"What is this place!?" Sharpner gasped, clinching to Videl's neck as the two soared through the clouds, following Gohan and the rest as they made their way through and burst with energy to ascend to God Temple level faster.
"Please don't cover my eyes, Sharpner-kun," Videl complained as the terrified stud wrapped himself around Videl's upper body like she was his life raft and Sharpner found himself lost in an ocean during a storm. "If we miss the God Temple, we'll end up shooting into the upper atmosphere and into outer space."
"U-Upper atmosphere, outer space!?" Sharpner shrieked and closed his eyes before Videl did a neat tunneling spin through the last layer of clouds and then made her final push to the temple. When the air resistance lightened up and breathing began feeling rough, Sharpner opened his eyes only to see God's Temple in all of its glory. At that moment, fear gave way to awe, which let Videl complete their ascension and put the fledgling martial artist down.
"G-God Temple? You mean the actual God lives here!?" Sharpner looked around, staring at the deep blue sky above him as if expecting a colossal pair of eyes to open and for some gigantic sky fairy to reveal itself to the assembled martial artists.
"I like to think of myself as more a Guardian than a God," Kami Upa butt into the conversation, walking out from the God Temple and calmly strutting into the circle of gathered martial artists to calm Sharpner's mind since he was the only one horrified at what he was seeing around him. Even if this was Goten and Navy's first time on the God Temple too, they seemed to take this a lot better than Sharpner, since the boys were just looking around and memorizing the place. Knowing the two, they were just gathering the courage to erupt into standard toddler buffoonery. Navy too was counting all the different ways he could get into trouble here with an ecstatic smirk on his face.
"What's wrong with him, Videl-san?" Goten asked, turning to Videl who bowed to Kami Upa, showing an apt level of respect to someone who is one of the honorable martial arts masters she's studying from. "Did he hit his head like Dad? It's okay, Sharpner-kun, you'll get over it in time!"
Still whimpering a tad, Sharpner regained his composure and stood back on his own two feet, at the very least. He could only let out a goofy giggle in response to being teased by an actual three-year-old. Despite the internal humiliation that Sharpner was boiling with, he took the teasing and held up as firmly as he could.
"Don't feel too bad about all this, young man," Muten Roshi patted the shoulder of the strapping young man. "If it helps at all, you might feel easier knowing that despite practicing martial arts for centuries, I've only been in this temple while it served as a sanctuary and never as a student."
"I… I see…" Sharpner blinked in rapid succession before leaning to Gohan's side while pointing to Muten Roshi. "Who's that old-geezer, anyway?" he asked with a whisper, not wishing to be heard or to insult the old-timer.
"Oh? That's Muten Roshi-san," Gohan replied with his ordinary voice and tone. "He is an incredible martial arts master my Dad once studied from. Videl learned a thing or two from him too, but I don't think I've ever had the honor of studying under him."
"Hmm…" Sharpner scratched his chin.
"I can't believe it," Muten Roshi shriveled up in disappointment. "Has my skill and renown around the world truly dipped so much that nobody knows my name anymore?"
"Say, old man…" Sharpner clapped his hands together and bowed to the old martial arts master. "Could you teach me a thing or two while we're here? Gohan told me he's never had the honor of studying under you, so I will take any opportunity of one-upping him!"
"Get lost, you brat!" Muten Roshi shook his staff over his head. "After insulting my pride as a martial arts master, thinking that I would accept a fresh young'un as a student as some kind of favor, you'll have to make up to me for fifty years of servitude in the Kame House before I'll teach you anything!"
Sharpner leaned back, freaked out by the offended response from the old martial arts master. However, he noticed that Muten Roshi was staring at Sharpner's chest. Blushing a little and feeling a tad objectified, the dashing young man straightened his back and peeked at what it might have been that the old timer was peeping at. It was, in fact, the image of a gorgeous and talented actress, Peruka. Seeing the infatuation projected by the old martial arts master, Sharpner removed his shirt, leaving himself in his sleeveless tank top, and handed it to Muten Roshi with the decorum of handing someone a treasured artifact.
"My apologies for offending a martial arts legend, Muten Roshi-san, allow me to offer to you this shirt, depicting the Rollingwood goddess Peruka that I bought on a school trip for five thousand zeni!" Sharpner muttered, hoping that this would help him sway the old martial arts master to his side.
"Very well, I shall accept your apology, young man," Muten Roshi took the revered T-shirt off of him, pressing it to his chest with a red-colored drool peeking from his nostril. "However, just because we are facing dire circumstances, that doesn't mean that I shall bypass the usual process that I accept students with. You will still have to find me a Pichi-Pichi gal, you hear me?"
"I… I understand, sir…" Sharpner bowed. This may have been the first time in his life that he felt glad to bow since he needed to conceal his embarrassment. He could almost feel Videl's judgmental glare stabbing him in the back and raking it into strips of torn flesh and exposed nerves. "Will teaching you how to use the internet work?" he mumbled while leaning closer to Muten Roshi's ear.
"Are there any Pichi-Pichi gals in this internet dimension?" Muten Roshi wondered, looking up to his hopeful new prospect with aspiration.
"Yes, you can even sign up on dating sites or watch aerobics videos and stream movies online," Sharpner confirmed.
"Hmm… I can see why Gohan and Videl took up teaching you. You show much promise, young man," Muten Roshi stroked his beard.
A thunderous smack shocked Sharpner and made him stagger back in terror as the famous heiress of the Capsule Corps empire who not only didn't squander the company she's inherited but expanded it greatly, Bulma, slammed a fist into the back of the martial arts master's bald head while grinding her knuckles in to the point of swelling.
"And here to think that I felt bad about not visiting you for so long, you old perv!" Bulma growled while rubbing her knuckle like a brutish barbarian, wiping blood and brain matter off their mace after a grueling battle.
"That's not even what I meant, you shrill harpy!" Muten Roshi barked back at Bulma, shaking his fist in the air. "I was impressed by young Sharpner's ability to breathe so high in the air! It's a promising sign to an up-and-coming martial artist, but of course a lazy and spoiled viper who's never worked out once in her life wouldn't understand that!"
"You have incredibly famous, yet awfully peculiar friends," Sharpner sighed, slowly dragging himself back to Gohan and Videl's side.
"Welcome to the club!" Gohan laughed out. The fact that none of these interactions surprised the Saiyan teen only showed Sharpner that this was pretty much how every bigger meeting of this circle of friends would go.
"Surely these can't be all the martial artists," Kami Upa approached Goku from behind, who was talking to Piccolo at the time. The trio turned around and scanned the crew that pretty much comprised their circle of friends, the Dragon Team, and their allies and supporters.
"If you meant the other World Martial Arts Tournament competitors, they're not easy to find. Their Ki doesn't necessarily stand out as more than a few of them kept Dr. Puri's Artificial Human enhancements. Some of them retired for good," Goku pressed his knuckles to his waist with a pout.
"I don't think that their strength is anywhere near the point where Cell will care too much about attacking them for their techniques," Piccolo noted. "Though he might still attack them to drain them of their energy."
"You two should focus on training and becoming strong enough to defeat Cell," Kami Upa insisted. "Leave rescuing people to me, Mr. Popo, Dende, and Yajirobe. I've had Mr. Popo restock the Room of Spirit and Time. However, we've only got enough supplies for three rounds of two people training in there for a day. The room's facilities only have enough food to last two people for a year. This calamity has taught me that instead of thinking how to upgrade the Dragon Balls, it might be worthwhile to use my magic to upgrade the Room of Spirit and Time."
"Hmph," Piccolo crossed his arms. "You forgot I don't need food, just water."
"That's right! That will come in handy when planning out who we send into the room!" Goku exclaimed with excitement.
"It doesn't matter who I train with. I'd prefer to train alone, but that wouldn't be very efficient. I can go in with either pair to maximize the training efficiency. Training in a group is more effective than training alone or in a pair," Piccolo pointed out. "It would probably be the best if I went in with the strongest pair. I suggest that Chayote, I, and Son enter first. Then the following pair, then we re-enter, we repeat this pattern until Cell reveals itself and we must confront it. If someone is to stop Cell, it will most likely either be me, Son, or Chayote."
"Hmm…" Goku jumbled something in his mouth. He clearly had a problem with Piccolo's proposition, despite it being the most efficient way of gaining strength. "I'd rather train in a pair with Gohan. You can tag along, Piccolo. I'm sure our trio would have great chemistry!"
"Gohan is strong, but he's still young and he's unlikely to serve as a front-line fighter. He's not the type to rush into battle and his potential will be best served if he only enters battle if the front line fails and there's no other option," Piccolo stood his ground. "Chayote is one of the strongest warriors we've got. If she learns to take control of her Legendary Super Saiyan form inside the Room of Spirit and Time, it's hard to imagine Cell having an answer for that. Cell's potential is only as vast as that of the warriors it can find and drain and the techniques it can learn."
"Yeah, I'm not really thinking about fighting Cell here," Goku admitted, leaning and focusing on Gohan, chatting with Videl and Sharpner while Goten shot off into the sky, exploding with a vivid, crystal-clear, and transparent aura. "I'm thinking about the next generation of martial artists here. This is a good chance to put them through a test, to instill what we know and what we've learned into them. With Vegeta, Dad, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan off-planet, this is exactly what their era will be like."
"Where's this coming from!?" Piccolo snarled. "You don't intend on dying against Cell, do you?"
"I don't plan on it," Goku shrugged with a giggle. "But the next generation will have to take over, eventually. Krillin and Lazuli are more focused on their jobs and married lives, Yamcha is focusing on his sports career, and Tenshinhan has been ahead of me with this idea of teaching the next generation for years. You will last for centuries, Piccolo, but a lot of us won't."
"Damn it, of all the times, you decide to become all somber and philosophical now?" Piccolo reared his fangs. "Hey, Chayote, can you beat some sense into this oaf!? He's insisting on training in the Room of Spirit and Time with Gohan!"
With a worried look following the ferocious dance of two blazing young boys ripping through the sky like energized spinning tops and kicking up a ruckus in the hallowed site, raising gales that ripped the leaves off the palm trees and making some noise, Chayote looked back at Piccolo and waved her hand in dismissal.
"That's fine by me. I'm going in with Navy," she replied without a care in the world. "I'm not trusting any of you to handle watching over him anyway."
"You too, huh?" Piccolo sighed. "After neglecting listening to Kami Upa's warnings for so long and letting Cell get this far, still you're only concerned with your own goals. Unbelievable…" he scolded the Saiyans before sighing and breaking into a subtle smirk. Now that he was hearing it out loud, he couldn't imagine ever thinking that they would react any other way.
"So, how about we Rock, Paper, and Scissors for who's going first?" Goku smiled, putting up his fist as a show of initiative. "I'll represent the trio of Piccolo, me, and Gohan, Chayote can represent herself and Navy, Chi-Chi can represent herself and Goten."
"Gohan-kun! Gohan-kun… Can you hear me?" a voice rang in Gohan's head, prompting the young Saiyan to look up and turn behind him. That was the vague direction from which the voice came from, however, this made no sense as there was nothing above the God Temple where the voice could be coming from. "This is King Kai!"
"Oh, King Kai-sama!" Gohan gasped, speaking up in reaction to a telepathic signal. "It's a shock hearing from you! Did something happen?"
"Where are you right now? Do you think there might be any chance that you could ask Kami Upa to bring you to the Other World and travel to my planet?" King Kai wondered.
"Huh? Gohan, what's going on?" Videl turned to Gohan, who seemed to be talking to somebody that no one else could hear. Sharpner had adopted the habit of taking everything he was seeing for granted and just accepting it questioning nothing by now, but seeing Videl surprised by this behavior tipped him off that maybe this wasn't one of those outlandish things that he was meant to just accept without understanding.
"It's King Kai-sama! He's a brilliant martial arts master, the King of Worlds. I guess you could say he's the God of Martial Arts," Gohan explained to the pair, neither of whom knew what he was talking about. "When I was a child and my Dad died, King Kai accepted me as his student, but, because he lives in the Other World, I've never checked up on him once since completing his training."
"Huh? Another God of Martial Arts?" Sharpner squinted with a long face. "Then… What does that make Muten Roshi-san?"
"You nincompoop!" Muten Roshi smacked Sharpner with his staff. "It's ordinary folks that call me the God of Martial Arts. To me, Master Korin is the God of Martial Arts, to someone like Master Korin, Kami Upa would be the God of Martial Arts, King Kai is the God of Martial Arts to the Gods like Kami Upa themselves!"
"What am I supposed to even say to that?" Sharpner submitted to the shroud of confusion that veiled him. "And here I thought I'd be doing something that Gohan couldn't by completing Muten Roshi-san's training…"
"I've been wondering when you would drop by for more training. I bet you've grown into a fine young man and learned plenty more jokes by now. I promise to make it worth your while–I've invented a few more martial arts techniques, far more powerful than even the Spirit Bomb!"
"Eh!?" Gohan gasped. "More powerful than even the Spirit Bomb!? Can such a technique even be possible? Never mind that why are you reaching out to me out of nowhere like that!? It's been so many years since you last checked up on my progress?"
"Maybe to a mortal Saiyan, when you're watching over the North Galaxy in the Other World, millennia fly by unnoticed. To me, it hardly feels like you've left my planet that long ago," King Kai pointed out.
"Hmm…" Gohan crossed his arms, realizing he was in a real pickle. He's just finished emotionally adjusting to the fact that he'd end up sealed in the Room of Spirit and Time for a year with his father and Piccolo, doing nothing but training that whole time. It wasn't like he would have minded that too much, but… Learning from King Kai again sounded like an alluring opportunity. One that any martial artist would have been foolish to let pass by them. "To be truthful, I am up at the God Temple right now and I've got Kami Upa-san within hand's reach. I don't believe it would be that difficult to pass on to the Other World, as long as we can arrange something with Enma-san."
"K-King Enma!? You mean the terrifying King of Ogres that judges souls in the afterlife!?" Sharpner exclaimed with a dropped jaw. "You're making deals with people like that!?"
"Gohan…" Goku said, placing a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder. "It's okay. Go for it!" he clenched a firm and encouraging fist and extended it to Gohan for a bump. "Work hard, master all of King Kai's new techniques, and floor me with how amazing you've become!"
"Well…" Gohan looked back at Videl and Sharpner. "Could I, by any chance, take two of my students with me?"
"Eh? More living mortals in the Other World?" King Kai scratched his chin. "I mean… You drive a hard bargain, but… It's just so damn infuriating that the Saiyans have invented all those outlandish transformations and left my treasured martial arts techniques in the dust! I simply must pass these new techniques on! Very well… I suppose…"
"Gohan-kun," Videl walked up to Gohan and took his hand. "You should go," she said in a shaky tone.
"Videl-san…" Gohan muttered in disbelief.
"It's okay. It's not like Sharpner-kun can handle jumping straight to training in the Other World. Frankly, I'm not sure I could either. It's an incredible opportunity just learning from Kami Upa-san," Videl said. "Besides, from the sound of it, it's not like you won't be able to speak to us every day from up there, right?"
"Say, King Kai-sama," Gohan wondered. "Is it possible to communicate with other people for me like you do, all the way from the Other World?"
"We've done so already way back, remember? Just press your hand to my back and you can reach any place in the universe with your mind," King Kai reminded Gohan.
"I see, in that case, I'd love to learn your new techniques!" Gohan said. "Just arrange with King Enma-san that I'll be coming over."
"Understood," King Kai replied and Gohan felt all alone suddenly, feeling creeped out by hearing no voices in his head, even though he's lived his most of his life that way.
Thus the remnants of the once invincible group that protected the Earth and the entire universe against terrifying threats that would put it in danger, the Dragon Team, assembled to prepare and stay safe in the face of the most recent and the most powerful threat of all they've ever faced.