Chapter 2

The flight over there was mostly silent. Piccolo and Zamasu, being their personalities, did not speak or even initiate any form of conversation. Goku was smiling slightly, but was focused on the horizon ahead. It was a relatively peaceful calm before the storm ahead.

"So, Piccolo, why'd you fight that guy?" And then Goku spoke.

Piccolo growls and says "He fought me, and then left to find you. Something like that is the highest form of disrespect for the Demon King!"

Zamasu glances over, but doesn't say anything. Mentally though, he thought it very fitting that a mortal called himself a demon, because that is what they were. Despicable, evil, torturous creatures with no sense of justice.

Goku looks at Piccolo in confusion, chuckling nervously. "R-Right…"

He turns to Zamasu with a much larger grin and says "So Zamasu-"

Zamasu levels the saiyan with a glare and says "I am here to defend the planet, not indulge in small talk monkey."

Goku raises an eyebrow at what he thought was supposed to be an insult. Monkey really wasn't a good one though, considering he was a monkey anyways.

After that though, the trio falls into nervous silent. They were eager to begin, each for a different reason, and ready to get this fight done.

The rest of the flight went quickly, and all too soon the trio was descending into a small, countryside area. A crater was in the center, and in the center of that was a metallic orb. Standing on the outskirts of the crater was the now infamous saiyan, Raditz.

The three touchdown and instantly prepare themselves for battle. Raditz presses a button on the device on his ear, smirking the whole while. "Power levels of 730, 720, and 690. You three are strong, but not nearly to my level of 1580!"

Goku, unfazed by the odds, just glares at Raditz. "Where is my son?!"

Raditz just crosses his arms, his smirk growing. "In my pod, but that is unimportant. The important thing is that you have come to me without clearing the challenge!"

Goku narrows his eyes and swipes his hand across the air in front of him. "I would never kill innocents! I won't do your stupid challenge!" Zamasu's eye twitches at the heroic statement, but he shrugs it off. That doesn't change anything.

Raditz's smirk disappears almost instantly, and he glares at his younger brother. "So, you wish to challenge me then. That really is too bad, I would've loved to fight along your side. But now… now you will DIE!"

Raditz raises his hand and a purple mist appears around, crackling with energy. With a yell, he throws it straight at the trio, the attack rocketing towards them at immense speeds.

The three jump away from the attack in different directions, then land around Raditz. The saiyan slowly eyes them all, his eyes focused for the first attack.

Goku's body tenses, and then he darts forwards with a yell. Fighting stance up and ready, he begins to launch a barrage of attacks at the evil saiyan. Raditz avoids them all with ease, his smirk coming back slowly.

Goku's eyes narrow when he sees his attacks being avoided with ease. "This isn't good. I need to try something else." A flash of light hits his eyes and he squints for just a second. And then… Goku has a plan.

Raditz's eyes narrow when he sees Goku's momentary distraction. Sliding underneath a forwards jab, the long-haired saiyan then slaps his brother away from him. The younger saiyan bounces across the ground at the force of the attack.

Meanwhile, Zamasu watches the fight with only slight interest. Partially because he didn't care about Goku, and partially because of the 'commentary' in his head.

"Oh man, Goku just got hit really hard! That slap must've hurt!" The commentary subsides to a fitful of giggles.

Zamasu's eye twitches and he thinks "Can you please not comment on everything? I am trying to devise a strategy."

After another giggle Chronoa agrees and leaves Zamasu's mind alone. Now with his head clear, Zamasu could devise a plan.

Back with Goku, the younger saiyan already had a plan. He wipes some of the blood off of his busted lip, smiling the whole while. Raditz's eye twitches and he yells "Why are you smiling?! I just backhanded you with ease!"

Goku, breathing slightly hard and recovering from the shockingly powerful blow, just says "If I really am a saiyan, and you are a saiyan, and I can get blinded, then you can too!"

Raditz raises an eyebrow and yells "What the hell are you talking about brother?"

Goku's grins seems to widen as he raises his arms. "You'll see."

Goku brings his hands up to his forehead, spreading his fingers out and creating what looked like a focus on his forehead. Then, Goku sprints forwards as fast as he can.

Raditz raises an eyebrow at the extremely left-open area Goku formed, but doesn't let the chance slip by. Raising his arm for another blow, he was certain of his attack landing and dealing good damage.

Goku smirks slightly to himself as he sees Raditz prepare to attack. Right he gets into the older saiyan's attack range, Goku closes his eyes tight and screams "SOLAR FLARE!"

A bright light suddenly seems to shine from between Goku's hands, much brighter than could be looked at. Raditz's eyes go wide, his pupils contracting as much as they could to deny the surge of light access into the saiyan's mind. Even with this, the light overwhelms his eyes and Raditz's vision goes completely white.

A sharp pain hits the evil saiyan from right behind his eyes. Raditz yells in pain and screams "My eyes, what the hell did you do to my eyes!" Gripping his eyes in response to the pain, Raditz was left completely open to attack.

Goku jumps backwards, certain of Raditz being unable to defend. He cups his hands next to his side and begins chanting. "Ka… Me…. Ha… Me…" All throughout the chant, a small ball of blue energy grows larger and larger.

Thrusting his hands forwards, Goku screams "HAAA!" The ball of energy shakes, then blasts forwards as a deadly beam of blue energy.

The attack soars towards Raditz with extreme speed. The saiyan hears the attack coming, but the pain in his eyes was too much to dodge. He grits his teeth and tries anyways, moving with a large amount of struggling to the side.

The blast his Raditz, but due to his movement, it only hits the side of the saiyan. Raditz is launched backwards, rolling across the ground. He slams into a small, rocky hill, abruptly stopping his movement.

Goku pants slightly, his hands still in their 'firing' position. He lowers them, then says "Did it work?"

The smoke begins to clear, and Raditz is seen picking himself out of the rubble. Burn marks were on the saiyan's armor where Goku's blast hit, but no actual damage could be seen on the saiyan himself.

Raditz looks at Goku with a rage in his eyes. "I'm going to make you pay for that dirty trick!"

Goku gulps at the angry saiyan, only barely registering Piccolo landing next to him. The green demon, without turning to Goku, says "That attack did nothing."

Goku nods and says "Y-Yeah. What do we do now?"

Piccolo eyes Zamasu for a second, then says "I don't know about Zamasu over there, but I do have something that should work."

Goku grins nervously as Raditz pries himself from the rock. "Yeah? And what is it?"

Piccolo smirks and says "This was an attack that I was developing specifically to kill you. It should kill Raditz as well. The problem is, I need to charge it."

Goku grins and says "Alright, so you need me to distract him."

Piccolo nods and says "Yes. Now go and hurry so we can finish this!"

Goku nods, then runs forwards at full speed again. As the two saiyans clash again, Piccolo lowers himself into a stance. Raising two fingers to his forehead, Piccolo grunts loudly as he begins to charge energy into the single point between his fingers.

Zamasu raises an eyebrow at Piccolo's stance, feeling the large amount of ever-growing energy correlating between Piccolo's fingers. "That feels like a powerful penetration attack."

The Kai then looks over at Goku, who was having an extremely hard time avoiding Raditz's attacks. "And judging from the fact that Goku is attacking Raditz, the attack has a long charge up time."

Sighing to himself, he says "I guess it is finally time to help out the saiyan. He best be grateful for this."

The two dueling saiyans were exchanging blows at a very different pace. Goku was getting more and more defensive as Raditz's angry jabs and punches were sent at him from every direction.

Raditz is about to go in for another attack, when he hears a loud buzzing in the air. Getting a bad feeling, the evil saiyan jumps backwards, and just in time too. Now present where Raditz once was is a long, purple energy blade.

Zamasu brings his blade back to his side, dispersing it. Goku's eyes go wide with awe, and he says "Wow! You have to teach me that!"

Zamasu glances at Goku, but doesn't respond. While Goku begins fiddling with his hand, trying unsuccessfully to create an energy blade, Raditz begins to speak. "So… you finally decide to join in."

Raditz crosses his arms, ignoring the random hand motions Goku was making. "You look like a saiyan, and you hold yourself like a saiyan, but I get the feeling you aren't a saiyan. Who are you?"

Zamasu, putting his arms behind his back, says "My name is Zamasu, but that is all you need to know."

Raditz looks at Goku, then says "I would say that with that name you couldn't be a saiyan, but Kakarot is calling himself 'Goku'."

Raditz's eye twitches when he sees Goku do some ridiculous pose. His patience gone, Raditz yells "Kakarot, stop those stupid sta-!"

Raditz stops speaking when he hears his scouter go crazy. He follows its tracking, and his eyes land on Piccolo. The namekian was grunting with an extreme amount of effort, and a small ball of sparking, white energy was between his fingers.

Piccolo smirks widely and says "This attack is it!"

Bringing his fingers back, he thrusts them forwards with a yell. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" The ball fires forwards as a thin line of white energy, a spiral flowing around it.

Raditz's eyes widen as he sees the attack measured at 3000. "I need to avoid that!"

The beam lands home, throwing up an explosion of dust. Piccolo smirks and says "That's that."

Goku shakes his head and says "I still feel his energy! He is alive."

Piccolo scoffs and says "Of course he is! That attack doesn't kill… you… instantly…"

Piccolo's talking trails off, then turns into shocked gaping. Raditz was standing a good ways away, staring at the crater left from the beam. The saiyan turns to Piccolo with a smirk, then says "That was close. You may have been able to kill me."

Those present just gape at Raditz in surprise. Even Zamasu, who had underestimated Raditz's speed, was shocked. Piccolo manages to get some sense back and says "H-He avoided it! But that means he is faster than the speed of light!"

Raditz scoffs at the statement. "Light speeds? Don't make me laugh! Anyone above 1000 can go beyond that!"

Raditz lowers himself into a fighting stance. This in turn causes all the other fighters present to snap out of their shock. Raditz smirks again, then says "I believe it is time for round two."

Digging his feet into the ground, Raditz shoots forwards with immense speed, straight at Piccolo. The slug man is ready for the speed now, but he knew he couldn't dodge.

Zamasu's eyes widen at Raditz going for Piccolo. Piccolo's attack was their best best, so he needed to be protected. Zamasu launches forwards, trying to intercept the approaching saiyan. Seeing he won't make it quite in time, Zamasu forms his blade once more, hoping the reach would be enough.

Raditz sees the blade fly in front of him and stops moving forwards, jumping backwards. Zamasu slides to a stop next to Piccolo, eyeing the saiyan in front of them warily. Piccolo glances at the energy blade as it disperses. "That is a handy technique you have there."

Zamasu nods, his focus on Raditz's movements. "It is, but your attack has a better chance of killing that saiyan. Can you charge another."

Piccolo nods again as he sees Goku join them. "I can charge one more attack, but only one. This will be our last chance, so one of you two need to hold him down so the attack will land."

Goku grimaces slightly and Zamasu's eyes narrow in irritation. Goku sighs, lowering himself into his Turtle School fighting stance. "I guess we have no choice. Ready Zamasu?"

Zamasu glares at Goku, snapping at him with "Just stay out of my way, saiyan." Without another word, Zamasu launches off the ground towards Raditz. Goku raises an eyebrow at the random venom in Zamasu's voice, then shrugs it off. He quickly runs forwards and joins the battle.

The three clash together in a flurry of fists. Zamasu, being slightly more skilled in fighting than Goku at this point, was doing much better than the Earth-raised saiyan. Goku was looking at the fight with distraught, trying to find an opening to get an attack in.

He finally notices a window and flies in to attack. His punch hits Raditz in the side, knocking the saiyan back a few feet.

Zamasu takes in the opportunity, conjuring his blade. He slashes it upwards at Raditz, hoping to kill him right there and then. Raditz notices the attack and jumps backwards. He didn't avoid it fully though as a deep gash appears in Raditz's armor. The blade sliced into Raditz's skin just enough to bleed.

Raditz looks at his bleeding chest with shock, when suddenly he feels a pressure on his cheek. Next thing he knows, he is flying across the battlefield with a lot of pain on his cheek.

Raditz rubs the injured spot, looking back at who attacked him. Goku was standing there, his fist retracting from where Raditz once stood. Raditz growls loudly, then yells "That was the last dirty trick you'll ever do to me Kakarot!"

The saiyan launches off the ground, running at his younger brother with rage in his eyes. Goku's eyes widen immensely at the speed shown and tries to run, but to no avail. Raditz quickly catches up to Goku, grabbing the younger saiyan's leg. He turns and slams Goku into the ground, the short-haired saiyan gasping loudly as he feels the air leave his lungs.

While Raditz begins to beat down on Goku, Zamasu simply watches. His eyes were narrowed, constantly shifting around the scene, as if searching for something. He was searching for a feeling. "Why do I feel no joy in Goku being beaten? He is scum, the worst of the saiyans, and should be punished worse than he is now. So… why do I feel neutral?"

In reality, Zamasu did feel something. It was the tiniest bit of anger at how Goku was being treated, but he did not dare to admit it. He was ignoring it and shutting out the feeling, denying its existence.

Raditz slams Goku into the ground once again, more saliva and air leaving Goku's mouth. Raditz plants a booted foot on Goku's chest, then presses down, HARD.

Goku screams loudly as he feels Raditz slowly breaking his ribs, bending them only by centimeters. He could feel his own bones shifting downwards with the force, slowly reaching their limit. And then, they break.

Goku lets out a blood-curdling scream that made even Zamasu flinch, but Raditz just smirks. "You could've joined me Kakarot, but now you. Will. DIE."

Raditz brings his foot up to end Goku's life, when his scouter beeps loudly again. His eyes widen as he watches the numbers fly across his screen. "500, 700, 1000, 1300, 1700, 2000. 2800! What in the universe is going on here?!"

Raditz looks around, trying to locate the power source. The scouter leads his gaze downwards slightly, and the saiyan's eyes widen when he realizes what he was looking at. "My pod! But the only one there is the kid!"

Just as he is about to voice his disbelief, an explosion erupts from the crater. Raditz shields his eyes from the dust and rocks, staring at the crater with confusion and awe.

Gohan jumps out of the crater, landing just in front of it. His eyes were narrowed dangerously, his little fists clenched tight. His teeth were gritted to the point of looking like they would break.

Raditz's scouter beeps loudly, signaling it found the power source. But… the source was the little kid! No way was that right!

Gohan's fists clench even tighter as he sees his father underneath Raditz's boot. Glaring daggers at Raditz, the child screams "You leave my daddy ALONE!"

Gohan launches off the ground, rocketing towards Raditz with much more speed than he expected. Raditz's eyes widen at the speed shown, and he was unable to dodge.

Gohan, head first, slams directly into Raditz's chest. The crushing impact, makes the saiyan gag violently, blood spraying out of his mouth. He stumbles back, clutching his shattered armor in pain. Gohan, bouncing away from the impact, could not handle the force he just caused. He falls unconscious a few feet away.

Raditz looks at his torso, bleeding from the cut before and now his armor was shattered from Gohan's sudden power surge. Raditz stares at Gohan angrily, offended that such a young and weak warrior could do this much damage. Raditz raises a hand towards Gohan, energy forming in it. "DIE!"

Just before he could launch the attack, he feels a sudden weight on his back. Raditz's attack disperses as he claws behind him, trying to grab the assailant. "Who is there?! Let go of me!"

Goku chuckles weakly, pushing through the pain in his chest. "N-No. T-This fight i-is over."

Raditz raises an eyebrow, when he suddenly gets a bad feeling. He turns to Piccolo, the one person he's neglected the entire time, and his eyes widen immensely. The green man was once more in his charging stance, and the attack looked ready.

Piccolo chuckles with satisfaction. "You can't escape. Now… take this! SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" The drill-like beam rockets forwards once more, set on a course to kill both Goku and Raditz.

Raditz tries to step back instinctively, but Goku won't let him. Raditz renews his efforts in throwing Goku off, trying desperately to get out of his younger brother's grasp.

Goku gags at sudden movement, the pain in his chest flaring up. Blood drips down from his mouth, and Goku's hold weakens slightly.

Raditz, feeling the weakening, is able to free an arm. He slams his elbow into Goku's side, right where a rib was. Goku screams in pain, but doesn't let go.

Raditz begins to repeat the attack, each blow weakening Goku's hold. Then, when Goku is no longer able to hold him, Raditz tries to jump away.

Zamasu watches the exchange with focused eyes. When he sees Raditz about to escape, his eyes widen immensely. "No, you fool!"

Zamasu doesn't even think as he moves forwards. Raditz, right before his escape is reached, he once again feels a grip on his back. He thinks it is Goku for a split second, but the much stronger and firmer grip says otherwise.

Before Raditz can even voice his thoughts, the beam hits them. Raditz and Zamasu are flown backwards, and time seems to slow. Raditz can only focus on the attack drilling into his chest, flying out the other side.

Zamasu, without even realizing it, had knocked Goku away from the attack's path. He looks over to Goku slowly, his eyes slightly glazed over with shock and pain. And then, time reverts to normal for them.

Zamasu, a large smoking hole now in his chest, falls to the ground with a thud. He stares up at the blue sky, in shock of the fatal wound he now had. He chuckles, then says "S-Saving a mortal. How… ironic."

Goku picks himself up off the ground, shaking his head. He turns back to where he was standing, and his eyes widen when he sees Raditz and Zamasu on the ground, a gaping hole in their chests.

Goku runs over to Zamasu, kneeling by the god's side. He looks at the wound with wide eyes, slowly filling with tears. "No… no no no, this isn't good."

Goku reaches down next to him, groping for something, but all he feels is air. His eyes close, and his head slowly lowers. He punches the ground next to him, screaming "Damnit! I just met you, and now you are dying!"

Zamasu moves his gaze from the beautiful blue sky and looks at the kneeling mortal next to him. Goku shakes his head and says "I never should've brought you into this Zamasu. You shouldn't have to die because of my fight!" Piccolo crosses his arms and grunts, but doesn't speak his argument.

Piccolo looks at Goku in exasperation and says "We can just use the Dragon Balls to wish him back Goku. Don't be such a cry baby."

Goku looks up at Piccolo, then chuckles slightly. "R-Right, I guess we do have those."

"D-Dragon… Balls? Resurrection?" The two combatants look over to Raditz. The dying saiyan was looking at them with curiosity.

Goku nods, then says "Yeah, the Dragon Balls. We can wish for anything with them, like bringing the dead back to life."

Raditz looks at Goku with an odd look, instantly raising Piccolo's suspicion. Raditz then says "E-Even… i-immortality?"

Goku seems to think about, then shrugs, saying "I guess Shenron could do that."

Raditz continues to look at them, then chuckles. His chuckling turns into weak laughter. The two look at Raditz like he was crazy. Raditz, staring at the sky, then says "M-My scouter… serves a-as a communicator. T-Two saiyans… m-much stronger than me heard that i-information. N-Now, they w-will be coming to Earth." With one last laugh, the invading saiyan's life drains from his eyes.

Piccolo and Goku look at Raditz in shock. Piccolo growls, then glares at Goku. "You idiot! Now we have even bigger problems!"

Goku chuckles sheepishly, but doesn't seem fazed. The saiyan turns back to Zamasu, smiling warmly. "We'll bring you back with the Dragon Balls Zamasu. You're a friend now, and I won't let you down."

Zamasu doesn't respond, but something in those words struck a chord in Zamasu. Why is it… that Goku seems different? More… good… not evil, like he thought mortals are. His question is left unanswered to him, as his vision fades, and his eyes glaze over. Death had finally claimed the wounded god.

Chronoa, reading Zamasu's thoughts, smiles slightly to herself. "Goku isn't different Zamasu. Your viewing of him is changing. You are already seeing the good in mortals."

Small smile still in place, the time god gets up and leaves the Time Nest. She had other duties to perform now. Still, she was proud of the young Kai and his progress.

Chronoa sighs as she closes the book. "That was a very action-packed chapter." She smiles, then says "Oh, the author said that he's sorry for how long it took. He said he was having trouble focusing and all that, so it took longer than he anticipated. I don't know about you, but I could care less about how long it takes as long as the chapter is good. Am I right?" With a large grin, she waves happily. "Thanks for reading!"