Nine spots, and less than half a second to strike them all.  This was the main challenge presented by the Soaring Heavens Flash.  The head, the left shoulder, the right shoulder, the left side, the ride side, the sternum, the crotch, the left thigh, and the right thigh.  Those were the nine spots on a body that were struck by the Soaring Heavens Flash, and were all seemingly hit at the same time.

            You can imagine how it took me nearly three months to perfect the manuever; it was no easy chore to say the least.  I’d spent literally hundreds of hours mastering every small nuance of the attack, and it had been well worth the effort in the end.  Indeed, to be able to move by your opponent so fast not even the strongest fighters in the universe could see you, and strike your enemy in nine separate places in the single pass, only to end up behind your adversary was a huge advantage.  After I conquered it, I told myself I had indeed surpassed even my own expectations of training under King Kai.

            And then Cris went and learned it in under two weeks.

            I wasn’t really all that afraid when King Kai began teaching Cris the Soaring Heavens Flash, as I figured it would take him at least as long as it had taken me to master the technique.  Once he managed to achieve the “god-speed” (the speed used to blow by your opponent) in under a week, I began to get a little anxious though.  And when he learnt how to use the momentum of the sword to go in the direction he wanted, I got a little more nervous.  Then one fateful afternoon, he managed to slice nine distinct cuts into the trunk of the tree, and land up un-molested on the other side.

            That had been two weeks before our little encounter, and in those two weeks, Cris had managed to swing the chances of him being the one wished back quite considerably in his favour.  The Soaring Heavens Flash coupled with his newfound Kaioken attack put him on a pedestal quite notably above my own.  While I was still stronger than Cris, the only reason he couldn’t outmatch me with Kaioken was because of the high gravity.  This was the main problem I’d been having the day of our run in.

            When I’d elected to stay behind on King Kai’s planet and train with him, I’d envisioned beating Cris at his own game, of becoming so strong and powerful that the people earth side would have no choice but to wish me back.  This was of course not the case.  Cris had shown to me, once again, that he was the best at what he did for a reason.

            I couldn’t match up to his seemingly tireless physical workouts, or his crazed work ethic or anything else like that.  Thus I’d been reduced to doing what I did best, mentally preparing for the upcoming battle.  Since I’d already learnt every attack King Kai had been willing to teach me, my meditation periods were often unproductive, causing me to fall even farther behind Cris.

            So I’m sure you can imagine the frustration that had been building up inside of me for almost the entire time since he’d learnt the Kaioken attack.  And since I knew the wish to bring one of us back would be made within less than a month, I was beginning to get very pissed, knowing that it would almost certainly be Cris.

            I waited patiently until after Cris had finished doing his morning exercises, meditating to help pass the time.  Once he was done, he began heading over to the house to see if King Kai wanting anything specific of him that day.  I began walking, setting an intercept course to meet him halfway to the small, grey dome of a house.

            He obviously noticed me matching him stride for stride, but didn’t say or do anything to point towards it.  It was only when I zanzokened in front of him in an obvious attempt to block off his route did he have any type of reaction.

            He stopped quickly in his tracks once I’d materialized in front of him and asked “What is it Triono?”  In a tired, old mother type voice.

            I had no answer, just a query in reply.  “Why Cris?”

            He gave me a quizzical look, and slowly answered “Why what?”

            “Why’d you do it?”

            “Do what?”

            “Why’d you agree to train with King Kai while I was still here?”

            “The same reason you prompted the idea.”

            “Which was?”

            “So we could push each other.”  He paused.  “Seems to have worked.”

            “For one of us at least.”

            “Maybe, but we’re all equal against the Caprians.”

            “No, we’re not.”

            He seemed kind of stunned by the quick reply, but managed to stammer out “What do you mean?”

            “What do you think?  I’m a Saiyan, I’m much more worthy than you.  I should be the one getting wished back, but it’s going to be you.”

            “I guess you should’ve thought of that before you convinced King Kai to not wish one of us back three months ago.”

            “It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.”

            “But it’s the way it is.  Live with it.”

            I shook my head.  “I’m not giving up, not now Cris.”

            “Then don’t.  But it won’t stop me from being the one wished back.  It’s too late for you.”

            I came up with no quick response, so he took advantage of it, and began to step aside and then past me.  I let him past, but I just wanted to break his neck.  He just had to be so smug and confident didn’t he?  I hated it, I hated everything about him.  I clenched my right fist and dropped my left hand to the handle of my sword.  As he padded on towards King Kai’s house, an anger I hadn’t felt in a long time came over me.

            “Cris.”  I said quietly, as I turned around 180 degrees to face my red-haired “friend”, my hand remaining on the hilt of my sword and my back held straight up.

            He stopped in his tracks, but remained with his back to me.  “What?”  He asked without even turning his head.

            My hand slowly dropped to the point where the hilt and the sheathe of the sword met, where I placed my thumb on the base of the handle of the sword.  “Prepare.”  Was all I said in reply.  With that I flicked my thumb up, pushing the hilt out and making it readily available to my right hand.  The resulting slit-like sound alerted Cris to my attentions, and right as I whipped out my sword and rocketed towards Cris, he lashed his head around and saw me coming at the last second.

            Right as I brought my sword to his body in a side-slashing motion, he zanzokened out of the way, off to my left.  I turned to him just as he reappeared, and watched as he unsheathed his sword and held it at his waist with both hands in the neutral posture King Kai had taught both of us.

            “What does this do Triono?”  He asked, like he didn’t know already.

            I replied in actions, letting the silence of words speak for itself.  I dropped all my weight onto my back foot, bending both legs, and raised my sword to my shoulder.  He instantly thought that I was going for the Dragon Shock, as I expected him to.  Instead of zanzokening though, I just used my bent knees to shoot at amazing speeds towards Cris.

            He didn’t expect me to use one posture and strike with an attack designed for another posture, so I knew I had the advantage.  I slashed downwards towards his shoulder as soon as I reached him.  He barely managed to swivel away to avoid it, and in surprise jumped back to avoid a second attack.

            When we faced up again, he was breathing deeply, his eyes were locked in on me, and I knew I already had him on the ropes.  I smiled, and took in a deep breath before going after him again.  This time I attacked with an upward stroke from the ground, which he replied to with an overhead smash.  Our swords met with a brilliant clash of silvery metal.

            After the initial contact, it was an all-out free for all.  I repeatedly attacked with brute strength and quickness, while Cris tried vainly to block my constant advances, but before long I’d backed him up against the wall of the house.  He tried jumping overtop of the house and onto the other side, but when he did, I quickly zanzokened in front of him and kicked him back to the ground.

            When we met back on the ground, we rushed each other swords first again, meeting right next to the lone building, and locked our swords.  I pushed with all my might, and I was sure Cris did the same.  I began to overpower him, and right as I was beginning to press him into the ground, he easily zanzokened away and I almost fell flat on my face.

            Once I recovered, I picked up his ki signature a few metres to my right.  I shifted to see him, only to be greeted by the site of him holding his sword horizontally in front of his chest, and feel his ki rising. 

I smiled, that was the first step of the Soaring Heavens Flash.  He must’ve been crazy to think he could match sword technique and speed against me.  I matched his position, holding the base of the sword with my right hand and the dull (back) side of the blade in my other hand.  I closed my eyes and visualized the manuever, preparing my body and mind for the upcoming assault.

I concentrated all my ki energy into my legs, the focal point of the Soaring Heavens Flash.  Once I’d built up the necessary strength, I opened my eyes to see Cris also prepared.  I nodded, he replied in the same manner.

We shot off at exactly the same time, both executing the faster than lightning attack simultaneously.  I can’t really describe the moment of contact between us, because the Soaring Heavens Flash is over so quick it can’t really be described, it sort of just happens.  I know that I got off all my attacks; all nine points of my strike had made some sort of contact.

When I hit the ground at the exact spot Cris had been just a millisecond earlier, I performed a quick check to make sure I was still in one piece.  I found that Cris hadn’t even struck me once in the entire exchange, and I assumed I must’ve won the meeting of swords.

I turned to face the ground where I thought Cris’ body would be, but found only grass.  I quickly reached out with my ki and sensed Cris alive and well.  I brought my eyes up and saw him standing, facing me with a puzzled look on his face.

I was instantly baffled as well.  How could Cris have a Soaring Heavens Flash as quick and powerful as my own?  He’d only mastered it two weeks before our fight, and yet our attacks were even enough that neither of us were injured.  I realized that for that to happen, our attacks needed to happen at the exact same time, so that they cancelled each other out.  I looked down at my sword in disbelief.  There was no way Cris was as fast, strong or quick as I without using the Kaioken attack, I knew he hadn’t used that, so there must’ve been some other factor.

I didn’t have time to mull over what it could’ve possibly been though; Cris was soon at me again.  This time he assailed with a wild two-handed over the shoulder attack aimed for my head.  I easily brought my sword in his weapons path, and prevented any major damage from being done.  Our swords were locked again, and I pushed with my single hand against Cris two-handed effort.  I actually managed to shove him off me and send him sprawling to the ground, much to his surprise.

While he was down, I lunged towards him with a reckless stabbing attack.  He easily rolled away from it, and I was unable to stop my momentum, so my sword was wedged into the ground Cris had vacated.  I tried to wrestle it from the dirt, but before I could, Cris kicked my wrist, causing me to release my grip on the sword.

I turned to him in anger, but was greeted only by a small ki blast shot from his free hand.  The impact of the blast hurled me a few feet before I met with the ground.

I easily managed to get up from the grass and dirt and turned to face Cris again.  He stood calm and cool, as always, sword in hand and a grim look upon his face.  I began to think of how I could either limit or get rid of Cris’ sword, when suddenly, he did it for me.

He wound up his arm and then threw both sheathe and sword far away.  I stared at him in amazement, wondering what could have caused him to throw away his only clear-cut advantage.  Before I could comment he said “I don’t want to beat you when we’re not on even terms.  I’m going to defeat you fair and square.”  I was about to point out that he had disarmed me fairly, but thought better of it.

“Alright then, let’s get started.”  I quickly replied.  He nodded, and the real battle began.

            I dropped into my fighting stance, while he reverted to the one Master Roshi had taught him back on Earth.  We played the waiting game, neither of us moving or hinting our intentions for at least a minute.  I began to get impatient, and Cris showed no signs of attacking whatsoever.  An urge to just hurl myself at him started to rise in my chest.  I thought about attacking with an all out assault, but then I realized that would be playing right into his hands.  He knew I’d be the one break the peace first, and he was just waiting for the opportunity to present itself.

            Not this time.  I quelled the feeling in my torso, and performed an open-eye meditation technique King Kai had taught me.

            I don’t know how long we both just stood there, patiently awaiting the other to make a move.  Suddenly a flare of warning went off like wildfire in my head, and I just had to move.  I quickly zanzokened, off to Cris’ right.  It was a good thing too; Cris had been preparing a small invisible ki blast and had hurled it at my previous location.  The spot I previously occupied blew up with a small explosion, and I saw my chance.

            I shot towards Cris from my new location, and lead in with a short jab aimed at his head.  He managed to send the weak blow sideways, but I followed it up with a rising roundhouse kick towards his chest.  He didn’t see it and the strike made contact.  He was sent flying backwards, and crashed into the ground a few metres away from me.

            I leapt high into the air, almost out of the planets high gravity field, and then used my ki to propel me downwards towards Cris at amazing speeds.  As I neared him, I stuck out my left knee towards his head.  Right before I reached my target though, he rolled away and I struck the hard ground instead.

            He shot off, using handsprings to reach a standing position a little ways to my left.  As soon as I turned to face him, he was coming towards me, fist outstretched, a grim look on his face.  I remained squatting as he rushed towards me, and right before he touched me, I literally jumped right over his head, turned in mid-air, and was facing his back within less than a second.  He stood dumbfounded, while I leapt forward and drove my own fist straight into his back.

            He flew forward, crashing into the house face first.  A few cracks appeared in the wall, but the structure held together, lucky for King Kai.  Cris began to crumple, sliding down slightly before regaining his legs.  There was a bloodstain on the wall where the gray surface and his face had met.

            He turned to face me, his nose broken into a disfigured position, his jaw seemingly rearranged.  It was one hell of a pretty site.

            He didn’t give up though, I had to give him that.  He raised his right hand and shot a small ki blast from it.  It was aimed well enough, but moved too slow, and I easily managed to turn my hips and avoid it.  When I pivoted back to track Cris, I found his fist heading straight towards my face.

            I leaned back, so I could have more time to react, and managed to bring up my arms and shove away his attack.  He then brought his free hand into the air and then down onto my open chest in a hammer blow.  There was no way I could avoid it, so I was sent to the ground hard.  The air was knocked out of me for a second, which was long enough for Cris to prepare another ki blast.

            As close as we were to each other, the small blast would almost certainly prove fatal if hit.  Of course I was already dead, and I couldn’t really die twice, but that thought never entered my head.  Instead I just clamped my legs together and then kicked him hard in his knee with both feet right as he was throwing the blast.

            My attack caused his leg to buckle, his energy blast sailed aimlessly over my head, and he fell to one knee, gasping for air.

            I saw another opportunity, bringing my paired legs back for another strike.  This time, as his head was lower to the ground, I aimed my attack towards his face.  Right as I was sending my legs towards his face though, he zanzokened away.

            I flipped up from the ground and looked around for him.  I picked up his ki to my left and twisted to face it.  He stood there, his shoulders heaving, his lip and nose bleeding profusely, all the while a small grin on his face.  He was enjoying this.

            And so was I.  I loved the smell of his blood, of my blood, the sounds of flesh upon flesh, the pain, the hate, the intensity, I loved it all.  Maybe my Saiyan heritage was pulling through in the end, but I wasn’t the only one that liked what was going on between us.

             I chuckled silently to myself, and then shot straight towards Cris.  He did the same, and we met at about halfway.  I lead in with a hook, which he met with his own swing.  After the two fists met, it was a free-for-all.  We just exchanged punches and kicks in rapid succession, neither of us landing a single blow.  After a few seconds, I turned on the jets, and began going all out.  Cris was soon overwhelmed, and I began to land quick punches and short kicks.  After almost a minute of close combat, I wound up a large punch and hit him right in the solar plexus with it.

            I watched as his bloody form fell to the ground, a look of agony on his face.  I hopped back, giving him some breathing room, and a chance for me to regain my air and composure.  While I began taking in deep breaths, he lied on the ground, barely moving, his ki power failing quickly.  I thought that perhaps he’d given up and would yield to me, but then again, this was Cris.

            He sat up slowly, too slowly for my liking.  When he stood tall again, I dropped back into my fighting stance, expecting him to do the same.  When he didn’t, I wondered if perhaps this was his way of conceding the battle to me.  “Is it over Cris?”  I asked, not wanting to risk renewing the fight.  “Did you lose?”

            He just looked at me blankly, spread his legs into a sort of squat position, raised his hands to his sides and yelled out “KAIOKEN!!!”

            He was suddenly immersed in flames, his ki power doubled instantly, and his muscles grew in size tremendously.  I stood there dumbfounded.  He’d only performed the Kaioken attack under the heavy gravity twice: once when he first mastered the attack, and the other a week before the fight.  Both times the stress had made the move so unbearable he couldn’t hold it for more than a few seconds.  I looked at him in awe, admiring the idea that he would use it in an actual fight.

            While I stood there though admiring my opponent though, he wasted no time, coming at me full speed.  I didn’t even react as he drove his knee into my stomach and propelled me backwards.  I didn’t even have time to hit the ground from the attack though, he was on me, driving a fist straight into my jaw and sending me down the floor at amazing speeds.

            I bounced once off the soft grass, and doubled over in pain.  My jaw felt like it had been ripped off, and I’d lost all my air.  Cris paid no mind to these inconveniences though, and axe-kicked me in the chest.  I lied on the ground, pain going through my body like no ones business, and I could do nothing in my own defence.

            Cris picked me up from the ground with one hand, his Kaioken still in effect, and repeatedly hammered me in the chest and face with his free fist.  His blows were like sledge hammers on my skin, much more powerful than anything I’d ever felt before.  After a while though, his grip slipped and he dropped me.  He also was forced to disengage his Kaioken, as his muscles were beginning contract and expand at inhuman rates

             I scurried away, a disfigured mass of blood and pain.  I stood up to face him, seeing nothing but the red-haired boy I’d fought and lost too so many times.  But I couldn’t lose this time, everything was on the line.

            We both stood, gasping for air, both wanting nothing other than to walk away and lick our wounds, both knowing that that wasn’t a possibility.   Every breath hurt, it felt like I had a million tons of bricks on my chest.  Still I couldn’t let him get the best of me, I’d have to end it right then, before he could make me show any more weakness.

            I garnered up the last of my strength, and put it all into a single zanzoken.  I disappeared and reappeared directly behind Cris.  The human was too tired to react with any ferocity, so I took my chance.  I grabbed both of his weak shoulders, brought my knees up and with all the power I could muster, drove both of my knees into the base of his spine, while pulling back my hands.

            I felt his spinal cord bend and twist under the pressure, but I didn’t have the time to enjoy it rightfully.  My grip on his shoulders loosened, and he fell to the ground.  I staggered around uncoordinated for a few seconds before dropping to one knee in order to keep my balance.

            I looked up to Cris, only to find him on the ground, flat on his face, twitching uncontrollably like a dead chicken.  He still had his ki, but it was so weak I barely noticed it.  I put my hands by my sides to help me balance, and my left hand came upon something soft and leathery.  I looked down and saw that Cris’ sword lay directly beside me, still in its holder, still sharp and deadly.

            I wrapped my hands around the sheathe, stood up and then withdrew the weapon.  I was amazed at how light it was, far less weighty than my own sword, and I realized that was how our Soaring Heavens Flash’s had matched up, King Kai had given me a heavier sword, knowing that I did poorly at physical training, and that I’d need the extra weight.  

I didn’t really care though, as Cris had stopped twitching, so I slowly began to walk over to his limp carcass.  When I reached him, I was amazed by how much blood lay under his body, but that didn’t stop me from gripping his shoulder and flipping him onto his back.

            He looked up into the sky with glazed unmoving eyes, and I wretched his head so that those dead eyes could peer into my own.  He stared blankly at me for a few seconds, before I was overcome with an urge to cut out his eyes and spit in the sockets (sick eh?).

            I brought up my sword, and pointed the edge of the blade straight at his jugular.  Right as I was about to stab it into his throat, he surprised me by saying “You love this don’t you Triono?”  I halted in my tracks and looked at him in amazement.  “You love that feeling don’t you?”

            “Wh..what feeling?”  I said through a large lump in my throat.

            “The feeling you get when you know you’re stronger than your opponent.  You just live for that feeling don’t you Triono?”  I didn’t reply, I couldn’t.  “And you must love it even more because it’s me.  Right?”

            I didn’t know what to say, except the truth “Yes.  Yes Cris, I’m loving every second of this.  This is how it’s supposed to be, me over you.”

            “Then go ahead and end it, stab me already.”

            I brought back my blade and was about to finish him off, when he opened his mouth again.  “Go and do it Triono.”

            Those words, they struck something in me.  I realized I’d heard those words before, and they held some sort of significance in my life.  He said them again “Go and do it.”  I couldn’t remember where I’d heard them before, but I knew I had.

            “I told you didn’t I?  Now go and do it.”  Those exact words, that was what he said.  I closed my eyes in an attempt to figure out where I’d heard them before, and when I opened them again, Cris was gone.

            Everything was gone, replaced by a blackness I’d never seen before.  There was a figure in Cris’ place, a woman, a person who consumed my entire view.  It then struck me who had spoken that phrase to me before.

            I looked at my mom’s beautiful face, watched as she spoke the words once again; only it was still with Cris’ voice.  “Go and do it.”  It was like Cris had dubbed over my mom’s voice.   I tried brushing my hand over her face, but touched nothing but air.  I tried again vainly to reach out and stroke the face that had cared for me for so many years, sheltered me through all the taunts, all the hatred, all the fear that had consumed my life.

            “Go and do it.”

            I screamed.  I released my sword and Cris to the ground, and stumbled away aimlessly.  I didn’t get far though; I was soon on the ground, bawling my eyes out.  I pounded the ground in horror and pain.

            My mother, it all came back to my mother eventually.  There was no way to avoid what she had meant to me, and that’s what I’d been trying to do.  While I lied there on my stomach, crying and wallowing in my own self-pity, I heard King Kai come running out of the house.  He still had his ridiculous nighttime toque like hat on, and his shirt was tousled badly.  He was screaming, demanding to know what was happening.

            “What the hell happened here?”  He yelled at the top of his very powerful lungs.  “Triono, why are you such a bloody mess?”  Then he spotted Cris.  “Oh, in the name of Kami.  Cris!!!!”  He cried out, as he rushed past me towards Cris.

            I couldn’t stop crying for the life of me, it was too late, I’d already lost.  Yes, Cris had beaten me again.  Maybe not physically this time, but he still found a way to beat me, to show me my fatal flaws.  I could never repay Cris for what he’d done to me over the years; there were too many instances to count.

            I cried for a bit more, while King Kai tried force-feeding Cris a senzu bean.  After that though, I ran out of tears, out of hate.  I rose up from the ground slowly, King Kai blaring questions at me, Bubbles making his little chipmunk noises incessantly, Gregory flying around like no one’s business.  I couldn’t handle it any more, I just couldn’t.  A wave of nausea came over me, and I was consumed by blackness.

            At least I saw my mother again.