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"Yawn. Why does work always have to be so early?" I asked no one in particular. Now I know what you're thinking: "Who could this person be? He must be important if he's the first person we see." Well, I'll tell you right now that that is not the case in the slightest. I am just a normal person. In fact, I'm no one of importance whatsoever. I'm so normal and forgettable that my name isn't even worth mentioning. I'm just an office worker-no, an office lackey. I'm not really good at any particular thing. I wouldn't say that I'm bad at anything, but I wouldn't say that I'm the best.
I'm pretty average all across the board, though I have been told that I do have my good points, though I don't really see it. Co-workers seem to like me since they say I'm a 'good guy' and that I'm 'pretty smart' and have 'focus and determination to get the job done'. I suppose that's true. I do try to be nice and kind to everyone I meet, and I do always put my all into what I do, even if my job isn't super important. But are those really good points to take note of? I guess they can think what they want, since I know I'm not a huge part of the larger picture. I mean, I'm just a normal guy living a normal life.
Today wasn't any different, at first anyway. I woke up early and got ready for the day. I had gotten pretty used to living like this. My small apartment had gotten a homey feeling to it after living there for a couple years, and I had finally gotten into a steady pattern in day-to-day life. Wake up, eat breakfast, walk to work, work for most of the day, head back, eat dinner, sleep, repeat. That was my life. Some might hate living in such a way, but I found it a little comforting. I knew what I had to do and my life was simple, but still rewarding. Sure I was single and my way of life didn't really allow me to try to create a relationship with someone, but romance wasn't really important to me.
I was making slightly more than the average middle class worker, I lived in an average apartment that had decent rent, and with what I was making I was comfortable. My job as an office worker, or lackey, as the others call it, wasn't too bad either. Nice place, nice people, very nice pay for what it was. Funnily enough, work had become sort of a highlight to the daily grind. There wasn't really any reason for that, other than I guess a sense of pride that had formed with the job. I'm not sure why, but the others at the job seem to depend on me a lot, and it made me feel reliable. So with a sense of purpose with my step, I made my way to the workplace.
It was a normal day, at least as normal as it could be in a bustling big city like this one. The streets were noisy and filled with people who were just as busy heading to their own job like I was, each one with the same tired expression. I'm glad I'm not the only one who dislikes the early shift. I continued to walk through the crowd of people, gazing upon the large skyscrapers that surrounded me. They almost felt like walls in a way. I have never traveled out of this city, having been born and raised here, but I couldn't help but wonder what the rest of the world looks like in person. I had always liked the concept of traveling around the world and meeting new people, but that's not exactly a stable lifestyle and I'm not made of money. Despite this, the multitude of skyscrapers and other large buildings usually comforted me with the familiar scenery, but once again, that wasn't the case today.
I narrowed my gaze as I quickly looked around. Nobody was looking at me. No one seemed out of place. So why? Why do I feel like someone has been watching me almost 24/7 for the past few weeks? Why do I have this sense of impending danger and dread? I had at first thought it was just my imagination, as most would after looking around and seeing no one was staring at them. But because this has been a constant thing, I've felt uneasy. There was no way I had a stalker. First off, I'm not popular or important enough to have one of those, and second, I work with a lot of people, and it's weird that no one has seen anyone, even when helping me look around, thoroughly sometimes. I sighed as I continued walking. Ignore it. You have things to do and people to help at work. There's no time to worry about a personal problem. I put the smile I wore earlier back on and continued walking.
"You seem chipper today." I turned and saw one of my co-workers walking up to me. If I remember correctly, her name was Jessica. She's a bit younger than me, but we've been working together for a few years now. We somehow became pretty good friends one day after I was assigned to help her work on a project.
"Yo. Ready for the daily grind?" I asked her. She sighed and pushed her long auburn hair out of her eyes.
"Nooo..." She moaned in a tired tone. "I had to stay up late doing something last night, so I feel even more tired than I would normally." She then pushed her glasses up and looked at me with her silver eyes. "Nothing I can do about it though. Ugg..." I looked at her and gave a sly smirk.
"And what exactly were you doing late at night to make you so tired today?" I asked her. Her eyes widened as she quickly turned her now red face from my gaze.
"I-I was... W-Well, y-you see..." She trailed off as she tried to explain herself. I sighed, already knowing what had happened.
"You stayed up watching anime again, didn't you?" I asked in a disappointed voice. Jessica started to nervously laugh as scratched her cheek.
"Y-You got me." She admitted. "I-I couldn't help it. Hahaha..."
"Geez. You need to stop doing that. That's the third time this month." I lectured her. She then pouted a bit while puffing out her cheeks.
"I-It's not my fault! You know I can't help it if a new episode comes out!"
"Yeah, yeah. Dragon Ball Super, right? I like the series too, but you don't see me sacrificing sleep for it." I said, poking her cheeks. She swatted my hand away and gave me a glare.
"The series means everything to me! It's my entire childhood. Me and my dad would always watch it together! You should know, you've watched some of the series with me." She told me, though she had already given me the same excuse before. I laughed as I waved her off.
"I know. I prefer the manga though to be honest. Haven't even made it to the Tournament of Power, but it felt more concrete with it's story so far, though the show has its fair share of better moments. If only the creators were given a definite script to work with and didn't have to make up a lot of the story as they went along. Anyway, we should move a bit quicker. We'll end up late otherwise." I said, picking up my pace a bit, though enough for her to keep up with me. She would complain if I moved too quickly for her to follow.
"Geez. Is work all you think about?" Jessica asked me.
"Work is the more important thing at the moment, isn't it?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Without this job, I would be in a very bad situation." Jessica then stopped and looked at me with a confused look as we crossed the street.
"Wait... Don't you know what day it is?" She asked me.
"The day? What are you-" I turned to ask her to clarify, but then I saw something that made my stomach drop. A car was coming straight at her. Even from this distance, I could tell the driver was completely inebriated. That's why he wasn't stopping despite the red light. My body moved faster than I could think. "JESSICA!" I pushed her out of the way, and no sooner than that I felt my feet leave the ground. I was in the air. It felt like time had slowed down as I saw the world spin around me. I saw what looked like red liquid fly along with me as I flew. I saw the terrified looks of everyone around me before I hit the ground, Jessica one of them, tears forming in her eyes.
That's when time returned to a normal pace. I hit the ground with a heavy thud. That's when I finally felt the pain. My side felt like it was caving in on itself. I managed to move my head enough to look at the damage and- oh my my side really is caving in on itself. I slowly turned my head to where Jessica was. The drunk driver had stopped, seemingly confused, but also terrified as to what had happened. His car had a massive dent in the front from where it seemingly hit me. Jessica ran up to me, tears now falling from her face. I saw her mouth moving, but I could only hear ringing. From what I could see with my now blurry vision, she was screaming my name. Soon, the ringing died down and I could finally hear a few things. The first thing of note was multiple people shouting and screaming. The other was Jessica crying over me. I slowly lifted my hand up to her face and lightly touched her cheek.
"W-Why are...you...crying...? You...sh-should...s-smile..." I managed to weakly say. Jessica looked at me and started crying harder.
"Please! You can't! You can't die!" She shouted at me.
"D-Don't think...that's my choice...a-anymore..." I said with a strained laugh.
"But today was... today was...!" Jessica began before putting her face into my chest with a sob. "Today was your birthday!"
"My...birthday?" I asked.
"Yes. The office had a surprise party planned and everything. I even stayed up late making you a gift!" She said with tears in her eyes. "Why? Why do you have to die today of all days? This is supposed to be the day we thank you for all that you do!" I was a little shocked. I completely forgot about my birthday. It never was anything of note before. I hadn't celebrated my birthday in the last 2 years. Did they really...take time to try and celebrate? I felt water forming at the corner of my eyes as I turned my aching head to Jessica.
"Wh-What...did you...make me...?" I asked. She then took out a small box and opened it, revealing a handmade necklace. It was extremely well made, and had an orb on it that held what looked like a galaxy in it. It was stunningly beautiful.
"I remembered how you told me you really liked space stuff, so I made this. I had some help, but still..." Jessica held back tears as she handed it to me. I clutched it as I gazed at the precious item.
"...Thank you." I said, giving a genuine smile, despite the pain I was in. "This is...the nicest thing...anyone... has ever done...for me..." Jessica smiled as she cried.
"Don't thank me. It's because you saved me that you're..." She stopped herself from continuing the sentence. "You mean so much to me. You've helped me at work, and even outside of work. You're one of my closest friends, someone I could be myself around without worrying about being judged. So please, don't die."
"I'm sorry. I don't think...I can do that. But...I promise..." I grabbed her hand, and with my dying breath, I told her. "I won't...ever...forget you. Thank...you..." With those final words, I felt my body give way. My senses dulled, and my eyelids became extremely heavy. I couldn't stop it anymore. I slowly closed my eyes, and let the darkness take me. I died that day, though I died with a smile on my face. Did people mourn for me after my death? Maybe. I would like to believe so after what I was told before I died, but I'll never truly know. That world was lost to me forever. I guess this is death. I should feel regret for dying in such a way at such a young age. But I couldn't feel like that. How could I be when I died saving someone? Someone who was a co-worker, a friend even? This is a fine way to go out.
"Not yet. You cannot fade just yet. You are still an interesting human. No, an interesting soul. Yes...you will do just fine. You have great potential to become someone twisted and distorted. A lovely tool. I wonder...how much will you let yourself suffer, and how much will you change things if given the chance? I will watch and see just how entertaining you are. Remember, you are MINE to use." I heard someone's voice, but by that time, it felt more like a scattered dream, or maybe a fading memory? Both felt right.
Not like it mattered, I was dying. However, instead of going to whatever afterlife existed in the realm beyond, I found myself in a much stranger place. I felt...warm. Warm and...a bit constricted. What is this place? There's not a whole lot of room here. Is this heaven? No. Heaven should have gates of gold and should be a beautiful kingdom. It's not hell either, since there aren't any lakes of fire or a prideful devil spouting out a need to strike God down. So is the place we go to after death just the void? But why do I still have consciousness? If this is what eternity is going to be like, it's going to be incredibly boring. Just then, I felt a push. The hell? Then it stopped being just a push. I was then being shoved out of wherever the hell I was. Hey! Stop that! If this is my afterlife, let me relax and mope for a few more minutes at least! I just died! My silent cries were not heard however, even when I tried to scream (though my voice didn't seem to work). The mysterious force kept doing all it could to force me out of this area.
I just stopped trying after a while and let it do whatever it was doing. Eventually, a new sensation was felt. Cold air hit me, and something entered my lungs. Was I not breathing before? I then felt something on my stomach get cut off, and felt my body had fully exited the warm haven I was in. I started hearing many different voices that I had never heard before all around me. I was tired, so I found myself praying that they would stop so I could sleep. I was just...so tired. More so than usual. My new found breathing was slowing, as I felt a cold darkness that was sort of familiar grasping at me. I was about to let it take me, before I heard a woman's voice call out to me.
"Please, don't leave us when you just became a part of our family. I know you're strong, so please, don't die." I'm dying? Didn't I already die? I slowly opened my eyes to see what was going on, pushing the darkness away. Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I looked around at my surroundings. I was in a white room that looked similar to a hospital room, though it was a bit different. It seemed, foreign, or perhaps more advanced is the better word. I also saw people in the room, all adults of varying appearances. They all had a few things in common though. They all had black hair, black eyes, and strangely a brown monkey tail. They also seemed...really big compared to me. I then felt someone's gaze on me and turned my head to them, and then I noticed where I was. I was in the arms of a woman. She had shoulder length black hair and black eyes and looked at me with a wide smile. "Hey there, little one. I'm your mother." She said happily in almost a whisper. "I'm so happy. I thought I would lose you before I could really meet you." She's my mother? I'm so confused right now. In an attempt to make sense of everything, I looked down at myself, only to see a small body, attached with a tail, wrapped in a blanket.
...Wait. Was I...reincarnated? That would explain why I have a baby's body and probably went through birth again, if that's what that was. I looked up at the woman who was still smiling at me and holding me close to her. So she's my new mother. She doesn't seem like a bad person. I probably should be freaking out right now, but somehow, this isn't surprising to me. It's cliche, but hey, I'm not going to complain about being able to live still. I wonder who my father is. As if responding to my thoughts, I heard loud footsteps rushing towards the room before a man burst in while panting. My eyes widened when I saw him. Spiky black hair, black eyes, a 'x' shaped scar on his left cheek, and a very familiar looking face. I knew who he was immediately. He was Bardock, the father of one of the most famous anime characters to exist, and one of my favorite characters from the Dragon Ball series. Wait a minute, if Bardock is here, then does that mean-.
"Gine! I'm here! Is the kid-" Bardock stops as soon as he looks at me and my new mother, whose name is Gine. Gine. That's right. That's the name of Goku's mom. Bardock's wife. So I really am Bardock's son. Gine smiled and nodded to Bardock, looking at me again.
"I'm ok, and so is he. He's a little strange. He was just born, but he hasn't cried yet." Gine said as she gave me a caring expression. I couldn't help but smile at her kindness, which caused her to giggle and rub my head. Bardock's expression softened as he walked towards us. He brushed his hands through my already grown hair and looked at me with a surprised expression.
"He looks a little different compared to other Saiyans. So he's my son, huh?" He looked at me for a little bit longer before giving a small smile. "My son."
"So what should we name him?" Gine asked Bardock. Bardock thought for a moment before snapping his fingers.
"How 'bout Orion? That's a strong Saiyan name." Bardock suggested. Orion. Like the Greek hero and constellation. It also would be related to onions since it's a Saiyan name. I like it. If I have to get a new name, Orion is just fine. I smiled and laughed as a sign of approval, making my new parents smile.
"He seems to like it. Our first child. Our Orion." Gine said while holding my tight to her chest. Their first child? So that means that Raditz hasn't been born yet. I suppose that gives me plenty of time before the planet is destroyed. Oh shit that's right the planet is going to be destroyed. What am I going to do? Even better question: how strong am I? If this is the Dragon Ball universe and I'm a Saiyan, what's my strength like right now? I didn't have to think about it too long before Bardock turned on his scouter and looked at me.
"Let's see. His power level is..." His scouter made a noise before Bardock gave a nod of approval. "Hmm. Power Level of 200. That's a little higher than average. That's pretty good for an infant. He won't be sent away with this." Isn't baby Vegeta's power level like 500 or 1,000 and baby Broly's around 10,000 and higher? Compared to that, 200 is just miniscule, though it's still better than Goku's level of 2 at his birth. Besides, I can get stronger than that easily I'm sure.
"That's great! With enough training, maybe he can become as strong as you." Gine proclaimed happily.
"He has potential. I can't wait to see what he becomes." Bardock said, looking at me with pride. I couldn't help but laugh again. It made me really happy, having been just born into this world and my parents already proud of me. Perhaps this is a second chance. Maybe with this second life I can start again. A memory of Jessica at my last moments flashes in my mind. I won't ever forget her or the others in my past life. I'll live for them. They appreciated me when I didn't see myself as incredibly important, so I'll live this life to honor that. Bardock then reaches into his pocket before taking out something I never thought I would see again. "Gine, I got the kid something. To celebrate his birth. I found it on the mission I was on today, and I think he'll like it." He held it up to show it to me and Gine. It was the necklace Jessica made for me. I immediately reached out for it on instinct, crying a bit when I couldn't reach it. Gine giggled at me as she looked at Bardock.
"He seems to already love it." Bardock nodded and handed it to me. Once it was in my hands, I held it close to me in a hug. A final piece of my old life. I won't ever let it go. What happened to me doesn't matter anymore. I'm now in a different world, about to live a new life. I already know what I want to do. I want to live this second life to its fullest. I will get as strong as I can, work as hard as I can, just like in my old life for that purpose. I hope that I can make everyone proud. My friends and family in my old life, and the new family I have in this one. I'll start living again, not as my old self, but as the Saiyan Orion.