((Author's note: Happy New Year! Well here's chapter 18, this one was fun, and split into a few different sub plots. Chapter 19 is written, and chapter 20 has been started. I'm having a tough time deciding if I want to play by play the Cell vs Goku fight or just brush over it though. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. As always reviews are appreciated. Thanks and enjoy
Beepx22))
Chapter 18
Cell subtly glanced downward. Bea looked up at him, a smile on his face. "Nice ring you've built here, Cell."
"Ah, it's my good friend, that red haired Saiyan. Thank you. Did you come here to die?"
"Not today. Kind of wanted to see the place. During the fight, it'll be messed up I'm sure. Wanted to appreciate it in peace." Bea looked around while he shrugged.
Bea's calm demeanor was a farce though, inside he was horrified, even at this resting state Cell exuded an amazing amount of energy and charisma. He was by far the most terrifying creature Bea had faced.
"You know," Cell began, he paused for a moment and looked towards the saiyan expectantly.
"Hmm? Oh. Bea, I'm Bea, Pikada has the sword, and Angel is the female."
"Ah, Yes. You know Bea, you can't beat me. And I don't just mean you. I mean all of you. I am perfected now, after all. And when the last of you falls, I will kill every living creature on this miserable, insignificant planet."
Bea looked back at him, his fear fading into knowing. "I feel you might be correct. I hope you're not. But if you happen to be my last opponent, the one who finally kills me, well, where is the shame in losing to such an opponent?"
"That is the spirit!"
"Well, so long." Bea placed his fingers to his forehead again. One moment he was there, the next Cell stood alone.
"Hmm" He grunted.
OoOoOoO
Bea traversed the distance between the stars. Instant transmission placed you outside reality, in a place that was and wasn't. Not a void exactly, just immensely different. Bodies didn't like the experience, and the mind recoiled from it. And though the trip was quick, it wasn't exactly instant as the name suggested.
But it was extremely quick, and nearly as soon as the voyage began, it was over. Bea appeared near an unsuspecting fellow. "Master Udon." He spoke softly.
"Ah, Bea. Welcome back my Student. How goes it on Earth?"
"Not well." He replied, then laid the events of the past few days out for his Master. "and so you see, I've come back for training. I know the Yardrats have a warrior caste, and that the Instant transmission is the backbone of their techniques."
"This is true, Bea, but the techniques take months to learn, and from what you say, you've only a few days."
"Apparently the Earthlings have a secret room, in which time moves much slower than on the outside. A Year inside is but a day out. They've told me I can use the room before the games with Cell. There should be no danger to you, and you'll be back on Yardrat well before the outcome."
"I shall think on it. For now, do you have time to join me later for a meal, and to catch up?"
"Of course, Master. One question though, could I perhaps bother you for a change of clothes? My armor is comfortable enough, but I always feel out of place wearing it while visiting others for meals."
"Of course, Bea. Come, let us find you a suitable outfit." Bea followed his friend towards the town's center, a friendly smile on his face."
OoOoOoO
Angel swatted away one ki blast while dodging another. She pirouetted and launched her own attack back at Pikada. The swiftness of the move caught him off guard and he took the full blast to the chest.
He grunted, and then launched towards her. He swung his right fist around, she ducked under it and brought her left foot to bear. Pikada pushed it aside with his open left hand and tried to bring his right knee into her sternum. Angel deflected with her right knee and brought her right open palm up into Pikada's chest.
"Ahhhhhhhh" She screamed as a wave of energy rippled from her open palm. The distance was too short and the energy washed over Pikada.
He grimaced in pain, but fought through it to slam the side of his left fist into her temple.
"Ohhph." She spun away. Pikada followed quickly behind her, he reached out to grab her ankle.
Instead he caught a blast to the chest as she shrugged from her spin. White energy erupted around her and she flew towards Pikada again.
Blinded for the moment, he tried to focus on his energy detection skills and tried to evade her. I his minds eye he saw her move. Left arm back ready to strike, Right arm ready to grab him. He pulled back his own arm to lash out but was surprised as a powerful hand clamped down on it. He reacted instantly, crossing over top of the grappled arm with his free arm into where the face of any attacker should be. A recognizable voice grunt.
"Ow, Damnit." The voice belonged to Yamcha.
Angel struck Pikada at the base of the Head and Neck.
His eyes, still partially blinded, took on a distant look and his body went limp.
The powerful blue blast forming in his captured arm faded away.
Yamcha was tugged down by the sudden free weight. "Did you kill him?" He asked in near panic.
"No, just knocked him out, he left head open." She winked at him. "Thanks for the help, by the way."
"Oh, Uh." He looked around for an escape. "Yeah, no problem, hahaha." There was no luck in finding a way out. He lowered to the ground and released Pikada. "He's going to be pissed." He said trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, pissed, and he's going to have a hell of a headache." She landed near him, and took a step towards him.
"He got you pretty good. Here. Let me help." She leaned in close, Yamcha went still. She smiled and got even closer. He leaned down into her, his eyes narrowed then closed.
She smacked his broken nose straight.
"Oww, Oww, what the fu…" The rest of his admonition was cut off as she kissed him hard on the lips.
Meanwhile Pikada began to gently snore.
OoOoOoO
"Okay, son, now when we close the door, time will change. A whole year will pass, and a day will go by outside." Goku knelt beside him with an arm draped across his shoulder.
"Sounds like a temporal compression area," Gohan began, then saw the look of confusion of this dad's face. "Okay day, I'm ready." He answered instead. The door closed, and they walked together out into the white expanse of nothing and everything.
OoOoOoO
One of the probes zipping around the gravity chamber exploded. Vegeta grinned to himself. As he turned to destroy another he glimpsed his son from the future watching through the porthole. Hmph, he thought, some son, couldn't even take care of his own business. If he was my real son He'd have made short work of these androids. Vegeta knew he was being overly hard on the young man, but that was just his nature after all.
His thoughts were interrupted when two of probes dived at him, firing their stinging lasers.
Through the porthole Trunks watched fascinated. His Dad was good! Really good. He watched as Vegeta swept his hands apart and a dozen of the probes exploded. Trunks glanced at the display screen. Gravity 500, temperate changing constantly to mimic the difference is orbital changes. Oxygen levels ranging from near zero to as high as 50%.
Vegeta took it all in stride. He landed in the center of the room. The remaining probes attacked him. Vegeta screamed and a wave of energy rushed from him and obliterated them.
The chamber reset to normal, Vegeta grabbed a towel and opened the hatch.
He looked at Trunks. Grunted, and walked into the hallway.
Trunks watched as he left.
OoOoOoO
Krillin yawned and stretched. He opened his eyes, and for a moment began to panic. He was on one of Frieza's ships! Then he remembered he was here at the request of Pikada and Angel. He and Yamcha were helping to stock the vessel. He yawned again and prepared to get a little more sleep when the hatch opened. Angel came through it dragging Yamcha with her. They disappeared down a corridor and the hatch resealed.
"That's odd…" Krillin said to himself.
OoOoOoO
Bea shoveled another bowl of soup into his mouth. Master Udon smiled. Bea had taken a liking to this particular meal during his first stay.
The saiyan burped and wiped his mouth clean. "That was amazing!" He looked at his master. "Thank you, Master Udon, tolilo soup is a favorite of mine."
"So I've noticed." He placed his own dish aside. "Now, let us discuss your proposition…"
OoOoOoO
Pikada sat bolt upright. That was a mistake. The headache he had surged forward. "What the hell happened?" He remembered training with Angel and Yamcha, if you could call sparring with a human training, while Krillin took a nap on the Ship. He couldn't recall the end of the fight though. He did notice though, that the back of his head was very sore. Then he noticed that his sparring partners were absent.
A smile creased his features.
"Hmph, took you long enough, Angel."
He looked up at the dying light of day, the stars were coming out. And he suddenly felt like sleeping under them. He crossed his arms behind his head, taking care not to bump the tender spot too hard, and lay back.
OoOoOoO
"I'll follow you, Bea." Master Udon stood stoically with his student.
Bea nodded and placed two fingers to his forehead. He phased out of this existence, Master Udon followed nearly immediately.
The quickly crossed the distance between the two planetary systems. Bea was aware of his training master being right next to him. Then he heard through the nothingness, "Lesson One."
A burst of pink energy slammed into Bea's kidneys. He spun, but in the moment of losing concentration he also lost his mental lock to his destination. Udon floated in the void between, arms behind his back, a wry smile on his face.
"What was that?" Bea snarled.
"Lesson one. Be prepared. Battle is rare in the void between, but if it happens, it is completely different than battle outside of this realm." He struck with his left hand. Bea swatted the attack away with a minimal effort. He followed his own sweeping defense with a blade handed jab towards his master. Udon deflected the attack, but even as he did, he faded from the void, instantly reappearing slightly to his left. He grabbed the attacking hand in both of his own, and bent Bea's finger tips towards his elbow. Bea grimaced in pain, embarrassed to have been wrist-locked so easily.
"Lesson two. It's hard to anticipate your opponent's moves, when your opponent is no longer in your reality."
Bea had no trouble with that lesson, and suddenly he felt both apprehension and excitement at the prospect of a year of being taught by his friend and master.
Bea smiled as a thought hit him. He faded away, leaving this void between , re-emerging into his own reality, and instantly going back into the space of instant transmission. As he appeared he wrapped Udon into a rear naked choke. Udon faded and reappeared with Bea's thumb pulled back halfway to his wrist, Bea faded and returned with Udon in an arm bar. This hold and escape continued for nearly an hour before Udon faded in away from him.
"Good." Udon bowed slightly. "Lesson three. In the void between, Ki can be finicky, but it can be your greatest asset. Know you where your home is?"
Bea just shook his head, sensing nothing. Udon grinned. "Fortunately, I do." He fired a ki blast directly into Bea's chest. Bea's head spun.
Then he crashed into solid rock, a few hundred feet from his own ship.
Udon appeared next to him, and offered him a hand up. Bea gladly accepted.
"Was not expecting that." He said as he got his feet under him.
"Fighting in two different dimensions can be confusing. But the body and mind naturally want to return to its own reality. Knocking an opponent from the void, is far easier than knocking one into it."
"I seem to remember you knocking me through the barrier a few times as I was training." Bea replied.
"Indeed, but you were mentally locked to a destination, in battle if you can learn to push a non user through, they'll likely be lost."
Bea contemplated that in silence.
OoOoOoO
Vegeta and Trunks stood in the anteroom to the time chamber. Suddenly both of their eyes went wide with surprise.
"That power level." Vegeta said in disbelief.
"Those power levels." Replied Trunks.
Goku and Gohan walked out of the door into the hall, both smiling. What surprised the rest of them was that they were in their super saiyan forms.
"Gohan is a super saiyan…" Krillin half asked.
"Sure is." Goku answered as he walked out. "Hey, Vegeta." He waved at the saiyan prince.
Vegeta scoffed and turned to walk into the chamber. "It's my… our turn, don't waste time Kakarot.
OoOoOoO
Bea tried to block an open handed strike from Udon. The speed at which his master appeared and disappeared was mind-numbing. His strikes weren't that powerful, but plentiful, and Bea couldn't block any of them. It was a strange sensation being punched with the same right hand, from three different angles, all at nearly one time.
Nearby, sprawled out with a picnic lunch, sat Angel, Pikada, and Yamcha. Krillin had returned to the lookout earlier in the day to meet Goku as he left the time-chamber.
"Bea's getting his ass kicked." Yamcha said around a mouthful of rice.
"He could wipe the floor with the Yardrat if he wanted. But he's trying to learn this technique." Replied Pikada.
"I'm not sure, Pikada. That guy is insanely fast." Angel said.
Bea's eyes were closed and he focused outward as well as he could. The toll of the strikes were beginning to wear him down though.
Then he felt it. A subtle touch at the back of his mind. He left arm snaked up and Udon's incoming strike was deflected.
"Lesson twenty-seven." Udon leveled another strike which Bea also blocked. "There will always be a disturbance when the barrier is broken, but it is harder to detect than a person breathing a half planet away. You've done well today. Let us rest and eat."
Udon bowed at Bea, and Bea returned the bow. They turned to return to the ship. As they walked Bea asked, "So, how many lessons are there?"
Udon smirked. "In a year of training I should be able to teach you at two thousand of them."
Bea did not return the smirk.
OoOoOoO
Cell stood in the center of his ring. He stared into the distance with a knowing smirk. He was perfection after all, all of this was for his amusement. The wind changed direction slightly. He took a moment to enjoy that.
OoOoOoO
Vegeta flung the door open wide, Trunks and he strode out. Waves of power rushed off them. Bea and Udon stood ready to walk in as soon as the stores were refilled. When Mr. Popo gave the Okay, they entered and shut the door behind them.
Together they stared into the vast expanse of nothingness. Both of them gulped.
This was going to be a hell of a year.