Kara was seeing red.
The sharp cry of wind had become white noise to her ears. She paid no attention to what was around her, her anger creating a tunnel of her senses, focusing on a singular though:
Someone had taken her son.
"Kara, slow down!" She heard Goku call out. She glanced back and realized with embarrassment that he was starting to lag behind. She had been trying to teach him how to fly, and while he was improving, it still didn't come as quickly or as easily as it did to her. The Nimbus was still more efficient, and even that had to struggle to keep up at her fastest.
She slowed down and allowed him to catch up. "I'm sorry, I just... we have to hurry."
"We have time." He was trying to calm her, but she could tell he was as concerned as she was. "Can you see him from here?"
Kara looked ahead and focused her sight. Her vision zoomed forward miles ahead until she spotted them. The man was taller than Goku, his hair was longer, and his eyes didn't have a trace of her husband's friendliness. However, she had to admit, their faces were... disturbingly similar. The man was next to a large crater, inside of which was a smooth white pod with a glass window. Her vision passed through the pod, and she found Gohan crying. His clothes were dirty, his hat with his Dragonball had fallen off, and his brown hair was an utter mess. But he seemed unharmed, for now at least.
If I hadn't arrived late... If I had been there...
Seeing her son like this was enough to break her heart.
"I see them." She told Goku. "A couple miles ahead. Gohan doesn't look hurt." Even without looking, she could tell Goku was relieved.
"Okay. We're gonna have to be careful. This guy's power is crazy high." Much like Goku and flying, Kara had trouble grasping the finer applications of ki sense and control. She could locate people if she concentrated, but not much more. She would have to trust her husband's judgment.
"Should we try and surprise him?" She asked.
"I don't think that would work. He has this weird thing on his face that seems to tell him about power sources."
"Then it looks we have to take him head on. Good."
The two exchanged a small smile.
However, there was still one thought that was eating away at the back of Kara's mind. The man, Goku called him Raditz, claimed to be Goku's brother. If that was true, then Goku was from space too. An alien.
What did that make her?
Kara hadn't thought about where she came from in a long time. Not since her father told her how he found her in a wreckage, what he assumed to be a Capsule Corp ship. She never fit in, even when she met Goku and his friends. They all knew she was... different, some how.
Could she and Goku have more in common than either of them ever thought? Was she one of the these saiyans too, or something similar at least?
She pushed those thoughts out of her head. It doesn't matter right now, she scolded herself. Gohan needs me.
Goku was right, Raditz was waiting for them.
"Well isn't this rich!" His voice was full of arrogance. "What's the matter, baby brother? Run off to get a little girl's help."
If looks could kill, Kara would have set Raditz on fire by now.
"You have one chance." She with a hard voice. "Let our son go."
Raditz laughed. "Kakarot knows what he has to do to get his boy back. Or are you really going to fight your own family?"
"I already told you, you're no family of mine!" Goku shot back. "There's no way someone as heartless or cruel as you could ever be my brother!"
"Hmph. Even so, both of your power levels together still don't match mine. You can't possible hope to beat me, can you?"
"You shouldn't believe everything that thing tells you." Goku said. He quickly removed his weighted boots, wristbands, and his shirt. Kara as well removed her shoes and the outer layer of her tunic.
Raditz's eyes widened at the sudden increase in their power levels. "Fine." He growled. "If nothing else, perhaps I can beat some sense back into you."
Goku and Kara didn't hesitate to leap into action. Kara went high to try and grab his attention, while Goku went in low to try and get at his tail. Both were shocked when they met with nothing but air. Before they could react, Raditz suddenly appeared behind them and drove both of his elbows into their backs. The two were thrown forward but managed to stumble back to their feet.
They stared back in amazement. Unreal. Kara thought, I knew I hadn't been keeping up with my training, but I never thought I'd be this slow. She scowled and corrected herself. No. Even I had been training constantly, this guy is just way too fast.
The pair leapt forward, assaulting Raditz with a barrage of strikes, all of which he effortlessly dodged or parried. Goku got low and tried to go around, only to receive a kick for his troubles. Kara tried to capitalize, but got elbowed again, this time to her forehead, forcing her to the ground was forced to the ground.
Raditz laughed over her. "Don't think I'm going to show mercy just because you're a woman. Though I will admit, you are far stronger than anything I would've expected from and earthli-AGH!"
He suddenly fell to his knees in apparent pain. Goku stood behind him, tail in hand. Suddenly, the warrior who was so easily overpowering the both of them was being rendered completely helpless.
"K-Kakarot, please... you can't do this, not to your own brother."
"Brother? You kidnap my son, try to kill me and my wife, tell me you're going to exterminate the planet, and you call yourself my brother!?"
"You must know that was a bluff Kakarot. There are so few of us saiyans left, I couldn't bear the thought of losing another. Let alone my own brother!"
"Don't listen to him Goku, he'll say anything to get you to let go!" Kara was still seeing stars from the earlier strike and could hardly stand, but she saw through Raditz's words.
"Please, I would have said anything to get you back on our side!" Raditz pleaded. Goku stared at him in shock.
"If I let you go..." Goku said, hesitantly. "You have to promise you'll leave and never come back."
"Of course! Anything you say." Raditz said. Unconsciously, Goku's grip loosened...
And it was all Raditz needed.
The moment he was free, Raditz spun around and punched Goku in his temple, forcing him to the ground. He straightened himself, walked over, and stomped on Goku's chest. Goku yelled out in pain and Kara could hear the sound of ribs cracking.
"Idiot!" Raditz snarled. "There's no way someone so foolish and sentimental like yourself could ever be one of us." He stomped down again, drawing out another cry.
At that moment, Raditz's scouter beeped, signaling him of an extremely high power level nearby. Confused, Raditz's gaze followed it's directions to the space pod. "Bah," He tossed the scouter away with contempt. "That settles it. Damn thing's broken."
The pod then exploded from within and Gohan flew out, yelling. Before Raditz could react, Gohan struck him with a headbutt, strong enough to completely shatter the chest piece of his armor. Raditz staggered back from the blow. He took a second to recover, and with enraged snarl, smacked the dazed child aside.
"NO!" Kara screamed. She flew forward and punched Raditz with all the strength she could muster. He let out a cry of pain, and blood spewed from his mouth. She kept hitting him, again and again, driving him back in a blind rage. On the fifth strike, however, Raditz recovered enough to deflect the blow and caught her by the throat.
"I don't know... where the two of you... got so much power..." He said between ragged breaths. "But... you're not going to live long enough to use it again." He lifted her up by her throat with one hand, and prepared an energy attack in the other, aimed directly at Kara's head. "Die!"
Just before he released his attack, Goku sprung behind him and got him in an arm-lock, redirecting the blast. Instead of hitting taking Kara's head off, it clipped the top half of her face. She shouted in pain as Raditz let her go, covering her eyes.
"Don't you know when to stay down?" Raditz struggled to break free of Goku's hold, but Goku had the leverage, countering Raditz's superior strength.
"Kara!" Goku shouted. "I can't hold him for long! You have to do something!"
Again, Kara was seeing red. This time, the others could see it too.
She pulled her hands away from her now glowing red eyes. With a mixture of pain and rage, she shouted with all her might as twin beams of intense heat poured forth from her eyes, slamming into Raditz's exposed chest. The beams kept going, barreling through Raditz, Goku, and the mountain behind them.
Both saiyans screamed until Kara got her eyes under control, closing them and forcing the energy back down. Kara had just opened her eyes in time to see Goku hit the ground lifelessly. "No!" She exclaimed in horror, and rushed over to his side.
"No, no, no, Goku!" She grabbed his hand as tears started pouring down her cheeks.
"Wow..." Goku said weakly. "That was amazing, Kara..."
"Goku, no! I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." There was nothing Kara could do to contain herself. "I-I didn't know... I had no idea..."
"Don't be sorry." Goku said, smiling. "Gohan's safe. That's... that's all that..." Goku closed his eyes, his body disappeared, going to Other World.
"Goku..." Kara said softly.
"F-Fool..." She heard Raditz cough out. "Killed us both..."
Kara stood quietly and walked over to Gohan. She scooped him up into his arms. He was out cold, but her vision told her he had no serious injuries. She then moved to stand over Raditz.
"Don't worry." She said coldly. "He'll be back."
"What!? How..." Blood was pouring from his mouth. He had a couple minutes at most.
"Here on Earth, we have these things called Dragonballs. We can use them to wish Goku back."
Surprisingly for Kara, Raditz laughed at this, causing more blood to spew out. "You really are a bunch of idiots..."
Kara scowled "What are you talking about?"
"See my scouter over there?" He gestured weakly to where it lay in the grass. "It's been transmitting this entire time. In six months time, two saiyans who are even stronger than me will arrive and wipe you all out. And then, they can use those Dragonballs to bring me back to life!" With his last bit of energy, he let out one more spiteful laugh. "Now matter what you do... you still... lose..."
"So what are you going to do?" Kara heard a voice say above her. She saw Piccolo, Goku's old enemy, floating above.
"Piccolo? Where you watching this whole time? Why didn't you help!?"
"Why would I give up the chance to see two of my enemies fall at once." He said simply. He descended and landed in front of her. "Six months isn't very long. You people might not even have enough time to find all the Dragonballs. So I ask again: what are you going to do about these two new saiyans?"
"We can handle it." Kara said defiantly.
Piccolo shook his head. "Not if you fight like you did today. I saw you at the World Tournament, years ago. You're rusty."
Kara was dubious. "So what are you saying? You want to help us?"
"I can't conquer the world if it's destroyed by outsiders. An alliance is in our best interests. I can train you. Get you back up to shape." He looked down at Gohan. "Bring the boy too."
Kara was hesitant. He's right, she admitted to herself. I was sloppy today. If I'm going to have a chance against stronger enemies, I need to improve, quickly. Which would be very hard on my own. And from what I've heard of Piccolo, he has his own ideas of honor. If we make a deal, he's probably good for it.
"Alright." She said. "But Gohan stays out of it."
Piccolo frowned. "Don't you get it? We're going to need all the help we can get. And if he's anything like his father, he'll be invaluable in a fight."
Kara looked down and the unconscious boy in her arms. She had been meaning to talk to Goku about what would happen if something like this came up; if – no, when – Gohan started showing powers of his own. She tried to think of what Goku would do.
In the end, the answer was obvious.
"Fine." She said finally. "But, if I don't like how it's going, we're pulling out. Deal?"
Piccolo simply flew upwards. "Meet me in the wastelands west of here tomorrow. We don't have any time to waste."
Kara watched him fly off. "Goku." She said, looking to the sky. "If you can hear me... wish us luck."