Dragonball Z: Alter Age

by TheWriteFiction

After unwittingly getting shot up into space in his uncle's pod- Gohan is discovered and recruited by Cooler's elite, and becomes an integral member of the Armoured Squadron. Together with his new teammates, the demi-Saiyan sets out to conquer worlds, fight armies, topple demons, defeat Saiyans, and wage war against Frieza and his family. [GohanHarem] [Arc: Lord Slug Saga]

3. Raditz Saga - Primal Power

Author's Note: This next leg of the story I took some inspiration from the Budokai Tenkaichi 2 Alternate Storyline "Fateful Brothers" to generate this particular scenario. Let me know what you guys think.

Also, there is another scene towards the end I was inspired to write after watching a very interesting 'What If'.

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Dragonball Z

Alter Age

Primal Power

(A short time later)

After traversing across the south-eastern parts of the mainland for a couple of minutes- passing over mountains, rivers, roads, and the odd building- Raditz finally came upon the valley where his ship had landed. Spotting the farmer's truck and the massive crater sitting in the center of the rolling hills and scattering of trees, the armored Saiyan promptly descended from the sky and touched down on the grass. Making sure to land far enough away from his ship, the invader gave a quick sweep of the area with his scouter, before then setting the child he'd kidnapped down on the ground.

Releasing Gohan's tail, the visitor from outer space took a few steps back and proceeded to wait for the youngster to regain consciousness.

"I'm sure that Kakarot will consider my request… especially with his son's life on the line," Raditz thought, at the same time exhaling deeply as he let the stress from his encounter peter out.

Upon catching his breath, the Saiyan scout then focused his attention on the child at his feet. Staring for a couple of seconds and hearing him groan, Raditz then reached up and pressed the main button on his device, watching as the numbers and arrows on the green visor jumped up as the unit proceeded to analyze Gohan's vitals and bio-signature.

"He's half-Saiyan. There's no doubt about that. But he's exceptionally powerful for a child so small. He must be… four… maybe five years old, at least," Raditz estimated, narrowing his eyes on the glass when it finally returned to him with a collection of data. "Judging from his build and body structure, he's adapted well to his Saiyan's wild nature and strength… though it's a lot more extreme than I was expecting. Maybe it has something to do with the odd mixture of Saiyan and human blood in his veins?"

Upon considering the information he was able to garner from his quick inspection of his nephew, Raditz then took a moment to assess his current situation.

His reunion with his younger brother and subsequent conversation with him and his companions had raised some doubts within the Saiyan warrior about his sibling's willingness to comply with his demands.

Despite having tried to approach the encounter diplomatically and peacefully on his first meeting with his sibling, the young man's memory loss- as well as his continued refusal to join his cause- had brought about a great deal of impatience with the Saiyan soldier. When Raditz then attempted to appeal to his sibling's inner Saiyan desires for combat and capitalize on his thirst for adventure and challenge, Kakarot continued to resist, which only added fuel to the invader's frustration. This then resulted in the older Saiyan taking more drastic measures, in which he decided to blackmail his brother into joining him by kidnapping his son and giving him an ultimatum.

Though this wasn't the strategy that Raditz wanted to use, he was desperate to try and get his little brother back. Despite being a soldier in Frieza's forces and a comrade to Prince Vegeta, his low-class status as a warrior as well as his laughable strength as a trooper made him feel incredibly insecure about his position. As far as he knew, he was practically expendable muscle in the Frieza Force- just another, random body to throw at the enemy and a weakling. Though so far he'd relied on his wiles and his keen eye for strategy to survive for this long, compared to other fighters like Nappa and Vegeta, he was practically nobody.

The fact that he was continuously looked down on by the rest of the soldiers, including his two would-be teammates and fellow Saiyan survivors, made him feel as though his worth within the military was teetering on the edge of dismissal.

And from what he heard, Frieza's concept of discharge for his soldiers wasn't a pleasant one.

He hoped that by bringing his brother in and presenting another warrior worthy of Frieza's military would allow him to reclaim some of his lost value as a soldier, as well as receive a form of reward and commendation for his efforts. Saiyans were sturdy warriors after all. Even if they couldn't achieve high ranks within the Frieza Force, members of their race who were talented and capable enough in combat could still function well as front-liners.

However, following his meeting with his brother on that tiny island and the poor reception he received from it, all of Raditz's plans were spectacularly thrown out the window. Clearly his sibling had fallen so far off of the path that'd been set for him it would take a miracle to get him back- if at all.

He may look a lot like their father, but in terms of character and physical strength, he was anything but.

With his brother being unreceptive to his proposal and Raditz predicting that he will continue to be stubborn, the Saiyan felt like he'd reached an impasse. But upon recalling his encounter at the island and the events that'd transpired, the warrior believed he'd found what most would regard as an "alternative solution."

What now lay before him was not the little brother he'd come to this planet to retrieve, but in fact his brother's son- a boy who, according to his scouter, showed an incredible strength and potential for greatness that he couldn't even begin to fathom.

Whether or not his impudent, traitor of a father had taught him how to harness some of this great strength and use it wasn't clear to Raditz. But based on what he was able to gauge from his brief skirmish with him, the child certainly displayed a lot of promise. Probably enough to warrant this trip a success.

If this boy- his nephew- was to receive the proper guidance, discipline, and training, he could be molded into an incredibly effective warrior. A pawn that Raditz and his comrades could use to their advantage.

"Or just me," the Saiyan thought, his brow furrowing as he collated his thoughts and considered whether he could use the strength his nephew had shown to perhaps further his own self-interests.

Upon weighing up the pros and cons, and trying to assess what his best approach could be, Raditz eventually concluded that if he was going to make the most of this discovery, he was going to have to run it through Nappa and Vegeta. As it stood, the man was nowhere near as strong as he needed to be to conflict with the likes of them or with any of the officers in Frieza's military. If he tried to start something as he was, he ran the risk of losing it all in a firefight and, being the pragmatic man that he was, he just wasn't that keen to stake his life just yet.

He was too afraid of death to take that kind of chance.

So, as his nephew struggled to recover from his paralysis, an internally tormented Raditz reached up, engaged his scouter with a couple of taps from his finger and turned his attention to the sky. "Vegeta. Can you hear me? I'm on a secure channel."

After several seconds of static, a gruff voice answered on the other end. "What is it Raditz?"

"I've arrived on Earth and made contact with my brother, Kakarot," Raditz answered to the voice, without an ounce of hesitation.

There was another tense pause before Vegeta eventually followed up. "And? How did it go? Did you manage to recruit him?" the warrior on the other end demanded in an impatient tone.

A bead of sweat appeared on Raditz's temple. "He… wasn't as receptive or cordial as I was hoping he would be. In fact, the stupid fool turned me down almost as soon as he found out who I was and why I'd come to this planet."

"Hmph," the voice over the scouter grunted back, before it was followed by another remark. "That's too bad. So… what will you do now?"

This was where Raditz felt his body straighten up out of reflex as he promptly prepared to relay his grand plan. "I gave him an ultimatum. If he doesn't kill a hundred people by noon tomorrow and agree to join us, he won't see his son ever again."

Vegeta gave a rather dark chuckle. "I see. So Raditz has decided to crack out his little mind games in order to make sure things go his way? How amusing. I sure hope that your sorry excuse for a baby brother is worth all this trouble that you're going through for him. Because if he isn't, then you might find yourself losing more than a little bit of face with us." That last bit was accompanied by a cold chill, which ran down Raditz's back at the tone he sensed in the prince's voice.

Swallowing a little bit, the spiky haired scout quickly moved to the main point of his impromptu transmission. "I also discovered something else that might be of interest to you. Kakarot's son. He's only an infant of around four years old and is part earthling… but he's got a battle power close to a thousand."

There was a moment of silence.

A long silence actually, which made Raditz think for a second that his scouter might have accidentally disconnected for a moment.

However, following several tense moments, the man heard Vegeta's voice respond- this time in a less amused tone. "Go on."

Raditz sighed, "If things don't pan out with my brother, I want to bring the kid along with me. I believe that with the right care and proper training, he could prove to be a very valuable asset for us. Especially on our upcoming missions." He wisely chose to omit any details regarding Frieza and his forces, as he knew that even on a closed line that any words of possible insurrection could still potentially leak out.

Following a brief period of static, Vegeta responded in kind. "We have to know for sure. A matter like this can't be decided based solely on numbers. I want you to test this child yourself Raditz. If he's as strong as you say he is, then we'll have our answer. Keep this line open so that Nappa and I can get a full read-out of this kid's power."

The order had Raditz nod affirmatively. "Okay. Will do."

"Oh. And one more thing, Raditz," Vegeta suddenly interjected as the long-haired warrior was about to take his finger off the transmitter piece. "Don't fuck up." The static then shut off, leaving the Saiyan soldier standing there feeling a little bit unnerved.

"What was that about?" Raditz thought. Not willing to ponder over it for too long, the Saiyan shook his head and reached behind his armor to his beltline. "Hm. I guess it doesn't matter." After rummaging around for a moment, the man eventually found what he was looking for and pulled out a small glass flask, with container itself divided into two sections- one containing a collection of seeds and another an odd liquid. The man narrowed his eyes on them. "I was planning on using these on my next solo mission or training day, but it looks like I'll be putting them to work earlier than expected." He had five in total- enough for practices and other unrelated emergencies. Hopefully he wouldn't have to spend them. "One should be enough."

Around this point the man saw the kid on the ground start to move. After hearing him give another groan, indicating he was on the verge of coming to, the patiently waiting Raditz decided to test to see how the kid's instincts responded to danger. Without hesitation, the warrior focused his gaze and blasted the youngster with a wave of killing intent.

This small flex in his concentration had an immediate effect. As if hit with a sudden rush of adrenaline, the still unconscious youngster's eyes flew open, before the child sprang onto all fours and vanished in a flicker. He then reappeared several yards away from the spiky-haired invader in the blink of an eye, where he proceeded to growl at him from his very low, crouching posture. Seeing the child's hair standing on end and his angry glare fixated on him, put a smirk on Raditz's face, as the man then watched as his power level jumped up on the scouter.

"Rise and shine, nephew," Raditz chuckled, receiving an even louder snarl in response as the boy glared back at him. "My, that was quite a quick response. You're able to react to a predator's presence and bloodlust while still asleep? That's superb as far as defenses go." He then tilted his head at the growling youngster, wondering if he'll be able to do more than just act like an animal. "So… you're Kakarot's- I mean… Goku's boy?" He did that correction for the child's sake- since he'd probably been distracted during the meeting. Raditz really despised that name.

However, the kid proved to be quite sharp as a few seconds of growling later, the child stopped and glared. "Yeah. What's it to you?" he asked, sneering at the end to show how pissed he was.

Raditz smiled while crossing his arms. "I apologize for grabbing you up the way I did. You see, I noticed how high your power level was growing out there and acted out of sheer instinct." The man then tilted his head at the boy when he saw him blink at his words. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting Kakarot's son to be even stronger than him. I was actually quite astonished to see the numbers you were reaching. Nine-hundred and forty five?" A whistle quickly followed that reveal. "A child at your age possessing that kind of power is an incredibly rare thing- even amongst other races. Tell me, how were you able to get so strong?"

Gohan, appearing slightly confused, then shrugged. "I don't know. I just… went outside and played a lot. Mostly in the woods and with my daddy on the fields. That's all."

"Played, huh?" Raditz repeated, testing that word with the context of the conversation for a moment, before getting at a possible answer. "You mean… fighting?" When he saw the boy nod, the Saiyan warrior felt his grin widen. "Do you enjoy fighting, nephew?"

The question drew a brisk nod from the boy, who remained on guard despite the conversation going. "Yeah. Fighting is fun. It's all I really want to do."

"Well, you're in for a treat. Because I've got a little present lined up for you," Raditz said, unfolding his arms and popping open the flask he was holding. Shaking out one of the green pellets into his palm, he watched as Gohan perked his head up to see what he was doing. "Consider this a training day with your old uncle Raditz. I'm going to set you up against an opponent to test that remarkable fighting power of yours- someone who is small, nimble, and a little bit more your weight-class."

Gohan blinked when he watched the man kneel down, dig a small hole with his hand, and drop the green ball into it. "Really? Who?" His tail wagged slightly as a small bolt of excitement rushed through him, but was quickly replaced by caution when he saw the man fill in the hole with dirt again.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Raditz replied, opening the other end of the bottle he was holding and adding a small drop of the strange, green liquid over the spot he'd planted the seed. Upon which he then quickly stood up, pocketed the flask, and stepped back.

Both Raditz and Gohan then watched the patch of ground in silence for a couple of seconds, as if waiting for something interesting to happen. They didn't have to wait long at all when, after seeing the ground crack, a green ball suddenly sprang out of the ground. Unfurling itself after hopping out of its hole, the object then landed on the grass- revealing to an alarmed Gohan a creature that he'd never seen before.

The beast that now stood in front of Raditz was a green, bipedal alien monster that stood at roughly the same height as Gohan. With a humanoid-like body consisting of four limbs and three claws on each hand and foot, the alien had a dark, carapace torso and chest, an unnaturally large, rounded head, and pointy ears. It also didn't have a nose, but it did have a big, grinning mouth, and sharp red eyes, with small black pupils that quickly locked onto the child crouching several yards away from it.

When the creature gave a piercing shriek of excitement at being born into this world, the crouching Gohan clenched his teeth and snarled.

Raditz smiled as he held his position behind the little beastie, before then raising his head. "Adorable, isn't it? The person who invented these little devils called them Saibamen- a race of genetically grown, biological soldiers that can be used for a variety of purposes, including frontline fighting and training." The man then cocked his head when the monster in front of him gave a loud cackle. "Today… he's going to be your playmate. Go nuts, kid."

Without needing another word, the green creature hobbled forward a couple of paces before, with a jittering laugh, bolted towards Gohan. The tiny imp moved at such a speed that the youngster wasn't at all prepared for it, ending with the hybrid getting smashed in the face by a vicious kick that not only knocked blood flying from his mouth, but also sent him hurtling across the valley.

OOO

(Meanwhile)

After recovering from the shock of his would-be brother's unscheduled arrival to Kame House, Goku and his friends had taken several minutes to catch their breaths, regain their bearings, and come up with some sort of tactical solution to their newest problem. In the most unexpected turn of events that nobody could've ever seen coming, the group now had to deal with an extra-terrestrial and incredibly powerful space pirate, who has come down to Earth to recruit his sibling to his planet-conquering cause. While his arrival had yet to yield any deaths as far as they knew, if they were to let this warrior's presence go unchecked, there was a high chance that he could potentially unleash his wrath upon the local populace.

That is only if he didn't get his way and Goku continued to refuse his demands.

On top of this, aside from having to take care of Raditz's proposition, they also had a hostage situation. The man had kidnapped Goku's son from right under their noses and none of them had been able to do anything. All they could do was watch helplessly as the incredibly powerful and vicious interstellar traveler took the boy by the tail and legged it.

This had left Goku not only distraught, but racking his head over what he should do. There were only so many options he had.

If he refused to kill a hundred people by tomorrow, then he would never see his son again.

If he went to try and talk Raditz down into giving back his son, he would probably react angrily and kill Gohan or a whole bunch of other people.

If he tried to face Raditz on his own, he would most certainly be killed. After all, the man's power level was no joke.

There wasn't really any wiggle room for the now newly established Saiyan father to exploit. No matter what choice he made, death was most certainly going to play a big part in it. The question was though, who was the unlucky soul going to be.

Eventually, after meditating on the issue for what felt like hours, the martial artist and protector of the planet decided on a plan of attack. Staying true to his character and mentality his friends had come to expect from him by this point, Goku reasoned that attack was the best course.

Upon discussing his plans with his friends and with Bulma tracking his son through use of the dragon radar, the father clenched his fists and straightened up. "Alright then! I'm going after him! What do you say guys?"

Launch, already two steps ahead of the others, had not only thrown on a bandoleer of modified shotgun shells, she'd also pulled out her favorite sawn-off Winchester 1887 lever-action shotgun. Upon loading the last shell into the chamber, the woman twirl-cocked the rifle with a loud snap and propped it over her shoulder. "I'm with you, Goku! Let's get that bastard!"

"Yeah!" Krillin also shouted, holding his own fists up while grinning across at the others. "You never know! We might just get lucky and beat that idiot!"

Master Roshi, also keen to join in, brought up his cane and held it firmly between his hands. "Well… whatever happens, you two should know that you're the best pupils I've ever had."

Goku, Krillin, Launch and Master Roshi all shared looks with one another. When they saw that the four of them were as ready as they would ever be, they all then gave each other a stiff nod. But just before they could think about mobilizing a jet copter, a voice from above suddenly interrupted their gathering.

"You'll never succeed. You're too weak."

Caught off guard by the new voice, the group turned their attention towards the sky. Their expressions quickly turned to one of dumbstruck and horror when they saw, floating above them and draped in his signature cape and turban, the intimidating, green form of Piccolo glaring down at them. All five of the heroes on the beach, Turtle included, understandably freaked out at the sight of the planet's former most threat, as the second to last thing any of them expected to encounter today had shown up right on their doorstep- literally.

"Oh, great," Krillin groaned in dismay. "What else could go wrong today?" Now he wished that Raditz had knocked him out with his tail.

Dropping down from the air and tapping down on the sand, Piccolo grunted. "I suppose you could make me angry. But I wouldn't advise it."

While Bulma scrambled away to hide behind Turtle and Launch took aim with her shotgun, both Goku and Krillin assumed fighting stances. Formation made, the trio locked fighting glares with the deathly stare on the newest arrival to their island.

"So? What do you want, Piccolo?" Goku asked.

Master Roshi frowned as he hung back, behind his students. "Yes. Why are you here? This is my island."

The green-skinned warrior grunted indignantly. "I've been keeping an eye on your latest visitor. I followed him here. Needless to say, I… wasn't expecting him to be a relative of yours. Not with his power." Piccolo lifted his head a little bit as he and his rival squared off. "I take it the reunion didn't go so well."

Feeling his patience irked somewhat, Goku huffed. "No. It didn't."

"Figures," the demon responded with a grunt. "You five are lucky to be alive."

This remark drew an even harsher glare from earth's hero. "Oh yeah? Is there something that you know that we don't?"

Sensing that there was still hostility in the air, Piccolo quickly went about dispelling it. "I know this much- the only chance that we have of winning is if I go with you."

This statement caught Goku, Krillin, Launch and everybody else off guard, with the blonde gunslinger lowering her shotgun when she saw the warrior throw back his cape and stroll forward.

"I know we're enemies, but hear me out," Piccolo continued, marching up to his rival and then moving past him. "You've seen and sensed how powerful he is, which means you know as well as I do that neither of us has the strength to stand up to him alone. Even if you were to bring these fools along with you, you'd be dead before the fight even started." The man then stopped, glaring down at Bulma to see the woman comically pick up Turtle and hide behind him- frightening the poor reptile. "However, if you and I team up, there's a slight chance that we may be able to overpower him. It's the only way."

While Krillin, Master Roshi and Launch looked between the two warriors cautiously, Goku- keeping his back turned- spoke up. "Why should I trust you? How will I know that you won't turn on me?"

Piccolo grunted. "The truth is, you don't. I won't lie to you, my reasons for doing this are purely selfish. I could care less what happens to you or your son." This was followed by the former demon gritting his teeth and snarling. "But I won't let this guy take over the Earth. I plan to do it myself!" His declaration sent chills down everyone's spines, with Bulma trying her best to blend into the environment as much as she could. "As much as the idea sickens me, I'm willing to put our differences aside and work together with you this one time. This truce will only be temporary. Once all of this is over and this Raditz guy has been taken care of, you and I will be enemies again."

Goku in return felt a smirk cross his face as he looked over his shoulder at his caped rival. "Alright. If that's how it's going to be, then after we beat this guy, you can bet that I will do everything in my power to stop you from taking over the world." He then turned around to face the man properly. "But until then, it looks like we're a team. You've got a deal."

Smiling in approval, Piccolo turned to glare back at his rival. "Consider it done then."

Looks shared, Goku then turned to the sky, cupped a hand over his mouth, and cried out, "NIMBUS!" The moment his voice echoed into the distance, the little yellow cloud that was his companion appeared from behind a distant stratocumulus, arced through the air, and pulled up above the sand. Once it'd stopped, the Saiyan father turned to his friends. "Bulma. I need to borrow the dragon radar."

"Oh. S-Sure," the scientist stuttered as her head poked up from behind Turtle. "No problem, Goku."

After handing the device to her friend and watching him hop up onto the cloud, Goku then took off with Piccolo hot on his tail. In a rush of wind, the two fighters shot off across the ocean and towards the horizon, with the determined parent using the radar to track his son's position and lead them to him. Upon positioning the arrow in the right direction, the pair then changed course, turning right and heading straight for the mainland as fast as they could.

About a minute after seeing the two rivals vanish into the distance, Launch- shaking herself out of her daze, rushed over to the side of the island, pulled out a capsule and threw it down. A white puff of smoke later revealed a yellow jet copter, which the brave woman promptly clambered into. When she looked back and saw the group of Z-warriors staring at her, the woman waved her shotgun in the air.

"Well! Don't just stand there, guys! Let's go help them!" the woman shouted.

While Krillin and Bulma stood flabbergasted, Master Roshi shook his head before grinning broadly. "Yes! Absolutely!"

"Huh?" the blue-haired scientist exclaimed while looking across at the old man as if he'd grown a second head. "W-Why in the world do you want to go? Isn't it going to be really dangerous where they're headed?"

"We have two of the strongest fighters the Earth has to offer teaming up to fight alongside one another!" the hermit stated, his glasses flashing as he looked between his three friends. When he heard Launch fire up her jet copter and its engines roar to life, the seemingly decrepit yet excited old man promptly marched over to the craft and hopped into the forward passenger seat. "This is going to be the showdown of the century! There's no way I'm going to miss this!"

OOO

(Meanwhile)

Raditz winced when he heard another loud bang ring out when the Saibaman he'd set against his nephew landed another devastating blow to the stomach. Seeing the child curl forward over the alien's claw, his eyes bugging out and spit flying from his mouth, was a very unpleasant sight as he was sent flying across the field for the thirtieth time in a row. After a few seconds of flight, his little body slammed against the floor and tumbled over several times, before eventually sliding to a stop on his front.

The Saibaman meanwhile landed back on its feet, grinning excitedly as a hiss left its thin lips. When the dust settled following his brisk attack, it revealed the field surround Raditz had multiple tears and small holes in it, indicating a rather violent battle had taken place here. However, considering how beat up Gohan was and how untouched his opponent was in comparison, it was clear that the battle so far had been completely one-sided.

This fact had the patiently watching Raditz frown in disappointment. His arms crossed, the mid-class Saiyan warrior watched as the four-year-old Gohan trembled and groaned where he lay, his robes in tatters and dragon ball decorated hat lying on the floor out of reach. His opponent meanwhile stood between him and the Saiyan scout, cackling and chirping in a threatening manner as it waited for its prey to get back up.

Needless to say, things weren't looking good for the child hybrid.

"Hmm… this is not what I was expecting," Raditz thought, engaging his scouter and seeing the numbers flicker by as they scanned the child. "The runt's power level is border lining a thousand now, so he technically should be putting up a better fight than this. So why is he getting beaten up so easily by this walking turnip?" He just couldn't explain it.

The kid showed incredible aggression, speed and tenacity back on the island. Though he had been caught off guard earlier here, he should've been able to bounce back and lay on a bit more abuse. But for some reason he was taking more hits than he was giving out, which was transforming this little mock battle into something of a massacre.

Raditz actually had half a mind to step in and stop the Saibaman before it could kill the little hybrid. Not something he'd expected to do, but it's something that he was now thinking of doing.

As he watched the kid struggle to push himself up and heard what he assumed was a series of pain sobs and whimpers start to come from the wounded youngster, Raditz suddenly felt something strange appear in the air.

At first he saw it. The number on his scouter, which at first was resting comfortably at 986, slowly started to climb. The slow, methodical beep-beep-beep as the digits began to increase soon began to speed up, catching the man's attention, before his gaze snapped back towards his nephew. From there, despite being unable to sense presences all that well, a cold chill suddenly ran down his bare skin when he saw traces of steam beginning to rise off of the child's body, which caused the air around him to shimmer and the rocks on the floor to quiver.

When the hybrid got onto his hands and knees, the rocks and debris scattered across the grass slowly started to levitate into the air, and the hair on top of his head also started to rise.

In that moment, several beads of nervous sweat trickled down Raditz's face as his jaw dropped. "Okay… his battle power has increased now. I expect the kid should-… huh? W-Wait… why is it still climbing?" When he saw the number suddenly blow past a thousand and continue increasing, the alarmed Saiyan felt the atmosphere around him change drastically as the ground beneath him suddenly trembled. Even the Saibaman standing in front of him noticed the shift in the environment, which prompted the little alien to take a somewhat cautious step back as a fierce wind started to kick off of the Saiyan child.

As the beeping in Raditz's scouter transformed into a high-pitched screech, the man's eyes widened in horror when he saw the numbers blows past the Saibaman's battle power of 1,200 and keep on going. "Whoa-whoa-whoa! Hold on! I-It's not stopping!" Uncrossing his arms, the man felt the ground shake a little more as the wind and steam billowing off of the child several yards in front of him intensified. "One-thousand, four hundred and growing! That's… not possible!"

The kid had been getting beaten into the ground. He'd been bruised and cut all over, and after that last hit he took he could barely stand. So where the heck was all of this energy suddenly coming from?

Just then, through the window and the beeping of his unit, Raditz and the Saibaman heard the sobs and whimpers from the child. However, when the pair focused on the child and the sounds coming off of him, they realized that in fact it wasn't the sounds of crying, but the sounds of giggling and laughing.

As the rocks and twigs tumbling past him broke and shattered under the heat he was giving off, the boy's eyes peered up from beneath his fringe. What Raditz saw looking back at him nearly had him yelp in fright, as instead of a tear-filled or angry look, the man saw a very wild, feral and manic expression slapped across the boy's youthful face. His eyes narrowed and pupils dilated, the child was also showcasing a very big, scary-looking grin- which showed off his sharpened teeth and canines.

The fact that he also had blood trickling down from his hairline and nose, and an ominous shadow cast over his gaze, made his expression appear all the more terrifying.

"More…" the child whispered.

Raditz blinked, barely able to hear the boy's statement due to the ringing of his scouter, the number of which was still increasing. "W-What?"

"More. Play more. Fight me more. I want to have… more fun!" Gohan hissed, the steam rising from him suddenly transforming into a white aura, which shimmered and pulsed around him at an alarming rate. "Is that all you've got!"

Raditz, panicking when he saw the kid's number right on top of his, pointed at the Saibaman grunt he had summoned and barked at him. "Don't just stand there, you idiot! Attack that brat!"

Screeching in alarm, the little green imp of a soldier slammed a foot forward, threw its head over, and opened its cranium. With a loud yell, it then unleashed a flash of green light, which shot across the grass in a beam towards the child, who was practically burning with excitement. The Saibabeam scorched the air on approach, but just as it was about to hit its target, Gohan suddenly dropped down to all fours and gave and yell.

A shockwave tore from his body and slammed into the oncoming beam, stopping it dead and causing it to rebound, sending particles of it scattering across the battlefield. When the kiai he'd launched hit both Saibaman and Raditz, both of them had to brace themselves against the hot wind, which nearly bowled both of them over.

With its balance disrupted, the synthetic soldier was unable to react in time when Gohan, fingers burying into the ground, suddenly shot forward at such speed the sonic boom he gave off ruptured the ground behind him. Flying forward, the boy drew back his fist and slammed it into the alarmed Saibaman's torso. What followed was a sickening squelch and a shower of blood as the child literally smashed right through the creature, splitting it in half and sending both body parts dropping to the ground in a rain of entrails.

But Gohan didn't stop there.

Flying forward in a barely visible blur, the half-breed Saiyan went right for Raditz, stunning the man when he suddenly saw the kid's form rocketing towards him.

"Shit!" the man shouted, crossing both arms over his face and locking his stance. A split second later, he felt his nephew collide with him skull first, causing a loud thunderclap to ring out and a crack to form in the ground beneath them. The force from Gohan's impact easily knocked the adult Saiyan off his feet and sent him flying backwards several yards.

Eyes wide, the stunned Raditz clenched his teeth against the vibrations of pain that shot through his limbs, a couple seconds before the warrior managed to slam his feet into the floor and skid to a stop. Unfolding his arms, the Saiyan revealed a pair of large, red bruises had formed in his forearms from catching the kid right in the center of them. "Fuck! Even though I blocked it-!"

Unfortunately Raditz didn't have time to stand around and gape. With his arms steadily going numb from stopping the equivalent of a meteor, the Saiyan's eyes snapped up to see Gohan tap down on the ground a distance away and spring off of it, charging straight at him again with a look of sheer intensity on his wild, grinning face. Panicking, the Saiyan scout jabbed out at the kid, only for his fist to pass through an after image when the child darted out of the way. Barely able to keep track of him, the man swung out to his right with a kick, only to watch his swift, little target leap over it and counter with a jumping kick of his own.

Blocking it with his bruised forearm, the freaked out Raditz desperately returned fire- beginning to lash out at the boy with a flurry of punches and kicks that came in from all directions. In response, the now fully energized Gohan flickered between the attacks, parrying and evading them while also lashing out with his own attacks. The sounds of loud thuds and gunshots echoed across the valley as the two oddly matched martial artists duked it out, unleashing attacks capable of rupturing entire plateaus with only a couple of hits.

As shockwaves and blasts of wind tore out from between the two, Raditz was steadily put onto the back foot- edging away one step at a time as he desperately tried to stop Gohan's progressively quickening attacks. Catching a couple in the faces and chest, which caused the larger fighter to lurch, the man snarled and retaliated with a swift chop for the wild boy's neck.

The crack of impact was followed instantly by a second one, as Gohan- despite getting smashed across the face by his uncle's chop- countered with a sharp kick to the man's neck. The resulting blast of force from their attacks colliding simultaneously sent both the child and the adult flying away from one another. Recovering quickly, the pair slammed their feet into the ground and skidded to a stop, leaving two identical trenches in the grass that led away from a small divot formed from the impact of their blows.

With Raditz assuming his brawler-like stance and Gohan taking on a hybrid form of his father's Hung Ga fist, only he had one claw raised while the other was pressed into the ground, the two Saiyans reached up and wiped away the blood that trickled down from their lips.

Gohan, snickering from the exchange, gave the older warrior a cheeky grin. "This is fun."

"Damn, kid," Raditz panted, at the same time glaring across at the child as his scouter went nuts at his gradually increasing power. "You sure do pack a wallop. I'll give you that." He then lowered his hand from his swollen jaw to smirk at the youngster. "Tell me, did you let my Saibaman beat on you on purpose so that you could get yourself fired up?"

Gohan, crouching on the floor, smiled antagonistically back at the older Saiyan. "That weird alien was different from the tigers and dinosaurs I'm used to playing with back in the woods. I wanted to see what he could do, so I let him attack me." The youngster then chuckled. "His punches were average. But yours are a bit better, oji-san."

"Hmph. Thanks… I guess," the man grunted, clenching his teeth when he saw the kid's numbers rising above his and the steam from his body beginning to billow a lot stronger. "Unfortunately, I don't have the time or energy to play around with you anymore. If your father is planning on coming to get you, I have to save as much strength as I can for a fight with him. So I'm going to make this quick." Clenching his fists and focusing his energy, Raditz's body bulked up slightly as he began concentrating ki into his left arm.

Noticing this change immediately, the now more alert demi-Saiyan focused his glare on the attack that the adult was now preparing. The result was his left fist becoming incased in a ball of electricity, which sparkled and crackled loudly as he continued focusing power into it. When his fist could no longer contain the force it was gathering, the man then opened it and held it out, producing a massive, shining pink and white ball of energy, which quickly grew to the size of a yoga ball.

However, judging from the loud buzzing sound it was making and how heavy it looked, Gohan guessed that it was definitely a million times deadlier than some inflatable sphere.

Raditz confirmed his fears with a furious shout. "Let's see how much of a Saiyan you really are, nephew! I've put enough power into this attack to wipe an entire country off the face of the map! Take it, if you can!" Taking aim, the man cranked back his arm before then lobbing his hand forward in an awkward, sideways throw. The energy ball followed a wide, low-angle arc, before being launched from the Saiyan's palm with a loud boom. "SATURDAY CRAAAAAAASH!"

The roar of the approaching attack echoed across the entire valley, with the crouching Gohan's eyes widening in alarm when he saw the brightly shining ball of pink light growing larger and larger as it approached him at a speed that was several times faster than sound. "Huh?" Realizing right away that if he tried to dodge it that it would detonate and take out half of the landscape along with him, the child snapped his teeth shut and promptly stood up.

Inhaling a deeply and focusing the energy he could feel coursing through him, the child then swung his arms about before slamming his palms together in front of him, a split second before the massive ball of electrical light slammed into him. A loud thunderclap rang out, followed shortly by a deafening roar of wind as the energy ball- its shape warping from the momentum it'd gained- started to push Gohan back along the ground at an alarming rate. As the attack ground into the child's open palms and burned into his skin, sending a searing pain shooting through his body, bolts of pink lightning shot off of it and struck the surrounding valley.

Raditz, having pelted the attack as hard as he could, found himself gaping in awe as his nephew fought back against the mass of energy. While completely astounded that the four-year-old was able to catch the damn thing in the first place, the sight of the sphere of lightning beginning to pulse and vibrate quickly told the Saiyan that his attack was quickly reaching critical levels.

If he stayed where he was and it went off, then both he and the child would be taken out in the resulting, thermonuclear explosion.

However, as the pain bit and burned at his flesh, Gohan, his expression twisted into one of absolute fury and concentration- dug his feet into the ground and hardened his stance. Managing to stop himself from sliding back after digging a massive trench further across the open field, the child was now determined to get rid of this thing.

"Th-This… thing… is… so… annoying!" So, taking a deep breath and focusing his strength, the brave child gave a howl of anger, swung his leg up, and kicked the ball straight up into the sky. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" The whoosh of the pink ball reverberated across the mountains as the attack punched through the clouds above and parted them sharply. A couple seconds later, a flash of blinding light filled the lower thermosphere, as an explosion about the size of the country incinerated anything that was floating in the area, which was most like space debris.

Raditz had his gaze turned skyward, which was twisted into one of utter shock and disbelief as he saw his blast go off above the planet. "W-What…?" Before he had time to contemplate the gravity of what he'd just witnessed, he suddenly felt a small pair of hands grab the front of his head. Feeling them tangle in his hair, the adult was unable to react when a loud CRUNCH followed by a sharp pain filled his face as he nailed square between the eyes by Gohan dashing forward and colliding into him with a jumping knee strike.

The attack not only smashed Raditz's body backwards, but also caved in his nose and sent blood flying into the air. As he flew back in a daze, Gohan dropped back to the floor with fistfuls of his uncle's hair, as his knee had caused him to rip entire chunks out of his cranium.

Flying back a few dozen meters from the force of the blow, the wounded Raditz gave a shout of horror when he regained consciousness midflight. Hitting the ground a total of three times as he bounced, the man then back-flipped onto his feet and slammed his limbs into the ground, sliding to a stop amidst a cloud of dust.

Clutching his face and giving a scream of pain, Raditz then removed his hand to see it covered in blood, which was right now dribbling from a broken nose and cut mouth. Gasping in pain at being wounded so badly for the first time in his life, the man's cracked scouter screen suddenly blinked as a new set of numbers appeared. When they finished calculating, the adult Saiyan's head snapped up in terror when he saw the new scan.

"What?! Power level over 3,000!" Raditz shouted, sweat trickling down his face as he saw his four-year-old nephew toss the hair out of his hands and take another stance, his hands forming into claws as he focused a sinister grin on the adult warrior. "Th-There's just no way! His battle power just doubled!" And worse yet, it was still going up!

Practically panting with excitement, the infant child glared his uncle down as he gawked at him from his bent-over position. "Is something wrong, oji-san?" he asked cheekily.

Raditz, unable to believe what he was watching as the child's numbers continued to climb without any sign of slowing down, clenched his teeth together before spitting out a tooth. He then sneered in rage. "ENOUGH OF THIS! I'm a mid-class Saiyan warrior of the Frieza Force! A soldier destined to climb the ladder to the levels of the elite! I refuse to have my power and skills outdone by a mere, half-breed child from some backwater world!" Veins pulsing along his forehead and arms as his energy swelled, the infuriated uncle then allowed his own white aura to seep out in a mist form. Though unable to conjure one as strong as his comrades, the man gave it his all until his body was practically simmering with raw power. "LET'S FINISH THIS, NEPHEW!" He then vanished with a whip-crack of wind.

Gohan, seeing the adult vanish into thin air, grinned back as his own white aura erupted from him, at a rate and size much greater than his fellow Saiyan's. "Oooh! I love this game! I'M IT!" The child then vanished into thin air as well, leaving a puff of dust behind him as he gave chase to his uncle.

A split second later, the entire valley for two-hundred meters in every direction was rocked by countless shockwaves and sonic booms going off at seemingly the same time, as the two blurs of Raditz and Gohan began a game of cat-and-mouse-kickboxing across the entire area. Dust kicked up into the air and tiny cracks were formed in the rock as the pair darted across the sky in every possible direction, both in pursuit of one another. With every blow landed, the pair would separate and chase each other again, crisscrossing the sky in a blur before meeting again and exchanging another blow, and another, and another.

This process repeated at speeds that weren't humanly possible. The blurs of their forms made it appear that they were appearing in several places at once, both often sharing the same place, exchanging hits and parries respectively. The force from their attacks impacting their target also rattled the air, making it seem as though pockets of oxygen were exploding and bursting from the force that they hit each other with.

Eventually, after a couple of minutes of ferocious fighting, the pair's game of tag soon came to a quick and painful end when a grinning Gohan- seemingly teleporting back to ground- delivered a three-quarter uppercut with the full weight of his body behind it. His feet didn't even have to leave the floor when his tiny fist slammed into something invisible over him. That thing revealed itself a second later in the form of his uncle Raditz, who had attempted to throw a chopping right at the boy, only to miss and receive a piercing body blow to the stomach as a counter.

The attack colliding with his armor caused a loud clap of a cannon to ring out, which split the ground and fractured the Saiyan's armor both in front and behind from the force of the blow. When the dust settled following the impact of the attack, an initially stunned and frozen Raditz felt his eyes bug out before the man spat up saliva and blood. When the damage from the attack had finally registered, it felt as though the man's guts were about to come shitting out of his throat.

Gohan then promptly retracted his fist, watching as his uncle stumbled away, clutching his now effectively broken stomach armor as his entire body shook from the damage. Trying to gasp for air, after several paces, Raditz dropped to his knees and spat out more blood, looking up a few moments later to reveal his face was twisted in a combination of rage and fear.

"Th-This can't… be…" the man gasped, unable to believe that he was being outdone by this child.

Remaining standing in place for a second, Gohan smirked broadly. "Tag. Now you're it." He then put on a more intimidating look as he then proceeded to walk across the ground, his hair waving upwards as steam continued to rise off of his body- sizzling as the air around him wafted.

The trembling that'd overcome Raditz's body made it seem as though the man was suffering some sort of panic attack. In a way, he was. His body was taking so much damage from this little skirmish with his nephew, who only seemed to be getting stronger and more ferocious as the seconds passed. This made the Saiyan warrior believe that his power was derived completely from his mood- in which the more angry or excited he got, the more his strength multiplied.

Gasping deeply, Raditz then shakily stood up, only to lose sight of Gohan when the kid vanished into thin air several feet away from him. Before he could even so much as shout, the man felt the wind leave his lungs again when the kid reappeared in front of him and delivered a straight kick into his exposed torso. The force of his blow sent the Saiyan warrior tumbling across the valley, where he then ended up on his back in a daze.

Peering up shakily from the ground, the bruised and bleeding Raditz was at his wits end, desperately trying to think up a strategy to try and stop this kid, who only seemed to be getting stronger and stronger with each engagement. As he watched his nephew land, he saw him smirk in his direction and take a step forward, only for his leg to suddenly buckle and fall to his knee. The sight surprised the adult Saiyan and also the youngster.

Using this opportunity to catch his breath and get an update, Raditz clicked the button on his scouter and scanned him. When the reading came back, the man blinked. "T-Two thousand and four? Why is his power level suddenly dropping?" Contemplating this nugget for several moments, the Saiyan was then struck with a sudden realization, which had him smirk. "Oh. I see. His strength increases with his mood and emotions. But because he hasn't conditioned his body to maintain that kind of power for long periods, he isn't used to the strain exerted on him." This meant that his insane power ups could only be used in small increments of only a few minutes, with what Raditz suspected required equal pauses of rest in between.

While this realization gave the wounded soldier a breath of fresh air, the kid still had a power advantage over him- but had suddenly stopped due to his power up having a rebound on his body. Hopefully his ordeal was now over.

Gohan, having felt his strength sharply drop, frown at the leg that'd buckled and began slapping it. The feeling of pins and needles in his muscles weirded the kid out, which prompted the wild youngster to begin patting parts of his body and running damage control. An observing Raditz found this behavior strange at first, yet quickly figured that the youngster was just caught off guard by his sudden loss in mobility due to a sharp decrease in energy.

The uncle chuckled out loud. "First time getting a muscle cramp, runt?"

Glancing up at the fallen Saiyan oddly, the child blinked a couple of times before grinning. "Yeah. It's a weird feeling. I must have been running around a little too much and aggravated some injuries," he answered cheerfully, deducing the problem from his own experiences and studying of the human body.

"Those may have been given to him from his fight with the Saibaman," Raditz thought, remembering the beating the kid had subjected himself to at the hands of the synthetic creature. Even though he did it out of curiosity at the soldier's strength, he still received quite a bit of damage fending it off. The uncle then smirked again. "I guess you'll want to call it a draw then, huh? Lie down and rest for a bit? You must be exhausted."

"Nah. I'm good," Gohan answered, causing his opponent to recoil momentarily in confusion before the kid suddenly put on a wild grin again. "I know how to fix this. All I have to do is scream really loud and make myself better again."

"Uhh… what?" Raditz asked.

As the man was left completely dumbfounded, he suddenly saw the child get onto all fours, bury his fingers into the ground, before taking a deep breath. Back rising and face twisting into an intense expression of anger and concentration, the child suddenly started gathering an enormous amount of power. The white mist wafting off of him even more than before, the child's growls were soon matched by the ground around him beginning to shake and the air starting to vibrate.

Before Raditz could question what the heck was going on, the mist billowing from the child exploded into a white aura, which surrounded the child and ripped up the ground around him. As he shredded the floor, Gohan then looked up as his pupils dilated and turned hollow, before he swung his head up and gave a might howl. This was immediately followed by his aura intensifying and a shockwave tearing across the landscape, which caused the ground around him to fracture and bits of rubble to start floating into the air.

The display of power the child was now emanating stunned the prone Raditz, who had to shield himself with his arm when a blast of dust and rock began pelting him in the face.

OOO

(Meanwhile)

Many miles away, as Goku and Piccolo were streaking across the sky side-by-side and following the signal registering on the dragon radar, the pair were suddenly hit by the feeling of a massive power. Both of their eyes widening simultaneously, the two warriors then stopped in their tracks- with the Saiyan father's Nimbus skidding to a stop while his rival halted in the air beside him with a flap of his cape. The moment their momentums ceased, their senses were able to get a good lock on the presence they were feeling.

"That power? Do you feel that?" Goku asked, beads of sweat running down his face as his wide eyes stared across the horizon towards the distant mountains.

Piccolo, appearing as equally astonished as his partner, nodded affirmatively. "Yeah. I do."

Taking a moment to size up the energy signature pulsing in the distance, the hero of earth recoiled in alarm. "That… That's Gohan?"

"Your son?" the demon king's son asked, glancing across at the martial artist in shock, before snapping his gaze back towards the source of the energy surge. Stretching his senses out a little further to get a more accurate read on the signal, the Namekian almost choked on his next words. "Th-There's no way that can be your kid. That energy level is way too high! Higher than your brother's! Are you sure you're not hallucinating?"

"No. I'm positive that's my son. I'd recognize it anywhere," Goku exclaimed, his tone reflecting his immediate concern as he then set himself forward on his cloud and steeled his face. "Something must be wrong. I think he might be in trouble!"

"Then we'd better hurry," Piccolo responded, giving himself a burst of ki to his feet and launching himself forward. As he began to fly ahead at an increased speed, his rival fell right on his tail, before eventually siding up next to him on his friend Nimbus.

The puttering sound of the yellow cloud transformed into a high-pitched squeal as the collection of magical gases went up another gear, tearing across the sky with Goku on top and Piccolo right alongside. Though neither one of them had any idea what was happening further up the continent, they both knew from the energy radiating from that location meant that it wasn't anything good.

OOO

(Back at the Landing Site)

When the shaking finished seconds later and the raging winds finally settled, the stunned Raditz was able to open his eyes and lower his arm. Looking back through the clouds of dust fading around the now even more ruined ground, he then saw tiny Gohan's form emerge from the haze.

Now upright and still dressed in his ruined robe and pants- sans hat- the child was currently checking out his arms and legs. Testing his hands as well for good measure, the grungy, battle-damaged youngster then looked back across at Raditz and smirked.

"There. I'm all better now," Gohan chirped.

Clearly confused by this statement, Raditz then steadily reached up and activated his scouter again. The moment the numbers blinked across the cracked green screen and finished crunching moments later, the sight practically had the Saiyan's blood run cold.

"I-Impossible. His battle power… it's… it's over 6,000 now?! H-HOW?!" Raditz stammered, unable to believe what he was seeing. Was his scouter broken? Did its processer take a hit? Why were the numbers so damn high?

And they were still getting higher!

Gohan, seeing his opponent appeared alarmed and confused, decided to try and help him understand by explaining what he'd just done. Or what he thought he did. "Whenever I got hurt or tired running around the forests playing with the animals, I would usually just shout and make my body go all fuzzy. After screaming for a few seconds and stopping, I would feel much better and stronger than before." He then shrugged. "I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm still growing."

Still gaping, Raditz shook his head. "No… that's not it. That's only half the reason." Though it seemed impossible, this kid was able to figure out how to effectively exploit the Saiyan's natural ability to receive a power increase after sustaining damage to their bodies. It was something that their race called a Zenkai. After recovering from serious or fatal injuries, a Saiyan could become a great deal stronger and more capable than before, seemingly without any negative repercussions. The more severe the damages they received, the more significant the improvements would be upon healing. While Gohan obviously didn't know about any of this, he must've found out by himself what his body could do through his own self-explorations, experiments, and playing- he just didn't know what it was called.

All the kid knew was that after getting hurt and then getting better, he got stronger. That's all.

But that wasn't the only thing Raditz noticed. Aside from the potency of his nephew's Zenkai, his remarkable hidden strength, and the energy derived from his youth, somehow after becoming heavily fatigued or damaged from his own power, the kid could willfully draw on the naturally recurring proteins in his Saiyan cells for a massive adrenaline boost. In other words: jumpstart his body with a manually controlled Zenkai. Apparently he must've figured this out while training around his home, where by concentrating the right way, he could just give himself a Zenkai and adapt to the damage his body had sustained while simultaneously recovering stamina at will. This gave him not only an accelerated recovery rate, but also an enhanced adaptability attribute rarely seen in most Saiyans.

All of this information further cemented the fact in Raditz's head that this child- though a hybrid and one barely even out of daycare- was an extremely gifted boy and a prodigy unlike any he'd ever laid eyes on before. Because his body was still developing and evolving, the child was only just beginning to tap into the strength he was capable of. If he was to be faced with even greater challenges and obstacles in the future, there was no telling how much more powerful he could become!

Coupled with his playful personality, remarkable intelligence, intrinsic potential, and inherent lust for fighting, and the Saiyan had himself a genuine freak of nature on his hands.

Smirking after seeing the pale look fall over Raditz's stunned face, Gohan put on a more menacing smirk- though a playful one- and slowly started to walk towards the fallen adult once more. "Come on, oji-san. Let's play some more. You hit a lot harder than daddy does when we spar and you've got a bunch of really cool moves." The boy then tilted his head as he approached, his body radiating with enormous amounts of raw energy and intent. "I know you've still got energy to spare. Show me some more stuff."

In that moment, Raditz felt like he was going to have a heart attack. "Th-This kid is a monster! A freak! Battle power six-fucking-thousand, three hundred and rising?! I… I can't beat him! Not like this! Unless…" Remembering the assets he had at his disposal, the wounded man rolled onto his side and whipped out the same flask as before. Making sure to keep it hidden from the child and appearing as though he was struggling to stand up, the wily Saiyan discreetly planted three into the floor and covered them up, before adding the liquid. Upon which he then started crawling away, looking up to see Gohan closing in on him like a villain from a horror movie.

When the child stopped, he then tilted his head curiously at the terrified look on his uncle's face. "Huh? Are you okay, jiji? Did you break something?"

Shivering in place, the long-haired Raditz then cracked a smile as he proceeded to by himself some time. He only needed to keep him distracted for a few seconds. "You're… far stronger… than I initially gave you credit for, runt. You managed to lay the smack down on me pretty damn hard. I'm impressed. There hasn't been a single opponent who has been able to damage me like this in a long time." Seeing Gohan blink at him in confusion then had the Saiyan scout flash him a rather cocky grin. "But I'm afraid you still have much to learn about fighting."

Just as Gohan was opening his mouth to make a comment, the ground around him suddenly cracked and split. The moment his gaze snapped downwards, three Saibamen unexpectedly burst out of the ground and leapt at him, wrapping their arms around his arms, legs and body, and practically dog-piling on him all at once. The child was so focused on engaging his main opponent that he didn't even think about sensing for other lifeforms nearby, which meant he completely missed the presence of these six biological soldiers being produced directly beneath him.

Seizing that moment, Raditz scrambled to his feet, jumped away, and barked at his three little minions as they proceeded to hold Gohan down- albeit with great difficulty. "DO IT! BOMB HIM!"

With the three Saibamen cackling hysterically, their bodies suddenly lit up before, in a flash of blinding light, the trio detonated all at once. The explosion they let off was equivalent to several full-powered, highly compressed energy balls detonating simultaneously, yet managed to create blast so potent it burned a crater into the earth. The resounding shockwave also knocked the jumping Raditz back, sending him tumbling painfully to the ground as the smoke and flames billowed out in all directions.

Gasping as he curled up for cover, the heavily damaged Saiyan soldier waited a couple of moments before eventually looking up. When his eyes snapped towards the cloud of smoke rising into the air, he then slowly watched as it cleared, revealing a gaping fissure buried in the ground. Standing up, he then cautiously approached the crevice.

Arriving at the edge and peering inside, not only did Raditz see the body parts of his three Saibamen scattered around the bottom, he also saw his nephew lying unconscious on the floor- his robe and singlet gone, and his pants in tatters. Though he appeared to be dead, the man saw that the child was still breathing, having only been knocked out by the explosion. Though his hair was slightly singed, the only damages he had on him were a handful of bruises and welts.

Thanks to his heightened power level, the child had been able to tank the blasts of the three Saibamen self-destructing without any loss of limb. Though it'd been enough to rattle him, it certainly wasn't enough to kill him.

Sighing in relief when his scouter pulled up a new number of the child, showing his vitals were stable and his power level was resting at a reassuring 10 while asleep, Raditz stepped into the crater and, with a pained wince from his bones and muscles aching, picked up Gohan by the scruff of his belt. He then held him up at arm's length and looked at the kid exhaustedly, a hint of intrigue and wonder reflected on his battered face.

"He was able to take three Saibamen suicide bombing him at once and managed to survive it. That's insane," Raditz thought, smirking rather proudly at what one of his own blood had been capable of. Though it'd been brief, those five to ten minutes were perhaps the most terrifying the Saiyan had remembered ever experiencing. "I'm sure you'll make a fine, fearless warrior in the future. Perhaps someone strong enough to take on Frieza one day."

Not willing to lose such a valuable commodity, Raditz slowly limped out of the hole and across the valley towards his spaceship. The craft he'd used to get here was a small and insignificant thing- a ball-shaped vessel with one seat and a single viewing window. Though tiny, the Attack Ball was possibly one of the most easily mass-produced vessels in the Frieza Force, as well as the most versatile.

Figuring it would make an adequate, temporary cell for his nephew, the adult Saiyan deposited the kid on the seat and closed the hatch. Stepping out of the crater while holding his broken ribs through the gaping hole at the front of his armor, the bruised and bleeding Raditz then considered leaving the child there.

However, when he quickly thought back to the fight he'd had with him, the man immediately had second thoughts.

"If he was to suddenly regain consciousness, with his current power level he could easily smash his way out of there," Raditz thought, turning around and looking down at the crater. Taking a moment to consider his options, the Saiyan then reached into his belt, pulled out a tiny control and promptly dialed in a number with his thumb.

Taking remote control of the vessel, the Saiyan fired up its engines, hearing the ship give a loud roar before slowly starting to levitate out of the crater. Watching it rise above the ground, the pod's window then pointed towards the sky before, with a blast of wind and a scream from its internal components, the Attack Ball shot up into the clouds and up into space.

As he watched the craft ascend, a couple new numbers on Raditz's scouter suddenly appeared, alerting the man and prompting him to wheel around. When he looked up into the sky, his eyes widened when he saw the distinct form of his brother and a second individual flying towards him at speed.

"What?! Kakarot? Why is he here?" Raditz asked himself, only to realize a second later that he was here to get his son back. This thought caused the wounded Saiyan to grit his teeth angrily. "Shit! I'm in no condition for another fight! I need time to recover!"

Unfortunately for the Saiyan soldier, it didn't look as though he was going to be getting any kind of break soon. When the two warriors dove down from their altitude, they then touched down on the grass several yards away from the startled invader. As soon as they were on the ground, both of them immediately took notice of the damaged area, the condition of their target, and the vapor trail being left behind by the spaceship, which had just taken off seconds before their arrival.

Fixing his glare on his would-be brother, Goku showed his teeth and spoke. "What have you done with my son?!" he asked, his tone echoing with both impatience and worry.

Raditz, choosing to stick to the high ground and play along, smirked in amusement when he set his eyes on his unexpected company. "Well, well, well… look who's decided to drop in. It's little brother." His eyes then turned to the caped figure standing to his right. "Oh, and he's brought the green man with him. I was wondering who that second, insignificant blip on my scouter could be. What a pleasant surprise." The man's chuckle at the end was a mixture of amusement and pain, though he did his best to retain his composure all the same.

Using the chance presented to him, Piccolo took stock of their opponent's condition. From the multitude of bruises covering his arms and legs, the massive hole in the front of his chest armor, the missing shoulder accent on the left side, cracked scouter screen, and blood dribbling from his mouth and nose, it quickly became clear to the warrior that their foe was in pretty bad shape. Whatever had managed to do that to him had clearly been an adversary a little too strong for him to handle on his own, which probably explained why he was hunched over the way he was and looking so exhausted.

Needless to say, the man's condition was rather comforting, but still raised a few questions as to how the heck this incredibly powerful warrior from space had come to be like that. The current state of the surrounding landscape also made Piccolo and Goku wonder exactly what had transpired while they were on their way here.

Raditz, seeing the pair were a bit distracted by the damages done to the field, quickly spoke up to draw their attention back to him. He needed to keep them distracted long enough for him to catch his breath, especially since he was working through a couple of broken ribs and torn organs. "I have to hand it to you brother, I didn't think I'd see you till tomorrow. You're a little more resourceful than I thought." Another chuckle leaving the man's swollen lips was followed by a cough. "Not to mention more foolish."

Quickly growing impatient, Goku then shouted back at the visitor from outer space. "We'll see about that!"

"Hmph. Fair enough," the Saiyan chuckled before grinning through bloodied teeth. "So… I'm guessing from your earlier question that you're here for your son?"

"That's right!" his sibling responded immediately while clenching his fists. "Now where is he?! Tell me!"

"I was afraid you'd say that," Raditz replied, before then bringing up his right hand and pointing a thumb up towards the clouds. Seeing the pair still had his eyes squarely on him, the scout elaborated. "Don't worry. Your son is still alive. He was just a little tuckered out after our little game of tag across the field, so I put him in my pod for a short nap. The boy is currently hovering in orbit safely above the planet where he won't be disturbed."

Eyes widening at that news, the father stomped forward and raised a fist. "What?! Bring him back! Now!"

"Oh, I will. No need to fret. As long as you bring me the hundred human heads that I asked for, then everyone will be able to go home safe and sound," Raditz replied, a rather malicious smirk crossing his lips as he looked across at his infuriated younger brother. "Are you planning on following-through with my demand?"

Clearly not in the mood for any more games, Goku barked back loudly. "NOT A CHANCE! All I'm here to do is to get my son back! Nothing else!"

"Hmm… that's a shame," Raditz chuckled, at the same time lifting his head to look down at the two warriors facing off against him. "You are testing my patience, Kakarot. I've been more than generous with you so far. Now for the last time, I strongly recommend that you join us!"

While Piccolo continued to glare daggers at the Saiyan newcomer, Goku continued to fight back. "I don't care what you recommend! The answer is still no!"

Raditz smirked angrily. "You should listen to your big brother."

Deciding to drive the final nail into the coffin, the spiky haired warrior in orange and blue sneered back. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a brother."

Feeling a touch of anger and sadness grip him, Raditz clenched his hands tightly and discreetly. To hear these words come from one of his own- his own flesh and blood no less- not only infuriated him, but hurt him at the same time. Exhaling in resignation, the long haired male frowned back at his sibling as he continued to glare defiantly at him.

"Alright," Raditz said in a low voice. "Have it your way then, Kakarot." The warrior then reached behind him and grabbed the same flask he'd used before, a gesture which alerted both Goku and Piccolo, and put them on guard. When they saw his arm return to his side, they saw that the warrior was holding something, but they couldn't tell what. "I didn't come to this planet to kill you, but it seems that you've left me no choice." The man then smirked. "It's too bad little brother. I'm sure you would've found the life of a Saiyan quite invigorating. Your son certainly will."

Goku growled, "You leave Gohan out of this! I won't let you or anyone else take him!"

Reaching the end of his patience, Piccolo promptly removed his cape and tossed it aside. "Alright. Enough talk. You know why we're here, so let's get on with this." When his shoulder piece slammed into the ground several feet away, the warrior then took off his turban and chucked it as well, before then proceeding to stretch his neck and arms.

The sight had Goku glance across at his rival curiously. "Huh? Piccolo? I had no idea you train with weighted clothing too."

A scoff from the warrior was the father's immediate response. "What? You thought you were the only one?" Upon rolling his shoulders, Piccolo smirked. "Oh yeah. I feel much lighter now."

A series of beeps from his scouter alerted Raditz to a sudden change, which caused his eyes to narrow on the green warrior worriedly. "His power level has gone up past 400."

Goku, deciding to follow suit, quickly removed his shirts, boots and wrist guards. Throwing his orange top back on and slipping it back into his belt, the warrior stood up and took a stance- clenching his fists at his sides and smirking across at their opponent. The pair heard the sounds of his scanner beeping again, which was then followed by his expression becoming slightly more nervous.

"Looking at the state you're in, I'd say we've got a pretty decent chance of winning now," Goku remarked, his smile widening when he saw the frown on Raditz's face deepen. "Don't think that because you're stronger than us that you'll have an easy fight. Once Piccolo and I have beaten you, we'll force you to bring my son back. You can count on it."

This comment drew a laugh from the soldier, a sound that had the two champions of earth step back nervously when they then saw the Saiyan grin widely in their direction. "And don't go thinking that just because I'm a little out of breath that bringing me down is going to be an easy task. Unlike you, I've still got a trick up my sleeve." Popping the cap of his flask for the last time, the man then crouched down, stuck a seed into the ground, and then added a drop over it. He then chuckled the glass bottle and stepped away, watching as the ground began to quiver. "And who said that I was going to fight you?"

The moment he said that, the ground at his feet split open…

OOO

(Several minutes later)

Up in the vacuum of space directly over the planet, the Attack Ball that Raditz had sent up into the thermosphere could be seen quietly floating. Its engines set on neutral, the craft had placed itself into geosynchronous orbit of the planet, moving at the same rate as the Earth's rotation and ensuring that it stayed over the exact same location that its pilot was.

In order to make access to his pod as quick and efficient as possible, the Saiyan had placed it well within remote-control reach in case of emergencies. Though he was capable of piloting it from any distance and direction, seeing as how he was currently preoccupied with taking on the two new arrivals to his valley, he made sure to leave the craft at a far-enough distance that while it was safely out of harm's way, he could also bring it back down in a heartbeat.

This was mostly in the off-chance that his little brother and his friend managed to beat the Saibaman he had laid out for them. But this was highly unlikely due in part to the massive power disparity between them.

Still, there his space craft floated, drifting gently through the vacuum untouched and undisturbed. While all the chaos on the farmland unfolded thousands of meters below, the craft maintained its present course, with its tiny little passenger quietly sleeping inside.

Of course, all of that was about to change, as only a few minutes after the pod had secured itself in orbit above the Earth, the initially unconscious Gohan's eyes fluttered.

Body twisting and turning as the child gave a satisfied groan, he then slowly sat up and groggily looked around his new environment. Finding himself situated inside of a space only big enough for one or two people, the young hybrid pressed his hands down against the cushions of his seat, before then blinking awake.

"Huh? What? W-Where am I?" Gohan asked out loud, quickly scrambling across the seat and towards the window. Heedlessly crawling over the control panels just below the window, the boy then pressed his hands against the glass and looked out, only to have his gaze widen in astonishment when he saw he was floating above what was clearly planet Earth. "GAH! H-How did I get up here?!"

Having blacked out what he felt like some time ago, the youngster now found himself in a completely unfamiliar and somewhat alarming setting. There he was, sitting in a pod of unknown make, drifting through the vacuum of space above his home planet. A first the child shook his head and rubbed his eyes, thinking that he was still dreaming. But when he looked back through the viewing port and saw that he was still hovering above the clouds, he realized to his dismay that he most certainly was awake.

"Did… oji-san throw me into his space ship?" Gohan thought, figuring that that was the only logical thing that could've happened. From what he remembered from the visitor's conversation with his dad and his friends, his uncle had come from outer space. Therefore he must have arrived here through some means, which turned out to be the very pod that he was now in. This then led to the boy frowning deeply and scrunching his nose up at the odor that was currently wafting through this spot. "This ship smells."

Not really wanting to remain trapped in here, the boy then clambered down the control pad and looked at it. Though he was smart enough to figure out arithmetic level math and complex texts just by looking at them, this was the first time he'd ever been inside of a space ship. And an alien one at that.

The control pad was quite complex looking, despite the vessel being so small. Aside from the alien language scribbled over it, the buttons behind the control stick and the numbers were completely beyond what Gohan was able to understand. If there was some connection to the katakana and kanji used down on Earth he would be able to figure out which button or panel did what. But try as he might, aside from a few symbols that resembled numbers, the child drew up a complete blank.

After a few minutes of scratching his head and glaring at the various flashing lights and instruments in front of him in an effort to make sense of them all, the demi-Saiyan toddler decided on the best possible solution out of this mess.

Fiddle with the buttons and make something happen.

Inhaling deeply, the child then placed his hands on the control pad and started pressing random keys and switches. He went full ham on the pilot's panel, pressing, jabbing, flipping, and playing with every single button he could find. While there was a tiny chance that he would open the pod's door and inject himself into outer space, the boy expressed little care to that possibility and just followed his instincts.

However, after mashing multiple buttons and switches, the low buzzing sound of an 'error' message began squawking back at him. When he tried pressing some more buttons behind the control stick, the control panel blared at him some more, before suddenly beginning to repeat the words: Systems locked. Systems locked. Systems locked.

Clearly Raditz had remotely locked up his Attack Ball's control panel and pilot systems so that nothing would happen to it while he wasn't inside of it. Obviously as a way to stop the boy from messing with it if he woke up.

Quickly growing angry at the computer's refusal to play ball, Gohan then stepped back and growled at it. "I'll show you systems locked!" He then drew back his fist and punched the control panel where the sound was coming from- a little too hard.

His fist went straight through the metal, causing a loud bang and a series of sparks to fly when he hit some wires. Almost immediately, the ship's engine gave a low roar as the entire pod suddenly rattled.

Gohan, blinked when a series of warning lights flashed into life, quickly pulled out his fist and looked around his confinement. "Uh-oh."

All of a sudden, the voice of the computer spoke as a map of several galaxies flickered across the still intact navigational screen. "Light speed drive engaged. Coordinates locked. Destination- Frieza Capital Planet."

"Oh, no! No! No! NO!" Gohan suddenly exclaimed, freaking out and waving his hands at the computer screen. "I want to go back to Earth! To Earth! Please, Mrs. Computer! Take me back home!"

When he attempted to fiddle with the buttons some more, the ship suddenly rotated about before, with a loud boom, the craft rocketed off into space. The speed it managed to achieve when it shot off towards the stars was forceful enough to throw Gohan back into the seat and knock his head against the back of the pod. Falling onto the cushions in a daze, the child felt himself lose consciousness again as the Attack Ball blasted away from Earth, past the moon, and effectively out of the Solar System.

OOO

(Meanwhile)

Back down on the valley, the battle between Goku, Piccolo and Raditz had quickly become a very fast and messy one.

Almost as soon as the winded Saiyan soldier summoned the last Saibaman in his arsenal, he immediately sent it into battle against the two mighty warriors from Earth. As demonstrated in its previous match against his powerful nephew, the biological green warrior proved itself to be a formidable force, especially against the two unprepared earthlings.

Goku and Piccolo tag-teamed the imp, chasing and lashing out at the tiny alien as it scampered across the valley, parrying and trading blows with the determined pair of fighters. At first the newly hatched being had the upper-hand, using its small size and agility to stay ahead of its opponents, while simultaneously trading blows with them. It even managed to land a few debilitating hits, even slashing through Goku's chest with its claw and ravaging Piccolo with a combination of blows.

When it took its battle to the sky, the two martial artists struggled to pursue it, with the critter managing to knock both of them back down to the ground by bouncing between them and nailing each of them with several punishing, lightning fast blows.

From there, the two warriors of Earth quickly started pulling out everything they had to bring down the beast, firing off ki-blasts and shockwaves in an attempt to shoot the thing out of the sky. Most of their attacks were effectively thwarted or dodged. It was only when Goku managed to distract the Saibaman with a well-timed Solar Flare that Piccolo was able to snag the creature by the leg after extending his arm and then yank it out of the air.

However, upon slamming the little beastie into the earth and cracking the floor on impact, the little creature then did something the demon's heir wasn't expecting. Cracking open its head, it spewed a wave of hot, white fluid across the field, splattering Piccolo's arm and melting it almost instantaneously. The green demon cried out in pain as he retracted his now stump of a limb, watching as the rest of the creature's corrosive goop melted a hole through the ground.

When the winded creature then mounted an attack against the wounded and stricken Piccolo- knocking him to the ground and preparing to pierce him with its claw- it seemed like it was all over for him. That was until Goku managed to nail the Saibaman with a full-power Kamehameha from close range, smacking the surprised creature off of his rival and destroying it, blowing a hole into its torso. With that battle over and done with, the pair then turned their attention to Raditz.

Realizing he wouldn't be able to fight well with only one arm and that both of them had received quite a beating from the Saibaman, Piccolo told Goku to distract the Saiyan while he charged up his new technique to finish his brother off with one hit. Seeing as how their main adversary was weakened from whatever fight he'd had before their arrival, it made the father's chore of handling him seem like less of a hazard. So the willing hero charged into battle without hesitation.

After using the time given to him by his foot soldier to regain his stamina from his fight with Gohan, the wounded warrior was able to put up a decent fight against his brother. The pair traded stiff blows, parrying and dodging respectively, until the still much stronger Raditz began gaining ground on his sibling- hitting him with a flurry of punishing blows.

All of this then led them here.

When Raditz blocked a jumping elbow and then kicked his brother away as a counter, he saw his younger sibling perform a corrective spin midair and land.

Giving a gasp of exhaustion, Goku then cupped his hands at his side and promptly began charging an attack.

His scouter flashing a warning light when it spotted the blue ball of energy forming in the man's palms, the older brother gritted his teeth in alarm. "His energy level is skyrocketing again! Another energy blast?!" Snarling when he saw the numbers approaching a dangerous reading, Raditzcocked both his hands back and focused all of his attention on his persistent sibling. "ALRIGHT, LITTLE BROTHER! LET'S SEE WHAT YOU'VE GOT!" Sparks of yellow light shooting off of his fingers, the man began charging two identical golden spheres of energy in each hand, which pulsed and sizzled as he rapidly started gathering an enormous amount of power.

Goku, clenching his jaw tightly as the ball of ki between his palms shone brilliantly across the valley, chanted his move's signature lines. "KAAA…MEEEE… HAAAA… MEEEEE…"

Scouter going crazy from the amount of ki building between them, an infuriated Raditz growled before unleashing his attack. "DOUBLE SUNDAAAAAAAAAY!" Thrusting his hands forward, a piercing howl ripped through the air as he let loose a massive, golden ball of fiery electricity and sent it screaming across the field towards his sibling.

At that moment, the exhausted and battered Goku gave a snarl of his own- swinging his hands towards the oncoming sphere and letting loose his own blast. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The roar of his attack erupting from his hands was followed by a flash of blinding blue light, as the beam left his palms and streaked towards the energy ball like a missile. After only a second of flight, the two attacks collided.

A brief tug-of-war match then took place between the determined Goku and his big brother, the resulting clash sending a scorching wind billow out in all directions. The golden ball that was Raditz's attack ground against the thick, blue laser as it drilled into it, its embers splitting in multiple directions in an effort to push back or possibly destroy the orb of deadly energy. However, after several seconds of struggle between the two exhausted warriors, Raditz's attack ball eventually reached critical mass, before detonating in a blinding flash of orange light.

The explosion that took place was gargantuan, sending a dome of flames and a black cloud of smoke belching into the sky. The area at ground zero trembled violently as a gaping fissure was torn into the floor, with the blast wave resulting from the combusting techniques nearly bowling Piccolo over- who was still in the process of charging his own technique.

The warrior had to shut his eyes as his body was pelted by rocks, smoke and earth, which came barreling into him from the explosion.

When the shockwave finally died down, it revealed Raditz still standing with both his hands extended, and a smoking crater lying in front of him. Gasping for air as he narrowed his eyes on the area in front of him, the exhausted Saiyan soon saw the space clear and the other side of the crater formed by the exploding attacks emerge.

He quickly spotted his brother lying on the other side- his shirt disintegrated, upper body burnt, and his arms wrecked and seared from having caught the explosion full in the face. Though he was still miraculously alive judging from how he was groaning from the stinging pain in his arms, obviously out of the two of them it was the defender of Earth who took the main brunt of the fallout.

Piccolo, spotting his fallen ally lying defeated on the other side of the fissure, felt his eyes widen in alarm. "No! GOKU!"

Panting heavily, Raditz smirked as he walked forward, pointing across at his other opponent in the process. "You stay right there, green man! I'll deal with you soon!" Knowing that the man heard him from the growl he gave, the Saiyan then sprang over the gap in the ground and touched down on the other side, directly over his sibling. Standing beside the fallen man and glaring down at his trembling form, the long-haired scout smiled. "That was an impressive attack, little brother. You were able to hold back one of my strongest attacks and almost overpower it. Not bad."

Goku, gasping and hissing from the pain shooting through his body, then mustered a smirk through his twisted, bruised face. "Th-Thanks… for the compliment."

It was then Raditz frowned. "Unfortunately for you, it wasn't good enough. Between the two of us, I'm the only one left standing. That means I win." He then promptly raised his right palm above his head and began gathering energy again- his fingers and hands starting to spark with pink ki. "Despite your colossal failure to rescue your son, you were still able to put up a fight worthy of a Saiyan warrior. And so, to commemorate your effort, I will grant you a death worthy of one."

As Goku clenched his teeth and a distantly watching Piccolo looked on helplessly, the battle seemed lost to them.

However, just as Raditz was cranking back his arm to deliver the final blow, an alarm going off in his scouter alerted the man to a new development. Quickly looking across at the screen, the Saiyan raised his hand and pressed the main button to engage the message. When he saw the information and graph pop up on the glass, the scout gasped and turned his attention towards the sky.

"What? No! NO, NO! Just what the hell did that brat do?!" Raditz shouted, alerting Goku and Piccolo to a sudden development related to Gohan. When they saw the Saiyan stagger forward, things were quickly made all too clear to them when he called out at the top of his lungs. "He's taking my ship to Frieza's planet?! How! I locked down the control panel!"

Based on his scouter's reading, the child had somehow managed to hack the navigational system and set the ship on autopilot, sending it careening on a straight course towards the tyrant's capital world.

Understandably freaking out, Raditz then reached into his back pouch and yanked out his remote. Completely forgetting where he was, the man desperately attempted to get remote lock back on his ship again. "Come on, damn it! Bring it back! Bring it back! Don't leave me stranded on this damn rock!" Jamming his thumb into the remote, he tried to override the autopilot system, but somehow the receiver wasn't responding. A blare from his control caused the Saiyan to curse. "Shit! That runt must have damaged the main panel!"

Before Raditz could try another way to get control of his pod, the man suddenly felt his arms and body snap upwards when Goku leapt to his feet and trapped him in a full nelson. The move causing the Saiyan to inadvertently drop his ship's remote, the startled warrior attempted to look behind him as his younger sibling wheeled them both around.

"What?! You're still able to stand?!" Raditz barked, attempting to throw himself out of his brother's grasp, but finding himself unable to. Stumbling about and growling in frustration, the battered and exhausted warrior growled when he found himself turned towards Piccolo. "You wretch! LET ME GO! GRAAAAAGH! I… I should've finished you... when I had the chance!"

Gritting his teeth as he fought back to hold his writhing brother in place, the extremely wounded adult Saiyan inhaled deeply before glaring across at his ally- whom he saw was gaping at the two of them in shock. "P-Piccolo! Your attack… use it! Let's go!"

Snapping out of his stupor, the green-skinned demon smirked and continued his charge- the fingers he had pressed up against his forehead sparking dangerously as he poured another surge of energy into it. "Alright, Goku! Prepare yourself!"

Raditz, gasping when he saw yet another warning light appear on his scouter and the numbers on Piccolo skyrocket, looked behind him desperately. "K-Kakarot! Brother! You're a Saiyan... like me! One of the last of your kind! Don't sacrifice yourself for these Earth dogs! Please! I beg of you!"

This statement drew a smirk from the younger Saiyan. "So nice to know… that you're… so worried about me… bro!" Goku growled back, locking his feet down as the sparks of electricity shooting off of Piccolo's body increased in rate and intensity. Soon the entire area of grass around the powering up warrior became scorched by multiple bolts of lightning tearing across the floor, signaling that his attack was nearing completion.

Sensing the extreme danger approaching, Raditz then tried one last bid to convince his brother to release him and save them both. "L-Little brother! Please! Th-Think about your son! He's up there! If you get hit by this attack… it'll... kill you too! You'll never see him again!"

"I know that!" Goku shouted, grinning broadly. "But my friends… will be able… to wish my boy… and me… back to Earth… using the dragon balls!" This statement had Raditz blink in confusion and still for a moment, allowing the goodhearted Saiyan to tighten his grip on his brother. "He can grant any wish we want! If anyone can do it… Shenron can!"

"D-Dragon balls… what…?" Raditz gasped, only to freeze up when his scouter beeped again, drawing his gaze back to Piccolo.

Pulling his fingers from his forehead as his index and middle digits crackled with golden lightning, the now fully-charged demon king snarled as he took aim towards the two Saiyans. "It's time, Goku! Are you ready?!"

Giving one last pull against his fiercely struggling brother, the raven haired hero screamed, "DO IIIIIIIIIT!"

"KAKAROOOOOOOOT!" Raditz bellowed, his eyes wide in horror as he felt his body jerk upwards and his front expose itself to the other warrior's aim. "STOP! NOOOO!"

"RIGHT!" his ally and rival shouted, taking a step before thrusting his fingers forward with a scream, "MAKANKOSAPPOOOOOOOOOO!" (Demon Impaling Light Killing Gun) A loud screech then filled the air when Piccolo unleashed a spiraling beam from his two fingers. With one beam spinning around the other, the attack shot through the air like a corkscrew, approaching the two men with the intent of taking both of them out in the same move.

Raditz, screaming out as he saw the light speed attack approaching them, then gave one last pull against his brother's grip. He loosened it up just enough to reach forward, grab Goku's burnt and mangled wrists, and throw himself downwards as hard and as fast as he could against the vice of his sibling's lock.

Fate of course, had a funny way of shaping a person's destiny.

Due to the energy clash from earlier frying both of Goku's arms as well as some of his upper body, the hero was unable to exert that last bit of strength he needed to hold his older brother back for the killing blow. As a result, when the desperate and terrified Raditz pulled himself forward against his sibling, the hero's arms gave way, allowing his older brother to drop to the ground.

The beam fired by the now stunned Piccolo tore over the Saiyan's head, before slamming into the surprised Goku's torso and knocking him off his feet. With so much energy concentrated into a single point, the corkscrew beam tunneled through the hero's stomach with ease and shot out the other side- streaking across the sky before slamming into a distant mountain, where it exploded with the force of a nuclear blast.

As the sphere of the fireball engulfed the entire peak and incinerated it, both Raditz and Piccolo looked on in disbelief as Goku, his eyes wide in shock and a newly made hole formed in his stomach, fell back to the floor with a heavy thud.

A moment of silence then flooded the area, with both the exhausted Raditz and Piccolo staring at the fallen form of the would-be hero and protector of the planet. A fierce wind blew by, ruffling the grass and bringing a cold chill to the area.

Piccolo as dumbfounded and conflicted. "I… I killed him…" the warrior thought, unable to believe that his attack had not only missed its main target, but had also hit his rival and enemy square on. "I killed... Goku..." Now that he was lying on the ground, bleeding out with a hole in his stomach, the green warrior immediately felt a sense of both overwhelming dread and joy hit him at the same time. It was a very conflicting moment.

As for the other party, they were as equally astonished by the turn of events, having barely avoided death and were now left lying on the charred floor.

"K-Ka… Kakarot?" Raditz gasped, unable to believe that his brother had been killed right before his eyes.

It was a stunning moment- one that he never thought he'd see.

Time seemed to freeze for the two hardened warriors as their minds slowly processed what they'd just seen happen. However, after a few more seconds ticked by and the world once again began turning for them, both Raditz and Piccolo quickly remembered where they were. With the Saiyan brother snapping his gaze back to the Namekian in alarm, the man threw his hand forward and fired a severely weakened blast- the battles he'd fought the entire day having taken their toll on his stamina.

His weak attack arced through the air and landed on the ground at Piccolo's feet, exploding with concussive force and knocking the one-armed warrior over.

Seizing that moment, Raditz summoned whatever strength he had left and quickly bolted from the area, taking flight and streaking towards the mountains. The man didn't even bother to look back to see if his other opponent was alive or pursuing him or not. All of his efforts in that instant were focused on getting him the hell out of there as fast as he could.

So much so that he completely forgot about his nephew and how the child had accidentally taken his ship on a one-way trek across the galaxy.

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's note: Okay. That happened. And with this chapter, I conclude the Raditz Saga!

If anyone can tell me where I took inspiration for the last Raditz scene, let me know in the comment section. "Grins"