Dragon Ball Xenoverse
...Chapter 3...
Kiniza had followed Trunks into the city, confused after he'd mentioned taking her home, with no further explanation. As they walked in silence, she'd let her mind wander, which had only further increased her confusion.
Wait, maybe I didn't do so well back there? Maybe that was actually a test, and I failed? Maybe they're sending me back to my timeline because of how bad I'd done? No, Trunks said I did well for my first time, and the timeline was repaired, wasn't it? Then why would they be sending me back home already? That couldn't have been the only thing they needed me for. The way they were talking, there should be a bunch of those distortions that need fixing, I only fixed one of them. THEN WHY ARE THEY SENDING ME HOME?!
"Here you are." Trunks said as they stopped outside the gate surrounding a small, domed capsule house.
Kiniza looked at the house in confusion, then back at Trunks.
"What, you didn't think that we were just gonna bunk you up in the Time Vault, did you?" Trunks teased. "Before the Supreme Kai of Time and I even summoned Shenron, we had a house set up for whoever he would bring. It isn't much, it only has the necessities, and only simple furniture, but you're free to set it up inside however you want. It's yours."
Kiniza looked back at the house in shock. A place of my own? Here? She thought to herself, then sighed and looked down.
Trunks immediately frowned, worried they'd overstepped their bounds. "You... don't like it?" He asked.
"No, no, it's not... It's not that." Kiniza assured him. "Believe me, I greatly appreciate it. It's just... I hadn't thought about it, but... This is gonna take a while, huh? It's gonna be a while before I can go home, I mean. Back to my timeline, that is."
Trunks relaxed and sighed, nodding. "Probably." He admitted. "Like it or not, but there are a bunch of distortions I can't handle on my own, and you aren't nearly strong enough yet to even be able to help out with yet. No offense. But the stronger distortions that I've been handling would destroy you."
Kiniza clenched her fists, though she knew he was just telling the truth. I know... She thought to herself. I'm too weak... I couldn't even protect Mom, or Mr. Piccolo, or anyone else back home. I couldn't protect anyone, I had to leave everything to Dad to save the day.
Sensing Kiniza's frustration, Trunks looked at her and sighed before leading her into the small house.
As Kiniza looked around, she saw just what Trunks had described. It was a simple house, made for one person, with only basic furnishings. The abode was sectioned off into four rooms, each of a different size. The entrance room, of course, was the largest, with beige walls and a soft, brown carpet, a black sofa situated in the middle of the room, a small wooden coffee table directly in front of it,with a flatscreen television mounted on the wall across from the couch.
To the left of the main room was a large opening in the wall leading to the kitchen. This room was just as simple as the main room, with the same beige walls, though it had tan tiled floors and wooden cabinets that matched the coffee table in the main room. The counters were covered in white tile, a metal sink embedded in one countertop, and a circular table was situated against a wall next to a window.
Across the main room from the kitchen was a short hallway with a door in each side, another window looking outside at the end of the hall. As Kiniza opened each door, she discovered that one of the doors lead to a bathroom styled much the same as the kitchen, though with no windows, in case anyone had decided to look inside to peep on her, and the tub was a simple porcelain tub with a metal faucet similar to the kitchen sink.
Her bedroom was styled much like the main room, with the same beige walls and brown carpet. The bed was set in the far "corner" of the room, if a round house could even have corners, the wooden bed frame being the most extravagant thing in the house, having actually been slightly decorated with twisted bedposts, though still didn't detract from the simple appearance of the house. The bed was made with soft, white sheets, a stack of simple blankets neatly folded on top of it for her to choose from. Against the wall opposite her bed was a large wooden wardrobe just as simple as the coffee table and the cabinets, and, upon inspection, she found it empty.
All in all, the house itself was perfect for first starting out on her own. While she did intend to return to her timeline once her job here was done, Kiniza had no clue how long that may be, and so she may as well accept this generous gift from the Supreme Kai of Time and Trunks, and make herself at home.
"So, I guess we're... technically siblings, huh?" She heard Trunks say, and she turned to see the lavender-haired man standing in the doorway, leaning against the door frame. He'd removed his coat, though had kept his sword strapped to his back over a green sweater, and Kiniza found herself wondering two things.
Does he ever take that sword off? And doesn't he get hot, wearing a coat over a sweater all the time?
She decided to ignore those questions, figuring he must have his reasons, opting instead to accept his offer for idle conversation. "I guess so." She agreed. "Kinda weird, huh?"
Trunks chuckled slightly at that. "Not the weirdest thing that's happened to me, believe it or not. Try traveling back in time and finding yourself as a little kid, and having her give you a pep talk before trying to beat some sense into you. Or better yet, try going back in time and having your own mom hit on you."
Kiniza's eyes went wide at that. "Okay... Now I need to hear this story."
Trunks blushed and shook his head with another chuckle. "Another time, maybe. That one would take a lot more explaining for context." He admitted, then looked at her. "What about you? I mean, how are you handling all this?"
Kiniza let out a deep breath before sitting on the bed, careful not to topple the stack of blankets. "Honestly, I'm still processing... well... everything. All in one day, I learned about the existence of alternate timelines drastically different from mine, the fact that there are, apparently, eleven whole other universes, the existence of gods, like, actual gods, and that my timeline isn't even the true timeline."
Trunks sighed and looked down. "I'm sorry."
"For what? It's not your fault." Kiniza said.
"Well... It kind of is."
"What?" Kiniza asked, confused.
"Well, that... kinda goes with that long story I mentioned. Don't worry, I'll tell you eventually. I'm gonna have to, because some of the distortions we have to fix deals with my past. But for now, I'd prefer to talk about you, if that's alright."
Kiniza frowned, but nodded in agreement. "Alright. What do you want to know?"
Trunks sighed. "Where do I begin?" He asked himself, mostly, then looked up at her. "You're obviously from a timeline where Father was the one sent to Earth as a kid, rather than Go- I mean, Kakarot. What else was different? I mean, from what you've seen so far?"
Kiniza let out a breath. "What wasn't?" She asked rhetorically. "Well... Obviously, instead of Kakarot being Goku, and being the hero at that time, it was dad where Kakarot was. And instead of that crying kid in the pod-"
"Gohan." Trunks interjected, his fist clenching slightly. "His... His name Gohan. Sorry, just... He had... has a name." He said softly, his hand shaking a bit.
Kiniza looked at him in surprise, not expecting the outburst. "Right... Um... well... Instead of... Gohan being in the pod... It was me. And I wasn't crying, I was unconscious. I never actually saw the fight that day."
Trunks took a calming breath and nodded. "Was Piccolo still there?"
"Yeah, Mr. Piccolo was there. That part didn't really change. Or, well, at least, he was there when I regained consciousness. He was actually a long-time rival of dad's, so when I was kidnapped, I guess Dad asked him for help getting me back."
"Wait, rival?" Trunks asked in surprise. "Not enemy?"
"No. Wait, was Mr. Piccolo Kaka-Goku's enemy back then? Why was he helping Goku get Gohan back, then?" Kiniza frowned.
"Yeah, Piccolo was always trying to kill Goku back then, and take over the world. You see, Piccolo's dad, King Piccolo, had tried to take over the world when Goku was a kid, and Goku managed to stop him and kill King Piccolo, so King Piccolo spat out an egg, which hatched into Piccolo, but he'd also transferred his soul to the egg, so Piccolo was actually a reincarnation of King Piccolo." Trunks explained.
"Yeah, I know all that, that happened with Dad in my timeline, too, but when Dad met the young Piccolo, they fought for a bit, but eventually came to respect each other's strength, and became rivals, pushing each other to get stronger and stronger." Kiniza said.
Trunks frowned and stood up straight. He began pacing across the bedroom in thought before looking up at her in bewilderment. "Wait a second... it's so small, but it actually matters! The fact that it was father, not Go-Kakarot, who was sent to Earth only had small impacts on those timelines, but I bet all those small impacts added up and changed things majorly." He said. "Goku had such a major impact on the timeline from such an early age that most of the threats who came to Earth later in life only came to Earth because of him... Would those threats have changed, or even existed if Goku hadn't been there, or if it had been someone else, like father? Kiniza, what else was different?!" Trunks asked.
Kiniza tensed up at the look in his eyes, a little nervous now at his urgent insistence. "Um... Well, it wasn't Raditz who kidnapped me... It... It was another Saiyan, Nappa..."
"Ah, there ya are, Vegeta. Been looking all over this planet for ya! Of course, you're definitely the strongest person on this rock, so the scouter was able to lead me to ya pretty quickly, but it still took me a few hours just for the scouter to even get within range of ya to pick ya up!" The large, bald man with the blue and yellow armor and a mustache said with a deep laugh. "Nice place ya got here. Wanna help me take it over so we can sell it off?"
"What... What are you talking about?" Vegeta asked, trembling under the weight of the giant's pressure.
"Aw, come on, Vegeta, didja hit your head or something?" The giant laughed again. "That's what Saiyans do!"
Vegeta's eyes went wide in realization, only then noticing the tail that the giant man was wearing around his waist as a belt, his own tail twinging in recognition.
"You're... a Saiyan?" Vegeta asked, shocked, his head throbbing.
"Yeah, I know! I can't believe it, either! Some of us were lucky enough to be off-world when that meteor hit! There's still a few of us left, after all, I guess that must be a shock to ya." The giant said, clapping Vegeta on the back. "I knew King Vegeta had sent you to some remote planet just in case they couldn't save ours, to make sure you survived, it just took me a long time to find out which one, I'm ashamed to admit. But don't worry, now, ole' Nappa found ya!"
Vegeta looked at the ground, processing everything. Other Saiyans besides him had survived?!
"And now that I have, I can get ya off this rock and we can conquer it, or just destroy it if ya want!" Nappa grinned maliciously.
"What?! No!" Vegeta snapped, throwing his hand to the side to emphasize his point, surprising Nappa.
"What? No? What d'ya mean, 'no', Vegeta? I told ya, that's what Saiyans do!" Nappa frowned, crossing his arms, then lowered them again as his eyes went wide in shocking revelation. "Wait... Don't tell me ya've gone and gotten attached to this planet?"
"Daddy? Who's that?" A tiny, girlish voice asked as a small girl with short, spiky black hair and a brown tail came running out of Capsule Corp wearing the same orange and blue Turtle gi that Vegeta wore, immediately running up to Vegeta and tugging on his pants leg.
Nappa looked down at the girl, and Vegeta gasped as his daughter revealed herself to the one who was now by far the most powerful and dangerous person on the entire planet.
Nappa focused his eyes on the small girl, narrowing his eyes as he took in the sight of her next to Vegeta. "Daddy, huh?" He said mostly to himself, then gasped. "Wait, Vegeta, she's not talkin' about ya, does she?!"
"Are you a friend of my Daddy's?" The girl asked, craning her neck to look up at the mountain of a man.
"Kiniza, go back inside, now!" Vegeta shouted, startling the young girl.
"Daddy? What's wrong? What's going on?" She asked, now a little worried. "Can't I meet your friend? Why's he dressed like that, Daddy?"
Nappa burst into laughter as he took in the sight, wiping a tear away from the laughter. "Oh, that's just... precious!" He laughed, then put a serious look on his face. "No, not precious. What's the word I'm looking for? Oh, that's right. Disgusting. Ya actually diluted your pure bloodline by mating with one of these puny Earthlings?!"
"Shut up!" Vegeta snapped angrily before he could stop himself, then turned back to Kiniza. "I said go back inside! Now!"
Kiniza jumped again, suddenly scared, then turned to do as her daddy said and began to run back inside, only to suddenly find her path blocked by the giant intruder.
Vegeta and his daughter both gasped, once more in shock, as they hadn't even seen the man move.
"Uh uh uh." Nappa said, waggling his finger at the tiny girl. "Ya do have Saiyan blood too, don't you? Saiyans don't run." He growled, then smacked Kiniza with his tail, knocking her back onto the ground, bringing tears to her eyes and a scowl to her face.
Vegeta, on the other hand, was instantly seeing red in rage as he whirled around and attacked without warning, his fist slamming into Nappa's face with a force that would have crushed the head of any human. Nappa, however, was a Saiyan elite warrior, and he didn't even budge an inch.
Instead, the brute just smirked. "Well, well, well. Ya may not have the power behind your fist that ya should, but you still have the fire in ya that a Saiyan should. And I think ya've still got untapped power in there somewhere. I just need to find the right way to bring it out." Nappa hummed and thought for a minute before his eyes settled on the girl just now standing up and dusting herself off. "I've got it! I'll kill your daughter!" He said, grinning, causing Kiniza to gasp in fear, and Vegeta to roar in rage again, punching Nappa rapidly, striking the brute in the face, the chest, the abdomen. Unfortunately, the man was wearing thick armor that blocked most of Vegeta's hits, though even the strikes that hit him in the face didn't even faze him. Nappa just chuckled at the effort. "That's real cute, Vegeta, but you'll have to do better than that." He said, then kneed Vegeta in the gut and dropped his elbow to the back of his head, causing Vegeta to temporarily lose consciousness.
"That's my Daddy!" Kiniza yelled, running up and punching Nappa in the face, a burst of unexpected power coming from her as her fist connected with Nappa's left eye.
Trunks gaped. "Wait... Nappa came to Earth first?" He whispered. "Of course... it makes sense. As far as everyone was aware at that point, only four Saiyans had survived the destruction of Planet Vegeta: Goku, Raditz, Nappa, and Father. In the main timeline, Raditz was the one who came to attack Earth first because he'd hoped to recruit his brother, Goku, or Kakarot in his mind. But with the one on Earth being Father instead of Goku, it makes sense for Nappa to be the one to attack first, since he'd worked much more closely for King Vegeta than Goku or Raditz. If he was hoping to recruit Father, then he wouldn't have sent low-class Saiyans like Kakarot or Raditz to do it, for fear he'd insult Father's pride."
"Well, actually, he didn't come to recruit Dad..." Kiniza said. "He came to test him, and warn him."
"Warn him? About what?" Trunks asked curiously.
"Kakarot and Raditz. They blamed King Vegeta's weakness and inability to protect their planet on Dad, so they were gonna come to Earth to kill him and destroy the Earth for revenge." Kiniza explained.
Vegeta looked down at the large Saiyan warrior he and Piccolo had just beaten into the ground. Of course, they themselves were not without injuries. Vegeta was sure he had a couple bruised, if not broken, ribs, he had a hole and scorch marks in his left shoulder from where one of Nappa's ki blasts had hit him, and the top half of his gi was destroyed. Piccolo was mostly unharmed, due to most of Nappa's attacks being focused on Vegeta, instead. Though Piccolo had lost an arm in the fight, Vegeta knew that the Namekian would easily be able to regrow it.
Nappa was by far the worst off, having received numerous serious injuries from the two warriors. His eye was swollen shut, both his arms were broken, he definitely had some broken ribs, his armor had been almost completely destroyed, leaving only the wrist guards, boots and briefs he wore under his armor, and his tail had been crushed several times in the fight, broken in several places.
Still, as he lay there, broken and battered at the feet of Vegeta and Piccolo, Nappa couldn't help but laugh as he looked into the eyes of the former Saiyan prince. "That... right there..." He said weakly. "That's what I wanted to see, Vegeta..."
"What are you talking about?" Vegeta growled. "Start making sense before I finish you off!"
"Those eyes." Nappa said. The prince had a fire in his eyes Nappa had been certain had been lost for good. The former prince still had that fierceness, that pride inside, after all. "You are... the prince... of the Saiyans." The brute said between shallow breaths, his one good eye slipping closed, and at first, Vegeta thought the man had died.
"You aren't allowed to just die like that!" Vegeta snapped, dropping down beside the giant and grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him roughly, drawing a pained groan from Nappa. "Tell me why! Tell me why you attacked us!"
Nappa chuckled weakly, though it turned quickly into another groan as he opened his eye again. "Because, I... I had to see... If you were still... my prince..."
"What are you talking about?!"
Nappa took a deep, labored breath, beginning to lose consciousness, his breath growing more and more shallow and harsh.
"Vegeta... Listen... There are others... Other Saiyans... Survivors, like... like us... They blame your... father. They blame him... for Planet Vegeta's destruction... And they're coming... for you... For revenge... They're strong... Despite... being... low-class... soldiers..." Nappa trailed off, his eye slipping closed again.
"Who are they?!" Vegeta asked, shaking Nappa again. This time, no sound came from the older warrior, though he frowned, showing he was at least still partially conscious.
"Their names... Kaka...rot... and... Raditz..." With those last words, Nappa drew a final breath, then was completely silent.
Trunks gaped. "So... wait... Because Goku and Father switched places in your timeline... Nappa and Raditz switched places, too? Then... Instead of it being Father and Nappa who attacked Earth a year or two after Raditz... it was Kakarot and Raditz who attacked Earth next?"
Kiniza nodded in confirmation, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah, though they weren't nearly as weak as they seemed in that distortion. Even with the power boost the distortion was giving Raditz, his power didn't come close to how strong he was in my timeline. And Kakarot was even stronger. If we hadn't had Nappa there to help us, Dad, Piccolo and I wouldn't have survived."
"So Nappa didn't die, then?" Trunks asked. "When he kidnapped you, I mean? And why did he kidnap you in the first place, if he just came to warn Father?"
"Well, he wanted to test Father to see how strong he was, so he kidnapped me as incentive. Of course, I didn't go quietly. Gave him a black eye before he finally had to knock me out and lock me in his pod." Kiniza smirked proudly at the memory, remembering how they'd all laughed about it afterwards, and how proud her dad had been of her for it. Even Nappa had complimented her about her hit.
Vegeta, Piccolo and Kiniza all stood around a bed, tense as they visited Nappa in the hospital. The Saiyan hadn't, in fact, died that day, simply lost consciousness, and, since Vegeta couldn't kill an unarmed, unconscious foe, he'd brought the giant to a hospital to rest and recover.
Once he'd regained consciousness, he had filled Vegeta in on what was really going on in more detail, informing him that the two Saiyans in question who were going to attack were actually the brothers, Kakarot and Raditz, sons of a low-class soldier named Bardock. Nappa explained the power level system to give them an idea of how strong the two brothers were, saying that while he himself had a power level of around 4,500, Raditz had a power level around 15,000, and Kakarot had a power level around 23,000, more than five times stronger than Nappa himself was.
The information had shocked the others, and even terrified them, though Nappa assured them that they could still stand a chance, and explained the ability of a Saiyan to get stronger after every fight.
"Everyone with Saiyan blood has that ability. And the more damage you take in each battle, the stronger you get because of it when you recover. As you can imagine, I'll probably be around 8,000, myself, just from that thrashing you two gave me!" Nappa laughed as he looked at Vegeta and Piccolo.
Piccolo looked at Nappa's still-swollen eye and crossed his arms. "Speaking of which, I don't remember hitting you in the eye, and I don't remember seeing Vegeta hit you there, either. Where'd that shiner com from?"
Nappa frowned for a minute, then burst out laughing. "Let's just say that that little girl there has a nice right hook! Took me totally by surprise!"
Kiniza stuck her tongue out at Nappa with a scowl.
Vegeta looked at Kiniza in surprise, then smiled and patted her on the head. "I'm proud to admit that Kiniza here has more potential in her, I think, than anyone else in this room."
"So, what, just like that, Nappa was one of the good guys?" Trunks asked in disbelief. He'd never really heard about Nappa, himself, but from what he'd seen from his travels through time with Chronoa so far, Nappa didn't seem the type to just join the good guys.
"Well, Nappa was always extremely loyal to the royal family of the Saiyans, so, I guess when dad proved he still had his Saiyan pride in him, Nappa was satisfied and agreed to do whatever Dad wanted him to do. In Nappa's mind, Dad had gone from Prince Vegeta to Vegeta, King of the remaining Saiyans. And he never betrayed Dad's trust after that, so I guess he was sincere, at least." Kiniza shrugged. "After that, Dad, Piccolo and I went off to start training, preparing for when Kakarot and Raditz would show up. After about a week or so, Nappa recovered and joined us in training.
"Since he was actually so much stronger than the rest of us, he pretty much trained us and focused on getting the rest of us stronger, and he'd keep track of our progress with his scouter. Over the next year or so, Dad went from what nappa said was a power level of around 2,400 to around 13,000, and Piccolo managed to go from around 3,200 to around 10,000. Since he wasn't a Saiyan, he couldn't progress as fast as we could from our damage, but Nappa said he still made faster progress than most Namekians did."
"What about you?" Trunks asked curiously. "What was your progress like?"
"Well..." Kiniza sighed. "Apparently, my power level fluctuates a lot. Nappa said it was probably because of my mixed human and Saiyan blood. When I first started training with him, my power would fluctuate anywhere from as weak as 390 to as strong as 3,900. By the time the year was up, and Raditz and Kakarot showed up, my power was anywhere from as weak as 1,500 to as strong as 15,000."
"And now?" Trunks asked. "What's it like, now?
"Well... It... Still fluctuates. We haven't really used any number system to gauge out strength in a long time, but for some reason, my strength and energy do still fluctuate. We don't know why, for sure, but everyone seems to think that it's just because I haven't figured out how to properly tap into my full potential consistently." Kiniza said softly.
Trunks frowned in thought. Kiniza was sounding a lot like Gohan, from what he'd heard of his mentor's childhood. Gohan's power had been pretty sporadic, too. And both had grown up in similar situations, it would seem, as well. Maybe Gohan did exist in Kiniza's timeline, after all, just not in the form he'd thought. Trunks examined his newfound sister and had to admit to himself that she did have some similarities to the younger Gohan he'd met when he'd gone back in time the first time, the one who would later go on to defeat Cell. She had a strength about her, but the power still seemed to be blocked by uncertainty. With Gohan, it had been reluctance to fight. Gohan hadn't liked fighting like most other Saiyans, and that reluctance and uncertainty held him back. He couldn't say that was exactly Kiniza's problem, as she seemed to enjoy fighting as much as their father and Goku had, but the uncertainty was still there, as if she wasn't sure she could truly keep up with the others, and lacked confidence in herself.
Trunks sighed and closed his eyes as he realized that had to be the problem. That was likely why she'd been so easy for him to defeat when he'd fought her before. She had potential, that much was certain, but her lack of confidence hindered her and prevented her from tapping into her true power and reach her full potential. Sadly, Trunks knew that nothing he said would free her of her confidence issues, that this was something she'd have to work through, herself. He also knew, however, that one day, she would break free of her binds, and she would become a true force to be reckoned with.
He remembered the day that Gohan had broken free of his own binds, and his true power had erupted forth... And with that thought, he had a startling hunch, and his eyes went wide as he looked at Kiniza.
Her life seems to have run parallel to Gohan's, at least up to a certain point... I wonder if everything is parallel?
"Kiniza... does the name... Frieza mean anything to you?" Trunks asked, gauging her reaction. When he saw her clench her fists, he nodded. "Thought so. And what about... Cell?" Her reaction to that name was not what he'd expected.
Kiniza simply looked at him blankly at the mention of the second name. "Wait, I'm sorry, who?"
AN: I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 3 and seeing a bit of Kiniza's timeline. I know right now it probably doesn't really seem like much changed between the main timeline and Kiniza's at this point, but the changes do get bigger the further into Kiniza's timeline we go, due to some differences in how I imagine Vegeta would have handled the events of the original Dragon Ball compared to how Kid Goku handled them. These changes do eventually start having MAJOR impact on Kiniza's timeline and cause it to change DRASTICALLY from the main timeline.
Also, thanks again to Fox of Art for being such an awesomely helpful and supportive Beta for this story. If it weren't for your support and advice, I don't know if I'd even have the willpower to keep writing!