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[Escarot - POV.]
Light spilled into the pod as it cracked open, a thin mist rolling out into the air. For a brief second, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't even think straight, it almost felt as if every part of me had frozen up, not knowing what to do, until eventually I took a sharp painful gasp, blinking hard as my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room.
My body, stiff from being curled up, straightened out, muscles waking up on their own as the thick, gelatinous fluid inside the pod drained away, sliding down my skin, leaving me oddly cold and exposed.
Then I saw him. A tall man with wild black hair, a fierce scowl, and a dark battle-worn uniform. My father, my… new father, it was confusing. Despite this being the first time I had ever seen the man in my life, I just knew that I knew who he was before he even spoke, he was Paragus, a mid class warrior, and my father. Somehow, just seeing him felt right, like my instincts lined up and filled in the gaps.
The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up, almost proud, though his face stayed sharp and mostly unreadable. "Escarot," he said, his voice low, but there was something in it that demanded attention. The name felt strange but somehow… familiar, it was like hearing someone call me and knowing it was me, even though it was new.
I was pulled out of the pod by two hands gripping under my arms. I tried to stand, but my legs wobbled. My balance was off, everything felt off. The air was different outside the pod, it was… heavier, pressing down on me. It didn't feel bad, but it definitely felt different. Less comfortable, perhaps?
"Hold yourself up," Paragus all but barked. He let go, and I nearly pitched forward before catching myself. My knees locked, muscles steadying. And once more, instinct kicked in; I adjusted without really thinking. This body was smaller, but solid, which I suppose was to be expected seeing I was now an alien, one built for fighting at that.
It was a strange feeling stronger than I have ever been… despite being a literal toddler.
Paragus studied me, his expression a mixture of impatience and scrutiny. "Can you understand me?" he asked.
"Yes." The answer came out clear, a reflex more than a thought. And it hit me… how was I even speaking their language? I have no idea how long I was in that pod…. But it probably had something to do with the fact most of what was happening felt… natural.
"Good." He took a step back, arms crossed. "Let's see if you know anything else." His gaze sharpened. "Follow me."
He turned, not waiting to see if I would, and my feet moved on their own. I kept pace behind him, feeling my body adapt as we walked. Each step felt easier, more controlled.
We moved through a corridor, walls lined with rows of pods like the one I'd just come from, each holding a baby with their eyes closed, floating in the green liquid. I shivered briefly, remembering I'd been one of them, though my circumstances had been a bit different to theirs. I had died… and somehow, I was… here now.
I still didn't know what to make of the situation.
Nothing felt like it should. I wasn't panicking… or even worried for that matter, at least not as much as I felt I should be worrying, I was… way too calm for the circumstances. A part of me felt I should feel more, after all, I died, and was now part of an alien race of an old anime I watched as a kid, and yet, I wasn't worrying or even questioning my situation too much.
Perhaps it was for the best.
Finally after a minute or two of walking, we stepped into a larger room, bright and open, with harsh lights hanging overhead. Paragus stopped and faced me, crossing his arms. "Show me what you can do."
I hesitated, unsure what he meant, but before I could ask, I felt a rush in my hands, an energy sparking up, warm and intense. I didn't know why or how I was doing it, but I lifted a hand, watching as a small sphere of light formed in my palm, before shooting at him.
"Good," Paragus said, nodding slightly as he swatted the blast with the back of his hand. "You know the basics."
It wasn't a compliment; more like a confirmation, as if he'd expected this. Without warning, he flung a hand toward me, sending a small ki blast my way. My instincts took over, and I sidestepped, the blast hitting the wall behind me. My feet moved fast, weight shifting easily as I found my balance.
Somehow, my body reacted faster than I could think.
"Not bad," he muttered, watching me closely. "Basic reflexes are there." He fired another blast, larger this time, and I leaped back, a defensive stance forming without me even thinking about it. The movement was smooth, automatic, like I'd done it a thousand times.
This was all second nature, like I'd been doing it forever. But I hadn't, yet somehow my body knew each move, every shift in balance and every flick of energy, as if I had trained for years. That didn't make any sense, unless… Could it be they had programmed me? Some sort of prenatal programming to teach me the basics?
I might not have seen Dragon Ball since I was a kid… but I still remember some bits about the anime, like Raditz reprimanding Goku for forgetting his mission of conquering Earth, and considering Goku arrived to earth as a baby, there had to be some kind of programming imprinting the infants with the information they required.
"Good," Paragus said, a satisfied smile on his face as he reached into his armor pocket and pulled out a small device, putting it over one eye. A Scouter. The tool used to measure power levels. He stared at me for a brief moment, the scouter beeping quietly.
"What's my power level?" I asked, and honestly… despite how bizarre everything so far had been, I couldn't help it, I always wanted one of those scouters as a kid. So yeah, I wanted to know how high my power level was.
I didn't know what to expect, the anime never went too deep into these things, and if it did, I didn't remember, what I did remember was that Goku was considered to be super weak by Saiyan standards, having a power level of one or something similar at birth.
Perhaps my power level was around one hundred?
"Your power level increased," He observed, his voice sounding almost... proud? The numbers on the scouter must have been satisfactory, maybe it was a bit higher than one hundred, not bad. "It's at 2298. A substantial increase from your birth."
Did… did he say my power level was 2298? I… was already stronger than Raditz? But… how?
Paragus smiled, crossing his arms. "I expected no less from my child. We'll start real training tomorrow."
"Real training?" The words came out before I could stop them. Not only that, but my tone… I was excited about what he had said… Why the hell was I excited about that? I mean, I guess the idea of becoming stronger sounded very appealing, so training sounds fun— holy fuck, just how much these bastards programmed into me?
He looked at me, the hint of a smirk forming. "That's right, son. I will make a powerful Saiyan warrior out of you."
That's right… that's what I am now. A Saiyan. No longer a human, but a member of a warrior race who wipes planets as an 8 to 5 job. A race of battle junkies who are pretty much psychopaths, who just happen to work under an ever bigger psychopath.
"Tomorrow, we'll see what you're really made of," Paragus said, patting me in the head. "For now, feel free to explore."
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Taking Paragus' suggestion, I decided to explore. The air hit me like a slap when I stepped out of the nursing area and into the open world outside as waves of heat and dust hit me in the face.
The first thing I noticed was the color of the sky, red, like a sheet of fire stretched endlessly above me. The ground matched it in tone, a deep, burnt reddish-brown, cracked in places like an old scar.
The place looked drier than a camel's crotch on a desert storm.
This was Planet Vegeta.
The name floated to the surface of my thoughts. My body knew this place, but my mind was lagging, playing catch-up. The environment was alien, sure, but there was something else about it, an undercurrent of violence, of raw, untamed power in every crack of the earth and every swirl of the wind.
Even the red sky seemed angry, like the planet itself was in a perpetual state of battle.
I took a few steps forward, my new boots crunching against dirt. My tail flicked behind me, and I tried not to flinch at how natural it felt, like a third limb I hadn't asked for but already couldn't imagine being without. No idea how that made any sense, but it did.
There were Saiyans everywhere, most of them in armor like Paragus, some flying off into the sky, others sparring in small groups or barking insults at each other. Surprisingly though, not every Saiyan was fighting, as I had imagined, most of them were just walking or talking, it… was oddly welcoming to see to be honest.
My gaze drifted upward again, to the unnaturally red sky, and my stomach twisted as a name came into mind. Frieza.
I remembered just enough from the anime to know how this tale ended, and it wasn't with a happy-ever-after for the Saiyans. This planet, the people, the culture, all of it… including me now, was living on borrowed time. Frieza would destroy it all, eventually. I didn't know when, just that it would happen.
Not that it mattered if I knew anyways, I suppose… After all, what could I possibly do to stop him? Warn them? I doubt they would believe me. Fight Frieza? I would die… There wasn't much that I could realistically do.
I was still grasping at the concept that this was real, and beyond that, I knew how powerless I currently was in the big picture.
I wasn't even sure how much time I had, before he decided to kill everyone here.
Well… time to explore, no point in worrying about something I can't fully predict or prepare for right now.
As I walked, lost in my thoughts, wondering what exactly I was supposed to do now, I felt something slam into my side.
It happened so fast that, and so suddenly, that for a split second, I didn't process what was going on. Something, no, someone, had run into me at full speed. The impact pushed me slightly, but it didn't hurt. In fact, it barely registered. It was like being hit with a pillow, a soft one at that.
I turned my head, confused, and saw a kid, no much bigger than me, sprawled on the ground a few feet away, groaning as he tried to push himself up. His armor was scuffed, and he was clearly dazed.
I blinked, glancing between him and where he'd hit me. I hadn't even staggered, but the kid looked like he'd run face-first into a wall.
"Hey... uh... you okay?" I asked, stepping closer.
He let out a low groan in response, shaking his head before slumping back down. His tail twitched weakly, and for a second, I thought he'd passed out completely.
Did that really just happen? I crouched down beside him, not entirely sure what to do.
I poked his shoulder lightly with a stick I had found on the floor. "Hey. Wake up."
The kid groaned again, one eye cracking open. He glared up at me, his expression somewhere between frustration and embarrassment. "What the hell... are you made of... steel?"
I held back a laugh, trying to keep my expression neutral. "Not that I'm aware of."
He blinked at me, looking me up and down as if trying to figure messing with him or not. No idea what kind of conclusion the kid came up to, but his scowl deepened, and he sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Damn it," he muttered. "That's the last time I try to race through the market."
"Race?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow.
The kid shot me a look, his tail flicking sharply behind him. "Yeah, race. What, you've never tried to dodge through a crowd at full speed? It's basic reflex training."
I frowned, unsure if he was joking or serious. Judging by the look on his face, it was the latter. "And… you hit the stationary target?"
That earned me a sharp glare, but the kid didn't say anything. Instead, he dusted himself off, muttering under his breath about "idiots standing in the way" as he got to his feet.
I straightened up as well, watching him closely. He was a bit bigger than me, though not by much, with spiky black hair and a fresh bruise forming on his cheek. His armor was scratched and dented in places, making it clear he wasn't new to roughhousing.
"You've got one hell of a body, what's your power level?" he said after a moment, his tone begrudging. "Most people would've hit the dirt after I ran into them like that, so I'm going to guess above 150?"
I blinked at him, caught off guard. "Huh?"
"Your power level," he repeated impatiently, crossing his arms. "You gotta know it, right? Everyone gets measured on a weekly basis. So… You're what, 150? 175? Maybe 200 tops?"
The numbers didn't mean much to me in a practical sense, but judging by his tone, they were probably decent for a Saiyan kid.
"Uh... it's 2298," I said, almost casually.
For a moment, the kid just stared at me, his mouth slightly open. I could practically hear the gears grinding in his head as he processed what I'd just said. Then his eyes widened so much I thought they might pop out of his head.
"What?!" he practically yelled, his voice cracking as he took a step back.
"2298," I repeated, scratching the back of my head awkwardly.
"Two... two thousand..." The kid stammered, his tail curling around his waist as he stared at me like I'd just told him I could blow up the planet.
Wait… could I blow a planet with my power?
"Yeah," I said, shrugging. "That's what my father said, anyway."
The kid took another step back, his expression shifting rapidly between shock, confusion, and something that looked suspiciously like fear. "You're kidding, right? There's no way. No way someone fresh out of the pod has a power level like that! You're stronger than my parents!"
Huh… is it bad I am feeling pride about that?
"That's... that's insane," he muttered, running a hand through his spiky hair. "No wonder you didn't even flinch when I ran into you... I could've broken my neck! Wait… I ran into a high class warrior! I'm dead!"
"What?" I muttered.
The kid groaned, his hands dropping to his sides as he looked at me with a mix of exasperation and disbelief. Then, to my surprise, he bowed slightly, his tail twitching nervously. "Uh... sorry, sir," he said quickly, his tone suddenly respectful. "I didn't know you were a high class warrior. I thought you were just another low-class kid, please don't beat me."
I blinked at him, caught off guard by the sudden change in attitude, he went from rude to submissive in less than a second. "You don't have to apologize. It's not like you could've known."
"Still," The kid said, straightening up but keeping his tone careful. "I have to apologize, I could get in serious trouble if I pissed you off."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you or anything."
The kid nodded quickly, but I could tell he wasn't entirely convinced. His tail stayed curled around his waist, a clear sign of nervousness.
"Right," he said, forcing a grin. "Well... uh, good to meet you, sir. If you ever need a training partner or, you know, someone to... uh... carry your stuff or something, let me know!"
I raised an eyebrow, unsure if he was being serious or sarcastic. "I'll keep that in mind."
The kid gave me a quick nod, then turned and practically bolted, muttering something under his breath about "crazy elites."
I watched him go, feeling a strange mix of amusement and unease. The way he'd reacted to my power level was... telling. It wasn't just that he was surprised, it was the way his attitude had shifted so quickly. Respect born out of fear. And while part of me couldn't deny that it felt good to be strong, to be feared, another part of me, the one that still felt human, found it unsettling.
I let out a slow breath and kept walking.
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POWER LEVEL SECTION.
Paragus' power level: 5157
Escarot's power level: 2315
Saiyan Kid that bumped into Escarot (Bean) power level: 133