I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 48: The Long Wait
I didn't completely obey Zeratul's orders to rest up. I worked on the Stasis technique a few more times in my own room, opting to just form the six to seven foot block off ice around a table or a chair. It worked quite well, except for when I decided to slice it apart with my sword. Rather it be a table, chair or lamp, the object didn't survive taking the ice off it. I merely shrugged at this; it wasn't risking harm to anyone after all. After a few hours of this practice, I got it down to the point where I could freeze the object in just a few seconds. I took note this would be very handy to use on an opponent that moves fast, but there was no way I could do it if they stayed too far away. The feedback move would be better overall, but that involved hitting them with it while they may be on the run. Either way, they were both good techniques, but they had their flaws just like any others. Something else I noticed was that the small amount of Psi that required the Stasis Field had returned to me after I broke it up and melted it with my sword. I hadn't sensed that the first few times because it had been done with my sword, like energy absorption. After letting ice chunks sit for a while, they would eventually melt off into a low energy wave that flowed back to me quickly. It wasn't enough to really make a big difference in the amount of energy I would normal use, but it was good to know.
After another generous night of sleep and a meal in the morning, I waited in a slightly nicer cargo bay that the Norad Three possessed. Zeratul eventually walked in while I meditated, not saying anything as I had come to expect. After only two or three minutes, he broke his silence.
"Your training with me is complete, I have nothing further to teach you," he said calmly. I let an eyebrow go up in response; it wasn't the start of the lecture I had come to expect.
"I thought you said we were going to work on something that I would be more familiar with today?" I asked carefully.
"You are going to work on things you are familiar with, I am not. Your training from now until we arrive is completely on your own, save for a few compliments or suggestions from an old man," he said with a kind smile that I could barely detect.
"Isn't there anything you can teach me with proper energy control, like when I'm using the mixed energy power?" I asked.
"Nothing that you don't already know. What I have taught you was how Psi energy is best used. While my people know how to channel both energies as one, we are certainly not trained masters at channeling such energy. We generally refrain from using it at all, aside from our weapons of course. The best advice I can give you regarding that ability is to follow your heart and stay focused on your intent. Do what you believe is right and make sure to be prepared for any possible outcome that could be threatening," he said, standing up.
"So does that mean I can train with the others now?" I asked.
"Train as you like as long as you don't damage the ship. I do ask one thing when we get to Auir, to come with me to an abandoned portion of the planet. There we will find an ancient Dark Templar temple that is dedicated to our history and deepest beliefs. It is there where we will find the sole remaining contact with our Templar brethren, Raszagal. She is the protector of our history, and matriarch to our people. To this day no one has discovered her true position thanks to much effort of concealment. I fear for her safety with not only the Zerg but also Aldaris as well. Now that Aldaris knows of our existence, there is a chance he may seek out her temple, which is covered by the guise of being abandoned. Hopefully things will not transpire in this way, but there is an ancient legend at the temple that I wish to look into. It regards you and your special powers, is this all right with you?" he asked.
"Yeah I suppose we could do that, but what would a Protoss legend have about me?" I asked.
"It's not just a Protoss legend, its also tied in with the Zerg as well. I believe it to be a legend of our ancestors the Xel'Naga, only time will tell. Now then, I believe your friends will be in here shortly, you will probably not see me again until we reach Auir," he said.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"I will be training my apprentice, Tassadar. I'm afraid he is not as quick as you are when it comes to learning techniques," Zeratul chuckled slightly as he left the cargo bay.
"Hey one last thing?" I asked before the doors closed.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Can my Psi techniques be used in my higher form as a stronger attack or what not? I know the invisibility won't, but what about the other stuff?" I said. Zeratul shrugged slightly, a gesture that didn't really fit him.
"Some of them can, some of them can't, and its something you will have to figure out for yourself. They will probably be most effective as they are now, but trail and error can be a great teacher," he said, leaving me with a bit more confusion. I was determined to know, vowing that I would train to discover that later.
-
A few hours went by before Vegeta walked in, long after I had expected him. I spent most of that time in meditation, however this time I worked on energy balancing between ki and Psi. It was beyond easy now, as if I had been training like that the entire time. The better knowledge of Psi energy and its better uses had proved wonders when mixing the two energies together around me. I was concentrating direct energy streams from both hands into a violent green ball above my head when the Saiyan prince came in. Streaks of lightning had been coming from my hands at the time, which startled him just a bit. I saw his surprised look and reabsorbed the energy in a calmer state.
"I've got to hand it to you boy, I never thought you would be this talented a year and a half ago," he said with crossed arms.
"Would that be when you were beating me senseless so easily?" I asked with a small grin.
"I can still beat you senseless, it just requires more a little more effort now," he said, dropping his arms now.
My eyebrow went up, "Is that a challenge, old man?"
"Unless you want to be beaten senseless again, I suggest you stand up," he said smugly. I studied the stance that he slid into as he began to power up a bit. His hair streaked into the golden hues of first level Super Saiyan, but stopped there for obvious reasons.
"No need," I said, closing my eyes again.
"Don't be getting arrogant boy, its time to train for real!" he shouted now, rushing at me. I focused intently now, putting up an energy shield made of Psi around me, particularly in front. His punch bounced right off as expected, surprising him quite a bit to say the least. He snarled and attacked again, hitting only the blue shield that had shimmered around me as I focused on keeping it intact.
"Argh, didn't I teach you that the aggressor wins the battle almost all of the time? Hiding behind a shield is no mark of a warrior!" he taunted.
"Aggression is the way a lot of battles are won, but if I can anticipate what you're going to do, the best thing to do is to evade or block the attack with the least amount of energy and effort. Then strike at the enemy's weakest points when they are left undefended. You and Piccolo drilled that into my head!" I reasoned.
He stared at me, impressed almost, "I can see that this short amount of time with that old fart has had an effect, you're fighting smarter now!"
I shrugged slightly, "I'm still kind of new at it, wanna see another one?"
"Bring it on boy!" he said with a challenging tone. I released my tight hold on the shield and focused it to the right of Vegeta, circling in a small pattern until I had the right location. I had noticed a rare empty cargo container earlier, and chose to levitate it over to about five feet away from Vegeta. Then I focused on the air around it. The room turned cold quickly as a chilly wind blew from my energy output.
"What the devil are you doing boy?" he asked, a shivering tone in his voice as he powered up his aura to keep warmer.
"Showing you what I was taught yesterday, but it's too dangerous to use directly on you. Well, I can use it on you, but if you don't power out of it, it may take awhile to wear off," I said as I focused the energy into a solid layer of Psionic ice. He stayed silent while I formed the large chunk of ice, polishing it so he could see the empty container I had picked out for the demonstration.
"I'd ask how you did that, but nothing you do is short of amazing anymore," he said carefully. I stood up and walked over to the brick of ice that had a few thick shards poking out at the top.
"Yeah, this is a cool technique, but I'm only saving it for strong enemies," I said, rapping on the side of it.
"Why is that, you should train with this if it is not easy to break out of. As I recall Zeratul used it on Broly, who only managed to overpower it, yours would be much more effective," Vegeta said, firing a small ki beam at it. After showing very little sign of wear against the energy beam, he gasped just a bit.
"Because it's not easy to break out of it, nor is it easy to break it myself. I haven't tried any huge attacks on it obviously, but according to Zeratul only pure Psi energy can easily break through it from the outside, and I found that to be true. My feedback ability went right through it with no problem, though I'm sure it would give the enemy contained fits of its own. That and the victim will go into a frozen state if they can't get out themselves. The only way I've been able to break it apart is to cut it open with my sword," I explained.
"And, what is the downside to this boy?" he asked with impatience.
"I can't use it on just anyone during training, it would have to be someone pure hearted, my sword won't affect them. I found this out the hard way when Zeratul had me do it to him, it was a lesson in how I should be controlling my thoughts and emotions to a more positive state. Luckily he isn't lacking in that quality. I think my evil self only powered up to get out of it, but I don't remember," I explained again.
Vegeta shrugged slightly, "Seems like a waste of time to me, but your more pacifistic attitude has never impressed me anyway. Now are we going to show off your new tricks, or are you going to spar with me the real way?" he asked with an intense tone. I smiled myself, I hadn't done that in awhile anyway. I powered up to the maximum in Mystic form, my aura emitting a bit of lightning as I carefully contained it so we wouldn't rock the ship.
"No tricks, no energy attacks, just pure strength and agility. No Psi attacks either!" he said, stating the rules.
"Okay, doesn't bother me!" I said, lowering into a stance.
"Then why aren't you putting that energy away so you don't use it?" he asked.
"Huh?" I replied.
"Your eyes are still blue, so I can tell your still using it, or are capable of using it anyway!"
"Oh that, haven't you noticed that I haven't been powered up and my eyes are staying blue anyway? And it's very easy to bring it out now, like regular ki energy now. I don't even need ki to keep it flowing anymore! I'll suppress it if it makes you feel better, but I doubt you'll be able to tell," I said with a sly grin.
"Really? Good, you're much further along then Kakarot's brat! Keep up the good work boy!" Vegeta said with sudden pride. I looked at him funny before releasing a sigh of breath, Oh well, Vegeta will always be Vegeta! I dropped down into my own stance, grinning ear to ear as we jumped at each other.
-
Vegeta and I exited the cargo hold together, barely bruised except for a few tears in our clothing. Vegeta was the one who came away impressed, even though all we did was spar.
"Boy, I am quite impressed at how far you've come! You anticipated every pattern I used on you easily, despite not training like a Saiyan for so long. The old man had to have showed you something!" Vegeta claimed.
"No he didn't, it was just easy to see through your attacks, that's all. It's not like you tried everything anyway!" I replied with my eyes closed. In truth I wasn't sure how I matched up with him so well. Since he was fighting at Super Saiyan, our power levels were pretty close, though I was higher by a noticeable amount. His size and pure strength more than made up for that, so I figured I was going to be beaten anyway. I still tried, but I mostly focused on evading his attacks and waiting for an opening. In actuality, I found more openings in his attack patterns than he seemed to know about, making me think he was going easy on me. Wait a sec, he doesn't go easy on anyone.
"You're sure that you weren't sandbagging right?" I asked carefully.
"When have you ever known me to do that?" he growled back. I stared at my hands, but then hit realization very quickly. All that mind training and meditation I had done lately was paying off. Not just sharpening my skills and agility, but allowing me to see things about another's movement that I hadn't seen before. Any sudden flinch in a muscle area that pre-determined an attack was what I picked up before the actual attack came, therefore I could prevent taking the blow. Also it was the ways that he was angled, giving him only a few options on how to attack, and I could see them coming well before they happened. I had been able to do that before, but not at such a fast level. My senses were easily three times as advanced as they once were. All that training I had done with my spiritual vision ability had allowed me to keep up with higher speeds, thus allowing for a much faster reaction. It wasn't just my energy, not anymore.
"Don't look so surprised boy, after all you are very powerful when compared to others. It's hard to imagine that one could be this strong at your age, even when I myself strived for a power that has since been proven mediocre," Vegeta said without turning around. I quickly followed him through the halls, knowing he was heading for the mess hall.
-
The next few days were generous as I sparred with the other Saiyans, very light training despite our objective. Vegeta had requested a few times that we stop by a barren planet, but there were none with breathable air between Char and Auir. Air wasn't a problem for me, but it was for the others. Environmental suits were an idea to this, but knowing us they would get torn up easily. It was fun to spar lightly in the cargo holds with my friends after all that had happened lately, good times had been rare as of late. While the days were kind to me, the nights were something out of hell. I began to constantly dream about friends and loved ones getting killed, especially Fasha. As result I woke up in cold sweats every few hours, scared out of my mind when it came to those I had not lost. I didn't tell anyone about this, but Vegeta had been keeping a close eye on me ever since Zeratul let me off the hook. It only took six days for him to notice my sudden depression. It was the same day that I mentioned cutting my hair a bit.
"How long have you been having nightmares boy?" he asked sharply out of the blue. I was amazed that he knew about them, I didn't think my behavior had given that away.
"About a week, how'd you know?" I asked.
Bardock answered for him, "A Saiyan that suddenly wants to cut his own hair is often entering the early stages of mourning and deep depression, a broken bond or loss of pride are the primary causes of this!" I stared at the ground, They got that right I'd say.
"You're going to get deeper into it before long. The number one thing you must do is focus yourself to your training, or anything else that keeps you from thinking about it. If you must, don't sleep, because that will likely comprise your dreams until we wish back the girl! A reminder, you did not kill her! The Overmind is responsible for her death!" Vegeta said sharply. I nodded, choking back a few tears.
"I want to be alone for a little bit today, is that alright?" I asked.
"That is fine, but keep this in mind: you kill yourself and the gods won't be able to save you from me!" Vegeta snarled.
I glanced up at him, "Why would I do that?"
"You already tried once back on Char, remember?" he retorted. Good point.
"Don't worry, I'm not that stupid," I said as I wondered out of the mess hall. When I did get back to the room, I did what I had intended to do. Using my sword, I cut my long hair to about two thirds of its length, just a trim job, but noticeable as it stood up straighter. Then I tried to meditate and think of other things rather than Fasha and the others. It was much harder than I thought it would be. I hope we get there soon, I can't stand being without her.
Power levels:
Verto: 300,000,000
Vegeta (SS1): 240,000,000