Chapter 2: What doesn't kill you…

Raditz balled his fists and jumped backwards. "Show me what the pair of you can do!" He shouted. Goku looked at Piccolo to see the green demon leap at Raditz immediately. Raditz blocked the incoming roundhouse kick. He spun away and was now behind Piccolo.

A jab to the spine knocked Piccolo onto his face. Goku saw an opening now and dashed forward. But Raditz spun around so quick that his surprise attack had no more surprise left in it. Goku let fly with a right hook, but Raditz ducked out of it's way and sent his boot into Goku's chest with a spinning kick.

Goku shouted as he flew backwards through the air and smashed into a large rock. His body impacted the rock at such velocity that the rock split in half upon impact. Goku skidded over the ground before coming to a stop, a cloud of dust shielding him from Raditz' sight.

Raditz smirked. As he had anticipated, these two proved to be no match for him. Piccolo grunted as he pushed himself up and got back on his feet. He bared his sharp teeth. "See if you can take this?" He said and then began to grunt and balled his fists.

He shouted in pain for a second and then cried out loud. His body was split into two and then the two halves formed into two Piccolo's. Raditz raised his eyebrows. He had seen the technique of body "cloning" before, but never had it been executed at such speed.

He smirked. "Interesting." He said. The two Piccolo's smirked back at him, before dashing in at him at the same time. He blocked the left attacker's kick, but this left him open for an elbow to the neck the right attacker threw.

The elbow hit him flush and knocked him back. He struggled to regain his balance when the Piccolo he had blocked kicked him again. He nearly lost his footing and threw a blind punch in a desperate attempt to fend off one of his attackers.

The punch hit luckily and the Piccolo that was hit was knocked down. There was now only one Piccolo attacking him and Raditz approached him with great speed. The two warriors clashed in mid air. Raditz and Piccolo locked in a struggle.

Raditz laughed as he pushed back his opponent with ease and forced him backwards through the air. Piccolo smirked and Raditz knew why. He had exposed his back with this struggle, the stupidity! He shouted in pain as the other Piccolo's boot connected to his neck.

This pushed Raditz down to the ground with great force and he pushed the other Piccolo he was struggling with down with him. The two smashed into the ground and were drilled into it.

Raditz roared in anger and he raised up his fist, aiming it at the Piccolo that was below him, being pressed down by the Sayain's knees.

But to his surprise, the intended target of his blow disappeared and his fist drilled into the ground. He looked up over his shoulder. The two Piccolo's were merging again. Raditz got on his feet and spun around to face Piccolo again. Piccolo was grinning.

"Not bad… Not bad at all green man!" Raditz complimented. He was standing in the crater relaxed, arms folded across his chest. Goku had been watching the two going at it from a distance. Both of them were so strong, it was amazing. It made him feel like fighting them at his best ability.

Goku chuckled in excitement and flew towards the two warriors standing off. Raditz watched his brother as he arrived. He had seemingly no damage from the hit he suffered. That impressed Raditz. These guys had low class powerlevels, but could take quite the punch.

"All right then. Both of you. Full frontal assault." Raditz said, grinning tauntingly. Goku and Piccolo looked at each other, then the two nodded at the same time. To Raditz' surprise, the two were now taking off some of their clothes and their boots.

The clothes landed on the surface with surprisingly loud thuds. "Taking off your clothes will help you how?" Raditz asked, eyeballing the clothes in their little craters. Goku stretched his arms and legs. He smiled. "Much lighter now." Goku said.

Weighted clothes, that was what Raditz made of it. A cunning way to train whilst not even training, the Sayain contemplated. He hurriedly pressed his scouter. Their fighting powers had come up. Both of them had increased with about a hundred points. That was amazing, Raditz couldn't deny it.

He struck his fighting stance whilst a grin formed on his lips. "Bring it!" He shouted. Piccolo and Goku obeyed immediately. The two fighters both came in from a different angle. Goku threw a kick to Raditz' head, but his brother managed to block it with his forearm.

Piccolo threw a left-right straight punch combination, but the Sayain dodged the first punch. The second punch hit him flush on his chin and forced him to jump back. His two opponents weren't planning on giving him a moments rest and dashed in together again.

Raditz jumped up into the air and over his opponents. He flipped in mid-air and landed on his feet behind them. He was now facing their backs, but they quickly spun around. Raditz dashed in now, catching Piccolo on the chin with a powerful right uppercut.

This sent Piccolo back and gave Raditz some time. He clutched both his hands together and held them over his head like a hammer. Goku anticipated the attack and tried to react but the hammer fist caught him on the top of his head. He let out a cry of pain and fell down on his back.

Raditz raised up his boot over Goku's face. "Check." Raditz said. Goku realised Raditz was right, there was no escape from this position. But then Raditz was hit under his bottom by a flying kick which sent him up into the air, spiralling round in his flight.

He cursed as he regained control and stopped spinning up in mid-air. "Sneaking up on me huh? Not bad!" Raditz exclaimed. He locked his sight on Piccolo and then flew down with dazzling speed. "Here comes the delivery!" Raditz shouted as he was now halfway.

Raditz kicked out in the air and his boot caught Piccolo in his gut. Piccolo shouted and pain as he was hurtled away. He spun around in the air and he crashed into a wall of rock, back first.

The rock cracked behind Piccolo and collapsed, burying the demon warrior under the rubble.

"Isn't that a bit too much Raditz?" Goku asked looking a little shocked. "He isn't dead yet. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger… don't you know that little brother?" He said, letting the last two words drip in sarcasm. Goku shook his head.

"Never heard of that expression…" Goku mumbled. "Especially you, a Sayain, should know this. Battles and injuries make us only stronger." Raditz explained. Goku thought for a few seconds. "I grow stronger if I recover from damage, that's true." He said.

Raditz nodded. "That's because you are a Sayain. That's where your tail comes from. Why do you hide it?" Raditz asked looking at where Goku's tail was supposed to be. "It's gone." Was Goku's simple reply. "What? You let someone take your tail? Where's your pride?" He asked, his voice thundering with anger.

Goku walked back a little startled at the outburst of anger. "I had surgery…"

This made Raditz explode inside with anger. "You should have never let anyone take your tail! It grants us our greatest power. The power of transformation!" He rumbled. "Transformation?" Goku asked. Raditz nodded.

"At full moon we Sayains transform into giant apes! Don't tell me this is new for you?" the older Sayain exclaimed. Goku frowned. "I never recalled it… But I've been told of the transformation. It's why they cut my tail off, it was too dangerous."

Raditz folded his arms in front of his chest again, a vein bulging on his forehead. "Too dangerous? It's what makes us so powerful! You are a fool for cutting it off brother." Raditz said stomping his foot down, his boot digging a hole in the soil.

"Wow, you got some temper! Take it easy!" Goku said, trying to calm his angry new-found brother down. Raditz grunted. "Alright. I guess it's your own choice. As long as you can progress in strength you won't be completely useless…" The long haired Sayain said.

"But I don't think Vegeta will appreciate it." He followed. Goku raised his eyebrows whilst Piccolo's arm now emerged from the pile of rocks, bloody and scathed. The demon warrior launched himself up and rocks flew around in the air everywhere.

His growl was so deep it sent chills down Goku's spine. "I'm not done yet!" Piccolo screamed out. "Goku! Get ready. We'll circle around him. There must be a way through this guy's defence." Goku nodded. "Always ready to go!" Was his, truthful, answer.

Raditz smirked. "You don't know when to stop, do you?" He taunted and he shifted swiftly into his fighting stance. Piccolo dashed in from the distance and Goku leapt backwards, he would Piccolo take the first shot and then follow in. He was determined to prove he was worthy of training after the speech about his tail.

Piccolo roared out a battlecry as he attempted to land a flying kick. As expected, Raditz blocked it but this left him open on one side. Goku jumped into the fight and attacked the open side with a hook. It connected to Raditz' ribcage, but the armour took out most of the strength of the blow.

Raditz smirked and slapped Goku to the side. Goku's cheek burned like fire but he countered immediately but saw that his roundhouse kick was caught in the larger Sayain's arms. Raditz threw Goku's leg up into the air and Goku flipped over backwards. He let out a cry of despair but managed to land back on his feet with an amazing display of balance.

Raditz' back was now turned towards Piccolo and the demon threw out a knee to the back of Raditz' neck. The Sayain shouted out in pain and grabbed his neck whilst turning around. There was pain on his face. "Why you!" He shouted and then attacked with a sideward kick that connected to Piccolo's hip and knocked him onto one knee.

He was about to punch Piccolo on the chin to finish him off when Goku launched a energy blast that exploded when it hit Raditz' back. The explosion hurled the off guard Sayain away through the air and left a cloud of smoke. Goku and Piccolo's eyes met and they nodded simultaneously without any kind of premeditation.

They both dashed in after Raditz who was just now recovering and stopped in the air. He floated on the spot, waiting. Piccolo was still far away, but managed to surprise Raditz by suddenly extending his arm and punching him in the face. Raditz let out a cry of shock as the punch threw his head back.

Goku followed in and used the moment of shock to his advantage. He elbowed Raditz down with all his strength and Raditz was now hurtling down towards the ground. He did however manage to recover before he hit the ground and landed on his feet. "That won't be enough!" He shouted at Goku. Raditz was about to attack Goku when Piccolo jumped in between.

He landed a roundhouse kick and began to throw a barrage of punches, forcing even the mighty Raditz into defence. "Power up for the kamehameha!" Piccolo suggested. "I'll try to keep him busy!" He followed.

Goku nodded and started to gather power. Raditz was still under pressure from Piccolo, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He wondered what his brother was up to. He dodged a jab and then rammed into Piccolo, knocking him back. This gave him some time. He looked over to Goku when the scouter bleeped.

"What? His powerlevel's rising?" Raditz asked to himself. But yes, his eyes weren't playing tricks. The scouter had never made mistakes before, Goku's power was indeed rising and rising fast. Piccolo came at the Sayain again now, throwing an elbow, but Raditz ducked out of the way with ease.

To be honest, his interest in fighting Piccolo had faded now. He was anxious to see what his brother was up to. "Ka…." Sounded from Goku's mouth, his voice deeper than normal, as if he was grunting. "Me….." He followed and Piccolo kept putting the pressure on Raditz, all the while increasing the distance between them and Goku. Raditz was constantly blocking and dodging the demon warrior's attacks.

Piccolo's jab nearly missed his nose as he weaved out of the way. He then countered with a knee to Piccolo's gut and the demon warrior spat out some blood and clutched his stomach in pain. "Ha..." Sounded now and a small blue orb formed between Goku's hands now, sweat running off his forehead.

Raditz hammered down the still recovering Piccolo with an elbow to his neck and immediately dashed in at Goku. He still didn't know what he was up to, but it was potentially dangerous, even for him, the mighty Raditz. "Meeeee…." Sounded again, this time louder.

Raditz had almost reached his brother and was preparing to kick him in the stomach. But Piccolo's diversion had worked and Goku had fully loaded his Kamehameha now. "Haaa!" Shouted Goku, finalizing his sentence. The orb that was floating between his hands grew in size and Goku pushed his arms out forward, turning the orb into a beam of intense light.

Raditz let out a cry of shock as the beam shot at him. He threw up his arms in a block and flew straight into the beam. The explosion created a crater the size of a house. A cloud of smoke hid Raditz from Goku's sight. Goku waited for a few seconds. He then started to worry as there was still no sign of life.

But then the smoke cleared and Raditz was standing there, still putting up his block. Smoke was circling up from his gloves and he was panting in exhaustion. "You almost damaged me seriously with that. If I hadn't blocked…" Raditz exclaimed, obviously impressed by his brother's feat of strength.

Goku smirked. "Sorry about that! I was worried there for a moment!" He shouted, his voice excited. "Don't worry. I can handle myself." Raditz said and he allowed his body to relax again. "But can you handle this?" Raditz wondered out loud and he spread his arms out.

He concentrated his power and Goku got in his fighting stance. He knew some kind of blast from Raditz could seriously injure, or kill him, and he was planning on getting out of it's way. Blocking would be of no use. Raditz smirked and two orbs of yellow energy formed in his opened hands.

Piccolo lifted his head up from the ground. "Goku! I'd dodge that if I were you!" Piccolo brought out. Raditz smirked as his attack was now at full power. Two large orbs were now sitting in his hands. "Double… Sunday!" Raditz shouted out and he brought his arms together combining the orbs into a beam which then shot towards Goku.

Goku let out a cry of shock before jumping as high as he could up into the air, he spread his legs in the air and the beam missed him by a hair. The beam then went on to smash into a large hill. The explosion thundered and made the earth shake. A cloud of smoke was now hanging where the hill had stood.

Goku sighed in relief and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "That was close! I don't think I would have survived." He exclaimed. "I think you would have. A Sayain doesn't die so easily. But a good job on dodging that, I'm impressed." Raditz replied with a smirk.

Piccolo pushed himself up from the ground and looked at the cloud of smoke. That move was more powerful than Goku's Kamehameha. It baffled Piccolo to know that Goku had a brother with even more power… This was something he hadn't anticipated.

Piccolo hoisted himself up. "That was good Raditz. Why would a man of your power even need our help?" He asked. Raditz smirked. "Where I'm from, that's nothing. The tyrant Frieza is stronger than me. By a lot. My powerlevel is 1200, Frieza's power reaches over half a million." The Sayain explained.

"What in the name…" Piccolo said, baffled. "He's five-hundred times as strong as you?" Goku asked. "Roughly… yes." Raditz confirmed. Goku scratched his head. "Wow, I guess we'd better continue our training then…" He said.

Raditz nodded. "Get ready!" He shouted and struck his fighting pose. Piccolo and Goku followed his example.

Meanwhile…

Krillin ducked away from a frying pan. "How? Tell me! How could you let him go off to fight that horrible Piccolo?" Chi-Chi was yelling hysterically. "Chi-Chi! It was his own call! I can't stop him once he get's something in his head you know?" Krillin protested.

"You shouldn't have let him go alone!" Chi-Chi shouted. "I would only get in his way! I can't do anything against Piccolo!" Krillin responded. The shouting was suddenly stopped when Gohan broke out into tears. "Stop fighting!" He cried out, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Chi-Chi's expression changed from raging mad to neutral. She bent over and picked the little boy up in her arms. "Hush. Go to bed. Daddy will be home when you wake up." The mother said to her child before putting him down again. Gohan nodded, wiped the tears from his face and ran up the stairs to his room.

"Krillin. I want you to go looking for Goku. And find him! If you come back without him I will make you wish you had searched a little longer!" Chi-Chi said, her expression changing into raging mad yet again. Krillin knew better than to protest. He nodded and ran out of the house.

He could still feel Goku's power quite well, so he wasn't dead. But he could also feel Piccolo's power so he feared the two had to be fighting. He shook his head and ran off into the distance, chasing the signals the powerlevels left behind.

An hour later Krillin finally stopped running. He bowed over forward, placed his hands on his knees and panted for a few seconds. He was now close to Goku, he could feel it. The trail of Goku's power had led into the desert wasteland. Krillin looked up and was amazed.

"What in the hell happened here?" He wondered out loud looking at the crater-littered wasteland in front of him. Piles of rubble seemed to sit on random spots. He leapt up onto a rock for a better view. He saw a cloud of smoke slowly blowing away with the wind a few miles ahead.

He sighed. Why did he always get himself into situations like these? He ran through the wasteland until he reached the spot where the smoke had been hanging. He saw Goku. And Piccolo. And they where, side by side? This confused him greatly.

The shock was even greater when he saw a man stand in front of them. He had a striking appearance, large and tall with his long black hair. Goku and Piccolo looked pretty rough. The other man didn't seem to have a scratch. Krillin jumped away from the rock he was hiding behind. Maybe there was a use for him now, this might be his moment of glory.

"Goku!" He exclaimed. Piccolo and Goku turned around quickly, their faces bloody and swollen with bruises. "What in the name is going on in here?" Krillin asked. Goku smirked and so did Raditz. "This… is my brother, Raditz!" Goku said happily as he pointed at Raditz.

Krillin's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "What? Your brother?" Krillin cried out. Goku nodded. "Yeah, look, he's got a tail." Goku said and he pointed at Raditz' tail. Krillin nodded in disbelief. "I see… Seems like you've already got on to getting to know each other huh?" He said, looking at the wounds on Goku's body, secretly still hoping he could be of use.

"Don't worry, we've been training all day." Goku explained. "Seems like you two got it handed to you!" Krillin said, disbelief dripping from his voice. These were the two strongest guys Krillin knew and by the looks of it, Goku's brother was even stronger. Goku nodded with a grin on his face. "Yeah… he's strong!"

Raditz smirked. "You're damn right I am." The Sayain said, unfolding his arms from his chest. Krillin had some shivers down his spine. There was something off about this man. He possessed some kind of a dark power. And lots of it.

Krillin looked at Goku and Piccolo. They were barely holding themselves up. "Shouldn't you guys eh… call it a day?" He suggested, knowing in the back of his head that the two warriors he was addressing were too proud to come up with such a suggestion by themselves.

Krillin knew Goku, he would rather fight himself to death then tell anybody he couldn't handle the situation. Goku spat out some blood and allowed himself to drop down onto his bottom. He had trouble keeping his eyes open. "Come on Goku, you need to go home. Chi-Chi's worried sick." Krillin said whilst walking over to his friend.

He passed Piccolo who gave Krillin an angry look which scared the small bald man near to death. Raditz pressed his scouter and was surprised. This small earthlings powerlevel wasn't as bad as he had expected. "255." He said, reading the numbers that appeared on the screen of his scouter.

Krillin felt that Raditz was looking at him and chills went over his spine again. "Bald man! What is your name?" Raditz demanded. Krillin stated his name in response. "You seem strong. Care to join us?" Raditz asked. "He'll join us." Goku said and he laid his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Krillin looked around in shock to see Goku smirking. "Join you for what exactly?" Krillin asked cautiously. "A space adventure! But let's go home first, I'm starving. Care to join us for a bite, Piccolo and Raditz?" Goku enquired. Piccolo shook his head. "I don't eat." He said and then he flew off into the distance.

"How about you?" Goku asked his brother and the Sayain nodded. "Yeah, sure, I could eat a horse." He said. Krillin chuckled. "Well, if you're really his brother, I don't even think that was a joke." The small bald man said. "It wasn't." Was Raditz' fast reply. Krillin smirked as Goku called Nimbus and hopped on.

He was lifted up into the air by the cloud and Raditz flew until he was floating along his side. "Guys… I can't fly?" Krillin brought out. "Hop on." Raditz said and the human obeyed, jumping onto Raditz' back.

Then the trio took off towards Goku's house at dazzling speed.

END OF CHAPTER

Powerlevels:

POWERLEVELS *as of now*:

Kid Vegeta: 6000

Vegeta: 18000

Nappa: 4250

Raditz: 1200

Goku/Kakarot: 450 (no weights)

Piccolo: 420 (no weights)

Krillin: 250

Cui: 20000

Frieza: 500000

So my readers, please comment. Yes Raditz is indeed a lot friendlier in my fic than in the series, but don't forget… this is a what if!

Like to hear from you… C.