Raditsu leaned against the gravity machine, looking down at his new uniform. The armor was white with gold shoulder straps and a stomach plate of identical color, and it was accompanied by a full black jumpsuit and white boots. He hadn't bothered to cut his hair, and it now hung to the middle of his back - [Bulma would be after me with the scissors if I were back on Earth,] he thought wryly. Then again, he preferred long hair.

A few more minutes passed. [He's late,] Raditsu noted.

To pass the time, Raditsu turned on the blue-visored scouter given to him by the armorer, and set it to read off his own power level by holding it at arm's length with the visor pointing towards him. It bleeped after a moment, and he put it back on. Seventy three thousand - over ten times more powerful than the level he had come to Freeza Planet 1 with.

A few more minutes rolled by. "Where IS he?" Raditsu muttered.

About ten seconds later, a side door slid open, and Raditsu looked over to watch Rikum walk in. "Took you long enough," the Saiyajin remarked.

"Sorry," Rikum shrugged. "I was lining something up with Baata."

"What?"

"We decided that the basic training is going too slowly. We need to get a bit of sparring into the program."

"I see." Raditsu suddenly grinned. "Do I get to beat up on Kakarotto?"

"Sorry. We're pitting you against some of our tougher soldiers."

"Oh." A little surge of disappointment ran through him. He LOVED beating up Kakarotto.

"Come on, there's a sparring pad on the roof," Rikum nodded, gesturing to a hatchway in the top of the gravity room. The huge man flew up under the strength of his ki, opening the hatch and lifting out of the room. Raditsu flew after him.

The rooftop pad was vast, flat, and completely open to the bluish sky. Raditsu looked around once, then asked, "Where's the other guy?"

"Right over there," Rikum said, pointing with a huge finger towards the other side of the pad. Raditsu followed the gesture to see a tall blue creature with a long blue head and thin fangs.

"And exactly who is that?" Raditsu frowned.

"Plum," grunted the blue thing.

"Plum?"

"Plum."

"Right."

"You'll start when I blow the whistle," Rikum called, holding up a silvery whistle. "Get ready."

Raditsu braced himself, waiting for the whistle - and it came, a warbling sound that signalled the beginning of the fight. Raditsu darted in behind Plum with a Zanzoken, but ended up barely dodging a swift backhanded punch. He thrust at Plum's skull with his left fist, connecting sharply with the blue fighter's jaw. Plum stumbled back, a bit of violet blood escaping between his fangs.

Pressing his advantage, Raditsu charged forward with another punch. However, Plum was ready for him, bringing both knees up to smash Raditsu in the chest. The big Saiyajin was thrown to one side, but he landed on his right foot and jumped back into the fight, furiously kicking at Plum's head and chest. Plum dodged each kick with visible effort, launching his own assault in the form of a furious rain of punches - punches which were deftly parried by Raditsu's darting palms.

Sweating a bit and grinning with typical Saiyajin battle enthusiasm, Raditsu thrust his left shoulder forward and slammed directly into Plum, following by grabbing the creature's neck and jumping into the air, then hurling Plum downwards, but Plum wasn't beaten yet. The warrior reversed in mid-fall, landing on both feet and with one hand extended. From that hand exploded a blast of yellow energy.

Raditsu extended both hands, catching the energy in his palms. The impact made his ears ring and sent a jolt through his limbs, but he managed to push the attack aside and retaliate with a ki attack of his own, a pair of violet fireballs which missed Plum by a small margin. Raditsu wound up for another attack, but Plum was suddenly in his face, battering him with powerful kicks and punches.

Wiping some blood from his chin, Raditsu drifted back a few feet, then charged directly at Plum, driving his knee into his opponent's torso. Plum's head snapped back, then forward as he fell towards the ground, but again, he landed on both feet and sprang back into the air with a punch soaring for Raditsu's face.

The attack hit dead-on, and pain lanced through Raditsu's head as blood sprayed from his mouth. He fell towards the ground, but he recovered his wits in time to bring both hands down and spring upwards again, driving a two-footed kick into Plum's gut. The kick hurled the blue fighter several feet back, allowing Raditsu a golden opportunity to soar cheerfully in and beat the stuffing out of him with a veritable deluge of fists.

Apparently, Plum's stuffing was reluctant to be beaten out - Plum's fist hit Raditsu hard in the side of the head. The Saiyajin toppled to one side, but recovered and slammed his leg across Plum's chest, ignoring the ensuing spurt of purple liquid that splattered onto his leg. Raditsu attacked again, this time with a savage punch at Plum's stomach, but he was stopped cold by a hastily-moved blue fist that deflected his punch. The other blue fist smashed Raditsu in the gut.

The wind rushed from Raditsu's lungs as the blow hit, but he gathered himself quickly and retaliated by launching into a powerful barrage of kicks. He was starting to get VERY pissed off with this blue freak.

Amazingly, Plum endured the attacks for a good while before dropping back and raising one hand. "Break," he hissed. "Let's get some water and finish up in a few minutes."

A break. Great. Exactly what Raditsu needed. "Right," he nodded, dropping to the ground and landing on both feet. Plum did likewise, and the two walked in silence towards the exit hatch.

Rikum watched them go, one of his brows quirked. Raditsu was making some amazing advances in such a short time. Such advances were almost unheard of.

"There's something odd about him," Rikum mumbled as he followed the warriors towards the hatch.