Author's Note: This first chapter is going to be very dry. The next one, when we start seeing some actual dialogue and things get explained, will be much better. I apologize for the need for this chapter but some things just have to be done. Anything in italics is Inrandel's thought.

As I'm sure you know, high school can be a real bitch. Sure it's fun, but man! Peer pressure, drugs, ideal images, not to mention a load of work. Place that on top of having glasses, being overweight, being eccentric, and being awkward in social situations, and you spell disaster.

Of course, none of this really bothered our hero much. He didn't much care for what anyone else said, and this probably saved him quite a bit of torment. Infact, his frank nature (and a certain skill in the martial arts) elevated him above the common nerd into a sort of middle ground.

I should probably mention his name. Kevin. It's an uninspiring name to say the least, especially since his last name was Johnson. What good could this person be, you might ask, in saving the universe a few dozen times? Well, nothing in his current state I must admit. But his current state would soon change.

Kevin was born on the 14th day of the 2nd month in the 86th year of the 20th century. For all of you who can't follow, February 14th, 1986. It was, indeed, on February 14th of 2003 that this adventure started. On that day he awoke early, which was rather odd to begin with, and couldn't go back to sleep, no matter how hard he tried. Kevin glanced at his clock, 4:45. What the hell?

After a good 15 minutes of repeated failures, Kevin finally gave into the inevitable and got up. Walking over to his dresser he pulled out the nearest clothes and walked into the bathroom, the daily cleansing to commence.

Afterwards he ate some breakfast and tried to watch T.V.. Kevin couldn't seem to shake a feeling of anxiousness that was pervading his entire morning, or a feeling of almost boundless energy. Even trying to catch his pet greyhound in the backyard for an hour didn't calm him down one bit, though it did give him a voracious appetite.

After eating a second breakfast, Kevin opted out of waking his father up to drive him to school and instead decided to walk. Walking was replaced, however, by running in very short order. A 30 minute walk turned into a 5 minute run, with a 30 lb pack on Kevin's back. By the time he reached the school he hadn't even broken a sweat, he was early, and really energetic.

Unfortunately, schools don't provide an egress for anything other than mental energy. While this did provide a good side-track for Kevin, it didn't help is pre-occupation, especially the several free periods he had. He couldn't quite explain it, but on some deep level he felt different. As if things weren't bad enough, he was getting a bad pain in the small of his back he couldn't seem to get rid of.

5th hour brought lunch, or rather, several lunches. The teen couldn't remember ever being so hungry, especially after sitting in school all day. 8th hour brought on Phys. Ed., an unusually welcome egress for Kevin's growing outpour of energy. The usual five minute warm-up jog wasn't long enough, and the odd stares he was getting from the assembled mass of people used to watching him trot along didn't aide him much either. The sport of the day was basketball, and surprisingly Kevin didn't seem to get winded by the repetitive trips to either side of the court. Perhaps more surprisingly, an attempted long-shot by Kevin had enough velocity to not only reach the other side of the court, but rebound with a righteous force off the backboard and collide into an unfortunate freshman five feet in front of Kevin.

None of this would have overly worried Kevin any if he hadn't noticed a rather startling fact when getting changed back into regular clothes after gym. His pants, which that morning had had a comfortable fit, could would not slip straight off if it weren't for the belt that was now almost too large.

Only one more period to go. It was a lab period that day. He had never been particularly lucky with lab equipment. Unfortunately, not even today's events could change that. Picking up a glass pipette, Kevin accidentally lifted way too fast. The plunger went backwards over his head, coming down almost right behind him. In one hand the pipette, in the other a beaker of catalase. Kevin swung about in an attempt to do something about the plunger, and much to the surprise of everyone involved, found his foot extended out with the plunger resting in the crease of his sneaker.

Weird.

It didn't end there. Finally being able to leave school for a well-deserved Friday, Kevin was met by a friend of his, Jim, coming towards him on the sidewalk of the school, while walking towards the street and home. Putting up his hand for a high-five, Kevin delivered. Unfortunately, what he had intended as a high-five ended up having enough force to knock Jim squarely on his back.

"Damnit man! What the hell was that for Dogg?" Jim attempted to get up but laid back down again. Carefully, Kevin reached a hand down and pulled him back up, careful not to exert any more power than need be.

"I'm sorry bro, I don't know what's happening with me today. I'm really sorry man, you alright? I can help you to the nurse or something?"

"Nah, it's cool. I'll let it go this time, since it's your birthday and all. Peace out, K-Dogg!"

Kevin, bewildered, walked off towards the street. The last act in the drama of the day was about to begin. As he approached the cross-walk he watched as kids went across, and the crossing guard chatted amiably with the students as they walked by her. He also noticed the black truck not heeding the red-light and the traffic guard, and the girl that was about to be hit. He still isn't sure exactly why he did so, but he started to run out to the girl, trying to knock her out of the way, or something. Whatever the reason was, he knew he had to do something.

Much to the shock of everyone involved, Kevin crossed that street faster than many cars can drive.

"Are you --- alright?" Kevin was panting, the car had screamed by and then stopped short, everyone was staring at him. It was at that point that he realized he wasn't seeing clearly, it was as if this cascading green light had pervaded his vision, and his entire body felt as if it was being ripped apart by pain, such incredible pain. The girl was running away, people were screaming, he didn't care, all he did was cry out with all the pain and anguish of a body being torn apart on the inside. Windows cracked and his fits were breaking things. He tried to move but only catapulted himself into a wall, he swung his fist around and sent a bench into orbit, he then started racing straight into the sky, then sideways, in a twisted dance above Main Street.

But through out this entire experience, one sensation would always remain with him. The pain in the small of his back was the worst. He could feel his skin ripping and something happening, almost like he was conscious of a new extension of his body.

***

He was not the only observer. In a place far removed from Time and Space, a being in glimmering armour with bright, ethereal blue wings, a hooded face, and a flaming sword sheathed at his side watched the same orb as a council of Powers that sat in a great hall.

"I apologize, my Lords, my did not expect his awakening this soon." The Angel's deep voice resounded across the chamber. While reverent, it spoke of great power and demanded deep respect.

"We do not blame you, Tyrael, things have happened which even we could not foresee." The assembled council spoke with one voice, one purpose, and seemed to make the voice of Tyrael seem as a child's. "You shall go to him now, and make sure that his metamorphosis is not interrupted."

"Very well."

***

The pain in Kevin's body had not yet gone away when a new one came into being. He felt as though he was being torn into countless pieces and then being reassembled. He would later be told that it was not normally this painful, but the added stress of his body changing had put a great strain on Tyrael's ability to cross them.

"Inrandel!", a deep voice rang out, "Submit yourself! Do not fight it! It will tear you apart!" Tyrael tried to approach Kevin, but was only repelled by a shimmering green wall of force. Later, Inrandel would learn that his subconscious had protected the bubble as a means of protection. It would be useful later on.

Drawing his sword, Tyrael struck at the shield. He knew that for only so long would he be more powerful than the writhing boy he had brought to this place of non-existence. He had to reach him, had to help him fight the metamorphosis. Tyrael knew only too well what would happen if Inrandel destroyed himself, he would take the universe with him.

Tyrael, fought back, tried a different approach. Murmuring holy words of power, he again lifted his sword. A single point of light struck off its tip and spread through the plane, dissolving Inrandel's bubble. He raced to the troubled boy and laid his hands on his back.

***

The next thing Kevin remembered was a white light. He was lying facedown on a bed. His first instinct was to go back to sleep, but with a shock as if from lightning reality came screaming back to him. As far as he could see, he was dressed in a white tunic with loose, white pants. He tried to roll over and several things happened. He first came into the realization that there was a thing attached to his back which wouldn't let him roll over. Almost immediately after this sensation was the sensation of being catapulted out of the bed and into the adjoining wall. Further attempts to stabilize himself merely resulted in him floating several feet above the ground and his giving up on ever regaining muscle control.

Kevin was scared, very, very scared. The night before he had gone to bed looking forward to a Friday afternoon of relaxation, followed by winter break. Now he had been ripped from his own reality and brought here, to what end he knew not.

He felt someone approaching and attempted to stiffen up. Other than hurting himself, he achieved little. A door appeared out of nowhere and Tyrael stepped through, wings folded in a little.

"You will come with me. Do not try to walk, you will be guided for now."

Kevin felt himself become righted, and then pushed as if by some invisible forth along a long corridor which culminated in two, high, gold doors.

"You have been granted a most rare honour. You will receive an audience with the Powers Eternal That Are. They each represent a verse in this repetition. At times there have only been one, at times many. Never quite as many as this, I'm afraid, but that's why you were brought here I suppose. My own powers are not quite enough anymore. If not for certain instabilities, I would be replaced."

Kevin attempted to speak but found he could not move a muscle in his body. Infact, he wasn't even aware of his own heartbeat anymore, or his own breathing.

"Do not be alarmed. It is for your own good. Until you can come to terms with your new self, you're more a danger than anything else. We cannot have you bursting your own heart."

Great. Kevin really disliked this idea.

They approached the two doors, and they opened swiftly, yet silently, revealing a grand chamber composed seemingly of nothing but soft, white light. Before Kevin sitting on a high dais set as a semi-circle, sat countless beings. They were all different in some way, but they all shared the same basic features. Humanoid bodies coloured blue with gold streaks and gold hair. In the middle sat one, larger than the rest, and more prominent, seemingly without any oddities. Had Kevin been more alert, he would have noticed beings winking into and out of existence at either end of the semi-circle.

Thousands of voices invaded Kevin's mind at once, speaking in unison.

"We are the Powers Eternal That Are. We have ruled this multiverse in one form or another for infinity. Each one of us represents our own verse." Only one voice remained now. "I represent your verse. You are the original, the base, the only. For eons of repetitions our verse was the only one. However, entropy cannot be avoided for ever. I'm sure by now you've heard of what humans called the Big Bang and the Big Crunch. They are not very far off. There have been countless multiverses. Unfortunately, each Big Bang is less stable than the last. For eons the number of parallel verses has been steadily increasing, each new one more unstable than the last. We need the energy to bring them back together. You know that the only way one thing can gain energy is if another loses it. We must find that source! Your mission is imperative! You must find this source of power.

"But your mission will not be that simple. The chaos that spawned our numbers has spawned an evil being. He has many agents, and will seek to stop you and bring discord to the many verses. You see, when you find that source of power, you will bring all the verses together, and they must be intact. You will face many enemies, Inrandel Strongblade."

My name, is Kevin.

The voices returned in unison again.

"Of course, Warrior. It is time that we told you of your history. By all rights, you should be dead. You are not from the first verse, where your Earth is located, but from one spawned from the Chaos. You are certainly familiar with the third verse? Yes, of course. You were born on the planet Vegeta to two saiyan parents. You were removed from your mother's womb after 24 weeks. Your mother, Alira, and father, Halnos, both died when Frieza destroyed Vegeta. Your family were Lords under the King. With your father's death, you became the Prince of a large province, the province of Albadra. You were placed in the care of two foster parents, the ones you live with now, who's natural child had died moments before in the womb.

"You were preserved because you are the Chosen One. You alone have the power to bring the Chaos to an end. You alone can wage the war that is about to be brought upon all life in the multiverse. You cannot fail.

"We here have been given a great opportunity. All of the good things that come about because of the Chaos can be integrated into the Stability. We can create a new repetition. You have the power to create something incredibly good!"

Only one voice remained this time.

"And you must not fail."

There's no place like home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home!

"Tyrael will be your link to us. You will receive your assignments from him."

Inrandel's vision faded, and he felt himself become sleepy, so sleepy.

Author's Note: For all of you who are wondering what just happened, I'll explain. Kevin turns into a saiyan in this chapter and a brief overview of his past is revealed to him. You may be wondering what the green light is, that's his power-up so to speak. Recall glowy stuff around saiyans and everyone else when they were powering up? Same stuff. Later I'll say that it is, indeed, escaped energy from the effects of powering up, such as energy can escape in the form of heat during chemical reactions.

The reason he was thrashing about all the time is because he is in a new, very strong, body. The rest of the Z-Fighters gradually rose in power, so they had time to get used to the minor changes. Inrandel doesn't have this advantage, so his movements are naturally going to be jerky. Imagine going from a Sedan all of your life to driving a Gundam, same deal.

The rest is stuff I'll leave to your own speculations…