--- Disturbance, Book 1: Convergence ---
Chapter C11 - Believe
Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it. Also: See first chapter.
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-Believe, when you lie-
"So," Kaen started, placing a hand on his mate's shoulder, "Are you ready for this?"
Pi sighed, crushing the can in her hand and absently tossing it over her shoulder; she didn't need to look o know she'd gotten it in the bin without any rebound. "Honestly Kaen, I'm not sure," she replied slowly, "I mean, I know I have the strength to do it, but-"
"You might not if you have to hold back so Gohan doesn't know what to expect?" Kaen guessed, a smile on his face. When she nodded, he spun her around to face him, saying, "Pi, keeping Gohan in the dark until the semi-finals is not as important to me as seeing you in the finals. I want you to use as much power as you feel necessary to defeat Vegeta, and we'll deal with the fallout afterwards. Trust your instincts. Bend, but don't break."
-You will never need to recognize yourself-
She nodded in acceptance, "Okay Kaen, but-"
"Shh," he interrupted, placing a finger over her lips. "I know you Pi. You have all the skill you need to defeat Vegeta; you've been dealing with me all these years. Just believe in yourself, the way I do."
"What?" She exclaimed, sure she'd heard him wrong.
He smiled. "I believe in you Pi. I know you can do this."
-To deceive-
She smiled up at him brilliantly, "Thank you Sensei!"
His smile turned a touch nostalgic as he commented, "You haven't called me that for years; why now?"
"Here, I am not your bondmate," she replied sagely, "Here, I am your student, as you are my teacher."
"Very well then Gakusei," Kaen commented, "Let us return; the third test awaits."
-To remove all chance of doubt and be received-
"So, you guys care to make a wager on this match?" Eagle asked excitedly.
"Not a chance in hell," Condor replied.
"Wait a minute," Yamcha interrupted, "How come you'll bet against Goku, but not against Vegeta, despite the fact Goku has defeated Vegeta before?"
-With your lie-
"Simple," Raptor replied, "Deep down at his core, Goku's a nice guy, and he fights like a nice guy."
"Whereas Vegeta," Oz continued, "Is a heinous prick."
"The fight's predetermined," Hawk shrugged.
"Oh yeah?" Falcon challenged, "Well I've got twelve thousand zenni here says Roc wins, and a further twelve that says she does it without throwing a single punch or kick."
-The deception is complete when you concede-
A massive grin on his face, Hawk held out his hand, "You're on! I'd say it's a shame to take your money, but, that'd be a lie."
"Not my money anyway," Falcon replied, "I won it off you chumps."
"But how's that work?" Harrier asked, "What happens if Roc wins having thrown a punch, or loses without?"
-And decide-
"We both win twelve and lose twelve, winding up back where we started," Falcon explained.
"Won't happen," Hawk shrugged dismissively, "Fighting Vegeta, she'll have to fight back sooner or later."
"Oh I never said she wouldn't fight back," Falcon smirked, "Just that she wouldn't punch or kick."
-To reject your lives, sacrificed to me-
Pi closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to help calm and focus her mind, as she and Vegeta strode out towards the concrete ring. She and Kaen hadn't spoken another word to each other since they returned to the fighter's lounge, but his words before then had assured her that yes, this tournament was in fact a test he'd set up for her. The first test, the punch machine, was a test of Strength, and knowing when and how to pull it. The second test, her bout with Goku, was a test of Intelligence and Cunning. This match, her third test, would be a test of Skill and Wits.
He had dropped several cryptic hints about what the conditions of this test were. By saying 'Use as much power as you feel necessary,' he had told her that one of the test's conditions was using the minimum amount of energy to win the match, which the statement 'You have all the skill you need' backed up; to succeed, she needed to use as little energy as possible, so as to maximise the skills used. After all, any fighter can power up to the max and steamroll his opponents, but a good fighter doesn't need to.
With a sigh, she opened her eyes again. Kaen believed in her, and she would not fail him.
-Penance can't absolve your sin-
"So," Gohan said, trying to start a conversation, "Do you think she'll win?"
"I don't need to think," Kaen replied sagely, "I already know she will."
"Of course you'd say that," Videl added, "You're her boyfriend; it's your job to be supportive."
With an almost invisible smile, Kaen borrowed Pi's words from earlier, correcting, "No, here I'm not her mate. On this stage, I am her teacher, as she is my student, and as her teacher, I have faith that her skills will be enough."
The other two teens nodded at his words, before something occurred to Videl, "Wait; mate?"
-Into me, penance can't absolve your sin-
'What was that he said? 'Bend, but don't break',' Pi mused to herself as she awaited the gong. She knew there was more to Kaen's statements than the conditions of the test, he also subtly told her how to pass it; he did, after all, want her to succeed. 'He said I had enough practice dealing with him all these years, so how does that...' She smirked, 'Ah, right. I beat Kaen by messing with his head. Still, there's something I'm missing...'
As soon as the match started, Vegeta flared into Super Saiyan, dropping into a tight, rigid stance, and barking out, "Prepare yourself girl, for now you face a True Saiyan Elite!"
-All your belief cannot absolve your sin-
'That's it! The missing piece of the puzzle!' Pi exclaimed in her mind, her eyes locked onto the wavering gold locks upon Vegeta's head. 'When Kaen said I knew how to defeat him, he meant I know the best way to 'fight fire'; with water.' Exhaling slowly, Pi dropped into a loose stance, leg's spread fairly wide apart, and after twisting her arms around a bit, came to rest them with one behind her at an angle, and the other held before her face, both hands flat, with the thumb crossed over the palm. "What's the matter Vegeta?" She taunted, "Afraid of being beaten by a girl?"
-All your belief cannot absolve your sin-
Vegeta's eyes widened, and not just from the barb. Her power level had risen quite a bit, coming to rest a little above what Kaen displayed during his match with Gohan across Satan City's skies; that in and of itself was no real surprise. The surprise was that there were no outward sign's of powering up, such as an aura, or increased wind. Forcing his face into a confident smirk, he thought to himself, 'If my guess is correct, this is actually somewhere around her base strength. The only way she could have powered up that quickly without showing anything would be if she was, in fact, lowering her power beforehand.'
Smirking herself, Pi jibbed, "You are afraid of me aren't you? Or is it what I represent that you fear?" When Vegeta's confident mask slipped a little, she pressed on, "After all, I defeated Kakarott. If you defeat me, then you have vicariously defeated him, making you the stronger. However, when I beat you, you will be number two again."
-Believe, when you lie-
With a growl, Vegeta lunged towards her, intend on 'shutting her big mouth' by breaking her teeth, but she calmly swung an arm up and pushed his fist harmlessly to one side. He spun to face her, throwing a hard left hook her way, but like the first, the blow was harmlessly deflected, as she stepped a little to the side. Infuriated, Vegeta lashed out with a powerful kick, but she brought her arms up to grab the leg, and, in the same motion, ducked under it, swung him around, and cracked him on the back with the edges of both hands.
-You will never need to recognize the source-
'Flow like water,' Pi thought to herself, remembering the ancient teachings of a man she didn't remember meeting. 'The Reed knows that to survive, it must bend, but not break. When the raging fire comes, the Reed retreats to the soothing water, where fire can not hurt it.' "I'm right aren't I Vegeta?" Pi asked, still twisting her arms this way and that as she waited for him to attack again, "For the past seven years you have been training for the single purpose of defeating Kakarott, and now that you've seen me do that task with ease, you fear me, don't you?"
-Of deceit-
"I fear nothing!" Vegeta shouted, lunging wildly for her, but the Saiyan girl before him calmly deflected each of his bone-crushing strikes. Jumping back, Vegeta barked, "Damnit girl, fight back!" Not giving her a chance to reply, he charged a blast and fired it at her.
Twisting to one side, Pi brought her arm up to cup the energy ball, before swinging it around and throwing it back whence it came. "Why should I Vegeta?" Pi quipped, "You're doing more than enough fighting for the both of us."
-To renew your faith in God, you must believe-
"Girl's got some skills, I'll give her that," Chichi admitted begrudgingly; she was still a little sour about how Pi had defeated Goku earlier.
"She's sure giving Vegeta a run for his money, that's for sure," Bulma agreed, "I thought the match was over the minute Vegeta ascended. It might be nice to see his ego get knocked down a peg or two."
-In your lie-
"Where'd she learn to fight like that?" Chichi asked, directing her question towards five of the six Saiyans seated above her. When they failed to respond, she turned around, noticing the odd looks they bore. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Raene muttered, "I just don't know."
"Something is very strange here," April added.
-The redemption is complete when you conceive-
"Why? What's the problem?" Cherri asked; despite her bond with Truniz, she didn't know Pi or Kaen well enough to spot anything out of the ordinary.
-And decline-
"Kaen knows things he shouldn't," Avarrdo explained grimly.
"Pi fights in ways she's never been taught," Kellre added, a thoughtful look on his face.
-To release your lives-
"It's almost as if they're different people," Truniz added insightfully, "There's enough normalities to suggest otherwise, but too many oddities for nothing to be wrong."
"So, what is it?" Chichi asked.
Kellre shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."
-Sacrificed to me-
"What's the... matter... Vegeta?" Pi asked haltingly, breaking her speech whenever she had to duck, block, or otherwise avoid one of his attacks. "Having... a little... trouble? I thought... you were... a 'True... Saiyan Elite'... so where is... all your... power now?"
Growling viciously, Vegeta jumped back, landing about a foot away from the edge of the ring as he charged ki in both his hands. "Damn you girl, STAND STILL!" With a primal roar, Vegeta began firing wave after wave of energy blasts, intent on turning her into a smoking hole in the ground, but Pi just danced gracefully through the sea of energy, swatting the blasts away at high enough angles to avoid the surrounding crowd.
-Penance can't absolve your sin-
Remaining in the finishing pose of her 'dance', Pi struggled not to show any physical signs of her exhaustion; after all, with Vegeta, half the battle was psychological, and she was winning that half. Instead, she smirked confidently, jeering, "Is that all your True Saiyan Elite power can do? A light show?"
Smirking back at her, Vegeta threw his arms back, charging ki in each hand. Pi's smirk faltered a little as shock set in; she recognised this technique, or at least a technique like it. Throwing his arms forward again, Vegeta merged the two balls of ki, shouting, "Let's see you swat this one away! FINAL FLASH!"
-Into me, penance can't absolve your sin-
Pi leapt backwards, landing near the edge of the ring so she'd have enough time to prepare a proper defence. She knew that, if she dodged it, in his rage Vegeta wouldn't redirect it, causing it to hit the stands. She also knew that if she blocked it, it would either knock her out, or knock her out of the ring, or both. That left option three: redirection. With a smirk, Pi realised she could finish this fight here and now.
Pulling her hand back, Pi kept her hand flat, charging ki in her palm. As the blast drew closer she grit her teeth, knowing that if she wasn't exact, the blast could blow up in her face, or worse. With a resigned sigh, she threw her arm forward palm-first, the ki-coated flesh impacting the beam at the peak of her forward thrust, and, with a rising shout, she discharged the collected energy.
-All your belief cannot absolve your sin-
Vegeta smirked to himself, satisfied with his victory; the girl hadn't dodged the blast, so she was clearly defeated. His eyes widened in shock then as his blast came flying back at him. Raising his arms up to block, he was unprepared for the blast to be slightly off centre, striking the ground near his feet and sending him tumbling backwards. Focusing his ki, he stopped himself from hitting the grass, but didn't expect the girl to follow his blast so closely; thus, with one final palm strike, his back touched the ground outside the ring.
"And Vegeta is outside the ring!" the announcer shouted, "Pi is the winner!"
A smile on her face, Pi waved to the cheering crowd, before walking back to the fighter's lounge, and her mate.
-All your belief cannot absolve your sin-
"Oh yeah, that's my girl!" Falcon shouted excitedly, "Doubling my winnings!"
Grudgingly pulling out the money, Hawk asked, "How the hell did you know that?"
She just smirked, "Trade secret."
-Reap your life-
"Wow Pi, that was amazing!" Videl exclaimed, rushing over to congratulate her friend.
"Yeah, I've got to admit, that was pretty well done," Gohan agreed, asking, "But how did you block Vegeta's Super Saiyan-level attacks without flinching?"
Pi just stood there, saying nothing, until Vegeta stormed past her, bumping into Eighteen as she and Hercule headed out for their match, and through the fighter's lounge. Then, smiling a little sheepishly, she mumbled, "My arms are numb..."
Shocked, Videl cried, "What?"
-Like you want to recognize-
"I can't feel my arms," Pi replied, shrugging as best she could, "I just couldn't let Vegeta know, coz it was psychological warfare." Without saying a word, Kaen gently lean Pi over to a nearby bench, and dragged her down to sit in his lap. Then, still silent, he began massaging her shoulders, eliciting small moans of pleasure from the weary fighter.
"How could you possibly withstand blows that powerful without flinching?" Gohan asked.
Biting her lip, Pi replied, "Conditioning."
-All you've come to-
"What sort of conditioning?" Videl prompted.
"Simple," Kaen commented for her, "You hit someone, and if they flinch, you hit them harder. Eventually, you stop flinching."
-Reap your life-
"I've got another question," Videl commented, "How did you block Vegeta's attacks at all? I mean, I could barely even see half of them."
Revelling not only in the fact Kaen was giving her a massage, but that he was doing it in public - a rare treat, given his aversion to public displays of affection - the girl in question replied quickly, "Vegeta telescopes his attacks. If you know what to look for, you can dodge all of them, and after fifteen years fighting Kaen, I know what to look for."
-Like you want to recognize-
With the serious discussion over, Gohan decided it was past time for a little fun. "I thought that here you were only her teacher," he jibbed, "Seems pretty affectionate for a student-teacher relationship."
"A good teacher always rewards their students for a job well done," Kaen shot back, not perturbed in the slightest, as his hands started to work their way down Pi's arms, focusing on the tensed muscles. "Besides, I want my student in top form when I fight her in the finals."
-All you've come to-
"I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get to the finals," Pi whined, acting more like a girl and less like a warrior the more Kaen's massage continued, "I mean, my next match is gonna be against Eighteen. It'll be like fighting Vegeta all over again!"
"Don't worry Pi," Kaen smiled to himself cryptically, as if he knew something she didn't, "You'll be fine."
-Reap your life-
"Are you quite done?" Eighteen asked tiredly. For five minutes, Hercule had done nothing but showboat, and quite frankly, she was sick of it.
Laughing, Hercule bellowed, "Surely you realise by now that you can't beat me, coz I'm The Champ! Now, I don't wanna mess up that pretty face a' yours, so I'm gonna let you off easy and give you a chance to surrender."
-Veiled in shadow, recognize-
Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Eighteen replied, "You don't remember me do you Hercule?" When he just stood there, staring at her vacantly, she continued, "Let me make it easy for you. I was there the day you became known as the 'Saviour of the World'." Almost able to see the gears cranking and spluttering in his head she dashed forward, gliding past his cringing form to stand behind him as she added softly, "I was the girl Cell vomited up."
Fighting the urge to shriek in terror, Hercule stuttered, "You... you..."
-Faces of the crucified-
Before he could say anything more she grabbed him in a headlock, saying quietly, "Now that you know where you stand, let's talk."
"Wh-what about?"
"It's simple." Eighteen smiled coldly. "I have no interest in the title - I'm here for the money - but to you, that title is everything, so we have us an interesting situation here."
"What do you mean?" Hercule was feeling a little more confident now that it was obvious she wasn't going to pop his head off his shoulders.
-I can hear their screams tonight-
Smirking, Eighteen explained, "I am willing to throw this fight, and give you a chance at the title, but in exchange, I want something from you."
His mind filled with perverted thoughts for a moment, he asked, "What do you want?"
"Twenty million zenni."
"What!" Hercule shrieked.
-Ever haunting me-
"There is another option," Eighteen added coldly, "I could knock you out and go on for the title myself, leaving you to go home with nothing but a lump on your head. It's your call."
Feeling real terror at the thought of being disgraced in the public eye, he stammered, "I'll do it! I'll do anything to win!"
"Good boy," she commented derisively, "Now here's what you're going to do."
-Burn your lie into me-
Once she'd explained everything, Hercule followed through with her orders to the letter, 'elbowing' her in the stomach to 'force' her to let him go, before 'kicking' her in the chest to knock her back, and 'sweeping' her legs out from under her, to send her out of the arena.
As Hercule began celebrating his win, he heard Eighteen comment coolly, "Now you remember to get me my money, or believe me Satan, you will regret it." With that, the cyborg woman walked calmly back to the fighter's lounge.
-Penance can't absolve your sin-
"You threw the fight?" Krillin asked.
Eighteen shot her husband a piercing look. "Of course I threw the fight." Her tone seemed to say 'You think I lost by accident?'
"Why would you deliberately let that fool Satan defeat you?" Vegeta sneered; having had a few minutes to himself, he had calmed down a great deal, the loss only increasing his resolve to train harder. "Don't you have any pride?"
"My pride is easily worth twenty million zenni," Eighteen shot back calmly.
-Into me, penance can't absolve your sin-
"Wha... Twenty million zenni!" Krillin exclaimed.
Eighteen just smiled, "You don't think I'd throw the fight for nothing do you?" Forestalling any other questions, she explained, "I never cared about the title; I wanted the money. If I beat Hercule, my next match was against Pi, and assuming I beat her, my next match would be against either Kaen or Gohan. Gohan I knew is stronger than me, and Kaen would no doubt be angry I had defeated his girlfriend, so my chances or walking away with the money were slim. This way, I don't walk away empty handed."
-All your belief cannot absolve your sin-
"Let me get this straight," Videl interrupted, "You blackmailed my dad into rigging the fight in his favour?"
Eighteen smiled slightly, "I prefer to think of it as extortion."
Gohan watched in amazement as Videl actually burst into laughter, exclaiming, "That's awesome! That probably hurt him as much as beating him would." At everyone's incredulous looks, Videl explained, "The top five important things to my dad are himself, money, his fame, money, and then me, in that order."
"Videl..." Gohan muttered piteously.
"It's okay Gohan," Videl waved his concerns away, "I'm used to it." She smiled, "Besides, I have a new family now, with all of you guys." Gohan just smiled, opening his arms, and Videl wasted no time entering his embrace, embarrassment be damned. Fortunately, everyone seemed to realise the gravity of the situation, and said nothing; at least, for now.
-All your belief cannot absolve your sin-
"Did you know she'd do that Kaen?" Pi asked, referring to Eighteen's 'forfeit'. The two were still seated on the bench, only now Kaen's arms were stationary, wrapped around her waist.
Kaen just smiled. "I had a feeling. I knew she wasn't here for the title."
"So," she asked, "Did I pass the test?"
Kaen just pulled her closer, kissing her once on the lips, "With flying colours. I'm so proud of you." She both blushed and glowed with embarrassment and pride, settling herself into his embrace and enjoying the feeling of closeness she'd missed the past few weeks.
-Oh no, all your belief cannot absolve your sin-
"Can we have Gohan and Spopovich out here for the next match?" The announcer's voice drifted in from ringside.
Gohan smirked darkly to himself, easily rivalling Kaen or Vegeta in the fear factor. He was going to enjoy this match very much...
-Oh no, all your belief cannot absolve your sin-
To be continued...
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Author's notes:
Sensei - Teacher
Gakusei - Student
Aha, the plot thickens. Kaen and Pi are using knowledge and skills they shouldn't have. I wonder why...
Ten points to anyone who can guess where, in the previous story, Pi got her new fighting style from. For visuals, picture the way Gabriel Law fought in the second half of the final fight in 'The One'.
Now, having written this, I am sure I will probably getting people complaining about the outcome of the Pi vs. Vegeta match, so let me explain. Vegeta, as a fighter, is known to throw his usually exceptional weight around, coming at his opponent with attacks that probably waste more energy than is required, so he defeats them as fast as he can. He is also arrogant, and over-confident in his own abilities, believing himself to be the very best, as was seen when he allowed Cell to become Perfect so he could test himself.
These two character flaws do not make a nice combination. Vegeta's fighting style, as was seen against Perfect Cell, does not work against anyone that can either withstand, heal from, or otherwise circumvent the normal devastation his attacks yield. This was a point I found at least one other person agreed with me about, in a story I read a while back that had Vegeta being the one to receive Elder Kai's training and return to eart to fight Buu; it just simply didn't work.
As I've said before, I like Vegeta as a character, but the man has too much ego, plain and simple. This fight was done as such for two reasons: to help break Vegeta's ego problem that little bit more, and to make him angry at the way things turned out, which is needed for later events (I'm sure everyone can guess which events these are, so I'm not gonna bother saying them, or saying I won't say them). Thus, I had him fight an opponent that used a style that countered Vegeta's attack method. Besides, it's not like the winner of the tournament has much bearing on the rest of the story anyway. Pretty much the entire first Book of this series is just setting up the next two.
Also, who guessed Eighteen would still blackmail Hercule? Seriously?
Stay tuned for the next chapter, when we see just what a pissed off Gohan is capable of.