The sun was shining, and she had been daydreaming instead of paying attention as her friends drove. So when to crash happened, she never knew what hit her. One minute she was alive, the next, a truck had destroyed the car. And her too…
The next thing she did know, she felt a warm breeze on her face, her whole body. She opened her eyes, and realized she was flying…As soon as she thought of it; she stopped flying and began to fall towards the ocean below.
"Oh no, I was flying, gotta keep flying!" She called to herself, and closed her eyes again fearfully. She stopped falling and hovered shakily, until she found the knowledge of how to fly in her mind. Of course! It was so simple! But she wondered; why hadn't she had this ability before… whatever it was had happened? Something had changed inside her, she felt so different. Was she dead? Her eyes snapped open again at the thought. She was still hovering over the ocean, and she appeared to have a solid body. She took a few deep breaths to be sure. The air was predictably salty, and warmly soothing.
"Well, I feel alive, and I can fly, so, I'll just fly until something happens." She thought she saw an island in the distance and headed for it, for lack of any other place to go. She refused to think of the strangeness on all of this; it was almost as if she were in shock. She began to enjoy the flight; then as she drew near, she realized that the island was not only closer than her first estimate, but also impossibly tiny to boot. She could see a house on this island, but it made no sense, because no one would live on such a tiny island. The ocean was barely 100 feet from the house in any direction. She paused, and hovered as she looked down at the small pink building. It looked oddly familiar to her for some reason. She dropped down to the pure white sand, and stared at the clapboard walls, as a dim memory clawed its way to the surface of her mind.
"It's the Turtle Hut, but that's impossible…" She whispered as a chill washed over her. She did know the place, but from a comic book from Japan, a Manga, that she had enjoyed a while ago. This couldn't possibly be real. Of course, she was suddenly able to fly too, so why not find herself in a place from a comic book? She took a deep breath. What was happening here?
Just then, a strand of crimson red hair blew into her eyes. Red? Her hair was boring old brown, how could her hair have turned red? She looked down at her body, and instantly realized that she was now much shorter than her usual 5' 7". This was getting stranger by the minute. She shook her head and decided to see if the old man who lived in the Kame House was real too. Maybe she was dreaming.
She went around the side of the house, and stopped dead at the sight of a tall person peeking around the building at the beach in front of the house. His back to her, he didn't seem to realize she was there, but with a renewed shock, she recognized him all too well.
Even with his back turned, there was no mistaking Piccolo for anyone else in creation. He wore a long white cloak and turban, and she could see that his skin was a rich green. She backed away, almost ready to fly off (if she could remember how, that is), but she was also very curious as well. What was he watching on the beach? She felt disoriented, dizzy. She wanted to believe that she was really there, and the only way to prove that to herself was to go look at the beach herself and see if what she thought was going to be there was there after all. Only then would she attempt to figure out this impossible twist of fate, or whatever it was.
Nervous, she walked slowly around the building, and then she stopped. She was feeling something, a strange sensation in her belly and in her head, all at once. It made her feel like she was in some sort of danger, rather like an intuition of doom. Then, a face appeared in her mind, a cruel but not unhandsome man's face. His eyes were narrowed with malice, and his mouth twisted in a vicious smile.
"Raditz!" She gasped. This couldn't be, she knew that face! She ran around the side of the house, and saw someone flying off at incredible speed. She froze in amazement at the sight of someone flying, completely forgetting her own flight of moments before, and then focused on the beach, and the small group of people gathered there. She closed her eyes, and felt faint. This was just not possible! What was going on here…unless she was dreaming this…?
But, she didn't feel like she was dreaming, she felt wide-awake and scared. Still, she had to go out on the beach, and talk to those people, didn't she? She had to figure this out; she sighed deeply, and peeked at them again, looking at each person closely, remembering each of their names.
There was Muten Roshi, the master of the island, and the founder of the Kame-sen'nin school of Martial Arts. He was an old man with a white beard, who was never seen without his sunglasses. His apparent age was misleading, as he was unaging and surprisingly strong as well.
Then there was one of his students, Kurilin, who was a Shaolin Monk; complete with shaved head and the sacred markings on his forehead. He was very short, but very strong, and a fierce fighter. He was also kind of cute, even though he was lacking a normal nose.
The one woman of the group was Bulma, a beautiful blue haired woman with a tall slender frame, and a razor sharp tongue. She was very intelligent, a technological genius who's family owned one of the most successful businesses of this world. She was bent over a man who was kneeling, crouching in the surf.
Of all of this, of all the faces, this man's face was the most familiar. His face was twisted with grief and pain, but she felt the familiarity in her soul. She dashed out to the group blindly, forgetting all caution. The people made way for her, too startled to stop her.
"Goku!" She gasped as she knelt in front of him, grabbing his shoulders. He looked up at her, his black eyes wide with surprise. They stared at each other, amazed.
"I know you don't I? Your name is Raimi…" Goku said, his soft voice pleasant even in his agitated state. He reached up and took one of her hands in his. "Why… how do I know you?"
"I don't know! I don't know how, but I know you too, Goku…" She said, oblivious to the stares of the others. Goku didn't move, but peered intently at her, brow furrowed in pain and frustration. She looked at him, and realized that he was actually in the water. "Come on, Goku." He slowly stood with her and Bulma's help, and they led him to the steps of the house, where he sat dejectedly.
"Uh, Goku, who is this girl?" Kurilin asked bluntly, suspicious of her, especially since she had appeared hard on the nasty Raditz's heels. Raditz had just shown up, threatened them, attacked Goku, and kidnapped Goku's son, Gohan. He had also revealed that Goku was his little brother, making Goku an extraterrestrial. Goku was helpless to stop him, which was very surprising. Goku was the strongest person on the planet, and had rarely if ever been beaten by anyone. Now he was battered and scared for his small son, who was only four years old. And to add to the day's weirdness, this girl showed up and she was…
"Hey, she has a tail too!" Bulma squealed in terror. Raditz had a tail, as did all people of his and Goku's race. So, that meant that this Raimi was one of his kind, and not human. "She must be here with him, to help him kill us, or something!" Bulma said, backing away, terrified.
"I…No, I'd never…" The girl said, looking down at the furry appendage with as much suspicion as Bulma was. It rested around her waist like a furry belt. She looked faint, and sank to her knees in front of Goku. "But that means…"
"That you're a Saiyan too, like Raditz, and Me." Goku said, without much surprise. "Yeah, you said we had to be aliens, no one else in the whole world had a tail." Goku peered closer at her. "You don't remember?"
"No! I don't! I'm not from this world at all! I was just sitting in my friends car, and then…Poof, I'm here, and I'm flying, and I'm a…a…Saiyan! This is not real! It can't be. That's it, I'm dreaming. Yeah!" She hugged herself, and nodded as she talked to herself. "I am dreaming. Maybe I'm in a coma or something, but this is definitely not…Ouch!" Goku had pinched her quite painfully. He smiled in apology.
"Uh, let's get this straight, Okay. I'm not the greatest with my brain, but…you think I'm not, that we're not real? Because you were in a car that crashed?" Goku asked slowly. She stared at him, rubbing the offended spot. She nodded. "So, you think you're dreaming."
"Well, yes. In the real world, this is all a comic book, well Manga actually, but…See I have to be dreaming. I was a human being only a few minutes ago. Now, I'm a Saiyan, complete with tail, and supposedly super strength and the ability to transform and all that. Sure." Raimi laughed. "Here, feel my grip," She took his hand and squeezed it. "See? If I was a Saiyan, I'd be able to make even you feel that."
"See what? That's some grip. Tell her Kurilin." Goku grunted. His friend gulped and came over. He held out his small strong hand to Raimi, who took it and squeezed heartily.
"Yeow!" Kurilin yelled and yanked his hand free. Her hand had left it mark in lurid red, and had left his fingertips white and bloodless. She stared, shocked. This was insane.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, but…I…"
"You are very strong, we all can feel it." Roshi said. She looked up at him, wishing she could see his eyes through his glasses.
"I am? You mean…this is all real? But then who am I really? And how do we know each other Goku?" Raimi said, the possibility of this strange turn of events truly being real finally setting in. She went pale, and stared up into Goku's kind but worried face. Suddenly she felt awful. Here he had huge problems of his own, but he was trying to help her first. She concentrated, trying to remember the story she had read some time ago.
"Well, let's put this problem aside for now. We have to get Gohan back first. You are gonna have to think of a plan for attacking Raditz, and soon." Raimi said firmly. She stood up, putting her fear and confusion aside, at least for now. Goku looked up at her and nodded his agreement. The others did the same, all be it uneasily.