Chapter Twenty One

After being carried back to Vados by the new and shiny Caulifla you get patched up and feel better than ever. "I see you've handled that one as well. Seriously, it feels like every time we have a problem we should just toss you at it and wait." Vados observes.

"Yeah... And I should get fucking PAID for that!"

"Isn't the satisfaction of others and general happiness worth it?"

"You know what? Spend five minutes with a berserker saiyan and you tell me!"

Meanwhile the two tuffle kids are just watching this awkward conversation unfold in silent contempt. Shaking their heads they fail to comprehend the situation. "What is with battle that makes you act like this? The saiyans are obviously addicted to it. But you... you look like you're a glutton for punishment."

Kamin observes.

"It's really not that bad." You spit on the ground. "I think there's quite a lot of fun to be had fighting. The mindgames, the strategy, the rush you get every time you land a hit or get punched! It's thrilling. You should try it."

They exchange a quick look before returning to you. To this day you don't know if they are capable of communicating like that or it's some sort of sibling connection they have and it's starting to worry you a bit. "You do realize we were bred for war. Doesn't exactly sound too appealing for us though."

"Maybe it's just that. Maybe you dislike it because it was forced on you. And besides. This is not war. Just a friendly spar."

"Okay..." Oren takes over Kamins role.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Hey Caulifla. What do you say about giving that Super Saiyan a little workout?"

"Hmmmm? What do you have in mind?"

"There's two of 'em. And two of us. Let's not leave anyone out!"

She cracks her necks as she ponders over some stuff. "I dunno... Kale! Do you want to join in?"

"W-Wha?"

"Come on! Celebrate a little! We both got our groove back! So let's go and have some fun!"

"R-Right!" Taking off one of her earrings she tossed the other to Caulifla who promptly put it on. Soon enough the two were violently janked towards the other and the two merged in a quick flash of light.

From it a new warrior jumps out with her arms crossed. She looks at you and smiles. "Hi. Missed me?"

"KEFLA!" You shout.

"Yeap. So... I heard you two kids wanna fight.

How about it?"

They look at each other in confusion then back at you. "We do not recognize you."

Oren speaks up which Kamin follows shortly.

"A person who's not in our database. This should be interesting." They stand shoulder to shoulder.

"Well. Looks like they are ready." Kefla then hip checks you. "Come on! Let's show these two a good time! Which one do you want?"

You crack your knuckles. "Either or. I'm guessing we'll switch up halfway through."

"True."

You assume your stance and Kefla... Kefla just stands there with her arms crossed. Kamin and Oren split up with Kamin attacking Kefla and Oren heading for you. Guess it's girl on girl, boy on boy for the start. Kamin immediately starts pressuring and taunting her opponent.

"Aren't you gonna do that Super Saiyan thingie? I'd love to get some data on it!"

Effortlessly dodging all of her attacks, almost like you did with Caulifla, Kefla responds.

"Nah. Last time I did that I got a little power drunk. So I'll hold off on doing that."

"Your funeral!" Kamin continues as she attempts to kick Kefla but when their legs meet the Tuffle is mortified. "W-Wha-"

"Careful Tuffle. Don't let that quip bite you!"

As Kamin pulls back Kefla continues.

"Try to relax. You won't win this one with power alone. Try to think about it. Your moves, your opponents. Do you know how to dance?"

"N-No..."

"Well... I guess this'll be a bit difficult for you to learn." Kefla cracks her knuckles. "No matter. I'm gonna school ya real good!"

But while Kefla seems to have a rather easy time with Kamin the same thing can't be said about you and Oren. He showers you with punches, each feeling like a someone hitting you with a sledgehammer. "Ahahahahaha! Is that all you have? This is how you want to teach us?"

"Hmph... Don't get cocky kid!" Your body begins to vibrate and the world goes white around you. But to your shock as you move closer to him Oren suddenly moves and sneaks in a hit on you. "GAH!"

The timestop ends and the boy gloats. "We saw you fight already. And even if we didn't the Tuffles had plenty of intel on Hit. We were made with countering him in mind!"

"Tch... looks like I won't luck out in this one.

Okay... Then how about this?" You punch to the side, opening a portal leading to Orens face and landing a clean hit with it. But the boy doesn't even budge.

"That's not much... And don't bother with that cyclone or earthquake attacks either. They won't work."

"Piss..." You look up at Oren who seems to be real smug right now. For a moment you are considering using your ki but... it's pretty clear who has the advantage in that regard.

"Face it. This is pointless." He turns around.

"That however... that might be fun." He watches as his sister is having a bad time, with Kefla turning the tables on her rapidly.

"Shoulda been two on one."

But this moment of hesitation on his part is giving you time to work something out.

Frowning you start weighing your options.

You take a moment to pause and relax your muscles. Your head goes down as your neck stops supporting it. And you breathe.

In and out. In and out. In... and out.

As your breathing exercise is going on Oren thinks about sneaking in a little hit. He grins and without raising his arm he opens a palm and shoots out a sneaky little energy ball which you swat away easily. "Don't try it."

"Sorry sorry. But I had to."

You remember your training and start bouncing up and down to pump yourself up. Once you're done you strike a pose and... start bottling up your power. "First step... conserve power!" Using your energy only in the instances when you need it is the key. Before the moment of impact during attack and defense. "Heh... Come on then Oren!"

"As you wish!" The boy then makes his way to you quite rapidly, disregarding the fact that you literally suppressed all your power. He strikes you relentlessly. No finesse at all.

You're starting to realize just how much energy you were wasting.

Though you don't manage to block all of his attacks you aren't suffering too much damage with proper energy control and distribution while Oren is wasting a LOT of his ki. If you delayed this fight long enough and if you held out for all that time... you could win this in a war of attrition. But that's not fun.

Blocking another strike you close your eyes.

"Second step... sharpen your senses."

You start focusing and clash fists with Oren. The strength of the impact washes over you but this time... it doesn't hurt nearly as bad.

Cracking a smile at him you continue to exchange blows in rapid succession which Oren finds a bit frustrating. His body flares up as he's putting actual effort into fighting now, resulting in him wasting yet more energy.

As your mind starts racing you manage to track his movement relatively well and while still eating a few blows due to the sheer difference in power between the two of you, none manage to hit vital or important areas.

Though your counter attack isn't nearly as effective with Oren managing to easily evade all of your attempts. But it seems that he's learning.

Pulling back he stops for a moment. "I think I get it. You use combat to fuel your own evolution! That's it isn't it?"

"Close. Self improvement is definitely a part of it. But that's more of a nice benefit than the actual reason. The reason is that I'm enjoying myself! So start relaxing, your movements are way too rigid! I guarantee you'll start having more fun!"

"Hmmm... fun?" The boy becomes a blur as he rushes you. His movements start loosing that mechanical "edge" they had a moment ago.

Now his limbs aren't as precise, his movements are more fluid as they seamlessly flow into one another. Sure that means it's more dangerous for you as well but... it's becoming fun. "Heh... Third step..."

"Raise your power to the max. And don't let any of it go to waste..." Vados says with a smile.

A wave washes over your body and you feel a... memory from when you were on Namek.

That same, unbound power surges through your body but no longer going out of control.

You let out a smile. "Now watch Oren...

Because you're about so see somethin' wonderful! HAAAAA!"

You slide over the sky and towards the Tuffle where you deliver a spinning kick which he blocks. He grunts for a moment but then stops and grins. "Is that all? I was expecting more!"

"Heh..." You then swipe with your free hand and create a portal. Reaching through it you manage to strike his tendon, causing his leg muscles to uncontrollably contract.

"Gah! W-What the?"

You spin around and with a roar strike the side of his head with your Earthquake strike. It's not enough to deal any damage, nowhere even close. But it's perfectly sufficient to daze him. Pulling back you extend a hand and fire off a Null Lance from it. The needle explodes upon impact, leaving quite a lot of dirt on Oren.

The boy stands still as he recovers from the impact and lowers his guard. "I see." He then smiles. "But-" And his wounds start disappearing one by one until he looks like he woke up fresh from the bed. "It won't be enough to win."

"Heheh... Guess not. By the way, does that cost energy?"

"Hmmm? Of course. Why?"

"No reason."

"Alright young grasshopper! Now you try! After all lessons are useless if you can't apply them."

Oren pauses for a moment, adjust his posture based on the new parameters you gave him. And he's off. No theatrics this time, no gloating, no words. Only pure emotion.

He attacks you with precision and ferocity. So much in fact that you're having trouble keeping up with him. Then he does the unthinkable...

Throwing a faint he baits you into blocking before pouring every bit of power he can muster into moving as fast as possible.

Moving away he slides into your leg from behind, causing you to fall to your knees before he flies under you and throws a flying uppercut at your chin. "How was that?"

He asks as you flip backwards.

Correcting your posture you wipe some saliva off your mouth. "Getting better. Let's see how you handle defense!"

Changing roles now you attack him and you see the difference already. Rather than just raising his fists as well as his ki to block your attacks he now attempts to parry them.

Sometimes he messes up and you sneak in a cheeky little punch but that's what comes with learning. He swipes left and right in the hopes of swatting away your incoming strikes and kicks. Before long you see him not only reacting to your attacks but making predictions, thinking about what your next move would be. And a coy little smile.

"That's it! You're getting the hang of it... no!

You're getting it!"

"I guess I do." He stops and so do you.

"There is still much I don't get. But this I do.

This is fun!"

"Hah good!"

Looking over to his sister Oren asks her. "Hey sis! How are you doing?"

"How *pant* does it *pant* look?" She's covered in dirt and... sweat?

"Jesus Kefla."

"What? I only played around with her."

"You tired her out until she couldn't regenerate. That's not playing, that's torture."

"I thought it'd be a good learning experience."

"About what?"

"That they aren't the hottest shit around."

You sigh and go over to Kamin. Placing a hand on her you pat her on the back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I guess I'm just... Disappointed. Couldn't even get her to transform."

"Don't worry sis. It's not all bad. Next time we'll switch things up and you'll get Eric."

"Next time? Goodie..."

"Alright enough moping around!" You quiet both of them. "You've both done very well. Now-"

"I'd say we all earned a nice little meal. Hey Kefla! How long have you got?"

"Let's see... 10... 20... About half an hour."

"Plenty enough. Would you like to join us?

Any orders?"

"No. Not really. I don't know what I like or don't."

"Ah I see. Kids? Anything in particular?"

"We uh... we are the same..." Yeah. You kinda forgot about all that.

So it's all up to you now. And the name of the game is steak! Nothing like some protein after a hard workout. Setting down your guests you head into the kitchen where you find Hop and Sorrel toiling around, prepping ingredients while Sorrel is also enjoying some... treats.

"Ooooh! Thish is sho ghood! Hop do you want some?"

"I told you... no."

"Oh Eric! What is this? It's delicious."

"You snicker. Those are... those are carrots Sorrel. Did you grow it?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Wow... they sure grow fast here... Anyway guys you can take the day off. Oh and I almost forgot!" You pull out a drawer and hand over bags of clothing to them. "I saw you're wearing these tattered things so I asked Vados for some new clothes. I hope I got your measurements right. It was kinda hard just by looking."

"T-These are for us?" Hop asks. "Because I'm not sleeping with you if that's what you're after!"

"What?! No! I'm not trying to buy you as an escort! These are gifts!"

"W-Wow... Hey Hop! D-Did you ever receive gifts?"

"N-No..."

"Me neither. Thanks Eric!"

"Oh and... enjoy the rest of these carrots."

"Will do!"

"Now then..." You pull out YOUR set of new clothes. "Showtime!"

After the food was done you served it to the others and sat down with them.Luckily this time the reaction of the kids was a bit less... explosive shall we say. But Keflas was special. She had such a glitter in her eyes when she tasted your food, it was like witnessing a child first try out something they like. Priceless.

The meal itself passed by rather unceremoniously however, with all parties present enjoying a nice quiet moment as they experienced some fine dining. Once you were done however it was clear that food fatigue has reared its ugly head as the twins started yawning. "I'm tired sis..."

"Yeah. We should *snore* head to bed..."

"Good night!" You send them off before returning to Kefla. "Well, just the two of us left.

I... hope you enjoyed yourself."

"You kidding? I got a nice little brawl than had the best meal of my life? Well... only meal of my life. But still. All these... moments... they make me glad I can exist!" She grins at you before standing up. "Well. Time to go."

"Wait!" You stand up and halt her. "When?"

"In a minute or two. Why?"

"May I... ask something?"

She nods. "Sure."

"Could I... see you go Super Saiyan?

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess I've seen Cabba, Kale and then Caulifla. At least... I think I did. Kale did knock my lights out. That... leaves you I guess. It's like... I don't know. A thing now. You said you don't want to do it but... I'd like to see it."

"Heh... Okay. Just don't come crying to me when you're disappointed." She closes her eyes quietly and when she opens them they are piercing blue, her aura changes to green and her body undergoes a radical transformation. Her body swells as her muscles become huge and her hair turns spiky green. "How's that? Pretty freaky huh? But it's powerful. Even now I feel a bottomless well of energy trying to break free!" But you just stare at her in silence. "What?"

"N-Nothing!"

"You're... blushing?"

"No I'm not! Just had a bit too much red wine for the meal!"

"Hahaha! Well you're a real freak aren'tcha?

But that's okay. I like you. You're cool. And I think the girls are the same way. Just make sure to keep it up!" And with that said her body started glowing. "Oops looks like my time's up. Well... Bye!"

With a poof she split back into Caulifla and Kale who look like they need to get their bearings. Meanwhile you just stared into your own palm and clenched it into a fist. "Bye..."

Not feeling like sticking around for Caulifla and Kale to tease you about Kefla you went ahead and had a shower before heading to your room. There is a lot of shit you need to rest through and sleep can't come soon enough. However when you get to your room you notice that something's amiss... namely an entire wall separating you from the room next door.

Kamin and Oren nonchalantly greet you. "Hi."

"DON'T YOU HI ME! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ROOM?!"

"We couldn't fit the other beds in so we had to improvise."

"Other be- Ooooooh..." You look in and notice that things were rearranged a bit with two extra beds added to your little one person bed, upgrading it to a queen size one. "So wait-"

"We decided to move into the same room!"

*sigh* "Great... Just what I needed before my rest. Well, do what you want. I can sleep through an atomic bomb, I can sleep through whatever you do." Not bothering yourself too much with the you walk up to the bed and fall into it face first. Only when you hear the rustling of fabric do you look up. "What the he-he-hell..."

You watch as Kamin and Oren strip their clothes until they wear basically nothing but their underwear. Secretly you're thanking your lucky star that Kamin has a bra otherwise the space FBI would be busting through your door already. At least you're pretty sure that's what'd happen. But then they crawl into the bed and hug a hand each. "Good night brobro."

"Good night sis."

Then they both speak at the same time. "Good night Eric."

You let out a sigh. At least it's reasonably adorable. And their skin isn't cold as metal.

So that's a plus. "Good night children."