Hello again:) Hope everyone is staying safe and in good health, and that they liked the last chapter and what it could mean for the events of Z later on.
For those who were sad that Bardock won't be brought back for a day: don't fret, for he will have a part to play in the story further down the line. I also went back and did some edits and spellchecking on the first four chapters so check it out if you want.
Now, onwards to the next chapter and Gine's training!
Based on MasakoX's What If series "What if Gine went with Goku to Earth?", but a retcon with some changes of my own on how I think the story would have went down had Goku's mother escaped planet Vegeta with him.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Dragonball Minus, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, and Dragonball GT are all owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, and Akira Toriyama.
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CHAPTER 18: MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT
Gine looked across the grounds of the Lookout, eyeing Kakarot meditating with Kami. Both of them sat together cross-legged on the tiled floor, hands clasped and eyes closed. A swarm of beautifully colorful butterflies fluttered around them, the boy and the Namekian looked so peaceful.
"Kakarot, you're nodding off, not meditating." Kami said without opening his eyes.
Kakarot jerked upright, but didn't open his eyes either.
A week had passed since they arrived at the Lookout to begin their training together, and her son was as much a restless blur as he always been. But now he was quickly acquiring the patience to sit for hours with the Guardian doing nothing, something Gohan had never managed to achieve.
Gine remembered how both she and Kakarot learned the practice of meditation from him all those years ago. How near impossible it was back then to get her son to stop running around, let alone sit down with them for something he (and to some extent herself) found so boring. Her boy was a ball of energy that knew no limits on when to stop trying to have fun until his body gave out from exhaustion.
Now he looked as calm as the breeze-less air around them, despite having been full of excitement at the type of training ahead when he woke up this morning.
Gine jokingly guessed Kami did work miracles as a deity if he was able to manage getting Kakarot excited about sitting around with an empty mind. But he just had to rephrase it as 'training', that word alone was enough to get Kakarot excited about anything.
"Wrong still, you need to empty your mind by not losing consciousness. Try again." Kami quipped, his Namekian antennae twitching.
Kakarot groaned as if he had been caught. "This stuff is hard! I keep trying to not think of anything but I get sleepy, and when I think I have thought of something then I can't get my brain to stay quiet." He complained to Kami, still not opening his eyes.
The Guardian of the Earth tilted his head towards Kakarot. "It's not trying to suppress thoughts, Kakarot. For that requires action within the mind. Neither should you let the darkness of your eyes closed make you fall asleep. Remember that this exercise is to clear your mind entirely. To let it be one with the world around you, so you can sense everything in and out of your body. Understand?"
Kakarot grimaced, trying to wrap his mind around what he had to do without having to use his mind.
"I guess so." He said hesitantly.
Gine couldn't fathom it either from where she stood. If it took Gohan years to teach her how to simply calm her thoughts down to something manageable from a bad place, she wondered at how she and her son were supposed to pull off the level of meditation that Kami was trying to teach.
"Ahem." Came Mr. Popo's voice from nearby to get her attention.
Gine looked at the demigod apologetically and walked over to him. She took a last glance at her son, and mentally wished her son good luck. Knowing how his mind worked like she did as his mother, he was going to need it.
"I suggest you do some warming up first." Mr. Popo instructed.
"Alright." Gine responded obediently and did a series of stretches; she sighed from the pleasing cracks of twisting her back. Feeling more refreshed, she let herself drop over to do her set of five hundred rapid pushups to get her heartrate going.
She had been slow at getting up to speed on this new training under Kami's tenure. Only just starting today after a week since she agreed to train with her son... a week after her breakdown.
Kami let her rest after that, telling her to take as long as she wanted until she felt ready again, while Kakarot started right away. But she spent almost every day of that week in her cot, barely eating and either unconscious or softly crying. Kakarot nudged her every so often to check up on her, and after a few days he was starting to get worried. But Gine barely felt the need or want to do anything, the pain of having to grieve a second time for losing the same son to some stupid circumstance drained her of any reason to get up. From that, she lost her sense of time until Kakarot told her a week had passed.
When she heard that, and remembering what they were there for, Gine finally snapped her out of her funk. She felt numb inside still, and that would not go away anytime soon. But she told herself that wallowing in her sorrow won't accomplish anything but making herself more miserable, and vowed to focus on spending training time with her surviving son instead.
Her limbs felt as stiff as a board, but she managed to force herself out of bed to an ecstatic Kakarot. At breakfast they were greeted with a mountain of her favorite foods that were magicked onto the dining table in their quarters. Buttery potatoes, pickled eggs, diced onions, giant slabs of meat, basket-loads of bread, bowls upon bowls of rice and soup, and tea. Seeing all that nourishment surprisingly made her forget the ache in her and feel Saiyan again, proceeding to inhale every item with renewed vigor. Once full and rejuvenated enough to walk around, she felt her normal self again from strolling outside in the sun and cold air.
Kami walked with Gine as she got her bearings. She assured him that she was still committed to the training, and wished to start that day. So he instructed her that she was to spar with Mr. Popo first in order to begin her training properly, as Kakarot did.
Gine was worried she might have to, remembering the display of hidden strength they all told her. But she agreed.
She wasn't sure how they were going to teach her how to harness or control it, but nothing gained if nothing ventured...
After finishing her five hundredth push-up in just under three minutes, Gine sprung to her feet. She flexed her fingers and rolled her head around, feeling some energy course through her veins.
"Are you ready?" Popo asked patiently.
"Yes I am." Gine answered, then looked concerned.
"Are you sure about this? I don't want to accidentally kill you."
Popo chuckled. "Do not worry, Gine. Feel free to come at me whenever."
"Okay then." Gine said simply.
She bent her knees and held her curled hands out in her attack stance while Popo just stood in front of her, shoulders squared and arms by his side.
At least she warned him, she thought.
Half a blink-of-an-eye later, she phased in front of Popo's face to hopefully catch him off guard and knee him in his gut... only to have her knee go through him.
She instantly panicked if she had just accidentally impaled Popo as she feared. But his form faded as her momentum carried her on a few more feet before she landed.
"Missed me." Came Popo's voice from behind her left.
Gine wheeled around, relieved that he wasn't dead. As well as annoyed at how he dodged a quick move like that.
She leapt at him directly this time with a punch. But he was ahead of her and deflected the fist with a swipe of his hand.
"Missed me again!" Popo said, his unblinking stare just as unwavering as his relaxed form.
Gine frowned, but noticed he left his front unguarded. With Popo still holding out his hand to her punch, she roundhouse kicked him.
Popo's other hand took the leg before it made contact with his glutenous side, and threw himself around it with a twirl that forced Gine away from him.
"Please put an effort to actually hit me. Don't hold anything back." Said Mr. Popo.
Gine glared at him, feeling undignified. She did indeed restrain herself out of worry of hurting him, but a small part of her wanted to prove her strength with knocking him out quickly and with as little effort. But now it seemed like she might have to step up her game.
"Alright, fine. I wont!"
She charged at him, channeling her ki into her fists to hopefully pound through his blocks with enough force. But again Popo didn't budge and met each punch with palms that deflected the blows. They only slightly caved an inch back, but no painful blow reached his face or gut as Gine hoped.
After a good thirty seconds of attacking him with these ki-enhanced punches, Gine backed off to catch her breath. Popo stood exactly where he was when she first pounced on him.
"Are you sure you're the same woman who defeated King Piccolo? Because you don't seem to know how to fight properly." Mr. Popo said unemotionally.
The words were nowhere as near as vile as the language she had heard used against her throughout her old life back on planet Vegeta, but the words from Mr. Popo seemed to cut into Gine just as painfully.
"Shut up!" Gine yelled at him, her tail frayed in anger.
Mr. Popo just smiled in return. She began to feel a rising anger within her at this insufferable little tub and wanted to punch that stupid smile off his face.
"Such a short temper you have. No wonder Piccolo was able to beat you." He said to her.
That did it for her.
"YAAAAAAA!"
A fit of rage overtook Gine as she proceeded to try and pummel Popo into a bloody mess with all her might. Instantly she sprang herself at him with an onslaught of punches at blurring speed, which he easily blocked with his open palms just as quickly.
She at least had him moving back as she pressed her offensive, but he kept up with her punches. Gine grit her teeth and growled in frustration as Popo refused to show any opening in his defense as quickly as she hoped from her barrage.
"Don't be hasty, you are only wasting valuable energy. Just calm down." He lightly scolded, but to her ears it sounded mocking.
She tried to knee him in the face to throw him off, only for him to fade and reappear at her side with a kick of his own that sent Gine flying sideways. She flipped on her shoulders to bleed off the momentum and land on her feet facing him.
Popo didn't show any signs of exertion despite keeping up with her attacks at the breakneck speed they were at. And it made Gine feel like she may have seriously underestimated him.
"If you couldn't beat King Piccolo like this, then you cannot beat me. Please, do yourself a favor and give up."
Now Gine was seething.
Without thinking, she screamed angrily and flew at him with all the strength she had in her legs to drive her fist through this infuriating demigod's face.
In an effortless movement like a dance, Popo ducked and caught her trailing leg under her. She was yanked out of the direction of her launching and Popo began to spin like a top. He increased his speed, and hovered higher above the tiles.
Gine got too disoriented, her eyes hurting from the blur of motion and it was making her nauseous.
He let go of her, and Gine was sent flying into a tree. She hit the back of her head against it with a loud whacking sound. Amazingly, the tree didn't break from the impact.
She slid down to her butt, clutching the back of her head and glaring at Popo with fire in her eyes. He hovered back down to his feet and smiled sweetly at her. For a moment, Gine was tempted to blast him where he stood. In the next moment she also remembered Kakarot trying that too before, and how that didn't work either.
As she was angrily thinking of a strategy, Popo spoke.
"You have the strength to beat me, but you have no technique on how to feel me, nor the discipline to handle your emotions. If you mastered those things, you would be unstoppable."
"Huh?" That caught Gine by surprise, expecting another taunt.
"You rely too much on brute force." He lectured while she stood back up. "You think that with enough of it you can destroy any obstacle or pound any foe into submission, but all of your strength will mean nothing if you cannot hit your opponent. On top of that, by getting angrier when you don't get your way, you tend to get quite sloppy."
"Where have I heard that before?" She thought aloud ruefully. In her mind, she remembered all the times she spared with Gohan, including their first time. How he tossed her around so easily when she charged him. And how he explained to her the second time...
"As I said, relying on strength alone does not guarantee that you would win a fight. If you had opponents who were much faster than you or knew pressure points, magical abilities or things of the like, you can still be beaten. Like how I managed to take you down, even though you are much stronger than I am."
She had heard this exact speech before from Gohan all those years ago. That even a weakling like him could best a Saiyan like her in combat.
"You haven't really learned much from your friend Gohan, didn't you?" Popo spoke up.
Gine glared at him again, but more threateningly. She had more than enough of people intruding into her private thoughts.
Trying hard not to get too riled up, she just answered defensively. "I learned a thing or two about techniques. So I improved a little."
"But the finer details still evade you, which could make all the difference between victory or death. It may not have sunken in yet from all the fights you've had during your stay here on Earth, but by now I hope I've made it obvious that I was able to deflect the energy of your attacks by using your redundant moves, anger, and your lack of sensing me against you."
"I've been making redundant moves?" Gine asked, still feeling angry but also wondered what sensing had to do with this. So she tried to address one thing at a time.
"Yes." Popo explained. "Instead of wasting precious moments trying to gather hatred and energy for a killing blow on an enemy that could match your power, you must make only the necessary strikes without any clouding of the mind. Which ties in to my other two points: Your anger that slows you down and hinders your ability to sense me."
"Wait, sense you? As in, feel your ki?" Gine asked.
Popo nodded. "Yes. Do you not have that ability?"
"I can sense energy, yes. But why would I need to sense you? I could see, hear, and smell you move already."
"I am weaker than you, yet could outmaneuver you. Someone as powerful as yourself should be able to feel my movements right in front of you." Popo explained. "The five senses alone could only take you so far in a fight if your brain cannot react fast enough without sensing your opponent's spirit. Like the wings of a fledgling bird, they can flap, but they cannot fly."
"But, you are in front of me! Why would I need to sense you if I could use my five senses?" Gine asked impatiently, feeling like she was missing something.
Popo stared at her for a moment as if a light clicked on. "Ah, I see. You don't use that during fighting."
Now Gine was curious. "So you're saying I should sense your ki during a fight?"
"Exactly." Popo nodded.
"Huh." Gine pondered curiously. "But... I thought it was just some way to find someone."
"It's more than just wayfinding, it allows you to not only sense the flow of energy in your opponent but even predict their movements. Thus allowing you to understand the way someone fights and how you could combat them with weaknesses or openings." Popo explained.
"Interesting..." Gine said, intrigued by the potential of such an ability. "So, how would I be able to do that?"
"In order to feel someone's aura up close rather than afar, your mind must be calm and still like a stone, for a stone that is dry can absorb the flow of outside energy like water." Mr. Popo explained in his metaphoric way which Gine found rather irritating. She preferred to be told the point of each exercise than with riddles.
He continued, "To quiet the mind, you must empty it of all emotion, and not think of every move which could slow you down or make unnecessary movements, that is allowing your body to do the feeling and moving for you."
"Okay..." Gine acknowledged, but confused.
Popo backed up and stood still as he did before, "Come at me again. This time I want you to empty your mind of all thoughts and emotions in order to properly sense me."
"Oh, uh, alright then." Gine said, still confused and now a little worried. She knew herself. How could she, the most empathic Saiyan ever born, even try to control her emotions?
She got into her attack stance, and closed her eyes in concentration.
"Focus. All thoughts and feelings must be silenced if you wish to sense successfully, so take your time." Popo instructed.
Gine heard him and tried to get herself to stop thinking about things. Was she really supposed to not think of anything? She thought to herself.
What about the grief they all saw her go through? How was she supposed to not think of Raditz? And could she even do that? It almost felt wrong to her to even consider that idea, as if it was like forcing herself to forget his memory. What kind of mother would do that kind of double kill to her own child?
She skipped that thought entirely as she realized it was making her go in circles in her head and felt like that part of her shouldn't be touched, and forced herself to not think of anything. But as she did so she felt the walls of her stomach beginning to quiver in an approaching grumble. She was hungry, she realized. And as much as she tried, she couldn't ignore her Saiyan body's needs. So she would have to fight on an empty stomach, but it felt bad.
Gine also wondered how much time had passed as she stood crouched and eyes closed. She admitted she probably looked silly, and reasoned her mind was calm enough. Calmer than it usually was anyway as she always worried about things every second. So she opened her eyes and looked them with Popo.
Feeling herself ready to take on Popo, Gine launched herself at him, hurling a fist behind her and thrusting it towards Popo's gut.
The dark-skinned demigod tilted backwards a split-second faster than she could react, landing on his back and used both of his feet to kick Gine in the gut and send her flying upwards.
Gine felt the wind get kicked out of her lungs, and regained herself by stopping her ascent from Popo's kick. She hovered a hundred feet above the Lookout, looking down flabbergasted at Popo. Did she do something wrong? She wondered, and as did while looking down it was then she noticed that the whole Lookout bore a resemblance to an arena. How fitting, she thought in her "calmer" state.
Mr. Popo suddenly vanished from where he stood and reappeared just above her. As she expressed her surprise, Popo twirled forward head over heels, and the back of his foot hit the top of Gine's head. She was hit hard enough to be stunned temporarily, and was sent her flying back down towards the arena.
She stopped herself from smashing into the tiles by flipping over and landing on her feet. She was about to spring her legs and launch herself back up into the air at Popo, but he had disappeared from up above and reappeared by her side, body slamming her with his shoulder that made her tumble down to the floor.
"You are still not feeling my movements, Gine. Your mind must be calm." Popo said sternly.
Gine sat back up with barred teeth. "I AM calm!"
Popo couldn't express much emotion with his downturned lips, but the stare he gave her after what she said conveyed how much he didn't believe her words.
Gine's face softened when she realized what she said, and brought up her balled fists to her eyes in frustration.
"Why can't I figure this out!?" She yelled through her fists.
Popo walked up to her. His wide eyes made him look like some sort of robot to her, but he conveyed sympathy as he talked. "It is only the start of the first day, Gine. There is no need to fret if you don't get it right the first time."
Gine thought of his words and sighed, forcing herself to take a deep breath.
"You're right. I'm sorry." She said, feeling slightly better. He was right, she had three years to learn this. It was childish of her to react this way on the first try.
As she stood back up, she saw how Popo was so calm and quiet. If she couldn't see or hear him, she'd have no idea he was even there. It made her think...
"How do you do it then? I mean, how do you maintain a mind calm and empty enough to fight me the way you did?" She asked.
"Through the power of meditation, I can shake all thoughts and emotions, good and bad, from my mind allowing me to focus on the fight at hand in order to access the ki-sensing ability at the level required to fight my opponent." Popo answered.
"Like them over there?" Gine pointed towards her son and Kami still sitting on the other side of the Lookout.
"Yes." Said Popo.
Gine felt confused, "So... how is sitting while thinking of nothing supposed to help me in a fight?"
Popo shook his head. "It doesn't necessarily have to be exactly as they are doing. For meditation is simply the power of the mind and spirit working in harmony with the body. That in turn allows you to utilize your maximum potential as a living being to do anything. In order to do so, you must be able to shed yourself off all positive and negative emotions and thoughts to truly tune into your sprit to feel other spirits, and empty your mind to read other fighter's minds."
"I see..." Gine looked at him while taking in his explanation. "All emotions and thoughts, good and bad?"
"Uh-huh." Popo said. "Nothing inside your mind. No self-doubts, no senses of accomplishment, no memories, nothing."
"Nothing?" Gine asked worriedly, which Popo picked up.
"It's nothing to be afraid of, Gine. You are not going to forget the things you wish to hold dear to your heart, for you are temporarily displacing them for clarity. Like wiping away dust from a window."
Gine felt somewhat relieved. It seemed silly that she would think that shoving things aside in her mind would somehow equate to forgetting, but it felt reassuring to be told it wasn't the case. And that was an analogy she liked for once.
Popo elaborated further. "And emotions can be powerful tools that could enhance our strength or will to fight, but they are liable to cloud your mind when you must have it clear to read your opponent, making you susceptible to fighting blind and erratically. Anger and fear especially have that power to hinder you."
Gine looked at Popo with a sad, knowing look. "And I have too much of those two things?"
Popo nodded. "I know it's none of my business, but I can sense the anger from being goaded and your self-doubts. As much as they weigh you down or blind you, you have the power to temporarily set them aside if you concentrate hard enough. With a mind that can see clearly and feel rather than react, you can hit your opponent as they are in their current states rather than just finding a way to hit them based on how fast your brain impulses move, slowed down by emotion not-withstanding."
Gine didn't want him to elaborate on the things he sensed in her, having grown weary of her worst parts of herself being exposed again and again by these telepathic beings of Earth. So she focuses on what he said, that she could have the power to make those things not matter even if for a little while?
"So... If by getting angry and thinking of my every move, I'm just trying to hit you rather than just hitting you?" Gine said, trying to make sense of it.
Popo nodded. "Hence, why you need to control your emotions. For that will allow you to try see your opponent, and cut out your redundant moves."
Control her emotions. That phrase again. It seemed so alien to her, and somewhat too fanciful.
"If only it were that simple." Gine answered to that quietly, but she was sure Mr. Popo heard. He didn't react.
Then Gine asked, feeling somewhat honest about herself openly. "Knowing how... emotional I could be, how am I supposed to do that?"
Popo considered her question. "It is a matter of not listening to words being said to you. No matter how personal they are. For words themselves have no meaning unless proven otherwise with actions."
She nodded, and pondered Popo's words. She agreed wholeheartedly with that statement in all aspects of life, but for her state of mind in combat? If only it were that simple, if she could just tune out what people said in the heat of battle. But she would ask 'what if the information was critical?' or 'what if they gave up?'. But she guessed it was her overthinking.
"I am no judge of character, but I say you seemed rather susceptible to being taunted. Would that be accurate to you?" Popo asked.
Gine's expression went blank, looking down at nothing in particular. Popo's observation wasn't entirely accurate, as she had been ridiculed and put down her whole life as a good-for-nothing Saiyan disgrace. But being reminded about how she failed to defeat Piccolo... Or now that she thought of it, how she failed to protect her son...
"Yeah I guess so." She said simply.
Popo smiled. "Then what you must do is simply not take to heart the words I say to you out of malice. You may have failed to defeat Piccolo and be a risk to those you care about, but now may have a chance to learn how to turn that around and not be a disgrace."
Gine gawked at him, how could he just insult her after just telling her not to react like that?!
Popo stopped smiling. "Just like that, what you felt now."
"Wait, that was a test?!" Gine asked incredulously to which Popo confirmed.
"Could have at least warned me." Gine sneered.
Popo shook his head. "Your enemies may not give you that luxury. For if you cannot block out words that could play havoc on your emotions, then they could use that very weakness against you. If all you feel is blind rage, it will make you unable to feel their movements and leave you to just reacting to them until you wear out. You could then be caught off guard, and killed that way."
Gine bit her lip, trying not to think of the image and sound of King Piccolo boosting to her how he 'killed' Kakarot. If Popo could make her not reach a hundred percent with just a few empty words, then what would happen if some other real enemy came along?
Mr. Popo smiled, as if sensing that Gine may have finally grasped something.
"Lets spar one more time." He suggested. "Remember these three things: I want you to completely empty your mind of all emotions and focus on my movements. Don't get angry if you don't land a blow on me, and don't get angry at whatever I say to you."
Gine nodded and committed those words to her heart. But she still had doubts, would committing those things could as thinking if she was to clear her head?
She realized that was a thought trap, and shook her head.
"Okay, I'll try one more time." Gine sighed.
"No." Popo said suddenly. "There is no trying. You either do, or you do not."
Gine looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "Right."
And at that, she crouched into her attack stance again and closed her eyes.
She wasn't sure if it was just immediate thoughts she had to force out of her head, but was too afraid to break the dive into her mind to ask Popo...
No, she must completely empty her mind.
That was what he said. So she decided to repress everything.
Concentrating, she forced her mind to temporarily forget everything inside her. Her worries about her strength, the memory of Piccolo's sickening laugh, the ridicule made by every Saiyan in her life, her pain over losing Raditz again, the impending hunger in her stomach, Kakarot, even the sounds around her got dull and faded.
And then for a moment, she felt blank. There was nothing but her in her stance and the peace inside her. It felt good. Euphoric even... then remembering what she had to do.
She sprung at Popo, her strike meeting his hand. But she followed up with another without thinking, almost moving like an automaton.
She heard him talking, something about still not feeling him. But she ignored it, and kept going, not letting up, even ignoring the fatigue in her exerted limbs. It made the passage of time seem to slow.
Then as she kept moving, a picture began to form in her mind's eye. It was all dark but she saw a glowing presence in front of her that moved in slow motion. She knew it was Mr. Popo, it was his energy signature and the way he moved, how it emanated waves and it's movements left ripples like water. How his energy flared and faded that dictated his moves, in anticipation of her attacks.
She kept up the calm state and every emotion she felt was but a trickle of what they were.
It all made sense now to her. She knew now where she ought to land her punches to throw off Mr. Popo's energy...
THERE!
Finally, out of nowhere, her fist connected to Popo's stomach and he cried out as he was sent flying backwards.
Gine sprung after him but stopped midair, catching herself. She gasped as Popo skidded across the tiled floor, coming to a stop nearly at the rim of the Lookout.
"POPO!" Gine nearly shrieked as she suddenly phased to his side and grabbed him, and wheeled him back towards the center of the grounds before he could fall over the edge. She then came to his side as she sat up and rubbed his belly, coughing in pain.
"Are you okay?!" She asked worriedly.
Popo lifted his head and looked at her smiling, not a single scratch or mark on him where she landed the blow.
"I am fine. You did it, Gine!"
Gine was surprised that he didn't complain that she had almost killed him, and smiled when she realized what she did achieve.
"Hey, yeah. I did!" She said happily as Popo got back up on his feet.
"I felt your energy." Gine said in amazement.
Popo smiled brightly. "Like fading and brightening ripples on water?" He asked.
"Yes, that was what it was like!" She said, smiling too. "Like you were moving so slow that I could have hit you a hundred times over."
"That's terrific!" Popo congratulated her. "With the amount of strength you have compared to me, that should give you an idea of just how unstoppable you would be if you mastered that technique."
Gine looked at Mr. Popo with stunned silence. This new sense would allow her to fight far more precisely than she ever could with how quickly her Saiyan brain reacted to input.
And for the very first time in her life, she felt true peace for but a few moments. For there was no worry for Frieza, no anger at being teased, no grief, just... peace. A state of being that allowed her to truly feel the world and people around her. It felt so liberating! And without taunts affecting her if she couldn't hear them, then maybe no threat like Piccolo could use them against her. Maybe she could be unstoppable...
"Let's fight again." Said Popo. "For the more you practice that technique, the easier it will be to enter that state and use that sense."
Gine nodded eagerly. "Alright, good idea."
Popo for the first time go into a fighting stance, taking up an offensive form. "This time, I will be attacking and you will have to defend yourself by sensing my energy."
"Sounds good." Gine said smiling, and crouching into her own fighting stance.
It had been a long while since her Saiyan instinct for a challenge kicked in, but now she was feeling it. Something she hadn't experienced since she landed on Earth all those years ago. Learning something that opened her world in ways she never would've imagined like she did with Gohan.
She closed her eyes again, and forced herself to concentrate. Squashing all thoughts from forming in her mind, shoving every bad memory she has ever had to the side and pretending as if they never happened. She even squashed the immense pride she felt for herself at learning this new trick. As Popo said, her mind must be clear of all things...
Mr. Popo charged at Gine. In her minds eye as before, she saw the water-like ripples. The waves made as Popo moved through the air. Both of his fists out to slam into her.
There! She felt, as Gine side-stepped and brushed her arm past his fists to direct his energy away from her effortlessly.
But he quickly rebounded from the deflection and came right back at her with a kick.
It didn't bother her at all, as she sensed it coming and reacted accordingly. Blocked it with her arm and the front kick of his other leg that she followed up with a kick of her own that sent him flying sky high.
She didn't recall opening her eyes from her concentration but she could see him flying, both with her eyes and her mind's eye. It felt like a surreal experience to her, but she didn't dwell on it. She charged after him as he did towards her...
The battle raged on for several minutes. The distortion of time from using her ki-sensing ability made her forget its passage, stretching it until it felt like hours, but it didn't matter in the fight. It gave them more room to maneuver and find weaknesses. As Popo would say to her during the fight telepathically: time means nothing if one was to win.
And so they fought, their respective ki-sensing abilities made Gine and Popo move in almost perfect sync with each other. Gine being far stronger than him yet he was more adept at controlling his movements, so it seemed almost even until Gine became much sharper and more precise in her attacks. Finally, she landed a solid punch square in Popo's face that sent him crashing into the tiles.
With that, Gine snapped out of her ki-sensing battle trance and came to Popo's side. He had been roughed up from the impact, but told her not to worry.
"WHOA! WAY TO GO MOM!" Kakarot cheered, surprising her as she looked over to see her son and Kami standing nearby and watching.
"That was so cool!" Kakarot to her and jumped in excitement. "Can you teach me how to do that? Huh? Huh?! PLEASE!"
"Calm down, Kakarot!" Gine said, half-sighing at her son's energetic praise towards her and half-chuckling at how he still made her smile still with his giddiness.
"Well done, Gine." Kami said appraisingly as he walked up to her, his staff clanking along each step. Mr. Popo had dusted himself off and took his place beside his master.
"You have mastered the ki-sensing ability far faster than I thought possible. I must say that I am quite impressed, you are the quickest-learning fighter I had ever seen besides your son here." Said Kami.
"Oh, well, thank you heh." Gine laughed nervously, subconsciously reaching her arm overhead and scratching the back of her head as her son would do sometimes.
"Now that you have defeated Mr. Popo in a one-on-one fight, you can now officially begin your training under me." Kami said with a smile.
"That's great!" Gine said happily, clapping her hands once. "So... now what?"
Kami chuckled. "Well, you can join me and Kakarot here to master meditation techniques."
Whatever excitement Gine had at the training prospects deflated when he said those words. "Meditation?" She asked.
Kami nodded. "Yes. Now that you demonstrated you have can control your ki-sensing abilities in order to get past the first test that is Mr. Popo here, you will now learn how to truly master those abilities by honing your emotional energy and sensing the world around you. Energy that you would be able to channel during a fight."
"Oh, that's great." Gine said half-heartedly. She was afraid she would have to do this.
Gine meant what she said about being committed to the training, but the sitting down bits and meditating did not sound fun at all and wondered how she was going to pull that off without falling asleep from boredom. After seeing Kakarot still trying to get past that after a week, what chance did she have?
As Gine thought of the words he said, she realized he brought up emotions in meditating.
"Wait, did you say emotional harnessing in meditating?" She asked the Guardian, which he confirmed.
"That's right. The power of emotional energy can truly be useful a warrior if it harnessed properly." Kami explained.
"But..." Gine shook her head in confusion. "I thought I shouldn't feel emotions like anger during a fight. Or else I'd be susceptible to redundant moves like Mr. Popo said."
Mr. Popo, who stood by Kami, answered. "That was part of the lesson, yes. But I had to make sure you understood the basics of precision fighting first before we moved onto the next step of your training. While true that emotions like anger could blind you, emotional power that is harnessed in a controlled manner through meditation could be directed however you want. Be it to how you solve problems or strength in a fight."
Gine stood there, taking in Popo's explanation with questions still forming. Did it mean that everything she had just learned in the past half-hour was null?
"I know it may seem contradictory at first, Gine. But I assure you that it will all make sense once you practice the art enough as I had been teaching Kakarot here." Said Kami as he pointed to her child.
"Yeah, Mom! Kami had been teaching me how to lay still enough to be calm like a stone. And how a stone thrown by an angry force like a volcano can have it's true power unleashed." Kakarot explained excitedly to her.
Gine no doubt knew that paraphrasing was another one of Mr. Popo's analogies to training. But she trusted her son when it came to important things, as everything she learned from him had benefitted her in some form or another in her fighting abilities. He was the true warrior of the two of them. So if Kakarot knew there was something to be learned from sitting around...
"Okay, then let's get to it then." Gine said hesitantly...
They sat cross-legged together at the foot of the temple. Gine, Kakarot, and Kami had their eyes closed, deep in the meditative state while Mr. Popo stood nearby eating a walnut snack.
Neither Saiyans or the Namekian had moved an inch since they took their spots earlier that day, save for the slight changes in stance whenever Popo flicked a walnut at them to check to see if they could sense it. And so far, all three of them had remained untouched and at peace. But a slow grimace appeared on Gine's face, that turned to an exasperated sigh that broke the silent circle.
"Are you sure this'll help me become a better fighter?" Gine said skeptically, for sitting cross-legged for a couple hours trying to both not think of anything while channeling anger didn't make her feel as assured as she thought she would.
Mr. Popo eyed her from his spot as he ate. "Two hours, a new record for you this time."
"Hey, I'm doing the best I can here." Gine said defensively. He had been keeping track of how long she sat still since they started meditated. She would break out of it frequently when they sensed she hadn't been keeping a quite enough mind or if she was making herself angry. And she was having trouble with it.
"A warrior's strength is important, but that is only half of it." Said Popo. "The mind is also a powerful weapon and must be developed just like your muscles."
"I know, I know. It's just hard to understand this part." Gine said.
"Don't worry Mom. You'll get it." Kakarot said as he broke out of his meditation for her.
She looked over to her son in frustration, "But I don't. I just don't get it. How am I supposed to maintain calm and be angry at the same time?!"
Kami opened his eyes to face her. "After awhile, it should come naturally to you. Like harnessing ki into the palm of your hand."
Gine groaned. That was the same reassurance he told her after every time she failed. But there wasn't much else she could ask or do to make things better, so just sighed and got back into her meditation pose.
Okay. Try again, she thought tiredly. Having said that to herself also for the hundredth time. It felt like she was going in circles...
"Okay, so, let's go over it this time... from the beginning. " Gine said. When in doubt, start from square one.
"Very well." Replied Kami as he took a deep breath that Gine and Kakarot mimicked. They all closed their eyes.
"Focus..." Said Kami in a soothing voice.
Gine did just that, concentrating her mental energy into forcing all of her thoughts, memories, and physical sensations from her brain.
"You must be like a stone. Calm and still, so that rain and wind cannot move you." The Guardian said, his voice getting softer.
Slowly but surely as it did in her fight against Popo, time slowed down...sounds and sensations faded to murmurs, leaving only her heartbeat... and her own aura... and the heartbeats and aura's of her son, and of Kami, appeared in her mind's eye...
"Think of the emotions and thoughts that gave you that power, then try to isolate it from the rest of your mind so you can maintain conscious control." She heard Kami say inside her mind. His voice sounded like a whisper in a dream. It echoed and faded, and sounded as if coming from everywhere.
"It will allow you to clear your mind of all anxiety, and thus become more attuned to the world around you. Easier to solve problems at hand than let your mind get clouded with doubt that enemies could take advantage of." Came Kami's omnipresent voice again.
"Feel the one thing that brings you righteous anger... something that burns like a fire inside your heart... Don't think. Feel..."
In Gine's meditative state, his words translated to feeling, in order to keep thoughts from breaking through the barrier she put up in order to focus.
Before, she would think of Piccolo to make herself angry. Now, she would have to remember something deeper, more personal...
Anger, she felt. She knew that feeling well.
It was like fire, it burned. It seethed. It...
...Reminded her of helplessness.
How angry she was at those who made her feel it.
And anger at herself.
How she couldn't defend herself from everyone who took advantage of her.
How they beat her, ridiculed her, branded her, forced her to do things she never wanted to do...
"Please! Naga, I'm begging you, just let them go!" She heard her own voice cry out in her mind.
Wait, what? Where did that come from?
"Too bad, runt! You're doing it whether you want to or not!" Another voice declared, gruff and snide.
Gine knew who that second voice belonged to. And a cold pit opened in her heart that extinguished any chance of a flame building.
It was a memory from a very long time ago... A memory she wished she could forget...
"No, please! Don't make me do this!" Came her voice again. She was much younger; she sounded shriller, and more desperate. From another lifetime... From another world...
A rocky world, with dense planetary rings visible high in the sky obscuring the blue sun above...
Xai Celnussia IV... or as it would latter be called: Frieza Planet 138...
A ruined city, burning. Alien bodies strewn everywhere. Warriors and civilians alike. Killed, not by her. The work of her... comrades.
Only two survivors remained. A parent and a child...humanoid, albino skinned and pointy-eared. Not much different from her.
They were thrown at her feet. And the feet of her comrades...
"Frieza's orders, kid. No survivors to be left on this planet, so... you do the honors!" Came a third voice that also sounded familiar, and so subservient. Another Saiyan that she knew, who fought along side... well, not with her but put up with her.
"Do it, or I'll kill you alongside them too. Might be better off that way anyways, one less weakling. You are a disgrace and this is your only chance to prove otherwise. So, I'm ordering you one last time: execute them." Came the voice she remembered as Naga. Her first commander...
In her mind's eye, Gine heard her past self half-sobbing in hiccups, and wasn't sure if she was doing that herself now. But she felt despair. And anger...
Anger at this despair, at having no way out of this... She felt the world tremble around her as her past self raised a shaking hand.
"Gine?" She heard Kami's voice. He sounded concerned, and far away in the turmoil.
The world in her mind was now shaking violently, but she didn't care. She was too distraught. Too angry.
"DO IT!" Came Naga's voice again, a threat more than a command.
Angry at what the Saiyan comrades those voices belonged to made her do... how they broke her... how they made her feel so helpless...
"I-I- I'm sorry!" She heard herself say through her tears. There was a plea of mercy in the alien parent's language, a hum of gathering energy in her hand. Her heart nearly stopped, knowing what happened next.
NOOOO! Gine's present self screamed at the release of energy, the sound of an explosion, and the sound of alien screams, the screams of death.
"GINE!"
She suddenly snapped out of her trance, trembling and keeled over the tiled floor.
"Mom?! Are you alright?!" Kakarot asked frantically, putting a hand on her shoulder. She was trembling, nearly crying.
"Just breathe, Gine. You are safe now." Kami said as he placed a reassuring hand on her too. Mr. Popo stood behind and eyed Gine worryingly.
Gine took halting deep breaths, but her heart slowed down. Then she was breathing smoothly, and her tears dried. But the sounds of the screams and explosion still echoed in he mind. She looked at her open hand panicking, but there was no trace of a ki blast gathered. But she still felt the unbearable sorrow at what happened that day, and what she had done...
And it all came back to her out of nowhere, remembering it as if it just happened moments ago.
"What happened?" She asked, feeling shaken.
"You dived deep into a memory, and you gathered emotional energy from it for your meditative state." Kami explained to her.
Gine looked up at Kami worriedly as she heard this.
"From what I sensed it must have been truly... traumatic for you. It was so powerful that the energy you gave off shook the ground." He explained.
"I did?" Gine said quietly.
"Yeah! You were screaming about "don't make me do this!" or something like that." Kakarot filled her in, "Kami tried to shout at you in your mind to get you out of it if you were gonna blow up the Lookout or something."
Gine looked between her son and Kami in disbelief and horror. They had heard her call out her most painful personal memory? And that she presented a danger to them?
Kami spoke before she could ask her own question. "Whatever if was that you drew from in your mind, you do not have to talk about it if you wish, Gine."
Gine took a very grateful and heartfelt bow at Kami upon hearing those words. Gine knew that a telepathic Namekian like him most likely knew what happened in her memory, but he didn't ask about it, and she was glad for it.
"Thank you." She said quietly to Kami. Kakarot looked at her curiously, and slightly worried that he won't know what bothered his mother so badly. He hated seeing her in pain, and wanted to do anything he could to help. But he also knew when to not bother her.
Kami then smiled slightly. "However, on the more positive side of things, you managed to figure out the basic means of how to channel emotional energy. So if you want, I could teach you how to control it in a less draining way."
Gine felt worry creep into her. That was just the basics? As in she might have to recall that something she never wanted to relive ever again? How was this even related to her getting stronger in the first place?!
She shoved those thoughts aside and chuckled lamely, waving her hand. "Eh, that's okay Kami. I think I'm done for today."
The Guardian nodded understandingly. "As you wish, Gine. I'd say you've earned a break."
"Thanks." Gine said, feeling as if she had failed somehow. "Eh, well... I did my best anyway."
"Nonsense!" Said Kami in a reassuring smile. "You didn't fail at anything today, Gine. You did fantastic! You managed to grasp ki-sensing in combat AND emotional harnessing meditation basics in just the first day! You should be proud of yourself."
Gine chuckled half-jokingly, "Oh, well, thank you. I guess I'm not a lost cause afterall."
Kami's smile faded a little, "Of course you are not a lost cause, what in the world would make you say that?"
Gine's face turned downtrodden, looking at the floor as her eyes saw beyond the tiles. She thought of how she didn't see the relevance of this kind of meditation training, but thought that she didn't know it only because...
"I was never a great warrior. I was branded an outcast for simply being the weakest Saiyan ever born in recent memory on my home planet."
Kakarot looked up at her with a mix of sympathy and disbelief. He reached a hand up to place on his mother's shoulder. "That's not true, Mom! You're a great fighter! Doesn't matter what other Saiyans thought of you back then." He said encouragingly.
Gine was touched by her son's comforting words, but she shook her head. How little he understood of her and their home world.
"It did matter what they thought, son. For that still dictated how my life turned out." Gine said with a hollow voice.
Sure, it shouldn't matter what other people thought of her. That she took to heart more than she ever had before. But the fact remained that on planet Vegeta, it was the way of life. There was only the strong and the weak. She was born weak, and she hated fighting. The absolute worse traits a Saiyan could have. All rotten luck.
"I was a weakling. And if I couldn't put up a fight, I was worth nothing."
All her life there was nothing she could do about it aside from keep her head low and slip by. But many times, she wasn't so lucky. Too often had she been picked out and beaten down to be nothing more than a punching bag for everyone who decided to take out their frustrations or if they just felt like it, a constant reminder of what she was. A pacifist that was too weak to have the right to even call herself a Saiyan.
And even then, she still had to fight like a Saiyan under Frieza's rule. To refuse to fight was treason, and certain death. So she had to, and even had to kill to prove she was not worth getting rid of until her time on the front lines was up. Until she had Raditz and Kakarot...
"That's an overly-simplistic way for a society to view people. All beings have the potential to be far greater than what they were born with, if that potential is trained properly." Said Kami.
Gine shook her head. "A nice sentiment, but that would've either gotten you laughed at or executed on Vegeta. For we evolved knowing that we were given our potential at birth, and it stuck with us forever no matter how much we grew. We grew in limits that created the classes we were put in based on our power. And power meant everything, from how you were treated to your life-expectancy."
The Guardian of the Earth didn't like that at all. "Survival of the fittest may apply to the evolution of species, but a specie's true test of strength should come from how they treat each other. You shouldn't be ostracized as weak simply because you did not have your kind's bloodlust."
Gine looked at Kami pitifully. "It's easy for you to say that when you are the strongest of all known lifeforms on your planet... and not have world-killers breathe down your neck. So it didn't really help me if I'm genetically predisposed to be lower than Low-class Saiyans."
She continued "And... no offense Kami, but I just don't see how what I learn here will ever compare to the Saiyans back home. Whatever potential you see in me, it might never bump me up to be more than a disgrace."
Kami regarded her for a long few moments, mulling over Gine's words. Gine felt bad for chewing him out slightly, for her revelations of how life worked on other worlds must have been troubling to him. But even if he was a Guardian, she believed he had no right to determine morality for a society he had little knowledge of.
He looked back into the depths of the temple crowning the center of the Lookout, then he turned back at her smiling.
"Well then perhaps your next stage of training may dispel that notion once and for all."
"Huh?" Gine asked in surprise.
"I admit that it's 'skipping ahead' a little, but I believe that in order to shed light on how much your potential is truly worth and how to overcome your... hurdles of the training, I think you ought to experience the fruits of your efforts so far yourself. Which, as it so happens, there is way here on this Lookout that could make that possible. But I will warn you that this next stage is an actual trial that will test you physically and spiritually. And it could put you in great peril if you are not prepared. If you wish, of course." Explained Kami.
Gine had no idea what he was getting at, nor what he meant by 'shedding light' on his idea that her power was worth more than she realized. And to help her past her hurdles? As in the triggering flashback she experienced? And what could Kami possibly have to show her in order for her experience her true power? And it was dangerous?!
She was feeling hesitant, and not sure what to do. Already she told them that she was done for the day, and did NOT want to go through that part of meditation training again. If that was all it was going to be, she'd say to hell with the rest of the training if she could help it. And actual peril on top of that...
But, she did say that to herself before... and if nothing ventured...
For some reason or other unknown to her, Gine looked at her son for guidance.
Kakarot looked back at her and said, "I'd say go for it if it'll help."
As naïve and overenthusiastic as her son was, Gine knew that he knew the value of training better than anyone. And if he thought it would help her...
Gine turned to Kami and nodded. "Alright. Humor me."
"Very well then." Kami motioned his head towards the temple. "Come with me."
Gine followed Kami and Mr. Popo into the temple with Kakarot trailing behind her.
In the week they had been at the Lookout, Gine had never seen the inside of the central temple, and took in the labyrinth-like interior as they walked deeper and deeper inside. Carvings and glyphs covered every surface, engraved in the stone with such intricacy and age as if they were crafted by Guardians and caretakers of ages past. There was not much lighting, and the walls were as marble white as the titles outside. Like a cave, it felt cold and forbidding.
They turned a corner and Kami came to stop before a large door that slid open upon his command. Inside was a cylindrical room, it's every surface covered in the faces of grandfather clocks of varying styles and sizes. They all told different times. All of them clicked at unsynchronized speeds, creating a cacophony of ticks and tocks. Superimposing over the other clocks was a massive pendulum that swung eerily slow, back and forth. The circular room's interior was lit only by a slat opening that bathed the interior in a long rectangle of sunlight, itself looking like the hands of a clock.
Kami stepped inside as Gine walked in with him, Mr. Popo motioned Kakarot to stay outside with him. Gine looked around at the surrounding clocks.
"What is this place?" She asked curiously.
"This is the Pendulum Room." Kami answered, turning to face her. "All of time, all of history, flows to here. And with it, you could go anywhere and experience any event in the past."
Gine looked at Kami in disbelief. "You mean a time traveling room?!"
"Wha?" Kakarot heard what she said and also gasped in amazement.
Kami shook his head. "Not exactly. Time travel itself is a violation of the laws of the universe. This room is strictly a projection room that allows you to interact with the past in a temporal-vision kind of way. As in you could physically fight strong warriors or meet important figureheads of the past, but you interacting with them or altering events would have no effect on actual time itself, so history would remain untouched."
"Ooooh." Gine said, and looked at the clocks again. "This room doesn't let you see events from the future?" She asked as she looked.
"No. Clairvoyance is only through the power of fortunetellers. Like Baba. But even then, it's nearly impossible to see the future as events are always in motion unless certain factors are in play." Kami said as he turned back around and walked around the pendulum up to a clock on the far side of the room. A circle lay in front of that particular clock.
"Oh." Was all Gine said. She failed to notice how uncomfortable Kami looked at the mention of Baba.
Gine wondered at how this unassuming room of clocks could do such a feat as see any event in history, and she thought of what the implications of time travel would mean. And there existed laws for time travel?
To her the idea of traveling through time seemed nothing more than flights of fancy. But her time on Earth has taught her that almost anything was possible.
"So... my next assignment is to fight someone strong from the past?" Gine asked, and saw Kami taking the hands of a clock out of his cloak.
"Yes. But not just any strong warrior." Said Kami, placing the hands of the clock in a way that would indicate the day, month, and year he was about to send Gine to. In a succession of magical incantations translated by quick taps of his finger on the face of the clock, he also put in the location.
"Then who?" Gine asked, feeling a sense of unease at the back of her mind that she couldn't ignore.
The clock face glowed a translucent blue, and in almost comedic style the clock grew in size to a circle as big as Gine's height. Kami waved her forward.
Gine's feet walked her forward even though something within her screamed that something was about to happen. She stepped around the pendulum and toward the circle that Kami stood in. The glowing clock face faded to reveal a dark opening.
"I won't give away too many details into who you are up against. But I will assure you that everything you see is more or less a vision. The places and people were real, and here they are apparitions. But the fight they will give you will be very real. Even though you cannot change events as they happen, the punches they will throw at you will feel as real and as deadly as they can be. And certain... characteristics will be as real as you remembered." Kami told her as she got closer to the black aperture.
Gine looked at Kami in shock. That wasn't something he warned her about back upstairs. The cacophony of tick-tocks seemed to grow louder somehow.
She reached the edge of the opening, looking into the darkness within. It was more than just a tunnel that lead to nowhere now, it was a yawning mouth that threatened to swallow her into a bottomless pit. Its dark interior was like starring into a black hole.
Then a thought occurred to her about what Kami said. "Wait, what do you mean by "as you remembered?""
Kami looked hopeful at her. "I'm sorry that what happened earlier in our meditation was trying for you, but in order to see what you are truly capable of, you must face the memories that are holding you back."
Gine looked back at Kami in shock and alarm. "Wait? WHAT?!"
"Good luck, Gine." Kami wished. The pendulum behind him stopped.
Suddenly, before Gine could say anything more, she was yanked off her feet and into the opening by an unknown pull.
She screamed in terror as she plunged headlong into the darkness, the round opening that held Kami looking after her receded into the distance until she couldn't see it anymore.
It was a complete abyss around her. Gine screamed and screamed and screamed. She had never felt so scared in her life, that no amount of near-death experiences could ever match the sheer fright she felt could make her heart explode.
Ghostly forms of misshapen clocked swirled past her, looking as if they had melted. In her panic, she saw that they at least formed a cylindrical path towards the direction she was falling. So at least she could tell up from down...
Pinpricks of light began dotting the darkness, as if she was flying through space.
The dots formed a long milky ribbon across her field of view forward, as if forming the night-sky band of the galaxy... she WAS flying through space!
A bright blue star appeared on her right, that moved slowly past her at a speed she knew was many times faster than light.
And directly ahead in her path, a planet. It grew in size until she could make out details.
A cold chill ran through Gine's soul. It was a planet she knew all to well. A planet she wished she could forget she had ever been to.
Rocky, dense rings orbiting it, and burning cities doting it's surface...
She was falling face first towards Xai Celnussia IV. Or as it would latter be called: Frieza Planet 138...
A/N: There we go! Gine begins to undertake some actual training, and maybe even a confrontation with the past as Goku did with a young Master Roshi in the show. What will she see on her spirit quest? And how will she prevail?
Find out next time!