Disclaimer:

Dragonall and Dragonball Z and any such copyrights are all owned by Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation. All characters (Aside from any OCs I may or may not make up.) belong to Akira, and are in no way shape or form mine. The concept, and it's implementation are mine, nothing else.

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Chapter 1

Goku stood in front of the man who claimed to be his brother, his fists clenched with anger and pent up concern for his son who was screaming his head off in some alien space craft less than a hundred yards away from them. Next to him stood Krillin, his child hood best friend, and Piccolo, the spawn of the infamous Demon King Piccolo who he had defeated in the final battle of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament 5 years ago.

It was hard to believe how much had changed since that day. The two of them were even at a point where neither considered the other an enemy. Granted Piccolo still didn't care all that much for Goku at times, but he had developed a healthy respect for him. And to top it off, a couple of years before, in a truly ironic twist, he had formed a bond with his son. And that was the bulk of the reason he was willing to team up with Goku in the first place. Not that he would ever openly admit such a thing, especially to him of all people. If that fool knew that he could never live it down.

Goku himself had also changed quite dramatically. He was not the same naive child, wondering the world in search of adventure. Now he was a father with responsibilities. For some it had been huge surprise that Goku married Chi Chi the day following his victory over Piccolo, but in hindsight he couldn't see why. He had made a promise to marry her when they were still children, back then he had absolutely no idea what marriage was. He had even thought it was some sort of food; yet he certainly had liked her quite a bit…perhaps even loved her. After all, she was brave, noble, daring and beautiful. She was even an excellent fighter to top it all off.

Neither was it much of a surprise that they had a son roughly a year later, and that they named him in honor of his deceased grandfather. A son, who had a tail exactly like his own. He frowned, glancing at the crater next to them once more. He had gone to visit the old hermit and his friends roughly two months after Gohan's birth to spar a little and catch up, only to have his world turned upside down with information his mentor had been hiding since, long before Goku had even met him. Information that pertained to his tail.

What he had learned on that fateful day was why he was not all that shocked to see the being before him. Standing across from him with long unkempt black hair, onyx eyes and a furry brown tail exactly like his own, wrapped neatly around his waist. This man said they were the last survivors of a dead race, a race known as saiyans.

No, what had really startled him had been the fact that he was, or at least declared himself to be his brother. And the aforementioned brother could best be described in two simple words…space pirate. He worked for some sort of intergalactic tyrant. Constantly conquering planets to add to the fiend's ever growing empire, and purging worlds to later be auctioned off to the highest bidders.

To that end he asserted that he needed Goku's help, the ultimate goal was to overthrow the said tyrant…but for the time being they would have to pretend they were still loyal to him, and continue to conquer and purge planets. Goku had wanted no part in such things, but Raditz sought to "persuade" him otherwise, so he had taken his own son to use as leverage. Just thinking about it made Goku's blood boil.

Looking back though, he was glad for one thing Roshi had told him. Even if it had been hard for him to accept. Hell, he still could remember that day and every moment after it perfectly…

Kame House. 4 years before present.

It's a peaceful and mostly sunny day, with only a few clouds floating in the sky as a gentle breeze drifted through the palm trees. The ocean waves rolled softly over the golden sand, and a person could almost be lulled into sleep by the soothing sights and sounds. The illusion of calm did not last too long however, as the sounds from two of the world's greatest warriors sparring high over the small sleepy island, quickly broke that feeling.

If a person were observing them, not knowing the story behind the two, they might assume that they were bitter enemies and not the best of friends.

Back and forth they darted across the sky, going at it blow for blow. Many times they would even seem to disappear from normal human sight, only then to reappear hundreds of feet away on the other side of the island. And if one were paying attention, it would quickly become clear to them that the taller one, with the spiky black hair, was the one who had the upper hand.

Recovering from a swift jab to the face, Krillin wiped off the blood and started to gather the energy for a massive attack.

"Ka…me…ha…me…ha!" he yelled, his voice ringing high into the air.

Just barely avoiding the blast, Goku looked down to his best friend in astonishment Wow, Krillin really has kept up with his training…" Startled when his Gi suddenly burst into flame, all from the heat of the blast, he looked away from Krillin for a moment to put out the fire.

At that moment he considered himself quite fortunate, that blast would have done a hefty amount of damage had it connected. He's definitely quite a bit stronger than I was a year ago. "Nice one Krillin. That would have done some real damage if it hit me." Exclaimed Goku with his Gi still smoking.

Not wanting all of his energy to go to waste, Krillin abruptly shoved his arms downward, causing the blast to arc down into the sea where it promptly detonated, drenching the two in sheets of salty water.

Taking advantage of his friend's brief distraction, he rushed forwards and aimed a punch right at Goku's face. But unfortunately for him, he did not expect for Goku raise his arm and catch it with relative ease. Using Krillin's shock against him, Goku proceeded to fling him down towards the ocean's surface. The short monk barely stopped himself mere inches above the surface of the sea, just in time to look up in time to see and dodge a kick aimed at his face. With Goku's forward momentum working against him, Krillin delivered a powerful uppercut that sent him soaring skyward. He then promptly sped ahead to intercept him and clasped both of his hands together, before smacking him down into the ocean, where his bright orange gi quickly disappeared beneath the crashing waves.

"Come on Goku…you're not fooling me…I know you won't go down this easy"

As time passed, even the ripples from his impact had begun to fade away, and Krillin muttered to himself, "Damn…maybe I overdid it just a bit…"

But no sooner had he finished saying the word, a massive stream of bubbles surged to the surface, followed shortly by Goku bursting through the surface of the water gasping violently for air. Still spitting out salt water, Goku didn't notice Krillin, who was hardly able keep a straight face from seeing his friend's predicament.

Suddenly that smile vanished, however, as Krillin grew serious and rushed towards him with the intent of catching him by surprise once again.

At the last possible second Goku looked up and spotted him, but not quick enough to avoid a painful kick to the ribs that sent him hurtling through the air straight toward Kame House. But just as he was about to slam into the side of the pink hut he managed to gain back some control. Firing a small blast towards the ground, he launched back up into the air again, where he could further collect himself.

"No fair Krillin, that was a cheap shot!" he may have sounded angry, but the slight smile that crept over his face betrayed the truth, if anything he was more excited than ever.

"Never drop your guard Goku. You of people should know that one by now." To an outsider, his tone would have seemed serious and menacing, but between them it was obvious that it was only a spar among friends.

Smirking, Goku suddenly disappeared from sight, only to reappear right next to Krillin. Temporarily stunned, Krillin's concentration wavered for a millisecond, but unfortunately it was more than enough of an opening for Goku to retake the advantage, kneeing him in the stomach and following up on it with a backhanded slap to the face that sent Krillin skipping over the waves like a human pebble.

Never drop your guard…talk about the pot calling the kettle black… Goku thought to himself with a brief chuckle.

Barely able to stop himself from going under the waves, he darted back into the sky, stopping several hundred feet above the ocean. After spending a few seconds to regain his bearings, he glanced down to find that Goku had disappeared on him once more.

Sensing his ki abruptly behind him, he spun around promptly, barely able to raise his arm in time to block a kick that was aimed at his back. Crap, man he hits hard, it took a lot just to block that one kick. He then found himself on the defensive, blocking a barrage of punches and kicks.

"Dang Goku. How about giving a guy a chance to regain his composure?"

"Never drop your guard, right Krillin…didn't you just tell me that?" he teased him with a small smile on his lips.

Sweat beading down his face and running down his neck, Krillin quickly fell back into his stance and charged Goku. The two then engaged in an all-out high speed melee above Roshi's home once more. For several minutes the two went blow for blow, each dealing just as much damage as they received, with neither one willing to give an inch.

Driving an elbow into Goku's gut, Krillin leaped back as Goku swiftly rebounded and lunged towards him again. Leaning back, he was just a second too slow and caught a boot to the face that knocked him several meters away. Before he could even get a chance to fully recover, Krillin saw a ki blast heading right for him. Panicking, he fired one of his own to cancel it out, but still had to shield himself from the resulting explosion. Uncrossing his arms, he glanced at Goku who was hardly ten feet away from him.

"C'mon Goku, is that the best you got?" Krillin taunted somewhat nervously.

Goku easily picked up on his friend's apprehension and smirked at the comment. "I'm just getting started…you're not going all out yet are you?"

He can't be serious, can he? I'm really putting a lot into this and he is only getting started! Krillin swallowed uneasily, wondering if it was a good idea to goad him like that when he most likely was not going to be able to back it up. He hoped that he hadn't gotten in over his head with this one. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"Uh…of course not Goku, I still got quite a bit left in me," he replied quickly.

Again; the two friends charged each other only to be interrupted before either attack could connect, by Launch who stepped out the door and yelled up to them that dinner was ready. Distracted by her ringing voice in the air they smashed right into each other and plummeted hundreds of feet down into the sand. Both comically ending up with their heads stuck in the ground and their legs kicking above. Upon seeing them like this, she laughed quietly to herself as she walked inside, shaking her head.

After uprooting himself and spitting out a mouthful of sand, Krillin breathed a quick sigh of relief. That sure was a close one. He thought to himself, somewhat grateful for the abrupt yet sandy ending to their spar.

"Shame we had to get interrupted like that so suddenly huh Goku…"

He turned, and where Goku had been standing there was a fading trail of smoke. A trail that lead inside the pink house, and most likely straight inside to the kitchen.

"How predictable" he mumbled to himself as a bead of sweat dripped down from his brow. "He always does this at the first mention of food."

Shaking his head, he calmly started walking towards the house, the soft sand of the beach crunching beneath his feet.

By the time he got to the kitchen he was greeted by a very predictable sight. Goku, stuffing his face with a massive plate of food in front of him. Even after knowing him for so many years, it was still amazing how much food he could put away, and at such an astonishing speed too.

"Wow, this sure is good. Almost like what Chi Chi makes!" he said while devouring a whole chicken in the blink of an eye. Of course with his mouth full it came out completely garbled.

Some things never do change. Thought Master Roshi with a smile on his face.

His look then became far more serious. I probably should tell him though, he's not the naïve boy he once was..…though how he will react to it worries me…I do hope he understands why I waited this long to let him know…,

"Guess Chi Chi never did managed to teach you any table manners yet" Krillin said with a smirk plastered on his face.

And in typical Son Goku fashion he started rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "No, guess not hehehe"

"But anyway Goku…Do you really do have a kid now? It's just so odd picturing that." Krillin shook his head in faint disbelief.

"Yep, a son. He was born…I think a couple of months ago." he replied happily after swallowing a massive chunk of food.

At this everyone rolled their eyes. It just like Goku to make such an absent minded comment.

"Anyway…that is really awesome, I'm happy for you. And what would his name be?"

Goku then started rubbing the back of his head again. "Thanks Krillin. And we decided to name him after my grandfather Gohan. It just seemed like such a fitting name to us."

"That's pretty great of you to honor your grandfather like that." Krillin said. To which Master Roshi silently nodded his head in agreement.

"Now this is the real question Goku. I know he is just a baby now, but do you have any plans on training him soon?

"Umm heh heh, about that now…" he said sheepishly .

"Chi Chi really didn't like the idea. She was all about him growing up to be a scholar, not as a fighter or something like that. But I told her that he should at least learn how to defend himself when he gets older. Just in case no one else is around to protect him and something happens"

Krillin knew how much of a fiery temper the woman had, so it was hard to keep from finding some amusement at his friend's predicament.

"I bet that one went over great" Krillin managed to say while barely holding back a chuckle.

"Sort of, she said she would think about it. But that is a long time from now since Gohan is so little. After that she said we were done talking about it till he was older"

Having considered everything Goku had just said, he could not help smiling a bit. Neither would likely want to budge regarding that issue. Goku didn't have much in him for verbal disputes, but when he set his mind on something he usually made it happen. It always seemed to work out that way with him, ever since he was a kid.

"Hmm, but that's a long ways off. He is still is a baby now. She'll probably come around to the idea eventually" Krillin reassured him.

"Probably…but she sure can be stubborn about stuff like this"

He thought of how much of an understatement that really was. "Boy, tell me about it"

For the next several hours it was pretty much a blast, with everyone eating, drinking (With the exception of Goku), and joking about past events. Overall , everyone had a great time. Launch sneezing also helped make things more entertaining, because right afterwards Roshi had made one of his characteristic lecherous comments. That proved to be a painful mistake when she had punched him clear through the kitchen window and out onto the beach, eventually he made it back in, covered in sand and sunglasses barely hanging on his face. Soon after that, though things started to calm down as the evening progressed, until Goku finally glanced outside and saw that the sun was starting to go down.

"Hmm….this has been a ton of fun catching up with you guys. We really should get together again like this more often. Next time maybe we should invite Tien and the others too. It could be just like old times"

Then he happily proclaimed, "Like, we should get together like this a least a couple times a year. "

"Sounds like a great idea Goku!" Krillin nodded in agreement, it sure would be nice to see more of his old friend.

"Yea, it really has been a while; I would love to spar with them too. If they have improved as much as you did then I'd really have my hands full." He beamed at his friend, the thought alone of a potentially good fight enthralling him.

His smile dimmed slightly as he continued, "But I should really be getting back, it's getting pretty late. Chi Chi is probably going to be putting Gohan to bed soon. She'll probably kill me anyway for being this late."

He started to get up to leave, but was abruptly stopped by Roshi.

"Say, before you leave Goku, you think maybe we could have a quick talk" It was now or never.

"Uh…Sure, what for Master Roshi?" Goku questioned, knowing just by Roshi's tone that whatever he had to say was something big.

As he began to walk towards the door his old master smiled sadly.

"Something very important Goku. Something you should have been told a long time ago."

Confused as to what it could be, he followed Roshi's lead as they walked towards the edge of the island with the setting sun at their backs. As soon as they reached the edge of the water Roshi abruptly stopped. To Goku's surprise he even took off his sunglasses, something he almost never did in the past. It was just something the master never did.

"Goku. This isn't easy to say. But this is something you really should know. As it concerns you directly," he began, face taunt with worry over how Goku would take finally knowing the truth of where he came from .

"What is it Master Roshi? Is it something bad?" Goku questioned, an uneasy feeling already starting to come over him.

Rubbing the sweat from the back of his head, Roshi asked, "Well, you do know about how you were found in the woods as a baby by Gohan ?"

"Well yea, now that you mention it that sounds about right" Goku replied back.

"Well there is more to it than just that. A few years before he died he told me the full story about that da-" he started again only for his voice to crack. After he regained control of himself Roshi then continued.

"He told me that he was out in the woods meditating when suddenly he saw what appeared to be a falling star"

Goku by this point was starting to wonder what this had to do with him. As the gears in his mind started to turn, it started to become very clear what Roshi was getting at. But in respect for his former teacher he remained silent while the old hermit explained.

"That in itself would have been strange, as it was daylight out at the time. And as he watched it falling he realized it was coming down right near him. Sure enough it ended up crashing quite close to where he had been sitting" He sighed, "As soon as he got close enough to see the crater where it hit, he saw a strange looking metal pod lying within it. Like some sort of space ship or something," Roshi paused, waiting for some sort of reaction, he had been keeping a close eye on the boy thus far and so far he had been handling the news rather well.

When Goku said nothing, Roshi took it as a good sign and continued, "Naturally he started wondering what could possibly be inside that thing. And while he certainly was still was bit afraid of what it might be his inquisitiveness ended up winning out in the end." He chuckled a little, "But even he was still taken aback by what he ended up finding. Instead of some sort of hideous monster, he found a small infant, screaming its head off. After picking the child up he noticed only one thing that seemed a bit peculiar."

At this point Goku instinctively wrapped his tail around his waist, then knowing what Master Roshi was going to say.

"A tail. And by now Goku, I'm sure you know who this child was, don't you?" Roshi asked, his voice hardly above a whisper.

Indeed, by then Goku had easily connected the dots. "It…It was me…wasn't it…" he said with an uneasy tone in his voice.

A quiet "Yes" was all that Roshi managed to utter in response.

Goku then walked to the edge of the water. As he glanced down at the waves of water flowing over his boots, he began trying to sort out all the thoughts and emotions racing through his mind. It was just so hard process. He was from some other world…he was what Bulma had called an alien, something he remembered her mentioning back when she had tried to educate him.

Yet, in a way it actually kind of made sense. He never was ordinary to begin with after all. He always seemed to be stronger than all his friends no matter how hard they all trained. Plus he had a passion for fighting that went far beyond any human norm. And he could live and even fight with injuries that would have killed any regular human. But just because it made sense and offered something close to a logical explanation; didn't mean it was something he would be able to accept instantly.

"Hmm. Still this is really strange. I mean do we know for sure that whatever thing I was in really came from some other planet?" Goku questioned somewhat apprehensively.

"I had wondered that too myself Goku. But that was confirmed to me last year shortly after you defeated Piccolo," the old hermit answered smoothly, having known he would probably ask something along those lines. "And the one who told me this was Kami himself. After everything with Piccolo had been sorted out he actually took me aside and confirmed what I had long thought, but never fully believed."

At this Goku's eyes went wide from the shock.

"He said that the ship had indeed come from some other planet. However it's precise origin even he could not determine. But just as he had no way of knowing where the ship came from, he also had no means of knowing the intentions of those who sent you in the first place. And because of that he was truly concerned for a while about it. He wasn't sure if whoever sent you had any sort of evil intent, or if you might even become a major threat akin to King Piccolo once you grew older."

Roshi coughed a little into his hand before stroking his white beard.

"Not that he was wrong in worrying; you were after all quite violent during the first couple of years after Gohan found you. In fact he was on the verge of even stepping in himself and seeing to it nothing horrible came to pass. Given your aggressive behavior as a child, he had no way to be certain what would happen as you got older. However…that day you fell into the ravine and hit your head- nearly dying in the process- prompted him to reconsider. After that your personality changed completely and you become a regular happy loving child. He still kept a watchful eye over you, but he was no longer concerned about you being any sort of threat, in fact he began to see great promise in you."

Goku then turned to face Roshi again. Inside he was wondering why Kami never told him sooner. In a way he had actually been a bit angry at first, as he had many chances to let him know all this. Yet he never did. However, taking a few seconds to really think it over, he realized that Kami probably had a good reason not to tell him.

Back then he probably would have been far too naïve to understand the whole thing properly anyway, he most likely would have completely freaked out. Still he couldn't help being a bit annoyed by it. All the same he decided to hear Roshi out. Whatever reasons they had he would respect them.

Having noticed the change in Goku's demeanor the old hermit continued to explain. "But you must know this; he didn't want to tell you then because he was afraid of how you would react. He wanted to wait till you had grown up a bit before letting you know everything. He wanted to make sure you were at a point you could understand the entire scope of the issue, while still maintaining a clear head about it.

"I suppose so" Goku said, voice shaking. "But still, I wish I had known this sooner." He clenched his fist, trying to keep his emotions in check. "This is really going to take some time to get used too. I mean I've suspected something was different about me, but this….damn" He rubbed the back of his head, unable to think of the right words to describe exactly how he felt.

He then thought about his friends; and what they might think of this, hoping Roshi hadn't told them yet .

"But, no one else knows this do they?" He didn't truly believe his master would mention anything like that to anyone, not before telling him first, but he had wanted to be sure.

"No, they don't know any of this. It is not my right nor is it my place to tell them any of this. If you want them to know then it's up to you to tell them, not me." he sighed as he placed a hand on Goku's back, trying to give him what little comfort he could.

"Hmm. Now I just got to figure out a way to explain this to Chi Chi, I hope she doesn't freak out and…."

It's was then he realized that the sun had gone down completely with the stars dotting the sky and reflected off the ocean. He shivered a bit as he felt a cool ocean breeze suddenly start up.

"Crap, I'm really glad you told me all this. It's one hell of a shocker to be sure," he said in a frantic rush, "But I really got to go now. Chi Chi is going to be so mad!" Already he could feel himself starting to have a panic attack. Oh man...

Cupping his hands over his mouth, he called for Nimbus and offered a final goodbye to Roshi before promptly jumping onto the yellow cloud that had just appeared and sped off into the night

Roshi watched Goku speed away with a smile on his face. It seemed he had a way of bouncing back from virtually anything, no matter what it ended up being.

The day that he found out he actually was an alien really turned his entire world upside down, but the more that he had thought about it, the easier he had himself accepting it. At the time he really wasn't sure when he should tell his friends. But Chi Chi, being his wife was entitled to know such a thing about her husband. And her reaction was much better than he hoped for. Even though she nearly fainted when he told her, she took the fact quite well. After all it didn't change the person he was. He was the same guy she had fallen in love with all those years ago, and even had a kid with, it really didn't matter too much at this point.

What actually happened with Piccolo afterword, and the changes that occurred in the green man proved to be very surprising.

He was the "son" of the "Demon King Piccolo", a sadistic monster who had taken the utmost pleasure in having the entire world tremble at his very feet. Long ago he had been born of the negative energy cast aside by Kami, the current guardian of earth. He had ravaged the earth for a time; until he was sealed away by Mutaito, Master Roshi's mentor, at the cost of his own life.

However, several years ago, the Demon King had been freed by Emperor Pilaf. Again he had gone on a rampage, injuring and murdering countless people, even destroying entire cities. Fortunately, his reign of destruction had been cut short when he met his end at the hand of Son Goku. But with his last remaining bit of energy, he passed his very essence into one final offspring. One with all the memories and all of the hatred of the demon who birthed him. This reincarnation came to call himself Piccolo Jr.

He, at the time shared many of his sire's dark ambitions. But his first priority was revenge on the man that destroyed his father. So he entered the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, with the intention of slaying the man responsible. After that not even he was certain where he would go from there. And on a few occasions he found himself wondering whether or not he really wanted to take that path. Was he simply following the motions his father laid before him? Was his life really already planned? Did he not have a choice? But each and every time he got these doubts, he pushed it all away, dismissing them as signs of weakness. He WOULD enter the tournament and kill Goku, and then he would fulfill his father's dream. He would bring hell itself to this world.

But things didn't go according to plan for him. Despite pulling every single dirty trick he could think of, he still couldn't manage to defeat Goku. Against all odds, even with a hole punched clean through his chest and having his left lung punctured, Goku managed to pull off a victory. Yet, despite everything Piccolo had done, his father's killer couldn't bring himself to end his life. Somehow, there was something different about him. Something that distinguished him from his father…

23rd WMAT- 5 years before present.

It had been a long grueling fight. The two had fought to a near standstill for what seemed like an eternity. But gradually it started to become obvious that the longer the battle went on that Piccolo was starting to wear down, and Goku was still going strong. Still Piccolo had pushed on, memories of his father's defeat flooding his mind. He was determined to avoid the same fate at any cost. It had come to a point however that he realized that no matter what he did, he was going to lose. So he thought up an underhanded plan in which he could escape defeat, and finally kill his most hated enemy. He would fake surrender, then the moment the simpleton turned his back, he would strike.

With that thought a thin smile had formed on his face, and he made the move to put his plan into action.

Midway during the fight, he leapt back suddenly and threw his arms up, declaring that he was done. That Goku had won the fight. Further he said that he was going to give up on his father's dream, and would commit to living a life of peace and isolation. Inwardly he thought to himself how ridiculous that sounded, especially coming from him, but he still had hope that Goku would be gullible enough to buy it. Knowing how merciful and naïve Goku tended to be, Piccolo could find little fault with his plan.

Goku, while very skeptical, had decided to take him for his word. The second he dropped his guard and turned around turned out to be a very grave mistake.

With that an insane smirk crept onto Piccolo's face, he couldn't even believe his good fortune; it wasn't that he didn't expect him to fall for his trick, but even Piccolo had to marvel at just how foolish it was for Son to turn his back on such an opponent so easily. After all he was the very reincarnation of the Demon King himself. And not willing to let such an opportunity escape him, he had lunged forwards towards Goku.

At the last second Goku realized that he had been duped, but it was too late. No sooner that he managed to turn his head around did he find Piccolo right upon him, a hand glowing with ki already pressed against his chest. And Piccolo's smirk broadening into a sinful smile, he fired a beam clean through Goku.

As he watched Goku flying backwards towards the ground, with the wound bleeding profusely, he couldn't help but fall into a fit of insane laughter. All the while Goku's friends were far to shocked to even make a move to help him. Smirking, he turned to face them, with the intent of making them all share the same fate. But hardly a second had passed before heard something moving behind him. Instantly he whirled around with his fangs bared, only to stare utterly stunned. Somehow, despite having a gaping hole in his chest, Goku had managed to get back on his feet, with a look of anger and determination on his face.

"How!" Piccolo roared, "How can this be, you should be on the ground bleeding to death!"

"What…you honestly believe..that..that I would give up and die, just like that. You really don't know anything…do you?" Goku replied angrily. But it strained him to even speak, just talking was more than enough to make him cough up a mouthful of blood; and after spitting the remainder out, he glared across the platform at Piccolo.

Grunting, he found himself smirking again; he couldn't help but admire the man's resolve. He still thought it futile, with an injury like that Son Goku was as good as dead. "Hmm your perseverance is quite…impressive…almost commendable even," he said as he sneered across to Goku.

"However, it makes no difference in the end…today Son Goku, YOU DIE!"

And with that Piccolo rushed at Goku with the intent of finishing him off for good.

Goku managed to block the first blow with some effort, and this actually caught Piccolo off guard. What more, the bleeding man even managed to land to land a kick to his ribs. However, after that Piccolo quickly forced him to go on the defensive. At first Goku was able to hold his own quite well, but his strength was dwindling due to extensive blood loss. After he barely managed to dodge a kick to the side, he threw a ki blast at the demon, only to have it effortlessly smacked away.

Taking that as his opening, Piccolo darted towards Goku and slammed his elbow straight into the gaping wound in Goku's chest. With his blood spurting out, Goku screamed in agony just before Piccolo's boot connected with his face, silencing his pained filled scream.

After that Goku found himself to be little more than a glorified punching bag, barely able to even mount any sort of defensive. For every blow he did manage to land he was paid back for it tenfold.

Finally after several minutes spent dragging the fight out for the sake of torturing and humiliating him; Piccolo began to grow bored with how easy it had become. After mercilessly, and repeatedly kicking Goku in the stomach, each blow causing him to cough up more and more blood, he raised his arm and brought an elbow down onto Goku's skull, knocking him down to the ground face first.

"Hmph, how pathetic. I expected more, even from you, Son Goku. So what happened to all that determination you were showing only a few minutes ago?" he taunted, his voice laced with nothing but contempt. The fool was too merciful for his own damn good, and this was where it had gotten him."Too bad you were so damn soft. You might have even had a chance at beating me were it not for that."

More than just a chance. He thought to himself. Swiftly, he banished the thought from his mind. It was only another weakness trying to assert itself again.

"But I think it's time we end this little game. And don't worry about your pathetic little friends. They will be joining you in death soon enough," Piccolo proclaimed rather gleefully. And laughing like a madman he leapt up into the sky, already beginning to gather the energy needed to completely eradicate his opponent.

"Goku…no…" Chi Chi whispered, hand covering her mouth and tears in her eyes before she suddenly screamed at those around her, "We have to do SOMETHING!"

"Go ahead and try you pathetic little humans," Piccolo declared with his fangs bared and a wicked grin plastered on his face, "I'll rid myself of all you pests in one attack." Indeed, if they were that stupid, let them all die with their would be savior. It would save him a lot of trouble hunting them down later, it would be much easier if they were all caught in the blast instead.

As he was lying face down in his own blood, Goku managed to muster the strength needed to roll over and rise up a bit. Just enough to see Piccolo and to get a good feel of just how much energy he had been gathering.

He glanced off to his left he saw his friends already in fighting stances, about ready to jump in to help him.

"Everyone, get away now!" he yelled while hacking up a decent amount of blood. "I know I can still beat him, but you need to get as far from this spot as you can!"

At this they all gave him looks of utter confusion.

"Goku, you can barely even move..." Krillin replied back, thinking perhaps his friend had lost his marbles when Piccolo slammed his head into the ground. "How do you plan on stopping him yourself!"

"H-He's right, Goku. I don't see w-what you can do." Roshi stammered as panic began to consume him. He was just an old man, what could he do against that evil menace?

Yamcha just stood there in shocked disbelief at Goku's confidence, while Tien was considering using his Kikoho to stop Piccolo. "There's no way you can stop him!" the three-eyed man said, "It might kill me, but I might be able to stop him with the kik-"

Goku interrupted, "No, I won't let you just throw away your life. Get out of here while you still can!" Seeing that they were still hesitating, Goku suddenly roared angrily, " Everyone just get the hell away NOW!"

The tone Goku took actually startled them, it was just not typical for him to lose his temper in such a way. The situation he was in was anything but typical however, so it was quite understandable; so with that they put their trust in Goku's judgment and immediately took off.

Let them run, Piccolo thought, snorting in disgust before calling after them, "Hahahaha. Run as far as you can insects. Once I deal with him I'll hunt each and every one of you down." With that said, his entire body started to glow and crackle with energy as he looked down at his enemy. "Now Goku, this marks the beginning of a new era. An era marked by pain, death and destruction. It's just too bad you won't be able to live to see it. Not that you deserve to anyway." His voice was filled with venom as he yelled down at him, "Now then, time for you TO DIE!"

No sooner than the last word left his mouth, a massive crimson colored beam erupted from his hands, heading straight towards Goku.

Well it's now or never…I just hope this works. Goku watched the deadly beam of light rapidly approach him, body tensing.

With just seconds remaining he managed to force his body into a standing position, and not even a second before impact, he used the remnants of his ki to erect a barrier around his entire body and leapt into the air just inches above the blast.

The explosion that the blast generated nearly destroyed the entire island, and could easily be seen from over fifty miles away.

Panting, Piccolo was still hovering just a few dozen feet off the ground. Craning his head around, he began to admire his handy work. Almost completely drained of energy, he was still ecstatic, he couldn't see Goku anywhere nor could he feel his ki signal.

At that moment he threw his head back, and begun to laugh as if he had completely lost whatever grip he previously had on his sanity.

"Hahahaha I did it! I can't believe it. He's really dead. This is magnificent, now the world will bow before me. Now all that's left are those vermin that he called friends. And they are nothing compared to him, it will be like shooting fish in a barrel! Hahahaha..." his voice and laughter rang out through the sky around him.

Meanwhile a good hundred yards away the Z warriors and Chi Chi were busy digging themselves out of the ruins of the island. They were quite fortunate that they heeded Goku's warning and fled when they had the chance. By the time the blast hit they had managed to blast a decent sized hole in the ground and hid away in that. And because of that they had managed to escape with only minor cuts, burns and bruises.

However it wasn't long before Piccolo had picked up on them with his exceptionally keen hearing and turned to face them.

"Ha, looks like you insects managed to survive that. Not that it will do you any good. Your hero is dead, and if any of you make one wrong move, I might just decide to kill all of you." He remarked casually. "Hell, I might just kill you all anyway. So who's going to play the hero now…or maybe…maybe, all you're all just a bunch of pathetic little cowards?" He said while frowning.

Little did they actually realize at the time, he was at least in part bluffing, he could still in all probability defeat any of them one on one. But if they all ganged up on him he would be done for, with all the energy he had lost. So he was intent on putting out one hell of a bluff. At least to buy enough time for himself to recover a bit.

Even though they were all quite fearful, they were more concerned for their friend. It would have appeared that he was caught in the blast, if so he would have most certainly been done for. Still they held hope that he may have miraculously avoided that attack.

Still, Roshi, being the most experienced fighter, remained confident that Goku had managed to pull off an miracle. And he also suspected that Piccolo might have been bluffing, there was just no way he could have that much energy left over, not after fighting Goku, and creating a massive attack like that.

Just as he was getting into a fighting stance he saw a glowing speck up in the sky. Suddenly it had dawned on him what Goku's plan had been the whole time. And when he saw that Piccolo was still clueless as to what was happening he suddenly started to chuckle quietly.

Goku…you never cease to amaze me… He thought with pride. His former student really had come a long way. It was sheer brilliance what he had done.

However no one else had managed to figure out what was Roshi laughing about, when their friend might very well be dead, it hardly seemed funny.

"I really don't see how this is much of a laughing matter Master Roshi" Said Krillin accusingly.

Tien and the others were also getting agitated by the old hermits behavior. Here Goku may very well be dead and he was laughing, it just didn't make sense.

"Yeah you crazy old pervert, what gives?" She yelled at him "My Goku could be…could be…" At this she lost all control and started sobbing violently and Bulma pulled her into an embrace, unable to keep a few tears from escaping herself.

This entire special between them quickly started to grate on Piccolo's nerves. Bunch of weakling humans, why did they worry about that idiot when they could be next? Unable to remain silent any longer, he sneered at them, "Whenever you fools are done with your sentimental banter, I would really love to get this over with."

"And what that that idiot laughing about? Has he lost it completely?" Remarked Piccolo with a dark chuckle. The old man must have gone insane…it was the only explanation.

"You really are a fool, aren't you?" Said Roshi with a sly grin. By now it was obvious to him just how Goku avoided the blast, and he had a good guess on the rest of his plan was.

"What! You dare call me a f- What in the hell!" Suddenly, he felt a faint ki above and behind him. Hastily, he whirled around and looked up at the sky and there he saw Goku flying…no falling towards him at an incredible velocity. That was what the old man was laughing at. How could he have been so stupid?

"It's not possible…" He muttered in disbelief. There was no way Goku should have been alive after that attack…

"I told you Piccolo! I told you from the beginning that you would lose!" Goku cried out, just the effort required to say those words was almost enough to make him black out. Still, it was too late to give in now….

He concentrated every last drop of energy he had left; and accelerated rapidly before crashing into Piccolo's unguarded chest. The impact instantly smashed all of his ribs, and knocked several fragments into his organs, which caused him severe internal damage, in addition to sending him flying backwards onto the ground. Goku ended up crashing a good fifty feet away, the pain from the impact actually causing him to lose consciousness for a moment. He was quickly woken up by his friends as they rushed to his side.

Not wanting to waste any time, they tried to force a senzu bean down his throat. Much to their shock he actually spat the bean out into his hand, where he studied it for a moment before breaking it into two separate pieces. He then ate the larger piece, having a different plan for the other. Given he only ate part of the bean, his injuries never fully healed. At least the gaping hole in his chest healed quickly enough, but his body was still hurting like none other, and only a fraction of his ki had been restored. Yet, on a more positive note, he was no longer on deaths door, and would be just fine after a good day's rest.

After stretching out a bit, making sure everything was in working order, he began walking towards Piccolo's broken form.

"Goku what are you doing!" Tien yelled at him frantically.

Turning around Goku replied "Just watch and see, trust me with this one"

Still they were all very skeptical of what he was doing. Krillin was the next to speak out, "Have you completely lost it Goku, or did you forget that he just tried to KILL you." His anger and disbelief was present in his voice, but Goku only shook his head and resumed walking towards Piccolo's battered body.

Yamcha tensed up, and was about to actually step in and stop him, but Roshi placed a firm hand on his shoulder and shook his head, effectively silencing him. Roshi didn't exactly like the idea of what Goku was doing, but he knew that deep down, contrary to his outward demeanor, that the man was no fool, and likely had a good reason to want to save Piccolo.

As soon as Goku got to him he saw the full extent of the damage he had caused. His chest was caved in, with a few bone fragments actually pushing through on the outside. Yet, he knew that it had to be much worse on the inside, and that if he didn't act soon it would be too late. He still thought that Piccolo had brought it all upon himself; but he wasn't like his sire, Goku didn't same feel of pure evil and malice that he got from Daimao.

He wasn't good or noble, nowhere close actually , but Goku could sense that he had the potential to change. Besides, his methods were different than Daimao's. Daimao would have never followed any silly tournament rules in the first place. He would have went straight for the kill, no matter who got in his way. This guy at least had some sense of honor, even if it was distorted and corrupt, it was still said something about his character. And as Goku figured, it wouldn't hurt to have a decent opponent to keep him on his toes from time to time.

Offering the bean to him, Goku spoke, "Piccolo, listen to me. This is a senzu bean. It will heal you up real quick. If you don't eat it, with those injuries, you will die."

After coughing up a wad of blood, Piccolo pushed his hand away roughly. Why the hell was he trying to save him? It made no sense, this fool killed his father. So why spare him? He had the same vision, the same goals…So why would this simpleton allow him to live?

"I know what that damned thing is. And you're a fool to try and save me, damn you. What makes you think I won't kill you the second I recover, idiot!" he snarled, much like a wounded dog when threatened. "You and this entire wretched planet are better off if you kill me. So go on damn you, JUST FUCKING DO IT!" he screamed, before coughing up more blood.

"Because I actually see that you're not the same as the monster you claim as a father ," Goku replied easily.

"Hmph. You really are a fool," Piccolo scoffed. "I tried to kill you, and would have done the same to your friends. Gladly even, can't you tell? I'm exactly the same has him."

"No, I don't believe that one, and I'm not even sure you completely do either. I know you were born from his essence or something like that, but you're not the same being, you have already proven that today." Goku then saw the look on Piccolo's face, a look suggesting complete and utter astonishment, a look he quickly masked with his typical scowl.

Goku continued, "Believe me, you might have inherited all of his evil thoughts and memories, but you still are not the same being. It's your choice what you do with your life, you don't have to be the same monster he was. And I can tell your different. He would have not fought by any of the rules of the tournament, he would have killed every one that stood in his way of getting to me, and he would have used anyone he could find as a shield if things got to bad for him." He smirked before continuing. "But you actually fought with honor, mostly that is." At that thought he frowned for a moment and rubbed his chest where the wound had been.

Piccolo pondered those words for a few moments-and somewhere deep inside him they resonated. He really was his own being. Did he really even want to do what his father set out for him? Or was he a puppet and Daimao simply the demon pulling the strings? Quickly, he forced the thoughts back; but a change had occurred within him, though he hardly realized it at the time.

"Hmmph. Spare me the lecture, Goku. I really don't feel like listening to you preach about your ridiculous ideals," after pausing for a moment to think over things, he quickly made his decision and continued, grimacing, "Just hurry up and toss me the damned bean!"

At this Goku smirked."Sure…here catch." Then he tossed it to Piccolo, who barely managed to catch it, fumbling somewhat in his hand.

Once he ate it he noticed that while wounds did heal up, for the most part, his energy was still very low, and his chest was aching horribly. At that he smirked briefly, the man wasn't as stupid as he had first suspected, he hadn't noticed it before, due to the massive amount of pain he was in, but now it was clear. He had only given him part of a bean, taking the rest for himself, thereby ensuring he would be unable to mount any real attack against him. Not that he had any real intention of doing so. He had had more than enough for one day. He would train his ass of, and one day he would defeat him, but now was clearly not that time. Even he wasn't THAT arrogant to believe he had a chance at the moment.

"Hmm. Maybe you're not as stupid as I first suspected. You only gave me a piece of a bean because you didn't trust what I might do. You wanted to make sure you could easily stop me if I…isn't that right?" he said with a scowl.

"Well, you got me there, but I still had to make sure I could stop you if you decided to attack me again," Goku replied back happily, with a smirk on his face. "You already have proven that you're not the most trustworthy person."

By not attacking him, he had in actuality proven his point, Goku thought to himself. Daimao wouldn't have passed it up, even if he knew he had no chance, he would have been on him the second he ate the bean. Maybe there was hope for Piccolo to change. Not that he would mention that to him now, lest he actually provoke him with such a statement.

Hmph. How clever of you," he said while smirking. "But I've grown tired of your presence. I'm taking my leave of this wretched place. But remember this Son Goku, never drop your guard, you never know when I may choose to strike."

And with one final backward glance, he shot them all an evil glare before gathering what remained of his energy and blasting off. A few moments later he had completely vanished over the horizon and Goku smirked. You can count on that one Piccolo. I'll make damned sure I'm ready.

After the tournament it was some time before anyone saw or heard anything from Piccolo.

And truth be told, Goku's words and actions at the tournament began to stir something inside of him. It once again brought on the feelings of doubt and uncertainty for his purpose in life. Only now he actually found himself entertaining such notions, quite frequently actually.

And while he still despised Goku, he found that his motivation, and his resolve to kill the man had greatly diminished since the tournament. Much to his disgust, he also noted that he had actually begun to respect him. It made so little sense to him. How could the fool even dare say he fought with a shred of honor? He used every dirty and despicable trick in the book. And what place did honor have with a creature like him anyway? He was the reincarnation of a fucking demon of all things, Piccolo Daimao himself none the less, and HE was about as close to pure evil as any mortal being could hope to get.

The vivid memories he had of his sire's life, memories he once reveled, were becoming more and more akin to nightmares. Memories of all the countless atrocities his father had committed over the course of his lifetime.

He often felt something, which in terms of human emotions was something akin to guilt. Why? He really didn't know. After all is was his father that killed all those people, not him. So while he may have once delighted in those thoughts before, it still didn't explain why he would even give a damn in the first place.

Those humans, they were scum, not even fit to lick the dirt from his boots. Yet, that was his father talking again, and look at where that ideology had gotten him. Perhaps following in the footsteps of such a twisted being was not the best choice to make. All the same, he still had plans for ruling the world, albeit with a different vision than what his father had…

Nearly two years had passed since the tournament, and a big gathering with Goku and all of his old friends was planned. Piccolo having managed to learn of this bit of information, decided it was time to pay Goku a little "visit".

Piccolo had appeared right in front of him while he was on his way back home, still riding on Nimbus high over the ocean. Needless to say this sudden appearance greatly surprised him, to such an extent that he fell off the cloud and plummeted over a thousand feet down, crashing unceremoniously into the sea.

Slightly perturbed at the display of stupidity, he rapidly descended to where he was only a few meters above the waves. Grinning sadistically, he fired a small purple colored ki blast into the water, intent on flushing him out. Upon seeing Goku blast through the surface of the water he smiled darkly.

"Piccolo!" Goku exclaimed in bewilderment. "Just what the hell are you doing here?"

"Hmph. What you THINK this is about?" growled Piccolo, his eyes narrowing. "Obviously I'm here to settle the score between us. You may have defeated me at the tournament, but in these two years I have grown much stronger. I only hope you haven't gone soft since then, Goku. I would at least like a decent challenge before I dispose of you." The threat however seemed, almost teasing in nature, not like it would have sounded a couple of years ago, or from Daimao himself.

"Hmm. You won't be disappointed then, you're not the only one who has been training," Goku said with a smirk.

Truth be told, while he had not given up on his training, he had a wife and child now. So he really wasn't able to train as much as he used too. He only hoped it was enough to match Piccolo, if not he wasn't sure what the outcome would be. While he didn't THINK Piccolo would follow through and actually kill him, it was best not to take chances.

"Yes. I'm sure we will," Piccolo remarked, words laced with sarcasm. "Now do you have any place special in mind to do this…not that it will affect the outcome, but this is not really an ideal location for this."

Quickly, Goku looked around before he spotted a nice little island a few miles off. He could not sense anyone on the island and it was decently sized. I would have to do…

"See that island off in the distance?" he said while gesturing to it with his thumb. After hardly even glancing at it Piccolo grunted in confirmation. "It should do just fine, I can't sense anyone else that might be on it, so it's just as good as any place."

Nearly face vaulting at this Piccolo said, "Always the sentimental one, trying to ensure no one else ever gets hurt…how very noble of you." He snorted, "But as I said, the location doesn't matter…its only proper for me to let you choose your final resting place."

With that smirk and that tone, it was hard to tell how serious he actually was.

"Well, what are you waiting for…lead the way. Unless of course, you're afraid to turn your back on me," he taunted menacingly.

At this Goku smirked and took off for the island, with Piccolo flying a few meters behind him. In all honesty, he did not expect a surprise attack from him. No way would Piccolo give up a fight like this, for such a cheap victory.

It would never be satisfying enough for him to take such a cowardly route. His father would have done it, in a heartbeat at that, but he had already shown that he was a very different from that monster. Goku's one hope was that he would eventually break with his evil past entirely. He could become a very powerful ally if he allowed himself to.

The entire trip to the island took less than a minute, but his eagerness for battle made it seem so much longer. He had been looking forward to a rematch with Piccolo ever since that day at the tournament, and now that moment had arrived. The primary reason he had choose to spare Piccolo's life had been because he saw some good in him, and the potential to change, that much was true. But deep down, the prospect of having a truly great opponent made his blood boil like none other.

That in of itself could likely be attributed to whatever alien species he was, as no human he had met ever displayed THAT degree of fondness for battle….nor would they be willing to take such a risk to ensure it.

Noticing that they had reached the center of the island, Goku pulled himself away from those thoughts and descended to the ground, with Piccolo following suite. Goku then started removing his weighted clothing, with each piece leaving a small hole in the ground upon impact. At this Piccolo smirked and tossed his turban and cape aside, both leaving small craters where they landed.

"Wow Piccolo, I didn't know you trained with weighted clothing as well!" Goku said, surprise quite evident in his voice.

"Not until after you…defeated me back then. It seems that even you have a few ideas worth imitating," he stated with disdain. Then he snarled as he took his fighting stance, "Now then. Enough small talk, this ends now!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Goku chirped out happily, while getting into his own stance.

For the first several seconds the two watched each other intently, waiting for the other to make one wrong move. Piccolo was the first one to attack, as he rushed towards Goku with his fist clenched tightly. Ducking just a fraction of a second before the punch would have connected with the side of his head, Goku then spun around and launched a kick aimed at Piccolo's stomach, only to have it blocked with the others leg. After Piccolo kicked Goku away with his free leg he dashed forwards, but Goku flipped under him and slammed an elbow into his back, which sent him soaring into the air. Pressing his current advantage, Goku blasted off towards him.

When he saw Goku flying at him like rocket, Piccolo licked his lips and smirked.

"No you don't!" he shouted as he fired a small, dark purple blast at Goku.

Goku just barely avoided a direct hit, but it still didn't prevent his clothes from being singed when it passed right underneath him. The blast, while it had been deceptively small, generated a massive explosion as it hit the ground. Enough so that it prompted Goku to shield himself from all the debris flying his way. Seizing the opportunity, Piccolo rushed in and slammed a boot into his face, sending him hurtling towards the ground at an incredible rate of speed.

After slamming into the ground and forming a huge crater Goku couldn't help but feel exhilarated. Fights like this, were exactly what he lived for. However, he was quickly pulled away from his musings when Piccolo started firing a series of small ki blasts into the crater that he had formed only seconds before.

Goku managed to knock all the blasts away, where they flew across the water, exploding harmlessly above the ocean, leaving only a fading red glow on the edge of the horizon.

"Impressive Son Goku, I see you managed to survive the opening act. Though I must say, I'd be a bit disappointed if you had died so early on," he stated, again sarcasm evident in his voice. And oddly enough, he noticed that he didn't have much desire to kill the man. Injuring him severely however…he just might enjoy that, he thought to himself as an evil smirk came over his face for a moment.

"Please. As if you could do me in that easily," Goku remarked arrogantly. "Still..." he added, "This won't be like before, I will not fall for any cheap tricks, understand?"

Piccolo smirked and nodded in affirmation. "I'm beyond the point of having to use such cowardly and distasteful means to defeat you. After all, beating you into the ground at your best will be so much more satisfying than relying on cheap tactics." With that said, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Not wanting to wait another second Piccolo quickly phased out of Goku's line of sight. Goku, however, managed to track his ki signature and easily avoided a swift jab to his face. At this Piccolo smirked and spun around and aimed a kick at Goku's back, only to have him leap gracefully over it.

He then fired a ki blast point blank at Piccolo's face only to have the blast effortlessly smacked right back into his stomach where it then detonated. The force from the explosion did little other than knock him back a few yards, and ripped a hole in his shirt, but it did distract him long enough for Piccolo to lunge at him and score a kick to his face, which sent him flying halfway across the island before he corrected himself.

No sooner than Goku had accomplished that did he find that Piccolo was already there, practically in his face already, cranking his fist back to throw a punch. He met Piccolo's punch with one of his own, which caused a massive shockwave that knocked over nearly every tree within a hundred yards. For several minutes they fought, darting from one corner of the island to the other. Slowly but surely the island was being torn apart, just from the force of their fists colliding with each other. With each second that passed the battle only seemed to grow more intense, neither one of them was willing to budge an inch. And yet they were still dead even.

After hardly managing to block an uppercut to his face, Piccolo threw a quick jab that was also blocked with apparent ease. Growing with frustration, he kicked Goku in the chest and using that to his advantage, he phased out of sight and appeared right behind Goku, smashing his elbow into the back of his head and sending him hurtling towards the ground at breakneck speed.

Just a few seconds before Goku hit the ground, he threw a ki blast downward in an effort to slow his descent. He then flipped and managed to land on his feet, with only a dull thud signifying that he had made contact. And the ki blast that he threw had a nice bonus; it had kicked up a very nice cloud of dust and smoke, making it nearly impossible to spot him.

To make sure Piccolo couldn't sense his location he then quickly suppressed his ki, effectively hiding his exact movements. He smirked when he sensed that Piccolo was already on the move, flying full speed towards the spot he was at.

Upon reaching his location Piccolo suddenly stopped, just meters away from the cloud of smoke and dust.

He knew that if he flew right in, he would literally be walking right into a trap. Blast it. I can't see him with all that damned crap in the air, and the fool seems to have suppressed his ki."Damn it Goku, where the hell are you hiding at you coward!" he yelled, his mounting frustration apparent in his voice. When he received nothing but silence his anger only grew.

"That's it! Since you obviously don't want to show yourself…I'll just blast you out!" He said while beginning to charge a large purple energy blast. Finally the dust and smoke begun to clear and he could now faintly see a spiky haired silhouette in the middle.

He chuckled as a wicked smirked formed on his lips."Hahaha, I've found you now! Perhaps next time you'll learn to hide yourself a bit better…TAKE THIS YOU FOOL!" he screamed while firing off the blast, the purple attack gaining reddish tints to it as it sped toward its target.

In just a few seconds the attack reached its goal and detonated. He hadn't put that much power into it, but it was still enough to blow up a large chunk of the island, in addition forcing him to shield himself from the debris that was flying his way.

As he looked back, he didn't sense Goku anywhere. He knew that the attack didn't have NEAR enough power to kill him, and once the dust from his attack cleared off he realized that he had been tricked.

All he could do for the first second was clench his fists in rage. "Damn him! It was a god damned after image!"

With that he whirled around, right into Goku's incoming boot. He only flew backwards a few yards before he had managed to recover, but by the time he had, Goku was already right on him.

"So who is the fool now?" taunted Goku as he punched him in the face, stunning him momentarily. Or so he thought. Right as he went to kick him in the stomach, Piccolo grabbed onto his leg and used his momentum to fling him up in the air.

Darting up into the sky after him with a hand already glowing with ki, Piccolo yelled. "You want to know who the fool is do you?…Well it's YOU." And right as he said the last bit, a large purple ball of ki shot out of his hand, heading straight towards Goku.

Correcting himself just a second later, Goku looked and spotted the blast just a few meters away from him, and without a moment to spare he fired one of his own to cancel it out. Unfortunately for him, due to the proximity of the blast, the resulting explosion knocked him several hundred feet backwards, in addition to ripping off what was left of the upper part of his gi.

Just as soon as he recovered from that, Piccolo was on him again with his fist raised ready to strike. After dodging the attack he spun around and aimed a kick at Piccolo's face, which was quickly blocked.

They both pulled back for a moment, panting with sweat beading and dripping down their faces. For a few heartbeats they eyed each other carefully before lunging forward, fighting with even greater intensity than before.

Back and forth they went from one side of the island to another, at speeds that no normal human could see. By this point the island had been reduced to little more than rubble, nearly all its foliage either burned by stray ki blasts or blown over by shockwaves, the island itself completely covered in craters. The fight had raged for over an hour, with no definite winner in sight. They were completely evenly matched.

Pulling back after dodging yet another jab to the face, Piccolo had grown annoyed by the battle and had decided it was time to end it. So after he launched a kick that had sent Goku sprawling backwards, he determined then was the time to launch his final attack.

After flying backwards several hundred feet and eventually managing to stop himself, Goku saw that Piccolo was already beginning to gather energy for what seemed to be a massive ki attack. That's definitely new…he didn't have any techniques THIS powerful last time we fought.

With the amount of power Piccolo had already gathered, he could only think of one move in his arsenal that could match it. As he got into stance and cupped his hands behind him, blue sparks begun to swirl around them.

With a serious look on his face he looked across to Piccolo. "I guess it comes down to this then…just so you know I'm not holding anything back." He then smirked as his ki came to life around him, the wind from it causing his hair levitate ever so slightly

"Good, this will be truly satisfying indeed, to beat you at your best!" Piccolo spat as orbs of dark red ki formed in each hand. "I came up with this technique for the SOLE purpose of defeating you, now prepare yourself!"

With that he combined the two orbs into one in his right hand, and taking his left hand he firmly grasped his right wrist, bracing himself for what would be one hefty attack. When Goku saw this he smirked and slowly a glowing mass of blue colored ki of his own began to form in his hands.

"Ka-"

Piccolos then placed both of his arms against his forehead, sweat running freely down his face and back as he struggled maintain control over the sheer amount of energy that he was collecting.

"Meh-"

"Ma-"

With a blue aura swirling around him, Goku continued to force more energy into his hands, all the while hoping it would be enough to actually beat Piccolo.

"Hahh-"

"Senko-"

All the energy in the air was generating almost hurricane like conditions, shredding the island further, and causing the sea to churn violently. Even hundreds of miles away at Kame house the effects could be felt as waves crashed onto the beach, and periodic flashes of lighting cut across the night sky.

"Meah-"

"Haaaa!" They shouted almost in unison as they unleashed their attacks. The two beams of light barreled towards each other, the force of them colliding made the two fighters shoot backwards several meters. The area where the attacks had met was a swirling vortex of dark blue energy, with bolts of electricity arcing all around it. Both were breathing heavily, completely focused on driving the others attack back. But even after more than a minute passed no progress had been made by either of them. Then... ever so gradually, Goku's beam had begun to overtake Piccolo's, slowing pushing it back inch by inch.

At this Piccolo was barely able to contain his rage. The fool had beaten him once…but to lose a second time, like THIS would be completely unacceptable. "No, no, NO! I won't be defeated like this, not AGAIN!" he yelled as he pulled out even more of his reserves and forced it into the attack. His muscles strained and tore from the effort. The sudden burst of power startled Goku, and the attack quickly began to push his beam back towards him. With only a few feet remaining before Piccolo's attack won. Things becoming very desperate, his body was already on the verge of completely giving out as it was, if he used too much more energy it could kill him. Then again, if he didn't he might be killed by the attack anyway. Guess I really have no choice with this…

Super…" he started to yell, as his muscles swelled to an almost unnatural degree. Every part of him felt as if it had suddenly burst into flame, but it was too late to stop now. "Kamehame…HAAAAAAA!"

The attack began to push Piccolo's back, till they were nearly dead even again. Trees, rocks and even parts of the island itself were lifted into the air by the sheer amount of energy being poured into the attack, and a massive bulge was forming at the center where the two attacks met, with lighting coursing viciously around it, arcing off every which way. And when it suddenly and violently expanded, both fighters quickly realized what was about to happen…

...

...

Several hours later, Goku awoke, half buried in sand, with the ocean waves gently washing over him, the salty water stinging his many cuts and burns. He temporarily had to shield his eyes from the rising sun, and spent a moment wondering what in the world had happened.

The last thing he remembered was being engaged in a beam struggle against Piccolo, when suddenly there had been this big explosion and then… that's what had happened he realized. Apparently they had put too much into that attack and it blew up on them, that explained why he had been unconscious and lying in a pool of salt water.

Slowly he stood up, with his legs nearly buckling under the strain….he then wondered where Piccolo was, if he had managed to survive the blast, surely Piccolo would have too.

He closed his eyes and began focusing, trying to see if he could sense the others ki signature. Sensing something he quickly opened his eyes and whirled around, and when he looked up, he saw a figure in the distance blocking the sun.

With the glare he couldn't be too sure he wasn't seeing things, but he could have sworn he saw a cape blowing in the wind. However, the moment he blinked, the figure had vanished. He smirked, suspicions confirmed.

His peace of mind didn't last long as he then realized something, he had left in the morning the day BEFORE to visit with the hermit and his other old friends, and now it was morning…again.

Suddenly he began to sweat profusely. "Oh man, she really is going to let me have it this time!" he said in exasperation.

Completely and utterly exhausted. Those words didn't even begin to describe how Piccolo felt after that battle with Goku. Hell it was a miracle that either of them had even survived the explosion that their attacks had caused.

He had been stupid to not expect something like that, but at the time all he had on his mind was winning, at any cost. In a way he could technically claim victory. He had awoken and even managed to take to the sky before he spotted Goku shakily climbing to his feet.

So in a sense it could be viewed as such, that since he was the first to regain consciousness he was the winner by default. But in the end it was just him grasping for straws, a way to salvage some of his pride.

Truth was it was nothing short of a draw, both managing to put an equal amount of force into an attack that had both of them laid out for several hours. It was just random chance that he happened to be the first one to wake up. It would be idiotic to consider it any sort of victory; like flipping a coin, it meant nothing.

And so he flew, for what seemed like hours, till he finally reached a nice large, secluded area. And after landing roughly on the branch of a large oak tree he immediately collapsed, falling asleep nearly instantly. It wasn't however the peaceful sleep he desired…

The air was completely full of smoke. Buildings lay in ruin as wicked laughter echoed loudly for miles around. People running, screams of terror becoming a cacophony of noise, only to be drowned out by more of that vile laugher. Ki blasts rained down upon the town like hail in thunderstorm, killing and injuring hundreds as they hit.

Suddenly the scene changed, as a figure descended into a terror stricken group of people. Extending its palm it fired a ki blast through the chest of a cowering victim, only to rush forwards and grab a man-probably hardly out of his teen years- tightly by the throat. Ignoring his pleas for mercy, the creature squeezed tighter and tighter, smiling wickedly as the man's face turned blue then a dark shade of purple. Suddenly a sickening crack was heard and he hurtled the body through the windshield of a car, instantly killing its driver. Another bout of laughter soon followed, and as the creatures steps over fragments of glass it turns and glances into what remained of a mirror. And instead of seeing the face of Daimao in the reflection, he saw something far worse. He saw himself…

He awoke suddenly in a cold sweat, and after silently cursing Daimao, he mentally berated himself for his stupidity. On the rare occasion he even allowed himself the luxury of sleep, he had always went through a long and rigorous meditation session, to keep his sire's memories at bay.

Still, a few times some memories of Daimao's past life slipped through. They were never this bad before though...it was always Daimao he saw in the dreams; this time it was him committing those acts. Perhaps that was what truly bothered him the most. Still, he refused to dwell on the matter for long. After calming himself, he closed his eyes and began his meditation.

Power Levels:

23rd WMAT:

Goku: 562 (Severely wounded): 480 and falling. (Partially healed): 200

Piccolo: 540 (Fatigued from firing the island destroying blast): 392 (Seriously wounded): 25 (Partially restored): 120

Krillen: 422 (Fatigued, and slightly injured from Piccolo's blast*): 366

Tien: 424 *: 367

Yamcha: 380 *: 329

Master Roshi/Jackie Chun: 327 *: 306

Kami: 515

Chi-Chi: 135 *: 117

1 year after WMAT:

Goku: 732

Krillin: 600

Piccolo: 697

Goku/Piccolo rematch, 2 years after WMAT:

Goku: 772 (Kamehameha): 988 (Super Kamehameha): 1,015

Piccolo: 774 (Masenko): 975 (Enraged Masenko): 1,014

Beta read by lilpumpkingirl