Know thyself *Tien Training*

The cool mist from the ocean was filling the small pinkish house. Tien loved his master, Roshi, like he was his father. He felt that Roshi was the closest he ever had to a father in his life, and Tien treated Roshi as such. However, there was more to Roshi than just being a kooky old man, he knew the ways of martial arts, the ways of fighting. Tien had be brought up in fighting, being trained by his previous masters, all who treated Tien no more than a street thug. Seeing as how Tien looked different, he was harassed by many of his own peers, seeing little children laugh at him and mock him just because he was different than the others.

He knew what if felt like to be treated like an outcast, but one day that had changed as he, an orphan wondering the streets, got in a fight with a kid who was known as the biggest bully around. Tien had enough of being picked on, and the two of them fought, Tien destroying the kid half his size. A local fighter had saw the fight, and grabbed the kid by his arm. "Kid, come with me..." he heard the man say, and Tien was whisked away to a local Dojo, it was the beginning of his life, the beginning of his life as a fighter.

"Wake UP Tien!" Cried Master Roshi, obviously trying to grab his attention. Tien had been meditating all night, with the cool breeze of the ocean hitting him in the face. Now Tien looked straight into the eyes, or sun lenses rather, of a old man. "You need to get off your butt and do some training Tien, you're going to get too rusty if you just sit around here all the time" the old Roshi growled at him. "I didn't become the strongest warrior on Earth just by sitting around, you know!" Tien's eyes shifted to Roshi's right, seeing the television on, Master Roshi's favorite...ehem, "shows" were on and he was bound and determined not to miss them.

"You know Master, there is more to being a fighter than just building your muscles, right?" Tien chuckled at him. Tien had been taught not only how to stay physically, but mentally strong as well. In his younger years, Roshi had been a master at keeping both strong, but he rather had no need for it now, being as he was old and his strength had mostly left him. Roshi barked at Tien "Well, you've had plenty of time to build your mind, now go build your body! I don't want to see you in here the rest of the day!" The of the room was obviously one of anxiousness, as Roshi wanted to watch his "shows" by himself. Tien grunted at Roshi and left the house, and the old man to themselves, unsure he wanted to be around anyway.

Tien flew himself into the local city, trying to find either somewhere to train or someone to fight. He did not care which had showed up, but wanted to find something to do fast. Tien did not like to be alone, it allowed him to think about things he would rather not, like his child hood or how he had no parents. Suddenly, he heard a local man screaming at him "Tien, you worthless oaf, why don't you show your old friend Tao what you got!" His eyes looked like they were made of redish marbles, his face was worn and his body was built. However, this man had a look of, well...he looked more machine than man.

"What do you want, Tao?" Tien looked back at him. Tien had hated this man, his former Master. There was no way that this was just a coincidence either, as Tao loved to try and pick on Tien whenever he could. This time, however, Tien had enough, he knew he could defeat Tao, he wanted to defeat Tao, he HAD to defeat Tao. "Listen to me, Tao, I'm sick of you following me, you either need to fight me or leave me alone" Tien had set the ultimatum, however he did not want to fight in the city but rather in a more secluded area. A frown appeared on Tao's face "Fine, if that's the way you want to be, I have no choice but to kill you..." Tao went to a stance, but Tien quickly retorted "Not here, in the hills." Tao looked at Tien, trying to read if Tien thought he had the advantage in the hills or if he just didn't want to hurt innocent people. "Very well, Tien, have it your way."

Tao led Tien to a nearby secluded range of mountains, no one would know they were there, and no one would certainly know hear them. Tao had a grin on his face, as if he were ready to tell Tien a joke. "You know, Tien, I always thought you were my best student..." he said, smiling at Tien. Tien just grinned right back at Tao. There was no need for any petty talk, as Tien came sprinting at Tao, fist weighted with Ki. Slamming his fist into Tao's jaw, Tien elbowed Tao in his throat, which would have choked a normal man, however the cybernetic Tao felt no more dazed than normal. Tao quickly jumped back from Tien. "You have grown just a little stronger than we last met, but that is no matter to me."

Tien laughed at Tao, and replied "A little stronger? You really are quite foolish Tao." Tao's fist quickly disappeared, and a golden ball of energy appeared, and he fired it at Tien. It struck both Tien's right arm and side of his torso, but no more than mere cuts and bruises. Tao followed that up with a charge, then quickly firing fists at Tien's head, trying to hit him. Dodging the fists of Tao, Tien sent his knee right into the midsection of Tao, then with an open palm, shot a ki blast right at Tao's head, connecting with Tao. Flying into the nearby hill, Tao's face had been badly damaged, clearly outclassed by his student. Tao's face had changed from confident to regretful quickly, it also changed from unscathed to a mess of cuts and trickling blood, as he stared with his blood red, marble-like "eyes" at Tien.

"You know, Tien, I think we will have to continue this later" Tao said, quickly changing his right hand into, well, a hand. Tien smirked, but did not say anything, just watching Tao as he ran away from Tien. He knew Tao had to die one day, but he also knew that today was not going to be a day of blood shed. He wanted his former master to know the feeling of fear, the feeling like someone was always coming after him. Quickly, Tien bolted further in the mountains, shooting ki blast and beams, throwing 100 punches, and 200 kicks. Tao had barely even tested his strength, so he needed to get something of value in from his training session. Tiring after throwing his last beam, Tien began to make his way back, knowing surely that Roshi was ready to train him tomorrow, hopefully.

Tien landed back on the island, hearing Roshi laughing in his house, clearly not watching his "shows" anymore. Tien entered and looked at Roshi, then grinned at said "I ran into Tao again, but I don't think he'll be chasing me anymore." Roshi looked at Tien, Roshi obviously thinking not much of the news he just heard. Roshi replied to Tien "Well, that's because he knows that you've surpassed him, you're much stronger than him now" and Roshi turned his attention back on the Television. The words went straight to Tien's heart, Tien knew that he was stronger than Master Roshi, stronger than Tao, but it was always good to hear it from his own master. Going back to his room, Tien laid out, feeling like he accomplished a lot that day with mental and physical training, and quickly fell asleep.


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Orange: Tien's voice
Dark Red: Tao's Voice
Green: Master Roshi's voice.

Gains:

Powerlevel: 7,500
Zenni: 4,500

(Updated)

"Now I don't want any funny business here, Tien. You know you can beat me in a one on one fight." Roshi yelled at Tien. "What I want you to know, is that you do not have to always physically hit a fighter just to hurt him. Nor is it always a good idea to attack someone head on, but to attack them from different angles." Roshi smiled at Tien "And I think this will be just the trick" he said while drawing a 20 foot circle around himself. "Tien, I want you to hit me without coming past this line. Be warned, I will protect myself however I need to, but you cannot cross this line to beat me."

Tien was standing on the other side of the island, watching his master continue to draw a circle. Only yesterday, Master Roshi didn't seem very eager to help Tien train, but today, Roshi was all for it. The thought of sitting inside was probably getting to Roshi, Tien thought, and once a fighting spirit, always a fighting spirit. Only occasionally anymore, Roshi went to train with Tien, to help Tien mature as a fighter. Today was one of those very special days. Tien had a perminant smile on his face because he always loved to fight and train with Roshi.

"Now Master, Are you going to be hitting me as well? That would only seem fair, you know, since I'm going to be fighting an old man and all..." Tien yelled, hoping the answer would be yes. "Who are you calling old man? Of course, Tien, what fun would it be if you just had to defeat me without having to defend yourself?!" Roshi chuckled back at Tien. That was the answer he was hoping to hear, as the Master of the Kamehameha Wave, this would be a very tough fight for Tien. Even as his master said, Tien was stronger than Roshi, Roshi was smarter, and he still had the ability to produce a very strong Kamehameha Wave.

"Alright Tien, I want you to start, and we won't stop until either either one of us gives up." Roshi said this with quite the air of anticipation in his voice, hoping that Tien would give Roshi want he wanted, which was a good fight. Roshi's lip curled, then he blurted out "Begin!" The magic words sent Tien's mind into action. How should I appraoch him, he can still feel me no matter what I do. Well, let me just test him to see how good he really is... Tien's thought to himself. Suddenly, he let go a barrage of low ki "missiles" at Roshi, who was dodging and swatting them away. Tien knew these would have no affect, so instead, he went back into thinking.

Roshi, however, knew it was the time to strike, throwing a ki beam at the unsuspecting Tien. The beam approached with almost a smooth sneak, and Tien didn't notice until the last second, throwing his forearms up and channeling his ki into his forearms to protect himself. A few serious cuts had appeared after the dust had settled, however, Tien was still quite unharmed. Tien knew he had to keep on his toes now, and Roshi launched another ki beam at Tien, however, Tien was ready and quickly evaporated and appeared on the other side of the circle that Roshi was in. He was hoping to catch master Roshi off balance, so that he could sneak the attack in on him.

Gather ki in both his hands, Tien let a bigger ki blast go towards his master, this time he could not dodge or merely swat the blast away from him. This time, Roshi would either take it full on, or he would have to counter it. Roshi, gathered his hands together and let loose a fairly large beam himself, driving the blast back at Tien. The blast and beam engulfed Tien, who with a slight hint of fright, had taken the blast full on and he was sent back, flying into the ocean, his clothing torn from his top. Tien had severe burns on his chest now, only his pants remained intact. Lucky for Tien, Master Roshi had not gathered enough energy to kill him, or else he would be in another dimension right now.

Roshi could feel his student growing weaker, knowing that he could end it soon if he were able to hit Tien with a full on blast of his Kamehameha Wave. "Kaaaaaaaaameeeeeeee" Tien heard Roshi shout. Tien scrambled to his feet, hoping he had enough time to gather the Ki. "HAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEEEEE" Tien scrambled to figure out what to do, when all of a sudden it hit him. Tien threw his fingertips to his temple, then with a shout of "SOLAR FLARE!" He released a blinding light in Roshi's direction. Roshi had lost his focus, and Tien had the opening he needed, Tien knowing that if it didn't work, his ki would be too low to continue.

Once again, Tien gave the appearance of his form evaporating, then appeared in front of the pink house. With his master still struggling to see, Tien formed a triangle with his hands and gathered the ki in the middle. Soon, Master Roshi would feel the ki building, so Tien knew he would have to release it as soon as it was ready. With a golden flash, Tien yelled "TRI-BEAM!" and a massive golden beam appeared behind Roshi. Stunning him, Roshi turned to try and block it, but it was too late, the old man was engulfed by the attack, and Roshi himself flew into the ocean, well beyond the confines of his circle. Tien was breathing hard, his cuts burning like they were on fire, his muscles ached.

"That, Tien, was how you fight. Deception and then you strike with what you have" he heard Roshi yelling from the ocean, his voice no longer sounding as he were anticipating this training spar. "I think I'm done for the day, could you carry me in to the couch so I could rest?" Roshi said to Tien. Quickly, Tien picked Roshi up and took him inside Roshi's house, where the old man grabbed his remote and began to channel surf, with the occasional groaning of his wounds. Tien had decided he had done enough for day, and sat on the floor, watching the same T.V as Roshi.

"Well, at least I didn't kill you, Master." Tien said, and Roshi gave a slight chuckle then replied, "Kid, at my age, death would have been a sweet release." The two of them laughed and watched the television into the night, clearly satisfied with what they had done for the day.


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Orange= Tien's voice
Green= Master Roshi's voice.

Gains:

Powerlevel: 6,000
Zenni: 4,000

The cool island mist that Tien was so used to became a sideways downpour, with howling winds. Today was no day to be out training for the weak of heart, for those who didn't wish to be soaked, cold, and wind burned. Tien, however, was out in the rain, practicing his technique, trying to continue his training, even without perfect conditions. It's not always going to be perfect conditions in a battle, I need to be ready for all situations, not to be distracted by what may lay ahead of me." Tien Thought to himself. He knew that the universe was becoming much more evil, there were many powerful beings throughout space, many who would value Earth.

"Tri-BEAM!" yelled, Tien, with a golden blast coming from the gap between his hands. He aimed his beam towards a cluster of rocks at a nearby mountain pass, where he usually trained when he need to use some more powerful techniques. The powerful beam of ki slammed into the cluster and a bright light shone in front of him, so bright that he had to close his eyes. When he opened them, the cluster was now more of a pile of pebbles, reduced to rubble.

"You know, that was quite impressive, Tien!" a onlooker yelled. Tien did not know he was being watched, suddenly turned and saw him, Tao was watching him. The cyborg looked at Tien as he always had, a mix of disgust and anger, his large marble red eyes looking at him. "If you need to train, why don't you actually fight something that can actually fight back?" Tao yelled again. Certainly, Tien thought, that Tao must have had a death wish coming to see Tien again.

Smiling, Tien shouted "You know, Tao, you must really want to die." The words struck Tao like a foot to the groin, Tao had felt insulted by the lack of respect that Tien had shown him. "Well why don't you come down here and finish the job then?" Tao growled back at him. Tien began to descend down upon the floor of the valley where Tao was. "This time, Tao, you will not run from me, it's time for me to finish the job, to finally wipe your pitiful existence from this planet. You have been nothing more than a thorn in the side of many, and now it's time to pay." Tien said, calmly.

Tao dashed at Tien, throwing a kick to the head, landing it right at the base of the head and top of the neck on Tien. However, Tien was still looking right in the eyes of Tao, as if undeterred by the whole attack. "Too many have suffered because of you, and now you must pay." Tien said, grinning at Tao now. Tao unleashed a flurry of punches up Tien, hitting every time, but Tien still did not break his gaze up on him. A sudden snap and Tao's hand had once again turned into a weapon, this time a sword. Slashing down upon him, Tien moved quickly, but calm, out of the path of Tao.

Suddenly, Tien struck, with an elbow to where ribs would be on a human, unsure what it would be on a cyborg. Following it up, Tien sweeped Tao's legs from under him, then brought a double hammer fist upon Tao's gut, slamming him back on the ground. Tao began to shriek with pain, but Tien continued to assault, bringing his heel down into the chest of Tao repeatedly. Tao felt as if his entire chest would cave, swiped for the leg of Tien. Striking at the knee, he managed to scrape Tien, making him stumble backwards so that Tao could get up.

Tao was a mess, his torso felt like someone hit him with a sledgehammer, he changed his hand once more, this time back into his ki gun of sorts. Gathering as much ki as he could, forming it into a ball, he launched it at the unsuspecting Tien, who was still recovering from the sword strike to his knee. Focusing on his knee, Tien felt the sudden surge of ki in front of him, brought his hands into a shape of a triangle, then blurted "TRI-BEAM, HAAAAAAAAAAA" And a sudden large blast of Ki emitted from Tien. He had become over whelmed with hate of Tao, knew that this blast would certainly wound Tao mortally.

The beam struck Tao, ripping off his left arm to the elbow, his left leg all the way to his groin and his right hand, and damaging his head and torso severely. When the beam finally erupted and the dust settled, all Tien could see was the ravaged body of Tao, who was not moving, and Tien uncertain if Tao was dead or just knocked out, shot another ball of ki at Tao, destroying his former master's body. Tien stood there, looking at the crater that had held and still was holding bits of his former master.

He did not like to kill, but in some cases, it just had to be done. Tao was one of the many people that Tien did not care if he lived or died, and if given the opportunity, would have killed him just like he did. However, he felt something inside of him, as if a thousand pound weight was just lifted off of himself. The final real link to his troubled past was gone. He was no longer going to be reminded of the terrible things he did when he was a student of Tao's, because Tao was finally dead.

Still looking at the crater, with the wind and rain still pounding at Tien's now very tired body, he took off. He could finally look forward to not having horrible dreams, not remembering how his childhood was ruined. Now, Tien could do whatever he wanted, as Master Roshi always had reminded him. The power that coursed through Tien's veins could now be used however Tien wished, not because someone commanded him. Tao was the last real person to use Tien, and Tao would definitely be the last person to run his life.

Arriving at Master Roshi's house, he told him of what happened, how he killed Tao. Roshi did not reply with words, but only in a smile. Turning back to the television, Tien made his way back upstairs to his room. The training for today had not been complete, he had to meditate before he could finally let himself stop for the day. However, today's meditation would not be filled with him fighting Tao, the man he often dreamed of killing, but now of giving himself peace of mind. Smiling, Tien closed his door, secluding his thoughts as he began his meditation for the night.

Gains:

Powerlevel: 6,000
Zenni: 3,500

(Using Weighted Armor)

Tien had returned back home, home to where Master Roshi, where he had been not too long ago. Roshi didn't know what had happened to Tien, as he left and never came back until right now. I'm sorry Master Roshi, I was killed by that monster, I just wasn't strong enough. Tien told him. Roshi smiled at him politely, then told him all about the battles, as he had felt them from his own home. He told him how this monster, the one they called Frieza, was much more powerful than Tien had even realized. In fact, he was at least 10 times stronger than Tien and Roshi combined! There was no amount of training you could have done that would have stopped him, this Frieza is just at a whole other level. Very few people in the universe could defeat him, and maybe a handful could fight him one on one. Roshi told him, trying to lift his spirits.

Tien, however, had felt even worse. He wanted to be stronger, he needed to become stronger, it was like a unquenchable thirsting he had, to become one of the strongest in the universe. He needed to start kicking his training up a notch, or else he would never reach the level he needed to be. He looked at Roshi, almost as if he were no inferior to Tien, and Tien smirked at Roshi "Master, I think my training with you is done, I've surpassed even you now." The room was getting quite tense, Roshi was feeling quite angry, as he perceived this as an insult to his pride. "One never stops learning, Tien, one only becomes thick headed. It is my belief that you are just flat out thickheaded. Roshi grunted at Tien. It was becoming more and more uncomfortable in the room, Roshi not knowing of his recent training with King Kai.

"I don't need you anymore, old man. I have far surpassed you, with my fight with Frieza, Tao and my training with King Kai. You are inferior to me in every way possible. I am not shutting my mind to teaching, but I am closing my mind on YOUR teaching. You have held me back, and for that, I will hate you. I'm moving on without you, Roshi." Tien barked back at him, clearly now his mind was flooded with power, letting it all go to his head. "If you ever try to find me again, old man, I will not treat you well. Just look at what I did to my old master who had tried to defeat me. Unless you want to say hello to King Yemma, you'll stay out of my way." Tien bolted upstairs, took his stuff, and quickly left the house, Roshi stunned at how Tien had treated him.

Tien made his way across the ocean, he was to start his new training in the mountains, which were secluded, perfect for training mind and soul. He felt that Roshi never wanted to push Tien, always wanting to coddle him into being nothing more than an average fighter. I had to leave he told himself, rationalizing what he said. When Tien had reached the mountains, he felt some low power levels close by. They were not creatures, no, they felt more like low level fighters, maybe lackeys of Frieza. He found a nearby cave, planed all of his stuff, including his extra clothing, bed and some supplies, and made off towards the nearby camp. Tien hadn't had a chance to take his Weighted Armor off, but that was no matter, as it would not slow him down TOO much, certainly not enough for these "punks" to kill him.

Tien looked over the hill, and he saw two creatures who looked a little like they were of Frieza's kind. Jackpot! he thought to himself, as he were about to have a little fun at Frieza's men expense. Gathering some energy into a ball in his right hand, he launched it at one of the creatures, who quickly turned around and took it right to the face. The dust clearing, he saw that the creature, while wounded, was not dead, but merely very angry. "It came from over there, let's go check it out!" The undamaged creature said. The quickly approached where Tien was, noticing him from a distance, they laughed at him. Heh, it's only a puny human, there is no one on this planet that could take us, surely he's not good. Check your scouter. The undamaged Changeling said to his friend. The wounded Changeling clicked a button on the side of his head, and the green glass in front of his eye started what looked like Tien's image.

Only 30,000! We can take him if we both work together!" The slightly wounded one said. Tien smiled at them, which caused both changelings to stir. "You're going to want to keep that little clever device on, I think. Tien said, quickly powering up. The aura around Tien was a blazing white gold color, as he started to reach his peak. The changeling looked at his scouter and blurted 50,000! We need to g..." but it was too late. Tien had loaded up his ki into his two hands, and sent two very strong ki beams at the changelings, evaporating them at once. The pieces of their armor and other such equipment was flying everywhere, and Tien looked very pleased at his handy work that he had just created.

Tien quickly returned to his cave, taking off his Weighted Armor, which had been slightly damaged from the blast, rendering it pretty well useless next time he needed to train. He discarded it behind him, and trained into his regular clothing, as he had been training what seemed like for weeks. He had trained non-stop at King Kai's, and he had been, well some would call it training, at Roshi's. But for now, Tien was well happy with himself at the moment, and took some food out of his supply kit. Eating and looking on at the mountains, he wondered exactly how far he could get by on his own and on this planet. He felt quite detatched from it now, as he no longer cared for anything but himself anymore. It's quite ironic, he thought, that a few days ago, he killed the only master he used his strengths while keeping Roshi around. He somehow felt that if he felt this way a few days ago, he would have killed them both, but only because neither of them had Tien's best interest in mind.

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Tien's alignment is now: Neutral

Gains:

Powerlevel: 12,000
Zenni: 7,000