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War Sage

Thank you.

Joe Lawyer

Kara is awesome, even when she isn't really her.

Yes there will a quite a bit of self discovery and growth during DC Gothic's time in the chamber. However I will skip the rest of that and show how awesome Goku is.

Author Note

Now the filler is behind us and we can back to the things that really matter in life.

Which is learning to fight evil using super powers that were taught to you by an alien while you were in another dimension. That's the important thing.

DC Gothic – Justice League

Journey 2

The Hyperbolic Time Chamber – DBZ Universe

In this place it was hard to tell time, which explained the big damn clock. For me the days had turned into weeks and now whole months had gone by without me really even realising it. I was aware that time had past, but it didn't seem so bad to me.

I knew it had been eight months. Eight months of gruelling training, of mental conditioning, of spiritual growth, and of putting up with a possibly insane alien who wanted to drive me mad.

Well that last part wasn't so odd for me. I'd had to put up with many aliens who had seemed to want to drive me crazy during my time in the DC Universe, but Goku was something else.

"Here, put them on," Goku said to me while handing over a gi, undershirt, and wristbands.

Having lived with this mad man for the better part of a year I wasn't shy around him so I just stripped off and within minutes I had managed to wiggle into the new clothes.

"These clothes are heavy" I commented.

Which was odd because they looked to be rather light.

"Yep" Goku agreed. "The wrist bands weigh ten pounds apiece and the undershirt weighs twenty pounds".

And that was at normal Earth gravity, so here they'd been a lot heavier and as such they would slow me down. Plus to make things even worse I'd just spent an hour exercising so I was already worn out.

"I know it'll be difficult at first" Goku was now saying to me. "But you'll get used to the added weight and it'll make you stronger".

Well that was why I was here.

"Run a few laps to get use to the weight" the alien fighter instructed me.

I did just that and when I stopped I wasn't allowed to rest.

"Now your ready to be tested!" my teacher went on to say "everything until now has been to prepare you to face me".

Oh he had to be fucking kidding me. We'd been here for thirty-eight weeks and only now was he taking me seriously.

"Take a moment to prepare yourself" the alien warrior advised me "I won't be holding back nearly as much as I normally do".

Assuming that Goku hadn't been exaggerating when telling me about the battles he had thought then I was really in for it now. Even without going Super Sayian he was a deadly mofo so I headed his advice and tapped into the energies within my body.

There were three different source of power within me chi as I called it, or ki as Goku did, roughly it translated as 'life force' in essence it was the energy that sustained living things. It was like The Force in that it flowed for all things and could be used to perform superhuman feats, but there was nothing supernatural about it. With the right training any person could use it for many different techniques.

When fighters, such as myself and Goku gathered ki, we were able to gain enhanced strength, speed, endurance, and we could increase the power of our attacks to inflict greater damage to opponents. However because there were physical limits to the strength of the body it was necessary to increase one's ki to become stronger. Which was mostly what I had been doing here for months on end.

The other kind of power within me was demonic. I'd learned how to access at least some of Trigon's vast powers, but because demons were mystical creatures rather than part of nature this energy was magical unlike ki. They were close enough to mistaken for each other, but the power that animated demons could be effected by Nth metal were as Ki was not. Which also meant that ki attacks were unlikely to harm Superman and Galatea like spells could.

However since both sources of power were inside me I could draw upon them using the methods Goku had taught me and I could even combine the two different types of energy. Still even with that I was no match for Goku in his normal state, never mind when he went Super Sayian. I could however somewhat mimic the whole Super Sayian thing by using the power of Trigon's spirit.

I'd had a few mental blocks to get past before getting to this point, but after defeating the part of me that was all rage and hate, and I'd done that by not fighting, I could now channel the energies within me by focusing my rage into something more than a blunt instrument, it was extremely tiring to flood my body and aura with that much power, but every time I did it got a little easier and I could hold it for longer. Plus as an immortal it did me no long term harm.

That said it wasn't the sort of strain I wanted to put myself under very often. I would save it for the big fights if only because it became harder to limit collateral damage in this state and even with my healing factor it still took me some time to recover. This negative effect increased the more power I gave myself meaning that I had to control my anger or I ran the risk of passing out due to the stresses.

The final source of energy was the strange radiation that made me immortal and gave me such an impressive healing factor. As of yet I had been unable to access this power, but I was sure that over time I would figure out how to do that.

However I couldn't worry about that right now, it was time to fight. Life energy and demonic power filled my body and I created an aura of flames around me that were transparent enough to see through while also looking rather scary. I imagined that quite a few bad guys would run away in terror upon seeing me like this.

"Watch yourself Gothic!" warned Goku with a laugh, as he sent a barrage of ki blasts at me from behind.

I was surprised only momentarily, and before the attacks could reach me I was able to turn around and raise my arms, which allowed me to deflect the ki blasts. I couldn't block the attacks or absorb them, but I was able to protect myself by diverting the assault away from my body.

I then channeled my own ki, which was combined with the demonic power of Trigon, to create what I called 'explosive fireball' which did exactly what the name suggested. Such a weak attack would not harm my yeacher, as he could have easily dodged or deflect, but I never got to see him do either as he had simply vanished.

That was when I used another trick I'd picked up: Ki sensing. This was ability to sense the location, life force, and power level of anyone; the stronger and closer the enemy, the more powerful the sensation. Also, if a person's ki was very powerful, it could be sensed from far away.

It was useful but it had it's limits. For example power levels didn't take into account any special abilities a fight might have. Also having a lower power level than your foe didn't mean they would defeat you as battles were often chaotic and other factors had to be accounted for, such as how many techniques both warriors knew.

An interesting thing was that the undead couldn't be sensed this way as they had no ki and robots were machines so they had no life energy either, and therefore couldn't be sensed, but on the plus side it also meant that I wouldn't be fooled by any machine or undead creature pretending to be a person as the only time real people didn't have life energy was when they were dead.

Another problem was that Goku knew another trick that he had been able to teach me, which was to hide your power level. If he was close by I could still sense him but I couldn't right now which meant he'd used an ability I hadn't learn that was called: Instant Transmission.

This technique was used for travelling long distances instantly. It had been taught to Goku when he was on Planet Yardrat, which he'd visited after his battle with the evil Lord Frieza. However he couldn't use it to leave this place so that limited where he could be from anywhere the universe to anywhere in here, which actually didn't help much as this messed up chamber seemed to go on forever and since Goku had trained in one hundred times normal gravity he could go a lot further away from the house than I could.

"Hi, Gothic!" a voice cried.

I looked up and felt like a complete fool. Goku was flying above me, he'd not teleported at all he'd just flown up so fast I'd missed it, but not before lowering power level so I couldn't detect him. Also he'd had the time to charge up another of his Ki attacks.

"Bloody hell" I moaned.

Since there was nothing else I could do I stood my ground in the face of the upcoming blast. Thankfully all my training and the intense gravity had really toughened me up so I was able to stay rooted to the spot. Which wasn't that impressive as he'd no doubt been holding back.

Seeing that I was still standing Goku began to gather more energy and this was when my one advantage over my teacher became useful. I might not actually be the smartest human being around, but I could process things quicker than most people could.

This ability allowed me to plan out a strategy of attack or counter-attack before the person I was fighting had even made their first move. It wasn't that special, in fact it wasn't even a superhuman feet because Robin could do it too, but in contrast to me last mentor, Goku really wasn't that fast in the mental department, so I knew what he was doing and was able to mimic his actions.

"Ka-me-ha-me-ha!" we both bellowed in the same instant, as we sent massive blasts of energy at each other.

My energy was more magical fire than life energy which made it red were as Gok's was much brighter. They collided midway but not for long, and this time I did fall to the ground as Goku's purer and stronger energy overwhelmed my own.

Also it didn't help that I hadn't yet learned to handle this sort of power for very long and while I could sustain my anger fuelled state for longer than this I'd never fired such a powerful blast before. I had to let go of the rage and stopped the flow of Ki and magic.

My body was in a lot of pain, and I felt like I'd stopped breathing for a while but despite that I was able to stand up again, if only because I was stubborn bastard sometimes.

"Hey, you're doing pretty good," said Goku with a smile and a thumbs up.

Given that Goku was not the kind of person to lie, at least not very well. I took his words at face value.

"I learned from the best" I replied.

The guy was like a martial arts god in my books so any praise of my fighting skill from him meant quite a lot.

"Now have a sensubean and we'll do that again".

My smile turned upside down upon hearing that as I really wanted to go and lie down, but I'd never become the super hero I needed to be by resting every time I wanted a nap. Granted I didn't intend to use this sort of fighting style very often but given how many times the DC Earth I lived on had been invaded then one day I might have to sustain my super form for more than a few minutes.

With this in mind I chewed and swallowed one of the magic healing beans. They had a very strange taste and I still had a strong desire to try to grow a magic beanstalk, but they did the job. The mental strain was still an issue, as that was more psychological than anything else, but my body was ready to go.

Once more I let the rage within me come to the surface in a controlled way and with it came the demonic power of Trigon's spirit. And along with that came the life energy hidden inside all living things and my body was soon surrounded by an aura of fire.

Then I sensed a big source of life energy behind me, and I sent a bolt of fire right at Goku. The firebolt, an attack I'd named, was like a fireball that been stretched out. I'd never seen from an angle that would allow me to see its true shape but I imagined it was like having a tiny comet fly by.

Flames seemed to engulf the Saiyan completely as now I could even see him, and naturally I was delighted at the prospect of defeating my teacher.

"I love Instant Transmission" said a very cheerful voice from behind me.

That was when I turned around to see that Goku was perfectly fine, in fact he was smiling like the proverbial cat who gotten the cream.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

I'd guessed but I wanted to know for sure.

"Instant Transmission can be used to evade attack" my teacher explained "and it's instantaneous so I just moved out of the way".

He'd moved before the attack had connected with his body but after it had struck his aura, if he'd moved sooner the firebolt would have kept on going and he'd know that.

"Okay now I'm really going to get you" I promised Goku "no more holding back".

"Of course, wouldn't be a test if we did!" the super powered alien replied with another big gin.

Oh gods he was going to beat the snot out of me. The smile on his face might be cheery, but I knew the true warrior that lived beneath that far too happy exterior.

Goku shifted into his fighting stance, making it obvious that this time he would wait for me to land the first blow and he didn't have to wait long. I dashed within striking distance of my teacher, and I aimed a flaming punch to the right of his head. Goku blocked easily enough with his right arm, but before he could attack me I tried to kick him as the only chance I had off lasting more than a few a few seconds was to force the strong Saiyan to stay on defense.

After the fourth hit, Goku grabbed my leg and was not doubt preparing to use Dragonthrow which was Goku's signature grapple throw. But I was prepared for this and used this hold to position a kick to left of my mentor's head. It was likewise caught, however I'd seen this coming so I twisted my torso enough to get a hand on the ground.

Only this didn't have the desired effect, rather than me turning the tables on Goku as planned the alien just span around and let go. Which was very unpleasant, but nausea was rarely an issue for me.

I got up and turned sharply, then I sent a barrage of mixed magic and ki blasts at Goku. I sent so many that I was blinded by all the light and when I could see again my teacher was no where to be seen.

"Really I thought you had more in you than that, Gothic" Goku said from behind me.

This time however I'd seen it coming. He'd pulled this trick earlier and it was never smart to do that with me. I had the habit of learning very quickly when doing so really mattered.

"I have more" I told Goku as I took some deep breathes "I even have enough for a Demon Punch!"

Demon Punch was when I let the demonic fire flow through my arm and out of my hand. At first it just looked like I was punching thin air only the flames that would keep going. It was an attack that hit with a lot more kinetic energy than a standard fireball.

Goku's eyes widened just as he realised what I'd done, but he had really good reflexes so he just batted the assault aside like it was nothing more than an annoying bug.

"That was a good try, Gothic but don't think something like that'll..."

The master martial artist quickly pushed himself back to evade the dozen or so karate moves I tried to use on him, then he put me down on the ground with one hit and Goku soon floated above me looking very relaxed.

"You want to end it now, Gothic?" asked Goku, "You look a little sleepy".

I felt it to. I'd never fought anyone like the Sayian. I had done battle with foes much more powerful than me, but that had been while wearing my power armour or when I'd been with a team. This was very different.

"I'm fine…" I replied between deep breathes. "If have to defend the Earth, I can just quit. I have to keep going"

With I rose into the air and I felt as if it was determination burning like a flame rather than my anger. Which was much to Goku's amusement and I so wanted to wipe that

"Ka-me…"

Goku responded in kind, holding his hands out, perhaps preparing his own Kamehameha.

"Ha-me…"I finished.

However rather than fire energy at me Goku vanished again and while it was too late to stop the flow of power I could use the energy in a different way. It was just a matter of timing it right.

"Solar Flare!" I shouted as I turned on the spot.

I saw Goku's eyes widened in surprise, the exact opposite of what he should have done in this situation. The technique blinded him due to the flash and as the energy faded away he held his hands to his eyes.

"HA!" I heard myself say.

My next series of blows caught him completely off guard. No attack alone would even phase him but combined they became more than the sum of their parts, and they threatened to do serious damage to the Saiyan.

"I've only begun" Goku shouted

With a war cry , Goku powered up into his Super Saiyan form in a flash. And I knew that with his increased power, the actual damage to his body had been minimized and to make things worse he sent me flying to the ground with a spinning kick.

Then as Goku lowered himself back to the ground he returned to his normal form. I also let go of my highly focused rage.

"I did it," I said proudly. "I finally managed to make you transform into a Super Saiyan!"

It had taken eight months but I'd done it. Goku had willingly transformed in order to beat me. Granted his super form put him well beyond me, but still it was an achievement.

"Yeah," grinned Goku "you did great".

Sure I wanted to vomit and die at this point, but good for me I'd gotten really had gotten somewhere.

"Well Gothic we've finally reached the end" said Goku enthusiastically. "There's nothing more I can teach you".

That was very surprising to hear. We still had four months left before even a day had gone by outside this fucked up place of madness.

"But I couldn't even touch you in your Super Saiyan form!" I protested.

Although to be fair I'd barely done any damage when he was in his normal state.

"Power isn't everything" remarked Goku.

Well that was true, but there had to be more techniques he could teach me that teleporting trick was very cool.

"You've shown something that is very important to a fighter, which is creativity and control. The winner of a battle isn't always the person who can use most powerful techniques. What's matter most is that the warrior has the control necessary and the creativity to do something that is completely unexpected".

Besides we were running low on those magic beans and I did want to take a few back with me. My group lacked a white mage as while Raven could do a little healing, we didn't have anyone who specialised in that role. But if I could grow magic healing beans then it would be a big help.

"Like how you caught me with that Solar Flare" Goku was now saying "If an enemy doesn't know what you'll throw at him then you can surprise him, and that way you can beat a stronger opponent".

Unless of course they are called Son Goku. Why anyone willing fought him was beyond me.

"But even when I did catch you with a surprise, you just became so much more powerful than me" I pointed out "There are people were I live that are so much stronger than me, but you make it sound like it doesn't matter".

Although I did he had a point. I'd actually been the one to defeat Mongul at the Fortress of Solitude and I'd done that by doing something unexpected. And I was good at being surprising.

"I'm not saying strength and power aren't important" Goku said to me "But... it's hard to explain".

The alien took a few moments to carefully phrase what he wanted to say.

"There are just some things you have to learn on your own. You've come as far as you can training with me. The rest is now up to you".

I did understand what he was trying to say. Goku had spent hours going over his battles, and from what I'd gathered he'd become the fighter he was now by taking on more powerful enemies, the training he'd endured had only prepared him. If I wanted to advance any further I would have to do the same, and find like him I would also need to find more teachers, and there were people in the DC universe who could help me.

That and I imagined he wanted to go home. I really did too and I didn't have a child waiting for me.

"I think I understand. Thank you Goku, for all you have done for me" I said with bow

My teacher returned the bow and then said.

"Keep the outfit, it's looks good on you".

Well it was all black and the weight didn't seem to even register now. With a few enchantments I might even use them for a new persona I had planned. I'd just need some way to disguise my face.

"Ready to go home?" Goku then asked.

There was no more to say, it was time to go. Hopefully Raven was waiting for me because I had no way out of this dimension and I had no desire to stay here as it was even crazier here than it was back home.

Plus I was going to Hawaii!