This is a rewrite of a chapter that was already published. I have changed it enough so that a reread would still be necessary!

Earth, Kami's Lookout

It was mid-afternoon, and the tournament was beginning to get interesting. After Yajirobe forfeited against Piccolo – the samurai claimed that it wasn't worth getting injured for some stupid teambuilding exercise – Kami had called for a short intermission prior to the quarterfinals.

"Mr. Popo, things are beginning to heat up, aren't they?" Kami smiled as he cast his gaze upon the many faces that had gathered on his lookout. The older Namekian hadn't been this excited for anything in a while; the aura of dead that had surrounded the Earth for the past year left little room for such trivial feelings.

Mr. Popo also smiled upon seeing his friend so jovial. "Yes, Kami, it seems they are. I must commend you for coming up with this – it truly has lifted everyone's spirits!"

The genie and the god of the Earth continued to look around at everyone on the lookout. Despite the initial hesitation, Mr. Popo was right – everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, bar an obvious few, of course. Kami almost frowned upon seeing Mercenary Tao and Master Shen clinging to the side of the gathering, away from everyone else – they were clearly out place, despite having gathered amongst everyone else to defend their beloved planet. Before Kami could approach them, however, he tuned into a conversation that Chiaotzu seemed to be having with Master Roshi.

"—but Master Roshi, I truly do think they have some good in them… they've been training hard to be able to protect the Earth, haven't they? I feel horrible that they have to stand in silence, away from everyone else!" Chiaotzu exclaimed, floating around Master Roshi's head as the turtle hermit begrudgingly listened to what the psychic had to say about his former friend.

Though he strongly disagreed with the Crane School and it's methods, Chiaotzu had at one point, looked up to and respected his masters – Master Shen and Mercenary Tao. His respect for them had only grown upon the past month and half that they had spent training together – the two old men seemed to want to protect their planet just as much as everyone else that had gathered. Moreover, Chiaotzu's innate psychic abilities allowed him to sense the emotions of those around him; in particular, he had honed in on those of Master Roshi and Master Shen's – the two would never admit it, but they both seemed to have a certain fondness for both each other and the friendly rivalry that they had once shared, before it had soured into the state that it was in now.

The old turtle hermit grumbled as he mused over what Chiaotzu had said. Though the little psychic was correct, he couldn't help but think that Shen was far too malicious for any form of redemption, for in the centuries that two of them had lived, the Crane School's master had never once showed any hint of remorse nor regret for the evil deeds that he had committed and continued to commit. But then again, Roshi would be a hypocrite if he were to ignore Chiaotzu's pleas, as it was he himself that had sensed the turmoil in Raditz's heart and reached out to the Saiyan in order to allow him some form of redemption – why did Shen not deserve the same?

"Argh… Alright, Chiaotzu! We'll talk to them…." Roshi decided, before promptly making his way over to where Shen and Tao had been lingering, a surprised and somewhat nervous Chiaotzu following close behind him.

"What? Here to rub the defeat in our faces, are you?" Shen questioned, glaring at the two of them. "Save it."

Roshi rubbed his temples with one hand before sighing, facing his former friend. "That's not why we're here, Shen. Nothing of the sort," he began, trying to reign in his irritation as he stared at the man… something about Shen's face managed to agitate Roshi to very, very high degree. "I hate to admit it… but this little grudge of ours has gone on far too long, wouldn't you say, ya old bastard?"

Shen frowned. "No, I wouldn't say that, you big old pervert. In fact, I would say it hasn't gone on long enough, no, not until I get my revenge for how you ridiculed me…" the crane hermit stated, his face scrunching into an expression of disgust at the mere thought of what Roshi was trying to imply – Shen would never bury the hatchet, no, not after what Roshi had done to him all those years ago.

Tao, on the other hand, seemed to be deep in thought as he stared at Roshi, working through what was being said.

Chiaotzu, who was floating around the two old men, put a hand in front of Master Roshi's face; stopping him from retorting in a negative manner. He knew that things wouldn't go smoothly – he had prepared for this. He could feel that Shen was considering things, even if it was only lightly.

"Come on, Master Shen! Don't you think coming together to defend the planet we live on is way more important than whatever that petty grudge is? It's been centuries for you two, has it not? It's time to let go – don't you think?" Chiaotzu reasoned, trying to work through whatever was going on in Shen's mind. You didn't even need to be a psychic to be able to tell that Shen was having a hard time responding to Chiaotzu's reasoning – it was plain as day, his thoughts were practically written on his face.

"Look, Shen. I apologise for how I handled everything after the situation with Fanfan. Regardless of who was primarily in the wrong…" Roshi paused to cough, turning to look at Chiaotzu and side-eyeing Shen in the process. "We both could have done things differently. We both made our mistakes, and now that we're grey and old, I'm willing to look past our past and give you a chance. Will you do the same for me, old friend?"

Once he was done, Roshi held his hand out for Shen to shake it.

Shen grumbled. Tao put a hand on Shen's shoulder – the mercenary had grown over the past few months on the lookout; he had come to realise that there were things far more important than what he and his brother had been hung up about for all these years, and as a result of that, he gave Shen a nod, supporting the decision he felt his elder brother was about to make.

"Alright, damn it," Shen cursed, grabbing Roshi's hand, firmly, and shaking it. "You're lucky you've still got that charm of yours, you old fool… no wonder Fanfan chose you that day and not me…"

Roshi chuckled heartily as he placed a hand on Shen's shoulder. "There are some things that a man can never lose, even in old age…!" He then smiled, a warm, genuine smile. "It's good to have you back, Shen."

Shen rolled his eyes before returning the smile. "Yeah, whatever. The planet we live on is far more important than whatever petty grudges we've been harbouring for the past few years…" he stated, simply.

Chiaotzu turned to Tao; the psychic was wondering what his stance was on the situation, given that he had not said a word during the entire altercation. Tao noticed this and turned to Chiaotzu, nodding.

"Shen put it the best, Chiaotzu. Our planet comes before such trivial thins," Tao smiled. He then put a hand on Chiaotzu's shoulder. "I didn't say this before but… you fought very well, Chiaotzu. Congratulations on the win – both Shen and I are impressed with how far you've come!"

Chiaotzu beamed, a huge smile growing on his face as he took in the words. Roshi and Shen both smiled at this, both secretly grateful that Chiaotzu had pushed the two old men to reconcile after all these years.

"Yeah! Thanks!"

On the other side of the lookout, Chichi broke away from the conversation she was having with Bulma and Launch in order to approach someone she had been meaning to talk to for a while. Piccolo… the great, green villain that had abducted her son and was raising him to be some sort of delinquent that defied his mother. Though she was inexplicably annoyed with him, she was also, in some form, grateful – Piccolo had helped Gohan grow in ways that she didn't think were possible for the boy; his confidence, demeanour and attitude had all improved significantly, and though she didn't think that was a bad thing, she felt as if her role as a mother was being challenged. And Chichi did not like that, not one bit.

Piccolo had been meditating, preparing for the next battle by battling all his possible foes in his mind – he was trying to figure out the fastest way to be done with this bullshit tournament, all he wanted to do was hear what Kami had to say so he could get back to training; there was absolutely no time to waste on whatever this stupid teambuilding exercise was.

As he was sparring against Raditz in his mind, all of a sudden, Chichi appeared and delivered a hard, powerful slap to his face, knocking him out of the fight and back into reality – where an angry Chichi was currently facing him.

"That was for kidnapping my son!" She exclaimed, before Piccolo could retort. The two of them were far away from the rest of the crowd, so nobody was paying attention. Except little Gohan, who was watching the scene play out, slowly making his way over and physically flinching upon seeing his mom slap his teacher.

Piccolo grumbled, rubbing where he was slapped. Instinctively, he was going to retaliate, but he realised two things: the first being that Chichi could have hit him much harder than she actually had, so he figured that the slap was more of a personal thing than anything else. Second, he could see Gohan a few metres away, looking rather fearful. He rolled his eyes.

"So… you're the kid's mom. I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty grateful if someone raised my kid to be so powerful… heck, he's the strongest kid on this planet." Piccolo responded, folding his arms as he glared at the woman. "What's your issue?"

Chichi grit her teeth. "Ten months. I counted every single day that went by. There wasn't a moment where I wasn't thinking about him… you couldn't have let him see his mother? Not even once?"

Piccolo paused for a few moments before responding. A few months ago, he would have simply ignored Chichi's concerns, but now, he actually considered how she had felt. In his own fondness for the boy, Piccolo could somewhat understand Chichi… he too would be rather forlorn if something were to happen to Gohan, outside of his own control. Of course, Piccolo also understood that his fondness for his student must have been nothing compared to what a parent felt for their child. His thoughts went towards Kami, after all, that old bastard was the closest thing Piccolo had to a parent, all things considered, and even despite Piccolo's horrible treatment of him, Kami continued to care, for whatever reason.

The Demon King sighed.

"I probably could have. But I didn't. If I had, then Gohan would have grown weak. If I gave him any form of comfort, he would be much weaker than he is right now… and considering the potential he has, that would be a horrible situation. Though now, I suppose that he very much understands that the Earth is at stake and that he's going to be a key player in defending it…" Piccolo mused, considering his options. Now that Gohan had finally reunited with his loved ones and retained his hardworking attitude, perhaps Piccolo could be more lenient in his expectations.

Before he could respond however, Chichi spoke up, giving him an offer.

"He sleeps at home. He eats at home – two meals a day. Then, the rest of the day, he can train. Those are my only requirements," she spoke, through grit teeth, clearly uncomfortable with her offer, despite being the one giving it.

As hard as it was for Chichi to say that, since she would much rather keep her precious Gohan locked up and safe until the threat was gone, Chichi was beginning to understand that protecting Gohan from the horrors he was about to face was no longer an option. Her child, much like his father, was a prodigy, and as much as she hated to admit it, Gohan carried the weight of the world on his shoulders as one of Earth's strongest fighters. It would be better for him to aid in defending the Earth, as opposed to waiting for it to get destroyed.

Piccolo continued to think. He didn't want to be that lenient… that was practically coddling the boy. Did he even care about whether or not Gohan ate or slept well? His immediate response was no, but as Piccolo continued to think, he came to a few realisations. A student, especially a child, that was happier, healthier, and well-fed would perform far better than a student that lacked those essential qualities. On top of that, a part of Piccolo, deep down inside, began to peek out – in truth, he would rather have Gohan be healthier, happier and well-fed, but another part of him, a far more sinister side that seemed to have a whim of it's own, tried to push down those thoughts. Internally, with Chichi and Gohan completely oblivious to it, Piccolo was fighting a battle in his mind against himself. What were his true thoughts? And what were the whims of his father, King Piccolo?

Deciding that he was his own person, and that he would make his own decisions, Piccolo nodded.

"Fine. But if he gets too complacent, then the deal's off. This isn't a game… the Earth is in danger, and if I'm to have a planet to take over by the time this is done, then I need a student who can give it his all. Got it?" Piccolo asked, entirely serious as he glared at Chichi. However, his stance and the expression on his face seemed to deflate into that of confusion as Chichi began to laugh, holding her stomach. "What the hell is so funny?!"

As Chichi collected herself, wiping a tear from one of her eyes, she smiled at Piccolo. "Even after all of this? Raising a four year old for the better portion of a year? You still want to take over the Earth, Piccolo?" Chichi smirked, trying to hold in another laugh before continuing. "You know, you wouldn't make a very scary emperor, now that most of Earth's strongest fighters – the people you're going to have to face, by the way – know that you took care of Gohan…"

Piccolo flushed in embarrassment, folding his arms and looking away, rather cross. "I don't want to hear it. The boy can be my advisor, seeing as he's rather intelligent…" he stated, genuinely considering it in his mind. "Now, was that all?"

However, before Chichi could respond, another, far younger voice interjected. Chichi turned to look at Gohan, who was carrying a rather large grin on his face, whilst Piccolo straightened up.

"See mom? Mr. Piccolo isn't as bad as you think he is! He's real funny when you get to know him," Gohan explained, looking up at his mentor. "You just like to act tough, don't you Mr. Piccolo?"

"Shut it, kid. Don't push your luck," Piccolo exclaimed, the blush returning to his face as he looked away from the boy. "I don't act tough. I am tough… and what's this about me being funny? Do you think this is a joke? Do I need to increase the amount you train?"

Chichi chuckled at the exchange between master and student, giving a genuine smile afterwards as she turned to Piccolo, placing a hand on Gohan's head, ruffling his hair. "I guess Gohan was right, you aren't so bad. You've got that whole Demon King thing going on, but I'm sure that'll blow over soon, right? I'm just glad my Gohan isn't so stupid as to want to follow in your footsteps…" she stated.

Piccolo frowned and rolled his eyes. "Hmph. You won't be speaking so casually when I take over…"

Gohan and Chichi shared a laugh, much to Piccolo's dismay, and the three continued to converse. Piccolo would never admit to it, but Chichi was right – he had raised Gohan, and in doing so, Gohan had helped him understand himself better – Piccolo was beginning to view the world through his own lens, as opposed to the worldview that had been given to him at birth. Piccolo turned his gaze to Kami, glaring at his older counterpart. He only hoped that whatever he had to say after this tournament would be worthwhile.

Once a few more minutes had passed, Kami decided it was time for the next few battles, and so he called everyone back to the arena to observe Nam versus Krillin – which Krillin had won with relative ease, as was expected. Nam, however, promised Krillin he would grow to be stronger in order to defend their planet. Similarly, the battle after that, Piccolo versus King Chappa, ended in a single punch – King Chappa had managed to react, but still, Piccolo's power was far too overwhelming. Though, he did not lose his resolve and told Piccolo that he would pay him back for his ridicule one day, to which Piccolo snorted.

The coming battle, however, was a rather exciting one – it would be Chiaotzu versus Yamcha. Surprisingly, the two had never fought each other in a serious battle, so other than sparring on the lookout, both were rather uninformed as to how to approach the other in actual combat.

"Get ready, Yamcha!" Puar squeaked as she flew around the desert bandit's head. "This is gonna be your hardest battle yet, so you have to give it your all!"

"Yeah, thanks for the pep talk, little buddy… but don't worry about me. I'm going to win…" Yamcha stated, a confident smirk slowly spreading across his face. The desert bandit and the shapeshifter shared a fist bump before Yamcha stepped into the arena.

On the other side of the arena, Master Shen, from the sidelines, told Chiaotzu , who was already in the arena, not to hold back at all – to bring down the full extent of his psychic powers onto his opponent, to which Chiaotzu sheepishly agreed.

Krillin had slapped Yamcha on the back before he entered the arena, whilst giving Chiaotzu a nod and a thumbs up. If he was being completely honest, he had no clue how this battle was going to go – where Chiaotzu specialised in ranged attacks and psychic abilities, Yamcha was an expert in close combat fighting and martial arts – they were, for all intents and purposes, complete opposites in that regard.

Even Raditz was interested as to how this battle was going to play out – from spectating the previous ones, he knew that these two had not gone all out yet. Now that they finally had the opportunity to, Raditz could gauge their strength and usefulness in the coming battle. He also glanced to his side, at Krillin, who had practically been playing with the other contestants, too – the Saiyan figured he would be facing either him or the victor of this battle in the semifinals. He then turned his head towards Piccolo, deciding that he and the Namekian would meet in the finals.

"So… are you excited to see Yamcha going all out, Bulma?" Chichi asked as she sat down next to her blue-haired friend, Gohan sitting next to her.

Bulma scoffed and rolled her eyes. "As if. You've been off the grid, so I haven't told you yet, but that bastard cheated on me…" she explained, putting a lot of emphasis on the word bastard.

Chichi grew angry at this, her draw agape as she covered Gohan's ears. "He did what?!" She hissed, making sure she was quiet – she wasn't going to let her Gohan be exposed to the nature of such acts at such a young age. "That asshole… is it that hard for men to stay faithful?!"

Launch, who was in her blonde form, folded her arms rather crossly as she nodded along. She had heard Bulma complain about Yamcha thousands of times by now, so she decided she'd change the topic before the scientist had another chance to slate her ex-boyfriend. "Stupid oafs, the lot of them… I remember, Tien Shinhan wouldn't even give me the time of day back when I used to live with him and Chiaotzu… that man thought I just wanted to be roommates…" she rolled her eyes, before casting her gaze to Raditz. "Thankfully, there are some oafs that are a little more receptive…" she smiled.

Bulma nodded, her anger subsiding a little bit as she thought back to the phone calls she had received from an angry Launch during the time she spent with Tien Shinhan. She also turned her gaze to Raditz – through a lot of conversations and a lot of education in return for fixing his armour, the Saiyan had begun to understand the nature of a good relationship. Surprisingly, he took to it quite well, to the extent that he was appalled at Yamcha's actions during one of their gossip sessions. "You and Chichi got lucky… maybe I should find an alien monkey man for myself, too…" she said, half-joking. "You reckon I could charm one of the invaders? Maybe that Vegeta guy… he sounds like a hoot from what Raditz has been saying… though, first I'd have to make him apologise for everything he did to him."

Chichi chuckled, whilst Launch breathed out of her nose in amusement.

"Yeah, good luck with that, Bulls. I'm beginnin' to think these Saiyan men are a little more trouble than we think. You remember? We had our hands full dealin' with Goku and his appetite back in the day, and now we got cute little Gohan over there and that oaf Raditz… You sure you want another one on this planet?" Launch questioned, raising an eyebrow, pushing Bulma for an answer.

"Don't get me started on Saiyans and their appetites… Goku and Gohan eat what a small family could eat in a month for dinner…" the woman groaned, an exhausted expression on her face. Chichi still struggled a little with the fact that her husband her son were aliens – it was a huge pill to swallow for her, initially. But now, she was coming to terms with their heritage. "Four Saiyans on one planet… they'll cause a food shortage…" she frowned.

Before the ladies could continue in their conversation, they were interrupted by a rather determined Yamcha.

"Chiaotzu! I'm not gonna go easy on you! Let's give it our all, yeah?" He shouted, getting into a fighting stance.

Chiaotzu nodded confidently in return. "I was gonna say the same thing! Don't hold back at all, Yamcha!"

The second Kami gave the signal, the battle had begun. Immediately, two things occurred – Chiaotzu used his psychic power to lift two stone plates and flung them at Yamcha, but the martial artist jumped into the air and used one of them as a platform in order to launch himself at Chiaotzu, closing the distance between them with a sharp sideways kick to the psychic's head.

Chiaotzu, a little dazed, collected himself rather quickly and used his psychic powers to freeze Yamcha mid-air, before launching a stream of ki blasts at him, knocking him back a few feet as he was swarmed by the green orbs.

Yamcha took no time to rest as he dashed out of the smoke, his fists crackling with blue energy as he barreled towards Chiaotzu, the blue aura enveloping and growing around his fists. He threw a devastating punch empowered by his aura, and the psychic barely crossed his arms in time to block the barrage of ki-infused punches. However, Yamcha easily broke through Chiaotzu's guard and managed to land a powerful blow to his stomach, sending him flying backwards.

Seeing his opening, Yamcha blasted forward with a burst of speed, chasing after the airborne Chiaotzu. Just as the psychic started to regain control, Yamcha struck. His foot ignited with swirling blue ki as he spun into a devastating heel kick, crunching viciously into Chiaotzu's torso.

Chiaotzu screamed in pain as he rocketed towards the arena floor, the crushing force of Yamcha's blows nearly knocking him senseless. He lay in a small crater, surrounded by debris and barely conscious. Chiaotzu knew he had no time to waste and promptly got up, floating himself into the air. There was now something a little different about the little man – his pupils had shrunk to an alarming degree, and his eyes were glowing with a pink aura.

"Now you've done it, Yamcha…" Chiaotzu stated, as swirling pink energy stirred around him, before coming together into a recognisable shape. The pink energy took the form of two, giant, psionic hands that were floating behind Chiaotzu's back menacingly – immediately, the two hands rocketed towards Yamcha, colliding with the bandit who had guarded just in time.

"The hell are these things?" Yamcha questioned, before being silenced by a particularly powerful blow.

Guarding against the attack was useless – the giant hands broke through Yamcha's guard and stunned the martial artist into silence, before continuing to pummel him.

"We both know… that I'm not too strong… physically…" the psychic panted, clutching his side in pain as he watched his creations continue to batter Yamcha. "But I can sure as hell make up for that… with my psychic powers!" Chiaotzu exclaimed, grinning – it looked like he was about to win this battle. He watched the crater that contained Yamcha continue to grow in size, getting deeper and deeper as the bandit took more and more damage.

Raditz blinked at this display in confusion. He had dealt with psychics in the past, but they had all fallen victim to his overwhelming strength in comparison. So upon seeing a psychic that managed to cultivate his unique energy into a rather powerful physical attack, Raditz was actually very impressed – the rate at which these Earthlings were growing managed to blindside him… all the techniques that he had witnessed so far would prove to be very useful against Vegeta and Nappa.

Yamcha, who was taking the full force of Chiaotzu's blows, knew he couldn't hold on for much longer. Roaring in defiance, the warrior flared his energy all out at once, every single inch of his energy was on display in a brilliant blue aura that encased him. Now, Yamcha was on a time limit. Using his newfound strength, he burst through the psionic hands, shattering them as he landed outside of the creator. He wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth as he observed Chiatozu clutching his chest in pain after his psionic hands had burst.

Piccolo widened his eyes at this. He could sense that Yamcha was exerting all of his energy at once in controlled bursts that allowed him to perform at a level that was far higher than his own – by completely focusing all of his ki into enhancing his physical blows, Yamcha did leave himself open to ranged attacks, which was deadly against a psychic. However, Piccolo could tell that Chiaotzu was having trouble keeping up with Yamcha's speed even before the bandit had entered into this aura-crazed form.

"I've gotta admit… That attack was really cool, Chiaotzu, and I'm sorry about this… but you really pushed me to my limits!" The desert bandit announced as he sped towards Chiaotzu. The second his aura even grazed the psychic, Yamcha knew he was within range for his most devastating attack… "Wolf Fang Fist!"

Immediately, the blue aura that had been surrounding Yamcha seemed to grow in size before taking the form of a giant, blue wolf head. Chiaotzu's eyes widened in shock at the sheer speed and power at which Yamcha was delivering his blows – he too was enveloped by Yamcha's vicious blue aura and he could most definitely feel it; it was like a thousand tiny pins pricking him all over his body. But what hurt the most were Yamcha's blows: punch, after scratch, after punch, after scratch – it seemed endless, and all Chiaotzu could do was face it head on… unless…

Before Yamcha delivered the final palm strike, Chiaotzu used whatever psychic power he could muster at the moment to create another giant, psionic hand that would hammer Yamcha into the ground. It passed through Chiaotzu as if he wasn't there, but that was not the case for the desert bandit. Yamcha hadn't expected Chiaotzu to retaliate at all, so he was caught off guard – but only for a moment.

"That was… a real… smart move… Chiaotzu!" Yamcha exclaimed, pushing back against the hand with his back. "But… if I'm right about this… then you've lost…" the bandit continued, clearly on his last legs.

Chiaotzu, who looked no better, wiped the sweat from his brow as he held his stomach in pain. "Yeah…? We'll see about that, won't we, Yamcha?" He retorted, before pushing out his arms towards the giant hand to cast even more energy into his attack. The psychic was truly giving it everything he had – he was not going to go down so easily.

But the same went for Yamcha. In a split-second, the bandit managed to push back the psionic hand and deliver a palm strike to it's centre with his hand enveloped by the violent blue energy, shattering the attack into a thousand pieces.

Then, Yamcha turned his gaze towards Chiaotzu – just as the psychic had been before, he was winded once again upon his attack being broken through. Using this to his advantage, Yamcha cleared the distance between himself and the psychic in a single leap, delivering an open palm strike to Chiaotzu's torso. He stunned the psychic into silence and shock; Chiaotzu could not move, he was too winded and too stunned.

Yamcha followed the attack up with a wicked uppercut that shot Chiaotzu a few feet into the air, and then, with a final roar, Yamcha delivered an axe kick that left Chiaotzu in a small crater, unconscious.

With a deep exhale, Yamcha fell on his ass, barely conscious – he had exerted far too much energy, in fact, he had exerted all of the energy that he had. He stared at Chiaotzu who was unmoving and smirked.

"Looks like… it's my victory…" Yamcha announced, pumping his fist into the air before collapsing.

"Who the hell does he think he is to be acting that cool?!" Bulma exclaimed from the stands, earning a chuckle from most of the spectators.

Then, all eyes turned to Kami – Chiaotzu had fallen unconscious first, but Yamcha didn't last very long after. What was the verdict?

"Though it was a rather even battle… Chiaotzu fell first. That means, our winner is Yamcha!" The Namekian announced. Immediately, the crowd cheered as Mr. Popo grabbed both Chiaotzu and Yamcha, flinging the psychic over his shoulder before carrying Yamcha in his arms – the two would need some serious rest.

Gohan was in awe still, watching Chiaotzu and Yamcha get carried away. Both fighters had shown some serious skill, and both fighters had practically blown Gohan away – was this the level that his dad's friends were at? If so then… Gohan didn't know what to say; he was speechless.

"Mom… I wanna learn cool techniques like Mr. Chiaotzu and Mr. Yamcha too…!" He announced, balling his fists to the side.

Chichi's eyes widened. "Now hold on Gohan… don't get all battle-crazed like your father… I need at least one scholar in the house other than myself…" she said, grabbing her son by the shoulders.

Gohan chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Don't worry, I still love studying! But I'm starting to see why dad loves martial arts and fighting so much!"

Chichi fell backwards in defeat, whilst Bulma, Launch and Fortune Teller Baba, who was floating behind them, chuckled.

"The Goku genes kicked in a little late, huh?" Bulma joked, ruffling Gohan's hair affectionately before kneeling down to face him, decided she would help her friend out. "Keep your mom happy though, Gohan! Make sure you study hard… and if you do, I'll write you a reference and pay for your tuition to one of the top universities when you're older! Promise!"

Gohan's eyes widened to the same extent, if not, further than before. "Really?! That'd be great Miss Bulma! Thank you so much!"

Bulma almost squealed – Gohan was far too cute, much cuter than his father had been when he was a child. Bulma almost rolled her eyes when she remembered how rude and beastly Goku had been.

And now, it was time for the semi-finals. These were some very anticipated battles – it would be Piccolo versus Yamcha, and Raditz versus Krillin. Kami called Raditz and Krillin to the arena first.

Krillin steeled himself, bouncing from one foot to another, trying to fight off his nerves. He clasped both of his palms against his cheeks, breathing in deeply – even if he was scared, he was determined. After seeing Raditz's performance against Master Roshi, he knew the brute would be no easy battle; this was going to hurt.

But Krillin put this all aside – he still had a grudge against Raditz, after all, for murdering his best friend. The monk glared at Raditz, who seemed to host a cocky smirk on his face.

"Come on then, baldie. Let's get this over and done with…" Raditz said, stretching his legs out and cracking his back as he prepared for the battle. In his eyes, this was simply warm-up for the finals – he sensed the monk's energy, and it wasn't as potent as the old man's, so he figured he had nothing to fear.

"This isn't going to be as easy as you think it is, Raditz." Krillin retorted, confident as he settled into a fighting stance, one arm held up with the other cocked back – a stance his best friend had frequently taken against much larger opponents.

"Oh? Is that so? Well, we'll see about that, won't we…" Raditz grinned wickedly, also settling into a stance. He could only hope that Krillin would be able to back up his words.

The second the battle started, Krillin took a step back, creating some distance between himself and Raditz. There was no reason for him to close the distance – Raditz would do that. Krillin was an agile, defensive, and nimble fighter; he knew taking Raditz head on in a contest of brute strength wouldn't end well for him.

And just as Krillin had predicted, Raditz closed the distance immediately, in a single leap the brute was in front of him. Raditz had figured that he would end the battle as soon as possible, even if it meant going against his usual strategic style.

As Raditz aimed to grab Krillin by his head, the monk swiftly dodged, delivering a straight kick to Raditz's chin. Raditz rubbed his chin in pain, his wicked smirk still present as Krillin backed up once again.

"I see… you're like a little mosquito, aren't you? A little bug, you're trying to pick away at me, aren't you?" Raditz powered up, flaring his pink aura. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to squash you!"

Within an instant, Raditz had closed the distance between himself and Krillin once again, uppercutting him into the sky. Instead of following him, however, Raditz held his arm out, using his other arm to hold and stabilise it as he shot a barrage of pink balls of energy that shot through the sky towards the monk.

"Crap…!" Krillin said, widening his eyes as he awkwardly dodged each blast, floating and dropping through the air. He had to think on his feet – what was his next move? How was he going to navigate through this battle?

But Raditz didn't give him time to think – the second his barrage of blasts dissipated, the Saiyan warrior appeared behind the monk and grabbed him by his bald head, throwing him at full power down towards the ground before rocketing towards him and delivering a harsh knee to his back; Krillin crashed into the ground, laying in a crater behind a cloud of dust.

From the sidelines, the crowd gasped – this was utterly vicious, but hardly a surprise. Raditz's fighting style was exactly that: cold, calculated, and cruel.

As Raditz floated in the air, he waited for Krillin to get back up before continuing his onslaught – he wasn't going to bully the monk, after all. However, this was a mistake on Raditz's end, as before he could even fathom it, a swirling, razor sharp disk made of yellow energy was coming right at him – he didn't have enough time to dodge, so he quickly shielded his upper torso and face with his arms, coating them in ki.

The yellow disk carved it's way into Raditz's arms before finally ricocheting off – Raditz's coating of ki managed to deter the disk from going any further, however, that did not mean he hadn't suffered substantial damage. In fact, Raditz's arms were currently coated in deep red – two, very big cuts were gushing out blood, rapidly.

"I didn't want to have to…" Krillin paused, spitting out blood before turning to look up at Raditz. "… resort to that, but you kinda left me no choice, man…"

Raditz raised his eyebrow in interest. "Is that a technique of your own, baldie? The old man has never used it once…" he stated, clearly curious.

Krillin smirked, nodding. "Yeah, I came up with it a few months ago… amongst others…" he paused. "I call it the Destructo Disk!"

Raditz deadpanned. "I see… you don't really have a knack for naming things, do you baldie…?"

Krillin grew cross very quickly. "Now hold on just a minute, the Destructo Disk is a perfectly cool name… besides, it's my technique, so I will not be taking your critique!"

Even Piccolo had begun to take notice of Krillin – the Destructo Disk was a rather interesting move; just like his very own Special Beam Cannon, the nature of the ki infused into the attack was shaped, contorted to the user's will – but unlike his attack, there seemed to be no ridiculous charge up time. Even if Piccolo had reduced the time needed to concentrate his Special Beam Cannon, there was still a drastic difference between the two moves – Krillin's attack required far less ki, instead, it utilised the ki that was input into the attack to it's utmost potential. Piccolo smirked. Humans were very interesting creatures.

Before Raditz could respond, Krillin shot towards the Saiyan with newfound confidence – Raditz was losing a lot of blood, fast, and that meant Krillin had to capitalise on whatever advantage he had against the brute. Surrounding himself with ki, Krillin crashed headfirst into Raditz's torso, delivering a headbutt that winded the Saiyan, sending him blasting away. Krillin followed suit and grabbed Raditz by his arm, swinging him in a circle before launching him into the sky and following up with another Destructo Disk – this one was far less potent than his previous one - Krillin wasn't trying to kill Raditz. But even then, a part of Krillin

"I'm not going to fall for it twice!" Raditz announced, swerving in mid air to narrowly avoid the disk. A few blades of Raditz's magnificent hair seemed to slice off. This angered the warrior. "Why you…!"

Raditz wasn't playing around anymore – this was going to end, and it was going to end now. He rocketed towards Krillin at an incredible speed despite his injuries and fatigue and delivered a very strong punch to the monk's face – Krillin had been readying another Destructo Disk before the interruption. Raditz smirked as he then swung his leg around to deliver a wicked kick to the side of Krillin's torso, before grabbing the man by his shirt and delivering a series of wicked punches to his gut.

Krillin, winded and injured, probably with a few shattered ribs, defiantly grabbed Raditz's arm and retaliated with a horrible headbutt to Raditz's chin, stunning the Saiyan momentarily – but that was all Krillin needed. The monk clasped his palms together and infused them with glowing, pale yellow ki that seemed to oscillate through his body, vibrating at a very high speed, then he rapidly delivered multiple open palm strikes to Raditz's torso, before shooting the vibrating ki in a small beam that… did not do anything to Raditz.

The Saiyan quickly grabbed Krillin's arm and smirked. Frozen in fear, Krillin widened his eyes, confused. He had put his final reserves of energy into that attack.

"What…? Why did my Vibra-Wave Palm not do anything to you…?!"

Krillin's Vibra-Wave Palm was an attack that was designed to rattle the opponent at an internal level – disrupting both their ki flow and their internal functioning. By all intents and purposes, Raditz shouldn't have even been able to see straight right now – but here he was, smiling wickedly at the monk.

"Oh no… it is, and it did do quite a bit… but clearly, you need to work on it. It was a very valiant effort, baldie – no, Krillin, I'll give you that. You have a very incredible mastery over energy; it seems to bend to your will. But you haven't mastered any of your techniques yet, have you? Even that Destructo Disk has a blaringly obvious weakness – you can't control it after you shoot it off, so it's sort of a one-trick pony that can easily be dodged if it doesn't kill the first time… also, what the hell kind of name is Vibra-Wave Palm?" Raditz spoke, pausing to throw the monk, promptly following him down back to the arena on Kami's Lookout.

Krillin, very exhausted and at the end of his line, tried to get up, stumbling as he did so, one eye closed whilst the other struggled to remain open.

"It's a work in progress…" Krillin uttered, through grit teeth as he glared at Raditz, charging a ki blast in his left arm whilst he held it with his right.

Raditz, who was also exhausted and battle-worn, yet looking much better (despite the dried blood all over his arms) than Krillin, also charged a ki blast – two in fact, one for each hand.

However, before either of them could fire it off, Kami intervened, stepping in between the fighters. Raditz and Krillin both dispersed their energy, confused as to what the hell was going on – however, seconds after, Krillin dropped to his knees and fell to the ground, exhausted.

Raditz blinked in understanding. So that's why they were stopped.

"By far the most exhilarating and bloody battle so far, it was also the most dangerous. We are not trying to kill each other, so I was forced to stop the match there. Both fighters fought brilliantly, but the victor is Raditz!" Kami announced, raising his staff into the air.

Raditz groaned. "That was disrespectful to the both of us, green man. The baldie deserved to fight valiantly – even if it were to his final breath!" He announced, pumping his fist into the air in order to emphasise his point.

"Really, Raditz!? Ya tryna kill Krillin?!" Launch shouted from the stands, still in her blonde form.

"No, Launch, I uh, just…" Raditz stumbled on his words as he turned to the woman, unable to argue back. "It's just that, uh—"

Before he could continue, everyone spectating began snickering – even Krillin, who was barely conscious and leaning on Master Roshi as the two of them approached the Saiyan.

"Heh, it's alright man, none of us can win an argument against her…" Krillin explained, whispering the last part, covering the side of his mouth with his hand as he did so. "That was a great fight. I learnt a lot. And I got my get back for Goku."

Krillin held his hand out for Raditz to shake.

Raditz smirked, staring at Krillin's hand before deciding to shake it in respect. "I see you understand the struggle of masculinity…" he spoke, rather dramatically, before nodding. "It was, bal- Krillin. You will be very vital in the fight against Vegeta and Nappa – I may even steal that disk move of yours to behead those scum…" Raditz said, stroking his chin in thought.

However, a part of Raditz seemed to disagree with what he said. Did he truly want to kill Vegeta and Nappa? Was it truly worth it? He had fallen victim to the Earth and the charm of its inhabitants (in other words, good people) himself – he knew that the path to redemption wasn't non-existent… but could Vegeta and Nappa truly walk on it with him? And besides, after he got his revenge, what was next for him – would he stay on this peaceful planet and settle down as his brother had? Internally, Raditz grumbled. There were too many questions and not enough answers floating around in his mind. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Krillin snickered.

"Man, I guess you really are Goku's brother!" Krillin exclaimed, to which Yamcha also snickered.

"Stealing techniques must run in the family…" Roshi decided, much to Raditz's dismay.

"What?! You must know, it is the greatest form of flattery! You should be honoured that I, the great warrior Raditz, even consider your technique useful enough to be stolen! Kakarot must have copied me in that regard, seeing as I am the older brother!" He announced, jabbing his thumb to his chest.

The next battle was between Piccolo and Yamcha. The Namekian was rather pleased that he would be getting a somewhat suitable opponent, but still, he was itching to battle against Raditz... Piccolo's blood boiled at the thought of finally battling the Saiyan at full power. It had been too long since their last all-out battle. He craved the chance to prove himself superior. In truth, Piccolo was grateful to Kami for arranging this tournament. It gave him a public stage to humble Raditz and stake his claim as the strongest fighter on Earth.

Besides, the Namekian had a new technique that he had been itching to try out, and Raditz was the only worthy opponent. It was going to be a battle for the ages.

Author's Note

Hey guys! Sorry, I had to reupload and rewrite this chapter – I got carried away and did the fights wrong. I recognise that my uploading schedule is a little inconsistent, but I will always try to get out one chapter a week minimum – sometimes it'll be more, it depends on how much time I have. Either way, thank you for reading and reviewing, it makes my day! And remember, I don't mind whatever review it is – I love reading them, so please leave them.

Q: Will we see Tights and Jaco earlier?
A: Most likely – yes. I actually quite like Jaco's character.

Q: Will the Saiyans keep their tails?
A: Was on the fence about this – but probably, yes. Though still, I'm 50/50.

Q: What if Turles' story was different? Will Turles be Bardock's twin brother?
A: I love Turles' character so I am going to be changing his story a bit – the Namek idea is quite interesting! I'm not so sure about Turles being Bardock's twin brother; even if I love that concept, I don't want to be a Dynasty clone.

Q: Will you include more space adventures?
A: I will try to! I love the Z fighters out in space.

Q: How would you imagine a Namekian transformation?
A: Somewhat like in this chapter, as well as how they did in canon in Superhero. I love Orange Piccolo!

Q: Will you introduce villains from Super or GT earlier in the timeline?
A: I'm not so sure about this – it would be cool, but it would be taking from later material. I plan to cover Super and GT in some way.

Q: Will Mr. Satan take credit for everything?
A: To be honest, at the moment, I haven't given that much thought.

Q: How do you powerscale GT?
A: Generally, I like to think of the GT villains to be as strong as some of the Super villains (not Beerus though, for obvious reasons).

Q: Having Roshi train Raditz on his skill isn't as unreasonable as one might think based on their power level/battle power difference.
A: Thank you Qinlongfei – you put my thought process regarding that into words. Thank you for your continued support and reviews.

Q: Possible to have Bulma and Chichi with Goku?
A: No. Bulma and Goku are best friends. Thank you for the review!

Q: In any case, I just wanted to say great job and that I'm glad you're doing something to help with the root of chi-chi's overprotective anger issues and I've often thought of a similar approach to things.
A: Thank you for the review and support. Haha, yeah, I always felt like Chichi was misunderstood – she's just a mother who cares very deeply about the idiotic boys in her family, so it makes sense why she's hellbent on keeping them safe considering how danger-prone they are.

Q: I know Bulma's not a fighter but she is a genius. There can be so much more she can do to help humans get stronger if she has an active role.
A: Yep! You gave some very good ideas (the other ones too, about humans) and I've got some ideas of my own for Bulma. Thank you – your ideas on Triclops in the previous review also helped develop my own. I appreciate the support, the reviews and the ideas – I read and think them through even if I don't reply.

Q: This has been an incredible read throughout all chapters. What an incredible find this was for me. I held back in commenting due to you already responding to previous reviews.
A: Thank you so much for the ego boost! I appreciate your review.

Q: Will you have Future Trunks showing up with Future Goten and Ranch? And will there be more people with them?
A: This is a good question. I won't give specifics, but I will say that it won't just be Trunks on his own!

Q: How about you state in story that it's Planet Trade Organization policy that in the instant of a perceived, severe threat, all planet brokering and conquering operations are to be postponed while the main military forces go hunting for the threat, which in this case would be the Saiyans
A: I actually already had an idea similar to this in the works – it just goes to show how we all have very similar views when it comes to Dragon Ball. I love the thought of this – it would make for a very interesting arc. Thank you for your review.

Q: I have an idea and suggestions for the Kais/gods and their place of the Dragonball universe if you're interested.
A: I am actually very interested in the divine hierarchy and I plan to make it somewhat ordered when I get to that point in the story. Thank you for breaking it down for me further! Also, I appreciate your kind words and review a lot!

Q: Honestly, for as smart as Gohan is, he is stupid.
A: I feel like Gohan as a fighter is a little less intelligent in comparison to Gohan as a person – he's always been crazy strong and powerful, so he's powered his way through his opponents. Though, my analysis could be wrong so correct me if so! I plan to make Gohan a little more battle-smart regardless. Your review gave me a lot to think about.

Q: Alright! Bardock and Gine are on King Kai's planet. You really are a fan of Ferali's DBZ Dynasty aren't you.
A: Haha, can you tell? Though I aim not to be a carbon copy! As to not inflate the word count further, I will answer your questions and the ones after this in the next chapter.

Thank you so much for your reviews everyone. This time, I have a question for you – what would be a suitable name for the Yamcha power-up I described in this chapter?