Chapter 24

It was a rare thing for it to happen.

He was gave him permission to go into the subbasement of the association. Very few have ever reached the depths of the mountain, and today it was for a special occasion. Tempest was there and saw Zombieman waiting for him. There was a glare in his eyes as he turned to him and the sneer followed. "You ain't wearing anything that is a recording device are you?!" he demanded.

"No, we have an agreement." Tempest stated. He even changed into his mawashi belt for the occasion. There was no recording device on his person what so ever. "I really do appreciate this. My official weigh in is coming up, and soon after a tournament no less and I don't wish to kill anyone."

Zombieman merely nodded as he put on a pair of bike shorts, he then clipped the belt around his waist before reluctantly pushing the button.

The device unleashed this oozing looking substance, like the slime he has seen Alley use, yet it encased Zombieman's whole body! When it stopped, he looked rather large and worthy of a sumo wrestler. He even looked over himself before letting out a sigh. "So this is what I would look like fat huh?" he muttered. "Come on kid let's get this over with"

Tempest nodded.

They spent an hour testing his strength. The first strike Tempest landed made Zombieman gasp. "Too hard… your broke my ribs." He warned.

It startled him. "I'm so sorry! Do you want to stop?" yet in ten minutes he was fine. "Wait, aren't you hurt?"

"You have no idea who I am do you kid? I'm called Zombieman for a reason. I can't be killed." He explained. "You can hit me as hard as you want, I won't die from it. But for now, I am here to gauge your strength. So ease up on your strike, I'm what? A three hundred pound sumo or something?"

He nodded, he eased up on his strikes, and the second one knocked the wind out of him, but warned that was still on the brink of breaking ribs. The third strike was enough to knock a man out of the ring. "Okay, so that's the lightweights you would be going up against. Let's see Alley's instructions said if I turned this…" he turned the knob on his belt, the mass increased around Zombieman as he began to look more like the professional sumos. "Okay, let's see what this can do. Let it rip!"

The training was very insightful. Tempest understood how to control his own strength and knows he needs to be careful doing so. He has figured out the extent of power needed to gain his victory, and also at the same time ensures that he puts on a good enough show to be promoted.

When the session finished, Tempest bow graciously. "Thank you so much for your help."

"Yeah," said Zombieman as he undid his device, ripped it off and passed it over to Tempest. He leaned in and very sternly stated. "Never speak of this again!"

One lesson was done, and Tempest had to go off for his next one.

#

He didn't get much time with Oni, yet when he was able to, Tempest learned all the mannerisms of being a sumo wrestler from him. There was a certain way one needed to carry themselves in the ring and out in public. Such as he cannot raise his voice in anger, nor is he to fight pointless battles. "You are able to defend yourself if need be or for the safety of others. HOWEVER, if you start the fight, you are not worthy of being a sumo wrestler!" he was told.

Since then, Tempest as worked on his composure, he has to keep his himself calm and ensure nothing provoked his anger or would cause him to strike back against another. He only needed a few days to learn and perfect everything.

On the last lesson, Oni had leaned into him and whispered. "I want you to enter this." And slipped him a paper.

Curious, Tempest opened up the slip and read it. "A tournament? But I haven't registered yet"

"This is for after you register." Oni explained. "Without this, you will be in the bottom ranks for a while. This is a special tournament that is invite only, you will have a special privilege since you are being sponsored by a former Yokozuna!"

He was uncertain as to what he should make of it. It sounded like a pass to get into the higher sumo bracket. "Oni… is this fair to the others under your teachings?" he asked. "I feel as if I just stole this from someone."

Oni waved off his concern. "These are only given to those who we believe to be in a higher talent of the sumo federation. You have shown me and many of my students your abilities, despite just taking up the sport. Not to mention, your teacher is one hell of a teacher isn't he?"

It brought a small smile to his lips. He thought over the various ways his father had trained him in strength. Recently, he has been using Pythan and Bo in helping him with his feet work. He had a habit of lifting his foot too soon off the ground, that could potentially thrown him off balance. So, Tempest was taught to 'slither' on two feet.

That was merely the start of it.

There have been other tests and exercises his father created to get him stronger, Tempest already knew his power was growing thanks to his father's lessons. "Very well then, I accept."

Oni's smile grew. "I knew you would! Now then, we need to get you ready, your official registration is tomorrow. You should have a good hot shower tonight and make certain you bring a change of clothing along with your Mawashi belt and loincloth. You need to be wearing that when weighed in."

He nodded his head and stood from his chair, with a gracious bow, Tempest thanked Oni for his time and efforts. "I will do you proud. Thank you Sensei for everything."

#

The next day…

He stood in line with all the others waiting to sign up when he heard the whispering. "Pretty boy is in the wrong line."

"No kidding, what does he think this is?"

"Who cares, he'll be out of this in no time."

They continued to whisper behind his back, but he chose to ignore it. His goal was in sight as he was one step closer to becoming Yokozuna! "Next!"

It was finally his turn.

Tempest walked in before a small panel of judges and officials. He was measured for his height with appeared impressive to them. "Six feet, twelve inches" they called out.

'Not bad,' Tempest thought, he stood rather tall over all the other wrestlers, so he may have a bit of an advantage there. His weight though he wasn't sure about. He has tried to put on a few pounds, even with the new diet he found his body has not changed the least bit. He was big, however he appeared rather trim to say the least. He could still see abs!

"On the scale please."

He snapped out of his moment of confusion as other wrestlers peered in laughing at him. Yet as his feet hit the scale they went silent. They haven't adjusted it from the last man who walked through. He was 478 pounds. The moment Tempest stepped on it, the scale instantly tipped. The officials were stunned as they began to move the scale farther and farther down to try and balance it. Even Tempest was stunned as it moved beyond the five hundred mark!

Farther and farther they continued to push until it balanced. "Uh… is this right?" one official called.

They began to look over the scale before deeming it was broken. "Sorry sir can you go onto the other scale for us please?"

"Yes, of course," Tempest stepped off, they brought out a brand new one and fully calibrated. He stepped on it with caution as they began to move the bar down to balance. The looks on their faces weren't ones he liked, they themselves couldn't believe the results. "Uh… it's official… weight, 702 pounds 4 ounces."

He stepped off and turned as the other sumos froze. "Seven… seven hundred?!" they whispered.

"Check his belt! It's weighted!" One shouted.

"His mawashi belt was inspected before he put it on, there is no weight to the belt, Tempest, welcome to the Sumo federation. Earn your titles well, the more victories you obtain the quicker your rank will rise, understood?"

"Fully," he said.

"Cut your hair too, your hair is too long"

He froze.

He has to cut his hair? But… he loves his hair! However it is against the rules and traditions, with a sigh he vowed to have it done properly before he competes. With that, he returned to the change room and placed on his civilian clothing.

#

He walked out of there with his official papers. Tempest Brawler. Rank Jonokuchi, the bottom of the barrel, however it's the starting point of his sumo career at least for now. Just as he walked out of the registration, he was suddenly grabbed and lifted off the ground effortlessly. "YOU DID IT!"

He laughed as his feet hit the ground, he turned and saw his father beaming with pride. "You're registered! Now… the real fun begins!"

Tempest remembered the invitation only tournament Oni insisted he enter, it was a few days from now and it was a week long.

"Dad… what if I am not ready for this? I mean, this is an invite only tournament, Oni's name is on this and I have to do him proud, what if I am not ready!" Tempest demanded.

His father merely snickered. "Invite only huh? You must have some skills if a former Yokozuna is backing you. That's already going to tip this in your favor. As for being ready… you've been ready since you left the damn sumo stable!" He has never see such passion flair up in his father's eyes, there was a look of excitement and yet a hint of evil all at once as he clenched his fists in excitement. "Think of it Tempest, one week, how many sumos can you defeat in that time? How much can we increase your rank in that time? After that, you need to bank your victories depending on the rank you get. If eight victories gets you leveled up… how many more will get you up four tiers?" he asked.

He never thought about like that. After this tournament, the official ones are a fifteen day event, with so many other wrestlers who have registered, there was a good opportunity before him. He nodded his head. "Okay, let's…"

Before he could finish, he was grabbed by the arm and was airborne! His father wasn't going to wait until later, he flew him as fast as he could to City D to register. His feet hit the ground rather suddenly as they arrived at the arena. With a gulp of his pride, Tempest went in and sighed up for the invite only tournament. Despite his low rank, the moment they saw Oni's name on the paper along with Tempest's, the officers went pale and accepted his registration form.

#

They went to the Association shortly after. Tempest had one final piece of business to attend to. Sadly it meant taking what he treasured most about his look. His father was instant to pick up on his reluctance. "Something wrong? You keep touching your hair."

"Oh… I have to cut it." He said lowly. "I don't want to… I really like my hair!"

Garou nodded. "Let's go see your brother…" He wasn't certain as to why he suggested such a thing, yet by the time they reached Alley's lab, he found his brother Yuki working along side Genus. "This is remarkable, it really works!"

"Ahem" Father said a little loudly.

The two paused and faced him. "Hi dad!" Yuki called. "What's up?"

"Tempest here needs some help. He can't have long hair for his tournament coming up. He's going to have to cut it…"

"What?! NO!" protested Yuki. "There's no need for that! We just got something from Boros! Brother I can fix this easily, don't cut your braids!"

Tempest was curious now. "What did he sent?"

He reached over the table and took what appeared to be a mere plastic elastic band. "Come here, let's me show you!" As Tempest approached, he felt his hair get moved around, when suddenly, the back of his head grew lighter!

SNAP

He froze as he looked to Genus and father who nodded their approval. "Nice, a volume controlling device I see?" his father stated.

"More or less, look in the mirror Tempest." Said Yuki.

He took a moment and peered into a small mirror on the wall. His hair had shrunk down to standards acceptable in sumo wrestling, but he wondered how! "This… is incredible!"

"Can't have you losing your signature look. You love your braids!" Yuki said and smirked. "Just don't wear that all the time, when you are done your tournament, or whatever, take it off when you get home." He explained.

Tempest smiled and nodded. Turning to his father he announced. "Let's prepare for the tournament"