Chapter 7: A New Recruit

The blinking scouter broke Kai from his musings as he contemplated whether or not to check it. Before he could make a decision, the beeping stopped before immediately beginning again. 'They're sure persistent.' Kai reached down and picked up the scouter before putting it on and answering the call. 

"Hello, I presume I'm speaking to whoever just killed Captain 3341," a rough and gravely voice echoed through the scouter. Kai was immediately on guard. "How did you know?" He questioned. 

"The scouter records everything and transmits it back to base, so of course we know. Now, to get to business, I know Captain 3341 was attempting to recruit you, and while I should punish you for killing a member of the force, I'll let it slide if you agree to come work under me." The mystery voice proposed. 

Kai paused to think. 'Hmm, this could be the best move I have. But there isn't any guarantee I won't get shafted by whoever this is and lose out big time, but my other options are sparse on a no-name planet like this one.' Kai thought for a moment before asking, "Who am I speaking to?"

"Hmmp, you have the pleasure of speaking to one of Frieza's right-hand men! I'm Dodoria, and you're gonna help me win brownie points for Frieza… Er, I mean contribute to the glorious Frieza Force!" Kai stood silently for a moment… 'Well, regardless of the reason, I could get some decent training and figure out where Earth is. Worst case, I could try and curry favor with Vegeta and "help" them out during their trip to Earth.' A small smirk appeared on his face, thinking that, but he quickly schooled his expression and responded, "I accept your offer, Dodoria."

"Of course you do! You'd be dead otherwise!" A grating laughter could be heard on the other side of the scouter before calming down. "We will send a shuttle to your location soon. Try not to move around too much, or we might consider you a deserter." The com went dead after that, leaving Kai alone with his thoughts once again. 

'Well, he gave me no timeline, so I have no idea how long I need to wait. Hopefully, it won't take years like Vegeta and Nappa's space pods… Anyway, I should try and familiarize myself with what I got from absorbing Nuyal.' Kai assumed a meditative position and inspected his inner energy. He had much, much more power and was confident he could create an even larger crater with his energy blast than Nuyal could. Besides the massive increase in power, he also gained more proficiency with basic energy beams and would be much more confident flying.

He stood and walked past the rotting monster corpse to the clearing outside the cave. He began to float just off the ground before blasting away through the wilds, flying at speeds he couldn't imagine previously. When he arrived on this planet, he could barely stand, and now he was soaring through the skies with little effort. After some aerial practice, he landed back on the clearing and looked for a boulder to test his new strength. 

He found he could pick up a boulder around 10x as large as he could before the absorption, which, while impressive, still was somewhat disappointing. 'This guy probably wasn't even at Raditz level based on what I've seen, and he was considered the runt. This is a good start, but I can't rest easy knowing what else is out there.' Images of Frieza and other difficult opponents flashed through his mind. Shaking his head he dropped that train of thought for now. 

It was hard to decide what to do next. Kai didn't want to just wait around for his ride, but his immediate options were limited. Using the scouter he could detect some power levels higher than him, but none close by. While it could be a good idea to try fighting them, he didn't want to end up a stain on the ground and take too much time to regenerate. 

He decided to try another approach. He re-entered the cave and assumed a meditative position again. 'I remember Gohan and Krillin using this together on their trip to Namek. Hopefully, it works just as well alone…' Kai began imagining a fight, attempting to recreate image training from memory. It took some time, but using the martial style Nuyal learned helped him to recreate a proper fighting style for his "opponent." He began intense image training against a shadow of Nuyal. 

-

Inside Kai's Mindscape

Kai's figure charges at Nuyal, attempting to throw a haymaker. Nuyal ducks it and aims a jab at his midsection. On instinct, Kai catches the jab with his other hand and transitions his haymaker in an elbow onto Nuyal's head. He staggers after being slammed on the head and jumps back. 

Nuyal begins charging an energy blast on his hand while Kai quickly does the same. Kai's pink beam meets Nuyal's blue, and an intense clash begins. The beams were nearly evenly matched, but as the clash continued, Kai refined his ki control further and further, reaching new heights above what Nuyal was capable of. More and more ki is forced in the beam from Kai as the struggle goes from even to rapidly closing in on Nuyal. After a moment more, the energy of both beams reaches Nuyal, and his shadow is defeated.

-

Back in the real world

Kai's eyes open as his face stretches into a smile. 'I need to work on my martial arts, but using ki feels extremely comfortable! Nuyal certainly seemed to favor energy blasts in our bouts so perhaps he didn't have much martial arts knowledge to give beyond the basic style of the FF. With my body manipulation, it'd be a shame to lock myself into a style not meant for it. Forget it; I don't need to worry about it yet. Goku's early martial arts training consisted of basic strength and endurance routines, so I should be fine for now.'

He continued image training while occasionally leaving the cave to do proper shadow boxing and training his flying. This continued for the remainder of the day as he didn't need food or water. He did seem to get tired mentally, but with his regeneration, it wasn't necessary to sleep much. 

By the end of the first day, he felt quite comfortable with his new strength. 'If the Frieza Force doesn't arrive by tomorrow, I will start seeking out the beasts and monsters in the wilds to push myself.' Kai thought to himself. 'There isn't much else to do since this planet is quite barren. Beyond that town we arrived in I don't detect any other power levels on this planet besides the beasts in the wilds. It could just be the scouter has a low range, but even so if they are that far, it isn't worth traveling there.' Feeling his energy was quite low and seeing the sun was setting Kai decided to turn in for the night. 

- 

Some time passes until it is dawn.

Kai wakes to his scouter beeping. He rolls over and puts the scouter on. The message is informing him a pod is on its way and should arrive by the end of the day. After boarding, it will take him to a nearby ship where Dodaria is stationed. There, he will begin basic training and then be assigned to a squad. Nodding to himself Kai leaves the cave and begins a similar routine to the previous day. Going through his exercises and ensuring he is in top form for his meeting with Dodoria. 

-

Sometime later

Kai sits meditating in the clearing near the cave. Craters of all shapes and sizes surround him after his training. His eyes open before his body disappears to the naked eye. Flashes of Kai shadow boxing can be seen as he moves fast enough to leave after images. Winds kick up dirt as his training grows in intensity, and he fully integrates Nuyal's fighting style into his own. His punches grow sharper, and his kicks gain more force and speed. If someone at Nuyal's level fought him now it would be no contest. Kai would wipe the floor with them. 

'This feels amazing!' Kai thought with a smile as he stopped his training and hovered there above the clearing. Looking to the sky it was just past midday. The pod should arrive within a few hours to take him away from this planet. As he stood there, he realized something. 'Wait, I'm wearing Nuyal's armor, right? Won't that be suspicious?' Kai looks down at his attire and rips the armor off his torso, remaining only in his white pants. 

'Much better. They might make me wear some armor in the force, but it won't be with those awful shoulder pads, that's for sure.' 

-

Sunset

Kai is meditating in the clearing when a soft boom can be heard coming from above. As he looks to the sky he sees a space pod similar to the ones used by Vegeta and Nappa closing in on his location from orbit. He stands and grabs his scouter. With all his possessions ready, he is prepared to move on from this planet. He takes flight before the pod lands to avoid its impact. It slams against the ground, making the entire clearing into one big crater. 

The door to the pod opens and Kai sets down in front of it. A padded seat sits before him as well as many blinking lights and controls. He eases himself into the seat, and the pod door shuts by itself. The pod's engines kick in and blast him away from the planet. 

"Current estimate for arrival is two days, initiate hibernation?" A robotic voice intoned from the console. Kai thought for a moment before deciding against it. "No, that's fine." He responded. 'I can't waste a moment of training time.'

Kai has now blasted off to the next chapter of his life. When he arrived in this place he had no memories or power, now he had enough strength to catch the eye of Dodoria, one of Frieza's Commanders. From nothing to a promising recruit he leaves this planet a changed man. What effect he will have on the multiverse at large remains to be seen. Find out next time on… Majin's Journey.