Disclaimer : I don't own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Not entirely sure who does, but it's not me.
Bardock Returns: Chapter One
"So, Krillin," started Goku, "why did you want to get all the dragonballs again?"
Goku and Krillin had just found the last dragonball, having taken only only 3 months this time, and were on their way to make a wish. Krillin hadn't told Goku what he was going to wish for - or anyone else, for that matter. He wanted it to be a surprise.
"Um, well," Krillin stalled, trying to think of an excuse, "I promised someone I'd bring them something really rare."
"Okay," agreed Goku amiably, not suspecting a thing.
A few minutes later, just as they were about to make their wish, a loud, high-pitched voice sounded
"Grandpa Goku," sang Pan, Goku's granddaughter, laughingly, "I'm home!"
Both Krillin and Goku turned to stare in confusion as the small, black-haired girl landed in front of them.
"Pan?" Goku asked. "Don't you have school right now?"
Just then, Trunks toppled onto the grass.
"Oww," he moaned, injured, as he slowly sat up. "What was that?"
"Umm, my bad," volunteered Pan, looking sheepish. "Sorry, Trunks..."
He grimaced, then steeled himself and jumped up. Things like this happened alarmingly often when Goku's granddaughter was around.
"Pan, you can't keep running of like this," Trunks pleaded hopelessly. "Your mother's going to kill me!"
"But I'm so bored!" she whined. "Playing tag is way more fun!"
"Pan, why aren't you in school?" Goku asked again, interrupting Trunks' sigh of frustration. He hid a grimace as he felt a headache starting up. "Sometimes I wish my father could have been there when I was a kid - I don't know what I'm supposed to do half the time!"
As it heard the muttered words I wish, the Dragon's ears perked up. Before Goku had finished his complaint about not knowing what to do, it was booming out the words, "Your wish has been granted!"
"Hey, wait! That wasn't the wish!" cried Krillin, snapping back to reality and spinning to face the large, glowing Dragon. Seeing it begin to fade away, he slumped to the ground in dismay. "I was gonna wish there was a fridge that would have whatever the person who opened it wanted to eat!"
"Cool!" exclaimed Goku, looking happy for a moment. Then he realized what Krillin had said and felt his headache worsen even more. "Man, not again!"
By this time, Pan was beginning to look embarrassed.
"Grandpa," she demanded, stomping a foot impatiently, "get a hold of yourself! It's not like you even needed a machine like that, Trunks has one at his house already!"
Realising her mistake, Pan clapped a hand over her mouth, imagining Vegeta's face when he found out that Goku knew about the magic fridge, but before anyone had time to do more than wince, the light from the Dragon flared up again, too brightly to look at.
When it died down a half-second later, the world went dark.
Author's note: First off, major thanks and apologies for everyone who has read this story. This was the first story I posted on ffnet, and the sight of actual reviews in my inbox made me horribly giddy. Actually, they still do - I still can't believe people actually like my stories enough to comment on them!
That said, I started this story when I was still in grade school, on my dad's old Windows 98. Since then, my writing has improved drastically, and a few years ago I realised that I had a few more pages of this written in an old notebook. The last three paragraphs are written in at least two shades of ink each, and it leaves off with the cook talking to some guy who seems to know Bardock via a viewscreen and gives no more idea of where I was trying to take the story than if it was a random story I was reading here on ffnet.
That was when I realized I wasn't going to be able to finish this story. It made me very sad, but unless I suddenly become brilliant at schoolwork I can't see myself rewriting a story where I don't even know who my characters are - I'm taking a creative witing class at the moment, you see, and by the time I finish writing stuff for class I'm pretty much useless as far as writing anything else goes. My brain can't handle that much writing at once. Besides that, I haven't watched any DB/Z/GT in years, and my fingers kept typing "Tonks" instead of "Trunks" the whole time I was fixing this up; I think I've moved on.
So, enjoy the revised version, but don't start expecting me to post any more of it - I am well aware of how badly out of character the characters are, and that is one of the many reasons I will not be continuing this fic. If you really, really want to see the drivel that is the second chapter, tell me, and I'll type it up for you - just as long as any comments about the sheer awfulness are not held against me and so long as you're all right with being plagued by even more lose ends than there are in the first chapter.
Thanks again,
Chibi-Inu3457