A large Tyrannosaurus was walking through its territory in the forest. It was the most intelligent and powerful creature in the area, so all the other animals respected it. Predators of its kind avoided it.
What happiness that was! When he was hungry, he would approach a herd of herbivores, eat the slowest one, and walk away, leaving the rest of the group terrified. This made them respect him more.
What if he were thirsty? He would go directly to the most pleasant part of the river for drinking. No one approached this spot, so the other animals had to look for water elsewhere, such as downstream.
He slept under the stars on comfortable ground. If he wanted warmth, he had the best rock on which to lie down. If he wanted to mate, there were many females available. He lived like a tyrant! However, things changed dramatically when certain beings invaded his territory. At first, his keen sense of smell detected them.
How dare these strangers enter his hunting and living area? He had to devour them to assert his dominance. He approached them with heavy, deliberate footsteps, making his previous prey anxious.
Those beings should be scared to death now, shouldn't they? He continued walking toward them. However, when they were in his field of vision, he felt fear for the first time since he was an infant.
Those tiny creatures filled him with unimaginable terror! He didn't understand why this was happening. He wanted to scream to clear his mind of that terrible feeling, but his body refused to obey him.
His legs shook, his teeth chattered, his body tensed, and his reptilian pupils shrank so much that they looked like tiny needles encased in amber. He felt like the air he was breathing was insufficient.
Who were these beings? They looked like hairless apes. Despite seeing him nearby, the three of them showed no sign of fear or respect. In fact, they greeted him before ignoring him.
He was only able to move again when they left. However, he soon realized that this was no longer his territory when he saw the group return the next day and arrange strange things on the ground that seemed to protect them from the elements.
It was a nest, and they had decided to build it where he had ruled triumphantly! The Tyrannosaurus knew he couldn't refuse. His body had already surrendered, and deep down, he knew his mind had too.
Fortunately, these beings were not malicious toward him and did not seem to antagonize him. Sometimes, when he was injured from fighting other predators, those hairless monkeys would give him a strange liquid that helped him heal.
On other occasions, they invited him to eat with them. The Tyrannosaurus had to admit that those were the best meals he had ever had. He never thought this devourer of forests could make meat so delicious.
They were so good to him! So, when other strangers carrying noisy sticks and throwing painful stones set foot there, the Tyrannosaurus had a thought: What if they hurt his friends? He wouldn't allow it!
He suffered a lot of damage, even losing one of the horns on his bony crown. This made him look uglier to the females of his species, but he was happy because he had protected the kind beings.
He didn't know if they would leave as suddenly as they came, but as long as they were in his kingdom, he would be their guardian, the tyrant who would protect them. For the first time in his life, the Tyrannosaurus realized that there was something more valuable to fight for than territory or the most beautiful females of his species.
...
"Bulma, did that dinosaur just defend us from those poachers?" Lazuli asked, watching the Tyrannosaurus through the capsule house they had set up in the untouched forest.
The years had changed her. She looked a little older, her blonde hair was longer, and she had a strangely serene demeanor, though a hint of wildness remained between her eyebrows.
"He's touched by how we care for him and the food we give him. We've practically domesticated him without realizing it," Bulma replied. She was sitting on the sofa, typing quickly on a holographic keyboard.
She had also changed. Her hair was much longer, reaching her hips, with bangs across her forehead. She looked a little more mature, but like Lazuli, she looked young and perfect.
How could someone like her, with the resources to stay 'fresh' for as long as necessary, have anything like that? It would be strange if she had even one open pore!
"Mom, what should I get Goku for a gift?" Letty asked in a low voice. She had grown taller and was no longer as shy, though she still spoke just above a whisper.
"If you find a weird bug, that would be good. If not, how about a piece of a Tyrannosaurus's tail? I know he likes it," Bulma replied with an amused smile. In the distance, the Tyrannosaurus standing guard felt a chill.
"Enemies? It's still nighttime!" the dinosaur thought as he looked from side to side, searching for the source of his sense of danger.
"Come on, Bulma. It's his college graduation. I never thought he would do it! I always imagined him as someone wilder and freer who only went to school out of obligation," Lazuli said, intrigued. This caused Bulma to click her tongue.
At first, Goku was perhaps an uncivilized monkey who hated learning anything unrelated to fighting. But the point of being a good tutor is to find the best way for your student to learn.
"Goku likes to eat a lot, especially snacks. So, he would earn a snack whenever he learned a new subject, and an extra one if he got good grades," Bulma replied, causing Lazuli to roll her eyes.
"That's behavioral conditioning! You basically trained him to learn," the blonde pointed out. Bulma shrugged as she wrote.
"Something like that, but not exactly. Once Goku developed a taste for studying and discovered what he liked best, we didn't have to resort to that anymore.
He doesn't want to be a scientist. He's just interested in insects and wants to learn more about them, so he's studying that at university. You used to have to go through biology and such, but remember, my family has money.
Ki can move mountains, but money moves the masses," the blue-haired girl replied before typing her final words and causing the keyboard to vanish.
"The main thing is that Goku's promise is about to be fulfilled. He's going to marry Chi-Chi!" Bulma exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement at the prospect of participating in her younger brother's wedding.
"It's true! By Kami-Sama, I don't know how Chi-Chi has endured all this time. Is that the power of love?" Lazuli asked, looking very unsubtly at Bulma, who understood the message implicitly.
"I know! Calm down; our celebration is already underway. I've planned our honeymoon and everything," the blue-haired girl replied as she stood up and approached the blonde to hug her.
"HAHA! I know you dragged this out as long as you could, but it's okay; I don't mind. I'm used to living with you, and that's what marriage is all about, right?" Lazuli said as Bulma laughed at her comments and hugged her.
"Well, yes. Our vacation has lasted a couple of years, hasn't it? Goku has already had his growth spurt!" Bulma exclaimed. She rested her head on Lazuli's chest and felt comfortable.
"I thought he was going to stay small, like Krillin. How are the boys, by the way?" asked Lazuli, who had only had contact with her twin brother during these short years. Other than that, she had only occasionally learned about the others' lives from Bulma's comments.
"Everything went well! A guy named Ten Shin Han joined Muten Roshi's school, along with his friend Chaos. Did I mention that to you? The kid is really talented," Bulma began, chatting and illustrating her words by waving her hand and projecting a 3D image of what she was talking about.
The image showed Ten Shin Han with his three eyes closed in a meditative pose. Next to him were a small person who was constantly floating and a woman with a strange hairstyle and talismans in her hands.
"Oh, yes, the one with three eyes. You mentioned him to me in passing a while ago. Didn't you say he was an alien?" Lazuli asked curiously.
"No, he's descended from them. His species came to Earth centuries ago and intermingled with the population. He has undergone atavism, regaining some of the traits of his lineage.
I know this because Muten Roshi asked my father to sequence his genome and look for defects that could cause disease. Since I've taken strict health measures and noticed Goku's slight heart weakness, the old man has been alarmed by these things," Bulma replied with a subtle gleam in her eyes.
How could she have known that Goku would suffer from heart disease? At that time, she didn't know what caused it: An Earth disease, an alien disease, a birth defect, or something physiological. After all, Goku was born on a planet with ten times the gravity of Earth.
It was only after she gave her younger brother an extensive medical examination that she realized his illness was the result of a series of accumulated factors. Goku did not fully grow in his incubator. You could say he was 'premature.' Add to that the fact that Saiyans' development is particularly slow, and this becomes understandable.
Gravity: Bulma didn't know how the Saiyans originally did it, but they probably didn't develop microgravity-related problems because of their great endurance and because they usually returned to their planet to recover.
Goku had trained in high gravity, but he spent much of his time in a gravity field ten times weaker than that of his birthplace. This caused him to have slight physical weakness, which was usually remedied by Ki and training. However, if left untreated, it could lead to future illness.
Bulma speculated that these two factors, plus the consumption of Ultra Divine Water in the original storyline, caused Goku's heart to fail, worsening with every great effort.
As for training to the point of extreme injury, he did recover with Senzu Beans, but the stress and cocktail of hormones bombarding his bloodstream did not just disappear.
The Super Saiyan transformation stirs up emotions, and strong emotions affect the internal organs. Add to that the fact that he fought in a practically toxic environment with little oxygen during the destruction of Namek, and it's no surprise that he developed a fatal heart condition.
Luckily, Bulma was there, watching over the health of those around her. She provided deep treatments, conditioning, and training resources that replenished the body's losses.
Even with all her solutions, if Goku still suffered from heart problems, she would have to assume that his problem was a curse. However, since Chi-Chi has vast magical powers due to her arduous training, perhaps that would be invalidated.
"Let's see what else. Oh, yes! They climbed Karin Tower and trained with the master for a while. On a more personal note, Yamcha seems to have overcome his fear of beautiful women and has become a womanizer.
Krillin finally has a girlfriend. As you know, your brother is a forest ranger on an island full of endangered species. It looks like Son Gohan has met a woman with a giant cauldron, and Goku will have a new grandmother.
Muten Roshi is still at home. After being defeated by Goku for the third time, Piccolo went to travel to King Kai. What he doesn't know is that Goku went there with us a year ago.
Do you think he'll be surprised when he realizes that? Haha," Bulma laughed as a series of memories flashed through her mind of what she had done over the years.
They were strange vacations because, apart from traveling and enjoying the sights, they never neglected their training. They even went to the Other World with the help of Kami-Sama. They arrived at King Kai's planet quickly and finished their training quickly because they didn't have to adapt to the increased gravity.
Why did she consider those moments vacations? Because nothing was interesting to do! Deep down, even though she knew it would be counterproductive, Bulma hoped it would stay that way.
At least she could cling to this peace, even if she had to fight with her last ounce of strength!
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AN: TheAnPlayer2 gave me a tip: Promote my original stories every 5 chapters. So, read my original novels: Steam and Heart, Lunar Mechanism, and Witch's Adventure. You may or may not like them, but give them a chance. c: