Greetings, everyone. Lion here.
You're probably wondering why I'm bothering to write this now, after almost two years of radio silence and promises of a mini-arc that have yet to be fulfilled. I wish I could say that I spent all of that time whipping up a whole entire arc that would be worth the wait and then some, but the truth is that, as some of you are probably aware, I spent the vast majority of that time writing other Dragon Ball fics and fics for other fandoms. The only explanation I can offer is that my warning from the last update became a self-fulfilling prophecy: I got so discouraged by internal pressures (college and graduate school coming up in the fall, quarantine, personal stuff, etc.), coupled with my own dissatisfaction regarding how the last arc ultimately turned out, that I just didn't want to come back to this story again. I wrote sporadically whenever I could make myself do so, but I only really got my groove back the last few months or so, and it was still slow going due to what lingering doubts still remained. However, every day that I spent not writing this story was a day I would often find myself daydreaming about where this story would go next, reviewing my plans and redrawing my plans until, ultimately, my desire to continue this story outweighed my desire to let it rest. And thus, I come to you all now with an announcement that I am certain some of you have been patiently waiting for in the backs of your minds:
Hermit: The History of Vegeta will officially begin with the Prologue on Sunday, February 13th!
I currently have the first two out of what I expect will be three parts of this mini-arc completed, and I'll be starting on the third part this Monday. With the usual schedule of every other Sunday, that means that Part One will be going up on Sunday, February 27th, and Part Two will be going up on Sunday, March 13th, if all goes according to plan. Hopefully this arc will help to answer all of the lingering questions that y'all have regarding what Future Vegeta's whole deal is, and hopefully my writing will adequately explain how Present Vegeta could possibly turn into him. I cannot thank you all enough for your patience over the past two years, and while I can't promise that Hermit's Cell Saga will start up immediately after the History of Vegeta mini-arc concludes, I am definitely looking forward to sinking my teeth into it and bringing this fic back properly.
That's about it for this announcement, but I've got two things I'd like to leave you all with before signing off: responses to the reviews that have been left since the end of the Frost Demon Saga...and, as is my habit, a nice little sneak peak of events to come in the distant future, based on a tiny bit of the Cell Saga that I had originally sat down to write before resolving to wrap up History of Vegeta Part One instead. I hope you enjoy.
It was a brisk fall evening in West City as Yamcha made his way downtown, walking fast, as he made his way to a comic book store which he knew had just received the latest volumes of all the manga that Puar liked. Yamcha never really understood the appeal in them, personally, but if it made Puar happy, it was more than worth the brief trip from his apartment and back. As was typical for an outing like this, Yamcha's appearance attracted plenty of stares from passerby no matter how well he succeeded in disguising himself: try as he might, his scar was just way too distinctive. He had quickly learned to tune out the whispers about where he had been all those months ago and what had happened to his arm, although he would occasionally be sure to remember the most outlandish of his fans' theories about it to share with Puar and his other friends whenever they hung out. As he had predicted, nobody had yet landed on the true cause of his miraculous recovery; he promised himself that if anybody ever did, he was going to give that person an autograph and a check for a million zeni (which could technically also count as an autograph). Dende knows that they'd deserve it.
After making his way into the store itself, it was a simple matter to move around at a speed slow enough that he didn't knock anything over, yet fast enough that he could travel the length of the store and snatch all of the volumes he sought in a matter of minutes. So focused on obtaining these volumes, however, that he failed to notice a figure with stunning blue hair who was too absorbed in a book of her own to notice him in return. With a loud crash, the two collided and their respective books were strewn about everywhere as they both fell to the ground. Yamcha quickly moved to gather up all of his books before grabbing the stranger's in order to return it to her, an apology already on his lips before he even got a proper look at her.
"I'm terribly sorry about that, miss-" Yamcha began before his words died in his throat at the woman lying on the ground before him: a gorgeous young woman who seemed to be roughly his age, sporting a beautiful red dress and a green army jacket which, along with her noticeably muscular build, suggested that the woman was no stranger to strenuous physical activity. Left incapable of uttering anything other than a drawn out stunned exclamation, Yamcha was thankfully spared the prospect of embarrassing himself in front of this beautiful woman when she spoke up instead.
"Oh, it's no problem; this happens to me all the time," the woman replied easily, chuckling a little and waving her hand dismissively as she accepted the book Yamcha offered before her. "But thanks for grabbing that for me, mister-" she began before she found herself in a similar position to Yamcha, although thankfully much quicker at recovering once she realized just who she had bumped into. "Oh my gosh," she muttered, pointing a shaking finger at him in disbelief. "A-are you...are you Yamcha?!" Although Yamcha was no stranger to his fans being stunned upon meeting him, seeing someone so beautiful so eager to have run into him gave the human warrior the confidence boost he needed to recover from his stupor and flash her his literally trademarked smirk.
"The one and only," he replied smoothly, helping her off the ground as she squealed with delight.
"AHHH, this is amazing!" she cried happily, her book almost entirely forgotten as she turned her attention entirely towards him. "Oh man, I have so many questions! How did you get that scar over your eye?! Where were you after those aliens invaded?! What happened to your robot arm?! Why did you and Bulma Briefs break up four months ago, and was it related to how you both disappeared the month before that?! How do you keep your hair so spiky?! I HAVE TO KNOW!" Although somewhat overwhelmed by the woman's enthusiasm, Yamcha kept up his relaxed appearance as a daring question entered his mind.
"Well, I would love to tell you all about that, miss, um-"
"Maron! Maron Maillot! Now tell! Me! EVERYTHING!" As her volume had begun to attract the attention of the other customers, Yamcha quietly paid for both his manga and Maron's own book as he continued to speak with her.
"Maron; a lovely name for a lovely lady," he said smoothly, taking a particular satisfaction in seeing her blush at the compliment before he continued. "As I was saying, I would love to tell you everything, but if I may be so bold, would you perhaps be willing to discuss this...over dinner?" The request, coupled with an especially flirty look on his part, had the desired effect of leaving Maron with shaking knees as she stuttered out a response.
"Ah, um, dinner! Yes! I would love to!" Maron replied, quietly muttering "Oh my gosh!" to herself over and over again as Yamcha thanked the familiar-looking human man at the counter for processing their orders, wondering whether he had seen him at a World Martial Arts Tournament as he walked her out of the comic book store.
"Great. Just give me one moment; I gotta go drop these off at my place," Yamcha said, keeping a close hold on his friend's manga as he prepared to take off.
"Wait, but won't that take a super long time-?" Maron began to ask before Yamcha disappeared in a burst of air that buffeted her dress, catching her off guard as he flew away at speeds faster than she could possibly track. After what felt like no less than a minute, maybe two, he returned as quickly as he had departed, notably bereft of manga and dressed in a black suit and tie that he kept around for photo shoots and other formal occasions. Maron was left in stunned silence for a moment before she asked the first question that popped into her head.
"Can you take me with you next time?" Maron asked with a dazed expression on her face, prompting Yamcha to wink at her.
"Only if you promise to hang on tight," he replied smoothly as he held out his arms for her. With a giddly giggle escaping her lips before she could stop herself, Maron climbed on in such a way that she easily fell into a bridal carry in his arms, looking up at him with wonder in her eyes. "Now then, fair lady, where to?" Yamcha asked, giving Maron a moment to think the question over before replying.
"You know, I think Lee's is still open," she suggests, to which Yamcha beams at her with excitement in his eyes.
"Aw, man, my boy Lee with the great cup of tea? Aw, hell yeah, let's go!" he cried, taking off at a speed that would get them there fast, yet not so fast that it would leave Maron terrified or gasping for breath. Fortunately for Yamcha, she instead seemed to be just as excited at getting to fly across the city as he was at the prospect of sampling the former martial artist impersonator's excellent cuisine. Seeing her smiling and laughing in her arms left him compelled to smile and laugh along with her, and while it was certainly too early to make any assumptions about where things were going, Yamcha began to feel something deep in his heart that he had only ever felt with one woman and one woman alone:
He may be the luckiest man on the planet.
And there you have it: in Hermit's Cell Saga, Yamcha gets a new girlfriend! Hope that reveal was worth the wait, lol.
Before we dive into the review responses, I'll go ahead and polish off the few questions I imagine this chapter will lead to: Maron's characterization is probably gonna be significantly different compared to "canon," but her "canon" character wasn't very likeable anyways, so I doubt many will object when I say that she isn't gonna run off with the next guy who comes along if Yamcha ever rejects her (which he won't); the familiar guy in the comic book store is Man-Wolf, still stuck in human form and now having gotten himself a much more productive career, and Lee is indeed that one guy from the manga who used to fight people in West City for money (also, Yamcha's last line is a reference to an Avatar the Last Airbender tiktok by Patrick Keefe, you should look it up, it's hilarious).
Anyway, review time!
GhostKing666 says:
"Hate to break it to you, but the memory wish wouldn't work, or at least not well enough to bother with. The Dragonballs, whether Earth or Namekian, cant effect beings more powerful then the dragon's current "creator" without their permission. This is why Shenron couldn't kill Vegeta and Nappa before they got to earth(though really a properly worded wish like "send them into a black hole" would have done it) and why Porunga couldn't bring Goku to earth when he didn't want to go back at that moment. Only the Super Dragonballs can break this rule(just like they could all others).
Porunga would have only been able to erase the knowledge from the minds of those weaker then Tsuno, leaving those stronger unaffected(which would be the vast majority of the PTO's higher ranked officers). In short, a waste of a wish."
See, I'm admittedly not sure whether that rule applies to any effect in general, or just with respect to killing a given person, but in any event, I've gone with that interpretation here. Sorry Bulma; you'll have to come up with something else to help the Namekians out.
Warriorofdark says:
"Vegeta using instant transmission and solar flare. As well as being the one to come back from the future. I have to say a fanfic hasn't surprised me that much in awhile. Excited to hear what this Vegeta's tale will be."
Thanks! I've occasionally worried whether the changes I make to canon aren't distinct enough, so hearing this is a good sign! Glad you enjoyed seeing it!
Amanny says: "Cool chapter." Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Peter says: "How does this fic not have more reviews, it's fantastic." I mean, you say that, but it has 236 at the time of writing, and several dozen comments on Ao3; I'm more baffled by how there aren't *fewer* reviews! xD
GuardianTree7 says:
"Great chapter, a little disappointed we didn't get to see the cold family fight more people later on in the story. Maybe all three get a chance to return in the future for one more round."
Eh, I think we've seen the last of the Cold family in this fic, unfortunately. Time to make way for new foes. Still, glad you enjoyed them while they were here!
Guest says: "Just read chapter 8, the kaioken by default is x2," to which I am admittedly confused since Goku's base power in the Vegeta fight is listed as 8,000 and his Kaio-ken x 2 power is listed as 16,000, so are they both times two or should it actually be 32,000? In any event, I think my explanation is simpler, tbh.
Another guest says on chapter 1: "a question is why not bring master shen to the lookout girian eighter pamput nam upa bora mercenary tao we have to remember tao became evil because of master shen" Honestly, Master Shen and Tao are explanatory enough, I gave good reasons for why Pamput and Nam didn't show up, and as for the others, let's just say that their supply of Senzu beans was strained enough by the addition of Roshi and leave it at that.
Yet another guest says on chapter 12: "What's with the weird ass need to include a bar scene of people harassing women in a DBZ story?"
Honestly, you bring up a fair criticism, and on reflection I probably could have done without that scene. I honestly mostly just included it as an excuse to remind people that Chi Chi is, for a good chunk of the series, literally the strongest woman on the planet and should be respected as such. Plus, having someone as polite and well-mannered as Chi Chi be on the run from the cops for a bit was honestly kinda funny to me, and it led to a nice little bonding moment between her and Launch, so I'd say it worked out. Still, I promise not to make a habit of writing such scenes into this story in the future.
Finally, one final guest says: "You know, for a story supposedly about Master Roshi's effect on the timeline... there is remarkably little of him." Believe me, no one is more aware of that than myself, and I've been racking my brain on how to remedy that situation. I've got at least one idea on the backburner, but I'm not sure how people will react to it, particularly given the general reception to other elements of later Dragon Ball that I've snuck into this fic. Still, we'll see how that shakes out!
Anyway, with all of that said, thank you all for reading, have yourselves a fantastic night, stay safe, wear a mask and get vaccinated if possible, and take care.