Cosmic Crisis

Chapter 6 - Training

Natalie brushed her straight, silky brown hair. She was reminiscing on the day's events, when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in." she said, putting the brush down. Trunks entered with a bag.

"I brought you some stuff." He said, handing her the sac. She emptied the contents onto the bed. There was shampoo, toothpaste, a toothbrush, a bar of soap, and some clothes to sleep in.

"Thanks!" she said, putting the things away. "Trunks?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he replied, looking up into her green eyes.

"Thanks for all you've done for me today." She said. "It really means a lot to me."

"No problem." He said. "Sleep well." He said, and then left, shutting the door softly behind him. Natalie finished brushing her hair and then pulled out her nightclothes, consisting of a white tank top and a pair of boxers, probably Trunks'. She slipped into the clothes, and then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she had finished, she pulled back the covers on the bed.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing." She thought to herself, as she settled into bed. She turned off the lamp next to hr bed, and allowed her thoughts to wander. Soon, she was fast asleep.

The next morning, she awoke to the commotion coming from downstairs. She just flipped the covers over her head and attempted to go back to sleep. Suddenly, her door swung open and her covers were jerked off of her. She sat up, preparing to deliver a serious tongue lashing to the person who disturbed her sleep, when she came face to face with Vegita.

"Could you explain your motive for interrupting my sleep?" she asked, sitting back away from his body.

"You wanted to train, didn't you?" he asked with his arms crossed in the familiar fashion.

"Well..." she broke off.

"Then I suggest you get out of bed."

"Just give me five more minutes..." she said groggily, settling back under the covers. Before she could take another breath, Vegita grabbed her by the back of her shirt, and carried the struggling girl downstairs. He placed her on a chair at the breakfast table, where Trunks was already pouring his cereal.

"So he got you too, huh?" he asked the groggy teenage girl.

"Uh-huh." She said, resting her head on the table. She glanced over at the clock. It was only 5:00 in the morning.

"Well if you're gonna train with us, you'd better get used to this kind of treatment." Trunks said, taking a bite of his breakfast.

"Yeah yeah." She mumbled. She decided to get some food into her stomach.

"Do you guys have any orange juice?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. Before she could blink, Trunks' hand zipped across the table and grabbed a carton of juice that was out of her sight. "Uh...thanks." She said, pouring a glass. While she was sipping away, thinking about her dream, Vegita returned to the table and dropped a pile of clothing in front of her.

"This is what you'll be wearing." He said, and then turned and walked away. Natalie got up and went upstairs to change. She examined the clothes when she reached her room.

"A sports bra and exercise pants. Paris runways, here I come." She said sarcastically as she changed.

"I heard that." Natalie was startled as she heard Trunks' voice from behind her. She was about to scream when she realized it was just an intercom.

"Oh, god Trunks you scared me." She said, relieved.

"I just wanted to let you know that we start in 15 minutes, so you should do some stretching."

"Got it." She said, and walked out into the sitting room of her suite. She sat on the floor and spread her legs almost to a split, and then lowered her torso so that her chin reached just below her left knee, stretching her hamstrings. She alternated legs for a couple of minutes, and then began to stretch her arms. When she was finished, she pulled her hair into a tight ponytail, and walked out towards Trunks' room. She knocked on the door, and Trunks opened the door, wearing his traditional outfit, without the Capsule Corp. jacket. They both walked down the stairs towards the training room. Suddenly, Vegita stopped them.

"We're going outside to train today." He grumbled.

"But isn't it too wet from the previous night's storm?" Natalie asked.

"Not if you can elevate."

"But I - " before she could say more, he dashed downstairs and out the door. "Great." She said, rolling her eyes.

"You just have to get used to him." Trunks said with a crooked smile on his face. Natalie rubbed her sore shoulder. Hopefully the wound would be healed in a couple of weeks. They both walked out into the damp backyard. The skies were still grey, and there was a cool breeze blowing. Natalie shivered.

"Don't worry, you'll heat up." Trunks said. He ran out into the yard and shot into the air. He then did a somersault and landed on his feet.

"Show-off!" she shouted across the field. She did a running cartwheel, followed by a series of somersaults and backflips. She finished on her feet, and blew a piece of hair out of her face. Vegita then entered the backyard and shouted for the two to come to him. He explained the "rules".

"Since this girl is a beginner, and obviously not skilled in this type of training, I suggest you take it easy on her Trunks. And you, Natalie..." he said, turning to the girl, "You will have to work your ass off for a couple of weeks, until your body gets used to the work. Until then, I don't want to hear ANY complaining." He finished.

"Uh - okay." She replied, looking rather frightened at the towering saiyan.

"Come on, I'll show you how it's done." Trunks said, grabbing Natalie's waist and flying to a spot in the far end of the yard.

"Okay. First, never take your eyes off the person who you're fighting with.

"Yeah, yeah. I know all that stuff." She said. "Get to the good part." She said, getting into a fighting position. Trunks laughed to himself.

"Okay, then show me what you know." He said, getting into position as well. The both bowed in respect. Then the fighting began. Trunks was quite amazed at her speed and agility.

"You aren't bad." He said. "For a human."

"Stop it! You sound like your dad." She giggled. The two continued to spar while Vegita watched from a distance.

"Perhaps I was wrong about that human. She may need harder training than I estimated." He thought to himself.

The two teens continued to fight. Natalie was getting in a few hits every now and then. Trunks was trying his best not to actually hit her, but rather to block her own attacks.

"I think you can do better. You're holding back." She said with a smirk on her face. Trunks just laughed.

"So you want more, huh?" he said, speeding up. Natalie retaliated and began to pick up the pace as well, but was struggling to stay as fast as Trunks. Occasionally, her ki would flare. "Where did you learn to fight like this?" he asked, dodging a blow to the face.

"It just comes naturally." She replied casually.

"That kind of ability doesn't come naturally to just anyone. There's something special about that girl." Trunks thought to himself.

Meanwhile,

Goten laid in bed, wide awake.

"What am I doing awake? This is summer vacation! I'm supposed to be sleeping until noon!" he thought, as he rolled onto his back. He looked out the window and into the grey sky. He thought about Natalie, and the dream that she had. He also thought about the strong power on its way to earth.

"Oh no. I need to train hard today. Ugh." He thought. He'd just sleep a little bit longer...

Natalie's hand whizzed by Trunks' face. He dodged, and attempted to punch Natalie in the arm, but she dodged as well. Her ki flared again.

"What's happening to me?" she thought as she dodged and attacked her opponent. "Is it because of that dream?" She suddenly began to get very tired. Trunks noticed that her moves were getting sloppier and she wasn't dodging his attacks very well.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah...I'm just a little sleepy." She replied. Her ki flared again, and her energy was restored. She began to attack with full force again.

"Odd..." Vegita thought as he watched the two.