Dragon Ball: After the End

[PoptartProdigy]

Dragon Ball: After the End
​

From small-time fighters that were insignificant in the face of things to the pinnacle of godhood itself -- that was, in truth, but the start of Goku and Vegeta's adventures. They lived for many years beyond that, fighting and getting stronger all the while, and protecting Earth from every threat that came against it.

But all adventures must some day come to an end.

Old age is as formidable an enemy as any other -- more, in fact. Unlike others, it cannot be defeated by powering up. That was, however, all that Goku and Vegeta knew how to do.

They died.

And in an instant, those they left behind were beset. As it turns out, entrusting one's safety to but two individuals -- one, really, given Vegeta's success rate -- is a poor idea, especially when those individuals are aging swiftly. Earth was set upon by foes too scared of the Saiyans' reputation to attack, yet scared enough to do so as soon as the storied defenders of Earth were gone. Yet despite this, Son Gohan stepped up to fill the gap, standing strong in the face of the threats that came to his home, even though he was pressed to his very limits.

Until the day when the foe was simply too much.

Records from that day are confusing. No witnesses of the fight itself survived -- the only records are the testimony of survivors using ki sensing and scattered updates from the battlefield. The only living members of the original Z Fighters at that time were Tenshinhan -- sometimes known as Tien -- Piccolo, and Son Gohan himself. Krillin's daughter Maron, Goku's student Uub, Gohan's daughter Pan, and Son Goten and Prince Trunks had since taken up their predecessor's mantles.

But none of them were a match for Goku and Vegeta, and none were a match for the threat that landed on Earth that day. Maron died first.

Uub was ripped to shreds afterwards, barely surviving and being withdrawn from the fight. The others bought time, instructing him to use the dragon balls to learn the nature of this new threat.

Piccolo was vaporized buying that time.

Son Goten vanished from any ki sense shortly afterwards. It is not known how he died.

Prince Trunks's ki flared to unprecedented heights in response -- him, finally attaining the third Super Saiyan form. Immediately afterwards, his ki crashed to nearly nothing. It declined, slowly, for five minutes before vanishing entirely.

Tenshinhan's ki flared brightly and briefly, burning itself out in a futile attempt to stop his opponent. He was the only Z fighter to die by his own hand.

Uub, having been healed, summoned Shenron. He resurrected Maron, who immediately died again. He then flew back to the fight, only sharing the briefest of details with Pan's young son Mato of the answers he had received. As soon as he arrived, his ki simply...vanished.

Pan's ki burned as brightly as any had ever felt it, the Earth shaking under the force of her attempts to avenge her friends. They were not enough, and her absence was like the silence after a thunderbolt.

At this point, those away from the fight were piling into spaceships built by Bulma and saved since then, hoping to evacuate. The last family members of the Z fighters -- with Maron's death, all of them Saiyans -- prepared to escape, praying against any kind of hope that Gohan would survive.

Gohan's grandson, in tears over his mother's death, received a message from his grandfather in the form of telepathy, one which he never shared with anybody. In response, his ki began to stir.

And as the ships lifted off, the atmosphere of Earth glowed a divine blue light as Gohan finally broke through the barrier. For so long since his father's death, he had been a God, and as his loved ones fled, he finally unlocked the potential of a Super Saiyan in that form. There were none left who could sense the battle, but all could see the shockwaves echoing over the horizon. And then Gohan's ki skyrocketed again, the Earth nearly coming apart. All stood in awe. Had he finally surpassed his father once and for all?

No. He had not. He had self-destructed, taking Earth itself with him in a futile, wasted attempt to bring his opponent down. The ships rocked in the shockwaves from Son Gohan's violent death, and unnoticed in the chaos, Mato ascended to a Super Saiyan, screaming out his grief in a futile rage.

The apocalypse had come, and Earth's defenders were found wanting.

* * *
​

Since the Z Fighters' quest to defeat Freeza, it had been known that, somehow, humans were present in every corner of the galaxy. After his grief abated, Mato cast his senses far and wide in search of a planet filled with them -- someplace where he and his last family could hide.

It was long in the finding, but a place was found. The inhabitants were far less advanced than the rest of the galaxy -- primitives, really. It was perfect -- this backwater world that hadn't even made it into space, inhabited by humans who had even less idea about the mysteries of ki than the ones the Saiyans had left behind. Nobody would find them there. They landed their ships, hid them, and vanished into the general population.

Over time, the Z-Fighters, and the cataclysmic battle that annihilated them, passed into legend among the descendants. Especially Vegeta and Goku -- the undefeated, some called them. The Holy, others said. Among a people who needed to hide their very identities, what else would such peerless warriors be taken to be?

Vegeta and Goku were raised to almost mythic status. No almost about it, for some. Every Saiyan remaining -- heavily bred in with humans at this point -- descended from them. With that population, inbreeding was a concern. It was decided that the two families would breed exclusively with the inhabitants of their new home -- a cold decision, for an increasingly cold people.

And that worked. It worked so well that the two families eventually lifted the restriction. But by that time, the division had become somewhat...ingrained.

The descendants of Vegeta and Goku almost came to resemble clans and noble houses. Clans Vegeta and Goku, each with Houses indicating family groups. Inheritance and succession became extremely important. Eventually, it was formalized. Each generation, in the main Houses of Vegeta and Goku, one child would be chosen who most typified the characteristics of the Saiyans of old. That child would be trained to the level of Super Saiyan, and master the ability. And they would be called the Scion of either Vegeta and Goku -- taking the title from the predecessor from the last generation, who would be elevated to the Lord of their Clan, displacing the one who came before.

In and around all of this, their isolation bred strange practices. The Scions were the only Saiyans allowed to transform, for fear of discovery. In the absence of a high strength, the survivors turned to magic, the forbidden and strange arts sometimes encountered by the Z Fighters. Never a prominent art among Saiyans, progress was slow. Sorcerers were rare. But they did exist, and they aided their people. They built a chamber where the Scions and Saiyans in general could train without fear of broadcasting their strength.

That was not their only contribution. They were still Saiyans -- and they stood out. Tails, spiky hair...it wasn't conducive to hiding among such colorless humans as inhabited this new place. The Sorcerers designed Masques -- a shapeshifting technique that allowed the Saiyans to appear wholly human. Nobody had been wholly comfortable with the idea of chopping limps off -- honestly, how the original Z-Fighters were so calm about lopping off tails escaped the survivors. Thus, even though the Masques restricted power levels, the survivors dealt with it.

This is the world you were born into. Even centuries later, your people still fear the return of your old foe. Everything you do is informed by the Masquerade. You live normal human lives by day, and by night remove your Masques, letting the human sleep in order to live as a Saiyan for the dark hours. And you, you in particular, train.

You are a person of significance in your Clan. Born at the same time as your opposite number to the Scion of your clans, your father has since taken his office as Lord. You are now the Scion of your clan, expected to attain and master the Super Saiyan form against the possibility of discovery, to lead and guide your people in war and peace. You are nobility -- the last remnant of Saiyan royalty, given that everybody now draws descent from Vegeta and Goku both. You stand at the end of a long and proud line -- the most peerless warrior race ever to exist. Even in fearful exile, you are a figure of pride and prestige. As the date of your eighth birthday approaches, your father brings you to the Training Hall, the only truly Saiyan place on the planet, built by Sorcerers to contain and shield the ki of those inside. As you enter, you see the other Scion and their family standing there as well. You both know why you are here. It is time to finally make your transformations. Regardless of your family and Clan, you will transform before you leave, for you are a Scion. You are...

[ ] Prince Jaffur Vegeta, the Scion of Vegeta. Son of Lord Vegeta Vegeta, the Lord Vegeta -- yes, really -- you were trained since birth to match and surpass your father. You have taken to that training like nothing else, and can easily claim to be the most lethal Saiyan alive save for your father, the Lord Goku, and their predecessors, despite your age. You are a warrior prince, the heir to the royalty of Clan Vegeta, and you stand at the head of a Clan that takes the trappings of nobility much more seriously than those Gokun fools. When your first child is born and takes your mantle of Scion -- when your father's title passes from him, and you become the Lord Vegeta -- you will stand as the acknowledged outright ruler of your people. Yet not all is well. Something is rotten in the House of Vegeta. Your father has dark designs, and a cruel temper that all-too-often turns to you. Nothing you do is ever enough, and failure is harshly punished. Your mother is your only solace, she and your little sister -- and even they are helpless in the face of a Full-Powered Super Saiyan. You do not know what the next few years will bring, but you will become the Lord Vegeta some day, and on that day you will rise with the respect and admiration of a people who have truly recalled their roots as a warrior race, and stand in awe of your early accomplishments.

Pros: Beloved by people, born warrior, warrior prince, heir to the royal line of Vegeta, proud legacy, [HIDDEN BONUS], intense drive, AVE JAFFUR!
Cons: Truly horrendous home life, proud legacy, quick and fiery temper, severe trauma, [HIDDEN DETRIMENT], difficult to interact with non-Vegetan saiyans due to differing cultures.

Spoiler: Jaffur Vegeta

[ ] Kakara Goku, the Scion of Goku. Daughter of Berra Goku, the Lord Goku, you are named for your ancestor Goku's Saiyan name, and have earned the scorn and contempt of your people since the moment you were old enough to train. Because you have never enjoyed training. You have struggled to attend to the work of fighting all your life. The thought of hurting another person makes you sick, and you find it difficult to even try to throw a punch at another person, even in sparring. But you are not incompetent. While you hesitate in fighting, nobody can call you anything less than a prodigy in the art of using your ki. You are intelligent and ambitious, and determined to find a way to live your life the way you wish it. And even with all of that aside, you are not a shirker. You will do your duty and master the Super Saiyan form. If your actions cannot win your people's respect, your strength and conviction will. And regardless of what your people think of you, you have your family, and they, you know full well, love you. You are happy, most of the time. But your life will be hard, and you will continually fight against the frustrated expectations of your people. And unlike Vegetans, Gokun do not acknowledge their Lord as true nobility. You will be a facilitator, a mediator trying to bring order to a fractious mass paying the bare minimum of respect due your position. But you will persevere, and if the world will not accept you of its own accord, you make it do so.

Pros: Acknowledged prodigy of ki manipulation, nascent pacifist, possibility of reforming saiyan culture, strong and loyal family support structure, solid mental health, [HIDDEN BONUS].
Cons: Contempt of saiyan society at large, nascent pacifist, severe difficulty developing combat abilities, social isolation, will face constant social opposition, [HIDDEN DETRIMENT].

Spoiler: Kakara Goku

* * *
​

Welcome to Dragon Ball: After the End! This is my second quest on this site, and I hope you all enjoy what's on offer. I'll leave mechanics and such for later in the story, as even when they're introduced they're not really critical to your enjoyment of this quest. There will be rules, and I'll make them freely available, but this first bit is chargen and I'd rather not distract from that. As you can see, whichever character you choose will have drastic effects on the kind of quest you end up running. Whichever you pick, however, the other one will still be running around the world. Don't worry that picking the unconventional Saiyan pacifist will make you miss out on the delicious angsty warrior action, and vice-versa. This takes takes as canon the full runs of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super, any movies that contradict none of the above/are sufficiently cool for me not to care (except for the Hirudegarn movie, which is not canon in this continuity), and very carefully selected redeemable concepts from Dragon Ball GT. I am also changing "Super Saiyan God" to "Saiyan God" and "Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan" to "Super Saiyan God," for reasons that should be bloody obvious. Everybody enjoy, but before you do:

Power Levels

...are not open for debate because I've seen the kind of arguments that get started over that. DOES IT EVEN REALLY MATTER? End of the day, all the various models boil down to: "Protagonist is weaker than Antagonist #78, then transforms and trashes them. Longer-term, they train until they hit limits, then transform to surpass them." Who cares about the numbers beyond that? ...besides, um, me. I like numbers. For mine, I'm using the Bringer of Death system by npberryhill, who, while personally abrasive in the face of disagreement, has made a very easy system for me to work with. Normal Saiyans can get up to 15 million units of power level as a hard cap, and hit diminishing returns on training a good deal earlier. The Super Saiyan transformation adds 145 million onto that (yes, it is additive. Not in line with official guidebooks or Toriyama's comments, I know, but it's easier on your poor QM), and also allows base power to be trained up to 70 million, again with diminishing returns starting at roughly half that (total transformed max power: 215 million). Mastering the transformation ups base potential to 375 and the boost from Super Saiyan to 750 million (total of 1.125 billion). That's all you'll need to know for the first little while of this quest, trust me. Other transformations come later.

EDIT: Because it became relevant down the line, here's my model for Oozaru as derived from my own thoughts, the spirit of BOD's speculations on the matter, and the ideas of various posters talking it out on the thread. You all rock!

RP Companion

This quest shares continuity with an RP run by @The Fourth Monado! Their RP -- found here -- deals with a substantially broader scope, and thus contains spoilers aplenty. Exercise discretion.

Spoiler: How I've Decided Oozaru Works

I've taken a lot of the discussion of Oozaru on board in designing my final paradigm for the form. Here's how it'll work: Oozaru channels the same energy that Super Saiyan does, but in a different way. Therefore, like Super Saiyan, it has nothing to do with your base power at the time of the transformation. However, the forms are different: as Oozaru gives you a different body to work with, your base strength is not merely irrelevant to how much you boost by, but is in fact replaced by a different base power level for the duration of the transformation. For the ancient Saiyans, this was always higher than their normal base given how weak they were at the time, and thus was taken to be a universally beneficial transformation. However, that's not necessarily the case. In your case, your power level went down in training.

Oozaru's real strength is not that it boosts strength. What Oozaru does is provide a radically changed body with its own power level -- a power level which has twice the cap of the base strength cap of the Saiyan in question, and can be trained up swiftly. For a base Saiyan, they cap at 30 million. For a basic Super Saiyan, their Oozaru caps at 140 million. For a Full-Power Super Saiyan -- which at this point, you are -- the Oozaru power cap is 750 million -- the total boost that you would receive from turning into a Super Saiyan. In fact, the basic Super Saiyan's cap is only five million off from SSJ. This helps me link Oozaru with SSJ the way the BOD system I'm using tries to do while not making either Oozaru or SSJ unilaterally worthless.

Thus, the reason why the ancient Saiyans used the Oozaru as their "I win" button was because it could be trained up quickly and thus kept ahead of their base forms by a lot. I've also decided that it tends to hit a wall once it's multiplying your normal strength by ten, thereby explaining why the ancient Saiyans thought it was a tenfold boost. But that multiplier drops off under diminishing returns as it approaches the cap just like normal strength, and once the Saiyan's base strength is at max, Oozaru is "only" a twofold boost. But no ancient Saiyan ever reached that point, and Vegeta never gave a crap about Oozaru once he figured out SSJ, so the myth of x10 remained.

tl;dr: Oozaru replaces your power level with a new base, which tends to be higher than your normal base but doesn't have to be. This new base can be trained at an accelerated rate, hard-caps at twice your normal base cap, but hits a cap of ten times your normal base when you're still far enough below your normal base cap to allow that.

This diverges from BOD's (rudimentary) handling of the form, but honestly, they didn't use it and only addressed it in non-canon snippets. I will happily leave them behind here for the sake of a fun quest.

I would like to thank in particular Terrabrand and Bakkasama, whose ideas were the final inspiration for this model and who both have cookies now because of it. Thanks, you two! You were a great help! And I also thank everybody else who talked it out in the comments, helping me to find what I like to think is a more elegant solution to the rather thorny problem I was originally facing. It was immensely helpful.

Spoiler: Spoiler Policy

Some people have not seen Dragon Ball: Super yet. With the ongoing release of Super in English, that number is about to drop precipitously. Unless I specify otherwise either here or in a threadmarked update, with later threadmarks trumping earlier ones, all Super episodes with official English dubs are to be considered open for discussion, with yet-to-be-dubbed episodes remaining spoilers. As a general courtesy rule, please continue to use spoiler boxes for anything that is a spoiler according to the above rule. Anything else bearing the brand of Dragon Ball, however, is fair game and may be discussed freely, including anything about GT that you all wish to debate. PLEASE NOTE: THIS SPOILER POLICY APPLIES SOLELY TO THREAD DISCUSSION. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFERENCE WHATEVER I NEED TO IN ORDER TO WORK IN THE SETTING I'M CRAFTING.

Additionally, this quest is in part a collaborative work, in that I and @The Fourth Monado write in a collaborative canon which between us we determine. Monado runs an RP called, "Dragon Ball: Days of Future Past." Given DoFP's status as dealing with multiversal events spanning the breadth of all time and space, my quest occupies a position as a timeline within that broader canon. This does not imply seniority of rank -- merely the two works' relationship to each other.

I have committed to limiting cross-pollination from the RP to the Quest, given the pacing problems it would entail and the distaste much of my player base has for the idea. Therefore, while you are perfectly at liberty to follow and read the RP, I ask that if you wish to discuss spoilers from it that you've received, please do so in clearly-labelled spoiler boxes, for the benefit of those who prefer to refrain.

Spoiler: A Note On Outside Context Problems

As I have mentioned in a few places before, I at the start of this quest generated a few "outside context crises" that will occur at predetermined points in the quest with absolutely no influence from player action. These would be things like (some of) Dragon Ball's arc villains, or something exciting happening in Garenhuld's human world. Something that you can't prepare for and is in no way triggered by your actions. It just happens, and you have to deal with as it comes. Additionally, I sometimes set problems that are within player context on resolution timers that eventually run out, whereupon they will turn over and go proactive unless the players discover and act upon them by investigation, happenstance, or allied action. These would be things like Dr. Gero, who was a result of Goku's actions, lived on Earth, and was always within Super Saiyan Goku's reach, but for one reason or another remained undetected or unfought until he began to present a serious threat.

Spoiler: HAPCON - SPOILERS

Because I was bored, that's why.

The HAPCON is a measure of the pace or urgency of events as a general rule in the quest -- the extent to which the players are likely to have their hands forced in any given situation by events beyond their control. Having the HAPCON visible is mostly a fun little joke for me; this measure already existed before I chose to make it visible to you all.

Current Status: We are at HAPCON 4. A New Cold Empire invasion force is approaching the Planet of New Namek, and you are searching for it, although as of yet you have not made contact with it.

Aaaaaaaaaand GO!

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Character Generation
​

As Saiyan nobility, you've had a lot of training throughout your brief life. Not too much, though. You're only eight.

As Kakara Goku, that has resulted in a certain advantage in some areas. You are exceptional by Saiyan standards, no matter your distaste for fighting. The only question is just how that has manifested. Please vote for the following in plan format to keep things simple. No write-ins unless otherwise noted; the choices are as they are for a reason.

Kakara is not the most devoted fighter. As a result, she has not hit the cap on a normal Saiyan's base strength, and has a power level of 12 million. In addition, she has not picked up the most extensive array of combat skills.

You start with basic competence in hand-to-hand combat and the ability to project basic ki blasts. Your overall genius with ki manipulation translates somewhat into a gift for blasts, making them come to you easiest of any kind of fighting. You begin the game knowing how to use the Kamehameha Wave and the Solar Flare technique. Additionally, you may pick two of any of the following techniques to have learned over your life:

[ ] Kienzan (Destructo Disk) - A disk of ki that can cut through foes of vastly greater strength, at the cost of accuracy.
[ ] Improve Hand-to-Hand - the meat of any fight, you've taken the effort to improve your skill here past mere competence.
[ ] Kikoho (Tri-Beam) - Burn your life force to hammer your foe with blasts of intense strength.
[ ] Kiai - Move quickly enough to hammer your foe with the shockwave of your movements, tossing them back.
[ ] Makankosappo (Special Beam Cannon) - Focus your ki to a needle-point, piercing through the defenses of even vastly stronger foes.
[ ] Kaio-Ken - Drive your ki to incredible heights, surpassing your normal limits. USES UP BOTH CHOICES.
[ ] Instant Transmission - Using somebody's ki to guide you, instantly traverse the distance between two points. USES UP BOTH CHOICES.

While you are highly talented in all uses of ki, there is one area in particular that you shine in. Choose one of the following:

[ ] Flight
[ ] Ki sense
[ ] Controlling your power level

Have you taken the initiative to be tested for aptitude as a Sorcerer or that rarest of talents, a Seer?

[ ] Yes (reveals hidden aptitudes. 5% for Sorcerer, 1% for Seer. I've already made those rolls; this just reveals the results)
[ ] No, I've focused on other things (+1 choice in one other category)

Beyond that you possess certain other skills that one picks up over the course of their life. Or, you know, one or two. Choose two of the following skills to begin play with greater talent in:

[ ] Communication - the art of persuading, empathizing, and conversation.
[ ] Deceit - the art of lying and subterfuge.
[ ] Medicine - treating injuries and illnesses.
[ ] Tinkering - fixing, upgrading, and building machines.
[ ] Write-In

But beyond all of this, who are you, Scion? Beyond a gentle soul, what makes you tick? Choose one of the following traits:

[ ] Inquisitive - you have a strong desire to learn about the world around you.
[ ] Stubborn - authority, strength, common sense -- there's not much that will keep you from following your own course.
[ ] Humble - you don't reach for glory or reputation.
[ ] Driven - some people think your distaste for fighting makes you weak. Those people are idiots.

Remember, vote by plan. We're moving into story posts after this one, so be ready. Enjoy!

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[x]Plan Teleport
[ ] Improve Hand-to-Hand - the meat of any fight, you've taken the effort to improve your skill here past mere competence.
[ ] Instant Transmission - Using somebody's ki to guide you, instantly traverse the distance between two points.
[] Ki sense
[] No, I've focused on other things (+1 choice in one other category)
[] Communication - the art of persuading, empathizing, and conversation.
[] Medicine - treating injuries and illnesses.
[] Driven - some people think your distaste for fighting makes you weak. Those people are idiots.

Welcome to the Training Hall
​

The Training Hall. For centuries, the center of Saiyan civilization.

Centuries ago, the first Sorcerers banded together in the hopes of creating a single place for the refugees of Earth -- a place to be safe. A place where the survivors could socialize and, yes, train. A place wrapped in mysterious energies to hide the ki of those within from the outside world.

Strictly speaking, the name is misleading. The Hall is open-air -- a colossal cave without a ceiling. It is ringed by smaller training rooms and even apartments, for those who simply don't want to bother with the hassle of the Masquerade. But it is shrouded in charms to keep it hidden from those who don't belong. It's as secure as a cavern a mile underground.

And it is, by necessity, the place where Scions go to transform.

For fear of being sensed, nobody is allowed to walk around the outside world at full power. What few scouters survived the fall of Earth found an unexpected new relevance in determining who couldn't be allowed to go outside the Hall without their power-dampening Masque on. But within the Hall, your people can unleash their full strength.

So it is rather surprising that, when your father, mother, and you enter the Hall, it is near silent.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Really, positively tranquil.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

In fact, it's almost like nobody is here at all.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

BANG.

You brush the rubble cast about by the boy across the way powering up off of your gi. Truly, a peaceful evening.

A muscle-bound colossus of a man drifts through the air towards your family. Your father rises into the air to meet him.

"Vegeta," says your father.

"Berra," says the apparent Lord Vegeta. "You're late."

An explosion rocks the hall as the boy across the way launches into a training routine that seems to involve mass devastation of his surroundings. Nobody even glances over.

"I doubt you care, Vegeta, but it's my daughter's birthday today," says your father. "She had her party earlier."

Vegeta -- Lord Vegeta, you remind yourself -- grunts. "Waste of time, if you ask me. It would be better if you let her train more."

"I let her train as often as she pleases," says Dad. He looks back at Mom. "Kala, could you get yourself and Kakara settled in?"

She nods. "Already on it. Come on, Kakara." She starts leading you off to the edge of the Hall, where the apartments are. You look across the Hall to where the boy is still training.

"Mom, is that the other Scion?" you ask, watching as he pulverizes a boulder.

"Yes, Kakara," says Mom. "Scion Jaffur. You and he will probably train together at some point."

"I don't know..."

You've always had a good sense for ki. Actually, scratch that. You're a recognized prodigy. You can sense a bug on a tree branch a mile away, which is both useful and...ew. You've learned about sensing the ki of others until you can measure even your father down to the unit.

And it's telling you that Jaffur is sitting pretty at 15 million units. He has literally trained until he can train no more.

"I don't think I'd get anything out of a spar with him," you say, quite aware of your own current limit of 12 million.

"Don't sell yourself short, Kakara," she replies, shaking her head. "I'm sure you'd do fine."

You decide to keep any remaining doubts to yourself.

The two of you approach the apartments that Clan Goku owns, and a Saiyan standing at the door your heading to nods to your mother. "Kala. Pleasure to see you again." Then he looks at you, and his tone cools noticeably. "Scion."

"How are you, Parsna?" asks Mom, apparently not noticing his slight towards you.

"I'm good." He looks at you again. You decide that you don't like him.

"Mom, can I go flying?" you ask, really wanting to not be anywhere near Parsna anymore.

"Sure, Kakara," she says. "Just be back by sundown, okay? You'll need to be rested for tomorrow."

You nod and lift off, heading for the upper reaches of the Hall.

And, promptly, you jerk to a halt as a small but stupidly dense beam of golden light zips by an inch from your nose. You follow it back to the source.

Jaffur stands, wreathed in his aura, and lowers his arm. "Scion," he says, face blank.

[ ] Fire back
[ ] Don't fire back

* * *
​

And we're into it. This bit and the next few updates will be both intro and continued chargen. We'll set up the circumstances of the quest and introduce the conflicts, and you'll also gain traits and skills at an accelerated rate in comparison to the rest of the quest. Basically, how you play the next few updates determines who Kakara has, up to this point in her life, been like as a person beyond the base motivations you set up in the character generation post. Stuff like if she has a temper, for instance, or how paranoid she is. The one you picked, however (driven), will be rather more foundational to her sense of self.

I'll start filling out the rules and character sheet bit-by-bit over the next few posts, but you still don't have to worry about them too much just yet (or at all, if they don't interest you).

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Pleased To Meet You, Jackass
​

You scowl at Jaffur, folding your arms. "Nice to meet you, jerk," you say.

He raises his eyebrows. "That's it?"

"Hey, waste your energy for all I care," you reply. "I'll save mine for important things."

"Like flying into the sunset?" he asks, a slight smirk appearing. "Literally, it's sunset. Where are you even going?"

You flush a bit. "I'm just flying! Don't you ever?"

He snorts. "No. I do important things." He shifts his foot back into a more stable stance. "Care for a spar, Scion? We're going to be rulers someday, might as well see what we've got."

"No."

"What's the matter?" he asks. "You're not scared of me, are you?" He powers up as if taunting you.

To be frank, you are a little bit. You could fit a whole quarter of your power level into the gap between the two of you. He could vaporize you without terribly much effort. You know a fair amount about fighting -- enough that you can tell from his stance that he's at least as good as you. You would be stupid to not be afraid of him.

His confident, thin smirk fades into a scowl. "Come on," he says, suddenly growling. "Fight me, Scion." There's a strange gleam in his eyes. "Fight me."

You find yourself considering it. Your Dad's right here after all. He'd stop the fight before anything happened. And you did consider it at first, however briefly...

"BOY!"

You both flinch as Lord Vegeta's voice echoes across the Training Hall, and look over to see him scowling at his son.

"Did I tell you to stop?!" shouts the giant. "Get back to work this instant!"

Jaffur's lip curls slightly, and he gives an irritated sigh. "Fine."

"What was that?"

"Yes, Father!"

"Better!"

Jaffur turns to you with a bitter smirk on his face. "Next time, Scion. Good luck." He powers up to maximum. "You'll need it."

After that, you honestly don't feel much like flying. You fly back to your family's apartments, ignoring Parsna, and settle into bed.

Trait gained: Level-headed!

* * *
​

Over the next week, you learn many things.

First, failure stings. You really don't like it. Really much.

Second, it seems that even Dad's patience has a limit, and you're rapidly approaching it.

Third, Lord Vegeta is a sadistic monster.

You are powering up, trying to snap past the barrier keeping you from going any higher in apparent futility. "Haaaagh! Aaargh! AAAAAGH!"

Despite your best efforts, your screams seem more pained than energetic, and the barrier remains in place. You just...can't...

"AAAAAAaarrgh..." You slump, panting in exhaustion.

Dad sighs, pinching his nose. "This isn't working. We'll try tomorrow."

You grit your teeth and straighten. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAA..."

He closes his eyes. "Kakara..."

BANG.

You flinch as Jaffur slams into the ground half an inch from your feet at Mach 20. He lies there, unmoving, his right arm clearly broken.

You look up and see his father, staring you down with a blank expression on his face.

"Vegeta..." says your Dad, angrier than you've ever heard him.

"The boy lacks motivation, Berra," replies Vegeta, drifting closer and not taking his eyes off of you. "Your methods are soft and useless. There is only one way to access the transformation." There is a glint in his eyes. "I'm just trying to bring it out. As often as I need to. Without a stop. Until he snaps."

You scowl back, not caring about your exhaustion anymore. You hate him. You hate him so much, it's no wonder Jaffur is such a jerk. It makes you so angry-

"VEGETA!"

You blink and look over at your Dad. He has transformed and powered up to full power, a look of rage on his face.

"What?" asks Vegeta, not bothered. "It nearly worked. In a minute's conversation, I accomplished what a week of your time-wasting has failed to achieve." He looks down at Jaffur. "Feel that, boy? This weakling girl nearly succeeded where you, my son, have so consistently failed. What a disappointment."

Jaffur struggles to his hand and knees, breath ragged. His aura winks in and out with the growls escaping his clenched teeth.

"Not good enough," says Vegeta, turning away. "You remain nothing but a failure."

Jaffur goes tense. "Haaaaa...hraaaaaa...HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!" And his power level is at five million, six, seven, eightninetentwentythirtyfifty-

With a strangled gasp, he collapses, sobbing as his aura winks out again.

Vegeta, having paused for a moment, turns away again. "Hmph."

A boy, one of the Vegetans, flies over and fumbles at his belt, pulling out a small bean.

"Leave him, Betarel!" calls Vegeta.

The boy, Betarel, looks up in shock. "B- but Uncle Vegeta-!"

"I said leave him! Heal him in the morning when he needs to train. For now, he stays as he is." Lord Vegeta flies away. His wife collects their son a moment later and flies off, rubbing little circles on his back and whispering soothing words against the helpless tears falling from his face.

"That despicable monster," snarls Mom.

"I know, Kala," says Dad. "There's nothing we can do, though." He looks at you. "Kakara, we're done for the day. We'll go inside."

You're about to reply, but then you hear somebody next to you saying, "Um, hi."

You turn and see the little boy, Betarel. At a guess, he's a year younger than you. "I'm Betarel," he says, rubbing the back of his head. He straightens, seemingly remembering his protocol. "Ah, Betarel Senzu, heir to House Senzu! An honor to meet you, Scion Goku." He puts his hands together and gives you a proper bow.

House Senzu. You aren't the biggest scholar of Saiyan history, but you know about them. One of the first branch Houses of Clan Vegeta, they're also the most significant, thanks to their ownership and careful guardianship of the only Senzu Bean farm left in creation. In addition, their latest generation hosts a fully-trained Sorcerer. Those in addition to their tendency to cross Clan lines when necessary has made them one of the most significant families in the Clans. "Rich as a Senzu" is a popular saying.

Betarel straightens. "So, uh...want a Senzu?" He holds out his hand, with one of the precious beans resting atop it. "I mean, you've been working hard." His tail lashes nervously.

* * *
​

[ ] Take the bean. You don't need it, but those things are more valuable per pound than gold, and he's just giving one to you. A bean that'll cure all of your injuries is always good. Plus they're like ten days worth of food in one bite! For humans, anyway. You'd get maybe three.
[ ] Don't take the bean. You don't need it. It wouldn't be fair, given how valuable these are.

Afterwards...

[ ] Politely say your goodbyes.
[ ] Invite him back to your family's apartments for dinner. It's only polite, given the magnitude of his gift.
[ ] Tell him to get lost.
[ ] Chat a while.

* * *
​

Trait Gained!

Level-Headed: You are a calm girl, at heart. You don't react to provocation easily, and keep your head when somebody is doing their level best to set you off. Gain a small bonus to all calm or patient actions.

Portraits

Spoiler: Berra Goku, the Lord Goku

Spoiler: Vegeta Vegeta, the Lord Vegeta

Spoiler: Betarel Senzu, Heir to House Senzu

That's as close as Xenoverse could get to depicting his current age. Pshaw. Come now, Xenoverse, this is Dragon Ball. Where are my child soldiers?

Estimate his age down a few years. He should be at phantom!Goku's waist at this point.

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Kakara Makes A Friend
​

Staring down at the bean, you are enveloped by indecision.

Your first thought is to take it -- obviously. It's a Senzu Bean that he's just giving to you, why would you not?

Then your mind turns to Jaffur, only just disappearing into House Vegeta's apartments, and you wonder whether you shouldn't give it to him instead, somehow. He's in a bad way -- in fact, if you think about it, he's ended just about every day like this.

You shudder to think what Lord Vegeta's preferred training methods would look like.

That said, if you can tell anything about Jaffur, it's that he has a lot of pride. He nearly transformed today just having it pointed out that you nearly got there ahead of him, and you can still remember how creepily intense he got about trying to spar with you. He'd probably yell at you if you just gave it to him. Maybe you could spar with him over it? Maybe you could give him half and then spar for the other half? Of course, you'd probably need it after pulling that...maybe Instant Transmission would help? Maybe you could slip it to him with that! Or maybe he'd beat you anyway...and maybe all of this would be pointless and Lord Vegeta would put the injuries right back after you both were done.

In the end you shake your head and reach out, taking the bean. You're not sure what to do, but you at least know that you can get a Senzu bean out of this. Maybe you'll hand it over later.

Temporary Trait: Troubled. Extremely close voting and heated debate means Kakara is strongly in favor of giving Jaffur a bean somehow, but isn't sure how. Future choices regarding this will be weighted. Trait to be removed upon resolution. (Giving him a bean somehow was actually the majority vote, you just couldn't agree on how)

"Thank you!" you say, smiling.

"Sure!" he says, grinning back. "I mean, your Dad seems nicer than Uncle Vegeta, so I guess it won't be important for you, but I thought it would be handy."

"I think so," you say. "Um...that's pretty generous of you, really. Wanna stay for dinner? We've got plenty of food."

Both of your stomachs rumble at the mention of eating, and he perks up. "Really? Yeah I would-" He catches himself in the middle of that and does another bow. "I mean, yes, Scion Goku. Thank you for your generosity."

"Hey, relax," you say, smiling. "We don't do that stuff in Clan Goku. C'mon, let me ask my Dad!" You zip through the air towards your Dad, excitement welling up inside you. You don't interact with kids your age. They all hate you. This is really new, and really nice. "Dad!" you say, zipping around him. "Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad? Da-?"

He sighs, reaches out, and snags you out of the air. "Yes, Kakara?" he asks, holding you at arms length by the back of your gi. "What is it?"

"Can Betarel stay for dinner?" you ask. "He gave me a Senzu, and I figured it would be nice to have him over."

"Betarel...Senzu, is it?" asks Dad, looking over at your friend.

You follow his gaze and blink, seeing a man that must be Betarel's dad standing there as well. "Yes," he says, a hand on his son's shoulder. "A pleasure, Lord Goku." He inclines his head.

"Head Raditz," says your Dad, returning the nod. "Very generous of your son, to give away a Senzu bean."

"Betarel is kind," says Raditz. "I expect this from him, and allow it. He may stay, if he's welcome."

Your Dad thinks a moment before nodding. "He may." He releases you, and you and Betarel both cheer and race inside, settling into the time-honored tradition of trying to steal some food as your Mom makes it.

* * *
​

You learn a few things over the next few hours. First, Betarel is a year younger than you. You were right! Second, he's probably the most Saiyan child you've ever met. If he were from House Vegeta he'd probably be Scion. His hair doesn't even grow! Plus it looks sharp enough to hurt somebody.

Third, he eats like a Saiyan.

"This is delicious!" he says, interrupting the usual hungry silence of a Saiyan dinner table at the top of his lungs.

"I'm glad you like it," says Mom, a tart note in her voice. "Seeing as you stole half of it before it was done."

"We were hungry!" you say, giggling.

* * *​

Forth, he's actually really strong. Nine million units, you'd guess. Well, if you had to guess it would be because Dad was quizzing you or showing you off again, so you'd guess nine million, one hundred and two thousand, four hundred eighty-nine.

"Can't catch me!" you say, sing-song as you zip through the air.

"Only 'cause you're stronger!" he says, chasing after you in a streak of blue.

In response, you flip upside down and stick your tongue out at him.

He narrows his eyes, and then screws his face up and strains, putting on a burst of speed well beyond what he should be capable of. Your eyes widen as he comes on like a freight train, and you place two fingers on your forehead.

vip

"Hey!" He whips around, scowling at you. "No fair!"

You giggle, grinning. "Ha ha! Too slow!"

He growls and shoots back off after you.

Fifth and finally...you like him. He's a friend.

And that is a very new and strange thing to you.

* * *​

The two of you sit on the edge of the pit that comprises the Training Hall -- just barely within the concealment charms warding it from the outside world.

"Is Lord Vegeta really your Uncle?" you ask, feet swinging. "I know my Dad calls anybody in the Clan 'cousin.'"

"He is," says Betarel. "My Dad was friends with Lord Vegeta when they were kids, and my Mom is his sister."

You hum. "Why is he like that? Lord Vegeta, I mean."

He shrugs. "I dunno. Dad says he wasn't always like that, and I sort of remember that. I don't know what changed. Jaffur's never really been the same since it started to get different."

You look over at House Vegeta's apartments, with your eyes and your ki sense. Jaffur's over there, but his power level is low. He's either hurt or napping -- maybe both. You don't see him moving around at all, though. "I guess I'd be different, too," you say.

He shrugs, curling up on himself. "I guess."

"Betarel!"

You both look down as Raditz's voice echoes up to you.

"Come on down," he says. "It's near bedtime."

"You too, Kakara," says your Father, standing a little way away from the Senzu Head.

The two of you look at each other and groan. "Fine!" you say in unison before pushing off the edge of the pit and catching yourselves on ki. You both drift down in silence and go to your Dads.

"See you tomorrow, Betarel!" you say, waving.

"Bye!" he says, waving back.

Dad's hand settles onto your back, between your shoulder blades. "Let's get you to bed, kiddo."

"Daaaaaad..."

"C'mon. It'll be a hard day tomorrow."

You sigh. "Yeah, just like all the others."

He rolls his eyes, giving you a little shove to get you moving. "On you go, little brat." His tone takes any sting out of his words. "Tomorrow is a big day. The day you transform."

"You say that every night!"

"It'll be true one of these times."

"Dad!"

* * *
​

That night, you toss and turn in bed. The reason is, to anybody in the Hall, obvious.

Jaffur is training.

That alone isn't, strictly speaking, unusual. He's been doing this every night, staying up and working himself to the limit in an effort to push himself past it. You've actually gotten used to it.

But this time is different, because he's never been hurt this bad, and he still hasn't been healed. He's out there, pushing himself as hard as he can, with one broken arm and a power level that's just barely flickering on the edge of five million. It feels like he's dying out there. You feel kind of sick just feeling it. You can your parents arguing with each other in muffled voices about it. You can hear the hushed whispers from everywhere within the Training Hall as the Scion of House Vegeta nearly kills himself training.

Slowly, those whispers begin to die off as people accept that there's nothing they can do, and go to sleep. Eventually, nobody is awake.

Except you, and Jaffur.

* * *
​

What do you do?

[ ] Go out and investigate
[ ] Go out and watch
[ ] Go back to sleep

Item Acquired!

Senzu Bean: The most valuable item a Saiyan can own, just one of these beans heals all injuries and restores one's energy to full power.

Trait Acquired!

Socializer: You don't have friends, but you like people, and it's hurt you deeply to be able to talk to so few of them. But when you get the chance, you tend to seek out others. Gain a slight bonus to all Communication checks.

 

[PoptartProdigy]

My, You're Popular
​

Okay, that's enough sitting around, he is going to die doing this. You haul yourself out of bed after a final check to make sure that nobody is listening in and throw open the doors to your bedroom's balcony. You step out and then promptly lift off, flying over to where Jaffur is training.

"What are you doing?" you ask, touching down behind him.

He halts, takes a second to wipe sweat off of his face, and turns to face you.

You flinch. He looks awful. Pale and flushed all at once, and breathing so heavily you're amazed he hasn't passed out. His right arm hangs with a horrible kind of limpness, and occasionally he is wracked by a full-body shudder.

"Training," he rasps, coughing.

"Why?" you ask, still horrified. "Your strength is at 15 million units exactly. Like, not even one off either way! There is absolutely nothing you could get out of this!"

"Can always be...better." He sways slightly, his gaze somewhat unfocused. "S...skill."

"I don't think you're going to get any of that out of this," you say, looking his over.

"Have to try."

You frown. "No you don't! You look like you're gonna die!"

"Have to try. Have to. I'm...I'm not weak." His gaze goes unfocused fully for a moment there. "M'not."

"I didn't say you were, but you're going to kill yourself going like this!"

"Can't have a Senzu. Father says."

"I...didn't say anything about a Senzu." Yet.

"Then what?" His gaze regains a bit of focus. "You going to put a band-aid on it, Scion?"

"Oh good, you're being a jerk again. Means you're back, I guess."

He spits off to the side. "Hm. Not like I'm in great shape."

You sigh. "You should go to sleep."

"Sleep doesn't do anyone any good." He straightens, as much as he's able. "Better to keep pushing." A ghost of a smirk crosses his face. "How about a spar, Scion?"

You throw up your hands. "You are so stupid!"

"Nah. I'm very smart. I just don't back down."

Well, he seems to be getting better the more we talk.

You frown. "Yeah, well neither do I. And I'm telling you that you need to go to sleep!"

His lip curls. "You don't back down? What, you think I haven't heard the stories? 'Kakara Goku, the Coward Scion.' 'Kakara Goku the Weak.' Weak Scion for a weak House. You don't back down? What a joke!"

You come to a screeching halt, eyes widening.

* * *
​

Vote weighting in effect from "Troubled."

[ ] Turn and leave. He's not worth your time.
[ ] "You know what? Fine." Fight Jaffur. It's what he wants.
-[ ] x2.0 Give him the Senzu bean first. "I wish to challenge your TRUE power, not this broken wreck." (Easier Communications check. You've been asking for it...)
-[ ] x1.5 Give him a hit of your energy first. You're no healer, but anybody can do that. (Easier Communications check)
[ ] x2.0 Just chuck the Senzu bean at him.
[ ] x1.5 Try to give him a dose of ki healing -- what little you're capable of, at least. (Communications to convince him to allow it)
[ ] Ignore him. He's trying to provoke you. You're curious about something.
-[ ] What about? (All topics trip Communications)
[ ] FUCK THIS GUY. Blow him up. Leave. (Non-fatal, don't worry)
[ ] Insult him and leave.
-[ ] Write-In? (My wife suggests saying, "At least my Dad doesn't abuse me." Terrifying little woman, she is)
[ ] Write-In.

You may pick as many of the above as you like, provided they don't conflict.

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Capacity Does Not Imply Intent
​

You take a short, sharp, breath through your nostrils. Then you smile. It is not a nice smile.

"You know what? Fine." You pluck out the Senzu bean and whip it at his face. You take a certain glee in seeing it bounce off before he can react. "But eat that, first." No, he'd never do that just because you said so. What would provoke a Vegetan? Oh, there you go. "I wish to challenge your TRUE power. Not this...broken wreck."

[Trait Gained! "Hot-Blooded"]

In the middle of stooping to pick up the bean, his eyes flash and he stiffens, glaring at you. You've made an impression.

"I am not BROKEN!" he shouts, straightening.

"You're not fixed, that's for sure!" you reply.

He snarls at you.

[Communication check tripped...narrow failure]

"Are you trying to make me broken?" he asks, waving the bean at you. "My father will cripple me if I take this, and leave me that way. I'll be even worse than I am right now, maybe for weeks!"

You pale. "W-what? But he wouldn't-"

"Kill me?" Jaffur spits. "No. Not even he could get away with that. Uncle Raditz would stage a coup. But Senzu beans can cure...a lot..." His gaze loses focus for a moment before he shakes himself and scowls at you. "You have no idea what you're making me risk, giving this to me!"

"I'm trying to heal you!"

"Some help! I-" He bites himself off, taking a break. "I..." He shakes his head. "It's too much. You'd need to break my arm and beat me to a pulp all over again." That said, he slips the bean inside his gi.

You shudder away from the thought. No. "At least let me heal you first," you say, trying to get him to see reason. "It won't be a fight if you're still hurt."

He cocks his head. "I hadn't heard that you were a healer."

"I'm not." You hesitate and shrug. "I mean, I don't know if I am. I never tried."

He grunts. "Figures. Father never had me tested, either."

[Communications check tripped...failure (damn, those rolls)]

He sighs, shaking his head. "No."

"What do you-"

"I mean no. Don't heal me, I'll fight you as I am."

"You don't stand a chance," you say, confidence, worry, and pity all surging within you at once.

"Hmph." He smirks, straightening. "Just...just give me a minute." He closes his eyes and slides down to the ground, entering the lotus position with the ease of one who's performed it countless times. His aura lights up around him.

You start powering up yourself, only going as far as you can easily reach. About eight million sounds good.

His eyes open. His power level is holding steady at five million, and his expression is unnaturally calm. "Only around eight?" he asks, his voice slightly dreamy. "You're not taking me seriously." His head dips and his expression takes on a distinctly...predatory...cast. "Don't."

His aura shifts, wrapping closer around his body -- less him standing in a blue bonfire, and more him wreathed in shining sapphire flames. You have never seen this before. You don't recall any stories of anybody having ever seen something like this before.

He vanishes from view, leaving only an afterimage behind.

What?

WHAM

With a blinding impact, you are flying backward. You regain yourself and look back at the spot you were standing a moment ago.

Jaffur phases into view right next to you.

What?!

WHAM

You smash into the ground, avoiding injury only by virtue of your ki.

"My gift is speed," he says, phasing back into view above you as you drag yourself out of the crater. "I move way faster than I should. I can play in your league, Scion, no matter how hurt I am."

"What are you doing with your aura?" you ask, gaping.

"Me? Nothing." He phases out of view again. You press your fingers to your forehead and-

vip

-reappear at the very edge of the arena.

Jaffur slams into the ground where you were standing below, and looks around for you for a moment before sighting in on you. "There you are," he says. You can only read his lips before he's tearing off again at breakneck pace.

At this distance, you can see him coming fairly clearly. He's fast, but you're not at full power yet. With a flex of your muscles, you bring yourself up to ten million and set yourself up to receive him.

With another burst of stupid speed, he twists around your strike and launches a kick at your head which you barely block.

"Ten million!" he says, withdrawing and lunging forward to grapple with you. "Better!"

You and he strain against each other, and you marvel at the sheer, manic strength he's exerting. "H- how...?"

He draws back. "You're still not taking me seriously!" He lunges forward, levering his forehead into yours.

You drift back from the hit and use Instant Transmission on instinct, moving to the other side of the arena.

Once you gain your bearings again, you see him homing in once again. You frown. If he insists on being like this, you have no choice but to take him seriously -- no matter how ridiculous it is that he's not down yet. If you were fighting for keeps this fight would be done, but you're curious about how he's moving so far beyond his abilities. You'll figure it out later, though.

You place your hands by your head as fast as you can. From his perspective, it must look like you blurred.

And you call out, "Taiyoken!"

LIGHT

Jaffur comes jarring to a halt with an aggravated scream, clutching at his blinded eyes. You take the opportunity to bring yourself up to your full power.

"Solar Flare," he grunts, trying to rub his vision back into place. "Oh, you little..."

And we're done.

You fly towards him and kick him away from you. Then you chase him down, hammering your feet down into his midsection before phasing down below him and blasting him to a dead halt. Then you use Instant Transmission to close with him and grab one of his wrists, holding him aloft, his eyes fluttering shut.

"Little what?!" you yell, shaking him. "Little what, you stubborn idiot?! Am I weak now? Huh?!"

"Ch...Cha..."

You bring him closer. "Hm? I didn't hear that."

"Cha...Char..."

"Louder, stupid!"

His eyes snap open, and you feel his hand against your belly. "Charon's Breath!"

SHREEEEEE!

A bright silver beam of energy, only as wide across as his palm, blasts into your stomach and carries you away from him.

"Oof-!"

You push yourself off with some difficulty. It didn't hurt, just winded you, but that said...

"...that was ten million units," you say, staring at him. "How did you do that? You're only at five."

He grins, bloody. "Heh." He falls into a stance, still shaky. "Taking me seriously yet?"

You take your own stance after a moment. "...yeah."

His grin widens. "Then you'd better power all the way up now, because I'm about to cut loose."

And you suddenly get it. He thinks you're at his level. Presumably he hasn't been keeping track of you like you have been him, or maybe he just assumes that you've been holding back and that's why he has such a negative opinion of you.

Or he's just a jerk. That could be it.

His expression sets, and he charges.

He kicks, you dodge, you punch, he blocks, and in the ensuing exchange of blows, one thing becomes clear.

Jaffur is not as good as you.

He is better.

You are faster, stronger, and more perceptive by him by more than double, and fighting him is honestly like fighting a very persistent child. But he moves with an economy and ease of motion that astounds you, every twitch of his body utilized to its fullest extent despite what must be a truly crushing amount of exhaustion and pain from his day. You have no idea where he found the time or inclination to train like this, but he is perhaps the most highly-trained Saiyan you have ever met -- easily in even your Dad's league.

[Jaffur's Combat [Hand-to-Hand] skill level revealed -- Exceptional]

Yet even with all of this ease and efficiency, he is tired, pained, and increasingly angry. There's nothing he can do to meaningfully hurt you at this level of difference between you two, not even with all his skill. Your heart isn't in this.

"Still only twelve," he gasps, scowling. "Take me seriously. Take me seriously. TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!"

"I am," you say, blocking a powerful hit.

"Don't...you...dare." He disengages and stands back. "I will not be teased like this! I am the Scion of Vegeta! I am a Prince! Fight me like your life is on it! I won't accept anything less than your best!"

"I'm giving you my best!" you say.

His eyes narrow. "Liar! KAIO-KEN!"

His aura flares red, and he vanishes, reappearing to slam into your back.

Okay. Okay. Eight million, now. You can still handle that. You can-

"RAAAAAAAAH!"

WHAM

You fly back up towards the sky until you bounce off the wards, all the breath leaving your body at once. You fall for a half second before he catches up with you and slams you back into the invisible ceiling.

Frantically, you release all your ki in an area burst, clearing the skies and sending him tumbling back. At least that works right. He didn't become immune to the laws of being hit by somebody stronger.

"You know that too?" you say, recovering.

"I spend every day and night fighting," he says, catching himself and gasping in pain. "I have trained every day of my life. Of course I know something as useful as this." He zip forward, and you barely block his strike.

He's hitting a lot harder now. It's not threatening yet, but his aura isn't even flickering, and it looks like despite everything, he can keep this up as long as he needs to. You put your fingers to your forehead and flash away.

Well. If he can do endurance, you'll just have to fight like he can. You need to take him down all at once. At the other end of the arena you gather your strength, aura flaring bright blue even as he turns around to face you.

"Ka...Me..."

His sudden grin in reply is bloody and absolutely crazed. He clasps his hands together in front of his chest.

You keep on. "Ha...Me..."

He brings his hands forward, palms towards you. The tips of his thumbs touch while his fingers interlock, forming a basket with his hands.

You bring your hands forward, channeling your ki down your arms. "HA!"

His aura flares, and he cries, "Apocalypse Beam!"

His silver beam, only as broad as his hands are wide together, meets your blue wave straight on and punches straight through. Your eyes widen, and-

[Skill check tripped: DODGE!]

-you lunge out of the way relatively easily, the beam continuing on like a laser to carve a gash out of the wall behind you.

You stare at him, wild-eyed. "How?! How did you do that! That blast hit twenty million, how is that even possible without you transforming! Why do you not make sense?!"

He snarls back, his good mood apparently gone. "Me? What about you? You're still at twelve million!"

[Willpower push activated: passed]

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Energy rolls out of him in a wave, buffeting you even as far back as you are. In a heartbeat, he's in your face, and he slams you down into the ground.

"I won't be mocked," he says, every word thrumming with power. "I won't let you win like this! Give me everything you have, Scion, or I'll tear you apart!"

You stare at him, wide-eyed. He's at twelve million, just like you. The fight is now, however briefly, even.

---

​

I rolled this fight out with my wife, who handled Kakara's rolls. Here are a few (paraphrased for humor) samples of our conversation.

* * *​

WIFE: Why are you even bothering with these?

ME: If I just decided that you win, it would be stupid and I would have come up with these rules for no reason.

WIFE: Fine, whatever, let's just get this done. Pointless, though.

(LATER)

WIFE: Well, I'll give him this much, he's doing pretty okay.

ME (FROWNING): Yes. Because you crit-failed the first exchange and he got a ninety-four.

(LATER)

WIFE: How is he still going? Isn't he beaten half to death? Still wanna kill his Dad for that, by the way.

ME (FRANTIC): Why do you think I'm rolling the dice before we start every single round? He's having to make willpower checks to not collapse every round! And he's passing them!

(LATER)

WIFE: Oh what the fuck.

ME: HE WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO USE THE KAIO-KEN WITHOUT PASSING OUT. HE ROLLED A NAT-100 FOR THAT.

WIFE: What the fuck?

(LATER)

WIFE: I DON'T CARE WHAT BULLSHIT HE HAS. KA-ME-HA-ME-HA!

ME: Well, he has a reply to that, so he'll at least try to fire back. (roll) Still doesn't pass out from sheer exhaustion. Do I need to give him a trait to reflect this? I don't think "Stubborn" works here. (roll) Okay, he still controls the Kaio-Ken. Somehow. Whatever. (roll) And he keeps up his Style effect. Fantastic. (roll)

WIFE: ...

ME: ...

BOTH: WHAT THE FUCK?!

(LATER)

WIFE: HE DOESN'T NEED A DAMN WILLPOWER PUSH! HE'S DOING JUST FINE ALREADY!

ME: IT'S WHAT HE WOULD DO IN-CHARACTER, I HAVE TO TRY.

WIFE: If you roll those dice, you are sleeping on the couch.

ME: NO.

WIFE: So help me-

ME: NO. NO, THIS FIGHT IS APPARENTLY A STRESS-TEST OF HOW BADLY DICE CAN FUCK OVER THE SYSTEM NOW. WE'RE SEEING IT THROUGH.

WIFE: Why do you get like this?

ME: (roll)

WIFE: Oh my god.

ME: WHAT THE FUCK?!

* * *​

As you can see, things got slightly out of hand. I felt like Jaffur was ranting at me when I wrote out his speech at the end of the update. I felt that it was only responsible to check in with you all at this point. Before now, despite being complete and utter bullshit, Jaffur hasn't actually inflicted meaningful damage on you. The Apocalypse Beam and subsequent willpower push mark the first opportunities he actually had to hurt you, so we're putting the rest of this up to a vote.

...I swear, by sheer law of averages he's going to fail a check sometime soon! HE ONLY HAS TO FAIL THE "DON'T PASS OUT" CHECK ONCE! IT GETS HARDER EVERY ROUND! *breaks down sobbing*

I mean, I built him to be a combat monster because that's his character, but this is literally statistically implausible. Statistically speaking, he should have put up a valiant effort and gone down by the time he fired up the Kaio-Ken due to being thoroughly outclassed in sheer power. He's not natively this good. But yeah, you were supposed to crush him, since he refused any kind of healing. Suffice to say, whatever rail-like shapes I had in mind for this encounter, we are now thoroughly off of them.

Yes, he used a willpower push, not a transformation. The transformation comes in response to a need, not a desire, and Jaffur does not need to transform -- not yet.

Your options, for dealing with what is apparently the living avatar of bullshit, are:

[ ] Head-to-head. You need to take him down fast, before he can pull something else out of the box.
[ ] Stall for time. He might have made up the power level difference somehow, but it is literally impossible to maintain something like that. You just have to wait him out.
[ ] Give in. You've had enough. You don't like fighting anyway!
[ ] Try to explain. Defuse the situation. You really are giving it all you've got. You have nothing left to give. This is it. [Trips Communication]
[ ] Write-In

New Trait!

Hot-Blooded: While you are a gentle girl, you don't take kindly to insults or abuse. You have a fiery temper, and while you have great practice in restraining it, sometimes lose your head when the right insult is offered. Your QM will identify certain triggers. When those triggers are hit, heavy vote weighting will come into effect favoring aggressive and to a lesser extent violent responses.

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Head-to-head. You need to take him down fast, before he does serious damage to himself.

You Have To Create That Need...
​

You take a deep breath, gathering your strength. Your flare of temper is long-since gone, replaced by confusion and no small amount of concern. Jaffur is pushing himself to and past limits, and while that may be the point of this, he's not doing it by transforming. He's doing it by somehow pushing his power level up above what his body should be capable of. That can't be good, and with the Kaio-Ken before it and whatever his aura is doing, he's putting way more strain on his body than he should. He's going to hurt himself. You're not sure that you can beat him, but you need to try, before he does something regrettable.

[Trait gained: "Compassionate." Check Character Sheet for details.]

You lift up from the ground. "You're going to hurt yourself, doing that."

"I'm going to hurt you."

"Try."

The two of you scowl at each other, and then you both lunge.

BOOM

You zip back and forth across the Training Hall, and it swiftly becomes apparent that, unexplained power surge or not, Jaffur is feeling no better than before. He breathes heavily, his strikes wavering, his focus shot. He is reaching the end of his tether. The two of you are evenly matched, but bit by bit you manage to pull ahead.

"Won't let you win," he gasps , catching a pair of punches and drawing you into a grapple. You stare each other down, inches apart. "I won't. You'll give me everything you have. I won't let you do anything less."

"I am," you snarl. "I'm trying to keep you from hurting yourself, idiot!"

He begins to flare, pushing his power to the max, and you match him. Your screams meld together into a single, high-pitched roar.

The center of the Hall explodes with blue.

In the midst of that, he withdraws an arm and punches you in the stomach.

"Fight with everything you have," you hear, briefly before he smashes you into the ground. You snap into focus and teleport away into the air at the last moment.

"We're just sparring!" you say.

He turns to look at you. "We're Scions. Nothing is normal for us."

You say nothing, preparing another Kamehameha. He spits off to the side and prepares his Apocalypse Beam again.

You concentrate...

"Ka...me..."

His aura flares, his expression utterly focused on you.

"Ha...Me..."

vip

He stiffens and whirls as you use Instant Transmission to teleport directly behind him. Too late.

"HA!"

BOOM

Once the glow from the blast clears, you see him, laid out before you at the bottom of a crater centered on the two of you. He stirs, pushing himself to his feet with his good arm.

"How are you even firing that weird beam of yours with a broken arm?" you ask, eyeing the unhealthy-looking bulge in his forearm.

"Pain is nothing," he says, hauling himself up. "My arm can still move. It's just trying to warn me that something's wrong. Well, I'm warned." He flares his aura. "And I'm not done."

You probe him with your ki sense. "No, you are. I don't know how you pulled this surge off, but your power level's been dropping this whole time. You're at a lower level than what we started at."

He snarls. "I can still fight."

You cock your head, and flash forward.

He's only at 3 and a half million units. Even with his strange style, far too low to even watch you move. You slam your knee into his stomach, forcing him to his knees.

But he gets back up. [New trait developing: first willpower check passed]

"Just stay down," you plead, knocking him back, trying not to hurt him.

[Enemy willpower check tripped...second check passed]

He climbs back up. "Never," he croaks.

You dash forward and bear him backwards into the wall of the Hall, cracking the stone and burying him there. "I don't want to hurt you anymore! Stop it!"

"HRAH!"

[Third check passed]

The stone shatters, and Jaffur lands on his feet. "I...don't...surrender." He looks up at you. "No matter the odds."

[Trait revealed: "Never tell me the odds." Check Other Characters threadmark for details]

He sways on his feet. "You're not lying, are you?"

You blink. "Huh?"

"Your power," he says. "I can't sense energy as well as I've heard you can...but I'm pretty good. You weren't lying. You're not holding anything back." There's something empty in his voice.

You hesitate. "N- no. I'm not."

He nods, and immediately slumps to the ground.

"Twelve million," he said. "Next to me that's nothing. If I was at full power I would have destroyed you." He looks up, but his gaze is fixed solidly on the middle distance. "You can't challenge me."

You bristle. "I can do just fi-"

"If I were at full strength I would still have come after you with everything I had, and you would have been unconscious in seconds," he replies, giving you a flat stare. "You can't challenge me." He looks down and to the side. "Other than our fathers, nobody can."

Despite your lack of interest in fighting, your pride is stung. "Give me time, and I'll-"

"Nobody can challenge me."

He doesn't sound like he's talking to you anymore. And that seems very scary, somehow.

His eyes stare off into the distance. "Nobody can challenge me...and I can't get stronger. You have to need it to transform. You have to...have..." He stumbles. "There's nobody who will fight me hard enough to make me transform to save my life. I don't have any options. If I don't find somebody I'll never transform." His voice drops, and you barely hear what follows. What you hear, though, sends a chill through your blood. "And I'll never kill him." He looks back up at you. "Nobody can challenge me."

You take a step back at the look in his eyes.

"And I need to transform. I need..." He trails off, standing. "I need to transform."

[Trait Revealed: "You have to create that need." Check Other Characters for details]

Boom.

It isn't deafening, or cataclysmic. It does not shake the world, or your senses. But high overhead, storm clouds gather, and an arc of lightning flashes across their surface.

"The Clan needs a new Lord," he says, straightening as the first raindrops fall. "And I need to transform."

BOOM.

That storm sounds a lot closer now.

His aura comes unbound from that strange effect of his style, flaring normally, and doubling four times over.

"I don't have the luxury of waiting," he snarls. "I need to...I need..."

CRACK-A-BOOM.

"I need to be stronger!"

BANG.

The first bolts slams down a foot to his left, and he begins to scream.

"Haaa...hraaaaaaagh! RAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Lightning dances across the Hall in sheets. Sparks of electricity dance through Jaffur's aura, which flows faster and harder with each second. His hair lifts once, twice, flashing gold each time.

His eyes flash blue.

"RrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The world shifts.

Jaffur transforms.

At first his hair stands as straight as the god Vegeta's did, going by the pictures of him that survive, and Jaffur seems like his ancestor reborn in flesh for an instant.

In the center of a storm of golden light, the Scion of Vegeta roars to the heavens, fists clenched. With a start, you watch as gold light dances over his broken arm, healing it completely. You had heard that the transformation restored those who achieved it, but this...

The storm begins to subside. Jaffur lowers his arms, and as the fury of power whipping up around his body subsides, his hair falls slightly. His bangs drift down over his forehead, and he looks more like your own Clan's namesake...if it weren't for the hardness in his gaze.

His head comes down. His eyes are closed as he takes his new measure. Then he looks up, his eyes opening and meeting yours. You sample his power in awe. Yes, he did just achieve the most powerful possible transformation. He's at a full 160 million units, base power and transformed energy alike restored to their maximum.

A few stray sparks dance through his aura before subsiding, the incredible storm of energy calming.

"Scion," he says. His fingers absently brush across the section of his gi where the Senzu Bean is sitting. "Thank you."

He is gone.

The world turns black.

* * *
​

[ ] Wake Up...

[ ] Dream Deeply...

You are gonna zenkai so hard from that hit.

For the aesthetics of the transformation, I borrowed some elements from Bardock's transformation from the second Bardock special. Thus, sparks. My headcanon is that they show up when a Saiyan at the power cap has their first transformation.

Enjoy!

New Trait!

Compassionate: Your first thought is often of helping others, and you find value and affirmation in making sure that the people around you are okay. Gain a small bonus to Medicine checks.

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

Dream Deeply...

You voted for the mindf*ck option. The other option was the political thriller option.

Legacy
​

"...isn't waking up."

"I know-"

"How hard did you hit her?!"

"-nothing physically-"

"As hard as was necessary."

You flinch at the voice. It thrums with energy and might; a god's voice, imperious and calm. Yet strangely young.

"-that, she's responsive. My Lord-"

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER?"

The voice before was not a god. This is a god, mighty upon the heights and absolute in power and authority. Its presence wraps around you comfortingly, protectively, clashing with the younger presence.

"You would never have done it."

"SHE DID NOT NEED IT."

"I respectfully disagree, Lord Goku."

"BOY, IF SHE DOES NOT WAKE SOON I WILL BREAK YOU."

"NO YOU WILL NOT."

You whimper. Distant, cruel, coldcoldcold-

"Father, I can-"

"SILENCE, WHELP. AFTER CAUSING THIS MESS IT'S THE LEAST YOU CAN DO."

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, VEGETA."

"I WILL NOT. FOOLISH AS HIS ACTIONS WERE, THE BOY WAS RIGHT TO DO AS HE DID. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY."

"NEITHER OF YOU HAD ANY RIGHT TO DECIDE THIS!"

"AND YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO CODDLE HER. WE NEED STRONG SCIONS, OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?"

"THIS IS TRESPASSING IN THE AFFAIRS OF MY CLAN, AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE YOUR INTERFERENCE!"

"WHAT, ASSAULTING MY INJURED SON IS BEING RESPECTFUL OF CLAN BOUNDARIES?"

"AS IF YOU CARE-!"

"My Lords, I will have silence! Your arguing is disturbing the poor girl. Power down and shut up!"

After a moment, the two presences vanish. Only the young one remains, strangely close.

"Prince Jaffur, you should keep your distance as well."

"It'll only take a second, cousin."

For a moment you feel the full weight of the young presence. It scrutinizes you, strangely distant. Unlike the monoliths that the other two were, this presence is fragmented. There is a core of warmth there, but so distant you can hardly feel it, and succumbing to a wave of fragmented grief and pain. It is something Already at the limit after one punch? beyond description, and yet demanding it. You are laid bare I think we will accomplish great things in our reigns, Scion. before it, and it finds you worthy But please, catch up soon. of its approval.

I have been alone too long.

Loneliness, yawning, desperate loneliness and isolation. You feel tears rising up at the sheer depth of misery in that single thought that came from the nothingness surrounding the voice that is in your head your heart your world the sky thsndgakfdpclsgfdmsfn

And then the presence is gone, and you drift.

* * *
​

There is a void in the spaces between dreams, where things happen in the depths of the mind. Generally, we are not aware of this as it occurs.

Or so we tell ourselves.

In reality, we merely forget. It is not our fault; some things should not be carried into the light of day. There is, after all, a reason why most people are afraid of the dark.

You do not remember simply because some things are too wonderful to be allowed to overshadow our daily lives.

And you have never been afraid of the dark.

* * *
​

The man aside from you looks like family. He has the orange gi and blue shirt that your House wears, and has the almost stereotypical black on black Saiyan hair and eyes. And he has a friendly, open face, despite a body made hard by combat.

When you first met he insisted that you called him Jiichan. You had no idea what that meant, and he said that it meant "Grandpa," sort of. You asked why that was important to say that way, and he chuckled, insisting that it was simple manners. That didn't make sense to you, but you do it anyway. Jiichan has strange rules.

You also told him that you knew both of your Grandpas, and he wasn't either of them.

He told you it was complicated.

Naturally you asked why, but he managed to not answer.

In the now, though, the two of you are doing nothing much. Just sitting across from each other, peaceful in the silence. You are in a mountain flower field, greater and taller peaks all around you and fluffy white clouds in the sky. There's a light, five-course snack laid out for the two of you.

"How are you, Kakara-chan?" he asks. "That was quite the hit."

You once told him that "chan" sounded silly. He told you that was very rude of you when he was trying to be nice, and offered to call you "stinky" instead.

You went with "chan."

"I'm okay, Jiichan," you say. "It doesn't hurt here, see?" You wave your arms around to demonstrate. The shockwave from the movement shatters a nearby mountain.

Jiichan sits and calmly eats his food, ignoring your extended cringe as the edifice collapses. Only once the last rumbles fade does he set his second loaf of bread down. "You're stronger now, Kakara-chan. You need to remember that a Zenkai gives you more power all at once."

"Hai, Jiichan."

You don't know why he asks you to say "hai" either. You don't ask anymore.

"Odd as it may seem, I think Jaffur-kun was trying to do you a-"

"Kun?"

He gives you a stern look until you look aside and mutter an apology.

"As I was saying," he says. "I think he was trying to do you a favor. Although he should have done it differently."

"I didn't feel anything."

"Just because he knocked you out too quickly for you to feel the pain doesn't mean he didn't punch you in the face."

Silence falls for a long moment. Then Jiichan sighs. "I am worried. Jaffur-kun may already be beyond saving. I need you to be careful, Kakara-chan. I know you want to have friends, but Jaffur-kun is dangerous. A beaten dog snaps the hardest, and he has been beaten a lot. Vegeta is a brutal man."

"Not Vegeta-kun?"

"No."

The silence hangs for a moment. He leans forward. "Promise me that you'll be careful of Jaffur-kun, Kakara-chan."

You nod. "I promise, Jiicha-"

vip

A strange little man with red skin and horns teleports into view, immediately bowing to Jiichan. "Kami-sama, I apologize for my interruption, but Yemma-sama asked me-" He abruptly notices you and turns a pale pink. "Ah! Apologies, Kami-sama, I did not know you were meeting with your granddaughter!"

"It's alright," says Jiichan, waving the funny man off. "I'll be along to speak with Yemma-sama shortly."

"I will inform him immediately, Kami-sama!"

vip

Jiichan looks up at you with a slight smile. "Looks like I have to go now, Kakara-chan."

You stare at him for a moment, and he chuckles.

"Come here," he says, just like always, and you lunge forward, slamming into his chest and wrapping your arms, legs, and tail around him. And just like always, he tucks you in close to his chest. And just like always, he lowers his face to your hair and whispers, "Always remember that you are loved, Kakara-chan. Your family is here for you, even if nobody else is."

And just like always, you murmur, "I love you too, Jiichan," into his chest.

And, just like always, he holds you there until the world fades away and you return to sleep.

* * *
​

You wake, free of any pain or stiffness, in your room in your House's apartments. After a moment of staring at the ceiling and trying to hold onto your fleeing dreams in vain, you roll out of bed without much (if any) ceremony. As you usually do, you briefly flare your aura to check your strength.

Hm. Fifteen million. Jaffur must have hit you pretty hard.

You can sense Mom and Dad outside, and you know they must have just sensed you, but they're staying where they are for the moment.

You can feel Jaffur, Betarel, Lord Vegeta, and a whole bunch of other Saiyan who you don't know outside as well. Your stomach growls.

What do you do?

* * *
​

[ ] Go back to sleep. They can't prove you got out of bed if nobody saw you up!

[ ] Go downstairs. Maybe there's food?

[ ] Go straight outside. You're sure your parents were at least a little worried. Well, maybe a little. There were Senzu beans. Maybe not at all. Maybe they missed you?

[ ] Write-In.

* * *
​

Character Sheet updated!

Ladies and Gentlemen: the mindf*ck option.

As my way of honoring the Japanese origins of Dragon Ball, I hereby present: the sum total of my knowledge of Japanese honorifics! You're welcome. My theory is that the survivors of Earth originally spoke something very much like Japanese (suspiciously alike to Japanese as interpreted by an amateur running phrases through Google Translate, in fact; convenient, that), and the styling hangs on in the Otherworld.

You are free to guess who this is; I haven't made it that hard for you. Have fun!

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Go straight outside. You're sure your parents were at least a little worried. Well, maybe a little. There were Senzu beans. Maybe not at all. Maybe they missed you?
-[X] Ask for food
--[X] Congratulate Jaffur on becoming Super Saiyan. We should do something to celebrate. Feast? Feast right this moment! There's a bunch of Saiyans hanging around when one of the scions turned super saiyan, what's everyone acting so grumpy for? Party time.
11 votes

Wait, Again?!
​

In the end, your situation is clear: you need food. All of the food. And all of the food is not in your house, it rests under the authority of the crowd of people waiting outside. Well, you know how to fix that!

You zip out through the doors to your balcony and fly out into the open air of the Hall. You look around for your parents.

And then, sensing them, you blink, looking down. Why are they gathered as if to receive you coming out via the ground floor? You barely touch the ground when moving if you can help it, why would they assume that you would come out that way?

Oh well. You zip down, grinning. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad!"

And then there is hugging. Mom really likes her hugs.

"Are you okay, Kakara?" she asks, pulling back a bit.

"Better than ever!" you say.

She shakes her head. "Yeah, I guess so. You scared me, kiddo."

"I'm fine," you say, swiftly tiring of the conversation. Honestly, you got healed.

Speaking of...

An old man in a gold and green gi steps over. "Come here, girl, I need to check you."

"This is Carrick Van, Kakara," says Dad, eyes never leaving you. "He's a healer. He took care of you while you were hurt."

The old man snorts, his hands glowing with a comforting gold light as he begins to check you. "And no help you were, my Lord. Oh, far be it from nobility to trust the word of a mere healer, I only spent twelve hours straight pumping energy into her after you spent a Lord's ransom shoving three Senzus down her throat. Why you even have me here, I don't know, she's fine. Just like the last ten times you've asked!"

The man gives you a shove back towards your Dad, but just like his examination, the touch is gentle, despite his tone. You flash him a grin before walking back to your parents. You catch the healer's mouth twitching in response before you turn away.

Dad takes a knee in front of you. "You really feel alright, Kakara?" he asks. "You slept for a long time. What kept you from waking?"

You rub at the back of your head and frown, trying to remember. "I...I don't know. I think I was...dreaming?" That sounds right. Not that you remember what about.

Dad's eyes flash with something and he nods. "Alright. Are you feeling okay?"

You nod, flaring your aura for a moment. "Nothing bad today!"

He gives you a weird smile. "Good." He looks past you.

"Scion."

You turn around and see Jaffur standing there, arms crossed and his usual dour expression on his face.

Your smile shrinks a bit, but stays in place.

"Hi, Jaffur."

His face twitches. "...hi." His response is more snarl than greeting.

"You okay?"

"Fine."

"Well, alright! I wanted to congratulate you on transforming, it's really great."

He blinks, taken completely off-guard. "You...I...thank you?"

"In fact, we should celebrate! Are you hungry? I'm hungry! Let's have a feast!" You look around at the crowd of dour and increasingly-bewildered Saiyans. "Why is everybody so grumpy! One of the Scions just transformed, we should be celebrating! Party time!"

Silence.

Trait Gained: "Oddball." Check Character Sheet for details.

Then slowly, Lord Vegeta begins to laugh. "I almost like this girl of yours, Berra," he says. "She has her priorities straight. Mostly." His mirth vanishes. "Sadly, brat, we have something different in mind for today."

You tensed from the moment you heard him react to you, and the more he speaks, the more wound up you get. "So what are we doing?" you ask, not looking directly at him.

"They want us to spar," says Jaffur, voice tight.

You blink. "Wait, again?!" You take a moment to process this. "Wait, you and me?!"

"Yes."

"I can't give you the push you need to transform, Kakara," says Dad. "I don't have it in me. And Vegeta can't."

"After all, I can't be seen to come after the Scion of Clan Goku with intent to kill," says Vegeta.

"But they're confident that I'm powerful enough to try, and willing to push you to it, since I punched you in the face last night," says Jaffur. "I mean, those are obviously the same thing."

"None of your lip, boy," says Vegeta. "This is necessary. We need our Scions strong."

Jaffur snarls. "It's not fair."

"Don't I get a say in this?!" you yell, looking around.

"Kakara, this is for the best," says Dad. "I told you, I can't give you the push you need-"

"You mean try to kill me," you say, stepping towards him. He winces. "Come on, say what you mean!"

"Kakara, you need to understand-"

"No, YOU understand! This is stupid! It's stupid, and I hate it!"

Meanwhile, Jaffur yells at his father, "I am not a weapon! You don't get to point me at her and tell me to cut loose!"

"Don't you tell me what I do and don't get to do," says Vegeta, phasing up into Jaffur's face. "I am your father, and you will respect that."

"Kakara, you are the Scion of our Clan," says Dad. "You must transform."

"But this isn't right!" you say.

Jaffur steps right back into his father's face and screams, "I'll respect you as my father when you earn it!"

SMACK.

Everybody goes silent as the sound of the slap fades into the air. Jaffur stumbles back a half-step and freezes, head snapped to the side by the blow.

Vegeta slowly lowers his hand. "I don't need to earn anything from you, brat. I helped to bring you into this world, and I can take you out of it."

Jaffur doesn't respond or even move, his face caught between humiliation, grief, and rage.

"As your father I am entitled to your respect and obedience, and I will have it from you." He bends down into his son's face. "Do you really think I didn't hear you last night? 'The Clan needs a new Lord?' Really, is that so? And how will you make that happen, Jaffur?"

"Don't call me that."

"Do you plan on finding some likely girl to pump out your brats as soon as you can? I'm sure you can find a whore to help with that easily enough."

"Don't call me that."

"Or did you plan on killing me? Forget whether or not you can -- let's be honest, you never would. You're nothing without me there."

"Don't call me that."

Vegeta cocks his head. "Don't call you what? Your name? That's just who you are, and nothing will ever change that. You are my son -- my blood, my flesh, my property, mine -- and that will never change."

Jaffur's expression stills, and he looks his father in the face. "Fuck this."

WHAM.

Vegeta doubles over, coughing as Jaffur drives a fist into his stomach and transforms in one motion. The impact ripples through the air, and Jaffur hops up and kicks his father across the Hall. Some of the assembled Vegetans actually let out a little cheer at the sight.

And then the world turns gold.

"BOY!"

In a great, surging rush, Lord Vegeta closes with his son and pounds him back into the wall, alight with the full power of the Super Saiyan transformation.

"YOU STRIKE AT ME? YOU JUST ACHIEVED YOUR TRANSFORMATION YESTERDAY, AND YOU THINK YOURSELF A MATCH FOR ME?!"

With an almighty bang, he is gone, and so is Jaffur. Impacts and shockwaves rock the Hall. Dad transforms, interposing himself between your family and the erupting chaos. You can't see what's happening. You couldn't follow Vegeta on the best day of your life. You only pick back up on things when Jaffur phases back into sight on the floor of the Hall across the way.

Then Vegeta appears above you, arms flung wide.

"YOU INSOLENT BRAT! I WILL SHOW YOU YOUR PLACE! ENJOY THE REST OF THE MONTH, SON, BECAUSE YOU'RE SPENDING IT CRIPPLED!"

Dad looks up. "Vegeta, no!"

But it is too late.

"FINAL FLASH!"

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

BANG.

When the light clears, the dust remains.

When the dust clears, the crater remains.

But when somebody finally has the bravery to fly over to the crater and pull Jaffur out of it, you realize how truly easy his father let him off last night.

Jaffur's power level is wavering on the edge of fifty thousand and he feels like he's on the edge of death. Half of his hair is singed away, his skin is a blackened crisp, and blood weeps from a hundred gaping wounds across his body. He's not conscious, which is merciful. He's barely breathing. His heart stutters through every single beat it makes and if you were afraid he was going to kill himself last night, it is an absolute certainty that he is going to die right now without medical help.

Then his mother appears.

Tears run openly down her face as her hands flash through an array of seals across her son's body. Otherworldly light pours over him as she struggles to keep him alive. He stirs, slightly, and then falls still, but it's a calmer sleep. She's stopped the bleeding, and he isn't dying anymore.

But you know ki healing, and that wasn't it.

You want to ask, but-

You find yourself on your hands and knees, struggling to vomit. Everything you had in your stomach -- not much -- is already on the ground below you, and your body is trying to bring up even more. Tears run down your face, and your mind is blank at the sheer horror of what you just witnessed. Your parents' hands are on your shoulders, your mother is holding your hair back, and you have never been so glad and so grateful to have parents who love you and treat you well. Your stomach finally settles, and you bury your face into Mom's chest, for the first time fully and horribly aware of how lucky you are.

Unconsciousness, when it comes, is a mercy for you as well.

* * *
​

"Jiichan, why would he do that?"

"There are those who words alone will not reach, Kakara-chan. There are those who are beyond saving. Vegeta is one such man. I pray that Jaffur-kun isn't another, but I don't know. I just...can't know. Keep an eye out, okay? He gave me some hope today, but...little good can come from such misery. I don't know if he is too far gone. Look for whatever signs you can. I don't want you to have to face that choice. But promise me that when the time comes, you won't hesitate to stop him if you need to."

"I promise."

He draws you closer. "Come here," he says, just like always, and you press forward into his chest, wrapping yourself around him. And just like always, he tucks you in close to his chest -- as close as he can. And just like always, he lowers his face to your hair and whispers, "Always remember that you are loved, Kakara-chan. Your family is here for you, even if nobody else is."

And just like always, you murmur, "I love you too, Jiichan," into his chest.

And, just like always, he holds you there until the world fades away and you return to sleep.

Temporary Trait Unlocked: "A Promise To Jiichan." Check Character Sheet for details.

* * *
​

It is dark when you wake. You've slept the day away, or perhaps more. Your joints are stiff, and you don't move. You just stare at the ceiling. You try to grasp at the fading fragments of your dream, but lose it again, just like always. You think somebody was...hugging you?

That sounds nice right now.

There are voices downstairs raised in argument. You feel Mom, Dad, and Lady Vegeta. You don't feel anybody else, anywhere in the Hall, which means Dad raised the ki shielding wards. Whatever they're talking about, it's important.

Do you care about it?

[ ] Yes.

[ ] No.

* * *
​

Things are coming to a head. In three or so updates more the introduction will be complete, and we will start the quest proper. You are still earning traits for every choice you make, and the time to do that is running out.

Choose carefully.

"A Promise To Jiichan:" Though you don't remember it, you promised your Grandpa that you would act decisively if you ever saw the chance to resolve the situation of Jaffur for good. Experience a moderate bonus in favor of all such options.

Oddball: What everybody can agree on is that your mind works in strange ways. You tend to take people off-balance. Gain a slight bonus to any check involving you acting in unconventional ways, and a moderate bonus to take others off-guard in doing so.