Chapter Text
The world around him was dimly lit by the stars and a crescent moon. He didn’t remember what happened before; he only remembered opening his eyes and seeing several bright constellations. Raditz allowed himself to take in the calming sight, breathing in the fresh air and feeling the breeze on his skin. The night was cool and refreshing, but he couldn’t understand why it was refreshing. He had spent almost his entire life outdoors — stars and wind were nothing new — yet somehow it felt brand new.
He refused to move from his spot, not even bothering to try to figure out where he was and why. All he wanted was to be at peace. This feeling was odd and foreign, peace. What was that? Had he ever experienced it before? He closed his eyes knowing full well he would start to question what, where, and how soon if he didn’t allow himself to enjoy this. He lay unmoving for what seemed like hours until he started hearing the spontaneous chirps of birds in the trees surrounding him.
As the sky began to show signs of dawn approaching, Raditz felt his stomach for the first time. He was starving! The loud growls accompanied by intense cramps shook him from his respite and forced him to curl in agony. Trying to force himself to stand, he felt his limbs tremble under him. He was weak — weaker than he’d ever been in his life! It was as if he hadn’t used any of his muscles in years.
“What… what the hell happened to me?” he whispered out hoarsely, shocked by the sound of his own voice.
“Ah! There you are! We’ve been lookin’ all over for you!”
The voice was unusually chipper behind him, but he knew the moment he heard it, he may be in for a fight. Slowly, he turned to face the man that he remembered to be his brother. The shame that filled him was overbearing — he couldn’t stand yet and was forcing himself to turn on his hands and knees. Anger filled him to the brim, tendrils of energy awakening in his muscles as he craned his neck up to meet two sets of eyes.
“Kaka…wha… Vegeta???”
He looked back and forth, unbelieving what he was seeing. When did those two meet? Why were they here? Where even was here? What happened? Where’s Nappa? His head jolted down from the intense burning in his brain. It felt like his circuits were being overloaded, like he was a nuclear reactor ready to have a total meltdown.
“Ugghhh!”
The sounds of his pain echoed across the field as he hunched over, still on his knees, to rest his head on the ground, hoping the pain would subside soon.
“Hehehe he looks like a porcupine when he’s all rolled up like that,” said the goofy voice, belonging to Kakarot.
“Shut up, idiot, and take us back to Capsule Corp. He obviously needs medical attention,” berated Vegeta.
Raditz couldn’t wrap his head around anything that was being said. What was Capsule Corp and why did he need medical attention? How the hell was his brother supposed to get him there when he had needed a damn cloud to fly him to….to….
“Was I dead? I… I arrived on Earth. I kidnapped the kid and Kakarot he… he….”
“Aarrgggghhh! My head!” cried Raditz as the pain intensified.
He could hear a faint, sharp sound and suddenly there was no wind, no birds chirping, and no grass. He tried to take a deep breath to steady himself but coughed when he took in the scent of chemicals instead of the fresh air he had previously enjoyed.
“What the hell are you two doing now?!” He heard called from a distance, probably a different room if he’d had to guess.
“I swear, I leave you guys alone for 2 minutes and you….”
A gasp was heard as the voice came closer and stopped. It sounded feminine, sweet, and… familiar?
“V-Vegeta, is that….? Is that Raditz?”
His name sounded so pleasant coming from her lips, but he didn’t understand why she knew his name. Who was she? His coughing had come in spurts and subsided, but he still felt off. His body felt stiff, and he never even registered the cold tiled floor under him until small drops of saliva hit it during his coughing fit.
“Alright, you boys have some explaining to do,” said the female voice sounding irritated to hell. “Why is there yet another Saiyan in my home? As if feeding the ones here wasn’t enough work as it is!”
“Oh, shut up! Your mother cooks the meals and uses the bots to assist her, little miss ‘I can only boil water for Ramen!’ I told you before we left that we needed more help with this tournament. It was either Raditz or Frieza and you know why I couldn’t choose Frieza!”
“Vegeta, calm down.”
“No! I’m not about to argue over this. Grand Zeno actually gave us more time after finding out Kakarot had a brother with potential, and we need him to save our damn universe.”
“And I thought we agreed that he’d stay with Goku?”
“Woman, he needs medical attention. Can’t you see he can barely move? Do you think Kakarot’s wife will be able to help him just by tossing food down his gullet and pampering him with her home remedies? If there’s something wrong with him, you have the technology and intelligence to get him up to speed and quickly,” Vegeta’s voice had softened towards the end of his tirade and Raditz was unsure what to do with himself at that point. He’d never heard Vegeta speak that softly in his entire life!
“What’s happening!? What is all this? Save the universe? Vegeta? What the hell is a home remedy?”
Vegeta argued with the woman a bit more before she relented. By the tone they used while arguing, Raditz could have sworn it was less about him and more about foreplay. This was all too weird! Was he in hell getting punished somehow? Nothing was making sense, and no one was telling him anything.
He tried to speak again, his voice still hoarse from being dry, but he still didn’t even know what to say. Garbled nonsense escaped his mouth before he was easily lifted and carried to a room with a bed and more chemical-drenched items. He felt like he was going to be sick!
The woman ordered the men around, sending them for this and that from various places in the building. The equipment was rearranged, and the horrible smelling things were removed. Raditz lay still on the bed, his eyes burning from the bright lights above him as the woman tried to shove a needle through his skin. She pressed a button on the side of the bed and his upper body was propped up by the bed.
“Sorry, let me dim these lights a bit. I know Vegeta hates it when I leave them at full capacity,” she mentioned casually as the room was suddenly less irritating to be in. “There. I have some water here, can you move your arms at all?”
Raditz tried lifting his arm up but only got it about halfway up before it dropped with a heavy thud to the bed. He almost whined at the thought of not getting the water, he hadn’t felt thirsty until it was mentioned, and he desperately wanted it. Before he had the chance to be upset, the woman helped him tilt his head back and lifted the bottle to his lips. The small stream of water trickled down his throat, reviving his appreciation for the substance. It was the best water he’d ever tasted - refreshing, and cooling.
Never in his life did Raditz think water could be this good. As if it was all he ever wanted in his life and finally got a small taste. Before he knew it, he’d downed the entire bottle, and he almost felt tears welling in his eyes from the thought of being too weak to get more for himself — from sitting helplessly in this bed at the whim of the blue-haired woman to experiment as she pleased. Perhaps that was his punishment. For all the wrong he’d done in his life, he’d be tortured with science at the hands of a stranger, his brother, and his Prince.
“There you go, big guy. I sent Vegeta to get more water and some food. This IV will help you start to hydrate properly so you don’t get water-logged,” she said calmly as she began to poke and prod at him, taking notes on some sort of computer next to the bed. “It looks like you were literally just raised from the dead. I bet those idiots worded the damn wish wrong and didn’t have Shenron restore your body.”
“W…wish?” The word slipped out easier this time, his mouth and throat finally giving way to the dry, scratchy feeling it had previously.
“Mmhmm. You’re alive again. Do you remember anything at all?” she asked almost sympathetically.
He shook his head no as much as he could but still struggled to move it fluidly. Raditz was confused by her words, his head spinning on the thought that he was not alive but Vegeta was here , taking orders from this woman and living on Earth with his brother. What the hell happened? How long had it been?
His eyes roamed the room, taking in his current surroundings before they landed on a mirror near his bed. It was across the room, but his bed was in a perfect angle for him to see his reflection. He looked on the verge of death! His cheeks were sunken in, his eyes weary with bags, the collar bones were prominently sticking out through his skin, and the one shoulder and bicep he could see was so thin he almost jumped at the sight.
The woman noticed him looking towards the mirror and moved to block his view. He must’ve given her a hell of a look for her to suddenly look so worried about it. Why would she worry? She didn’t know him. Hell, he didn’t even know her!
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you better in no time. Just… don’t freak out and try to hurt me. That’s for your safety, not mine. Vegeta tends to be overprotective.”
“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?” He mentally screamed. “Since when is Vegeta protective of anyone but himself? Was he….oh God….has he mated?!”
All he could do was stare at her. No words, no movement, just stare. The thought of Vegeta being mated shook him to his very core. He remembered him being cruel and vicious for no reason at all. He gave no mercy to anyone and only accepted orders from those who were capable of murdering him. Vegeta had done horrible things to his comrades since they were children, killing off those who questioned him and sending the rest to their deaths in impossible missions to “weed out the weak.”
In the back of his mind, there was no possible way Vegeta would have ever changed. Not after all he had done. The people he took joy in killing. It just couldn’t be possible. He could never be this gentle with a woman, not after what he’d said his beliefs on mating were. Pointless, stupid, weakness, and a trap. The memory of him exclaiming that to the handful of Saiyans that had survived the destruction of Planet Vegeta resonated through him. He’d forbidden anyone from trying to mate — said there was no point since no females survived and any offspring would be far too weak to be useful anyway.
The taste of stomach acid brought him to his senses again. He was lost. Utterly and completely lost. For all the things that Vegeta did to him and put him through, the thought of him settling down to a peaceful life with a mate sickened him. It was disgusting! He’d betrayed so many people, killed far more than was necessary; WHY WOULD HE GIVE UP HIS BELIEFS FOR A WEAK FEMALE!?
Raditz turned away from her. He focused on nothing in particular on the wall next to him, staying quiet and unmoving. The last thing he wanted to do was start questioning and irritating Vegeta while he was too weak to defend himself from the brutal punishment he’d likely receive for mouthing off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He hadn’t noticed when he passed out, but he awoke to the voice of the female sounding irritated. No, she was pissed!
“You need to do something! He’s been unresponsive for days, Vegeta. DAYS!”
“Kakarot is out trying to find a senzu, but he isn’t even sure if one would work. It might not restore a body to full health if it wasn’t in full health to begin with. He was revived in that deplorable state and who knows when he’ll get back to full health now.”
“You should have made that deal with Frieza! You know he would have been able to help immediately and afterward he would just go back to hell where he came from! I swear, it’s like you cared more about your damn pride as a Saiyan than your own universe. We have children to think of, Vegeta!”
“Ch-children?” Raditz’s thoughts kept wandering to the past, kept digging for any reason that might have brought some sense to this situation. Vegeta having children was mind-blowing considering he hated children so much he hated himself until he was a teen.
“No way! His deal was he gets revived after the tournament and you know that dumbass, Kakarot, would have gone through with it! At least with Raditz, we don’t have to worry about the entire Universe being enslaved, or is that what you would have preferred?”
“I’m not saying that I would have preferred that but what if Raditz doesn’t get better, or worse, what if he doesn’t get stronger? He’s going to have to start from scratch you know?”
“Don’t worry about him; he’s a fine warrior. He just needs to train in the hyperbolic time chamber for as long as possible and keep training until the tournament. He has the same potential as Kakarot and me; he just needs the right push. I’ll train him myself if you’re so worried.”
“Vegeta, that’s not what I’m worried about. I know how you Saiyans are about training, so I assume Raditz won’t have a problem with it. It’s the stuff he’s murmured in his sleep that has me concerned. I think….he may have some trauma. And no, nothing like your trauma. This is…different. He keeps asking why he’s being punished and why you. Does that hold any significance to you?”
The room got quiet and Raditz wasn’t sure what to make of it all. First was the fact that Vegeta and his mate were concerned at all. Why would they be? She didn’t know him and if his memory served him right, Vegeta hated him. He’d always said as much and called him weak at any given moment. Second, was Vegeta calling him a fine warrior and offering to train him. What was that about?
His monitor began to beep and the woman rushed to his side. He blinked wearily and looked around the room wondering if he should hide the fact that he had been awake during their conversation. She smiled at him when they made eye contact. Really? Her eyes sparkled with an emotion that Raditz couldn’t comprehend, and she quickly started talking to him. Did she ever stop?
“Hey, big guy! You’re looking a lot better. How do you feel?”
*Shrug*
“Okay…ummm ...can you lift your arm for me?” she asked, grabbing a small tablet to document her findings.
Raditz complied, raising his arms, following the light on her pen, sitting up by himself, and a few other things she had requested of him. He seemed to have passed with flying colors, seeing as how she was overly excited to try to get him walking.
“I’ve kept you on all kinds of solutions while you were out to get you up and moving as soon as possible. Your body took in twice as much protein than I’ve had to give Vegeta in the past, which to me is a good thing. It means your body is trying desperately to replenish. So, let’s get you walking so we can get you a HUGE meal. The real stuff is always better than artificial,” she explained motioning for him to get up.
“I….”
He hesitated. Not knowing if he should try in case he fell and crushed her to death. He’d be dead all over in a heartbeat if Vegeta was still as hostile over his things as he was before.
“I’ll help him, Bulma.” They both turned to look at the doorway where Vegeta still stood waiting. “You go get the food ready. I’m hungry too.”
“Fine, fine. I get it. You homeboys gotta get reacquainted, right?” Bulma smiled at Raditz again, seemingly happy that he was doing better. A stark difference from the woman that had been yelling just a few minutes prior.
The room quieted again, Raditz looking at Vegeta as if he’d seen death itself. He was older than he’d remembered. He still looked the same, but his jaw was far more sleeked and defined, his body much stockier, and his expression was ... gentle? Vegeta still held the look of a permanent scowl but for once in his life, Raditz didn’t fear it was the last thing he’d see. He hadn’t looked at him clearly, or anyone for that matter, the day he was brought here and he wasn’t sure if this was still some strange form of punishment destined to scramble his brain by warping everything he’s ever known.
“Raditz,” Vegeta began, his voice calm, steady, and not filled with distaste like it normally would have at the mention of his name.
“V ... Vegeta,” Raditz responded, still trying to get control of his voice.
The two just stared at each other awkwardly. Vegeta clearly hadn’t thought this through or expected to be able to talk to him like he used to. He waited a moment longer, before motioning for Raditz to try and stand.
Raditz looked down at the blanket and hoped to the Gods that he at least had his bottoms on. He’d noted his armor had been long gone but considering the need for medical attention, that was a given. The last thing he wanted now was to stand up and give Vegeta a full-frontal view at almost eye level.
On wobbly legs, he stood for a moment and fell back down onto the bed. Vegeta held out a hand to help him back up and Raditz slapped it away.
“I may be of a lower class but I still have my pride,” he snapped bitterly.
Vegeta held up a hand in pacification and moved to the side. Once again, Raditz tried to stand. His legs wobbled but he stayed standing, straightening up before taking a few steps successfully. By the time Raditz got the hang of using his legs again, Bulma had already finished helping Panchy with their meal.
The trip downstairs had been a natural disaster if you counted all the broken rails and vases but he'd at least managed not to fall down. Meeting Panchy was strange to him. He’d blushed profusely when she called him handsome and made comments about his body.
“Oh my, it’s nice to see your muscles are coming back in! I can’t wait to feel them when you start training!” She had chirped while clasping both hands next to her cheek.
Raditz had ignored the comment as best he could and followed Vegeta into the dining room. He was unsure about the dinner. The food smelled good enough but if memory served him well, Vegeta got first dibs. He watched everyone as they dug right in, waiting for the appropriate time to take some food.
“Oh Radish, honey, dig right in! You must be starving! There’s plenty of food, don’t you worry!” exclaimed Panchy.
He gave her a curious look before chancing a glance over to Vegeta, who typically didn’t like to be looked at while eating, and received a nod of approval from the Prince. This was weird. Why was everything so weird?
Looking at his plate incredulously, he grabbed a roll and carefully took a bite while eyeing Vegeta from his peripherals. He expected some kind of punishment as if he was being set up, but he received another nod of approval and was promptly ignored.
Raditz couldn’t believe how starved he was; even with all of the medical IVs he’d received, he was scarfing down plate after plate. Panchy only crooned and chirped at his healthy appetite, offering him more and more food until she was needing to heat up leftovers. By the time he finished eating, Panchy was making a list of the food he seemed to like most and began planning for a major grocery run the next day.
Dr. Briefs hadn’t said much during the meal but did offer Raditz some of his favorite desserts to try. It was still strange that the people of this household had been so kind and giving. If he didn’t know better, that was probably why Vegeta had stayed – to take anything and everything he wanted. Not to mention probably to take what the female was offering.
After dinner, he ended up outside trying to bring back that peaceful feeling he had felt the night he was revived. He just couldn’t wrap his head around everything. Nothing made sense – everything was just weird! At least one thing hadn’t changed, one thing on this planet still made sense. And that was being out in the fresh air, the stars burning bright above like nothing was wrong in the universe. It never changed, that feeling, even if the sky he was looking into was different.
His memories were coming back little by little. His days in the PTO were never pleasant, never easy – but when he’d get a chance to look up at night he’d feel close to his mother. Gine wasn’t a fighter like everyone else. She could fight and be as volatile as any other Saiyan but she chose not to. She was peaceful and that was all she wanted for her children. Peace.
“It’s strange isn’t it,” said Vegeta from beside the taller Saiyan, startling him. “How different things have gotten.”
“Different, yet the same.”
“What do you mean? I don’t recall us conversing ever being something we did often,” questioned Vegeta with a side glance.
“I mean the same in how you seem to drag me into something to better suit yourself….”
Vegeta furrowed his brow, a pang of guilt tightening within his chest. He knew Raditz was right, he had always just brought him when he needed him. He never viewed any of his subordinates as friends, just stepping stones for getting to where he wanted to be. Whether it was to become an elite force in the PTO or save the Universe from being destroyed, he was still just using him for what he wanted.
“Are you saying you would have rather stayed dead?”
“I’m not sure. I’m not sure bringing me back would be worth anything. At least I know you would agree considering how long I was dead for. You can kill me again if I’m out of line, sire. I just don’t….”
“Shut up, Raditz. Shut up with that ‘sire’ bullshit, it doesn’t matter anymore. Shut up with that death non-sense too. You think you’re the only one who’s ever been risen from the dead and been confused? I’ve died twice and both revivals were flukes,” Vegeta shook his head and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to have this conversation with Raditz but he felt like he deserved to know.
“When I was on Planet Namek in search of the dragon balls there - Nappa and I found out the green guy you fought was Namekian and was tied to the dragon balls here so we figured Namek would have more - Frieza killed me. I….I killed Nappa here after Kakarot broke his back. He was useless dead weight and I was desperate to get those dragon balls. You were dead, Nappa was dead, and Kakarot and I were the only 2 Saiyans left. To top it all off, Kakarot won the fight and spared me.
“I don’t know if it was humiliation or rage that spurred me on, but I did anything and everything to win on Namek, to get the wishes. I teamed up with the Earthlings, betrayed them, teamed up with them again, and just got murdered anyway. I told Kakarot about our past, what Frieza had done, and begged him to win. Next thing I know, a beam is going through my chest and what felt like just seconds later I was crawling out of a shallow grave.
“Then I saw it, the legendary Super Saiyan form – obtained by your brother, the low-class Saiyan that needed help defeating you had reached the unattainable form. I found out later that they wished back all of Frieza’s victims on Namek. I never considered myself that, but the dragon did and my life was restored and I was brought here with another wish.”
Raditz didn’t know what to make of the story so far. He felt like interrupting, like he should be asking if this was really true or something he was making up to make him feel better, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. He was confused more now than ever, not because of what happened on Namek that led to him being here, but by how much Vegeta had changed. He never spoke to Raditz unless it was barking orders or telling him off. Now he was sharing a bit more than he had ever shared about his life without being asked.
‘WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!’
“My second revival was during another battle that was threatening to annihilate this planet ...and I had helped….”
He continued his story, filling Raditz in about Buu and how he’d given in to the prospect of power just to finally defeat his younger, more powerful brother. How he had sacrificed himself in the end and for it to be for naught and how he was revived as a “good person” killed during the attacks. By the end of it, Vegeta was sporting a light pink blush having realized he had a lot to get off his chest still.
“I know this is all odd and different, but there was a reason I chose to revive you instead of who your brother suggested. Frieza….”
“I don’t understand. Why not Nappa instead? He was better at following your orders, he was even stronger. What made you possibly think of me?” asked Raditz, even more desperate for answers. He tried to turn and face Vegeta but almost all at once, his head became a fuzzy mess. He was suddenly groggy and dizzy, fighting the urge to reach out for help.
Vegeta grabbed the back of Raditz’s shirt and managed to steady him. He finally looked at Raditz, really looked at him and the pang of guilt returned. He looked broken, not dead or like someone who was adjusting, just… broken. He had an idea of what this was but he couldn’t keep up this “sharing is caring” bullshit any longer.
“I need to go train. I highly suggest you get more rest. You’re still not fully recovered but this is a start. Having an actual meal will help speed things along.” Vegeta pulled Raditz by the arm, urging him to follow but gripping his arm tightly enough to indicate that he was done talking. Raditz knew, somehow he just understood what Vegeta meant even though they had never been close enough for him to pick up on these quirks of his.
As Vegeta helped him to bed and cleared out of the room at record speed, Raditz couldn’t help but continuously wonder why? Why him? Why now? Was he being punished? His eyes drifted closed and his body relaxed as he tried his best to force the questions out of his mind for now. He didn’t even bother to open his eyes when Bulma and Panchy went in to check on him.
He could hear them whispering as if trying not to disturb him, not that it did much good since the drugs Bulma had him on had worn off. They checked the monitors, checked the bandages that were visible but avoided moving him too much, and Panchy had even laid out a snack for him. She brushed back his hair and kissed him on the forehead eliciting a snort from Bulma who had to remind her mother that he was not a child.
“I know he’s not a child, sweetie, but he just looks so pained. I think he could use some affection, the poor boy has had a rough 3 days and it’s only going to get worse as training begins. Oh, I wish I could just cuddle up next to him but I doubt your father would like that!”
“I don’t think Raditz would be too fond of that,” giggled Bulma. “You know, not even Goku allows for much affection unless it’s from Chi-Chi.”
“Oh poo!”
“Come on, Mom. He needs his rest,” whispered Bulma as she began ushering her mother out of the room before she had a chance to hop into bed with Raditz, much to his relief.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Vegeta turned up the GR to the highest it would go without the safety features cutting off on him. He was at a loss, wondering what came over him while standing outside with Raditz. What caused him to open up that much to a Saiyan that was once no more than just someone he used for his benefit? If he thought about it, it wasn’t much different right now. He hadn’t revived Raditz because he missed him or because he felt if he could then he should and have more subjects to rule over.
Nope, it was more of the same. He was using Raditz as another team member to fight for their universe so he and his family could live. He had brought back someone who had been dead for about 15 years over someone stronger because he just couldn’t let go of the past. Couldn’t let go of everything Frieza did – why should he when Frieza wouldn’t change for the better anyway – and couldn’t let go of the power he held over Raditz.
Truth be told, he had considered Nappa. He had been stronger than Raditz at the time of death and had one less year in Hell, as he assumed that’s where he’d be. Something didn’t sit right with Nappa though. Vegeta had been the one to kill him. He didn’t die at the hands of the enemy in the midst of battle, he died at the hands of his Prince because he was broken. Nappa probably wouldn’t have followed suit had he been revived. That man could hold a grudge as well as Vegeta could.
He dodged a bot, flipped over the laser that was shot in his direction and kicked off the wall towards the bot, hitting the shutoff button, and setting his eyes on the next target. Concentrating on the task at hand again, he continued his grueling punishment. Every time his mind drifted to Raditz and their conversation, he would purposely take a hit to force his mind back into the training.
Several hours later, he emerged from the GR drenched in sweat and more exhausted than he had ever been for not having used Ki during the workout. His limbs ached and staying awake was becoming harder to do with every heavy step he took towards his bedroom. He felt as though he was about to pass out when a sudden, gut-wrenching scream shook the compound to life. Chills worked their way down his spine as he froze for just a second and made a mad dash towards the recovery room housing Raditz.
The sound was something he hadn’t heard in ages – anguished screams. He had blocked out his past memories since the Buu incident, blocked out anything that the old him enjoyed including the tortured screams of anyone who got in his way. It was strange to hear it again and panic, to rush towards the sound, and not want to beat the life out of someone but to help.
He rounded the corner and almost ran into Bulma who was also making a mad dash towards the room. “Get back! Don’t go in there, you don’t know what he’ll do!” Vegeta shouted as Panchy was also making her appearance at the other end of the hall.
Vegeta ran into the room and found Raditz curled into a ball, grunting and gasping in pain.
“Raditz?.... Raditz!”
Nothing, not a peep. He stepped closer, keeping his guard up in case the large Saiyan lashed out but he didn’t. Raditz continued to curl into himself, pain evident on his face and in his screams forced out from behind clenched teeth. As Vegeta got closer it became apparent that Raditz was still asleep.
“I… I think he’s having a nightmare?” Vegeta said to the two women who just couldn’t follow a damn order and stay back.
“Oh my, the poor dear!” exclaimed Panchy as she pushed by Vegeta and began stroking Raditz’s hair. “It’s okay, Raddy, you’re safe here.”
“Mom, he looks like he’s in pain. Whatever he’s dreaming of probably had him jerk suddenly. He’s in no condition to make sudden moves with his body being weak, he might have pulled something.”
“Doubtful…”
“What do you mean, Vegeta?”
“He’s a Saiyan, Bulma. How many times have I been injured and had a nightmare? How many times have I pulled something from jerking awake?”
Bulma thought about it for a second and it was clear that Vegeta had a point. Sure, Raditz was weak right now but he was still progressing faster than anticipated and him pulling a muscle would have at least woken him up. Yet he was still fast asleep, his eyes never opening as he began to relax under Panchy’s touch.
“What do you think he’s dreaming about that could cause this reaction?” wondered Bulma out loud not really expecting an answer.
“Hell probably…”
Panchy and Bulma both looked at Vegeta with a shocked yet sorrowful expression knowing full well that this wasn’t going to be easy to deal with. Vegeta had had his fair share of nightmares after being revived, dreaming of Hell, and the torture he had endured after being dead for just a few hours. He never remembered them but he always screamed, always slept through it. It was strange how that worked but it took Bulma hypnotizing him to etch those memories out.
Vegeta knew the worst part was not remembering it in the morning. Not being aware of what kept everyone on edge or why. He was convinced it was to keep the torture going. To remind the person that there was truly no escape from hell.
*~*~*~*~*~*Raditz’ Nightmare (WARNING: Graphic depictions of torture ahead)*~*~*~*~*~*
He coughed and sputtered as yet another chain was yanked, taking the rib it was tethered to with it. He screamed unable to do anything else. The pain was too much to handle, he doubled over and clutched his abdomen, coughing, gasping, and sputtering as he tried desperately to breathe. Each movement caused him twice as much pain as before.
There was no escaping the pain. No adrenaline rush to numb it – the nerves were ripped away yet they felt like they were still there, triggered by just a slight thought. No relief, just pain. He should have known that had been just some weird dream. Vegeta would never wish him back to life, for anything. He was here, in Hell, being tortured as he had always been for 15 years.
The demons must have thought it would be funny to give him some small reprieve and semblance of hope before coming back to business as usual. Perhaps they were finally getting bored with him. You could probably only torture one soul for so long before it started to feel like you were in a rut.
Another chain was pulled and out came a portion of his jaw. He screamed again, clenching his face as his body began to shake. You’d think he’d be used to it by now, the same pain, the same torture but it was always like new. He’d pass out from the pain when he was nothing but a stump of torso and wake up whole again, ready to start anew. And every day the pain felt like the first time… unbearable.
There was never any time to think about what you’ve done. What had you done in your life that was so absolutely horrible that you’d spend years on end being tortured the same way, day after day after day? He wouldn’t know. Raditz tried to remember, tried to think back to who he was before this place and it never came to him. Was he truly deserving of this punishment? Or was this overkill for a small sin that marred you as guilty to the Gods?
Some days, he would just wish for death only to realize he was dead. He was dead and he was here for a reason. Two more chains pulled and he howled in agony, falling face-first onto the ground with no way to try and soothe himself. His pelvis was now missing two large chunks of bone from each side of his hips. His eyes filled with tears and he lay face down in the dirt.
“Why? Why me? I was just following orders! I did what all Saiyans did to survive!” he cried out as the torment continued. He whimpered and gasped as the world around him started fading to black. Then he heard something. It was different, new. A voice? But who……
*~*~*~*~*~*Back in the room*~*~*~*~*~*
“It’s okay, Raddy, you’re safe. It’s not real, it’s just a nightmare. No one is hurting you and you are a good boy,” cooed Panchy as she continued to stroke Raditz’s hair. She was doing her best to soothe him as she had always done for her children and for Trunks. After their battle with Buu, sometimes Trunks would have intense nightmares.
She was aware of the eye-rolling and looks that were being thrown in her direction by the two adults behind her but she didn’t care. Raditz didn’t deserve to be stuck in a nightmare, not if she could do something about it.
Not long after, Raditz began to relax. His brows no longer furrowed in pain and his body slowly began to uncoil from itself. The atmosphere in the room began to ease as well and before they could stop it from happening, Raditz had managed to pull Panchy close, his tail wrapping around her leg as she sat at the edge of the bed.
“Oh my, I guess I’m staying for a while. Bulma, be a dear and get a cool cloth. Raddy is just burning up!”
Bulma grabbed the cloth for her mother and asked a few times if she was going to be alright there with Raditz, each time she was met with, “Go back to bed, you two. Everything will be fine.” They finally gave up on trying to help her and opted for just having her call Vegeta the moment she needed help.
They dragged themselves to their bedroom, Vegeta showering before joining Bulma in bed, and hoped tomorrow would be a better day.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Here are 2 doodles by my partner @miraivashsfreak Click here to see Twitter post
