Blossom kneeled next to Rainbow Dash. The powerpuff nudged her friend awake.
"Morning, kiddo," Rainbow groaned, "Why so glum?"
"Life as usual, but today, we're finally gonna get off this rock for a while."
"Time to start training."
"We'll give you some time to wake up and stretch a bit. Take a shower and get something to eat."
"You got it."
After breakfast, Rainbow followed the group down to the professor's lab. Blossom left a note on her father's desk.
"What about your school?" Rainbow asked.
"We already finished our coursework for the year. If we need to, we'll stop by to pick up the fall and winter curriculum for next year."
"Guess it's a good thing we never went to school." Brick laughed.
"If it wasn't for common core, we might've had this done sooner," Blossom lamented, "The education system is broken beyond measure at this point. No point crying over spilled milk, I guess."
Blossom and the others led Rainbow to Townsville Park. She saw Mojo's observatory over the horizon.
"Why are we going there?"
"The ship is hidden behind the volcano," Blossom explained, "What Mojo possesses in intelligence, he lacks in common sense. We figured he'd never check if we built it while he was causing trouble in town."
"Speaking of which, what about Townsville? You can't help when you're gone."
"We left detailed instructions on how to handle the bad guys in City Hall and the letter to the professor. They're so simple even the mayor can understand them. Townsville will be fine without us until we come back."
"Works for me."
The party circled around the volcano. The ship was painted black to avoid detection while exiting Earth's Atmosphere.
"Holy shit! It's huge! How long did it take you to build this!?"
"Three days. It was easy with a few blueprint modifications."
"Woah..."
"Come on. Let's head inside."
Rainbow examined the interior of the ship. The inside was composed of a sturdy chrome material.
"Looks like something out of Xenosaga."
"The ship is made out of a new type of metal called exorioum," Blossom explained, "It's a mixture of carbon, steel, iron, and titanium. There are five floors in total. The bedrooms and bathroom are on the second floor. The kitchen is on the third floor. It's mostly health food, but we bought a couple treats to keep us motivated. The fourth floor is where we'll be training."
"I'm guessing the last floor is the piloting system?"
"That about sums it up. Step in front of the computer."
Rainbow strolled to the middle of the room. A scanner analyzed her physical and genetic makeup. It recited the information in a robotic voice.
"Name: Rainbow Dash. Age: 17. Fighting Power: 15."
"Well, that's discouraging."
"Hey, don't worry," Blossom assured, "This is why we're here. When we're finished training, you'll be one of the strongest people on Earth."
"Yeah. Let's kill God harder than Nietzsche."
"Let us get scanned real quick. We have a surprise for you in our room."
"A surprise?"
"I think you'll like it."
The rest of the group walked to the computer. Their power levels measured around a thousand each. Blossom led them to the girls' room.
"Are these what I think they are!?"
"Reiji and Eren's training outfits from Phantom of Inferno."
"Why are they so heavy?"
"We customized them with weights so you could get the most out of our time here."
"Oh, hell yeah! Now I'm really pumped!"
"Good. Now get changed. Once we leave, we'll begin our training."
"I hear you loud and clear."
With their preparations complete, the party headed to the gravity room.
"It's an exact replica of the gravity machine from Dragon Ball Z." Rainbow noted.
"More or less," Blossom confirmed, "It works by creating a virtual field to simulate distance and force."
"How high can it go?"
"We kept it simple and programmed a maximum of one hundred times gravity."
"If i remember science class, I won't be able to train in gravity that high."
"The maximum amount of gravity a normal human can handle is five G's, but maybe with enough dedication and hard work, you'll be able to reach six."
"I'm ready to begin whenever you are."
"We're not using the machine just yet."
"Why?"
"I'm going to make an educated guess here and say one of your arms is stronger than the other."
"How'd you know?"
"Most people tend to prefer one arm over the other in day-to-day life. Over time, it causes an imbalance in strength."
"So I have to strengthen my other arm until it's the same as my dominant one."
"Exactly. An easy way to test this is one-arm push-ups. See how many you can do with your stronger arm, then try to reach that same number with the other one."
"I gotcha."
"Remember to keep your form straight, and don't push yourself beyond what you know you can do. We don't need anybody getting injured."
"Roger."
Rainbow dropped to the ground in a straight line, her right arm level with her shoulder. She executed thirty push-ups with her right arm. Ten was her limit for the left.
"I had no idea the difference was that big."
"Now that you know, you can fix it. For every set with your left arm, increase the amount of reps by one until you can do an even thirty in one set."
"Seems simple enough."
"Just make sure you keep your right arm at the same level of strength. It's easier to keep the two balanced if you pay equal attention to both."
"Guess it makes sense a superhero would have to know this stuff."
"We'll start off easy with some light cardio today. Jog around for thirty minutes, take a one minute break, rinse and repeat for four sets. If we're gonna get the most out of this, we need to train for about two hours a day. Every three days, we'll take a rest day in between to recuperate."
"Got it."
After finishing their training for the day, the party gathered in the kitchen for lunch.
"Once we start upping the gravity, we'll be burning a ton of calories, especially when we get into more intense physical activity," Blossom informed them, "We'll need to eat a bit more to maintain our energy levels. If we run out of food, the rest of us will fly back to Earth. Rainbow, you'll have to stay here since you can't make it back on your own."
"That's cool with me. I'd much rather be stuck in space with you guys any day."
"We'll rest in our rooms when we're done. We installed TVs and computers so we would have something to keep us occupied."
"Sweet."
"Now we'll focus on combat techniques," Blossom began, "Rainbow, will you help me demonstrate?"
"Sure thing."
"In an ideal situation, you'll want to incapacitate your opponent as quickly as possible by isolating their weak points, however, this is often easier said than done. The real goal isn't to win. It's to survive. There are a number of techniques you can employ to ensure the highest chance of victory. I want you to try to hit me."
"Right."
Rainbow punched Blossom directly between the puff's eyes.
"Ahhh! Ow! Shit...!"
"Didn't feel too good, did it? That's why you have to attack with the sturdiest parts of your body. Your elbows, feet, and knees are tougher than the rest of your body. The bones in your hands and shins are too brittle. You're more likely to injure yourself than your opponent. The palms of your hands are more useful for disarming weapons if you're at a close enough range."
"Would've been nice to know against that giant fish monster." Buttercup grumbled.
"Now for defensive techniques," Blossom continued, "There are three basics you need to know: evasion, damage reduction, and grappling. Evasion is self-explanatory. Just dodge and avoid being hit when possible."
"What about damage reduction?" Rainbow inquired.
"This is where things get interesting. Did you know you can use your back as a shield?"
"For real?"
"If someone punches you in the gut, particularly if you aren't ready for it, there's a risk of internal bleeding. If you turn your back though, the odds of a critical injury are significantly lower. It's sort of like full-body blocking."
"Wow. I never would've thought of that on my own. That's pretty smart."
"When it comes to grappling, I have to stress two important points: DO NOT let your opponent secure a hold and DO NOT try to grapple them first. Grappling is extremely dangerous and will lead to broken bones or strangulation. It's a death sentence in its own right. Hit them hard, hit them fast, and end the fight as soon as possible."
"Understood."
"We'll practice this however long we need to to get it down. Defeat is not an option."
The next morning, everyone woke up early so they could get their workout out of the way. Blossom continued to coach Rainbow on how to properly build her strength.
"How much strength training have you actually done?"
"Not a lot. Soccer's more of a cardio sport."
"There are two main categories of strength training: calisthenics and resistance. Calisthenics are exercises you do with your body weight. Resistance involves using gravity to your advantage with weights and other tools."
"I follow you so far."
"The thing about strength is, it's not just about how many sets and reps you can do, but how long you can hold them without straining yourself. This is what fitness experts refer to as 'time under tension'."
"'Time under tension'?"
"Speed is good for quick bursts of strength in tight situations, but tension builds long-lasting strength over a period of time."
"I think I understand. You're saying the longer I can hold each rep, the stronger I'll be in the long run, right?"
"You got it."
"Which should I focus on first: calisthenics or resistance?"
"An hour of each every strength day. Right now, the most important thing is strengthening your left arm. When you're using the dumbbells, do what you did with the push-ups and figure out how many reps per set you can do, but this time, take it as slowly as possible."
"Got it."
For the next two hours, Rainbow did a number of various strength exercises to develop her arms, legs, core, and back. With the added weight of her clothes, she was exhausted by the end.
"I'm so tired. That took more out of me than I thought it would."
"You did good. Go take a shower and get something to eat. You've earned it."
"I'm gonna be sore after that one."
"Just means it's working."
Rainbow wiped the sweat from her brow.
"I'm gonna sleep good tonight."
