《Just Your Average Saiyan Warrior》 Birth 1.0 The tank I sat in was comfortable, I floated suspended in a sickly yellow fluid, a mask similar to a metallic rebreather covered the bottom half of my face, granting me air and a liquid that seemed to replace food for me. If I opened my eyes I could see a strange room filled with the machine that I had long since learned was my prison. Occasionally I could hear movement from outside this room and the machines would often beep with updates about my status. This was my reality for the past couple months of my life, though I suppose it was better than the void I was in before. I hadn''t felt anything in there my memory was also incredibly foggy about any details in there, including any knowledge of how long I was there. With some effort I try to piece my memories together to get a timeline together, I try to do this at least once every few... Days? I couldn''t really tell time in this room, let alone this machine, but saying every few days felt right. Anyhow I try to keep a timeline every few days just to check on my memory, Starting with what I assume was my death, I recalled a car crash, hydroplaned off a bridge into a river, dead on impact. Then there was the void, then I felt a tug on my stomach and ended up being born. It was an odd affair but I couldn''t remember much of it until recently, Instead of memories fading away they seemed to become sharper and clearer with time. I remember every moment of the last months in vivid clarity at this point, from my birth to me being shunted into this damnable fluid filled tank. Faces of what I assumed to be my parent flicked through my mind, she looked disappointed. Like she was staring at what her cat had just hacked up, a little ironic considering she birthed me. From memory she was a tall woman, even if my perspective was a little off considering I was a kid, with a load of thick unkempt hair that flowed from her head down her back and seemed dense enough to stop a bullet and black enough to absorb light. She had a wild and almost masculine look to her last I checked, as she had large muscles and a slightly squared face, giving her a Butch look to her. To top it off she was wearing a weird cloth robe that seemed to be made from animal skin, as though she were a cave woman. My remembrance of my mother was cut off as a rhythmic beep began to chime from the machine I called my prison and home for the past months. It grew in volume until it filled the room with loud ear piercing shrieks, and to make it worse there was no one in the house to turn it off! This hell continued for what I''d like to call half of a day before I heard someone enter the house and groan in annoyance at the noise. A familiar woman entered the room, my mother, though she was wearing some sort of beat up cosplay armor it seemed. Honestly what the hell was she even wearing? My mind flash with recognition as I remembered something, it looked like a high quality costume of Saiyan battle armor from DBZ. Was my mother a cosplayer? No, why would a cosplayer shunt their kid into a tank, not to mention the fact this technology was unheard of, how would they even have it!? let alone afford it, with how they spend all that money on cosplays. No, something was off, especially as I noticed the iconic tail of Saiyans moving behind her. It would move with ferocity like it belong to a frustrated animal and not a fully grown woman. It seemed to actually be attached to her, not some fake bauble, or ornament. She briskly move over to the machine that held me within it, shut off the insufferable noise that had plagued me for hours, and pressed a button that began to drain the yellow fluid I was floating in. To my disgust it seemed that the liquid had the consistency of honey and smelled of glue. I couldn''t taste much of it thanks to the rebreather covering the bottom of my mouth thankfully, but what little I got made me regret my rapidly improving memory. With the removal of the liquid I felt invigorated, like the fluid I''d been in for the past couple mouths were sedatives made to keep me calm and asleep. Without It I felt like someone took a shot of caffeine straight to my bloodstream, I felt great, I felt like I could do anything, I felt like punching this woman In front of me! The tank that had once been my prison opened with a hiss and as I tasted air, tasted freedom. Drunk on this energy and free from the tank I had loathed I launched forward doing what my impulses told me to do without really thinking. Far too late did I realize I was going to hit the woman who had freed me, who was my mother, but she was far ahead of me. With blinding speed she dodged the punch and grabbed something behind me, and I felt the confidence and energy pour out of me with speed. I felt tired and in pain, and only barely caught on to the fact my mother was speaking. "Damn brat, dragging me away from my job for this..." She spoke with a deep voice, annoyance was layered on each word like a thick frosting. "Just couldn''t wait a little bit past your deadline huh? What are you just raring to be a problem for me?" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Through her complaining I noticed my tail. I felt an odd sense of connection to it, like recognizing you had a third arm that you had forgotten you could control. My mother was still rambling out her annoyances, I felt numb and was starting to feel a sense of detachment from my body as I turned my attention inward I felt my awareness of the outside world fade. I felt a pulse of energy, stemming from my core and with the majority of it being kept inside of my tail. I could feel my energy being strangled by my mother, moving the energy feels impossible right now so I turn my attention to how the energy was directed. My energy despite being strangled, was still flowing through me and I could sense it within these veins, they weren''t physical, more spiritual or ethereal, yet they had a sort of weight to them. I was dragged from my inner senses by my mother shaking me by my tail, sending small yet sharp jolts of pain through my body. "You ignoring me, kid? C''mon don''t fall asleep on me you brat!" Her voice rose with aggravation before spinning me by my tail and tossing me into a wall. Another spike of pain, "FFFF-OWW, what''s wrong with you!" I shouted before hissing from the pain in my tail and face. "Guess you can speak, I was starting to think I''d gotten a mute, sleepy coward for a brat." Annoyance was still layered into each word, though I swore I heard a bit of amusement at my expense. I heard her stomp up behind me, felt her grab my head, and saw her twist me to look at her. "Ok chimp, Your gonna be called Coli got it?" Huh? is this how I get named, and why Coli of all names? "Don''t look so damned disappointed, you brat! It''s your name, so cherish it!" she paused for a second before grunting "My name is Brussel, and I guess i''m gonna be your mother." she sounded oddly contemplative for a second before scooping him up and walking him out of the room. I attempted to worm my way out of her grip to no avail, her arms had zero give to them, leaving me stuck to her side as I am incapable of escape. I''m so busy struggling, that I almost miss that I''ve left the room. Seeing something other than those walls after months is nice, but the outside of the room seems to be a single clay hallway, with one side leading to a door, and another to a larger more open room. Leading me to the more open room, she sat me down in a divot in the ground. The divot seemed to take up the same niche a couch would in a regular room like this back on earth. "Alright brat I''m gonna level with you, My job Isn''t done yet I''ve got to get back out to my job. Some very powerful benefactors have shown up and they''ve got me on standby duty." I just started at her before she sighed "Ugh, right I forgot to play that info music shit while you were getting finished up. You don''t know jack shit right now." She let out a groan before she just told me to stay put, she then flew out of the building leaving only the slamming of a door in her wake.
I''m in dragon ball... The words collected themselves into my thoughts, bringing a host of emotions with them. Amusement, Excitement, maybe a little disappointment, but soon each of these emotions were overtaken by Fear. Dragon ball, a world where you''re either Goku or your nothing, dragon ball, a world where the whims of the gods reign supreme, dragon ball, where all life is at risk damn near every other week. I was lucky to reborn a Saiyan, as my potential was pretty vast, but that didn''t matter if I couldn''t survive past the destruction of planet Vegeta! Stress began to overtake me, I began to hyperventilate the walls were closing in I can''t take this whatifidiewhatsgonnahappentomegODFUCKHEL- A rush of frustration took away my despair, saving me from my spiral, God just look at me. Wallowing in shame, I felt a surge of reassurance a false strength that kept me focused, a sense of PRIDE in my self that kept me focused. I took a breath in, and looked inwards. I saw what my inner energy looked like while it wasn''t being strangled. Or I guess this is Ki? I tried moving it around finding it was far easier now, I opened my eyes as I guided my energy from my chest, into my arms, and out of my palm creating a single orb of light. Intuitively I knew it was harmless, it lacked any purpose, not to mention it didn''t have nearly enough energy in it. I poured a bit more energy in it and felt it grow more potent. A grin spread across my face. This wouldn''t do jack shit to a mouse, let alone a Saiyan. But for a second, that PRIDE flowed through me and I just didn''t give a shit, I''d made a starting point and it was enough for me. I could feel some exhaustion catch up to me, my childish body was starting to sweat from the exertion but I just didn''t care. I would grow in power, if I risk my self just enough, and exercise just enough caution, my rise in power would pretty much be guaranteed. The death of planet Vegeta was set for when the prince was five years old, the prince''s birth would be my stopwatch, his fifth birthday is my deadline, and all that time between was mine to prepare. Let the game Begin. Interlude: Cold Reality Galactic date: [December] 31st Age: 731 1st Frieza Day Brussel POV
After Dealing with the brat she called her son, Brussel was double timing it back to the Venerable King Vegetas'' Palace. She had scraped all her life for this job, Scheming for a chance to claw her way out of Low class district she had called home for all her life. The district didn''t deserve her, she was worth TEN of any of the apes she called neighbors. She was able to hold her own with any of the generals in the kings court by now, and she had made a name for herself as someone you didn''t want to get stuck in a fight with. But none of this would matter if she missed the arrival of the Colds. Apparently today was the day they decided to rear their freaky faces, an oddity considering they usually avoided entering this sector of North Galaxy like the plague. Something about how it was dangerously close to the booneys, or some other shit no Saiyan would care about. Ever since they showed up they would drop some technology that was out of date, and vanish for another five or so decades. Which made this an extremely odd affair. The Message they had sent was disturbingly vague, and was incessantly decadent as it was made of several valuable metals and alloys, she was sure some of the royal eggheads would be scratching their heads for ages trying to replicate the material. As vague as the damned note was it was clear they were arriving for some big event which, given how bipolar many of the Colds were on the BEST of days, called for all hands on deck from many of the royal guard and all of the foot soldiers. Brussel Blasted forward as she entered the middle class district, she noted the improved quality of the homes, made of a specialized bone-like substance. A noticeable improvement when compared to the Mud homes of the Low class district. She still clicked her tongue in distaste for the gap between this and the higher class districts out there, she deserved nothing less than the high class district. For herself, and the small kid she now has to deal with. A feeling like a sigh almost crawled out of her, before it was immediately gripped by the gravity of the supermassive ball of disappointment she held for every living thing. The kid wasn''t exactly an accident, she had intended to have a brat of her own, but it just wasn''t the time! It wasn''t the time when the kid was born, she was so distracted with the sheer deluge of missions she had taken on to activate many of the child-preparation functions for the tank. She was starting to approach the Royal capital in record time, As expected of me. A warm feeling of pride spread through her at the thought, she loved to revel in her feats, and racing from the low class district to the Royal capital was always a perfect benchmark to measure herself against. She began to briefly turn her thoughts back to her child, figuring out what to do with the brat, how to get the kid a room, food, and such. She quickly grew bored of this train of thought however, and quickly turned on a state a focus she usually reserved from missions and tasks given to her as a royal guard. Now firmly inside of the Royal capital she began to drift towards the barracks, she decided to switch into some more official armor as her was mildly beaten up from the guard job she had to skip out on. The inside of the Barracks were awash with noise, the many Saiyan guards within were all moving with a panicked energy. All were checking their armors, some who hadn''t mastered Ki control were checking their blasters, Saiyans who preferred melee combat were sharpening their blades and checking their armor. She herself simply went to where she could collect her armor, put it on, and left the barracks with swiftness. ... ...., ....... ........... She Was stationed at her post and was awaiting the arrival of the Cold empire, according to the murmuring from her fellow guard the Cold force had entered the system. They would be here any minute, perhaps any sec- KTHOOM If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As though summoned by the mere thought, there was a sound barrier shattering kaboom. This was always a sign of the Cold forces Entrance, despite them having the technology to suppress such noise they tended to make their entrance known as flashily as possible. Though the loudest of the noises were from the entrance of the Cold forces main ship, a staccato of smaller booms signaled the entrance of many far smaller ships. The Main ship was always a sight to behold, made of a steel so white it seemed to be made of a solidified snow, it''s strange design truly showed how alien our guests were. The odd disc shape of the Main ship spun slightly, like a child''s spinning top almost, before lowering itself into a wide open clearing In front of the main castle. Much to Brussels dismay it was incredibly close to her post, if when things got ugly she would be obligated to "defend" the Kings land. She dropped into a position where many wouldn''t notice her, and simply watched as the Large Being known as King Cold exited his ship. He was massive, easily twice the height of some of the taller Saiyans, and had an almost demonic air to him. Each time she would steal a glance at the Frigid King she felt as though her own blood run cold, those horns atop his head seemed to be sharper than even the greatest blades of Saiyan make and his armor was of the highest quality. Her eyes were so drawn to the horrifyingly charismatic form of Cold, that she had missed the smaller creature that was walking next to the Monarch. Her blood had long since ran cold, but upon fully seeing the smaller alien it seemed to turn solid. It was like a smaller King Cold but all the terror and malevolent charisma seemed to have been condensed and refined in order to fit into it''s smaller frame. It''s eyes glinted with Demonic amusement, it seemed to give off a vague aura of chaos, of power. Oh God strength, it seemed to ooze off the small alien in alluring waves that seemed to fray at her mind. Brussel blinked and tore her eyes away from the two aliens, she brought a hand to her face and noticed she had a minor nose bleed, one that was also quickly healing but still. Shaking off the fear she felt she returned to observing the Monarch and what she was tentatively calling the heir, the two were engaging in conversation with King and his most loyal guards. "I''m glad to make you aware of some precious news, dear King Vegeta~" The frozen Monarchs voice was paradoxically equally shrill and deep, as though someone had taken his vocal cords and wrapped them golden credits. He continued "Effective Immediately I am retiring, I''ve grown quite bored of being the ruler of such a sprawling empire and thus~" He placed his hand on the smaller aliens shoulder, it appearing comically large in comparison, "I am passing the Empire to my son, Lord Frieza. your planet and many others are being put under his rule, as a sort of... trial run for when he fully controls the empire." He let out a low chuckle, one that held an undertone of power within it. " In addition, the Cold force has been renamed the Frieza force and placed under his absolute command." At this the diminutive form of Lord Frieza stepped forward, Brussel blinked as she noticed she had unintentionally flinched at the casual movements of Frieza. She mentally berated herself "The hell am I so afraid for? The guys pint sized for crying out loud!" Her pride quickly dismantled any sense of fear she felt, and replaced it with a solid rage. She quickly tamped that anger down by channeling it into her energy, letting it reinforce her body. The brat that she was formerly afraid of spoke up "HELLO MONKEYS~" This ones voice was just high pitched, almost grating, it quickly began to fuel her anger at the being. "I have such HIGH expectations for you, and for your sake..." He paused briefly letting his gaze scan the collection of Saiyans in front of him "I hope you live up them~" He clapped his hands together "Now, I have brought you all a shipment of upgraded battle gear for you all to test and produce for use in the field." He Pulled out some strange high tech monocle thing "looks like the stuff used for scopes almost" Brussel mused internally. "This is a scouter, it contains all the utility of your old Scopes, tracking battle power and position but at a fraction of the cost and far more convenient." He placed the ''Scouter'' on his face, and pressed a few of the side buttons, noticing something Brussel was to far away to see. "Oooh~ how amusing, it appears that a number of Saiyans have weapons trained upon us..." The honorable King Vegeta Snapped his head upwards, surprise and indignation flashing across his face before it was replaced with horror. The creature calling itself Frieza almost playfully raised a finger and, with childish ease, fired four blasts in short succession. Destroying parts of buildings, long towers and, most heinously, parts of the castle itself. The fear that Brussel had believed to be killed arose within her like a zombie and began to gnaw at her confidence and pride with incredible efficiency. The utter casualness of this power concerned her, as Saiyans hadn''t even seen any of King Cold''s might until their tenth meeting. The Demon Spoke once more, it''s voice still holding that hauntingly bemused lilt to it. "Well, I assume you get the Picture~ They are quite useful... No?" Birth 1.1 Galactic date: [January] 25th Age: 731-732 ... ..... ...... .......... My time on Vegeta so far has been nothing if not a ''novel'' experience. My first month was more of an acclimation period as I spent most of my time getting used to my new existence, learning how to use my tail more efficiently, and trying to interact with my mother. Brussel would disappear for literal months at a time with little to no warning, and when she would return she''d be vaguely injured and would have a strangely happy look on her face. I think she would only pop up to make sure I hadn''t run off and died or something because, after a day of staying at home relaxing and watching over me, she would leave. It took a great amount of time for me to end up being able to ask her where she would go after she left the house. "Just some off-world missions, almost better than the vacations my boss would give me. What''s the point of you asking?" "I was jus'' curious is all," I paused before biting the bullet "What''re missions?" I made sure to immediately zone out as she started to explain last time I pulled this stunt she went on about architecture or something else, not the immediate worst thing but still actively terrible to sit and listen through. I had made it a habit of nagging her to gain smidgens of information about the outside, I couldn''t leave the house my parent had locked most exits. Brussel was- well she wasn''t a good mother, but she wasn''t the worst either by Saiyan standards. She''d make sure I had food for myself before fucking off to some other place, and she had put up with my nagging with little to no complaining. It sucked having to act like a kid for the first few weeks, especially since I had a whole bunch of things I wanted to start doing. Unfortunately, using my new body was an absolute pain for a good long while, and I had to act like I was a pre-schooler for the majority of it. It was an oddly Humbling experience, feeling so helpless, so weak, seemed to temper any remnant of arrogance in my body. If I grew to be arrogant I might make a mistake that''d leave me like this as an adult. If I was unlucky I could be like that permanently, and I... I don''t think I could handle that. [Feb] 12th Age: 732 I was now allowed to explore outside of my own home. Good timing as well, I think I was starting to go mad staying cooped up in the tiny room with only myself as a consistent form of company. My clothes weren''t very fancy by Earth standards or Vegetan standards for that matter but I was still quite confident, after all, it was made from an alien predator''s pelt, giving them a nice color that was great for blending in. I wasn''t sure if it would have much use since I was still basically a toddler by Saiyan standards. A very articulate toddler, but a toddler nonetheless! It was honestly pretty amazing seeing where I lived, the buildings only seemed more alien from the outside and I could finally see the clean red sky of Vegeta without having to stare through a window. The ground was always tinged with an odd pinkish color, and there wasn''t anything recognizable as a tree anywhere in sight. The alien sky didn''t have any birds flying within its vast red expanse, but there was almost always a dot of what I could assume were groups of Attack Balls entering and exiting the planet. Each group carried people either returning from or leaving on missions for the newly instated Frieza Force, occasionally I''d see a ship fly just above the town I wander and call home. The town almost seems abandoned at a glance, but occasionally you''ll see a group of old gray-haired Saiyans taking care of other kids my age and slightly older. Seeing a familiar face lets me focus, the Old man locks eyes with me and gestures for me to come close. I smile, then internally groan as I realize I have to talk like a kid again. I mentally stuffed the feeling down into a pile of other similar emotions as I moved forward. The Elder Saiyan was a short lad with a very kind gaze to him, he lacked much of the intensity other Saiyans younger than him have in spades. He''d often come over to watch over me when my Mother was out on missions. He also was my main source of information for both history and current events since he''d ramble about stories from back when he was in his prime and he''d often explain what was happening outside now and then. Matter of fact, he was how I had learned of the birth of Prince Vegeta. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. All in all, he''s a pretty nice old man. "Mr. Toto! I get to visit you this time!" I try to channel all my energy into the words, making use of my childish voice. "Ahhh, Coli! it''s about time you arrived, I trust you made it here safely?" His voice was weathered, but firm and had an amused lilt to it. "Yup, I''ve got a good sense of direction in me so I was fine. Don''t think I could get lost if I tried!" He lets out a soft chuckle, "Probably got that from your mother, she''s a great navigator she is, rightly quick too!" he lets out a chuckle as he gets a twinkle in his eye, a telltale sign that he''s going to go off on a story. I quickly Intercept "Can I meet the other kids now?" I say just quick enough to catch the man off guard. "Fine, fine, let''s get ya Situated then," he said with a chuckle and a sigh. You can imagine my surprise when I realized I wasn''t very different from most other Saiyan kids my age. They were nowhere near as vocal as me for sure, but they all have that same spark of intelligence that you just don''t see in the eyes of human children at this age. Honestly, if we all weren''t struggling to walk straight and weren''t given that same odd cuteness that kids our age had, the way we''re acting might just come off as slightly unnerving. The other kids and I had a sort of understanding "Don''t cause any problems, and you''ll be fine with us." a simple unspoken request that everyone seemed to have agreed with. Unfortunately, this tentative peace just wasn''t built to last as I watched two kids bump into each other, and Immediately start fighting. Suddenly everyone was fighting with each other fists flew everywhere, it was almost comical how quickly things had dissolved. Of course, things became a lot less funny when a kid slammed his fist into my gut sending me to the ground, an overwhelming fury rose up from within me and I Immediately retaliated by biting at my opponent. My mind cleared quickly though and I stepped back before he could tear me a new one. I sized him up, he had the same wild hair that was given for Saiyan, but he was darker than average in terms of skin tone. "You BIT me!" "you HIT me!" Again another pulse of indignation and I was on him, hitting and biting him in a whirlwind of fury. ... ......... ............... Another week came and the agreement was broken into splinters, some pushing down kids who were just getting their balance down, others starting fights with kids of their age and sometimes with a few adults, and other such issues. Honestly, It was kinda amazing, seeing how quickly things had broken down, it was like watching a group of ''friends'' who all clearly hated each other hang out. Toto was watching over, keeping things from getting too serious, but he seemed to almost encourage this type of behavior. He''d press groups of kids who didn''t like each other together, observe when someone would throw the first punch, and carefully micro-manage them so that they don''t kill each other during each of their fights. I was confused about this for a little bit, but then I noticed that I was getting a little bit stronger after each fight. Each fight had injured me just enough to get a mini Zenkai boost, Shit after a couple more weeks had passed I had gotten slightly buff. My baby fat had rapidly hardened into a densely packed muscle, and if I focused enough I could feel that my internal supply of energy had vastly increased as well. [March] 12th Age: 732 The adults had begun to let us move further and further away from our village. This freed many kids to explore the land of the class district, which resulted in the discovery of a damn near bottomless gorge. Due to the gorges'' proximity to the village and abundance of caves, small animals, and dangerous ledges, it had become the default hang-out spot for all of the younger Saiyans and a good many of the teen Saiyans stayed there as well. I found it to be a great spot for training, personally. I began to hum a little tune as I started to look for my mark, I spied the movements of a lizard and my face broke out in a smile. I launch forward towards the small creature at a speed that would make race car drivers sweat, hand outstretched to grab the diminutive creature. Unfortunately, the lizard had spotted me and zipped away from my hands with the dexterity of a hummingbird, I recovered by cartwheeling onto my feet and shot towards it once more. My KI buzzed within my body, filling me with superhuman strength as I launched forward once again. This time I aimed to intercept it, but once again it avoided me with exceptional grace. As our movements began to increase in speed as we began to race through the gorge the lizard launched off a ledge, falling deeper into the gorge. With a smirk I leaped from the same ledge and focused my Ki into my palm, I furrowed my brow as I fired it off as a beam. The lizard went up in smoke as the beam enveloped its small body, the recoil of the moderately weak blast was still strong enough to steal any forward momentum I had from my jump. I felt several eyes on me as I began to fall, most were from the Saiyan youths of course, but many were from something else. I saw a few of the other lizards crawl out of their hiding spots, far more muscular than the one I attacked. Saiyans are an invasive species on planet Vegeta, but after a while of them dominating the planet many of the surviving species had begun to adapt to their brutality. Many of the animals gained a crude form of intellect in order to survive the overwhelming strength of the Saiyans, others became disturbingly large and fast to become too much of a hassle to hunt. Hive Lizards, as implied in the name, adopted a form of Eusociality alongside a hive structure similar to ants. It had taken a bit, I''ve been hunting the Scouting class lizards for a good few months now, and it seems I''ve become enough of a problem for the warrior class to take notice. I feel a familiar rising pulse of energy, a sense of focus and exhilaration fills me as I fire a second beam to launch at the nearest lizard with a kick. It''s about as big as a medium-sized dog and has a likeness similar to a Komodo dragon, while the scout lizards looked closer to a gecko in both size and shape. The warrior lizard zipped backward before snapping at my leg, I wasn''t fast enough to dodge and wince as I felt it pierce my leg. It begins to shake me back and forth sending large starbursts of pain to streak through my body before sending me flying across the gorge. I sat up with a sigh before plastering an impish grin onto my face, I quickly looked around the ledge we were on, and a shiver went down my spine as I noticed three more of the warrior caste lizards beginning to scale the walls around me. Shit. Birth 1.2 Updated Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Birth 1.3 [March] 14th Age: 732 The world I awoke to was not as clear as the one I was in before falling into unconsciousness, it was a kaleidoscope of pain and discomfort keeping me from understanding my situation. I slowly pieced my memories back together with surprising ease despite the pain and soon all pain felt minuscule compared to the overwhelming shame I felt. "lost... I fucking LOST, to some... Some fucking lizards!?" My shame redoubled as I felt the sting of tears begin to build around my eyes and with some effort I wiped them and began to take stock of my surroundings, I was... back home? Well, I guess that makes sense, if I wasn''t dead someone must''ve dragged me out of the gorge for my protection. I struggled to my feet and took stock of myself next. To put it bluntly, I was fucked. I could barely move the way I wanted and was wrapped like a mummy in bandages made of Vegetan plant fibers, I could also feel a strange salve beneath the bandages that seemed to keep my wounds together. After a while, I heard footsteps at the entrance of the room, as my vision moved towards the source I spotted the elderly figure of Toto standing, casually within the door frame. "You woke up earlier than expected... honestly I expected you to die despite the work done by Arti." He cocked his head to the side, "You''ve got the tenacity of Oozaru..." A brief pause began to take root within the conversation before his face split into a wide monkey-esque grin. "Shame it matches your stupidity, BAHAHAHA!" Any semblance of seriousness I expected from this conversation shattered like glass beneath a hydraulic press. A headache suddenly came about completely removed from my current condition. "Shut up already! Quit laughing! I know I lost so stop laughing, you dust old ape!" Despite my words, the old man just kept laughing, "BAHAHAHAHAA, Man you sure thought you''d be able to handle some damn lizards Huh?!" Ah man, that was great to watch kid, thanks for that." His expression quickly returned to something resembling seriousness, though I noticed a slight smirk on the old man''s face which irked me slightly. "To put things in a more serious tone though boy, you nearly died." "Don''t try to get all serious after busting a gut at my expense you jerk!" Seeing him switch from his former mocking demeanor weirdly irked me, like someone was laughing at something I held dear. I tamped it down and noted the burst of emotion for later. "I''m being gravely serious, boy. From the past year, you''ve shown to mature and learn faster than your peers, to the point where you''ve resorted to "acting your age" even." His eyes show a hint of mirth at seeing me flinch at the revelation, "It was very amusing seeing you squirm as you try to act like an infant, I won''t lie." He paused once more, "Which makes this development all the more confusing for me. So tell me, what possessed you to do such a risky thing?" The question felt innocent, but there was an abnormal pressure that seemed to cling to it. I don''t think I could pull a fast one, but I can''t just tell him I don''t wanna get exploded in five years! Think! Think, damn it! What are some insecurities that are valid for a Saiyan my age? I''m weak, that''s for sure. I think there was a kid who killed a variant of the warrior lizards, maybe I can play off of that? Ideas for lies spring into my head with concerning ease and swiftness and I open my mouth to speak before getting cut off by a sigh coming from Toto. "Bah, forget it! Such knowledge isn''t my responsibility, nor my right to dig for. You have my apologies boy, I slipped into some old habits and forgot myself." He pauses for a second, as if mulling over if a new sentence would be worth the effort "But know this, boy." He moves towards me with a slow gait while pondering his next few words. "You have a gift for energy manipulation that goes beyond our innate saiyan instincts, drawing on your inner pool at this age is vanishingly rare. Nevertheless, that talent means nothing without experience" Toto stands in front of me, this elderly man with power that far dwarfs that of the strongest humans currently. This elderly man who could peel a cube of tungsten like an orange placed his hand on my shoulder before leaning down to look at me eye to eye. I saw a few things in his eyes, a flash of amusement maybe, a wealth of knowledge that seemed to fill his eyes like miniature oceans one could draw upon if permitted, and an almost invisible speck of concern. This man of alien descent speaks with a voice oh so familiar, a voice that a distant part of me remembers. A voice I had heard throughout my childhood from my past life, from a life that I had only recently realized I was forgetting. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The man spoke in a voice most gentle "Your desire to wield your talent, your power, means absolutely nothing in the end... Desire alone cannot set power free, Coli. You need knowledge, you need willpower, you need a goal. If you miss even one of these aspects, you may find yourself failing at a time when you need to succeed the most. Do you understand, Coli?" A nod was all I could return to him as a response. He removed his hand from my shoulder and rose to his feet. "Good... that''s good." he chuckled after a while, "Even though I''ve had this graying hair for a while, it sure sucks to realize I''ve gotten old." His chuckle soon morphed into a full-on belly laugh as he continued "Damn, I''m even quoting what an old man said to me when I was your age. Well... Nah you''re way younger than I was when I got this same speech ya fast developing freak, BAHAHA!" And once again any respect and mystique the codger had built up in me was compressed into dust and thrown into a well-developed void of disappointment I had begun developing over my new life on Vegeta. ... ..... ....... ............ Toto and I chatted for a while before he left to take care of the rest of the kids, leaving me to my thoughts. The man was quite good at dealing with kids like me. Apparently, kids of my level of intellect weren''t that rare when you took into account a Saiyan child''s sharp memory. Saiyan children were hard-wired to pick things up quickly in order to survive harsh combat environments, so if you put them in stressful situations they''d learn at an insane rate. Taking that into account, it sort of made sense that Toto was used to dealing with kids with comparable maturity for their age. I''d like to think that I''m smarter than your average Saiyan two-year-old though, personally. My tail lashed a bit before I fell on my back. Toto had distracted me from wallowing in my shame like a dumbass, but now that my head was relatively clear I kept finding more and more holes in my original plan! It seemed simple at first, antagonize and train with the smaller lizards, use that to attract the bigger warrior lizards, and then profit off of the Zenkai boosts I''d get from fighting the lizards, It was so simple! Thinking back though, the plan hinged on my talent and the incompetence of one of the more dominant fauna of Vegeta. I had thought I could pull a Gohan and just get real angry to defeat the lizards but no such thing happened. Is it because of how special Gohan is? It didn''t matter yet though, the kid wasn''t even born yet and he wouldn''t begin to tap into his potential until a good while after that. Wallowing in my near-death experience was getting old though, so how can I win next time... My eyes drift close as I turn my attention inward, seeing how my internal supply of KI has changed since I had first woken up on Vegeta. To be frank, it wasn''t very different but seemed far more ''optimized'', KI flew through every part of my body reinforcing it and, at the moment, healing it. It took me a while to get it flowing passively, but now I didn''t even need to focus on wielding KI. It all stemmed from a point vaguely somewhere near my gut, like a well that is constantly letting tricklings of water flow out of it. In terms of Ki supply. It wasn''t very bountiful but I had a feeling that was due to my inexperience and physical age more than anything else. Making a mental note of these changes my attention briefly glanced at the area that is where my tail presides to my ongoing dismay, it seems to be incomprehensible to me. It''s like staring at something utterly alien to me. Again I note it down mentally and open my eyes, I stand up and attempt to flex before realizing I haven''t fully healed yet leaving me to spasm to the floor from a sudden rush of pain. "Almost f-forgot about those wounds... damn it." .... ........ ........... .................. Thanks to me pissing off the local Hive lizard tribe I couldn''t return to the gorge without risk of getting swarmed, probably for the best given my state but it would make things more boring while recovering. Hence my new activity emerged, wandering the village... Yay. In all honesty, it wasn''t that bad, especially since I could do this without chaperones thanks to Toto putting in a good word for me with the other oldies. It also let me appreciate Saiyan culture by looking at the architecture and qualities of the village. The village wasn''t all that big in terms of overall size, if you were a normal non-ki enhanced kid you could probably walk from entrance to end in half an hour or more, but it was a very dense thing. Buildings made of Vegetan earth and stone are packed together leaving little room for anything called an alleyway but instead, if you know where to look, there are tunnels that duck beneath each building and lead to other roads. Of course, while these have their purpose of assisting the transport of those without Ki, most of the village architecture would seem at best inconvenient and at worse lethal to a normal human man. Doors and entrances are made at the top of buildings with no obvious way of getting to them, and roads that just end without any rhyme or reason because the way you get to them is to simply jump, fly, or climb up to them. There are things like this all around the village. At first glance as though it''s a normal, if not a bit packed village, but on a second, third, and fourth glance you begin to see how this race''s architecture bends to suit the needs and whims of the Saiyan race. But as I look around this village, taking the easy way and simply hopping from roof to roof, there is hardly a whisper of life within this place. I know there isn''t really anything other than homes and small shops, but every single home is empty and the stores are almost always closed. From my conversations with the old man over time Toto had said this area was going through a "very good time" currently which doesn''t seem to match the sight I''m seeing. "Maybe they''re all shopping over in the middle-class district" I muse aloud making a short hop to the next building, "still feels weird that the middle class and up get all the good stuff..." Another short hop before I slide down the side of a smaller pyramid-esque home, "not that it really matters how bad the class divide is, since it''s all gonna get blown up soon." A rather dark thought wriggles its way to near the front of my attention before it is immediately pushed away by a far more important detail. There was another kid right in front of me. Birth 1.4 [March] 14th Age: 732 The boy in front of me had a grayish complexion, not too odd for a low class Saiyan, but it was still a rarity amongst this particular village. His attire was also quite a rarity as well, it was the Saiyan equivalent of a mechanics outfit, the basic barbaric Saiyan attire with coveralls that would fit better on an earthling mechanic than a Saiyan child. In addition to the clothes, which had shown sign of near constant wear, the unknown boy carried a large sack behind him that gave no details away towards what it contained. His face was eerily familiar, it''s a feeling similar to seeing someone in person after only seeing them drawn... It was slightly unnerving honestly. It was his hair that really messed me up, like his hair just didn''t fit on his face despite the fact that it was definitely normal Saiyan hair. His hair was just a massive ball that sat unkempt over his head and most of the top of his face. What I could see of his face was mixture of sharp features that came together in an intense expression. He stared at me with a look of distaste, if I could see his eyes past the veritable mane that sits In front of them I''d bet he was looking at me like a particularly unpleasant meal. I returned the stare with one of my own. "....." "....." "....Hi?" Annoyance pushed me forward as I decided to try and take initiative in the conversation, since the brat was clearly antisocial or something... In response the boy bolted with the massive bag slung upon his shoulder and leaving behind a large trail of dust that would make the roadrunner jealous, it irked me for some reason so I chased after him. My arms pumped at my sides as my legs pushed me forward at a speed that most sports cars couldn''t even dream of, it agitated my wounds but not enough for me to really care but it also made me more annoyed. How DARE this brat run from me after I so caringly talked to him and then, rudely I might add, attempt to sprint away in an obvious challenge of my speed! This would not stand! He would be defeated! He would be humbled and... and.. Why did I care about this so much? Unknowingly a haze of emotion had begun to bleed into my motivations and began to fuel me, filling me with an almost zealous energy. However, after experiencing it several times over by now, I could feel it even as it seemingly retreated past my emotional senses. It was always there, an almost omnipresent pressure in my mind, but I could attempt my motives from being swayed by the unknown source. My movements slowed to a pace reasonable for an average human before I eventually came to a stop. That might''ve gotten really bad if the kid was running somewhere far away my wounds could''ve reopened far away from the village. A glance up at the sky also told me it was getting quite late and so, with one final glance at the slowly vanishing figure of the boy I turned to go home and end the day. [March] 15th Age: 732 I felt sluggish moving through the village today. I had entered that section of healing where your body is sore all over, which was making it difficult to traverse the village in my current state. The sun had begun to reach its zenith causing it to beat down on my hair adding to my poor mood. Most of my day was spent lazing around and picking up what counted as snacks at the villages nearly empty market, the snacks all consisted of tough meats tasted way too salty to be healthy, and protein dense bars that tasted like chalk. The drinks from the market were mostly all cocktails of protein supplements, alien fruit that tastes like shit, and some other bullshit animal that I don''t care to learn about. They all came together to form a flavor that somehow simulated the taste, texture, and flavor of a steak or some other form of meat. The only reason I ever came to the market before my injury was to meet with the old lady running it. She was a great person to talk to as she would often go on the funniest tangents, plus if I stayed and listened to her talk she''d give me a snack for free. Honestly she was definitely one of my top ten favorite people on this planet, at least that I''ve met personally.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Currently I was munching on one the snacks she had given me, it was a footlong stick of dried meat that tasted mostly of salt and beef, but also faintly of barbeque. All snacks are pretty large, which mostly adds to some of the more mediocre ones general awfulness, but I had found a method for eating most of the meats that made it pretty tolerable so it wasn''t all bad. You sorta had to suck out most of the salt, you could swallow it or spit the salt out since Saiyans could metabolise it pretty easily, then you could deal with the meat itself in any way you want. Otherwise the meat had a strange consistency that reminded me of dirt, or poorly cooked liver. Despite this taste, I''ve seen Saiyans bite into it like it''s a giant slim-jim, like monsters. As I shiver while recalling the time Toto downed a whole stick of this jerky, my eyes noticed the same boy who ran away last night. He''s heading down the same alleyway-street thing while wearing mostly the same clothes but this time carrying an empty bag that''s curled up over his arm. What''s odd is that this time he seems pretty close to the edge of the village, and he seems to not have any plans of stopping at the border. This time I check if I''m being pushed forward by that odd force, after confirming I decide to tail him. This time it''s not out of any real feeling of annoyance or frustration, I''m kinda just curious about where the hell this guy is going with that suspicious bag. It''s probably rude, but honestly there''s nothing else to really do while I heal, so without much hesitation I down my snack and set on following him from a slight distance while grimacing at its aftertaste. ... ...... ............ I''ve been trailing him for a while now, we''ve long since exited the village and now we walk through the wastes of Planet Vegeta. I think this is the farthest i''ve ever been away from the village, despite that I don''t really think I''ll be able to get lost. As we walk I sometimes catch myself scanning my surroundings, almost like I''m filling out a mental map in my head. It''s honestly kinda cool, If I focus I can remember the exact number of steps I took since I left the village, and if I try really hard I can remember some alternate routes I could''ve taken while following this guy. All these actions feel totally instinctual as well, seems like I''ve got an incredible natural talent for navigation, it also seems the kid I''ve been trailing (calling him puffball for now) doesn''t have a talent for knowing his surroundings. Honestly I''m not really trying to hide from him, but ''Puffball'' either hasn''t noticed my presence or he''s putting on one hell of an act. We begin to pass through an outcropping of rocks when he finally notices my shadow, or at least that''s what I think that jerky motion he did is. His movements slow slightly before he breaks out in an absolute sprint, a thin cloud of dust is the only thing that signifies he used to be here. With a brief moment of thought of if I should stress my wounds, I shoot off after him at rapid speed while pouring ki into my movements. "I haven''t actually ran full tilt for a while... Sorta just used short but quick movements to get around, especially during training. This might actually be a fun little test!" With that I began to watch as my speed slowly surpassed that of a regular humans sprint, then I began to hit speeds that I assumed a horse wouldn''t be able to sustain, by the time I had reached a point where I couldn''t comfortably move I had begun to reach speeds close to that of a car on a highway. I could see Puffballs hair in the distance, his speed was genuinely incredible on account of his longer legs and slightly better developed body. From what I had seen of his build he didn''t look much older than me so I had assumed there wasn''t that much of a difference in our physical traits, despite this he seemed to be outputting far better speeds than I was. This fact caused a great interest to stir within me as I found myself questioning How this boy was using his KI, I wondered how his methods differed from mine and I found myself questioning if there was even a difference at all. Questions for later I supposed After a short while I began to notice something interesting in the boys movements. For starters, he was clearly exhausted. He seemed to be sweating buckets, making his exceptionally puffy hair comically shrink from excessive sweat, and he seemed to be on the verge of passing out. More interestingly, despite his apparent exhaustion he didn''t seem to be slowing down as he barreled through the reddish pink wastelands of Vegeta like a runaway rocket. It almost looked like he simply couldn''t stop, like his legs had been possessed by the spirit of a roadrunner with how they kept him moving forward at a breakneck pace. We are slowly nearing the outskirts of what I assume to be another district. With a quick glance around I notice there doesn''t seem to be much more places to hide from the boys field of view so I decide to flank him from the side in the hopes of staying out of his sight. Despite Puffballs apparent exhaustion, I myself still felt fine. I had barely burned any of my Ki and thanks to my Saiyan biology I was sure I could keep trucking even without the spiritual fuel. .... There''s something off about this district... The buildings in particular unnerve me, considering they seem to be made from the bone of an alien creature. The idea of there being animals that have a skeleton in the shape of these alien looking homes is... Disconcerting to say the least. In an instant I decided to focus on the task at hand, my curiosity would not be denied simply because the buildings looked weird. Puffball didn''t seem to mind the buildings at all so it should be fine, though he does look like he''s being more cautious. Ah! I should probably be hiding from the brat right about now, Again I felt a little twinge of awkwardness at my actions but at this point I was too far in. Birth 1.5 [March] 15th Age: 732, 5 minutes later. ... ..... I''d been trailing him as stealthily as I could manage, taking in the sights of this new district of alien bone. The buildings seemed to be made to a higher quality than any of the buildings back home in spite of their seemingly organic origins. Again, super disturbing, but I decide to move on before I risk losing track of the kid. I hop from building to building while noting the lack of adult Saiyan''s wandering around, it wasn''t as barren of people as my own village was but I still would rarely see Saiyan''s in groups larger than three people. I noted it down as something to ask Toto later, it was starting to become apparent that he''d given me explanations that were slowly becoming more and more irrelevant and confusing. Not mention I needed to learn more things about my new home world in general. Like how weird the buildings can get! Each one was far taller than any of the ones in my home village, all intertwining in such a way that made it seem as though they were each piece of a skeleton belonging to a titanic creature. The alien architecture built in such a way that even most folk from my village would find this place a pain to traverse, it was like this place was just built for the sole purpose of training it''s citizens physical capabilities. I honestly wouldn''t expect it if that was just how it was the architecture''s actual purpose. With how physically focused Saiyan''s were as a species it was only right that every part of their society would be devoted to it, even mundane day to day things. My mark was beginning to dip into the underground section of this city-like area and after waiting a few seconds I followed him in. I made sure to caution to not alert him of my presence yet I found myself, once again, shell shocked at the sheer alienity of the structure I was witnessing. It was an ever expanding catacomb of tunnels, far more vast than any of the underground structures beneath my own village and far more complex. The symbols of the Saiyan language were scrawled across the walls in a fashion similar to graffiti with names like Broc, Lifa, Raddi, etc all placed in a way that made them resemble poses of combat. Strikes, jabs, kicks and sweeps all were used in the graffiti each one exceptionally dynamic in nature. All of this just served to remind me of an argument I got into from my past life, a rarity these days considering how those memories are starting to fade. I think It was after he had forced me to watch all of DBZ, I''m pretty he was the one who introduced me to this series considering I don''t recall liking this show much. He definitely loved the damn thing though, owned a bunch of the merch and was even the moderator of a server of power scalers I think. I can remember poking fun of him for that, calling him a "Big Nerd" and "Lame", he laughed off all of my masterful insults though. I do recall myself enjoying listening to him rant about all the lore and interpersonal stories within the manga and such. For me It was my friends passion that breathed life into Dragon ball, rather than the comic itself. But now that I was fully comprehending that this was an absolutely gargantuan setting, spanning a literal multiverse with beings that could wipe away solar systems like they were smears on a chalkboard. The idea that I had to deal with all of that with a realistically minimal amount of information was... Stressful. Yet strangely exciting? Ah. The almost sickeningly alien pulse of emotion was present again, it was probably causing this. I focused and the feeling was suppressed almost instantaneously. I was getting better at that at least! I wouldn''t be rash because of some strange shit beyond my understanding again, at least not for a good long while. thoroughly drawn out of my walk down the ever-fading space that is memory lane I continue to chase after puffball who was, much to my surprise, going down a path that seemed to continue downwards. How deep were these routes!? And why would you even make them this deep! I didn''t know much about underground structures, but something told it just seemed absurd to make them in such a high gravity environment. And yet, in spite of all my silent protests, the path Puffball took continued to angle deeper beneath the city, leaving me no choice but to follow. Or leave.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I slunk behind the kid keeping a safe distance, praying that his abysmal sense of awareness hadn''t improved since I had last trailed him, and some miracle I remained unnoticed allowing me to take in the changes to my surroundings as we both descended. ... ...... The walls had changed drastically, slowly swapping from the familiar walls of Saiyan civilization to rough unrefined cavern walls. Support beams now were periodically placed, making the area feel more like a coal mine more than any type of tunnel. It was a novel experience to look around the tunnel, seeing what I assumed was the graffiti of a younger generation shift to the much more "aggressive" art style of the old guard. Instead of paint, the art seemed to be made from carefully imprinting of part of your body into a wall. From what I could gather, you could place only a single imprint or combine several of them to create a much larger piece. How they got the walls that soft and what they pieces mean is much less intuitive to me so I decided to pay them less mind, especially since the boy was now entering a far more interesting area. The smell of old machinery, metal, and oil had been building up for quite a while but now it was an ever present part of my olfactory senses. The boy had entered what looked to be an underground scrap yard. It was exceptionally built for an underground area, constructed in such a way that one could mistake it for being perfectly organic to the point where the buildings jutting out of the cliff face-like walls of the area seemed naturally made. Stone and steel Flora jutted out from the floor to form areas for sorting what I assume was old alien tech. Every piece of this place came together to form the appearance of some sort of sci-fi junkyard, one that was clearly still in use despite the miniscule amount of workers. There seemed to only be two adults manning the entire yard, a thin woman who was doing the work of hundreds of humans by zipping about at an incredible speed, and a large gruff looking man who seemed to be working as a sort of enforcer or bodyguard. Initially I though Puffball would be familiar with these people and would stop sneaking about, but instead he went on high alert. With every second that passed it became harder to keep track of him as he ducked between the unfamiliar landscape of the junkyard, showing uncanny familiarity with the area. I had to be more careful than the boy when tailing him but I somehow managed to keep from the gaze of the two adult Saiyan''s. The lady had stopped working for now, perhaps going on break for a short while, and the man had begun to move around the compound beginning what I assumed to be his job. He was pretty far away from me, making it incredibly difficult to make out any of the finer details of his outfit aside from his armor. A bad feeling began to settle in my gut "If my hunch is correct and he''s a guard for the junkyard, then It would make sense to have some form of picking out intruders." I strained my eyes as I watched him place what I could only assume to be a scouter on his face before floating lazily up to the ceiling of the cave, gaining an incredible vantage point. "Damn... Ok, that does make things tougher. But you''ve got this Coli, all you gotta do is suppress your power level right? That''s how they gained an advantage back in beginning of DBZ right?" My mind was working in double time already, pushing myself to focus on my inner energy. I could actually feel my recovery building towards a Zenkai boost, it was like witnessing the waves recede before a massive wave, incredible potential but no way to utilize it just yet. It was almost mesmerizing, but currently I had I job to do. I had two Ideas on how to hide my current energy, clamping down on the energies passages and shifting the energy around to make it less obvious respectively. I hastily shifted the energy around but instead of it being less obvious it seemed to be rapidly increasing in potency whenever it was clumped in a single area of my body, I would feel a surge of strength in that part of my body as well. "Useful, but not right now, dammit!" Filing the info away for later, I began the more difficult of the two options. I prayed to whatever Kai handled luck that the Saiyan would be slow with the scouters since I was going to try something new. I returned to sensing my own Ki before attempting to ''zoom in'' towards my ki, I could feel the miniscule pathways that the spiritual energy was traversing and my heart skipped a beat with elation. I swiftly tamped down on my adrenaline, stress making my perception of time switch between glacial and rapid on a dime, I began to try and will the energy to slow. To my surprise, it actually responded. It slowed to a crawl, it slipped from my mental grasp for an instant but I clamped down on it and forced it to be calm. I felt my strength begin to go dormant, inactive yet ready to be summoned at a moments notice. I opened my eyes and noticed that a miniscule amount of time had passed, sweat dripped from my brow and I could feel a whole new type of mental exhaustion kick into place. The man had only just gotten set up atop the cave when my stomach dropped. I had blinked once and he was gone, flitting out of my perception as though he never existed. I didn''t have to look around to hear him hit the ground on the other side of the junkyard. I quickly summoned a meager amount my strength so I could reach where the adult had landed, "Looks like puff didn''t know how to suppress his energy. Wait shit that''s right, the ability to do this was something that main cast did! Kinda amazed I did that on my first try!" I had to fight the grin that was currently splitting my face, the guard probably wasn''t gonna let puff off with a warning. Sure he definitely shouldn''t be here, but Saiyan''s weren''t known for their kindness. Who knows what that guy''ll do to the brat! Birth 1.6 If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Birth 1.7 [March] 15th If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.