A\N: Keeping track of how much time passes all the time is annoying so I won't say things like how many weeks or months it has passed after each challenge all the time, I leave that up to you guys. It's less troublesome that way, should I keep the Dragonball Z tag on the story or should I change it to Dragon Ball Super? Whatever gets more advertisement I suppose.
Partially Co-written by Devilboy101
It was a beautiful day outside, the sounds of nature could be heard, birds singing, the sunlight illuminating the area, truly a perfect day for a picnic. Yamcha enjoyed the landscape from the trees and lake whenever he opened the window from his home, the bond he had here is not like the dessert but way better than the big cities. Right now, however, it wasn't time for training but to prepare something to fill his stomach, and our favorite scar faced-man was going to show off his culinary skills in some easy to eat recipe.
With his handy saucepan in hand, he started by heating a piece of butter until it melted completely, then dropping corn in it and frying it in conjunction with the melted ingredient always used on bread. On the two other burners, there were two sets ready, the first was hot water soft boiling two eggs and the other was the spinach being blanched.
When those steps were done and ready, it was time to mix things up. Bringing chicken stock and dropping garlic, ginger, and scallions, mixing it well, and boiling it over for thirty minutes. After that, he added chicken breast and let it simmer for twenty minutes before removing it from it. Putting that aside for now it was now time to dissolve the miso paste in the now juicy chicken broth.
With the chicken breast out it was then Shredded into little pieces, the smell taking over, now it was time to put everything into harmony. Dividing the noodles first in the bowl the chicken broth was poured over and soon afterward the spinach, corn, and the tasty shredded chicken, chopped scallions, the now shelled boiled eggs, and nori….it was done.
*Noodle Slurping noises*
"Hmm~ Yeah that hits the spot" Yamcha said enjoying his dish "Hey how about after I'm done eating we can start my next challenge? I'm totally getting the hang of this now and ready for more"
Right there on the couch, the guy who was randomly reading the newspaper looks up for a moment "You should rest after eating. Hey! What about my dish? You said I was going to eat one of those things call Pudding"
"Oh c'mon, you can teleport one of those can't you?" Yamcha asked.
"I rather use my energy sparingly even if I do want these planets' food, after all, I don't even know what Pudding is so I can't do it just like that" Melvin said for the lack of knowledge of what pudding was made off or maybe he was just lazy and lied about it instead.
"So what? You wanna put my cooking skills to the test by making you a pudding?"
"No, I'm just really hungry and you're being a bit selfish not giving your best guest some of your sweets" Melvin said looking smug.
With a sigh Yamcha walks towards the fridge and grabs the last pudding giving it to him, his way of acting was so childish sometimes.
"Ok here you go, just try getting up next time" Yamcha said, nonchalantly.
"Arigato!"
Melvin sweeps it from Yamcha's hands and starts to open it up. With the spoon, he takes a full scoop from it letting the springy and wobbly substance of pudding into his mouth. Melvin's eyes sparkle in amazement after it.
"Oh. My. god! This is so fucking delicious, it's like flying in the sky and hitting your face in a cloud made of sugar" He said with a grin.
"Pudding is tasty, can't argue with that, but no need to be so excited over it like that" Yamcha questioned him.
"This dessert should be praised by the gods for its flavor"
'I'm not sure if I underestimated the power of pudding or...he is just messing with me' "Anyway, can we get to the main point?" The martial artist kept going.
"Why the rush? Don't you prefer to play around with that blue cat of yours and train on your own?" Melvin asked him while finishing to eat.
"His name is Puar. And he is doing his own thing right now, besides I have you to guide me now right?"
"And because of your power level right? Any training you know would basically just be to keep the body in shape rather than be all rusty, and those who are not humans are way too powerful for you to have any decent sparring partners without going down in shambles" The white-haired entity said as a matter of fact.
That makes Yamcha grumble in annoyance, remembering how he had no idea what to do for his training in the three years before the arrival of the androids, training with Goku and Piccolo would be too MUCH for the guy,( like a novice playing Dark Souls on hard mode thinking he stood a chance) he even tried going to a normal gym once, what a waste of time.
"I could train without you, but it would be ineffective compared to yours, there is a limit to what can be done all by myself"
"Hmmm...I don't know, I'm feeling a bit lazy today though"
"Why? Are the years catching up to you?" Yamcha grins.
"Watch it! I'm pretty youthful, different from what you might think Hmph!" He pouts.
"Oh really? How young are you then? Do you have any siblings to compare them to?"
"I don't have a reason to tell you that, it's beside the point" Melvin turns around pouting.
"So what should I do now that you are too lazy to move even a fiber of your being today?" Yamcha asked, feeling time being wasted.
"Don't you feel a bit too eager to learn more skills? Take my advice"
"That advice being?" Yamcha raised an eyebrow.
"Don't chew more than you can swallow" He simply said.
"I came this far haven't I? I'm sure this bite won't be too big" Yamcha grins.
"Gosh you are so cocky sometimes, I won't be nice this time you hear me?"
"When were you nice to me?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I could have been really bad? Way worse. Maybe throw you in the cold area of space to face eldritch abominations while having only one hour of oxygen and half your power" Melvin said, giving a sadistic glare at him while smiling.
"Now that I think about it, you aren't as big of a jerk as I thought" Yamcha said, sweating nervously, he couldn't forget what he was able to do.
"But then again the first two tests were just measurements of what set of skills you had. The fact I am granting skills through challenges is already a great deal on its own, but I won't make it predictable, what's the fun in that after all?"
"I suppose nowhere? Well then, can you tell me what you have cooking up this time?" The martial artist still asked.
"Oh your gonna love this one, it may test your smarts"
"Come on, my nerves are made of steel. I've been in situations far worse than this I assure you" Yamcha pointed to himself confidently.
"Did you manage to get out of it alive though? Ufufufu" Melvin teased.
"That's a whole other topic altogether...'' He changed the topic.
"Fine, just close your eyes and everything will go well enough"
"Okay"
And just like all the other times, Yamcha closes his eyes after giving a simple nod, hearing Melvin's staff hitting the floor, as it probably morphs things around and brings him to another location, ready for what would happen.
''Done!"
As usual, the scar-faced man slowly opened his eyes. Right there Yamcha could see his surroundings and what was happening. First of all, his arms were tied in front of him by what could be seen as a white straight jacket...ok that wasn't a good sign. But that was just the start, in the room he was currently in was a metal cage suspended from the ceiling which the man was inside. When standing up confused he looked down only to see a pool of a green liquid that bubbled in what could make anyone think right away that it was acid, or maybe poison.
"...Well I'll admit, I haven't been in a situation like this, since Bulma's attempt at being a bit kinkier in bed" Yamcha deadpanned, a ditch in humor as he slowly got up from the position he was in.
He began to look around the room he found himself in, in an attempt to find a way out of this predicament. Apparently, there was a wire from a small motor up above that led to a lever, perhaps a possible way out of the cage? Though it doesn't help his straightjacket problem.
*Bzzztttttt*
Suddenly static can be heard getting his attention, when turning around Yamcha sees a Tv screen that from there someone is wearing a weird and creepy clown mask.
"Hey there, Wanna play a game?" Melvin spoke.
"What the...is that you dude?" Yamcha was confused.
"Pretty neat huh? This thing looks creepy as shit, now I bet you're wondering what you're supposed to be doing right? Well for starters that liquid down below is a really powerful acid, one little dip here and your meat will dissolve faster than hungry piranhas surrounded by a piece of meat" Melvin said, with a lousy villain laugh.
"Yikes! That reminds me of a movie about aliens I watched once" Yamcha said, a little worried.
"So here's the thing wolf boi, You have exactly two minutes to get off that jacket, then the cage. Afterward, you will have to step on these acid-resistant platforms as you have noticed, once the count goes to zero this whole room will be filled with acid, better step it up" Melvin did a thumbs up.
"Wait! Where do I go after getting out then?"
"Left end of the room there is a door stamped with the word exit, just get there and open it. But be wary, an animal getting off the cage doesn't always mean victory" Melvin said, cryptedly.
"That was a rude thing to say. Well if that's all then it's gonna be piece of cake"
"Did I forget to say that most of your power was locked away for the sake of difficulty so you're basically a normal human being?" Melvin smirked.
"Wait...come again?"
"Enjoy this song while it's at peace!"
*Cues-Saw Theme Song- Hello Zepp*
"AAh! Wait don't go yet I have...damn it" Yamcha grumbled seeing the Tv turn off "HMMNH!" He tries to thrash that thing "Great, now this is just fun…''
The man didn't really pay attention to himself the moment he saw the current place of his stay. But if what Melvin said was true then he needed more than brute strength to get off, an action was needed and fast!
*[2:00]*
"Well, shit…"
And now there was a timer just above like things were not pressuring him enough. Not being new when around tense situations Yamcha had to think of something to escape that predicament...one idea came to him, though he'll admit that it wouldn't be a...orthodox idea, considering the dire need for immediate action...well beggars can't be choosers.
"Better than letting my body melt"
One slow breath later to harden his resolve, Yamcha slammed his right shoulder into the steel bar with all his might, just strong enough to which ended up dislocating from the socket, only to show how much he meant it in the impact. The former bandit had to steel himself up to hold the need to scream in pain, it hurt so much! Fuck! That gave him flashbacks from his broken leg. But he held on for now.
'FUUCKKKK! AH! THIS. IS. SO. STUPID!'
After mentally screaming in agony for a few seconds, the straightjacket finally got loose enough that Yamcha was able to unwind himself from it with a few weird movements due to the dislocation, then proceeded to drop it unceremoniously into the acid bath, melting it instantly.
Breathing hard from the pain of his dislocated shoulder which pain was way more than he thought it was just by slamming himself hard against a cage, boy he truly got into a low tier of power. Now knowing what was about to come next, the fighter knew that it was going to hurt even more putting it back into place.
"Here comes the fun part"
Thus without a beat, besides the sarcasm, Yamcha managed to quickly relocate his shoulder back into the socket, it was somewhat amateurish. It was at this point he let out yells of multiple words that would make hardened sailors blush from the sheer amount of swears being used. Be that a lesson, just because you learned how to somewhat fix a dislocated limb, it doesn't mean it won't hurt like a bitch.
*[1:00]*
Even though he felt discomfort from his previous dislocated shoulder, Yamcha gave a good grip on the cage around him, wedging his feet into the openings made by the cage bars so when he does pull the lever and the unhinged part of the prison is now open it was time for action. Holding his body weight now with only both arms he starts swinging the cage back and forth like a pendulum, swinging his legs and then kicking it to get momentum, making sure to let go only when the chance is on his side.
*THUD* *Sizzle*
The sound of his feet landing on the platform was a relief, the sizzling of the acid when the weight of his body provoked undulations was a warning, it was not over just yet.
*[00:50]*
"Crap, I don't have much time left to spare. I need to get to the other side"
Looking a bit anxious, Yamcha realizes that the path to his destination is covered by dozens of small platforms, each one a meter away. Looks like he would have to do some jumping, in one of the most dangerous pools he has ever seen.
Even with most of his power sealed, Yamcha is still a guy who has trained a lot in his life, having more control over his ki than any other human on the planet besides his friends, he can concentrate enough to start jumping on each other platform without losing balance. Was his heart racing? Well Duh! This is an acid pool, that's some dangerous shit, but when treated like training for his nerves, it would be less trouble. And suddenly he feels something wrong, like a sixth sense that warns of danger after so many battles. Crouching down at the last moment watching over the acid, an arrow then passes over, almost hitting his head.
"What the heck?" He said, not expecting that one part.
Turns out that the possibility of falling into deadly acid was not the only issue, arrows seemed to be shot from time to time in different places from the walls in that room. Left, right, front, back.
"Arrows huh? Well time to dodge some cliches"
Dodging projectiles is not easy, but these were not bullets so even though he was weakened, Yamcha wasn't being a noob around, getting hit by all of them like some figurant unable to do even the simplest sidestep, he was a martial artist after all. Weaving his body through the hail of arrows he maintains any damage away from him.
Ok sure, the balance was important and the probability of falling was scary, but he already died once and had to force himself into deadly situations like the Cell Games last act. But enough about the past, let's focus on the present, mainly avoiding as many arrows as possible to not become a human pin cushion! After a few literal minutes of dodging arrows left and right and behind that trap itself apparently ran out, as the last of the arrows hit the stone wall beside Yamcha.
"Yikes! That was close" The human said seeing how some parts of his gi were cut.
*[00:10]*
Time was not on his side if that man didn't get to the other side right about now and open the door. His next challenge would be how to swim in acid and not die.
'Fuck! Keep calm! Keep calm!'
Yamcha quickly made his way over to the other side, with a few seconds to spare, just as he made it through and opened the door before getting it shut Just as the room from before starts to fill up until it reaches the ceiling.
"Hahhnn..."
After that real close move, Yamchas's back slumps against the door before sitting down. His heart is still racing, for now….he managed to win. The room he was currently in was small and didn't have much space to do much, it was almost like one of those cubicle things for telemarketers.
"Whoa!" Melvin's voice came not taking Yamcha by surprise "I had no idea you would dislocate your shoulder, that was so reckless and desperate"
"Heh...all according to plan" The fighter gave off a weak chuckle.
"Yeah, uh-huh. Totally believing you right now champ" He sighs "So much for an escaping with finesse"
"Hey I escaped all that with my wits and balance, how about some credit?"
"Haaaai! Good boy, strong boy"
Yamcha simply grunted to Melvin's words "So, where to now?"
Melvin didn't answer right away, and a few moments of deliberate silence on his part later, was when he answered "If you would please follow my version of the yellow brick road to your next destination, we, mainly you, find the next room to be a bit intricate" He said before the floor of the room glowed yellow, leading a trail to Yamcha's next destination.
"I'm getting some red flags at how you can control this place at any moment" 'Are we in another place or is this just some other building he poofed?'
When the door on the other side of the cubicle-like room opens up, Yamcha ends up following the glowing and strangely beautiful sculpted road of yellow bricks. Where would it lead him? Probably to a headache, maybe less dislocation this time around.
.
.
.
.
.
Let's just say that he was left speechless one way or the other when opening the door to a new location resembling a basement.
"What the hell?" He asked, curious, and somehow shocked at what he was seeing.
"Hey you made it, boy I sure hope you like mazes. Because this one is sure looking sharp huh?"
Melvin finished speaking his pun, the puzzle in question was in fact a razor-sharp maze composed of wires, It looked fucking diabolical. Countless tightened skeins of razor wire around the fenced area. When looking up, Yamcha saw the ceiling had a bunch of mean-looking spikes attached to it (usually seen on video games like Megaman X3), threatening to suddenly fall on top of him any moment now like some Indiana Jones trap.
"Something tells me you are pretty sadistic" Yamcha said nonchalantly towards his...mentor.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm just trying to help my widdle friend here in using his brain" Melvin said in a childish manner "It's not that hard, all you gotta do is find your way through this maze to the other side which has a hole before the limit of twenty minutes makes the ceiling go down which will end up skewering you"
He facepalms, not believing this "U...Uwah, you sure had to make things more troublesome huh?"
"Cmon, don't tell me you're not getting fired up in going through this with another spotless victory. No dislocation this time alrighty? Hahahaha"
"I'm pretty sure I don't want to dislocate anything while I'm in there, in this state right now I'm quite...cuttable" Yamcha mentally talks himself into going in "Ok! You can do this! You faced down many powerful enemies in your long life! Sure you were put close to death most of the time and you did actually die once...Crap the self pep talk is not working''
"HEY!"
Yamcha snaps out from the sudden shout of annoyance coming from Melvin on the screen, the clown mask making him more creepy.
"One should not get tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come, so stop whining and show me! and yourself, how far you can go while just being a simple human...then again if you bow to me and ask to please let me out I may consider" The beautiful quote ended in teasing.
"You ruined it...you had something cool there and you fucked up. Ugh, fine then! I won't whine about it anymore, just don't try acting like a wise man only to make fun of it later"
The voice of Melvin simply chuckled throughout the hallway, reverberating off of the razor maze, which made an echo so creepy that even Vegeta himself would have shivered in an instinctual fear. Yamcha on the other hand simply deadpanned at the echoing.
"...You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Boy someone is trying a little bit too hard" He shakes his head left and right.
"Enough chit chat and put yourself to work, if you got enough balls for it of course"
*[20:00]*
The timer has shown up signaling that the puzzle had just begun.
"...You didn't say no"
Once again more deadpanned, as Yamcha pointed out Melvin's lack of denial. In the end, though he decided to get his head into the game, and plan on how he'll get through the razor maze of nightmares!
'Crap, how the hell am I gonna get through that hell of razors on steroids?! Think Yamcha, Think...Ok probably best to get rid of key areas of possible snagging on my clothing. Let me see, wristbands, gotta go, my shirt, yeah it'll get in the way, and my boots? Protection of my feet, or flexibility of them? Fuck it, they go too!"
Remaining only with his Gi pants Yamcha watches at the pieces of clothing he had removed. Looking satisfied with this and only wearing his Gi pants, the guy took a look at the razors once more, there was enough space down to crawl under it like one of those classic basic military training scenes in movies where the guy needs to go through the mud.
'My hands are still unprotected though, I got no gloves'
Is it then he looks around at the pieces of clothing, specifically his shirt on the ground, and a lightbulb light up in his head.
*Stretch* *Riiiiip* *Tear*
"Now this can work, it's a waste but definitely a must''
The Wolf Fang Fist user said, his hands covered with the cloth from his shirt he had torn apart, that way he could push the wires aside a little if it got in the way. Slow and steady, was Yamcha's main plan to get through this, he had to be careful about it, cause one wrong move and he's dead! Mainly being wrapped around by razors...yeah he really wants to avoid that outcome at all cost!
Minutes steadily went by, as the former bandit made pace as he was careful about not looking at the clock, as he didn't want to panic and cause himself to rush his work due to the time.
'This reminds me of my first time training with Master Roshi, running from dinosaurs and plowing fields with my hands. Now that I think about it, all that training was purely physical and unorthodoxical, the old man could have at least tried teaching some of his tricks'
While Yamcha knew that the situation could only be accomplished if he did it so with patience, trying to look for the right path in that messy wire of a maze and without raising your head too much so it doesn't get stuck, pushing aside any problem slightly with no much violence even if his hands were covered. It started to make him wonder, was this all he could do?
'I can't just pretend this is gonna work without fail, there has to be a faster or at least option to take my chances to go up' He thought while crouched down.
According to what information he had gathered so far according to Melvin, his power had suffered a decrease in the scale that surprised him quite a lot from the previous puzzle. But that didn't mean his experience and knowledge were lost in the process, Yamcha was a fighter but also knew how to use his head and be crafty. For example, there were many labels to what ki was, such as Latent energy or fighting power, but the best definition for it was definitely...Lifeforce. Tangible energy that was inside every living being, right in the center of the body, able to be used with so much versatility when controlled well enough.
Yamcha breathes in and out slowly "Ok…"
Maybe if he could concentrate hard enough there was a chance of getting something out of this, however, it would not be easy. Yamcha wasn't just weakened from the power he had, it almost felt like new rules were set now, the former bandit tried gathering as much ki as his current pool of life force could muster, veins were pulsing at the side of his forehead with sheer effort.
"Guh...Hmmm!"
Particles of what could be only described as his latent energy in yellow color, slowly gathering around his index finger, the density increasing it through the man's concentration. It took effort and patience, more than what he felt comfortable with, a headache founding its way and sweat starting to drop from the face.
Until...it was done. A hardened piece of his Ki had materialized, encasing the index finger like an elongated energy claw.
"Phew! Made it...but, all this work and that was it? By Kami making this gave me a migraine worse than any hangover"
Putting aside the strain that was put in only amounting to that much, It had turned into an advantage. All this time he has been crawling around this death trap with patience and caution, putting aside the sharp razor with the clothed hands, but if Yamcha gets too relaxed…Time would fly by in an instant and it would be pretty bad, the sound coming from above was like gears moving, the ceiling was coming down whenever that happened. The heat and energy behind the feat of ki the former bandit did were not AMAZING by the average standard of Ki control but it was useful.
Even though he started to act with his plan, the scar-faced man kept his cool to not cut\pierce himself in that tangle of wires, with his now energized finger Yamcha begins to cut as many wires as possible in front of him to increase the chance of reaching until the end where the exit was.
"Almost there, just a little more and-"
*TWITCH*
"Guh!"
Stopping in his tracks Yamcha seems to be feeling pain from something, blood starts dripping from the nose and onto the floor in droplets.
"C-Crap...It's like my head is filled with pinpricks!" He gritted his teeth.
"Now, be careful why Dontcha? Do you know what happens when someone who knows how to deal with ki but doesn't have much of it to spare and does something like your little trick? One word...Strain." The words of Melvin echoed through the room.
'I see...I'm straining my ki reserves which are too small right now, for something like this construct...damn. I can't stop now, if this pain would be enough to stop me it would be shameful after the shit I went through'
The more you worry about the time the less the clock will look like it's moving, the urge to look at the timer to see how long he had left was tempting, looking above the ceiling was tempting but just like the razor wire around him...that choice was dangerous. His brain would race, the heart would thump. Were his nerves so steeled that he would be ok with a high chance of death even though he was in a weakened state?
"Fuck this"
Who cares about the time or this pain? All he needs to do is endure it and make his way to the other side, doubt is irrelevant. Blowing his nose, making some of the blood comes out, and now sniffing the air somewhat better, Yamcha kept going like an explorer with a machete in a jungle of thick foliage. His head could feel like it was being roamed by bees giving a horrible migraine because of the strain, but this was just it. He accepted this challenge, he could go back, do or die, simple as that, not being able to do it means death and who knows if he would come back this time? This place doesn't even seem to be from earth, would Melvin even tell his friends if he did die.
Yamcha shook that line of thought out of his head, wishing to not think of his imminent demise because he knows he must win this or die trying. So powering through pain, Yamcha made his way through the maze and eventually made it through to the other side. Undoing his ki and exhaling the breath he didn't know he was holding, Yamcha began to look over himself, his pants were torn to shreds and his entire body was covered from head to toe with shallow cuts, but he'll live.
"Hey! What do you know? You played smart, maybe not all martial artists are just muscleheads eh?" Melvin asked with a grin and with..."
*[04:00]*
"Yep looks like you won't be a skewer on the ceiling just yet"
The former bandit was still resting on the floor, but after spitting out some blood from his nose he said.
"And I thought the razor moving pipes from that one challenge was bad, at least I had my power" He said, feeling not only tired but annoyed.
"Aren't you proud? You just demonstrated that resourcefulness is present within that head"
"C'mon man, who do you think I am? It's not like I'm an idiot, punching things is not always the answer to everything" Yamcha said, getting right back up.
"Yeah...but it sure is fun right? Alright buddy, let's wrap this up with one final puzzle. Just get that door and if you hurry it will be dealt with before dinner time" Melvin said sounding tired.
"Yeah sure, what can be worse than a razor maze or a cage suspended by acid?"
The door to the next room was nothing exceptional, just a steel reinforced door that seemed like it came from a prison of max security, it had a circular doorknob. Not beating around the bush, Yamcha grabs and turns it around, getting inside and soon being greeted by a pit of darkness as far as the eye can see. Before the right and left side of the walls are lightened up by torches, the orange fire illuminating the area in a D&D vibe to it.
"Welcome traveler! I bet you're just dying for another challenge because that was not enough for you huh? So guess what! Better pay attention to your surroundings, my friend. Because this is when big brain time will be more than you think" Melvin said, putting in the drama.
"Oh yeah, really friendly around here, and what are you gonna do this time? Fill the room with poison gas and ask me to inhale it to see how long it takes to kill me?" Yamcha shouts back defiantly.
"Easy there tiger, you don't need to be so hostile, I didn't force you to do it remember? Now Listen up if you want to get out of this in one piece"
With an audible *Ahem* coming from the television on the wall before a clap of hands can be heard.
*Clap* *Clap*
Far away from where he was standing Yamcha sees something light up in different colors up ahead.
"Right here we have what you could see as...a multi-colored puzzle floor that extends exactly one hundred meters. Now, this is not gonna be like the other challenges, this one? Is gonna test that brain of yours more than ever"
"What do you mean by that exactly?"
"Each color has a different effect. First of all, red tiles are hot, step on them and it will feel like hot embers under the sole of your feet! Yellow tiles are meant to push you back one tile back, the green tile will sound an alarm which, guess what? Will call a certain 'guard' to come and say hi to our guest"
"I'm not even gonna ask what that means, It's not like your answer anyway...But what do the other colors do anyway?"
"If you don't want to die, then you should step on an orange tile to mascarade your presence, staying completely still also helps. Stepping on a purple tile will inadvertently make you skip something you don't want to, like the last time decision that backfired because of your impatience to wait for just one more episode of your favorite anime and just jump to another" Melvin said dramatically.
"Hey wait a moment-"
"Blue tiles will force you to stay put for ten seconds before being able to move again. Like gum stuck to your hair, it's horrible. And...Oh yeah pink tiles are free from any effect, that be a bone I throw for you"
"H-Hmm" Yamcha rubs his head trying to keep in mind.
"There will be times when the tiles will show up with numbers, a total of four seconds before they disappear, and when that happens no matter what color the tile is, all that matters is that you need to step on that so it can automatically be part of the password of four digits to open the door for your freedom"
After the explanation had ended the tiles had started to get randomized before settling on a pattern. Once again this was a challenge that needed to be quick yet patient, the timing was everything but there was also a limit of time besides remembering the effect of each color. Now prepared to face this challenge which needed timing and precision the guy got in position before...Jumping as far as possible and with some mighty luck he ends up landing on a pink tile.
"Tch!"
"You...Did you just click your tongue?" Yamcha asked, a tick mark showing on his temple.
"What? Nonsense, I'm more than happy to see you're getting the hang of it. Quite healthy on the legs after what you went through. However, Tik Tok my friend, you have twenty minutes to get out of this conundrum. Think of it as one of those surprise tests your math teacher loves to give in high school and this time? I ain't giving a timer"
"Well now this is just great, wonder how many types of pain and annoyance this will bring me" He said, in a sarcastic tone.
"Pain is just a chemical reaction in your brain, pfft! Who I am kidding? You're bound to be more toasted than a T-bone on the grill"
Without missing a beat, Yamcha kindly flips the bird to Melvin's annoying voice for his ill attempt at humor. A quick, "Hey!" from Melvin wasn't able to deter Yamcha from quickly forming a plan to beat this puzzle.
'OKAY YAMCHA! Time to get your head in the game, so from the looks of it the next pink tile is a bit too far for me to jump, but soon ahead there's an orange tile over yonder, so that could be a good place to go, just gotta watch out for the rest, especially red and green!'
For a martial arts artist, jumping from tile to tile is not very difficult, mostly because most of them do not have a great distance between them. But this is not the only thing that will get in his way. Because as soon as he took enough distance to take a leap.
*HOOOOOONKKK!*
The horn of a truck is played, loudly.
"What the!"
That takes away some of Yamcha's concentration making him step on the wrong tile. Left food on the red and right foot on blue. Almost right away he started to feel the bare skin of his feet against the heat, almost like Yamcha suddenly stuck his limb on a bowl of boiling water.
"OW!" He let out a yelp of pain. One of his limbs was stuck on the other tile which made him try to balance on one leg until it was able to move again.
"Someone is not focused if a simple honk like that can take your attention span away"
"Hey! That's cheating, you didn't tell me about any distractions"
"Did you seriously thought this was just gonna be about you skipping around? I'm just testing a few tricks on my side to pass the time, feel free to ignore it" Melvin said dismissively.
Yamcha didn't like how this was coming along, so far Melvin seemingly kept finding ways to explain the rules about something but adding more options later on, just to throw him off. Clearly, he wanted him to lose the amount of patience left after all that struggle, the acid, the dislocated shoulder, all those wires. And now that this was probably coming to an end, it all could pretty much end in nothing with one false step.
"As you wish" Yamcha said with a serious tone of voice before he could move his feet from the blue tile.
Flipping the switch on the martial artist brothers in and out before taking a hardened face taking this shit seriously. Carefully jumping over the tiles that were less troublesome when going for a pink one was impossible. He was actually doing a really good job in preventing himself from doing any pointless action, almost like Yamcha had found the Zone of the moment and throwing away unnecessary thoughts. The first number had shown up and it was a number four right in a yellow tile which pushed him back to a blue tile.
There was no point in getting to the end of the tiles challenge without the password so he was forced to keep himself there until the numbers were all caught. Besides the annoying fiery red tiles that he made sure to prevent stepping and the blue ones who forced him to get. The colors, however, did not remain the same forever. In case he got used to it, this was supposed to make it so it didn't end on an easy form. But...only later things started to get complicated because the second number which was a three is on the one tile he tried to never press...a green one
'Is this serious?' A vein pop on his head 'He is basically telling me to step on it so things can be more interesting'
Angry at Melvin's childish tricks but remembering the little time left before it disappeared. Yamcha has no other choice but to suck it up and step on it anyway to get the number and brace himself for whatever may happen.
*Bell ringing sounds*
"Hmm?"
When the sound was heard Yamcha turn around to see where it was coming from. He didn't really expect what was going to happen though from the other side of the room.
"Wait for it..." Melvin teased.
The door instead of being opened was suddenly torn off from the hinges with animalistic strength. From out of the hole came something...a vaguely bipedal creature in a hunched position, its body resembled that of an insect's exoskeletons or carapace, the skin seemed to have multiple shades of black, the skull was elongated and cylindrical with no visible facial features other than its sharp-looking mouth, possessing a segmented blade-tipped tail and it looks hungry.
"What...the fuck?"
Yamcha may be a little bit cowardly when really strong opponents show up, anyone would be caught off guard against someone a hundred times stronger than you. But in this case? Its appearance just made him feel like someone gave a parasite legs to walk and arms to grab.
...The alien has arrived.
"Oh look who came to play" Melvin said happily.
"The hell is that thing?" Yamcha asked in shock.
*Screeches with Malicious intent*
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
The martial artist started running without asking any more questions, looking for the orange tile before that thing who just! Started the chase on four like the beast it was. But for some reason, all the tiles minus one have turned pink and the orange one was at the end of the hall.
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY! God Damn it, Melvin!"
The black skeletal creature that seemed to resemble Third form Frieza (not that he knows) started to run at great speeds, Yamcha wasn't certain he was strong enough in his nerfed state to face something like that. By sheer luck the human managed to step on the orange tile at the end of the track, when turning around breathing heavily he saw it.
When standing up on its two legs, its height was approximately 8 feet, now looking closely at it like this...it was just so much uglier! It looked at him like Yamcha had disappeared or hidden from nowhere, when it suddenly opened its maw a weird alien-like tipped tongue came out of it, boy it was disgusting. It's like a mouth within a mouth, that also has a set of jaws, that ain't no tongue, it's a weapon.
'Ugh! I think I'm gonna throw up' Yamcha is turning green.
Then after a few awkward seconds of turning in the face of this thing from another world, it just lost interest and went away, going through the small hole it came from and disappearing.
He breathes in relief that it went away "Ahn...that was close"
"Damn boy, did you see the size of that thing? Boy, it was so ugly I bet it smelled like a cockroach or something hahaha" Melvin laughed.
Yamcha's eyes start to twitch and veins pop on his forehead about to snap "Why you!"
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*A few minutes later of Tile jumping and curse words later*
"That was really inelegant, saying words like that...yish! Go clean your mouth with soap"
"I said I accepted the challenge. Not that I was never allowed free speech" Yamcha shrugged.
"Whatever, I got too lazy to make this any more interesting before you wise up and found your way out.
The password of 4231 was set in the exit before it was automatically opened up. A blue magical-like vortex swirls around it like a small typhoon, ready for anything that may enter, Yamcha stares at Melvin like this could be another trick.
"Don't look at me like that, just get inside you paranoid wolf"
Still feeling suspicious of all this, Yamhcha does get inside not having any other way out besides it. Once inside he feels how the energy surrounds him and a warm feeling starts seeping into his body, taking away the pain, bruises, and burn marks, healing up if you prefer. Closing his eyes Yamcha just let the feeling take over him until everything started to shine brightly before...it stopped.
"Hmm?"
Opening his eyes, the former bandit looks around to see that he was just outside his cottage, feeling rejuvenated... Melvin shows up right in front of him in a magic *Poof* and sighs.
"There, happy now? Your body is healed and so is your power"
Yamcha moves his arms and jumps around for a moment "Oh...Nice! I feel so much better now, it felt weird feeling too vulnerable to simple things"
"You don't say…" Melvin rolls his eyes.
"So, do I get anything from you having fun at my expenses?"
Melvin looks at Yamcha with a neutral look, hiding his arm behind his back...he then shows up a weird-looking cap that seemed to be a breed between tech and a child's toy; It was green colored with yellow details around the sides and on the top was a lightbulb.
"Uh...What is that?" Yamcha asked confused.
"It's the Thinking Cap" Melvin said as a matter of fact.
"The thinking cap? Looks like a toy to me and a ridiculous one at that"
"Don't judge something by appearances my friend. For starters, everyone needs to study hard or pay attention plus concentrate to learn new things right? That's the same as fighting, sometimes you just don't know what to do...but! By wearing this cap allowing a new world of possibilities to flow through your brain, increasing the chances of learning and teaching with so much more ease" Melvin said, acting like a salesman.
"Wait, so you're telling me that this thing will make me smarter and perceive things differently that I was not able to before?" Yamcha's curiosity was now peaked.
"Yes...although you should only use it for two hours per day, prolonged use of it can end up burning your scalp and who knows what, the brain can only take so much. There was also that one thing about red aspiration...but I took that inconvenience out"
"Yikes…"
The former bandit looked at the cap and thought for a moment, maybe if he used that thing it could help him in finding new ways to get stronger. Most things tend to be hidden in plain sight and even though he is not stupid or anything if that silly hat could do that it was worth the embarrassment.
"I'm sure as heck don't want to get out of this empty-handed" Yamcha said, taking the cap.
"I better go now. There a few things I need to take care of, good luck bro"
Melvin started to fly away but then stopped suddenly, turning around he looked at Yamcha and started talking.
"Remember, it doesn't matter how weak you start; if you train, persevere, and never lose faith in yourself, you can rise up to any challenge life tosses you. You just have to be willing to earn it.
And just like that, he was gone once more, doing whatever he does in his free time. Leaving the scar-faced man to think by himself.
*Reviews*
(Guest) What about a heat resistance trial? Yamaha could use his sword and slice apart the superheated rocks from a volcanic eruption. It can be any volcano, from different dimensions or even different planets with volcanoes much larger than earth. Maybe even test his Hamon breathing while he's surrounded by ash.
FanficThinker: Do you want him to go to a planet where everything is magma or just a few volcanoes in the area on an island? Gotta be more detailed on what you want but yeah I can imagine heat or cold-like resistance trials. But what would his reward be by facing such heat?
(oscuro oscuro) Tu historia es muy buena es raro encontrar escritores de fanfiction de dragon ball z que quieran devolver el protagonismo a los humanos y podrías hacer que yamcha entrene en diferentes planetas con características atmosféricas y ambientales distintas
FanficThinker: Gracias, hombre, siempre pensé que apartaban a los humanos sin siquiera darles la oportunidad de ser más fuertes. Como aprender kaioken onr y desatar su potencial, solo se preocuparon por los saiyans y más transformaciones en lugar de aprender nuevas habilidades o estilos de lucha. Diferentes planetas con diferentes características dices? Ok, entonces qué tal si me dices más de lo que tienes en mente?
A\N: Hey guys, check out my profile for the poll of anime Power-ups! The one with the most votes will be chosen as a reward for a challenge. It can be the next chapter or not but since there are so many good ones out there to empower a character I leave it to votes!
The Thinking Cap is an aspiration reward from the game The Sims 2 Deluxe (my first Sims game in life). I went back to see some of the cool stuff they had there and decided hey! This cap can be useful. It doesn't really have a time limit but I decided to give it one instead of the whole hey your aspiration can't be red or else it will fail.