The bell above the door jingled cheerfully.
I stepped into the "Readers Paradise" bookstore. My cape swirled behind me. My gi was pristine. I looked like a warrior monk on a holy pilgrimage.
I was about to commit social suicide.
I marched to the "Adult Interest" section. I didn't browse. I didn't hesitate. I grabbed the entire top shelf. Swimsuit Weekly. Late Night Vixens. The Yoga Special Edition.
I carried the stack to the counter like I was carrying the head of an enemy warlord.
The cashier was a teenager with headphones around his neck and acne scars on his chin. He looked at the massive stack of magazines. Then he looked at my turban. Then he looked at my face.
"Find everything you needed... sir?" he asked, his voice cracking.
"Yes," I said. My voice was steady. Inside, I was screaming.
"That's... a lot of reading material."
"I read fast."
I slammed Tights' money onto the counter.
Behind me, two girls giggled. "Look at the cape," one whispered. "He must be so lonely."
"Compensating," the other whispered back.
I maintained tactical silence. My face remained a mask of stoic indifference. I had tanked blasts. But this? This was damage that didn't heal.
The cashier bagged them. He used a double bag. He knew.
"Have a nice day," the kid smirked.
I grabbed the bag. I walked out the door. I turned the corner into a dark alleyway, looked left, looked right, and blasted off into the stratosphere.
--
I hit the sand hard enough to shake the palm trees.
Master Roshi jumped, dropping his sunglasses. He scrambled backward.
When he saw it was me, he blinked.
"You came back?" Roshi asked, genuinely baffled. "I thought you took the ball and ran. Nobody actually honors a deal for..."
I dropped the bag in his lap. It was heavy.
Roshi looked inside. His eyes bulged. He pulled out the Yoga Special Edition. A tear formed in the corner of his eye.
"You..." Roshi sniffled. "You're a man of your word. A true warrior."
"We are even," I said.
"Even? Kid, you're a hero!" Roshi was already flipping pages. "Feel free to stop by anytime! I'll teach you the Kamehameha! I'll teach you everything!"
"I have a schedule, Master."
I blasted off again.
Roshi didn't even look up.
--
I pulled out the radar. Six signals remaining. Scattered.
I pushed my speed. No suppression. No hiding. I was a streak of purple light crisscrossing the globe.
North Pole. The signal was buried deep under a glacier. I hovered over the ice. I pointed a finger. "Flash."
A precise, thin beam melted a hole fifty feet deep. I dropped in, grabbed the Six-Star Ball from the slush, and flew out before the water could refreeze.
Western Mountains. A giant eagle's nest sat atop a jagged peak.
The Three-Star Ball was tucked under a chick. The mother eagle screeched, diving at me with talons that could crush a car. I didn't strike her.
I simply flared my aura. The wind pressure pushed her back gently. I grabbed the ball, patted the chick on the head, and vanished.
Southern Lake. I dove from the sky, plunging into the water like a torpedo.
The pressure built. It was dark. A massive catfish, easily the size of a bus, loomed out of the gloom, jaws opening to swallow me. I glared at it. The fish froze. It whimpered, turned tail, and fled into the mud. I scooped the One-Star Ball from the silt and rocketed back to the surface.
Eastern Cave. It was dark. Damp.
I walked deep into the cavern. The radar pinged rapidly.
A massive bear was sleeping on top of the Seven-Star Ball. I tried to be stealthy. I reached out, fingers inching toward the orange orb. Snap.
I stepped on a twig. The bear's eyes snapped open. It roared, rising to its full height, claws swiping at my head.
I just looked up at it. The bear paused.
Its animal instincts kicked in. It realized that the small thing in the purple clothes was at the top of the food chain, not the bottom.
It whimpered, dropped to all fours, and scrambled past me, running out of its own cave. I picked up the ball. "I used to be afraid of bears," I mused, dusting off the orb. "Now I'm the monster under their bed."
Six down. One to go.
Mount Paozu. The air here was different. It was vibrant. The mountains rolled in waves of green. It was quiet, save for the wind and the distant rush of a river.
I landed in a clearing near a small, humble hut.
I sensed the Ki signature before I saw him. It was small, maybe 90, pushing 100. But it was incredibly refined. It felt Warm.
An old man was in the yard, chopping firewood. He wore a simple gi and a hat.
He didn't startle when I landed. He didn't reach for a weapon. He just finished his swing, the axe splitting the log cleanly in two, and wiped his forehead.
He turned to me. He had a kind face, wrinkled by smiles rather than scowls.
Grandpa Gohan.
Goku wasn't here yet. The pod wouldn't crash for another five years. The old man was alone.
"Hello," Gohan said. His voice was gentle. "You make quite an entrance, young man. You don't walk on the ground much, do you?"
I bowed. "I prefer the direct route."
"I can see that." He leaned on his axe. "You're not from around here. Your energy... it feels heavy."
"I need something you have," I said, getting straight to the point. "The Four-Star Ball."
I pointed to the small table on his porch. The orange orb sat there, catching the sunlight.
"Ah," Gohan smiled. "A keepsake. Pretty thing. Found it in the valley years ago."
"I need it," I repeated. "To make a wish."
Gohan studied me. He looked at my face, my hands, my posture.
"You look like you're tired, son," he noted softly. "Shoulders that tight... you'll snap before you save anyone."
"I manage."
"Come," Gohan said, gesturing to the porch. "Have some tea. Then you can take the ball."
"I am in a hurry."
"Rushing leads to mistakes," Gohan chided gently. "Sit. The world won't end in the time it takes to boil water."
I hesitated. Then, I sat.
He poured tea into a small ceramic cup. It smelled of jasmine.
"Are you eating enough?" Gohan asked, sitting opposite me. "You look lean. Strong, but lean."
"I eat," I said.
"And sleeping? Your eyes are old for your face."
I looked at him.
On Planet Vegeta, no one asked if you were sleeping. They asked if you were training. Even Ruca, who was the closest thing I had to a partner, showed care through sparring and watching my back.
But this old man... he just offered tea.
A strange pang hit my chest. It was the ache of a childhood I never really had in this life.
"I sleep when I can," I answered quietly.
"Take it," Gohan said, nodding at the ball. "I can feel you aren't evil. Just lost. Bring it back when you're done, alright?"
I picked up the Four-Star Ball.
I looked at it. Then I looked at Gohan.
I knew the lore. I knew that in five years, a Saiyan pod would land. A baby named Kakarot would be found. And one night, under a full moon, that kid would turn into a monster and crush this kind old man into the dirt.
Gohan would die because of a Saiyan. Because of my race.
I gripped the ball tight.
'Not if I can help it.'
"Thank you," I said, standing up. "I will return it. And..."
I paused.
"Stay safe, old man. The nights can be dangerous."
Gohan laughed. "I've handled wolves and tigers my whole life, son. I'll be fine."
Wolves and tigers, yes, I thought. But not Oozarus.
"I'll be back," I promised.
I blasted off, heading straight up.
--
I bypassed the clouds. I bypassed the storms. I flew until the air turned thin.
The Lookout floated in silence.
I landed on the tiles. Kami and Mr. Popo were waiting. They sensed the energy I was carrying.
I walked to the center of the plaza. I dropped the bag.
The balls rolled out.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.
They clustered together, drawn by a magnetic pull. They began to pulse. A low, rhythmic throb echoed across the sanctuary. The orange glass glowed from within, lighting up the white tiles.
I took a deep breath. I was excited.
I raised my hands.
"Eternal Dragon!" I shouted, my voice ringing in the thin air. "I summon you! Come forth, Shenron!"
The sky went black.
Thunder cracked, shaking the entire Lookout. A golden beam of light erupted from the balls, piercing the darkness, twisting and coiling like a living thing.
The dragon rose.
He was massive. Endless. His green scales shimmered with divine power. His red eyes glowed red. He stared down at me, a tiny speck on the tiles.
"I AM THE ETERNAL DRAGON," Shenron boomed, his voice vibrating in my chest. "STATE YOUR WISH."
The dragon loomed over the Lookout.
"Shenron!" I shouted. "Unlock my dormant potential! Draw out every ounce of hidden power within me!"
I did not need the coordinates of Namek and Yardrat since I could get them through king kai.
Shenron stared down at me. His red eyes pulsed. Silence stretched for a moment.
"I CANNOT GRANT THIS WISH FULLY," the dragon boomed.
I blinked. "What?"
"YOUR LATENT POWER IS VAST," Shenron explained, his voice rumbling like thunder. "IT IS A RESERVOIR TOO DEEP FOR MY CURRENT MAGIC TO DRAW OUT INSTANTLY. I AM BOUND BY THE POWER OF MY CREATOR. I CAN RELEASE PERHAPS... TEN PERCENT."
"Ten percent?" I whispered.
It wouldn't bridge the gap to Frieza. It was a waste of a wish.
I had to pivot. What was my biggest weakness?
The Clone.
It had halved my power. It left me at 11,000 on Earth and the Clone at 9,000 on Vegeta. It made us both vulnerable. I was climbing back with both but it made my growth slow down.
"Shenron!" I called out. "I have a new wish. I am currently using a technique, the Shishin no Ken. It divides my power in half. I wish to negate this side effect! I want to maintain the copy without losing my strength!"
Shenron lowered his head slightly, peering closer at me.
"THE TECHNIQUE YOU ARE USING IS NOT THE SHISHIN NO KEN," the dragon corrected. "IT IS A DIVERGENCE OF THE SOUL UNIQUE TO YOU. A TEAR IN YOUR VERY EXISTENCE."
I froze. A unique divergence?
"CAN YOU FIX IT?" I asked.
"I CAN REPAIR THE FISSURE," Shenron stated. "I CAN STABILIZE THE CONNECTION SO THAT THE ENERGY FLOWS FREELY TO BOTH VESSELS. YOU WILL BOTH BE WHOLE."
"Do it," I said instantly.
"HOWEVER," Shenron added, "KNOW THIS. BECAUSE I AM REPAIRING THE SOUL WHILE IT IS SEPARATED, THE EVENTUAL REINTEGRATION WILL BE... VOLATILE. WHEN YOU RECALL THE COPY, THE POWER WILL NOT MERELY MERGE. IT WILL COMPOUND."
'Hell yeah!'
"Grant the wish!"
"YOUR WISH IS GRANTED."
Shenron's eyes glowed a blinding crimson.
I felt it immediately.
It was a sensation of sudden, absolute fullness.
I could feel my Ki surging.
"FAREWELL."
Shenron dissolved into golden light. The sky turned from black to blue in an instant.
The seven Dragon Balls hovered in the air for a split second, glowing, before shooting off in seven different directions.
"Not so fast!"
I moved.
I pushed my speed to the limit. I was a purple blur darting across the plaza.
I snatched the 4-Star Ball out of the air before it could launch.
I spun, catching the 2-Star Ball with my left hand.
I leaped, grabbing the 5-Star Ball just as it crested the edge of the Lookout.
Three balls. Secure.
I watched the other four streak away toward the corners of the Earth.
I landed softly on the tiles, breathing hard. I placed the balls gently into my bag, separating the 4-Star into its own pouch.
"Impressive speed," Kami said.
I turned. The Guardian was watching me with a small smile.
Kami turned and walked toward the inner temple.
"Come, Cress. Your soul is mended. Now, let us see if we can teach it to be quiet."
"I am ready, Guardian."
I followed him into the shadows.
--
The air in the barracks smelled of sweat and aggression.
I stood near the weapon rack, pretending to calibrate a blaster.
"Listen up, runts!" Nappa bellowed, pacing in front of the line.
The "Royal Youth Division" was assembled.
Prince Vegeta stood with his arms crossed, looking bored. He had scanned me when he walked in. His scouter had read 9,000. He had smirked. To him, I was a ceiling he would soon smash through.
Broly stood next to him, staring at his own boots. He was silent.
And then there was Raditz.
Raditz was jittery. He was the weakest in the room, and he knew it.
"We drop in two hours," Nappa grunted. "Standard purge. And don't think because you're high-born you get a pass. If you lag behind, I leave you."
"We won't lag," Vegeta said coolly.
Raditz shifted, looking for a distraction. His eyes landed on Broly.
"Hey," Raditz sneered, nudging the larger boy. "Wake up, mute. The Commander is talking."
Broly didn't react. He just shifted his weight.
"I'm talking to you," Raditz snapped, his voice rising. He wanted a reaction. He wanted to prove he was dominant over the "quiet one." "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Or are you just stupid?"
Broly looked up. "Don't touch me."
His voice was soft, but it carried a strange weight.
Raditz laughed. "Or what? You'll cry?"
Raditz shoved Broly.
It wasn't a hard shove.
But it was the spark.
The air pressure in the room dropped instantly.
Broly didn't stumble. He went rigid. His eyes, usually dark and docile, flashed a terrifying, blank white.
VRRRRRRRMMMM.
The Scouters in the room screamed.
Vegeta's eyes widened. Nappa stopped talking.
Broly's Ki detonated. It spiked from resting to lethal in a microsecond.
"Raditz..." Broly growled, his muscles swelling, his armor creaking.
He raised a hand. Green energy crackled around it. He was going to vaporize Raditz. And probably the entire barracks.
"No," I whispered.
I blurred across the room.
I grabbed Raditz by the collar and threw him. I tossed him like a sack of grain, sending him skidding across the floor into the far wall.
My hand chopped down.
It was a perfect strike. At 9,000 power level, this blow would have decapitated a standard elite.
THUD.
Broly didn't even blink. The strike connected, but his neck muscles were rigid, surging with a dense energy that felt heavy enough to crush the room.
He turned his head slowly. His eyes were blank white voids. His lips peeled back in a snarl.
The scouter on Raditz's face screeched.
12,000... 14,000...
'Shit,' I thought, panic flaring in my chest.
I was too weak.
I had technique, I had speed, but I lacked the mass to stop an avalanche. Broly raised a fist. The air around it distorted. If he swung, he would vaporize me, Raditz, and half the barracks.
I braced myself for the impact.
Then, it happened.
SLAM.
It felt like a thunderclap inside my soul.
On Earth, the Dragon had spoken. The wish was granted.
The "hollow" feeling vanished instantly, replaced by a rushing torrent of power.
Time seemed to slow down.
I saw the energy gathering around Broly's fist. I saw Raditz's terrified face. I saw the dust motes dancing in the air.
I moved. I slipped inside Broly's guard. I didn't chop this time. I drove a Ki-infused knuckle directly into the pressure point at the base of his skull.
I didn't hold back. I hit him with all the force I could mutter.
WHAM.
The sound was sickeningly loud.
Broly's eyes rolled back. The aura flickered and died instantly. His frame went rigid, then slumped forward.
I caught him before he hit the ground, lowering him gently.
Only then did the scouters react.
POP. FZZZT.
Raditz's scouter exploded. Nappa's cracked. The sudden, violent fluctuation of Broly's energy, followed by the undetectable speed of my strike, had overloaded the processors.
Smoke curled from the devices.
Silence descended on the room. Heavy. Suffocating.
I stood over Broly's unconscious body, my chest heaving slightly. I clamped my suppression down instantly, hiding the 20,000 back under the mask of 9,000.
"What..." Raditz whispered, his voice trembling. "What happened?"
I turned to him.
Raditz was huddled against the wall, shaking. He looked at Broly, then at me.
I walked over to him. My boots clicked on the metal floor.
I stopped a foot away. I looked down at the son of Bardock.
"You," I said. My voice was cold, devoid of sympathy.
"I... I just..." Raditz stammered.
"He isn't a recruit, Raditz," I hissed, leaning in. "He isn't a person you can bully to make yourself feel big. He is a walking disaster."
I pointed at the unconscious boy.
"If he wakes up angry, he doesn't just kill you. He kills us all. He brings the roof down on our heads."
Raditz swallowed hard, nodding rapidly. "I... I won't. I didn't know."
"Now you do."
I looked across the room.
Prince Vegeta was watching me. His arms were still crossed, but his posture had shifted. His eyes were narrowed, calculating. He looked from Broly's body to me.
He had seen the strike. Or rather, he had seen the result. He knew that a Power Level of 9,000 shouldn't have been able to drop him.
But he said nothing. He simply filed the information away.
"What is everyone standing around for?!"
Nappa's roar broke the tension.
The Commander stepped forward, his face purple with rage. He needed to reassert control. He needed to be the scariest thing in the room again.
He turned on Zuto.
"Why didn't you stop them?!" Nappa screamed, spit flying.
Zuto blinked, nursing his healing arm. "Me? You were standing right there! You were watching!"
"Excuse me?" Nappa's voice dropped to a growl.
Zuto realized his mistake too late. "Commander, I didn't mean—"
WHACK.
Nappa backhanded Zuto. The lanky Saiyan flew across the room, smashing into a locker.
"I am the Commander!" Nappa bellowed, stomping over to Zuto and kicking him in the ribs. "If there is chaos in my barracks, it is because you are incompetent! Clean this up! Fix the scouters! And someone drag the angry kid to the infirmary!"
Zuto curled up, groaning. Toma looked away.
--
The room was dim, lit only by the stars and the glow of the holographic monitors.
Frieza sat in his hover-chair. On the desk, a speaker crackled with static.
"...kill us all... incompetent... fix the scouters..."
Frieza reached out and tapped the mute button.
"How charming," Frieza murmured. "They sound like animals fighting over a scrap of meat."
Zarbon stood by the window, his arms crossed. "The audio log confirms a massive energy spike, Lord Frieza. It overloaded the transmission briefly."
"I heard," Frieza said. "It came from the new recruit. The large one. Broly."
"And yet," Zarbon frowned, "It was the mechanic who stopped him. Now Elite Cress."
Zarbon walked over to the desk.
"He moved fast. Too fast. Perhaps he is hiding his true strength." Zarbon said. He knew his pet had progressed but from the scouters reading, this should have been impossible.
Frieza swirled his wine again. He looked bored.
"Or," Frieza countered, "the big brute simply lost control and left himself open. It is a common flaw in Saiyans. All rage, no discipline. The boy got a lucky shot in while the beast was distracted."
Frieza took a sip.
"Cress is efficient. I like efficiency. But he is unremarkable. He is the currently strongest elite but is still below the king, he is also very passive, there is nothing to fear."
He gestured to the screen, where Broly's bio-data was displayed.
"This one, however... Broly. Keep an eye on him, Zarbon. Unstable power is dangerous. If he cannot be leashed... we may need to put him down. And if you really insist, I guess you could still have an eye out for this Cress."
"Understood, my Lord."
Frieza smiled.
--
The infirmary was quiet.
I sat on a metal stool next to the bed. Broly was lying there, sleeping. The bruise on his neck was already fading.
His breathing was deep and rhythmic. Asleep, he looked like any other child. Innocent.
But I knew better.
Broly stirred. His eyes fluttered open.
He looked at the ceiling. Then he looked at me.
He didn't speak. He didn't ask what happened. He just stared.
"You lost control," I said quietly.
Broly blinked.
"You let the anger drive," I continued. "And because of that, you almost killed Raditz."
Broly looked down at his hands.
"He... touched me," Broly whispered. His voice was raspy.
"People will touch you," I said. "People will hit you. People will try to kill you. That is the job."
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.
"Anger is a fuel, Broly. It makes you strong. But if you dump all the fuel into the engine at once, the engine explodes."
Broly looked at me. He seemed to be processing the words slowly.
"Explode?"
"Yes. And if you explode," I pointed at the ceiling, "the Lizard in the sky hears it. And if he hears it, he will come down here and kill you, and all of us in the process. Do you understand?"
Fear flickered in Broly's eyes. Even he knew about Frieza. Paragus had taught him that much.
"I don't want to die," Broly mumbled.
I tapped my own chest armor.
"When you feel it," I said. "When the rage starts to buzz in your head... don't look at the enemy. Don't look at Raditz."
I locked eyes with him.
"Look at me."
Broly stared at me.
"I will tell you when to explode," I said. "And I will tell you when to stop. If you listen to me, you live. If you listen to the rage, you die."
Broly hesitated. He looked at my face. He saw the calculation, but he also saw stability. In a world of screaming Nappas and bullying Raditzes, I was calm.
Slowly, Broly nodded.
"Okay," he whispered. "I look at you."
"Good."
I stood up.
"Rest. We have training tomorrow."
I walked out of the infirmary. My hands were shaking slightly.
I had just appointed myself the handler of one of the strongest beings in this universe.
--
The twin suns had set, and the cool night air of Planet Vegeta washed over the barracks.
I stood outside, leaning against the wall, breathing in the sulfur.
"You look different."
I turned.
Ruca was walking toward me. She wasn't wearing her armor. She was in a casual flight suit, her hair loose.
She stopped a few feet away.
"You're back," she said, looking me up and down.
I smiled. It was a small, genuine smile.
"Yeah," I said.
The wish had worked. I felt... whole.
Ruca stepped closer. She reached out and poked my chest.
She grinned. "Good. Because Nappa is already planning a rotation to a dangerous world next week. He wants to 'break in' the Prince."
She jerked her thumb toward the city lights of the Elite Sector.
"There's a bar on the upper level."
I hesitated.
I looked at Ruca. She was my partner.
"Ale,"I said.
"And meat," she added. "Real meat. Not paste."
I pushed off the wall.
"Lead the way," I said.
Ruca laughed and started walking. I fell into step beside her.
We walked toward the lights. The clock was ticking. Frieza was watching. But I guess I could enjoy a few drinks.
--
I hope you aren't to disappointed by the wish. I could have picked other things for Cress but I preferred this one, let me know how you feel about this chapter.