Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball or Dragonball Z
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
"Up and at 'em, Saiyan!" Tris shouted. The enthusiastic woman grabbed the blanket Gohan was cocooned in and gave it a good yank. The young half-blood awoke to find himself sprawled out on the floor and looking up at his grinning assailant.
The two alien women had gone out of their way since they had returned to Lord Cooler's station to bring a bit of fun into his life. When he wasn't on duty, anyway. Iza sat on her own cot, pulling on boots and shaking her head and Tris's morning demeanor.
"I'm not on duty today!" Gohan groaned. Tris thumped his forehead and said, "I know, but you'll miss breakfast if you sleep any longer."
Without any further warnings, he was on his feet and rushing to get into his uniform. Twin chuckles came from the women until Iza's scouter went off. The other two paused and watched as her face grew serious listening to the message. After a solid minute, she sighed and tiredly answered the unspoken question, "Saiyan, from now on be sure you check your scouter first thing in the morning. Apparently you have a message waiting. Lord Cooler is requesting for you to report in. Alone."
His face fell, the burst of joy from Tris and breakfast gone in an instant. He asked, "Why?"
Iza shrugged and said, "I couldn't begin to tell you for sure, but I would guess it has to do with CL-207. You did a good job, and Lord Cooler likes to acknowledge that, especially with new recruits. Remember, he's pretty fair with us. Stay calm, stay respectful, and do not stay there longer than necessary. Do you understand?"
He nodded and Tris finished piped up, "You'll do great, everything will be fine, you'll see. I guess I'll save you a bite of breakfast too."
Gohan forced a grin and finished getting ready. He headed out, tugging at his armor and pushing his hair out of his face. He got lost more than once but finally found himself standing in front of the door. Two guards stared down. The one on the right said, "Go ahead, you're expected."
As always, Gohan didn't know what to expect as he entered. Cooler sat behind his desk, tapping a nail on the polished metal. His face was screwed up as though he'd eaten something sour and his tail draped and wrapped around his chair like a snake. He flicked his eyes up as Gohan entered and visibly forced his expression to even out.
Gohan bowed and said, "It's an honor, Lord Cooler."
"At ease," Cooler said stiffly before continuing, "I had hoped to give you a proper congratulations on a job well done, but it seems my mood has soured. Drastically. As it is, I am still appreciative of your work and your loyalty so far, Saiyan. You performed admirably on your mission. With that said, I'm appointing you permanently to Iza and Tris's team. To compliment that promotion you are now a fully acknowledged third-class vanquisher."
Gohan bowed again, "Thank you, sir, I'll give it everything I have."
"I would hope so," Cooler said dismissively before saying, "As is customary, you should know the power your team has and your responsibilities. Iza is a skilled front line fighter with a maximum power of seventeen-thousand, which means you've only seen a glimpse of what she or Tris can really do. It also means she beat over a dozen of the Saiyan named Raditz who unwittingly sent you here.
Tris is a bit weaker at fourteen-thousand, but she more than makes up for it in her tactical know-how and skill set. Out of all of my soldiers, she exhibits the most control of her energy. You could learn a lot from either of them. With that said, everything is wrapped up. Any questions?"
Gohan hesitated for just a moment before his childish curiosity, mixed with his father's kindness, kicked in and he asked, "If it's okay, Lord Cooler, why are you in a bad mood? Is there anything we can do?"
Cooler paused in his answer. His eyes narrowed slightly before he chuckled, not his normal cold and unpleasant laugh that mocked those before him, a normal, everyday chuckle. He gave a small shake of his head and said, "You are a strange one, Saiyan. As seemingly ruthless to an enemy, as you are kind to an ally. I fear there is nothing you could do. My baby brother just needs to learn to mind his attitude. Now, you are dismissed."
Gohan gave a final bow and slunk out, his face red with embarrassment. It didn't take long for him to find his way to the nearly empty mess hall. Iza and Tris were both sitting and waiting. Empty platters were in front of them with several more piled high with food off to the side.
While he stuffed his face, they congratulated him. Training and a bit of rest would be his schedule for now, but Iza assured him that another mission would be on them in a matter of days.
"Goku, give it a try now," Bulma said through the speaker. Goku studied the awkward-looking machine before him. The only other thing in the strange room made of heavy plates. He tentatively approached it and hit the big red start button.
Almost immediately a whirring sound started ran back towards the wall, knowing the clock was ticking. He strapped himself tightly into a harness on the wall and waited barely anytime at all. The whirring changed pitch, gears shifted under the floor and behind the walls, and suddenly everything was spinning everywhere. Goku didn't feel nauseous like his wife had warned about but he was keeping a closer eye on all the heavy metal plates. He wasn't sure how he'd survived the last one coming loose.
It had careened around inside the spinning room like a giant guillotine until Bulma could safely slow it down. The damage to the room and him had been enormous. This time, she insisted everything would hold.
"How you feeling, hun?" she asked. Goku shrugged and said, "I feel fine. I really don't think this is necessary. I mean, I traveled in a space-ship as a baby. Surely I can still take it. Besides, I need to be training!"
"Yeah, that's great, but we're not taking any chances. Starting the vertical spin!"
True to her word, the room began spinning in all directions. Goku's stomach held strong. A final hum from the machine powering it all started up. Bulma crackled back over the speaker once more and said, "Okay, Goku, I'm starting up the Gravity Simulator. Since we don't know what it'll be like re-entering another planet's atmosphere and how it will all affect you, this will give us a broader range. We'll progress to five times normal gravity levels. Starting in 3...2...1."
Goku waited for several moments before he gave out his first grunt. Bulma let him know they were at three and a half. By five, he felt the spinning and increased weight taking a toll on his joints. Bulma cheered but he wasn't done yet.
"Keep it going!" he yelled. Fumbling against his body as he spun and flipped, he undid the clasps on the harness much to Bulma's protests. Still, she did as he wanted and kept the machine going. His plan to fly and exit smoothly was ruined the moment he started to slide the straps off of him.
He careened across the room and began pinballing around. For several moments all he could do was protect his vitals and try to get his bearings. A lucky break saw him smack into the machine in the center where he clung to for dear life. Bulma was nothing but shrill static as she yelled at him. A final grunt saw him push off and float in the air. The weight of the increased gravity still affecting him.
"Can it go any higher?" he panted. Bulma paused in her yelling to hesitantly answer, "A little, but I really don't think this is a good idea."
"Crank it up," Goku said, ignoring her warning. It took several more proddings until a second voice could be heard. Panchy could be heard saying, "He's a strong man, give him a chance. Besides, he'll have to be tough to save Gohan, right?"
"But, mom"
"No buts, now which of these dials does what. Ah, here it is," she chimed, throwing her daughters caution to the wind. Goku could almost hear her sweet smile when she asked, "Goku, dear, how much more?"
"Oh, well, let's try...seven I guess?"
The effect was immediate. His body plunged down and it took every ounce of strength he had to keep himself from colliding with the rapid moving floor. He gulped, unsure what would happen were he to suddenly be swept back into that mess.
"Goku?" Panchy asked. He dry swallowed and struggled to say, "I'm fine. Man, this is tough. Could you turn off the spinning, Bulma?"
"...No, the gravity pump needs the kinetic energy caused by the gyroscopic effect of the entire room overlapping in the turns to provide the ne…"
"In English, please," Goku huffed out. He was slowly rising back up to normal level in the center of the room. Bulma sighed and said, "The machine needs the room to spin because that makes the extra power to use the gravity pump."
"Oh, okay," Goku accepted. Slowly, he began to limber up. First, stretching and twisting as he got accustomed to his heavier body. Then turning in the air and getting more comfortable with his boundaries. Finally, moving through his normal practices, albeit much slower.
"If this helps, though, I'll get started on another model that's more useful," Bulma added
Inside of Capsule Corps in a rarely used lab resembling a large garage, Dr. Briefs worked alone. Off to the side on a large stand, sat an old, weather-worn pod with the casing removed from it. Screens set up all along the room showed carefully drawn diagrams, charts, parts-list, and so much more. In the center sat the product of it all. A large round ship.
The outside was almost completely encased and sealed already. The good scientist was currently working away on the inside. Making connections, securing outlets, and most importantly making sure to add in as many fail-safes as possible. After all, his son-in-law and grandson would rely on his ship. Quite possibly his daughter as well, if she had her way. He chuckled. Bulma always got her way in the end.
A quick buzz notified him of an incoming call. From Bulma. He murmured and wiped his hands before answering. His daughter immediately launched into a spiel about a "gravity machine", something she had cooked up on her own. He stopped paying attention for a moment as he studied a particular part of a nearby screen. A mental note to rearrange some of the wiring harnesses to have more room crept into his head.
"Dad!" Bulma ordered, snapping him out of his internal thoughts. He fished a smoke out and took a deep drag while refocusing on her. With an exhale of smoke, he asked, "I'm sorry, Bulma dear, I had noticed a correction I need to make. Now, what's that about your gravity machine? Don't tell me Goku is injured again."
"No, I said, it worked great. I need it to go higher though and get rid of the gyroscopic room as a generator. It would help Goku train increasingly more than my current model. Any ideas? I know how to increase the gravity output, but not with a standard power-supply," she said.
He gave a thoughtful hum and continued smoking. Bulma waited patiently as he gathered his thoughts. Once his cigarette was finished, they began bouncing ideas off one another. Short of highly volatile resources, they came up dry. The initial power of the main engine added to by the motion of the room was the most sustainable and least dangerous way available to them.
"Honey, just an idea, why do not keep it how it is? Do away with the entire room spinning but keep the bars and gears that make it all work. Then enclose it all in some sort of specialized room much like what you have where the mechanics of it all stay the same and remain, but removes the risk of him being flung about like a rag doll," he suggested at last.
Several long moments went by before she said, "That would work. I'd need a new room though. Something smaller and easier to adapt than a concrete building. Something like...the ship!"
"Now, you wait just a minute!" he exclaimed, his arms trying to block his ship from her sight, "That would mean taking this thing back to the bones! Sure it'd go back together right quick, but that would be after I built at least two additional hulls to house your bloody contraption. Now to mention the control tower for that thing. It's the size of a small car."
"It's not that big of a control tower," Bulma argued. He fired back, "I've built weapons of war for the king that had smaller control towers!"
"Dad, please? He could be out there for months. Maybe years. This would let him train even more, and the additional hulls would just be added security. Please?" she asked. Her blue eyes opened wide and begging, a look he thought he'd grown immune to when she grew up. Turns out, he was wrong.
"Fine, Bulma, I'll go ahead and be getting everything ready," he sighed.
"Okay, okay, you'll love this one! What's the difference between a lime, a Namekian, and you?" King Kai snorted, already laughing at his own joke.
"For the love of all, that's holy just send me to Hell," Piccolo groaned, trying to calm his mind. King Kai paid him no mind and continued, "Two are sour, and only one can carry on a conversation!"
"That wasn't even a joke!"