(Where... am I?)
Somewhere in the world of Dragon Ball.
Age 766.
In the most luxurious healing center of West City.
A baby with a tuft of soft blue hair is lying in a pristine cradle, his wide, curious eyes quietly observing the unfamiliar world around him.
He has been in this world for a short while now.
"Wah! What a precious little bundle!" Coos a blonde socialite as she gently rocks the baby in her arms.
Mrs. Briefs, aka Bikini smiles tenderly as she brings the infant over to her daughter, Bulma.
Bulma leans closer, her eyes filled with warmth and affection as she softly caresses the baby's tiny hand.
"My sweet little boy... Trunks."
The baby suddenly shudders as if hearing something profoundly earth-shaking.
(Trunks? I'm Trunks?! I've... reincarnated?!) The child's mind reels. He remembers pulling an all-nighter, scribbling the final chapters of his novel, and now, somehow, he's been thrust into the world of Dragon Ball.
Just then, a mystical chime echoes faintly in his consciousness.
"Welcome, young soul, to the world of Dragon Ball."
"Commencing Spirit Link…"
…
Time feels like it's frozen. The voice, ancient yet strangely mechanical, utters its declaration and fades.
Inside his newborn mind, Trunks feels as though a stampede of ten thousand monkeys is running wild.
"..."
"Soul Alignment Initiating…"
"Synchronization Complete…"
"Spirit Link Activated."
"May the host endure and thrive in this realm."
The voice vanished again, leaving only silence in its wake, while Trunks' tiny face scrunched up as realization dawned on him.
(So I've been reborn... and I have a cheat? But what kind of power is this? What can it even do?!) His mind is suddenly besieged by a violent surge, like a whirlwind howling through a canyon, causing his head to pound with unbearable pain.
"Wahhh! Wah wah wahhh!"
Unable to hold back, Trunks wails out loud.
Startled but not worried, Bulma begins patting him softly on the back, trying to soothe him.
"Oh, don't cry, Trunks~ There, there…"
After a few agonizing moments, the storm inside his head fades. His soul, two in one has finally settled, now whole and unified.
Then, a soft female voice brushed against Trunks' ear, gentle and familiar.
"Oh, right. Where's Vegeta? It's been ages; hasn't he come to see the baby yet?" Bikini asks, her tone half-playful and half-concerned.
Although Dr. Briefs hasn't stayed long at the hospital, he has popped in several times to check on his new grandson.
Bulma shrugs helplessly, her voice tinged with frustration. "He's probably holed up inside the Gravity Chamber again."
It was typical of Vegeta, really.
The man known as the Prince of all Saiyans, forever chasing after Son Goku's shadow, had devoted nearly every waking hour to intense training.
It made sense, in a way. His relationship with Bulma wasn't born of soft romance but rather her bold pursuit. So it wasn't exactly surprising to Trunks that Vegeta hadn't shown up yet.
Suddenly, Bulma pulls a sleek-looking device from her bag, a remote linked to the intercom of the Gravity Chamber. She presses the button and yells: "Vegeta! Have you forgotten something important?!"
Inside the chamber, under gravity a hundred times Earth's, Vegeta is drenched in sweat as he pushes through the final reps of his training.
Bulma's furious voice crackles through the intercom like a thunderclap.
Caught off guard, Vegeta loses balance— his last push-up ends in failure as his body drops to the ground.
He growls, clearly annoyed, and snaps back, "What is it now, woman?!"
Bulma doesn't back down. "Don't you even want to see your son and your wife?!"
"…"
Silence.
Vegeta doesn't say another word, but his pause speaks volumes. Something in her words has struck a chord.
Bulma stares out the hospital window, her eyes misty. Her anger, now tinged with hurt, begins to well up.
Moments later, a streak of energy flashes past the glass. A familiar silhouette cuts through the sky, surging with raw power.
'It's him.'
The man whose very presence feels like a roaring flame barely held in check. With a thunderous crack, the window shattered as Vegeta burst into the room, not bothering with doors or pleasantries.
His arrival is as fierce as ever.
Without a word, his intense gaze locks onto the baby in the cradle— his son, Trunks.
Bulma pouted, her voice laced with mock resentment. "Hmph, I really thought you'd forgotten all about us!"
Vegeta didn't respond. Without a word, he stepped forward and snatched Trunks straight from her arms.
Though Vegeta hadn't shown much concern for Bulma initially, she was already deeply satisfied. For him to arrive at the hospital so swiftly was proof enough of his care, even if he refused to admit it aloud.
Vegeta held Trunks up high, flipping him this way and that, inspecting him thoroughly from head to toe.
And then, father and son locked eyes with each other and a rare smirk tugged at the corners of Vegeta's lips.
"Hahaha! My son, Vegeta's blood flows through him! He'll be even stronger than Kakarrot's brat! He'll become the mightiest Saiyan in existence!"
From Trunks' perspective, the original Trunks in this world had merely played a support role— little more than fusion fodder for Gotenks.
But now that he had taken this body for his own, that fate was bound to change.
Upon hearing Vegeta's bold declaration, Trunks secretly thought:
(That's a guarantee!)
Suddenly, a voice echoed inside Vegeta's mind— clear, confident, undeniably real.
Startled, Vegeta's expression sharpened. His entire body tensed as he scanned the room.
[Who said that?!]
But there were only four people in the room— himself, Bulma, Bikini, and the baby. Only two of them were women, and neither had spoken just now.
He narrowed his eyes.
(Strange... what kind of trick is this?)
The scene shifts—
Vegeta burst out the hospital window with Trunks held firmly in his arms, scanning the skies with a hawk-like focus. He swept the surrounding area with his senses but found no one.
[What kind of sorcery is this?]
Meanwhile, Trunks, still adjusting to this reincarnated life, shivered as the wind roared past. The ground lay hundreds of meters below.
His newborn body trembled, and instinctively, his tail curled tightly around his leg.
Vegeta immediately noticed the movement.
"The tail... Hmph. It's a glaring weakness for Saiyans. I can't let it remain."
With that, he raised his hand, gathering a sharp beam of concentrated Ki, aiming directly at the tail.
Trunks panicked. The fear of heights was instantly forgotten.
(No! The tail isn't just a weakness— it's also the core of Saiyan potential!)
(Sure, it can be a vulnerability, but with enough training, that drawback can be neutralized! The strength it offers far outweighs the risk!)
(And if I want to reach Super Saiyan 4 in the future, I'll need this tail!)
Just as Trunks braced himself for the worst, the beam in Vegeta's hand suddenly flickered out and vanished.
Vegeta's eyes narrowed once more as he glanced around.
[That voice again… There's no one else here.]
He turned back to the baby, eyes narrowing with suspicion.
[Could it be… Is Trunks the one speaking? But… his mouth never moved.]
[Impossible. A newborn can't possibly talk.]
[And what was that nonsense? "The tail is the source of Saiyan power"? Foolish. Everyone knows it's a liability.]
His thoughts flashed back to that fateful night when he first arrived on Earth, transforming into a Great Ape under the moonlight. He had only reverted to his original form after his tail was severed.
Since then, the tail has never regrown.
And yet... a part of him had always felt incomplete.
[Super Saiyan… Four? What kind of transformation is that?!]
Vegeta was currently on the edge of ascending as he was still trying to surpass the threshold to become a Super Saiyan.
Kakarrot's sudden transformation had dealt a massive blow to his pride.
He didn't know what Super Saiyan 4 truly meant, but if it had anything to do with surpassing that limit, he wasn't about to dismiss it.
Whether the mysterious voice was an illusion or some unknown power speaking through his son, he had heard it loud and clear.
On a hunch, Vegeta made his decision: he would not cut off the tail.
Just then, Bulma's voice rang out, tinged with alarm.
"Vegeta! What are you doing?! Hand Trunks back to me— right now!"
Startled from his thoughts, Vegeta blinked and then flew back through the shattered window.
With a grunt, he placed Trunks gently beside Bulma once more.
…
(End Of This Chapter)