"Bulma?" I called out as I walked through her chosen domain while we were on the island: her workshop.

Of course to any sane and rational person this was no garage or basement work area. It wasn't some small little room with bits of lumber lying about and table saws covered in wood dust. Nor was it a table next to some clunker car where one puttered about with engine parts, seeing if they could get them back to working order.

No… Bulma's workshop was more like Tony Stark's underground lab in Iron Man. Dull white surfaces so it didn't hurt the eyes but still allowed one to notice even a single lost screw. Tables and cabinets all over. Though it was pretty open there were still different rooms for whatever she might want to work on; as Isco and I walked through it we spotted rooms set up for all manner of different testing, including a dunk tank and a fire box. There was a glass room with computers in it with a temperature gauge that showed it was rather frosty and a large area with a massive 3d printer that sat silent.

In fact much of the lab was silent.

"Isco, she here?" I asked.

"She is sir," Isco said, scanning the room; one of the first things Bulma had done when we'd arrived on the island was upgrade my buddy with all sorts of bells and whistles. To allow him to 'better capture the action without fear of destruction' she'd said though a part of me wondered if she still believed I was only sticking around for the documentary. "And before you ask per my scan she is still awake."

"Lovely," I muttered. "We need a fucking doctor on this island."

"Goku would only allow that if the doctor was a fighter who punched broken bones back together."

"Not true… if he could get healed up so he could train more then he'd be all for a new arrival." I shrugged and allowed Isco to lead me over to Bulma who was leaning against her hand, half in a daze but sadly awake. "Hey Bulma?" I said softly, doing my best to not startle her. I had purposely made my footfalls louder than they needed to be in hopes that she would hear me coming but she still gave a little jump and turned around, forcing a smile on her face.

"Oh! Kayos!" she chirped. "How are you? Documentary stuff? By the way, you don't mind that we all call you Kayos, right? I mean, that is your last name, not your first, but it just sounds better than Avo… no offense though! I mean Avo is a fine name its just that Kayos rolls off the tongue. Kayos. Kayos."

"Its fine," I told her, bemused by her rambling. Though they had given me an idea. "And actually yes, I do want to do some documentary stuff. Figured today would be a good day to check on you… I think I'll kind of do a rolling schedule thing, checking in on everyone as the months go by so we can see their growth."

"That sounds like a good idea," Bulma admitted. "Though you might need to be ready to leap down here if I hit a breakthrough… you never know when inspiration is going to strike!"

"Right," I said. "You have someplace comfortable where we can talk? Not sure you want to be perched on that stool the entire time."

"Right… right right right," Bulma muttered to herself, standing up and grimacing as her back cracked. "Ugh, I know how bad that can be, trust me! Yeah, come to my lounge."

She gestured for us to follow and about five minutes later we were in a small soundproof room. It was the only one with carpeting and it had two couches and a chair stationed in it. There was a TV on the wall that was currently off and a minifridge filled with food and drinks like you'd find at a hotel. Very impersonal but also far warmer than her lab had been. I settled myself in the chair while Bulma got on the couch.

"So, what do you want to ask?" Bulma asked.

"Well…" I said, knowing I needed to word this careful. "I'm thinking maybe at first I should take stock of what is going on in the lab, so I ask the right questions. While I do that maybe you can squeeze in a nap… want to be well rested before you go on camera?"

"Oh?" Bulma asked before looking up at the TV… and shrieking. "Oh my god!" She screamed, leaping up and shoving me out of the way, causing me to pinwheel my arms for a moment before I crashed to the ground. Bulma, for her part, stared at her reflection in the dark tv screen, tugging at her face. "Look at me! My hair is a mess, the bags under my eyes, and… oh, is that a ZIT?!" She began at touch a spot on her forehead that I honestly saw as nothing more than normal skin but in Bulma's eyes must have been a massive red mountain with a huge white cap on the top. "No no no no!" she squealed. "I can't be interviewed like this! How will I ever get a boyfriend looking this way?"

'Dear lord instead of me they should have had a shrink get Self Inserted into this world,' I thought to myself, rolling my eyes at Bulma's clear issues as she continued to ramble about her looks and how that would affect her dating life. 'There is nothing wrong with wanting to be in a relationship but she acts like that is the sole thing that defines her. The woman might be one of the smartest people in the world, possibly even the galaxy considering most of the nimrods that Frieza has working for him, and all Bulma can think about is getting a man and how important that is. And she thinks its only her looks that will attract one.'

I so badly wanted to tell her that no, it would be her fierce spirit that would eventually net her the Prince of her… well, not exactly dreams but a Prince perfectly suited for her. But it wasn't easy to go, "Hey, stop worrying about your looks, the guy you want needs a woman who is just as much a bitch as he is a bastard!"

That would have gone over just swimmingly.

So instead I was forced to wait until she had calmed down just enough to actually listen to me before I said, "Well, why don't you take a nap and then grab a shower and we can chat then. I can practice my magic stuff-" And I knew somewhere Baba had sensed me calling it 'magic stuff' and would make me suffer for that, "-and then come back."

"…yeah… yeah I guess," Bulma said weakly, already moving to the couch. She grabbed a blanket as Isco and I headed out, leaving her to hopefully finally get some sleep.

"You able to monitor her so we know when she's actually awake?" I asked.

"I am, sir. In fact I've tapped into all the systems on the island so I can watch over all of you. We might suggest to Tien he eating far too much dairy."

"…I don't want to know."

"His stool is rather runny-"

"I'm good Isco!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Krillin tugged on the robes he was wearing… but rather lightly. He'd already torn the first one that he'd gotten and been forced to pay for them to be restitched because 'one could not gain the secret knowledge with a rip in the sacred robes, for a tear there was a tear to your soul'. 'You'd think with things that were so expensive they would be a bit higher quality. His favorite 'TACO' shirt was made of heavier fabric than the robes and I got that from a t-shirt cannon at a baseball game! And not even a good one!'

Still, he had on the robes. And the woven sandals. And he'd scrubbed himself with the hard bristle brush and coated his body in the soaps and powders that had been far too little to get the job done and forced him to buy extra. But he'd done everything the monks had asked and finally… FINALLY… he was ready! He was going to see their scrolls and learn their secret knowledge and he was going to be able to help his friends at long last!

He approached one of the monks and quickly bowed, the man smiling gently and returning the gestured. "I am ready to go over your sacred texts."

"Of course. I am brother Ayay, and I will be the one to lead you into the temple." He motioned for Krillin to follow him. "Now, you have obtained the gloves needed to handle the texts?"

Krillin nodded. 'Obtain… or pay for them?' he thought to himself in annoyance. That had been even more zeni out of his pocket. "Yes, I have," he said simply as they walked up to the temple proper, going up a series of stairs and then entering the structure itself. It was rather plain looking; admittedly the stonework was rather beautiful but there were no carvings or decorations. Just stone brick upon stone brick. There were no other rooms to look in so Krillin felt like he was walking down a long tunnel… though hopefully one that at the end held the answers he desperately needed.

Finally Brother Ayay paused at a single doorway, Krillin peering inside to see a large book sitting on a pillar, a shaft of light coming down from the ceiling to illuminate it.

"Now, how much time would you like to spend studying the text?" Brother Ayay asked.

"Well I-" Krillin looked at the man only to find he had pulled out anther billing scroll. "Ah." He pulled out some zeni and handed it over. "Let's start with 3 hours."

"Very good. I will return when you are done. May you find what you seek." The man bowed and left Krillin alone to enter the room.

'Okay,' he thought as he stepped into the small space, moving towards the pedestal, 'this has been really frustrating… and expensive… but it was worth it! I'm finally going to learn the secrets of the Miser and be able to help my friends! Hopefully its some special technique, or a way to power myself up, or maybe some new fighting style that Raditz will have no way to counter!' Krillin slipped on the gloves before finally reaching out for the tome; he didn't even bother to lift it up choosing to allow it to lay there. It was a deep brown color with bronze inlay, truly a sight to behold. 'Now this is a book that holds secret knowledge!' he thought as he opened the tome up and began to read.

THE POWER WAS ALWAYS IN YOU

The rest of the pages… were blank.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Come now, you have to watch that footwork!" Roshi declared as he walked over to Goku, stopping his and Tien's sparring match. Piccolo had gone off to practice the Special Beam Cannon, trying to figure out ways to power it up far quicker as apparently the move needed 5 minutes to charge ("Five minutes? Fighting isn't like pleasing a woman, Piccolo! Ya don't get a lot of time ta do it! Heheheh!") and that wasn't suitable for any real fight, let alone against someone as quick as Raditz. "I watched that fight thanks ta Isco and I saw how Raditz likes ta keep ta the ground! That means ya have ta remember your footwork, Goku!" He lightly smacked Goku's shin; not enough to hurt him but just enough to make him wise up and move his leg in the direction that Roshi wanted. "Ya have spent too much time fightin' in the sky or hoverin'… ya have ta remember fighting on some solid earth."

Goku, as always, took his scolding with good humor. Honestly that was what made him such a wonderful student. No one would ever claim that Goku was the smartest man in the world but Goku took instruction VERY well. Never became upset, never yelled or complained. He might be confused by suggestions but he'd ASK why he had to do something a certain way and then he'd try it out. No back talk, no sass. Even Gohan, the man and not the little boy, had sassed Roshi a few times during his training. Goku though took everything in stride.

It was why Roshi loved teaching him.

"Right, sorry Master Roshi!" Goku said with a laugh. "Sometimes I forget that while its good to be able to move up or down to get out of a tricky spot I still need to remember my balance!"

"Exactly!" Roshi declared, ambling back over to the 'sidelines'. He had drawn out a large square and was having the two keep themselves within the boundaries, just like as the World Martial Arts Tournament. While there would be nothing like that when it came to battling Raditz it did force both fighters to be aware of where they were and to economize their movements.

"So Gohan," Chichi said from where the two sat, watching Goku train, "why do you think Master Roshi is so concerned with footwork?"

The little boy tilted his head. "Because he might trip and fall?"

"Yes but that's not all," Chichi stated. Chichi had decided that today would be about fundamental learning, something Roshi fully endorsed. Too many fighters thought all they had to do was bulk up their muscles and they would be ready for a fight. They might be ABLE to fight… but win? That was a different story. So Chichi and Gohan were seated on the grass, watching as Tien and Goku began to go at each other again. "Footwork allows you to set up attacks, to better defend, and to force the battle to go the way you want."

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked.

"Look at Tien," she told him. "See how he has an even broader torso and wider shoulders than your father?"

"Yeah!" Gohan proclaimed. "He makes daddy look skinny!"

"Hey!" Goku complained even as he and Tien traded punches and kicks. "I'm not skinny!"

"Compared to Tien you are!" Chiaotzu called out with a laugh.

"Come on!" Goku whined. "That's not fair guys! I'm really strong!"

"Yeah," Tien said with a smirk, "for a skinny guy."

"Guys!" Goku complained but soon he and Tien began to spar once more.

Chichi turned back to Gohan. "Tien is more muscular than your father but that means he has to be even more careful about his footwork. Because that makes him top heavy." She gestured at Chiaotzu. "And Chiaotzu is smaller so that means that his center of gravity is more balanced."

"Center of… gravity?" Gohan asked, mulling over the words.

"That's right!" Chiaotzu declared. "It is all about weight! That's why when me and Tien spar I'm able to keep up with him despite him being so much bigger than me. I know if I hit him in the right spot he could go down."

"Oh!" Gohan said, delighted to have finally caught on to what everyone was getting at.

"Plus it saves energy to stay on the ground," Chichi stated. "Your father can fight far longer on the ground than he can in the air. Its like how you can walk far longer than you can run."

"You're really smart, mommy!" Gohan declared, causing Chichi to blush.

"Oh, I don't know about that…"

Goku though spoke up. "But Gohan is right! You and Bulma are the two smartest people I know! I would have had so much trouble if I didn't have them around! That's why its real important you listen to them when they tell you something."

"Goku…" Chichi said softly, blushing at his compliment.

And then crying out when Tien managed to leg sweep him, causing Goku to go slamming down hard into the packed down dirt.

"Daddy!" Gohan cried out as Goku groaned, rubbing the back of his head even as Chichi rushed over to him.

"Goku, are you okay?"

"Heheh, I'm fine!" Goku said but from the way his words were slurring it was clear he wasn't right as rain. "I've taken harder hits than that…" He stared at her, blinking. "Whoa… there are two of you?" He reached out and Chichi leaned back so he didn't poke her in the eye. "Wow Chichi, when did you learn the multi-form technique."

"Heh, so much for people sayin' Goku has a thick skull!" Roshi laughed.

"That is not funny!" Chichi roared, darting into Master Roshi's general direction, making him shiver with fear as she approached, looming over the expert martial artist. "My husband has a head injury and you think this is a grand joke?"

"Daddy?" Gohan said worriedly and Chiaotzu floated over to comfort the boy, allowing him to feel a bit of ease even as he stared at his father in confusion.

"Don't worry Gohan," Goku said, shaking his head (which in everyone's opinion would only make the damage worse). "I'm… I'm fine. All I need is a senzu bean and I'll be back to training-"

"Oh no you don't!" Chichi said firmly, moving away from Master Roshi, who sighed in relief, and approaching her husband. "We aren't going to be using any senzu beans on this unless we absolutely need too!"

That caused Goku to blink in surprise. "But… but Chichi…"

"The senzu beans can heal up any wound or injury, yes," she said, cutting him off, "but they shouldn't be used for minor aches and pains."

"But my head really hurts!" Goku whined before looking at Gohan and grimacing. "Uh… but not really, Gohan! Its fine. Heheh-ow."

Master Roshi rolled his eyes at that.

"Goku," Chichi replied firmly, "the senzu beans are for if there is an emergency. I know how you are… as it gets closer to Raditz returning you are going to push yourself even harder. And that means you are more likely to hurt yourself."

"Right," Goku said, confused. "And I'll just use a senzu bean."

"And what will you do if you wasted all the senzu beans on smaller injuries that just needed you to rest?"

"Uh… well, I'll get more!"

Master Rohsi though frowned. "Didn't Kayos say that Korin wasn't for sure when the next batch of Senzu beans would be ready?" It actually wasn't a question; the film maker had directly warned them all of that which is why he'd ended up giving the beans to Chichi to keep safe; while Goku might have been willing to try and sneak in and steal them from Kayos he wouldn't risk angering his wire and thus the beans were safest with Chichi.

"Oh… heheh. Right, forgot about that…"

Chichi glowered at him before sighing. "Come on Goku, we are getting you to bed." She helped him up before glancing at Tien. "That was a very good leg sweep. Come along Gohan." The little boy nodded and the Son family headed back to the research station, Goku the last one everyone heard as he complained about missing out on training and how he'd need to work 'three times as hard' tomorrow to make up for it.

'Honestly with Goku though the idea of having an excuse for working even harder was probably a wonderful thing,' Roshi thought to himself with a sniff before turning to Tien and Chiaotzu. "Chichi was right, that was a good leg sweep, Tien. Good to see you remember that there is more to a fight than just throwing punches!"

"When he has to fight me all the time he learns how to be sneaky!" Chiaotzu declared with a smirk.

"That's right," Tien said before narrowing his eyes, his own smile forming. "And since I just lost Goku I think its time you and I began doing some sparring."

Roshi laughed at the look of surprise that flashed across Chiaotzu's face.

~MC~MC~MC~

Krillin walked away from the temple, grumbling under his breath as he hefted his bag on his shoulders. It was a bit fuller than it had been when he arrived, as it was stuffed with his robes and sandals and the left over soaps from the bathhouse. He'd paid a lot of good zeni for those useless things he wasn't going to toss them aside. The monks had made a bunch of offers to clean them, pack them, or recycle them for him but he was just so tired and done with their scams that he hadn't even been able to muster the energy to yell at them. Instead he'd merely moved past them, glowering the entire time as they asked him to return.

'Maybe I can get Raditz to destroy them first before we fight him,' Krillin thought bitterly as he continued back along the path. 'All that work just to be told the secret is in me?' He shook his head. He'd gone through the book several times but only the first page had any writing on it. The rest was completely blank. A search of the room had shown that there weren't any hidden text so it had just been that book… and that lousy, unhelpful message. 'I knew I shouldn't have trusted that guy Kayos and his stupid scroll. I wasted three weeks I could have been training finding this place!' He patted his back pocket just to make sure that his wallet was still there, not trusting the monks to have pickpocketed him. 'And wasted a year's worth of savings too!'

"So, ya enjoy the tourist trap?" Barley called out from his hammock as Krillin walked by the old hermit's shack.

"Yeah, it was a blast," Krillin muttered as he continued on.

Barley, undeterred by Krillin's anger, continued to mock him. "I warned ya! I told ya it was a tourist trap! That get ya with them fancy soaps of theirs and their robes? They have that soap delivered via cargo robot… probably costs about 20 zeni!" He laughed at that. "Everyone falls for it! Seeking out quick answers in order to make themselves feel better about everything."

Krillin's eye twitched but he kept walking.

"Well, you go scurry back to your mansion and have your servants tell you it was worth it! That's what most of you deluded rich folks do!"

He tried to remain calm. To be patient. To let the insults just roll off his back.

But all his life Krillin had been mocked. Taunted about his looks, his height, his skills. Told that he would never be good enough. That he was the weak link. That he would only hurt others by getting in the way.

And all that came bursting forth.

"Shut your mouth!" he roared, whipping around and stalking back towards Barley. "You think this is a game? A joke? You could have told me it was all a scam. Actually explained what they were doing instead of giving me veiled references! But you didn't! You just wanted me go off so you could have a sick laugh!"

"Now see-"

"YOU SEE!" Krillin thundered. "Rich man? I just lost most of my life savings thanks to those con men! But I don't care about that… I would have given up everything I had if it had given me the answers I needed. My friend died for me and now his killer is coming back and we have to stop him because if we don't he's going to kill everyone on the planet! My friends are training to be ready for him and this was my way of helping… I know they are stronger than me but that doesn't matter so long as I can hold my own against that bastard and make him pay for what he did to Yamcha! And all I got to show for it is being told the answer is within me? That isn't going to help protect Gohan or Bulma or Master Roshi or anyone else! So you keep your insults and your comments to yourself because I. Am. Done!"

Barley stared at him as Krillin panted.

"Well? What insult do you have now to throw at me?" Krillin demanded.

The old man slowly got out of his hammock.

"Come on," he said, motioning for Krillin to follow him.

"What are-"

"Ya deaf as well as poor? I said come on!" Barley proclaimed before walking towards his front door. After a few moments Krillin sighed and followed after.

"I don't-"

"You had your chance ta rant and rave now you're gonna listen ta me," Barley said, opening the door and not bothering to look back to make sure that Krillin was following him. "I was a business man… though not by choice. I went to school and was told that's what I would become and… well… that's how things were. You were told what your job was and you just did it. I didn't mind though, because I was told that's how I could make a lot of money… and all I cared about was making money."

The shack was just like what Krillin expected it to be. One large room with a worn and chipped table, an ancient woodstove with a half rusted tea kettle sitting on it. The living area… if it could be called that… was just a rug and a half collapsed chair that had been repaired many times before. He saw a small doorway with no actual door and within he saw the very edge of a tiny bed. There was nothing really to draw the eye or keep one's attention. Just a drab little living space.

"We were very good at it… very good at it." Barley smiled at that, shaking his head. "Rouge and I… we were good at business but not good at life. Only cared about ourselves and didn't really even care about that. Didn't make money to use it… just to cling to it. Horde it. Still can't break out of that habit, to be honest." He shook his head. "It wouldn't have mattered… until I got sick."

He turned and finally looked at Krillin.

"Until I died."

Eyes going wide Krillin stumbled back, staring at horror at Barley…

…who chuckled.

"I ain't a ghost."

Krillin glared at Barley.

"But I did die," he said. "I was dead and gone. But there was no peace. Anyone that tells you that the afterlife is all clouds and feathered buggers is lying."

'No,' Krillin thought, 'its King Yemma at his desk…'

"I was trapped… forever to haunt the world. Weighed down with chains of torment. Imagine the heaviest shackles you can think of… then triple that weight. They pulled me down… made every movement take all my energy. I could hardly walk. Hardly move. Took all my willpower to do so. I had to learn how to gather my strength, to conserve it and make use of every drop I had because I couldn't waste even a droplet."

Krillin tried to imagine it. Tried to picture him covered in chains, desperately trying to reach his friends as they fought against Raditz.

"Rouge though… Rouge. I knew I had to save him from that. I waited til the stars aligned and the barrier between the living and dead was its weakest and reached out to him. Got him to understand that he had to change."

Barley smiled.

"And he did. By George he did. Became a new man. I… I just didn't realize how much. After a few years, after he had done all he could to make up for his mistakes… he began to make up for mine. He worked to balance the scales, despite not even knowing if it would do anything."

"It did," Krillin said softly.

"Of course it did, I'm here ain't I?!" Barley said with a mocking laugh, making Krillin glower. "He balanced the scales. My chains were gone. And when he was given the chance… he swapped with me."

"…swapped?"

"This ain't what I used to look like," Barley stated. "Rouge took my place in the afterlife and I got his body. Only he didn't get trapped in chains. The last words I heard him say was 'I'm so light…' and then… I was here. In his body." He looked down at his hands… his friends hands. "Given a second chance."

"…you're the Repentant Miser," Krillin whispered.

"Ain't as dumb as ya look!" Barley taunted.

"Then… why…" Krillin began only to pause. "Wait… no… it makes sense. You want to make sure the people that seek you out are actually worthy. So you let them go deal with those con artists. If they just accept what they said then they aren't the right people to learn from you. Same if they get mad but only focus on the money they lost. Because they are only worried about themselves. But if they explain to you WHY they want to learn from you… then you'll teach them."

Barley blinked at that.

"Right?"

"…yes!" the old man declared. "Yes! It isn't for shits and giggles at all!" He laughed and after a moment Krillin began to chuckle as well. "You are very wise, young man… very wise… and because of that… I will teach you my secrets. Now then… flare out your Ki."

Krillin frowned. "Flare out my ki?"

Barley's smile fell. "You ain't deaf, are ya? I'd say ya have hair in your ears but ya don't have any on top of that bald head of yours! I have more hair than ya!" He lifted up his hat to reveal the few strands that he did have before plopping it back down. "So show me your Ki! Power up!"

"Right!" Krillin said with more determination and he tensed, tapping into his inner power. At once he felt his power level begin to rise up as strength flooded his muscles, allowing him to fight at a much-

"Stop!" Barley called out, causing Krillin to pause. "Hold onto that, right now!"

Krillin, used to Master Roshi, did as he was asked, focusing on maintaining his power at the level it was currently at. A ki aura was flaring off his skin, crackling and flickering like a bonfire. It always amazed him when he was able to call forth such power; all his life he had been called weak. Pathetic. And yet he was able to tap into power that few in the world could! He glanced down at his arm, seeing the aura and knowing it was a sign of his strength-

"Look at that wasteful use of energy!"

Krillin blinked and snapped out of the power up he'd entered. "What?"

"That aura of yours!" Barley complained. "Did ya see it?"

"Well… yea," Krillin said. "It was pretty impressive, right?"

"Impressive?" Barley asked before letting out a cackle. "Its flashy! That's what it is!"

Krillin frowned. "And that's… bad?"

Barley shot him a dark look. "Ya ever here the phrase "All flash, no substance"?"

Bristling at that Krillin snapped. "There is plenty of substance! That is proof of my power!"

"Yeah, it is," Barely said, causing the young man to once more pause, confused by his sudden change in attitude. Gone was his dismissive attitude and instead Barely was pensive. Considerate. Serious. "It is showy though. And wasteful."

"Wasteful?"

Barley nodded. "That glow you have going? That's your ki leaking out of your body. Released into the air. That's why you have to focus in order to power up… and have to be careful when doing it. No different than performing a KI blast."

"Well… yeah," Krillin said, not getting Barley's point. "I mean, that's what happens when you tap into your ki-"

Barely, without even flexing a muscle, suddenly began to glow.

It was barely there. Just a light illumination coming from under his skin. It was like someone holding a flashlight up to someone's ear. It was nothing like Krillin's power up, or Goku, or Piccolo. Tien or Chiaotzu or Roshi either. He'd… he'd honestly never seen someone power up like that. But what was more startling was just how POWERFUL Barley had suddenly become. No where near Goku of course, or even Krillin himself… but Krillin could sense that his energy levels had rocketed up.

"Do you know what wins fights?" Barley asked. "Endurance. A flashy move might be nice but 9 times out of 10 people win fights by outlasting their opponents. Letting them tire themselves out so you can then end the battle with a single blow as they stand there barely able to remain up and running." He smirked at Krillin, gesturing at his own body. "I will never be the strongest fighter. I know that. Seeing that orange wearing guy with the bed head and the green fellow? I know I'll never match them. Heck, I can tell you are more powerful than me. But… I will outlast you. Let you drain your strength away performing silly moves, flaring your aura, and the entire time letting your strength just leech away… and then I will win."

And suddenly Barley was darting around him, throwing out punches and kicks that Krillin moved to deflect and counter. And while he managed to avoid getting hit by the time Barley ended Krillin could feel his heart pounding… and the old man was standing there, yawning.

"That is what I will teach you. I will show you how to make every drop of KI matter. You will attack with punches that use only the bare minimum you need. Your strikes will be small… but devastating. You will be able to destroy 40 showy fools who waste their time and energy just to try and impress others. Not because you want to be strong! Not because you think you have to prove yourself! Because you know you need every ounce of strength so you can protect your friends! Your family! Your world!" He pointed a spindly finger at Krillin. "Are you ready to learn?"

Krillin nodded his head, tightening his gi. "I am!"

"Then… let's show you the secrets of Selfless Style!"

~MC~MC~MC~

"Bulma?" I called out as I walked back down into her lab. "Feeling any better?"

"Oh, so much!" Bulma said as she came out of a room, brushing her hair. She'd changed into a nicer outfit, had done her makeup, and most importantly looked like she'd actually gotten some sleep. "Hey, lunch!" She paused, considering the plate I had brought down full of… well, frankly it was all Japanese food so I had no fucking idea what any of it was and was just glad that the robots in the kitchen could make pizza and burgers. "Or is it supper?"

"Technically for you it's brunch considering you just got up," I stated, "but it's a late lunch for everyone else."

"Oooooh," Bulma bemoaned, "I shouldn't have done that… so much time wasted-"

"Noooooo," I said slowly, drawing out the word, "you shouldn't have tried to go multiple days without sleep. You need sleep to keep you sane."

"Oh?" Bulma asked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Thankfully it was Isco who answered. "It means that when you humans don't power down properly you tend to get manic ideas. And as someone who relies upon you to make sure I operate at peak efficiency I don't like the idea of going into Safe Mode only to awaken with half my shell now made of water and coconuts."

"You wouldn't mind spider legs though," I commented.

"Well, naturally," Isco replied.

Bulma stared as down and I prepared myself for her to begin screaming and ranting about how we had no idea what we were talking about… only for Bulma to let out a disheartened sigh. "Yeah… yeah, you're right." She dropped her gaze, staring at her hands. "I just feel so… useless!" Bulma began to pace the floor, Isco and I following after her so it became less pacing and more her leading a small parade. "I just keep trying to think of ways to help everyone train and… I can't figure out what to do! Krillin is gone so I can't help him out until he gets back. Piccolo says that he is fine and honestly I don't want to press him on any of that. Chichi has a thousand notes for Gohan with half of them being "I don't want my baby to be training for anything!". And Goku…" She let out a groan. "Do you realize how hard it is to help Goku train when he can't even decide himself what he wants?"

"Considering when we asked him last week what he wanted on his burger and he just began rattling off ingredients?" I said.

"Its worse than that!" Bulma bemoaned, throwing her hands up in the air. "At least then I'd have something to work with! But all Goku says is "Oh, I don't know! Anything would be great!" Then does that stupid laugh of his. "heheheh!" You know the one?"

Isco chimed in. "Where he shuts his eyes and rubs the back of his head?"

"Yes!" Bulma exclaimed, pointing at him. "That's it exactly! Ooooh, I am growing to hate that laugh!"

"Bulma," I said gently, "calm down."

"Don't you tell me to calm down!" she thundered, spinning around and jabbing a finger under my nose. "I am going to be as uncalm as I want, thank you very much!"

"Fair enough," I said quickly, holding up my hands in surrender.

"I'm just so tired of trying to figure out a way to help him! Any of them! Even when I come up with a good idea they crap all over it. I suggested coming up with a better weight lifting system and Master Roshi just laughed because it was 'easier to have them all lift trees!'. Just… gaaaah!" She let out a frustrated cry and kicked at a garbage can, causing it to topple over and send wadded up pieces of paper flying everywhere. Of course within moments little cleaning droids began to run about, gathering the paper and putting it right back in the bin.

"Making the children work…" Isco muttered in disgust, staring at the droids. "The nerve of…oh, wait… no, they are just little droids. That's fine, they deserve to suffer then."

I decided not to poke that bear and instead focused on Bulma. "Can I be honest?"

"Sure," Bulma stated, having moved to a chair and slumped down on it in defeat, her rage leaving her and depression returning.

"You are thinking of this all backwards."

"Oh?" she asked, though she barely mustered the energy to do that.

"Yeah." I paused. "How would you defeat Goku?"

"What?" Bulma asked, confused.

"How would you defeat Goku?"

"Like… I don't-"

"If you right now had to take him down, ensure he couldn't fight… what would you do?"

"I don't know."

I shot her a cold look. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not!" Bulma protested. "I have no idea how I'd defeat him! I don't think about fighting my friends."

"Yes you do," I replied. "You think about it. Just like Goku has. And Tien. And Krillin. Everyone does it. Nothing wrong with it, completely natural. It is something everyone considers at some point: how would you take out a friend. Goku has done it for all of us, mark my words. Thought about how he'd get into Capsule Corp. What to do if Tien went berserk. Even how to defeat Master Roshi. Its nothing evil its just… that's how fighters think."

"Like you and your poison idea?" Bulma asked.

"I am NEVER going to live that down, am I?" I grumbled, both Bulma and Isco shaking their heads (or rather Isco just wiggled his entire form from side to side). "My point is that there is nothing wrong thinking about how you might fight someone. Daydream about it. Think of all the ways you could take someone down. So I ask you again, Bulma: How would you defeat Goku?"

Bulma considered my question very carefully. "…so going at him with straight kicks and punches aren't going to work. Not only because Goku is super strong but he's also super tough. So even getting something to augment my strength wouldn't help that much. He's fast too but I could counter that if I were able to plan ahead and figure out where to have the fight… lead him into someplace that wouldn't be easily for him to escape from. He couldn't see it coming though because if he had time to study it he'd probably just blast his way out."

Bulma got up and began to walk about, this time Isco and I remaining put as she worked over the problem carefully in her head.

"So its not brute force. And you can't hold him in a trap for long. Give him even a minute or two and he can figure out how to get out of a nasty situation. That's why I ruled things out like poison gas. Goku would realize what was going on. Gravity crushing him down is the same thing… he'd figure out how to either break the machine or fight in high gravity-"

"Speak of we should discuss that idea later," I said, not wanting to derail her thoughts but… if she could build a Gravity Chamber early the group could race ahead by leaps and bounds.

"Electricity is what I've been thinking of. Something to shock him, fry his nerves. Hard and quick so he can't think. You'd have to pile it on… couldn't make it prolonged though. So a quick hard burst. And I'd need a way to get out of his path…" She rubbed her chin before suddenly looking up at me. "Okay, I get what you are going for. Raditz is Goku's brother so reasonably whatever works on Goku would work on Raditz. There is just one problem: the only person that might be willing to use any of these ideas is you and you're all in with magic."

"Not all in," I stated. "I'm willing to have a few science tricks up my sleeve."

"Still, you said yourself you aren't a fighter."

"Yeah, that's true," I admitted. "And it wasn't me I was thinking of."

"Then who?"

I just stared at her.

"What?"

"Bulma… you ever think about Power Armor?"