A/N: Okay, now I'm getting it... just needed a bit of momentum, that was all.

I don't own DBZ.

Journey to Space

Radditz hated eating off-ship. Most planets you landed on had creatures of some type on them, but one could never know what effect cooking would have on any particular animal's flesh. Some meat was ruined by cooking… others, like the animal he had just eaten, would probably taste better cooked. Well, it didn't matter, anyway… none of the creatures on this planet had much longer to live anyway. If Kakarrot knew what was good for him, he'd be starting his killing spree any time now.

Sighing, Radditz began to walk back to his space pod. His acute Saiyan hearing could pick up that kid's wailing from a mile away. Pathetic, that was no way for a Saiyan child to act. The kid hadn't even tried to attack him… he just cried like some kind of infant. Saiyan children learned to take care of themselves about when they learned to walk… and most of them came by that instinctively, before they had reached their first year of life. This child was far too old to be acting like such a coward.

Bored, Radditz looked around, wondering what he was going to do on this pathetic little planet for a whole day. Suddenly, his scouter began to beep at him, and he pushed the button that would give a full display. What he saw shocked him. "What? A power level of 710? But where could it be coming from?" he wondered to himself as he checked each direction for the mysterious power level. It wasn't as high as his was, but he had been quite certain that he had found all the high-level beings on this planet, the highest of which was his brother, whose power level was a pathetic 330. As he finally turned in the direction of the space pod, his surprise turned into astonishment as he realized the high power level was coming from within it.

'Kakarrot's brat?' he wondered to himself. "But… that can't be. There's no way a child can have such a high power level!" he told himself.

Suddenly, he thought for a moment. A thought nagged at him, and suddenly he remembered one of his father's lectures about genetics when he was a child. Something about how, even though hybridizing Saiyan genetic material with that of another species usually ended up with a weaker being, sometimes the abnormalities ended with an increase in strength, depending on the species it was mixed with.

So, this hybrid was powerful. Warily, Radditz approached the space pod and opened the door, nearly being knocked over by the small child who now clung to his leg, breathing deeply. While his scouter still read a high power level for a child, it had dropped to 660 once Radditz had opened the door. Radditz nodded, smirking, as he looked the frightened child over. Gohan still had not let go of his leg, or stopped crying, as he was obviously frightened of being placed back in the pod. This was incomprehensible to Radditz, but he shrugged and put the thought to the back of his mind. This child was capable of becoming a formidable warrior, he thought. Even though it was obvious the child's power was tied to his emotions, it was only a matter of time before he could be trained to control it, and when that happened, he would be unstoppable. What's more, he still had his tail… and he was a child, which meant that he could be raised to be loyal to him, and he would not have to be on his guard at all times against betrayal. He had no doubt that, even if his brother did join them now, he would ultimately betray them in the end.

"Hmmm," he muttered, lifting his leg so that the child was almost eye-level with him. "What was it that my brother called you? Gohan?" The little boy nodded. Radditz smirked at him. "Well, how would you like to go on a little trip?" he asked.

Just as Gohan realized that the bad man was going to put him back in the space pod, Radditz grabbed him by the back of the coat again. Gohan screamed, flailing wildly, and his hat came off in his struggle. Radditz paid him no heed as he stepped into the pod and sat down, holding a still-struggling Gohan. He pushed the button that caused the door to close, and Radditz's scouter beeped again as Gohan's power level rose. The kid was getting out of control, so Radditz used his free hand to hit the back of Gohan's neck in a swift chop, rendering the boy unconscious. Sighing, Radditz entered the coordinates that told the space pod to take off, and in no time they were in space. Setting the sleep program, Radditz settled back and breathed in the sleeping gas that filled the small pod. In no time he dozed off, his last thoughts of how he was going to explain this brat to Prince Vegeta.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shin Kai opened his eyes suddenly. Had it been a dream? Or a vision? Standing up, he looked up into the sky, letting his senses tell him what his eyes could not. The dream had been from Earth, hadn't it? A tiny ship was leaving the planet, but other than that, nothing major had happened. Or had it? Wasn't there a tiny space pod in his dream?

A strange feeling nagged at him. Something was wrong, something was happening, and it wasn't supposed to happen. He was the Supreme Kai, it was his job to know these things, to trust these instincts. But how could he fix the problem, if he didn't even know what the problem was?

Instinct told him that he had to do something, and fast. He needed to leave the Great Kai planet. He was isolated here, even with his omnisciense, but there was one person he knew who was not isolated... he knew everything that happened on any planet, as long as it was a matter of life and death. He only hoped King Yamma would be of some help.

Quickly, he teleported to the check-in station, hoping at least to find a clue of what was going on.