The Event of Being Reincarnated as Raditz, Chapter 3: The School of Hard Knocks
All characters in this story belong to Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation. Please support the official release! On another side note, I'm glad to see people have taken a liking to the story, and I'll be sure to get out more chapters as I can manage it (Christmas is quite the busy time of year, after all)!
When we last left off, Shawn (or still known to others as Raditz, and would likely hope to keep it that way) left with Gohan and Piccolo for training, while also sending Krillin on his way to gather Earth's strongest warriors. With any luck, the Turtle School student would recruit Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha just like the normal timeline.
Meanwhile, with Piccolo leading the way, the trio land down in a wasteland of sorts, bringing Shawn to an awkward thought. "Y'know….I just realized something. How is it Piccolo knows about all these remote locations to train and meditate? Is he really that much of a loner?"
He didn't get time to think about this further as the Namekian turned his attention to Shawn, Gohan clinging to his shoulder. "Alright. Before we start….What makes you think the brat's worth training?" It was obvious who he was referring to, and he responded to it with a smirk as he put Kakarot's son down.
"Now, Gohan. You and me are going to spar real quick….But there's a bit more to it." The kid seemed ready, but due to his lack of training Piccolo couldn't imagine this going any other way than Raditz killing the child. That's when Shawn sprung his little master plan on revealing the child's hidden power.
"Imagine me as a horrible warrior who murdered your father in cold blood!" This got quite the reaction out of the young boy, his face going to shock, and then slowly turning to an angry grimace. "But there's more. Now, after I've finished up Goku, I'm coming after your mother. She'll stand no chance, and you're the only one in my way. Now what're you going to do, you pathetic piece of trash?!"
Such a horrible scene playing through his head and the stinging insult threw Gohan into a furious rage, and with a yell he slammed his head right into Shawn's chest, easily cracking the Saiyan armor and knocking the breath out of him, leaving him to stagger backwards. If only for a brief moment, Gohan's Power Level on the scouter had jumped to an incredible 1,000….Or at least, incredible for his age and outward Power Level. Of course, after the headbutt Gohan was left seemingly unconscious.
To be honest, he hadn't been expecting Gohan's attack to hurt so much. Still, though, it served his purpose; Piccolo was now clearly interested in that mysterious inner strength. "It's settled, then….Raditz, you and me will be training for six months and leave Gohan to survive in the wilderness."
Under normal circumstances, Shawn might've been surprised at the declaration, but he knew this was what Piccolo did originally. So all he did was grimace, and give the slumbering Gohan a look of pity. It certainly wouldn't be easy for the young Saiyan, but he already planned on visiting him at points during the six months to try and train him, as well as explain to Gohan who he was. Somehow, he had a feeling the child would take to it better than Goku would've.
Nodding his agreement (albeit a bit reluctantly), Shawn was ready to head off with Piccolo. Before he did, however, he motioned back to Gohan. "Don't you think his current apparel isn't quite fit for outdoors survival?" The Namekian stared at the unconscious Saiyan for just a bit, then nodded. "I suppose you're right. It'd be a waste for him to die during some cold front and waste all that potential." So, in a beam of light, he changed Gohan's old clothing to that of the Demon Clan, almost identical to Piccolo's clothes. "Now, are you done worrying about the brat? We have some supposed impending attack to train for."
Thus, a few hours later, the duo found themselves in another local to train in. While the two sparred, trading blows and blasts, Piccolo continually remarked at Shawn's noviceness. "Your movements are sluggish, and your attacks are predictable….Yet for some reason you have incredible power. Were you just born with it? With the way you're fighting right now, I'd think you haven't thrown a punch your entire life!"
He wasn't too far off. Shawn back in the real world was a target of bullying, but he never really got into anything physical; he either talked his way out of it or managed to ignore them long enough for his verbal assailants to lose interest. This was completely foreign to him, so he could only do so much with the raw power Raditz's body had to offer.
Finally he landed a blow, slamming his fist into Piccolo's gut and sending him sprawling. However, he didn't feel any sense of achievement. He was well aware that it was just a lucky shot, and that it certainly wouldn't cut it when it came to Nappa and Vegeta. The Namekian eventually got up, a bit of blood coming from his mouth.
"Lucky shot." He stated what Shawn saw as the obvious. "But if what you've been saying is true, it won't cut it against whoever we're against. So…" Taking a few labored breaths, he motioned toward the long-haired Saiyan. "Come at me again!"
This continued for several weeks, and with each fight both of them grew in power while Shawn grew to understand his new body more and more, becoming faster and making much more precise movements. By the end of the month, it was safe to say he was about the same combat skill as the regular Raditz, and a noticeable bit stronger, as was Piccolo now.
After one night of training, though, while Piccolo went to sleep for the next day of training, Shawn flew off to find Gohan. It didn't take long, seeing him lying in a grassy plains sleeping. From what the scouter read, it seemed Piccolo's training was working to a degree; his up-front Power Level had raised dramatically from 1 to around 50.
He landed down next to him, and after waiting to see if he would wake up on his own accord, he started shaking him. "Hey. Hey, kid. Wake up." After a few blinks and a big yawn, the young Saiyan rose to his feet to see Raditz, and surprisingly looking rather pleased. "M-Mr. Raditz! Did you come to get me?! When I woke up, you and Mr. Piccolo were long gone…"
He shook his head, and Gohan looked down to the ground disheartened. "No. Piccolo convinced me that leaving you out here for a few months would help your training. However….There's something I'd like to tell you, if you're willing to stay up a bit longer."
With a quizzical look, Gohan sat down and looked at Shawn. "What is it?" He followed the child's lead, sitting down and looking him eye-to-eye. Taking a deep breath, he finally spoke up. "Whether or not you believe this, I'll say it now….I am Goku's brother."
This got him a surprised face from the half-Saiyan, as he looked closely at his face to try and discern if he was lying. "Y….You're...My uncle? Why didn't you say anything before…?" His surprise had changed to skepticism, and for good reason. This was quite the odd turn of events.
"Simply put, I didn't believe your father was ready for the truth yet...However, there's even more. Your father, as well as you and I, are apart of a race of warriors known as Saiyans." Yet again, Gohan shifted from being a skeptic to a stunned gaze. "Saiyans?...W-Warrior race?". "Yes, we are a race of fighters. Saiyans live and die for battle! We also all have tails, just like you do…."
It was almost as if Gohan had just realized he had it, as he looked behind himself to see the furry appendage. "I…." His face scrunched up, his emotions finally reaching the natural end of confusion. "I always just thought Dad had a tail for no reason. But…..If he really is one of those Saiyan people like you, why did he never say anything about it?"
Shawn sighed. "While I can't say for sure, I'd assume he lost his memories at a young age. He was sent to this planet as a baby. As for why…..I'm not sure." This was a lie, of course. He knew perfectly well why Kakarot was sent to this planet; to escape the destruction of Planet Vegeta. However, the timeline was already in enough of a mess as it is. No reason for him to go messing things up even more by telling Gohan why his dad was sent to Earth.
For a moment, Gohan sat in silence, absorbing the information as he looked to the skies as if seeking some kind of solace. However, it seems something had caught his eyes. "Wow….The moon's really pretty tonight." Shawn decided to look up too….And was suddenly petrified. It was a Full Moon.
Almost immediately after he looked, he felt some kind of tingling sensation as every fibre of his being longed to transform. Yet, he managed to hold it back. Gohan, however, was not that strong-willed. Every second that passed, the child grew in size, becoming far hairier and more beastial in form. Knowing he didn't have much time left, Shawn rose his right hand toward the moon, and began to charge a purple sphere of Ki in the palm. Just before Gohan could reach full size, he launched the attack while yelling "Shining Friday!", the Ki Blast sailing off into the sky and, upon contacting the moon, caused it to explode.
Quickly, it was clear that the crisis was averted. Before Gohan could even let out a single bellow in his Great Ape form, he was quickly reverting back to his normal self. Except he didn't have clothes, making Shawn a bit awkward. "Er….Um….Maybe I can try doing the clothes beam thing Piccolo does?"
After a few attempts (with him yelling "Clothes Beam!" every time), he actually managed to perform it, creating a copy of his Saiyan Armor onto Gohan (in his size, of course). With that, Shawn left the child to his own devices yet again, planning to find him once more at a later time.
Meanwhile, a large muscular and bald Saiyan was sitting in what seems like the ruins of a civilisation of sorts, alongside a noticeably shorter and spiky-haired Saiyan. The buff one spoke up first. "Hey, Vegeta. Didja catch that message we got from Raditz's scouter?". "The one about those Dragon Balls on the Planet Earth?...They do sound rather interesting."
The spiky-haired Saiyan known as Vegeta stood up, a cocky smirk on his face. "Get up, Nappa….It sounds like we've just found our next target."
And that, my friends, concludes Chapter 3! We got some important stuff done in this chapter, such as our main protagonist getting enough training to not make a fool of himself in battle, and Gohan now knows about his Saiyan heritage, as well as realizing he now has an uncle. Not only that, but of course, the evil Saiyans Nappa and Vegeta are now on the move….
Hope you all look forward to Chapter 4! In the meantime, thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed the story so far! Bye-bye!