Dragon Ball Super: The Lone Wolf Saga

by Shisoukengo

Angry and disheartened over his exclusion from representing the Universe 7 team in the Tournament of Power, Yamcha makes a decision that will inevitably change both him and his relationship with the other Z-fighters. However, the former desert bandit encounters more than he bargained for when he finds himself caught up in a galactic struggle between alien forces vying for supremacy

2. Pain Into Power

Dragon Ball Super: The Lone Wolf Saga

Chapter 2 – Pain Into Power

by: Shisoukengo

All his life he's been told, he'll be nothing when he's old

All the kicks and all the blows, he won't ever let it show

Cause he's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow

When you've been fighting for it all your life

You've been struggling to make things right

That's how a superhero learns to fly

Every day, every hour, turning pain into power

After beginning his trek into space, and getting over his momentary disorientation of takeoff, Yamcha and Puar both spent the first couple of hours of their journey exploring the ship. While the upper deck of the ship contained little hidden, due to it being mostly a wide open space, the duo spent some time using the ship's media and information program. Studying the various ways in which the ship operated, as well as the devices it contained, both Yamcha and Puar found their respect for the old scientist heightened even further than it already was, due to the level of detail and work involved in putting it all together. One program the ship had, as mentioned by Dr. Briefs description of the ship's capabilities, was its energy-reader, which had Yamcha's curiosity peaked ever since the old scientist mentioned it. Pressing the required button pattern, Yamcha decided to satisfy his curiosity, before beginning his training. Entering in the command sequence, Yamcha and Puar once again heard the ship's mechanized voice come to life.

"Energy-reader sequence initiated, scanning nearby life forms." The duo waited as the ship's computer whirred to life, beeping as it performed the designed function. "Scan complete. Energy readings listed from lowest to highest as followed, 10." At this Puar startled, surprised by the knowledge that he was twice as strong as a normal adult human.

"It must be because of my shape-shifting training," Puar speculated, even as he and Yamcha exchanged awkward laughs.

"Second energy reading," the duo waited in anticipation, eager to discover Yamcha's own results. "50,000."

The duo once again found themselves shocked by the readings, though for different reasons. While Puar was extremely happy to hear his friend still had so much strength, despite having not trained for so many years. Yamcha, however, found himself disappointed in what he inwardly knew was well below what the others possessed.

"Amazing, Yamcha-sama! You're still so strong even after all of these years!" Puar spoke, his smile turning to a frown at the lack of exuberance from his long-time friend. Yamcha did not speak, instead simply nodding his acceptance.

"Yamcha-sama?" the shape-shifter asked, concern evident in his voice, only to be met with a look of determination from the fighter.

"Yeah, it is amazing Puar. But think about where I likely was when we took on Cell!" The former bandit raised his eyes from the ground as if having had enough of looking down on himself.

Once they felt they had a solid grasp of everything, Puar suggested they check out the lower deck, since much of their daily routine would be performed there. After searching through the ship's living quarters, the pair discovered the ship had indeed been well stocked. Everything from food to personal hygiene items was stored in what turned out to be many storage capsules held within the ship. A cache of five of them, in particular, held very interesting items, five one-size fits all vests with straps on each side, capable of tightening to adjust to an individual's frame. The vest was also lined with multiple slots, each capable of holding an individual object of similar size and shape, with straps set on top of each slot in order to secure whatever objects are placed inside.

Expandable bracers were also discovered along with the vests as well, designed to fit around each arm and leg, and also holding multiple slots as well. Along with modified training apparel, were also numerous sets of weights, each customized to fit into each of the individual slots on the vests and bracers. Quickly figuring out that the weights were designed to fit inside each of the slots on the vests and bracers, Yamcha excitedly filled each of the slots, before donning the training apparel. Tightening the straps on each side of a vest he wore, as well as slipping on bracers on each of his shins and wrists, Yamcha stood as he flexed his muscles, getting himself accustomed to the weight.

'10 pounds on each wrist and ankle, 100 pounds on the vest, this should be just like the training I went through at Kami's,' Yamcha thought as he tested his movements, feeling his body quickly adjust itself to the additional weight. 'After that training, and training at Kaio-sama's planet, wearing these things is nothing.'

Throwing a few experimental kicks and punches, Yamcha looked down at his clenched fist, no longer feeling the pull of the weighted apparel.

'Maybe I should try doing both at the same time,' Yamcha contemplated as he looked at the ladder that led back to the main portion of the ship, where the gravity machine was located. 'But first, I should get warmed up, just to shake the rust off.'

Looking at his ever faithful friend, Yamcha finally laid out his plan.

"Alright Puar, I'm gonna head back upstairs for some warm-up exercise, before I get into some serious training. Are you going to hang out down here, or join me upstairs?" He asked.

"I'll go with you upstairs, Yamcha-sama," Puar announced, his tiny arms curling in front of him.

"Ummm, ok, but I'll warn you, I'm gonna start the serious training soon afterward. That means using the gravity machine Dr. Briefs built, so it'll get pretty rough at that point."

Puar nodded, but his decision remained regardless. Seeing this, Yamcha nodded as well, acknowledging the shape-shifter's resolve, and together the pair made their way back up the ladder to the training room. Deciding it best to ease himself back into things, since it had been so many years since he'd last trained seriously, the martial artist started off with his usual stretching and warm-up routine. As an athlete in any sport will tell you, while the human body has proven to be undoubtedly resilient, it will certainly begin to slowly break down over time, as age and attrition take their respective tolls. And the sport of baseball was no exception, even if it were less physically demanding than combat, mainly due to the fact that a single baseball season lasts for at least eight months out of the year. Requiring long bouts of sprinting, jumping, and in his position as a pitcher, high-velocity rotations of his shoulders, the sport took its own pound of flesh as well.

As someone who had frequently taken long hiatus away from the sport in his youth, to engage in physical combat with other super-powered beings no less, this meant that it was even more so for Yamcha. And while years of physical training had strengthened his body to withstand this to some degree, it didn't stop age from catching up to him. Therefore, the former bandit eventually discovered he needed an edge, something that would help prolong his athletic career. Initially, he'd trained himself to be an effective pitcher with both arms, in order to lessen the cumulative wear and tear on his dominant arm.

However, that only worked for so long, and Yamcha knew he'd need something more. It was outside the box thinking that led him to try Yoga and later, Isometrics, and the athlete was shocked to discover, after a few months' time, that daily routines of this over time had essentially lengthened his career. To the point that even his fellow players and coaches acknowledged that he played more like he was closer to his 30's, rather than his 40's. And it was also why he'd continued to be one of the highest paid athletes in the world over the past few years, enough so that he could support himself for at least two lifetimes.

Since then, the former bandit had incorporated these workouts into his daily regimen, intent on keeping his muscles flexible and pliable, while allowing them to maintain their strength and dexterity over the years. Slowly progressing through his stretches and warm-ups, Yamcha then proceeded to re-familiarize himself with his old style, Rogafufuken, the Wolf Fang Fist. Still wearing the weighted apparel he'd discovered, the martial artist began progressing through the familiar kata, starting slowly as if attempting to remind himself of the intricacies of the style. It took a little bit of time, as little as half an hour, but the fighter found himself performing the strikes with blinding speed, moving and shifting through stances with little to no encumbrance.

'I'm pretty sure at this point, that everyone probably thinks that I've just been doing nothing other than playing baseball all these years,' he pondered as he continued through his stretches and warm-ups. 'They forget that being an athlete, and being a fighter isn't all that far apart. Both require peak physical conditioning, and almost no one is more consistent in maintaining that than I am! I may not go to the extremes like Vegeta or Piccolo, but I'm certainly no Yajirobe when it comes to training.'

By the time he decided to take a break, the fighter was surprised to realize that over an hour had passed. After a brief rest, in which he once again repeated his stretches and warm-ups to keep himself loose and his blood flowing. During this time, Puar quietly supported his friend by retrieving a bottle of water, and a towel to wipe himself of sweat. Afterward, Yamcha prepared to continue his training, this time under the familiar environment of enhanced gravity.

"Alright, Puar, I'm about to turn on the gravity machine. It's going to get rough from here," he stated as if warning his friend.

"Yamcha-sama, I told you, I'm with you. I can handle it," Puar responded, absolutely sure of himself.

Yamcha nodded once again, in response, thanking his long-time friend and ally for his continued support. Moving over to the gravity device in the middle of the room, he tapped on the buttons, entering the series of commands to start up the machine. Deciding to start with something familiar, Yamcha pressed the button necessary to set the gravity level.

'I'll start at the same level as on Kaio-sama's planet, then make my way up from there,' the martial artist thought to himself. 'Come to think of it, although I've done both weight and gravity training, I've never done both at the same time. Maybe I should try it, to get the most out of my training. After all, if I'm going to have any hope of catching up to Goku and the others, I've gotta push myself harder than ever!'

Once the gravity limit was set, the device kicked on, the air seemingly growing heavier as the environment gradually became more oppressive. While the duo were both caught off guard by the change in gravity, Yamcha was able to respond more favorably. Having trained in this type of gravity before he was able to adjust relatively quickly, and in the span of an hour, the martial artist soon began moving along more fluidly. Puar, however, was not faring so well, having never felt anything close to it before. The floating shape-shifter found himself on the floor, and unable to levitate as was his usual means of getting around, instead of being restricted to slowly crawling along the floor.

"Puar, are you okay? I can skip the gravity training for today until we figure something out." Yamcha spoke, concerned for the well being of his friend. After all, he was well aware of how tough this amount of gravity was, and he'd practically been a thousand times stronger than Puar when he'd first attempted it on Kaio's planet.

"N-no, Y-Yamcha-sama! I-I'll b-be fine," Puar responded his will power the only thing keeping him going at this point. 'Yamcha-sama is looking to regain his old self after all this time. He's even risked his friendship with Bulma-san to do it. I can't be the one who holds him back now!'

Seeing Puar's determination, Yamcha decided to believe in his friend, the same way the shape-shifter believed in him. He then proceeded to repeat the kata of his old style, having decided that rather than continue to rely solely on that of the Turtle style, part of his journey would focus on further developing the Wolf Fang Fist. After a few more hours repetitive strikes and movements in the Rogafufuken, Yamcha could feel a different weight pulling at him, one of exhaustion. Puar, by this point, had finally gotten to a point where he was capable of levitating for a brief amount of time. However, the shape-shifter could also feel himself becoming more tired as well.

'Guess now is as good a time to stop as any. After all, it was already night time by the time we left Earth,' Yamcha thought as he trudged his way over to the gravity machine. Pressing the button on the device, he lowered the gravity back down to x1, and immediately felt the pull of gravity lessen to the familiarity of their home planet.

"I'm guessing since we're obviously still here, that means Goku and the others won the tournament," Yamcha spoke as toweled the sweat off his face and neck.

Puar, once again unencumbered by the effects of ten times gravity, plopped himself onto his friend's shoulders, mumbling in agreement as he breathed heavily. Yamcha grinned at his friend, reaching over to wipe sweat from the shape-shifter as well. The duo then made their way back to the lower deck of the ship, deciding that a bath, meal, and sleep were on deck. Going through the old familiar routine, the pair soon found themselves fresh, fed, and ready for sleep. For Puar, even though the gravity had been rough, he'd enjoyed this time alone with his friend.

'It feels like we're back to the old days when we were living in the desert, just us two,' he thought as he reflected on their days as desert bandits.

While that lifestyle certainly did nothing to enhance their reputation, it was a time when they only had each other to rely on. And just as important, a time when his friend still hungered to achieve his goals. For Puar, it was a return to days past, one which he didn't even know he'd missed, and was ultimately happy to be a part of again. For Yamcha, his thoughts found themselves drifting back to those he called friends, on Earth. The more he thought about them, the more he thought about what all they had experienced in the survival tournament. And the more he thought about that, the more his resentment toward being excluded from the team grew, especially toward the two he knew had the most input on deciding its members.

'I still can't believe Goku and the others would cast me aside like that! I thought they were my friends, that I had at least, if nothing else, earned their respect.' His thoughts continued to churn, spurring on the negative emotions that lay dormant within him. 'Guess risking my life and fighting by their side all these years meant nothing to them. And if I know Goku like I think I do, I'm sure he's grown a heck of a lot stronger, even in just forty-five minutes!'

The fighter stared up at the ceiling, cloaked in the darkness of the ship as Puar drifted off to sleep in the bed beside him. Placing a hand over his face, he silently continued to engage his thoughts.

'Maybe I overreacted, maybe I should turn around and head back. After all, Oolong did have a point, I'd kept my head down for the most part during that whole thing with Majin Buu. So much so, that I didn't even raise a fuss about two little kids being relied on to fight for us. Heck, I couldn't even be bothered to sign up for that tournament, just because I was afraid I would embarrass myself. Even though I knew I had gotten at least a little bit stronger during those years.'

His eyes shut in a frown of embarrassment, as he thought back to that time, how he'd just sat back and quietly, cowardly, waited for Buu to find and kill them. His face morphed in disgust as he remembered even Krillin being willing to confront the monster, later on in the Otherworld, when the demon was much weaker than it had been previously. Even when he'd just been sparring pretty evenly with Krillin moments before that.

'What have I been doing all this time?!' However, all of that resentment, anger, and disgust simply spurred him onward, as if to remind him of what fate awaited him, should he choose to turn back now.

'No, none of that matters! I'd EARNED my spot on that team, definitely over guys like #17 and Freeza!' He thought as he once again committed himself on his journey. 'I'll definitely come back! And when I do, I won't just be stronger than I am now, I'll be stronger than anyone! I'll make them see it was a mistake to count me out.'

Yamcha eventually drifted into slumber, mentally prepared to thrust himself into his training upon awakening. Several hours later, after cleaning himself up and an oddly quiet meal between the two companions, Yamcha once again went through his warm-up and stretching routine, then activated the gravity machine and began training. However, Puar noticed a stark difference between the training his friend had engaged in earlier and the training he was undergoing now. Although he had started back at times ten gravity, Yamcha threw himself even harder into his current training session than he did the previous one.

With the Capsule Corp weight apparel attached to his body again, Yamcha once again began performing the basic kata of his Rougafufuken to an extreme degree. While Puar once again initially had trouble adapting to the higher level of gravity, he found himself surprised at being able to adapt to it sooner. After three hours of continuous wolf fang fist training, Yamcha took an hour-long break, in which he and Puar each had a drink of water from the many bottles stored on the ship. After their break, the martial artist surprised the shape-shifter by increasing the gravity to times twenty. Once again, both occupants felt the pull of the increased gravity, with Yamcha now engaging in strength building exercises of pull-ups, push up, sit-ups and squats. Puar, meanwhile, once again began the process of adapting to the change in gravity by simply moving around, this time walking around on the ground rather than floating.

The two companions would repeat this process over and over, eventually settling into a routine over the next four days of their journey. By the fifth day of their journey, Yamcha was once again hours into training, now at fifty times gravity. However, Puar quietly began to notice that with every increase in the ship's gravity, it began getting harder and harder for the shape-shifter to adapt. Rather than inform his longtime friend of this, Puar chose to keep silent about his difficulties.

'I can't tell Yamcha-sama about this. I don't want to get in his way! He's challenging himself to surpass his old self, and has regained his hunger to train.' Puar thought from his position nearby, as he watched his friend, who had shed his gi and now wore just the weighted vest and a shirt underneath. 'But if I continue doing this, I'll be hurt myself, and that would disrupt Yamcha-sama's training also.'

Puar continued to watch silently as his friend performed push-ups while upside down, sweat dripping from his face as he grimaced under the exertion of training at a much higher level of gravity than he was ever accustomed. Instead of performing the strength-building exercise in the typical fashion of having his palms flat on the ground, the martial artist performed them on the tips of his fingers. Making the exercise that much more difficult to perform, under what was clearly an already insane level of gravity.

'I have to figure out a way around this so that Yamcha-sama can reach his full potential.' The shape-shifter frowned, devoting his thoughts to solving this dilemma, as he knew Yamcha would stop raising the level of gravity or even lower it all together.

Yamcha, meanwhile, continued performing the exercise he was currently engaged in, with a timer nearby counting seconds into minutes. His face screwed up in both concentration and determination, as he continued to focus to push both his mind and his body against the high gravity environment of the ship.

'Gotta….keep….pushing,' he thought as the muscles in his arms bulged, veins prominent as his body lowered, then raised under the exertion of his arms. His mind, in an attempt to distract itself from the pain and exhaustion it was fighting, began thinking of his friends, and the experiences they must have gained from the tournament.

'I'm sure Goku, and likely Vegeta as well, have probably gained some new type of power.' Sweat continued to drip down his face, a small puddle forming underneath him. 'Gohan, Piccolo,#17 and Freeza have probably been showing off as well, and knocking enemies off left and right.'

With every thought of the tournament, his mind fought against the pain in his muscles and joints. With every speculation of his friends' actions, his body exerted itself against the 50x level of gravity it labored under. And with every constant reminder that he wasn't there, he nurtured the resentment and determination he felt to continue to push himself. Eventually, the nearby timer finished its countdown, and a ringing alarm sounded throughout the ship. This caused Yamcha to drop out of his exercise position, taking the time to catch his breath, before moving over to the gravity machine and lowering the gravity back to its default level of one.

As the gravity lessened, he felt the muscles in his body loosen and relax, though the pain if now lessened, still remained. Flexing his fingers, and stretching the tired muscles, Yamcha took the opportunity to reflect on his current level of training.

'I've made pretty good progress so far, being able to move from 10x to 50x gravity in just a few days' time. I should be able to start training at 60x gravity by tomorrow since my body has almost adjusted to the 50x level. But it looks like my age is starting to catch up to me because it's taking me much longer to do it than it did when training at the lower levels. I haven't had to dip into the senzu beans Korin-sama gave me yet, but it looks like I might have to take one after today.' His internal reverie was soon cut off by a sound from the ship's other occupant nearby.

"Yamcha….sama…" Puar squeaked before suddenly collapsing after being freed from the higher gravity level.

"Puar!" The former bandit raced over to his unconscious friends, lifting the shape-shifting animal into his arms.

Ignoring the strain in his muscles and ligaments, he made his way down to the spacecraft's lower level, where he deposited his friend onto the bed. Grimacing under the strain of his limbs, his eyes searched around before finding the objects he was searching for. The bag of senzu beans sat on a table near the containers that housed many of the storage capsules which contained all of the items for their daily care. Reaching within the back, Yamcha dug out a senzu bean, observing it closely before turning toward Puar. It was obviously reflected in his friend's face, the amount of pain he had endured while the martial artist trained.

'I know I need to try and save as many of these as I can, at least until I can get to Namek,' he thought as he returned to his friend's side. 'Still, Puar has really proven to be tough, he endured all of that gravity, just so I can keep training.'

Taking in the small frame of his closest friend, Yamcha made a decision, one he hoped would work well enough for now. Taking the bean between both hands, Yamcha broke the bean into two separate pieces, leaning down to the shape-shifter.

"Here Puar, eat this, you should start feeling better right away," Yamcha stated as he helped his friend sit up, feeding him one half of the healing item.

He waited until Puar finished chewing, before popping the second half into his mouth. He immediately noticed the change that occurred in Puar, as his smaller frame immediately relaxed, the muscles actually bulging out slightly as fibers were healed almost instantly. After swallowing his own piece of the mystical item, Yamcha experienced similar effects on his own body, immediately feeling relief from the strain that previously afflicted him. He also felt his hunger dissipate and noticed Puar sit up, smiling in wonder as he marveled at the miraculous recovery of his own, much smaller body. Yamcha smiled as his the shape-shifter moved his limbs around, testing them for any signs of pain. Upon finding none, he immediately floated upward, noticing the second difference in his body as he landed on his customary spot on the martial artist's shoulder.

"Glad to see you're feeling better buddy," Yamcha stated as he ruffled Puar's head, his face suddenly morphing into a saddened expression. "I'm sorry that you got hurt because of me. I got so caught up in trying to get as much out of my training as I could, I didn't stop to think at all that you would obviously be hurting."

Puar frowned at the dejected look on his friend's face as he chastised himself, having been afraid of this exact situation occurring. Shaking his head, Puar responded, hoping to alleviate his friend's concern.

"It's okay, Yamcha-sama. It was my choice to come with you on this journey, and I told you I will be okay," Puar spoke, however, his attempt at reassurance didn't have the desired effect he'd hoped.

"No Puar, I can't ask you to come along on a journey I insisted on, and then ignore your suffering now that you've come with me." He looked from his friend to the upper level of the ship. "I don't need to go any higher in gravity, for now, we can wait until we reach Namek."

"No! Yamcha-sama, I can't allow you to do such a thing! You've finally regained your will to train, and have been working hard to rival and surpass the others. I can't be the one to get in your way," the shape-shifter spoke with fervor. "I'll figure out a way around this, I promise you!"

Yamcha nodded but did not appear to share his partner's optimism in figuring out a resolution to their dilemma. However, while Puar was determined to ensure he did not hinder his friend's progress, Yamcha was equally as determined to not sacrifice the health and safety of his friend for his own gains.

"Tell you what, Puar, let's relax from training for now. Besides, there are other ways for me to become stronger, without using the gravity device," he offered. Puar nodded again, but still frowned, upset at the prospect of his concern for getting in the way of the martial artist's goal seemingly coming true.

After refreshing himself and donning a change of clothes, the two made their way back up the upper level of the ship. Engaging the ship's media program once again, both seemingly attempted to distract themselves from the first stumbling block they found themselves confronted with. Using it, Yamcha decided to study the video recordings Dr. Briefs and Bulma were able to glean from the programming of Android #16. Having been present for Goku's fight against Piccolo, he instead chose to settle on one which he had missed out on. Watching Goku's domination of the Saiyan, Nappa, followed by the much more competitive battle against Vegeta. Although the footage was not overly long, the martial artist turned athlete was able to not only to see the development of his oldest friend's fighting style but the revelation of a technique he'd only heard about. And one in which King Kaio had neglected to teach to him, Tien, and Chiaotzu.

'That kaio-ken technique is really impressive. It even allowed Goku to take on a guy like Vegeta, who was clearly much stronger than he was then,' Yamcha thought, before frowning as another revelation set in. 'Kaio-sama really stilted us by not teaching us that technique. How much stronger could we have been with it? How many enemies would we have been better prepared to fight?' The thought fueled the martial artist's resentment even further, as it now appeared that even the deities themselves favored his Saiyan friend.

'I could understand it when they both trained under Whis-sama since both of them reached a god transformation at that point,' he thought, as he replayed the footage again and again. 'But with Kaio-sama, it should've been different. He accepted us as students too, and all four of us even asked for harder training than what Goku received. So why didn't Kaio-sama offer to teach us this kind of technique?'

After studying the footage over and over, and hoping to take his mind off of this new revelation, Yamcha then sat in a meditative pose as he utilized a technique that he'd learned during his training under Kami. Image training is a skill that is uniquely different from active sparring, utilizing a form of meditation to imagine the individual fighting against an imaginary person. While typical meditation was meant to center a person's mind, and grant the individual a heightened awareness, image training was more to sharpen a person's mind in preparation for combat. Picturing his opponent as his friend and fellow kame student, Goku, Yamcha closed his eyes and envisioned himself engaging the Saiyan in combat. While the martial artist invoked this particular training exercise, a despondent Puar once again mused sadly over the prospect of hindering his friend's training.

'I must think of a way I can solve this problem because I don't want to be the reason Yamcha-sama can't do his best!' Puar thought, mulling his thoughts over and over as he tried to come up with a means to solve their training dilemma.

An hour passed, then another, before Yamcha finally opened his eyes, inhaling and exhaling a deep breath in the process. Puar noticed as well, and suspended his own thoughts, having not been able to come up with a solution.

"Alright Puar, what do you say we take a little break for now eh? There's gotta be something we can do on this ship that doesn't involve me training right?"

"Mm, I'm fine with that, Yamcha-sama. But are you sure it's okay? You've been making such good progress over the past few days," Puar asked, knowing without being told that Yamcha's suggestion was likely a means to delay putting off his training, while not having the shape-shifter feel bad about it.

"Yeah, I have, and honestly that's why I'm suggesting taking a break," he answered with a nod. "I thought it'd have taken me longer to for my body to adjust to anything above 20x gravity since I've only trained at 10x Earth's gravity at Kaio-sama. However, I guess all of that weight training I did in those three years afterward helped strengthen my body more than I knew."

Puar didn't attempt to argue further, and together, the two friends once again used the ship's media program, this time in order to find something to entertain themselves. After scrolling through the shows stored in the ship's computer, the two settled on a nature program dedicated to deducing the strongest animals in nature, watching two then three episodes in succession. As they listened to the dialogue describe the daily habits of a beetle-like insect, Puar slowly came to an epiphany. He smiled to himself as Yamcha sat beside him, watching the program in a detached manner.

"I've got it, Yamcha-sama!" Puar excitedly announced, throwing up his arms and startling his traveling companion in the process.

"Got what Puar?" Yamcha asked, confused by what his friend meant by his proclamation.

"I figured out a way I can possibly grow accustomed to the high gravity while you train," Puar stated, eager to confirm if his theory would pan out.

"Really?" Yamcha asked, slowly sharing in the shape-shifter's excitement. "That's great, how about we finish this show, and then we can see if your idea works."

Puar nodded in agreement, and together the two friends relaxed back into their show. Once finished, Yamcha once again donned his training gear, before moving toward the gravity machine. Looking back at his friend, the martial artist wore an expression of apprehension, as he questioned the shape-shifter's decision.

"You sure you wanna go through with this Puar? I can still get in some pretty good training at the lower gravity levels, and move to higher levels once we reach Namek." His suggestion caused Puar to frown, who readily restated his determination to see his idea to fruition.

"Of course I'm sure, Yamcha-sama! I've already told you, I won't get in the way of your training. You've been working so hard since we left Earth, and even I can tell you've made a lot of progress. I want to see you become as strong as you can, so no one will ever ignore you again."

Yamcha smiled at his friend, once again grateful for his support, and amazed at his resolve.

"Alright, let's try out your plan then," he stated. Puar nodded, shouting the word transform! as his, he activated his shape-shifting abilities. In a puff of smoke, the floating cat had changed into a beetle-like insect, one the martial artist had recognized from the nature show they had just finished watching.

"Why have you transformed into a bug Puar?" Yamcha asked, confused at his friend's plan.

"It's not just any bug, Yamcha-sama, it's a Rhinoceros beetle," Puar stated as if expecting Yamcha to understand his plan. However, seeing only further confusion, Puar went on to explain. "Mou, you probably weren't paying much attention to that show we were watching. The Rhinoceros beetle is said to be one of the strongest animals on Earth, and can lift up over 800 times their own body weight!"

Hearing this, Yamcha was shocked by that information, his face transitioning from surprise to excitement as the brilliance of his friend's idea finally sunk in.

"I see, then that means that you should be able to handle 50x gravity with no sweat," the martial artist pumped his fist in adulation as he congratulated his friend on his ingenuity, "awesome idea, Puar!"

Turning back to the machine, Yamcha felt renewed with hope and energy at the prospect of being able to go further in his training, without risking the health of his friend. Inputting the necessary button commands, Yamcha once again raised the gravity level back up to 50x the normal setting but resisted training right away in order to check on his friend. However, both were pleasantly surprised to find that other than a slight grunt, Puar was able to withstand the higher gravity level with much greater ease than he had before. He even proved this by showing he could still move around the floor of the training room relatively easy. Comfortable in the knowledge that his friend would not be at risk of hurting himself within the higher gravity, for the time being, Yamcha once again engaged in his training with renewed vigor.

After supper and some sleep several hours later, the two partners repeated their new routine, Puar transforming into his Rhinoceros beetle transformation and settling somewhere nearby. Meanwhile, Yamcha increased the gravity level to 60x normal, having sufficiently adjusted his body to handle the previous level. However, unlike the levels prior, the martial artist eventually discovered himself unable to master the heightened level of gravity, even after three breaks and four hours of solid training in between. Unwilling to give up, the martial artist decided that six days of gravity training was enough for now, and decided to use the following day for rest once again.

That didn't mean the human warrior simply sat around. When he and Puar weren't entertaining themselves with a television show or movie stored in the ship's computer or playing a card game of some kind (which Puar winning often much to Yamcha's chagrin), the martial artist would frequently make use of the ship's media system. Not just reviewing footage of each of his fellow fighters, but also continuing further study of the ship, or even attempting to learn the Namekian language.

'Dr. Gero definitely did a thorough job of researching each of our fighting styles and techniques. No wonder he and the other Androids were so confident they could take us out,' he thought as this time he focused his attention on Vegeta.

This was followed by hours more image training and then meditation, once again finding himself coming up short in his image training session. However, this only spurred the wolf fang fist user to continue to push himself in his training. The following week was much of the same, with Yamcha continuing to train at 60x gravity in three four hour training sessions, with a one to two-hour long break in between each session. Precipitated by an hour of stretching and warm-ups, then ending with the same. After three days of such training, the martial artist found himself well adjusted to the gravity level and moved to increase the level of gravity to 70x normal the following day. Although the strain placed on his body was still present, Yamcha discovered his new routine of frequent breaks helped enable his body to hold up despite his age. After another three days, his body was once again able to adjust, able to move relatively freely through the harsh gravity.

On the seventh day of that second week, the harsh gravity levels had once again caught up with him, his muscles and joints once again feeling the pain of his training. To help facilitate his recovery, Yamcha once again took a senzu bean, splitting in half and consuming one half of it, then stashing the other half back into the bag Korin gave him.

'I know eating a whole senzu bean will help me recover faster and more fully, but it'll probably be a good idea for me to save as many of these as I can,' he thought, feeling the ache throughout his body slowly fade away.

Puar fared much better, thanks to his idea of transforming into the incredibly strong insect, only experiencing slight soreness in his appendages. A full day of food and rest, as well as the use of flotation ability to move around throughout the day, enabled the shape-shifter to recover significantly by the following day. This pattern repeated itself in the days and weeks that followed, and by near the end of his first month in space, the martial artist had managed to reach 100x gravity. Although he had been able to move through 60x, 70x, then 80x and 90x gravity levels in a span of roughly three days each, he found it got progressively harder as he went further. He soon found himself needing all six days of training to adjust sufficiently at 100x gravity afterward.

It was on the sixth day of his fourth week of training, with Yamcha in his third round of training for that day, that the martial artist and Puar, in his customary Rhinoceros beetle transformation, found themselves faced with their first emergency situation. Pushing through the strikes of his customary fighting style, as he dashed around the room, a series of beeps from the ship's computer caught the occupants' attention.

"Warning! Warning! Numerous objects of varying sizes detected ahead, collision is imminent. Emergency countermeasures recommended!"

Stopping immediately in his training, the human fighter gingerly made his way over to the gravity device, lowering it back to its normal level. After taking a few moments to allow his body to adjust, the martial artist maneuvered to the ship's main computer terminal. Looking through the clear visor that afforded them a view of space, Yamcha and Puar were both shocked to see their ship approaching what appeared to be an asteroid field.

"Crap! This is bad, according to what we've learned about the ship, it's radar function is designed to map out the best course that allows us to travel through space without crashing headlong into a planet, or getting caught in a star's gravitational field and pulled in. But it doesn't have any weapons installed we can use in order to bust through a bunch of space rocks," Yamcha cursed, taking in the emergency countermeasures the ship recommended.

"So what can we do, Yamcha-sama?" Puar queried, once again back in his normal form now that the gravity had been reduced.

"Well, according to this, it says we can select another algorithm that will change the course of our journey. If we did, we could avoid this and still reach Namek," Yamcha replied.

"If, Yamcha-sama?" Puar questioned, noticing by the tone and expression of his companion that this suggestion didn't seem all too appealing.

"Yeah, for one, it would cause us to have to take longer to get to Namek. Which wouldn't be so bad itself, except the area of space we'd have to travel through is largely unmapped. Even with the ship's radar system, we could wind up flying into something worse." Yamcha informed his companion, his fist clenched as he cursed in apparent frustration.

"But if we don't do something, those asteroids might destroy our ship and us," Puar reminded him.

Thinking for a few moments longer, the martial artist came up with an idea he was certain his partner would consider a radical one. Still feeling the effects of his training on his muscles, Yamcha moved toward a nearby compartment. Opening it and removing the spacesuit located inside, he ignored the discomfort in his body as he donned the apparel. Puar watched on, his concern growing more by the moment as the spaceship continued barreling toward the field of space debris.

"What are you going to do, Yamcha-sama?" Puar asked.

"There's only one way for us to get through this, and on to Namek safely," he spoke as he finished securing himself within the suit. "It's time to put my training to the test, I'm gonna bust us through those rocks," Yamcha spoke, flashing a confident grin at his companion, before attaching a steel tether to his suit.

Confident that he was safely attached to the lifeline to his ship, Yamcha made his way to the hatch as Puar latched on to the handlebar leading to the lower level. Grasping with all of his might, the shape-shifter cried out as the hatch was opened, the vacuum effect created attempting to draw everything not tied down within out into space. After testing to ensure the magnets that composed the bottom of his boots worked, Yamcha carefully made his way out of the ship. In the darkness of space, he was just barely able to make out the asteroids which drifted in front of the ship.

"Alright, let's see what I've got!" Holding out one arm, he drew on his ki as he summoned his only original technique. "Sokidan!"

The aptly named spirit energy bullet, appeared hovering above his hand, far more vibrant and powerful than he could ever recall seeing. Yamcha marveled at his technique for a moment, before an asteroid the size of a baseball whizzed past his head, redirecting his attention as the spaceship now entered the asteroid field. Realizing it was now or never, and feeling confidence surge even further, the martial artist launched the attack at an incoming asteroid. Despite being out-sized, the sokidan blasted through the rock with relative ease.

A flick of his wrist sent the ball of ki zig-zagging from rock to rock, shattering each one to pieces before moving onto the next one. To Puar, who was watching from within the ship, the scene was reminiscent of a pinball machine. The ki attack continued to carve a path through the debris, enabling the ship to continue along its intended trajectory. However, it was eventually halted once it collided with an asteroid, meters ahead. Nearly ten times the size of the spaceship in which he traveled, the ball of ki dissipated as it struck the rock. Shocked at this turn of events, Yamcha frowned as he considered his options for only a moment.

"No way is the Sokidan gonna cut it against that thing, I'm gonna have to bring the big gun against something like that," he muttered, cupping one hand on top of the other as he prepared to launch his most powerful ki attack. "KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAAAAAAA!"

Thrusting his hands forward, the aptly named destruction wave barreled outward, striking the massive space object with incredible power. Yamcha found himself caught off-guard by the surge of ki, however, it initially seemed to have no effect on the asteroid. Feeling the muscles in his arms and legs ache in agony as he continued to pour his ki into the attack. Yamcha's struggle against the colossal object became more and more desperate as the spaceship came closer into contact with it. Knowing that if he didn't succeed in destroying it, his and Puar's lives would end before they ever reached their destination.

Pouring every ounce of ki he had into the attack, Yamcha gradually felt the destruction wave begin to break through the object as the concussive force of the ki forced its way through the center of the object's mass. Just as he felt the pain in his body to reach unbearable proportions, and just as he felt his ki begin to diminish, the Kamehameha finally managed to burrow its way through the large asteroid. The giant celestial object cracked, then splintered, before finally giving way as the stream of ki forced its way through. Just in the nick of time as well, as the spaceship, he was traveling on propelled through and past the debris of the space rock.

However, neither Yamcha or the ship was not spared from the backlash of the asteroid's destruction. And while the powerful magnets on the bottom of his boots were able to keep him anchored to the ship, his muscles were too exhausted from the combination of his training, and the expenditure of so much ki to keep him upright. The martial artist collapsed, somehow reflexively reaching out to grab the steel tether which ensured he would not be lost into the vast emptiness of space. Fighting against the ache and exhaustion that affected his body, Yamcha slowly managed to pull himself back to the hatch and into the ship, tumbling to the floor with a thud. A panicked Puar, having transformed himself into an adult human and donning a spacesuit himself, succeeded in closing and locking the latch to the ship.

"Are you alright, Yamcha-sama?!" Puar asked after removing his suit.

Discovering his friend to be nearly unconscious, and with labored breathing, the shape-shifter transformed back into his normal state. Moving to the living quarters to retrieve the bag of senzu beans from where they were stored. As he tended to his partner, both Puar and Yamcha were unaware of the ship's flashing computer monitor, signaling a change in course the ship was now taking. Selecting the nearest habitable planet within that sector of the galaxy, the Capsule Corp ship continued its path through space.

To Be Continued…..