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.
Chapter 3: Verto
I woke up lying on the table just like before, but I could tell something was very different right away. I felt like a kid after visiting a sugar factory, full of energy. My rather big midsection was replaced with a small but hard set of muscles, as were my legs and arms. Something else was different, vaguely familiar, but much different. The room seemed a little bigger, enough for me to know it wasn't quite the same as before. I jumped off the table and found that it was a long drop down. Then I saw a problem, everything in the room seemed twice as big then it had when I fell asleep. My clothes promptly fell off, also too big. My tail roamed freely behind me until I jerked it back and forth, testing its movement. Last night the table was about three and half feet or up to my waist for me before. Now I couldn't get my chin over it at all.
"Okay, what the hell happened?" I muttered to myself. Spotting a mirror I rushed over to it and took a look at the new me. My face was pretty similar but slimmer with different eyes. Instead of blue-green they were now very dark, almost black. My hair had gone from short and random to stalky and spiky. One side was stuck flat down like my old hair style was before I shaved it off. The other side stuck clear up in the air and toward the back. Aside from a slightly change of the hairstyle, I looked kind of like Gohan to be honest. The only thing was, I also looked to be just shy of three foot six inches.
You gotta be kidding me, I'm a kid! I expected a change, but nothing like this! I basically looked like a Saiyan child probably should, short but strong. I trudged back over to the table, unsure of what to do. I sighed slightly and attempted to climb back into my make shift bed. Figuring it could take awhile, I tried to jump into it as I climbed. Imagine my surprise when I was suddenly staring at the ceiling before slowly coming down. I came down quickly enough and landed on the other side of the table with both feet and no problem. I couldn't help but stare back up at the ceiling, which was quite a bit high than just your standard eight to nine feet. To experience that so soon sure woke my ass up. Climbing back into the bed and covering up with my shed and now way to large clothes, I let it all sink in. I was a kid again, a twenty one year old human trapped in the body of a Saiyan child. I glanced back at the mirror from the table, guessing that I was in the neighborhood of six to eight years old.
"So, how are we feeling today? Don't feel like blowing something up do you?" Trunks asked, coming into the room but not seeing me yet.
"I don't know, see for yourself," I said in a pitiful tone, but noticeably younger sounding.
Trunks rounded the corner and his eyes shot open when he saw me, "What the hell?" As he came closer, his eyes just got wider. "You're a kid! How did that happen? You should be the same age you started out in, but you look barely seven," he exclaimed.
"Seven eh, seems younger. Guess the ladies will have to wait!" I snorted.Well that's a good sign, my sense of humor isn't completely gone.
"I wonder how that happened? From twenty one to seven just in one night," he said, a hand to his chin.
"Hmmm, I wonder if she messed the formula up and it made me the same age as the Saiyan glands and blood," I suggested.
Trunks looked at me funny, "That sounds crazy enough to be correct, MOM!" he shouted. We waited for a few minutes before she stumbled in with a blue robe on.
"What is it Trunks? Is something wrong?"
Then she saw the look on my face, "You just had to ask didn't you?" I said.
A few hours later I was rigged up under some sort of huge scanner that covered me from my neck to my feet since I was so short now.
"From what I can gather, you're exactly as you should be. I designed the pill for this result because I felt that you should start as a child. The last one started as an adult, he ended up crazy because the Saiyan cells and blood tried to age as well. Meaning a bunch of new hormones were introduced right away and it messed up his brain. I figured if I simply programmed it to keep you the same age as the cells, it would work better. Now you are completely stable, I'm glad that worked." she explained.
Trunks and I sort of hit a mental pause, "You programmed it for this result?" I asked I surprise.
"I won't bore you with the details, it's very complicated," she said with a triumphant grin.
"So I'm a kid again, wonderful. Now I get to go through the teenage years again, whoopee! Though it could be a little more fun now," I said with an evil grin.
"So you're happy with the result?" she said, looking for approval.
"Well it wasn't what I expected, but what can we do about it now? It's not like I can simply ask for a refund right? I can accept this though, thanks for helping me through it," I said, giving off a reassuring smile.
"No problem, now I doubt you want to stay naked all day long. Trunks, go get that old training outfit of yours. That should fit him just about right." I nodded nervously, I wasn't overly comfortable being the only one without clothes on at the moment.
"Okay mom," Trunks nodded as he left the room.
"Let me see that tail," she said, reaching a hand out. I swished it over, a full days practice with it gave me a little control. It wasn't what I would call mastered yet, but I was getting there. She clutched it snugly and with her free hand, stroked it up and down like petting a dog or cat. Like a dog or cat, it had a similar result and sent warm shivers up my spine and made me very feel good inside.
"Looks like it works correctly. I didn't do that yesterday because it could've had a different effect, if you know what I mean," she grinned.
I nodded with a smirk, "Yeah I don't think embarrassing me in front of my family would have looked good." I silently thanked whatever had prevented that from happening. Trunks came back in a minute later with a blue martial arts outfit with a red sash and a small pair of tennis shoes. The "gi" fit quite well, though the belt was a bit big and it dragged a bit next to my knees. A small slit was already cut out in the back for my tail. Slipping on the shoes, I noticed how small my feet were now compared to my huge foot yesterday, about three fourths of a foot length shorter.
"Maybe shoe shopping won't be as much of a pain now," I joked.
Bulma chuckled, "Maybe not but you'll probably be getting them more often, they tend to disintegrate when they take an energy blast."
That reminded me, "So when do I start training?"
Bulma's head hung, "Why is that the first question with you Saiyans? One mention of your potential and you want to train! Well I'm sure Trunks can teach you a little."
Trunks frowned a little, "Well mom I think it would be better if he were to train with father. He can teach him so much more than I can. Besides the other me could use a little brother," he laughed when I gave him a glare.
"I'll show you who's little soon enough!" I declared.
"In your dreams shorty!" Trunks roared back.
"Hey now! Save your challenges for a later date," Bulma cut in between us, "But your right Trunks, he should train with Vegeta in that peaceful timeline. We'll take him there this afternoon once we leave the planet," she said, turning on her heel and leaving the room.
"Well I guess that's settled, well I don't think I need to tell what my dad is like, do I?" Trunks asked.
"Anything different from what I may have already seen?" I asked back.
"No, it's pretty much right," Trunks replied.
"Then no, I'm good. I have a good idea of what he is like," I said.
"TRUNKS! COME AND HELP LOAD UP MY EQUIPMENT! WE SHOULDN'T LEAVE ANYTHING BEHIND!" Bulma called back. My ears rumbled a bit at the loud voice. For a moment I actually thought someone had a megaphone up to my head.
"You'll get used to the sensitive hearing after awhile. Stay here, this is actually part of the ship so its ok," he said, walking out of the room. A ship that looks like a farm house? Not a bad plan here in Iowa, but anywhere else, uh no.
After Trunks helped Bulma load up the ship, they wasted no time in prepping the ship for blastoff. While Bulma went over her computers for last minute checking, Trunks was showing me how his original time machine worked.
"...and you just hit this button back here and it reverts back to its capsule form. This number is a dimension number, believe it or not there are a lot of alternate universes out there. We've had to keep this set at that number once we started traveling, that way in case of emergency we can use it to get somewhere we know. I update the year and month all the time so I stay on the same general timeframe as them. We're going there in the month of March, about seven years since I have been there. It will be nice to see Dad again, and Gohan, I bet he's all grown up now. Krillin too, though I hope he gave up on that android 18, she is bad to the core," Trunks said, smiling and frowning at the different memories. I allowed my eyebrow to drift up for just a moment when I realized just what timeframe he might have meant, but I quickly let it go.
"Well I look forward to meeting everyone," I replied as the ship shook a little as it blasted off
"Lets go up front, I'm sure you'll want to see this," Trunks said as I followed him out. We came into the control room, it had a huge window with great view of space.
"Hey boys, you're just in time, we're just now leaving orbit! I'll tune the screen so you can see your world one last time!" She did so and the screen blipped to the view of my world, the earth. A big blue pearl in the blackness of space, quite a sight to take in as we made distance from it and it shrank from view.
"We have to make some distance to the outer edge of this solar system for a stable time jump. It'll be a little while before we get there, so far I haven't picked up anymore signals from any of Frieza's ships," Bulma said from the computer console.
"That's okay Bulma, I'll take in the view," I replied.
"Hey, just to let you know a few things about father you may not know, do not cry or whine, he doesn't accept that. I learned the hard way and I was seventeen when I trained with him. He will be very tough on you, talking down is one of his favorite things to do. I suggest you not talk back to him, mother tells me he took lives for less than a poorly timed glare," Trunks said in a serious tone.
"Yeah I get the idea. I understand he isn't the easiest to get along with, but I can adjust. I've dealt with true assholes before, I know deep down, somewhere, there's a good man. The exterior may not show it, but its there somewhere," I said with a nod.
Trunks smiled, "Good, just maybe he'll actually regard your existence. Speaking of which, how would you like a new name, a Saiyan one?"
"I hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose a name from this world might sound a little weird on the other one. How about Verto?" Bulma suggested.
"Verto?" I asked...sounded ok, "Where'd that name come from?"
"Just a name I happened to find when my father was scrolling through Saiyan language off of Goku's old spacecraft. Nothing special about it that I know of, but it's a Saiyan name. I figure new life, new name. Besides, Vegeta might be able to accept you better if you had a Saiyan's name," she said. Something about her tone didn't feel right, but considering the change I had been through, everything seemed a little off.
"Works for me, Verto...I'll have to get used to that one," I replied. We turned back to the screen and continued watching Earth shrink in view.
"Looks like Frieza's goons didn't detect us after all, I was a little concerned about my ki blocker blocking two Saiyan power levels from detection, looks like he wont even have the slightest idea," Bulma said happily. She spoke way too soon, and a large red light beam streaked across space, heading directly for Earth. I felt a strange heat from afar as it streaked by, vanishing once it passed by. I knew there was no way I could have felt that inside the ship, but it was as if there was a flamethrower two feet away. We gasped in horror, speechless horror. The beam disappeared when it would've struck, and was replaced by a large explosion. When the light cleared, Earth was gone. Well all gasped and remained speechless, still in shock for what happened. I just stood there and shook a little, my breath shuddering a little, like someone had just stabbed me in the heart. Anyone who just narrowly avoided a life ending car accident only to find out someone close to you died in it would know how that feels. Trunks turned to his left and growled a bit.
Bulma was the first to speak though, "What the hell!" She retuned the view screen to show a large spider like ship in front of us, and someone on top of it with a finger pointed toward earth.
"Blast it! I can sense its Frieza! He tracked us after all. I can't fight him in space, mother try to out run his ship!" Trunks ordered. That son of a bitch! I thought angrily, seething at the thought of that creep wiping out everything I had ever known.
"You know we can't Trunks! We can try but he can just shoot us out of the sky. And I don't think I have anymore spacesuits, you burned the last one up last time we ran into his forces," Bulma said sadly as a blip appeared on her monitor. "They're hailing us! Maybe they can be talked to after all," she said hopefully.
Trunks' eyes lowered, "I doubt that mother, probably just wants a surrender term." Bulma patched in the hail to the view screen, a smaller window appeared in the middle. And in the middle of it, Frieza himself, in his final form.
"Greetings Super Saiyan. I do not have quarrel with you at this time, I'm still dealing with my mechanical arm you gave me," he held up a hunk of metal attached at the elbow.
"If your filthy guards hadn't touched my mother at the last moment, you would be needing a metal head if you had lived after I was done with you!" Trunks growled.
Frieza's expression changed to that of slight fear, but then anger, "Saiyan insect, be glad that I wish to defeat you in battle rather then in space where the field is all mine. I do not want bloodshed at this time, all I want is for you to hand over the Saiyan you discovered on Earth. We created him so he belongs to me, is that him there? Oh a child too! Excellent, he could go a long way with me, if he lives long enough," Frieza laughed at that last statement.
Trunks growled again, "No way Frieza, you have no claim to him whatsoever!"
Frieza grinned, "I beg to differ, maybe I'll just blow you out of space rather than trying to capture him alive, but I need another primate around to give me entertainment. After all I am the best skilled warrior in the universe. When I'm not fighting weaklings I have to have something to do. Maybe I'll train the boy, if he can keep up with me that is."
"You won't have to worry about that you gay albino bastard! I'll be happy to be the one who tears off your head next time!" I spoke up.
"Shhh, don't agitate him!" Trunks whispered.
"Oh look, he's full of spunk just like every other Saiyan I've ever met. That'll change soon enough!" Frieza chuckled.
Trunks growled some more, but I answered him again, "Shut your fuckin trap you piece of shit! The only thing you're good for is beating up and killing the weak and innocent! You're the most pathetic form of pond scum I've ever seen, go to hell and roast with the rest of the trash!" I shouted at him. I had never liked his character that much, but now I truly despised him. Frieza's jaw dropped, probably never saw anyone speak to him in that way, never mind a child.
But the shock didn't hold, "Silence child! How dare you speak to the Lord of the Universe in such a way!" he shouted back.
"Apparently the only class that's left in this universe is standing on this ship! Kinda hard to be the Lord when you can't beat, what was it you called us? Oh yes, primates! Do us all a favor and go find a hobby, or better yet, another gay alien! You're previous boyfriend obviously found someone better!" Frieza's expression grew angrier, and even Trunks was chuckling by now. Then I heard a loud laugh behind Frieza, and a very large being stepped in behind him.
"Oh that kid has some spunk son! I don't think I've ever heard anyone insult you like that, oh that's rich!"
"Father! I'm trying to conduct business here, you're not helping!" Frieza shouted behind him. Ah, King Kold.
"Oh look, daddy dearest consoling his lonely son! I'd tell you both to go out somewhere and get laid, but I'm not sure you even can! Do you even have women? Must be rough," I smirked a bit.
"Argh!" Frieza growled again.
"As much as I would enjoy listening to that runt's banter, it's obvious that he won't stop until you kill him anyway. Just blow them out of space, its not like you can't find more Saiyans to pick on!" Kold proclaimed.
"Ah hell!" Trunks whispered.
Frieza turned back to us, "On suggestion from my father, I'm canceling the deal. Farewell Saiyans!"
"Punch it mother!" Trunks shouted, though she was already going. Our ship took off, but pink beams went sailing by, followed by severe shaking when they hit.
"Trunks, I don't know if I can outrun them! We must make the time jump but we can't with that ship chasing us down, we have to be stopped first!" Bulma screamed.
Trunks looked very worried, but then thought of something, "Mother! We can send him in the old time machine, it still has enough juice for one trip!" Right after he said it a large explosion went off and we all fell forward. The ship had stopped and the computer was going nuts showing view of damaged engines.
"Go get it, send him now! They hit the main coolant lines so the ship can't jump timelines now. Go before the boarding party shows up, Frieza may still try to take us alive!" Bulma shouted as she pulled herself back into her seat.
Trunks grabbed my hand and rushed out of the room faster then I thought anyone could move. We arrived at the time machine's room right as the intruder alarms went off.
Trunks kneeled down and held me by my sides, "Alright, you know what to do. This should take you my friends in the other timeline, somewhere around West City. You may have to look for them but you know what they look like. Take this to show your connection to me," he said as he handed me a capsule.
"What's in it?" I asked.
"It contains my battle armor, my sword, and my capsule jacket. If that doesn't work you always have the time machine, just no energy. I can't promise anything, but I will do what I can to catch up with you if we can. Farewell, my brother."
"But what about you guys?" I asked as he picked me up by the waist and flew to the top of the machine hatch and dumped me in, hitting the start button and backing away.
"Don't worry about us, you have your own life to get on with! We'll be fine, now get going!" he said sharply. The glass closed and the ship began to rise. Just then some purple goon with horns burst into the room with a hundred foot soldiers, all of them blasting at Trunks. I saw him give me a slight wave as a golden rush of air surrounded him. His hair instantly turned blond and I felt that incredible rush of heat again, coming from him. He had transformed into a Super Saiyan. Sure I had seen it, but there was a drastic difference between fantasy and the real thing. He attacked the soldiers just as a flash blinded me and the time ship was thrown into a colorful tunnel with stars and hues flying by. I fell down into the seat and held on tightly. I could only watch in awe as the time ship flew forward at incredible speeds towards my destination.
Another flash and I was out of the colorful light tunnel and staring into the sunlight. I arrived on a planet for sure, and it looked like Earth all right. The ship set itself down and the hatch opened up. I climbed out and jumped down to take a look. I was in the outskirts of a large city, not one I recognized of course, but a city nonetheless. From what I could tell no one saw the ship arrive, so I was safe there. Reaching behind the legs of the ship, I pressed the button to put it back in capsule form and pocketed the capsule in my pants pocket.
"Well, guess I'll start my search. This could take awhile," I muttered as I walked toward the city. A big sign on a main road caught my interest, as well as a hopeful smile.
"Welcome to West City, Home of Capsule Corporation"Good this should be easy, at least the damn ship was on target. I wisely wrapped my tail around my waist to prevent too much suspicion; I didn't want to be discovered that badly. I noticed something I found odd at first, nothing looked animated here. It looked as normal as my world was, but then I never expected any of this to be real in the first place. Trunks and Bulma had appeared as normal as could be as well, as did Frieza, so I guess it wasn't a huge deal. As I walked along the sidewalk, I noticed some of the cars on the road were much like my world, but some of them were hover-converted as well, something that hadn't been really developed yet where I was from. They didn't look overly durable though, and that reminded me of something else. I wonder how strong I am right now, that thought caused me to drift over towards an empty alley. Once out of sight, I lined up with a solid looking concrete building and punched forward. I expected the punch to simply stop at the wall, what I got certainly surprised me. Well it would surprise anyone if your fist went straight through the wall without any give, like the wall wasn't even there, just poof a clean punched out hole. I glanced around quickly to see if anyone saw that. I waited by the fresh hole, glancing between my surroundings and my unblemished fist for a moment or two, and then resumed my course along the street, double-checking to make sure I didn't draw attention. Note to self, don't punch anyone in anger right now, at least not hard.
Walking on, I heard loud pops, when I got closer to the source, I recognized them as gunshots. I turned the corner to find some bank robbers firing at a cop car, the cops ducked down behind it shaking in fear. I raised my eyebrow, now that's a twist; I thought they normally broke down the doors. Not totally confident that I could take them, as I hadn't learned any good skills yet, I stayed back and watched the scene unfold. Suddenly a breeze came through and a helicopter came into view and landed close by. I observed a young girl jump out and rush the crooks.
"She's nuts!" I muttered aloud. Then she got in behind them before they could react and kicked the living crap out of each one. Only one of them tried to fight her back, only to get a fist to the gut and kicked in his face in her flurry of action. Ok maybe not, I thought as she signaled the cops to come out of hiding and make arrests. I found that even where I was standing, I could hear the conversation relatively easily.
"Thanks Videl, you always seem to get the guys we can't. Must be your blood," one of the cops said.
"No problem Sarge, guess that's what happens when your Dad defeats the evil Cell. I rubbed off from him I guess," she said with a shrug.Oh great, it just had to be Videl, by the look of things I didn't see a caped guy with a helmet so she doesn't know Gohan yet, just great! Oh well, as long as I don't get involved it shouldn't be a problem. Just as she said that, one of the crooks broke free and took off in full sprint, Videl chased and began to gain, but he had a good head start. The only problem for him was that he was heading my way. I stepped out and stood in his path, waiting for him to get to me, crossing my arms. Amazing, I could almost feel that staying out plan failing once I saw her. Oh well, too late now. The crook grinned and pulled his gun out when he saw me, and Videl was looking at me at well.
"Run kid, don't let him catch you!" she shouted. I didn't listen, my blood told me to let him catch me, then tear him up when he did, so I stood my ground. He finally caught up to me, spun behind me and pointed the gun at my head on my right side.
"Hold it right there girlie, or the kid gets it!" he cackled.
Videl skidded to a stop and held her ground, "Just leave the poor boy out of this this! I'll let you go, just drop the gun and go!" she pleaded. Poor boy huh, she should see that wall I left back there.
"Why don't you back off and run along, or the small fry gets plastered!" he roared back. Small fry? I wasn't sure if either one of them noticed my initial reaction to that reference, but the words vein pop didn't do it justice. I hated being called small fry, whether I was or not.
I let out a low level growl, which startled both Videl and the crook a little, "Small fry? How about I rip off your small fry and ram it down your goddamn throat! In fact, I hope your medical insurance is paid up, you're about to take a painful trip!" As soon as I finished the statement I grabbed the gun from his hands, and squeezed hard on the barrel. It broke apart in my hands and I let the chunks fall to the ground with the rest of it. That surprised me, I only meant to pull it away. Yep, the strength is definitely in this body.
"What the...!" I never let him finish the question and lightly elbowed his gut. When he bent over in pain, I swept his foot, and then nailed him in the face with my backhand. He went sailing back into a brick wall and smashed into it, leaving a nice indent. While I knew that would happen, it sure did feel different actually being able to do it. Damn, I probably could have killed him if I hit him as hard as I can, I thought as I stared at my fist.
Videl came running up, speechless. "How...how did you do that?" She stammered, still shocked.
Knowing what I say might screw something up, "Listen, you never saw me do that, you did it yourself, okay? All I asked is to be taken to Bulma Briefs' place, I don't want any credit anyway. I promise you will find out who I am and how I did that, but not today. Take me to Bulma's place of residence when your finished here and then leave. I don't mean to be difficult, but its important that you do not ask me any questions," I said as calmly as I could, probably sounding even more vague.
"Hey, I deserve to know what happened! I can't just take you to the richest woman in the world just like that! You're obviously very strong, what do you want from her? Better not be anything bad!" Videl said sharply, trying to use her older influence. Considering her husband, I doubt you have to worry about anything.
"Don't be difficult Videl," I muttered.
"How did you know my name?" she asked. Doh, quick answer, quick answer!
"W-well who doesn't right?" I stuttered.
Videl frowned immediately, though she only huffed slightly at it, "Yeah I suppose. So why do you want to see Bulma Briefs so bad?" she asked, crossing her arms. Damnit, ignore that look, it's like bait!
"Videl, please don't be difficult, I helped you out there after all. I would never harm a lady, but do you want the next spot on the wall?" I asked.
That stumped her, "Good point, let me finish with the police and I'll take you there. Wait by my chopper!"
I did as she asked once the cops finally rushed over, "Wow Videl, you really did a number on that guy, he'll be glad to be in jail after all that!" The sergeant declared. Pity they didn't see the real events.
After about five minutes, Videl came back over to her chopper where I stood. "Ok Get in!" she said, sharp tone again. I did so and we took off, though judging by that stern stare, she wasn't done talking. "So when we get to Bulma's, will you give me information then?" she asked, still pressing.
"I wish I could now, but I can't, sorry. You will probably see me again though, when's the next world martial arts tournament?" I asked, getting a bearing of the area of time, she obviously didn't know Gohan yet.
"About eight months, I bet you would tear the youth division apart," she said. Damn, eight months till Buu shows up? I didn't think I'd be getting into that kind of fight anytime soon. I hope that it's enough to help, if not Goku will beat him...I hope.Wait a sec, now that I'm here, that means the timeline will change. I better stick to the script just in case it changes for the worse. So far it hasn't been a pretty start.
"I promise you will meet me again the tournament, but go on like you never met me. Odds are you will learn a lot that day, is that it?" I asked as we approached a big yellow dome.
"Yeah that's it, Capsule Corporation. Do I need to accompany you inside?"
I thought for a moment, "No you don't need to." Videl touched down a few seconds later, long enough to let me out before she actually shut it off.
"Well my helicopter is due for maintenance anyway and I have to come here for it, so I think I will come in anyway!" She said, climbing out and restoring the chopper to capsule form.
I slapped my head when she had her back turned, "Oh great, this is gonna be nice and complicated," I muttered under my breath. We turned to the big yellow dome and began walking to the entrance, all the while hoping the occupants could help me.
Power levels-These are the maximum's of whatever form and in what situation, its easier then guessing where each one is at every moment.
Verto: unknown
Frieza: 8,000,000
Frieza's goons: 1,000-100,000(varied)
Trunks: 57,000,000 Super Saiyan Trunks: 190,000,000
Bank Robbers: 25-100 each
Videl: 250
Power levels are going to be based on what they were at the Cell games and Buu Saga, so I'll do my best to guesstimate what they should be at different points of my series, if I post them that is.