KO: Well, finally got around to rewriting this stupid piece of crap...If you ask me, it needed it, and besides, my stupid computer lost the original chapters...:sulks: Anyway, here's the new, improved prologue to Dragon Ball Legacy Volume I: Reunited :fanfare:
Dana:sarcastic clapping:
KO:bows:
The two reptilian changelings regarded the pair before them with a mix of curiosity and amusement.
"You're actually challenging me?" Frieza smirked, the former of his emotions giving way to the latter.
"Guess so," came the taller's soft-spoken reply, out of place coming from a mouth that matched the tyrant's grin. "Seeing as how you won't give us a challenge. Your soldiers didn't."
"Don't you mean 'issue you a challenge,' ningen?"
"Iie," his younger companion responded levelly. "We mean 'give.' And we're not both entirely ningen."
"Really now? Then what are you?"
Rather than answering, the elder of the two turned to his comrade. "Well? You wanna tell 'em or show 'em?"
"I think a visual aid should get the point across."
"All right," the other said with a nod. "I haven't seen you do that in awhile, anyway. Oh, how do you wanna divvy these two up?"
"I'll take Frieza," he said simply.
"Works for me; I don't quite have the stamina to deal with that pest. Oi, tall, dark, and prissy, let's go." That said, he flew about a hundred yards away from the main battlefield, followed closely by his opponent. "So whatcha call yourself again? King Cold?" Without giving the larger a chance to respond, he continued, "Well, it doesn't matter...So, you want a quick death or a chance to fight back?"
"Nani! You insolent--"
"Frieza's not getting the same choice, so I was just curious. My friend over there's not giving him the chance, and frankly, neither would I. Anyway, enough talk; I've reached my decision." Bringing his hands to his hips, he formed a small white ki ball in each. "I've decided to make this quick. Soo, I'll show you the business end of my Shinkūnami." The orbs in his hands doubled in size, and he fired them at his victim, who tried to block but froze in shock when they clung to his wrists.
"What have you done to me?"
"Nothing, yet; however--" he clenched his fists--"now I'm draining you of your ki as we speak." With that, he shifted into a significantly lower stance, cupping his hands to his right hip as any and all traces of humor vanished from his face; his eyes narrowed in concentration. "Kaaa...Meee..." His voice grew louder, and a blue-white glow obscured his hands below the wrists. "Haaa...Meee..." He shifted his weight forward, and the still present Shinkūnami detached from the struggling Cold's arms and plunged into his own sides; the unfinished attack tripled in strength. "HAAA!" When the attack dissipated, nothing remained of the monstrous emperor.
"And that, my friend, is what we call overkill. Putting on a good show for our audience there?"
When several ki signals spiked in surprise, he chuckled and called, "It's okay, guys, we're on your side!"
"We're going to a place not far from here to meet up with Goku, if you guys want to come with us." At that, the two launched into the air.
"How do they know my tōchan?" Gohan wondered quietly.
"Not sure; it could be a trick, though," Krillin replied warily.
"Trick or not, that boy's going to answer my questions," Vegeta growled, taking off after them.
"If they know my tōchan, though, I don't want to miss it!" The young halfblood followed the vanishing trio. With a sigh, the former monk pursued, eventually joined by the others.
Once the group landed, the duo's lavender-haired member spoke again: "Goku should be here in just over two hours, so you might want to get comfortable until then."
"How do you know all this about my tōchan? Have you met him?"
"...Iie, but I've heard a lot about him."
"Oh..." Turning to the other, he continued, "Well, how'd you learn the Kamehameha wave--ano, if you don't mind me asking..."
"Not at all; I trained with Kamesennin for awhile this past year and learned it from him."
"That must've been while we were on Namek-sei." He nodded, making no attempt to correct the child's assumption.
"That doesn't answer my question!"
"And what question was that, Ōji-sama? As I recall, you didn't ask one," the elder replied coolly, letting his eyes slide shut as he reclined against a rock. "However, if you'd like to ask--"
"How is that boy a Super Saiya-jin!"
Lazily opening one eye, he replied, "Genetic testing," and closed it again.
"That's a lie!"
"Un, but it's the only answer you're gonna get, so be happy with it. Now, like he said, it'll be two hours before Goku gets here, so you might as well get comfortable." He sighed in exasperation, not having opened his eyes again.
"Sumimasen?"
"Un?" he replied, smiling at his first interrogator. "Sorry you had to see that, but it was either tell him off or fight him, and I didn't want to embarrass him." The smile gave way to a mischievous smirk. "Anyway, what'd you wanna ask?"
"Ano, what was that first attack you used against that big guy?"
"My Shinkūnami? It's not so much an attack as it is a way to boost my own ki if I'm in a tight spot. It draws ki from who I want it to hit and transfers it to me; that's why my Kamehameha got so much bigger after they hit me, 'cause I was using his ki to boost it. I guess it could be used as an attack, but it's more a way to gain an edge."
"So why wasn't he able to move?"
"Oh, he was; he could've dodged my attack if the baka hadn't been so distracted by my Shinkūnami."
As the two hours passed, the mysterious duo took to talking quietly between themselves.
"It's time," the younger said simply, standing.
"Good; that was getting a bit close. Oi, guys, T-minus about a minute 'til he gets here!" he called. The group stood or straightened, and presently the aura of an approaching ship sparked into view. "He's here...Guys, back up!" The instant he spoke the words, the ship plowed into the ground.
When the smoke cleared, the door opened with a hiss. A hand gripped the side tightly, and a familiar head of spiky hair came into view.
"Oi, Goku!" Krillin called.
"Hi, guys," he replied, blinking. "Demo...how'd you know I was going to land here...?"
"We have tracking equipment that predicted your ship's trajectory. Goku-san, can my friend and I talk to you for a while in private?"
"Ano, sure; what about?"
"Goku, that's the point of talking in private; we can't tell the others," the elder said with a raised eyebrow; Goku grinned sheepishly. "C'mon, let's talk over here," he added, flying across the crater caused by Goku's arrival.
"Okay, so what's this about?" he asked once they landed.
"We should be far enough away now...Okay," he sighed, "sorry about all the mystery, but it's necessary. First, though, I want to give the floor to my young friend here."
"Dōmo," he responded, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. "Anyway, Goku-san, can you transform to a Super Saiya-jin at will?"
"Un, now that I've had some practice."
"Could you do it right now?"
"I...guess so..."
"It'll all make sense in a minute, trust us."
"Okay..." He frowned in concentration, and a bright gold aura surrounded him. "Now what?"
"Now I'll join you," he said with a smirk. There was another flash, and both warriors stood cloaked in gold.
"I feel so insignificant," the human muttered.
"Dōshite? You're as strong as me."
"I can hold my own against you, or maybe Goku, but not both of you. With you both standing here, I feel like a runt."
"It could be worse."
"How?"
"We could be against you."
"Thanks for that visual..."
"Guys, why exactly was it you wanted me to transform?"
"Gomen, I got a bit sidetracked. Anyway..." He unsheathed the sword on his back and swung it at the fullblood's face; he didn't move, and the blade halted an inch from the bridge of his nose. "Why didn't you try to block?"
"I knew you were going to stop."
"Well, that was the only time, all right?"
"Whatever you say." He held up one finger, charging it with extra ki, and effortlessly blocked every slash. The sword-wielder nodded and threw his weapon into the air, powering down as it spun.
"One of these days you're gonna miss and kill yourself," his katana-bearing companion remarked as he leaned to catch it.
"I haven't yet."
"Anyway, Goku, I want to spar you too, if you don't mind."
"Not at all. Ano, should I..."
"if you want to; I'm looking at your speed and skill, not strength. Oi, could you set your watch for one minute?"
"Sure," he replied, clicking a few buttons. "Ready?"
"Ready." The two slid into fighting stances. "...Go!" At his signal, human and Saiya-jin leapt at each other, fists and feet flying.
"Not bad," the stranger grunted as Goku landed a punch in his gut. He stepped back and slammed a knee into his opponent's forehead. Using the momentum to his advantage, he landed an extra kick to his chin, and they both flipped to their feet.
"Dōmo. You're pretty good yourself."
"Forty-five seconds!"
"Better speed this up, nē?" he asked, throwing an unsuccessful punch and taking a kick to the side. They again began trading blows at blazing speeds.
"...Thirty seconds!"
At the announcement, the pace of the bout increased. "I'm glad we came here," he murmured. "This might just work..."
"What might?"
"We'll tell you in--"
"Twenty seconds!"
He jerked his head in the other's direction. "Un, that." The blows continued to rain on bodies, faces, arms and legs, the only sounds being pants and grunts of pain.
"Three...two...one...time!" The fighters broke apart, slowly catching their breath.
"You're...better than...I expected," Goku grinned.
"And...yourself," the other panted. "Well, a deal's...a deal...Okay...The reason we couldn't tell the others who we are is because we're not from this time. My name is Nick, this is Trunks. We are from twenty years in the future."
"Nani! How!"
With a grin, Nick said, "Y'know, it's almost funny, how mad Vegeta got when Trunks transformed...But you'd be amazed what Bulma could build in twenty years."
"Oh, she build a time machine?"
"Un. But we're not here to tell you who Trunks' parents are--"
"NICK!"
"Dude, he was gonna find out eventually."
"But if my parents find out--"
"They won't, 'cause Goku can keep a secret, right, Goku?"
"Sure, of course I can. Still, Vegeta and--"
"Good. If my parents find out, I might not be born. Like Nick so tactfully pointed out, we're not here for that, though. However, we can afford one more embarrassment, as long as it's on his part. Have I mentioned that this oblivious loser should be your brother-in-law?"
"Shut up, Trunks!" he hissed.
"All right, then, underconfident loser."
"Trunks..."
"'Should be?'" Goku asked.
"That's enough, Trunks!" Nick snapped, trying to cut the teen off.
"Goku-san, have you ever met your sister?"
"I don't have a sister..."
"That answers that question. Actually, you do, but apparently you've never met her. That's part of why we're here."
"She'll show up in three days, along with my past self. If there's any doubt about who she is, look for a scar on the right side of her neck. For the most part, she'll be wearing her blue gi; I, for one, have never seen her out of it."
"But you wanted to, right?" Trunks asked, nudging him in the side with a grin.
"Well, sure, I guess--NANI!" he yelled, going beet-red as Goku burst out laughing. "Goku! That's not what I meant! I meant I'd never seen her wearing anything else, not that I'd never seen her wearing nothing!"
"So you have seen her n--"
"Shut up, Trunks! You've got a wringer to go through when we get back home! Goku, could you kindly restrain yourself! Just give me five minutes, for Kami's sake!"
"Warui, warui," he gasped, wiping at his eyes, "but that was just really funny."
"Okay, okay, you've had your laugh, time to get serious. The real reason we're here is this: in three years, two killer cyborgs are going to attack. It'll be an island nine miles southwest of South Capital, around ten AM."
"There'll only be three survivors: Dana-san, Nick, and my sensei Gohan. Everyone else is killed."
"Wow, everyone...? Matsu, Dana, being my sister?"
"Well, they don't kill you, actually, Goku..."
"Then how..."
"You die before it even starts. In about a year and a half, a new heart virus will start going around, and even in our time, we've just developed the cure. Without it, Goku, you will die from it. Not even a Saiya-jin immune system is strong enough to withstand it. That's why we think it was manmade, but Bulma was never able to trace it."
"'Was?' You mean she--"
"Iie, she didn't get it; she's alive and well, so don't worry about her."
"What he means is it vanished after--its last victim," Trunks finished quietly, shooting Nick a careful glance. His posture was rigid, head down and fists clenched. "She made it fifteen years after they attacked, but when it did hit, she was in the middle of fighting both of the jinzōningen."
"She never stood a chance," Nick cut in bitterly. "They're too strong! The two of us can't beat them!"
"What about Gohan! I thought you said he survived too; isn't he helping?"
"He was, for thirteen years, but they got to him two years before that virus hit Dana. We're the only ones left, Goku, we're doing all we can. It's just not enough!"
"That's why we're here, to give you a pair of antidotes to that virus so you can beat it. Goku-san, we need your help to beat these monsters; that's all they are!"
"I'll do everything I can."
"That's good. Hopefully you'll be able to do what Trunks and I can't. We're hoping you can keep our future from happening. Miru, we'll leave you to train, but we'll be back to help you when they show up. One more thing, Bulma's building a gravity machine at Capsule Corp. for Vegeta to use, so you might want to consider taking advantage of that."
"Dōmo, but I think I'll just train normally."
"Suit yourself. Just as stubborn as I remember...Here are the antidotes to that virus; just take it when you feel the symptoms setting in, and tell Dana to do the same," he said, handing Goku two small bottles. "I've got a good feeling about this, Goku. I think you'll be able to make a real difference here."
"I hope so."
"We need to go now, Goku-san; we'll see you in three years."
"Good luck."
"Dōmo; we'll need it." With that, he looked to Trunks, who pulled a capsule case out of his pocket and threw one onto the ground. A strange, two-seated machine appeared from the smoke, and the two climbed into it.
"Is that your time machine?"
"Un. Like I said, you'd be amazed what Bulma can build." Trunks pressed a few buttons, and the machine lifted into the air, glowing white. He gave the group a small wave before the view vanished.
"You seem pretty confident about that visit."
"Don't you suck up to me, Trunks Briefs! You get your perverted ass in that Gravity Room before I count to three!"
"You're still upset about that?"
"You think I'd forget! One!"
"Come on, Nick, lighten up!"
"Two!"
"Okay, okay!"
"Three, and that just doubled your workout. Didn't I say I was gonna put you through a wringer?"
"Un, but this is--"
"Going easy. I could've left you in the past and turned you over to Vegeta."
"...Nick?"
"Nani?"
"Speaking of the past, you forgot to warn Goku-san about Kid."
"True" timeline
Two figures landed in a clearing.
"Is this it?"
"Yeah, I think so, at least roughly." The female inclined her head and briefly closed her onyx eyes in concentration. "Yeah, this is it. His ki was close to here when we sensed it, maybe a mile off."
"You're good."
"Thanks." (A/N: Yes, they're speaking English; I didn't just get lazy.)
KO: Well, what'd ya think:puffs out her chest: Good, bad, sucked?
Dana: Sucked.
Nick: Definitely.
KO:deflates: Who cares what you think anyway:sticks tongue out:
Translations from Japanese:
1. Ningen - Human
2. Iie - No
3. Oi - Hey
4. Nani - What
5. Tōchan - Dad
6. Ano - Uh; um
7. -sei - (suffix denoting a planet's name)
8. Ōji - Prince
9. -sama - (honorific denoting deep respect, used sarcastically in this case)
10. Un - Yeah
11. Sumimasen - Excuse me
12. Baka - Idiot
13. Demo - But...
14. -san (honorific denoting respect; under "-sama")
15. Dōmo - Thanks
16. Dōshite - Why
17. Gomen - Sorry
18. Katana - Sword (but I think you knew that; it's also used to mean a samurai sword, which is the kind Nick carries)
19. Nē - (used for emphasis)
20. Kami - God
21. Warui - (literally means "I'm bad," but is another way the Japanese have of apologizing)
22. Sensei - Teacher; master
23. Matsu - Wait
24. Jinzōningen - (lit. means "artificial human," basically, what the dub calls "androids," although androids are fully mechanical, and cyborgs are partially organic)
25. Miru - Look
KO: Whew, that was a lot...Please review! They're the lifeblood of authors and authoresses! You people who write should know that! Ja ne! (Bye!) (Lookie! Bonus translation!) Damn this QuickEdit...