Oh, Dragon Ball Z fiction, where have you been all my life?
In case anyone was unaware what Meta fiction actually is:
met·a·fic·tion
ˈmedəˌfikSH(ə)n/
noun: metafiction; plural noun: metafictions; noun: meta-fiction; plural noun: meta-fictions
1 fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions (especially naturalism) and traditional narrative techniques.
If anyone here has ever seen the episode "French Mistake" from Supernatural then you kinda, sorta, get the idea. Basically, when the characters find out that they are fiction characters, things go sideways…fast. So if you were to wake up and find yourself in the middle of the Dragon Ball Z universe, where Goku is real—strange hair and all—and the Saiyan Prince is literally the most handsome asshole you've ever met, would you enjoy the ride or try to high tail it out of there as quickly as possible? It's meta fiction all around…and how many pranks will it take before Vegeta snaps?
Warning: Foul language, sarcasm, and a whole lot of snark abounds, and let's throw in the impending android threat, and some sexual tension into the mix and see how our favorite anti-hero deals with that. ; )
I don't own these characters, Akira Toriyama does. Bless him for that.
These characters are a trip to write. Hope you guys enjoy. ; )
Axis
Chapter 1
That Ridiculous Pink Shirt
She could still remember the heat—like the hot baking rays of the sun running over her skin. Behind her eyes was a burst of blue light, a quick sharp flash of something flickering beyond her reach and the brief recollection of the blazing hole that had opened up to swallow her; the memory of falling, consumed in a vortex of azure flames and energy that sparked like lightning across her skin. There had been no pain—no searing agony—just the inertia of her body being sucked down, and then there had been nothing.
The heat.
That sensation had been the last thing Kate's barely conscious body had felt, and it was now the first thing she remembered as awareness slowly seeped in.
But the memory of that heat was fading, dulling into a gentle warmth and ebbing towards a more natural temperature—then the ache set in. It felt like waking up the morning after a high intensity workout, where every muscle was screaming at her with very colorful words. Kate momentarily wondered if she'd been beaten to holy hell with a baseball bat. It might explaining the tense soreness of her muscles—and why she couldn't remember why she was lying down. It was uncomfortable and confusing.
She tried to stretch but a sudden solid weight against her shoulder gently pinned her in place.
"Don't try to move," a stranger's warm voice murmured.
When she tried to open her eyes, the brightness was blinding, making her wince as pain shot through her sensitive retinas. Even with her eyes closed, she could still sense his presence hovering close by and tried to ask him who he was, but her throat was dry, her mouth sluggish, and her words came voiceless in a rush of breath.
"Here," he said gently. "Drink this."
A hand lifted her head as something cool was pressed to her lips, and then a cold liquid spilled into her mouth. She could tell from the slightly sweet taste and the pungent citrus aroma that it was some type of juice, but she didn't recognize the flavor. Swallowing slowly, she sipped small portions for a moment, feeling the soft mattress that she was on dip as the weight beside her shifted. Kate wondered suddenly if she was in a hospital—after all, this wouldn't be the first time that she'd woken up in one. She listened for the familiar beep of a heart monitor, the telltale echo of bustling footsteps as doctors and nurses came and went, but there were none, making her furrow her brows.
The hand gingerly lowered her head back onto a pillow.
"Any luck with those Senzu Beans, Krillin?"
The shock of those words registered in her brain, sending a jolt through her.
"Senzu beans?" Kate croaked groggily in confusion, interrupting another voice. "Did you say Krillen? What…?"
Blearily she squinted against the light, blinking through the haze as she tried to focus, fighting the sensitivity of her eyes. At first she couldn't make sense of anything, and then slowly the orange and navy blur beside her began to sharpen, a strange silhouette taking form, until the man beside her finally came into focus.
For a heartbeat, her brain malfunctioned.
Then her eyes zeroed in on the very familiar details of the stranger's calm smile, her gaze roving over the outline of his wild unkempt hair that she recognized instantly.
Then her brain processed the words he'd spoken…
Senzu beans…
Krillen…
Kate screamed.
Then Goku screamed, watching in alarm as Kate bolted upright, continuing to scream as she scrambled to get away from him until she collided against the headboard with a solid thunk. Her heart pounded violently in her ears, her large blue eyes gaping at him in wide-eyed panic, like a wild animal that had been cornered.
Quickly recovering from the shock of her reaction, Goku's face softened. "Hey, it's okay!" he told her, holding out his hands calmly. "We aren't going to hurt you. You're safe."
Kate's eyes shifted warily when she registered the word 'we', and another yelp of alarm slid between her lips.
Six other figures were lined along the walls behind him—all of them also looking eerily like realistic replicas of Dragon Ball Z characters.
"What in the hell is this?" she shrieked at them, trying to flatten herself against the headboard. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"What do you mean?"
It took Kat a moment to tear her eyes away from hulking green form scowling at her from the doorway, where it leaned agaist it as if guarding it, but when her eyes finally slid back to Goku, his puzzled expression disarmed her momentarily.
"A joke?" Goku chuckled nervously, scratching back of his head. "Why would I joke about not hurting you?" He blinked at her innocently for a moment and then sighed. "Listen, I'm—"
"Goku." The name slid right out of Kate's mouth before she had time to contemplate the insanity of it.
"Huh?" Goku blinked back at her in surprise, before glancing back at the others who all had matching expressions of shock on their faces. He turned back to her, completely baffled as he cocked his head to the side. "How do you know my name? Have we met before?"
Kate stared at him, struck numb, realizing from the tone of his voice that he was being entirely serious.
"No, no," she said, shaking a finger at him, "No, no, no. You're not real," she stammered, ignoring the screaming protest of her muscles as she kicked the sheets off frantically, scrambling off the other side of the bed to get away from him. "None of you are real. You can't be real!"
Hey legs wobbled unsteadily causing her to stumble backwards, the loose chestnut waves of her waist length hair swirling around her as she tried to scrape it frantically away from her face.
"Just calm down," Goku said, raising his hands cautiously. "You're safe. We aren't going to hurt you."
Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. Her heart was still pounding furiously as her eyes flickered from face to face, while her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
Goku. Krillen. Big, green monster.
The tiny bald man and the large green…thing, were closest to the door, and both seemed poised to stop anything from leaving, making her gulp. The others all looked on, seeming somewhat fascinated and yet bewildered by her behavior.
A sudden breeze between her legs made Kate's eyes drop to stare down the line of her body.
That's when she finally noticed the short-sleeved, pink button-down that fell only a few tiny inches past her bare thighs—a shirt that definitely didn't belong to her. A split second later her brain also registered that there was in fact nothing separating her skin from said pink shirt.
"Jesus Christ!" Kate screamed, yanking the fabric down farther over her thighs in an attempt to cover herself more—completely unaware of the dark eyes that were transfixed on the way the shirt was stretched taught over the prominent curve of her backside.
Kate grit her teeth. "Why am I naked and where are my clothes?"
Goku winced at the volume of her voice, and cast a pleading glance over her shoulder before he realized a resigned sigh. "Listen, you were in pretty bad shape when you were found. You were unconscious and evidently most of your clothes were burned off," he said anxiously, giving that same odd look again, his eyes almost pleading.
"Burned. Off." The words didn't make any sense even as she repeated them, blinking at him blankly. "Why were they burned off? What did you all do to me?"
Goku blinked right back at her with an equally dumbfounded look. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" she railed at him in disbelief. "I'm practically naked, surrounded by a bunch of strange men, and you're trying to tell me that you all didn't do anything inappropriate to me?" she hissed furiously.
Goku blinked at her, not grasping her meaning. "Inappropriate? Like what?"
And with that, Kate's patience finally ran out.
"Ugh! You have got to be shitting me right now? You know what I mean!" she snarled clenching her teeth.
"Hey, hold on a second!" Krillen shouted, bursting forward to defend Goku. "We never touched you," he told her pointedly, motioning to himself and the others.
Kate mistook his accusatory glare in her direction as being meant for her, when in fact it was aimed at the figure silently leaning against the wall behind her.
Dark eyes flashed with warning making Krillen swallowed hard, before taking a step back.
Once again mistaking his expression as a being a reaction to her, Kate wondered just how scary her face looked in that moment as her anger went through the roof.
"Do I look stupid to you?" she railed at him. "Somebody obviously put this ridiculous pink shirt on me, so I know at least one of you saw me naked."
Palpable tension suddenly filled the room.
Tien glanced down at Chiaotzu and they traded a look, but neither of them said a word. Krillen continued to glare sulkily, and Yamcha coughed into his fist awkwardly. Piccolo didn't seem to react to anything.
"Hey, being naked is no big deal," Goku laughed awkwardly with a shrug.
Kate stared at him in disbelief. "No big deal? No big DEAL?!" she hissed. "Being naked may be no big deal to you, but it's a really big deal to me!" she shouted. "Maybe you don't mind going around flashing your dick at people but I'm a chick, and I don't want any of you creeps seeing me naked!" she bellowed angrily. "Now, you answer me right now! Where the fuck am I, and who the hell are you people?"
He blinked at her in confusion. "Well…this is Kame House, and I'm—"
"Yes, you're Goku," she snapped sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him. "That's really fucking cute. I suppose next you're going to tell me that you're really a Super Saiyan, and that he's really a fucking Namekian," she said dismissively, waving an arm at the tall green monster by the door. "Don't give me that bullshit."
Goku turned to blink back at the hulking form she had referred, and met Piccolo's expression of pure shock, which was somehow even more unsettling to Kate than his constant scowling. The flash of his razor sharp fangs when his mouth had popped open nearly made her take another step back. Bit then she'd taken a deep breath, gathering her thoughts, and tried to think rationally about the entire exchange. Other than the stiffness of her muscles, she didn't feel as if she'd been assaulted in any way and none of them had actually tried to hurt her, but still their refusal to step out of character was starting to put her on edge.
Goku finally turned back to gape at her with his head cocked to the side curiously. "How did you know that he's a Namekian?"
For some reason his questioned seemed so ridiculous that Kate found it almost hilarious.
"Wait…is this a joke?" she snorted. "You don't honestly expect me to believe that you're really Dragon Ball Z characters, do you?" She narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously. "Did my sister put you up to this? Is this some sort of a prank?"
They all exchanged shocked glances before Goku looked back at her. "How do you know about the Dragon Balls?"
"Wait a second," Tien said, putting up a hand. "Why did you call us Dragon Ball Z characters?"
Kate scrunched her face in confusion. "That's what you're all dressed as, right? The Z Warriors?"
"Z Warriors?" He exchanged a look with Chiaotzu, before all three of his eyes fell back on her. "What's a Z Warrior?"
She waved a hand at them, becoming more annoyed. "Okay, you guys can drop the act now. I'm not falling for it," she muttered, relaxing enough to put her hands on hips.
Goku scratched the back of his head in confusion. "What act?"
"Okay. Seriously, just stop," Kate demanded, an edge of panic in her voice as she glanced at the only exit frantically. "You're all really freaking me out now. This isn't funny anymore. You're not really Goku, so stop. Goku doesn't really exist. Namekians aren't real. Saiyans aren't real," she told him belligerently. "I don't know what kind of hardcore role-playing shit you all are into, but I'm officially done playing this little game of make believe with you, so cut it the hell out and tell me where I really am."
Goku heard the hysterical edge of rising panic in her voice. "Listen…" he said carefully, holding up his hands to show her that he meant her no harm. "My name really is Goku, and these are my friends," he said motioning to the others. "You were found unconscious and brought here to Master Roshi's. None of us have done anything to hurt you and we aren't going to, we're just trying to help you, I swear. Please, tell me what can I do to make you believe me?"
She blinked at him stupidly, repeating his question back to him slowly. "What can you do…to make me believe…that you're really Goku?"
He gave her a curt nod.
"You're completely serious aren't you?" she whispered in disbelief.
"Of course I'm serious."
"What do you want me to do? Quiz you or something?" she spat sardonically. "That's ridiculous."
"If that's what it takes," he agreed, spreading his hands wide. "There has to be something I can do that will put you at ease."
"Yeah, sure. I'll humor you," she snorted wryly. "Why don't you just go ahead and pop on those Super Saiyan lights…Goku."
He blinked at her in surprise. "Why has everyone been asking me to go Super Saiyan today?" he mused quietly.
"Oh, wait. Let me guess…you can't," Kate muttered drolly, rolling her eyes.
He tilted his head awkwardly, seeming embarrassed. "Well, yeah, I mean…I can, but…"
She narrowed her eyes at him irritably. "Bullshit. Don't patronize me. I'm exhausted, my muscles literally feel like I've been beat all to hell with a baseball bat, this whole charade is making me feel nauseous, and I'm actually starting to get pissed. So, stop. Stop pretending like—"
There was a sudden flare of light making her squint, and an invisible pulse blew out like a wave of energy, and suddenly swirling gusts of wind came out of nowhere blowing her hair out around her. Once her eyes adjusted, the flare of light dimmed, revealing Goku where he stood—glowing brightly, his hair having burst into a pale golden flame, staring at her with eyes the color of blazing Caribbean waters…
And all the blood drained from Kate's face.
"That…that…that's impossible," she croaked, her voice barely a whisper as she swallowed hard, trying to comprehend what she was seeing. "You can't really be a…a Super Saiyan," she whispered hoarsely and suddenly her legs felt unsteady as she watched the power die away, Goku's hair and eyes darkening once again. "This can't be real. You can't be real."
She was suddenly in dire need of something to hold onto.
Backing up Kate stumbled slightly on wobbly legs and bumped flush against something that she realized was clearly not the wall she had been expecting. It was hard, but it was also very, very warm…and it had grunted at her.
"Get off of me, woman," growled a low gruff voice from behind her.
Whirling around, another scream died in her throat and her heart lurched in her chest when she came face to face with another man that she had failed o notice before. He stood stoic and brooding, arms crossed, leaning against the wall and his dark eyes lined with thick lashes were locked on her, glaring ominously as his face morphed into an even deeper scowl, only making his sharp widows peak all the more prominent.
Kate's mind flew, trying to reason everything in her head, because if the other guy was really Goku, then that meant…
…that standing before her was the Saiyan Prince himself.
Involuntarily her eyes lowered to the white sleeveless top that hugged the rippling muscles of his chest and stomach like a second skin, accentuating his sculpted arms where they were crossed over his torso.
"What are you staring at?" he sneered, his lips pulling into an arrogant smirk. "See something you like?"
That's when her eyes fell to the pink shirt she was wearing, before they flew back to the white undershirt—which she had only glimpsed him wearing once before in the anime…peeking out beneath a very memorable pink garment.
Kate gasped, her eyes flying back to his face. "Am I wearing your fucking shirt?"
"What?" The question had actually caught Vegeta off guard, his brows jutting up, as his arms went slack in surprise. How did the damn woman know that it was his shirt?
She ignored him, stretching to look over her shoulder, sweeping the long tangle of loose curls out of the way as she tugged the fabric until she could read the words 'BAD MAN' scrawled across the back.
"Oh my God," she gasped, her eyes going wide. "This is your shirt. Why in the hell am I wearing your goddamn pink shirt?" she demanded, whirling back around to gape up at him, and when the shock on his face morphed into another deep scowl, realization suddenly hit her.
If he'd been standing behind her the whole time that she'd been railing at the others, then Krillen's reactions suddenly made so much more sense. He hadn't been scared of her, he'd been scared of Vegeta.
"You jackass!" Kate hissed, yanking the shirt down angrily. "You've been standing behind me this whole time and you didn't say anything?" she shrieked. "Did you enjoy the show, you lecherous bastard?"
"Woman, you don't interest me in the slightest!" Vegeta seethed indignantly, his face flushing slightly as his hands balled into fists at his side. "I put the shirt over you so I wouldn't have to look at your hideous body!"
"Clearly you don't think it's that hideous, otherwise you wouldn't have just stood there staring as my ass without saying anything!" she threw back at him, and his face bloomed bright scarlet. "That's what I thought!" she sneered.
"Kakarot," Vegeta snapped, shooting an icy glare over her shoulder. "Come get this woman before I kill her. She's clearly deranged."
Without a single sound of warning, Goku was across the room catching Kate by the elbow, gently trying to pull her away, and his sudden grip on her arm made her flinch.
"Hey, it's just me," told her gently, but she jerked her arm free, still panicked by the sight of him.
"Clearly the woman is frightened of you, Kakarot," Vegeta sneered in amusement. "Though, I have no idea why she'd be scared of a pathetic weakling that's incapable of restraining a mere girl?"
The panic in Kate was instantly washed away once his words registered, replaced by the overwhelming urge to suddenly punch Vegeta in his smug Saiyan face.
"First of all…" she hissed, wheeling around to shoving a finger in Vegeta's face. "I'm not scared of him—or you for that matter, Vegeta!" she snapped, glaring up at him, and it wiped the smug smirk right off of his face. "And secondly, if he's such a weakling then how come he keeps having to save your sorry ass, you arrogant jerk?"
Rage was suddenly boiling behind Vegeta's eyes. "How dare you!" he snarled, taking a menacing step forward, but she didn't budge, going toe-to-toe with him as his hands balled into fists at his sides. "Do you know who you're talking to? I'm the Prince—"
"Yeah, yeah, Prince of all Saiyans, I've heard the whole spiel before," Kate muttered in bored voice, waving him off as she rolled her eyes. "Elite soldier. Legendary warrior. Destroyer of worlds. Blah, blah, blah—pride. Blah, blah, blah—asshole. Blah, blah, blah—Super Saiyan God. I know who you are, so you can spare me the bravado," she muttered, glaring up at him.
Her words instantly distracted him from his anger.
"What…did you just call me?" Vegeta breathed in a stunned voice, and for a second she thought his eyes were actually going to pop out of his egotistical head.
Just as Kate was revving up to start smarting off to him again, Goku carefully tried to pry her back a few steps, and this time she let him.
"Okay…both of you take a breath," he ordered them gently. "I think you're probably still in shock from everything," he said to Kate as he pulled her gently onto the edge of the mattress.
"I don't know, Goku…" Piccolo finally spoke in a deep booming voice, eyeing her suspiciously. "I would say that if she's yelling at Vegeta then she seems coherent enough to me—that is, if she were actually making any sense."
That voice, coming from Piccolo's big, green, hulking body make Kate's insides liquify —partially in fear, but mostly in awe.
"Jesus Christ, I must have hit my head when I fell," she muttered covering her eyes with shaking hands. "I have to be hallucinating all of this shit. This can't be happening."
"Woman!" Vegeta hissed impatiently, making her look up. "I demand to know what you meant when you called me a Super Saiyan God."
Kate blinked at him in disbelief. "I beg your pardon?"
A low growl rumbled from deep within his chest. "You're trying my patience, woman! Don't play dumb."
She scowled at him. "Listen asshole, I just woke up in a strange place, I have no idea how I got here, and you're grilling me for information about your power? Are you seriously that fucking full of yourself?"
"Everybody just calm down," Goku said sternly, shooting Vegeta a look when he opened his mouth to respond. "Let's just take a moment and try to figure out what's going on here." He glanced at Kate then, and spoke in a calm voice. "Now…why don't we start with your name."
"My name?" she mumbled stupidly.
"You do have a name don't you, woman?" Vegeta sneered.
Kate's gaze snapped right back to him. "If you don't cool it with that attitude, buddy, I'm going to smack the shit out of you," she threatened in a low voice.
He snorted at that. "I'd like to see you try."
She lunged at him, but Goku quickly snatched her around the waist just as she took a swing, pulling her back onto the edge of the mattress. "Guys, cool it!" he bade them gently, his palm on her shoulder, holding her in place.
Kate's blood boiled when Vegeta smirked triumphantly.
"You should have kept your shirt. Pink is a good color for a pansy like you," she sneered and once again it wiped his smug smirk right off his face.
"Vegeta, cut it out!" Goku barked angrily. "I'm serious."
They both continued to glare daggers at one another, and for a second she debated saying something else. The retort was on the tip of her tongue, but she thought better of it, deciding that she had much more important things to focus on at that very moment rather than provoking another one of the Saiyan Prince's temper tantrums.
"Now…your name," Goku said in a softer voice.
"My name is Kathryn," she muttered stiffly, refusing to break eye contact with Vegeta as she watched him distrustfully. "My friends call me Kate."
That arrogant smirk slid across his lips again and when she felt Goku's grip on her shoulder go slack she considered lunging at Vegeta's smug face again, but Goku's voice stopped her.
"Kathryn…" Goku repeated her name in an odd way. "Do you remember how you got here?"
His question caught her off guard, making her peer over at him as she tried to remember. She rewound her memories trying to piece them together.
"I…" Kate furrowed her brows trying to concentrate. "I…I'd just gotten home from a convention with my friends…I remember the drive back…" She shook her head when the images became fuzzy, and oddly difficult to focus on. "I remember walking out of the garage and I heard a noise—this strange…whirling sound—I think it was coming from the woods that run along the edge of my house." She clenched her eyes shut, trying to stretch her mind to recall the memory. "I followed it. I didn't know what it was because I'd never heard anything like it before, and just beyond the tree line, I saw this light…"
There was a flash of memories bathed in blue light making her suck in a sharp breath, trembling suddenly when it all flooded back in one violent onslaught.
"Then the ground just…opened up beneath me and I fell," Kate whispered, as the fear from the memory filled her. "I fell into this blue fire—it was everywhere—all around me, and electricity on my skin…" She blinked back the burn of tears in her eyes. "And then I was here. I woke up here. That's all I remember," she whispered in a hoarse voice.
"Hey, it's okay. You're safe here." Goku said in a soothing tone as he rubbed her back gently, and she suddenly realized that she was shaking.
Safe…here?
Kate leaned away, eyeing him warily. "But I can't be here, this isn't real," she argued shaking her head. "None of you are even real!" she told him vehemently. "Don't you get it? You're just characters in a TV show for crying out loud! You're just drawings that somebody made up!" she cried, shooting to her feet to put some space between them.
They were all staring at her as if she had grown a third head, until Vegeta's laughter broke the silence.
"Clearly the girl hit her head and the blow has addled her brain," he sneered in amusement.
"I'll prove it!" Kate declared in a determined voice, scanning the room desperately. "My pack—where's my backpack?" she demanded, tugging the shirt down as she crawled across the mattress before dropping to the floor on one knee to search beneath the edge of the bed. "I had it on me when I fell."
"I set it by the door," Goku told her.
When Kate poked her head back up, Goku's face was guarded as he stared at something beyond her, nodding. She turned, expecting to see her pack on the floor by the door, but she was met by the sight of Piccolo blocking her path, her grey canvas bag dangling by one long green finger as he peered at it warily.
He glanced at her suspiciously before his eyes shifted over her shoulder to Goku, and they both exchanged a look, nodding once before he finally relented, offering it to her. Hesitantly getting to her feet, Kate took a careful step towards him, noting the way his deep emerald eyes watched her distrustfully.
"Thank you, Piccolo," she said softly, accepting the bag from him, and was rewarded with the look of surprise that flashed across his face.
"How do you know my name?" His low growl made her take a step back.
"I know all of your names," she told him, glancing at the other Z Warriors. "Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha—"
The words died on her lips when her eyes landed on the young, dark-haired boy that she had failed to notice until that moment. He was staring up at her with wide curious eyes, the epitome of innocence, and Kate's mind was suddenly flying as she tried to pinpoint her place in their timeline.
"Gohan…? Wait…you're still a child?" She whirled to stare at the two Saiyans watching her from across the room, her eyes darting from Goku, to where Vegeta still stood scowling at her. "Vegeta is here…so that means that you already beat Frieza and that Namek has been destroyed." Her eyes shifted back to Goku. "But Goku is alive—"
Low murmurs of alarm erupted around the room.
"How do you know about Frieza?" Vegeta bellowed, his body tensing.
"Like I said," she reminded him, gritting her teeth as she set her pack on the end of the bed, "I know all about you guys from the show," she muttered, unzipping the bag. "I know about Frieza, and how Goku went Super Saiyan after Krillen was murdered."
Kate rifled through it's contents in search of the DVD cases that she'd packed inside, as she simultaneously sorted through the show in her head, trying to arrange a chain of events in order. After all, she knew that Gohan was much too young to have defeated Cell already.
"Then you all wished Krillen back after Namek was destroyed, and Goku was lost in space—" She paused, glancing up at Goku suddenly. "Wait…you're here, and Gohan is still so young. So…did you all already fight the androids?" she asked in confusion.
"You know about the androids!" Gohan's small voice gasped in childlike awe.
"Wow," Goku laughed awkwardly, ruffling the back of his head, "You're really well informed."
"Too well informed," Yamcha muttered sourly, making her turn to look at him where he stood between Krillen and Tien, speaking up for the first time. "How is it that you know about the androids when we only found out about them today?"
Kate froze. "Did you say today?" she whispered in a strangled voice.
Yamcha eyed her worriedly suddenly. "Hey are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick."
She barely registered his words. "He came today?"
"Who are you talking about?" Yamache asked in bewilderment.
"The boy from the future."
The air in the entire room shifted suddenly, a wave of confusion and shock flashing across each of their faces as they stared at her in stunned silence.
Then a small voice broke it. "Hey, how do you know about that?"
Kate glanced down to find Gohan staring up, his wide innocent eyes bright with wonder, and she crouched carefully until she was eye level with him.
"Tell me, the boy you saw, was he also able to turn into a Super Saiyan like your dad?" she asked softly.
"Uh-huh!" Gohan's eyes lit up, nodding, and she didn't miss Vegeta's low grunt of annoyance at that statement. "He was amazing, he even—"
"Destroyed Frieza and his father, effortlessly," Kate finished his sentence in a detached voice. "Yes. I know."
"You know about that?" Krillen said in a shocked voice, and when she glanced at him seeing the alarm on his face, she realized suddenly that she had to be careful what she told them.
"I know that he came from the future to warn you about the androids," she said.
"How do you know all of this?" Yamcha demanded. "Do you know that guy or something? Are you from the future too?"
Kate shook her head, sighing, as she stood to begin digging through her bag again. "No. I keep telling you all—I already know everything about you all because I've already seen it. Every battle you all have ever fought together, every battle that has yet to come. I already know what happened today, because I've seen it already." She stared at the orange cases in her hands as she pulled them from her bag, sorting through them. "The boy, did he have purple hair like this?" she asked, showing Gohan the orange case with Trunks on the cover.
"Yeah, that's him!" Gohan answered excitedly.
Kate raised the box to show the others. "This contains discs with the episodes of the TV show I was telling you about. In my world, that's what you all are—a fairytale. Just a cartoon my sister and I used to watch on TV when we were kids—we weren't much older than you are now," she said glancing at Gohan.
"Do we look like cartoons to you?" Piccolo growled.
Kate eyed the smooth green skin that ran over his well muscled arms. "No…you don't," she said, swallowing hard as she raised her eyes up to blink at him matter-of-factly. "You look very, very real to me. Which means…" she swallowed hard, looking away, "either I'm lying unconscious somewhere, with a severe brain injury, and I'm hallucinating all of this…or I really fell through a some sort of rip in reality that transported me here—where fictional creatures are real…" she gulped in panic, before the hem of fabric that brushed her thighs caught her attention. "At least that explains the pink shirt," she muttered.
"Woman, that has to be the most ridiculous garbage I have ever heard," Vegeta sneered pulling her from thoughts—his haughty tone grating on her very last nerve. "I am a Saiyan warrior, not some figment of your imagination. Don't presume that your feeble mind could even contemplate the complexity of me or my race."
Yep, her tolerance level had finally reached zero—as in, the number of fucks she gave about pissing him off at that very moment.
"You know…" Kate sighed in disappointment, sinking to sit on edge of the mattress as she ran trembling fingers through her hair. "I thought your whole macho, arrogance thing would be sort of charming," she said smartly, as she tilted her head over her shoulder to blink at him. "But you're actually really fucking annoying," she snapped, her piercing gaze pinning him with a glare. "I seriously don't know how the others can stand listening to you talk all the goddamn time. I mean, do you just like listening to the sound of your own voice, or do you honestly believe your own hype? 'Cause you aren't impressing me, Vegeta," she told him, putting a hand to her chest. "I know way too much shit about you."
Never in his life had anyone dared to speak to him in such a way, nonetheless a woman, and Vegeta's ire skyrocketed.
"You know nothing about me, woman!" he snarled between clenched teeth, the muscles in his arms bulging as he clenched his fists at his side, and for a second she almost let her eyes graze over his body in appreciation. The livid look of fury that filled his face probably should have scared her, but she was pretty sure that the shock was finally setting in, making her brave…or suicidal.
"I know enough," she muttered snidely, turning her face aside dismissively.
"Clearly you don't," he spat in cold voice. "Because if you did, then you would have the good sense to be fearing for your life after speaking to me with such disrespect, woman."
"Really?" Kate wheeled around to pin him with a hard look, twisting her whole body to face him. "Are you sure about that?" she raised a brow in challenge, and the blue fire in her eyes made him hesitate for a second. "You might want to be careful what you start with me, Prince," she warned him, "the things I know about you might fatally wound your sensitive Saiyan ego."
"You dare threaten me?" he snarled, fists straining as his jaw clenched.
"It's not a threat…it's a certainty," Kate said coldly. "I know that you're a proud warrior of the Saiyan race, an elite fighter and heir to the throne—made proud and arrogant by your title and status among your people—but don't push me, Vegeta," she warned him. "I'm seriously not in the mood to deal with your egotistical bullshit right now, and I will bring up painful things from your past right here, right now, in front of everyone, if you don't back, the fuck, off."
Vegeta seethed silently, his chest heaving as rage burned in his eyes, but Kate caught the twinge of fear that flashed in them.
"Don't you dare to presume to know a damn thing about my life, woman!"
He just didn't know when to fucking quit evidently, and Kate was on her feet glaring at him then.
"I know things about your past that even you don't know, Vegeta!" she hissed, pointing a finger at him in warning. "I could easily use that information to prove that everything I've said is true, but I would prefer to not stoop that low. So if you don't curb your fucking attitude, you will leave me no choice but to cross a line that you are sorely going to regret, by making an example of you, so as I said before—don't, push, me."
She could see him weighing his next words carefully, the room deathly quiet as the fury continued to swell behind his eyes, and she knew he was reaching a boiling point. His conclusion was inevitable—before Vegeta even opened his mouth Kate knew that he was never going to back down—it wasn't in his nature to concede defeat. He wasn't going to stop trying to bully her into submission…but she had never cowered before any man, and she wasn't about to start.
"There is nothing you could possibly know about my past—"
"I know what really happened when your father handed you over to Frieza," she snapped quickly, cutting him off.
Vegeta actually choked, her words having the same effects as a swift kick to the gut, and he paled instantly.
"You loved your father—"
"Shut your mouth!" He spit the words in an icy tone from between his teeth as he seared her with a violent glare. How dare she speak of his father in such a casual way.
"No!" she shouted back at him. "You wanted to fucking push me? Well, this is what you get!" Kate told him, spreading her arms wide. "A nice healthy dose of the cold, hard truth for once. I'm not going to tiptoe around your vanity like the others, Vegeta. If you want to be an arrogant, self-centered prick, then deal with the fucking consequences. Consequences like the truth for once in your miserable life," she railed at him. "And the truth is, you loved your father—though it's unusual for Saiyans to have such strong familial bonds, you did, and it has always haunted you how he could just hand you over to a monster like Frieza when you were only just a boy."
"I'm warning you, woman!" Vegeta snarled, his whole body going rigid, but Kate didn't miss the flash of pain in his eyes.
"Frieza was no fool, Vegeta," she told him in a softer voice. "Even with the entire Saiyan race at his feet, he feared your legends about the Super Saiyan warrior, and once Frieze saw the extent of your growing power, he soon realized the kind of threat you could one day be to him. He tried to force your father to prove his loyalty, by ordering him to have you executed."
Vegeta was so stunned that his anger was forgotten as his mind raced at the implications of what she was saying. He'd never heard Frieza issue such a decree to his father. She had to be lying.
"Your father loved you, Vegeta," Kate told him gently, her chest aching at the way his eyes filled with grief. "He tried to reason with Frieza, but Frieza threatened to destroy your entire planet if the king did not relinquish his only son and heir to be butchered. Desperate to save the life of the son he prized above all else, he bargained with Frieza—offering to let him take you instead, on the condition that he spare your life, hoping to avoid the enslavement of his people in the process. Your father was was no fool obviously, he knew that Frieza feared the power of the Saiyan Empire, and it wouldn't be long before he would attempt to eliminate the threat to his stronghold over your planet, but by giving you to him, he tried to buy enough time to plan a mutiny."
Vegeta tried to look away but Kate could still see the way his face etched with pain as a war waged behind his eyes.
"Though, in truth, the only thing that mattered to your father…was you," she murmured. "After all, you were all he had left. He put your life above that of his own people."
Vegeta flew at her so fast that Kate never saw him move until he was glaring down at her with a rage unlike any she had ever seen before.
"I warned you once, woman," he seethed, his voice low and dark with warning. "Speak another word and I will kill you where you stand."
Kate stared up into the depths of his violent gaze, and saw the grief hidden behind his eyes—the haunted look of a little boy who had been abandoned.
It made her brave.
"It wasn't your fault, Vegeta," she whispered.
Vegeta's head jerked back as Kate's words pierced through him. "W-what?"
"It wasn't your fault," she repeated softly. "Frieza was a vile plague upon the universe—death and destruction followed him everywhere he went. He prized power and control. There was nothing you did wrong to set his sights on you. You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened. I know that Frieza threatened to kill your father if you didn't obey him, but he had leveraged you both against each other—threatening to kill you if your father dared to rise up against him. You were just a little boy when Frieza took you—you couldn't have known, but there was nothing you could have done to save your father or your world," she murmured. "Your father's death wasn't your fault."
Her words were like knives, chipping away at him—prying open the cage that he'd locked his pain away in long ago. He'd never been able to even admit his own guilt to himself, and now it was pouring through him, drowning him—a lifetime of shame and resentment washing to the surface.
Vegeta couldn't move, rooted to the spot, paralyzed and unable to stop her as her hands suddenly reached up to cradle his face in her palms, her strange bright eyes swimming with an emotion he did not recognize, as they darted between his, slowly watching the fire in his gaze die away.
"You have to forgive yourself for that—and your father, for what was done to you," Kate told him, dipping her face to make sure his eyes were locked on hers. "As long as you were spared—as long as you were safe, your father knew that the Saiyan bloodline would not be destroyed. Not as long as you lived. He did the only thing he could do when he gave you to Frieza—he protected the only thing he loved—he protected his son. You."
Vegeta clenched his eyes shut, and swallowed against the choking sensation in his throat, as his mind fought against the grief welling inside of him. He didn't understand what was happening. He was the Prince of all Saiyans after all—a fearless warrior—not some simpering fool prone to pathetic human emotions. How could mere words affect him so deeply?
"It wasn't your fault, Vegeta," Kate told him again. "He convinced Frieza that you would be an asset to his guard, seeing as how since you were a child you had proven yourself to be a ruthless killer—merciless. A lethal assassin. Frieza saw the wisdom in this. After all, you were young—impressionable still—able to be molded into a weapon to do Frieza's bidding, and if manipulated correctly he would have a new Saiyan king, loyal only to him."
"Woman, how can you…know this?" Vegeta choked, his voice rough and thick with pain.
"I told you, I know all about you, and what Frieza did to you and your people, Vegeta," Kate replied. "You were just a boy, forced into a life of bloodshed and carnage—never given the chance to be anything other that what Frieza tried to turn you into. Your father couldn't have known the things that Frieza would do to you, Vegeta—after all, he had no intention of leaving you in the hands of that monster. Why do you think Frieza killed him?" she whispered staring up at him, desperately.
Vegeta's mind rebelled against the sudden gut-wrecking sensation in his stomach. How could the woman speak of things that were slowly shredding him to pieces on then inside with such…tenderness in her voice?
"I know you think that it was because of you, but it wasn't," Kate continued. "You're father boarded Frieza's ship with every intention of killing him before he could leave with you. He was there to rescue you, Vegeta, and it cost him his life."
"That's not true!" Vegeta snarled between his teeth, clenching his eyes tighter.
He tried to lean away, but he couldn't force his body to pull away from her hands, as if she had some sort of magnetic hold on him, keeping him in place.
"My father was on the planet when it was destroyed."
"No, he wasn't," Kate argued, and Vegeta's eyes flew open in shock. "He and his closest guards feigned the pretense of requesting an audience with Frieza so that some of his soldiers could slip away to find you while he distracted Frieza, but someone had warned Frieza about your father's true intentions, and so they never even had a chance. It would have done him little good anyway, seeing as how you weren't even on the ship. Frieza had sent you off on a solo mission for this exact reason. When your father realized this, he attacked Frieza himself, but he was no match for him. He gave his life trying to save you, and you can't blame yourself for that."
Vegeta's gaze was locked on the burning blue of her eyes, unable to look away as her words sunk in.
He'd never felt so raw in his entire life.
His calloused fingers reached up to weakly curl around her delicate wrists, intending to rip her hands off of him, but instead he ended up clinging to her as he fought the urge to vomit. This tiny human woman was tearing everything he thought he knew apart—ripping his memories to shreds with her gentle fingers on his skin, and her devastating words ringing in his ears. He'd never understood before why his father had just handed him over without a fight, because he'd never been told a version of the truth that had made any sense, but her words did—deep down in the marrow of his bones.
He could still remember the moment he'd received the news. Staring blankly into the campfire, his scouter had beeped, and as he chewed on a haunch of burnt meat from one of the creatures he'd killed during the planet purge, a crackling transmission informed him that his planet, and the entire Saiyan race—including his father—were gone. For a moment there had been nothing. A blank moment where everything had stopped. A moment where he understood everything. The voice on the other end of his scouter had asked for a reply, but he had nothing to say.
He was alone.
Kate watched pain flood Vegeta's dark eyes. He looked like was drowning.
"I promise you, Vegeta, Your father never intended to let Frieza keep you, he would have died before leaving you in the hands of that monster. He said so himself," she told him softly, but Vegeta didn't even seem to be listening. "He did everything in his power to protect you, and though he failed to rescue you from Frieza, he succeeded in sparing your life. Your father had no idea the nightmare your life would become."
Vegeta's eyes shifted—barely.
"I know sometimes you still wake up screaming," Kate whispered.
He ripped away from her then, stumbling back.
"That's a lie!" he hissed.
Kate tilted her head, blinking at him pointedly. "Is it?"
Vegeta could only gape at her in horror.
"There is innocent blood on your hands, Prince of all Saiyans," Kate told him in a grave voice. "Countless planets, billions of innocent lives turned to ash at your hands. Men, women and children. Innocents. Blood spilt of your own free will. Even the blood of your own people. Raditz whom you discarded as a weakling, and Nappa slain by your own hand. For all your Saiyan pride—despite your strength—your arrogance and your obsession with power made you weak. It allowed Frieza to twist your soul into a ruthless monster—warped your heart, turned it into beating stone—making you cold, and hard, and almost unfeeling at all. The only Saiyans left in existence, and you attempted to snuff them out. It was your sworn duty as their Prince to protect your people, Vegeta. Your people, and you let them die."
Vegeta stared back at her in horror. Surely she was a demon sent to torment him. She couldn't know those things—it was impossible.
"Speak no more, woman!" he snarled, covering his ears as if in immense pain.
Kate stared at him sorrowfully. "Deep down you're haunted by the monster Frieza turned you into, I can see it in your eyes, Vegeta."
She went to him then, taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her.
"You told Goku as much, when you lay there dying on Namek, remember?" she asked him. "Frieza stripped you of your honor, and your freedom. He destroyed your home and was responsible for the genocide of your entire world. He turned you into a monster just like him. I know that sometimes when you look in the mirror, all you can see is Frieza staring back at you. I know when you sleep, you can still hear them screaming, Vegeta—all the lives you took. You're haunted by the nightmare of their screams as they burned alive, the same way your people did at Frieza's hands."
"Woman, no more…" he said, clenching his eyes shut as he weakly tried to turn away, but she held him in place.
"But you are not Frieza, Vegeta. There is still honor in you—I know there is," Kate whispered fiercely. "And the only way he can take that from you now is if waste this second chance that you've been given."
Vegeta's eyes slid open to stare at her with the broken gaze of a lost little boy.
"Here still beats the heart of a Saiyan warrior," she pressed her right palm to his chest. "And no one can ever take that from you—not even Frieza."
For the first time since she'd begun shouting at him, Kate could suddenly feel her own heart pounding violently in her chest as she stared up into his eyes. They were so close that she could sense the heat of his skin through his clothes, all the way down the line of her body. Even as warning bells began going off inside her head, she couldn't make herself stop. She didn't want to stop.
"Frieza is dead, Vegeta, and he can't hurt you anymore," Kate told him tenderly. "The once great Saiyan Empire has been reduced to the three of you in this room, right now," she said, motioning to Goku and Gohan as an excuse to take a step back. "Because of Goku, no Saiyan will ever die at Frieza's hands ever again. He and his son are the only family you have left, Vegeta. Can't you see that?"
The Saiyan Prince shook his head in denial.
"Let go of your hate, Vegeta," she implored him.
He grit his teeth, trying to fight the swirl of emotion welling in him.
"I…can't," he spat out, trying once again to pull away, but Kate held her ground. She wasn't going to give up on him—she couldn't. Not when she knew that he could be so much more.
"Yes, you can! You are the Prince of all Saiyans, and you bend to the will of no creature, even your own pride!" Kate told him fiercely, and Vegeta's eyes sparked with life again, flashing wide as he stared at her. "Don't let it chain you! Let go of your hate, Vegeta. Let go of your hate and don't waste this chance at redemption that you have been given and one day…the nightmares will fade," she promised him. "One day you won't wake up with the sound of dying screams still ringing in your ears. Let go of your hate and your rage, and one day, all that Frieza did to you and your people will be undone through the two of you. With his help you can atone for your sins and restore the honor of your people."
Vegeta drowned in the swirling aqua of her eyes, and it was the way she seemed to be staring right through him—beyond him—that unnerved him.
"How?" he whispered warily.
"Be the hero that I know you will one day become, and you will ascend to the rank of a Super Saiyan God."
There was that phrase again. Super Saiyan God. Vegeta couldn't even begin to fathom her meaning as his eyes locked unflinchingly on hers, but her words still rang mockingly in his head.
"I have seen it with my own eyes," Kate assured him, against her better judgement. "I have seen the great man that you could one day become, and I'm begging you Vegeta—for your sake, and for the sake of the billions of lives I know you will one day save…don't waste this."
The room was deathly silent as Kate and Vegeta remained frozen staring at one another. Goku and the others had been watching them both, stunned and speechless by her words, but mostly astounded by the fact that Vegeta looked like she had shredded his pride all to hell with mere words. Aside from Bulma, they had never seen anyone speak to him so brazenly, but even more bizarre was the girl's intimate knowledge of Vegeta's past. It had them all wondering suddenly if everything she had said was the truth, and how that knowledge would affect the Saiyan Prince.
Kate on the other hand already knew it was foolish to expect her words to make a difference to Vegeta. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Vegeta was not a man who could be won over by sentiment or nostalgia. Those sort of things just didn't have the same effect on him as they did with normal people—normal people those who didn't have the emotional capacity of a swamp rock. Still, she had hoped, even if only for a moment, but she knew the inevitable moment would come when he would pull away.
Sure enough, it came.
All at once she watched the softness in his eyes harden and ice over once again as he came to his senses. The spell her words had cast over him broke—just as she knew it eventually would.
Vegeta glared at her venomously and leaned in close. "Save your pity and your righteous speeches, woman. I have no need of them," he snarled shoving away from her roughly. "And stay the hell away from me!"
With that, he stormed past her, fleeing from the room quickly, in a hurry to be free of that damned demon woman.
Kate stared after him, her heart still pounding.
"Well, shit," she sighed, with a helpless shrug. "It was worth a shot."
She laughed nervously then as she looked back to the others to find them all staring at her with alternating expressions of disbelief and some with outright horror.
Krillen was the first one brave enough to speak.
"So…do you know this kind of stuff about all of us?" he asked nervously.
"Why?" Kate grinned slyly at him. "Do you have a bunch of deep dark secrets that you don't want the others to know about, Krillen?" she teased him with a wink.
"No, of course not!" he chuckled awkwardly.
Kate rolled her eyes.
"Relax, I'm just messing with you," she laughed. "To be honest, half of that stuff about Vegeta was mere conjecture, but judging by his reaction I wasn't that far off the mark." She frowned at that, glancing at the doorway. "I didn't mean to get so carried away though. I told him to stop pushing me," she glowered, staring at the floor. "I gave him fair warning that he wouldn't like what I said, but he just, wouldn't, stop. I don't get how you all can stand him sometimes," she said, making a face at them.
"Ah, he's not so bad," Goku laughed.
"Speak for yourself," Yamcha muttered.
"Sure he's a little rough around the edges, but he's never exactly been much of a people person," Goku admitted ruefully before his eyes shifted back to her. "So you really know all about that stuff he told me back on Namek," he mused softly. "Man, I never knew Vegeta had it so rough growing up. Frieza was a monster. I can't imagine what that must have been like for him."
"I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate your sympathy," Kate muttered.
"No, probably not," he chuckled.
"Imagine what he would have been like if he'd come to earth as baby like you did, Goku," she told him pointedly. "He might not have turned out so bad if he had."
"Huh, I never thought of that," Goku responded, seeming stumped as he thought on that before his eyes focused back on her. "So you really do know all about us? You even know about things that haven't happened yet?"
Kate thought about that, frowning suddenly.
"Yes, and I really shouldn't be revealing anything to you all about your future. In fact…I shouldn't even be here. If this all real, and I'm not actually just hallucinating this entire things, who knows what kind of irreparable damage my presence here could cause you all. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely honored to have met all of you, but you have to take me back to where you found me so that I can try to get back home," she told him adamantly.
Goku shifted awkwardly. "That's going to be kind of difficult," he said with a nervous chuckle.
Her brows furrowed in confusion. "What? Why?"
His mouth twisted to one side reluctantly. "Well, I'm not the one who found you…Vegeta is."
Kate blinked at him in disbelief and then her eyes flew in horror to the empty doorway where Vegeta has disappeared, staring at it as realization slowly sank in.
"Fuck!" she hissed loudly. "Of course he is. Of course that asshole found me," she railed, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "That's just my fucking luck."
It was like an after effect, when Goku's words finally registered with her.
"Wait…" Kate slowly looked back at him. "Vegeta found me?"
"Uh, yeah," Goku nodded.
"And he brought me here, to you?" She continued, raising a skeptical brow at him.
Goku pointed at her chest then. "It's why you're wearing his shirt. You were wearing it when he showed up here with you."
Kate's eyes fell to the pink fabric, going wide. "But why? Why would he even bother?"
"I don't know," Goku laughed nervously, "I didn't even think to ask him when he showed up with you in his arms."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Of course you didn't."
"Listen, you had char marks all over your legs and arms so I thought you were hurt pretty bad. My first concern was making sure that you were okay."
Kate glanced down at her arms and legs in confusion. There weren't any marks at all.
"All Vegeta told me was that he found you in the middle of nowhere and that you'd come out of some sort of portal," Goku explained. "That's all I know. He didn't say how you got burned, or why he'd given you his shirt, so I just assumed from what I saw."
Kate eyed him carefully. "Did he tell you where the portal was?"
"No."
Kate's hopes visibly plummeted.
"Great," she muttered. "And since I've royally ticked off Captain Asshole, I'm probably stuck here," she said, paling slightly at the thought.
"Hey, don't worry, we'll help you figure this out."
Goku looked to the others.
"Right guys?"
They didn't look as enthused as Goku sounded—save for Gohan who was smiling up at Kate brightly.
"Right!" he exclaimed happily.
Kate grinned in response, ruffling his hair playfully, earning her one of his adorable little giggles.
Yamcha stepped forward then. "I'm sure that my girlfriend wouldn't mind you staying at her place until we can figure out how to get you home—and hey! Maybe she can help with that too!" he stated proudly. "She's a scientist."
"You're talking about Bulma, right?"
Yamcha's brows shot up. "Huh? You know about her too?"
Kate raised a brow at him. "Isn't Vegeta also staying at Capsule Corp?" she asked pointedly.
"Oh…yeah. I sort of forgot about that," Yamaha said sheepishly.
"Lovely," she muttered. "Well, at least Bulma probably has the technology to play these discs, so she can prove to you all that I'm not making any of this up."
"There's no need for that," Goku assured her kindly. "We believe you."
"Speak for yourself," Piccolo muttered.
Kate shot him a dirty look. "Can't you like…I don't know, sense if I'm telling the truth or not? Isn't that one of you Namekian abilities or something?"
"I'm not a mind reader," he snorted derisively.
She squinted at him skeptically. "How can Kami be all-seeing, but not you if you're basically the same person? Does that have something to do with the whole Guardian of the Earth thing?"
Piccolo blinked at her with wide eyes before his gaze slid to Goku. "I don't like any of this."
"Oh, c'mon Piccolo," Gohan laughed, making them both turn to him where he was smiling up at Namekian. "I think it's sort of cool that she knows so much stuff about us."
Piccolo eyed Kate suspiciously, and she raised her hands innocently.
"Listen, I know this must be really strange for you all. Just think how bizarre it must be for me. I'm serious when I say that on my Earth, you all are just cartoon characters. You've seen a TV before right? You know what cartoons are?"
"Yes, I know what cartoons are," he muttered grumpily.
"Well, you all are kind of famous where I come from. I'm talking millions of people—maybe billions, and they all adore you all." Kate tentatively stretched out her hand to offer it to him. "And I'm one of them."
Piccolo narrowed his eyes at it distrustfully.
"Like I said, I consider it an honor to meet you all," she told him.
He slowly unfolded his arms from his chest to wrap his large green hand around hers, and she noted that it was strangely cool to the touch.
"I trust the kid," he explained. "And if he trusts you, then I guess that's good enough for me."
Kate beamed up at him, shaking his hand gently. "Well that's a start."
He smirked at that, slowly letting go to fold his arms back across his chest.
"Now…" she said, grinning wryly, clapping her hands together sheepishly when she suddenly remembered her attire. "Are there pants somewhere around here that I can put on? 'Cause this whole mostly naked thing is getting kind of awkward."
I mean seriously, how would you react if you woke up to all of that? lol
Hope you all enjoyed it so far. I've got the story mostly finished, just editing some chapters as I go. Meta fiction always cracks me.