"Destructo Disk!"
A tenth of an inch thick, a yard in diameter, 18's perfectly circular Disk sliced through a mound of ice at an acute angle to the horizon. Her arms straightened and pointed, as though striking a cool pose, and the Disk began to noticeably veer leftward. Thirty degrees, forty, fifty, sixty… The disk crashed just as it passed the ninety degrees mark.
Jumping on the spot, 18 whistled a cute cheer, pumped her fist high. She was now down to her bikini top and bottom; two more failures and she would've lost the top, regrettably. She asked, "How was that, Gohan?"
"Really good."
"Are you just saying that?"
He smiled proudly. "No, why would you think so?"
"We spent nearly…" She eyed the clocks at the entrance. "Two hours."
"When I was learning Destructo Disk, it took me twice as long to get where you are, so you're doing fine. Just keep practicing during our rest days. Soon you'll be able to effortlessly control a dozen of them. Honestly, I surprised Gero didn't program your brain interface with better energy control. Why didn't he?"
She stretched her back and legs, caustically saying, "I believe he was going to, but our disobedience halted our so-called development. Perhaps I should've faked being a robot for longer like 17 did; he has a barrier technique which I don't, and he bragged about it constantly. My mistake, Gohan."
He chuckled, "Sorry I asked."
"It's alright." Her head shook, and she sighed. "You are correct. That brain implant could've been useful. Too bad."
He offered counterargument: "It was holding you back. Your cells can naturally grow in power, but I'm not so sure about a piece of metal."
"That's true." She sighed again, quieter. "Alright, can you teach me the Kamehameha now?"
He stood with his legs a bit further apart. His sore thighs acted up. He kept a wince off his face. "I bet you'll get it right within three tries; if you don't, you'll take off your bikini top and bottom for the rest of the day." He grinned lustfully.
She was both amused and not. "Master Roshi invented this move, right? He's a dirty old man. His lecherous ways must've infected you."
Gohan said in a more serious voice, "I wouldn't say that, but he is a fighting genius for inventing this move alone. I don't think it's possible to perform an energy beam more powerful or efficient or flexible than this. Even the charge-up can be greatly rushed for a slightly weaker beam."
"Any drawbacks?"
"None."
"If it's so easy and wonderful, why doesn't all your friends use it?" Very good question.
His lips pinched and twisted while he recalled everyone's techniques. "Vegeta likes to invent his own moves, Tien knows it but prefers to use a different beam attack, and Piccolo's Special Cannon is almost as good; it has better pierce but takes longer to charge, and it's far narrower. Other than that, we all know the Kamehameha, even Trunks and Goten."
Satisfied with the answer, she subtly nodded. "Then, please, show me how it's done."
First, he loosened his muscles and tendons with a quick shake. A dozen sharp arches stabbed him, worse as he bent his knees with one foot forward. "The secret is all in the posture and measured timing. Bring your hands close to the center of your body. You can use the name's five syllables to get the timing right."
She mirrored his stance. "Like this?"
"Exactly. I'll go first. Watch closely. On the first syllable, Ka, you focus and take hold of as much energy as you need, bringing it to the surface." His golden aura flamed vigorously. "On the second syllable, Me, guide your energy so that it starts flowing to a single point in a whirlpool. It should feel natural with little resistance; if it doesn't, you have the shape wrong." A spinning bluish-white ball grew between his palms.
She asked, "Why doesn't it look like a whirlpool?"
"It's not exactly a whirlpool. Feel how my energy moves. It is a natural flow, kind of like water in a drain. If by accident you let the energy leak between your fingers, you can see the spin." He demonstrated; narrow light beams oscillated. "See?"
She nodded.
He continued, "By the end of the third syllable, Ha, all your focused energy should be in the whirlpool. On the fourth syllable, Me, you calm the whirlpool, and as it settles, you will it to compress. The resulting pressure can magnify its destructive power up to many fold. And then you release—Ha!" He thrusted his arms, unleashing blinding light into the frozen white landscape, punching a circular hole in the ice.
After two seconds, he cut off the drain on his energy. He wiped his forehead, his body aching twice as badly. "You can sustain the beam as long as you have energy, and you can further bolster the beam's power after the last syllable, but bolstering after you've unleashed is less efficient than pumping more energy into the charge-up. It's a tricky balance you have to master."
"What's a good rule of thumb?" Her tone was quite interested.
As he massaged his biceps, he mumbled, "Hmm, if you know you're catching someone off guard, you can pump most of your energy into the charge-up. But if you're about to have a beam struggle, then you should reserve at least a third to a half."
"How much did you reserve against Cell?"
"I was fighting defensively, so I reserved about three-quarters of what I had left. After the final push, I was totally exhausted." He breathed deep, then stood straight, smiling. "Now, your turn. You can do it, 18."
Without pause, she shifted back into the posture. "Ka… Me…" Bluish-white energy tinged with peculiar silver flecks gathered between her hands. "Ha…" Some energy leaked, just for a second. "Me… Ha!" She pushed forth a skinny beam, about the thickness of an old bamboo stalk, stamping into ice for a good five seconds before she collapsed onto her knees and palms. Her breaths were haggard. She coughed once.
He cheered, "Nice! You did it on your first try!"
She was chuckling. "That counts?"
"Didn't you see? You fired a beam… which means you're keeping your bikini on." His arms crossed. "Although I could have you take it off anyway."
"So your word is meaningless?"
"Just kidding," he said confidently, offering a hand up.
She accepted. "You better be. So how did I do?"
"I couldn't feel your energy, but that was an amazing first try. All the practice with the Destructo Disk really paid off. Your energy control is a million times better than before."
Eyebrow raised, she asked, "And what did I do wrong?"
"Well, your posture could use some work, and you let some energy leak. The weak beam given your intense strain means your whirlpool wasn't quite right. But other than that, you have it down. You've learned the Kamehameha!" Gohan jumped into a one-legged pose with arms crossed over his head. "Welcome to the Goku Force!"
Her was blush was one of disdain. Her eyes closed. "Gohan, I don't want to see you being this dorky again, understand?"
Then again, maybe his idea of cool poses was skewed. He tried to laugh, then held up a finger. "You're officially one of us now—not just symbolically. The great thing about the Kamehameha is that multiple beams can easily combine into one. We haven't tried in battle yet, but when my dad and I practiced in here, oh boy did we make the ground shake."
"It sounds like you'd rather train with your daddy." Her mood was poor. Why?
"What? No. I like training with you just as much, if not more so."
"Because I'm the object of your lusts?" She prodded his bicep, hard.
"Well, that's partly why, but I really do believe you can be thousands of times more powerful." As powerful as Beerus.
Gohan's heart leaped into his throat as different voice chimed from a distance, "Wow, you believe that? Really?" Kusu. She was leaning against one of the entrance's pillars next to a giant hourglass. Her energy was much, much weaker than before, near-zero. Suppressed?
18 had reeled into a defensive stance, her arms ready to deflect energy blasts. "How did you get in here?"
Cus giggled, "Um, I used the door?"
"It was locked," 18 dully said.
"So I unlocked it, then re-locked it."
"How?"
"Maybe I used a lock pick." Cus walked toward the boundary where polished stone met white ground, dangerously close.
Gohan warned, "Cus, be careful!"
"Huh? Careful of what?" She stepped down, and Gohan was going to dash to her, but she stood unhindered, then kept walking as though she hadn't noticed the ten-fold gravity increase. She started skipping, cutely.
That was Gohan needed to see. She was undeniably suppressing her true power. Piccolo and the others were right. Gohan asked in a firm tone, "What do you want? Why are you here?"
She hopped onto an ice block and sat. Her legs dangled, chaffing against rough ice. The cold didn't appear to bother her. "I could tell you, buuuut… I'm not sure if you can handle the truth."
18 said, "Just tell us."
Cus went on as if she hadn't heard: "The truth is a mighty, large, and hard-to-believe truth, and If I tell you the truth, it has to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth." She started humming a tune from a courtroom drama show that Gohan had seen on television.
"Cus," 18 said irately, "What do you want?"
Gohan faintly nodded. "Sorry, but I'm not good with riddles, like my dad. Can you please just tell us?"
She inhaled an enormous breath and said, "The last time a civilization like yours found out about the truth of things, they laughed, and when the whole truth was plopped right in front of their eyes, they didn't like it one tiny bit at all. Quickly their world became not very nice. There was screaming, fires, and broken glass everywhere. Know what I mean?" She really liked to dilly-dally around the point.
Gohan said gently, "If this is about the danger of Majin Buu, you can trust that we won't be yelling about it on the street."
Cus's eyes wandered in circles until meandering back to him. "It has a little bit to do with Majin Buu."
18 drawled, "Are you trying to waste our time? There's not point, because a year in here is a day out there."
"Really?" Cus's jaw dropped. "I thought it'd be only like three days to one. Your planet's god must be pretty powerful. Where is he?"
"Dende," Gohan said. "You saw him, the younger Namekian holding an old staff."
"Oh. Huh." Her eyes again wandered. Her lips puckered. "Hmmmmmmm. So! Are you sure you want to know? Because once I tell you the truth of things, you can't unhear it—ever. Never ever."
"Of things?" 18 said. "The truth of what things?"
"All things."
18 smirked. "Including my modeling career?"
"Erm, yep, including that to a very tiny degree. I'll tell you two the truest truth of all things which includes things that you know and don't know of in all of reality. But are you sure you want to know? You might not like the truth. Last chance to tell me to go away. I'll politely leave if you want." She giggled.
18 unemotionally started at her, then looked at Gohan in question. "Your call. I don't see how this matters to me either way."
He rubbed the side of his head. Beads of moisture were frozen in his hair. This should be an easy choice, but a feeling coming from the center of his body, his spirit, was urging him to take a step back and reconsider. It was as if he were standing at a grand crossroads in his life, the most important choice he would ever have to make, more important than his wish for immortality. The truth of all things in reality could only mean one thing.
Is she a Kai? Wait, those eyes… Beerus and his assistant faded into Gohan's mind. What's the tall blue guy's name? Willis? Wills? Whis. They have similar eyes. Hers are silvery-purple, but his are more purple than silver. Are they related? A shiver rippled up Gohan's sides.
Cus smiled in a knowing way.
Suddenly Dende's voice echoed all around: I can speak to you but you can't speak to me. Please listen. Piccolo and I think we've figured out who Cus is. She just broke into the Time Chamber. I couldn't stop her, I'm so sorry. We think she's going to tell you… It's not in our place to say, but you have our word that she's not going to lie. Gohan, please don't do anything rash, but know we'll always think of you as our friend. Thank you for saving my life back on Namek.
Gohan whispered, "Dende? What's happening?"
No response.
Cus chirped, "He's allowed to tell you. I don't mind. I don't know where this whole not in our place thing comes from. Is it because he knows you're going to start shouting on the streets like a loon? Hmmm, Gohan?"
"I'm not, but..."
18 grumbled. "My patience is wearing thin. Either tell us or leave, I don't care. Gohan, what do you say?" She pointed at him with her index finger, shot a line of energy over his shoulder. "Well? Speak."
He gazed into her silvery-blue eyes, then Cus's silvery-purple eyes. "Tell me everything."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."