A/N: I really appreciate the reviews and support; it means a lot to me. This chapter took longer than I expected and it is a little shorter than I'd like, but I just really wanted to get something out. I'm going to pick up again with faster updates, and I definitely plan to start the next chapter tomorrow. Please review and let me know what you think about this chapter. Thanks.
"I'll admit you gave me quite the surprise, kid," Frieza began, eyes frighteningly narrowing as he regarded Gohan, "but don't let it go to your head. After all, your power level can't even begin to compare to mine."
Gohan, gaping at Frieza with wide eyes, just couldn't believe it. He was still at a loss for words, and as he continuously replayed what transpired in his head over and over, Gohan still wasn't certain as to how to handle this. This must be what helplessness felt like - something of which he had hoped to never experience again after the whole Saiyan ordeal. He had given his all in the previous attacks, and seeing as he did indeed put forth quite the effort, he was nearly out of gas. Not only that, but his father had yet to heal completely and his uncle wasn't able to fight at the moment - he wasn't even sure when he'd be able to. Dende wasn't a warrior and if his attacks did nothing against Frieza, then neither would Krillin's. It seemed as if, the longer the fight (if it could be labeled as one) continued, the more apparent it became that they couldn't win.
Though, what made them think they stood a chance in the first place?
Vegeta, a scowl on his face, was thinking along the same lines of Gohan. However, unlike Gohan, he was more composed and refused to accept the idea that Frieza couldn't be defeated. Despite how powerful he was, Frieza had to have a weakness - everyone, whether they liked it or not, had a weakness. He didn't care if Frieza's power level was two million, that feen was no exception. If that was the case, then what was their next move? Raditz was no longer useful to him, and a quick glance in Gohan's direction, confirmed that the half-breed was just as useless. Even from here, Vegeta could tell that his recent actions took a lot out of him; he was panting exhaustively.
Frieza's sudden action of taking a few steps forwards, ceased Gohan's and Vegeta's thoughts, snapping their attention onto him. With a sinister grin and an expression just as sinister, the tyrant allowed his body to noticeably increase in size, enjoying the look of horror on his victim's faces. Laughing sadistically, he made a show of weighing out his options, his red eyes darting back and forth between Gohan and Vegeta, "I wonder who my next victim will be. Any volunteers?"
Of course, Frieza received no response, but he seemingly didn't expect one, or care for one. And judging by the way he was leisurely ascending in order to be at eye-level with his opponents, it seemed as if he already had one in mind. By the time either of his opponents had registered that he was before them, Frieza was already charging towards an wide-eyed Gohan, slugging him as hard as he could in the face and then following it up with a harsh knee to the stomach. Sporting an blank expression on his face, Gohan spluttered out blood, seemingly unable to continue any longer. Even if it was just two attacks, those two attacks had enough force behind it to do more damage than one could even begin to imagine. His entire body felt paralyzed, and if it was as if he no longer had control of his body. There was no way he'd be able to fight any more; he just didn't have the strength to do so at the moment. Defeated, he motionlessly fell backwards.
But Frieza had other plans, and he wasn't quite finished.
And with a swing of the leg, he sent the small Saiyan hurling towards the ground, the sheer force of Frieza's kick enough to make him slam into the ground and bounce back up upon impact.
"How disappointing." Frieza commented when Gohan had yet to move after a few seconds or so. "Surely, you have more than that." If so, then he certainly didn't want to wait all day. Though, he did desire to see some of that strength the kid had been displaying merely moments ago; however, it was as if it suddenly vanished. Unbeknownst to Frieza, though, Vegeta wasn't just standing around. No; in fact, the Saiyan Prince took Frieza's distraction as an opportunity to catch him off guard, sending a large ki blast towards the tyrant. Swiftly, Vegeta followed up his previous attack with another ki blast; this time, though, he formed ki blasts in either of his hands and combined them into a much larger one, watching on with an arrogant smirk on his features.
"You deserve nothing less for underestimating me, Frieza!"
He'd like to see Frieza get back up from that. Frieza may have been able to take the half-breed's attacks with relative ease, but he was on a far different level than that kid. He was the Prince of all Saiyans and he was the one destined to become a Super Saiyan; it was his birthright and Frieza stood no chance. Yes, Vegeta mentally assured himself, the whole reason Frieza destroyed his home planet in the first place was because of the fear he contained for his race. However, Vegeta found his thoughts drifting into a whole different direction upon seeing the smoke, produced from the explosion of his ki blasts, lift, revealing Frieza not only still alive but unscathed as well. Vegeta's black eyes widened considerably, his mouth falling agape; his shock and horror very much evident. It was surreal. How was this even possible?
Vegeta clenched his fists, noticeably shaking.
Frieza, hands folded across his chest, regarded Vegeta out of the corner of his eyes, enjoying his frightened expression. Frieza cracked a smirk. "Why you look a little pale, Vegeta. Is something the matter? You didn't seriously think an attack like that could do much against me, did you?" As Frieza expected, Vegeta didn't respond, but Frieza had other matters in mind, descending down to where Gohan was, "I'll be with you shortly." He informed Vegeta, not even bothering to spare a glance at the Prince; instead, he kept his eyes trained on Gohan, his smirk increasing upon halting directly before him. "Finally getting back on your feet, are you?"
Gohan, whom was shakily pushing himself up to his hands and knees, shifted his scowl onto Frieza. An image of his uncle briefly appeared in his head and he clenched the dirt beneath his fingers, realizing that he wouldn't be able to save him like this. How much time has passed since his uncle fell into the water? Was it even a possibility that he was still alive? Even after all of this time? If only Frieza allowed him to go through when he needed to. Gradually, Gohan found his anger from earlier coming back, and all it took was Frieza's smirk to widened a fraction more before Gohan was lunging for him. The small Saiyan dished out a volley of kicks, applying even more force behind his kicks when he realized that Frieza was merely evading them. Even so, Gohan was determined to at least land one hit on the guy. He had to. He needed to make him pay for what he did to his uncle. And with that in mind, Gohan decided to switch it up a little, cocking his fist back as far it would go, and hurling it forwards.
Expertly, with relative ease, Frieza evaded it with a backwards jerk of the head, kneeing Gohan in the midsection again. Relentlessly, Frieza grabbed a fist full of Gohan's black hair before he could fall, and tugged as hard as he could. Defenseless, Gohan could do nothing but release a pained scream as he felt his hair being forcefully removed from his scalp. Little did he know, though, his screams of pain were nothing short of music to Frieza's ears. Frieza smirked. It was a shame how the majority of his opponents failed to last long. Much to Frieza's dismay, it appeared as if his current opponent would do nothing but fall soon as well. It was a pity, really; especially, when he had so much in store for him. Frieza's eyes shifted onto Vegeta, watching with mild amusement as the Prince instinctively slipped into that of a defensive position. Hopefully, his favorite Saiyan would be able to endure far longer than the one before him. Reverting his attention back onto Gohan, he uncaringly tossed him onto the ground, hefting up a foot and preparing to stomp him. After all, he might as well give Vegeta something to look forward to, right?
Though, before he could do so, Frieza found himself slightly surprised when Gohan suddenly propelled himself backwards, off the ground with a push of the hands and feet.
"Still have a little fight left in you, after all, huh?" Frieza inquired rhetorically with a grin. Even he had to admit that this particular batch of opponents were far more determined, and had more fight in them than his other opponents in the past. Of course, he didn't have many opponents; not when hardly anyone dared to approach and defy him, but still. The tyrant was finding himself more entertained with each passing second. With that in mind, while Gohan was still hurling backwards and readying an attack, Frieza took it upon himself to phase from within his line of sight and appeared behind him in the same fashion. Swiftly, he presented his horn and was wholly prepared to give Gohan the same treatment he gave Raditz. Gohan, with much difficulty, attempted to halt himself, but it would do nothing but prove futile at such close range. To his slight surprise though, he found himself plummeting towards the ground moments later, courtesy of Frieza's tail and released a pained grunt.
Unlike last time, where he had been sent towards the ground and crashed without another thought, Gohan managed to right himself and pop right back up on his feet. Though, Frieza, proving much too fast for him, appeared behind him just as quick, slamming him into the ground face first by his hair. Pulling back slightly, he placed his foot atop of Gohan's head, proceeding to literally crush the life right out of him. Screaming painfully, Gohan helplessly remained as he was. He wasn't strong enough to force Frieza's weight off of him, and even if he did so, he wouldn't be able to get far. But he had to do something. Laying here and just taking Frieza's attacks wouldn't end well for him. Just what was he supposed to do, though? The pain was so immense that he was having trouble just thinking straight.
"It'll be over soon enough." Frieza falsely assured, well aware that he had no intentions of letting up in the slightest. He could even continue this for as long as he liked, and no one would be able to stop him. If anything, Vegeta certainly didn't plan on aiding the boy. Frieza chuckled, casting a glance over towards the Saiyan. No; if anything, Vegeta was much too petrified to interfere and he very well should be. He had a bone to pick with him, so he had something specifically in store for him. Pressing down harder, Frieza elicited louder screams from Gohan and chuckled, "How cold-hearted of you, Vegeta." Frieza teased in amusement, "This brat's going to die if you don't jump in soon."
Something Vegeta was already aware of. But just why should he interfere? It was futile; therefore, he saw no point in aiding the half-breed. He was finished for and even if he did help him, he wouldn't last much longer anyway. Besides, he had more important matters to focus on, like what he was going to do when Frieza came for him. He needed a plan of some sort; just attacking blindly would do him no good. Not only that, but he needed to preserve as much ki as possible, and seeing as Frieza was currently busy with the kid, perhaps he could even recuperate from his previous attacks. Though, it seemed as if he was having far more turmoil than he thought from just remaining idle, and he wasn't quite sure how to handle that.
"Destructo Disc!" Krillin exclaimed from nearby, hurling his disk-like attack towards Frieza.
With a mere back flip, Frieza managed to evade it; though, he soon found out that he lost a quarter of his tail in the process. Nonetheless, he hadn't received too much damage. That aside, much to his surprise, before he could even mull over how he overlooked the bald human, Raditz suddenly appeared before him with a fist cocked back. Swiftly, Raditz hurled his fist forwards, catching Frieza in the jaw and watched as he stumbled backwards.
Vegeta's eyes widened in shock at the sight before him.
"What the - ? How are you still alive?!" Frieza exclaimed, voicing Vegeta's very thoughts. The tyrant was utterly shocked, and was failing to comprehend what was going on at the moment. He handled Raditz with his own two hands, and watched him lifelessly fall into the vast sea of water. He had impaled him with one of his horns and his tail, yet Raditz was still before him anyhow? What was the meaning of this? However, Frieza had little time to mull over his thoughts, for Raditz was before him again, putting him on the receiving end of rapid punches and kicks.
"Destructo Disc!" Krillin exclaimed yet again, this time firing several, yellow discs towards Frieza. Luckily, they made it to Gohan's aid just in time. As much as he hated to leave Gohan alone to deal with Frieza, he had went after Raditz along with Dende. Initially, he felt as if it was far too late to save the older Sayian, but he could see how much Raditz meant to Gohan and nonetheless, went after him. To his surprise, it was revealed that Dende had the ability to heal; had they found out sooner, then Goku could have been fighting alongside them. Currently, though, he and Raditz came up with the plan of attacking Frieza together, and so far, it didn't look as if it was working out too well; even while fighting Raditz, he was still managing to avoid his attacks.
Narrowly, Raditz ducked the swing of Frieza's fist and popped back up, sending his own fist hurling. However, Frieza blocked it with his forearm and kneed Raditz in the stomach, slamming his elbow into his back as well. Raditz's eyes widened as he spluttered up blood, nonetheless he maneuvered a foot behind Freiza's and pushed outwards as hard as he could, knocking Frieza off his feet. While the tyrant proceeded to fall backwards, he managed to catch him in the jaw. Then, swiftly, he moved to uppercut Frieza, but Frieza jerked his head back with relative ease and head butted Raditz, whom stumbled backwards.
Quickly, Frieza followed it up with a hard kick to the chest. In response, Raditz went hurling backwards, but managed to right himself before he could fall, flipping onto his palms - with his back presented to Frieza - and eased into that of a windmill spin. Pulling his legs in, he pushed himself up and onto his feet with his hands and lunged for Frieza again, cocking his fist back and hurling it forwards. Again, Frieza easily evaded it and caught Raditz's fist before he could retract it back.
"Destructo Disc!" Krillin exclaimed yet again, hurling yet another disc forward.
Quickly, Raditz moved to pull away, but Frieza wasn't easing up in the slightest. In fact, Frieza tightened his hold on Raditz fists, chuckling in utter amusement as he regarded the scowling Saiyan. "I thought you were dead the first time. Apparently, I went too easy on you; nevertheless, I won't fail to get the job done this time."
"There won't be a next time." Raditz retorted, tossing the dirt he collected in his hand into Frieza's eyes, kicking him in the chest and forcing him to release him. Raditz watched as Frieza angrily wiped at his eyes and recovered quick enough to avoid Krillin's attack moments later, cursing at the sight. Even if they worked together, they were no match for him just as none of them were a match for him individually. If that was the case, then just what could they do? He clenched his fists, sparring Vegeta a glance. If only he hadn't goaded Frieza earlier, then they could have still had the slight chance they contained in order to defeat him. But, of course, Vegeta had to allow his stupid pride to get in the way of everything!
"You'll pay for that." Frieza muttered darkly, regarding Raditz with clenched fists. His red eyes darted over to Krillin, narrowing considerably upon recalling that he was the one responsible for cutting off his tail. "As will you. In fact - " Frieza made sure to send Raditz hurling back with a hard kick, before ascending and hurling towards Krillin - "I think I'll start with you!"
Oh, boy.
Though, Krillin supposed he should have expected this. After all, he did cut off Frieza's tail, and not only that, but this was all according to he and Raditz's second plan. The first plan had been to attack Frieza simultaneously, and attempt to keep him on the defensive; however, that plan soon proved futile and didn't work out as well as they hoped, nor intended. The current plan, though, was for him to be the decoy and keep Frieza busy. While he kept Frieza busy, Raditz would charge up his strongest attack, and then attack Frieza when the opportunity presented itself. Dende, on the other hand, was left with the task of healing Gohan and Krillin needed to keep Dende's abilities concealed from Frieza as well. With that in mind, Krillin powered up and took off, not having to look behind him to know that Frieza was giving chase. Krillin cast a quick glance behind him. And, much to his dismay, Frieza was tailing him pretty closely.
Not good.
At this rate, Frieza would catch up to him in no time, and he couldn't afford for that to happen just yet. In other words, he had to think of a plan and quick, or else he was toast. Black eyes widening upon seeing an table-top mountain come into view, sporting countless, large cracks, Krillin quickly changed his course of direction and headed for it. If anything, he could at least make it work to his advantage, and stall for time. Upon reaching it, Krillin was quick to slip in through one of the many large cracks, darkness immediately enveloping him. Leisurely, he made his way through it, ignoring his pounding heart. Frieza, on the other hand, though he could easily destroy Krillin's little hiding area, labeled it as more entertaining to toy around with him. So, with his arms folded across his chest, he appeared on the end he knew his opponent was going to appear at, and took great delight in his frightened expression. As expected, Frieza watched as he immediately whirled around and slipped back in.
Unlike Frieza, Krillin was far from amused, and was more than frightened for his life. But, after reminding himself why he was putting his life on the life, he ceased all irrelevant worries and continued on with his plan. However, much to his dismay, every time he moved to exit the nearly demolished mountain, Frieza managed to already beat him to where he was going. Needless to say, it was pretty much evident that this wouldn't last too much longer. If the fact that he was already out of breath wasn't any indication, then he was fairly certain that Frieza's attempt to smoke him out from within the mountain was. Coughing, covering his mouth and nose area with his forearms, Krillin ascended out of the mountain and found himself on the move again. With a burst of ki, he took off once more and wasn't surprised in the slightest when he realized that Frieza was trailing him.
So, now, what was his next move?
Unfortunately for him, Frieza appeared before him and forced him to halt, halting his thoughts as well.
"How much longer do you think you'll be able to run?" Frieza inquired tauntingly, arms folded across his chest as he regarded an wide-eyed Krillin. "In case you're not sure, it won't be for too much longer, not after you had the audacity to cut off my tail!"
Krillin swore lightly. Now that he was out in the open, he had no choice but to put up some sort of fight. Frieza appeared rather serious at the moment, and seemed determined to make him pay for severing his tail. Well, Krillin thought to himself, here goes nothing. Positioning his hands before him, Krillin formed two yellow ki blasts and sent them both hurling towards Frieze, watching as Frieza easily evaded them. Quickly, taking Frieza's distraction as an opportunity to set things into motion, Krillin positioned his hands accordingly, "Solar Flare!"
On cue, a blinding light suddenly appeared, the intensity of the light forcing Frieza to clamp his eyes shut. Even as powerful as Frieza was, he, like many others, was just as effected, visibly stunned. And then, Krillin whirled his head towards Raditz, "Now! Hurry!"
Phasing in between Krillin and Frieza, Raditz released the rather large, pink ki blast, firing it out of the palm of his hand, "Saturday Crush!" He exclaimed with a battle cry, watching alongside Krillin as it hurled towards an still stunned Frieza. Since the moment the cue ball set to distracting Frieza, he set to accumulating as much of his ki as possible into one attack. Seeing as their last plan failed, this seemed like the only logical thing to do. And if this proved ineffective, well, Raditz just wasn't sure where they were going to go from here. Just where could they go from here if this failed? Ceasing his thoughts, Raditz squinted in order to see past the thick cloud of smoke that had been produced from his attack, anxiously waiting for the smoke to lift. Neither he nor Krillin had to wait long, though, because there Freiza was...
Just as alive as ever.
