*Author's note: I do not own DBZ or any of it's material. But some characters I have created myself and only for myself. This is my rendition of DBZ so please respect it. Thank you!*
If I could trace back every time an ugly comment was thrown my way or weird glances were directed at me and have a dime for each, I would be rich. Probably more than rich. Maybe even stinking, bloody rich that I could ship myself off on the fastest jet plane to the most exotic beach and sip margaritas until I was too much in bliss to know better. Everyone would be willing to service me with anything as if I were a queen.
But I wasn't. Nor would I ever be.
So the stares would continue and so would the comments and never would I see my financial status grow because of it. Not that I expected it would anyway if you wanted to get logical. Dreaming never really seemed to hurt too many people. Not unless you had one of those crazy ideas that led to your own destruction. I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but I do have some knowledge of things. Maybe more than a lot of people here in the deep southern parts of the US of A. Like, how it was rude to stare and make fun at people who can't help by the way they looked.
So, it is why I was sitting here in this half demolished café sipping on a cup of coffee that must have been sitting on a coffee stand that had been turned off for a few hours. I wasn't completely surprised that the young little waitress didn't do me the honors of at least throwing it into the microwave for a quick warmth to knock the ice crystals off the rim on the cup. Nor did it surprise me that she hadn't bothered to check and see if I needed anything. I was an object that they had no choice but to serve and yet hoped would leave the area before I could at least get comfortable. A part of me enjoyed making them uncomfortable. For me, they get a little taste of what I get everyday.
I dipped my spoon once again in the frosted cup of coffee and turned it in circles, making that all too annoying sound of metal hitting porcelain with every swirl. I sat close to the window in the far corner of the café, watching people scramble everywhere as a sheet of cold rain began to pelt down on them and the concrete they were walking on. It was going to be a bad one today. The clouds had rolled in much too quickly, casting a dark grey shadow over the town, making it almost look 5 hours later into the day. It didn't take long for the lightening to start flashing followed by the window-rattling sound of thunder. Unlike those normal people, I could smell and feel rain coming before the weather channel could even broadcast it. Of course, that wasn't nearly what was so strange about me anyway.
The little waitress was busy buffing the bar but keeping a nervous yet glaring eye on me. So I decided to freak her out just a bit.
Leaning to one side, I grinned and let my long brown tail unravel around my waist and just hung it at my hip, swaying it carelessly like a cat sitting casually on a window ceil. I threw my waist length blonde hair over my shoulder and threw the little waitress a sidelong grin and wagged my tail at her. Immediately, she squeaked and whipped around and headed back for the kitchen where I was sure to report her freak sighting. It wouldn't be long before the head guy would stalk over to me nervously and "kindly" ask me if I could leave the place for it was making everyone else a bit uncomfortable.
So, with a not so heavy heart, I stood and dumped my change on the table and wrapped my fuzzy tail back around my waist and headed for the door and out into the stinging rain. I didn't mind it so much nor did I mind getting wet. My apartment wasn't but a block away and there was no point in trying to hitch a ride. I hadn't the funds for a car and plus, walking gave me exercise.
"That's her! Her name is Laura and she's the local freak around here. She has a real tail! An actual tail like a dog!" Someone said under the sidewalk of a nearby catwalk. It didn't take me long to guess who it was making herself busy to tell everyone about me as if she were the local tour guide for the white house or something. Ms. Maybell Hixon.
"No one knows where she came from but it is so strange. She is a striking beauty that could be posted on every magazine but with a tail, she's just a strange individual! Everyone is afraid to find out what she really is." The old buzzard chirped.
Well, if they would ever find out, I would have sure liked to have known. I didn't even know what was my purpose of having a tail in the first place. I was told on plenty occasions that I was the most beautiful woman they have ever seen and at 18, I could do whatever I wanted. Except, I had a tail and had been asked to be…pretty much a science specimen for poking and probing purposes. Not really my idea nor was I gonna suck it up and let them bust me open like a rat in biology. I had a little more self respect than that even if others didn't. I knew damn well I didn't fit right anywhere but that was the key to adapting. Too bad I was the only one willing to do so. Everyone else seemed to want me in a museum or shipped to another planet. It was okay though. I was use to the solitude and had come to enjoy it.
I rounded the corner and covered my eyes while digging around for my apartment key. Once in hand, I climbed the long ironed stairs all the way up on the third floor to my little green door marked with faded gold numbers of "45". Even before I could shove my key into the lock, I could already hear that friendly and familiar scrapping on the other side of the door followed by a whimper.
"Keep your tail on, Max, I'm coming." I smiled to myself as I crept open the door but enough for a brown and white Basset Hound puppy to crowd around my feet and jump up too my knees.
"Hey, boy. You know we could get in a whole bunch of trouble if Mr. Evans saw you. Get back inside." I said and hurried to close the door behind me with the puppy happily trotting ahead.
It had been by pure chance that I spotted the little runt while sitting on the park bench one day. No one except me had seen a ball of fuzz hiding behind an old dumpster and me being a dog person, couldn't help but investigate.
He had been all alone, probably just dropped off and left there to fend for his young self and had just about failed at it. His fur has been matted to his skin but not enough to show his bones. The little color I had seen was mostly covered with mud and soot but it was enough to win my heart. Without even trying, I scooped him up and carried him all the way back to my apartment where I bathed him and then shaved all his fur off so he could grow a new coat. I had fallen in love immediately.
Now after 5 months, the pup was much healthier and much stronger with his coat so clean it almost was too bright. I had named him Maximus for he was a fighter and a winner at that.
We had that much in common.
Two stray animals looking for a place to be accepted but had only found abuse and ended up finding one another. Max was my best friend and probably would always be.
Shaking off the drops of rain out of my hair, I headed for the kitchen where I knew Max would follow to announce his obvious hunger. I wasn't disappointed as he sat patiently by his bowl and wagged his long tail happily and expectantly. I rolled my eyes but gave him a loving scratch behind the ears making his tongue hand over one side in delight.
"You seriously need to stop scratching the door like that, Max. How would I explain that to Evans?" I asked the dog and got a lop-sided doggy grin from him as I dumped Kibble into his large bowl.
"Yeah, I thought you'd say that."
Not too much for conversation but he was better than talking to the other snotty people around here. They were too busy looking down their snotless noses at me and cutting me down to size. Not that I cared. I had Max and couldn't have been happier.
I kicked off my shoes and headed to my shower where I could wash the day off of me. Then make my nest and just forget about everything today. It was routine for me and it was what made me happy in ways.
The water was nice and hot when I climbed in and instantly began soaking up my long hair and tail. I wasn't setting much of a fashion trend with this thing but it was part of me and I would never know why. And I was too stubborn to go to the doctor and have them tell me it was a birth defect and that they would have to remove it surgically but not before signing a contract with the Discovery Channel and broadcasting the surgery live on TV.
"I'm just destined to be a weirdo." I told myself for the millionth time.
Once clean, I dried my hair and slipped on my tank top pjs and matching pants and headed back into the living room where I planned on watching a little TV with Max. He was already perched on his side of the couch when I flopped down next to him.
"Waiting for me?"
His tail began wagging.
"Not Animal Planet again tonight, okay?"
He gently nudged my hand so I can rub his head.
"Can't persuade me, pup. I have enough of seeing Caesar Millian try and teach dogs AND people how to behave. Can't we watch maybe an action movie?"
Max gave out a tiny whimper.
"Don't give me that look." I said as he laid his head on my arm and gave me the biggest set of real puppy dog eyes as he whimpered very silently.
"Alright! Fine! But if it's a re-run, I'm changing it." I sighed and turned on the TV and began flipping. My finger stopped suddenly when I landed on the local news where the news broadcasters were frantically talking about a event that just broke headline news.
"We interrupt for a newly developed situation that has just occurred. Strange explosions have been occurring in South City where it appeared to be an asteroid. Police were on the scene when they noticed that it was not a meteor but a ship that had crashed into the ground where it has left a crater large enough to…" The woman continued to rattle on as the camera man from a helicopter filmed the sighting below. It was indeed a huge hole that had looked to be an explosion of some kind but deep in the center was a round spaceship like object just sitting there.
"Well, that's new." I said to myself which even caused Max to pick up some.
I watched as the camera zoomed in on the object in the center of the crater and declared that it was indeed a spaceship of some kind.
"We're live with actual footage of the scene with Tom Brandy covering the disturbance. What do you see, Tom"
"Well, Susie, it appears to be a spaceship having crashed into the center of town, causing a huge crater that authorities are having a hard time investigating. We do not know of yet if this thing is life threatening or maybe just a ploy." He continued.
"They should call NASA." I laughed to myself while rubbing Max's floppy ears.
Suddenly, the small spaceship let out a gust of smoke as what looked to be the door slide open and let out even more smoke. I was on the edge of my seat as something began to emerge from the ship and gasped when it finally appeared.
It was a man dressed in weird armor of some sort with jet black hair that hung down to his knee caps. He looked ferocious and ready to kill. And before I could grasp the concept of what was happening, he unraveled a tail from around his waist and let it sway at his feet.
My heart stopped.
Max must have felt my reaction for he began to whimper even more and nudge my now limp arm. I didn't have it in me to comfort him. I didn't have anything to comfort me.
I watched in complete shock as the guy began slowly lifting into the air and land very gently on the middle of the street causing the people to stare and back away from him. And with one simple move, he lifted one hand and fired a fire from his palm and sent it sailing into a building. The explosion was so massive that the helicopter had trouble keeping midair and the camera man nearly dropped the camera.
"What in the…" I could feel the walls of my apartment shake from the explosion. Max began to cry out loudly.
"Listen to me, useless creatures of Earth. If you want anymore people to die then someone will help me locate a few friends of mine." He announced in a high pitched and puny voice, not at all what you would expect from a beefed up guy like him.
He stood there with so much confidence that it shook my very core. I could almost feel the energy radiating from his body but of course that was impossible. I was nearly 15 minutes away from this guy. What I felt was absolute fear of what this dude was capable of.
"He has a tail just like me." I said to myself while trying to understand what exactly was happening here. "He may know what I am." But as I said it, I regretted it. He was nothing good and had every intention on harming innocent people and that was something I was not.
"Then there is only one way to find out." And without thinking logically, I slipped on my sandals and headed for the door with Max close in tow.
I didn't have the slightest clue what drove me to the exact scene that terrorized me so but I had this feeling that this guy could tell me who I was and maybe my purpose.
It didn't take me long to get there and when I did, people were scattered everywhere and around the injured building. The guy was still shouting orders and threatening people as I nudged myself through the crowd. I stopped short when I stared at him from behind and this time there was no denying the energy I felt coming from him. No one seemed to be hit by this and it only drove my suspicions further. Was I able to sense my own kind?
He was like a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any second if nothing was to be done. I felt the sudden need and urge to take him on if he so tried again.
That knowledge nearly took my breath away. I wasn't a fighter nor was I a fan of violence but something about him brought it completely out of me. Almost instinctional.
"Hey you!" I shouted before I could realize it. I watched as he slowly turned towards me with a sneer across his face. He was bigger than the camera had shown but it did nothing for my pounding heart.
And to prove my worth, I let my tail unravel and swing behind me. His eyes immediately grew wide as he faced me completely and almost instantly, my heart dropped. He knew what I was and seeing him before me, I knew too.
"Who are you, woman?"
"I'll tell you if you leave everyone here alone." But my voice shook at my statement. What was I doing? I couldn't face off with this guy!
"Then you die with them." And with a horrible grin, he pointed his palm towards me and began forming a fireball just like before. Except it was aimed directly at me.