Chapter III: Her Name is Gemini

            Boxer awoke to a flash of bright light, and suddenly felt somehow…whole again.  He was lying slouched across an armchair and an ottoman in the living room; exactly where he had been before he took the Fighter Kai’s hand.  Piccolo, 18, Garuda, and the Fighter Kai all stood around him. 

            “How did the meeting go?” 18 asked him.

            Boxer sprang up suddenly, checking to make sure he was all there.  “When did I get back here?” he exclaimed, surprised to still be alive.

            The Fighter Kai frowned.  “You gave me a warning that you wanted to come back…albeit a bad one.  You must forgive Gohan; sometimes he is impulsive.” He seemed wistful; lost in thought for just a moment and then returned to Boxer.

            “Enough about that,” he concluded.  “You’ve met Vegeta, and now it’s time to get underway.  Boxer, how many space capsules does the corporation own?”

            Boxer thought for a minute, and then produced the answer.  “I think we have about five,” he replied.  “We have more at the warehouse if you need, but there hasn’t been as big of a demand for them as we might have expected.”

            The Fighter Kai nodded.  “Five is more than enough.  We only need two.”

            “What do we even need that many for?” Piccolo asked.  “One capsule can comfortably fit five people.”

            “This isn’t going to be a luxury cruise to destinations unknown,” the Fighter Kai explained.  “We are on a mission, and we are going to train as such.  Should it please his mentor, I would like to train Boxer personally.  He has a lot of training to do to catch up with you three.”

            Piccolo thought for a moment.  “Take him,” he finally said, flicking his wrist.  “He would only slow us down anyway.  The three of us have a lot of training to do.”

            “Aw c’mon Piccolo,” Boxer pleaded.  “I thought I proved how strong I was!”

            “Indeed you did,” Piccolo replied.  “However, your power was induced by rage alone.  You have amazing potential, but you must learn how to control it.  I won’t have time to teach you.  Presumably, whatever sent Nappa and Raditz must be considerably stronger than them, and that means we all must work unhindered.”

            “I guess I understand,” Boxer relented, nodding.  “I agree to go with the Fighter Kai and train, then.”

            “You have shown proficiency in training earlier on,” 18 reminded him.  “Don’t let us down.” She turned to the Fighter Kai.  “What is your goal for Boxer?”

            The Fighter Kai shrugged.  “It matters more what his own personal goal is.  I cannot push him farther than he is willing to go.”

            “I’m determined to go as far as I have to, Fighter Kai,” Boxer promised.  “Piccolo told me to train to avenge my parents.  I won’t stop until I find out who murdered them and he meets his end at my hand.”

            “Determined you are indeed, Boxer,” the Fighter Kai acknowledged.  “I can tell that your only wish is to defend your family’s honor and bring justice to your deceased parents.  But don’t forget; there is more to martial arts than revenge, and revenge is an event that must be handled with the utmost of delicacy.  I can tell that while you are willing to learn the ways of Kamesennin, you will require a great amount of mental and physical training.”

            “Whatever it takes,” Boxer repeated.

            “Good!” said the Fighter Kai.  “Now, it’s time to head out…if only we had a lead on where to go.”

            “That’s a good point,” Garuda said, finally joining the conversation.  “We have absolutely no idea where to start looking for this menace.  Basically, the only information we have on him is that he sent Nappa and Raditz to do something terrible to the Earth.  It’s a big galaxy out there.  How do we even know where to start looking?”

            “I tried to extort information from Raditz,” the Fighter Kai admitted, “Although the ends hardly justified the means.”

            “I remember,” Boxer said, recalling the close of the battle.  “Raditz said something about revealing your true identity.  Why is it a bad thing if we know?”

“It’s uh…” the Fighter Kai stalled indefinitely, trying to think of a viable explanation.  “It’s not so much that it’d affect you, Boxer, but it may raise some questions that we just don’t have time to answer right now.  In good time, my identity will be revealed one way or another; I promise.  But right now, things will run a lot more efficiently if you just know this much: I am the Fighter Kai, I am an advocate of all things just, and I will train you.  The five of us will face a great evil together; I can sense it.  We have no time to waste discussing such petty matters.”

“That’s right,” Garuda agreed, seeming to be his only ally in this struggle.  “We need some kind of lead in this case.” He sat with his chin resting on his fist for a moment and then sprang up.  “Hey, Fighter Kai!” he exclaimed.

“What’s going on?” the Kai inquired.

“I know that all Kais have a special ability to see amazingly long distances telepathically.  I assume that it applies to you as well?”

“Yes, it does,” the Fighter Kai answered him.  “However, scanning the entire galaxy would still consume in inordinate amount of time.”

“You don’t have to scan the whole galaxy,” Garuda began.  “You just have to search out a disturbance of some kind.  Certainly, a fighter of your caliber should have little trouble discovering a disturbance in the natural balance of the galaxy?”

The Fighter Kai grinned.  “None at all.”

***

            A comet appeared behind the Fighter Kai as he stood translucent against a starry background.  He did not need to turn his head; he sensed this comet coming.  Waiting until the last second, he tensed a muscle in his arm, and drew back slightly.  The comet flew past him, leaving only a few specs of dust on his sunglasses. 

            “You’re here; I can sense you,” he said to his invisible adversary.  “Come out now; I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

            “I can’t be sure,” said the voice, which seemed to be coming from all around him.  Still, he did not flinch.  “I have many enemies.”

            “As do I, but I have no trouble distinguishing my friends from foes,” the Fighter Kai explained.  “Show yourself before you force me to show you.  I can sense much about you, Gemini, and your time is ever-fleeting.”

            At last the phantom showed herself, translucent as well.  Her purple hair flowed down to just past her shoulders, and her large blue eyes reflected the starlight.  An illustrious black and purple robe flowed down past her feet, and she carried some kind of rod; a mage if the Fighter Kai had ever seen one.  She stared at him questioningly.

            “How do you know my name?” she asked him.  “I never mentioned it.  I wasn’t even thinking about it if you can indeed read my mind.” Her eyes narrowed for a moment and then resumed their circular positions.  “You’re wearing a very strong mental shroud.  You anticipated that people would read your mind, didn’t you?”

            The Fighter Kai nodded and grinned.  “I’m not sure what your impression of me is,” he explained, “But I will tell you this; I’ve been around, Gemini.  You are nothing new to me.  I am one of the ablest fighters in the universe, and I have been honing my skills for quite a while.”

            She snickered.  “And yet you don’t try to misuse your powers for dark deeds.  Interesting.”

            “That is the kind of display of power you have experienced,” the Fighter Kai noted.  “I understand more of you than you think.  Don’t underestimate me.”

            “I won’t again,” she acknowledged.

            “Well then,” the Fighter Kai continued, “Enough with the pleasantries.  I am going to come with a band of fighters from Earth, and we are going to rescue you.  You are connected with… some kind of dark force, and I have reason to believe that this dark force was behind a series of events on Earth.”

            “Yet you cannot put a name on this dark force?” she asked.  “You seemed stronger than that.”

            “Evil works in mysterious ways,” he stated.  “I only understand a mind completely that works similar to my own.  I will tell you this, though; you are in grave danger, Gemini, and my band and I must make haste if we are to recover you from this man’s clutches and defeat him.  It was nice to meet you; I shall see you in reality as soon as possible.”

            She nodded.  “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you,” she began, just before the Fighter Kai left, “But please make all possible haste.  I don’t know how much longer my captor plans to let me live.”

            “You were right.” The Fighter Kai turned around.  “You didn’t have to remind me.” Their ethereal phantoms faded as they returned to their respective mortal prisons.

***

            When the Fighter Kai returned from his trance, he did so much more gracefully than Boxer.  Instead of literally falling over and being slumped across an armchair, he simply let up an orange aura from around him and blinked his eyes, as they turned from glassy to alert.

            Garuda laughed and turned to Boxer.  “You’ll have to learn how to do that, kid.  You were a bit sloppy, huh?”

            “Yeah, right… whatever…” Boxer mumbled, staring towards the floor.

            “Hey, don’t worry about a thing, kid,” Garuda hit him playfully on the shoulder.  “Before you know it, you’ll be meditating like a pro.”

            “Eh, hopefully,” Boxer smiled.  “It’s not gonna be the greatest of my worries.”

            “You’d be surprised what you pick up while training,” Garuda reassured him.

            The Fighter Kai finally stood and addressed Boxer.  “What Garuda says is true.  Personally I…have heard of cases where people have gained powers of mind reading.”

            Boxer nodded.  “That’d be an interesting skill to possess.”

            “There have been some interesting theories of what kind of extra abilities you can learn,” the Fighter Kai told him.  “Some believe that it reflects what kind of training you undertake.  Others argue that special skills are learned based on character traits.  There are whole charts available in some of the advanced martial arts books.”

            “Sounds interesting,” Boxer said, seeming genuinely fascinated.  “What kind of traits do you think I’d pick up?”

            “It depends on what you think of the theories,” the Kai replied.  “I could give you a million different answers, but what I believe it comes down to is what you are best suited to learn; whether that means the sort of training you do, the kind of devotion to your training you have, or what kind of person you are.  We’ll see what kind of fighting style you end up having and continue on from there.”

            He paused for a moment and checked the clock on the wall.  “Time is unforgiving and we have a girl to save and a madman to stop.”

            “A what?” 18 asked.  “Why didn’t you tell us any of this?”

            Piccolo put a hand on her shoulder.  “Later, 18.  It is unimportant now.  Time is running out, and evil seldom waits to be challenged.  Garuda!” he called.

            “I’m ready,” he said, cracking his whip like lightning in the air.  “Shall we head out?”

            “Lead on, 18,” Piccolo commanded.  “After all, you know your way around this complex.  Take us to the space capsules.” She nodded as she and the Otherworld guardian exited.

            “Boxer,” he addressed his student, and Boxer turned to meet his gaze.  “Train hard.  Don’t let this go to your head but…” the Namek chose his words carefully, as not to sugar coat his statement but not to undermine its importance either.  “You are a vital member of this team.  Don’t forget that you’re a true warrior now; you must prove your own strength in a variety of ways.”

            “I think I understand, Piccolo.” Boxer considered his mentor’s statement carefully.  “I get it.  What I’ve done is impressive, but I can’t stop there.  I have to fend for myself, and I have to train hard to do so.”

“No use rephrasing what I just said,” Piccolo scolded gently.  “You can decipher it for yourself.  Just a little advice you might want to hang on to.” With that he turned, his cape fluttering in the wind, and disappeared.

Boxer spun to face the Fighter Kai again, and looked up into his sun-glass-blocked eyes.  “I am ready, Fighter Kai,” he stated.  “I am ready to go and begin my training.”

“I must ask a favor of you, then,” the Fighter Kai asked sincerely.

“Sure, anything,” Boxer relented, eager to begin his training.

“This isn’t my organization,” the Fighter Kai started and looked a little embarrassed.  “Show me to the space capsules, OK?”

Boxer opened his mouth in a crooked position and shifted his eyes as if to say something, and then just exhaled quickly.

“Right this way.”