Chapter 1: Saiya-jin

Age 737

"Prince Vegeta! Do you copy sir?!"

"I'm here,"

"Sir, unfortunate news from Lord Frieza. Planet Vegeta was struck by a large astroid today...and destroyed.."

"And...you're sure?"

"Affirmative sir. Lord Frieza sends his sympathies and regrets. As of now, you're the only known survivor."

"Woah. Really?"

"Would you like to send a reply sir?"

"No. No reply,"

"Over and out."

Vegeta clicked the red button on the side of his scouter and ended the transmission. He stared into the dimly lit landscape of the alien planet he had just decimated. The star that warmed the planet was setting on the horizon and left the planet with a dull green and yellow hue. The bodies of creatures called to defend their planet were strewn about the campsite that Vegeta had set up for himself at the edge of an alien forest. Still silent, Vegeta's eyes moved from one tree to the next as he studied the jungle-like vines that draped down from the branches and around their trunks. He was alone. He was alone at five years old. Vegeta pulled his knees into his chest and let out a sigh. He placed his forehead on his knees and closed his eyes for a moment.

Isolated from most of the population his entire life, he knew loneliness. He spent his days training and destroying Saibamen in specially designed rooms that could withstand energy blasts. He spent his nights eating professionally prepared meals followed by more training. The Saibamen were already no match for him. He loved and admired his father although he didn't get to see him as much as he hoped for. The most Saiya-jin interaction he got was training with or being sent on low level missions with one of his father's elite warriors, Nappa.

When he was with his father, he mostly just listened. Listened to tales of his father's past and what he hoped for the future of the Saiya-jin race. But most of all, he listened to his father talk about Frieza; the monster that his father had struck a deal with to avoid destruction. His father confided in him that the time was nearing for the Saiya-jins to revolt and take back their planet once and for all. Vegeta himself didn't care for Frieza much and it didn't bother him that Frieza most likely didn't care for him. Vegeta even heard whispers that Frieza might even grow to fear him. But right now, it didn't matter. His home was gone. His family was gone. He didn't want to go back to Frieza and be used as a tool for Frieza's plan of universal domination. He needed to defeat Frieza himself.

Vegeta's deep thought was broken by a voice coming into the scouter that was sitting on his left ear.

"Prince Vegeta! Do you copy?"

Vegeta's eyes snapped open. "Nappa? Is that you? What's going on?!"

"I received a message from one of Frieza's soldiers that Planet Vegeta has been destroyed. He said you and I were the only survivors. I've also been in contact with Lord Frieza and he requests that I take you to him immediately."

Vegeta paused. This is what he feared; going back and being used as a pawn for Frieza. Vegeta stood, removed his scouter from his ear and let it sit in his hand. Nappa's voice came through again, muffled and barely audible.

"Vegeta?! Are you there?"

Vegeta looked down and scowled at his scouter. He squeezed his hand and crushed it. He dumped the remnants into the fire in front of him and began walking to his spacepod.

A large, saucer-like spacecraft silently drifted through the rust colored rubble that was once Planet Vegeta. It was mainly white with a black band that ran around the middle. The black band was dotted with blue bubble shaped windows and round yellow decorative plates. Inside the bridge of the ship, a short devilish creature paced back and forth impatiently. The creature was mainly white, pink and purple with black horns on top of its head and a large pink tail that swished back and forth as it walked. A slight scowl could be seen on its face as it continued to pace with its arms behind its back. After a few silent moments of pacing, the door to the bridge opened with a loud whooshing sound. A pale, green, humanoid alien with long blue hair entered and gave a deep bow.

"Lord Frieza. I just finished a correspondence with Nappa.."

"And?" Frieza interrupted. He stopped pacing, but continued to stare out into space.

The alien winced knowing that Frieza would not like the news he was about to deliver. "And he says that he's lost contact with him,"

Frieza turned around and exploded with anger. "What?! What do you mean he lost contact?!"

"He said that he had a very brief conversation with the prince before his scouter signal disappeared,"

Frieza's voice was more calm but it still seethed with anger. "Well, Zarbon, I suggest you tell Nappa that he had better find the young prince and bring him to me,"

Zarbon bowed once again before exiting. "Yes. Right away, Lord Frieza,"

Age 749

A Saiya-jin spacepod streaked through the endless void. Its high rate of speed formed white energy around the craft. It barreled recklessly toward a rapidly approaching blue planet that was dotted with patches of green landmasses and white, whispy clouds. As the spacepod entered the planet's atmosphere, it began to glow red and shutter as the stratosphere heated the exterior. The ship was heavily damaged with scrapes, dents and patches of metal peeling off of the hull.

The spacepod managed to hold itself together and made it into the sunlit, blue sky. As it descended it swayed back and forth over the treetops of a dense forest before slamming into a clearing near a small brick hut with a pointed blue roof. The crash created a deep impact crater in the clearing. Upon impact, the damaged ship's door flew open and sent its occupant crashing into rock and dirt. The pilot wore damaged armor with tan shoulder plates that had been chipped away. His back was covered with a small remnant of a red cape that was barely clinging to the armor. Under the armor was a tattered blue body suit that was filled with holes as well as matching white gloves and boots. The tail that protruded from his lower back lay limp, across his hip off to his right side.

The explosion caused quite a commotion as trees shook and birds scattered into the sky. The aftershock from the collision rattled a small, blue car that was traveling in the direction of the crater. The car came to a screeching halt until the rumbling ground ceased. The door opened and a teenage girl with lavender hair stepped out. She wore a yellow dress accompanied by a brown belt, green scarf, and black shoes. Her braided ponytail was tied up with a red ribbon and settled in between her shoulder blades. The girl cautiously began walking toward the smoking crater with a hand placed against the brown holster on her hip. "What could this be?" she thought. The girl shuffled her way to the edge of the crater and saw the smoking wreckage of the spaceship. Next to the ship sat the body of a boy, near her age, laying face down in the dirt.

Alarmed, the girl slid down the slope of the crater and ran up to the unconscious boy. She knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his back. "Hey.. Hey.. Are you alright?" she asked, but received no reply. She glanced down and saw a brown, monkey-like tail lying at her feet. Her first instinct was to jump back a bit in surprise. "A tail?" she said to herself. "What? What is he?"

The tail began to twitch a bit and the boy's legs began to move a bit. The lavender-haired girl hopped over to his side and placed a hand on his back again. "Hey, don't move. You'll be alright. I'm going to get you some help," The boy didn't listen and began to lift himself off of the ground. He turned and swatted her hand away violently. The blow connected with the girl's wrist and knocked her back a few feet. The girl grabbed her wrist "Hey! You're being pretty ungrateful and rude to someone who is trying to help you!"

"Leave me be!" the boy returned, with his gruff voice. "Leave me be before I kill you!"

The girl was visibly upset by his statement. "Where did you grow up?! Outer space?! What kind of manners do you have?! You should know you're not supposed to treat a girl like that!" The boy, still recovering, shot a yellow blast of energy that barely missed the girl. The boy placed his thumb and forefinger between his eyes. "Next time I won't miss," he said through gritted teeth. The color drained from the girl's face and she shakily withdrew her pistol and fired a bullet straight into the boy's forehead.

The force of the bullet snapped the visitor's head back. Although he was sitting up now, he was still woozy from the crash and was knocked off balance and onto his back. The girl watched in horror as he picked the bullet out of his forehead and flicked it away. "You'll pay for that!" he shouted. The girl screamed and began to crawl away. Before he could make a move, the boy grabbed his the sides of his head and shouted in agony for a few seconds before he passed out again. The girl, who was already halfway up the crater slope turned around and saw him lying unconscious at the crater floor once again.

She turned and continued climbing up the slope and brushed herself off once she reached solid ground again. She turned and looked down at the boy lying next to the spaceship. "So much for being a good samaritan," she said to herself. She walked back to her car and grabbed a radar off of the dashboard. The white device had a green screen with light green lines criss crossing it like a grid. A yellow light flashed on the screen accompanied by short beeps. The lavender-haired girl glanced down at the screen and back up toward the crater. On the other side of the hole stood a small, brick hut with blue, pointed roofing. "It must be in there," she said. The girl walked with the radar clasped in both hands, looking back and forth between her surroundings and the radar.

She made her way over to the hut and twisted the knob on the door. To her surprise, the door opened and revealed a dimly lit room that looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. The light from the sun shot through the doorway and glimmered in front of her. "Oh?!" she said happily. She ran over to the glimmer and found her prize. "Yes! Another Dragon Ball!" She ran her hands over the semi-transparent orange sphere. The ball also included four red stars. She reached into a dark blue pouch that hung from her belt and pulled out two more nearly identical objects; the only difference being the number of stars. She set her three treasures onto the table and smiled. "Wow, the two, four, and five star Dragon Balls! You're getting pretty good at this, Bulma," she said, congratulating herself. She placed the three Dragon Balls inside her blue pouch and exited the hut. She glanced down into the crater to see the boy, now lying on his back, again unconscious.

"I can't just leave him there.. But he tried to kill you!" she argued with herself. Bulma grunted as she made the agonizing decision to remove the boy from the crater. Knowing she wouldn't be strong enough to carry him, she decided to drag him from the bottom of the pit and up into the empty hut. She left him lying on the dirty, wooden floor in between an unused bed and wooden dining table. Bulma walked to the exit of the hut but stopped and turned back before leaving. "There. Don't say I didn't help you," she said with irritation.

As she left the boy alone in the hut, her conscience caught up with her again. "You're going to leave him all alone in the wilderness?" Bulma stopped walking let out another frustrated growl. She turned around and returned to the hut.

The smell of cooked meat stirred the boy to consciousness. He opened his eyes and let them focus for a second, but the dimly lit hut made it difficult. He turned his head to see a plate of stew and Bulma's silhouette sitting in front of a screen emitting a whitish-blue light. His stirring caught Bulma's attention and she faced the waking boy. "Oh, you're up," she said cooly.

"Wh-where am I?" he asked. He placed a hand on his head in an attempt to ease the pain. His brain throbbed and it felt like he was underwater. Everything moved almost in slow motion to him.

Bulma walked over to him and knelt down next to him. "I brought you in here so you wouldn't die alone out there. I think a thank you is in order," she said, annoyed.

The boy sat up straight. "I don't need your help!" he yelled before grabbing his head again. Bulma dropped a plate of stew on his lap. "Here. Eat this,"

The boy scowled and brushed the plate off of his lap, but not hard enough to spill its contents. "Didn't you learn your lesson before? I can destroy you and this entire plane...ARRGH!" He grabbed his head again. "What have you done to me?"

"I didn't do anything!" she shouted. "You crashed your plane, or spaceship, or whatever it is! All I did was help you!" Bulma stood up and walked back toward the television she had deployed from one of her many capsules. "My conscience wouldn't let me leave you!"

"Hmph...conscience," the boy muttered. "Thats what separates Saiya-jins and the rest of the universe. Your archaic sense of morals is what keeps you weak,"

Frustrated and confused, Bulma turned back to the boy. "Saiya, what? Who...or what are you?" The boy smirked. "I'm Vegeta. Prince of the warrior Saiya-jin race. The most fearsome, and ruthless beings in the universe,"

"So...so you're an alien then?" Bulma asked, her voice shaking as she began to back away.

"If that's what you want to call it," Vegeta replied. He picked up the plate of stew that was slowly cooling next to him and placed a spoonful into his mouth. Bulma continued backing towards the door. Her left foot bumped into the blue pouch that contained her Dragon Balls and sent them rolling across the floor. The Four-Star ball rolled towards Vegeta and came to a rest next to a wooden table leg. He grabbed the object and examined it for a few seconds.

"Curious," he began. "I've never come across anything thats looked like this before,"

Bulma, still shocked from learning of the boy's origin, attempted to explain. "I-it's called a Dragon Ball. I found one of them in a box of heirlooms in my attic," she began to calm down a bit as she noticed Vegeta was occupying himself with the food she had left him. "Apparently it belonged to my uncle, but nobody knows how he got it. I did quite a bit of research on it and found an old book that explained it all. There are seven of these orange Dragon Balls, marked with red stars numbering from one to seven," Bulma looked over to Vegeta and could see him now studying the sphere. "The Two-Star was my uncle's and last week I tracked down this Five-Star ball," Bulma held up both of the Dragon Balls to show Vegeta. He didn't even so much as move his eyes over to look. He just stayed fixated on the Four-Star ball that he held in his hands.

"And why are you collecting these," he asked. "There's something about them,"

Bulma smiled for the first time since Vegeta awoke. "If you collect all seven, you get anything you want!"

Vegeta turned to the lavender-haired girl. "Anything?" he asked with a smirk. The look on Vegeta's face startled Bulma and she began to shiver a bit. "Y-yes. According to the legend, when all seven are brought together, they awaken this...eternal dragon,"

"What?" Vegeta asked. He turned his head slightly toward Bulma. "So you're telling me that if you collect all of these so-called Dragon Balls a dragon appears and you get anything you want?"

"Thats right. The dragon's name is Shenron, and he grants one wish. Anything you can imagine," Bulma watched as Vegeta looked back down at the Dragon Ball. "With the power of these Dragon Balls I could wish for the power to defeat Frieza once and for all. Or better yet. I could become immortal. If I bide my time here and collect these Dragon Balls I can become the most powerful being in the universe!" Vegeta thought. He stood, Four-Star ball clasped in his right hand.

The maniacal, yet cold look in his eyes made Bulma immediately regret telling Vegeta about the Dragon Balls. A smirk crawled across his face once again. "Hm. I think i'll stay for a while," He tossed the Four-Star up in front of his face and quickly snatched it out of the air. Bulma sat with her back to the door and watched as Vegeta sat down on the dusty, old bed and examine the Dragon Ball for a few more moments. He shifted his eyes in her direction but didn't say a word. Bulma felt a lump forming in her throat and the adrenaline pumping made her shake. Vegeta dropped the ball to the floor and let it roll over next to Bulma where the other Dragon Balls lay. Without a word he lay down on his side facing the wall and promptly fell asleep.

Bulma exhaled heavily and stared up at the ceiling. "What did I get myself into?" she thought.

Sunlight streamed through the slits of the half closed blinds that covered the windows. Bulma's eyes flickered open but she had to squint at first so her eyes could get used to the light. She propped herself up with her right hand and rubber her eyes with her left. She turned toward the bed and saw Vegeta still sleeping soundly on his side. Throughout the night she had contemplated taking the Dragon Balls and leaving, but there was something about the strange boy that intrigued her. "I am a girl all alone in the wilderness. Maybe I could use a body guard," she thought.

Outside of the hut, the soft sound of boots landing on dirt could be heard. Vegeta immediately awoke from his slumber and stood next to his bed. Startled, Bulma fell over and knocked her head against the wall on the hut. She let out a short cry and grabbed her head.

"Quiet down!" Vegeta shouted. Bulma looked up at him and scowled while rubbing the side of her head. Vegeta walked across the wooden floorboards and opened the door. Once his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, he saw a humanoid alien standing twenty feet from the hut. The alien's skin was mainly light blue with purple on top of his head. His eyes were solid yellow with no pupils to be found. His white shirt covered a purple undershirt. His purple pants, white gloves and white boots completed his ensemble.

Vegeta smirked. "Well. It looks like we have a visitor,"

Bulma crawled to the entryway and saw the alien standing before them. She tilted her head slightly as if she recognized him. "Jaco?"

"That's right!" the alien said. He stretched his right leg straight out, bent his left and began moving his arms in circles. "Jaco, the galactic patrolman!"

Bulma got up and ran out to greet him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying with Omari until you went back to your home planet,"

The alien stopped his posing and shook Bulma's hand. "I was," he glanced over her shoulder. "Until I got word that a threat would be making its way to this planet,"

Vegeta glared at the alien and began to make his way over. "So, you heard I was a threat? And what does someone like you plan to do about it?" Jaco brushed Bulma aside and began walking toward Vegeta. The two stopped a few feet from one another. Jaco pointed at himself with his thumb. "I'm going to stop you,"

Welcome, and thank you for reading the first chapter of Zenkai! I deeply appreciate it. This is a story I've been wanting to tell for years, and, well.. here we are...finally! This idea originally took root in 2003 under a different title, but through all of these years, the concept has never left my mind. I'm beyond excited to get to work, and make this story the best that it can be!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jaco, I recommend checking out Toriyama's most recent work 'Jaco the Galactic Patrolman'. Surprisingly, it ties in with the very beginning of Dragon Ball and I liked the character so much that I decided to include him in this story.

Some of you may also be wondering what happened to Vegeta in the twelve years between the destruction of Planet Vegeta and the current date, but it will all be explained in due time. I always appreciate feedback, or comments on a chapter, or the entire story in general. Please, don't hesitate to drop off a review. Any questions you may have, I'm always happy to answer as well. I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Vegeta's journey!

EDIT: I've decided to put in a table of contents...or something like that so give an approximation of when sagas begin and end. This will be updated between saga transitions.

Dragon Ball Saga: Chapters 1 to 5

21st Tenkaichi Budokai mini-saga: Chapters 6 to 8 (Chapter 8 also includes the first meeting with the Red Ribbon Army)

Red Ribbon Saga: ONGOING