Killamari's Notes
Hello there, new readers! This is my first (working) story! Coincidentally, it's for one of my first anime, too. If you're one of the few people that has never heard of Dragon Ball, Z, Super, etc., I have just one question:
How?
Now that you've (hopefully) given me an answer, I can move on! This story is, if you read the description all the way through, a Self-Insert story. Unashamedly, this was inspired by Xomniac's This Bites, Teninshigen's Music of the Spheres, and so many moreHonestly, you can find pretty great SI stories (and mine) by going down the rabbit hole.
Speaking of stories, I'm probably holding you up from reading this one, huh? It's the whole reason you're here and everything. My bad, I got one more thing to say, though:
I hope you enjoy this!
Kay, that's all, you can get to reading this now.
~{K}~
Act 0: Insight
Chapter 1: Magic Trip
I think, at this point in my life, I'm both violently angry with and all too familiar with the feeling of pins and needles.
Probably because that's the last thing I felt before I died.
Wait. Where are my manners? I just started talking, I didn't even introduce myself. My sister would've torn me a new one for that. Okay, from the top.
Hey there, my name's Charlie White. Or, my useable name is Charlie White (That's a completely different can of worms, let me tell you). I'm currently 18, going on nine years old, stand at four foot five if I stand on my toes, and despite no longer living in North America, I still can't break the habit of not using the Metric System.
Oh, also what I guess might have been a little important to start with is that I'm a dimension-hopping zombie.
Or, if I'm using plain english, another victim of that popular trend. You know the one.
Now, since I'm an I* victim, the next natural question to be answered is "Where am I?", which is pretty fair, I guess. I mean, I obviously thought it up, so it's natural to me. I mean, this could be somewhere I don't recognize, some original fantasy world that could rip poor old me in twain!
So, where did I end up? Some fantasy world? An island of little people? In the middle of an intergalactic battle for supremacy? Somewhere that was virtually the same as where I was before, but they were really big fans of people named "Charlie White"?
Well...
Let me tell you…
I can deal with a lot of things. I've seen some shit, heard worse shit, and, as I mentioned before, that god-awful pins and needles feeling was like getting devoured by the fires of hell. And, y'know, it also scared the shit outta me. So I kinda thought I was cool with a lot.
Waking up to the sight of clouds from above, with my head sticking out of a hole? Genuinely surprising, I pulled my head out of that hole. After a minute to calm down and looking around the pretty empty-looking room, I stuck my head back out.
Aside from the clouds, I did see a red pole. It didn't seem to have a limit, it stretched on right through the clouds. It looked like it would've taken a while for it to hit the ground.
Sorta like how long it took for my idiot brain to connect the dots after I pulled my head out of the hole.
"...Oh shit."
So yeah, turns out I was a victim of something way worse than I*.
I was a victim of its foreign cousin.
Yay.
Even worse, I don't think that this particular S* variant had been done before. Which meant that, yaaay, I (Or in this case, the author that I'm pretty sure would have to be me because I was pretty sure I existed) would definitely be trying to make my story stand out from others of its ilk.
That meant twists, turns, excitement, heartbreak. There might actually be a lot of breaking going on here. I had no illusions of any of it being pleasant for me.
But hey, that's what Dragon Balls are for, right?
...I really hope I don't have to die again, it fucking sucks.
Ugh, I had to get outta the room at some point, though. There was a door off to the side, and it was the only other thing here, so my path was kinda obvious, I guess. After opening it up, I was greeted to the sight of a much darker, way bigger room.
And, right in front of me, a flight of stairs just as big.
I looked back to myself, my child body (And seeing it for the first time, wasn't that another surprise to add to the pile), and then back to the flight of stairs. The same flight that somehow seemed to get even taller when I looked away.
"...Fuuuuuck." I let out, slumping slightly in resignation. I hadn't really worked out a lot back when I wasn't nine, and now that I was even more physically stunted?
"Hey," I muttered to myself, some dregs of hope flitting around inside me trying to find a silver lining, "At least it's a clean slate."
And with that, I took in a deep breath, before starting up the stairs. I guess it sorta also would be symbolic about starting a new life here? Maybe even the first steps to becoming a better me? Or the Ideal Me?
I had no idea.
I just knew that this trip up the stairs was going to suck.
~{K}~
Hours later…
I undersold it.
I, somehow, undersold how badly the trip up the stairs was gonna be.
"Haaah….haaah...hate this. Hate this so fuggin much…"
I don't think I've ever been so grateful for the little platforms that were sitting every few flight up. The only issue was that around...I wanna say a quarter of the way up? The floor didn't look so far away then, I think.
Anyways, that's around when I started stopping because it felt like my goddamn lungs were trying to carve their way out of me. And when my legs started to fucking hurt. Goddamn kid body, with stupid physical limits…
...I had the sinking suspicion that my original body wouldn't have fared much better.
Yikes, I was just gonna depress myself if I kept thinking like that.
Stop dwelling on it and onwards to new-life territory!
The strain made the already excruciatingly long walk up even longer. By the time I got past what hoped was the halfway point, my everything didn't really hurt anymore! Mostly because I grew numb from the exertion, but who's really factoring things like that in?
Me? Now why would I do that?
I still clearly had gas in the tank, I could keep going until I got to the top! Sure, there wasn't really a rush on time (Or at least I hoped there wasn't. Being on The Lookout during the Buu saga would fucking suck), sure, running myself ragged is probably doing more harm than good,but I was getting tired of thi- WHAT IS THAT!?
Out of nowhere, I got this sort of deep, primal feeling spike up in me. It sorta felt like that butterflies in the stomach feeling, except more...there? And pressing against my spine? Whatever it was, my body had me turning my head almost lightning fast to see…
Nothing new. Just the stairs.
...Okay, sleep was gonna help fix...whatever that was. Up to the next little platform, sleep for however long because I can't tell the time down here, then back to stairs-hell!
Yaaaay...
Nothing really seemed wrong with that plan, so all I can do for now is get some rest and hope that the next day (at least I'm hoping it is, getting tired of a dark room) is a lot more productive. Maybe I'll even get out of here!
That's for later, though.
Sleepytime now…
~{K}~
Later...
Okay, waking up in a head-sized pool of my own tears wasn't something I wanted to repeat. Freaked me out enough that it would've had me jumping up and trying to get away from it.
I say "would've", because moving wasn't smart right now. Y'know the phrase "I'll feel that in the morning"?
Yeah, well running and walking up a fuckton on stairs till' you're numb and while nine years old sorta was the quickest way to get that feeling and then some.
"Ooooooow…"
I just need time...some time until I can feel something other than pain, that's it. Shouldn't take too long, maybe this child body was from here? With all that patented Shonen Anime Bullshit? There weren't really mirrors around or anything, and the only reason I'd been able to tell that I was a kid was because of the size of my body.
My skin was the same shade of brown, sure, same with the little black splotchy birthmark on the back of my right hand. The only big difference, aside from the obvious de-aging, was the lack of glasses. I'd felt around my face, no luck at all.
The thought of my glasses sorta led me to think "Hey, what kinda clothes am I wearing?" So when I'd stopped at around the second platform, I checked myself out. Honestly? Pretty basic white clothes straight out of The Promised Neverland but I don't think you could pay me to care.
Unless it turned out I was wearing weighted clothing the whole time.
In which case I care immensely.
My body sorta acclimated to the pain after what I think was an hour and some change, and I managed to pull myself up. A gradual walk up the next few platforms turned back into the rush up the stairs I'd previously done before, the hope that I'd hopefully make it out of here sooner if I kept this up fresh in my mind.
'If I can't even get up some stupidly high stairs, then I'm not ready for this world!' I thought to myself, trying to distance my brain from the pain it would otherwise be focusing on as I scrambled higher and higher up. 'I won't even be able to go down, I'd just be stuck here! I can't let that be my story, dammit!'
~{K}~
I don't know when I reached the door.
I just know that despite the fact that by the time I reached the door I was crawling towards it, everything aching and sweating in places it probably shouldn't be to keep your lifespan nice and long, I still felt like I had more in the tank.
That feeling was weird, honestly. I just knew how far I could push my body, down to the last drop. It was a feeling that felt familiar, but also in the sense of a cousin you barely hear about: That I should know about it, but it isn't coming to mind right now and could be awhile before it comes to you.
But while that niggling feeling kept pulsing in my skull, something else tugged at me.
Gravity, with its old college roommates pain and fatigue.
As I felt the cold stone floor on my skin, and the seemingly unyielding grip Morpheus had on my body, I struggled to stay awake. I could hear the creak of the door, see the...wood? Was that a cane? Grampa used to have a cane…
"Got up here a little quicker than we thought he would, don't you think so, Mr. Popo?" A weathered old voice (which didn't help my sleep-addled Grampa comparison) said, a tiny bit of mirth to his tone. His words jumbled about in my head, and I was starting to flicker in and out of consciousness.
The weird part was that seeing black still kept happening when I was sure my eyes were open. And it kept moving.
'Fuuuuck, I thought, trying in vain to wriggle or anything to fight off the suddenly lovely idea to take a nap. Just for a little bit though, of course... I could trust this guy, he reminded me of Grampa. He also seemed familiar, but I'm drawing too many blanks. Dammit, brain…
"Hm, what do you want to do with him?" Another voice spoke up this time, presumably Mr. Popo. The name's escaping me too, sorta like how my desire to keep blinking's trying to skip town. You're getting overtime whether you like or not, pal!
"Well, he did manage to find his way up. In two days time, no less." Not-Grampa replied, I got the sense he was looking at me. Wish I could do the same, but me and my eyelids are fighting.
"Yes, but you as well as I can tell he's far weaker than the other child that found his way up here." Popo said, his feet moving around. Guessing he was facing the other guy, the way his position was.
"All the more impressive, and something to nurture. We need as much help as possible against that shade."
"...Fine. I'll take him to the other child to rest for now."
"Thank you."
I felt weightless for a second, then a fabric-like sensation under me. Despite my prone state, I still felt like I was moving. Whatever I was on, it also helped to relax me. Slowly, surely, the Sandman finally put me down for the count.
The last thing I saw that day were the stars in the night sky for the first time in my second life. Then, I was finally asleep.
~{K}~
The Morning…
Y'know, I don't really expect much in the mornings. A "hello" from family, breakfast on the counter, the news at the kitchen, the sound someone taking a shower at some ungodly early hour in the morning.
A furry, monkey-like tail covering my face was a pretty far departure from that, honestly.
Sputtering, my hands came up to swat the offending appendage away from my face as I sat up. I wiped to get brown fur off my face as well, in case anything just decided to cling.
Wait.
Monkey tail. On the Lookout.
There's literally only one person this could be.
Sure enough, getting a better look at the snoring (How I hadn't heard that till now was a mystery, honestly.) child next to me, if the tail and orange gi didn't give it away, then that head of black hair, sprouting up in a way that just wasn't naturally possible back home, was the final nail in the coffin.
I was sleeping right next to Son Goku. And now I knew exactly when I was.
~{K}~
Killamari's Notes
Well, that's the end of the first chapter!
Sure, this might've been a little rough, this trend has been done before, to death, but this is just how it's gonna be! If you're sticking through to the end for this story, I salute you! I'm going to do my best to make this as wild a ride as possible.
Reviews really help me to know what I'm doing right and what needs work, so as long as you give feedback, I really don't mind what side of the coin it falls on. And hey, if you did like this, pass it on? Don't hog all the good stories for yourself!
Anyways, keep an appendage out for me, this won't be the last you see of me. And this definitely won't be the last thing I ever drop in here.
Toodles.