Disclaimer: All characters portrayed in this story are the property of
their respective creators and companies.
This story takes place after volume 38 of the Ranma manga and a few
years after the end of DBZ. It largely overwrites most of DBGT.
C & C welcomed.
Dragon Ball R1/2
by
Donny Cheng
Chapter 4
Vejita hardly needed to do any stretching for his upcoming battle with
Ranma, but decided to warm up anyway. It would allow him some time to
study his opponent. However, he soon found it next to impossible to
discern anything as Ranma had discovered how to keep his chi level to a
non-existent level to keep as little strain as possible on the body.
That meant only that the boy was ready to fight.
Vejita had little doubt that Ranma followed the training procedure word
for word and maybe even added something extra. If Ranma didn't let up
on his body, kept his chi level as high as possible, and for as long as
possible, Vejita guessed that Ranma was on par with him when he first
came to this planet. In other words, Ranma should be as strong as the
strongest Saiyajin once was and at a younger age. Vejita shook his head
at how naïve he once was about his strength.
Ranma forced himself to stop from flying all over the place. It was
frustrating to keep the power that boiled within him for spilling out.
He just felt so damned light. If he didn't feel the ground beneath him,
he would have sworn that he was flying. Wearing a new lighter set of
clothes than the ones he wore in the Room of Spirit and Time was also
uncomfortable to him. It took him a while to get use to exerting a
minimal amount of strength to the lifting of an arm, since the heavy
training clothes no longer weighed him down. For the first time in
weeks, he could breath normally. The air pumping into his lungs as he
took gulp after gulp of it in, the effects of fighting for breath each
moment of his time in that thin atmosphere.
"Shall we start?" Vejita asked when he thought Ranma was ready.
Ranma nodded. His flight around the world sized room had him already
warmed up.
* * * * *
Piccolo gave Dende his most glaring look, but to his mild annoyance,
the young Namek just smiled up at him. He knew it was the "Nail" side
of him that the Namek saw and not him. "What is it?" he asked finally,
sighing, knowing that he would never be able to change the current
Kami's perception of him.
"I thought you might be interested in seeing something," Dende said
mysteriously. He knew that it would just drive Piccolo's curious side
insane and since the older Namek wasn't the type to ask questions, it
made it all the more fun to tease.
Piccolo rolled his eyes. He would have to give in, if he wanted to
Dende to stop with the teasing. "What is it?"
Dende's eyes twinkled mischievously, "There happens to be a 'friend' of
yours involved in a battle with a human right now."
Piccolo's eyes immediately turned in the direction of a chi signature
not far from the area. Piccolo only had two such 'friends' that Dende's
tone seemed to indicate. "Vejita. There is another person beside him.
A human by the chi signature."
"Use your eyes," Dende gently admonished.
Piccolo was about to snap back, but decided against it. The "Nail" in
him again. Dende, of course, referred to the powers of who could be
called his father, the elder Piccolo and also the previous Kami. The
boy didn't know how much he disliked being reminded that he was not the
true original Piccolo. Going to the edge of Kami's platform high in the
sky, Piccolo focussed his eyes and looked. What he saw nearly made him
fall off the platform.
* * * * *
Goku listened to Goten's words as they sat together for dinner and
couldn't quite believe his ears. He believed in nearly anything, but this
_was_ Vejita they had been talking about. Even in death, Vejita had been
quite clear to tell Enma, God of Death, that he did not want to be put in a
cell next to any human or any member such weak race. Goku had seen first
hand that Vejita was a better sort now, but still, eating and training a
human were a little way out there.
Even so, his mind was concentrated on Vejita's chi signature somewhere not
far from his home. It was quite low at the moment, which led Goku to conclude a
battle was about to take place. Normally, they all kept their chi at high
levels, which helped in increasing their chi. In a real battle, however, one
only used chi as it was necessary to conserve as much strength as possible. Who
Vejita could be fighting or training was something that Goku was very curious to
know.
* * * * *
Ranma struck first, but kept his chi level to a minimal, knowing that
Vejita would do the same. Partly to as a check to see how much stronger
his base power level had gotten and partly because he wanted to get used
to the normal fighting conditions of the Earth again.
Vejita blocked and dodged most of Ranma's so called assault. There was
really not enough power being used to even harm his Saiyajin body at
zero chi level. Normally, he would have just stood there and flicked
the offending human away as he had always done whenever he had the
unfortunate battle with a human during one of those tournaments Goku
loved so much. However, this time the human was not bad at all even
with no aura to speak of. Saiyajin's did not have any real martial arts
style to speak of. The closest thing their style could be referred to
as was kick boxing.
Their philosophy was very simple. Punch, kick, throw, dodge, and block
as fast as mortally possible. The 'destination to from point a to point
b' philosophy as Bulma once put bluntly. However, Vejita did not assume
the role as the strongest of the Saiyajin back when there were still
abundant Saiyajins without learning a few tricks along the way. It was
this experience he relied upon now as he fought Ranma to a standstill.
Where the boy's style flowed with complexity, Vejita's style stood
simply and solidly against its crashing tidal force.
Ranma backed away from Vejita as it didn't seem that he could get past
his new sensei's defense any time soon. The man did not fall for any of
his feints or waste much movement. Vejita did not seem to be very
mobile with his feet spread slightly apart, one foot in front of the
other, yet he managed to evade nearly everything Ranma could throw.
Vejita decided it was his turn as Ranma seemed to be caught with
momentary lack of ideas. It was different fighting on the ground, even
though he preferred it. Flying battles were so much a part of their
lives that he along with Goku tended to train in that area more. It all
came back to him easily as he chased after Ranma's fleeing body.
Ranma spun around, ducked a punch he knew was coming from above, and
ran the other way. He quickly decided his father's tactics against
opponents using offense as the best defense technique would not work in
this situation. Ranma would get tired before Vejita would, even if the
latter punched and kicked nonstop and he did nothing but escape. He
tried redirecting one of Vejita's out thrust arms into a throw, but
again the older man's experience showed through.
Vejita shifted his weight so that Ranma's leverage on him was reduced.
The boy had followed his example quickly and soon they both stood in one
spot at a standstill again. Their hands on each other's clothes. He
looked at Ranma and let go. His student did the same.
There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them that playtime was
over. Ranma stepped back a ways and started to raise his ki to the
level he had before he went in to the room. He then created the
duplicate of himself as Vejita had taught him and then smiled. It had
taken him a short while to find the weakness.
Vejita was not disappointed at all that Ranma decided to use the
duplicate body technique. The boy continued to surprise him with an
adaptability rivaled only by pure Saiyajins like himself. He had
deliberately taught the boy this technique so that he could test this
adaptability further. The smile told him that he would not be
disappointed. Quickly, he raised his own chi to double that of the real
Ranma's current power.
Ranma waited until Vejita finished before willing his counterpart
towards his sensei's flank and he, the other side. As he expected,
Vejita was prepared.
Vejita grinned as he weaved his way between the two Ranmas. There was
an inherent weakness in the technique Ranma was using. While it allowed
the user to attack in a group of two to four and had the same advantages
of such an assault, such as distraction, it was limited by what could be
done. The other bodies used could not think on their own and were thus
only as effective as the person controlling them. Ultimately, the
clones would end up attacking in the same fashion as the original body.
Cell was the best that Vejita has seen, at using this skill. However,
Goku had still beat Cell's version of it because of his knowledge of the
techniques Cell used. One could not win when one used the same tactic
over and over.
Ranma grunted as his other self disappeared. The other form could only
stay as long as he kept his concentration. "Heh, I knew you would be
able to deal with it. Even if I made two more bodies, I think you would
be able to handle me."
"You still used it, even though you knew?" Vejita asked, keeping his
eyes on Ranma. The boy's chi level remained exactly the same even
though he had knocked the other body away.
"Had to make sure," Ranma shrugged, "and besides, I needed to practice
it first. This time for real."
Vejita watched as Ranma recreated a duplicate. Again, Ranma's chi did
not diminish, so his power had have been doubled in the month spent in
the Room. "What is this going to prove?"
Ranma ignored his sensei for a moment as he scanned the area. He
grinned as he found what he had been looking for. He hadn't chosen this
battle ground out of randomness. "You'll see."
Vejita raised his eyebrow as Ranma walked over to a nearby stream
flowing nearby. A splash later, a girl walked back to him. "A girl is
supposed to do a what a boy couldn't before?"
Ranma continued to grin and sent her still male duplicate towards
Vejita in the same manner as before. "I don't know. Maybe, maybe not."
* * * * *
Piccolo blinked. That was different. "Since when did human boys
transform into human girls?"
"Magic," Dende replied. Magic was not uncommon to himself, but Piccolo
had not lived among their own kind so would not be as used to it. Even
so, Piccolo had Nail's and the former Piccolo's memories, so the concept
wasn't too hard.
Piccolo went back the scene below. It was true that this Ranma had a
strange aura around him. The full extent of his own magical abilities
went only so far as to create simple objects like clothing. But, his
father had created the dragon balls, so he knew first hand just how
powerful the right kind of magic could be.
* * * * *
Goku stopped eating. The chi was different. Another person would not
have
noticed the very small difference, he was sure. The yin and yang of the
person Vejita was fighting just shifted slightly. Almost as if a boy had turned
into a girl. Could it be transformation? Goku decided it was time to head
towards the battle. He gave Chi-Chi a look and she gave him an exasperated
sigh, but she nodded. She was good that way. He teleported instantly to
Vejita's position.
* * * * *
Vejita bent his head to the side, narrowly missing a fist in his face.
His ear tinged slightly as he didn't manage to avoid all of it. He
grunted as the girl behind him managed to kick him in the midsection.
The male duplicate followed up her kick with one of his own to his
head. Vejita flew across the ground, his body skidding along the
ground. Ranma didn't pursue him.
Ranma waited a few meters away. That attack was not strong enough to
have hurt Vejita much. Dozens of bruises on her body taught her that
lesson all too well. Instead, she fired off a chi blast to where
Vejita's body lay. Vejita immediately began to glow with power and was
in another place by the time Ranma's chi blast hit.
Vejita frowned. The girl managed to get him to increase his chi level
first. "Very effective style," he admitted grudgingly.
Ranma grinned as Vejita stayed at this new level of power. It was a
small victory in having made her sensei react first, but a victory
nonetheless in her mind. "I figured that the reason you would be able
to handle my first try was because you knew what to expect, not
mattering how many times I split myself. But, what if I fought in
totally different fashion? It would be impossible for a mind to think
differently, but not for two different bodies to react differently to
attack. Heh, I trained for a whole week in my girl body getting it to
respond differently than my male body. It took me awhile to separate my
form completely."
"It won't work a second time though."
Ranma shrugged. She waved her hand and the duplicate disappeared. She
then flew over to the stream again and fired off a chi blast into it. A
showering wave of heated water rained down on her. He came back to
Vejita, a man again. "I know. I just wanted to try it out and I'm sure
I could make it work better next time."
Vejita shook his head. The boy's confidence reminding him again of his
youth. He waited until Ranma's chi level raised to match his own. He
was right, the boy had at least doubled in strength and more.
Ranma took to the air and Vejita soon joined him. The wind blew by
him, making his pigtail flutter in the wind. This was his element,
Ranma felt. He could still remember all those years of training, of
jumping and leaping in the style of Anything Goes, never quite reaching
the sky. This was what Saotome-ryu was meant to be.
Vejita easily dodged Ranma's flailing arms and legs, but he easily
could not have been there. The boy wasn't even serious in attacking
him. He could see Ranma's closed eyes as complex katas after kata were
performed in the air. He marveled at how contented the human looked at
the moment, but this was not the time. He then began his counterattack.
Ranma felt his arm being block, instinctively, he opened his eyes just
in time to see and duck the countermove. He berated himself silently at
losing himself in the middle of the battle. He watched wonderingly as
Vejita's attacks whizzed by him, missing him completely. Double
checking, he saw that their power levels were still the same.
Vejita floated back away from Ranma as it looked like nothing was
getting through. He was sure that the boy had only just learned the
skill to flying. A month and a half in the Room could not have been
this beneficial. Ranma took to flying like a duck to water. Grimacing,
Vejita hesitantly increased his chi level again. It was time to test
how far he could go with the boy.
* * * * *
Ranma spit out some blood. Pushing himself off the ground, he tried to
raise enough chi to fly, but found he didn't even have enough to do that
much. Wearily, he stood up and used what little of power he had left
for defense. Vejita did not look like he was done.
Vejita walked forward and grimly watched as Ranma got up again. He had
deliberately raised his power to double that of Ranma's, yet the boy
still resiliently stood up. How much further could he push? Was it
time? "Ranma if you can survive for another minute, I'll let you rest
for the day."
Ranma did not say anything, only looking at his sensei suspiciously.
One more minute? He had practiced another move of his quite extensively
in the room for an occasion like this. He had wanted to save it as a
wild card against Vejita, but the way the older man was looking at him,
left Ranma little doubt as to whether this time was good as any.
Rather than relax his stance, Vejita once again raised his chi level.
He had to take opportunity of every moment if he were to raise Ranma to
high enough level to be a challenge. He had to see if Ranma's will to
live was great enough to handle to harder training that was to come.
Ranma braced himself as Vejita took a small step forward. A blur of
speed later his sensei was upon him. It was then that they danced.
Vejita was surprised to find himself lured into Ranma's spiraling
movements. This was the technique that Ranma had used against Pan.
From what he had seen of it previously, it was not a move that would be
very effective against himself. Pan had foolishly rushed into the trap
that Ranma had set, when she could have easily flown out of the twisting
wind had she kept better attention. Vejita had both the speed and
ability to fly out of such a move.
Ranma nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Vejita did not
stop the spiral from happening. While it was true that the weakness in
this move was that it could not affect a person able to fly, it was not
the whole truth. He had usually used the hiryu shoten ha's tornado to
do most of the damage, because it was far less destructive. The true
strength lay in sending the actual chi blast generated from an
opponent's chi aura back at them. Had he used that against the students
of Furinken that time he first learned it, they all would have died from
the blast. He only dared using the full power of the technique on
people like Saffron and Herb.
There was a catch, however. The chi blast generated came directly from
his upthrust fist, meaning his attacker would have to be directly over
him. He would have to get hit, to be able to hit Vejita.
Vejita had waited for Ranma's move, when he suddenly found himself
already in the middle of the spiral. The boy was willing to make a
sacrifice in order to hit him, it suddenly occurred to him. He
connected with Ranma's chest and at the same time felt a fist ram into
his stretched out arm. It was really just a light tap, yet a sudden
burning sensation engulfed his arm. It was then he recalled the flash
of light that occurred when the move was used similarily on Pan. He had
passed it off as Pan's aura, and it was, but a chi blast with Pan's chi
signature would have been more correct. A moment later the chi blast
carried him up into the sky and he came down to a crashing thud. Or he
would have if he hadn't suddenly landed in the arms of one Son Goku.
* * * * *
"Student? Vejita, since when did you like humans?" Goku asked, puzzled
as his friend picked the boy named Ranma up.
"I don't like humans."
"But...," Goku tried to continue, but Vejita was already starting to
leave.
"Meet me at Bulma's in two days."
"Er, okay, Vejita," Goku agreed. He was used to Vejita's curt way of
speaking. He figured everything would be explained by then.
"Oh, and be sure to eat before you come."
Goku watched as Vejita flew away. A grin suddenly came to his face.
Vejita's face had formed a snarling grin after that last sentence. It
was something that Goku had not seen since after he left to train Ubuu.
He had missed seeing it on his old rival's face in the recent years.
* * * * *
"Where are you going, Piccolo?" Dende asked as Piccolo suddenly got up.
"To train."
The words were simple, but Dende felt a heavy undertone in them. He
could see Piccolo's eyes burn with determination. Vejita wasn't the
only one that had mellowed out in the intervening years. The current
Kami beamed as this little show seemed to break his old friend out of a
years long funk.
* * * * *
Pan smiled as she happily cleared the arena again. With Vejita
training Ranma, she didn't doubt that Ranma would become better than
her. That would get rid of that silly twitch Ranma seemed to develop
when she mentioned about girls beating him. "Come on. You guys can do
better than that. This time, I'll tie one hand behind my back, okay?"
"What is she so happy about?" One student asked another as they helped
each other up.
"She's in love."
A collective shudder went through the crowd of students.
* * * * *
Bra watched as Trunks came into the weight room, dragging Goten along
with him. "What are you doing in here?" she asked suspiciously. Trunks
did not train very much with him being so busy at Capsule Corp. and with
his girlfriend, Marron.
"Training. Why are you training all of a sudden?" Trunks asked
suspiciously. Bra did not usually use the weight room, claiming that
muscles were unattractive.
"Him. You?"
The boy, Trunks should have figured. "None of your business."
"Him too then. Jealous?"
Trunks ignored her. He was not jealous of a boy taking so much of his
father's time. He wasn't. "C'mon Goten. You haven't trained in
awhile, also. I need a sparring partner."
Goten rolled his eyes. His friend was jealous. Oh well, if he got a
free dinner out of it, he was willing to help.
* * * * *
Mr. Satan looked over the sign up sheet for this year's tournament. He
looked over it several times and each time it did not change.
Considering there were still a couple of months before the tournament,
there would be a lot more sign ups before then. It was going to be one
of those years. "Buu. I think it's time for me to retire and send you,
my star pupil in my place."
Buu smiled and licked some cake of his face. It would be nice to see
Goku again.
* * * * *
The End. (maybe)
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