Dragon Ball Z: Paradise Found

A Sprinkle Of Negativity

Gohan vanished, appearing in front of Piccolo's face with a jumping thrust kick aimed right at Piccolo's chin. The Super Namekian leaned back, avoiding the upper kick that would have opened him up for a follow-up attack. Gohan proceeded with the follow-up regardless, freezing up at Piccolo's eye level in mid-flight and throwing a barrage of chain punches at him which Piccolo absorbed with his palms with little difficulty. His childlike sparring partner vanished, bursting with a scarlet aura for just one blink as a rapid hurricane kick caught Piccolo in the jaw and sent him flying back.

The child Saiyan advanced on his opponent with stout attacks, Piccolo could see Chi-Chi's technicality and elegance in Gohan's form and even though he found his partner's attacks rather predictable compared to his explosive innovation earlier, he allowed Gohan's advance by stepping back and avoiding Gohan's attacks. There it was again. The Saiyan brat blinked up with the King Kai's Fist aura and appeared right in front of Piccolo with a kick to his chin that sent Piccolo soaring all the way to the ceiling.

Piccolo felt the integrity of his neck and demonic endurance being put to the test as Gohan activated his flight technique and backflipped once more, swatting his much heavier and more powerful opponent into the air. Dashing after him in pursuit, Gohan smashed his elbow into Piccolo's forehead, whipped a stiff kick at his ribs, and then pushed his other leg into the core of Piccolo's chest. He flat out copied an attack from his father's childhood by expanding his arms and legs and spinning like a whirligig, pummeling Piccolo with relentless and wide but lukewarm attacks.

Gohan stopped with a kick to the side of Piccolo's neck and then a double ax handle slam to the top of Piccolo's head, sending the Super Namekian down on the ground. Piccolo landed on both feet and caught Gohan by his heel as the cheeky bastard tried dashing in from the side with a diving kick. Piccolo flipped Gohan up, swinging in mid-air to throw him off-guard and to fumble his sense of balance.

A crushing elbow strike made Gohan whine out in pain and wince. Just like that, all of his defenses were done for. Piccolo thrust a step-in elbow slam, whiting Gohan's eyes out and sending blood and slobber to leak out of his mouth. Without mercy, the Super Namekian swatted his hand with a backhand slam and knocked the kid into the spaceship ceiling, socking off of them like a ball of rags before Piccolo collided with Gohan again in his aerial pursuit. A chop at Gohan's throat, a rapid barrage of stomping kicks aimed at the kid's pressure points, and an overhead kick sent little Gohan down for the count.

Much to Piccolo's surprise, the kid's wobbly and bruised hands pushed him off the ground, struggling against 350X Earth's gravity and the sum of his injuries. He was his father's kid alright. Piccolo had assumed that, with him being trained by his father and mother his whole life, Gohan would be a pampered and soft combatant, but this kid was tougher than he looked. Whether or not it was because Goku intended it, but seeing his father in battle has also taught Gohan just how tough he truly was as well and how far his willpower could take him in a fight.

Piccolo had no doubt that if he fought the kid seriously, he might land more than a few solid blows and give Piccolo an actually intense workout. It was something he truly never expected from a child that wasn't even able to become a Super Saiyan. Piccolo smirked, rearing his fangs, recalling his own foolishness when he dreaded the idea of killing Frieza because that'd have left the universe barren and boring for him as a martial artist. It seems he had underestimated the resolve and natural abilities of Saiyans.

"Enough!" Piccolo hissed, swatting his hand aside. Gohan had been training with the Super Namekian enough to learn more discipline than he had in the beginning. When informed that their training was over, Gohan froze in place and returned to a proper, straight-back stance, and bowed to his sparring partner before collapsing on his bottom.