Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball.

Goku rolled his arms in his sockets and stretched his muscles. That last beating he'd taken had been brutal, but now he felt good as new. This training program was becoming really efficient.

"It looks like you weren't lying when you said you could speed up your rate of recovery," Raditz commented. "How exactly do those beans function?"

Goku looked at him in confusion. "Function?" he repeated.

"Well yes. These beans of yours can somehow heal bodily wounds and restore one's stamina immediately upon consumption. Even the empire's top of the line medical technology cannot replicate that kind of effectiveness. I'm wondering how they're grown," Raditz said.

Goku thought for a moment. "You know, I've never really thought about it," he admitted. I kind of just get them from Karin when I need them."

"So you've never wondered how they work or what's in them?" Raditz asked in annoyance. "Do you even realize what you have at your disposal? The application of such an asset on the battlefield or even in training would be revolutionary, especially for a saiyan."

Goku rubbed his head sheepishly. "I guess I never considered that. Things have been pretty peaceful here for a while now. I guess that's why Karin has so many saved up. With as many as we have, we'll be improving leaps and bounds!"

Raditz shrugged. "I suppose so. Your power is rapidly growing, and even my own is increasing steadily. I haven't had a chance to get this much training in for a while. But before we continue, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Huh? What is it?" Goku asked.

"Your tail. It's not that uncommon for a saiyan to lose his tail in battle, even if we try our best to avoid it. Some opponents figure out our weakness after all," Raditz said. "But what kind of enemy was able to take yours from you? Was it the Namekian?"

"My tail?" Goku asked in confusion. "I cut it off a long time ago. Why?"

Raditz stared at him with an unreadable expression. "You cut it off yourself?" he repeated. At Goku's nod, he brought two fingers to his brow in apparent frustration. "You cut off the saiyan's greatest source of power. Of course. Why not?"

"Source of power?" Goku asked curiously. "It's true I felt a little stronger with my tail attached, but once I got used to fighting without it, I was fine. Does it make that much of a difference?"

"God you're a fool," Raditz said in exasperation. "Didn't you ever look at the full moon when you still had your tail? You should know about the transformation by now."

Goku's eyes widened. Full moon? Transformation? A story that his grandpa told him when he was a child crept into his mind for the first time in years. He didn't like where this was going.

"Well it seems you know something about it at the very least," Raditz said as he observed the look on Goku's face. When a saiyan looks at the full moon, the sight of it triggers a reaction in the hormonal glands of our tails, causing us to transform into the most powerful embodiment of our race's power, the mighty Oozaru. This subsequently causes our power to multiply. It was one of the many advantages our kind had over its competitors...hey, are you still listening?"

Goku was not still listening. The full breadth of his mental power was being channeled into processing one incomprehensible, yet inescapable fact that he had simply never acknowledged until it was forced in front of him. As he brought one trembling hand to his forehead and looked down with a distant look in his eyes, Raditz was rapidly put the pieces together in his mind.

Did he transform at some point? Most definitely. Was he in control? Most likely not. So he killed someone then? Probably. But who? That old man said he lived alone in the woods with his…

Raditz blinked, then sighed in frustration. Son of a bitch.

"Kakarot."

Goku was snapped out of his daze and looked up with a pained expression. Raditz grimaced as he thought about what to say. This is ridiculous. I'm a warrior, not a blasted motivational speaker. I don't get paid enough for this. In fact, I don't get payed at all. Even with Freeza it was pretty much 'do as I say or perish today.' I'm pretty sure the last decent meal I had was when we landed on that jungle planet and the inhabitants tried to execute us.

"Kakarot, I know what you're probably thinking. But it's hardly your fault. Even some fully grown saiyans couldn't control the transformation," he said finally. "Still, I know the feeling. We felt the same way when our home planet was wiped out."

Goku's expression relaxed somewhat. "And how did you deal with that?" he asked quietly. God, this wasn't something he expected. Finding out that he was the monster that only came out at night from the stories of his childhood wasn't that great, but finding out that he killed his grandfather all those years ago...it was another matter entirely.

"For the most part we coped by swearing that we would one day gain vengeance against the one who took everything from us. I don't think that's really an option for you though. Honestly I would just move on. Dwelling on it won't change anything." Goku's shoulders were still slumped, but he nodded weakly.

Glad that's over. I'm just glad Nappa isn't here. He'd never let me live this down.

Suddenly Goku's head perked up and his eyes widened. "Wait...can half blood saiyans transform too?" he asked.

Raditz hummed thoughtfully. "I can't be sure. Saiyans didn't do much interbreeding with other races before planet Vegeta was destroyed. But since your offspring does have a tail it should be possible."

Now Goku was starting to get worried. Gohan had never actually seen the full moon before, but that could change at any time.

"And how much power would it give him exactly?" he asked.

"With fully developed saiyans it increases tenfold, but in the case of one as young as your son, the transformation is usually much more erratic. He could be close to a thousand times stronger if he transformed, but my scouter would alert me to an outlier like that."

"Really? How wide is that thing's range anyway?"

"It depends on the intensity of the source. Radiation from higher powers are easier to pick up on. On a relatively small planet such as this, anything that could be deemed a threat should be within range." He absently pushed the button on his scouter several times, then paused. He turned his head and stared off over the horizon. "Now that's strange."

"Something wrong?" Goku asked.

"There are two outliers that I seemed to have missed when I arrived here. A 300 and a 264," Raditz said.

Goku's brow furrowed in thought before he caught on. "Oh! That must be Kami and Mr. Popo. You probably missed them because they're all the way up on the lookout," he said.

"What is a Kami?" Raditz asked neutrally.

"He's the guardian of the earth. He trained me a few years ago up on the lookout." Goku whistled. "That's impressive though. It's range is even farther than mine, and I'm one of the best ki sensors on this planet. Hey, who else can you-"

"Hang on a second," Raditz interrupted. "What do you mean when you say you're a ki sensor? That's not really what is sounds like is it?"

Goku blinked. "Um...yea, it is. You mean you can't sense energy signals?"

Raditz shook his head. "Not without a scouter. That's not really a common ability, or even one that I've heard of." Others on this planet can do the same thing?"

"Not many," Goku admitted. "In fact I'm pretty sure I personally know everyone who can. I could be wrong though."

"Now that's interesting," Raditz commented. "I'm learning a lot more than I thought I would on this planet. I might as well send the boss this information too," he said as he pushed another button on his scouter. "Oh by the way, you might be interested to know that a 1500 just sprung up out of nowhere, which almost certainly means that your son just transformed," he said nonchalantly.

Goku face faulted. Crap.

Piccolo watched in awe as the colossal beast that had been Goku's defenseless brat just a minute ago obliterated mountain after mountain with ease in a seemingly uncontrolled rampage. How could something like this happen? Was it his hybrid blood? Was there more to the saiyan race than he had previously thought? He didn't have much time to ponder this before the monster caught sight of him. It's eyes narrowed dangerously before it fired a blast from its mouth. Piccolo narrowly escaped the resulting explosion with a burst of speed.

"Alright fine! Let's go then," he shouted before firing his own energy blast at the oversized gorilla's face. It hit dead on, but had little effect on the beast, other than serving to make it more angry. It started charging towards him, but Piccolo flew around to it's back to attack from behind. His blast hit the beast in the back of the head this time, but again had little effect. He followed up by grabbing it by the tail, swinging it overhead, and smashing it onto the ground. There was surprisingly little resistance, and when Piccolo let go, the beast struggled to get up, as if it was recovering from a heavy blow, which seemed strange, seeing as his previous attacks hadn't achieved anything to this degree.

Now curious, Piccolo grabbed its tail again and pulled. The effect was instantaneous. It slumped back to the ground, unmoving, as if all its energy had been drained. Did such a monster really have such a profound weak point?

"Alright then, let's see how you handle this!" Piccolo formed a disk of ki in his free hand before launching it at the base of the beast's tail, which was cut cleanly from the rest of its body and fell to the ground. The beast's eyes widened before they nearly closed, as if it was suddenly overcome by an incredible fatigue. Suddenly, it started shrinking, and the fur covering its body receded, leaving bare skin it its wake. Piccolo slowly flew down to Gohan's prone form.

"It seems his tail is the key to the transformation. Come to think of it, Goku used to have one too…that's good to know," Piccolo said to no one in particular. Panting lightly, he looked up at the full moon. It had begun when Gohan had looked up at it. Would it happen again…? Most likely not. If he had turned back when his tail was cut off, that meant that it was dependent on the tail. So, problem solved.

"You're really more trouble than I bargained for kid," Piccolo grumbled. "I just hope this pays off."

Goku had been ready to fly off in Gohan's direction, but he calmed down when Raditz told him that the energy signal had dropped to a 1.5.

"There's a 339 in the same vicinity," Raditz said. "Most likely the Namekian, which means that he was the one who subdued your son. I fear another saiyan may be down a tail. What a shame. I wonder if it will grow back. He is a child."

"Wait, what's a Namekian?" Goku asked in confusion.

"They're a race of intelligent lifeforms on the planet Namek," Raditz answered absently, still preoccupied with whether or not Gohan's tail would grow back.

Well how about that. Goku thought. Kami and Piccolo are aliens.

Krillin sighed tiredly as he, Tien, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu finally made their way in the direction of Karin's tower. It had been quite the ordeal finding them all and explaining the situation. At least Tien and Chiaotzu had been in the same place. When the three had been briefed about the circumstances, they had all agreed to the training with Kami. Not that such a thing needed much convincing to begin with.

They were all silent as they finally arrived on top of the lookout. They were all coming to a silent agreement. This would be one hell of an ordeal, but they'd take whatever was coming head on, now and in whatever future was waiting for them.

A/N: Power levels:

Gohan: 1.5

Chiaotzu: 144

Yamcha: 177

Krillin: 208

Tien: 250

Piccolo: 425

Goku: 491