To say Krillin was having a bad day would be an understatement. Heck his last 5 years hadn't been great, sure things had improved and just when he thought he would be able to grasp at being happy it seemed that this world's Kami would rather see him miserable. That is if Kami even existed in this world, for Krillin had tried looking but had come up short.
Five years ago Krillin and his fellow Z fighters had gathered to face the menace called Cell. A biological android of astronomical power created by an older foe from his and his best friend's childhood, the scientist and core founder of the terrorist organization known as The Red Ribbon army, Dr. Gero.
The fight had not gone well. Goku, the strongest fighter in their group and the one they could always count on to save the day failed at killing Cell even after shooting the strongest Kamehameha wave point blank at the dreadful android.
It was Goku's son, Gohan, who Goku had passed the mantle to fight the android next. A boy of no more than 11 years old who Krillin had bonded with deeply during their unfortunate adventures and who he cared for as a son. A boy who had seen more destruction and death than any boy at his age should, death of his father and friends, death of a whole race, destruction of a whole planet. A boy whose power had surpassed all the fighters in their group and now rivaled his father and the android. A boy who they now relied on to save the world.
Despite his power and the hardships that Gohan had gone through he was a pacifist at heart and the fight had not gone well at least at first. Krillin saw young Gohan get pummeled by Cell and hated his own inability to do anything, their power far surpassing his. It was the death of another android turned comrade that pivoted the fight. Krillin saw Gohan unleash his true power and gain the upper hand outclassing Cell.
Even with being reverted to a less powerful form by Gohan's ferocious assault the android did not go down easily. Just when the fighters thought they had the upper hand Cell threatened to self-destruct and take the Earth no the whole solar system with him. It was the swift action of Goku who teleported Cell to the other world just before the explosion that saved them but losing his own life in the process.
At their highest moment of triumph and sorrow at the loss of their leader and friend Cell appeared back in its most powerful form. Gohan now beaten with a broken arm and well broken almost everything mustered the rest of his power and launched the signature Kamehameha wave in an effort to eradicate him once and for all. The android responded in kind and the two energy beams battled for supremacy. Krillin and the remaining fighters motivated by young Gohan's tenacity launched their own beams at the android hoping to give advantage to the boy. It was then when all the fighters launched their energy that the battling beams exploded, a bright blue light and unbearable heat encircling them and the area around for miles.
When Krillin woke up at first he thought he was dead but soon realized that was not the case. Instead of the otherworld or arid battlefield he saw that he was at the outskirts of a forest and could see a village in the distance. Krillin tried to sense his friends, Cell or Dende, the new Kami of his world, however he could not find them. He could sense the energy of people but just not his friends or anyone he might recognize.
The fighter didn't know where he was, he didn't know what happened to his friends, what happened with Cell. Were they alive, did they win? Not being able to answer those questions he went about exploring the village.
Through his exploration he realized his instincts were right, he was not dead but he also wasn't on earth anymore, at least not his earth. This world was similar but different, the technology level wasn't quite right, they had cars but no flying cars or airships, there was no capsule technology either. He sensed population centres in the wrong areas and confirmed it by seeing a world map. The cities, the countries and even the continents were different. He was in a place called Japan and the people here spoke Japanese, he thought a lucky coincidence it was the same language he spoke.
He also realized that walking around in a fighting gi attracted a lot of attention at least it did in a small village. Kirllin had gotten quite a few inquiries if he as with a show or what martial arts school he attended or if he was going to a tournament. To blend in better he used his speed and flight to snatch a few clothes hanging of a drying line from a back yard, luckily they weren't too big. This was the first time he stole but it was not the last.
For the first few days he sustained himself on game he could hunt in the forest and slept in a hastily made wood tent but that was not enough if he wanted to keep healthy. Krillin quickly learned that without documentation his options were quite limited however he was able to trade his strong body by offering to help around farms and small family owned shops. To his luck there were quite a few elderly farmers that needed the extra help of course that fact that he didn't mind the hard labour and low cash payments helped quite a bit in gaining him employment.
He spent the first few months in the villages around the area he first woke up in, gaining employment wherever he could, gathering information on this world and doing his best to keep a low profile. At first he had hoped that he would be wished back to his world, that is of course if they had won and there was an earth left. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months that hope dimmed.
Time passed and after a few short months Krillin, having saved up a bit of money and supplies, decided it was time to leave the country side and venture into the cities and explore the rest or the country. For months he roamed from city to city seeing the sites, learning their history and absorbing all they had to give and as time passed he found that his travels expanded to other countries as well.
Travelling and getting around from city to city and country to country wasn't actually that hard for the Z warrior, it was more annoying than anything mostly due to the lack of capsule technology to store his belongings. Krillin could after all fly faster than the speed of sound and when you could fly you did not need to take trains or go through customs or any access point where documentation would be required. He did have to carry everything in a backpack which required him to maintain a robust energy shield every time he flew otherwise he risked ripping the backpack right of his back from the drag. Of course he did his best to not be spotted, every once in a while flying over the ocean or a sea he would have to dive into the water or in a cloud, his shield protecting him, in order to avoid being spotted by a ship.
The martial artist touched all the continents on this world and the starkest contrast to his earth were the absence of bipedal-intelligent animals, dinosaurs and dragons. Here they were a thing of fiction or had lived millions of years ago. He pondered if maybe he was in an alternate distant future instead of an alternate earth but quickly pushed those thought out of his mind. Another big difference was the abundance of languages here, on his earth the world spoke mostly one language, sure there were different dialects around the world but everyone could mostly understand each other. He quickly realized that almost everywhere he went in the world there would be some people that would know some of the popular language called English, out of necessity he learned enough to get by.
Travelling the short warrior had done every job possible thinkable under the table to get money. Among many, he had been a farm hand, delivery boy, street sweeper, boat hand and street performer. He learned that in this world ki manipulation and magic were the stuff of fantasy and fiction, he found that he could make quite a bit of cash by performing small "magic" tricks and incredible feats with his body on the street for people. It was nothing that brought too much attention of course, a little ki manipulation, levitation, telekinesis and gymnastics usually did the trick. Hi best hauls were in very tourist centric cities where people were vacationing and in a giving mood, he never performed to long in a single area lest someone will get suspicious. He had of course resorted to stealing as well, nothing major, usually wallets for cash or sometimes small amounts of food from open markets, the warrior was not proud of it but found it necessary.
After being a world nomad for three and a half years and many interesting adventures, Krilin returned to Japan and settled in the Tokyo area. Japan was where it mostly resembled home as well the language situation helped a lot. It was only a few weeks since he had returned that the warrior caught a break on his documentation problem as well.
While walking through a seedier part of the metropolitan area, usually the only areas of cities where one could spend the night and pay cash with no questions asked, he witnessed a black Mercedes speeding and crashing into a street-light pole. His instincts kicking in Krillin rushed to help. First he checked the drivers side and first thing he noticed was the bleeding which was not caused by the crash but by bullet wounds. In the passenger seat unconscious was an older gentleman, the warrior quickly realized that by the situation and tattoos on their bodies that the men were probably Yakuza. He did not hear any police sirens so the men were not being chased by police but possibly by other gangsters and just then he heard the screeching tires of another car turning around the corner.
Acting quickly Krillin took the man and flew to the roof of the nearest building. The Z warrior knew that people in this business more than likely deserved what was coming to them but he could not let a man die in front of him. He watched as the other car came to a stop and a few men got out and check the crash site.
By now other people had taken notice of the crash and came out of several buildings, the gangsters noticing this regrouped and quickly left the site. Krillin unsure what to do with the unconscious man and scared other might come find him, snuck him in into his own motel room and tended to his wounds. As the man woke up he was initially scared and angry but Krillin explained the situation, omitting the flying part of course. As they got to talking his suspicions were confirmed, the man was a yakuza boss and what should have been a friendly meeting between different gangs things turned deadly and an assassination was attempted.
To Krilln's luck the gangster was what some would call from the old guard and had a personal sense of honor, he wanted to repay the warrior for his kindness and saving his life by offering money. Krillin didn't know what compelled to say but remarked that he is thank full for the money but connections to get a job would be more beneficial, nothing dangerous of course or gang related, the warrior had mentioned his trouble with lack of legitimate papers. The old gangster cigarette in mouth said that he would consider it and would be back in three days and with that he left, his associates had arrived.
The former monk did not give too much thought to the gangster, he knew that these types of people weren't exactly to be trusted however on the third day when he came back from scouting for work in the city the Yakuza was there with another young man. The old boss handed him a letter of employment and the young man took his picture and relevant information. Krillin was to show up at a market owned by the gang the following day at 6 am. His papers and bank account information were brought to him at work a few days later and just like that the monk had become somewhat legal. His papers were good enough to get him basic services but he shouldn't push his luck for passports or anything that would require the government to look into his past.
The work at the market was not glamorous but it provided steady pay. The regular earnings and new documented status led to a much needed improvement in Krillin's life. It allowed him to rent out a small apartment outside the city and in the past year he was even able to save up to buy an old Toyota. He technically didn't need the car for transportation but it seemed like a good idea to have one and it was nice to have when having to lug things around.
Over the last year his life normalized, he made a few friends at the market and realized that there were others working there that were in the same boat as him, in a quasi-legal status. He figured that was to be expected since it was a Yakuza owned market. The martial artist even tried to find out if the market was doing anything illegal but everything seemed to indicate that it was just a regular market. It was later one coworker that let him on that there were no illegal things happening on the ground floor, except for maybe some of the status of the workers, but it was all upstairs in the offices, the books were being cooked and money was being laundered through the place. Nothing too exciting really this was just one of the many establishments the mob used.
He had even made a few friends among his coworkers and other people working in the same plaza as the market. Among them a young woman, named Aiko, working at the flower shop in the same plaza as the market, Krillin had helped her carry a few things one day while he was just getting to work in the morning and she was trying to load a few large boxes in her store. She found him quite funny and impressed with his strength. He liked her gentle nature and energy with which she carried herself, it also didn't hurt that she was fairly pretty in a working class way.
As the days went by casual pleasantries turned into light flirting and after a few months Krillin worked up the nerve to ask her out. He went fully prepared to be turned down but to his relief she accepted and after matching schedules they settled on today. Aiko had some business errands to run that day so she asked that she meet him at the restaurant of his choice and afterwards they could figure out what to do. Krillin wanting to impress her picked a trendy restaurant in an up and coming neighborhood in the city.
Initially Krillin did not have to work today but at the last minute the night before he was called in to fill in a shift for a coworker. He figured that if he rushed a little bit to get home he would have enough time to prepare for his date so he took the shift. The day did not start well.
Even though he did not sleep to late last night for some reason he slept through his alarm or more like completely forgot to set it up. This caused him to be 30 minutes late for his shift, his supervisor and coworkers were not happy about that. They were already short staffed and were supposed to receive a big shipment they had to put away as well he needed to stay and make up the time.
Everything that could have gone wrong at the market seemed to happen, shipments were late, customers accidentally spilled and broke bottles, cash registers broke down, customers were irritated and complained, even the fire alarm system had gone off once. Of course Krillin was not alone in dealing with this his coworkers and managers were in the same boat and doing their best but the tense and stressful environment was getting on everyone's nerves. In dealing with this issues and making sure to pitch in the warrior had to stay past his shift to help out.
After his stressful shift was over Krillin rushed home with the hopes that all the stress was behind him, that was not the case. In preparing for the date while ironing his favourite shirt, the one that went best with his new suit, he didn't realize that there was something stuck to the flat iron and managed to stain the shirt. Annoying but not a huge issue as he could use his second favourite shirt.
The martial artist decided to drive to the restaurant, he wanted to impress his date and also to drive her home if their date carried into the night. The fact that driving her home would mean there would be a chance to be invited to her place was only an afterthought and added bonus of course. Only two blocks from his house he hears and feels in the steering wheel the dreaded rumbling sound of a flat tire. Unable to leave the car there and not wanting to pay the expensive towing fees Krillin had no choice but to change the tire himself. The technical aspect was not an issue to the former monk, the annoyance came from having to get down and dirty which meant he had to go home and change into his 3rd favourite shirt causing him to be even more delayed.
He caught a bit of a break when Aiko texted him that she was running a bit late with her errands and hoped it wouldn't be an issue. For already stressed warrior it was a welcome respite. He was currently stuck in traffic, accidents happen nothing he could do about it.
After a frustrating drive over Krllin managed to get to the restaurant area but no matter how hard he looked and tried he could not find a parking spot. All underground parking-lots were either full or closed and he was having no luck with street parking. Not wanting to waste anymore time circling around he drove a few streets over to the more upscale part of the neighborhood. There he only found relatively close and adequate parking in the parking lot of a very luxurious looking hotel, there were very few cars and he immediately saw why, the rates were premium. He parked and quickly rushed over to the restaurant to make their reservation.
Luckily, the restaurant upheld their reservation. Fifteen minutes into waiting for Aiko, he was starting to loose his confidence , maybe Aiko was just blowing him off and never wanted to go out with him in the first place. Deciding to give it a bit more time he ordered a bottle of wine partly to impress Aiko when she arrived and partly to stave off the looks and inquires from the wait staff.
More than half a wine bottle later and what seemed like an eternity but had really only been twenty five minutes Krillin was at his lowest point morally. Aiko had not responded to his texts and his self esteem couldn't take the imagined pitty looks he thought the staff and customers around were giving him. He got the bill for the not so cheap wine and started the long walk to his car.
The warrior now with flushed cheeks contemplated his luck, it had never been good, his life it seemed it went from one crisis to another ever since he was young. His friends were and well his earth were probably dead or stuck in some other earth just like him. His last five years had interesting but fairly hard and a constant struggle to survive. And now just when he thought he had caught a break and the interest of a woman t this world's Kami, if he existed, gave him the day from hell and crushed his hopes. Krillin was annoyed, angry and sad at the same time, he had never been good with women and had always been cautious not to screw things up. It seemed even when he thought he was going everything right it just never panned out for him. Krillin hoped that he could just go home, put this day behind him and sleep it off.
As he turned the corner to the street where the hotel was, he was a large crowd gathered in the parking lot, all seeming to be looking at something and causing a commotion. Unable to see what everyone was looking at Krillin approached the crowed and asked one of the people in the back what was happening.
"They are fighting, it's incredible, they are so strong I have never seen anything like it!" the man responded.
Intrigued, Krillin fought the crowed and tried to get to the front to get a better view. The warrior hadn't done much fighting since he was transported here, sure he defended himself a couple of times during his travel but nothing serious. He hadn't even had time to really train, survival and getting money and food took most of his time. There weren't any place that he could train either, except for the forests or wilderness he couldn't risk doing it in the city he might get spotted.
The Z fighter got to the front, he didn't expect to see the scene before him. Two men, one very large and muscular and another smaller but very muscular and fairly bruised and bloody were facing eachother. The smaller one was on the pavement smiling looking and talking with the larger one. One could easily see who had the upper hand in this battle. It wasn't the fighters that caught Krillin's eyes but something else, behind the fighters there was a dented, no, a destroyed car sideways. Body dented, windows smashed, glass and mirrors everywhere.
It was Krillin's old Toyota, the one that he had saved up really hard for. Shocked Krillin turned to the person next to him.
"Hey, do you know who destroyed that car over there?" the monk asked in a serious low tone.
"Huh? Those two of course, they caused all the damage around here fighting , you should have seen them , they are incredibly strong and fast." The man kept trailing off but Krillin had stopped listening he had only wanted to confirm his suspicions.
A rage started to build inside of him, these two fighting destroyed his car, these thugs destroyed his car, were the thoughts going through his mind. Thugs, they were nothing but thugs, a fight this big and no police presence could only mean Yakuza or gangster thugs he reasoned. Two muscle head lowlife's, destroying property just to satisfy their egos, a white rage was building inside of him.
Maybe it was the frustrations over the last five years, maybe it was the build up of the shitty day today, maybe it was the bottle wine he just had or maybe he just needed to let loose but before he realized it he had dropped his suit jacked, broken ranks with the crowed and stepped forward towards the fighters rolling up his sleeves. Each step getting more and more annoyed and angry, past frustration bubbling up, he stopped in the midway between him and the larger fighter. It seemed the crowed hadn't fully noticed him all eyes and years being fully engulfed by the two fighters conversation. That was going to change.
"HEY ASSHOLE MEATHEADS!"
Silence followed, the fighters turned, all eyes now on the Z fighter.