Time passed. Not much changed at Capsule Corporation for about a month or so, save for Bulma finally getting used to moving in increased gravity.
Then, things changed, very quickly one morning.
***
The morning started out like usual. Vegeta, complaining about the stupid humans and the stupid newspaper. Bulma, putting on her makeup. Trunks, plotting another devious prank. Yamcha, reminding Maron how to slice her grapefruit. Turles, showing up late. And so on.
Near the end of breakfast, Vegeta looked up.
"Where the hell is that damn fool Raditz?"
"And to think I used to wonder where Trunks picked up that language," Bulma muttered. But she admitted he did have a point. Raditz hadn't shown up for breakfast at all, quite unusual for a Saiyan.
"That woman of his is probably keeping him busy," said Vegeta. Mirai choked and almost spat out a piece of toast, while Bulma whacked her husband upside the head.
As if on cue, Iroke entered the room, leading Raditz. Iroke looked even more chipper than usual. Raditz, on the other hand, looked like he was in a state of shock.
"Good news everyone!" Iroke said. Vegeta rolled his eyes. *Baka woman. Probably something on sale somewhere.*
"What is it?" asked Bulma.
"I'm pregnant!"
The effect was instantaneous. Everyone froze, and turned to look at the couple. For a few moments, there was silence.
"You mean...you and Raditz..." said Bulma slowly, breaking the hush.
"Yep!"
Nappa rose from the table, and pointed an accusing finger at Raditz.
"I KNEW IT! This planet has made you soft too! I knew you were falling for her, but THIS!"
He stopped. Vegeta, Bulma, Mirai, and Trunks were all glaring at him.
"Uh...Your Majesties, I'm sorry, that just kind of..." He trailed off in fear.
"Kick his ass, dear," said Bulma dryly.
Vegeta shook his head. "No. He impugned Raditz's honor first. Raditz, do you care to?"
Raditz--by this time recovered from his shock and looking angry himself--nodded.
"Good. Go get your fighting outfits on. We'll meet in the gravity chamber."
As Raditz and Nappa stalked off, Bulma frowned.
"Does Raditz care to what? What does he care to do?"
"Nappa insulted him, his mate, and his offspring. He's challenging Nappa to the traditional Saiyan Duel of Honor reserved for these situations."
***
While the two combatants were changing into the outfits Bulma had made them, Vegeta was explaining to everyone else in the house how a Saiyan Duel of Honor worked.
"A Duel of Honor is a serious thing. So serious, that the match is refereed by a member of royalty. Since none of you--" and here he pointed to Bulma, Mirai, and Trunks--"know how to, I shall be doing it. The duel can have one of two outcomes. If Raditz is knocked unconscious or gives up, then the matter is never to be brought up again, but the offending comment will still stand. If Nappa is knocked unconscious or gives up, then the matter is never to be brought up again, and he issues a full apology."
***
Raditz and Nappa stood at opposite ends of the gravity chamber, facing one another. Vegeta hovered in the air above them, while the others watched from outside.
"There are only two rules," said Vegeta. "The first rule is that you are not allowed to kill your opponent. The second rule is that there are no other rules. Begin!"
***
"C'mon Raditz! Kick his butt!" Iroke was yelling.
The others, who unlike Iroke could follow the super-fast motions of the two fighters, were a bit grimmer. No one wanted Nappa to win, but it looked like he was going to. Both of the Saiyans had improved quite a bit, thanks to the gravity chamber, but Nappa was still stronger.
***
*Win this, Raditz!* thought Vegeta as he hovered. *Show that fool Nappa that you aren't soft!*
Vegeta sighed inwardly. He never thought he'd see the day when he'd be rooting for a low-level to beat an elite.
***
Raditz slammed into the wall, hard. Wiping blood off of his face, he could see Nappa gloating.
"Give up?"
"Never!" yelled Raditz, lunging forward to press the attack again. Nappa blocked him easily, then socked him straight in the stomach. Gasping for air, Raditz stumbled backwards. Nappa began to laugh.
*Damn it, NO! I won't let that cackling fool get away with this! NO!*
***
Vegeta's eyes widened in shock.
***
Outside, everyone's jaw had dropped.
***
Nappa was uttering nonsense syllables.
Raditz was light-headed. What was this insane rush of power he was experiencing?
Just then, a few wisps of his hair drifted into his view. But they were not the usual black.
They were golden.
***
"Alright!" yelled Trunks. "He's turned into a Super Saiyan! Smack him down!"
And indeed, one punch later, it was all over.
***
"I declare the winner of this Duel of Honor to be Raditz!" yelled out Vegeta, pointing to the victor. He landed from his hovering position, and as per tradition, nodded at Raditz. Raditz, looking a bit shocked, nodded back.
***
Later that day. Nappa had gone off to sulk in his room; he now had one that was separate from Raditz and Iroke's room.
Vegeta had grabbed Raditz, literally, and interrogated him about his transformation. When he had answered all of the king's questions to his satisfaction, he was released, only to be immediately grabbed by Bulma and Iroke.
They dragged him to the couch.
"Now then," said Bulma, "time to plan your wedding."
"M-my what?" asked Raditz, puzzled.
"Your wedding to Iroke. Let me see, how to explain it..."
Vegeta, who had been leaning against the wall, answered, "A damn silly and ridiculous human ceremony is the best way I can think of to summarize it."
Bulma glared at him.
"But if you want more detail," Vegeta continued, "think of it as sort of an official bond. This 'wedding' ceremony will establish in the eyes of the humans that you two are officially mated. I had to go through one of them with the woman."
"Are they a big deal?" asked Raditz.
"I have heard tales of women who spend their whole lives fantasizing about it. While it appears that your woman is not one of those fools, it is probably still important to her."
Iroke nodded.
"It's best to go along with the damn ceremony. It'll make them happy, and they won't yell at you so much. Plus it means that in the eyes of the humans, your child won't be seen as a bastard."
It was at that moment that Trunks came strolling through the room.
"Like me!" he said cheerfully. "I'm a bastard!"
Bulma put her head in her hands and wondered where she'd gone wrong. *Why oh why did I allow Vegeta to take a part in raising him? His counterpart is so well-behaved, and his father is dead.*
"Don't worry," said Vegeta. "There is one element of the whole wedding mess that you should like. Do the words 'bachelor party' mean anything to you?"
Then, things changed, very quickly one morning.
***
The morning started out like usual. Vegeta, complaining about the stupid humans and the stupid newspaper. Bulma, putting on her makeup. Trunks, plotting another devious prank. Yamcha, reminding Maron how to slice her grapefruit. Turles, showing up late. And so on.
Near the end of breakfast, Vegeta looked up.
"Where the hell is that damn fool Raditz?"
"And to think I used to wonder where Trunks picked up that language," Bulma muttered. But she admitted he did have a point. Raditz hadn't shown up for breakfast at all, quite unusual for a Saiyan.
"That woman of his is probably keeping him busy," said Vegeta. Mirai choked and almost spat out a piece of toast, while Bulma whacked her husband upside the head.
As if on cue, Iroke entered the room, leading Raditz. Iroke looked even more chipper than usual. Raditz, on the other hand, looked like he was in a state of shock.
"Good news everyone!" Iroke said. Vegeta rolled his eyes. *Baka woman. Probably something on sale somewhere.*
"What is it?" asked Bulma.
"I'm pregnant!"
The effect was instantaneous. Everyone froze, and turned to look at the couple. For a few moments, there was silence.
"You mean...you and Raditz..." said Bulma slowly, breaking the hush.
"Yep!"
Nappa rose from the table, and pointed an accusing finger at Raditz.
"I KNEW IT! This planet has made you soft too! I knew you were falling for her, but THIS!"
He stopped. Vegeta, Bulma, Mirai, and Trunks were all glaring at him.
"Uh...Your Majesties, I'm sorry, that just kind of..." He trailed off in fear.
"Kick his ass, dear," said Bulma dryly.
Vegeta shook his head. "No. He impugned Raditz's honor first. Raditz, do you care to?"
Raditz--by this time recovered from his shock and looking angry himself--nodded.
"Good. Go get your fighting outfits on. We'll meet in the gravity chamber."
As Raditz and Nappa stalked off, Bulma frowned.
"Does Raditz care to what? What does he care to do?"
"Nappa insulted him, his mate, and his offspring. He's challenging Nappa to the traditional Saiyan Duel of Honor reserved for these situations."
***
While the two combatants were changing into the outfits Bulma had made them, Vegeta was explaining to everyone else in the house how a Saiyan Duel of Honor worked.
"A Duel of Honor is a serious thing. So serious, that the match is refereed by a member of royalty. Since none of you--" and here he pointed to Bulma, Mirai, and Trunks--"know how to, I shall be doing it. The duel can have one of two outcomes. If Raditz is knocked unconscious or gives up, then the matter is never to be brought up again, but the offending comment will still stand. If Nappa is knocked unconscious or gives up, then the matter is never to be brought up again, and he issues a full apology."
***
Raditz and Nappa stood at opposite ends of the gravity chamber, facing one another. Vegeta hovered in the air above them, while the others watched from outside.
"There are only two rules," said Vegeta. "The first rule is that you are not allowed to kill your opponent. The second rule is that there are no other rules. Begin!"
***
"C'mon Raditz! Kick his butt!" Iroke was yelling.
The others, who unlike Iroke could follow the super-fast motions of the two fighters, were a bit grimmer. No one wanted Nappa to win, but it looked like he was going to. Both of the Saiyans had improved quite a bit, thanks to the gravity chamber, but Nappa was still stronger.
***
*Win this, Raditz!* thought Vegeta as he hovered. *Show that fool Nappa that you aren't soft!*
Vegeta sighed inwardly. He never thought he'd see the day when he'd be rooting for a low-level to beat an elite.
***
Raditz slammed into the wall, hard. Wiping blood off of his face, he could see Nappa gloating.
"Give up?"
"Never!" yelled Raditz, lunging forward to press the attack again. Nappa blocked him easily, then socked him straight in the stomach. Gasping for air, Raditz stumbled backwards. Nappa began to laugh.
*Damn it, NO! I won't let that cackling fool get away with this! NO!*
***
Vegeta's eyes widened in shock.
***
Outside, everyone's jaw had dropped.
***
Nappa was uttering nonsense syllables.
Raditz was light-headed. What was this insane rush of power he was experiencing?
Just then, a few wisps of his hair drifted into his view. But they were not the usual black.
They were golden.
***
"Alright!" yelled Trunks. "He's turned into a Super Saiyan! Smack him down!"
And indeed, one punch later, it was all over.
***
"I declare the winner of this Duel of Honor to be Raditz!" yelled out Vegeta, pointing to the victor. He landed from his hovering position, and as per tradition, nodded at Raditz. Raditz, looking a bit shocked, nodded back.
***
Later that day. Nappa had gone off to sulk in his room; he now had one that was separate from Raditz and Iroke's room.
Vegeta had grabbed Raditz, literally, and interrogated him about his transformation. When he had answered all of the king's questions to his satisfaction, he was released, only to be immediately grabbed by Bulma and Iroke.
They dragged him to the couch.
"Now then," said Bulma, "time to plan your wedding."
"M-my what?" asked Raditz, puzzled.
"Your wedding to Iroke. Let me see, how to explain it..."
Vegeta, who had been leaning against the wall, answered, "A damn silly and ridiculous human ceremony is the best way I can think of to summarize it."
Bulma glared at him.
"But if you want more detail," Vegeta continued, "think of it as sort of an official bond. This 'wedding' ceremony will establish in the eyes of the humans that you two are officially mated. I had to go through one of them with the woman."
"Are they a big deal?" asked Raditz.
"I have heard tales of women who spend their whole lives fantasizing about it. While it appears that your woman is not one of those fools, it is probably still important to her."
Iroke nodded.
"It's best to go along with the damn ceremony. It'll make them happy, and they won't yell at you so much. Plus it means that in the eyes of the humans, your child won't be seen as a bastard."
It was at that moment that Trunks came strolling through the room.
"Like me!" he said cheerfully. "I'm a bastard!"
Bulma put her head in her hands and wondered where she'd gone wrong. *Why oh why did I allow Vegeta to take a part in raising him? His counterpart is so well-behaved, and his father is dead.*
"Don't worry," said Vegeta. "There is one element of the whole wedding mess that you should like. Do the words 'bachelor party' mean anything to you?"