Master Roshi slept soundly in his room, a giant snot bubble slowly grew bigger and bigger from his nose, as he became more comfortable in his sleep. Suddenly, his alarm clock, resting on a nightstand near his bed, harshly interrupted the silence, as it began to buzz rather violently.
"I'm up, I'm up!" Master Roshi exclaimed, as he slammed his fist down on the clock, quickly ceasing the noise. The old man yawned, as he reached for his shades, sitting just next to the clock. He didn't really need them, seeing as the sun wasn't even out yet, but he thought they made him look cool. Master Roshi hopped out of bed, and made his way over to the closet. Opening the door, he stroked his beard, as he took a long hard look at the variety of turtle shells that hung along the rack.
Master Roshi was now sitting cross-legged on the back of a purple turtle shell, as he directly faced his small, pink house. "Hurry up! I ain't got all day, you know!" The cranky old man yelled out. In Akita's defense, however, it was about 4:30 AM. Kiro and Ally weren't even up yet!
Akita shot up from the blanket she slept on on the floor. "I'm up!" she yelled, then noticed Kiro was snoring loudly a few feet beside her. "I'm up!" she whisper-yelled and stood. She changed into her training clothes- she didn't have a proper gi yet since she had only been training for less than a month- and raced outside. "I'm here, Master Roshi!" she said and bowed respectfully, though she felt flustered. This was probably the earliest she had ever been woken up and she had no idea why she had to train so early! She didn't have to deliver milk for another few hours.
"Now, it's been some weeks now, and I think it's about time we increased the level of your training." Master Roshi nodded to himself, thoroughly agreeing with everything he's said. The old man slid off the turtle shell, dusted himself off, and picked the shell up with a single hand. "This is for you." He informed her, as he dangerously tossed the shell at the woman. "I woke you up a bit earlier than usual because you're going to need the headstart." He chuckled to himself, as he pointed to the trail leading off to the nearby village. "What are you waiting for!? Get to it! You're going to need to work hard if you expect to compete in the World Martial Arts Tournament with the others!"
Akita caught the shell, kind of, and felt something tear in her back, but she was determined to show no weakness. "Yes Master Roshi!" she said and got on the turtle shell as best as she could. It had to be at least a hundred pounds! How am I supposed to deliver all of this milk before time runs out? Akita questioned herself internally. She straightened up and raced to the milkman's house. She decided it was better to burn herself out by running than drag on the torture for hours upon hours. She swiped the box of milk from the ground shouting, "Thank you!" Her calves burned as soon as she started going uphill, but she was in no mood to disappoint Master Roshi and the people waiting for their precious milk. Relief flooded her when she hit the first house, but she knew it was only going to get harder from here.
Eventually she had to cross a log that bridged the gap between two parts of the mountain. Sweat was dripping from her head, but when she realized she had to cross this even more sweat poured down. It's okay, Akita, you've made this every time! Don't worry about anything! The young woman took a deep breath and slowly made her way across the log. When she was halfway across, she could've sworn she felt it crack, so she sprung forward and barely landed on the edge of the grassy cliff. She turned around and realized the log didn't crack, it didn't even move an inch. "I guess I'm just paranoid," she chuckled. Then it came to her that she was able to clear a five foot jump with the shell on her back. "I guess his training has really been helping too."
It took Akita another two hours to finish. When she finally made it to Roshi's house, a great relief rushed through her and she began to take off the shell. She figured it was about eight (Just grabbing any number here XD) in the morning, but couldn't really tell.
Master Roshi was catching up on his sleep in a lawn chair, as Kiro and Ally had already ran off to do some one on one training. He hadn't expected Akita to come back so soon, and so he was slightly taken aback when she had suddenly appeared. "What the-!?" He cried out upon Akita's quick arrival, as he fell out of his lawn chair. "You're back already!?" He questioned, straitening his glasses, as he rose to his feet. "Well, you can keep your shell on, that was only the early-morning training! Now It's time for the mid-morning training!" He exclaimed, pointing towards her and her shell as if he had something to prove to her.
Akita let out all of the air in her lungs and put the shell back on properly. "What are we doing now?" she asked, trying to stand up as straight as she could. This was the hardest training she had received in her life, and now there was more? She knew it would only get harder as her training progressed.
"Kiro's done this a few times, so you can just follow his lead on this one." Master Roshi informed his new pupil, as they all stood in front of a large lake located somewhere towards the middle of the island.
"Yeah, newbie, hopefully you can keep up." Kiro chuckled, as he started to do some warm-up stretches. He too had a turtle shell on, but he made it seem a bit lighter, as he had gotten used to the weight over time.
"You both will swim twenty laps around the lake without rest." Master Roshi noted.
"What!? I thought it was ten!?" Kiro complained, as this was the first time his training had actually been doubled.
"Do you want to be in shape to fight in the tournament or not!?" The old man yelled at Kiro, giving the boy a hard hit to the head with his staff.
"Oh, right!" Kiro gave a nod of determination, as without notice to Akita (more than likely on purpose), he leapt in the water, breaststroking his way around the lake at quite the speed.
Akita's eyes grew big when she thought of how she would swim without sinking, but she dove in right after Kiro. It didn't feel too bad, she had been on such a long run in the morning delivering milk that she had gotten used to the weight. This really isn't all that bad! she thought, before she got a glimpse of what was behind her. Akita noticed three fins popping out of the water and felt nervous. She considered that they might just be big fish, but one hopped out of the water and snapped at her. "Not a fish!" she yelled and began to swim faster.
Ally sat back against a tree watching the two swim for their lives. "It's not that bad!" she shouted out to them, hoping to motivate them, "Master Roshi has gone soft! When I started training I had to wear a 150 pound shell, swim 25 laps, and dodge 4 sharks!"
Kiro's breaststroke turned into a violent freestyle, as he raced across the lake for his life. "Swim, Akita! Swim!" He yelled out behind him, not daring to look back to make sure she was safe. The smallest distraction could cost him his life! Before they started training, Kiro didn't even know how to swim! Now he challenged even the most skilled Olympic swimmers.
After the two finished their twenty laps, their vigorous work continued, as Master Roshi put them through many more dangerous trials before the day ended. The four made their way back to Roshi's house, everyone all extremely tired from the day.
"And it'll be forty bears tomorrow!" Roshi exclaimed to his pupils, as it seemed he was only going to continue to double their work each and every day.
"I'm tired of this!" Kiro angrily shouted. "When are you going to teach us some real techniques!?" He questioned, both of his fists clenched tightly. It had been six months, and he had only seen Ally and Master Roshi do the techniques such as Afterimage, or the Kamehameha Wave. They hadn't even tried to teach him anything! He had been trying to copy it, but he wasn't even able to come close!
Master Roshi came to a sudden stop, as he pointed to an enormous boulder just a ways away from the trail. "You see that rock over there?" Kiro nodded. "Akita, do you see it?" He waited for a response from the girl as well before continuing. "When both of you can move that rock, I'll teach you all some techniques. For right now, however, you two just aren't ready yet."
"That's impossible! No one could move that!" Kiro protested.
Ally smirked a bit and strode over to the rock. She turned to face both Akita and Kiro and the smile was gone. She didn't want to seem like too much of a show-off. The woman crouched by the rock and picked it up over her head with what seemed to be minimal effort. She knew her muscles would give out if she kept the rock up for over a minute, so she set it down rather quickly as to not show any weaknesses.
Akita's jaw dropped as she watched the other female lift up the rock. "No way!" she shouted, watching the feat. She knew there was no way she could lift that rock any time soon. Her heart dropped, but she wouldn't let her head. It made her feel determined to get right back to training, but she knew it would be better to rest than hurt herself. "Wait, Master Roshi, if we both move the rock then you'll teach us techniques?" She also didn't think she was very ready for this either, but figured she could help Kiro out. Roshi didn't say they had to individually move the rock, so she hoped he didn't catch that technicality.
"Yep, that's right, kid." Master Roshi nodded, as he continued on the trail, he wasn't fazed one bit by Ally's impressive feat. He had been training her for quite some time, after all. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some very serious late-evening training I need to complete before it gets too late." The old man explained quite seriously, however, everyone knew he was just going to spend the rest of the night lusting after the women in those exercise tapes.
After Kiro witnessed Ally lift up the rock, seemingly with ease, he began to get a glimmer of hope that perhaps it was indeed possible. "You'll see, old man! Akita and I will be launching this rock across the island in no time!" He exclaimed, giving a few pathetic (but genuine) attempts at pushing the boulder. He wasn't even close! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Man!" Kiro exclaimed, letting out a sigh, as he collapsed onto his makeshift bed on the floor (just a couple of blankets piled on top of each other to create a cushion). "Master Roshi sure has been pushing us hard lately." Kiro complained. "I wonder what's gotten into him?" He questioned to the other two in the room.
Master Roshi was in the room too, but Kiro knew he was too distracted by his tapes to pay any real attention.
"Yes! Work it, girlfriend!" Master Roshi exclaimed with his signature laugh, as he slowly inched closer to the screen. "Move those hips! Yeah-heh!"
"Don't you remember, Kiro? The tournament is coming up soon. If you want to compete and represent Master Roshi well then you'll enjoy being pushed," Ally said, getting the couch ready so she could go to sleep. Naturally since she was the oldest and trained the longest, she got dibs on the couch.
Ally then leaned between Kiro and Akita and said in a hushed voice, "Look, there's this school called the Crane School. They teach martial arts too. Their master is Master Shen. Master Roshi and Master When have some sort of rivalry, but Master Roshi gets too worked up, so I try not to ask about it too much."
Akita looked at her hands as she listened to the explanation. It certainly made her curious and she wondered about the history between Roshi and Shen.
"Are they going to be in the tournament too?" Kiro questioned curiously, as this was the first time he had ever heard of a school powerful enough to rival that of Master Roshi. He couldn't wait to see how their training fared off against this other school in the end; if they had any chance of beating these guys, however, they had to learn some techniques. It was the only way, in Kiro's mind, at least.
"Well, kids." Master Roshi sat up, as his program finally ended. "Don't stay up too late, things are only going to get tougher tomorrow! So you better get your rest! I know i need mine; it takes quite the beauty sleep to keep up these good looks." The master explained, as he headed upstairs for a good night's sleep.
Once again, the four were now doing their usual routine of taking the trail back to the house after a another long day of training.
"Master Roshi! Wait!" Kiro called for him, as the three pupils had all stopped in their tracks, as Roshi continued on.
"Huh?" He murmured, as he turned his head back to see what was going on, hesitantly stopping.
"Come on, Akita." Kiro gave her a small nod before racing over to the giant boulder Ally had moved way back. "If we can move this, you'll teach us some techniques, right?" Kiro tried to reassure their deal.
Master Roshi simply nodded, as Kiro responded by giving a hard push on the rock, using every ounce of strength he had.
Beads of sweat ran down Master Roshi's face, as it seemed like the two were going to try to move it together! 'They might actually pull it off...' Master Roshi nervously thought, knowing he had to act quickly. "What are you nincompoops doing!? Anyone could move that rock!" He pointed to a boulder right behind the one they were trying to move, this one being over twice as large. "That's the boulder I was talking about! Yeah! Now that'll take some strength!" He laughed, knowing it was almost impossible for either of the kids.
Kiro stopped pushing, just as it was starting to move, as he began to scratch his head. "Okay, I guess. We can handle it!" He assured Roshi, as he ran over to the new challenge. They hadn't tried anything this big before, but Akita and Kiro had both been practicing, and he was determined to complete this task, and finally learn some techniques. He pressed his hands against the boulder, waiting for Akita, it'd be better, with something this big, if they used all their strength simultaneously.
Roshi nervously stood there, attempting to look as calm and collected as possible.
Akita gulped when she saw the bigger rock. She was confident they could move the smaller rock together, but she wasn't so sure about this one. She took her place next to Kiro, nodded, and together they began to push the boulder. It was like pushing a steel wall. Her arms felt like they were giving out and she could hear Kiro grunting beside her. She felt like they were pushing for five minutes and just when she was about to give up, the rock moved forward about an inch. "Kiro!" Akita shouted happily. They were finally going to learn techniques!
Ally knew the two were going to be able to move the smaller rock since they had been training so hard and she was excited to see them working to learn techniques. That was before Master Roshi changed his mind. He said anyone could lift the boulder, and she felt slightly hurt by the comment even though she knew he was just saying that to stop them from moving the rock. In an effort to cheer them on, but not distract the two, she shouted Go Kiro! Go Akita! but on the outside she stayed stone. Then the two began to push. She didn't think they could do it, but the rock finally moved and she jumped up, yelling, "Yes!"
Akita gulped when she saw the bigger rock. She was confident they could move the smaller rock together, but she wasn't so sure about this one. She took her place next to Kiro, nodded, and together they began to push the boulder. It was like pushing a steel wall. Her arms felt like they were giving out and she could hear Kiro grunting beside her. She felt like they were pushing for five minutes and just when she was about to give up, the rock moved forward about an inch. "Kiro!" Akita shouted happily. They were finally going to learn techniques!
Ally knew the two were going to be able to move the smaller rock since they had been training so hard and she was excited to see them working to learn techniques. That was before Master Roshi changed his mind. He said anyone could lift the boulder, and she felt slightly hurt by the comment even though she knew he was just saying that to stop them from moving the rock. In an effort to cheer them on, but not distract the two, she shouted Go Kiro! Go Akita! but on the outside she stayed stone. Then the two began to push. She didn't think they could do it, but the rock finally moved and she jumped up, yelling, "Yes!"
"But-!? H-How!?!" Roshi questioned the two demons, even he would have had trouble moving such a large boulder. A lot of trouble. Master Roshi went back to a calm composure, as he sat down and sighed. "Kiro, Akita!" He called for them, as he pushed his glasses back up to his face with his finger. "Come here and have a seat." He calmly asked of them.
"Is this the first step in learning the mighty kamehameha wave, Master Roshi?" Kiro asked curiously, as he took a seat on the grass, next to his old master. Excited for what the man had to say.
Once both students were situated, Roshi began to explain. "You see, kids. Fighting is just an expression of your power, you can't expect a newborn baby to cut your grass, now can you!? First he has to grow up, gain the strength to do such feats, and then he'll be expected to do such things. The whole point of our turtle hermit training is to get your flabby bodies into superhuman condition, and once you find yourself at that level, things like the 'kamehameha wave' will become easy for you to copy and master. It may have taken me several decades, but who knows!" Roshi laughed nervously, as he rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe you kids will be able to do something like that in time for the tournament!" Roshi had no doubt that if they kept things up, they'd find themselves well prepared for the tournament. Mastering such a difficult technique at their level of strength, however, he just couldn't see it happening.
"What!? You said if we moved the rock, which we did, you'd teach us some techniques!" Kiro complained, now standing upright, red with anger. To think they spent all this time gaining the strength to move the rock for nothing! 'He's nothing but a dirty liar!' Kiro thought to himself.
"Fine! You wanna learn something kid!?" Roshi angrily shouted, as he shot up. Roshi put up both his hands, as if he were blocking from some invisible opponent. It was dead silent for a moment or two, as it seemed Roshi was preparing for a devastating attack, his eyes fixated on the invisible target in front of him, clearly very concentrated. "Ha!" He exclaimed, as he threw out his right fist, simultaneously pivoting his foot, as he turned into it. Master Roshi went back to his usual relaxed stance, as he pushed his glasses back on his face once more. "That's called a punch." He informed, as if it were alien to everyone but himself. "Tomorrow I'll teach you a kick." He assured them, nodding in agreement to himself, as he continued on the trail. Clearly not too keen on teaching anything past that.
Near the outside of South City, there's a long stretch of road that had been cleared for a race that was going to take place between group of hover-bikers. Along the stretch of road that had turns and bends, people had gathered from the start to the end, setting up what have they for the event. At the start of the road was the group of hover-bikers, some fine tuning their machines, other just standing or sitting on their bikes, talking about how they're going to win. Throughout the crowd there was a bit of an upset as a pink skinned girl made her way through the crowd. Some people just watched her, others poked fun about her with their friends, but that didn't matter, she didn't care what they said, not really since she came here to race.
"excuse me... pardon me... coming though"
The girl said meekly as she made her way towards the hover-bikers. When she managed to get into the clearing where the hover-bikers could easily been seen she smiled. Though she didn't know it, their were many eyes on her, had she taken notice, she might have felt nervous as she approached the hover-bikers. Two of the bikers took notice and spoke to each other.
"get a load of bubble gum here... what's she doing..."
"the heck should I know?..."
"what do you think she wants?"
"beats me..."
As the girl approached, she was met with a tall brute of a fellow who was wearing sunglasses with a less then pleasant look on his face.
"racers only, get back with the crowd..."
The girl chuckled nervously before she smiled, it was slightly off putting for the large man.
"oh well, I'm here to enter in the race"
"uh-huh, and I'm next in line to be king... Get Back With The Crowd"
The girl's smile faltered as she gulped, she didn't really know how to deal with someone like this.
"hey, ease up on pretty in pink Larry, let me hear what she has to say"
The now named Larry furrowed his brow before he stepped aside, letting a happy pink skinned girl walk towards the biker that called out to Larry. This got the girl many glares from most of the women in the crowd.
"so, what is it you want?"
The hover-biker asked in a charismatic tone with a smile alongside it. The girl smiled as answered him.
"I want to join the race!"
She said in an excited tone, the hover-bikers all grinned under their helmets, minus the one who didn't have one on, the one who was talking to the girl. Said hover-biker looked around for a moment then smiled.
"alright, I'll bite, where's your bike?"
"I don't have one"
The girl said with a smile, the hover-bikers laughed to themselves as their helmets looked down.
"so, did you expect to borrow one of ours? or for us to let you ride with one of us?"
He asked with a chuckle in his tone. The girl shook her head before she smiled again.
"neither, I'm going race you on my own, without a bike!"
She declared with a certain aura of Determination. The other hover-bikers broke out in laughter, as well as some of the crowd that happened to hear the girls declaration. The helmetless hover-biker smirked a little as he put his helmet on.
"listen, that was a good joke, now how bout you go back to the crowd huh?"
"I'm being serious!"
She exclaimed with a furrowed brow.
"I want to race!"
The hover-bikers now couldn't tell if the girl was joking, or actually being serious. Their eye's slowly widened when the girl pulled out a pouch from her Gi pocket.
"and I'll bet everything I have that I'll win! and if I lose, the winner gets it!"
The hover-bikers all stared at the girl, and they were weighing their options. It couldn't hurt, it was just a girl and strange one at that, and she was holding a rather stuffed pouch full of zeni.
".... alright fine, you can be in the race..."
The hover-bikers chuckle and looked at each other, now knowing there was more on the plate for the winner.
"just don't cry when you lose"
"I wont lose"
The girl said with Determination as she put the pouch back into her Gi's pocket before she took an empty space at the beginning line. The crowd cried out, some at how unbelievable it was, others at how funny it was. The hover-bikers pride had taken a small hit, but the girl was smiling as she began to stretch her legs. It was time, the hover-bikers got on their bikes and turned them on, revving their engines intimidatingly when the girl took a position that looked like one who was about to go on a full sprint.
"on your marks!... get set!"
A girl had walked out tot he center of the road with a flare gun and aimed it at the sky, then she fired it.
"GO!"
The hover-bikes engines roared as they blasted off from their starting point, blowing up a cloud of dust. The crowd had expected to see the girl running out of the cloud, but she didn't, was she coughing on the dust?, or was she blown back by the hover-bikes engines blasting?. Much to everyone surprise, when the dust settled, the girl was nowhere to be seen.
hope it works for you =)
As the bikers sped down the road they generally stayed close to each other.
"hey, you think she's hacking up the dust we left her in?"
"don't know don't care, that bonus money she added to the winnings is as good as mine!"
As the bikers continued down the road, the biker in last seen something in his mirror and looked at it, his eyes then widened considerably.
"... holyshi-look in your mirrors!"
When this was said, the most of the bikers did so, then the rest followed suit.
"what the F*ck?!"
"I'm seeing things right?!"
"t-that's impossible!"
Nearly half a dozen meters from last place was the girl, running so fast her legs and arms were nearly a blur as she sprinted after them, a fierce look of concentration on her as she slowly closed in on them. More so to the crowds surprise, they couldn't help but watch in awe as the racers sped by, catching a glimpse of the girl in last.
"at the rate she's going.... no way, No F*cking way! that money is mine!"
The person in first said before he floored the gas on his bike, making the engine screech as it sped ahead of the rest. The racers came to a turn in the road, and that's where the girl sped past them, while they slowed down to take the turn, she kept going full speed. The other racers cursed to themselves as they pushed their vehicles to their limits to try and catch up, this led to more then a few engine failures on the racers parts. The girl panted as sweat rolled down the side of her face, her legs burned like they were dipped in fire, but she wouldn't let that stop her, with a short cry of perseverance she grit her teeth as she pushed herself to go faster, slowly but surely she began to catch up to the hover-biker in first place.
The first place biker glanced in his mirror with a smug grin, thinking he had out sped the competition. His teeth grit in frustration when he seen the freak of a girl catching up to him.
"you're not going to beat me, not if I have anything to say about it..."
As the girl caught up to the biker she gave him a small side glace with a smile as she slowly started to pull ahead. The biker let out a yell as he turned his steering wheel to the right, causing his bike to nearly run into the girl, who had slowed down in surprise to avoid being hit, this angered her a little before she got her momentum back. The biker grinned as he sped around a slight turn in the road, when he came out of the turn he noticed something.
"Ha!"
A shadow quickly passed over the biker and the girl jumped over him and landed before slowly pulling ahead, unfortunately for the biker he reactively slammed on him air brakes and brought his bike to a halt. The girl looked back for a moment before letting out a short giggle while speeding towards the end of the race. The biker yelled out all manner of curses as he tried to get his bike going again, but before it could go five meters the engine died from over exertion from the speed the biker had the bike going at, which only caused the biker to continue on the list of profanity as what remained of the other racers passed him. At the end of the road where the race ended, the girl had slowed down and came to a normal walking pace, her breathing laboured as she near the little streamer that signified the finish line, a smile on her as she got to it.
The crowd watched with suspense as the others racers began closing in, the girl smiled as she grabbed hold of the ribbon, and lifted it over her head as she walked under it, before letting it go. Smiling to herself an she knelt down on he ground catching her breath. She knew full well what it meant, she technically didn't finish the race since she didn't break the ribbon like one was suppose to, but she wasn't trying to set world records, and she didn't need awards for doing such, she was trying to surpass her limits and become faster, though she doubted she'd be racing like this again to do such, but it was a great exercise. The crowd was silent, trying to make heads or tales of what happened, then the other races passed the finish line, and the crowd went wild.
After the celebrating had mostly died down, the winner had walked up to the girl who was sitting under a nearby tree, a pleasant smile on her as she watched the clouds go by.
"hey..."
The girl looked to the hover-biker, it was the one who had spoken to her at the beginning of the race, it turned out he was the one who won.
"oh, I guess you're here for my promise..."
The girl said with a smile as she reached into her pocket, she was then surprised when a somewhat larger pouch of zeni than her own landed in front of her. She then looked up to the biker with a confused look.
"but.. you won..."
The biker grinned and held up a pouch nearly as large as the one he just gave to her.
"don't kid yourself, you and me both now who won that race..."
He said wit a smile as he began walking away, waving at her as he did so.
"see you around princess pink"
"Eve"
"huh?..."
"my name's... Majin Eve"
Eve said with a smile towards the biker, which he returned as he began walking away again.
"well, see you around... Majin Eve..."
Majin Eve smiled as she took the pouch of zeni given to her and added her own to it before she somehow managed to stuff it into her one of her Gi's pockets. After that she gently took to the sky before flying towards South City, wondering what to spend all this zeni on.
Akita hung her head low. Her arms ached, she really did give all she had to help Kiro. She didn't mind that they weren't going to learn much yet and that techniques were still out of their reach. "At least he taught us a lesson," Akita murmured, more to herself than anything, "We really can do anything we set our minds to."
"That's the spirit!" Ally said, walking beside her fellow disciples. "I know it sucks not being able to learn techniques, it really does. Don't worry too much about it, Master Roshi will have to teach you soon. He won't stand to let Master Shen win the tournament." She walked in silence for a moment and then reflected, "Yeah, I didn't start learning the Kamehameha wave until about a year of training. Kiro, you're nearly there," Ally chuckled, ruffling his hair a bit, "and you'll be there soon too, Akita. I believe in you two. Now come on, first one there can have the couch tonight!"
"I already know how to do a punch." Kiro mumbled angrily in response to Akita, as he crossed his arms. "And a kick."
Kiro started to feel just a little bit better once Ally reminded them of Master Shen, as well as how long it actually took her to start learning the kamehameha wave. "Yeah!" Kiro bent his knees slightly, and brought the bottoms of his palms together, in a silly attempt to recreate Master Roshi's famous wave. "HAAAA!" He screamed, pretending to shoot a wave from his hands. "You just wait until we fight, Crane School." The child smirked, as he envisioned the great battle that would surely take place. He, the greatest student of the Turtle School (soon to be, according to Kiro), against the greatest student of the Crane School. An epic battle indeed. He snapped out of his daydreaming once he heard Ally's promise on the couch. "That couch is mine!" He assured the two, as he broke off into a sprint, a bit slower than his normal speed due to his weighted shell. He'd had it so long, though, Kiro had forgotten what his actual speeds used to be.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Timeskip to the day before the big day. XD)
"Congrats, you two." Master Roshi congratulated both Akita and Kiro, as they all (including Ally) stood just outside of his house. All three of Roshi's pupils now wore matching Turtle School gis; Maser Roshi himself, however, was now wearing a very classy-looking suit, a matching hat to go with it, no longer carrying his iconic turtle shell. "After several hard months, the World Martial Arts Tournament is finally upon us. This is a challenge that will put your hard work to the test. There will be many strong opponents there, and so I don't want any of you getting cocky in expecting that you'll go in and win on your first ever tournament. Many fighters there have trained their whole lives just to get past the preliminary rounds." Master Roshi carefully explained, he knew very well that any one of them could in fact win this tournament. That's why he had to enter in himself, in disguise. He'd beat all three of them, so it would push them even harder, knowing just how far they have left to go. "You are entering this tournament only as a way of further honing your abilities. Just another section of your training, for you to learn from." Master Roshi sighed, as he then proceeded to point to the turtle shells on their backs.
"You won't be needing those. Nu-uh, this is the real deal. You can't have anything slowing you down if you expect to make it passed even the qualifying rounds." Roshi informed them.
Kiro slowly took off his shell, immediately feeling such a relief. Kiro smiled widely, as he leapt nearly thirty feet into the air. The boy made a number of flips, as he landed back on the ground with ease. "Qualifying rounds!? Preliminaries!?" Kiro laughed. "I'm going to make it all the way to the finals!" He exclaimed, taking another leap into the air, simply out of pure joy. "Then I'm going to win!" He added.
"Kiro!" Master Roshi angrily shouted, as he hit the boy over the head with his cane once the student came back down. "What did I just say!? You'll be lucky if you beat your first match! There are many strong fighters entering this tournament!" He repeated himself once more.
"Yeah, Kiro," Ally laughed as she took off her turtle shell. "You're a lot faster now, but try not to let it go to your head." Even she felt much lighter and wanted to run around the lot and climb trees, but she held back. They would need all of their energy for the tournament. She felt she would make it past the preliminaries, but tried not to think too much about it. It was her first tournament as well as Akita's and Kiro's.
Akita took her shell off and stretched. She felt really good about the tournament, though didn't think she would get past her first fight. It wasn't because she didn't believe in herself, but because she knew there were much much better people. She wouldn't give up the fights at all and would give everything she had for Master Roshi's rivalry. "Master Roshi, why do you have a rivalry with Master Shen?"
