Dragonball Z

Alter Age

New Evil Arrives

(A couple months later)

The morning that came on this particular day in the middle of the spring turned out to be one of the most eagerly awaited ones Goku could remember having in a long time. The reason being was that not only was his wife giving him a full, fun day to spend looking after their son, but she'd also taken the liberty of giving her husband permission to leave Mount Paozu to go visit their old friends.

To summarize, not only did the martial arts hero finally have the chance to reunite with his comrades Krillin, Bulma, Master Roshi, Launch, Oolong, Yamcha, and Puar, but he also had the chance to introduce his son to the people he grew up with.

Considering that Gohan had finally reached an age and maturity where he could easily move around and interact with others by himself, Chi-Chi was pretty keen about showing off the pride and joy of her new family. Despite her son's incredibly energetic and unpredictable behavior, he still held a great measure of politeness and confidence garnered from his father's side- and quite possibly his influence. The mother saw these as good, strong traits for her child, and considering how strong Gohan's bond with Goku was, she had no qualms about letting her beloved take their child out for a fly across the planet.

And that's exactly what they did.

Following a very hearty breakfast, in which both Goku and Gohan devoured everything laid out on the table in front of them in almost perfect mirrors of each other, Chi-Chi then got her son cleaned up, dressed him in his best clothes, popped on his dragon ball hat, and presented him to her husband. Upon calling his friend nimbus down from the lower stratosphere, the father then propped his son over his shoulder, hopped onto the cloud, and set off- leaving a trail of golden vapor in his wake.

For the adventurous, thrill-seeking Gohan, this would be the very first time his father had ever taken him out for a ride on his magical cloud. Upon seeing the land shrink beneath them and his horizon become filled with bodies of white clouds drifting past him, the boy found himself staring in awe at his new surroundings.

Giggles and laughter left the excited boy's lips as his father took nimbus on an exciting journey across the heavens. The cloud performed various turns and dives along its route, giving both father and son one heck of a rollercoaster ride. Understandably both boys were thrilled, with Goku grinning at his child when he saw how much fun he was having.

Deciding to take a more scenic route, the father brought Nimbus lower and had the cloud traverse through the mountains and across a lake, where he allowed his son to dip his hand down and push it through the water. The spray of water they left behind as nimbus tore over the lagoon's surface left a rainbow, marking that moment as one of the biggest highlights on the pair's journey across the continent.

Eventually Goku put them back on track, with the father using his senses to hone in on Kame House on Master Roshi's island, where he could feel a handful of his friends were hanging out there. Upon hitting the coast a couple minutes later, both father and son stayed high above the waves, watching as the mainland behind them slowly faded into the distance, and the big blue beneath them became filled by a scattering of small islands.

In a very short time, the pair finally reached the location of Kame House. Easily spotting the tiny island with the pink, wooden house resting on top of it, Goku put nimbus into a smooth descent towards the property.

"Here we are, Gohan," the man chirped, drawing his boy's attention towards the island far below. When nimbus pulled in low enough, Goku, picking his son up from his lap, hopped off of the cloud as it then pulled up, depositing the pair on the sand. With his son sitting on his father's shoulder and looking around inquisitively, the spiky haired hero approached the building. "Hey! Is anyone home?!"

Almost as soon as he called out, the clamor from inside the house soon spilled out onto the front porch, with Krillin, Bulma, Master Roshi, and even Launch stumbling out of the building to see who was calling out to them. The moment they laid their eyes on their friend, their expressions immediately became joyful.

"Goku!" Bulma exclaimed as Krillin and Launch both stepped out from behind her.

"Well, look who decided to drop by!" the blonde haired gunslinger, wearing a green tank top, blue shorts, and red windbreaker remarked. She then waved at the man. "How's it going, hero?"

"Hey!" Goku replied casually, a big smile on his face as his son remained perched happily on his shoulder.

By the time Master Roshi finally stepped out of the house with cane in hand that Bulma and everybody else noticed the boy. At first unable to recognize him due to never seeing him before, the blue-haired beauty in the white lab jacket and hot pants tilted her head. "Hey. Who's the kid?"

Krillin also appeared somewhat intrigued. "Are you trying to earn some extra cash babysitting or something?"

"Or did you pick up the poor thing from somewhere?" Launch also chimed in, trying to venture a guess as to how their simple-minded yet strong friend could've come into possession of a child. Knowing the kind of person Goku was, the reason couldn't have been anything simple. In their minds, it was probably some sort of 'lost puppy' or 'village-in-need-of-saving' case.

Of course, Goku, in typical fashion, surprised them all by turning to the curious boy on his shoulder and beaming proudly. "Nope. He's my son."

And as expected, everybody lost it. Expressions of astonishment and disbelief crossed over all four of the people standing in front of Kame House's porch, with Master Roshi shouting 'Your son?' as his glasses almost slipped off his nose.

Their reactions caused Goku to laugh heartily, "Pretty wild, huh?"

With their minds effectively blown, the troop watched as their proudly grinning friend took the boy off his shoulder and set him on the ground, where the youngster stood looking between his father and his odd collection of friends. As the shock of the reveal eventually wore off a few seconds later, all of the people there- including Turtle- were able to get their first, good look at Goku's son.

Mind clearing, Bulma blinked when she saw the tiny child standing at her friend's feet. When she saw his innocent gaze fall on her, the bluenette gushed. "Oh, Goku, he's adorable," she said while leaning forward.

Also taking the time to soak in the cutie, Launch blinked when she compared the child's face to her friend's. The resemblance she saw was uncanny. "Wow… he looks just like you."

Goku chuckled while patting his son on the head. "Gohan, say hi."

Quickly remembering his manners when it came to introducing himself to new people, the toddler put his hands in front of him and bowed. "Hello, everyone."

In response, Krillin, Bulma, Roshi, Launch and Turtle all bowed at once. Before they even had a chance to look up again, the child had become distracted by the big, shelled sea creature lying on the sand beside them and had promptly moved over to investigate. When he got close to the aquatic reptile, Gohan immediately went onto all fours and crept around the old turtle cautiously, sniffing him as Roshi's companion smiled back at the youngster.

Noticing how the child was now walking around the old sea creature on all fours like a cat had Bulma, Launch and Krillin staring at the sight strangely, with the two women sharing a look.

Upon seeing his son was preoccupied, Goku grinned. "His name is Gohan."

This statement had the observing Master Roshi perk up. "Ah. I see. You named him after your grandfather, did yah?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, that's wonderful. He's a fine, healthy looking boy. I'm sure your grandfather would be very proud," the old hermit replied, his glasses flashing as he watched Gohan circle turtle once before stopping in front of the amphibian. When Gohan sniffed him up close again, to the point his nose tapped against turtle's beak, the child grinned and reached up, patting the creature on the head. The giggle he gave as the animal responded to him was a warm and adorable one. This actually had Roshi chuckle. "He certainly is a curious little fellow."

After watching Gohan greet the island's resident reptile, Bulma walked over and squatted down in front of the youngster, who then looked up at her. Standing back up onto both feet, the boy tilted his head as the woman beamed at him.

"Hey, Gohan. How old are you?" the scientist asked.

Ears twitching, the boy then held up his hand and the correct number of fingers, "Four and a half."

Bulma smiled and reached forward, patting the boy on his hat and causing him to giggle. "Are you going to grow up to be a brave fighter like your dad?"

The question had Gohan nod his head vigorously, almost shaking the cap from his head, before he corrected it quickly, "Uh-huh! I really do! Fighting is so much fun and I get to play a lot outside!" the child's smile then vanished and his head dipped. "But mum really hates it."

"Oh?" Bulma replied.

"Yeah. Chi-Chi doesn't want him to train or go out much," Goku answered with a shrug. "She wants him to grow up to become an ortho-podist or something in the future. She tries to get him to study every day so that he can get smarter and go to a good school, but Gohan absolutely hates it."

This had Gohan nod and put on a rather disgusted fate. "Reading and writing is boring." He then stuck out his tongue. "It's too easy and too long."

His comments had Krillin laugh loudly. "Well, he certainly sounds like your kid- that's for sure." It was a statement that was joined by a nod from Launch and a lighthearted chuckle from Master Roshi.

The news of Chi-Chi's displeasure towards her boy's upbringing had Bulma look at Gohan curiously. "That's really strange. Chi-Chi not wanting him to train? Huh."

In response, Goku leaned forward, cupped a hand over his mouth, and said in a low voice. "The truth is, I've been taking Gohan out in the mornings and training him in secret before the sun comes up. He's actually really, really good at martial arts." When he saw the surprised looks come over everyone's faces, the man decided to hammer home his point with extra vigor. "No. Not just good. He's fantastic. Almost as skilled as me."

"Seriously?" Launch asked, while at the same time looking down at the kid gazing up at Bulma. "At his age? I find that hard to believe."

"No. It's true," Goku chirped, at the same time glancing down at his boy as he tilted his head and studying the woman's face. "He's got really sharp instincts, he's got excellent coordination, and he's really strong physically. He can jump about thirty feet into the air without even trying and run so fast that even I have trouble keeping up with him. The first time we trained together he managed to knock me to the ground. Almost broke my ribs too."

This news had Krillin stare bug-eyed at his friend. "Almost? That's… incredible." He knew how strong his best friend was. For him to actually say that without an ounce of hesitation, the man knew he must've been telling the truth.

"I know, right?" the spiky haired hero chirped.

Gohan, having become quite fascinated with the blue-haired angel staring at him, had taken about a minute to inspect her face, body and outfit up close. After several moments of glancing her over, the child then felt a smile tug at his lips before his tail started wagging happily.

"You're very pretty!"

Looking quite taken aback by the comment, Bulma then gave a giggle and reached forward to ruffle the boy's head some more. "Why thank you, Gohan. My, you're quite the little charmer, aren't you?" After hearing the child laugh under her ministrations, the bluenette then withdrew her hand and noticed the brown appendage waving behind him. Her expression quickly changed. "Hm? A tail?"

"Yeah. He was born with it- just like me," Goku said, watching as his son returned to his hands and crawled around the bluenette. Circling her and getting right behind her rump, which caused the woman to straighten up slightly in surprise, the father chuckled. "He's also pretty wild and brave, and loves exploring the woods outside our house. Since he goes out so much, he's gotten pretty good at looking after himself. One time he was gone for a full day and when he came back, he said he'd caught a couple of fish to eat, which Chi-Chi thought was crazy."

Around this time, Bulma was struck by a rather alarming thought. After Gohan was done checking her out and had gone over to check out Launch and the others, the bluenette stood up and whispered to Goku. "Uhh… has anything, you know, strange ever happened to Gohan at night?" she asked while glancing at her friend cautiously.

Goku of course looked clueless. "What do you mean?"

Master Roshi quickly tiptoed over. "She means, has Gohan ever looked at the moon at night? When it's full?"

"I… don't think so." Following a moment of tense silence, in which everyone had their eyes and ears glued to the martial artist, Goku looked away vacantly. "No. We all go to bed pretty early… so we never ever really get many chances to look up at the stars." Though there were those few times that Chi-Chi wanted to try something a little more romantic outdoors with her husband. Aside from those really fun, naked wrestling matches he'd had with her under their usual tree, nothing else interesting actually happened to them. "Why?"

While his friends Bulma, Launch and Krillin averted their gazes for obvious reasons, Master Roshi jumped in and hurriedly deflected his student's concerns.

From there, the group of old friends then converged on the sand and spent a good chunk of their morning catching up.

OOO

(Meanwhile)

Somewhere on the mainland, in a barren waste far from any known civilization, the caped form of Piccolo could be spotted standing atop a rocky plateau. The wind cutting across the countryside whipped at his clothes, which flapped and fluttered on the breeze as the sounds of solitude blanketed the entire region. Though it wasn't clear exactly why the demon king's son had relegated himself to such a location, it was clear from his posture and the look on his face that he was stuck deep in thought.

Everything that'd happened in the last few months had given several small concerns for him to mellow over. Chief amongst which was Goku's family and his son, who only a few short weeks ago had witnessed take down a full-grown dragon. The display of strength that he had witnessed and the amount of energy he'd felt in that moment had been enough to rock Piccolo to his core, leaving him feeling not only concerned for his plans for the future, but also incredibly worried by how this new, undeveloped super power meant for the world as a whole.

"Hmm… Goku's brat might become a problem," the warrior thought, his mind circling the image of the child bathed in smoke and standing atop the mighty beast's corpse. After all, a child of that nature and strength could be unpredictable. It was a wild card of multiple suites, burdened with multiple possibilities and unknown outcomes. Though a momentary sense of dread flickered through his mind when he imagined having the force that child displayed directly squarely at him, Piccolo then cracked open his eyes when a new idea crossed his mind. "Maybe… I'll be able to make use of it someday."

The thought had a lot of promise. After all, the child was still young. Perhaps there was a chance that he could be manipulated in the future and led down another path. The path to conquest?

Of course, before Piccolo could begin making more sense of the idea, a loud ping on his radar caused the man to wheel around sharply and his eyes to lock onto the sky in alarm. In that instant, the man felt the full blast of a massive power level appear on the horizon, which grew closer and closer as the seconds ticked past.

"W-What is that? I've… never sensed so much power!" Rotating around completely as his cape flapped on the wind, the green warrior fixed his glare on the clouds as he kept all his senses fixed on the presence approaching him. "It can't be Goku. It's… It's too horrible." As his eyes scanned the sky, he suddenly spotted a speck appear in the blue, which grew bigger as it flew towards him at an incredible speed. When Piccolo was able to make it out as a person, his expression reflected his astonishment. "Who is that?!"

A split second later the figure dove down from the sky, a sonic boom ringing out before his feet slammed into the ground with such force it cracked it. What the demon of earth soon found himself gaping at was a tall, muscular, and incredibly threatening looking man with very long, black spiky hair, a strong jaw, and a fierce expression. Aside from his arms and legs, which were completely exposed to the elements, the man was covered from neck to toe in a very unusual, black and brown armor with accented shoulder and side guards. He also had some unusual headpiece sitting over his left ear with a green visor over his eye, which suddenly beeped the moment the stranger's gaze landed on him.

The wind that kicked up ruffled both Piccolo's cape and the new arrival's hair, in a standoff that had the former quivering in his shoes.

"Excuse me for dropping in," the man greeted in a very gruff yet surprisingly polite manner as a stiff wind continued to cut over the rise of the outcrop. "I'm trying to find a man by the name of Kakarot. I thought you were him."

Following a very tense faceoff, Piccolo steeled his expression and glared back at the stranger. "Well, you thought wrong. Now turn around and get out of here before I get angry."

The imposing man cocked an eyebrow. "Someone's having a bad day."

"Tsk. You have no idea," Piccolo replied impatiently. "My patience is wearing thin. Get lost. I'm not going to tell you a third time."

Feeling amused at the man's attempts to look scar, the stranger reached up and pressed a button on the side of his device. "In a moment." He then chuckled as a new series of beeps rang out, the visor over his left eye coming up with a set of odd numbers as an arrow blinked on the person in front of him. "Hmm… power level of 322. Quaint." The numbers then disappeared, leaving the visitor amused. "I can tell from your appearance that you're not from this planet. Even so, it would be foolish to try and attack me… especially with such a… disappointing power."

Gritting his teeth, Piccolo set himself into a defensive posture. "Okay, listen. You came here to me, so I have no intention of starting a fight."

The stranger meanwhile chuckled, "I do."

Hearing this caused the demon to grit his teeth and snarl angrily. Though every sensibility in Piccolo's head told him not to do anything hostile, he became so unnerved by the warrior's power signature and so infuriated by his flippant attitude of him that the warrior had had enough. "If that's how he wants it…" His right arm flexing as a rush of ki ran into his palm, Piccolo then gave a mighty shout and thrust his palm forward. A flash of blinding orange light then left his hand and engulfed the warrior in a concussive explosion, which detonated against the edge of the plateau and sent a cloud of dust and rubble belching into the air.

When the smoke started to fade, Piccolo felt a relieved grin spread over his lips, only to then have his jaw drop when he saw the stranger's form emerge from the haze- unharmed and seemingly untouched.

The long-haired man laughed as he reached up with his hand and casually brushed off the dust on his shoulder. "Impressive. You actually managed to singe some of my leg hairs with that one." Seeing the earth-bound warrior's eyes widen and an exclamation of horror leave his gape, the new arrival then raised his right arm and held his palm skywards. "Allow me to demonstrate a more effective attack. It's one of my favorites. I call it a Double Sunday. See if you can follow this one."

Feeling the man's power level spiking to a ridiculously high level and thinking he was about to get annihilated with one hit, Piccolo braced himself for the inevitable. It was only when another beep followed by a flash of numbers from the stranger's device that his attention was torn from the demon and pulled eastwards.

The readout that appeared in the glass caused the big man to frown. "Hmph… talk about poor timing. And this was just starting to get interesting." The alien then shot up into the sky, stopping about a hundred stories above the desert, where he proceeded to scan the horizon. While Piccolo watched slack jawed and shaken on the plateau below, the perturbed humanoid male then rotated his body around in the direction his electronic compass was pointing him. "There it is- just on the edge of my scouter's range. A couple more big power levels… including a very large one. Probably the largest on this planet." He then narrowed his eyes on the multiple numbers flashing across his screen, including one that caused him to recoil before reaching up and tapping the unit. When he saw the numbers recalculate and the counter finally stop, the warrior smirked. "Oh my. A resting power level of 416? That's got to be him!"

Without saying another world, the man powered up and shot off across the wasteland, leaving Piccolo atop his rock of solitude.

Upon seeing the stranger vanish into the distance, the shocked warrior collapsed to his hands and knees and panted heavily. The stress of the situation had left him on the verge of collapsing. When he reran the scenario in his head, Piccolo couldn't help but shake his head.

"I don't believe it. I hit him full force at pointblank range and he didn't even flinch!" He then clenched his jaw as he glared across the sky, towards the horizon where the powerful warrior had gone. "This guy… he's bad news."

As the spiky haired, armored visitor from another world cruised across the sky and casual, subsonic flight, the man frowned and reached up to tap his scouter again. Double-checking his heading as he found himself approaching the continent's main coastline, the man frowned when he got another readout and shook his head. "Damn. I need to get this thing checked for bugs when I get back to FP-79 (Frieza Planet 79)."

Though the scanner was working fine now, the man believed that his device had developed a small glitch after entering the planet's atmosphere, an error which had prompted him to do a second scan of those big power levels he was now homing in on. All of the energy signatures his scouter was picking up were hovering between 130 and 420.

The first time he'd checked the area however- though it'd only flickered across his screen for a split second before the numbers recalculated- he could've sworn one of those power levels cropped up at over 4,000.

Maybe he was just imagining it. There was no way someone as strong as Nappa was living on this planet.

OOO

(Meanwhile)

A little while after Piccolo's encounter with the mysterious alien in the desert was wrapping up, back on Master Roshi's island Goku had just gotten through hearing about all the little adventures his friends had gotten up to over the last five years in brief. He found out from Bulma that Yamcha had started playing professional baseball and that the pair's relationship was currently going on steady. He learned about the new kinds of training routines Krillin was undertaking in between his days of construction work and tutelage under Roshi. And he even found out a bit about Tien and Chiaotzu from Launch, who said that the pair had gone off to train in the northern mountains ranges together, and had left her alone.

Apparently the three-eyed martial artist that the blonde gunslinger had become interested in didn't express any sort of regard or mutual feelings towards her at all, leaving the gutsy young woman hanging and at a bit of an emotional loss. After spending a few months soul-searching and getting all her affairs in order, Launch eventually found her way back to Kame House, where all of the friends and people who cared about her were staying.

Thanks to all of their history with each other, both Launches had become quite fond of the Z-fighters and she wanted to continue to play a big part in their lives.

Hearing all of this made Goku feel incredibly happy that all of his companions were doing well and that all of them had been keeping themselves busy over the last few years. This then led to the young father revealing a little bit more about his family life and how much time he was spending with them.

Goku understandably expressed a great deal of joy and enthusiasm toward his son's eagerness to train with him and get stronger, a remark that was punctuated by the sight of the child playing in the rolling waves and stalking fish in the shallows. When they saw him manage to catch a large one with his mouth after pouncing on it, Krillin and Launch couldn't help but see even more similarities between Gohan and his eccentric father.

However, while with Goku he was much more simple and grown-up due to his maturity, Gohan's behaviors were a lot more instinct-driven and animalistic. It was like he had his father's wild-nature switched on at all times and amplified, making them suspect that this may have something to do with his heritage.

Clearly everyone on the father's side weren't what you would consider normal.

After Gohan was done exploring the perimeter of the island, he then settled down to playing with Launch. He managed to clamber onto the blonde's shoulder and begin playing with her golden, curly hair, a sight that had Bulma and the others admiring while the bipolar gunslinger blushed in embarrassment.

Just as thoughts of heading inside started to manifest in their heads, Gohan- head perking up from nuzzling Launch's hair- suddenly snapped his eyes towards the horizon. Almost on cue the boy sprang off of the woman, dropped down to the sand, got on all fours and growled. At first the group were a bit caught off guard when they saw the boy's hair on his head and tail stand on end and bristle as he continued to snarl through bared teeth like a dog, until Goku, Krillin and Master Roshi also picked up what had appeared on the child's radar. All three fighters quickly looked towards the sky at once, which greatly confused both Bulma and Launch at the unexpected mood change.

"Whoa? What's going on?" the gunslinger remarked.

"Is something wrong, you guys?" Bulma asked immediately afterwards.

Sweat breaking out on his face, Goku trembled nervously when his senses honed in on the disturbance. "There's something really bad heading straight for us."

"What?" the scientist balked, before also turning towards the ocean in the direction everyone was looking. "Are you sure, Goku?"

"I'm positive," the man responded. "I've never felt a power like this before. Not even from Piccolo."

Master Roshi also felt his body quiver as he fixed all of his attention on the incoming signal. "Such an awful and terrifying energy. Just what kind of presence could possibly emit such a menacing force?" His eyes quickly looked over to Gohan, where he saw the kid had dug his nails into the sand and was growling a little louder this time- obviously at whatever was causing him to react that way.

For the next few seconds the gang stood silent- watching and waiting as the large, evil energy signature drew closer and closer. At first Bulma and Launch were left completely dumbfounded, unable to see anything. However, as everyone was looking out across the ocean, the blonde gunslinger saw something burst through the clouds.

"Look! Up there!" the fierce beauty shouted.

"Yes. I see it," Master Roshi replied while everyone quickly put up their guards. As the thing drew closer to them, the turtle hermit was able to get a good read on the person's ki signature, which almost immediately had him sweating bullets. "This isn't good. That presence has the stench of death about it."

Almost as soon as the hermit finished that though, the figure dropped from the sky and landed directly in front of the group. The person that Goku and his friends found themselves confronting was the exact same man that Piccolo had met out in the desert- his spiky hair framing a bulky, muscular build, and adorned in a very unorthodox set of accented battle armor. When he straightened up to full height following his graceful touchdown, the man easily towered above everyone present, including Goku. Coupled with his incredibly otherworldly, menacing appearance, this unknown and dangerous looking individual cast a very long and ominous shadow over the entire island.

While Goku, Krillin and everybody else appeared momentarily alarmed at the sight of the man, the only one who didn't appear intimidated in the least was Gohan- who continued to snarl in the direction of the newcomer.

As a tense silence fell over the area, a loud beeping sound suddenly started to ring out, as the weird device resting over the stranger's eye began to scan the group. Isolating each and every person in front of him, the spiky haired stranger quickly fixed his attention on Goku, who he then flashed a very unnerving grin.

"Heh. So we meet again at last… after all these years," the warrior spoke, folding his arms as he tilted his head at the martial artist dressed in orange and blue. "You've grown up, but I still recognize you… Kakarot."

Hearing the man's words caused Krillin and the others to blink in confusion, with Goku appearing the most perplexed. "K-Kakarot?"

"That's right. That's your name," the long-haired stranger insisted, a proud smile on his face as he lifted his head up high. Though he kept his gaze up high, the man could still here the low growling from the infant youngster crouching on the sand in front of the adults- though he paid him little mind.

It quickly became clear on everybody's faces that they had no idea what was going on, with Bulma, Launch and Krillin looking between one another in confusion. After shrugging and tilting their heads at one another, clearly unable to come up with any logical answers, the group then looked back at the stranger.

"His name? Who is this guy?" Krillin asked incredulously. "He must be nuts."

Growing a tad bit impatient at the poor reception he was getting, the spiky haired new arrival pointed across at the man he was addressing. "Kakarot! What have you been doing here all these years? Your mission was to terminate all life on this planet! Why haven't you carried that out?"

With Goku scratching his head over what this weird-looking man was saying to him, when he looked back at Master Roshi for clarification, Krillin heedlessly moved forward. "Listen mister. I don't know who you are, but you've obviously got the wrong guy." Being sure to step around the crouching Gohan- who was continuing to remain on guard in his typical, animalistic fashion- the bald fighter approached the individual and stood in front of him. "Since you clearly seem to be lost, allow me to escort you off of this-"

Senses triggering when he saw the belt around the man's waist light up, Goku's eyes widened before he shouted in warning, "KRILLIN! WATCH OUT!"

Before his friend could react, there was a loud THWACK, followed immediately by Krillin being knocked off his feet and sent flying into the corner of Kame House. His impact with it smashed a hole right into the building's wall, splinters cascading from the gap as the poor fighter's leg remained dangling over the broken edges.

Upon seeing the dust settle around the crash site, Goku and the others wheeled around to glare at the stranger, with Launch quickly pulling a pair of pistols from behind her. The moment she cocked the pair of Desert Eagles she'd drawn, she took aim at the large man and braced herself.

"BASTARD!" she shouted, before she unloaded a barrage of bullets on the stranger.

In the blink of an eye, the man unfolded one of his arms and speedily whipped it about in front of him. In a blur, he managed to catch every single projectile flying towards him. When Launch stopped firing seconds later, she, Bulma, Roshi and Goku, all of whom had clenched their ears at the sheer volume of her firearms, blinked when they saw the smirking stranger hold his clenched fist over his chest, before slowly opening his fingers.

Dropping the bullets to the sand, the stranger cocked his head cheekily. "Care to try that again?"

Gritting her teeth, Launch emptied her pistols' magazines. The moment the clips dropped from her guns, the woman speedily thrust her arms out- flinging out a new pair of yellow and black-striped magazines from her sleeves with 'CAUTION' labels on them, and speed loading them into her pistols. As soon as her handguns snapped into the armed position, the woman then aimed them once more.

"Sure! EAT THIS!" Launch shouted, before a deafening BANG as loud as a tank firing rang out, followed instantly by a gargantuan flash of flames from her two pistols going off simultaneously. Unlike before, the sheer force of the kickback from her handguns not only launched the woman's arms back, but knocked the blonde beauty off her feet and straight into Roshi on the porch, who managed to catch her.

The spiky-haired stranger actually felt his eyes widen at the speed of these next projectiles, which prompted him to snap both his arms across to catch them. The impact of the rounds landing in his hands knocked the man skidding back along the sand and into the shallows of the ocean. When he managed to stop a few feet later, he revealed his body bent over back, his arms held over his face, and his fingers and thumbs pinching a pair of glowing, orange bullets that he'd crushed in his effort to stop them.

The visitor to the island chuckled when he saw the startled expressions that came over the group's faces, with Launch expressing the greatest shock at seeing her Mach 3, armor-piercing bullets get stopped by the warrior. "Bulma made those for me! They're designed to drill through mountains and bunkers! So how did…?" Ever since she realized how useless bullets were becoming against guys like Goku and Piccolo, Launch had asked her scientist friend to help modify her tools to help her take down monsters of that level. For this guy to be able to stop her specially upgraded rounds, it was like he'd just caught a pair of tank shells being fired at him at pointblank range.

Upon laughing at their looks, the man eyed the blonde rather humorously. "I like you." Comment made, he then dropped the smoking slabs of lead and dusted his hands, before stepping out of the shallows and resuming his initial spot with his arms crossed.

It was at that moment, as the group stared at the armored stranger, Goku, Bulma, Launch and Master Roshi all felt their tense expressions transform into awe when they saw what the stranger had used to hit Krillin with.

The weird belt that'd been wrapped around the man's waist moments before was actually a brown, furry tail- exactly the same kind that Goku had when he was a kid and exactly the same kind that his son also had.

"I… I don't believe it," Bulma stuttered when she got a full glimpse of the appendage waving in the air beside the stranger. "He has a tail too!" When she looked down at Gohan and saw the boy still growling at the stranger, the bluenette quickly ducked forward, wrapped her arms around him and tried to pull him back. Much to her surprise however, she found that she couldn't budge him an inch, leaving her kneeling precariously in full view of the new arrival.

While the stranger gave the woman and child pair another glance- and Krillin hilariously pulled himself out of the hole he'd made- when the invader looked back up at Goku and saw the mystified look on his face, he smirked. "Well… isn't it about time you recognized me, Kakarot?"

The spiky haired hero shook his head. "Sorry, but… no. I don't."

This of course had the man's mood drop yet again. "You mean to say you don't remember me? Recognize me?" He then lowered his head angrily. "That seems highly unlikely. After all, members of our race have adapted extremely sharp mental faculties in order to facilitate our growth. We can learn and remember specific details about our environment and origins, even as newborns." Scrunching his brow thoughtfully, he then pointed towards his head. "Did you suffer some kind of head injury when you were younger that caused you to lose your memories?"

Thinking on it for a moment, the troubled Goku reached up and patted his head. "Yeah. Now that you mention it, I did hit my head when I was a child. I still have the scar from when it happened." His remark had the stranger click his tongue in annoyance, while also causing a listening Master Roshi to perk up in realization.

"So you forgot?" the stranger scoffed, his temper clearly showing through his teeth as his energy levels steadily began to climb. "How vexing."

Before both he and the hero's frustrations could grow any further and lead to something more than a few choice words with one another, the Turtle Hermit- having remained silent throughout a majority of the conversation thus far- wisely chose to chime in. "Goku… there's something that your grandfather told me that I think you should know." When Roshi saw everyone turn their attention to him, the elderly man proceeded to speak. "Long ago, Gohan was walking through the woods when he stumbled upon a crater that'd recently been made in the ground. When he went to examine it more closely, he found some sort of spaceship lying at the bottom of it and, next to it, you." His glasses flashed as he began drawing on more details, with his story giving time for everyone around him to catch their breath and settle their nerves. "He tried to take care of you, but you were wild, uncontrollable, and constantly lashing out at him- showing an incredible amount of strength for a baby. You were nothing like an ordinary, human child."

It was this statement that had Goku and Bulma momentarily glance down at the younger Gohan in front of them. While the father quickly recalled all of the times his son exhibited the strange traits Roshi was describing to them, the latter couldn't help but study the child as he continued to remain on full alert.

"Is that why he's acting like this? Because of his dad... and wherever he came from?" the scientist thought, quickly putting two and two together. As all of this was coming to light, everything was starting to make a whole lot more sense.

"You wanted nothing to do with his kindness," Roshi continued without missing a beat. "But then, one day, there was a terrible accident. You fell into a ravine and hit your head on the rocks. When Gohan thought he'd lost you, you miraculously survived. Any other child would've died, but you recovered… and from that day on you became a happy, loving boy. The same one we came to know and love."

This news shocked Goku and his friends, leaving all of them standing around looking flabbergasted. The stranger meanwhile remained patient- listening to the story so that it could help fill in some of the gaps for him. Once it was over, both the Z-fighters' and the invaders' fears had been confirmed, leaving all of them at a bit of a loss for words.

Though Bulma and Gohan had been listening, the youngster had kept his eyes on the visitor the entire time- his expression twisted into one of utter concentration and focus. Even now the boy's instincts prevented him from taking even a few seconds to look away from the threatening looking man, who he could sense still posed an incredible danger.

"I'm… from outer space?" Goku gulped, which earned a nod from his old teacher.

"Yes," Roshi answered.

Krillin, upon finally processing all of this information just like the others, placed a hand on his hip while the other nursed his swollen jaw. "Well… that would explain a lot. So do you think that Goku and Gohan has some sort of connection to this guy?" he asked, at the same time turning his gaze back to their visitor. The tail was a big giveaway.

Remembering that they still had a problem to take care of, everybody else used that cue to lock their attention on their planet's uninvited guest.

"I can't be sure," Master Roshi replied warily.

Goku, resetting his guard as he faced off against the newcomer, narrowed his eyes intently. "Alright… I think it's about time you did some explaining of your own. First- who are you?"

Realizing he now had the group's full and undivided attention on him once more, the invader smirked. "Let's start at the top. Yes- you and the old man are right. You're not from this world, Kakarot. You were born on a distant planet on the other side of the galaxy called Vegeta: home of the Saiyan race- the most powerful and renowned warriors in the universe! You are one of us!" This statement caused Goku and his friends to appear taken aback, as this was not something they were expecting to hear. But the best was yet to come. "And as for your other question, my name is Raditz. I'm your older brother."

Krillin felt his jaw come undone, only to wince when he felt the muscles sting. "N-No way! Brother?"

"Did he just say brother?" Launch asked, thinking that she might have misheard them for a second. "That's crazy!"

"If he's really an alien like he said he is, then what the heck's he doing on Earth?" Bulma asked, keeping her arms wrapped around the crouching Gohan- despite her strength and weight on him not doing much. Thankfully the kid seemed to have calmed down a little bit and was remaining locked in place.

The villain, now identified as Raditz, smirked. "It's not hard to understand. Kakarot was sent to this world with a simple mission not long after he was born, one that he has clearly failed. To destroy the dominant sentient lifeforms on this planet." When he saw the disbelieving look the group gave him, the menacing relative proceeded. "You see, we Saiyans aren't just warriors. We're also what you'd call… planet brokers… and exceptional ones at that. We scour the universe in search of worlds with habitable environments and then use our skills to eliminate the native lifeforms ruling over them. Once cleared, the planets are then sold to any alien race willing to pay the price. For those planets whose inhabitants have high power levels, adult Saiyans are sent to subdue the territories. But to planets like this one- where the populations are weak and unremarkable- we send our infants."

Allowing a moment for the info to sink in, he saw the looks of astonishment fester over the troop. During his observations, Raditz's scouter beeped again, drawing his attention down towards the child crouching beneath him. When he saw the numbers jump up, his eyebrows cocked momentarily, before he looked back at the group of adults facing him.

"This is how you came to be here, Kakarot. Even by yourself, a year or two would've been more than enough time for you to liquidate these human pests. Could've done it easily if you hadn't lost your memory," Raditz stated, saying that last bit with a clear hint of disappointment. He then momentarily glanced upwards and smirked. "And considering the size of this planet's moon, you should've easily been able to tap into your dormant powers. When gazing upon the reflection of a sun in a celestial body, a Saiyan is able to stimulate the primordial cells coursing through them and transform into the mighty Oozaru- or great ape. This form would've allowed you to decimate most of this entire planet and its inhabitants in a single night." He then looked across at his brother and frowned. "But… considering you lost your tail… you've become nothing but a broken down, traitorous disgrace."

Goku clenched his jaw and raised his fist. "It doesn't matter who or what you say I am- this is my home and these are my friends." He then shook his head at the Saiyan when he saw him smirk in his direction. "And you sure as heck don't act like any brother I'd ever want to have. Someone as cruel and cold like you is not welcome here!" He then grinned and pointed at himself. "My name is Goku and this is my home! So why don't you take off and leave us alone?!" His demand was followed by another growl from Gohan and a glare from Bulma, both of whom directed their animosity towards the unwelcome visitor.

Launch smirked at the man's gutsy statement. "Yeah! You tell him, Goku!"

"That's right!" Master Roshi also shouted as he stepped forward to stand beside his pupil. "Whatever his past, Goku is one of us now! In fact, he's a better human than any of us!"

"Yeah! He even saved the world before!" Krillin shot back at the towering Saiyan boldly, despite having nearly knocked out by his attack. "A murderous, planet-conquering pirate would never do something like that! So take the hint and scram!"

Their barrage of statements drew another laugh from Raditz, who then went about admiring the house behind them and then the rest of the island. "Is that it, huh? Little brother wants to be left alone on this little, blue mud-ball of a world he now calls home? Well unfortunately that's not going to happen. You see, a few years ago, our home planet was met with an unfortunate accident, when a massive meteor collided with it and vaporized most of our entire race along with it. Now, as far as we know, there are only four Saiyans left, including the two of us. We were the only members of our race away from home on assignment when our planet exploded." The man then uncrossed his arms and held them out. "As it so happens, we've found another world we wish to conquer, only the inhabitants are too potent for the three of us to handle alone. We were almost about to pass it up, until I remembered you. You may not be as powerful as I'd hoped, but with your help we should manage nicely. So… what do you think?"

At this point, Goku had heard enough. Putting his foot down, the hero barked at the man angrily. "I refuse! There's no way I'd ever join a gang of pirates like you! You attack planets and kill innocent people! I'd rather die than ever stoop to slaughtering people for profit!"

"Hmph. So be it," Raditz remarked, before then glancing down at Bulma and Gohan. When he saw the kid was still snarling at him, the long-haired invader then cocked an eyebrow. "I guess I'll have to settle with taking your son instead."

When he said this, the entire group was immediately alarmed, with Goku hurriedly stepping forward to stand in the way of his boy as he Bulma continued to hold onto him.

"You leave my son out of this!" the warrior shouted.

"Hmph. I'll decide that!" Raditz responded, setting his arms at his sides and proceeding to walk across the sand towards the group, all of whom quickly took up defensive positions. "Your boy has quite the fire in his eyes, an untempered warrior's spirit… and he still has his tail. I think he will make a fine warrior, given the proper motivation and training."

Goku clenched his jaw, sweat trickling down his face as he watched his older brother march towards him. Launch reloaded her pistols and took aim again, with Krillin also taking up guard alongside his best friend.

The group seemed ready for a throw-down. However, just as Raditz was closing in on them, one of their number suddenly and unexpectedly broke ranks.

With a flick of his tail and a grunt, Gohan shoved Bulma off of him and darted out of her arms- bolting to the side in a blur of movement. The ambling Raditz actually pulled a double-take when he spotted the child appear on the sand to his far right, before watching the youngster charge at him with a yell of rage. Responding instinctively, the man vanished in a flicker, leaving an afterimage in his wake and avoiding the child when he slammed into the ground, kicking up a towering blast of sand.

The shockwave the child generated on impact sent a blast of wind into the group's faces, all of whom found themselves gaping at the boy when his form slowly emerged from the haze.

"W-Whoa!" Krillin exclaimed when he saw the ten foot wide crater the child was standing in. "Did he just-"

"Gohan!" Goku shouted. When he noticed his son glaring up into the sky, the alarmed father and everybody else looked up as well.

Raditz, having avoided the opening attack by taking to the air, frowned down at the child that was now glaring daggers up at him and snarling. "Hmm. Unusual." He then reached up and pressed the button of his scouter, causing numbers to come up as he isolated the scanner on the youngster. When it came back to him, the man balked. "An agitated power level of 915? And it's still rising? Impossible! How could a mere child-" Stopping when he remembered how the youngster was acting before, the taller warrior smirked. "Ah. I see how it is. Kakarot's brat must've inherited the Saiyan's natural instincts for fighting and the race's primal aggression that his father rejected. Not bad for a half-breed."

With his power level and vicious nature, Raditz was sure that this youngster would make a fine warrior in the future.

Glancing up to see Goku and his friends all staring up at his airborne form, the Saiyan invader decided to take action. Bringing a hand up and raising a finger, the man then swung it in a downward arc, firing off a beam of energy at the group scattered on the sand. His attack carved across the island and caused a wall of pink flames to detonate directly in front of Goku and the others, knocking all of them off their feet.

Gohan, glancing behind him when he heard the screams of his father and friends, then snapped his gaze back up- only to lose sight of his foe. Before he could react, his entire body suddenly froze up as a great pain shot through every nerve-ending in his system. Eyes going blurry and his strength vanishing in an instant, the child then collapsed, only to get hoisted into the air when Raditz heaved him up by his tail with barely any effort.

Apparently while the boy had been momentarily distracted by the plight of his friends, Raditz had used that opportunity to swiftly get behind him and grab him by his one weak spot.

"That was impressive runt. I have to say, you've certainly peaked my curiosity," Raditz remarked, before turning around to see the wall of smoke he'd left fade. When it cleared, he saw a fallen Goku, Bulma and everybody else gaping across at him- having barely avoided certain death. "If you want to see your son again, I suggest you listen carefully. In order to reclaim your honor and prove your loyalty to your race, I want you to kill a hundred humans by noon tomorrow. Just dump the bodies on the beach. I'll be back to do a headcount. If not…" He then sneered as he held up the youngster now dangling unconsciously from his hand, "I'll just take your son as a consolation prize. At least then my trip to this world wouldn't have been a total waste of my time."

Before Goku could even scramble to his feet, Raditz's body gave off a sudden blast of wind as he powered up, before taking off with a sonic boom- leaving the island behind him as he streaked back towards the mainland. All the gang could do at that point was gape after the Saiyan warrior, with the father running to the edge of the water with an expression twisted in fear.

"GOHAN! NO!" the man cried out, feeling completely powerless as he watched the man who claimed to be his brother fly off with his son.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: Okay. This was a fun chapter to write. It sets up the inevitable confrontation between Raditz and Gohan in the next update, as well as the battle he will have with Goku and Piccolo. The next chapter is where the biggest divergence occurs, because since Gohan has displayed a very fierce and adamant desire for fighting, Raditz wants to test out how powerful he actually is.

Especially since his energy levels fluctuate very erratically. Raditz, being the cautious and tactical fighter that he is, wants to put this strength to the test and report to Vegeta and Nappa his discovery.

Also, unlike the author, I haven't forgotten about Launch. I figured that in the five year gap, the woman would take some extra precautions when faced with enemies as strong as Goku and Piccolo. So I had her form a standing association with Bulma in the past five years, who then helps the gunslinger to modify her tech to fight against super powered monsters- one of which is a pistol ammunition type I got inspired from the hero Zombieman in One-Punch Man.

If anyone can tell me where that scene is from and what happens in it, you get exclusive bragging rights.

I took inspiration from that scene and added it in this chapter. I've got big plans coming up that I'm looking forward to writing.

Hope you guys enjoyed this.