Silence. Unusually thick submerged silence was the first thing he was aware of when he came to. That and darkness.
“Ok… one question is answered, I’m dead” he thought to himself. That foolish feeling of hopefulness at being able to stay alive was now gone. As if he deserved such a chance. After destroying countless worlds by just following orders of some deranged, super-powerful, tyrant and his no-mercy prince, what ever hell that was coming for him, he more than earned. He gave a deep sigh, in utter submission. Something soft cool and bubbly swept up into his face and above his head. He recognized the sensation all too well. He wiggled his mouth and nose and sure enough there was the feeling of a muzzle over them. He inhaled. His throat felt like a dessert, scratchy and dry. Rubbery smelling air swept into his lungs. Now he was certain, he was in a rejuvenation tank. There were a few approving muffled beeps to the side, he recognized them, they were a good sign. They meant the subject held within was now conscious. He heard a light tapping on the glass of his tank.
“Hey, good afternoon in there, you’re making fine progress. Can you open your eyes for me?” said a female voice.
“No doubt some strange alien creature manning the controls” thought Raditz, “Which type is it now, amphibian or canine?” Raditz strained to open his eyes; they felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds. They slowly opened, the cool liquid from the tank rushed into them. At first, his vision was blurry but then it gradually cleared. He could see through and well past the tank to the figure standing in front of him. Raditz blinked a few times in surprise. A female saiyan with short purple hair was starring back at him. She was quite attractive. She smiled and gave a slight nod.
“Blink twice if you could see me alright” Raditz blinked twice, “Now just follow my right hand, okay?” She moved her right hand to the far right side of the tank, but Raditz was still looking at her face.
“Hey, hey, follow my hand, big guy” she instructed. She moved her hand to the side again and Raditz followed, to the other side, up then down as well. She nodded again and examined the computer readings on the side of the tank. Raditz continued to stare at the purple haired female saiyan. He had often thought about how he never gotten the chance to actually converse with one on Planet Vegeta. As far back as he could remember, he was always too busy preparing planets for sale to actually court one. A punishment for lacking adequate strength, he was given frequent assignments to push the growth of his battle skill and power and rarely reported back to his home planet. And then, of course, Planet Vegeta was destroyed by the very person who he was working for and the only survivors where a handful of males. But now, he found himself being brought back from the brink of death on what he assumed was the newly restored Planet Vegeta, complete with the opposite gender. Thinking about being complete, Raditz looked down his torso. His armor had been removed and he noticed he was sitting with nothing more than the black shorts that accompanied his missing armor, the closest thing to fabric a saiyan warrior possesses. The wound he sustained from the green man alien had reduced in size greatly and was almost completely closed up. It was also fizzing slightly; he presumed it was the remnants of the blue jelly like substance those two male saiyans applied to him. Raditz twitched his fingers and slowly made a fist, trying to get the feel for his right arm again. It was a little numb but was quick to respond, he was soon moving it easily. He was about to inspect the fizzing bubbles on his stomach but stopped when he heard tapping on the tank again.
“You should leave that alone, if you want it to heal properly” encouraged the female saiyan, “I’m going to put you back to sleep ok? You still have to rest before you’re back at 100%” Raditz tried to protest but the female saiyan already pushed a button that activated the anesthetic vapor through his muzzle and it wasn’t long until the gas reached his lungs. Again, he began to feel drowsy but he was a little less worried about his situation. He also made a valiant effort to catch one more glance of the technician of his rejuvenation tank. There was a small young girl however obstructing part of his view. She was dressed in a pint size version of grey saiyan armor. Her skin was light and both her hair and eyes were a strange bright blue. She gazed at him in curiosity and apprehension.
“A hallucination?” thought Raditz, “That hair is unreal…but she looks familiar” His eyes closed and then he fell asleep.

* * *

B-BEEEEEEEEEP!!! Raditz woke with a start. He found him self still submerged in the rejuvenation tank but he knew that wouldn’t be the case for long. The alarm that just sounded meant the subject contained was now completely recovered. He looked down at his torso; there was no longer any fizzing substance, only his bare stomach. It had a slightly jagged circular pattern of lighter skin where his wound used to be. He traced his fingers across it, he was relieved to feel no pain what so ever. He stretched his arm behind him to feel his back, no hole, no pain. He laughed, causing a cloud of bubbles to escape from the muzzle around his mouth. What luck! He looked past the glass chamber of the tank. It was still and dark, only the soft glow of the lights from the rejuvenation tank were available. It most likely was the middle of the night. He saw no movement at all, bad luck. He was excited to get out of the tank and find out what was going on. Where was he exactly? A dark thought entered his mind and his eagerness dropped into distress. Could it be the saiyans he met were also under the control of the oppressor Frieza? He wasn’t looking forward to that type of news. He then heard quaint shuffling from behind the tank. The small girl with blue eyes and hair slowly peeked from behind one of the walls of the monitors; she was now dressed in only black fabric shorts and top. Her hair was stringy and a mess as she looked at him drowsily. Raditz took a gamble and guessed it was early morning. She walked up to the glass tank and rubbed her eye sleepily with the back of her right hand. He swallowed hard, trying to re hydrate his throat so he could speak properly through the muzzle on his mouth.
“Hey…kid…can you get me out of here?” Raditz asked through the muzzle, his voice rough. She should be able to hear him though. She blinked at him, startled, and took a step back.
“No…kid…just let me out.” he swallowed again “It’s really easy. Turn the big dial all the way to the left and push the red button above it” Raditz pointed to the controls below the monitor readings on the side of the tank and demonstrated with hand movements what to do while he spoke. He had been in rejuvenation tanks a number of times and caught on how they work, at least when releasing a patient anyway. The girl looked up and saw the controls but didn’t make any movement toward them. She looked back at Raditz uneasily and took another step back.
“No! Girl…just…!”
“Bura…what are you doing?” The purpled haired female saiyan appeared out of the darkness. She also looked like she had just woken up; hair wild and sleepy eyes. The girl with blue hair moved to hide behind her legs and pointed at Raditz. She spoke too softly for him to hear.
“What? Finished already?” said the purple haired saiyan as she looked at the readings of the monitor to the tank; she laughed “I am good” She stepped closer to the tank and looked at Raditz, “But it is kind of early to have to deal with this guy” she looked down at the young girl with a playful smile, “Should we put him back to sleep, Bura?” Raditz’s eyes went wide,
“What?! No! I want to get out!” he practically shouted. He pressed his hands urgently against the glass. The purple haired female looked at him thoughtfully,
“Desperate huh, well…I guess sooner is better than later” she smiled at the young girl, “If he’s kept in there any longer, he might start to wrinkle”. The blue haired girl hugged the female saiyan’s leg tightly, a frightened expression on her face.
“Oh…it’s okay Bura, sweetie. He’s not going to hurt you” the female saiyan reassured and then turned a hard glare at Raditz, “RIGHT?” Raditz blinked in confusion. It sounded like a threat. He had no beef with a child, as long as they didn’t annoy him with shrill crying. Why was that strange girl afraid of him? He nodded in agreement.
“Good”, she said and started to work the controls for the rejuvenation tank. There was a long buzz and then the tank started to drain. Once finished, the hatch opened up and Raditz removed the muzzle on his face. His long hair was limp and heavy with the fluid from the tank. He was also a bit chilled. It was early morning after all and the air was cold. The female saiyan offered him a thick brown towel but noticed he was having trouble getting to his feet.
“Making plans to sit there all morning?” she asked.
“…I…can’t! I can’t get up! I can’t feel my legs!” Raditz panicked. He was so focused about recovering from the hole through his torso; he hadn’t noticed his legs had gone completely dead. This was NOT good. If he was going to survive, where ever he was, he was going to need his entire body functioning.
“What?” the female saiyan knelt down beside him and examined his legs, lifting them slightly by the back of his knee, “You can’t feel that?”
“No!”
“That’s strange. Your legs should have been fine”
“So what does this mean? I can’t use them anymore?!”
“Oh, calm down!” she demanded and threw the towel in his face, “You’ve been sitting in here for a few days now. Your legs might have just gone to sleep. Just tell me when you start to feel anything”. Raditz rubbed his head slowly with the brown towel, lost in his troubled thoughts.
“This is just perfect! I went from having a full recovery to being a paraplegic. I’ll never hear the end of it, whoever is here. A laughing stalk, that’s what I’ll be. Again. I can’t get one damn BREAK?! Does this woman even know what she’s doing? GOD! Maybe it would have been better if I just died on that planet with Kakarrot and be forgotten for the rest of time. Then I wouldn’t have to live like…what’s that?” Raditz noticed a squeezing feeling on the side of his upper right thigh. He actually felt something? He looked down to see the female saiyan casually massaging the muscles in his right leg. A slow spiky tingly sensation started to spread down into his foot. Wiggling his toes made it stronger. He could actually wiggle his toes?! His legs WERE actually asleep. The female saiyan moved her hands back down his leg and stopped at his knee.
“Well, if you still can’t feel anything now, then I guess the damage you took must have affected your legs. I’ll still try and help you with them. We just need to…” She looked up and noticed his face. He was blushing, a dark red. Her eyes narrowed and she moved her left hand to the bottom of his right foot and dragged her nails across it. Raditz jerked his foot away clumsily and slid backwards bumping his head on the back of the rejuvenation tank.
“YOU BIG PERVY FAKER!!” she yelled at him and pulled the towel down covering his head, “YOU’RE JUST FINE!” She pushed the towel roughly into his face causing him to hit the back of his head again.
“OW!”
“ I can’t believe I actually felt concerned! When all you wanted was for me to feel you up?! Agh! I’m and idiot!” She stood up and stalked back to the controls, “I think I WILL put you back in the tank!” She hit a few buttons and the machines started to hum, preparing to close the hatch and refill the tank. Raditz scrambled out of it, stumbling a bit, his legs were still weak, before it resealed itself. The female saiyan snapped her fingers,
“Damn, missed him! Bura let this be your first lesson of the male species”, she said to the young blue haired girl, “Never give them the benefit of the doubt. Always suspect and expect the worse from them” The young girl nodded swiftly and clamped onto the female saiyans leg again.
“I swear, it wasn’t intentional, I really couldn’t feel my legs”. Raditz was leaning against the base of the rejuvenation tank on his now awaken right foot while he toweled off his left.
“Yeah, I’m sure” she said sarcastically crossing her arms, not convinced. Raditz decided he wasn’t going to waste anymore time trying to persuade the female saiyan of his motives. She’s free to believe what she wants. He had other, more pressing topics, to ask her about. He finished toweling himself off and gathered the ends of his hair in the towel. He was still dripping there.
“I guess I should thank you for fixing me up…um…”
“Rutatzu”, she said, “ ‘Ruta’ for short. And ‘thanks’ aren’t necessary. I was just following orders”
“…Ruta?...Orders?”
“That’s right. You were dragged in here a couple of nights ago by a pair of scouts. Man, where you a mess!” she said with a grin as she recalled the memory, “They were really insistent that I should help you out. And they convinced the King’s council that you’d volunteer to instruct Bura. So they ordered me to restore you. Though I got to say, the state they brought you in, someone really hated you. Blasted a hole the size of a skull right through you!” She started laughing, holding a hand up to her mouth. Raditz only caught one part of her explanation. He starred at her, shocked.
“The King?! King Vegeta is alive?!” Ruta rushed up to him and covered his mouth with her right hand, the amusement on her face replaced with caution.
“Don’t ever say that name around here! Ever!” she whispered warily, “After all the work I went through to repair your body, you simply saying THAT NAME around the wrong people could get you killed. Geez! Talk about being reckless” She removed her hand from his mouth then, wiping it slightly on her shorts. He starred at her confused.
“I don’t…understand. Who is the current ‘King’ if not…”
“King Paragus is our present ruler along with is son, Prince Brolly and grandson Prince Kumat” Raditz blinked, perplexed,
“…never heard of them…”
“Yeah, well you’re not the only one” chuckled Ruta, “But no one dares to challenge them for the throne. His son, Brolly possesses the strength of the legendary Super Saiyan, though he loses nearly all his senses when he does, King Paragus is the only one who can control him and that makes both of them incredibly dangerous to anyone who opposes them”
“Did…you say…Super Saiyan?” Raditz asked, eyes wide.
“Yes”, replied Ruta face grim, “It’s an awesome and overwhelming sight to behold. His hair turns a bright yellow glowing with power all saiyan strive to achieve and yet…his eyes are void of any control,” a satisfying smile played on her lips, “…Frieza never had a chance”
“He…defeated Lord Frieza?!” Ruta glanced at Raditz attentively.
“What era do you come from?” she asked. His brow furrowed in confusion again,
“What?”
“Okay, maybe a simpler question will do. What was your situation before you were recruited?”
“Uh…” Raditz thought for a moment, “ Our planet had been destroyed and…there were only three of us, me, Nappa and Prince Vege…” He stopped when Ruta gave him a warning look, “…just three of us. And we were under control of Lord Frieza. I was sent to retrieve my brother Kakarrot but he had fought back and renounced his Saiyan heritage. We both got blasted through and then two other saiyan males showed up”
“Tuce and Otoke. Those where the scouts that brought you in” Ruta yawned, “Sounds like you’re from a far earlier era to this one. I’d say you were picked up about 30 or more years ago from now” Raditz slumped against the rejuvenation tank,
“This…is too much to take in. I’m not following anything”
“Just completely forget what ever you were currently doing. No Frieza, no renegade brother and especially no loyalty to the former royal saiyan house. Once the King’s council shows up, they’ll set you up of your new mission. Ruta yawned again and started to walk toward the back of the treatment center with the young girl following close beside her. Raditz trailed them, still toweling the ends of his hair.
“No Frieza? So… all in all, we’re finally free?” he asked.
“Sure, as long as you pledge your alliance to the King and follow his every command. You’re free. But if you don’t, he’ll kill you on the spot”
“Sounds about the same, but as long as it’s a saiyan ruler, that would be fine by me”
“Hmm…you’re easy to please” Ruta waved her hand in front of a sensor and a door slid open to reveal a smaller room. It was slightly warmer inside thanks to a soft glowing heater cylinder in the center of the room. There were also long bed type structures along the walls, complete with head and arm rests. Ruta gently placed the young girl on one of the beds closest to a corner and sat on one right next to her.
“We still have a few hours until the morning routines start. I’ll send for the King’s council then and they’ll get you up to speed on things and your assignment” Ruta yawned again and relaxed on the bed, “You should take this time to catch your breath and unwind. They’re really a bunch of pricks and it’s easy to fall into a bad mood when they’re around. This might be your last chance at peace”. Raditz sat on one of the beds, his back leaning against the wall. He had no desire to take a nap. His head was still swirling with questions.
“A Super Saiyan actually exists?” he thought, “Prince Vegeta would have been very interested in learning about this. But he doesn’t exist in this…era. Now it’s King Paragus and Prince Brolly?” Raditz rubbed a side of his head with the towel, now very damp. He laid it down beside him and sighed heavily. Ruta glanced at him sleepily,
“I’m serious, big guy, you should get some Z’s in before meeting the council. The assignment you’re responsible for is of great interest to the King”
“You know what the assignment is?”
“I already told you, it’s to instruct Bura in basic combat techniques and the like”
“…who is this ‘Bura’?” Ruta sat up and gestured to the blue-haired girl sleeping on the corner bed. She was so quiet; he had forgotten she was even there. Raditz gaped at the young girl and looked back at Ruta, searching for some sign that she was joking. She wasn’t.
“Is there a problem?”