Volume 1: The Lost Boys
Part 1: Day and Night
Chapter 2: The Legend of the Dragon Balls
Zhard had never lost a fight.
Since beginning his new life, he hadn't met a single person that could even match him in combat
This little boy should be no different.
Zhard smirked as he looked down at Goku, who was glowering at him.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Eeyah!" Goku lunged forward and threw a punch. Zhard blocked it neatly and tossed Goku to the side.
The boy recovered quickly, bouncing off the wall and streaking back towards the taller boy, aiming to kick him in the head.
Zhard dodged, turning a back-hand spring and kicking the younger boy in the head as he did so.
Goku landed hard on the ground, gripping his cheek.
"That hurt!"
Zhard didn't give him time to recover as he righted himself and made to throw a punch at the still crouching boy. However, Goku knocked him in the stomach with his knee and sent the startled teen sailing over his head and straight through the window of the mayor's house.
Bulma screamed and scrambled out of the way as the glass exploded around Zhard's body, flecks of it embedding in his face and bare arms, but he paid their little stings no heed as he sat up amidst the broken table he'd landed on just in time to see Goku jump up on the windowsill, peering down at him amongst the destroyed window panes.
"Listen. I don't want to fight you if I don't have to, but my grandfather always told me that it's really bad to steal from other people."
"Don't patronize me," Zhard snapped, spitting a piece of wood out the side of his mouth. He then opened his palm and a pulse of searing energy erupted from his hand, smacking Goku in the chest with enough invisible force to knock the boy off the windowsill and send him tumbling back into the yard.
Zhard dove after him, prepared to finish him off, only for Goku to right himself and leap into the air. He kicked twice with each leg and Zhard blocked both with his elbows before Goku punched him in the jaw.
He reared back slightly before roundhouse kicking Goku in the stomach.
Zhard staggered back slightly, gripping his chin.
"Damn it, kid. Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"My grandfather taught me," Goku replied, jumping back to his feet.
"I see," Zhard was more than a little curious about who this boy's grandfather was, who had taught him to be strong enough to actually get a hit on him in a fight.
No matter; he would still win this.
"Watch and learn, boy," he sneered as he held a finger aloft. Goku's eyes widened as a ball of alabaster energy formed on the tip of Zhard's fingernail.
The older boy's smirk broadened as, in one fluid motion, he tossed the ball of energy straight at Goku's head. As the boy moved to dodge, Zhard couldn't help but laugh triumphantly.
This was it; the finishing blow that would end this fight and name him victor. There was no way he was going to dodge this.
"Power Pole extend!"
"What?" Zhard's eyes widened in shock. Goku had not been moving to dodge as he'd believed but rather snatching up his bo staff as he'd landed beside where he'd left it.
As soon as he picked it up, he struck the ground, and the staff grew at his command, stretching straight upward and continuing to grow with no end in sight.
As the attack hurtled for him, Goku was rocketed into the air well beyond its line of fire. Zhard staggered back, mouth hanging open in shock, but it was short lived as Goku let go of the pole and dropped down on top of him.
Zhard gasped as the wind left him the second Goku's tiny feet collided with his chest, and he was sent hurtling backward into the wall of the courtyard.
He crashed through the plaster with a sickening crunch, landing on his back amidst the rubble. Dazed, he tried to move, but suddenly found he couldn't.
Zhard shook his head, but he couldn't seem to clear the stars dancing in front of his eyes; he felt dizzy and weak like his arms were made of lead.
A blunt pressure applied to a certain part of his body soon told him why.
His tail! A piece of rubble had landed on the tip of his tail, crushing it firmly beneath its bulk and thoroughly immobilizing him.
"Damnit!" Zhard struggled almost pitifully, but he couldn't manage to get up. All of his strength had so thoroughly left him that he couldn't even manage to remove the rock from his tail.
"Hey, what's going on? Are you okay?"
Zhard growled as the spikey-haired head of his opponent peeked through the double hole that the larger warrior had made crashing through both ends of a house. "Get away from me!"
"What's wrong? Why are you lying on the ground like that? Are you taking a nap?" Goku seemed unperturbed by the snarling tone of Zhard's voice as he hoped over to perch on the house's one remaining windowsill, peering down at the other warrior with a look of curiosity.
"I am not taking a nap, you imbecile! I can't get this stupid thing off me!" Zhard's pride had fully left him at this point; he was so angry he was seeing red, and he just wanted to be able to move again.
"What thing?" Goku cocked his head to the side like a confused bird.
"What's going on?" At that moment, the girl called Bulma peered in through the large hole; she was surrounded by some of the braver villages, who still looked more than a little shaken.
Zhard snarled and struggled again, but he just couldn't seem to budge. Damn his tail's accursed weakness!
"Hey, do you need help?" Goku inquired, hooping down from the windowsill and casually strolling over to him.
"Kid! What are you doing?!" Bulma sounded horrified, but Goku paid her no mind as he approached the other warrior.
"Stay back!" Zhard snapped, gritting his teeth menacingly; while several of the villagers cowered, Goku did not appear to be the least bit intimidated.
"Oh! It's your tail, isn't it?" Goku then exclaimed which gave Zhard pause. He then watched in utter shock as Goku reached down and freed the furry appendage from beneath the crushing rubble.
Instantly, Zhard's strength flooded back into him and he leapt to his feet, skidding back a few inches so as to gain some distance between him and Goku.
However, the boy looked as though he no longer wanted to fight as he was simply standing there with a big dopey grin on his face. "Sorry about that; I know how much that can hurt. It sure does when it happens to me."
"To…you?" Zhard was utterly confused.
"Uh huh," Goku nodded earnestly just as something long and furry wiggled into view from behind him.
Zhard was dumbfounded. How could he not have noticed?! The boy called Goku had a tail!
"It makes me feel really sleepy too…," Goku's smile suddenly faltered, and he flopped down on his bottom with a pout. "I'm hungry!" He groaned, gripping his middle as it grumbled audibly.
The corners of Zhard's mouth actually started to twitch slightly into the barest of smiles.
"Um…Is the fight over?" At that moment, Bulma cautiously approached them, breaking the two boys out of whatever moment they had been sharing.
Zhard sighed. "I suppose it is." The young warrior could have kicked himself. He couldn't believe he had lost a fight to an opponent who seemed to be younger and less experienced. He would never admit it out loud, but he had underestimated Goku, and now he had been humiliated and forced to hand over this mysterious and supposedly powerful Dragon Ball.
What an awful day.
"Hey! Come on!" Bulma seemed to grow angry at his hesitation, and she stamped her foot, scoffing. "We had a deal."
"Right," Zhard grumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Dragon Ball. "Um…here."
Bulma's eyes instantly lit up. "Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed as she snatched the jewel from Zhard's hand and held it aloft, laughing giddily. "Oh, they just get more and more beautiful!"
"What does that thing do anyways?" Zhard blurted out before he could stop himself. He then bit down on his lip, grunting. He was rather curious as to what was so special about the curious little sphere, but he also didn't exactly want to know what he had just lost.
Bulma grinned at him, "They grant wishes."
Zhard's stomach dropped. "Wishes?" He tried hard to hide the disappointment in his voice, but it was still evident.
"Yep! There are seven Dragon Balls in total; you gather all seven of them together and get whatever wish you want."
So that's what he'd lost? It stung more than he'd anticipated. After all, the thought of having a wish granted brought only one to mind.
Having his memories returned, learning who he was and where he came from.
Bulma eyed him thoughtfully; apparently, his disillusionment was written all over his face.
"You know…" she tapped her chin thoughtfully, "You are a pretty strong guy…you're as strong as Goku even." She gestured to the younger boy, who was still grumbling about his stomach.
"Yeah, I know that," Zhard sniffed, pocketing his hands and trying to compose himself.
"Well, someone like you must also know that this is a big, tough world that we live in," Bulma continued, smiling sweetly, "And I'm on a very dangerous journey."
"What are you getting at?" Zhard demanded.
"Isn't it obvious?" Bulma winked, "A pretty girl like me could get hurt out here in the wilderness while hunting the Dragon Balls. I have Goku here to help protect me, but I'd feel a lot safer if I had big, strong man like you along for the ride. Why don't you come along with us?"
"What?!" Zhard was flabbergasted. "You want me to come with you?"
"Of course, silly!" Bulma giggled. "I'd be crazy not to ask you after the skill you displayed."
Zhard was unconvinced. "Look, lady; I rob people. What's to prevent me from robbing you?"
"This, of course!" the blue-haired girl held the Dragon Ball aloft, "If you help me gather the rest of these Balls then I'll let you have a wish too! How's that sound?"
Zhard' heart lifted again, his stomach twisting into a half-dozen knots. "R-Really?!" He felt weightless and it took a half-second to ground himself as he quickly cleared his throat. "I mean, damn right if you think I'd be helping you otherwise."
"Of course," Bulma giggled as she pocketed the Dragon Ball. "Well, we should get a move on then."
"Can't we eat first?!" Goku wailed, sounding to be on the point of death.
Zhard regarded him with a shred of empathy. He knew how tortuous it was to be hungry. One more thing he seemed to have in common with the younger boy. "Well, I suppose I could have those villagers prepare you something." He pointed to the Cerdo Pueblo citizens, who were still keeping a safe distance.
"First thing's first though, you should give them back all the money you stole from them," Bulma declared.
"What?! Why?!" Zhard demanded.
The teenage girl stuck her tongue out at him before turning on her heel and stalking back to the village square. "If you want your wish, Mister, you better do what I say. Come on, Goku."
"Hungry!" the boy whined as he slowly got up and staggered after her.
Zhard stood rooted to the spot, staring after them. His mind was reeling; he could barely process what had just happened.
After a moment, he managed to mentally shake himself and slinked off after the strange pair.
What a curious sequence of events.
After leaving the Cerdo Pueblo, Zhard tossed his now very light vest over his shoulders and climbed onto the back of Bulma's motorcycle, which she had produced from a capsule that had come from a small pack strapped to her hip.
He had heard of these curious little Dyno-Cap devices, but hadn't seen many of them as they weren't that common in the region. Just another indication, he supposed, that Bulma was more than a little out of her element.
Goku certainly wasn't, however, as he was more than happy to simply run alongside Bulma's vehicle as she kicked it to life and sped off down the dusty road and off through the countryside.
"So how did you find out about these Dragon Balls anyways?" Zhard called over the wind their pace was making, "How do you know they really work?" he added, instinctively grabbing Bulma's waist as their bike went over a particularly hard bump, jostling them considerably.
"Hey! Don't go getting too handsy there, Mister. I may be pretty, but I'm not stupid!"
"Yeah, yeah. You didn't answer my question, and my name is Zhard, not Mister."
"Well, Zhard, I found one of the Dragon Balls in my grandfather's basement after he died," Bulma then explained, "I then found a second Ball in a valley up in the North a few days ago. After that, I met Goku while searching for the third."
"So, I'm guessing you convinced Goku to be your bodyguard after promising him a wish as well."
"Didn't need to. He just wants one of the Dragon Balls back after we make our wishes."
"Why?"
"It belonged to his grandfather: a family heirloom, I think."
"Oh?" Zhard looked over to Goku, who was trotting along beside them, matching their pace without seemingly breaking a sweat.
He was surprised that Goku didn't want a wish of his own. He assumed that everyone at least wanted something.
"So, what are you going to wish for, Bulma?"
"Oh me? Well…" the young girl giggled. Zhard could see her ears turning red. "I'm going to wish for the most handsome, the most perfect boyfriend who ever lived! So, you better watch where your putting your fingers, Zhard."
"Why?"
"I'm practically a taken woman!"
"Whatever."
"Anyways, have you decided on what you're going to wish for, Zhard?"
"No," Zhard lied. "Not yet…"
They continued to travel along the dirt road as the fields of plantains and corn soon turned to warm, shady forests with low-hanging branches and speckled trunks between which Zhard could glimpse the ocean from time to time.
The shadows of the leaves grew longer and longer and soon the sun was nearly down. As dusk settled upon them, Bulma stopped the bike in the clearing. She and Zhard got off, and the former collapsed it back into her case as Goku trotted to a halt and leaned over to catch his breath, finally winded.
With that, Bulma then produced another Dyno-Cap from her collection and threw it into the center of the clearing.
There was a puff of white smoke, and once it cleared, a white, dome-shaped home stood where the tiny object had landed.
Zhard couldn't hide his shock. Goku seemed equally impressed. "Wow! That's a big house, Bulma!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Goku. This is just a cabin." The teen girl replied as she strode inside. The two monkey boys exchanged a glance before following.
The circular Capsule home was a large, singular floor space complete with all the amenities to make rustic living bearable. There were wooden floors and fully furnished rooms as well as electricity, running water and a fully stocked kitchen.
Zhard immediately started poking around in the latter of these while Bulma went off to take a bath, and Goku inspected the "strange box" in the living room.
As Zhard was just putting the finishing touches on his quadruple decker porkchop, avocado and marshmallow sandwich, he heard a sudden scream from across the cabin, causing him to spill mayonnaise all over the counter.
"What?! What is it?" he bolted into the living room just as a loud crash filled the air.
He stopped dead in the doorway upon seeing that Goku had brought his bo staff right down the center of the television, practically splintering the device in two. There were large, ugly cracks across the now blackened screen and the box sparked weakly.
"Don't worry, Zhard. I killed the monster," Goku declared, his face very serious as he slowly retracted his staff and began cautiously circling around the destroyed TV as though he expected it to have more fight left in it.
Zhard was bemused. "What monster?"
"There was a monster inside the magic box, but I killed it before it could get us," Goku calmly explained.
"Do you mean there was a monster on the TV?" Zhard asked as Goku poked the edge of the shattered screen.
"Where'd the monster go? It looked kind of tasty…"
Zhard was rather shocked; this whole display implied that Goku had probably never seen a television before; he probably didn't even know what a TV was! That was strange; Zhard assumed all city kids had TV.
Perhaps Goku wasn't from the city like Bulma. He supposed that would probably be obvious; the younger boy did have a wild way about him, and folks from the big metropolises didn't have fighting skills like that.
"What was that noise?!" Bulma then called from the bathroom.
"Nothing!" Zhard hollered back.
"Is Bulma taking a bath?" Goku asked.
"I think so. Why?"
The other boy looked thoughtful. "Since she doesn't have a tail…She's gonna need help washing her back"
Before Zhard could stop him, Goku scampered off into the bathroom.
"Hey, Bulma!"
A millisecond later, there came an unholy shriek followed by a loud thwack like something thrown at a high velocity had collided with something very dense.
Goku soon came scrambling back out of the room, running at top speed with his hands over his head, a soap-shaped imprint on his forehead as Bulma pelted him with all other manner of bathroom paraphernalia.
"GET OUT! GET OUT, YOU LITTLE PERVERT! GET OUT!"
"I just wanted to help wash your back! You don't have a tail like me and Zhard, so how would you be able to do it?"
"STAY OUT OF THE BATHROOM!"
Zhard watched the whole display in disbelief.
Goku wasn't just a country simpleton. He was an idiot.
Shrugging his shoulders, he decided not to get involved and went back into the kitchen to finish his sandwich.
After Bulma had dried herself off and gotten dressed in a soft, pink nightgown, she joined Zhard at the dinner table. By that time, he'd already cleared out half the fridge.
"Evening." She pulled a bowl of salad closer, "Where's Goku?"
"Said he was going out to get dinner," the older boy replied through mouthfuls of anchovy pizza.
"What? But we have food right-" Bulma was interrupted by the door suddenly being thrown open and a dirtied Goku stood in the doorway.
"Look, Bulma! I caught a centipede for dinner," the boy exclaimed with a proud grin, holding a massive wiggling insect aloft in his fist. "Yummy, right?!"
Bulma just let out that awful scream again. "Eek! Get that out of here!" she cried as she hurled her half-empty salad bowl at him.
Goku dodged it easily. "Don't you want some? It's really tasty!"
"I DO NOT. Can't you just eat normal food like a regular human being?!"
There was a whizz and a flash of the silver a knife was suddenly embedded in the doorway not an inch from the young boy's ear. He winced and scampered back outside, the door blowing shut behind him as he sought after a place to eat his insect meal in solitude.
Zhard cringed at her outburst. Was this woman's initial response to stressful situations always to throw the nearest object at it?
After everyone had finished eating, Goku was not allowed back inside unless he agreed to a bath. Unfortunately, he had never bathed in anything other than a metal wash bin, so Bulma had to help him.
This was a whole other mess that Zhard kept his distance from, preferring to do his evening stretches in the living room away from all the racket.
After a time, a disheveled looking Bulma came out of the bathroom. "Do all boys have tails?" she blurted.
Zhard looked at her oddly. "Um…Not that I'm aware of?"
"Then why am I stuck with the only two weirdos that do?!" she exclaimed with a loud huff before stalking off to her bedroom and loudly slamming the door.
Zhard jumped back, alarmed.
After a moment, he got up and went to the bathroom door so that he could have his turn with a bath and maybe even a toothbrush. He'd barely opened the door before Goku scampered out, not even wearing a towel.
"Gah!" Zhard jumped back.
"Bulma! Did you go to sleep? Aren't you going to sleep with us?"
Clearly, the girl did not have the foresight to lock the door as the younger monkey boy got in with ease.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!" Bulma had had it, and this time she did not throw something at Goku, she just threw him.
The child catapulted across the threshold, headfirst like a torpedo. Zhard barely had time to catch him against his chest like a football and sat down hard in the bathroom doorway, rather winded as Goku twisted in his lap, his tail brushing Zhard's nose.
Tap, tap.
Zhard froze, looking down at Goku in a mixture of shock and horror.
"Oh! So, you are a boy."
"I'm out!" Zhard punted Goku across the cabin and stalked out the front door. "I'm going to keep watch," he declared to no one in particular, before shutting the door and dropping down beside the front stoop.
He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his hands on them, pulling his tail tighter against himself.
From his spot outside, he could hear muffled yelling from Bulma followed by Goku's protests or crazed explanation to one thing or another.
Zhard settled down against the smooth, curved wall of the cabin and sighed heavily.
It was going to be a long journey.
Miles away the Armies of Night and Day were converging on the Diablo Palace within the Mushroom Forest. They had been summoned by the Emperor Pilaf, the Great Goblin King.
Queen Mai stood at the base of the Castle's great steps. She had not been to this place since she was a child and an alliance between the House of the Goblins and the House of the Elves had not been seen in many generations. She tucked a lock of black hair behind one of her pointed ears and waited.
Some of her more trusted soldiers stood at her side while the rest of the Army of Day were camped in the barren plains that surrounded the Diablo Palace.
A sudden, heavy footstep behind her made the slender elf pause and then slowly turn to great the new visitor.
"Lord Shu."
Shu, the ruler of the Werewolves and leader of the Army of Night greeted her gruffly. "The Eleven Queen Mai. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"The Emperor Pilaf has summoned myself and my army to this location to discuss something 'life changing'."
"I too have been summoned," Shu stalked up the steps, a few senior members of his pack flanked his broad shape.
He was shorter than Mai but wider, bulkier. There were thick, knotted muscles rippling beneath his deep brown fur and his beady black eyes gleamed with malice as he regarded her.
"It has been many years since the Armies of Night and Day have stood in such close proximity."
"Perhaps this really will be a historic occasion," the Elf Queen agreed.
At that moment, there was an echoing creak and the door to the palace before them swung open.
They were greeted by a Goblin: a short, hunched creature with wrinkled off-color flesh that was pockmarked like the great mushrooms of the forest that covered the region.
With a long, gnarled hand, it beckoned the two inside.
When the Elves and Werewolves in attendance attempted to follow their Queen and Lord, the Goblin hissed, and both parties instantly tensed distrustfully.
However, both Shu and Mai waved their respective parties aside, assuring them that it was alright for the pair to go in alone, and allowed the Goblin to lead them inside. The palace's heavy door closing behind them.
The Goblin lead them down the darkened halls of the Diablo Palace, lit only by some bioluminescent mushrooms that grow from the moist stone floors and cast eerie pale shadows across the floor.
Goblins hated sunlight and preferred to work under the cover of darkness.
After a brief walk in silence, the trio finally reached a large carved door of rotting wood. The Goblin snarled as its long-fingered hands grasped the rusted handles and pulls them aside, allowing the other two passage into the throne room.
The Emperor's hall was as dark as the rest of the palace. It smelled of filth and rot. The carpet beneath their feet was made of black mold and more bulbous mushrooms grew from the floor. They were large enough to sit upon, but their bright colors were a sound indication not to.
Frothy poisons leaked from the spots on their pillow-like tops.
The great Goblin Emperor Pilaf himself sat at the opposite end of the large room on a throne made of mildew and rotting bark.
He was a massive creature, taller than the slender Mai or the stout Shut. His skin shone sickly blue in the dim light and covered in slimy scales. His legs were hunched and bore massive, yellowish claws at the ends of both his toes and fingers. His face was wide with lips that pulled back to show a mouth full of green teeth. His eyes were bugged and white with beady black irises that trembled at their center. He had no hair but tiny white tufts that lingered on the tips of his massive pointed ears.
His clothes were tattered and covered in dirt and mold, and upon his brow sat a crown of mushrooms. In one clawed fist, the Emperor clutched a small moon-like sphere the size of a pool ball which he was using as the sole light source for the throne room, shining it on a chessboard before him in which he was playing a match with himself.
The Emperor did like his games.
"My Lord," the Goblin spoke up in a raspy voice, causing Emperor Pilaf to draw his eyes away from his game and raise him to meet those of Mai and Shu. "The Elf Queen Mai and Werewolf Lord Shu have arrived per your request, sire."
"Ah, good," Pilaf laughed, a big, booming chuckle that reverberated around the room like thunder. "My lady Mai, my lord Shu. How good to see you both again after so long."
"Emperor," Mai replied, bowing her head slightly as a sign of respect.
"What is your reason for calling us here?" Shu cut to the chase.
"I have a proposition for you," Emperor Pilaf replied, turning the tiny moon around in his fingers and distorting the shadows across the walls. "A proposition that will give us a chance to achieve something the citizens of the Goblin Forest and the Armies of Night and Day have all wanted for so, so long."
"And what is that, Emperor?"
Pilaf's great yellow claws suddenly squeezed down on the miniature moon, causing it to puncture and then burst like an over-stuffed water balloon.
In an instant, the throne room went dark, and only the Goblin Emperor's gravelly voice was heard.
"Revenge…Against all humankind."
A/N: What have I done to the Pilaf Gang?! XD Apologies to anyone's who's a fan of them but I decided to have fun with this and play around with some aspects of the Dragon Ball world, creating a bit of a different kind of Earth which you shall learn more about in future chapters.
Anyways, Zhard has joined the team in the hunt for the Dragon Balls, hoping for a wish to restore his mysterious memories. Of course, the journey will not be so simple, not for him or for anyone else.
Stay tuned and be sure to leave a review at the door! :)
