Chapter TWENTY-FIVE: The three years Training: Increasing GRAVITY
Gohan was lying on the floor in his room thinking about what the purple haired boy from the future had told Piccolo. He knew that he had to train all of the time so that they would be able to defeat the androids but it was impractical; he just couldn't stop doing schoolwork for three years. He had already done intense training sessions with both Vegeta and Piccolo at different points throughout the week. Somehow Fruiche had got out of the intense training session for the time being. He got up and went to look for his mum, he found her in the gardens with Vegeta's space ship.
"What are you doing mum?" Gohan asked as he watched her tinker away.
"I'm increasing the gravity. Vegeta was complaining about it not being high enough" she said while she continued working.
"But weren't you meant to be going on a date with Uncle Yamcha today?" Gohan asked, wondering what the current situation was with his mother and her long time boyfriend.
"I was but he cancelled saying that he had to train for the android attack" she said sounding quiet annoyed.
"But you had this planned for months, and if he trains nonstop for the androids, he will burn out" Gohan complained.
"That is exactly what I said to him" Bulma said as she started working quiet ferociously.
Looking at the space pod gave Gohan an idea "Mum, can you build the gravity into the house?"
"Why do you want Gravity built into the house?" Bulma asked with a serious tone.
"We all need to get stronger for the androids, but it is impractical to fight all of the time because that would cause burn out, but having increased gravity when sleeping, eating and doing homework would help us to all become stronger when we aren't training. The Gravity in the house wouldn't have to be very high either because it isn't for intense training sessions."
Bulma thought for a moment "That could work, I'll make sure that it goes no higher then 20 times Earths gravity, Yamcha said that King Kai's planet was 10 times Earths gravity so I should be able to go up to that over time and get at least to 20 times Earths gravity, I should also put in safety measures so that the gravity goes back to normal slowly so that I don't get the benz or some other gravity related illness. Gohan, do you want to help me increase the gravity for Vegeta? That way you can see how it works and then we can have a look over the plans that my dad has for the Gravity machine, the space pod and blue prints for our flat so we can work out the best plan."
"Yeah, that sounds like fun" Gohan said who enjoyed science more than fighting, though he did feel guilty because he felt like he wasn't training as much as he should be.
The next few days, in between Gohan's morning training sessions with Piccolo and his afternoon training sessions with Vegeta; Gohan and Bulma spent time increasing the gravity throughout all of the rooms in there flat. "I have made it so that the different rooms in the house can be set at different level." Bulma said to Gohan while adjusting the final wiring in Vegeta's bedroom. "His Royal Highness is able to withstand more gravity then myself so he can set his all the way to twenty in his bedroom when he actually comes in to sleep without affecting me, who would have my room set at a lower gravity setting of the two in my bedroom and the rest of the house is at a different setting again."
"You have made sure that the only room that Vegeta can control is this room" Gohan said handing his mum some more equipment.
"He can also adjust the settings in Fruiche's room. But only you and I can adjust the gravity in the whole house" Bulma explained "I have also set in safety features such as when a door to one of the bedrooms is opened and the gravity in the rest of the house is lower than the bedroom that the gravity in the bedroom will automatically reset to that gravity level of the rest of the house. I think we have finished. We should get Vegeta to test it so that we don't accidently crush ourselves."
"I can't wait to see how it will work" Gohan said excited. "Can I control the gravity machine from the hallway when Vegeta tests the gravity machine?"
"Sure" Bulma said as she did a double check that everything was installed where it should be before closing the panel in Vegeta's bedroom.
"Yay, I'll go and get Vegeta" Gohan said running out of the apartment and into the garden where the space ship was with the gravity machine installed.
"Vegeta" Gohan said over the intercom on the gravity machine.
"Hi Gohan" Fruiche said on the other end of the intercom.
"Hi Fruiche, can you and Vegeta come out? My mum has something that she wants to show the both of you."
"No, we only have three years so I am going to spend every moment in here that I can training" Vegeta shouted. "you should be training more as well."
"Mum and I have been working on something to assist us in becoming stronger even when we're eating and sleeping." Gohan said knowing that he had sparked the saiyan prince's interest. "And grandma said that lunch is ready. You can test it when you're eating."
"Fine" Vegeta said "I'm coming out but only because I'm hungry."
"I can't wait till I see what it is" Fruiche said opening the door.
"Well what is it that you want to show me?" Vegeta demanded when he came into the flat.
"The past few days Gohan and I have been installing gravity machines in the whole flat so that even when you're sleeping and eating you can still become stronger then if you where in Earth's normal gravity" Bulma said.
"Does it work properly?" Vegeta asked.
"That is what I want you to test" Bulma said "Namek's gravity was slightly lower than Earths so Gohan and I have never been in increased gravity before. I would like you to check that the gravity is not set to high that it would crush me when it was activated. The highest it can go is to twenty times Earths normal gravity and it has safety measures built into it so that none of us get killed in our own home while sleeping or some other task around the house."
"Daddy, can I come in with you to test the gravity" Fruiche asked.
"You sit in my training sessions which have higher gravity, in the house so I don't see the problem" Vegeta said.
Bulma and Gohan went to Bulma's lab and where talking to Vegeta through the intercom. Vegeta was impressed that she thought of having the bedrooms separated from the rest of the house so that he could choose the level that he could sleep at. He was actually looking forward to setting it to Planet Vegeta's gravity level while he slept. He knew that it properly was more practical for him to sleep at a higher level so that he could get as strong as possible for the android attack but he always slept better when he was on planets that had similar gravity to his long gone home planet.
"I would recommend you setting the gravity to around 3 or 4 times Earth's gravity before increasing it too high" Vegeta said to Bulma over the intercom "I don't know what Earth bodies can handle but it is better to be safe then to risk setting it too high to fast."
"Did you learn something from setting the gravity machine all the way to the highest setting and almost crushing yourself the other day" Bulma teased over the intercom.
"A saiyan's power level increases whenever they recover from injuries so that only helped to increase my power level" the agitated prince answered wishing that Bulma had not bought it up. "From what I have learnt of humans on my short time on this planet is that you do not heal as easily which is why it is better for you to not risk it."
"Daddy, I didn't realise you cared for Bulma that much" Fruiche said, teasing her dad.
"I don't care about her at all, but who is going to fix my gravity machine when it breaks if something happens to her" Vegeta said defending himself while trying to claim that he had no emotions. "Women, your son said that I could test this while eating; where's the food?"
"Since you're now sure that I'm not going to die, I will set this thing to 3 times Earth gravity and get out the meal that my mother prepared" Bulma answered cheerfully.
10 minutes later Bulma, Vegeta and the two kids were seated around the table. "It's funny to watch someone eating like Goku used to" Bulma said to the prince with laughter in her voice.
"You liked Karrarot, didn't you" Vegeta said to the scientist.
"Yeah, Goku was one of my first friends that I ever made. He was my best friend; he was so much like a little brother to me" Bulma said with a sigh.
"What do you mean like a little brother?" Vegeta asked "Karrarot is older then you."
"No way, my little Goku was older than me?" Bulma said remembering what her old friend was like. "Goku didn't actually know how old he was, and you saiyans do age different, so I guess that he really was older than me."
"Just like I am older then Gohan, but look younger than him" Fruiche said stating another fact.
"Mum, am I aging like a normal human child?" Gohan asked his mother, curious to know if what he assumed was correct.
"Pretty mum. I think a little bit slower because of your saiyan blood" Bulma answered her son.
"I look way younger then everyone at my school" Fruiche spoke up, wanting to be included in the conversation more. "I sometimes get mistaken for a pre-schooler."
"Piccolo said that the androids are going to attack where Fruiche goes to school in three years time" Gohan said wondering what they were going to do about that.
"Do I have to go to school that day?" Fruiche asked, wondering what had happened to her in the future.
"I think that day is an exception for you not attending school; speaking of which, you where supposed to be at school today" Bulma said to the young saiyan princess.
"But my daddy has been gone for ages, and only just got back, and I want to spend all the time with him that I can" Fruiche explained.
"What do you think of Earth School?" Vegeta asked, wondering what type of bad influence that it was on her.
"It is ok, I am surprised at how mean that Earth children could be. This one boy pulled my tail, but I was the one that got in trouble" Fruiche complained.
"That is because you slammed him into a tree. I'm surprised that he was not more injured then that" Bulma said, glad that was the only time she had been called to the school.
"Good job Fruiche. I have taught you well" Vegeta said proud of his daughter.
"Vegeta, that may have been ok when you where in space, but that is not ok while she's on Earth" Bulma explained to the prince.
"Whatever. I can't have my child becoming weak while she's on this planet" Vegeta said to Bulma.
"Am I weak daddy?" Fruiche asked surprised at how much having the thought that she may be weak affected her.
"I don't actually have much to compare you on to tell if you are weak or not for your age. I only know the elite standards for royal men. With elite and third class I only have Nappa and Raditz to go on, and I don't even have an example for Second Class. I don't even know what class you should be classified as, and then what that standard are for women in those different classes" Vegeta explained, hating how little he actually knew about his own people.
"What do you mean that you don't know what class Fruiche would be? You're royal so wouldn't that make her royal as well" Bulma asked, wondering how the little girl could be anything but royal when it came to the saiyan classes.
Bulma and Gohan watched as Vegeta's facial expressions changed and knew that the saiyan prince didn't want to talk about the subject any further.
"The 3 times Earth's gravity does not affect me as much as I thought it would" Bulma said changing the subject.
"Hmph" Vegeta answered not really caring about the woman and what type of gravity that she was able to take at the moment.
"My mum was a third class, that is why daddy does not know what rank I would be; because Nappa told me that there is some law where Royals and Elites are allowed to have children together; Elites and Second Class; and Second Class and Third Class. Out of Royal and Elite, their children are Royal. But with the rest of the classes it is the lower class which becomes the rank of the child, unless they show strengths of the upper class when they are older. Royals are not allowed to have children with Second and third class, and Elites are not allowed to have children with third class either. Nappa told me that he was not aware of any cases where it has happened before" Fruiche explained to Bulma about the saiyan hierarchy system.
"Are you ashamed of whom your daughter's mother is?" Bulma asked the prince.
"Her mother was Raditz's sister and we grew up together on Freiza's ships. I respected her as a warrior and nothing else" Vegeta said standing up from the dinner table.
"But isn't Raditz my dad's brother? Doesn't that make her my dad's sister as well?" Gohan asked.
"What's your point brat?" an agitated Vegeta said.
"But that would mean that Fruiche is my cousin" Gohan said looking over at the girl he had meet on Namiek.
Bulma nearly chocked at the outcome of the conversation, she looked at the two children and then at Vegeta.
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner? I think it would have been nice if you let us know that Gohan had another living biological relative besides his grandfather." Bulma asked, but seeing the look on his face knew that she was not going to get an answer.
Vegeta stormed out of the apartment and everyone heard the closing door of the Gravity Machine. She sighed hoping that the prince could take out all of his frustrations in training and become strong enough to save them all from the androids in a few years time.
"Mum, if I had known that it was important, I would have told you sooner" Fruiche said, who occasionally called Bulma mum when Vegeta was not around.
"How come you didn't realise it was important?" Gohan asked his new found cousin.
"Because in saiyan culture it's only important to know who your father is. Most children don't have anything to do with siblings or parents at all and are lucky if the know the name of their mother and other siblings" Fruiche explained.
"I guess that is understandable, due to the cultural differences" Bulma said to the young girl.
"I am going to see if my daddy is ok" Fruiche said, excusing herself from the table.
"I would have never guessed that Fruiche's mum was my dad's sister" Gohan said to his adoptive mother.
"I always wondered if Fruiche was in fact full saiyan. I guess I got the answer to my question" Bulma said to her son.
"I'm going to do another training session with Piccolo this afternoon" Gohan told his mother "Vegeta seems too aggravated for me to train with him this afternoon.
"How is that going?" Bulma asked.
"Easier then when I lived out in the wilderness with him" Gohan answered "I feel like I am really slacking off lately."
"You're a lot stronger then you used to be, so what you once considered really difficult is becoming easier for you to manage." Bulma smiled thinking of how similar Gohan was to Goku at times, but also like ChiChi at the same time.
"Maybe I should ask Piccolo to make the training harder" Gohan considered.
"Just as long as you don't overdo it. We don't want the androids to come and you not being able to fight because you overdid it." Bulma said wondering if that was even possible for someone with saiyan blood. She watched Vegeta crush himself and then continue training a few hours later as if nothing had ever happened.
Gohan nodded and then ran to his bedroom. She saw him come out a few minutes later in a purple gi. "I'll see you later mum" he called out as he ran from the house.
Seeing that she was the only one left in the house, Bulma decided that she would test her aerobics' fitness level at the increased gravity. Changing into clothes that she was able to exercise in, she slipped the video into the VCR and started her workout.
AN: I watched the Dragon Ball special last week after I uploaded the previous chapter and fell in love with Vegeta's little brother Tarble and am so tempted to write him into my story but not sure if I will be able to make it fit considering Vegeta's flashbacks in previous chapters. Anyway I will see where my writing ends up taking me. Thankyou to everyone that reviewed they have really motivated me to keep writing.