Saiyan Saga - Part 1: Taking the Mantle

"So… could any of you tell me where I could find someone named Kakarot?"

The foreigner's voice was nowhere near as gravelly as Piccolo's, yet it could be argued that it was more intimidating than any threat the demon king had ever conjured up. Even the way he stood was full of confidence, swagger, and assertiveness. Not wanting to get on the new arrival's bad side, Krillin quickly cleared his throat to try and suppress the anxiety that he was sure would leak through his voice. "K...Kakarot? I've never e-even heard of tha-that name…"

The newcomer quirked an eyebrow. "Interesting… perhaps he was a bit uncivilized and you only remember him as some wild madman you had to slay. Tell me," his brown 'belt' unfurled from around his waist and hung at his side, "did he have a tail like this one?"

Everyone, even Piccolo as well, glanced toward each other in stupefaction. If there had been any doubt as to whether or not the new arrival was not of their world, the brown appendage which he showed off razed said uncertainty into the ground. Just who was this man? Why was he searching for someone named Kakarot? There was many a question to be asked, yet the prevalent one that seemed to permeate everyone's minds was:

Would they live to see tomorrow?

The long-haired warrior stood relatively patiently as he waited for some sort of verbal reaction, yet he was presented with absolutely nothing. He was many things, and unfortunately for Earth's heroes, irritable was one of said things. "Judging by your surprised faces, I'd be willing to bet he didn't." Could Kakarot have possibly lost his tail in some sort of savage battle? Assessing by the terrain and lack of life he'd seen on the brief flight over, it wouldn't surprise him. But the question still remained—where was he?

One of the humans across from him – the scarred one with rambunctiously long hair – spoke next. "S-Sorry, but we don't even know what the guy would even look like. B-But if he had any sort of connection to you, h-he'd be strong, right? I-I'm su-sure we would-would've noticed him if he was on E-Earth!"

The new arrival smiled. Though his dissatisfaction with a lack of a definitive answer was still quite visible, it was always entertaining to see an inferior being stutter in his very presence. However, he quickly regained his business-like composure in an attempt to wring an answer out of this sorry bunch. "Doubtful. Kakarot was born with an incredibly low power level—the projections had him at a mere two. I had hoped that I'd find him here, but it seems he's already moved on to the next dimension without even completing his mission of purging Earth. What a waste."

Piccolo snarled at the invader, his fangs bared. "Are you telling me… that you deemed it acceptable to waltz onto my planet just to find some moronic little monkey boy like yourself?" He suddenly relaxed his stance and smiled, almost in a bipolar fashion. "Well, I've news for you, intruder—I've likely killed him years ago without even being aware of it. There have been countless lives taken under my name, and I'd be willing to bet that your little friend was one of them."

The alien was visibly taken aback, his eyes widened, but he soon controlled his shock into an angry scowl. "You really do have a defiant nature about you, green man. Seems to me that you deserve to be shut up immediately."

Piccolo grinned cockily despite his wounded form, his pride renewing itself. "Don't lie to yourself. You're here to kill us all and do what that Kakarot fellow could not. Am I wrong?"

"It seems to me you don't quite know what you're dealing with. Allow me to educate you on the hopeless situation you've locked yourself into." Wrapping his tail around his waist and crossing his arms, the long-haired warrior prepared to speak. "My name is Raditz. I am a space fighter, a Saiyan warrior who makes a living off of conquering and exterminating all life forms on the planet of which we are assigned."

"This Kakarot… I'll bet he was sent to this planet to do the same to us, am I right? If you both had tails, then you're probably both Saiyans… which means..." Chi-Chi's brow furrowed. 'If he had the chance to carry out his mission… would we even be alive long enough to have to fight Piccolo again? It's like… we didn't even get the worst possible scenario of all...'

Raditz smiled and lifted his head upward slightly in acknowledgement. "You catch on fast. We Saiyans are very much like planet brokers, and Kakarot was no different. His mission was a simple one—to exterminate all of you Earthlings and prepare this planet to be ready for sale on the galactic market. Unfortunately, however it happened, it seems that he was unable to complete his task."

"There's still something that doesn't add up," Tien stated, his eyes narrowing. "Tell me… if Kakarot was sent here to kill us all, that would mean you've known about Earth for a while. If he was as weak as you say he is, then why not send someone stronger in his place?"

"Hm! Good question," Raditz sinisterly lauded. "Despite the fact that Kakarot was very much a weak Saiyan, he was sent here just because of that little piece of information. It's almost like a scale—those with stronger warriors would require a team of Saiyan adults to eliminate, whereas a backwater planet such as this one could sufficiently be purged by a Saiyan infant. Your planet would fall under the second category." His expression suddenly changed into one of a scowl as he finished his sentence. "Unfortunately, it seems he is an outlier… but that is of little concern. If Kakarot is truly not here, then I'm going to have to finish what my little brother started."

"You monster… forgetting that you're going to kill us all, answer this! H-How could you send little babies into space like that all alone?!" Bulma cried out, disgusted. "Especially your little brother!"

Raditz smirked at the scientist's discomfort. It only made sense that a weakling race would consider the actions of his own taboo, especially considering they barely seemed civilized enough to remain in existence. "Trust me, they're more than capable of looking after themselves. Well… most of them, anyway. Kakarot seemingly couldn't, even though your power readings indicate it would have taken him… perhaps no more than a year or two to wipe you all out." He looked up into the sky and chuckled lowly to himself. "Especially considering this planet has a moon… but whereas my little brother would need it, I won't require its power to dispatch of you."

"Ya realize all ya little teachin' is managin' to do is piss me off, right?!" Launch's fiery attitude raged to the surface again. "Ya kinda interrupted somethin', y'know, an' now I ain't gonna be so nice about it! I'll kick ya head off right now!"

The space pirate closed his eyes and laughed. "By all means, I dare you to try… I don't think you'll enjoy the end result, though." He opened his eyes a moment later and cleared his throat. "Now, as I was saying…"

"You won't be sayin' nothin' if I ram ya teeth down ya throat right now, punk!" Launch barked back, seemingly forgetting the power difference between the two. "I've had a damn long day dealin' with this crap-ass excuse for a leader, and you bein' here ain't helpin at all!"

"W-Wait, Launch! Cool it for a sec!" Krillin exclaimed. He then looked back to Raditz in confusion. "Just what do you mean by 'using the moon?' I've never heard of anyone ever getting any power from a moon!"

"Obviously Kakarot wasn't a true Saiyan warrior, then." Raditz opened his eyes before gesticulating toward his tail. "We Saiyans are fairly powerful in our own right, but when our eyes are exposed to a specific number of an energy known as blutz waves… we become unstoppable." He beamed. "Our tails aren't merely for show, you know. They are just as vital to the transformation as the moon itself. When a Saiyan lays eyes upon a moon that generates the appropriate number of blutz waves and has the two elements required for transformation, they will transform into a giant, mighty Oozaru with a power that their regular form has no hope of ever attaining!" He clenched his fist to put the exclamation point on his sentence. "And don't think that the remainder of us Saiyans are as foolish as Kakarot to have shed ourselves of our tails… not only do I have one, but my two partners, far stronger than I am, have them as well!" He cackled at the abject horror on the Earthlings' faces as they realized their impending doom.

"Grgh… that's enough of this little history lesson," Piccolo snapped authoritatively, cutting the pirate off. Unfortunately for him, Raditz would not be so easily swayed. His cocky smirk still remained on his face, just begging to be wiped off. "What I got out of your pair of little rants is that you're here to take our lives and sell this planet. Unfortunately for you, I am the monarch over Earth, and I won't be letting you escape with your life." He glanced over to the other fighters and found his gaze returned to him within a matter of moments. They nodded toward one another, realizing the severity of the situation. If they didn't ally themselves against Raditz, they'd die... and even then, their overall survival was not guaranteed. There was no time to think about the space fighter's other partners if they could not even wrangle a victory from their current predicament.

"You don't seem all that competent a ruler if your subjects were just brawling with you a minute earlier," Raditz laughed heartily, drawing Piccolo's ire. "But that's neither here nor there. If you want the short version, I'll give it to you. The reality of the situation is that Earth has escaped the galactic market for too long... and that I am here to rectify my brother's mistake! Now prepare to die!"

He launched toward the Earthlings at top speed, all of them adorning fighting stances as quickly as they could to prepare for him. 'Feeble as they are, they're going to attempt to fight me… pathetic.' Suddenly, Launch and Krillin shot straight toward him with their auras enveloping them, surprising him. 'Well, this'll prove interesting...'

He phased out of sight, avoiding the blonde and ex-monk's offensive, and reappeared behind the remainder of his opponents with a crazed smirk. He thrust either of his elbows down on the shoulder blades of Tien and Yamcha respectively, sending them flying forward with such speed that both Launch and Krillin hadn't even time to turn around before their allies were sent crashing into their backs; the impact sent them all at least across the city before they landed pathetically on the ground in a neat row.

Raditz smiled at his handiwork. His movement had been so fast that the fighters hadn't even managed to turn to face him for another few seconds, which was time that he took to kick the blue-haired woman to the side with his left leg and backhand the samurai to the right with corresponding arm.

By the time the Ox-Princess and the former ruler of Earth had turned to face the Saiyan warrior, all of their allies had been incapacitated and their foe hadn't even been touched. Their expressions were absolutely priceless, both of them wearing those same dilated eyes and agape jaws.

"Well… I suppose that was a nice demonstration of my power," Raditz, floating just barely above the ground, taunted. "This'd be a nice time to try and use up whatever tricks you have, you know. I can tell just by looking at you both that you stand no chance against me… same with the rest of your sorry bunch."

Chi-Chi grimaced at the Saiyan's confidence. Knowing that he was right stung more than any pain he could possibly inflict on her.. 'He… he really is just as powerful as we sensed… dammit, why now of all times? Can't this world just have one second of peace?'

"You would be unwise to sort me with these pieces of trash," spat Piccolo, as if he were offended by being generalized with his subjects. "I am far different from them… I am their superior. There is a reason that I have been their king as long as I have."

Raditz was quiet for a long moment, but then he smirked and chuckled lowly to himself. "Hmm… all right then. You! Woman!" He sharply jabbed an index finger in Chi-Chi's direction. "I want you to stand aside. I'll get to you soon enough, but I believe your king needs a little wake-up call." He shifted his gaze over to Piccolo with a grin. "Now… as for you… you've been living in your own little bubble for too long, green man. I'll take a great deal of fun out of bursting it."

"...You can try." Piccolo shot a faint glance over to the Ox-Princess next to him, but Raditz paid it no heed. Their powers were incredibly weak as it was; there was no immediate concern in deducing whatever such a glance meant. She seemingly understood his tacit gaze, blasting off and flying toward the recovering forms of her friends. The demon king watched her until she landed, then slid into his fighting stance as he refocused his attention on Raditz. "...But you won't succeed."

Chi-Chi caught the demon king's acknowledgement, silent and brief as it was. He knew… he knew just as well as she did that the odds were even more stacked against them than they'd been against the demon king himself. Raditz seemed as if he stood before them as an insurmountable challenge, a mountain of an endless elevation. There seemed to be no path to victory.

But in that one moment where Piccolo let his eyes meet hers, the raven-haired fighter understood it all. The demon king, though arrogant and pompous, had conceded that power would not be enough to fell this threat to their homeworld. They would need to devise some greater plan that encompassed them all if they wanted to survive, and even then it would certainly be by the skin of their teeth. And for what it was worth...

...he was willing to buy them time.

"Where's all the sudden motivation coming from?" taunted Raditz cockily. "You looked far from comfortable with facing me when I first showed up—you almost looked like you've seen a ghost."

Piccolo, his face dangerously stoic, paid the provocation no heed. It was incredibly rare to see the demon king in such a zen-like state, yet internally the green-skinned fighter was anything but. He knew that he would need nothing less than perfect mental focus if he was to even hold out against this monster—perhaps even beyond perfect.

"No answer?" Raditz tried to stir the pot, but it was to no avail. Piccolo remained deadly concentrated on him. "Oh well, if that's how you want to be, then I suppose I understand… I had expected you to want to try and buy some time for your planet, but this way makes my schedule a little easier."

"Hgggh…" Piccolo snarled lowly, baring his fangs as a pale aura began to surround him. It was far from intense in height and width, yet its power was clearly present and potent. It continued to expand around his body slowly, reaching from the top of his head to the bottom of his moccasin-covered feet, almost jagged and wild in nature. "Spout off whatever you like… it makes no difference to me. What I will answer you is that I have an endgame." Suddenly, his characteristic smirk reappeared for what felt like the first time in hours. "And I always achieve my endgame. HYAH!"

He bolted toward Raditz at his remaining top speed, yet even if he wasn't injured Raditz knew he could still outclass him quite easily. It was painfully easy for him to raise his arm and block the demon's swipe; the green man's claws raked into his skin yet were unable to draw any blood whatsoever—a testament to the power difference between the two.

"Nice try," Raditz mocked, grinning as he gripped the demon's arm with speed nigh detectable to Piccolo, "but let me do you one better. HAH!" He used the monster's arm to pull him closer before sending him back with a swinging elbow to the face. Piccolo was sent slamming right into the city streets for what felt like the thousandth time that day, the terrain being disfigured horribly from all the abuse it'd suffered on this day. But just as he always had, he stood resiliently and charged right back in for more.

Just before Piccolo was close enough to initiate any more physical contact with Raditz, he disappeared, moving at super-speed to try and catch the long-haired warrior off-guard. It would be considered impressive if the Saiyan could not move at twice his speed, anticipating and correctly predicting a swift chop from the side; he promptly warped out of the way of said green chop and moved behind Piccolo with at least three times his adversary's speed.

Unlike Raditz, Piccolo did not have the ability to react in time to his opponent's movements. By the time he'd realized he'd only stricken air, he himself was struck by a crippling blow to the back of the head that sent a wave of pain rushing through his head. He felt dizzy, uncoordinated, but his opponent wasn't about to give him any breathing room. Three additional strikes further added to the former monarch's disorientation before he felt himself being thrown up into the air helplessly, the momentum behind Raditz's hurl defying gravity as he continued to rise into the air involuntarily.

Then he began to fall. Drifting down slowly, dazedly, and silently was all he could do. His power, or what was even left of it, had been neutralized; his body felt like it was capable of nothing more than perhaps a slurred word here or there. For what it was worth, he felt as if he'd already been killed by the Saiyan a thousand times over.

Yet he was still conscious and thus was forced to watch as he fell, the sun above him shining in a time when his spirits could not be any lower. The sky was blissfully pregnant with bright light, unaware of the fate that would befall it and the remainder of the Earth if Raditz wasn't stopped. Time seemed to freeze in this very moment.

And then he was sent crashing down by a heel to the chest, sending him spiraling down to the ground in no more than a second's time. Fervent pain ran through his body with vigor he'd never experienced before, the agonizing aches within his body pleading with him to just pack up and quit.

But the demon king did not have that in him. Digging his claws into the ground, the monster dragged himself forward until he could feel enough strength to pull himself up onto all fours. Breathing and panting heavily, blood trickling out of his mouth, Piccolo looked upward at the Saiyan warrior—he didn't look fatigued in the slightest.

"That bastard…" Piccolo snarled as he pushed himself upward, slowly but surely making it back to his feet. "If nothing else… I will live long enough to see him die…!"

Then, suddenly, his opponent vanished into the air, his speed nigh detectable. It was if he was looming over Piccolo in one moment and then simply gone the next.

But in reality, Piccolo knew just where the Saiyan had moved. However, his body just wasn't fast enough to correspond to the long-haired warrior's high speed movement.

"Behind you!"

WHAMM! Another thrust kick crashed against his spine, sending him flying forward for what felt like miles and miles on end. Though in reality he'd only been launched a few yards or so before he landed pathetically in the dirt, the searing pain that was inflicting its dark magic upon the green-skinned warrior's back and shoulders felt as if he'd been knocked through the entire solar system.

Raditz lowered his leg slowly yet confidently, smirking all the while. Though the green man had certainly talked up a big game, there was absolutely no way that the so-called "king" could match him in combat. "I suppose that takes care of you for now… it'll be a while before you decide to act superior in my presence again." Following up on his sentence, the space alien turned to the side to find those pathetic humans standing united again, all spaced out in one neat line. "I'm guessing you need that same lesson in humility as well, am I right?"

"We won't give up if that's what you're asking!" Krillin defiantly shouted back, assuming a fighting stance. "We got a taste of freedom before you took it away from us… and now that we've experienced it, we want it all!"

"Same goes for all of us too!" exclaimed Yamcha, pulling his arms back and preparing himself for battle. "We'll keep fighting for hours and hours if that's what it takes to find peace for Earth!"

Raditz chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, I don't imagine this fight will take us long at all… it'll only take me a few minutes to exterminate you all. That being said… better safe than sorry." He rose his left index finger and lightly tapped it against the red button on his scouter, watching as multiple acute arrows and numbers of an alien language began to flicker across his green-tinted eye. It locked onto Krillin first before running down each of the humans, sizing them up and putting a number to each of their faces.

When the final BEEP resounded, informing Raditz that all the power levels in his immediate perimeter had been scanned, he let himself engage in a chorus of laughter. "You're kidding me! I'd thought that green man playing hero for those few seconds would allow you to raise your power somehow, but it seems you're just as pitiful as before! How could you ever expect to defeat a Saiyan warrior like me with puny powers like that?"

Tien remained painfully stoic even in the face of this mighty space alien, pounding his fists together as he psyched himself up for another round of combat. "We don't expect to. But that's how life works—you have to work with whatever it decides to drop in your lap. Just because you're far stronger than anyone we've ever faced before doesn't mean we're just going to up and forfeit our lives."

Raditz shrugged almost casually. "Oh well. Your loss, I guess. It makes no difference to me how you go out, but I suppose it's just in your species' nature to be difficult." He raised a fist toward the group and grinned. "As a Saiyan warrior, however, I welcome difficulty. I welcome struggle. So go ahead and try me if you think you can."

Wordlessly, Tien sprang forward on his lonesome at top speed, eliciting a smile from the Saiyan warrior. 'Pitiful. I can see right through these fools—they think they can draw my attention away with just one fighter?'

But then, something peculiar happened. Instead of racing in to attack, as Raditz had predicted and accommodated for, the triclops touched his fingers to his face and cried out "Solar Flare!"

He was blinded no more than a second later. Ethereal light flashed before his eyes, burning into them with searing force and forcing him into clutching and clawing at his face, yelping all the while. "D-Damn you, you insolent—ugh!"

Cut off by what had to be three of the Earthlings raining down fists and feet on him, Raditz was forced to assume a blind defensive. However, despite their having gotten the jump on him, it was effectively a matter of waiting for his sight to return. For every blow he was able to block from connecting, another five or six would land across him. To say it hurt would be an overstatement, but Raditz knew that if the Earthlings were able to land such an attack consecutive times… it would not work in his favor.

Fortunately, however, his eyes began to naturally restore his vision a moment later. He could make out a faint orange color moving rapidly and wasted little time in thrusting his arm out and levelling it with a straight punch. Though he still had to deal with the other pests who were still throwing attacks his way, he smiled as he felt skin against his fist and, as his sight was fully restored, saw Yamcha fall to the ground and clutch his nose in pain.

"A nice effort… but a futile one nonetheless!" Raditz barked, intercepting Krillin's roundhouse kick and catching it neatly under his armpit. He found himself with Tien's balled fist in his palm as well. He would quickly apply pressure to the triclops' hand, feeling bones begin to crack under his might, before releasing him and whipping Krillin into a building on the other side of the city. The sheer momentum behind the throw easily toppled the building and sent it tumbling to the ground, leaving perhaps only three or four of them still standing sans Daimao Castle. Central City had seen its fair share of destruction today, yet it wasn't about to stop any time soon.

"You're wide open!" Tien snarled, using his other fist and driving it straight into Raditz's torso. Though the Saiyan was initially surprised by the human's resiliency, the blow did little to faze him whatsoever.

"Heh! Did you really think you could hurt me with a weak shot like that? That felt like a love tap if nothing else…" Raditz sneered, driving back the human with a quick jump kick and sending him to the ground harshly. This time, Tien didn't get back up. "Pitiful. I don't understand why you weaklings just lay down and die at this point."

"Because then you'd win, ya damn dirty ape!" hollered a southern voice from Raditz's side, catching his attention. He barely was able to whirl around to block Launch's head-on assault, but once she'd settled into a full-out barrage of attacks he was able to accurately predict and counter her moves accordingly. "And… I ain't gonna let that happen…!"

"The power is out of your hands now, Earthling!" Raditz phased out of the way of Launch's haymaker, causing her to look from side to side in an attempt to locate him. A hand on her back told her just where the space fighter had gone, and a swiftly charged pink sphere of light to the back told her she was out of the fight for the foreseeable future.

"Grgh… I swear, these humans just want to draw this out as long as they can, don't they…?" Raditz scowled. The battle was beginning to grow tedious and wear his patience thin, yet he would not allow himself to grow distracted. 'I am a Saiyan warrior—there is no obstacle I cannot overcome.'

Refocused, the long-haired alien scanned his perimeter. It wasn't long before he found the only two standing fighters, Bulma and Chi-Chi, in combat stances. The two looked odd next to one another due to the former's robotic suit, but Raditz paid the odd thing no heed. After all, there was nothing even their king could do to scratch him; therefore, there was little to no concern over facing these two. "I guess you two are the last ones I need to strike down. Once you're out of the way, I can kill you all one by one and be done with this place."

"What's the point of this?" Bulma asked, ignoring the death threat in favor of her own query. Her scowl seemed permanently etched onto her face. "You couldn't find your brother, Kakart or whatever it was. You've already demonstrated that we're no threat to you. Why can't you just leave, damn it?"

"You must be deaf, woman." Raditz folded his arms. "I said quite clearly that I was here to make up for my little brother's failure. I had intentions of doing that as soon as I discovered sentient life on this planet still existed—regardless of whether or not he was still alive. Finding him alive would have merely been a bonus, that's all. We can make do without him."

Chi-Chi summoned her alabaster aura around her, small pieces of asphalt rising into the air. "See, that's where we're different… you can live knowing that your brother is dead and not care about it at all… while I couldn't live with myself if even one of my friends were killed! Hyaaaaah!"

With a furious battle shriek, the Ox-Princess dove toward Raditz and aimed a swift high knee at his jaw. Though it would be intercepted by the alien's forearm, Chi-Chi wasted little time in throwing her other leg right toward her foe's neck. To her surprise, it connected, though it did very little in the way of actual damage. She decided to press upon her luck and would go on to connect with a swift flurry of blows that ended with a double-handed ki wave to the chest, sending Raditz staggering backward.

"H-Hurgh… wh-what's wrong with m-me…?" Raditz nearly retched out, having half a mind to drop to his knees and hurl out the contents of his stomach. All of a sudden he'd been hit by this incredible burning sensation in his lower torso, the feeling only magnifying itself with every passing second. "I… I can't… this pain…"

Across the battlefield, though he hardly had the energy to speak, Tien smiled as his plan came to fruition. 'You're the real fool for thinking I didn't have something up my sleeve, Saiyan. What I hit you with wasn't anything special—it was me sending a small pulse of energy into your body. Our powers clashed when they met inside your body and you were left without a chance to defend yourself… I imagine my energy doesn't have much longer before yours wins out, but there's still a surprise at the end, don't worry.'

For a moment, Raditz felt the pain die down.

Then he felt it being multiplied by a thousand as Tien's energy literally exploded within his stomach, damaging his body far more than any other attack the triclops could have conjured up would have. He retched up blood as he found himself unable to control his breathing, his ribs burning with more intensity and fervor than that of a thousand suns.

Chi-Chi knew the effects of the Dodon Shift. Tien had told her as much when they'd been strategizing. The attack, incredibly potent, would surely do enough damage to leave Raditz winded for a good majority of the fight; however, it was certainly not without its drawbacks. Due to his general inexperience with telekinesis and the move itself – he would never dare to even remotely consider testing it out on his friends – his energy had been completely sapped from his body. The triclops was now effectively nothing more than a fallen carcass; his part in the battle was surely over.

But in doing what he had done, Tien had created the perfect window of opportunity for the remainder of Earth's defenses to put up their final stand against Raditz. They now had their opponent in the weakest condition they were going to get him in, and now was their time to strike.

Raditz made it back to his feet – a little woozy, but ultimately still coherent – and saw Chi-Chi fly toward him again like a speeding bullet. Her flight was still considerably slow from his perception, but he noticed that as she grew closer and closer she seemed to be growing less and less detectable. 'Either she's getting faster or my reaction time is getting slower...'

He was still able to dodge her attack with ease, of course. But he found it that much harder to retaliate when a cybernetic fist rained down on the back of his skull, temporarily drawing his attention away from the raven-haired royal and onto the suit-adorning scientist. It would not be a long distraction, however; a quick uppercut and rolling kick to the center of Bulma's suit sent her skidding back uncontrollably.

Just as he turned around, he was met with a sight he didn't want to see again—or, rather, couldn't see again.

"Solar Flare!" Chi-Chi cried, unleashing the bright light that had captured Raditz's eyes before. The shimmering epicenter of light flashed around the battlefield for a few seconds before ultimately returning to normal. The Ox-Princess, confident in her chances, raced forward—

—but it was not to be.

Raditz grinned haughtily at the woman who was now stuck in his clutches, the combination of shock and anger in her eyes all too thrilling for him. "You can fool me once with that little light attack. However, there's an easy counter for it—closing your eyes!" He would put the metaphorical exclamation point on his sentence by pulling her closer to him and firmly lodging his knee into her stomach, the force of impact involuntarily making her lurch over.

"N-No! Chi-Chi!"

Raditz looked over to find Krillin darting toward him angrily in hopes of saving his friend. To this sight, he scowled and drew back his palm over his shoulder. Within moments, a pink light began to illuminate his palm, ki slowly coalescing until it formed a brilliant sphere. "I've had enough of your pesky interference! Saturday Crush!"

He flicked the attack at Krillin, the pink ball of energy rushing with incredible speed to meet Krillin head-on. The Turtle student was prepared, however, and paused dead in his tracks before bending down and powering up. "Haaaaaaaah... Turtle Shell!"

Suddenly, a blue barrier was erected around the ex-monk just in time to defend its summoner from Raditz's mighty attack. The Saturday Crush immediately began to grind against the Turtle Shell, the two sources of energy clashing wildly. Pink tendrils of energy crackled around the azure shield as Krillin attempted to keep his defenses up. 'C'mon… if I can hold this out a little longer… I can leave him open for attack…!'

Raditz snarled ferally and, his knee still lodged in Chi-Chi's gut, kicked the woman away before turning to fully look at Krillin. Angrily, he thrusted his palm forward. "Just stay down, you insolent weakling!" With that he fired off an additional kiai that gave the Saturday Crush the edge it needed, ultimately shattering through the Turtle Shell as if it were made of glass and consuming Krillin whole in an explosion of hot pink light.

He dropped to the ground lifeless a moment later as the smoke cloud cleared.

Everyone could see it. But they didn't need to. They could all feel it within their hearts. It was the same feeling they'd gotten when Master Roshi had passed on to the next world; it was a feeling of hopelessness, sorrow, and fear all rolled into one.

Krillin, the only one who had remained optimistic about Earth's chances against King Piccolo, had finally fallen. Though his dream had been deterred and his life ultimately ended, he still lived his life as a beacon of hope to others. Unknowingly, he'd assumed the very role that his own master had served to the group and taken them to new heights. It had taken them eight long, harrowing years, but they had accomplished what they'd strived to do since his master's death in liberating the world from Piccolo.

And yet, just as his master had done before him, Krillin went down swinging against an enemy whose power was unparalleled by any being they'd met before. The swift and unexpected introduction of Raditz had stripped Earth's freedom away from its deserving warriors, but unlike before there seemed to be no hope for victory. The struggle was only set to intensify from that point onward.

No words would be said just yet. Their minds were in too big a state of shock to even consider formulating words at the moment. However, their hearts, beating as one, spoke for them. Each of them had the driving thought of revenge on their mind, but subconsciously they all knew what would be asked of them by their unofficial leader:

To take up the mantle and do what he himself could not.

...Welp, I'm pretty darn sad now. Even though I completed this chapter before my birthday(meaning that, at the time of completion I was two chapters ahead of myself), I honestly just sat here and realized that I killed my second main character/primary Earth protagonist for, like, at least five minutes. Deaths happen in the DBZ series all the time, but to really kill someone in such a quick moment - especially a character you've come to love writing - it really is surreal. I honestly can't even believe I'm up to this point in the story and getting to experience it just like all of you did right now. That being said, I'm damn happy I am because it's really been a lot of fun.

Speaking of fun… man, writing Raditz is fun. In fact, writing literally everything in this chapter was just damn fun. Even Krillin's death(which I'm sorry for, pal… you're one of my favorite characters nowadays, but it had to be done). On that note, I certainly didn't mean to imply that Krillin was the 'leader' of the pack - I'm just going off how I feel my characters would feel. Krillin was incredibly influenced by his master, and in turn he subconsciously shared that influence with his best friends. This may be a slight departure from the comical and joking Krillin we see in DBZ, but unfortunately we never had the chance to see him in that role due to the hell that Earth has been put through for the last few years… and may now never recover from.

Onto the chapter itself: the first thing that I hope you noticed was my slight tweaking in my writing style. While I still maintained a third person limited approach to this chapter, I attempted to tackle a more personalized narrator. I wanted to take this chapter to establish a further sense of uncertainty and drama, since, let's face it, I think there was literally no surprising element behind Raditz's character at all in this chapter. We all knew he was g0oing to be exactly like he was in canon(as there is literally no conceivable event that would affect his life; my divergence point doesn't involve him whatsoever) have altered him in the slightest and that the only real surprise would be how I handled him plot-wise. Since my goal is to maintain a high-quality story at all times, even through moments I find dull but consider imperative to the narrative, I wanted to try and really explore everyone from a more energetic standpoint. Piccolo may have been the Earth's greatest threat, but merely writing in a single word from Raditz has upped the ante significantly. I feel that this chapter was a nice change in pace in that regard.

It also made sense, to me, to write this chapter as relatively short - not everything can be a ten thousand word tale, and there are times when I intentionally want to throw my readers for a loop. This chapter was meant to accomplish just that. Even this fight, upon reflection, seems as if it was written differently than how I normally approach fight scenes. I can definitely get behind that considering how I'm starting to get a liiiittle burnt out from all the fight scenes(one on one battles aren't daunting in the slightest, but when you have to find ways of incorporating seven different humans into two separate battles back to back and then factor in Piccolo for the latter battle… it can prove cumbersome). I know I've promised you a bit more character action later on, and I am definitely going to enjoy getting to that and writing that during the hiatus(which, as I remind you, is creeping up with each passing chapter).

It seems that, judging from the current data archived in this poll, most of you would prefer the weekly update to occur on Wednesday. Remember, if you have not voted and would like to give your input on what day you'd like this fic to update, I encourage you to go to my profile and vote. As I've said before and will surely say again, though I write this fic for my own enjoyment, I do want to have my readers feel considered and catered to as much as possible(even if I know you're seeing other fics behind my back and that's why you cancelled our lunch at noon). You giving me your feedback is the best way for me to understand what the majority of my readers would like to see, so I fully endorse and support you doing so.

Speaking of that whole update dealio, I would expect an update to occur sometime during late December or early-ish January. I'm likely going to have some time on my hands around then that won't be impeded by any work, so I may try and crank out that chapter before the end of the year. We'll see what happens, though, considering it is the end of the year.

There isn't that much to say regarding this chapter other than the invention of some new techniques(most notably Krillin's Turtle Shell as well as Tien's Dodon Shift, which I'm actually pretty proud of) and the plot progression. Just how screwed are the Earthlings against Raditz now? Is there even any hope for them to win after this absolute curbstomp of a battle? There are so many questions to answer, including a few loose plot details that I plan to resolve soon enough, and I'm looking forward to each and every one of them.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I encourage you to review with your thoughts. I'm really interested in seeing what people think of this portion of the story much more than any other, honestly, so I would really appreciate if you could take the time to do so. Cheers!

-anonymous: Awesome chapter

Just when they thought one threat has been dealt raditz shows up

Dunno how he'll be here, the same evil or different from cannon cause sure as hell none of earth's fighter could even hope to defeat him

Wondering where kakarot stands when compared to frieza or ginyu force and such

Can't wait for the next update

As a general rule, I will never change a character's canonical character consciously. Never. Never, never, never. Never. Never. Never. Raditz, as made evident by this chapter, is every bit a Saiyan as canon made him out to be, and expect the same to follow for just about every canon character introduced going forward(or, at least, an attempt to write them as such). The exceptions are movie characters who I feel did not have an appropriate amount of depth(or really any minor character in general), in which case I will likely speculate on their backstories/devise my own to create unique characters for them.

Kakarot's full power can't really be divulged at the moment, but I will say this: there would be no dramatic tension present within the story if Kakarot was absurdly stronger than the threats he is bound to face. That being said, he is incredibly powerful in his own right at the moment. Any villain he could encounter in space that isn't affiliated with Frieza sure won't be able to beat him with pure power, that's for sure(unless... oh, wait, that'd be a spoiler, mwahahahahaha).

-Rersh: Great fight, I really enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to see what's going to happen next, but I have some questions:

1. In the anime Korin had hundreds of Sensu beans (which were ate by Yajirobe), how come that now he had only four?

2. In cannon, in just one year of intense training each of the human fighters managed to reach a power level near 1000. So why are they so much weaker here since they trained for 8 years?

3. Why didn't Kami sent Popo to train them?

4. Why didn't they visit Korin earlier?

First off, thank you for the praise. Second off... I hate to be that guy right now, but your third question has been answered several times by this point. I mean no disrespect to you, of course; it's just that I wrote up a possible explanation to answer that specific question and it seems to have gone unnoticed by a lot of people.

As for the remainder of your questions, let me begin with question two. I can really only use two words to answer it: plot convenience. Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, while clearly linked to one another, are really polar opposites in terms of power gain. Goku could eclipse his start of Z power level so many times over in the span of a little over a year(going from 416 to 3 million in base by the Frieza fight), but for the first two decades of his life he only made it up to the 300s because of both training and special circumstances. This isn't a terrible thing, of course. It can clearly be justified in-universe by saying how much stronger all the new threats were in comparison to the "weaklings" that Goku conquered on Earth.

I operated under the same logic myself, really, but I also added the element of having very restricted training(it's not as if everyone could fight all-out against one another - they had to be prepared for attack, couldn't make so much of a scene to avoid detection, etc.) and, well, the fighters being human beings with literally no guidance other than that of their peers. These are all justifiable in terms of story, and while I realize it's essentially what Toriyama did, it works. There are times when I will try to expand or correct a few things that Mr. Toriyama didn't execute well in DBZ, but this is not one of them - my plot was a little shaky and needed to rely on the same devices in order to succeed. Like I said before, if you don't have Piccolo lose in DB, a lot of things just get messed up. That being said, it was vital to the story's progression and I knew I was going to accept any risks that came with it beforehand.

Regarding your last two questions, I concede that I actually forgot about Yajirobe gobbling up those senzu. It was a comedic moment in-story that got a chuckle here and there, I'm sure, but I went with a limited number merely to enhance the tension(which I think certainly worked based on the reception to Chapter 13). Still, though, it was my fault as an author for forgetting that, and as such I do apologize. Your last question was also answered at least thrice before, but essentially the Earthlings were never really fighting to win prior to this battle. This was one of the few times Piccolo actually showed his face to the Earthlings and also the only time everyone was even involved in combat to begin with. There's also the added risk of someone going out alone to procure said beans(as we saw before, Chi-Chi almost was screwed over by having to fetch food on her own, and I'm sure there were other instances where there were close calls), but the first reason is the stronger of the two. Scenarios like these sort of require that sense of disbelief and disconnect from reality, but they have been and will continue to be better justified in the future. This one was just that awkward gap from DB to DBZ that I had to fill some way, as mentioned before. There are bound to be a few leaps in logic here and there, but everything from here has been micromanaged to prevent such errors in continuity.

-purex50x: ok that ending is just mean...lol... cant wait…

Hahaha, I guess this chapter's ending makes me a massive bastard then, doesn't it? As an author, something I really aspire to do is make every chapter's ending mean something. I hate, hate, hate seeing endings that don't mean much at all, because as human beings we are conditioned to remember the most recent things we see. In order to maximize the effect of a chapter, it needs to have a powerful ending. Otherwise it's muddled by something that doesn't get you anticipated for what's to come. That doesn't always necessarily mean a cliffhanger, but for these last few chapters it certainly did.

-Waldo Santiago: Holy Raditz Batman.

This isn't anything I can really reply to, but I simply had to put this here on the account that it got a laugh out of me. I think something equally surprising - or even more so, for that matter - happened in this chapter.