Power Ripples

Chapter 1

A Slight Alteration

Multiverse:

Noun

"An infinite realm of being or potential being of which the universe is regarded as a part or instance."

Fate:

Verb

"Be destined to happen, turn out, or act in a particular way."

Two words, connected by a strand of omnipotent existence known as reality. At a moment's notice the smallest vibration of the strand could bring a world crashing down or create a new one altogether. Fate however isn't and never will be something that is completely controlled. Everyday fate is changed by something as simple as choosing to have one egg for breakfast instead of two. Fate is easily broken or changed, all a person has to do is will it so, but the result will not always be what was intended.

The multiverse is vast, such as a never ending store. Aisle after aisle, there will always be something different and in abundance, a continuous stream of lives and destinies that change and multiply for eternity. Some are evil, some are good. Some are complete contrasts of one another whilst others would take a person several lifetimes to see a difference. But each universe can and does change at the drop of a pin.

One pin in particular was known to drop throughout billions upon billions of universes at this moment in time: Yamcha, The Bandit of Diablo Dessert. The warrior had been the but of many cruel jokes that had left one too many blows on the man's enlarged ego, eventually making him give in to the role others had built for him: A weak, lazy, narcissistic loser who would never amount anything but a baseball player.

It wasn't like he had never tried or lacked a fighting spirit, what he required was the drive to train. He had broken too many hearts and his had been broken too many times to really fall in love at this point and as such, had nothing personally to fight for but a few friends he saw once every few years. All this put together with his numerous defeats had actually made the former thief a rather unhappy man, and a win over a certain little green monster had wrapped him up in a dream world of victory.

"Wait to go Yamcha!" Krillin yelled with his fist in the air, proud of his friend for besting the Saibaman. If this was all it took, they might not even need Goku's interjection. Even Tien cracked a smirk.

"Oh yeah! Who's the man?" Yamcha yelled, the warrior was so wrapped up in his triumph he didn't even hear Vegeta whisper to the bruised, fallen creature that was slowly rising on one knee.

"You'd better not fail us." the prince of Saiyans said with a glare. The Saibaman nodded with a grunt, slowly gathering energy into its core as the soldier prepared to end Yamcha's and its own life shortly.

Divergences for a universe come in all shapes and sizes, sending powerful ripples through dimensions. A bump on the head, a tail being hit instead of a shoulder or simply choosing to hold a grudge against a rival, all these coincidences and more could result in a new world order. For the universe we currently explore, the change was a mere rock.

The stone had been conveniently placed in front of the bandit's foot thanks to the battle and he lost his footing upon stepping on it, wobbling momentarily. This small change sent a gigantic wave of change into effect as Yamcha caught a glimpse of the demonic vegetable suddenly leaping towards him.

"Look out!" Piccolo yelled at the top of his lungs. The Namekian had doubted that the strange creature had been finished, but had chosen to stay on the sidelines to uphold the warrior code, if even just till they faced the real enemies. This decision would seemingly cost him an ally in battle.

Instinct kicked in as fast as the bandit's favorite animal. Whipping around and still falling thanks to the rock, Yamcha fired a blast of golden energy with all his might. Everyone widened their eyes in surprise at the accuracy that he could achieve in such a situation. But none widened their eyes more than the green monster.

The attack hit it and ruptured its abdomen in an instant when the Saibaman was a mere ten feet away from the former bandit. The energy stored inside the creature was volatile due to being gathered so quickly and roughly, a key component to making the explosion so powerful. That energy was suddenly unleashed in an explosion that covered the space between Earth's Special Forces and the Planet Trade Corporation.

While the Saibaman's body was torn apart from the inside, ending its life abruptly, Yamcha was more fortunate however. The explosion rocketed the bandit away from his former position and he crashed into a large, brown boulder right next to the floating Chiaoutzu, frightening the midget.

The dust quickly settled to reveal Yamcha's body had been indented into the large stone. Gohan wasn't sure whether to laugh at or pity the man as he hung there with a large grin on his face, revealing some broken teeth.

"Hey guys. Did I get the homerun?" the broken, battered and burn mark ridden thief asked as his brain slowly connected the dots of reality. The Z-Fighters all gave a sigh of relief. Yup, he was gonna be just fine.

"Well now, isn't that impressive." Vegeta stated while looking on with a smirk, earning a grunt of confusion from his partner.

"What are you talking about Vegeta? He only beat a Saibaman! Heck even Raditz could do that if he tried." Nappa argued, not sure what his comrade was getting at.

"Exactly. Even if he was a pitiful excuse for a Saiyan, he was still a Saiyan. To think that such a pathetic bunch of urchins could raise their power so much in one year… perhaps I should finish them before they become trouble." the prince thought out loud, earning a groan from his oaf of a partner.

"But Vegeta we never get to have any fun! Can I please get to kill them? I haven't had a chance to maim anything for a year!" the prince chuckled at Nappa's psychotic attitude and finally faced his malicious partner.

"Fine you can have your fun, but let the rest of the Saibamen have their turn first."

During the Saiyans' small exchange, Yamcha was slowly being peeled off of the rock. Tien and Krillin let him down slowly and the former bandit thanked them, saying he was no worse for wear even though his appearance contradicted this. However, as soon as Yamcha's feet made contact with the ground he collapsed face first.

"Just as I thought." Piccolo said with a monotone voice, not even turning around. "It's likely that you broke a few ribs from the explosion and crashing into that rock has thrown off your centre of gravity, not to mention its cut your stamina in half. You're in no condition to fight."

The bandit didn't take this statement well, trying to get up and failing. "I'll show you… what I can and can't do!" The declaration may have had heart, but it was clear Yamcha's part in this fight was over, at least for a while. Although his will was still high, his body wasn't going to respond anymore, let alone take part in a battle such as this.

"As much as I hate to say it, Piccolo's right Yamcha," Tien said as he looked at his comrade's broken body. "Just take a small rest. Chiaoutzu." The triclops looked over to his small friend. "Do you mind taking care of Yamcha, make sure that no debris hits him?" The imp gave a small nod, using his psychic powers to move the now finally resigned Yamcha into a more comfortable position, sitting down and leaning on the rock he had crashed into.

"Gohan, I want you to pay attention to what just happened." Piccolo said quietly to his young pupil. "Even though he's beaten he still has the will to fight. Remember that Gohan: No matter what, always be ready to fight even if it comes at the cost of your own safety... even your life."

The boy's mouth hung open for a bit as he absorbed the information and observed his stoic master. His face suddenly became serious as he turned back to the Saibamen. "Right Mr. Piccolo."

"Um, sorry to interrupt the lesson guys, but I think they're getting impatient." Krillin warned fearfully as Nappa spoke up.

"Baldy's right. Either long-hair over there gets up now, or pick a different fighter. Otherwise we'll just have to go next." The oaf gave a large grin at the fear the Z-Fighters were giving off. Perhaps it was some sort of emotional trigger that occurred as he was finally on the 'right' side of beatings, unlike in his childhood, but he just loved to see others in pain. "So, which is it?"

Piccolo and Tien were ready to step up to the plate and show the Saibamen what for, but found themselves blocked by Krillin. "Hey guys, do you mind if I take on all four? I have a new technique that might just work."

Piccolo gave a dark smirk as folded his arms. "Go ahead, knock yourself out. But don't blame me if you die."

"Are you sure about this? I mean, I'm not even sure if I could pull that off with one move." Their conversation was suddenly interrupted from behind with a small laugh.

"You guys clearly don't know Krillin." Yamcha said with a smile. "If he can't win a fight with power, he sure as heck can win it with smarts." Krillin returned his friend's smile.

"Thanks Yamcha, this is for you!" Krillin widened his stance and furrowed his brows. The monk raised his moved his arms once in a slow, circular pattern, gathering energy from his surroundings and loosening his ki coils. Krillin then lifted his hands above his head and began to growl loudly, focusing and gathering energy simultaneously into his palms as small sparks of lightning appeared in the space between them.

"Come on! I'll take on all of you at once!" the monk declared with gusto.

While the Saiyans smirked at the display, the Z-Fighters could feel the dangerous amount of energy being gathered and had decided to move back further, Chiaoutzu putting a protective barrier around himself and Yamcha.

Vegeta however had apparently seen enough. "Attack," he ordered the Saibaman nearest to him, the green creature charging in blindly without a second thought. It raced forward on all fours like a wild animal, ready to pounce on its prey. This would not happen though, as Krillin suddenly brought his hands forward and fired a gigantic, golden beam of energy that reached the shocked Saibaman in moments, ending its life in a glorious display of power and drowning out its ear-scathing scream of pain.

Krillin wasn't finished yet however as he pushed the blast further, the Saiyans' expressions suddenly becoming serious and the other Saibamen making a run for it. The evil duo smirked once more as the attack was now more inches from them. To their surprise, Krillin, in a display of amazing ki control, curved the blast up into the air where, when high enough, it exploded into several smaller blasts equally as powerful.

The Saibamen had no escape and the Saiyans made no attempt to do so as the attacks hit their targets, utterly obliterating all but three.

"Wait to go Krillin!"

"Yeah!" Came the respective shouts of Tien and Chiaoutzu as Piccolo stuck with his characteristic smirk while Gohan chuckled merrily.

Krillin felt good about himself to say the least. While the Saiyans' powers were still very clearly there, the battle was more than halfway won in just a few minutes thanks to him, Yamcha and Tien. Or so he thought until he heard the characteristic screech of a Saibamen behind him, ending the merriment suddenly.

"Gohan look out!" Yamcha yelled as loud as he could, seeing that a single green monster had hidden away in a small parting between to rocks, trying to end the life of at least one of Earth's Special Forces.

It was all for naught however as the Saiyan hybrid whom was his target suddenly reacted on instinct, twisting around to land a solid kick to the monster's face, launching it back where Piccolo, having sensed its movement in time, ended the beast with a blast from his mouth abruptly, chunks of green flesh spreading across the plain.

The boy's heart pumped faster than a race car. Had he, Son Gohan of 439 East District, just participated in a battle? Sure he had fought with Piccolo more times than he could count but those were nothing more than spars, and he knew that. His life was never in any real danger with his friend and master. He felt as safe as when he studied at home. This however, fighting with his life hanging in the balance and coming out triumphant, it was an all-new rush. His blood was pumping, his adrenaline moving through his body and his senses sharper than ever.

Even if it was only for a moment, his Saiyan side had come out in full force. And Gohan didn't see that as a bad thing in the slightest.

While the boy and monk got cheers and congratulations, Nappa and Vegeta were feeling a little left out as the dust around them settled slowly.

"So Vegeta, now?" the larger of the pair asked excitedly.

"Yes Nappa, now is the time. These humans are clearly stronger than we thought and could pose a problem if they all attacked at once." the prince answered stoically, none too happy with the way his opponents had forgotten about him. "I want you to go all out. Only the Namek lives… maybe the brat as well. He could prove useful if molded properly."

"Understood Vegeta." Nappa replied, the dirt finally settled revealing their completely unharmed forms to their opponents, shocking them beyond belief.

'After an attack like that they haven't even flinched! What are these guys? Please, Goku, where are you?' Tien thought desperately looking to the heavens.

As it happened, Goku ran across Snake Way with all his speed, his face as serious as it had ever been. 'I can't seem to feel Yamcha's power anymore, and if those are the Saiyans then Gohan and the others must be in trouble. Come on guys, just hold on a little longer!' the undead warrior pleaded within his mind, hoping he would make it in time.

A/N:

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of Power Ripples. I've had this idea in my mind for a while and have some huge plans for this fic. Now most of you are probably thinking Yamcha surviving can't have changed much, well I hope you stick around to find that isn't the case!

Till next time, please review! :P