Risk

Chapter 8

"Oh no! The twenty times Kaio-ken didn't work!" Krillin moaned in utter shock.

"You were expecting it to?" Chi-chi questioned while the smoke slowly dissipated around Frieza's form; his hand still extended in the position that had managed to detonate the Kamehameha that had screamed at him moments prior. Not far below, Goku stared in horror knowing he had failed, even with a twenty-fold Kamehameha. He landed to the ground weakened and staring at Frieza in disbelief; praying to any god that he would vanish at any given moment instead of the tyrant continuing to push him further into a corner like a wounded animal.

"How can it be?" Goku muttered to himself in irritation; his tail and snapping behind him tensely. "That did not have much effect on him at all! He wasn't bluffing that time either! H-he really hasn't been using anymore than half of his power!"

"Gah!" Krillin screamed. "When did Goku get his tail back?"

"While we were in space, it just grew back on its own," Chi-chi admitted.

"Oh man, dad's going to be in trouble if Frieza grabs it!" Gohan muttered; remembering that it was an Achilles' heel when it's squeezed.

'So, the monkey has a tail,' Frieza snorted while looking between his adversary and the burnt hand that had narrowly deflected the blast. 'I should choke the very life out of him using that said appendage for causing me so much trouble. It will serve him right for daring to defy my order!'

Goku tensed when Frieza landed moments later. He tried to calm himself after his previous attack on the tyrant failed. He knew he was in trouble and after he poured everything he had into that last attack, he felt like he was running out of options.

"That hurt…" Frieza muttered softly; almost though he was being a hypocrite. "That really hurt!"

The Earth-raised Saiya-jin was taken totally off-guard when Frieza went flying straight into him and head-butted Goku in the side of the head; causing him to go tumbling to the ground.


"Goku!" Chi-chi cried in horror and wanted to go help him; however, Piccolo stopped the female warrior from leaving. "We have to do something! I don't want him to die! He made a promise to me!"

"There's nothing we can do to help Son without getting ourselves in the line of fire," Piccolo growled. "In case you haven't noticed, Frieza could have easily wiped us out a long time ago if he had the chance."

Chi-chi paled at the thought and remembered that Vegeta had hinted that he could easily wipe out planets with his power. The only reason Frieza hadn't done so as of yet was due to her husband fighting the tyrant with everything he had. A chill went through her body and she didn't want Goku to stop fighting Frieza like Vegeta had at this point.

'Don't give up Goku! Please! You need to stop him!' Chi-chi pleaded silently to herself more than anything else.


Frieza stalked ever closer to Goku who was at that moment struggling to get his footing again in order to continue the battle. The heartless creature stopped while the Saiya-jin warrior glared up at the tyrant with fierce and an untamed will to fight in his only open eye at that moment. Frieza coldly looked down at Goku and sneered in disgust and irritation that this warrior was following Vegeta's path of surrender so soon.

"You weakling!" Frieza sultry voice growled in irritation before he kicked Goku straight in the chin; causing the warrior to fly backwards. The tyrant did not allow the Earth-raised Saiya-jin to hit the ground when he delivered a kick to the left side of Goku's body. That caused the Saiya-jin warrior to spin into the debris of rock and dirt where he struggled to get onto his feet again.

No matter how much Goku struggled to stand, Frieza attacked the Saiya-jin ruthlessly and without a single ounce of mercy. It was as though he wanted nothing more than to hear his tortured screams and abuse him until the Earth-raised Saiya-jin begged for his death at the tyrant's hands. Eventually, Goku was permitted to stand; however, it was almost though Frieza was allowing this leisure before he did any further thrashing to the weakening warrior.

'I really have lost a great deal of power. Looks as though that twenty times Kaio-ken had its price…' Goku thought silently to himself while staring at Frieza with one eye still. His tail hung limply behind him almost though it had been broken during the thrashing Frieza put him through.

"Indeed, the Saiya-jins are lower life form, whose only talent is in fighting," Frieza boasted while walking towards Goku at a maddeningly slow pace. "Every last one of you are fools. Killing you off was the right decision."

'It's… all over…' Goku thought to himself in vain. He knew he wasn't a match and had nothing left to fight with. A part of him disagreed with this statement and knew if he gave up, that vision he had while under water would become a grave reality.

"Kakarrot! Listen to me! Is that all the power you have?" Vegeta's voice echoed in his mind. "Where's your Saiya-jin pride?"

"But, but I never was a Saiya-jin!" Goku muttered angrily at the voice annoying him at that moment; thinking that the Saiya-jin prince was standing right behind him when he said this.

"What are you talking about? You can't deny your heritage!" Vegeta's voice echoed in disgust. If anything, the prince was denying Goku's earth upbringing to try to help the warrior tap into what he truly was with his words.

"Vegeta! Right now it doesn't matter what I am! Forget about it!" Goku growled before he remembered that the Saiya-jin prince had died. Visions of his death and how he buried the prince before his battle with Frieza played in his mind; reminding him that he was the only Saiya-jin left alive. Shortly after the visions faded, he saw the battle field had faded away and he was alone in a void with nothing around him.

"You must listen to me…" Vegeta said after appearing completely nude; causing the Earth-raised Saiya-jin to turn and see the Saiya-jin prince's backside complete with his own tail. "We both know you have Saiya-jin blood running through your veins…" Goku stared on almost though he was freaked out by this experience and this vision he was having at that very moment. If anything, it was almost though the Earth-raised Saiya-jin was losing his mind before Frieza was even done torturing him.

"I feel your pain... But you must never forget one thing…" Vegeta continued his speech. "It was Frieza who destroyed our birthplace, the Planet Vegeta… And now that you are the only Saiya-jin left, it is up to you to avenge our race!"

"The pride of my people…" Goku felt his heart stir at these words; almost though he was being moved by this speech the departed Vegeta was giving him. Somehow, the departed warrior was speaking to the last living Saiya-jin from the grave to ensure he doesn't join their race in death.

"Think back Kakarrot!" Vegeta commanded. "Remember your father… my father…" Vegeta turned and transformed into the child-like version of himself before he was corrupted by Frieza's harsh reign over him mind, body and soul. "There's no one left except for you…"

Visions of Goku's father dying in the fiery blast mouthing something and the death of King Vegeta crossed the Earth-raised Saiya-jin's mind somehow. It was strange seeing these two Saiya-jin warriors, his people who had tried to go against Frieza in vain. Instead, they had fallen to their deaths when they did not have a ghost of a chance of defeating this tyrant that had taken away millions of lives along with his own people.

"So while you may deny who you are…" The younger Vegeta started before it shifted him back to his adult self in the nude again, "You are the very last hope for a lost race of brave warriors! Ask yourself this: Why does Frieza want you destroyed so badly?"

"HE'S AFRAID A SUPER SAIYA-JIN WILL RISE UP, THE STRONGEST OF ALL!" Oozaru Vegeta's voice echoed around Goku.

"Destroy him." Vegeta in his normal and once more nude state commanded to the low-class warrior.

"Destroy him for the entire Saiya-jin race…" King Vegeta's voice joined with his son's voice; a higher authority entrusting Goku with this task.

"Destroy him, for you have the power within you!" Bardock's voice joined in with the others as though he was asking his son to carry out his will.

"Now go, Kakarrot, it is time…" Vegeta's voice called out alone once again. "Do all that is within your power to bring down Frieza!"

After Vegeta vanished and the void seemed to fade out of nowhere, Goku looked down at the ground rather perplexed about what just happened. Honestly, did Vegeta truly call out to him from the dead or was this a prelude to madness?

Frieza walked over to the Earth-raised Saiya-jin, not knowing of what Goku had just witnessed. When he found that Goku wasn't looking at him, he felt insulted and ignored.

"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt your daydream, but I've got a job to finish," Frieza nagged. "Good riddance… you sniffling… Saiya-jin!"

With those words, Frieza swung his arm almost though he was slapping the Saiya-jin from a distance; causing a wind to kick up before dust and debris exploded in front of him. Goku instantly guarded up to protect himself in case it would have been a direct attack. Yet, all that took damage was the earth carved roughly a foot in front of him as the dust and debris settled.

"I had you scared, didn't I?" Frieza joked in dark humor. "So now, I say we have a little fun…"

"Vegeta, I grew up on the planet Earth, I don't know how to be a Saiya-jin!" Goku admitted openly. If any type of psychologist was on the planet witnessing this battle, they would have deemed Goku insane for talking to himself instead of the deceased Saiya-jin prince that had perished earlier. "But… I share in your disgust for Frieza!"

"Is your brave little speech over?" Frieza wondered if this Saiya-jin had truly lost it before he could dare try to finish breaking his spirit.

"I must win! I will not let you beat me!" Goku vowed.

"No! You'll lose!" Frieza yelled angrily and belatedly before lunging at Goku to strike; however, Goku managed to dodge the hi-kick before he returned one that missed Frieza. The Earth-raised Saiya-jin managed to block Frieza's foot with his left forearm and the tyrant used the momentum to do a back flip in mid-air before Goku lunged at Frieza who remained in the skies above him.

They dueled within the skies with neither one of them managing to connect a decent blow due to either dodging or blocking. Frieza eventually taken the upper hand and hammer-blown Goku straight back into the island they were battling on.

"I see you've got some of your energy back." Frieza boasted from above the fallen Goku. "Or was that all you had left?" Goku sat up while Frieza finished his decent from the sky to the earth. "My guess is that you're all out of gas." Goku struggled back onto his feet almost though he was defying Frieza's words. "You see, I can read you like a book, my friend… and it's time to finish the last chapter with a bang!"

With that last word, Frieza sent a blast into Goku's left shoulder and caused the Earth-raised Saiya-jin to clutch it weakly. Frieza sent the next blast into Goku's kneecap before damaging his shoulder again. It was the most brutal way of defeating an opponent with the use of blasts that could easily kill a mere human without mercy. Frieza laughed at the torment he brought upon the Earth-raised Saiya-jin and continued this assault. It was though he was picking on a helpless animal that couldn't fight back.


"You can do it dad," Gohan whimpered.

"I don't want this to go on anymore! Why can't you let me go out there?" Chi-chi questioned.

"You can't make much of a difference in this fight if Son's is getting his ass handed to him by Frieza," Piccolo grunted.


One of the blasts that Frieza shot caused Goku's body to careen almost across the small canyon that was created earlier. Goku caught the edge of the canyon's wall and hoisted himself up weakly. He soon found his footing and realized he had one chance left; one thing that could either destroy Frieza or the very planet they were standing on.

'I'll have to use it…' Goku thought to himself before throwing his hands into the air; knowing this was the only thing he had left to depend on. If this failed, then Frieza could wipe them all out along with the very planet they were standing on.

"What? What is he doing?" Frieza questioned in shock.


"W-what's going on?" Chi-chi stared at her husband in shock. "Is he giving up?"

"Ah! The Spirit Bomb!" Krillin recognized the move instantly despite the fact that he did not see Goku summoning it the first time.

"What? Spirit Bomb?" Piccolo exclaimed. Chi-chi didn't know what it was either and was looking at Krillin for an explanation.

"Is that something that will help us win this battle?" Chi-chi questioned.

"It's the ultimate attack!" Krillin explained. "Goku learned the Spirit Bomb from King Kai! It's an attack that draws its energy from every living thing around. From the trees and water, the sun and the moon! Every single microorganism on this planet! And when the force is strong enough, it's released in one massive ball of energy!"

"Whoa…" Chi-chi was at awe for Goku knowing this attack. 'If he had that up his sleeve, why didn't he use it earlier?'

"Really? Maybe Frieza won't have the last laugh after all," Piccolo smirked darkly.

"But will the Spirit Bomb be strong enough to take out Frieza?" Gohan asked. "There are hardly any living things on this planet to draw energy from!"

"I can see that!" Krillin countered. "But we have to trust in Goku's instincts Gohan! It's our only defense against that monster Frieza! It's all we have left!" Everyone looked down at the battle field and waited for what could be the end of the long battle. This next attack could change the outcome of the battle.

To Be Continued…