Chapter 1:
On little ol' planet Earth, in the middle of an isolated forest, high in the mountaintops, the sounds of birds chirping and streams flowing were slowly being drowned out by a new sound. A small boy rode atop a huge log, rolling down a path like a circus bear would ride a ball. In his right hand he held a disproportionately large saw over his shoulder, which was obviously the tool he used to acquire the log. His hair was wild and black like the night, spiking out in several directions, and his eyes were a deep brown. He wore a blue martial-artist Gi (a karate uniform) and orange-brown raggedy pants. Among his most peculiar features was his tail; a thin, monkey-like, brown tail, which he let hang out the back of his pants.
As the boy and his rolling log passed by an apple tree, he reached up with his tail to snatch an apple. Successful, he began to munch down on his delicious treat until it was nothing but a core.
Eventually, the boy came to a stop when he reached a clearing the the woods. In the middle of the clearing was a small shack, to which the boy called home. He dismounted the log and stood before it, taking a deep breath and dropping the saw by his side. Out of nowhere, the boy kicked the log high into the air, displaying an amazing feat of strength. The boy leapt after the log, punching it with all of his might as it came down. The log collapsed into an impossibly neat pile of wood. He landed and stood, brushing his hands together, proud of his work.
The boy made his way inside of the small shack as he announced,
"Grampa, I'm home!"
He was not referring to any living person though, rather he spoke to a small, strange, orange ball upon a tiny altar in the center of the shack. He got down on his knees in front of the altar and began to talk to the ball,
"Hey, how are you today?"
The ball was silent as always, but it comforted to boy to speak to this object, as if it was his grandfather. The boy stood up and held his stomach, speaking to himself,
"Boy, I sure am hungry."
On that, he walked back over to the door of his shack, picking up some kind of bow staff on the way. He wandered the woods for about half an hour, mingling with the wildlife as he did, until he came to a small lake. The boy spoke,
"I know! I'll have fish!"
He made his way over to the edge of the lake and turned around, leaning over and dipping his tail into the water. He twitched his tail to imitate a lure. A few feet away in the water, one could see the shadow of a huge, monstrous fish approaching the boy's tail. When the fish made its move though, the boy quickly spun around. The fish had leapt clean out of the water in surprise, and the boy was in pursuit. He kicked the fish hard and it fell down dead onto dry land. The boy then hoisted the fish's tailfin over his shoulder and began making his way back down the path, dragging the fish behind him. He stated to himself,
"Great! This should last me until lunch."
On a nearby mountainside, a roundish, white car was zooming down the road. It made a quick stop when it came to a turn, and out of it stepped a young girl in her teen years. She had cerulean eyes and hair that was dyed blue. In her hand, she held a strange device that beeped and booped at the touch of a button. On its display were an array of little dots that blinked faster the closer they were to the center. She observed her device for a few minutes before she stated,
"It's just over there. You're mine you little jewel."
She re-entered her car hastily and stomped on the gas, forcing the car fast down the road. After several minutes of driving, the girl spotted something in her peripherals: the boy! He was crossing the road, fish in hand, and completely oblivious to the car. The girl screamed in surprise and slammed on the breaks, but to no avail; she hit the kid with the side of her car! He was flung away into a nearby tree, hitting his head hard on the trunk, and his fish landed beside him. After coming to a full stop, the girl rolled down her window and peered at what she had done. She said with worry in her breath,
"Oh god... I killed him!"
However, the boy began to stir. After a few seconds he groggily got to his feet, both hands on his head. He scanned the area until his eyes locked on to the girl and her car. Thinking it was some kind of monster, the boy yelled,
"Man! That hurt! What did I ever do to you, you beast?"
In response the girl stated in confusion,
"Wha- what the?"
The boy stomped his way over to her car, rubbing his hands together and cracking his knuckles. He stopped right in front of it and bent his knees, grabbing hold of the car. He lifted with all of his might and brought the whole car over his head, the girl yelped and screamed in protest. He grunted with strain and tossed the car onto its side. He called to it,
"Had enough, monster?"
Out of the window, the girl showed her head. Then, she brought a small pistol out from within her car, aiming at the boy as she said,
"Get away from me!"
Her finger slipped and pulled the trigger, firing at the boy's head. The bullet made contact and knocked him over, but soon enough he sat up, hands on his head and subconscious tears running out of his eyes. He yelled to no one in particular,
"Wow, what was that!?"
The girl shivered in fear of the seemingly invincible kid before her, stating,
"Y-you should be d-dead, kid."
The boy looked over to her, removing his hands from his head, revealing nothing more than a bruise. He stood up, pulling his bow staff from his back. He called to her,
"So monster, you thought you finished me off, huh?"
The girl threw her hands up in a surrendering fashion as she replied fearfully,
"I'm- I'm no monster, kid! I'ma human being, just like you!"
The boy seemed suspicious,
"Human, you say?"
The girl crawled out of the car and onto solid ground. Then she continued,
"Yep, 100% person, right here."
The boy walked up to her and began to inspect her. He said,
"Maybe, but you're so thin an' scrawny."
She told him,
"I'm a girl, of course."
The kid seemed confused at this, but then he said,
"A girl? My grandpa once told me about girls. He said to be as polite as possible around girls."
The girl smiled at this as she said,
"Oh did he? Then your grandpa must have been a good man. Hey where were you going before I hit you with my car?"
The boy looked over to the car behind her, saying,
"Oh, so that's a car? My grandpa also told me about those…" he seemed lost in thought, but then he continued, "I was going back home with my fish."
The girl thought to herself,
"His home? That must be where that jewel is." then she noticed his tail, thinking it is not real, "Phft, he thinks it's cool to wear that tail like an accessory."
Then she asked the boy,
"Hey, mind if I come with you?"
The boy simply said in a very cheerful way,
"Sure, why not?"
After a good fifteen minutes of walking through the woods, the boy and the girl just now started talking with one another; starting with the girl,
"So, kid, what's your name?"
He responded,
"My name's Son Goku!"
She chuckled a little before stating,
"Goku, uh? That's not exactly a normal name."
The boy now known as Goku then asked her,
"Well, what's yours?"
She hesitated before saying,
"Bulma… My name is Bulma."
Goku burst into laughter at the irony of her name. Bulma yelled at him,
"I'll have you know, my name is very elegant!"
Goku said, still laughing,
"Yeah, whatever."
She yelled,
"Stop laughing!"
After a while, Goku and Bulma arrived at Goku's shack. Bulma entered after Goku, and as she did, she spotted what she was after. Bulma shoved Goku out of the way and ran up to the small, strange orange orb on the tiny alter. She picked it up and marveled at it without hesitation. She rotated the ball and fumbled with it until four little stars were visible on the face of the orb. She shouted triumphantly,
"Yes! A Dragon Ball!"
Goku quickly intervened with what Bulma was doing and snatched the ball away from her. He said to her in an angry tone,
"Hey, don't touch my Grandpa!"
Bulma said under her breath, staring at Goku,
"Grandpa?.." she then spoke up, "I hate to break this to you kid, but," she reached into a little bag that she was carrying around with her and removed two little orange orbs, each identical in size to Goku's, but with a different amount of stars on each, "See?"
Goku seemed amazed, speaking,
"Woh, no way. You've got two Grandpas!"
Bulma then said,
"They're not Grandpas, kid. They are called Dragon Balls."
Goku asked,
"The dragon's whats?"
Bulma laughed a bit and then continued,
"Dragon Balls… There are seven in all, and if you collect all of them something amazing happens. Unless a bad guy gets them... then really bad things can happen."
Goku queried,
"Well, what does happen if you get all of them?"
Bulma said,
"This is gonna sound pretty far-fetched, okay? When all seven Dragon Balls are brought together, then the magical dragon Shenlong will appear to grant you any one wish."
Goku replied,
"Really? How cool!.. But, I can't let you have mine."
Bulma asked,
"Why not?"
Goku answered,
"My Grandpa gave me this ball to remember him by. I can't just give it up."
Bulma stood there thinking for some time. She knew the kid wouldn't ever part ways with his Dragon Ball, but then she had an idea,
"Say, Goku, why don't you come and search for the other Dragon Balls with me? Then after I get my wish, you can have your 'Grandpa' back."
Goku thought about it, and he said,
"Okay, that sounds like fun and all, but you better not get my Grandpa mixed up with your Dragon Balls."
Bulma smiled at Goku's ignorance, saying,
"That's impossible, each ball has a different number of stars on them. See," she pointed out her Dragon Balls, "I've got the Two Star Ball and the Five Star Ball, and your Grandpa is the…"
Goku finished her sentence,
"Four Star Ball."
Bulma stated,
"That's right. Now let's get going!"