AGE 767
"Mercy, it's a simple act, one that has the potential to change the universe for better or worse. It can bring people together or tear them apart, it can turn enemies into friends or friends into monsters. Its impact may seem insignificant but it has the power to rewrite the very course of history itself. At its core mercy is possibly the most powerful force in the universe."
Frieza's mother's words ran through the Frost Demon's mind as he struggled to hold back the enormous green ball of energy slowly pushing him into the ground. Risking a quick glance behind him he saw the terrified looks of the three injured children holding their ground behind him. As Frieza lost focus for that brief moment the giant Ki blast forced him further into the ground, the planet itself was shaking from the energy being released. "Damn!" The Frost Demon cursed himself. If he couldn't stop this blasted attack the planet was history. He might survive the blast but the other's had no chance of withstanding the explosion let alone the vacuum of space.
"Frieza you can do it!" Tyr yelled over the roar of the attack, his right arm hanging limply by his side while Weiss supported him by his left. The former despot wished once again that they would have escaped when he ordered them to, but the kids wouldn't budge, stubborn brats were going to get themselves killed. They would die because of him, because of their misplaced faith in a man who once claimed dominion over the entire universe, whose very name had once struck fear into the hearts of entire galaxies.
Frieza was driven further into the ground as the emerald sphere began to burn away at the palms of his hands. Reaching out Frieza tried to see if any of the others were in a position to help, after another pain filled moment Frieza grit his teeth as he realised he was on his own. Everyone else was either knocked out or too wounded to help. That was when the laughing began, that filthy monkey was cackling once again, the lunatic that his father tried to keep locked away had taken control.
Over the roar of the blast Frieza could hear the overgrown chimp taunting him. "Why are you even trying you pathetic worm? Just give up and die already you've wasted enough of my time" as he said this Frieza could feel him send another surge of energy into his attack driving him down another dozen feet, he couldn't keep this up much longer. Was this how it would end? Obliterated by this unhinged Saiyan just as everything in his life began to turn around?
"Don't give up!" Weiss called down to him her high pitched voice just barely registering. Frieza couldn't see the young girl who had made such an impact on him but he could feel her as she began powering up.
"No" Frieza croaked, forgetting the pain racking his body and the ball of death above him.
"Leave my father alone!" Weiss shouted as she took to the air, Frieza could feel her charging straight for the cackling Saiyan. After another tense moment of helplessness Frieza heard her cry out before her energy plummeted, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Frieza howled at the top of his lungs, the Frost Demon could feel his energy surge as the fire within him was lit. His muscles bulged, his eyes morphed into deep pits of crimson and an ivory white bone mask snapped over his mouth covering it from the flying debris. Frieza could feel the changes going on with his body but he only had one thing on his mind, making sure his little girl was safe. Focusing his surging energy into a single point Frieza began forming his Death Nova, the massive ball of crackling purple and black energy pushed against the Saiyan's Omega Blaster. The two energy spheres pushed against each other savagely, arcs of lightning raced out digging deep trenches along the already ruined countryside.
The pressure from above began to alleviate as Frieza's attack slowly consumed the mad Saiyan's. Then with a sudden surge, Frieza applied another burst of energy into the sphere until it completely enveloped the Omega Blaster. For a moment the new sphere of shining white light looked like it was going to erupt, but then it began to collapse upon itself, concentrating to a single point at the tip of the enraged Frost Demon's index finger.
Looking up Frieza saw the Saiyan charging his position, the oaf was no longer laughing, a disgruntled scowl plastered across his muscular features. Well if the idiot wanted to fight him so badly who was Frieza to deny him. Winding his arm back Frieza hurled the sphere of white light at the charging Saiyan, who was only able to bring his guard up at the last moment.
The ball may have been the size of a pea but it packed enough power in it to destroy this planet twenty times over and so even with the Saiyan's raised guard he was quickly pushed back. Frieza chuckled at the brief look of panic on his simian adversary's face, he had now lost control and was being hurled into the air at an incredible speed until the sphere detonated. The blast violently shook the planet, mountains crumbled, earth and trees were uprooted and colossal ravines opened up in the ground revealing the burning core of the planet itself.
Taking this moment Frieza sought out his true target. After a few tense seconds Frieza found her half buried under a tree, unconscious and with almost no energy left but still very much alive. Picking Weiss up gingerly Frieza looked back to see both Tyr and Raijin looking up at the Frost Demon before them mouths agape. Walking briskly over to the other two kids Frieza gave the unconscious girl over to Raijin who held her carefully before looking back up at Frieza speechless.
"Get back to the ship" Frieza commanded his voice was deeper than expected and the boys' eyes widened in shock as he turned back to face the cloud of dirt and debris that was kicked up by the blast.
"What are you gonna do?" Tyr asked shakily clearly unnerved by the Frost Demon's appearance.
"End this" was Frieza's reply as he began to walk forward his power increased along with each and every step.
"But, but he's gone! There's no way he could survive that!" Raijin replied nervously as he shifted his hold on his unconscious friend.
Not saying another word Frieza pointed in the direction of the ship, he was in no mood to argue. Under normal circumstances no one could have survived such a blast, it would almost certainly be the end of anyone caught in its radius, Frieza knew better however.
As Frieza looked back he saw the three kids taking to the sky, the whole time Frieza thought back to his encounter with the selfless Saiyan Goku. He had sent away his son and friends choosing to fight Frieza alone, risking his own safety for that of those he cared for. Thinking about the kind hearted Saiyan brought a sly smile to the Frost Demon's face. Now he was the one facing down an impossibly powerful opponent, all the while trying to keep those he cared for safe from harm. The irony was not lost on Frieza. Taking to the air Frieza began to hear it once again, that manic cackling that the Frost Prince had quickly come to despise.
As the smoke began to dissipate it revealed the hulking form beneath, the true Super Saiyan of Legend that Frieza had feared all his life. This was not the kind hearted Goku, this was a monster through and through, an enraged animal, one that needed to be put down immediately. A few years ago Frieza would have wept, would have thrown a tantrum, he might have even considered blowing up the planet to give himself an escape. But things had changed for the ex-dictator, he had matured, he had a family and friends, he was Lord Frieza saviour of the universe and no overgrown simian would take that from him.
As he leveled with his opponent Frieza brought his guard up shifting to a fighting position feeling his power increase with each passing moment. Neither of them had reached their full power, and Frieza couldn't help but grin at the prospect of the fight ahead of him. Staring into the blank eyes of the Legendary Super Saiyan in front of him, Frieza lifted a single finger to signal his opponent to bring the fight to him. "Come face your death you filthy monkey scum!" Frieza roared. The two super beings rushed towards each other at blinding speed and Frieza braced himself for the coming battle, only one of them was going to survive this and he would be damned if he let another monkey best him.
"One simple act of mercy, many times its impact will go unnoticed. But sometimes, once in a lifetime it can change the very course of history."
AGE 762
Pain, unbelievable, excruciating pain coursed throughout Frieza's body, well almost throughout, he couldn't feel his left arm or the lower half of his body. As the wounded Frost Demon opened his eyes he began to recall what transpired mere moments before. The intense fight that tore the landscape of Namek apart with each blow, the Saiyan's attempt to leave as felt he had already won the battle and the climactic moment where Frieza's own Death Saucer bifurcated him from behind were clear as day within his mind. Well if there was any consolation at least his Death Saucer had left a clean cut.
Using what little strength he had left Frieza used his telekinesis to keep his internal organs internal. While Frieza was known to be able to rip entire mountains from their foundation, in his current state the small act of keeping a few organs in place was quickly diminishing what little reserves he had left. Frieza could only lie there in pain and wait for death to claim him, gasping in this fresh hell he had been subjected to.
"Though you brought all of this on yourself, it's a shame that your life had to end in such a miserable way." It was him, the rotten Saiyan Goku, he was still there talking to him, wasting time on a defeated foe even though Namek was moments from annihilation, the sentimental fool's naivety clearly knew no bounds. "I wanted to save you Frieza but you wouldn't let me, and now you will have to share the fate of the planet Namek, which you yourself destroyed" he stated looking down on the ruined form of his adversary. The Saiyan's words seemed to accentuate the pain coursing through what was left of Frieza's body, every inch of him burned in agony as the damage and exhaustion from the past few minutes ate away at him.
Frieza then heard, over the roar of wind and thunder, the sound of his footsteps leisurely walking away. "I'm tired of fighting, I'm going home… Goodbye, Frieza." His stride continued onwards each step echoing in Frieza's mind. How could this be? He was leaving, after everything that happened between them and he was willing to just leave him. He knew the monkey was leaving him there to die but the fact that he hadn't simply finished him when he had the chance gave Frieza an opening. This Saiyan was not like Vegeta, he had a heart, a conscious both of which were exploitable.
Through labored breaths that burned through his chest Frieza spoke as quickly as he could. "Please, help me" he wheezed causing Goku to stop in his tracks. "You can't leave me here... You can't let me die like this." The Saiyan was standing there perfectly still but with his shoulders tensed, it seemed as if he was going through some great inner turmoil. Feeling the end coming Frieza redoubled his efforts, he only had mere moments before he would slip away "You have to help me… Don't let me die." After no response from the golden haired warrior fear gripped the Frost Demon's heart, had he expected too much of the Saiyan? "Please have mercy" those last words were not part of some ploy to be saved, they were instinctual, pure, the words of a living being that feared the great unknown that awaits all when there time finally comes.
Those words made the golden haired warrior spin around fire in his eyes "how many people begged for their lives at your feet, and you killed them anyway!?" His voice rising in anger as he continued "did you show me mercy when I asked you to spare my best friend Krillin!?" The raw fury and sorrow was unmistakable in his voice. The ground shook once more, Frieza couldn't tell if it was simply the planet collapsing upon itself or the Saiyan powering up to finish him, it really didn't matter though, it seemed that this fight was well and truly over.
Despite the feeling of utter defeat, Frieza's own fear and the desire to survive pushed him onwards. With the last vestiges of energy in his ruined form he managed to gasp out what he thought were to be his last words. "Please… Please… Forgive me."
The torrents of howling wind, the crackles of thunder as they tore through the landscape of Namek began to muffle. The trembling ground beneath him seemed to even out and calm itself. The smell of magma and ionized air drifted away and no matter how hard he tried the Frost Demon could not open his eyes. Frieza's breathing became even more ragged and slow he could feel one of his lungs fail and the other was barely holding on. And then the pain, the worst he had ever felt in his life began to drift away, so this is the end the Frost Prince thought to himself, and solemnly he embraced the coming void.
With a sudden surge of energy everything roared back to the tyrant, sight, smell, hearing, taste and pain, the pain had returned tenfold but he was able to withstand it now, he felt rejuvenated, but how? Surely the Saiyan wasn't that foolish as to let him live? Eyes snapping open he stared up and there he was, Goku stood over the dictator with a glowing outstretched hand and a look that was a mixture of so many emotions, anger, pity, regret, determination and sadness. Using his new energy Frieza rose to meet the Saiyan, his enemy, face to face. "Why?" Frieza croaked his mouth still stained with the taste of his own blood "why did you give your energy?" Frieza was more confused by this act of mercy than the monkey's transformation to the golden haired warrior he was staring at.
"You asked me to, and I will always help those in need," a long pause stretched between the two as Frieza tried to understand the Saiyan's behaviour. "Even those that don't deserve it" he stared straight into the red eyes of the despot with calm determination, betraying none of the rage and fury he had fought with mere minutes before. "I've given you a second chance Frieza I suggest you don't waste it." Turning his back once again to the galactic overlord the Saiyan took to the sky, no doubt searching for a functioning ship to escape the doomed planet.
"He's really just going to leave, he could have finished me and still would have had time to search for a ship" Frieza said to himself as stared after the golden warrior. Looking down at his own bloody hand, purple electricity arced from one finger to the other, Frieza realised just how much power Goku had given him. He could concentrate a blast and attack the monkey right then and there with his back turned, he wouldn't see it coming. Raising his hand to point directly at the retreating Saiyan Frieza felt the energy build up. It was dirty and underhanded but oh so tempting, he would show him what happens when you pity the most powerful being in the universe.
Lowering his hand back down Frieza realised that such a maneuver would cost him what was left of his energy. Leaving him no way off the planet, plus there was no guarantee he would even hit the Saiyan from this far away. Attacking now could seal the Frost Demon's fate and that was not something he could afford. Turning around he found his severed arm and lower torso, all things considered they were still in fine shape. Using his telekinetic abilities Frieza levitated his limbs next to him as he gazed around at the ruined landscape, the sight of his greatest defeat. Spitting a wad of blood and phlegm onto the scorched ground Frieza took to the air as well, he had enough of this wretched dirt ball, it was time to leave.
Floating in space was not one of Frieza's favourite activities, it was incredibly dull, there was no one to converse with and he couldn't smell or hear anything. He was just forced to float along as he gazed back at Namek, he was waiting as comfortably as he could just outside the expected blast radius of the planet. His limbs held in place by his telekinesis all he could do was wait for the coming explosion. The destruction of a planet and the fireworks display that went with it always brought him a great deal of enjoyment, there was no other sight quite like it in the universe.
As the time slowly ticked away Frieza thought back to the events that had transpired on the green world over the past few days. Specifically he thought of the five minutes he had given the planet after connecting with his Death Ball, either Namek was tougher than it looked or Frieza had seriously misjudged the power of his Death Ball. Both options agitated him, but then again almost every moment on that dirt ball had gotten on his nerves and now here he was waiting for an already dead planet to finally give up and explode, why hadn't he simply thrown a second Death Ball?
'I wonder if that monkey was able to get…' Frieza thought to himself but was cut short as he spotted an Attack Ball, most likely one of the Ginyu's, leaving what was left of Namek's quickly deteriorating atmosphere. 'Well that answers that question' Frieza thought to himself drily. Raising a single finger the Frost Demon prepared a Death Beam, the pinprick of purple energy shining brightly in the void. Tracking the ship on its departure Frieza smiled to himself. 'It would be so simple you stupid monkey, I don't even have to hit you. One shot and that damn pod will explode and then I can watch you writhe and perish in the vacuum.' The thought was so tempting, it would be the easy way out, he, Lord Frieza would win and that simian would lose. The tip of his finger crackled with energy as he followed the retreating Attack Ball.
"Please have mercy"
His own words ran through Frieza's mind, the defeated pleading tone forcing the Frost Demon to lower his arm. Sighing to himself inaudibly Frieza turned away from his foe letting him go just as Goku had for him. 'I will have my revenge monkey mark my words, but it will be a fair contest, and I will emerge victorious when that time comes' Frieza thought to himself, the image of himself holding his defeated adversary in victory brought another smile to the tyrant.
Flashes of light began to emanate from Namek forcing Frieza to shield his eyes as they adjusted to the increased brightness. The surface of the doomed planet was exploding outwards sending massive chunks of rock and dirt into the atmosphere, Namek had finally given up. 'Here it comes' Frieza thought to himself excitedly, he readied himself for the grand spectacle which never failed to entertain him. The planet Namek burst forth releasing a cascade of energy, fire and debris in all directions. Frieza felt the force of the blast push him back slightly but that hardly mattered as he watched the tempest of fire and colour cascade out into the void. The explosion was over almost as quickly as it began and in the planet's place was a swirling cloud of debris.
The explosion was in fact quite magnificent one of the best he had ever witnessed even though it was short lived, yet all Frieza felt was disappointment. He had hoped the detonation of the celestial body would help take his mind off the past few days, but now that it was over all Frieza felt was empty. He had failed to obtain the Dragon Balls, he had failed to gain immortality, he failed to kill that damn dirty ape, he had lost one of his oldest ships and he lost Zarbon, Dodoria and the entire Ginyu Force. Apparently he couldn't even kill Vegeta properly, somehow the Prince was alive even after beating the tar out of him mercilessly and blasting a hole in him. The insubordinate Prince of all Chimps had shown up during his fight with Goku and quickly vanished mere moments after his arrival much too both combatants confusion.
The worst part though was looking back on his own defeat, cut to pieces by his own technique, Cooler would never let him live that down. The thought of his smug asshole of a brother brought a surge of rage through him causing him to hurl a massive energy blast into the darkness of deep space. His thoughts were starting to spiral out of control now, remembering all his failure over the past few days brought him to the point of tears. 'Bested by a monkey... That then pitied me enough to save my life' Frieza couldn't decide whether to feel absolutely enraged or just defeated.
'And now here I am stuck in the middle of the space boonies, waiting for a ride from father. Oh this will be ever so much fun.' Well Frieza could at least take solace knowing he still had a sense of humour 'hurray for small victories I guess.'
At this point all Frieza could do was think and wait, his father would no doubt have been notified of the destruction of Frieza's saucer and would be coming to personally check up on him. A vein on the tyrant's forehead twitched at the indignity of needing his father to come get him. But since Frieza had no way of knowing which direction to actually take to get back home to Fuar, he was stuck there alone with nothing more than memories and thoughts of the future to occupy his time.
After a full day of moping about the past Frieza decided to be proactive and began compiling a mental list of things he would take care of when he made it back home. While this allowed the Frost Demon to actually plan out what moves he would be making in the future it also helped to quickly pass the time.
First on that list was to have his arm and lower half reattached, his Death Saucer had left such a clean cut that he hoped the process would go smoothly. Once he got home he was sure Nadan would begin working on that immediately, the thought of needing a prosthetic was sickening to the Frost Prince. As for his tail that would simply regrow itself given enough time, judging by how much was missing he estimate that it would take roughly one month.
Next on his list of things to do was training, once he was back to one hundred percent he would have to begin an intense regimen if he wanted to surpass the Super Saiyan. Frieza had trained before but it was rudimentary at best, just the basics, enough to get him by a stronger than average opponent but that's about it. That was one of the major factors in their battle, by the look of things Goku had trained his entire life using his technique to set up his attack. At first that didn't matter as Frieza's speed and power advantage trumped Goku's skill, but once the playing field was leveled by the monkey's transformation things quickly turned south for the despot. If Frieza could focus on actually fighting and improving his own overall technique then he was sure he would emerge victorious in a second outing against the Saiyan.
Next was the matter of sensing energy, not being able to quickly turned into a huge detriment once their scouters were destroyed back on Namek. To make matters worse even when they did have them the blasted things exploded when they tried to read an energy level that surpassed their limits. Such a limitation was unacceptable at this point, therefor the scouters were essentially worthless and a new solution needed to be found. That left sensing energy, the Earthlings could do it no doubt and had tried to exploit that advantage during their confrontation to varying degrees of success. The problem was where to find a teacher? Vegeta had seemed to learn on his own so it couldn't be that hard, Frieza decided to file that one away for later.
Then there was the matter of transportation, with the saucer now destroyed Frieza would need a new ship along with a new crew to pilot it. Perhaps he could convince Nadan and Tukkan to finally leave the safety of Fuar. Either way one thing was for sure, Frieza was tired of the gaudy design of the saucer models and would have to look into something new, something sleek with just the right amount of style. The thought of acquiring a brand new ship brought a smile to the Frost Demon's face as he envisioned showing it off to his brother.
As the days trickled by Frieza began to wonder if anyone was actually coming for him, true they were in the middle of nowhere space but still it should not have taken this long to find him. After what felt like an eternity a ship finally appeared amongst the debris field deploying searchlights as they began to scour through the detritus. The immense eyesore could have only belonged to Frieza's father. In no time at all the ship's searchlights located the fallen prince and after sending out a few soldiers in environmental suits, were able to bring Frieza aboard through the airlock. Waiting for him inside was none other than his father, King Cold stood at least twice as tall as his son, even when his legs were still attached, and was a spitting image of his son while in his second form. King Cold looked down on the wreck that was his offspring the slightest sneer crossing his face as he did so.
"Welcome back my son, I'm so pleased to see you're still alive." Frieza had known his father long enough to recognize that tone. While his words sounded like he cared about the wellbeing of his son, his tone stated pretty clearly how disappointed the king was in his youngest heir.
Gritting his teeth at the subtle jab to his pride Frieza managed to respond calmly "Yes father I'm alive, please set a course for Fuar immediately." A few of the soldiers around him took a tentative step back, they had all heard about the legendary temper of the Frost Prince, and if he was anything like his father they knew to stay as far away as their duty allowed.
"What for my son?" King Cold asked with the smallest glint of a smile crossing his mouth as he saw the nervous looks on his subordinate's faces.
"Well I would enjoy having these reattached to me" Frieza replied with a deadpan tone as he released the telekinetic hold on his severed limbs. They fell to the ground with a loud smack startling several of the nearby soldiers.
"Ah yes now that reminds me" Frieza didn't believe for one second that his father had almost forgotten something. "How did this become of you my Prince?" The sickly sweet tone of his father made Frieza want to gag, he now recalled why he hated talking with him so much, the man was insufferable.
"It's not important, I will handle it myself father" Frieza replied curtly, there was no point starting a war of words, not yet at least. They would still have quite some time to go until they made it home and Frieza was already sporting a rather vicious headache, he really didn't need another. So swallowing his pride Frieza gave his father a brief nod of thanks before he began to drift off in the direction of the guest quarters. Just before he reached the first set of automatic doors however he felt a large hand rest on his shoulder, exerting enough pressure to keep him in place.
"Please son let's have a talk, I insist." His voice made it perfectly clear there was no way around it.
Frieza reluctantly conceded and floated along further into the ship with his father at his side. All the while his limbs dragged behind him once again, pulled along by his telekinetic hold leaving a trail of dark purple blood in its wake. This was going to be a long trip, Frieza thought to himself 'but once it's over and I'm back to full power I'm coming for you monkey, just you wait.'
Author's Notes: Hey everyone so I just want to say that I love Dragon Ball, always have and always will so I'm really enjoying writing this story. I'm a personal sucker for stories of redemption which is why I like Vegeta and Piccolo so much. So I wanted to write a story like that involving one of the main three villains, while I was planning this I realised Frieza was the only logical choice to have a change of heart. Unlike Buu and Cell who were either created to be evil or are evil incarnate Frieza is a being of choice and unlike the others is given a perfect turning point that still leaves him with plenty of story to go through.
I plan to take this story all the way into Resurrection of F and possibly into Super if I can figure out how to spin it. It won't follow the main story completely, Frieza will have his own side adventures but will eventually join forces with the Z-Fighters.
Frieza's story is going to be a long one, he's going to go through a lot of pain and hardships (which let's face it he kinda deserves in all honesty) and his redemption will not come easy. It's not going to happen overnight and it will take years also much like Vegeta he's still going to be kind of a dick. But I mean would you have him any other way?
So I've rambled long enough and I do hope you enjoy my work, I'll be reading all reviews and any criticisms and advice will be very welcome. Thanks for your time.
Author's Notes (Redux): Hey everyone so as I said I'm combing through each chapter to fix grammatical errors and just make slight adjustments to dialogue and story. Nothing huge really except for this chapter, I knew this one needed a lot of work so I hope you enjoyed the expansion on it.
I'm going to be posting these as I complete them so you're gonna see a lot of updates in the next week or so. The other changes won't be as dramatic for the subsequent chapters, and I won't be posting new notes for each one either I just wanted to make sure you guys saw this and would know how I'm releasing the updates.
As always guys thanks for the awesome support you have all been awesome take care