A/N: Vegeta and Piccolo have got a rivalry going on for which one is the better mentor and the kids are caught in the crossfire! Looks like it's going to be a sparring match between the kids! Who do you think is going to win? The older Trunks or the happy-go-lucky Goten? And between Kona and Pan, will it be the quarter breed or the full blooded Saiyan? Let's see how it goes!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z only my OC.
DragonBall Z: Raising Saiyans
Chapter 10: Sparring
Almost immediately after Vegeta had shouted to begin, Goten and Trunks charged at each other, not wanting to disappoint either of their mentors. Trunks aimed a punch at Goten's face, which the younger boy ducked underneath, trying to sweep Trunk's legs out from under him.
"Whoa!" Trunks shouted as he jumped up into the air, twisting his body around to try and kick Goten in the face. Fortunately for the Goku look alike, Goten moved his head back just in time to avoid the kick but stumbled backwards before regaining his footing and getting back into his fighting stance.
Vegeta and Piccolo both smirked as the two boys jumped back at it. Goten aimed a punch towards Trunks chest, which the lavender haired boy caught, and then followed up with a high kick to Trunks head.
Trunks didn't manage to block the face, taking the brunt of the kick. Trunks grabbed Goten's leg and spun him around sending him to the ground, causing the younger boy to hit his head on the ground.
Trunks and Goten each held their heads, tears pooling in the corner of their eyes. Piccolo and Vegeta groaned spotting this. "Alright. That's enough for now." Piccolo said walking over and grabbing Goten to carry him to stand next to Kona. Vegeta merely raised an eyebrow at Trunks who hurriedly made his way to stand by his father.
"Brat. Girl. Your both next." Vegeta spoke quickly to the two girls. Pan and Kona each shared a look, wondering which girl was which name and if they really had to fight each other.
Hesitantly both girls made their way to where Trunks and Goten were just standing. "Uh…do we really have to?" Pan asked looking at their mentors.
Both had an emotionless look on their faces. Kona winced.
"Guess so."
Both young girls got into their battle stances and waited for Vegeta to give the order. "BEGIN!"
The girls shot off, much like the boys did, Pan aiming a high kick at Kona's face. The blue eyed girl quickly ducked and, taking a page from Goten's fighting style, tried to sweep out Pan's legs. Unlike with Trunks, Pan fell to the ground as she wasn't able to jump out of the way in time. Kona got up and jumped away from Pan, getting back into her fighting stance as Pan grumbled, pushing herself up.
"You okay Pan?" Kona asked looking at her friend. Pan nodded and smiled.
"I'm fine! Thanks Kona!"
"Don't worry about how your opponent feels!" Piccolo ordered, causing Kona to flinch. She looked at him in confusion.
"But Daddy…Pan-"
"In this fight Pan is your opponent!"
Kona frowned but nodded, nevertheless. Pan shrugged and got into her fighting stance, shooting after Kona. Kona raised her leg to aim a kick at her friends side. Pan quickly moved out of the way and punched Kona in the stomach before following up with a punch to the face sending the girl to the ground. Piccolo sighed and shook his head, disappointed that Kona fell so easily.
"That's enough." Piccolo announced. Kona looked up at her father.
"But I can still-"
"I said that's enough. You lost Kona." Kona sat up on her elbows and glared at the ground, her cheeks turning red in anger and embarrassment. "Alright, Pan and Trunks your with me." Both kids walked over to the Namekian while Vegeta walked over to Kona, with Goten at his heels.
"Up, Girl. Your with me." Kona pushed herself up and walked beside Goten as they headed over to the other side of the Lookout Tower.
"Poor kid. Kona looks so embarrassed." Dende said looking at Mr. Popo. The two, hearing that the fights were going to start, walked out to see how everything was going. "I mean look at her face. It's so red."
Mr. Popo nodded sadly. "Indeed. I believe it's because of the fact that she thinks she disappointed Piccolo. He was quite rough on her."
Dende sighed. "You can say that again. Well, now she and Goten are training under Vegeta. I wonder how THAT will go."
"Alright, so you won your last match Pan, and Trunks you tied, but seeing as Goten got the last actual BLOW in I would say that he won." This caused Trunks to pout. "Now, I'm going to teach you some more moves that you can use as a means of rendering your opponent unable to attack." Piccolo informed looking at the two smiling kids next to him. They were both obviously happy at winning (or at least tying) their matches.
Piccolo started demonstrating and explaining how to find an opponents weaknesses, by studying their moves. Trunks and Pan nodded while absorbing everything the Namekian was trying to say. "Do you both understand?" Both kids quickly nodded. "Good, now for the next hour I want both of you to practice your punches and kicks to make them sharper and stronger. Understood?"
"Yes sir!"
Trunks and Pan quickly got to work on their form, Trunks focusing on his punches first while Pan opted for her kicks. Piccolo was satisfied and watched them practice, making simple suggestions where necessary. He found his mind wandering to the blue-eyed girl who left to train with Vegeta without so much as a goodbye, which she would have normally done gladly. Her face was full of embarrassment and anger and Piccolo couldn't help but think he may have hurt her feelings in some way.
As quickly as the thoughts came, Piccolo snapped himself out of it. It shouldn't matter to him if her feelings were hurt. She had to learn and grow. Besides, she wasn't really his daughter so he shouldn't care.
Somehow, though, the Namekian couldn't help but wonder what his little not-his-daughter was doing.
"Alright, seeing as you BOTH lost your matches, it's safe to say that the Namekian isn't teaching you properly."
"Hey! I didn't lose!" Goten pouted. Vegeta glared and Goten quickly snapped his mouth shut.
"Now, your punches and kicks were satisfactory and the power behind them was adequate. You both need to learn how to turn the tides in a battle to your favor." Vegeta spoke to the two kids.
Both of them nodded silently while listening to Vegeta speak. "Seeing as the only way for you to learn this is in combat, I'll have you both spar against each other."
Goten looked confused. "But wont that make us tired for when we have to fight Trunks and Pan?" Vegeta raised an eyebrow at the boy who immediately stiffened. "Never mind…"
"Good. Now, in your stances and get ready to fight." Both kids quickly did as they were told, Kona sporting a scowl and glare on her face. "Begin!" Before Goten even had a chance to blink, Kona was in his face aiming a punch towards the Goku look alike. Goten dove out of the way and Kona wound up punching the ground of the lookout tower, causing the ground to crack and an indent to appear where her fist was.
"Whoa! That could've killed me!" Goten exclaimed looking at Kona in surprise.
Vegeta grinned. "Excellent! That was a very impressive punch, Girl. As for you Spawn, it wouldn't have killed you. It just would've hurt for quite a while."
Kona smiled apologetically and walked over helping Goten up. "Sorry, guess I kinda got carried away."
Goten shrugged and smiled. "No problem. Just means I need to keep my guard up."
Vegeta looked at the two younger kids and crossed his arms. "Ready? BEGIN!"
"Hey! They came out pretty good!" Dende said glowing with pride as he pulled out the brownies and cookies. "I didn't even burn them!"
Mr. Popo applauded. "You've done very well Dende! Looks like your going to be helping me in the kitchen more often!" Dende beamed.
"Hey, I think the kids are going to start their second round of sparring soon. Let's go see how they do."
"Alright. Ready for round two? I'm going to kick your butt for the second time today." Trunks asked bouncing on his toes standing in front of Piccolo and Pan, facing Goten who stood in front of Vegeta and Kona.
"Calm Trunks. Your getting overeager and underestimating Goten's abilities." Piccolo warned. Trunks snorted.
"I can take him down easy. No problem!"
Goten grinned. "We'll see about that Trunks." Both boys walked forwards so they were in the center of what would be the fighting area.
"Ready…BEGIN!" Vegeta shouted and the fight started up once again. Goten and Trunks charged at one another. Trunks aimed a high kick at Goten's head which the younger boy dodged, countering with a light jab to the gut before jumping out of Trunk's range.
"Lucky shot Goten!" Trunks retorted. Goten grinned as Trunks charged at him again, Trunks gaining a punch on Goten's cheek. Goten quickly regained his place and got a roundhouse kick to Trunk's jaw.
Both kids gripped their faces. "OUCH!"
Goten, regained his composure quickly and charged and Trunks punching him in the stomach, causing the lavender haired boy to roll on the ground clutching his stomach. "Goten, you won." Piccolo announced, causing the Goku look alike to jump up and down in happiness.
"You underestimated him, boy. As the Namekian said, you believed you were stronger and that was your downfall." Vegeta explained to Trunks. Trunks grumbled and got up, walking back over to stand by Pan and Piccolo.
"Pan and Kona, front and center." Piccolo ordered. Both young girls made their way to stand in front of one another. Pan gave a smile and Kona settled for a small smile in return before narrowing her eyes, focusing on the matter of hand. She didn't want to disappoint her father again.
"BEGIN!"
Pan rushed forward and aimed a punch at the blue-eyed girls face, but Kona quickly grabbed Pan's fist and tossed the girl over her shoulder. Pan landed on her butt in shock before blinking and getting up again. Kona charged and aimed a low kick to Pan's legs which Gohan's daughter quickly evaded, but what she couldn't evade was the roundhouse kick to her face that quickly followed after. Kona finished off with a knee to Pan's stomach before jumping away as Pan crumpled to the ground holding her stomach in pain.
"The winner is obvious here." Vegeta grinned as Kona walked back over to him. Piccolo went over to check on Pan who was already getting up. Piccolo nodded to Vegeta. Kona looked up expectantly at her father but no reaction or acknowledgment for her win was given. The girl pouted and stared at the ground.
"Let's start to head inside. It's starting to get dark." Piccolo announced. Soon all six of them were heading inside. Goten poked Kona's shoulder as they, along with Pan and Trunks, fell into step behind Vegeta and Piccolo.
"Why are you sad? We won!"
Kona sighed, her voice shaking a bit. "My daddy doesn't love me…"
Piccolo's ears perked up, listening to the conversation. He felt a pang of guilt.
"That's not true! He loves you!" Pan said smiling at the girl.
"B-But he was disappointed in me…and then he didn't care that I won…"
Trunks and Goten shared a look seeing the sad expression on Kona's face, and decided to help Pan cheer her up. "Nah! Don't worry about it! That's just how it goes. I mean, have you seen my dad?" Trunks pointed out. Goten nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah! He may not show it a lot, but he still loves you!"
Kona looked at the three others trying to cheer her up and nodded smiling. "Your right! Why would I think he doesn't? I must just be acting silly!"
Piccolo caught himself eavesdropping and quickly focused his attention forward as he they walked into the Tower and headed for the kitchen. The kids smelled the brownies and cookies and in a flash sprinted past both Piccolo and Vegeta and down the hallway towards the kitchen.
"Whoa! You kids are hungry!" Dende's voice floated through the halls. Piccolo and Dende walked in to see the kids all devouring the treats. Vegeta, seeing the food, dove in with the kids to start chowing down on the sweets.
"You made dessert?" Piccolo questioned as he looked at the young Guardian of Earth.
Dende shrugged. "I thought they would want to have some snacks. And I saw the kids matches. They were pretty good. Kona was pretty good the second time around."
"She was more focused on the task at hand. She made sure every move was precise and thought out."
Dende looked pointedly at Piccolo. "It's because she wanted to make you proud of her."
The Elder Namekian said nothing, but looked to the young girl sitting at the table before looking back at Dende. "What time is it?"
"Uh…eight I think. Why?"
"They should get to sleep soon. What does the book say about that?" Piccolo asked.
"I don't know, Vegeta has the book."
The Prince of Saiyans, finishing up eating the last cookie (while Goten and Trunks were fighting over the last brownie), got up and walked over to the two Namekians. Mr. Popo soon joined them.
"Vegeta, do you have to manual with you?" Mr. Popo asked politely.
Vegeta snorted and grabbed the book from his pocket opening it up to the next step. "Step 3: Once keeping your child entertained, it may be time to put them to sleep. Give them baths before tucking them into bed. If your child wishes, you may want to read books. An important thing to note is that you should NOT and I repeat NOT give your child sweets before bed. Sugar for a child will result in a sugar high."
The four men all looked up at each other before looking at the four kids, who were now hopping up and down talking fast and excitedly. Mr. Popo winced.
"Oh my…"