Wow. Not only did I hit the 172 mark, but I hit my goal. 10 reviews per chapter. Incredible.
Well, let's continue, I guess…
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" . . ." Speaking
' . . .' Thinking
~0~ Change point of views
~0~Tournament Troubles~0~
The adult was the child, again. It happened whenever the adult closed the adult's eyes.
The bad men were far away, but there were there. And they were still coming. They weren't here yet but it was only a matter of time.
"Hello?"
The child could see the man with the black wings. He was leading. He was destroying. '
He was going to kill.
"Hello in there? You ok?"
The adult opened the adult's eyes. The adult's companion was trying to get the adult's attention. The adult nodded. The adult was fine.
The adult and the companion continued on their three-hour journey.
The adult may have been fine, but the child inside certainly wasn't.
~0~
Videl watched Gohan through her jet copter's starboard (A/N right side) window. She could tell he was spacing out occasionally. Otherwise he would have passed over the numerous forests he seemed to plow into.
Not that she couldn't blame him. Even at her copter's top speed the trip to their location was a good three hours away, and she had come close to nodding off a few times herself.
Thankfully, the journey was almost over.
Gohan suddenly pulled ahead, taking the lead. She wondered what he could be doing, but realization hit her.
'We're close, and he's showing me where to land.'
Videl goosed the throttle and kicked in her underbelly hover engines. It was a clearing about one hundred feet in diameter, surrounded by a thick forest. In fact, one of many similar clearings in the area. They seemed to be patched in the dense forest around them.
'How does such thick forest get clearings like this? It can't be natural. . . .'
She landed in the clearing that Gohan had landed in and shut down her engines. She climbed out, and capsulated her jet copter. Walking up to Gohan, she noticed him checking out the area, as if looking for something.
"Gohan, what are you doing?"
"Gohan's looking for me." Videl started, and unnoticed by her, Gohan jumped a little too. Leaning up against a tree, covered in shade, was the green man called Piccolo she saw up in that lookout place. He seemed nearly invisible in that shade.
"What took you so long? I've been waiting." Videl wondered if he was angry. He certainly didn't look angry, but more passive. No emotions at all.
"Sorry, we came as fast as we could. Videl's copter isn't real fast." Videl considered. Her copter was the best money could buy, and could hit an incredibly high speed. But that was slow to these guys?
"It's no big deal. I brought you the equipment you wanted." Videl looked around, but she didn't see any weights or punching bags. Piccolo stepped forward, and for the first time Videl noticed the blue bundles of cloth tucked under his hand.
Piccolo tossed the bundles of cloth towards the two. Gohan didn't move to catch them, and when Videl did Gohan held her back.
The two shirts hit the ground, sinking almost a foot into the ground.
Piccolo didn't seem to be surprised. "Here, I brought these from Korin, just in case." He tossed a small brown sack to Gohan, which he caught it instead of letting it hit the ground.
"Thanks, Piccolo. You've been a great help."
"Let me know if there is something else I can do for you, Gohan. And Videl?"
Videl started. Was he actually talking to her?
"Try not to overdo it. You can easily get hurt. Gohan's real loyal to his friends and doesn't like to see them get hurt. Althrough he may have special consideration for you, I believe."
"What?!?" Piccolo smirked and took off, ignoring the dumb and embarrassed look Gohan currently had on his face.
~0~
He couldn't believe it. His old master, betrayed him?!? Gohan thought that Piccolo, being asexual, didn't want anything to do with love stuff!
Gohan continued his dumb stare until Videl got his attention by kicking him in the knee.
"Are you going to get started or not?!?"
Rubbing his knee, Gohan nodded. "Yeah, sure. Um, let me get the shirts. . . ."
Gohan reached down into the hole the two shirts made and pulled one up. He judged the weight and easily figured who it was intended for.
"What are those, anyway?"
"These? Oh, their training clothes. It's one of the ways to increase the difficulty of training. The more difficult, the more intense, then the more effective the training is. I trained for three years here in this place with my father and Piccolo. I gained considerable strength then, but later I trained only a year in a much more intense environment with my father to gain the strength to defeat Cell."
"So the way you gained your power is intense training? That's sounds a lot like any normal training method. I've been doing that all my life."
"I know, but this is taking it to an extreme. To your limits. Here, catch." Gohan tossed the shirt to Videl. Videl caught it in her chest.
And the weight of the shirt made her promply fall down on her butt, the shirt crushing her lap.
"That shirt weighs about two hundred pounds. It's a decent weight."
"YOU COULD HAVE WARNED ME!"
Gohan scratched the back of his head, grinning. "Opps, uh, yeah, I guess I should have. . . ."
Videl cooled down for a moment. "So. . . . You wear these shirts to intensify your training?"
"Yep. Just continue training, except double or triple the normal amount of time you usually do. Plus, wear the shirt. That's how to take yourself beyond you limits."
"But surely you don't learn how to shoot those light beams and . . ."
"Energy blasts. They're called energy blasts, Videl."
"Right. But you don't learn those by just training . . . do you?"
"No, you probably won't learn those on your own. I'll teach you how to use those techniques. Starting with flying."
"Flying? Why flying, its has to be difficult."
"Not really. Plus, I don't think I can stand waiting for that copter of yours to get anywhere."
~0~
". . . and your energy holds you up. Really, a toddler could do it . . . I mean, and extremely talented toddler who has put years of hard work into it, of course!" Gohan cringed at the look Videl was giving her.
"This energy business. . . what are you talking about?"
"Well, it's, um . . . ."
"You haven't done this before, have you? Teaching, I mean."
"Nope."
"It shows."
"Thanks. Now, I guess the best way to say this is that 'energy' is the thing that sets all living things apart from the inanimate. It gives us life. Flows through our bodies. And can be focused to do almost anything."
"Anything?"
"Anything. It can be focused outside the body to create those destructive blasts you saw. It can be focused in different directions and allow a person to fly, channeled to increase fighting power, even transform the bodies if one is able."
"Ok, I think. What happens if you run out of energy?"
"Energy is used for the smallest of movements to the greatest of attacks. It is replenished with rest and eating. If someone ever runs out of energy . . . they die."
Videl nodded. It kind of made sense.
"I guess the first thing I'll have to teach you is how to focus your energy."
~0~
"Focus my . . . energy?"
Gohan nodded. "Sure. Trust me, it's won't be that difficult." 'Especially since you already have used energy . . .' He flashed back to yesterday. . .
Gohan, seeing Videl dive after the creature, decided
to follow her. He followed her at a distance. She seemed upset and he didn't
want to encore her wrath.
He watched as the creature tried to trap her, and how she fought back. However,
the tongue eventually wrapped around her leg and try to bring her in.
'I guess now would be a good time.' Gohan was about to charge in when Videl's
body started to glow.
'What the…?'
Videl reached out, and suddenly the glow surrounding her body left her. Now the
light formed a ball in her hand.
The light shot out of her hand, and Videl's energy blast cut into the creature,
slicing it completely in half. Appartenly spent, Videl drifted.
Gohan snapped back. 'But the problem is that she doesn't remember.'
"Gohan? Where….What happened?"
"…You don't remember?"
Videl shook her head. "I remember that creature grabbing me with it's
tongue…the rest is a blank." She looked around. "Where is that creature…oh!"
Gohan followed her line of sight down. Floating on top of the water was the two
halves of the creature.
"Gohan…you sliced it in half!" Gohan stared at Videl.
"Actually…"
"Isn't that a little cruel?"
"Um…"
"Hello? Earth to GOHAN!"
"Huh?"
Videl glared at him. "You spaced out again, teacher."
"Opps, er, sorry?"
"Quit goofing off and get started!"
"Yes ma'am! Um, oh yeah, energy. Here, sit down."
Gohan sat on the grass, and Videl sat in front of him, watching closely. "I'll do this slowly, that way you can watch me better." He brought his hands up, cupped and near his stomach. He seemed to shake a little.
"First, you have to make yourself completely calm. Then, you listen. Listen to the center of your body. Feel your energy flow through you, and where it 'pulls' the most. Then . . ."
A small light started to form in Gohan's cupped hands. Then, suddenly grew brighter.
" . . . you just bring it out." Videl stared at the glowing energy in Gohan's hands, not realizing that she was getting close.
"Cool, isn't it? . . . Videl?"
"Unreal . . ." Videl continued to get closer to the glowing ball.
Gohan stood up, and the ball of energy in his hands faded to nothing. "Eh, he he. Right, now, how about you try?"
Videl stared at him, then down at her hands. Slowly, she cupped them like Gohan had.
Gohan watched her. Videl was staring at her hands. He smiled. "Remember, just feel it, from the center. And just bring it out."
" . . . O . . . kay . . ."
Gohan watched her concentrate. He knew it was going to be tough on her, but he knew she could do it. As he watched, he became aware that she was shaking a lot, and that her face was tense.
'She's trying to force it.' "You've got to relax, Videl. You're never going to get it if you try to force it like that."
Videl looked up at him, and Gohan was surprised that there were tears in her eyes. "I have to do this!"
Gohan came down to her level. He smiled at her, brushed a tear from her eye. "Don't worry. This is pretty new to you, and tough. Give it a little time. You'll get there. Just relax."
~0~
Videl closed her eyes concentrated. She felt her energy croasing through her, centered at her stomach.
Gohan's words seemed far away, but she could still hear him. "Feel the energy from your center, and slowly bring it out. Relax your muscles."
Videl tried to do as told. She could feel the energy at her center, and slowly tried to force some of it out of her body.
When Videl opened her eyes, a faint gold glow was coming and going from her hands.
"You're close. C'mon, keep it up. Now, focus it into a ball."
Videl focused her mind and will on the energy. Her hands glowed a little brighter, and then a small glimmer between her hands.
Videl focused harder. The glimmer slowly grew brighter, and the energy became more steady in her hands.
Suddenly it clicked. There was no way to describe it.
The ball was glowing steady in her hands, and Videl realized it wasn't as hard to keep it focused. She could feel her energy flowing through her now, she didn't need to look for it. It was there, and she knew she could control it.
She held the small ball of energy in her hands. It was like a trophy of accomplishment.
But unfortunately, it was draining her strength. In a moment, the ball evaporated and she fell forward.
She fell right into Gohan's chest and arms.
He smiled down at her. "Nice going, Videl. You did it."
Videl closed her eyes. She was so tired . . . and it felt nice to be leaning against Gohan. "So . . . do you think I can fly now?"
"You probably need practice on focusing that energy first, Videl. And it's getting pretty late. How about we call it a night?"
Videl looked up at him.
"Besides, it's almost dinner time, right, Gohan?" Videl smirked.
Gohan nodded. "Yep, my favorite part of the day!"
They both laughed, and Videl continued to lean against him.
~0~0~0~
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Response to reviews:
Ch 18.
Otepoti – Thank you.
Burenda – It's sad no one's reviewing. Thanks. I guess they're missing out. About the five thing, well, I guess I can't count.
Aurelia Lothlorien – Thanks for the reviews. I do have a soft side, despite popular rumor.
Ch. 19
Aurelia Lothlorien – Gohan has a good reason for not carrying the copter. I just haven't thought of it yet. Um, the dream sequence, if you haven't guessed, is leading up to an important part of the story. Realizes all the reviews with open mouth That a lot of reviews . . .
Otepoti – Here's more and more to come.
Shadowmusic – I don't have a lot of free time, but I'll do what I can.
Drizzts-death – I'll only stop if I get less than five reviews per chapter.
Immortal7 – I say I have reached my mark.
ShaggyDiz – You might be, strike that, you WILL be surprised where I go with this.
Burenda – I try to keep a few of the classics, and I plan to take this story to a place no other G/V fic has gone.
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