Dragon Ball SS: Chapter 25

Chapter 25

 

Raditz groaned. He'd expected the blow in retaliation for outright defiance, but it didn't lessen the impact. He opened his eyes and turned his head slowly to peer at the warriors preparing for battle. He was blinded momentarily by an intense glow, and he squeezed his eyes shut against the light. When he opened them again, a slight human woman was kneeling next to him with a pack he recognized as belonging to the ogre army.

 

Raditz stirred and rolled onto his back to look at her. “What-” he began.

 

The woman pursed her lips and gestured for him to be silent. She dug through the contents of the bag and finally withdrew a dark glass vial from its depths. “Fantastic,” she muttered. “They brought it with them, as I thought they might.”

 

Raditz narrowed his eyes, but before he could question her, he was distracted by a familiar voice that chilled him to the bone. He turned terrified eyes on Freeza.

 

“Shh,” the woman soothed. She took Raditz's chin in her hand and pressed the opened end of the vial to his lips. “They're preoccupied with each other; as long as we're quiet, they won't notice. Quickly, drink this, while you have the chance.”

 

Gods, what now? Raditz wondered. Haven't I been through enough? His eyes roamed over the face-off once more and then returned to the vial at his mouth. He hesitated only a moment, then released a slow, resigned sigh. He decided he had nothing to lose. Raditz closed his eyes and tilted the vial back into his mouth to swallow the contents.

 

Pain suddenly rocketed through his body, and he curled up on his side. He started to wonder what it was he'd given himself up to, but his thoughts were immediately interrupted.

 

“The pain will subside in only a few moments,” the woman said. “Try to lie still.”

 

Raditz blinked in surprise as the woman suddenly crouched low to the ground beside him, and the surprise was magnified as the roar of a fiery blast echoed over their heads. As the blast died away, the two of them looked back toward the battle to see the carnage.

 

Raditz gaped for a moment. He struggled to sit up; sharp jabs ran through his nerves, but after only a moment, he made it to his feet. He shielded his eyes as the ground nearby suddenly glowed again, but the light disappeared quickly, and with it, the army that had brought him.

 

He turned his attention back to the remaining fighters. With the enemy dispatched and sent back to Hell, they were now regarding him with a certain degree of surprise and suspicion. Raditz wasn't certain how he felt about the entire situation. Seeing his brother alive again was painful enough, but seeing that Vegeta was alive but hadn't revived him was almost more painful.

 

Goku frowned as he studied Raditz. “Why's he still here?” he demanded. “All of the others went back with Paikuhan.”

 

“Kakarotto...” Vegeta said. He sighed in annoyance. “Take a closer look. He didn't return because he's not dead anymore.”

 

“Eh?!” Goku's gaze flew to the top of Raditz's head and he realized that the halo was missing from its perch above the spikes of black hair.

 

Raditz and Taphone walked up to stand in front of them. “It's those ogres' fault for bringing trouble here, and then being fool enough to bring life-restoring potion with them to the battle,” Taphone said. “They deserved to lose the soul.”

 

Raditz gazed steadily at his brother for a moment, then turned his eyes to Vegeta. He dropped to one knee before the smaller Saiyan and brought his hand to his chest in allegiance. “Vegeta-sama.”

 

“Hn!” Vegeta replied. “It seems Hell has calmed you. I expected a tantrum.”

 

Raditz frowned and locked his eyes on the ground at Vegeta's feet. “I've had plenty of time to think and to expend my excess energy, Vegeta-sama,” he said.

 

The others walked up behind Goku and Vegeta to peer curiously at Raditz. Bulma frowned, but before she could speak, Pan cut in.

 

“Grandpa, who is this?” she asked. “He's Saiyan, right? I thought we were the only Saiyans left.”

 

Raditz's eyes widened and his eyebrow twitched as he looked from Pan to Goku. “Grandpa?” he asked. “Kakarotto, you rat! How long have I been in Hell?”

 

Vegeta interrupted the conversation before an argument could start. “Raditz is Kakarotto's older brother,” he said. “He's been dead since Gohan was a small child.”

 

“Eh?” Pan asked in surprise. “I didn't know you had an older brother, Grandpa.”

 

Raditz's hand curled into a fist and he squeezed his eyes shut as though to block out the insult. “Kakarotto...it's not bad enough that you aided that Namekian in killing me...you add insult to the injury by disowning me and never even mentioning your own brother to your family!”

 

“I told you before, I ain't got a brother!” Goku shot back.

 

“Kakarotto!” Vegeta cut in sharply again. “That's enough! We're not here to argue with your brother - we're here to find Gohan and bring him home.”

 

“Please, join me inside,” Taphone said. “I will see if Gohan is awake; with all the noise out here, I'm sure he must be.”

 

Haiya Dragon ran ahead of the group as they walked through the gate to the castle. He leaped around the front step anxiously, crying out with a keening wail.

 

Taphone rubbed his chin as she stepped into the doorway. “Sorry, Friend,” she said. “The door's no bigger than it was last night. I'm sure you'll get to see Gohan soon.”

 

Pigero hurried up to the group as they walked into the front room. “Taphone-sama!” he said worriedly, “Are you all right?”

 

“I'm fine, Pigero,” Taphone replied. “You needn't worry about me. How is Gohan doing?”

 

“He's awake, but his fever hasn't gone down much. He seemed to know that his family is here – he was concerned about having to see all of them at once.”

 

“That's understandable, with how he's been feeling overnight,” Taphone replied. “Did you take him some breakfast?”

 

Pigero nodded. “We have plenty of juice left, if our guests would like to sit for a moment and have something to drink. I'll see if Gohan feels more like talking to someone once he's had a bite to eat.”

 

“Oh, that's not necessary!” Bulma said hurriedly. “These guys have endless stomachs – we couldn't possibly impose...”

 

“It's no problem,” Taphone assured her. “I know impatience when I see it; the least I can do is provide some refreshments for the inconvenience.”

 

Goku's stomach growled loudly before anyone could reply. He laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Well, we did miss breakfast this morning,” he said.

 

Taphone nodded to Pigero, and he hurried out of the room. She nodded toward plush couches and chairs in front of a large window. “Please, make yourselves at home,” she said. “Pigero will return shortly; I'll see how Gohan feels in the meantime – I'm certain all of you will want to see him as soon as possible.”

 

Vegeta snorted in disdain as Taphone exited the room. “As if we have the time for niceties right now,” he said. “That boy is going to have some serious explaining to do.”

 

“Probably sooner than later,” Goten said uneasily. He glanced around the room as he spoke. “Piccolo's disappeared somewhere; ten zeni says that he's gone to find Gohan himself.”

 

“Eh?” Videl exclaimed. She looked quickly around the room herself. “I wonder if he found a solution at Kami-sama's palace after all,” she said. “I was kind of surprised that we ran into him searching for Gohan.”

 

“Kami-sama's?” Goten asked. “What did he expect to find there?”

 

“I'm not sure,” Videl said. “Before he left for work, Gohan told me that he'd spoken with Piccolo during the afternoon and that Piccolo thought he might be worse off because of something Rou Kaioshin did to him. He thought that if that were the case, there might be some kind of a solution at Kami-sama's palace.”

 

“As long as it's nothing that complicates our lives further,” Vegeta grumbled. “The interferences in our lives have been annoying enough already, and now we have another Saiyan thrown into the mix.” He nodded toward Raditz.

 

Raditz frowned and crossed his arms, but didn't reply. He let his gaze linger on Vegeta for a moment before turning his attention to Goku and his family. He considered them carefully.

 

“You must be Kakarotto's second son,” he said finally. He fixed his eyes on Goten and scrutinized his features. “Gohan was the name of the boy who helped defeat me so long ago, and it would seem he is elsewhere at the moment; however, you are a dead ringer for your father and grandfather.”

 

Goku started to reply, but Goten waved him off. “I am,” Goten said. “My name is Goten.” He paused. “By 'grandfather,' you must mean my dad's father; I'm nothing like my mom's father.”

 

“I do,” Raditz replied. “It was how I easily recognized your father when I first came here – the resemblance is uncanny with both of you fully grown.”

 

“What was he like?” Goten asked curiously. He perched himself carefully on the arm of a couch and watched Raditz with interest. “Aside from how he looked, of course.”

 

Goku frowned. “Goten, it doesn't matter-” he began.

 

“Kakarotto, stuff it!” Raditz shouted. “Even if you're not interested in your family, my nephew is.”

 

Goku started to offer a retort, but Vegeta cut in. “Can it, Kakarotto,” he said. “It looks like we're going to be here a while anyway; it's not going to hurt anything for Raditz to talk about your father. If anything, it might do you some good.”

 

Goku frowned again, but remained silent.

 

Raditz turned away from Goku and focused on Goten once again. “There's not a lot to say, I suppose,” he said. “He was born third-class, like the rest of us. He left home a bit younger than most do, but he'd already started putting together a crew of his own by then. I heard it was a result of some kind of dispute with his father. I don't know all of the details, because Father didn't talk about it much, but it seems like he got into one fight too many and Grandfather kicked him out. It's not all that surprising – he loved a good fight, and he was stubborn to the core.” He closed his eyes and smiled at some untold memory. “Mother used to say that he was stubborn as a duiqe and twice as stupid. I don't know about that last bit...he got through some scrapes that took out higher-class warriors than himself.”

 

“But it's the power level that makes the difference, isn't it?” Goten asked. “I mean...what does it matter if they're higher class if they're not stronger?”

 

Raditz looked confused at the question. Vegeta interjected. “Before we came to Earth, it was unheard of for a warrior to exceed the expectations of their class,” he said. “Our rank was determined by our power at birth. Only those of us here have gone beyond those limits.”

 

“Then...that's how Kakarotto's power – and that Namekian's power – were able to increase so much during their battle,” Raditz said. He scowled and balled his hand into a fist. “I can't believe I didn't make the connection...the only thing the two of them had in common was that they were both aliens to this stupid little world.” He folded his arms and looked at the floor. “I let myself get too distracted by the brat's outburst. When I realized that his power changed with his emotions, I let my attention on Kakarotto and the Namekian go entirely.”

 

“It likely has something to do with it,” Vegeta said. “It doesn't hurt that Kakarotto, Piccolo and the rest of us have also had drive to keep pushing our limits. Gohan, and the other children, had exceptional power from birth. After you were killed, I realized mixing Saiyan and Earthling blood created powerful offspring.”

 

“So that's it, is it?” Raditz asked. He leaned against the wall in thought. “All those years of busting our asses to nudge our power levels upward and these half-Earthling kids are born with impossible power.”

 

Just then, Pigero returned to the room with a tray of drinks in his hands. “Sorry for the delay,” he said. “It's not often that I need to find this many glasses at one time.” He handed them clear glasses filled with pale orange juice.

 

“Thank you for going to the trouble for us,” Bulma said. She took a large drink from her glass. “Wow, this is delicious!”

 

Encouraged by Bulma's compliment, the others also drank. Pigero started to collect the empty glasses from them, but the sound of breaking glass behind him suddenly caught everyone's attention.

 

Tullece was staring at the dripping remains of broken glass in his clenched hand. His hand trembled visibly as he uncurled his fingers and dropped the fragments of glass on the floor.

 

“Eh?” Pan asked. “What's wrong?”

 

Tullece's voice cracked as he spoke. “Shinseiju,” he said hoarsely. “It's from the Shinseiju fruit.”

 

“Shinseiju?” Videl asked. “What's that?”

 

Goku scowled. “It's a tree that grows fruit in the gods' realm,” he said. “The Shinseiju planted here on Earth died long ago and took its fruit with it.” He glared at Tullece.

 

“I know the taste of the fruit, Moron!” Tullece shot back. “Once you've eaten from the Shinseiju, you never forget the taste. Every other fruit pales in comparison. No other food fulfills cravings like it.” He opened and closed his hands several times. “Feel the power surge in your blood, if you don't believe me, Dumbass.”

 

“He's right,” Trunks said. “I do feel a lot better than I did during the battle outside.”

 

“Well, whatever it does, it must only work on Saiyans,” Bulma said. She sighed dejectedly and sat back on the couch. “I feel the same as always.” She looked over at Chichi, who was sitting across from her. “How about you, Chichi -” Her voice cut off short and she stared at the younger woman.

 

Chichi returned the startled look. “Bulma, you -” she began.

 

“Chichi, you -” Bulma said at the same time.

 

The two women scrambled through their pockets for a moment. “Of all the times to be without a mirror,” Bulma complained.

 

The two of them spotted their reflections in the glass of the window behind them at the same time, and they leaned over the back of the couch to examine themselves.

 

“Amazing!” Chichi said. “It's...it's taken years off of me!”

 

“What?” Videl asked in surprise. She quickly moved in to join Chichi and Bulma. “Mother, what do you mean?”

 

Chichi pulled Videl up to the window. “Look, it's worked on you, too!” she said excitedly.

 

Videl touched her face with surprise as she looked at her reflection, then stared agape at Chichi and Bulma as well. “Did...did it do the same for the others, I wonder?” she asked.

 

Bulma folded her arms across her chest. “Well, there's no way to tell, I suppose,” she said. “Being as they didn't age nearly as fast as we did...” Her sentence trailed off as she spotted a brown tail swinging in agitation behind Goku.

 

The Saiyans seemed to have realized the change in themselves at the same time. Trunks and Goten suddenly grinned mischievously and knocked their knuckles against each other.

 

“Sweet!” Trunks said in elation. “I don't even remember having a tail! I wonder what we can do with them?” His tail swung excitedly behind him and came within inches of hitting Vegeta's face.

 

“You can wrap it around your waist and leave it there!” Vegeta snapped. His own tail was settling comfortably into place around the waist of his pants. “No son of mine is going to be going around waving his tail in peoples' faces!”

 

Trunks hastily grabbed his wayward appendage and tucked it around his waist the way Vegeta's was. “Sorry.” He blushed red across his cheeks.

 

“Still,” Bulma said, “I thought the Shinseiju fruit only increased a person's power level. How is this even possible?”

 

“The Shinseiju restores the person who eats of it to the peak of their vitality,” Taphone said. She walked up to the group. “Gohan's tail was restored by the juice as well. Even an old and healed injury like that can be restored to full health.” She knelt down to pick up the pieces of broken glass at Tullece's feet. “The increase in strength that some of you seem to have felt may be because you haven't reached the peak of your potential yet.”

 

Tullece eyed the petite woman as she stood and carefully set the shards of glass on Pigero's tray. “What would you know of the Shinseiju, Woman?” he demanded.

 

Chichi, more intent on the issue of Gohan, interrupted. “Gohan's awake, then?” she asked. “Is he all right?”

 

“He seems to be doing as well as he can be, considering his fever,” Taphone replied. “Piccolo was rather insistent on seeing him alone, and Gohan agreed to it.”

 

“That Namekian again!” Chichi complained.

 

Videl suddenly put her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. Chichi looked at her in concern. “Videl, what is it?”

 

“I think...Gohan's calling for me,” she said. “I can hear his voice, but...it's like it's inside my head.”

 

“He wanted only you to hear him,” Vegeta commented. “Probably to keep everyone else from rushing to see him as well.”

 

Taphone held out her hand to Videl. “I'll show you to his room,” she said. “Follow me.”