Note: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of the characters in this story, excepting Serrik Zash and any other characters not found in the Dragonball Z anime or Manga.

This is my first fic, so feel free to read and review. I'm planning on about 7-9 chapters, regardless, but I would welcome feedback, positive or negative.

A Story Of Things To Come

Chapter Two : My Induction

We went to a secluded area, and after assuring ourselves no one was present, we took off flying over the treetops. I had serious difficulty keeping up with them, but eventually we sighted our apparent destination - a tall, thin tower with a large, saucer shaped lookout atop it, in the middle of a heavily forested area. Following the lead of the others, I landed atop the saucer. The others were all standing in a semicircle, obviously leaving a place for me. I recall being amazed at their stamina- they all seemed fresh as dasies, while I was panting at the exertion of the long flight. Stumbling and gasping for air, I made my way to the place in the group.

"Thank you for coming, Serrik." began Piccolo. " I'm sorry if I'm being abrupt or intrusive, but we haven't much time for pleasantries. Do you know why we've brought you here?"

"Are you... kidding?... I ... don't... even know where... here... is..." I panted.

Tien chuckled. "This place is called Kami's Lookout. It's a... meeting ground, of sorts."

"Good to... know..." I wheezed.

Piccolo spoke again. "I'll explain as best I can then, but time may be of the essence so I'm going to be brief. Goku was part of our small group of fighters. Gohan, Goku's son, is also one of us, but I won't pull him away from his final goodbyes. Oh, and "Prince" Vegeta is also with us, unofficially. For now."

I was aghast. "You let a child FIGHT? Thats barbaric!"

Piccolo grunted. "Don't get all huffy. He's far more powerful than he looks. He could snap you like a twig if he wanted to. Also, I think you've got the wrong idea. We train with one another, but this isn't a fight club. We fight only when we need to."

I must have had a confused look in my eye, because Chao-Tsu clarified the statement. "What Piccolo is trying to say is that we only fight in extreme situations, like the King Piccolo crisis, or the Alien Landing situation, if you can remember about a year and a half ago."

I struggled to remember the sparse news coverage of the situation. I vaguely recalled newscasts the aliens destroy several ships with Ki blasts, and I vividly recalled seeing them fighting a group of warriors, who appeared to be losing badly to just the larger one. I had, in fact, been on my way down to their location - I didn't imagine I could do much against them, but someone had to try - when I heard about their defeat. I started.

"Group of warriors..." I mumbled.

"Looks like he remembers," Yamcha said in a smug manner.

"So, wait...," I said, trying to grasp the situation. I simply could not believe I was speaking to saviors of the planet. "You're telling me... that you guys are the ones who stopped the aliens?"

Krillin looked sheepish. "Well.. actually.."

Piccolo spoke. "They creamed us. Well, just Nappa, really. Vegeta didn't really do anything but order Nappa around. Oh, and the aliens were of a race of warriors called the saiyans. And... erm... Goku did most of the stopping. We were more of a liability in that fight, for the most part."

Yamcha spoke up defensively. "Well, come on, he did have kind of an advantage over us, seeing as how he was one of them..."

My eyes must have glazed over again. Chao-Tsu turned the conversation back to its original point. "ANYWAY... thats all ancient history. The real point is, we need a replacement for goku... or at least someone to try and step into his shoes."

I stepped back, startled. "Uhm... you might have the wrong person, here. Goku would have squashed me like a bug. No way I can fight in his stead."

Tien's eyes - all three of them- narrowed. "We can train you to be more powerful - not as powerful as Goku... even we aren't that strong. But we can train you to be pretty strong. Right now you have what, fifteen years of martial arts experience? And about the same for ki manipulation?"

"More like eight and three. Goku only taught me a little, but it was enough for me to figure out most of it... I think."

Everyones eyes widened. Tien whistled "Well, that explains why Goku recommended you. You must have enormous potential to be that strong after only eight years, and with only three years of ki manipulation, you're lucky you managed to make it this far.. Well, you're qualified, and we can probably get you up to snuff in a few months. You might wind up being even stronger than me, and I'm the strongest human in the group. If you're willing..."

I stood up and inflated my chest. "Willing to be a hero? Who in their right mind would pass up the oppertunity? Just one question... will this interfere with my job- I'm a scientist at Capsule Corp, and I-"

Krillin chuckled. "Oh, I think we can convince Bulma to give you a paid leave of absence for this. And if she won't, I'm sure that Tien can afford your sallary easily from the interest on the prize money he won in the world tourney a few years back."

Tien scowled. "Six million zenni does make a lot of interest, Krillin, but don't go giving away my money, if you please. I'll do it if I have to, but lets TRY and convince Bulma to foot the bill, eh?"

Somehow or other they managed to convince Bulma to both let me go for a few months paid leave and lend them an item they called a "scouter", which they said would let them more easily gauge my improvement, and allow me to do the same. I was then introduced to a marvel of physics which I still fail to understand, called the hyperbolic time chamber. Somehow -it was explained to me in some small detail as a chamber where space and time decompressed themselves due to higher, artificially created gravity from a small singularity in an infinite space dimension - making it ideal for training, as a year inside would pass as a day outside. It took about a day and a half for me to make the arrangements I would need to train for two years in the chamber - alone. I personally installed a gym and a new and improved gravity chamber, which could go all the way up to 700 times normal earth gravity, or almost 2100 in the time chamber. All involvoed were impressed with the new numbers.

The plan we decided on was this - I would spend the next two years of my life in the chamber, training nonstop. In the case of an emergency where I was required, a radio system was installed in my gravity chamber, so I could be summoned if needed. And thus, the next two years of my life, I spent without human contact, gaining power rapidly - according to the scouter I had started with a power of one hundred and twenty one, which sounded reasonable to me; however, by the end of my session in the chamber, the scouter read me at exactly eight hundred sixty nine thousand, seven hundred and twenty two - and I could feel the power coursing through me. Piccolo had seen fit to include a namekian encyclopedia of ki techniques, and by the end of my time, I had mastered almost half of the four hundred and fifty seven attacks. I had analyzed video records of Goku's battles with Piccolo, Vegeta, Captain Ginyu, and to a limited extent, Frieza - Goku had not quite finished him off on Namek, but had not made the mistake again when Frieza appeared again on earth, which was where the video records came from - and I had improvised a less than optimum Kaioken technique - consuming more energy but also more stable for the body - which gave me a maximum power level of just over one point two eight million, for a short time, which I named Myoken in jest. Tien had been right - I HAD surpassed him, though only barely. I FELT like a juggernaut. What a fool I was, not even realizing that I could not have been farther from the truth.