Son Goku and his son, Gohan, have reunited with all of Goku's close friends for a fun-filled two-day sleepover at Kame-Sen'nin's tiny island. Little do they know that some strange visitors from space are steadily getting closer and closer to Earth…!

Tale 181: Raditz and Vegeta

"So, does Gohan transform into a large monkey like you do?" Kuririn asked Goku with a hushed voice. They were standing afar from the others, who were gathered around the campfire making s'mores. Goku cast an uneasy glance at the waning gibbous moon that had just begun to rise.

"Yes, we, uh, found out he could the hard way when he was still a baby," Goku answered before taking a sip of his sake, "No one got hurt, thankfully. And he only damaged grampa's old house but I fixed it up. I've been takin' him to Kami-Sama's once a week so he c'n learn to control it like I did."

"Is it hard to control?"

"When you know how to, not at all. It's learnin' that's the hard part," Goku replied steadily, "It took me months t' learn how to control it. Gohan seems to be havin' an easier time learnin' than I did, which is a relief."

"Kami-Sama must be preparing for Piccolo like the rest of us, huh?" Kuririn questioned. Goku nodded, he looked uneasy.

"Yeah…Piccolo hasn't been seen nor heard of since the Budokai. Neither Kami-Sama or I know what to make of that," Goku stretched and then smiled at his friend, "But enough talk of Piccolo. Let's just kick back and relax with the others!"

Kuririn smiled, though he still seemed uneasy, "Yeah, you're right! Let's go have some s'mores."

Meanwhile, the two mysterious men from the deep stretches of space are making their approach towards Pluto…

"Raditz, there is no point in staying up any longer. Get some rest," Vegeta sighed into his intercom.

"I will try, my lord," Raditz replied, "But my excitement may prevent me from doing so! I bet he looks just like my father."

Vegeta stiffened, "You shouldn't be getting your hopes up that he may be alive."

"With all due respect, my lord Vegeta, you shouldn't be so cynical in thinking that he may be dead, either."

"Touché," Vegeta grumbled but he couldn't stop himself from smiling, "Promise me that you will try to sleep, at least. You are more than just my guard, you know."

Raditz smiled warmly, "Same to you, my lord."

Back on Earth, our heroes go about their fun-filled reunion…

"You said that you are four-years-old, Gohan?" Bulma asked Goku's son. The young boy smiled shyly at Bulma.

"Yes, ma'am." Bulma cringed slightly at the use of "ma'am".

"You can call me Bulma, sweetie. No need for "ma'am" or "miss"!" She chuckled. Gohan looked a bit confused but he said nothing more. Bulma stood there awkwardly thinking of something else to say to the young child.

"So, uh…your parents have been teaching you budo?"

"Yes. They say that budo, along with my studies, is essential for my journey into adulthood." Bulma was amazed that this child was Son Goku's. She wouldn't think it otherwise with how well-spoken and polite he was.

"You are very well-spoken for someone of your age," Bulma complimented with a smile. Gohan blushed and looked away from her with a small smile.

"Th-thank you. I do my best."

"I am going to go talk to your daddy now, okay?" Bulma didn't wait for a reply as she scurried off to find Goku.

I expected him to be a Goku clone, not some well-spoken child-man! What has Chi-Chi been doing to that boy?

Bulma entered the Kame House to find Goku relaxing on the couch. His tail was lazily hanging off the edge of it. Despite knowing Goku for well over a decade now, she still found his tail to be very odd.

"Hey, Son! Mind if I sit with you?" Bulma asked cheerfully.

"Sure!" Goku chirped as he sat up slightly. He moved his tail so Bulma could sit beside him, "Havin' a good time?"

"Yeah, I am glad we all decided to do this. I am surprised that Chi-Chi didn't come, though," Bumla remarked. Goku took a sip of his lemonade before he answered.

"Oh, Chi-Chi and I are over here a lot. She kinda had an "incident" with Muten Roshi last time. So, that's why she opted out o' coming this time around."

"Ah, I see," Bulma replied with a slow nod and a knowing smile, "Well, that's fine by me because there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Oh?" Goku inquired curiously.

"Are you happy with Chi-Chi as your wife?" Bulma asked quietly. Goku blinked, clearly confused.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" He chuckled. Bulma looked down at her hands.

"Well, the marriage did seem to be forced upon you…so, I just wanted to be sure that you are fine with that."

"Oh, I am! Chi-Chi has been great! She has taught me so much durin' the last five years…and we have a good kid now, too! Bein' a father has been wonderful. I now know how grampa felt!" Goku laughed before he took another sip of his drink. Bulma frowned.

"Do you love her?" Goku choked on his drink, clearly not expecting to hear what just came out of Bulma's mouth.

"Wh-what?" He asked as he turned to look at her in utter confusion. Bulma had a hard time looking Goku in the eyes. During the past five years, he had grown even more handsome and manly-looking to her.

"Do you love your wife?" She asked more slowly. Goku blinked.

"If anythin' bad ever happened to her, I would be devastated and angry. So, yeah, I do," Goku replied, "Why d' you ask? Am I not showin' that I love her?"

"Not at all!" Bulma replied quickly with a nervous chuckle, "I-I just wanted to know, that's all!"

"Oh, okay," Goku answered with a shrug. Bulma bit her bottom lip nervously. After a minute, she placed her hand upon Goku's. Goku looked down in confusion before he looked at Bulma, "Um…whaddia doin'?"

Bulma blushed slightly when she made eye contact with him again, "W-well, I just, uh…want you to know that I love you."

Goku blinked and then grinned, "I love you, too, Bulma! You're like th' big sister that I never had!" Bumla's world crumbled when he said this but Goku didn't seem to notice. He gave her a big hug before he got up, "I'm gonna check on th' little squirt. We'll catch up later!"

Bulma smiled, hiding her disappointment, "Okay, Son!" When he disappeared from sight, Bulma slouched back on the couch with a sigh. What was she thinking by doing all of that? She's with Yamcha and Goku is married. She huffed as she sat back up.

I really messed up, didn't I? All of those times that I ragged on him for being such a shrimp…only for him to grow into such an astonishing man…! And he's still got that innocence to him…something that jerk Yamcha clearly lacks!

With an irritated sigh, Bulma got up and turned to head off to the bathroom when she froze dead in her tracks. Standing in the bathroom entry was Yamcha. The look on his face, though calm, was very telling to her. He had seen everything.

"Uh…Y-Yamcha, I…"

"We need to have a talk," He cut her off. She flinched from the tone of his voice, "Not here and not today. But when we head back home, we will be having a talk."

"…okay."

The following morning, while Goku and the others were peacefully sleeping, the two mysterious men from space finally touched down on Earth…!

"Hmm…it reminds me of Saiya, this planet…" Raditz remarked as he and Vegeta looked around. They had both just emerged from their cramped space ships, which had made two small craters from their impact. Vegeta reached for the device that was covering his left eye to turn it on.

"The gravity is a lot less here, probably about ten times less…but this planet does have some high power levels…" Raditz perked up as he reached for the identical device on his own left eye.

"That is promising!" He exclaimed. Vegeta scoffed.

"Not necessarily, they could be hostile…" Vegeta then froze, "There is a vast power far to the north."

"It's showing up for me as well," Raditz remarked, "Even if it is hostile, we can handle it. Though there are some high power levels on this planet, we far surpass them."

"Let's go, then!" Vegeta grinned as he suddenly shot up in the air and flew off in the direction of the reading. Raditz frowned before following after him.

Meanwhile, in a remote desert…

"Hm…Son Goku and his offspring are growing stronger by the day…" Piccolo remarked to himself as he concentrated to sense his rival's growth. He smirked as he opened his eyes, "But as have I…and I will soon be seeking vengeance…!"

Piccolo suddenly tensed up when he felt two enormous chis rapidly approaching him. He turned suddenly to see the two figures off in the distance.

"Is that him and his kin?!" Piccolo squinted, "No…these two things are not Son Goku or his welp…!"

Raditz and Vegeta landed a few feet in front of a stunned Piccolo. He noticed that one of them kind of resembled Goku. His eyes suddenly widened drastically when he noticed something very unique about the two of them.

They have tails…! That means…

"A Namekian?" Raditz gasped. Vegeta looked confused.

"A what?" Vegeta asked. Piccolo perked up.

They know that I am a Namekian…. Ah…so these must be Saiyans…my hunch about Son Goku was correct after all…it explains the tail and that thing he turns into when he sees a full moon…though both Kami and I thought the Saiyans were just a myth…

"If you are searching for your brethren, he is not with me," Piccolo stated cooly. Both Vegeta and Raditz perked up slightly.

"He knows of Kakarrot!" Raditz muttered excitedly. Vegeta kept his glare on Piccolo.

"That he does…but I sense malice from him."

"As do I, which is odd seeing that Namekians are known to be a peaceful, yet powerful race."

Piccolo smirked, "I am no ordinary Namekian. I am the "evil" half of a Namekian who has declared himself as God of this world."

"I see…" Raditz remarked as he looked over Piccolo. Vegeta turned to Raditz.

"What are Namekains, Raditz?"

"They are a plant-like species from a far off solar system, which is why it is odd that there is one on this planet…"

"When my original was a small child, he was sent off to this planet because our home world was in a major crisis. Our parent was supposed to join us but he never came. He must've died along with our home world," Piccolo explained with a grin. Raditz took a step towards Piccolo.

"Your planet, Namek, still thrives. It overcame its crisis some millennia ago."

Piccolo frowned, though he did feel somewhat happy to hear this news. He didn't know why.

"Namekians have very long life-spans," Raditz explained to Vegeta, "You would've been educated about them were it not for our own planet's destruction."

"Where is Kakarrot?" Vegeta testily asked Piccolo. Piccolo grinned.

"Can you not sense him or his welp? You found me no problem."

Raditz stared at Piccolo as he comprehended what Piccolo was saying, "We have no business with you." He spat after a minute. He turned on the device over his left eye once more. Piccolo picked up on this.

These Sayians don't know how to sense chi on their own? Pathetic.

"There is a cluster of large power levels to the southwest, one of them is even more vast than this Namekain here. That must be him!" Raditz exclaimed excitedly. Piccolo took a step forward.

"You two are not going anywhere," Piccolo grinned, "Not until you fight me."

Vegeta rolled his eyes as he approached Piccolo. Before Piccolo could do a thing, Vegeta flicked Piccolo on his forehead, which sent him flying into a nearby cliff.

"What a colossal waste of time. Let's go find your brother, Raditz."

Raditz stared off to where Piccolo had landed, "You didn't kill him, did you?"

"No but even if I did, so what? He said himself that he is evil!" Raditz frowned as he regarded Vegeta.

"Yes but by killing him, you would've killed his good half as well!"

Vegeta was silent but then he shrugged, "Well, I didn't kill him. So, his good side should be fine. Let's go!" With that said, Vegeta blasted off once more. Raditz shook his head, though he bore a small smirk, before he also launched off.

Piccolo, who was barely able to stand, watched the two Saiyans rapidly fly off into the horizon.

Th-they are far stronger than me and Son Goku combined…!

The powerful Piccolo appears to be an ant in comparison to the mysterious Raditz and Vegeta, who have been revealed to be Saiyans! The two are still searching for Kakarrot…who is known as Son Goku to the people of the Earth! What do they have in store for our heroes? Up Next: Unsettling News…