Part 1

The New Path

Chapter 1

2 Centimeters Difference

The sickening, wet snapping, the raw wheezing, the agonized and near continuous screams. Piccolo could hear all of it, see all of it, but could do nothing.

Any other day, the green skinned son of tyranny would have been glad to see this kind of thing happen, especially to Goku. But not today. Today, despite the pristine blue sky, rolling green fields, and distant mountains, was turning into a pretty bad day.

~If Goku had told me he had an older brother who was ten times worse than he was, then I would have attacked the lookout and stolen the room of spirit and time!~ He thought, teeth grinding.

To think Piccolo's own helplessness would pain him most greatly, not when losing to his rival, but when watching that murderer, who had slain his similarly named father, being crushed like a bug beneath the heel of another.

Goku screamed.

~Damn it, hold on Goku! Hold on for just a little bit longer…~

As it was, Raditz was taking great pleasure in crushing Piccolo's rival underfoot, making a game of causing him great pain. Goku's chest was a ragged mess, bones clearly broken beneath the skin. Even now the younger sibling lost more and more strength, and it seemed the monstrous Saiyan was nearly finished with his brother.

~When he kills Goku, he'll come at me! I...I've got to anticipate his attack, his speed is too great to defeat in a straight forward contest, but if I can turn and fire the-~

Piccolo's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar hum entering his mind, like the gentle buzzing of a giant bee. It took him several moments before he realized that he was sensing a power level, a new opponent on the field. Evidently, Raditz had sensed this as well, muttering to himself as he craned his head, looking about in all directions.

Piccolo did not look, eyes centered on the alien menace before him. Instead he reached out with his mind, trying to follow where the energy was coming from. But it was no easy task, the ki of this new persona was wild, totally uncontrolled and unconcentrated, like the energy of a mindless beast.

~No, not a beast. Nothing so small. It is more like a storm than a beast!~

Raditz scowled, the huge saiyan continuing to look about, wide eyes darting. But such power also made no attempt to hide itself and both Piccolo and Raditz found the source of that nearly formless, raging energy simultaneously.

"What?"

Raditz's cry was drowned out by a sudden concussion which rang through the air as his spherical starship exploded, leaving only a shower of shards and fragments. Rising above it, spinning through the air before landing in a posture of animalistic rage was Goku's four year old son, Gohan.

"What? What is this?" Raditz exclaimed, eyes bulging as he studied the alien symbols alighting the green lens of his scouter.

"One Thousand three hundred and seven? That's impossible!"

"G-Gohan, run Gohan. Run!" Goku said from the ground, raising his hand towards him as if to will his son from this battle field.

But Piccolo could see it, Raditz had not pulled Gohan into this fight, the boy had chosen to enter it. The boy was a fighter, a monster, and as the buzzing in his skull continued to grow louder and louder, the former demon lord could only gape as the child practically began glowing with power.

"Leave my daddy ALONE!"

With that scream, Gohan launched himself at his befuddled uncle. Piccolo was unable to follow all that happened with his eyes, such was the speed of Gohan's attack. But he felt it.

~Just a few centimeters difference~ Piccolo thought to himself as he watched in near frozen time, the two forms of Raditz and Gohan being thrown through the air.

~If Raditz had been paying more attention...if he had used his speed…~

But it was too late for that. Gohan's sudden attack had coated the young boy in a golden mantle of energy. Again, Gohan showed only the most rudimentary aspects of Ki control, yet despite this, the energy had been so great as to compensate for his utter lack of training.

Flying through the air like a blazing comet, traveling faster than a bolt of lightning, Gohan's attack connected in a bone shattering headbutt with Raditz. Blood spurted from the Saiyan warrior's mouth and nose, his eyes blank and uncomprehending.

Gohan, protected by his energy field, spun away, hitting the ground a few feet from where Raditz collapsed.

Piccolo, mouth gaping as he struggled to draw breath, could scarcely believe his own eyes. Gohan, an untrained child, had just defeated the most powerful warrior to ever walk the earth. From the very jaws of destruction, Gohan had snatched victory.

~Best not to get ahead of myself, this battle may not be over.~

Piccolo's chest expanded and contracted as he gathered himself, observing the battlefield while continuing to charge the special beam cannon.

Goku was still alive, and clearly aware enough to know what had just happened. Lying face up on the grass, Goku watched with his one good eye, first at the collapsed pile that was his brother, and then at the small heap which was his son, gaping as Piccolo had.

Gohan was clearly dazed, but the lack of blood combined with his gradual rising to a sitting position told Piccolo that the boy shaped monster was fine. The same could not be said of his uncle.

Bleeding from every orifice on his face, eyes white and unresponsive, Raditz lay in the dirt, clearly dead or close enough for it not to matter. A huge gash somewhere on his head had matted his absurdly long hair with blood, and a small pool was already forming around him. All from one head to head collision.

"Th-that's incredible. Just...completely unbelievable!" He roared.

Piccolo's words seemed to remind the boy to start crying again. He quickly oriented towards the boy, power flaring within him as he prepared to fire off his attack. But he stopped, realizing that the raging storm of Gohan's power was…

~Gone...it's all gone!~

"Gohan…" Goku groaned, somehow finding the strength to sit up into a cross legged position.

"Don't cry Gohan, you did good."

The boy sniffed, snot and tears trailing down his face.

"I-I did?"

Goku smiled.

"Yes, you saved us all son!"

Gohan wiped at his eyes with the green sleeve of his robes.

"Really? I did?"

Another smile as Goku scratched the back of his head,

"I'm not really sure how son, but I'm sure glad you did! Chi Chi would have killed me if-"

Goku's chest exploded, the concentrated power of the special beam cannon drilling through his flesh and ki barriers without issue or resistance. Goku, who had been sitting up, was cut so cleanly through that he had not even been thrown out of his posture.

"No, daddy!" Gohan cried, shuffling forward on all fours to the foot of his father.

Blood streamed from Goku's lips, his face tilting downward until he was gawking at the massive wound which was stealing his life.

"P-Piccolo…" he managed, fading eyes rising to see the grinning face of his rival.

"Don't tell me you forgot what I said earlier. As soon as we defeated that freakish alien, it would be back to business as usual. I said I would crush you like a bug! What, was meeting your older brother enough to make you drop your guard? Hahahaha!"

Goku could say nothing else as Piccolo laughed, could do nothing as he felt himself falling backwards into nothingness. And with that, Piccolo felt the wholeness of his victory.

~Almost. One more matter to settle before I can call this a true victory.~

Straightening, Piccolo extended the stump of his left arm, and began gathering his energy. Grunting and groaning, he built up his reserve strength until, with a sudden roar, his lost limb regenerated in a spray of green mucus.

He took a moment to flex the slime covered fingers of his newly grown arm, and then turned towards Gohan. The boy was weeping pathetically, sitting by his dead father, pushing and shaking the corpse of Goku.

"Daddy n-no, wake-wake up! You c-can't go aw-away you can't die!"

Piccolo went unnoticed as he walked behind the boy.

"To the victor," He said, prompting a sudden jolt in Gohan, who began to turn around.

"Go the spoils!"

One quick chop to the neck knocked the son of Goku unconscious, making it easy for Piccolo to pick him up.

"You are a monster even more terrifying than that brute over there...my perfect weapon."

And as Piccolo flew away towards the wasteland, the son of his now slain rival cradled in one arm, he found himself unable to resist the manic laughter which erupted from deep within.

Today, Son Goku, the only being to ever defeat the Mighty Piccolo jr, had been killed. Today the Demon School gained a powerful new asset. Today, Piccolo decided, was actually a very good day.

ZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRR

By the time Krillin, master Roshi and Bulma managed to arrive at the scene of the battle, nearly everyone was gone. Setting down and exiting Bulma's sky car, they surveyed what remained.

"W-woah, where did Goku go? And Piccolo? And-"

Krillin was interrupted by Bulma's sudden shriek.

"Guys look! It's that jerk! He-He looks..."

"Dead!" Krillin finished.

But master Roshi shook his head.

"Use your senses Krillin, he's not dead, not yet."

Bulma paled even further, taking a step back as though she might turn and flee for the sky car.

"Th-then is he still-"

"No. He's not dangerous. See for yourself, he is fading fast. Whatever happened here, it did not turn out well for Goku's older brother."

Bulma swallowed hard, but steadied herself and approached Raditz's inert form. Krillin scratched his head and looked around.

"Speaking of Goku, where is he? And his son? Heck, I'd settle for Piccolo if it meant getting some answers."

Master Roshi nodded.

"Mmh, let's look around. Maybe we can find some clues."

Bulma had gotten as close as she dared to the Sayain, and while she was not exactly a medical doctor, as a PhD in biology, it was not hard for her to deduce that losing as much blood as Raditz currently was did not a bode well for his health, to say nothing of the fact that most of it was leaking from his face.

Swallowing down a lump in her throat, she got close enough to touch, carefully studying him. He didn't look much like Goku, with a high widows peak and long hair, not mention that he was almost a foot taller than Goku was.

"Hey I found something!" Master Roshi yelled, holding something up for them to see. Krillin and Bulma came over quickly.

"Is that Gohan's hat?" Bulma asked.

"Mmhm, and that's not all."

Master Roshi pointed down towards a massive crater that they had seen from the sky. The hole was clearly fresh, brown clay and soil still cooling in the sun. They had figured that it was just collateral damage from the fight, but on second inspection it was clearly the result of something else.

"What is all that? Metal?" Krillin asked.

All around the crater were glimmering pieces of the space craft. Krillin walked over to one, nudging it with his toe.

"Wreckage...probably from his space ship." Bulma murmured, her hand gently grasping her chin as she thought.

"Hey Krillin, get my Geiger counter from the car."

The short, bald warrior jumped, stepping away from the metal.

"G-G-Geiger counter?"

Bulma sighed.

"Yes, Geiger counter! Go get it before we start growing new limbs!"

Nodding frantically, Krillin turned and ran towards the car, making it halfway before slipping in the grass. He landed on his face, groaning and rolling over, spitting out dirt clods and blood.

~Blood? I don't think I hurt myself that bad.~ he thought.

Wiping his face, Krillin felt a chill as his hand came away with far more blood than should have been possible. Suddenly he realized what he had slipped in, a pool of blood and gore.

"B-B-B-Bulma!"

"What? Can't you do one thing without-EEEEEEHHHH!"

Krillin shuffled out of the pool, spitting and looking pale. Master Roshi approached, eyes widening behind his sunglasses.

"Well, there were only two fighters with red blood in this fight, and I don't see a trail leading to Raditz."

Roshi handed Krillin a small rag, which the bald man used to wipe his face.

"Th-Then that means…" Krillin said.

"Goku..." Whispered Bulma. She walked to the side of the pool and kneeled.

Carefully she took a sample of the blood using a swab and vial, barely suppressing the pressure behind her nose and eyes as she did.

"Well, we don't really know anything yet." Master Roshi offered.

Bulma stood and stored the sample in her pocket.

"Agreed!" She said.

"Let's get some more of this stuff and head back to Capsule Corp. There I will have the equipment I need to figure this out."

"What about him?" Krillin asked, his voice harsh as he indicated over his shoulder towards Raditz.

Bulma seemed to consider the fallen warrior for a moment before replying.

"Pick him up and get him in the car."

"W-What?"

"What?"

Bulma rolled her eyes at their incredulous expressions.

"Oh calm down you big babies, I have an idea. Now are you going to help or not?"