Droves of aliens with green, scaly skin had gathered around, coming together on the surface of their dark, cold planet. Over the past three days, there had been stories about an invader who had landed on the planet and taken to systematically exterminating its inhabitants. From the tales delivered by the horror-struck survivors, it was one single boy, described as being a one man wrecking crew. The strongest fighters had joined together, confident that their collective power could destroy this new threat. All they had to do was wait for him to strike.
Suddenly, a large explosion went off in the distance. The force of it caused the entire planet to shake. The group of warriors turned around, all having their own looks of anxiety when they saw the massive clouds of smoke painting the dark night sky. The invader was close; it was time. A figure closed in on them from the sky. As he flew in closer, the warriors could see him more clearly. It was a boy, with long, shaggy hair. He looked like he was just about to begin puberty, his facial features rough but still containing traces of the delicacy of a child. He was wearing a black body suit and armor, with green shoulder pads. Completing his appearance was an odd, furry, brown appendage securely wrapped around his waist.
The blue device the boy had been wearing over his left eye went off, the yellow numbers at the bottom running. The boy's lips curled back in disgust over the reading he had received. Pfft. None of these guys are even higher than 2500.
Methodically, the boy descended to the ground, his cold, empty eyes practically inviting the aliens to swarm him. The fighters exchanged apprehensive glances with each other. It was strange; they were sure if they swarmed the kid, they could overtake him easily. And yet, there was something about him. His mere presence exuded danger. He should have been shaking in his boots at how outnumbered he was, but he instead stood calm and collected. His dark eyes loomed over the crew, surveying the looks of poorly-hidden fear.
Not wanting to continue the stand-off a second longer, the aliens attacked. They all flew at the boy, who didn't even attempt to move out of the way. Instead keeping the nonchalant look on his face, the boy squared his shoulders, prepared for battle. He released a large shockwave created by his own fierce Ki; the force was enough to blow all of the warriors back by several feet. With staggering speed, the young warrior flew at the aliens and began his attack.
The first thing he did was fire a large wave of Ki, which killed three of the aliens on the spot. The fighters stopped dead in their tracks, all horrified by the power the kid displayed. All of the things they had heard were true; he was a fearsome force. The kid, not caring for the looks of fear etched across the fighters' faces, took to killing them all one by one. One brave, foolish fighter flew up to him, but the warrior dodged the punch the man thrust at him by merely craning his neck. The young fighter then ruthlessly slammed his elbow into the man's head, the mere force of it breaking his neck and killing him instantly. The boy was almost mechanical in his movements.
The eight fighters that remained flew at the fighter once more, undeterred by the brutal efficiency with which he killed their two comrades. The boy merely shrugged and stayed in place, almost waiting for them to strike. In one sudden motion, he swung his foot up, driving it through the stomach of the first fighter that dared attack him. Withdrawing his now blood-soaked foot from the dead fighter's body, the young warrior gathered an intense Ki to both of his palms and fired off a shower of tiny blasts at the warriors. They weren't enough to kill them, but they did damage them, at least. The boy resumed his assault from there.
If he was drawing any enjoyment from his actions, he wasn't showing it, instead carrying out the violent kills with a blank, stoic look in his eyes. This was just a job to him. One of the men phased out of sight and reappeared behind the boy, much to his surprise. He hooked his arms, smirking at his work. Now holding the boy in his grip, the warrior directed his partner to attack. Nodding in affirmation, the other man fired a lethal Ki blast at the boy. However, the initial shock that had been present on the boy's face returned to the cool, collected expression. In one fluid motion, the boy removed his arms from the man's grip and spun behind him, shoving him forward into the Ki blast, which incinerated him.
The man that had fired the blast could only stare at the boy, frozen in his spot in the sky. His eyes were filled with terror over this child; where did he come from? How was he so powerful? Offering no reaction to the man's look, the young fighter instead advanced towards him. He then blasted a hole through the fighter that had just jumped at him without even taking his eyes off of the man he had been floating to. Once he was merely inches away from the terrified man, he cut his head clean off with a mere swipe of the arm.
The four remaining warriors were trembling in fear as the armor-clad boy methodically floated towards them. He stopped and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for one of the men to make an ill-fated attempt at fighting him. The four aliens all shook their heads and decided to lay it all on the line, jumping at him in attempt to hit him with a swarm. The warrior merely jumped up and hit three of the men with fatal blows at a speed that shouldn't have been possible for a mortal being. The last fighter left sank to his knees, losing any will to fight. The young invader phased out of sight, reappearing behind him. He grabbed the warrior's head and brutally twisted it, snapping his neck.
Wiping off his forehead, the boy spat at the ground. "Takes care of them," he muttered absent-mindedly before taking a seat on the sandy surface. Those were the strongest people on the planet, and considering how boring they were, he should have at least saved them for last.
It had been eight years since Son Gohan was first taken in by the Saiyans. Eight years since he set his goal of toppling Frieza and ending his reign over him. He had spent every moment of every day getting stronger, spitting in the face of the numerous efforts by his higher-ups to halt his progress. He endured whatever hardships came his way, long since outgrowing the anguish he felt over experiencing them, instead harboring nothing but numbness. He had learned the ways of being a ruthless warrior. Whatever words his conscience screamed out from the deep recesses of his mind about how wrong his actions were fell on deaf ears to the half-breed. They weren't important – all that mattered to him was strength.
This particular planet he was on was the last of a series of survival missions he was given by Frieza. He was to purge seven large planets of all of their populations within one month; today was only halfway into the second week of his deadline. Though his hatred for the lizard tyrant never faltered, he took on all of the jobs he presented to him with open arms.
The half-Saiyan sighed and took out a tiny, black device from beneath his armor. He pressed a button on it, causing it to expand into a large tablet with a computer screen. On it was a map of the planet, several locations having red X's on them. Those locations denoted the regions of the planet Gohan had successfully wiped out. He tapped his finger on an unmarked section of the map, which represented this part of the planet. A red X popped up over the area. There was only one unmarked spot left. Gohan pressed a button at the top of the tablet, returning it to its pocket-sized state.
Slowly rising to his feet, Gohan cracked his knuckles and craned his neck. He had a job to finish.
Many hours later, Gohan's space pod landed on one of the large landing pads at Planet Frieza No. 116, the latest planet Frieza had taken on as his home base. Slowly steeping out of his pod, he was greeted by a frail, scaly alien.
"Son Gohan? I wasn't expecting for you to return for another week and a half!" he said in astonishment.
"Well I'm obviously here now," Gohan flatly replied, walking past the old man and to the large, white building. The old man looked over his shoulder at Gohan, still shocked by how quickly he had returned. Beyond a few patches of dirt on his armor and a couple of bruises on his face, he looked fine. The 12 year old half-Saiyan's alarming growth in power was the talk of Frieza's army for years now.
Gohan walked down the halls of the building, stopping when he reached two large, metallic doors. The two guards standing in front of the large doors initially gave Gohan a startled look before opening them up, giving way to Frieza's throne room. It was set up the same as it had always been – Zarbon and Dodoria on opposite ends of the room, and in the middle was the icy tyrant himself, Frieza, sitting in his black floating chair. Gohan walked further into the room as the doors closed from behind him. The half-Saiyan got down on one knee.
Frieza merely stared at Gohan, his expression neutral. He gazed at the boy studiously, honestly surprised at how soon Gohan had returned. "My goodness…the last thing I expected to see today was you, reporting the results of your survival mission. You did complete your mission, correct?"
"Yes, Lord Frieza," Gohan mechanically replied, his voice subdued and controlled. Though it took a couple of more hellish punishments, Gohan had fully learned how to reign in his hatred for Frieza. "I have destroyed all seven planets, as instructed." Gohan grabbed the small, black device from his armor. "In the event that you suspect that I've ducked my mission or withdrew from it prematurely, I give you photographic proof."
Frieza instead laughed haughtily; his throaty chuckles never ceased to make Gohan's blood boil, though he never showed his anger outwardly. "My, my, you didn't have to go through such measures. You are a powerful young lad, Son Gohan," Frieza replied, his voice low. Gohan could pick up the slightest hint of disgust in his tone. "I do not doubt that you have completed your mission sooner than expected."
Gohan nodded as Frieza continued. "Indeed, you have been doing a rather splendid job, Gohan, ever since I first took you in. I must applaud you," he said with a snide bit of amusement ringing through his voice.
Gohan felt no pride at Frieza's praises. It actually irritated him. Though Zarbon, Dodoria, and the other soldiers would harshly belittle his achievements, Frieza would instead openly praise him. However, he did it with an air of condescending proclivity, showing how little he thought of the boy as well. Frieza's feigned cordiality made Gohan's heart burn with animosity; he much preferred the direct disparagement from Frieza's subordinates rather than the mind games of the tyrant.
"Thank you, Lord Frieza," Gohan grumbled.
"Now then, you are dismissed. I will report your next mission with your Saiyan crew soon," Frieza directed.
Gohan nodded and arose to his feet, and then turned around and left the room. As he walked around the hallway, intent on going to the mess hall to get something to eat, he was met with a familiar voice coming from his left.
"Well, well, looks like somebody's back a helluva lot sooner than expected."
Gohan turned his head to the side and smirked at the girl that was walking towards him. She had long, black hair, not unlike his or Raditz's. She had on blue armor with gold shoulder guards and tights that stopped just short of her knees. She was looking at Gohan with an amused smirk.
"Envious are we, Arepa?" Gohan snickered.
Arepa snorted and tugged at her wristbands. In the last eight years, she had fallen behind Gohan in strength – she didn't have the natural capacity for growth that he had. However, she had more than held her own in the army, rising in rank. She worked separately from the Saiyans, instead doing all of her assignments either by herself or with different members of the army. By mere virtue of not being a Saiyan like Gohan, Vegeta, Raditz and Nappa, she enjoyed the luxuries that a warrior was normally supposed to be granted with when their power level was in the realm of 10,000, which she never ceased to remind the half-breed of.
"Please, it wasn't that big of a deal," Arepa said dismissively.
Gohan rolled his eyes. He and Arepa had developed a competition-based friendship. Though Gohan far exceeded whatever feats she would muster, she would always have some snide remark about his progress to make his feats sound less impressive. It annoyed Gohan, though not to the degree that the rest of Frieza's soldiers' insults did. She was the only person he had that resembled a friend, and he had to admit she had become quite pretty in the last eight years. But no matter; Vegeta had thoroughly taught him that all attachments were merely loose strings to be cut off at any time. If she became his enemy, he would kill her without hesitation.
Well, that's at least what he figured.
Gohan snorted. "If you say so…" he replied, brushing past her. Arepa looked over her shoulder at Gohan, her eyes filled with an envious fire. She had always slightly worked towards the goal of impressing Gohan, but he gave her as much snide, belittling remarks as she did him. However, unlike her paper-thin insults, Gohan's were actually true. The thought constantly frustrated Arepa.
After Gohan finished his awful food, he walked over to one of the training facilities, where three certain Saiyans were in the midst of training. Though Nappa looked a tad older nowadays, Vegeta and Raditz looked like they hadn't aged a day since Gohan first began working in the Cold Army. As Vegeta had explained, Saiyans aged much slower than other races, their bodies holding onto their prime shape for as long as possible. Their tails had also grown back since the war with Kabnet. The three put their spars to a halt when Gohan arrived.
"Back already, I see," Vegeta snickered. Though he wouldn't admit it, he had grown very proud of Gohan's progress. Not only had his strength grown at an extremely fast rate, but he had been molded into a cold, ruthless killing machine, as he had intended from day one. On countless occasions, the half-Saiyan had proven to be an invaluable part of their crew. He was no longer the sniveling, spoiled, whiny half-breed and instead one of them. By now, he had left even Nappa in the dust.
"Damn, it only took you a little over two weeks," Nappa remarked. "These survival missions are a piece of cake to you now, huh?"
Giving an indifferent shrug Gohan began stretching out his arms. "Either Frieza's oblivious to how strong I've gotten, or he's been giving me weaker missions on purpose," the half-Saiyan explained as he threw punches at the air. "Only one of those planets gave me a challenge!"
"I wouldn't doubt that he's been undercutting you," Raditz replied. "We've only gotten one freaking mission since you've been gone."
Gohan rolled his eyes. Typical. Frieza kept coming up with ways to conveniently keep the Saiyans at bay. It was to no surprise that he used Gohan's absence as an excuse to not give the Saiyans any work.
"He said he's going to tell us our next assignment soon, but who knows how soon the bastard means," Gohan said.
Vegeta hissed in irritation. In the past few years, his power level had risen to 27,000. However, that still wasn't enough. His impatience was starting to grow in that time; he wasn't going to be around here forever, and if his power kept growing at the rate it had been now, he would be a decrepit old man by the time he surpassed Frieza. There had to be some way of growing his power faster. He was feverishly waiting for that one battle, one where he would be beaten so brutally that his power level would rise to insane levels when he recovered. Yet, Frieza only gave him planets he could handle; nothing that he could only conquer through nothing short of a miracle.
However, he did learn new approaches to survival. The battles on Planet Raizen, as well as his fight with Stride on Trident made him realize a valuable lesson – strength wasn't everything. He would never allow a fiasco like what had happened to his tail occur again. Though it had taken much practice, he learned how to control his power level at will, and even fine-tuned his senses so he could feel energy levels on his own. He had outgrown the scouters, but he continued using them as a communication device and as a tool in the illusion that he didn't know how to sense power levels without them. He didn't so much as utter a word about the technique, not even to Gohan, Nappa, and Raditz.
Vegeta grunted and turned his attention to Gohan. "Well then, I suppose now it's time for you to face an opponent who you'll never beat," Vegeta said with a challenging smirk.
Gohan returned his smirk. "We'll see about that!" he replied evenly, crouching into a fighting stance. His spars with Vegeta had played a big part in his progression as well. He leapt forward…
Frieza took a sip of his glass of wine as observed his planet from behind his window, comfortably sitting in his floating chair. He was deep in thought as his tail methodically swung behind him. Contrary to what the Saiyans were assuredly complaining about, the survival mission he had given to Gohan featured seven planets containing the strongest warriors across the solar system. Only the last one had been weak. Ever since the incident with Kabnet, he decided to be more thorough about his planetary checks, so he was sure that nothing unusual had happened to the planets so as Gohan wouldn't encounter anything that was contrary to what his reports told him.
So then, how had he blown through the mission in little over half of the time he was allotted? The flustered galactic overlord raised a hand to his chin as he twirled his glass of wine in his other. Gohan's progression of power was nothing short of astounding.
And that was precisely what troubled Frieza.
"Zarbon, come forward," Frieza ordered.
His right-hand man did as asked, walking forward until he was a few feet behind his overlord. "What is it, sire?"
"What was the last report on Son Gohan's power level?" Frieza inquired, the pace of his tail's movement increasing ever so slightly.
"I believe it was 19,000, sir," Zarbon replied.
"19,000?" Frieza replied, almost being left aghast by such a power had it not been a mere pebble compared to his. However, the simple number wasn't the issue at hand. "Absolutely astonishing for someone his age."
"Yes, indeed," Zarbon replied. "We have been having more trouble finding him appropriate missions. His power is rising faster than any of us can keep up with."
Frieza hummed and took another sip of his wine. "Perhaps it is time I stopped giving him survival missions. The boy is clearly beyond that point."
There was silence between them for a good minute, until Zarbon awkwardly cleared his throat. "Is that all, Lord?"
"No, wait," Frieza said, falling into thought. That number wasn't comforting to Frieza at all. 19,000 in a mere eight years? It had taken Vegeta twenty-five years to reach such a level, and yet the boy had done it in a third of the time. Gohan had a completely unfathomable growth threshold; that had been a problem with all of those Saiyans, but typically not to such a degree. The last time a Saiyan's power level had grown at such an alarming rate was with the low-class soldier Bardock, the man who challenged him on a certain fateful day. If he remembered correctly…he was Gohan's grandfather. That only served to further distress Frieza. Raditz notwithstanding, this had to have been a familial thing. If Gohan was allowed to continue working for Frieza, with his power climbing at the unpredictable rate it had thus far, could he possibly become…
A Super Saiyan?
No…that was just stupid folklore, right? And yet, Frieza couldn't shake the odd foreboding feeling coursing within him. He was unconsciously tapping his fingernails against the edge of his chair as he thought of the mere possibility of something like that arising. What he had always dreaded about the Saiyans was them getting strong enough to overtake him in a collective effort. Their numbers being reduced to only five certainly rectified that problem. But yet…he could feel something greater. Something boiling beneath the surface under his own watch. It was no secret that the Saiyans detested Frieza, and…
No! Frieza snapped to himself, almost breaking his glass of wine he was gripping it so tightly. There wasn't to be a single person in the universe beyond his clan that exceeded him in power, and he wouldn't allow such a being to even come to existence. Especially if it were a piece of monkey trash. Frieza's lips curled into a devious smirk, as he was now satisfied with the decision he had come to. The lizard tyrant slowly rotated his chair so he was facing Zarbon.
"I think I have some rather different plans as it pertains to the Saiyans' next assignment…"
Gohan, walking away from the medical unit after spending a few minutes in the rejuvenation chamber healing his wounds from his spar with Vegeta, stepped into the sleeping quarters and sat down on his cot. He couldn't help but marvel at his power level – it had to have been at 20,000 now. Even though Zarbon, Dodoria, and the others within Frieza's ranks had continued their own training to keep from being surpassed, Gohan knew that his power level was growing too fast for them. He would catch up to those two bastards soon.
Gohan removed his armor and the top half of his suit and began examining his chest area. He had accumulated many scars over the years; some acquired in battle, others as a result of Vegeta. However, it was some of the other scars, the ones dealt by the hands of Frieza, Zarbon and Dodoria, that made Gohan's temper rise. They served as a visual reminder of who his greatest targets were; why he continued living as he did. He looked down at one particular scar that spanned across his chest. He would never forget the moment that caused that. Gohan hissed irritably as his head started to flood with memories of that day…
If there was one thing Gohan hated, it was when Frieza insisted on having him train with his people, rather than Vegeta. What he had particularly repulsed were his "training sessions" with Zarbon. They were completely unlike his spars with Vegeta – the Saiyan prince was trying to get Gohan stronger, trying to teach him things about battle. Zarbon, on the other hand, used his spars as just an excuse to ruthlessly abuse and humiliate the eight year old half-Saiyan.
Zarbon opened the doors to one of the training rooms and swung it open, Gohan following him. Not even attempting to conceal his irritation with the whole matter, Gohan slammed the door shut with his foot, which only made the tall, slender alien snicker in amusement. Gohan looked at Zarbon with narrowed eyes, a nasty scowl ever present on his face. That smug smirk that never left the face of Zarbon when he was around the Saiyans made Gohan sick to his stomach. He had grown to despise Zarbon just as much as he did Frieza. Zarbon tilted his head up and folded his arms across his chest.
"Come at me, monkey," he ordered.
Gohan released an animalistic growl but nonetheless did as ordered, crouching into a stance resembling the one he remembered his father using. Taking a quick leap forward, Gohan swung his fist at Zarbon but the man easily swung out of the way, leaving Gohan to fall to the floor. The boy's brows furrowed in irritation and he got up and faced Zarbon once more. He tried to hit him with several kicks, but was met with the same results as he had with the first punch. Zarbon's amused laughter the whole time only served to anger Gohan even further, as his attacks picked up in speed.
However, with a mere swipe of his forearm, Zarbon sent Gohan flying face first into the wall. Gohan hit the stone surface with considerable force; his ears were ringing after his head collided with it. Slowly getting up to his feet, Gohan snarled at Zarbon, overcome with the desire to wipe that disgusting smirk off of his face.
Now taking a different approach, Gohan raised both of his palms up, gathering a considerable amount of Ki to them. He released multiple Ki blasts, attempting to divert Zarbon's attention while he phased out of sight and reappeared behind him. Gohan smirked as he thrust his fist forward, assured that he got the bastard. However, almost as quickly as the punch was thrown, Gohan found himself subdued – Zarbon had swung around and grabbed his arm at the last second and twisted it behind his back. Gohan's knees buckled as a result of the pain and he was soon kneeling on the floor in agony, Zarbon still having him locked into a hold.
"Such a shame," Zarbon taunted, "I bet you don't feel so tough now, do you monkey?"
Gohan hissed in anger as he desperately tried to remove himself from Zarbon's clutches. However, the smug, green alien instead drove his knee into his spine, forcing Gohan to arch his back as he kept it firmly planted in place. Zarbon's growing laughter made Gohan so enraged he was trembling, so desperate in trying to unleash his full power. Just as it seemed that a blazing aura was building around him, Zarbon cut it short when he ruthlessly drove his elbow into Gohan's sternum. The half-Saiyan violently convulsed and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Zarbon released his hold, allowing Gohan to fall face-first to the floor. He kicked Gohan in the stomach to roll him over on his back, looking Gohan in the eye. As Gohan slowly opened his, a fire began building within him. He wanted nothing more than to crush Zarbon's skull beneath his feet; to dish out a terror that would exceed the tortures Zarbon dealt him tenfold. However, he was incredibly weak from the pain of Zarbon's attack. Slow to rise back to his feet, Gohan brushed his bangs off of his sweat drenched forehead and crouched into a defensive position.
Zarbon raised his arm as a bright, blue Ki began forming around his hand. Gohan swallowed heavily in his throat as the Ki formed into a blade.
"Now, defend yourself, Saiyan."
In a sudden move, Zarbon leapt at Gohan, swinging his deadly Ki-laden arm directly at Gohan's face. Gohan hastily swung backwards, narrowly avoiding the blade and then quickly got back up into a crouching position. He tried to sneak a punch to Zarbon's ribs, but the green alien slammed his elbow onto his head. Gohan fell to the floor and rolled over on his back, the muscles in his jaw flexing when the first thing he saw was Zarbon's glowing hand closing in on him. Gohan rolled out of the way, but when he tilted his head to the side, he saw Zarbon's hand engraved deep into the floor; it served as a chilling warning of what the blade of Ki could do to him.
Gohan quickly shot back up and dodged all of Zarbon's attacks sent his way. However, exhaustion was quickly beginning to catch up to him, as he was slow in avoiding the thrusts of Zarbon's arms. Zarbon swung his leg at Gohan's head, but the half-Saiyan jumped back to get out of the way. However, he stumbled on his foot upon landing, leaving him wide-open for Zarbon's attack. Zarbon lunged at him, and with one swift swing of his arm, sliced Gohan right across the chest with his Ki-blade, easily breaking through his armor and piercing his skin. Gohan let out a scream that hardly sounded human as the blood spilled from the wound, losing his strength to even stand. He desperately clutched at his chest; it felt like it was on fire.
Zarbon didn't even attempt to ease his pain, however. Instead, he uncoiled Gohan's tail and squeezed it tightly, only furthering Gohan's agony. He planted his foot down hard on Gohan's lower back, laughing sadistically over Gohan's anguished howls.
The last thing Gohan heard was Zarbon's maniacal cackles before his world went black.
Gohan blinked rapidly and furiously shook his head, trying to force away the various memories coming back. He despised Zarbon so much, but his hatred only served to fuel Gohan's determination to grow in power. Gohan could practically envision the day that he, Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz blindsided Frieza and his men and overthrew him. He was going to make sure to get a good look at the horror that would fill Zarbon's eyes before he crushed him and keep it engraved in his memories for years to come.
With a devious smirk on his face, Gohan lay down on his cot to get some sleep. In his dreams, he envisioned the day he would finally escape the clutches of the tyrant.
What he didn't know was how soon that day was going to come, and not in the way he had imagined.
Gohan arose from his cot the next day and put on a fresh set of armor. Vegeta was getting ready as well, completing his outfit with his typical white gloves as he turned his attention to Gohan.
"Nappa says Frieza's going to give us our next mission today, Gohan," Vegeta explained. Due to the respect Gohan had earned, Vegeta now referred to him by his actual name.
Gohan cracked his knuckles and smirked. "Perfect. It better be something good."
Vegeta grunted in agreement as the two Saiyans left the sleeping quarters and headed towards Frieza's throne room. Nappa and Raditz were already waiting there, and when the other two arrived, the two guards opened the doors. The Saiyans stepped in the room, getting on their usual kneeling position. The sight was slightly different from before – only Zarbon was there; Dodoria was absent.
"Ah, my precious Saiyans…" Frieza said. Vegeta clenched his jaw tightly in discomfort. He could see a gleam in the lizard tyrant's eyes, denoting something that Vegeta couldn't quite put his finger on. It was either something to worry about, or another one of the millions of Frieza's odd eccentricities. Figuring it was the latter, Vegeta took a deep breath, sweeping away whatever uneasy feelings he had.
"I assume that my elder pets have been conducting quite the exercise in Gohan's absence, am I correct?" Frieza inquired.
"Yes, Lord Frieza," Vegeta replied.
"Splendid. Now then, I have decided to shake things up for you Saiyans a bit. After all, life is dull without a little sizzle," Frieza explained, drawing confused looks from the Saiyans. Zarbon simply laughed.
"What do you mean?" Nappa asked.
"I am curious as to how the eldest Saiyans can do on a high level purge without the presence of our growing pre-adolescent. And that is why I have assigned Gohan with a planet separate from you three," Frieza announced.
While the Saiyans were confused by Frieza's decisions, it was nothing that particularly distressed them. Years of survival missions left Gohan assured that he could handle a planet by himself, and the full-blooded Saiyans had been destroying planets with just the three of them for years before Gohan came into the picture. It was just the peculiarity of Frieza's choice.
"For the full-bloods, I am assigning you all to Planet Zoyia. It is a rather big planet located in the far west galaxy; average power level is about 30,000. Its coordinates are 5278XY. I am giving you all a week to conquer it." The Saiyans nodded. They were excited to be getting big work again.
"As for you, Son Gohan," Frieza said, his voice darkening in its tone, "I am sending you to Planet Gyoza. That planet is located in the southeast, its coordinates being 124JZ. Average power level is 10,000. You can complete it in a mere day."
Gohan groaned. He could take out a planet of that capacity easily. However, knowing there was no point in protesting Frieza's decisions, Gohan instead replied, "As you wish, Lord Frieza."
"Do not disappoint me, Saiyans; especially you, Son Gohan," Frieza said with a dark chuckle, making Gohan raise an eyebrow in confusion. How could he possibly disappoint him with a planet where the average power level was 10,000? Sure, that was enough to push someone like Arepa to her limits, but him? Gohan wrote it off as Frieza trying to instill fear in him.
"You four are dismissed."
As the four left the room, Nappa laughed. "Heh, looks like Frieza's trying to slow down your progress."
"I should've seen it coming," Gohan snarled, irritably slamming his fist into the wall next to him. "Of course he would give me something easy after seeing how I tore through his pathetic survival mission."
"It is no matter," Vegeta dismissively replied. "Just get as much fun out of the planet as you can."
Gohan nodded as they left the building and began their march to the space pods. The group split off, the full-blooded Saiyans going to the right, Gohan going to the left. The half-Saiyan pressed the button to open his space pod and seated himself into the cramped orb. He pressed a button on the control deck, closing the door.
"Landing coordinates?" an automated voice queried.
"124JZ."
"Destination set."
Gohan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat as his pod blasted off into the air. He was going to finish this planet a little bit slowly, to increase the likelihood of him getting a stronger planet when he was through with this one.
When Gohan got out of the crater his space pod had formed in its landing on Planet Gyoza, his eyes fluttered in confusion. The pink sky was filled with thick clouds of smoke, and Gohan's nostrils picked up the distinct smell of flames raging throughout the area. What made Gohan really confused, however, was the sight laid out in front of him that spanned for what looked to be miles on end – corpses. Thousands of them.
"What the hell?" Gohan exclaimed. This couldn't have been right. From the looks of it, somebody had already purged this planet of all of its life. Gohan let out a frustrated growl and stomped his foot so hard in the ground he made it crack. "Goddammit, Frieza! You still haven't learned a damn thing from what happened with Kabnet!" Gohan shouted, airing his grievances out loud. "Bastard's got me on an empty assignment once again..." Gohan lifted his foot off the ground and growled low in his throat.
"Whatever," Gohan muttered, as he continued surveying the damage dealt to the planet. He looked around – the ground was laden with piles of dead bodies. The smell of death rang fresh in the air. "Whoever purged this place has done one hell of a job, that's for sure."
Gohan hadn't taken even five steps when he suddenly heard an explosion go off from behind him. The force of the shockwave caused Gohan to fall face-first on the ground. He quickly arose to his feet however, and turned around to the area of the loud blast. His heart started pounding at speeds that were assuredly unnatural when he saw what had occurred from down below.
"My space pod!"
It was destroyed. The only things that remained of the pod were scraps of metal and sparks of electricity coming from the destroyed control panel. Gohan clenched his fists tightly, his anger quickly rising. Who the hell had the gall to do such a thing? His heated thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an obnoxious fit of laughter going on from above him. Gohan looked up to the sky. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head – floating several feet above him was a certain pink, spiky, snickering alien-
"Dodoria! What the hell are you doing here? Answer me!" Gohan demanded, lookng up with a deep scowl over seeing the rotund, pink bastard.
Dodoria's laughter only grew. The pink creature jumped down, flipping in mid-air before landing on the ground to the stunned half-Saiyan. He methodically stalked towards Gohan, his malicious grin growing with each step he took.
Sweat began trailing down Gohan's head as he clenched his fists tightly at his sides. He squared his shoulders in preparation for battle. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out from the look on Dodoria's face that he was here for a fight. But why? Had Dodoria decided to rebel against Frieza? Or was he-
Before Gohan could even complete his thought, Dodoria suddenly phased right in front of him and rocked him with a punch squarely in the jaw. The blow sent Gohan flying several feet back, and he hit the ground so hard it began cracking beneath him, clouds of dust building around his body.
Gohan sat up, muttering curses under his breath as he rubbed at his jaw furiously, fixing Dodoria with a murderous glare. He was seething with pure rage at the betrayal he had just been dealt with. Dodoria continued his slow walk towards him.
"W-what the hell are you doing, Dodoria?" Gohan snarled, his expression holding a mix of both bewilderment and anger.
Dodoria instead continued walking, stopping until he was only a few feet away from Gohan. He raised his arm and opened his palm, which had a deadly amount of Ki flaring around it. Gohan's heart skipped a beat as the light grew in size, aiming to blow him to dust.
Dodoria gave a chuckle that made Gohan's bones chill. The glow around his palm grew once more.
"I'm afraid you've been…excommunicated."
He then fired.
