Chapter 5: Welcome to the Family

4 months had passed in what seemed like an instant for the duo, mostly because they had spent the entirety of the trip in a drug induced hibernation, which was now unfortunately over. Raditz had to wake up and make sure the child impressed Vegeta enough that they both weren't killed.

As he forced himself awake and gets out of the ship, carrying the PTO's latest unwilling recruit under his arm. He took in his surroundings; it had been a long time since he had been on one of Frieza's barrack worlds. this particular one, Frieza planet 66, was currently a barren world, though at one time it had been covered by a worldwide forest covered with mile tall trees, dangerous animals, and a powerful native species, it had taken 2 full teams of Frieza's elites nearly a full week to get the planet under their control from the natives. In the end though, they ended up having to burn most of the forests to eradicate the creatures that lurked in their depths. The environmental damage of destroying the forests meant the price for the planet dropped significantly so Frieza just kept the planet himself as an outpost, which made it home for PTO soldiers like himself.

Walking into the main residence hall of the base, Raditz couldn't help but begin to feel the adrenaline began to flow through his veins as he thought about whether Vegeta would agree the child was as useful as Raditz saw him.

He walked down the halls purely on muscle memory, lost in his own thoughts, only snapping out of his trance when he arrived in front of a plain white door, 'well here we go' he thought as he involuntarily sighed, today was either going to be an amazing success in which he was finally commended on his sound judgment or the day Vegeta finally decided to end his miserable life.

He opened the door just missing the best part of one of Vegeta retelling one of his favorite missions which apparently Nappa found hilarious and was roaring with laughter, and so it took the them a few moments to realize he was standing there, at least he liked to think so, it was better than them ignoring his presence.

Finally Vegeta acknowledged Raditz presence, "So this is your half breed nephew who nearly managed to kill you?" Vegeta asked staring at the still sleeping child with a seemingly impassive face; though his tone made it clear he was directing an insult towards Raditz.

Raditz had sent a short message back detail the boys attack, he knew that doing so would likely earn him scorn, but he felt it necessary that Vegeta and Nappa meet the boy as quickly as possible so they could finish his brother's adopted home off together, "Yes, this is the boy who displayed impressive strength for his age." he responded, wording it as a passive aggressive counter to the insult hurled his way.

Nappa pressed his scouter as he stared at the child, "10!" he shouted before breaking down into a massive laughing fit, "You hahaha, you were almost killed hahahaha by a child with a power level of 10 Ahahaha." His booming laughter echoing throughout the room.

Nappa was barely able to stay on his feet as the laughing stretched on and on, which nearly caused Raditz to snap angrily at his superior, the last 20 years of near constant beatings for such outbursts was the only thing that kept him from issuing a sharp retort. Instead he tried to respond with his voice as calm as possible. "The child may only have a power level of 10 now, but when he was angry his reading shot up over 1500."

Nappa stopped laughing nearly immediately, a doubtful look on his face, Vegeta seemed equally skeptical, "You mean to tell me this runt has a power level of 1500 at his age." Nappa asked incredulous, "That would've made him stronger than all but a handful of the super elite children when they were his age, hell it would mean the boy's stronger than I was at his age. Your scouter must've just malfunctioned you moron." Nappa continued before staring at the child, seemingly trying to discern if it was true by just the boy's appearance.

Nappa had personally been in charge of deciding whether the children of Saiyan nobles would be classified as elite or super elite. It took a keen eye for talent; you had to spot the definitive killer's edge, the drive to be the best that separated a powerful warrior, from a true Saiyan elite. Usually he went with his gut in those situations, and more often than not he was proven correct.

Raditz was nearly shaking with rage he was nearing his limit on the constant insults the last of his race constantly threw his way, Vegeta cut him off before he could respond though. "We should investigate further before we rush to any sort of decision on this Nappa, a child of that level of strength could be incredibly useful to our team." He said careful not to reveal what the plans were, all 3 of them had discussed them at great length when they were certain none of Frieza's spies would be able to hear them.

"So what was the power level of the traitor?" Vegeta asked even though he remembered full well what the reading had said, he had mostly lost interest in recruiting the low level after Raditz mentioned it, He figured Raditz would do something stupid like bring the weak child all the way back to them. But if there was a chance the boy was actually that powerful already, the least he could do is investigate it further, at Raditz's expense.

Raditz was caught off guard by the question and fumbled his words for a moment before answering, "Well… um it was… uh…. around 430." he finally responded.

Vegeta smirked, "So your brother had a power level of barely over 400, you have a power level of 1200 on top of this both your parents were low levels, not stacking up so good for this boy being a super elite so far." Vegeta said each statement a thinly veiled, vicious attack, not only on Raditz but on his entire lineage. Vegeta's disdain for low-levels was something he never bothered to hide, and usually made efforts to point out, especially when dealing with Raditz.

Raditz began to snarl with rage, "My father was a powerful warrior, maybe the strongest on the entire planet even" he growled out his voice barely above a whisper.

"What was that 3rd class?" Vegeta asked a dark smirk on his face daring his favorite victim to repeat his last statement.

Raditz realized his mistake and tried corrected it when he next spoke, hoping Vegeta was feeling forgiving, he rarely was. "I said my father was a powerful warrior, my prince." he said with a bow. When the blow didn't come while he was knelt down, Raditz realized it was in fact his lucky day, or Vegeta was at least interested enough to stay his punishment for a moment more.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah you always talk about how strong of a fighter you dad was, and maybe he was compared to the rest of the trash you grew up with, but he was still nothing compared to the Saiyan elite, let alone to the super elite" Nappa said re-joining the conversation, his gut failing to tell him anything other than the boy was a deep sleeper, which made it obvious he had either yet to make his first kill, or had already killed with such proficiency that it had become second nature to him.

Raditz's attention turned from Vegeta to the Saiyan General shaking in rage once more, before he could speak though, a small voice rang out, "Huh? Where am I?" the boy said rubbing his still sleepy eyes as he looked up very confused, that he was under some strange man's arm.

"Ah good the boy is finally awake." Vegeta said his smirk growing into a full-fledged smile, the boy looked up at the men all around him, all staring expectantly, and began to whimper in fear. "Where's my daddy? I want my daddy." tears were forming in the child's eyes.

Raditz set the crying child down and glared at him, furious at the child for embarrassing him further in the eyes of his superiors, as if they didn't treat him with enough contempt as it was.

Nappa was nearly sick at the sight of one of the last of their race whimpering, even if he was only a half-breed. Nappa immediately decided his former theory was the correct one instead of the later, the boy was definitely not stacking up to super elite, or even elite material at the moment.

Vegeta simply gave Raditz a look of amusement, he was about to test Raditz's claim that the boy got stronger when he was angry, "Ha, calling for your daddy like a scare weakling, what sort of Saiyan are you, apparently your father wasn't just a traitor to our race, and a sniveling weakling, but also a failure as a father on top of it. You should be glad your uncle over there killed him when he did." Vegeta sneered, attacking both the boy's Saiyan pride, if he had any, and stabbing at what should still be a raw emotional wound.

Gohan's eyes widened in shock as the memories came flooding back, he remembered his father yelling and fighting and then there was a blast followed by a yell that sounded like his dad, and then silence. The next thing he remembered was sitting on the ground dazed, in front of the scary man who had taken him from his dad. Then being pulled into the scary machine again only with the scary man this time, everything went dark shortly after that as a weird hissing sound had filled the ship.

The new scary man's words continued to echo in his head over and over again as the seconds stretched by, finally they began to sink in, the man who had kidnapped him, had actually beaten his daddy, only from what the man said something worse than beating him must have happened.

"Daddy no" the boy whispered as sadness, pain and nausea mixed together in the depths of his bowels, forming a sickening sea of grief, that seemed to swell through his body. His young, innocent mind rapt in shock with the image of his father squished, bloods dripping from his broken body, legs still twitching. It was a horrific, scaring image dragged up from the darker depths of his imagination, showing his father suffering the same fate as the only creatures he had ever seen anything die, the beetles he would occasionally step on running around outside.

Gohan's blood began to boil, why did the mean man have to show up hurt his daddy, and take him from his mommy, it wasn't fair. The rage built like an all-consuming fire, feeding not only on the boy's current state of mind, but on the emotional pain that had filled him.

All 3 scouters in the room had closely been monitoring the boy for any signs the boy had been hiding his strength and all began to beep in alarm as the boys power burst forth as a glowing aura around him, and continued to rise, the boys angst filled screams shaking the room.

'1200, 1400, 1500, I suppose Raditz was telling the truth, this is impressive' Vegeta thought a smirk on his face as the boy's power kept rising.

Nappa jaw just hung agape in surprise at the rapid increase in the boy's strength. Finally it leveled off just above 2000. Tears were streaming down the child's rage contorted face as he took a step towards Raditz.

Vegeta was truly impressed, if he had estimated the boy's age correctly, he was stronger than all but seven Saiyan's his age in the last five generation, Vegeta himself being one of the seven, of course. As a boy Vegeta was obsessed with separating himself as far as possible from the others on the list of honor.

A dark smile appeared on his face as he realized how the next few seconds would play out; he was really going to enjoy this.

Gohan took a step forward hate burning in his eyes as he stared down his father's killer. Raditz stared back suddenly feeling like a lamb sent to the wolves, the boys killing intent was impossible to miss, it radiated off of him as brightly as the aura that had just moment ago.

"You!... YOU! Meanie!" the boy shouted before launching himself so fast Raditz's eyes couldn't follow him, in an instant the boy had crossed the few feet separating them, burying his head in Raditz's chest. His head colliding right in the same spot he had hit 4 months prior, shattering the Saiyan warrior's newly healed ribs.

Raditz staggered back unable to breath, the blow hitting many times harder than the last one the boy had delivered. He tried to let out a yell of pain, but could barely manage an airless yelp. The pain intensified with each breath he attempted, desperate to recapture his lost air.

Gohan landed barely a foot in front of his uncle, his head throbbing, he ignored the pain this time, his anger demanded he continue his assault on the man who had sent his happy, young life into a tail spin.

Raditz managed to use his forearm to block the boy's next attack aimed at his temple, but the boy simply wrapped his tail around his arm and, allowed his body to drop, building up momentum before delivering a two legged kick back to his uncle's ribs.

Raditz's world was spinning, every cough causing blood to pour from his mouth, his right lung searing with pain from the pieces of shattered rib that had turned the organ into Swiss cheese, during his nephew's latest attack on the damaged bones.

His arms wrapped around his chest, completely blinded by pain, forgetting his tormentor was still on the attack. A powerful right hook to the head reminded him of that fact.

Viciously Gohan continued his assault on his uncle, his tiny fists colliding repeatedly with Raditz's face before finally a powerful somersaulting kick set the fully grown Saiyan hurtling into the triple reinforced wall of the room, putting a massive dent in it.

Even after the large man had slumped to the floor, Gohan still wasn't satisfied with the punishment he had dealt out. He rushed over and jumped onto the man's indented chest to beat his limp form.

Nappa had literally fallen over unable to breath because he was laughing so hard, the boy had completely proven him wrong and he didn't even care; the show he was putting on was more than worth his instincts failing him once in a while.

Even Vegeta was chuckling at the display, had the boy been anything other than a Saiyan, the beating he was giving Raditz would be an insult to the entire Saiyan race, but since the boy was part Saiyan himself, it was quite entertaining for the prince.

Finally Vegeta realized if he allowed the child to continue much longer he would be back to just 2 servants, so he decided it was time to interrupt the family affair.

In a blur he crossed the room and lifted the boy by his tail. "That's enough for now boy, I'll accept you beating the low level, but only I, the prince have the right to kill him."

Gohan could only stare up at him completely stunned by the pain radiating from his tail; he hadn't even noticed the other man coming until he had already grasped his tail.

Vegeta set the boy down to see if he would openly defy him. Gohan felt completely emotionally and physically drained by the last few minutes, so he just plopped on the ground, and stared at his uncle's body, the memories of his outburst replaying in his head. 'Did I really do that?' It was a completely shocking thought that he could hurt such a big man, especially one apparently stronger than his… father. The sadness began to fill the void left by the anger once more.

Nappa had finally stopped laughing, and had to wipe the last tears of laughter from his eyes he hadn't laughed that hard since the day before he learned of planet Vegeta's destruction.

The giant then crossed the room, in only four massive steps, and reached down to patted the child on the back, nearly knocking small boy over "Good job kid, I like your temper. Just like a true Saiyan, obvious whatever weak race your dad bred into had weak enough genes to not mess with you temperament. I think we can chalk your whimpering earlier to being spoiled on such a weak planet, on the inside you have the makings of a true Saiyan warrior" Nappa said giving Gohan what in his eyes was the highest praise.

Gohan just stared up at the giant, who, although he was the largest man he had ever seen, was the only one who had talked nicely to him since he had been taken by his mean uncle who… who killed his father. Tears began to bead in the corners of his eyes, the sadness that had been slowly building with each thought of his father began to overtake him again when Nappa's voice boomed out, "Kid I just gave you a compliment, don't make me regret it."

"Nappa stop blubbering with the child and take the third class to the healing pods before he bleeds to death. Grab a cleaning droid on your way back, oh and take the runt with you I need to think." Vegeta ordered, he needed silence to scheme on how to best use their little group's newest addition.

"Alright Vegeta, come on kid." Nappa said before hoisting the limp body of Raditz to its usual spot on his shoulder, trips to the med-bay were a common occurrence for weaklings with as hot of tempers as Raditz.

Gohan sniffed a few times, but was able to get himself back under control, while they were walking "Sorry, I'm just miss my mommy and my daddy." Gohan said eyes dropped to the ground the sadness thick in his voice.

Nappa looked down at the boy, it had been a long time since a Saiyan had died, and even longer since one was grieved so openly. "I'll let you in on an old Saiyan tradition kid." Nappa said before reaching down and ripping off a strip of Gohan's shirt, and soaking it in the blood still occasionally dripping from Raditz's mouth.

"Hey my shir-" Gohan started to protest, before Nappa grabbed the boys arm and tying the blood soaked strip of fabric tightly around the boy's arm.

"There now you can carry with you the same blood that flowed through your father's veins, to remember him by. Not only that but since it is also the blood of his killer, you can wear it to symbolize the revenge you've already managed to attain, blood for blood." Nappa explained, as if these abstract concepts would make perfect sense to the child.

"You're now responsible for living not just for yourself but for your father as well. It's up to you to reclaim your families' tarnished honor. But since your third class uncle has never been anything but an embarrassment to the race and your father was a traitor, you have a lot of making up to do." Nappa continued with a chuckle to himself.

Gohan looked back and forth between the bloody piece of fabric on his arm and the giant before him. "But this isn't my daddy's blood; it's the mean man's." Gohan finally protested after a moment of thinking about it.

Nappa growled, "Dammit boy, are you as stupid as your uncle is useless? Raditz is your father's brother, which means the blood that flows through one is the same as the other!" Nappa shouted before continuing down the hall, his patience with the child's whining beginning to run dry.

"Damn kids, they never know anything." The giant mumbled before handing off his charge to the concerned looking doctors in the medical bay, Gohan following him silently from behind trying to think of a way to get back home.

When the duo returned to the room, Vegeta decided to try and learn more about his newest subject.

"Let's start with the basics I suppose, what name did Kakarot give you." Vegeta asked curious to see if the rogue had given the boy a proper name or if he had decided to completely abandon his race and give his son a native name.

'My name is Gohan." Gohan said, Gohan hesitantly replied wary of the mean bossy man who had grabbed his tail earlier.

"As I thought, your father had completely forsaken his Saiyan pride." Vegeta responded disgusted.

"Boy what did your father teach you about combat?" Nappa cut in, the boys fighting style against Raditz was incredibly raw as if he had no instruction at all.

"My mommy wouldn't let my daddy teach me martial arts." Gohan responded to the nicer, but still scary man.

Vegeta was awestruck, a Saiyan obeying an ordered to not teach their child how to fight; it was one of the most absurd things he had ever heard. "Your father was a Saiyan, what do you mean you mother wouldn't let him teach you combat." Vegeta shouted incredulous.

Gohan cringed slightly, frightened of the man who was shouting at him but answered anyway. "My mommy didn't want me to be a fighter like my daddy; she wanted me to be a scholar so I could go to college to be an orthopedist."

Vegeta shook his head in disbelief, the idea of one of the last of his race being forced to be a 'scholar' seemed like a sick torture to him. "Was your father really so weak a native bossed him around?"

Vegeta had figured Kakarot had rebelled because he had conquered the weakling planet instead of razing it, but the boy seemed to indicate he was too weak to even manage that. Which didn't make any sense either, Kakarot power level of at least 400, a class 1 planet like the boy's home world should've been child's play for even someone as weak as him. That was the whole reason why they sent him there to begin with. Something wasn't adding up.

"My daddy wasn't weak! He was the strongest man on the planet, mommy always said so!" Gohan shouted definitely.

"As he should've been, he was the only Saiyan on the damn planet until you showed up." Nappa grumbled, "That doesn't change the fact that he should've been teaching you the art of war." he continued, irritation at how un-Saiyan the boy's father was turning out to be thick in his voice.

"The fool was lucky Raditz took care of him when he did, had he crossed my path his death would've been much more prolonged and painful for his lack of Saiyan pride." Vegeta growled at the thought of the honor less Saiyan rogue, continuously refusing the mission he had been assigned, frustratingly without even a reasonable explanation for the betrayal.

This was all it took to set Gohan off though, Vegeta's scouter registered the spike in the boys strength right before he launched himself at Vegeta, intending to do to him what he had to his uncle, not even an hour ago.

Things didn't go as planned though, as Vegeta deflected the boy what to his was a simple back-hand to the face. The force of the blow sent Gohan careening across the room straight into the triple reinforced walls.

It took a moment before he could even sit up and even then his head was spinning so bad he thought he was going to be sick.

Vegeta stood over him, his face contorted in a snarl, "Listen closely boy, if you ever raise your fist to your prince again, you won't live to regret it. Do I make myself clear?" Vegeta said his tone leaving no doubt he was more than willing to follow up on the threat.

When Gohan's head stopped spinning enough that he could nod his head without falling back over he did.

"Good, Nappa since the boy's father neglected the boy's education I want you to teach the boy the basics so he doesn't get killed on his first mission." Vegeta said before exiting the room, heading to the mission board to select the groups next batch of minor assignments, to get the boy's feet wet before the class 7 planet Frieza had assigned them for the end of the year, it was first 7 they had ever been assigned, and the first class 6 was nearly a disaster, he needed his team to be well prepared if they hoped to survive it.

"Alright boy you heard Vegeta, let's go." Nappa said a hint of excitement in his voice; it had been decades since he had put a Saiyan through a proper boot camp. Raditz had finished the third class equivalent of basic training just weeks before the planet blew up. His instructor had obviously deserved his early demise based on how useless Raditz had proven himself in the years since. Vegeta on the other hand had undergone the training when he could barely walk, and had surpassed Nappa's own strength by the time he was 7. Leaving the Saiyan General without any worthy troops to whip into shape, until now.

Gohan was too dazed to object and wobbly followed the giant outside the complex. Something told him by the way the man was smiling it wasn't going to be a fun experience.

Raditz had finally made it out of the med bay; He was told he was in surgery for nearly 12 hours rebuilding his shredded lung, before the doctors could even risk putting him in the healing tank. It was now apparently the third night since the last shreds of his honor had been stolen from him.

The rumor around the base was Raditz had messed up his last mission and so he had been punished by Vegeta, that was the story that Raditz prefer they tell, It was better than everyone knowing that a mere child brought him to the brink of death.

There was one positive to the situation, Raditz could feel the additional strength flowing through his body, he felt nearly invincible. There were several scores he knew he now had the strength to settle, but that was in the future, currently he only wanted one thing, to make his nephew suffer.

He stormed down the hall, and slammed the reinforced door open, knocking it off of one of the hinges, "Where the brat!" Raditz shouted as he entered the room.

He immediately noticed the room was deserted, except Vegeta who was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought.

Vegeta barely turned his head and gave him a cold glare, "What was that low level?" Vegeta asked his voice had a dangerous edge to it.

"I… Uh… sorry Vegeta." Raditz said, before bowing and rushing out of the room. 'That was close; I almost got myself killed before I could get my revenge.'

He stood in the hallway for a moment trying to think of the most efficient way to find his weakling brothers child. Then he remembered his scouter, which the child broke, meaning he had to go all the way to armoury on the other side of the base before he could even begin his search.

Luck was on his side though, on his way there a large fight broke out between two rival teams, one group was much stronger than the other, and so most of the team was eliminated with a matter of seconds, leaving a couple of intact scouters there for the taking.

Rearmed, with a slightly bloody scouter, Raditz was now prepared to get his vengeance. He immediately began looking for power levels that matched the boys normal power level of 10, but was surprised to find that there were no matching power levels within the range of the scouter, which was nearly a third of the planet.

Finally he stopped that search and began looking for power levels around 4000, which was where Nappa normally kept his strength at. He returned 4 readings near that level, and began his search.

After nearly an hour of searching, and a couple near brushes with death as angry elites confronted him for searching them out, he had finally located Nappa in a ravine about a mile away from the base itself, again luck was on his side as Gohan was standing between Nappa and himself, facing Nappa.

'Finally, you're mine brat.' Raditz thought to himself as he powered up and shot across the landscape at the boy.

Gohan stood staring down the giant who was teaching him to be a fighter like his daddy was, he had to admit he liked some parts of the training, it was a lot better than the studying his mom always forced on him, such as making light beams or floating, sometimes Nappa would even tell him some of the old Saiyan legends.

On the other hand there were parts of it were scary or painful, and reminded him just how much he wanted to get home.

Unfortunately he realized that he wouldn't be able to return home until he was strong enough to fight the grown men off and escape. As nice as Nappa was sometimes, he could be just as scary as the others, which just made the thought of going home all the more appealing.

Just as he began to power up using his anger as Mr. Nappa had taught him to increase his strength, he kept thinking about the mean man who hurt his dad, It was all he needed to gather his strength. With his aura now swirling around him, he stared at his opponent, imagining he was his uncle and launched himself at the Saiyan general determined to draw blood.

Things didn't go as he planned though, as was usual when he tried to attack Nappa or Vegeta for that matter. Just as he lifted off the ground, his entire body contorted painfully around the leg of a certain, recently healed Saiyan, sending the child rocketing into the ravine wall.

Nappa was furious, not only was the boys training going to be delayed again for him to take another bath in a healing pod, but Raditz a supposed Saiyan warrior had to resort to ambushes to defeat a child.

"Raditz yo-" Nappa started to growl, when an anger filled shout interrupted him, Nappa's anger quickly turned into pride as the boy had apparently gotten strong enough that such a blow wouldn't keep him down for long.

Gohan's head was throbbing and for a second he didn't know what had happened, but he landed upside down, his face looking back in the direction he had come. That was when he saw him, the man who had killed his father.

Gohan's fury boiled over once more; unable to contain himself he let out an anger filled shout, shaking the ground all around them.

Raditz immediately knew he was in trouble, the boy's power level which had started around 60 this time was soaring up past 2000 and was still climbing, not leveling out until nearly 2800.

The two beings stared down one another, Raditz again knew he was far outmatched but his anger still burned white hot, he wasn't about to back down no matter how strong the brat was. He was a Saiyan warrior, the destroyer of civilizations and the conqueror of worlds, one brat wasn't going to get the better of him... a second time.

They launched themselves at one another only to find they were both being restrained, Nappa had grabbed Gohan by his tail just as he launched himself forward, and Vegeta had Raditz pinned in a similar hold.

"Alright that's enough the both of you as much fun as it would be to watch the boy beat your brains out again third class, I have some questions that I want answered first." Vegeta said an amused smirk on his face as he stared down at the helpless low level caught in his grasp.

Raditz could only growl silently at himself as he glared up at his tormentor. His tail had always been an obvious weakness of his and his 'partners' would never teach him how to rid himself of it of the weakness nor how to master his Oozaru transformation for that matter.

Finally he got himself under control well enough to speak "Fine ask your questions so I can beat the child's face in already." He responded and instantly regretted his tone as Vegeta tighten his grip causing a wall of pain to shoot through him. "I'm sorry your majesty please I didn't mean disrespect" Raditz groveled, praying Vegeta would loosen his grip and finally after several more seconds he did.

"You're running out of chances you better get that mouth of yours under control before I have to remove your tongue." Vegeta said with a dark smirk that sent chills down Raditz's spine. "I'll do better Vegeta." Raditz said relief that his ever pending execution had been stayed again evident in his voice.

Gohan just hung there limply much to Nappa's amusement completely unable to move just like most Saiyan children did when their tails were grabbed, back when planet Vegeta was still around mastering you tail meant you were a officially a Saiyan warrior, which was partially why Raditz was always the butt of the joke, he was no better than a giant toddler in some regards.

"Alright so I was about to ask earlier before we were sidetracked, what was the boy's mother's exact power level compared to the average of the planet, other than weaker than his fathers?" Vegeta asked still trying to understand why the boy was so powerful considering father's family tree.

Raditz then realized his mistake he never told Vegeta and Nappa that he had left the rest of the planet alive he had simply figured they had listened to that part also. "I'm not sure what his mother's power level is." He managed to say his mind racing on how his superiors would take this news he was hoping they would be happy that he set up some fun for them.

"What did you end up having to transform to kill the planet full of weaklings?" Nappa yelled before roaring with laughter, Gohan's limp body bouncing around by his tail, his grimacing made it clear he was uncomfortable with what was happening on several levels.

"I don't think that's it at all Nappa" Vegeta said his smirk falling to a frown "He said what her power level is, not was, implying she was still alive." Raditz felt his blood going cold under Vegeta's stare.

"I.. Um... Well you see, you're right she's still alive, most of the planet is actually. I thought we could have some fun there, so I told the green man to rally his planets pitiful defense forces because we'd be back in a year to finish them off, you know, make a game out of it like we usually do on weak planets, maybe even get the brat involved" Raditz knew he was in trouble even now his plan wasn't sounding like such a good idea even to himself, his idiot brother's failure did mean the planet was already 20 years overdue for going on the market.

Vegeta stood there beginning to see red he couldn't believe Raditz's incompetence, all thoughts of the low levels previous good decision was forgotten. "You thought! You thought! No let me tell you something you third class piece of shit, you didn't think, you never think! You were caught up feeling invincible attacking a weak planet instead of being useless like you usually are!" Vegeta couldn't see straight he was seriously considering snapping Raditz's neck right then and there, but he forced himself to push those thought aside, someone was going to get punished by Frieza for Raditz's failure and it sure as hell wasn't going to be him.

Vegeta had to spend another moment trying to calm himself down before he could even continue, "This is what is going to happen, and you better follow my orders to a T, if you slip up at all I will make your death the most painful one I've ever had the pleasure to deliver."

After seeing Raditz gulp and nod he continued "You are going to present the boy to Frieza since we have to get his approval to add members to our squad. When you are done you are to choose an easy mission from the list I signed us up for today, one that not even you can't manage to fail at. I'll spell it out for just to make sure you understand me, a class 1 planet like the boys home world, preferably in the direction of the boy's home to get the kid's hands bloody. If you get done before we've contacted you, chose another similar mission so we can add some more points towards the quota."

After Vegeta did a mental tally of how many points his team had gathered for that year so far and realizing they were pretty far behind, he continued not even realizing he had let go of Raditz's tail, "Damn it were already behind, we need another 15 points to reach the quota, and, the boys home world isn't even going to count towards it."

Using his index finger and thumb to rub the bridge of his nose, fighting off an anger induced headache, "Alright here is what we have to do to avoid a trip to Frieza's torture chamber, While you're doing everything I've already described to you, after you get the boy's feet wet with his first mission, chose a class 2 mission for the boys second, make sure it's a world with a nice large moon though so the boy can get use to transforming. In the meantime Nappa and I will have to hightail it over to that class 2 planet, Arlia that we are scheduled to raze, for them rejecting some treaty with Frieza, then make a pit stop and clean out the boy's home world. When we're done we'll meet up with you two and hopefully still have time to do the Lostea mission. You're lucky we have eleven months left this year, because it'll take us a minimum of 8 months before we can even start making plans for Lostea now" Vegeta finished before turning and started back towards the base. He quickly realized the others still hadn't yet moved.

All three of them simply stared back at Vegeta, trying to figure out what they wanted him to do, or in Gohan's case to beat him senseless and escape.

"Damn it you fools that means move we're under an impossible deadline as it is. Pack up and get the boy to the armory we're leaving NOW!" Vegeta shouted before flying to the flight control center to get the pods ready for launch.

Raditz and Nappa both realized how angry Vegeta was and hurried to get things in order for them to leave, neither wanted to be the last one ready to go, and incite the prince's infamous wrath.

Nappa still carrying Gohan by his tail took off at full speed to the compound's armoury, while Raditz rushed back to the group's room to grab their spare scouters and armour.

When Nappa arrived he found the only armor that would fit the child was designed for Saibamen, and nearly had to vaporize the guard to get him to authorize its release.

After getting the armor on Gohan, who was fighting him every inch of the way because he heard Vegeta saying they were going to attack his home again, he rushed back to the launch pad.

As soon as they arrived Gohan managed to break free of Nappa's grip and launched himself at Vegeta, Vegeta easily caught the child and held him at arms distance as he struggled. "What's the matter with you now kid?" Vegeta asked getting irritated with the child's random outbursts.

"Don't!… Hurt!… My!... Mommy!" as Gohan shouted the last part his power spiked, high, higher than during any of his previous rises, peaking at nearly 3500, creating powerful winds as his aura super charged the air, the force of the winds not only pushed Vegeta and Nappa's pods off the launch pad, but also knocked Raditz, who had just arrived, on his back and sent him sliding across the concrete structure.

Finally when the storm had past Vegeta just stood there stunned, 'Insane his power peaked higher than my father's was at his age.' A genuine smile appeared on Vegeta's face 'This boy is going to be a very useful asset.'

"I'll make you a deal kid, and only because I'm feeling generous, I will give your mother a quick and painless death, that is the best I can offer you though. In time you might even thank me for it once you understand our way of life. The only thing I want from you in return is your complete and utter loyalty to me."

"NO! Please don't hurt my mommy, I'll do anything." the boy pleaded, tears streaming down his face.

Vegeta stared at the boy, he could understand the boy's position there was a time in which he would've done anything to have his father back, unfortunately the universe was not kind enough to even give him that offer. He had to learn that lesson, and it was time for the boy to also. "Listen boy, I don't want to kill your mother but I have to, Frieza orders us to wipe out a planet and that's what we have to do. Do you know why?"

When Gohan shook his head Vegeta continued, "We have to because currently Frieza is currently the most powerful being the universe, which means he's in charge. If you want to be the one to decide who lives and who dies, you only have one option, become as strong as possible, without strength anything you love can be taken from you at any moment." Vegeta tried to his best to explain things in a way the child would understand. He couldn't care less about killing a bunch of weaklings like were on the boy's planet, he wanted to fight stronger opponents and achieve his destiny, instead he was stuck on cleanup duty.

Gohan looked at Vegeta, part of what the man had said made sense, it sounded like something his father had told him about fighting to protect those you loved, but he still didn't understand why the man had to kill his mother, was it really only because he was weaker than Vegeta, or the Freezer guy, was that really the reason his mother would die.

Vegeta sighed and tossed his scouter to Nappa so what he said next couldn't be heard by any curious ears. "We're your family now… Gohan, your old life is gone. You're a Saiyan warrior like the rest of us; your only mission in life is to help us become strong enough to defeat Frieza once and for all. At that point we can make the rules, instead of having to follow them." Vegeta said before delivering a powerful blow to Gohan's stomach. All the sappy bullshit he just spew almost made Vegeta hurl. He at the very least hoped his lies would be enough to convince the boy to willingly serve him, it would be better than forced servitude, he needed allies not enemies.

Gohan's eyes rolled into the back of his head, as his body went limp. Vegeta then casually tossed him to his uncle who was just getting back on his feet, "Get the boy strapped in and launch." Vegeta said before righting his pod and preparing for launch.

He and Nappa were already shooting through the atmosphere before Raditz had even finished strapping the boy in, slaving the pods together, and getting in his own pod.

His last thoughts as he drifted off into the hibernation were of fear; he had never gone before Frieza alone before, 'That brat better be on his best behavior when we arrive, for both of our sakes."

And Chapter 5 comes to a close. This chapter like a couple other chapters started out much shorter the first time I had written it and over the course of the editing it almost doubled in size. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has been following the story so far. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks about it, or any concerns you might have about the story. One last note before the reviews section a big shout out to everyone who has submitted a review so far, some of your questions have led me to notice plot holes in my rough draft, so keep up the good work.

Now onto the reviews:

enlyasurgeon: That's what I was thinking, I felt a lot of solid fighters from Dragon Ball were either completely ignored (Nam, King Chappa, Bora), or their characters transformed in such a way that they became more annoying or useless than entertaining or useful, (Chi Chi, Master Roshi, later Chaotzu etc). My plan is to have chapters showing what is going on with several different groups throughout the story, It just happened that I needed the first few chapters to lay the ground work on the changes to how the Z-fighters were preparing. Expect more Gohan related chapters in the future, I'm going to try and keep things as chronological as possible.

super mystic gohan: Piccolo is going to put everyone through the ringer, The dynamic between everyone in that group is going to be really interesting to balance between old enemies stuck in a close vicinity for a long period of time. Also no problem on the spelling, I'm not the best speller myself.

Bob-dude17: Thanks for the review, glad your liking it so far, I'm curious about the 1000 word curse you mentioned, by that do you mean you're glad I'm not doing little 1000 word chapters, or that I don't limit myself to one set length for each chapter?

Thanks for the suggestion on the structure, your right it does flow better that way. I try to break up the blocks as it is but sometimes I do my editing a little too late at night and miss that kind of stuff. That being said that's something I'm going to try and do a better job of in the future. I sort of have a beta right now my cousin who I work closely with on Vegeta the academic helps me read sections I'm less sure about, unfortunately he's working on developing a few stories of his own at the moment so he can't always read my chapters before I want to post them.

Hopefully between my additional diligence an the fact I'm taking my first English class since senior year of high school I can improve on that.