The Tori and Coti Saga
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or any of the characters but I do own Tori, Coti, and Thor.
(Author's note: It has been a while since I've watched any Dragon Ball Z so forgive me if I forgot some key points in the storyline lol…but I do want to change a few things so this story can make some sense to you DBZ fans. In this story, Vegeta was an adult when Planet Vegeta was blown up and the World Tournament in the Cell Saga is held before the androids (17 and 18) make their appearance. This was the only way I could think of to make this story work so please bare with me…and this is also my first fanfic. Hope you enjoy!)
Chapter OneThe day started off with a depressing atmosphere. The clouds were low in the sky as rain fell to the Earth below. Bulma sat quietly on the couch as she watched the rain stream down the giant bay window in the living room. She let out a heavy sigh and reached for her coffee. She took a sip and scrunched her face in disgust.
"Yuck! It's cold." She said before she stood up to go to the kitchen. The entire house was silent so all that could be heard was Bulma's feet shuffling on the carpet. As Bulma put her coffee in the microwave, she thought to herself.
Why did he leave again? Is it me that's driving him away? Is it Trunks? I mean, of all people, he should be happy about his baby boy. Kami knows he would prefer a boy over a girl…Oh I just don't know what's going though his mind. I wish he would open up to me…
Her thoughts were interrupted by the beep of the microwave. Bulma had been alone for a week now to look after Trunks. He was already put to bed and all the housework was done, therefore, Bulma was left to her thoughts. She sat down at the kitchen table with her now hot coffee.
"I might as well go to the lab and find something to do…I'm gonna go insane sitting around like this." She said to herself.
She went to check on Trunks before she made her way downstairs to the lab.
Out in the middle of a lush, green forest, Vegeta stood by himself, lost in his own thoughts as well. He stood with his head up to the sky as the cool rain hit his face.
Where are you? I know you're out there…I can feel it.
His face twisted with an angry expression, which was accompanied with a growl.
"Who the hell am I trying to fool? I saw the pod explode during the escape. Right in front of me…" He said out loud, speaking the last part quietly.
He suddenly got really angry at this point and started throwing ki blasts at random trees. Once he calmed down and caught his breath, he thought
What the hell am I doing out here? I'm such a fool to think she's going to come back. She's dead and here I am abandoning my son because he reminds me of her. I shouldn't feel guilty for replacing her with Trunks. I lost one child…I will not lose another over this foolishness.
With that, Vegeta jumped into the air and took off towards Capsule Corp.
On a distant planet, a girl, who looked about 16, stood on one side of a ring in a fighting stance. She had long hair that was divided into two braids. Half her hair was black and half was white. She also had silver bangs. Her silver eyes were fixated on her opponent and her silver tail was tightly wrapped around her waist. Her opponent gave a war cry and rushed towards her. She curved her lips into a smirk.
"Stupid move." She muttered.
As the alien was inches away, she swiftly jumped into the air and sent her heel down on its head, sending it chin first to the ground. She gracefully did a flip and landed a few feet away from the heap on the ring.
"This was too easy." She said with disappointment. "If I won the tournament, he can't be here."
She claimed her prize and headed to her ship. She began to get frustrated.
He's not here either! I've traveled from planet to planet, entering every tournament, and I still haven't found him! She thought as she walked.
She just entered a forest when she heard several growling noises followed by a cry. The teenager rushed to were the commotion was, to find five dog-like creatures attacking a baby creature. She effortlessly disposed of the five beasts and slowly approached the small creature. To the 16-year-old, it almost looked like a griffin. He had red, orange, and yellow-feathered wings along with a red feathered upper body. His small face had a yellow beak with a black tip and he had blue eyes that looked as pure as the ocean. His bottom half was like a panther cub with shiny black fur followed by a slick black tail.
"It's ok little one…they're gone. They wont hurt you anymore." She replied softly, reaching out to him cautiously.
He lifted his head to look at her with his piercing blue eyes. Her heart melted that second.
"You are just the cutest little thing I have ever seen!" She cooed.
She noticed that he didn't seem to be afraid of her hand so she slowly put her hand on top of his head and stroked his feathers. He turned his head to sniff her hand and then rubbed his cheek against her fingers. She scooped him up into her arms to cuddle him.
I wonder if he has a mother. He almost looks abandoned…or lost. Poor thing. I can't just leave him here. She thought as she stroked his back.
He had stopped shaking and was now dozing off in her arms.
Maybe I should take him with me. He's not that big so I should still have room on my ship…and he's just so damn cute!
She looked down and smiled at the sleeping griffin. She had made up her mind and decided to keep him as a pet. As she walked back to her ship, she thought about what to call her new friend.
Thor is kinda cool. I think it would suit him just fine.
It was starting to get late and Bulma was still working on some small robots, when she heard the front door slam. She jumped right out of her seat and ran to the door. Taking a corner, she almost took a spill but she regained her balance and continued to run to the door in excitement.
"VEGE…Oh, hi daddy." She said as her excitement disappeared.
"Now don't get all excited over me." Dr. Briefs replied sarcastically.
"How was your trip?" She asked, trying to catch her breath.
"It was good. The presentation went very well." He answered, setting down his briefcases. "Where is everyone?"
"Trunks is in bed and Vegeta…left." She replied as her eyes began to fill with tears.
"Oh, come now. There's no need to cry dear. He'll be back." Dr. Briefs responded as he gave his daughter a reassuring hug.
"Why did he have to leave?" She sobbed.
Before Dr. Briefs had a chance to respond, the door slammed open behind him, revealing a soaked and not so happy Vegeta. He stormed passed the two, mumbling something about stupid humans and their emotions. He walked up the stairs to his room and slammed the door.
"See? Everything is fine." Dr. Briefs said with a smile.
"I'm going to unpack. Can you please pour me a cup of coffee dear?" He asked.
Bulma walked into the kitchen and poured some coffee for her father while he unpacked his things. He came into the kitchen shortly after and picked up the newspaper in front of him when he sat down at the table. Bulma sat at the table with him but was eager to see Vegeta. After a few moments of silence, she got up and said
"I think I'm gonna go to bed. Good night daddy."
She gave him a kiss on the cheek and turned to leave.
"Good night dear. Sleep well."
Bulma reached the master bedroom and slowly opened the door. The room was empty but she heard the shower running. She found the pajamas she wanted to wear and changed before slipping under the covers. Just as she was about fall asleep, she heard shuffling in the room and soon felt a warm body under the sheets. She turned to face Vegeta.
"Why did you leave me and Trunks?" She asked quietly, making her sadness obvious.
Through the darkness she could see that he was scowling it her.
"You wouldn't understand woman." He replied before turning onto his other side.
She rolled onto her back and faced the ceiling. She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks.
Wouldn't understand? What could I possibly not understand? If only he would talk to me…maybe even help me understand if it's so complicated. She pondered.
She listened to Vegeta's quiet breathing in the silence and finally fell asleep.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING!" A little girl screamed in terror.
"He's here Tori! I need to get you off this planet…away from that monster!" Vegeta yelled, rushing towards his daughter.
"NO! I want to stay with you daddy!" She pleaded, as she tugged on his hand with panic written all over her chubby face.
He knelt down to her eye level and put his hands on her shoulders to show her how serious he was.
"I can't let him take you away from me. If he knew what you were capable of…" He trailed off as explosions erupted all around them. "You're very special Tori…and that's why you need to get off this planet." He continued.
Her eyes filled with more tears and her body began to shake. Her father wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"Everything will be okay." Vegeta assured his five-year-old daughter.
She buried her tear-streaked face in his shirt and cried harder. People were running and screaming as more explosions filled the night sky.
"Come. We have to get an escape pod before they're gone." He insisted.
They both ran to an empty pod. Vegeta picked up his little girl and placed her inside. She protested and tried to get out but Vegeta reluctantly strapped her in and pushed a button near the control panel. Reality took its toll on Tori and an overwhelming sadness and panic came over her.
"DON'T LEAVE ME DADDY! PLEASE!" She screamed while struggling more to get out of her seat.
Vegeta watched his daughter through the little tinted window as the door shut and listened to her, now muffled, cries. It broke his heart but he knew she had to escape from the horrors that he knew he was about to face. He continued to watch as the pod launched up into the air.
"Aww…what a beautiful moment between a father and his little girl." A cold voice mocked behind Vegeta. He slowly turned around to face Freeza who was looking at Tori's pod, along with all the others in the sky, with an evil smile.
"They wont escape you know." He laughed.
"Don't you DARE!" Vegeta yelled.
"Ha! And what exactly do you plan on doing about it Prince Vegeta?" Freeza spat.
He raised a finger and pointed at the pods. In a split second a ki blast was fired and Vegeta whipped around to see several pods explode and fall back to Planet Vegeta in flaming pieces of wreckage. He could see smoke from the wreckage off in the distance.
Now beyond pissed, he turned back to Freeza, clenching his fists causing his knuckles to turn white.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!" He yelled before taking a swing at Freeza's head with all his strength. Freeza dodged the punch with ease and punched Vegeta right in the gut with enough force to send him flying.
"Zarbon, Dadoria! Get him on my ship. We have what we want." Freeza commanded.
"Tori…Tori, I'm so sorry…" Vegeta mumbled in his sleep.
Bulma had been up for a while because of Vegeta's tossing and turning. She heard what he had said and was now wondering what he meant. She wouldn't dare ask him about it though, not yet anyway.
It had been a month since the 16-year-old left the last planet and was now about to land on the next one.
"Thor! Dinner's ready!" She yelled to the griffin. He had doubled in size since she found him. He was now up to her waist. This worried the teen because her ship was not that big. Before she had the chance to eat, the ship's mechanical voice came to life.
"Entering planet's atmosphere. Landing in six minutes."
"Another planet, another tournament…this is starting to get repetitive. It's not even a challenge anymore." She said with a sigh.
After they landed, she and Thor walked toward the closest city. It took her a while, walking through the streets of the unfamiliar city, but she found the arena where the planet's tournament was held.
Most of the opponents were easy to beat but this last one was a hand full. She found herself, once again, in a fighting stance and staring down her opponent. He rushed towards her, disappeared, and reappeared above her. She barely had time to move as he hurled his fist at her head. She dodged his fist and kicked him in the stomach but he grabbed her foot and threw her across the ring. He jumped into the air and came crashing down to the ring with his knee aimed at her chest. This time she wasn't able to move out of the way in time. His knee made contact with her chest, breaking a few of her ribs in the process. She immediately found it difficult to breathe and was gasping for air. She lay on her back in agonizing pain as he kicked her around the ring. She started to cough uncontrollably, as blood poured out of her mouth onto the ground. Thor watched from the sidelines, pacing back and fourth. He could sense her fear. When she was barely moving, he ran up to her to try and get her to move but failed. He began to whimper and sat down beside her. The other fighter was paying attention to the crowd, before turning to finish the girl off. As he approached, Thor began to growl and puff out his feathers.
"No…Thor…run" The 16-year-old said faintly between gasps of air.
The alien just looked at him laughed. Before he knew what was coming, Thor was kicked in the side, which stunned him momentarily. The fighter grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and punched him in the head and choked the life from him. His lifeless body was dropped next to the young girl. She moved her head to his direction and began to cry. She couldn't do anything to help him…or herself. The fighter, once again, turned to the crowd and raised his arms to get them to cheer. He turned back to her and gathered a ball of energy in his hand. The teen grabbed Thor's body and hugged him as she squeezed her eyes shut, knowing what was coming.
I failed. I'm so sorry daddy…I tried to find you. She thought sadly.
The next few seconds felt like an eternity. Once the fighter gathered enough energy, he aimed at her head. It was all over with one single blast.
Vegeta was meditating in the gravity room when he heard a faint female voice in the back of his mind. He couldn't quite understand what it said but he felt an overwhelming sadness within him. It was something he had never felt before, almost as if he had suffered a great loss at that exact moment. He opened his eyes and stood up.
What's happening to me? He thought with a confused expression on his face.
He thought maybe something had happened to Bulma or Trunks so he left the gravity room and entered the house. Bulma was sitting with baby Trunks on the living room floor, reading him a story, when she felt Vegeta staring at her.
"Are you okay Vegeta?" She asked with concern.
"I'm fine." He mumbled before leaving the room.
From that day on, Bulma noticed a tremendous difference in Vegeta's behavior. He never spoke a word, more so than usual, and she could see the sadness in his eyes. He tried to shake it off in the gravity room but couldn't and it frustrated him. It frustrated Bulma as well because he refused to talk to her about what he was feeling. She was going to find out what was wrong with her husband, whether he liked it or not.
The young girl felt a cold, hard surface on her cheek as she lay on her stomach. She was about to open her eyes when all of a sudden she felt something warm and wet on her other cheek.
"Wha? What happened?" She asked in a groggy tone.
When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Thor with his tongue hanging out and his tail swishing behind him with excitement.
"THOR!" She yelled in excitement.
She sat up and gave him a big hug but then noticed something that snapped her back to reality. Above Thor's head was a bright halo.
"Just great! We're dead!" She snapped. "At least I think we are…" She added as she looked at her surroundings.
There was a long and seemingly endless trail floating above puffy yellow clouds.
"The hell? Where are we?" She asked to herself.
She got to her feet and looked in front of her and behind her. She decided to start walking, hoping to find someone that could answer her questions.
I wonder where this path leads. She thought.
What seemed like hours later, she began to get agitated and Thor just happily trotted beside her, oblivious to everything.
"Okay…this is just getting god damn ridiculous. This all looks the same! And we've been walking for h…" She complained before being cut off by a loud scream.
"That came from ahead of us." She said pointing in front of her before breaking into a run.
Thor was well ahead of her and suddenly stopped, looking over the side of the trail. She caught up to him and looked where he was looking. What she saw was another girl around her age, hanging from the edge. Beneath her were several black hands reaching for her legs, which were coming from a substance emerging out of the clouds. The girl had black hair that was pulled into ponytails that defied gravity and she had violet eyes.
"Hold on!" The teen yelled as she hurried to the other girl's aid. The 16-year-old grabbed the other girl's hand and pulled as hard as she could.
"DON'T LET GO! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO H.F.I.L.!" The girl replied with panic. "THEY'RE PULLING ME IN!"
It took all of the girl's strength to pull the other teen up. Even Thor grabbed hold of his friend's gi with his beak and pulled. The black hands finally let go, which sent the two girls and Thor flying back. Poor Thor was at the bottom of the dog pile with two laughing girls sitting on top of him.
"That was close…I can be such a klutz at times." The new girl said sheepishly.
So many questions were running through each others minds when the excitement died down but the new girl spoke before any questions could be asked.
"Thanks by the way…it's rare to run into people out here. I'm Coti. Um, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." She responded.
"Oh, no problem. My name's Tori and my friend here is Thor."
Well, that's the first chapter. I hope it wasn't too boring…I'd love to hear what you thought about it and thank you for taking some time to read this. Also, if you would like to see a picture of Tori, Coti, and Thor, I'd be more than happy to send you one…once I get my scanner up and running that is…