Disclaimer: Yeah I know I sometimes forget to put this thing here, but for those of you who have only come to this place by accident, here it is. None of the people places or things in this story (with the possible exception of Hoshito) belong to me. I'm not Akira Toriyama, even though my writing is so good you'd think I was. I'm actually a whole lot better than he is, at least I am in my own opinion, which is all that matters. So don't bother trying to lawyer me, I have no money, and don't try giving me any money because it really should go to him, even if I need it more, hehehe. Okay, now onto the story.
It wasn't a very long trip to Korin Tower, but we had enough time for a bit a chit-chat. Eighteen had deigned to stay behind, having to Clan up after dinner and do some shopping. Apparently they were looking for a new bed or something. Krillin you ol' dog... A new bed already... Sheesh!
"And the wedding is planned for next spring, but I'm not sure if I can wait that long. There's just so many people who seem determined to take her away from me, or die trying. Why just the other day, that guy at the grocery store had the gall, the unmitigated gall, to flirt with her right before my eyes. It took every bit of restraint I had just to stop myself from pounding that little cock-sure smile off his face."
Krillin continued on his jealous rampage. It hadn't been all that long since that anger was directed at me, and for once I was glad that I had managed to keep my eyes above the neckline in his house of late. I had been coming over almost every day for training sessions, and the soon to be misses was starting to give me dirty looks. Man, I don't envy you Krillin. Not anymore... That little hell-cat would chew me up and spit me out before I knew what hit me. She's the kind of woman who can't help but inspire jealous rages, being such an incurable flirt.
I kept those thoughts to myself, and let Krillin go on and on about the new apartment they got in town, about how the new landlord had almost offered a reduction of the cost of the lease if she would just flash him a smile. He went on about the grocery-boy, they seemed to keep meeting him, and on about the taxi driver on the way home, how he almost got into an accident because he couldn't keep his eyes where they belong (a: in their sockets, and b: on the road).
I let Krillin talk his little heart out, I had a lot of thinking to do and Krillin's voice tended to drone out into just background noise. My thoughts were a little preoccupied... Basically on how I was supposed to broach the subject of training with Piccolo, as well on just how to beat him. In the end though, I guess I really shouldn't have been worried about the first one. Piccolo was only too glad to take on a new training partner, he was so bored these days, with nothing to save the world from. I didn't even need to tell him about my wish...
Beating him on the other hand, would be another matter entirely.
Now just why did I decide to train under Piccolo?
This was pretty much the only thought that was running through my head as I dodged, parried, and basically tried as hard as I could not to get my face smashed to a million pieces. I caught the leg aimed at my gut and pushed off, into a backwards somersault, managing to kick the Namek who popped into being behind me in to process. Unfortunately he had expected it as well, and the kick met only a well placed hand, grasping my foot and twisting.
I spun in mid-air for a moment, then sunk back to earth headfirst, managing to catch myself, just barely, on my left pinky finger and hurl myself back into the air to parry the punch aimed at where my face was going to be in another second or two. On and on it went, not yet being able to do so much as think of attacking, seeing as I was a little busy. Still, it was good practice, but not quite good enough.
So I did perhaps the stupidest (or maybe the smartest, I'm never quite sure) thing in my entire life. I goaded him onwards. "Is that the best you could do? My Granny could do better! And that's one handed!" You stupid idiot... Now you're in for it. Of course, Krillin on the sidelines was flabbergasted, completely perplexed as to why I would try to piss off someone who could kill me beyond all hope of wishing back.
The insults, of course, had exactly the desired effect, causing the little green man (although lacking in the little department though) to up the ante, summoning forth a small amount of his huge energy to increase strength, speed, and pretty much everything else too. Not only that, but he started using energy blasts too, and every one of them could kill me if I wasn't careful.
It wasn't long before I started showing the strain, my arms felt like deadened lead weights, my legs like they were crawling through some foul-smelling swamp muck. My entire body burned with effort, and still I pressed on. No, you are NOT going to give in to this guy. This is one battle you are going to win no matter what. You know his tactics, you know what he'll do, now get off your butt and MOVE!
Somehow I kept up the new pace, my dead limbs moving through the rote gestures as if they had no mind other than to move. My clothes were in tatters, the new boots were in shambles, the belt was torn to shreds, and the shirt was a complete disgrace, what with the blood and sweat ingrained so deeply into it's very being. Somehow I summoned forth yet another burst of speed to dodge to punch, another burst of strength to parry the kick, and another burst of energy to block the ceaseless blasts that came from every direction, each one singeing the air all around us.
Through sheer stubborn will I kept it up, and pushed myself harder still, actually managing to attack once or twice when I found one of those too-few-openings. Still, it was a losing battle, we all knew. There was no way a mere mortal could combat one who was once a God. Not even so powerful a mortal as I.
HA! Laughable... You call yourself powerful. Not a little while ago, you thought you were unstoppable, and here you are, being stopped at every turn, he's out-flanking every clever scheme and manoeuver you can come up with. You can barely keep up defending yourself, let alone attack. You're hurt, a couple broken ribs, a sprained ankle which is somehow supporting your weight, not to mention the myriad of bruises and lacerations you've got. He's beating you, and he isn't even trying. Just imagine what will happen if some REAL threat comes to Earth. What then hunh? Tough guy, think you'll save it? Think again!
My own mind was working against me, I couldn't think, couldn't act, couldn't win, the only thing I could do was lose...
"NO!"
The inhuman cry was torn from the depths of my tortured soul, some monumental effort of control had been erased, and now there was nothing left but pure, raw, unadulterated emotion. Grief, hate, jealousy, fear, sorrow, and most of all, love. They were all there, in that one, sudden burst of my true alien self, this single affirmation, that I will not go quietly into the night. And with that, in the darkness, there shone a tiny spark of something else.
The infinitesimal nothing which glimmered before my eyes in the darkness of my mind just sat there, waiting, impassive, patient till the last. It would be used, or not, it was neither here nor there to it. It was merely there, a tool, nothing more. But it was more, so very much more. I almost reached for it, almost but not quite. Then a smile leapt unbidden to my lips, and I didn't reach. Instead, I let it come to me, I let my very essence, the soul beneath the mind, beneath the body, beneath the ki energy used for the blasts that even now were being fired towards me, give itself wholly to my cause, and burst forth from within my shattered form, from within my bruised and battered body. And with that one act of acceptance, I let it SHINE!
In that moment of peace, I was hurtled back into a new version of reality. The multitude of blasts now aimed at me were of no consequence. Instead of destroying them in a nice flashy show, I absorbed their energy into my own, suffusing my body with even greater power. My skin had begun to luminesce, and I could feel that my hair and eye-colour had changed as well.
Krillin wasn't completely surprised, though he was shocked that I had been able to do so in only this one battle. Piccolo on the other hand was a different story altogether. His shock was made even more manifest after I had him lying broken on the floor, in worse shape than I had been a moment before, and in far less time. We had just barely enough time to blink before we all registered the true magnitude of what had just happened.
Krillin was the first to put it into words, "Dude, you're a-a-a Super Saiyajinn!"
"Wow. That's quite a story there. You said your name was Hoshito? Sorry, sometimes I forget names." Dende was playing host to the rest of us, with Mr. Popo firmly entrenched as hostess.
"Yeah, well I say that having another Super-Saiyajinn around can only spell trouble." Piccolo was dour as always, his low whispering boom of a voice piercing the veiling solitude of silence that saturated the air.
"Yeah, you think everything spells trouble." Krillin's poor attempt at humour fell on deaf ears.
"I really should have said it earlier Piccolo, but I want to say it now." Every eye in the room was on me, all eight of them. "Thanks."
That was yet another unexpected thing. You seem to pride yourself on doing the unexpected, don't you? And in the space between eye-blinks the tension in the room was at once brought to fever pitch, and then broken, shattered into a million pieces as everyone, finally laughed.
As everyone picked themselves up off the floor, and dab at the corners of wet eyes, they finally settled down once more. This time, to a more amiable silence.
"Look, I hate to break the silence, but I'm a little tired here, you think I could get a zenzu bean before I go into a coma or something?" The weariness I felt was bone-deep, even deeper in fact. I felt drained, a withered husk of a self, not yet nearly recovered from my harrowing ordeal. "Needless to say, it's not exactly an easy thing going Super-Saiyajinn for the first time." My voice was raw, husky, strained with effort.
"Oh dear, I almost forgot." Dende was already getting to his feet as he said this, coming over to me, and laying his hands on my chest. His touch was gentle, warm, and as the light issued forth from his hands I could feel health, there was no other word for it, being projected deep within my body. "I do apologize, I did not mean to ignore your pain."
After only a few moments, I felt whole, and sane, if not completely restored, "That's enough, go heal Piccolo. I know I hurt him worse than he hurt me, even though I didn't exactly mean to." I glanced his way, and mouthed the word Sorry, in silent apology. He saw, and with the tiniest nod, acknowledged how difficult that task was.
"Thank you everyone, but I think I'm just going to go hibernate somewhere. I'll see you in the morning." I got up, and went to the quarters I had been assigned, found the bed, and fell upon the covers, without even bothering to undress. I was deep into a dreamless, healing sleep well before my eyes had closed, let alone my head hit the pillow.