Note: This fic is dedicated to MasakoX, whose stories and boundless well of creativity inspired me to write this story. I have great respect for you, and I wish you and your channel great fortune in the future. And also, to the other Dragon Ball fans who have taken a moment to sit down and wonder, "What If 'X' happened instead of the main story?"

Raditz flew through the air cursing, only for his words to be lost to the wind. Damn them, damn them all! Kakarrot, the green man, the Earthlings, and even Vegeta and Nappa. They were responsible for his current predicament, not Raditz himself. How could he be blamed when it felt like the universe itself seemed to be working against him? It was unfair, the whole damned situation.

He spat out a wad of phlegm mixed with blood, causing him to grimace. He could tell he was beginning to grow weaker, his muscles feeling like weights and barely responsive to his movements. Hell, he couldn't even feel his right arm anymore at this point. The green man's beam attack had left it immobile, and it fluttered helplessly in the wind like a dying tree branch.

Even now, I can feel my strength beginning to hit its limit. I need to find someplace to land and fast, or else...

Spots of black began to creep up in his vision, causing Raditz's chest to seize up in a different source of pain. It was a familiar sensation he was all too familiar with, his long years of working alongside Vegeta and Nappa allowing him to note the signs of a black-out incoming. Cursing, he began to decelerate and tilt his body downward, feeling the wind whip around his heavy frame.

Almost there, just... let me make... it!

The ground was rising up to meet him too quickly, and Raditz, in fear, tried to muster some semblance of ki to halt his descent but alas, the Saiyan warrior had been spent. His battle against Kakarrot and his allies had left Raditz in a state he'd never been in, despite his many years of service to the Freeza Force; near-death.

"DAMMIT ALL!" he managed to roar out one last curse before his body slammed into the earth, and darkness swallowed his vision.

His body ached with pain and his gi fluttered haphazardly in the wind, though Piccolo cared for the latter. Really, it was nothing but an annoyance to him and he only tolerated it as it was the least of his concerns at the moment. Not even the humiliating feature of being forced to hitch a ride with his enemies back to their home was bad enough to throw Piccolo's mind off of the coming events.

Two Saiyans, both of them stronger than Raditz, were on their way to Earth. In one year's time, they would arrive and kill everyone on the planet just to complete a job. It was a sickening thought to imagine, beings from other worlds destroying planets like Earth as nothing more but a day job. Had he not teamed up with Goku and the others, he'd imagined that Raditz would be making short work of Earth in his place. Only not for the goal of global domination, as was his birthright, but instead for monetary profit.

An organization that exterminates worlds for the highest bidder? Is that how we're seen in the grand scale of the universe?

Piccolo gritted his teeth in frustration, putting away feelings of insignificance and weakness to focus on the bigger picture. If there were more Saiyans on the way, then it was time to focus on training, pushing himself beyond his usual limits. The past five years had him focus more on finding and perfecting the ultimate technique that would kill Goku (although, in technicality, it had worked) and secure his place as ruler of the Earth.

And then Raditz shattered those dreams with his arrival and unspeakable power.

I need to become stronger. Focus less on raw power, and more on physical and mental growth. I have plenty of techniques under my control but I need to break through my limits and seize my destiny. No more time wasted on petty grudges... even if it was cathartic putting a hole through Son Goku's chest.

He chuckled darkly to himself, remembering the moment. He will be back, no doubt about it, but seeing his technique put down his hated adversary brought feelings of immense satisfaction to the Daimao's heir. Even if Kami whisked the fool's soul off for some mystical reasons, Piccolo resolved to become more powerful than Goku would be upon his return. He would not fall behind the man ever again.

Especially since I now have a new... protege of my own.

Piccolo glanced through the glass covering of the woman's hovercar, listening in on the conversation inside the car. Though the heavy winds made it difficult for him to listen, he managed to hear snippets of the humans talking amongst themselves. However, he could care less about their talks, focusing his gaze on the sleeping child in the bald one's arms.

It was remarkable to think that the power to defeat Raditz lay in a squirmy, disgusting cretin like that child. Yet Piccolo saw it with his own eyes, the potential to defeat the Saiyan warrior and his comrades. If he could bring Raditz to his knees right now with sheer rage, imagine the power that the child could possess with the right training.

The humans can't train him at the proper rate that we need him to be ready. At their pace, he'll be ready to remove the training wheels as soon as the Saiyans arrive. But... if I were to get ahold of him, to teach him the ways of the Maozoku, then he'll be a force to be reckoned with. One that will bring Raditz down... as well as this disgusting world.

A cruel smile broke out across Piccolo's face, relishing the irony of Son Goku's child being the weapon he'll use to bring Earth under his dominion. Once the Saiyan threat was over, he would avenge his father and remind the people of Earth why they should fear the name of Piccolo Daimao.

Soon... everything that is rightfully mine shall be as is. And no one, not even Son Goku, will deny me my destiny.

Seung shivered to himself, despite the three-layered bundle of hunter's clothing he wore. It was hunting season and his buddy, Jio, had managed to convince him to come out of the house for a day to, in Jio's own words, "enjoy the outdoors with his best buddy!"

Granted he had half a mind to tell Jio to go stuff himself. At this time of year, the cold winds from the Northern Capital would be heading their way and Seung was more focused on getting his family the proper amount of firewoord to survive the coming cold.

Jio was disappointed and tried to bargain with Seung, but the man was having none of it. Jio didn't realize the struggles of being the man of the household, what with Jio's careless thoughts on ideas like marriage and holy matrimony. The man was determined to live his golden years as a bachelor.

But it was Seung's own wife that forced him to come out here hunting, claiming that if he brought back a hunk of dinosaur meat, it would do them in for food this winter. He tried to protest it, but one look and a threat of sleeping on the couch for a week is what got him out here.

"Doin' okay back there, Seung?" he heard Jio ask up ahead, chuckling deeply with that gravelly voice of his. "I can hear yer bitchin' from up here!"

Lousy prick.

He didn't say that thought aloud, instead opting to reply with, "Doin' great! I love havin' mah balls turn into ice cubes this time of day!"

Jio laughed again and continued walking forward, hefting his rifle over his shoulder as he did so.

"Swear to God that the next bird I see, I'm usin' it as an excuse to shoot yer ass," Seung spat on the ground.

He trudged behind Jio a good distance, stopping occasionally to regain his breath. His heavyset frame was not made for this kind of walking, a stark contrast to Jio's slim figure. By now he was probably halfway to Nickytown with how fast he moved, and Seung was content to stay behind.

"Milan, you better appreciate me for this, woman," he grunted, hiking up his trousers and starting to walk forward again.

He got about seven steps in before he heard Jio's voice suddenly scream out his name.

"SEUNG! GET OVAH HERE!"

Instincts kicking in, Seung charged ahead like a wild bull moose and burst through the thick foliage of the woods to find Jio crouched down next to… a man?

"What the hell?"

Jio turned to look at him, panic evident in his eyes.

"This guy's hurt pretty bad, Seung! He's beaten up and burnt all to hell like an overcooked barbecue, and smells like shit! I… I think he's dead, man."

Seung felt something colder than the wind sending goosebumps up his arm, and he stomped forward, putting down his rifle as he spoke, "Move back, fool! I'll take a look at 'im."

Jio hastily moved back, wringing his hunter's hat nervously as he watched Seung go to work.

Grunting, Seung took hold of the man's unconscious body and flipped it over to the front, giving him a better look at the mysterious stranger. He squinted his eyes at the sight of multiple scars, bruises, and… damn, that was a lot of blood. More than he's ever seen in his trips to the doctor's office.

He fought down the urge to heave at the smell and tentatively lowered his head to the man's chest, trying to get a feel of a heartbeat. A moment passed, and then another…

Is he…?

…

BA-DUMP.

There!

It was faint, but sure as day clear for his ears to make out. This guy was alive!

"He's still alive!" Seung exclaimed, pushing himself off the man and getting back up to his feet. "Stay here wit' him, Imma go get the truck!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jio nodded fervently, relief on his face, one that probably mirrored Seung's own.

Seung rushed out of the area and headed back to his truck, taking him a good while to reach it on account of the distance and Seung's weight slowing him down. Once he got in the old beaten-up thing, he started her up and drove out into the woods to pick up Jio and their new half-dead friend.

Jio practically jumped to his feet as he saw the truck's headlights and reached down to pick up the guy, only to find himself struggling.

"Sonuva–" he said through grit teeth. "This guy weighs like a million pounds!"

"Hol' on, hol' on, I'll help ya," Seung got out of his truck and went over to help his friend. He slung one of the guy's arms over his shoulders and looked at Jio.

"On three. One… two… three!"

The two men, teeth grit and faces red with exertion, slowly picked up the unconscious man and dragged him over to the backseat of Seung's truck. Getting him in was tricky (and took far longer than Seung would've liked to admit) and the blood stains on his seats would be hard to explain to his wife once he got home, but Seung and Jio managed to put their new friend inside… albeit with half his body on the floor.

"Damn," Jio whistled. "That's one big fella right there. Who ya think he is, anyways? Government man?"

"Dunno," Seung wiped the sweat from his brow, taking a moment to catch his breath. "He don't look like it with that long hair of his. Looks more like a hippie or one of them movie stars from Eastern Capital."

Jio peered closer at the man and narrowed his eyes. "Hey… he's got on some kinda funny outfit around the legs."

Seung raised an eyebrow and took another look. Lo and behold, Jio was right. Though it looked to have been broken off, the clothes that the big guy wore seemed to be made of some kind of armor, none that Seung's ever seen in his lifetime. Combine that with the strange boots and singular glove on his feet and hand, things only got more curious for the countryman.

"Think he's from outta space?"

Seung snorted at Jio's question, earning him a glare from said man.

"Well, ya never know!"

"That's a load of hogwash, and ya know it, man," he made his way into the driver's seat and beckoned Jio to get in. "C'mon, let's drop 'im off back in town and get back home. My wife's gonna pitch a fit over no dino meat as is."

Krillin gingerly leaned his body back against the couch in Kame House, trying to ignore the waves of pain. He couldn't recall the last time he'd been hurt this badly; it must've been years ago during the gang's hunt for the Dragon Balls that saw him pushed this far. Not even his tournament fights saw him this bad off.

Well, that's to be expected. In those fights, we were fighting in a legal competition, not trying to stop the world from being blown up… except maybe that fight with Piccolo.

Speaking of…

He cast a wary glance up to the ceiling, where he knows the green-skinned warrior had taken up his spot on top of Kame House like some gargoyle. He had refused to step foot inside the place, stating that it was beneath him to take shelter with the rest of the vermin he had to hitch a ride with.

He and Roshi had to physically restrain Bulma from clawing out Piccolo's eyes at that remark.

He looked across the room, finding Roshi leaning up against the wall and using his cane to keep him steady. The fight had arguably taken more out of the old master than him, what with it being the first serious fight in close to a decade that he's taken part in. He could hear the faint painful wheezes coming from his master's lips and winced in sympathy.

"You, ah… you doing alright, Master Roshi? I can give you my spot if you want it."

"No, I'm fine," Roshi grunted back, struggling to keep himself upright. "I've been in worst spots than this, my boy. Don't worry about me, focus on yourself. We'll need it if you-know-who decides to try anythin' funny soon."

"That 'you-know-who' can probably hear us talking right now," Bulma announced, suddenly stepping into the room. In one hand, she carried a hand-held house phone which she placed back in its receiver.

Krillin perked up at the sight of it. "Who'd you call? Yamcha?"

"As if!" Bulma angrily spat, crossing her arms with a huff. "That jerk would probably come in and make things worse than they already are. Stupid, ignorant, stuck-up–" Krillin and Roshi watched Bulma go through a hundred words she called Yamcha, some cruder than others. The two men shared a weary glance, knowing how deep Bulma's spite could go when angered.

Roshi still had the bruises to prove it.

Eventually, the young scientist calmed down and took in a deep breath. Letting it out, she addressed them much more calmly.

"I called Chi-Chi and–"

"WHAT?!"

Horror seized Krillin's heart like a vice, threatening to suffocate him with feelings of hopelessness that he'd never experienced up until now.

"I said, before I was rudely interrupted, that I called Chi-Chi," Bulma glared at the Orin monk. "And gave her the basic rundown on what's happened; Raditz showing up, Goku being an alien, him and Piccolo teaming up to fight Raditz, Goku… dying…"

She glanced down at the floor at that, her voice trembling slightly at that. It made Krillin look down too, shame filling him at not being there to help his best friend when he needed it most. The last time he saw Goku was him rushing off to save Gohan from that evil man and the gang promising to catch up with them. He wished he could take all that back now.

If I hadn't been such a coward at that moment, could I have done something? Maybe I'd take Goku's spot and he'd still be alive right now. After all, he's the one with the family… I'm just a hopeless loser no one will miss.

"Stop that. Both of you."

Krillin and Bulma perked up at the sound of Roshi's voice. The Turtle Hermit, though hurt, still gave off an air of wisdom that seemed to know what was going on in their heads right now. As if from experience.

"You will do yourselves no favors wondering about the what-if's at this point. It'll only serve to make that wound even deeper. All we can do right now is wait for the right time to gather the Dragon Balls and bring Goku back to life. He's not gone forever, just temporarily. And once he's back, well, we'll be sure to give that brother of his what he's due."

Krillin felt his lips tug upwards at his master's words. Yeah… Goku would be back. And when he did, he won't let him go off into battle alone again like that.

I'll be right with you, Goku. I promise. And when we meet up again, we're gonna teach your jerk brother what happens when he messes with our home.

Bulma laughed, wiping away a tear. "I forgot that underneath all that pervertedness was a wise old monk."

"Hermit, actually," Roshi chuckled, wincing as he did so. "Bein' a monk makes ya too stuffy after a while. I'd rather keep to my island and relax with the ladies."

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Bulma responded by flipping him the bird.

"And there it is," Krillin laughed, causing Bulma to laugh too at Roshi's dismay.

"No respect for the older generations," Roshi grumbled petulantly. "What's happened to today's youth and the meaning of the word 'respect' around here?"

"You act as if you ever had a trace of that in you," Bulma snarked, heading over to the kitchen table to fiddle around with that strange device Raditz wore.

She claimed that she could get it working and see how Raditz was able to track them down, but Krillin didn't want to put a damper on her work. After all, it was her way of coping with today's events.

"How's Gohan?" he asked.

"He's still asleep, thank god. Aside from a slight bruise on his cheek and some marks on his neck, he seems to be okay. Given that he's Goku's kid, he probably picked up his endurance among others."

"That's good," Krillin sighed in relief. "I was scared that Raditz had done something worse to him. At least he's back here with friends."

"Yeah," she said softly. "But how do we tell him about his dad?"

Not even the ancient Master Roshi had the answer to that question.

"And yer sure he's fine?" Seung asked the doctor in front of him. "He ain't gonna die on you or nothin'?"

"Yes, sir," the doctor raised his hands in a placating gesture. He was an older fella, about the same age as Seung with grey hair turning white around the temples. "Your mystery man, as your friend seems keen on calling him, is unconscious but stable right now. You were lucky to have found him when you did, or else, he would've bled to death in that forest."

Seung shuddered at the thought. That sounded like a terrible way to go out; alone, lost in the woods with no friends or family to know where you ended up at… the poor guy. Seung hoped that someone would come looking for the man soon.

"And you're positive you have no idea how he ended up there?" a nearby police officer, a cat-human the same age as Seung and the doctor, spoke with a mouthful of doughnuts in his mouth. "Said that your friend found him on the spot, naked and beat up like that? No tracks or nothin'?"

"Not a one," Seung shook his head. "Jio said that it was like he just fell outta the sky or somethin'. Couldn't find a human or animal footprint near the guy."

"Hmmph, probably hopped up on something," the officer grunted, scratching the back of his ear. "I'll send some boys up there in the morning to check things out. Thanks for your cooperation, sir, we'll get right on it."

"And we'll let you know when he wakes up," the doctor smiled at Seung. "I'm sure he'll be grateful to the man who saved his life today. Go home, Mr. Seung, you deserve to rest."

Seung nodded and later found himself driving down the road that would take him out of town. His house, a cozy little cabin nestled up in the mountains, had a great overview of the town at night, which glistened with lights at a night like this.

Still, his nerves were worn out and he tried to distract himself by rolling down the window and letting the cool night breeze fill up his truck's cab. He sighed softly to himself, feeling it wash over him coolly.

Hope Milan doesn't mind me comin' home this late at night. Lord knows she'll be worried sick already.

As he arrived at the foot of the mountain and started up the dirt road to his home and wife, Seung caught a glimpse of the night sky and smiled.

He always enjoyed a night when the moon was full.

Indeed, the night is always beautiful when a full moon is out. Hehehe...

Leave your thoughts in the comments section and try to find the little easter egg I dropped in this chapter of the original 'Raditz lives/redemption' fic.