Briefs Mansion
Chi Chi and Gine found one thing they could agree on: They did NOT like sharing a kitchen with the other. Their attempt to cook dinner together was next to a combat zone, causing the others to either flee or gawk upon the effort. Raditz, of course, had no choice in the matter, as he was still commiserating in pain on the recliner. Shouting, shoving, and sabotage was common as they attempted to prepare the Saiyan-size meal for their family.
It ended with piles upon piles of food being prepared as they attempted to outdo the other in flavor and volume of food, to Raditz and Goku's joy. Brussa and Gohan didn't help by cheering on their respective mothers, before devolving into a wrestling match between the two on the floor.
With no less than five Saiyans chowing down, cleanliness of the dining room was out of the question. Despite seemingly keeping up with his brother, Gine kept remarking how Raditz was not eating like he normally was, to which Raditz insisted his injuries were blocking his appetite. Only having one functional arm did not stop Brussa from matching her brothers, even getting in a tug of war battle with Goku over a strip of beef. When Goku won, Brussa leaped across the table to tackle him and she started to wrestle him for it, which Gine had to break up.
An entire tenth of the meal was not served with dinner, but rather packed up by Gine, so that Nappa would "Only have a snack and miss out," despite being nearly a week's worth of food.
The others were, at first, stunned by the display, but when Dr. Briefs simply shrugged and accepted the display, the others found it within themselves to chow down.
The end of the meal was the worst part, as Gine and Chi Chi insisted on everyone giving their preference as to who was the better cook. As much of the food had been mixed together and none of the bowls had been marked, everyone but Brussa and Raditz managed to excuse their way out of the competition. Gine claimed victory, however, as she had two votes, while the rest hadn't voted at all.
On that day, a feud was laid which had no resolution in sight.
XXX
Wukong Hospital
Raditz had to duck under the door after his mother when they entered Nappa's hospital room. He set down all the containers of food beside his bed.
Nappa's head was wrapped with gauze. Only one eye and his mouth were exposed. Brussa hopped into the room after her brother. The room immediately became tense as none of them spoke. Brussa, in particular, didn't know if she wanted to hug her father or poke at his injuries.
"Raditz?" Nappa wheezed, "What?"
"Dragon Balls give wishes, Nappa. They're real, and they work," Raditz explained. Nappa winced and clenched his hand.
"Of course…"
"I can't say I'm happy with Meys for getting himself killed. But I thought you would have the sense to stop him from doing it. Or have you just been paying lip service to what mom's been telling us since our homeworld was destroyed? You've been Vegeta's lackey for so long, Nappa, not even you know what you think. Well, you can do what you want, Nappa, because we're staying here on Earth. With our family. I'm going to do everything I can to fix what we've done. But I'm done with you. You can't hurt me anymore," Raditz told him, "I'm not that scared little boy anymore."
Nappa looked away. Raditz harrumphed, and took his leave. Brussa took a deep breath.
"I'm super mad at you, father. So, when you get better, I'm gonna beat you up, okay?" Brussa said. She kissed Nappa on the cheek, and followed her brother out the door. Before stepping through, she paused, and turned to her mother, "We'll be just outside, okay?"
Gine nodded, and turned to Nappa. She picked up one of the containers of food, and offered it to him. Nappa took it, and placed it on the stand next to his bed. He offered her his giant hand. Gine hesitated, and placed hers in it. Nappa gently held her hand, saying nothing.
"I don't...Know...What I want. Or what...What I feel, Nappa. When we started...I was just trying to survive. I don't know if it was real, or if I was just convincing myself it was, or if I was just doing what I could to keep my son and I alive...But now, I really do have a choice. I don't...I don't need you, Nappa, the way I did before.
"Now that I realize this...I don't know if I want you. Or even if I can stand you. The way you hurt Brussa, how you let Vegeta kill Meys...You didn't try to stop me from hurting the Earthlings and the Namekian. All you wanted was for me to obey orders."
"I'm proud," Nappa wheezed, "Of Raditz. And Brussa. And you."
Gine gave him a soft, brief smile.
"If...Things had been different? If I'd had a wish on those Dragon Balls now, right now? I'd wish I'd done something...To make Raditz, your son, to look to me like his father. I'm sorry for my weakness, Gine. You deserve better," Nappa said. Gine nodded.
"You're right," She stood, and turned away from him, "I do deserve better. I'll...I've got a lot to think about."
Gine left Nappa in his room, alone, with the food. For the first time, Nappa wasn't hungry.
XXX
The Next Morning
"Rise and shine!" a voice called out to Nappa, parting the windows. Nappa winced, and let out a dissatisfied grunt. His eyes adjusted to the new light, and the human in his room finally came into focus.
"Who the hell are you?" Nappa demanded.
"I'm going to give you a job offer," the human declared. He had pale blue hair, a thick moustache, round glasses, and sky blue shirt under his white labcoat. He stood at the foot of Nappa's bed.
"Right now, the rest of my daughter's friends are wondering what to do with you. The rest of your companions are trying to make peace with them, but none of them even want to talk to you. Not after what you did to Brussa. But I'm not one to throw away anything. It drives my wife crazy, but I always have a reason. And I'm not about to throw you away, either," the human said.
"You still haven't answered my question. Who the hell are you, and what do you want?"
"My name is Dr. Briefs. Goku, the one you call Kakarrot, is one of my daughter's oldest and closest friends. My daughter is long affiliated with the Galactic Patrol, and you are a wanted man with no friends left in the Galaxy," Dr. Briefs said. Nappa looked away from him.
"Lucky for you, that doesn't mean you aren't desired. I appreciate your power, Mr. Nappa, and I am looking to put it to use. Maybe, if you show you're willing to risk yourselves for others, you might earn my daughter's respect. I can get you out of that bed with this," Dr. Briefs held up a Senzu bean, "And send you on a mission right away. I want to find out what your companion, Shive, was up to. I'd like to send you and another operative into space to track him down, and bring him back, along with any technology you can bring back to me. Even the smallest piece of tech could change the course of human history."
"What do you care about Shive?"
"Let's just say that a colleague of mine has talked some sense into me about everything that's been going on. Normally I'd leave everything to Goku, but his death has shown me we can't rely on him, not entirely. So what do you say? You bring back Shive, and I'll put in a good word for you with my daughter. Plus, I'll make sure you're never wanting for work, or a good training session, ever again," Dr. Briefs explained.
Nappa looked down at his injuries, and then at the untouched food.
"When do we leave?"
Dr. Briefs smiled, and handed him the bean, "Right away."
XXX
Capsule Corp
"We can't trust them," Bulma said.
"Of course not. But who do you want to send after Shive?" Dr. Briefs said.
"Goku? Krillin? Roshi? Chi Chi?"
"Right, uh huh, and then who do we send to Namek? What if Vegeta is there already? Or Shive himself? You think Krillin could handle a Saiyan who's been doing who-knows-what behind our backs?"
"Since when did you care about any of this, anyway?"
"When my daughter decided to fight the damn Red Ribbon Army with her friends," he snapped. Bulma was taken aback; in all her years, Dr. Briefs had never yelled at her like that.
"I...I didn't know."
"But it always worked out. King Piccolo, his son. Hell, even when Raditz showed up. But then Brussa and Meys arrived, and guess what? No Goku! What if your friends all failed? What if Chi Chi hadn't convinced Brussa? What would you have done?"
"I-"
"There's nothing you COULD do! Maybe, if you survived long enough, you'd find some technology to blast the Saiyans, or give yourself powers, or go back in time, or whatever, but we are not prepared to defend the Earth without your friends, Bulma," he explained. He gestured to the Namekian ship they were rebuilding.
"Maybe, out there, in space, there's some answer to my concerns. Maybe Namek's Dragon Balls will be enough. I don't know. But if I know you, you're going out there with them. You will pilot this ship, I'm sure of it. I sent Tao and Nappa out there on the chance that they can be even a little bit helpful."
Dr. Briefs stroked the side of her face, "I know you can take care of yourself, Bulma. You always have. But you know if I could line the world with pillows to keep you safe, I would."
"I know. You tried."
"It might have worked, too, dammit!" he laughed.
"You're right. I'm the only one who understands this ship. I'm the only one who can get them there and back, or work the radio. I...Didn't want you to worry, I guess…" Bulma said.
"Nonsense. You were going to run off with your friends, tell me without asking, and come back, cursing yourself for being so foolish and getting so close to danger. But you love it. So I'm going to make this the best damn starship I've ever built. At least until the next one," Dr. Briefs chuckled.
"Yeah, I figured you were working on another one."
"Nonsense. I'm working on three."
"Of course you are."
XXX
Briefs Mansion
"So, Bulma says there's only room for four on Kami's ship, so only so many of us can go at once," Krillin said, "And since Bulma is piloting, that means only three of us can go."
"I'd like to go on the first vessel," Tien said, "Kami wanted to go with me, so we could both learn and become better Guardians of Earth, but without him...Well, it's up to me, now. If, for whatever reason, we can't bring him back, I may need to learn how to make Dragon Balls without him."
"I ain't been much use on looking for Dragon Balls, truth be told," Roshi said, "So I figure it's time I started to pull my weight."
"All right, that makes sense. I'll go, too. We'll have one ship full of Humans, and one ship full of Saiyans," Krillin said, doing the math on his fingers.
"Ugh, of course I get stuck on a ship with you," Bulma groaned.
"Yeah, just you, me, and the void of space," Roshi teased.
"And me," Tien pointed out.
"And me. Roshi, be nice to Bulma on this trip, okay? Everyone's already tense," Krillin said.
"Aw, c'mon, just a couple peaks?"
"Master Roshi, please," Tien groaned.
"All right, all right, I'll keep my hands to myself. At least until I can feast my eyes on them fine Namekian ladies!" Roshi chuckled.
"Bulma, if you want, I can teach you how to crush a man's hand with a single blow," Gine offered.
"That sounds wonderful, Gine, thank you," Bulma said, and sneered to Roshi, "I'm definitely going to pick you up on that offer."
Roshi recoiled from the threat.
"So, wait, how long will you be on Namek without us?" Gine asked.
"Probably only a few days, actually. I'm going to be ready tomorrow with my Namekian dictionary, so we'll leave right away. Then, my dad will have the second-well, third ship, I guess-completed in December, and those will be much faster. So, not more than a week, truth be told," Bulma explained, "The first ship will take weeks, but the second should only take days."
"A week? I think we can handle that, right, Tien?" Krillin looked to the Triclops, who nodded.
"All right, well, I've already got my necessities packed up in capsules, so I'm good to go first thing," Roshi said.
"If by 'necessities' you mean 'porn', I suggest you repack," Bulma sneered.
"Listen, if there's one thing I know how to do, it's pack and live light! So it's not just porn!"
Tien groaned.
"What's he talking about?" Gohan asked.
"I'll explain it to you later, Gohan," Chi Chi said, not ever wanting to explain it.
"Well, can we go to Namek?" Gohan asked.
"Absolutely not! We are staying here on Earth where you are going to study."
"No way, Mom! I want to go! Mr. Piccolo and Mr. Meys and Mr. Yamcha died for us! We have to fix it! I'm not staying out of this again! I want to train, and help this time!" Gohan pleaded.
"We'll have over a month for him to train and study, and it will only be a few days. Imagine what he'll learn in an alien world, Chi Chi!" Gine said, "He'll be safe so long as he's with us."
"Especially if we're not destroying the alien world like we normally do!" Brussa added, "Come on, Chi Chi, it'll be fun! I want to go on another adventure with him! As a family!"
"Pleaaaaaase?" Gohan and Brussa said together. Chi Chi tsked.
"All right, but both of you are staying caught up on your homework, do you understand me?" Chi Chi scowled at them.
"Yes, mom…"
"Yes, Miss Chi Chi…"
"Bulma, the second ship can take all of us, right?" Raditz asked.
"Of course it can. My dad figured you'd all want to go, so he's building it to house up to ten people. It's much bigger than the one he sent Tao and Nappa in, and the Gravity chamber is even bigger and more advanced, too," Bulma said.
"All right! Can you imagine, going above ten-times gravity?" Goku cheered.
"Maybe to thirty!"
"Or fifty!"
"Or a hundred!" Brussa added. All three cheered.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Chi Chi groaned.
"What about the kitchen?" Gine asked.
"There's not a lot of room, so there actually isn't one. But we're packing it with lots of good ready-to-eat meals. The good kind, not the slop they serve the military. You won't have to cook at all!" Bulma said.
"Oh...Okay…" Gine slumped.
"But I'll make sure there's some fresh produce, too," Bulma chuckled. Gine grinned, and nodded.
"I guess...Tomorrow is goodbye, then? I can't believe it's only been a few days...After a year...After...Five years? Goku, we need to hang out more often," Krillin said.
"Agreed," Tien said, "We had a pretty good system of rotating who we trained with. I say we keep it up afterwards. And with your family here, the more the merrier!"
"You bet! I'm looking forward to it!" Goku grinned.
"In the meantime, I say we party. I'll call some caterers and get some beers," Bulma said.
"Oh! Actually!" Brussa perked up, "I had a thought. There's one place in particular I think we should order from. I, uh, I think I owe them a bunch of money anyway…But they're a bit far."
"What are you talking about?" Krillin asked.
"The pizza place we found you at when you arrived," Tien chuckled. Brussa nodded.
"I may have run out on the bill…"
