Chapter Text
The familiar rush of wind was gone. No aura humming in his ears. No weightless feeling in his limbs. Just silence. For Goku, silence meant danger when somewhere unfamiliar. Before that silence, there had been noise, not battle cries, not the clash of fists or the rumble of an enemy’s power, but… strange hums, constant and mechanical. The light wasn’t sunlight either; it was too sharp, too white, buzzing faintly above him. His last memory was the battlefield. Or was it? It blurred in his head, one second, fighting, pushing past limits, the next… falling. But this wasn’t falling like through the clouds. It felt like being dragged through water, his chest caving in, lungs burning. Darkness hit him before he could even shout... Then came the impact.
He gasped sharply, choking on air that tasted unnatural: bitter, metallic, tinged with something sweet he couldn’t place. The floor was cold and smooth, unlike dirt or grass, and it rattled faintly under him. For a moment, he couldn’t move. His limbs felt like they didn’t belong to him, heavy and useless. No ki. No warmth pulsing in his core. Empty.
"Where am I?"
His eyelids fought to lift. Light stabbed into his skull, not sunlight, something harsher, flickering, blinking colors he didn’t understand. His ears caught faint noises: muffled music, voices that weren’t really there, distant explosions that didn’t shake the ground. He forced himself upright, every muscle protesting, breath coming out ragged. His clothes clung damp to his skin; the familiar orange fabric was torn in places, singed at the edges. No blood; small relief. But his body screamed exhaustion like never before. Not battle fatigue. Something else. Like part of him had been… erased.
The room came into focus slowly. Tight walls, strange glowing boxes, piles of unfamiliar things stacked on the floor. A faint hum behind him, faintly alive, like energy, but not ki. He turned his head, vision swimming, and saw it: a screen, still glowing, frozen on an image of… him? Confusion tightened in his chest. How could there be another him on the other side?
He staggered to his feet, legs wobbly, refusing to obey the way they should. The air was still wrong: too dry, too clean, faintly buzzing with static. He hated it. He hated how weak he felt, how quiet it was inside him without the hum of ki. He flexed his hands; nothing. No warmth, no flare.
"I can’t feel it. Why can’t I feel it?"
Panic started crawling up his throat. He wasn’t used to fear. He wasn’t used to feeling… human. A sudden movement caught his eye; someone standing there. Alive. Watching. He froze. His instinct screamed to guard, to drop into a stance, but even that felt strange without his power thrumming through him. He stared hard at the stranger, chest heaving, hair sticking to his forehead with sweat.
“Where… am I?” His voice cracked from dryness. The sound startled even him — too quiet, too raw. He swallowed and tried again. “What… is this place?”
His eyes darted around, frantic for answers, doors, windows, anything familiar. There was nothing. No sky. No mountains. Just walls and lights and stillness. He took a shaky step forward, fists tightening reflexively, knuckles white. His stomach knotted. Where was Chi-Chi? Gohan? The fight? Where was… everything? Goku was visibly confused, now scratching his cheek with his fingernail as he tried to make sense of this quick change of scene.
"Hey! Get out of my house before i call the police!!" (Y/N) shouted at him, assuming he was a burglar who broke into their house. Goku held up his hands in a placating gesture, palms out, his heart racing, and his face sweating bullets. "Whoa, hey, take it easy! I'm not here to hurt you or steal anything." He paused, realizing how ridiculous that sounded given the state of his clothes and the strange room. "I... I don't know where I am. I fell through that thing," he gestured vaguely at the screen behind him, "and ended up here. I'm lost." (Y/N), thinking he's just a delusional, unemployed weeaboo, is still looking at him with an unwelcoming scowl. "And how do I know you're telling the truth?" Goku took a deep breath, trying to calm himself so he could formulate the right words and speak them clearly. "I am son Goku. I come from a world... a little bit like this one. I am a Saiyan -a warrior race. And of all the fights I've had and all the universes I've been to, this has got to be the most confusing thing I've gotten myself into." Goku's eyes searched (Y/N)'s face, desperation etched into every inch of his own. "I'm not a thief, and I have no bad intentions, I just want to go back home with my friends and family."
Seeing the distressed look on his face and hearing the sincerity in his voice, (Y/N) lowered their guard. "I think my sibling (S/N) will know what to do. They know pretty much all there is to your world, believe it or not!" Goku's eyes widened slightly at the mention of a sibling, hope starting to spark within him. He straightened up, trying to stand tall despite the weakness in his limbs. "So this (S/N)... They know about my world? Really?!" His voice was filled with a tentative optimism, a fragile excitement at the prospect of connecting with someone who might understand. (Y/N) walked over to the bathroom, where (S/N) was having a vomiting fit, and knocked. "(S/N)? Are you good to come out? There's someone who I think you'll wanna see. "Goku stepped closer to the bathroom door as (Y/N) knocked, his breath catching in his throat as he waited for a response.
A moment later, the door opened, and out stepped a young person who looked similar to (Y/N), only younger and slightly shorter. However, where (Y/N) had seemed guarded and suspicious, (S/N)'s gaze was curious and bright upon seeing him for the first time. "You... you know about my world?" He asked (S/N) with hope and disbelief warring in his tone. "Are you really Goku?!" (S/N) asked him back, trying to hold back their excitement. Goku nodded vigorously, his wild black hair bouncing with the motion. "Yeah, I am! I'm Son Goku, the Son of Bardock and the father of Gohan and Goten in my world!" His voice rang with conviction, the excitement building in his chest. He stepped even closer to (S/N), in which (Y/N) pushed him away. "Careful, now. Don't want you to catch their sickness." (Y/N) politely warned him. Goku had just apologized, his eyes remaining wide and hopeful. "Okay, (S/N)... I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I fell through some kind of portal or wormhole or something. I was in the middle of a big fight, and then suddenly I was here, in this strange world with no idea where I was or how I got here." (S/N) thought for a moment. "Who were you fighting? That may have something to do with how you got here."
Goku's mind raced back to the battle, the clash of fists and the crackle of energy that had filled the air. He saw the monstrous figure of Broly, his green hair glowing like a halo of fury, his eyes blazing with a madness that knew no bounds. "I was fighting Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan. He's a monster, a creature of unimaginable power and rage. We were battling in the sky, trading blows that could level mountains, when suddenly..." Goku paused, remembering the blinding flash of light, the searing pain in his chest as something tore through him, ripping him from his world and hurling him into this strange, unfamiliar place. "There was a bright flash, and then I felt this weird pulling sensation, like I was being sucked through a tunnel. The next thing I knew, I was here, lying on the floor of this room with no idea where I was." "I may have a theory..." (Y/N) proposed. "I may not know as much as (S/N) here, but do you think it's possible that you were somehow wished here?" He pondered the possibility, his brow furrowed in concentration. "I mean, it was pretty sudden and out of nowhere... And I do feel different... I feel weaker somehow... Like something's missing inside me." Goku's hand drifted to his chest, feeling the absence of the familiar warmth and power that had always resided there. He looked at (Y/N), a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes. "You might be onto something. If someone wished me here with the Dragon Balls, it would explain how I ended up in this strange world without my powers."
(Y/N) smiled, though they didn't exactly know why. "My theory..." (Y/N) began to further explain their thought process, "...is that someone on Broly's side desperately didn't want you to win, so they stole the dragon balls somehow -or maybe some other type of dragon balls from a different planet or universe- and wished you into a whole parallel dimension so it would be impossible to leave." Goku's eyes widened as (Y/N) words sank in, a chill running down his spine at the thought of someone so desperate to defeat him that they would resort to such drastic measures. He had faced many enemies before, but never one with the sheer audacity and desperation to manipulate worlds and parallel dimensions. "So you're saying..." (S/N) interjected "...someone on Broly's side wanted to cheat and make it impossible for Goku to win by wishing him out of his own world and into ours?" "It's possible, but hey, it's just a theory!" "And if it's true," (S/N) added "there's nothing we can do until someone wishes you back."
Goku's shoulders slumped, the weight of (S/N)'s words hitting him like a physical blow. He had been so caught up in the excitement of a potential lead, so desperate for a way home, that he hadn't stopped to consider the possibility that he might be stuck here until someone wished him back. "Nothing we can do until someone wishes me back? But that could take forever!" Goku's voice rose in pitch, a note of panic creeping into his tone. "Well, yes, it could indeed take forever," (Y/N) agreed "but realistically, what other choice do we have? There are no magic dragon balls, let alone magic at all in our world." Goku had a hint of panic on his face. "But... I can't just sit around and wait for some random wish to happen. I need to get home! I need to protect my family and friends from Broly!" (Y/N) sighed. "I know you're worried, but like I said: nothing we can do. Trust me, if I could, I'd have you back home as soon as possible." "Besides," (S/N) interjected "whatever Broly might possibly do, I'm sure Vegeta could fend him off while you're gone." Goku began to pace the room as his mind raced. He couldn't accept the idea of being trapped in this strange world, powerless and helpless, while his loved ones faced danger without him. It went against every fiber of his being, every instinct honed by years of training and battle. "There's got to be another way," Goku muttered, more to himself than to the silings. "Maybe if I can find the person who wished me here, I can convince them to wish me back. Or maybe I can find a way to reverse the wish myself somehow..." After a minute of him pacing and thinking of more unrealistic ways to go back, Goku's jaw set in a stubborn line and his hands clenched at his sides. "I won't just sit around and wait for fate to decide my destiny. I'm going to fight this, the same way I've fought everything else in my life. I'm going to find a way back home, no matter what it takes." "Goku, didn't you hear?!" (S/N) shouted at him, their voice a bit off because of their sickness. "There's no way to fight it!"
"Hey!" (Y/N) exclaimed as they got a bright idea, grabbing the attention of their sibling and Goku. "Since we have no idea how long this is going to take, how about we make Goku here feel a little more welcome here and give him a tour of our world!
To Be Continued