Chapter 1

Kami House

"Woohoo!" the orange gi-clad man and his young son shouted in unison as they blazed across the ocean surface on the back of their fluffy yellow cloud. The sea spray coated the two in a fine mist of water, leaving them salt encrusted as they dried.

"There it is." the man gleefully declared, as a small island came into view. The island was taken up primarily by a two-story house, on a patch of grass, between palm trees, encircled by a narrow beach. A turtle came into view, and when it noticed the travelers he began moving towards the house.

"Master, Master, Goku is here, and he has company." Turtle announced to the open door.

"Well it's about time. I didn't teach him to be late." an elderly bearded man with red rimmed sunglasses exited the house, followed by Krillin, a short bald man in orange similar to Goku's, and Bulma, a stately blue-haired woman.

Goku, and his son, slowed as they approached the islands beach, coming to a stop a few feet above the sand. Goku thanked the Flying Nimbus as he and his son hopped off the cloud, before it flew away into the sky.

"Goku!"

"It's good to see you!"

"How've you been?"

"Did you bring me any new tapes?"

Gohan, the small boy, hid behind his father's legs. Not being used to so many people, he was intimidated.

"Hey, guys, it's good to see you too. I've been good, and no I did not." He laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"Hey, what's that behind your leg?" Turtle asked, stretching his neck to peak at the boy.

"Yeah, are you babysitting now? Chi-Chi finally got you to work?" Bulma asked.

"What, no, he's my son. Come on, Gohan, say hi, they don't bite." Goku moved his legs, revealing the child.

"Named after your grandpa, huh?" Bulma squatted in front of the boy, getting to his level. "Hi, I'm Bulma, and this is Krillin, Roshi, and Turtle."

"Is that a Dragon Ball on your head, Gohan?" She pointed to the orange ball, with four stars inlaid in it.

"Yes, ma'am, it was a gift from my dad," the boy relaxed as he bowed, "Hi, I'm Son Gohan, it's a pleasure to meet you all."

Krillin patted Goku on the back. "Good job, he seems like a good kid, but the tail? He's got one of those, huh?"

"Yeah, he was born with it. I was too though, so it wasn't too unexpected." Goku answered.

Bulma, tuning in to the conversation nervously asked "So, uh, he ever see the full moon?"

"No, we always head to bed pretty early. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just, boys his age should go to bed early, I wanted to make sure he was getting his rest, right, guys? Right?" Bulma looked to the others for support.

"Yeah." "Yup" "What?" the humans agreed in unison, and the turtle was confused.

Suddenly Goku's eyes widen, his breath caught in his throat, and his shoulders tensed. "Krillin, do you feel that?" He began looking around. "This power, it's... it's beyond Piccolo, it's…"

"It's me…" a deeper, rusty voice came from above. The man lowered himself, brown armored boots making contact with the sand. His long black hair fell messily down his back, beyond his fuzzy brown belt, and his left eye scanned the assembled group, through the lens of a blue scouter.

"He's, he's incredible" Krillin took a step back, tripping over a rock, and falling on his butt.

"So, we finally meet, and you're all grown-up, Kakarot. You look exactly like our father." The armor-wearing soldier stepped forward. Krillin scuttled backwards, and Bulma quickly followed. "What have you been doing here? You were given a mission, and these Earthlings are still alive?"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but I think we've heard just about enough. Time to leave." Roshi pointed towards the sky. "We don't want anything to do with you."

With a few beeps, the blue eye piece read out Roshi's power. "Weakling." the gruff man's belt came to life, smashing in to Roshi, sending him flying into the house. Wooden siding went flying as he fell halfway through the wall as the man's belt was revealed to be an appendage of his.

"A tail? Like me a Gohan?" Goku assumed a fighting stance, and gets back in front of Gohan.

"Come here." Bulma whispers to Gohan. Obeying, he dashed further from the brewing conflict.

"So, you've finally realized who I am." the man approached, getting within arm's reach of Goku.

'I have? What are you talking about?" Goku shifted back.

"Kakarot, have you been on this planet so long that you forgot who you are? Did you ever get hit on the head when you were young?" he followed Goku's step, maintaining the distance, body poised for battle, yet eyes flickering over the rest of the group.

"Yes, multiple times, repeatedly. I'm a fighter, everyone on this island has either hit me in the head, or shot me at least once."

"Are you stupid too? I mean a serious injury." the man asked with clear irritation.

"When I was really little, I think, but I don't remember anything about it."

"Ah, that explains it." the man relaxed his pose.

"Goku, there's something I think you need to know." Roshi climbed out of the wall, approaching his former student. "Your grandfather, Gohan, was walking through the woods one day when he found a strange object. It appeared to have fallen from the sky. He went to examine it, and there you were, naked as the day you were born. Crying, scared, and alone, Gohan decided to take you home, and raise you as his own, but you were angry, and violent, and even as an infant you were testing Gohan. Then, one day, there was a terrible mishap, and you fell from his arms in one of your fits, and fell down a cliff. Splat. He was afraid you had died. Somehow, by some miracle, you had survived, and after that you were no longer violent. You were happy, kind, and who you are now. From what we can tell, you are not from here, Goku."

"I'm, I'm not from here? I was violent?" Goku turned from listening to Roshi's story, and back to the stranger. "You have some explaining to do, who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I am Raditz. I am a Saiyan… and your big brother. But how sad. All grown-up, yet you're still just as pathetic. We were born on a distant planet, Vegeta, a world our people made home. We were the most powerful warriors in the universe." Raditz smiled as Goku's mouth fell open.

Krillin stopped his retreat, a look of utter confusion crossing his face.

"That's crazy. If Goku was an alien, what's he doing here, on Earth?" Krillin, while keeping his distance, interjected.

"If you were paying attention, you would already know." Krillin shrank away at Raditz's comment. He began laughing. "It's not hard to understand. Kakarot was sent to this planet, shortly after being born, to destroy every Earthling. We Saiyans may be proud, powerful warriors, but we are also businessmen. We were employed by one of the people who think the chaos of the universe is a shame, and hired us to sterilize planets, so he could resell them, to be repopulated by superior races."

Raditz relaxed his pose, causing Goku to do the same. "For planets with high-powered fighters, us adult Saiyans are sent in to do the work. For planets like this, who's life forms are weak, powerless creatures," he glanced at Roshi, "our infants are more than enough to get the job done. This is why you were here, Kakarot. Even by yourself, a dozen full moons and this planet should have been stripped of all life."

"Full moons? What's that got to do with anything" Goku tensed once more.

"Brother, you have lived here your entire life, and yet you don't know? The moon is the key to unlocking your potential." Raditz grew angry, losing patience for these questions. "Wait, your tail, where is it?"

"Excuse me?"

"What happened to your tail?"

"I had it removed for good a long time ago. What's it matter?"

"Stop asking so many questions, you fool. How could you let that happen? Do you even know what you've done? That explains how you've been able to fit in so well with these miserable Earthlings." Raditz began to power-up.

Facing the challenge, Goku began to power-up as well. "It doesn't matter. Anyone that would do the things you said is no brother of mine. I am not a Saiyan. This is my home, this is my family. I have fought with these people, I have saved people, and they have saved me. I would not, and will not, harm them. It is time for you to go. Now leave!" Goku stepped forward, chest to chest with his brother.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kakarot, but it will take more than shouting to make me leave. Powerful though we are, we have never been a fertile race, and our numbers have always been low. Our species nearly vanished from the universe when a meteor crashed into our planet, blowing it up. No one survived. Counting you, there are only four true Saiyans left, and it looks like our power is all over the board. Make no mistake, I could kill you, easily. So could the others. Vegeta especially wouldn't even need to try to kill us all."

"Prince Vegeta?" a voice chimed in his ear.

Ignoring it, Raditz continued. "I was away on assignment with a few other warriors when Vegeta was destroyed. A few others were away as well, but time passed and it's just the three of us now. Well, the three of us, and you." Raditz flared his aura, pushing Goku back in the sand. "We have a new mission, a very nice planet, but the natives are too powerful for just the three of us to take on alone, not easily anyway. And this is where you come into the picture. Your power level is lower than any full-grown Saiyan I've met, but even so, the four of us, during that special time of the month, should be able to manage just fine."

"Back off, I'm not going to join you. Now leave, no one needs to get hurt." Goku pushed back against Raditz aura, but couldn't gain any ground.

With an angry exhale Raditz pushed his power to his limit, shoving Goku back further, before releasing his aura. "Tell me, Kakarot. That boy with the tail, hiding like a coward, is that your son?"

Staying powered up Goku responded "No, he's… he's the son of the Monkey King, from the land to the east."

"I'm your brother. While we have things in common, our brains are not one of them. You can't lie to me, I can tell a Saiyan when I see one." Raditz crossed his arms. "I'm afraid, if you won't come, he will."

"NO!" Goku shot a Kiai at the intruder, but Raditz walked right through it. "Stay back!" He took a powerful swing at Raditz's face, but his hand went through an after-image.

"I told you, you are nothing compared to me." Raditz whispered into his brothers ear, before slamming a fist in to Goku's stomach, doubling him over in pain. When Raditz pulled his fist away, Goku crashed to the ground.

"Daddy, get up!" Gohan ran to his dad, trying to pull him back to his feet, but barely being able to move the much larger man.

"Yoink." Raditz snatched Gohan off of the downed man. "Don't worry, I won't kill him. But here is the reality. If you don't come with me, he will. He'll be trained to become a Saiyan warrior after he forgets this place, or he'll be killed in battle. That is, unless you join me. I'll be back in 24 hours. Either present me the head of everyone on this island, or forfeit your son, your life, and the life of everyone on this planet. Well, who am I kidding, I'm going to kill everyone anyway, but if you make me dirty my hands, I'll make sure to kill you last, and your son will watch. His first blood. I can't wait to see which path you choose for my nephew."

With that Raditz rose into the air, holding Gohan by the head, not caring for the extreme discomfort he was putting the boy in. He sensed another, familiar, power approaching the island as he left. To himself "Of course he'd know that weak green man."

Spinach Wastes

"Stay quiet." Raditz threw his nephew in to his Attack Pod spaceship, and closed the hatch, before sitting on the grass, closing his eyes, and beginning to meditate.

The beeping of his scouter alerted him to the arrival of two notable, yet still low, power levels.

"I don't know how you found me, and I really don't care." Raditz stood up, facing Goku and Piccolo.

"Give me back my son, now." Goku widened his stance, preparing for battle.

"Bring me the heads of those Earthlings, and you can live. Otherwise, you are worthless to me." Raditz began powering-up.

Goku kicked off and charged at his brother. Stepping aside Raditz dodged the blow, bringing his elbow down in Goku's shoulder.

"Kill them, Kakarot. Not me."

With a shout Piccolo shoots several energy blasts at Raditz, who blocks them with a Ki-enforced hand.

"I don't care about you." Raditz returned fire with a single, one-handed, large blast. Piccolo barely got out of the way in time.

"He's not even trying, and he's blocking my blasts. Goku, keep him busy, I need to charge!" Piccolo shouted as he took a defensive stance with two fingers to his forehead.

Raditz laughed. "Keep me busy? He can't even hit me." Looking down, he realized Goku was gone.

Scanning the area he saw his brother top, boots, and wrist bands on the ground.

"I see, weighted clothes. You should have known that with any handicap you couldn't even come close to winning a fight with a true warrior. Come at me."

Goku erupted in power, charging at his brother once more. This time his fist connected to Raditz's chest plate, cracking it. Sliding back Raditz grabbed Goku's fist and swung him over head.

Stopping in midair, Goku rained energy blasts down on Raditz. "Take this!"

Not daring to take the blasts head-on again, Raditz began circling around, the heat of the blasts threatening to burn him if he slowed at all.

"Enough!" Raditz exclaimed, launching a ball of ki at his brother, forcing him to stop firing. Like Piccolo moments ago, it was a close call.

Raditz turned sharply, flying right at his brother. Goku got his arms up in time, blocking a powerful punch. They were skin-to-skin, feeling each other's breath, and fists began to fly. Goku was dodging most blows, but not landing any of consequence. Slowly his energy was being drained out of him by this overpowering might.

With a knee to the gut, Goku doubled over for the second time that day, and with a double-handed axe drop, Raditz send him towards the Earth. His body left a ditch in the ground.

"Hey, I'm beginning to sweat a little. I didn't expect a workout today." Raditz mocked.

Goku jumped up, arms to his side. "Ka…Me…"

"Oh, what's this?" Raditz put up his guard.

"Ha…Me…" A ball of energy formed in Goku's hands, light beaming off in all directions.

Raditz read his beeping scouter. "Oh, you can focus your energy. If you were at full power, that might actually be able to hurt me."

"HA!" Goku thrust the ball forward. It expanded into a beam, rocketing towards the Saiyan.

With some effort, Raditz caught it between his hands. It pushed him back, but wasn't doing any damage.

"I admit, I underestimated you. But you're still not powerful enough to defy me." The beam faded away, revealing Raditz no worse for wear, hands covered in a light dusting of suit.

"Now, take this!" Raditz drew back his fist, gathering his own ki ball, and without fanfare launched it at his brother.

Goku braced for impact, crossing his arms in front of his face, and taking the blast full on. With no delay it pushed him back, making his feet dig into the Earth, tripping Goku, and pressing him into the ground. The beam was inches from his face when it let up.

"Special Beam Cannon!" Piccolo shouted, launching a thin beam at Raditz's flank.

Releasing the beam, Raditz jumped to the side, the beam cutting up his arm, spraying blood from the shallow, yet long wound.

"Oh, now you just got under my skin, green man!" Raditz charged the exhausted Piccolo grabbing his hands, and headbutting him, before taking him to the ground with a leg sweep, and throttling his neck.

Seeing his opening, Goku lunged for Raditz's tail, squeezing it with all his remaining energy, causing the older brother to instantly feel exhausted, and lose his power. With an embarrassing amount of effort Goku managed to drag Raditz off the bloodied Piccolo.

"I've got him, Piccolo, do it, now!"

Getting to his feet Piccolo put his fingers to his temples. 'Hold him, this will do it."

"No, Kakarot. Not like this. You can't." Raditz began to plead. "I'm your brother. I wasn't really going to kill you, or your son. I-I wanted to make you angry, to see how powerful you really were. I wanted to see if you could help me overthrow the other Saiyans, so I could be free from this life of nothing but pain. Please, don't do this to me."

A scoff came from Raditz's scouter, and he was thankful that Goku couldn't hear it.

Goku loosened his grip a little, but still held on.

"Don't believe him, Goku. He's lying to you. With how powerful he is, why would he want our help?"

"I was hoping you would be more powerful, I was hoping to bring out your power. Please. I'll leave. You don't have to help me. Just… just let me go." Raditz continued to beg, now hearing chuckling coming from his scouter.

"If I let you go, will you leave Earth and never come back?" Goku questioned. "I don't like to kill, and I don't want to kill you, but if you come back, I will do what it takes to defend my family."

"Yes, I promise."

"No, don't let him go!"

As Piccolo released a pair of eye beams, Goku released his grip, and Raditz released his power once more. With a swift spin and chop, Goku went down again. Then, with a quick blast Piccolo joined Goku in the dirt.

"Ha, ha ha ha ha ha" Raditz laughed, while mounting his brother's prone body. "Why would I want to leave this life?" He punched down at his brothers shoulder, shattering it. "I am a Saiyan, soldier, a warrior." He raised his fists above his head, infusing them with ki, and brought them down on Goku's chest, cracking his sternum. "The powerful rise, and the dense, pathetic, fools like you sink to the bottom, where you belong."

He raised his hands again, this time forming a ki ball, preparing to crush Goku's skull between his hands and the ground.

Suddenly an explosion sounded over the screams of Goku and Raditz was sent flying. It was as if being hit by a freight train, if freight trains were actually able to move him.

"Stop hurting my daddy!" Gohan shouted as he began to pepper the downed Raditz with ki blasts of his own, cracking his uncle's armor, and burning the exposed skin.

With effort, Raditz was able to withstand the assault, although not unscathed. Thankfully for him, it ended just as quickly as it began. As Gohan's power waned, Raditz erupted in anger once more.

"Well, I was right. You do have some potential, kid. But too much for me to safely transport. I'm sorry, but it looks like Uncle Raditz will need to kill you after all."

Raditz stood again, and removed his scouter. "I liked this one, let's give it a shot for myself. I'm sure you won't see it coming." he mocked as a pair of thin blasts erupted from his eyes, drilling in to Gohan's.

With a scream the child fell back, then with another scream he was forced back as Raditz rushed at him, grabbed his throat, and slammed him into a nearby boulder.

"Say good night, boy. May you have a better afterlife." Raditz drew back a fist, forming another ki ball, intended to swiftly put down his blinded nephew.

"NO!" Goku was on him again, arms under Raditz's, pulling him away from his son. "You will not hurt him, or anyone, anymore! Piccolo, do it! I have him!"

The distant sound of an engine began to fade in.

Piccolo began charging his cannon once more. "Hold him this time, don't let him go."

Gohan continued screaming, Raditz began pleading once more.

"Not this time, Raditz. You're not escaping again. You'll pay for what you did to me, to my son, and to everyone you've killed over the years." Goku maintained his grapple.

"Goku, I designed this to kill you. I really didn't think it would work, but now, I can't avoid it." Piccolo charged his energy higher.

"I'm sorry we won't get a rematch, but I'll see you in the next life, and I'll be ready for you." Goku tightened his grip as Raditz struggled.

"You know, when you're out of the way, nothing will be stopping me from taking over the world, right?" Piccolo smiled.

"If that's still what you want then I'm sure Krillin and the others will find a way to stop you." Goku smiled. Raditz stopped struggling and tried to fly, but Goku used his ki to hold them both on the ground. Resuming the struggle, Raditz was close to breaking free. "Do it now! I can't hold him much longer!"

"Special Beam Cannon!" Piccolo launched his two-fingered assault. Spiraling through the air it went right for Raditz and Goku. In a blink it was over. Raditz was defeated, and Goku was dying.

Disregarding the young boys dry sobs Piccolo approached the Saiyans. "You know, this isn't nearly as fulfilling as I expected. After all, your friends will probably just wish you back with the Dragon Balls, won't they?"

Goku let out a chuckle "Yeah, probably, but hey, you did actually kill me, right?"

With his remaining energy Raditz spoke "Dragon balls?"

"Yes. Goku may be dying, but that doesn't mean a thing here. This planet has magic artifacts, Dragon Balls. When you gather all 7 you can get a wish granted. Today you don't die alone, but you'll be alone in hell in just a short time."

"Hear that, Nappa? Sounds like we're going to Earth." the scouter sounded.

Raditz coughed up blood.

"They're coming, Vegeta, Nappa." his eyes unfocused, and as energy continued to drain he deflated some. "They're a year out. They'll use the balls. I'll return. We'll be immortal. A year in hell. Sounds like a good vaca..."

With a final blast, Piccolo silenced Raditz.

From the sky a capsule plane landed, opening to reveal Krillin, Bulma, and Master Roshi.

In a flash, Roshi and Bulma were at Goku's side. Panic filled their voices as they realized Goku had no pulse and Roshi felt his student's energy vanish, shortly before his body did the same.

Krillin, being Goku's oldest friend, would have regrets for not being there as he died, but Gohan was more important. The monk cradled the young boy, holding back sobs and vomit. He had seen battles. Broken arms, open wounds, they were one thing. But this, to destroy the eyes of a helpless child, was beyond evil.

"One year."

"What?" Krillin glanced at Piccolo.

"In one year, two more Saiyans are coming." Piccolo shared.

"Two more? Raditz mentioned them, he said his power was nothing compared to them." Krillin began to shake.

"We're all going to die." Bulma collapsed from her knees on to the grass where Goku was. "We need Goku."

"Gohan did most of the damage to this Saiyan. If Earth is going to survive this, so I can rule it, he is going to need to train.' Piccolo appeared near the shuttering boy.

"He's a boy, he's blind. We don't have beans, it's doubtful he'll recover from this. He can't train, he can't fight." Krillin held the boy closer.

"We'll find a way. Train. Get with the other fighters, and train. I'm taking the boy, and I'm training him." Piccolo grabbed the boy and rose into the air, holding Gohan by the head, not caring for the extreme discomfort he was putting him in.

Author's note: Edited by StevenBodner 3/28/2021. Finally got rid of the pink cloud while we were at it.