolo thought. He was proud of his student's strength, but it stung to be so much weaker, "My base form is more powerful than his, but he makes use of creative tactics to even the field." Gohan suddenly shot towards him, glowing blue fist ready to loose, "That's the technique he used against me two years ago!" Piccolo recalled the devastation it caused.
"As long as I don't come into contact with the ki, I should be able to counter it." Piccolo thought. He stepped in, preparing to parry Gohan's forearm, "He's expecting me to dodge, and create an opening for his next attack" He surmised.
Gohan was taken by surprise when his arm was caught by Piccolo, preventing it from connecting. Before he could react, Piccolo's other hand grabbed his face and tossed him into the ground. The ki concentrated in his fist exploded when he hit the ground and lost concentration.
"Aaah!" He grunted. He held his now bleeding hand against his chest. He didn't have long to stem the bleeding, for Piccolo hadn't let up. Gohan dodged backwards from Piccolo's melee assault.
"Wait! Piccolo! I'm injured," Gohan pleaded.
"Deal with it!" Piccolo responded, "You won't always have full use of your body. Learn to fight at a disadvantage!" He punctuated it with a heavy kick to the ribs. Gohan grunted in pain, but held his ground. His eyes became serious.
"Alright! You asked for it!" He powered up and waited for Piccolo's next attack.
"Not going to transform, kid? That's a mistake!" Piccolo appeared before Gohan; ready to end the spar, and realized his mistake. Just before his attack landed, Gohan's eyes flashed blue, hair gold and his good fist shot forward in a blur; sending Piccolo sprawling across the battlefield. "I can't believe the speed of that transformation!" He thought incredulously. He smashed into the ground, and knew he was done. That last blow had rattled his brain, and he couldn't concentrate. He slowly pushed his way out of the rubble, coughing at the dust filling his lungs.
Gohan dropped out of the air in front of Piccolo, offering his good arm for support,
"Come on, let's get patched up." He grinned. Piccolo grunted in agreement.
Vegeta followed Gohan's ki signature, eventually leading to a valley near Mt. Paozu. Vegeta didn't have to search for him, because Gohan took to the air to meet him. Vegeta stopped and waited for him to approach. Gohan stopped a few meters away, a curious expression on his face. They stared at each other, neither willing to initiate the conversation.
"Alright, I'm here; he's here. Now, how do you politely ask someone to place themselves in mortal danger for your own benefit?" he wondered. He had decided not to simply attack Gohan. Therefore, he had no choice but to ask for a fight.
Gohan couldn't take the silence any longer and spoke.
"So… Vegeta. Why are you here?" he asked, scratching his head in confusion.
"This arrogant brat!" Vegeta fumed, "His Prince deigns to visit, and he has the audacity to ask why!" Immediately after he realized what a prideful sentiment that was, "Dammit, this is harder than I thought," he griped. He calmed down and tried to formulate a polite answer.
"I… have a… request br- Gohan," He tried to smile, but snarled instead. Gohan seemed surprised at his choice of words.
"I don't think Vegeta has ever called me by name! Something serious must have happened!" He considered what might cause Vegeta to act like this. His eyes widened as he thought of a possibility.
"Is it Bulma? Did something happen to her? But what could happen that would cause Vegeta to come looking for me?" he puzzled, "Don't tell me she died? Does he need the four-star ball?" Before he could start panicking, Vegeta answered his question.
"I want you… to… help me," he ground out. Saying that physically hurt, "I'm close to ascending, but I feel that it can only be reached during battle. You are the only one worth fighting on this planet. I want you to attack me with everything you have, push me until I have no choice but to transform. Do you accept?" Vegeta finished his explanation.
Gohan took a moment to consider Vegeta's request. On one hand, a more powerful Vegeta could be a very bad thing. Gohan knew what the transformation did to you; or rather, he knew what it did to him.
"How would Vegeta handle the sudden power increase? The heightened aggression, the arrogance?" He paused, "Actually, Vegeta is always like that, so maybe he's better equipped for the transformation than I was." Gohan was leaning towards 'yes'; Vegeta was almost behaving humbly. If he rebuffed him here, he would likely lash out in anger. Besides, it might be useful to have Vegeta owe him one. Gohan nodded,
"Alright, but not here," He acceded, "This place is too close to home," He explained. He put his hand on his chin and thought for a while. "Aha! I know just the place, follow me!" He took off in a seemingly random direction.
As Gohan flew, Vegeta trailing behind, he contacted Piccolo telepathically.
"Hey, Piccolo, it's Gohan!" He communicated the thought cheerfully, "Vegeta and I are going to have a little spar, and I was wondering if Dende made that new room we asked about?"
"Kid, you are literally the only person who ever contacts me telepathically. Who else was I supposed to think it was?" He asked gruffly, "But yeah, a separate dimension like the Time Chamber. I'll tell you more once you get here." He ended the telepathic link.
Gohan and Vegeta closed in on the Lookout. Gohan saw Dende and Piccolo standing outside the building, waiting for them. They dropped to the white tiles. Gohan greeted both of them; Vegeta grunted in acknowledgement.
"I hear you two wish to make use of the room I created?" Dende asked for confirmation. Gohan nodded.
"Then allow me to explain how it works as I take you to it," Dende continued, unusually serious. Guiding the residents of the planet in the use of the various facilities on the lookout was one of his duties as the guardian and he took it very seriously.
"I created this room as a place for very powerful fighters, such as yourselves, to freely use their powers without fear of damaging the planet. This room is unique in that the environment can be destroyed, but regenerate over time. This makes it quite suitable for destructive battles. As it does not dilate time, you are free to enter as many times as you like. There is no limit on the number of people that can enter at once." He explained as they passed through white-walled halls. After many twists and turns they finally arrived at a nondescript door.
Dende led them inside, arriving in a large circular room with a door on the other side. The room was completely bare with whitewashed walls and tile floors. Dende blushed,
"This room isn't done yet, so bear with me," he admitted, "I assure you the outside is much more impressive!" Dende pled. He regained his composure and gestured to Gohan, "Why don't you do the honors?" He said, pointing at the unopened door. Gohan nodded and stepped in front of the plain door. He reached his hand out…
"AHH! I totally forgot!" Gohan agonized, "I left my gi at home!" Piccolo facepalmed, Vegeta stumbled, Dende chuckled.
"Piccolo, could you make me a new one? Please?" Gohan pleaded, hands held together in supplication. Piccolo sighed,
"I'm not a tailor," he muttered quietly, "Fine, any requests?"
"Hmm, how about white long-sleeve undershirt, light blue sleeveless gi top, red cloth belt, black gi bottom, and light blue boots!" He ticked off each item with his fingers. Piccolo sighed again,
"I didn't expect he would actually have a request," He concentrated and created the outfit Gohan had described.
"Ahaha, that tickles," Gohan laughed as the glowing particles of light washed over him, resulting in a new outfit. "Oh, wow, this is really comfy!" Gohan enthused. He began stretching and performing odd movements to test the range of motion it afforded him. Vegeta snapped,
"Could you stop wasting all our time! …please?" At the last minute he remembered he was trying to be more polite. Gohan smiled infuriatingly at him and nodded,
"Sure thing, Vegeta" He reached for the door knob, "Without any further ado," He said, making them wait longer, "I present the room of… of…" "Dende, what is this room called?" he whispered. Dende blushed, "I haven't named it yet!" he whispered back.
"I present the location of our battle!" Gohan smoothed over, smile slightly strained. Vegeta was not amused, though Piccolo at least seemed indifferent. The door swung open revealing an endless desert miles beneath the floating platform they stood upon. Gohan walked to the edge and looked down. There was golden sand as far as the eye could see. More interesting were the floating island sized rocks that littered the sky, casting giant shadows on the desert below.
"This is… AMAZING!" Gohan gasped, "It's totally different from the Time Chamber!" he exclaimed. Even Piccolo seemed impressed.
Dende scratched his nose, "Well! I did put in a little bit of effort when I made it," He said, falsely modest. Vegeta stepped off the platform and dropped to the ground.
"I guess Vegeta is feeling impatient," Gohan commented. He descended as well; Piccolo and Dende followed. Vegeta watched as they landed, covered in the shadow from a floating island,
"The Namekians are staying to watch? Good, my ascension deserves an audience!" Vegeta said, forgetting about his supposed humility. Piccolo tilted his head and smiled evilly,
"As if I would miss the chance to see the Saiyan Prince get his ass handed to him in a real fight!" He said. Vegeta's teeth grit and fists clenched,
"He's mocking me!" he thought, irate. Gohan stood facing Vegeta; he cleared his throat to gain attention.
"Alright, since there's nothing else to do first, let's start the battle!" He declared.
A/N: So a fight scene this chapter and another next chapter, I'm spoiling you guys. I have big plans for the following fight so look forward to that! How did you guys like the new room?
