AniMonday Filler #1: Dragon Ball BE

 AniMonday apologies, Weebotaks!

It seems like I've been doing a lot of apologizing lately, what with my unprofessional conduct regarding my social media presence, my inconvenient work life, and the amends I am making for my nerd memorabilia- and mobile game-related debt.

On the latter subject, I recently received my fifth of six debt-settlement amounts from the relief and consolidation company. I will still be making payments toward the agreed-upon amounts for the foreseeable future, but progress is progress, and I am sticking to the program, so, good news!

A program that I will unfortunately not be able to stick to this week is my promised review of Rising Of the Shield Hero for Isekai "Quartet". In its place, I bring you a super-long post that consists of the first three published chapters of my fanfiction, Dragon Ball: BE, or "What If Broly Was Sent to Earth Instead Of Goku?"

Here is my current choice for a cover image, which I found licensed for personal use:

Source: SeekPNG

Chapter One: Close Encounters

It begins on Planet Vegeta, with three Saiyan babies getting their power levels tested in incubation pods. The Saiyan Prince, Vegeta, was maxing out at five hundred, a high level for a baby. Kakarot, the son of a low-class warrior named Bardock, was only reading at a two, making his only impressive feat the ability to cry incessantly. This constant noise was causing the child in the pod next to him, Broly, to fluctuate between 920 and...ten thousand?!

"Damned thing must be broken!" said one of the lab technicians. "There's no way a commoner could be born that strong!"

"Yeah," said another, coming over to examine the equipment. "But I don't think it is broken. We should tell the King about this."

Just then, Broly's father, Paragus, barges into the room with a portable monitoring device clenched in one fist. "Where is my son?" Paragus demands. He had been keeping tabs on Broly's progress from a waiting room next door, and the device had alerted him to Broly's condition.

"Oh! Lieutenant Paragus!" the first scientist exclaims. "Broly is...doing...fine?"

"Is it true?" asked Paragus. "Is my son really that powerful?"

"Y-yes, sir," answered the second. "I-in fact, we were just about to share the good news with the King."

"That will not be necessary," said Paragus. He had watched King Vegeta execute Saiyans before, simply because their power levels were greater than his own, and he knew a similar fate awaited Broly if he didn't do something about it.

So Paragus enlisted the two of them to design a shock collar for the boy, using the Scouters' power-sensing software as a trigger mechanism and crafting it from the same material as Saiyan armor, so that Broly could continue wearing it as he grew. Paragus hoped this would condition Broly to keep his power below that of the Prince's, so as not to arouse the King's suspicions.

The two Saiyan scientists reluctantly complied with his demands, but their loyalty to King Vegeta was unwavering, and almost immediately upon completion of the device, they went to their King and revealed the truth of Broly's power and Paragus' betrayal.

King Vegeta thanked them for their service, and summarily executed them for their complicity in Paragus' schemes.

Luckily, Paragus was eavesdropping, and took the opportunity to get the infant Broly to a Saiyan space pod and send him away from the planet. Broly escaped safely, but after unsuccessfully trying to extract the pod's destination from him (which was, in truth, a random setting), King Vegeta executed Paragus.

*******

Several years later, Broly's pod splashes down in the ocean near a small island on Earth. On this particular island stands an iconic but well-removed, pink house. This is Kame House, home to the reclusive martial artist, Master Roshi, and his talking pet turtle,...Turtle.

Using his submarine, Roshi is able to salvage the crashed pod, and is surprised to find a young Broly inside, who wakes and attacks Roshi when the curious old man grabs his tail.

The child is quite strong and wildly unpredictable, destroying Roshi's left eye with a single punch. But Roshi is able to calm him with hypnosis before tending to his own wounds.

During the fight, Roshi noticed that there was something around Broly's neck, and that despite being able to instinctively read his movements and wound him, Broly was in constant pain from the gadget's effects.

Roshi briefly considered leaving the device around Broly's neck, as it seemed to only shock the child whenever the old man sensed a spike in his ki, and as terrifying as those spikes felt, it might be a good idea to keep such massive, raw potential in check.

However—his other proclivities notwithstanding—the turtle hermit was not the kind of man who would resort to child torture. As simple as his mind seemed, Broly might actually trust Roshi more if he was the one to remove the source of his pain. And if push again came to shove (and that shove would be hard, Roshi knew), he could just hypnotize the boy like he had moments ago. Heck, Roshi might even be able to teach the kid to control his own power through martial arts training—if the turtle hermit lived long enough, that was.

"What's your name, sonny?" asked Roshi after some time.

"N-hame?" Broly said, struggling with the word.

Roshi pointed to himself. "Me, Roshi." Then he pointed to Broly. "Name?"

"M-me," the boy mimicked the gesture, and thought hard for some time. There was a word he heard a lot as a baby, before he ended up here, wherever here was. There was always too much noise from somewhere next to him, so he couldn't be sure what it really sounded like. But he thought it was: "B-br-bro-ly?"

Yes! That was it! "Me, name, Broly!"

The kid suddenly had a huge grin on his face (with abnormally sharp canines, in Roshi's opinion), as if he had just done something amazing. And he kept repeating the same three words over and over again, his wild joy increasing with each repetition: "Me, name, Broly! Me, name, Broly! Me, name, Broly!! ME, NAME, BROLY!!"

"Eh-heh-heh-heh!" Roshi started laughing uncontrollably at this, so hard that he fell comically backwards and got stuck in the sand by the large, weighted turtle shell that he always wore on his back. This made Broly stop and stare, cockeyed, at the old man, and he, too, laughed himself back-first into the sand, right next to Roshi.

Broly had never felt anything quite like sand before, but he sort of liked the fine, comforting texture of it against his skin, and he waved his arms and legs through it, as one would do when making a snow angel in winter.

When the novelty of sand wore off for him, Broly sat up and looked over to see Roshi still stuck on his back.

"Uh, Broly?" Roshi said, thoroughly embarrassed. "Help?"

Broly stared at him again, uncomprehending, until he realized somehow that the old man couldn't sit up on his own. Broly stood, grasped one of Roshi's flailing arms, and pulled. Broly was strong, but at his size and age, and with that huge weight to factor in, he wasn't able to pull the turtle hermit into a sitting position, which frustrated the boy. He stubbornly continued pulling at Roshi's arms—first one, then the other—with something indescribable boiling up inside him.

Suddenly, Broly felt stronger—much stronger—and before he understood what was happening, he did have Roshi sitting up. But that wasn't all; the pain was back, shooting through his entire body, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. His mind was beginning to glare over, as well, but he had enough sense remaining to say three more words: "R-ro-shi, h-elp, Broly?!"

Distantly, Broly thought he could see the old man's hands moving in front of his face, and their motion felt somehow...calming, and familiar. Broly didn't lose consciousness like he had before, but his mind felt more at peace for the time being. And he could no longer feel the shocking pain that had been spreading from his neck to the rest of his body and back again. In fact, he couldn't feel anything around his neck at all.

In disbelief, Broly touched his neck repeatedly, as if to make sure. "Roshi...help Broly?" he said with awe and gratitude.

"Heh, heh, heh," the old man laughed again. "Yeah, sonny; Roshi help Broly."

"Son-nee?" Broly said, looking at him, confused, but nostalgic for some reason. A memory flashed through his head then

(Where is my son?)

of another man with hair on his face, the same color as Roshi's. Only this man he saw in his head was taller and more muscular, and had hair on top of his head, too, while Roshi was bald. "You Broly father?" he asked hopefully, though deep down he knew the answer, and was prepared for it.

Roshi gave this some brief thought, as he had regarding the collar, but decided that in the long term, honesty was the best course with the child. "No," he answered heavily. "I'm not your father. Nor do I know where your father is. Honestly, I don't know where you even came from."

Broly looked at him sadly, not saying a word.

"But I'm sure of one thing: wherever your father is, he probably sent you here for a reason"—if only Roshi knew that Broly's pod had come to Earth by pure chance!

Broly's sadness deepened at that. Did his father not want him? Then he thought of the collar that had been around his neck until only minutes ago, and anger began to creep in. Had his father been the one to put that thing on him? That thing that had caused him such pain?

Thankfully, Roshi sensed this and said, "I understand what you are feeling. That power, those emotions; it's a lot to bear, isn't it?"

Broly nodded after pondering his words.

"I believe your father knew of your power, too. He may have been misguided in how he chose to deal with it, but I believe he saw it as the only way to keep you alive."

"Roshi not make Broly wear that again?" Broly asked.

"No, Broly," Roshi answered immediately. He tried to say more, but was stopped when Broly lunged at him and gave the old man an enthusiastic hug. Too enthusiastic.

"Unhand that Yarthling, Saiyan scum!" A righteous, nasally voice commanded from above, as an oblong shadow washed over them.

Roshi and Broly both stopped and looked up to see the source of the interruption. A strange, dome-shaped craft hovered overhead, unlike anything either of them had ever seen (except for Broly's pod, maybe). Quietly, but for the wind and sand kicked up by its motion, the craft hovered to the ground, where it came to rest on four spindly legs. The ship was accented in a shiny red, with a thick, metallic stripe down its center and what appeared to be a capital "N" emblazoned in black across its nose. A bubble hatch at the top swung open, and a short, lean figure leapt out, brandishing what looked like a toy squirt gun, but clearly wasn't.

"Back away from the Yarthling, Saiyan," the figure repeated, its weapon trained on Broly with shaking hands. Not a very imposing figure, in Roshi's opinion. It had sea-foam skin with yellow, lens-like eyes and a thin frame that couldn't possibly support any muscle. It wore a purple bodysuit and minimalist armor the same color as the exposed metal of the ship, emblazoned with the same "N" insignia on the breastplate.

Saiyan, huh? Roshi thought. Then he sensed Broly's power starting to grow again. "Broly, no!" he said, putting a calming hand on the boy's shoulder.

To his relief, Broly listened and held his ground, and the alien (so Roshi figured by this point) remained too scared to fire its weapon.

"So its 'Broly,' is it?" said the alien through gritted teeth, trying an intimidating tone even though its voice trembled in tandem with its body.

"Yes!" Broly growled. "Me, name Broly."

"Well," the alien responded, "I, Jaco, as a Super-Elite Galactic Patrolman, have come to apprehend you in lieu of any nefarious deeds you will no doubt perpetrate upon this planet."

Broly, just having learned what a name is, looked dumbly at Jaco's string of pretentious vocabulary words and high-society phrasing. Roshi, meanwhile, burst out laughing again.

"S...heh-heh-heh!" Roshi sputtered. "A 'Super-Elite;' a scrawny, unpowered thing like you? Boy, that's a good one!"

As confused as he was humiliated by this reaction, Jaco stammered, "W-wh-what do you mean by that?"

"You see," Roshi explained. "Some of us on this planet can sense the natural energy of living things, myself included. And as agile as you are," Roshi was behind Jaco faster than the little space cop could have blinked. "I know you couldn't even keep up with this old man in a fight."

Now seeing Roshi as the threat, Jaco took his sights off of Broly to take aim at him instead.

Understanding Roshi to be in danger, Broly started to spike again. But, as before, Roshi firmly talked him down. "No, Broly! Let me handle this!" Wary of the little, ocean-colored spaceman and his laser pistol, Broly nonetheless complied.

With that momentarily handled, Roshi raised his hands in surrender and focused on the Galactic Patrolman. "Listen," he said. "Jaco, isn't it?"

"Y-yes, that's right."

"Well, they call me Master Roshi—if they decide to call me at all, y'know what I mean, heh-heh-heh." Roshi said this last part with a lecherous grin on his face, but he managed to compose himself quickly before continuing. "Anyway, I don't mean you any harm. I just did what I did to make a point."

Jaco just stared at him, increasingly disturbed and confused. What kind of bizarre backwater is this planet? He asked himself.

If he knew about God (an alien, but nobody really knew that yet), the King of Earth (a talking dog named Furry), beast-men, and dinosaurs, Jaco's head would explode.

"So," said Roshi. "Now that we're all on a first name basis, how about you put that spacey squirt gun away and we have a chat about why you're here, okay?"

If he was being honest with himself, Jaco didn't really want to deal with the paperwork that would be required when he brought in his target. Besides, this Roshi geezer was right; if he couldn't even track the movements of an old Yarthling, detaining a Saiyan as purportedly strong as Broly was a task far beyond his depth. The Patrolman looked inadequately at his weapon before holstering it. Roshi quickly relaxed his stance, and soon after, Broly followed suit.

"I am here," said Jaco, "because my superiors detected a strong, Saiyan biosignature at this location, and thought your planet might be in danger."

"These 'Saiyans' are that bad, eh?" Roshi asked.

"Yes. Saiyans are a primitive race who love nothing more than the thrill of battle; they grow stronger with every injury they suffer. As a race of their own, they pose a threat to the galaxy, but planet brokers often employ them to cleanse desirable properties prior to sale. Saiyans are so powerful from birth that they send infants and children to conquer weaker planets, like yours."

Though he didn't understand most of what Jaco said, Broly was listening as best he could, and now interjected: "Ja-co?"

"Yes?"

"Is Broly Saiyan?"

Jaco didn't expect this from his target. "Well..., yes."

"Broly can't be Saiyan," the boy said, matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"Broly not want to con-ker. Broly scared of power. So, Broly can't be Saiyan."

"What?"

"From what I can gather," Roshi contributed, "Broly's father sent him here to save his life, not to conquer Earth. He's unbelievably strong, yes—so strong that it scares him. If he does belong to this 'Saiyan' race, Broly is an outlier among them."

"But if what you say about his power is true," Jaco responded, skeptical. "He may yet prove a threat to this planet anyway."

"You just leave that to me," Roshi countered. "I think I can teach Broly how to control that power of his all by himself."

"How?" Broly and Jaco said in unison, surprising one another.

"Why," Roshi chuckled and put on a large pair of red sunglasses. "The Kame-sennin way, of course!"

As Roshi began laying out his training regimen for Broly, Jaco started to inch away toward his spaceship.

"Oh!" Roshi exclaimed suddenly, halting the Patrolman in his tracks. "And don't think you're going to slink away scott-free, either. If you wish to live up to that title of yours,"—out came a small snort of laughter—"you'll be training under me, as well!"

Jaco gaped at the old man. Is he serious? All it took was one look in Roshi's eyes. Oh...he is serious....

"Uh," he said, making it seem like it was his choice and not Roshi's. "As it happens, I do have a fair bit of vacation time on the books. I just need to, um, call it in so Yarth doesn't get swarmed with backup agents. Sound good?"

"Do what you gotta do," said Roshi, making it seem like it was Jaco's choice and not his own.

Roshi listened while Jaco reported a false alarm with Galactic Patrol HQ and filed for his vacation time on "Yarth."

"All done!" Jaco said to Roshi. "By the way, Yarth has a moon, right?"

"Yup. Why do you ask?"

"Saiyans transform in full moonlight. Giant. Hairy. Ten times stronger. Laser breath; it's...not good."

"Huh?" Now it was Roshi who was gaping in shock.

"Just keep him indoors at night and you won't have to worry about it." Jaco strolled casually toward Kame House with a bug-eyed, slack-jawed Roshi turning his head robotically after him. "Now, what do people on your planet have for dinner?"

Chapter Two: The Turtle Hermit Way

Over the next year or so, Roshi trained Broly and Jaco in Turtle School martial arts. Broly's regimen included morning meditations (as the old hermit knew things could get...out of hand...if Broly became frustrated with his unconventional training methods) and language lessons to improve the boy's vocabulary and caveman-like speech pattern.

After Broly's meditation, he and Jaco would do aerobic exercises to the TV while Roshi..."spotted" them—which meant he stared lecherously at the fitness girls on TV until he passed out from a projectile nosebleed and one student or the other had to shake him awake for the next part of training.

Said training progressed much like it did for Goku and Krillin in the anime prior to the 21stTenkaichi Budokai (with a similar mistrust dynamic between Broly and Jaco, but with Jaco being a more honorable competitor than Krillin was to Goku): the hundred-meter dash in five seconds, finding the marked stone in the woods within thirty minutes (this task modified somewhat to help Broly with his vocabulary and memory), the lake swim, the milk run, plowing fields by hand, weighted turtle shells, etc. (with the bees and sharks omitted for obvious, Broly-related reasons). All of this continued on a daily basis for several months, still beginning each day with meditation and aerobics, and reading and writing practice at lunch.

After the first month, Roshi added another test to the training program: "Come, Flying Nimbus!"

Broly looked upon the little, yellow cloud, which seemed to be alive, with childlike awe. As with everything else he had experienced on "Yarth" so far, Jaco beheld it with shocked confusion.

"What is Nim-bus for, Master?" Broly asked.

"It was a gift from an old friend," said Roshi with an air of nostalgic pride. "Only those who are pure of heart can ride it, as y—." THUD! Roshi leapt into the air, intending to demonstrate how to ride the Flying Nimbus, but he fell right through and crashed into the ground, getting himself stuck in the sand once more.

"Broly guess Master not pure of heart," said Broly, though he wasn't entirely sure what such an abstract concept meant at his age.

"Never mind that!" Roshi snapped. "Just get me outta here!"

Stronger than he had been before, Broly was able to pull the Turtle Hermit out of his impromptu sand burial with ease. He didn't even feel his rage-strength building up this time. It was strange; all of the unusual tasks that his Master had assigned to him over these past months had actually shown noticeable gains. Extracting a fully grown man (plus two hundred extra pounds of turtle shell) from three feet of sand was proof of it, which Roshi acknowledged.

"But remember," his Master continued, brushing himself off as best he could. "However you found your way to me, it means that the world is a far bigger place than either of us can imagine right now. Even Jaco here is proof of that.

"And with the power you have, the odds are much higher that you may encounter someone far stronger than yourself—someone who wishes to do this planet harm—and you must always strive to improve your strength and skills, so when that day comes, you will be able to protect the planet, and the people, whom you hold dear. Do you understand, Broly?"

Broly took a moment to absorb the old man's words (of which there were a lot—almost too many) and said, "Yes, Master. Broly thinks he understands."

"Good!" Roshi said, enthusiasm replacing his previously serious tone. "Then let's keep on with the Nimbus test, shall we?"

Broly nodded, as did Jaco, who was feeling like chopped space liver at this point. "Humph!" Jaco snorted pompously, wanting to prove himself worthy. "A trivial task for a Super-Eleeee...!" THUD! Like Roshi before him, Jaco leapt into the air and crashed through the Flying Nimbus, hurting his pride as much as his body—or more, since Broly had to extract him from the sand, as well.

Reluctantly, Broly also followed his Master's example, leaping up to try and land on the cloud. To the amazement of both Master and students—Jaco, especially—Broly stuck for an instant before he, too, plummeted to the ground, though his instinctive reflexes kept him from sharing Roshi's and Jaco's fate.

"Huh," Broly grunted, scratching his head. "Broly not pure of heart, either...?"

Inconceivable! Jaco thought, his mind fixated on that one fraction of a second. I didn't think a pure-hearted Saiyan could even exist!

"Heh-heh-heh!" Master Roshi laughed his signature laugh and said, "You're better off than this old hermit, though, and that's good enough for today."

With that, training continued as it had, now including the so-called "Nimbus test," which only Broly attempted on a weekly basis, as he came the closest of the three of them. Jaco continued training with them, having noticed his own gains from the old hermit's questionable methods. Not only that, but following that first Nimbus test, Jaco's opinion of Broly began to improve. He no longer felt suspicious of the young Saiyan's motives towards Earth (as it turned out, Broly wasn't the only one receiving language lessons; Jaco had finally learned how to pronounce the name of the planet correctly), but he always kept that bit about the Oozaru form at the back of his mind, constantly monitoring the planet's lunar cycle via his ship's computer.

Eventually, Jaco's considerable vacation time elapsed, and the little Galactic Patrolman had to leave Earth, bidding his Master goodbye with a farewell sparring match. Jaco lost, as Roshi's fighting experience eclipsed his own many times over, but the old hermit was pleased with his progress and invited him to return, should the need arise. "I can tell you might be strong enough now," the Master said, "to do some real good out there...Super-Elite." Roshi laughed, but his words carried not an ounce of sarcasm.

Jaco thanked Roshi in return, and reminded him of the full moon and what would happen if Broly gazed upon it. "If that does happen, remember to go for his tail."

Roshi made a mental note of this and waved goodbye to his space-faring pupil before returning his attention to Broly.

*******

As Jaco was exiting Earth's atmosphere, he caught sight of a primitive craft attempting to do the same: a publicity stunt for the Earth's space program, the rocket launch was advertised to have a West City pop idol on board, named Ann Azuki. In reality, though, it was a young girl named Tights acting as the idol's body double.

Having been programmed to automatically scan any spacecraft, Jaco's ship identified a manufacturing flaw in the rocket, and after rattling off a quick response report to HQ, he flew over to provide assistance, successfully rescuing everyone onboard and destroying the vessel before it could crash back into the city below.

Thinking Tights was also an alien, due to the idol costume she was wearing at the time, Jaco attempted to hit on her, which Tights responded to in typical tsundere fashion: "I'm a human girl, you pervert!"

But then, "Wait!" She quickly pivoted to curiosity, realizing the other implications of his pickup lines. "You mean, you're a real alien? Like, from space?"

"More precisely, my dear," said Jaco, slipping back into his faux-suave demeanor, "I am Jaco, Super-Elite Galactic Patrolman of the North Quadrant." His impression, however, was further undermined by the series of ridiculous, Super Sentai poses he was doing as he spoke, making Tights burst out laughing.

"Uh, Miss?" Asked Jaco.

The girl regained her composure before introducing herself as Tights.

"Miss Tights, is that a common response on your planet?"

"No. Why?"

"There was a strange, old man I met on your planet who made those same sounds and movements when I introduced myself to him. I got the sense that he was making fun of me."

"Sorry," said Tights. "But you are one goofy alien, Jaco. I mean, those poses are like something a lame superhero would do on TV, not a Super-Elite space cop—."

"'Galactic Patrolman'," Jaco corrected.

"Right, that." Tights said dismissively. "All I'm saying is, if you want to be taken seriously, don't waste time announcing your title and posing. Okay?"

"Thank you for your input, Earthling," Jaco said, sounding wounded and indignant, though he had to admit, it would save him time and simplify his arrests if he stopped being so showy.

"It's Tights, you jerk!" she said.

"'Right, that.'" Jaco retorted. "So, Tights. What do you do for fun when you're not almost dying in a primitive, exploding spacecraft?"

"Jerk!" Tights said again, pulling her eyelid down with one finger and sticking her tongue out at Jaco. "If you must know, my family's all into science—genetics, aerospace, atomic compression storage, tracking rare energy signatures, that kind of thing—but I wanna be a successful science fiction author when I grow up. Hey!" Tights was suddenly looking at Jaco like he was a golden space goose, her face all drool and dollar signs. "You think I could pick your brain for story ideas sometime? I could make it worth your while," she said, singsonging creepily.

"Uhh...," Jaco said, attempting to distance himself aboard his now-cramped ship and scratching the back of his head with one hand, as one does when in search of tactful language. "Sure? But I think you and these other Earthlings need to be returned to your homes first. Don't you?"

Tights' eyes sparkled. "Cool! I get to see my first re-entry from space! And introduce my family to a real, live alien!"

"Yes, I'm sure that would be...cool," said Jaco, shuddering at the thought of meeting an entire family of, well, her. "I'd have to check with my superiors. But sharing a bit of space travel technology to save future innocent lives couldn't hurt...."

With that, Jaco reported his successful rescue efforts and put in a request for minor technological improvements on Earth. "As long as it isn't significant enough to get his attention," King Gingao added.

"Understood, your Majesty."

After dropping off the rescued astronauts and security personnel at the launch site, Jaco was directed to the headquarters of Capsule Corporation, where Tights introduced him to her mother and father (Bikini and Dr. Briefs), as well as her younger sister, Bulma. The experience proved to be far less terrifying than he had imagined; dare he say, pleasant? The time he spent with them, conversing about various scientific topics and his adventures as a Super-Elite Galactic Patrolman, not only endeared him to them, but seeing Tights play off her parents and younger sister made Jaco view her in a more positive light as well, such that he gave her a communicator with which to contact him. Hopefully, he wouldn't come to regret his decision....

In exchange for his contributions to their aerospace division, Jaco received a selection of Capsule Corp-branded...capsules, which contained everything from portable dwellings and personal vehicles to tools and meal rations. Though none of the technology within impressed him, Jaco took a great liking to the capsules themselves.

Having expressed his thanks, Jaco once more departed Earth, secure in the knowledge that despite the presence of a Saiyan there (not to mention the unusual human specimens he had engaged with), the planet was in good hands for the time being.

*******

Back at Kame House, Broly suddenly sneezed, the force of which carved through the ocean for miles.

"Good thing you weren't facing the house," said Roshi, trying to hide his shock with humor. He was grateful to Jaco for telling him about the Saiyans, but having that information always within his mind's reach changed how he treated Broly, and a part of him missed that short time of not knowing.

He still trained Broly, of course; he had just put more of a premium on meditation and education than strength ever since Jaco left (Broly had that in every suit and multiple decks by now, anyway). Because of this, by age 739 in the original timeline, Broly was able to ride the Flying Nimbus without issue.

Unfortunately, this was also the year when Roshi received a call from an old student of his. It was an urgent summons from the Ox King, whose Pleasant Mountain home had inexplicably caught fire.

"No matter what I do, the flames just keep burning," the usually fearsome warrior blubbered over the phone. "Please, come quickly!"

"I'm on my way!"

"Oh, thank you, Master Roshi!" said the Ox King, then: "No! Chi-Chi, my sweet; stay away fr—!"

But this last was just fading background noise as Roshi hung up and gathered Broly and the Nimbus.

They were a sight for any normal citizens to behold: a small boy with a tail flying through the sky on a yellow cloud, carrying an old man in a turtle costume on his back. Even a few large dinosaurs gave the duo strange looks.

But with Roshi giving directions, they arrived at the flaming Pleasant Mountain in short order, with Broly almost dumping Roshi off in his haste to rescue Chi-Chi, who had gotten herself surrounded by flames.

After this, and a few comedic moments of Roshi, Broly, the Ox King, and Chi-Chi frantically rushing around with water and blankets to no avail, Roshi dramatically stripped off his weighted shell.

"Well, it was worth a try," he said. "Guess I'll have to take care of this m'self."

With that, Roshi's face took on a serious cast. He widened his stance, concentrated, and thrust his hands forward.

Though the Ox King had seen his old Master in action before, Broly and Chi-Chi were amazed when what they had thought to be a scrawny, old man suddenly exploded into a burly mass of muscle, his body steaming.

"Ka...," Roshi's hands began to glow a bluish-white.

"Me...," his muscular arms arced and swept in opposite directions, bringing his hands palm to palm before him.

"Ha...," Roshi concentrated the energy into an orb in the palms of his hands. A wind began to blow on the mountain then, licking the flames into furious life.

With a second "Me...," he drew his joined hands, and the energy they held, back to his hip, completing the wind-up.

Then, "Haaa!" Roshi again thrust his hands forward, and a brilliant splash of that same, bluish-white energy erupted across the face of Pleasant Mountain, extinguishing the flames instantly.

"Thank you so much, Master!" The Ox King gushed. "You saved us!"

"Ah, it was nothin'," said Roshi.

"By the way, Master Roshi, who is that strange boy who saved my precious Chi-Chi from certain doom?"

"Oh, him? That's Broly. He's my newest student! Actually," Roshi added, humbled by the absurd turn his life had taken since Broly's arrival, "I kind of adopted him, too. Say hello, Broly."

Not quite fluent yet, Broly had nonetheless learned some social graces over the last year. "Hel-lo," Broly bowed bashfully. "I named Broly. It nice to meet you."

Chi-Chi hid timidly behind her father's large frame. She wanted to thank Broly for being so heroic, but she grew flustered by the thought that she might have feelings for him. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to gather her courage before Broly lost interest in formalities and turned his attention to Roshi.

"Master, what was light you made?"

"That," Roshi answered proudly, "was my patented special Turtle School technique, the Kamehameha Wave!"

"Can Broly do Kamehuh, too?"

"That's a big ask, kiddo. It took me fifty years to master, and I invented the darned th—."

But suddenly, Broly started copying what he had seen Roshi do moments ago, and everyone stared, mouths agape, as the boy also bulked up right before their eyes. "Ka...me...ha...me...ha!" Broly did the exact same hand and arm movements as Roshi had done, after having only seen it once, and a small beam of bluish-white energy projected forth from his hands, reducing the Ox King's castle to rubble. "Not as big as Master's," said Broly, disappointed in himself, though Roshi and Ox King remained dumbstruck that he had been able to do the move at all.

Chi-Chi, on the other hand, was furious. "You brute! You beast! You monster! You destroyed our home! I'll never forgive you!" With each exclamation, Chi-Chi pressed on both sides of her helmet, launching blade after blade at Broly. Any normal human—no, any tree, any rock—would have been split in two by such attacks, but Broly was only bruised and knocked unconscious, leaving Roshi to scoop him up and flee as fast as he possibly could, apologizing profusely and promising to pay for the repairs.

Chapter Three: Amends, Repairs, Respects

With her home now in ruins, Chi-Chi vowed that she would train and get stronger, so that if she ever encountered Broly again, she would make him pay for what he had done.

And Chi-Chi would train...just not in the way she expected.

As it happened, Master Roshi's attempts to make amends with his old student, the Ox King, went further than simply paying for repairs. Since the cumbersome ox-man and his daughter no longer had a place to live, Roshi guilted himself into letting them stay at Kame House until the repairs were finished. With Broly and Chi-Chi forced to share a residence, domestic life on the small island was strained, to say the least. Roshi and Ox King had a mutual respect and a long-standing friendship, but Chi-Chi loathed Broly with every fiber of her being, such that, when repairs began on the castle, Roshi had to discontinue Broly's normal training routine and sent him away each morning to spend his days assisting the construction crew, as a way of making amends of his own.

Of course, Broly proved to be a massive help in the construction efforts. As he was already hilariously stronger than any human, Broly saved time and manpower by hauling rubble, steel girders, and even some construction equipment with his bare hands, to the crew's shock and gratitude (kind of like when Goku and Krillin had to do similar tasks in the original series).

Meanwhile, Chi-Chi managed to brow-beat Roshi into training her as he had Broly (though her training was more authentic to the original series, life-or-death comedy included). Ox King was very protective of her at first, but he also supported his daughter's goals and, having gone through the training himself as a young man, could better prepare Chi-Chi for what she would have to go through, and promised to continue her training once their castle was rebuilt.

When the time came for father and daughter to return home, they and Roshi arrived at Pleasant Mountain to find Ox Castle looking better than it ever had before, and a humbled Broly waiting for them.

Ox King was extremely grateful to see his castle standing again. But Chi-Chi was stewing at the sight of Broly standing before her restored home. She couldn't decide whether she was also grateful for his help, still angry at him for destroying it in the first place, or terrified that he might destroy it again right now.

Roshi sensed this from her, and said, "Broly, isn't there something you would like to say to the young lady?"

Broly reluctantly approached Chi-Chi and bowed to her. "Broly is sorry he did Kame-huh to Chi-Chi's home."

Chi-Chi flinched at Broly trying to say the name of the attack. "Idiot!" she shouted, delivering a karate chop to the back of his head that, thanks to her strength training and his relaxed state, drove him head-first into the ground, burying him up to his neck. "I still won't forgive you for what you've done, you know? Next time we meet, I'm gonna kick your butt, and then you'll really be sorry! Humph!" With that, Chi-Chi turned and stormed off toward the castle entrance, the Ox King spewing nervous reassurances in her wake.

"That girl is terrifying," said Roshi as he extracted a dazed Broly from the ground and carried him home.

Many days passed without incident thereafter. Broly resumed his original training routine, now including daily Kamehameha practice in place of the Nimbus test. But when the local news reported a full moon would appear within the week, Roshi decided to reveal the Three-Star Dragon Ball to Broly for the first time, effectively choosing the boy to protect the orb, should...something...happen to him. Further preparations included Roshi contacting his sister, Fortuneteller Baba, and his old training partner, Son Gohan, to inform them of Broly's nature and existence. Most importantly, Roshi also instructed Broly to remain indoors on the night of the full moon, explaining that there were super-strong monsters in the world who only came out at those times to feast on children, like Broly.

Perhaps it was Broly's Saiyan thirst for combat rearing its ugly head. Perhaps he took his Master's earlier words about always preparing for stronger opponents and fighting to defend his loved ones a little too seriously. But in the days leading up to the full moon, Roshi noticed that Broly had started pushing himself harder, training for longer periods, with longer distances and increased weight, suddenly desperate to make himself stronger at a faster rate. And when the dreaded night came, Broly ignored Roshi's warnings and stepped out into the full moonlight, eager to defend his Master and his home from the monsters that supposedly came out on nights like these to feast on the innocent.

Broly gazed up at the moon, and his mind immediately flooded with a primal feeling that he hadn't experienced since first arriving on Earth. Broly's consciousness disappeared in a blinding flash of silver.

Unfortunately, language cannot always properly convey a horrifying situation. With nothing but Jaco's description of "giant, strong, furry, breathes lasers, not good" to go on, Roshi was totally unprepared for the sight of his young charge transforming into a kaiju-sized were-monkey. He did manage to collect himself and prepare a Kamehameha to blow off Broly's tail, but it was too late and the move was taking too long to charge.

Broly woke the next morning amid the ruins of Kame House to find his clothes gone and...wait. Where was Roshi?

"Mas-ter?" Broly called out, his voice breaking. His throat was sore for some reason, as if he had been screaming all night. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember the previous night at all. "Can you hear Broly?"

"Ro-shi?" He called again, now frantically digging through the rubble. After some time, he uncovered the Turtle Hermit's body.

"Is Roshi okay?" Broly asked, but there was no response. He repeated the question, trying to shake his battered Master back to consciousness. But his efforts were in vain; Roshi's body was crushed, twisted, and bloody. The old man who had raised him despite his strange origins, who had taught him peace and control and pushed him to embrace his strength, was dead.

"Broly help Roshi." In his sorrow and denial, Broly kept repeating those three words, recalling how the old hermit had helped him those years ago.

Yeah, sonny; Roshi help Broly.

His sorrow gave way to anger, and his mantra increased in volume as he beat the sand with his fists again and again, shaking the island, tears streaming down his face, and his words devolved into a scream so loud that even the largest predators, miles away on the mainland, fled in terror of the sound.

This tantrum went on for hours, Broly burning through his sorrow and rage and self-hatred. He should have listened to his Master. He should have stayed inside instead of trying to fight that thing, whatever it had been. Despite his training, he still wasn't strong enough. He wasn't prepared for such a fight. He had let his emotions get the better of him, and not only had he almost gotten eaten for it—or so he assumed—but he had lost the only person he ever truly cared about. What's more, he realized, he was doing it again right now. If he was ever to meet anyone he might care about in the future, he had to keep training, to protect them, to protect himself from future loss, to use this loss as a learning experience and continue Master Roshi's teachings. He had to get his emotions under control.

And so he did. After some weeks of meditation, Broly calmed himself and finally came to grips with Roshi's passing, whereupon he buried his Master's body on the beach. Though the full moon continued for some of this time, Broly remained in a meditative state. While he did not look at the moon or transform, unbeknownst to him, his body was slowly absorbing the moon's energy (much like Broly did on Vampa in the Dragon Ball Super movie, but far less intense).

Using his experience at the construction site on Mount Pleasant, Broly managed to rebuild Kame House from the existing materials, all by hand. He stayed indoors during every full moon thereafter, adopting a hermit lifestyle and following his most recent training routine to the letter, so as not to dishonor his Master's memory.

One day, there came a knock at the door. Broly opened it and was surprised to find a purple-haired witch riding a crystal ball, and an old man dressed in traditional Chinese garb staring back at him. Afraid that these two had come to steal his Master's Dragon Ball, Broly took up a fighting stance. But the old man surprised him.

"So you're Roshi's grandson, eh?" said Son Gohan.

"You...know Master?"

"Know him?" Son Gohan chuckled. "He was my training partner for years. I'd recognize that stance anywhere! To think he finally took on a student after all this time...."

"And Witch Lady?" Broly asked.

"How dare you, ya impudent whippersnapper!" she said. "I happen to be Muten Roshi's much younger sister"—she's actually a few hundred years older than Roshi—"the legendary Fortuneteller, Baba! How about a little respect for your elders, kid?"

"Sorry, Witch Lady Baba," Broly said, after struggling with the "Fortuneteller" part.

"Eh, good enough, I suppose," said Baba. "Now where'd you park that lecherous brother of mine? I'd like to pay my respects."

"As would I, my young lad," Son Gohan added.

"What a load of crap!" Baba snapped. "You just came here to see if the old fart's H-Mag collection outlasted him, and you know it!"

"It's not...," Son Gohan trailed off. "the only reason...." He was hoping Roshi's infamous collection hadn't been destroyed, but he genuinely wanted to pay respects to his old training partner, as well. And there was the matter of Roshi's pet phoenix to consider, and—.

"Where is Turtle?" Broly asked suddenly. Between grieving, rebuilding Kame House, and his obsessive focus on training, he had forgotten Turtle even existed.

"We passed him on the way in," Son Gohan answered. "He said he was going out into the forest to pick mushrooms. He'll be back; don't worry."

With that, Broly relaxed a bit, and led the two outside and to the backside of the house, where a raised patch of sand waited with a large turtle shell backpack protruding from one end: a makeshift tombstone, where Broly had crudely scribbled "ROSHI" on its surface.

The three of them simply stood quietly, looking at the sandy mound that covered Roshi's body.

When the time felt right, Baba broke the silence: "Would you two give me a moment alone with my brother?" She took Gohan's hand and stared him in the eyes, as if sharing something with the old man that only he would understand.

Gohan nodded and said, "Come on, Broly; I'd like to spar with you for a bit, so I can see what that old partner of mine has been teaching you."

The two return to the front of the house, leaving Fortuneteller Baba to her business with Roshi. As Son Gohan gauges Broly's strength and technique, a brief glow can be seen from behind Kame House, followed by the barely audible swinsh! that typically accompanies imperceptible movement in the series.

Prior to arriving at Kame House, Baba and Son Gohan came to an agreement that Broly not witness her Otherworldly activities, as seeing her help the spirit of his deceased Master pass into the afterlife might confuse and further traumatize the boy.

Son Gohan became concerned about something else during their sparring session, though. "You seem...repressed, Broly," he said at one point.

"Broly have...," he paused, as if searching through all of the words he knew. "Bad feelings. Make Broly stronger, but can't control. Broly tried to be strong, protect home. But Broly could not protect Master from moon monsters. So Broly train to not feel, so...," another pause, as he thought about something Roshi had said. "So people Broly hold dear not get hurt."

So that's what he thinks happened, thought Son Gohan. If that's how he feels, maybe it's best that he doesn't know the truth about why Roshi really died.

"You know, Broly," he said. "If you'd like, you can come train with me. Your Master and I trained under the same Master—Mutaito, his name was—so who better to keep your training going than me, right?"

"Thank you, Son Gohan," the boy said sadly. "But Broly just wants to be alone for now. Better for others that way."

"Suit yourself, kiddo." Gohan shrugged wearily before walking away to rejoin Baba, who had swinshed back a moment ago. "If you change your mind, though, my door's always open!"

"Okay." Broly waved goodbye, and went inside while they retrieved the phoenix and floated across the water on Baba's crystal ball, on their way back to Son Gohan's home on Mount Paozu.

The two could be heard bickering with one another halfway across the sea, like an old, married couple, before breaking into raucous laughter at their own, trivial spat. Where grief had driven Broly to solitude, it turned out that the same loss had also kindled a relationship between Baba and Gohan.

This would not be the last time that Broly and Son Gohan would meet, and when they did cross paths again, it would not be for training reasons.

To Be Continued....

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It may be obvious, but the differences from the original Dragon Ball storyline are already huge. Broly's on Earth, Goku (called Kakarot in this because he never came to Earth) is off on missions with his older brother, Raditz (we'll get to that much later), Jaco is much stronger and working on being less of a goof (and will soon have a reunion with Tights and her family, after he checks in on the Oozaru reading on Earth, because Broly), Roshi died instead of "Grandpa" Gohan (also because Broly), kindling a relationship between Gohan and Roshi's sister, Baba, the Phoenix doesn't die of food poisoning this time, and Chi-Chi is set up as a childhood rival for Broly, rather than a romantic interest. How will Broly (a character who is already hundreds, if not thousands, of times stronger than Goku was at about the same age) interact with the Dragon Ball world? Will he have pretty much the same adventures, just fast-tracked because he's so strong? Or will things deviate massively? I think you all know the answer to that; the only real question now is how they will deviate.

Thanks for coming with me on this AniMonday Filler journey. I hope to have what I promised ready for you all by next Monday. Until then, stay tuned for the next exciting adventure of Isekai "Quartet" Z!

AniMeister,

Out.