Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to their respective creators. I did not invent them. This story is not for profits of any kind. Please don’t sue me, I don’t have anything of value anyway.
Ranma ½ Z Neo
Part 6
*…* actions of characters (…) thoughts ^ notes from author ~…~ emphasis on word Training Begins =====+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+====
*Piccalo watches as the sun begins rise, floating over Capsule Corp.*
Piccalo: (They’ll be out soon. For their sake, they better be tough.) *smirks to himself*
*Meanwhile, in the building, Team Akane begins to wake up, thanks to the alarm clocks Bulma has provided for them.*
Ryouga: *yawns and sits up* (Today, I’ll show Ranma he’s not good enough for Akane!) *pauses* (uhhh… Where am I?)
Akane: *stretches, sitting up* Guess it’s time to get up. *pulls herself out of bed to get dressed*
Ukyou: (Time to make Ran-chan breakfast!) *hops out of bed and dresses*
Ranma: Uhg. It’s to early to get up. *punches alarm clock into oblivion* zzzzzzz…
Trunks: *hears sound of breaking machinery, goes next door to check on it.* Hey, Ranma, get up.
Ranma: zzzzzzzz…
Akane: *walking down hall towards the kitchen, sees Trunks trying to wake Ranma* Here, let me.
Trunks: Alright. *steps aside, letting Akane enter the room.
*Akane walks up to Ranma’s bedside, watching him as he snoozes. She draws out her hammer from hammer-space, and leans over him to whisper in his ear.*
Akane: Ranma… if you don’t get up, you’ll get a chance to ~fly~ to the kitchen, and you won’t be the one who powers the flight.
Ranma: *sensing the danger, cracks one eye open to see a hammer hovering above his head. He sits up* Alright, alright, I’m up already!
Akane: Good, time for breakfast! *leaves his room, her hammer suddenly gone back to hammer-space*
Trunks: … (well, at least it worked) *goes to kitchen to eat*
*Everyone eats a good breakfast, then goes outside to train. However, as they leave the building, they are intercepted by Piccalo.*
Ranma: Hey, I remember you! You’re Piccalo!
Ryouga: Pickle-who?
Ranma: Piccalo, P-chan! Not ‘Pickle’!
Piccalo: I see you’ve heard of me.
Ranma: Don’t you remember me?
Piccalo: Can’t say that I do. Should I?
Ranma: (Well, it was a long time ago for him…) We met a long time ago. You must have forgotten.
Piccalo: (Well, since it took place in the distant past, anything’s possible.) Maybe. So who are you?
Ranma: I’m Ranma. That’s Akane and Ukyou, and he’s P-chan. Aaack! *the last part as Ryouga punches him*
Ryouga: My name’s Ryouga.
Piccalo: I suppose I’m supposed to say “Nice to meet you” now, but I’m not sure you’ll find it very nice. I’m here to help you train, and I’m a real tough teacher.
Akane: Great! That’s what we need.
Ukyou: And we can handle it.
Ryouga: That’s right. We’ll take everything you can dish out.
Piccalo: I wouldn’t be so confident, if I were you.
Ryouga: Well, you’re not us. Let’s go!
Ranma: Hey, P-chan, don’t ya think we should head away from here first? We don’t want to make Bulma-san mad, and if we blow up her house, she will be.
Ryouga: Huh? Oh, guess you’re right.
Piccalo: Follow me. I know a good place.
Team Akane: Hai. *They follow Piccalo to a plain in the middle of nowhere. It shows dents and furrows, marking prior usage. In fact, it’s the same place that Piccalo trained Gohan when he was a kid.*
Piccalo: This is the place.
Akane: Wow, it’s definitely been used before.
Ukyou: You got that right, Sugar. Look at the size of that crater!
Ranma: Hmmph. It’s no bigger than the sort Ryouga made yesterday.
Ryouga: (Was that a… complement? Naa, Ranma’s just trying to show off again.) Well, that just goes to show, I’ve got a better technique than whoever made that.
Piccalo: Technique and strength, but then again, you’re not five.
Akane: A five-year old did this? No way!
Piccalo: *grins* Gohan’s always been strong. *gets serious* Ready?
Ryouga: Of course! And don’t hold back.
Piccalo: Don’t worry, I won’t. *charges*
*Piccalo attacks Ryouga first. The others hang back, knowing Piccalo will test them when he finishes with Ryouga. Ryouga punches, and has block as Piccalo dodges to throw a kick at his head. Unfortunately, the kick was a fake, and Ryouga takes the full force of a fist to the ribs instead. He flys black briefly from the force of the blow, then comes back at Piccalo with a one-two combination. Piccalo dodges both, then returns with knee to the ribs. However, Ryouga blocks, and lands his first punch to Piccalo’s gut. Piccalo doubles over from it, and gets hit on the back of the head. He slams into the ground, and stays for a second, but then gets up. Piccalo fires an instant beam cannon at Ryouga, who dodges and fires a Shi Shi Houkodan. It catches Piccalo, sending the green man flying again. However, Piccalo recovers and blasts back at Ryouga, catching the lost boy in the side. Ryouga crashes into a rock pillar, and gets back up. However, he receives a surprise.*
Piccalo: Not bad, kid. You’ve got strength. But now I need to test the others, so go over to where they are and send one of the girls over here.
Ryouga: Hai. *flies off to where the group awaits, and tells Ukyou to go to Piccalo. She does.*
Ukyou: I’m ready.
Piccalo: Good. And don’t think I’ll go easy on you, just because you’re a girl, because I won’t.
Ukyou: Good. I’d be insulted if you did.
Piccalo: *grins*
*The two go at eachother. Piccalo sends a knee to catch Ukyou in the side, but she dodges and swings her spatula at him. Surprised to see a cooking utensil being used as a weapon, Piccalo gets thwacked in the head, but recovers and catches the follow-up punch. Holding one of Ukyou’s hands in his, he punches with the other, and kicks with a foot. Ukyou, seeing this, takes the kick and blocks the punch, then grabs the hand holding her arm and spins, finally throwing him through the air. He manages to right himself and land on his feet, then turns and blocks the kick aimed for his head. Piccalo then swings at Ukyou, hitting her in the cheek and follows through with a swift jab to the ribs. Ukyou crashes to the ground, then rolls back up, and waits for Piccalo to charge. He does, and she jumps to the side to release a Magnum Thunder Flare. A bolt of lighting highlights her body, then traces her arm as she punches into Piccalo’s back. However, he dodges, and she manages to only reduces a boulder to dust. Piccalo sends a small but powerful blast to her open back, knocking her away.*
Piccalo: That’s enough. You have decent speed, and the lightning punch is powerful.
Ukyou: I wouldn’t have done so well if you hadn’t been so surprised by my spatula.
Piccalo: Actually, I rather like the idea. Surprise can be a great weapon.
Ukyou: Thanks. *grins* (I think I like this guy)
Piccalo: Now get back over there and send one of the other two over here.
Ukyou: Hai. *goes and sends Akane over*
Akane: I’m ready when you are!
Piccalo: Right to the point. I like that. Well, then, let’s go at it.
*Akane rushes him in a attempt to take him off guard. As always, she employs no real strategy and doesn’t hide her moves. Piccalo dodges with such ease, it’s kinda funny, but Akane can’t laugh. He punches her in the face, flying ~between~ her arms as she throws two simultaneous punches. She gasps and flys back, having had the breath knocked out of her.*
Piccalo: That was stupid and reckless! Where’s your sense of strategy? You didn’t even bother to ~try~ to hide your moves!
Akane: *gasps* G-gomen…
Piccalo: Well, are you giving up already?
Akane: *gets her breath back* iie! Of course not!
*This time, Akane uses her brain when she attacks, instead of heedless punches which rely solely on strength. She even manages to land her first punch, after throwing so many fakes that Piccalo just stopped dodging. He learns pattern, though, and she then switches to real fighting. Piccalo punches, but she dodges, and returns with a high kick. However, her beginning maneuver serves a purpose beyond the obvious. Piccalo attempts to block every fake, not able to trust that it might ~not~ be a fake. This leaves him open to other attacks. He gets struck in the ribs by an elbow, kicked in the side, and punched in the jaw due to Akane’s new technique. Finally, he decides he’s had enough, and starts taking the spar seriously. His attacks speed up, to the point where Akane can’t block but half of them. She finds herself at more of a disadvantage than any of her friends have been. Eventually, she gets knocked away, into the ground with enough force to have broken a boulder. Akane isn’t a boulder, though, and only gets her breath knocked away again.*
Piccalo: I was wrong. You did have a strategy to begin with… You made me underestimate you. *grins* Clever.
Akane: Arigato.
Piccalo: It’s dangerous, though. Your opponents won’t always fall for it, nor will it work if they kill you within the first few minutes.
Akane: Hai. I know. And it only works once, too. But I have other moves. I just thought this’d work best this time.
Piccalo: You’re right, it did. Now send What’s-his-name over here.
Akane: Ranma. *flies off. Seconds later, Ranma shows up.*
Ranma: *looking at Piccalo’s slightly bruised state* Lemme guess, she gotcha with her ‘stupid’ act.
Piccalo: I trust I’m not the only one who’s fallen for it, then?
Ranma: Don’t ask.
Piccalo: *grins* We all have our little secrets.
Ranma: *grins back* Hai.
Piccalo: Ready?
Ranma: Sure.
*The two head towards eachother. Ranma dodges at the last instant, though, and kicks to the side. Piccalo catches his foot, and uses it throw Ranma into the ground. He jumps back up and shoots into the sky, right at his green opponent. The two trade blows, both getting a punch in but taking one with it. Ranma punches to Piccalo’s face, but Piccalo ducks and kicks at Ranma’s feet. Ranma jumps to avoid it, but is surprised to find that the kick was actually a fake to divert Ranma’s attention from the fist which connects to his jaw. He flies into the air for a second, then recovers. Ranma seemingly leaps off of the air itself, propelling himself back at Piccalo. Piccalo attempts to meet the boy with a kick, but misses. Ranma punches back, only to find Piccalo blocking him. The fight goes on and on.*
*on the other side of the training grounds*
Akane: I wonder how Ranma’s doing?
Ukyou: Ran-chan’s probably whacking that poor green guy into oblivion.
Ryouga: Yeah, right. That *beep* couldn’t do anything of the sort. I couldn’t even get close to that guy myself!
Akane: I suppose you’re right, Ryouga. The only reason I did so well at first was that I made him underestimate me. When he started trying, I couldn’t lay a finger on him. Ranma’s good, but not that good.
Ukyou: I guess you’re right. But still, I bet he’s not having such a hard time as we did.
*back at the fight*
*Ranma sneezes, the blocks a punch from Piccalo. Piccalo definitely has the upper hand now, being more experienced and slightly stronger. Ranma finds himself wishing that it wasn’t a ‘no-special-move’ fight. Unfortunately, it is. So Ranma gets three punches in the gut when he could have used his Hyruu Shoten Ha to get himself out and his mentor in to trouble. Ranma valiently fights back, but is continually loosing. He throws a kick, only to have it blocked and be forced to block a punch to his face, then missing an elbow to the ribs. Finally, the young hero is sent into the ground, and can’t get right back up.*
Piccalo: Believe it or not, you actually did pretty well against me.
Ranma: *spits some pebbles from his mouth as he attempts to get up* You weren’t this strong when I last knew you…
Piccalo: I’ve had many years to get better.
Ranma: You won’t always beat me so easily! I’ll get stronger.
Piccalo: You better, if you’re gonna beat you’re opponents.
Ranma: *grins* I’m looking forward to it. *manages to stand all the way up*
Piccalo: *grins back* I like your style.
*Ranma rests for about half an hour, then goes to fetch his friends. Ukyou fixes him up, then the group eats lunch. Afterwards, the gang pairs up according to Piccalo’s instructions, and spar for a while. Ukyou and Ryouga duel it out, while Ranma and Akane trade blows. The sun slowly descends in the sky.*
*On board a certain spaceship orbiting the Earth, four people sit in the control room, talking.*
Argos: Syme, have you analyzed the samples yet?
Syme: Yes sir. Oddly, it seems that only ¼ the blood is composed of Saiyajin cells, while the rest is human. But the individuals seem to radiate just as much power as full Saiyajins do.
Argos: *frowns* Do you have any idea why this is so?
Syme: I can hypothesize, but…
Argos: *impatiently* Just tell me what you think, Syme.
Syme: Hai. Well, it could be caused by breeding with the humans, as we know they have, but it’s not likely for this particular formation of such. I find that a much more likely conclusion is that they are not Saiyajin at all, but really humans injected with Saiyajin blood.
Argos: *leans back in his chair* Hmmm… interesting.
Syme: Sir…
Argos: What?
Syme: If that’s the case, then the same virus and vaccine we used before would have no effect. It can’t work on an individual with a blood percentage of ¼ to 1/50 Saiyajin. That’s… the only flaw of that particular plan.
Argos: It wouldn’t have worked anyway, baka. They’re not dumb enough to fall for the same ploy twice, you know.
Syme: Yes, sir.
*Just then, a voice came from seemingly nowhere. It was the voice of Tempo, coming from a transmitter located near Argos.*
Tempo: I’ve just fed the prisoners, and my watch is over.
Argos: Treble, go relieve her.
Treble: Hai. *leaves the room. Five minutes later, Tempo appears.*
Tempo: Hello.
Argos: Any unusual activities, or such, from the prisoners?
Tempo: iie. However, I did learn from their conversations that one is the prince of the Saiyajin.
Argos: *sarcastically* Good for him. Is there any reason for telling me this?
Tempo: *shrugging* I just thought it was interesting.
Jet Stream: Don’t bore us with your useless information, woman.
Argos: *shoots a glare at Jet that silences the guy* I suppose it could come in useful, someday. *Tempo playfully sticks her tongue out at Jet, who ignores her.* Tempo… *At Argos’s warning, she closes her mouth.*
Syme: *muttering to himself* Those two… they’re always fighting. Me and ~my~ sister never acted like that.
*Overhearing him, Argos chuckles to himself, remembering all the times Syme had been caught fighting with his younger sister. The two had been much worse than Jet and Tempo are. Syme had, however, cherished his sibling deep inside, and the loss of her when the planet had been destroyed nearly cost the doctor his sanity. Syme had recovered only when he had met Jet Stream and Tempo, finding a new life for himself as a sort of foster uncle to the two. Since then, he had become a fine medic, but is unable to ever bring himself to kill.*
Argos: Tempo, Jet, it’s time for your rest period now.
Tempo/Jet: Hai. *the two leave the room*
*Back at Capsule Corp*
Bulma: *over the phone to her father* No, dad, I’m fine. You don’t need to come. *listens for a minute* Yeah, yeah, but I gotta go now. ‘Bye, Dad! *hangs up* (Boy, it sure gets lonely around here when everybody’s away. Oh, well, I better go work in the lab.) *goes off to work in the lab. Hours later, she hears the sounds of people coming in.*
Ranma: Bulma-san, we’re back!
Bulma: It’s about time. Do you know how lonely it is with no one around the house?
Akane: But, Bulma-san, what about Trunks?
Bulma: Oh, yeah… I forgot he was here. Ooops!
Ranma: Well, I’m hungry!
Ukyou: I’ll go cook!
Akane: I’ll help!
Ranma/Ryouga/Ukyou: NO!!!!!
Ryouga: Uh, that is to say…
Ranma: We need to, uh, uh….
Ukyou: I work best alone.
Akane: Oh, well, alright. But only if you insist.
Ukyou: Oh, I do.
Bulma: … (I wonder why they don’t want her to cook? She can’t be that bad.)
*Ranma starts arguing with Akane, so that she’s too busy to notice Ukyou going off to cook. Twenty minutes and a hammer later, the group sits down to eat.*
Akane: Sorry, Ukyou, that I didn’t help!
Ukyou: That’s alright, Sugar. I work best alone anyway.
Ranma: This’s good!
Ryouga: Of course, a pig like you would think anything’s good.
Ukyou: *dangerously* Does that mean you don’t like my cooking, Ryouga?
Ryouga: Uh… er… well… I…
Ranma: Who’s the pig, Ryouga??
Ryouga: Wa… ee… aahh… er… umm….
Akane: What’s Ranma talking about, Ryouga?
Ryouga: *in typical Ryouga fashion, gets frustrated and deals with it the only way he can* YAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Ranma, prepare to die!
Ranma: Not again… *dodges Ryouga’s blows*
*In a dark room with four pairs of eyes*
Gohan: Aww, come on, not this slop again! *pokes at food, though he can’t see it*
Treble’s Voice: Too bad! It’s all you get, so live with it!
Goten: I get it. They don’t wanna get their nails dirty killing us the hard way, so they’ve decided to poison us instead.
Treble: *sarcastically* Hey, you weren’t supposed to figure that out! Darn!
Goku: Well, it’s not that bad, really. I’d rather eat this than something you cooked, Goten.
Goten: Hey! It’s not my fault mom won’t let me learn to cook!
Vejita: A ~real~ Saiyajin does not need to cook his food. He just eats it raw.
Gohan: Yuck.
Vejita: What would you know, half-breed?
Goku: Awww, come on Vejita. They don’t know any better. *Vejita starts grumbling under his breath about how he shouldn’t have to be here or be stuck with third class Saiyajins.*
Gohan: *whispers to his father* Hey, ‘tousan, how come you don’t teleport out of here?
Goku: *not whispering* Well, I’ve actually tried it, but I guess they already thought of that, because there’s a band on my leg that stops me from doing so.
Vejita: Baka. You’re a Saiyajin; just break the thing!
Goku: Can’t. It’s made out of something like that metal Bulma made. You know, the one she used to rebuild Capsule Corp so you wouldn’t break it?
Vejita: I can too break it! In Super Saiyajin, I break anything that woman can build!
Goten: But we can’t go Super. *Vejita mutters something censored under his breath, then gulps his food down in one bite*
Goku: I’m sure Bulma will have a cure for that by the time we get out of here. *follows Vejita’s example*
Gohan: I hope Videl hasn’t killed anybody yet…
*At the beach*
Videl: I gotta go help!
Master Roshi: Now, now, Videl… *grabs an arm to stop her, but just gets dragged along*
Ox King: Don’t worry, I’m sure Gohan’s fine. Besides, if you go now, who would look after Pan? You don’t want to leave her with them, do you? *points to the boys, who are just exiting from a nearby topless bar, at least four drunk. Videl shudders*
Videl: Ummm… Good point. I’m sure Trunks and the kids from the past can handle it. *sits back down*
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Author’s notes:
Well, I know it took too long. It’s not my fault my teachers hate creativity. The next chapter will be out when I have time to write it, of course, but don’t expect too much. I’m only human (well, figuratively, at least), after all. Hopefully, though, I will never take this long to write a chapter again. Hopefully, I’ll also get a new computer that works. That would help. Alright, I’ll stop babbling and get onto the actual notes. You can mail me at Fanime_Lynn@hotmail.com or you can just forever hold you peace. But, please, send me some comments. It really helps me write faster. And to fanartists, have I mentioned I’ll get your work up as soon as I can coerce my friend into showing me how? Many thanks for the wonderful work. Well, gotta go, so ‘Bye for now!!