Chapter 13: Irresolution
Author:Rocket (a.k.a. Roketto/RyunoOhi); Editor: npberryhill; Continuity Wizard: Saucemonkey
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For a moment, the two Arcosians were silent, both from the exhaustion they shared and the mood of the situation, which was punctuated by the first scattered raindrops of the coming storm. Frieza sighed angrily, wincing at the pain in his chest as he did so. 'This is his fault..!' he thought, replaying the Super Saiyan's recent actions, 'If he hadn't gotten involved, this wouldn't have happened.' It didn't matter that without Goku stepping in, Kooler very likely would have finished him off. This was, after all, a personal feud. What right did he have, saving him? The younger Arcosian gritted his teeth, before the pain in his jaw forced him to stop. It was a frustrating feeling, not even being able to vent without his injuries getting in the way. 'On Namek, it was the same. That smug, self-righteous ape stood over me, and I could do nothing to resist...I couldn't even fight back!' It boiled his blood to see Kooler in exactly the same position, being offered the same deceptive mercy as he had been offered. 'Mercy that will quickly become a cage,' he thought with resentment. That sight was more than enough to motivate him to go to his brother's side, before the Saiyan got to him first. Frieza looked at Kooler's broken body, a stab of regret mingling with the stabs of pain from his bruised ribs. "You had to have known, coming here, that there were only two outcomes. You would either capture me..." Frieza paused, sighing sadly, "...or you would fail and perish in the attempt."
From his position on the ground, his upper body slightly propped up on a rock, Kooler smiled wistfully. "I knew the risks. And against a preternaturally lucky bastard like you, I knew that there was a chance I'd fail. At least I'm more used to losing than you are. You don't wear defeat gracefully." The older Arcosian looked at his handiwork, all the damage he'd dealt over the past hours to his younger brother. 'If nothing else, I've managed to shake him, force him to not be complacent. He really took a beating, and he won't be keen on repeating this mistake.'
Frieza tried to laugh, but the sound came out harsh and forced, a mockery of joy. "Of all your shortcomings, all your flaws, cowardice was never one of them, brother." He wearily knelt down fully beside his brother's broken body. "And neither was a lack of dignity and pride. I know that your pride fuels you, drives you ever forward, even under the worst conditions."
Kooler grimaced, looking to the side to avoid meeting his brother's eyes. "I did what I could, with what Fate handed me, and I seized opportunity even when Fate conspired to neglect me. Even when Father abandoned me. If I am beneath notice, no, especially then, when no-one is watching...I push forward."
Frieza nodded soberly in agreement. "That's right. That's how I know you'll never stop pursuing me, even if I let you go. You'll just get back up, get stronger, and return to worry me, until someday, your power truly is great enough to vanquish me." Though they both knew that it was the Super Saiyan who had ultimately defeated Kooler, it didn't matter now — all that mattered was who was left standing between rivals. The younger Arcosian's throat constricted, as he continued to speak, his face pained by what he knew he had to do. "That's why I... I cannot let this go on. You'll never stop. And I don't want either of us to suffer through this vendetta any longer." His fists clenched and shook, as he squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't bear it..!"
Kooler reached up, struggling to grasp Frieza's shaking fist. "Don't fall apart, brother. You're supposed to be unbreakable, remember?"
With a shuddering laugh, Frieza said, "Oh yes...'unbreakable', indeed. But you alone know that isn't true. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here right now. It's ironic, Kooler, that by saving me all those years ago, you have sealed your own fate today."
"But without you," Kooler said quietly, "we'd all be dead. Not just myself and Father, everyone. We would just be memories and dust, or not even that. Though I did not know it at the time, Fate guided my hand in saving you." Shuddering at the thought of their blood-soaked memories, he added, "Besides that, Fate has always intervened on your behalf, it seems."
Frieza swallowed hard, feeling uncharacteristically uncomfortable. Maybe it was all of the old memories that Kooler was dredging up, not just now, but throughout this fight, or perhaps it was the exhaustion and the injuries, but the Arcosian knew what Kooler was implying...and it made him feel worse for the action he had to take to end this. Unconsciously, he began to shake. 'Is this what guilt feels like?' he thought, 'To be so hollow and empty, even though I know I've won? Kooler, he...he saved me, and now I'm going to turn around and–'
"Frieza. I will not repeat myself. Do not fall apart." The purple-skinned Arcosian squeezed his brother's hand, snapping him out of his dark thoughts. "Do what you must, and as is usual for you...don't show others weakness. Demons like us must fashion ourselves as unfeeling forces of nature, unbound by the ties of loss and regret." He shuddered, wincing in pain as he half-sat up with great effort. "So don't regret this, Frieza."
"Hey, looks kinda like they're done talking..." Goku observed, watching the two battered brothers. "D'ya think Frieza talked some sense into him? I wonder if these guys are gonna be staying here for a bit..." he asked out loud, looking at Sauza, Doore, and Neizu.
"Something's weird, though," Tenshinhan said, his voice tense, "There's something not right about how they're acting." He couldn't put his finger on it, but he had the sense that something was up.
"How can you tell?" Piccolo blinked at the three-eyed human's observation. "I doubt they'd be able to mount an offensive in their condition, if that's what you're suggesting." Anxious, he looked across the ruined field to the two aliens sitting on the ground. 'Damn...and if they are conspiring over there, we'd never know it. I can hear them clearly, but...' He could no more understand and interpret what Frieza and Kooler were saying than the Arcosians could translate Namekian words. They spoke in a low, sibilant lilt, and from where he stood, Piccolo could discern few hints to their emotional state from their faces.
"No...it's not that," Tenshinhan muttered, "I don't know how but...something feels...wrong..."
"Nah, they're probably just both upset," Goku replied, watching from a distance as Frieza helped Kooler into a sitting position, "I'm gonna go see what decision they made, so we can get on out of here." Thunder rumbled across the sky, and in the distance, flashes of lightning were steadily rolling closer with the thick storm clouds.
"I won't regret anything," Frieza said, "but I'm concerned that you will." He had pulled Kooler up by his shoulders, so that now Frieza was kneeling eye-to-eye with him. Kooler's face was hard, his jaw set resolutely.
"Look at me, Frieza," he said in a deceptively calm tone, "This can't be fixed. You and I both know the limitations of the healing tanks, even the ones you had on your advanced ship. One consequence of my lack of resources is that my medical bay is...shall we say, lacking." He let that sink in, staring at his younger brother with only the slightest hint of accusation.
Frieza looked away, biting his lower lip. "I had no control over that." He knew they both didn't believe for a moment that he had ever lacked the influence necessary to affect things. 'I did nothing, looked the other way...I even privately took pleasure in your frustration, how you always played second fiddle, and fought for every last scrap you could glean.' The younger Arcosian realized with a start how much they'd managed to drift apart, and how enmity and bitter competition had filled that void. 'Why?' He had vague memories of a time when he and Kooler had been civil, even loving, towards each other, but that was long ago, in what seemed like an entirely different lifetime. Now, another chapter of his life would be finished, and he'd have to live with the person he would be afterwards. 'A survivor,' he considered morosely, 'destined to live, while everything and everyone I touch turns to ash.'
Not privy to his brother's thoughts, Kooler frowned at Frieza's expression. 'What the hell did being on this planet do to you, brother? I haven't seen him this sentimental in decades, and never like this...' He got Frieza's attention again. "Hey, you need to focus. I don't want you botching this up because your mind is elsewhere. Let's get this over with..."
Frieza met his brother's eyes — there was no fear, only acceptance now, for both of them. No longer shaking, the former tyrant placed his hands on either side of his brother's head, stroking his face, prepared to perform an uncharacteristically merciful act.
As he walked towards them, Goku watched as Frieza held his brother upright, and cradled his face in his hands. 'He must be reassuring Kooler or something,' the Saiyan thought, 'Good. If he knows we won't attack him as long as he's peaceful, then I won't have to worry about another threat to Earth. Now it's just a matter of healing him with a senzu, and—' He didn't finish the thought, halting in his tracks in horror at what had just happened.
The sound was not as loud as when Kooler had hit the outcropping of rock, but in the calm air, punctuated only by the dripping of intermittent raindrops, it was like a gunshot. 'No,' the kind-hearted warrior thought, his heart dropping. His finely-honed ki sense registered Kooler's life force guttering and finally winking out of existence, like a bright candle flame that had been extinguished. He stared in wide-eyed disbelief at the scene before him. In mere moments, Frieza had moved from gently holding Kooler's face to violently snapping his neck, twisting his head around with a sudden intensity on his previously calm countenance. As Goku was about to open his mouth to shout, to ask Frieza why he did such a thing, the Arcosian drew Kooler's body into an embrace, the body still twitching and jerking in its death throes.
The next thing everyone else registered was the sound of Sauza screaming as he powered up. "You killed him!" His eyes wild with emotions, he launched himself at Frieza's crouched form, ready to avenge his master.
Tearing his eyes away from the horror before him, Goku turned on his heel just as Sauza charged, bodily grabbing him and holding the shorter man back. "Stop! You can't—"
"Let me go, you stupid ape; I have to avenge him!" Struggling mightily in Goku's grip, Sauza spat at Frieza, "You bastard, he wasn't a threat anymore and you killed him anyway! I'll kill you for this, you hear me?!" The blue-skinned alien clawed and kicked at his captor, and Goku noticed that his eyes were wet with tears. "Damnit, let me go! Let me go, I have to kill him! I w-won't let him get away with this-!" When it became apparent that struggling was getting him nowhere, the Brench reluctantly relaxed, though he was still shaking with anger.
"You idiots would only be throwing your lives away needlessly, so stay back," Piccolo warned to their left. He had sprung into action to hold back Doore in a headlock, the green-skinned hulk glowering angrily from behind Piccolo's arm.
"He's dead... He's dead... He's really dead..." Neizu was moaning helplessly to himself, Tenshinhan standing between the tall brown-skinned alien and Frieza, even though Neizu seemed more paralyzed by shock than the other two. "Why?!" the alien cried out, "You heartless monster, why kill him like that?"
Frieza said nothing, not even seeming to notice the chaos all around him in the wake of his act. Tenshinhan stared at him. At his unmoving form, his face blank as he rested it on his dead brother's shoulder, seemingly relaxed...but one look at his hands, how he gripped Kooler tightly, almost digging his fingers into the flesh, told the former assassin all he needed to know. He nodded slightly in understanding. 'Son and the others are no doubt confused, but it's clear to me.' Remorse. That was the only explanation, and with an idea of how Frieza thought and behaved, then this made perfect sense. 'He's had it beaten into him that the strong defeat the weak as a matter of survival, siblings included. Kooler represents a huge threat to him, even if rationally, it makes no sense,' the human reflected, 'What's worse, they both shared this ideology, making it impossible for them to coexist, as long as the other is alive. But that doesn't mean they had no compassion for each other.' He'd watched and felt Kooler's final moments. He'd been calm, accepting of his fate. Frieza had been detached, methodical, and precise about it. This wasn't torture, it was an execution, and a relatively merciful one at that.
The bald man felt a pang of guilt go through his mind - he too was familiar with this scene, having lived it himself. In the notoriously brutal Crane School — in many ways a corruption of the original defensive style — injuries were common, and personal weaknesses the target of relentless, methodical attack. Being soft-hearted wouldn't get you far, but if you were stronger than the rest, you could get away with it, at least when Master Shen wasn't watching too closely. In particular, sparring became a battle for survival, and many times Tenshinhan had crippled his partners severely, deliberately rendering them unable to fight when they'd suffered a minor sprain in the course of a match. 'It was better than forcing them to go on, until they dropped from other, worse injuries because they couldn't defend themselves. But still, I only did it because I had to...Shen would never stop a match unless they were dead or unable to move.' He winced at the memories of conditioned cruelty...it was painfully obvious that Frieza and Kooler had been subject to the same draconian training. A flurry of curses told him that Sauza had made another attempt to attack Frieza, who now appeared to be shakily standing, still clutching Kooler's limp body. Goku still endeavored to hold the Brench back, as the loyal subordinate thrashed and screamed at the Arcosian.
Frieza felt cold inside, an icy numbness that reduced even his most grievous injuries to a dull throbbing, somewhere close by, but not really reaching him. He stared blankly at the Saiyan, holding back one of Kooler's men. He was screaming something, his face twisted in rage, spittle flying from his lips. The Arcosian felt the weight of the body he carried come back to him, as he tried to stand on his injured leg, wincing. The pain snapped him back into the moment, and with it came some of the emotions he was struggling to hold back. He swayed on his feet, feeling woozy. Sauza stopped his struggling, a slightly confused look on his face. Son Goku let go of him, approaching the dazed Arcosian. 'No, I won't let you have him,' Frieza thought disjointedly as he stepped back. "Stay away," he managed to articulate, the breathless gasp sounding more like a plea than a command, as he had intended. The Saiyan obediently froze, not moving any closer.
"Frieza, how could you do that?" Goku asked, trying to keep his voice calm, though it bordered on accusatory. His dark eyes flicked to Kooler's head, lolling at an unnatural angle, before returning to Frieza's cold expression. "More importantly, why? I don't understand..." Brows knit, he stared at Frieza, willing the battered tyrant to grant him some explanation, any scrap of rationale that justified this, in any way. The Arcosian's ki was a turbulent mix of emotions, but his face was unnervingly impassive, like an unreadable mask.
"I... I do not need to explain myself to you," Frieza finally croaked, "This was between my brother and myself...and now that he's gone, it is my sole burden...m-my responsibility..." He squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth, before slowly lifting off the ground with much effort. "Don't interfere," he warned, before taking off in a burst of ki, as thunder rumbled overhead.
"What? HEY!" Sauza screamed after the retreating form of Frieza as he flew away, into the black of the burgeoning storm clouds. The blond alien's face was still a battlefield between rage and grief, his expression helpless one moment and hellbent on revenge the next. "No you don't... Think you can escape, you coward..?!" he shouted, gathering his ki and tensing to begin his pursuit. To his ire, Goku firmly gripped his armor, grounding him as he wheeled, baring his teeth at the Saiyan. "Why the hell are you holding me back, monkey? This isn't your fight, not anymore!"
"Don't," Goku said, stone-faced, his brow furrowed, "I don't know what's going on either, but I do know that if you guys go charging into a fight with him...Frieza will kill you. Earlier, your friend was lucky that Frieza was too weak to really hurt him," he nodded at Doore, "but I can sense that he's recovered enough power to put all three of you down. Just now, he was bein' real merciful, ignoring you guys instead of hurting you. To be honest, that's the first time I've seen him not goin' out of his way to kill enemies. You'd be throwin' your lives away if you went after him, after he spared you... Come on, don't be stupid."
"Who the hell do you think you are, giving us orders, Saiyan?" Doore growled, shrugging off Piccolo, who cautiously released him. "We only take orders from Lord Kooler, not Frieza, not Kold, and definitely not you!"
Goku was silent in the now-steadily falling rain, thinking of how best to respond to the defiant henchmen. 'They won't listen to reason, not with how torn up they are right now...I've gotta think, how can I convince them?' For some reason, his memories of Frieza's mind came to him. 'How would he deal with this, aside from outright killing them?' The pure-hearted Saiyan didn't like it, but there might be something that could work... He fixed Doore with a hard stare, trying his best to look intimidating. "Well...th' way I see it, you can look at it two ways," he started, holding one finger up, "One way is that I'm just giving you good advice, not an order." With a flash of light, he powered up to Super Saiyan, still calmly standing there as he raised another finger. "Another way to look at it is that I'm stronger than you, so you'd be pretty dumb to go against me." He watched, inwardly holding his breath, to see their reaction. A momentary look of fear and panic stole across their faces. The green alien still scowled at him, but his power dropped as he relaxed. Sauza too gave one brief snarl, before standing down. The brown one, still in shock probably, was already as relaxed as he was going to get for now. 'I can't believe that actually worked!' the peaceful Saiyan thought incredulously. "Good," he said, "Now, if I were you, I'd get off this planet — I don't think Frieza will be too keen on havin' you around right now, but you're welcome back in the future...as long as you don't try to cause any trouble, okay?"
"Tch," Sauza glowered at the Saiyan, "You're digging your own grave, monkey. Frieza is a different breed from Kooler, and he won't hesitate to kill you. As soft as you are, I'm surprised he hasn't yet..."
Goku blinked, back to his normal facial expression, all intimidation lost despite the golden glow surrounding him still. "Well...I'll admit, I was worried at first, but he can't exactly hide all his ki, so he'd never be able to get the jump on me. Anyway, he is better than he was when he first came here."
"...Seriously, is this guy for real?" Doore grumbled rhetorically, "Only a moron like this'd be able to say that someone like Frieza can change for the better." He absentmindedly rubbed at his bruised face, where the Arcosian had backhanded him, albeit weakly, before. "The only way to make him better is to kill him."
The orange-clad Saiyan exhaled, releasing his power, his hair and eyes shifting back to black. "Well, maybe you're right, but then again, I was worried that Kooler would be like how Frieza was when he first arrived — and you can't say he's not different. I'd think he wouldn't want you gettin' yourselves killed, right?" At that, the three aliens exchanged glances, before Sauza sighed in resignation.
"...Right," the Brench responded quietly. "Alright, you win. But mark my words, Saiyan, you'd be wiser than you look if you were to take Frieza out now, while he's weakened. Doore, get Neizu moving. Let's go." The blue-skinned man turned to leave, his companion obediently prodding the tallest member of the squad into action. As they lifted off the ground, the spiky-haired Saiyan called out to them over the falling rain.
"Anyone can change," Goku asserted, "Even someone like him. A lot of my good friends started off as enemies, but I never held it against them." He smiled at Tenshinhan, then at Piccolo. The bald human looked disinterested, while the Namek made a show of sneering and shaking his head. 'Looking back, it's funny...but most of my friends and allies started off as my foes,' he thought with mild amusement, 'It's obvious that Kooler inspired real respect and loyalty from his men, so it can't be a lost cause to think Frieza has the same potential.'
The storm around Frieza reflected the chaos within his mind, as he navigated the forest, finally spying the clearing he'd been searching for in the rain. He swooped down, and, misjudging his ki level, hit the ground harder than intended. "Aagh, damnit-!" he hissed loudly, his injured leg screaming from the impact. 'I nearly dropped the body,' he thought. 'The body...' Glancing down at his physical and mental burden, he remarked, "It always amazes me how quickly one stops thinking of the person...and starts thinking in terms of an object." It was sobering. This was not Kooler, the person who had been a brother and oftentimes a rival and an enemy, no. This was inanimate flesh, a former person, now just a prison for whatever soul remained locked inside. 'But I'll free him,' Frieza thought, 'That, I can do for him at least.' He set the body down gently, and looked around at his soaked surroundings. "Damn... This will be difficult..." The Arcosian tried to remember how to properly start a fire in damp conditions, but his injured leg and bruised ribs nagged at his concentration. With an angry sigh, he resolved to just use his ki to ignite whatever tinder he could find that wasn't sopping wet. The rain wasn't abating. 'The universe and Fate mocks me, yet again..!' Frieza thought angrily as he stalked off, limping heavily.
SHHFFT!
"Thanks Goku — that technique of yours is quite convenient for outrunning the rain, isn't it?" Tenshinhan politely said in the foyer of Capsule Corp., as the Saiyan, long since drenched, shook his head like a dog, sending droplets flying. Piccolo grumbled, raising the edge of his cape to block a few errant drops.
"Well, all in all, I'd say we dodged a bullet with this one," the Namek said seriously, "We didn't lose anyone, and the only person who died was Kooler himself, so that's a major threat eliminated. However, I've got a bad feeling that this is only the beginning. Kooler was vastly stronger than Frieza when he got going, and future enemies may be even stronger...Goku, are you even listening?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, kinda..." the Saiyan said distractedly, as a bead of water trembled at the end of his spiky hair, before falling as he shook his head. "Just thinking about Kooler...and Frieza... You're right, our enemies just seem to get stronger and stronger, Piccolo. We're gonna need to train even harder, to prepare."
Piccolo growled softly, recognizing the soft-hearted warrior's distraction. "Don't blame yourself for what happened," he said bluntly, "There's no way you could have known Frieza would do that."
Tenshinhan added, "He's right Goku. I know it's hard for you to understand, but from my own experience, I can say that I think Frieza saw what he did as...merciful. It wasn't malicious at all, and you shouldn't beat yourself up over what happened."
"But it could have been prevented!" Goku exclaimed, frustrated. "A senzu would have fixed it! If Frieza knew about them, he would have no reason to...to just kill him like that!" He shut his eyes, teeth clenched.
"Remember Goku, we've been treating many things as 'need-to-know' around Frieza...and instant healing falls under that category," Piccolo reminded him. The tall Namek crossed his arms, internally annoyed that Goku, while a warrior, was also obsessed to the point of a personal flaw with compassion.
"Yeah, I know," the Saiyan said, running his hand through his wet, matted hair, "It's just...that look on his face after I approached him, asking why he did it... It was so strange...I could feel that his ki was distressed, but his face... It was totally blank. Like he'd retreated into his own head, 'cause he couldn't deal with what he'd done." With a look of grim determination, he looked towards the window, at the grey, stormy sky outside. "I should at least go check on him. He was hurt really bad anyway."
"Frieza asked you not to go after him," Tenshinhan reminded him. Goku shook his head.
"He's had a chance to calm down some, and I know that means that he'll be feeling the hurt of his wounds more strongly," Goku reasoned, "If he's doing what I think he's doing, he'll need help. It can't be easy, taking apart a dead body, even at full strength, right?" His two long-time friends and rivals both sighed in unison.
"Fine, you've made up your mind to go bother him, then go for it," Piccolo said morosely, "You Saiyans are too stubborn for your own good, but at least you of all people can withstand it if Frieza gets angry at you."
"Goku...please, don't go." Tenshinhan looked at the Saiyan's dark eyes, full of determination and good intentions. "This is something he needs to do himself, no matter how much you think he needs help."
"I appreciate your advice on this, Tenshinhan," Goku said, his voice concerned, "but I can't just stand by. He'll destroy himself, body and soul, and it'll be on me. I'll just see if he's alright, and if he wants to be left alone, I'll give him some space." With that promise, the Saiyan raised two fingers to his forehead, vanishing.
"Stubborn fool..." Piccolo snorted.
"I'm inclined to agree with you on that sentiment," Tenshinhan said with a sigh, "Then again...that's his best quality, isn't it? When everyone else would give up, he's compelled not to. I just hope that it works in his favor, in this case. Frieza probably doesn't think it's a good attribute for him to have, at any rate..."
"I guess that's one thing we have in common," the Namekian stated, turning his attention to Tenshinhan. "I saw the look on your face when Frieza was speaking to Kooler. You knew what was going to happen, didn't you?"
For a moment, Tenshinhan hesitated. "Couldn't you hear what they were saying?" he dodged the question defensively, "Why didn't you try to warn us?"
"I could understand them about as well as you could understand the Namekian tongue," Piccolo explained, his stone-cold expression not giving Tenshinhan any hints as to his thoughts on what had transpired this evening. "Even if I had been able to interpret what was said, believe me, Kooler was just as much a danger to this planet as Frieza was, perhaps even greater. In the end, I'm glad that he was eliminated." The three-eyed human remained silent. Piccolo spoke the truth, but there was a guilt inside of Tenshinhan that he couldn't quite shake, and he feared that Piccolo could somehow sense it. As if to confirm this, the tall Namek said, "Kooler's death isn't what I wanted to talk about. You and Frieza, you have more in common than you'd like to admit."
The human was about to chastise the former King of Demons, but ultimately relented. The similarities were there, though Tenshinhan was afraid to admit it himself. How Piccolo knew of his past, however, was a mystery to him. "How do you know what my life was like?" Tenshinhan asked, remembering that not even King Piccolo knew of his past training with Master Shen.
"I was at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai, in case you had forgotten," the Namekian reminded him, "I witnessed your former master's disgrace when you defeated Tao. That betrayal, the relationship you had with Tao and Shen, it isn't dissimilar to how Frieza was treated by his father and Kooler. When the master failed to control the student, another close to him was sent to finish the job and clean up loose ends."
Tenshinhan had suddenly become very uncomfortable with Piccolo's insight, though he couldn't deny any of it. "Where are you going with this, Piccolo?" Tenshinhan asked, wondering if this was even leading anywhere.
Piccolo sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "Millions of people live here in West City, and every day that Frieza remains here, he is a danger to each and every one of those citizens." The Namekian opened his eyes and looked towards the slightly confused Tenshinhan. "Goku might be naive enough to believe that he has Frieza under control, but after today I doubt that even he could predict what Frieza might do next."
"What are you suggesting?" Tenshinhan questioned. "You want him out of the city, that's clear, but where would we be able to keep a close enough eye on him?"
Piccolo smirked at Tenshinhan for a moment, causing the man to tense up. "You easily have the most in common with Frieza. I could see him being able to respect you, even if he might not admit it. You train far away from society, as do I, but I couldn't stand to be around someone so unbalanced and arrogant if my life depended on it. You, however…"
"That's enough, Piccolo. I'm not going to put Chiaotzu in danger like that, he's died once already!" Tenshinhan argued, raising his voice slightly.
"I know, I was there," Piccolo firmly stated, "He wasn't the only one who died that day." Tenshinhan quickly backed down, sighing and shaking his head in contemplation. "This isn't about you, or Chiaotzu," Piccolo pressed, "It's about the people of this planet. Their lives come before ours, Chiaotzu knows this, it's why he sacrificed himself against Nappa. It's why you'll accept to take Frieza with you when you leave West City."
Tenshinhan stood in silence for a good few minutes, his heart racing as he remembered the day that the Saiyans had arrived. It wasn't one that he looked back on very often. The fact was, Piccolo was right, and no matter how much he valued Chiaotzu's life, he had to make the hard decisions. Goku wasn't going to. "What if he decides to attack us?" Tenshinhan finally asked.
"I'll keep a close eye on all three of you," Piccolo claimed, somewhat assuaging Tenshinhan's fears. "If anything should happen, I'll make sure that Chiaotzu is safe. You have my word."
Despite the heaviness of the situation, Tenshinhan found himself laughing, trying to ease the stress of the moment. "It's funny, just a few years ago I would have thought you to be lying to me. But now... I trust you, Piccolo, but please don't let me down. I won't forgive you if anything happens...it'll all be on your head, because it's your plan."
"Right, understood." the Namekian nodded. He began to walk away, leaving Tenshinhan to his thoughts.
"Damnit... Damn it all..!" Angrily muttering to himself, and focused on the arduous task before him, the Arcosian didn't register the telltale whoosh of displaced air over the steady noise of the rain. Goku, who had unwittingly transmitted behind him, stood silent for a moment, taking in the picture before him.
'Man, Krillin wasn't kidding when he said this was kinda disturbing,' the Saiyan thought, looking down at the half-disassembled corpse, blood trickling in rivulets from the raw flesh, washed away by the relentless rain.
Even without a ki sense, Frieza suddenly stiffened, turning to face Goku, his shock quickly replaced by anger. "I thought I felt like I was being watched. Didn't I tell you not to follow me, monkey?" he growled, returning to his previous action of methodically snapping the joints of the body, and twisting the pieces off the whole, grunting with the effort. It was obvious that he was struggling, fighting against the pain of his injuries.
Goku watched with morbid fascination for a moment before replying, "...Uh, well, I was kinda worried, what with your injuries an' all. Do you want me to... Er, that is, do you need any help?"
"Help?" Frieza said in that quiet, dangerous tone of voice that preceded violence. "You keep me here, on this planet, as a virtual prisoner, trying to break my will and force me to conform to your ideals, and kill my father. Now, you've just forced me to kill my only remaining family, and you want me to allow you to help release his soul?" He turned around to face Goku, his eyes hard with hatred. "Never," he ground out, "Even if you weren't a filthy Saiyan, the damage you've done to us is too great. I can't forgive you. Now get out of my sight!" he snapped, seemingly content to vent his frustration by bodily ripping off Kooler's arm.
"I'm sorry, Frieza," Goku said, walking around to kneel opposite him, "I know you think I'm your enemy, and at one point, I was, because I couldn't see past my own goals, the people I was trying to protect." He looked at the short Arcosian, crouched almost protectively over his brother, despite looking ready to collapse from exhaustion. "But I'm not anymore," he continued, "I want to help you, too. I don't really understand what you're trying to do, but if you explain it, I'll follow your orders...just to take some of the strain off of you right now." The Saiyan reached out, gently resting a hand on the armor of Kooler's chest. "Please let me—"
"Don't touch him!" Frieza yelled at Goku, shoving him backwards roughly with one hand, taking the Saiyan by surprise. "Get your hands off him, you have no right to touch him!" he screamed, shaking with rage, his eyes bloodshot, with the pupils constricted to pinpricks.
"I'm sorry!" Goku sat back on his heels, hands up in a placating gesture, "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it." Looking at Frieza, he thought, 'I've never seen him so upset. I want to make this better, fix this somehow, but he just can't see past me being me!' He was beginning to think Tenshinhan had been right, and he shouldn't have interfered with the alien ritual.
"No!" Frieza shouted, "Just get away from me! You're a curse! You and your entire stinking race, all walking engines of destruction and death, every last one from the moment you're born until the day you die!" His voice quavered and shook, as he ranted, "You're all the same, in the end, living to fight and maim, destroy and kill. You say you live for the challenge of a battle, but I — haha! — I know better. I've seen firsthand the sport you take in hunting the helpless — you don't even care if they can fight back, as long as they struggle and scream a bit! And I..." he paused, a look of sheer hatred on his bruised face, "...I'm cursed to be worse even than you, in order to snuff every last one of you out." His red eyes bored into the depths of the orange-clad Saiyan's, as he menacingly spat, "You can't change me, Son Goku, because it's because of you, and your ancestors, that I even exist. Demons are born of demons, and once you create a devil, there's no unmaking them. They simply are."
Goku stared silently, mouth slightly open, in response to the impassioned outburst. 'He...he's not just talking about the Saiyans, he thinks of himself as a demon too...' the kind-hearted Saiyan finally realized, 'He considers himself to be on the same level as something he hates with all his heart.' There was no mistaking the pain in the Arcosian's words, how his voice quavered as he wiped the rain out of his eyes, leaving a diluted streak of red from his bloodstained hands. Goku desperately wanted to reveal his epiphany and tell Frieza that it wasn't true, that he was not a demon or a monster, that he could choose his own path...but thinking of the other times he'd attempted to offer solace to the alien, it would be met with nothing but anger and disgust. 'After all the mind games I played on him, after Namek...it's no wonder he doesn't trust anyone anymore, not even himself.' He balled his fists, frustrated that no matter what, he couldn't help him. 'He just has to decide on his own,' Goku resolved, 'With or without my help, the only way he'll change is if he changes himself. All I can do is be there when he wants to change for the better...if that ever happens.' Standing up with a squish in the mud, he looked down at the injured Arcosian. "If that's what you believe, I can't do anything to change that, Frieza," he said, "But whenever you're ready to change the myth, and maybe rewrite that story you told me...I'll be waiting to support you." He took one last look at Frieza's slightly confused face before using Shunkan Idou to leave.
The bloody smell of fresh flesh surrounded Vegeta, several dozen corpses of Frieza's soldiers lying around him. He sniffed a scaly, severed alien arm, cringed, then tossed it away over his shoulder. They were all the same, really. Nothing out here on the outer rim gave him a challenge, only training alone yielded any results — though they were far from enough. He'd strewn ruin and chaos to as many of Frieza's former bases as he could, but even that felt empty.
"This nightmare of a planet isn't even fit to shit on. Just another dump like all the worlds Nappa and I razed those years ago. I'm never going to ascend the ranks of glory here..." he muttered with frustration. His eyes cut towards the sky suddenly, three energy signatures closing in from the north. "Well well..." he grumbled aloud, "Looks like there might be some decent power levels on this planet after all. Still not fit to lick my boots, but killing is killing." A little too quickly for his liking, three purple streaks landed just in front of him. They were wearing standard imperial armor, only the right side of their breastplates bore a distinct symbol not unlike that of the Ginyu Force. The smug look of the leader was instantly offsetting, particularly because it was not the fearful, panicked look Vegeta usually received.
"Hmph, so you must be the one who did all this?" the white-haired leader said pointedly, "A shame we couldn't get here sooner, these soldiers were good men."
"Hah!" Vegeta laughed aloud. "I'm not sure what's more amusing, the fact you think these were good men or the fact that you think you three being here would've made any difference! You'd best turn tail and run, fools. At least you'd live a few seconds longer." He curled his already bloodstained, gloved hands into fists.
The other two fighters, standing on either side of the leader, stole a glance at one another before chuckling. One was a humanoid female, also with long white hair, and the other was a Saurian male — both carried themselves like true warriors.
"Looks like this guy really is clueless, wouldn't you say, Guoda?" the female said with a grin. "You wanna do the honors or should I?"
"Don't be hasty now, Compte," the leader replied. "We haven't even found out who he is or what he was doing here slaughtering these men."
"Oh, well if that's all that's stopping this fight, I'll certainly indulge you," Vegeta interrupted, "I'm a Saiyan elite, the last of a royal bloodline, and soon to be the most powerful being in the universe. And as to why I'm here...I just go wherever Frieza left a mess and dispose of the trash. By now you've probably realized that, if you have a brain in your heads. So then, on to the killing."
"Saiyan?" the Saurian said curiously, "That sounds familiar, where have I heard that recently..?" The other two, however, seemed to raise their guards at the mere mention of the term — something Vegeta had come to expect in his travels to these half-abandoned bases.
"You wouldn't happen to be, by any chance, the one they call the Super Saiyan?" the leader, Guoda, asked.
Even the tone of the question stung deep. Of course he wasn't the Super Saiyan...not yet anyway. That honor belonged to Kakarot alone, the spineless clown that he was. And yet, despite knowing the truth, the assault to Vegeta's pride, even out in the middle of nowhere, was simply too much to bear.
"That's right," the prince lied through a false grin, "I am Vegeta, the Super Saiyan prince and the last person you three are ever going to see."
"Are you then?" Guoda repeated curiously, "Well, I suppose it's only fair I conclude the introductions then. The three of us comprise King Kold's most elite squad, the Alpha Tokusentai."
"Hah, never heard of it," Vegeta scoffed. 'They're either bluffing...or they're so deep in the shadows of the PTO that not even I know about them.' The latter possibility made him wary.
Guoda chuckled. "Ah, of course not. A mere Saiyan like yourself certainly doesn't warrant our personal attention; we just happened to be nearby. Fortunate we were, however. Desann over there has been going on for weeks about how he wants to take down the so-called Super Saiyan who defeated Frieza."
"Well it seems like we have nothing further to discuss," the prince said with a grin. He crouched slightly, raising one fist above his head and the other out in front of his body.
"You can have first dibs, Desann," the leader said, motioning to the Saurian. He rushed Vegeta instantly, bashing his heavy reptilian skull into the center of the prince's torso and catapulting him backwards. The Saiyan's vision spun and blood spewed from his mouth as he crashed into a pile of boulders behind him.
"The hell was that!?" he yelled angrily as he sprung back to his feet, wiping blood from the corner of his lips.
"Oh, didn't you know?" Compte yelled out in reply, chuckling all the while, "Desann and I have power levels of over six million units, and my brother Guoda's is nearly eight! Super Saiyan or not, you don't have a chance in hell of defeating us!"
"Eight...million?" Vegeta whispered, mouth agape. But before he could even conclude his thought, Desann charged him head-on once again. This time the Saiyan crossed his hands above his head defensively and repelled the Saurian's blow. However, the Alpha flipped in midair and made a quick bound off of a nearby rock formation to resume his pursuit. He caught back up to the prince almost instantly, gnashing his sharp incisors as he swung a strong fist into Vegeta's shoulder.
"Gah, kkch!" Vegeta growled, bracing against the ground with one hand and spinning away to try and negate the blow. 'He's fast..! Not to mention, stronger than the grunts I just wasted all that energy on!'
"Hehehe," the Saurian chuckled, charging a crackling ball of ki in his left palm. "Is this a joke, Super Saiyan? You're far too weak to have possibly defeated Lord Frieza!" With a wicked grin, Desann leapt upwards into the air and hurled his attack. It detonated right at Vegeta's feet in a large blast of flame and smoke, the other two Alphas avoiding the debris cloud by rising into the air.
"RAAARGH!" Vegeta immediately came roaring out of the dust with a furious fist and struck Desann full force, spinning his lengthy head sideways. "Now you've made me mad!" he yelled, peppering Desann's body with a barrage of punches. The Saurian raised his hands to try and block, but found himself at a sudden disadvantage in speed. Flaring out his purple aura, the Alpha opened his jaw wide and snapped at Vegeta's neck. Several thin streaks of red graced the prince's face as the teeth just barely pierced his skin — thanks to a fortunate and lifesaving dodge. Now showing a few beads of sweat on his head, the Saurian withdrew to the company of his friends.
"This one's got some spirit, wouldn't you say, Guoda?" he laughed, somewhat nervously.
"Well well, seems we've actually found someone worth fighting," the leader replied, crossing his arms. "No one's ever escaped from having their head bitten off by Desann before, well done. Although, I still don't see what all the big deal about a Super Saiyan is. You might be a little stronger than Desann here, but I could take you by myself. It wouldn't even take all three of us. Face it, your time's up, Super Saiyan. You should have never defied Lord Frieza."
"Oh I am getting so tired of hearing that!" the furious Saiyan answered, raising both arms from his sides. "Raaaargh—!" His anger thrumming through the veins in his temples, Vegeta began to fire ki blasts furiously. The searing attacks whizzed forward to envelope the three warriors in a haze of dust as they exploded.
"Ghh—! Well, looks like I've hit the monkey's nerve, eh?" Guoda chuckled, swiftly dodging the balls of energy shrieking past them. Noticing that his comrades were visibly struggling to stay out of the path of the rapid-fire attacks — which weren't by any stretch wimpy — the leader of the trio put on a burst of speed.
"Die!" the prince yelled. "You worms, taking me lightly is one thing, but I will not let you cheapen my goal!" Though his words were strong, he had inwardly begun to doubt his own resolve to reach that level of power, that which he above all else deserved. 'But is it mine to have at all?' he thought, 'When someone as low as Kakarot can achieve it... No! That was a fluke, a test of my faith in myself! This power is my birthright, and mine alone!' Caught in his own inner monologue, the Saiyan prince failed to catch Guoda circling around his flank until it was too late.
"Daydreaming in the middle of a battle, monkey? Or are you just blinded by rage?" Guoda mocked as he sucker-punched Vegeta hard. His guard momentarily down, the Saiyan stumbled, before righting himself with a growl, his teeth gnashing with fury.
"Coward!" Vegeta hissed, throwing himself at Guoda, ki springing to life in the palms of his hands. The tandem ki blasts buzzed as he tossed them at the leader, who merely smirked and jumped clear of their path. "You dare to try to toy with me, do you?! Oh you are going to—"
A crushing blow to his skull cut the proud prince off as Compte slammed her boot into the side of his head. "Gonna what?!" the female Alpha called as she touched down on the cracked ground.
"...Ghssh, looks like those other two aren't pinned down any longer," Vegeta groaned, pulling himself out of a mound of rubble. "Fools. I held back too much against them before, but this time I'll be sure not to make the same mistake!" The words were pure bluster for his opponents, if they were in earshot; the Saiyan felt his energy dropping steadily from this exertion. 'Can't believe I've actually found strong enough opponents to make a difference in my training...and I'm letting them get the best of me! If this drags on much longer...' he thought.
Suddenly, a scaly hand wrapped around his throat, and he kicked uselessly at the air as Desann held him in a headlock. "You are spirited, as I said," the reptilian whispered in his ear, "but we'll see how long you can last against all three of us at once, 'prince', hehehe..."
"Ha!" Vegeta grunted, turning his head to the side and tucking his chin to his chest in order to breathe, "I've served under Frieza — those kind of threats scare me less than your idiotic faces." Feeling the Alpha tense with anger against him, he elbowed his captor hard in the chest, escaping as Desann coughed curses after him. "Hah," the prince laughed, "Your fighting skills are a joke — I hope you don't actually think you can win!"
"Oh, but we do," Guoda calmly spoke as a lance of light pierced through Vegeta's armor, drilling into his flesh. As the Saiyan screamed in agony, the Alphas' leader chuckled, "And that was just a medium-powered blast... I'll admit I was trying to skewer you, but it seems you're tougher than you appear, 'Super Saiyan'. If anything, your legendary state has given you a thicker skin!" Chortling at his joke, the man charged another bolt of ki.
Vegeta huffed angrily, "... I won't give you another chance to strike me, mark my words!" As he shouted, he clutched his bleeding side where the attack had speared into his damaged, cracked armor. His breath caught in his throat as Desann and Compte appeared on either side of him, charging massive beams of energy. "Shit!" he hissed as he leapt above their path, and saw Guoda waiting for him. A hammerfist swung him back down towards the two fighters, as they released the perfectly-timed ki blasts.
"Hmph...none too smart, this one," Compte remarked, roughly kicking the downed, smoking form of the Saiyan prince. "Our teamwork is the real reason we're number one in the universe under King Kold himself."
Desann snickered as Vegeta rolled to a halt in front of him. "Yeah, he's about done, or close to it. What do you think, Guoda? Think we should just kill him and get it over with?"
"No," their leader replied, crossing his arms as he looked down at Vegeta, "We should see what information he holds. If he knows why all the signals from Lord Frieza's ship cut out on that backwater Namek planet, then he probably knows what happened afterwards — he was on that planet too, and he somehow escaped its explosion. That's a little too clever a trick for a mere monkey, even a strong one." The others nodded in agreement, individually wondering if the rumors were true that some super-powerful Saiyan had singlehandedly toppled the regime of the Arcosians, one by one.
"Time to wake up, monkey!" Desann growled as he stepped on Vegeta's limp hand. The reptilian soldier grinned cruelly as the prince came around with a pained cry. "Now, why dontcha answer some questions, hmm? If you're cooperative, we may even skip the torture and go straight to killing you afterwards."
"D...damn you all..." Vegeta hoarsely rasped, "Go to hell, you boot-licking scum. I have nothing to say to the likes of yo—aargh..! He choked back a scream as Desann ground his broken hand into the dirt.
"Now that we've established that you're in no position to threaten or bargain with us," Guoda gloated, "here's your first question: what, exactly, happened to Lord Frieza? King Kold retrieved him from the ruins of Planet Namek, but after that, not even we were privy to his condition, or even whether he survived."
Vegeta grinned up through bloodied teeth. "Oh really? So you didn't know that Kold turned him into a science lab reject? Rebuilt him with a cyborg body, only to try to put him down like a dog when he didn't fulfill his expectations. Such a pity, hahaha..."
Compte and Guoda exchanged concerned glances. "Such a tale can only be a lie. Everyone knows that Lord Frieza is our master's most valued possession, his heir! Quit spouting such nonsense!" Compte shouted.
"Was," Vegeta corrected smugly, "In both senses. You see, not only did Kold disown Frieza after he failed to kill the Super Saiyan, but you bumbling idiots have been serving a dead master for...oh, a few months now." He took no small pleasure in the look that came across all three's faces. "Hahahaha! Oh I'm sorry, maybe I should have broken the news more gently?" he taunted.
"You..! Shut up! I'll break you!" Desann growled, kicking Vegeta hard in the ribs. With one of Desann's feet on the Saiyan's hand, Vegeta couldn't roll away to lessen the blow, coughing as blood spurted from his mouth.
"...No way," Compte breathed, seemingly in shock, "King Kold's really dead... What'll we do now, Guoda? You don't think he's telling the truth, do you? Well?!"
Guoda stood silently, his face frozen between anger and shock in a look of concern. "...I don't think so, Compte. What would he have to gain, telling us something that, in our anger, we'd likely kill him for? Look at him; the poor bastard has nothing to lose, and even less to hide, now." Suddenly, he looked thoughtful, swivelling his head to address Vegeta once again. "Before, you said that Master Kold 'tried' to put Lord Frieza down...so he survived the assassination attempt, I take it?"
"Barely," Vegeta strained, pausing to spit blood out of his mouth, "Hell, I don't even know if he's alive anymore, judging from the condition he was in when I left the planet." Muttering to himself, he added, "Not that Kakarot would let him die, the soft-hearted fool..."
"Hm? Who's this 'Kakarot'? Another Saiyan, judging by the name..." Compte observed.
"Yeah..." Desann agreed, brows furrowed in concentration, the wheels in his head turning, "Come to think of it...this guy's pretty weak, for a supposed legend... Now we know there's another Saiyan involved in this fiasco..." He gasped, eyes wide. "That's it! This isn't the Super Saiyan, just a pretender trying to intimidate what remains of Lord Frieza's forces!" It made sense, he reasoned. After all, despite Frieza's adamant declarations that no such thing existed, every soldier, no matter what species, had heard the story. They'd spook easily if a regular, albeit strong, Saiyan came at the weaker ones, claiming to be a monster of myth.
"I do believe you're correct, Desann," Guoda said, his demeanor back to being menacingly cheerful. He pointed an accusatory finger at Vegeta. "What we have here is a fraud. What do you say to that, monkey prince? Am I right, or am I wrong? You were driven away in some simian power struggle, and you limp off into space to lick your wounds and terrorize anything that's weaker than you to vent...sound about right?"
Vegeta squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth at the stinging words. "You...you piece of shit vile bastard! How dare you insinuate..! Tch, that's no way to address the prince of all Saiyans!" he yelled through gritted teeth. His bluff was already clear though. "I swear to you, I am...a Super Saiyan. It is my royal birthright, and I will ascend to claim it! Then I'll reclaim my place over that moronic third-class as the most powerful Saiyan in existence, as I should be."
"Ooh, seems someone has an inferiority complex to go with his height," Compte cooed sarcastically. "Honestly, I had my doubts from the beginning, but now it couldn't be any clearer. It's such a shame we didn't get to fight the real Super Saiyan, after all that hype. This one's just a pretender, right boys?"
Vegeta's undamaged fist shook, as he struggled to clench his broken hand as well, ignoring the sharp pain. 'Pretender? How dare she!? I am Prince Vegeta! My very blood contains the peak aspects of all Saiyan-kind, and this wench has the gall to degrade me?!' However, in some small way, her words were like a dagger twisted into his heart, an assessment of his nobility, his skill, his essence that hurt more than any torture they could inflict on him. That he was inferior to Frieza was, necessarily, something he'd had to accept, in order to survive. Crawling away from his first and last battle with Kakarot on Earth, though, had planted a seed of doubt in him. What if he truly was inferior? He looked up at the three aliens, who were now laughing and jeering, mocking him. "Maybe I'm...not...a Super Saiyan yet," he hoarsely shouted, "But if you think I'm just going to lie down and bite it, you've got another thing coming. You could never fathom the self-hatred I've born ever since Kakarot ascended, making a mockery of all I've ever dreamed of. So go ahead...just try it...there's nothing you can do to me I haven't done myself already!" He was livid now, his voice quivering with emotion sharp and biting as poison. He was furious with himself, at this helplessness — how once again, he was the mockery of his race and a clown was now its legendary hero. He saw himself, briefly, as his foes no doubt saw him: an upstart pretender to a title he hadn't earned, loudly lying about imaginary feats of greatness. It shamed him, and he felt his anger turning further inward, as he raised his head to glare at Guoda, Compte, and Desann, the latter two charging energy attacks on either side of him, as before.
"Let's put that to the test," Guoda smirked, extending his hand, a glowing ball of ki rapidly coalescing in his palm, pointed at Vegeta. "Forgive us though, if we don't quite believe you." The harsh light of the ki reflected in the Saiyan prince's wide eyes as the three blasts consumed him on all sides.
SHHFFT!
At the telltale sound, Gohan put down the textbook he'd been idly reading and headed towards the front door of the Son house. After training with Krillin, they'd decided to call it a day at the first sign of the storm rolling in, so he'd headed home to catch up on his studies. 'I wonder how everything turned out,' the boy thought, extending his senses, 'I was so absorbed in reading I haven't been paying attention and...huh. I can feel Frieza, but that Kooler guy, and the three smaller powers...they're all gone!' Concerned, he rounded the corner just in time to hear his mother let out a cry of shock.
"Goku! W-what happened?!" Chi-chi stammered, pointing a shaking finger at the Saiyan's chest. "You're hurt! Oh, I just knew nothing good would come of all these aliens, coming here spoiling for a fight—"
"Hey, hey, I'm okay," Goku reassured her, pulling the front of his gi outwards to look down at it, "Oh, I see what had you worried — don't be scared, it's not my blood, I promise."
"Dad, whose blood is that?" Gohan asked in a concerned tone. Despite the water soaking the bright orange gi, a distinct, blood-red handprint adorned the front, like a gruesome symbol of allegiance in lieu of a dojo's kanji.
"Ah..." Goku said, his voice slightly more grave, "It's Kooler's. It's a real long story, and I don't think your mother wants to hear it right now — right, Chi?" He gave a tired smile to his wife, who shook her head.
"Just glad you're alive," Chi-chi said, "Although, after scaring me half to death, maybe an explanation is in order — don't you forget Goku, I was a martial artist too; I can handle your war-stories. Come on in the kitchen and start from the beginning; I'll get dinner started while you talk. Gohan, go get your Dad a towel; he's dripping all over the floor!" As Gohan obediently went to the hall linen closet, she said, "Go on Goku."
"Okay..." Goku sighed with a laugh at the end, "But I don't think you were there when Krillin told us about what happened with Frieza's father's body. Might make you lose your appetite!"
She gave a facetious laugh. "I'm tougher than you realize, though maybe not physically any more." Taking the towel from Gohan, she reached up to scrunch it around his wild hair, only slightly drooped from the moisture. "At any rate, I hate waiting and worrying, never being in the loop while you're saving the planet, Goku."
"Alright, you win Chi-chi," Goku smiled lopsidedly, to which the black-haired woman gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Though I always figured you'd worry more if you knew exactly what I was up to." After she playfully smacked him, he sat down at the kitchen table, and started the story from Kooler's arrival.
"Stupid monkey..!" Frieza hissed, continuing to rip apart the body before him, "What the hell was he talking about, anyway..? As if I can change... No, there is no path open to me now but..." He sighed angrily, before wincing at the sharp pain shooting through his ribs. He was exhausted, wanting nothing more than to rest, but there was still so much to attend to. Wearily, the Arcosian looked down at the mostly-dismembered corpse. 'Next, I have to strip the flesh away, then burn the lot of it, and then—' He suddenly stopped mid-thought, letting a harsh curse roll from his bloodied lips. 'I have no means of flaying it properly..!' Frieza seethed. 'I was in such a hurry to...to escape from the Saiyan's interference... I rushed off unprepared.' The faishin sword, he realized, was tucked away in a closet in the room back at the blue-haired woman's home. For a moment, despair and exhaustion threatened to topple him right there, the utter adversity of his situation crushing.
"No..." he hoarsely whispered to himself, "I have to carry out this rite, I can't leave him like this..." He clenched his fists, feeling the frustration building in his energy. A thought occurred to him, so laughable at first conjuring, but seeming more and more feasible as he thought about it. 'That attack he used...he called it "Sauza Blade" or somesuch thing. It looked like a Kienzan, just long and thin, like a sword.' Recalling the odd attack, Frieza summoned, with effort, some energy to the palm of his right hand. "Come on..." Concentrating, he formed a familiar Kienzan, then pushed with his mind, willing it to morph into a sword. The bright energy disk wavered and warped, stretching into a crooked, lightning bolt-shaped object that seethed and pulsed. "Ow-!" the Arcosian flinched away as a jagged edge caught his thumb, the entire construct dissipating. "Damnit..." he muttered, reforming a Kienzan in his hand. This time, he was more careful, keeping the ragged edges of the unstable blade away from himself. He tried to hold the construct, but each time it would either flicker and fade, too weak to hold up, or it would bite into his hand, cutting deeply. "C-come on..!" he hissed, trying again to grasp the painful bolt of ki. It sliced into his palm, but this time he forced the pain to the back of his mind, gripping it so tightly his hand shook. 'J-just have to...finish this... Then... I can rest...he can rest!' Teeth gritted, a pained expression carved onto his bruised and bloodied face, Frieza endeavored to strip away the skin, meat, fat, tendons, and keratin, leaving the long bones flayed cleanly. Hands shaking, he set them aside, and moved to do the same with the smaller bones. Every once in a while, a small hiss or moan of pain escaped him.
Finally, it was done. Panting, Frieza slumped, sprawled on the ground, feeling the throbbing agony in his right hand. He recalled the crude blade of energy — which, to his credit, had gotten more sword-like and less jagged as he'd progressed — and stared for a moment at the deep, bleeding furrows on his palm. 'A double-edged sword,' he thought deliriously, 'A blade of ki doesn't discriminate between who it cuts, hahaha...' The thought, and recalling Kooler saying that earlier, suddenly seemed amusing, hysterical even. Frieza first chuckled lowly, staring at his hands, then laughed half-heartedly, his face screwed up in pain, before finally collapsing on his side, howling with maddening, convulsive laughter even as his broken body begged him to be still. The Arcosian wasn't sure how long he lay like that, in the mud, laughing like a madman, but finally whatever had possessed him passed, leaving him drained and even more sore than before. The rain washed over him in sheets, persistent still. Mechanically, he lifted himself up, and wordlessly set himself to the task of starting the fire.
Staring into the sputtering flames a few minutes later, Frieza briefly took stock of his fate. 'I have been corralled by a Saiyan, left to wander this planet, theoretically, unless I commit some offense that he might yet punish me for. My pride has been dashed, again and again, not only by Son Goku, but by humans, weak, pathetic, conniving little—!' He tried to calm his burgeoning anger, feeling the swell of hatred in his chest beginning to agitate his wounds more. Turquoise hair and bright blue eyes brought first uncertainty, then anger, longing, and finally shame. 'I, a prince of Arcos, have lowered myself to...to that...' he shuddered in disgust. With all of his fears teased apart by the Saiyan, leaving him vulnerable, he'd acquiesced, not because of some misplaced attraction, but because it terrified him that he was alone, without any power for the first time in his adult life. What had been solace and catharsis now left a bitter taste in his mouth. 'I was weak,' he tried to reason, 'that's the only reason it happened!' On the other hand, Kooler had said something earlier that had struck a nerve with him, indicating that he learned from those weaker than he was, like that impudent Brench he kept as his second-in-command. The thought made Frieza sick. Communing with outsiders conferred no great advantage, did it? No, Kooler was dead, and this proved his folly in lowering himself to their level. Still... In some small way, Frieza had been jealous, seeing the apparently genuine loyalty his brother's underlings showed him. Curling his broken tail gingerly around himself, the Arcosian bitterly reflected as the smoke from the fire rose into the night, competing with the rain to create a haze of steam over the clearing where he sat, alone.
After struggling to keep the fire alive, he'd finally managed to prepare for the penultimate stage of the ritual. Frieza took a shuddering breath, plucking the heart from the flames. 'This never gets easier, no matter what the circumstances,' he thought solemnly. 'I won't let your spirit die, brother,' he thought, biting into the hot handful of the last barrier between them. He numbly chewed. Swallowed. Repeated the action. 'I wish I had something to properly ease the pain... There's no more sorrow-wine, though. I truly have nothing left. Nothing, and no-one, not anymore.' Despair welled up inside him again, and he felt a lump in his throat, as his vision blurred. The rain had not stopped, or even slowed, throughout the entire Scattering ritual. '"Don't fall apart", he told me,' Frieza remembered, as he set the bones around the hilltop, limping from one point to the next with an armful of bones, then returning to the fire for another batch, until a new layer was strewn on top of the previous bones of his father. 'But there's nobody here to see me in such a state, is there?' He scanned the darkened treeline, but nothing moved. If a human or even Son Goku himself were there, he'd never sense them, he realized futilely. 'It just doesn't matter anymore,' the former tyrant thought, wedging Kooler's skull onto a fire-hardened pole, 'With all that's happened... I've already fallen further than I'd ever thought possible, and in such a short time...' It hurt. That realization, of how much he'd lost, how often he'd been humiliated, was like a cold knife through his guts. He felt helpless in the face of Fate, for the first time in decades. That hard feeling in his throat returned, as his vision swam. He sat down, unheeding of the wet, ash-strewn ground, and put his head in his hands. Anyone observing would have seen a tiny shudder go through him, as he curled in on himself, under the skulls of his family. The rain paid no heed to the tears now streaming down his face.
"No...he hasn't come back, why?" Bulma spoke distractedly into the phone, shifting it to her shoulder, as she needed both hands to type. "Really? He was hurt that badly? Okay... Yeah, sure. I'll call you later." Returning the phone to its cradle, she massaged her temples and stared at the screen, not really seeing the translation program scrolling lazily across it. 'Figures,' she thought, 'If it's not one thing, it's another. Why do I have to deal with and house mentally unstable aliens again..?' Vegeta had caused her similar problems, only he had the sense to do it in her backyard, or in the gravity room. Not miles away, out in the middle of nowhere. She leaned back in the office chair and stretched, reflecting on what Goku had just asked her. '"Just check on him", he says, like I'm really the best person equipped for that job... I guess I could use a break, anyway.' As far as she knew, nobody had figured out what had happened two days ago, but it still struck her as odd that Goku would request her to help him, instead of going to retrieve Frieza himself. "Guess one of them burned a real important bridge yesterday," she mused, sipping some long-cold coffee and grimacing at the taste.
"Well, guess I should go see what's eating him and why he hasn't come back to civilization," she announced to herself, "With any luck, the translating algorithm will be done by the time I get back, and I can finally figure out what all these alien labels say." She'd been keeping herself occupied and busy all day yesterday, through the night, and into the early morning hours, trying to decipher the bottles and vials of medicine scavenged from the ship Frieza had come in. Without a starting point, she'd wracked her brain to remember how she'd managed to reprogram Raditz' scouter, before it had blown up, taking her technological Rosetta Stone with it. Though frustrating, she loved the challenge, and besides, it kept her mind off her friends' safety while they confronted Kooler. It felt good to be doing something useful, rather than sitting and stewing as she had when the Saiyans had first come. Exiting the laboratory, the genius paused to pick up a few extra capsules, slipping them in her jeans pocket. 'Well, here I go, off to go talk to an unstable, super-powerful alien...' After making sure she had the lightweight hover-plane, she departed in the direction Goku had told her he'd last seen Frieza.
The sky was dark and hazy with the smoke of innumerable fires, the smoke drifting, choking the air. How long had he been walking through this dark place? Frieza didn't know, didn't remember what he was doing here, nor what he was seeking. All he could feel was an empty, hollow sadness that faded away as he walked. A crunch under his feet as he took a step forward drew his attention to the ground. 'It's a Scattering field,' he realized, 'An enormous one...' Indeed, as far as he could see in the obscured atmosphere, the field stretched, rolling over a few small hills before disappearing into the dark grey mist. 'This feels...familiar...' he thought, scanning the macabre landscape and trying to recall where he was. The field was dotted with raised skulls on poles, some still smoking. So many bones of his people rested here that it would be impossible to count them all.
A flash of memory, some twisted nightmare-vision seized him, and he remembered waking up in a place just like this, but among the bodies of the unscattered dead, piled carelessly to await their souls' liberation. 'No... I thought I'd...forgotten this..!' he thought, a vivid scene playing in his head. Frieza remembered innocently — or maybe not-so-innocently, at that point — telling whoever had found him that he'd been "keeping them company". The soldier had asked him who he'd meant, insisting that he was the only one alive for miles around. He'd been a child then, and a soldier, and a demon, all at once, and when he'd given his honest answer, the look of revulsion and horror on the man's face stayed with him. "I don't know. I don't remember...it just felt like I belonged with them," he'd said. Most of that period in his life, Frieza had successfully erased, more or less. Yes, occasionally he'd wake screaming, blurry memories of blood and wide, terrified red eyes burning in his brain. But those episodes happened less and less with time, so why was this so very vivid? Why now? As he walked, the constant crunch of bones underfoot followed him, and unconsciously, he moved faster, trying to get away from this place, the lost memories, and the distant sound of screaming and shrieking. As the fearful cries got louder, he broke into a frantic run, desperate to silence them with distance.
"Kyaaaa—!" A shrill, high-pitched voice, followed by a string of loud curses, greeted the Arcosian as he jolted awake from the nightmare. He rolled over and blinked, grimacing at the soreness of his body.
Bulma was frozen, one foot raised, her opposite heel on a cracked bone. "Damnit all..! "'Just go check on, him', he said! I did not expect to traipse through a boneyard just to talk to him... Shit, now how do I get around all this..?" she muttered. As the woman gracelessly tried to tiptoe around the larger bones, Frieza rolled his eyes, then sat up with a hiss of pain.
"Are you having fun dancing around on the bones of my ancestors? Perhaps I shall return the favor in the future," he deadpanned. The sound of his voice made her jump, as she almost screamed again.
"You jerk! You almost made me fall, you idi—" She stopped, studying his face as he sat up. Although he was trying to hide it, it was clear that he was in a significant amount of pain. "...Sorry, you startled me," she fumbled, teetering on one leg. "I thought you were dead or something; I tried calling to you, and you didn't respond, or even move! Tried to come up to where you are, but..." she gestured to the scattered remains, "I can't get through, at least not without stepping on all this." As he sighed with practiced annoyance, she thought, 'Man, he just wakes up, and the first thing he does is make light of me being horrified...like this is perfectly normal! Then again, from what Krillin and Goku told me, maybe it is...' She suppressed a shudder, reminding herself that he'd been through hell lately. She sighed. "You look like shit."
"How did you get here?" Frieza asked calmly, almost conversationally, ignoring her blunt observation. It was disconcerting, not only the state he was in, and the general creepiness of the bones, but how unconcerned he was with it all. He might as well have been asking her that question from a swivel chair in a spotless office, judging from his tone of voice.
"Uh... Well I...you mean you didn't hear the plane?" the blue-haired genius questioned, "I flew around this general area until I spotted you, then set it down back there—" she said as she pointed down the hill, "—and then I hiked up. I saw you just lying there, and when you didn't answer me, I attempted to get to you. Didn't get far, though." She shifted nervously on the blanket of bones, cringing at the cracking sound her sneakers made.
"Well, you've found me, and I'm very much alive," he said crisply, "so you have no further obligations to remain here." With that, he turned away from her, and eased himself back onto his side. Bulma noted the slash marks across his back, as well as the ugly bruise around what appeared to be a hole through his tail.
"Hey, you can't just leave me here!" she insisted, "It's not like I want to step all over the bones of your ancestors or whatever, but I can't help it! They're everywhere!" Helplessly, Bulma tried to find a spot to put her feet. 'Can I just...shuffle around? No, maybe I'm not allowed to move them...in which case—'
"Stay where you are." At Frieza's annoyed tone of voice, the genius obediently stopped inching forward. The alien gathered himself and stood, seeming to steel himself momentarily. Frieza made his way to where she was, stepping deftly in between gaps in the arranged bones. "Stupid human, tromping through a fresh Scattering as though there's no path at all..." Reaching her, he impersonally grabbed her wrist, and led her up to the small clearing at the crest of the hill. The Arcosian released her, and promptly sat back down, before pointing back down the hill. "There's the main path," he indicated, "You can use that to get back down."
Bulma awkwardly stood there a few moments, looking between Frieza and the two ominous alien skulls impaled above where he sat, despondent and uncaring of her presence. "What about you?" she finally ventured, "How long are you planning on staying out here? Not that it's any of my business, but maybe you should take care of yourself before you keep vigil for them." She eyed the heads on spikes warily, as though they might come to life and lunge off their poles at her.
"There is nothing left to 'take care of', as you so aptly put it," he stated. He didn't even flinch when she squatted down to his level, trying unsuccessfully to meet his eyes.
"Bullshit," Bulma said forcefully, narrowing her eyes at him and placing a slender hand on his bloodied arm, making him wince and shrug away from her, "You need treatment, don't try to hide it from me. I've spent enough time around macho fighting men to know when they're tenderized to hamburger, even if they don't look like you do. You look like someone put you through a meat grinder and ran you over with a semi truck. What good will it do you to sit here and suffer? If this is about pride or something like that, I swear—"
"It isn't," Frieza forced, "It is nothing that you, a human and a lesser being, would ever understand."
Puffing her cheeks out angrily, Bulma retorted, "Try me. Who knows, maybe this super-smart 'lower being' might be able to get it. Or maybe not. But I will not sit back and let you brush me off with a half-assed non-answer like that." She sat, putting on a show of stubborn defiance even as her stomach turned at the thought that she was probably sitting in ashes of dead aliens. She crossed her arms, staring at him expectantly. "Well? I'm waiting, your highness, now tell me what's not to get."
"I... You... Why must you be so damn contrary..." Frieza clumsily said, flinching as he brought his tail around himself to coil around his feet. "I thought that after all that's happened, you people would finally leave well enough alone. I suppose that you leaving me in peace is too much to ask." He sighed, his breath hitching as he winced at the pain in his broken ribs. "Fine then. What have the Saiyan and that short human told you of this ritual?" He pointed over his shoulder, up at the skulls. Bulma looked up at them, noticing that from down here, they were almost like sentinels, watching over him.
"Not much, really," she shrugged, "Something about...you take the body apart, then eat the heart? Not to be disrespectful, but...it doesn't sound like something a sane person would do." She scrutinized his face, looking for any sign of anger. Instead, he merely sighed and closed his eyes in tired exasperation.
"It's perfectly sane," Frieza stated. "We have...ties to each other, like bonds that go beyond physical connections." He fidgeted, trying to find words to describe it. 'It's useless, there's no word in the common tongue to even express it!' Frieza thought frustratedly.
"Like...a psychic bond?" Bulma asked, "I've heard Goku and the others talk about techniques they picked up, especially in the afterlife. Reading minds, seeing somebody else's memories...is it like that?"
Frieza regarded her with a measured stare. "Not quite. There is no 'language' to it, only feelings, emotions. It's strongest between partners, and among family members. You can acquire it by being in close contact with someone unrelated for a long time, such as someone you've known since childhood. But it is unique to Arcosians; no outsider ever feels the bond. It's one of the reasons we regard other species as inferior, for they cannot experience things on the same level as we do. It makes them dull and cut off, like being blind or deaf from birth." He opened his hand, and closed it again, gritting his teeth at the pain. "We primarily share sensations. Some good, some bad."
"Oh..." Bulma quietly went through all of his strange behavior since arriving on Earth. 'All this time, he hasn't just been dealing with his defeat...he saw his father die right in front of him, and now his brother...' It was no wonder why he was so behaving so chaotically. "So when they died, you..?"
He nodded. "I felt a little of it, yes. I'm...well, I'm abnormal in that I feel less than most people, but with direct blood ties, even I can't shut it out." He looked down, seemingly ashamed of that.
"That must have been really hard," she offered somewhat lamely, "But it still doesn't explain the ritual, I mean, what's that got to do with having a bond with someone?"
Frieza drew in a deep breath. 'She is ignorant. Of course she is, which is why this is so bothersome, trying to explain this as though to an idiot child..!' He gestured to the bones around them. "We believe that the soul resides in the bones. They're what give us shape, the core of what we are. When a person dies, their soul is trapped until the skeleton is stripped, either by natural forces, or through the funerary ritual. Every joint, every ligament, must be broken apart to fully unfetter a soul, but the bones themselves can't be harmed. That is why we twist the limbs until they break, and rip the body to pieces, to prevent damage to the bone." He looked at the human's face, finding her attentive, nodding in understanding.
"Okay...that makes sense now," Bulma said, scanning the clearing of myriad bones. "And the heart?"
"It is strictly forbidden to eat of another person's flesh," Frieza continued, "for various reasons, but of course, because it lowers a person to the same level as an animal to be butchered. An exception is made for the funerary rites, when the surviving family is allowed to take the deceased's soul into their own essence."
"Hold on," Bulma interrupted, "I thought you said the soul was in the bones, right?"
The Arcosian made an annoyed face at her. "Bones are more difficult to eat, and among the soft parts of the body, the heart is accorded a special significance. Even you humans believe the heart to be the seat of emotions, isn't that so?" She nodded. "It is the same for us. When we feel or resonate with another, we feel it here," he explained as he tapped the keratin shield in the center of his chest. "Consuming the heart allows the one who has died to live on through us. The greatest insult is to leave a heart uneaten, or worse, give it to an animal to eat. That, along with burying a body whole, is reserved for...demons..." He shifted uncomfortably.
"Gotcha," the blue-haired woman said, nodding. "So...you really did care for them, huh? Doesn't seem like you, no offense. From what I've heard and seen, you don't seem to care about anyone but yourself."
Scrunching his bruised face, Frieza replied, "I don't. With my family gone, I no longer have any bonds to anyone living. Should I die, it will be alone, with no-one to release or preserve my soul." He sighed painfully. "Often, when one's partner or close family dies, the emotional chasm created is too much. They lose the will to live, and follow them into the afterlife. I have personally witnessed many such deaths." He let the words sink into the wet ground, falling silent.
"You're not seriously going to just lie down and die, are you?" Bulma asked judgmentally after a few seconds, "That's pretty extreme, and even if they were family to you, think about it. They both tried to kill you, in case you've forgotten. It's only thanks to Goku intervening that they both failed."
Frieza was silent, eyes fixed on the ground, teeth gritted. 'Nonsense! Blood is blood, the most important, sacred bond of all. Even if...even if my father and brother sought my death, it still doesn't change that bond.' The more he thought about it though, the more he questioned his filial loyalty to his father, after the man endeavored to control him so absolutely. Kooler was a more complicated matter, but the same rancor was still there, souring their relationship. He would have tried to usurp him, sooner or later. With or without them dead, he was still alone. "Maybe... It would be an unorthodox thing to do, but..." He looked up at Bulma, meeting her eyes for the first time. "A demon like me could survive a broken bond, I suppose. It won't be the worst thing I have done." The Arcosian fingered a deep gash across his arm and grimaced. "Though I'm afraid that I'll not be surviving that long anyway, unless you humans have some sort of healing tank that can restore me."
At this, the blue-haired woman brightened considerably. With a confident smirk, she said, "I'll do you one better...here!" Rummaging in her pocket, she produced a small, green object. At first glance, Frieza thought it to be another variation of a capsule, but revised his assessment as she pressed it into his hand. "Eat it," she encouraged, "It's medicine that'll heal all your injuries — we call them senzu. We know a guy, er, a cat actually, who grows them. They must be some kind of magic, 'cause I've never had any luck duplicating them in my lab. They won't even sprout, oddly enough. I just happened to have this one from my last test."
"So...this will heal all of my wounds?" Frieza studied the unimpressive bean, rolling it between his fingers. 'Well, it is Earth, and they have managed to surprise me before,' he thought, 'I suppose magic healing beans are just as strange and fantastic-sounding as all the rest.' With a shrug, he placed the senzu in his mouth. As he bit down, the Arcosian immediately felt different, as though his exhaustion was beginning to fade away. Swallowing it, he was amazed at the warm feeling that rushed throughout his body, followed by a burst of energy — it was as though he was fully rested and at his peak, all in a matter of moments! Frieza looked down, studying his hands for any trace of the deep lacerations. "Most impressive," he said, trying to hide his amazement, "For something so tiny, I'd estimate that it rivals a full week in a healing tank."
"Yeah, well, the catch is that they're slow to grow, so we don't exactly eat 'em like candy," Bulma said, "But when we need a trump card, this is usually it. So, feel better?" He nodded. "Ready to rejoin the ranks of the living?" she teased. Frieza sighed and made a face, though it was clear to the genius what choice he'd made. "Alright, then I'll see you back home," she said, starting to walk carefully down the narrow path in the bones.
"I thought you'd come to retrieve me," Frieza grumbled, "You'll take me back, in that contraption of yours." The airy demand took a moment to sink into the blue-haired genius' head, until her brows drew down over narrowed eyes, already indignant as she spun on her heel, throwing her hands up.
"What?! 'Take you back', what am I, your chauffeur?!" Bulma exclaimed. "How the hell did you get like this? You're so damn bossy and entitled, it's no wonder people don't like you! Seriously, what do you do when there aren't minions to wait on you hand and foot? Do you just whine until someone comes to meet your demands?" Frieza blinked blankly at her outburst, before an annoyed expression overtook his face.
"What do I do?" he repeated, his tail flicking with annoyance, "I take care of myself, woman. I'm not entirely helpless, but I am entitled to special treatment because of my rank. I would have thought that was obvious." He drew out the last word in a taunting manner. "Particularly, I don't fly unless I have to, when there are alternative methods to flying under my own power."
"Yeah? Like what, exactly?" Bulma drawled combatively, arching an eyebrow.
"What's the word...?" the Arcosian put his hand to his chin in thought. "In Common, I think it's called a hover-chair. I had one, as a symbol of my power. It is akin to a throne, only it floats, making it much more useful for traveling." He cocked his head in confusion as the human made a strange, choking noise.
"Pfft..! You're...you're kidding me, right?" Bulma giggled, trying to hold back tears as she laughed. Unable to contain the hysterical mental image she'd conjured, she burst out laughing, bending over to put her hands on her knees. "Hahahaha! Oh wow...hehe... That explains a lot!" she howled, "No wonder!"
The short Arcosian was absolutely flabbergasted at her reaction. 'What the hell is so funny about it?' he thought indignantly, 'She's acting like this is some great joke..!' At his unconscious growl, she straightened up, suppressing her mirth, only to look at him and start giggling again. He could feel his ki flare with anger. "Stop laughing," he ordered.
"Okay, okay," she placated him, "It's just...you were basically using a high-tech version of a palanquin... Why am I not surprised you're so lazy and entitled?" At his warning glare, she quickly changed subjects. "Anyway, I guess I can give you a ride back; even if you've had a senzu, I don't think those things work on mental exhaustion, and you could use a breather. I'll give you a pass, but just this once. Next time, if you want something, ask me nicely." He sighed, switching his tail like an agitated cat, and the genius again had to suppress her mental image of him sitting on a floating throne, obscenely decorated in jewels and precious metals. "Come on..." she smiled, leading the way down the path to the clearing where she had left the small capsule plane.
The Arcosian was content to silently stare out the window during the short plane ride, making no eye contact with Bulma as she piloted the craft, and soon they returned to the familiar complex of domed buildings. He quickly moved to exit the plane, summarily ignoring her. 'The way he sulks would better suit a child than a super-powered alien,' the blue-haired genius mused, disembarking behind him.
As soon as they touched down, Goku and others milling around Capsule Corp. had rushed out to meet them. "Bulma!" the Saiyan called out cheerfully, "Oh hey, looks like you're back, huh?" He smiled at Frieza, who let out a low growl and brushed stiffly by him, his tail lashing in his wake. "Geez...guess he's still upset at me..." Goku said under his breath, before addressing Bulma, "Thanks anyway for goin' to get him, though."
"The things I do for you, Goku," the genius sighed dramatically, "Next time, send somebody else to go hiking through the forest and across a moat of bones to rescue His Haughtiness, though, okay?"
Goku laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry! That bad, huh?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "You have no idea," Bulma dryly remarked, "Dealing with him is worse than trying to make Vegeta into a good houseguest. They're both rude and obnoxious, but he's got the whole superiority complex shtick down to a science. Anyway, I'm glad that mini-crisis is solved, for now."
As the two old friends chatted, Frieza had continued to move away from the cheerful Saiyan, eager to rid himself of Goku's presence. As he moved towards the interior of the courtyard, the Namek and the three-eyed human blocked his path. "We need to talk," Piccolo gruffly said, leveling his eyes at the Arcosian before nodding to Tenshinhan and moving past the two. Frieza looked at the Namek in question, before turning to the bald human, noting the serious — though not threatening — expression on his face.
"What's this about?" Frieza asked cautiously, "What business do you have with me, human?"
"Just wanted to talk...and offer you a proposal. I know that you've had enough of Goku shadowing you." Tenshinhan watched Frieza's face for a reaction, but as he'd suspected, the alien was adept at disguising his emotions, and didn't so much as twitch in response to the appeal.
"You have my interest, for the moment," Frieza said neutrally, following the taller human inside.
Across the courtyard, Goku noticed Frieza leaving his line of sight, and moved to catch up with him. Piccolo instead intercepted him. "Tenshinhan and I had an idea yesterday, after everything that happened," the tall Namek started, "Don't worry, he has it under control. You two need to know what we're proposing, though."
Inside, the Arcosian followed the martial artist into a side room. "Alright, so what is this 'proposal' of yours?" Frieza asked evenly. 'Whatever they're trying to play at, I should remain on my guard...' he thought.
Tenshinhan sat down, motioning for the alien to do the same. Silence followed for a few moments, as the normally taciturn Crane master chose his words. "I know what you're going through," he finally stated.
Frieza seemed unperturbed by this assumption, though inwardly, he cringed, wondering if this human was trying to get in his head as Goku had. "Is that so? Which part, the loss of my status and dignity, the deaths of my family, or some other detail in this debacle?" he asked sarcastically.
"All of it," Tenshinhan quietly said, "The truth is that you and I are alike in many ways...especially our misfortunes in being controlled by unforgiving masters. Son can't see that, and I doubt anyone else really understands it on the same level as I do, with my personal experience. I've lost a lot of things over the years in my search for power and recognition, but at a critical turning point, when I was in danger of losing my humanity, I...turned things around. Not without help, mind you, but I had to choose my own path. I can see that you're at a turning point too. Goku's not going to be the one to help you at this juncture. He's already saved your life, and beyond that, he lacks the perspective to do any real good, much as he tries."
Frieza smirked coldly. "And you think you can? I don't think you understand who, or what, you're dealing with." Though he was much less physically imposing than the human, he radiated intimidation from his seat.
Tenshinhan frowned inwardly. 'He's trying to block me off by putting up a wall, trying to scare me out of helping him. Figures, that's all he knows how to do; simply accepting help is repulsive to him. It looks weak.' Leaning forward in the chair, the three-eyed man said, "I don't think I can do anything without your part in it. It's your decision whether you want to participate or not, but if you'd rather have Son Goku following you around constantly, then feel free to turn me down, right now, and I'll walk away. I'm offering you a chance to get away from him — you'll still be monitored, but he won't be constantly breathing down your neck." Tenshinhan sighed, sitting back in the chair. "Goku's a nice guy, but I can see how he's a bit much to put up with, constantly. Especially for someone like you or me."
"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted that you're putting yourself in the same category with me," Frieza haughtily declared, "But regardless, I will take your offer into consideration. If it means distancing myself from the Super Saiyan...well, it is an attractive proposal indeed."
"If you decide to accept, I'll be waiting for you just outside of Capsule Corp. I'll be leaving in a few hours, so any preparations you need to make should be done soon if you're coming with me." Tenshinhan rose, walking towards the doorway. 'I sure hope this doesn't backfire, for Chiaotzu and the Earth's sake.'
Frieza sat at the edge of the bed, contemplating the Earth warrior's offer. In his lap, the faishin sword weakly reflected a distorted image of his frowning face. He'd absentmindedly taken the blade out of its case in the process of gathering what few possessions he had, in preparation to leave this place. 'Throughout my life, I've had access to wealth, power, trinkets, things others would kill and die for...but none of it had any meaning, other than the mere act of possessing it over others,' he reflected, 'I have no ties to anything, or anyone, anymore.' He had no real passions, outside of expanding the empire, and that was merely an extension of his duty anyway...which was his father's will, not his own. 'So where does that leave me? I'm just like this sword, nothing but a tool, to cut through and kill indiscriminately all in my path.' With a start, he realized his isolation, the stagnation he'd experienced. Without people to subjugate and kill, he was aimless, for lack of other pursuits. Nothing else had ever mattered more to the Unbreakable Frieza, notorious Demon prince of Arcos. "To survive this upheaval..." he whispered resolutely to himself, "I suppose I shall have to learn how to live anew." Standing abruptly, he returned the curved sword to its case.
The Arcosian stole a glance at the small metal box, still on top of a high bureau to prevent the human woman from snooping through it. Though the contents still mattered to him, more precious than any riches he'd ever held, they were probably safer here. Frieza sighed, and padded out of the room without a single backwards glance. Living on a succession of spaceships, he'd long learned not to get attached to any one place. Still, he couldn't help but think that, of all the places he'd resided, this one, oddly enough, made him reluctant to depart. 'This feeling will pass,' he told himself, 'As did all the others.' His mind was made up, and once decided, his will was unshakable.
Just a few short hours after they had gathered there before, almost everyone was back in place to see Tenshinhan — and to a lesser extent Frieza — off for the time being. Bulma, Goku, and Piccolo were all standing in the same general area, though each of them had a different look on their face. Frieza made little note of them as he walked past, saying nothing, though he would be glad to be rid of them for a while.
Goku let out a nervous chuckle, sliding his hand behind his head to rub the back of his neck. Truth be told, he didn't really know what to say, and the harder he thought, the less came to mind. The Saiyan wanted to make sure Frieza knew that he was willing to talk to him anytime he wished, even though he doubted that Frieza would take the opportunity. "Hey, Frieza!" Goku called out as the Arcosian walked towards Tenshinhan. Frieza turned and looked harshly at the Saiyan, awaiting his next few words. "I get why you want to leave and all, but… just remember that any time you want to talk, I'll be glad to stop by."
Frieza scoffed at Son Goku's proposal, waving his hand dismissively in his direction. "The day that I'll want to talk to you, monkey, will be the day that I wish to join my Father and Brother in the afterlife." Tenshinhan shot a quick glance at Frieza that the Arcosian couldn't see, but soon turned his eyes to Goku and the others.
"I'm…sorry to hear that, Frieza," Goku lamented, the smile fading away from his face, "I wish you both well though, and I hope we'll see each other soon under better circumstances." The Saiyan waved to Tenshinhan as he placed his fingers over his forehead, transporting away.
Bulma sighed and shook her head as Frieza turned back around with a smug look on his face. "I hope you're happy with yourself!" Bulma shouted, walking up closer to Frieza, "Goku's never been anything but nice to you, and now you insult him after he extends a hand for you? Is that how you entertain yourself?!"
"Oh really?" Frieza retorted as he turned to her, a malicious look on his face, "He wasn't exactly treating me gently when he initially tried to kill me. Or have you forgotten this?" He traced the prominent scar on the side of his head. "Your 'friend' is a Saiyan, and they're all undeserving of my trust."
Recoiling to think of a response, Bulma prepared to fire another insult at the former tyrant, before Tenshinhan gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Bulma, you don't know what he's been through the last few days," he urged, walking forward to halt her advance. "We're all on edge right now, including you."
Though she desperately wanted to go off on Frieza at the moment, she relented with a resigned sigh. "Alright, fine..." she pouted, taking a few steps back, "Just…try to loosen up; you're being even more of an ass now than you were before — and that's quite a feat."
"Good to know," Frieza said mockingly, "Now shall we leave, human, or am I going to stand here and be belittled all day?" The Arcosian looked in Tenshinhan's general direction, though he didn't make eye contact.
Tenshinhan looked back and nodded. "Goodbye Bulma, Piccolo." He nodded his head at the tall Namekian, who made a silent gesture of acknowledgement in response.
"And Frieza," Piccolo started, "don't think that you aren't being watched. I'll be there every second, and if you make so much as a single wrong move..."
"Yes, yes, I've heard it all before," Frieza angrily interrupted, much to Piccolo's annoyment, "Now I'd like to see where I'll be spending the majority of my time from now on, so if you're done giving me the third degree, I'd like to bid you two farewell."
Neither Bulma nor Piccolo had anything left to say, so Tenshinhan finally took to the skies, with Frieza following close behind him. After the two were out of sight, Bulma let out yet another resigned sigh. "What happened to him to make him so hostile, I wonder?" Bulma asked aloud, looking to her left. Piccolo had already vanished from sight, though that didn't much surprise her. 'Should have figured.' she thought to herself, turning to walk back into the Capsule Corp. lobby. She paused to look up at the blue sky. 'Maybe one day Frieza will open about what happened, who knows...'
Hello my loyal SoD readers! It's been an interesting month, and the weather has done its best to provide me with the most appropriate ambiance for this chapter in the form of afternoon thunderstorms & torrential downpours every day. You can set your watch by it, practically — gotta love Florida and its meteorological quirks! As an update on my life in general, I've started a few new jobs, bringing my workload to one full-time & two part-time jobs. Ergo, my free time has diminished - this may affect how much writing I can get done in a month, so I'd like to know: do you prefer monthly updates with shorter chapters, or sporadic updates with longer chapters? As a note, I may, for the first time, be unable to complete a chapter at the end of the month, and because the second half of the Arcos Special is up next, I want to make sure I don't rush it — it's extremely important to the narrative, and to me personally. So, I'm asking you to please be patient and understanding, & continue to enjoy Savior of Demons. On to the Q&A!
Q: Eh, it's a pretty good read once you get past the length. I enjoyed it, it is a really good story. I like how you really keep Freeza in character. I mean, even the character development is believable; however, I still don't like Freeza. I want him dead in every fic he's mentioned in. (Please don't hate me). But seriously, great chapter!
A: I try to balance quality with quantity, & I like my fics with more than a little "meat", personally - so I wrote the kind of story I'd want to read. That said, I realize it's a bit daunting, especially the first few chapters. Keeping Frieza in character is something I strive for, even as his personality ever so slowly changes during the course of SoD. Still don't like Frieza? Man, I guess I'm not making him suffer enough in this fic...I'd better torture him some more, to get the maximum schadenfreude for those who still hate his guts, lol.
Q: Looks like we'll have to wait a few more months for Cooler and Frieza to try and have a civilized discussion. I see Polaris from Honor Trip is present as well. Man, Cold used to be a pretty swell guy. I'm wondering what happened to make him so... cold. I must say, the scenes with little Cooler and little Frieza are cute. Those poor Tuffles... but Raichi and Myuu might still be hiding out in the galaxy somewhere. Hatchiyak is always a fun opponent for the good guys, but he seems to appear a lot in Frieza-centered stories. As for the Saiyans, the Arcosians react with shock and disgust at their practices, yet they later ally with the Saiyans. In a span of maybe 30 years, the Saiyans go from Stone-age Warriors to Intergalactic warriors feared the galaxy over before becoming a race of like, 4 to 10 people. I do believe you just confirmed Slug somewhere along the line. I'm wondering how much of a challenge Slug will be for Frieza, assuming he faces him. If he comes soon, then with the current "team" (term used loosely) Goku and Cooler would just dominate Slug, and anyone else would lose fast. It did take a pseudo Super Saiyan to defeat him. Thus, Frieza vs. Slug seems like it would be a good matchup.
A: Good catch on Polaris being present - there are some other cameos in this chapter as well, since it takes place in the past, so some other familiar faces are around. I'm glad that you liked the scenes with Frieza & Kooler - I have never written children or teenagers before, so I tried my hardest, & I hope they turned out plausible in their mannerisms, etc. Frieza in particular was hard, because I have NO reference for what he was like back then. So I made him as adorable as possible. ⋧ᴗ⋦ Interesting that you mentioned both Dr. Raichi & Dr. Myuu...we'll see if either one make an appearance, & when. A big theme of this chapter was culture shock, first between the Arcosians & the Tsufuru, & then again with the Saiyans. I have just about confirmed Slug in future installments, but there will be some twists along the way, so I wouldn't underestimate him.
Q: Nice special, I like to imagine a Mini-Frieza running around with a bunch of papers with scribbles on them and ink bottles with feather pencils. And wow, Kold seemed like an okay guy compared to what he is now.
I'm having a difficulty figuring out what forms specific Arcosians have, but I presume they are all in their first or second forms. Though I like to imagine Ratsura in his third form. For some reason it feels like it would fit him well... Speaking of which, what's up with him? "Afraid of having his skin peeled off?" That sounds terrifying.
A: Yes, writing the scene with Chibi Frieza, I almost gave myself diabetes. xD So much cuteness, in such a small package. Oh, whatever went wrong? Kold was much more reasonable in the past, but you'll get to see why his personality changed so radically. As for the forms everyone is in, they are ALL currently in the First Form - their natural state. Ratsura doesn't need higher forms to creep out his fellow Arcosians, haha. What's up with him is that he's an albino, so he & sunlight don't get along. Imagine the worst sunburn you've ever had (peeling skin & the like), & that's what happens to him if he goes outside on a bright day for any length of time. It is not fun to deal with Ratsura when he is burnt & shedding, given his normal foul temper.
Q: Yet another super-packed chapter. This was... different. It clearly wasn't as action-packed like the last two, but it had a different feel from your other slower chapters. It sort of felt like a different story altogether, which is understandable as the narrative not only focused more on Cold, but also felt like it was sort of being told from his perspective. If I do have a few issues, they're small ones like Murai's speech felt out of place, considering he's not only intelligent but also continuously in the presence of high-ranking scientists and whatnot. his lack of formal dialogue may set him apart but at times it went overboard and he was bordering on becoming... well a stereotypical video-gamer. King Cold also felt as though... well it felt like you were tamking him too nice just so that his fall would greater. Like, there's a point is all I'm saying. No offense of course. With that said, I do like the ideas you put in and their execution (such as the Tuffles being the source of all the technological prowess in the PTO and NOT the Arcosians). The characterization near and at the end of the chapter was really where it all shined through (eating the corpses is a bit much, but hey, there's still Vegeta's snack when we first saw him) especially with Cold and the Saiyans. Well, that was a fun ride and I'm intrigued to see what you have planned for Frieza and Cooler. I'm mostly interested to see how Cold will go from Father of the Year to installing a death machine into his own sons body.
A: This does have a different feel from my other chapters, because it's occurring in the past, so the narrative has more room for actual, well, narration. Murai has different speech patterns than the others & sounds less formal because of his accent/dialect, which is hard to translate to a human equivalent. Think of him as an intelligent person with a degree in something very respected, but who has a thick Southern accent that makes you take him just a little less seriously. Also, he's the youngest person on the initial mission, so he will be more energetic, naturally. As for Kold, he's nice to his family, yes, but not as chummy with his subordinates, being royalty & all. Also, most of this chapter had him in relatively high spirits, thinking he'd found a solution to his planet's crisis, so that influences his behavior. When the going gets tough, his more familiar character traits such as brutality & cold calculation in strategizing will start coming out. In my conception, Arcosians were already relatively advanced before contact with the Tsufuru (they built their own scout ships to get into space in the first place), but the Tsufuru are just hyper-focused on technology, giving them the edge. Everything the Saiyans did in this chapter has a precedent, as you mentioned with Vegeta scavenging corpses in canon, in case anyone thinks I'm painting them in broad strokes as villains. ;^) Heh, well that certainly puts his personality extremes into perspective. ⌐‿⌐ᶸ It will be a gradual shift; nobody becomes monstrous overnight.
Q: Wow. Kold in this chapter is the least monstrous I've ever seen him be. You know, reading the review responses makes me excited to see what you do with android thirteen. He's one of the movie villains that has a lot of hidden depths, in my opinion. If I had to think of a way to include them, I'd either: 1. Have them so up with Androids 19 and 20; 2. Have them get activated shortly before Trunks destroys past Cell with Krillin.
A: Least monstrous? That's a compliment, I guess, haha! At this point in time, he's just a very concerned leader of his people, with self-preservation & a secure future for his family as his top priorities. You know what they say about good intentions. I'll have to see when/how the other serial androids will fit into SoD, but it's nice to know that some people want them in the story, so thanks for your opinion! ᴖᴗᴖ You are assuming that things will take place in the same order as they did in canon. ò⥿ó
Q: Ea Tie, I swear I've heard that before, but where? It's so strange to see Frieza and his family acting like something other than the monsters we have seen them act like in the show. Nice. So King Cold contacted the Tsuffles right before that fateful night where a million voices cried out and were suddenly silenced. Naturally, he would be curious to go see just what the hell happened, and he meets the Saiyans. Due to how different they are, it's not surprising they think of each other as demonic and barbaric, the only thing they have in common physiologically speaking, is that they are powerful tailed humanoids. Should be fun to see King Cold react to King Vegeta, my guess is Vegeta is screwed. It's kind of like natural potential vs hard work, Saiyans can be born very weak, like Goku but have the ability to grow monstrously strong even without their tails due to their penchant for fighting, and their famous zenkai ability compared to the Arcosians who are born with perhaps less ki potential compared to the average Saiyan, but are born much stronger and in their final forms and even in their reduced forms are already very powerful so they need to control it via sealing it. They can both end up being very powerful, but the Arcosians are born with a lot of raw power and don't need to train hard to get it, they have to work on mental discipline to be able to handle all their power. After all, power is useless without control. Saiyans have to work hard to get to the same level working on their physical and mental discipline at the same time as they steadily grow stronger. I can't really say which race I prefer, they each have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages that they try and harness to the best of their ability. Something twisted them into the monsters they are in the show and later in the fic. Cold's biggest mistake led to the events of the show we all know and love, amazing how a lot of these things just come about from strange moments where the universe "glitches" and all those glitches add up and behold the horror, we get a, a plot line! Oh. My bad. Yeah Cold is going to need to learn some patience. Out of curiosity, why do you spell King Kold with a K? For alliterative purposes or more? Just asking.
A: Ea tie is the standard Arcosian greeting (Kooler used it when he met Frieza in Ch. 12). It is indeed strange to see (or in my case, write!) Kold, Kooler, & Frieza not acting like evil tyrants, but hopefully there's enough of their personality traits present, so you can tell that they're the same people, just before something happened to twist them into what they are at present. Kold had the misfortune of making friends with the Tsufuru right before they ate it, & he had no clue what danger the Saiyans posed to them, otherwise he might have insisted on staying to help them defend themselves. Instead, he figured discretion was needed, & left them to solve their own problems. Kold meeting King Vegeta will certainly be interesting, considering how he was the aggressor against the first Saiyans he met. You are wrong however, in thinking that Arcosians are born strong/with a lot of potential, & don't have to work to get at it. In this story, especially at this point, only a handful of Arcosians (Kold & Polaris, notably) are really strong by their race's standards. You'll see if/how that changes later, though, & why... Kold's snap decisions are going to lead to a lot of consequences, & even some of the other characters, (Isa, the Council, his soldiers) make comments on how rash & impatient he is. I spell many DBZ characters' names differently because to me, they look less like proper names otherwise. In general, I will spell Japanese-derived names the way they're supposed to look, though in some cases, I will go with the U.S. version's spelling because it's familiar (Krillin vs. Kuririn). Name puns that are very, very obvious get different letters to make them recognizable as names (Kold/Cold; Kooler/Cooler). Names that were butchered in the U.S. version & no longer retain their name puns, I will revert to the Japanese spelling (Tenshinhan/Tien). I have a weird & oft-convoluted system. ὺ‸ύᶸ
Q: This was a fantastic change in pace; the whole story of Kold and his people, they way he was before turning into what he did, by necessity I'm guessing, its just so different it kind of feels like you pushed me off a cliff into an alternate universe, yes, first cliffhangers and now cliff pushing, evil writer lady. Its strange thinking of Kold as a loving family man, not cold blooded (Oh dear, I just made a pun) at all, if anything he has a certain respect for life here the way Goku does, its actually kind of a shame you didn't have Kold make a speech to Goku that he once possessed similar values and ideals, the idea of such a fall from grace into the role of galactic tyrants promises to be a truly spectacular story. The relative strength of the Saiyans, like enduring one of Kold's angry punches, seems to say that maybe he wasn't always the powerhouse he became as I can't see the saiyans having been stronger only to lose all their power. Interesting that you point out Goku now equals Kold's third form now, quite a zen kai/training boost, but then again if Frieza's transformation on Namek, then the second form is less than 1% of their full while the third form is maybe 3 or 4%, while Frieza's 4th unlocked the remaining 95 odd percent, ergo Kold's 4th form must be utterly bloody staggering as in Super Perfect Cell staggering (Don't want to imagine the power if he has higher forms the 4) My point anyway is something major must have happened to bring him and his race such an immense power boost from being only a fair bit stronger than Saiyans. Or am I misinterpreting thing a bit? Your reasoning behind a very strong character having vulnerabilities in times of non-stress are pretty solid, well either that or Krillin found the most powerful rock in the universe, next to Chi-Chi's frying pan of course. I'd write a better review usually that examines everything I read, but sadly I'm quite pressed for time and so apologize to the poor composition and inane, unedited rambling, just had to say I enjoyed this one a lot and figured you deserved a positive review, which you'd have gotten be my review in-depth or rushed as it has been. Awe inspiring writing as always, can see all the effort and thought you put into the chapters, bloody excellent work.
A: Dun dun duuun! Alternate universe where Kold is Mr. Nice Guy! ...At least for now, lol. xD Tragically, it won't last, although I admit I'm a sucker for fanart/stories that show him actually being affectionate towards his family (I seriously want fanart of the scene with him, Isa, & Chibi Frieza!) I think I'll add "Evil Writer Lady" to my list of titles & addresses, mwahaha. ǹ◡ń King Kold doesn't necessarily have a respect for life as much as a healthy sense of pragmatism - with the Tsufuru dead, he's up a creek without a paddle, as far as his own planetary situation is concerned. Feeling remorse over the dead Tsufuru is more his projecting his own feelings onto them (such as his revulsion at eating children). You'll notice that he briefly ponders the idea of Tsufurus having souls, before dismissing it. As for that Saiyan surviving Kold's punch, you're right - he's not exactly weak, but he certainly isn't planet-busting strength just yet. You're right that Saiyans have a lot to do with his getting stronger, though it may not be in the way you think...but it is basically a species arms race.
Q: Amazing chapter as always. I checked my emails at 12AM just before going to bed and saw that a new chapter of savior of demons was posted. I thus had to delay my rest and read the whole thing in one go :). I didn't have work or anything important to do so don't feel too bad about having me stay up. You don't have to put out your chapters on a regular schedule. You're doing this for free so if you're feeling fatigued from writing this much on a monthly basis do us all a favor and cut back the word count or take longer than once a month to release a chapter :) I am interested in your analysis of how saiyan nature evolved. How could a species evolve to become sentient enough to speak and form what I presume to be somewhat complex social groups yet think nothing of eating sentient life forms that are extremely similar to themselves in shape except in size? Something tells me that King Vegeta is extremely different in nature to most saiyans and has a secret disdain for his races more barbaric side. I hope my hunch is correct. I've looked up the term bushmeat and it seems that it exists because there is a great demand for meat in the places "bushmeat" refers to and poor hunters will do anything to get their hands on meat from any source so they can make money. I can understand why the Saiyans would massacre the Tsufurus I'm just wondering why the Saiyans didn't search for food in the Tsufuru buildings before resorting to "cannibalism". For example I don't think in the genocide of Rwanda the Hutu's ate the Tutsi corpses that were littered on the ground. I personally have no qualms about cannibalism if it would mean I could survive(only if other people in my situation have succumbed to death first). It's just that as far as I know cannibalism has always been done for religious/spiritual reasons(for example to absorb the essence of your fallen enemies or comrades) or in times of great famine.
A: Haha, now that's some influence I have, if I can force you to delay sleeping in order to read my latest chapter! Thanks for your dedication. I'm more worried about getting a full-time job, which'll really put a cramp in my free time for writing, but I figure I can just cut out my other leisure activities...SoD comes first! As for why Saiyans have zero qualms eating something that is similar to them...I have one word for you: bushmeat. In the real world, humans think nothing of eating primates that are genetically similar to us (chimpanzees), so why would a Saiyan have a problem eating a Tsufuru? That they talk is just another frustrating trait that allows them to conspire to keep Saiyans cut off from resources, etc. Plus, in the end, meat is meat, & Saiyans need to consume a lot of calories for their size to survive. Our culture tells us that eating people is wrong, & eating certain animals is also wrong, but it's all just arbitrary, psychological rules that are transmitted socially. Saiyans have a very different worldview from Tsufuru, Arcosians, & humans. What makes you think the Saiyans didn't ransack the Tsufuru cites for food? They have monstrous appetites, so they either cleaned out the easy sources of food & then moved on to corpses, or decided to supplement their pillaging with course they'd take the easy food first, but when there's no more...well, meat is meat. Intuitively, they'd probably have the same approach to eating their own, although similarly to humans, they would prefer to eat someone from an "outgroup" rather than an "ingroup" - you'd eat a stranger from another clan or tribe before eating someone from your own.
Q: A special? Well, this takes me back to Honor Trip days. And in a manner befitting such an auspicious occasion. *wraps tail around random reviewers throat, applying crushing force* I'd hate to get my hands dirty, over a little irritation like this. The question of if Cooler even knows what happened will have to be answered later, along with what lengths Frieza will go to to achieve it. You've given me a lot to think about. 1- Yes, we do need fan art of Goku collecting enemies like Pokemon. 2- Funny, considering Cooler's Bane mask that he got his back broken. 3- I do imagine that if the Red Ribbon Redneck did insult Frieze, it would be along the 'chrome dome' lines. As for Slug, Frieza would have great fun playing 'Got your arm' with him. 4-Longest lived natural species...if we don't count the Kaioshin, sure. 5- Its a good thing there are heirs to the throne! Kuriza and (Ize). *drops the dead body from tail* And I can't help but think the Tuffles would have benefited from some humanity. Building a wall isn't nearly enough. But, since they didn't know what the tails were for, they get a pass on that. If they did, I would suggest removing all tails at birth and monitoring power levels across the population.
A: Hehe, yes, I am taking a page from Honor Trip & a great many other fanfics that do anniversary specials. Oh, Kooler knows exactly what happened, trust me, you'll see. If DBZ were Pokémon, Frieza would be an ornery Mewtwo, refusing to both stay in a Pokéball (Masterball?) & take orders in a battle. Never noticed the Kooler/Bane connection until you said something. Hmm. I still need to flesh out the serial androids' involvement in later chapters, by re-watching those movies. I don't count the Kaioushin as natural species, because...they're explicitly gods, or as close to gods as DBZ has. Nooope, neither Kuriza nor Ize exist in SoD. So no heirs, except Frieza & Kooler. The Tsufuru dismissed the Saiyans without doing any homework on them, & that's what got them annihilated. Even if they'd known about Oozaru, they probably would just shrug & say, "Well, guess we need bigger guns & a stronger shield."
Q: Ah, xenofiction is my bread and butter. I know few authors who would bother to create a conlang for an alien race, let alone a backstory this complex for a "villainous" race. As always, your love for the source material is clear and your writing is excellent. Looking forward to more.
A: I too, love xenofiction like the Ginyu Force loves chocolate. ❤ You don't even know how much thought & effort I'm putting into this conlang/culture/history/biology. They may be villains, but darnit, they're interesting villains!
Q: Wow, interesting take on planet Arcos and why the Arcosians decided to strike out and interact with other races. I'm a little surprised that the Arcosians hadn't developed some form of space travel on their own. Considering their longevity, their race should be absolutely ancient, giving them plenty of time to master space travel themselves. But eh, that's just my take on it. So Kold was actually a pretty nice guy before he met the Saiyans, and the Arcosians as a whole seemed much more trusting and respectful of other races. I'm guessing something goes horrifically wrong with the Saiyan alliance that causes Kold to go mad and the Arcosians to change their ways. I'm a little surprised Kold was so repulsed by the Saiyan's "eating habits" considering Arcosians are ritual cannibals themselves. Perhaps it was the fact that the Saiyans were eating the Tsufuru for sustenance only and there was no ritual or respect involved that repulsed him so. I'm very interested as to how the PTO got started and how it turned into such a powerful, galaxy-spanning organization in such a short length of time, and why Kold formed the PTO in the first place. Was it an attempt to save Arcos or find another planet to inhabit? So Arcosian transformations come with the side effect of personality change in this story? Hmm, I don't quite buy it, sorry. I never noticed any legit personality changes in Frieza as he transformed in canon. In his final form, he seemed just as cruel as he was when he blew up planet Vegeta. Any changes in his level of cruelty as he went through his forms were subtle at best and I believe it was just the increase in power that simply allowed him to ramp up the sadism that was already inherent in him instead of it being a direct side-effect of transforming. Same thing goes for Kooler's final transformation; he was so sick of being kicked around at the bottom of the totem pole that when he finally found himself on top, he went power-mad. He was simply letting his frustrations that he had been suppressing for years come to the surface. But once again, that's just my take on it. I do however like the idea of Frieza projecting certain aspects of his personality onto his different forms though, like each form represents a different facet of who he is. And now for my stupid questions: How old are little Kooler and Frieza by the time Kold allies with the Saiyans? Is Kold aware that he and his sons can transform at this time? How much political power does Isa hold as compared to Kold, and can royal females hold as much power as the males? Amazing work as always and I'm looking forward to the conclusion of Frieza and Kooler's confrontation next month, and to the conclusion of the Arcos special. So many questions still left unanswered! *fidgets uncomfortably* As to transformations and personality changes, fair enough explanation, and I can agree to disagree. I'm interested to see how it plays into the upcoming plot, the reason being is because Frieza's attitude towards and relationship with his transformations is a major theme in some of the fanart I have sketched out, and I don't want it to be too inaccurate. Let's just say I was heavily inspired by Frieza's fever dreams back in chap. 7.
A: They did have space travel, though. At the beginning of the chapter, they had sent out scout ships to look for life outside their galactic cluster. It's just that the Tsufuru are much more tech-minded & advanced, so they didn't say no when the Tsufuru engineers gave them the plans to build better ships. Kold was quite different as a person before something occurred to change his outlook & psyche. Arcosians in general started out as cautiously curious of things outside the bounds of their own planet, though different individuals have different thoughts on aliens. Punya, for example, is already rather xenophobic towards the Tsufuru, while Murai's more or less just interested in their technology. Kold was upset at the Saiyans for eating the Tsufuru for a few reasons: first, that's his ticket out of dying miserably on a rapidly cooling planet, & the Saiyans ATE his best chance at a safe exodus. So that's personal, & selfishly motivated. Second, eating something sentient is disconcerting, especially if you purposely killed it first. Third, Arcosians would argue that they are not, in fact, cannibals. They only eat the heart of their dead, their "soul" so to speak, & the rest of the body is taboo to consume. Fourth, he was told by King Simmon that the Saiyans are barbaric - & this just confirms that bias. Especially the mention of singling out children to eat. The PTO's formation does have to do with saving Arcos, but there's more to it, which will be revealed in time. I get what you're saying about Frieza always being sadistic & cruel, whatever form he's in, but for the sake of my story, madness as a theme is prevalent...& transforming opens the door to a lot of mental turmoil, with good reason. As for how old Kooler & Frieza are when Kold starts working with the Saiyans...hmm... Not much older than they are in this special, since less than one Arcosian year will pass between the first & the second half (notice how I'm using their time scales for maximum confusion!), so perhaps a few months. A lot can happen in that time, though. ~‿◠ I can't spoil what Kold knows about transformations...yet. Isa is Kold's equal in matters of state, & rules while he is away, & vice versa. In general, because they're a somewhat less dimorphic species, there are very few male-only or female-only rules in their society (except when it comes to rearing children, for obvious reasons). Going by the DBZ timeline, Frieza would be around 15 Earth years old at the beginning of this special. Kooler would be around 30. Arcosians have a very long childhood development stage, so at a decade old by our standards, they have the emotional & physical maturity of a young child, just older than a toddler. By 20 or so, they're emotionally maturing more, & 25-50 is adolescence for them. After that, they slow down & remain in their prime for the next few hundred years, & anything past 1000 would definitely be considered old age. Hope this clarified things for you a bit more. Oooh, fanart, & from one of my favorite scenes~! Well, thank you very much in advance, & I can't wait to see the finished product.
Q: I usually don't post reviews,but,dont know if that was supposed to call attention of a lot of people or not,but I bet I wont be the first to ask...is the tale of the savior of demons originated from the onslaught of the Tsufuru in Arcos part 1(and other facts in Arcos 2,probably too)? Nice history,you're doing a great job on the character development of Frieza & cia(a lot of fanfics sins on the ''way too fast straightening of Frieza'')... I bet there will be even more shocking things on next part,because...am I blind or are you picturing Kold as a ''once a nice guy'?No,you really pictured,but...it seems impossible... Till next chapter ;D
A: Mm, no, the Savior of Demons fairytale has been around already in Arcosian culture. Though in hindsight, they'll probably see it as a good cautionary tale to apply to this period in their history. You aren't seeing things - Kold's actually not evil yet in the story. ;^D
Q: Wow, I did not pick how likeable Kold would be in this first part of the special. He seems like a good ruler of his people and a good father and husband. Can he really change that much from the events as they stand? Saiyans wipe out Tuffles, no rescue ships for his people, most of his race dies in the winter before they can relocate... It doesn't seem like enough to make him that sadistic. I guess maybe Arcos goes through a civil war from the promise of salvation being cruelly stripped away and those events change him from struggling well meaning ruler to tyrant. The obvious thing to push Kold over the edge is Isa's death, though I get the feeling he was already pitting the boys against each other before her death for some reason, because of the Frieza sold his soul thing I think. She might be the final straw but all the other things stack up to change him first, if I'm reading the vibe right.
A: He is quite affable, isn't he? I surprised myself by how nice I made him, actually. I was going to make him more stern & less open with his emotions, but then that scene with Chibi Frieza melted my cold, unfeeling heart & broke my logical brain. ȏ‿ŏᶸ If I can't resist the cute, he sure as heck can't. You're on the right track with guessing that the Saiyans wiping out the Tsufuru is a bad thing for the Arcosians, but there will be much more to it, including Isa's death. Kold might have been planning to have Kooler & Frieza compete against each other when they're both a little older, but not in the way they eventually will, with so much ill will towards each other. Frieza selling his soul has nothing to do with Kooler directly, but it allowed him to depose his brother, which is why Kooler keeps reminding him about it, because he's still bitter, & knows the memory of it hurts Frieza.
Q: Woah! That was NOTHING like I thought it would be! I thought we would be treated to a series of 'cutscenes' which would show how Frieza's and Cooler's rivalry began ... instead we get the tragic way the Arcosians fell from grace and steeled their resolve. While the story isn't finished yet, it was quite awesome and interesting to see that the Arcosians weren't always the planet conquering warmongers they were up to a few months ago. It was also awesome to see more of King Cold. He's a monster waiting to come out, due to his deep need to protect his people. He's willing to sell his soul to protect his species, even though it's not evident yet, but based on the race's track record, it's safe to assume that whatever will happen with King Vegeta and Cold will cement his new outlook in viewing every other race as cattle. Aw, chibi Frieza is such a cutie! I could just pinch him! CONS: 1) The OCs appear in large numbers and in a way that confused me. I had a hard time making out the scientist from the bodyguard, etc. especially in the beginning. Simple freezing names would help, but you took the Star Trek route. :P 2) I thought it was stupid of the saiyan grunt to full-out spill the beans to Cold about the saiyan's secret weapon, the full-moon metamorphosis. It was like he was saying "Hey, man, if it's the full moon we can easily crush your asses, but since it's going to be a while before that happens again, you better kill us all now, being much more powerful than us and all." Felt silly on his part. Other than that, an amazing chapter! Keep rocking, gal!
A: Haha, glad I threw you for an unexpected loop! Don't worry, I'll get to Frieza & Kooler's rivalry before the special is over. This isn't just Frieza's story, but his entire species' tale. You're the first one to pick up on Kold's hidden potential for being a complete monster - it is indeed his deep desire to preserve his people that will lead him down a dark path. Meanwhile, Chibi Frieza is to date the cutest thing I've ever written. ^_^ Don't worry about keeping the O.C.s straight – they won't be important in the future (you can guess as to why). Star Trek? I don't get the reference, sorry...but everybody's names are puns still, in keeping with Dragonball. As for the Saiyan grunt blabbing about their strengths...he said nothing about their weak tails, so he's just boasting after a big win for them. Completely in-character.
Q: This was entirely unexpected, but in a good way. It's interesting to see that the Arcosians used to be decent people who respected other races and it leaves me to wonder just what it is that corrupted them so. I'm guessing that at the very least Isa was murdered by some political faction or other, which is how the Kold family turned into such a paranoid, mistrustful and manipulative bunch. I'm also guessing that this meeting with the Saiyans, as well as the Arcosians' own search for a new home planet somehow twisted into the Planetary Trade Organization. Maybe at first they had set out to help other races with a similar plight to their own, but the lure of vast power and wealth coupled with paranoia because of Isa's murder corrupted their original purpose into something entirely different. I've been reading and enjoying every chapter, but I've gotten a bit lazy about reviewing. Seeing this stark contrast in what the Kold family used to be compared to what they are now though, was some decent motivation.
A: "Used to be" being the operative word here. You're correct in suspecting that the good queen will be the lynchpin in this situation, especially when it comes to her family's personality changes. Glad you were motivated to review this time around; I'm motivated BY reviews, so keep them coming (you can also go back & review older chapters as well - I answer those reviews at the end of the Q&A too)!
Q: Glad I found out about this story and added it to my alerts cause it's awesome.
A: Why thank you for the compliment! Yeah, Ch. 7 got me in the heart as I was writing it, too. Wait'll you get to later chapters...especially the one that will be released at the end of the month.
Q: It appears I'm a bit late getting into this fanfic (as well as Dragon Ball as a whole), but I'm REALLY into it. This has to be one of the best fanfics I've ever read - I literally could not put it down. I love the complex plotting and worldbuilding that's carefully placed atop what Toriyama's established, the fact that the rest of the Z-Fighters actually get to be useful in some fantastic action scenes, and the absolutely amazing psychoanalysis and development of Frieza. You know it's an outstanding fic when I didn't like a plot development (Bulma and Frieza spending the night together) because, like you, I don't ship them, and yet I can't deny it's what would happen in the AU presented in this story. Ryu no Ohi, I'm with you to the end. *salutes*
A: Welcome to the wonderful world of DBZ fandom - I'm honored that you put me on the level that you have, & I mean that sincerely. I do have a bit of a complexity addiction, so nothing is ever straightforward in SoD, to my eternal stress, but also to my readers' delight, I suppose. Psychoanalysis in particular is my deeply-obsessive bread-&-butter as a communications specialist, & Frieza makes for a heck of a subject of study. I also appreciate that you, like myself, don't actively ship Bulma x Frieza, but understand how much sense it would make in this specific context. Hats off to you, & I look forward to your next review (you can also go back to individually review each chapter once; I answer all my reviews)!
Q: For a lack of a better thing to say, I was rather disappointed by this chapter, quite heavily to be honest.
The reason for this mostly is even thought I liked the idea that the ice-jins were under developed in space technology and that they were a dying race because their sun would give out, it was a really good idea, but the timeline doesn't add up at all. It is quite clear in cannon that the ice-jins frieza, cooler were having the TPO for quite some time now and that king cold even "retired" from the job, so to speak. So to have king cold just discover planet plant and probably the saiyans and only now starting the PTO is, I'm sorry for my words bulls***. And frieza is only a toddler here which doesn't make sense either, it was frieza's army that discovered the saiyans and he was at that time a young adult maybe even a teenager, but since ice-jins can become quite old he could already be in his 100 but thats not the point. And let me ask you this, you find the new information from akira toriyama on the saiyans being good people from the beginning and that it was frieza who made them evil a stupid idea but you are doing exactly the same thing with the ice-jins. You make them look like they are good people with high morals and values but that they turned evil because of the saiyans in a span of less that probably 30 years, I find that quite hypocritical don't you agree. Hopefully it wouldn't be because of some backstory like the saiyans killed the queen or something like that, or maybe frieza killed her himself, those are the two reasons I can see right now. As for the Ice-jins in this chapter, they were rather bland and stereotypical in personality, and most of them come even from your drawings either on deviantart of from the story or special story honor trip, which in case if you haven't seen or read them you would get confused as to who they are and why they even are in this story. I also suppose that every Ice-jin is in his first form, even king cold because you the the fourth one like a power up form like a super saiyan. Also the objects that frieza keeps in his box are the things that female ice-jins are wearing right, like the one on the Isa fanart, which btw is probably from his mother or from this scientist in this story because you addressed her having them and no one else. Also I know that you call frieza's race the arcosians but you have to keep in mind that that was a filler scene ( it wasn't in the manga) and that it was probably a bug type race that they made up so they could be the ones in frieza's name to invite the saiyans to join his army. I don't really see the point in frieza sending people of his own race there to see them the first time as they are just primitive monkeys in a way. And also everything king kai told goku with that scene was a lie to begin with so goku wouldn't go after frieza, so everything could be made up in the first place, like the guardian from planet vegeta destroying planet vegeta with meteorites. So yeah, quite a very disapointed chapter, didn't liked it at all, and the premise was quite good, but horribly executed. I am however interested in seeing frieza interact with his brother in the next chapter
A: Well, it is your prerogative to dislike this chapter. Some of my ideas are not as canon as others, so if that's going to be a hangup for you, then maybe it's best to take this story with a grain of salt. Or a whole shaker. I'm trying to use ideas I haven't seen before, & utilize characters in an interesting way. The timeline is one thing that is quite fuzzy in DBZ, at least before a certain point, so I don't think that portraying Frieza & the other Arcosians as younger or older is a good point of argumentation - there simply is no mention of them until they start getting involved with Saiyans. I disagree with Toriyama retconning Saiyans into a more "human" race because it cheapens them greatly. Now, you might assume I'm doing something similar with the Arcosians, but I'm not - remember, there's an entire half of the special left to reveal, & plenty of exposition to give, so kindly give me a chance. The O.C.s in this chapter aren't terribly inspired, I'll admit, but that's because I was pressed for time, now that I have a job & less free time to sit down & carefully craft characters. As a note, what you said is incorrect; I'm not reusing any of the characters from my previous illustrations or Honor Trip, except Ratsura, & he's important to the plot later on. You're correct that all of the Arcosians are currently in the First Form. As for my using the term Arcosian...I use it because the alternatives sound silly & uninspired. "Ice-jin" is a ridiculous-sounding fan term, & it isn't even canon, if you want to split hairs. Neither is Arcosian, for that matter. I just use the terminology that better fits my work. I'm sorry you're disappointed, but for what it's worth, I may not be able to continue writing at the rate/quality I do now, because of some new jobs I've started this month. So, if you don't like it, I'm very sad, because I may not be writing it soon due to a lack of free time. The more negative feedback I get, the less I'll want to write, & the less you'll get every month from me. I don't get paid for this, but it does have the potential to make me happy. ( ⌣́ _ ⌣̀ )
Reviews for previous chapters:
Q: Chapter 12: Infrangible: I'm really curious as to how Kooler's broken, well, ANYTHING from a fall, even if he was massively drained of Ki. Frieza to torn to bits, unconscious or close enough, and survived a PLANET exploding on him and here it's just... simple gravity and rock. To be fair, Frieza was pretty worse for wear after getting a planet detonated on him, though we have no idea whether it was actually the planets explosion or Goku's ki blast. For the sake of argument though, lets say it was the planet. From what we can see, he suffered some major damage to his head and some to his chest. However, considering how badly damaged he was already and the fact he was blasted one final time by Goku, it's surprisingly little damage. Compare an entire planet exploding to just some loose rock and there should be no doubt Kooler would have been fine, no matter how jagged the rock was or how drained he was. Unless it was the Legendary Super Rock... If so, may Kaioshin have mercy on us all. Other than that, everything was excellent as always.
A: As addressed in other reviews of this nature, I had to give super-powered characters plausible weaknesses. Being vulnerable while unconscious is a good way to play with the seeming invulnerability most DBZ characters possess. In Frieza's case, after Namek, my theory is that whatever ki he had left, he used to shield himself...meaning that after Goku blasted him for the last time, he was NOT unconscious, or regained consciousness shortly after Goku left. Either way, it speaks to his ridiculous will to live, which is one of his defining qualities overall. In Kooler's case, Goku was specifically trying to knock him out, which worked perfectly...until he hit the ground at just the right angle to be severely injured. Nice job breaking it, hero.
Q: Chapter 7: Instauration: I was crying as I read this...I never cry at sad parts in stories...I didn't even cry when I saw the Titanic. This just means you're the best author ever
A: Why thank you for the compliment! Yeah, Ch. 7 got me in the heart as I was writing it, too. Wait'll you get to later chapters...especially the one that will be released at the end of the month.