Chapter 6: A Surprising New Technique
Summary: A couple of weeks into their training, Goku and Chichi accidentally discover a powerful new technique while merely trying to kick their training up a notch.
The Next Day
On my third day back, Chichi and I sat under the hot sun at our training grounds, deep into our Mind Manipulation session while Gohan trained by himself.
My eyes shut tight in concentration, I launched myself at the strong wall around her mind. There were no weak points, no cracks to press against even though we had been at it for a couple of hours. Neither of us showed any sign of exhaustion.
That was until a loud growl shattered her wall, but because I was so intensely concentrated on piercing her wall, I shoved a spike into her mind before I could stop my momentum – earning a surprised and pained yelp from her in the process.
My eyes snapped open to see her glaring down at her stomach as she rubbed her temples.
I chuckled. "Snack time!"
She sighed deeply. "Go get Gohan, will you?"
I nodded and jumped into the air.
In a flash, Gohan and I were seated on the ground next to Chichi, a blanket with great food stretched in front of us.
Chichi's stomach let out another rumble and she wasted no time at all tucking in, her chopsticks moving at an impressive speed.
I think she actually ate more than me in a day with that double whammy of being half Saiyan and pregnant, but I wasn't about to say anything. I kind of wanted to keep my head.
Gohan giggled as he watched her eat. "Wow, Mom! I think you eat more than Dad these days!"
She glanced over at him and I held my breath.
She glared at the pile of empty dishes in front of her. "I guess I do, don't I? And now I can't even blame that all on your father."
Her head whipped around and she shot me a glare – causing me to instantly tense – but her twitching lips betrayed the smile she was trying to hide.
I silently blew out the breath I held and rubbed the back of my neck, slightly surprised she didn't bite his head off. Gohan was the only one who could get away with saying something like that to her.
When Chichi's attention was back on the food on her plate, I shot Gohan a look. The glance he gave me was an innocent, What?
He was playing coy. He knew exactly what he did.
We didn't need telepathy for everything, and – thankfully – Chichi was none the wiser. I think we both – or mostly just me – would have been in some trouble if she had been listening in on our thoughts during that little exchange.
I realized I didn't think I'd ever get used to watching her stuff her face like that, but saying anything was a very, very bad idea – however cute she was. I didn't want to go back to Other World.
After a few minutes, we were done with our snack, every last crumb eaten. She cleaned up our mess and put our things back in capsules.
Chichi stood up. "Goku? Gohan? You two go spar for a bit. I'm going to find some shade and rest for a bit."
I cheered and immediately jumped into the air as Chichi went to find some shade. A second later, Gohan joined me in the sky and we started our match, quickly kicking things up a notch into Super Saiyan.
As we fought, it became uncomfortably hot – not quite as bad as the Time Chamber, but pretty close. Within minutes, we both had sweat pouring down our faces and soaking into our gis but we kept up our fight for a solid hour. Since we were only maintaining our skill and not pushing our bodies to reach a new level by a deadline, we decided to call it quits for the day.
We landed and dropped out of Super Saiyan, both hot and sweating and a little bit bruised.
He flopped down on the ground. "It feels so good to claim this as our training grounds since the battle, Dad!"
I grinned at him as I flopped down beside him. "I thought it would."
The sound of gravel crunching caught my attention and I turned my head toward the sound to see Chichi walking up to us.
She raised an eyebrow as she looked us over. "It looks like you two had a good match."
Gohan and I both nodded happily, still lying in the dirt.
She sighed. "Let's go home and get cleaned up. Tonight, I would rather eat dinner in the comfort of our home than out in the field."
I nodded and wiped the sweat off my face. "It's too hot to continue out here, anyway."
Gohan got up. "The cool air of the mountains sounds great!"
I glanced up at the hot, late afternoon sun as I got up. "Let's head home."
An hour so later, we landed in our front yard. My family and I walked into our house when I suddenly sensed several very familiar life-forces rocketing toward us at very high speed and ran right back out.
I lifted back up into the air and stopped to hover a ways above the tree line and Gohan and Chichi followed me up just as the specks of Krillin, Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu rapidly grew bigger – followed by a small Capsule Corp airplane hot on their heels.
Krillin reached me first and he slammed into me and wrapped his arms around my middle. "GOKU! YOU'RE BACK!"
I laughed lightly. "Hey, Krillin. Yeah… I'm alive."
He let go of me and backed up, staring up at me a little teary-eyed. "What… what changed your mind?"
My smile faltered and I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well… it's a long story. Heh-heh."
Krillin raised an eyebrow. "We sensed you when you first came back a couple of weeks ago, but I convinced the others to not descend on you right away. I thought maybe you'd appreciate some time with your family first. Anyway, what happened? It's gotta be something big."
"Thanks for that, Krillin. I appreciate it." I paused, wondering where the heck I was supposed to start. I had just opened my mouth when an irritated, gruff voice cut me off.
The owner of the very irritated and gruff voice got in my face – a vein popping out of his forehead. "Enough with the small talk! What is the meaning of this, Kakarot? We've all been sensing some huge energy from your place from an unknown source. Talk. Now."
"Well… It's a long story. Why don't we land and I'll tell you about it."
Vegeta was the first to drop to the ground with a grunt and crossed his arms as I turned my attention to the others and Bulma in her airplane.
I waved. "Hey, guys!"
They all responded with a chorus of: "Welcome back, Goku!"
Bulma waved happily with tears in her blue eyes.
I could sense their curiosity pouring off of them so I landed and they followed me down.
As soon as we touched down, they stared at me with rapt attention. Even Piccolo looked curious. Bulma got out of her plane with baby Trunks and joined the group gathered in front of me.
Yamcha moved forward. "We've been sensing you and Gohan spar and from the intensity of your energies, we get the feeling it's not just a sparring-for-the-fun-of-it match. Besides that, there's gotta be some big reason you came back after saying you weren't going to. Is there some new bad guy we should know about?"
"Actually… there is."
"Well, don't leave us hanging! What's going on? And why have we been sensing some unusual and unfamiliar energy here?"
Unusual energy? I wasn't sure what they meant until Gohan popped into my head.
They must have been sensing Mom's new energy, Dad.
Oh! Of course!
What I said out loud was, "It's… a very long story. Let me start from the beginning."
Chichi's consciousness brushed mine. Tell them everything! They can help us, too!
I will.
After that telepathic exchange, I dove into the explanation of how and why I came back. I told them about meeting Cressa, about the tribe she came from, their special powers and about the traitor and why King Vegeta was so desperate to get his hands on them and about the high possibility of them being on Earth. I also told them Chichi's pregnant. I finished with the training Cressa put me through in Other World and the training we had been doing every day since I got back.
As the others listened to my story, their expressions morphed from rapt attention to confusion, to complete disbelief as they stared at Chichi.
Vegeta charged up to us, his expression shocked. "Other Saiyans on Earth! How is it I never knew this!? I had heard about the other tribes and their unusual powers from my father. I knew he ordered to have them executed because they refused to assist in his revolt against Frieza. I had no idea some escaped and arrived here of all places. I must find them!"
I could just see the gears turning in his head as he realized he might be a prince of a race that may not have been quite as extinct as he once thought.
"They're somewhere here, but Cressa doesn't think we'll ever find them. That doesn't really matter right now. We–"
He got inches from my face and his shocked expression quickly turned into a fierce scowl of anger. "Doesn't matter!? Have you LOST YOUR MIND, KAKAROT!? THERE'S MORE OF OUR RACE HERE ON EARTH THIS WHOLE TIME AND YOU'RE TELLING ME IT DOESN'T MATTER!?"
He was spittin' pissed.
I wiped my face. "No it–"
I was interrupted by Chichi's fist slamming into Vegeta's cheek and he staggered back several steps with an impressive shiner.
Her nose wrinkled and eyes narrowed in her fury, she stomped toward him and grabbed Vegeta's collar as her energy spiked. "WE HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT RIGHT NOW, VEGETA! HAVE YOU FELT THAT ENERGY!? NOTHING ELSE MATTERS IF WE CAN'T BEAT THIS TRAITOR!"
There was an underlying edge of hysteria in her voice, just detectable below her anger.
Vegeta leveled a glare so intense at her I was sure he was about to attack her. Fat chance of that!
Chichi chose that moment to lift an arm and fired a blast a foot wide to her side and into the trees with a yell – all the while maintaining her firm grip on Vegeta's collar with the other. Her yell sounded like it was more out of anger than exertion and the blast was just her way of venting.
She finally released him and he backed down as the others stared at her with their jaws disconnected from their faces.
Tien was the first to recover from his shock. "So… it's true. You're really half-Saiyan. After all this time."
"Yes, I am!"
Vegeta simply said, "I will fight. That traitor must die."
Krillin moved forward. "Me, too, Goku."
Tien and Chiaotzu walked up. "Count us in."
Bulma hugged me with Trunks on her hip and then hugged Chichi. "Welcome back, Goku. Of course, I'll help any way I can."
One by one, they all promised to fight with us and help out however they could.
"Thanks, everybody. Keep an eye on that energy and when my family and I sense her land here, we will flare our powers."
They all nodded once and Piccolo, Vegeta, Tien and Chiaotzu went their separate ways to get a jump on their training.
"Mom? Dad? Can I go with Mr. Piccolo?"
I looked at Chichi.
She was quiet for a moment and then nodded. "Be back by sundown."
Gohan hugged her with an excited, "Thanks, Mom!" and leapt up into the air and took off at full speed to catch up with Piccolo.
Yamcha and Krillin stayed for a while longer to chat and Chichi slipped inside to cook dinner for all of us. They applauded Chichi for her show of power, as she expertly hovered our plates and chopsticks followed by the serving platters full of food onto our outside table.
I chuckled, realizing she actually enjoyed showing off her power.
We sat down to eat and chatted and laughed a while after the meal was over. Eventually, Yamcha and Krillin left to get going on their training as well.
I helped Chichi clean up, the two of us exchanging small, light touches.
Right at sundown I sensed Gohan land in our front yard and seconds later, he walked in and yawned, triggering yawns in Chichi and me, too. Not too long after that, we all went up to bed.
Two Weeks Later
I felt warm sunlight on my face streaming in through our open window and opened my eyes. The sun had just risen. Birds chirped outside, and wind rustled the leaves of nearby trees. Our thin curtains billowed with the soft breeze.
I stretched – or tried to. A strong, warm arm draped across my shoulders held me against his chest where I had fallen asleep, its owner still far away in dreamland and snoring. The even rhythm of his chest rising and falling beneath me was very soothing and I decided I wasn't ready to get out of bed just yet.
He had been back two whole weeks and I was still getting used to having him back and loving all the little things about having him home – including falling asleep in, and waking up in, his arms.
After a few minutes, he stirred. I shifted so I could look at his face. His eyes cracked open and he stretched like a cat – freeing my shoulders in the process – as he yawned a huge yawn.
He rubbed his eyes and then his eyes crinkled in a lazy, lopsided, sleepy smile. "Mornin', Honey."
I brushed my hand through his hair. "Morning, my sweet husband."
My action earned a contented sigh out of his lips as his eyelids drooped. "You know, I'm never going to want to get out of bed if you keep doing that."
A massive roar sounded in the room, shattering the peacefulness of the morning and flushing every bird for a mile around. I rolled my eyes and frowned down at my stomach exasperatedly because that wasn't from Goku's.
He chuckled and reached down to rub my still mostly flat stomach, a tender smile on his lips. "I think someone wants you to get out of bed and make breakfast."
I sighed. "Oh, I guess you're right."
I reluctantly got out of bed and walked over to my dresser, pulling out the day's cheongsam. The one I pulled on the morning of Goku's second week home happened to be light purple – one of Goku's favorite colors on me.
After dressing myself, I brushed through my hair and twisted it up into my usual tight bun.
I felt eyes boring holes into my back and turned around, as I raised a questioning eyebrow.
The look he was giving me so tender and sweet, my insides melted as I felt my cheeks get a little warm, my teeth finding my lower lip in a shy smile and I sidled out of the room, bumping into the doorframe as I went. He could fluster me so easily after a decade of marriage.
A little while later, breakfast was eaten and the absolutely ridiculous amount of dishes cleaned and we found ourselves in the barren, rocky battlefield turned training grounds. It had become our favorite spot, since there was no one for miles and the men in my life could really let loose in their sparring without worrying about destroying anything.
I wasn't surprised at all with how easily Goku fell into our training routine after getting wished back. When he came back to us, I didn't have to teachhim anything. He already was very good at Mind Manipulation. My mother taught him a lot and very well in the month he trained up in Other World before being wished back.
I had started teaching the technique to Gohan the very next day after the Block was lifted. He – like his father – picked it up very quickly, too. He was a natural with it. It must have been a Saiyan thing to pick up new techniques so quickly.
My mother trained me when I was very young and the first few days after the breakthrough, I was very rusty. My training came back pretty quickly and I was able to teach the basics to Gohan. The basics were all I ever learned – were all my mother ever had time to teach me. After Gohan mastered the basics, we built off of that during the month we trained before Goku came back to us.
By Goku's second week back, it was clear we had outgrown the training method that had been challenging just days before. I was pleased to see I was making good progress – pleased that we all were – and ready to kick things up a notch.
"You seem bored, Goku."
He twitched on his seat on the ground in front of me and his eyes met mine. "Heh. Yeah, I guess I am."
"I have to admit, I'm a little bored, too."
I wondered to myself how I could make our training more of a challenge for all of us. If I knew anything about Saiyans, they grew bored real quick when training stopped being a challenge for them.
After thinking it over for a minute, I made a suggestion. "How about this? We take turns ganging up on each other. I think that would be a good way to test where we are right now and get stronger."
His whole face lit up and he grinned his famous, million-watt, light-up-the-room grin of his that always made my heart pound. "That's a great idea!"
I smiled. "Then go get Gohan."
He stood up and kicked off the ground, flying off toward Gohan.
A minute later, Gohan and Goku sat down cross-legged and eagerly watched me.
I took a moment to bolster my defenses. "Okay, you two. I want you to attack me with everything you've got at the same time. The best way to do this is going to be for you both to link yourselves telepathically and then attack so you'll be perfectly synchronized."
Goku and Gohan closed their eyes as their eyebrows pulled down in concentration and – a moment later – I felt that telltale pressure. They both slammed into my mind with a massive amount of force. It took so much concentration to keep them out of my head that counterattacking was out of the question.
I took deep breaths – working hard to keep my wall up – as they tried to drive spikes of pain into my head. I snarled as I felt my wall crumbling, throwing still more concentration into it.
It was pointless.
A second later, my psychic block shattered and I sucked in a sharp breath as a sudden, sharp pain exploded behind my eyes, so intense I saw stars.
Mercifully, they withdrew and I dropped my head in my hands, breathing hard, sweating, and feeling more than a little bit discouraged.
"Chichi…?"
I sighed into my hands. "I'm okay, Goku. That… just showed me I have a lot of work to do."
I felt a large, warm hand on my knee.
I fought to hold back tears, my head still throbbing painfully, a sick feeling bubbling in my stomach. "Only two weeks… maybe less! Can we really–?"
Callused hands wrapped gently around my wrists and pulled my hands away from my face. "Shh… Chichi, look at me."
I met his eyes, his expression a little bit stern, surprisingly.
He gave my hands a gentle squeeze. "We'll be fine. We will win. We've got plenty of time."
"Yeah, Mom! We'll win! I know it!"
I took a deep breath and gave him a grateful smile and then glanced at Gohan. He was always so trusting of his father. If Goku said everything would be fine, then everything would be fine. Gohan didn't seem the slightest bit concerned.
That sick feeling still wouldn't go away.
"How about we take a short break and have a nice cold drink."
"That sounds great, Mom!"
I rooted around in my sash for the small box of capsules, found it, and pulled it out. I clicked a capsule and a well-stocked mini fridge appeared a few feet away with a small explosion of smoke.
Truth be told, I really just wanted an excuse to recover from my pounding headache. The boys didn't seem to mind the idea since it was rather hot out.
I walked over to it and opened it up. "Okay… I see my homemade lemonade, various sodas, and water bottles."
Two voices enthusiastically shouted, "Lemonade!"
I giggled and pulled a couple other capsules out of the box. "If we're taking a break, how about a snack, too?"
Two very hungry Saiyans sat one on either side of me, almost drooling as I clicked the capsules, revealing our food. All of our stomachs growled as one as the smells of my cooking permeated the air.
After downing our usual ridiculously massive amount of food for a nice snack and washing it down with my homemade lemonade, my headache had finally faded and I felt like I could get back to work. I cleaned up our mess.
Goku hovered in the air and sat down cross-legged in front of Gohan and me and watched us eagerly. "I'm next!"
I lifted an eyebrow. "Be careful what you wish for."
I glanced at Gohan and he nodded his readiness at me and I closed my eyes.
I opened up a telepathic channel between Gohan and myself, one deep enough that thought flowed freely across our link. Without a verbal cue, we formed our minds into one huge spike and slammed into Goku's defenses. What proved to be plenty strong enough to withstand an onslaught with just Gohan or myself attacking separately was about as substantial as paper with Gohan and I working together.
Goku let out a high-pitched yelp when we easily ripped through his defenses, and – as one – Gohan and I decided to withdraw.
"Dang it! I thought I was good at this! You two tore down my wall like it was not even there!"
I reached over and brushed my hand through his hair. "It's a good thing I came up with this. Who knows how strong this Saiyan is right now."
Goku rubbed his temples, wearing a pained grimace. "We've got plenty of time to master this, but yowch."
I nodded and then turned to Gohan. "Okay it's your turn, Gohan. Build up that wall as strong as you can."
Goku scooted over next to me so the two of us faced Gohan. "Ready, Son?"
"Yep."
Goku and I glanced at each other and nodded and then closed our eyes. We formed a telepathic link with each other, thought flowing freely between us but it felt like we were only just scratching the surface. What I tried with Gohan earlier felt like a strong link, but it didn't feel possible to go beyond that. It felt like Goku and I could go much deeper.
Goku noticed the same thing.
Experimentally, I surrendered more of my mind to Goku as Goku did the same to me. We dropped our guard completely for each other, opening ourselves up. The deeper we went, the more we felt like our thoughts were slowly becoming one. Neither one of us were afraid. Besides, it felt like the process we started couldn't easily be stopped.
Like our thought, our bodies easily fell into perfect synchronicity – our breathing, heartbeats, everything.
What we very much accidentally formed was so much deeper than a telepathic link. I couldn't tell which thoughts were mine and which were his. We were so closely linked we were almost one being and I had no idea that was possible.
After forming our link, we turned our attention to forming our telepathic attack and launched it.
Working together, we slammed into Gohan's wall, tearing it down quickly and so easily, pulling a snarl of pain from Gohan. We stopped in our tracks, and retreated.
Once we retreated, we tried to separate ourselves. That proved far more difficult than we thought. Figuring out which were my thoughts and which were his was like trying to disentangle a bunch of yarn – and I had plenty of experience with that from years of knitting.
Slowly, we got our thoughts sorted out, and gradually withdrew from each other.
I felt Goku staring at me after we separated, and I looked at him. His eyes were slightly wide, and a small, amazed smile touched his lips.
I returned it.
I turned my attention back to Gohan and saw him holding his head in his hands and my mommy instincts screamed for me to pull him in for a hug so I did. "Oh, my poor little boy! I'm so sorry, Gohan."
His response was slightly muffled. "I'm okay, Mom. I hope I get stronger soon because that hurt!"
Goku reached over and ruffled his hair. "You'll get there, Champ."
"Your father's absolutely right, Gohan. Go find some shade and rest for a few minutes, Gohan." I sighed as Gohan pulled away and walked toward a little bit of shade under a rocky outcrop.
I looked up at Goku as Gohan walked off. "I guess it'll be my turn next after his headache is gone. Goku, you can go after me, and then it'll be Gohan's turn. Maybe we'll work through a couple more circuits depending on how our heads are feeling and then call it a day."
Goku nodded and then wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "What happened, Chichi? I had never experienced anything like that before. Somehow… our minds joined together."
"I'm not really sure what that was to be honest. I didn't even know that was possible."
"That was amazing. We need to try that again. If we get good enough at that, we would be unstoppable!"
"Hmm. Then let's practice it."
"Yeah!"
After a few minutes, Gohan got up and walked back to us. Goku removed his arm and I sat up.
"Gohan! Are you–?"
"I'm fine, Mom. My headache is gone now. I can get back to work. Say… Mom? Dad? What happened when you attacked me? It seemed to take you a little longer to form your link than it did for Mom and I to form ours."
Goku and I glanced at each other, his awed smile from minutes before on full display.
I smiled at Gohan. "Your father and I formed something deeper than a link very much by accident. It took us a moment to separate from that."
Gohan's eyes went wide. "Wow! That sounds like it could be a really strong move!"
I nodded again. "Your father and I think so, too and are going to practice it. I guess it's my turn, then."
I took a series of deep breaths and mentally braced myself as best I could, knowing it wouldn't do me much good with the two of them working together.
I was right.
When they both slammed into me, my wall held for a few seconds and I thought maybe – just maybe – I made some progress until my wall gave in all of a sudden, exposing my mind to the onslaught.
The pain that exploded behind my eyes when my wall was felled was instantaneous, almost worse than the first time. They withdrew and I groaned and rubbed my temples.
Goku reached over and rested a hand on my knee. "Go rest in the shade a few minutes and then it's Gohan's turn."
I sighed. "Okay."
He stood up and helped me up and I walked the short distance to the rocky outcrop. I sat down in the shade a few minutes, relishing the slightly cooler temperature the shade harbored.
A few minutes later, Chichi returned to where Gohan and I were seated on the ground.
"How's your head, Babe?"
"Fine now. You ready, Gohan?"
He nodded.
I dropped the wall around my mind as I felt Chichi's consciousness brush mine, and I invited her own unguarded mind in. Like before, the first thing that happened was our thought flowed back and forth across our link and then swirled together as our minds melded. There was no mental separation. I couldn't tell where I ended and she began.
As one, we formed our telepathic attack, seeking out the well-guarded consciousness of our son. We really put our weight behind that attack, curious how strong we could really make it. Besides, Gohan's wall seemed stronger than it was the first time we tried that new exercise against him.
Like Chichi's, his wall held together just a little bit longer than the first time before suddenly giving way and we were hit with a torrent of thought from his young mind and could feel him scrambling to push us out and pull up his defenses, but it was obvious we completely overwhelmed him.
We gave the poor kid a break and withdrew.
Chichi and I went about trying to separate our thoughts. The first time took a while, but the second time around, I noticed something we both missed the first time. I was weirdly aware of both her body and mine, but the sensations were separate in ways our minds were not.
I concentrated on the physical sensation I knew was mine. It was easy to do because I happened to be sitting on a rock – a somewhat sharp rock – and I allowed the annoying pain from that to pull me back into my body and opened my eyes. I squirmed as I reached down and pulled the offending rock out from under my butt and tossed it aside.
Chichi – aware of my pain from our merging earlier – watched me and giggled as I did that.
She turned her attention to Gohan, his face strained. She scooted up to him and pulled him into a hug. "Why don't we have something to drink and then it's your turn, Goku."
"Anymore of that lemonade left, Honey?"
She gave me a small, tender smile. "Yes. There's just enough for each of us to have a glass."
"Yay!"
She reached into the sash of her cheongsam and pulled out that little box of capsules, pulling out the one I knew had a fridge inside of it. She clicked it and tossed it sideways a little ways away and – in a small puff of smoke – the fridge appeared.
She found cups in another capsule and filled each with ice and her awesome fresh lemonade. After we had drained our cups – finishing the last of the lemonade – it was time to get back to work.
"Get ready, Goku."
I closed my eyes as I shored up my wall, adding extra layers to it hoping that maybe it would hold out a little longer against the super strong combination of two minds barreling into it full force.
My wall held several seconds longer than either Gohan's or Chichi's had but all too soon, it fell and that massive headache exploded behind my eyes once again.
We did several more rounds with that new training method until no amount of resting would shake our headaches. By the end of the day, our heads hurt so badly we almost couldn't fly, the pain so intense we all saw stars.
It was worth the pain. By the end of the day, each of our walls lasted a solid minute against the combined attacks of two minds. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was definitely a start.
We still had a very long way to go.
