Ah, I remember writing this one fondly…Luckily, after my holiday; I haven't actually lost that much of an advantage chapter-wise which is encouraging. As always, things to note:
1)Lots of child psychology in this chapter (pulls face). When I was young, I always remember assuming the worst of a situation and within Dragonball Z, I appreciated Gohan's slightly more pessimistic approach. Goku's natural optimism is admirable but I always appreciated how Gohan had to learn how to be optimistic. That said, I tried to pull out Gohan's pessimism in this chapter and show that despite expecting the worst to happen, he never just sat idly by waiting for it.
2)I've checked all sorts of continuity in this chapter – continuity coming out of my ears and my asshole but if I've committed some horrible, B move-esque continuity foul up, I do humbly apologise. PM me and I'll see about tweaking it if you find something.
3)Spelling, grammar and the local shop has been checked for ice cream…mmm…ice cream. A note on spellings while we're on the subject; as you may or may not know, I am British and generally try to use British spellings so words like 'honour' will be spelt with 'u'.
4)Imaginary chocolate hearts for all readers, reviewers, favers and alerters from the last chapter though if you're planning on eating chocolate in this weather, I may have to commit you to the asylum.
25: The Legend's Trigger
The tyrant grabbed on to Gohan's tail.
The boy cried out in blatant agony.
Goku felt his airways constrict as he held himself.
He couldn't drop the Spirit Bomb.
Every muscle in his body was aching to launch into action, every voice inside his head was screaming at him to do something before Gohan was taken from him the same way he had been taken after the battle against the Saiyans.
He couldn't drop the Spirit Bomb.
Piccolo's reaction was instantaneous but Frieza was able to block the oncoming attack, swinging round with Gohan's tail still firmly in his grip. The boy shrieked as the momentum enhanced pull on his tail caused serious pain to shoot through his spine and Goku felt his facial muscles twitch.
'You need to get him out of there Piccolo, come on!'
Piccolo felt as though his heart was on fire as he watched the tyrant man-handle Gohan's tail in such a manner, remembering the pain it had caused both Raditz and Goku. The boy was crying, something Piccolo had never tolerated well but he knew that in this case, the demi-Saiyan just couldn't help it.
He glared daggers at the creature that would dare to make Gohan cry.
He took a deep breath in, preparing himself to perform something incredible in half the time it would normally take, knowing it would strain his body and possibly kill him.
'I sacrificed myself for you once kid…when I was in Otherworld, I sometimes questioned why, wondering if I would do it again given more time to consider…now I know.'
His muscles bunched, he exhaled and extended his arm.
"Special Beam Cannon!"
The spiralling beam cut through the air, pouring out from the two fingered release point in Piccolo's outstretched hand. With serious difficulty, Piccolo stretched out his other hand, feeling his life energy start to drain as he dredged up everything inside himself to produce a crude Ki blast to barrel down towards the overlord at the same time as the Special Beam Canon.
The energy bloomed out of him in an array of colours, techniques combining to make a bewitching light show in the air. Frieza saw the blasts pushing their way towards him and raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
Never before had he witnessed a technique like this, to produce two different attacks at once…surely it was impossible…what that Namekian was doing was impossible. He glared at the verdigris man through the iridescence and noted that his skin was slowly losing colour, fading to a pale olive.
Ah, so it was possible, but not really recommended.
Comfortable now that he had figured out the downside to this particular onslaught, Frieza turned his attention to avoiding the manoeuvre, flying up with the demi-Saiyan's tail still clamped neatly in a clawed hand.
Piccolo watched the overlord leap up and his heart seemed to fall into his shoes as he spotted Gohan still dangling limply by his tail. The idea was to make Frieza drop the boy in his need to evade the attack…and now that had failed. Piccolo was at the end of his endurance, the attacks dying off unspectacularly as he fell back in the dust, staring up at the sky where Frieza was hovering mercilessly.
'Gohan…'
The tyrant regarded the attacks as they petered out and almost felt like chuckling, casually swinging the boy back and forth on the air by his tail so that he whimpered pathetically.
"I'm not sure what you were trying to achieve with that dare devil stunt Namekian bu-
"DESTRUCTO DISK!"
Frieza heard the cry and reacted reflexively. He didn't have enough time to shift and catch a glimpse of which direction the disk of Ki was coming from, relying instead on damaged ears to catch the echoes on the breeze.
At the last possible moment, he bent forward, flattening himself so the disk skimmed along the small of his back and in the same moment, he dropped the kid.
Shorai took a moment to finish hyperventilating before shakily lying with his back to the floor. The world above him was starting to spin as he sensed the re-divergence of the paths of fate, showcasing different scenarios once again, carefully falling back into the pattern he had seen before Frieza had been able to grip the boy's tail.
"By the gods…he's free…Frieza's let him go," Shorai whispered breathily.
Sensou took a moment to let that news sink in, allowing himself to sit on the soft grass rather than squat over it as he comprehended. For a few seconds, the brother's were silent, each lost in thought before Sensou saw fit to break the silence, glaring heatedly at his brother.
"What the hell did you do that for?" he growled angrily, fighting the urge to seriously maim his sibling.
"Do what, inform you of the relevant dangers?" Shorai replied hotly.
Sensou decided to let his brother's snarky remark slide just this once considering the pressure they were under but he made a mental note to cripple Shorai at a later date.
"Why did you tell me that Gohan was destined to die if Frieza was just going to drop him again so quickly? Why didn't you check ahead?" He almost added that the whole thing had scared him half to death but thoughtfully omitted that revelation at the last moment. No need to decrease his intimidation factor where it wasn't necessary.
Shorai simply shook his head, looking suddenly exhausted.
"The fates surrounding that particular battle are volatile at the moment, I don't actually know if things are going to play out one way or another and I can't even begin to estimate. If anything, this little hiccough has shown us how important our current mission is. Gohan must be allowed to transform into a great ape if he has any hope of surviving the coming battle – that tail of his is the key."
Sensou slowly ran his hands through his hair, feeling at the little wrinkle between his eyes as he frowned.
"This is completely ridiculous," he muttered to himself, standing tall and waiting as Shorai did the same so they could continue their sprint to the dimension door.
Goku watched as Gohan plummeted and in that instance, with all the control he could muster, he threw the bomb.
It arced through the air, emitting a thunderous thrum of electrical sound as the atmosphere parted around it. The resonating light engulfing the land slowly grew brighter and Frieza felt a pulse of fear.
He straightened…
…and saw the planet sized Ki blast travelling towards him at some speed.
His mouth fell open.
There was no plausible way to avoid this; no speed that Frieza could reach that would ensure that he escaped the brunt of the blast. He was going to have to stay and tackle the thing head on.
The energy connected with Frieza's hands, pushing him down the same way that Gohan's Masenko had but this time, the energy was relentless. It wouldn't slow, no matter how much effort Frieza put into stopping it and in the refractive depths of the light, he thought he could see his own black soul squirming.
It was retribution, pure and simple.
And it was long overdue.
The Spirit Bomb hit the ground and detonated with Frieza beneath it. Everything was levelled in an all-encompassing white brilliance; there was heat and light and nothing else. The ground disappeared, reduced to nothing but atoms trailing through Namekian air, the sea seemed to have been swallowed up by some colossal mouth, even the sky was completely overwhelmed by the repercussions of such an unimaginable Spirit Bomb, giving way to the dark void of space for just a moment.
Following the light, there was a momentary suction and then a sound like a drum half the size of the galaxy being beaten. The sound sent out a massive vibration that seemed to shake the very fabric of existence itself and when the light cleared, a pillar of smoke and excess energy had grown up from the impact like a doorway to a different dimension.
Eventually, everything settled back into place. Though most of the Namekian islands in the area had been completely obliterated, the water ran clear to a gargantuan, bottomless hole – the legacy left behind after that insane attack.
For a couple of minutes, all that could be heard was the sound of running water…
It took Krillin a while to get his head around what had just happened and where he was. He remembered being blown away by Goku's Spirit Bomb and somehow he had ended up in the water. Luckily, he hadn't dropped down too deep and, righting himself, he kicked up, swimming gracefully to the surface. Braking the film of the water, he took in a huge breath of much needed air, grabbing on to the nearest rock he could, a square of saved land barely big enough for him to stand on.
He heaved himself up and sat dripping and panting, gazing at the crater with a dumbstruck expression on his face.
'That's…a little beyond reason,' the bald monk decided as he sprawled out over the rock like a wet rag, trying to sense the Ki signatures of the others whilst catching his breath.
Purposefully keeping himself calm, he completed a methodical sweep of the area, only feeling a slight twinge of panic when he was unable to sense anything out there at all.
Taking another deep breath and appreciating the light from Namek's relentless suns, he tried again, slower this time and as he passed a point very close to the crater, he latched on to the first Ki he could find.
'Goku…' he thought to himself in relief.
With Goku's Ki in his mind, Krillin took a moment to simply appreciate the feel of the ultra violet rays on his skin, warming him after his impromptu dip in the Namekian Ocean. He took a deep breath in through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, revelling in the feeling of being alive following the recent trauma with the diabolical overlord. He gave a sullen thought to the people of Namek, a tug of grief pulling at him when he thought of Guru, Nail and Dende, then he stood, wobbling on the little rock as he started searching for Goku.
When he didn't see his friend in the immediate area, he started to feel a pinprick of unease through his newfound relief, confused that he was able to sense Goku so close without seeing him. Just as he was about to give himself over to the revelation that something was very wrong, Goku's dark head broke the surface of the water near a levelled island almost on top of the depths of the crater.
"Yeah, Goku!" Krillin cried, jumping off of the rock and almost falling with an undignified belly flop back into the water.
With his energy so readily depleted, it was difficult to fly, requiring all of Krillin's concentration. After using his precious energy on that last ditch Destructo Disk, it was a miracle that he was able to fly at all, even with such harsh concentration. Focussed as he was, he almost missed as Goku shoved a small, wet bundle up on to the island, following by dragging the prone form of Piccolo behind him.
Once he was sure his cargo was safe, Goku collapsed in a panting heap, letting the water roll off of himself as he took in sweet gulps of air, his eyes fixed on the steady rise and fall of his son's chest. Next to him, he heard Piccolo cough up water and moved forward to make sure his son's airways were clear.
The boy's eyes were on him as he wriggled forward with an uncharacteristically solemn expression on his face.
"Da-
"Shh, don't talk yet Gohan, I have to check you over okay?"
He started by checking the vitals, the nose, mouth and ears for any obstruction before moving on to the wounds the boy had sustained from taking on Frieza. Goku himself was battered and broken with a number of injuries that probably required immediate attention but in the short time that his son had taken the tyrant, Gohan had suffered worse.
The gash on the boy's head was worrying though it was no longer bleeding so freely. Goku wondered vaguely if Gohan had a concussion and quickly checked the boy's eyes for any sign that his pupils were dilated. Surprisingly, he seemed to be focussing just fine which probably meant the cut was a lot shallower than it actually looked. One of the boy's arms was at a slightly odd angle which, Goku realised, was a sign that he had probably dislocated a shoulder. Bulma would most likely be able to fix that back on board the ship but it was gonna hurt like hell.
"Hey, Goku!" Krillin called, crash landing onto the little island and running forward, slowing only when he caught sight of the grim expression on his friend's face. Fearing the worst, he glanced down at Gohan, surprised when the boy sat up, a little grey in the face and torn up but otherwise just fine.
Throwing his son a lingering look, Goku got to work on helping Piccolo to sit up, propping the tall ex-demon up against one of the rocks facing the crater.
"I should probably…congratulate you for that," Piccolo said in a strained voice, inclining his head towards the evidence of Goku's magnificent Spirit Bomb. He was both amused and irritated in equal measure that his old nemesis had just managed to outdo anything he could ever hope to produce.
"You too," Goku said. "It's not every day you get to see someone using two separate attacks at once."
Gohan watched his father and his ex-mentor yearningly, dreading the moment when Sensou would appear to take him back to the gloomy dimension that he had called home for the last few months. Though he hadn't been told to wait for Sensou, he knew somehow that the fighting wouldn't end with Frieza.
Carefully, he scanned the little island and the surrounding stretches of clear Namekian Ocean for any sign of life but, perplexingly, he drew a blank. Through the post-battle euphoria, Krillin caught on to Gohan's scouting and cocked his head to one side.
"What are you looking for little buddy?" he asked, peering out into the nothingness. "Everyone important is he-he-herewetotallyforgotaboutBulma!"
Goku felt a stab of guilt as he pivoted back to meet Krillin's eyes and the two of them wore identically comical looks of fear. Gohan chuckled freely, rubbing at the base of his spine where his tail began, massaging out the lingering ache following Frieza's abuse.
Goku's eyes swept across to his son and Gohan averted his gaze, unable to face the unabashed love shining through his father's easy-going gaze.
'Oh daddy, if only you knew the truth about me…' Gohan thought to himself, shifting uncomfortably under Goku's paternal gaze and trying to stave off the memories of his fist sliding through his father's shattered rib cage.
Goku's eyes remained steadily on his son as he moved into a crouched position before the boy and Gohan found he had no choice but to hold the intensity of that look, dark eyes meeting dark eyes. A million things seemed to pass unsaid between father and son and Gohan felt that lurching reaction inside him, the need to spill his guts about every heinous thing he had done under Sensou's harsh tutelage.
Would his daddy understand?
Would he be forgiven?
"Gohan," Goku began gently, resting a warm hand on the child's shoulder. "I need you to tell me-
"Uh…Goku?" Krillin interrupted sheepishly, stepping forward and pushing his index fingers together in an awkward fashion. "I know it's important that you two talk but can it wait until we're on the ship home? I bet Bulma's frantic with worry and to be honest she's probably worse than Frieza when she gets like that and I…I'm homesick."
Goku turned slowly to stare at his best friend and laughed heartily when he caught sight of the red hue across the bald monk's cheeks. Of course, it made sense that Krillin was homesick, a lot had happened since they'd left the Earth behind and Goku knew that Krillin was probably thinking longingly of the beach on Master Roshi's island. The hot sun, the hot sand, a drink with a little umbrella in it and if he was lucky, the sight of Launch or Bulma in a swimming costume.
Goku himself couldn't wait to take his son home where the two of them could have one of Chi Chi's delicious home made meals before taking a hot bath together out in the open air. The thought was pure bliss.
"You okay with that little man?" Goku asked, beaming down at the boy and Gohan couldn't help the squirm of hope inside as he thought about the possibility of going home, actually seeing his mother again – though he knew somehow that this was a futile hope.
He smiled weakly.
"Sure dad."
Goku's own smile faltered ever so slightly as he regarded his son's lack of enthusiasm but he tried not to let Gohan pick up on his anxiety, re-assuring himself that everything would be brought to light when he was finally able to sit down with the boy and discuss what had happened to him. Whatever anguish the boy had suffered, Goku would be there for him, he was determined to make up for not being able to save his son in the first instance.
With their next course of action decided, Piccolo made an effort to get up, wincing as he felt the chronic ache in his legs. Gohan was at his side in an instant, supporting his weight so he didn't have to worry about the possibility of crumpling. The ex-demon gawked at the young demi-Saiyan before letting a small smile grace his features, the first true smile he had shown since he'd died on Earth.
"Thanks kid," He said, ruffling Gohan's dark, matted locks.
Gohan glanced up at his almost mentor with wide eyes and beamed. Without really meaning to, Piccolo found himself checking the kid over with a critical eye for injuries both physical and mental while they were in such close proximity. He was relieved to see that while Gohan was beaten badly, he didn't seem to be suffering with anything particularly crucial in the physical sense, aside from what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder though it hardly seemed to be bothering the boy. Mentally, it was obvious to Piccolo that the child had suffered deeply though he was unable to tell at a glance just how far that mental anguish had pushed him. He watched with fearful perception as the boy flinched, touching at a space on his neck that was completely undamaged and then chided himself for feeling…
Feeling what?
Over-protective?
Kami, what was he, the kid's mother? If only his proud father could see him now, the son of the great demon King Piccolo fretting over a little boy, a son of the enemy no less. He should have just made Goku leave him to drown in the Namekian Ocean.
"Hmpf," he grunted irritably. "You've gotten a lot stronger Gohan but your technique still needs a lot of work."
Gotten a lot stronger…that was possibly the understatement of the century. The kid was phenomenal but Piccolo wasn't about to issue such high praise, even if it was deserved. It just wasn't his way.
Even so, Gohan's smile widened if that was even possible, his expression seeming to light up the devastated planet.
"Thanks Mr Piccolo," the boy chirped. "Sensou says the same thing all the time."
Goku experienced a leap of something unpleasant in his system as he heard the boy mentioning an unknown name, remembering the two that had taken his son in vivid detail though he'd only caught a fleeting glance before his little boy was snatched away to Kami only knew where. He could still replay the moment that Gohan had leapt forward, desperation on his young face, only to have the figure with the freakish Ki signature clamp onto his tail. A moment of penetrating agony and they'd disappeared, vanished to a place that Goku was unable to reach.
Something primal seemed to be surging under his skin as he thought about it, an adrenaline lurch so powerful, it felt like he'd overdosed on caffeine about a hundred times over. Piccolo glanced up sharply as he detected Goku's steep rise in Ki, his eyes widening.
This behaviour…it wasn't like the man he knew.
"Goku…" Piccolo said softly, glancing pointedly at Gohan who was chatting idly to Krillin about what he would do once they were all safely back on Earth.
Goku followed the ex-demon's gaze and took a deep breath in, trying to disperse the anger rolling through him but it was difficult. He had never been so angry in his life. Honestly, if he had been able to meet Gohan's kidnappers, he wasn't sure if he would be able to give them the time to explain themselves before unleashing the full pent up power of his rage.
What possible reason could there be for tearing a young boy from his family?
Krillin was in the middle of explaining the particulars of a long island iced tea to a pensive Gohan when he stopped mid-sentence, his face paling instantly.
"Krillin?" Gohan asked uncertainly, feeling a ripple of unease spread through his system as he followed the line of the bald monk's sight back over his shoulder.
What he saw turned his blood to ice.
The void had the same feeling of desolate emptiness it always had – the white nothingness stretching on for an eternity.
Shorai shivered as they made their way across the windless landscape, his eyes adjusting every so often trying to focus on objects that just weren't there to be focussed on. Contrastingly, Sensou walked with the gait of someone completely comfortable in such barren surroundings. His eyes were fixed straight forward, his mind was awhirl with serious thoughts.
Eventually, the two of them came upon the familiar white table and they took up their usual places at opposite ends. Shorai took a deep breath in to calm himself and took a moment to order his thoughts.
'Strange that we'd come here under such amiable terms,' he thought to himself, glancing idly at his brother who had taken up a quiet meditation. 'I honestly didn't think it was possible that we could get along so well…The recent threats to my life have almost been…idle…now that I think about it…'
They waited in silence for a few more minutes, Shorai staring intently at his brother. Eventually, Sensou cracked open an eyelid, frowning irritably.
"What?" he snapped.
"I was just trying to figure out what you were thinking," the seer confessed.
"Ha. Good luck with that brother," Sensou snorted, reclining leisurely in the hard backed chair. "Even with all your precognitive abilities, you couldn't begin to fathom the simplest elements of my plans."
Shorai's jaw dropped.
Was his brother honestly that arrogant? Really?
To blow off the abilities of the universe's most competent seer…was Sensou really that foolish or did he honestly have some grandiose scheme in mind?
Did it involve the demi-Saiyan?
"Sensou, if you think that-
"Why have you summoned us?"
The voice cut through Shorai's retaliating comment and filled the void, giving the illusion that there was more within the bland white of this dimension than Shorai or Sensou could see.
"My lords," Shorai greeted, dropping his head in the preferred honourific bow.
As before, Sensou simply grunted and inclined his head, his own mark of respect.
"I have seen something somewhat catastrophic," Shorai began, launching straight in. "This is concerning the fate of the demi-Saiyan known as Gohan Son, relating to the vision of the end of the universe originally told to yourselves during the Earth age 761."
Shorai paused to allow for comment, his eyes flicking up to lock on the shadowy forms just visible on the void, but if the Four Winds wanted to say anything, they abstained and Shorai took that as his cue to continue.
"Currently, Gohan is fighting with his father on the planet Namek against the tyrant known as 'Frieza' and his original destiny was to survive that battle despite the odds. Due to various anomalies that I have been weathering, his fate has changed. He is due to die in the final clash against the tyrant but Sensou and I both feel that this would be somewhat devastating to the fate of the universe."
There was a pause as this knowledge seemed to seep into the void and somehow, Shorai got the feeling that, had the Four Winds had something as definitive as a bridge of the nose between them, they would have been pinching it in exasperation.
"The boy is important to future affairs, true, but how do you propose to over-write an altered fate seer? Are you suggesting that this new fate can be changed back to the way it was?" The Wind's asked, using the same tone of voice a teacher might use when a smart kid has made a particularly stupid mistake.
Shorai winced as the voice rolled around him and steadied himself before replying.
"Not exactly. I don't actually believe it's possible to restore Gohan's original fate but if we were allowed to travel to Namek ourselves to produce a Ki ball that replicates perfect full moonlight, Gohan will transform into a great ape and save himself," Shorai confessed.
There was an ominous pause.
"You are asking us, then, for permission to directly interfere with the physical realm of mortals outside our original agreement following your vision to remove Gohan Son from his fated existence on Earth," the winds hissed and Shorai shuddered as the void darkened subtly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could just make out as Sensou sat up a fraction straighter, clearly unnerved.
The seer had been prepared for this resistance. To gain permission to extract Gohan from his home was something of a miracle to begin with. The only reason the winds had agreed so readily to such dramatic interference was because of the overwhelming evidence presented pertaining to the end of existence should they leave Gohan to his own devices. This situation was a little less readily acceptable. To ask for permission to directly interfere with someone who's fate had already been changed by divine interference whenhe was engaged in a battle that included an existential staple was precocious, suspicious and to provoke such a volatile transformation not originally written into the line of fate…
Not only that but with the dangerous cracks littering that particular episode of fate, Shorai was unable to present the winds with an evidential vision as he had before. All in all, the whole thing was highly suspect.
"We need only interfere so far as it protects Gohan and restores the original line of fate," Shorai assured the Winds, annoyed when his voice sounded a few octaves higher than it had previously. "We will teleport to Namek, create the ball of fake moonlight and when Gohan is once again safe, we will destroy the ball so that Gohan will change back into his usual human form. Once Gohan returns to normal, we will collect him and he will continue his training. As far as I can tell, there would be no adverse ramifications following our interference and honestly, if Gohan were to die on Namek, the repercussions are not positive."
For a few moments, the void continued to darken and the shadows of the Fours Winds seemed to grow, becoming elongated and creepily slim. Around them, new shadows seemed to seep outwards, tiny spiders of darkness crawling across the pristine white table and hanging from the edge, larger monsters reflected in the back drop of the void.
"We feel it necessary to remind you that when we gave our permission to obtain the boy from his home, we did so only because he was a direct threat to the universe's continued existence. We allow you to transport him via dimensions so that he can fulfil the important parts of his destiny and prevent the lay-lines from re-setting indefinitely.
"Should we give our permission this time," the Four Winds said, the usual singular voice being replaced with a chorus of voices rumbling together through the void. "and you deviate from the plan you have presented to us, you know the consequences for interfering more than is absolutely necessary. We will cut your threads and write you out of fate itself."
Shorai swallowed the saliva balling at the back of his mouth and nodded before remembering that he would have to give a verbal answer.
"Y-yes, of course."
The darkness enveloping the void seemed to recede somewhat and the monsters casting shadows on the edge of perception seemed just a tiny bit less real.
"Then, despite the fact that this goes entirely against the grain, we shall give our permission," the Four Winds stated in a singular voice once again.
"Thank you," Shorai said, taking a few steps back before turning to leave the void. After a few seconds, Sensou appeared beside him, falling into step as the void continued to lighten and the elongated shadows of the Four Winds began to fade. Neither of them spoke until they had stepped through the dimension door and were safely back on the soft grass of Shorai's dimension.
He stood on the tallest point of the island, sea water pooling at his feet. One of his eyes was swollen shut and a large chunk of his tail was missing, the bloodied stump leaking a string of thick life fluid, but aside from that, he was unharmed.
Unharmed.
"No way…no way he could survive an attack like that…" Krillin mumbled disbelievingly, his eyes unseeing as Frieza raised his arm, his finger pointed towards the little group of fighters gathered below him.
Both Krillin and Gohan were too stunned to react to what was about to happen, though they all felt the resonance as an invisible blast of Ki discharged from Frieza's hand. Piccolo saw it refracting the light from the Namekian suns as it hurtled forward and knew who Frieza had aimed for.
"Goku, no!" he shouted, launching himself forward and shoving Goku aside just as something sharp pierced his chest.
A pause in the movement of space time and Piccolo was frozen, a silent scream locked in place on his usually stoic face as pain impacted his lungs like a knuckle duster enhanced punch. There was a moment where his synapses seemed to be firing off at breakneck speed. Within an instant, he had thought about why he'd thought to dive in front of Goku to take a hit for his arch nemesis, what this was going to mean for the little boy that had watched him fall twice now, how he could feel the weight of his entire race on his shoulders – counting on him to survive so they could be brought back to life…
Something rose deep within his chest and the violent urge to vomit accompanied it. Before he could really try to contain it, blood had burst forth freely from his mouth in a projectile towards the wicked overlord and he had collapsed, dropping face first onto the decimated island where he could bleed out.
Gohan watched the whole thing with a wide, blank expression; his face tinged a darker shade of grey. He flinched as Piccolo vomited copious amounts of blood and moved into automatic action as his friend dropped to the ground, unmoving.
"Piccolo, no…" he whispered, flopping to his knees before his fallen friend. His hands shook violently as he set about ripping a generous length of cloth from the leg of his gi and his eyes streamed with hot tears that he was unable to stop. Blinking rapidly to clear his sight, he got to work applying pressure to Piccolo's wound, hoping that if he could stop the bleed out, Piccolo might survive long enough to get back to the ship.
Goku watched his son work on the downed Namekian with horrified, heat filled eyes. The anger he had felt at Gohan's kidnappers was flaring up inside him like a bonfire in his stomach, directed now at the overlord who was chuckling on the hill top. His fists were bunched up beside him and his fingers were pressing into his palms so hard that he could feel the pain of the pressure, something to anchor him to reality, to stop him falling over the edge until he was drowning in all-encompassing rage.
"Gohan, Krillin, get Piccolo out of here," he hissed through gritted teeth. "Our ship shouldn't be too far from here…and if that's out of order, you can always try to use his."
Gohan pushed down slowly on Piccolo's wound and turned to his father, his eyes defiant through the overwhelming fear and nausea.
"I won't leave you to fight him alone!" Gohan stated resolutely. "I can help you, I know I c-
"Go, now!" Goku ground out and Gohan recoiled from that voice, the harsh tone that his father had never used when speaking to him before. It moved something within him, created an unsettling feeling in the core of his being and, being as young as he was, he was unable to rationalise why his father would want to speak to him like that for trying to be helpful and brave.
"We can't leave without you," he whispered in a dejected voice.
"I must admit that 'Spirit Bomb' of yours really packs a punch," Frieza said tauntingly, lifting his hand once more. Goku watched the movement with wide eyes and something spiked inside him.
"Frieza, stop this!" he cried, preparing to defend the others as best he could but whatever technique Frieza was using, Goku was completely unfamiliar with it. He paused mid-vault as Krillin was lifted into the air, yelling out in panic. For a moment, Goku was confused as to why Krillin would be crying out if he had managed to avoid Frieza's attack by flying upwards but as the bald monk continued to gripe hysterically at the air, Goku realised what was happening.
Before he could adjust himself, Frieza's hand shot up and Krillin's body mimicked the action, flying up into the stratosphere.
"No!" Goku screamed.
Frieza's open palmed hand constricted into a punch.
In the air, Krillin shrieked.
"Help me, ah-
His body engorged for a moment and then burst like a balloon.
There was no prolonged torture.
No chance to save the man's life.
Just there one minute and gone the next.
Blood and gore rained down from the sky which had begun to darken, dropping neatly into the Namekian water where the fish could feed on Krillin's remains. As Gohan caught sight of the minced flesh floating on the water's surface, he realised that nothing discernable was left, nothing to identify the person that was Krillin.
"Heh, pop goes the weasel," Frieza jibed in a sing song voice.
There was a violent lurch of Ki.
Gohan started from his horrified trance and stared at his father. Power was undulating from Goku's vibrating form in waves that created distorting heat lines against the ground. His muscles were flexed, drawn as taut as they could possibly go, massive as they pumped with power. A vein was throbbing on his temple and slowly, oh so slowly, his hair was rising up until it was a black flame on his head, reminiscent of Vegeta, reminiscent of the Saiyan elite…
The breath huffing out from deep within him created steam on the air, reminding Gohan of an enraged bull about to charge. Static electricity was starting to pop in the air around him, concentrated on the space where his aura should have been visible.
For the moment, at least, Goku was the embodiment of rage itself. There was nothing else.
"I won't…let you get away…with this," Goku barked out in a cracked voice, his shoulders hunching as his Ki bulged.
There was a magnified thud – the sound of a heart beat projected from an invisible megaphone and Goku's neck arched, his hair burning from black to a magnificent, flaming gold.
Above them, thunder boomed out across the land and lightning streaked down from the sky to crash haphazardly in the water though this was unlike any lightning Gohan had ever seen. There was no flash preceding the descent of raw electricity to the world below, only veins of luminescent light so close that Gohan thought he could see the lightning made up of tiny pixels of energy.
Goku's Ki was erratic, flinching jaggedly as it transcended to new heights and for a few petrifying moments, Gohan wondered if he was going to over-power himself.
With one last roaring yell, Goku's aura finally inflamed around him, white fading to mesmorising gold and his eyes lightened – colouring from black to an unsettling teal. As this new, terrifying transformation was completed, his Ki stabilised, staying steadily within the realms of inconceivability.
Standing as he was on the hill, Frieza simply gaped, sporting roughly the same expression as a dead fish. He knew intrinsically that whatever had just happened, it wasn't good for him. He could still remember the beating he had taken from the brat when he had threatened to undergo a similar, freakish transformation and this time, with this Saiyan…it seemed to be a lot more controlled.
'This isn't good,' the overlord thought to himself, gulping when he started automatically thinking about Vegeta's constant reminders of the Saiyan legend.
'There's no way the legends could be true…not about this pathetic third class survivor…Vegeta was always going on about how it was the right of the Royal House to obtain the legendary state known as Super Saiyan…'
Goku could feel the anger twisting in his gut and the responsive power setting his veins on fire. This Ki was…intoxicating, primal and he found himself struggling to hold on to rational thought. As he regarded the universe's tyrant, he found himself itching to engage in battle, not only so that he could escape this forsaken planet, but for the pure adrenaline fuelled thrill of clashing with something cataclysmal – playing the game of gods and monsters.
Nothing else seemed to matter now, nothing else would ever give him greater pleasure…yet there was enough of himself remaining to turn to the stunned boy sitting by the limp body of the Namekian that had taken a blast for him.
"Take Piccolo and go now," Goku ordered, his voice hard-edged.
Gohan remained frozen in place, completely dumbfounded by what he had just witnessed. His father honestly seemed to have become some sort of super entity, the power he was pumping out was insane, completely baffling.
When Gohan didn't respond, Goku felt an upheaval of serious fury roll through him, something he had never experienced in regards to his son before. He knew that getting angry at the boy like this was going to be unnecessarily damaging. Gohan was just a little boy caught up in a situation that would be beyond normal adult comprehension. It wasn't his fault if he was experiencing a moment of shock but somehow Goku just couldn't keep himself in check.
"This is the last time I'm going to tell you!" Goku ground out, trying to curb the rise in vocal volume and control the damage he was about to do.
Gohan seemed to snap to attention as he heard the threat in his father's tone. For half a second, his eyes lingered on the bright spectacle of his father, the unfamiliar golden hair, the prodigious, pulsating aura and the icy eyes before he hoisted Piccolo swiftly onto his tiny shoulders and kicked off into the sky.
Goku watched his son with level eyes, feeling his lungs expand as he breathed in, turning only when the boy was more or less a dark dot on the horizon.
The tyrant was staring at him with wide, enraged eyes. His teeth were bared.
"You think anyone is allowed to leave this place without my permission?" Frieza screeched, raising his hand up until he had the retreating figure in his line of sight. He smiled triumphantly and started to shoot out a blast of Ki but at the last possible moment, his opponent appeared before him, grabbing his hand and snapping it back so a bone in his wrist broke. The tyrant blinked slowly, disbelief making it difficult to process the pain but when it caught up with him, he cried out in anguish, pulling uselessly at the hand still in an iron grip.
And the thing of it was that despite using all of his strength, he was unable to brake the Saiyan's hold.
Goku's expression was unyielding as he watched his opponent struggle and his eyes seemed to reflect the darkness of Frieza's soul.
'The same, they're the same colour as that awful Spirit Bomb attack,' Frieza thought to himself, horror clawing it's way out through his gut and mixing nauseously with the acute pain shooting out from his wrist.
This had never happened to him before.
Never.
Frieza had travelled throughout the universe and had never found another soul to match him in strength. He had always dominated, always held the pace of a fight. When he had sparred with his brother, the two were almost always evenly matched – sometimes one had an advantage over another but they had never been leagues apart. Frieza had never felt that his efforts had been…ineffective.
He had never felt outclassed before.
Letting his Ki build freely, he used everything he had to pull back and Goku only released him when he was sure that the tyrant had felt the sting of his own helplessness, his own mortality.
Frieza flew back in the air, hovering now above the tiny island where Goku's transformation had taken place. He was panting heavily and rubbing at his damaged wrist, he eyes fixed on the Saiyan's relentless gaze.
Those eyes irritated him.
"Well I see the monkey has a little bite after all," Frieza sneered, hiding his newfound uneasiness behind arrogant words.
Goku said nothing, simply slipping back into a ready stance, the wind whipping golden hair over his serious face.
Will Sensou and Shorai's plan to save Gohan work? Will Goku defeat Frieza now that he's managed to turn Super Saiyan? Will I ever be able to spell like a normal human being again?
Find out next time on…Despicable Me 2!
Bottom…BWAHAHAHAHAHA…
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