Chapter 10; Teamwork
"Gravitational level, 800x Earth's natural gravity. Pull will increase momentarily."
The small, circular room strained under it's own power, as the artificial gravity pulled itself on the steel walls. Even specks of dust were being crushed against the room's hard floor. Only Vegeta, the last price of a lost empire, was in the room; surprisingly (to those who knew nothing of his Saiyin anatomy), he seemed able to adapt very well to intense force weighing him down. His saiyin armor was mostly broken away, leaving mostly his skin-tight black jumpsuit.
The prince threw his arms up into the air, first transforming into his super-saiyjin state. His now golden hair lashed about his head wildly, though his face remained cold, yet collected. He jumped into the air, and began a series of training exercises, including flips, kicks, punches, and firing ki blasts about the room. A constant practice was for the prince to fire his Galat Gun, watch it be flung around the room as a result of the room's pull, and then block his own attack come charging right at him. Aside from a few scratches and his heavy breathing, signs of injury were minimal.
When the gravity increased from 800 to 900 times, several flying droids, each the size of a tennis ball, entered through ports in the room, and circled Vegeta just out of arm's length. Randomly, each probe fired a laser beam, most completely off from his incredible speed. Even as the heated blasts were streaking by the prince by just inches, Vegeta's mind was elsewhere. His thoughts drifted to the whereabouts of his rival, Kakkarot. Since the finding of his brat, who was an even greater threat to the prince's ego than Kakkarot himself, the taller saiyin practically vanished himself. According to his mate, his family hadn't made an appearance as much as they used to. Knowing Kakkarot's highly social (and annoying) behavior, this seemed completely out of character.
Vegeta was furious. For all he knew, the third class fighter could very well be training in secret. Sure, no noticeable increase in his ki had been found, but that made suspicions worse. He could be training in the room of Spirit and Time again. He could ascend to the second level of the super-saiyin, like his spawn, and leave his superior to become the inferior. The weakling. The lowest in the last of the saiyin race-
A beam cut across Vegeta's face, leaving a small scratch across his cheek.
Enraged, the prince released his energy in all directions. The probes were incinerated, as was anything else not pinned to the floor. After a moment, Vegeta powered down, and scoped his surroundings; most of the room had been charred black. He took a deep breath, and wiped the blood from his cheek. Grunting, Vegeta made for the door of the training room. gAs he opened the door-
"Oh! Good day, Mr. Vegeta." It was the woman's new assistant, Naki. "Um… should I call the repair druids to repair this room for you?" A slight tone of fear and uncertainty in his voice.
Vegeta glared. "Fine, pathetic earthling. Where is the woman?"
"You mean Bulma? She's out on the patio. Some guests of hers arrived, and she wishes for you to join them." He nervously pushed his glasses up to his face.
As if I need those worthless pests around my house. Quickly, he pushed the boy aside, and headed down the hall. Passing the various offices and corridors, he sneered at the thought of that boy. He was too damn polite and formal. You'd think he was the servant, not an assistant. Actually, I could get use to this kind of treatment. Someone finally respects me, and knows their place; at my feet.
Outside, Bulma was sitting at the lawn table, conversing with her guests. In her arms, a sleeping Trunks curled up against his mother. Yamcha was leaning forward, elbows on the table, with a look of worry. Krillen was drinking a glass of iced tea. Vegeta had expected that little group to drop by, except-
Android eighteen sat in the chair next to the baldy. She carried the dull, lifeless look in her eyes. Her legs were resting on top of the table, and her hand- was on Krillen's hand.
"What is the android doing here, woman?" Vegeta cast a sharp glare to eighteen, who returned it. Obviously, his contempt for her from their last battle so long ago (resulting in his broken arm) had not yet faded. Krillen and Bulma attempted to break the deadlock.
"First off, Vegeta, my name is Bulma, not woman," Bulma huffed. "Second, Krillen and 18 are dating. They've been going out for about a week now. If you weren't so busy training to beat Goku, you'd most likely notice. " She glanced with admiration at the new couple. I'm glad that Krillen found a nice girl. She's a little snippy, but she can be nice once you get to know her. At least she's not like that bimbo Marron.
Yamcha suddenly inquired, "Speaking of Goku, have you guys noticed how quiet things have been over at their place? I mean, ever since they found Gohan, we haven't seen much of them. And that was about a month ago."
Krillen agreed. "Yeah. I've called their house several times, and whoever answered, if anyone, said that they were all really busy. Do you guys think something could be wrong?"
"Well, it's possible that they just want Gohan to be kept separated. He's been through a lot, and studies have shown that people who suffer from great trauma usually don't like to interact with many people at once. They probably just want him around home and few people to help him recover. I feel sorry for him. In his young age, the whole Cell thing must have been horrible."
"Whatever those friends of yours are doing, it's anything but helping for recovery."
Everyone glanced at 18. "No real ki changes have been picked up, but my scanners have picked up other odd changes near the 439 Mountain area. Vast temperature surges, powerful vibrations, change in wind current patterns, the works. Several abiotic alterations have been occurring near their home. Seems, as some of you humans would say, like 'something freaky has been going on with the weather'."
The others were confused. "Weather? I don't know." Krillen scratched his head. "The news would report if there was unusual weather happening. Besides, that doesn't explain why the Goku and the others haven't been around."
18 calmly pulled her hair back. "Actually, I've also been detecting a few new power readings near the same area. Four to be precise. It appears that they have had company. Hardly a threat, but certainly something."
Vegeta balled his fist. I knew it! That Kakkarot has been up too something. "Well, what have those weaklings been up to?"
Bulma shrugged. "I don't know. It's not like them to keep secrets from us." She thought for a moment. "I know! I'll just invite them for a get-together! We'll invite everyone! I'm sure they'll explain what's going on." Smiling, she got up, and walked inside, hoping to end this aberration.
Yamcha leaned back in his chair. "What could possibly be going on that they wouldn't tell us? We've known Goku and Chi-Chi forever. I hope things are ok with them…"
Chris soared through the air, being wary of those below him. He darted from one side to the next, as streams of water shot up toward him. At the same time, his wings seemed to continuously get caught in the oddest of drafts; pushing him up, down, all over. Despite this, Chris managed to move easily though the sky; in fact, he smirked.
Piccolo and Chi-Chi were responsible. On the ground, they were using their powers in an attempt to stop Chris; today's lesson was on teamwork and using elements together. Andre and Danielle were directing them, as Gohan, Brian, and Goku sat on the sidelines. Unfortunately for them, Piccolo and Chi-Chi were not having much luck.
"Piccolo, what kind of blast was that? You have to aim at where he will be, not where he is!"
"Chi-Chi, add more power to your attack. He can maneuver around your wind streams easily."
As they continued their onslaught of tricks and attacks, Gohan began to wonder. If Mr. Piccolo could control his water stream out of line of sight, he could capture Chris in the water. He thought for a moment. Mabye… "Mom, use your wind to carry Piccolo's water stream! You can control his stream, and trap Chris!"
The fire guardian smiled. Excellent. Gohan has learned to use his human thinking in battle. One can't find many saiyjins who could think of that.
Looking to each other, Piccolo and Chi-Chi nodded. Piccolo let loose a jet of water, and Chi-Chi raised her arms, emitting what appeared to be several green ribbons. The ribbons wrapped around the water jet, and it started to curve toward Chris. In response, Chris conjured a fireball and rammed it into the stream.
However, the stream reacted by dividing in several smaller streams, and circled around him. In one swift movement, Chi-Chi tightened her fist, and the now blue ribbons of water tightened around Chris' body, with the appearance of a fish caught in a net. On contact, steam shot from his body, reacting to his heat against the water.
In a blast of steam, the others watched as Chris plummeted to the ground, a trail of steam behind him. To those below him, it appeared as if he had passed out. Chi-Chi ran below Chris, preparing to catch him-
-and Chris straightened himself out with a flap of his wings. He hovered for a moment, and lowered himself to the ground, In front of Chi-Chi. "That's the kind of teamwork I mean. Too bad Gohan had to think of it for you." Even though he said that as a joke, he meant it. Gohan would be a really useful leader to the Z senshi when he got older. The guardians had long known that his human intellect could work in tune with his saiyin might; that's why they had allowed Chi-Chi to use Chris' library for Gohan's studying. That was something they were trying to show Gohan; to use his two sides together, not act like they must be kept apart.
"Anyway, you all will need to learn to battle in this style. Recombinations of elemental attributes are an essential tactic in battle. They together can accomplish what they separately can not." Brian smiled. "Let me show you all something." As Goku and Gohan backed away, Brian's eyes began to glow yellow. A hole opened up below him, and the guardian fell. After a few moments, the larger, stone-version of Brian (which Goku humorously nicknamed G-B, for Geo-Brian) appeared.
The gargantuan form looked down. "Chris," his rough voice croaked. In response, knowing what to do, Chris shot up into the air. He soared over Brian, and landed on his head. Getting down on one knee, he fanned his wings on top of Brian's head. The others hardly saw Chris' eyes glow before Brian burst into flames.
Like a burning building, the fiery creature towered over the others. "Danielle?" Nodding, the girl lightly raised from the ground. She streaked across the ground over to Geo-Brian's feet. Circling his feet, Danielle generated a burst of wind. Finally, Brian too lifted from the ground.
"And so, elemental recombination results in a flying, flaming rocket. Cool, huh?" Andre smiled. The others could only gasp as the looming force, three elements in action, formed a fighting stance in air.
Suddenly, G-B crumbled in a puff of ash and sand. On the ground, Chris, Brian, and Danielle stood where Brian's large stone figure was a moment ago. "Well, I believe that concludes today's lesson. You guys should be getting home. But first, a present for Gohan."
Gohan stared. "Me?"
Chris nodded. "Through the coarse of your fights, we've noticed how all of your fighting gi's are copies of those from the other Z-fighters. Piccolo, Goku, even Vegeta. So, as an honorary elemental, like Chi-Chi, we present you with your own fighting gi."
In front of the demi-saiyin, Chris and the others closed their eyes and raised an arm to him. Goku remembered this from when the guardians were tring to find who had what element. From each hand, several of what looked like ribbons of light wrapped around Gohan's body. He flashed with light, revealing a baggy pair of white pants with a white vest, both with red lining. Under the vest was a red shirt. Also included were black boots with silver buckles, and red bands from his wrists to his elbows. Behind him was a short black cape, reaching only to the small of his back. The Japanese symbol for fire was written in black on the left side of his vest.
Gohan couldn't take his eyes off it, looking all over his body. "Oh wow! This is incredible! Thank you so much!" As he admired his new wardrobe, Chris and the guardians were smileing at him from one side, his parents from the other. Even Piccolo, though it was one of those smiles only Gohan could see. They all seemed to think the same thing.
Let the self-confidence recovery begin…
As the group entered the clearing in front of the Son household, they hardly noticed Gohan's open window. Chi-Chi opened the door and went inside.
"Everyone make yourselves comfortable. I'm going to get dinner started. Would you give me a hand DaniAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Gohan and Danielle ran inside while the others took a fighting stance. The two glanced into the living room to see the coffee table turned over. Chi-Chi was backed up to the corner on the gound, pointing in horror too-
"Icarus!" Excitedly, Gohan ran up to the baby dragon, turning his happy little face from the frazzled woman. "How did you get in here?"
"He came in from your window. You haven't seen him in a while and he was worried." Gohan and Chi-Chi stared with shock as Danielle spoke, rubbing her hand along Icarus' nose. "As a wind guardian, I can communicate with animals of the air. Brian and Andre have similar abilities. We don't really talk about it, it makes Chris jealous."
The others entered, and Chi-Chi, out of breath, walked past the dragon, glaring at it on the way to the kitchen. Goku and Andre also came up pet Icarus, as he licked Gohan's face. Piccolo stayed by the entrance.
Chris shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we gotta go. The temple has to be cleaned of from all the water, ash, and sand." With a smile, he nodded to the others. "Tomorrow we have a battle royale; us four vs. you four, so be sure you're ready."
"Um, Chris?" Chi-Chi's voice came from the kitchen. She sounded worried. "I don't think we can have the practice tomorrow." Curious, the others moved to the kitchen, where Chi-Chi was over the phone. Slowly, she pushed a button on a box near the phone. The answering machine.
"Chi-Chi, hi! It's Bulma. Listen, the whole Z team is coming together for a reunion. We can't wait too see you guys there. Also, eighteen said that you guys have been some guests over lately. Bring them by, we'd love to meet them. The party's at noon, see you then. Later."
The following click and dial tone rang dead through the house, as the stunned party looked from one another.
Andre gulped. "We're busted…