Author's Note:
So far, so good... Quinn's got something for Vegeta, even if she doesn't know it yet (evil grin). By the way, Quinn is in her early twenties. I'm not sure if Gohan has a really big crush on her, but he's probably at least ten years younger than her. These characters are acting by themselves and I'm just doing my best to make them end up where I want them to.
--Quinn
__________________________________________________
When I came to, I was on the ship heading home. I looked around. I was on a small bed in a cabin, and I could see the stars zooming past the porthole. I got up slowly, hoping that my brain wouldn't protest. After steadying myself on my feet I made my way over to the porthole, feeling the ship hum beneath my feet.
"What have you gotten yourself into, Quinn?" I murmured to myself as I watched us fly through space. Taking a deep breath, I smoothed down my robe I turned and walked out of the room, the door whooshing shut behind me.
I looked around. The ship didn't look the way I remembered it... or at least no like I thought I remembered it. Bulma must've modified it a little. My eyes darted around... okay, scratch that. Bulma must've modified it a lot. It seemed more like a huge starship now. I sighed. Speaking of people... some human company would be nice.
I could hear the ship's engine droning as I wandered down the huge corridor, my sandals padding across the thin carpet. Hearing noises coming further down, I followed my ears and ended up in front of a large reinforced door. Peering through the double glazed porthole into the room beyond, I saw Goku and Gohan floating in mid-air in a large dome-shaped area.
'This must be the gravity chamber,' I thought, remembering an episode about Goku's trip to Namek.
"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" A huge beam shot out of Goku's hand, and I watched Gohan expertly flip to avoid it as it impacted the side of the gravity chamber.
"Whoa," I mumbled, as I watched them continue to spar, dodging each other's attacks. After about twenty minutes I started to get bored. Goku and Gohan were in front of each other delivering and blocking a flurry of attacks that I couldn't even see. Sighing, I headed back down the corridor. Maybe Bulma would be better company.
'Or maybe not,' I thought fifteen minutes later. I had found Bulma in the cockpit, working on a few experimental robots. She seemed engrossed with her work, flitting around the room with tools and spare parts while chatting cheerfully to me about Kami knows what.
"…So if you de-fragmentize the main processing unit, it would be able to compute the flight pattern to an nth degree, considering of course the constant error value of random possibilities."
I blinked, and then I blinked again. I could handle maths, hell, I passed calculus years ago, but what language was this girl speaking?
"So are you feeling better?" Bulma's voice floated into my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, much better. Though I don't know what I'm going to do now." I looked down and fiddled with the sash of my robe.
"Oh, that's okay. Once we get back to Chikyuu you can stay at Capsule Corporation until you figure things out." Bulma walked over, pulling off her gloves. Her clean hands contrasted with the dark oil on her overalls. She smiled at me, dimples forming in her grease-stained cheek.
"Thanks," I smiled, "That really means a lot to me."
"Oh, it's nothing, Capsule Corporation is huge. Another occupant won't change much." Bulma turned to the computer and began calculating something to do with schematics and flight projection. I decided to leave while my brain still functioned.
"Um, I'll just go see what Goku and Gohan are doing." I began to back out of the room.
"Okay." Bulma didn't turn around, apparently already engrossed in her calculations.
I exhaled loudly as the door whooshed shut behind me. After pausing for a few seconds, I headed back down the corridor towards the gravity chamber.
The door was open when I arrived. Apparently Goku and Gohan had finished training and went to cool down somewhere. I entered the room, my footsteps echoing in the large metallic dome. The chamber was pretty big, but I guess it had to be to accommodate Saiyan training. I smiled to myself, wandering over to the middle where the central control column stood. I looked around, making sure I was alone. Then, shutting my eyes, I began to do my own training... trying to stretch my stiff body.
My mind ran free as I moved my body. All the thoughts that had been pushed back during the days before surfaced like bubbles in calm water. How did I get here? How was I going to get back? What was this reality? Was it even real at all? What happened to my world? The thoughts began to flow faster and my movements quickened accordingly. Then my thoughts turned to these people, these characters from a cartoon show, one which I was now a part of. These warriors, these Saiyans, were they real now? Vegeta, their prince, I had actually met him. Is he really as arrogant as Bulma says? I remembered his eyes, they were proud, yes, but there was something else there. Something I couldn't put my finger on. I saw it when he recognized me down in the crater. It was an emotion, a feeling; one which I was now feeling. One that was now pulsating in my brain, with each beat getting stronger. The look in his eyes flashed in my mind again. What was happening to me?
I stopped suddenly, gasping for breath, my eyes still shut and my arms hanging lifelessly by my sides. My heart was pounding in my ears again. Gulping back a breath, I buried my face in my hands, trying to slow down my mind.
"Are you okay?" I jerked my head up. Goku was standing by the door, looking at me worriedly.
"I-I'm fine," I said, bending my head back down, "Just a little woozy." I looked back up at him, managing a weak smile.
"I dunno, you seemed pretty agitated before you stopped." He walked over to me.
I sighed and looked back down. "Yeah, well, I guess I have a lot to think about."
I took a shaky breath and carefully sat down on the floor of the chamber.
"I'll bet you do," said Goku, sitting down next to me. There was a long pause. "So what was that you were doing before?"
I looked at Goku, "Just some stretches I made up myself. They help me think straight."
There was another pause. "So do you really think Freeza's coming back?" asked Goku.
"I don't really know, but there is a chance."
"Well if he does show up, you can zap him with your laser beam again."
I smiled at Goku, then turned away. "I don't even know how I did that. I've never been able to do that in my world."
"Really? Warriors do it all the time round here."
"Am I a warrior?" I looked at Goku, unsure of his statement.
"You seemed trained enough, and that beam must have been really powerful to be able to get rid of Freeza."
"I've never trained to become a warrior."
"It's not really hard, I could teach you a little."
I looked at him incredulously. "You're a Saiyan, you're a born warrior."
"But humans can do many things too," he assured me, "At least let me show you some moves." He got up, offering me a hand.
I thought for a second, but then decided that it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. It might actually help if I was to survive in this reality. I took his hand and he pulled me up.
"Okay, let's start with the basic moves." Goku got into a ready stance, and I mimicked him.
We went through somersaults and flips to kicks and punches. He taught me how to anticipate an attack from a Saiyan, which was different. Saiyans attack with a passion, with a hunger for the kill, yet without a loss or sacrifice of technique. I was told how to modify my defence to deflect or dodge Saiyan punches and kicks, as the simple forearm block would probably end with a broken arm for me. My blows would have to be harder and well placed, as Saiyans don't bruise much less break easily.
"Thanks," I murmured, as the training session ended. "Why are you telling me this?"
"You never know when you might have to fight a Saiyan," he answered, looking very serious.
"Well, I hope I won't be here long enough to start a fight with one of your kind," I answered sincerely.
"I dunno. The rest of my kind is usually very easy to aggravate." He smiled.
I smiled back as we headed towards the door. "I'll keep that in mind if I run into another Saiyan." Suddenly, my thoughts returned to Vegeta, the other Saiyan. Before I could stop myself, the same feeling started to throb in my brain, my breathing became ragged. I stumbled and Goku caught me before I fell.
"Whoa, you'd better get some rest."
I pulled myself out of his grip. "No, I'll be fine," I insisted, walking out the door before he could stop me.
__________________________________________________
Next chapter: Shen Long.
So far, so good... Quinn's got something for Vegeta, even if she doesn't know it yet (evil grin). By the way, Quinn is in her early twenties. I'm not sure if Gohan has a really big crush on her, but he's probably at least ten years younger than her. These characters are acting by themselves and I'm just doing my best to make them end up where I want them to.
--Quinn
__________________________________________________
When I came to, I was on the ship heading home. I looked around. I was on a small bed in a cabin, and I could see the stars zooming past the porthole. I got up slowly, hoping that my brain wouldn't protest. After steadying myself on my feet I made my way over to the porthole, feeling the ship hum beneath my feet.
"What have you gotten yourself into, Quinn?" I murmured to myself as I watched us fly through space. Taking a deep breath, I smoothed down my robe I turned and walked out of the room, the door whooshing shut behind me.
I looked around. The ship didn't look the way I remembered it... or at least no like I thought I remembered it. Bulma must've modified it a little. My eyes darted around... okay, scratch that. Bulma must've modified it a lot. It seemed more like a huge starship now. I sighed. Speaking of people... some human company would be nice.
I could hear the ship's engine droning as I wandered down the huge corridor, my sandals padding across the thin carpet. Hearing noises coming further down, I followed my ears and ended up in front of a large reinforced door. Peering through the double glazed porthole into the room beyond, I saw Goku and Gohan floating in mid-air in a large dome-shaped area.
'This must be the gravity chamber,' I thought, remembering an episode about Goku's trip to Namek.
"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" A huge beam shot out of Goku's hand, and I watched Gohan expertly flip to avoid it as it impacted the side of the gravity chamber.
"Whoa," I mumbled, as I watched them continue to spar, dodging each other's attacks. After about twenty minutes I started to get bored. Goku and Gohan were in front of each other delivering and blocking a flurry of attacks that I couldn't even see. Sighing, I headed back down the corridor. Maybe Bulma would be better company.
'Or maybe not,' I thought fifteen minutes later. I had found Bulma in the cockpit, working on a few experimental robots. She seemed engrossed with her work, flitting around the room with tools and spare parts while chatting cheerfully to me about Kami knows what.
"…So if you de-fragmentize the main processing unit, it would be able to compute the flight pattern to an nth degree, considering of course the constant error value of random possibilities."
I blinked, and then I blinked again. I could handle maths, hell, I passed calculus years ago, but what language was this girl speaking?
"So are you feeling better?" Bulma's voice floated into my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, much better. Though I don't know what I'm going to do now." I looked down and fiddled with the sash of my robe.
"Oh, that's okay. Once we get back to Chikyuu you can stay at Capsule Corporation until you figure things out." Bulma walked over, pulling off her gloves. Her clean hands contrasted with the dark oil on her overalls. She smiled at me, dimples forming in her grease-stained cheek.
"Thanks," I smiled, "That really means a lot to me."
"Oh, it's nothing, Capsule Corporation is huge. Another occupant won't change much." Bulma turned to the computer and began calculating something to do with schematics and flight projection. I decided to leave while my brain still functioned.
"Um, I'll just go see what Goku and Gohan are doing." I began to back out of the room.
"Okay." Bulma didn't turn around, apparently already engrossed in her calculations.
I exhaled loudly as the door whooshed shut behind me. After pausing for a few seconds, I headed back down the corridor towards the gravity chamber.
The door was open when I arrived. Apparently Goku and Gohan had finished training and went to cool down somewhere. I entered the room, my footsteps echoing in the large metallic dome. The chamber was pretty big, but I guess it had to be to accommodate Saiyan training. I smiled to myself, wandering over to the middle where the central control column stood. I looked around, making sure I was alone. Then, shutting my eyes, I began to do my own training... trying to stretch my stiff body.
My mind ran free as I moved my body. All the thoughts that had been pushed back during the days before surfaced like bubbles in calm water. How did I get here? How was I going to get back? What was this reality? Was it even real at all? What happened to my world? The thoughts began to flow faster and my movements quickened accordingly. Then my thoughts turned to these people, these characters from a cartoon show, one which I was now a part of. These warriors, these Saiyans, were they real now? Vegeta, their prince, I had actually met him. Is he really as arrogant as Bulma says? I remembered his eyes, they were proud, yes, but there was something else there. Something I couldn't put my finger on. I saw it when he recognized me down in the crater. It was an emotion, a feeling; one which I was now feeling. One that was now pulsating in my brain, with each beat getting stronger. The look in his eyes flashed in my mind again. What was happening to me?
I stopped suddenly, gasping for breath, my eyes still shut and my arms hanging lifelessly by my sides. My heart was pounding in my ears again. Gulping back a breath, I buried my face in my hands, trying to slow down my mind.
"Are you okay?" I jerked my head up. Goku was standing by the door, looking at me worriedly.
"I-I'm fine," I said, bending my head back down, "Just a little woozy." I looked back up at him, managing a weak smile.
"I dunno, you seemed pretty agitated before you stopped." He walked over to me.
I sighed and looked back down. "Yeah, well, I guess I have a lot to think about."
I took a shaky breath and carefully sat down on the floor of the chamber.
"I'll bet you do," said Goku, sitting down next to me. There was a long pause. "So what was that you were doing before?"
I looked at Goku, "Just some stretches I made up myself. They help me think straight."
There was another pause. "So do you really think Freeza's coming back?" asked Goku.
"I don't really know, but there is a chance."
"Well if he does show up, you can zap him with your laser beam again."
I smiled at Goku, then turned away. "I don't even know how I did that. I've never been able to do that in my world."
"Really? Warriors do it all the time round here."
"Am I a warrior?" I looked at Goku, unsure of his statement.
"You seemed trained enough, and that beam must have been really powerful to be able to get rid of Freeza."
"I've never trained to become a warrior."
"It's not really hard, I could teach you a little."
I looked at him incredulously. "You're a Saiyan, you're a born warrior."
"But humans can do many things too," he assured me, "At least let me show you some moves." He got up, offering me a hand.
I thought for a second, but then decided that it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. It might actually help if I was to survive in this reality. I took his hand and he pulled me up.
"Okay, let's start with the basic moves." Goku got into a ready stance, and I mimicked him.
We went through somersaults and flips to kicks and punches. He taught me how to anticipate an attack from a Saiyan, which was different. Saiyans attack with a passion, with a hunger for the kill, yet without a loss or sacrifice of technique. I was told how to modify my defence to deflect or dodge Saiyan punches and kicks, as the simple forearm block would probably end with a broken arm for me. My blows would have to be harder and well placed, as Saiyans don't bruise much less break easily.
"Thanks," I murmured, as the training session ended. "Why are you telling me this?"
"You never know when you might have to fight a Saiyan," he answered, looking very serious.
"Well, I hope I won't be here long enough to start a fight with one of your kind," I answered sincerely.
"I dunno. The rest of my kind is usually very easy to aggravate." He smiled.
I smiled back as we headed towards the door. "I'll keep that in mind if I run into another Saiyan." Suddenly, my thoughts returned to Vegeta, the other Saiyan. Before I could stop myself, the same feeling started to throb in my brain, my breathing became ragged. I stumbled and Goku caught me before I fell.
"Whoa, you'd better get some rest."
I pulled myself out of his grip. "No, I'll be fine," I insisted, walking out the door before he could stop me.
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Next chapter: Shen Long.