Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own a single piece of the Dragon Ball franchise.

"595… 596… 597..." Raditz grumbled through obvious discomfort as he neared the end of his pushup session. "598… 599… and six hundred pushups it is."

Pushing himself back to his feet, Raditz used his forearm to wipe off the skin of sweat drenched upon his forehead. Now he was finished with his morning training session and would get a little lunch in before he began working on his ki control. This had been his routine for the past ten years he'd been on Earth, training and eating. Not only had he vastly improved his fighting skills but he was in the best shape of his life, his body chiseled beyond that of an Olympian athlete at only the age of 15. He had to keep improving, he couldn't let his father down.

"Gohan, have you seen my battle armor?" The Saiyan called out into the shack, where his guardian resided making a tall pitcher of lemonade.

"In the cupboard with your weighted clothing, Raditz," Gohan replied. "Are you planning on doing some combat training later on?"

Raditz walked into the cottage, donning the green and black armor that he'd adorned ever since he'd arrived on Earth. Slipping on the weighted armbands and boots as well, he estimated that in total they added seventy-five pounds to his frame, good for efficient training.

"Yeah old man, you planning on taking part or are you just talking?" Raditz pondered, already knowing the answer before he even spoke. Call it old age or whatever, Gohan hardly took the time to train with him despite having a far more adequate power level than he did. 'Humans are such a weird species.'

"Not today I'm afraid… these bones of mines aren't getting any younger," Gohan retorted, continuing to mix the contents of the pitcher. "Could you stop and get us some meat for later on tonight, the red herring are buzzing this time of the year."

Raditz snorted, of course it was like Gohan to refuse to train with him and then ask him for a favor.

"Oh would you like me to clean and gut the monster too?" He sarcastically replied as he grabbed the Power Pole and took off into the wilderness surrounding the cottage he and his mentor called their home.

Dodging the ax kick from his imaginary foe, Raditz let out a faster than light two hit combo at his assailant, followed by a sweeping kick. To anyone staring at him, it would appear that the Saiyan was actually going pound-for-pound with an actual, but invisible, opponent but no he was just well-devoted to his shadow training.

Finishing his combo, Raditz pounced forward with no reluctance, facing an open palm towards the large field of trees. Surging his energy to its max and then grunting as ki cackled into the faint form of a sphere, the long-haired Saiyan let off an onslaught of small ki blasts at his invisible opponent, blowing apart entire trees and whatever else got in the way of such destructive power.

"27 small ki blasts before my energy dissipated… my ki control has gotten a fair bit better," Raditz said to himself, taking note of his attempt through long breaths. His power level was now 42, and while it was pretty high when compared to Earthlings it was nowhere near where he wanted to be but it was progress… progress was definitely good.

There was nobody to fight besides Gohan out in the wilderness and even then, he was lucky to having a half decent spar with his caretaker once every blue moon nowadays. Despite having a far higher power level than the Saiyan, apparently he was "no longer the fighter he had once been". All that Raditz had to say about that was "excuses"... there were Saiyan warriors that fought past their everlasting primes until the later part of their lives, until even the hairs on their tails were shrouded in a fur of snow -if they made it to fight that long, that was.

Son Gohan was nearly 93 years old. Sure he wasn't as quick on his feet as he had once been, but that didn't mean that he didn't still hit as hard or that he had ever given up on his training. Raditz was in his prime, he couldn't see it but the boy would see where he was coming from later on in life. It didn't help that he had spent the better part of the past decade raising a teenage boy that was practically bred for fighting. His martial art skills were still far superior than most people you would find on the planet, that was for damn sure! A wise turtle hermit had taught him a valuable lesson about living though. Life was about adaptability though and as you grew, you had to grow even if it meant uncomfortable growth. Now he was simply the old, wise master in the movie that was Raditz's life.

Gutting the fifty pound goliath of a fish that Raditz had brought earlier, Gohan couldn't help but replay memories from the past nine or ten years that he and Raditz had spent together. They bickered and tensions flared commonly but that was a part of raising a teenage Saiyan -he had been the one to perfect Raditz's martial arts skills and hunting skills, although the boy had a good fundamental start in both of those assets (obviously good on Bardock's part). Sure he didn't have the energy to spar with the boy on a daily basis nowadays but to say that he wasn't extremely proud of just how far he had come would be a lie.

"On second thought Raditz, let's make a deal," Gohan started, noticing that he had caught Raditz's intrigue almost immediately. "Help me with some spring cleaning once supper is finished and we'll see just how far along your training has come."

With a hmph, which Gohan now understood as a form of verbal agreement, Raditz's workout seemed to revitalize itself as each punch seemed to hurl towards the Saiyan's foe at a speed unmatched by the previous one. This was going to be a fun one, he wasn't sure if he was more excited about the food or the spar that would follow it to be honest. Snapping the tree in half with a final kick, Raditz began to gather wood -one of his chores.

Dinnertime had come and gone just as quickly as you would have expected with a teenage Saiyan taking place, but the cleaning afterwards must have taken far longer. As promised though Gohan, now changed into an old training gi, had agreed to an exhibition match against the boy he considered a son. With the sunset in the distance acting as a beautiful background, no words were spoken as the two warriors slumped down into their respective stances.

The Saiyan blood coursing through Raditz's veins boiled in excitement as the sunlight radiated off of his battle armor, this was more than a ditzy spar for him. While his only opponent, Gohan was not someone that should be taken lately -and he was fully capable of beating him to a bloody pulp if the situation ever got to that point. With eyes completely focused on his opponent's vital organs, the Saiyan's aura sparked around him.

"Come on then old man," Raditz snickered, a sly grin formed on his face as he began to hover slightly. "And don't you dare hold back in the slightest!"

"You know I'm not going to do that Son," Gohan retorted. "What does that device on your eye say about our powers? I could gravely injure you huh,"

"42 and 89," Raditz didn't even have to check the Scouter, he was fully aware of his own battle power at all times and he spent half of the time checking his mentor's power level as a reminder of just how much of a gap he had to close between himself and the older man. "Doesn't matter though, you think that bastard Frieza's gonna take it easy on me?"

Without caring for a response the Saiyan lunged forward with speed matched by only a few. With a coat of purple flames dancing around his body, Raditz rammed a punch towards his opponent.

Instinctively Gohan stepped backwards, avoiding the blow with no effort at all. Going on the offensive himself, the man sent out his own attack -a roundhouse kick, at the Saiyan teen. Sure Raditz was fast but Gohan was in a league of his own. Before the Saiyan could even muster what had happened, contact had been made and his eyes widened. He was sent crashing to the ground some yards away from where he once stood.

"Keep it up old man," Raditz taunted, both rising to his feet and also crossing his arms to block the incoming flurries of punches that Gohan wasted no time in following up with. "I haven't seen you move this fast in years… my blood's already boiling and we just began!"

Gohan's mind wandered as he narrowly avoided another of Raditz's attacks, slipping under an ax kick. The boy was definitely getting better by the day, that was obvious. He had come quite a way from that little Saiyan child that made it his job to annoy Gohan night in and night out after crashing on Earth many years ago -he was the ideal successor and student for any martial artist. Even if he did not realize it at this moment, Raditz surely did have an unsettling amount of potential -he could be the Earth's finest protector or the most troubling of problems to grace its surface.

Being too lost in his thoughts, the elderly warrior was unable to move out of the way of a jab that knocked him to his feet. Grimacing to himself, Gohan picked himself back up and patiently awaited the boy to present him with a counterattack opportunity. Upon such, a mean jab of his own launched towards Raditz, who surprisingly to Gohan, managed to effortlessly move out of the way.

This carried on for nearly an hour, both combatants getting their fair share of beatings in and inflicting their own. Shock waves echoed through the air as their fists collided with one another. The fabric of their uniforms ripped apart as sparks of ki fizzed past both Gohan and Raditz's bodies. Before long though, pools of sweat covered both fighters' bodies like a second skin.

Six Months Later

Raditz's breathing slowed as he exhaled, opening his eyes from his meditation. For the past few months he had been training in solitude, it was far more relaxing and, in his opinion, worthwhile than any training that Gohan could give him in his old age. Not that he was on for celebration in the first place but the Saiyan felt a smile tug at his face upon realization that midnight would mark his sixteenth birthday.

Glancing into the beautiful sea of stars the country sky gave him, Raditz could see that the night would be a long one full of training -a birthday did not stop anything to him. Firstly he would focus on perfecting a new energy attack that he had begun to work on in his free time -the Saturday Crush as he called it. Gohan had his Haiguibo Wave, and from the demonstration that he had given the Saiyan on it, having such an attack would prove useful to any fighter. Then he would focus on control of a powerful technique that his father had taught him in the readings he'd left him -the Great Ape transformation, or the Oozaru as it was called in his native tongue.

"The Oozaru form is the most powerful technique that we Saiyans possess, my son. As Saiyans, under the influence of a celestial body such as our planet's full moon, we are capable of metamorphosing into a form much stronger than our base forms. Increasing our peak powers nearly tenfold, this is one of the many reasons that the Saiyan race is feared throughout space,"

As if on point with becoming a year older, the Saiyan's eyes locked onto the sight of the full moon in the sky. He felt his heart rate escalate, he could practically hear the organ attempting to pump its way through his chest it seemed. His body doubled in size by the second, his muscles swelling as a blanket of brown fur enveloped his entire body. What was once his tail was now simply a brown anaconda swaying behind a behemoth of an ape and what was once the Saiyan's mouth was now a snout full of fanged teeth that could tear apart anything unfortunate enough to cross Raditz's path.

With the beast within finally released, Raditz's aura slowly died down as the bloodlusted primate began its rampage with a blood-curdling roar heard from miles away. Destruction spread as the Oozaru ravaged its way through the forest in search of anything to sink its jaws into or to smash its fist through. Large paw-shaped gorges formed as the Saiyan smashed its way through a blanket of trees and canals. No wonder the Oozaru transformation was feared by many, this was one of the things that kids were told about in horror stories growing up.

Crushing boulders that stood in his way and trampling through the tree trunks that lie in his path, the mindless beast that accompanied Raditz's body made sure to leave no survivor in its path and Mount Paozu was simply his playground at this point. Lifting its snout to the air, the primate narrowly stepped out of the way of a beam of golden energy that spiraled past his shoulder without warning.

"Son Raditz, of course you actually transformed into that devilish form of yours… even after the damage you racked up the last time," Gohan growled as he stumbled out of the way of a swipe from the beast that towered over him. He had known right away what was going on when the sound of destruction echoed his entire cottage. Dealing with this form was no easy feat and he had barely escaped with all of his limbs attached the last time, nearly three years and far less teenage angst earlier.

Giving no response to Gohan, not that he could, all that Raditz viewed in the man was a victim… a chew toy one could say. Giving out a monstrous growl, the Oozaru gave no notice before slamming a furried palm into the ground before him. What it outclassed Gohan in strength, Gohan now outclassed it in speed and easily maneuvered out of the way.

There was no reasoning with Raditz in this form, several broken bones and thousands of zeni in damages had shown the man that. Until the sun arose in the next few hours he wouldn't be facing off against Raditz but a ferocious beast in the body of the boy that he had raised. Fighting purely on primal instincts was a disadvantage against a seasoned fighter like Gohan, who simply used his nimbleness and smaller structure to duck out of the way of sloppily thrown punches. Out of the blue though, the tailed beast swatted Gohan out of the sky with a single stroke of his tail, sending the man crashing to the ground with a thud.

'There's not beating him as we stand right now,' Gohan thought as he narrowly avoided the Oozaru's death grasp. He had barely fought toe-to-toe with a younger, less experienced Great Ape Raditz years earlier and not only had he slowed down in the past few years but Raditz's power had skyrocketed.

The only thing that he could do now was stay out of the beast's way and try to prevent as much collateral damage as he could until the sun did its job and took the Oozaru out of Gohan's worries for another month or so at the least. Raditz was definitely going to have to be the one to clean all of this mess up when he finally got his hands back on him -damn Saiyans and their insane abilities.

"SOLAR FLARE!"

The next morning came quickly and was very much like a rainbow adorning the sky following a thunderstorm the previous night. Raditz awoke around noon, his entire body sore from the night of destruction he'd unknowingly gone through. Loosening his body up, the Saiyan felt like he had been hit by a bus or something and had woken up in a sinkhole-sized crater -talk about a fucking hangover.

He had been hit like a truck by something, he just couldn't remember… was it Gohan? A second skin of dried up blood and dust coated the Saiyan's body, the parts left uncovered by the scorched and dented battle armor that somehow hadn't left his personnel. What little he did remember were simply like snippets of a movie from his childhood. The smell of smoke filled the air and his head was spinning like a record, he had to figure out what the hell had happened.

"Gohan!" Raditz said to himself just as he arose, dead set on making his way back to the cottage he called home. The memory of the deadly battle between man and beast the night before popped back into the Saiyan's head, if he was in as bad a condition as he was now, he could only imagine what the elderly Earthling had gotten himself into. "He's going to chew me out for this, isn't he?"

The ten minute trail back to his cottage seemed to stretch hours, and the everlasting path of destruction and smell of smoke never seemed to fade as Raditz closed the distance between himself and the answers to the questions he had. Where was Gohan? What the hell had happened the night before? Was he in trouble?

Arriving back, the Saiyan was met with a field of scattered debris and wreckage. Undoubtedly already knowing what awaited him thanks to his enhanced sense of smell, Raditz cursed himself at the faint smell of blood in the air. Raising a finger to the alien tech on his ear, the beeping pointed him over to another pile of rubbish. Lifting the beam of wood that inhibited his moving, a single tear dropped as Raditz came face-to-face with the battered body of Gohan.

With a quivering lip, Raditz instantly dropped. Fists clenched and his temper rising, a single slam tore through wood and stone alike as for the first time in his life… he felt alone, completely and utterly alone.

Not a single word leaving the Saiyan's mouth, a surge of purple colored flames came to life around Raditz's body as wood and stone alike seemed to disintegrate as the Saiyan carried his lost grandfather's body into the woods behind him -his eyes red and nearly as puffy as his wild head of hair.

Two Years Later

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BALL DETECTED WITHIN FIVE THOUSAND FEET!* *BEEP* *BEEP*

The beeping of her hand-crafted machine had to mean that it was some nearby, there wasn't a single doubt in her mind on the subject. The Dragon Radar she had designed from some of her father's old tech was working spectacularly, she had already managed to find two of the seven prized artifacts in not even a full week of travel and now she was less than a mile of a third one already. At this rate, she had maybe another two weeks of travel and then she would be set, the Eternal Dragon of Legends would arrive and grant her the one wish that all the money she had still couldn't quite seem to find for her -the perfect boyfriend!

"Bulma Brielle Briefs, your mother sure did give birth to a genius didn't she?" A soft voice began as a young lady stepped out of the blue Dodge Challenger parked on the side of the road. "Of course she did… only you would be able to come up with some tech like this from a bunch of old 80's electronics!"

Pulling the Dragon Radar from her pockets, Bulma pushed the button of her creation, powering the screen of the device on. Using her smarts and some old projects her father had longed abandoned with his busy schedule, the 16 year old had designed the radar to detect the faint pulse these "Dragon Balls" she was searching for emitted after some thorough investigation on the ball she had found in one of her father's warehouse just days earlier. Man, science sure was a beautiful thing -wasn't it?

Bulma Brief was nothing if not a beautiful young woman, the natural turquoise colored hair that was her trademark worked quite well with her fair skin and eyes that mimicked the most beautiful of Earth's oceans. She was tall but not too tall, skinny but not too petite, and blessed with nothing if not good looks. She was certainly not just all great looking and no substance though, at sixteen she was already twice named the smartest teenager on this side of the planet. She was her father's child when it came to his intelligence and love for scientific work but thankfully she had inherited her mother's beauty outside of the strange hair color that her father gifted her, and she sure did know that she was far above that of your average girl.

"Great, another fifteen minutes down this trail and I should run right into the next Dragon Ball," The bluenette giggled, placing the radar back into her pocket as with newfound energy, she scurried back into her vehicle, speeding towards her destination where the first of five more DragonBalls seemed to await her.

'Here lies Son Gohan,

June 21, Age 656 - November 7, Age 747

Warrior. Grandfather. Teacher.

Gone but Not Forgotten

O hdíêj… O dópp wú óg vûj cúá.

O'n Hújjc.'[1]'

Raditz stood over the grave that he had carved from stone just two years prior for his grandfather, reading over the message that had been engraved by ki. Two years had come and gone by quickly following the accident that had cost the man his life. Two more birthdays had come and gone but there was much more meaning to this day to the Saiyan warrior -it was more of a remembrance of a life no longer here than a celebration of his own.

He hardly had time for emotions, but Gohan's death had hit the young man hard. At just sixteen, he had already been orphaned twice. It wasn't as if he was on the verge of tears, no. Staring at the grave just helped him to remember why he continued to take his training just as seriously as ever. He had dug the grave for his mentor, both literally and figuratively so this was how he knew to carry on the martial artist's legacy best.

"It's already been two years since I killed you Gohan," Raditz lowly spoke, a soft tone underlying his deep voice. "I could probably have you on your toes if we were to spar nowadays… who knows, old-timer. You always spoke like you'd be here on this 18th birthday, whatever you Humans make such a big deal about it for I still don't understand but man I wish you were here to at least train with me."

As he finished speaking Raditz turned from the memorial, the harder part of the two years had already come and gone but each time he looked at the grave it just stood as a memory to just what had gone down that night. With the thought of his grandfather's murder still as fresh as the night it had happened still on his mind, Raditz began heading towards the creek he'd made a routine out of fishing in -his stomach was also beginning to engage in conversation with him and it was Queen Salmon season in Mount Paozu.

Bulma continued her drive through the loopy mountains of the Mt Paozu district, the journey leading her closer towards where Raditz himself had set up camp and unknowing to either of the two, egging the both of them closer to the next big steps of their lives. In the split second it took her to make a sharp turn and realize that she was heading right towards something or someone, the Capsule Corporations heiress was in for the sight of her life when just as quickly as she had thought she'd seen someone, the figure had disappeared. Had she hit someone? Was the heat just getting to her and she needed a little rejuvenation before carrying on?

She hit her breaks, but it had definitely been too late right? In the same second that she could have sworn to have seen somebody collide into her car, they had also somehow evaded the speeding vehicle. She turned the key and got out of her sports car, checking for dents and any sign of blood. Had she sent whomever flying into a tree? Were they okay? Were they… dead?

"So… you thought that you and your mechanical demon were just going to catch me off-guard and finish the job?" the raspy voice of Raditz grumbled through gritted teeth, appearing in front of the blue-haired woman. The large corpse of a ruby pink salmon was still in his grip as he spoke with a demanding tone towards her. "If you wanted you piece of fish, all you had to do was ask nicely and maybe I'd save you some," he added, irritability evident in his tone.

"N-No, that's not what this is," Bulma began before her thoughts began to spill. The man before her spoke with such bitterness to his voice but to say that he looked as savagely as he spoke was not true. Tight muscles bulged out of his chiseled body and a mane of untamed black hair cascaded down to the back of his knees. He was wearing no shirt and because of this, she could see healed scars ridden all over his compact figure and his onyx colored eyes showed a wall of pain within them. "Don't hurt me, I-I have a gun!" She spat out, aiming the weapon at his assailant.

"I have no intentions of harming you woman, but those lead balls won't do anything but give me muscle soreness," Raditz responded, not at all phased by the 9mm that was aimed his way. "I don't mean to be rude but I don't get visitors normally outside of the grizzly bears trying to ravage through my provisions, what is it that you're searching for on that radar?" He added, immediately questioning the strange woman.

His grandfather had at least told him to attempt to handle the Earthling women with some bit of respect… it would make life here easier to deal with, he had said.

"Let me put this up," Bulma commented, dropping her guard as she saw Raditz drop his. Sure, she could have tested his bluff and tried to pop the brains off of him but had that not worked, she would be both out of luck and without anybody to help her find the Dragon Ball. Maybe this guy wasn't as bad… freaky as he was. "I'm looking for a Dragon Ball, they look like this,"

Raditz took in the spherical orb that Bulma showed him. Then, after some time in thought, he spoke, saying, "I found one of those a few months back in a ravine. I think it has three stars like this one or four,"

Raditz turned around and started walking, but once he saw that Bulma hadn't been following him he turned to her.

"Look, I know it's not everyday a stranger asks you to follow him back to his shack in the woods but you should stay close," he began, turning to continue his walk. "It's enough salmon to go around… and I wouldn't want to be caught with just that lead shooter if a Paozusaurus smelled the perfume you're wearing."

"So, what do you do?" Bulma asked, taking a bite of the crispy salmon that she had been offered after Raditz had given her the Four-Star Dragon Ball (and she had explained just how they had worked ofc). "I mean you're definitely a freak but you're out here by yourself, it can't be all fun and games?"

Raditz raised his face from his plate, crumbs on his cheeks as he responded.

"I'm a fighter," He retorted between bites. "My grandfather raised me in these woods many years ago and since he's left this world, I've been surviving and training on my own,"

It wasn't fun… at all. But when you had duties like Raditz, fun was never an option. There was fighting and power… and both of those were at least enjoyable.

"I know what sounds fun," Bulma responded. "It seems like you need a change of scenery. I just so happen to need a strong guy like you to protect me… somebody is bound to try to take these from me and I'd rather they try to pry them from your hands than mine."

That sounded fun to Raditz. He wasn't going to get stronger just sitting around waiting for somebody to challenge him. Shadow fighting wasn't doing it... the warrior blood in him needed a challenger!

"As long as I get to handle any trouble that comes brewing, I'm in," The Saiyan said with a sly smirk on his face.

Power Levels

Raditz: 42 (start of chapter fighting Gohan)

51 (16 year old Raditz)

510 (16 year old Raditz {Oozaru Transformation})

68 (18 year old)

Gohan: 79

Bulma: 3

Translations

1) Saiyru: O hdíêj… O dópp wú óg vûj cúá. O'n Hújjc. = I swear… I will do it for you. I'm Sorry.