EPIC Side Story: Dragon Ball

Chapter 32: Pride

Accepting the piece of toast with a faint smile and a polite, "Thanks…" Sarina briefly considered her response before saying, "I think I want to train. It will be a lot easier to keep at it once school starts if it's already a part of my daily routine."

Nodding his head in approval, Vahn was about to ask Chi-Chi a similar question when the latter beat him to the punch, saying, "If you're talking about practicing martial arts, I'd like to participate. I may be small, but I am the daughter of the Ox-King. I can hold my own in a fight."

Since he was literally about to ask if she wanted to participate, Vahn had no reason to deny Chi-Chi's request. Instead, he offered an approving nod before shifting his gaze to Broly and Cheelai, saying, "I want the two of you to just focus on relaxing these next couple of weeks. Since you won't be attending class, there will be plenty of time for you to train once you become acclimated to this world."

Though he was a little disheartened, Broly didn't hesitate to nod his head in understanding. This was immediately noticed by Cheelai, who, having recovered quite a bit since the previous night's revelations, asked, "We can still watch, right?"

Understanding exactly what the green-skinned beauty had in mind, a faint smile developed across Vahn's face as he answered, "Of course. Just don't sneak off somewhat to try and emulate what I'm teaching. I won't be too upset if you do but it'll cause quite a number of issues if either of you gets injured…"

Realizing she had been seen through, Cheelai awkwardly scratched her cheek with a wry smile on her face. She had done a lot of thinking the previous night, so, while she doubted she could ever become as strong as someone like Frieza, she figured she might as well give it a try. Broly was too kind to be pitted against such a monster. If she could bear the burden in his stead and undo some of the damage wrought by Frieza and his forces, that is exactly what she would do…

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With Broly and Cheelai observing from atop a large stone, the former sitting in the latter's lap, Vahn cast several layers of protection and a rapid regeneration spell on Sarina and Chi-Chi before having them stand across from each other. The former was wearing little more than her Aegis and a pair of exceptionally durable sneakers while the latter, unsurprisingly, donned her bikini armor, boomerang helmet, fire-resistant cape, amplifying gloves, and shock-absorbent boots.

Though spiritual and mental cultivation were equally important when it came to increasing Ki, the most prominent forces at play within the Actualized World of Dragon Ball was something Da Vinci referred to as the 'Steel Sharpens Steel' Principle. It basically meant that the fastest way to increase your strength was to fight against someone who was equally as powerful, if not more powerful than yourself. The actual Laws at play dealt with things like War, Conflict, Rivalry, Progress, and even Fate, but, as interesting as the specifics were, the most important takeaway was that you could drastically increase your rate of growth by fighting progressively more powerful opponents.

"Begin…!"

Hearing Vahn's shout, Chi-Chi pointed the index and middle fingers of both hands towards the gem seated at the front of her helmet as she shouted, "Emerium Beam…!". Vahn had told her not to hold anything back as Sarina was apparently more than eighty times more powerful. This was something Chi-Chi refused to believe, but, not wanting to accuse Vahn of lying, she immediately opened with her most powerful attack, a laser beam that could even disintegrate the body of a Tyrannosaurus in less than three seconds.

To Chi-Chi's surprise, Sarina's body simply disappeared from the trajectory of the beam the moment she called out her attack. In the very next moment, she felt a heavy impact to her side, the air in her lungs being forced out as Sarina's kick impacted her kidney.

It turns out that raising both your hands to fire a laser beam left your body completely unguarded…

Having never battled against a serious opponent or suffered a single injury in her entire life, Chi-Chi didn't immediately rise to her feet. Instead, she pushed herself to a seated position, tears building in her obsidian-black eyes as she held her side and complained, "You didn't…have to hit…so hard…" in a sobbing tone.

With an incredulous look on her face, Sarina looked at Chi-Chi as though she were an idiot, saying, "You just fired a disintegrating laser at me and you're complaining about receiving a simple kick…?"

Unable to refute Sarina's words, an indignant pout formed on Chi-Chi's face as she climbed to her feet and did her best to restrain her sniffling. Then, demonstrating she wasn't completely hopeless, she crouched down, elbows and shoulders tucked in to protect her sides as she raised her fingers towards the gem on her helmet…

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After watching Sarina one-sidedly trounce Chi-Chi for the better part of an hour, Vahn eventually stepped in to stop the fight, saying, "Okay. Now that you've both had the opportunity to warm up, your next opponent will be me. I want you to come at me with the intent to kill. If you don't, even a direct hit won't be able to deal any damage."

Though Chi-Chi wanted to protest fighting against her future husband, the words got caught in her throat when she witnessed Sarina launch a flying kick towards Vahn's head at a much faster speed than when they were fighting. In spite of this, Vahn was able to effortlessly deflect the blow with the back of his hand, his starting position remaining unchanged as he swept Sarina back several tens of meters with a simple wave.

Undaunted by the failed attack, a hazy blue aura exuded from Sarina's body as she exploded forth with enough force to generate a large plume of dust as she instantaneously accelerated faster than the speed of sound. Then, to the shock and awe of both Chi-Chi and Cheelai, shockwaves exuded from the point of contact every time Vahn casually deflected one of Sarina's meteoric punches and kicks…

Witnessing the almost incomprehensible display of power, Chi-Chi finally accepted that Sarina was a lot stronger than her. Instead of being upset by this, however, a resolute look gradually developed across her face as she balled her hands into fists and charged forward at a much slower speed than her newly acquired rival…

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While Sarina and Chi-Chi were hard at work trying to increase their strength, Bulma was beginning to feel exasperated as every attempt she and her father had made to penetrate and take a sample of the Model Tiamat's hull had proved ineffective. They had tried everything from acids to creating a plasma cutter capable of outputting temperatures exceeding 60,000 Centigrade. When that failed, they even attempted the brute-force tactic of firing a reinforced tungsten rod at it using a railgun, but, other than creating a peculiar blue ripple at the point of contact, nothing else happened.

Feeling a similar degree of exasperation as his daughter, Dr. Brief, a short, bespectacled man with pale-blue hair and a large mustache, remarked, "It really is fascinating. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I never would have believed such a durable material existed. If we could figure out how to recreate it, we could completely revolutionize the construction industry. And don't even get me started on the possible military applications…"

Though Dr. Brief's words made it sound as though he only cared about money, it was actually quite the opposite. If it wasn't required to purchase materials and finance his research, he wouldn't even bother with it. The only three things he cared about in life were his family, accumulating knowledge, and smoking. Becoming the richest and most influential man in the world had merely been a means to an end. After all, he sure as hell wasn't going to let some government tell him what he could and couldn't research…

Groaning in response to her father's words, Bulma banged her forehead on her workbench before asking, "You think I don't know that…?" in a pouty, clearly frustrated tone.

Understanding the futility of trying to reason with his daughter, Dr. Brief lit up another cigarette before inhaling a deep breath and releasing a large plume of smoke. At the same time, he stared up at the Model Tiamat with a weary yet determined look on his aged face. Bulma had deflected time and again when he asked where the rather fierce-looking machine came from, but, regardless of its origin, he was determined to uncover its secrets.

With that in mind, Dr. Brief gave his daughter a gentle pat on the back before departing the lab to take a fifteen-minute break. He had modified his body so that something as inconvenient as sleep was unnecessary but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy a moment of peace and quiet. The interior of his house had been converted to a miniature wildlife preserve for that express purpose, so, after twenty-seven straight out of trying to breach the Model Tiamet's hull, he figured it was time to take a break…

Hearing the door shut behind her father, an exasperated sigh escaped from Bulma's throat as she raised her head to stare at the 18m tall mechanical dragon. She didn't want to admit it, but she was starting to believe Vahn's words about it being impossible to reverse engineer. There were no flaws in its structure even when she looked at it under an electron microscope. To make matters worse, it blocked any and all means to scan its interior. If she didn't know it had a cockpit, she would assume the interior was empty based on the readings she got ultrasound and x-rays…

Realizing that she wasn't going to be able to one-up Vahn by taking apart the Model Tiamat, Bulma rose to her feet before stretching her body until a series of satisfying pops emanated from her back. She had only slept for six hours ever since she stormed off, and, unlike her father, she wasn't all that comfortable with modifying her body. She would consider it when she was older, but, for the time being, she was comfortable with the capabilities she was born with.

Reaching into the pocket of her bright orange boiler suit, Bulma pulled out a cigarette of her own before lighting it up and walking over to the Model Tiamat. In response, it immediately bent down to present its hand, as, despite her efforts to try and disassemble it, the onboard AI didn't mind. Its only concern was that Bulma had been registered as its pilot, so, unless Vahn revoked her access, it would comply in accordance with its programming.

Taking advantage of the fact that the interior of the Model Tiamat was more comfortable than most beds, Bulma reclined in the pilot's seat before kicking her feet up on the analog command console. Then, despite pretending as if she didn't care, she activated the long-range sensors using a mental command before smiling as a three-dimensional projection of the area surrounding Vahn's recently established manor was generated in ultra-high definition.

Though she did her best to restrain the urge, Bulma couldn't help wondering what Vahn was up to, so, whenever her father took a break, she would sneak a peek. She had even spied on the previous night's dinner, as, despite telling him she was busy, the only thing on her plate right now was trying to disassemble the Model Tiamat. As for why she didn't just fly over and participate…Bulma wasn't entirely sure herself. She just felt he should be the one to come visit her rather than him expecting her to come and visit him…

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Cheelai is a good person…','Always guard your body xD…','Bulma isn't a bad person. She's just exceptionally self-centered…')

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