The child's hair was unkempt, short and messy, it always was. He was tall for his age and had a black furred tail to match his black hair. And as always he was hanging upside down by his tail from the light attached to the ceiling, and how he gets there every time when he can't even fly yet is beyond both his adoptive parents.
He was found in a space pod by Gohan only a few weeks after Krillin and 18 were married and Krillin had decided to raise the child as their own. The boy had been more of a handful than krillin believed he would be, by now however the boy had a little sister to play with, Marron. Now 5 years old, the child named Burges was not as smart as his sister, but his strength more than made up for it.
"Krillin!" yelled 18 "can you take Burges outside and train him like you promised me you would".
"Yes 18, come on Burges, we'll go outside and I'll show you something" said Krillin unenthusiastically.
Unknown to the young Saiyan it was decided by 18 the night before that he would be trained by them so he could look out for his sister when she reached school like he was about to.
It was a beautiful day outside as it always seems to be at Kame house and Burges rushed towards the palm trees on the island and began to climb.
"Burges, get down here, I want to show you how to fight" yelled Krillin at his disobedient child. Burges replies by poking his tongue out at him.
"No way, I want Mommy to teach me" says Burges continuing to climb the tree as Krillin goes inside to get 18.
"Burges get out of that tree now" said his mother angrily, "Now listen to me, if you won't do what you're father wants, then I'll have to train you"
"OK mommy" replied the child happily.
As is the norm for full blooded saiyans, Burges seemed to be focused by fighting; the whole time he and 18 trained he didn't try to climb anything and had even learned from his mother to treat his father with respect. Over the next few months Burges continued to train with both of his parents, the more he learned the better he behaved and became more focused.
A whole year had passed when Gohan turned up on the island to tell Krillin about Goku's return from otherworld and his entrance into the Word Tournament.
"You'll fight too won't you Krillin?" asked Gohan
"I don't know what my wife would say about that?" said Krillin
"She'd ask if there's any prize money. I'm going to enter Krillin, why wont you?"
"I suppose fighting in another world tournament with Goku will be fun, sure count us in, Gohan" said Krillin with a degree of enthusiasm. "I suppose Burges will fight as well, He'll enjoy it?"
As the week before the tournament passed Krillin and 18 stepped up their training while Burges preferred to spend time with his sister, showing her how he can fly now. Burges at this time did not know that 18 and Krillin weren't his real parents, and they never told him that he was a Saiyan, although Vegeta kept an eye on the child for any clue as to who his real parents were, for he was more powerful than his own son who was a full 2 years older than him.
Finally the day of the World Tournament arrived and Burges was so excited he climbed the walls of Bulma's plane, much to the annoyance of Bulma.
"You know Krillin, your children are so very different, Marron is such a sweet girl, and Burges is such a disobedient prick that he makes even Vegeta look like an angel. It's like Marron takes almost completely after you and Burges is mostly like 18" commented Bulma.
"Hey, what do you mean by that, my son does exactly what I say" exclaimed 18. "Come here Burges" Burges came running to his mother's side with an innocent look on his face.
Upon arrival at the World Tournament Krillin told Burges to go play with Trunks and Goten. Burges walked behind the pair in silence for a few minutes before becoming bored and playing with his tail, this was the first time he'd ever met any of these people, they all looked so strange, one even had green skin, and the one with the tall spiky hair kept looking at him, he didn't like it, the only Z-Fighters he actually knew were Gohan, his parents and Master Roshi.
The group stopped in the middle of a courtyard when a tall man with spiky hair and a halo hovering over his head appeared out of nowhere, Goten and Burges had the same reaction, hide behind their mothers' legs.
"Hi everyone" said the tall man, "well, are you going to say something or just stare at me all day" he continued.
"GOKU!" yelled Krillin, Gohan and most of the others as they ran toward the man named Goku , for the first time in his short life Burges saw his father cry, this must be the man he had heard everyone talk so much about.
After signing up for the Tournament Burges walked beside his mother and sister watching his father and Goku speak when suddenly they stopped.
"AHHHH! It's Android 18, watch out everyone!" yelled Goku noticing 18 for the first time. Burges jumped in between his mother and Goku as if to protect her.
"It's alright Goku, she's not bad anymore, she and I are married and have kids now" quickly replied Krillin.
"Oh….congratulations, but who's this kid with the tail, did Vegeta and Bulma have another son"
"If he were my child he'd be stronger by now" Vegeta chimed
"I'll explain later" said Krillin quietly.
The group then remained silent until reaching the registration desk where they separated into two groups; Bulma, Chi Chi, Yamcha, Roshi, Marron and Ox-King went off to the spectators seating area while Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, 18, Piccolo, Krillin and Burges continued into the locker room to prepare for the Tournament.
Once in the locker room Krillin pulled Burges aside to speak with him in private.
"Burges, the other kids you'll be fighting against won't be as strong as you, unless you're fighting Goten or Trunks. So I want you to promise me that you won't hurt any of them, just knock them out of the ring, alright"
"OK daddy". Burges seemed to be struggling with something on the inside, something deeply confusing to him. "Daddy, how come that dead guy was surprised that I have a tail?"
"Because when Goku was a boy he had a tail, and Vegeta had a tail until a few years ago, so did Gohan as a boy". This didn't seem to ease his child's confusion, but he asked no more questions as a voice sounded over the arenas PA system.
"All Junior division competitors come to the waiting room please, the junior tournament is about to start". At that Goten and Trunks rushed off to join their fellow competitors while Burges hesitated, staring seriously at his parents he waited for them to say something, 18 just continued her stretching while Krillin looked proudly upon the child he had helped raise
"You'd better get going Kiddo"
Once Burges was out of earshot Krillin walked over to Goku and Gohan.
"Hey Krillin what's the deal with your son, how come he has a tail?" Goku asked in genuine curiosity
"He's not really our son" Krillin started as 18 walked over to join the conversation.
"Yeah I found him in a Saiyan space pod about a year after I defeated Cell. I sensed a powerful being and went to investigate, Krillin arrived at the crash site a couple of minutes after I did" Gohan continued. "I was going to take him home and mum and I would raise him with Goten".
"But I said that I'd take him instead, 18 and I had been married for a few weeks and I thought it would be a good idea-"
"But it wasn't" 18 cut Krillin off mid sentence. "As a baby he was quiet, but as he grew he became restless and disobedient, when Marron was born he became worse because we didn't give him as much attention".
"He didn't start talking until about 3 years old, which was after Marron, even when he could speak he was still quiet, which I take it is unusual, because Gohan used to cry all the time and you told me that you weren't very quiet either, for a Saiyan" Krillin finished. "He doesn't know about us not being his real parents, and he's pretty protective of 18 and Marron"
"So who do you think his real parents are?" asked Goku
"Before I let Krillin take him we took him to Bulma for some tests. It turns out he's a full blood Saiyan, which got Vegeta interested in him, but we have no idea who his parents are" Gohan said very matter of factly as he walked from the locker room.
Burges followed Goten and Trunks all the way to the waiting room, where upon entering he found himself feeling nervous, though he tried his best to be like his mother and not show it. Goten and Trunks walked over to the far wall of the room and leaned up against it, discussing what they would do with the prize money from winning the tournament.
"I'm going to buy toys" said Goten happily.
"You're such a toddler Goten" replied Trunks
"That's easy to say when you're the richest kid in the world, you've got all the toys you want" came the reply from a sodden faced Goten. "Hey, what will you buy if you win Burges?" he asked Burges suddenly cheerful.
"Umm, I don't know, I'd probably give it to my Mom" Burges replied carefully.
"HAHAHAHAHA, good one Burges, you're a funny guy, you know that" Trunks said as he burst out laughing.
In no time the first fights were finished and it was time for Burges to fight Trunks. Trunks walked into the stadium first, seemingly confident, while Burges walked in several steps behind looking like he was about to pass out. Goten passed them walking back in to the waiting room a triumphant look on his face.
"Ha, that was real easy, Good luck Trunks"