Location: Bamboo Forest Village (Central Earth) Time: Two Weeks Before the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai
Being twelve years old and 5'9" has its perks. People don't ask you for ID. They don't ask where your parents are. They just assume you pay taxes and move out of your way.
I had been traveling South for three days, mostly by "super-jumping." It was an effective way to travel, but the landings were rough on the knees, and I kept destroying public property. After turning a paved road into a crater near Gingertown, I decided to walk the rest of the way to save my ankles.
I was currently in a bamboo forest, munching on a bag of Senbei (rice crackers) I'd bought with the Zeni I "found" (looted from a Red Ribbon scout).
The world here was lush. Unlike the frozen North, Central Earth was vibrant green. Giant pandas grazed on bamboo the size of skyscrapers. The air smelled like rain and earth.
I checked my compass.
"Papaya Island is still a thousand miles south," I muttered, dusting crumbs off my bomber jacket. "I need a boat. Or a plane. Or a nimbus. Man, I wish I was pure of heart. Pretty sure looting corpses disqualifies me from the Nimbus."
I walked into a clearing and saw a small village. It looked peaceful. Wooden huts, rice paddies, steam rising from a bathhouse.
Perfect. I could buy a hot meal.
But as I stepped onto the main dirt road, I noticed something was wrong. The windows were boarded up. The villagers were peeking out through cracks in their doors, terrified.
"Excuse me?" I called out to an old man hiding behind a barrel. "Is the restaurant open? I have money. I promise I'm not a bandit. I just have aggressive hair."
The old man shushed me violently. "Quiet, boy! It's coming! The God of Destruction!"
My heart skipped a beat. Beerus? No, way too early.
"What God?" I asked.
"InoShikaCho!" the man wailed. "The beast that devours fields and crushes homes!"
Crash.
On cue, the trees at the edge of the village exploded.
A monster lumbered into the square. It was ridiculous. It had the head of a boar, the antlers of a deer, and huge butterfly wings on its back. It was the size of a two-story house.
I stared at it. "That... is the ugliest Pokémon I have ever seen."
The beast roared and smashed a rice silo. Grain spilled everywhere. The villagers screamed.
I sighed, cracking my knuckles. "Alright. I guess I'll play hero. Maybe I can get a free meal out of it."
I dropped my backpack and prepared to launch myself at the beast. I was just about to turn its snout into bacon when a voice echoed from the sky.
"Fear not, citizens!"
I froze. I looked up.
Floating—actually floating—in the air above the village were two figures.
One was a tiny, pale doll-looking kid with red cheeks. Chiaotzu. The other was a tall, three-eyed teenager wearing a green Hanfu robe with a crane symbol. Tien Shinhan.
I felt a jolt of pure fanboy excitement. It's them! The Crane School students!
"We are students of the great Crane Hermit!" Tien shouted, his voice projecting with Ki. "We will dispose of this beast... for a price!"
"Please!" the Village Elder cried, running out. "We'll pay anything! Just save us!"
"Ten thousand Zeni," Tien said coolly, crossing his arms. He hovered effortlessly. He looked like gravity was just a suggestion he chose to ignore.
That's it, I thought, my eyes locking onto Tien. The flight. The Bukujutsu. He's doing it right now.
The Elder threw a bag of money on the ground. "Take it!"
Tien smirked. "Chiaotzu, handle it."
The little doll-boy pointed a finger. "Dodon Ray!"
A thin beam of yellow energy shot from his finger. It hit the ground near the beast's feet. Boom! The explosion was small, but precise. The beast squealed—it sounded fake, like a bad actor—and ran away into the forest.
"The beast is vanquished!" Tien declared. He descended, his feet touching the ground as light as a feather.
The villagers cheered. "Thank you! Thank you!"
I stood there, squinting. I knew the lore. This was a scam. They trained the beast. They go from town to town, let the beast attack, then "save" the town for cash.
I walked into the middle of the celebration.
"Hey!" I shouted.
The cheering died down. Tien looked at me. His three eyes narrowed. He was maybe 16 or 17 here? A few years older than me, but I was already taller than him by an inch. He sensed... something. I saw him tense up.
"You got a problem, civilian?" Tien asked, his tone arrogant.
"Yeah," I said, walking closer. I kept my hands in my pockets, trying to look casual despite the fact that I was vibrating with adrenaline. "That was a cool trick. The floating thing."
Tien scoffed. "It's not a trick. It's the Sky Dance Art. Only the elite of the Crane School can master it."
"Right, right," I nodded. "And the pig-deer-moth thing? Does it get a cut of the ten thousand Zeni? Or do you pay him in apples?"
The village went silent.
Tien's expression darkened. "What are you implying?"
"I saw the beast wink at the little guy," I lied (I didn't, but it sounded good). "You guys are running a protection racket. Which, honestly? Respect. I looted a dead guy for these boots. I'm not judging the hustle."
Tien stepped forward. "Watch your mouth, outsider. Unless you want me to break it."
"I don't care about the scam," I said, dropping the joking tone. My voice dropped an octave. "I want to know how you fly."
Tien laughed. It was a cruel, sharp laugh. "You think a brute like you can learn the Crane style? You look like a street brawler. You have no discipline. No grace."
"I learn fast," I said.
"Get lost," Tien said, turning his back. "Chiaotzu, let's go."
I didn't like being ignored. And I really didn't like arrogance.
"I said," I growled, reaching out and grabbing Tien's shoulder, "teach me."
Mistake.
The moment my hand touched his shoulder, Tien spun around faster than a normal human could track. His hand chopped toward my neck. It was a kill-shot move. Precise. Deadly.
Thwack.
His hand hit my neck.
It sounded like he hit a tree trunk wrapped in leather.
I didn't move. I didn't flinch. I just stood there, looking at him.
Tien's eyes—all three of them—widened. He pulled his hand back, wincing. "What the..."
"That tickled," I said, rubbing my neck. "Is that the Crane Style? It's kind of... soft."
That did it. Tien's ego shattered.
"You insolent...!"
Tien flared his Ki. A white aura exploded around him. The wind picked up. The villagers screamed and ran for cover.
"Dodon Ray!" Tien shouted, thrusting his index finger right at my face.
I saw the light. I felt the heat.
My body reacted on its own. I didn't dodge. My arm snapped up, and I backhanded the energy beam.
Slap.
The beam deflected, shooting off into the forest and blowing up a grove of bamboo.
Silence.
Chiaotzu dropped his bag of money. "Tien... he slapped the Dodon Ray."
Tien stared at me. He was sweating now. He realized what I was. I wasn't a martial artist. I was a monster.
"Who are you?" Tien whispered.
"I'm Renso," I said, grinning, showing my teeth. "And I'm looking for a teacher. Where is this 'Crane Hermit' you mentioned?"
Tien hesitated. He looked at my uninjured neck. He looked at the crater in the forest. A calculator was running in his head. If Master Shen sees this guy...
"The 21st Tenkaichi Budokai," Tien said slowly. "Our Master will be there. He is entering us in the tournament to destroy the Turtle School."
"The Tournament," I repeated. "Papaya Island."
"Yes," Tien said, floating backward, putting distance between us. "If you want to learn to fly... come find us there. But be warned. Master Shen doesn't train weaklings. And he kills failures."
"I'm hard to kill," I said.
Tien grabbed Chiaotzu and shot into the sky, flying away at high speed. They left the money behind.
I picked up the bag of Zeni.
"Nice," I said, weighing the bag. "Looks like I'm flying first class."
I looked up at the retreating figures. I had a lead. Master Shen. The Crane Hermit. He was an assassin, a jerk, and a sadist. But he knew the mechanics of Ki flight better than anyone else.
If I had to deal with a toxic teacher to learn how to fly, so be it.
I walked over to the village elder, tossed him half the money back ("For the silo"), kept the other half ("For the consultation fee"), and bought every rice ball in the shop.
"Next stop," I said, facing south. "Papaya Island."