2 - The Beginning

Jesse was sure that would've been the end for him, the last moment of his existence before he pathetically faded out. But instead, he opened his eyes once again to a surprisingly normal sight.

He was seated along many others in a row of chairs in a brown, cozy room, a TV playing some sort of home renovation show up above on the wall. It looked like a waiting room.

He was confused enough already, but then another shock quickly came to him, he could move fine, he didn't feel sick or anything at all. Standing up, he moved his legs around, he could walk and stand too. A sort of happiness was now layered onto his confusion as he questioned to himself.

"Where the hell am I…?"

A somewhat fat man dressed like he was in the 1920s who was seated right next to him noticed this and spoke up.

"You're dead kid, we all are. You'll stay here until your numbers called and you get to be judged."

His happiness immediately disappeared along his confusion. The revelation struck him like a train as he sat back down to breath, not that he actually could, seeing as he was a spirit.

"So I'm dead… yeah I guess that makes sense..."

He quickly calmed down, after all he'd accepted his death a long time ago anyway. After a moment he noticed a number was seemingly tattooed on the back of his hand, an extremely long number.

"Once that panel over there reaches whatever numbers on your hand, you'll be called out by an angel and judged."

The fat man explained when he noticed Jesse looking at his number. Jesse's vision immediately moved to the panel, and his heart sank. The number was massive, way bigger than the one on his hand.

"H-How long are we supposed to wait exactly…?"

"Well, lemme think. I've been here for at least about 80 years, probably gonna be around for another few hundred, but it depends how good a life you lived."

Jesse leaned back into his chair and looked hopeless. Seeing his new expression, the fat man patted his shoulder to comfort him, then smiled as he continued.

"Welcome to purgatory kid, let's keep each-other company for a while."

The man reached out his hand, for a shake. Looking over at the man, Jesse calmed himself a bit and shook his hand.

"So this is purgatory… Well I'm Jesse, Jesse Schwartz, nice to meet you."

"I'm Donald Hu-"

Before their conversation could go any further however, a woman suddenly burst through the door, breathing heavily. Her skin was a pure white, and her hair soft and curly. She wore a suit with a long tight skirt and black high heels, very formal. But the most startling part of her figure, was the golden halo floating above her head. Murmurs immediately broke out between the other waiting souls in the room.

"Haa… Haaa… Jesse Schwartz! Is there a Jesse Schwartz here!?"

She yelled out.

"Woah kid, what're you a saint or something, already your number!?"

The fat man questioned in a surprised voice. But Jesse was just as confused and surprised as him.

"No, it's definitely not my number yet… still like a billion numbers to go man."

They both stared at each other for a moment while the angel lady kept yelling out looking for Jesse until the fat man broke the silence.

"Well come on! Don't wanna miss the opportunity to go early! Come on, go go!"

Many looked on jealously as Jesse got up and walked over to the angel, but the fat man was happy Jesse didn't have to stay there for long.

"I'm Jesse Schwartz…"

"Oh finally, come on, let's go."

She said in a sigh of relief, she seemed to be in a rush. They both left the room, Jesse following closely. As he got out, Jesse looked around in wonder. While it mostly seemed like a normal office building, behind him was a seemingly endless stretch of hallway, with thousands more waiting rooms filled with millions, possibly billions of other waiting souls.

"That doesn't seem so efficient…"

He murmured to himself. As they both walked Jesse saw that they passed many rooms labeled "Judgment Court". If she wasn't bringing him to judgment, where was she?

"Hey, so where are we going exactly? You kinda passed all those judgment rooms."

"Yes yes I know, don't tell me how to do my job for me. You'll find out when we get there just keep quiet and keep walking."

Jesse had no reason to argue, so he listened and kept his mouth shut. A few minutes later they reached their objective. A thick glossy brown door. It had a small board on it with a name embedded in it. Hank Serifinn, Head of Security.

Knock knock knock.

"Mr. Serifinn, I have Jesse Schwartz here just like you asked."

Almost immediately, a somewhat deep voice yelled out.

"Yes yes! Bring him in!"

The angel woman opened the door, revealing a small but cozy room, brown paint covered the ridged walls just like the rest of the building, by all means, a totally normal office. At the back of the room was a large wooden desk with files on it, one having Jesse's photo on it. Behind the desk, Hank Serifinn. Jesse went in and the angel woman closed it and left.

"Don't just stand around. Come on, sit down sit down, we don't got all day. Oh and close the door while you're at it."

Listening to him, Jesse closed the door and sat down. He was still pretty confused, and obviously didn't like the fact he was dead, but I guess this afterlife doesn't exactly seem worse than how he was living.

"Alright, let me level with you Jesse, we need your help with something."

As Jesse heard his request, he looked the man up and down. He was an older man, receding hairline, some wrinkles in his skin, everything you'd expect from someone in the later years of their life.

"Do angels age?"

Jesse thought to himself. Despite these features, the man still looked divine, his skin was still a pure white color and above his head was a golden glowing halo, except unlike the woman, there was a smaller halo inside his halo, perhaps a sign of his status.

"So, what exactly do you want from me?"

"Well, you know about Hugo Blanco, right? Actually, don't answer that, of course you do. Well let's just say, somehow, he escaped judgment, and worse actually, he escaped our universe."

That last word suddenly made Jesse spring up from his seat, and his face was bathed in intrigue.

"Our universe? So, you're saying there are other universes?"

"Yes yes, there are other universes, and don't interrupt me. Now, continuing on, Hugo escaped our universe through some sort of ancient technique, and he's fled to another universe, where he'll be doing God knows what."

Leaning forward and pointing at him, he enthusiastically said.

"That's where you come in, we needed someone with knowledge of this universe who was recently deceased, we need someone right now before the crack in the universe's walls he escaped through closes. So, we're gonna send you! We need a fresh soul that hasn't been weakened by spending too much time here, and out of the others who died recently enough, you seem like the best option. You'll grow in this new world, defeat the evil soul, bring him to justice."

Jesse just sat there for some time taking in all this information, why him of all people? He was probably one of the least qualified people for just about anything. He guessed he needed someone literally right now, and somehow, he was most qualified. He looked around the office until something suddenly caught his eye, and he responded, with a contemptful voice.

"And what if I say no?"

"Huh?"

Hank was taken a-back by this response, his face showing his surprise as he leaned forward.

"What's in it for me huh?! Sending me to another universe to fight some drug lord serial killer, in some kinda fuckin death mission, just to clean up your mess? You're supposed to be the head of security, right? So, this is obviously your mistake, so you should clean it up yourself, why don't you send yourself huh?! And I see that file of mine you left open, it says I'm going to heaven anyway. So really, just why exactly should I accept this request of yours instead of just going to paradise and letting you lose your job."

Hank's eyebrow twiched in anger.

"Your file didn't say anything about you being a little shit..."

He said under his breath. He could argue with Jesse for as long as he wanted, but he didn't have the time, instead, he searched through some files on his desk until he found the one, he wanted.

"Maybe this'll change your mind. This is the world you'll be going to."

Hank handed Jesse the file and as he read it through, his expression changed into one of excitement and some happiness. With a smirk on his face, he made his final decision.

"Fine, send me on your death mission, just one condition, you're not just gonna pull me out of this world when I finish my mission."

"Yes yes, fine."

Hank hastily responded with a sigh of relief, the amount of trouble he'd be in if he couldn't get this to work was way too high, losing his job would only be the start.

Reaching out his hand, an energy began to pulsate out of Hank, spinning around Jesse. Eventually the energy began to fly onto him, sticking to his skin, making him glow.

"I'll transport your soul through the crack, and you should reincarnate in the body of someone recently deceased. Are you ready?"

Jesse took a deep breath, the excitement on his face was unmistakable.

"Yes."

"Alright. Oh, and one more thing, don't tell anyone you're not from their universe, you'll get me in even bigger trouble. You'll know when you find Hugo, as he'll be out of place from what you know about this world's timeline and such, so keep that in mind. Good luck."

As he finished speaking, he closed his hand, and Jesse began to glow brighter and brighter, until he disappeared. Hank sighed deeply as he reclined into his chair, if Jesse failed at this, well his career was totally over, and he'd probably go to prison.

Meanwhile, Jesse soul was bulleting towards the crack in reality, ready to follow Hugo into this new universe. The Dragon Ball Universe.