- Zen -
Dragonball: Another Generation
#1 The Rays of Light...
Note! The prologue can be found at http://home.dencity.com/drakefanfic/ but visit anyway! ;)
The rays of light coated the valley's beautiful landscape as the fiery sun rose over the distant mountains. Small groups of white clouds drifted through the pure summer sky with a cool ease. As the sun's light leaked through Zen's windows, he began to wake up. Stretching out his arms, he pulled the covers of his bed off and got out.
Zen was of a decent size and height for his age (verging on eighteen). His broad chest and shoulders led to him having an almost oversized frame. He had jet-black hair where his fringe looked to naturally flick up over his forehead. His dark blue streak was apparent as ever, running down the reverse of his back hair. His broad face included a slanted brow almost hiding a pair of narrow eyes that seemed to involve you as soon as you looked into them. He had a strongly structured face with a rather distinct nose and an inconspicuous mouth. Most of the girls in the city considered him reasonably good looking, but he never really caught onto the fact and he usually had other things on his mind (something he obviously didn't get from his father).
He stretched and yawned a few more times before deciding to go into the bathroom. Brushing his teeth and staring at the mirror with a vacant expression, he started to ponder what he needed to do in the day. With a vast wave of realisation, he remembered that Goku had invited him to a training session at 9 am. Seeing that it was now 8:45, he started to get frantic. Spitting out the toothpaste, he ran back to his room and got dressed.
Bra had been slaving away in the kitchen for hours. She had cooked Zen a huge breakfast (seeing how he was a big eater) and was just setting the table as she heard a crashing noise falling down the stairs. Putting her head around the corner, she saw a slightly concussed teenager picking himself up.
"Are you alright?" She asked. He stood up and rubbed his head.
"Err, yeah thanks. I wasn't paying attention to where the stairs were," he replied with a dazed expression. She giggled and took his hand.
"I've cooked you some breakfast, you might want to sit down after that fall too" she started, but Zen started to get anxious.
"I really need to get going, training is starting in ten minutes, I don't want to keep Grampa waiting!" he said as he walked towards the front door and opened it.
"But it took me" she began as she watched him shoot up into the air "hours," she finished with a sigh. He turned and waved. She waved back and wandered back into the house.
"I guess Goten can have it then, if he ever bothers to get up." She muttered with her hands on her hips.
***
Zen landed just outside the front door of Goku's house. He knocked and waited for a few minutes. Chi-Chi opened the door and smiled, glad to see her grandson.
"Zen! Good morning." She smiled "Are you here to train with Goku?" she asked. Zen nodded.
"He said to be here at 9am" he began and looked at the time.
"It's 9am nowand he's still in bed." She finished. Zen winced when he heard this, realising that he could have eaten the breakfast his Mom made for him. Chi-Chi put on her angry face.
"Don't worry, I'll go and wake him up for you," she reassured as she began to roll up her sleeves. Zen gulped and hoped she wasn't too hard on him.
"Don't be too tough on hi" he started, but it was too late. Chi-Chi had already made her way into the bedroom and began her ritual morning nagging session. Zen sat down, and waited for the loud thumps of Goku being kicked out of the bed accompanied by Chi-Chi's shrieking (at which she had become quite skilful). After the ritual had finished, Chi-Chi came back down with some folded up cloths and some boots in her hands.
"He'll be with you in a few moments." She smiled politely and he nodded, a sweat drop trickling down his forehead.
"Oh! Here are your training cloths; I washed them for you," She said, handing them to Zen.
"Ah, great, thank you," he said appreciatively.
"Not a problem. You might want to change while Goku is getting ready. You can use one of the spare rooms upstairs," she suggested.
"Good idea, thanks again." He replied as he wandered up the stairs and into his father's old room.
He sat down on the bed and began to get changed. The mysterious black kimono covered his body loosely with a midnight blue vest underneath. A pair of maroon lined black boots lay snugly on his feet with a piece of rope tied around each boot to keep them in place. He began to wrap two pieces of blood red cloth around his wrist and one lager cut around his stomach. He stood up, brushed himself down and tugged on his belt.
"All ready then?" A shadowed figured asked standing in the doorway of the room. Zen looked over to see a familiar face.
"Yep, are you? I didn't realise Grandma would shout at you like that, sorry. I tried to stop her, but"
"Don't worry about it, I shouldn't have over slept. Let's go outside and start," Goku suggested with a smile. Zen agreed and they walked down the stairs. He always wondered why his Grandfather never seemed to age, in looks anyway. Goku had looked the same for as long as Zen could remember, but the boy never thought to ask why.
"Grampa, can I ask a question?"
"Only if you call me Goku, I'm not keen on Grampa, I'm not that old yet" he said with a faint smirk. Zen paused for a second, contemplating the respect values of his question.
"What's up?" Goku questioned. Zen rubbed his right cheek, an ambivalent look on his face.
"Hmm, well" he stalled "I I've always wondered why you still look fairly young, when Grandma is starting to show her age a little" he began cautiously. Chi-Chi's ears twitched. Goku gasped and gagged Zen's mouth with his hand.
"Ergh! I don't mind you asking me questions, just DON'T mention Chi-Chi and age. We'll all be killed!" he whispered as Zen nodded frantically, still with his mouth covered. Chi-Chi's ears twitched and her eyes slit suspiciously.
They both abruptly ran out the back door, into the forest that lay behind the house. The sunlight seeped through the gaps in the tree's canapé, creating a peaceful scene of nature. Goku began to walk deeper into the woodland and Zen followed. Goku usually led them both to an open patch of grass, where they held their sparring sessions so no one or thing would be in danger.
"Well, you are right, I am younger than I should be, but it's easily explained. First off, there were all the times I got killed when I was training, fighting evil and so on, and the time I spent in the other dimension all adds up, I guess. Secondly, I did spend a while in the room of spirit and time, where one day in there is equal to one year in the real world. So, like I said, it all adds up. And Chi-Chi is only about 48 I think, so she isn't old or anything." Goku explained. Zen decided that made enough sense to satisfy his question, but he couldn't help but inquire about another thing.
"So, how old are you?" he said with a rebellious sneer. Goku decided to ignore his question but let a mischievous smile slip out to signal that he heard it. Zen rolled his eyes and flicked his head towards the opening that was approaching them.
"Looks like we're here." Zen pointed out to Goku. He nodded and they both walked into the considerable area of grass. Goku waved his hand to an area in front of him.
"Go and stand about 10 metres that way. That should be enough room." Goku suggested. Zen nodded and teleported himself to the location where Goku was pointing out. They both took their stances and put their fighting poses on. Zen slit his eyes and smiled wickedly.
"So, are we using Ki attacks?" Zen asked, knowing that he could counter any sort of energy based attack Goku threw at him. Goku raised his eyebrows and dropped his head to the side, seeming to dismiss the challenge hidden in Zen voice. Zen dropped posture and sniggered slightly, with a hint of an egotistical nature.
Suddenly, a flare of light shined in lower side of his left eye. A Kame Hame Ha blast was heading directly at him at a staggering speed. As if it all seemed to be in slow motion, Zen quickly thought about whether he should block or counter attack. His speed always gave him an advantage in fights; it let him think about his actions and then do them in a spilt second.
Zen put out his left hand and spread his fingers. Turning his head away from the approaching beam of light, he began to concentrate some of his force into the palm of the hand that was blocking. As predicted, the Kame Hame Ha flew right into the centre of his hand. His whole body started to get pushed back. Quickly, Zen grabbed the wrist of the defending hand with his other and pushed his body into it. The blast stalled for a few seconds and then exploded into a fan of illumination around his body.
Before the beam had even faded, he decided to return the favour to Goku and sneakily counter attack. While Goku was still occupied looking at the fireworks, Zen shot up into the air and continually fired Ki blasts in Goku's general direction. Before Goku even had a chance to block, the land around his feet was being entirely ripped apart by the bombs of light hitting it. He quickly took his blocking stance and hoped that not too many of them hit him directly.
After the entire area around Goku had been engulfed with black smoke, Zen ceased his attack and waited for the dust to clear. Not much movement emerged, causing Zen to get worried. Holding his ground, he took a deep breath.
"Goku! Are you alright!?" he yelled with slight apprehension in his voice. Soon after he shouted that, yellow sparks began to flicker up out of the smoke. Abruptly, a circular wave of ashen aura cleared the area clean of the smoke, leaving a floating figure of power.
"Oh fuck, he's gone Super Saiya-jin" Zen muttered as he watched the glowing aura approach him. Goku landed a few metres away from Zen. Not being a dim-witted person, Zen took to his fighting stance and waited for Goku to make his move.
Being of almost equal strength while Goku was SSJ 3 (Zen being the weaker of the two now), Goku realised that he had never seen Zen power up or go Super Saiya-jin for that matter. With a faint frown, Goku tried to comprehend what his power would be like if he did go SSJ or even just power up. The words catalytic and world destroying passed through his mind. Zen started to show his nerves.
"Well, make your move then!" He demanded. Goku shook his head with a grin.
"Don't worry Zen, I'm not going to kill you. You're showing your weakness too, nervousness. It is a very bad idea to do that in combat. The stronger you look, the more nervous the opponent gets and the better you perform. Just keep a decent composure on the outside and they will pass as soon as you realise that your opponent is probably equal, if not more scared than you are." Goku reassured him. Zen took the wise words to mind and nodded in agreement.
"I know you're right," he replied.
"Of course I am, I'm your grandfather. Plus, you're one of the strongest people I am ever going to meet in this life, so I don't think you've got a lot to be scared about. Especially from an old man like myself," he said in a hearty tone. Zen was quite shocked from his grandfather's remarks. But then he realised that maybe although Goku wasn't that old physically, his mind had almost ran the course the equivalent of two lives, considering all the things he had been through. Zen was quite surprised at how wise his grandfather had turned out to be; he always remembered him being quite goofy when he was a child.
"Zen, power up." Goku requested. Zen lent his head forward.
"Huh? Err I've never had to do that before I don't know how." He said with minor embarrassment "And why? What's the point if I don't need to" He questioned. Goku rubbed his chin.
"You're right, you haven't had to and there isn't any real point. But aren't you intrigued or excited by the fact that your power level goes up ten times at SJJ level 1?"
"But my power now is almost the equivalent to you as a SSJ 3although you are right, I wonder why I have never gone Super Saiya-jin when I see you turn into it but I don't want to let my greed blind me," he said in a very opinionated manner, crossing his arms. Goku cocked his head to the side a little.
"You confuse me. When you were born I was so worried about what the doctor had said to me that night. He mentioned when both the parents are half blooded, there is always a slim chance of the child being totally one or the other. I got so anxious and I kept bugging Bra and Goten to get you tested at Isha Gen's lab. I mean, if you turned out to be totally Saiya-jin, you could have turned out to be a vicious little killing machine. And when the doctor told me you were well, I got really worried" Zen tilted his head and started to wonder why he'd think that.
"Because most people don't realise that Saiya-jins are natural born killers. And someone of power could have been deadly, but I decided to see what happened and didn't mention any of my angst."
"Why are you telling me this?" Zen questioned intently.
"Well, the point is, you confuse me because you have absolutely no primal urges to reach your maximum power. And you're a Saiya-jin, the two just don't add up."
"Hmm, that isn't true at all, look at yourself as another example!" Zen retorted.
"I hurt my head when I was a child that killing part of me was just plain knocked out of my head I guess." He said with a smile "But I still feel the instincts burning at my soul whenever I go Super Saiya-jin its a job within itself to control" He said solemnly.
Zen suddenly felt a new level of respect for his grandfather. He had always held onto the impression that Goku was quite a simple man, but now Zen realised that even he had heavy burdens to carry.
"Don't you feel it inside you?" Goku asked with a hint of emotion in his voice. Zen shook his head slowly.
"Maybe surroundings have more influence than instinct," Zen suggested. Goku nodded.
"You're right, that's the only reasonable explanation. Besides, you should count yourself lucky that you don't have that load to carry. And it also makes it easier to remember the two most important things when you fight"
"Remember your own mortality, and compassion is the only way to bring peace" Zen mumbled under his breath as Goku said it out loud.
Zen clenched his fists and looked at them for a minute.
"You're right, I may not have the instinct driving me, but I am definitely curious about what I really achieve." He said in an enthusiastic voice. "Tell me how I power up."
Goku smiled and was glad he managed to convince him to test his full potential.
"Its simple, just concentrate on pushing every ounce of power you feel throughout your body and the rest will happen by itself."
"Alright here I go." Zen said as he closed his eyes. Goku took a few steps back and braced himself. Remembering he used to knock down buildings when he went Super Saiya-jin, God only knew what would happen with Zen's power.
Zen began to follow what Goku said. He took a deep breath and put it into action. Without warning, first his arms, then his legs started to shake uncontrollably. Then his whole body felt like it was in the middle of an earthquake. Sparks of electricity flew off his body and a stunning cobalt blue aura swirled around him. He had lost control. Whatever happened from now on was out of his hands.
The swirling winds that surrounded him almost knocked Goku off his feet. The heavens opened with a barrage of thunderbolts on Zen's body that lifted him into the air. Goku fought the winds and tried to look at the transformation taking place in front of him. His eyes opened widely as he caught a glimpse of Zen. The boy's body had almost doubled in size and something odd was starting to happen to his eyes and hair.
The blue strike that Zen had had since he was born seemed to have totally taken over his hair's colour. His eyes had also turned into an emerald green, in true Super Saiya-jin fashion. But his face was filled with excruciating pain.
"Some thing is is wrong! It hurts and I can't" Zen tried to yell. Goku heard, but was still fighting the bolts of energy and the tornado of wind surrounding Zen.
"Try and stop it Zen!" Goku replied.
"I can't! My my body can't handle it! ARGH!" Zen yelled; an almighty explosion sent Goku flying into a tree.
Chi-Chi dashed through the forest as quickly as she could. The explosion of noise sent spine-chilling thoughts through her mind. Please let them be all right, please! She seemed to chant. She reached the clearing only to find total devastation. Looking around hysterically, she spotted Goku trying to pick himself up. She ran over and grabbed his arm.
"Goku! Are you all right" she gasped.
"Don't worry about me, Chi-Chi we need to find Zen something awful might have happened" He said with a dazed and confused expression. Chi-Chi's face dropped.
"Oh my God! Where is he, what the hell happened?!" she demanded.
"Damn it Chi-Chi, there isn't anytime to explain, we need to find him and get to a doctor fast!" Goku yelled. She backed down and put his arm over her shoulder. They limped toward what looked to be the source of all the destruction. In the mists of the aftermath, Zen's virtually lifeless body lay battered on the ground.
To Be Continued.
Written by © Andrew Kellard 2000 and all other copyrighted material to their owners (Funmation and Akira Toriyama etc.)