Kukyo staggered, the blistering pain that poured from Rainth's hands only intensified.
"Kukyo!" Goku called. "This is our chance!"
Kukyo felt Goku's leaps from the ground to the air, felt his approach right behind her.
And, the three Saiyans weren't concerned the slightest.
They weren't worried.
"Come on!" Rainth's voice raised over the howl of energy that joined her hands.
Now Goku was in Rainth's face, firing off punches, gritting his teeth as the burning pain in his muscles overwhelmed him. Rainth decided to make no offensive move, instead she increased the speed of her hands, bending the line of Goku's attacks back toward his face. Empowered by righteous fury, the trio was able to attack thrice in a single second, integrated by combat experiences from their past, each of the twenty strikes came from a different angle with different speed and timing
Not one touched the Saiyans. After all, they had walked unscathed through swarms of blasts on assignments, defended only by the might of their ki. Countering sixty blows wasn't even difficult, not the slightest. Her arms wove with sharp curves, never truly fast but always just fast enough, each motion of her strikes interfering with three or four of the trio's strikes, the rest sizzling past, her precise, minimal shifts of weight and stance slipping them.
Piccolo snarled furiously, ramping up the velocity of his attacks. Twenty. Forty. Sixty. Until finally, at nearly eighty strikes, he still struggled to overload Scarface's defense. So he used his defense to attack. A subtle shift in the angle of a single block brought Rainth's elbow in contact with the leg of the oncoming kick.
Piccolo managed to move just a hairbreadth before it would have cleft through his leg. Scarface moved forward, following through on the next strike, a stiff stabbing chop into the shoulder that sent Piccolo spinning backwards. Goku rammed his fist into Shorty's gut, then hit him again in the same place, shaking the armor plate, aiming for the joints where it met the larger, thicker plates of his chest as Shorty flailed to regain dominance.
He spun around for his next strike. Shorty's hand rammed itself against the middle of his neck and seized him, yanking him upright against him, his face coming within a centimeter of his nose.
He chuckled. "Do you think a weakling like yourself can actually break my armor?"
Instead of waiting for an answer he spun around, heaving Goku with effortless strength, whipping him over his head to slam him to the ground. Kukyo could barely make Shorty let go, only an ill-timed punch by her allowed Goku to angle his fall into a roll. Scarface and Rainth sprang after them both, Scarface swinging his heavy leg around, Rainth stabbing her hand forward, one slamming across Piccolo's flank before he could retract his strike, the second struck Goku, the impact sent him tumbling sideways and he leapt off the ground with a discharge of ki, flinging himself upside down.
Meanwhile Kukyo recovered quickly, spinning out of the way when shorty followed up with a high, snapping straight punch meant to break her nose and buckle her at the knees. Kukyo retaliated with a quick jab toward his face, snapping her leg up high. Scarface intercepted the kick with one of his own, angling it so that the momentum of Kukyo's attack was redirected to the side, sending her flying off target, angled towards the ground. This should have exposed her, but she was already reacting, driving her entire body forward into the ground with a handspring, launching herself skyward alongside Goku before Shorty could get his hand up.
Shorty grinned, while Rainth snickered, watching them regroup high above.
"KA...ME..."
"Eh?" Scarface tapped the button on his scouter, his eyes narrowed as the device honed-in on the two detected powers.
"HAAA!"
From the corner of his eye, he seen that Goku and Kukyo had taken similar stances as each other, their power increasing rapidly. The stance was one he would have blown off or even scoffed at. Cupped hands, drawn to their sides. The energy streamed, like blue supernova.
That level of concentration wasn't normal.
"MEEEE!"
"They can increase their attack power by focusing it on a single point!" Shorty adjusted his scouter. "The guy has a power level of 980. The woman has a power level of 940."
Rainth's words stuck in her throat, her scouter making its distorted sound as another power caught her notice, the surge of lightning made her snap her head to the side. She took note that Piccolo had taken an even wider stance, and right on his head was a massive surge of energy.
"His power level has jumped up to 1480."
"HAAAAAAAA!"
Shorty, Scarface, and Rainth watched with smirks as the white-blue beams of energy approached them. The beams held them in place firmly. Knowing they were unable to avoid the attacks, Rainth lifted both of her arms to brace for the attack. The intensity of the blasts and their flash was more than enough to nearly blind her, huge chunks of the ground snapped apart at her feet as the two blue beams morphed into a single white, massive beam, forming lattices and crystalline extensions against the spiraling, yellow electrical blast by its side.
Lightning blasted the ground, it blasted the clouds above, and it ripped across the terrain, striking the nearby mountains and landscape. Rainth screamed as the light began burning into her retinas, forcing her to bring up a ki shield. The massive shock wave shook everything around her and inside of her. The concussive blast had more than enough power to shatter every bone and burn her flesh into dust.
Everything exploded into great chunks of rubble. The ground collapsed in a shower of devastation, burying the area beneath tons of rock. A second later the rest of the nearby terrain caved in, devoured by the blast.
When the smoke and dust cleared, the trio of Saiyans were still standing.
"No way!" Goku exclaimed.
"Let's do it again-" Piccolo roared, cut off as a hand smashed through the ground, gripping his ankle and pulling him down.
"Piccolo!" Goku yelled.
"You should worry about yourself!" Shorty said, he waited until the last possible second before unleashing the rage built up within him in a tremendous rush of power. He channeled it through his tendons, ligaments, his heavy muscles and heavier limbs, moving so fast it seemed as if time had stopped for everyone else.
He smashed his fist into Kukyo's stomach, crushing down viciously, feeling the bones buckling and giving way. He then raised his boot again, crashing it into her face.
Scarface waiting until the last possible second before unleashing the rage built up within. He channeled it through his tendons, ligaments, and his heavy muscle, moving so fast it seemed as if time had stopped for Goku.
He smashed his knee into Goku's stomach, crushing in viciously, feeling the bones buckling and giving way.
Sparks flew in the pendelum room, the room was electrified as everyone came back to the present. The laugh of the three Saiyans echoing in their ears. Goku was the first to open his eyes and look around, Kukyo followed him, both noting Kami was standing looking at them with a grave expression. They remained silent, taking a deep breath, adjusting to being back in the present.
"Mr Popo. Kami." Tien said.
Everyone else was touching their faces and pinching themselves.
"I'm alive." Yamcha said.
"Kami, how did we get back here?" Krillin asked.
"You never left. You've been standing there the whole time." Yajirobe clarified.
"Only your physical bodies remained here. Your spirit traveled into the past."
"So, how did it go guys?" Chi Chi asked.
Everyone set their jaws, eyes narrowing as they reflected on the experiences. Those Saiyans had been a lot stronger than Raditz had been, their combined blast did nothing to them. That same blast had taken care of Raditz in no time, but with those three Saiyans it was barely enough to leave them battered.
"Well, you guys?" Yajirobe asked.
"They did very well, Yajirobe. They fought valiantly against a very powerful enemy." Kami said.
Tien looked at Kami carefully. Did he know what they went through?
"The Saiyans on the way to Earth are twice as powerful as the ones you fought."
"Twice as strong? Are you sure about that, Kami?" Yamcha asked.
"Hmm." Kami nodded. "I can understand if any of you want to back out of this. But if you must leave go back now. There will be no looking back for those who stay."
Everyone contemplated those words, but they weren't afraid. Instead, they were invigorated and inspired. They were ready to train their hardest and take on the threat of the Saiyans.
Yamcha smirked. "I would never run from them."
"Me either." Sho said.
"You can count me in." Tien said.
"I'm in." Chaozu said.
"Me too." Krillin said.
Popo and Kami regarded each other, nodding slightly.
"From here on we always stick together through thick and thin." Goku said.
"Excellent." Chi Chi said.
"Piccolo. What about your ulterior motives?" Yamcha asked.
Piccolo smirked. "I'll put my plans on hold. We have to take care of these Saiyans."
Goku looked to Kami, eyes intense. "Kami, can we use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"
"What's that?" Krillin asked.
"It's a special room. One day out here is one year in there." Popo explained.
"A whole year's worth of training in one day? Count me in." Yamcha said.
"That is an option as well." Kami said, his stern expression relaxing. "I was actually thinking of something different for Goku and Kukyo."
"Really?" Kukyo asked.
"Yes..." Kami trailed off. "Before we get to that, is anyone going to enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"
Tien stepped forward. "I'll go in there."
Yamcha smirked. "I'll come with you."
"I'll go in there too." Sho said.
"Me too." Chaozu said.
"Me too!" Krillin said.
"Alright!" Goku smirked, clenching his fist. "Everyone is training so hard."
"I'll take you to the Time Chamber." Popo said.
Popo led Yamcha, Sho, Krillin, Tien, and Chaozu out of the room.
"I'm going to train in the wild. Any of you are welcome to try and keep up with me. I'll be back here again to fight those Saiyans." Piccolo said, nodding with a stern expression.
He left without saying another word.
Kami smiled as he looked at Goku and Kukyo. "You'll both be getting training from King Kai."
"King Kai? Who is that?" Kukyo asked.
"You'll be finding out soon."
"Make sure to train hard. Both of you." Chi Chi said.
"You can count on it." Goku said.
"I'll make sure Gohan gets trained good." Chi Chi promised.
Kukyo nodded with a smile. "Thank you for understanding, Chi Chi."
Yamcha and Tien entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
"I still can't believe we get a year's worth of training in one day."
"It's just what we need." Tien said.
They looked around, taking in the endless white expanse. As far as their eyes could see it was nothing but white space. There was a small entrance to the outside world, beds, a fridge, and a few more things that brought some normalcy to the place.
"We'd better get started." Tien said.
Both of them warmed up, then without further delay brought their full power to the surface.
"Fighting those Saiyans taught me a thing or two." Yamcha said, slowly taking his stance.
"I can say the same for myself." Tien took his own stance, aura burning bright.
They lunged for each other, meeting in the middle with a forearm. They exchanged a quick barrage of punches, transitioning into kicks. Yamcha shot back out of the way, and Tien pursued him, striking out with his forearm. Yamcha dodged the strike, leaping backwards and going into a backflip, frantically trying to put some distance between himself and Tien.
They met in the middle again, exchanging a barrage of blows. Yamcha skimmed Tien's next blow, gritting his teeth as he transitioned, countering, stirking, turning into a whirlwind of limbs. Tien met his charge, blocking, dodging, doing his best to get in close. They met in the middle with a kick, both clenching their teeth as they slammed into the ground. They flipped away from each other, maintaining their distance.
"Not bad, Yamcha."
Yamcha smirked, transitioning into another stance. "Come at me."
Goku looked around. He saw a long green road. He saw numerous white puffy clouds moving forward on it. There was a long line of them heading into a building.
Goku and Kukyo pushed ahead of them, keeping up with Kami.
"Kami, where are we?" Goku asked.
"Otherworld." Kami replied.
"I'll be right with you." A large man said, sitting behind his desk.
"Who are you?" Kukyo asked.
"I'm King Yemma. Lord of Otherworld."
"What's that mean?" Goku asked.
"I decide where people go when they die." King Yemma clarified.
"Oh, I get it now." Goku said, looking to Kukyo. "I guess this is like a check in station."
"Can I ask you something?" Kukyo ventured.
"Kukyo, you're supposed to address his as 'King Yemma'." Kami said.
"What is it?" King Yemma asked.
"Did someone named Raditz come through here?"
"Yeah." Yemma said, smirking slightly as he went through the pages of his current book. "Your brother. I sent him down below. He was quite the case."
"Did he try to fight?" Goku asked.
"He tried, but I overpowered him." King Yemma said.
"Incredible!" Kukyo exclaimed.
"You must be strong!" Goku said.
King Yemma smirked.
"Forget King Kai, I want to train here." Goku said.
"King Yemma is too busy to have pupils." Kami said.
"Oh?" Goku asked.
"Be quiet. King Kai is stronger than King Yemma." Kami said, trying to keep his voice down.
"Kami! I heard that!"
"Oh! Sorry King Yemma! I didn't think you could hear that well."
Two ogres looked at each other in disbelief.
"Kami, you're starting to annoy me."
Kami scratched the back of his head, struggling not to sweat.
"What brings you here?"
"Oh yes, right. There are three Saiyans coming to the Earth twice as strong as Raditz. For this reason, we humbly ask you to allow Goku and Kukyo to seek training from King Kai. Goku and Kukyo must receive King Kai's training."
"Hmm...Goku and Kukyo. Well, you both certainly have track records that would allow you to reach King Kai. But are you prepared to travel Snake Way and endure the hardships?"
"Yes King Yemma. They are." Kami said.
"I'll call a guide for you both. Now go and wait outside." King Yemma said.
"Thanks." Goku said.
"Alright!" Kukyo said, excited.
Goku and Kukyo ran to the side door, ready to get their training under way.
"Oh, Goku and Kukyo. You both need to be very careful not to fall off of Snake Way. If you do there's no coming back." King Yemma said.
"Right." Kukyo nodded, getting serious.
"Goku. Kukyo. Stick to it now. Don't let Snake Way wear on your minds." Kami said
Goku smiled, nodding. "I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll try my best to make it to King Kai's place."
"I'll do my very best, Kami." Kukyo smiled.
"Hmmm." Kami nodded.
"Bye now." kukyo said, waving, running out of the door and turning to the left.
"We'll see you in one year." Goku said, running out the door and turning to the left.
I hope so my friends. I'm afraid you're both in much more danger than you realize. You're both going to be our aces. Goku and Kukyo. Kami reflected, standing in the line, causing a slight back up.
"Kami, get out now!" King Yemma yelled. "You're holding up the line."
"Look at that. Goku and Kukyo actually came to Earth in one of these things." Bulma said, looking over the space pods with wide eyes. She had nearly fell stepping down into the crater they left behind, but it was well worth the risk.
"What do you make of it?" Roshi asked.
"Well, we have three now. So that's good." Bulma said, smiling.
"Are you sure?"
"Look! The doors are open." Bulma said, pointing to it. They walked towards it, gently gripping the inside of the pod. There was nothing inside of it save for a scouter and a moon projection.
"Grab them, Roshi."
"Okay." Roshi said, slowly retrieving the scouters from the space pods.
Bulma took a hold of them and put one over her eye, it began to relay the nearest power level which was Roshi's. Bulma pressed the red button on the side of it a few times, testing it out. "There we go."
"Does it work?" Roshi asked.
Bulma rummaged through her pocket, getting her tech tool. She flipped it to the right one and inserted it into the scouter. It opened a second later, revealing the complex technology housed in the device. "Wow, this is pretty cool."
Roshi looked on in slight awe, not sure what to make of the alien technology.
"I'll reprogram them both. I think I can get them to display numbers in our language. I'll be able to make some more as well."
"That's something else, Bulma." Roshi said.
"Well, it's what I'm the best at. I want to surpass the greatest minds of Earth in my generation." Bulma said.
"What are we going to do about the ships?" Roshi asked.
"I'll take them apart and reprogram the technology like I am with the one Raditz came in. I need to get some people here and get it back to Capsule Corp." Bulma said, looking it over.
"In that case we better get going. We have a lot of work to do."
"Yeah."
There was a huge gaping snake head in front of them that branched off into a road that stretched into the yellow clouds. Goku and Kukyo stepped onto it, the drive had been long, and they had both taken naps. They were stretching out from the ride when the ogre caught them off guard.
"Best of luck you two." The ogre said, waving at them.
"It seems so long." Goku said, trying to find an end in sight but to no avail.
"I say the same thing every time I see this thing." The ogre said.
Goku tried to get a better look, shading his eyes with his hand. "How long is it?"
"They say it's over ten thousand miles, but nobody knows for sure." The ogre replied.
"Ten thousand!?" Kukyo exclaimed.
"Has anyone ever made it?" Goku asked, eyes wide with shock.
"Just one person. King Yemma. That was many centuries ago."
"Centuries ago?" Goku asked. "If I knew Snake Way was this long, I would've packed a lunch."
"I wouldn't worry about food. You've got a long way to go, and a lot more important things to worry about."
"Oh, right." Goku said.
"Just make sure you don't fall off of Snake Way. if you do, there's no coming back." The ogre said.
"I got it." Kukyo said, warming up. "Thanks for the ride."
"Yeah, thanks a lot," Goku said, smiling.
"Sure, no problem." The ogre said.
"Here I go!" Goku said, flying forward.
Kukyo flew forward, easily keeping pace with Goku.
"Hmph. They're a couple of showoffs."
Mountains dotted the landscape with pools of water spotted throughout the land. There were trees dotting around in certain areas, adding shade to a much needed sunny mountain range.
Chi Chi and Gohan were washing their faces in one of the many pools of water and getting water in their canteens. She surveyed the surroundings, making sure there were no dinosaurs or other large beasts approaching. Once it was clear she nodded with a smile on her face, calling for Gohan to stand in front of her.
"Okay, Gohan. Training begins." Chi Chi said.
"Right. I'm ready!" Gohan said.
Chi Chi reached into her bag, pulling out a small orange gi. "This is your gi, Gohan. Always take care of it."
"Wow!" Gohan said, eyes lighting up in amazement. "It's just like daddy's and auntie's."
Chi Chi handed Gohan the gi, undershirt, boots, and wristbands.
Gohan got changed into the gi. "These are heavy, mommy."
"The wrist bands weigh five pounds. The undershirt weighs ten pounds. You'll get used to it."
"Okay!" Gohan smiled, lifting himself up in the heavier gear.
Power levels
During battle with Raditz
Raditz: 1,200
Goku with weights: 334
Goku without weights: 416
Kukyo with weights: 326
Kukyo without weights: 405
Piccolo with weights: 322
Piccolo without weights: 408
Goku (Kamehameha): 924
Kukyo (Kamehameha): 915
Piccolo (Special Beam Cannon): 1,480
Pendulum Room.
Tien: 250
Yamcha: 225
Chaozu: 200
Krillin: 215
Chi Chi: 206
Sho: 235
Piccolo with weights: 340
Kukyo with weights: 340
Goku with weights: 350
Shorty: 3,000
Scarface: 3,000
Rainth: 3,000