Reality Vortex Tales - The Strongest Detective

ShineCero

The Strongest
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Premise: Goku woke up in a strange new world and have no idea how he got there. Before he can ponder on his whereabouts, he looked up at the screen and witnessed the battle of the lifetime between the Breakers and Doctor Victor Von Doom. His mind was full of thoughts, thoughts that he doesn't recall, yet, at the same time, oddly familiar with them. He stood up and venture on his whereabouts and finally finding a new life in this new world he entered.

This is a short story, composed of five chapters, centered around Goku’s life during the three years before the Coin Hunter arc of the story and how he ended up joining the Detective Agency. As usual, this is canon to Reality Vortex and will contain slight corrections on things (and slight retcons). 

First chapter will be released on Monday, 12/14.
 
“But I will not let you make a response… instead, I will send you off to your love ones, so you all become nothing together. Witness my unlimited greatness as I challenge all of you.” Doctor Doom, reduced to nothing more than a mere skeleton in a cloak, boasted his strength at the Breakers who survived his erasure beam. “It all ends here.”

The infamous fight was televised across the newly formed world, where millions of people were transported from their original worlds into this one and witnessed the fight that change the course of their lives. Among the people watching the fight was Son Goku, and just as the others, was utterly confused of the things unfolding in front of him.

“What is even happening?” One can be heard. “I was in the middle of my journey, then suddenly, I saw a bright flash and now I’m here. Did I die?”

“As if I know! I was trying to wrap my head around EVA being a witch, then boom, I’m here now.” Another said. “I don’t feel any different…” He pinched himself and felt the pain. “Ouch... Nope, not dead.”

These were the kind of discussions that everyone had as the battle between the Breakers and Doctor Doom continued. All discussions focused on their last memory before appearing in this strange world. Yet, some of the people have a different experience of their memories.

Son Goku listened in closely and began to ponder. “Last thing I remember was that I was on-top of Shenlong.” He mumbled to himself. Yet, that was not the only memory he had. “No, wait. I was fighting Mechikabura along with the others to stop the invasion of the demon realm—.” His eyes began to widen when he blurted out the name. At first, he did not recall the name he mentions, yet, mere moments later, memories of such poured in his mind, including his appearance, his motivations and those that followed him. Each new memory that appeared in his mind that he cannot recall, only to suddenly know exactly what those memories entail. “Eh… what is this? Why am I remembering stuff… a lot of stuff?” He scratched his head. “This is giving me a headache. Maybe Bulma might explain what’s going on here.” He looked around the crowd of people to sense his friends—but he could not pick up their energy signatures.

“Where are they?” He tried walking through the large crowd, but it was extremely dense and hard to move much without bumping into something. “Bulma? Krillin? Gohan? Vegeta?” Goku shouted, but his voice was feeble in the large crowd. Walking around seems to be futile, so he elevated from the ground and headed up the sky to canvas the area more efficiently. Yet, no matter where he looked, he could not spot any of his friends whatsoever. “Chichi?!” He shouted louder, but to no avail. “Is this some of trick?” Remaining stationary in the air, Goku was starting to worry—this was not the afterlife, nor any familiar dimensions he has visited before. He turned around to the televised screens where the battle is nearly in its conclusion, watching in utter confusion of the predicament. For the first time in his life, Goku felt a sense of conflict of himself as more memories start to pour in. “Where… am I?” Was only thing he could uttered.

9 Months Later

“Garuru Cannon!” Omegamon shouted as he fires a powerful explosive attack from his right arm, shaped like Metal Garurumon towards Goku. The latter placed his arms up to grab the attack, but it managed to push him off near the edge of the platform before kicking the blast up towards the air before exploding. This display led to an uproar and applause among the audience surrounding Omegamon and Goku fighting on the arena stage.

“What an incredible display of strength! Son Goku not only managed to stop the blast but also kick the attack away before it can push him off the edge for a ring-out! I heard that such attack could freeze anything at absolute-zero, but Goku managed to deflect it quite easily! If Omegamon wants to overcome Goku’s perfect run, he needs to find a way to get his guard down!” An announcer shouted. “What will Omegamon do now!?”

Clenching his hands repeatedly after blocking the attack, Goku stared at Omegamon, who’s taking a couple of steps towards the left in preparation of his attack. Lowering his arms, Goku turned his head slightly towards the audience as they continue to cheer at the battle. Staring with disinterest of the battle, he took a deep breath as he waits for Omegamon to make his move. “Alright…” He spoke. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Grey Sword!” A blade appeared out of Omegamon’s left arm, shaped like War Greymon, as he dashed forward, dragging it against the marble floor towards the Saiyan.

“Once again, Omegamon takes the offense! How will Goku get around the famous Grey Sword that can cut through dimensions!?” The Announcer shouted.

Goku analyzed Omegamon’s movements carefully and dodged all his attacks with precise mobility and jumped away to gain a decent amount the distance between them. Omegamon raised his left arm in the air and gather energy, causing the blade to become extremely bright. “Sword of Ruin…!” Swinging his sword once, it unleashed a wave of explosive energy towards Goku, urging the latter to jump towards the air to avoid getting hit.

Taking advantage of such, Omegamon appeared above the Saiyan and swung his sword to slice him in half. Goku narrowed his eyes and jumped to the side, only to have his stomach pressed by Omegamon’s right arm. “Garuru Cannon!” A powerful sphere of energy formed on Goku’s stomach, hurling him downward until he crashed against the arena. As clouds of smoke kick up, blocking the audience from seeing the fight, Omegamon dove right in, driving his blade forward for the final strike. “Omega Sword!” A bright white aura flourish around the sword, leaving a trail of energy in its wake.

A sudden flash of yellow energy billowed within the smoke clouds. Goku, although a bit damaged, transformed into his Super Saiyan state. “Ka…me…” Placing his left foot forward, he cocked his right arm back. “Ha… me…” His cyan-hue eyes were sharpened; eyebrows furrowed as he positioned himself to unleash his attack. Goku launched his right arm forward, driving through Omegamon’s blade with his fist, glowing bright blue from gathering energy, until it reaches the beast-shaped arm. “Ha!!!” Opening his palm, a large amount of energy blasted out of his hands and engulfed the warrior, sending him out of the ring. He crashed against the ground, where he suddenly changed into a shining, golden coin.

The Announcer rushed over to where the coin landed. “Yep. And with that, forty in a row, Son Goku is the winner of this match!” He declared, followed by an applause from the audience.

Goku lowered his hands seeing that the battle was over. He lowered his face, seemingly not satisfied with the outcome of the match.

“Let me hear it folks, do you want another match!?” The Announcer shouted. “I have a way we can get the mighty legendary warrior, Bernkastel, into the stage! I’ve sent out an invitation to her and she finally answered back!” Pulling out a card that Bernkastel had issued a response, he read the letter but paused for the second:

“No. Cease contact immediately, or I’ll pull you from the inside out.

With regards, Bernkastel.”

The Announcer clears his throats but tried to play it off. “She’s interested!” He turns to Goku. “So, what do you say, Gok? There are even more amazing warriors you can fight, including the strongest of the strong, the Breakers! Will that satisfy that itch for a challenge?!”

Goku lifted his head up after the Announcer declared that a Breaker could be his opponent. He shook his head. “No… thanks. I am done for the day. Can you give me my prize?”

Everyone groaned that Goku had declined to fight anymore. The Announcer expressed the same disappointment as them. “Ah, well. Next time, then.” He pulled out several cards and gave them to Goku. “They’re good for any place if you want large quantities of food. They have not figure out the currency for this place, so this will do fine. See you soon?”

Goku took the cards and pocketed them. “Thanks, and sure.” Without giving them the chance to bathe him in glory, the Saiyan took off towards the sky as the audience continued to cheer. As the sounds were no longer audible from the distance, Goku let out a huge sigh. “I should be excited… but…” He looks at his right hand, the same one that defeated Omegamon. “All of this power…coming to me at once, yet I don’t feel satisfied with such. The more I fight, the more abilities I constantly discovered. There are no surprises, no hurdles for me to overcome. I do not even get that feeling of being backed into a corner—I’m constantly ready at every moment’s notice.” He paused for a moment.

“I have become too strong, and I don’t even get the feeling of achieving such.”

The Saiyan had thought about fighting against the Breakers when they appeared before him, but he was too confused then to take action. After everything slowly settled, somewhat, and still looking for his friends, he eagerly took on challenges since there are huge hordes of fighters out there. Yet, he could not enjoy them at all. At every opportunity, due to the constant memories bouncing around in his head, he had an answer for everything. He knew what to do and just did it. How can anyone enjoy the fruits of fighting if it was all so meaningless? Hearing the Announcer advocate for the Breakers as a challenge, he did not want to risk fighting against the strongest. Not because he was afraid of losing—in fact, he wanted to lose. He was afraid of the possibility of winning—and thus, there will be no mountain for him to climb anymore. He wanted to avoid them as much as possible, so their status as the strongest will always remain uncontested.

Growling sounds from his stomach alerted Goku. “Need to get something to eat…” He reached the edge of Reality Metropolis and landed to search for a restaurant. Due to the absence of his friends, and his inability to find any animals or food to cook for himself, he had to rely on restaurants to feed himself. And of course, he needs a way to pay for such, hence participating in the tournaments to earn those “food-cards”, which can be exchanged for food.

Reality Metropolis was hardly that much of a Metropolis since half the buildings were still being constructed. People are still swarming around in search of their love ones or investigating more of this place. Those that settle somewhat made an effort to open various businesses to make a living in this strange new world.

Goku walked around a bit in the edge of Reality Metropolis that was mostly in construction, with few places to eat. “Geez, there sure ain’t a lot of places to eat. And some places aren’t even opened yet…” He rubbed his head a bit before he senses a strange aura from afar. He looked around to find the source until he saw a flashing green light in between two buildings. “…Huh?” He saw other people walking by that spot, but they do not seem to notice the green light flashing rapidly.

“Come….”

Hearing a voice, Goku raised his brow in confusion. “…Me?”

“Yes… come.”

Forgetting his hunger for a second, Goku approached the green light in between the buildings that called for him until it suddenly engulfed him. “Whoa…!”

As the light dissolved, Goku slowly opened his eyes, realizing he was in a strange new area. It was not Reality Metropolis anymore since he does not sense anyone else here. “Whoa, what is this place?”

The place was covered in greenery, with many trees and plants across the terrain without any sense of end. He looked up at the sky and saw small light orbs falling all around him. “This looks like the afterlife. Did I get back to my world…? No… this feels different.”

“Unfortunately, you just arrived in my place.” An unknown voice was heard, causing Goku to turn towards her. She was a young woman with green hair with flowers infused within it. She had a white dress, slightly light green skin and white eyes.

Goku crossed his arms in confusion. “Who’re you?”

The woman smiled at Goku’s bluntness. “I am the one who watches over the Vortex Tree that delivers Vortex Coins. I am an Overseer. You may call me, Guardian.”
 
Second Chapter is delayed to 1/22 for general fixes and improvements. Look forward to it.
 
“Guardian…?” Goku said.

“Yes.” Guardian said, offering a low bow before continuing. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Son Goku.”

Goku’s eyes twitched upon Guardian calling his name “Hey, how did you know that—” His stomach growls became more apparent. It roars very loudly, much like a motorcycle’s engine roaring when it starts up. As consequence, there was a moment of silence between the two, eventually leading Guardian to let out a heartedly chuckle.

“I suppose that you must be starving, judging by those sounds. You were looking quite intensively to find a suitable place to eat. Although, fighting all those opponents can be taxing on the body, and the mind.”

Goku placed his right hand on his stomach as he stared towards the ground. “Yeah, there isn’t a lot of places that sell good food. Everything just tastes so plain and unappetizing. There was this one place I go to though, but it seems that they’re closed for the day for some reason…” He paused for a moment, realizing what the Guardian just said. He looked up only to see that she was not at the spot she stood. “Huh? Where did you go?”

“Next to you.” Guardian responded, in conjunction with a table, with two chairs, filled to the brim with food appeared before them. It had a range variety of meats, vegetables, fruits and beverages. The scent emitting from the food was satisfying as if it was practically cooked to perfection without any hint of error.

Taken aback of how sudden Guardian moved from her spot to the next in less than a second, Goku’s attention shifted to focused on the food. Practically drooling, Goku turned to Guardian—his eyes seem to question if it was okay for him to eat it. Guardian smile and nodded in kind. “It’s all yours. Eat until your belly is full.”

Without any hesitation and any regards to basic manners, Goku shove as many foods in his mouth as he could grab in rapid succession. Chucks were flying everywhere, his cheeks full and drowned his throat with beverage to avoid choking. He paused once to let out a deep and satisfying sigh before continuing his consumption rampage.

After sitting down on the chair, Guardian observed Goku eating like a wild animal that was starving for days. “I take that my cooking is suitable to your taste, right?”

Once again, Goku paused, turning to Guardian with his cheeks full. “Yeah! It’s delicious!” He said as bits of food fling from his lips. It was quite hard to understand what he was saying due to his mouth being full. He swallowed everything at once, then drank several large cups of water down to clear away the food. Wiping his mouth with his left arm, Goku continued. “Most places I been too in this area don’t really have food that I like…” He spoke. “I am usually the one that doesn’t care for taste, actually, but man, your food just smells so good… I haven’t smelled food like that since a year ago.”

“I assume that a year ago, you are referring to your home, right?” Guardian asked. “Your world.”

“Yeah.” Goku stared at the table with nearly all the food practically consumed already. His mood changed when talking about his home. “Worlds.” Guardian did not seem fazed by the last word.

“So, what’s with you?” Goku said casually. “I can’t really put my finger on it, but you have a weird aura around yourself. Like… out of this world.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I mean, I sense a lot of strange people in this place. So many people, so many energies, so many amazing people.” Goku said with excitement ringing in his voice. “I thought having so many amazing people back in my world was grand, but this one takes the cake!” He turned to Guardian with a bit of concern on his face. “But you, your energy is just weird, even by this world’s standard.”

Guardian smiles. “And you can tell right away, like that?”

“Yeah… for some reason, I seem to be able to do that.” The excitement in his voice left just as quickly as it came. “There are a lot of things I can do for some reason.”

Guardian stood up from her seat. “Seeing that your belly is quite full, there is a reason why I call you out here, Son Goku. Will you accompany me? I wish to see the Vortex Tree.” Leaving the table, Guardian walked, crossing the green terrain.
“Uh, sure.” Goku said, grabbing the last bits of food left to eat before catching up to her.

Both walked across the field of vegetation. No matter which direction one would look, it was either a field of flowers, various plants or forests. Yet, something feels strange about this place. He can still feel the residents that were hanging in the city around him—yet he cannot physically see them. Was he transported to another reality, or perhaps an illusion? That was bugging his mind a bit. Once again, Goku looked upward towards the sky, seeing small orbs of light slowly falling around them. Curious, Goku grabbed one and placed them in his mouth. He immediately spat it out due to the bitter taste. It was completely inedible.

“Ah, gross!” Goku stuck out his tongue, trying to spit out saliva.

“I wouldn’t try to eat that. They’re not for consumption.” Guardian said after the fact. “I’m surprise that you are still hungry after eating all of that.”

“Ah… Now you tell me.” Goku can still taste the bitterness from the light orb. Though, his attention shifted to the Guardian as they continued to walk. “So, what is this place? A secret room?”

“I guess… you can say something that we Overseers resides in.” Guardian answered. “It’s not entirely a different dimension in a sense. More like existing in the same plane of existence. Only accessible to Overseers, and those that are connected to such, if we allowed it.”

“Overseer… you said that before.” Goku said. “Are you a god of this world?”

“An Overseer… is not a god. At least, not in a traditional sense. We do not create life. We do not require any worships nor prayers that are often common in multiple worlds I have come to study. In fact, everyone, aside from you, are not quite aware of our existence. Well, they shouldn’t be.”

Goku scratched his head. “So, what’s an overseer?”

Guardian stopped walking upon the question. She thought about how to answer such a question and pondered on the right words. She turned to Goku with determination on her face.

“An Overseer is a position for the sole purpose of attending the world of Reality Vortex and ensure that everything is in good operation for it to function properly. The world has taken on a very complicated task, and with many new people coming in waves, the overseers are task to ensure the safety of Reality Vortex. Furthermore, making sure nothing is compromised, and if there was, we will deal with it by any means necessary.”

Goku blinked once. “Uh… come again?”

Guardian chuckled a bit. “Hmm. Think of the Overseers like protectors of this world. We make sure everything is running perfectly. Otherwise, the world will force its hand to correct it by any means necessary.”

“Aah…” Goku paused for a moment as he tried to grab his head around her explanation. “I guess I sorta get it.”

“Don’t worry, Goku. I’m sure in due time, you will slowly understand everything.” Guardian continue walking, with Goku following behind her. Eventually, they would enter a thick and dense forest. The trees were quite enormous compared to the ones he saw earlier; easily well over 2500 feet tall.

As they continue to walk through the forest, Goku still had an uneasy feeling around her. For some reason, his instincts were firing off, but his body refuses to place itself in a defensive nor offensive position, since Guardian does not look like the type to attack suddenly. Goku furrowed his eyebrows and tried to get a feel from her aura, but he cannot pinpoint it exactly.

Once again, the Guardian stopped. “We’re here. The Vortex Tree.”

Goku’s eyes widened upon seeing the tree. It was completely huge in terms of height and length. It towers easily over 15000 feet, that it reached the clouds. It does not have any leaves on its branches, but rather light orbs latched onto it.

“Whoa, that tree is huge!!” Goku looked up how tall the tree is, seeing it above the clouds.

“The Vortex Tree.” Guardian said. “This is my position as an Overseer. Watching the Vortex Tree deliver the next person when a Vortex Coin occurs.”

“…. Vortex Coins?” Goku said, remembering hearing something about them a few times before. “Those are the things people turned into when they blow up, right?” He asked.

“That’s correct. I supposed that’s…” Guardian placed her index finger on her lips. “Death in a sense, when one becomes a Vortex Coin.”

“Huh!? You mean I been killing them?!” Goku took several steps back that he unknowingly killed people during the tournaments he’d participated in since sometimes they turned into coins.

“Don’t fret. It is only temporary—you cannot truly die in this world. They’ll come back in due time.” Guardian said. “I suppose death is a harsh word, though. A long sleep is a better usage to described what happens to them.”

Getting some assurance that he didn’t killed anyone, Goku calm down a bit. “Alright…” Feeling a bit bad about the situation however, he asked a followed-up question. “They come back right? How long does that take?”

Guardian narrowed her eyes when Goku asked her such a pressing question. She smiles at Goku’s curiosity. “It depends.” She responded. “Depending on the person, the average time for someone to return can take between a day or thousands of years. It largely depends on their actions in either their world or this, their reputations and people’s perception about them.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Goku asked.

Guardian placed her finger on Goku’s chest. “If you were to turn into a Vortex Coin, it should only take about a day or two for you to returned. You have a good heart, Son. You seem to have a good standing in your world and this world and is not considered an active threat. But say, someone is evil. If they were to turn into a Vortex Coin, it will take them years for them to return due to the sole nature of their behavior. It’s a system to prevent too many destructive beings from causing harm to Reality Vortex. A system I am very much proud of. That includes people with dark past of their previous evil—even if the person had a change of heart at some point in life, it would still count against them and adds to their time as a Vortex Coin.”

“…. Okay… I guess I can get that…” Goku said, trying to understand what Guardian was saying. “But what do you mean about people’s reputation in this world?”

Removing her finger from Goku’s chest, Guardian walked over to the Vortex Tree and placed her hand on it. “When Doctor Doom created the new world from the embers of the old world and trillions of life forms were coming in massive hordes, Reality Vortex created the Vortex Tree to avoid being overwhelmed. Here… the Vortex Tree absorbs everything that did not appear physically in Reality Vortex.” Guardian turns to Goku. “If someone becomes a Vortex Coin—and their reputation had been tainted due to negative press, hatred from others or vice versa, this will add decades to their time as a Coin. Until their perception is changed, such time is fixed.”
 
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