Ch. 131: The Planet Trembles! Z-Fighters' Last Resort!

"Come on, Uncle Raditz! Just... a little... further!" Gohan panted as he and Raditz helped each other to the shore, barely hovering above the water. Finally, they managed to find solid ground, landing with a thud, both completely spent. Honestly, it was a miracle that they'd managed to make it this far.

"Where are the others?" Raditz panted.

"Buying time. Hanna said that dad once told her about a last resort that you learned from King Kai. The others are planning on buying you time to use it." Gohan explained, causing Raditz's expression to turn even more grim than it'd already been.

...

"Raditz, Goku, to be honest here, I don't think you're going to be strong enough to defeat the Saiyans by the time that they make it to Earth. It's just impossible, sorry." King Kai had told Goku and Raditz shortly into the nine months or so that they'd trained with him. 

"You may be right, but I've still gotta try!" Goku argued with the Kai. Still unsure of his path going forward, Raditz had said nothing. 

"If you're going to go for it no matter what, then I'll give you all the help that I can, as your teacher... Goku, it's time for you to learn the Spirit Bomb." King Kai had declared, a solemn expression on his face, nonverbally communicating the importance of the technique that he was about to impart. 

"I'm ready!" Goku had declared, eager to learn anything that would help him protect his family.

"Raditz, I'm sorry, but only a truly pure heart can gather the energy necessary to create a spirit bomb. You need to have a soul pure enough for the planet itself to trust your intentions, or the technique will fall short. You'll likely never be able to use the Spirit Bomb." King Kai had told the Saiyan. Those words stuck with Raditz now.

...

"I'm sorry, Gohan, but if all of our lives are depending on me using that technique, then we're all going to die. I can't do it." Raditz told his nephew self-deprecatingly.

"So you're not even going to try?!" Gohan asked, an edge to his voice.

"Gohan, I can't do it... That technique..." Raditz repeated. Gohan replied by punching him in the gut. Despite the fact that the young boy was too tired for it to do any harm, it still surprised Raditz.

"If you don't even try, then how do you know that you can't do it!? Our friends, even Vegeta, are fighting right now... risking everything, betting it all on you! Frieza's stronger than all of us! So strong that even if we all ganged up together, the rest of us probably couldn't even scratch him, but you did! Hanna's so tired that she can barely fly! Vegeta just recovered from almost dying, and Piccolo and Krillin are so out of their depth it's almost laughable, but they're all putting everything that they have into buying just a few minutes for you! Because they all believe in you! You don't get to give up with all of their hopes riding on you!" Gohan shouted at his uncle, channeling Piccolo's harsh spirit with every word. 

When he'd originally been picked up by Piccolo, Gohan had been a whiny child, unable to do much of anything without crying, but his encounters during his wilderness training had taught Gohan something... If you fail, you get hurt, then you get up and try again anyways. Pain and setbacks were just obstacles to be overcome, nothing more. Unbeknownst to Gohan, he'd only managed to learn that lesson due to his childhood with Hanna as a role model, but that didn't change anything. 

"... Alright." Gohan's tirade had touched Raditz's heart. Gohan was completely right, and his anger at Raditz was totally justified. "I'll try it... but it's probably going to fail." He admitted, raising his arms reluctantly. They didn't have anything to lose, after all. If he tried to create a Spirit Bomb and failed, then Kakarot would probably be able to succeed later. Even if it didn't work, if it bought his brother just a few more seconds to recover, then it'd be worth it.

'Alright, Namek... no, that won't be enough... Galaxy... anywhere that can hear my plea, I don't care! Give me your energy, even if it's only the tiniest bit, please! This may be the only chance that we have to save the countless innocent lives that Frieza's going to go on to destroy once he's done here... My brother's family, the people on Earth, here too, who accepted me after I killed my own brother, I want to protect them, and I need your power to do it! Please, galaxy, lend me your power!' Raditz begged silently for energy, raising his arms to the heavens. At first, nothing happened. Just as he expected, but Raditz just couldn't give up.

So he kept trying... begging the universe for the power to protect his family and friends.

After a few moments, something magical suddenly happened. Raditz could feel the energy in the air, just a little bit of it, enter his system, so he immediately began channeling it into the Spirit Bomb that he was attempting to create above his head. After the first bit of trickling, the power began flowing into him full-force, not just from Namek, but from the other nearby planets as well. His reach didn't extend into the far reaches of the solar system in which Namek sat, much less the galaxy, but it was more than enough power in Raditz's eyes, and he was grateful all the same. 

Hands extended to the sky, while Vegeta, Piccolo, and Hanna distracted Frieza, Raditz began channeling the energy into the Spirit Bomb above their heads with every bit of his focus, trusting in the others to keep Frieza too busy to look up at all. If they failed and Frieza noticed the Spirit Bomb, then one way or another, they'd all die. Raditz knew it, so he put every ounce of mental energy he had into finishing that Spirit Bomb before that happened.