Salcid woke up feeling groggy and unresponsive, his ears ringing with a pulsating beat. His eyes fluttered as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. The roof was painted a crayon pink, with purple stars, resembling a kid's room, but the smell said otherwise. It smelled like a clinic would, very... chemical-ish? His eyes moved towards the right and his ears focused on the constant sound. Salcid looked right at the heart rate monitor showing no signs of life. 'Did I die? No way. Last thing I remember was... a shiny bald head?' He thought. Soon, panic started rising in his chest as he sat on the bed. He heard a voice of a woman to his left "Relax, you're in the kid's treatment center at CC. You're going to be fine." Salcid turns his head. His eyes meet blue eyes, blue hair, and a frowning face. It was Bulma. "I don't know what happened, but the officer said that you got into a fight at the gym? Honestly, you've been acting wayyy differently to a month ago. Did you hit your head somewhere before?" She asked jokingly, though a bit of concern could be seen in the way her eyes got softer.
"No." I whispered. I couldn't believe it. Just one punch. Just one punch from a guy who wasn't even in the anime. Not even the anime, he wasn't even the best fighter in the city; I remember him saying he was the best fighter in the North District. This... "Fucking sucks" I whisper
"Hey! Language!" Bulma shouts. "No swearing! You're 14! Why did you get into a fight anyways? You should've just left him alone. You know you're not a fighter!"
"And do WHAT? Let him walk all over me? I can't let that happen to me. I WON'T let that happen to me!" I shout back at her and see her frowning face. "Sorry, I shouldn't have yelled."
"...It's fine." She sighs "You boys are all the same. Anyways, what are you going to do now? You've going to the gym but that didn't help. You picked a fight with a guy, got beaten, you can't get the pervert to train you, what other alternatives do you have now? Just come back to gardening here. Mom always says that the flowers grow well when there's love put into them. You've been doing a good job until now."
"I... fine. But I haven't given up. Do you think you could find the recording of the last World Tournament? I'd appreciate it a lot. Please." I relent. I've got no other choice. I've got to find some way to get stronger. 'If I could mimic Goku's moves... No. I said that I wouldn't learn the Turtle Style. I'll copy Piccolo's moves. But can I even do that? Isn't it all just instincts to him? I guess I can give it a shot atleast. I've got no other choice do I.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's been a week now since I woke up in the kid's room in CC. Why do they even have that? And I know Bulma put me in there just to irritate me, but I can't blame her. I was stupid and she still helped. She is a real friend. Which is a first for me, in both worlds. I was a bit of a loner in my previous life. Scratch that, I absolutely talked to no-one. My colleagues, my family, they all just felt... distant from the start, so I never bothered. But it's been nice, having fun and talking with Bulma. I hope she stays my friend forever. 'Ugghhhg' the thought of even saying that in my mind is making me puke. But the update from my previous hospitalization is that I've resumed my work as a gardener. It's given me quite some time to think and a lot peace too. Maybe this is my calling in this world. 'I wonder if I could grow the Tree of Might as a domicile plant. Does the tree even exist here?'
Pushing that thought aside, I've been looking into the previous Tournament. Bluma somehow got the recording, and I've been reviewing the way Piccolo and Tien fight. Tien's way of fighting is more structured, going for precise blows that can defeat an opponent in a few hits. It's not too difficult to understand, but when I tried it myself, I couldn't do anything. 'I guess I'll need to understand the anatomy of the human body to even start. It is a killing Martial Art afterall. It's probably not gonna be useless in the future because nearly every person in DBZ is a humanoid.' Piccolo's fighting style was an entirely different ball game, however. Piccolo fought like an apex predator, completely through instincts and sheer power. Even I can understand that there is not even a lick of refinement in his fighting style. But even then, he was pretty clever. Feints, homing ki blasts, faking unconsciousness. 'I can't really do ki blasts, and the rest of his movements were on instinct. I can't replicate it even if I wanted to. Crazy how he changed his entire fighting style by the time Raditz came along, though it was a 5-year timeskip.' Although I may not be able to copy Piccolo and it may take time to learn the Crane Style, there was still a fighting style I could understand. 'Chi-Chi. She will be my key to the city.' Don't misunderstand, Chi-Chi is very strong, probably the strongest women in the series up until Videl came along. Her style is simple and effective, as long as you have the speed and strength to pull it off. 'I think she is a good baseline for Martial Arts. Not too complicated, but still effective.'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another month has passed. The rainbow-lilies and nightflowers are growing well. What, did you think they'll have normal flowers in this world too? Of course not. Anyways, I've been learning about the human body for a while now, studying every day. While I do understand it, I can't implement the knowledge in my strikes. But you're probably thinking, my fellow voices-in-my-head, that "Salcid, you couldn't even throw a punch correctly! How could you even DARE to try this?" Well, the answer to that is simple. I've mastered Chi-Chi's style! Well, only the basics. I still need to build up my battle IQ through fights themselves. Chi-Chi's style was tough, since I was starting from the basics, but I was able to pick up the forms and stances more easily, though I don't know if they even are the basics. I'm doing this off of a 4-minute recording after all. I'm definitely missing the strong base of martial artists, but I couldn't care less. As long as I keep getting stronger and better, nothing else matters. And Chi-Chi's style is impressive and useful too. I can feel my punches getting stronger, my body being conditioned to move more dynamically and my feet moving and turning quicker. I may have gotten a bit stronger, but that credit goes to the gym. Martial art moves only unlock your potential, they don't make you stronger per se, unless you do some training to build your body up.
Now that I'm done with my basic training, there's only one thing left to do.