Tansei Kibito
by Amazon and Masquerade

Chapter 3

As Tansei flew home, Aria had just arrived at Ikuko's house.

"I'm sure she's fine, Mrs. Kageyama...," Aria tried to comfort Ikuko.

The over worried mother was sobbing hysterically, making Aria feel rather nervous.

"She should be home any minute now....really...."

About 20 minutes later, Tansei descended outside the small house and opened the door.

"Mom? Aria? I'm home!"
"TANSEI!" Ikuko jumped on her daughter, hugging her tightly. "Oh, thank God you're home! I was so scared! Aria told me everything! I thought I'd never see you again!"

Aria came from behind Ikuko to look at Tansei.

"Hey, you okay, Tan-chan? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"He roughed me up a bit, but nothing I didn't repay him. Turns out green boy is having some kind of tournament in 10 days. He asked me to compete in it," she replied, flopping down on the couch.
"Tournament? Like a Budakai? Wow, I wonder where that thing has the money for it?" She watched Ikuko head into the kitchen for the moment.
"There's no money involved, Aria. But the concept is simple. If bug boy wins, he destroys the world. If anyone else wins, earth is spared."
"Whoa." Aria gasped. "But....he can't destroy the world..... I mean, you have to have a lot of nuclear bombs and missiles and a whole army to do something like that......"
"Aria, you saw how he just destroyed that mall with his energy. He can do the same to earth. I fought him, he's powerful enough. That's why I must fight him again at this tournament. I almost won our little fight today, and I know with more training I can and will beat him."

Aria smiled.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again! That's our girl! I know you can do it, Tansei!"

Tansei smirked.

"I should start training as soon as possible....," she begins.

Aria nodded.

"Yeah, ten days is pretty short. How are you going to get strong enough to beat him in ten days?"
"My dad told me about this mystical chamber where the kami of earth lives. It's supposed to help you to get a year's worth of training in only one day. I think one day should be enough to give me the boost I need."
"Wow, that's incredible. Uh, where is this place?"
"Several thousand miles above the earth. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to use it...Kami needs to approve of me first. If not then I'll have to use conventional methods, like the gym and intense meditation."

Aria nodded.

"Well, sounds cool. Well, train hard, then. I dunno about the thought about the fate of the Earth on your shoulders, but.........I think you can beat him."
"Thanks, Aria. So, mom...what do you say?"

Ikuko peeked from the kitchen.

"Yes, Tansei? Oh, you're going to train more? That's fine, just don't be gone too long, that's all I ask."

Tansei nodded.

"One day max, mom. Promise."
"So, Aria you wanna come? I can teach you martial arts...you always wanted to learn."
"Well....I dunno...." Aria scratched her head. After a moment she half-smirked. "Ah, what the hey?! Why not? I've always wanted to knock some bully's lights out. I'll come."
"Cool. Well, time to pack. Gotta get the requisite spandex. We'll see you tomorrow mom!"

Tansei grabbed Aria's hand and dragged her up the stairs to her bedroom to pack. Ikuko poked her head out of the kitchen again.

"Don't you want to take something to eat? I worried myself into baking three cakes.....oh, they left already..."

Tansei quickly threw some essentials into a duffle bag and thrust a spare bag at Aria.

"I'm too excited to get to the chamber to take the time to drop by your house, so just borrow some of my stuff okay?"

Aria looked around.

"Okay, I'll take what I have too. Lesse....make-up, purse, list of cute boy's phone numbers...."
"None of that will be any good." Tansei sighed.
"So what?" Aria asked. "I need those to survive."

Tansei smacked her forehead..

"Whatever. Well, I'm ready. Are you about finished?"

Aria started stuffing some of Tansei's clothes into her bag, then zipped it up.

"Yeah, ready as I'll ever be."
"Okay. Hop back on and let's go," Tansei commanded, pointing to her back.

Aria's face fell flat.

"Flying again?" She shook her head, and grabbed Tansei's shoulders. "Oh well, it's really high up anyway...."

Tansei helped Aria to get comfortable on her back and walked out her sliding glass doors to the balcony.

"Hang on tight. I'm flying fast and high!!" she warned as she took off like a shot.

Aria squeezed her eyes shut as Tansei flew through the air, and held on for dear life.

"Just tell me when we get there, okay?!"
"Sure thing!!"

~*/|\*~

Elsewhere, approximately 90 miles outside of East City, Cell looked down at his arena from the air.

"Perfect, naturally. It looks big enough. Now then, to let everyone know about the tournament. Let's see, the biggest TV station would be around......" Too bad that girl, Tansei, won't be able to see me.... As soon as he thought it, Cell quickly shook the thought out of his head. So what if she misses it?! She's just another contestant who isn't Son Goku! Now where was that station?! "I'm fairly sure it was ZTV studios...."

~*/|\*~

Tansei landed softly on the platform, letting Aria slide off her back.

"Well, we're here. You can open your eyes now, Aria."

Aria did open her eyes, and flattened down her hair with her hands.

"Man...that was almost too much...."
"Hey, pretty soon you'll be flying around just as fast," Tansei winked.

Aria shook her head.

"Me? Fly? No way, my feet are staying on solid ground!"
"Oh my!" Mr. Popo exclaimed, seeing the two strange girls.

Tansei turned to the short genie man and raised a brow.

"Are you kami?" she asked.
"No, I'm not. Kami is gone I'm afraid. May I help you, young lady?"
"What in the...." Aria gasped at the sight of Popo. "Who are you?"
"My name is Mr. Popo. I'm the caretaker of this place."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Popo. I'm Tansei Kibito and this is my friend Aria Benson."
"Hi." Aria waved.
"A pleasure."
"We're here to ask if we may use the mystical room of space and time. There's a powerful creature that calls himself Cell. We need to use the room to become stronger so I can beat him in the tournament he's having. My father, Kibito, told me about this room. He's a kaio."
"Kibito? That name sounds familiar...a kaio?! Ah...well...I suppose you can use the room," the genie stated, "Do you know of it's limitations?"
"Yes. We'll only be in there a day. Thank you, Mr. Popo."

Aria nodded in thanks.

"You're welcome. Give me a few minutes and I'll stock the food for you."

Mr. Popo walks off, waving at them to follow. Aria turned to Tansei.

"Limitations?"
"If we stay in there more than two days, we could be trapped forever."
"Yikes!" Aria squeaked. "Well, at least we'll be in there for one day, right?"
"Right."

Aria nodded.

"Well, let's get going. I can't wait."

Several hours later finds the two women in the vast whiteness of the room, staring in awe at the nothingness. Tansei recovers quickly and steps out into the void, barely affected by the gravity change, since she expected it.

"Whoa......" Aria gasped, looking around her. "There's absolutely nothing here! How can this exist in one room?"
"Don't ask questions for which there is no answer," Tansei replies in a whisper, "This is amazing, however. Well, let's set up our rooms and get started."

~*/|\*~

Vegeta speeds up on his way to the lookout, for what he considers his chance to finally show Kakkarot who is the strongest super saiyajin.

"Hey, Vegeta! Slow down!" Goku called up to his rival. "I thought we were all going together!"
"Unlike you, Kakkarot, I am anxious to get my training done so I can teach that pompous android not to mess with this mud ball of a planet."
"Leave him alone, Son." Piccolo said. "You know how he is during times like these."
"Actually, I know how Vegeta feels." Krillin admitted. "I wanna get this over with too. At least I'm in no hurry."

Tien just flew alongside Krillin, busy with his own thoughts.

"Hey, we're almost there. Are we going in first, dad?" Gohan asked.
"No! I will go in first!" Vegeta declared.

Goku had to laugh.

"Actually, we'll let Vegeta and Trunks go in first. We've got time."

Trunks huffed slightly.

"Father and I again? All right, I guess."
"We'll go in next, okay Gohan?" Goku offered.
"Sure thing, dad. How about you, Mr. Piccolo?"
"I'll go in next." Piccolo decides. "And I don't need anyone else going in with me."
"I guess it's me and Tien afterward?" Krillin decided.
"Whatever you fools want to do is fine as long as no one...no one," Vegeta repeated pointedly at his future son, "gets in the way of training."
"I'm not getting in your way, father." Trunks grumbled.
"Don't worry about Vegeta." Goku nudged Trunks with his elbow. "He just wants what's best for you and him. Isn't that right, Vegeta?"
"Hn."

Vegeta lands on the lookout first and bellows for Popo.

"Coming, coming!"
"Is that infernal chamber ready for my use?"
"Uh...I'm sorry, but there is currently someone using the room of spirit and time...two young ladies to be precise," Popo replied.
"What?!" Piccolo snapped. "Who were they and what are they doing here?!"
"Ahh!" Popo yelped, backing away, "S-she's the daughter of a kaio! They're going to fight Cell."
"The daughter of a kaio?" Krillin asks.
"Yes. She mentioned his name was Kibito. It sounds familiar to me. Piccolo would know since Kami knew all the kaios."

Piccolo nodded.

"I suppose it can't be helped. We'll wait for these two girls to come out. Mr. Popo, how long will they be training for?"
"One day."

Piccolo nodded.

"Then, we will wait."
"Argh! Some weak onnas are taking valuable training time away from me! When they come out..."
"Father?" Trunks wondered to himself, seeing Vegeta getting riled up.
"Take it easy, Vegeta." Goku calmed. "It's only for one day."
"Hmph."
"So, what do we do in the meantime?" Krillin asked, scratching the back of his head.
"I know!" Goku announced. "Let's eat! I'm starving!"
"Oh! I have a roast in the oven! I'd be happy to cook you more, Goku," Popo answered.
"Yeah, I'm hungry too!" Gohan piped up.
"Sure, why not?" Trunks shrugged.
"No, thanks." Piccolo and Krillin shook their heads.
"You're always hungry, Kakkarot," Vegeta muttered.
"Eh? Don't you want any, Vegeta? I'll bet you're hungry too."

Vegeta's stomach does the talking with a hefty grumbling noise.

"Agh, fine! Can't train on an empty stomach anyhow," Vegeta agrees.


Disclaimer: We don't own DBZ or any related characters or entities. DBZ is © Akira Toriyama. The characters of Tansei Kibito, Ikuko, Aria, and Masaru are however our intellectual property and we reserve the exclusive right to use said characters.
Tansei Kibito, Ikuko, Aria, Masaru © Amazon and Masquerade, 2003.