Disclaimer: I don't own a thing mentioned in this story.
Chapter 12: Training Day (Days)
A duo of raven-haired teens could be seen flying at fairly high altitude, if one were awake at the crack of dawn and were inclined to look directly above your head. The pair had been flying on route to The Lookout for the past half an hour. Much to Gohan's chagrin, it would take them twice the amount of time at the speed Videl could fly comfortably. They would be seeing clouds for another hour.
Gohan tried not to wobble or sway as he flew. True to his fears, sleep was torturously slow to come, and unmercifully short lived. There were too many anxieties in his mind to allow a restful sleep or for him to feel completely at peace with his decision. It was true, he had come to terms with what he was about to face and the difficulties he would face, but who said he had to feel good about it?
"What if I'm not around when Videl needs me? What if she get's hurt? What if something goes wrong? What if Goten slips up and says that word in front of mom! Wait. Why of all things am I worrying about that? Bah!" Gohan shook the silly concerns from his mind. "I guess I need more sleep than I thought. Oh well. When me and Videl are through with training for today, I'll easily sleep tonight." He rubbed his heavy eyelids; the rings from lack of sleep were very obvious.
Videl on the other-hand was very awake and alert. She was very eager to start her training, and had gone to sleep early in anticipation of all the training she would endure. Gohan's sluggish demeanor wasn't lost on her as she watched him. It had been obvious when he picked her up that he hadn't slept for very long.
"Wake up, sleepy head! You can't be dozing off while we train, if this room is as dangerous as you say it is. How many hours did you get anyway?"
"Oh, sorry Videl. I was so stressed out that I only got about two and a half hours of sleep last night. Don't worry though. I'll just focus on getting you acclimated to the room for today, so I can rest."
"Hmmm. Okay, but you better be alert, mister! Just because I'm not afraid of what's inside, doesn't mean I'm arrogant enough to think I don't need you to keep an eye on me. What can I expect in this room anyway?"
"Well, the climate is constantly shifting. It could be swelteringly hot for days, then at the drop of a hat it could be freezing. When I say freezing, I mean you will see blocks of ice. It can really be dangerous when you get surrounded, because it takes a ki blast to effectively clear your way out. Not only is the climate crazy, but also the gravity is greater the farther you travel. It could be not even double that of our own gravity on Earth, then steadily grew to about five times our gravity after a short distance. The increase is indefinite because it is only grows as intense as you go farther in. You could possibly train at a gravity of about 1,000gs."
"Wow! That's insane! And we're going to be in there for a whole year?"
"Yep. This is going to be my second time in the room. I hope I make it count because I only have about fifteen total months left that I am allowed to spend in there. After I spend the day in there with you, I will only have three months left. You haven't been in at all, so you have two years of training available for you."
"This is incredible! I never thought things this crazy existed until I met you! The room sounds tough though."
"It is pretty harsh, but among those other things, you can expect to grow a lot stronger by tomorrow. A year of fending off hellish elements and living in higher gravity than that of earth, will accelerate you're growth a lot faster than just training for a year out here. Besides, I won't let anything happen to you." He looked at her warmly; the tiredness was far from his mind at this moment. She returned the smile.
"I know. You always keep your promises." Their hands interlaced and remained that way for the remainder of their journey.
"Mom! I don't want to study today! It's Saturday!"
"Now don't give me any of your whining, Goten! That's not how big boys behave when their mom asks them to do something." Chichi stood with her hands on her hips as she stared down at her complaining son.
"But the other kids my age don't have to do this! They get to play!"
"You are not going to grow up to be 'any other kid'! No son of mine has an excuse not to excel if they aren't dumb, and you aren't dumb! Besides, I only asked you to read a chapter ahead and complete those worksheets I laid out for you. You should be done in an hour."
"An hour is forever! I don't want to!"
"Fine then, you can go without dessert or sweets all day and have some persuasion from the frying pan. How does that sound?" An evil glint flashed in Chichi's eye. Gohan turned pale at the prospect of two horrible things such as these and was immediately cowed.
"I think studying sounds great mom. I would be glad to study and do those really cool worksheets. Love you, bye-bye!" He scampered to his desk immediately and pulled out the aforementioned book and a pencil. Chichi chuckled at her evilness and her son's immediate obedience following her threat.
"You can eat your breakfast first! I was only telling you to do that after breakfast." She covered her mouth to hide her amusement.
"Oh! Okay mom!" Goten left a trail of dust behind him as he made his way to the table. A cheesy smile shined rather brightly, as testament to Chichi's enforcing good dental hygiene.
"Why are my children so insanely goofy? Now that I mention it, Goku was exactly the same. He was so goofy that it was endearing. How I miss him." She quickly joined Goten so she could fix him a plate or ten. Suddenly, the fading dust cloud came to her attention. "And so much dust already? This just won't do. At least Goten will be out of my hair for a while. I'll have to take care of this right away."
"You coming mom? I'm hungry!
"Now what did I tell you about being patient, Goten? I'm coming." She shook her head in exasperation. "You owe me, Gohan." So commenced a day in the life at the Son house. It would be a long day without the help of Gohan.
"Wow! Who would have thought there was this palace floating miles in the sky?" Videl took a few steps in no particular direction when they landed. She turned in all directions just get a good luck at her new surroundings.
"It's pretty impressive. I remember my awe when I first came here as well." He smiled at his girlfriend's enthusiasm as she took the sights of The Lookout in.
"Hello Gohan! It's good to see you!" Dende waved to his longtime friend as he and Mr. Popo came to greet them. "And you must be Videl." He turned to acknowledge her and extended his hand.
"I-uh, it's an honor sir." She bowed her head as she took his hand, unsure of how to fit in proper etiquette if Dende was being so casual.
"Please. Call me Dende. I may be the guardian of Earth, but I am no deity. I am given powers to watch over this world, but the status of deity is reserved to those over me. They however, reside in another dimension. I am getting ahead of myself though. Come this way!" He beckoned with a wave towards the main entrance. The group followed suit accordingly.
"If I may, uh, Dende." Videl fumbled with her words, as the prospect of talking to a green alien with antennae was still a little much for her. "How do you know my name then?" Dende chuckled at her curiosity.
"It does no good to be a guardian of a planet, if you can't keep proper tabs on its inhabitants. I am aware of the populous of Earth and of any noteworthy occurrences. The smaller details I am left without, but your pop culture magazines have been fairly fascinating, if not a bit overly-fabricated."
"Right." Videl didn't know whether to be impressed, amused, or both at the Namekian guardian. It was one thing for him to be aware of all the things worth knowing about on the planet, but the prospect of a guardian with mystical powers reading a celeb magazine was too much. Amusement nearly won as she stifled a giggle.
"It's okay. I find the idea of it humorous as well." Dende received a blank stare from Videl. "Oh yes. I also read minds. Sorry about that."
"No problem...aha." Videl turned pale from mortification then quickly took a red shade of embarrassment. Gohan finally let out a laugh. He had been apprehensive about first impressions, but he could tell things would be just fine (considering the circumstances).
"I'm sorry about this, Videl. I guess I should have prepared you a little better for this." He grinned sheepishly as he performed the signature Son neck scratch.
"No kidding. Thanks a lot." Her voice held a sarcastic ring to it. Dende let out a chuckle at this.
"She has an attitude Gohan. I like her." Dender eyed Gohan with teasing smirk.
"Thanks. So do I." He put his arm around her and gave Dende a smirk of his own. Videl could only blush at how awkward the situation was. It wasn't everyday that you met the guardian of Earth and toured a floating palace in the sky, all while joined at the hip with your boyfriend.
"I know you both are eager to commence your training, but would you like something to eat before you enter the time chamber?" Mr. Popo spoke for the first time. "A well-prepared meal will probably be the last luxury you enjoy for a year. After all, only the basics will be provided in The Room Of Spirit And Time."
"I think I will take you up on that offer, Mr. Popo. I don't know about you, Videl, but I could use a snack." He followed Mr. Popo to the lounge and dining room. Videl simply shook her head at Gohan's insatiable appetite.
"That boy. He's a stomach with legs." She stifled a giggle before following him. Videl Satan doesn't giggle after all.
"Come on! Then we can start training!"
"All right already!" She stormed after her childish and hungry boyfriend.
Thirty minutes and one 'snack' fixed by Mr. Popo later, they were finally ready to enter the chamber. Gohan stretched as he rose from the table. Five empty plates and the remnants of fruits that had been on the table told the silent tale of their dramatic end. Videl herself had only eaten a single apple.
"Well, that was good. Thanks Mr. Popo!"
"Think nothing of it Gohan." The dark skinned genie smiled hospitably at Gohan before leaving. "You know where the chamber is. I will be there to let you in when you are ready."
"Thanks again, Mr. Popo."
"So is the bottomless pit full?" Videl gave him a teasingly smug look.
"Hey! I can't train on an empty stomach! Breakfast was two hours ago!"
"Sure Gohan. Whatever. Let's just follow Mr. Popo and get this show on the road." He pouted as he led the way to the door.
Meanwhile, the prince of all Saiyans was busy punishing his body in 500gs. The heavy gravity bore down on his bruised and sweaty body like the force of a very mountain resting on him. Even still, he endured the punishment of training his body in such an extreme condition. To what end did he strive on like this? The answer was always the same: to attain strength, strength, and more strength. As long as there was breathe in his body, this would always be his sole reason for such heavy training.
An intense game of dodge and counter had just finished with the training bots, their ki absorbing attributes pushed to the limit for the time being. Vegeta was now locked in a set count of push-ups. As soon he reached five thousand push-ups, he would finish up with some shadow sparring and forms. Such was a typical training day the hardened prince of Saiyans. He had already spent an hour locked in his harsh routine of exercise and battle training and he still had more hours yet.
"Dad!" Trunks voice rang through the gravity room's intercom. His voice was followed by the repeated ping of a fist knocking on the metallic door.
"What it is it, Trunks?" Vegeta's ire was clearly present in his voice. Time was a precious commodity when one was trying to get strong enough to fend of intergalactic threats AND best the Son family's strongest fighters. Trunks recoiled from the hard tone of his father. He realized it was only because interrupted training was one of Vegeta's pet peeves, but it didn't make it any less intimidating,
"Mom wants to know if you'll be joining us for breakfast or if you want the food ready to warm?"
"Hmmph. I have no time to eat now. I'll eat lunch once I have finished. Run along now and don't keep her waiting."
"Yes, dad. Oh wait. I was also wondering if I could join you for a spar later?" Trunks couldn't help the hope that leaked through in his tone. Sparring was one of the few things that they did to bond together. Trunks truly loved his father and wanted all the time he could get with him.
"Out of the question. I have way too much to work on today."
"Okay dad." Trunks visibly wilted at the rejection. It seemed that all his father did was train and join them for dinner with not too many words shared, then train for a bit longer before bed. They hadn't spent more than a little over an hour with each other all week. Vegeta knew his son all too well to be oblivious to the sting he had caused him.
"Look Trunks. I'm busy today. We'll spar tomorrow, and I'll even take you to that blasted park if you do well and don't give your mom too much of a hard time. Sound good?" Trunks was immediately satiated at the offer.
"Yeah! Okay dad! I can't wait!"
"Good. Now run along. I have much to today and you've wasted precious time." Trunks gulped and quickly complied with the command.
"It really is a nice change of pace, but I don't think I'll ever get used to having a family. I'm just not soft like Kakarrot. How ironic. He is a kinder man and was more comfortable at being a father and husband than me, yet I still remain for my family. It's almost humorous." That train of thought ended there as he continued his harsh training.
Meanwhile, Gohan and Videl had just settled into their new environment and were getting ready to train.
"Wow! I just can't get used to the size of this place! I wonder if it goes on forever?" Videl had couldn't help but gawk at her surrounding and placed a hand over her brow as she gazed into the distance.
"Actually, I think it does. I made it a mile out before I realized that I would get lost if I got any more adventurous. Although it's really hard to tell when all you can see is this white floor. Not to mention, the gravity is really heavy at that distance into the room."
"I guess I won't go too far into the room then." Videl shuddered at the thought of getting lost in an endless dimension of dark sky and white ground. Too much exposure to such solitude and consistent surroundings would make anyway go mad. Then there's the possibility of being crushed to death.
"Just stay in sight of the door and you'll be fine." Gohan chuckled, as she turned blue from apprehension.
"Duly noted. Now what's on the agenda today?"
"Well, I want to evaluate your full potential for today. I do intend for the both of us to train independently for most of the time, but I'll spend the first couple weeks pointing you in the right direction. But first, how is the gravity to you? It's not that heavy right now, but I want to know how you are coping so far."
"Well, it feels fine right now. It's a little heavier than what I'm used to, but I'm stronger than the average human anyway." Her eyes suddenly narrowed at him. "What? You think I'm THAT fragile, that a slight increase in gravity will harm me? It's LITTLE bit heavier and the temperature is as hot the devil's oven, but I'm just fine." Her hands were on her hips and she glared at him with enough intensity to burn a hole through a mountain.
"No! No!" Gohan waved his hands defensively and shrunk under her irritable gaze. "I just want to assess your current level. That seems about right for you, seeing as you are about twenty times stronger than the average human where you stand." His current statement shocked Videl and distracted her from her irritability towards him.
"Whoa! I'm twenty times stronger than a normal human? I always thought I was about two or three times stronger."
"Well, the thing is, you're going by physical strength. It's true that you are physically stronger than a human by about two or three times, but your power level feels about fifty times stronger. Once you learn how to fully control your ki to enhance yourself, you will be as strong as I have stated."
"Wow! I never knew that! I guess that explains why ki blasts came so easily after I learned to fly."
"Yep. You had a naturally large reserve of ki to begin with so flying was easier to learn than for the typical person. Once you learned how to control your ki to fly and to sense other power levels, it became easier to tap into those reserves. Practicing like you have with different ki based techniques has also improved your overall control and power."
"I see. So is that why you guys are so strong?"
"Well, it's kind of the reason, but not quite. You can gain great physical strength through the traditional way, and you can increase your speed by wearing weights while strength training. The thing is you can only go so far with physical training before you hit a wall. Although you can get strong enough to do amazing things through physics might alone, it doesn't compare to the strength unlocking your ki can give you. With my physical strength I can easily lift nearly a ton or reduce a boulder to rubble, but with my ki to draw power from I can lift several tons or easily crack a mountain. Then there's all the power I can gain by training my ki. To really get strong, you must have a balance of strength, speed, and energy training. Only then can your full potential be reached. That's enough for now though. We should get started."
"Right. I'll understand it more as I do it."
"Okay then. Let's start warm up then we'll start with making you even more adept at ki usage." The started off with a few stretches then did a light set of push-ups and sit-ups. Once they had warmed up properly, Gohan signaled for her to follow him to a spot a bit further from the shelter and kitchen.
"So now what?" Videl was eager to start.
"We'll work on ki blasts first. Go ahead and fire one."
"Right." Videl extended her hand and focused her energies. Soon, a small orb of ki formed in her palm. She concentrated for a few more seconds, increasing the size to that of a baseball. Once she had finished charging it to what she deemed a good size, she launched a few yards away. The resulting explosion was rather small burst of flame, reaching a blast radius of about three feet in diameter before fading into a plume of smoke.
"Okay, that was pretty good considering. You're only at about half potential though. Your current power should have produced an explosion equivalent to a potent grenade." Videl frowned slightly.
"What am I doing wrong then?"
"Your form is actually pretty good, but your control is a bit off. You seem to have too many internal distractions, so some of the ki is wasted before making it into your attack. Clear your mind of any distractions and let the ki in your palm be your sole focus."
"I'll try." Videl again extended her hand and focused on the energy that was accumulating. She blocked the thoughts that were previously in her head only thinking of putting more energy into her attack. The sphere of ki quickly grew from the size of a golf ball to about six inched wide. Knowing she was now finished charging up she released the attack. This time, the explosion bloomed into a fireball large enough to consume a small car. "Wow. That was intense." She looked down at her hand in wonder.
"Well, that was a lot better. Now the next step is too focus the potency of your ki without making the blast too large. Obviously, the blast will naturally grow in size, but it is possible to make the blast prematurely large. While this might look impressive, it is actually an uneconomical usage of your ki."
"Ugh, there's so much to take in. Okay then. How do I do it?"
"I'll just demonstrate. Watch this." Gohan extended his hand in much the same way and began charging his ki into a blast. "Notice how the ball isn't eager to grow in size? I'm concentrating on not letting the energy surge too rapidly and letting it flow in a controlled amount." The blast stopped growing once it reached the size of Videl's blast, but she could feel the power continue to grow.
"How are you doing that?"
"I'm concentrating on strengthening the blast, but also focusing on keeping the blast at this size. Tricky to get down at first, but it becomes second nature once it's committed to muscle memory." Gohan deemed the blast ready to launch. "Now observe." He lobbed the destructive sphere about two hundred yards away before it detonated on the floor. The resulting explosion was about fifty feet wide and one hundred feet high, the shockwave kicking up a breeze that flapped their clothing around and ruffled their hair.''
"Wow. All that power in something so small."
"Now that you've seen it and have a gist of the idea, work on that for a while. You should have enough ki left to keep you busy, so I'm going to train myself for a bit. I'll check up on you in a bit."
"Got it." They went their separate ways as Gohan prepared his physical training and Videl worked on forming blasts. An orb of energy formed in her palm as she tried to apply Gohan's teachings to her technique.
"So dedicated. I can't wait to see how much this room helps her out. With that in mind, it's time I focus on MY training." He flew into the heavier gravity of the room and prepared to literally punish himself.
"There he goes." Videl had launched her attack and gotten mostly the same result. "I'll bet I can shoot one that strong twice as fast by the time he get's back." She worked with a goal in mind for the next many hours of the 'day'.
Meanwhile, a familiar Saiyan was hunched over in great concentration. Goku's aura flared and kicked up dust clouds for several yards around him. This was it. A great river was raging behind a dam, and that dam was about to break. Suddenly, a great flash of golden light lit up the area for miles. His piercing cry was the only other discernable sound over the thunderous boom and echo of his sudden release of ki. When the light faded and the dust settled down, his form had greatly changed. He had noticeably increased in muscle tone and definition. They looked slightly bigger and more powerful. His eyebrows and bangs had disappeared, leaving his forehead's increased protrusion all the more noticeable. His hair had grown down to the back of his knees, favoring the style of his older brother greatly except for the single spike hanging down his forehead. Finally, Goku relaxed.
"Good heavens. What manner of transformation is this?" Kibito was baffled as he marveled at the gargantuan increase of power.
"It would appear my pupil has unlocked the third level of Super Saiyan. I wonder just how far the evolution of this transformation goes." King Kai looked at Goku with a mixture of pride over his student's accomplishment and awe at how he never seemed to hit a wall in his progression."
"This is an unexpected yet welcome development. Any great increase of power in any fighter brings us that much closer to finding the one or ones whom will stop Neeros." Shin observed with a guarded optimism. As long as Neeros remained as powerful as he is things would never look entirely hopeful, but Goku's accomplishment would increase morale and encourage other strong fighters to push themselves to greater heights."
"I've actually had this one up my sleeve for a few months, but I lacked the control to transform without hurting myself." Goku walked over to the observing Kais. "It's highly taxing on my ki though. I need to gain control of this form and reduce the ki drain."
"Indeed, Goku. You cannot hope to defeat a foe without the endurance to maintain the power necessary to accomplish it. I have faith in you though. You and all your Saiyan friends and family show much potential for our special training." With a wave, Shin and Kibito flew off to observe the other fighters.
"Well, you heard him! You better get to it!"
"Right! I'm on it King Kai. Then after this, can we have lunch?" The North Kai slapped his forehead at the prospect of feeding the Saiyan race's greatest appetite.
"Sure Goku. Sure. I'll go tell the cooks to be ready." His master left Goku to bring tidings of great despair and sorrow to the kitchen. "You'd have thought we would escape this after he died. He's just as bad if not worse then when he was alive! Come to think of it, he was like this the first time we met. Boy, that's been a while back. Time sure flies."
Days passed then weeks passed in the time chamber. The same routine would happen nearly like clockwork. Upon waking up, the teens would prepare themselves breakfast then warm up after they ate. When they were ready to begin for the day, Gohan would help Videl with her ki control then go deep into the room to train at high gravity. After spending many hours training separately they would meet for lunch before continuing for more hours. Then they would rap up with a sparring session. As monotonous as this routine seemed, it was paying off. A couple months of training had easily brought Videl to thirty times her previous strength. She and Gohan also spent time working on many techniques and improving their skills and not just strength.
Gohan sat down wearily with a water jug. He noticed almost immediately, the hungry look his girlfriend was sending his way as he drank from the large bottle. Not wanting to incur her wrath, he handed the jug to her.
"Thanks." She simply said after a long drink from the jug. She placed it by the sink to refill later. "So what do you want for dinner?"
"Oh, well I thought I would just grill some meat and veggies like we've been doing lately." This earned a scolding look from Videl.
"Look Gohan. We've had the same grilled food for a week now. Besides, you always cook. You might have tunnel vision as far as training, eating, and sleeping goes, but it's nice to eat different stuff on occasion. Why don't you let me cook tonight?"
"Alright. I only cook to try and give you a break. I know the first time dealing with the gravity and climate in this room can be tough so I thought it would be a nice gesture." Videl's expression softened at his words.
"That's sweet of you, but don't worry about it. You go ahead and get cleaned up and I'll take care of things." She waved him off to the bathroom, smiling as he bumbled off to wash himself. "Now let's see what's inside this endless fridge." She assessed the selection of the daily regenerating food supply.
"I still don't get her. Usually she would be offended that I'm taking so much initiative for her at my own expense. She would feel like I think she's weak. Then again, what woman doesn't like a man to want cook for her?" He laughed to himself as he started the shower.
Gohan arrived to find Videl putting the finishing touches up on their meal. He was shocked to see enough food for him to easily have fifteen full plates and for her to have a full one. Heaping dishes of herb-crusted salmon, sautéed chicken, seasoned potatoes, and green beans were strewn about the kitchen.
"Did I mention I love this kitchen? I don't know if some of these features were here last time, but cooking time is virtually non-existent due to some enchantment in here. I only have to select the amount of doneness and it's ready in a few moments."
"Well, that explains all the food. I took my sweet time showering and unwinding, but I know I didn't take more than about 30 minutes. I thought I would have to help you. I guess they must have improved the kitchen area after it being used by Saiyans so much."
"Smart move on their decision. I hope you don't mind a bit of foreign cuisine. I've seen you and your brother put it away and you never seemed too selective." She looked slightly nervous. It was actually her first time cooking for her boyfriend. She had helped Chichi in the kitchen, but had never cooked a meal for Gohan.
"No! I'm fine with whatever you cook. After traveling the world and a few galaxies, you get used to a lot of different food. Besides, mom always cooks different things. She's aware of all kinds of cultures and likes to challenge herself in the kitchen."
"Oh okay. Let's eat then." They settled down at the table after getting their food. Gohan indeed had no problem with her cooking. The mountain of empty plates was testament to his approval.
"Wow Videl. That was delicious! I didn't know you could cook so well! It was nearly as good as mom's, and she's been cooking longer than you have." The girl blushed at his compliment.
"Thanks. I really enjoy training and fighting and but cooking is sort of a hobby. I used to help my mom all the time in the kitchen and well, I continued on to keep the memories alive. I've become good at cooking and cleaning up after myself in the kitchen."
"I'm sure you're doing your mom proud by being so well rounded. You're smart, strong, hardworking, and beautiful. What more could a woman hope to be?" Videl again blushed at the comment. She wasn't used to so much sincere praise.
"Thanks Gohan. But if you're trying to earn extra brownie points, you'll have to try harder than that. Since I cooked...you can take care of the dishes. Sound fair?" She didn't give him time to respond and walked towards the bathroom for a shower of her own. "Thought so. Well, have fun then!" She blew him a kiss then left him to the mountain of dished to wash.
"How does she push me around like that?" The rhetorical question was left unanswered and forgotten, as he quickly got busy.
It hadn't taken long to get cleaned up put everything away. They had obviously put enchantments on all the stations of the kitchen, probably to save time for training instead of cooking and cleaning. Gohan wasn't complaining by any means. No one in his or her right mind would have a problem with a dishwasher that could wash a load in a mere few seconds. The loading took much longer than the actual wash time. Gohan took a sighed in relief as he put the last plate away. The kitchen was once again pristine.
"Hey Gohan. Done already? I'm going to turn in for the night. See you tomorrow."
"Sure thing. I'm going to meditate for maybe an hour then also go to sleep." They shared a quick goodnight and a kiss before going their separate ways.
"Now to concentrate on that great power I've felt lately under the surface. If I can isolate it tonight, maybe I can bring it out tomorrow."
Meanwhile, a short figure accompanied by a person of much taller stature lurked in the desert. They appeared to be searching for something.
"Master. Are you certain that it landed here?"
"Down to the exact coordinates am I certain. My father left me very specific instructions, should that time have ever come that his legacy was left for me. You just be ready to do the heavy lifting, Dabura. We are getting close. According to my crystal ball, it should be just ahead."
"Very well, Master Babidi."
"Excellent. Now pay attention. We need to extract him from his resting places carefully, and then we can take him to the ship. Right there. He is buried here. I'll break the top soil with my magic and you lift him out." Babidi raised his hands and uttered an incantation. "Paparapappa!" The ground exploded to reveal a fleshy looking pod underneath the surface.
"You have found him, my Master. Allow me." The tall, red demon easily extracted the pod from the ground. It was much bigger than they both realized, being an orb easily twelve feet in diameter.
"Oh! This is simply marvelous! With Majin Buu soon to be awakened, our plans of glorious revenge for my father and enslaving the entire universe are at hand."
"It truly is an auspicious occasion, Master Babidi. What shall we do now?"
"We'll have to move the pod onto the ship. Then it wouldn't be a bad idea to hide out in this area. You could blast a hole right here, and I could conceal the ship in it with my magic. Then we can gather the energy we need to awaken Majin Buu."
"I'll see to it right away, Master Babidi." The demon king flew off, carrying the pod with him and preparing to do all he had been instructed to do."
"Soon my father will have his revenge, and nothing will stand against me and my minions. In fact, they will all be cannon fodder once Buu is revived." A wicked cackle escaped him as he conspired.
Piccolo's eyes snapped open as he had been broken from his meditative state. He had felt something briefly, but it wasn't far away like Neeros. It had felt like it was on the very planet and it was definitely evil. He took flight as soon as he was sure it wasn't Neeros. Dende surely could feel it too and he needed to discuss this with him.
Gohan panted as the strain from his training was taking its toll on him. It wouldn't be long before he wrapped up and met Videl for their spar. He just had one thing to try again before he finished.
"I know I can do this. I was so close yesterday, and I've felt it just waiting to burst forth from the surface all day."
He clenched his fists and prepared to bring out all the power he had been feeling in his meditations. He grunted from the strain of trying to harness it. As his power level rose, an aura surrounded him. Electricity sparked around his golden hued aura as he ascended to the second transformation. His power continued to rise before hitting a wall all of a sudden.
"No! I've isolated it, but I can't bring it out. Just a little more."
Something in Gohan snapped. The weight of everything on his shoulders was brought to the surface as he considered what was at stake. A knew resolve filled his being as he strained to control his power. He would bring out this power to defend what he cared about or he would die trying. The ground began to rattle and he let out a roar as he pushed farther than he had ever gone before. Suddenly, the dam broke and he let out the torrent of power that had been waiting to flood forth. His very ki lit up the room for miles and the shockwaves kicked up a cloud of dust. Finally, as his ki leveled off he could stand at ease and examine himself.
"Wow." It was all he could say at the time. The sheer power that coursed through him was boggling his mind. "It's more than I thought was possible."
The physical changes were nearly as dramatic as the power increase. His golden hair had grown to lengths resembling his uncle, save for his normal spike of hair that always hung over his forehead. His muscle mass had also increases slightly and he was more toned, but he was still sleek enough to maintain speed. His eyebrows had disappeared and his forehead was slightly larger.
"Well, I guess I'm done for today. I need to work on maintaining the form like the first and second level." Gohan powered down and flew to where Videl was training.
It was well into the night when Vegeta laid down beside Bulma. He had to join her without waking her, but that plan failed. She was already awake.
"You know, it wouldn't kill you to go to join us for dinner sometime this week. You've been missing it a lot and coming to bed late. Maybe you could train Trunks more often too? You know how much he loves it." She didn't turn to face him as she spoke to him.
"On the contrary, woman. It just might kill me. I might kill everyone else as well. You can't expect me to just let Kakarrot and his son leave me behind even more and then be powerless to challenge the threat that looms over our heads? Trunks will appreciate being alive to train rather than training a little more often only to die." She turned over to look at him at his words.
"It wouldn't make you THAT far behind. Gohan trains Goten everyday and they are BOTH strong. I know YOU don't want Goku's youngest kid to outdo your son. Besides, I miss you. I see you less everyday." A look of longing flashed across her face and Vegeta felt a slight jab in his chest at seeing his mate pained. His face didn't betray his emotion.
"I...I didn't mean to vex you." He turned over to hide his flustered expression. Reconciliation was never his thing. It was so much easier to either retort or blast the offender's head off in a conflict. Bulma couldn't help smirking at his gruff stuttered apology.
"So what are you saying?" She was grinning teasingly as she milked him.
"Argh! Fine. I'm sorry. I got caught up in my own training and have neglected Trunks...and you."
"There. Now was that so difficult?" She drew closer and embraced him from behind, her warm body pressed comfortably into his back.
"Remind me why I put up with you again?" The tone in his voice was only mock irritation. His defenses were all but down and he was only playing now.
"Because I'm sexy and I'm just so hard to resist? It might help that you love me." Bulma said this and somehow managed to sound seductive, playful, and teasing at the same time. Vegeta could only grunt at her reasoning.
"Well, I can't argue there." He smirked at the memory. The former reason was nearly the same thing she had said while inviting him to live at Capsule Corp. Only, that time had been while she had jokingly told him not to try any moves on her, which had disgusted him at the time. Oh, how times had changed. He relished the feel of her arms around him and let her warmth lull him to sleep.
Meanwhile, more months had passed in The Room Of Spirit And Time and Gohan was getting better at controlling his new form. Videl had also gotten a lot stronger in the gravity and harsh conditions and her power had skyrocketed to nearly five hundred times her power level before entering. She could have easily taken Vegeta when he came to earth or even most of the Ginyu Force.
"Videl. I want you to know that I'm proud of how far you're coming along. By the time we get out of here, you're going to be among the strongest humans on earth." Gohan complimented Videl sincerely.
"Really? That's awesome! So how strong am I right now?" She couldn't contain the excitement in her voice and she sounded like a child opening a birthday present.
"Well, I'd say if you focused enough power into one attack, you could probably destroy most of Earth right now." Gohan didn't seem to notice the weight of his words as he held his chin and still had a calculative expression on his face. Videl had turned pale upon hearing this.
"You can't be serious! How is that even possible for someone like me?" Her voice was filled with awe and wonder at having such power at her fingertips.
"This isn't unusual. You've been strong enough to do it for a while. Vegeta was actually less than half as strong as you are now when we first met, and he was capable of doing it then. Granted, it's not in conventional attacks that you are capable of doing it, but either a ki blast with most of your reserves in it or a finishing move. That's why dad and me have to be careful with the Kamehameha Wave. At our current level we could destroy the planet."
"Oh, I see. That's still incredible. So what do you have more me today?"
"Well, seeing as we've brought up finishing moves and power levels, I figured we would work on some techniques. As you know, any technique with lots of power can be used as a finishing move. The reason being as that they gather energy at a single point and release an attack for more powerful than your base power. They are very taxing on one's ki reserves so that's why we use strong techniques to finish a fight."
"Okay. I understand."
"Good, but before we get into those, I would like to show you a useful technique. It's called the Kaioken. What it does is it multiplies your speed, strength, and even senses like hearing and eyesight. It does use some ki to do, but it can used regularly in a fight and quite effectively."
"Really! That's amazing! But why have I never seen you do anything like that?"
"Well, I would use it more, but my father is the real master of this ability and it can be taxing to use in conjunction with my Super Saiyan form. It wasn't too hard to get the general idea down after watching him do it, but I believe you can find a great use for this ability. I can only use it to double my strength, but I think you can go higher given time."
"If you say so. I can't wait to learn it! Could you should it to me first, before I try it though?" Gohan smirked.
"Sure." Gohan got into a stance and concentrated briefly. "Kaioken!" Upon his shout a red aura covered his form. Videl could easily feel his ki increase in that very instant, then as soon quickly as it happened, Golan let go of the form.
"Oh. Okay. That's pretty impressive all right. Let's get started learning it then!" A determined fire filled her eyes.
"You bet." The next hour saw him breakdown the mechanics of the technique and how to properly do it.
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Author's Note: Not much action and just story this time around. Yes, Bulma did say not do anything naughty because she's "hard to resist" to Vegeta in the manga. If anyone thinks that it's strange that Videl is getting so strong, keep in mind that this is a high gravity situation and it's been months. Goku reached a power level of 180,000 in five days. Factor in that she is a human that started (according to my story) with a power level that was about twenty times stronger than a regular human (five which comes out to be one hundred). A few months in high gravity and 50,000 doesn't seem like much of a stretch to me, given her potential and natural talent. Oh yes, and Buu is going to happen. He will not be as hard to defeat because he is the opening act before the big boy and I though it would fit (plus everyone is stronger). Thanks for keeping up with the story. It's encouraging that this is well liked among a few of you.