West City, Capsule Corp.
Raditz made his way to the door of Bulma's lab as if he knew the place by heart and knocked.
"Come in." Bulma's crisp voice came from inside.
Raditz pushed open the door and entered. At the workbench, Bulma was focused on tinkering with a complex mechanical component, without even looking up.
"Bulma," Raditz called.
"Hm?" Only then did Bulma look up, her gaze landing on the figure in the doorway.
She froze for a moment, then blinked, disbelief spreading across her face.
"Ra... Raditz?" She stood up and jogged over, circling him and looking him up and down. "It really is you? How did you... how did you get so tall?!"
The person before her was already taller than she was. He stood straight and broad, his features sharply defined and his eyes bright, with an air of calm confidence.
Although he was wearing the same kind of martial arts uniform as before, he was like a completely different person from the boy she remembered.
"Who else could it be?" Raditz chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "It's been two years since we last saw each other. You'd expect me to have changed a bit."
He thought to himself that it had actually been two and a half years, since he'd spent another six months in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Only half a day had passed outside, but his body had still grown while he was inside.
"You've changed way too much..." Bulma muttered. Without realizing it, she let her gaze linger on Raditz's face for a few more seconds, and for some reason, her cheeks felt a little warm.
The guy really did look... pretty good.
She quickly shook her head and said brusquely, "At least you have a little conscience. You remembered to come back and visit."
"Tell me, what do you need?"
He was always up to something. If he didn't need anything, she wouldn't even catch a glimpse of him.
"Can't I come see you for no reason?" Raditz said with a smile. He got straight to the point. "Here's the thing: I want to take a look at the Gravity Chamber. I'm planning to use it again, but I think your dad set a ten-times-gravity limit before. Could you remove it for me?"
Bulma considered this. "Removing the limit is easy, but can your body handle even higher gravity?"
"Don't worry about it. I can handle it." Raditz paused, then continued, "There's something else, too. I want to collect the Dragon Balls again."
"The Dragon Balls?" Bulma asked, puzzled. "Do you want to make a wish? Krillin's already been brought back to life."
"Yeah... There are a few things I want to ask Shenron about."
Seeing that Raditz wasn't going to explain, Bulma didn't press him. She turned and rummaged through a nearby cabinet. "Here, this is the latest Dragon Radar."
"Thanks," Raditz said, taking the radar. "I'll get going, then. I'll come back once I've taken care of this."
Raditz left the lab and set off immediately.
With his current strength and the speed of his Flight Technique, finding the scattered Dragon Balls was no longer difficult. In just one day, he had gathered all seven.
In a wide-open field, Raditz arranged the seven Dragon Balls. As he recited the incantation, the sky suddenly darkened, and a green dragon appeared.
"State your wish." Shenron's deep voice echoed through the air. "I can grant any wish, but only one."
Looking up at the familiar dragon, Raditz pondered for a long while.
"Can you teleport me to the person who sent King Piccolo the World Martial Arts Tournament footage before? Can you do that?"
The unknown changes to the story caused by his own actions had been like a thorn in Raditz's side, constantly on his mind.
Fortunately, they hadn't caused anything to spiral out of control in the end.
Still, it was best to dig out an enemy lurking behind the scenes as soon as possible.
You want to hide in the shadows and pull the strings?
I'll just use the Dragon Balls to teleport right in front of you. You're not going to explode, are you?
As for the possibility of ending up in the enemy's lair and being put at a disadvantage, Raditz thought, Ever heard of overwhelming skill beating any technique?
"Your wish can be granted, but if the destination is too close, the other person must consent," Shenron said impassively.
"He has to consent?" Raditz frowned. He'd only heard that the person being teleported needed to agree. The person he was teleporting to had to agree, too? Wouldn't that give away my intentions?
"Yes."
Raditz: "..." He suspected Shenron was making things difficult for him.
"Shenron, you know that I was the one who had Kami save you, right? Can't you make an exception?"
"Of course I know. I am deeply grateful for your help," Shenron replied sincerely.
"But wishes can only be granted this way. It is the rule."
Fine, it's the rule, is it? When I go to Namek and find a new Kami, I'll teach you what a rule is.
Raditz grumbled inwardly, but there was nothing he could do. Earth's Shenron just wasn't up to the task.
After thinking it over, he could only revise his request. "Then teleport me to the closest spot you can without needing their consent. That should work, right?"
"That wish is easy to grant." Shenron's eyes flashed with golden light.
In an instant, Raditz disappeared.
After a brief spell of dizziness, Raditz found himself standing in an unfamiliar place.
"Uh... Where am I?"
Before him stretched an endless expanse of bizarre ochre rock formations, jagged and steep, like an irregular maze. The entire area was desolate and lifeless.
"This place is way too remote. It's nothing but rocks." Raditz slowly rose into the air and surveyed the rocky maze. "They sure know how to hide. Anyone could duck into one of these caves, and no one would find them. But..."
Shenron had sent him somewhere nearby, so his target should be hiding in this small area.
He descended and began searching carefully.
Ravines crisscrossed the rocky hills, and caves dotted the landscape, but after searching for a while, he found no obvious signs of human activity.
He used his ability to sense energy to search as well, but couldn't detect any powerful ki.
There were only a few scattered, faint traces of energy, weaker than even a "five-battle-power weakling."
Just as he was wondering whether to use energy blasts to scour the area, a somewhat familiar yet distinctly different ki was rapidly approaching from far away!