Two figures faced off above the sea, creating sonic booms and shock waves so intense that they shook the water. The fighters moved across the sky at high speeds, constantly colliding and launching bursts of ki that exploded upon impact.
Suddenly, as if they had reached an agreement simultaneously, the two stopped facing each other, 200 meters apart. One of them was Krillin, who had a big smile on his face as he looked at his opponent.
Goku, whose tail was wildly wagging behind him, made a pistol gesture; then, a red Ki sphere began growing at his fingertip as his energy accumulated and compressed several times at high speed.
"It seems that married life hasn't distracted you, Goku," Krillin muttered, watching his friend's new attack and feeling deep fear about the power it could unleash. He could sense that Goku had gone further in infusing his energy with emotion.
"It has never distracted me! I always make time to train, even when I'm working or studying. Bulma has tonics that make two hours of sleep equivalent to eight," Goku replied with a subtle smile.
"Don't you have a new attack, too? Come on, Krillin!" urged the Saiyan, eager to see his friend's progress. Krillin nodded.
"I suppose I should respond with an equally interesting attack, right? Then, watch this..." Krillin put his palms together, leaving a gap between them. When his energy began to build up, a wave of heat surged from his position and spread throughout the space, reaching even Kame House, which was several kilometers away.
"It looks like Krillin is about to launch that attack again," said Ten Shin Han, who was outside Kame House and could sense Krillin's actions.
He clicked his tongue apprehensively; he knew how powerful that attack was. Then he turned to look at Yamcha, who, like him, was paying attention to the fight through ki perception.
"You know, he wants to show Goku his best. I never thought he would visit us. He's usually very busy. And he brought little Gohan!" Yamcha replied before looking toward Kame House. Although he couldn't see it, he could sense the ki of several people:
There was Muten Roshi, Umigame, and Son Gohan, or old Gohan, as he now called himself, since he had a great-grandson. He also sensed Bulma, Lazuli, and Chi-Chi, as well as a small energy signature that he identified as Gohan, the son of his friend Goku.
"Do you think Bulma will get angry because of the sudden heat wave? I heard from Yulin that sudden temperature changes affect women's hair. If Bulma's hair suddenly frizzes up because of Krillin's attack..." Chaoz, who was always floating around using his psychic powers, suddenly spoke up, causing Ten Shin Han and Yamcha to stare at each other for a few seconds.
"Let's put up a barrier," said Ten Shin Han. He raised his hands, channeled his energy, and created a transparent cover that merged with those created by his companions.
The barrier absorbed the ki of the three men and covered the small island where Kame House was located. The people inside the house sensed this, but none of them came out to check because they did not feel any imminent danger.
...
Returning to the fight between Goku and Krillin, the two of them channeled their attacks. Although the red light at the tip of Goku's finger seemed calm, the energy fluctuations it emitted made Krillin break out in a sweat.
'He's gotten much stronger in all this time. Even though we haven't fought in years, his power still gives me chills!' thought Krillin before sensing his own attack.
In his hands was something. It was a small point of white light that emanated a lot of heat, and its influence seemed much more powerful than Goku's attack. However, Krillin knew this was because he still couldn't control this technique very well.
'Master Gohan and Bulma's scientific techniques aren't my style, but their advice on controlling this was really useful. I hope this attempt will demonstrate my growth to Goku,' Krillin reflected before looking into his opponent's eyes. His opponent seemed to sense his intentions.
"Rampage!" the Saiyan shouted, firing the small ball of concentrated energy he held in his hand. It flew quickly toward its target.
"Sun God!" Krillin shouted, throwing the small white sphere trapped between his palms. When both attacks met halfway, they suddenly changed before colliding.
True to its name, Goku's Ki attack suddenly grew. Its spherical surface distorted as if something wanted to break out from inside it. It was an orderly yet chaotic sphere of energy!
This seemed to symbolize Goku's situation somewhat. Weren't Saiyans people who contained a chaotic force beneath their normal selves? Goku based a new technique on this concept, and this was the first time he had used it in a fight.
Meanwhile, the sphere launched by Krillin changed color when it collided with Goku's energy attack. It turned from white to red and then to the other colors of the visible light spectrum.
Both attacks caused the sea to churn and the clouds to part. Many people who could sense Ki looked up and gazed in their direction. In normal times, this wouldn't be a problem, but today...
There was a visitor from the sky. This clash of powers was like a beacon to this being, who decided to check out the situation. After all, he did not expect to encounter such high levels of power on a backward planet like Earth.
He did not believe the rumors about this particular world.
...
Deep in the universe, a metal sphere, a spaceship, traveled through the eternal darkness that characterized the void, following a defined trajectory. The person inside the ship watched the blue planet grow larger and larger in the fisheye lens.
'After so long, I've finally come to see you, Kakarot,' thought Raditz. He had emerged from deep meditation and, with several commands, prepared his ship to land in an apparently deserted area of the planet.
Unbeknownst to him, several satellites captured the ship's descent. He had not activated stealth mode, which was reserved for worlds with advanced technology known in certain star regions.
Earthlings were backward and weak. Those who did not take this world seriously had an image of Earth and its inhabitants. Thus, the Saiyan did not activate his ship's stealth mode and exposed himself to certain technological powers:
Among those who did not take Earth seriously were Emperor Pilaf, Doctor Gero, the Brief family, Doctor Norimaki, and Doctor Omori. They were all able to detect and track the ship that brazenly landed on Earth. They even captured images of the person who got out of it.
Of course, when Pilaf saw the brown tail of the tall, burly man with long hair, he stopped watching because he thought it was just someone else related to Son Goku. He had no plans to mess with that annoying guy yet.
For the others, who knew Goku's true nature, it was a wake-up call. Were the aliens already noticing them, or was this man coming for Goku? They didn't know, but as the brilliant minds that they were, they remained cautious.
Dr. Brief quickly sent this information to his daughter, Bulma, who was playing with Gohan by tossing him into the air and catching him. Young Gohan laughed constantly, enjoying himself.
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't let anyone else do that to my son," said Chi-Chi with a certain resignation. After all, her son wasn't in danger. In fact, the boy was having a good time.
"I would never drop Gohan headfirst," Bulma declared seriously. This caused Chi-Chi to narrow her eyes. She felt that her friend's words were unusually specific this time.
"Sometimes she says things that sound related to things that never happened, but could have. Maybe she saw something while exploring other timelines?" Lazuli asked, making Chi-Chi feel fearful. In some world out there, did her little Gohan fall headfirst? How horrible!
The blue-haired girl laughed, not wanting to give a real answer. Then, something vibrated in her pocket. From the pattern of the movement, she realized it was a message she had to deal with.
"Well, little one, give me a moment. It looks like I have an urgent message," Bulma said, putting Gohan down on the floor. He nodded, being quite polite for his age.
"Okay, Aunt Bulma..." When he said 'aunt,' the little Saiyan hybrid's tail bristled instinctively like a cat's. When he looked up, he saw Bulma's terrifying blue eyes calmly watching him.
"Sister Bulma?" Gohan asked doubtfully. Bulma bent down slightly and ruffled the red cap covering his head, which was decorated with a four-star Dragon Ball.
"Well said," Bulma whispered before checking her phone. She looked at the message her father had sent her. When she saw the photograph clearly showing Raditz, she narrowed her eyes.
'It looks like he's finally here. The question is, will you die in pain or in glory this time?' Bulma wondered internally, eager to see what would be different this time.
"Well, Chi-Chi, it looks like we'll have family visitors soon," Bulma said, raising her phone and holding it in front of Chi-Chi.
"Hmmm. Hey, he really looks like Goku." After understanding what she was seeing, Chi-Chi noticed certain features that the man seemed to share with her husband.
Not to mention his tail! What she didn't understand was why this person had appeared now. Was he coming after Goku? They knew a little about how the Saiyans operated, thanks to Jaco and the Space Forum.
Apart from Goku, the remaining Saiyans in the universe were no saints! Reports could be read every so often about a new planet being invaded, conquered, and then sold by Freezer's army.
The Saiyan trio was the best known among the many protagonists of these news stories. Vegeta, the last remaining member of the Saiyan royalty, was so infamous that groups would often gather with the intention of killing him in an ambush.
"As far as we know, Goku still has a brother out there. This guy just landed on our planet a few minutes ago, and he looks a lot like Goku, don't you think?" Bulma said, even though she already knew the answer.
"So we have to fight him? Those guys are supposed to be planetary invaders, right?" asked Lazuli. Bulma shook her head.
"Just let things unfold," replied the blue-haired woman with a big smile.
She wanted to see what would happen before taking any action.
...
Raditz looked around at his surroundings, the blue sky, the trees, and the occasional animal. For some reason, this place was so calm that he found himself breathing several times, relaxing his tense body.
"The gravity here is only one-tenth that of the planet Vegeta. Has Kakarot grown properly? Gravity this low causes weak bones and sick hearts!" Raditz muttered, somewhat concerned about his brother. However, the tone he used was arrogant and unusual.
His scouter wasn't activated, but he knew they were spying on him. They always were. He always had to pretend to have a different personality because, even though he didn't want to admit it, he had to stay with Vegeta and Nappa.
What would happen to him if he abandoned them? A quick death would be best. The universe hated the Saiyans! If he strayed from them and the news leaked out, he was certain that he would be hunted down, captured, tortured, and discarded on a star.
As Raditz pondered his situation, a primitive vehicle approached him. Soon, a stocky man wearing a straw hat appeared. He looked at Raditz in disbelief, but soon calmed down and adopted an awkward fighting stance.
"I knew it! I knew someone was trying to steal my cows! You use an expensive vehicle to rob a simple farmer like me? Damn it!" the farmer growled. He thought Raditz was one of the men he suspected of wanting to steal his cattle.
An alien? Please! There were blue, green, and pink people on this planet. A guy with a tail in a flying sphere could only be a city slicker with money, not an alien.
"Hmm?" Raditz, whose thoughts had been interrupted, stared at the strange earthling.
Seeing his fists raised, the Saiyan instinctively sensed his ki and noticed that it differed greatly from the records on this planet. On average, an adult Earthling is supposed to have only five units.
So why did the first man he encountered have a power level of 25 units? That was nothing to him, a planetary conqueror, but to this world, it meant one thing:
Earthlings were getting stronger! Just as he was about to ask the man about it, his scouter automatically activated due to an energy spike he detected in the distance.
Raditz looked up and sensed two ki signatures colliding, with power levels he certainly wouldn't have expected on this planet. He didn't know who was fighting, but if he wanted to learn more about his younger brother, he had to investigate.
Raditz rose to his feet, a crimson aura tinging his body, and soon flew in the direction he had sensed. The wind caused by his departure blew the farmer to the ground. He hadn't fully reacted yet, still frightened by what had just happened.
"Oh... looks like I'd better take a break," the farmer muttered, watching the red dot in the distance get smaller and smaller.