"Unexpected Romance: Changes"
Chapter 8- "Art of the Kaio"
By- Tiny
The gravity chamber in Capsule Corp. was not the best place for a sparring session, due mainly to the fact Bulma hadn't upgraded it's energy resistance yet, thus on this morning it sat empty. Rather than use the still unstable room for training purposes, two of it's occupants opted to go out over the ocean to conduct their battle, seeing as the losses would be minimal. The air was calm and not too warm yet, making it so the two lone figures weren't sweating that much with the light sparring, but that was all about to change very quickly.
The two figures training on this day were Yamcha, the former desert bandit and one of the most skilled warriors on Earth, and Krillin, the second most powerful human fighter on the planet. The two of them constantly sparred with each other, seeing as both were out of their third counterpart's league and also because of the fact that their strength's were more closely matched. Their spar had been going on for close to two hours now, about average for the warm-up between these two superb fighters, and the time was rapidly approaching for the more serious spar.
Krillin didn't look as beaten up as his older counterpart, due in large part to the sizable difference in their power levels, but he was still sweating heavily all over due to the massive amount of weights he was wearing. Yamcha's weights were equally as heavy as the smaller, younger man's, but due to how new the whole training with them on was to him he hadn't adjusted quite as well as he had hoped. He was still able to hold his own though, against a much stronger and more seasoned fighter, and he could sense now that the time had come to bring their match to a close.
"You ready to finish this, or rather for me to finish it?" Yamcha taunted, smirking in a way he didn't often do, "I'm not going to get shown up again."
"You don't think so, but you're going down Yamcha!" Krillin chuckled, a reddish twinge creeping into his aura, "Ready for the pain?"
"Bring it on, baldy!"
Yamcha didn't even know what hit him as Krillin's aura exploded in a blazing shade of blood red and the short man lunged forward, driving his fist down into his opponent's stomach. The former bandit was sent reeling backwards from the sheer force of the blow, but recovered quickly as his own aura took on the same hue and he threw a fist towards Krillin with equal ferocity. The bald fighter didn't seem that taken aback by the attack, bringing his arm up just in time to block it while throwing a counterattack, which Yamcha easily avoided.
The two warriors continued this way for some time, neither giving the other an inch as they exchanged blows back and forth, sending up large waves in the wake of their immense and steadily rising energies. Both looked more determined than ever to win their fight, even more determined than they had been back against the Saiya-jin, even if this fight was only for training. Neither of them wanted to say that they had lost to the other, not wanting the humiliation of another loss to hang over their head, and they didn't intend to have it happen this time.
Yamcha was a little distracted by thoughts of losing, so he barely noticed as Krillin swung a small ki blast into his chest, sending the older warrior back in the air a considerable distance. The short man thought that he had gained the advantage and swung his fist right for his fellow human's head, but the fist went straight through an afterimage as Yamcha moved around behind him. Krillin didn't even notice this as the older warrior rushed up behind him, his red aura blazing even brighter than before and his fist aglow with an orange-red energy.
"You aren't gonna beat me today Krillin!" Yamcha roared, the energy in his fist taking the form of a snarling wolf's head, "ROGA FU-FU KEN!"
Krillin didn't even have time to dodge as the blast slammed into his body, knocking the small man into the ocean and sending up a wave of steam, Yamcha's red aura fading as most his energy left him. The shorter man was no better off judging from what he could sense, the technique they were using having drained them considerably during their short battle. It took Krillin a short while to return to the surface, his bald head gleaming from a mixture of sweat and seawater, his already heavy clothes even heavier from the moisture they had accumulated.
"Well, I guess you win this round Yamcha, but I'll get you next time!" Krillin grinned, rising up out of the sea, "Wanna go back to Roshi's house and grab a bite to eat or something?"
"No, I think I'll just head back to Capsule Corp. and relax for a little while before I start up training again," Yamcha shook his head, "Meet out here with Tien, same time tomorrow right?"
"Yup, see ya!" Krillin nodded, heading off towards the horizon, "Tell Bulma I said hey!"
"I will, thanks for the workout Krillin!" Yamcha called after his friend, "I just hope that I can hold out next time..."
Gohan jumped back and forth across the landscape, trying to put as much distance between himself and his new sensei as possible, seeing as Vegeta was going to be busy the next few days with training his mother. As such, the young hybrid had been shooed away into the wilderness to train himself for a while without Vegeta watching his each and every move, meaning he could practice some new moves. He had already mastered everything in Vegeta's arsenal, including the prince's fighting style, but he had yet to show Vegeta the full extent to which his power could go.
The young warrior had spent many hours training on his own in the wilderness late at night, as well as with his old sensei, Piccolo, and had since managed to master a move that his father had once employed with great finesse. It took a great amount of concentration to execute the move, not to mention concentration, but that hadn't stopped Gohan from trying it nonetheless. He had a feeling that this new threat coming to the Earth would be more powerful than what they had faced before and he vowed to be ready for anything, especially with his father gone.
The forest was eerily quiet as the young fighter came to a stop in a clearing a few miles from his home, closing his eyes and focusing his energy on everything around him in the way he had for the past half a year. He did want to train himself, but he had another reason for coming so far from the house for training lately, and that reason was at the moment creeping around behind him. Gohan smirked softly, seeing as they had tried this same maneuver from the side the previous night, but didn't do anything to indicate that he had noticed their presence yet.
The attack came quickly and swiftly, zipping past Gohan's head quickly as the young half-breed moved out of the way, only to find another blast slamming into his chest with great force. Gohan was a bit shocked that they had actually gotten him this time, but smiled at the improvement as he ducked away from the fist rocketing for his head, kneeing the assailant in their stomach. A small amount of blood flew from his shadowy attacker's mouth as they fell to the ground with a thud, clutching their belly as they rose back to their feet and glared at Gohan, who just smiled brightly.
The attacker was a small girl with brown hair and green eyes, couldn't have been any older than Gohan was, dressed in the weighted Saiya-jin training suit that Gohan had given her over a year before. The weights weren't that heavy on the suit, only about five hundred pounds as opposed to Gohan's, which were normally three times that, but she was clearly still feeling the strain of them. She didn't seem to happy that the other warrior had caught her off-guard yet again, but couldn't help but smile back at her sensei as he folded his arms over his chest.
"You've improved, you actually managed to hit me with the weights on this time around," Gohan chuckled, "But you'll have to do much better than that if you hope to have a prayer in the next Budokai, Lime."
"I would've had you if you weren't so darn good, lousy Saiya-jin genes," the young girl pouted, falling into stance, "But I'm not done yet! Tien-sensei's been training me for the last couple weeks and HE taught me a new move."
"Hmm...knowing Tien, that could be anything," Gohan smiled, cocking his head to the side, "Okay Lime, show me what you've got and be sure not to take of those weights or this training won't do you any good!"
"You talk too much," Lime smirked, her white aura darkening, "Here I come Gohan! KAIO-KEN...TIMES THREE!"
Gohan's eyes widened in shock as he jumped out of the rushing girl's way, but not soon enough as her elbow drove into his ribcage, sending the young fighter sprawling across the meadow. Whatever training Tien had put her through had definitely had some damn good results, seeing as just a month ago she couldn't use the Kaio-Ken attack or even HIT Gohan unless he let her. It wasn't often that a young fighter showed so much prowess or potential, and Gohan was very proud of his student if not a bit jealous of how rapidly she was progressing.
The young Saiya-jin was not about to lose, however, as Lime came rushing towards him at top speed, energy pulsing in her hands as she prepared to try and take the more powerful fighter down. It wasn't meant to be, however, as Gohan's own aura exploded around him a bright red color, leaving Lime in the dust as her attack hit nothing but the ground. The human girl was stunned for a moment, but that soon passed as Gohan drove a kick into the back of her head, sending the girl sprawling across the ground at lightning speed.
"I thought you were supposed to be nice to women, not beat them," the girl pouted, rubbing the back of her head, "I almost had you this time...and I didn't even have to take the weights off."
"I know, and you did good, but I'm more experienced than you are and the Kaio-Ken can be a bit erratic if your not used to it," Gohan smiled, helping her up, "Now, we can get on with the real training. Today Lime, we're going to teach you how to use the Light of Death, one of my old sensei's attacks. You ready?"
"Ready and waiting!" Lime beamed, winking at the young boy, "Maybe then I'll be able to beat you...next time."
Updated Power Levels
Gohan(w/weights): 1,650,000
w/Kaio-Ken: 2,800,000
Krillin(w/weights): 800,000
w/Kaio-Kenx2: 1,600,000
Yamcha(w/weights): 650,000
w/Kaio-Kenx2: 1,300,000
Lime(w/weights): 450,000
w/Kaio-Kenx3: 1,350,000
Author's Notes: You didn't get to see much regarding Chi-Chi's training, as I didn't feel it would be worth it due to how little experience she has in the field of mastering the ki arts. I hope you all enjoyed the little surprise I threw in there with Lime having already met Gohan and having been training under not only him, but also under the other fighters for some time now. She's not nearly on the same level as Krillin or the other humans, but she's damn close due to how young she is and who she has teaching her how to fight.
The next chapter will skip ahead about a month, opening with Piccolo meditating under a waterfall as something starts coming towards the planet, something dark and as dangerous as anything they've ever faced. The battle you've all been waiting for is about to commence, but is it really Slug who is the dark presence they're all afraid of, or is it his second in command? Stay tuned to find out...