"So, I got bored," Bulma said one morning, walking into the Capsule Corp backyard with a cup of coffee and a smirk. "And I built this."
She held up a sleek, gray device that looked suspiciously familiar.
Kai blinked. "Is that… a scouter?"
"Yup. Pulled what was left off Raditz's face, cleaned it up, swapped the motherboard, upgraded the HUD, and made it less… explode-y."
"…Does it still explode?"
"Only if someone's really overpowered."
She clipped it onto her ear and the screen flickered on.
"It tops out at 100,000, though. I didn't want it to melt my eye socket."
Kai made a note to keep his power level well below vaporization range.
An hour later, Yamcha showed up.
Hair spiky, scar looking dramatic, energy confident and not quite "I got exploded by a Saiyan" yet.
"Yo!" Yamcha waved. "Bulma said you've been training like a maniac. Thought I'd come by and see how you stack up."
Kai blinked. "Wait, she invited you?"
"Don't worry," Yamcha grinned. "I'm not here to start anything serious. Just a friendly spar."
'Friendly? Dude, you're one bad haircut away from being Goku's punching bag. This is a trap.'
"Sure," Kai said with a smile that screamed internal panic. "Let's keep it light."
The Capsule Corp yard was big enough to host a small tournament.
Kai and Yamcha squared off while Bulma watched from the patio, scouter blinking as she sipped from her mug.
Yamcha cracked his knuckles. "Alright. You go first."
Kai took a stance. Lowered his energy to the absolute bare minimum.
Then he stepped in with a quick jab.
Yamcha blocked it — barely — and slid back an inch.
"Huh. You're faster than you look."
'Yeah, and I'm holding back 99.9% of my everything.'
They traded a few more blows. Kai moved like someone who knew how to fight… but was pretending not to be too good at it. Controlled footwork. Speed capped. Strength measured like he was stuck in a training montage.
But the more they fought…
The more Yamcha had to try.
His aura flared.
He came in faster. Stronger.
Kai dodged, ducked, let a few hits graze him for believability. He even threw in a dramatic stumble to sell it.
Bulma's scouter beeped.
Power Level: 7,950… 8,000… 9,200… 10,000…
Kai heard the beeps. Frowned slightly. Focused harder on keeping it locked down.
He blocked a ki blast, flipped backwards, and landed clean.
Yamcha was breathing harder now. "Man… you're good."
"I do push-ups," Kai offered. "A lot of them."
On the patio, Bulma leaned in. Her scouter was blinking red.
Power Level: 15,000… 20,000… 38,000…
"Okay, what the hell."
Kai caught Yamcha's next punch. Froze.
51,000… 79,000… 98,000…
The scouter whined.
99,999…[WARNING: MAX LIMIT REACHED][System Error. Power Unknown.]
Bulma's scouter sparked. The screen fuzzed out and rebooted.
She stared, then slowly lowered her cup.
"…That's not normal."
Meanwhile…
Thousands of miles away.
On King Kai's planet…
Goku was upside-down, balancing on one finger while Bubbles sat on his back and King Kai shouted something about jokes.
Then he froze.
Sat upright.
Eyes wide.
"…Whoa."
King Kai adjusted his antennae. "What is it?"
"I just felt something," Goku said, blinking. "Someone strong. Really strong."
King Kai frowned. "Nobody on Earth's that strong. Not yet, anyway."
Goku stood up, eyes narrowing as he looked back toward the galaxy. "It felt… familiar, but weird. Like… like it was human. But not."
He scratched his head. "Maybe I'm just imagining it…"
King Kai looked worried.
"…You're not."
Back on Earth, Yamcha finally dropped into a crouch, panting hard.
"You've got some serious potential, man," he said between breaths. "That was awesome."
Kai, barely winded, gave a polite smile. "You too. That Wolf Fang thing? Very cool."
Bulma walked over, holding her now-silent scouter.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You're holding back."
Kai's brain short-circuited. "Wha—? Me? Nooo."
"You don't breathe hard. You don't sweat. You move like someone who's pretending to try."
"I'm just efficient."
She pointed at the scorched grass and cracked tile from his last deflected punch.
"…You shattered my walkway."
"Okay, look, that was probably already cracked—"
"Who are you?"
Kai hesitated.
Then smiled, innocent as possible.
"I'm just a guy who really hates treadmills."