Chapter 4: The Saiyan from Earth

"So, these 'dragon balls' can grant any wish?" Vegeta's voice sent a chill down Raditz's spine—his hunger for power showed itself through every word. "Picture it: the immortal saiyans, rulers of the universe!"

Raditz forced himself to smile. It was an exciting prospect, but he still felt uneasy for some reason. "Yes…we'd be unstoppable—an eternity of combat!"

Vegeta chuckled. "Ah, Raditz…what's this 'we'? You honestly think you deserve immortality?"

"W-What?"

"You were beaten by a creature with a power under 2000, and you had to rely on your laughably weak brother and one of that planet's pathetic inhabitants to survive." His voice grew angry. "You dishonour the saiyan race! When we arrive on that planet, you and Kakarot will die along with your fellow insects—and then I will reign supreme over all of creation! Enjoy your last year, you utter failure!" The connection was cut off.

Raditz sunk to his knees, despair filling his mind. "How…how could he betray a fellow saiyan?" He pounded the ground, leaving a crater several feet wide. "I won the battle, damn it! I…I've got to get off this planet!" He stood up, only to discover his strength was finally running out, and he collapsed. Goku, standing next to him, caught him before he hit the ground, propping Raditz on his shoulder.

"Hey…Raditz! What's the matter? You sounded upset…"

"Kakarot, we have to leave this planet immediately!" Raditz looked up at his brother. "The other two saiyans, they're going to come here—it'll take them about a year—and they're going to kill every living thing on this planet, then use your dragon things to wish themselves immortal!"

"They'll kill us, too? Don't they have any loyalty or honour?"

"Apparently…" Raditz coughed, a trickle of blood running down his chin from his mouth. "…not."

"Well, whatever we're going to do, you need medical attention. I'll just get Tien's body and—" Goku looked around, but couldn't see the body. "—eh? I can't see it anywhere…and it was right over there. Maybe…someone made it vanish? Kami, or someone like that?" he shook his head. "I'll worry about that later." Bracing himself to fully support Raditz's weight, Goku took off into the air. "NIMBUS!"

"…And that's the whole story," Goku was saying. He was sitting on one of the couches inside Kame House, with his four-year-old son Gohan on his lap. Sitting opposite him were Bulma, Krillin, Master Roshi, Launch, and Chiaotzu (who he had met up with on the way back). Raditz was unconscious next to Goku, and Launch (currently in her shy, blue-haired personality) had thoughtfully placed a towel under him to stop him bleeding onto the couch.

"I…can't believe Tien's dead…" Chiaotzu sobbed, shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

"Don't worry, little guy," Goku replied. "We'll bring him back. But it'll take a while to gather the dragon balls. Right now we have to try and think what we're going to about these other two saiyans."

Krillin snapped his fingers. "Maybe we could ask Piccolo to help us!" Everyone looked at him in confusion. "Come on, think about it! If he's as powerful as you say, he might be our best bet at beating the saiyans. And why wouldn't he? If earth is destroyed, he won't get to rule it, right? So it's in everyone's best interests to fight them."

Roshi nodded. "You might be right—" He was interrupted by the hum of an engine outside. A few seconds later, the door opened and a short, somewhat round man carrying a katana walked in.

"Yaijerobe?" Bulma asked. "Hey, long time, no see…so what are you doing here?"

"Hey, nice to see you and all that stuff, but Korin said Kami wants to see you, Krillin—and he said to bring that Yamcha guy with you." Yaijerobe pointed at Krillin, looking slightly bored.

"Uh, why—" Krillin started to ask.

"Oh yeah," Yaijerobe continued, ignoring him, "and I got a message from Tien. He says he's gonna go get special training in the afterlife, or, uh, something…so don't wish him back until the year's up. Oh, and he said he doesn't want Chiaotzu to fight the saiyans."

"What?" Chiaotzu stood up. "Why not?"

"Uh, somethin' about…really powerful…doesn't want you to die, you've already been brought back once so it won't work again…that kinda thing." Yaijerobe turned to leave, heading out the door and hopping back into his aircar. "Well, see ya…I got somethin' nice in the oven."

"Wait!" Goku stood up, running out the door. "Yaijerobe, have you got a spare senzu bean?"

"Uh…" Yaijerobe rummaged through his pockets. "I didn't bring any specially for the occasion, but I usually have one or two around somewhere…aha." He produced a small, grey-coloured bean, tossing it to Goku. "Is that all I'm good for these days? Delivering messages and senzus?" Grumbling to himself, he drove off into the distance.

Goku walked back inside, then crouched next to Raditz, placing the bean in his mouth. He pressed two fingers to his brother's throat, making him swallow, and after a couple of seconds Raditz's eyes opened.

"Wha…" he sat up, looking down at his uninjured body. "I'm healed?" The humans in the room shrank back a little as he moved, especially those who could sense his enormous ki.

"Yup!" Goku grinned. "It's a senzu bean. Eat it, and all your wounds are healed! Neat, huh?"

Raditz stood up. "I appreciate your assistance, but I'm going to get to my ship and leave this planet. I'd advise you to come with me, unless you have a death wish." He retrieved a remote control from inside his armour. While this was happening, Launch felt a tickling sensation in her nose. Oh, here we go… she thought.

"Ah…"

"I'll just remotely activate it, and fly it here…can't find the damn button, I always get them mixed up…" Raditz muttered, not hearing the sharp intake of breath.

"Ah…"

"Ah, there—right next to the emergency brake, and the self-destruct on the other side." His finger hovered over the button.

"—CHOO!" Launch's sneeze, a sneeze of truly epic proportions, caused Raditz to flinch slightly, making his finger's trajectory skew slightly to the left as it pressed a button.

His eyes widened in shock. "No…it…" He glared at Launch, who had transformed into to her blonde, aggressive personality. "You imbecile! Do you even know what you've done?!" Raditz yelled at her. "You've made me activate the self-destruct on my ship! Now I can't get off this planet, unless your primitive little species has somehow developed interstellar travel, which I doubt!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Launch shouted back, producing a machine gun as if from nowhere. "The big tough alien warrior can't handle a little sneeze, and now it's my fault? Go to hell!" She opened fire, and Raditz batted the bullets aside with a sweep of his hand as the other humans cowered behind the couch.

"Go ahead! Make me even angrier! That'll work out well for you!" Raditz raised a fist, then noticed Goku staring at him. He struggled with himself, finally lowering his hand. "You're not worth the effort," he growled, "but if Kakarot wasn't here, I'd at least make some kind of example. Do not cross me, woman."

"Hmph." Launch crossed her arms. "I'm not scared a' you." She stormed off.

"Heheh…sorry about that…" Goku pulled Raditz aside. "But, uh, I think we need to get back to the matter at hand. If your ship's broken, you think you could use mine?" he asked, scratching his head.

"The one we sent you in?" Raditz shook his head. "No, you'd have stayed inside it until the first full moon, then destroyed it when you first transformed…" He didn't, of course, know that Goku's adoptive grandfather, Gohan, had found him before this happened-and Goku had been too small to remember clearly.

"Uh, full moon? Transformed?" Goku blinked. "Did I miss something?"

"Oh, come on, you can't have forgotten that!" Raditz glared at him. "You must know that the saiyans' full power only shows itself at the full moon…wait…your tail! What happened to it?"

"It got cut off a long time ago, so people couldn't grab it!" Goku looked thoughtful. "But…this does sound a little familiar…describe to me exactly what happens."

Raditz sighed. "Fine. If you must know…when a saiyan looks at a full moon—I won't go into the science of it—they transform into a giant primate-like creature."

"A…a giant monster?"

"Yes! Is there a problem with that?!" Raditz snapped.

Goku felt cold, empty, all of a sudden. "Then…that's why my Grandpa told me never to look at the full moon…and the monster that crushed him to death…it was me..." He fell silent, his face drained of all emotion.

"Ka…Kakarot?" Raditz asked tentatively. His brother was completely unresponsive. "Are you…"

"No…it's…it's okay." Goku sniffed a little, blinking several times and managing to keep his eyes from filling with tears. "I'm okay. I just needed a few seconds…l-like I said, we've got bigger things to worry about. So—we've established you can't get off the planet. So, either you can wait here for these other saiyans to come along and kill you, or you can spend the year we have preparing to fight them. There are plenty of strong fighters on this world—when they get here, we'll be ready. The only question is, will you help us?" He held out his hand.

With only a moment's hesitation, Raditz shook it. "It doesn't look like I have any choice, does it? As a true warrior, I can't go down without a fight!"

"All right then!" A huge smile filled Goku's face. He picked Gohan up from the floor, where the boy had been wandering. "I'll go drop the kid off at home, then I'll head to Kami's! Krillin—pick up Yamcha and meet us there. It's above Korin Tower, okay?"

"Got it." Krillin jumped up, stretching. "It's been a while since I've had a real fight." Goku headed for the door, but before leaving Raditz took off his scouter and placed it on the table in the centre of the room.

"Huh? Why're you leaving that?" Bulma asked.

"Because I've seen it's possible to sense power levels without one—and I'm going to learn how. It seems a lot more convenient than having to rely on a piece of technology. I figured you'd have more use for it than I would." He went to follow Goku. "And stop staring at me!" he snapped at Launch, who'd emerged from the other room as her shy persona.

"NIMBUS!" the younger saiyan called, jumping on as it arrived. Raditz, leaving the house, floated up next to him.

"Peculiar, that cloud of yours. Can't you fly under your own power?" he asked.

"Oh, sure," Goku shrugged, "but the Nimbus cloud is faster. Shall we go?"

"Lead the way," Raditz said with a hint of sarcasm, and the saiyans soared off into the horizon.