Nathan Finch, a 22 year old man who had died just moments ago, is now having a conversation with the god selected to guide his soul to another realm.
"Can I go now?"
Obviously the conversation is going quite well.
"Listen, I know you're angry about--"
"I'm not angry, I just don't see the point in continuing this conversation when it's kind of pointless." The young man said, interrupting whatever words of comfort that the god was about to speak.
"Why do you think that?" The god said with a reassuring smile, wanting Nathan to see that there was hope even while he was in this bleak situation. "It's not all that bleak."
"I'm dead." Nathan stated bluntly with a blank stare. "Don't really see the bright side."
"You can be reincarnated?" He says, more so so as a question, hoping that it would at least get his curiosity.
Hearing this, Nathan raised an inquisitive eyebrow, tilting his head a small bit as he felt his curiosity rise. "Really?"
"In Dragon Ball." The god revealed with a smile.
Nathan's face reverts back to its original blank expression before he muttered a small, "Oh god no..."
"What? Oh, come on! Dragon Ball is the best universe!" The god proclaimed with an almost child-like tone. "Besides, aren't you a big fan? I thought you would love to go there."
"I am a big fan. I love to watch it." Nathan specified. "But it would be an absolute nightmare to live in. That universe is filled with villains how many that can take out planets as if they were nothing more than ants."
"It's not... all that bad..." The god said, slowly realizing the point that Nathan was making.
"Frieza, King Cold, Cell, Buu, Beerus, Zamasu, Gas, everything even remotely related to the Tournament of power, Mo--" Nathan suddenly stopped on the middle of his list of villains, taking a closer look at the god in front of him.
"What?" The god asked, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious.
"You're a Dragon Ball fan, aren't you?" Nathan asked with a soft, curious tone.
The god's eyes suddenly widened before he let out an obviously fake laugh, trying to play off the accusation. "Whaaat...? W-What makes you say that?"
"No disrespect, but the get up you have on kind of looks like a Saiyan cosplaying as a God of Destruction." Nathan replied lightheartedly, pointing at the long, spiky blonde hair and the outfit the god was wearing. "Just a little."
The god looked down at himself before his eyes suddenly widened with some sort of realization.
"No... I just... like this look." The god defended weakly, waving his hand in front of him, trying to brush it off.
Nathan looked at the god with a very amused look on his face, shaking his head at him, "I'm sure you do."
The god stood there with a very embarrassed expression on his face, causing Nathan to chuckle a bit.
The fact that the god was almost acting as though he was a young child was not lost on him, and he found it quite endearing.
"So how is this supposed to happen?" Nathan asked, looking around at the black void for anything out of the ordinary.
Why a black void?
Well, the god found the setting appropriate considering the circumstances, he also found that the usual white void that the other gods use was a little too bright for his liking.
"Is there like a portal... or a rift...?"
Surprised by his question, the god stood up straight and couldn't help but ask, "I thought you didn't want to go?"
"Do I have a choice?" Nathan asked almost immediately after.
"Uh... Not really..." He muttered, just barely loud enough for Nathan to hear his answer.
"Then what use is there complaining about it?" Nathan asked with a casual shrug of his shoulders.
His eyes widened once again at the calm rationality that the mortal was exhibiting before the god absentmindedly snapped his fingers, which caused a giant machine to appear in the middle of the two.
Looking at it with a mix of curiosity and caution, Nathan observed the machine for a few seconds before looking back at the god and asking, "What is this thing?"
"Step inside and all will be revealed." The god said cryptically as he held his arms towards the machine with dramatic flair.
Nathan raised an eyebrow and just stood there, waiting for an answer.
"Come on, man, it's part of the experience..." The god said with disappointment as he saw Nathan not playing along with his showmanship.
Nathan looked towards the machine, then back to the god, then back to the machine before taking in a deep breath, letting out a long sigh, and stepping inside.
The machine lights up and a beam of green light shines over the body of the young mortal, almost like it was scanning him.
"Is it supposed to feel all... tingly?" Nathan yelled over the sounds of the machine, barely able to hear himself think.
His entire body felt like it was on pins and needles.
"Yes, it's completely normal!" The god yelled back, standing beside the machine, looking at something that Nathan couldn't see from his current angle.
After a few seconds, the green light shining over Nathan suddenly turned off and a pleasant beeping sound played.
On the outside, the god looks at a monitor that was connected to the machine, waiting as an image formed on screen. When the picture was finally complete, the dod's eyes almost popped out of his head once he saw what was displayed.
"Well that can't be right..." He muttered softly to himself.
"Why is there a picture of Goku Black?" Nathan asked as he looked at the picture, now suddenly standing right next the god.
Not noticing that Nathan was suddenly standing right next to him, the god jumped up a bit at the unexpected close proximity before calming himself down and explaining.
"This is something new I wanted to try. Usually people just get casted into a new world with powers. I wanted to be a little more... unique." He said with a little smile.
"And what does that have to do with Goku Black?" Nathan asked, still wondering why the picture was there.
"I was getting to that." The god added before saying, "The device scans you and sees which Dragon Ball character you are most compatible with."
Nathan suddenly furrowed his eyebrows, showing a bit of hostility, which confused the god before he said, "I'm not gay."
The god flinches back at the weird statement before looking back between him and the image of Goku Black and realizing why Nathan had suddenly become hostile.
"No, no, no! That's not what I meant by compatible! I meant which character is the most compatible for you to be reborn as!" The god quickly explained, resolving any misconceptions the young mortal had.
"Oh, that makes a lot more sense." Nathan muttered, now having the situation explained to him. He looks at the image with curiosity before asking, "So I'm most compatible with Goku Black?"
"Yes..." The god answered hesitantly.
"Why?" Nathan asked, curious as to the reason he was compatible with a psychotic, mentally deranged, genocidal maniac.
The god presses a button on the side of the scanner and the machine begins to whir as it prints out a long piece of paper.
The god grabbed the paper and started to read from it. "Uh, apparently, the compatibility scanner saw that you, uh... have some similar qualities that make you compatible with Goku Black..."
"Like what?" Nathan asked.
"Complete and utter disdain for the human race..." He said, looking at Nathan with a newfound sense of caution.
Nathan hears this description and he tilts his head a bit, thinking on that comparison. "Eh... Yeah, that's fair..." He nodded his head in acceptance.
"You... You're not even going to deny it?" The god asked.
"Why would I? It's true." He shrugged.
Moving along from that can of worms, the god read more from the paper. "It also says that you tend to enjoy seeing people go through physical bodily harm..."
"I think that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but I can see why it says that..." Nathan says, not exactly thinking it was true, but it was still accurate to a degree. He looked back towards the machine and asked, "So what does all this... compatibility stuff mean?"
"Well, you can either choose to be reincarnated as... Goku Black..." The god said with obvious apprehension, not really trying to hide it. "Or as yourself, but I will give you any four things you wish for if you choose Goku Black." He told him quickly before he could choose himself.
"That's an... odd number..." Nathan muttered, his eyebrows furrowing before shrugging it off and saying, "I wish for the powers of Misogi Kumagawa."
"Technically that was an even number..." The god says, looking away from Nathan as he didn't want to be subjected to his unamused gaze. "And nice try, but they have to be related to Dragon Ball in some way."
Nathan raised a brow at the distinction, but didn't really mind it that much as he asked the next question on his mind, "And why is that you're giving me wishes anyway?"
The god snapped his fingers, causing the machine and paper in his hands to disappear before he turned his gaze back towards Nathan to answer his question. "Well, you would be the first mortal that I would reincarnate in someone else's body. I wanted to make it a special occasion."
Nathan looks at the god with narrowed eyes, not believing a word of that.
"What the-- Has anyone ever told you that you're a very untrusting person?" The god asked once he saw Nathan's suspicious gaze.
"No one has ever taken you up on the offer, have they?" Nathan asked with a smartass smile.
The god's eyes widen once more before he slumped over with a depressed sigh. "No..."
"Did you offer them wishes too?" Nathan asked a follow up question.
"Yeah. First I offered them one wish, then two, then three. None have taken it yet." He answered with a tone of sadness.
His answer caused Nathan to look at him with a raised eyebrow, "What characters are so bad that they would rather start with nothing than a pre-existing character with wishes?"
"Well, they don't exactly start with nothing. Like if you chose to be reincarnated as yourself, you would still be reincarnated with something unique about you." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Something unique?" Nathan questions.
"Yeah, it's depends on the universe you head into. Since you're heading into Dragon Ball, you'll have a set of predetermined choices to chose from." He said as he pulled out a futuristic data pad from out of nowhere. "Legendary Super Saiyan... Majin... and Super Namekian."
"Those are... without wishes, yeah?" Nathan asked, not liking any of those options if so.
"Mhm." Nodded the god.
"Then I think I'm good..."
The god shrugs and drops the pad on the floor. Instead of hitting the floor normally, the pad just disappears from the room entirely before it could hit the ground.
"Well, those are your choices." He stated before going on to explain further. "Everyone gets something different. If you had Naruto then you could chose your clan. If you had One Piece then you could chose a Devil Fruit. If you had-"
"Okay, I thing I got it, thanks." Nathan interrupted the god before he could continue on with his rambling.
"My bad..." The god apologized as he rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward smile.
"It's fine." Nathan waved it off, not at all bothered. "But you still didn't answer my question. What characters did they matched with that were so bad that they turned down wishes?"
The god scratches his cheek, "The person I offered one wish to was heading to Dororo and the scanner had picked Hyakkimaru."
That one made Nathan scratch his head on confusion. "What's so bad about him?" He asked, never having watched that anime.
"Uh, well..." The god thought about how to put together his next words, not really knowing how to explain. "Imagine parents selling off your body parts when you're a baby, and then you live."
"Oh... Ooooh..." Nathan gains a look of realization and slowly nods, agreeing with whoever rejected. "That's... Okay... And the... second person?"
"He was heading into DXD and he matched with Issei Hyoudo..." The god added.
Nathan facepalms at this bit of information. "Aren't we getting reborn? Doesn't that mean he could've just... not been a pervert?" He asks.
"I told him that, but he said that it was about the principle..." The god answered.
That answer cause Nathan to let out a loud groan. "I'm almost afraid to ask about the last one..."
"Well, actually the last guy, who I offered three wishes, was heading to Berserk when--"
"He matched with Guts?" Nathan said almost immediately.
That last one was honestly pretty obvious considering the the universe. Berserk was like the 40k of anime. No one wants to go to Berserk, and no one wants to be Guts.
No one that's sane anyway...
"Yeah..." The god said with a sigh.
Nathan nodded his head in understanding.
"No amount of wishes can make that shit worth it. You know that, right?" He asks the god.
"Yeah, I know..." The god answers. "...That guy really put up a fight too..."
"Good man..." Nathan said.
Having gotten his answers, Nathan looks at the image of Goku Black and then back to the god.
"Fine. I'll take Black. But only because my other choices aren't really that appealing." He says with a shrug of his shoulders.
"What about Legendary Super Saiyan?" The god asked curiously.
"I don't get the wishes, right? Which means I have to gain control of Legendary Super Saiyan on my own?" Nathan asked, to which the god nodded his head. "That alone is enough for me to not want it. And which version of Legendary Super Saiyan is it?"
"Uh..." The god summoned the pad from before and read from it again, going into the fine print. "The... um... Z version..."
"You mean the version that turns you into a genocidal berserker all while slowly killing you because of the overwhelming amount of power?" The god nods slowly and Nathan shakes his head. "Yeah, Goku Black is honestly the best option out of the four..."
"Yeah, that's probably your best option." The god sighed. "Plus, you get four wishes. So it's not the worst thing in the world."
"Yeah, but I'd still much rather have gotten reincarnated into something more peaceful..." Nathan muttered before thinking about his wishes.
He knew that they needed to be ones that help him both in the short and long term, but there is isn't anything he could think of that would help him out that much early on.
"Is there any way to make me stronger than the average Saiyan?" He asked the god after drawing some blanks.
"There's one..." The god said hesitantly.
"What is it?"
"You could wish to be an Ancient Saiyan instead of a regular one. Your transformations will be more powerful, but they'll also be harder to master." He told the young mortal.
"Why's that? What makes an Ancient Saiyan so much more powerful?" Nathan asked.
"Well, it's because Ancient Saiyans have the innate ability to draw out every ounce of power from the Super Saiyan transformations. But the trade off is that your rage will be a lot harder to gain control of than if you were just a normal Saiyan." He explained.
Nathan ponders on it for a moment before asking another question, "How much more powerful are the transformations?"
"Double." Answered the god.
"So let's say I obtain Super Saiyan 3. Instead of a 400x multiplier--"
"You'll get a 800x multiplier, yes. Plus another 1.6x boost when you actually master the form since the time it takes to master the transformations are considerably longer. So that would bring it up to..." The god trails off as a calculator appears in his hands.
"Mastering Super Saiyan 3 is a 1.6x multiplier..." He mumbles to himself as he inputs the numbers onto the calculator
Nathan raised an eyebrow at the sight before him. He never thought a god would need to use a calculator, but I guess even gods need help when dealing with math.
"800 times 1.6... A 1,280x multiplier in Super Saiyan 3." He said, causing Nathan's eyes to go as wide as saucers. "Not anywhere near the Legendary Super Saiyan transformation in terms of power, but it's a good trade off for something more controllable." He added.
"I'LL TAKE YOUR ENTIRE STOCK!" Nathan yells, finding the trade off extremely worth it.
"You sure?" The god asked, a little put off by Nathan's burst of enthusiasm.
"ENTIRE. STOCK." He said, emphasizing each word.
"Alright! Alright! Jesus Christ... You don't have to go all caps." The god muttered to himself, but Nathan heard it just a little bit.
"All what?"
"Nothing." He said immediately, causing Nathan to look at him weirdly before deciding to move on.
"I'm just going to think about my other wishes now..." Said Nathan, wanting this weird encounter to be over as soon as possible.
"Yeah, that would be best." The god agrees.
Nathan thinks about his wishes for a long while before saying his second wish. "For my second wish, I want three techniques." He said as he held up three fingers.
"Whoa there, pal! You can't wish for that! It's against the rules." The god said quickly.
Nathan raises an eyebrow and tilted his head in confusion with the god's statement, "But you never established any rules other than the one saying I can't wish for anything non Dragon Ball related."
The god's eyes widen. Since no one has ever taken his offer, he'd completely forgot to establish anymore rules! "Fine! I'll accept your wish since I forgot to establish the rules, but no more wishing for multiple skills in one wish! And no wishing for any overpowered powers or transformations that break the power scaling either!"
"Okay then, that's fine... Wasn't gonna ask for transformations anyway..." Said Nathan with a neutral expression.
"Good!" Yelled out the god.
.
.
.
There was an awkward silence.
"So can I say which techniques I want now?" Nathan asked.
"Uh... yeah..." The god said nervously, not really sure if he wanted to know what techniques he was going to ask for.
"Kekkai." Nathan said, putting down one finger.
The god's nerves unwinded a bit after hearing that.
"OK. Done." The god accepted.
"Kaioken." He said, putting down a second finger.
The god started to get nervous again.
"Um... couldn't you just learn it from King Kai?" The god asks, hoping to persuade him not to wish for it.
"That means going to the afterlife, wasting time with talking and learning it from him. If I can learn it now, that's at least a couple of months of training on my own that I gain." Nathan stated.
Although disappointed that he couldn't talk him out of it, Kaioken isn't that much of a problem to get worked up about. It might help him a bit early on, but it's not gonna be any more use to him again until he reaches the Super Saiyan God Forms.
"OK. Done. What's the last one?" The god asked.
"Kai Kai." Nathan answered, putting down his third and last finger.
The sound of glass shattering echoed all over the void, which almost caused Nathan to jump out of his own skin.
"What the hell was that?!" Exclaimed Nathan, looking around at his surroundings.
The god however, is still trying to process his wish, "You... You can't really expect me to honor that request..."
"You didn't say I couldn't wish for skills that only Kaioshins use." Nathan told him before adding. "And even if you had, you broke the rule yourself when you agreed to give me the Kaioken."
The god could only hang his head and accept the wish, he was right after all. "Done... Please just make your other two wishes now..."
"Okay then." Nathan said as he shrugged his shoulders, "For my next wish, I want three Ensenji Fruits."
"Oh no! I said you can't wish for multiple things in one wish!" The god yelled at the young mortal as he pointed at him.
"No you didn't. You said that I can't wish for multiple techniques or skills in one wish. You never said anything about items." Nathan pointed out.
The god's eyebrow twitched in anger as he was now struggling to keep his composure, "FINE! But no more wishing for multiple items in one wish either!"
"Okay." Nathan easily agreed.
The god narrowed his eyes at him, not trusting this mortal at all, but he was so mentally drained due to this interaction that he now wishes that it would just end.
"Hurry up and make your last ridiculous wish so I can go watch anime..." He said depressingly.
Nathan raises an eyebrow at his dejected tone, but doesn't really think anything about it all that much. It wasn't his fault that he was exploiting loopholes.
He's a mortal. Exploiting is what they do.
"A pouch of unlimited Senzu Beans." He said.
Just as the god was about to object, he realizes that he would be simply wasting his breath. A pouch of unlimited Senzu Beans doesn't count as multiple items.
A pouch.
A singular pouch.
He chose his wording very carefully.
And just then, the sounds of shattering glass rang throughout the void once again.
"Seriously, what the fuck is that?!" Nathan yelled out, once again looking around at his surroundings. Only this time he was doing it quicker, trying to spot whatever it is making the noise. "We're in a void, how is glass able to shatter? There isn't anything for it to shatter against!"
"Just my shattering sanity and mental state, don't worry about it..."
Upon hearing the god, Nathan stopped trying to argue with the nonexistent laws of physics of the void and turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
The god snaps his fingers and two items appear out of thin air. The first being what looks like to be a Time Ring and the other looks like a Potara Earring, but instead of green, the gem in the slot was purple.
"Those hold your items. The earring holds the fruits, while the ring holds the pouch of Senzu Beans..." The god explains in a monotone voice. "Just open your hand, think of the pouch, and it will appear in your hand. For the fruit, just touch the earring and hold out your hand. It'll appear just like the pouch..."
"Are you... okay?" Nathan asks, feeling quite put off by the god's sudden change in mood.
"I'm fine..." He says as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Alright, first things first, you'll be born on Planet Vegeta. You're both Raditz's and Goku's older brother. You'll also be born with a basic understanding of Ki control. How to suppress it, and basic Ki blasts. Anything else you'll have to learn of your own."
Nathan nods his head before asking a question, "Okay, so what power level will I be born with?"
"Around two or three thousand." The god answered.
"Isn't the king going to want to kill me then?" Nathan asked with a confused expression.
"The king only did that because he was jealous that someone was more powerful than his son. You'll be born before Vegeta, so he'll have no reason to kill you." The god said, putting Nathan's worries at ease.
Nathan nods and continues listening to the god.
"Now, giving techniques is usually painful. Having knowledge shoved into your head isn't really pleasant on the brain. However, I will give you the knowledge when you're brain develops in the womb. You should already know the techniques when you obtain consciousness for the first time." The god explained further.
"Thanks for that." Nathan said, grateful that the god is considerate enough to make the integration painless even though the god seemed to be done with him.
"There's something else I should tell you about." The god suddenly brought up.
Nathan raises an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Goku Black is unique. his Zenkai Boost isn't normal. Regular Saiyans get stronger when they recover from near death. Black's Zenkai works like that, but it also increases as he fights. The more damage he takes, the higher his power rises. Basically, it happens during the battle instead of happening after the battle. There's also the other thing..." The god trails off.
"What?" Nathan asks.
"Goku Black is... kind of a god. Well, his soul is, but his body isn't. So to fully make you Goku Black-"
"I'll need to have the soul of a god." Nathan said, cutting him off. The god nods his head and he lets out another long sigh, "And how is that going to happen?"
"It's not that difficult. Although... you're gonna feel some... burning..." The god said with a little hesitation.
"How bad?" He asks.
"Ranging from mild heart burn to 'kill me now'?" The god said. Although his tone phrased it as more of a question than an answer.
"Great..." Nathan mutters to himself.
The god appears directly in front of Nathan, causing him to jump back slightly.
"Sorry about this." The hood apologizes as he put his palm on Nathan's chest.
A light blue color shines through Nathan's chest, and as the god does whatever he's doing, Nathan starts to feel the burning sensation that he was warned about.
"Oh, this isn't that bad." Nathan stated as he only felt a small bit of warmth in his chest.
"This is the easy part..." The god told him.
The light shining from his body starts to shift from light blue to dark purple.
"Fuck..."
As more of the blue starts to shift, the burning pain Nathan feels starts to grow more and more painful until he couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Rrrrgh..." Nathan groaned in pain.
"Just a few more seconds."
Almost all the blue has disappeared and turned into dark purple. The pain had now risen to unfathomable levels. The light was now spreading, his veins and muscles now illuminated from within as Nathan felt as though he was being burned alive from the inside out.
"AAAAAAHHHH!!!!" Nathan screamed out in absolute agony.
"3... 2... 1!" The god takes his palm away from Nathan's chest, causing the young mortal to fall to the ground... or float in the air, considering they're in a void.
"Please tell me... that it's over..." He says as he clutches his chest.
"Yeah, it's over." The god said, looking at Nathan with a worried expression.
Nathan nods his head, but doesn't try to move himself upright. He looks at his arms, trying to feel anything new.
"Am I... supposed to feel... different? I don't feel... any different..." He asked, trying to catch his breath.
"No, it's your soul. It's the same as it always was, it's just a different energy making it up now." The god explained.
Nathan nods, taking a moment to gather himself. After a few minutes, Nathan turns upright and asks, "So... what now...?"
"This is where my job ends and yours begins." He says, holding up his hand, ready to snap his fingers. "Bye!" The god bids him farewell with a smile before snapping his fingers.
Nathan gets sucked into a rift in space time and disappears into his new life.
Seeing that the interaction was now over, the god let out a tired sigh and summoned a couch for him to slump onto.
"You really got played like a fiddle. Didn't you, Astral?"
The god, now known as Astral, turns around and sees another god in golden armor walking through a golden portal.
"It's not my fault! I never had anyone take me up on my wish thing! I forgotten all the rules!" Astral exclaimed.
"It's fine, Astral. I'm not mad."
Astral lets out a sigh and the god in golden armor lets out a chuckle. Putting his hand on Astral's shoulder, he says some comforting words. "Don't fret. You're still learning the ins and outs of reincarnating mortals. We'll chalk it up as a learning experience."
Astral nodded his head, relieved that he wasn't in trouble.
The armored god looked at Astral up and down, "Also, why are you taking on that form?"
"I, uh... thought it was cool..." Astral answers, embarrassed at the fact that his leader caught him in the Saiyan form that he uses from time to time.
"Yes... well... carry on." The armored god said before leaving through an another golden portal.
Astral lets out a sigh before reverting back to his true form.
"Maybe Hesh and his reincarnator will watch some more anime with me..." He mutters before disappearing to whatever his brother god was currently inhabiting.
[Word Count: 4,863.]