Chapter 19* – Earth’s Strongest Against Raditz!

The wind howled through the field by the crater's edge, carrying with it a swirling haze of dust that shrouded the landscape, lightly obscuring the surroundings. The once vibrant field was now a barren wasteland, scorched from some catastrophic impact.

Amid this landscape, three warriors stood in a solemn and tense standoff, their silhouettes partially veiled by the dust. The silence that suddenly hung in the air was eerie, broken only by the distant, mournful wail of the wind.

Opposite Raditz, both Piccolo and Goku's breaths hitched, their throats constricting as they swallowed nervously at the conversation that had just occurred. From the moment they met Raditz, he had exuded nothing but unwavering strength and confidence, a formidable force that had seemed insurmountable, forcing the two of them to team up just for a chance at victory. Yet, that same insurmountable force's entire body abruptly locking in sheer terror at the mere sound of a person's voice was a sight that sent an unsettling chill through the core of their very beings.

"Who were those two we just heard?" Piccolo inquired, trying to buy a few moments to mentally fortify himself for the impending battle ahead.

"My comrade and superiors. Both are fellow Saiyans, and both surpass my own strength significantly, particularly Prince Vegeta." Raditz took a deep breath, a tinge of hesitation in his tone as he replied, knowing that the scouter was still silently relaying their conversation.

After saying his piece, Raditz closed his eyes, and a heavy silence fell over the battleground as everyone absorbed the weight of that foreboding response. When he opened his eyes again, both Goku and Piccolo flinched as if an invisible wave of malevolence had crashed over them. The intensity of the killing intent emanating from Raditz sent shivers down Goku's spine and made Piccolo clench his fists in preparation.

"Sorry, little brother. I gave you as many chances as I could, but orders are orders." Raditz said lowly, his words laced with regret and finality. He subtly shifted his weight, causing his armor to emit a low, ominous creak as he entered a battle stance.

"Raditz, there's no need for this. You can still reconsider!" Goku implored. In one final attempt to avoid violence, Goku extended an offer with sincerity, "We can join forces, and we will fight against them together!"

At that statement, Raditz laughed, the sound slicing through the tense air, helpless and bitter.

"Hahaha! It's too late! If you wanted that, then why didn't you accept my damn offer?!" Raditz retorted, shaking his head in disbelief at Kakarot's ironic proposal. A brief moment later, he fixed a chilling gaze on Goku, darkness flickering in his eyes. "You underestimate the sheer terror that is Prince Vegeta, little brother. My battle power is over 1,200, astronomical compared to the two of you. Yet, I'd choose to kill you instead of joining you without a second thought, any time, any day, if it means I don't have to face his wrath."

Goku tightened his fists grimly at the response, his knuckles paling starkly as he prepared himself for the now inevitable confrontation with his older brother.

Piccolo's brow furrowed, a deep frown etching across his features. While he wasn't averse to the concept of taking lives when necessary to achieve his goals, the thought of killing his own family, or allies, even out of fear, left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Well, I finally see the family resemblance. Goku is a dumbass, and you're just an ass." Piccolo quipped, his voice dripping with disdain.

Raditz's face twitched at the insult but gave no further reaction.

Like the calm before the storm, a heavy silence enveloped the imminent battlefield. The tension in the air was almost suffocating, and the fighters' energy crackled with anticipation. Raditz's scouter beeped and he flicked his eyes at it. 445 and 408, piece of cake. 

Without a word exchanged among them, each figure simultaneously leaped into action, marking the beginning of a battle that had been building for far too long.

Raditz was the first to initiate an attack, lunging forward so swiftly that he vanished from sight. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Goku and Piccolo, the air crackling with energy as he unleashed powerful palm strikes, one from each hand.

Goku and Piccolo sensed the impending danger and their reflexes kicked in, both evading the palm strikes with hairbreadth precision. The ground trembled as the shockwaves from the near misses reverberated forward.

Of the two, Goku spun around, launching a rapid spinning kick at Raditz in an instant. Raditz, his senses sharp, narrowly avoided the attack, feeling the rush of air as Goku's foot passed inches from his face.

The three combatants swiftly disengaged for distance, creating a short-lived pause in the battle. A moment of tense stillness hung in the air before in a sudden, explosive burst of action, all three figures hurtled towards each other, two colliding with one at incredible speeds. A high-velocity confrontation ensued as each warrior unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes and kicks in a whirlwind of movement.

The flurry of blows didn't last too long before Raditz noticed an opening and capitalized on the opportunity, seizing the moment to deliver a powerful kick into Piccolo's chest, sending the Namekian hurtling away.

As Piccolo was sent sprawling, Goku and Raditz locked onto each other, engaging in a frenzied exchange of lightning-fast punches and kicks. Each blow landed with a bone-rattling force, and the shockwaves from their clashes sent powerful ripples through the battlefield.

Sent hurtling away from the fight, Piccolo decided to temporarily maintain his distance, his sharp eyes never leaving the fight as he assessed the unfolding confrontation. He needs to rejoin quickly because he knows Goku won't last too long alone. At this moment, that human brat's advice rang through his mind. Fight tricky, huh? Piccolo began to charge an energy attack, concealing it behind his back, ready to be unleashed when he inevitably entered the fray once more.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the battle, Goku managed to land a few glancing blows on Raditz. However, it became painfully clear that Raditz was largely unhurt. A nonchalant smile graced Raditz's face, a stark contrast to the intensity of their furious exchange. With swift precision, Raditz deftly deflected one of Goku's blows, forcing him to overextend.

In that split-second vulnerability, Raditz retaliated with a brutal knee to Goku's gut, stunning him momentarily. Raditz flexed his fists and prepared a follow-up strike.

Raditz smirked. Lesson One - Deflect and now Lesson Five - Press Your Advantage. Thank you for teaching him those nuggets of combat wisdom, Nappa. 

Piccolo made the calculated decision to rejoin at this crucial moment, propelling himself forward with all his speed and concealing a fully charged Ki blast within his clenched fist. As he closed in on his target, Piccolo telegraphed his movement and punched forward in a classic superhero punch.

As Piccolo approached, Raditz was forced to abruptly halt his follow-up strike against Goku to deal with the new threat. Raditz, sneering at the disgustingly telegraphed trajectory of the attack, quickly raised one hand before him, intending to catch the incoming punch. However, to Raditz's surprise, the punch halted just inches from his outstretched palms, never making contact.

A sly grin crossed Piccolo's face. Ever so casually, right before Raditz's stunned gaze, Piccolo shifted his clenched fist a few inches to the left and unfurled his hand to reveal the fully charged Ki blast within. Raditz barely had enough time to widen his eyes before the Ki blast hurtled forward into his face.

The force of the explosion sent shockwaves rippling through the battlefield, and the acrid scent of smoke filled the air. Raditz, now shrouded in smoke and debris, was momentarily obscured from view. What happened?! That blast was not in the four-hundred range!

As he suspended himself in midair within the engulfing smoke and chaos, a sudden revelation struck him like a bolt of lightning, causing a frown to spread across his face. It turns out these sons of bitches can elevate their power levels, particularly when they unleashed their energy-based attacks. It suddenly became clear why his scouter had registered mid-800 moments ago when Big Green himself was barely over 400.

Raditz scowled. In all his prior battles, the scouter's readings had also been his enemies' max energy output, which provided him a sense of predictability and control over the outcome. But if Kakarot and Big Green had the ability to elevate their power levels beyond that… then the rules of the fight have fundamentally changed. It means that if given enough time, they can create an attack strong enough to take him out. His victory is no longer guaranteed.

As Raditz adjusted to this newfound deduction, his scouter emitted another, urgent beep, signaling another rapidly rising power level. It had already climbed to 700, which means one of them must be charging something at this very moment. With a burst of energy, Raditz propelled himself out of the lingering smoke. His vision cleared just in time to reveal the ominous sight of Piccolo hovering above him dangerously close, a charged energy beam in his mouth, poised to be unleashed upon him.

In a desperate attempt to evade the impending attack, Raditz swiftly retreated by flying backward in a random and evasive pattern. However, his retreat was abruptly thwarted when Goku rushed upwards beneath him and delivered an unexpected kick to his back, propelling him skywards.

Piccolo did not waste the given opportunity. At nearly the same time, Piccolo fired the deadly energy projectile downwards.

Crossing his arms before him in a last-minute defense, Raditz frowned darkly as the impact became inevitable. '950. Son of a bitch.'

The energy blast struck him with a thunderous impact, scorching his armor and engulfing him in a violent explosion. Raditz bore the full brunt of the attack, his body subjected to the unforgiving power of the Ki blast.

Within the swirling dust cloud, Raditz shook his head, dispelling the ringing in his ears and working to straighten his thoughts. The fact that both of them had managed to pinpoint his location through the dense smoke indicated they were somehow able to detect his energy. Could it be that they possessed some form of advanced energy-sensing abilities? Oh! Is that why they were able to locate him all the way from those weird-ass pink birds without a single scouter between the two of them?

"Prince Vegeta, Nappa, reporting. It appears that the warriors of this planet have the ability to concentrate their energy beyond their detected baseline, making scouter readings misleading. They also seem to possess the ability to detect energy without scouters. Given that Kakarot is a Saiyan, it's possible that both these abilities are learnable techniques."

"Affirmative." Nappa's lone voice crackled through the scouter.

Refocusing on the ongoing battle, Raditz couldn't deny that the remarkable level of coordination between his two adversaries had genuinely caught him off-guard and left him vulnerable to their coordinated attacks. However, now that he had a better grasp of their teamwork and their 'unique' abilities, Raditz knew it was time for the tables to turn in his favor.

Piccolo levitated outside the dissipating smoke, his senses straining as he attempted to detect Raditz through the lingering disturbance of the explosion. A growing sense of unease gnawed at him as he detected a subtle shift of something on the battlefield. Suddenly, he cried out a warning, his voice filled with urgency, but it was too late.

"Weekday Special!" Raditz roared. With sinister delight, a relentless onslaught of energy blasts erupted from the smoke towards Goku and Piccolo. The deadly barrage forced Goku and Piccolo to push themselves to the limits as they desperately dodged and weaved, narrowly avoiding each of the countless energy blasts.

Raditz, reinvigorated with a surge of confidence, launched himself at Goku with unmatched ferocity, crashing into Goku who was still dodging. In that brief moment of shock, Raditz seized the advantage once more, delivering a double-handed bone-shattering blow that sent Goku hurtling to the ground, the impact of which resonated through the field.

Unrelenting, Raditz wasted no time capitalizing on his advantage. With a seamless follow-up, he prepared for the next stage of his assault.

"Saturday Crush!" he bellowed, throwing a menacing pink energy sphere at Goku, who had remained grounded after the devastating strike moments ago.

Without missing a beat, with seamless fluidity, Raditz pivoted a full 180 degrees to face Piccolo, who had been charging forward to intervene in the battle. Raditz uncurled his other hand, revealing a second pink orb, savoring the look of horror that twisted his opponent's face.

"Payback, bitch! Black Friday!"

With that exclamation, Raditz proceeded to slam the orb directly into Piccolo's gut, sending the Namekian flying backward. A beat later, both energy spheres detonated in absolute synchrony.

Noting that both opponents are temporarily down for the count, Raditz took the golden chance before him to remove one from the game permanently. Kakarot is a bit stronger so he would do just fine. A triumphant grin crossed his face as he ignited his signature attack with a surge of energy, both of his hands crackling with potent energy.

"Take this! Double Sunday!" Raditz's voice resonated with exertion as he thrust both of his hands forward. Two brilliant pink energy beams shot forth, converging into a singular beam that hurtled toward Goku at astonishing speed.

Facing that lethal beam, Goku can say with full confidence that he had never fired a Kamehameha as fast as he did at that moment.

"Kamehameha!" Goku roared defiantly. With a single knee on the ground, he harnessed every last bit of energy within him as he unleashed his iconic attack, a vibrant blue beam of energy that surged forth, crackling with power.

As the two formidable beams collided, the blue brilliance of Goku's Kamehameha clashed with the vivid pink energy of Raditz's attack, sparks flying at the point of collision.

Goku gritted his teeth, his muscles straining as he poured every ounce of his strength into the beam. He could feel the immense pressure of Raditz's energy bearing down on his Kamehameha. Inch by inch, his Kamehameha was losing ground. Goku grimaced as he poured more energy into expanding his attack, feeling his Ki rapidly decreasing but still barely maintaining control and being overwhelmed.

"Scatter Shot!"

A series of smaller Ki blasts soared through the air and bombarded Raditz's back continuously. Each successive blast found its mark, driving Raditz to grit his teeth. The Saiyan warrior was forced to turn his head around, his eyes locking onto the culprit, Piccolo, who, despite looking half dead, wore that same smug grin on his face.

"KAMEHAMEE–" As Goku rose from one knee to both feet, he poured as much energy as he could into his attack. "HAAAA!!"

Raditz's gaze was forced downward to the Kamehameha that was rapidly expanding and surging towards him. Caught between the relentless assault on his back and the intensifying beam struggle with Kakarot's Kamehameha in front, Raditz was unable to maintain his energy output. Even with strained effort, his beam began to weaken, its vivid pink hues waning in a moment of weakness.

In that instant, Goku's Kamehameha overwhelmed Raditz's beam, reaching him in an instant and causing an earth-shattering explosion that engulfed the entire area.

As the enormous dust cloud rose, Piccolo descended to the ground, landing beside Goku. Both of them gazed intently into the aftermath of the colossal explosion, ignoring the scattering debris and the silence that slowly descended over the battlefield. After something like that, it had to be over, right? Neither Piccolo nor Goku believed they could have survived the sheer devastation of that.

"Where are you looking?" suddenly came a voice from behind.

Goku and Piccolo whirled around at the unexpected sound, eyes wide, and were greeted with a powerful fist to their guts, the impact sending shockwaves through their bodies. They launched backward, their bodies plowing through the ground and carving a deep groove as the earth itself struggled to halt their momentum. After coming to a halt, with immense effort, both fighters managed to raise their heads, staring in disbelief.

Before them, Raditz stood. His once-pristine Saiyan armor is now charred and battered. His wild, unruly hair jutted out chaotically in every direction, singed and in disarray. His hands were terribly burnt and stained red from his last-ditch, desperate attempt to catch the destructive force of the Kamehameha. His breaths were heavy, eyes feral as he endured the searing agony of the burns covering his entire body. 

All in all, Raditz looked like utter shit. However, there was no hint of weakness in his posture. He did not stumble, nor did he tremble. He stood there menacingly, blood steadily dripping from his injuries, and every bit as resolute as he had been at the battle's outset.

"You two are just full of surprises, aren't you?" Raditz remarked calmly, his voice strained from the pain of his injuries. He took a moment to catch his breath, acutely aware of how uncomfortably close he was to death from the previous move.

Goku's face turned grim at the sight. He forced himself upright on his feet, pushing through his fatigue and wounds as he prepared himself for the continuation of the grueling battle.

"You got any more brilliant plans in that head of yours, Piccolo? Cause I'm out of Ki and ideas."

"Just one," Piccolo responded, also rising to his feet while wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's a new technique I've been working on, originally to be used against you. It'll win us the fight if it lands, but…"

"But?" Goku tilted his head inquisitively as Piccolo trailed off.

"… it requires a very long charge time."

"How long are we talking about here?"

Piccolo grimaced. "A few minutes."

"...this is a terrible technique."

"Shut your face. Like you have anything better." Piccolo retorted hotly with an annoyed scowl on his face.

"…"

"That's what I thought."

***

DBA Corner: Ki Suppression Clarified

In this DBA Corner, I'd like to provide further clarification on a point in the previous Ki section that I have not explained as clearly as I intended. More specifically, I want to address the idea that fighters from the greater universe cannot control the rate at which they expend their energy. My previous explanation implied an absolute inability to do so, which isn't entirely accurate.

In the context of the Dragon Ball universe, it is important to note that most fighters from other parts of the universe do have the ability to lower the strength of their attacks to some extent, depending on their talent and skill. In the canon series, it has been shown many times that other individuals can unleash attacks that are weaker than their maximum power and do not execute all of their techniques at full strength.

The key distinction between fighters of the universe and Z fighters lies in that the universe's fighters cannot exceed their baseline rate of energy flow nor concentrate their energy. While they can control their output to some extent, allowing it to dissipate or using shorter charge times to produce weaker blasts, their inherent limitation is that they are unable to focus their energy to create an attack more powerful than their base PL.

Since these fighters are unable to regulate the rate of the baseline radiation emitted from their bodies, this means that their baseline radiation represents the maximum energy output they can achieve. When they fire a weaker attack, the scouter detects two readings: a lower PL from the attack itself and a higher baseline radiation level. The scouter then registers the higher baseline as their PL, even though they might be using a less powerful attack at that moment.

Fighters with Ki control can deliberately focus and accumulate their Ki, making it possible for their attacks to surpass their PL. Raditz's surprise upon encountering this ability is why he stated that the rules of the battle have fundamentally changed. In every other instance, when Raditz or others measured an opponent's power level, it reflected the adversary's maximum PL. Thus, victory is guaranteed if your PL is decently higher than your enemy. In this instance, if the scouter's readings are wrong, then Raditz does not know their upper limit, and hence his victory is no longer guaranteed.

TLDR: Fighters from other parts of the universe can lower their PL, but not higher