A pair of men stood in front of one another with their fellow martial artists lined up behind each fighter and scrutinizing their confrontation. On the farthest side of the dojo sat a muscular and bald, three-eyed man who also kept close attention to the confrontation. The two martial artists collided with one another, trading blows and kicks. Neither one of them backed down in the beginning, even though the one on the left had attempted to trip up and sweep his opponent into surrendering a favorable position.
The slightly slimmer fighter on the right persevered, wincing when the sweeping foot collided with his calf or heel but fighting on through the pain and defying the wobbly balance that came as a result. With a stout and balanced fighting stance and stiff, straight fists, the man moved on and grabbed hold of his opponent's shirt, flipping him over his shoulder and slamming him down on the mat. The fighter on the right locked and loaded his fist and slammed it into the chest of the fallen martial artist, robbing him of any willpower to keep fighting.
"The fight is over!" Tenshinhan declared, raising his hand. While the fallen fighter still bubbled with bloodthirst, upon hearing his master proclaim that the fight was done, he stood up to the best of his ability and bowed to his superior this day. Tenshinhan approached both warriors and thanked them for a good and fair fight with a bow of his own, to which both warriors responded with a synchronized turn and bow of their own.
"You are a mighty warrior, Reis. Even after losing out on your dinner yesterday, you still beat me." The warrior on the left congratulated his opponent. Reis nodded in acknowledgment of his opponent's compliment but said nothing back.
"Do you know why you lost, Sous?" Tenshinhan turned to his student. "It was not because Reis is necessarily more powerful or skilled than you. You've both been my students for about the same amount of time and Reis is, in fact, less bulky than you. The reason you lost is that you are lacking in heart."
"Heart, master?" Sous bowed, requesting his martial arts master to explain.
"That's right. I was a lot like you when I was younger. You'd think that the advantage of eating more than your opponent, entertaining yourself during the late evenings and having a good time, targeting your opponent's vitals, and tripping them up would grant you an advantage but… In the world of martial arts that is not so." Tenshinhan pointed out.
"I'm not sure I understand, master. I thought any tactics are allowed… How can I lose to Reis just because I have eaten dinner and had fun yesterday evening after the training was finished? If anything, it should have tempered my body…" Sous rubbed the back of his bald head. He shivered in respectful fear when his master approached him and pat his student on the shoulder with a caring look.
"I was a lot like you in my youth. I thought that if I gained a rational advantage over my opponent–given my talent for martial arts, surely, I would win any bout. I've come to learn that it is not so. Being pure of heart is much more important. Purging the need for victory, pleasure, and mercy, living only for the sake of martial arts, and taking no shortcuts will make your training many times more effective. Fighting truthfully and striking straight, with genuine and clear intent, will achieve much more than sweeping your opponent in the end, though both are valid methods of attack." Tenshinhan pointed out after walking out in front of all of his students that aligned themselves in a formation before their master.
Just as Tenshinhan was about to impart another nugget of wisdom to his students and speak from his own experience, the ground shook beneath their feet, imparting the students with a newly gained sense of weightlessness as they hovered above the collapsing floor. Only Tenshinhan had adopted a perfect, balanced fighting stance that was necessary to stand his ground in the face of such a potent earthquake.
"M-Master!" the fallen martial arts students hurried to stand up and not appear weak and flawed before their esteemed master. "What is this? Is the volcano erupting again? I thought we've sealed it already."
"No…" Tenshinhan shook his head as sweat poured down his forehead. "This cannot be. This is far too powerful of a shake for that."
As the three-eyed martial artist straightened his stance and began slowly walking to the door to gaze outside, his heart pounded in his chest non-stop. This could only feel like true combat. But how was that possible? He wasn't sensing any opponent capable enough to cause such a tremble of an entire continent. This was someone who should have been capable of drifting or splitting continents with their bare hands, yet there was no Ki signature anywhere nearby more powerful than any of his students.
A myriad of infinitely punier quakes began ravaging Tenshinhan's dojo. The martial arts master opened the door to gaze outside, only to be met with screams and mechanical rumbling. Building-sized tanks and drones flooded the streets, chasing the terrified villagers around and ruining their crop fields with their hefty tracks. Without hesitation, Tenshinhan vanished.
The three-eyed martial arts master appeared before one rumbling tank while it was totaling the surrounding buildings that didn't let it pass in between them by being too close to one another. Merely extending his hand and standing his ground was more than enough for Tenshinhan to stop this behemoth of cybernetic rioting. Once the tank had fully stopped, the martial artist turned his attention up and pointed his finger.
"Scattershot Dodonpa!" Tenshinhan chanted, expelling a spray of Dodonpa energy rays to target most of the airborne buzzards and reduce them to scrap instantly. His Ki sensory suggested that all of this machinery was unmanned. With a ruthless response befitting this cruel assault on his newfound home village, Tenshinhan vanished and appeared all over the village where the rumbling tanks had attempted to pass as a show of their power and disable the puny technology with a mere love tap from his fist or the back of his hand.
That was when human Ki signatures reached Tenshinhan's attention. They were hard to distinguish since this was a thriving village that reveled in trading, so it saw plenty of humans coming, going, and passing by each day. A group of passers-by would have been nothing unusual for his sensory to alarm him of but these advancing signatures were far more organized, clustered into a single group and working toward a single goal. With a slow step, the martial arts master advanced through the alleyways toward the main village street to greet this invading force.
For attacking his new home where he had found his peace, Tenshinhan did not intend on responding to their brutality in kind.
The marching group had been full of geared-up and well-armed soldiers. All of them wore heavy-duty gear and cybernetic equipment and they were all led by a single, central figure. The three of Tenshinhan's eyes focused with a sharper gaze as the martial artist realized that the group's leader had absolutely no Ki signature to him.
"Villagers!" the man raised his muscular hand, letting his open, navy-colored coat hang over his tempered arms and expose his bulky chest. "We are the hired hands of Puri & Co. A corporation focused on medical science and cybernetic enhancement and robotics. You may have heard of us, we'd be the only competitors to the famous Capsule Corps on the market."
"Puri & Co? This is ridiculous!" Tenshinhan objected, stepping out from the crowd and putting himself in a direct line of fire of the entire platoon. "I know Dr. Puri. She is a kind woman who has helped me and my friends many times in the past. All that Dr. Puri cares about is the betterment of humanity. Using her skill in science. She would never just trample all over an innocent village like this!"
The man in charge of this invading force focused his attention on Tenshinhan. He was a tall and muscular individual with dark, baggy pants, military boots, and a long navy coat. A distracting, red mohawk decorated the center of his otherwise bald head and the man stared at Tenshinhan with an emotionless stare of cold, cerulean eyes. A pair of golden earrings dangled on the man's ears.
"Tenshinhan, isn't it?" the man spoke up suddenly, after a prolonged stare down with the martial arts master. "I did not expect one of the Dragon Team to be here, though you have vanished from our radars for a while. I suggest you stand down. The Red Ribbon Army used to have a working relationship with your master and you have nothing to do with our mission here."
"You know about me and Taopaipai?" Tenshinhan's gaze widened in surprise. "How? Answer me!"
"It is as you said, Android 21 has kept very close attention to the Dragon Team's activities after the demise of her husband at the hands of the Saiyan invaders. With the help of her drones, scattered throughout the world, not unlike those you have dispatched of here, she had kept track of all of you and learned everything that you know herself." The commander of the invading force said.
"I don't understand…" Tenshinhan swiped his hand defiantly to the side, clenching it into a fist. "What is this mission you're talking about?"
The commander slipped his hand inside of his coat. While the terrified villagers cowered, afraid that he'd pull out a weapon and start shooting in all directions, Tenshinhan didn't falter one bit. He had bit light years beyond a level where mere bullets could harm him. He would have to suppress his Ki deliberately to near untraceable levels to even be grazed by one. Wonder of wonders, the commander pulled out a tube of toothpaste and showed it before everyone with an emotionless smile that merely showed off the pearly-white teeth of the military leader while his eyes remained cold and apathetic.
"Toothpaste?" Tenshinhan staggered back.
"That's right, we've come here to advocate… No, insist that you hicks wash your teeth. What Tenshinhan said about Android 21 is entirely true–she wants to save the world by having you bums have good mouth hygiene!" the mohawk commander explained without as much as a twitch to his cheeks that could have shown that he was kidding.
The cowering audience became more daring in their objections. Shooting their fists up while yelling unintelligible gibberish that shuffled with the hogwash of their neighbors to turn into absolute cacophony. It was a rare occurrence, but Tenshinhan felt inclined to join in with the crowd. It was just that he had a certain presence and charisma that let his voice overpower that of the crowd and translate their outrage in a more eloquent and audible manner.
"Stop messing around with us! You've invaded our village, so you will give us the real reason, and then you will leave!" Tenshinhan spoke with ire in his voice, but he was not passionate. Irritated by the behavior of these men, but not to where it would consume his actions and cloud his judgment. If ever there was a man capable of handling wrath and channeling it in the right direction, that man was Tenshinhan.
"That is the real reason, Tenshinhan. If everyone here picks up one of these tubes and uses it, we will move on to the next village down the road." The coated general pointed on over the hills and over the horizon. It was the direction in which a neighboring village stood. "You seem to have an aura of authority over these people. They seem to respect you a great deal, Tenshinhan. Perhaps you should show them an example? Either way, you will either submit willingly or these soldiers will brush your teeth for you. The choice is yours."
"Come on, Tenshinhan!" a voice echoed through the crowd.
"Beat these guys' asses already!" another one joined in.
"What are you waiting for, stomp them and kick them out of our village already, master!" someone else joined in and caused a wave of discontent villagers to form a mindless mass of complaints and demands that Tenshinhan take action.
The three-eyed martial arts master clenched his fist and scowled in resentment of his fortune. Because of his great anguish, a gale of wind picked up and rustled his long oriental robe. The force of the gust made the fearful villagers cover-up and grab something solid nearby. At the very least, it made them become silent while Tenshinhan seethed for a few more seconds, then opened his eyes once more, focusing his stare at the mohawk'd commander.
"I have sworn off of this. Fighting like this. It is this sort of fight that lured my best, lifelong friend, into an early grave and after all attempts at undoing this failed… I've sworn to never use my fists in an actual fight again. Instead, I have decided to guide young minds, not unlike me, talented but frustrated, and help them shift their youthful energy toward purity of heart and the path of light." Tenshinhan spoke without raising his voice yet because of the outgoing, intimidating aura. Everyone who cared to hear him heard exactly what Tenshinhan was saying. "I hope now you see why I will not permit you to do as you please in this village, or anywhere else, for that matter. As a last warning and a desperate attempt not to unravel my vows, I humbly request that you leave, commander."
"Commander? I may have at one point in my life have been a commander. Starting as a mere colonel, circumstances forced me to become a commander of the Silver Army. Even though, unlike the powerful and loyal men that comprise the One-Unit, I did not die before conversion, merely lingered on the edge, I don't believe that I can cling to the name of Commander Silver of the Ribbon Brigade anymore. I am now Android No. One-Six." The commander declared. "It is my sworn duty to make the orders of Android 21 come to life. I hope you see how that makes it so that I cannot leave my duty just because you request it, Tenshinhan."
"We are at an impasse then," Tenshinhan closed his eyes and sighed.
"Indeed…" Android One-Six, once a proud and mighty colonel of the Red Ribbon Army and a commander in the Rainbow Brigade–Colonel Silver, now–an Android under Dr. Puri's employ agreed, mirroring his opponent's response. "It is of paramount importance to Android 21 that everyone on Earth washes their teeth with the paste from one of these tubes as soon as possible."
"Tell your men to stand down, Android One-Six," Tenshinhan requested, taking a straight-back, tall and proud fighting stance. "Let us settle this matter between the two of us."
"Orders, general!" one of the higher-ranking soldiers in the army standing behind the towering artificial human in Android One-Six asked.
"Stand down," Android One-Six ordered. "It is in our interest to avoid greater than necessary casualties. We intended a show of force and these people appear to respect their martial arts teacher, Tenshinhan, a great deal. If I defeat him before their very eyes, they shall submit to us without the need of displeasing Android 21 any further."
"Yes, Sir!" the high-ranking soldier saluted his superior and ran off to relay his orders to the field commanders. Both the invading soldiers under Android 21's employ and the local villagers formed a circle, several blocks wide, allowing ample space for the two superhuman warriors to duke it out for the fate of this village and their dental hygiene.
"Huh… So that's what's going on, huh?" Krillin scratched his head, still looking covered with minor bruises that didn't have the adequate time to recover completely, regardless, everyone available needed to hear what she was about to say, according to Bulma.
Chayote was too busy staring at Future Trunks to offer her input. Once in a little while, she shifted her eyes from Future Trunks and back to Bulma. The would-be mentor of hers who brought her up in the world of business and private security and helped Chayote establish and rocket her own private security firm off the ground only to subdue Chayote and drain her to the point of unconsciousness when the Saiyan wanted to avenge the deaths of her men at the hands of the very man standing beside her right now. If he was to be even called a man…
"Why." Chayote muttered, looking down at her bulked-up body and feeling the sweaty strands of her wild hair that she was used to keeping slick and in a bun behind her back. For the first time in years, Chayote bulked out and she couldn't quite settle down enough to return to the size of her body that would stop ripping her suit with every careless motion. She stopped being the head of Chayote Security and became the hysterical barbarian again and Bulma didn't even let her complete the reason she became that way. "Why did you drain my Ki out? Why did you protect this man? Is it just because he's the future version of your son?"
"I didn't know that at the time, Chayote. I did it because you've lost control and you were far more dangerous like that than Dr. Puri or any of her Artificial Humans. I needed you to cool off before you got out of control to where no one could bring you back anymore. I won't blame you for losing it like that. Trunks came to us with the wrong mindset, but right now we need to work together." Bulma pointed out.
"My mother is right, Chayote-san. I apologize for the lives of your men that I have taken. I came here solely for the control module inside of Mecha Frieza's brain. Since my mother taught me that changes in this timeline did not affect our own timeline, it felt as if… Nothing that's happened here mattered, as long as I got my hands on the control module." Future Trunks apologized with a bow of his head. Even when apologizing, his movements looked mechanical, as if he was just following protocol listed on a picture or a textbook and not out of genuine human regret.
"However, we are in uncharted territory now for certain. With my mother rejecting Android 21's offer and Chayote making it through this meeting between Capsule Corps and Puri & Co unscathed and fighting on our side… Now that we know the threat of the Androids and not to underestimate… We might just stand a chance of stopping Android 21 and her Androids. Still, our chances against the heart virus are…" Future Trunks looked down.
"I agree." Bulma nodded. "Normally we may be able to smash these Androids to bits, but we cannot fight them and the heart virus at the same time. Not to mention that if someone were to die of the heart virus–they'd be impossible to resurrect via the Dragon Balls because such a death would be considered to be of natural causes."
"You're awfully confident for someone who can only list reasons why we're screwed…" Yamcha deflated out of the entirety of his confidence with one breath. "I don't really get why you're so confident we can beat those Androids in the first place, aren't they all supposed to be built to compete with the Super Saiyans? Reality check, Bulma, we can't fight that! Most of us haven't trained a day in years!"
Bulma's lips turned upward with a confident smirk. Chayote knew that look. Often, during the days of her upbringing as the head of Chayote Security, she had asked Bulma something when the answer to that question seemed to be so out there and Bulma would give her just this sort of look as if it was elementary to her.
"The ordinary Dragon Balls won't help us against the heart virus. We also need to give you guys a chance to train up a little under extreme duress, right?" Bulma waggled her finger in front of everyone. "Lucky for all of you, I know of an Ultimate solution to our problem."