Son Family Homestead
December 18, A762
Gine laid on her belly in front of Gohan, who was similarly posed. Gohan's attention was entirely on the piece of bacon laid on the plate between them. Gine was staring at Gohan with a pleased smile. Both of their tails twitched with interest as they slid their hands closer and closer to the plate, daring the other to make the move. Gine twitched one hand, causing Gohan to strike out and slap it. With the other hand, Gine swiped across the plate, snatching the piece of bacon. Enraged by the deception, Gohan leaped over the plate to tackle his grandmother, and the two wrestled, with Gine holding the bacon just out of his reach. She shoved the bacon halfway into her mouth. Gohan gasped at the offense, but Gine bit down, causing the other half of the bacon to fall off, which Gohan caught and shoved into his mouth.
Gine laughed softly, prompting Gohan to do the same. Gine scooped up the plate with one hand and held Gohan with the other, and put the plate on top of the pile of dishes from breakfast. At the sink, Raditz and Goku were having a race to see who could finish their pile first. Chi Chi hovered by them, making sure they cleaned each dish thoroughly, or they would face her wrath.
Gine stepped outside with Gohan, and found Brussa doing weight jumps. Without a word to her daughter, or to Gohan, Gine threw Gohan up to her. The boy laughed all the way up. Brussa turned in midair, and caught Gohan before landing.
"You're not a weight! You're a squirt!" Brussa exclaimed.
"I'm not a squirt, you're a squirt!" Gohan retorted. Brussa gave a gasp.
"You DARE mock the pride of a Saiyan Warrior? I will destroy you for this!" Brussa declared in a mocking Vegeta impression. Brussa started to poke Gohan in the sides, and he yelped at the tickle, swinging a punch at her to make her stop. It quickly turned into a sparring match between the two, with Brussa's weights quickly abandoned.
"You two have overlooked the true threat! MOTHER MONSTER!" Gien declared scooping them both up and tossing them into the field.
"Neither of us are strong enough on our own! We'll have to work together!" Gohan said.
"Just don't get in my way!" Brussa laughed, charging at Gine. The three of them began to spar in the field.
"Aw, man, it really looks like they're having fun…" Goku groaned.
"Finish up and you can join them," Chi Chi said. Goku began to scrub faster, which prompted Raditz to match his brother's speed. Suddenly, the phone rang.
"That could be Launch!" Raditz declared, abandoning his sink and flying to the satellite phone.
"Do these dishes look done to you, Raditz?" Chi Chi snarled.
"Aww, that's no fair, Chi Chi!" Goku moaned.
"I didn't say stop!" she snapped.
"Son residence, this is Raditz speaking," Raditz sang.
"Oh, hello Raditz!"
"Hello, Dr. Briefs…" Raditz sighed, deflating.
"It's good to hear your voice, how are you?"
"Oh, good. We're just cleaning up after breakfast, how are you?" Raditz asked lamely.
"Oh, breakfast, I knew I forgot something this morning! Panchy made me a sandwich and everything! I'd forget my moustache if it weren't attached to my face."
"Heh. What kept you up all night?"
"Oh, it was the atmospheric calibrations. It occurred to me that I didn't create an automated system for the landing system to compensate for the change in atmosphere."
"Oh, yeah, if you have to do that manually, it's an intensive process for the pilot."
"But luckily, I realized I already had a system for atmospheric reading."
"Did you use a Laser reading system, or a general suite?"
"Both!"
"Smart."
"Raditz, what does Dr. Briefs want?" Chi Chi called over.
"Oh, right. What can I help you with, Dr. Briefs?" Raditz asked.
"Ah, yes, the reason I called is that I fixed that system, and now the ship is ready. You can take off whenever you're ready," Dr. Briefs said.
"Oh, yes! We'll be right over! Thank you, Dr. Briefs!"
"Of course, Raditz. I'll see you soon."
"You bet!" Raditz hung up, "Kakarot! Chi Chi! Dr. Briefs finished the ship! We're going to space!"
"Oh, no we're not, not until this house is spotless! I am not going to space for Kami knows how long only to come home to a mess! You grab a broom and get cleaning, mister!" Chi Chi threw a broom to him.
"But it's ready now!" Raditz whined.
"Finish quickly, and we might have time for you to drop by and see Launch," Chi Chi offered. Raditz immediately began lifting furniture and sweeping under.
"Dishes done!" Goku declared, drying off his hands.
"Good, now you can help Raditz."
"Aww, but Chi Chi-"
"I'm going to go pack. We all have our role to play, Goku. Do you like having a nice, clean house?" she asked. He nodded.
"Then we all do our part. Now use that super-speed, and get this house clean! I'll time you!"
"Yeah, it's like training!" Goku sped off to help Raditz.
"Gine! The spaceship is ready! Don't get all sweaty before we have to fly! I need help packing!" Chi Chi called out.
"All right, kids, go get your books. You two will train and study on our way there," Gine grabbed the two of them under her arms, "You ready to go to space?"
"Yeah!" Gohan cheered.
"I was born for space!" Brussa said.
"You literally were," Gine chuckled.
XXX
Orbit of Planet Namek
December 18, A762
Bulma never thought she'd be grateful that Master Roshi's 'essentials' included risque movies. But he'd brought enough with him that they still hadn't gotten through his whole collection. Bulma's activities on the flight had included reading books, reading comics, eating junk food, and napping. After a week of this, she'd finally given in, and started watching the horrible films with Roshi.
They were cheesy, insulting, overly dramatic, poorly acted, sexist, and nearly pornographic. Bulma couldn't get enough of them.
"Just sleep with them both! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!" Bulma shouted.
"They love each other, and they both love you! It's the best solution for everyone!" Roshi agreed.
"Do you think she'll do it?" Bulma asked.
"She's shy, but that girl has spirit! Go on! Kiss your Prince! THEN KISS YOUR WOMAN, YOU SILLY GIRL!" Roshi shouted.
"Go! You can do it, I believe in you!"
"Bulma?" Tien called out.
"What?" Bulma snapped.
"The computer is beeping," Tien pointed.
"Oh," she hit pause on the TV.
"Nooooo!" Roshi groaned. Bulma sat in the pilot's chair, and started reading the feed.
"Hey guys! I think we're here!" Bulma shouted to the others.
"Wait, really? We're at Namek?" Krillin stood.
"Yep! Just look!" she switched the view, showing the green, swirling planet.
"Wow, it's beautiful! Much prettier than the fake one!" Krillin said.
"Don't remind me…" Tien groaned.
"You're telling me," Roshi coughed, blushing at the memory of the Namekian 'woman' he'd gotten so 'close' to.
"Everyone strap in!" Bulma said, and the warriors all took their seats. Bulma hit the landing thrusters, and the planet got closer and closer, until the curvature became flat, and the black of space became a green sky. The ship slowed, and Bulma deftly landed the vessel.
"All right, everyone. There might not be a lot of oxygen here, but you're lucky I'm such a genius. I installed a barometric sensor which-HEY! What are you knumbskulls already doing outside?!" Bulma shouted at the windows; the three warriors had already left the ship.
"Looks familiar, doesn't it?" Tien said.
"Yeah. Piccolo would bring us to places like this when we were training," Krillin said.
"Home is where the heart is, even if you're an alien, I suppose. Gives me a new layer of respect for the green man. He and Kami must have been feeling so lonely…" Roshi said.
"DO YOU THREE MORONS SHARE HALF A BRAINCELL? We don't know anything about this place! We could be breathing anything! This air could be killing us right now without us knowing you numbskulls!" Bulma shouted.
"If that's true, why did you come out without a mask?" Krillin asked.
"Don't you sass me!"
"Do you guys feel that?" Tien asked.
"I do. That's a lot of power," Roshi agreed, "It feels...Evil. Wrong."
"Oh, come on. Gine and Mr. Popo said that the Namekians were peaceful, and that there's nothing to worry about. And given how strong Piccolo and Kami are, is it any surprise their people are any different?" Bulma said.
"I know evil when I sense it, Bulma," Roshi said, taking a breath, "Unless Gine and Mr. Popo have strange definitions of 'evil', I don't think we're alone in our search for the Dragon Balls."
"W-w-wait...Do you mean...F-F-Freeza could be here?" Krillin stammered.
"Freeza? That Emperor guy? Oh, no, no, no, no!" Bulma started to panic, "When is Goku gonna get here?"
"You said a week, didn't you?" Krillin said.
"We've got another problem," Tien said, looking up.
"That's Vegeta, isn't it?" Krillin groaned.
"Seems like," Roshi sighed, "We've got our work cut out for us, boys."
"Well...We've got the advantage! We have the Dragon Radar!" Bulma produced it, and clicked it, "See? There's two close by, and another four already gathered! We've got this in the bag!"
"Bulma, think about this: If Freeza beat us here, and he's looking for the Dragon Balls, who do you think gathered them in one place?" Tien proposed. Bulma let out another groan.
"There's no point in panicking," Roshi said, "Let's hide the ship, and find a base of operations. Then we'll pick up the two Dragon Balls nearby, then find a way to steal Freeza's. Boys, let's suppress our power so their doohickeys can't find us. Bulma, you have communicators for us, right?"
"Huh? Right. Yeah, I have them in a capsule," she pulled out a capsule, which produced a small carrying case. She handed Roshi, Krillin, and Tien sunglasses, each custom made. Tien's had three lenses instead of two, Krillin's was built to accommodate his lack of a nose, and Roshi's looked exactly like his normal ones.
"I built them to work like Scouters, but with a lot more options, and it's in a language you understand, of course. I also have them connected to my Dragon Radar, so you can track the Dragon Balls wherever you are," Bulma explained.
"You thought of everything, Bulma," Krillin complimented.
"That's because I'm the best," she declared, and she pressed a button on the ship, which reverted it to a capsule, "I'm going to-"
"Take cover!" Krillin shouted to her. Bulma grabbed the capsule and scrambled for cover.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a figure called out. He had horns, blue skin, and an orange mullet and matching moustache. With him was a purple lizardlike alien. Both wore the same kind of armor as the Saiyans.
"Hello there, gentlemen. I'm afraid we're a little lost, maybe you'd be able to help us? See, our ship ran out of fuel, and we aren't sure where we are, do you have a map?" Roshi asked them.
"Sorry, Grandpa, but I'm afraid this is your last stop," the mullet alien aimed his blaster at Roshi, who chuckled.
"You sure about that?"
"KIENZAN!" Krillin shouted. The Destructo Disc sliced through the two aliens, and they fell into the water as a pile of limbs.
"That was pretty brutal, Krillin," Tien observed, "You sure that was warranted?"
"If half the stories from Meys and Brussa are true, Freeza's soldiers are nothing to toy around with," Roshi said, "I hate to resort to killing so easily. But we may not need a choice."
"We've got our work cut out for us already, and we just got here…" Tien lamented.
"Come on, let's look for some proper cover," Krillin said, leading them up a hill. Weeks of lounging, junk food, and TV did not make it easy for Bulma to keep up with the three warriors, who had largely spent their time meditating, practicing combat in their minds, exercising, and only occasionally watching TV.
"Hey! Here's a cave!" Krillin pointed.
"Oh...Thank goodness...Master Roshi...Would you help me...with an exercise program? I'm...Out of breath…" Bulma gasped. Roshi let out a frustrated grunt.
"I promised I'd behave myself on this trip," he reminded himself.
"Into the cave! Now!" Tien shouted, picking up Bulma and running in, the others following. A series of men in armor flew by. Tien, Krillin, and Roshi tensed as they felt the powers.
"What...What is it?" Bulma asked, pushing herself away from Tien.
"That power...Each of them could have given Nappa a run for his money, at least...But the three at the front…" Krillin said.
"They make Vegeta look like a punk. And the one in the chair...There's no doubt about it, that was Freeza, all right…" Roshi said.
"So...How much trouble are we in?" Bulma asked.
"A lot," Tien admitted, "We're going to have to make the most of it, though, until Goku and his family get here. The three of us can't take Freeza. But, maybe, with all of us…"
"Don't forget Vegeta, though," Krillin said, "He was more powerful than ever!"
"If we get one of the Dragon Balls, then Freeza won't be able to use them!" Bulma said, "And there's another in that direction! Where...He's headed…"
"I can sense life in that direction," Tien said, "Those might be Namekians!"
"We have to help them," Roshi said, "Boys, keep your power down. No flying."
"I'll set up camp, and get ahold of Earth, and tell Goku and his family to double-time it!" Bulma said. The warriors dropped their bags and weighted clothing, and started to jump to the village. Bulma tsked at the mess.
"I'm not cleaning that up," she said, and went into the cave.