Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ This Time Imperfect ❯ Escape ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Comments

It was never specified in the anime or manga on what Dr. Briefs' first name is. I took the liberty of giving him a first name to better develop the plot and characterization of the story.

I've also made up a last name for Goku's Doctor (Dr. Lemon, because Toriyama had a habit of naming people after food). I'm not even sure if his name was even specified in the series (I'll have to look it up on the episodes/manga).

For the most part I've stuck to the canon storyline though I have altered certain scenes and the timeline/ages of the characters to better fit the idea I have for this fan fiction. This chapter is mostly what I consider the boring `filler' part that helps flesh out the plot line. It makes the transitions between Goku's memories a little easier to follow.

(I also made an attempt at comedy so I won't be offended if you don't laugh. I'm sure I suck at it).

 

 

“This Time Imperfect”
Chapter 4

It was at night that I felt the loneliest. With Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan light years away, I felt as though a greater part of my heart had left with them. I missed them terribly despite the fact that it'd only been a week. A week without them was like an eternity. I didn't feel as though I belonged to a team anymore, held against my will in a stupid hospital. It wasn't fair!

As I lay there, gazing at the stars outside my window I hoped Vegeta wasn't trying to hurt them. Judging by the way he behaved in our first encounter I wasn't counting on him to not to. Having feelings for him wasn't going to stop me from giving him a good `ol fashioned ass-whuppin' if necessary.

I continued to pray to God to protect them until I could get there, though prayers did nothing to assuage my desire to know how they were doing. The ever-increasing need to be there with them fueled my longing to abandon my prison once and for all! I was sick of being treated like an invalid. I had training to do and I wasn't getting anything accomplished.

Much to my relief, help was on its way from one of the most unlikely of people.
..
…..
…..

“You're doing well Goku,” Roshi replied, helping himself to one of the daifuku buns that he'd brought. He bit into the moist roll, savoring the flavor of the sweet azuki paste filling.

“Six-hundred-fifty-six,” I counted, completing yet another sit-up.

Roshi sat at the end of the bed and chewed thoughtfully, “It's a pity you're still bandaged up. Those casts are quite a nuisance…”

“N-Ngh,…,” I lay down then pulled myself into yet another sit up. “Y-Yeah, Six-hundred-fifty-seven… This stinks. Nnhgh.. Six-hundred-fifty-eight...Trying to stay in shape and can't do anything but this! NGH! Six-hundred-fifty-nine…” I stopped, laying flat on the floor for a moment, pleased to hear the thunderous sound of my heartbeat in my ears.

“Ah,” He jumped up. “Does Korrain have any of those magic beans of his ready yet?”

I shrugged, “Dunno... Hey.” I lowered my voice to a whisper and Roshi leaned close. “You think you can sneak me out of here somehow?”

Roshi's thought for a moment, stroking his beard, “Hm, I don't see why not but you know that wife of yours might not approve. Chichi's got the temper of a banshee; she might try to kill me.”

“Aw, come on…” I begged. “I gotta get out of here!! I can't keep up with my training if I don't and I want to be in top shape!”

“Maybe so...” Roshi turned, hearing something at the door. “Eh? Ah, it's you Yajerobi. Still hefty I see…”

“Can it, Grandpa!”

Roshi eyebrows shot up, “G-Grandpa?! Who you callin' grandpa?”

I restrained my laughter at the `grandpa' comment and greeted my old friend warmly. “Yajerobi! Man, you're a sight for sore eyes! I haven't seen you since that incident with the saiyans.”

“Oi, Goku you look miserable! I'm surprised that woman of yours isn't around here…”

“She's at the house collecting things for Goku,” Roshi replied. “So we've gladly got a few moments of peace until her return.”

“Ugh,” I pouted, “I AM Miserable! Chichi and the Doctor won't let me leave and I've tried escaping twice! I'm just too sore to fight back worth a damn so I figured Master Roshi could help me find a way out.”

Yajerobi grinned, “Well, this is your lucky day!” He reached into a pouch he kept at his rotund waist and brought out a small sack tied with a draw string.

I grinned, recognizing the pouch right away. “SENSU!”

“Well I'll be damned,” Roshi laughed. “I had a feeling that Korrain would have those ready soon.  You're a godsend Yajerobi!”

The shaggy haired samurai smirked.

Dr. Lemon, who happened to be passing by in the hall, overheard my exclamation and poked his head in. “Eh Mr. Son? You're not up to no good again are you?”

Yajerobi ignored the eldery man, chuckling as he opened the sack with pudgy fingers and fished out a bean. “There's only a few in here. Korrain asked that you try and conserve it. It'll be a year before he'll have more ready.”

“H-HEY!” Dr. Lemon cried, rushing to my bedside. “What are you feeding my patient?!”

Yajerobi sneered. “Mind your own business Doc. There are more important things going on and we need Goku's help.”

The Doctor's face reddened, his moustache twitching, “You can't give my patient narcotics of any kind without me inspecting them first!”

I shivered with excitement, focused solely on the sensu pouch, “Gimme gimme!”

“Alright, alright!” Yajerobi tossed the bean at me.

“Are you listening to me?!” The doctor bellowed, drawing several nurses into the room with the increasing volume of his voice.

Roshi eyed the nurses appreciatively, casually sidling closer to them without seeming too conspicuous.

One of the nurses, a brunette squealed, discovering that her firm bottom had fallen victim to Master Roshi's wandering hand.

“Eh, heh..” Roshi cackled, his cheeks rosy. He flexed his fingers, “I'm an old man, sometimes I don't know what I'm doing anymore…”

The nurse glared, raising her hand to haul off and knock him but one of the other ladies stopped her, “Don't waste your efforts on a dirty old pervert like him…”

“Heh, s'pose so… heh hehhehh. Can't help it when I see a pretty girl… Here, I'll offer you a sweet bun as a sign of peace,” Roshi held out the box to her and the brunette turned her nose up at it.

I quickly sat up not caring about the pain it caused and caught the sensu in my mouth, chewing eagerly then swallowed. “Mmm!”

`Man, these things really taste bad but they sure have an incredible effect on the body!'

My eyes widened as the bean immediately worked its magic, fractured bones and sinew re-knitting and popping back into their rightful place. With a renewed spirit, I leapt out of the bed and did a neat flip in the air, landing clean on my feet. I grinned like a chesire cat. “HE HEH! This is great!”

The Doctor shrieked like a little girl, eyes bugging and one of the nurses fainted dead away, hitting the floor with a sickening `THUD'.

Master Roshi leapt back in surprise, eyeing the unconscious nurse as if unsure if this was to his advantage or not.

I flexed my restored body, flaring my ki and vaporized the casts on arm and legs. “Wow that feels SO much better!” I did a few test kicks and punches just to make sure. I nodded, satisfied to see that my body was in good condition again, “Thank you so much Yajerobi. I thought I was gonna go nuts if I stayed here any longer!”

Yajerobi sneered at the doctor. “Seems like you underestimated my friend here…”

Roshi grinned. “Indeed. Heh heh.”

“…!!!…” Lemon said nothing, his mouth agape.

“Careful,” Roshi quipped. “..might catch a fly with that yap.”

The nurses had backed away to the far side of the room, huddled in fear. “H-He's s-some kind of f-freak,” one of them stammered. The other ladies squeaked in agreement.

Yajerobi turned on them, his thumb at the hilt of his katana he kept sheathed at his side. “Watch what you bimbos say!” He spat at their feet. “He's saved the world many times over so you should be grateful!! You'd all be dead if it weren't for him!”

I knelt to grab the new gi that Bulma made for me from the compartment under the window. I ignored the several pairs of eyes boring holes into my backside, figuring it wasn't me they were staring at but at the tail wagging freely. Bet they were wondering how in the hell I managed to keep it hidden from them all that time!

“Goku,” Roshi gasped. “Your tail!”

“YUP!” Too excited to find a more private area, I removed my hospital gown and began dressing myself. “Keh heheh heh!”

“WHOA!” The Doctor had finally regained his composure. “You can't do that here! This is a public area! Use a dressing room for God's sake!”

Yajerobi chortled, eyeing my rejuvenated appendage with mild surprise. “You think he gives two shits? Hurry up and go do what you've got to do Goku. I'm getting the hell out of here. Hospitals smell funny and the people here are rude. I'd do the same old man, before this place turns into a madhouse.” He tossed me the sack.

Not needing to be told twice, Roshi gathered the box of buns, his cane, and placed his hat atop his head.

In record time I tugged on my pants after making a hole in the butt with my ki, then put on my boots, and shirts. I only slowed long enough to tie the blue sash firmly around my waist, securing the sack to it. I curled my tail around my middle since I wasn't immune to the grip of curious hands. MAN it felt good to be in my old duds again! Those gowns that hospitals make you wear really suck.

“Alright! Thanks again, man! I'm off to Namek!” I approached the window and unlatched the pane.

“Namek?!” Roshi cried. “How're you going to get there without a ship?”

I grinned, “Bulma's Dad is building one for me and I'm gonna go see if it's ready yet!”

Master Roshi nodded. “Alrighty then, but be careful. I've heard that Bulma recently made contact and that there are others on Namek besides her and the boys.”

“I had a feeling about that… I think Vegeta's there too, but I'm not gonna let him get in my way. I'll beat `im down again if I have to!”

The old Turtle Master nodded again gripping his cane tightly, knuckles white.
.
I turned back to the window, pushing the panes further open so I could get through easily enough.

“What are you doing?!” The doctor grabbed my arm and attempted to pull me back. I didn't budge an inch. “That's not an exit!”

“It is for me...” I shrugged him off, almost making him fall over.

Surprised by my strength the doctor stumbled back, visibly trembling. “You're not going t-”

I placed a foot over the edge of the window and launched myself out into the wide open air before he could finish his sentence.

Screams could be heard from the room. The doctor and nurses (the one that fainted had already recovered) flooded to the window, all wanting to see if I had jumped to my death or not.

“Don't get yourself killed again, you hear?” Yajerobi yelled after me, his voice being swept away in the breeze. “I don't want to be the one to risk saving your ass again!!!!!”

I giggled like a little kid and let gravity pull me toward the road below, wind whipping through my hair. Cars screeched to a halt as many people began to notice someone falling from above. I gave them quite a fright before summoning forth my ki and soaring up into the endless blue sky, deciding at the last minute not to summon Nimbus.

The wake of my ki made the glass of cars and nearby skyscrapers ripple then shatter (opse). The reflection of the sun made it seem like millions of twinkling stars were falling from the heavens in slow motion.

“HEh HEH!!”

God, it felt SO GOOD to be free!! At last I could join my friends in their destination to Namek! My heart aflutter, I spun and looped, startling a passing flock of geese; they honked angrily at my intrusion. “Sorry!” I called without slowing.

“I'm on my way!”
…
……..
It didn't take long before I had the vast real estate of Capsule Corporation in sight and I quickly dropped altitude. With one hand shielding my eyes, I searched for the familiar building that resided in the heart of the greatest company on Earth, a place where I'd grown up with Bulma.

I reached the ground, landing with a grace that only one with years of flight experience could accomplish. Placing my hands on my hips, I studied the outside of my second home, the large domed building making me seem like an ant in comparison.

“EH?”

My ears pricked at the sound of a woman's cry.

“Is that you Goku-sa!?” A petite blond-haired woman in a tube top and jeans abandoned her gardening tools and hurried over. “It is you!! Oh, this must mean you're well enough to have left the hospital!”

Bunni Briefs, (Bulma's Mom), embraced me and I chuckled, giving her a warm hug in return. “I took a sensu bean and it healed me up a lot faster.”

“Sensu?” She questioned.

“Eh, just a really great medi-”

“OH! I'm just so glad you're alright!!!” she giggled, giving me another squeeze. “Mm, still as handsome as ever, I see… I wish you'd come visit me more often. I don't get a whole lot of visitors and it's always nice to have a sexy man such as you sitting down for a chat…”

I blushed, despite being used to Bunni's flirtatiousness after all these years. “Ah, well, I'm so busy…”

“Yes, busy busy… You have that wife and child to take care of… How come Chichi never comes by? I miss having another woman around. Bulma's so much like her father that I feel we have practically nothing in common…”

I nodded as Bunni rambled on, feeling a little guilty that I couldn't stay. There was too much to be done and I didn't have the time for idle chat.  “Ah, Bunni, sorry I can't talk much with you right now... I'm looking for Mr. Briefs.”

“OH! You're here for that ship! It's all Izo's been talking about for weeks!” She hooked her arm around mine and led me along the pathway around the house to the back.

“He's been holed up in his lab doing only God knows what, not much company I'm afraid… My, and he has that giant thing sitting in our yard, quite an eyesore… Will you be using it?”

I nodded. “That's my intention.”

She smiled, nodding. “I hate to see you go off so soon… Can't you stay for even a drink? Can I get you lemonade? Root Beer? Anything?”

“Sure, I'll take some lemonade…”

“Okay!” she chimed. “Keep right on going to the back, you can't miss it! I'll be back with something to drink!” She gave me a peck on the cheek before hurrying to the kitchen inside.

“Ah, speak of the devil, Goku-sa!” Doctor Briefs approached me from around the back. “I was just thinking about you and I thought I heard the wife talking so I came running!” He grabbed me into a fatherly hug, patting my back. “Welcome back, m'boy, it's so nice to see you doing well. I thought you were still in the hospital. I was going to come visit you today...”

“Yajerobi showed up with sensu beans and that healed me up real good.” I motioned to the pouch at my waist.

Dr. Briefs nodded, “Yes, very handy little beans aren't they? You should let me test one of them some time. I might be able to come up with a great reme- ah-hah!..I'm sorry… getting a little off track. You know how scatter-brained I am.” He scratched his chin, “You're here to see the ship, correct?”

“Yeah!” I nodded, “Bulma said you were building one for me.”

“…based on the technology I recovered in what little remained of that pod of yours.” He waved me to follow him and I hurried after him to the field behind the house. “Saiyan technology is incredibly advanced compared to our own! The pod you came in is as old as you are and even back then we humans were still struggling with things that your pod was already capable of…Though there was little that remained of the ship, some of the important pieces had survived and I used them to my advantage.”

My mind began to wander as he rambled on about combining such magnificent findings with Earth's own technological advancements. I rushed over to the huge spherical craft (it wasn't difficult to find since it was so freaking huge). I ran my hand along the smooth surface of the hull. “Wow, it's HUGE!”

I could barely restrain my excitement. It was a fine ship. I knew it would do nicely and didn't doubt Mr. Briefs' genius for an instant.

Dr. Briefs nudged me with his elbow, waggling his eyebrows, “You like her then, eh?”

“YES!” I blurted. “When can she fly?”

He grinned, giving the black cat perched on his shoulder a hearty skritching behind the ear, “Immediately.”

“Then I'd like to go now.”

He smiled warmly, “So eager, I've always liked that about you, but let me explain a few things about its capabilities first. There's something you ought to know. Allow me to give you a tour and then you are free for release. …Deal?”

“Of course,” I said, taking an eager step forward, anxious to ascend the steps and do some exploring inside.

Bulma's father was close behind, a child-like glimmer in his eyes. “It possesses every modern convenience that you can find in a typical home.  That includes dining and living quarters, which you'll find downstairs. The difference in this ship from most is its training facilities and the speed in which it travels. Look here.” He motioned to the column at the center of the floor where he'd installed the main computer.

I nodded, listening intently.

“Bulma mentioned that you trained under intense gravity while at King Kai's place in the other world and that it mirrored your home planet's gravitation force.” He looked to me for confirmation.

“Yes,” I replied. “King Kai told me that's why saiyans were so strong to begin with…”

“Mmhm,” Dr. Briefs grunted, fishing in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. “Well, I took that into consideration and designed a little something special.”

He brought a cigarette to his lips, lit it, and took a long drag before exhaling slowly, “I've installed a modifiable gravity chamber.”

My eyes widened, “…and that means?”

Toma Sama sneezed and Dr. Briefs gave the cat an apologetic glance and blew the smoke a little more downwind toward the open doorway. “It means that you can adjust the forces of gravity within this ship up to 100g greater than Earth's gravity. This console is where you can make the adjustments. I simplified its design for you.”

He pointed to a large circular dial with numbers on it that resembled something like a combination lock.

I nodded, examining it closely and trying not to feel stupid because I had no idea what the hell I was really looking at yet. I rubbed my neck, laughing nervously.

“This dial here, you turn left to lower the gravity and right to increase it.”

I nod again. “Left down, Right up, got it.”

“The screen above it will show the numerical readings of the gravity. I zeroed it at earth's gravity so anything above the reading of zero, which you see here…” He tapped the rectangular screen with a large digital number zero illuminated in red. “…will be whatever number greater than ours.”

“I understand and appreciate your patience with me since I'm not much of a science whiz and all… “Thanks a lot Doc.”

“You're very welcome Goku, and haven't I told you not to be so formal with me? I've known you since you were knee high and I insist you call me by my first name, Izo.”

“Eh, heh heh.” I sweat dropped. “O-Okay, Izo.”

The Doctor smiled before continuing, “I've noticed that your body is capable of acclimating itself at a phenomenal rate… With this built in gravity chamber you can steadily increase the gravity to within your comfort zone till you reach your desired power level.”

I beamed, “I can get stronger so much faster this way!”

Dr. Briefs nodded. “Exactly, and I've reinforced the hull so that it can withstand a heavy degree of ki blasts and will adjust to the pressure within during times that the gravity fluctuates. So you needn't worry about causing damage to the ship while your traveling through space …In addition, I've installed a visual communication device that will connect you directly to me.” He gestured toward a larger screen and a microphone mounted on the panel beside it.  “All you have to do is push this little red button. If anything malfunctions I'll be able to run a diagnostics to assist you because I have a wide range connection to the ship's main computer.”

I could barely contain my giddiness, quivering with excitement. “Would I be able to try it out immediately?”

“I don't see why not but wait till you've launched and cleared Earth's atmosphere… Heh, I'm very pleased so see you so excited, but there's one thing that you should know. I forgot to install something vital.”

I leaned in, “Eh? Is that bad?”

He took a final drag before snubbing his cigarette out on the sole of his shoe and placed the butt in his shirt pocket. Exhaling the smoke from his nose he shook his head sadly. Toma Soma meowed and he petted the cat's head, speaking softly, “There there…”

I leaned in closer, ready to strangle him for delaying such important information…

“Well?”

“…I can't believe how forgetful I am sometimes….I forgot to install speakers for the stereo…”

I fell over face first, leg twitching.

“Eh? Goku? Are you alright?”

“Eh..tt…t..t..” I mumbled against the tiled floor, picking my face up enough so that he could hear me, “I don't have time to listen to music!!!”

“..But they're top of the line…”

“That's not important to me!!” I argued, picking myself up.

“heh heh.” Dr. Briefs gave his mustache an idle scratch, “…sometimes I forget who I'm talking to. Well, if you think you'll be alright without them then you're free to go.”

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….To Be Continued…