Dragonball Z: The Catalyst
Act II:
Chapter 14: Planet Fall
Deep Space, The Namek Space Craft:
Bulma sighed. She'd never felt so alone before, the whole trip the three of them were either kneeling or eating. Raditz had been a completely lazy asshole, until he found the opportunity to fight. Still, it made the trip unbearable, she barely had anyone to talk to. Sometimes she'd try talking to them while they were training, but it never worked.
The feminine body flopped against the chair again, this time sipping from a can of iced tea. Her eyes lazily traced over to the three selfish creatures in the midst of their training. Gohan looked so much like Goku, well, if Goku dressed like Piccolo. She knew how much he wanted to prove himself to everyone as well, she could see it. The boy had changed dramatically from when she'd first met him at the Kame House, the small frightened boy had been replaced by a strong willed fighter, a reflection of his father in so many ways.
She knew that this made Goku proud, but also knew how deeply it disappointed Chi Chi. She idly wondered why Chi Chi had wanted to marry Goku and have a family with him so much when Goku was so driven to be completely different from what she wanted. Sometimes she wondered if Goku himself understood anything about Chi Chi. He'd seemed to just go along with it.
There was a certain level of jealousy, even Bulma would admit, with Chi Chi. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Bulma had always liked Goku, they'd been friends for what seemed like forever. Of course, when Bulma saw Goku as a man years later, if it wasn't for Yamcha, and then Chi Chi, she'd have found whatever way she could to be with Goku. But, that was all in the past.
Life had moved on, for everyone. Goku went on to buy his home with Chi Chi, not long after they had Gohan. She'd gotten back together with Yamcha, again, and... well maybe life hadn't moved on for everyone. In fact, she'd go as far as to say her life beyond Yamcha dying, hadn't changed in the slightest for years. Another ugly question came out of this self reflection, was she happy with Yamcha? Well of course she loved him. However, she was increasingly realizing she wasn't actually happy.
Angry eyes flashed towards the three fighters still in their training, those assholes! She wouldn't have time for self reflection like this if they'd have just stopped zoning out for a minute. Angrily she stormed over to the three.
"Hey you three!"
The three didn't move. Blinking, seeing them still doing their training, she felt remarkably lonely. It was increasingly becoming as if she was alone the entire trip. A despairing depression fell over her for a moment before she walked over.
"I said wake up!" She added, thumping Raditz in the back of the head. There was no response from the spikey haired warrior. She'd not had the heart to hit Krillen or Gohan in the back of the head. It was a few seconds later that Gohan fell forward, sweating as he did. A second later Raditz did as well, looking up at the two smaller warriors with a kind of shock on his face.
"Y-you almost beat me." Raditz breathed.
Krillen came out of the trance with shocked eyes, before grinning.
"Wow Gohan! That was great."
To Krillen, the training had been an incredibly helpful way to learn. He suspected everyone was learning, not just getting stronger. He knew Raditz was even getting surprised from time to time, which he could tell with on the look on his face, was also right now. He'd not seen the Solar Flare coming at all.
Gohan was now beginning to smile himself. He'd managed to keep Raditz off guard for most of the training, but it was mentally exhausting and so hard to keep up. If he'd not been getting his tail kicked in over the last week by the saiyan, he'd have no way of keeping up with him. He was learning, rapidly.
Finally, for his part Raditz was irritated and annoyed. A week ago he'd been constantly beating the two of them. Now, he was still winning, but each victory was becoming harder to earn. They were learning, fast, especially the kid. In a way he was proud of his nephew's fighting ability, after all it was his nephew. All the same, he was learning as well, for instance the one technique he was taking the most interest in now was the one which had caused him so much trouble over the last training session, the "Solar Flare".
Krillen was the first to notice the incredibly angry Bulma staring at them.
"Uhm, hey Bulma."
"Don't you hey Bulma me!"
Uh oh.
Was collectively though.
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Planet Frieza 79:
Bubbles escaped Vegeta's mask as his eyes opened finally, after several days of being in the tank itself.
As the tank slowly began to open, chemicals first being injected into the chemical cocktail to bring him to consciousness, Vegeta slowly began to rise. His body was healed completely of all his former wounds, only a scar on his back remaining from the onslaught he'd received.
"Vegeta, you are healed." The doctor said.
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious." Vegeta responded coldly, walking past the doctor and onlookers in the nude.
"Get me new armour and equipment immediately."
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Clothed once again, Vegeta now walked through the halls of Planet Frieza 79's Outpost, making way towards the Space Port. He was beginning to sense energy levels across the entire base, most of them pitiful save for a handful. It was hard to pinpoint these powers still, to give them form and position. It would be an invaluable trait to use on the Planet Namek.
As Vegeta walked, he finally spotted a familiar figure, a particularly repulsive one, Cui.
"Hello Vegeta, I can see you are finally finished your little bath." The warrior said, hands on his hips and looking very entertained. "You had quite the fight on your hands, from none other than pitiful earthlings I hear. I even heard that Nappa and Raditz got killed."
"Raditz will wish he was dead soon enough, and you as well if you don't cease your pathetic babbling, Cui."
Vegeta's words were his typical harsh tone. He knew that Cui had been more powerful than he was, perhaps a year ago. Now it wasn't even sport if they came to blows, he could tell even without the scouter.
As Vegeta walked by a hand grasped his shoulder.
"Not so fast."
Vegeta froze with the words, though his disdain for Cui was evident.
"Frieza is very upset that you and the other saiyans have taken actions without his consent. He's very upset, Vegeta. But-"
"I don't care if Frieza is upset. Now get your hand off of me, Cui, now." Vegeta uttered, his voice very controlled, by to the point where it was clearly hiding a very high level of anger.
Cui let his hand go free from Vegeta's shoulder, before standing next to him.
"But-" Cui continued from before. "Frieza has decided to forgive you and your rash actions. He is very pleased that you revealed a means for him to gain eternal youth and immortality, so he has decided to show mercy on you."
Vegeta blinked. No! Somehow Frieza must have heard the scouter messages between Nappa, Raditz and himself. No! That meant he was going for the Dragon Balls himself! This was a disaster, but he needed it confirmed, he needed to know.
"Where is Frieza now?!" Vegeta demanded.
Cui, with a self satisfied smile, merely responded. "He is on his way to the Planet Namek."
With that Vegeta was off. He blasted past anyone in his path while moving into a sprint.
"Vegeta!"
Vegeta grabbed a scouter from the doctor he'd been dealing with earlier, running straight, headlong towards his space pod.
This was it, this was the moment of truth. He would have to confront Frieza on the Namek, or he would die. He would be his slave for the rest of his life if he couldn't stop him.
With a leap he jumped into the pod, the door closing. He saw Cui now chasing after his creaming something, thankfully he couldn't hear. Within a heartbeat he'd set the navigation tool towards Planet Namek.
"Frieza." He uttered before the ship began its stasis procedures.
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The First Arrival... Planet Namek:
The large saucer like ship blasted across the surface of the peaceful Planet Namek. Its large frame making a huge shadow roll across the continent.
Within, a saiyan looked ahead with a small grin.
"Take us towards the ocean and land us on the sea floor."
"My-my lord?" Amond asked.
God they were all so this, Turles thought to himself. Had they concept that landing on the open surface would lead to Frieza finding their craft and destroying it without a second thought?
"Because what do think Frieza will notice first when he arrives on Namek? A stolen ship sitting in the open with all of its systems operational? Idiot!" Turles snapped angrily. "Now, land the ship in the water, and deactivate all primary power sources." He ordered harshly. "If you are afraid to get a little wet, I can assure you there is much more to fear from me."
"Yes, Commander Turles."
"Please, you might as well get used to calling me Lord Turles."
The first order of business was to get a Dragon Ball, and the locals would know.
There was suddenly a noise of surprise from Daiz.
"Lord Turles. Your power level, its only 1,000." He said, blinking.
"How correct you are, Diaz. And it'll appear that way for as long as possible." Turles responded, before grinning harshly. "If Frieza sees power levels of over 40,000 running around the planet, he'll come to kill me himself."
Amond, whose power level was 18,000, also began to lower.
"How, how are you doing this?"
"Unlike the rest of you fools, Amond and myself have some talents before being bruisers." Turles explained. "Now, the first one to bring me a Dragon Ball, will get a promotion, and the first piece of fruit we grow from this wretched planet once we are done with the Dragon Balls."
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One Day Later: The Second Arrival
Nameks lay scattered above the ruins of the freshly destroyed village. At the peek of the hill a single figure stood, his red scouter lens reflecting in the light of the Namekian Star. In his right hand a Namekian warrior struggled for life, his other hand formed into a fist. Turles glared down at the village elder, still shielding the last child in the village.
"You monster," He declared, staring at Turles.
"Hardly, I merely am looking for the Dragon Ball. A ball you have yet to provide me, you old fool." With that, Turles snapped the warrior's neck.
Within a heartbeat he was walking towards the Namek, his obsidian eyes staring into his elderly counterpart's. The man stepped back, holding the child to his side, who clutched desperately to his father.
Turles knew of course, the old man would give up the goods when he saw the child in danger as well. These old fools were so predictable.
"Now then, present the Dragon Ball to me, or the next thing you'll see is this child die."
The elder's eyes traced down towards the boy, seeing the frightened child looking back up to him. He quietly nodded, feeling the pain in his chest as he did. With a sad resolve he turned about, walking into one of the huts, and bringing out the huge orange and red stone.
Turles smiled to himself as he looked at it.
"This Dragon Ball will do you little good. I only give it to you because I realize that you are doomed to fail in summoning the Dragon."
Turles snatched the large sphere, the 7 star Dragon Ball from the man with one hand, and quickly pointed at him with the other.
"You have been most helpful, fool." With that, there was a torrent of purple energy that blasted from his palm, wiping away the existence of the village elder.
It was only the small child left, staring up at Turles in fear. The saiyan warrior turned his head down towards the child who was trembling so fiercely, unable to do anything at all.
"Tell me boy, did you like it when I slaughtered your village just a minute ago?" Turles asked with an amused look.
The child could barely shake his head no in response.
With that, Turles walked towards him.
"I contemplated killing you as well, but because I got the Dragon Ball, I'm in a good mood. I'm going to let you live. I just want you to remember something. You will always be weak and helpless. Your entire species will always be weak and helpless. Be glad you have the Dragon Balls, as they are the only useful thing your pathetic race has ever created or done."
With that, Turles took off. Behind him, leaving a frightened, angry, terrified child in the ruins of his home, around the open graves of his family.
Turles however, looked up, seeing a break in the clouds as a huge shipe entered from above. Another Cruiser, this one however was glaringly the property of the supposed "Lord" Frieza.
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"Lord Frieza, we have arrived on the Planet Namek." Zarbon informed his lord. Thankfully they'd arrived almost exactly when they intended, even slightly ahead of schedule.
Frieza looked pleased, his dark lips spreading out in his usual arrogant, yet controlled smile.
"Good work Zarbon, it would have been a shame to kill you over such a small miscalculation."
Soon, it would be so soon and Eternal Life would be his. He could almost taste it in the air, and it had a very fine quality about it. Soon there would be no more dispute over who was master, Cooler would finally stop his yapping, or he'd be silenced. His father would provide him with the Crown, or he'd be dead as well. He wouldn't just be Lord Frieza, he would be Emperor Freiza, ruler of the Universe.
Billions more would live or die at his whim. He would become a terrible God of Destruction, and would never know what it was to be threatened by anything for the remainder of time. The stars themselves would tremble at his approach.
"Zarbon," Frieza then said, turning his heads towards his subordinate. "Organize the the men. We are going to begin our search for the Dragon Balls."
"Immediately, Lord Frieza."
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Frieza's eyes looked at the burned and ruined village before them. A village they themselves had not ruined at all. Inside the rubble of it all, they found only small child.
Frieza knew this kind of work, this was almost an identical pattern to what his own soldiers followed. But so far only he, Zarbon, Dodoria, and their team had moved out. Someone else was here.
His eyes widened.
Cooler!
He immediately turned his head to Dodoria.
"Check the scouter again!" He ordered furiously.
Dodoria, nervously reached his hand up, clicking the scouter. Readings came in, scattered power levels all over the planet, nothing higher than 5,000.
"There. There still isn't anything past 5,000, Lord Frieza."
From his chair, he looked down at the near catatonic Namek boy.
"Boy." He addressed coolly. "Boy! I am your new master, Lord Frieza. You will tell me who did this to this village."
"A monster. With a tail." The boy said quietly. "Uhm. Not like you." He then said.
Frieza actually felt some relief when the boy said it wasn't like him. That meant there was a good chance it wasn't Cooler. If somehow his brother had come here, or his father had caught wind of his plans, he could face serious obstacles to his plan.
"He had spiked black hair, and black eyes. With tanned... pinkish? Brownish? Whitist? Skin."
As the description came in, everyone there was gradually came to what it was.
"A saiyan." Frieza said, his face twisting into a scowl.
But Vegeta was back at base 79, Raditz and Nappa were already listed as MIA and KIA respectively. Was this a monkey that somehow wasn't ever under his control?
Frieza felt a smile creep across his lips.
"Take the boy with us." He declared.
"Lord Frieza?" Dodoria questioned.
"A native guide can always be helpful, and do not question me again Dodoria."
"Yes, of course Lord Frieza!"
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The Last Arrivals: Two Days Later
They would arrive very, very soon.
Bulma had been talking about it all 'day' so far. They weren't training because of the expected arrival time. Over the last 29 days of flight, Gohan felt stronger than ever, his body didn't get stronger, but his mind became sharper. He felt more battle hardened, he could address situations better as well. Krillen and Raditz had taught him almost as much as Mr. Piccolo in a lot of ways.
But unlike when he trained with Piccolo, he didn't feel the same closeness to his uncle. For Krillen he felt a deep friendship grow, but for his uncle it was different. He never talked to him, almost at all. It was "we're training, get ready" or "Food, eat". Piccolo had done the same, but it was different somehow, like Piccolo had been watching over him. Here, he could almost feel his uncle's restrained aggression.
Quietly, Gohan decided to approach his uncle. He was currently laying back in a chair relaxing. His features looked calm.
"Mr. Raditz?"
"Just call me Raditz, kid." Raditz responded gruffly, not even opening his eyes to respond.
The kid, thankfully, rarely annoyed him. At times like this it was just easiest to blow him off.
"Uhm. Okay, Raditz?"
"Yes?"
"I just want to thank you for helping us train on the way to Namek. I think it really helped out. I feel a lot stronger now. I bet I can take on anyone!" Gohan said, smiling towards the figure.
Still with his eyes closed, Raditz responded. "Uh huh."
Gohan felt ignored in that moment. Of course he did who wouldn't? However, he felt a tinge of determination to get Raditz to at least look at him.
"My father said that you came with us for your own selfish goals, and that you may betray us." Gohan finally said.
Krillen's head turned at the words. He had the same talk with Goku as well.
Raditz heard the words, but they didn't process at first. Finally turning his head and half opening his eye, a black pupil turned to stare at Gohan dismissively.
"Did he?" Responded Raditz. "Well, thank you for informing me." His eye closed again.
"I think he's wrong."
Raditz didn't open his eye again, but listened as his nephew spoke.
"I saved you back on Earth, because I think there is good in everyone. You helped save us from Vegeta and Nappa too. I remember when we first came across you on Earth. You abducted me, you even killed my father. I thought you were an ogre."
"Then I saw you after Piccolo trained me. I remember when I confronted you to try and save him, you were still so mean then. You and that purple haired woman looking for the Dragon Balls. But I became less afraid of you. I began to understand that you were just a person, like me, or Mr Piccolo, or my father."
"Get to your point," Raditz finally cut in.
Gohan felt his jaw tighten before he continued.
"You didn't kill us when you had the chance. You didn't kill us here on the Space Ship too. I've felt you holding back your aggression the entire time we've been here. So I don't believe my father when he says you could betray us. I think when the time comes, you'll do the right thing." Gohan announced. "We'll wish back all our friends, and then you can come back to Earth with us. It'll be good! I also promise that I'll make sure mom isn't so mean to you anymore." The boy added with the enthusiasm only a child could have.
"Then I can show Mr. Piccolo everything you and Krillen taught me! And I'll get to show my dad! You can come over and we can train. I'm sure dad would like it too, he always likes sparring with strong people and-"
Raditz had finally opened his eyes, looking at Gohan as if the boy was in outer space.
This kid was really an optimist, wasn't he? He was like no saiyan child he'd ever met. Still, there was something about the kid. This was the son of his brother, and it was easily reflected. The main thing that worried Raditz of course, was the fact he liked his nephew. The kid was tough, strong, determined, but the empathy he was able to display despite all that was remarkable. Raditz felt a degree of guilt when the boy announced he didn't think that he would betray them.
"One day, Gohan." Raditz told his nephew. "You will grow up to be a great warrior, but only if you begin to understand power."
"You can only look out for yourself, no one else can be relied on." He added, before sitting back again.
Gohan was about to retort that when Raditz just sighed, cutting him off.
"Don't bug me until we get to this blasted planet."
Gohan, despite the rejection, did feel as though he'd accomplished something. His innocent eyes stared at his uncle still for a second, and then turned back towards Krillen, moving to sit next to him.
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"Its Planet Namek!"
Gohan and Krillen pressed their faces almost up against the window of the space craft.
"Look at it! Its big!" Gohan declared.
"This'll be pretty incredible, Gohan!" Krillen added.
"Prepare yourselves." Raditz said from the chair. "There won't be time for slacking."
Within almost a minute, the ship had found its home on the Planet Namek. A ship returned after countless lifetimes to its place of origin.
Gohan's feet touched the new world first as the boy excitedly ran towards the edge of the land to the water. He took in the alien world for himself, his eyes wide with amazement at what he saw. The planet was, outside of a few trees here and there and lots of green-blue grass, almost completely barren, at least from where they were.
Behind him Krillen walked up.
"Looks like we made it."
Raditz however, stopped, looking about suspiciously.
"Don't you feel that? There are major powers all over this planet." He remarked.
Gohan and Krillen stopped, just as Bulma looked petrified as he spoke.
"W-well maybe its just the Nameks?" Bulma asked hopefully.
"Keep your powers suppressed, just in case." Krillen then said.
It was then, Krillen spotted a Space Pod flying through the air at high speed.
Raditz felt the presence immediately.
"Vegeta."
Everyone froze.
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Vegeta slowly exited his pod, fastening his scouter to the side of his head once he did.
"Let's see what's going on, on this worthless lump of mud."
With that, the scouter started to blip, coming up with contacts across the board, but two power levels were more than familiar.
Zarbon and Dodoria's signatures were there, beeping on the scouter and showing blips to represent them.
It was then that another blip showed up. Cui was on his way.
Vegeta smiled at this information. This would be child's play.
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A/N: Whew. Lots of stuff to get done. Now that I'm entering the Namek Saga, and making so many changes, its really a lot more difficult to write. What to keep, what was changed.
Dark Impaler: Kakarot and Turles are identical twins. The difference in skin tone is because of the different planetary environment which Turles grew up in. Raditz is the eldest of the three brothers. Ironically, Raditz is also the weakest lol
MetallicManiac: I'll see what I can do on the comedy front. I've already gotten lots of chapters written, but I'll keep it in mind going forward.
Luke: Funnily enough, with two updates a week, even if I were to stop writing now, you guys would still have over a month of story to get. I try to keep a good number of chapters ahead, just in case I get tired of writing for a week or two. I didn't even start posting this story until I was done Chapter 10. :D
FightingChampion: Turles might live, he might die, depends.
Wolverine: Raditz is a selfish asshole still, yep! Lol
Coldblue: Gohan, Krillin, and Raditz's power levels, along with everyone elses, will be revealed in battle, so there is no need to post them.
As far as fights are concerned, I can only spoil that Raditz will fight King Kai after they both go a midget derby race, and King Kai cheats to win their bet. Who will win in this epic struggle!? Kidding, kidding. I can't reveal the fights yet :P
Also, there will be no Raditz/Zangya.
Quick note. Updates will now be Monday/ Friday. Just works better I find with my current work schedule.