Summary: This is a 'what if' fiction. What if Radditz didn't wait around on Earth when he kidnaped Gohan, and instead left with the child? Twelve years after the incident, Radditz comes back with a completely Saiyan-jin Gohan (Lorz) with the intent of killing both Vegeta and Goku. This is the story of Gohan seeing the family and friends he doesn't remember.
Author Notes: Since this is a variation of the DBZ time line, I'll be putting in notes as the story progresses about how I've changed the incidents of the show to fit my story. Most things will remain the same with minor quirks.
Important Notes: Vegeta and Nappa still came to Chikkyu and everyone who died at this point died, however since the final bout with Radditz never happened, Goku was never dead and was alive when they arrived. Everything except for the Cell games progressed normally. Goku was the one to kill him instead, but unlike the show, he never died. Also, for the sake of the story line, the Majin Buu incident never occurred. Also, Gohan dropped his five star dragon ball hat when Radditz kidnapped him, so everyone that did die was wished back to life like Akira Toriyama intended them to be.
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z or any of it's characters.
Lorz stared out the window of the spaceship at the planet Radditz called Chikkyu. Compared to most planets that he had seen over the past twelve-years, Chikkyu is relatively small, though there was something about it. Something that stirred in his mind. It pried at his thoughts, as if he should remember something about the blue and green mud ball looming before him. But try as he might, he couldn't recall a thing and tried to ignore the sensation.
According to Radditz, this is the planet that Vegeta-ouji had settled on, abandoning them in space all these years. The responsibility of raising Lorz as a proper Saiyan-jin warrior had then fallen to Radditz who could barely take care of himself. Lorz, however, had somehow turned out alright. He had pillaged and destroyed many planets in the name of the Saiyan-jins, possessed the gruff, blunt personality of others of the race, and was the greatest fighter the universe had ever seen. Lorz, in his short eighteen years, had achieved the level of super Saiyan-jin by eleven and level two just last year. Most gladly he would show off his fighting prowess to challengers, powering up to his maximum.
Thinking about his fighting skills caused Lorz to wonder about the fighters on Chikkyu. Radditz had been here twelve years ago, and said that only two fighters on the entire planet were worth his time. Now those fighters had most likely gone soft with age and lost their strength. Lorz sighed with premature boredom; this planet would be far too easy to destroy, and his scouter picked up no significant beings besides the Ouji and the Goku-man
Even though they would eventually destroy Chikkyu, their main objective was to find Vegeta-ouji and kill him; revenge for leaving them. As much as Lorz tried to want revenge, he couldn't bring himself to desire it. Radditz was the one who wished to kill Vegeta-ouji. Lorz supposed the dumb ass thought eliminating their ouji would somehow make up for all those years he spent raising a young Saiyan-jin. A stupid thought, really, but it wasn't like they had any thing else to do. With Freiza dead, Radditz had them zooming all over the galaxy causing havoc wherever his whims decided would be best. Chikkyu would be just another one of those locations to Lorz. He chuckled, knowing that it would be him that would fight and kill the Saiyan no Ouji, not Radditz.
Lorz turned around when the whoosh of the automatic doors entered his ears. Radditz marched into the room, a grim expression on his face and stood next to Lorz, looking out at Chikkyu. He stood there for many moments, arms crossed over his broad chest and eyes narrowed. Lorz's scouter bleeped when Radditz's power level increased. Apparently something about Chikkyu pissed him off.
"What's your problem?" Lorz asked.
Raddtiz let out a short laugh, running his fingers through his tangled mane.
"Oh, nothing much. Just thinking about the retribution I'll be giving out in a few hours for all my troubles. Twelve years of bullshit will finally come to an end."
"I'm glad to know all the time we've spent together has meant something to you, Radditz."
"Don't even start," Radditz faced him, black eyes narrowed and glowing. "Once I have revenge I don't care what you do. This planet is where it all started and where it will all finish. You'll find Vegeta, and you'll kill him which ever way you want, so long as he's dead."
"What's that supposed to mean? You gonna just leave me here?"
"That's what I was planning on," Radditz sneered.
Lorz stood up to his full height, raising his power level just enough to register on Radditz's scouter; the Saiyan way of asserting dominance to peers. He smirked as the older Saiyan's confidant countenance faded slightly.
"I want no part in your revenge. I've been well aware that you've been planning for me to kill the Ouji because, well, you probably aren't strong enough. If the rumors that the space traders have been telling are true, our Saiyan no Ouji has surpassed the level of mundane Saiyans much like I have, along with some other named Goku."
Lorz hardly flinched when Radditz reached out lightning-quick and wrapped his thick fingers around the young Saiyan-jin's neck. Lorz knew that Radditz couldn't cause him any harm; he wasn't strong enough.
"Don't you ever mention that ass's name around me again. I'll be killing him while you eliminate our dear Ouji."
"Then what?"
"Like I said, I don't care what you do after. I won't be responsible for you any more." Radditz released his grip on Lorz's neck and stepped back, eyeing up the younger Saiyan.
"What?" Lorz growled. He wasn't in the mood for the bizzare antics of Radditz at this point.
"You look like him, you know," Radditz murmured.
"Like who?"
"My brother, Kakarot."
Radditz slowly walked toward the exit, turning around when he reached the door. He stared at the window as if Lorz weren't in the room. At that moment, Radditz somehow seemed older. His raven hair seemed dimmer, his eyes didn't shine youthfully, and his face seemed pale and drawn. Without saying another word, Radditz walked out of the room.
"That was fucking stupid," Lorz spat and whirled around to watch Chikkyu through the gigantic glass window.
Ever since Raddtiz declared they were coming here to kill the Ouji, he would get into these moods where he would blab stuff that made no sense. First off, what about Goku pissed him off so badly? Despite never having heard the actual words, Lorz managed to piece together that Radditz had fought with a strong warrior on this planet and emerged victorious. Perhaps Goku was the one he fought. And secondly, Radditz mentioned Kakarot. Lorz knew the older Saiyan-jin had a brother, but found it strange that he supposedly looked like him. Yet, Radditz never mentioned anything about his sibling other than he was a failure as a Saiyan-jin, and, as far as he was concerned, dead to him. So, did that mean Kakarot was still alive?
Lorz walked over to the control pannel and sat down. When Freiza was killed on Chikkyu -not even the space traders knew who accomplished that feat- Radditz had a technician download the files kept by the Kolds about the Saiyan-jins, their planet, their economy, and their census. As the appropriate screen came up, Lorz typed in the name Kakarot. Apparently it was an uncommon Saiyan-jin name, for only fifty search matches came up out of one thousand years of data; the names were arranged from most recent to the oldest.
Best start at the top, Lorz thought, and used the touch screen to indicate he wanted to view the file on the most recent Kakarot.
A picture of a nude Saiyan-jin baby appeared along with general statistics like power level at birth andlength spent in growth tank were displayed to the right of the picture. Just below the picture, Lorz read the name of Raddtiz father Bardock as the sperm donor -that much Lorz already knew. Radditz was mentioned in there as well; something about him being the brother and his rank.
There really wasn't much content since this file was created just prior to Freiza destroying Vegeta-sei, but there was one thing (the final line) that caught his eye.
Kakarot, code 66B7, was released to Military on Universal Standard Year 90 L.D. for the pillaging program. Destination: Chikkyu...
Lorz inhaled deeply, sitting back in the chair and absorbing the information. So, Kakarot was sent to Chikkyu. Lorz really had no idea what to think about it. Chikkyu most obviously showed no signs that a rampaging Ozaru had ever set foot upon it, yet clear as glass the computer screen showed this was where he landed.
Something must have happened to him, Lorz concluded. However, that didn't explain why Raddtiz seemed to despise Chikkyu so much. Perhaps Kakarot was still alive and had blended into the society, abandoning his heritage. That would be logical, but not enough to explain why Raddtiz became both dreamy and pissed off at the mention of his brother. Or perhaps his space pod never made it to Chikkyu, but that didn't clarify anything . The former scenario made more sense and explained more thoroughly Radditz's behavior, though not by much.
Either way, Lorz decided to investigate further after he killed the Saiyan no Ouji. Lorz committed Kakarot's landing coordinates to memory. He would begin there and see if the space pod was still there; from that location, he would begin his search. He was really starting not to care if Radditz abandoned him on Chikkyu or not. At least I'd be rid of that stupid ass.
Goku watched his son Goten move methodically through the fighting katas he had taught him. He was amazed a child of seven could accomplish what took him years of training with the greatest fighting masters Chikkyu had to offer. And at seven, Goten was a super Saiyan-jin, something that took Goku well into his twenties to do.
To say the very least, Goku was proud of his son and the fighter he had become. Chichi, however, wasn't quite as thrilled as he. She insisted daily that Goten study math or science or literature or something equally boring, but the boy had no motivation to do good in his school work. Goku smiled, thinking that Goten was quite like him in that respect. An education wasn't that useful when one could fight in tournaments with big prize money.
Goku turned around when the familiar, tiny ki of Chichi came closer. She strode calmly -unusual since she always was dashing around the kitchen preparing food. He waved to her, all the while offering his boyish smile. She too waved and quickened her pace.
"What are you doing out here?" Goku asked when she reached hearing distance.
"Well," Chichi sighed upon reaching him, "it looked like such a nice day, so I figured I'd join my boys outside."
Chichi looked radiant, and oddly enough, Goku picked up on it. Something made her look happy, like each time she found out they were going to be parents. She somehow glowed like a mother does, but he couldn't sense any little ki within her, so that defiantly wasn't it. But what was it to make her so happy? Maybe, Goku thought, Chichi is excited about the dinner tonight.
Every year since the end of the Cell games, the Z-Senshi made it a point to have dinner together annually. They wanted to do it more frequently, however the group had a hard enough time coming together once a year, so they had theirone meal together and enjoyed each others company. It was the Son family's turn this year to host the dinner, and Chichi had been slaving away in the kitchen for days preparing food. His stomach grumbled just thinking about it!
"I heard that Goku," Chichi laughed while watching Goten. "If you're hungry, there's some extras in the back freezer."
Goku watched the serene expression that crossed Chichi's face. He may not be the brightest man, but he was smart enough to know that if Chichi looked calm, something was most assuredly up.
"Are you... okay, Chichi?" he asked, bracing himself for the verbal whipping he was about to receive.
Chichi turned her attention from Goten to her fearful looking husband.
"What do you mean? Do I look sick or tired or something? Maybe I should go lay down before everyone comes over so I don't look so terrible. I have been working very hard on the food. After the caterer Bulma hired for last years dinner, I have had my work cut out for me. So I-"
"No," Goku interrupted, shaking his spiky head. "You don't look that bad. Eh... well, you just look...happy?"
She smiled softly, her cheeks taking on a pink hue while she smoothed wisps of hair back; a nervous habit of hers.
"You've noticed that too. You'd think with the dinner looming ahead and all the guests and everything else I'd be a wreck. But I feel happy, just like you said. I woke up this morning and a huge weight felt lifted off my chest, as if all my worries were dust and blew away. Something good is going to happen - I can feel it. Something that both of us will find to be good."
Goku couldn't figure out exactly what to say. Chichi's coal colored eyes bore into him so deeply that his breath caught. Something good was going to happen? Well, perhaps the dinner would go well. Yet... there was something. There had to be something. Chichi would never act serenely and speak softly unless there was good news, so perhaps she was right. Maybe some good fortune would finally come their way.
"I hope you're right, Chichi," Goku smiled and pulled her close.
They continued to watch Goten train, his orange gi bright in the daylight, and a matching cap with the five star dragon ball atop it.
Next chapter: The Z-Senshi have their dinner. Lorz and Radditz make their landing on Chikkyu. Feel free to correct me on Japanese spellings. It's been a long time since I've used these words and I don't remember their spellings.