Editor's note: I added an additional change to Kakarot's appearance during the medical scene.
Chapter 8
Old Wounds Healed, New Scars Remain
The four Saiyan space pods approach a large white space station orbiting a brown world. This was planet 619, a world that was conquered right before the destruction of Planet Vegeta. It was one of the last worlds the Saiyans conquered for Freeza before a majority of their population perished after a meteor hit their world. The four pods landed on circular landing pads covered by a large dome which was filled with air. The landing pads were segmented in a way to allow them to absorb the force of the landing. The first two out of their pods were Nappa and Vegeta who are greeted by two lines of Freeza Soldiers composed of multiple different races.
Most of them wore orange and black battle vests with the bottom half of a blue jumpsuit along with white gloves and boots like Vegeta's attire. A few wore a white and blue helmet which left their face exposed. All of them wore green Scouters, they saluted the Saiyans as they exited their pods. They had a few medical personnel wearing similar armor with them. Vegeta quickly said, "Well, what are you waiting for? The two fools who didn't exit are the ones in need of medical attention! After receiving the order, several soldiers rushed to the two unopened pods.
They opened the pods up and immediately got to work removing the survival gear strapped to their heads and hauled them to the medical center. Kakarot and Raditz were then placed into large dark blue machines. They had a large glass dome which was a little bigger than the two Saiyans. A dark blue tube stuck to the top of the dome which was lifted upwards along with the dome to allow the doctors to place Kakarot and Raditz into the middle of the machine. Several large cords stuck out of the machine which were attached to the ceiling and the floor. In the center of the machine was a breathing mask along with a few medical electrodes.
They strapped the breathing mask to Kakarot and Raditz while sticking the electrodes to the side of each of their dome was then lowered over them and soon a teal liquid filled the pod from the top. This substance is a liquid medicine that is absorbed into the subject's skin healing them over time. Two doctors monitored the equipment the whole time keeping an eye on the two Saiyans vitals. After an hour Kakarot awoke seeing everything in a dark green tint. Everything felt numb to him thanks to the medical liquid. A doctor approached the pod and said, "Good to see your awake Kakarot. It seems you woke up before your brother."
Kakarot couldn't talk thanks to the breathing mask covering his lower face, so it was a one-sided conversation. The doctor then said, "It's rare to see Raditz join you, he's usually the careful sort but it seems he's taken after you for once." Kakarot glanced at his brother who was still fast asleep. He looked peaceful floating there, Kakarot felt relieved, but his expression soon changed to a conflicted look. Kakarot shifted his gaze back forward, looking at the doctor. The Doctor read his expression and guessed what he was worried about, "Oh, how unlike you. Don't you worry, your brother will be just fine. You should really worry about yourself." Kakarot's expression shifted to a neutral expression upon hearing about himself.
The doctor then said, "You were in a much worse condition than him, honestly it's a miracle that you woke up before him." The Doctor finished their one-sided conversation with, "Well you will be stuck in there for a while so you might as well get some shuteye in." Kakarot nodded and closed his eyes again, drifting back to sleep after an hour. A day passes and Kakarot and Raditz injuries are completely healed. Both Saiyans had awoken by now and were ready to leave the pod. The pair of doctors hit a few buttons and soon the liquid began to drain through the bottom of the machine.
After all the liquid is emptied both Saiyans remove their breathing mask and electrodes. Then the dome rises like before after which the Saiyans stand up and walk out of the pods. The doctors lead them to a dressing room where the two men dry off. After drying, one of the doctors leaves to get them a new set of armor. In the meantime, Kakarot and Raditz converse with each other. Kakarot checks his body to see how effective his stint in the Healing Chamber was this time. Kakarot felt his chest, his arms which felt a little strange to him but then Raditz suddenly spoke in an alarmed voice, "Kakarot your forehead!"
Kakarot felt his forehead in response and discovered something that wasn't there before. He now had a large circular scar that covered his forehead. It was dark colored, and the edges were jagged but then Kakarot's gaze met Raditz's chest. Kakarot suddenly said while pointing at a specific spot, "You got one as well." Raditz felt his own chest and saw that he had a circular one as well, right where Vegeta hit him before they left the planet. It was quite large, covering part of his left upper part of his chest. Raditz then noticed yet another scar and while pointing at Kakarot said, "Brother, your arms!" Kakarot looked at the back of his arms and realized he had a large burn scar that stretched from his elbows all the way up the back of his hands.
It was a dark red coloration, Kakarot felt his arms but there was no pain, only the strange sensation he recalled when checking himself earlier. Raditz then said, "I guess they couldn't completely heal these." Raditz, after a moment of silence, fitted with a grim expression from Kakarot said, "Father always said that scars are the physical merits of a Saiyan." Kakarot had a thoughtful expression on his face but then he said, "It doesn't hurt so it should be fine." This is when a reptilian looking Doctor came into the room, holding two sets of armor, the same model and design as their old ones as well as two new Scouter, both green.
The Doctor set the armor down and said, "Alright fellas before you get dressed and meet up with your squad, I want to do a quick check up on the two of you." Having both of their attention the Doctor said, "Alright first off tell me both of your physical conditions, how do you feel so to speak." Raditz went first, he gave himself a brief rundown and said, "I'm fine, I feel good as new, though I wonder why you didn't heal this scar." Raditz laid his left hand on the scar. Kakarot added, "Yeah doc, that goes for me too. You didn't fix this one on my forehead." Kakarot thumbed the scar on his forehead. The Doctor immediately explained, "Well, as you know our medical equipment is much better than it used to be.
However there have been some complications, for one the Bio-agents have completely healed you, it's just that the damage was so severe the scars need to be surgically removed, that is an option for you however…" The Doctor began twiddling with his thumbs nervously, "You see we're on a bit of a time crunch. Lord Freeza wants your squad to report to him sooner rather than later so we had to pull you out sooner than we would have liked to." Understanding the reasoning but confused by Freeza's interference, Raditz said in a low tone, "That's odd, Freeza normally doesn't give a damn about us. He's usually content with getting a written report, he doesn't often bother with personal meetings."
Kakarot added, "Hell, when we do get personal meetings, we get stuck waitin' behind two groups of his mooks doing their own crap." Raditz nodded in agreement, the Doctor spoke in a nervous tone, "Regardless we don't want to keep Lord Freeza waiting so can we please continue?" Agreeing, Raditz says, "I'm fine, the scar isn't a problem either." Kakarot then jumped in with his physical state, "Like always, I'm feeling stronger getting out of there than I did getting in the thing, my scar's fine too." Kakarot then arched his eyebrows and said, "Though my arms feelin' kinda weird, is this cause we got rushed?"
The Doctor immediately said, "Yes, unlike Raditz who's wounds are completely healed, your arms needed more time." The doctor then said, "Actually I want to give them a quick checkup just in case stopping part way through their recovery caused any undesirable side effects." Kakarot raised an eyebrow asking, "What about Freeza, doesn't he want us soon?" The Doctor added, "Lord Freeza is expecting you in two days. The trip to him will only take one, we have time for a checkup." Agreeing, Kakarot follows the Doctor to another room while Raditz puts his armor on. They enter another room with a medical bed in it with a hovering robot resting at its side.
Kakarot is instructed to lay on the bed and remain absolutely still. Kakarot does this and the Doctor interacts with a console with a few computer monitors connected to the wall above it. After the doctor starts interacting with the console the robot floats up and begins to hover up and down Kakarot's body while a dim red-light scans Kakarot's body, focusing on his arms specifically. The Doctor reads through the data and after humming to himself stops the machine and says, "Well that could be trouble." Kakarot, sensing that his part in the procedure is done, sits up, shooing the robot away and looks at the doctor, he asks, "What's the problem doc?"
The Doctor looked at him with a troubled look and said, "Well, it's not too bad. Your arms, as expected, have not fully healed. However, it's only the nerves under the arm that haven't completely healed." The doctor gave Kakarot a bright expression and said, "We have two options to fix this, of course Lord Freeza's needs take priority, but I do want you to make a decision now, before you leave." Kakarot nodded which signaled for the Doctor to give him his options,
"You see, we can either have you take an eight-hour soak in the Bio-chamber once a week or can inject some Biomedicine into your arms twice a week, that means a shot into both arms. Unfortunately, whichever option you take it will take up to two years to fully heal." After giving Kakarot a moment to think Kakarot repeats to himself, "Two years huh. That's a long wait." The Doctor elaborated, "Unfortunately the machine healed your arms a bit too quickly. The nerves were covered by muscle before they could be fully healed. The machine can still heal them however regardless of the method; however, the process will still be slow. Until then your arms are going to feel a little numb and you might not even be able to move them as easily as you might want them to."
Kakarot thought for a moment and finally said, "I'll take the bath, needles make me nervous anyway." The Doctor nodded and smiled saying, "Alright, if you change your mind for any reason please tell me." Kakarot nodded and was led back to Raditz who by now was back in his armor, wearing a new Scouter as well. Kakarot followed suit and was finally ready to rejoin his squad with his brother. Kakarot and Raditz entered the hangar where Nappa and Vegeta were waiting in front of four space pods. Raditz felt a little tense upon seeing Vegeta due to the fact Vegeta tried to kill him and his brother at the end of the previous mission.
Thinking back on it had Raditz feeling nervous and yet somewhat enlightened. Never before has Raditz mustered the courage to not only stand up to Vegeta but fire off two attacks at him, regardless of how little damage they really did. Raditz still wasn't sure what got into him, but it made him feel good regardless of his uncertainty. His instincts took a 180 and suddenly he started acting against his nature. Raditz admits to himself that he wasn't thinking when he put Jade into a full body hold. He just reacted to his brother being in danger. This was the opposite reaction he usually got, and he hoped it would remain a permanent change.
Despite how much pain it put him in, Raditz didn't feel any regret, not even when he raised an arm to Vegeta. Vegeta gave them a cold stare before returning to his over-serious demeanor. He suddenly said, "I assume you two morons have been informed already but "Lord" Freeza wants a personal report on our previous mission. We will leave for Freeza planet 895 and when we get there, we will immediately leave for Freeza's throne room." Vegeta then shifted the conversation elsewhere while motioning for them to get closer. When they did this, he pressed a few buttons on his Scouter, completely turning it off.
The rest of his Squad, despite feeling unsure as to why, did the same. Vegeta then said in a low voice, "This previous mission was troubling. I want to know if any of you have any additional information on the matter." Kakarot informed Vegeta on the presence of their advanced tech, the fact they had components that reacted explosively to Ki and physical disturbances and the effects of their armor which amplified their power level to a point. Raditz added onto the Freeza tech generation angle. He said, "It was the Seventh generation of Freeza's equipment that had a problem with their guns blowing up on them. Something about their power source being too much for the gun barrel to use so it became sensitive to Ki. I don't know about this Ki amplification effect though."
Vegeta let out a meaningful hum and said, "Alright this is all very enlightening, Kakarot I assume those devices are the reason for the explosion that drew me to you?" Kakarot said, "Yes." and when Vegeta questioned if that was Kakarot's explanation for being injured. Kakarot said, "Yes." As well, Kakarot chose to avoid telling him it was part of a plan to get him off world so he could get himself checked out. In fact, Kakarot realized he forgot to tell the doctor about the strange emotions he's been feeling after his first fight with Jade. Kakarot decided he'd tell him after the meeting with Freeza.
With all of that sorted Vegeta gave a set of orders, he said, "Alright given the unusual nature of this meeting everyone needs to keep the same story." Vegeta then said, "Here's what our story is, Kakarot and Raditz got hit by an explosion caused by the ammunition depot being destroyed by the Prunian forces in an attempt to take you two out. By then they had all been taken care of and we left for Medical Station 619. Under no circumstances are any of you to mention these devices, complications like that could trouble Freeza and we don't want our "lord" in a poor mood when we meet him." Having their story straight the Squad left for Freeza Planet 895.
Author's Notes: This Chapter was a little short but that's because the next one should be the last for the Prune Invasion arc. After this arc we will start to see more familiar faces going forward.
Also one last side note, Kakarot receiving a scar on his forehead was inspired from the Dragon Ball Sai fan manga. In this Manga Kakarot and Vegeta more or less switch roles at the beginning of the story (In other words Vegeta goes to Earth and gets domesticated and Kakarot becomes the leader of his squad in place of Vegeta) leading to Kakarot eventually getting a big scar on his forehead. I also decided to give Raditz a scar just cause.
Also, one last side note, Kakarot receiving a scar on his forehead was inspired from the Dragon Ball Sai fan manga. In this Manga Kakarot and Vegeta more or less switch roles at the beginning of the story (In other words Vegeta goes to Earth and gets domesticated and Kakarot becomes the leader of his squad in place of Vegeta) leading to Kakarot eventually getting a big scar on his forehead. I also decided to give Raditz a scar just cause.