Chapter 5: Living with my Best Buds!

The raging waterfall roared into the surroundings. If one were to try and speak at a normal volume, one would only hear the crashing of water splashing against more water. At the waterfall two silhouettes could be seen sitting next to one another, one adult and one child-like. They both sat underneath the waterfall enduring the fall of the powerful waters above. The weight crashing upon their shoulders seemed far much more than any normal human should be able to withstand. If a normal person tried to do what they were doing, they would die immediately from the terrible force of the waterfall.

Chiaotzu felt like giant boulders were smashing into him every second as he stayed underneath the waterfall. He could feel his body slowly breaking down and patching itself back together as the seconds went by. The pain was awful but it wasn't as bad as forcing his mind past its limits. He could tolerate something as painful as this for a while, even if it was a different kind of pain. As time went on, the pain seemed to lessen even further as he took his mind off of the pain and focused on other things.

Chiaotzu believed this was what Tien did because he didn't look like he was in pain at all! He looked like he was in a deep meditation. Chiaotzu couldn't even keep his face straight as he trained under this waterfall. Even now, a painful grimace was stuck on his face as his body continued to break and reform. At first, Chiaotzu couldn't even get under the waterfall without using his psychic power to protect him from being crushed into paste. He had to do normal exercises and use rocks as weights to increase his strength before being able to withstand the dangers of the waterfall.

Those first few months, Chiaotzu went all out on his training. He didn't know his limits because of his two wishes and didn't know when he should stop and take a rest. So, he didn't stop. He did a thousand pushups, a thousand sit-ups, and a thousand rock lifts on the first night because his body never gave out and told him he couldn't handle that much. Two weeks after continuing that type of training with some changes every now and then, Chiaotzu could now handle the power of the falls without his telekinesis protecting him. His previous squishy arms have now become more built and formed, along with the rest of his body.

As the Crane School martial artists continued their training, a figure could be seen coming from out of their house. That figure held a large plate in their hands and had quite the feminine shape from far away. The closer the figure came, the more of their physical traits could be seen by the duo. She had a gorgeous blue mane of hair and an innocent kind look in her eyes. She came to the edge of the waterfall and gently called out to the two martial artists.

Her voice was drowned out by the waterfall but Chiaotzu managed to sense her as soon as she left the house with his psychic power. It looked like Tien was too focused on his training, so Chiaotzu decided to eat the sandwiches for himself!

'Hehe, you snooze you lose Tien! Launch's sandwiches are all mine!' Chiaotzu flew towards Launch.

She tried to say something to him, but they were still right next to the waterfall. Chiaotzu gestured to Launch that she should follow him away from the waterfall. She pointed towards the still-training Tien, who seemed close to hitting his limit. His body was shaking and his face was strained. Chiaotzu gave Launch a thumbs up hoping that she would understand that it was nothing to worry about. She turned back towards him and smiled before following him away from the waterfall.

"I made a small snack for the both of you. You've both been out here for hours and I thought you would be hungry about now." Launch said in her usual kind and caring voice that had a slight air-headedness tone to it.

"Haha thanks Launch! These look delicious!" Chiaotzu giggled as he shoved multiple sandwiches in his mouth.

"You're welcome, Chiaotzu." She smiled.

She made around a dozen so it was fine for him to pig out a little bit! Tien can only blame himself for being too caught up in training! Chiaotzu ate more than half of the sandwiches on the plate even though he really didn't need to. Ever since his second wish, he didn't actually need to eat anymore but Blue Launch's cooking was great when it came to simple foods! It was super yummy and Chiaotzu would have to be a dummy to give up tasting great food just because he doesn't get hungry anymore!

"CHIAOTZU!!!!" Tien shouted as he flew towards him.

"Tee hee! You should've been paying more attention to your surroundings, Tien!" Chiaotzu grabbed another sandwich slice and flew away laughing at Tien.

"You barely left any for me! Give me that slice in your hand!"

"No way!" Chiaotzu ate the sandwich in one bite and chewed on it afterward while making a funny face at Tien.

"You little pig!" Tien's face grew red.

"Achoo!" The two men heard someone sneezing down below.

"Oh no..." Tien got even redder.

"Have fun Tien!" Chiaotzu teased as he flew inside the house.

Tien wanted to chase after him and give him a good hit for eating that many sandwiches but Blonde Launch had a different idea.

"Oi, Tien! Get down here so I can feed you these sandwiches!" Launch yelled in a much more aggressive and tomboyish manner. Her previous blue hair was now blonde and her deep blue eyes turned green.

"Here I come..." Tien couldn't use the excuse that he was training to skimp out on her. He was caught at the worst possible moment and he was pretty hungry.

The two spent the next few moments on a lovey dovey picnic with no interruptions to intrude on them. Tien was quite subdued and embarrassed to be fed in such a manner but ultimately didn't reject being hand fed by Launch. After spending a year with her since Chiaotzu left on his training, they have gotten quite close. He wasn't rude enough to tell her to go away and she was aggressive enough to push even harder the more he tried to reject her. As time passed, Tien realized that he doesn't dislike Launch and is attracted to both her strong personality and never giving up attitude.

Before accepting her proposal into becoming her boyfriend, he told her that he wouldn't stop his training until he was strong enough to defeat Goku. His training was everything to him and he would never stray from the path of a martial artist. Launch still didn't understand his obsession and focus on training but nevertheless she accepted his goals and finally got what she wanted! Tien was now her boyfriend! She still thought that their life would be perfect if he went out on crimes with her and stole so much money that they could live like kings for the rest of their lives but Tien wasn't interested in such a life and disdained such immoral acts now.

More time passed in this peaceful lifestyle between the three. Tien's and Chiaotzu's gradual training that increased in intensity every week, the bonds between the three increased as time went on, and the insane speed at which Chiaotzu's strength was progressing.

"Hey Chiaotzu! Ready for this week's sparring?!" Tien called out from upstairs.

"You bet Tien! This time I'm gonna win!" Chiaotzu answered.

"We'll see about that!" The two went out into the field and stood across from each other.

"Multi-Form Technique!" Tien split himself into four clones, but he wasn't done just yet. "Four Witches Technique!" Each clone simultaneously grew an extra pair of arms under their shoulder blades.

As this was happening, Chiaotzu was using his psychic power inside Tien's body. He was memorizing the way Tien just used his ki to use these techniques so that he could use them for himself. The surprise on Tien's face when he sees he can do the same will be so hilarious! He's already learned how to use the Tri-Beam and Solar Flare after sparring with Tien after several months without the use of his psychic abilities but he just couldn't figure out how to clone himself and grow extra arms until now.

"Here I come!" The four Tiens split off and rushed at Chiaotzu from four directions.

Chiaotzu suddenly split himself into four and all of him rushed at the Tiens!

"What the!? You copied my technique!? How!?"

"You're not the only one who can learn other people's techniques, Tien!" Chiaotzu innocently laughed, remembering how Tien learned the Turtle School's signature technique: Kamehameha.

The child-like martial artists all landed a fierce punch on Tien's clones in his surprise. Chiaotzu's clones charged a Dodon Ray and Tien's clones were destroyed, leaving four Chiaotzus vs one Tien. The original Tien managed to deflect one of the clone's Dodon Ray with his palm and sent it penetrating through the side of the mountain.

"It's not over yet! Solar Flare!" Tien blinded all of Chiaotzu's clones and rushed toward them.

Sadly for him, Chiaotzu didn't need his eyes to fight. His telekinesis could sense Tien and his attacks! The Chiaotzus dodged Tien's assault and attacked him together. Tien was quickly forced on the defensive, even with his four arms. Chiaotzu's strength and speed might have gotten weaker through splitting but that doesn't mean Tien could take their attacks without defending himself! Chiaotzu was nearly on par with Tien in physical strength!

Tien grabbed the limbs of the attacking Chiaotzus and slammed them all in the ground. The clones dissipated and Chiaotzu fired another Dodon Ray from his finger as Tien held onto his leg, blasting Tien in the chest. Tien was launched into the waterfall and Chiaotzu got back up to his feet, ready to continue the fight! Tien charged out from the waterfall, making most of the water explode out toward Chiaotzu.

"Whoa! Too much water! Too much water!" Chiaotzu hurriedly flew upwards.

Only to be caught by Tien's double hammerfist punch and sent flying into the wave of water.

"Tri-Beam!" Chiaotzu heard from above.

'Oh no!' Chiaotzu charged the energy within his body and sent it towards his finger as he was submerged within the water.

"Blorbo Bry!" Chiaotzu used his Super Dodon Ray to contest with Tien's Tri-Beam.

The two beams exploded once they made contact and the surrounding mountains cracked and shivered from the power of the two attacks. Smoke and dust rose in the small valley and it was impossible to see the aftermath through it. The water Chiaotzu was in was blasted away and evaporated. He could still sense Tien above him but he had no idea what his condition was like.

"Let's stop here, Chiaotzu! If we go any further, we might just destroy the house by accident." Tien slowly floated down.

"Okay, Tien! But I still won since you gave up!" Chiaotzu laughed.

"Heh, that's fine. It's my 100 to your 90." Tien chuckled.

"I'm gonna catch up eventually and beat you, Tien!"

"At the pace, you're going, I don't doubt it. I'm going to have to increase my training even more before you surpass me."

The two entered back into the house to see Blue Launch in the kitchen with a mountain of food on the table. The loud growling of Tien's stomach spoke for both them as they rejoiced at the sight of the food. With a cheerful laugh, the two dug into the food like starved cavemen as Launch made some more, knowing their stomachs wouldn't be filled with just this amount.