I don't own Dragon Ball Z, I just like writing about it.

This is the first fan fiction that I've worked on completely by myself, I'm also working with gamerfreak102 on Vegeta the Academic, which I highly recommend. Reviews are appreciated.

I Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1: The Ripple Effect

Somewhere deep in the northern wilderness two figures stood near a large crater. Or more precisely a large man, with hair that could only be described as a mane, stood holding a small child near a large crater. This sight might not be unexpected if for two things, one both the man and the boy both had tails, and two there was a space-pod at the bottom of the crater.

Several moments had passed since the duo had arrived at the crater, all throughout this time the child had stubbornly refused to stop crying; the large man in turn was fighting off an anger induced migraine. 'Won't this brat ever shut up, he's been crying since I kicked his weakling father.' He thought angrily as he rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Boy for the last time, you have Saiyan blood flowing through your veins have some pride and be silent!" but the child continued his wailing "Take me back, I want my daddy!" before breaking into sobs again in a pattern that made up the entirety of the two's interactions with one another so far.

He was done, he had had enough of the child's nonstop crying, grabbing the boy by his shirt, the man floated down the crater and threw the still crying child into his ship and locked the door.

"Finally I get some peace and quiet' he mumbled to himself no sooner had he said this then did his scouter begin to beep. "A power level of 700, on this mud ball, no that isn't possible, Kakarot only had a power level of 330."

His eyes darted about carefully combing the area for the source of the unusually high reading. After a moment his eyes focused back on the scouter's directional aid and realized something even more shocking. His scouter seemed to be indicating the power level was coming from his ship, or more specifically the boy sitting in his ship.

"The damn thing must be malfunctioning again that kid only had a power level of 3 a minute ago. Curse Frieza always giving us these broken, old pieces of junk." He snarled to himself and his seemingly endless misfortune.

He shook off his self-pity he was a Saiyan warrior, such things were beneath him. Instead he decided to pass the time while he awaited his brother's deadline to kill 100 natives by finding something to eat.

He had just started to walk towards a nearby forest, when his scouter sounded again. 'A power level of 650?' Surprise again hit his system, if but for a brief moment before remembering the reading the defective machine had given his weakling nephew. 'What kind of rodent is this piece of junk picking up now.' he thought to himself searching for some small woodland animal that the scouter was mistaking for some high power level.

Within a second it updated again reading two smaller power levels instead of one large one. 'Let's see ones 320 and ones 330, interesting those match the Green man and Kakarot's power levels, but it's impossible, they don't know where I'm at. This piece of junk must be...' this thought trailed off as his eyes began to resolve 2 specks moving towards him from a distance.

"No this isn't possible, that means…" he thought as his head whipped back to his ship. "If this thing isn't broken then that kid actually has a power level of over 700" his eyes were still locked on his pod when he heard the sound of two sets of shoes land behind him.

'I'll deal with the brat's mystery power level later; first I guess I'll have some fun with my brother first.' a sadistic smirk crossing his face as he turned to face the lesser beings that dared to challenge him. "Ah Kakarot your more resourceful than I gave you credit for, or more foolish. Since I don't see a pile of bodies here with you I'll have to assume the later."

"I said it once and I'll say it again, I'll never join a monster like you." Goku responded his eyes never leaving those of his son's kidnapper.

Raditz's smirk became a full grin. "Oh so you're here to try and stop me, and you brought the green man with you for back up ahahaha, the being that could barely singe my leg hairs, this is too much." he continued to laugh.

Piccolo just growled underneath his breath as the insults began to get to him. Goku stayed focused though "Raditz where is my son" he demanded of his supposed older brother. This only caused Raditz even more amusement, "Oh you want to say goodbye before I kill you, well go ahead it'll be your only chance." he said before he cracked up again.

Goku began to undress, which got Raditz's attention for a moment 'What is he doing' then he noticed the green man was doing the same thing.

"I didn't know you wore weighted training clothes too Piccolo." Goku said to his arch rival.

"You didn't think you were the only one did you." Piccolo said a hint of humor in his voice.

Raditz's scouter beeped once more alerting him to the fact both of their power levels had shot up a fair amount, "408, & 416, if you think such a meager increase in power will be enough to top me you are both bigger idiots than I thought" he roared with laughter again.

After a few more second Raditz finally calmed down, "Well if you're not going to say goodbye I guess we'd better get started then, I've got a busy rest of the day you know; cleaning up your failures Kakarot."

Suddenly Raditz was a blur, Goku and Piccolo's eye's couldn't even follow his movement, the next thing they knew a sharp stab of pain hit both of them square in the back and they were flying forward.

The shocked looks on their faces said it all, neither could move for a second, their minds racing trying to find a way to fight a being so fast that they could barely even track. Finally failing to come up with a good strategy they both came to the same conclusion, charge him.

In unison they launched themselves at the insanely strong warrior attacking with everything they had. But even together they failed to even manage to land a single blow, Raditz was just too fast.

Suddenly their target launched himself into the air; they both followed hoping they would be able to gain an advantage in the air, which was exactly what the veteran warrior wanted.

Before either Goku or Piccolo had any time to fully change course, two powerful Ki attacks shot out of the Elder Saiyan's palms.

Goku barely made it out of the way in time, the blast singing the hairs on his arms as it passed. Piccolo wasn't quite as lucky as his nemesis though as evident by the blow dripping from the stump beneath his shoulder where his arm once was.

Raditz's laughter at the damage he had done had only added to Piccolo's irritation at the situation. But when Raditz wouldn't be satisfied with mere laughter. No he wanted to see their spirits crushed before the end. He wanted the rush he felt when his enemies realized they were completely at his mercy, begging for their lives. "I seem to have lost my arm, have you seen it, you can't miss it because it's green!" he yelled before laughing hysterically once more.

Piccolo used the time his opponent had given him by trying to form a more coherent strategy with his rival. "I have a technique that might be able to beat him." He began.

"Will it work?" Goku's voice one of utmost seriousness.

Yeah it'll work I was actually planning on using it against you next time we fought. But it seems like I'm gunna have to show it off early." he said a confident smirk on his face.

Goku felt a small amount of hope return to him but was suspicious why his rival didn't use it at the beginning of the battle. "What's the catch?"

Piccolo couldn't help but smile, his rival could be an idiot most of the time but when it came to fighting it seemed like he was a genius. "Well it does take 5 minute to charge, so I would need you to hold him off for at least that long, and seeing how he's managed to crush us both in less than a minute." Piccolo left the rest unsaid.

Goku just smiled "I think I can handle it; well here I go" he announced before charging the man who had done a pretty good job beating them both to a pulp in just a couple of blows.

Raditz just laughed at his brother's foolish attacks, Kakarot could never hope of hitting a warrior like himself, the mere thought was absurd. That didn't stop Raditz from enjoying his brother's hopeless attempts. For three minutes he tolerated the fruitless struggle. It was invigorating to know he could defeat another Saiyan so easily, even if that other Saiyan was just his weakling, traitor of a brother.

After a while though, even this began to bore him. So he decided it was time to knock some sense into Kakarot so the real fun of breaking him down could begin.

With a swift blow to his younger brother's head he sent him flying into the air.

But Goku wouldn't be dissuaded from his task of distracting his brother so easily "KA-ME" he yelled as Raditz's scouter began to beep wildly, registering the rapid rise in Goku's power level. "HA-ME" he continued as Raditz noticed a second power level, belonging to Piccolo was also rising.

'So they know how to raise their power levels by concentrating their energy; Kakarot's over 600... and the green man's over a thousand, this just got tricky' he thought to himself as he began to run away from Kakarot as fast as he could so he had more time to react. "HAAAAA!" his brother yelled as a thick beam of blue energy rushed towards him. At first Raditz thought his brother had missed entirely but soon the blast began to curve after him as he ran.

Finally after a prolonged race, lasting nearly a full 5 seconds, Raditz realized running would be pointless so he turned around and used his own energy to negate his brother attack, which was not an easy task even for him given how long Goku had been allowed to charge his attack.

By the time the attack was done his hand had been scorched, his muscles felt warm, as if they were finally getting a workout for the first time since the fight had begun. This feeling passed almost immediately as his energy began to flow through himself once again.

The same couldn't be said for Goku, he felt nearly drained; he had put nearly everything he had into that last attack and it still hardly phased his brother.

Raditz stared up at his brother a triumphant grin plastered on his face. "Don't you see how pointless your struggles are brother? You and everything else on this rock are going to die today, because unlike you I'm a first class warrior." He shouted before breaking into laughter once more.

That was when Piccolo decided to act, letting out a powerful yell "Special Beam Cannon!" the blast shot out, Raditz's scouter alerted him at the last possible second of the impending danger, '1400, I can't block that' the thought flashed through his mind for just a second before he lurched to the left with all of his might.

A searing pain shot through his shoulder at nearly the very same instant, but the fact it was his shoulder taking the damage and not his chest, left him laughing out of sheer relief. "Looks like you need to work on your aim green man if it had been better you might have actually done some damage." Raditz said entirely aware of how close to death he had actually come, his burnt shoulder, and shattered shoulder guard were testament to that.

Piccolo was devastated he had put everything he had into that blast, It would take him even longer to charge a second attack and with the element of surprise gone he knew he wasn't going to be given a second chance, he would likely die, failing to ever reach his destiny.

"Well it's been fun but I think it's time I get to killing you." Raditz said to him causing a wave of despair to fall over Piccolo. Suddenly though the seemingly unstoppable warrior dropped to his knees gasping in pain, his power abandoning him at his moment of triumph.

Piccolo was stunned unsure what had happened until he noticed his arch rival standing behind his supposed brother his tail locked firmly in his hands. "Ahh so you had a backup plan after all, hold him for just a few minutes and I should be able to try one more attack." Piccolo said a huge grin crossing his face before he began to concentrate his power once more.

Raditz suddenly had real fear began to build up in his stomach, 'it can't end like this. I've survived too many battles, too many beatings to die here at the hands of my weakling brother and the green man.'

He had to do something even if that something meant swallowing his pride and begging for his life. "Kakarot please! Let me go I'll leave and never come back to this world I swear." He knew he just needed to put a small amount of doubt in his brother's mind just long enough for the grip to loosen so he could finish them. Though he knew since his brother was a Saiyan the odds of success weren't high.

Piccolo caught onto the rouse immediately "Goku don't listen to him he's lying, he'll kill us all"

"No brother you must believe me, I was lying when I said I would kill you. I was just trying to make you join us, I don't have it in me to kill my own flesh and blood." he needed Kakarot to believe him just for a second, and his brother's foolishness didn't fail him.

The green man yelled "No Goku don't!" but it was too late the grip began to loosen and Raditz's strength began to come back. He launched himself away from his brother quickly so the younger Saiyan couldn't change his mind.

Raditz knew it was time no more fooling around, he came too close to death. Not wasting another second he quickly charged and fired a powerful blast into the green man's stomach blasting a head sized hole right through him.

Goku was stunned; his body moving in slow motion as he tried to move to stop Raditz before it was too late, but he had already missed his chance. Raditz's other hand had already been charging a second powerful blast. "Die you fool!" he shouted as he unleashed the blast into his brother's chest, launching his dying body back nearly a dozen meters.

"You were a disgrace Kakarot; not worthy to have Saiyan blood flowing through your veins" he said with a sneer. "And just for defying me I have something special planned with this pitiful mud ball of yours." A sadistic smirk crossing his lips. Before turning to the gravely injured green man who was still trying to stand. "I won't be finishing you off today, I'll be back in a year to finish clearing this planet, gather whatever pitiful defensive forces this planet might have. I want you all at your best for when I and my two associates return, we'll be looking for a good time to blow off some steam after our big job coming up." He began to laugh as he walked back towards his ship.

As soon as he opened the door of his ship the boy inside launch himself at him, screaming "Leave my daddy alone!" his scouter going off just a second too late. Just as the child's head crashed into his gut as the he saw what his scouter read "a power level of 1500, how is this possible" he gasped out as the air left his lungs, two of his ribs scattered, along with his armor.

The veteran warrior stumbled backwards a few steps before dropping down on a knee his body racked in pain from at least one shattered rib.

Gohan for his part looked around slightly dazed before Raditz hand lashed out and knocked the small boy unconscious. 'The brat he was hiding his power, I should kill him for attacking me!' He snarled inside his own mind. '...but if he's this strong as a child, he might be as strong as Prince Vegeta if he plays his cards right. He might just be of some use to us when we finally take on that bastard Frieza.' Growling Raditz grabbed the limp child by the back of his shirt before getting into his pod and prepping it for launch.

Within seconds the hibernation gas had taken effect and sent him into a drug induced slumber by the time he had left the planet's atmosphere.


(Back on Earth around 3 minutes later)

In the distance yellow airship could be seen approaching the battle field where the two greatest fighters in the history of the Earth lay bloodied and defeated.

"Oh no, is that Goku down there!" Bulma screamed noticing a body that appeared to be her friend laid prone on his back, a few dozen feet away Piccolo sat against a rock, the hole in his stomach mostly healed by his special regenerative abilities.

"This doesn't look good guys; I don't see that Raditz guy anywhere." Krillin said his voice tense and nervous as his eyes scanned the field below.

"We might as well land and inspect the area from the ground; Goku might need some medical help." Master Roshi said his voice also tense at the thought of being face to face with such an awful power again.

About a minute later they had landed and made it to Goku's side, unfortunately the Earth's greatest hero was already on the brink of death. He could barely get out what he needed to say, it was the greatest struggle of his life just to keep death at bay another moment. He could tell it was the second battle he was going to lose that day. "We couldn't stop him this time..." he began to cough up blood apparently not for the first time since he was laying there evident by the pool of it next to his face.

Goku suddenly grabbed the bottom of Krillin's shirt with what strength he had left "He...he took Gohan... he said… he said….." but before he could finish alerting his friends to the coming danger, the Earth's greatest hero passed on, his grasp slipping off of his best friends shirt and the light leaving his eyes.

"GOKU! NO!" Bulma cried before burying her head into Master Roshi's shoulder.

"Goku no! Come back! Hang in there! Goku…" Krillin's eyes began to well up too at the sight of his friend's lifeless, mangled body.

Although he was disturbed by the sight Master Roshi was better able to keep calm in this situation and tried to comfort the others, "Don't give up hope yet, we can still wish him back with the dragon ball everybody"

Both Krillin and Bulma perked up seemingly just remembering the mystic orbs that had been such a large part of their lives. Suddenly their hope was replaced with confusion as Goku's body began to fade from view, "Wait what's happening" Bulma cried out.

A harsh unexpected voice, which sent a chill down each of their backs, answered her question "I suspect that was Kami's doing, the Earth is in grave danger. Goku probably be receiving some sort of special training in other world to prepare, or something along those lines. The old man's got a plan." Piccolo said not bothering to hide the disdain he held for his other half from his voice.

Everyone turned to the spawn of the Demon King expecting to get further explanation out of him but he didn't feel like sharing any more than that. Several tense seconds passed, then finally Bulma worked up the courage to ask what had happened "So Piccolo, what exactly happened, and um, what is this grave danger you were talking about?" she squeaked out her voice shaky.

The son of the Demon King glared at the weak blue hair human who would dare question him, she recoiled and attempted to hide behind Master Roshi.

Briefly Piccolo considered a variety of different options as to how to respond, he could blast them all, or he could fly away, finally though he decided it would be better to explain everything to these three once and let them spread it to the rest of Goku's band of fighters. Mainly because he needed allies to beat, not one but three insanely strong warriors, and Goku's band of misfits just happened to be the strongest fighters the humans could provide.

"I'm only going to say this once so you all better listen closely, Goku and I were simply outmatched. We never stood a chance against him, even attacking together. I had a technique that could damage him but he was so fast he dodged my first attempt. Then that idiot grabbed him by his tail which apparently immobilizes members of his species, but before I could charge up a second attack to kill him, that fool decided to let his brother go." The disdain in Piccolo's voice was a thick as any they had ever heard.

This caused a shocked look to flash across both Krillin's and Bulma's faces, Master Roshi seemed less surprised by Goku's actions, he had always tried to give his opponents the benefit of the doubt, and it appeared that empathy had finally been his star pupil's undoing.

Piccolo didn't wait long for the shock to fade and continued his recap. "I took a blast to the stomach causing all the Ki I had built up for a second attack to dissipate. Then he blasted Goku in the chest as a thank you for sparing his life. He didn't even feel the need to finish me off after all that. Instead he kept me alive to deliver a message. He and his 'associates' will be back in one year's time. Apparently there is something higher on their priority list than destroying the Earth right now. Instead we're meant to be their entertainment for when they are done with whatever it is." A scowl formed on his face at the thought of being lumped in with the weaklings standing before him.

"So I need you to gather your what fighters you can, even as weak as you are begin to train to help me stop these 'Saiyans' from destroying the Earth before I even get to claim by birthright and rule over it." he said bluntly. Before turning and lifting into the air apparently done with the discussion. The three human's minds were too shocked to even fully comprehend he was leaving.

Before he left though he had one last thing to say. "Train with Kami for a few months so you can try to close the gap to where I am now, after that I'll find you and your real training can begin." he said a dark smile crossing his face. Before continuing on his way, soon he was nothing more than a dot disappearing into the distance.

Krillin stared at the receding dot and gulped, he didn't like that smile Piccolo had given them as he was leaving. As soon as Piccolo had completely disappeared in the distance, Bulma sank to her knees, "I can't believe he's really gone guys, this doesn't even feel real." tears forming in her eyes again.

Krillin and Master Roshi each took a moment to pay their respects to Goku before deciding it was time to get moving. "Come on Bulma, we've got to prepare for the other, what they were called?" Krillin asked.

"Saiyans I think." she responded her voice sounding like she wasn't all there, before she slowly collected herself and following the others to the airship.

Once everyone was aboard Krillin and Master Roshi began to talk strategy, "So we need to find Tien and Chiaotzu, Yamcha, and probably Yajirobe, who should we find first?" Krillin asked his the turtle hermit.

Master Roshi was silent for a moment before he responded, "It's not going to be enough. If Goku and Piccolo together couldn't even beat one of them, adding a few more warriors on our level isn't going to change the equation at all in our favor, I think even with Goku's special training we're going to need more fighters on our side."

"But we're in a whole league above everyone else on the planet, besides we'd have to stop out training to help them catch up, besides if we can't get strong enough in a year to be of any help how will anyone else be able to?" Krillin asked skeptical of his master's logic.

"I'm not talking about you and the others training them. I was talking about myself, and maybe Korin training them as well." he responded to his former pupil.

"Well sure, I guess that would work but who would you even train?" he asked trying to think of anyone who would be close enough to their strength to be able to help in just a year.

"I was thinking we could see if Nam has kept up with his training since the 22nd tournament. Also Chi Chi seemed to be a respectable fighter the last time we met. Living with Goku for all of these years must've helped her improve some already." Master Roshi said stroking his bread deep in thought.

Bulma who had been quite besides an occasional sniffle since taking off suddenly spoke up "We could alert King Furry to the situation and we can see what other fighters he can dig up for the fight."

Krillin's head shot up "Great idea Bulma, I guess there are probably a couple others like Yajirobe and Nam around different places. Maybe if we can get a couple more fighters like them and get them trained up they might be able to help. We could make it a worldwide effort!" The bald monk began to smile his mood momentarily lifting.

"I just have one more question that need to be answered before we can get ready to kick these guys' asses" he gulped before he continued, "Who's going to tell Chi Chi?"


(Update 5/6/2015)

Hey all, I just wanted to thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, I think if you did you'll enjoy the rest of the story. I was re reading this chapter the other day to help me deal with some writer's block for chapter 34 and realized just how much I've improved since I originally wrote this first chapter. So i decided it needed a bit more editing to try and make it a little closer to what you should expect in the later chapters. I plan on working on the next couple early chapters as well this summer, or even this week if my writer's block doesn't go away soon.

Anyway I'd love to hear feedback on what you think of this chapter or any of the other chapters written so far. Constructive criticism is also always appreciated as well.

Thanks again for reading the first chapter of Culture Shock, I hope you enjoyed it enough to continue :)