Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. - Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter 3: The Boy That Went Further Into Uncertainties

It was late one night on planet Plant.

Bardock was walking back to the commissioner's office to receive his reward for ambushing and eradicating all of planet Sora's citizens. It was a vast blue planet filled with advanced mechanisms. What differentiated it from other planets was the fact that its inhabitants built its civilization (empire; cities) upon floating landscapes in the sky. Basically, it was a city upon the cloudy heavens. The people looked humanoid, with white skin and wings. It would remind some of the depictions of angels. However, unlike angels, these people were weak and sinful, and relied on weaponry rather than 'fist to fist' battling. Bardock defeated them easily with his team. This place would be highly priced and they would receive a bountiful reward. However, Bardock was troubled. The Sorian's were known to be very knowledgeable. Before killing an elderly Sorian, it had stated something so mysterious, and rather, eerie to Bardock:

"One day a great power will arise leading to trust and favor. All the days that has since occurred will favor the hero, a happy story, ignorant and with no meaning. The lazy ones will begin to grow tired and continue their life as a thoughtless spiral. This is when the feigning holder of the key appears and wields fate to the power. Fate will then unlock the time in which calamity strikes. Will calamity overcome the power or will it overbear it? In neither the end nobody knows if it will nor the result of that happening. If such ones do for others what will happen to them? Can you continue to follow your path without interacting with a side of negativity or remorse? Or is this all a black and white picture filled with the simple sublimities and inferiorities? Younger one here today, you may kill me, but… remember, your fate is only chosen by you with the power of will…"

Being astonished and annoyed by the old man's last comment, Bardock blasted him into oblivion. The old man's message was stupid…

Was it?

Continually walking forward, he continued to think about the man's message. Sorian's knew lots about legends and tales. However, what did that elderly one mean about a great power? What would happen when the great power receives that key? Why would someone give the great power such a weapon? What will happen after that? Was it just a tale; a fib nothing to be inquired. Shaking his head, he ventured towards his destination. He was worried about something other than that.

"Where do you think you're going?" Called a familiar voice.

Bardock sighed. This was going to irritate him.

"Not fair Bardock! You're so mean! You always leave me behind on our missions! You know I'm too young to handle my own team and status!" Whined a 12 year-old girl.

"Oh dear God," groaned Bardock, "It's because I don't want to keep saving your weak ass Gine!"

"You know when I turn 15 just like you; I'm going to beat you up! Then I'll show you who you're yelling at!"

Bardock grunted not caring what the girl remarked.

"Anyways, I was wondering what you had to tell me three weeks ago." Gine questioned.

Even though the three year difference, Gine was Bardocks best friend and the only person in the world he shared his feelings with, despite the fact of feeling weak. He remembered when he found the small girl almost beaten to death some years ago. So much pity was in his house for her weak stature, he had to help her. Ever since he saved her from near death, they had been kind of close. He hated it but he felt so close to her that he felt he could tell her anything. Stopping at a halt, he remembered that he needed to tell Gina something extremely odd that was happening to him…

"Why did you st-"Gine queried before she was stopped.

"Gine, listen to me very carefully. I'm not crazy, but something's been going on with my mind. I've been dreaming of the most unexplainable things I've ever seen…"

"Bardock! Don't you know once you reach a certain age in Saiyan puberty as a boy, you have weird dreams! Gee whiz, you're such a pervert! I know you're not that clueless! You only did this to try to get on my bad side, but this time you failed you creepy immoral jerk!"

"GINE! I'm not talking about that you idiot! Listen! Anyways, sometimes when I go to sleep, I dream about the most fascinating things. In my dreams, sometimes I could see a male figure, a well-toned and burly. He looks fierce, a person who would make those in his way cower in fear or lowliness. Someone to be respected. His hair defied the very laws of gravity with its spiky appearance and shone in a golden light. However the most distinct and appealing thing about him was his eyes. Those cold, unfeeling, unemotional, turquoise (blue) eyes. Seeing those eyes will make even great ones cower. However one to be respected, he didn't just seem right… almost dead just about…" Bardock had begun to trail off.

"Oh! So like a Super Saiyan like in the legends! Wow that must've been awesome…" Gine exclaimed slightly unsure…

"No… this person was weird. He might have been a Super Saiyan, but there was something different… He didn't have the pride or boastfulness we had. I couldn't decipher anything. All I could see was his emotionless gaze, which made it seem, like he was dead! A zombie! A gaze that could frightened anyone, even-"

"Even you? That must be dreadful…" Gine looked a bit sick.

Ignoring her comment, Bardock continued, "The person then said something weird to me… I remember the way he said it. So clear, so unemotional, despite the fact that the words that came out of his mouth were about the designation of life. It left me a bit awestruck. Even if the words themselves didn't cause harm themselves, they were still…something to think about realistically…" Bardock stared blankly into the atmosphere.

"What?"

"'You may stand there so great and powerful. However one day you will fall, fall into an abyss full of nothingness. Your worst enemy is your imperfection. Your strength, immortality, brilliance, these may be great, but nothing can escape the bounds of imperfection. It is the strongest of chains ever created, and no mortal man has broken through. You will not escape until your bones have dissolved into the ground, but you will be already gone by then. Gradually, every minute, second, millisecond, you are slowly breaking down. Even if you don't get killed, you will eventually die. And with immorality, you may not die, but you will suffer eternally from the day you are born. Slowly and slowly instead of breaking down, you will start to lose your sanity, because of your imperfections. Every death to you will have no meaning; it will just be a recessive system. It won't matter anymore. This is the game of life. The petty game that teaches naughty children the true punishment for their sins. You'll always be at the bottom, like the gravel under your feet. Riches and delights can't save you. You are just the same as a small orphan child running across the streets in fear. Weak. Maybe you wished you would've died…However; don't you wish imperfections could cease to exist? Maybe there is something inside of all which possesses them and cause them all the events in their life… Like a controller… '" Bardock stated the exact same words that he heard one night from the mystery person.

Gine's mouth went agape. If you think about it, that was all true. You were going to die. There was no possible escape. She realized this. None. Everyone was going to die at any given time. Even if you didn't die, during your life time, you will somehow suffer in any amount of interval of time. It was a kind of crazy to think about, but it was all true. It made her feel uneasy.

Looking to her right she saw Bardock still staring into space. Thinking quickly, she roughly grabbed her friend and began dragging him forward grinning a familiar *grin.

"What are you doing?" Asked a confused Bardock.

"C'mon, let's not think about something so dark right now. We'll talk about this later. Right now we got to get your reward for receiving that planet," Gine continued her notorious grin.

When Gine wasn't looking, Bardock smiled. Even if the world was imperfect, that doesn't mean that everything is so bad and depressing. Those small happy things make up for that bad. If life was all sad and depressing, people wouldn't be able to live so long.

"Thank you Gine once again." He whispered to himself quietly. However, Bardock still wondered if that last remark in the dream meant something…

"Life may be full of a good and bad, but in the end, they all amount to zero. The real question is, can you withstand it all?" A voice whispered.

The trail of footsteps diminished in sound as it went towards a familiar place…

He was in a daze…

Those eyes…they looked so familiar…somehow…

"Yo! You awake? Why do you keep on looking at me! You're acting so creepy!" The girl stated while smirking.

Blushing furiously due to his embarrassment, he looked towards the ground. Still, she looked like someone he saw somewhere… like…

The Cell Games!

"Yo dude chill. I was playin' with ya'. Why are you so embarrassed?" She questioned.

He gazed back up. The girl was very short. She was at least to his shoulder in full height (maybe a bit higher). She had a creamy complexion with rosy, chubby, cheeks and aqua blue eyes. Her hair was jet black and reached down to the mid-section of her chest while the top part of her hair covered her forehead in bangs. She wore a pink hoodie and red shorts with a pair of some red and black Air Jordans™. Her physique was a slightly chubby and childish one. Somehow though, Gohan could tell she had some power within her.

"Excuse me, but were you familiar with someone at the Cell Games?" Gohan queried in curiosity.

Videl eyes almost fell out of its sockets. Was this boy seriously that dense? Who didn't know her or the fact that she was the daughter of the famous Hercule Satan?

"You don't know who I am?" Videl looked like a maniac for the moment

"No clue..?" Gohan appeared to be a bit freaked out.

Videl sighed and smiled. In a funny way, she twirled once and returned to Gohan's gaze. Placing her hands towards her side she raised her head towards the air.

"How do you not know the great Hercule Satan's daughter? The man who defeated Cell and saved the world!" Videl shouted

Gohan stared at her as if she had two heads.

"Wow…that was dumb…" Videl's cheeks began to redden.

Gohan couldn't believe it! He was actually talking to that goof's daughter! He couldn't wait to tell Krillin about this one!

"So anyways, my name is Videl. By now my father has practically told the world about my name. Plus, I've won the Junior World Martial Arts Tournament." Videl added.

"Wow you really did all of that?" Gohan inquired.

Videl looked at Gohan with a puzzled look, "Yea, don't you have T.V at home kid…?"

"My mom only let's me watch educational shows. However if I'm well behaved she'll let me get a comic once in a while."

"That sucks! What is she? A history teacher?" Videl asked very surprised.

"No. She's a housewife…" Gohan naively stated.

"I meant it as a… Never mind. Anyways, the names Videl. Yours?"

" Gohan."

"Well nice to meet you buddy. Well got to go do my job now. See you later! By the way kid, be careful of who you run into." Videl said as she began to run off.

"Bye Videl! See you around sometimes!" Gohan yelled as he waved in her direction.

Wow, what a weird girl. Well, she is the daughter of Hercule. Ya' know, she surely doesn't get her looks from her dad. Ha. Gohan thought as he ran towards a dark and secluded ally way. With a leap the boy blasted off into the blue heavens. The Lookout was only about ten minutes from West City at his usual speed. Powering up he made his small journey the Lookout.

The sun gleamed its shining rays onto the pure white pavement as two people were watering some flowers.

"Hey , how long do these plants grow till?" Dende asked.

"That's very notable of you Dende. They have been growing for millenniums," Mr. Popo had stated.

"Wow Mr. Popo, that's amazing! I can't believe that little plants like these have been growing for so long!" Dende said in disbelief.

"You better believe it maggot."

"Did you say something ? I was busy tending to the plants."

"Not a word young lad. Not a word."

Right just then a sudden wind passed, and there stood Gohan about 6 meters from Dende and . Smiling he reached in his pocket and grabbed the worn down scroll while steadily walking toward two very good friends.

"Hi Gohan! What brings you here?" Dende asked cheerfully.

"Excuse me for bursting into your time. Well, I need you guys to help me with something…please?" Gohan politely asked.

"Sure Gohan!" Dende exclaimed.

Gohan opened up the scroll in his hand. Within a short amount of time, it began to glow a blinding light. Shielding their eyes, the group of three was amazed with the display of illumination. As the light steadied down, they began to see character's of Earth's native language (*Japanese?). Dende was purely flabbergasted. How did a piece of paper do that?

"As you can see, before, it displayed different symbols, or rather a different language. The language that was prior was, according to Vegeta, an old dialect and writing system of the Saiyans. Bulma and I agree on the fact that this must have been a document created thousands of years ago by the Saiyans. However, after a few seconds after opening it glows and changes languages. The questions that remain are the fact that how did this come to be on earth? How does this thing change languages and glow? And what does this all mean? I was hoping to find the answers from since he has been here for thousands of years…" Gohan mentioned to say on point.

stood there. No showcase of emotions, just a blank stature. Unmoving and quiet. His eyes seemed to inspect the old scroll. Finally after twenty seconds, Mr. Popo began to speak,

"Long ago, before anyone presently on this planet was born, it was the Lookout, the Guardian of the Earth at that time, and I myself. The guardian at that time was a very old. A very wise man. He was younger than me, but was notable for his knowledge."

"Who was he?" Dende asked.

"The previous Guardian was a Saiyan male called *Koma."

"He was a SAIYAN?" Gohan exclaimed.

"Yes. I remember when he first came here. A spaceship crashed into some mountains not far from here. When I went to go look, a group of people with tails appeared with hooded cloaks covering most of their body. In the middle was a man with a paper sealed in a glass like ball in his hand. The paper was a bit ruptured but I could make out a mysterious language, which was in fact the Saiyan language. The man began to swivel his feet in the dirt a bit. Then he blasted a ki ball into the ground and a massive hole appeared. With a quick grasp of his fingers, he grabbed the ball and threw it into the ground. Thereafter, he raised his hands up towards the sky and shouted a loud chant. Before I could even flinch, the dirt was returned right back to its prior state, looking untouched and ordinary,"

"Wow , that sounds so peculiar. A special and unknown technique. After totally eliminating that dirt into debris, he could bring it back to its original format. Not even skilled Namekians could do that…" Dende marveled.

"Getting back on point, the other hooded figures began to walk towards the space ship that they landed on Earth with. In a matter of minutes after they entered, the spaceship flew towards the heavens and disappeared. They had left the man in the middle on this planet, probably for a reason. Out of nowhere the man turned towards my direction. It was like he knew I was there all along even though I thought I was clearly not visible. With a loud voice he called out to me and said that he heard this planet needed a new guardian to watch over it, and so he wanted to take a try at it. Since I wanted to get a closer look at him, I walked towards him cautiously. When I got closer, he removed his cape and smiled. He wasn't too tall, a bit taller than Goku at the least. His skin was a dark tan and he was well built. At that time he was around the age of fifty. The man said that he came to this planet to protect it from a suspecting danger, and also to hide something here very important so no one could find it. He wasn't very clear on his answers, but I trusted him because his ki was oddly pure like Goku's,"

Gohan tensed a bit. Weren't pure blooded Saiyans without any physical and serious damage on their head usually similar to Vegeta in demeanor? Or was this one somehow different? And what danger was approaching the earth at that time? To him, this kept on getting more and more unusual.

"I bought him to the Lookout for training in order to become a new guardian for the earth. The previous guardian had died due to old age, and so, I needed to replace him quick. Koma, the man's name, had done a successful job in completing the requirements to become guardian. Mysterious to me since it is known that Saiyans don't have pure natures like Koma. We both peacefully tended to the Earth's need as partners for a maximum of 103 years until he died of old age and lack of sustenance need for Saiyan bodies. I remember one day I asked him two very specific questions that I asked earlier, but he had never clearly answered. What was that scrolls importance and what danger was going to come onto the world. I looked at him as he paused. He then said something vague again, but this time, it had more meaning,"

"What did he say?" Gohan had questioned.

"I cannot tell you fully, for it is against my rights of confidentiality, but I can tell you something that you must always remember. In a matter of time, a key to opening a selected realm to future events will fall upon this world. Born in an unknown era and place, things are born tiny and insignificant to the imperfect and ignorant mind, yet they can grow and become the greatest feat ever to awe many. So which shall you choose? The message of focusing on the things you can see or what you cannot see, for yes, they will mean much towards your life as you continue to write the continuum story until the end." Popo concluded

"I wonder what it all means…," Gohan wondered was awed but clueless.

"I am not certain child, but I do know that scroll in your hand is very important. It gives a message about events that will happen in future's time. I say you can keep that scroll Gohan since you have proved to be one of the strongest fighters on earth, but be very careful with it. To Koma, it was very sacred, he watched the area where it was located for the rest of his life. However, after he died, I foolishly forgot where it had been placed and lost memory of it. But now, it has somehow revealed itself from the ground and has been put in your hands Gohan. Protect it." replied.

With a wide smile on his face, he thought of how he would take in this new information. The information he learned dug a deeper hole into revealing the purpose of the scroll, but it also gave a small hint of this enigma.

"Thank you guys for helping me! Sorry I can't visit so often, Mom is having a baby soon so I'm extra busy! See you sometime around!" Gohan yelled into the distance while beginning a running pace.

"Bye Gohan! Come visit us soon!" Dende cheerily shouted.

And with that, the boy flew off.

"Wait, what did you say again boy?"

All three of them were currently residing in the living room. The sky outside had turned dark and cloudy since the meteorologist had predicted rain showers at 7:00 that night, which was in a few hours. Gohan was sitting on the couch next to Bulma while Vegeta sat in a secluded chair. The astonishment in that room caused an attracted silence from Bulma and Vegeta. The only sounds present in the room were the soft sounds resounding from the television and Gohan's account taken from .

"Koma said that the scrolls purpose and the upcoming danger would be taken place in future events and was to be confidential for unspecified reasons. Quite preposterous in a sense, yet such an enigma leading to more questions."

Bulma was looking towards the ground thinking about all what Gohan said. If this was from millenniums ago, then why hasn't this cataclysmic event taken place yet? All that Gohan described, what was this key? Was it the power, spoken of in the scroll? And why did the man have to hide the scroll? Who dug it up?

"Wait a minute, Saiyans came to Earth in order to hide something? Why would they hide it here? And why did that older male talk gibberish about significance like it was some title?" Vegeta queried.

" I don't know Vegeta, I can't tell...but what worries me the most was that suspecting danger. Did it already happen?" Gohan inquired.

Bulma gestured her head in a fashion that said 'I don't know'. They had gotten more information, but they were stuck.

"Damn it! How the hell are we supposed to figure this out? For the first time in forever I felt like I could finally learn something on my actual home planet. Not planet Plant, but something from the original planet Saiyans thrived on!" Vegeta yelled.

"Vegeta, Vegeta, calm down. I'll find out more about this for you, sweetie, you just have to be patient. Right now it's about to rain so we gotta let Gohan go alright?" Bulma smiled as she tried to calm Vegeta down.

" Whatever! I care nothing for the brat, nor will I ever. We will discuss this soon. And listen here brat! After Kakorrot's woman is done giving birth to that monster engulfed in her stomach, we will start our training regimen!" Vegeta shouted while trying to hide his blush. With that, he walked out of the room.

Smiling, Bulma pulled Gohan up and took his hand. Rushing towards the elevator, she pressed a few buttons and suddenly, the elevator door opened. When they both entered in, a sound went off and down they went.

"I know you're probably pretty hungry Gohan honey, so I'm going to feed you some of my mother's chocolate cake before you're off. I know the baby's coming soon so I don't want to worry you so much. We can discuss our little mystery later. But while then, I'll be looking into it a bit more okay?" Bulma beamed.

After hearing the words 'chocolate cake' Gohan's tummy began to rumble. He sure was ready to try some out. With an awkward smirk, he began to fantasize of food…

After all, he was part Saiyan…

1*Guess who the Son family got their signature smile from. It sure wasn't from Bardock

2* Koma is a shortened version of Komatsuna, which is a Japanese mustard spinach (Even though it is grown in other parts of Asia) I was trying to follow Akira's style of naming characters after things like food, underwear, and all sorts of other things.

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. I didn't give up but it's just that even though I am on vacation, I am still busy with caretaking of older relatives and other circumstances (attending parties, visiting friends, etc.) I do have a life you know! Well anyways, this story should be updating a bit faster from now on. I have finished the basis of the plot aspects, and now I shall write them in story format. From this point on, the story should unveil itself closer and closer. Questions shall be answered. And this story shall'nt be abandoned! Thank you for sticking around. And remember, questions from reviews will always be answered.

Ps. Sorry for being unoriginal with that Team Four Star Quote. I just love comedy so much I had to add some in this story. So then I remembered TFS and and whalla! Don't worry, won't be like TFS Popo. Just the original Popo from Dragonball. I won't add in these anymore, (I hope) I just got bored.