Raditz Arrives

Somewhere on Earth, in a field.

A farmer stood there with a hunting rifle over his shoulder, staring dumbfounded at the spherical spaceship descending from the sky. It crashed into the field, kicking up clouds of dust and destroying a large swath of crops.

"W-what is that?!"

The hatch opened, and someone stepped out.

He was a tall Saiyan with spiky black hair, wearing a Battle Suit from the Frieza Force. He had no tail behind him—or rather, it was wrapped around his waist. His face wore a haughty arrogance, and his eyes swept over the surroundings as if everyone there were an ant.

Raditz.

He raised a hand and tapped the Scouter beside his ear. A string of numbers flashed across its red lens.

"Power level... five?"

He looked at the trembling farmer, the corner of his mouth curling into a cruel smile.

"Trash with a power level of only five."

The farmer shakily raised his rifle. "D-don't come any closer! I-I have a gun!"

"A gun?" Raditz threw his head back and laughed as if he'd heard a joke. "Hahahaha! You dare point that toy at a Saiyan?"

He raised a hand. A purple ball of energy gathered in his palm, its light blinding, its power warping the air around it.

"Die, trash."

The energy ball left his hand and shot straight toward the farmer—and the village behind him!

The farmer shut his eyes in despair.

But the explosion he expected never came.

"Boom?"

The farmer opened his eyes and saw the back of someone wearing orange, standing between him and the energy ball. The person simply waved a hand, as if swatting a fly, and batted the energy ball—powerful enough to destroy half the village—up into the sky.

"Whoosh—"

The energy ball vanished into the clouds, dwindling to a tiny point of light.

"What?!" Raditz's pupils contracted.

The figure in orange slowly turned around, revealing a face both familiar and unfamiliar to Raditz—a face much like that of his father, Bardock.

Looking more closely, he saw the man's unruly black hair, sharply defined features, and tail swaying leisurely behind him.

"Hey, Raditz." Son Goku flashed a bright smile and waved. "How are you?"

Raditz stiffened all over as his Scouter flashed wildly.

"Kakarot? You... You're Kakarot?!"

"I'm the real deal." Son Goku tilted his head. "Big brother, what are you doing on Earth?"

Raditz recovered from his shock, then broke into a ferocious grin. "You're asking me what I'm doing?! I should be asking you! What's going on with this planet? Why haven't you killed all the natives yet?!"

"Why would I kill them?" Son Goku asked, confused.

"What?!" Raditz's eyes widened, then he roared, "Looks like you've forgotten your mission, Kakarot! Let your big brother remind you what you're supposed to do!"

He raised his hand again, gathering an even larger ball of energy!

"Wait," Son Goku said, waving a hand. "Let's fight somewhere else. There are a lot of innocent people here."

Raditz paused, then sneered. "Hmph. You won't escape a beating wherever we go! Lead the way, my foolish little brother!"

Son Goku smiled and shot into the air.

[Piccolo...]

[Might as well let you see what the world has to offer.]

Piccolo's home, in the wilderness not far from West City.

Piccolo sat cross-legged on a rock, meditating. Several years had passed, and he had grown from an adolescent into a young man. His green skin gleamed in the sunlight, and his white martial arts uniform was spotless.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"Two sources of ki... One belongs to Son Goku, and the other..." His brows knitted together. "Evil, violent... filthy!"

"Piccolo!"

Son Goku's voice came from above.

Piccolo looked up and saw Son Goku slowly descending, followed by the tall Saiyan.

"Son Goku," Piccolo asked coldly as he got to his feet. "Who is he?"

"Just an idiot who kills without batting an eye," Son Goku said with a shrug.

Raditz flew into a rage. "Kakarot! How dare you talk about your big brother like that?!"

Piccolo looked at Son Goku in shock. "This guy... is your big brother?!"

"Yeah," Son Goku said with a nod. "We're both Saiyans."

"I see." Piccolo crossed his arms. "Then why did you bring him here?"

"To let you see what the world has to offer," Son Goku said seriously. "And... help me loosen him up a bit."

"What?!" Piccolo and Raditz shouted at the same time.

Raditz burst out laughing. "Kakarot! Have you gone crazy?! You think this green-skinned piece of trash can take me on?!"

Piccolo looked coldly at Raditz. "Who are you calling trash?"

"I'm calling everyone here trash!" Raditz spread his arms, his face full of arrogance. "Especially you, green monster! My Scouter says your power level is only 116! And I—Lord Raditz—have a power level of 1,500!"

Earthlings all knew how to hide their power levels, so Raditz's Scouter only registered Piccolo at 116.

Piccolo didn't know his exact power level, but he could tell this guy in front of him was indeed a little stronger.

"What's wrong? Scared?" Raditz sneered. "Get on your knees and beg, and maybe I'll let you die quickly!"

Piccolo didn't back down. Instead, he assumed a fighting stance. "I, King Piccolo... never beg for mercy!"

"Now that's spirit! Then die!"

Raditz moved.

He was astonishingly fast, a little faster than Piccolo could react!

In a flash, Raditz appeared in front of him and drove a heavy punch toward Piccolo's abdomen!

"Bang!"

Piccolo blocked Raditz's heavy punch with both hands, but the impact sent him stumbling backward more than a dozen steps, his arms numb.

"Oh? You blocked it?" Raditz raised an eyebrow. "Not bad! But what about this?"

He became a blur, his punches and kicks raining down! Piccolo blocked quickly. At first, he was a little flustered, but gradually he realized that although Raditz had a slightly higher power level, he was clearly inferior at controlling his ki, and his techniques weren't anything special either. Piccolo began to enjoy the match.

"Too slow! Too slow!"

Raditz taunted him as he attacked. "Did you skip a meal?! Trash! Are those limp, weak punches supposed to tickle me, an Elite Warrior?!"

Raditz's verbal attacks started to irritate Piccolo.

I'm using you as a whetstone, and you're still running your mouth. So what if your power level's higher? Your ki control is awful! If it weren't so hard to find an evenly matched opponent, I'd have already knocked you flat!

"Saiyan." Piccolo slowly raised a hand toward Raditz, who was still chattering.

"You just said... you're an Elite Warrior?"

"And I'm just trash with a power level in the hundreds?"

Raditz's pupils contracted sharply. He sensed that something was wrong.

Piccolo's mouth curled into a dangerous smile as green ki slowly rose around him.

"Now let me, this 'trash,' teach you—"

"What a fight is."

"Bang!"

The ground beneath Piccolo's feet caved in with a roar, and he vanished in an instant. When he appeared again, he was already above Raditz!

Raditz hurriedly looked up, but all he saw were Piccolo's cold, white eyes.

"Your ki... is too scattered."

Piccolo's voice was right beside him.

"Boom—!!!"

A chop struck the back of Raditz's neck. He plunged into the ground like a meteor, blasting out a crater ten meters across!

Piccolo slowly landed beside the crater, looking down at Raditz as he coughed up blood at the bottom.

"Cough... cough..." Raditz struggled to get up. His Scouter had been smashed halfway through and dangled precariously from his ear. "Impossible... I'm an Elite Warrior... How could I lose to trash from a low-level planet...?"

Piccolo didn't respond. He looked at Son Goku instead.

Son Goku nodded at him. "I'll take it from here!"