From Enemy to Student
- a Dragon Ball Z fanfiction -
Chapter 10 – A few revelations
Disclaimer: I do not own, in any way, any official property related Dragon Ball, such as the anime, its characters, related movies, and so on. However, I hope to supplement that glorious work of art with my fanfictions, such as this one.
I would also like to point out that this fanfiction was originally written by Gonstika, from whom I adopted it, and many of the concepts and plot-points featured in its chapters are originated by Gonstika as well.
With that said, I hope you enjoy the story.
Only moments after he got himself of his frozen-stupor to an extent that enabled him to think, Jeice's mind was divided between the only two options that came to it: bolting for cover as quickly as he could while hoping against all hopes that he would somehow be able to escape Frieza, and killing himself before Frieza could do it if only so he wouldn't have to face a slow, painful death at Frieza's hands. However, a tiny fragment of stark logic that was still left in his brain dictated one very simple truth: doing either of those things successfully was practically impossible. If Jeice tried to flee, Frieza would strike him down in a heartbeat, and then revel in the pleasure of killing him slowly and painfully afterwards. And if Jeice tried to kill himself, Frieza would be capable of crippling him to such an extent that Jeice would not be able of doing so. Granted, the second option was slightly more likely to be successful than the first, as Frieza would only stop Jeice from committing suicide if he truly wanted to have the honor of killing Jeice himself, and there was always a possibility Frieza wouldn't want to kill Jeice that much. But it was a remote one, just like the possibility of any of Jeice's two plans succeeding.
With all those things considered, the only thing Jeice had left was to follow his third option: to fight alongside Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan against Frieza. It was something Jeice had known he'd have to do sooner or later now that he had switched sides, but now that the moment had finally arrived, Jeice could feel how he was not ready for it. After all, how could one set his mind to fight his own master, a being who ruled dozens of planets, in only an hour after having switched his loyalties? Granted, it could be easy for Vegeta, who had certainly been planning to rebel for a long time, or for Gohan and Krillin, who had viewed him as the enemy since the beginning. But Jeice always had considered Frieza as the omnipotent being on whose good graces he had to stay, right until Ginyu had killed Burter and Recoome. And although Jeice no longer wanted to stay on Frieza's good graces, as he simply was no longer capable of following Frieza's ideals after personally experiencing what it was like to have someone you cared for taken away forever, he still viewed Frieza as someone he couldn't defeat. While Frieza somehow seemed less all-powerful than before, thanks to how strong he had become after the Dragon's wish was granted, he still was too strong for Jeice to defeat on his own. Even if he had three other fighters to back him up, he wasn't sure of how he would work with them, as the only ones he'd been used to work with were his own comrades, and probably Vegeta and the others thought the same about him. And Jeice was smart enough to know that if they fought Frieza with individualist mentalities, they would all be killed, even if they fought him all at the same time.
Somehow, they would have to improvise a decent enough teamwork, and hold Frieza off while they waited for this Piccolo guy to arrive or for Goku to get healed. Hopefully, this Piccolo had become very strong after his sleeping powers were awakened, and Goku would have a big boost in strength after getting healed – although that one was sure to know, as a Saiyan's increases in strength after healing from near-death injuries were not set to a pre-determined multiplier, and so it was impossible to tell how strong he would become. Not to mention the accursed rumor about 530,000 not being Frieza's full power. If that was more than a rumor, they would all be lost for sure.
Any further thoughts on the matter were suddenly cut-off, as Frieza, after looking down at them for an amount of time that seemed to drag on for years, finally floated off the rock he was standing on, and floated down to their level with excruciating slowness. Forcing his fears and doubts to the back of his mind, Jeice put on the bravest front he was capable of, clenching his fists and standing as tall as he could with the most defiant expression he managed to muster.
After another eternity, Frieza touched down soundlessly, and looked back toward them again. But this time, and after only a few moments of silence, he spoke again.
"I must say this is definitely a surprise," Frieza said in a tone that sounded too nonchalant, for lack of a better description. "I didn't expect a bunch of weaklings to be capable of defeating the Ginyu Force, using the Dragon Balls, and robbing me of the immortality I wanted so much to earn."
At that comment, Frieza clenched his fists tightly, causing veins to protrude from the back of his hands and a few trickles of blood to leak through his fingers, certainly because he'd dug his nails into his palms.
"But it seems you didn't get all that lucky as well, isn't it Vegeta?" Frieza asked, now using a mocking tone, even as his fists seemed to clench ever more tightly. "Considering how you looked just about ready to kill them all, I'd say they must have somehow double-crossed you as well, and taken the chance to make their own wishes, rather than granting you the immortality you clearly wanted so much as well. You really should choose your allies more carefully."
At that remark from Frieza, Vegeta growled at him, veins protruding all over his forehead, as the same furious look from before returned to his face. However, he seemed to have completely forgotten about the others, and instead directed all of that rage toward Frieza, as if he somehow hoped that his mere look would kill Frieza. Well, if looks could kill, Frieza would certainly have died a thousand times over by now.
Completely unfazed by Vegeta's glare, Frieza carried on, now with a hint of anger in his voice, "However, the truth of the matter is that you have managed to stop me from gaining immortality."
His calm look suddenly twisting into one of pure anger, Frieza shouted, "AND I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT, YOU DISGUSTING WORMS! I'LL TORTURE YOU SO MUCH BEFORE KILLING YOU THAT YOU'LL BE BEGGING FOR DEATH BEFORE I'M EVEN HALFWAY DONE WITH IT!"
Krillin and Gohan, who had already been quaking in fear since they first set their eyes on Frieza, recoiled backwards when he shouted, while Dende clung to one of the now inert Dragon Balls as if doing so would somehow save him from Frieza's wrath. Jeice somehow managed to keep his brave front, but he was sweating buckets to such an extent that he was surprised his hair hadn't grown soaked yet.
However, Vegeta simply replaced his scowl with a defiant smirk, and said, "Just try it, Frieza. If you truly think you can defeat me so easily, you've got another thing coming."
Looking like he had temporarily forgotten his anger, Frieza chuckled in amusement, as if Vegeta's declaration had been no more than a joke for him.
"It seems you've forgotten just how terrible I truly am, Vegeta," Frieza said, now speaking in such a calm tone that anyone who hadn't heard his shouts wouldn't have believed him to have been so angry just moments before. "I'll have to give you a refresher of that fact before I kill you."
As he finished speaking, Frieza stood up straighter, although with a more relaxed stance, and said, as if a sudden thought had just come to his mind, "But before we start brawling like a bunch of uncivilized bullies, just let me get something clear."
When Frieza finished that sentence, the moment Jeice had been dreading the most came. Frieza set his sights on him.
"Why would you be idiotic enough to join forces with these fools, Jeice?" Frieza asked in a mock-hopeless tone, while putting the tips of his fingers to his forehead in a melodramatic gesture. "I expected an uncivilized monkey like Vegeta to be foolish enough to rebel, but you? I always thought you were smart enough – or at least, coward enough – for not to betray me."
As if he felt the need to clarify something, Frieza added a heartbeat later, "Not that I mind – after all, crushing five bugs is only a tad bit more annoying than crushing four – but I still would prefer not to kill you without knowing that particular fact. Just so I don't have to mull it over afterwards, you know?"
During all of Frieza's dialogue, Jeice had wanted to shake in fear so badly that he didn't know how he had managed to stop himself from actually doing so. But somehow, he managed to keep the mask of bravery and firmness he'd forced himself to assume, although by now it felt as if he was holding crystal that would break at the slightest carelessness from him.
"Well, what can I say?" Jeice asked, forcing himself to speak in a nonchalant manner, and doing so to such an extent that it was clear his tone was forced. "This mission 'ere on Namek took a big of an unexpected turn when the Cap'n killed Burter and Recoome, and that made me decide I didn't wanna stay in the Ginyu Force any longer."
A brief look of amazement came onto Frieza's face at that explanation. Turning his gaze away from Jeice for a moment, he looked over at the others, as if he was trying to scour them for any telltale sign that would indicate Jeice was telling a lie. Finding none, he looked back at Jeice.
"So that's it, eh?" Frieza thought. "Well, I can't say I don't get your point of view, but I certainly also get Ginyu's. Having those fools killed was nothing but a favor to the Universe. I didn't even know why I allowed Ginyu to choose them for his elite soldiers, in the first place."
Jeice's fear decreased substantially after hearing that sentence, as it was replaced by a surge of anger. Even though he hadn't exactly expected Frieza to have any consideration for Burter and Recoome, hearing them being referred as trash still angered him. In fact, it did so to such an extreme that he couldn't even begin to comprehend how he had been capable of referring to several other people the same way Frieza now referred to Burter and Recoome.
"Still, that doesn't make you any less of an idiot for standing against me," Frieza pointed out. "Although it does make me wonder why Ginyu chose such big dopes to be his soldiers. After all, he was at least smart enough to learn from his mistakes."
Feeling a sudden burst of curiosity at that seemingly casual remark, Jeice asked, "What does that mean?"
Jeice expected Frieza to lash out at him in some manner after that question, as he didn't really like being interrupted when he was speaking, and certainly wouldn't like the fact that a long chat was delaying his impending slaughter of them. But instead, Frieza kept his cool and said in his exceedingly casual tone, "I really don't need to be telling you. After all, you'll soon be in Hell, and then Ginyu himself will be able to tell you everything."
Hearing that answer, Jeice shrugged the matter off. It wasn't as if knowing such a thing would make any difference in the long run.
"But then again, it's not as if it does any harm telling you," Frieza pointed out. "So listen carefully, because I won't repeat anything."
Jeice did just that, while feeling grateful for the fact Frieza had decided to tell this after all. The longer they stalled, the more likely it would be for Piccolo or for Goku to get to the scene, and then the tides would turn in their favor.
"About thirty Earth-years ago, I came across a planet that even my elite soldiers found themselves unable to conquer," Frieza said as if he was just telling a story. "No matter how many teams I sent there, how numerous they were, and what races were part of them, there were always more losses on my side than on that planet's."
Jeice nodded, for some reason finding himself forgetting his fear while he listened to Frieza's story. To his surprise, it wasn't all that hard to listen to Frieza speaking, in spite of his firm decision to not go back to his side. After all, he'd done it for so long that the habit was still deeply ingrained in his mind.
"After about a month of that, I eventually felt I had to take care of the job myself, and so I went to that planet," Frieza carried on. "Naturally, once I got there, I wiped out all of that planet's army. But once all the army had been killed, a loud-mouthed bastard who until then had done no more than standing there with his fists on his hips and barking out orders, criticisms and insults to all those who would hear him, challenged me for a fight. If you haven't guessed, that was Ginyu."
Jeice could have guessed the last bit without being told anything. What Frieza told in his story perfectly matched the side of Ginyu that Jeice had gotten to see on several occasions during this mission that had taken numerous unexpected turns.
"Obviously, I won, but at that time, and much to my surprise, the idiot stuck his hand in the right side of his chest, and then spread out his arms as if he was preparing himself for something big," Frieza said. "But he didn't get to do so, as I felt so sorry for him and found he should be so sad after being defeated by me that I actually helped him to finish his task and finished the hole he made in his chest."
In spite of everything he had seen and done, Jeice cringed at the mental imagery Frieza's sentence conveyed. While he'd killed people in various fashions, Frieza clearly hadn't killed Ginyu with that strike. And surviving such a hit certainly meant enduring an enormous amount of pain that Jeice couldn't even begin to imagine.
"Afterwards, I was both curious enough about what he'd tried to do and impressed enough at his strength that I decided to keep him around," Frieza continued. "So, after healing him in my ship's rejuvenation tank, beating him until he spewed out everything I wanted to know, and then healing him in my ship's rejuvenation tank again, I gave him the place of leader of my top elite unit, considering how my old one had been lost on the massacre of his planet. But I made it very clear to him that if he ever was to use that peculiar trick of his on an anywhere-near-permanent basis and on any person, I'd be able to track him down and do what I hadn't done when we had our fight on his planet."
Jeice nodded again, realizing that by now he had the answer to the question he'd asked Ginyu regarding why he hadn't ever used his Body Change technique on Frieza. It was obvious he had tried to do so, and had been intimidated enough by the results that he hadn't dared to perform the technique again on a permanent basis. However, it didn't explain why Ginyu had used the technique on Goku, considering the warning he had gotten from Frieza. Clearly, he had expected that Goku's body would be strong enough to defeat Frieza, and had been more than ready to betray his Lord himself. But sadly, things hadn't really gone along in his favor.
Snapping back to reality, Jeice found himself watching Frieza's lips part again, as he said his next sentence, "And now, this chat has lasted for long enough. Get ready to die, fools!"
With those words, Frieza shifted into a powering up stance, and brought up an aura of a purplish-blue around himself, as he increased his power-level even further.
The effect was instantaneous. The ground they were standing on started shaking furiously, as pebbles easily bigger than Jeice's thumbnails started rising vertically from it, the low cracking sounds doing nothing to drown out the wicked cackles Frieza continuously let out as he powered up.
A sense of fear instantly seemed to come over all of them. Krillin and Gohan, who had already looked terrified before, now seemed so scared that one would think they would keel over from mere fright. Dende clung to the huge Dragon Ball even more tightly than before, somehow not closing his eyes, as if he found the pictures he would convey would be even worse than what he was actually. Feeling the already frail mask he had on shattering completely, Jeice allowed himself to reveal all the fear that swelled inside him, his jaws agape, although he was so scared that he couldn't even shout in fright. Remarkably, Vegeta kept his defiant glare, but a sharp observer could easily see his own apprehension peeking through.
Gradually, the shaking of the ground intensified, and chunks of soil almost half the size of Jeice's head broke off and ascended vertically, while large cracks started radiating from the place where Frieza was standing, whole rocks seemed to be pulled up slowly, and large waves started rippling from the place they were standing on before crashing against some large chunk of land that would find in their way. But the things that somehow managed to become more pronounced faster than anything else were Frieza's murderous cackling and the gleam in his eyes that conveyed the same emotion.
Seeing the gleam in those eyes, one very simple thought came to Jeice's mind. One that seemed so obvious he couldn't understand how he hadn't managed to grasp it before.
This was it. They were done for.
While Jeice and the others were trying their utter best not to succumb to their panic, two particular beings in the depths of Hell, a place located under a layer of caramel-colored clouds that could only be traveled through from above to below, were experiencing a very similar feeling. But rather than trying not to fall prey to their terror, they were making no effort to hide it, and each of them was displaying it in a very different manner that, in a way, was opposed to the one displayed by the other.
"Recoome, calm down, man," Burter said, while holding his much burlier friend with all his might. "There's nothing we can do other than to calm down."
Keeping Recoome restrained had been a nearly impossible mission from the beginning, as Recoome was not only burlier than him but also much stronger than him, and had been struggling like mad ever since they'd started watching this giant crystal ball, which had been right when Frieza had started powering up in his fight against Jeice and the allies he'd somehow gotten himself. Even though both of them had gotten an unexplained power-up not long after they had died, the gap between them did not seem to decrease in proportion, which in the long run made the power-up useless for this particular purpose.
"I can't calm down!" Recoome shouted like a stubborn child demanding for more sweets, making yet another attempt at getting out of Burter's grip. "We gotta help Jeice! We can't just sit here and do nothing!"
In spite of having to focus most of his energy on having to stop Recoome from charging toward the giant crystal ball – as if doing so would actually help in any way – he couldn't help but to notice how the scene they were making seemed to have drawn a lot of attention from the spectators, who were giving them weird looks. Clearly, they were the only ones who weren't rooting for Frieza to torture his opponents in the most gruesome way he could imagine before finally killing them.
But he didn't pay it any mind, nor did he think himself and Recoome were wrong in rooting for Jeice rather than for Frieza. They could have ended up in Hell for what they had done in their lifetimes, and Burter could have been mad at Jeice for having left him to die on the battlefield shortly before his death, but in spite of that, Jeice was still his friend, as well as Recoome's. And in Burter's opinion, one simply didn't leave his friends' side. If he was there at Planet Namek with Jeice and had to choose between Jeice's side and Frieza's, he'd choose Jeice's, even if he hadn't gotten this mysterious boost in strength. Or at least, he'd want to be on Jeice's side with all his heart. Whether he'd be able to do so was a different story. But Burter liked to think that if he was there, he would be able to summon the bravery required to stand by his friend's side, even if it meant being killed by Frieza.
It wasn't important, though, as they weren't on Planet Namek, but on Hell, and would be unable to do anything other than to stand by and watch. And Burter had to convince Recoome just of that.
Focusing back on the task at hand, Burter again had to make an effort to hold Recoome as he nearly broke free of his grasp for yet another time.
"Recoome, I know it's hard, but we can't do anything other than staying put and waiting," Burter said, repeating words he'd already voiced several times before over the last moments. By now, he almost started to regret the fact they had found this crystal ball and started watching the battle against Frieza that was being broadcast on Hell thanks to it.
"What do you want to do anyway?" Burter added, willing to try just about anything to make Recoome stop struggling. "Do you think you can just crack that crystal ball with a punch and get inside it for us to be instantly transported there?"
The moment he voiced that thought, Burter couldn't help but to wonder – mockingly, of course – whether Recoome would actually try just that. After all, he'd always been known to think with his fists, not with his head, and when he came across problems, he usually pounded his way through them. That was not to say he was the biggest bastard in Frieza's forces, but he was certainly one of the most simple-minded ones. Thankfully, when they had been alive, most of the problems they had at Frieza's forces were of the sort one could just beat through, and Recoome's expertise in doing so was certainly remarkable.
But here at Hell, this problem was one that could not be solved just by hitting. In fact, it was one that had no solution, other than maybe hoping things would not go wrong. Unfortunately, Burter didn't have a lot of faith in hope. Back on purging missions, the inhabitants of the planets they conquered were always driven by hope, whether they fought or ran away. And their hope did them no good in the long run, as they were eventually killed. Burter himself had also hoped that Captain Ginyu would eventually give him the approval he worked so hard to get. His hope also had taken him nowhere. In the end, hope was just something that did not good.
Even so, Burter could not pass on that belief to Recoome. If anything, he had to make Recoome think there was some hope for Jeice there at the world of the living. After he managed to get him to stop struggling, that is.
"We can't just stay put!" Recoome said yet again, after one more attempt at breaking free from Burter's grip. "We're stronger now, we should be able to do something! And even if we can't, at least we tried!"
His efforts unwavering, Burter did his best to tighten his grip around Recoome again, although he started to wonder why he was even doing so. After all, like he had said, it wasn't as if Recoome charging at the crystal ball would get him to the scene, where they would likely be killed by Frieza if they stood on Jeice's side. Maybe it was because he felt more like he was trying to get Recoome's nervousness down if he also endeavored in grabbing Recoome tightly. Or maybe it was just as a safety measure to prevent Recoome from provoking the wrath of the other spectators to the event. All those guys looked at least rather strong, and if they all attacked Recoome in mass to make him pay for having destroyed the crystal ball, Recoome and Burter would find themselves having to face all of them. Although they were already dead, that probably only meant they could still die a countless number of times, only to be revived afterwards so they could be killed again. And Burter didn't look forward to dying more than once.
Deciding it was better to change his strategy, Burter disappeared from where he was and reappeared in front of Recoome, looking at him squarely in the eyes.
"Look, big fella, I know it's hard, but we just can't do anything." Burter said, carefully emphasizing the last words. "Even if we are stronger now, we'd probably be killed by Frieza in a flash if we were there. But even if that wasn't true, we can't go. We're dead, remember?"
Burter practically shouted the last sentence, as if doing so very loudly would somehow get the fact across to Recoome. It seemed to work for that purpose, as Recoome at least stopped struggling, but by now he also looked far more stricken and downcast than he had been before.
Not finding that an acceptable alternative, and willing to do just about anything to cheer him up, Burter said, "Well, look on the bright side. At least if Jeice dies, he'll be down here with us. It will be just like old times! Granted, we won't have the ice cream we loved so much when we lived, but at least we will be together! That's the important thing, right?"
Burter knew it was somewhat foolish of him to be saying such things to cheer up someone, but this was Hell after all. If they were already dead, there certainly wouldn't be anything worse that could happen to them. Of course, Burter knew that wouldn't be exactly the same thing. If Jeice was to meet them down here, not only they wouldn't be alive, but they also wouldn't have the ice creams they had been so fond of. And they wouldn't have Guldo either. Although the friendship the three of them had with the pudgy dwarf had never been the same they had between themselves, and had mostly consisted of playful taunts and threats to kick Guldo out of the bowling team (the latter of which he somehow always took seriously) Burter had to admit he missed him. And for some reason, neither Burter nor Recoome had seen him since they had arrived down here to Hell, which could only mean he was purposefully trying not to be found or somehow had been sent to a different area.
Whatever the reason, Burter couldn't think of that now. He had to get Recoome calmer, and then he had to see what would happen to Jeice. Once things were quieter, him and Recoome could think about looking for Guldo. Fortunately, like on Burter's efforts to get his previous point across, the arguments he raised se conversation seemed to work, at least somewhat, as Recoome seemed to perk up slightly, although he looked far from happy. But hoping he would be happy would be asking too much. After all, no one got happy at the thought of having one of his friends dying.
Finally thinking it was safe enough to do such a thing, Burter removed his hands from Recoome's shoulders, and turned around, as the two of them continued to watch the events relayed by the giant crystal ball.
Up next: While Recoome and Burter watch from Hell, powerless to do anything about what's going on, Frieza keeps powering up, before finally coming down on those that stole his immortality so he can punish them. At the same time, Gohan, Krillin, Jeice and Vegeta try their utter best to stand against the tyrant. What will happen? Find out next!
Hoping you enjoyed the chapter,
Genescritor