Chapter 35
Strife of Egos
Friday 4:00 pm
Ichigo wiped a tear from her eye as she forced herself not to laugh. 'I can't believe I just said that!' She thought to herself as she walked away from the fuming Slip.
'I cannot believe I actually started that conversation. Of all the demeaning ridiculous things I could have allowed myself to be brought into and I was the one who did it. I can't stand her! Slip has no place here. Roshi and his father said we were going to be training here. That moral wasteland is a worthless scientist and she will always be a worthless scientist!'
"Well, you guys ready for some intensive training? Doesn't matter if you are or not, it is time to train. Follow me." Goshu called out.
Ichigo turned around and looked to see Goshu, a man she didn't know, Dende, and two other Namekians walking towards one of the large arched doorways. Roshi, Tee, and Boxers were rapidly trying to catch their breath and stop laughing while they started to follow. Slip was still red faced and foaming at the mouth over near one of the many palm trees.
Ichigo just shook her head. 'If this ragtag group of people is all that they have to save their planet and eventually, hopefully, mine as well... Then I don't know why I stayed.'
"Hey Slip!" Roshi called out, "you going to stand there stuttering all day long or are you going to actually attempt to lean how to fight?" Roshi called out as he walked by her and picked up a few of her bags.
"Why you! YOU! YOU! TRAITOR! Why are you siding with her?" Slip yelled as she jabbed a finger at Ichigo.
'Hmm, breaking every single bone in her hand might make me feel better' Ichigo mused as she turned to follow Goshu and the others into the Building. "I didn't know there was a side to this, but you should get ready to lose. I make a really poor sport when I lose." She said over her back as she walked past Slip.
"You ungrateful stupid bitch!!!" Slip spat, "if it weren't for us you would be dead and everyone you know would be dead and you owe us everything you stupid..."
Ichigo spun to glare into Slips eyes cutting off her tirade. "As I recall the only part you had in any of this was mutilating my tail and otherwise behaving like a person so vacant of moral worth one could question if you even have a soul. Don't you dare claim I owe you anything..."
WHACK!!! Ichigo suddenly felt the heel of a hand connect to the very base of her skull. The stunning blow knocked her forward about 30 meters and sent electric chills throughout her body.
Ichigo quickly pulled herself onto her knees and rolled her neck stretching it and letting her vertebrae pop as she cleared her head. While every moment she was on the ground left her more vulnerable, jumping to her feet before she got her sense of balance back would have probably been just as bad.
"Oomph!" Slip grunted as she landed next to Ichigo. A shadow passed over her and Ichigo looked up to see Goshu glaring down at the two of them.
Goshu glared down at her and then at Slip and then looked at the rest of the people who had gathered around to watch what was going on. "Let me make myself clear. You are on MY time now. Look around you, these people are all that stands between us and total annihilation. I don't know what caused this petty self serving bickering but it ends NOW!"
Goshu looked away for a moment and then looked back into Ichigo's eyes. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Your behavior is hardly appropriate for someone in your position. You know full well that if we cannot work together we will probably fail. I don't care about your wounded pride for the good of your people you had damn well better drop this now."
He then turned and looked at Slip. "And your behavior is so much like how your mother acts when she has to admit fault I almost think it is some sort of genetic defect. I don't care and I definitely don't have the time for it but you maybe should remember the because of circumstances, if you don't start getting along with her there may not be a Capsule Corp for you to come back to."
"You get that everyone. We have a year of intensive training ahead of us and whether you like it or not we are more or less stuck together so you had better choose to like it and you had better do so now." Goshu said as he turned and walked briskly back into the building.
Ichigo rubbed at the back of her neck for a moment. 'Well I know were Roshi gets his temper now.' She thought as she slowly got back up.
"That was really cool." Roshi suddenly blurted before he shook his head and once again grabbed a bunch of bags.
"Earth to Roshi, your father is a maniac! He looked like he was about to kill those two." Tee said in shock.
Roshi laughed. "Oh, well, the words were true and all, but the anger that was really cool. I didn't know my dad could act that well."
"ACT?!" Slip shouted. That wasn't an act! Did you see what he did to me?!?"
"Unfortunately no, that would have been fun." Ichigo stated as she walked up to the small group of teens. "But I think Roshi might be right. He didn't feel angry to me."
"Feel angry?" Boxers questioned.
Ichigo shook her head. "The only person I can compare it to is Roshi, but when he actually gets mad his ki goes up but it also feels slightly different. His father's ki never went up that hi and it never changed even when it did go up."
Roshi shook his head. "She hit the nail on the head. That and I have never in my life ever actually seen my dad act like that. He was trying to get a fear reaction. I think it would be wise to heed his words though."
"It would, now are you people coming today? You can talk once we are in the Room of Spirit and Time. Right now you are eating training time. We have no idea how soon the Changeling or Changelings will be here and the sooner we get into the ROSAT the more time I have to beat you all into a respectable group." Goshu said from where he was leaning against the arched door frame. "Oh, and just because Roshi ruined my fun and was honest enough to spill the beans doesn't mean I won't beat the tar out of you if I ever catch any of you bickering like that again."
"Sorry, we're coming now." Roshi said as he started walking towards the door. "One thing is certain, this will be an interesting year."
'That's the second time someone has said we would be training for a year...' Ichigo thought as she started to follow Roshi. "Roshi, what do you mean by a year. I don't have time to waste training for a year. Even if no Changeling shows up for a year if I wait that long there won't be anyone left to save." She said as she fell instep with Roshi.
Roshi looked over at her and smirked. "Yes you do. The Room of Spirit and time is special. Time is different in there. We can train for a year in there while only a day goes by out here."
When what Roshi said sunk in to her head, it stopped her dead. "You mean you can train for years in only a few days with this room? Why didn't you take me here immediately? I could have trained and learned everything and been gone before Banana and the rest of those... those traitors showed up." She said with a slight hitch in her speech and a shudder.
Roshi looked over at her and paled a touch. "You are still having problems with what happened?"
"I'm Fine." Ichigo stated with finality. "Now why didn't we come here right away?"
"Because, a person can only spend two days of their life in this room and more over, I didn't know if I could trust you... Kinomi" Roshi said reminding her that she hadn't been the most forthcoming.
Ichigo sucked on her lip for a moment, "Point taken, now let's get in there and get training." She said sullenly as she walked past Roshi.
* * *
Roshi watched as Ichigo brushed past him and walked through the shimmering white archway and into the Room of Spirit and time. 'I can understand her desire for haste, but this is not the time for haste.'
Roshi walked through the door and into a room of heavy white nothingness. Roshi almost stumbled as he stepped into the higher gravity of the room. What stopped him was the fact that he immediately walked into Ichigo who had stopped to gape at her surroundings.
"Hey watch it!" Ichigo snapped as she turned around to glare at Roshi.
"Sorry, but you shouldn't have stopped there." Roshi said back as he saw Slip start to walk into the room. Moving quickly as to keep Slip from bumping Ichigo and thereby causing more problems between the two of them, he pushed Ichigo back a step.
"Waaahh oooph!" Slip cried out as she walked into the room and fell flat on her face from the sudden change in gravity.
"Ymmph, you can't even walk right. Some warrior you'll make. Ichigo sniped before turning and walking towards where Goshu was standing watching them.
Slip hauled herself to her feet and glared daggers into Ichigo's back. She turned and glared at Roshi, "don't even think it. If you side with her one more time I'm going to find a way to kill the both of you!"
Roshi held his hands up in surrender. "Not thinking anything here." Roshi said as he turned to walk over to his father. Looking over his back he couldn't resist the temptation, "but you should try to stand up straight, you look like an old hunched backed woman standing like that."
"Why YOU!!! I'm going to... AaaK" Slip screamed before Tee and Boxers walked into the room and knocked her over. "Watch where you are going!"
"Alright everyone, No more picking on Slip. She is just as important as the rest of us and by the time we are done training she might even be better then a few of us so I would watch my tongue if I were you." Goshu said from over where he was standing.
"Now, Slip did you bring the capsule houses?" Slip shook her head and Goshu continued, "good, now as you can all see, the clock over the door tells us what time it is outside. It moves quite slow because for every hour that goes by outside this room, we will experience a little over 15 days worth of time. Over time this place has had some changes happen to it and I think I will let Dende tell you all what you need to know."
Dende nodded and looked around. "When I was first made Kami the Room of Spirit and time in my old sanctuary could only hold two people at once, Now as you can see it can hold many more. Now, as you can see there is a lot of nothing in here. This room is roughly five times the size of the Earth. Goku once got lost in here and had some degree of problems getting back out, please don't stray too far away." Dende waited for them to stop laughing and looked around in a way that informed them all that he hadn't been joking. "The room also randomly changes gravity, temperature, and amount of light. It will vary from normal Earth gravity to 100 times normal. The temperature of the room will vary from 60 below to 50 above Celsius. Also, the amount of light cycles from dusk to dawn to dusk in the normal twenty-four hours."
"Thank you Kami." Goshu looked around. "Ok now that the formalities are finished we can get to work. Slip, I want you to set up the houses near this doorway structure here. Nail, Dende, and Piccolo will share the rooms that are in this structure" Goshu said as he pointed to the temple like building that made up the doorway and clock. "Yoshi and myself will share one of the houses. Slip and Ichigo will be in another, and lastly the three of you boys will share one as well."
"I'm not..." Slip started to say but Goshu had kept talking and had glared her into silence.
"You will share, and you will enjoy it. Now, Slip also brought one of the armor factories for us and enough food for all of us as well. This room provides all the rice we can eat, but I like having some meat with my rice." Goshu chuckled at his lame joke and continued. "Since we are here to train and to learn to trust each other as a team, we will be trading off the cooking duties."
"Yeah right, I'm not eating anything Slip cooks!" Tee blurted out.
Slip glared at him but almost looked like she agreed with him.
Roshi glanced at Ichigo, "Well at least I know my dad, Ichigo, and myself can cook.' He looked at Yoshi and Boxers, 'hopefully they can too.'
Enough of this, we will ALL cook and we will all eat and we will live through it." Goshu said with authority. "Now, who wants to go first?"
Not surprisingly no one spoke up.
"Well?"
After a few more seconds Ichigo finally spoke up and agreed to cook.
"Great, ki blasted burnt offerings tonight." Tee whispered to Boxers. Unfortunately for him in the empty and silent room his voice carried quite well. Ichigo just glared at him.
'Tee, Tee, Tee, Tee, Tee... When will you learn to keep your mouth shut?' Roshi wondered to himself. 'You've just managed to insult two of the most pride bound women I have ever met. I hope for your sake they don't make you eat your words.'
"Okay then, listen up, now is when the real training starts. We have a year, possibly two in which we can train to defeat the Changelings. If everything goes well, one or more of us might be a Super Saiyan before we leave this place. BUT, even if that does not happen, there are several things we can learn and must learn here." Goshu stated
"Roshi has learned how to do the Kaioken. Hopefully he with Dende's help can teach that to us. Nail and Piccolo have some of their namesakes memories, they therefore have learned the fusion dance. I have been warned that the resulting Fusion is rather unreliable, but I think that it may be useful for Tee and Boxers, and possibly Myself and Yoshi to learn it as we are relatively close to our respective partners in power levels."
"Still want to do that dance with Ichigo, Roshi?" Slip chirped from where she was standing.
Ichigo glared at Slip and then at Roshi as Tee and Boxers burst out laughing. "What the heck is so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing at all." Roshi said quickly. 'Slip thinks she knows everything and she might be right about the possible effects of a male/female fusion, but it would be interesting to get a glimpse at what that girl is really thinking. Since I am not telepathic or anything of the sort, that might be the easiest way.'
Ichigo looked him in the eyes for several moments and then turned away. "Why do I get the feeling you aren't telling me something?"
"Because he isn't, but don't let that concern you." Goshu said as he walked over to Roshi. "Ok, Roshi, time for you to show us what you are made of. I want you to go fight Piccolo and Nail now. To be fair, I don't want you to use the Kaioken in this fight."
"Whatever you say dad. I shouldn't have to need to use it anyway." Roshi said as he followed the two Namekians away from the entryway and the buildings.
* * *
Ichigo watched as Roshi walked away from the group. 'He knows he is strong and therefore he grows cocky. It is his greatest flaw.'
"So do you want us to just stand here and watch, or do we get to train as well?" She asked Goshu impatiently.
"You are training. Everyone watch this fight closely. As you just heard, Roshi thinks he will have an easy victory on his hands. Watch how he fights and learn his mistakes. While this may not help you much once the Changelings arrive it will help make Roshi and yourselves less likely to make mistakes while fighting."
"Ah, so you want us to teach Roshi not to be quite so prideful?" Boxers asked as he casually swung his sword around in an arc.
'What is it with men and swords? That thing won't do a bit of good against a Changeling.' Ichigo thought as she rolled her eyes and turned once again to watch Roshi.
"Yeah, the more arrogance you can beat out of him the better. And that goes for you as well Ichigo. Don't expect us to go easy on you just because of your status." Goshu stated.
Ichigo felt her face flush with anger as she glared at Goshu. "I neither desire nor want special treatment. People have treated me differently my entire life, your informal disrespect of my title is somewhat refreshing. In fact, I think I would be insulted if any of you started treating me any differently then you would treat Roshi for example."
Goshu laughed. "Oh no, you don't want to be treated the same way as Roshi. Roshi forgets too easily and needs to be reminded of things. He will not have an easy time here.
Ichigo's cheeks were burning as she glared back into Goshu's eyes. "Are you insinuating that I would not be able to take what you plan on doing to Roshi?"
Goshu stared right back unflinching. "Absolutely. Like it or not you could not handle the strain that I plan on putting Roshi through."
'Sexist pigs! It doesn't matter where I go, they are always sexist pigs!' Ichigo forced herself to calm down a touch. "And why do you say that?"
Dende walked between the two of them and looked serenely into Ichigo's eyes. "Calm yourself child. Roshi knows the Kaioken and even without using it that ability makes him stronger. You do not as of now know that technique. Once you do Goshu might be more comfortable placing you in the situation Roshi will be in now. Watch and learn." The old wrinkled Namekian said as he pointed out towards where the threesome had gone off to just in time for Ichigo to catch the last moments of the Fusion Dance and watch as Piccolo and Nail became one.
Ichigo felt the wave of ki wash over her and took a breath. 'Whatever they just did it magnified their power enormously.'
Ichigo watched as Roshi crossed his arms in front of his chest and then whipped them out as he powered up. His blue aura shown brightly and a second wave of ki passed over the group of bi-standers.
'So this is his true strength.' Ichigo thought as she watched the two figures in the distance start to fight. She glanced at Goshu and saw him look over at her in a smug knowing way. 'As much as I dislike admitting it you might be right. Roshi is far stronger then I am.'
"Holy Shit!" Slip suddenly stated from the behind the rest of them. "Dende!... er sorry Dende but um... Roshi is at 320,000 and the fusion between Piccolo and Nail is at 540,000!" Slip exclaimed while holding a scouter. "I can't even follow them they are moving so fast!"
Ichigo glared at Slip simply because she was such a daft idiot and then looked back at the fight. 'Damn... I can barely follow them.' Ichigo realized after a few minutes that she was jealous. 'I have a long way to go if I hope to stay equal with Roshi.'
* * *
Roshi hurt. Muscles he had not realized he had hurt. His bones and joints ached. His lungs burned. All and all Roshi just plane hurt.
'If only I could use the Kaioken. Then this fight would have been over, but no, Dad thinks I need to hold back.' Roshi grimaced as he tried to block an incoming jab to the ribs and received a kick to the back for his efforts.
Naiccolo didn't give him a moment to catch his breath either. He brought his other knee up and buried it into Roshi's stomach. Roshi coughed blood and his mouth filled with the taste of bile.
"What's the matter Roshi? I thought you said this was going to be an easy fight." Naiccolo taunted.
'Oh you cocky little bastard. If I could use the Kaioken right now I would rub your face into it and then we would see who would be the one taunting.' Roshi was getting extremely annoyed with the arrogant nature that seemed to emanate from Naiccolo like stink from a skunk.
The two warriors locked hands and slowly spun in the air as they kicked and kneed and blocked each other all while trying to over power the other. Naiccolo slowly forced Roshi to the ground. Once on the ground, Roshi was slowly forced to his knees as Naiccolo put huge amounts of strain on Roshi's wrists.
"Surrender Roshi you can't win." Naiccolo said as he smiled his fangs looking all the more menacing.
"Yes I can. I just have to wait four more minutes. Then your fusion will end and I can take you individually." Roshi spat raggedly.
"You think so? You're out of breath and loosing strength fast. I doubt the two of us would be any easier for you separated then we are now."
"We shall see." Roshi grunted as he pulled his legs out from under him and kicked Naiccolo in the stomach, breaking their hand lock.
"Masenko!!" Roshi yelled as he threw Gohan's signature yellow ball of ki at the stumbling Namekian fusion.
"Makankosappo!!" Naiccolo yelled as he quickly fired off Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon.
The yellow ball and the spiraling orange beam slammed into each other moments later. The Masenko exploded lighting the area in a bath of yellow light. Because of it's drill like nature, the Makankosappo continued on to hit Roshi in the leg shredding his gi and slicing into the muscles of his calf.
"GGAAAWWW DEEEAAA!" Roshi yelled as he spun to the side and then quickly reoriented himself to the fight.
"Give up. Let our father heal you before you bleed all over everything."
Roshi glanced down at his leg and wiggled his foot. It hurt and the sharp pain told him that he had definitely been injured, but it seemed mostly superficial. "Nah, you hit a vein in my leg, but other then that it's just a scratch."
"Just a scratch huh? We can fix that." Naiccolo said as he held his hands out shoulder width apart and started to charge two green balls of ki.
* * *
"Roshi's power has dropped significantly." Ichigo stated as she watched him knock two green ki balls away before getting kicked in the face.
"Yes, he needs to work on his stamina." Goshu replied flatly.
"I almost killed him when he wore himself out in our first fight." Ichigo stated not really realizing she was talking aloud. 'His strength drops by the moment.'
Goshu looked over at her. "From what I have heard both of you are lucky to be alive."
"I don't believe in luck." Ichigo muttered as Roshi was knocked backwards into the floor of the room. Naiccolo quickly knee dropped onto him and everyone watching but Ichigo winced.
"Goshu, why doesn't Roshi use the Kaioken?" Boxers suddenly asked from where he was leaning on his sword. I mean, I know you told him not to, but he is getting piss pounded out there."
Goshu looked over at them for a moment. "I honestly couldn't tell you. I actually expected him to once he realized how badly out classed he was."
Ichigo practically choked on her tongue in shock. "How can you say that? Doesn't honor mean anything to you people?" She demanded after clearing her throat.
Goshu looked at her calmly. "Honor is very important. I meant Roshi no disrespect, I just did not expect him to have as much self control as this in this situation. Honor is a very hard thing to hold onto in times such as these. I am actually quite proud of him for his restraint."
"But yet you don't actually expect it so you dishonor him by your words. Some master you are." Ichigo spat.
"You are right, however, I hardly think you are one to talk about honor. How honorable have most of your actions since coming into this region of space been?" Goshu snapped back.
The shame of her actions burned deep and having Goshu use her shame like a whip against her pride burned even deeper. "I have not acted in the most honorable fashion, but to hear you talk in such a manner about your own son makes me question my time here."
"Honor isn't an absolute and there are more important things to live for than personal honor. If you don't realize that then I question the value in helping you. Think about what you have learned and then you may actually gain some perspective."
Ichigo narrowed her eyes and glared at Goshu for a moment before turning to watch the Fusion run out of time. Roshi leapt forward and grabbed Piccolo and Nail's heads before they could react. One quick action and he had knocked their heads together knocking them both out.
Ichigo pondered deep in thought as Roshi limped back towards the group. 'I am rapidly loosing my respect for this man,' she thought as she once again glared at Goshu. 'He is highly intelligent and seems to be quite wise, but he is shallow minded and inflexible.' Ichigo realized that Goshu's current methods might just be a training method, but at the same time being treated like a child in such a manner left her opinion of him quite tainted.
After Dende healed Roshi's open wounds Goshu and Roshi went head to head.
"This should be an interesting fight." Dende said to her as he walked back from where Roshi had stopped.
"Why do you say that? Roshi should be a lot stronger then his father." Boxers queried.
"Experience speaks much stronger in many fights then raw power. When I was just made Kami, Gohan was by far the strongest person to ever live. I would have liked to see an actual all out fight between himself and Goku. Likewise, Roshi is stronger then Goshu, but I think Goshu will have the advantage. Especially given how worn out Roshi is."
"But I thought you healed him." Tee mentioned.
"I did, but child you need to remember that while I heal, I cannot rejuvenate lost energy."
"So how much of a disadvantage would you put Roshi into then? Especially if he doesn't use the Kaioken." Ichigo asked.
"That child is not actually the correct question."
Ichigo grimaced at being called a child once more. "Please don't call me a child."
Dende just smiled. "Dear girl, I am over half a millennia old. Everyone is a child to me."
"Alright then old man, what is the correct question?"
Dende laughed and looked down at Ichigo. "I think I'm going to like you." He said before walking away.
"Hey! You didn't answer me!"
Ichigo was about to follow him when a firm hand grabbed her cape at her shoulder.
"Hey! Hands off!" Ichigo yelled as she spun and grabbed Piccolo's arm. "I wasn't planning on fighting anyone but the Changeling's in this and if you damage it, I will damage you."
"You presume too much." Piccolo stated as he let go of her cape.
Ichigo's mouth clicked shut and then fell open again. 'I presume too much? I aught to...' Ichigo was thinking when she realized he was right.
"You have any other insights to share?" She snapped.
"None that you are willing to listen to, no." Piccolo said back evenly.
Ichigo ground her teeth for a few moments and then glared at the Namekian. "Alright, why did you stop me then?"
"Because you should be watching this fight. And because I wanted to speak with you about Roshi."
Ichigo glanced from Piccolo to where Roshi and his father were fighting. Neither one of the two Saiyans seemed to be giving ground as they traded blow for blow, block for block.
"And what do you have to say of Roshi?"
Piccolo looked at her curiously. "I was wondering what you thought of the fight between Roshi and Nail and myself."
Ichigo winced inwardly as Goshu caught Roshi in the neck with a kick that sent him spinning away and into the ground. 'If he is the best chance I have, my chances are looking rather grim at the moment.' Ichigo thought to herself before turning to look back at Piccolo.
"What about it, the Fusion technique seems to be very powerful. You beat Roshi quite thoroughly."
"No we didn't." Nail said as he walked up to them.
Ichigo pondered his comment for a moment while she watched Roshi block a large Kamehameha. "He knocked the two of you out after the fusion wore out, but you two controlled the fight the entire time you were fused."
Dende came back from wherever he had gone off to and joined the conversation. "Tell me child, who now controls the fight between father and son?"
Ichigo watched as Goshu threw Roshi into the floor only to receive a quickly shot off ki blast to the face. By the time the smoke around Goshu had cleared both Roshi and his father were once again trading blow for blow.
"I would say at the moment they are fighting dead even. Neither one of them controls the fight." Ichigo said as she looked back at Dende and his sons. 'Roshi is letting this fight be equal. I hadn't even noticed before, but his power level is staying right around 165,000 or so by my best guess. Even during his fight with Piccolo and Nail he never dropped that low.'
"Really? You think so?" Nail queried.
Ichigo gave a disgusted sigh, "no, Roshi is letting his father fight him as an equal. I am assuming he has his reasons, but since all four of us know he is a lot stronger then what he is showing himself to be today, I have to say he is letting the fight remain on equal terms."
Piccolo laughed. "And why would you think he would do this?"
Ichigo was never one who liked being questioned. She was rapidly losing her patience. 'How the heck am I supposed to know why that jerk would do anything? If he wants to get beat on I will be sure to oblige him when it is my time to fight him.' She glared at the Namekians and then watched as Roshi blinded his father with a Tayoken and followed it up by wrenching Goshu's arm around before throwing him into the ground.
Goshu managed to hit Roshi with several small Energy Dan attacks and then get him in a head lock before Ichigo remembered Piccolo had asked her a question.
"I don't know. You tell me, you guys know him a lot better then I do."
Dende laughed. "Evasive as always I see. As Kami I know the reasons behind his methods, but I shan't tell you for that would undermine your chances at true understanding."
Ichigo rolled her eyes. "More mystical bullcrap."
Piccolo turned to glare at her. "Yes, more mystical bull crap. Just like the Super Saiyan and the very legends that dive both Roshi and yourself."
Ichigo decked him.
Piccolo slid across the room to bump into and come to a rest against one of the dome houses Slip had set up. Ichigo quickly landed on him and grabbed his collar. "Listen very closely! I don't like it when people put on airs and act all smart. I didn't like it when I was dealing with bigots like Banana and I don't like it now. If you have something to say, say it. Don't mince words and don't get all mysterious on me." Ichigo pulled him to his feet and then continued.
"I tolerate it to some degree from Roshi because I owe him. I don't owe you and it really pisses me off when someone like the old man over there says something that can more or less be translated to I'm god so I know things but I won't tell you cause I don't want to but I'll just make you curious by dropping hints."
"Subtlety is totally useless with you isn't it?" Piccolo asked before wiping some purple blood off of his cheek.
It took every gram of willpower she had not to deck him again.
"Humph, I don't have time for this." Ichigo declared before setting off to find Slip. While she didn't like dealing with the scientist, Slip was the only one who would be able to get her some new clothes. Like she had said earlier, she wasn't about to train in her white and blue Royal armor.
* * *
"Haiii!!" Roshi blocked another one of his father's kicks before catching Goshu in the forehead with a well-timed blow.
Goshu let the blow knock him into a back flip which allowed him to kick Roshi in the ribs and stomach as he flipped around.
"Ouuph!" Roshi coughed as he spun away. 'Thinks he can pull that on me does he?' Roshi flipped around and dove for the ground. Once there he quickly flipped and shot upwards at his father at great speed.
"Ka..me..ha..me..HA!" Goshu yelled as he shot the blue white beam downwards at his son.
Roshi just cupped his hands and flew into the beam at full speed. The energy caught and balled up in his hands forming an ever growing sphere around him as he continued to shoot towards his father.
"FOOMMMMPPP!!!! The Kamehameha exploded and dispersed as Roshi flew through he spot his father had been occupying moments before.
Goshu caught him in the small of the back with his knee and quickly wrapped an arm around Roshi's neck putting him in a strangle hold.
"If I were one to judge I would say you are purposely trying to lose this fight." Goshu spat in Roshi's ear as he ground his knee into Roshi's kidney.
"Lose? Why would you say that? I'm enjoying myself too much here dad." Roshi replied before swinging his hands around and behind his head and firing off a large ki blast right into his father's face.
"You are still holding back. You are not nearly as tired as you act." Goshu spat as soon as he landed to face Roshi on the ground.
Roshi for his part was panting as though quite short of breath. "Tired? Being tired is a state of mind Dad. How many times have to told me to push through the pain?"
"Obviously not enough." Goshu spat back before starting to charge a Kamehameha.
Roshi spread his hands wide and almost half bowed to his father. "Fire away, not like it will do you any good."
"Somebody needs to teach you not to be so cocky." Goshu commented before firing off everything he had into the Kamehameha.
Roshi suddenly braced himself and tightened up his arms locking them where they were spread about a meter apart. Moments before the Kamehameha would hit him he spread his fingers out so as far as they could spread with the palms of his hands facing each other. Liquid looking blue energy shot from his hands to ball in front of his heart. Then at the last second he flipped his hands out so they faced his father. The blue energy he had been building spread out like a sheet and his father's Kamehameha hit nothing but a silvery blue mirror of energy.
The Kamehameha slammed into his wall of ki with immense energy and as the ki wave pounded against the mirrored surface of Roshi's ki bubble, the bubble started to collapse. Roshi felt his arms being forced back and the surface of his bubble closed to mere cm from his chest.
"YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Roshi yelled as he forced his arms out and the ki bubble away from himself.
As Roshi extended his arms out and away from himself the Kamehameha bounced. It bounced away from Roshi and his mirrored ki bubble and shot back at Goshu.
Goshu barely jumped out of the way and the beam shot past him to explode in the far distance of the Room of Spirit and Time.
"That was an interesting counter. Fairly effective to I would say." Goshu stated he looked at the billowing smoke cloud in the distance.
"No it wasn't. It only worked cause it deflects the exact type of energy as what makes up a Kamehameha. Had you thrown a Masenko or something of the sort in there with your Kamehameha, the mirror would have cracked like an egg and I would be needing Dende's help right now."
Goshu raised an eyebrow at Roshi as he walked closer, "then why use it? Why not just knock the beam away or use some other method?"
"Because," Roshi said as he blocked his father's fist and twisted the older man's arm around before getting tripped and finally being forced to jump clear of his father. "I was testing it. Isn't that the point of Training?"
Goshu laughed. "Very good. And good of you to not lower your guard."
"The fight isn't over till you say it is. You haven't called truce yet and I am not about to surrender."
"For being such a pain in the butt to train as a child you have actually learned a few things." Goshu said teasingly.
"Oh no, that isn't about to work either dad. You're not about to get me to lower my guard by making me get all defensive about myself."
Goshu laughed heartily. "Can't blame me for trying."
"Nah, never blame the underdog for trying." Roshi quipped.
Underdog huh? Just for that I'm going to make you train twice as hard. I call a truce, I have something better for you to be doing then just playing with me." Goshu said as he shook his head.
"But it's so fun dad!" Roshi chirped in an overly kiddy like voice.
"Right, go find Dende and get the weights I have for you. Then I want you to do ten thousand each of sit-ups, pushups, jumping jacks and then fly sprint laps back and forth between the door and that blinky light tower I had Yoshi set up. You can stop when Ichigo has the food ready.
Roshi looked off in the distance and guessed that the tower was well over 60 km away from the door. He could cover that distance in a matter of seconds, but repetitively doing laps was in his opinion about as fun as listening to Rock brag about himself in class all day long.
"Ok," Roshi said dejectedly as he slowly flew towards Dende.
"Oh, the food should be ready in about an hour. If you have not done all the warm ups and at least 200 laps you go without food tonight." Goshu called out.
Roshi sped up significantly.
* * *
Ichigo felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead as she worked over the stove preparing the last of the Beef Soba. As it finished simmering, she put the Milk and juice and water out on the table followed by pickles and some sweet bread she had baked. Seeing that the Soba was done, Ichigo quickly dumped the noodles into a large bowl and then grabbed the bowl of rice and some egg roles. After placing everything at the large table she wiped her brow and looked around.
'Where the heck is everyone? Shouldn't they be as hungry as I am?' She pondered for a moment before stepping out of the capsule house. "HEY FOOD IS SEARVED COME GET IT BEFORE I EAT IT ALL!!!!!!"
Within milliseconds everyone save the Namekians, who did not eat, and Roshi, who was still at the far side of the sprint course, were seated at the table.
"Wow look at this food!" Tee said as he gleefully started to dish himself some Soba.
Ichigo whipped her spatula at his forehead. "You don't get any of this. I have something special for you Tee. Besides I might not be from here but I was always taught that no one eats until everyone is seated at the table." Ichigo finished as Roshi rushed into the room.
"But you said you were going to eat..." Tee started as Ichigo returned from the kitchen with a raw beef roast which was still dripping some blood. She casually held it out and then blasted it with a small Flare attack.
"There you go. One Ki blasted burnt offerings as requested." Ichigo said after plopping the smoking roast on Tee's plate.
Almost everyone had a good laugh as they watched Tee choke down the charred roast that night.
* * *
That night Goshu made everyone use weights and work on their sprints and endurance. Neither Ichigo nor Roshi enjoyed the night's workouts, but neither was willing to let anyone know how much they despised that type of training.
* * *
Slip couldn't sleep. She spent most of the night looking across the room at the twisting and turning body of Ichigo. Every once in a while, Ichigo would yell out or whimper or cry something in her sleep as she dreamed.
'How am I supposed to get any sleep with her here?' Slip thought to herself. 'I don't even want to be here, but Nooo Mom thinks I can be sleeping beauty's friend. So I have to be miserable in this stupid white nothing where I can barely even walk and my joints ache.'
Slip got up and got a drink of water. 'Not to mention what training with all these men is going to do to my figure. Goshu actually made me eat until I was full. I never eat that much!'
"Nooo... I didn't fail... I'm not a failure... I'm not... I'm not" Ichigo suddenly whimpered from her bed as she rolled about.
"I'm not a failure." Slip mocked Ichigo's voice from her bed as she crawled back under the covers. 'Nice to know miss perfect isn't so perfect after all.' She thought to herself as she rolled over and tried to ignore Ichigo.
By the end of the night Slip's earlier anger and resentment had started to crack. It was only a start, but it was enough to let compassion start to claw it's way into her heart.
* * *
The following morning
Roshi stretched out as he walked deeper into the room. The night had caused the room to become quite cool and Roshi had to be careful not to slip on the ice that now blanketed the floor and grew into great spires at places. The frost forming in his breath had at first been a nice curiosity since Roshi had never really experienced much cold weather in his life, but was now beginning to become an annoyance as he felt his eyelashes trying to freeze together as they collected the fine frozen mist.
"About time you showed up." Ichigo said from where she was sitting on an ice spire.
Roshi stopped to look up at her. She wore a pair of gray earmuffs and what he had come to think of her normal gray and gray-blue gi.
"Aren't you cold?" Roshi asked seeing she had not donned any insulating clothing over her gi. He on the other hand wore a bright green polar fleece jacket over his Green and black gi. He was warm, but looking down at his temporary gi, he realized that he still didn't feel comfortable in anything but his normal orange and blue colors. 'Oh well, as long as the news people are looking for someone in orange I will wear black and green.'
Ichigo jumped down from where she had been sitting. "I wouldn't be if you had been on time, and I won't be once we start training, so you need more stretching or are you ready?" She said while grinning like a shark.
"You seem a bit too happy for my tastes, but I am ready." Roshi said as he launched himself into the air and away from her.
"Oh you think so do you. Ichigo said as she sped towards him and flipped around to kick him. Roshi blocked and then traded blows with her for several minutes.
"You're holding back." Ichigo said as she fired a large Plasma beam at Roshi.
Roshi countered it with a trusty Kamehameha and then caught her leg and whipped her into an ice spire. "What do you mean holding back?" He shouted down at her.
"BLAZE!!!!" Ichigo shouted from within the crumbling ice. The heat of the attack flash boiled much of the ice throwing a large cloud of rapidly cooling vapor at Roshi.
The cooling vapor froze to Roshi on contact and for a few moments he looked like a big floating snowman.
Then Ichigo kicked him in the side with a roundhouse kick and sent him sprawling into the icy ground. Roshi landed and tried to flip himself over but slipped on the ice to land flat on his face.
Ichigo started laughing as she landed next to him and punted him like a football. "You know on Saiya we teach children how to walk on ice before they even know how to fly."
Roshi threw a huge chunk of ice at her. "Well this is not Saiya!" He yelled as he fired several ki blasts at the backside of the ice chunk.
Ichigo jumped up and kicked the ice chunk sending pieces of it careening around the icy room. She then flipped over the ki blasts and landed in front of Roshi.
"If that is the best you can do I should just go back to Saiya now." She spat into his face.
'You don't want to see my best,' Roshi thought to himself as he created several double images of himself and then swept her legs out from beneath her.
Ichigo went with the fall and fired two small ki blast with her hands to propel herself around to face Roshi again.
"Oh, so you knocked me down. A real warrior would have followed that up with a real attack. You are too kind to follow through. Kindness will get you killed when the Changelings show up." Ichigo spat as she circled around him.
Roshi just watched her until she was at the edge of his vision and then he spun himself around snapping his right foot up to catch her in the small of the back.
Except Ichigo's back wasn't there anymore as she had dropped to the ground and ducked under the kick. Before Roshi got his foot all the way around and back down again Ichigo had planted her foot lightly into his groin.
'Shit that could have hurt!' Roshi thought as he flipped away from her and landed on an ice spire.
"Are you going to start fighting me seriously or am I going to actually have to hurt you today?" She quipped smugly.
'Down here on and near this ice she seems to be right at home. I don't want to totally humiliate her, but she's starting to ask for it.' Roshi thought as he glared down at her. "You want to try to put something behind those words? Then come and get me." Roshi shot at her as he once again took to the air.
* * *
"They've been fighting for hours." Boxers said as he watched the Roshi and Ichigo dart back and forth over the expanse of the Room of Spirit and time.
"Three hours twenty nine minutes and ten seconds to be exact." Slip stated as she once again checked her watch. "How the heck can they keep fighting at that rate for so long?"
"They aren't, but you guys shouldn't worry about that. Back to work on your meditation." Goshu said as he too wondered how they were keeping up such a display. 'Neither of them is fighting a nearly their maximum strength, but to fight for so long is still impressive.'
"Dende, Piccolo, I am going to go get closer to those two's fight. Could you pick up with these three where I left off?"
"Certainly. Yoshi is already over there watching them if you would send him back I am sure he could use some meditation as well." Dende said as he walked over to look down at Slip.
Slip realizing that there was a shadow over her cringed inwardly.
Dende just smiled remembering days long past when the ancestors of these people, his friends whom he had come to know as family had also spent time coming together as an effective fighting team. "Ah the good old days. How I miss them. Alright dear child what you need to do..."
* * *
Ichigo blocked another one of Roshi's feeble hits and tried to kick him away from her but was in turn blocked. 'Damn him! He won't actually fight me, but then he blocks my every attack.'
"Fight me you stupid jerk. I'm growing tired of these half hearted attacks."
"Sorry, but we are here to train not beat each other into pulp." Roshi replied as he blocked another of her kicks and then wrenched her foot around. He could have broken her ankle but instead just tossed her to the side.
"DAMN you would you stop this nonsense and fight me you coward!" Ichigo swore as she tried to land a roundhouse kick in his ear.
Roshi jabbed his hand straight fingered into her left armpit causing her entire left arm to go numb for a few moments.
"Anyone ever tell you that you drop your guard on your left side when you are mad?"
Ichigo felt her entire body go tense when Roshi said that. In a flash of a memory she was no longer fighting Roshi but instead fighting Meron in her private dogo.
"I DO NOT LEAVE MY LEFT SIDE OPEN!!!!!!!!" She screamed as she whipped around and caught Roshi in the back of his thigh with a powerful kick.
Roshi bent down to rub his leg for a moment and then looked up to see her charging at him again.
Within an eye blink he had landed two open palmed punches and a kick to her ribs on her left side. "Yes you do."
* * *
Roshi watched curiously at the sudden change in not only mood, but the very look in Ichigo's eyes after he started hitting her left side. 'Ichigo is right arm and right leg dominant.' Roshi realized with a start as he once again blocked several punches and kicks only to kick her in her left hip.
Most people who were right handed were left foot dominant. Since that balanced people out they did not end up with a strong side or week side. Ichigo on the other hand had probably subconsciously come to rely on her right side more then her left and it left her almost completely open at times.
'Well she wants me to beat on her. She must like pain or something. I hope she likes getting what she asks for.'
Roshi was about to hit her in the left side again when she caught him with strong upper cut to the jaw. At least one of his teeth split as his head snapped back and he saw stars.
"I thought I told you to stop going easy on me!" Ichigo screamed as she slammed her knee deep into Roshi's stomach.
Roshi had not been expecting the sudden tenacity in which Ichigo now attacked him and was caught off guard. As blood seeped past his lips and he struggled to breath he didn't even have the time to react when Ichigo sent several roundhouses into his face snapping his head back and forth like a ping pong ball.
Nor did he block when she drove her knee into his left shoulder from behind, breaking his shoulder blade and dislocating his collarbone.
After what felt like years but lasted only mere seconds Ichigo threw him onto his back and glared into his barely focusing eyes. "You want to play around jerk? My people depend on me to save them. Remember that. I will stop at nothing to do my duty. You may find this to be nothing but some simple training, but to me this is everything. Toy with me again and I will kill you." Ichigo spat down at him before walking away.
* * *
Several weeks later in the Room of Spirit and time.
Ichigo watched as Roshi floated out to spar with her. Things were not going well between them. Roshi had taken her words to heart and had done nothing but beat her down for the past five weeks. Had Dende not been there she knew she probably would have died several time and been crippled for life just as many more.
While this had made her stronger Roshi had not grown any weaker. He was still stronger then her and since she wasn't about to be the first to apologize.
Of course beating on him that second day had not been the straw that broke the back of trust between them. No that had been when Ichigo had told him to "Go fuck the little worthless sprite of a girl who had been fawning after him."
'Roshi hadn't taken the notion that his cowardly blood would mix well with... Mariah? Was that her name? Mariah's weakling blood very well.' Ichigo winced at the memory of that beating.
Roshi walked up and looked at her blankly. "Well I guess we should get this over with." He said neutrally.
"Your mind is elsewhere right now." Ichigo said speaking her mind as she realized Roshi wasn't acting normal. He wasn't even acting normal for what was normal as of late.
"Yeah, well it's seven o'clock so you can pardon me if I have my head in the clouds." Roshi said as he cracked his knuckles.
"Um, I hate to argue here but it is four in the afternoon." Ichigo said back.
Roshi glared at her. "Not here nitwit. Outside it is Seven PM. I should be on a date right now, not trading conversation with a an arrogant bitch like you."
'This is interesting... I never did learn what a date really was but he seems... detached.' Ichigo thought as she pondered what she should do. "Are you talking about one of your courtship ritual things?"
Roshi actually laughed. "It is hardly courtship, but yes that is what I am referring to. Of course as you pointed out all those weeks ago you had an arranged fiancée who died so I should pity you rather then myself right?"
Ichigo was stung by his spite. "I neither asked for nor want your pity."
"Funny, you seem to want it most of the rest of the time."
"Well I don't. Who if I may ask was this date with?"
Roshi glared at her. "As if you don't know, you venomous wench."
"It was a simple question."
"My date was with Mariah. You know her, the weakling sprite of a girl."
'Ahh... this explains a lot.' Ichigo surmised. 'Saiyan mating instinct is very very strong. If he for some reason actually attached to her then he would take anything I said that was offensive towards her very personally.' Ichigo shivered, 'had I known he could become attached to someone so terribly unworthy of a warrior of his talent I would have watched my tongue. I need to remember how differently his culture is from mine. Something that would never be allowed on Saiya is perfectly normal here.' Ichigo shuddered at the thought.
"What's your problem?"
"Nothing just thinking. I am sorry you have missed out on your date. A warrior of your ability deserves some happiness." Ichigo said diplomatically, 'even if it is with someone I find disgustingly unworthy of you.'
Roshi's jaw almost fell off. "What? No snide remarks? No crude comments? No slams? And here Tee thought you were jelous.
"Jelous? Jelous of what?"
"You know what I mean." Roshi said.
'I'm NOT jelous!' Ichigo told herself as soon as she realized what he was implying. "Listen to me now because I won't repeat myself. Whether you people acknowledge me or not, I am the Crown Princess. You are a Descendant of the very men and women who tried to destroy our people. Even if there was the remotest possibility that there was or would ever be anything between us it won't happen. If you were the last Saiyan alive I would kill myself before I would lay with you. I am not jelous."
Roshi's eyes narrowed. "Nice to know you think so highly of the people who are going to save your ass."
"Oh, I respect you and I value your abilities. I would have even been proud to think of you as a friend, but anything more then that just cannot be allowed so I won't even think on it."
Roshi stood silent for several minutes. "If that is so, what is your problem with Mariah?"
'Well I have already told him more then enough to give him every reason to kill me...' Ichigo thought as she swallowed and then spoke, "I don't have a problem with her. I have a problem with the very idea that someone so weak would have caught the eye of someone as powerful as you. The very idea is morally disgusting and repulsive to me. That is my problem."
"Amazing."
"What?"
"Honesty. Of all the things I expected you to spout, honesty was not one of them."
"Well sorry If I disappointed you." Ichigo said back puzzled.
"And here I was all ready to beat you to a pulp today. I guess I'm not in the mood anymore." Roshi said as he turned to walk away from her.
"HEY! You can't just walk away. We need to train. You know I'm getting no where with my Kaioken training. I need this!" Ichigo said as she ran up behind him.
Roshi turned and looked at her emotionlessly. "You want to fight?"
"Yes." Ichigo replied from a few meters away.
"Ok, I guess, I've been meaning to try out a new attack. Can't try it out if we don't fight." Roshi said with an odd glint in his eyes.
'A new attack? I don't think I like the sounds of that.' Ichigo thought as she backed away from Roshi a bit. "What does it do?"
Roshi smirked. Well, I'll tell you what. You stand right there and I'll show you." He said as he brought his hands up from his sides. In each of his cupped hands a bright ball of ki spun. Lightning crackled between the red ball in his left hand and the blue ball in his right.
Ichigo took to the air to back away from him just as he leapt at her.
"THUNDERFLASH!! Roshi yelled as he slammed his hands together mere cm from her face. As he clam shelled his hands open a brilliantly bright flash of light hit Ichigo in the face.
* * *
Roshi felt the balls of Ki trying to spring from his hands and converge as he brought his hands up towards Ichigo's face. The two balls of ki finally touched and exploded as they mixed. The brilliant flash was several times brighter then a Tayoken, and unlike the Solar Flare it also produced a thunderous shockwave.
The shockwave almost knocked him back but he held his position as Ichigo cart wheeled backwards to slam into the floor.
Blood pulsed from her ruptured eardrums as she frantically tried to get to her feet but then fell over again from lack of balance.
"AH... AH... AHH... I CAN'T SEE!!! I... I... OH HELP I CAN'T HEAR ANTHING!...AH ROSHI NO DON'T KILL ME... ROSHI? ROSHI?!?!?!!" Ichigo wailed from the ground as she curled herself into a fetal position and covered her bleeding ears with her hands.
Roshi's earlier anger suddenly forgotten he rushed down to her. When she yelped like a frightened dog and flailed about desperately at his touch he quickly backed away. "What have I done? That shouldn't have affected her like this!" Roshi asked himself aghast at what he saw.
Ichigo's flailing struggles stopped as she drifted into unconsciousness. Roshi fearing he really had killed her scooped her up and rushed to find Dende.
* * *
Several Months into training in the Room of Spirit and time.
Ichigo still had not mastered the Kaioken. She was too impatient. Nothing Roshi or anyone else could do seemed to help her master the difficult skill.
Her frustrations were usually vented on Roshi and he was getting used to being her punching bag. While things between them had definitely gotten better since the Thunderflash incident, there was still something keeping them from fully trusting each other. Without that trust they would never be as effective fighting together as Goshu had hoped they would become. So he kept the two of them sparing. They would spar and talk and spar and talk and spar and taunt each other but while they were nothing if not efficient they were both to stubborn to give in and truly open up.
Dende finally decided that Goshu needed more then just his advice if they were ever going to get Roshi and Ichigo to cooperate fully. So he set a plan in motion.
As it happened, however, Dende's plan wasn't needed.
One morning Ichigo was jubilant about something as she hauled him out of his bed to spar with her.
"It's five in the morning Ichigo. I need my sleep." Roshi mumbled as he followed her out of the house.
"Ichigo looked at him as he stumbled about in his flannel pjs. "No you silly man, you need to go get your Gi on. I have a new attack to show you."
This woke Roshi up immediately. "This won't be anything like the last new attack one of us showed the other will it?
"Nope, this attack is even better!" Ichigo chirped.
Roshi's eyebrows shot up. "ok, who the heck are you and what have you done with Ichigo?"
Ichigo's shoulders slouched. "Roshi, I'm serious now get your butt in there and get into your gi or I will just make you fight me in your pjs and since we both know that fights between us can get rather heated I would much rather not have you wearing something that is both flammable and likely to be shredded and lost while you fight me."
"Ok, but stop being so happy. You happy bugs me." Roshi said as he turned around to walk into the capsule house. 'Bugs me? She's acting like someone drugged her or something. Women and their mood swings. First Slip starts acting all funny and now this. Next thing I know the two of them will stop bitching at each other and gang up on me.' Roshi shuddered to the base of his soul. "please Dende don't let them do that."
Roshi finished dressing and flew out to where Ichigo was waiting for him.
"Ok, what is this new super attack you have to show me?"
"You want me to just show it to you and then that's it? No warm ups or anything?"
"Sure, If I can beat it then we might be able to work on just this new attack for a while."
Ichigo crinkled her nose and sucked on her lip or a moment. "Well it isn't really an attack but I guess."
"What is it then?" Roshi pondered.
"I'll tell you in a bit." Ichigo said as she took to the air.
Roshi followed and they were soon floating about half a km above the floor.
"Ok, now what?" Roshi asked.
"Now you fire your biggest non-Kaioken Kamehameha at me."
"Non-Kaioken?"
Ichigo shrugged. "I don't think I can stop you when you are at full power."
"Ah, ok. Well this still won't be easy for you." Roshi said as he backed up about 200 meters from her to give her some time to react. He didn't want to accidentally kill her if whatever she had planned failed.
Roshi saw her start to charge what looked like the start of the Plasma Beam attack. As the pink energy crackled around her he charged and then fired off his Kamehameha.
"STOPPER BEAM!!!" Ichigo yelled as she fired off her pink-red beam.
'Stopper beam? I'm going to have to pick on her for not being able to come up with a real name to this thing.' Roshi thought as his Kamehameha slammed into the pinkish red beam.
Roshi expected his Kamehameha to absorb Ichigo's beam like his larger and more powerful attacks had done many times before. His beam was several times larger and unlike her personal version of the Kamehameha her "Stopper Beam" was not fired as a drill beam so it would not drill through his own beam.
The two beams touched and exploded. Literally exploded. A ball of light at the epicenter of the two beams almost blinded Roshi. Then the flash of billowing exploding light started tracing its way down his Kamehameha. Roshi had seen fire travel back along a line of oil or other fuel and that was about the only thing that came to mind as his Kamehameha exploded backwards towards him. He forced himself to push more power into the beam to push the explosion away, but that only seemed to speed it up.
As the energy that was traveling back along his Kamehameha reached him, Roshi felt as though the very energy that he was putting into the beam had been sucked out of him. Suddenly he couldn't keep the beam cohesive any longer and it simply ceased to be.
Roshi looked across the clearing smoke at Ichigo. She was beaming from ear to ear. "What was that? How did you do that?" he asked awed at what he had just seen.
"That is what is going to make your Kamehameha nothing but a flashy light show." Ichigo said as she started to laugh.
"Well I'll be..." Roshi started to say but stopped suddenly.
Ichigo had still been laughing when her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell out of the air.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Well, I hope you like long chapters!
I dedicate this chapter to all of you readers. You waited a long time to see some training... I hope the wait was worth it.
On that wait, I think I should explain myself some. I have no intention of abandoning this before I finish it. This is my first story and I will finish it or die trying. That said, I might be getting a professional book published. I have submitted a story to several publishers and one of them was nice enough to ask for me to "flesh" out a few of my chapters and ideas better. I had a real deadline and was busy writing that story and trying to maintain my college education. I am sorry to say that between a story that I might get paid for writing and my education this fic which I write only for my personal enjoyment and your enjoyment as a reader gets third dibs.
Thank you all for your patience, encouragement and support. Without your kind words I would have never even attempted to submit a novel for publishing.
To those of you who have asked me to review your work, keep asking I will try. To everyone else who writes or even those who just read. Keep your dreams alive. They will take you places you could otherwise never get to on this world.
That said I will respectfully ask you to kindly support some other fellow authors.
First Kitsune Maxwell. She is a good friend and is far better then she will ever admit. Please share some kind words to help encourage her to keep working.
http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=129268
Secondly, Josav. She is a fellow author who like me has had her fair share of adversity. Her computer recently crapped out and she has lost most of her works. Also on a more dire note, She is overcoming Meningitis and for that we should all be thankful for her work is second to none.
http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=216859
Her Fic Chikura: desolation and despair is now just being reposted. It is the only long fic I have read on FF.net that even comes close to or possibly exceeds my fic for depth. Please spend the time to review it.
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1012681
Thank you, and until next time, happy reading. :)
Oh, ps this was not edited by anyone so I am sorry if the grammar sucks... If you find any glaring errors please tell me about them.
