My Life's Stranger Than Yours
Chaos Continues; Never Ending Hardships
In the quiet hours of the morning, a lone figured crept up a flight of stairs, bathed under the shadows of dawn. Upon reaching the top, the figure opened the door with a creak and slowly approached a slumbering figure on the floor.
Said slumbering figure was a young red-haired girl garbed in shorts and a tank-top, sprawled across a disheveled futon. A small glimmer shone in the shadowy figure's eyes as it raised a hand and reached down at the slumbering girl, aiming right for her loose bosom. Before they could touch her however, she rolled away narrowly avoiding the grope attempt.
The shadow's glimmer faded, though not completely as his gaze shifted to her lower half. Once again, they attempted to place their hands on her thighs, and once again she rolled. This time however, she rolled towards her assailant and her fist collided with their face.
Grasping their head, they shook off the impact before once again attempting to grab at the unconscious redhead. This time, they missed as she tossed and turned in her sleep and wound up kneeing the shadow in the chin.
'This boy's instincts are better than I thought,' the figure inwardly mused. Biding their time, the figure awaited for the young girl to settle down Once it seemed she was sleeping peacefully once more, the assailant made one final attempt at his prize. With as much caution as they could muster, the figure slowly crept back to the redhead, though the moment he raised his hands, they were met with a surprise uppercut that launched them through the roof of the house.
The loud sound coupled with the sudden burst of cool air was enough to shock the girl into semi-consciousness. "Whazzat?"
"Hey Ranma…what are you doing in there?" called a male voice.
"Huh…nothin'…think I just…hit somein in my shleep…" She hazily replied. Snuggling back up in her futon and fell back asleep.
Meanwhile, just outside, the elderly assailant laid defeated in a pile of sand. "Yep…definitely better instincts than I expected…."
[Elsewhere]
Morning rose on the ravaged mountain village and many of the patrons were already up bright and early hard at work in repairing their destroyed homes. Not much later, they'd be joined by their two young visitors who'd stayed with Launch in her capsule house.
"Morning," Videl and Akane greeted each other.
"Morning girls."
The pair turned to find Launch, surprisingly still in her docile mode, handing out food to the villagers. "Breakfast?" Not even giving them a chance to respond, Launch tossed two capsules at them and they instantly erupted into a couple bowls of rice and eggs.
"Thank you!" they said in unison.
As the girls ate, they were soon approached by Chiaoutzu. "Morning ladies!"
"Morning Chiaoutzu. Where's Tien?" asked Akane.
"He sent me to tell you that your girls' training session is going to be a little late today," Chiaoutzu explained.
"How come?" asked Videl.
"We're already low on supplies and Tien wants to make sure everyone has what they need to keep rebuilding before he can focus on training."
"What? How are we out of supplies already?" Videl exclaimed.
Chiaoutzu's face grew a light shade of red. "Let's just say, a couple of the capsules Trunks gave us last night were…the wrong ones."
"Okay, fair enough."
"But wait, if it wasn't construction stuff, what was in those wrong capsules?" asked Akane.
Chiaoutzu floated over to the girls, his face an even darker shade of red and whispered, "I don't think you want to know."
Launch tried her darndest to stifle a laugh as she recalled the events of last night.
[Late last night]
After the girls and some villagers had turned in for the night, Tien and a few more decided to keep working. When they began running low on supplies, Tien popped open another Capsule. Instead of a surplus of expected construction tools however, Tien and the villagers were showered by a multitude of salacious magazines. Though many of the accompanying villagers didn't seem to mind the mishap, Tien quickly confiscated all of them and re-capsulized them. Borrowing Launch's phone, he had a rather heated chat with Bulma who in turn redirected her own heat to her father.
Given the time of night however, Bulma agreed to send Trunks back with the proper equipment first thing in the morning. That should've been the end of that, but because fate enjoys sick jokes, a blonde Launch had to stumble upon Tien with the incriminating capsule in hand. She hadn't been around to see it's initial explosion so naturally she was curious about its contents. When Tien had denied her that info, she, expectedly became testy, trying (and failing) to wrestle it out of Tien's hands.
Her opportunity arrived when she noticed him waver at their close proximity. Striking the hot iron, she pressed her chest into him and as he instinctively made some distance between them, she was able to swipe the capsule while he was briefly distracted.
Letting out a triumphant "Ha!" Launch popped the capsule open and was virtually buried in a lake of perverse books. Tien could only let out a sheepish chuckle as Launch turned to him with her gun cocked.
"You wanna explain this now or wait till I run outta ammo!"
"Launch, you know me, you know those aren't mine! They were in the capsules that Trunks-!"
Tien's explanation fell on deaf ears as a barrage of gunfire struck the three-eyed fighter. Thankfully he was tough enough to not die, but getting shot is never fun.
[]
"Now that I think about it, Launch, what were you shooting at last night?" asked Videl.
"Hmmm…I can't quite recall…" Launch lied. "You know how it takes a while for me to recall whenever I change? Sometimes the memories don't return at al, though I think they're usually minor things."
Despite a feeling Launch was hiding something, Videl opted not to press further and continue eating. The peaceful consumption would once again get derailed by Akane asking, "Speaking of missing people, where's Rouge?"
"Oh, she's taking a bath in the lake right behind the village," Chiaoutzu answered.
"But why? We have a capsule house. She could've taken a bath here," said Videl.
"She did say she loves hot springs," Akane recalled. "And since she has fire powers…."
"She can make a hot spring in almost any water she finds!"
The mention of hot springs took Videl back to the trip she'd taken with Chi-Chi and the other Z-Ladies. Of all things, she hadn't expected Akane, her sisters, and Mrs. Saotome to show up too. It hadn't been too long ago, had it? Now that she thought about it, she promised to take Erasa there sometime, didn't she?
"You know…I don't think I've taken a natural bath ever since we went to that resort," Akane stated, as if reading Videl's mind.
"Are you thinking…?"
"I think so."
"I'm sure Rouge won't mind if you girls go join her, and like I said Tien's waiting for Trunks to get back with more supplies so you've got plenty of time," noted Chiaoutzu.
The pair nodded to each other before dashing off to the village's rear side. After waving them off, Chiaoutzu put a hand to his chin. 'Okay, so I delivered Tien's message…but why does it fee like I'm forgetting something?' His thoughts would be jarred by Launch letting out a calm sigh.
"Oh, I wish I could join them."
"What's stopping you?" asked Chiaoutzu.
"I still have so much work to do with my food truck. More and more people are waking up now and I'm pretty sure many of them would want breakfast."
"Maybe I could…."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but you're needed out there. Although, I wouldn't mind another set of hands in the kitchen until Tien gets back."
"I can do that much at least."
Chiaoutzu floated into the truck just as more customers approached them. This was going to be a hectic morning.
[]
The trek through the woods was a quick one as Akane and Videl were quickly met with steamy vapors amongst the trees. Minutes later, they found themselves at the mouth of a large lake blanketed in steam, a lone, female figure seen amongst the obscuring mist.
Their presence was quickly made aware to the bathing girl who hastily covered her chest with her arms. "Who's there!?"
"Rouge, relax, it's us!" called Akane.
"Oh, thank goodness," she sighed.
"Hope you don't mind but…"
"If you wish to join me, please feel free. I heated it myself after all," Rouge boasted.
The pair shared a quick glance to each other before they proceeded to undress. Soon after, the trio were reveling in the relaxing heat of their own, personal, hot-springs.
"Mmmm~ this is nice," Akane swooned.
"Not that I'm not happy to have company, but why are you girls here? I thought you'd be with Mr. Tenshinhan."
"Tien had something else to take care of before he could start training with us, so we decided to unwind a little before we're probably put through another wringer," said Akane.
"Another wringer?" asked Rouge.
"Videl trained with an old…acquaintance of mine and long story short, she was a tough master," Akane explained.
"Lot of good it did me though," Videl deadpanned.
"Are you still upset about losing to Ryoga?"
"No…kind of…okay yes, but it's more than that," Videl started.
"This whole Pantyhose Taro thing is really eating you, huh?"
Before Videl could reply, she was interrupted by a gasping Rouge. "That perverse thief is back!?"
"Oh yeah! You said yesterday that you two actually met while fighting him before?" Videl recalled.
Akane nodded and began the story of Rouge's visit to Nerima.
[Elsewhere]
In the skies above the mountain, a scar-faced man with short, dark hair accompanied by a small, teal, floating feline companion could be seen zooming towards the ravaged village.
"Man…I can't believe the whole place got burned down. Why didn't Tien call sooner? He knows we'd have been there to help in a flash!"
"Take it easy Yamcha. He probably wanted to give the villagers time to reconcile before putting them to work." Suggested the cat.
"Yeah I guess. Still, Tien needs to stop turning himself into a stranger, especially after the last reunion party. Don't you think so Puar?"
"Oh definitely!" Puar squealed.
The pair grinned on their flight until something caught the floating cat's eye. "Hey, what's that?"
Turning in the indicated direction, Yamcha laid eyes on what appeared to be…some kind of pillar of mist? Fog? Or smoke!? No, it was too bright to be smoke…then smog potentially? This area isn't known to be foggy so the mist could be almost anything, but if it was smog, then what was the source of the smoke? Was the village on fire again!? He'd figure out the specifics later. What he knew was that something unnatural was happening near the village.
"C'mon Puar! Somethin's happening, and we gotta find out what!"
"Okay Yamcha!"
With his friend holding on, Yamcha flew straight towards the smoky tower, hoping he wasn't to late to do something about it.
[]
Akane, Videl, and Rouge all finished their stories of their encounters with Pantyhose Taro. Though Rouge was aware that Akane had dealt with him before, she was unaware that he'd kidnapped her on their first meeting. Upon learning that Videl shared a similar encounter not too long ago, she could only sob in empathy at the two friends.
"I knew that pervert was a vile man, but to think he'd do something as sacrilegious as kidnapping two innocent young maidens!"
"Well…I won't deny that Taro's not exactly a 'good person', but to be fair, it's not entirely his fault, it's Happosai's," Akane clarified. "If we manage to put the old man away for good, then maybe, just maybe, Taro will actually be able to improve as a person."
"Do you really believe that?" asked an unconvinced Videl.
"Do I think it'll happen? Hell no. Do I think it's possible? Kind of. After all, excluding the time we met Rouge, Happosai is the main reason Taro's come after us, so it's not too unreasonable to think so, right?"
"Fair enough I guess."
Rouge stood up sternly. "I believe in forgiveness. If it means that detestable man could be given a genuine chance at redemption, please, allow me to assist you in dealing with this Happosai character."
After her proclamation, Rouge was met with two of the absolute coldest looks from her two bath-mates. The pair stood up and each put a hand on her shoulder before responding.
"Not that we wouldn't appreciate the help but…"
"Believe us when you say…"
"You do NOT want to get involved with him!" they firmly finished together.
"Is…is he really that terrible?" asked a now quivering Rouge?
The conversation would be interrupted by the sound of ruffling leaves and whooshing. Before someone could even ask what it was, a figure burst in from above, landing just at the edge of the lake.
"Yo! Is everybody okay o…ver…here…!"
The figure revealed themselves as a man with a scarred face clad in a white, eastern style shirt and black pants. When he came across the three young girls however, there was a brief pause before a trio of screams rang out and the girls dove back beneath the water. V
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Came the guy's apologetic voice. Videl froze. She didn't get a good look at the guy through the steam, but she recognized that voice. She received confirmation when he followed up. "I swear I didn't mean to…! Yeagh!"
The 'assailant' dodged a large rock from seemingly nowhere as Rouge swam ashore and reached for a bucketful of water. She had the foresight to set aside some water below room temperature just incase she'd need to transform for some reason and the actual water would be too hot to do so. Tossing its contents onto herself, the raging Ashura returned and set her six-eyes on the peeping tom.
"What…the…Hell…!?"
[Meanwhile, at Kame House]
A yawning, female Ranma sauntered down the stairs to be met with Krillin and his family already having breakfast.
"Morning…" she greeted.
"Look who's finally awake," sad Krillin.
Ranma sat beside the miniscule patriarch and took his share of food just as the elderly owner burst through the door. "Yo. Mornin' Gramps."
"Now what were you doing outside?" asked a smarmily suspicious 18.
"Just felt like sleepin' in my chair," Roshi replied.
"Then why are you covered in sand?"
"It got windy."
"If you say so."
"Regardless, you need to hurry and get yourself ready boy. Today we're heading out for training," Roshi announced.
"Really!? What are we doin'?"
"You gonna put him through the fields?" asked Krillin.
"Don't spoil the surprise Krillin!" Roshi exclaimed.
"What are 'the fields'?" asked Ranma.
"You'll find out soon enough. Just finish eating then change back…of course if you want to stay like this while we train…." Roshi's gaze fell to Ranma's chest which was barely restricted beneath his tank-top.
Ranma raised a fist, but before he could throw it, he was unceremoniously hit with scalding hot water and leapt about, trying to cool himself off. "Hot! Hot! Hot! Too hot! Too hot!"
"Eighteen, that water just came off the stove! Give it a moment before ya burn the kid, huh?"
"It was either that or get ogled all morning. He'll thank me for this later." She replied.
'Looks like I'll have to get creative in the future,' thought Roshi.
Moments later, Roshi and a now male Ranma boarded an aircar and took off. From the upstairs window, Krillin looked on as the duo disappeared. The fact that Roshi was taking on another new student couldn't help but tug at Krillin's nostalgic strings. The fact that he was pulling the old 'Field Training' as well only strengthened those memories.
"Krillin?" the ex-monk turned to find his wife at the door.
"Eighteen? I think I'll do some heading out myself today?"
"You going to watch the old man beat up a kid again?"
Krillin shrugged. "Who knows? All joking aside though, I really do want to see how Ranma handles Master Roshi's training cause I'll say right now, he's probably stronger than we were when he trained us."
Eighteen grinned in response. "I guess that means Marron and I have the house to ourselves today."
Waving her off, Krillin leapt through the window before shooting off into the sky.
[]
Fire and lightning erupted above the lake as Rouge unleashed hell upon the latest on her 'peeping tom' list. To her surprise, the pervert took to the skies, not unlike Videl or Tien and proceeded to dodge her attacks.
"Get him Rouge!" Akane cheered.
"Aggggh~!" came a shrill squeal.
The grounded girls turned to find a small floating animal viewing the aerial assault from the edge of the lake.
"What's going on!? Where did that thing come from!?" squealed the animal.
"Who or…what's that?" asked Akane.
"Puar! Is that you!?"
The critter turned to find a familiar young girl, swimming towards him. "Videl!? What are you doing here?"
"I think that's my line."
"You know this thing?"
"I'll introduce you later, but first things first, can you get us our towels?"
"Oh! Sure!"
Once the girls were covered up, Puar asked again what she was doing here, but Videl reminded him that they needed to split up Rouge and Yamcha before a repeat of yesterday happened. Thankfully, they had all they needed…or rather they would've if Rouge hadn't accidentally burnt the bucket she used when she transformed.
"That's no problem! Leave it to me!" Puar proclaimed. In a matter of seconds, Puar transformed himself into a bucket in a puff of smoke.
"Perfect!"
Akane opened her mouth to ask questions, but was ignored as Videl dipped the bucket into the water. Grabbing a spare towel, she jetted up to separate the conflicting pair, but paused when she realized they had disappeared.
"How did they…!?"
"They went that way!" Akane pointed.
Thankfully they were moving away from the village. Unfortunately, they were still quite a ways away so it'd probably take Videl a bit to catch up to them, and considering how long Puar could stay transformed for, that could be problematic (not to mention the water's temperature).
"Akane, head back to the village and tell Tien that Yamcha's here. If he asks where he is…ummm….
"I'll make something up. Thanks!" Videl shot off after the two, turning the two-way chase into a three-way (A/N: G'night everybody)!
[]
With impressive aerodynamics, Yamhca avoided the treacherous onslaught of fire and lightning. Still, whatever this thing was, it was relentless. He barely had time to breathe, let alone counterattack. Still, Yamcha could sense it, he could take this thing no problem, he just needed a second to catch his breath.
Descending, Yamcha dove into the woods, just managing to escape Ashura Rouge's gaze. Unfortunately, he'd be quickly find by one of her extra sets of eyes and pursued once more. As Rouge herself dove between the trees, she lost sight of Yamcha who'd seemingly vanished.
"Come out and face me like a man you cowardly pervert!" Rouge demanded.
She received no vocal answer, but did turn her head at the sound of rustling leaves. "There!" Turning towards the sound, she fired a torrent of fire but instead of hitting the target, she felt resilience against her attack. That resilience took the form of a large, yellow, ball of light that flew straight through her flames and beamed her right in the main face.
"Gaggh~!"
Rouge was able to quickly recover from the surprise attack and believed she was prepared when the sphere came hurtling back towards her. Slashing with three of her arms, she attempted to swat the irritating ball away but was caught off guard when the ball went above her arms and fell right atop her head, slamming her down.
As Rouge was harshly grounded, the sphere continued underground. When Rouge picked her head up, she was instantly struck once again by the ascending energy ball, getting blown onto her backside.
[Meanwhile]
As Videl flew after the two, she and Puar took the time to explain to each other why they were in Tien's neck of the woods. Akane and herself to train with Tien while Puar and Yamcha were called to help with rebuilding. As for where Rouge fit in, that story would be put on hold as Videl lost sight of the two when they dove between the trees.
Once again, she cursed her inability to sense energy as finding them just got a bit more difficult. After a minute or so of searching, Puar spoke up.
"I'm sorry to add more pressure, but my Transformations' going to run out soon!" he warned.
"Why is it never easy?"
The search would finally come to an end as a familiar yellow energy ball ascended past the trees before descending back into the dense forest.
"That was Yamcha's Spirit Ball!" said Puar.
"Hold it together just a bit longer Puar!" Videl pleaded.
[Elsewhere]
A familiar, lavender-haired young boy could be seen gliding just above the forest, his expression teeming with boredom.
"Man, this sucks! Why do I have to be the delivery boy again!?" Trunks groaned. "Maybe if Launch is still there I can at least get another bite to eat from her truck."
The second Trunks finished his thought, the sky flashed in an intense gleam. "What the…? Was that lightning? Is it gonna rain now too!?"
Lightning once again filed the sky, prompting Trunks to find cover beneath the trees. As he descended however, he could make out what looked to be dark clouds ahead. Surrounding the clouds was the image of a person. Trunks closed his eyes and focused before two distinct energies revealed themselves to him. One he recognized, the other he didn't. It wasn't too high, but it felt…scary.
"Well…maybe this won't be a boring trip after all!" Letting his power flare, Trunks jetted off towards the mysterious figure just as lightning struck once more.
[]
"You…I will find and annihilate you, even if I have to burn this whole forest to the ground!" Rouge proclaimed.
From his vantage point, Yamcha could only glare. At least now he had an idea of what started the fire. Now the question was why hadn't Tien taken care of her already? She was good but nowhere near strong enough to contend with the best of their group. Her clamis of burning the forest down also sounded less than favorable. He needed to end this now.
'You may have six-eyes freak girl, but the forest is my domain! I'm the predator in this story and you're just prey…prey to my…' "Wolf-Fang FIST!"
Erupting from his hiding spot, Yamcha pounced, just barely managing to catch Rouge in her blind-spot (directly behind her). Though she was able to defend against the initial strike with her multiple arms, Yamcha's superior striking speed allowed him to cut through her defenses and land the finishing blow of his trademark combo right in her midsection, knocking the wind out of her and launching her into a tree.
"Now it's time to finish this!"
Ascending over Rouge's downed form, Yamcha cupped his hands together and pulled them back. "Kaaa-Meee-Haaa-Meee…"
"WAIT!"
Yamcha paused just as he was thrusting his hands forward. Searching about, he managed to make out the figure of a short-haired girl, descending towards him. Once she was at ground level, Yamcha instantly recognized her.
"Videl? Yo, didn't expect to see you here."
"We can play catch-up later Yamcha. First…."
Videl tossed the bucket over Rouge and the bucket changed back into a teal, catlike critter, the still warm water splashing them both. A panting Puar rolled off of Rouge's naked form before Videl hastily tossed her a towel.
"Wait…what just happened?"
"Videl…why are you assisting this lecherous cretin?" Rouge asked, curling into a ball.
Videl sighed as she prepared herself for yet another explanation. A brief rundown of events later, Videl finished up by saying, "…So this whole thing was just another huge misunderstanding."
"That's putting it rather mildly, wouldn't you say?" asked a male voice.
Everyone turned up to find Tien, Akane in his arm, descending towards them.
"Yo Tien! What's good buddy?" Yamcha greeted.
"Great to see you again too," Tien smiled as they shook hands. "I'm grateful you and Puar answered my call, though I didn't expect you to have to deal with…our spunky young friend over there," he glanced at Rouge.
"Well…it's not entirely her fault. I mean…I did kind of…."
"Don't beat yourself up over it. Akane explained the whole thing to me, and it's clear it was just an accident…it was just an accident, right?"
"Dude, I'm not Oolong!" Yamcha defended.
"Just making sure," Tien smirked. "Anyways, let's get back to the village. Trunks should be showing up any minute now with the proper equipment and I want to be there to…." Tien trailed off before glancing up at the sky. "Actually, I stand corrected."
Sure enough, a hazy blur burst through the trees before landing with the rest of the group. "Guys! What happened!? I was on the way here and I saw some fire, smoke, and lightning going crazy all over the place!"
Everyone in the know turned to Rouge before bursting into a fit of laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"We'll tell you on the way. Come on, let's get back to the village and take a break." Tien ordered.
[Meanwhile]
Just as Krillin had said, Roshi had led Ranma to a large open field. "Okay Old Timer, I'll bite. What are we doin' here? You pick this place so we can go all out without risk of wreckin' your place?"
"Oh no, we won't be sparring today my boy. Today, you're going to be plowing this entire field."
Ranma's gaze straightened. "How is that training? That just sounds like work to me." 'And not even the kind of work that's disguised as training.'
"The fact that you'll be doing it barehanded."
"Barehanded? Yup. No rakes, no shovels, no hoes, no bit-!"
Ranma planted his foot to the elder fighter's face. "Watch it Gramps! We're a T-Rated story and we could get cancelled for those kinds of jokes."
"Gagh! You're right!" Roshi cleared his throat and straightened out his composure. "Regardless, the task remains the same. You're to plow these fields using only your bare hands…and don't forget the piece de resistance." Roshi grinned as he hoisted up the heavy, metal, turtle shell.
Ranma rolled his eyes. 'Of course. The extra weight makes it training.'
Beneath his shades, a mischievous glimmer shone in Roshi's eyes. He knew what Ranma was thinking and couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he finally got it. Moments later, a straining Ranma could be seen digging through seemingly endless open field. Signs of exert could be shown on his face, but he didn't look close to his breaking point.
Roshi continued to focus on Ranma. As he watched the young fighter continue his task, he let out a nostalgic sigh. "Never thought I'd see the day where I'd find yet another promising young pupil…aye Krillin?"
Sure enough, the diminutive fighter appeared behind the old master. "Tried to keep my power low." He chuckled.
"Yeah, but I could sense you flying after us. I knew it'd only be a matter of time until you caught up. Couldn't fight the old' nostalgia itch, could ya?"
In a Goku like fashion, Krillin rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, won't lie. Seeing Ranma out there does bring back some memories."
"Among other things?" Roshi inquired.
"What do you mean by that?"
Roshi snickered. "Call it 'Master's Perception', but ever since the kids came to visit us that one time, you've been fidgety to put it mildly. Almost like you're preparing to go for a lap around the world or something. Care to elaborate?"
Krillin gave a defeated sigh before taking a seat besides his old master. "What can I see? Those kids are an inspirational bunch…but still…." Krillin trailed off.
Roshi chuckled. "Ha, I think those kids are more inspirational than you think, cause you're sounding an awful lot like Videl right now."
"Can't say I don't sympathize with her."
"Maybe, but while she's got spirit, you've got experience. So why don't you put that experience to use."
"What are you…?" Krillin raised an eyebrow as Roshi gave a cheeky smile.
"You know, some teachers need a little assistance," he said simply.
Krillin glanced out over to Ranma who, despite the insane amount of weight on his back, continued to glide through the ground at an even pace. He remained silent, but kept Roshi's words in mind.
[]
Once the group returned, Tien instantly got to work giving orders to the villagers. With the new supplies from Trunks, the rebuilding process resumed without a hitch.
On the way, Akane explained to Trunks that the thing he saw was Rouge and how she had the same kind of water transformation as 'her friend' she mentioned last night.
Trunks immediately wanted to see Rouge transform again, upset that he missed a brawl with a potentially strong monster girl, but after wearing herself out chasing Yamcha, Rouge insisted on taking some time to rest.
She wasn't the only one however as Videl also requested a breather as she had also spent quite a bit of time and energy chasing after Rouge and Yamcha herself (and she had a time crunch to boot).
Tien happily allowed it, but told Videl to prepare herself for later in the day, as he intended to go all out on both her and Akane when it came time to start their training. In the meantime, he did opt to pull Akane aside. With everything proceeding smoothly at the moment, he figured it'd be a good time to at least get a head start on training the girls.
Videl, accompanied by Trunks opted to watch from the sidelines, the former quickly explaining to the latter what Tien intended to do with them. Though Trunks was initially disinterested, talk of a special technique piqued his interest. Between that fact, Launch's food truck, and the chance to see Rouge transform, Trunks decided maybe he'd stick around just a little bit longer.
"Okay, first things first. I'm a tad more familiar with Videl's level, and while I do believe its safe to assume you two are on par with each other, I'd like to assess where each of you are individually." Placing a hand behind his back, Tien outstretched his free hand and made a challenging motion. "Come at me however you like."
Akane took a combative stance and nodded. With a spirited yell, she rushed the three-eyed fighter and threw a straight punch. Tien easily deflected her strike and just as easily avoided her follow up attack. Akane continued to throw punch after punch that Tien would easily defend against.
When Akane opted to attack with a side kick, Tien hopped over her strike and continued to remain on the defensive.
"You've certainly got spirit, but your form is subpar," Tien criticized.
Her ire rising, Akane laid on the pressure, throwing punch after punch at Tien. Even slipping kicks into her barrage, her offense had no avail. Tien remained coolheaded against Akane's attacks until finally leaping over her. Akane whipped around prepared to strike again. This time, instead of deflecting or dodging, Tien blocked her attack with his forearm and locked them in a struggle.
His strength was obviously superior, but he made a mental note of just how much effort he had to use to keep her at bay. Nowhere near his full strength but just enough for him to notice her own.
'She's much stronger than she looks…kind of reminds me of Chi-Chi in a way. I think I understand now.' His third eye shifted to Videl before all three eyes fell back on Akane.
Shoving Akane back, Tien let out a breath and stood casually, signaling Akane to be at ease. "Okay, that should be just enough for now."
"Enough? But that was barely even a fight!" noted Trunks.
"This wasn't meant to be serious match, or even an intense sparring session. It was supposed to be a gathering of information and I think I understand where you both stand. I do still need to test Videl to be certain, but for now, I think I have enough information to form a solid workout plan."
"Really? Trunks wasn't wrong, that was a pretty short evaluation," Akane emphasized.
Tien gave her an assuring smile. "Don't worry. You two may be my first pupils, but I can assure you, if you just plant a bit of faith in me, you'll see results soon enough."
Akane's expression remained skeptical, but ultimately, she gave an approving nod.
"Well now that we're all warmed up, let's get back to the others and get busy…unless you'd like to be judged right now Videl?"
"I'm fine waiting until we start training for real."
"If you say so." Tien led the young fighters back to the village where he quickly put the girls to work with the rest of the villagers.
[]
In the latter hours of the day, the previously green fields had turned brown beneath a descending sun as a panting Ranma Saotome stretched out his now unshelled back.
"Damn…that took way longer than I thought it would."
"Look at the bright side, you beat Goku and me by like, almost an hour!" called an approaching Krillin with Roshi.
"Oh…when'd you get here?"
"Since…the beginning. I wanted to see how the new kid compared to Goku and I when we had to do this."
"And how would you rank me?"
"You can have your evaluation after we grab some lunch," Roshi interjected.
Moments later, the trio were spread out over a blanket, a moderate spread of food laid out. Thanks to the lack of a certain Saiyan, Roshi was able to take it easy with the preparations (although Ranma seemed almost dead set to give a boyhood Goku a run for his money in the eating department).
"Have to admit, I'm rather impressed you beat our time and with a harder stipulation too," Krillin praised.
"What stipulation?"
"Your shell's heavier than ours were, and you wore it on your first day out so you've got us beat there too."
"Ehhh, he was gonna have an easier time than you boys no matter what I threw at him. Ranma here was already a great deal ahead of where you and Goku were when you were training with me," said Roshi. "I think its safe to say he was on a similar level to where you guys were at the first Tournament."
Ranma raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "You know, everybody keeps talkin' about this World Tournament but I actually hadn't heard about it until I met Videl, since her old man's a champ and all."
Roshi and Krillin both gave Ranma a dumbfounded look. They hadn't expected someone with Ranma's 'devotion' to martial arts to be unfamiliar that unfamiliar with the World Tournament. Even if he hadn't been around for the Tourney's golden years, they'd expect him to at least have heard about Mr. Satan before (though they were both a little glad he hadn't).
"Well then my boy, let me tell you a tale…" Roshi began.
Roshi began recounting the story of how after Goku and Krillin's training was done, he enrolled them into the Tournament as a final exam. Compared to the more showboating nature of the modern tourney, the Tournaments in the old days were a true test of strength and skill. He told of how Goku had gotten runner up in the 21st and 22nd Tournaments, first against someone named Jackie Chun and second against Tien Shinhan, the very same person he'd sent the girls to train with. Goku would finally take a win in the 23rd Tournament, but Roshi didn't give a name to his opponent. He did however, give assurance that said opponent was truly a powerful one.
"Huh…I guess third time really is the charm…but wait…if Gohan's old man won, but Videl's old man is the current champion…!"
"Don't even go there Ranma. Videl's dad is nowhere near Goku's level. Hell, he's below Videl's level according to Gohan," Krillin interjected.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Ranma, can you sense another person's energy?" asked Roshi.
"Yeah, but only when I'm close."
"Hmm…well next time you see Satan and Goku, open your senses and then compare what you can feel from each of them."
Ranma gave a dismissive smug before realization flashed across his face. 'Hey wait a second….' "Now that I think about it, Gohan could sense the old bird guy's energy from like kilometers away. Think you can teach me how to do that gramps?"
"Shouldn't be a problem adding it to the resume," Roshi replied pulling out a notepad and pen. "But enough small talk, let's get back to work."
"Alright. What's next Gramps, we gonna spar again?"
"You know there's more to training than sparring, right?"
"Is the wise old master worried that the new young blood is gonna outpace him?" teased Krillin. "You did say you needed to get back into shape."
"Oh and like you don't!" Roshi snapped at his former pupil.
Krillin rolled his eyes. "Hmmmm…I might, so how about this. Why don't you let me spar with him?"
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
The pair remained silent at Krillin's suggestion until Roshi let out a hearty guffaw. 'Krillin, you sly little fox.' "Oh what the heck, it'll be interesting at least, and I assume you have no objections Ranma?"
Ranma gave a nonchalant shrug. "Well, he's technically my senpai, so he should make for as good a fight as any." Ranma clamped his fist in his hand, preparing for battle.
The pair bounded to an clearer area before taking their stances. Both Ranma and Krillin wore cocky grins as they seized each other up.
'If the old freak is any indication, I shouldn't underestimate this guy just cause he's short.'
'This kid has a lot of bravado, but I think he needs to be taken down a peg.'
The stare down continued until Roshi raised his staff. With a downward swipe of it he exclaimed, "And begin!"
[]
As many local grownups and kids had a hand in restoring their ravaged village, Trunks took the moment to breakaway from the pack and went to find Rouge. Peeking his head inside the tent closest to Launch's truck, he found the young girl fast asleep, despite how early in the day it still was.
'I've GOT to see what this girl turns into!' Creeping up beside her, he pulled a bottle of water out of his pocket. 'Goten and Videl's friend said it activates with cold water so….' Unscrewing the cap, he released its contents on the unsuspecting girl before getting blinded by a flash of light.
(A/N: Quite a bit is happening, huh? We finally get a real glimpse of what Ranma's up to at Kame House while Tien and the girls just can't seem to catch a break while Rouge is around. Also, while his role is still minor, I told you we hadn't seen the last of Trunks. We also have another introduction in Yamcha. When I decided to include Tien in this story, I knew I had to bring Yamcha in too and yes, this is one of the characters that certain reviewer from last chapter was talking about [To emphasize what I said last time, I already had plans for Yamcha and again, while I can't promise anything, I do like their idea enough to consider it]. I know I said last time that we'd get a bit more into Tien's training with the girls, but it looks like the bulk of that will be saved for next time alongside Ranma. No Gohan this time since we all know what he's up to. Next time however the ball keeps rolling with a match between Ranma and Krillin…among other things.)
