Earth, Grassy Fields

The night sky was full and bright, a half-moon illuminating the world below with a soft glow. A gentle breeze cast life into the otherwise silent night as a wide-awake Son Gohan stared at the stars, laying on the grass with his hands behind his head.

Going by what Mr. Piccolo had told him, the Saiyans would be arriving on their planet in around four and half months. Despite the fear and anxiety that it cast on him, the boy was excited – he would get to see his father again, and he would get to show his father how much he had grown in the time that he was gone.

Though Gohan enjoyed reading, nature, and the simpler things his mom did with him, he also wanted to make his father proud. He had understood rather quickly that though his father was happy for him, he was not a man of academics or the simpler things – no, Son Goku was a man that enjoyed the thrill of life, the challenge, the adventure. And recently, with Mr. Piccolo watching over him, Gohan had done nothing but that – to his surprise, he even enjoyed it more than he originally thought he would. He couldn't wait to tell his father about everything.

Gohan also realised that he owed his mom an apology; knowing her, she would be worried sick. Gohan also desperately missed his mother, even though he knew she was within reach, Mr. Piccolo had drilled into him that he had to devote himself to his training if he wanted to actually live his life out – what was the point of running home and crying now if they were to lose their planet? Though he initially didn't want to, Gohan understood that his contribution to the fight against the Saiyans was necessary – according to Mr. Piccolo, he had a power that even his father didn't possess.

Of course, Gohan had been trying to hone in on it and master it, but it had been to no avail… though even despite that, his mentor hadn't given up on him. Gohan was surprised when the big scary green demon man had begun to warm up to him – whenever they sparred, Gohan could tell that his growth was the priority; everything his mentor did was to ensure that Gohan's power could blossom.

Gohan sighed. Even though the thought of the Saiyans terrified him, he was terribly afraid of failing. He didn't want to disappoint anyone by coming too short.

"They become an annoying sight when you're faced with them for months on end," spoke a voice, suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere. Gohan turned around frantically, jumping back, getting into a fighting pose when he saw the intruder – it was Raditz. "I'm talking about the stars, to clarify. Drop your stance and relax, boy, I'm not here to fight. Although, I do have to admit, you've gotten quite powerful..."

Raditz sat down next to the spot Gohan had just been laying in.

"Why are you here, then?!" Gohan retorted, not moving an inch.

Raditz frowned, scratching the back of his head. "I just wanted to get familiar with you before the fight. We are flesh and blood, after all, and if I'm to be fighting alongside you, I want to ensure that you haven't got any doubts about me…" he explained, rather forwardly. Over the past few months with Roshi Launch and Oolong, he had been developing his people skills (against his will).

Gohan lowered his stance but held his glare, his fists balled up and trembling.

"You're the reason my dad is dead."

Raditz's frown deepened as he stared up at the night sky. "Yes, I suppose I am…" he began. "I wanted to… erm… apologise for kidnapping you and putting you through such… what's the word...-"

"Trauma?" Gohan spoke, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, exactly that. You're rather intelligent for your age, has anyone ever told you that?" Raditz questioned. When Gohan didn't respond, he coughed, collecting himself. "Anyway… as I am your father's brother… that uh… that makes me your uncle. I regret our first interaction. Though this does not excuse it, I would like you to know that I was not in the right mind when I first arrived on this planet…"

"I get it. I'm fine with fighting alongside you. Is there anything else, or can I sleep?" Gohan questioned, still cold.

Raditz sighed. "Look, kid, I just want us to start over. You are my family, whether you like it or not."

Gohan mulled this over for a second. When Mr. Piccolo had first started training him, Gohan could barely sleep due to the nightmares induced by Raditz's kidnapping, witnessing his father get beaten bloody, his screams of agony – they had haunted him for a long time. But seeing Raditz here, apologising, trying to reach out, he realised he wasn't such a big, bad, scary villain – Gohan could really sense some humanity in him, which was a surprise, to say the least.

The boy lowered his guard and then broke into a smile. "Okay! You're my dad's brother, which makes you my uncle, right?" Gohan questioned.

Raditz blinked in confusion at the boy's innocence before somewhat returning the smile. Even though Raditz had just clarified that, hearing the boy say it and acknowledge it was rather fulfilling – as if he had made progress.

"Y-yes. Yes, it does."

A few hundred or so metres away, a certain Namekian sat meditating atop a luscious green hill. Though, he was not focused and instead had his ears tuned to the conversation that his student was having. Piccolo was aware of Raditz's presence before he approached Gohan, though he did not intervene, deciding it was none of his business unless Raditz started to cause issues.

The Saiyan had been on Earth for eight months now, if he wanted to destroy it or take over, he would have done so by now – of course, not without a fight, as Piccolo was ready to take him on the instant he acted out of order. The Namekian broke out of his meditation, exhaling as he stood up and folded his arms, staring up at the brilliant night sky.

The past eight months had been a strange experience for the Demon King. No longer was his goal to take revenge on Son Goku, and no longer was his priority to take over the Earth. Instead, he was training his rival's son to combat a force far stronger than himself – it had been a rather eye-opening experience… almost as if he had been introduced to a much wider, stronger world that he had no part in.

But Piccolo was never one to back down without a fight, and so he had spent the past eight months vigorously training to ensure that he would not lose this planet. The second he took care of the Saiyans, he would then proceed to overtake the planet as it's one true ruler – the Great Demon King Piccolo. Or so he had thought.

Were those really his ideals? Was that really his goal? Or were they the whims of his weakling of a father? Piccolo had been tackling these questions for a while now, and he was beginning to get tired of it. It didn't help that Kami was always trying to communicate with him telepathically – Piccolo really had to work on his mental fortitude to tune out his older counterpart's incessant meddling. One of their latest conversations involved discussing the topic of Son Gohan – Kami told Piccolo that kidnapping the boy was a horrible way to train him, and that he would grow far faster in a controlled, more peaceful environment.

Piccolo had simply told the old man to shut his mouth. That had been a few months ago, and since then, it had been radio silence, much to Piccolo's surprise and appreciation. He figured he'd pay the old man a visit at some point prior to the Saiyan's arrival – he was rather interested as to how the other weaklings were getting along.

For now, though, Piccolo wanted to test his new strength… and there was already a sparring partner nearby that he could go all out against.

"Yes, it wasn't until I began eating with the old man that my appetite expanded so much… you see, on missions, we had to eat on the go, and we had to eat whatever we could get our hands o-"

Raditz had been speaking to a rather interested Gohan, a controlled campfire was in between them as they sat on a log, cooking a fish atop the blaze. The Saiyan narrowed his eyes as Piccolo landed in front of them, dropping his weighted turban and cape to the ground.

Gohan smiled as Piccolo landed.

"Mr. Piccolo! How was your meditation?" The boy asked, getting up to greet him.

"It doesn't matter. You're going to watch your uncle and I spar, and you're going to keep track. I'll show you how to dismantle a Saiyan." Piccolo said, not taking his eyes off Raditz as he spoke to Gohan.

"Oho? You want to spar with me, now? You should have asked, Namekian. I owe you for almost obliterating my torso." Raditz smirked, getting up and cracking his knuckles as he returned Piccolo's gaze.

Gohan stared in between the two warriors, unsure as to how he should react. Instead, he sat down on the log and began to tear apart the fish he had been cooking – this was a matter that didn't involve him… he could feel the tension as if it were weighing down the air around him.

"You can try, but I've been preparing myself for this, you see…" Piccolo smirked, getting into a fighting stance as he put one foot in front of the other before doing the same with his palms – outstretched and open, ready to take Raditz on. "And once I beat the shit out of you, you're going to tell me about this Namekian thing you've been blabbering on and on with…"

"You mean, you don't know…?" Raditz questioned, raising an eyebrow in confusion before he smirked. "Interesting. Though, I must say, I'm rather flattered that I've been on your mind so much."

Piccolo snarled as he charged at Raditz, opening with a blistering series of punches and kicks, moving with incredible speed and power. But Raditz managed to block or evade each strike, his reflexes having improved hundredfold since their last battle.

The Saiyan caught one of Piccolo's punches and attempted to use it to pick him up and smash him on the ground, but the Demon King stood strong, unwavering as he delivered a quick uppercut with his free hand, wrenching free from Raditz's grasp and creating distance between them.

Gohan watched with his eyes wide. Though they hadn't exactly gotten into the serious part of the battle yet, he still noted that they were both very skilled – their movements were cold, calculated… neither of them were keen on taking a risk or fighting impulsively. The boy supposed that that was a given, considering how strategic and tactful the two were; only now realising that they were far more similar than he had originally thought. He returned his focus back to the battle.

Piccolo had managed to land a harsh kick to Raditz's gut, sending the Saiyan skidding back, but Raditz rebounded quickly as he charged at Piccolo and kneed him in the stomach, breaking through his guard and causing spit to fly from his mouth.

Raditz didn't stop then however, taking advantage of his hold on the battle, he began gathering his ki in a single palm, aiming for Piccolo as the pink energy cast an eerie glow on the landscape.

"Saturday Crush!" Raditz announced, letting go of the energy ball as it shot towards Piccolo at an increasingly fast speed.

At the last second, Piccolo coated his hand in purple ki and dispersed the attack, sending the ball flying into a nearby mountain. It left a rather large crater on the side.

"You're more controlled this time… you don't have the same openings as you did a few months ago," Piccolo commented, wiping purple blood from his mouth as he observed Raditz. "But being honest, I'm pretty sure it won't be too hard for me to defeat you as it is now."

Raditz raised an eyebrow at Piccolo in interest. "And why is that, exactly?" He questioned, genuinely curious as to what the Namekian had in mind, for as far as Raditz could tell, he had the upper hand.

Piccolo smirked. "Something I'm sure you remember fondly," he stated, putting his finger to his forehead and charging a ball of orange and purple electrical energy, before raising it into the air and aiming it at Raditz in three, rapid motions.

"That slow attack? Please, I dodged it tw-"

"Special Beam Cannon!" Piccolo roared, as the beam tore through the air at an incredible speed. Of course, Piccolo hadn't put too much power into it – he didn't want to kill Raditz, not yet, at least. But there was more than enough power for the Saiyan to crash through a nearby forest, flooring the trees and leaving a flat area in his wake.

Raditz had not dodged this time. Piccolo's training paid off and the speed at which he unleashed his special attack was what had caught Raditz off guard.

Shit. Raditz thought to himself as he slowly got up, leaning on a nearby tree for support. He cursed upon realising his armour was now broken, entirely, in pieces on the ground below him. He would have to get it repaired, somehow… surely the Earth had some form of armour smiths.

"You were saying something about dodging?" Piccolo questioned, suddenly behind Raditz. Before the man could turn around, Piccolo had already delivered a powerful knee to Raditz's back, before grabbing him by his hair and flinging him into the sky. In an instant, Piccolo was above him, delivering a harsh axe kick to Raditz's chest, sending him shooting back down into the ground in a rather large crater.

Raditz roared in defiance as he got back on to his feet, flaring his pink aura, casting a terrifying and eerie glow on the landscape as he looked practically white in the eyes. I am not going to be bested by this Namekian. Not again. He thought, his eyes darting about as he looked for his foe.

There. In the sky. He had a disgustingly arrogant expression on his face that for a moment, just a tiny moment, reminded him of Vegeta. In that instant, all the memories had come back to him and Raditz was fuming as he launched himself at Piccolo.

The Demon King had no time to respond, his guard broken once again by a single, powerful, lumbering punch from Raditz. There was no longer a thought process behind his moves – Raditz was acting out in animalistic rage.

"Don't you dare look down on me!" Raditz roared, following his guard-breaker with a punch straight to Piccolo's nose, stunning the Namekian as his vision went blurry for a few moments. Raditz continued his barrage, delivering blow, after blow, after blow to the Namekian's chest, arms, torso.

Piccolo suddenly came to his senses and used Raditz's torso as a landing to kick off from, creating some distance between him and the raging Saiyan.

"Did I touch a nerve?" Piccolo teased, smirking as he collected himself, wincing in pain from Raditz's onslaught. The Saiyan however, did not respond to Piccolo's teasing and instead, launched himself at his foe once again. This time however, Piccolo was smarter, he dodged Raditz's mindless attack and stretched his arm out, wrapping it around the Saiyan before pulling him up above him and swinging him around in a circle.

Raditz foamed at the mouth from both anger and dizziness, before he was brought down to the ground, in the same crater he had previously landed in, with a powerful slam.

Piccolo panted as his arm whipped back to his side, now returned to it's original length. "He better stay down…" the Namekian said to himself, leaning on his knees as he breathed in and out deeply.

However, Raditz did not in fact stay down. He stood up, but before he could continue his attack, a voice snapped him out of his daze.

"… Raditz! Uncle Raditz!" Gohan cried from the sidelines, his eyes narrowed. He could tell that his uncle was not in the right mind. Why had he started called him uncle so quick? He didn't know – but clearly it worked.

Raditz's expression returned to normal as he looked at his nephew. He then looked up at Piccolo, who was just as battered and bruised as he was. Raditz frowned. He hadn't expected to lash out like that. He collected himself before exiting the crater.

As Piccolo descended, he stayed on guard. Was Raditz docile now?

"You can relax, Namekian. We'll call it quits here. I suppose it's a draw." Raditz confirmed, sitting down on the log that he had been cooking fish on previously. He glanced around at the ground before grabbing the skewer with the cooked fish on it and taking a huge bite. "You did in fact, touch a nerve. Though, I should have kept it under control. I'll commend you for being strong enough to fight back."

Piccolo supposed a draw was appropriate – they both seemed to be rather equal in terms of strength. Piccolo then deadpanned as he watched Raditz casually speak through and in between huge bites. The Namekian turned his gaze to Gohan, who was staring at Raditz with… concern?

"Gohan! Did you learn anything?" Piccolo questioned. The boy was snapped out of his thoughts as he nodded profusely, sitting down on the ground near the campfire and grabbing a skewer for himself.

"Yeah… both of you really like to calculate when you fight," Gohan stated in between bites as he focused on his food. Piccolo and Raditz paused to look at the boy, surprised that he had caught onto that. "Neither of you like to take risks unless you have to… but you both dealt the most damage when you did."

Piccolo blinked in confusion whilst Raditz mulled it over, nodding to himself.

"Hmph. Good analysis, kid." Raditz spoke, ruffling Gohan's hair with his clean hand. Gohan winced at first, but then he appreciated Raditz's gesture of affection – it was something his father used to do a lot. Raditz himself had done it rather impulsively, without thinking. He remembered it being the only form of affection he had ever received from his own father.

Piccolo sat down opposite Raditz, yawning as he leaned on his arms. "I expect you to be at least on our level before the Saiyans arrive, Gohan." The Demon King spoke. Gohan flinched, scratching the back of his head sheepishly after throwing his skewer into the firepit.

"I hope so, Mr. Piccolo. Are we sparring again tomorrow?" Gohan asked, his eyes lighting up. Piccolo smirked.

"Of course. You think this is enough to me? Please. You Saiyans think too highly of yourselves." The Namekian spoke, earning a deep chuckle from Raditz. The Saiyan immediately thought of his former comrades in regards to Piccolo's statement.

"You're right, Namekian! We do! Ah! That reminds me. Are you ready to hear about the Namekians?" The Saiyan questioned, waiting for Piccolo to confirm. Gohan turned his head, staring at his uncle with curiosity whilst Piccolo nodded, his gaze fixated on Raditz. "Well. I suppose you're smart enough to recognise that the Namekians are a race of people that you belong to… you're not a demon king or whatever nonsense you say about yourself-"

"Shut up. I am the Great Demon King of this planet. Once we're done with the Saiyans, I will take my place on the throne." Piccolo interjected, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you will. Now, as I was saying. You belong to the Namekians – they are known as the historians of the universe… they keep a record of lore of all the races in our star space. They themselves are a peaceful people that keep to themselves, but when they do branch out, they support whatever planet they land on through any method that they can. I suppose that you are also responsible for the wishing orbs… Dragon Balls, you called them?" Raditz asked, looking at the two for confirmation.

Piccolo shook his head. "Kind of. I have a counterpart, an old coot that is responsible for the Dragon Balls. Supposedly, if either of us die, the other dies too, and the Dragon Balls are rendered useless, so I assume you're correct in that judgement…" he explained.

Raditz nodded. "Interesting. There is a whole planet of you green people out there, so it would make sense for there to be more than one set of Dragon Balls…"

Their conversation was interrupted by some rather loud snoring. Both Namekian and Saiyan turned their heads to observe a sleeping Gohan, completely knocked out, arms and legs spread out wide as a snot bubble erupted from his nose.

Piccolo rolled his eyes whilst Raditz snorted in amusement.

"The boy has grown strong. But he's still not as strong as when he practically impaled me." Raditz observed, glancing at Piccolo for an answer.

Piccolo nodded. "Yeah. He hasn't drawn out that power of his since he turned into that giant ape thing after looking at the full moon. Only when he's near death or feral does it come out."

Raditz's eyes widened in interest. "I will be coming back to spar with you and the boy on a regular basis. It seems he has a rather interesting ability…" the Saiyan spoke, observing his sleeping nephew before standing up and stretching. "Don't expect me to go so easy on you next time, Piccolo."

The Namekian smirked as he folded his arms. "I barely lifted a finger against you, Raditz. You aren't even worth my full power."

Raditz snorted. "We'll see about that."

And with that, the Saiyan took off, flying back towards Kame House. An intense rivalry had been born between Saiyan and Namekian once again. Piccolo groaned as he realised that he was far too involved with that idiot Son Goku and his annoying family.

Otherworld, King Kai's Planet

"Goku! Stop! Eating! So! Much!" King Kai scolded, slapping the Saiyan on the back repeatedly as he continued to scarf down bowl after bowl of rice, clearly not intending on stopping anytime soon.

"I'm, sorry, King, Kai – I'm just so hungry!" Goku spoke, in between and during large bites. He swallowed a rather large amount and slammed his bowl down on the table, rubbing his now full stomach in satisfaction.

Tien stared with his mouth agape, his eyes in disbelief at the stack of bowls Goku had just consumed in a matter of minutes. It had been a few months since Goku had arrived on King Kai's planet, around two or three, to be exact. In that short time, Goku had cut King Kai's food supplies to a mere tenth of what they had been prior to his arrival.

"Are you trying to get fatter for those Saiyans, Goku?!" Gregory questioned, zipping around, whilst collecting each bowl one by one, shoving them into King Kai's dishwasher.

This earned a laugh from Goku, who waved his hands in denial. "No, no, don't worry. It's just that I've been so starved for the past few months… You've gotta understand right, Tien? Did ya try those yellow clouds on Snake Way? Man, they were so delicious…"

Tien groaned. "Each time you tell me about those clouds I feel sick to my stomach, Goku… how did you… no… what even went through your mind to start eating them?!"

King Kai sighed, interjecting. "I'm glad he did… they're the reason he fell into Hell in the first place. If he hadn't, he'd be far less powerful than he is now. That training you did with your father was really good. I'm just surprised your parents are still kicking down there."

Goku nodded. "Yeah, I was too…" he then paused. Tien, King Kai, Gregory and even Bubbles watched as the gears turned in the Saiyan's head. "Oh, King Kai, can you do me a favour?"

King Kai raised his eyebrows. "Go on. I'm listening."

"Well, I spent some time with them and I realised… my mom and dad aren't exactly bad people… they don't really deserve to be in Hell, y'know? I get that they're Saiyans and all, and they probably did do a lot of bad… but people change, right? You think you could get them in a better place?" The Saiyan asked, genuinely curious. King Kai's eyes widened a little as he stroked his chin, thinking about it. He had noticed that Goku hadn't been entirely focused on his training – had this been on his mind?

Not wanting to give or take away any hope, King Kai nodded slowly. "I'll see what I can do, Goku. But no promises. And that means you'll have to work extra hard to master the Spirit Bomb and the Kaio-Ken!"

Goku nodded, grinning as he tightened his gi belt. "You bet! That's great King Kai! Thank you!" He said, before turning to Tien with a determined expression. "You think you can go past Kaio-Ken times two this time, Tien?"

Tien smirked. "You sure you want me to? I don't think it'd end well for you, Goku." The Triclops responded, stretching as he stared down his friend.

"The more you do it, the faster I'll understand how to use it effectively. It'll be just like how I stole your Solar-Flare, heh." Goku smiled, rubbing in between his nose and his mouth with his index finger.

Tien's head hung low in disappointment. "Don't remind me… I spent so long perfecting that technique for you to just…" Tien sighed.

Goku chuckled, slapping Tien on the back as he exited King Kai's house. "Hey! We're on the same team now, so I guess it all worked out, huh?"

Tien rolled his eyes as he followed Goku, stopping a few paces before him as he collected himself, getting ready for battle. "By the way, Goku, I'm guessing you already know this, but you're not the only one who comes from a race of crazy powerful aliens…" the Triclops warned as he got into a fighting stance.

Goku's eyes widened as he watched Tien's third eye glow – it was faint, but there was a definite glow – a warm light blue colour. "No way! Don't tell me that third eye of yours has even more techniques in store?"

Tien answered Goku's question with a confident smirk.

"Let's just say… all those years spent with Chiaotzu taught me a thing or two about psychics."

Earth, Capsule Corp

Bulma grinned triumphantly as she held up the scouter she had finally managed to rebuild. The device tried to emulate the original design as much as possible, but it came short due to the fact that Raditz had quite literally crushed too much of it for that. However, Bulma's technical genius far surpassed a mere crushed scouter – she had finally figured out the components needed in order to detect ki output and convert it into numerical format. She had not slept for seventy-two hours.

"Hah! Take that, bitchy, stupid, unnecessarily complicated alien tech!" Bulma announced, sliding the scouter over her ear as the green eyepiece began to beep after she pressed the main button.

Bulma eagerly looked around, expecting to be greeted with ki signatures from the scientists still awake in her building, or from her father who was asleep on his desk a few metres behind her.

Instead, the scouter made a sad fizzling noise as smoke started to wheeze out from the screen.

"Huh?" Bulma blinked in confusion. Before she could ponder on it any further, the scouter let out a pathetic dying wail.

Oh shit. Bulma thought, before the scouter suddenly exploded in her face. The tech genius began coughing, her face and her blue hair turned black with soot.

"Stupid. Alien. Tech." Bulma spoke through grit teeth, wiping the black ash from her face. She threw the remains of the scouter aside in frustration. "You will not best me…" the scientist announced, immediately getting back up and heading towards her desk, going over her blueprints.

She was going to make this work. And she was going to make it work soon. But before that, she was interrupted. Bulma groaned, one of her attendants informed her that someone was here to see her.

Just who could it be at this hour?!

Author's Note

Hey guys! I quite like this chapter – the development between Piccolo, Raditz and Gohan is always a treat to write. The next one will be a bit more slice of life orientated, so stay tuned for that.

We'll go over relative power levels since it's been a while.

Let's say Vegeta is 30. That makes Nappa 20.

Raditz – 15

Piccolo - 13

Goku – 12

Tien – 10

Master Roshi - 9

Krillin – 8

Yamcha – 8

Gohan - 7

Yajirobe – 6

Chichi - 5

Chiaotzu – 4

BONUS – Bardock would be a 15 and Gine would be a 9.

I wouldn't take it seriously. I focus far more on narrative than power scaling, but I don't disregard it entirely. I understand that balancing is important, but I won't make it the focus. Thank you for reading - please leave reviews!