My foe was in every way stronger than I could hope to be. He was taller, bigger, and determined. Still I lifted my arms, and my pitiful strength, I decided to weather as many blows as I could, in exchange to putting pressure on his lower body. I stomach punch could lower his head for an opening to his jaw, which would bring an end to a fight I didn't want. A punch to the nuts would work just as well, but my opponent was hardly new to fighting, and turned his side to me, in a way that favored his left arm for blocking and his right for hooks and crosses. Crap baskets.

He was saying something with a smug expression, but I couldn't find the desire to listen to him. Instead I waited. Eventually he turned to his crew, laughing, and I came in. I slammed my fist into his side, he crumpled and in on himself. I jumped forward into his guard, head butting him hard. I felt his nose break, and blood fell from the now smooshed orifice. He cried out in pain, and called to his friends once more. I know what would come next, so I lunged forward, tackling him down, and slammed as many hits as I could down upon him before his two lackeys grabbed me off. Kicks and punches rained down so I put up my arms and protected my face.

The three teenagers soon decided helping their friend was more important than killing his attacker. I heard some threats, and they walked off.


"This isn't helping anything." My blonde sister said. "What's fighting three people at once going to do except buy you another ass kicking?" She asked. I refused to answer. Feeling the flush of shame and embarrassment upon my cheeks, I continued to let her rap my bicep, which had been quite scraped and bleeding. I was protecting my face, and that became an increasingly difficult task when I was floored.

"Come on sis, Topaz isn't all to blame." My brother said. His long straight hair matched and reflected my sisters long blonde. Eye color pale blue between us all. Lapis, my brother, Lazuli, my sister. Each of them early adults, almost 18, and twins. I myself am half their age. My hair is a shorter reflection of my brothers. (Think 17 with future trunks cut). "I heard through the grapevine he was protecting his big sister. Guy had it comin'." Lazuli looked up at me.

"Really brother. You fought three people who were all almost twice your age because of me?" Lazuli asked me, anger in her eyes. I was fairly certain she was going to smack me.

"You'd fight them if you heard what they were saying." I finally spoke.

"I might have been annoyed but it's not something I'd get my ass kicked for." She emphasized once again that I had lost. I clenched my fists and my jaw.

"They, weren't just talking about you. It was…" I clenched my fists tighter, then released them along with some tension. I sighed. "Vulgar deplorable things were said. They were smirking and nudging each other, they were excited. They had plans. They even spoke about it while we fought." Lapis and Lazuli both stared at me. Lapis broke the silence with a laugh and a pat on the shoulder.

"You should've broke more than his nose then. But good job little brother." I looked up wide eyed. Lazuli smirked and sighed.

"Yeah, thank you. But next time you're in a situation where you could be hurt, run and find us." She made me promise then. "Don't be a hero."


Training was awful. My task master, my martial arts instructor swung a bamboo pole at my bare back. Master Roshi was a pervert, and a joke completely with anything that didn't involve training. He transformed.

Another one armed push-up, performed perfectly, my shoulders became uneven by a light Margin, as I switched to my other arm. The crack of bamboo hurt more than it had a right to, and I willed my body to not move an inch in response, as I powered on. My mind retreated once more to the folds of my mind, and my body returned to the task, going from a full hand one arm push up, to doing handstand push-ups.

My second master, one little taller than me emerged from the beach house, and took a stance. I bounced from my position and bowed to the turtle hermit. Krillin was the most tricky and second most powerful human, surpassed by small margins by Tenshinhan, or Tien. I slowly lowered my body to mirror the stance showed by the powerful turtle school member. I breathed. And refused to blink staring at Krillin. More than once he had timed an attack to my blink, blindsiding me.

"Topaz, you've become pretty strong. In a year and a half you've become just as strong as me. Lets have one final all out spar as teacher and student." I paused. Final spar? Before I had time to think Krillin charged at me. He swung fast, almost landing a hit that would have crushed my jaw into splinters. This was serious. I leaned to the side, avoiding the hit, and I grabbed the offending forearm, spun and using Krillin's momentum against him, threw him forwards, immediately lifting my arms to blast him while in the air. My ki blast exploded madly in the water, and Krillin appeared in the air up above me, outlined by the sun, hands already on his face, I closed my eyes to late.

"SOLAR FLARE!" Shouted Krillin. I closed my eyes and flaired my power. My other senses scrambled to fill the hole of sight. The slight changes in the air alerted me and I swung a fist into Krillin, who charged my flank. I hit home, but didn't celebrate. My energy senses told me that a large amount of energy was burning above me. A paled, and threw my hands up and fired as many bullets at I could into the air. Catching Krillin's other half, he must have used multiform along with a charging Kamehameha. With one problem solved, as I no longer felt the pent up energy of the kamehameha, I tuned my senses to the other Krillin, just as he charged and slammed a fist into my gut.

I gasped, spun and kicked out at his head, a resounding crack assuring me he had blocked. I leg swept out in a full circle, then crouched, ready to jump high. The two warriors fighting me where actually more manageable then just Krillin. Less power and speed, an injuries remained once returned into fused being.

I Flew high into the air, giving me distance to recover sight. Following me I heard the whirring sounds of two turtle blast waves, followed by familiar chanting. I raced to think. I couldn't see, but I could sense energy. The kamehameha could change direction fast and one of them would send my sprawling, two would put me out of the fight.

I pulled my energy around me in a thick barrier. Without my sight I could not retaliate without risking damage to Kame-house. The combined blasts pushed against my shield, and higher into the air. I twisted my body and my shield to the side sharply, avoiding being sent higher than I could breathe. My sight, though blurry was rapidly recovering. I sighed, cringing as my eyes burned. I saw two orange blurs fly in my direction, and I ignited my aura, pure white energy flying around me, I whipped out a fist, blasting a wave of air at the first Krillin, who rolled backwards with the blow. The second Krillin was easy to engage, and with burst of speed I had kicked the back of his skull hard enough to rattle his teeth. The two Krillins took time to become one. And I used the molment given to gather energy. I felt Roshi power up, and saw he had discarded his shirt and was several times larger now. Krillin was beside him, gathering energy.

Roshi was gathering his strength while Krillin was gathering speed. I could overpower The turtle master but his experience and knowledge of fighting techniques limited my confidence in taking him out with Krillin whipping around me. I drew my fists in across my chest and powered up, yelling loudly. White energy flaring, I dashed to Krillin, my fist flying at his face. The blow connected with Krillin's raised forearm, and he countered with a hand filled with gathered energy. I pushed past Krillin, and his blast fired into the ocean. I kneed Krillin in the stomach just as Roshi flung his massive arm in an punch that cracked into my skull and sent me flying. I recovered slower then Krillin, and was sent flying further with an uppercut. I caught myself mid air and released some energy I had gathered earlier in a blast that caught Krillin off guard. I then blasted forward and pressed my advantage, slamming every possible blow I could into Krillin as fast as I could before master Roshi came in to aid his long time pupil.

Master Roshi was strong. But it was a fact that I had surpassed him in speed and in strength, but the oversized warrior was skilled in ways that I couldn't hope to match, he was to intuitive and had such honed reflexes that I couldn't land a blow without taking two more for openings I made in the swings. But I was in fact stinger and I finally landed a kick that sent him flying. I charged my energy then, and with what remained, I blasted Roshi's bulging chest with a blast that lit up the air in yellow light. I breathed hard. Maybe before the training they had put me through this morning the fight would have been won easier. I looked up, a flash of energy signals above me.

Tenshinhan was hovering high above me. I spoke after a few ragged breaths, as he fell from the sky.

"Are you… going to… join in?" I breathed. Tien laughed.

"You think you could take me? In your state?" He asked amusement in his voice. I breathed, smirked and spoke.

"Wanna find out?" I asked, finally catching my breath. My depleted energy raising in my veins. Tien blinked.

"Are you sure you aren't Saiyan?" He asked. He seemed to look behind me. Krillin stood wiped at his bruised jaw, and split lips. Soon Master Roshi stood to.

"Damn Topaz. You're getting stronger so fast." He nodded at Tien. "You didn't use any specific Ki attacks in that whole spar. So how come you lost so much energy during it?" He asked although he knew the answer. A test.

"I was using my Ki from the beginning, first to enhance my senses, then constantly using it to increase my speed and strength. But once I had taken you down, I stopped the flow of it into my mussels. Thus resulting in exhaustion." I explained. Tien nodded.

"Dutifully trained. And deadly in battle." Tien acknowledged. "When the Androids come he'll be a welcome ally." I knew what he was talking about. Six months ago two power levels were approaching earth, apparently two overlords from space, Frieza and his father King Cold. Their power made me feel as an ant, insignificant and weak. Krillin was away at the time and Master Roshi had forbid me from following. When I felt both be destroyed by a power I had never felt before I had been relieved. I thought it was this 'Goku' character but then another power emerged a few hours later, just as powerful. So both of these were 'super saiyans' as their power jumped so high it was mind boggling, then dropped to normal levels without any sign of fatigue. I imagined that I could amount to maybe half that power if I used every ounce of my life force into one attack. When Krillin returned he had explained that a futuristic warrior appeared and defeated the remains of the Cold dynasty. He also explained that two Androids would appear in three years and kill everyone of Earth's warriors. So since then I had thrown myself into training. Everyday I felt a a power familiar to me even though I had met almost none of them. Yamcha, Tien and his disciple Chaozu. Vegeta I had felt up until a few weeks ago, as he left the planet. Piccolo whom I'd never met, along with Goku and his son, Gohan.

"So. Should I take him now? He isn't to banged up, but I'm sure Goku will want to spar with him as soon as he see's Topaz." Tien asked the two turtle school fighters. They shared a look.

"Take him over to Kami's place. Have him train their in endurance with Kami and Mr. Popo." Krillin surpassed a shiver visibly. Apparently training where they were sending me wasn't going to pleasant. "Popo is going to whip him into shape better than me or Master Roshi ever could."

Tiens eyes widened and the usually stoic Tien nodded. Oh boy.


Topaz only ever trained alone at the lookout, but the training regiment he was put on crushed him every day. Even the stretches made his body weary. Topaz was there for close to year. Mr. Popo was terrifying whenever he wanted. Topaz had once asked for an outfit to be made to his liking, and Kami(who was F*cking green, thanks for the warning Krillin) complied. It was a skin tight orange tank top, with master Roshi's symbol on the back, and a smaller symbol of Kami over the heart. The pasts were styled like jeans but were actually much thinner, and allowed no restriction in battle. They felt light as a feather, when he had first put them on. But then he collapsed under intense weight moments later, and Kami grinned. He was barely able to do a fifth of my usual training and felt like he wasn't making any progress for weeks. It wasn't until he had taken his training clothes off once and did his usual warm up that he noticed how much more freedom of movement he had. It felt like he was floating. The clothes were increasing in weight every day!

One day he had asked Kami why the Saiyan race was so much more powerful then humans. He had felt Goku transform for the fifth time in a day. It was beyond irritating.

"They get stronger every time they are hurt, every time they train. They make massive leaps after every defeat." Kami explained. "Goku's Super Saiyan form actually isn't that extreme a boost in power compared to some other advanced power modification techniques in the universe. It's usually a 15 times multiplyer. The difference is all of those have significant disadvantages. Usually harm to the body." Kami looked at His recent disciple. He suddenly had an idea. "Humans don't have a transformation that increases strength, but I know someone who could train you in a move that Goku used before he could transform."

Topaz felt his eyes widen. Whatever the punishment to his body he had to find some slim way to increase his strength. "Who is it? Where can I find them?"

"Unfortunately King Kai could only teach you this technique if you were sent to otherworld, if you died, then this wouldn't be a problem." Kami said. He could have Goku teach Topaz the technique, but Goku wasn't know for being an overly intelligent person, and was to over energetic to train a human at Topaz's level without sparing outright. Goku learned on the fly like most Saiyans. Even Gohan was taught through fighting. "I'll have to ask King Kai telepathically to teach me the mechanics of the technique before I can explain it to you significantly."

That was weeks ago, and now, Topaz was flaring his power to new heights. He collected his power within himself. The kaioken was ecstasy to his hunger to become stronger. First he was only was allowed to use it with his weighted clothing off. He was only allowed to bring it to twice normal power until he could no longer feel its strain on his power. Then he trained it along with his normal training every day with weights. He was explained the details of the technique very specifically.

"Every species has Ki. Using transformations like the saiyans or moves like the kaioken, do not increase the amount of Ki in your body, it actually changes how much of it is allowed at instantaneous access." Kami explained. "Imagine your Ki is a river walled off by a damn. At the base of the damn, is a hole. When you use energy, the damn leaks from that whole at a constant rate, only stopping when you stop your usage of Ki. The kaioken opens that hole wider, allowing more water from the damn to flow at once, but the rapid change in the size of the hole and the subsequent more intense release of water damages the structure of the damn." Topaz recognized the significant sod the metaphor. The Super Saiyan transformation opened the damn wider without any structure damage. To accomplish the same effect, Topaz has to train every hard earned ounce of power the Kaioken gifted. And as a consequence of training his energy output, he would slowly increase his amount of energy, widening the damn.

It was bitter work, training was awful and exhausting, but even if he had little to no experience, Topaz was sure, even at his young age, only 10 years old, he was surpassing all of his fellow humans. He might not have been as phisicaly strong or as resourceful at Tenshinhan, but he was quickly mastering the kaioken. Mr. Popo's training had halted him hit growth spurts. Topaz had not seen Krillin in close to a year, but he was confident he was at least two or three inches taller now.

Topaz stretched. He was containing a kaioken times 2 inside his body, greatly increasing strength, and practicing balancing on a single finger. The pressure on his body was tremendous. He jumped into the air as he got an idea. He blasted a powerful beam into the air, primed to follow He energy signature. It gave him a wide berth, then flew fast at him. Just as is came at him, he focused his Ki to form a barrier around his fist, and then fired a punch at the beem at it came at him. He over estimated the power of the blast in comparison to his barrier, and the explosion sent him falling to the lookout.

He deactivated his kaioken, and caught himself mid air and touched ground. Partially expanding barriers would cost less energy then a regular barrier. But the again, deflecting a blast cost even less. But what if he could create barriers, or energy shields, away from his body? Maybe powerful enough to protect an injured ally? That would definitely be helpful.

"Topaz." A voice said in his mind. Kami. Topaz turned, faced the Namekian, and spoke in mind speak back to the elder.

"Yes, Gaurdian?" Topaz answered. Kami visibly sighed.

"As you know," Kami spoke aloud. "I have been following energy signals that even mildly resemble your's." Kami didn't have to finish. He felt Topaz resign himself. "Lapis and Lazuli, your siblings, I cannot find them at all, using every bit of my abilities, I can not sense them. But I have spoken to King Yemma, who oversees every death in the universe, and he has not confirmed their passing either. They have not died." Topaz was torn.

"So both of my siblings somehow have not gone to heaven or hell, and at the same time, aren't possibly alive?" Topaz paused. Damn, what if something happened to their souls. He imagined the shadow once more. Long hair, not quite tall, but not short. Menacing red glowing eyes.

"Topaz, you are a fighter unparalleled with others of your race and yet you are still a child. Maybe you retain the blood of some long dead ancestor who was a hero of earth. Maybe some primordial human had powers akin to the Super Saiyans, and you ended up with more of their DNA." Kami paused. When speaking to Topaz, Kami always found himself rambling. Topaz was a quiet but strong human. He wasn't violent by nature, but held a fierce will to protect.

"My point is, you will become stronger. If need be, you will be there to free or avenge your family." Topaz looked up at Kami, his eyes widened for a moment, and his jaw dropped at the kind words. He nodded. "In any case, it is time you met Goku."