CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Deemos stood in the main training room, watching as Yamcha taught Remy a few new techniques. In mere hours Remy had learned to control his ki at levels most couldn't achieve in months. If Deemos hadn't known better he would have guessed that Remy was part saiyan.
The morning's events still bothered Deemos. It was hard for him to believe that Logan could be the great warrior that Master Gohan had dreamt about. Yes, Logan was a saiyan, which meant that yes, Logan had the natural ability to gain incredible power. But from what Deemos had learned from his father, Logan was one of the lowest class soldiers ever. It didn't make much sense, but if Master Gohan believed it, then Deemos would just have to learn to do the same.
Deemos felt a weak ki signature rise in one of the other training rooms. In all there were about twenty students training under Deemos. Not including Remy, about five knew how to use ki.
Before Vegeta came to Earth a warrior with a power level of 100 would have been considered incredible. Now 100 was nothing. Hell, Remy probably had that and he'd hardly been training six months.
The reason for this was Deemos's father, Vegeta. Vegeta brought new training techniques, new ways to gain power, and simply a new level of competition. After only a few years almost every fighter on the planet had raised their power considerably in an effort to compete with Vegeta. Of course they never could compete with him. Not even Deemos could do that.
Curently Deemos was the strongest fighter on the planet with a power level of 10,000. Then there were a few humans, like Yamcha, with power levels of near 1,000, and about fifty or sixty others with power levels between three hundred and five hundred. Then there was the Namek; Piccolo, son of the evil Piccolo Daemon whom Deemos killed when he was a boy. Piccolo also had a power level of near 1,000, but he'd only been training for about a year. Deemos was impressed…and a little worried.
Deemos definitely wasn't worried about Piccolo trying to rule the world like his predecessor did. Deemos could take him out any time he wanted. But Demos was afraid that Piccolo might win the Dragonball Tournament.
Long ago a man named Kami from a planet called Namek fled to the Earth. Apparently a huge disaster had occurred on his planet, so he fled to the Earth for safety. Nameks were tall, slender, green people with pointy ears, no hair, and two short antennae on their foreheads. Also they had pink, striated muscles on their torsos, biceps, triceps, and forearms. Needless to say when Kami came to the Earth he wasn't well accepted. The sight of him sparked a few stories from which some pretty famous monsters came. For example the creature form the black lagoon.
Like the martial artists that created the cults, he was feared and outcast by normal people. So, like those martial artists he hid in the cults. He, like all Nameks, was an above average warrior. But he knew to release all of his power he needed to be pure of heart. So, he divided the good and evil within himself, and created two separate beings. One entirely good, and the other entirely evil. The good was Kami, and the evil was Piccolo Daemon.
After Kami was pure of heart he realized that what he needed to release was not fighting power, but a different kind of power. Kami created the dragonballs. The dragonballs were seven orange pearls, that when together, would bring forth the eternal dragon Shenlon. When Shenlon was summoned he would grant any one wish within his power to the summoner. Each cult was given one dragonball, and once a year a tournament was held to decide which cult got to use them. This tournament wasn't far away.
Piccolo Daemon ultimately died at the hands of Deemos. But just before Deemos killed him he forced his entire life essence into an egg (which is how Nameks reproduce) spawning Piccolo. Piccolo Daemon and Kami were two parts of the same being, so if one died the other did too. But because Piccolo was the new embodiment of Piccolo Daemon, Kami lived. All the same rules applied to Piccolo. It was said that if Piccolo and Kami were to ever reunite they would become the most powerful warrior in the universe. But they despised each other too much to ever do that.
Deemos was worried that Piccolo would win the dragonball tournament. If that happened he could use the dragon to do anything, and chances were there wouldn't be much Deemos could do about it.
Deemos wished he could compete in the tournament, but because of his incredible power, a rule was made that no one with a power level of over 1,000 was allowed.
"Yahh!" Remy screamed he as hurled a flaming, red ball of energy at Yamcha. Yamcha deflected it easily, and sent it on a crash course with Deemos's head.
"Master Deemos, watch out!" Yamcha screamed.
Just as the deadly ball of energy was about to hit its mark, the strong demi-saiyan put up a hand, and simply allowed the energy to dispand on his palm.
"Not bad," Deemos mumbled to himself as he examined his slightly scorched hand. "I'll have to find out what that attack is called,"
"Sorry Master Deemos," Remy shouted his apology from across the room.
Deemos briefly looked up, then looked back at his hand and gave a low grunt.
"Take a break," Deemos commanded as he finished studying his scorched palm.
"Yes sir," Yamcha and Remy answered in unison before bowing respectfully, and leaving through one of the hallways.
"Deemos!" came an excited voice from across the room. The hardened warrior quickly looked up to see who it was.
* * *
"Deemos!" Logan shouted to the man across the room. He had just seen Yamcha and Remy leave, so he figured now would be a good time to talk to Deemos.
"Deemos!" he yelled again as he began to jog over to the man. As he did so Deemos stared him down with a glare that could turn a man to stone, and then crush the stone like it was nothing. But Logan wasn't intimidated, he had been getting that same look from his father for the last eighteen years.
"What do you need Logan?" Deemos asked sternly as Logan approached him.
"I've made my decision," Logan announced. There was a short pause as Logan waited for Deemos to ask what it was. Instead Deemos just looked at Logan like he was stupid. So, Logan went on.
"I've decided that I will stay," Logan finished.
"Good," Deemos replied simply.
"So when do I start?" Logan asked eagerly.
"In one month," Deemos answered.
"What!?" Logan half shouted back.
"Come back in thirty one days and you can begin training," Deemos said slowly, like Logan wasn't capable of understanding normal speech.
"What am I supposed to do until then?" Logan asked aggravated.
"Truthfully, I don't care," Deemos answered, coldly as usual. "But I suggest you get in the best shape possible," he added.
"Whatever," Logan said in submission, knowing once again that argument would be useless.
With that Logan turned around and began to escort himself back to the outside world. He had become very familiar with the halls in the last few days, and no longer needed someone to show him in or out.
"Oh, Logan," Deemos shouted after him. "Train hard,"
* * *
Logan had been training on his own for a few days now. It really wasn't doing much good. Lynn had shown him a gym up the street, but weights and treadmills and all the other fancy equipment they had wasn't even enough to make Logan break a sweat. Things like that never had been a real workout for Logan. So, instead of wasting his time and money in a gym, Logan practiced Tae Kwon Do in Remy's back yard.
Tae Kwon Do was about the only thing that could be a workout for Logan. When he practiced Tae Kwon Do his only equipment was himself, and that's why it was a challenge. It seemed the only thing that was up to Logan's standards, was Logan.
But still Logan was not content with his training. In the years Logan did Tae Kwon Do, he hardly ever worked out. He was just naturally perfect at the martial arts. Now Logan worked out four or five hours a day. Still, it made little difference. Every kick, every punch, every block was always perfect. He could do hundreds of repetitions, and hundreds of times he was perfect. He didn't really understand, but he did know there was another level, and he wasn't waiting a month to find it.
Remy was at the next level. Logan knew it. Every night Remy came home from his training with a new rip in his physique. Every night Remy came home another step above Logan, and Logan didn't like it.
It was about eight o'clock at night, and Logan was sitting on Remy's couch with Lynn leaning against him, as he watched a cheap American version of what was probably, at one time, a great Japanese anime as he waited for Remy to come home. Tonight Logan and Remy were going to have a talk. A very important talk.
"See what happens on the next exciting episode of Lizard Sphere B," said a voice from the TV.
"That wasn't bad," Logan commented as the television went to commercials.
"You should see the Japanese version," Lynn told him. "This American company really screwed it up,"
Just then Remy came bursting through the door. And, just like every night, Remy had an odd spring to his step, like he was so tired that he was about to fall over dead, but at the same time was ecstatic about it.
"Bonjour," he greeted them in French as he walked through the living room and into the kitchen.
"I'm gonna go now," Lynn said as she stood up. Logan had found out that she and Remy had been pretty close in the past, and they still weren't comfortable around each other now.
"Are you sure?" Logan asked. "Remy doesn't mind you being here,"
"But I do," Lynn shot back. "I have to get up early tomorrow anyway,"
"Alright," Logan submitted. "Do you want me to walk you home?" Lynn lived on the other side of the village.
"No," she answered. "You have to be tired form all that training you did today," she explained.
Logan was slightly disappointed, but after thinking again he realized this would be the perfect opportunity to talk to Remy.
"Goodnight then," Logan said. The two looked at each other for an awkward moment, both wondering if a goodnight kiss was appropriate, then Lynn left.
"On to business," Logan thought to himself as he walked to the kitchen.
Logan had gotten to know the kitchen very well as of late. Logan was always eating, and when he was eating he could eat enough to feed an army, at least. But Remy mostly had health foods, which Logan didn't care for to say the least. So, Logan had also gotten to know the local McDonald's.
Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, Logan took a look around. The kitchen was shaped like a 5x12 rectangle, making things a little cramped if more than a few people were in it at the same time.
Strait in front of Logan was a sink, piled full of dishes. To his right, on the same wall as the doorway, sat a slightly rusted stove, and beside it was an old, barely functional refrigerator. To Logan's left was a round, white lawn table with an assortment of chairs, and sitting at that table was Remy.
Logan watched for a second as the man downed glass after glass of water to recover from his hard day of work.
"You need somethin'?" Remy asked when he noticed Logan standing in the doorway.
"I want to talk to you…" Logan started in the coldest, meanest tone he could muster as he walked to Remy. "… about my training," he finished as he leaned over the table to look Remy strait in the eye.
"What about it?" Remy asked, showing no sign of being intimidated.
"Nothing," Logan answered as he sat down and gave up the scare tactic. "And that's the problem," he added. "I train for hours on end and nothing. I'm not getting any better,"
"So what do you want me to do about it?" Remy asked before gulping down another glass of water.
"I want you to train me," Logan answered as eagerness plagued his voice.
"I'd love to train you, but I don't have time," Remy said as if he were a parent telling his child why he couldn't have that new, shiny toy he saw in the store.
"I'll get up early, before you go train," Logan reasoned.
"I don't know," Remy said. "I don't think Deemos would like it very much,"
"Come on," Logan shot back, not about to back down now. "You said that we were the only two ever to be taken from the outside. That makes us outcasts. That makes us misfits. We have to stick together. We have to show them what outsiders can do," he finished as dramatically as possible.
Remy was deep in thought. Everything Logan said was true, and teaching was always something Remy had wanted to do. Before he was recruited he was aspiring to open his own martial arts school.
Logan saw the look on Remy's face. He knew he had Remy reeling and it wouldn't take much more to get the answer he wanted.
"I decided to stay here so I could train on the next level," Logan started in again. "I can't do that unless you help me,"
Remy heard what Logan was saying, but words didn't matter now. Remy saw an eagerness in Logan's eyes. He saw a determination he would have killed to believe he had. Deemos wouldn't like it, but Remy had made up his mind.
"Okay," Remy finally said. "I'll train you,"
Author note: For my violence crazed action fans, some serious action will start in the next chapter.