Dragon Ball: New Life

Inside of the motionless Raditz's mind, the Saiyan was trapped behind a roaring red cage of pure primal rage. During the fight with Frieza, he drifted too close to the rage of the Great Ape and became trapped by it.

"It seems you became caged by the primal rage of the Saiyan ape." A familiar voice cut through the darkness.

"Grand Elder Guru?" Raditz questioned, trying to remember the speaker.

"Yes," the voice answered. "It has taken much strength, but I needed to contact you once I sensed you were in danger."

"Where am I?" Raditz asked.

"You are trapped with your mind. I will free you, but you must learn to control your power. I will not be able to help you again." The Grand Elder said before a cleansing light filled Raditz's mind, wiping away his prison.

In reality, as Raditz came to, his muscles shrunk and the crimson glow in his eyes vanished. He looked around at his surroundings and saw his allies, Nappa included, circled around him. They had worried expressions on their faces.

"I'm fine now. I just needed some assistance from the Grand Elder before he departed to the afterlife." Raditz explained.

The others were shocked to learn the the leader of the Namekians had died while the fight to save his planet was going on. Piccolo looked particularly upset by the news. Raditz might have inquired further, but he honestly didn't care. After all these years he was still a results driven Saiyan.

"Krillin, toss me your Scouter." Raditz ordered.

"Here." Krillin said passing the device over to Raditz. He thought the Saiyan could have asked nicer, but he had saved them, so he let it slide. Besides, as far as he could remember, Raditz always was distant to everyone, but Kakarot.

"Bulma, it's settled. Pick us up near the soldiers." the Emperor said over the Scouter. He then turned to the rest of the group. "We'll wait at the designated location. Nappa, you can grab Vegeta."

Nappa helped his wounded boss out of the pile of rubble and carried him to the rendezvous point. During the flight, Vegeta didn't know what to make of the events he witnessed. Normally, he would be furious at the fact Nappa was carrying him, but he couldn't think about that.

He saw the birth of the Legendary Super Saiyan, and it wasn't him. Raditz had achieved the thing he sought after all his life. Not only that, he defeated Frieza, avenging the Saiyan race. That form was the myth made real and he needed to obtain it at all costs. His thoughts were constantly interrupted by the pain coursing through his body.

When the group arrived at the landmass where the Prometheus soldiers were waiting, a round of cheers broke out. They were proud to be apart of the mission that removed Frieza from the universe. They could guess they would now be busy expanding the empire.

"I don't think Vegeta can walk." Nappa stated when noticed his boss trying to get off the ground. Vegeta had been placed to the side to convalesce while they waited for transport.

"Are you asking permission to toss him into the air and blow him up?" Raditz asked. He thought it could be an amusing reversal of fate.

"No... I thought you had more of those bean things." the burly Saiyan answered.

"I do, but neither of you are Promethean citizens. Nor have you performed any noteworthy tasks for the empire. He will live long enough to get to my ship. Our medical staff is excellent." Raditz explained.

On the Menagerie, Vegeta was placed in a healing tank of Panacea extract. It healed injuries more thoroughly than the Frieza Force tanks, but was vastly inferior to the Panacea beans themselves. Bulma's sister observed the action from the bridge of the ship. She was enthralled by the defeat of the space tyrant.

Tights knew the galactic community was going to go crazy when the her story broke. To top it all off when she asked Bulma about the other two Saiyans, she was given inspiration for a new book. It was going to be a story about a prince in exile; if she could get an interview with the prince, it would help a lot. Her last book loosely based on Jaco the Galactic Patrolman was a monumental failure. She had a feeling the book about Vegeta could salvage her career as a fiction writer.

Her sister didn't let her sit in on the meeting that brought Namek into the Prometheus Empire. She was told, "press was off limits."

Raditz went over the planetary data downloaded from the computer systems of Frieza's ship. The Menagerie assisted with locating the information he was looking for. When he was satisfied he summoned Lt. Rasp and his brother, Kakarot, to the meeting room.

"Lieutenant, I have a mission for you." Raditz said activating a terminal on the desk in the center of the room. A projection of a planet rotated as it hovered above the terminal.

"This is planet Yardrat." Raditz continued looking to his brother then the Lieutenant, "I located this world in Frieza's files. I would like for you to invite them into the empire Lieutenant."

"Yes, your majesty!" Rasp stood performing a sharp salute.

"Kakarot, as a new Security Agent, I would like you to assist the Lieutenant. He has done this job before and can show you the ropes. Your job will be to basically keep Rasp safe and to learn if the population has any interesting techniques they'd be willing to share." the Emperor explained.

"I hope they are strong." Kakarot smirked from the thought of meeting strong people.

Lt. Rasp took a small group of soldiers along with Kakarot and departed the ship in the saucer shuttle NO. 04. The rest of the Earth natives were allowed to return home using shuttle NO. 03. They decided to redouble their efforts in training after witnessing the strength of Frieza. They wanted to be ready if another powerful threat ever targeted their home.

The last meeting on the schedule was Nappa. Raditz had avoided the Saiyan henchman for most of the day. The Emperor was surprised the bald Saiyan chose to wait outside the meeting room for four hours. Raditz hoped Nappa would have gotten bored and went elsewhere. In the end Nappa's persistence was rewarded, because he found himself in the meeting room with Raditz.

"So what is it that you want, exactly?" Raditz asked. "To be dropped off somewhere?"

"I want to join your empire." Nappa stated, "I can help you-"

Nappa was interrupted by the intercom system before he could make his full sales pitch. It was a member of the bridge crew.

"Your Majesty, we have had an unsanctioned shuttle departure!" the crewman reported.

"What?" Raditz asked, "Explain."

"All security systems were disabled around the hangar, my lord." the crewman explained. "We don't know how it happened."

"It was Tights!" Bulma's voice rang out over the intercom, "Science was never her main interest, but she would be able to do something like that. Plus, Vegeta is gone too!"

Nappa thought his hope for joining Raditz was lost. He guessed he would be blamed for Vegeta escaping with a shuttle. It looked suspicious that his former boss would leave while he was talking with Raditz. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like he was causing a distraction.

"Why would she do something like that?" Raditz asked his wife for her insight.

"Two reasons: either for a news interview or book research. Tights should be fine, she has always been resourceful." Bulma knew her sister's motivations pretty well.

"No matter." Raditz moved on, "I have a schedule to keep. I will be on the bridge shortly."

"L-lord Raditz, I had nothing to do with Vegeta escaping." Nappa clarified.

"It doesn't matter, he wasn't a prisoner. The shuttle was a minor loss. It was stolen by the Empress's sister." Raditz shrugged, "Follow me, Nappa."

Even though, Raditz appeared not to be bothered by the situation, Nappa still felt the wrath of the Super Saiyan might fall on him. He remained silent as he followed Raditz to the bridge of the Menagerie. He watched the respect the crew of the ship held for their leader.

Raditz moved to the center of the bridge and sat in the captain's chair of the ship. The rest of the crew turned back to their stations preparing to carry out their Emperor's orders.

"Set a course for Planet Vegeta!" Raditz barked before turning to Nappa, "I used the Dragon Balls to bring the Planet back."

"What!" Nappa was shocked to his core. The Prince of all Saiyans never said anything about trying to save the planet of his birth, but Raditz... no, Emperor Raditz did.

As the ship started its trip, Raditz looked around the bridged and asked, "So any of you know how to make a Ki beam zig-zag?"

Everyone looked over, confused by the question. They had gotten used to Raditz's odd ideas over the years, especially since most of them pay off.

"Forget I asked, it's just something I had been working on off and on over the years ." Raditz laughed.

The Menagerie stopped in orbit over a planet that had been missing in the universe for almost two decades. A sense of nostalgia washed over Nappa as he saw his homeworld through the Menagerie's main view screen. The bald Saiyan was wearing a set of red and black Promethean armor. He managed to fit in with the crew well enough. If there was a problem with someone, fear of Lord Raditz chained any thoughts Nappa had of indiscriminately killing people that irritated him.

Nappa was able to adapt to life serving on the ship because of his years spent in the Saiyan military.

On the southern hemisphere of the planet, Raditz met with the new Kami of Planet Vegeta. His Lookout was a stone tower that resembled a medieval castle tower. Like the Earth Lookout, the tower extended into the sky past the clouds. Its imposing design was perfect for the Saiyan home world.

According to Kami Tsuno, the inside of the tower had a winding staircase with different environments on each level to test the worthiness of those willing to ascend the Lookout.

"It is good to see you again, Lord Raditz." Kami Tsuno greeted.

"You too, Kami Tsuno. I'm sure you're curious as to why I wanted a Namekian Kami of my planet." Raditz said.

"Dragon Balls, I assume." Tsuno answered.

"Correct." Raditz confirmed.

"I have never thought I would have the opportunity to attempt Dragon Ball creation. I studied as much as I could about them, including techniques of the ancient demon clan." Tsuno was thrilled. He was going to get a chance to try to create a dragon.

"Can you make a set of Dragon Balls that can resurrect the population of this planet?" Raditz asked.

Tsuno thought about the task Raditz presented him, "Yes I believe I can do that."

"How long would it take to accomplish?" the Emperor hoped soon.

"A few years at most." Tsuno nodded.

Raditz was prepared to wait a few more years to bring the Saiyans back, but he did have an idea that might speed up the process.

"What if you make them only able to effect this planet." the Saiyan asked.

"Hmph," Tsuno thought, "That should save some time on the process if they were limited in scope!"

"How about if they could only be used by two people: You and I?" Raditz added.

Tsuno was impressed by the ideas of Raditz. He had never thought about limiting the Dragon Balls effect to a planet. They were supposed to by representative avatars of the Dragon God. Limiting them would be counterintuitive. The Namek Dragon Balls had security, like a password or speaking in the native language of the population, but nobody made any that only two people could use.

When they were finished discussing the rules of the Dragon Balls, the time needed to make them was cut down to around a year.

Most of the crafting time would be consumed by Tsuno traveling around the planet to gather materials. It would also give him a chance to link with the soul of the planet. The Dragon Balls, and by extension the Dragon, needed to reflect their world of origin.

Tsuno was given a long range communication device to contact Raditz when the Dragon Balls were ready to be used. Kami refused the device, explaining it would be more efficient to use telepathy to stay in contact.

Nappa wasn't allowed to visit the Lookout at this time, so he walked through the empty Saiyan city. The palace sat high atop a cliff overlooking the city below.

Everything was frozen as he remembered.

As he walked through the halls of the palace, he thought about all the people he knew that worked there. He was stationed in the palace when King Vegeta assigned him to his son's squad. Nappa thought the assignment was going to be a great honor. The job didn't turn out as he expected, but now he was in a position to accomplish more than he ever dreamed possible. It was too bad for Vegeta that he left the Menagerie before he could hear about Planet Vegeta being brought back.