The Power of Mercy

Written by Chibikan

Disclaimer: I am not Akira Toriyama so logic would say that I do not own Dragon Ball Z

Summary: What if Frieza had been unable to beg for mercy on Namek? What if before the planet was to explode, a misaimed attack followed by a rockslide left the Icejin Tyrant unconscious and bleeding, clearly unable to survive the destruction of Namek without help? I could be wrong, but I don't think Goku is the type of person to kick someone when they're down, no matter who they are. Will Goku live to regret his decision to save the terror of the universe? Or will he find that he was right, and indeed anyone can change if they really want to?

Prologue:

"It's over!" Frieza shouted as the Planet Namek experienced another terrible tremor. The evil alien held himself oddly. He had been trying as hard as he possibly could to defeat this Super Saiyan, this son of Bardock. But it was as he had feared, the Super Saiyan was unbeatable. The only recourse he'd had was to set the planet to explode. And in a short few minutes, it would do just that. "Even IF you manage to dodge this," It was the last of his energy, if it failed to destroy the Saiyan, then he will have lost. He needed the rest of his energy to escape the planet. "There's no way you can get yourself to safety in time to save your pathetic monkey-ass." A large ball of energy formed on his hands, "Die!" He began to throw the ball at the Saiyan.

Goku responded by fazing out and directly behind Frieza, he was directly the alien and a tall mountain. "Behind you!" he called out.

Frieza turned and in a fit of anger, threw the ball. Goku dodged the ball with ease, allowing it to crash into the mountain. Goku flew out of the way in time to watch the mountain begin it's collapse. Frieza was unable to move, shocked that the monkey had indeed dodged the large ball. He screamed as the mountain collapsed on top of him, burying him beneath it's rubble.

"Surely, he couldn't have survived that," Goku thought to himself. Nothing could survive having a huge mountain fall on them. He flew in for a closer look, to make sure.

Sticking out of the fragments was a white hand with purple nails, it was unmoving. Goku got nearer. Just when he was about to decide, yes, the menace was now dead, the hand moved slightly. Rock and rubble shifted allow revealing the Icejin, using his energy to remove the rock trapping him. Goku prepared for a final round. Frieza forced himself into a standing position, and took a step towards the Saiyan, before falling unconscious to the ground. He wouldn't hurt another man, woman, or child ever again, Goku realized. He turned to leave.

And turned around, to look at the evil man. His golden hair and turquoise eyes returned to their original state, as he eyed the prone form of the beast that had destroyed nearly every Saiyan in the universe. He had killed his own father, had killed Vegeta, and Kuririn. He had tried to kill his son and Piccolo. He was the reason for every ounce of pain they had suffered on this doomed planet.

But…now that he was powerless, helpless to save himself, Goku discovered that he was trouble just leaving him to die. Surely, the evil creature would now understand that good will always prevail. Maybe, the tyrant could change his ways. If Goku just left, no one would ever know.

"Save him, Goku," said the voice in his heart. The voice that always seemed to sound like Grandpa Gohan.

With a sigh, Goku flew back to the unconscious alien and bent down to pick him up. He was very light, Goku thought, for someone with so much power. Blood literally poured out from lacerations and gashes all over his reptilian body. Goku instinctually checked his pulse, it was there, but barely. His ki was dangerously low. Goku allowed a small glow to a light his body as he carried Frieza towards the only way off the planet, Frieza's own ship. It wasn't enough for the creature to attack him, but it would keep him alive until he could get him to better facilities. As he neared the ship, he only hoped he wasn't making a mistake.

AN: I hope you enjoyed the first part of this fiction. I said it before and I'll say it again, redeeming villains is fun.