Dragonball Z: The Catalyst

Act I:

Chapter 4: Piccolo's Struggle

It was always there. He could feel it, he could feel that power nagging him in the background every moment he was awake. In meditation, in training himself, when training Gohan. It was not only an insult to him, but an example of his weakness. Raditz's power was overwhelming by comparison to his own, even after his defeat. Were Raditz not so grievously wounded, and without his tracking equipment, Piccolo had little to no doubt that he and the others would have been finished in short order. That was his drive, he trained every day to achieve more power to stop Raditz, not to save the world, but to finally overcome the obstacle he faced.

As it was, Piccolo floated above a huge ravine, his arms crossed over his chest, his mind training along with his body as he concentrated. Inside his mind, a mind certainly void of calm thoughts, he struggled to find an inner way to expand himself, not just in power, but in mind. The struggle alone was the training.

"Do you two idiots really think you can keep this up?" He finally said. "Allow me to show you how wrong you are."

He'd not kept up. He and Goku had gotten lucky because Raditz had been arrogant, and because of Gohan's power. But he was still more powerful. His power was terrifying and Piccolo could feel it every moment as it healed, awaiting for its time to reemerge. He had to be stronger, he had to be the strongest in fact. Eyes closed tighter for a moment before Piccolo's eyes slowly opened.

It was time to train again.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Months later:

Gohan looked haggard, worn, and beaten. The child tried to get up again as he struggled to push on.

"Mr. Piccolo-" He was about to complain, until he realized Piccolo's eyes were harshly upon him. He swallowed, nodding.

This kid had huge potential, he could be stronger than all of them. There was a side of Piccolo that warned that the boy should be eliminated after they dealt with Raditz and his friends, but he'd cross that bridge when it came to that.

He'd come to learn from Kami, who he'd been dealing with recently, much to his revulsion, that Goku was heading towards King Kai's Planet for training, to return to fight the Saiyans. He thought it was ironic that he'd supposedly come to save all of them when he was unable to save himself before. Still, if these new warriors coming were anything even close to Raditz, or worse, he had to be ready. Gohan also needed to be prepared, and even now he'd improved beyond Piccolo's comprehension. He'd toughed up largely, he could fight hard, very hard. In fact if Gohan had been there when Raditz had landed a year ago, in his current shape, he doubted they'd have struggled as they had in that battle.

Raditz, he felt, had expanded in power after their battle, but hadn't felt any great leaps or improvements in his fighting potential since then. Even as he knew he'd been healing, he'd become lazy, he was willing to bet he was simply waiting on the other saiyans to arrive. A being at the top of a mountain didn't feel the same urge to climb.

Gohan found his feet, looking up towards Piccolo, his own posture ready for another round of Battle.

"Again." Piccolo instructed, and with that, Gohan blasted off towards him launching into a new series of attacks.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Gohan stood next to Piccolo, now bearing attire similar to Piccolo.

"Mr. Piccolo, do you feel that?" Gohan asked.

Piccolo felt it, his appearance demonstrated that he did, and Gohan knew it. There was a look of uncertainty and nervousness, even signs of sweat written across his master's body language and features. It was a terrible power now moving on North City, they could feel it. Gohan knew all too well who it was, his Uncle, the man responsible most for his father's death. His two hands clenched together. All those helpless people were being killed, destroyed, and no one had done anything about it.

"Yea, I feel it kid." Piccolo responded.

He wasn't ready yet, he knew it. If he fought Raditz now he'd surely lose, whether Raditz had gotten sloppy or not. And he'd die for what? He felt him around North City now, he felt the lives being blown out like tiny candles, thousands of them. Their deaths didn't particularly bother him, but it bothered him enough to feel Raditz able to rampage without a repercussion.

For the first time in his life, he actually missed Goku. He'd have not tolerated this a moment, flying heedlessly into battle to stop this threat. It was a shocking revelation that Piccolo had felt, realizing that he not only missed Goku, but needed his help to deal with this madman. When he turned to look at Gohan, he saw the boy was frightened, in many ways like he was. He felt Raditz's power just as much as he did, he must have felt just as helpless.

"Mr. Piccolo. Somebody's gotta stop him." Gohan finally said.

Gohan felt his fear beginning to shift, though it was still there, he felt a panicked kind of anger as well before he looked up at Piccolo.

"We can't just stand by! We've got to stop him or he'll destroy everything! And he'll get the Dragon Balls! And if he does that, there is no way we could stop him, or bring my dad back!"

Piccolo had idly been thinking of the Dragon Balls in the back of his mind. He almost felt his heart stop when it became clear to him that was why his rampage was directed to North City. He was after Dragon Balls.

He felt the power shifting west now, ignoring areas of resistance even.

He was after the Dragon Balls! Goku's friend Bulma had been collecting them as well.

Goku wasn't here, Goku was dead. He wasn't a hero by any means, he didn't want to be a hero even, not to anyone. He was Piccolo, a powerful warrior and son of the Great Demon King Piccolo, he was not some damned Hero. But he also wasn't a fool. If Goku wasn't here, that meant it fell to him. He would have to stop Raditz, whether he was ready or not. He'd run out of time to prepare to beat him, it was either victory or death for them, and it was like that now.

"Gohan, follow my lead." Piccolo ordered.

Gohan smiled finally, looking at Piccolo.

"Are we going to do what I think we are?"

"Yea, we're going to stop Raditz."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Kami's eyes had been following him for some time now, he could almost feel them on his back. He felt nervous the entire time still, attempting to get his mind in order. If he went into battle as disorganized as he was, he'd be finished for sure. He had to play on his own strengths and limit Raditz's, but most important of all, he needed to keep Raditz off balance. He needed to use his arrogance and rage to handle him.

Their powers had closed in distance significantly, but even now a realistic estimate to how much of a margin remained could not be made. The one thing he did know however, was that Raditz would be stronger, he could still feel in depth to that amount, it really depended if his fighting power would change dramatically once the fight actually got underway.

Turning to face Gohan briefly, Piccolo uttered words he knew were needed.

"Keep your distance from when the fighting stars." He said to him. "Be ready to step, but only when you see an opportunity, he's much stronger than you right now and would annihilate you head on, understand?"

Gohan nodded, trying to contain his fear and replace it with the face of bravery.

"Right."

It was then that Piccolo felt the other powers starting to move. Krillen, Tien, Yamcha, Chaotzu, they were all converging now as well. Good, he was going to need any help he could get in this fight, though they were lagging seriously behind, having only launched to follow Raditz just then. He and Gohan would arrive much sooner.

West City came into view as the pair made their way there.

"Its starting." Piccolo said, noting as explosions burst from the side of the Capsule Corporation's Headquarters. He picked up his speed, pressing himself as hard as he could. He needed to go faster! He felt himself being pushed to the limits. Finally, his eyes locked onto his target.

Time seemed to freeze when he saw Raditz and the Purple-Haired woman come into view. Raditz appeared ready to kill Bulma with an energy blast. Shifting his body in mid air on his dive towards Raditz, Piccolo dropped both his feet in front of his body, guiding himself like a missile, aiming for Raditz's head. It turned out he aimed well.

The two feet collided with his face, warping flesh and shoving his head violently, before his body followed. First he went through a small parameter wall, and then crashing through into the bottom levels of a nearby skyscraper. The building then collapsed on top of Raditz himself. The earth seemed to start to rumble, as bits of debris at first started to push off the shattered remains of the building. Finally the shattered fragments of building blasted aside as Raditz walked from the wreckage, looking furious. His body was covered in small scratches and his clothes were ripped as his eyes stared hatefully at Piccolo.

"You don't learn very well, do you?"

"I might surprise you." Piccolo responded.

I'd better surprise him. Piccolo thought.

"You there, Bulma." Piccolo ordered. "Get the Dragon Balls and get out of here. I'll deal with him."

Bulma watched briefly, before nodding frantically, heading into the Capsule Corp building, which was still set ablaze on the upper levels.

"After I'm done with you Piccolo, I'll finish with her." Raditz snarled.

Piccolo tossed his cloak away, the weighted material smashing against the solid earth, before discarding his turban as well.

Raditz just felt his hand trembling, angrily, his closed fist looking to seek out this scum and destroy it. It was written on his facial features as well. This was his last best opportunity to collect those Dragon Balls, and this under powered green slug had just sneak-attacked him. It was a lucky shot, and nothing more. He remembered how weak this green fool was, and he'd make an example of him.

"Woman." Raditz said bluntly. "Take the Dragon Balls to somewhere safe. I will deal with this irritating bug." He ordered.

Violet looked back towards Raditz, before looking at Piccolo.

To Raditz he realized she was weighing her options. His black eyes seemed to intensify angrily. He'd spared her and this was how she repaid him?

However, after several seconds, she made a run for it, from both of them.

"Now then," Raditz said, his face twisting to one of anger. "I'm going to finish you off like I should have before." His body seemed to blur into pure speed, flying directly at Piccolo with his right arm braced to intercept a counterattack, and the other preparing to strike.

Piccolo for his part, realized Raditz's attack strategy, he could see it for the first time. Despite the immense power of his attacker, he held his ground and let Raditz's fore-image pass through him. The image of the Saiyan moved past him, his real body coming in with a devastating left hook, only to find it blocked by Piccolo's arm flexing in the way just in time.

The two fighters froze where they were, Raditz's forearm against Piccolo's.

Piccolo felt a realization, he could keep up with Raditz's movements. He could follow his fore-images and after-images, and not only that, he was fast enough to block incoming attacks, and strong enough to hold on. For Piccolo a new sense of confidence had arisen in the first few moments of this fight, leading to a confident smile appearing across his face.

For Raditz, by contrast, there was a sense of underestimation. Piccolo had just blocked his attack, and worse, had gotten the first blow on him. Even now he could almost sense the power within him, and began to subtly realize though he was stronger than his adversary, the gulf between them was by no means as great as it had once been. When the smile appeared across Piccolo's face, Raditz just scowled in response.

Within another second, the two began their brutal exchange. Blows passed by Piccolo and Raditz as each moved with speeds Gohan couldn't even follow at first. Slowly the two lifted into the air, before sounds like high pitched thunder began to echo out. Blows were finally landing.

A green arm thrust towards Raditz's head, with a dodge to the side the saiyan warrior slammed his first into the Namek's ribs, and he dropped a blow on the exposed warrior's face a second later. Instead of flying back as he had before in their first fight however, Piccolo was still there, within a second the Green Warrior's elbow slammed into Raditz's chest, and his knee arched up slamming into his gut. Gasping for breath for the briefest of seconds, Raditz struck back.

When the two figures began to blur across the sky, the sounds of thunder followed them. Gohan was left watching this, before finally a particularly powerful blow was heard.

Raditz had finally managed to get the drop on Piccolo. Both of his arms came crashing down violently on Piccolo's back, sending the would-be saviour rapidly descending down towards the Capsule Corp building. The impact Piccolo's body made on the top of the flaming building made the entire structure rumble.

When he started to get up, Piccolo almost snarled. His body was now covered in scratches as well, purple blood trickled from his lip as he grunted sitting up. Looking up at the new skylight his body had made, he looked for Raditz, until he heard whimpering next to him.

Bulma stood there trembling at the sight of him, holding a pouch to her side, which he was guessing were the Dragon Balls she'd acquired.

"I told you to get out of here!" Piccolo snapped angrily before pain exploded in the side of his head. He'd not kept track of Raditz, being distracted by Goku's stupid friend, and now he would pay the price for it. His body broke through the side of the Capsule Corporation's Headquarters. Still he trailed through the air, before Raditz appeared above him, hand hands glowing with a red energy beam.

"You put up a good fight, but its time for you to die." He declared. Piccolo's eyes widened as he raised his arms in defence of himself. The blast that came out of the saiyan's hands was a direct hit. Red light and energy flowed over his body, burning away at flesh, as the final wave of pressure from it blasted his smoking body to the ground.

Piccolo lay there, his body smouldering, his arms having become bloody burnt stumps. Trying to bring himself to his feet instead he found Raditz dropping from the sky, landing another vicious kick, this one cratering his body into the earth below him. Everything hurt, still, he clenched his teeth attempting to fight off the pain. He had to find a way to overcome this monster. A hand grabbed his head, pulling him up and into the air.

"Do you need a hand?" Raditz asked with an amused grin.

Raditz for his part had started to feel energy from Piccolo, coming from somewhere. It was a feeling he could hardly describe, but he could sense it. And he could sense it focusing even. He wasn't sure how this sense worked, but it was almost an instinct.

But what could Piccolo possibly do at this point?

Choke on this you bastard.

Piccolo thought as he finished focusing his energy, his eyes widening as he flowed power through them. Two focused beams of energy blasted from his eyes, hitting Raditz in the chest as the saiyan's eyes widened in shock to contrast Piccolo's furious ones.

NO!

Raditz felt his body being driven back by the focused beam, burning through his clothes and scorching his chest. It was strong enough finally that he was sent flailing back, crashing through several small buildings, each one ripping against him, tearing at the fabric of his clothes and scratching his flesh. Finally the beam died out.

He'd spent too much energy, of course Piccolo realized. He fell to one knee now, trying to gather enough of his strength again to begin the process of regeneration. Breathing became almost difficult at this point, but his body slowly started the process of marshaling his body's potential to rebuild lost limbs and repair damaged flesh and bones. When his eyes traced up however, he could see the rage filled Raditz blasting towards him.

"I'll kill you!"

With a violent knee he continued his assault, only to find Piccolo's knee raised to block it. Raditz took advantage of his still existing arms, punching Piccolo with a haymaker sending him skidding across the dirt and grass outside the Capsule Corp building. Piccolo's body stopped its brutal grind against the ground a moment later.

"How did you think you were going to beat me with no arms? You are weaker than I am, wounded, and now you are dead."

He stopped however, realizing something.

If I kill him, I kill the Dragon Balls.

He none the less gathered the energy to his palm. There had to be a way around that, or perhaps the Catalyst had lied to him.

It was then that he felt something behind him.

Raditz turned his head, seeing the brat. His nephew who'd badly damaged his chest nearly a year earlier.

"You?" Raditz asked, looking mildly disgusting. "It was Gohan, wasn't it? You look mad. Don't tell me you intend to challenge me. I'm much stronger than the last time we met." He mocked.

"Leave Mr. Piccolo alone!"

Raditz felt that strange energy again, he could barely quantify it. He wished in that moment he had his scouter, so he could fully understand what he was feeling, but it was the same feeling he got before Piccolo had blasted him with his eye beams. He could almost understand and feel the energies of the creatures around him.

"MASENKO!"

The boys arms clasped together, before thrusting towards his uncle. Raditz's smirk disappeared when he fully grasped what was being thrown at him. At the last moment his hands raised to block the blast, the golden blast wave hitting his palms in a violent exchange of energy. He was barely able to hold the blast bolt back, feeling as if it would overwhelm him.

"No. Not like this." Raditz muttered through grit teeth before he started to form his own blast under the wave. Two red bolts finally managed to form, before the wave disappeared and shattered. He needed to breathe but ignored that need for the moment.

"Kid, you are too much trouble." He snarled, before unleashing the attacks. Gohan saw the two red bolts flying towards him and just stared for a moment, at least dodging to the side as they exploded behind him.

Raditz was already upon him once he regained his footing, swinging his huge leg in a violent kick which caught Gohan in the shoulder, sending the boy flipping through the air and slamming into a building.

"Pathetic." Raditz spat.

It was then he heard two voices shout something.

"Kamehameha!"

Looking up he saw two blue bolts blasting towards him. They collided directly with Raditz, blasting a hole in the ground around him, forming a crater and exploding into the street nearby, causing the rode to be torn apart.

In the heart of the explosion however, Raditz could be heard chuckling.

"You are even weaker than that boy." He said with his arms crossed. He looked savaged, blood trickling from his mouth, his clothes annihilated almost, his body covered in scrapes and cuts, but he was still there. His power had diminished some, but nothing radical.

Krillen and Yamcha immediately looked nervous. His power had grown significantly since his battle with Goku and Piccolo. They'd felt the clash between he and Piccolo and knew what they were getting into.

Tien was hovering nearby.

"He can't stop all of us at once."

"Can't I?" Raditz responded arrogantly. "Please. Don't make me laugh. The four of you would barely be able to stop that Green Fool back there. You don't stand a chance against me. But I encourage you to try. Entertain me!"

The wind gently blew over where Piccolo now lay. Gohan landed next to him just as the other four fighters went flying towards Raditz. A whirlwind of blows now flowed around him as he dodged, blocked and fought Tien, Yamcha, Chaotzu, and Krillen all at once.

"Mr. Piccolo are you going to be alright?"

Piccolo didn't respond.

"Please Mr. Piccolo, you've gotta get up, we need you." Gohan further urged. When Piccolo's eyes slowly opened, the once evil half of Kami looked at the desperately worried Gohan before giving a half smile, hearing the others fighting in the background.

Piccolo managed to sit up, even with a groan, before standing on his feet, looking up to the struggle which had now ascended into the air.

Raditz dodged and blocked every attack incoming, a furious assault by the four fighters who would have all been equal with him a year ago. Clearly, Raditz's near death experience had greatly improved his power. The only one there who could stop him now was Piccolo, and he knew it.

"Raditz! We aren't done yet!" Piccolo declared.

Raditz eyes traced to Piccolo as he blocked a flurry of blows from Tien. With a smirk he kicked the three eyed warrior in the side of the head, sending him flying down towards the city. Turning, he began unleashing his wrath on the others. Punching Yamcha so hard in the stomach the warrior just fell from the sky, and kneeing Krillen, sending him flying into the dome of a nearby building, breaking through both sides.

He only had to stare at Chaotzu for a moment, before the pale fighting flew after his three eyed friend.

Perhaps now he'd finally get the respect he deserved from Nappa and Vegeta. He'd survived a year on this mud ball, collected the Dragon Balls, his power must have doubled. He was starting to sense powers even without a scouter. He was a true Saiyan warrior, and the only threat on this planet was about to be finally soundly defeated and violently expunged.

He crossed his arms arrogantly as he stared down at the fighter, his smile growing by the second, imagining his status and glory.

"Oh? And what business is that? More eye beams? You can't handle this fight anymore. Perhaps if some of these other fighters weren't so pathetic just now, you'd have stood a chance. But what exactly are you going to do?" He chuckled.

Two new arms tore out from the stubs on Piccolo's arms.

Raditz didn't register this for several moments as continued to chuckle, before raising one eyebrow inquisitively, while the rest of his face slowly warped to one of disbelief.

"No. No that's not possible." He said quietly to himself, before an aura seemed to glow around Piccolo's body, the earth began to rumble as finally Piccolo began to concentrate his energy, his ki, his body brimmed with power.

Kami.

Kami must have been helping him, Piccolo realized.

He cannot be allowed to have the Dragon Balls.

That was all he heard in his mind, before feeling pure strength flowing through his veins. With a blur of speed Piccolo appeared below Raditz, smashing his elbow into his stomach. The shocked Saiyan heaved with pain, still in disbelief that Piccolo had regrown his arms before him, taking back his position, two golden energy bolts began forming in Piccolo's hands, wrapped in electricity as well.

"Go to Hell, Raditz."

"Explosive Demon Wave!"

The two bolts came together, before the massive, traumatic attack blasted into him. It was the same one Piccolo had attacked him with the day they'd met. Where as before it had near no effect, now it overwhelmed him.

Golden energy burned across his body as he found himself caught in the beam. The remains of his clothes began burning away, as his flesh waxed and waned, nearly causing his own permanent demise.

"RAHHHH!"

The pain was overwhelming, before he felt himself being carried violently away by this attack.

"NO!... NO!"

Were the last words uttered by Raditz, before it carried him past the city, past the west mountain range, and crashing into a small lake now a village, causing the lake to separate for him on impact, before the waters came rushing back in, huge waves hitting the normally peaceful shoreline. When the water came rushing back in, Raditz's power was so depleted he could barely swim for his life, barely managing to reach the shoreline.

A trembling hand pulled him ahead for a moment once he was on the sandy ground. His entire frame hurt, his body ached and stung and burned. Within a second, his face hit the sand before passing out as the waves of water splashed against his legs from the now calming lake.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

West City:

Piccolo hovered there, his body heaving from the herculean effort he'd just exerted. His legs fumbled in the air helplessly. He'd spent so much energy he could no longer fly. He fell to earth, landing on his feet with a crash.

Falling to one knee he just breathed in and out.

"Mr. Piccolo! You did it!" Gohan said brightly.

"No, I didn't." He said, looking up with a annoyed, exhausted look. "He's alive."

There was a woman watching the scene, her blue eyes wide with terror at what she'd just witnesses. It was called siding with the wrong team, and Violet knew all too well what that could mean.

Piccolo finally managed to get to his feet.

"You'll give up the Dragon Balls. Now."

Without a word, the five Dragon Balls in their satchel fell to the ground, before she turned to begin sprinting away as fast as she could.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

A/N:

Hey, hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. After this battle I figured I'd let people know what kind of Power Levels people have.

Bulma: 4

Colonel Violet: 40

Chaotzu: 950

Gohan: 1200

Yamcha: 1300

Tien: 1350

Krillen: 1355

Gohan when Angry: 2200

Piccolo: 2600 (though he idles around 1500)

Raditz: 2900

Piccolo's Explosive Demon Wave: 3100

Its not all about the Power Levels, its really about the story and characters. However I figured I'd let everyone know what was going on. With Vegeta and Nappa around soon they'll be able to talk about this stuff openly.