//------------------------------// // Episode 11: How A Real Saiyan Trains // Story: Dragon Ball TX // by MidnightTwister //------------------------------// Opening Theme Wolf Saga After signing Cloud out of the hospital, our hero and his friends made their way to Sweet Apple Acres, home to none other than Applejack and the sweetest apples you've ever tasted! Cloud grabbed at his stomach tightly in pain. "Uuuugghh, how far away are we?" He asked. Twilight and Rarity sighed in annoyance while Rainbow Dash was off in her own little world ignoring everything going on around her. "We're only a couple minutes away, Cloud. Just hold out for a little longer." Twilight said. "Aaaaaawww!" Cloud complained. "But any longer and I'll wither away!" "Complaining about it won't make it go away, darling." Rarity said. Cloud groaned in defeat, hanging his head low as he sulked by their side. "Listen, just think of something else. Get your mind off of food!" Cloud raised his head after a second and thought to himself. What could he think about to get his mind off of food? Well, before he could think up something, Twilight thought up something herself. "After we're done at Sweet Apple Acres, Cloud, I'd like to run some more tests on you, mainly to find out how strong you are and why you're so strong!" She said. "Oh sure! Okay!" Cloud responded. "Also, can you teach me how to read more?" "Certainly! And after we've finished reviewing the alphabet, I'll give you a test! From there, we'll work on reading and writing entire sentences! Ooh! And then we'll work on your math, going over all of the numbers and then operations!" She responded eagerly. "After you've learned the basics, I'll sign you up for school, and you can learn with all the other kids!" Cloud stopped in his tracks for a second, as did the mares, who looked at him in confusion. "Something wrong, Cloud?" Rainbow asked 'Kids... kids... kids!!' Cloud thought as he remembered something important. "Wait a sec! Are the kids alright?! Tell me they're okay!" Cloud said, concern quickly replacing his normally happy attitude. The girls looked at each other in confusion. "What kids?" Rainbow asked. "THE KIDS! You know, the ones that Ghid and Orah kidnapped! Tell me they're all okay! Please!" Cloud exclaimed urgently. "Don't worry, Cloud! They're all fine!" Rarity said in a reassuring tone. Cloud calmed down a little. "... Are you sure?" "Yeah! They're A-O-Kay thanks to you!" Rainbow said with a smile. "To be honest, I don't think any of us would've seen a happy ending without you there, especially the kids!" Twilight said Cloud stood in silence for a moment before letting out a deep sigh of relief. He wiped away some nervous sweat from his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. "Thank goodness..." He said. After another moment, Cloud began walking again. "Alright then, let's get going to Squee Appa Aiks!" "It's called Sweet Apple Acres, Cloud." Twilight corrected with a smile. "Dang it! I was close!" Cloud exclaimed. ~ Just A Couple Minutes Later ~ After a couple more minutes of walking, and with a little complaining from Cloud about being hungry, the hybrid boy and mares finally reached Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight held out one hoof as she began to say, "We're finally here, Cloud! Now-" Cloud immediately started running towards the gate with newfound energy. "Finally!" This quick burst of energy blocked his stomach pain and allowed him to charge at full speed towards the nearest apple tree, which was far behind the house. The mares stood in place, quite frankly shocked at his speed. Twilight said, "I was just about to tell him that if he's hungry, we could go inside the house and see if Granny Smith would be willing to make an apple pie..." Cloud made it to the tree in no time at all, and stood right in front of it. He merely stared in awe at the many bright red and green apples the tree had, his mouth watering heavily. *Grooooowwwlll!* The Saiyan got into a fighting stance and focused energy into his right fist. "HIYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" He threw another of his mighty punches at the tree, resulting in a loud 'BAM' and causing the entire tree to shake for a couple seconds. Suddenly, apples started to fall from above! "You're mine!" He said with fiery eyes. He very quickly grabbed apple after apple as they fell, shoving one by one into his mouth and quickly gulping it down like a true Saiyan. More apples continued to fall, and Cloud did not let up as he continued to catch more and more of the shiny red delights. Before he and the tree knew it, they were down to the last three apples. His hands moved to grab them at super speed, but then- *BAM!* "OW!" Cloud yelped as the three apples hit the ground, bouncing a couple times before they settled. "What in tarnation are ya doin'?!" Yelled Applejack, who held her little sister's bat in her mouth for a second before putting it down. Cloud's hands reached for the top of his head, which felt like it was throbbing. In a pained and confused tone, he said "Geez! I was just eating some apples! You didn't have to hit me like that!" "Sorry about that, but nex' time ask first instead of jus' helpin' yourself out." Applejack scolded for a moment. A moment of silence passed as Cloud's pain started to ease down as AJ looked between the Saiyan and the tree. "Hey, I have a question if ya don't mind me askin'." Cloud's hands moved away from his head as the pain left. "Sure, what up?" He asked. "Ya wouldn't mind helpin' me with apple buckin' sometime, would ya?" She asked, before continuing with, "Ah mean, Ah'll pay ya if ya help me." "Sure, I'll help out!" He answered. "But what exactly is apple bucking?" "Yo'll jus' be goin' ta each an' every tree, hittin' 'em, an' catchin' the apples with a bucket as they fall." "Oh, well that doesn't sound too hard." Cloud said. "Maybe I can even make it a part of my training and see how fast I can do it!" "Alright then! It's a deal!" AJ said, extending her hoof for a hoof-handshake. They shook hand and hoof for a second before AJ asked, "Now then, ya wanna come on inside for food?" Cloud looked between her and the apple tree, then he grabbed at his stomach for a second and thought. He brought his hand back to his side. "Actually, I'm fine for now. I think I'll spend time training." He said. "Do you know where my house is?" "Yep! It's that way!" AJ answered. She pointed in the right direction, to an area further into the orchard where the trees were thicker. "Jus' keep goin' in that direction, yo'll get there eventually." "Thanks! I'll see you and everypony else later!" Cloud said, taking off in the right direction to find his house. ~ A Minute or So's Walk Later ~ Cloud was walking in a very relaxed manner, with his hands behind his head. He'd been relaxed like this for the past couple of minutes, just taking in the sounds and sights of nature: the blowing of wind and the clear pale blue sky, the rustling of leaves and the many apple filled trees, and the like. However, these weren't what he was paying attention to the most. He was paying attention just enough to be aware of his surroundings, but otherwise his mind was focused on something else entirely. 'I wonder if I can handle it this time...' He was thinking of a certain contraption in the ship. 'Last time it almost flattened me like a pancake!' Another minute passed and Cloud arrived at home sweet home. He smiled and said, "Hahaha! I don't know why, but I'm so happy to be home again! I feel like it's been forever!" He ran straight to the door and pressed a button. There were three audible beeps and he moved out of the way. After the beeps, the hatch opened up with mechanical groaning as it lowered. A second or two passed and the hatch touched the ground. Cloud walked on inside the ship and into the dark interior. Then there was a gentle hum and the lights all flickered on. "WELCOME, CLOUD" The ship said in a female voice. "Haha! Hiya! It's been a while hasn't it?" Cloud said cheerfully. He quickly pressed another button, but this one closed the hatch. There was again three beeps, and then the hatch closed with a mechanical groan. The hybrid hero walked towards the huge machine at the center of the room. The machine was like a column and stretched all the way from the red tile floor to the ceiling. The teenage Saiyan examined the console carefully, both trying to remember how to turn it on, and working up the courage to do so. 'This could very easily go wrong. I have to be careful...' Sweat rolled down the side of his face as he remembered how to turn it on. He inhaled deeply and then exhaled. He wiped his forehead with the back of hi gloved hand, and with a determined look on his face, he pressed a series of buttons. The machine turned on and there was a display that read 1G. "Huh? What's that mean?" Cloud asked no one in particular. He waited a second, but decided to keep fiddling with the contraption when nothing happened. He pressed a button and the display read 2G. He presses the button again, and the number went higher. "I think the higher the number, the higher and more intense the level is..." He looked around and thought to himself for a second. He looked back to the console. "Only one way to figure it all out, I guess." He pressed the start button and with the level set to 10G. There were a couple of beeps that came from the console, and then the machine began to whir. After a moment of suspense, Cloud felt it. The weight took him by surprise and he hunched over. "Grrrr!!" With some effort, he got back into a normal standing position. He looked to the console and considered turning the level back to normal, but his Saiyan instincts said otherwise. He shook the thought out of his mind and turned his back to the machine. "I'll start off with some basic exercises." Cloud said in a slightly strained voice. He started doing some walking lunges around the entire room. Each knee drop was quick and took him by surprise, several times his knee nearly slammed into the hard floor. And each time he rose up required the most amount of effort he had ever used in his life - excluding his fight with Orah, of course. "Grrr, that's... 12... 13... 14... 15... uh... what comes next?" Cloud stopped for a second to think of the next number. "uh, never mind, I'll just go for a couple more minutes." And a 'couple more minutes' flew by - 5 minutes to be exact! They were surprisingly the longest 5 minutes of his life, but at least they were up. He then got down low to do push ups and started counting. "1! 2! 3! 4!" and then he got to "13! 14! 15... I really need Twilight to teach me..." He once again went for another very long 5 minutes of push ups under 10x normal gravity. Afterwards, he moved onto 5 minutes of crunches. Cloud was currently laying on the floor, breathing heavily and sweating profusely, but was overall fine. "GrrrrrrAAH!" He yelled as he got up to his feet. He inhaled and exhaled deeply and got into a crude fighting stance. Now the real training was about to begin. He visualized an opponent, a strong one. His name was Orah. The imaginary croc came charging at full speed. "HIYA!" Cloud threw a punch with all his might, and then seven more towards the fake croc's gut. Orah responded with a left claw swipe, which Cloud narrowly avoided by leaning back. He transitioned into a series of back flips to get away, and ended by landing on his feet in another stance. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!" Orah roared as he charged again. He wound up a punch and delivered it towards Cloud. He tried to dodge by jumping but forgot entirely about the gravity. "AAAHH!!" Cloud screamed in panic, his eyes wide as plates. The croc's fist came at him, but phased through the smaller warrior, who in turn fell on his rear. Then, Orah disappeared, and the fight was over for the mean time. "Darn it!" Cloud yelled in anger. He gritted his teeth for a moment, but then stopped. He inhaled and exhaled calmly, and let the anger go. He got to his feet, and said calmly and determined, "Time for round 2, you creep! And this time, I'm going to win!" Orah appeared again, this time he pulled his knife out and held it with his left hand. Cloud took the offensive and charged towards the killer croc. Orah slashed at the Saiyan-Human hybrid. His first instinct was to jump, but that wouldn't end well, so Cloud instead blocked by slamming his right forearm against Orah's left forearm. "HAAAAA!!" Cloud threw a left kick at Orah's gut and then attacked with two right punches to the gut, followed by a right knee. That knee caused Orah to buckle over, and with this opening, Cloud jumped as high as he could and landed a left uppercut to the chin. The croc stumbled backwards, dazed and confused. With another opening provided, our hero ran forward a couple of feet before leaping forward with as much force as he could muster. Orah tried to move, to block, anything, but was too weak! "HAAAAAAAA!!!" Cloud's elbow slammed into Orah's gut, and then he fired off a barrage of punches! He continuously punched over and over again, each hit landing faster and harder. "And here's...!" Cloud exclaimed, spinning around and landing a swift left kick to Orah's side, followed by a right uppercut to the side of the face. The Saiyan teen jumped, higher than before, and raised his fists above his head, focusing his energy into his final attack. "THE FINISH!" The fists came down on Orah's head fast and hard like a powerful sledge hammer! Cloud landed a foot or two away from Orah, who fell to his knees, and then to his stomach, defeated. Our hero breathed deeply and calmly one time, and Orah disappeared from existence. The hybrid walked over to the console and turned off the machine. It's whirring and humming ceased, and Cloud felt 10x lighter than earlier! "Alright then!" Cloud said, putting one hand on his hip with a smile. "I think I'll do this every day from now on for about an hour! And when I've gotten used to it, I'll up the level 10 times more! That'll get me REAL strong then!" *Grrrroooooowwwlll* The teenager grabbed at his stomach and winced in discomfort. "Hahaha! Fine, I'll get you some real food and not just a couple of apples this time!" He slid down the rails of the ladder and landed on the floor of the lower level. He looked around, and smiled to see everything was just as he had left it. The only thing off was that there was a strange smell about the place, like something was burning... "Where is that smell coming from?" Following his heightened Saiyan sense of smell, Cloud followed the odor all the way to the kitchen area, and straight to the oven. "Why do I feel like I forgot something?" He stared blankly at the oven and grabbed the handle. "Well, here goes nothing." He opened the oven door and was met with a great blaze to the face! "AAAAAAHHH!" He screamed in surprise as the fire enveloped his head. Just as quickly as it happened, the fire died down. Like in a Tom and Jerry cartoon, Cloud's face was black from a bunch of soot and his eyes were as wide as plates. Then it hit him. "That's right! Before I left the forest, I caught some fish, chopped them up and put them in the oven!" And said fish had been cooking for three days... "I can't believe I forgot about it all..." Closing Theme