(With Raditz)

Raditz wasn't exactly ecstatic about being in this city full of humans. He felt stifled, on edge, ready to snap. His mother hadn't had to tell him why, he already knew. Even if it hadn't been common knowledge growing up, he had watched Prince Vegeta go through it. He was coming of age.

It sucked. He was uncomfortable all the time, his senses were all over the place, and it was getting harder to control himself in battle. Also, he noticed females… as in, every female. Even his mother. Which was awkward, and weird, and resulted in his father growling at him for no apparent reason. And now they were in a house with human females, and Raditz was doing everything he could to avoid them.

Luckily, the scientist's wife was out with his mother, and Bulma's mate Yamcha arrived, giving him the chance to slip away unnoticed. Well… unnoticed by everyone except Kakarot.

As Raditz flew past another skyscraper, he glimpsed Kakarot peeking at him from around the corner of the building behind him. Sighing, he landed on the roof of the tallest building he could, knowing his brother would be joining him soon. Up here, the city was almost bearable, far above the sights and smells of the streets below. After a long moment of letting Kakarot think he was successfully hiding from him, he sighed. "You can come out, Kakarot, I know you're there," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Aww… how'd you hear me?" Kakarot asked, coming out to sit beside him on the ledge.

Raditz cast Kakarot a sideways glance. "I can smell you a mile away," he grumbled.

Kakarot wrinkled his nose. "Yeah… I can smell you, too," he said. "And you smell funny lately. What's going on?" he asked.

Raditz regarded the cub. Kakarot always caught him off guard like this. He was so slow to figure stuff out most of the time, it came as a surprise in those moments when he showed deep insight, like right now. And of course, when he was insightful, there was no lying to him.

"I'm going through a change," Raditz said gruffly, hoping that his brother would not make him explain.

No such luck. "What kinda change?" the cub asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

Inwardly groaning, Raditz replied, "It means I'm getting ready to take a mate," he said, glaring.

Kakarot's face scrunched up in disgust. "Oh, no, not you, too!" he exclaimed. "Come on, Raditz, you're strong, you can fight it!" he insisted.

This surprised Raditz, and made him chuckle. "I can fight a lot of things, Kakarot, but no Saiyan can fight this," he said with a sigh. "I'm doomed to be forever at the whim of some female," he said.

Kakarot sighed as well. "Does this mean you're gonna go sneaking off to kiss like Bulma and Yamcha?" he asked, disappointed.

Raditz clenched his fists and unclenched them, his nerves frayed. "I don't have a mate yet, so no," he said, getting annoyed.

"What's wrong?" Kakarot asked, peering at his brother closely. "You look like you don't feel good," he said.

Raditz growled at him, causing Kakarot to back up, preparing for battle. "You're annoying me, that's what's wrong," he said. He noticed Kakarot's battle stance, and forced himself to calm down. "It's not good for us to fight right now, Kakarot, I don't have a lot of control," he said, swallowing hard. "Just back off."

"But a good fight'll make ya feel better. It always makes me feel-" Kakarot began, when suddenly, gunfire could be heard from the street below. Curiously, the two boys looked down at the street, where a blonde woman with a gun was shooting at three cars with bright red lights, holding a large bag slung over her back.

"What the hell?" Raditz asked, casting a glance at Kakarot, who shrugged. He didn't know what was going on, either. Finally seeing something interesting in this city, Raditz flew into the air. "Stay here, Kakarot," he growled, and flew down to a ledge closer to the action, to get a better look.

Kakarot frowned, looking down at the scene. "Why do I have ta stay behind?" he grumbled to himself, but made no move to disobey Raditz. Raditz was still stronger than him, and he would beat the snot out of him if Kakarot disobeyed. What's more, Father would be pissed at him for disobeying his brother's orders. Gritting his teeth, he stayed put, straining his senses so that he could see and hear everything that was going on.

Meanwhile, Raditz's eyes were fixed on the blonde woman, who was brashly telling her pursuers where they could put their right to remain silent (it wasn't somewhere nice), and spraying their cars with more bullets from her primitive weapon. One of her attackers got a bit too close on his hover cycle, and she used her large bag to bash him off of it, hopping onto it herself. "Kiss my ass!" she yelled by way of salutation, and quickly took off into the air.

As she passed Raditz, she cast a glance at him, scowling, and Raditz caught her scent. It took only a brief instant, then she was gone, and Raditz was…

Like a moth to a flame, Raditz followed the female's scent.

Kakarot watched him go, then sighed, taking to the air to go back to Capsule Corp. "Stupid mating. I hate mating. Won't catch me doing it!" he muttered to himself as he flew back.

Raditz followed the female for a long time before spotting her hover cycle parked outside of an old, seemingly abandoned building outside of the city. He descended, entering the building through a large broken window in the top floor. Not touching the ground, so as not to make any noise, he hovered down the stairs to the bottom floor, following the female's scent. She was down here, and she was-

"Hold it right there, freak, or you'll be spittin' up bullets," came her warning, and Raditz could sense her behind him, holding her gun. With a smirk, he turned around, crossing his arms as he let his feet touch the ground.

"Go ahead," he said cockily, knowing this primitive weapon couldn't hurt him. The female looked to be about his age, with blonde hair, tied back with a red bandana, fierce green eyes, and wore a short green tank top with very short khaki shorts.

The female smirked, then said, "You asked for it!" She squeezed the trigger, causing bullets to speed towards him.

Raditz caught each one. When she stopped, he had a handful of bullets in his hand.

The human's eyes widened, and she stepped back. "Wh-what the hell are you?" she asked, starting to think she was in trouble. She didn't have her rocket launcher with her, or this guy would be splattered on the wall right now.

Raditz shrugged. "I'm a Saiyan," he said, crossing his arms. "Why were those men following you?" he asked curiously.

Gazing at him curiously, the female tried to gauge how much of a threat he was. He was strong, and fast… she couldn't take him in a fist fight, she knew, and she doubted her hover cycle could outrun someone who could catch bullets. She had seen him fly down the stairs, so escape was out of the question. So, basically, she was screwed.

On the other hand, he wasn't attacking her. Yet. So… only probably screwed.

She scowled. "What's it to ya?" she asked. So what if she was probably screwed? She wouldn't let it make her meek, like her alter ego…

Raditz raised an eyebrow, and looked at the bag she had been carrying before, which was now leaning against the wall behind her. "Let me guess. You stole something from them, and they want it back," he said.

The female smirked at that. "Give him a prize. Let me guess, you're some sort of secret weapon for the cops. Or worse… some lame ass super hero," she said bitterly.

"Hn. I could care less what you stole," he said, dropping the bullets to the ground and dusting off his hands. "I was just curious," he said.

"Curious?" she asked, incredulously. Then a thought came to her. "You want a cut, don't you?" she accused.

Raditz frowned. "If your bullets couldn't hurt me, what makes you think you can cut me?" he asked, confused.

The thief looked at him blankly for a long moment, then broke down in laughter. "No… not cut… cut…"she laughed, causing Raditz to stare at her. She shook her head in admonishment. "You want some of the money," she clarified.

Raditz blinked. "Oh. No, you keep it," he said, shrugging. "If I wanted any that badly, I'd just steal some of my own," he said.

"Yeah, I bet you could," she replied, looking him over. He had a mane of black, spiky hair, longer than any girl's hair she'd ever met, and wore some of the strangest armor she'd ever seen. But, besides those unusual features, he was kind of handsome, very muscular, and those eyes of his were so intense… "I'm Launch," she said by way of introduction.

"Raditz," the Saiyan responded, finding her scent intoxicating.

"Raditz," Launch said, testing the unusual name out. "Well, you ever think about becoming a professional thief?" she asked. "With those moves, you'd be pretty good at it," she said, smirking.

She liked his moves… Raditz shrugged. "I'm a warrior, not a thief. I'm Saiyan," he said, by way of explanation. "Not that I'm against it… I've taken my share, but usually, I kill the previous owners first," he said, his eyes going to their surroundings. "You don't live here, what is this place?" he asked curiously.

Launch was still digesting his earlier statements. "You're a mercenary," she said, causing Raditz to glance at her. "These people you killed… you get paid for that, am I right?" she asked.

Raditz shrugged. "Never got paid per person… but per planet, yeah. I don't do that anymore, though… I'm laying low, with my family," he said, sighing.

Launch blinked. "You're from outer space," she said more than asked. It made sense… his strength, his speed… his hair. "You're a mercenary from outer space."

"Pretty much," Raditz said, looking her over. "You never answered my question. What is this place?" he asked.

"Hideout," Launch replied, her eyes still taking him in. Outer space… "I'm layin' low, too. Those cops outside will give up eventually," she said.

"With your vehicle parked right outside?" Raditz asked, eyebrow raised.

Launch's eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed crimson. "Shit!" she exclaimed, just as Raditz's head snapped upward.

"Grab your bag," he said, frowning. "You have company." Just then, Launch could hear sirens in the distance, getting closer.

Launch grabbed her bag. "I gotta get my bike," she said, going towards the exit.

"No time," Raditz said, and grabbed her around the waist. With no time for her to protest, he flew with her through an open window, gaining altitude quickly so as not to be seen by anyone on the surface.

"What the hell?!" Launch protested as they flew up above the clouds. Suddenly her breath caught. "What… the hell…" she said breathlessly, eyes widened at the beauty of the scene around her, as the floated among the mountains of clouds. "Wow…" she said.

Raditz smirked at their surroundings. "Yeah… I like water planets. You can hide from anything with enough cloud cover," he said with a sigh. "Except a scouter, anyway, and your people don't have those," he said, glancing around. "Where do you want to go?" he asked.

Launch sighed for a moment, gazing blissfully around them, then the fire returned to her green eyes. "I need to launder this money. Can you get me to East City?" she asked.

Raditz shrugged. "Sure. But I'm not your transportation service. After I drop you off, you start using your head and get your own transport," he said, scowling. He couldn't believe he'd gotten himself in this position… yet, at the same time, he wasn't looking forward to letting her go.

This caused the human female in his arms to huff. "I never said you were, asshole, you grabbed me, remember?!" she yelled.

"Hn," was Raditz's only response, as he flew them towards East City.

By the time he got them there, Launch had relaxed, and was even enjoying the flight. Right up until the dust and exhaust fumes got caught up in her nose, and she sneezed.

Raditz almost dropped her.

Her hair had turned blue, and her entire demeanor had changed. At first, she seemed confused, looking around blankly. Then, upon seeing him, she screamed. Loudly. "AAAAAH! Who are you? Put me down! HELP!" she cried out, dropping her bag of money. Instinctively, Raditz reached down and caught it, and tried to keep her from struggling out of his arms and falling to her death.

"Just calm down! I'm putting you down, just… stop…" he insisted as she struggled. When they finally got to the ground, she backed away from him, looking terrified.

"Who are you? What's going on? Where am I?" Launch asked, and Raditz could tell right away this was not the same female he held moments ago.

He frowned. "I told you. My name's Raditz. You're outside of East City, you wanted to get this money laundered," he said, gesturing to the bag he was still holding.

Launch's now blue eyes widened, then she sighed, collapsing to a sitting position on the ground. "Oh, no, I've gotten in trouble again…" she lamented, crossing her arms over her knees. "She always does this, every time I sneeze, she gets me into more and more trouble," she sobbed.

Raditz blinked at the sight. "You… you're not Launch?" he asked, very confused. She smelled the same…

Launch looked back up at him, tears in her blue eyes. "Yes, I'm Launch," she said, and at his look of confusion, she sighed. "You knew my alter ego. Then you must know what happened. Every time I sneeze, I change. Sometimes I'm her, and sometimes I'm me," she said, and frowned at the bag of money he held. She stood up, dusting herself off. "I don't want to have anything to do with that money, you can keep it. I'm going to try to find somewhere to stay. It looks like I've probably lost my last job as a waitress…" she sighed, hating how unpredictable her life was as she started to walk towards town.

Raditz growled. "You mean, after all the trouble you put me through, you don't want this after all?" he exclaimed, holding out the bag. "How are you going to find a place to stay with no money? What, is this the stupid version of you?" he asked, incredulously.

Launch turned around, her eyes wide, filled with hurt. "I'm not stupid!" she exclaimed, in her meek little voice. "Do you have any idea how hard it is piecing together a life, when every time I do, she comes back and ruins it? I had an apartment, and friends, and a good job. Now I have to start all over again. And I don't even know if the place I'm going is one of the places she's robbed!" she said, her lip quivering.

Raditz scowled, looking away. "Yeah. I think I have an idea," he said, remembering being pulled out of the rubble by Vegeta and Nappa, learning that his family, his entire planet, had been obliterated. And then, once he'd finally started getting used to life in Frieza's army, suddenly being yanked out of that life, for this one on Earth, with the very family he'd finally accepted the loss of. He looked at her. "I know a place you can stay, for a little while," he said, dreading the conversation he'd be sure to have with his parents. Looking down at the ground, he blasted a deep hole into it, and dropped the money sack in. He then picked up a nearby boulder and placed it over the hole. "There. In case you change your mind," he said, and held out a hand to her.

Launch regarded him silently for a long moment, then stepped towards him, taking his hand. He wrapped his arm around her, and soon was taking to the air, back above the clouds. Launch gasped. "It's… beautiful…" she murmured, sighing in bliss, leaning her head against his chest. This took Raditz by surprise, and he swallowed hard, trying not to hold her so tightly he hurt her.

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Ages:

Kakarot: 1.5 cycles (12 earth years)

Raditz: 2.25 cycles (18 earth years)

Bardock: 4.75 cycles (38 earth years)

Gine: 4.5 cycles (36 earth years)

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