Unknown Realms

Chapter 11- Training

A dark figure adjusted the devise on his ears, after being in that position for hours he had to rub his arms to get his blood flowing. The devise was like a scouter, but stretched across both his eyes.

"Soon, Casaretta, soon…" he chuckled evilly, running a glove covered hand through his sleek black hair.

~*~

Miyako burst through the front door of Capsule Corps. her hands carrying several shopping bags.

"We're back!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the many empty corridors.

"Thank Kami…" Hotiku came in behind her, muttering as she held more of her bags.

"Oh, you're so sweet to carry those for me!" Miyako giggled.

"Yeah, just call me the Candy Man," she said sarcastically, "do you really need to buy this much every time you drag me to the mall?"

"What are you talking about? You know this is just the bare minimum!"

"Right… I knew that," she dropped all the bags at once like a sack of potatoes, to her they might as well have been.

"Be careful with those," Miyako gasped, "you know how much those cost me!"

"You blew off nearly three hundred bucks in one hour, and that was the just first row of stores!" she complained.

"That row was short," she defended herself.

"Mi-chan, I could barely walk out of the store doors with all the bags piled in my arms."

"Those doors were short too," she crossed her arms. Hotiku rolled her eyes and stretched her sore limbs.

"Who ever thought clothes could weigh so much," she sighed as Zack came down the stairs, "oh thank Kami you're here! You get the pleasure of carrying Mi-chan's bags!"

"Huh uh, I ain't getting stuck with bag duty again!" he yelled.

"Bag duty? Oh, no, no no! This isn't bag duty, this is just helping out Miyako, you know after a hard day of shopping she gets so tired," Hotiku said dramatically as Miyako put on her best puppy dog face.

"Pwease, Zacky-kun, I'll bake you a cake," she sang.

"No! That's okay, I'll take them for you anyway," he quickly picked up the bags and ran upstairs, putting them down in Miyako's appointed room, which she had yet to decorate. As soon as he left, she and Hotiku shared a high-five before walking off into the kitchen for a snack.

"What'd ya want?" Hotiku asked.

"Ooh, do you guys have spaghetti?? I haven't had that in a long time," she smiled.

"Mi-chan, we'll ask Bulma if she can make that for dinner, this is a snack," she laughed.

"Spaghetti's not a snack too?" she asked.

"Uh… no," Hotiku raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, poo… and I really wanted to try the Earth kind too."

"We've got grapes and Ritz bits… uh, chocolate…" she started listing the things as Miyako cut her off.

"Ritz bits! They're so yummy," she giggled, "the little sandwich-y things, they're so cute!"

Hotiku looked at her for a moment before handing her the box. She blinked as she popped them in her mouth. Same old Mi-chan…

What'd ya mean by that? Miyako thought, looking at her sideways.

"Uh, nothing… you're just back to your… ditzy self," she produced a sweat drop.

"Of course!" she smiled, and then looked down at the box. "Ah! It's empty!"

"Oh well, come on, you've gotta go decorate your room like everyone else," Hotiku pushed her up the stairs and into her room. "Now, don't come out 'til you're done!" With that, she closed the door and ran into her room, flopping down on her bed. She really hadn't had time to decorate her room either with training and all. As she glanced down at the two small bags that contained the small items she had bought with, she decided to do it later; most likely in the same fashion she had done it at Gohan's house. Right now she just wanted to rest, relax, and not be disturbed for the next couple of hours. Unfortunately for her, certain people in the house weren't going to let her.

"Hey, Hotti!" Goten ran in and hopped on her bed, jumping up and down several times.

"Ugh, what do you want, Goten?" she groaned, her voice muffled as she buried her face in her pillow.

"What's up with your friend Miyako?" he asked, still jumping on her bed causing her body to bounce slightly with it.

"What do you mean?" she flipped over on her back so she was looking at him.

"She's like super smart one minute and now she's completely…"

"Ditzy?" Hotiku filled in for him.

"Yeah," he agreed, "what's up with that?"

"She's just like that, man, she's a genius, but doesn't act like it. Like I said before, the element of surprise," she let out an exasperated sigh as Goten continued to jump on her bed.

"What's she got against me?" he asked.

"Okay, you lost me, now what are you talking about?" she raised an eyebrow.

"She's like always insulting me or badgering me!" he stated.

"Dude, she's just teasing you, it's not like she hates you, she's like that with a lot of people," she grasped a pillow next to her head and glared at Goten, "now GET OFF!" She threw the pillow at him, knocking him off the bed in mid-jump.

"Hey! Ouch..." he pulled himself up.

"Go away, Goten, I'm tired," she complained.

"Tired? How can you be tired?"

"You try shopping all day with Mi-chan, then be forced to carry all her bags for her!" she sat up on her bed and glared at him.

"I would, but I think Vegita's going to make us train," he snickered.

"Nani!? Now?! Why!?" she jumped up from her bed, nearly hitting her head on the ceiling.

"I'm done!!!" came a high-pitched voice from down the hall.

"That's Miyako, she probably finished decorating…" she sighed.

"Let's go check it out," Goten said, dragging a protesting Hotiku along.

The two walked down the hall and noticed that Zack and Trunks were also walking towards Miyako's room. Meeting up in front of her door, they knocked and were immediately greeted by the hyper active girl.

"Check it out!" she smiled. They all looked inside, immediately face faulting.

"It's so…" Trunks started.

"Pink…" Zack finished for him. Sure enough, if you walked into the room you would immediately be surrounded by pink. Probably the only things that weren't some shade of pink were the walls and doors.

"Well, of course! Don't look so shocked, it is my color after all," she laughed.

"Right, I knew that," Hotiku raised an eyebrow and turned around to head back to her room, "know if anyone needs me… don't, I'll be resting in my room."

"Sorry, Hotiku, we've got training to do, this Vegita guy wants to see how strong we are," Zack replied.

"Man, I am seriously going to kill someone," she muttered.

"Not likely," Zack muttered.

"What do you mean by that?" she glared at him.

"Babe, your power and strength have dropped immensely. Against me, I'd give you five minutes tops, and that's only if you're extremely lucky," he smirked.

"Uh oh," Goten mumbled, bracing himself for the onslaught that was to come.

Hotiku glared at Zack with murderous eyes, "Zack, you'd better savor your next five minutes," she growled.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm going to kill you!" she launched herself at him, ready to brutally attack him. But before she reached her destination, she found herself looking at the floor. She realized that Trunks had intervened and she was now being slung over his shoulder.

"See? You couldn't even see Trunks move in to stop you! You're weak!" he taunted.

"You're dead! You hear me Zack? DEAD!!" she screamed as Trunks walked away with her and dropped her on his bed.

"Calm down, Hotti," he warned.

"Or what? You heard what he said, I'm going to tear him limb from limb!" she looked up at him, clenching her fists as she grasped the sheets on his bed.

"But you know it's true, maybe not as to the extreme as he said it, but you have been getting weaker," he said.

"You're agreeing with him?!" she cried in disbelief.

"No, I'm just saying you should go train," he replied.

"But I'm tired! Why doesn't anybody listen when I say that?"

"Because no one cares," came a male voice from towards the door. They looked in the direction it had come from to see Vegita leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed and that infamous smirk on his face. "Both of you brats get into gear, we're going to find out just how strong these Toria-jins are," he spat the word Toria-jin as if it was poison.

"It's a shame really," Hotiku said haughtily.

"Nani? What is?" Vegita looked at her sideways.

"Toria-jins and Saiya-jins are so much alike in so many ways," she smirked.

"What are you talking about, brat?"

"Yeah what he said," Trunks said, "except for the brat thing."

"Our strength for one, then there's the fact about mates," she chuckled, "too bad you think so lowly of us."

"Why do you say that?" Trunks asked. Hotiku got up and tapped his cheek lightly.

"Think about it, what would a mixture of both be like? Especially one with the best qualities of both sides, and none of their weaknesses," walking past him, she crossed her arms and looked at Vegita.

"It's a shame that never happened," he scowled, "could've been a great warrior."

"Wouldn't it though," she snickered.

"You guys are acting weird," Trunks looked at them quizzically.

"Get ready, and meet the rest of us outside in five minutes," Vegita growled and walked out, leaving the two alone.

"That was easy," Hotiku laughed.

"What was?"

"Getting rid of him, and getting you out of my way," she smirked.

"What are you talking about now?" he looked at her questionably.

"Because now there's no one in my way so I can go and knock Zack's block off!" she growled and ran for the door. Trunks acted quickly and grabbed her from her waist before she could make it to the hallway.

"Oh no you don't, you're going to get dressed so we can go train," he said sternly.

"Maybe I am getting weaker," she whimpered.

~*~

The nine guardians stood in a row, Miyako bouncing up and down slightly, obviously anxious to get started. Hotiku stood next to her stretching her quads. The others were either crossing their arms, examining their nails or yawning, all out of boredom.

"You're all going to go into the gravity chamber and spar with each other, I'll be watching outside on this monitor to see your skill levels," Vegita explained. "Now go in there, so we can get this started already."

No one moved, they all looked at each other questionably not sure of what to make of the situation. Vegita growled, growing impatient with them all when he could hear Hotiku snickering.

"Would you care to share what the hell is so funny, brat?" he glared at her.

"Poor Vegita, poor naïve Vegita," she chuckled, "we do not follow you, you are not our superior we take orders from no one, well, they follow me from time to time, but that's because I am their superior whether I like it or not."

Vegita was about to retort, but stopped himself and smirked, "alright then."

"Nani?" Hotiku raised an eyebrow she wasn't expecting this.

"You all are soldiers and choose to live by soldiers' rules. Well, from now on during training you're going to be treated as soldiers," he scowled, "uh… fall in!" He ordered, and they immediately stood in a straight row, and saluted him. Vegita walked up and down the row, his arms behind his back and spoke authoritively.

"During your training sessions, I am your superior, not this weakling squirt," he glared at Hotiku as he walked past her. As soon as his back was to her, she looked over at Miyako and turned her saluted hand into a puppet, mocking Vegita as he spoke. Miyako giggled causing Vegita to spin around immediately on his heel, but before he managed to, Hotiku had returned her salute and they both had to struggle to hold their straight faces.

Vegita eyed them suspiciously before continuing, "now, you all will go into the gravity chamber and you will spar with one another."

"Sir, permission to speak freely, sir," Taga took a step forward. Hotiku and Miyako had to bite their lips to keep from laughing. Vegita nodded at Taga, he could get used to this. "So like a free for all?"

"Exactly, now go!" he ordered. All nine of them dropped their salutes and marched into the gravity chamber, still in a line. As soon as the door closed behind them, Miyako, Hotiku and Zack burst into laughter.

"That was too easy!" Miyako giggled as they shared a high-five.

"Alright, he's going to turn the monitor on any second now, so let's get on with this," Hotiku chuckled.

"Hotiku, why don't you go spar with the less powerful guardians, me and Miyako'll be able to handle ourselves," Zack snickered.

"No, I think I'll stay right where I am," she said calmly, glancing at Miyako knowingly. No one knew it, but before they started sparring, Miyako had administered a remedy to her that restored her physical strength and power back to her.

"All right, but it's your funeral," he smirked only to have her return the smirk.

~*~

"Uh, tousan? What about us?" Trunks asked as he and Goten walked up behind him while he opened the monitor to view their fight.

"Baka, don't you think I know what I'm doing!?" he snapped. Trunks clenched his teeth, he knew he was his father, but he was pushing him past his limit. "After they finish sparring, I'll pair everyone up according to their level of power, including you two. I already know how weak you two are."

"How are they doing?" Goten asked, changing the subject, he didn't like to be considered weak, obviously.

"Can't you see?" Vegita snapped. Goten looked up at the screen, he could see them all sparring, but something caught his attention.

"Where are Hotiku, Miyako and Zack?" he asked.

"Baka, what are you talking about?" Vegita asked, then looked up at the screen. Truthfully, he didn't want to admit it, but he was having difficulty keeping up with the trio they were moving so fast, even Hotiku. Of course, it was probably because the cameras couldn't pick them up fast enough, if they were inside the gravity chamber they probably would've been able to follow them.

"I'm having trouble keeping track of them," Trunks said squinting, his eyes darting around the screen. Occasionally, he would see a blur or two when they collided, but other than that he couldn't spot them.

"This is going to be harder than I thought…" Goten sighed.

~*~

It had been about an hour since they started sparring and they had begun to slow down a while ago. They thought it would never end when a screen appeared up in the corner of the chamber with Vegita scowling down at them. The guardians immediately froze, some in mid-swing, punch or kick, and looked up at him.

"That's enough, come out and I'll distribute the results," he scowled as the screen disappeared.

"Thank Kami!" Hotiku huffed as she hung on Zack's shoulder as they walked out.

"Tired already?" Trunks snickered.

"I would respond, but I'm out of breathe," she glared at him.

"So what was the point of all that, Vegi-kun?" Miyako asked. Vegita frowned at the name she had given him before continuing.

"For those of you who think we're done with training… you're wrong," Vegita snickered. Groans and protests were heard from the small crowd. "I'm going to either pair you up or put you in groups and you will spar until I say otherwise."

"Ah well, me and Goten are all rested up so we'll have no problem with it," Trunks gloated.

"Think again, brat," Vegita spat, "I'm putting you two up against the strongest in the group!"

"Nani!?" they yelled simultaneously earning taunts, jeers and laughter from the guardians.

"Sucks, don't it?" Hotiku stuck her tongue out at them.

"Silence!" Vegita growled, immediately shutting them up. "That's better, now the groups go as follows: Astria, Ginger and Taga, you're all together." He said, receiving nods from them as they walked back into the gravity room and into the first chamber.

"Cedric and Celeste, you two are in the second chamber," he ordered as they walked into their designated room.

"Zack and Blade, you two are together, go to the third chamber."

"Sir, yes, sir," they said in unison and walked into the chamber.

"Now, for you four, don't think you're getting off easy," he warned.

"Let me guess, you're putting me with Goten and Miyako with Trunks?" Hotiku said.

"Wrong, brat, learn to hold your tongue or I'll do it for you," he hissed. Hotiku glared hatefully at him as he continued.

"Trunks you are to spar with Hotiku, and Miyako you're with Kakkarot's brat," he spat.

"Who the hell is Kakkarot?" she questioned.

"My dad," Goten sighed.

"Oh."

"You will all be in the same chamber, but are only to fight with your partners," he said, "now go."

"Man, I can't believe Hotiku was one of the strongest, wasn't she supposedly getting weaker?" Trunks whispered to Goten.

"I heard that," she hissed.

"Man, I feel sorry for you," Goten chuckled.

"Goten, honey," Miyako said sweetly.

"Hai?" he looked at her.

"I'm not as easy as you think," she glared as both girls walked into the chamber, their backs to the boys.

"You think she was telling the truth?" Goten asked Trunks who shrugged in response as they entered.

Dropping into fighting stances, the four teens looked at their partners focusing on their surroundings and letting their senses expand.

"You're going down, Trunks," Hotiku hissed.

"After you," he replied.

"Don't go easy on me just cause I'm a girl," Miyako warned.

"But I might hurt you," he blinked.

Hotiku's left eye twitched as she looked over at him. "Baka," she whispered harshly as Miyako launched herself at him attacking him off guard.

Unfortunately for Hotiku, she had taken her focus off Trunks and had given him an advantage. He took this opportunity and rushed at her, landing a punch on the side of her face and sending her crashing into the wall behind her.

"Kuso…" she cursed and wiped the blood from her chin, he'd hit her pretty hard and she wasn't going to let him get away with it. She ran towards him all the while in her mind she was thinking up several tactics on how to attack and turn the fight in favor of herself. As soon as she reached him, she threw her fist at him only to have him jump to the side. She swung her fist around and struck him in his stomach while he was still in mid-air. He grabbed her arm and flipped her over him.

Goten had managed to place Miyako in a headlock as she struggled to get loose. They were now floating in mid-air, compliments of Goten, as he was now beginning to regret the smart remark he had made. It really wasn't as easy as he had thought it would be to spar with her, she went all out especially when her opponent angered her. Unfortunately for Goten, she was beyond angered and into enraged as she kicked up and struck him in his face, loosening his grasp. She took advantage of this right away, flipping him over her and to the ground. Miyako, unfortunately, didn't know how to fly, let alone levitate, and began to plummet to the ground, but she turned this to her advantage as she held out her fist and prepared to punch him when she landed. Fortunately, Goten managed to roll out of the way just in time as her fist imbedded itself into the ground. She let a short painful cry as she pulled her fist out and looked over at him just in time to duck under his leg as he kicked out at her. She jumped up, flipping in mid-air, her legs kicking him twice as she whirled back onto her feet.

Trunks had just been thrown against the ground again as Hotiku jumped down at him. He was able to grab her wrists just before she grasped his head preparing to slam it back down against the floor. He planted his feet firmly on her stomach and tossed her over him and towards Goten. Hotiku, rushing rapidly upside-down towards him, saw exactly where she was heading to, but turned this in her favor.

Once she reached him, she placed her hands on his shoulders and flipped herself over him and right-side up. Goten glanced at her quizzically for a moment, smiled slightly then turned his attention back to Miyako who had just kneed his stomach. Landing several feet away from Goten, Hotiku smirked at Trunks as she nodded her head knowingly at him. He growled and blurred next to her, performing a roundhouse kick. She managed to block his leg and grasped it, flipping him around and slamming him into the wall. Trunks powered up, sending her skidding across the floor a few feet away from him.

"So you wanna play rough, ne?" she spat.

"Isn't that what we were doing?" he raised an eyebrow

"Oh no, I'm just warming up," she smirked. Trunks frowned as he attacked once again.

Goten doubled over in pain as the air from his lungs was forced out of him. Miyako intertwined her fingers and brought her fists down on his back sending him crashing to the ground. As she kicked him, causing him to roll towards the others, he turned his roll into a flip and jumped to his feet. He glared at Miyako before blurring behind her and smacking the back of her head causing her to stumble forward.

Trunks dropped down and swept his leg at her feet, knocking her off his feet. She rolled away before he could take advantage of her and flipped to her feet as he chased after her. Before he had a chance to react, Hotiku twisted her body around and punched him, sending him towards Miyako. As Goten charged towards her preparing to punch her, Miyako grabbed Trunks by his shoulders and swung him in front of her, using him as a human shield. Trunks let out a startled cry as Goten's first stopped centimeters away from his face. No one had time to react as Hotiku punched Trunks out of Miyako's grasp and chased after him. Goten looked at Miyako as she laughed nervously. He jumped back a few feet and cupped his hands, releasing a ki blast. Miyako yelped, barely having time to swing her arm in front of her and use her telekinesis to divert the direction of the blast.

"Alright! That's it, I'm laying out all my cards!" Hotiku growled as Trunks flew up into the air. Trunks looked at her questionably as he tilted his head to the side, wondering what she meant. He knew she couldn't fly or produce ki attacks, with the exception of the three that he and Goten had shown her, but she still had trouble producing them fast enough and controlling them as well. Then it hit him, her psychic powers, but they were still developing and she had no control over them, right? Sudden realization dawned on him, as he had a flash back to her first training session where she released a controlled EMP.

"Shimatte," he cursed as he realized she still had minor powers in which she could control. Before he could react, she had pulled her arms back, an invisible force could be detected as the images behind it could be seen wavering. She snapped her hands together in front of her as she sent a shockwave towards him.

Miyako stopped just after retreating her fist from a punch that sent Goten to the ground as she looked over to see what was happening. Luckily, Goten had done the same and he hadn't attacked her. Trunks' body was flung towards the wall, face first. As he slowly slid down to the ground, Hotiku's aura disappeared and she collapsed to the floor as well. Miyako held her shoulder in pain from it nearly being dislocated as she looked down at Goten who was wincing. Fortunately for all of them, Vegita's face appeared on a screen as all four of them looked up at him wearily.

"Training's over, come out and go rest," he stated just before it disappeared. Miyako walked over towards Hotiku as she managed to pull herself to her feet against all protest of her body and smiled slightly at her friend. They all dragged themselves towards the door, wincing in pain.

"Is this how training's going to be everyday?" Miyako let out an exasperated sigh as Hotiku nodded.