Chapter 9: Robbie's Rise
"Arise, Dragon!" Robbie's call sounded clear and true across the open field. The seven Dragon Balls glowed with unearthly light, and then in one spectacular instant, the Eternal Dragon emerged. His endless bulk surged forward and up through the skies of Earth, slicing the clouds in two. Winds raged and the skies rolled with blackness. The Dragon spoke.
"Why have you summoned me? Speak quickly." Its thunderous voice shook the mountain plain with force. Robbie stood his ground however, as he bravely spoke.
It had been three days since Robbie had plugged in the time and coordinates and blasted off from the surface of New Namek. His destination: Earth. The time: 40 years into the past. His target: Earth's Dragon Balls. At this point, Earth was not under any large threats, and Robbie set about gathering the Dragon Balls with ease, being he knew where they were and could reach them easily. Over the next couple of days, he did just that, and soon he had all seven in his care. It had not been a complete cakewalk, however.
The first one was hidden in the lair of a Tyrannosaur. Robbie knew dinosaurs existed on this world, but this was ridiculous. In the end, the real trouble came not from the Tyrannosaur, but from its babies, who tried to make a chew toy out of Robbie. Somehow, he escaped. But the fun was still not over as Robbie had to make a hasty retreat with one mad momma hot on the tail of the Time Machine. Piece of cake.
After that, things were fine up until the second-to-last Dragon Ball. Here, Robbie had to do something he really didn't want to: steal from the home of Son Gohan, Goku's soon-to-be grandfather. The home was small, and he thought that Gohan was away, right up until a hand grabbed him by the foot, flipped him, and slammed him into the tile floor. Through vision clouded with stars, a smiling old man grinned down at him.
"Well, well m'boy, what're you doin down there?"
Robbie could barely manage a half-hearted groan in response.
"Can't talk yet? Okay, I can wait." The old man went to sweeping the floor as Robbie fought to get his wind back. Finally, he reached his feet.
"Looky there, he's up! Now m'boy, tell me why you had to come in here without knockin first." Robbie was caught off guard by the pleasant, conversational tone of what was obviously an interrogation. He very rightly suspected that although the man was not looking at him and seemed quite harmless, there was actually no way to escape unless the man wanted him to. He was truly trapped. Like a rat. Therefore he decided to come clean.
"Um, sir? I didn't come to rob you… at least not totally. I just…wanted that…" Robbie motioned to the mantle, where an orange orb emblazoned with four stars sat. Gohan saw where the boy's finger was pointing and smiled slightly.
"Oh, that." A knowing smile crossed his lips, as if he knew how much Robbie needed it. He strolled over and picked it up into his callused hands. "You know what this is?"
"Yes, sir. It's a Dragon Ball. The fourth one."
"My, how astute. Yes, you are correct. I suppose you also know of the wish, then."
"I do. When all seven Dragon Balls are brought together, the Eternal Dragon is summoned who then grants the gatherer one wish. Anything he desires."
"I guess, then, there is something you desire?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well then, here." He tossed it gently to Robbie, who deftly caught it. He was just…giving it to him?
"Sir? I can have this?"
"Sure. You seem harmless enough, and you must want that wish very badly, so I think you need that old piece of glass more than I do."
"Even after I tried to steal from you?"
"You said it yourself, you only wanted the Ball. You told me the truth, and I have no quarrel with those who do such a thing. You are a kind-hearted person. If any evil would come from your wish, then I would not let you make it. Yet you are a good boy, and I know that your choice is being made for the benefit of someone else, am I correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"As I thought. If you have business to attend to then so be it. I won't keep you any longer." The old man waved to the door, and Robbie turned on his heel and left, stunned by what had just happened. He simply had not expected it to be so easy. Anyway, it was a welcome change from all the problems he had been putting up with since he had embarked on this journey. He heard the old man call a quick 'Good Luck!' and continued up the hillside to his hidden Time Machine. Once inside, he blasted off for the location of the final Ball. It was in a mountain cave only twenty klicks south of his current position. In an instant, he was there.
The cave was uninhabited and Robbie effortlessly claimed the final prize. He brought it over to the circle of the other Balls, and they began to glow with iridescent light. Standing over them, Robbie thought of what he must now do. The wish that seemed to make so much sense before was beginning to take its toll. Robbie was more afraid then he had ever been. This wish had the distinct possibly of altering his life forever. There would be no turning back.
Robbie had gained enough maturity at that point to know that he stood at a crossroads. Down one road, there was the choice of simply flinging the Dragon Balls out into the grass and going back to Bulma, then trying to think of some other way to help Trunks, yet the down that road also lay the destruction of his home. Deep inside, he knew that this choice was necessary. This sacrifice was necessary. So in this way, Robert Barnes stopped thinking of himself, rose to the occasion, and spoke his fateful words.
"Eternal Dragon! I wish to be a Saiya-jin!"
Your wish is granted…
The Dragon's eyes glowed crimson, and Robbie felt unknown power snake its way into his form. At first it was merely a buzz, but soon it built into a roar. He felt his body respond almost instantly as the unknown light took him over from head to toe. Then the changes started. In his body. In his mind. In his soul.
Deep inside, the change took hold. Deep inside, his body responded to the Dragon's magic. It started in his bones. All at once, every single one he possessed cracked, broke, and finally shattered into fragments. Robbie felt pain unimaginable and as such precluded any mere scream. Without support, his limp frame slumped to the ground, where the magical change continued. In the midst of blinding agony came the next step. Bone fragments began to draw themselves together, stronger, tighter than before. A new skeletal structure formed, far superior to the previous.
Next came a fresh wave of pain, and Robbie passed out. His muscles were taking up the call. They expanded, then destroyed themselves in one titanic instant. The boy's body jerked. They too began to rebuild, again, stronger then before. And no system of this human boy went unaffected. Nerves, blood vessels, organs, and even skin were changing into their most superior form. Skin became thick enough to receive a direct ki blast. Nerves conducted signals faster, allowing for quadrupled reaction time. Blood cells mutated to carry more oxygen and provide the endurance necessary to sustain a warrior for days. Enhanced musculature delivered the power necessary for maximum destruction.
Yet Robbie's mind was changing also. New thoughts, new ways of thinking echoed where once only school and girls occupied. Instincts, senses, attack methods, and the renown fighting hunger of the Saiya-jins took over this innocent mind. Robbie, still unconscious, barely noticed. Physical changes continued, making the final alterations that would forever mark him as inhuman. His teeth lengthened into fangs, his hair lengthened, turned jet-black, and spiked out behind his head in a new look all his own. Finally, his spine lengthened and pierced downward through the skin of his extreme lower back. The exposed bone grew a furry covering, and the most prominent Saiya-jin feature had been created: the tail. After this, the magic of the dragon balls ceased to run in his body.
The Dragon's single wish granted, it disappeared back into its fiery home in the bowels of the Earth, and the seven mystic Dragon Balls scattered to the ends of the Earth.