Son Goku and his fellow martial artists are ready to take their training up to the next level…by increasing the gravity in Bulma's Gravity Room! It didn't take them too long to get used to 10g, so 20g should be a cake-walk, right? Right? Perhaps not…

Tale 187: Two Worlds, One Species

Son Goku was the first one awake of the Son family, as always. He carefully got out of bed so his wife wouldn't be disturbed. He almost lost his footing due to the new setting for the gravity, but he managed to catch himself before he made any noise. They had changed over the gravity level the night before and were going to be spending the next two days "relaxing" so they could get used to it before resuming their training. 20g has been taking most of them by surprise, so far.

Yeesh, even Raditz seemed thrown off by it!

Goku looked at Raditz's closed bedroom door as he quietly walked past. At this point, he was now stronger than his older brother. This was all due to Vegeta's brutal training regimen that they did once a week. Goku was still not as strong as Vegeta, but he was closing in.

The gap in strength between my bro and Vegeta is very wide…Vegeta must've been really, really tough even as a kid! I gotta ask 'im about that sometime…

After making a cup of coffee, Goku shuffled over to the bookshelf and took out a book covering Algebra and he also grabbed a notebook that had a back pen clipped to the rings. He then lazily made his way to the entrance and exited his living quarters to the main room outside. There was a sitting area that was between the hammocks and the in-ground pool. Goku smirked and made his way over to it.

"Maybe I'll take a dip after my coffee and my studyin'…" Goku muttered to himself as he sat down and got comfortable. He took a sip of from his coffee, making a slight face when a memory came floating to the surface to his mind, "Heh, I remember when Bulma made me this stuff shortly after I joined her on her Dragon Ball quest. I hated it!"

"Do you make a habit of talking to yourself, Son Goku?"

Goku looked up ahead and saw Piccolo approaching him, wearing an amused smirk. Goku chuckled softly.

"You're up early!"

"I am always up early. I usually stay within my chambers to meditate in the morning." Piccolo sat in the chair next to Goku as he spoke. Goku tilted his head slightly.

"What brings ya out here, then?" He asked curiously.

"I have come to inform you that I will remain your ally even after we defeat Nappa, until Freeza is dealt with, that is…" Piccolo replied steadily; it was as if he had rehearsed it.

"Ah, okay! Good idea!" Goku chuckled, "What compelled ya to come to this decision?"

Piccolo frowned, "I have very acute hearing."

Goku took another sip of his coffee, "I kinda figured seein' your ears are huge!"

Piccolo shot him a glare before continuing, "I overheard the story that your comrade had told you yesterday."

"Ah…I see where you are goin' with this. You realized that Freeza will pose a bigger threat than Nappa, right?"

"Correct," Piccolo replied with a slow nod, "Though I may want to conquer and rule Earth, I do not wish to destroy it or its people. If Freeza were to come here after Nappa, however far in the future it may be, he will still be a serious threat if we do not prepare for him."

Goku smiled knowingly but decided to not speak what was really on his mind, "Awright, then! Allies it is, until Freeza is taken care of!" Goku offered his hand for Piccolo to shake. Piccolo stared at Goku and then back to the hand offered to him. To his own surprise, he shook it.

"…so, when will your son be facing the prince?" Piccolo asked after a moment.

"By the end of the week. Vegeta wants Gohan's day to be the day after my day. He also wanted to give Gohan a chance to get used to the new gravity."

"I see…that is a wise decision."

"Does he need more time?" Goku asked. Piccolo shook his head.

"No, I believe he is ready for the prince. He is a quick learner. He is most certainly your offspring." Goku smiled. Piccolo was quiet for a moment before continuing, "I would like to continue to train him."

"That's fine!" Goku chuckled, "You make a good sensei!"

Piccolo genuinely smiled, "Thank you."

Later on, when everyone else was all awake, a peculiar visitor has visited the Son residence…

"Bulma!? What th' heck are you wearing?" Goku gaped. He was not the only one to do so. Bulma stood before him and his family wearing an astronaut's space suit. Raditz blinked several times as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing. Gohan, knowing it was impolite to stare, turned his attention to toughening up his tail by squeezing it. Chi-Chi looked very amused and Goku was trying not to laugh.

"Is the air no longer oxygen or something?" Chi-Chi inquired jokingly.

"Oh, shut up! This suit is my protection from the insane gravity in this place! Without it, I'd be crushed!" Bulma barked, her face was red with anger and embarrassment, "I had a more flattering suit but my dad hi-jacked it for other purposes…"

"Oh boy…" Chi-Chi muttered, she could only wildly guess what those "other" purposes were.

"What brings ya here?" Goku asked with a slight chuckle, he could not get over how ridiculous Bulma looked. After giving Goku a dirty look, Bulma turned to Raditz.

"I came here to bring you this," Bulma handed Raditz a piece of paper that had two images on it, "These are side-by-side images of Saiyan DNA and Human DNA."

Raditz took the picture and studied it for a moment. His eyes then widened drastically, "Th-they are the same...!"

"Oh, good! It's not just me then!" Bulma sighed in relief.

"The same?" Chi-Chi questioned.

"Yes…" Raditz replied slowly, "It appears that Humans and Saiyains are mirror species, as in two species from different planets that are identical DNA-wise. Evolution was very similar for our two species, with only minor differences."

"I'd say having a tail is more than minor," Chi-Chi remarked.

"Humans do have tail bones, you know. We just never actually evolved to have tails, or at least not at this time," Bulma replied in a-matter-of-fact tone to Chi-Chi.

"Mirror species are possible, but they are very, very rare," Raditz continued, "It's even more rare for two mirror species to have DNA this identical!"

"It's as if we are the same species," Bulma explained further, "Isn't it fascinating?"

Raditz's face was unreadable, "…"

"You gonna be okay, bro?" Goku asked his older brother. Raditz nodded meekly and smiled.

"I'll be fine…I am just…overjoyed…!"

Later on that evening, Son Goku and his allies have left the Gravity Room to join Bulma for a large feast! Unbeknownst to them, Bulma has invited a few guests to join them!

"Hey! Old timer!" Goku greeted Kame-Sen'nin in a delightfully surprised way as he and the others entered the large dining room, "You came to visit!"

"What? Not going to greet me, eh?" Oolong grumbled, for he was sitting next to the Turtle Master. Pu'ar rolled her eyes at him. She suddenly perked up when Yamcha entered the room. Next to her sat Lunch, who was in her dangerous state. She stared longingly at Tenshinhan when he and Chaozu entered the room, with Piccolo close behind them. Kame-Sen'nin stiffened up when he saw Piccolo but said nothing of it, though he did keep an alert eye on him.

"My dad's not here?" Chi-Chi questioned, sounding disappointed.

"Sorry, no. He couldn't be called away for some reason," Bulma replied sympathetically. Kame-Sen'nin frowned at this revelation.

"He better not be plundering again…" He said shortly. Chi-Chi hoped the same. Her father had been getting back into bad habits, lately.

"Well, if he is, I'll send Goku after 'im like I did last time!" Chi-Chi said stiffly. Her husband chuckled.

"If he thought I was hard on 'im last time, he'll be in for a surprise this time!"

"How goes your training, fellas?" Kame-Sen'nin inquired. Chi-Chi shot him a glare at his noticeable exclusion of her.

"It is going well, Muten Roshi. This is our first day of enduring 20g," Kuririn replied with a grin.

"Yeah, goin' from that to normal gravity is really amazin'! I feel so light!" Goku exclaimed excitedly.

"Aside from the gravity, we have all been wearing weighted clothing," Tenshinhan piped in, "We are still wearing the weighted clothing, as a matter of fact."

"My lady, would it be possible for you to craft some adjustable, weighted saiyan armor for me and Raditz? We would greatly appreciate it." Vegeta asked Bulma. She stared at him for a second, wearing a slight blush. Yamcha noticed and pouted.

"Sure thing! I'll have to borrow your current armor so I can study it first, though."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Raditz responded with a smile, "We will need to borrow some of the weighted Earth clothing until we get the armor."

"I will contact Kami-Sama and let him know," Kame-Sen'nin said with a nod, "Mr. Popo will make you the weighted shirts pretty quickly. He'll probably have them delivered tomorrow!"

"Ask Kami to personally deliver the armor for the saiyans," Piccolo interrupted, "I need to have a word with him."

Kame-Sen'nin blinked, "Erm, okay. I will ask him to do so. I can't guarantee that he will-"

"Oh, he will come," Piccolo interrupted once more, his tone was determined. Kame-Sen'nin shrugged and turned his attention back to his meal.

After a filling feast with old friends, our fighters have made their way back to their temporary home…

"So, Gohan will be fighting Vegeta the day after Goku's fight?" Kuririn nervously asked Piccolo. The two of them were relaxing in the living room of their quarters, both with a book in hand.

"Yes. He should be used to this new gravity level by then," Piccolo replied while turning the page to his book. Kuririn noticed the book Piccolo was reading and was shocked.

Why is he reading The Great Gatsby? In fact…why is he reading at all?

"Gohan recommended this book to me," Piccolo replied to Kuririn's unasked question. This seemed to slightly spook Kuririn. Piccolo turned to look at him, "You need to be less obvious about your staring, little man."

Kuririn's face turned red in embarrassment as he looked away, "Erm…sorry."

"It is an interesting book. Very old, too. Over a thousand years old, it seems. Have you read it?"

Kuririn looked shocked, then he nodded, "Yeah, a long time ago. Do ya like it?"

"Yes. You?"

"Yeah, I liked it…" Kuririn was flabbergasted that he was actually have a conversation with Piccolo, over a book of all things!

"I am not sure if Son Goku has spoken to you, yet. I will remain your ally until Freeza is destroyed," Piccolo said after a while. Kuririn looked surprised.

"Oh! Er, o-okay. Great!" He chuckled nervously.

Meanwhile, out by the pool…

Vegeta quietly swam laps around the in-ground pool. He was very grateful for the goggles that were provided for him by Bulma. The chlorine in the water really bothered his eyes. He suddenly sensed that someone was approaching the pool. He didn't have to turn to know who it was.

"Good evening, Yamcha," Vegeta said with his back to the flabbergasted man who was at the pool's edge.

"G-good evening, Vegeta. Can we talk?" Yamcha asked shakily. Vegeta nodded and he exited the pool. He grabbed the towel that was on the beach chair.

"What is troubling you?"

"…I have noticed that you've gotten close with Bulma," Yamcha said quietly. Vegeta glanced at him before turning his attention to drying his tail, "…if…if you end up dating her, you better be good to her."

"Date?" Vegeta asked, "As in, court her?"

Yamcha nodded stiffly, "Up until you and Raditz arrived, I was her boyfriend. Though I am not with her anymore, I do still care about her. So, if you hurt her-"

"You have my word that I will not harm her," Vegeta interrupted with a small chuckle, "You are a brave one, I must say, to make a threat like that knowing that you are no match for me."

Yamcha frowned but said nothing else. He quickly turned and walked off without another word. Vegeta chuckled to himself as he watched Yamcha scurry off.

"Interesting fellow."

Gohan will soon be having his first match against Vegeta! Though Vegeta won't go as hard on Gohan as he has been with Goku, this match will still be intense! But Gohan may have a few unexpected tricks up his sleeve! Up Next: Hidden Power!