Chapter 5: One Ball or Another
Greeting #Dragonball fans and welcome back to What If: Raditz Recognized Piccolo, where Raditz's comments on there being a Namekian on Earth, followed by the confirmation of some sort of wish granting Dragon Ball orb things kicked off an early dash for their planet of origin, Namek.
Raditz's Playlist: playlist?list=PLsT84D-KG6NgOeBSIBdyrpIhZjO67jbuH
Merged Playlist: playlist?list=PLsT84D-KG6NizpzJ6QX6qWsHyuWh-RcIp
Piccolo's Playlist: playlist?list=PLsT84D-KG6Nin9n_qcBAI8HeDmMTB8tL5
#DragonballZ #WhatIf #Raditz
With Vegeta and Nappa opting to skip Earth entirely and heading straight to the source and Raditz then having the bright and hopefully motivating idea that Frieza will likely have heard about the wish orbs as well, he did what he could to light a fire under the work of the Bulma woman and her father, Dr Briefs.
Sure, he would rather have wished for immortality from Earth's set of those Dragon Ball things but thinking that the Namekians had them, Namekians who were apparently now on a different planet somehow, despite the apparent lack of spaceships, his only hope was to beat everyone else to the punch on their presumed homeworld.
The trip there was not devoid of incident however. After discovering that they'd upgraded the rust bucket of a ship with that creepy spatial compression stuff, there was then Bulma's unintentional attempt at Radi-cide. Well, how was she supposed to know that he couldn't read her language? It's not like he'd dropped a bunch of fairly obvious hints, what with his scouter now being unintelligible and all.
After recovering from the henceforth unmentionable deck plate drooling incident, they found themselves on what we all know as Fake Namek. Raiti and Zaacro were able to pick some thoughts up from the unconscious Bulma, but not Raditz who remained conscious throughout the somewhat bumpy descent. Bulma hadn't been thinking about the Dragon Balls at all though, since Earth's were fine so that came as a bit of a surprise to the pair of con artists. Maybe if they'd been able to make direct contact, they'd've known more?
The jig being thoroughly up, Raditz rather easily dispatched the pair and they continued on their way to Actual Namek. There Raditz learns that Bulma, and the Earthlings had been holding out on him. The Dragon Balls had been there for the taking, the whole time. Can he really blame them though? They don't really know what Frieza is like, and, well, Bulma had a valid point. Threatening to blow up the planet wasn't a great way to ingratiate yourself with the natives.
One Ball or Another
After brushing aside the 4 Frieza force goons that attempted to accost them, Raditz scoops up a somewhat flustered Bulma and they fly off towards the nearest blip on the Dragon Radar that corresponds to some truly laughable power readings on the scouter. These powers were even lower than those on Earth. Even that farmer had been a 5. But in the approaching village, there were mostly 1s and 2s. The highest was about 200. All completely laughable. Or, well they used to be. Who really knows anymore.
Raditz will have to congratulate Bulma on the improvements she'd made to the scouter though. A normal Frieza force unit wouldn't be able to discern this many individuals, especially at such low levels. To think she'd managed this with his already very antiquated unit. The Frieza force would snap her up without a second thought if they had any clue of this.
They arrive soon enough and are met by a group of Namekians in the middle of farming, whatever it is they farm. They'd've arrived sooner, but someone kept complaining about the slight breeze in her face so he'd had to fly a lot slower than he would have otherwise liked. Time is not a luxury they have, but her whinging had got the better of him. Maybe she should make herself a mask or a helmet or something.
When Bulma asks why they are farming, as according to Raditz's recitation from the Frieza Force Wiki, Namekians subsist on water, they inform them that while, no, they don't need the crops themselves to survive, they are busy rebuilding their world's shattered ecosystem. The lack of trees and whatnot has led to a drought, so they lack fresh, drinkable water.
When Raditz then asks how there can be so many Namekians now when, again, according to the notes, there were only like 2 of them left some 500 years ago, and only males, the village elder sighs, recalling the memory.
First off, while they appear male, relative to the majority of species in the universe, they are not.
Raditz looks from one to the next and notices that Bulma is equally skeptical. She seems about to say something when the villager cuts her off and says that they're genderless. Their elder makes eggs, at a cost to his own life, depending on how much energy they put into it. And then they hatch from those eggs.
"Oh, thank god!" Bulma says in relief. "For a second there I thought you were saying Piccolo was a girl!"
The thought of that Piccolo guy, or uh, person, having anything in common with her seems to upset her as she shudders visibly.
The village elder's curiosity is piqued though. Who is this Piccolo? Raditz gives his run down and the elder is muttering things to the villagers that are gathering in increasing numbers. Another Namekian on another planet? The legends were true? And, and the child survived? Oh, they simply must tell Guru this! To know that the child of Katas lives, would be such a boon for their world. A being with that kind of power could easily tend trees and crops across the planet! That kind of power? Oh please.
"Uh," Bulma says, "There's no way Piccolo would care about planting trees."
Raditz certainly hadn't pegged that big, uh, guy, for the farming type either so Bulma not seeming to believe it makes sense.
When the local village elder asks why, Bulma has to stumble over what little she knows of Piccolo's origin. Something about splitting from their guardian, Kami, and then to the collective gasps of the assembled villagers, becoming a homicidal, power hungry demonic despot that quite literally ravaged their world about 300, or, Bulma taps her chin, uh, maybe, uh, 800 of their years ago? The Elder can only frown at this though, not fully comprehending the thought of an evil Namekian. Well, now they REALLY need to talk to Guru.
"Does this Guru person have a Dragon Ball like you lot?" Raditz asks, as nonchalantly as he can.
"Why yes!" The elder says. "Each of our villages has one!"
Now it's Raditz's turns to gasp.
"How, uh, how many dragon balls are there?" he asks. "Bulma said Earth only has 7."
"Oh," The village elder smiles, "There are 7 villages."
Bulma glances at him with an odd, half hurt, half amused look on her face, but he ploughs ahead and asks for it, you know, for uh, safe keeping. If that Frieza person or his goons show up looking for it, they can say they don't have one, and well, maybe live a little longer?
The elder questions about this Frieza person, then, sadly, connects the dots. The villages going silent, strange, malicious energies circling the planet. He makes a quick gesture and a moment later a large orange ball is presented to them and Bulma freaks out slightly.
"They're huge!" Bulma says, staring wide eyed. "How are we supposed to carry something that size?"
"Wow!" Raditz says, staring at the thing, his mind running down the same path, imagining how Kami and Piccolo, back on Earth, could have hidden something that size on them, before remembering that, no, they're scattered, aren't they.
Raditz regards the dragon ball for a moment longer, then cocks his head from one side to another and says, he, well, he might just have an idea about that.
"Uh, I, don't like that look, Raditz." Bulma says, seeing his slightly vicious grin. "Just what are you plotting?"
"Oh, it's nothing like that. Just, well, that crate you put my armour in. Do you still have it?"
Bulma reaches into her satchel and pulls out the capsule.
"Here it is." She says, still a bit skeptical.
Raditz holds out his hand and after a moment, she hands the capsule over. There's nothing in there that can hurt anyone, right? No, just stuff. Some food storage capsules and clothing and some odds and ends. His language tablet too? No, that's still on the ship, which is elsewhere in the satchel. The ship is in her satchel. By gods, that's such an absurd thing to say out loud, that, yup, even these local simpletons are looking at her funny.
Raditz turns the capsule over in his hand a few times then, telling the Namekains to step back, he clicks the button and tosses it to the ground and it's the Namekians turn to step back as they gasp.
"How could such a thing be stored in something so small?" One of the villagers asks, in awe.
Raditz doesn't answer. He just opens the crate and points at the Namekian with the massive dragon ball in his hand, then to the crate. The villager takes a moment to figure out what he means and promptly puts the ball in the crate, then steps back away from the magic box.
Raditz then says a small prayer to whatever deities may or may not actually exist and closes the lid. He presses the button and instinctively leaps back, out of range of possible crate shards. With the now familiar poof, the crate collapses back into its pill and lays on the ground. Raditz walks up to it cautiously and after a few false starts, as he again wraps his head around what's actually happening, he picks up the capsule and, turning to a perplexed looking Bulma, he says, "Catch!"
She does but doesn't put the think away right away. Instead just looks back and forth between the capsule and Raditz with that odd smile that he hasn't quite figured out yet.
After the villagers have stopped gawking at the capsule as well and it's stowed away, they start to say their goodbyes. Instead of simply being directed towards Guru's tower though, a small Namekian child steps forward and says that it might do well for someone to make the introductions. Their sibling, Nail, might be a bit defensive, having someone, like Raditz, just dropping in on them, asking about Dragon Balls.
Agreeing to this, Bulma steps close and Raditz wraps his arm around her waist, nice and snug. Now that he's in a better mood about things, he finds that he can spare a moment to consider her somewhat fragile frame this time, instead of just grabbing her and flying off. Between this and rather overt appearing to give her control over their one dragon ball, maybe she'll start to trust him a bit more? Meh, he can hope. It's not like he can't take the capsule back if he wants to right? What number was on the thing? 28? 26? Hmm, should have paid more attention.
After a day's traveling in a straight line, with Bulma only mentioning one other blip, much farther away than the one they were flying towards, they finally lay eyes on Guru's tower. The little, Dende apparently, flies on ahead and makes those introductions. Raditz eyes up the big Namek and can certainly see a resemblance to Piccolo, back on Earth. To say he's not slightly intimidated by the guy wouldn't be too far from the truth. The way he carries himself, he's a warrior all right. Probably a strong one. Raditz then remembers his apparent number now and wonders just how strong they are relative to each other. Maybe they'll find out some time!
Once inside they meet the massive Guru and spot the ball that rests above his head. Bulma and Raditz both relay much of their more recent story. Earth, dragon balls, King Piccolo, Kami, Nappa, Vegeta and finally, Frieza. Guru takes most of this in stride, then summons Bulma forward and asks if it's ok with her, could she please share her mind? She is hesitant, but after confirming with Raditz about how Guru, and especially that Nail guy seem nothing like Piccolo, she finally agrees.
End Chapter 5
And as Guru lays an oversized hand on Bulma's slightly terrified looking head, we will bring part 5 to a close.
They have one ball in their collection now and likely a 2nd up for grabs as well. How will their search for more go?
Do you think Guru will want a peek under Raditz's hood as well or will Bulma's rather impressive brain be enough?
Find out next time on Dragon Ball, What If: Raditz Recognized Piccolo.