A/N: Howdy, ya'll! I've been playing Dragonball Xenoverse as of late, and this idea sort of just came to me in a dream, as it were. I've been suffering through a bad breakup, and I must've eaten something weird, or played WAY too much of this game, because I had a weird dream.
Naturally it gave me an idea, and so I made a few tweaks to it. I'm honestly bracing myself for the backlash of even trying this, but in all honesty, I simply couldn't bear to let the idea die.
I thought of doing a Naruto crossover with this-let me know if I should!-but then I realized the aspect that truly makes the game great is that its you playing it; after all, you, the player are essentially the one Trunks wished for, in essence. Sure, it might be nice to write what everyone else was writing, but then I realized something; something I haven't done before. So...
Again, be sure to play the game yourself or at least familiarize yourself with it...
...else you'll be hopelessly lost. I'll leave it to ya'll to guess which aspects of my life written here are fiction and which aren't! Sorry if its short! Expect much more to come! As this is my first self-insert story, PLEASE BE NICE! I worked really, really, REALLY hard on this! And there's also a cute little scene here, too...as well as a major shift in history...
...We're veering off course here, folks! Hope you've brought your tissues and popcorn, because it gets really emotional...and bloody as hell. Some TFS jokes in here too...
...I should also let you all know that I am currently jobless-FREE FROM WALMART! BANZAI! BANZAAAAAAAIIIIIII!-so now I have PLENTY of time to make these chapters-for all my stories, nice and long juicy! Hope ya'll enjoy. Those who like Raditz...yeah, he gets the shit kicked out of him...
"Never forgive. NEVER!"
~?!
Flux
Instinct.
I'd never been particularly fond of the concept to begin with. That is to say, I've never been a very violent person, someone who rarely yielded to my baser emotions. Ever since I was a boy I never understood it, Weird, right? I was always suppressing it, restraining myself, holding back. Always, always always holding back. I was never a dangerous person to begin with; more a lover than a fighter, if you'll excuse the pun.
If you're wondering when that first started to change, that very moment when I took that first step into violence, well...
...let me ask you question.
When someone swings a sword at your head, what do you do? Option A? You abscond; get the hell out of dodge, MOVE your ass out the way. B? Beg for mercy. Doesn't work so well in Dragonball, unless you're dealing with Goku; sometimes not even then. K? Well, to me, now, that's the fun option, involving skipping a few letters. Certainly not so, back then. What is option K, you ask?
...kick that motherfucker as hard as you can.
For a moment as I saw my reflection in that blade, just a moment, I grasped it. That power deep within me.
Instinct.
Trunks saw stars.
Merry, spinning galaxies swinging to and fro before his vision as the last of his ki drained away to nothingness. How long had he lain here? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? He wasn't entirely certain, and that aside, his brain wasn't cooperating as it should have, nor was the rest of his body. It probably had something to do with the fact that he'd been beaten silly. Naturally, he was in no danger of dying -save from embarrassment -but it was a close second after the ordeal he'd just endured.
"Well?" a soft, deadly voice hissed at him from the fog of his mind. "You want to try that again, bub?"
...nope."
There could be no other word for it as he laid there, sprawled out on the tarmac, his vision spinning blearily in and out of focus. Ouch! What a hit! I-I didn't know she had that much power...! He was keenly aware of the blade -his blade!- pressed against his throat with merciless intent, forcing him to lay there. To think.
To remember what the hell had just happened.
One moment this new arrival, this warrior, this saiyan summoned by Shenron, had all but cowered before him. She had paled at his sudden rush-looking as though she might faint from sheer fear. Kind soul that he was, he'd held back at the last instance, not wanting to hurt her too badly-
Then she hauled off and clobbered him in the groin with her heel.
What followed was something he'd never forget but would always fail to completely remember; the beating of a lifetime at the hands of a furious female.
In that instant, the single, simple kick, he'd felt it.
Power.
All the strength went right out of him, his body going boneless. And now here he was, in no position to defend if she got any ideas.
"How?" He groaned. "I didn't think you were that strong...
"I'm not." she shook her head and took the sword away from his throat, ebon tresses flailing from the motion. Green eyes danced back at him, fading now to blue. Almost as if she were...no. That wasn't possible. What was she? "You held back and I broke the guy code," came the continuation. "The rest was cake."
"Guy...what?"
The girl held up an informative finger, quoting eloquently:
"Thou shalt never kick a fellow dude in the nads! That was what I did." her finger pointed, jabbing him the chest." Kicked you there. In the balls. Nailed ya. Right in your poor baby-makers. Really should apologize about that. I know how it feels to get kicked there...
"Um...but you're a girl."
Her cheeks turned an atomic, majin pink, the bright, fierce look fading from her eyes. "Right...forget I said anything." If one could see a black cloud of depression, it would be hanging over her head right now. For a long moment he thought she was going to stomp on his balls again. Thankfully, she seemed to think better of it, lowering her booted foot to the ground. Those eerie eyes were still staring at him, though. Rather-at his blade.
"I like this sword." the girl mused, admiring the naked edge of the weapon in her hands. "Hell, its no head cleaver, but its still badass. I wonder...
"Erm, that's mine, miss...?"
"Ryan. No, wait. Serah." she glanced down and swore. "Blasted body...
By now, Trunks was seriously beginning to question the girl's sanity. Everything she'd said and done so far suggested she wasn't of sound mind or body-ah how little he knew-and granted, she was a saiyan, but he was also wondering exactly what era she'd been plucked from. Thankfully, her her casual dismissal of him was ignored in favor of attempting to reclaim his pilfered weapon.
"Well then, Serah, may I have my sword back?"
She grunted.
"Right right, Tapion gave this to you after the Hirudegarn incident, very special and all...
A jolt of surprise shot through him. That...that was personal! No one knew about that, even in the scrolls!
"How did you..?"
Serah shot him a bemused look; then to his dismay, reached down, grabbed him by the jacket, and hauled him to his feet. She was surprisingly strong, considering she barely topped five feet.
"Oh, Trunks," she sighed gustily at him, "You'll soon learn that I know a lot more about you than you'll ever know about me...a great deal." Without so much as another word she turned and strode away hips swaying; a gentle, unintentional dance. To his great shame, Trunks actually found himself blushing.
"So?" she paused, favoring a passing glance in his general direction. "Are you going to take me to the Time Nest or what? I've got a lot of frustration to burn off here, and I'll bet punching a weakling like Raditz ought to be cathartic." At his bafflement, that infuriating smile only grew. As if she knew what he was thinking, knew he had questions, and delighted in not answering them. How...how did she know all this?!"
When he tried to ask her this, Serah shot him a very saiyan-like sneer.
...lets just call it multi-verse theory. Anywho, I'm ready to give this thing a shot."
As it turns out, I was not ready.
Not not not not!
A thousand times not ready!
I thought I was; really, I did. My little bout with Trunks had done wonders for my confidence and so I listened to his little lecture about the Time Patrol and the like, ignoring the already-known minutia about preserving time, existence, blah, blah, blah and so on. I all but dragged him to the Time Nest, looked at the scroll, immediately grabbed said scroll, and off I went. I found it all inordinately funny at the time; woman or not, I was still older than Trunks, and I knew enough of his personality to read him like a book.
Things went south shortly after my arrival.
As in right...
...now.
(Age 761...)
I lowered my arms, gasping heavily, trying my utmost not to faint.
"Hah...hah...and stay down!"
Sweat beaded down my brow, stinging my already blurry vision. Every breath felt like a knife to my stomach; likely from the three broken ribs there. My hair was a mess, matted with blood and grime
Goku and Piccolo's prone bodies lay behind me, dead and unmoving. Damnit. Damnit! DAMNIT! It wasn't supposed to be like this! It wasn't! I fired off one final blast into the smoke, desperately hoping, praying that the demon was now truly dead, that I could, at least protect Gohan. Surely an attack like tha thad at least done something-
...is that all?"
Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck...
What little command I had over my power abruptly deserted me as I met those vile soulless eyes staring at me from the fading smoke; my legs quivering, knees knocking together as Raditz, son of Bardock and brother to Goku, strode out to greet me. Here was an enemy genuinely trying to kill me, and I was suddenly scared shitless. No ambush this time to save me, no sudden burst of power, no deus ex machina to pluck me out of harms way.
I was well and truly boned.
Say what you will, but when I first saw Raditz as a child he...frightened me. Just think about it for a second. Ignore all the Raditz jokes and the utter mockery TFS made of him for a moment. Just a moment.
Here's a guy who came in, laid waste to Goku and Piccolo both. Someone who kidnapped Gohan, with every intention to mold him into a killer. Someone who Goku had to die, to sacrifice himself just to defeat. Now, this wacko was even stronger than he should be. Chills! It certainly didn't help how he was looking at me. Like a peace of meat. As if he wanted to...
That fear ran deeper than anything I felt toward Frieza or Cell. He was stronger than me, and we both knew it.
I found myself in something akin to an out-of-body -ha!- experience as I watched myself get pounded every which way by the Radits...unable to defend whatsoever. Oh, I felt the pain, felt the force push my body in the decreed direction, but in my shock, I couldn't process any of it, much less counter. A punch to my right cheek was immediately followed by one to my left, which flowed into yet another strike to my stomach, and to that a chop to the now-exposed back of my neck, summarily sending me to me knees only to be blasted backwards by the merciless kick to my face once there.
"Aw, did that hurt?" he cackled. "HAVE SOME MORE!"
A boot shot out, shattering the rest of my ribs like glass. I grimaced, trying to curl into a fetal position in a vain attempt to hide my injury. The saiyan only laughed and kicked me harder. I bit my lip as ringlets of pained agony shot through my chest, determined not to give him the satisfaction. It only made him kick harder.
Raditz scoffed. "Is that it?"
I spat on his boot.
"Fuck...you..."
"I admit, I had high hopes for you; but if you won't join us, then you're no better than Kakarot. A traitor, to be put down...hmm?" he glowered down at me, disturbed that I'd actually managed to latch onto his leg. "Get off of me! I said get off!" A final kick to the face drove me to the brink of oblivion and left me dangling there at the edge.
'Just hold on!' Dimly, I heard Trunks's voice through the capsule. 'I'll bring you back right now!'
Yeah, I appreciate the effort Trunks, but its probably too late for that.
Through bruised eyes, I just managed to perceive his arm. Rather his hand; cradling a purple blast of ki, raised now, ready to strike down and obliterate me in one devastating stroke.
"Ah, Crapbaskets-
...DIE!"
I wanted to cry.
As if being trapped in the body of a saiyan girl wasn't bad enough; as if the possibility of my never returning home wasn't bad enough; now I faced this conundrum. My knees were firmly tucked into my chest, pushed rigidly up against my faded, battered gi. The source of my shame would've been blatantly obvious, even if not for the visible cloud of doom hanging over my head. Anger leaked from me like a cracked sieve, and poor Trunks didn't even seem to notice it.
Seventeen times.
Seventeen.
Times.
I had lost...seventeen times...to that weakling. Trunks knew that, too. Perhaps that was why he held his tongue as long as he did before I stormed out.
I sensed him long before I heard his footsteps; the one talent I had mastered, and in my opinion, the most worthless. What good as an extrasensory ability if you couldn't do anything with it?! I didn't have the durability of a Majin, the regeneration of a namek, tenacity of a human, or even the psychic talents of an Arcosian, one of Frieza's race. What did I have? A beaten, battered body, one who'd been beaten by Raditz.
RA-DI-TZ!
"What's eating you?"
"EVERYTHING!"
My head snapped up and I shot him a withering glare...
...and realized I wasn't staring at Trunks. Oh, I could feel him nearby, but the face I was looking at distinctly reminded my of my second-favorite villain. Blank red eyes stared back at him, his expression inscrutable and unreadable behind the white cordon that mask his lower jaw. His head tilted, that jagged crest seeming to stab at the very sky itself as though eerie eyes regarded me. For a long moment, neither of us spoke. Then, at last:
"This seat taken?"
...no." Almost before I knew what I was doing I made room for him on the steps leading to the Time Vault. He sat without so much as a second glance-leaving me to try and ignore his tail as it swayed between us. Yes, I knew exactly who I was looking at. I'd created him, after all. Honestly, nothing here surprised me anymore. How wrong I was. But who is this stranger, you ask? Now that, that's something I can answer.
Frost.
I'd molded him on a whim as my very first in game character and played through all the way to the end with him; a towering, level eighty warrior that greatly resembled Cooler's fifth form. That he existed in this game made a twisted kind of sense, really. Did my other characters exist here as well? I couldn't help but wonder about that. Huh. If I recalled correctly I'd made a namek and a human, too...not a saiyan though, those were overkill and overpowered...
...if there was a god of irony, he was probably laughing at me right now.
"So what seems to be the problem, Ryan?" he asked, voice rumbling like distant thunder. Holy crap, he even sounded like Cooler! That definitely wasn't the voice I'd given him! And he new my name?! "I mean, besides the obvious fact that you have tits now, you look like someone just stepped on your tail." a deep, booming chuckle resounded through his faceplate. "Oh, I like that one. See what I did there?"
Somehow, I resisted the urge to do the same to him. No, I was trying to figure out something else. My mind scrambled, trying to come up with an answer for this; unexpected scenario, something that clearly defied the parameters laid out by the game. A snarky character whom I had created? Talking to me? Knowing me? What the bloody hell?! And more importantly...
How in the hell did he know who I was?
When I asked as much, I got slapped by that barbed tail.
"HEY!" I whined, rubbing the back of my head. "What was that for?!"
"For asking the wrong question." He replied flatly. "You're smarter than that. Its not why I know, but how."
...you're not making any sense."
"I see subtlety is lost on you, then." those broad shoulders shook, and I got the feeling he was trying very hard not to laugh. "Fine then, I'll be blunt:
"You think the System wouldn't account for something like this? You exist, so it makes sense that I would exist?" System? What System? Was he talking about the game's code? Or something else? In the end he didn't elaborate, and once more, I was left grasping at straws.
"Then answer me this; why the hell do I keep getting beat by Raditz?!" my hands rose, gesticulating wildly. "I mean, I kicked his ass with you every other time!"
"With the controller." a purple digit was raised sagely. "Its different when you're doing the fighting yourself, isn't it?"
I felt my face color behind the dark curtain of my hair. "No kidding...so, why?"
"Because you're not trying." came the deadpanned reply. Curse that infernal mask of his. I just couldn't read him with it! "If you were, you would have won by now; and you would have realized what's going on. C'mon, use that big brain of yours and think outside the box. Why do you think Serah left that note/character for you? Why did you press CREATE instead of DELETE? Why did she leave so suddenly? It's all right there in front of you."
"Again, making. No. Sense."
Frost gave me a long, lasting look, as though he desperately wanted to say something, but couldn't bring himself to speak. "You never were very good at grasping the obvious, were you?" He stood abruptly, his massive form towering over mine, casting me in shadow. "I'll let you think about that awhile, then. Saiyans have their own skills, after all."
"Cryptic, much?"
The Frost Demon snorted. "You know where to find me."
"No," I looked back, "I really don-
He was gone.
I frowned thoughtfully at the space Frost had only just occupied, still struggling to understand what he'd meant by it all. What made it obvious? What, exactly, was right in front of me? All I had were questions, and he'd done nothing but give me even more them. Insufferable bastard. And what did he mean when Saiyans had skills that no one else...had...
That was when it clicked. A line I'd once heard, spoken by the prince himself:
Saiyans get stronger every time they fight. Then another word. Zenkai. And I'd been beaten down...seventeen...times...how the hell had I forgotten that?!
Oh hell the fuck yes.
Gathering myself up, I all but sprinted back into the Time Vault.
(Age 761...)
BA-KRAM!
Breath burst of my lungs in an explosive rush as the dust settled from the blast, my arms still coiled protectively around a small body. Adrenaline roared through my veins in a heady rush, my body coming alive even as I struggled with the realization that I was essentially standing at the heart of the Dragonball mythos, that moment where my favorite series had truly begun. It was like seeing it all over again. My senses hyper aware-a furious instrument, locked on every detail...
Fight fight fight! My saiyan instincts screamed at me, aching for a challenge against their new-found power. Somehow, I managed to reign them in.
Despite the battle rush, I knew immediately where I was; it was impossible to forget, considering just how many times I'd been here. One of the first truly memorable scenes in Dragonball Z, that blasted landing zone-the place where Raditz had first landed his pod-now savaged with the scars of battle against Goku and Piccolo. I took a deep breath to settle my nerves as the smoke cleared...
"Um...who are you, sis?"
Ah, craaaaaaaaaaaapbaskets.
I hazarded a grin down at the boy who would someday destroy Cell, trying not to swoon at how utterly adorable he was. Without thinking of the consequences I reached down and pulled that giant ugly hat off his head, mussing his dark hair beneath. He sniffled softly, no doubt terrified out of his mind, and it broke my heart. Uncaring of the consequences-and boooy would this come back to bite me!-I pressed a gentle kiss to his small forehead, holding him close.
"It's alright." I soothed as I let him go, putting as much persuasion into my voice as I possibly could. "You're safe now-OI?!" That was when the little bugger grabbed something he shouldn't have.
"Pretty..."
"Pretty?! Now see here you-gah! STOP THAT!"
Once more I sputtered incoherently as a pair of small hands closed around my tail from where it was bound around my waist...and pulled. I yelped, my body going boneless becoming a wet noodle in Gohan's grasp. Ah. So this was how Goku felt when someone grabbed his tail. Not fun! Not at all! I opened my mouth to tell him to knock it the hell off but one look from the little boy turned me to putty.
"You're a saiyan...like me?"
"Yes, yes yes, I think we've already been through that! Now lemme go!" I yanked my tail free with a thought, resisting the urge to swat him on the head with the furry appendage. Eye atwitching, I almost missed what he said next:
"A-Are you here to help my daddy?"
Right, I was here for that, wasn't I?
"Yup, I'm here to beat up your uncle, so just stay put, kid."
Then I realized one of two things. One, my back felt...warm. Very warm, in fact. Two...my hair was on fire.
On! Fire!
"Owowowowow, hot!" I yelped like an idiot, dropping Gohan and reaching around to frantically pat my still-steaming back, stamping out the remaining embers there. My hair was a loss and I immediately knew it as I felt those singed tresses beneath my fingertips. I'd have to cut it after this. Thankfully, my outburst went unnoticed as the dust finally cleared, exposing me to the baffled eyes of Goku and the others.
"What the...?" Raditz's harsh voice carried across the field, nearly making me flinch. "Another saiyan?!"
I'm sure I looked quite the sight; on a whim, I'd equipped myself with Vegeta's very own Namek armor from my inventory-thankfully scrubbed clean of that garrish blue color and made red- and an equally red scouter before setting out, mostly for shits and giggles. Hey, if I was going to be trapped in this world for an unknown duration, I might as well make myself comfortable. Besides, those shoulder spikes were just stylish...and I'm sounding like a girl. Uh, please ignore that last part...
Please?
Regardless, Raditz was looking terribly confused, even moreso than Goku and Piccolo. To his eyes, even with my tail half-curled inexpertly around my waist, I looked like a saiyan warrior. A female saiyan warrior at that. Now I knew for a damned fact that there logically weren't any such saiyan survivors, but Raditz didn't; I was counting on it to make him lower his guard at least a little. Hey, don't look at me like that. DON'T! All's fair in love and war and this was war!
Besides, with that nasty power increase, well...I needed every advantage I could get. Radtiz was brutal to begin with, but now...
"No. Was it the tail that gave me away?" I scoffed, aiming for the arrogance of a certain prince. "You...IDIOT!" It worked, judging by his flinch. "What exactly do you think you're doing?!" My chin jerked toward Gohan's trembling form, a cruel sneer forcing itself across my face, the motion sending my hair tumbling like a broken halo. "If he's even half saiyan then we can use him! Don't go blasting him like that-
KA-POW!
Whatever Raditz might've said died as he found his face filled with a volley of white-blue ki. Sure enough his scouter hadn't been swift enough to alert him; by the time he realized what I'd intended he'd gotten a mouth full of energy. The subsequent blast ripped him off his feet and sent him flying feet of teakettle across the field. Another blast caught him straight in the chest-while a third brought the hill down on him, burying his body beneath a small mountain of rubble.
When no pyrotechnics followed everyone heaved a collective sigh of relief.
"That's my job." I finished with a smirk, lowering a steaming hand. Hey, I was getting the hang of this! Pride coursed through my veins, loosening my tongue. "AHA! Finally got you, motherfucker!" Aaaaaand there went my cool image. Gone, Right out the window. I very nearly did a victory dance, such was my enthusiasm.
"Oh, now you've done it." Trunks's voice groaned in my ear. "You'll just have to come back and try again...what?" a note of surprise entered his voice. "It-It isn't working?! Something's wrong! I can't bring you back yet for some reason! Whatever you do, just stay put!" I barely heard him.
"Um...a little help, here?"
I stiffened, realizing I wasn't as alone on the field as I thought. Something else, too.
"Ohcrapimmastandingonhischest!"
Hastily, I hauled Goku to his feet, struggling slightly with his weight. He'd taken a bad beating from Raditz; he wasn't in any shape to fight. Piccolo on the other hand...
"Someone you know, Goku?" said namek growled, eyeing me warily. "She certainly seems to take after you." I couldn't help but notice he was eyeing my tail; no doubt trying to assess if I was the greater threat or not, being a saiyan. Gee, I'd almost forgotten what a suspicious, dangerous bastard he was in the beginning...
"Oh shut up, namek." I huffed, rapidly working to wrap my mind around the situation. You'd think that, as a writer, I'd have a better concept of alternative universes. Living in one? Not so much. Ah, but he was waiting for an answer, wasn't he? "I'm not going to attack you, namek." I said at last, hoping the statement would attract his interest.
"Namek?"
It did.
"Yup." My head bobbed sagely. "Your race. Also your planet. Meaning you're not a demon. More of a slug-man, actually."
He scoffed. "I liked it better when I was a demon."
"And I liked it better when you you kindly shut the fuck up."
"That depends. Are you going to stop talking."
"Maybe," I planted a hand on my hip, "Maybe not."
At that, Goku finally seemed to find his voice. "Hey, uh, Piccolo? Maybe we should be thanking her...
"You really think she's not another enemy?" the green warrior refused to lower his guard.
"Yeah...after that, I'm pretty sure she's someone we can trust." he shot me a cheery grin as he said this, reminding me very much of a child. "Thanks for saving Gohan, back there. I owe you one! You're pretty strong, aren't you?"
"Stronger than you, yes." the words popped out before I could hope to stop them. Shame overtook me in the next instant. This was GOKU. I might be a tad stronger than him now, but he was going to dwarf me in only a few years. "Er, ah...I mean..." Impossibly, he didn't take offense. In fact, his grin only grew.
"Yeah, I can tell! Hey, you don't seem like a bad person; maybe we could spar sometime!"
An uneasy silence followed those words. I dared a tentative smile.
"Sure, why no-
"LOOK OUT!"
Thaaaaat was when things went sideways and the past got screwy.
One moment I was standing there; the next, Goku shouldered me aside and out of the way.
Time seemed to unfold most slowly after that; I was tumbling backwards, stumbling, baffled by his sudden action and Piccolo's peculiar inaction. Why did he shove me? Why would he do something like that? Then I saw why, my own scouter beeping a warning at the sudden buildup of energy, shrieking loudly in my ear-
No.
Even as I reached out to stop what I knew would be a fatalistically heroic act, a beam of solid light surged forwards into the space I'd just vacated. Ripping through the saiyan's stomach like wet paper and drilling him to the cliff wall in a bloody shower of gore. Just like that.
Fired with such speed and concentration earth's greatest defender stood no chance; the moment I saw the blood, I knew he was dead. He'd been blasted clean through, his organs vaporized by the ki. My heart dropped deep into my stomach and then deeper, plunging straight through to the floor. I wasn't sure at what point I found my footing again, only that I did; that I was holding his head in my lap, looking down at him in disbelief at what he'd just done.
"You...You stupid idiot! Why did you do that?!"
And what did he do? The bastard laughed. Laughed, as though he'd planned this all along.
"S-Sorry, you'll have...to take it...from here...
Goku's hand reached up and grasped mine, squeezed...then fell slack to the ground. My heart stopped.
Oh, no. No no no no no...
"GOKU!"
"DADDY!"
Somewhere behind me, I heard Gohan's wail. My head dropped, hiding behind the curtain of my singed hair. The scent of blood and cooked flesh filled my nose, searing through my nostrils and making me gag. No. This wasn't fair. I knew he was destined to die this once, but not like this, not taking a blow meant for me...
No...
"HA! Serves you right! Did you really think an attack like that could defeat me?!" a dark voice crowed, black in its exultance. "ME?! The great Raditz?!"
Raditz.
To my great dismay, the bastard had actually gotten back up and emerged from his impromptu coffin of stone. With only minor cosmetic damage. His armor was cracked and he was missing a few teeth, nothing more. I was suddenly dangerously reminded of Recoome...minus the flamboyant posing. As I looked on that same dark aura bled into existence around him, his eyes flashing an eerie crimson as though lit from within. And...I'd forgotten all about it.
And because of that, Goku was dead. Dead. All my fault. Dead. My own arrogance had gotten him killed. Somehow, that made it even worse. It didn't matter whether we had the dragonballs or not; it was still my fault-I was responsible. Me. MINE. A good man had died to save a nobody like me...and...and...
"Damnitall...!" Piccolo dropped into a ready stance, sharpened fingers clenched into claws. "I won't go down without a fight!" That was when he felt it.
Ba-dump.
'This power...where...where is it coming from?!' His eye was drawn to the saiyaness, the sudden spark that leapt from nowhere. 'Her? It's...massive...'
"You there! Woman!" Raditz must have missed the way my entire body twitched or was royally pissed himself, because he plowed headlong into the thick of it-unaware of his imminent demise. "I hope for your sake that you don't plan on jumping in with a power like that. You're next if you do!"
...I'm next?"
My head cocked loosely aside, eyes dancing with flecks of green. Slowly, gently, I set Son Goku down on the ground, careful not to disturb his corpse.
The namek must've sensed the coming storm before I did; because he shrank back the moment I stood. Woodenly without a care-like a puppet severed from its strings. My memories of what happened next are foggy at best; Trunks tells me I'd genuinely frightened him even worse than the Androids, that my brutality went beyond even the Legendary Super Saiyan himself. I don't know. I don't care.
Simply put, I snapped.
"Never forgve," I muttered, "Never forgive you. Ever."
"Now just calm down!" Trunks was shouting at me through the capsule earpiece. "You need to-
Whatever else he might've said died in an electronic squeal as I crushed it in my hand.
Then I started walking.
"Hmmph, saiyan or no, you're just another weakling." Raditz scoffed, glimmers of ebon power shooting through his aura. "Lets see what we have...what? Nine hundred? W-Well! You're still nothing compared to me!"
I kept moving, uncaring of his word, the endless animal bleat
"You worm!" Snarling he shot forward, intent on crushing my throat-
-and was blocked.
My arm shot up, blocking a hammerfist that, by rights, should have shattered my wrist.
"You killed a good man." When I spoke it felt like another was speaking with me, through me, somehow. "Now...I'm going to kill you." Then I kicked. Hard.
My heel shot up, catching him in the chin and booting him away as though he were Yamcha. He caromed of a small hillock and bounded upright, ki clenched in his fist. Thoughtlessly I reared my head back like a cobra's, inhaled violently, and spat; expelling a wave of ki the likes of which would've made Nappa proud. Raditz...
...not so much...
"What the hell?!"
I was only distantly aware of his yelping cry as the Break Cannon, true to its name, cannoned into him, shattering armor and searing flesh. I laughed and blasted him again, reveling in the screams of agony that chased his retreating body down the gorge. It wasn't long at all before he reappeared. Pride, and whatnot.
"W...What have you done?"
Apparently, burned him.
Badly.
I watched, silly with satisfaction as he stumbled out of the crater, and took stock of my handiwork. And what a work it was. Radits had barely survived; most of his armor gone save for a few pieces below his thighs, his torso horribly bloodied and burned. Not enough.
I wanted him to suffer more.
And with this strength of mine, he would. So much power. I didn't know what to do with it. Its just...kinda there. I still don't know what brought all that power out, but somehow, this body of mine knows enough to put up a fight. Instinct. Yes, that's what it is. I don't think, don't reason; I just give myself over to these strange new impulses. And that was precisely what I did now. I advanced on him, relishing in his fear...
And the energy guttered out.
My eyes snapped open wide, the blues of my eyes turning pure white, lost against the sclera.
No. I gritted my teeth together until I was certain they'd shatter, forcing my unstable energies to obey, to do what I wanted, not the other way around. No more. I...am...tired of...losing to this guy! SICK AND TIRED OF IT! I reached deep within, past the anger, past the frustration, past the mind-numbing despair, finding reserves I never knew I had. Raditz scowled at me, unable to understand what was happening. I didn't blame him. At the very moment, something awoke inside of me, the beast howling free from its cage.
I reached...
...and I screamed.
"GOD FUCKING DAAAAAAAAAAAMNIT!"
Raditz balked at the sudden upswing of golden energy, black eyes bulging. His scouter keened a warning, thin fractures appearing against the green glass as the energy before began to rise rapidly, swiftly overtaking all his power, scoffing, and rising even higher. Storm clouds blew in, the skies darkening overhead as the saiyaness brought the lion's share of her power to bear.
"Wha...What is this power?!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Hmm? One thousand?" he gawped as the number steadily continued their callous climb. "No, wait, now its-a thousand...a thousand and five hundred? Two thousand? Three?! FOUR? FIVE? SEVEN?! No, now, its over NI-GAH!" With a keening shriek his scouter exploded, showering his left eye in shards of broken glass and metal. "W-What is this?! What are you?!" She was laughing now, uncaring for the disbelieving stares sent her way. Madness! This was madness!
It was over nine thousand, and still rising! There was no way she could increase her power that much! "WHAT ARE YOU?!"
"Death."
Blank white eyes stared back at him, hooded and furious. Then she smiled, flashing pearly white teeth in the storm. It was not a pleasant thing, that smile. Then she said a word. A single, solitary, unnecessary word, that spelled his doom.
"Kaioken."
Leagues away, a rotund blue deity jerked awake, just in time to stumble out of his lawn chair. Attenae twitched.
"What did she just say?!"
Raditz was of the same mind.
"Kaio-wha-AAARGH!"
In the time that it took him to form that sentence, the angry saiyaness leapt at him with a snarl, her golden aura now tinted orange by the scarlet energy, her dark hair crimson. Before he could react to this change, the berserker flowed around him, grabbed his arm, and wrenched it behind his back. Then, just as he felt the bone begin to break, she pulled even harder on his right arm. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't tear himself away from the deceptively tiny girl's grasp.
"You...wench!"
"Oh, that hurts my heart. Really, it does." Her teeth flashed out in a snarky grin. "Whatcha gonna do? Spank me? I don't think so. Your crimes have caught up with you. Do you see him?" Using his arm as leverage, she forced him to look at Piccolo, the Namek's disbelieving stare showing he was just as baffled by the sudden increase as he. "That guy hated Goku's guts. And even he wouldn't have taken a cheap shot like that. And him, Gohan, to gaze into the angry, teary eyes of his nephew. "You took his daddy away. He's probably enjoying this more than I am.
"When I get out of here-
"You must be so proud of these arms," she continued with a hiss, stroking his captured limb, "Very...attached. You've killed countless people with them, innocent people like Goku, helpless people...how does it feel to be helpless now, hmm?" When he tried to struggle she only pulled harder, eliciting a pained snarl from her large victim. "Huh?! How does it feel to be the weak one, RADITZ?! To know that no matter what you do-what you try-what you say, that you're going to die today?! I bet it feels really crappy! Well imagine feeling that way every second, of every day!"
"Let go of me!"
"As you wish." She did just that, relinquishing her hold upon him. To his disbelief he found himself free. Yes! This was his chance!
"HIYAH!"
A fist thundered into her face with all his might, hoping to strike her dead.
Nothing happened.
She smiled, grinning as a trickle of blood ran down her forehead. Her hand locked around his limb and then he was flying, spun around in a relentless dragon throw that sent him hurtling into the heavens. A spike of raw agony seared into his spine, hurtling him to earth just as swiftly as he had ascended.
Ground.
Like a falling meteor he struck the soil; landing with enough force to crush a lesser man, the impact sending his now-fractured ribs screaming in agony. A bloodied boot entered his vision, lifting his chin to look up at his tormentor. Hardened eyes of coal met his, sneering down at him with more contempt than even Vegeta could hope to muster.
"Lick it." she demanded.
A defiant snarl tore past bloodied lips.
"Never!"
"My turn, then." the scarlet aura of the kaioken surged even brighter around her, a living aura of flame encasing her body, boosting her strength even higher. "I don't need this to take you down...but I'll use it anyway. I want you to know just how powerless you are before I send you to Otherworld! Fear me, Raditz! Fear me and know despair!"
Desperately he scrambled upright, readying his aching arms for the assault. One question leapt to the forefront of his mind. "What the devil are you?!"
"I already told you...I'm death."
Then the smaller saiyan set upon him like a banshee, ripping and rending and tearing with her limbs. She was everywhere and nowhere all at once, her hands unerringly striking at his weak points, effortlessly deflecting his pitifully slow-to her eyes-blows, batting him around like a child's play thing. She was laughing at him, calling him weak, worthless, nothing, nothing at all-
'Y-You've got to be kidding me! I'm being...pressured!'
"WHY?!" he roared, his frustration causing him to swing with far too much force, leaving him off balance and vulnerable when she dodged. "Why are you so much stronger than me?!"
"Because you are an arrogant!" She yelled at him, thundering a punch into his ribs.
"Blind!" Another kick came screaming into his face, bloodying his nose and bludgeoning an eye.
"Stupid man!" She emphasized these words with one final, debilitating kick to his disbelieving visage, sending him shooting across the crash site like a falling meteor. "You'll never amount to anything, and you'll never measure up to me until you learn what those bonds mean!" Before he could react, she grabbed both of his arms and yanked with more force than he could ever hope to match.
Pain.
That was his first and only thought as the limbs flopped bonelessly away just below the shoulders, still spouting blood. Someone was screaming-he was screaming-spitting mindless gibberish as his back slammed down against the grassy plains, as her booted foot found his chest. He was trapped, much the same as he'd trapped Kakarot only a few moments before. It was galling, terrifying even, to see this angry goddess looming over him like an angry specter of death, come to reaper her reward.
"And now," she purred, "You are going to Hell."
Even as he struggled to raise his head, to speak ,she was there, fingers splayed before his face. Fear filled him; too late, as he saw the swelling crimson sphere in that hand.
"P-Please, mercy-
Her scowl deepened.
"Raditz...I am dissapoint."
A baffled silence followed.
"That's not even a-
His words ended in an furious, gasping gurgle as a crimson blast of ki immolated him utterly. Nothing was left, not even bones. Eventually those ashes fluttered away on a breeze, leaving only the shattered remains of a still-transmitting scouter attested to his existence at all.
And just like that, without even trying to do it...
...I changed the future.
A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaand there we go! I've already screwed up time, without even trying! Oi...
Remember, this is my veeery first try at a self-insert story*blushes furiously*and I pray to god that I didn't do to badly. I'm a master writer when it comes to Naruto, Bleach, and other works of fiction, but they be just that. FICTION. This is me inserted into this story, bits of my life plumbed out before you, and, well, to be honest, its a tad embarassing. Especially the bit with me getting genderswapped. That was hard as hell to do, considering I am, most certainly, a DUDE and straight as a ruler.
But, eh, in this story, I thought I'd shake things up a bit...
Naturally, I plan to go more in depth with certain characters than most...including new events and all sorts of chaos as I plunge into the Dragonball Xenoverse! It'll make ya laugh too, I promise! God, I really am going to ruin time as we know it int this one...
So, in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
...hope ya'll like it! And of course, enjoy the preview!
(Preview)
"You, there! Woman!"
"Eh?"
He regarded me with contempt at first...then curiosity. Honestly, I preferred the contempt. "You're the one who annihilated Raditz, aren't you?" he said, "And now Nappa. Hmm. Let's see here." To my horror, that grin grew, becoming a sly sneer.
"Thirteen thousand and twenty?" Momentarily, I balked at his statement.
I Had that much Ki?! No wonder Nappa was so weak!
"I must admit, I AM impressed. Perhaps you'll be able to entertain me until Kakarott arrives." My heart and mind reached the same conclusion as Krillin and Gohan in the same instant.
Oh shit. Shit shit shit!
"G-Get away!"
Heedless of my fear, the prince advanced.
"Now then, with the Namek out of the way, why don't we get rid of the small fry and see what you're made of-HA!"
My hand shot up, effortlessly interposing itself between Gohan and the blast. Pain engulfed my palm as a I made a fist and extinguished it-I vailiantly fought not to let it show. I knew that above all else, Vegeta despised weakness. Showing that weakness only guaranteed a quick death.
"Impressive. I'll tell you what, I'm feeling merciful today." A glove hand flicked outward, indicating the prone bodies I was protecting. "Be my mate, and I MIGHT spare your friends."
Ah, crapbaskets.
In hindsight, it was rather ironic. I'd always liked Vegeta; not just as character but as an ideal; a person, if you will. Think about it, he'd gone from being one of the most vile villains in all of dragonball to one of the best anti-heroes in existence. But right now? Rage. Blind, maddening rage, swirling up from the depths of my being.
I snarled.
"I...am...going...to...KILL YOU!"
Before I could heroically rush and get myself killed however, the prince raised a hand.
"Tempting as that is, I have a better idea." A sphere of glowing saffron formed in his hand. "Do you know what this?"
I did. Oh, crap...
"Lets see if you can control yourself."
I saw the power ball too late.
Urk!
R&R! =D