"Well considering that you were at 185 at the last World Martial Art's Tournament I'd say you've done pretty good!" Bulma said. "And while I can't get a decent reading thanks to limited footage I can tell that you have improved."
Tien finally nodded, accepting. "Yeah. And if we keep training we'll only get stronger."
Not said was that Raditz would most likely be training as well.
"Well," he said, "no use wasting any more time then. I want you to confirm that I am still at 697, okay?"
"Right o!" Bulma said happily backing up and aiming the Energy Scanner at him. "Right now you are at a basic 319 but I imagine that's because you haven't fully powered up."
"Yeah," Tien confirmed before tensing, channeling his Ki through his body. Bulma watched on the screen as the numbers began to climb higher and higher as the visible aura of energy began to flare around the man. The veins on his neck stuck out, his muscles bulged, and he growled low in his throat as he drew more and more of his power to the surface. Off to the side she heard Chiaotzu also powering up but didn't stop scanning Tien.
He suddenly burst into motion, throwing a series of kicks and punches, lashing out at the air. The device took all of that in, calculating how fast he was moving, how the air was being displaced by his strikes, and how his body was reacting. All to give her a complete picture of his strength both in terms of attack and defense so she could then have an overall score.
"697… 701… 712. Okay, its holding at 712. Either you've gained 15 more on the Bulma Scale or its like I thought and using the footage doesn't give me the full story. I can also tell more if you begin sparing with someone, give you a break down of your defensive prowess vs. your offensive."
"Not right now," Tien said, refusing to stop. "I'd rather you focus on this!" He jerked slightly… and Bulam's eyes went wide.
729… 738… 752… 764… 773!
"How… how are you…"
"Did it go up?" Chiaotzu asked excitedly.
"By over 60 on the Bulma Scale!" she declared and Tien smirked before moving to stand still. "I don't understand… how did you do that? Were you repressing your real strength?"
"No," Tien said. "It wasn't my strength at all. It was mine and Chiaotzu's."
Bulma just stared at him, not quite getting what Tien was trying to tell her.
"A few weeks back I used the Scroll of Knowledge," he said. Bulma wasn't surprised; Tien had been saying for a while that he wanted to use it though she didn't get why he had been so secretive about it.
'Probably like Goku, thinking it's a shortcut,' she thought. Goku had been resisting using the Scroll, claiming that everyone else should get a turn first. Bulma though knew that her brother had gotten it into his head that using the scroll was cheating and he wanted to be able to beat Raditz on his own. EVERYONE thought he was being stupid, including Chichi and Piccolo, and they'd all taken their turn trying to wear Goku down and get him to just use the scroll!
It was actually rather interesting to watch, in Bulma's opinion. Chichi used guilt, pointing out that if he wasn't strong enough then Raditz would kill them all. Piccolo was utterly dismissive, insulting Goku's dedication to training if he wasn't willing to use everything on hand to become better. Roshi went old school, commenting that the Scroll was just another teacher (and Kayos had muttered they should have made it able to talk and dressed it in a little shirt and shorts, then Goku would have listened to it). Tien though had been quiet, clearly not liking he needed to use the Scroll but understanding why.
As for Isco…
~Earlier…~
"Hey, what are you doing, buddy?" Goku asked as Isco buzzed around him. "Come on! That tickles!" he laughed as Isco scanned him.
"Sorry Mr. Son," Isco stated dryly, "I am setting up auctions on the Space Ebay to sell your clothing when Raditz returns and murders you because you are a stubborn fool and the listings always do better if one actually describes the fit of the clothing."
Goku just stared at Isco as the droid hummed to itself, moving to measure Roshi.
"So you used the Scroll to get stronger?" Bulma said, pulling herself from her thoughts and focusing on the task at hand.
"Not quite," Tien said. "When we asked the Scroll how we could grow stronger it took us… literally."
"Yeah!" Chiaotzu stated. "It said how WE could get stronger."
"Tactics, skills, and power ups that focus on two people," Tien continued.
"OH!" Bulma said. "It thought you wanted to work together."
"Yes… and it was right. Because what it suggested… we are learning how to do things together we couldn't do on our own." He gestured at himself and Chiaotzu. "What you saw there was Energy Sharing."
"Energy Sharing?" Bulma asked.
Tien nodded. "It's a technique that allows you to pass your energy to someone else, to help strengthen them up if they are running low. But what we've discovered is when you do that sometimes the power actually increases. I might only give Chiaotzu a tiny bit… but it grows in the transfer."
"That… shouldn't happen," Bulma said. "The law of Energy Transfer states that passing energy from one source to another always causes you to lose some."
Chiaotzu shrugged. "We think it might gather energy around us… we're not sure. The point is that by strengthening our bond we can pass energy back and forth and quickly increase it. Each pass making it grow."
"Like using magnets to increase acceleration…" Bulma murmured to herself. "Hmmm… that could work. Definitely would be really handy. One could fight and the other focus on passing energy back and forth."
"That's not all," Tien said before looking at Chiaotzu. "Ready?"
The smaller fighter tensed. "Yeah… okay."
The two began to glow and Bulma stepped back once more, watching as they stood there. At first she didn't see anything happening and thought maybe they were just passing energy between the two of them. But then she began to see it…
On Tien's cheeks red circles slowly appeared, faint at first but growing in color, deepening the red. His skin also become a touch lighter; he wasn't overly tan like Yamcha but he wasn't as pale as Krillin sometimes got so seeing him go pasty white was startling.
Bulma looked toward Chiaotzu… and cried out when a crack formed on his forehead, it splitting open to reveal a third eye.
"Wha… how?!" Bulma declared as she fell on her rear, scrambling back in shock.
"Its called Bond Fusion," Tien stated. "It's a secret skill Uskeneer Warriors have perfected. When two fighters are in perfect sync they can share their skills and traits with one another." Tien focused and Bulma watched as a rock near her began to rise up. It was wobbly and only got up a foot before it dropped back down but it still rose in the air. "I'm still working on it," he admitted.