Chapter 19

Tien pulled on the red cloth that was wrapped around his waist, securely fastening it in place. An ocean breeze washed over the warrior as he made sure that his green bracers were fastened around his wrist and the green sash that was wrapped over his shoulder moved slightly as the wind rushed by him. As the breeze died down, Tien looked up, glancing over to where the blue haired genius was standing under the shadow of the Namekian spaceship.

The woman was wearing a bright orange spacesuit that had the Capsule Corp logo plastered on the back and one of the sleeves. Tien thought she looked odd as she mumbled under her breath, making sure she knew the Namek words required to fly the ship. The spacesuit was bulky and in his opinion unnecessary. He sure as hell wasn't going to put one of those things on.

His gaze was drawn to the door of Kame House when he heard it creak open. Out walked the Turtle Hermit who, after glancing at the spacecraft that had been parked on his island, quickly made his way over to Bulma.

"You know Bulma," said the old man as he eyed the young woman. "I'm sure I could find something that, uh, suits you better than that bulky thing if you know what I mean! Heh heh."

The blue haired beauty slapped the old master in the face before screamed, "Kami, you're such a pervert! Is that all you ever think about?" Roshi got off the ground, rubbing his swollen cheek. He quickly moved away from Bulma and made his way over to Tien, who had watched the interaction with mild amusement.

"Does that actually hurt when she does that Master?" asked Tien when the older man was within earshot.

Master Roshi chuckled. "Heh not really but it makes them feel better so I play along. I see Chi-Chi and Gohan haven't gotten here yet."

Tien shook his head. "No, I wish the kid would get here soon. I'm ready to be off." The fighter looked down and clenched his fist. The sooner they left, the quicker they would get to Namek where he could revive his friends and rectify his failure. The martial arts master noticed the younger warrior's internal struggle and put his hand over the green sash that covered Tien's shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up son," said Master Roshi. "Pretty soon they'll all be back with us and I know none of them blame you for what happened to them."

The three eyed warrior looked over at the man who had been his greatest teacher. While the Turtle Hermit had never truly been his master, he had been the one that had shown him the right way to life. He had taught him the most important life lessons that molded him into the man he was today and he respected the old man more than anyone.

"It doesn't matter if they don't blame me," said Tien. "Even if they don't, they should blame me. I blame myself. It's up to me to ensure that they're brought back."

The hermit sighed. "You've always been too hard on yourself," he said. "Well at least it shouldn't be too difficult to secure the Namekian Dragonballs once you get to Namek. So at least your quest for redemption isn't too difficult."

"Not if everything King Kai told us is true," said Tien with a nod. "Now all that remains is for Gohan to get here so we can get going." A silence hung over the two as they both stood on the sandy beach and watched the ocean waves wash up onto the shore. As they stood there, Tien noticed a small dot that seemed to be moving across the ocean. He reached out his mind and confirmed his suspicions when he found two powerful energies making their way towards the island.

It didn't take long for the hover car that carried the last member of their team to reach the shore of the island and its three occupants hoped out of the car. Chi-Chi stepped out of the driver's seat with several bags clutched in her hands and she nodded her head at the two men before turning back to the car.

"Dad, will you grab the last of those bags," she ordered as she closed the door to the car. "Gohan, come out already. Bulma and Tien are waiting for you." The young boy stepped out of the car and Tien noticed that he was wearing an almost identical outfit to the one Piccolo wore, even down to the white neck cloth above the purple fighting gi. The kid's hair had been cut since Tien had last seen him. His long, wild hair was now gone and was replaced by a short bowl-style cut.

"So this is why it took you so long to get here," said Tien as he eyed the car the family had come in, while Roshi greeted his former student, the Ox King. "You could have just flown here."

"Humph," huffed Chi-Chi. "If we had done that, then we couldn't have brought all of Gohan's textbooks and study equipment. Dad just put those over there by the ship, I'm sure they can get them on from there." Tien looked over the bags that Chi-Chi and the Ox King were carrying and he realized that they were full of books and electronics. The three eyed warrior shook his head. He knew the woman had good intentions, but sometimes she overdid it a little.

"Good we're all here," said Bulma as she walked directly under the ship. "Gohan, Tien come over here and then we can get onto the ship." Tien turned to walk away but he was stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked over to see the Turtle Hermit.

"Good luck son," he said. "Do what you have to do, but make sure you leave your self-loathing in space. I don't want to see you diminish your accomplishments because you hate yourself for something you can't control."

Tien nodded, for the old man's sake. Once he revived the others, sure at least some of his guilt would dissipate once he fixed his mistakes, but he would never completely forgive himself. Even after Goku tried to comfort him over a week ago in the hospital, he could not let go of the guilt he placed on himself. No matter what the others said, he knew he should have done more to get to Earth sooner which would have prevented their friends' deaths.

After the Turtle Hermit took back his hand, Tien swiftly made his way over to where Bulma and Gohan where standing. The blue haired genius was being given a list of do's and don'ts be Chi-Chi, which Tien had been given the day he had convinced her to stay on Earth while they went to Namek. He noticed that the boy was shuffling his feet, obviously feeling awkward while his mom told the scientist who too take care of her baby boy.

"Oh good Tien you're here now we can board now," said Bulma as she tried to escape from the lecture she was receiving. "Piccolo." Once the blue haired woman said the name of one of their fallen comrades, Tien was astounded when suddenly a large circle removed itself from the spacecraft and settled onto the ground in front of them.

"All aboard!" said Bulma as she directed the other two members of the expedition towards the pad. Tien stepped onto the pad with Gohan right beside him, while Bulma climbed on last. They stood there for a moment as Chi-Chi and her father piled Gohan's belongings onto the pad next to them.

"Alright that's everything," said Chi-Chi as she put down the last bag. "Be safe you all, especially you Gohan. Remember not to talk to strangers darling." As she finished speaking, her eyes lifted up and away from her son and she made eye contact with Tien. Their eyes lingered, holding the stare with each other for a few seconds.

This is the woman I'm leaving the fate of the Earth with, thought Tien as he stared into the woman's eyes. At least he knew that he was leaving the planet's defense in good hands. The female fighter was dedicated if nothing else and he knew that she would work constantly to ensure she was strong enough to defend the planet. Tien chuckled, if she was half as protective of the planet as she was of her son, ten Vegetas could come to planet and she would beat them all without ever breaking a sweat.

Tien opened his mind and brushed against the women's consciousness and he so her stiffen slightly from the unexpected contact. Don't worry; just remember mind and body must become one before you can use it. I have full confidence in you. He broke the contact just as Bulma said the password which made the pad levitate off of the ground and head back up into the ship. Tien crossed his arms and closed his eyes as they were slowly brought into the ship.

With a small tremor, the pad lodged itself into the floor of the spaceship and Tien opened his eyes and saw that Bulma immediately walked over to the chair closest to the large windshield. He noticed that there was a control panel in front of the chair and the blue haired genius pressed several buttons as soon as she sat down. He glanced to the side to see that Gohan was beginning to sort out the many bags he had been forced to bring.

"Alright you two, grab a seat and buckle up because I'm taking this baby off," ordered Bulma as she continued her preparations for takeoff. Tien looked over and saw that there were two other seats several feet behind the pilot's chair and he and Gohan quickly walked over to them and sat down. Not waiting for the other two passengers, Bulma said the command word and the ship skyrocketed upwards.

Feeling the sudden burst of speed, Tien quickly braced himself and even without his seat belt on he didn't move an inch as they spaceship blasted off. His young companion was not so lucky though and the boy was tossed around like a rag doll as he was thrown out of his seat. Gohan managed to grab on to an armrest and he hold on for dear life as they raced through the planet's atmosphere.

Pitying the young boy, Tien reached over and pulled the kid back into his seat, and kept him in place well he fastened his seat belt. After he was secure in his seat, Tien could see the kid trying to say his thanks but his voice was drowned out by the roar of the engines. As Tien brought back his hand he saw through his peripheral vision that several of Gohan's bags were ricocheting around in the back and one of them was sent flying forward, on a collision course with Bulma's head. His lightning fast reflexes made it easy for him to catch the flying suitcase and he handed it to Gohan before returning his attention back forward.

After few more rocky seconds, the spaceship stopped shaking and Tien could see that they had broken through the atmosphere and that they were now flying through space. Bulma sighed as she punched in the button to put the ship on autopilot before stepping out of her chair and heading towards the back of the ship where Tien assumed the rooms where.

"Alright, you two I'm going to sleep, so just do whatever but don't make too much noise," said Bulma as she was about to walk through a door that had just opened.

Tien arched an eyebrow. "You're going to bed already? It's only noon."

"Hey mister!" said an irritated Bulma as she whipped around to face the three eyed warrior. "I've been up for the past 36 hours trying to make sure that everything on this ship functioned and I knew an entire language that I learned in a week! So I'll sleep when I want to! Got it?"

The man shrugged and looked away from the blue haired genius, not wanting to push the woman any further. It didn't take a genius to figure out she wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. He heard her huff and then storm off while he surveyed the ship that was to be his home for the next month. The inside of the ship was mostly purple, while all of the seats and other appliances were white, similar to the outside of the ship. Tien put his hand on his seat and found that it wasn't metal but some other material that seemed to be soft and moldable.

Tien shook his head. It was going to be difficult for him to live in this crapped and small ship for a month. He hated small, enclosed areas, he needed openness and the freedom to travel miles at any given time. That was why he hated cities and swore he would never live in one. It would be even more difficult to train in this setting too, he couldn't spar, and so he would be reduced to mediating and doing the basics such as push-ups and sit-ups. The craft would be sufficient for his main training though, which would be to increase his endurance while using the Kaio-ken at higher levels. As long as he kept the force of the power it brought to surface under control, it shouldn't break the ship apart.

He sighed as he walked over to an open area behind the seats and he sat down on the floor, crossing his legs and arms. "Kaio-kenx5," he said and a crimson aura burst out and outlined his body. Tien contained the power that was released though and kept it close to his body so that the waves of energy that was usually released when he used the technique didn't tear the ship apart. The fighter closed his eyes and began to drift into a dreamlike state before his concentration was shattered when he felt a finger tap on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see that the young boy, Gohan, was standing only a foot away.

"What is it kid?" he asked as he shut his eyes again, the crimson aura still blazing around his body.

"Mr. Tien, I was just wondering," Tien opened one eye to look at the kid. Gohan was shuffling his feet and his head was slightly downcast, the perfect image of an innocent child. "I was wondering if you could train me while we're on the ship together. I know I promised my mom that I would study, but I figured I could train with you in my spare time."

Tien pondered the child's request for a moment. This boy was an interesting case, at his young age he was already on par or even above the level of the other human fighters and he could sense the enormous potential that lay dormant inside of the boy. Also, the kid had been trained by Piccolo and his father was Goku so it would be interesting to see which of the two had rubbed off more on the young boy.

The man shrugged, "Sure kid, go ahead and sit down across from me." The boy let out a cry of joy before plopping down in front of his new mentor. "You were trained by Piccolo before the saiyans arrived is that correct?"

The kid just nodded, with a big grin on his face. "Yeah Mr. Piccolo was the best. He taught me all sorts of stuff and he made me really strong."

"I assume he taught you how to mediate."

"Uh-huh."

"Good." Tien closed his eyes and began to focus his mind. "Now I want you to focus your mind and concentrate on my energy and consciousness." The older fighter brushed his consciousness against the boy's and sent him an image of a waterfall he and Chiaotzu used as a training ground.

"Now I want you to imagine that you are at the place I just showed you. Focus your mind on that image until it is the only thing that remains and will yourself to be there. Put your own consciousness inside of the image." After giving his instructions to his new pupil, Tien focused his own mind on the waterfall and he took his mind and placed it inside of the scene.

When Tien opened his eyes again, he was hovering several feet away from the waterfall and he could feel the spray of the water hitting his body. He took a deep breath and surveyed the familiar surroundings, the forests that were on either side of the waterfall and the mountains that rose off in the horizon. Yes this was more to his liking.

"Wow, I did it." The three eyed fighter turned his head to see that Gohan had now appeared beside him. Unfortunately for the boy, he had not anticipated the return of gravity and he went plummeting down into the pool of water below with a splash. Tien chuckled as he descended down to the pool and hovered a centimeter above the water as he waited for the kid to resurface. The boy came up to the surface a second later, sputtering out water as he tried to get the water out of his mouth.

"Got caught a little off guard did we?" teased Tien as Gohan floated out of the water and used a burst of ki to dry himself off.

"Yeah," admitted an embarrassed Gohan. "How did we get here Mr. Tien? I mean we were just on the ship and then when I did what you said, I was suddenly here."

"We are still on the ship." Tien smirked when he saw the bewildered expression.

"Right now we are in a dreamlike meditative state," he explained. "Everything you see was actually only created by our minds and our bodies are only replicas that we've formed to use here."

"So, none of this is real?"

"Well, yes and no. None of these things are actually physically present. However, our minds still perceive everything that happens here as being real. We still experience and remember anything we do here and our minds are tricked into believing that it is actually experiencing whatever we do here. So, when we do something here our real bodies still feel what we've done to a lesser extent since the brain is sending nerve signal throughout our body as we train here. It's no substitute for real physical training though, but we will have to do with this for now."

Gohan nodded his understanding but he still had a look of apprehension and Tien could tell that he didn't fully understand the concept yet. That was okay though, he didn't have to fully understand the effects of the training would be the same either way. Tien himself didn't fully understand the entire process that the brain underwent when he used this style of mediation. He mostly used it to work on new techniques and to make his movements more efficient, not for actually making his body stronger.

This mediation also strengthened the mind as well, since to maintain it the user had to maintain complete mental concentration to remain inside of the dream state. Tien was surprised that the boy hadn't phased out a few times already and exited the dream state. Piccolo's training must have sharpened the boy's mental focus more than he had anticipated.

"Alright you ready to get started Gohan?" he asked

"Yes sir, Mr. Tien," responded an ecstatic Gohan.

"Okay well first I need to see where you're at now. So for our warm-up exercise I want you to try and hit me."

Gohan cocked his head to the side as Tien made his request. "You want me too hit you?" he stated confusedly.

Tien nodded his head and crossed his arms across his chest. "That's right; all even make it easy for you. I won't move from this spot, I'll just stand completely still and all you have to do is hit me. If you can land one finger on me, then we'll move on."

The kid grinned as he prepared to launch himself at the three eyed man. "Okay Mr. Tien, I'll give it a shot." With a battle cry the young boy leapt at the older fighter, the water exploding upwards behind him as he charged forward.

The triclops just smirked as the kid charged at him, and pivoted on his foot which caused the kid to go flying past him. The boy quickly rebounded and tried to deliver an uppercut but Tien shifted his head and the punch went sailing past his head, missing by a mere inch. The boy continued his attack by unleashing a barrage of punches aimed at the older warrior's head but the man was able to evade all of his attacks with apparent ease.

While Gohan tried to hit him, Tien was observing the boy's style of fighting. The style the child use was a blend of Piccolo's and Goku's fighting styles. It was mostly Piccolo's style, which he could distinguish because of the efficiency of his strikes, but there were style elements of his father's Turtle School fighting style evident in his technique. He was shocked by how seemingly effortlessly the boy had combined the two, unique fighting styles and while his technique was about shaky, they could be fixed through practice and experience.

After studying the boy's technique, Tien decided to end the little game he had been using to observe the boy's technique. If he really wanted to, he could avoid the child's attacks all day long since he was almost five times stronger and faster than him, but he decided that it was better if they moved on. He quickly caught the oncoming fist that was being thrown and smirked at the kid who was panting heavily from the effort he had just exerted trying to hit the older man.

"Not bad kid," he said as he released his grip on Gohan's hand. "Now we can get to some real training."

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Mind and body must become one.

Tien's last message continued to ring in Chi-Chi's head as she made her way towards West City. She had sent her dad back to their house with the hover car while she flew to go see her husband in the hospital. Her dress billowed in the wind as she traveled at speeds past supersonic as she traveled to her destination that was on the complete opposite of the Earth from Master Roshi's. While she flew her mind drifted as she thought of the first training session she and Tien had after she had agreed to stay on Earth.

There was another loud boom above Mount Paozu and Chi-Chi was sent crashing into a grouping of trees that covered the mountainside. As she pulled herself out of several fallen over trees, Tien landed in front of where she had crashed.

"That was better but you need to attack with more control. You attack wildly and waste energy on ineffective strikes, which leads to openings that can be exploited by your opponent," he lectured as she stood up and brushed herself.

She opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off by the sound of trees crashing to the ground. Chi-Chi looked over and saw that one of the other Tiens had been thrown from the sky. Before they had started sparring, Tien had spilt into five different Tiens and while one had sparred with her the other four were having a battle royale with each other. The man had explained that he had done this so that their power levels would be almost equal when he sparred against her and he would also gain the experience from the other four when they joined back together.

"Can we take a break?" asked Chi-Chi as she tried to catch her breath. "We've been going at for almost four hours now."

The other fighter just shrugged. "Fine we can take a 20 minute break, but then we're getting back to work. This is the type of training regimen you'll have to maintain every day from now on."

Chi-Chi groaned as she began to rise into the air while the Tiens all merged back together. She had never been the training nut her husband was and she thought she never would be. However, now that she had been given the responsibility of protecting the Earth, she guessed she would just have to get over it. The housewife began flying towards her home on the other side of the mountain with Tien following close behind her. It only took them a minute to arrive at her humble home and they touched down a few feet from the door.

"Would you like to come inside?" asked Chi-Chi as she opened the door. The man just shook his head and sat on the ground and began to mediate. She shrugged and walked into the kitchen and quickly set a pot of tea on the burner before grabbing several glasses and setting them on a tray along with a plate filled with bread and an assortment of fruit. The housewife heard the hiss of the teapot as it began to boil and she scooped it off the burner and placed it on the tray.

Grabbing the tray she had prepared, Chi-Chi walked out of the kitchen and back out to where Tien was mediating with his eyes closed. She was always amazed by how composed and focused the other fighter was at all times. He made Goku look like an immature child when she compared how the two warriors acted, but then again her husband acted like a child most of the time. She still loved him though.

"Tea?" she asked as she set the tray down in front of the man before sitting across from him.

Tien opened his eyes and looked down at the tray and shrugged. "Sure, thank you." Chi-Chi poured tea into one of the glasses and handed it to the man who muttered his thanks as he accepted the glass. She poured herself a glass and she grabbed a grape and popped it into her mouth before sipping on her tea. The two fighters ate in silence until Chi-Chi sat down her glass and looked up at the man.

"Tien I was wondering something." The man stopped chewing on the peach he held before nodding for her to continue. "That technique Goku said you were using against the saiyan, oh what is it called?"

"The Kaio-ken," he answered before draining what remained of his tea and setting down his cup.

"Yes, the Kaio-ken, Well I was just wondering how it worked. Goku said that when you used it, your power level skyrocketed."

Tien nodded. "Yes, that is what the technique does. It augments the user's strength, speed, and senses by a specified amount. King Kai, its inventor, designed it only to be used for a heartbeat but I trained my body so that it could maintain the technique for much longer."

"Can anyone use the technique?" Chi-Chi asked.

The man arched his eyebrows. "Are you asking for yourself or Goku?"

The woman chuckled before responding. "For me, it's just I was wondering if you could teach me how to use the Kaio-ken. I could feel how powerful you became when you fought against that saiyan and if I could learn how to harness that kind of power than I believe I would be better prepared if something did threaten the Earth while you were gone and Goku is hurt."

The three eyed fighter sat there in silence for a moment while Chi-Chi stared at his downcast face while he pondered over her request. After several seconds of tense silence, the man sighed before saying, "I can try and teach you if you really want to learn, but all I can do is tell you how I discovered how to use the technique, there is no guarantee that you will be able to use the Kaio-ken though. The inventor of the technique, King Kai, couldn't even use it."

"That's okay," assured Chi-Chi as she leaned in closer to make sure that she heard every word the man said.

"When I use the Kaio-ken, I have to focus my mind and drive out all other thoughts in my head until only one remains; the thought of the power surging through my body. My mind and body and body become one, physical and mental powers combining until they are one in the same. After that, I envision the power the Kaio-ken gives me and I call it worth, bending it my will."

"Then," a crimson aura ignited around the man as sat on the ground, blowing both Chi-Chi and the tray away from him as power poured out of his body in waves. "The power I called for is released. When I first began using the technique, the strain on my body was too intense and I could only hold onto the power for a second. Then, as my body became accustomed to the strain the technique put on my muscles, I used my mind to maintain the technique. You have focus solely on maintaining the power if you are to hold onto it."

The crimson aura blinked out of existence and the energy it had been dispelling ceased and Chi-Chi moved her hand away from her face where she had put it to help protect her eyes from the near blinding light that had been emitting from the man. She sat up off the ground and looked at the man in awe; the power he had just released was more than 10 times greater than her own. If she could learn how to control that kind of power, than she was confident she could stand up to any force that threatened the Earth.

"So the key is…" she began before the man finished her sentence for her.

"You must have the willpower to bring the power to the surface. Mind and body must become one before you can use the Kaio-ken."

Chi-Chi grinded her teeth together as her flashback ended. Of course, doing that had been easier said than done. She and Tien had tried every day since that first day of training four days ago trying to master the technique but all of their attempts had been unsuccessful. The other fighter had tried to console her, reminding her that it had taken him over a month to finally access the power of the Kaio-ken.

Of course, she thought he would have progressed much faster if he had been taught the technique by an actual user of the technique. She found it awfully suspicious that the so called "inventor" of the Kaio-ken couldn't use it himself. That meant Tien had basically had to discover how to use the technique on his own through trial and error since he had never seen anyone perform it before.

She however had been shown and instructed in how the power of the Kaio-ken could be gained. It should be easy for her to learn the technique since the man that had been the only one that had accessed the power had told her how to gain it herself. When she had tried, he had commented on how her mind wasn't focused enough, that her thoughts were scattered and varied. She didn't understand what he meant though; she had been completely focused on a picture of the crimson aura blazing around her whenever she tried to call forth the power of the Kaio-ken.

Though, she couldn't deny that there were several things that were on her mind most if the time. She worried about Gohan, ever since her first talk with Tien on the rooftop of the hospital when he had told her that her son thought he was worthless. Then there had been the upcoming trip into space, which was now underway and she feared that her baby would get hurt and she wouldn't be there to help him. Her husband also periodically popped into her mind, his crippled body lying in the hospital in that machine. The fact that he was nearing depression because of his physical condition and his inability to help the others wish back their fallen friends was constantly on her mind.

The housewife shook her head as she neared West City, being able to see the bustling metropolis on the horizon. Maybe she did worry too much. Those things always seemed to be on her mind and maybe while she was trying to perform the Kaio-ken she had been thinking about those things in her sub consciousness. Did Tien mean that there literally had to be no other thoughts in her head when she used the Kaio-ken? Were her worries about her family what Tien had been talking about when he said her mind was scattered?

Her self-reflection was interrupted when she saw the yellow dome that was the headquarters of Capsule Corporations below her as she flew. Chi-Chi stopped abruptly and she hovered high above the home of her blue haired friend. Goku had asked her during her last visit if she could stop by and see Dr. Briefs, Bulma's father and the CEO of Capsule Corp, about the spaceship they were creating from the remaining parts of the saiyan pod that had been recovered from East City.

Deciding to stop by and pay the Briefs a visit before going to see her husband, Chi-Chi quickly descended down to the ground and towards where she could see large rows of flowers, which she assumed was Mrs. Briefs' personal garden. Sure enough as she got closer to the garden, she could see the blonde hair of the older woman bobbing around as she worked in her garden. Chi-Chi saw that the other woman noticed her flying down and she yelled at a greeting and waved enthusiastically at her as she landed.

"Chi-Chi!" exclaimed the blonde as she ran up and wrapped the black haired woman in a tight embrace. "It is so good to see you again! How long has it been? I think it's been a couple of years since you brought little Gohan her for that tour. He is he by the way? Oh it has been ages! Come inside you have to try some of my cookies and tell me what you think of them!" The older woman continued to chat as she led Chi-Chi inside of the giant building into what she assumed was the kitchen.

It always amazed her how humble the Briefs kept their home even though they were the richest family in the world. The kitchen was almost the exact same size as her own, and none of the cooking equipment was any better than her own. She knew that Mrs. Briefs took great pride in her cooking though, so she probably wasn't going to leave it up to robots to cook for her. Chi-Chi was slightly surprised when a plate of cookies was shoved into her face.

"Well here they are," said the bubbly blonde as she smiled and gestured for the younger woman to take one. "I had a bunch in the oven already. I'm sure if they are as good as yours but I hope you like them."

"Thank you," said Chi-Chi before taking one of the cookies and biting into the cookie. "Oh my, these are delicious! You have to give me your recipe!" The two women began to talk about cooking and exchanging recipes for different dishes until over twenty minutes had passed. As their long talk continued, Chi-Chi remembered why she had visited the Briefs in the first place. She loved Mrs. Briefs to death, but if left alone the woman could draw you into a conversation for hours without you even realizing it.

"Well, I was actually wondering where your husband was," said Chi-Chi as she broke up the blonde's monologue about the proper way to cook a turkey. "Goku wanted me to see how he's doing on the ship."

"Oh of course dear, he's probably in the lab. I'll take you there and afterwards maybe you could give me that recipe to that lasagna you were telling me about." The blonde stood up and led Chi-Chi through the building until they arrived at an elevator. Mrs. Briefs put in a code and the doors opened and the two women stepped inside the elevator and it took them down below until they reached what Chi-Chi assumed was the basement of the huge building.

When the doors opened again, Chi-Chi was overwhelmed by the sudden explosion of sound as the sound of power tools roared all around the gigantic room that had just been unveiled. She looked around and saw that the middle of the room dipped down further into the ground and a walkway with railings surrounded it. Inside of the center was what looked like the exoskeleton of a large sphere, and many men in white coats were running around placing sheets of metal into the frame that was what she guessed was the spaceship.

"Oh dearie," yelled Mrs. Briefs as she waved over at her husband who was huddled together with several engineers as they looked over several blueprints. He looked up with his black cat on his shoulder and dismissed the team before heading over to join the two women.

"Hello honey," Dr. Briefs said as he pecked his wife on the cheek before turning his attention to Chi-Chi. "Oh hello Chi-Chi, how are you and how is Goku? Bulma told us that he's still hurt pretty badly."

"Yes, but he is recovering. Also Korin said that he would get him a senzu bean as soon as possible."

"Well that's good to hear," said the scientist. "So are you here to see the ship Goku asked me to build."

Chi-Chi looked at the man confused. "Wait, Goku asked you to build it?"

"Yes," he answered. "Bulma told me that he wanted us to build another ship so he could go to Namek in case anything went wrong with their ship. So I called him and he also asked me to add several features to it."

"Like what?"

"Well first off, he wanted to know if we could add a gravity console on the ship so he could adjust the gravity on the ship. I believe he got the idea from Tien he said on the phone and something about a King. I couldn't hear him to well, we don't get very good reception down here."

A light bulb clicked on as an idea formed in Chi-Chi's head. "Dr. Briefs, would you be able to make another gravity room that I could use here on Earth. I would like to have one myself to help with my own training."

The purple haired scientist put his chin in his hand as he thought. "I suppose I could do that. It would be simple enough since we've played with the idea of gravity control before this project."

"Well I would appreciate it if you could do that for me doctor." Chi-Chi said as she turned around to exit the large laboratory with the other woman. "When will the ship be ready, Goku wanted to know."

"Humph, well it should be done in a little over a month and I can have that gravity room done for you in about a week I suppose."

Chi-Chi smiled as she thought of the increase in strength she could gain from training in increased gravity similar to how Tien had at King Kai's. For once her husband had a great idea. "Thank you Dr. Briefs, I'll go let Goku know right away."

Thanks for reading guys and thanks for all the reviews. I know this chapter is shorter than the others but I felt it was a good place to stop and I've been having mind blanks while writing this for days so I felt I should just get a chapter out to you all. I also know this chapter is pretty slow but bear with me it will get better. Thanks again guys for all your support and hopefully I won't have as much trouble writing the next chapter as I did with this one.