DBZ Story #4: "Berter Beginnings: A Ginyu Force Outlook"

Part 19




"So, the Cap'n tells me you're a fast learner. You must be, to master flight in three of your days time."

"I'm flattered…"

"Don't be. Do you think your body can learn just as quickly?"

"…I don't know."

"Well, then, I guess we'll find out, won't we? Let's go to the ship."

It had been the same throughout the next two days. Flight instruction was a thing Berter found to be rather amazing, once he got the hang of it. On his first day, he had barely managed to hover. Two days later, he was zipping around his planet's red skies as if he had been doing it all his life. It took most soldiers ten days Earth's time to keep a steady flight. Ginyu felt confident enough to let him begin strength and endurance train. With that, he handed the reins over to the behemoth, Recoom.

Recoom brought the blue youth to a section of Freeza's ship normally used by soldiers as a rec room. For the next few days, however, it would be put to use as a training room for their newest addition. It was of moderate size, about that of your average theatre. There were several weight-training machines pushed off to the sides of the room, most of them similar to the ones sold on Earth infomercials.

"What are all those?"

"Hmm? Oh. All these here are machines used to build muscle, but you won't be using those today. Wait there." The behemoth went to the farthest part of the room where a few metal crates were locate and began rummaging through one of them. He re-emerged with two metallic cords in his hand. "Here." He tossed one of them to Berter, who clumsily made grasp of it. He eyed the thing in confusion, and even lowered his head to sniff it. A light, rhythmic, striking sound snapped him to attention as he found Recoom swinging his cord over his head and hopping it with each pass.

"What are you doing?"

"Time's a-wastin'. Do like I'm doin' and don't stop 'til you've done all you can."

It seemed strange, but what choice did he have? Skipping rope was the agenda for the day. About an hour into it…

"You slacker… Is that all you can manage? You barely made it to 2,000! Oh, wait. You just started this, didn't you..? Well, I guess that'll do for the moment."

"'For the moment'..?!" Huffed the Tokage. "You… said… to do… all I could……"

"Stop complaining. 2,000 jumps are today's shot, huh? Fine. You want some water, kid?"

"That would be perfect."

"There's a fountain on the opposite end of this room." Recoom pointed to it just in case he had never seen one, which was most likely the case. "You can drink all you want, if you reach it, that is…"

A catch. "'Reach it'?"

Smirking, Recoom headed to a sideboard containing several strap weights. He grabbed five in all: 2 for the wrists, 2 for the ankles, and 1 for the back. "Put these on." He dropped the weights in a pile in front of Berter. Shrugging, the young man did as told. The wrist weights weren't so bad for a Tokage, only about 20 lbs., the ankle weights doubling that. The back weight was tolerable, as well, weighing in at 75 lbs. It didn't take him long to reach the fountain, though he made his way at slow walking pace. The only difficulty he had was trying to operate the water machine, to which Recoom demonstrated with ease. The behemoth was mildly pleased that he reached his destination without much trouble, but that was only the first trial. Berter happily lapped up the water much in the way that a cat would.

"Don't drink too much; you'll vomit it all up."

"Hrrrm…" That wasn't really something he wanted to hear, but there was truth in it. Berter reluctantly cast himself away from the fountain.

"So," Recoom began. "Do you think you could do it again?"

"Skipping rope or walking with weights?"

"Smart kid," said the older man, grinning. "Go to 2,000 on the rope, but this time, do it with the weights on."

Though walking weighted wasn't so hard, jumping proved to be more of a challenge. He tripped on his first attempt. The second got him a few skips, but that was botched, as well. Recoom didn't hold it against him, though, and allowed the count to continue despite his screw-ups. He didn't know how much time had passed before the Tokage even reached the halfway point. Probably not that much, but with nothing else to do but keep count, it felt like days. In all actuality, it had taken Berter a little over 2 hours to get to 2,000, during which that old behemoth dozed a good doze and by that point didn't really care if he had reached the shot or not.

"Hey. Hey, behemoth. Wake up." The blue one poked at the slumbering humanoid. Jarred from sleep, Recoom rubbed his eyes. "Urrrmm… Was I asleep?" Berter nodded. The humanoid chuckled. "How very un-Ginyu-like."

"I put the weights over by the water machine. I hope that's alright."

"Yeah, it's fine." Recoom rose to proper standing position. "So, you ready for the next trial?"

"Check it out. I rigged it up once the Cap'n told me we'd be training you here for the time being."

"What is it?"

In a clearing, a contraption of several logs stood. It was almost like an incomplete hallway, but with five makeshift battering rams, each one larger than the last, jutting out from its walls. "It's a take on an invention used to build defense back on my planet. It's like this: You walk between these two walls here while I move these rams back and forth so you get hit by them and your tolerance to pain increases. I'll ram them at you a little harder each time as you progress. If you make it all the way through without collapsing, I'll give you a 10-minute break."

'Collapsing'? Berter wasn't sure he liked where this was going. His face must have been broadcasting his feelings, for the behemoth picked up on his insecurity. "Hey, you don't seem too sure. C'mon! If you're as strong as you've proven yourself to be, you'll get through it without much trouble."

He did have a point. The last one hadn't been that big of a challenge, but still… Groaning inwardly, he placed his person in front of the first ram. "All right. Oh, and by the way, this sort of thing is usually operated one person to a ram, so there's gonna be a small pause between blows, as I've gotta run from one to the next. Now, get ready!"

The Tokage braced himself. Recoom pushed the first ram ahead, battering Berter's side. He gritted his teeth and winced, but remained standing. "Great!" Cheered an enthused Recoom. "Now the next one!" Berter stepped up to the second ram as the humanoid ran around to the other side to operate it. He pushed it forward, a little harder this time, plugging the young man's left side. This time, a small grunt escaped the Tokage's lips. Unfaltering, he made his way to ram number 3. This one, harder still, struck him in his already tender right side, drawing a hiss from him. He resisted the urge to clutch his side and continued to the fourth ram. The behemoth was surprised; but then again, the kid did have those pauses in between… He'd be sure to give it a little something extra this time around. On this fourth shot, the left side was hit much harder than it really should have been, and Berter cried out, buckling from the pain. Though he righted himself without delay and progressed arduously to the final ram.

Recoom blinked. He thought that one would have gotten him, for sure. This kid is something else..! I won't add so much this time. "Last one, guy. Here it comes!" Back to the right side. The Tokage squeezed his eyes shut, growling out what would have been a painful cry and doing his best to stay afoot. When the worst of the pain had subsided, he exited the 'hallway' and turned to Recoom.

"…I'd like that break now, please."

It had gone on for another 21 days, half a month by Hachuurui's calendar, that endurance training by Recoom. The goal had been reached, as the Tokage no longer felt pain as he passed through the rammingway, which he had appropriately dubbed it. Not feeling the need to go any further, the behemoth passed along the responsibility of training the newbie to the Kaijin, Jeice.

Also, in that frame of time, Berter no longer found himself bothered by the cold shoulder of his mate, Neizu. On the contrary, he began to admire her stubborn streak and thought it almost cute. One day, after his training with Recoom, he presented to her some flowers, picked by his own two hands. He had heard somewhere that females liked flowers...

She promptly threw the bouquet in his face. "Meat rather than flowers, Barter." He just laughed, expecting her to do something like that. Neizu was perplexed by this new behavior, from being dour about his situation to… cheerful? Perhaps that was a bit too strong, but he seemed happier, nonetheless.

It wasn't as if she had any real problem with him, not at all; she just felt the need to protect herself. She had heard stories, stories of new brides who ended up with abusive mates and such. Though she didn't know how a relationship could turn to that, she knew that wouldn't be the case for her. She felt if she established her dominance, she wouldn't get hurt. But he didn't seem to be out to hurt her… Neizu wondered, just for a moment, if her behavior was still necessary at this point, but simply pushed the thought away and assured herself it was for her benefit.

She thought the flowers were beautiful, for the record.

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