A soft *pat pat pat* of rain on my window sill gently woke me from my light slumber, and I softly stirred in my bed. My deep brown eyes flickered open, and I gently rubbed the sockets with my small hands. I yawned silently, sitting upwards in my bed, the smooth satin sheets draped across my legs. I looked to the window to my right, pulling open the curtains to peer outside. It was still dark, a misty fog hovering in the air, rain falling from the sky.

"What time is it.." I asked myself, pulling my phone from off my bedside table. 3:04 am. I cursed to myself as I fell back down, pulling the sheets up to my face, with the intention of going back to sleep. I took a deep breath as my eyes closed. Barely a few minutes passed before I heard a loud BANG from downstairs in the basement. I jolted up, throwing my legs off the bed as I stood abruptly. I cursed to myself again as I threw a black robe over my naked body, shuffling into my slippers as I left my room. I walked downstairs with an urgency, knowing exactly what had made that noise.

"Father! What on Earth is going on down here so early in the morning?!" I burst through the basement doors, my face pulled into a scowl.

"Oh! Kallie! You scared me!" He perked up when I burst into the room, a sheepish smile peering back at me.

I scoffed. "I scared you? I SCARED YOU? It's not even 4 am and you're down here making enough noise to wake the whole block up!" I yelled, stomping over to him.

My father's name was Jeremiah, and he was in his late 50s. He used to be a simple man when I was growing up, that was until my mother passed away when I was 12. He then became a raging alcoholic shortly after. He started.. making inventions. He was certain he could make a machine that would allow him to see my mother again, somehow. Everyone was convinced he was mentally insane. He lost his job, lost his house. I felt bad, with him being my father and all. So I allowed him to move into my house in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. All I ever saw of him was when he would briefly come out of his hole when he was hungry and had to use the bathroom. He was currently trying to manifest the machine he was always determined to make. I thought nothing of it, except times like this when he would disturb me.

"I think I figured it out!!" He exclaimed with excitement.

"You say that every time," I replied, rolling my eyes as I loomed over his shoulder where he was seated, to see what the fuss was about.

"I'm serious! I think this is it!" He was fumbling around with some sort of computer-ish motherboard, which was 5 times the size of a normal one.

"You think or you know?" I questioned with a skeptical snarl, watching as he pulled out a briefcase which had multiple locks on it. "What is that?"

He signed, his tone getting serious. "This.. this is the chance to see your mother again." He opened the case, a glass container with a sparkling blue liquid in it, sitting in a foam casing. I started to get nervous seeing the container, not knowing what my father was getting into now.

"Uhm, where did you get it?" My voice cracked as I spoke, and he turned to me, looking me directly in my eyes. He didn't say a word, just smiled at me.

I took a few steps away from him, crossing my arms over my chest as my brows furrowed. "You're pissing me off. I'll ask you again, what is that and where did you get it?"

He carefully took the container out of the case, the blue of the substance it contained reflecting off my fathers eyes, illuminating the blue color that his were. He stood up, reaching to set the container into a part of the motherboard, a perfect fit. He pressed a button and slowly the machine hummed to life.

"This contraption will analyze your brain, and take you to where your heart longs to go," He looked to me again. "Try it!"

I stared at him in disbelief, then bursted out laughing. "The hell I am!"

"Cmon Kal.. what's the harm of trying?"

"Who knows what you're attempting here, I think you're just trying to pull my leg," I took a deep breath as I walked over to the front of the machine. There was a large glass door, a small chamber hiding behind it. I placed my hand on the glass, tapping it with my finger. "I'm almost certain you're pulling my leg.." I mumbled, glancing behind me to see my father staring at me.

Several moments of silence passed with us just staring at each other. With each passing moment my frustration grew, until I exploded.

"Okay!! You know what?! Fuck it!" I swung the glass door open. "Just to prove to you that you're the crazy old man that everyone thinks, I'll try it!" I stepped into the chamber, which was barely enough to fit one person. It was like being shoved into a high school locker. I glared at my father from behind the glass, watching as he pressed another button that was out of my view. Nothing happened. I scoffed to myself, getting ready to open the door when suddenly the hair in the back of my neck raised, and my breath was robbed from my lungs, everything going black.

I looked around the darkness that surrounded me, my heart pounding in my chest. Where was I?

I could hear a small whisper in the distance. I looked in the direction it was coming from, my fear getting more elevated.

"Kallie..." The feminine voice called out to me. It sounded familiar, like a distant memory.

"Who is that? Where am I?" I voiced, and suddenly the voice shouted at me.

"Kallie!!!!" My mothers voice echoed around me, and I almost leapt out of my skin. Suddenly my mothers figure appeared before me, like a ghost.

"Mom..." I started running towards her but my feet would not move. "Mom!!" I screamed, and almost instantaneously, my mother smiled at me, but didn't speak again. I looked down at my feet, urging myself to move them, but they refused. It was like someone else had control over my body. I glanced back at my mother, and her figure was still smiling, and slowly fading away. I called out to her one last time before the floor fell from underneath me. I howled as I fell for what felt like hours, my consciousness slowly fading in and out. As soon as my body collided with the ground, everything disappeared.

A warm glow on my skin made me stir, the ground underneath me soft and slightly damp. Birds could be heard chirping all around me, along with other animals going about their daily lives. My eyes flickered open, a bright light shining down from between the tree tops.

'Where am I?' I thought to myself. My body was aching and my head was throbbing, so I stayed laying on the ground for a few moments, trying to wrap my head around what was happening. Something furry starting tickling my leg, and I shot up to see what it was, thinking it was an animal or something. But what I saw was even more frightening. A tail. A long, fluffy brown tail. That was attached to me. It was my tail.

I stared at it, making the tip of it flick up and down with my mind. It was like moving my one of my fingers. Instinctual. Suddenly my mind caught up to what was happening. The machine. It worked... and it brought me to the world of my biggest desire. I hopped up off the ground and sprinted to a small lake that was nearby. I dropped down to my knees, looking into the water. I was right.

My hair was jet black, and sharp at the ends, in a high ponytail. My eyes were a piercing brown, and my body was thin and muscular. I was wearing rags for clothes, but there was no mistaking it. I was a Saiyan, in the Dragon Ball Z universe.