AN- Sorry it's been a minute since the last update. Been really busy. (Shameless plug, if you like this story, you will love my other ones, which are infinitely better than this slow starting story. Eventually, this story will evolve into something greater, but we all need a little patience. Until then, keep reviewing, and go into my profile and look at my other stories! The only one I don't update anymore is "For the Love of A Guildmistress" , a Lunar story that was probably my best work, but the mood and inspiration for this story have both left me, so I fear it may remain incomplete forever. And of course, my Yamcha inspired poem, "the Sayian", was a one shot, so don't expect that one to get updated soon, because it's done. People, I try real hard, and I get very few reviews! It takes only a second!!!! Please!!!!!!!!! ... Okay, my rant is officially over.
Yamcha sat down on the ground, finally having managed to put out his leg, which had gone up in flames while he had been daydreaming. Now he and Krillin sat around the fire, preparing the fish Krillin had caught. Tien was still out gathering food. Krillin smiled.
"Man, it's been a while since I've got to go out camping like this. What with Maron and Eighteen, I hardly ever have a free moment to myself."
"Yeah, baseball has got me pretty booked too. I'm always practicing and making appearances."
Krillin snorted. "Maybe you should use at least a little of that time to work on your training."
Yamcha feigned anger. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, being human has it's limitations and all, but at least I fought Kid Buu."
"Yeah, and you got tossed around!"
"Well, so did Vegeta and Gohan! Hell, even Goku in his third super sayian form couldn't do anything! At least I wasn't hiding behind King Kai!"
Yamcha grimaced as he thought back to when Buu's true form attacked the Grand Kai's planet. Krillin was the strongest fighter on the planet at the time, so he took it upon himself to stall for time. Yamcha had been too scared to do anything other than duck for cover. Krillin would never let him live it down.
"Look, I panicked, okay? What do you want from me?"
Krillin grinned. "Man, it's easy to get you riled up! I'm just messing with you!"
The fish had been on the fire for a while now, and the smell finally got Krillin's attention. "Wow! That smell brings me back! I haven't smelt fish cooking on a fire since back when me and Goku first started training!"
"Ummmmm.... Krillin?"
"Yea, I know, I know. I don't have a nose. I've still learned how to taste the air through my mouth. It's a good thing I didn't know that while I was fighting at that martial arts tournament. Otherwise that big oaf Bacterian would have beaten me!"
Yamcha looked glum. "Yeah, then you could have joined the 'first round knockout losers club' with me."
Here I am. I've worked so hard to get here....
Yamcha stood proud, confidant, but also quite a bit nervous. He had no idea that Goku would be in this tournament when he had signed up. While it was a nice surprise, it was also a little disheartening. Goku could keep up with me a year ago.... Just imagine how much stronger he is now! I wonder if my training will be enough...
The first round pit Yamcha up against the mysterious 'Jackie Chun'. The man didn't appear to be much, but Yamcha had learned not to take appearances too literally. Anyone had the potential to be a master. Yamcha gulped as he stepped into the ring. Before he got to center stage, he put on the mask of confidence that he always used to fool people. It wouldn't help his match if his opponent knew he was scared. The announcer said a bunch of stuff. Yamcha hadn't paid him much attention. All he could think about was the thought of losing. I've spent an entire year working towards this. No way! I can't lose now!
The match began. Yamcha steeled himself for the fight and rushed forward, throwing several weaker punches out to feel his opponent. Chun dodged them all. Yamcha couldn't believe what was happening. He's so fast! I can't keep up with him! He decided that he would risk it all. If I don't use it now, I won't have a chance to later! "Ruga fufu ken!!!"
Yamcha's speed tripled as he shot at his enemy, ki forming in the palms of his hands. However, even his substantial increase amounted to nothing, as Chun continued to effortlessly dodge his thrusts. There's..... there's nothing I can do... Jackie Chun put his hands together, and an incredible glow emanated from his arms. He pulled them back and swatted the air, causing a huge icy wind to slam Yamcha out of bounds. He lay in the dirt, amazed that he had lost to this old man, and too ashamed to show his face. The match ended without a single hit connecting...A whole year... for this...
Yamcha sighed. "You know, I probably should have taken the hint then and just stopped."
Krillin shook his head. "C'mon now Yamcha... we've all felt like that at one point or another."
Yamcha spun around to face Krillin in anger. "Krillin, I've never won a single round in any of the Budakias we've been to! I've never stopped a single villain! I've never defeated anyone!"
"So what? I've never beaten any villains! Neither has Tien!"
"What are you talking about? Krillin, you defeated ALL of the Saibamen single handedly! Just one of them killed me! And Tien managed to hold off Imperfect Cell by himself! Piccolo and Android 16 couldn't do that! What can I say that I've done?"
"Didn't you beat Reccome in the other world?"
"That was a filler in the anime! That didn't happen in real life!!!"
"What?"
"...Nothing. But do you see? I've accomplished nothing."
"That's not true! You sacrificed yourself to protect me from the Saibamen. If it hadn't been for you, it would have been me that had gotten hit with the self destruct attack. And besides, didn't you beat the invisible man at Fortune Teller Baba's tournament?"
Yamcha blushed. "Oh yeah, I did... didn't I? But he didn't even have any real fighting prowess. He only did well because he was invincible."
"Well, regardless, you won, didn't you?"
"I guess so."
A small rock slammed into the fire, sending sparks flying everywhere. Krillin and Yamcha turned, and Yamcha just barely managed to dodge a flying kick that came at him. He landed and glared at the foot's owner, Tien.
"Tien? What's the matter with you? Are you crazy?"
Tien growled. "Are you joking? There should have been no way that you were caught with that attack! Not only did I keep my ki at it's normal level, but I threw a rock as warning! Have you been slacking off in your training that much?!"
Yamcha lowered his head. "What's the point in training anymore?"
Tien flew forward and punched Yamcha in the chest. "The point?! The point?! What would happen if something even worse than Buu attacked? Didn't you learn your lesson from that? Do you plan on relying on aliens to protect you forever? Goku may be our friend, but the fact that we rely on Vegeta and Piccolo to defend our planet is absurd! We must increase our training so that we might actually make a difference in the battles for our home! Do you remember when we mattered?!!!"
Yamcha sat down, verbally as well as physically defeated. "And when was that?"
"When that bastard, Nappa attacked us. Do you remember our struggle?"
"What, you mean when he killed all of us?"
Krillin raised his hand. "Actually, I lived."
Yamcha threw him a dirty look.
Tien shook his head, having calmed down considerably. "If we hadn't opposed Nappa at that point, Goku would have had no planet to return to. Not even Piccolo could do anything against that monster, yet we all fought as hard as we could. And we had made a difference. Had we tried harder... had we not relied solely on Goku, we could have stopped him."
"But what about Vegeta? The results would have been the same. We needed Goku."
"That may be true, but at least we would have had some pride!"
"Now you sound like Vegeta!"
"I may not like Vegeta, but that is one thing he has right. We have no pride! The Sayian children can overcome us when they transform into Super Sayians!"
Yamcha winced. "Actually, Trunks beat me without going super...."
Krillin gave him a wide eyed look. "Seriously? I thought you let him win!"
Yamcha wordlessly hung his head.
Tien stood up suddenly. "Enough is enough. Yamcha, do you have enough money to last you?"
Yamcha looked up, puzzled by the sudden question. "Well, yeah, I guess I'm okay... why?"
"You will begin training anew. We start in three days. I will keep my ki signature high so you can find me. Meet me at that time. You too, Krillin."
With that, the camping trip was cut short as the three flew off into the air, heading their separate ways to prepare for their new training.
AN- Well, there ya go, sorry it's been a little while. Time is a bastard. And sorry, but I've changed my mind. There will be an adventure for the humans. Sue me, I think it will be cool. We'll see how it goes. I'll update again as soon as possible, and thanks for all the reviews!
Oh yeah, and here are the lyrics for 'angels'
Angel...angel...angel....
Angel...angel..angel...
Buried in time and distant memories,
That's right, we were angels.
From high in the sky, we scattered the seeds of love
We wanted to rid the world of sadness
Say, look at that blue sky
As you stare into it, doesn't your courage swell up inside?
Even now?
To my friends, we may have lost the wings from our backs, but still
Theres some mysterious power that remains with us
To my friends, let's embrace the light and dare to dream
Look! I can see the rainbow in your eyes
Angel...angel...angel....
If you get over the obvious differences in the language, it's really quite nice, and I think it describes the human characters perfectly. Or maybe not. Who knows? The point is, I wrote it here, so that means I'm right. Good day.