Duo Halfbreeds
Chapter Seventeen: Taming the Untamed
Having returned to the prison yard, Gohan awaited instruction from the cloaked man. "So what're we doing?" Gohan asked, his head slightly tilted and his demeanor looking uninterested.
The cloaked man took a quick examination of Gohan. "Your armor is nearly destroyed." He said, stating the obvious. Gohan gave a confused look in response, raising his brow. "Take it off, it's useless at this point."
Gohan slipped the battleplate off his chest. "Now what?"
"Spar me." The cloaked man answered.
Gohan's confused demeanor intensified. "Spar you? Why? I've fought you plenty of times already."
The cloaked man laughed. "First off, I wouldn't call that a fight, more like you getting your ass whooped." He answered. Gohan gave a light growl in response which caused the cloaked man to fire a kiai wave that sent Gohan twenty feet away. "Second!" He walked back up to Gohan. "Sparring is completely different and third! The next time you make an attitude like that towards me, my punishment will be severely worse."
Gohan pushed himself back up, rubbing the side of his head. "Jerk." He turned to face the cloaked man. "By the way what am I supposed to call you, you haven't given me your name."
The cloaked man raised a brow. "My name? If you wanna use my name, you must earn the right to use my name."
Gohan's jaw slacked. "Earn the right? Then what the hell am I supposed to call you?"
The cloaked man had an unamused expression on his face, he turned around, grabbing a wooden pole that was leaning against a column, then whipped around and whacked Gohan's face with it. Gohan slid for about ten feet before getting back up, rubbing the side of his cheek.
"Ow! What was that for!" Gohan whined.
The cloaked man pointed at Gohan with the pole. "Foul language like that is disrespectful." He said. "Don't let me catch you using it again."
Gohan gave an annoyed look. "I didn't use fou-" Again he was whacked by the pole. "Come on!"
"Back talk and you'll receive the same reward." The cloaked man replied. "From now on, you'll refer to me as your teacher."
Gohan sighed. "Fine…" He said.
The cloaked man gave a stern and menacing stare. "No fine. Yes Sir will do." He replied. Gohan raised a brow in response but when the man lifted his pole again, Gohan's body tensed up as he swallowed hard.
Instinctively the words came right out of his mouth. "Y-Yes Sir!" Gohan answered.
"Good! Now as I was saying before you interrupted me." The cloaked man explained. "Sparring is how we hone our abilities and by extension ourselves. It is also the best way to test our current strengths and weaknesses."
The cloaked man threw the wooden pole aside and took a stance. "Now I want you to give me everything you got!" He gestured for Gohan to attack, the young warrior dropped to all fours and bounded towards his target with the speed of a lightning bolt. As he closed in, Gohan's muscles coiled like a predator, his hand forming a deadly claw, poised to strike.
But the cloaked man was no easy prey, his movements as graceful as a swan on a still pond. He danced away from Gohan's attack with effortless ease, evading the blow as though it were a lazy, sluggish creature. Undaunted, Gohan pressed on, thrusting his knee and retracting his fist with the speed of a striking viper. But the cloaked figure merely tilted his head back, avoiding the attack with ease.
With a fierce cry, Gohan launched another attack, his fist aimed for the right side of the man's face. But the enigmatic figure sidestepped with a fluid grace, his movements as smooth as a river's flow. Around the same time, Gohan dropped back to the ground and whipped around from the side, swinging his lower leg aimed at the man's side, missing again.
Planting his feet firmly in the earth, Gohan launched himself into a spinning kick, his heel arcing high in a powerful ninety-degree rotation aimed squarely at the cloaked man's shoulder. But in a display of lightning-fast reflexes, Gohan's teacher snatched his foot mid-flight, effortlessly hoisting him overhead with a strength that belied his lithe frame.
With a deft motion, the cloaked figure flung Gohan like a ragdoll, hurtling him twenty yards through the air. As Gohan spiraled helplessly through space, he barely had time to gasp before the cloaked man appeared before him once more, driving a vicious elbow strike straight into his chest.
The force of the blow was staggering, sending Gohan hurtling back down to earth with bone-jarring force. The ground buckled and split beneath him, the impact sending chunks of earth flying in all directions as he lay gasping for air, struggling to rise from the debris.
"Is that the best you got?!" The cloaked man roared. Gohan put on a fierce look, his fangs bared, and a growl escaping his throat as he bounced back up. Gohan rushed forward, slightly crouched, and thrusted his claw towards his teacher's gut.
The man caught Gohan's fist, pulled him up and then slammed his fist into Gohan's cheek as he released his grip, and pushed him back into the ground again. The ground collapsed yet again, sending chunks of earth a foot off the ground.
Gohan was quick to make a rebound, shooting from the debris, and lunging at the cloaked man as he unleashed a flurry of attacks that were blocked by the man. A swipe towards his chest, a fist to the cheek, a fist to the chin, a kick aimed at the neck, another swipe at his face, a kick to his side, each one blocked and blocked again.
Several more hits and the man sent Gohan back in the ground, spinning Gohan til his stomach was facing up, allowing the man to send a double ax-handle into Gohan's gut. The ground beneath him cracked, crumbled, and collapsed, the sound echoed a mighty "THUMP!", and the chunks of earth made a gritty, harsh, and sharp noise as they smacked against each other.
Gohan leaped out of the ground shortly after, spitting a mixture of saliva and blood to the side that built up in his mouth as he headed high towards his teacher. The cloaked man grabbed Gohan's hurled fist and spun a hundred and eighty degrees as he slammed Gohan into the ground.
Again, again, again, again, again, and AGAIN, many more times did the man send Gohan back into the ground. Assuming this was going nowhere, the cloaked man was ready to call it, until Gohan's next move that was.
Gohan appeared behind him, sending a kick at the man, but the man turned and stepped back swiftly. Gohan vanished, appearing from the side, mid-air, as he hurled another fist which the cloaked man easily blocked.
The cloaked man rolled his eyes, aiming to throw Gohan in the ground but his grip slipped from Gohan's fist. "What the…" The man looked at his hand and there were spots of blood on it. "Blood? Wait a second.." Quickly, realizing the situation as Gohan appeared not even a second later from the other side, high, his foot aimed for the man's neck, the cloaked man vanished from sight, leaving Gohan to strike the ground instead.
The cloaked man's fist struck Gohan's gut as he appeared from thin air. The air in Gohan's lungs completely escaped him, causing him to double over, clutching his stomach, and gasping for breath.
"Using your own blood to make my grip slippery is a neat trick." The cloaked man said. "But it's gonna take a lot more than that for me to drop my guard."
Gohan raised a brow as he took a deep breath. "W-What're you talking about?" He asked. "I didn't use my bl…" He paused, noticing the blood on his fist. "I didn't even know I was bleeding."
His teacher arched his brow. "How the hell did you not know? Are you telling me you got lucky?" He scoffed. "Figures."
Gohan frowned. "Hey, you told me that was foul language!"
The cloaked man chuckled. "Hah, yeah for you. I am freely allowed to use whatever I please." He answered. "Now, that the spar is over, I want you to show me how you normally train." Gohan remained silent and unmoved. "Well?"
"I haven't trained since…" Gohan stopped, his gaze moved to the ground.
His teacher crossed his arms. "You haven't trained because your old master died? What kind of…" He growled with frustration. "As a warrior you should ALWAYS be training AND as a Saiyan you should want to train."
Gohan bit down hard on his lower lip, struggling to contain his emotions. "Yeah, but..." he began, his voice trailing off as he looked up at his teacher. "How...how do you even know what that is?" he demanded, his eyes blazing with a mix of confusion and frustration.
"And I'm not a Saiyan!" Gohan continued, his voice rising with each word. "Those jerks are the reason I'm here! The reason my dad is dead!" With each word, his anger radiated off him in waves, his fist clenching so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"There may be trillions upon trillions of lifeforms in this universe, but there's only one race that fits the criteria of what you are." The cloaked man answered. "One race that can transform into a great ape during a full moon, ONE race that has a tail and this incredible combat innate and you are one of them."
Gohan hissed. "No! I'm not! I refuse to be one of those evil jerks!"
The cloaked man gave a short laugh. "Ha! Deny all you want but that power of yours, that comes from your Saiyan side and definitely not anywhere else." He pointed out. He moved rapidly to the side of Gohan, the wooden pole appearing in his hand as he pushed Gohan's tail up. "And this thing? Yea, definitely a Saiyan."
For the smallest millisecond Gohan blacked out, causing him to stumble forward. "Look at that! This thing is practically the worst weakness ever!" His teacher shouted. "You haven't even trained it!" As Gohan was able to regain his ground, he turned with an annoyed look, growling in response.
The cloaked man whacked Gohan with the pole. "What did I say about giving me attitude?!" He snarled. "Learn some respect, boy. You should be embracing your heritage not despising it!"
Gohan scoffed. "I am not a Saiyan!" His eyes remained averted. Again the cloaked man whacked him in the face with his pole.
"When I speak, you look at me, when you speak, you look me in the eyes!" The cloaked man instructed. Gohan sighed, moving his gaze at his teacher as he adjusted his position. "Let's go see how you train."
Training Yard…
Gohan looked at his teacher with an uncertain look. "Just show me what you normally do." The cloaked man said. "Or used to anyway…" Gohan grabbed some weighted clothing, slipping wristbands, ankle bands, and the vest like he usually does.
Gohan turned to face the area, preparing himself to start what he used to do, then he stopped and froze up. His hand shook lightly, his body tensed up, sweat dripped from his forehead, as his mind reflected back to several months ago.
He became fixed on memories of when he was training with Priamus. Gohan couldn't move, slight quiet groans were escaping from his throat.
"Gohan!" The cloaked man shouted. Gohan blinked and his head slightly shook as he snapped back into reality. "What're you doing? Why did you stop?"
Gohan swallowed hard and regained his composure. "Uh sorry…" He moved forward and continued to do the entire training regiment to the best of his memory. There was one small issue however, the course was in ruins.
"What's the matter?" The cloaked man asked.
Gohan remained silent for a second more than pointed in front of him. "There used to be some kind of obstacle course here but it's destroyed."
The cloaked man scoffed. "Obstacle courses are for amateurs." He answered. "As for the rest of your regiment, whoever gave you that crap didn't know the first thing about training."
Gohan whipped around and bared his fangs. "What?!" He snarled. The cloaked man whacked his pole against Gohan, sending Gohan twenty feet across the ground.
"How many times do I have to tell you to not give me an attitude like that!" The cloaked man yelled.
Gohan rubbed his face, his scowl deepening. "You're insulting Priamus!" he shot back, his voice laced with anger. "I'm not gonna sit here and let you talk about him like that!"
The cloaked man scoffed, unmoved by Gohan's outburst. "Harsh truth is harsh reality," he replied coolly. "He's no longer here, and you're under my instruction. Besides, I wasn't insulting him. I was merely stating a fact."
Gohan hissed, his fists clenching at his sides. "I'll show you a fact!" he exclaimed, lunging forward with all his might. But the cloaked man was too quick for him, striking a wooden pole into Gohan's stomach and sending him crashing to the ground.
"It seems you're very slow to learn respect and humility," the cloaked man observed, standing over Gohan with a disapproving glare. "But don't worry, we'll fix that soon enough." A wicked smirk spread across his face. "You get upset over words way too easily. This will become your downfall if you keep it up."
As he extended a hand to help Gohan up, the young fighter still wore a skeptical and slightly irritated look on his face. But he knew better than to resist his teacher, and he reluctantly took the proffered hand and pulled himself to his feet.
"The basic training regimen is just that - basic," the cloaked man explained, his voice low and authoritative. "It takes more than a few push-ups or weighted clothing to make someone truly strong. When I'm done with you, you'll be a completely different person."
And with that, the cloaked man put Gohan through a grueling hour of training, pushing him to his limits and beyond. Instead of simple exercises like push-ups and sit-ups, he made Gohan pull massive boulders behind him, the sound of rocks scraping against the earth echoing through the clearing.
He had Gohan run from boulders that his teacher made roll extremely fast at him. He had Gohan destroy the boulders thrown at him, basically anything that he could do with boulders he made Gohan do. Instead of using "those pathetic training dummies" he had Gohan fight a ki-construct version of himself that acted as a much superior training dummy.
The hour quickly passed and the cloaked man had something else for Gohan to do on his mind. "Follow me to the meditation room!" The cloaked man instructed. Gohan looked surprised, his mouth slightly hung open. "What? Didn't think I knew where it was, ya? Here's a news flash, all of the morons in here who didn't realize it existed are the exact kind of people who don't belong there."
Gohan closed his mouth, remaining silent as he wondered about how suspicious he seemed for knowing it. He followed his teacher into the meditation room where Gohan sat by the small oasis.
"I want to ask you something." The cloaked man spoke up. Gohan looked confused, raising a brow in response. "Tell me, why do you fight?"
Gohan's confused look became even more confused. "What do you mean? I don't have a choice, I'll die if I don't."
His teacher shook his head. "No, you have a choice. Tell me why you fight." He asked again. "People do not do things without reason, whether they are subconsciously having a reason behind it or not is irrelevant. There is always a reason."
Gohan shrugged. "I don't know. I only fight because I don't really have a choice."
The cloaked man sighed. "Perhaps there is a better question. Why does anyone fight?" He asked. Gohan shrugged in response. "To ask why we fight, is to ask why leaves fall." He walked to the small oasis and picked up a leaf then dropped it. "It is in their nature. We fight for many things, everyone has their own reasons, some more than others."
He moved back to stand in front of Gohan. "To protect home, family, to preserve peace, balance, and harmony, to win, to kill, to self-improve, for self-discovery, for power, for wealth, for survival, for dignity, for freedom, for justice, these are many reasons why people fight."
"The reason I had you spar with me earlier is because it is an extension of fighting." The cloaked man continued. "And like that, Fighting is an extension of ourselves, and you even more so because you are a Saiyan, it is in your blood, your veins, your DNA, no matter how much you deny."
"Half…Saiyan." Gohan growled. "I'm also Human."
The cloaked man rolled his eyes. "Take a look at this wooden pole I've been using." He explained. He swiped it to the right. "I use this pole just like I fight, this pole is an extension of my body and more specifically my arm. In the same sense fighting is an extension of my own self."
Gohan looked confused. "Yeah I'm still not getting it."
"In time you will." His teacher replied. "You will find that reason and you will utilize it. You may not know it, you may subconsciously know it, but with time you will eventually understand it all." He placed the pole aside and stood behind Gohan. "For now, let's work on something else."
Gohan tilted his head back. "Something else?" He said. The cloaked man tilted Gohan's head back.
"We need to find what holds you back, what keeps you from your current peak of power." His teacher explained. "To do that, you need to find the deepest and most reserved parts of your mind. Your memories, pain, trauma, unresolved issues, all of the most repressed areas, because those hold you and your own power back."
He continued. "Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and focus." Gohan inhaled as much air as he could slowly then exhaled, his eyes closing as he did. "Search your mind and reach for the deepest parts, whatever you find, whatever you see, you cannot back down from it."
For several silent minutes, Gohan focused his thoughts, concentrating the best he could but to no avail, he couldn't find what he was supposed to be looking for.
"How am I supposed to search for something I don't even know what I'm looking for?" Gohan frowned.
"And you expect me to know? It's your repressed memories." The cloaked man answered. "You tell me, what is it that hurts you the most? What is it that causes you the most pain? There is always something in the back of your mind that holds you back and you just need to focus."
Gohan sighed, took a deep breath, and tried again. He closed his eyes and focused, clearing his mind as he tried to reach deep as he could but as touched the small little doorknob that held it all, the tiniest flash was too painful and it snapped Gohan out of his own meditative state. He was panting heavily, and his vision was slightly blurry.
His teacher smirked. "That was it! You just need to try harder!" He said. "Do it again!" Gohan relaxed himself and closed his eyes once more. He searched as deep as he could, but as he touched that small little doorknob, beginning to give it a turn, another sharp and painful flash bursted through him.
Gohan immediately stood up and shook his head. "N-No! I can't do it!" He said. "It hurts too much!"
"You can do it and you will!" The cloaked man replied. "Again!"
Gohan sighed, he sat down, closing his eyes, and focused for a third time. He searched as deep as he could, reaching for that doorknob once more, as he turned it, pulled it a flood of memories came through his mind.
Tension was visible on Gohan on the outside. "Relax Gohan, control your breathing and your mind. All of those things are in the past now, accept what has happened, and let it pass naturally."
However Gohan still seemed resilient, his heart raced faster and all these flooding memories became too overwhelming. His breathing became heavy and rapid, his head pounded like fierce thunder, and it became too much.
Gasping for air, Gohan opened his eyes. "I..I can't! It hurts too much!"
"Yes you can." His teacher encouraged.
Gohan shook his head. "No! I don't want to!" He shot up and started to walk away but as he did his teacher swung his pole at him. This time, Gohan deflected the pole away. "And stop hitting me with that thing! It's annoying!"
The cloaked man crossed his arms. "That's it? You're just going to quit?" He asked. Gohan hesitated to continue to move, but he ignored him. "I guess you like having all of that there. I mean it's not like you care about your old master."
Gohan whipped around and bared his fangs. "That's not true! Priamus was my friend!"
"Then prove it! Show me that you are a true warrior!" The cloaked man replied.
Gohan clenched his fist angrily. "I'm…I'm not a warrior! I'm not a Saiyan, I'm not a fighter and I'm not a warrior!" He growled, resisting the swelling tears. "I..I don't even want to be here and all you people keep trying to make me fight, I don't want to fight!"
The cloaked man's anger rose as he made a low growl. "Fine! Leave and run away from your problems. " He snarled. "But whether or not you want to believe it, you're a Saiyan, which by affiliation makes you a warrior. The way you fight, the power you have, your bloodlust, all of that you have, is because you are a Saiyan. Halfbreed or not!"
As Gohan went to open the passage to the training yard, the cloaked man's voice stopped him once more before he left. "Until you learn to accept that, learn to overcome your past, you will die here." Gohan hesitated to go past the door but pushed through a few seconds later anyways.
Later that day…
"OOOoo! That's gotta hurt!" The announcer shouted, his face grimacing. The crowd made cheers filled with bloodlust as they watched. "Stormwing has gone on the offensive, giving a sharp slash to Gohan's right cheek! Any closer and it could've ended up half-blind!"
Gohan's opponent, Stormwing, was a tall and slender alien, with striking electric blue skin and darker blue feathers. His body is lean yet muscular, standing over six feet tall. His limbs are long and sinewy, with sharp talons on the end of each finger and toe. His eyes are large and yellow, with a slitted pupil.
He wears a form-fitting bodysuit that seems to be made of a sleek, metallic material, with various circuits and wires visible underneath. The suit is adorned with various symbols and designs that appear to be of alien origin, and a long, flowing cape made of the same material as the suit billows out behind him when he takes flight.
"You were doing fine in the beginning but you're slowing down now, what gives?" Stormwing wondered. Gohan ignored him, his mind on something else, he kept seeing strange flashes, flashes of something he just couldn't quite figure out and all he could see was a figure. "Cat got your tongue, kid?"
Stormwing charged forward with a ferocious intensity, his fist hurtling towards Gohan's face. Gohan instinctively leaped upwards, effortlessly soaring thirty feet in the air with a grace that seemed to defy gravity. He felt powerful and confident, ready to strike down his enemy from above. But then, in a moment of distraction, his mind flashed back to a harrowing memory - the image of Duran shooting Priamus in the back. The memory hit him like a bolt of lightning, causing him to stumble mid-air and lose his balance.
This lapse in concentration was all Stormwing needed to spin around and slash Gohan's exposed stomach with his sharp talons. The sudden pain was excruciating, as the talons pierced through Gohan's vest and left three small wounds around his gut that quickly began to spill blood. Gohan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, determined not to let the agony overpower him. He landed heavily on the ground, his body shaking with pain and adrenaline.
Gohan struggled to stay on his knees, his vision slightly blurring as the second passed. Gohan darted forward again, aiming his fist at Stormwing's cheek but missed, and tried to make a rebound by thrusting his knee forward, before he could Stormwing sent a blow into Gohan's abdomen, causing a small puddle of saliva and blood to erupt from Gohan as he fell quickly to the ground and onto his knees.
Stormwing, with the grace of a bird of prey, darted forward like lightning, delivering another ferocious blow to Gohan. The impact sent him flying several yards away, as if weightless, soaring through the air like a leaf caught in a hurricane.
In an instant, Stormwing was upon him again, appearing before Gohan with the speed of a sudden gust of wind, striking him with a swift kick to the side that sent him spiraling upwards into the sky, ascending over a hundred feet in a single blink.
As Gohan hurtled through the air, the winds around him grew wild and fierce, a tempest brewing around him as he approached the ground. But before he could crash down to earth, Stormwing was there, jabbing his elbow into Gohan's vulnerable neck with pinpoint accuracy.
The blow was merciless and swift, causing Gohan to plummet rapidly towards the ground once more. But just as he was about to meet a painful end, Stormwing appeared once again, his knee thrust out to meet Gohan's gut with a bone-jarring impact that brought him to an abrupt stop, preventing his fall.
Barely a second after, Stormwing sent a spinning back kick against Gohan's chest. An excruciating sharp pain entered his chest as he flew several yards away, saliva and blood left his mouth right before he slid across the ground.
Through it all as his vision continued to go from fine to blurry, he continued to see visions or rather memories, flashes of memories he saw of Priamus and other flashes of memories that still he couldn't just see.
When he landed on the ground, Stormwing slowly walked up to him. He saw something different, he saw something…familiar.
((Flashback))
There he was, lying on the ground, his body covered in various wounds and scarring, his clothing torn and tattered, and his vision weak. The room…unfamiliar, too unfamiliar, he couldn't even remember it, only seeing something like brick walls and knowing it was low-lit.
The door creaked open, and a figure walked through, a figure whose voice was deep and commanding. "On the floor again?" The figure spoke. He pulled a whip from the side of his waist, cracked and walked closer to Gohan. "Didn't I tell you to stay up!" He cracked the whip at Gohan, causing him to scream in agony.
((Flashback End))
Instinctively, Gohan shot up as Stormwing swept his legs at Gohan. Gohan lunged forward and delivered a devastating elbow to Stormwing's right side of his head, sending Stormwing several hundred feet away. Gohan dropped to the ground right after, his breath heavy and causing him to pant as he saw another memory of Priamus.
((Flashback))
Priamus gazed at Gohan with a solemn expression, his voice carrying a weight of experience. "Fear and doubt can be a fighter's greatest weaknesses," he began, "they cloud your judgment and hinder your ability to fight." He paused, as if contemplating his words before continuing. "But one can alleviate it by preparing their mental state and keeping their emotions under control."
Gohan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But how do breathing exercises help in combat?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Priamus smiled gently, his eyes shining with wisdom. "When we take deep breaths, our bodies automatically begin to relax," he explained. "This is because breathing deeply sends a signal to our brains to calm down and release tension. It's a simple yet powerful way to prepare yourself for battle."
Gohan nodded slowly, his expression contemplative. "But what if it's hard to stay calm in the heat of the moment?" he asked, voicing a common concern.
Priamus nodded in understanding, his features conveying empathy. "It can be challenging to stay focused when adrenaline is pumping through your veins," he agreed. "But that's why you need to remember why you're there in the first place and to remain calm. If you can keep that in mind, it may help you focus."
((Flashback End))
Gohan adjusted his stance, sitting down, taking a deep breath as he summoned the painful memory of Priamus getting shot. He closed his eyes and focused, feeling for that hidden door in his mind and unlocking it. As the scene played out in his mind's eye, Gohan allowed himself to feel the emotions that came with it, even if they were painful.
His breathing deepened as the memory came to a close, and Gohan opened his eyes just in time to see Stormwing closing in on him. In a flash of lightning, Gohan vanished and reappeared behind Stormwing like thunder, his aura blazing with ferocity.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Gohan struck out with a devastating blow, his foot connecting with Stormwing's upper back. The impact echoed across the landscape, amplified by the sound of the ground collapsing beneath Stormwing's weight.
Gohan kept his guard up, waiting for Stormwing to get up but after thirty seconds, there was no response from him. He had claimed victory but was unable to stay awake for it as he blacked out due to the severity of wounds.
A few hours later…
Gohan woke up in his cell with a slight haze. He looked at his surroundings, having still thought he was fighting but sighed with relief when he realized that wasn't the case. Gohan looked at himself, he was covered in bandages, and possibly under there were stitches, the question was how did that happen?
The realization quickly hit him as he slapped his forehead. He felt an intense amount of guilt as he thought about what happened before his fight. Gohan got up from his cell, immediately cringing from the pain but pressed on anyway.
He walked out into the prison yard, noticing the sun was beginning to set which meant he had little time before he needed to return to his cell. Gohan searched the yard for the cloaked man but he appeared to not be there.
Gohan searched the training yard but he was also not there, even the meditation room was empty. Gohan looked inside the inner prison, searching for his cell, finding him at the center of the east wing. "Oh there you are." He said.
The cloaked man raised a brow. "What do you want, kid?"
Gohan frowned, his gaze moved to the ground for a short second before moving back. "Sorry.."
The cloaked man looked annoyed before he sighed. "You're a Saiyan, don't apologize." He answered. "Besides, you have no reason to apologize."
Gohan shook his head. "Yes I do, I was mean and disrespectful to you when you were trying to help me." He explained. "You didn't deserve that. Please continue training me." He got to his knees and begged.
The cloaked man's face cringed. "Actions are better than words, so instead of making me hear that slop again, I better see you tomorrow morning, got it?"
Gohan's face lit up as he smiled, rubbing his eyes and nodding. "Yes Sir!" He stood up immediately. As he turned around to leave, taking a step forward, he stopped and turned. "Also, I'm not a Saiyan!" He took off shortly after before the cloaked man could say anything.
The cloaked man smirked. "Taking note to punish him for that tomorrow."
The next day…
The cloaked man headed to the training yard in the early morning, there seeing Gohan already training. "Look at that, working hard despite your injuries!" He smirked. Gohan stopped and turned to face him. "That's the exact kind of attitude I wanna see you doing every morning!"
He pulled a white bandana out of his pocket. "However, I was thinking we'd do something different today." He handed the bandana to Gohan who gave him a confused look.
Gohan grabbed the bandana from his teacher's hand. "What's this for?"
"Put it on." The cloaked man answered. "I mean cover your eyes with it."
Gohan placed the bandana around his head, leveled with his eyes and tied it on the back of his head. "Okay now what?" He asked. The cloaked man spun Gohan a couple of times and made him move to the center of the area. "What're you doing?"
"Making you unable to recognize your spot." The cloaked man explained. "By doing this, we'll be able to sharpen your senses. I'm gonna throw some rocks at you and you're going to try and dodge them. Pretty simple and straightforward."
"Rocks? Where are you getting ro-" Gohan was interrupted by a rock having been thrown at his back, causing him to stumble. "Ouch! Why didn't you warn me you were going to start!"
The cloaked man chuckled. "Always keep your guard up!" He shouted. "In combat an enemy is not going to wait for you to take your time and prepare yourself, they'll take you down as fast as you can!"
Gohan gave a confused look. "But…you're not the enemy?" He replied. Another rock was thrown at the side of his right arm, causing him to yelp.
"I'm your opponent, therefore I'm your enemy, now focus!" The cloaked man throw another rock which Gohan was barely able to dodge. "This is only going to get harder, so you better keep up!" He threw another rock at Gohan, which hit Gohan from the right and against his waist.
He threw another rock, aiming at his head and Gohan tried to dodge it, but because he couldn't see it, he got hit by it anyway. Another rock was thrown at Gohan's lower abdomen, and Gohan's attempt to dodge it only made it hit his face.
Another rock was swiftly thrown and Gohan tried to dodge again, and again he was struck in the rear. "Come on! I can't even see!"
"Sense your surroundings! Listen to the sounds around you, feel the atmosphere, do not try to see it!" The cloaked man yelled. "There's no way you've gotten this far without having any form of sensing capabilities."
Gohan's eyes widened upon a realization..
Listen to the sounds that the waterfall makes, the sounds that it creates, for each layer there is a deeper layer.
Immediately realizing what his old master meant, Gohan calmed himself and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. He listened to his surroundings and heard this quiet yet sharp sound. "Right!" Gohan flipped back and evaded it with ease. Another rock was thrown and this time it came at the left of Gohan.
Gohan stepped back and avoided it but simultaneously as he did, another rock came at him at the same angle and position. Gohan reacted quickly and spun himself around, which caused him to bend forward, til he jumped back again, however as he did, another rock came at him, quickly hitting him.
He continued to dodge the rocks for another thirty minutes before his current injuries were causing problems. Some of the stitches around his stomach had ripped and caused him to bleed through his bandages.
"Sit still!" The cloaked man shouted, he had a needle and thread. "You're gonna get blood all over my cloak!"
Gohan's face grimaced at the pain. "Ow! Be more gentle then! And why are you wearing a white cloak anyways!" He snarled. The cloaked man gave a light back knuckle punch against Gohan's face.
"Do not question what I wear!" His teacher replied, finishing the last stitch which caused Gohan to yelp.
Gohan huffed. "Hmph! Why can't you just not wear it anyways? Besides, it'd be nice to know what you look like."
The cloaked man shook his head. "Just for that I'm going to make you wait longer." He answered. "We'll take a break for a little while but afterwards, you're getting back in there." Gohan sighed and nodded in response. "Because you're at least half-saiyan.." Gohan rolled his eyes, easily getting caught by his teacher who whacked Gohan with his wooden pole again.
As Gohan got back up and dusted himself off, his teacher continued. "Your healing capabilities should be far superior than that of any other race. Sure you'll still need lots of time but you do better when you fight and train." He explained. "Saiyans are the most formidable warrior race in the entire galaxy. They are the embodiment of combat!"
"Even if they are taken down, as long as they can live to fight another day, they'll win. Every battle they have makes them stronger, every battle makes them faster, every battle makes them more experienced!" He continued. "An unstoppable force that only gets stronger as time moves on!"
Gohan raised a brow, reminiscing back to what his "uncle" said once. "If Saiyans are so unstoppable how come only a few of them exist?"
The cloaked man sighed. "As powerful as they are, not even they could've stopped the meteor that destroyed their home planet. This meteor was possibly the biggest known and most powerful known to ever exist." He answered. "At that time, most of the Saiyans were on the planet that day with only few away."
Gohan looked skeptical. "If that's the case then how would you know? Actually, how do you know so much about Saiyans?" He questioned, he started to become suspicious of him. "If there's so few of them and it's been that way for a long time, then it sounds like ancient history."
The cloaked man chuckled. "It's not as easy as going nearly extinct to wipe us from history."
Gohan's eyes widened. "Wait what?! Us?! You said us! What do you mean us!"
The cloaked man flipped his cloak off of his head and off his body. Gohan's eyes widened further and his mouth hung open, in front of him was a man that looked nearly identical to his father but with a more savage and wicked look.
On the right upper side of his face was something more artificial however, a complete quarter of his face was encased in shiny metal and robotics. His eye seemed real but looking at it deeply could tell it was a fake. His left arm was also completely prosthetic, but only his hand was obvious.
"W-What the?! Y-You look almost like my dad! Wh-Who are you!" Gohan backed away, his demeanor changed. "W-Why did you lie to me! You've been tricking me this entire time!" A whack from the man's wooden pole sent Gohan across the ground.
"Chill!" The cloaked man shouted. "I didn't lie nor trick you. Choosing to not reveal my identity doesn't make me either of those things. As for who I am, I am Turles."
Gohan swallowed hard. "I don't get it though! Why would you hide like that?"
Turles crossed his arms. "You've seen how people have treated you because of your Saiyan side, you think I wanna be bugged by people every day for a fight?" He answered. Gohan frowned in response, beginning to calm down. "I figured you would've figured this out soon anyways, so I thought why not show you now."
Gohan was conflicted. "But…I.." He stopped, and changed his question. "I don't get it then, that Raditz guy said my Dad, him, and a couple of others were the last ones remaining…"
Turles sat down and motioned Gohan to sit next to him. "That's a long story, to make it short, the others don't really know I'm alive." He explained. "They think I'm dead…"
Gohan tilted his head. "Why?"
Turles's demeanor changed, his gaze averted to the floor. "There was an incident…" He said, lifting his robotic arm up to his face. "That's how I got these…artificial limbs."
Gohan bit his lips. "Oh I'm sorry.."
Turles looked at him annoyed. "What did I tell you about apologizing?"
Gohan gulped. "Sorr-! Ah I mean.. "
Turles sighed. "Just stop…" He replied. "It was in the past, like I've said before, what's in the past stays in the past. I used to think it was a disadvantage but I've learned to make it my advantage."
Gohan looked at his robotic arm as something dawned on him. "I wonder why I never noticed it before." He said. Turles shrugged in response and for a moment silence brewed. "By the way.. How come you look so much like my dad? You even have his exact hairstyle"
Turles moved his gaze straight ahead as he leaned against the wall behind him. "Well…thing is a lot of lower class Saiyans look pretty similar but at the same time I am Raditz's cousin…which also makes me your father, Kakarot's Cousin."
Gohan made an angry look. "His name isn't Kakarot." He growled. "It's Gok-" A whack from the back of Turles's hand stopped Gohan's vocal chords.
"First. Don't give me that attitude." Turles said. "Second. I don't care what name you think it is, his real name, his Saiyan name, is Kakarot."
Gohan nearly opened his mouth to protest but stopped, wanting to avoid getting hit. "So why did you decide to help me? Was it because I'm.. half-Saiyan." He quoted his fingers saying that last part and cringed as he did, which called a hit from Turles.
Turles shook his head. "No, I helped you because I saw something in you." He answered. Gohan looked at him, raising a brow in response. "A beast…A beast full of untamed, untapped potential, and I wanted to bring it out of you! You have incredible potential, potential I haven't seen before!"
Gohan had a skeptical look on his face. "You really think I'm that strong?"
Turles nodded. "Of course! Don't doubt yourself, that'll only hold you back!" He stood up and handed a hand to Gohan, helping him up. "Now halfbreed, how about we get back to training!"
To be continued…
A/N: Sorry for delayed post, also check profile if you wanna audition for the Audiodrama.
