Goku observed Chi-Chi sparring with Goten, occasionally turning his attention to Muten Roshi and Videl training Sharpner. Likewise, Kami Upa observed the training process of not only the staunchest defenders of his planet who would do their best to protect them from Cell when the time came but also the next generation of defenders. Some of them might have outlived him and served Dende as Kami when his turn came.
Meanwhile, Piccolo was meditating in the gloom of the palace of God's Temple. A horizontal stream of light coming in from the temple kicked Piccolo out of his trance and prompted him to put his feet firmly on the ground and check on what it was that disturbed him. When he saw the tattered image of Chayote with only a black seamless sports bra covering her upper body and Navy playfully cackling over on his mother's shoulders, Piccolo gasped.
"What's going on? You're too early!" Piccolo hissed, scolding Chayote.
"Oh, that's right… Sorry, I ended up busting the Room of Spirit and Time by accident. On the plus side, I've learned to control my Legendary Super Saiyan form," Chayote waved at the Room of Spirit and Time in dismissal, as if it was some bothersome thing.
"Y-You broke it!?" Piccolo exclaimed, alerting the martial artists training on the God's Temple grounds and attracting them to check the source of the noise. "What do you mean you broke it!?"
"Chayote? What are you doing out already? You guys barely spent half the time in there!" Goku gasped, pointing at Chayote and Navy while the rest of the crew gathered around him.
"Broke? Who broke what?" Kami Upa squinted one eye in suspicion. He approached the old wooden door and examined it. "Hmm… The door seems to work on this end."
"Yeah, the door's just about the only thing that works as intended," Chayote scratched the back of her head. "I kind of went wild in there."
With a blank look in his eyes, Mr. Popo approached the door and grabbed the handle, opening it only to reveal flashy nebulae and streaming luminal phenomenon, beaming in kaleidoscopic, trippy patterns all across the ruptured dimension with patches of white planes floating like levitating islands where fractions of time-space still survived Chayote's apocalyptic ascension and handling of her true potential.
"It's ruined. An infinite dimension of infinite infinities in all directions… All in ruin," Mr. Popo reported with a monotone voice without dropping his nonchalant expression for a second and closed the door. The djinn turned to Chayote and pointed his chunky finger at her. "You're trouble. Nothing but bad news."
"Huh… I'd tell you guys to send my company the bill, but… Did you say infinite infinities stretching out in all directions? I don't think even Bulma has enough money to cover that. Do you gods have some sort of mystical insurance?" Chayote turned to Kami Upa, who still looked completely shaken by what he had seen after Mr. Popo opened the door. It was as if the deity's entire worldview was shattered with one glimpse inside.
"Impossible… Completely irreparable damage… I'm ruined… My ancestors won't be done fixing this mess in millennia to come…" Kami Upa muttered to himself, looking far too miserable for something of his impressive size and bulk. "I'll be known as the Kami that allowed the Room of Spirit and Time to be wasted!" Kami Upa finally permitted himself to freak out as he grabbed his head and cradled it with his hands with a horrified exclamation.
"Aww, cheer up, Upa!" Goku smacked the distraught Kami on the back with his hand, making Kami Upa stumble a few steps forward, as he was completely unprepared for this type of comfort. "When we're done, we'll just use the Dragon Balls to restore it, or something…"
"You don't understand at all, Goku-san! You don't understand the type of damage that is! The Room of Spirit and Time dimension exists outside of the infinite, ever-expanding reach of our universe! It's a realm that exists parallel to it and can only be accessed through magical doorways that exist on different planets with powerful mystics on them. Repairing the damage to this dimension would be the same as trying to repair a house, you'd have to use powerful materialization sorcery to patch the dimension back together, but… Goku-san, the dimension is INFINITE! That means that an infinite copies of me would spend an eternity trying to patch it up and we'd still be no better than as if we'd have ever started it!" Kami Upa began progressively turning louder and more aggressive at Goku, who tried pacifying the situation with defusing body language and a goofy, apologetic smirk.
"I think what he's trying to say, Goku-san, is that the Dragon Balls will not cut it to fix the dimension of the Room of Spirit and Time, since the power necessary to patch the dimension up would infinitely surpass the power of any mystic, no matter how powerful," Videl explained the source of the problem to Goku in terms he could better understand.
"Ah, I see, that's a bummer then…" Goku chortled out, looking like someone who chose not to fret over spilled milk rather than someone overly worked up about a parallel dimension of priceless importance getting ripped asunder by unfathomable power. "Though, from the sound of it, it seems like Chayote had to get crazy strong to pull something like that together, huh?"
"I don't much care," Chayote shrugged. "All I care about is that I'm finally in control. There's no amount of power that's comparable to knowing that you won't hurt your family and friends because of something outside your control."
"Amazing!" Goku shrieked out. "Maybe it's you, not Cell who I should be excited about fighting one day? What do you say, Chayote? How about just a tiny bit of a spar?" Goku pinched his fingers together with a begging wince.
"Absolutely not!" Kami Upa howled out. "I will not allow a slugfest of those proportions to occur anywhere near Planet Earth, let alone in my temple! You'll just end up breaking something else!"
"If it will make you feel any better, I'm not going to fight Kakarot," Chayote shrugged and began walking away. "I've got nothing to prove to anyone about anything. Though if this Cell guy decides that one of you, or my son, is part of his intended diet… I'll break him apart."
"Aww, come on, Chayote!" Goku yelled out, chasing after the relaxed Saiyan as she walked away from the scene of the crime where she was caught red-handed. "Don't tell me you're not even a bit curious about how strong you are!"
"Mom… When will it be our turn in the room?" Goten tugged Chi-Chi's skirt and looked up at his mother with hopeful eyes.
"Sorry, Goten-chan, it seems like the room's broken. We'll just have to make do training on the temple…" Chi-Chi brought herself down on one knee and patted Goten's spiky head.
"What an awful, awful lady…" Goten blew his cheeks out and stared at Chayote's back with childish disdain that was as quick to escalate to unruly proportions as it was to simmer down.
"I didn't know that Chayote-san was that strong!" Sharpner turned to Videl with a freakishly outstretched face defined by boundless shock.
"You have no idea," Muten Roshi stroked his beard while staring at the back of the woman he once considered his most troubled student. "Ever since I first met this young woman, she was the strongest fighter I've ever seen in terms of raw power, speed, and toughness, however, she had no idea of how to tap into that power and had very little fighting skill. Chayote was also her own worst enemy, constantly struggling with phantoms of emotions and complexes only she could understand. It appears that this woman has finally matured into a complete martial artist and even I'm a little afraid of how powerful she might have become."
"Just you wait," Videl pumped her fist in excitement, overjoyed at seeing her mentor excelling and wowing the crowd of accomplished peers and observers. "Chayote's going to snap that Cell guy like a twig, you'll see!"
Gohan fell flat on his back, exhausted and sweating profusely. He had slipped his gi off his back to let his skin breathe and his sweat evaporate, alleviating the heat that he felt pumping from his body. The teen had reached a point at which his body felt as defeated as his spirit was. King Kai stopped in his car and peeked through the window, confirming Gohan's collapse.
"Hmm… Maybe that's enough work for today already? It doesn't feel like you've gotten any closer to becoming empowered by the genki of other living things, but it's only natural. After all, Spirit Succession is my most incredible technique yet. It's only apt that it's this difficult to master. Don't worry, Gohan-kun, I'm sure that you'll wheel closer to mastering soon enough…" King Kai chuckled into his hand before resuming his monotonous driving on a straight road trip.
"Huh…" Gohan sat up and looked at Bubbles, who danced around Gohan holding a banana in hand. "Don't tell King Kai-sama, but this feels like a complete waste of time. If anything, at least I'm getting just a little stronger by exerting myself and working out in an increased gravity environment, but other than that, it feels like nothing's getting done. I'd have been a dozen times stronger if I trained with Dad in the Room of Spirit and Time for just one day…"
Bubbles howled and hooted while prancing about, utterly carefree. That was why Gohan spilled his heart out to the cheerful, chunky little ape. Because it didn't seem like Bubbles would be spilling any beans and Gohan simply wanted to get this off his chest. Rolling back, Gohan kicked back up to his feet and scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed at an idea he just had.
Saying nothing, Gohan began dancing alongside Bubbles, following the thick little ape around and mirroring his movements, except from an opposite direction. Almost as if Bubbles was looking into a mirror and Gohan was the reflection. The teen got so into his new skipping training routine that he even began repeating Bubbles' voice and the sounds that the chunky monkey made.
After an extended session of dancing around the planet, much in the same way as King Kai drove around it on a straight road, except far more strenuous, given the physical nature of Bubbles' dancing, the monkey turned around and focused on Gohan while hanging on all-fours. Gohan yelled out because of the suddenness of Bubbles' stoppage and nearly fell on his back because of the awkwardness of it.
"Alright… I guess it's my turn to lead the parade, huh?" Gohan laughed out, scratching the back of his head in awkwardness before beginning his own goofy dance. Truth be told, Gohan wasn't a very experienced dancer, however, his agility and physical conditioning were solid. By employing his martial artist's polished skill in mimicry and plenty of dancing scenes from TV, Gohan began boogieing and moon-walking around the planet before long. Curiously enough, Bubbles followed while mirroring all of Gohan's moves perfectly.
"Wh… What in the world!?" King Kai's jaw dropped when he saw his pet foxtrotting around the tiny planet alongside his student. The esteemed martial arts god nearly drove out of his lane and bumped his car into the corner of his garage because of it, prompting him to exclaim in frustration, cursing at the pair. "If you've still got this much energy left in you, how about you pick up with your training, slacker? Enough monkey business! Hmphmh…" King Kai scolded his student and pet before realizing he was simply too funny and stuffing his face in his arms to prevent him from bursting with laughter.
After doing a few laps, Gohan let his tail slip out from his trousers and turned around, waggling it in Bubbles' direction. The funky monkey did the same, resulting in a tail shake that entertained both parties as Gohan cackled with childish glee while Bubbles began to howl and pump its arms in the air. After playing together, Bubbles crawled up Gohan's back and nestled on the boy's shoulder.
"Teehee… I bet nobody's ever played with you in all these years, with all those students coming here to study. Doesn't sound right to me. With so many people wanting to train with King Kai-sama all across the quadrant, so very few even reach this place. Then they joke around with King Kai-sama, but nobody plays with you. I'm glad that I could help you have some fun for once, even if the rest of my training will amount to very little," Gohan said while heading to the house.
Bubbles hopped off of the perching point over Gohan's back and howled out, ecstatically pumping its arms up and tapping its feet in Bubbles' signature dance.
"Hmm… Now that I think of it, you're a strange one, aren't you?" Gohan sat down on the bed inside King Kai's house, resting his head on his hand as he tried to figure out what exactly Bubbles was. "You're a small fellow, but you're stronger than any ape back on Earth for being able to keep up with this gravity. I wonder if you're just weird that way or if you're an actual ape who trained itself to work with this gravity?"
Gohan waited for Bubbles' reply, but the ape just danced around the house, completely oblivious to the quandary that wouldn't give Gohan peace of mind until he figured it out. Having reinvigorated himself for activity, Gohan slipped off the bed and approached the bookshelf that King Kai kept around, detailing just about anything one could wonder about regarding any place inside the North quadrant.
These books looked like ordinary tomes, but as Gohan has already had a chance to figure out during his initial training with King Kai, they were anything but. This one bookshelf contained information about anything that one could have wanted to know about anything that could be found inside the North quadrant. While each book looked to be just an ordinary large tome, when opened, their mystical nature allowed one to sift through billions of pages without making much progress. The books were also categorized. Each tome contained information on a single special topic. The phone and address book, for example, detailed the coordinates of any location inside the North quadrant and every alien or creature with a name. The mysticism that made them this way also edited the tomes in real-time as new ones were born or died.
Gohan flipped a book on North Quadrant wildlife open, sifting through billions of pages in a second and going through countless chapters until he reached the section about the different species of simians found around the world. Sitting down and putting the book on his lap, Gohan began reading it by scanning the book with his eyes, looking for a section about anything similar to Bubbles. Before long, Bubbles hopped onto the bed and perched on Gohan's back, wanting to join Gohan in his research project.
"Hee hee… Do you want me to read it to you out loud?" Gohan wondered. After Bubbles howled out in excitement, Gohan began vocalizing what he read. It slowed down his pace to a crawl, but the joy of this project wasn't in finding the answer, it was in the process of research itself and spending some more time with Bubbles.
Bubbles was simply insatiable. He didn't seem to get bored at all, despite the material becoming dry enough to put anyone who didn't share Gohan's enthusiasm about all the different species of wildlife to sleep. Even Gohan began feeling the mental strain taxing his brain as much if not more than the physical training from earlier taxed his mind.
"Man… I'm kind of in a mood for a snack, or something…" Gohan yawned with his eyelids hanging heavy over his squinted eyes, threatening to shut them unless his system received stimulation in the form of a quick energy boost.
"Hoo hoo! Hoo hoo hoo! Hoo!" Bubbles howled out, pulling a banana from behind him and handing it down to Gohan while pulling one out seemingly from thin air and beginning to peel it up. It was almost as if the hardy monkey came prepared.
"Wow!" Gohan exclaimed in surprise. "You're just pulling those outta nowhere, huh? Oh, well… I guess I can't complain. Now that I think of it, though, I've seen no bananas in King Kai's fridge. Do you actually materialize them from thin air?"
"Hoo hoo!" Bubbles howled out, stuffing his mouth full. Gohan's chin dipped before he couldn't contain his chuckle any further.
"I suppose I should have guessed I wouldn't get a straight answer out of you," Gohan laughed out while peeling the gracious gift of a magical banana and taking a few bites. The rich and fruity snack definitely did the trick. Just a single banana gave Gohan the energy boost necessary to keep reading to his newly cemented friend.
A few hours later, King Kai finally returned to the house, having grown bored with driving in a single straight lane for the whole day that was hardly any different from any other day in the last couple of thousands of years, barring the few times when King Kai tested the mettle of a handful of students capable enough to make their way down the Snake Way.
"Monkey business… Man, Gohan, I'm telling you, you missed out on some quality laughs out there by not joining me on my driving trip. I'm a regular comedic genius!" King Kai walked in, wiping the tears off of his round, blue face, when the ancient martial arts deity suddenly slipped and flattened on his back.
"Hey, what's the big idea…!" King Kai sprung up, pinching a banana peel he stepped on, and looked around. The ancient deity was looking for something or someone to blame. The old martial artist's glare softened when he noted the magnificent image of Gohan and Bubbles asleep together in front of a book with no beginning or end and piles of banana peels littered throughout the house. "Oh, well… I can make cleaning this place up training for those two dolts tomorrow. Not only am I hilarious, but so incredibly wise too. Gohan is too lucky…" King Kai babbled to himself while walking off to see if he could find some snacks for himself before he hit the hay as well.
Even if the secret new ultimate techniques of King Kai were the friends Gohan made along the way, based on Gohan's innocent and serene expression in his slumber, the boy wouldn't have minded too much. After all, what was the point of being alive and claiming peace after so many calamitous struggles if one couldn't live to enjoy it a little bit?