I do not own DBZ or any characters. Akira Toriyama does.

Author's note

I chose to re-write this from its original version because, let's face it, it was awful. The story might have worked, but the way it was written was awful. So I killed my earlier version, and just kept my preliminary plans, and started over, making improvements.

Anyway, this fanfic, or spin-off of my favorite manga/anime, Dragon Ball Z, is going to be long. I originally intended for it to be long. There will be a lot of character description, as I have found that, in all entertainment, it is essential to get into a character's mind for scenarios to make their best impact.

I will begin at the roots of the Saiyan saga, in the midst of the battle between Raditz, Piccolo, and Goku. This is a story of what would have happened if Goahn, son of Goku, had his mind wiped of memory, and taken to join the saiyans. After Gohan's mind is wiped, everything will be told through the eyes of Gohan.

CHAPTER 1

A Hero Falls

The battle between Raditz, Goku, and Piccolo raged on, and on, and on. The bulky saiyan warrior was easily dominating the fight, even through an injury from his nephew, now unconscious on the ground. The green on leaps away and his brother charges at him.

Heh, he thought, this is going to be too easy.

This is Raditz:

A proud warrior. One of the last survivors of the tragedy on planet Vegeta. He works for Freeza, as a galactic relater and muscle force.

Losing his father, and taking his brother for dead at such a young age, he labored mercilessly at the hands of Freeza. Even being a Saiyan, he was considered to be weak. With a power at 1200, even though that was light years ahead of anything experienced on Earth, his power was nothing. He was ranked among the lowest class of Freeza's soldiers. But he was determined to become strong, exterminating planet after planet with his comrades, Vegeta, and Nappa.

But now, he had a special mission.

He had come to this mud ball to claim his brother, and only family, Kakarot.

He did not like what he had found.

A planet of weaklings. A foolish, whimsical brother, stripped of his saiyan pride. His power level was not worthy of their race, in the 300 to 400 range, it was PATHETIC! Even his tail, the mark of their race, had been gone.

Now, being the fool that Kakarot was, he came to fight him! His pitiful onslaught had been such idiocy. The only advantage he had now was that his son wounded him. Oh well, Kakarot had to be dealt with. But now, Raditz had his sights set on something far more valuable: Son Gohan, Kakarot's son.

Goku tried to charge at Raditz, who easily dodged and put a knee in his gut, grabbed him by the back of the shirt, and tossed him away. Looking over, he found the Namekian charging up his Special Beam Cannon.

"Fool!" Raditz shouted, with his voice dripping with cockiness, "Do you really think that I'll fall for THAT again?"

He raised his hand, and created a powerful blast. But just before he fired it, he was jerked back. He turned and found that Goku held him in a half nelson.

"DO it, Piccolo!" Goku shouted through Raditz's grunts.

"Heh, Goku, don't think that harming YOU will stop me! For me, I'm just killing two birds with one stone."

"I DON'T CARE! JUST DO IT!"

Raditz used this distraction to his advantage. He used his leg, and kicked up, hard, and sent Goku reeling. He punched his brother away, and leapt into the air, with Piccolo's blast missing him by inches. Raditz walked slowly over toward his defenseless brother. He stood over him, grinning menacingly down at him.

"You are a disgrace to our race, Kakarot."

He stepped on his arm, breaking it.

"You are soft,"

He broke his leg

"You are weak,"

He broke his other leg.

"and you have no Saiyan pride."

He cracked his other arm.

Goku could now only sit, and gaze into his brother's menacing black eyes. Using the very last ounce of strength, he slowly raised his crippled hand, and shot a blast that hit Raditz in the eye, but all it accomplished was shattering his scouter.

"There. Something for you to remember your brother," Goku was just barely able to mutter.

"Hmp. Very touching," Raditz uttered mockingly, "Now,"

His hands glowed yellow.

"DOUBLE SUNDAY!"

The blast shot straight down at Goku. No dodging, no blocks, just complete emersion in the wave of yellow energy. Goku's body emerged, singed, and beaten. No scouter was needed to tell that he was dead.

Raditz turned, leaving his brother, and moved toward the now hopeless Piccolo. But as he turned , he saw his brothers son stomping toward him.

"You…" Gohan seethed, "You killed my DADDY!"

Raditz got in a defensive stance, remembering what this child did before. But then, something unexpected happened. The boy's hand started to glow. He was charging a ki attack!

But this made no sense, this child had been untrained! He had no control over his ki!

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Gohan released this attack, which came toward Raditz at an overwhelming rate. Raditz stuck out his hands, trying desperately to throw it off.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Gohan's blast finally took him, but before it could cause too much damage, it stopped. This outburst had only lasted a few seconds, but had Raditz even more severely wounded. Gohan's eyes flickered. He fell to his knees, and slumped to the side.

(In the midst of the confusion, unknown to Raditz, Piccolo had hidden, and was now watching Raditz)

Raditz recovered himself, and limped over to the boy. He picked him up by the back of his surcoat, and looked him over.

Hmm… Raditz pondered to himself, this boy has great power. But, it seems as though his power only emerges when his emotions hit their peak, and then drop to nothing. He needs training, but could be a powerful asset.

He limped over to the remnants of his ship, and began to look for its transmitter, praying to god that it hadn't been broken. He finally found it. He franticly worked the controls in an attempt to contact Vegeta. At last, his signal got through, and he heard Vegeta's rough voice snarl "What is it?"

Raditz filled in Vegeta on all that happened, including his theories on the boy. When he finished, there was a moment of silence.

"Hmp," Vegeta grunted, "Well, this seems interesting. I'll send a pair of ships to take you to Planet Freeza 124. Train him. Be merciless. But don't-"

And with that, the transmitter went dead.

Raditz looked around, and saw the Namekian trying to make an escape.

"Ha! Oh, no, no, no, no, no!"Raditz laughed, and shot a blast knocking Piccolo out of the air. HE rushed over toward Piccolo, still alive, and fairly well, for Raditz had lost a lot of chi.

"Heh, you thought THAT puny attack would hurt me?" Piccolo said

"Ha!?"

"Oh, and don't worry, Goku will be back in about a week."

"How?"

"The Dragon Balls. They grant wishes. We've just got to collect all seven."

"Well, thank you for this information."

And with breakneck speed, Raditz grabbed Gohan, and took off.