Authors Note: This will probably be the only chapter that I'll be using an episode from the Trunks Saga. After this chapter, everything will be completely changed when my two characters drop by. I might add a few more, but just wait!
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ!! Wahhhhh!!
Alteration
Chapter Two
"Kaaa…meee….haaa…meee.…HAAAAA!!!!"
A rocket of energy skimmed over the ocean's surface, causing the waters to dip in its wake. The source of the practice attack was a short, bald man, who had been wearing an orange gi, and stood in ankle-deep ocean water on the beach of a small island. His name was Krillin, a monk-turned-fighter since training under Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit. After his trip and death on Namek, which the tyrant Frieza had killed him, then was revived by the dragonballs by his friends and later had to fight Garlic Jr. and his lackeys, he was determined to improve his training. He wanted to be ready for his best friend, Goku, to return. Everyone thought he had vanished along with Planet Namek, when it exploded, after his battle with Frieza. Shenlon, the dragon from Earth's dragonballs, proved them all wrong when they tried to wish him back to life, but discovered that he was still alive.
It's been a year and a half since Goku's absence and almost that same amount of time Krillin had used for his training, if not anything else. He no longer had Maron to raise his spirits, since they had broken up. He believed it was for the best though. Now he had been training at the Kame House with his former teacher in hopes that he could become as strong as Goku.
He watched his attack slice through ocean and smiled in self-pride. "Oooh yea," Krillin chuckled.
"Look out below!" Turtle warned, jumping up in the air. Krillin gave him a confused look. "Ahh! Tidal wave!"
Krillin turned and noticed a rather large wave towering over the tiny island he was on. "Yikes!" The waves crashed down with brutal force and swallowed the entire island, including Krillin, Turtle, and Master Roshi. It quickly calmed and lowered back down to normal sea level, leaving the island and its occupants unmoved, surprisingly. Krillin was still standing in the same spot as before and he grimaced at the after work of his attack. Still not good enough, he scolded himself mentally.
A few yards away, Roshi was sprawled on a beach chair, now covered with seaweed; his porn magazine lay drenched on the ground beside him. He sat up after the wave had passed and looked over at where Krillin had been training for the past couple hours. "Mmm…he's been so serious since he broke up with Maron," he commented.
"No way…that won't cut it. Yeah…I gotta turn it up a notch," Krillin continued to lecture himself.
Roshi bent down and picked up his magazine from the ground and started to brush it off. "You know, I bet I can teach Krillin a thing or two about getting along with the ladies," he suggested in a conniving tone.
Turtle lifted his head from the ground and looked up at the old man. "Getting them mad, you mean," he corrected. Roshi sweat-dropped as he bouced up in the air in discountenance and eventually fell over.
Meanwhile, Krillin gazed up to the sky, his mind wandering elsewhere as he thought when his friend would return. I know you'll be back someday, Goku. And whatever it is you're called to do, I'll be here to help. I'll be ready, he promised.
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CRASH!!!
A Capsule Corp ship collided onto the ground, creating a rather large crater on impact, just behind the Capsule Corporation building. A cloud a dust billowed out from the ship after its unceremonious landing and traveled between the crevices of the CC buildings. In the midst of the clouds of dirt, Bulma's mother stood with a tray equipped with a pot of tea and a few cups atop it.
"Oh, I didn't know we had any guests dropping by. Goodness! I definitely need to put on another pot of tea," Bulma's mother said in her normal, cheery voice that went along with how much of a blonde ditz she was.
A metallic ramp lowered to the ground on one side of the ship just when Yamcha, Puar, and Bulma ran out of the CC home to see what the loud crash had been caused by. Yamcha quickly placed himself in front of Bulma's mother and prepared himself to fight whoever was in the ship. He watched as the door slid open on the spacecraft, followed by Vegeta, the Saiya-jin prince, who stepped through the doorway soon after. He was a very stubborn, hostile prince at that; someone Yamcha would never approve of. The saiya-jin stopped halfway down the ramp and faced the spectators.
"Vegeta! What do you want?" Yamcha sneered. He never trusted the saiya-jin ever since he had been killed by one of his manic saibamen. Plus, he was aware that this particular saiya-jin was determined to destroy his long-time friend, Goku.
"Oh my. Maybe you prefer some…coffee?" Bulma's mother implied, still capable of keeping her happy tone.
"I was hoping that Kakkarot might've finally returned," Vegeta stated, peering down at them.
"What? No way! You never found him in space?" Yamcha asked in shock.
Vegeta scowled and leapt down from the ramp and landed in front of Yamcha. He was dressed in the same attire he had left in; his armor still had the large hole in front, along with a smaller one over his chest when Frieza killed him back on Namek. The saiya-jin prince glowered at the man before him. "Don't remind me. I'm angry enough to hurt somebody, and pounding you might just be the therapy I need."
"Hey guys? What's that awful smell?" Bulma asked and walked up between Yamcha and Vegeta. She looked at Vegeta and poked his chest armor, causing him to flinch slightly from the contact. "Oh, it's you," she concluded, beginning to grow disgusted of his lack of hygiene, "When's the last time you bathed there, bud? You need a bath." Bulma swept her finger away from him and pointed in the direction of Capsule Corp. "Please, this way." She started walking off, leaving Vegeta to just stare at her as she took her request along with her.
Bulma paused momentarily, realizing that Vegeta hadn't budged. She glared over her shoulder at him "Well? What?! Do you want me to roll out the red carpet?!" she snapped.
"Wha--rrrrr..." Vegeta growled, then places his fists on his hips before following her finally into the house, grumbling in the process.
"Unreal," Yamcha commented as he watched the whole scene in uncertainty. He was surprised with Bulma's tongue around the mass murderer; someone he still considered an enemy since Vegeta first came to earth.
"I hope she knows what she's doing," Puar said, floating up beside Yamcha.
"Hey…does anyone take lemon?" Bulma's mother asked, still standing where she had been. She was absent-mindedly pouring the tea over the brim of a cup, causing it to overflow onto the ground as she watched her daughter and Vegeta walk toward the CC building.
A little while later, Bulma threw Vegeta's dirty clothes into the washer in repulsion of the scent. She laid out a new pair of clothing, consisting of a pink shirt that read "Badman" on the back, tight yellow pants, and green tennis shoes. After laying them on a small counter, she looked over toward the bathroom where Vegeta was presently taking a shower.
"Hey, you! I left you some fresh clothes!" Bulma called out, and then paused for a moment, not hearing any response. "Hel-lo!? You alive in there?!"
"I heard you! You can leave now!" came the annoyed, raucous voice of Vegeta.
"Why yes, master, your wish is my command! Arghh!" Bulma stomped out of the room, frustrated with the prince's rudeness.
Vegeta stared up at the showerhead as the water pounded down upon his sour face. He scowled with dislike after the woman had thrown her fit. The female species…such an enigma, he thought in annoyance.
Outside on the balcony, Krillin, Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong were relaxing at a table, getting ready for a meal. Krillin had apparently stopped by for chat, taking a needed break from his training. He leaned back on his chair and placed his hands behind his head.
"Yeah, that Vegeta is nothing but trouble. He's so unpredictable…it's hard to tell what his motives are," Krillin stated.
"I think he just wants to find Goku. Poor guy, he's obsessed," Yamcha replied.
Just then, Bulma walked through the sliding door and onto the balcony, deciding to include herself in the others' conversation. "He's used to getting what he wants, that's all. He's like a spoiled little kid," she commented.
"Man, sounds like you," Yamcha smirked over his shoulder at her.
Bulma paid him no mind, but only rolled her eyes at his remark. Her attention was soon caught by a shouting voice inside of the CC building.
"Hello?! Servant woman! Bring me a drying cloth, at once!" the saiya-jin demanded. Bulma growled in an angry tone, glaring daggers over her shoulder in the direction of the bathroom. "Woman?! Can you hear me?!" Vegeta shouted, growing irritated by her incompetence.
Bulma spun around to face the doorway and placed her hands on her hips as she leaned forward to yell back at the ill-mannered saiya-jin. "I hear you, but my name is BULMA, and I am NOT your servant, so say please! Hmph!" she turned to the side, her nose pointed high in the air as she awaited Vegeta's response.
"Arghh! Forget about the stupid drying cloth then!"
Bulma glared back at the doorway. "Suit yourself! Drip-dry, you jerk!"
"What in the--? Is this some kind of joke?!" Vegeta's voice sounded baffled and annoyed.
"Is what a joke?"
Vegeta held up the clothes that Bulma had left for him, his face clearly had the look of alarm upon it "These garments that you left…are they for a man or a woman? They're pink!"
"Come on! It's the style here!" Bulma declared in an optimistic voice.
Vegeta was taken aback by this piece of information, but managed to shut his gaping mouth. "Men in pink, how bizarre…"
Outside, Bulma winked deviously at her friends, who all broke into a fit of laughter at the notion.
"This is ridiculous!" Vegeta yelled in outrage as he stepped onto the balcony in the brightly colored clothes. "I'm a warrior! Not a…a variety of flower!" He gritted his teeth furiously. His fists were clenched at his sides and shook as he tried to keep his temper in check.
"Well, you smell good,' Bulma said slyly as she grinned at him. She broke into a fit of laughter once more, her friends doing the same.
"Stop that!! Stop it or I'll blast you all!!" Vegeta roared.
The laughter abruptly ceased and they all looked at Vegeta with bewilderment. Bulma turned to face the saiya-jin, her hands clasped behind her back. "Loosen up. Fighting's no fun. Just relax," she leaned forward slightly, "If you want to find Goku, just stay here, he'll come. I've known Goku since he was five years old, trust me, he'll be back." I just know he will, she assured herself.
A few hours later, Bulma and her guests, except for Krillin, sat outside at a table that was placed in the backyard of the Capsule Corp. building. A grill was set up beside them; shish kabobs and spare ribs giving off the tasty aroma that they were indeed done.
"Oh man, Bulma, this is great! I'm piggin out here!" Oolong said in delight while stuffing his face with food.
Suddenly, a large energy bolted through the saiya-jin's senses, causing him to rise to his feet and slam his fist on the table. "So he failed after all!" Vegeta exclaimed as his glass fell to the ground and shattered, "Frieza's still alive…and he's coming!"
"Wait! How do you know? Maybe it could be somebody else! Come on!" Yamcha argued from across the table.
"I know! I make it my business to know! Unlike you."
Yamcha stood up and knocked his chair to the ground in the process. He glared at Vegeta and clenched his fists. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Hey, Vegeta? Would you like a little more barbeque sauce on your spare ribs?" Bulma asked, holding up the bottle. She had been unaware of the squabble between the two men.
Vegeta's eyes widened, a sweat drop appeared on the side of his head, and he wavered a bit at the unusual timing of Bulma's question. "Sure. Why not."
"Well, my money's on you guys. We can leave if you wanna fight him here," Oolong said unenthusiastically, holding a shish kabob near his mouth.
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At the time, Piccolo had been up in the snowy mountains, doing his usual meditating and training, since Goku's absence. He too had felt the fiend's power descending upon Earth. Out of great exasperation, Piccolo let his ki burst out from his body, causing part of the snow-covered mountain beside him to crumble into an avalanche. He remained hovering in the air, the snow fragments falling over him as he had his arms and legs extended.
He looked to sky in astonishment as he realized that the tyrant was still alive. "Frieza…there's no way!"
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Yamcha and Vegeta had cleared out of Capsule Corp and flew in the direction they had sensed Frieza coming from. The saiya-jin was enraged of the notion that the monster had not been defeated. He kept his speed up, leaving Yamcha behind to struggle to match his pace. Yamcha had no clue as to where Vegeta was leading him, or even if he knew exactly where Frieza would be. In truth, he had no idea when or where the tyrant would be landing.
I can't believe how fast Vegeta is. I can hardly keep up with him, Yamcha commented mentally.
At the moment, Vegeta had been tossing his own thoughts over again in his mind as he flew. Perhaps Kakkarot wasn't as strong as I had imagined after all. Frieza's still alive, and I can sense that his power level is even greater than before. But I'll soon show him. So is mine, he growled in his mind. He clenched his fists menacingly, causing veins to protrude from his hands.
They both landed a short time later, and took in their location. High cliffs and endless, barren terrain were the only things that surrounded them. It was an isolated place to land a ship, where no huge cities were inhabited.
"This is the place where he'll be touching down," Vegeta confirmed.
"Are you sure, Vegeta?" Yamcha asked with a hint of doubt.
"Yes, I'm sure, now zip it! I don't want him to know we're waiting."
Yamcha looked nervously over his shoulder at the saiya-jin prince. He never had any intention of awaiting Frieza's arrival; he already knew what horrible things the brute had done in the past. Having died on one occasion already, he wasn't about to repeat the experience over again.
An approaching figure in the sky soon caught his attention in the midst of his thoughts. As it drew closer, he recognized it was one of the Capsule vessels, and that the pilot was none other than Bulma; also accompanied by Puar.
"Hello down there!" Bulma called out.
"It's Bulma!" Yamcha announced.
Vegeta only glanced gruffly over his shoulder at him, irritated by the fact that the woman was including herself in their company. She was foolish to be even near the vicinity where Frieza would shortly be landing.
"Vegeta! Yamcha! I'm coming in!" she informed them as she waved out of the window of her ship. She kept a suitable distance from the two men as she set the ship down onto the desiccated grounds. Puar hovered out of the vessel and over toward Yamcha just as Bulma hopped out and onto the ground.
"Yamcha!" Puar squeaked gleefully, still hovering toward him.
"What in the world are you two doing here?!" Yamcha demanded, causing Puar to stop short and falter in the air.
Bulma stepped boldly toward Yamcha and placed her hands on her hips. "We came to see Frieza. I missed him on Namek, and I am not going to let that happen again," she declared.
"Are you crazy?! Do you realize what he'll do to you when he finds you here?!"
"Yes, of course I do. He'll come down and blow up the planet…but I want to see him before he does it. What's so wrong with that?" She only received a baffled look from Yamcha as she gave her reason almost eagerly. Smirking, she lifted her chin slightly as she presented her second raison d'être, "Besides, I hear he's kinda cute."
A short silence was all she got from either of them, before Vegeta took his attention off of her and placed it back onto the cliffs that surrounded them.
"It's amazing how every time you open your mouth you prove you're an idiot," the saiya-jin snubbed.
Yamcha heard and sensed the approach of two more ki signals coming from behind him. "Huh?" He turned around to see a tall, bald, three-eyed man and a small mime-like child land nearby. "Tien! Chiaotzu!" he identified with gratification.
They both smiled in welcome, Chiaotzu laughing in delight. He suddenly stopped his laughter as he realized who had been accompanying Yamcha at the time. His eyes grew wide in alarm as he gawked at the saiya-jin standing near him.
"Vegeta…I didn't realize you were going to be here too," Tien said, breaking Chiaotzu's stupor.
"Is that o-kay?" Vegeta asked scornfully.
Tien pulled off the extra blankets from his shoulders that he had used to keep himself warm while he and Chiaotzu were in the snow-regions. "As a matter of fact; it isn't. I still haven't forgotten what happened the last time we met. You disgust me." He let the garments fall to the ground at his feet, and then he finally removed his robes, leaving only his white tank top to cover his built chest. Sneering, he looked over to his companion. "How can you stomach him, Yamcha?"
"Hah! Loser!" Vegeta taunted.
"What?!" Tien tightened his fists.
Yamcha quickly placed himself between the two, who were apparently just itching for a fight. "Hey! Cool it guys! This is no time to fight!"
Tien managed to regain his composure and stepped over to the side, his attention now on the ki signal of the unfriendly visitor. "It's Frieza, isn't it? How long till he lands?"
"Could be any time now."
"Be quiet!! I'd rather Frieza's scouters didn't detect us because of your--incessant--jabbering!!" Vegeta bellowed. After the quick silence, he grinned cruelly and looked over at a cliff-side. "Besides, all this scary talk is upsetting the Namek."
"The Namek?" Yamcha asked, puzzled. He peered over in the direction Vegeta had been looking and spotted Piccolo standing at the very top of the cliff, his back to them. "Piccolo! How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to hear all of your senseless bickering," Piccolo glimpsed over his shoulder at them in disapproval, and then placed his interest over to the left. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed we got company…"
"Company?"
"What are you talking about, Piccolo? Is it one of Frieza's goons or just another brute trying to take over the universe with the dragonballs?" Bulma inquired.
Piccolo's ears twitched slightly. "I'm not sure. There are two of them…" he paused for a moment, picking up yet another ki, "Wait…there's three."
"What?! Three of them?!"
"Piccolo, are you sure you're just not sensing Krillin or the others?" Yamcha insisted.
"Are you saying I can't tell the difference between Krillin and another stranger's energy signal?" Piccolo tested.
"No…"
"Hmph! They're no threat. I can take care of them myself, but I'd rather save my energy for Frieza than wasting it on a bunch of mangy pests," Vegeta scoffed.
"That would be foolish, Vegeta. Goku failed in killing Frieza even after he transformed into a super saiya-jin, so don't get too overconfident if you're going to fight him," Piccolo paused a second before continuing, "Plus, we don't know if these strangers are on our side or not."
"You all have a very bad judge of character, if you ask me," Vegeta remarked more so to himself, then folded his arms over his chest. "And I don't want to hear the word super saiya-jin and that baka, third-class Kakkarot in the same sentence."
Just then, Krillin and Gohan flew toward the Z Senshi and landed a few yards from them. Gohan had put on his saiyan battle armor after he found out that Frieza, the slayer of many planets, was still alive and heading for earth. He could have sworn his father had taken care of that beast once and for all; mostly when he realized his dad had turned into the legendary super saiya-jin. Now, he was on his way and Gohan's father still hadn't returned home.
"Hey there!" Krillin greeted the others.
"Wow! Gohan, Krillin, you made it!" Bulma celebrated cheerfully as she waved her arms over her head at them.
"Hey! Any word from Goku?"" Yamcha asked.
Krillin and Gohan lowered their heads and shook them in unison. Bulma came out of her happy mood and let her arms drop to her sides as she groaned.
"Just…thought I'd ask," Yamcha said almost apologetically.
Suddenly, Piccolo's attention was torn from the three stanger's ki signals, to a more threatening one at the time. His eyes widened at the realization that Frieza was finally there. "He's here!!"
A large spaceship lowered through the clouds and soared overhead the Z Senshi. They looked on in horror as the ship passed and landed over the ridge. They could sense the monster onboard, as well as another. Frieza and his father, King Cold, had arrived on earth.