CHAPTER ONE

Goku and Bulma

The Reckoning had come and the Cycle began again. The Onslaught was impartial, unbiased and without prejudice. No one was spared, not even the Gods. Thus the age began anew.

"Goku!" the old man shouted, his voice echoing across the forest. "Supper is ready!"

The young boy with spiked hair did not hear the old man. He had ventured too far out this time and was busy trying to catch a fish with his tail.

"It'll fall off," the old man had said. "Give it some time, Goku."

Goku had taken a liking to his tail and did not want it to fall off. He used the tail to hang from trees, reach areas his small arms could not and to slap flies from his Raman.

If only he had heard Grandpa Gohan shouting he could be enjoying those Raman right now. No matter because he was getting a nibble at his tail and was about to pull in a fish for supper.

Suddenly there was a strange noise that sounded like thunder, only this thunder was getting louder and closer as if it were in the forest around him. He pulled his tail from the stream and ran in the direction of the noise until he came upon a clearing of dirt that he had never noticed before. The dirt snaked its way through the forest like one of the walking paths back at his home. Only this path was wide enough for a T-Rex.

Then he saw it: the strangest beast he had ever encountered; a creature as big as a tricerotops and shiny like the metal of the large saw he used to cut wood. It was heading his way fast!

Goku quickly readied himself with the martial arts pose Grandpa Gohan had taught him. The creature was not deterred in the slightest as it came in his direction leaving a trail of dust rising from behind it. Just as it came within spitting distance Goku jumped and landed a solid flying kick to the chest of the creature. To his surprise the creature's shell crumpled beneath his bare foot but the velocity of the metal animal was far too much for the small frame of the boy and it sent him tumbling.

Goku landed upside down against a tree. Strangely enough he then heard the creature speak.

"Oh my gosh!" it said in a squeaky tone unlike any voice he had ever heard. "Are you okay?"

Goku flipped himself back upright and stood ready to battle. He then saw the creature open up from the side and a smaller creature stepped out. This smaller creature was like him, but different somehow. It was taller than him and taller than Grandpa Gohan and it had blue hair.

"Stand back," Goku said. He had already formed another martial arts stance in which a quick strike with the fist would be easily performed. "I'm warning you! You saw what I did to your metal friend."

The creature stopped in its footsteps and was silent for a moment. Then it burst into laughter. "Silly little boy," it said. "You really are something aren't you? That's a car. One I built actually."

Goku had no idea how the beast was able to speak in his language or what a car was or being a silly boy was, but that did not matter at the moment. All that mattered to him was scaring the beast away, just like Grandpa Gohan had taught him.

"You and your friend leave while you have the chance," Goku reiterated once more. "I won't tell you again, monster!"

The laughter of the beast stopped and its face contorted into what Goku would call anger. "How dare you! I'm no monster silly boy. I'm just a girl. A human, like you. The name is Bulma."

Human? Girl? Bulma?

Goku had never heard these terms before. He had lived a sheltered existence with his Grandpa Gohan for as long as he could remember. There was never any talk about boys and girls or humans. Perhaps it was a deceptive tactic.

"Your tricks won't work on me, beast!"

The girl's face became blood-red and she growled with frustration. "Beast? First a monster, then a beast?!? That's it little boy!!! I'm going to teach you some manners!"

Bulma came rushing towards Goku with clinched fists. He was caught off guard but managed to get a punch in, catching her in the gut. She was sent flying back into the metal animal she had arrived in and was now unconscious.

Goku had not realized he had released such power. He checked her and the other beast and was shocked to find out how weak they both were. Once he saw that she was not waking up he decided he would take the creature back home to see what Grandpa Gohan could make of it.

Zeno smiled. The other Zeno nodded with amusement. This reality was much like a previous reality, yet different enough to be entertaining. They allowed it to remain...for now.

Zeno smiled. The other Zeno nodded with amusement. This reality was much like a previous reality, yet different enough to be entertaining. They allowed it to remain...for now.