Hi! A little warning before you start: there is a certain amount of gore, especially when Freeza puts his new "trick" to test, so do proceed with caution. Credit to Ryu no Ohi for her great editing work!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
The silence was oppressing. The warriors were observing Freeza like the spectators of a renowned magician, awaiting with bated breath to see a magic trick. True to his role, the Arcosian raised a hand over his head, showing it to his public. Vegeta almost expected him to say, "See? It's empty", like the wizard Bulma had hired for Trunks' fifth birthday had done. His hand started to glow and energy pooled in the open palm, slowly building a massive ball of fire. "That's hardly new", Vegeta found himself saying under his breath, relaxing slightly. Then, Freeza raised his other hand. Soon, another energy sphere, less bright and smaller than the other, was floating in the air.
The Arcosian studied them for a second, before nodding, apparently satisfied; his attention went back to the poker-faced heroes. "Now, is anyone willing to give me a definition of Supernova?" Freeza inquired politely, his normally active tail oddly frozen behind him. An array of confused expressions was the only answer he got. "Really?" the Arcosian asked again, his red eyes wandering between the uncertain faces, "No one?"
Finally, Vegeta took a step forward, feeling mildly surprised the tyrant didn't rejoice with a cry of "Capital! A volunteer!". "A Supernova is a massive stellar explosion", the Prince announced, "So bright it can light a whole solar system. I'm surprised you're asking for clarifications, you should be quite familiar with it by now."
Freeza smiled, completely ignoring the jab. "Thank you. Behold, ladi... gentlemen, twenty-five years of education not completely gone to waste. Now, would you care to tell me what happens to a star after it has exploded?"
Vegeta frowned, not sure where the other was going with this, but more than willing to try and follow. "It can transform into a white dwarf, which is—" he started, only to be cut off by Freeza.
"I know what they are," the Arcosian stated in a bored tone bordering on impatient, "Go on."
The Prince's eyebrows furrowed, as he tried to recall other instances. He gulped. "They may become black holes..."
Freeza chuckled at that. "And lovely things they are. What else?"
Vegeta racked his brain. "Neutron stars," he finally muttered.
Freeza beamed. "Perfect! Now, a bonus question. Be careful with your answer, for this is worth the highest mark. What stars have an even stronger magnetic field than neutron stars?"
Vegeta looked incredulously at the former dictator and resisted the urge to throw a sidelong glance at Whis, to see if he was as speechless as himself. What kind of stupid question was that? And when the hell had their fight become a magic trick and a pop quiz?
"Ticktock, Vegeta," Freeza reminded him in an irritatingly lilting tone.
The Saiyan hesitated for a second too long and Freeza sighed. "Such a pity. Well, minor points for the effort. Now, observe." The Arcosian's white arms slowly descended, freeing the spheres of energy. The reaction was immediate; the smaller ball of energy started literally sucking the flaming external layer of its sister into itself, looking for all purposes like a whirlpool of fire. As it did that, it began to spin. At first, the movement was quite slow, barely perceptible, but then it became faster and faster, until the ball was a blindingly bright, spinning top. The sky burned in an inferno of fire, flames almost licking at the dumbstruck observers. Freeza, standing right under the infernal spectacle, let the arching blazes scorch him, and laughed and laughed and laughed. Then, there was the explosion. A flash of white light and an indescribable thunderclap, so loud that it was almost silent— that, or it had just deafened them. The warriors hurriedly crouched down, attempting to protect themselves from an attack that they couldn't see coming; an interminable minute later, the roar had dulled out and the light seemed to have subsided.
Goku hesitantly uncovered his face, throwing a rapid glance around to check whether the planet was still there. When his eyes thankfully met soil, he cautiously raised his head, intent on assuring himself that everyone was all right. Supreme Kai and Old Kai were still crouching on the ground, Beerus looked even worse than before, Whis and Vegeta were slowly getting up. Goku nodded to himself and looked upward. He gasped in surprise. The balls of energy were gone. One had been violently blasted away from the planet, if the vaporous trail it left behind was any indication. And the other...
Freeza was still standing, his tail cutting the air behind his back and a manic look on his face as he smiled entrancingly at something that seemed to come out of the Chemistry books Gohan was so fond of. It was a ball of azure energy, with thread-like arches connecting its poles. It appeared to be spinning quickly, almost bouncing. For some reason, Freeza was making it float away from his body, probably controlling it with his mind.
"What's that?" Goku asked, still gazing confusedly at the object.
The Arcosian's red eyes zeroed in on him. "That, silly monkey, is a star. A Magnetar, to be precise. Incidentally, Vegeta? Magnetar was also the answer to your bonus question."
Goku frowned. That thing was a star? Wasn't it a bit small to be a...
Freeza sighed, as if reading his thoughts. "It's in scale, you clown! But worry not, its destructive energy is in no way diminished."
"Destructive energy?" Vegeta arrogantly butted in, starting to walk closer to the tyrant. "That thing? Please! I bet it couldn't...what the..." The Saiyan's voice trailed off when Whis hurriedly grabbed at his shoulder, halting him; the God's eyes were fixed on the glowing sphere, following its fast rotation.
Freeza chuckled, his tail back to a more controlled swing. "This gem, my dear, stupid princeling, is a little miracle of the universe. It can only form through the interaction of two massive stars orbiting each other in a binary system. It took me years to properly understand the process behind its formation and even more time to replicate it, but was it worth it! You see, as I mentioned earlier, Magnetars have the strongest magnetic fields in the whole universe. And do you know what that can do to a creature, if it gets too close?"
Once again, the Arcosian raised a white hand for his public to see and slowly brought it closer to the shimmering star. The skin was immediately peeled away, so fast that all the stunned warriors could see was a spray of reddish-purple blood. Then, muscle and fat were violently ripped away, leaving bloodied bones. Then, the fingers started to bend at unnatural angles and break with loud snaps. Finally, Freeza pulled his hand back, panting deeply as his phalanges re-aligned, and muscle and fat magically grew back, seeming to sprout from the very bones. White skin suited the throbbing mass and the tyrant flexed his fingers. He tilted his head and smirked. "Funny little trick, isn't it?" he sniggered, bringing his index to his black lips in a gesture of consideration. His eyes found Goku's. Freeza's arm distended, pointing right at the hero. "Here, monkey," he called gamely, "Catch."
In a remote location of HFIL, Freeza finally stopped screaming. He clutched his hand to his chest, tightly, and curled up on the ground, tail encircling his body completely. King Cold stood stock still in the debris formed by his own furiously thumping tail, while Cooler silently studied his prone brother. The Arcosian's purple hands were tightened in fists, his knuckles slightly discoloured from the tension. Father and son exchanged a hard glance over the panting Freeza. Had Goku been able to sense their thoughts, he would have been mightily surprised.
Goku barely managed to get out of the Magnetar's destructive path, watching in muted horror as grass blades were instantly compressed and vaporized without even being touched. The star, a mere puppet to Freeza's will, obediently followed the unfortunate Saiyan. Goku flew backwards, too terrified to lose visual contact with the contraption.
"Goku! Behind you!" Supreme Kai's warning came just in time for the hero to reflexively jump aside and avoid the giant tree he was about to impact with. The star lazily barrelled onwards, a good portion of the tree's trunk vanishing in a cloud of splinters. Then, it suddenly accelerated, dashing towards Goku at a mad speed. A shadow fell on him.
Whis saw his chance. Confident that the prospect of finally killing Son Goku would distract Freeza, the God attacked with a powerful dash, outstretched arm ready to bury itself in the tyrant's chest. He met Freeza's eyes with cold determination and saw they were shining with mirth, alert to his position. At the last second, Whis swerved to the left, avoiding the twin beams of deadly red light; he rapidly made a half turn, a ball of energy forming in his hand, but was met with the Arcosian's powerful tail. The light blue ki vanished as Whis was slammed on the ground, his attempts at getting up thwarted by Freeza planting his foot on the God's chest.
The tyrant smiled down at him. "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I have quite a lot of practice fighting more than one adversary at the same time. Why, you could even say I have become a master at multitasking. By the way, Vegeta?" Freeza effortlessly dodged the gloved fist directed at his face and all the ones that came after that. When the Super Saiyan finally stopped his onslaught and stood panting with fatigue, the Arcosian hissed a menacing, "You are really starting to test my patience."
The Prince unexpectedly smirked. "Oh, am I? Good. You get sloppy when you're angry."
Freeza's senses screamed in alarm, and he turned his head just in time to see Goku dashing at him from his right, hair blazing in golden glory. The God of Destruction instantly stopped the star from advancing and prepared to meet Goku head-on, when the Saiyan suddenly went flying towards the sky; Freeza blinked confusedly, but all his perplexity was immediately drowned by rage as the ungrateful little wretch hurled him against the Magnetar.
Vegeta followed the Arcosian's parabola with baited breath, only to scream in frustration as Freeza blinked out of existence half-way. Then the star rushed at him and he had no more time to think of the tyrant. The Prince made a back-flip, keeping an eye on the moving threat as he descended. Strangely enough, it was no longer coming at him in a straight line, but had slightly swerved, so that even if he stayed stock still when he landed, he would probably still manage to be safe. With that in mind, he tried to plant his feet solidly on the ground. However, his toes had barely touched the soil when he felt a soft laughter right behind him and a gentle hand pushed him forward, tripping him. As he fell, he saw the passing Magnetar right in front of him, felt its energy on his face. He shut his eyes, unconsciously gritting his teeth.
Goku was surveying the situation from above, silently praying for their plan to work. He bit back a curse when Freeza used Instant Transmission to get away, having forgotten that Freeza was capable of his technique. He really started to worry when he saw the Magnetar hurtling towards Vegeta. He immediately flew down to join his comrade, relaxing slightly when the Prince somersaulted out of harm's way; then, the air started to blur behind the Saiyan a fraction of a second before Vegeta landed. His warning died in his throat as he realised that, even if he used IT, he would never reach Vegeta in time to stop him from falling. He tried anyway, attempting to force his mind to concentrate on the Prince's ki, but it was too late. Vegeta fell. The star passed him by, not hitting him directly but close enough for its magnetic field to do so much damage.
The Magnetar glided away and Vegeta hit the ground. Goku landed a second later, running to the still body of his friend, his mind conjuring up blood-drenched clothes and a skinless skull. He grabbed Vegeta by his shoulders, pulled him up, turned him around and nearly gasped. Vegeta was okay. The armour and battlesuit covering his chest were tattered and fell apart almost immediately, but the skin beneath them was unblemished. Goku let out a hysterical laugh, thanking every deity he could think of for Vegeta's fixation with wearing body armour. Then, he met the other Saiyan's eyes and the laugh died in his throat. Vegeta's eyes were wide in full-blown terror, his lips were trembling and his face was as white as a sheet; he slammed a trembling hand on his mouth, as if he was desperately trying not to puke. Goku winced in sympathy, reasoning that literally looking death in the eye must have been terrifying for the Prince. He leaned over to try and cheer him up, putting a hand on the ground. He jumped. The ground was wet. He studied his hand, covered in a red liquid. It was unmistakeably blood.
He looked Vegeta over, almost frantically, searching for an open wound, but couldn't find any. He opened his mouth to ask him what happened, but the Prince wasn't looking at him. Mouth still covered by his palm, Vegeta had his eyes fixed on Freeza, who stood not far away from them, staring at the two Saiyans with an oddly emotionless face.
The Prince staggered to his feet, ignoring Goku's pleas to stay put. He took a deep breath and tried to shake off the feeling of his skin painfully detaching from his chest and face, of his flesh being torn from his very bones, of his eyes being ripped out from their sockets. But most importantly, he tried to forget how it felt to have that very same flesh and skin grow back inch by painful inch. Still shaking, he looked at the tyrant once again; meeting Vegeta's gaze, the Arcosian subtly nodded, the tiniest smile now visible on his face.
Fury exploded into the Saiyan's mind, and so did his golden aura. With an enraged cry, he launched himself at Freeza, inundating him with a barrage of punches and kicks. Goku could have sworn that he also tried to claw Freeza's eyes out, but the Arcosian batted the gloved hands away and sent Vegeta flying with a well-placed backhand. It didn't matter, for Vegeta was up again to attack him in record time, fighting like a man possessed, screaming all the while. "You bastard!" he screamed, "Revolting lizard..! Monster..! You! Pathetic! Vermin! Stop! Ruining! My! Life!" he raged, punctuating each cry with a hatred-fueled blow. "How dare you! How dare you do this to me! I'll make you suffer, make you pay for what—"
Freeza grabbed both his wrists, arresting the onslaught. His red eyes were blazing and an odd smile had blossomed on his lips. "How dare I?" the Arcosian wondered aloud. He let out a small chuckle. "How dare I?" The smile vanished, as he clenched his hands around the Saiyan's wrists so hard that he broke them with a loud snap. The Prince's pained yowl was drowned out by the Arcosian's furious roar as he slammed him on the ground. "How dare I!" Freeza screamed, kicking the Saiyan harshly. He saw Goku starting to fly towards them and mentally summoned the Magnetar, sending it to chase the intruder. Whis seemed to want to intervene too; with a flick of his finger, the tyrant put Beerus into the path of the star and watched in mild amusement as the God of Creation dashed to save his associate. Satisfied, he went back to Vegeta.
"How dare I?" Freeza enunciated, feeling fury taking control of him again, "The appropriate question is how dare you? You really are nothing but a spoiled brat! You stomped your foot for immortality! You were prepared to kill for it! You died for it! And now that I have given it to you, you don't want it anymore!"
"It's not like that!" Vegeta shouted back, trying to ignore his bones realigning themselves, "Things have changed! I have changed! I don't want immortality!"
Freeza sneered. "Such a change of heart in such a short time. You are so fickle. I wouldn't be surprised if you were the first not to know what you want!"
Vegeta gritted his teeth, staring up at the Arcosian with hatred blazing in his eyes. He took a deep breath and attempted a smirk. "Well, you did say I am a good imitation. If I were you, I'd ask myself a few questions."
Freeza blinked. Then, a smile spread slowly on his lips. The next second, Vegeta was sprawled on the ground, desperately trying to breathe through the hands constricting his throat.
"Very funny, my dear," the Arcosian breathed in his ear, completely ignoring the Saiyan's attempts to throw him off, "However, you should remember that an imitation, good as it may be, is never on par with the original."
Vegeta still managed to glare up at him, but Freeza gleefully chuckled in seeing his face turning blue, as cold sweat dripped down his face.
"You will understand, sooner or later," the Arcosian assured him, a faraway look making its way onto his face, "After all, we have all eternity to get it right..."
He was thrown away from the Prince, who immediately started to cough, trying to gulp down air. Vegeta looked up and found himself face to face with an enraged Whis. The God's blue aura seemed to be burning, as his eyes studied the Saiyan's face with intent. Nodding to himself, he turned to where Freeza had fallen; the Arcosian appeared to be waiting for him, arms crossed and brows arched mockingly. Whis sneered, before concentrating on Vegeta again. He offered him his sceptre and, when the Prince simply stared at it confusedly, forcefully put it in his hands. "Go help Goku," he told him, and rushed towards Freeza.
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