Radish my beloved
thewittywhy: The Radish!
And yeah, that's kinda why I included them. The fact that Gohan's only age appropriate friend for most the series is Dende is kinda, sad.
And yeah, the thing I have planned is pretty OP, Super Sayain God would be, extremely OP. I've had to set some strict limitations on what I've planned for it to not just, break the Buu saga as it is
Tinfoot: It will be dealt with eventually but it is a tad too soon for it in the fic, narritively speaking. The fact that it's magic doesn't help when the primary thing standing in it's way is the social aspect rather than the physical. Unless she used a second wish to make everyone not care, or forget it was ever different, but that feels manipulative, and also cheaty
Considering that it was Vegeta who introduce the idea of the Zenkai boost I'd assume it's pretty common knowledge among Sayains, at the very least Nappa would have to know since Veggie was like, five, when planet vegeta was destroyed, and thus wouldn't actually know much about their race. Which, I don't see any reason why Raditz wouldn't know then either
FlameRaining: yeah, theoretically, but the social aspect of telling people about that is still daunting and narratively it's too early in the story for that
And thanks
xavex: Uncie Radish couldn't do much to avoid it since he's like, the weakest of the main cast left, possible exception of Chiaotzu
And I honestly didn't even think about reviving Gine and Bardock as well, but even if I wanted to it would have taken all three wishes, since the first one would have had to have been to wish them to Earth's check in station, and then wish them both back individually
Slayer76: Precisely
fangrts: uh, first of all, Raditz is absolute wasted potential from the show and not bringing him back would have been the waste, and second, I think it'd have been much more anti climatic to just have the wish be what everyone would have guessed. Also it's too early in the fic for that, narratively
Raditz didn't say anything as he followed us back to Capsule Corp. By now Piccolo had vanished, gone to wherever Piccolo goes in his day to day.
Raditz's silence was more than made up for in Nappa, still talking. I kinda tuned him out a while ago. Well, half listening. I was paying enough attention that if he said something wrong I could correct it.
"Hey, you be nice to Bulma though. She's being real nice about letting us stay there. And unlike Kakarot, she's aware that it's something any normal person wouldn't do." Nappa was half turned around mid-flight.
"…who are you?"
Nappa turned himself back around, "Frieza's dead. That changes things. Besides, like I told you, I'd be dead if it weren't for these guys, least I can do is play by their rules for a bit."
"…you said Vegeta wasn't there?"
"Yeah, he took off into space somewhere. He'll be back, eventually, probably."
"..and, Kakarot…?"
"will probably return soon. It's been a year, how much longer could he be?"
To say Raditz was frowning would be redundant at this point, but at least he wasn't running away. He seemed like a flight risk for a second there.
Soon enough we made it to CC and landed without issue. Raditz trailed behind, eyeing, well, glaring really, at everything with suspicion.
Bulma met us outside. She eyed Raditz up and down, without a hint of hesitance. She stood more like my memory of the post seven-year time skip Bulma she'd eventually become than the peppy, almost impulsive one I've come to know.
"Hey remember that time you kidnapped my Godchild and told my oldest friend to kill a hundred people to get him back? And then caused his death?" Godchild? That's new. Wouldn't be surprised if she gave herself that title honestly.
"Yeah. And?"
"Nothing. Just making sure you remember."
With that she turned on her heels, motioning for the rest of us to follow her into The building.
"So! This is where you will be staying, Nappa can show you around later, I've got work to do."
And, then she turned around and walked off. Ok then.
"Ah don't mind her, she broke up with her boyfriend recently so she's been huffy," Nappa waved it off.
"And you're so familiar with her social life because…?"
"I live here and she's loud when she complains. But hey! Here's your room. Way nicer than anything on Frieza's ships, huh?"
"Yeah sure, whatever."
"Welp, that's that. See ya Radish," I turned to leave.
"It's. Raditz." The man clenched his fists in restrained anger.
"Mhhmmm."
"Hey, hold on, you've barely said anything to him, aren't you gonna-" Nappa began to protest, but I waved it off.
"I should probably get home, let my mom know I haven't been kidnapped again or something. You know, considering," I inclined my head towards Raditz.
Said man grit his teeth, "hey! Don't you know anything about respecting your elders!"
"You know, I'm pretty sure it's, respect your stronger, which the kid qualifies for in spades to you," Nappa couldn't seem to help but comment.
"But hey! So you got a bit of catching up to do! You'll get there!" Nappa grinned, probably unaware of how condescending that sounded.
Regardless, my being here probably wasn't helping anything so, off I go.
It went well, all things considered. He seemed to shut down a bit, but he probably just needed some time to adjust. That was a lot of new information in like, twenty minutes.
The moment I walked through the door I was being fussed over by Chichi.
"Mhmm, yep, I'm fine. Nothing even slightly related to a scuffle happened."
Chichi huffed, "I still don't understand why you wanted to bring that, man back. He kidnapped you! He- he killed Goku!"
"He's dad's brother. That should mean something. If I didn't, it wouldn't. That seems, sad. Dad came back, so there was no long-term damage." I didn't bother to correct her on that technically speaking, it was Piccolo who killed Goku. I don't think it would help.
Chichi frowned, "well! I still think I should give him a piece of my mind!"
I smiled slightly, "while I might be stronger than him, he is still stronger than you, so I'd recommend against that."
"Well I'd recommend not talking back to your mother yet here we are!"
I'm not sure what I expected really, but while Chichi was hesitant about me spending time with Piccolo, she flat out refused my wanting to check in on Raditz a couple days later.
How convenient then. That he just so happened to be at Capsule Corp, which by complete coincidence also happens to be where dearest Ocari was staying. And it'd be an absolute crime to go spend time with the orphan kids without going to get him first.
I happened to spot Raditz as he was walking through a hall. by coincidence, of course, no ki searching whatsoever.
Raditz immediately turned back into his room and shut the door.
How nice.
I tried again a couple days after that, much to the same result.
A week since wishing him back and I happened to catch him far enough from his door that he couldn't pretend I didn't exist.
Well, obviously I was wrong on that front. As he did not say a word as he marched back to his room with a handful of food.
According to Bulma, he was, to quote, "like a stray cat. He eats my food, gets pissy at the idea of social interaction, and hides away in his room most of the time. But at least he's quieter than Nappa." Which did not seem like a high bar to cross.
Apparently, even he could get tired of the silent act, as determined by my fourth attempt.
"What do you want?" He finally all but growled.
"Just curious. How've you been?"
He didn't answer. Once again into his room he goes.
Two weeks in, and fifth times the charm.
"Would you quit following me around! I don't want anything to do with you, brat!"
"Hm? I'm just here to pick up Ocari. To visit some friends. I, assume you know what those are? And since I was here anyway I figured I might as well see how you've been. Considering how inviting and outgoing you are."
Raditz bared his teeth, "What do you want from me?! What, do you think that just because you wished me back to life I should be grateful?! That I should thank you?!" His tail, usually so controlled and wrapped neatly around his waist, whipped behind him in anger. He towered over me, but that didn't really mean much. I was used to everyone being taller than me, in this life, and the previous. It was far past the point of intimidating, especially when I was the stronger between us.
"Not really," I shrugged, "but not ignoring me would be nice, Radish."
Raditz glared, turned on his heels, and back into his room he goes.
I waited a week the next time I went to check-in. I saw him but he didn't notice me. Ah, how inconvenient it must be to not be able to sense energy.
I followed him at a distance, ducking through corners to avoid being seen. If the direct approach isn't working, maybe just watching what he does will help.
"Why hello there young man, I don't think I quite caught your name," a voice I vaguely recognized said, I poked my head out a bit more to see Bulma's dad crossing Raditz's path.
Raditz looked around, and only after thoroughly making sure that he was, in fact, the one being spoken to did he respond, "Raditz."
"Well nice to meet you Raditz, you can call me Dr. Brief," he said as he held out a hand to shake. Raditz eyes the hand suspiciously for a second before hesitantly returning the handshake.
"That gadget on your eye is one of the things my daughter has been working on, isn't it? Said it was for reading life energy or some sort, isn't that right?"
"Yeah…"
"What's its purpose, exactly? As in, how does it practically function?"
"Well, you wouldn't want to get in a fight with someone you know is much stronger than you. It's usually called power levels, not life energy."
"I see, that does make a good deal of sense, not that I've ever been in any real fight, oh no. I've always been set on gadgets and gizmos. Say what does my life energy, or power level read?"
Raditz pushed a button on the Scouter, "three."
Dr. Brief laughed, "that's not a lot I take it?"
"No. Not that that seems to mean much since so many people can hide their power levels here."
"Ah, well I can assure you, there's no sneaky power hiding in this old man. That'd require I get out of the lab long enough to lift some weights or something."
"Speaking of which, I was supposed to be working now wasn't I? Come along then, we can continue speaking in the lab."
I half expected Raditz to just turn around and call it a day, but after a few seconds of hesitance, he did, in fact, follow after the retreating scientist.
I waited a couple seconds before following, this would be a very inconvenient time to get caught.
"See I've been working on repairing the Gravity Room again. That Nappa fellow sure seems to like it, but can't seem to help breaking something in it pretty often. This time it was the wiring, without that working," he went on on a scientific rant that I couldn't replicate if I tried, "does that make sense?"
"Not, really…"
"Ah of course, here take a seat, I'll explain in more detail. Or actually, it'd probably be better if we started with…"
I withdrew from the room.
Yeah, he'll be fine.
The next time I went to see what was up Ocari was playing a video game that Bulma had gotten him. It was a Mario-like platformer. I took the second player.
I always seem to overestimate my 2d platformer skills. At least it was easy to impress Ocari still.
I sensed a now familiar irritable and almost anxious energy at the corner of my attention. I craned my neck around to see dearest Radish passing by the common area. His gaze hardened when he noticed that I noticed. He turned and continued walking.
Okie doke then.
I waited until his energy was more than far away enough for him not to hear before speaking.
"So what do you think of mr sunshine and rainbows, Radish over there?"
"Huh? Oh. I think his name is Raditz."
"Yeah that's the- never mind. What do you think of him?"
"I do not think he is sunshine, or rainbows. He seems…irritable. he's been going to Bulma's dad's science room more recently though so he can't be too bad if Bulma's dad likes spending time with him. Bulma's dad is very nice."
I hummed as I ran through the level. Good to know that wasn't just a one-time deal then. Not an interaction I would have guessed, but still probably a good thing.
The next time I just so happened by Capsule Corp, I came bringing my portable DVD player that just so happened to have broken, and what better a solution than to ask the resident scientist to fix it.
Dr. Brief even offered to upgrade it, but gosh golly that'd take longer what a shame.
Guess I was stuck here, with an increasingly annoyed Raditz, too stubborn and proud to retreat from the room. By now he has long since ditched the armor in favor of some jeans and a white tank top he was given.
"Hello," I greeted. Dearest Radish grunted in response.
"How's your day been?"
"Annoying."
"I see I see. Any particular reason?"
"Guess."
"Well it is a tad humid, and with all that hair of yours that must be a pain even under the best conditions-"
Raditz gave an over-exaggerated breath through his nose.
"And of course, any minor inconvenience will be exaggerated for someone who acts like a petulant teenager."
"Petu- nope. Don't care. Will not humor this."
"My day's been great, thanks for asking. Woke up, ate breakfast, as one does. Did some homework, found out my DVD player broke so now I'm here."
"Riveting."
"You know it's really hard to carry a conversation and I am not good at it."
"Clearly."
"Careful, if I get distracted enough I might just start rambling about Digimon, and trust me, I will not stop and there will be no escape for any involved."
For the next twenty minutes, Raditz was glaring holes into the back of Dr. Brief's head, as if willing him to finish faster.
The next few interactions were similar, but progressively better. It seemed as though the more comfortable he got with the situation the less hostile he became.
I had expected, or hoped as much would be the case.
I mused over what to do next over my homework.
Chichi had tried to hire a tutor to "help me along" but, suffice it to say, it did not go well.
At first, I was content to just roll my eyes and zone out of most of what he was saying, I did not need actual help with middle school homework. If anything it was concerning that now two people have thought it normal and expected that a seven-year-old was doing middle school work. I was half tempted to let my grades fall lower with this dude around out of spite.
Man, I am not looking forward to the day I catch up to what I know. My only hope is that it'll come after Goten is born (if Goten is born) (Goten better be born) so Chichi will be at least somewhat distracted.
Anyway, I was content with just going along with whatever-
Until he brought out a literal whip- and oh boy, he was lucky Chichi came in so quickly and he just as quickly enraged her to the point of quite literally chasing him out, or else he might have left with more than just a broken wrist.
Huh. I wonder if my tendency towards physical violence has increased due to exposure or being a Sayain. Maybe both? I suppose it doesn't really matter, but before I probably would have just talked, perhaps yelled at that guy rather than actually grab him. Of course, the way he was, I probably wouldn't have been able to get many words in without being cut off so perhaps it's for the better.
My musing was stopped short when I scanned for ki out of boredom and noticed Raditz suspiciously closer than usual. Like, he wasn't particularly close to here, but he also definitely was not at Capsule Corp.
Suspicious.
Worth investigating me thinks.
So, as one does, I quickly changed into my Gi and cloak, grabbing my backpack to go along, and evacuated through my window. I had never once snuck out in my past life. I had no reason to, I rarely had places I wanted to be and when I did my parents had no issues with letting me. The prospect of getting in trouble made it far too much a pain to bother with.
With Chichi though? While I still don't sneak out often, and she does seem more accommodating than I remember from canon, she still didn't leave much choice at times. And it was hard sometimes, trying to balance putting some care into respecting Chichi as my mother in this life, while I was technically still older than she was, assuming you added the two ages together.
But that didn't matter at the moment, because at the moment I was closing in on dearest Radish.
"Sup?" I greeted, and he stumbled back because evidently, he did not see me coming. As much as he likes that scouter, he should probably start getting sensing down soon.
"Whatchya doin?"
Raditz scowled, glaring as he looked back, "Vegeta showed up, so I left."
"T'aw, and you came to visit me?"
"You say that as if I have any idea where you live."
I was about to continue the designated teasing when what he said properly registered-
"Vegeta's back?" That didn't sound right, I had asked Bulma how long she estimated until the ship he stole ran out of fuel, since that's when I thought he was supposed to come back, and she said it was a few months still. Maybe she overestimated it? But that didn't sound right. It was Bulma.
How long ago was that. Raditz had been walking when I found him, but that's not to say he'd been walking the whole time. This far from Capsule Corp, that means it could have been anywhere from a few minutes ago, to, I dunno, a couple hours maybe? If he had been walking.
"Yeah. Don't know why. Don't give a shit. I left the second Nappa said he, sensed or whatever, his energy."
Well, that's not very helpful, not that it really mattered since before I could say anything back I sensed it. I turned my head up to The all too familiar malice-filled Ki coming very clearly from space.
Raditz didn't get a chance to question me before my phone rang. I saw the caller ID as Krillin.
"Yeah I sense it. Mhmm. I think there are two of them actually. Yeah, meet you there."
I hung up and looked back towards the power for a moment. Skeptically, Raditz glanced at me and where I was looking. His hand reached up to his scouter-
"Don't do that unless you want to lose it," I interrupted, "that'll definitely overload the Scouter, unless you happened to have improved them a hundredfold in the past month."
"It's max is two million, according to Bulma, that is. I don't- have any idea- how-"
I raised an eyebrow. I opted not to comment on the fact that I wouldn't have thought anyone besides Bulma had done anything without his commentary.
"Yeah. Won't do much to read Frieza."
In an instant, Raditz was stumbling back, about a pin-drop away from bolting, "Frieza!? I thought you said Kakarot killed him!"
"Well, technically it was Nappa who said that. He said probably. And we couldn't technically know for certain since we weren't there. We just assumed since dad managed to get off Namek and it didn't seem likely Frieza would have allowed that."
I carefully did not acknowledge the panic in his eyes as I walked towards the power, lifting into the air.
"Why the hell are you going towards it- him! If it is Frieza-"
"If it is Frieza either I go there and see what's up, possibly die. Or I stay here, and possibly die anyway when Frieza inevitably blows up the planet. Not like it'll change the outcome if we're there or not."
"We- oh no! Like hell I'm going to-"
"Oh sure. Go ahead, stay here while the seven-year-old goes to investigate. It's fine."
I glanced back as my words had their intended effect. Stab at his pride and his actions become much more predictable.
Raditz scowled, "tch, whatever."
Angerly muttering to himself, he followed me, directly in line to where Frieza was set to land.