PROLOGUE: Sneak Attack

Eleven years ago, in a forest on Mount Paozu, a chance meeting between a spiky-haired young boy and a hot-blooded teenage girl would eventually blossom into a truly funny fellowship as a group of unlikely friends went searching for 7 magical orbs called "Dragon Balls", which when gathered, would summon a mighty dragon, with the ability to grant any wish...so long as it was within his power to do so.

Following his first journey, Goku went into training with the legendary martial-arts teacher known as the Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi, where he made a one-sided rival of fellow aspiring fighter Krillin and helped save a young woman named Launch from an army of evil monsters...and afterwards, both Launch and Krillin would befriend the young warrior; further adventures while searching for the Dragon Balls led him into conflict with the greedy King Gourmeth, as well as the sinister Red Ribbon Army...but neither of these battles would even begin to compare with the aftermath of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, which took a shocking swerve when Goku found that Krillin had been murdered. This brought him into conflict against the Demon Clan, led by the sinister scoundrel King Piccolo, an ancient demon from days long passed...and neither Master Roshi nor Goku stood a chance against him. But thanks to the aid of his new friend, a ronin named Yajirobe, Goku obtained the power boost he required to avenge the fallen heroes, and subsequently sought training far above Korin Tower with the Earth's Guardian: a man called Kami, who had a genetic connection to King Piccolo.

Kami agreed to revive Goku's fallen allies if he would train under him for the next 3 years; and train he did, for even though King Piccolo was gone, in his last moments he spawned a final child, a reincarnation of himself, to seek revenge on his murderer. During the 23rd Tournament, Goku reunited with his resurrected friends, as well as someone he hadn't seen since he was twelve: Chi-Chi, the daughter of the Ox-King, who'd grown into a lovely young woman and a formidable fighter. But love would have to take a rain check, since Piccolo Jr. entered the tournament as well, and he and Goku finally squared off in a battle of speed, skill, and strength that would not only determine the world's strongest martial artist, but the fate of the world itself. At last, Goku had won the tournament and gotten the girl, but Piccolo left for parts unknown, vowing vengeance on his new enemy.

Since then, Goku and Chi-Chi are now married, living in a brand-new home on Mount Paozu, thanks to the Ox-King, and they now have a 3-year-old son named Gohan (named after the kindly old man who'd adopted Goku as a baby). Things for Goku have slowed down considerably; he hasn't seen his friends since Chi-Chi's baby shower, and so far, no new threats have made themselves known...

With a great yawn, Son Goku sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes, before glancing down at the sleeping form of his wife Chi-Chi. Granted, she always looked beautiful, but there was just something about the light of the morning sun shining on her face that intensified that beauty.

He leaned over and gave her a light kiss on the cheek, and she smiled in her sleep. To be honest, Goku never HAD understood romantic stuff, considering that for most of his life he rarely had a parental figure around to teach him about these things.

Fortunately, Chi-Chi was more than willing to educate him on such things first-hand, and on the night when Gohan was conceived, it went without saying that Goku learned plenty.

Goku had trained in all sorts of martial arts styles, but after Gohan was born, he was practically a novice in the art of parenting. He was still learning the ropes in that category, but he was happy that Chi-Chi and Gohan both loved him.

And so, after playing a few games with Gohan that he'd played with his grandpa, Goku decided to step out so that he could go fishing. Even if he didn't bring home the bacon with one of those "suit-and-tie" sorts of jobs, at least he had a way to put food on the table.

ELSEWHERE, IN A MYSTERIOUS WASTELAND...

An ear-splitting shriek pierced the air, causing a massive tremor. The source of said shriek was the mysterious warrior known as Ma Junior, but known to the participants of the 23rd Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament as Piccolo, the last-living scion of the Demon Clan and reincarnation of the evil Demon King Piccolo, who had tried half a decade ago to conquer the planet. Since he had been bested by the warrior known as Goku, he hadn't been seen by anyone, warrior or not. During that long gap, he had been training his mind and body so that the next time he and Goku clashed, he would emerge as the champion, and continue to carry out his father's fiendish ambitions.

Currently, however, he was letting out a shriek that would leave any fan of death metal impressed. Its power was so great that it caused the rocky structure in front of him to explode in a shower of pebbles and dust.

As Piccolo took a long look at his surroundings, he could now see that the surrounding area had now gained a large crevice where the stone structure had formerly stood. His emerald brow was dotted with sweat, and he hovered in midair, panting.

"Goku..." he wheezed. "This time, I'm gonna finish you off for good...and then you shall know defeat..."

Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock. He saw what looked like a person, running on the air. Piccolo's wide-eyed glance turned to a suspicious squint, as he noticed another figure, standing behind him.

Out of nowhere, a third figure shot from the crevice below Piccolo, ramming into his chest, knocking the wind out of his sails and sending him flying, right before the second figure ricocheted off of his back. Before Piccolo could launch a counterattack, he found himself pinned by the first person and sent hurtling into the crevice. Breaking free of his grip, Piccolo soon found himself being bombarded from all sides by the three warriors, although from how fast their attacks were, there might as well have been a thousand of them.

When the surprise assault subsided, Piccolo managed to open his eyes and see a mysterious muscular figure, standing on some nearby rocks. It was impossible to tell who it was, though, since Piccolo couldn't get a good look at the figure's face due to the angle of the sun.

"You...animals! Who are...!?" he growled, before he smacked back-first into a cliff wall.

His reprieve didn't last long, as the three assailants all banded together, and they all launched a blast attack at Piccolo, in unison.

"Coup de grâce!" they all exclaimed.

The green-skinned warrior could only scream in shock as he found himself blasted 3 times at once, engulfing him in a massive explosion and bringing down the rock formation that was behind him, on top of him.

The muscular figure chuckled evilly. "Piccolo and Kami are one in spirit and body..." he proclaimed. "And now, Kami is dead as well!"

Meanwhile, high above the Earth, up on Kami's Lookout, the elderly demon known as Kami was kneeling, clutching his chest. Clearly the recent events had affected him somehow.

"I don't believe this...someone has beaten Piccolo..." he exclaimed. "...but not by Goku, no...rather, someone we believed that we had seen the last of..."

His lifelong attendant, Mr. Popo, rushed to his friend's aid. "You don't suppose...it could be...him?!" he asked.

Kami gave a terrified look in response. "If it truly is...then we may be in very real danger," he replied.

END OF PROLOGUE

And here we begin DBZ Retold with, fittingly enough, a retelling of "Dead Zone"! Don't worry, the Saiyan Conflict will come after Dead Zone, and the continuity errors will be rectified.

For this version, I'll be utilizing a mix of voice talent from Toronto, Vancouver, California, and Dallas, TX.

The cast is as follows:

Ian James Corlett (credited as Jerry J. Todd) as Son Goku:

I enjoyed Ian James Corlett's take on playing Goku, although Kelamis got more opportunities to voice the character...that, and Sean Schemmel has, as of recently, lost my respect.

Saffron Henderson as Son Gohan:

IMO, she's tied with Stephanie "K.O." Nadolny; unlike Colleen, she manages to actually pull off the illusion that she genuinely sounds like a young boy in this role. For this series, Stephanie takes over as Gohan by the Frieza Saga, sharing it with Christopher Gray (Enzo Matrix from ReBoot).

Scott McNeil as Piccolo/Ma Junior:

English-dub-wise, he nails Piccolo's character perfectly. The deep voice was one thing, but his legendary screams are unsurpassed. Sabat has been losing his touch as of late.

Terry Klassen as Krillin

Tiffany Vollmer as Bulma Briefs:

Personally, I find her performance as Bulma to be MUCH more enjoyable than that of Monica Rial, who seems to get stuck on the "bratty" aspect of her character.

Mike Donovan as Master Roshi

I like Ian Corlett's Master Roshi voice, but I also like Michael Donovan's...so Ian can voice him in the show, and Mike can play him in the movies!

Janyse Jaud as Blue Launch/Kathleen Barr as Blonde Launch, aka Lunch:

Yeah, she still lives at Kame House in this series. Unlike Toriyama, I'm not gonna forget she existed.

I imagine that Janyse's Launch would sound like a less sensual version of Miss Hinako from Ranma 1/2, while Kathleen Barr as Lunch would talk with a Brooklyn/Osaka accent.

Sonja Ball as Chi-Chi

Sonja Ball has had experience playing a mom character before; case in point, her work on Arthur as the voice of Jane Read, the title character's mom. And she can play characters who get pissed-off easily, as shown by her work on Samurai Pizza Cats as Polly Esther.

Peter Cullen as Kami and Sea Turtle:

Cullen voiced Princess Allura's guide, Coran, in the original 1984 version of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, so I could easily imagine Kami having a voice like that, and sounding like Bruce Banner in Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends as a younger Kami. Pete also voiced Eeyore the donkey, beginning in Disney's The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh (as well as many other projects afterwards), so naturally, that would be the voice for Sea Turtle.

Blu Mankuma as Mr. Popo

Frank Welker as Shenron, the Eternal Dragon

Michael Bell as Garlic Jr.

Don Brown as Emperor Pilaf (in Garlic Jr.'s flashbacks)

Bob McFadden (in one of his final roles) as Ginja

Michael Dobson as Nicky

Brian Dobson as Sansho

...and narrated by Robert Stack!

Though for the main series, Peter Cullen takes over as narrator. Stack, however, will return to narrate the Cell Sagas in his final role.

NOTE: Most of the dialogue for the characters is taken from the Japanese subtitles of Pioneer's Dead Zone release, while some is taken from the Ocean Dub's script for the movie.