I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Saga 1: The Unnatural Saiyan
Chapter 1. Appearance and Revelation
I began that first day as any other, barely making it to work due to lack of sleep. It wasn't that I didn't have enough time to sleep at night, I had just been so revved up lately after work, like I had just ran a few miles and it didn't even affect me. And for me, running a few miles isn't all that easy, or at least it didn't used to be. I slowly trudged into my work place, a car dealership just shy of 8:00 am. While I wasn't late, that didn't stop some co-workers from asking me if I was quitting tomorrow because I barely made it in. I really, really hated it when they said that. Problem was the boss, a real stickler about tardiness, one person was canned for being fifteen seconds late, or so I heard. My job duties were pretty simple, but could be boring if I ran out of stuff to do. I worked in the car service department and simply porter cars around. When they come in I throw plastic wrap in to keep grease off, then wash them after completion and bring it to the owner. Then keep the drive-in garage picked up for the most part. The problems came when no cars needed pulled around and none were coming in. I became the jack-of-all-trades in those times. Usually that's when I had to go clean crap off the doors and put away service files in order, not that I really cared about what job was done on everyone's piece of shit car. One of the worst things to do was cleaning out the smokers' ashtrays. While I didn't smoke and never planned on it, I had to dump them out. I started wearing gloves just to touch them, I was disgusted by them every time. Most of the smokers had the gall to tell me how disgusting they thought the ashtrays were. I always looked at them like they were crazy before moving on. It was their lungs they were poisoning, and if I could help it, I was staying away.
Today, unfortunately, was one of the slow days that dragged on. That morning was bad since absolutely no one came in. That meant if I got all the files put away and the doors clean, I had to empty the mechanic's trash bins. I hated those more than the ashtrays, at least I only had to wash my hands once to get the ash marks off, rather than the arms too. I had already punched the concrete wall once or twice today and it was only nine in the morning, not a good day already and I had eight hours to go. Shortly before that I was told to pull in a big van cause it needed to be worked on and the mechanic probably didn't feel like walking a little bit to do it himself. Lazy asshole. When I got out there, it wouldn't start and the jumper pack did nothing at all. I knew I wouldn't find anyone to help me push it, so I said screw it and did it myself. It was a little heavy, but strangely wasn't that hard to push like it used to be. I had lost nearly eighty pounds in the last several months off nothing much other than changing my fluid intake to mostly water. I doubted that was the only reason, I had a rather painful reminder of my diet that lasted until the surgeons blasted it out. And really, the only reason I opted to push the damn truck myself was because the pushing machine was busted again. I'll give the prick technicians credit, they helped once it was inside.
Afterwards I tried to settle at my desk and read the newspaper. Just before I got up from my seat to clean off the service drive, I saw someone walking down the side of the lot out of a nearby cornfield. While it wasn't uncommon for someone to walk in the car lot, it was odd for someone to come from the field. As the person got closer, I started making out some interesting features. He looked to be about six foot four inches or so and built like a brick wall. He was bearing a dark purple jacket, black tank top and pants, cold blue eyes, and the oddest part, lavender hair. At first I thought it was dyed really well, but when he got closer I could see either he had a good hair stylist, or it was naturally that way. I wagered the latter since I could not see any different strands of color. He slowly walked up to the open garage and strolled in. He laid his cold eyes on me immediately and never took them off as he walked up to my desk and proceeded in having a stare off with me. Neither smiling nor frowning and looked me up and down.
"Can I help you, sir?" I asked, a little nervous under his stare. It felt odd staring at him, I usually wasn't scared of anyone regardless of size, but he pulled it off.
"Not right now, maybe later," he said in a bone chilling voice. He took one last look, and then started past me and proceeded inside. Watching him leave, I realized he looked kind of familiar. While I swore up and down I had seen him somewhere before, I knew I hadn't, or at least not that I remembered. Turning back to look the other way, I saw the boss glaring at me from the window. Oh great, trash can time again, I thought.
Instead the P.A. come on, "DAVE THOMAS, COME TO THE CASHIER WINDOW PLEASE!" Why do they always have to announce my full name like that? That was my cue to pull a car around. I walked in to get the keys and surprisingly the purple haired guy was standing there pulling out some serious money and handed it to the cashier. A salesman by the name of Paul was babbling the usual sales stuff to him about where to go for service and such.
"Thank you Mister, uh, Briefs for purchasing your first car here. This is one of the finest dealerships in our whole state! So are you planning on staying in Iowa long? Play any golf?" Paul asked. What a brown noser.
"Never had any sort of drive for golf. And I'm actually going back to the southern United States...Florida," Mr. Briefs said. As the cashier handed me his keys, I noticed that pause after mentioning southern states, but paid no heed and walked off to find his newly bought car. To be honest I really didn't care, but that little hesitation was hard to miss. And it was just my luck that the vehicle was parked way in the back. It turned out to be a brand new Ford Taurus, gray colored. Not exactly a dream car, but I had driven them a few times so it was decent, not like it could barely start or something. Just as I began to open the door, a hand clasped my shoulder. I spun around by instinct and met face to face with "Mr. Briefs", a name I was sure I had heard before. At first I wondered just how the hell he got out there so quick, and why I didn't hear him coming. For some strange reason I could always hear people coming, even if they were trying to sneak up on me and made not one sound. His eyes pierced into mine with a deathly glare, and they were not in the least bit comfortable to look at. I glared right back at him anyway, as I never took any shit from anyone and I wasn't going to start now. After what seemed like a few minutes of silent staring, he finally backed off a little.
"Well Dave, I guess I'll take my car now, I'll be seeing you later," he said, snatching the keys from my hand faster than I thought possible. Getting in his car, he then started up and drove off quickly, leaving me pondering over his statements. I headed back to my post and for the rest of the morning my thoughts were of nothing but Mr. Briefs.
Lunchtime came and I went to the nearby International House of Pancakes for lunch. Ordering up the breakfast with just about everything there was for breakfast meat, I sat and read the sports section of the paper. Passing waiters and waitresses chatted rather excitedly about something on the far side. I picked up on a little of the conversation, something about a fellow ordering the whole menu. It sounded pretty crazy, and expensive, but I couldn't blame anyone for that, I was pretty damn hungry myself. I tuned out of the talk once my food arrived though. Upon paying the bill, I went out to the parking lot to my car only to see a gray Taurus parked next to my car, and it wasn't there when I arrived. Seeing cars all day didn't really catch my interest, however this looked exactly like the one I had been sent to retrieve for Mr. Briefs, tags and all. Only now there was an object in the back seat, kind of covered by a small blanket. Even so, I managed to make out a handle to something long and brown that looked like a sheathed sword. This really got me a little excited, and the adrenaline started pumping through me like never before. Great, Charlie Manson with a ninja touch. Gathering myself, I got in my car and went back to work, trying to swallow what I just saw and keep it to myself. I personally didn't want to watch the news that night, but as things turned out, I wouldn't have anyway.
The afternoon was busier then hell. Car after car came in to be serviced, and naturally many needed washed and pulled around. One particular van was to be washed, then taken over to the sales part of the complex. That was a little unusual since most people wait in the service drive, but it was a nice day so it wasn't all that odd. The owner was a pretty young girl probably in her middle twenties, with a toddler of about two or three. Bringing her minivan around, I parked it on the far side of the driveway so not to obstruct traffic. She came out of the building with her kid ahead of her with a bag of candy.
Handing her the keys, I managed to smile, "Have a good day", and I began to walk back inside. When I turned I noticed she passed the boy who had found something more interesting on the ground to look at while she passed him. Then I heard it, the sound of tires squealing. I turned to see a big truck peeling down the driveway. I suddenly felt like I had tunnel vision when I spotted the truck. I could see the driver like he was only a few feet away, not looking at all and talking on a damned cell phone. He was speeding straight toward the toddler, who was staring at the truck like deer to headlights while his mother screamed for him to run back to her. Come on kid, move! The kid obviously didn't get it and I took off full sprint to get him. Reaching him with no time to spare, I wrapped my arms around him and hoisted him up, tossing him to his mother. He fell a little short from my toss, but I wasn't able to react to that once the truck hit me. Everything flashed red and then a fuzzy blue. Then the pain, wow did it ever hurt. I felt the ribs on my left side compress and then snap. Along with that, my right shoulder dislocated, causing my arm to fling around. Then I was in the air, slammed by the force of the truck. I'm not sure how far I actually flew, but it couldn't have been much. When I landed I felt a few more ribs go and my lower body suddenly went numb, waist down. All of it happened rather fast, except for the part where I was running. I managed to look back up as the truck screeched to a sudden stop. There was a bit of a dent in the truck, which was hard to believe. The driver got out yelling about damage, but when he turned and saw me struggling to move, he bolted. The truck peeled out and nearly ran someone else down before driving away.
Laying there in severe pain while the woman screamed for help, I began to chuckle slightly, "Son of a bitch. That's what I get for being, ugh, nice." Those who witnessed the event rushed over quickly, many of the salesmen.
Paul happened to be one of the first, "David, you OK?" I glared at him for a moment, more out of pain than anything else, Do I look okay you damn fool?
"No not really," I sputtered out, keeping my angry thoughts to myself. Then I heard multiple voices, some I knew, some I didn't.
"Someone call an ambulance!"
"That man in the truck, where'd he go?"
"Is he going to be OK?"
"Mommy, I wanna go home!"
"What was the plate on that truck Tim?"
While I was trying to move, unsuccessfully, I heard a loud crash and maybe even an explosion. The heat from it washed over me and whatever was left of my hearing roared to life as the immediate area brightened.
"Holy Shit, the truck just blew up! Where'd that light come from?" I heard someone shout. I didn't care at that point, but it did catch my attention.
"Is someone going to take him to the hospital? I can't get through on the line."
"Yeah I can get him there!" I heard about five different people say. Nice to know at least some people care.
"No I will take him, the rest of you go back to your business," I heard a cold voice say.
"You sure Mr. Briefs? I mean we know Des Moines pretty well and one of us should go with to show the way," Paul suggested.
"No I saw one on the way here, I'll get him there. Not to worry, just help him into my backseat, that's all," he said, now standing at a vantage I could see him in. What is he doing here again? I felt a few hands and arms go under me, or at least I felt the upper portion, and I was lifted into the air slowly by multiple people. I saw the car roof go over my head and soon the door shut. At this point though I was beginning to black out, the pain was getting too severe. After the engine started, the car peeled off fast, bouncing me around a bit.
"Don't give up yet man, just hang on! Don't fall asleep, talk to me if you have to, just don't fall asleep! We'll be there soon." he said, his voice a little warmer now. The car was really moving now, while laying down makes it seem fast, it had to be moving at least eighty miles per hour.
"Hey, how do you know me, and why do you look so familiar to me?" I asked.
"That will be revealed in time, though I don't know how you would know me at all." he stated strongly. So much for talking.
"Well I'm pretty helpless right now so you might as well spill the beans, I'll I can do is listen anyway."
"No it will wait, there's a few complicated things about you and me. It might give you a bit of a shock, which is not good right now," he said, ending the discussion. That made me a little mad, when people deliberately push me off the subject. On the other hand it got my mind off the great pain I was in and some adrenaline flowing to anger and started to dull the pain, allowing me to stay awake. His head turned at my sudden mood change, like he could feel it in the air.
"That's the way, just a little longer," he said a little lighter now. I managed to raise a single eyebrow at this, but shrugged it off. I focused on angry thoughts at random people, and it kept my blood boiling and me awake. Suddenly the car skidded to a halt and the doors flew open with a loud crack. He pulled me out by the leg almost effortlessly, but carefully. Then my midsection erupted with searing pain again, the result of being tossed over his shoulder. I gasped when I saw the car doors were gone, ripped off. I was about to ask what was going on here, but he hushed me and took off ungodly fast and into a building of some sort. It appeared to be a run down barn, but I recognized the sounds of computer equipment running. I was laid down on a table, and then Mr. Briefs took off in another direction.
"Hey wait!" I groaned.
"Be right back, don't quit on me yet!" he called back. I began focusing on angry thoughts again, for some reason it continued to help, but my body ached for sleep and my eyes got heavy anyway. If I could've hit myself just to keep awake I would have, but I couldn't.
"Help anyone, I can't stay awake!" I shouted as loud as possible, but it sounded very weak.
"Shit..." I cursed as my eyes dropped uncontrollably and sleep began to wash over me. Just when I thought it was over though, I felt something hard enter my mouth. It didn't have much of a taste at all, except for the hint of someone's finger it there.
"Here eat this," a female voice said. I chewed on what seemed like rock candy, and the inside of it was damn hard to chew. Swallowing, I felt it slide down my throat. Not three seconds later, I felt my ribs snap into place and the pain eased up. My shoulder popped, and my legs twitched as I suddenly felt them again. The muscles in my entire body expanded a bit, and my eyes shot open at the surprise. Peering down on me were Mr. Briefs and a pretty lady with blue hair in a lab coat. She was incredible very familiar to my eyes.
"Well kido, you sure gave us a scare. You can sit up now," she said backing off a little. I sat up and immediately looked myself over in disbelief, feeling my ribs and staring at my hands. I looked up at my two saviors, and a simple crazy thought entered my head upon getting their forms fully, and I knew the answer just like that. It was improbable as hell, but there was no other explanation. No fucking way!
"Why does everyone react like that after eating Senzu Beans the first time? Must be some built in instinct. Anyway, My name is..."
I cut in right when she said it, "Bulma?"
She stopped in shock, "How did you know?" Mr. Briefs, definitely Trunks, was gasping as well, but he quickly shifted back to a serious glare as he stepped in front of her in caution.
"I just figured it out, you're Bulma, and you're Trunks, her son. That thing you gave me was a Senzu bean, wasn't it?" I asked with a slight grin.
"Trunks, back off dear. Yes it was a bean, how do you know all this?" she asked. I let out a heavy sigh as I considered my answer. Wow, fucking wow. I'd ask how this is even possible, but odds are that they wanted me for something in the first place, no way this is some weird coincidence! I better play it cool.
"Your story first, what do you want with me? Then I'll tell you mine," I said.
"Ok, this might be hard to swallow, but we are from an alternate universe parallel to this one. It's much different from here," she watched for any signs that I may not believe her.
"I figured that, what else?" I asked with a slight grin.
She blinked sharply, but kept going, "We are here because we picked up a power signature similar to that of a Saiyan…and I'll bet that I don't need to explain that do I?" she asked as I shook my head, "Good, we traced that signature to you as the source about two years ago, but you're not what we expected, so we set out to find the Saiyans of this timeline. We didn't find them, a villain named Frieza had killed them all. But we did manage to break into one of Frieza's bases and download some wonderful information concerning one of their best procedures. The procedure is thus: A radiation generator is set up near a choice planet to be cleared for the future years. The thing can only produce a single bolt of radiation so small it isn't worth trying to trace, however it had marvelous properties. It was small enough to hit one person, just one, and very particular too. The beam can only hit one of the choice race, and on the onset of that race's form of puberty, which to you just happened to fall around your fourteenth birthday I believe. Upon striking the person, the beam passes into the person and becomes part of their body, kind of like an immune system gland. Like a gland, it releases chemicals and such into the body. These chemicals and compounds slowly transform the person into a full-blooded Saiyan. The process is slow though, the incubation period is eight years, seven of them are rather inactive. The eighth year however is quite noticeable. The tail, the strength, the power, everything right down to the attitude rears into high gear. We believed that you were the lucky winner of this planets drawing, and then Trunks confirmed it. Whenever you get mad, your energy level skyrockets, though no one ever notices it, not even yourself. We came here to find you again before the big changes hit, and it looks like that's about ready to happen. You look thinner than we last spotted you!" she finally stopped, letting the information soak in. I couldn't help but stare back, knowing that there was no way that could be right.
"How can you be sure that I seem to have won the Who Wants to Be A Saiyan contest? I've never even noticed anything that odd, a lot of stuff changes from fourteen on, soon to be twenty-one. The odds of it hitting me right on my fourteenth are pretty slim," I replied.
She smirked slightly, "Well at least not all of you brutes are brainless. Have you ever noticed sudden feats of strength or endurance you couldn't explain? They just happen, but never repeat when you try again. Example you throw a rock into the cement and it leaves a small crater, or your reflexes are unbelievably fast for a moment but seldom stay that way. You should be tired after a long day but you're not and are full of energy. You hit something and it hurts very bad, have it checked out and turned out to be an inflamed muscle over the bone that should've broke, that kind of thing."
That got me thinking, "Come to think of it, that stuff has happened to me, once after work I bowled like twelve games, when I'm usually tired after just three. I could've done more but a cut opened on my thumb and I had to stop. Once I picked up a ten gallon bucket of water for my dads race car and hiked it up like a football and ran about a hundred yards with it and was barely winded when I got there. I could never do it again, and I've had some damn fast reflexes to things just out of the blue. Another something is the extreme weight loss in the past year, and I've been known to break things when I'm mad and get careless," I said, realizing that she was right. They were not impressive statistics to me, but could be counted as odd.
"And you cracked the concrete wall the today at your job. Not to mention that big van you pushed in, that had to be three tons of metal," Trunks added.
"I was wondering about that," I muttered.
"I thought so. Now it's your turn, how did you know who we were?" he asked with a snappy voice.
I knew I couldn't hold out, "Because in this universe a Japanese man came up with a show idea called Dragonball, being about the dragonballs, and eventually the Z fighters. Its follows your adventures, correct me if I'm wrong but you're the future Bulma and Trunks right?"
A slow nod came as their jaws slowly dropped, "Yeah it covers you guys too, right down to Vegeta flipping out when you are killed by Cell, Trunks."
"No way," Trunks gasped.
Bulma took it a little better, "Well I suppose that's possible, we've seen both major and minor discrepancies in universes that's we've traveled to. We saw one where someone just like Vegeta was a bald crime lord and his arch nemesis was almost identical to Goku, I think he called himself Superman."
"Superman with Goku's hair and Vegeta bald?" I murmured as I tried to picture it.
"Not exactly, we didn't see them eating so we can't confirm it," Bulma chuckled.
I laughed at that thought before realizing what she said, "Wait a sec, you guys just travel to different universes all the time, what gives?"
"Our planet was relying on us way too much for living conditions, just food water and shelter. They wouldn't even come out unless Trunks or myself coaxed them into it. Finally I got sick of it all as the governments and cities ceased to function properly, so we packed up and left. They had to learn sometime not to be afraid," Bulma said sadly.
"This was after Trunks destroyed the Androids and Cell correct?" I asked.
"Exactly, wow, you have our whole story memorized don't you? It went on for five years after Cell was killed. When Cell appeared during the rebuilding process, they just shut down like before, only worse," Trunks added.
"Have you ever gone back to check on them?"
"We did after a few trips. It was gone though, a rather large comet hit the earth and wiped it out, nothing but space dust was left. Seems as if destiny frowns upon the Earth's defenders and finds a way to destroy it," Bulma explained, wiping a tear.
"Well you guys found me, now what?" I asked, getting back to the point.
"Well your birthday is in a few days isn't it?" she asked as I nodded, showing up two fingers. "On that day sometime, you will probably grow a tail, signaling the beginning of the big changes. We would like to speed the process up to one night if you will co-operate, but we can wait till after the tail appears. We will have you take a special formula that we came across and enhanced, and the change will occur while you sleep. You'll wake up a full Saiyan, but unlike the change process, you shouldn't change too much personality wise since it's so quick and painless. Then we have to take you away from here, probably to stay with my counterpart for safety to this world. Your power level isn't high enough to notice now, but Frieza's scanners will surely pick it up if you change and are here to long, Trunks has on a special bracelet device I invented that jams the reading into nothing should a sweep be done, but it won't block it forever!"
"I must have missed what you said earlier, there's a Frieza in this realm too?" I asked nervously.
Bulma nodded, "Let's just say that he's been after us as well."
"Never did like that guy on the show. Wait, you're a Super Saiyan aren't you? Just blow him away!" I suggested to Trunks.
"I've had my chances, believe me. But we've been trying to stay away from him, and he tends to track us to heavily populated areas while staying in space. Saiyans can't breathe in space you know," Trunks pointed out.
"I guess that would be a little hard to deal with," I said.
"Which is why we're trying to do this quickly and efficiently. It isn't just Frieza I'm worried about here, and we have no allies. It's really just blind luck we found you at all, and you're not ready for him!" Trunks warned.
"Yeah, you're definitely right about that. That's a lot to absorb, I'll have to get my affairs in order, and there are plenty of them. It isn't right if I don't tell me family and dearest friends. Problem is that while a lot of them live here, a lot don't. Some live about eight hundred miles east and south, Ohio and Texas."
"Trunks will assist you in your activities. Request that you have a family dinner at your mother's on your birthday, there I will fill them in," Bulma suggested.
"Ok, we'd have to tell my dad as well, he and mom don't get along so we could do that before or afterwards. My apartment will probably need my belongings out of it, oh man that's a pain," I started listing all the things that would need done.
"Whoa buddy, the cleanup process will have to wait. You'll be much stronger and faster then anyway and we'd get done in a huge fraction of the time, friends and family first," Bulma suggested.
"Good idea, I'm gonna stress myself out one of these days," I chuckled, holding the back of my head. I felt a trickle of warmth in my nose right after I said that, and my nose promptly began to run red.
"God not this again!" I said aloud, catching a few weird looks. "It's this!" I said, pointing to my nose in annoyance, "I call it Captain Leaky because it always wants to bleed. I've had it sealed up a lot and it still bleeds!"
Bulma chuckled slightly, handing me a tissue to hold back the red flood, "Actually that might be a sign of truth for you, everyone that we have met that had the "condition" that you did explained odd occurrences during their life before becoming a Saiyan. Sometimes strange illness or other things that shouldn't normally occur with a younger person on a regular basis. Example your glands might go a little out of whack before your totally transformed and cause some painful experiences. Nose bleeds aren't exactly rare, but if it bleeds like you say it might have something to do with it. Have you had any other strange things happen? Maybe health related that were rather annoying, or required some form of surgery in the past few years?" she asked. I went numbly cold, recalling the events about five months ago, and the horrible pain that came with it.
"Do the words kidney stone ring a bell?" I asked.
Bulma laughed, "You're way too young to have those, you actually had one? Owww you poor dear!"
"And it's not something I want to repeat believe me! Hell I still get little aftershocks of pain from it, nothing like it was, just noticeable. The doctors all thought it was the sugar and caffeine I consumed all the time, and that was more than plenty as it was. I dropped off all that stuff and replaced it with large amounts of Gatorade and water, dropped eighty pounds because of that. I still think the weight loss wasn't worth it, but I do feel better than I did, that stone really screwed with my system!" I explained, almost laughing at the pathetic state I had been in, and hoping I wouldn't be in that state ever again.
Trunks looked slightly confused, "Just how painful was it? I've experienced death before, and not much can beat that!"
"Probably not, but imagine someone beating the crap out of you with a hammer and chisel in this one spot. So painful you can barely move or breathe, and that's before your stomach wants to empty itself quickly. The worst part is, you can barely do anything about it. Sure I tried to tough it out even at my workplace, but it gives you a high fever and saps your energy completely. There were many times I thought I would pass out from it. Of course it wouldn't let me simply go to sleep either. Going to bed really sucked, especially since the pain killers had a knack of wearing off before bed," I said, watching his face grimace slightly from my descriptive response.
"But if you're not supposed to get those till an older age, how come you got one? Even with sugar and caffeine intake," he asked. I glanced at Bulma, who smiled right back, as if waiting for me to explain it.
"One doctor said it was possible that my thyroid gland wasn't working right, and that it can produce a stone from calcium deposits in the blood. I'm guessing what you guys have told me may have something to do with it," I said.
"Wow, you're a smart one too!" Bulma smiled, "Such a shame that Trunks has spent his entire life training and fighting, he would have invented great things with his mind." She beamed at him slightly, his rubbed his head in response, not sure what to say.
"I'm not that smart, I just pay attention," I mumbled.
"But you're right, the thyroid glands can produce those if it had a problem or infection," She gave me a slight glance to improve my theory.
"Guess I can thank good things to bring me the worst pain in my life, ugh. Sometimes I wondered if I was truly normal, guess not!" I laughed a little with the group. Maybe abnormal was the best way to live.
Power levels not needed