DBZR 1/2

Chapter 18: Back to Training

The sun rose slowly over the horizon on Earth, bathing everything in its gentle early morning caress, just as it had done many mornings before. Below the inhabitants of the world would be awakening from a deep slumber, greeting the morning with a series of moans and groans before continuing on with their lives.

However, at the Lookout, there were some who had been up long before the sun had arrived.

A creature of habit, Ranma had arisen early, stretching out and performing some actual katas for the first time in a long while. Surprisingly, Akane, Shampoo, Ryouga and Cologne were up as well, performing their own respective styles katas or stretches while doing their best to ignore each other.

Well…to say that they were all performing their own respective styles katas would be stretching the truth.

Shampoo, wearing a nearly skintight white Chinese outfit cut to fit, the legs ending halfway up her calves and the sleeves well clear of her wrists, was conducting some very provocative stretches almost directly in line with Ranma's line of sight; however, the martial artist was too caught up in his katas to notice. This drove Shampoo to make the moves even more provocative, with her crowning achievement of doing the splits and then placing her head on the tile, her full bust arched upwards towards the sky in a pose that would have made any man just lose all control right then and there…

…Except Ranma had his back to her at that moment though, so he didn't see it. Ryouga though would be found passed out on the tile, a couple small streams of blood flowing from his nose.

Akane had seen all of the Chinese girls antics, and was currently red in the face in rage at her. And at Ranma as well, for he had to have somehow suggested it to her. Oh sure, he wasn't paying attention, playing the stoic and serious martial artist, but she was almost positive that he secretly enjoyed it. "Pervert…" She muttered in a low growl, firing off several rapid reverse punches.

Cologne could only sigh at the sight of nubile flesh contorting in such ways. How she longed for such days again, but that was nothing more than wistful thinking, and detrimental to her goal of getting Ranma and Shampoo together.

Still, the idea of a dragon that could grant wishes was intriguing. "If Shampoo is unable to complete the task, than I'll have to take matters into my own hands." She thought to herself as she balanced on her stick perfectly, executing several quick jabs of her fingers to invisible foes pressure points.

Just inside one of the towers, watching the group warm up, arms crossed over his chest, Vegeta snorted. "What a waste. Only the old woman and the red-shirted boy are of any use, and she would be smashed like a bug in an instant."

"I think you're dismissing them far too quickly Vegeta." Goku replied, leaning on the railing as he watched. "They're all martial artists-"

"Of course they are." The Saiyan Prince interrupted, and then pointed at the still prostrate and rather frustrated Shampoo. "Clearly those stretches are designed to completely loosen up all the muscles at once." He said sarcastically.

"You really think so?" Goku blinked, looking again. Vegeta just smacked his forehead.

"No you idiot, and that was my point! She's not focused, and neither is the boy with the bandana or the other girl. They're too busy focusing on each other and not their techniques. They lack discipline! Kakkarot, what you do with them is your business and I could care less, but you're wasting your time."

Goku just gazed down at them for a few minutes before he looked up at the Prince. "You could help teach them discipline and focus. Especially Akane." He pointed to the distant girl, who was now attempting to beat up Ranma for finally noticing Shampoos body position and trying to help her up. This in turn prompted Shampoo to attack Akane in 'defense of her Airen.'

Vegeta snorted. He watched Akane and Shampoo go at it, watching both women's techniques. Shampoo was clearly the superior, more polished fighter, but Akane was holding her own, for once.

Ryouga, recovered now, was going at Ranma for letting Shampoo beat on Akane, even though he had almost nothing to do with it, and now two full blow battles was in progress.

Vegeta snorted again. "The girl would be a waste of time…hers and mine."

Goku looked up at him after the curious statement.

"She barely listens to her own, what makes you think she'd learn anything from me? I'd tire of her temper and attitude and most likely destroy her on the spot."

"Aww come on! She's got potential, I know you see it!" Goku exclaimed.

"Maybe so, but I would not be the one to try to get her to achieve it. I have don't have the patience or the inclination to train one such as her." Vegeta consented, and then pointed at Ryouga. "That one though I could train."

Just at that moment, an enraged Ryouga cried out "Bakusai Tenketsu!" and rammed a finger forward. Ranma leapt back, away from the strike, smirking, when he noticed Ryouga was smirking as well. Too late the pig-tailed young man saw the true target; the tile that was just now in front of him.

With a loud crash, the tile cracked and shattered, sending several shards flying up at Ranma, who managed to avoid being skewered by falling to his back.

Or rather, by tripping on one of the many plants and falling onto his back, but Ranma wasn't one to complain on a sudden fortunate turn of events.

He leapt over the plant, yelling out, "Moko Takabisha!" A powerful blue energy blast shot out and crashed into a surprised Ryouga, sending him flying back several feet. Yet he remained standing, even though he smoked slightly, growling in anger.

"Ranma…you're going to pay for that!" He rushed forward, but suddenly found himself with a foot planted in his face. This in turn crashed him into the tile hard, with several little black pigs floating around his dazed head.

Above in the tower Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "He has a potential, but any training he received would be a waste as well."

"Oh? I betcha I could train Ranma to the point no one could beat him." Goku grinned, almost goading the other Saiyan.

A goad that was taken up without a thought.

"Hmph. My son defeated yours in the last tournament. I think we know who's the better trainer."

"I wasn't here to train Goten. This time it'll be different." Goku straightened up, grinning.

Vegeta gave a hard smirk in response. "Very well. We'll see who's the better trainer."

"It's agreed. I'll train Ranma and Akane. You get the other two."

Vegeta blanched slightly at the idea of having to train Shampoo before regaining his stoic gaze. "I have no wish to train the woman."

"Aww come on! I'm training two, you have to as well! It's only fair!" Goku complained.

"Since when has battle ever been fair?"

Goku's eyes narrowed slightly. "If you're so sure of your ability to train, then you should be able to take the same training load as me."

The Saiyan Prince grimaced. Much as he hated to admit it, the taller Saiyan had a point.

"What's the real reason why you don't want to train her?"

Vegeta was quiet for a few moments, looking away from the still ongoing brawl and Goku before he finally muttered, "She's built better than Bulma ever was. Bulma would get the wrong idea."

Goku instantly grinned widely. "You're afraid of little Bulma now?"

How Vegeta's head became larger than Goku stood tall was beyond him, but Vegeta managed the impressive feat as he exclaimed, "No you idiot! I'm not about to risk losing Bulma over some air headed and undisciplined girl just because she's got a bigger chest!"

Goku found himself planted on the floor up against a pillar from the sudden action, eyes wide with beads of sweat slipping down the side of his head. "But Vegeta, I'm sure if you explained to Bulma she'd understand…"

"Then why don't you tell her then? I have no interest in finding myself cast out by my wife." Vegeta glared at Goku, almost daring him to try to explain to Bulma.

Goku laughed hesitantly. Truth be told, he didn't want to tell her either. Bulma was known to possess the same power to pull a weapon from apparently thin air as Akane, much like Chi-Chi. And a frying pan seemed to be the standard weapon.

"Eh heh heh…I guess I could tell her..." He started to say when a young voice interrupted him.

"Tell her what?" Bulma asked, yawning. Dressed in rumpled clothing she wiped her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand.

"Ahh…just to tell you that we were thinking of training Ranma and the rest." Goku quickly ad libbed, which received a triumphant smirk from Vegeta.

"Oh. Are you talking about in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" She asked, yawning again and stretching. "You should both take two of them at a time then."

"R-really? Who gets who though?" Goku asked, feeling a bit of hope. Vegeta, for his part, looked surprised.

"Yea. Umm…" Bulma trotted over to the railing, looking at the fighting Nerima crew. "How about you get the girl with the blonde streaks, and the boy in the red shirt, and Vegeta you get the other two?"

"Why those two?" Vegeta snorted, though inwardly almost shocked that Bulma would even suggest it.

"Because they're both too focused on the red shirted boy. They'd challenge you instead of just infuriate you like that girl with the blonde streaks would." Bulma appraised honestly.

Goku grinned widely behind Bulma's back as he stood up, almost giggling in his appreciation for his little victory over Vegeta. The Prince glowered back, but finally grumbled aloud, "Fine. I'll train them then."

Bulma smirked. "You don't sound too pleased…you think girls are too weak to be trained?"

"Nonsense. Some of the greatest Saiyan warriors where women.." Vegeta replied, but before he could continue Goku's excitement got the better of him.

"Great! Let's go tell them!" Goku said, practically leaping out of the tower and floating over towards the fighters. Vegeta didn't follow suit in the same fashion, simply floating his way out of the tower and over towards the group, arms still crossed.

Ranma was doing his katas once more, Ryouga out cold, while Shampoo and Akane glared at each other, panting. It was a draw, something Akane had never been able to do on the bustier Amazon.

Needless to say, this rather bothered Shampoo, while it pleased Akane to no end.

"Hey guys!" Goku called, landing on the tile nearby. Vegeta landed a few moments later.

"Good morning sir." Cologne said politely, not breaking from her serene position on the top of her cane.

"Morning Goku." Ranma replied, coming out of his kata easily, while the others also relaxed…mostly. Shampoo and Akane still kept a healthy distance from each other.

Ryouga was just out cold.

Dende walked out from within the Lookout and up to Ryouga, quickly healing the lad without comment. He had already had to heal him and Ranma both at least twice before, so he was coming to accept that this was going to be the way of things while they were there.

"Vegeta and I have decided to split you guys up for training. Ranma, you and Akane will train with me, and Ryouga and Shampoo train with Vegeta."

Shampoo's face fell, as did Ryouga's. "Shampoo no train with Airen? Why not?" She cried, more in annoyance than sadness.

Ryouga was crying rivers of tears though. "Oh horrible Fate, to have me train away from my darling Akane!"

Those two continued on for several minutes, the vein in Vegeta's temple throbbing as he gritted his teeth. Goku gazed at them confused, scratching the back of his head while Ranma's heart sank a bit. He had hoped to train with Goku alone, but he was willing to be flexible. Provided Akane didn't mallet him or something.

Akane though was almost jubilant. Not because she'd be training with Ranma, but because someone was willing to actually bother with training her at all. Ever since her father stopped training, she taught herself, though it had been clearly ineffectual.

Finally Vegeta bellowed. "Enough! I've had enough of your blubbering!" The air pushed away from him as his aura flared slightly. The Nerima crew froze for a moment, Ryouga in mid-sniff, while Shampoo stopped in mid plead to be training with Ranma.

"Look at you! Both of you are undisciplined, unfocused! You are worthless as warriors! You're both a disgrace!"

"See here, Shampoo is the strongest warrior in the tribe! Nobody can match her skill!" Cologne exclaimed, though inwardly she was highly pleased at Vegeta's words. She had noticed Shampoos skill degrading, and she was too easy to distract when it came to Ranma himself. "Finally, someone who can get through to her." She thought to herself.

"She's nothing but a disgrace if she's a warrior then! And you…" He jabbed a gloved finger at Ryouga, "…are even worse! At least she manages to focus against her opponent. You waste too much motion and energy in your attacks. There's no thought involved in your style!"

His angry countenance changed to a rather evil grin as he lowered his hand. Ryouga and Shampoo both didn't fear anyone, mostly, but they both positively shivered. Even Cologne felt some trepidation as she gazed at the Prince. "But I'll make you both real warriors. Fighters with no equal."

His two trainees gulped in response.

Goku laughed nervously. "Man Vegeta, you're really laying it on thick aren't you?"

Vegeta turned his grin and gaze on Goku. "Kakkarot, mark my words, I will defeat you, one way or another. I intend to win our bet."

Goku's face instantly became serious, with his self-confident smirk in place. "Alright then. Have it your way. So who goes into the Time Chamber first?"

"We'll settle it the usual way." Vegeta took up a stance, his legs spreading shoulder width, arms raised to his chest, fists clenched.

"Alright…" Goku took up the same stance, grinning.

The Nerima crew quickly backed away, thinking the two Saiyans were about to come to blows. "I'll take my chances over the side if it gets bad." Akane muttered, eyeing the edge of the Lookout.

"You and me both." Cologne whispered, her skin clammy.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

Both raised their fists into the sky, and then thrust them down between the two. "Rock! Paper! Scissors!" They repeated the phrase several times, raising and thrusting their fisted hands forward each time.

The Nerima crew was laid out on the ground in shock.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors…HAH!" Both cried, their hands taking up the shape of the weapon they chose.

"Woo hoo! Rock beats scissors!" Goku cried out joyously, while Vegeta glowered.

"I'm beginning to think you're cheating Kakkarot. You won the last one before we fought Majin Buu as well." The Prince grumbled, crossing his arms irritably.

Goku giggled like a schoolboy, grinning. "Don't be a sore loser Vegeta." He turned to his 'students' and clapped his hands in glee. "Ok, grab your things and follow me. We're going to go into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."

"The whatamawha?" Ranma muttered, blinking in confusion.

Akane was confused as well. "What's that?"

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber is a special training room. Inside you train for an entire year, but outside only one day will pass."

"Really? A whole year of training in one day?" Ranma's face brightened up, as did the other three Nerima members. Cologne was more thoughtful, but thought it was quite impressive.

"Yup. But it's not going to be easy. It's tough training. Think you guys can handle it?" Goku asked, fists on his hips.

"You bet! Let's go already!" Ranma grinned.

Akane nodded, looking forward to the experience. "I might just become strong enough to handle even Ranma!"

"Ok then. Follow me." Goku turned and walked past the still glowering Vegeta.

"I can at least begin training them while we wait." He planned to himself as he watched the other three walk away.

Moments later…

"Here we are. Last chance if you guys want to opt out." Goku said. Mr. Popo stood by the door, waiting to twist the golden handle.

"No way, I'm ready for anything!" Ranma grinned.

"Me too!" Akane reciprocated.

"Very well. Inside you'll find everything you need for a whole year. Be careful in there." Mr. Popo said as he twisted the handle and opened it, emitting a bright white light that nearly blinded Ranma and Akane.

Goku immediately walked forward, smiling as he did so. With only the slightest bit of hesitation on both their parts, his new students followed after him, and Popo closed the door behind them.

To Be Continued…

Holy…ANOTHER update! Scary isn't it? That's two chapters….two more and I'll have fulfilled my bet to AnT! MWUAHAHA! Next time, we see what the boys are up to once again, watch Drill Sergeant Vegeta train his new students, and what about that girl we saw earlier? Hmmm…developments worth watching I think.

Until next time…

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