I Wish . . .

A Dragonball Z Fan-Fiction

By Arthur E. King

Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Dragonball, or any of it's characters. I think we all know that. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfics for fun. I'd be doing it for a living, and it wouldn't be posted on ff.net. And if you think Hoshito is mine, you're right... Don't use him without my permission okay?




Author's Note: Now this story takes place one year after the defeat of Cell in the World's Martial Arts Competition. Oh yeah, by the way, if you don't like me, I've left my e-mail address, and ICQ number on my profile, so you can send flame's that way, try and keep the review section for just that, reviews. Thanks





Exactly as I imagined . . . Just a whole lot scarier. The sky was dark, almost black now, the thunder had begun to boom over the plains, and the seven orange balls he had gathered were beginning to glow. Even as he watched, the lightning flashed once more, now in time to the pulsing of the dragonballs.

Hoshito felt a shiver of fear slide up his spine, setting his teeth shattering once more. Get a grip on yourself Hoshito. It's what you've been waiting for, for nearly a decade now. Even as he watched, scared half to death, one final burst of light and sound appeared directly in front of him, far larger than the others.

As his senses returned, the first thing he noticed was the sheer enormity of the thing. Taller than any building he had ever seen, the dragons long sinewy form curled up into the sky. Green scales covered it's body, shimmering in the stormy un-light, and a huge ridge of spiny plates clung to his back, shining a pale yellow, like unbleached bone.

A bright red tongue slid snake-like from jaws filled with row upon row or razor-sharp teeth, which opened now to speak, "You have two wishes remaining, what shall they be?" Hoshito reached into his pocket with trembling hands, to retrieve the cue-cards, upon which he had written the exact words of the wish he had planned so long ago.

He still couldn't quite believe it though, after all this time, he was finally here, making his wish. It had been a year ago that the monster Cell menaced the earth, very nearly destroying it. I will not allow this to happen again...

His mouth was dry, he stammered, he couldn't see the words on the cards because of the light, he couldn't speak. Hoshito took a deep, calming breath and slowly let it out again. Look, you've gone over this a thousand times, just do it! Then in a voice surprisingly strong and clear he made his wish.

"I wish for you to return Mary to this plane of existence." His voice was death, lifeless, unemotional, the words only barely registering on his conscious mind.

"You wish cannot be granted. Mary died by her own hand, she does not wish to return. You have two wishes remaining, what shall they be?"

He stood there stunned, defeated, completely without hope. They told him it wouldn't work, but he couldn't listen now could he? He had to hear the words for himself, hear them shatter his ice-cold heart into a million pieces, to never be able to love, and therefore, be hurt, again. He let his head hang low, and a single tear fell unnoticed to the ground. Then with a still, brittle strength, he lifted his head, and read the second card, the one he never wanted to read.

"Then I wish to be transformed, so that I have all the physical and genetic abilities of every Saiyajinn or partial-Saiyajinn who has ever set foot upon this earth, while still retaining as much of my original DNA as possible." His heart was racing, just as much in anticipation as in fear.

He screamed. The pain was unimaginable, far worse than he had expected. He had muscles now, and they bulged, pulsing in time to the lighting which still periodically shot down from the black clouds. He could feel his lengthening spine stretching beyond his skin, shooting out and slowing covering itself with flesh, and fur, till it had become a proper tail.

"Your wish has been granted. You have one wish remaining. What shall it be? And hurry, I tire." The voice of the Eternal Dragon's was the voice of thunder, crashing through the sky, and then rolling down slowly upon the cowering mortal who stood, trembling no longer, beneath him.

Hoshito caught his breath after the exhilaration and pain of the transformation. He could feel the new power coursing through his veins, could feel it just below the surface of his consciousness, awaiting the command to surge forth and destroy.

He felt the third cue-card slip from his fingers, all but forgotten, after all, he did have the thing memorized years ago. He let his voice ring out with a new sense of self-confidence, a surety he hadn't had a moment ago.

"Great dragon, for my second wish I wish for knowledge. I wish that I had all the collected combative knowledge of every Saiyajinn and partial-Saiyajinn who has ever set foot upon this earth! Every being who has given me their poewr, now let them too give me the knowledge to control that power."

He screamed again. It was worse this time, this was in his mind, ripping his brain apart into it's component pieces, restructuring it into new pathways, and putting it all back together again, but somehow different...

"Your wish has been granted." Was all the great beast said, and disappeared in a flash of light, the dragonballs hurtling off to the four corners of the earth. And then, silence... It was over, done, complete. The silence was almost as deafening as the thunder had been a moment before, tense, an elastic waiting to snap.

Then a single, jubilant cry arose from the throat of one man, newborn to the world, newborn to Power.

Snap.

"Look Hoshito I wish I could help you, but you know I can't." This said by a tiny little bald man, in a high, wheezing voice as he opened the door to let his friend in.

"What's a matter, got a big date tonight?"

Krillin turned about suddenly, speaking in a screaming hiss of a whisper. "Who told you? How did you know?" His eyes wide, an expression of absolute terror on his face.

Hoshito managed to keep his face expressionless for a moment longer, then burst into sudden peals of laughter. "I couldn't help it Krillin, you're just too easy to read. The suit, the cologne, the head-wax. It's that girl again isn't it? That Android? I'm right aren't I?"

Try as he might Hoshito couldn't keep the smile out of his voice, it was good to see Krillin going out again. He had been devastated after Maron left, and just wasn't the same after Cell was defeated. Personally, Hoshito thought it was the realization that he was pretty much useless now that got to him.

Always before he had been able to make some difference, but the Saiyajinns had gone so far beyond him that he was like a fly now. Even his girlfriend was more powerful than he was, which was actually quite distressing. To know that he was actually doing something again was a relief.

"Look, we've been friends for what, ten years now? I'd train you any other time, but not today. She's special this one, she might just be the one." As he was saying this, Krillin was busy grooming himself, making sure his suit wasn't wrinkled, straightening his tie.

"Yeah, I know what that's like. But today's different. You've been training me for what, ten years now? Ever since I saw you in that tournament, and found out how powerful you were." They both smiled a bit at that one. Almost Ironic. "Well today I think I might be able to beat you finally."

"Yeah sure, you probably couldn't beat Yajirobe, and that's if he had one arm tied behind his back."

"Yeah well take a little closer look."

Krillin turned around slowly, his forehead crinkling up in confusion. "What!" He exclaimed a moment after he laid his eyes on my tail. I had only recently let it unfurl from underneath the long coat I had worn specifically for this occasion.

"Bu- bu- bu- But ho- how?" He stammered.

"You remember the dragonballs right? Well I made a wish."

"So you're..."

"Saiyajinn? That's right. Only problem is I'm a little unfamiliar with the new body. Think you could help me test it out?"

If he was a little less familiar with the workings of the dragonballs and of the Saiyajinn race, Krillin probably would have fainted right then. As it was he merely stopped trying to speak, and nodded his agreement.

"Thanks, tomorrow morning then? I got a few other things I want to take care of tonight."

"Sure. See ya later then..." He finally managed a normal sentence.

"Sure. Later"

"Thanks Dr. Briefs. I really appreciate you doing this for me."

"Oh no problem at all son. I needed something to keep me busy anyways." Even as he spoke he had already begun to doodle on the nearest available scrap of paper, designing the new shuttle-pod I had requested.

"Thanks again. Don't forget to add the other training equipment, as well as that gravity device."

"Oh sure, sure. Although why you want this thing to be able to go that high I'll never understand."

"Well it's just a precaution."

"Alright, but I should warn you that gravity this high could kill you quite easily." He absent-mindedly patted his ever-present kitty a little too hard, squishing the cat into the table. "Squish you flatter than a pancake."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful. Thanks again. About when will it be ready?"

"Oh about three weeks should be enough. Unless I get distracted." Okay, about a month and a half then.

"Okay then, I'll see you then." Even as I waved good-bye I was already walking away our the door, making the mental calculations as to just how good I can become in a month and a half.

I let a wry smile slip onto my lips, and got back in my car, knowing that in only a little while, I'd never need a car again. I'd say pretty darn good.

I dodged the last beam, and deflected the next before it even came close, anticipating the action reflexively. Then turned around to block to kick I knew was coming. Krillin was becoming depressingly predictable.

Even as I blocked the kick, I had already begun the down-swing that would cut off the counter-punch, while slamming fist-first into Krillin's chest. I made a mental note to make sure to pull the punch a bit.

I had been having to do that a lot lately, if I didn't, I ran the risk of really hurting him like he had two weeks ago. If it hadn't have been for the regeneration chamber, Krillin could have been seriously hurt.

Even as all this went through my mind I pushed forward, dodging yet another energy blast, then did a backwards somersault, spun around and kicked Krillin into the nearest mountain.

Thankfully, the kick wasn't hard enough to shove him through the mountain, just enough to whack him into it and stun him a bit. Man, I'm gettin' a lot better at judging these things. Not last week I probably would have at least shoved him straight through and out the other side.

"I think that's enough for today. You're starting to get tired."

Krillin smiled back, trying to extricate himself from the mountainside. "Yeah, you're gettin' too fast for me."

"Nah, that couldn't be it. I'm not getting any faster, you're just getting slower in your old age." We both laughed at that, knowing full well that I was two years older than he was.

"Look, I'm gonna be going now for a while. I got Bulma's father to build me a space ship, and I thought I'd see the stars."

"Really? Well who's gonna take care of you up there? You got some other training partner I don't know about?"

"Nah. You know you're the only one for me." I took his hand and pulled him out of the mountain, then gave his bald head a noogie and smiled. "I just gotta take care of some things, okay?"

"Sure. Just don't forget about me when you're big and famous okay?"

"Never! I always make sure to remember the little people I crushed on my way up!"

"Yeah right."

"Don't worry so much, you'll give yourself wrinkles. And that girlfriend of yours won't want to date a man with wrinkles you know."

"Hey! You leave her outta this!" This said as he mock punched me. He automatically reversed his position on the subject though, "You really think she'll care if I get wrinkles?" Worrier.

"Don't worry so much man. She's got the hots for you. I wouldn't be surprised if she said yes tomorrow. That's assuming you ask her tonight." Not very likely that.

"Yeah, well you better be right about that. Or else I won't hold back next time."

"Sure Krillin." An indulgent smile on my face. "See ya later." After that I flew off without so much as a glance back to see the expression on his face. I really am getting good at judging these things...

Perfect.

I was looking at the planet below. Breathable atmosphere, no life, or no sentient life at least, perfect. I wouldn't want to destroy anything sentient, now would I?

I could feel my heart racing. I had been training in the steadily increasing the gravity of this ship, looking for just such a planet. I had checked out so many so far, but none of them were quite right. Either I couldn't breath the air, there was sentient life, or something else made them somehow wrong.

But now it was here. The moment I had been waiting for, for so very, very long. The first time I could truly test my new powers.

I keyed in the landing sequence after selecting a likely site. As the ship descended I turned the Gravity machine off from the 200 g's I had been training at, to normal gravity again. Don't want to be too worked up when I get down there.

Finally, the pod set down on the surface of the planet, and I opened the hatch. As I stepped down, I was surprised by just how light I felt. I looked back, then gave a resigned huff, closing the hatch, and locking the ship up tight.

After that, I picked a direction, and just flew. Wouldn't want to be too close to that thing, just incase... Don't want to destroy my only way of getting back to Earth.

It took a while, even at top speed, to get far enough away that I could consider the vehicle safe. About halfway around the planet... With that, I took one deep breath, let it slip out slowly, and prepared myself for what I was about to do.

The ultimate test of the dragonballs. Now we're going to see if those things did their work, or if it was all just show.

And with that, I gathered my energy, focussed it, brought forth my borrowed knowledge, gave it form and function, and sent it forth. A ball of pure white light leapt forth from my palms and into the sky. It climbed high, then slowed down, just sitting there, waiting.

I looked closely at it. I could feel the changes taking place already, first was the energy, I could feel it swelling within me. It was almost as if it was too much for this body to handle. Then came the fury. Undirected, unlimited rage. Taking over my mind, blocking my vision, while keeping only the barest minimum of control.

It was almost as if I was looking through someone else's eyes, like my body was a window and I had taken a step back. I could feel the changes taking place, and couldn't do anything to stop them. My body swelled with the energy, growing to encompass more.

As it did so, I could feel hair growing all over my body, my face changing shape, growing into something more, something different.

There was surprisingly little pain though. Far less than when the dragonballs changed me. It was almost as if this was who I was, what I was meant to be, so why should it hurt me to become what I already was?

That was very nearly my last conscious thought for a very long time afterwards. Looking back I can still recall bits and pieces of what happened, but only fragments, and it made very little sense.

Eventually though, I became more conscious of what I was, what I was doing, and why. Finally, a long time later, I regained control of my body, and as I did, I took a new look around in this shape. It had been a very long time I knew.

The pale light of the tiny ball of energy still hung above me, though a great deal dimmer now. It had begun to lose it's power, which was probably half the reason why I had regained consciousness. Then as it finally winked out, my last thought was of Krillin, thankful that I had the common sense to do this here.

I wouldn't want to destroy my only means of friendship now would I?