1Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, or any of its associated characters and lore. That right belongs to Akira Toriyama.
[WBP]
Working at Baba's Palace
[WBP]
Devil's Toilet, Fortuneteller Baba's Palace, Great West Desert Area, Planet Earth, Age 749
At the spooky section of the small, if fanciful, residence of Earth's premier fortuneteller for the last five hundred years, Baba's twelve year old alien ward was taking the time cleaning the Demon statues' tongues with a mop as part of his punishment much to his chagrin while Baba's other fighters looked on in amusement.
"Good grief, I tried to swipe the old hag's crystal ball just to look into the past one time and I get burdened with this literal crap." The monkey-tailed Humanoid grumbled as he mopped.
"Oh, Kakarot, you missed a spot." Sang Spike the Devil Man in a smug yet effeminate tone of voice which prompted laughter from See-Through the Invisible Man, Fangs the Vampire, and Bandages the Mummy as well.
Scoffing, Kakarot commented to himself as he kept mopping. "Oh, brother."
"If you were so eager to look at history, then read a history book!" Heckled Fangs which roused even more laughter at Kakarot's expense.
Continuing to ignore the older fighters, Kakarot kept mopping while Bandages said in annoyance. "It's not like crystal balls usually work like how you expected them to, dummy!"
Gritting his teeth, Kakarot tried to block out the taunts before See-Through, who wore an expressive mask to let people know he was there, yelled out. "You should just go native already, kid! It's not like it's Earth's fault that your own people abandoned you!"
Stopping still, Kakarot eventually let go of the mop to look back at the insensitive bastards behind him with a harsh glare that spooked all four as he asked with menace. "What did you just say?!" Cupping his hands together, he then brought out an energy attack at the scared yet guilty looking four. "Ka-me-ha-me-ha!"
The Kamehameha Wave sped straight towards the warriors before Baba herself appeared to absorb the attack with her crystal ball. With the danger subsided, Baba turned to Spike and the others and rudely commanded. "Bother someone else, boys."
Quickly obeying, the warriors showed Kakarot sorry looks before heading out of the Devil's Toilet which left him alone with Fortuneteller Baba.
Sighing tiredly, Baba floated over to Kakarot as he kept his eyes away with a frown and said. "Kid, you got to be careful with the Kamehameha before you do something you'll regret."
"Oh, of course." Kakarot sarcastically replied before adding. "It would be a shame for you to spend money repairing the damages, after all."
"Kakarot!" Baba snapped in anger. "I know they were being idiots, but you could've killed them!"
"Why do you give a damn then, old hag!" Kakarot snapped back directly in her face. "Considering how long you've lived and tend to go to the Other World to avoid planetwide trouble, you don't have a problem outliving everyone you've ever known!"
Baba's anger gave way to a sad expression as she calmed down and said. "Kakarot, I really am sorry that I can't divine why you were sent to Earth and if there are anymore of your kind out there just as I can't find any of your family in the Other World either, but my contracts with the deities there as well as my own Magic can only go so far."
Hearing the sadness in Baba's voice, Kakarot's shoulders slumped in remorse as he said. "It's just not fair, Ma'am. I know it's stupid to expect everything to turn up all right but staying here with nothing else in sight isn't going to take me anywhere." Sitting cross-legged on the tongue bridge, the alien sighed as he told Baba. "I've looked at myself in your crystal ball too many times to count, but all I see is an ape monster in Human skin with no past and no future."
Baba shook her head with a solemn smile as she floated down to sit next to him. "It's true that the future changes in it's direction all the time, but I still hold tight to what I first saw in yours when that space pod crashed in the desert so long ago. That a strong warrior would rise from nothing to become a great hero, if not the greatest, on this Earth and perhaps in this very universe itself."
Kakarot couldn't restrain a scoff at that. "A hero? Me? What could I even bother myself to save? I don't have any friends my own age among other things."
Baba chuckled with mirth. "Then it's about time I let you out in the world, so you can make friends, Kakarot." Laughing at the boy's bewildered look, she added. "I just divined that a certain quest will be underway this year and I want you to be part of it. You'll make new friends, find new challenges, and perhaps find the keys to your past."
"What?" Kakarot questioned as Baba took his right hand as they stood back up.
"Once you're ready, I'll take you to my brother Roshi's to pick something up and then send you to his old student, Gohan." Baba told him. "By September, the rest of the journey will show itself. Have faith, Kakarot, because I do in that you'll find what eludes you."
Making a hopeful facial expression, Kakarot asked. "Am I ready now, Baba?"
"Not until you're done cleaning the Toilet and make up with the others." Baba sternly reminded him before showing a small smile. "And then we can leave."
Nodding, Kakarot then said. "In that case, Ma'am, I'm sorry that I took my anger out on you. You've given me so much to be thankful for that I shouldn't make you feel bad."
Getting back on her crystal ball to levitate, Baba played with her ward's messy hair for a bit before turning away and almost silently commented to herself with a fond tone of voice. "Dumb kid."
[WBP]
Had to come up with something since I hadn't wrote all month, so I did the best I could with this. Don't ask me how good Baba would be at parenting, but since a lot of other writers have used Roshi, Kami, Dr. Brief, and the Red Ribbon Army among others in place of Grandpa Gohan, I didn't see much issue with using this idea.
