Disclaimer/a.n.--Don't own Dragonball, do own Lessa and Jake. Prepare yourself for a bit of Raditz OOC, but I've got a soft spot for him. The kids have seen Dragonball, courtesy of something called shifting, which you'll have to read about in my other fic ~_^. I cancelled out the `ki keeps you warm' for humor. Thanks for the reviews so far. Enjoy!
A Raditz Resurrection
In Hell, a Saiya-jin with very long hair was bored. Well, bored and
miserable, to tell the truth, but mostly bored. And lonely. Very lonely. Raditz had been alone for most of his adult life, and he liked to tell himself that he was used to it, but in reality his soul cried out for company. Still, he was usually able to tune out the loneliness and misery to a certain extent, and the boredom was punctuated with visits from the girl. He sometimes thought that Lessa was the only thing that had stopped him from going mad once he stopped feeling pure resentment and anger at his fate and actually started to think about what he had done. He had killed his own brother, for Kami's sake! He deserved to be here, even if said brother had been minus a tail and most of his early memory had been wiped. Well, he hadn't exactly killed his brother, but he had been the cause of his death, and it amounted to the same thing. He sometimes wondered if Kakarott really had been restored to life with those 'dragonball' things. He resolved to ask Lessa the next time
she came.
Lessa. The bright, cheerful, black-haired girl was his only visitor in Hell, and he looked forward to her visits with eagerness that only made the intervals between darker, lonelier, and more miserable. Raditz shook himself out of his pointless musing, and stood up resolutely. He had training to do; it would be embarrassing if he was beaten by an eleven-year-old girl!
A few yards away, invisible in Hell's gloom, four sets of eyes watched him.
* * *
"So, what do you think?" Lessa asked, wrenching her gaze away from Raditz to look at her three companions.
"He looks...nice," Goten said. "Not evil. I think we should do it. After all," a trademark Son smile gleamed in the ten-year-old's eyes, "he is my uncle."
"I think Goten's got it right, for once," eleven-year-old Trunks agreed. "No one who looks like that belongs in Hell, no matter what he did when he was alive."
Jake only nodded, but he never said much anyway. Still, Jake's nods were cast in concrete. A nod from him was fervent, total agreement from anyone else.
"Should we tell him first?" Trunks wondered. "Lessa, you know him best."
She considered, and mischief gleamed in her dark eyes. "Nah," she replied. "Let's make it a surprise. The expression on his face is going to be priceless. Remind me to bring a camera to the summoning."
Trunks smirk was an exact copy of his father's. "Sure. Well, that's settled. Let's go, gang!"
The four little shifters vanished, and Hell's fog drifted in to fill the space their bodies had resided in.
* * *
Bulma heard the thunder of feet well before their owners arrived, and wondered idly what the kids wanted now. She turned towards the door expectantly as a small herd of children rounded the corner and hit the brakes in the way only people under the age of fifteen can. It was amazing, she thought, how they managed to stay in formation even when scrambling for purchase on a smooth floor.
"What do you kids want?" She addressed the question to Lessa, who had halted slightly in front and to the right of Trunks, a sign that she was in charge this time.
"We need to use the dragon radar, Bulma-san," the eleven-year-old announced, flashing her cutest and most winning smile at the formidable woman. When dealing with Bulma, sugar was infinitely preferable to the alternative,
"Oh? And what are you going to wish for, Lessa?" Bulma asked, in a tone that said she knew that she was being beguiled, but wasn't totally unamenable.
"It's a surprise, Bulma-san," Lessa said, smile widening in a totally innocent way.
"We promise not to do anything bad," Trunks added in a wheedling tone, trying to look as cute and innocent as Lessa, but not quite succeeding. His face had too much of his father in it.
"All right," Bulma consented. "I remember how much fun I had hunting dragonballs. Here, I'll even give you a note for Chi-Chi's." Chi-Chi now required written proof of anything the kids said Bulma had told them was okay, courtesy of the infamous fudge fiasco.
The gang (anyone who knew them thought of them as the gang after a while) waited patiently, with only an occasional fidget, while Bulma dashed off a quick permission slip and handed it to Lessa.
"Domo arigatou, Bulma-san," the girl said with a polite bow, and the gang reversed and shot off down the hall. Bulma shook her head with a smile as their footsteps died away, and turned back to her computer.
* * *
"I don't understand," Goten said to Lessa as they reached the living room. "Why couldn't we just take the radar and the six-star ball?"
"Because," Trunks explained patiently to his slow friend as he levitated and removed radar and ball from the mantle. "We might have got away with it here, but there's no way we could sneak by Chi-Chi-san and her frying pan." The whole gang gave an involuntary shudder at this, and turned to exit Capsule Corp. and take to the air.
Trunks sensibly summoned a backpack and dumped the dragonball in it as Lessa consulted his mother's radar.
"Let's see, that one's Chi-Chi's. Do we want to do that one first or last?" This depended on whether you believed in getting the worst over with immediately or staving it off 'til the bitter end. The gang considered.
"I vote first," Trunks said.
"First," Jake agreed with a sharp nod.
Goten looked nervous. "Maybe I should stay outside. You know what'll pro'bly happen if she sees me with you guys."
Everyone nodded gravely.
"All right, then," Lessa said. "You guys stay outside, I'll go in for the dragonball." She sighed and shook her head. "I hope Raditz appreciates what we're doing for him."
"I'm sure he's watching everything from Hell," Trunks said sarcastically. Lessa stuck out her tongue at him and shot away like a rocket towards Goku's house. The others followed, their auras coloring the sky like multi-colored jet trails.
* * *
Lessa rejoined the others in the air, waving the four-star ball triumphantly. "That wasn't so bad. You guys just don't know how to butter her up."
Trunks's eyebrows rose incredulously. "That still works after all the stunts you've pulled?"
Lessa looked smug as she tossed him the 'ball. "You'd be surprised what you can get away with when you're as cute as me."
Trunks rolled his eyes as the two younger boys giggled. "Sure, whatever. Where's the next 'ball?"
Lessa consulted the radar. "Looks like it's about seven hundred miles that way." She pointed north. Trunks groaned. Goten frowned.
"Doesn't it get pretty cold there?"
"Oh, yeah," Lessa agreed. "But we can raise our ki so we won't be so cold. At least, that's the way it's supposed to work."
"Oh, okay," Goten said, smiling cheerfully. Trunks sighed and shook his head. Typical. The 'prentices fired up their auras and headed north.
* * *
"H-h-here it is," Trunks forced out between his chattering teeth as he unearthed the dragonball from under about four feet of snow.
Goten glared accusingly at Lessa as he hugged himself for warmth. "I th-thought y-you said our k-k-ki would k-keep us w-w-warm!"
"It's s'posed to," Lessa replied defensively. "C-caitlin s-said it w-would! I'm g-gonna k-kill her!"
"L-let's j-just leave!" Trunks said quickly. "L-lessa, w-where to?"
Lessa didn't even glance at the radar. "I k-know there's one at K-kame H-house, so how b-bout there?"
Everyone nodded fervently. Kame House was warm!
* * *
"You're sure Bulma said it was okay?" Kuririn asked, eyeing the gang suspiciously. Chi-Chi wasn't the only one who remembered the fudge fiasco.
"Of course!" Lessa said impatiently. The thought of Raditz in Hell had been dragging her down for years, and now that they were so close to getting him out it was worse than ever. "We even have a permission slip. Please give us the `ball, pretty, pretty please?"
"Oh, all right," Kuririn surrendered. He went inside for the `ball, and Lessa silently thanked her lucky stars that 18 was out shopping. She was the type who asked questions, and to whom "it's a surprise!" is not an acceptable answer. She was also practically unaffected by Lessa's patent cuteness. Kuririn emerged with the `ball.
"Arigatou, Kuririn-san," Lessa piped cheerfully (and cutely) as Trunks stashed the three-star `ball in his backpack along with the six-star, the four-star, and the two-star. "Bye!"
"Bye, kids!" Kuririn called after them as they blasted away. He smiled as he reminisced about his own dragonball hunting days. "Now that was the life." Still smiling, he re-entered the house.
* * *
"Hmm," Lessa said consulting the dragon radar again. "According to this, the next `ball should be somewhere inside that fortress."
Trunks gazed at the huge hulk with a puzzled frown. "That place looks familiar, but I can't place it..."
"I know," Goten burst out suddenly. "It looks like Pilaf's place, before my dad knocked it down. Don't you think, Lessa?"
"It sure does," Lessa agreed, examining it. "Do you think...?"
The four friends looked at each other. "Nah," they said in unison, and descended to the ground in front of the massive construction.
Lessa gazed up at the towering gates. She was not impressed. "Do you think it's locked?" Goten asked behind her.
"Only one way to find out," Trunks replied, and shoved. Creaking, the gates swung open. He surveyed the shattered ends of the metal bar that had apparently been supposed to keep them shut. "Yeah, I guess they were," he said, smirking. Lessa muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "show off" and they entered the dark corridor.
* * *
In the main control room of the tower, three figures stared in horror at the scene before them.
"No!" the foremost one said. "No, it can't be!"
"It's happening all over again," the second quavered, his ears flattening in horror.
"That kid's hair looks awfully familiar," the tallest figure remarked, staring fixedly at the people on the screen. The other two looked again.
"Mai," Shou whispered, "he looks just like..."
"The monkey boy!" Pilaf shouted. "Oh no! It really is all happening again!"
"Sire, this could work to our advantage," Mai said, considering.
"How?" Pilaf demanded. "How can this work to our advantage? How can we stop a kid that burst that bolt without even breaking a sweat from getting our dragonballs?!"
"According to our radar, they're carrying four `balls," Mai explained. "If we can trap them and knock them out the way we did to that monkey boy..." she trailed off suggestively.
"Then we'll have only one more `ball to collect!" Pilaf exclaimed. "Great idea, Mai. I'm so glad I thought of it."
"But, sire," Shou objected. "Won't they be mad when they wake up?"
"By that time," Pilaf said, smiling evilly, "they'll be dead! This time, no one will stop me! I will rule the world!!"
* * *
"Hey, guys," Goten, who had taken the lead, called. "Look at this."
The other three clustered around the glowing red arrow planted on the floor. Lessa snorted with laughter. "Just how stupid do they think we are?"
"Very, obviously," Trunks replied, and the gang fell about laughing. "Lessa?" he began.
"Yeah?"
"Where does the radar say the next dragonball is?"
"It's two, actually," Lessa said. "I couldn't tell in long-range mode. So if we get this, we just need one more. As for where..." she switched to close-range, three-D mode. "It's about three floors up, around ten feet ahead."
"Okay." With a nod, Trunks led the way up the corridor, ignoring the branch pointed out by the arrow.
* * *
"Damn!"
"What's the matter, sire?" Shou asked.
"They're not falling for it. They're supposed to follow the arrows! Don't they get it?"
"Maybe they get it a little too well, sire," Mai said darkly. "Look, they're stopping." The trio turned their attention back to the viewscreens.
* * *
"Is this it?" Trunks asked.
"Close enough," Lessa told him. "We don't want to come out directly under the `balls, but this should put us in the same room."
"Okay." Trunks said. "Ready?"
"Ready," the others agreed.
"Then, go!"
Together, the four 'prentices shot upward, through the roof of the first floor. Whoever owned this place was about to get a surprise visitor.
* * *
"WHAT!?!" Pilaf shouted, furious and a bit scared.
"They...they flew...straight through the ceiling!!" Mai gasped.
"I don't think your plan is going to work, sire," Shou quavered, and then the gang arrived.
* * *
Lessa, Trunks, Goten, and Jake entered the third floor in a shower of rubble. All of them, quite used to flying through roofs, stepped calmly away from the holes they had made and dusted themselves off. Only then did they look around. They were confronted by three familiar figures.
Their eyes widened. Their jaws dropped. Lessa gasped, "I don't believe it. Pilaf? So-called Emperor Pilaf?"
"I've heard of coincidences, but this is ridiculous," Trunks remarked to the air.
Goten smiled (the classic Son smile, of course) at the three scared-looking, sort-of-evildoers.
"Hi! I'm Son Goten. I know you guys. You're the ones that nearly got the dragonballs from my dad and wished to rule the world, but Oolong stopped you. You were the silliest bad guys in-Oomph!"
The "Oomph" was caused by Trunk's surreptitiously placed elbow in Goten's stomach. Lessa took the opportunity to deliver a short, to-the-point speech.
"I'm Lessa, and we're here for your dragonballs. Give them to us, or we will take them." She smiled sweetly at the three flabbergasted villains, and Pilaf managed to say.
"Take them! Anything! Just don't kill us!"
"We wouldn't do anything like that," Trunks said, and his evil smirk looked more than ever like his father's. "We'd just hurt you a little--well, maybe a lot. But since you're being sensible, well, bye!" Dragonballs safely stashed in his backpack, Trunks lifted off after his friends. Silence descended, save for the sound of falling dust and small bits of roof.
"Mai."
"Yes, sire?"
"Remind me to try and find some different dragonballs, okay?"
"Yes, sire."
* * *
"That was fun," Goten grinned, practically bouncing through the air. "Where to next, Lessa?"
"According to this," Lessa said, turning the radar back to long-range. "About a hundred miles to the east. Then we get our wish!" She hugged herself with excitement.
"Is my Uncle Raditz nice, Lessa?"
"Yeah, I think you could say that, Goten. You'll like him. I'm sure of it. He's changed a lot since he went to hell."
"Oh. Well, that's good."
Lessa shot eagerly through the air, and the others followed, racing toward their final goal. The last dragonball.
* * *
The young shifters halted in the air above a small village.
"That's it," Lessa said, glancing at the radar. "That's where the last dragonball is."
"Well, let's go get it, then!" Trunks dropped to the ground along with the others, with a patter like a queue of ripe fruit. They jogged toward the village, keeping pace with Lessa, who was practically running in her eagerness.
"Let's ask someone where it is," Goten suggested, and knocked on the first door before anyone could remind him that they could just switch the radar to close range. The door opened a crack. A frightened face peered through.
"Please, I'll give you my money, just don't hurt my family!" the man quavered. Goten's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement.
"Why would I want your money? I can just ask Trunks if I want money. Ow!" Trunks the moneylender had kicked his friend in the shin.
The door opened a bit more. "You're not...from the Galoshes?"
"No, of course not," Lessa said, snorting. "What a stupid name!"
"Shhh!" the man hushed her, looking around fearfully. "They might hear you."
"So what if they do?" Trunks asked scornfully. He tilted his head back and shouted, "Galoshes are stupid! The boots are stupid, and the gang is even stupider!!" at the top of his strong, demi-saiya-jin lungs.
"What did you say?!" came an angry voice from the end of the street.
"Now you've done it!" the man groaned, and shut his door hastily.
"He said," Lessa informed him coolly, "that Galoshes are stupid. Why? Got a problem with that?"
"Are you kids suicidal or something?" the newcomer asked incredulously. Lessa's attention was suddenly caught by something that glittered on a chain around his neck.
"Look!" she whispered urgently to the other three. "The leader dude has a dragonball around his neck!" They saw it and nodded. It was obvious what they would have to do, and Lessa gave them a look that said she, and no one else, was going to do it.
The girl stepped forward and crossed her arms. "No, we're not suicidal, but we're not scared of a bunch of bigmouths. I could take you all out with one hand." She shook her fist threateningly.
"Ha! Look, guys, we got ourselves a live one here!" the dragonball-bearing leader snorted. "So, short stuff, you could take us all out with one hand, hmm? And just how would you do that?"
"Easy. Like..." Lessa blurred out and reappeared in front of the man, planting a fist solidly in his stomach before anyone could so much as blink. "This!" The man staggered backwards, spitting out blood, and Lessa vanished again. This time, she came up behind him and delivered a solid chop to the base of his skull. The huge man toppled like a falling tree. She stepped forward, yanked the dragonball out from underneath him, and tossed it to Trunks. Lessa then stepped towards the remainder of the gang menacingly.
"Who's next?"
As one, they turned and fled.
"And don't come back!!" Lessa shouted after them, and rejoined her friends. Awed villagers were beginning to poke their heads out of doorways. The man whose door Goten had knocked on emerged, his fear melting into happiness.
"You did it! You defeated the Galoshes!"
"Aw, it was nothing," Lessa said modestly. "Come on, guys, let's go make our wish!"
The four amigos shot into the air, the cheers and shouts of happy villagers echoing behind them.
* * *
"Well, this looks like a good spot," Lessa said, coming down in a large field.
"As good as any," Trunks agreed. "You should do the summoning, Lessa. It's your wish, really."
"Thanks, guys," Lessa said, as Trunks handed her the knapsack.
Lessa was the kind of girl who liked to do things neatly, so she arranged the dragonballs in a circle, with the seven star `ball in the center, before returning the backpack to Trunks. She stepped back, took a deep breath, and intoned, "Shenlong, come out and grant our wish!"
The sky darkened as if a sudden storm had arrived. The dragonballs flashed, and lightning crackled between them and the darkened sky. In a burst of light and splendor, Shenlong shot upwards from the seven orbs. The 'prentices shaded their eyes and gasped at the sight.
"It gets better every time, doesn't it," Trunks remarked to Lessa, who nodded solemnly.
At last the dragon's glow faded, and Shenlong's immense head loomed above them. He spoke in a voice like thunder.
"What is your wish?"
Lessa stepped forward, took a deep breath, and spoke clearly. "I wish for Raditz, Goku's brother, to be restored to life and brought to this place."
"That is two wishes. What is your third wish?"
The gang exchanged glances. They got a third wish? No one had said anything about that! Lessa drew the others into a huddle and they consulted.
"We should wish for Raditz to be unkillable for one month."
"Why should we make a wish like that?"
"Think, Goten. I know you've got a brain in there somewhere. When your dad sees Raditz, he's not going to be too happy, is he?"
"Oh. Oh, I see."
"It's okay with me. Go ahead, Lessa."
Nodding, they broke apart, and Lessa spoke again.
"Please make Raditz unable to be killed for one month."
"I cannot shield him from such power as a third level super Saiya-jin possesses."
"Make him as unkillable as you can, then."
"Your wishes are granted!"
With that, Shenlong pulsed brightly, and vanished. The dragonballs shot into the air and exploded in seven different directions. Behind them, the gang heard someone gasp. They turned as one, blinking away afterimages, to confront the object of their wish.
* * *
Raditz was...well, shocked, mainly. He had been training in Hell, just to pass the time, and suddenly he was...well, he wasn't quite sure where he was, but he definitely wasn't in Hell. Bright sunlight flooded his vision, and he blinked, eyes watering as they adjusted after so many years in Hell's gloom. He realized, suddenly, that he could feel his heart beating, his chest moving up and down as it filled with air that he didn't need in Hell. And he realized, joy flooding his whole body, that the impossible had happened. He threw back his head and shouted his realization to the sky.
"I'M ALIVE!!!"
"We did it!"
He turned and saw four kids hugging each other as they jumped around. "We did it, we did it!"
"Who...Lessa?!" He asked as he recognized the only girl in the group.
She grinned at him so widely he thought her face would split in half. "Hi, Radi-chan! How does it feel to be alive again?"
"You little rascal!" he said joyfully, as he scooped her up and ruffled her hair. "You wished me back, didn't you?"
"Yep," she replied cheerfully. "I told you the last time I visited that I'd find a way to get you out of Hell, didn't I? So I did!"
"Who are your friends?" he asked as she slid to the ground. He bent down and gazed curiously at one of the kids. "You look like Kakarott, kid. What's your name?"
"I'm Goten," the boy announced proudly. "Vegeta calls my dad Kakarott, 'cause that's his Saiya-jin name."
"You're Kakarott's son? What about that other boy...Gohan?"
"He's my oniichan," Goten told him. "And Lessa told me you're my uncle. So, hi, Uncle Raditz!"
"Hi," Raditz said, bemused at the boy's cheerful, straightforward demeanor, especially after what he had done to the kid's father and brother. "Who're you?" he asked a strangely familiar-looking purple haired boy.
The boy stood in a well-remembered proud stance, arm crossed, but before Raditz could place exactly where he had seen it before, the boy spoke.
"I'm Trunks Briefs, first son of Prince Vegeta of the Saiya-jins!"
Raditz was inclined to dismiss this out of hand, but then he looked again. That was who the boy reminded him of! If his hair had been different, he could have been a young version of Vegeta.
"How did you end up with a name like Trunks? It's tradition for all Saiya-jin princes to be named Vegeta."
"I know," Trunks said, grinning sheepishly as he relaxed. "When I was born, my mom wanted to name me after my great-uncle, but my dad said I should be called Vegeta. Caitlin-san says they had a huge fight over it, one of their biggest ever, but my mom won. I think she lets dad win about the small stuff so she can win about the big stuff. That's what Caitlin-san says, anyway. My middle name's Vegeta," he added as an afterthought.
"Who's your mother, young prince?" Raditz asked, curious to know who this woman was. He had never known anyone to beat Vegeta in a fight, verbal or physical.
"Bulma Briefs, owner of Capsule Corp.," Lessa announced in a long-suffering tone. "Not only is she the richest woman on the planet, she's also a genius."
Raditz chuckled. "Trust Vegeta to go for the best."
"I think it was more like she was the only person who actually enjoyed fighting him constantly," Lessa said, with remarkable insight for an eleven-year-old. "Someone's coming."
All the kids turned their faces in the direction of the approaching ki, and Raditz reached out. Lessa had taught him how to read ki in Hell, among other things, and he realized belatedly that his own ki was flaring like a beacon. He had not made any particular efforts to suppress it while in Hell, but he did so now. Hopefully no one else had noticed. The incoming ki had enlarged to a dot in the sky, and seconds later Raditz's Saiya-jin eyes recognized the newcomer.
"It's your dad, Goten," Lessa said. "I hope he gives us a chance to explain."
The kids all nodded, and Raditz wondered, in a small private corner of his mind, whether he would ever be able to repay these children who had resurrected him with no urging and no real cause. Then there was no more time for reflection. Kakarott (Goku, Raditz reminded himself. Lessa had once made him promise to call Kakarott Goku to his face, if they ever met again. He had promised readily, since the likelihood of him meeting his pure-hearted brother in Hell had been next to zilch) had arrived.
For a moment, he stared. Then he turned to the gang. Lessa gulped.
"Explain." The only girl in the group stepped forward. Her palms were sweaty, and she gulped nervously. When Goku used that tone, you had better have a darn good explanation, and no excuse would do. Goku was very seldom angry, but when he was, it was worse than ten Chi-Chi's.
"It was my idea, Goku-san," she said, making herself meet his eyes squarely. "The others just went along. You see, I've been visiting your brother in Hell..."
"WHAT?!"
"Gomen nasai, but I was curious. Shunken Idou works to visit the other worlds, you told me so yourself, so I wondered if you could use it to visit Hell. The first person that came to mind was Raditz, so there I went."
"And?" Goku's tone was entirely unsatisfied.
"Well, he saw me. And we started to talk. And he's changed a lot! Really! I thought he was going to be all mean and annoying, like Vegeta-san," she noticed Goku cover a smile at this, and continued a little heartened, "but he wasn't! He told me he'd thought about it, and that he would never have killed Gohan, because he was one of the last Saiya-jins, and he didn't really want to kill you, but by then it had gone to far to turn back. And I believe him! He didn't know I was planning this, so he had no reason to lie to me. So I kept visiting, 'cause he seemed kinda sad and lonely, and finally I decided to wish him back. So here he is, and you can punish me if you want." She steeled herself for Goku's response, and held her gaze. She saw his eyes soften, and gave a mental sigh of relief. She wasn't going to get killed, apparently.
"I guess I can understand, but you shouldn't have used the Shunken Idou to visit Hell without permission, Lessa."
"Yes, sir."
"Promise you'll never do it again."
"Yes, sir."
"Good! That's settled, then." Goku approached his newly restored brother curiously. "So, you got wished back, huh? That's lucky."
"It sure is," Raditz agreed. He was nervous (what is Kakarott, I mean, Goku, going to do?) but trying not to show it. "I never thought she'd do something like this."
"That's Lessa for you," Goku said. "She's like Trunks, and they've done some pretty amazing stunts. She didn't tell you about the Great Fudge Fiasco, did she?"
"No," Raditz said, noting Lessa's suddenly panicked expression with amusement. "She didn't."
"Well, it all started when..."
Lessa relaxed, apart from a certain embarrassment at hearing her (well, her's and Trunks's, really) exploit recounted. It looked like Raditz would settle in very well on Chikyuu. It was just a good thing that Goku didn't hold grudges, she thought as she flew after her friends. She had made the right decision after all.
The End
A Raditz Resurrection
In Hell, a Saiya-jin with very long hair was bored. Well, bored and
miserable, to tell the truth, but mostly bored. And lonely. Very lonely. Raditz had been alone for most of his adult life, and he liked to tell himself that he was used to it, but in reality his soul cried out for company. Still, he was usually able to tune out the loneliness and misery to a certain extent, and the boredom was punctuated with visits from the girl. He sometimes thought that Lessa was the only thing that had stopped him from going mad once he stopped feeling pure resentment and anger at his fate and actually started to think about what he had done. He had killed his own brother, for Kami's sake! He deserved to be here, even if said brother had been minus a tail and most of his early memory had been wiped. Well, he hadn't exactly killed his brother, but he had been the cause of his death, and it amounted to the same thing. He sometimes wondered if Kakarott really had been restored to life with those 'dragonball' things. He resolved to ask Lessa the next time
she came.
Lessa. The bright, cheerful, black-haired girl was his only visitor in Hell, and he looked forward to her visits with eagerness that only made the intervals between darker, lonelier, and more miserable. Raditz shook himself out of his pointless musing, and stood up resolutely. He had training to do; it would be embarrassing if he was beaten by an eleven-year-old girl!
A few yards away, invisible in Hell's gloom, four sets of eyes watched him.
* * *
"So, what do you think?" Lessa asked, wrenching her gaze away from Raditz to look at her three companions.
"He looks...nice," Goten said. "Not evil. I think we should do it. After all," a trademark Son smile gleamed in the ten-year-old's eyes, "he is my uncle."
"I think Goten's got it right, for once," eleven-year-old Trunks agreed. "No one who looks like that belongs in Hell, no matter what he did when he was alive."
Jake only nodded, but he never said much anyway. Still, Jake's nods were cast in concrete. A nod from him was fervent, total agreement from anyone else.
"Should we tell him first?" Trunks wondered. "Lessa, you know him best."
She considered, and mischief gleamed in her dark eyes. "Nah," she replied. "Let's make it a surprise. The expression on his face is going to be priceless. Remind me to bring a camera to the summoning."
Trunks smirk was an exact copy of his father's. "Sure. Well, that's settled. Let's go, gang!"
The four little shifters vanished, and Hell's fog drifted in to fill the space their bodies had resided in.
* * *
Bulma heard the thunder of feet well before their owners arrived, and wondered idly what the kids wanted now. She turned towards the door expectantly as a small herd of children rounded the corner and hit the brakes in the way only people under the age of fifteen can. It was amazing, she thought, how they managed to stay in formation even when scrambling for purchase on a smooth floor.
"What do you kids want?" She addressed the question to Lessa, who had halted slightly in front and to the right of Trunks, a sign that she was in charge this time.
"We need to use the dragon radar, Bulma-san," the eleven-year-old announced, flashing her cutest and most winning smile at the formidable woman. When dealing with Bulma, sugar was infinitely preferable to the alternative,
"Oh? And what are you going to wish for, Lessa?" Bulma asked, in a tone that said she knew that she was being beguiled, but wasn't totally unamenable.
"It's a surprise, Bulma-san," Lessa said, smile widening in a totally innocent way.
"We promise not to do anything bad," Trunks added in a wheedling tone, trying to look as cute and innocent as Lessa, but not quite succeeding. His face had too much of his father in it.
"All right," Bulma consented. "I remember how much fun I had hunting dragonballs. Here, I'll even give you a note for Chi-Chi's." Chi-Chi now required written proof of anything the kids said Bulma had told them was okay, courtesy of the infamous fudge fiasco.
The gang (anyone who knew them thought of them as the gang after a while) waited patiently, with only an occasional fidget, while Bulma dashed off a quick permission slip and handed it to Lessa.
"Domo arigatou, Bulma-san," the girl said with a polite bow, and the gang reversed and shot off down the hall. Bulma shook her head with a smile as their footsteps died away, and turned back to her computer.
* * *
"I don't understand," Goten said to Lessa as they reached the living room. "Why couldn't we just take the radar and the six-star ball?"
"Because," Trunks explained patiently to his slow friend as he levitated and removed radar and ball from the mantle. "We might have got away with it here, but there's no way we could sneak by Chi-Chi-san and her frying pan." The whole gang gave an involuntary shudder at this, and turned to exit Capsule Corp. and take to the air.
Trunks sensibly summoned a backpack and dumped the dragonball in it as Lessa consulted his mother's radar.
"Let's see, that one's Chi-Chi's. Do we want to do that one first or last?" This depended on whether you believed in getting the worst over with immediately or staving it off 'til the bitter end. The gang considered.
"I vote first," Trunks said.
"First," Jake agreed with a sharp nod.
Goten looked nervous. "Maybe I should stay outside. You know what'll pro'bly happen if she sees me with you guys."
Everyone nodded gravely.
"All right, then," Lessa said. "You guys stay outside, I'll go in for the dragonball." She sighed and shook her head. "I hope Raditz appreciates what we're doing for him."
"I'm sure he's watching everything from Hell," Trunks said sarcastically. Lessa stuck out her tongue at him and shot away like a rocket towards Goku's house. The others followed, their auras coloring the sky like multi-colored jet trails.
* * *
Lessa rejoined the others in the air, waving the four-star ball triumphantly. "That wasn't so bad. You guys just don't know how to butter her up."
Trunks's eyebrows rose incredulously. "That still works after all the stunts you've pulled?"
Lessa looked smug as she tossed him the 'ball. "You'd be surprised what you can get away with when you're as cute as me."
Trunks rolled his eyes as the two younger boys giggled. "Sure, whatever. Where's the next 'ball?"
Lessa consulted the radar. "Looks like it's about seven hundred miles that way." She pointed north. Trunks groaned. Goten frowned.
"Doesn't it get pretty cold there?"
"Oh, yeah," Lessa agreed. "But we can raise our ki so we won't be so cold. At least, that's the way it's supposed to work."
"Oh, okay," Goten said, smiling cheerfully. Trunks sighed and shook his head. Typical. The 'prentices fired up their auras and headed north.
* * *
"H-h-here it is," Trunks forced out between his chattering teeth as he unearthed the dragonball from under about four feet of snow.
Goten glared accusingly at Lessa as he hugged himself for warmth. "I th-thought y-you said our k-k-ki would k-keep us w-w-warm!"
"It's s'posed to," Lessa replied defensively. "C-caitlin s-said it w-would! I'm g-gonna k-kill her!"
"L-let's j-just leave!" Trunks said quickly. "L-lessa, w-where to?"
Lessa didn't even glance at the radar. "I k-know there's one at K-kame H-house, so how b-bout there?"
Everyone nodded fervently. Kame House was warm!
* * *
"You're sure Bulma said it was okay?" Kuririn asked, eyeing the gang suspiciously. Chi-Chi wasn't the only one who remembered the fudge fiasco.
"Of course!" Lessa said impatiently. The thought of Raditz in Hell had been dragging her down for years, and now that they were so close to getting him out it was worse than ever. "We even have a permission slip. Please give us the `ball, pretty, pretty please?"
"Oh, all right," Kuririn surrendered. He went inside for the `ball, and Lessa silently thanked her lucky stars that 18 was out shopping. She was the type who asked questions, and to whom "it's a surprise!" is not an acceptable answer. She was also practically unaffected by Lessa's patent cuteness. Kuririn emerged with the `ball.
"Arigatou, Kuririn-san," Lessa piped cheerfully (and cutely) as Trunks stashed the three-star `ball in his backpack along with the six-star, the four-star, and the two-star. "Bye!"
"Bye, kids!" Kuririn called after them as they blasted away. He smiled as he reminisced about his own dragonball hunting days. "Now that was the life." Still smiling, he re-entered the house.
* * *
"Hmm," Lessa said consulting the dragon radar again. "According to this, the next `ball should be somewhere inside that fortress."
Trunks gazed at the huge hulk with a puzzled frown. "That place looks familiar, but I can't place it..."
"I know," Goten burst out suddenly. "It looks like Pilaf's place, before my dad knocked it down. Don't you think, Lessa?"
"It sure does," Lessa agreed, examining it. "Do you think...?"
The four friends looked at each other. "Nah," they said in unison, and descended to the ground in front of the massive construction.
Lessa gazed up at the towering gates. She was not impressed. "Do you think it's locked?" Goten asked behind her.
"Only one way to find out," Trunks replied, and shoved. Creaking, the gates swung open. He surveyed the shattered ends of the metal bar that had apparently been supposed to keep them shut. "Yeah, I guess they were," he said, smirking. Lessa muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "show off" and they entered the dark corridor.
* * *
In the main control room of the tower, three figures stared in horror at the scene before them.
"No!" the foremost one said. "No, it can't be!"
"It's happening all over again," the second quavered, his ears flattening in horror.
"That kid's hair looks awfully familiar," the tallest figure remarked, staring fixedly at the people on the screen. The other two looked again.
"Mai," Shou whispered, "he looks just like..."
"The monkey boy!" Pilaf shouted. "Oh no! It really is all happening again!"
"Sire, this could work to our advantage," Mai said, considering.
"How?" Pilaf demanded. "How can this work to our advantage? How can we stop a kid that burst that bolt without even breaking a sweat from getting our dragonballs?!"
"According to our radar, they're carrying four `balls," Mai explained. "If we can trap them and knock them out the way we did to that monkey boy..." she trailed off suggestively.
"Then we'll have only one more `ball to collect!" Pilaf exclaimed. "Great idea, Mai. I'm so glad I thought of it."
"But, sire," Shou objected. "Won't they be mad when they wake up?"
"By that time," Pilaf said, smiling evilly, "they'll be dead! This time, no one will stop me! I will rule the world!!"
* * *
"Hey, guys," Goten, who had taken the lead, called. "Look at this."
The other three clustered around the glowing red arrow planted on the floor. Lessa snorted with laughter. "Just how stupid do they think we are?"
"Very, obviously," Trunks replied, and the gang fell about laughing. "Lessa?" he began.
"Yeah?"
"Where does the radar say the next dragonball is?"
"It's two, actually," Lessa said. "I couldn't tell in long-range mode. So if we get this, we just need one more. As for where..." she switched to close-range, three-D mode. "It's about three floors up, around ten feet ahead."
"Okay." With a nod, Trunks led the way up the corridor, ignoring the branch pointed out by the arrow.
* * *
"Damn!"
"What's the matter, sire?" Shou asked.
"They're not falling for it. They're supposed to follow the arrows! Don't they get it?"
"Maybe they get it a little too well, sire," Mai said darkly. "Look, they're stopping." The trio turned their attention back to the viewscreens.
* * *
"Is this it?" Trunks asked.
"Close enough," Lessa told him. "We don't want to come out directly under the `balls, but this should put us in the same room."
"Okay." Trunks said. "Ready?"
"Ready," the others agreed.
"Then, go!"
Together, the four 'prentices shot upward, through the roof of the first floor. Whoever owned this place was about to get a surprise visitor.
* * *
"WHAT!?!" Pilaf shouted, furious and a bit scared.
"They...they flew...straight through the ceiling!!" Mai gasped.
"I don't think your plan is going to work, sire," Shou quavered, and then the gang arrived.
* * *
Lessa, Trunks, Goten, and Jake entered the third floor in a shower of rubble. All of them, quite used to flying through roofs, stepped calmly away from the holes they had made and dusted themselves off. Only then did they look around. They were confronted by three familiar figures.
Their eyes widened. Their jaws dropped. Lessa gasped, "I don't believe it. Pilaf? So-called Emperor Pilaf?"
"I've heard of coincidences, but this is ridiculous," Trunks remarked to the air.
Goten smiled (the classic Son smile, of course) at the three scared-looking, sort-of-evildoers.
"Hi! I'm Son Goten. I know you guys. You're the ones that nearly got the dragonballs from my dad and wished to rule the world, but Oolong stopped you. You were the silliest bad guys in-Oomph!"
The "Oomph" was caused by Trunk's surreptitiously placed elbow in Goten's stomach. Lessa took the opportunity to deliver a short, to-the-point speech.
"I'm Lessa, and we're here for your dragonballs. Give them to us, or we will take them." She smiled sweetly at the three flabbergasted villains, and Pilaf managed to say.
"Take them! Anything! Just don't kill us!"
"We wouldn't do anything like that," Trunks said, and his evil smirk looked more than ever like his father's. "We'd just hurt you a little--well, maybe a lot. But since you're being sensible, well, bye!" Dragonballs safely stashed in his backpack, Trunks lifted off after his friends. Silence descended, save for the sound of falling dust and small bits of roof.
"Mai."
"Yes, sire?"
"Remind me to try and find some different dragonballs, okay?"
"Yes, sire."
* * *
"That was fun," Goten grinned, practically bouncing through the air. "Where to next, Lessa?"
"According to this," Lessa said, turning the radar back to long-range. "About a hundred miles to the east. Then we get our wish!" She hugged herself with excitement.
"Is my Uncle Raditz nice, Lessa?"
"Yeah, I think you could say that, Goten. You'll like him. I'm sure of it. He's changed a lot since he went to hell."
"Oh. Well, that's good."
Lessa shot eagerly through the air, and the others followed, racing toward their final goal. The last dragonball.
* * *
The young shifters halted in the air above a small village.
"That's it," Lessa said, glancing at the radar. "That's where the last dragonball is."
"Well, let's go get it, then!" Trunks dropped to the ground along with the others, with a patter like a queue of ripe fruit. They jogged toward the village, keeping pace with Lessa, who was practically running in her eagerness.
"Let's ask someone where it is," Goten suggested, and knocked on the first door before anyone could remind him that they could just switch the radar to close range. The door opened a crack. A frightened face peered through.
"Please, I'll give you my money, just don't hurt my family!" the man quavered. Goten's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement.
"Why would I want your money? I can just ask Trunks if I want money. Ow!" Trunks the moneylender had kicked his friend in the shin.
The door opened a bit more. "You're not...from the Galoshes?"
"No, of course not," Lessa said, snorting. "What a stupid name!"
"Shhh!" the man hushed her, looking around fearfully. "They might hear you."
"So what if they do?" Trunks asked scornfully. He tilted his head back and shouted, "Galoshes are stupid! The boots are stupid, and the gang is even stupider!!" at the top of his strong, demi-saiya-jin lungs.
"What did you say?!" came an angry voice from the end of the street.
"Now you've done it!" the man groaned, and shut his door hastily.
"He said," Lessa informed him coolly, "that Galoshes are stupid. Why? Got a problem with that?"
"Are you kids suicidal or something?" the newcomer asked incredulously. Lessa's attention was suddenly caught by something that glittered on a chain around his neck.
"Look!" she whispered urgently to the other three. "The leader dude has a dragonball around his neck!" They saw it and nodded. It was obvious what they would have to do, and Lessa gave them a look that said she, and no one else, was going to do it.
The girl stepped forward and crossed her arms. "No, we're not suicidal, but we're not scared of a bunch of bigmouths. I could take you all out with one hand." She shook her fist threateningly.
"Ha! Look, guys, we got ourselves a live one here!" the dragonball-bearing leader snorted. "So, short stuff, you could take us all out with one hand, hmm? And just how would you do that?"
"Easy. Like..." Lessa blurred out and reappeared in front of the man, planting a fist solidly in his stomach before anyone could so much as blink. "This!" The man staggered backwards, spitting out blood, and Lessa vanished again. This time, she came up behind him and delivered a solid chop to the base of his skull. The huge man toppled like a falling tree. She stepped forward, yanked the dragonball out from underneath him, and tossed it to Trunks. Lessa then stepped towards the remainder of the gang menacingly.
"Who's next?"
As one, they turned and fled.
"And don't come back!!" Lessa shouted after them, and rejoined her friends. Awed villagers were beginning to poke their heads out of doorways. The man whose door Goten had knocked on emerged, his fear melting into happiness.
"You did it! You defeated the Galoshes!"
"Aw, it was nothing," Lessa said modestly. "Come on, guys, let's go make our wish!"
The four amigos shot into the air, the cheers and shouts of happy villagers echoing behind them.
* * *
"Well, this looks like a good spot," Lessa said, coming down in a large field.
"As good as any," Trunks agreed. "You should do the summoning, Lessa. It's your wish, really."
"Thanks, guys," Lessa said, as Trunks handed her the knapsack.
Lessa was the kind of girl who liked to do things neatly, so she arranged the dragonballs in a circle, with the seven star `ball in the center, before returning the backpack to Trunks. She stepped back, took a deep breath, and intoned, "Shenlong, come out and grant our wish!"
The sky darkened as if a sudden storm had arrived. The dragonballs flashed, and lightning crackled between them and the darkened sky. In a burst of light and splendor, Shenlong shot upwards from the seven orbs. The 'prentices shaded their eyes and gasped at the sight.
"It gets better every time, doesn't it," Trunks remarked to Lessa, who nodded solemnly.
At last the dragon's glow faded, and Shenlong's immense head loomed above them. He spoke in a voice like thunder.
"What is your wish?"
Lessa stepped forward, took a deep breath, and spoke clearly. "I wish for Raditz, Goku's brother, to be restored to life and brought to this place."
"That is two wishes. What is your third wish?"
The gang exchanged glances. They got a third wish? No one had said anything about that! Lessa drew the others into a huddle and they consulted.
"We should wish for Raditz to be unkillable for one month."
"Why should we make a wish like that?"
"Think, Goten. I know you've got a brain in there somewhere. When your dad sees Raditz, he's not going to be too happy, is he?"
"Oh. Oh, I see."
"It's okay with me. Go ahead, Lessa."
Nodding, they broke apart, and Lessa spoke again.
"Please make Raditz unable to be killed for one month."
"I cannot shield him from such power as a third level super Saiya-jin possesses."
"Make him as unkillable as you can, then."
"Your wishes are granted!"
With that, Shenlong pulsed brightly, and vanished. The dragonballs shot into the air and exploded in seven different directions. Behind them, the gang heard someone gasp. They turned as one, blinking away afterimages, to confront the object of their wish.
* * *
Raditz was...well, shocked, mainly. He had been training in Hell, just to pass the time, and suddenly he was...well, he wasn't quite sure where he was, but he definitely wasn't in Hell. Bright sunlight flooded his vision, and he blinked, eyes watering as they adjusted after so many years in Hell's gloom. He realized, suddenly, that he could feel his heart beating, his chest moving up and down as it filled with air that he didn't need in Hell. And he realized, joy flooding his whole body, that the impossible had happened. He threw back his head and shouted his realization to the sky.
"I'M ALIVE!!!"
"We did it!"
He turned and saw four kids hugging each other as they jumped around. "We did it, we did it!"
"Who...Lessa?!" He asked as he recognized the only girl in the group.
She grinned at him so widely he thought her face would split in half. "Hi, Radi-chan! How does it feel to be alive again?"
"You little rascal!" he said joyfully, as he scooped her up and ruffled her hair. "You wished me back, didn't you?"
"Yep," she replied cheerfully. "I told you the last time I visited that I'd find a way to get you out of Hell, didn't I? So I did!"
"Who are your friends?" he asked as she slid to the ground. He bent down and gazed curiously at one of the kids. "You look like Kakarott, kid. What's your name?"
"I'm Goten," the boy announced proudly. "Vegeta calls my dad Kakarott, 'cause that's his Saiya-jin name."
"You're Kakarott's son? What about that other boy...Gohan?"
"He's my oniichan," Goten told him. "And Lessa told me you're my uncle. So, hi, Uncle Raditz!"
"Hi," Raditz said, bemused at the boy's cheerful, straightforward demeanor, especially after what he had done to the kid's father and brother. "Who're you?" he asked a strangely familiar-looking purple haired boy.
The boy stood in a well-remembered proud stance, arm crossed, but before Raditz could place exactly where he had seen it before, the boy spoke.
"I'm Trunks Briefs, first son of Prince Vegeta of the Saiya-jins!"
Raditz was inclined to dismiss this out of hand, but then he looked again. That was who the boy reminded him of! If his hair had been different, he could have been a young version of Vegeta.
"How did you end up with a name like Trunks? It's tradition for all Saiya-jin princes to be named Vegeta."
"I know," Trunks said, grinning sheepishly as he relaxed. "When I was born, my mom wanted to name me after my great-uncle, but my dad said I should be called Vegeta. Caitlin-san says they had a huge fight over it, one of their biggest ever, but my mom won. I think she lets dad win about the small stuff so she can win about the big stuff. That's what Caitlin-san says, anyway. My middle name's Vegeta," he added as an afterthought.
"Who's your mother, young prince?" Raditz asked, curious to know who this woman was. He had never known anyone to beat Vegeta in a fight, verbal or physical.
"Bulma Briefs, owner of Capsule Corp.," Lessa announced in a long-suffering tone. "Not only is she the richest woman on the planet, she's also a genius."
Raditz chuckled. "Trust Vegeta to go for the best."
"I think it was more like she was the only person who actually enjoyed fighting him constantly," Lessa said, with remarkable insight for an eleven-year-old. "Someone's coming."
All the kids turned their faces in the direction of the approaching ki, and Raditz reached out. Lessa had taught him how to read ki in Hell, among other things, and he realized belatedly that his own ki was flaring like a beacon. He had not made any particular efforts to suppress it while in Hell, but he did so now. Hopefully no one else had noticed. The incoming ki had enlarged to a dot in the sky, and seconds later Raditz's Saiya-jin eyes recognized the newcomer.
"It's your dad, Goten," Lessa said. "I hope he gives us a chance to explain."
The kids all nodded, and Raditz wondered, in a small private corner of his mind, whether he would ever be able to repay these children who had resurrected him with no urging and no real cause. Then there was no more time for reflection. Kakarott (Goku, Raditz reminded himself. Lessa had once made him promise to call Kakarott Goku to his face, if they ever met again. He had promised readily, since the likelihood of him meeting his pure-hearted brother in Hell had been next to zilch) had arrived.
For a moment, he stared. Then he turned to the gang. Lessa gulped.
"Explain." The only girl in the group stepped forward. Her palms were sweaty, and she gulped nervously. When Goku used that tone, you had better have a darn good explanation, and no excuse would do. Goku was very seldom angry, but when he was, it was worse than ten Chi-Chi's.
"It was my idea, Goku-san," she said, making herself meet his eyes squarely. "The others just went along. You see, I've been visiting your brother in Hell..."
"WHAT?!"
"Gomen nasai, but I was curious. Shunken Idou works to visit the other worlds, you told me so yourself, so I wondered if you could use it to visit Hell. The first person that came to mind was Raditz, so there I went."
"And?" Goku's tone was entirely unsatisfied.
"Well, he saw me. And we started to talk. And he's changed a lot! Really! I thought he was going to be all mean and annoying, like Vegeta-san," she noticed Goku cover a smile at this, and continued a little heartened, "but he wasn't! He told me he'd thought about it, and that he would never have killed Gohan, because he was one of the last Saiya-jins, and he didn't really want to kill you, but by then it had gone to far to turn back. And I believe him! He didn't know I was planning this, so he had no reason to lie to me. So I kept visiting, 'cause he seemed kinda sad and lonely, and finally I decided to wish him back. So here he is, and you can punish me if you want." She steeled herself for Goku's response, and held her gaze. She saw his eyes soften, and gave a mental sigh of relief. She wasn't going to get killed, apparently.
"I guess I can understand, but you shouldn't have used the Shunken Idou to visit Hell without permission, Lessa."
"Yes, sir."
"Promise you'll never do it again."
"Yes, sir."
"Good! That's settled, then." Goku approached his newly restored brother curiously. "So, you got wished back, huh? That's lucky."
"It sure is," Raditz agreed. He was nervous (what is Kakarott, I mean, Goku, going to do?) but trying not to show it. "I never thought she'd do something like this."
"That's Lessa for you," Goku said. "She's like Trunks, and they've done some pretty amazing stunts. She didn't tell you about the Great Fudge Fiasco, did she?"
"No," Raditz said, noting Lessa's suddenly panicked expression with amusement. "She didn't."
"Well, it all started when..."
Lessa relaxed, apart from a certain embarrassment at hearing her (well, her's and Trunks's, really) exploit recounted. It looked like Raditz would settle in very well on Chikyuu. It was just a good thing that Goku didn't hold grudges, she thought as she flew after her friends. She had made the right decision after all.
The End
