Chapter 1
The deafening sound of the crowd roaring for more, the lights shining down into the cage, the smell of sweat and blood, Goku had become completely numb to it all over the years, though his own blood still burned from the thrill of the fight. Every time he landed a blow his inner animal roared to life, clawing its way to the surface until he lost himself to instinct. If there was one thing in the world he loved most it was fighting, since boyhood he loved to test his strength against stronger opponents even before he had learned to fight.
His grandfather Gohan had become worried by Goku's wild nature so much that he decided to take it upon himself to train the boy in the way of martial arts. Learning technique, form and discipline the boy had found a way to channel his fighting spirit and was content with this way of life. Now here he was, a lowlife cage fighter who had cast aside his honour and dignity and given himself over to instinct and rage as he brutally defeated opponent after opponent. The only thing he got out of it now was a cold reminder of the events that had led him to this point in his life.
"Ladies and gentlemen tonight's winner and still king of the cage...SON GOKU, THE DRAGONFIST!"
The crowd erupted into applause as the short overweight announcer attempted to raise Goku's right fist but, being close to dwarf sized and the wild spiky haired fighter being 6'5 it was quiet a comical sight. Goku pulled away in annoyance and demanded his winnings then, grabbing his shirt, promptly left the cage and made his way to the restroom. Splashing his face with cold water he slowly looked up into the mirror and studied his reflection for a while. The right side of his face was slightly bruised from a lucky left hook his challenger had managed to land on him but it was already starting to fade. Putting his shirt back on Goku left the restroom and made his way to the bar, he needed a drink and he needed it now.
"Hey Jimmy pour me a drink, don't bother asking me when."
"Jeeze Goku I don't know how you do it." The bartender said while pouring the drink.
"Do what?"
"Either get through a fight without being touched or shrug off a beating like it was a coat."
Jimmy had been working in this bar/fight club for two years now and he'd seen his fair share of fighters come and go. Most of them just typical street brawler thugs and the occasional professional boxer but he had never seen such a skilled, tactical and not to mention brutal martial artist as Goku.
"The guy was a fucking moron, didn't know his fist from his ass." Goku growled.
"Still the guy was huge, looked like he ate stones for breakfast. He beat the shit out of everyone who went in there with him, then you come in and within minutes he's on the floor blooded and literally pissing himself." Jimmy chuckled to himself.
"He was a fucking wimp, I went easy on him too." Goku said chugging his drink.
"...Goku you broke his arm and cracked a few of his ribs." Jimmy stated with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah so?"
"You've got issues monkey man." Jimmy laughed and shook his head.
"Monkey man...?" Only Jimmy called him that were as everyone else called him by his title "Dragonfist" the same as his signature move that had become almost as iconic in the small town of Redhill as his black spiky hair that seemed to defy gravity. Paying for his drink he downed the rest of it before turning in for the night.
"See ya around Jimmy." he said heading for the door.
"Try to stay out of trouble big guy."
"Not making any promises." he answered.
After a short walk Goku finally came to a small caravan that looked like it had seen beater days. Rust and dents covered it from head to toe and the windows were dirty and cracked, but if the outside was bad then the inside was worse. Clothes littered the floor, dirty dishes filled the sink and bottles and food cans lay everywhere. All in all it was a pigsty. Kicking off his shoes, Goku removed the rest of his clothes until he was clad in only his boxers and then, before he moved to sit down something unwrapped itself from around his waste. A long thin and furry monkey tail, not something found on a human being yet there it was moving back and forward as Goku attempted work the stiffness out of it.
Of everything he like about himself in his youth, his tail was his favourite. As a child when he wasn't learning how to fight he would always go into the forests of his home and try to befriend the native monkeys. He would always watch, then try to mimic them, running, climbing and leaping, from them he even learned how to use his tail to aid in his agility and acrobatics. The more time he spent around them the more he felt a sort of kinship with his little furry companions, all in all there was never a more proud and happy little boy in the world.
Now as an adult he felt nothing but disgust whenever he looked at the furry appendage, it now only served to remind him of the cold hard truth that he was not human. As a boy even though his interactions with people had been limited he knew that he was different from other people, he was abnormally strong, faster than the average person, possessed instincts and senses that were sharper than a wolf's and a seemingly unusual violent nature at times. It didn't take a genius, which Goku certainly wasn't, to see how unusual he was.
Lying down on his bed Goku stared at the roof of his caravan for what seemed like an eternity until he felt a familiar shape under his pillow. Reaching under it he brought out an object small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, it was an orange crystal ball with four stars marked on it. Again his mind wandered to his childhood as he recalled the day his grandfather gave it to him.
"Goku I have something for you." Gohan said as he presented the orb to his now twelve year old grandson.
"Whoa its so shiny, what is it grandpa?" Goku asked as he studied it with awe.
"Its a Dragonball, in all the world there are seven in total, each one marked with a different number of stars. This one as you can see is the four-star ball, it has been passed down in my family for generations and now it is your turn to inherit it." Gohan explained.
"What does it do?"
"On its own nothing, but according to legend when brought together the seven Dragonballs will summon Shenron the eternal dragon, and he will grant the summoner one wish."
"Is that true grandpa?" Goku asked becoming excited as the story concluded.
"Well I'm sure you'll find out one day Goku." he said smiling.
Since that day he had dreamed of venturing out into the world with Gohan to find the six remaining Dragonballs and see the wonders off the outside. But fate had not been so kind to him and especially not to his grandfather. In just one night Goku's happy and carefree life had been utterly destroyed, he remembered Gohan telling him of a creature that prowled the forests at night when the moon was full, killing and destroying anything in its path, but as to what the beast was Gohan could not or would not say.
That night Goku had been unable to sleep for two reasons, first because the monster his grandfather told him of had terrified him to some extent and second because the thought of battling such a powerful beast stirred his fighting spirit to the point where he felt giddy. Unable to sleep he went to open his window thinking some fresh air would calm him down, and the first thing his eyes fell upon was the biggest full moon he had ever seen. The last thing Goku remembered that night was a thunderous roar that echoed far across the mountains and a blood curdling cry.
The next morning he awoke to discover their small house in ruins and Gohan was nowhere to be found. The trees on the edge of the forest had been either smashed to pieces or uprooted by something big...very big. In the ground were what appeared to be giant holes at least fifty meters wide, but upon closer inspection Goku realised that they were not holes at all, they were footprints.
A horrifying thought occurred to him, the scream he heard last night meant that the creature had attacked someone and since there was no one around for miles, and he was here alive and well that meant the scream could only have come from one person. In a blind panic Goku raced down the trail, following the tracks as they lead deep into the forest and down the mountain path, for hours he followed the trail searching for any sign of Gohan but found none, he called out to him but his calls went unanswered.
Eventually he came to the end of the trail and what he found made his blood run cold. There in the middle of a clearing lay the bloody remains of Gohan. Goku stood frozen to the spot for what felt like an eternity before he slowly walked over, kneeled and cradled his grandfather's body.
"Grandpa...?" No answer came "grandpa wake up" still Gohan remained motionless. Again and again Goku tried to wake him up, refusing to believe his eyes. But at last he was forced to except the horrifying truth and he finally allowed himself to cry, the pain was too much and soon he was screaming at the top of his lungs.
Tears slowly ran down Goku's cheeks as he stared and the Dragonball, the one thing he had left of his grandfather to this day. He had spent one whole year since Gohan's death searching for the remaining six, hoping to ask the dragon god to bring him back. But he found no sign, rumour, clue or trace of them and when he tried to ask about them most people just outright laughed at him, saying he was stupid for believing in fairy tales.
What a fool he had been, believing in magic and wish granting dragons, there was no bringing his grandfather back, and so with nothing left for him in his forest home he had journeyed out into a world he new nothing about. Over the coarse of thirteen years Goku drifted from place to place learning to adapt to what he found to be a cruel world, and now here he was with no purpose, fighting for money and drinking away his sorrows.
Wiping away his tears Goku put the Dragonball back under his pillow and lay down to sleep. He would not wast his energy crying, only the weak cried and he was no weakling. Tomorrow he would wake, he would train, he would fight and he would crush anyone brave or stupid enough to enter the cage with him, for in that cage he would lose nothing and take everything.