Author note: This fanfiction came up to me after my friend Tundris and Nikikeya beat the life outta me with all the Raditz feels. Be warned that English is not my native language and I actually never did a good job writing in Vietnamese either so bear with my incompetent English. My best buds already read and helped me with editing but please inform me of any mistakes you see out there, I'd appreciate it.
This chapter was Beta-read by Nikikeya and Tundris of Fanfiction-dot-net.
Now, let's the grammar-error hunt begin!
A TWIST OF FATE
Prologue
The man rolled lazily on the bed he was laying on, stretching and rubbing the back of his neck. It was such a refreshing nap he felt not the need of waking up. The comfortableness this hair was providing did not help him shake the slothfulness away. In fact, he grew even fonder of the soft surface he had been resting on.
It had been one day since his return from yet another unfortunate planet. The inhabitant was sort of stubborn, and as a result, they were one day late on schedule when they had arrived on Frieza planet number six-hundred-and-sixty-six. He suffered no serious injuries but was tired and cranky as hell by the time his space pod hit the landing ground. They were arranged some rooms for resting. He was glad that this time he did not have to share his room with any random Frieza soldiers who just waited for a chance to babble about how he should have sold his mass of hair for science. There were rumors of Frieza wanting a good wig and the saiyan would be damned to ever let anyone go near his hair for whatever reason.
His peaceful moment was short lived. As he was dozing off again, there was a loud beep coming from the scouter he had placed by the bed along with his armor.
"Too soon…" He mumbled in annoyance. Rolling to his side, he sleepily searched for the device. It took him quite a while and the thing's lousy beeping was growing louder. He put his scouter on and immediately winced. His ear drums were already being terrorized by the person on the other end.
"There you are, hairball!" Vegeta's grumpy voice rose. The Saiyan Prince did not seem like he was bringing them any good news. His voice sounded as if someone had pulled and tied his tail into a knot. "I was nearly convinced you had died drowning in that hair of yours!"
"Oh Vegeta, I know you're worried for me. But screaming isn't very Princy don't you think?" Raditz snickered, sitting up. Normally, this would end up with him being beaten like a rag doll. But Raditz knew full well, from the way their leader was talking, he was probably busy throwing anger at something – or someone- else to even care.
"Shut it, Raditz. Get your hairy ass to the Space Station." Vegeta snarled, though probably calming down a little.
"Alright, alright." The long haired saiyan said in boredom, putting on his boots. There went his happy time. They were probably about to go on another blasted mission, killing inhabitants and all that again. Like every Saiyans, Raditz enjoyed it. Though, he disliked having to leave so soon, less than twelve hours since they had returned. People might have reasoned that they had already spent months and years hibernating inside the space pods, why complain? If only they knew how uncomfortable that was. Waking up after such a long sleep was uneasy, especially if he had been injured on the target planet upon returning. Imagine all your muscles had been shut down for so long they refused to work but you had to force them to anyway then they hurt terribly after your senses began to come back. They had all gotten familiar with the feeling since they were kids, yet only the strong ones like his two comrades could shake it off completely.
Annoyed or not, letting Prince Vegeta wait was never a smart choice.
It was a long trip to the Space Station, long enough for Raditz to take in the view. Frieza Planet #666 was a chaotic planet. The sky was an eye-scalding bright theme of spiraling orange and yellow in the morning, while the ground was a slightly pale indigo. Adding to the mess was the pink-as-Dodoria's-fat-ass trees, which stood among grass that was a curious shade of steel blue. And he had yet to encounter its most infamous inhabitant: the canine sized, face-hugging beetles with slimy tentacles. Whoever assigned with the task of clearing this planet did their job disappointingly. There were rumors that many of the creatures were still scuttling around the base, waiting to give anyone unfortunate enough to cross their paths a nice "kiss". They couldn't kill, which was a huge blessing, only cause serious swelling, which was not…
Shuddering at the thought, he took every step as carefully as possible once he was out in the open.
When Raditz finally arrived at the station, it caught him by surprise that their last companion was nowhere to be seen. The saiyan looked around, hoping the big bald man wasn't hiding to play a surprise prank on him.
"What are you standing there for?!" Vegeta glared. He was standing with his arms folding in front of his chest as always, sounding absolutely irritated.
"Where's Nappa?"
"God knows." The Prince rolled his eyes then proceeded to muttering something about a Queen.
"So… what's up? Why'd you call us in such a rush?" Raditz asked, trying to sound friendly to the other saiyan. Nappa was a brawn, yet lively chap, ready to throw jokes and pranks at anyone who cared to listen. Despite the fact he and Vegeta often teamed up to bully him, Raditz had no real issue with the big guy. Prince Vegeta, in contrast, was the typical arrogant asshole, the nastiest jerk of a leader anyone could find. Nappa may tease and mock him from time to time, but it was always Vegeta who first threw the punch that made Raditz fall to his knees just because the little prince was bored.
Vegeta looked at him, probably analyzing if he was worth an answer. Eventually, seeing that Nappa was still absent, opened his mouth. "A new planet."
It was short, yet straight to the point. Raditz couldn't hope for anything better coming from Vegeta, judging from the fact their prince could mow down anyone who ticked him off enough at this point.
"Isn't that good news?" Raditz raised an eye-brow. "I thought you love genocide."
No respond.
"Was it Cui?" He snickered.
The shorter saiyan gave a warning glare, or in Raditz' translation book: The damn-right-you-are glare.
"Oh I see. One of those conquering battles again? Who's winning?" Terrifying as it was, Raditz loved playing with that time-bomb; doing just enough for him to see his prince snap, without blowing himself away.
It was when Vegeta attempted to give him a good punch, the last member of their gang decided to show up.
"Vegeta!" Nappa came in a hurry, not realizing he had just saved a life.
"Where have you been, you turtle head?" The prince turned over to his next target. Any idiotic reason and the big saiyan would be fixed for elimination.
"Chill, Vegeta. I've got news." Nappa held up his hands in negotiation manner. "Guess what I just heard."
"Scientist saying you finally grew hair?" Raditz snorted with a smirk. "Ow!"
Pain struck his stomach that very moment. While he was caught off-guard teasing Nappa, Vegeta thrust his elbow backward, perfectly landing a hit on him.
"Quit joking around." He scolded. Though, without a doubt, knowing the prince all too well, Raditz knew he just wanted to relieve his negative mood on someone. "Go on, Nappa." Vegeta continued.
The brawn saiyan grinned at his weaker comrade's misery before moving on with his story. "I was on my way here when I happened to overhear some guys. I wouldn't dare to be late once you called, but you know, they were talking about Vegeta-sei n' all. Besides, one of the guys had this funny n- Wait, wait, I'll skip. But it was really funny ya gotta let me- Ow!"
This time around, it was Raditz who laughed, seeing Nappa being kicked on the shin.
"Are you sure you don't wanna- Ow! No need to be harsh…" Nappa grunted. "So, apparently they are Cooler's men. They were talking about our planet. And one of them said… Ya ready?"
"Just spit it out, Egghead."
"You're no fun, Vegeta. Fine! He said: About one month before that meteor hit Vegeta-sei, a space pod was launched from it! You know what that means?" The oversized saiyan said eagerly.
"Interesting." Vegeta smirked.
"We're not the only saiyans left?" Raditz deducted.
"Bingo." Nappa flicked his fingers. "They did a quick scan. There was a toddler in the pod and it was heading for a planet called Earth."
"A toddler you say." The saiyan prince rubbed his chin. Somehow the news had taken his complete interest. "That saiyan should be an adult by now."
Raditz on the other hand, was feeling like he had forgotten something really important. Off in his little world he was, trying to recall what he had missed. It had been 20 years and whatever he was forcing his brain to look back at, was some time before their planet – Vegeta-sei – was destroyed by a large meteor.
"Goddamn. What was it?" He muttered angily to himself.
"Anyway, Vegeta, why'd you call us?" Nappa asked.
Vegeta's voice, which sounded calmer a second before, had switched back to its cranky-morning glory. "We have a new planet to clean up." Clearly he didn't look so appreciated he had forgotten about their new assignment. "Big one this time, might take a whole year. Now, move your asses. We can worry about that saiyan later."
"Think we should go Oozaru to finish the job faster?" Nappa suggested.
"No need. The inhabitants were reported to have lo-"
"THAT'S IT!"
The two elite saiyans turned back to find the source of such sudden exclamation. What they saw was Raditz, standing squatted with his fists raised in front of him like he had just found out how to steal Frieza's make-up kit.
"What now?" Vegeta grunted.
"Wanna take a leak? we're not waiting." Teased Nappa with, yet, another grin.
"No!" The long haired saiyan snapped. "I… I think I know who that saiyan might be." Seeing the two curious saiyans staring at him, he smirked before continuing. It was good being in the center of attention for once. "Mother once told me that they had sent my baby brother on a mission. Around that time. Possibly. "
"You mean that… what was it? Carrot?" Nappa put a hand on his chin puzzlingly. "That'd go nice with my meatloaf."
"Kakarot." Corrected Raditz, frowning.
"Why that's some touching matter. Now would you two IMBECILES stop wasting my time and get MOVING?"
"Hold on, Getta. I've got an idea." The big saiyan halted their angry prince. "Why don't we go get this Kakarot?"
"If it's Princess' brother, then he is far from helpful." Vegeta objected.
"Hey." Raditz announced his annoyance.
"But Nappa's right, the more the merrier, am I right?" The Prince of all Saiyans looked thoughtful then and Raditz decided it was time he jumped in. Finally remembering he had a brother, and knowing the said kid was – most likely – alive, built up an idea in him. Among the group, he was nothing more than a spare punching bag for the stronger saiyans. If he could find Kakarot, he might have someone on his side for once. They could also go on missions together. No more bothersome duo.
"You don't want Cui to break the record." He added with a smug face.
That pushed a button. As always.
"Fine." The prince gave up. "One of you would be enough." He ordered, looking precisely at the hairier man.
"I'll go! I'll go!" Nappa volunteered excitedly.
"I think he was preferring to me. Kakarot is my brother after all."
"Aww but I wanna go too!" The brawn muttered.
"No, Nappa. You're going with me. I want to finish this fucking planet as fast as possible." Princy-shorty replied; even an idiot could sense he was running out of patient. "It's not going to make a difference without Raditz."
Ah, Raditz should have known it was too good to be true. It would be a day without Vegeta making fun of his power level when Zarbon stopped dating men.
"That's decided then?" He chuckled at Nappa's disappointed expression.
"Whatever." Vegeta turned and gave the bald saiyan a good kick. "Move!"
"Darn it Vegeta."
Off they went.
Raditz was left alone. His playful expression turned to a more serious one as he went getting his transportation.
Little brother. He had forgotten the feeling of having one. 20 years wasn't half a human life, though long enough to wash off lots of things. He vaguely remembered the boy, beside that hairstyle of his father. He didn't even get to really know Kakarot, for the toddler had been in the incubator since birth to absorb all the nutrients planet Vegeta couldn't provide him with.
Their home planet had the majority of mountains and deserts, finding water was hard enough. Therefore, with provision from Frieza, they created the incubators. Saiyan children would stay inside said tanks until they were roundly three years old (which was greatly welcomed by their warriors as it saved them from the burden of raising their cubs for some years).
Kakarot was nearly of age when his mother called the last time to inform him of the boy's departure from planet Vegeta. He wasn't sure when they had sent him though. His mother said it as if Kakarot had been sent to another planet long before the call – while he was sure the kid wasn't old enough by then. Now that he thought about it, she didn't even mention where he was assigned to clean up. If Nappa hadn't overheard those men, there was a high chance he would never know where his brother might be. For some unknown reason, the thought bugged him.
"You better not be dead, Kakarot."
The saiyan thought, turning and pressing on the control board of the space pod, setting his destination.
Planet Earth - 4032-877 – Calculating route distance… 8 months.
Ready for takeoff.
He placed his hand on the Launch button. The trip was unusually nerve wracking. He might be seeing his long lost brother after over 20 years. That was if the boy was still breathing. However, what really was causing the uneasiness in him was a thought far more terrifying…
He took a deep breath and hit it.
Taking off in 3…2…1…
The round spaceship blasted off into the midst of space with a roaring sound.
To be continued…