As Goku and Piccolo were on route to Raditz's location they kept a grim silence, until curiosity got the better of Goku. "Why are helping against my brother? I thought you hated me," Goku asked puzzled by his old foe's uncharacteristic aid.
"Oh, I do hate you, more than you'll ever know. However, I hate Raditz nearly as much and he's going to deprive me of two things if he remains on Earth. One: my revenge on you if he kills you or kidnaps you and two: My chance to conquer the Earth if he returns," Piccolo sneered back.
"Well at least I don't have to worry about you redeeming yourself; I'd miss my yearly ritual of beating you and domination attempts," teased Goku.
'If I get the chance I'll kill you and Raditz,' Piccolo thought furiously.
Satisfied with Piccolo's answer Goku became silent again as Raditz's craft came into faint view.
"This is ridiculous! You heard Goku we're nearly as strong as him yet he expects us to stay on the lookout babysitting and training with Mr Popo and Kami, who no offense to them we've far outmatched and can't train with further," sulked Yamcha, pacing the floor of the Lookout's dining area.
"It's not ideal, Yamcha but we have to trust him," was as the calm response from Tien.
"Besides Goku's right some of us have to guard our friends," reasoned Chaiotzu.
"Yeah some of us gave to, not all of us... I'm going down there to help Goku, I don't trust Piccolo to help Goku at all," Krillin stated, already hovering a few inches in preparation for take-off.
"How come you get to go? And what do we do if you, Goku and Piccolo die?' asked Yamcha, slightly disgruntled at being side-lined.
"I get to go as Piccolo has never seen my true power and would be taken by surprise by it, giving me the best chance to take him down should he turn on Goku during or after the fight with Raditz, also you, Tien, Chaiotzu and Roshi are more than strong enough together to take of Raditz," explained Krillin.
"Fine," Yamcha moodily replied. Tien and Chaiotzu merely nodded and started training. With that Krilling took off and rushed towards Raditz's ki signature.
'I'm coming buddy hold on,' Krillin thought nervously.
Raditz was in the crater his space craft had created, trying to reason with an increasingly frantic Gohan…
"Gohan, is it? Please stop crying, I have no intention of hurting you or your father, if anything I'd rather just leave, but I can't without your father's allegiance," reasoned an increasingly uncomfortable Raditz who was trying to quieten Gohan's crying.
Gohan began to stop crying as hard as he had been but retained a miserable sniffle which quickly grated on Raditz's nerves. "Ok, would you like me to show you a trick? It'll cheer you up," offered Raditz.
"Okay," was Gohan's nervous but calmer than before reply.
"Here it goes; I call this 'The Double Sunday Display', "stated Raditz as he generated two small, weak and yellow ki orbs in both hands and then merged his hands, before firing the combined blast upwards. The result was a series of brilliant orange and yellow explosions that looked like incredible fireworks. Mesmerised by this Gohan relaxed a little and stopped crying, he looked at Raditz unsure what to say so went with his first thought.
"Wow that was cool, can you please teach me that one day? Um, Uncle Raditz."
Raditz smiled at this. 'The kids not too bad. Gotta say, it makes me think more and more that Kakarott got the better deal.'
"Sure kid, one day soon hopefully," smiled Raditz lightly patting Gohan's shoulder amazed the boy didn't flinch. 'I hate Vegeta for forcing me into this life of petty conquest and errand taking. I'm a Saiyan warrior and he doesn't trust me to do this one thing, despite my decades of total loyalty, monitoring me via the scouter is an insult. I'm sick of being his glorified servant, Kakarott is my brother, I should handle this my way not Vegeta's,' fumed a resentful Raditz. This inner reflection was broken by a shout from behind him.
"Get away from my son!" Goku roared at Raditz as he was powering up, while Piccolo was silently powering up and glaring at the newest Saiyan.
"Gohan, get in the pod it'll keep you safe," ordered Raditz. The boy was reluctant but did as he was told.
"I don't know why Gohan did what you told him, but I sure as hell won't, no humans are dead by my hand and I'm about to deport you back into space," barked Goku who had finished powering up.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be Goku, now I have to drag you along," sighed Raditz, cursing the interface system in his scouter that kept his Prince informed of his actions.
Pressing the scaning option on his scouter, Raditz turned to Piccolo and was surprised by the readout. "500, 505, 510." Then Piccolo removed his weighted turban and his power level further increased. "522!" Exclaimed a surprised Raditz, slightly disturbed by how the Namekian was now only 78 units away from half of Raditz's power.
Turning to Goku his scouter reading was even more impressive. "503, 508, 513" then when the weighted boots came off Goku there was another increase.
"525!" Raditz shouted, now worried about the possibility of fighting a third member of Earth's warriors, his scouter detected none nearby and so his cocky facade returned.
"Yes, Raditz, and this is only the beginning," warned Goku as Piccolo charged a destructive wave blast and fired toward Raditz.
'Uff, not too strong but (I) can't afford to get hit just in case I get worn down,' thought Raditz, firing a ki blast which hit Piccolo's signature move, detonating it.
Blinded by smoke Raditz turned only to receive a staggering blow to the chin from Goku, who took advantage of Raditz's unsteady daze to roundhouse kick Raditz into an energy beam fired by Piccolo. The beam carried Raditz into a set of rocks and then detonated.
'That hurt. That really, really hurt, no way that attack was 500 power units, unless they can charge attacks... oh shit,' Raditz thought, realising that Piccolo and Goku were deadlier than he'd given them credit for.
'Well, I'm going to be very sore tomorrow and the chest armour is pretty dented but I'm in decent shape. Payback time.' Raditz assessed whilst picking himself off, all the while feeling his rage build.
"He's barely hurt!" shouted a dismayed Goku.
"Yeah we're going to have to try and wear him down," Piccolo reasoned.
"This is your final chance Kakarott, join me now or I kill you, the Namekian and take Gohan," Raditz offered, angered at the fact he couldn't negotiate due to Vegeta's constant watch.
"If you kill us, Earth's other warriors will finish you so it's not much of a threat," sneered Piccolo.
"You're no brother of mine," Goku angrily stated.
"Very well." Raditz groaned, rushing towards Goku, fist pulled back.
"No, not going to work," grinned Piccolo as he stretched his arms to grab and slam Raditz.
It worked, however Raditz grabbed an arm just afterwards and drew Piccolo in.
"Big mistake, Namekian!" Raditz roared as he hammered Piccolo in the face with his free hand. Raditz grinned as he felt one of Piccolo's cheekbones break.
Stunned with pain Piccolo was momentarily defenceless, capitalising on this Raditz kicked him repeatedly in the stomach and then threw a haymaker which sent Piccolo flying into several trees which toppled onto him.
Grinning at his victory, Raditz paused to catch his breath not worried about Goku. 'My brother is probably ready to surrender after seeing that(,)' Raditz thought.
Just then his scouter beeped, a power level flashed on his display. It read 950 and rising! Turning around he saw Goku facing him with his palms joined on an angle and a blue energy sphere growing between them.
"Kame-Hame-Ha!" bellowed Goku, firing his fully charged attack.
Raditz had no time to dodge or charge an interception beam and so opted to try and block the attack, by raising his arms over his torso and face. The beam collided with him and started to surge around the sides of Raditz until his guard gave out and the majority of the beam hit him full on. Raditz was slammed backwards by the beam and became engulfed in it.
Confident that Raditz was either unconscious or dead, Goku made for Raditz's ship in order to free Gohan. Just as he got his hands on the ship door he heard a rage filled and horrifying voice.
"I don't think so Kakarott!" raged a positively livid Raditz.
His chest armour was crumpled, he was missing a shoulder guard and had burns and cuts all over his body, but the thing that most stood out was the crazed snarl his face had become.
"Double Sunday!" bellowed Raditz, launching a rapidly charged yellow beam at Goku.
Unable to dodge as the beam would hit Gohan, Goku fired a small version of the Kamehameha to deflect the beams trajectory; the result was less than desired. Raditz's attack shifted slightly to the left after Goku's beam hit it, and caught Goku square in the chest. Goku vanished within the blast whilst Raditz glanced around to find Piccolo, not realising he was above him. Piccolo savagely kicked Raditz in the head in a downward motion and as he was caught off guard, Raditz was momentarily stunned. This allowed Piccolo to let loose with a flurry of punches and kicks.
Goku, meanwhile, was slowly getting up and trying to prepare to re-join the fight.
However, Goku's recovery wasn't fast enough to prevent Raditz from regaining his focus. Angered beyond belief Raditz grabbed Piccolo's oncoming fist and pressured it to breaking point, this made Piccolo pause his assault for a moment as the pain was immense.
"I warned you earlier," exploded Raditz, kicking Piccolo in the chest until he heard a satisfying snap of ribs, then he push kicked Piccolo's knee snapping it. He would have ended Piccolo's life with a ki blast had a ki enhanced fist not connected with the side of his skull. Reeling and agonised Raditz staggered away from Piccolo.
"That should hold him for a few seconds, you going to be ok, Piccolo?" Goku called as he began to gather energy at the end of his fingers, which were in the shape of a gun.
"I'll live," Piccolo grunted as he snapped his bones back and positioned his ribs. His Namekian physiology healing him rapidly.
"I will rip you apart! You've disgraced the memory of our parents!" raged Raditz, speeding toward Goku, his fists glowing with Ki.
'Now or never,' thought Goku as he fired a deceptively weak Dodon Ray at Raditz.
Raditz fired a blast from his left arm, neutralising Goku's beam. However when he fired another it was intercepted by a Masenko from Piccolo. Undeterred Raditz sent a ki beam straight into Piccolo hurling him into the distance and ploughed on intending to smash into Goku, however he went straight through him. Literally.
"What the fu..." Raditz started before being kicked in small of his back by Goku.
"Afterimage technique, what you see is not always what you get," Goku said as he continued his surprise assault.
Raditz's defence was vicious and within ten seconds he was counter-striking accurately, causing significantly more damage than Goku was. Gaining the upper hand, Raditz lashed out with a wild knee strike and caught Goku making him double over, defenceless.
'I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Gohan,' Goku thought, preparing for the death blow Raditz was about to deliver.
Seconds passed and Goku was untouched.
'Why I am I not dead?' Goku thought. He looked blearily towards Raditz and saw something that jerked him back to life... his son had rocketed out of the ship and smashed Raditz head on in the chest. Raditz momentarily went down and Gohan collapsed exhausted.
'I have to get Gohan out of here!' Goku screamed inwardly, forcing himself up and toward Gohan. He called his flying nimbus cloud and placed Gohan on it, giving the cloud the instruction to go to the Lookout.
Relived that his son would be safe he turned his attention to Piccolo who had wearily flown back and had reengaged a now conscious Raditz.
'Oh Kami, he's getting pounded.' At that moment a sickening crunch was heard as Raditz broke Piccolo's left collarbone with a ki augmented punch. 'Gotta help him, it's all down to this.' Goku thought determinedly as he streaked back into the fight his limbs blurring as he struck at Raditz.
'Good, now I can heal,' Piccolo thought, as he popped his bone into place and waited a few agonising seconds for it to refuse. 'That hurt. Raditz must have a weakness, we just need to keep hitting himuntil we find it, if we can keep fighting that long. We're in a worse shape than Raditz right now, maybe it's time I used my last resort,' Piccolo mused, as he rushed in to aid Goku.
Piccolo and Goku attacked Raditz simultaneously, the invading Saiyan struggling to fend the warriors off as they worked as a team. Even though they were more evenly matched, the duo began to weaken and Raditz clawed back his upper hand as he defended more attacks and landed increasingly powerful hits on his brother and the Namekian. As Raditz landed a side kick on Piccolo, Goku landed a lucky hit on Raditz's tail, making him freeze in pain as his tail uncoiled.
"Gah!" Raditz gasped overcome with pain.
"Goku, his tail is his weak spot. Grab it!" Piccolo shouted as he put two fingers to his head and charged ki.
"Ok, but what do I do when I grab it?" Goku asked as he ducked under a kick from Raditz.
"Hold him until I finish charging this beam and then move from him quick, when I fire!"Piccolo snarled, trying to concentrate.
"How long have I gotta hold him? " Goku wheezed out between blows from Raditz.
"A couple of minutes," Piccolo replied.
"As Goku successfully grabbed his tail, Raditz completely froze and began to struggle in order to get remove from Goku's grasp.
"Why do you continue to fight me? We could all die for the sake of your ideals," Raditz growled, ceasing his futile struggle.
"If I die the dragon balls will be used to wish me back, so honestly, it's a small price to pay in order to stop you," Goku explained.
"You can resurrect people?!" Raditz exclaimed in shock.
"With the Dragon balls I can do anything," Goku boasted in order to unnerve Raditz.
A beep rang out from Raditz's scouter signalling Vegeta's incoming broadcast. "So, artificats that can grant any wish... how very useful. See you in a year Raditz, if they don't kill you before I do," Vegeta drawled over the scouter before he disconnected.
'Oh no, if Vegeta uses these dragon balls he'll wish for immortality and then kill me as I'd be surplus to requirements,' Raditz panicked.
"Kakarott, my superior, Prince Vegeta has been observing me the whole time and has orchestrated everything. He knows about the Dragon balls and wants to use them to gain immortality, he'll kill all us all for sport if this happens. Please let me go and together maybe we'll be able to beat him when he arrives," Raditz pleaded.
"I don't believe you'd help us, I have no reason to trust you," Goku retorted, enraged at what he viewed as his brother's vain attempt to save trick him.
"I swear to you, I am not lying," Raditz said, losing hope.
"It's done Goku, move!" Piccolo shouted firing his new move, the Special Beam Cannon.
"We aren't done talking about this brother!" Raditz screamed, grabbing Goku's head in one last effort, pinning him in place. The beam went straight towards them and bored through Raditz and then Goku.
'I will make you see sense and you will bring me back to kill that traitor Vegeta,' Raditz thought in his last breath.
'The Earth and Gohan are safe now, my job's done,' was Goku's last thought before his vision was enveloped with light.
A mere minute before Krillin was had just entered visual range of Raditz's ship and could faintly see Goku and Raditz struggling.
'Hold on a minute more, buddy,' Krillin thought as he sped towards the fight. As he got closer to the fight he saw Piccolo fire his beam and froze, horrified, as it tore through Raditz and Goku.
"GOKU!" Krilling exploded in grief and fury.
'Piccolo did this; I'll tear him apart for this.' Revenge was the one thing burning through Krillin's mind as he landed and strode, aura blazing, towards Piccolo. As he was got closer he saw an incredibly wounded and exhausted Piccolo hobble towards Goku and check his pulse. A confused Krillin stopped from firing his prepared Kame-hame-ha at Piccolo.
"Why are you bothering to check if he's alive?" Krillin demanded from Piccolo.
"I'm more wrecked than I thought, I didn't even sense you were here. I didn't plan to kill Goku, I wanted to fight him fairly, not kill him inadvertently like this. He chose to hold Raditz and to die honourably. He was admittedly a noble man and deserved a fitting death, not this. Also, more importantly, I owe him my life from early on in the fight" Piccolo explained too tired to fully care if Krillin believed him.
"Luckily for you I believe that. Now what do we do?" Krillin asked.
"Well firstly we need to take Goku's body to the lookout, then you need to break the news to the rest of the humans, also I need to heal. There are more pressing matters though... Raditz warned of an alleged group of fellow Saiyans who now know of the Dragon Balls and intend to take them by force. Obviously we need to prevent this. I suggest you and the other humans train with Kami and find out if the Saiyans are coming. I will train Goku's son, his potential is greater than all of us combined," Piccolo reasoned.
"Gohan's a kid, how strong can he be?!" an incredulous Krillin asked.
"He floored Raditz with one blow when angered," Piccolo simply stated.
"ChiChi will not be happy about this, it'll take some serious convincing, although if these Saiyans are coming then I guess we'll have no choice but to train him. I reckon you're probably the best equipped to drag his anger out and teach him to use it, although I and Yamcha will be probably be keeping tabs on you on ChiChi's behalf so don't be too harsh or you'll regret it. Pfft training with Kami is pointless, each of us 'humans' as you kindly call us surpassed him nearly two years ago. I have an idea regarding training though so don't worry," Krillin replied.
"Intriguing, explain more later. Right now we need to go," Piccolo said as he slowly hovered towards the Lookout.
Picking up Goku, Krillin's grief was eased very slightly at the thought of soon seeing his old friend again. Then he scowled when he'd noticed Raditz's body.
"What do we do with that thing's body?" Krillin asked Piccolo, tempted to leave it for the animals.
"Blast it to ash," Piccolo darkly called out.
"With pleasure," Krillin grimaced, whilst firing a wide blast from his eyes at Raditz, incinerating him.
Piccolo and Krillin slowly flew towards the Lookout, dejected and unsure of the future.
Elsewhere, in an old ruin a meditating old woman snapped out from her trance.
"Raditz must return," she wheezed.
What is this new training plan that Krillin has? What's happened to Goku and Raditz? And who is this old, mysterious woman and what are her intentions?
Find out in the next exciting instalment of DBZ: Heroes of Humanity!
Thanks for the follows and reviews everyone, please continue to give feedback any is welcome.
Also once again a big thank you to my editor Apollo1147 whose continued support and advice has helped me improve my writing style and the quality of the piece immensely.