Chapter 23
"So, what do we do now?" Gohan asked gruffly, hoping Vegeta might have an answer for him. The prince did, but it wasn't exactly what Gohan was hoping for.
"You tell me, you're the supposed genius," Vegeta snipped, never taking his eyes off of Buu. He wasn't sure what annoyed him more, the fact of how strong the pink blob appeared to be, or Buu's obvious lack of respect as he pranced around like a small child ignoring the small group of fighters who would be considered formidable to most any other being. "Well, I refuse to believe this bloated gastropod is unbeatable! I'll find a way to prove it, just watch me!"
"Vegeta stop!" Gohan yelled out to him as the Sayian Prince stubbornly flew out after Buu. The creature's lips curved upward sensing the warrior's approach, and prepared himself to crush Vegeta upon his arrival. However, the cagey Sayian came to a stop before reaching Buu, and flew back up into the air over Buu's head.
"Why you run away?" Buu asked him.
"I'm not running away you fool! Allow me to demonstrate!" With a roar, Vegeta fired a series of small Ki blasts in the monsters direction.
"Oh…" Buu cooed like a fascinated kindergartner. He allowed the first several blasts to strike him in the body, before beginning to knock the rest of the blasts Vegeta was rapidly firing back at him. "You play catch?! Buu good at this!"
Vegeta fired off as many shots as he could before being forced to dodge out of the way of his own attack. He managed to weave his way between all but the final shot, which grazed his right shoulder. Vegeta grunted and grabbed the small grazing wound to his person, and grimaced down towards Buu.
"Why you no hit back?" Buu pouted somewhat, then smirked evilly. "You try catch this then!"
Buu expanded his cheeks, and shot a fast moving Ki burst from the depths of his… Well, from the depths of somewhere. With no time to move out of the way, Vegeta braced himself before getting knocked out of the sky by the surprising intensity behind the blast as it struck him. Vegeta crashed to the ground, and sat back up with a growl. "Damn that bloated…"
Gohan grimaced in Buu's direction. "I think this is going to take some work…"
********
"Ryo, slow down, and tell me where we're going already!" Videl screeched through the howling wind wiping against her face. It was all she could do just to keep up with Ryo, and she wasn't at all used to traveling at this sort of speed. The windburn marks slashed across her skin spelled that out perfectly.
"Sorry to rush, but time is not on our side as you've already noticed," Ryo yelled back to her. "Don't worry we're almost there…"
"Almost where?!"
Ryo smiled, and flew forward another few hundred feet or so before screeching to a halt. "Here."
Videl stopped, and looked around in confusion. "And just where is here?! It's just a lot of sky, there's noting around here to even speak of!"
"Well, yeah… In this dimension anyway…"
Videl glared at him as if to warn him if he was fooling around at a time like this then I'm going to rip your head off. "This dimension?! What the hell are you going on about now?!"
"Calm down Videl, you just have to trust me," Ryo told her, understanding her frustration. He knew she was frustrated and angry with Buu and her inability to do anything about the situation, not at him. Until recently, feeling helpless wasn't something Videl had to deal with. "I want you to close your eyes, turn around, and count to ten okay?"
That glare grew even more intense. "Excuse me?! This isn't time for games Ryo!"
"I'm not playing games Videl. Just do it okay?"
"Fine! You better have a good reason for this Ryo!" Videl turned around, took a deep breath to calm herself, and began to count. "1, 2, 3..." Videl's head turned to the side, attempting to see just what Ryo was up to. She face faulted slightly when she saw Ryo staring back at her, his arms folded across his chest.
"Turn around, and close your eyes Videl."
"Err… Fine!" Videl's head snapped back around, and her eyes lids snapped shut angrily. She heard a strange noise sounding a lot like something snapping in the wind, while she counted rather quickly. "12346810!"
Videl's head whipped around, and to her surprise Ryo was nowhere to be seen. Her head rotated all around her, and found no signs of Ryo. Not a hazy glimpse in the distance, or even a faint trail of Ki. She waited a good thirty seconds or so befuddled by what was going on, when a big black hole suddenly ripped into the sky. Now she was completely stunned as Ryo emerged from the darkness of the portal. "Hey there Videl. Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."
Videl shook her head slowly. "No… Just a few seconds…"
"A few seconds really?" Ryo asked, appearing surprised. "Hmm, that's making good time considering I had to argue with her for nearly an hour. Oh well, come on inside Videl. It's kind of dark in here, but the view's nice."
"Umm… Okay…" Videl followed Ryo inside warily. The portal snapped shut behind her, leaving her and Ryo floating in some sort of strange 3-D world that looked like something out of a weird Sci-Fi flick. The landscape was oddly similar to the region where they'd found Majin Buu, except everything was black, and a complete starry night setting hung eerily close over head. In fact, if Videl didn't know any better she would've swore they were standing on some sort of rectangular platform set up in the middle of space. That's certainly what it looked like from her vantage point… "Where the heck are we?"
"A rift in the flow of time," Ryo told her. "Very few humans have ever crossed into this plain, so try to take it all in on this trip. You'll undoubtedly never see anything like this again."
"A rift in time…" Videl murmured, fearing her head might explode. There wasn't any doubt about it now, this should finally be by far the weirdest thing she'd have to experience on the longest day of her life. At least, that's what she thought… "Wait a second. If so few people have ever been here, then how the hell did you get admission?!"
"I called in a favor from someone," Ryo told her.
"A favor? Wait kind of favor?"
"Come to think of it, I don't know," Ryo admitted, putting his finger over his mouth. "Apparently it's something I do in the future. It must've been something pretty big, to be able to get her to agree to this."
"She? Who the heck is she?!"
"Sorry, but I can't say," Ryo replied. "Just be thankful we're getting this chance."
"What exactly are we doing here anyway?" Videl asked, continuing with her barrage of questions, and she still had plenty of ammunition left to fire at him.
Ryo smiled and asked her. "You wanted to help fight off Buu didn't you?"
"Well yeah but… You, Gohan, and the others couldn't even scratch him, so what good could I possibly be?…"
"That's what we're here for," Ryo began to explain. "I'm not going to lie to you. Neither one of us will probably ever be strong enough to be anything more then a couple of fleas to a monster like Majin Buu, but despite how small and insignificant fleas might be they can sure give dogs and cats hell during the summer time. If we could do enough just to make ourselves a nuisance to Buu then that might be able to help Gohan and Vegeta.
"I guess that makes sense…" Videl said, but still had her doubts. "But how can I even be that? I hate admitting it, but I'm no where near the level you guys are on…"
"True you're not… Not yet anyway… That's why I brought you here. I'm going to train you on how to use your Ki to make yourself stronger."
"Train me?! Not that I'm against this, but it took me weeks just to learn how to fly! Buu might tare what's left of the planet to pieces before I have enough time to learn enough to do anything with?!"
"You didn't let me finish Videl," Ryo smirked. "That's why we're here… You see, we have a place like this at Dende's lookout on Earth. The flow of time is so drastically different in there that you can literally get a years worth of training in one day."
Videl's eyes went wide. "One day?! Then why didn't we go there instead?"
"Because I think this place is a tad bit better… You see, time doesn't pass at all in this place, it stands still. We can't age here, and we won't have any need to sleep, eat, or drink anything to keep ourselves alive. Not to mention that with the allotted amount of time we were given equals sixteen months rather then only twelve. Plus, when we leave we'll be able to return to Earth at almost the exact same time we entered the portal. Even though the Chamber of Spirit and Time could grant us a year of training in one day, I was afraid we wouldn't be able to afford wasting an entire day… By the time we got out, we might just be the only two people left on Earth. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be left alone with that thing… I don't care for the earth's chances if it comes to that. Besides, we might need to use the chamber in the future, and we can only spend the equivalent of two days inside. No point in wasting that time now when we don't have to."
Videl had only a partial clue as to what the heck Ryo had just said, but she understood just enough to get by. That included one important insight that would seem all to obvious to someone who wasn't aware of all the facts. "Okay… I think I got you, but why even bother with the chamber thingy when you can just come here if it's so much better…"
"Like I told you before Videl, we're not supposed to be here," Ryo reiterated. "This is a once in an eternity opportunity Videl. I had to pull some serious strings to get in here, and it wasn't easy."
Videl nodded her head, and paused thinking over everything this might mean. She had to admit the thought of increasing her strength was appealing even if she didn't fully understand how exactly this was all had come about… Feeling a tad bit more confident now, Videl smiled and placed her fists on her hips. "Well… I guess I'm game for this… But the way I look at it is that not only is sixteen months should be plenty of time to train, but it should also be plenty of time for you to explain to me just what the hell you've been up to, including who you know that knows how to manipulated time!"
Ryo smiled nervously, and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I might tell you what I can… But first thing's first. I assume since Gohan taught you how to fly, you know at least a little about Ki am I right?"
"Yeah, I know that it's a technical term for life energy, and we use it to propel our bodies in the air… He also showed me how to focus it and stuff…"
"Good, then I can skip the general explanation, and continue from there… Well, are you ready to start Videl, or do you need time to think things over?…"
With a grunt Videl smirked, and flipped her pig tails over back of her shoulders. "Like I have a choice, considering you've already drug me out here… Besides, I can handle anything you can dish out!"
"We'll see about that," Ryo grinned. "Still, we'll start things off slow."
Ryo reached out, and gave Videl a gentle pop in the mouth with his fist. Videl frowned at him, annoyance ringing out in her voice. "What the heck was that for?!"
Ryo grinned at her. "Tag, your it."
"Tag?! Are you crazy?! This isn't time for games!"
"It's not a game Videl, it's a training exercise. All you have to do is hit me."
"Hit you?" Videl asked in surprise. Ryo just grinned, and nodded his head. Videl gave a smile of her own, and clenched her fists. "Okay, you asked for it!"
Videl aimed for Ryo's face and threw a little jab not wanting to hurt him too much. Something similar to what he did to her. She could've swore she'd locked dead on to his chin, but to her surprise connected with nothing but air. She pulled back, and tried again but once again failed to make contact with anything solid. She couldn't understand it… Ryo's head was right there wearing the same stupid smile, and she didn't see his head move or anything. Videl tried a third time, and once again punched air without causing Ryo to so much as flinch. Videl frowned growing annoyed, and decided the hell with being gentle. She threw a big right hook at him, and yet again her fist seemingly past right through him. Videl growled, and started firing punch after punch at him and a good minute or so later still hadn't so much as grazed his cheek. At least she knew he was indeed moving now, as she watched his head bob left and right. He was simply to fast for her to see on occasion.
"Will you stop moving around?!" Videl growled, trying every deception and combination she could think of to land a blow. Nothing seemed to work. "How do you expect me to hit you if you don't stand still?!"
"I never said I was going to let you hit me Videl, you have to earn it," Ryo informed her. "That's the exercise. We're not stopping until you're fast enough to actually land a blow. We're going to do this until you do!"
"You better believe I'm going to get you!" Videl pumped her arms and growled. "And I'm going to knock your head off when I do!"
"That's the spirit Videl," Ryo laughed, using very little effort to avoid her fists and occasional leg. "It may take you a few weeks, but you'll get the hang of it!"
"Weeks?!"
********
"Stop laughing you fat pompous tub of guts!" Vegeta snarled, literally pounding Buu as ferociously as he possibly could. It didn't matter what he threw at the him, Buu would simply mold back into shape like silly putty just in time to laugh and make some stupid face towards his playmates. While all the Z-senshi found this highly annoying, it particularly enraged Vegeta. An elite Sayian warrior of his caliber should not be subjected to this ridiculous foolishness. It was so degrading… "This isn't a game!"
"Buu like games," Buu giggled, and grabbed Vegeta by his arm. Buu delivered a massive uppercut sending the Sayian prince soaring into the air. It didn't take long for Vegeta to take control of his body, stopping himself high in the air and glared down at Buu. Well, at least he had expected to see Buu. His eyes scanned the area, but Buu was nowhere in sight… That's when he felt a powerful presence at his back, and he knew for sure where Buu had been hiding. The monster made himself known by clubbing Vegeta in the back of the head, sending him crashing face first into the ground. As he picked his face out of the dirt Vegeta heard the sickening sound of Buu screaming out it's own name as he came plummeting downwards looming over Vegeta. The Sayian's face recoiled in pain as the bloated tub of guts butt crashed down onto his back. As if simply to show him up, Buu used him for an easy chair posing with his arms crossed across his chest as he sat there.
"Get off of me…"
"Hum, he, hum…"
"Any ideas Kai?" Gohan asked through gritted teeth. He looked over at Piccolo who was practically staggering on his knees, knocked silly from an earlier attack from Buu.
"I don't see much else we can do," Shin said solemnly. "All we can try is to attack him with everything we have, and hopefully find a weakness in him somewhere… Though I'm unsure he has any we have to at least try…"
Gohan grunted, and scanned Buu over as he finally sat up off of Vegeta's back. "Well, how about this. I'll attack him from the front and try to grab his attention while you attack him from behind. Going at him one on one obviously isn't doing anything, so maybe if we gang up on him…"
Shin didn't look any less hopeless, but nodded his head none the less. "Not like we have many other options now do we?"
Buu frowned down at Vegeta as he sat up off of him. "What wrong? You dead already?"
"No, he's just taking a break!" Gohan boomed right before ramming his body into Buu. The pink blob made an odd noise as he stumbled backwards, and rolled a couple of times before bouncing back up to his feet and giggling. Gohan growled, and charged after Buu. Keeping true to his normal pattern, Buu stood practically still and allowed Gohan to pummel him. No point in the monster wasting his energy trying to dodge when nothing Gohan could throw at him could harm him, Gohan assumed anyway. Gohan felt Shin approaching Buu from his back, and increased the intensity of his assault hoping to occupy Buu's attention. Unfortunately, Buu felt Shin coming too, and all of a sudden Gohan wasn't even remotely interesting him.
"Ewe… You go away now okay?" Buu swatted Gohan away like he was a gnat, with nothing more then a simple backhand to the face. Gohan went flying backwards, and found his body turned upside down before his back went crashing into one of the many small mountains surrounding the area.
Shin saw Buu knock Gohan away, and in a panic tried to halt his forward momentum. Shin turned tail, and tried to fly away but Buu had other ideas. Pulling a piece of blubber from his seemingly endless supply of fat, Buu used it as a lasso effectively roping Shin around the neck with it. Shin's eyes went wide, as he felt himself get yanked to the ground. As he tried in vain to struggle free, Buu waggled his way over to Shin. The Kai braced himself for the worst, and got that just… Only it wasn't the type of horror he had first expected, but terrible none the less. Buu snickered his sickening laugh, and promptly stuck his fat butt right into the Kai's face. Buu wiggled his bum around a bit, before finally sitting back up leaving Shin gasping got breath. Buu giggled in amusement as Shin chocked from his knees, now free of Buu's rope of fat.
"That… That was brutal…" Shin grunted before Buu's knee crashed into the back of his head. Shin groaned, and rolled over on his back only to find Buu standing over him the same sickening smile plastered over its fat face. Like a flash, Buu's hand was out in front of the Kai's face smacking him around repeatedly until his face was red and raw. Just as Buu stopped, leaving Shin an all to brief reprieve before Buu grabbed hold of his leg, flipped Shin over his head, and slammed the Kai's small framed body into the ground. Buu let go of Shin, and snickered as he stood over him.
"Hum, hum… Buu make you dead now okay?"
Shin grumbled, barely able to turn his face out of the dirt. "This is most distressing…"
********
"Come on Videl, you gotta move quicker than this!" Ryo barked. It was just one out of the many times he'd criticized or jumped all over her from something she wasn't doing correctly or he felt she could do better. Of course, being a Satan, who wasn't normally used to being physically weaker than anyone, she wasn't taking Ryo's rough style of training very well. At least the verbal and critical end of the spectrum that was.
"I'm going as fast as I can! What the hell do you want from me?!" Videl flared, firing every sort of combination she could think of at any body part she could make out for even second. Still, each attempt didn't even come close to landing, and those few openings she thought she saw never stayed visible long enough for her to even blink. She wondered if Ryo was just throwing one in the mix every once in a while just to tease her.
"Quickness and speed are two different things entirely," Ryo told her, while she continued her assault. "You can throw your first at me at the speed of light as many times as you want, but if you keep throwing your punches as sloppy as you are now without any variation in your attack patterns you're never going to manage to strike me! Look, pounding your opponent like a boxer might work well on some common street thug who can't read, but when you get up into the ranks that people like myself, Gohan, and Piccolo, then that sort of fighting style just isn't going to cut it! You need to fill some technique in with all that brute force!"
"Well, I'm sorry, but that just wasn't the way I was trained okay!" Videl growled, still trying desperately to strike him. Just a little brush across the side of his cheek would've been like winning the Super Bowl for her right about now.
"I know, and that's why I'm trying to teach you this way right now!" Videl wound up hard, determined to nail him with one good whack, giving it everything she had. She'd done this so many times over the past several months, and just like every time before she didn't even come close to landing it. Ryo sighed, and moved out of the way letting Videl sprawl forward just a bit. Ryo stuck his elbow out nonchalantly and jabbed it into the back Videl's head sending her crashing to the ground. Ryo put his hands on his hips, and shook his head. "You'd think you'd know better by now. You're never going to land a punch like that because I can see your arm pull back before you even swing!"
"So, maybe I'm not cut out for this, so what?!" Videl grumbled angrily, clearly frustrated with her apparent lake of progress. "I'm just wasting both our time… Damn it, it's been what?! Four months, and I still haven't been able to lay a finger on you! We're not getting anywhere!"
"I told you it was going to take a while… I know you don't see it, but you're making progress… It's getting harder to dodge your attacks everyday… Hey, in few weeks when your finally able to make solid contact, maybe we can even try it with me at half power…"
Videl face faulted, a bleak expression pouring out of her blue eyes. Something that sounded like a wounded whimper escaped her mouth before she dropped to her knees. "You're not even at half power?! Well, you seemed full throttle to me… Ah, just forget it I give up!"
"Hey, don't talk like that Videl! I didn't even expect to have to go that high while we were here… Besides, since when are you quitter? You want to help Gohan don't you?"
"Of course I'd like to, if there was anything I could do!… And I'm not a quitter, I'm simply a realist… You think I like feeling helpless?! Hell no, it's not exactly a feeling I'm used to! I was the second strongest person in the world until you and Gohan came along… Now I just have to settle for being the worlds strongest weakling!"
Ryo's eyes kind of rolled at that comment. "Well if you insist on putting it that way then technically you were the strongest person in the world…"
Videl's eyes twitched in confusion. "Excuse me?"
Ryo smiled at her ignorance. She really had no idea what her father was all about. "Well considering you're twice as strong as your father is, that would've made you the strongest person in the world before you met us now wouldn't it?"
"What?! You're crazy! I can accept the fact that dad isn't the strongest guy on Earth, and that he didn't really defeat Cell and all but you can't expect me to believe I was ever stronger than my father…" Videl paused momentarily, recalling that stranger things had been brought to her attention recently. "Was I?…"
Ryo nodded his head. "Think about it. Why do you think Hercule kept his training methods so hush, hush, or lack their of anyway. Not to mention why he's been completely unwilling to train with you for the past couple of years. His ego's just too big to have to suffer the brunt of losing to his baby girl."
"But that's insane! I've never been stronger than my father!"
"I have another question for you Videl. When exactly did your father stop training you? Just to feed my curiosity if anything…"
Videl's face softened up a bit, surprised by the question. She had to think back along way to come up with an answer. "Well, it's been a while but… I was fourteen I think… Man, that was almost four years ago…"
"And do you remember why your father stopped training you?"
"He didn't give a reason really… I just figured he didn't have time for me anymore with all of his personal appearances, and commitments to his martial arts school and stuff. All he told me was that there was nothing left for him to teach me, and we never have so much as done a stretching exercise together since…"
"Really…" Ryo seemed unconvinced. "And what do you think led your father to believe he didn't have anything else to teach you?"
"I don't know!" Videl huffed, clearly annoyed with Ryo's line of questioning. "All I remember is that he let me beat him a couple of times and… And… Hold on a second… Um, he did let me win didn't he? I'm sure of it… At least I was…"
"I'll give your father credit for one thing, he's a really smooth talker who can pull the wool over the eyes of just about everyone who doesn't know the truth. I'll tell you, old Hercule could tell you to go to hell and make you look forward to the trip. When he told you he had nothing else to teach you he was right… Because you can't learn much from someone you've surpassed… Except someone like Piccolo that is."
"Look, even if it was true, it doesn't mean much anyway! I'm still not on the same level as the rest of you! When it comes to a monster like Buu I'm completely worthless…"
"You're only worthless if you choose to stay that way Videl!" Ryo growled, growing impatient with Videl's continually negative attitude. He'd be damned if he was going to spend the equivalent to a year of his life in this place only for Videl to suddenly up and quite 1/3 of the way through. "I used to be worthless to you know… I was the quiet dork remember? You even laughed at me when I told you I knew martial arts. Hell, I sounded just like you until Piccolo showed me I had the ability to make something of myself! You have that ability too Videl, and not many people do have it so you'd be foolish to waste it! I was reluctant too when I started training under Piccolo, and I lost count of how many times I told myself I couldn't do this, or when I got so frustrated with myself that I nearly quit! But I hung on, and I stuck with it… Every time I thought about giving up I thought about everyone who ever laughed at me, told me I can't do this or you can't do that! Despite how much I hated hearing those jeers, there I was saying it to myself… I thought about all the times I had to watch somebody stand up for me because I couldn't defend myself! I know you come from a different background, and you were raised in a different world but you have your own reasons to keep fighting. Think about your father who died protecting you. Think about Gohan who's still down on Earth fighting for his life right now! Think about yourself for Kami's sake! Since when are you a quitter anyway?! Are you going to be happy with yourself if you quit now?!"
"Well I uh…" Videl's head veered off to the side, clearly not wanting to make eye contact with him. Ryo could tell he was getting through, but wasn't sure if he was there quite yet… If motivation wasn't winning out on her, then maybe a little reverse psychology would. He didn't really want to go where he was about to go, but if he knew Videl this would set her off like a tea kettle ready to boil over.
"Fine then… If that's the way you want to be then quit. I guess I shouldn't have expected so much from a little girl trying to pretend she can keep up in a man's world. Maybe you're right. Maybe we should just quit and head back to Earth, and you can hide up on the lookout with Dende and the kids."
"Hey, I'm trying my best here!" Videl's head shot up with a growl. "How dare you anyway! It's not like your corny training methods have done any good anyway! All you've had me do so far is dodge rocks, blow energy bubbles with my hands, and play this stupid game of tag from hell! Yeah, your damn right I'm a girl, and I can do anything you can do just as well as you can!"
"Yeah right," Ryo laughed. "You can't even land a punch on me, and you want me to buy that?"
"I'll show you what I can do!" Videl growled, with a modest flare of her Ki. Ryo got exactly what he wanted when Videl launched herself at him, and literally tried to take his head off. Ryo got a tad more then what he expected to receive, however, when several seconds after getting Videl back in a competitive spirit, Videl's leg swung upward and grazed the tip of Ryo's chin. Shocked by the feel of solid contact, Videl immediately froze after following through with the kick, and stared Ryo straight in the face as he touched his chin looking equally surprised. Finally, a smile formed over his lips. The blow felt about like a gnat smacking him in the face, but at least she was finally able to get a lick in on him.
"Now we're getting somewhere! You see, I told you, you were doing better then you thought."
With her knees giving out on her, Videl kneeled to the ground laughing. "I finally… I finally did something right… Please tell me you didn't let me hit you…"
"Nope, that would kind of defeat the purpose Videl."
Videl smiled, feeling a small douse of her confidence returning to her. It never really left in the first place, it simply took a nap while things look their bleakest from Videl's point of view. "Hey Ryo… You didn't really mean what you said back there did you?"
"Don't be ridiculous Videl! With the experiences I've had with women I can't help but have a grudging respect for them… I was just trying to get you motivated, and hey it worked."
Videl stood up, and punched him in the hip. "You still shouldn't have said it! I'm sorry what I said about the training too… I'm just getting frustrated that I can't seem to make any of this stuff work…"
"Like I said, if you don't like it talk to Piccolo not me… Besides, what makes you think it's not working?"
"Well, I don't feel like I'm improving any so…" Videl grumbled.
"Hmm… I see, well trust me you have been. Allow me to demonstrate."
Ryo took to the air, and floated back about ten feet before setting back down to the ground. He then held his arm out towards Videl, opened the palm of his hand, and fired about a dozen small but lightning fast Ki blasts in her direction. Videl's eyes went wide before she was forced to quickly maneuver out of the way of all the energy blasts that were speeding towards her from what seemed like every angle. She watched the twelfth and final shot whiz past her face, then shot Ryo an evil glare. "What the hell did you do that for?! Are you trying to blow my head off or something?!"
"Hey, don't get so uptight!" Ryo laughed. "You got out of the way didn't you?"
"Yeah, because I'm sure you missed on purpose! Or held back at least!" Videl snorted, frowning at first. Her face softened as Ryo shook his head no. "You didn't?…"
"Nope. It's true those blasts wouldn't have done much more than tickle you, but I was aiming right for you. You're reflexes simply have grown sharp enough to get out of the way."
Videl looked down at her hands, then down at her legs and knees while thinking. Have I really improved?…
"If that still doesn't convince you, there's one more thing I'd like you to try," Ryo said, grabbing Videl's attention. "Let's see if you can find me when you can't see me, just by sensing my Ki that is."
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Videl frowned. She still couldn't understand how anybody was able to track somebody down just by their energy patterns. This entire Ki thing in general still sailed straight over her head. "You want me to close my eyes or something?"
"No, there's no need for that." With a smirk and a flash of purple, Ryo disappeared from Videl's range of vision. Her eyes widened, remembering Ryo pulling this trick during his fight with that ninja guy from the Ray Lien. "Hey, that's not fair Ryo! Isn't that trick a little advanced for me?!"
Videl waited a moment or two, and naturally got no response from her trainer. Videl frowned, and closed her eyes in an attempt to do what she thought was the impossible. "I don't see the point in this, but since I don't have much other choice…"
For the next ten minutes Videl concentrated hard, trying to find that seemingly mythical flow of power she'd heard Ryo and Gohan speak so much of. Videl's teeth gritted in frustration, feeling not so much as a gust of wind at the back of her neck. "This is so stupid! There's no way to find somebody by their energy! You either see them or you don't!… What wait…"
Videl's head snapped around when she felt a ping of something to her left. Could it possibly?… Videl knelt down, and picked up a small pebble from the ground. Playing off her hunch, she hurled the pebble in that direction. The pebble suddenly stopped in mid-flight as an odd rift that looked like an arm ripped through the air, and sure enough Ryo made himself visible a moment later.
"Your aim was a little off, but not bad Videl," Ryo said with smile. "You still think Ki detection is load of bull-crap as you so delightfully put it Videl?"
"Yeah, kind of," Videl answered honestly.
Ryo looked annoyed. "Huh? Why? You picked up on me didn't you?"
"Well… Not exactly," Videl blushed, and pointed towards the ground. "The ground here is getting kind of soft…"
"What does that have to do with?…" Ryo looked down, and his eyes widened at the sight of a short trial of footprints leading to the spot where he was standing. Ryo promptly fell on his face, and quickly pulled himself up. "So that's how you found me… You didn't feel a thing then?…"
"Well, I thought I felt something… But it could've been gas."
"Well, let's not worry about that right now… One thing at a time you know… So you finally hit me right?"
"Right," Videl grinned contently.
"Then I guess that means I'm it," Ryo announced, stretching out his arms and legs.
Videl's eyes went wide. "Excuse me? Yah!"
Ryo came after her abruptly, forcing Videl to go on the defensive. She managed to barley move out of the way of his first couple of shots, but he landed the third with his foot planting it into her chest. Videl yelped, and rolled backward several times before flopping to a stop down on her face.
"Tag you're it…"
Videl pushed herself upward, and growled towards Ryo. It took her three months... All that time just to graze him in the chin. It took five seconds. "I could really learn to hate you!"
End.
Not much in this chapter, but a bunch of good is set for the next several chapters. I know this story is coming along slowly, but I've been bouncing off a lot of walls trying to finish it up… And they don't have any give to them. It's frustrating me too, but I don't want to rush and put out an absolute piece of crap. Hopefully this will be finished by Christmas, but that's just the best case scenario. Thanks for being patient, hopefully I'll make it worth everyone's while most importantly mine.
