(Meanwhile)
Back in Mount Paozu, with Gohan out for the day and Chi-Chi hanging out in the living room watching television and doing some cleaning, Goten was occupying his time with something a little more his speed. Since he didn't have his brother to play with today and his other friends were nowhere to be found, he decided to spend some time with the 'Big Sister' figure in his life.
This took the form of the several-times-removed Zangya sparing with the spiky haired youngster across the rolling hills right outside their small home.
Wearing a big smile on her face, the orange haired Hera, adorned in her regular training uniform consisting of white gi pants with a purple belt, yellow boots and a black singlet top that exposed her midriff and showed off a lot of her cleavage, backed away at an even pace with her arms crossed. At the same time, her little munchkin of an opponent pressed home his offensive. Leaping long distances with a single hop, the alien woman dodged and blocked with her right leg the onslaught of attacks Goten unleashed upon her. The hits he did land on her person impacted with the earsplitting cracks of gunshots, whereas the others sailed past her uselessly.
Despite being several times stronger than the little half-Saiyan, the young alien woman still expressed amazement at how fierce and powerful the kid actually was. He was only four years old, but the kid was capable of hitting with the force of a locomotive.
"Keep it up, runt. That's it," Zangya encouraged, leaping across a flat stretch of grass and watching the boy jump after her. Ducking under a flying spin kick, the woman turned around to see the child touch down behind her and jump at her again, lashing out at her face with a blur of punches and kicks. The woman frowned when she saw his straights coming in one after the other and quickly commented on her observations, "Stop using the standard attacks, Goten. They're too predictable. Mix it up a little more." She then began dodging more frequently when the boy started getting creative.
"Yah!" the demi-Saiyan shouted, leaping at her with a right overhand and forcing her to sway under it. He then cocked his left foot back and opened up with a wicked roundhouse kick, which he threw at the woman's side. He missed big time though when Zangya effortlessly back flipped and avoided it, his own attack sending him into a downward spin.
However, instead of hitting the ground, the boy managed to land on his hand and spun at her with a kick from a handstand position, using his momentum to his advantage. His attack slammed into her shin, which she raised to block. Once his blow connected, he began uncorking more and more attacks, trying to be as imaginative as he could while not losing balance.
He pushed on, forcing Zangya to retreat at a more hurried pace. In spite of his increased intensity though, the woman continued to speak in a completely calm voice.
"Don't get caught up in a pattern. Control my central line," Zangya coached, landing on her toes and watching her opponent jump at her. She head-slipped barrages of jabs, watching his attacks carefully before suddenly being forced to block a right roundhouse kick with her arm.
A split second later, Goten came at her with a downward hook, only to see the woman duck under it, and chased her with a left flip kick. Landing on the ground, the boy spun to face her, gritting his teeth when he saw his opponent standing a safe distance away with a smile on her face.
"Good. Very good," Zangya complimented, arms folded once again.
The youngster panted exhaustedly with sweat dripping down his face, "You're way too fast, oneechan. There's no way I can beat you."
"Hey, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have, little man," the Hera replied with a jovial smile. "Remember, you're only four years old. Give yourself some time."
Nodding, the youngster turned heel and charged right after her in a blur of movement.
Watching his orange form dart towards her at a ridiculous speed, Zangya quickly responded in a typical manner. With a sudden burst of ki and a widening of her eyes, the woman fired a weakKiai at the child that slammed into him headlong and sent him tumbling across the field. Managing to stop amidst a cloud of dust, a slightly discombobulated Goten took several deep breaths and launched himself at the woman once again.
Swaying to the side with her arms still crossed, Zangya allowed the child to fire away at her. Rapidly moving punches followed her, along with a variety of kicks and hooks. Managing to avoid a spin kick, the Hera then retaliated with a kick of her own, only for the boy to parry her leg and spring off of it to kick at her head. She slipped it effortlessly.
"Faster. Destroy my focus," Zangya ordered, getting the youngster to attack her more viciously. The sudden flare in his pattern impressed the woman, but she nonetheless spotted several flaws in his advances. Despite being super talented Goten still had a lot to learn about fighting. "You're over-flourishing your hooks. Tighten them up." She then swayed and avoided one before head butting the surprised boy in the face and sending him to the ground. The Hera grinned when she heard the youngster groan where he lay. "Now they're too tight. Extend them."
Rubbing his forehead from the unexpected bonk, Goten sat up slowly and groaned. "Hey. That wasn't fair, big sis."
"No one said anything about fighting being fair, not even your big brother and he's one of the nicest guys in the world. Not to mention one of the strongest," Zangya responded, smirking at the spiky haired hybrid as she walked over to him. "Plus I'm older than you and way more experienced… and you're still just a novice. Just give yourself a few more months. I'm sure you'll grow into this."
Goten scrunched his face up childishly, "I can't wait to get better." He then punched the ground and looked up at the Hera sternly. "I'm going to keep getting stronger until I'm as strong as both you and big brother."
"I'm sure that with enough practice you'll get there eventually," Zangya said, stopping next to her friend's sibling and tilting her head at him. "Still, those were some nice moves you pulled. A couple more years of fine tuning and polishing up, I'm sure you'll become something amazing."
"Y-You really think so?" Goten asked, giving the orange haired woman an inquisitive stare.
"For sure," Zangya nodded, passing on her most honest answer to the child as he sat there nursing his injuries. "I know talent when I see it. Even though you're still really young, you've already become a great fighter. I guess that's all thanks to your Saiyan genetics."
Processing her words quickly, the child beamed, "You're wickedly strong too, sis. I bet even Trunks' dad wouldn't be able to beat you."
"Well…" Zangya shrugged and looked off to the side thoughtfully, "Maybe, maybe not. I haven't had the chance to fight him one on one yet, so it's really hard to tell if I could beat him or not. But believe me; out of all the people I've wound up fighting in my time as a mercenary, your big brother was by far the best opponent I've ever fought."
Rubbing the throbbing red bruise on his forehead, the slightly dirty and battered youngster in the orange and blue, long-sleeved gi gazed up at the Hera curiously. "You said you used to be a bad guy, right sis? And that Gohan fought you many years ago."
The woman nodded, "That's right."
"Well… what made you want to switch sides and become a good guy?" Goten asked, lowering his hands and continuing to stare at the female alien he now regarded as one of the closest members of his family. "Did you get bored with being a bad guy or something?"
At first surprised and not really knowing how to respond to his question, Zangya eventually put on a brave face, threw up a smile and, with grace and poise, sat herself on the grass beside the little tyke. Getting comfortable, the woman began to elaborate for him, "That's a really tough question for me to answer, Goten. Honestly, it was a really funky time for me back then. But I guess… if you really want to know, you could say it was a little bit of everything that made me change sides." She glanced at the inquisitive child and gave him her most genuine smile. "After so many years of conquering planets and fighting alongside my old crew, I realized that what I was doing, as a mercenary and a soldier, was hurting a lot of people… people who didn't deserve to get hurt. When I was stuck inside of that star for over ten thousand years, I had plenty of time to think about everything that I'd done with Bojack's group, and that everything we were planning to do and were going to do… was wrong. Then, when I eventually came up against your brother… well…" The woman chuckled and looked ahead of her once again. "He set me straight. He gave me a way out and showed me a new path that I could take… something better that didn't involve destroying everything and hurting others."
Blinking a couple of times, Goten then scrunched his face up curiously, "Did he spank you and say you were being naughty?"
The idea of the present Gohan spanking her had Zangya swallow her tongue. Eyes widening a bit as her face inadvertently heated up at the notion of the dashing young male 'punishing' her, the woman quickly dispersed all thoughts of the concept and smirked back at the cheeky little rascal. "In a way." She then brought a hand up and ruffled his head. "Your big brother beat me up and gave me a second chance. That's how I ended up here and believe me little man… I have no intention of ever going back."
"Oh," Goten murmured, a smile reappearing on his face. "Okay." Shuffling over to the woman, the child then laid his head on her lap and, securing a good spot, closed his eyes and sighed gently. "I'm really glad you're here with me, oneechan. You're… a very good person." Then, without another word, the boy drifted off to sleep right there in the middle of the field.
At first caught a little bit by surprise by the boy's innocent remarks, his words inevitably brought a warm, loving smile to Zangya's lips and caused her eyes to shimmer with elation. Feeling herself tear up, the woman wiped the build waterworks away and sighed, resting a hand on the child's head and stroking his hair soothingly.
"Good spar, runt."
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