Disclaimer: I own nothing
Pairing: Goku/Kagome/Vegeta
Rated: M (dark themes, language)
Yes, they were getting absolutely trashed.
"What are we going to do when he transforms again...?" Kagome muttered, getting up for the fifth time, though it much more slowly this time, "We can barely keep up with this form." She panted, her chest heaving as she stared at the two other Saiyans and the Namekian all-out attack Frieza, but it didn't seem to do much damage.
She pushed off the ground once more, joining the chaotic fray again as Frieza seemed to fend them all off easily, "Three Saiyans and a Namekian all join forces – and this is all you have?" Frieza snickered darkly, punching Vegeta in the gut while kneeing Goku in the back as he lashed at Piccolo with his severed tail and headbutted Kagome all in the same second.
Kagome let out a quiet groan of pain as she smashed into the ground for the sixth time. Her body ached all over, but she couldn't afford to listen to it if she wanted to live.
"They're losing...!" Gohan noted with a shiver, observing the fight from a safe distance. He clenched his teeth, having a hard time just sitting back and watching when he could be doing something – after all, something was better than nothing, "I have to help!" He decided right then and there, ignoring Krillin's warning to came back as he rushed forwards.
"Frieza, you big bastard!" Gohan cursed, stopping right above Frieza and charging a massive amount of Ki that was supplied directly by his anger. Everyone paused for a moment, just staring at him while the ball of Ki in his hand steadily grew bigger and bigger.
Gohan's proceeding scream echoed throughout the sky as he released the energy in a wide, never-ending beam of pure power. Frieza simply smirked in response, bracing himself on the air as the Ki slammed into him. Instead of disintegrating like any other being would, he stayed intact as the power slowly managed to push him back.
Everyone watched in awe as Gohan's power somehow managed to push Frieza straight into the ground, creating a crater so deep that no one could see the bottom of it. It stayed silent for only a few seconds, until the massive amount of energy that Gohan threw came flying back up at him as Frieza had deflected it.
The half-breed Saiyan gasped, his body completely frozen as his energy neared him closely, "Move it, Kid!" Kagome snarled, dashing as fast as she possibly could to snatch Gohan out of the way just in time.
Gohan stared blankly at nothing from the safety of Kagome's arms, still in disbelief that Frieza had deflected his massive attack, "C-close one... thanks, Kagome." He snapped out of his daze, shyly thanking the older warrior as she huffed loudly.
"Yeah, sure, Brat." Kagome narrowed her blue eyes, watching as Frieza landed harmlessly on the ground, staring up at them with arrogant confidence.
"Much like Kagome, the half-breed child's powers flares with his emotions..." Frieza observed, "I should watch out for him," He frowned, not too pleased at the moment, "It's about time I eradicated the Saiyan species for good this time."
"What's he doing?" Goku asked, staring down at Frieza as he contorted into a strange position, shouting out loudly, "His Ki is rising fast!"
"Though I can easily wipe you all out in this form," Frieza laughed deeply, his form shifting grotesquely once again, "I think it will be far more satisfying to slaughter you in my final form! I want to see the look of terror on your faces when you finally realise just how puny your power is compared to mine!"
Vegeta grit his teeth, recalling a rather important detail about Kagome at the very moment, "Kagome!" He called out, knowing this was probably his only chance to do this while Frieza was busy with his final transformation.
"What?" Kagome looked at him with a raised brow, wondering if Vegeta came up with a plan, "Do you have an idea?" She asked quietly, unconsciously shivering at the rise in Ki due to Frieza's transformation.
"Attack me with everything you have and then heal me, got it?" Vegeta snarled, his scowl darkening when Kagome looked taken back, "Don't just stand there, gawking at me! This is a direct order from your Prince!"
Kagome stayed silent for a moment, suddenly releasing Gohan and pounding Vegeta in the stomach with everything she had to take him off guard. His armour shattered under the force and Kagome quickly followed after him and caught him before he hit the ground.
"Kagome, what are you doing?" Goku yelled out, having witnessed the random attack, "Why did you just attack Vegeta?" He kept a close watch on Frieza's transformation, though kept on glancing back at Vegeta and Kagome.
"I don't know if I can heal you fully," Kagome warned, letting her blue healing energy flow into the burn on Vegeta's stomach. She narrowed her eyes, looking up at Dende, who was near them and peering out timidly from a rock, "Hey, Green-chan, get over here!" She ordered and Dende let out a noise of surprise and hesitantly followed her command, "You can heal, can't you? I need you to help me heal Vegeta here."
"N-no...!" Dende whimpered, taking a step back when Kagome frowned deeply at him, "N-not after what you two did to my kin!" He shook visibly, "You don't deserve my help!"
Vegeta snapped one eye open, baring his fangs at Dende, "Y-you little bitch...!" He spat, "Do you want to die by Frieza's hand? I'll become stronger if you heal me! We might have a chance, then!"
"I-I won't do it!" Dende snivelled, "You killed my people!"
Kagome sighed with silent irritation, "Listen, Green-chan, if you don't heal Vegeta, then you will die under Frieza's feet and trust me when I say it won't be pretty." She warned.
"B-but...!" Dende looked very reluctant, sighing in defeat as Kagome stared down at him relentlessly, "Very well, I shall help you." He mumbled, kneeling down in front of Vegeta and adding his own healing powers to Kagome's.
After a few minutes, Vegeta quickly got up to his feet; flexing and tensing his muscles. After he was satisfied, he glared down at Dende, "You little...!" He growled, preparing to give the Namekian child a brutal kick as punishment for disobeying him.
However, Kagome quickly caught his leg at the last second, "We don't have time for this, Vegeta!" She snapped, feeling the wind pick up ominously, "Frieza has to be almost down transforming by now!" The female Saiyan glanced down at Dende, "Green-chan, go heal the others before Frieza is finished!" She ordered, getting a hesitant nod in response as he flew off to do as she asked.
"Do you feel any stronger?" Kagome asked, glancing over at the dissipating smoke, "Is that Frieza's true form?" She frowned heavily, expecting something a little more horrifying than this.
"We finally get to see Frieza's true power," Vegeta spat and the two stepped forward to join the others, "Not that it matters now! I'm finally a Super Saiyan!"
"I have to admit, I thought he'd be bigger," Goku scratched the back of his head, glancing over as Piccolo stood to his feet, having been healed fully by Dende, "I think his other forms were more scary!"
"You idiot!" Piccolo growled, "You should know by now that one's physical strength has nothing to do with their outward appearance!" He trembled in rage, "It's hopeless, now! All my training and all your time looking for the Dragon Balls were for nothing!"
"You shouldn't say that!" Goku advised, "There's only one of him and a bunch of us!" He tried to encourage the group, though it didn't really have any effect.
No one even saw the next move coming.
Frieza simply lifted one of his fingers, "Bang." Everyone turned around in shock when a terrified scream reached their ears and a small explosion blasted behind them.
"The Namekian brat...?" Vegeta muttered in disbelief, "Why him first?" He watched the smoke clear, seeing Dende's lifeless body lying motionlessly on the ground.
He was dead.
"N-no...!" Gohan cried out, "Dende!"
'No one had any time to react! I didn't even see him move!' Kagome bit her lip, now feeling that this was rather hopeless, just as Piccolo had claimed it was just moments ago.
"That should speed things up," Frieza chuckled lightly, "One less pest to deal with. You can no longer heal yourselves with the child gone."
"He's gonna pay!" Gohan snarled, preparing to charge, though stopping when he noticed that Frieza was no longer in sight, "H-he's gone! Where'd he go"
"Move it." Vegeta ordered quietly, subtly pushing Kagome while taking to the air. She blinked, hesitantly following after him just as Frieza reappeared.
"I'm right behind you," Frieza smirked, making everyone turn around in shock, "It's such a shame that your little friend won't be joining us. When you see him in the next world, you can tell him what he missed."
With his cruel little statement, Gohan cried out in rage, charging Frieza without any hesitation. He swiftly punched the air, though Frieza easily avoided it with a mere tilt of his head. It was another couple of tilts that saw Krillin and Piccolo's next attacks miss as well.
The three charged again at the same time, though to Frieza, it merely looked as if they were moving in slow motion to his superior senses.
"Why is Kakarott just standing there?" Kagome observed with a frown, watching from the sky beside Vegeta so they could look for the perfect opening to attack. Her eyes flickered back to the fighting below and she widened them when she noticed that all three were standing there, obviously having lost sight of Frieza, "You morons! He's behind you again!" She shouted out in warning, gasping when Frieza let loose yet another lethal blast right in Gohan's direction, "Gohan!" She cried out desperately, watching helplessly as the kid just stood there in shock.
Gohan let out a noise of surprise when he suddenly pushed to the ground and thus, avoiding the attack by a mere few centimetres, "Dad!" He let out a breath of relief, looking up to see Goku standing in front of him, looking very serious, "You saved me!"
"L-look at that!" Krillin gasped in disbelief, observing as Frieza's blast annihilated a few surrounding mountains with no trouble at all.
Goku stepped forward, ready to get into this, though he stopped when Vegeta stepped down in front of him, "Back off, Kakarott!" Vegeta smirked, "Frieza is mine! The rest of you – just stay back and enjoy the show." He said confidently, much to Goku's shock.
"Vegeta!" Goku did not look amused, but Vegeta only gave him a death glare in response.
"Has your despair caused you to go delusional?" Frieza asked casually, actually looking quite amused.
"I have become what you fear most!" Vegeta laughed darkly, "What stands before you now is a Super Saiyan!"
"What's he talking about?" Kagome muttered as her current comrades looking somewhat confused at Vegeta's words, "I thought that Super Saiyans changed somewhat in their appearance? Maybe I was wrong?" She pondered out loud, "The legends were pretty vague..."
Frieza widened his red eyes for a moment, but then gave a light chuckle, "I had no idea that you had such a sense of humour!" He laughed, believing that Vegeta was bluffing.
"Scoff at me all you like! I'll show you why you were right to fear the legends of the Super Saiyan!" Vegeta crouched down, baring his fangs as his Ki raised exponentially. Electrified energy surged off him in waves as the ground shook violently underneath his raw power.
"We need to take cover!" Krillin warned, taking to the sky as the rest did the same.
"I don't know what this Super Saiyan business is – but his new power is amazing!" Piccolo said, glancing over at Kagome when she responded.
"That is the idea. Every time a Saiyan recovers from considerable damage, we grow that much stronger," Kagome explained, "That's why I attacked him earlier," She narrowed her blue eyes, feeling something vaguely off, 'Have you really become a Super Saiyan, Vegeta?' She couldn't help but be doubtful, despite Vegeta's immense power up.
A blinding flash of light blinded them all and when they regained their vision, Vegeta and Frieza were simply staring each other down silently, "It's like Vegeta's a whole different person! All that power!" Gohan gasped in awe.
"Was that little light show intended to intimidate me?" Frieza asked with a smirk, crossing his arms and shaking his head with a seemingly disappointed sigh.
"You're lucky you discarded your scouter when you did, otherwise you would have seen that my power is now above even yours!" Vegeta retorted, "I suppose I'll just have to show you when I force you down to your knees!"
"This has gone on far enough," Frieza said, "You've played the superhero long enough. But I suppose I can humour you and let you play the Super Saiyan for a while longer. Show me your legendary strength."
Vegeta charged without another word, slashing the air with his arm. He hit nothing but air as Frieza dodged it with his incredible speed, "You can't run!" Vegeta snarled, aiming for the very spot Frieza reappeared in. However, the alien simply shifted over and over as Vegeta threw out a few thousand punches within seconds.
"Yes, Vegeta's got him!" Krillin cheered along with Gohan, though the three remaining adult warriors did not look as optimistic.
"No, it's not enough!" Kagome clenched her fangs, "Frieza is still only toying with Vegeta!" She watched in disbelief as Frieza managed to out-speed Vegeta, so quickly that the latter didn't even see him land again on the ground.
"I make one little move and your head is spinning," Frieza snickered, "Perhaps you aren't so Super after all," His tail swished again, "If those are the limits to your abilities, then I'm afraid you don't stand a chance against me," He sadistically enjoyed Vegeta's shock, "But if you really are a Super Saiyan, then I've been worried all this time about nothing."
"I won't be defeated by the likes of you!" Vegeta snarled, bursting once again with electrified Ki. He focused all of it into one powerful heated beam of energy, directing it directly to Frieza.
Frieza simply leapt into the air, avoiding all of Vegeta's other attacks as he weaved up and down in the sky.
Vegeta flew up even higher, gather all his remaining energy for one final blast, enough to completely destroy the entire planet of Namek. He released it with a loud cry, gasping in disbelief as Frieza merely kicked it to deflect it back into space.
"He deflected a blast of that size like it was nothing...!" Piccolo snarled, "That was all the power Vegeta had!"
"Now, then," Frieza said, widening his stance, "Let's see how you fend off one of my attacks," He glowed with an eerie white Ki, gently hovering in the air, "Brace yourself. Here I come."
Kagome immediately stiffened when she scented the smell of tears, "Vegeta!" She yelled out desperately, flying as fast as she could, though it wasn't fast enough. She bit the inside of her cheek until it bled as Frieza slammed his head into Vegeta and then smashed his tail into him.
Vegeta let out a pained cry, falling back down to the ground, though Kagome caught him before he could crash into the water underneath, "Vegeta!" Kagome struggled to hold him up as her panic started to blind her. She let out a breath of horror when Frieza appeared in front of them.
"How cute," Frieza sneered, "And here I thought you two would be useful to me. I took you underneath my wing, gave you special treatment, and this is how you repay me?" Kagome could not avoid his kick while holding Vegeta at the same time, but she refused to let go.
Kagome let out a pained noise when her back slammed into the ground, Vegeta's weight only adding to force, "If you had only remained loyal to me, then you would had never known this misery." Frieza smirked, glancing back at the others with his crimson eyes.
Frieza sadistically enjoyed punching Kagome around, letting Vegeta go for now as she threw him away from her to try and protect him for the time being. It was a brutal elbow to the stomach that sent her back into the ground, though she didn't hit the dirt because Goku caught her just in time.
"Kagome..." Goku asked in concern, growling loudly when Frieza landed in front of them, looking very amused at his worry, "Kagome, wake up!" He shook her, though she was completely blacked out. He glanced up, his eyes filling with rage and vehemence, "I won't ever forgive you, Frieza!"
Goku glowed with a powerful blue energy, settling Kagome gently down against Gohan as he wrapped his arms worriedly around her neck, "Take care of her, Gohan." He ordered, walking slowly deliberately towards Frieza.
"It seems this planet is absolutely crawling around with trash," Frieza snorted, though he narrowed his eyes as he stared into the familiar face, 'Where have I seen that face before?' He thought, widening his eyes when it finally came back to him, 'It's him! The one who lead the little Saiyan rebellion against me! Bardock!' He didn't let his irritation show on his face, "What can a little Saiyan do against me alone? Save yourself the trouble and tuck your tail between your legs."
"Sorry, but I lost my tail a long time ago," Goku expression did not waver, "Let's go." He easily dodged Frieza's unexpected attack, kicking up his booted foot into the back of Frieza's neck and sending him flying into the sky.
Frieza quickly preformed a back flip to right himself, landing gracefully on the ground. He held his face, which one side had turned a light red colour in response to Goku's kick. His frown turned to a ruthless smile as he pointed his fingers in a gun-like motion, "Insolent monkey." He released the lethal Ki like a bullet, growling when Goku simply flicked it away as if it were a mere fly. He sent off hundreds more, but Goku's arms blurred so quickly that the human could not see them moving as he easily batted the Ki away.
Vegeta laughed weakly from his spot on the ground, "You better not hold anything back against this one, Frieza," He smirked, opening one eye to look at his former tyrant, "Because he truly is the thing you fear most in this universe," He barely managed to slightly sit up, "Kakarott's a real Super Saiyan!"
Frieza looked shocked at the information and Vegeta felt dark amusement from the expression, "Yeah, you heard me! The legendary warrior that even exceeds your power stands before you now! Just wait, you finally will get to taste true fear, something you've long deserved!"
Even Goku could not save Vegeta from Frieza's next attack.
Vegeta gasped, falling back to the ground as the thin beam of power cut straight through his chest, "Why you!" Goku snarled, "Vegeta could hardly even move, let alone defend himself! Nobody deserves to be treated like that!"
"It serves him right for prattling on about those silly legends," Frieza sneered, "Super Saiyan, indeed? I will not allow such foolish talk!"
"N-no..." Vegeta panted, curling his fingers into the dirt, "You're still preaching that pity nonsense? That means you're still holding back!" Vegeta growled, staring Goku right in the eye, "You're not a Super Saiyan, not yet! You have to harden your heart to fully become a Super Saiyan! Put aside your mercy!"
"I could never act as cold-blooded as you do," Goku replied with a frown, "Not even if it made me stronger. If that's really what it takes to become a Super Saiyan thing – then I think I will pass!" Vegeta tried to go on, though he quickly cut him off, "Quit talking! Your wasting your energy and just making things worse for yourself!"
Vegeta did not heed his advice, "Kakarott, you have to listen to me! You need to know what happened to my, Kagome's, and your home planet! It's gone – destroyed, but not because it collided with a giant meteor. It was Frieza! That monster did it!" Goku widened his eyes when tears appeared in Vegeta's eyes and Kagome stirred at the scent, "Even after we Saiyans served him faithfully and blindly followed his every command... he betrayed us! He disposed of our species like we were nothing more than trash, just for existing! And now, we three are all that remain..."
Kagome weakly opened her eyes, blankly listening in against Gohan's shoulder, "Your parents, my father – the King, Kagome's parents, everyone is gone! We were growing in number and Frieza feared that a Super Saiyan would appear among us and it terrified him!" Vegeta weakly reached out to Goku, the tears flowing steadily down his cheeks, "I'm begging you, Kakarott! Beat him, for me, for Kagome, for all of us! Avenge the Saiyan race! Please...!"
Kagome felt all her breath leave her as Vegeta's arm fell weakly to the ground and his eyes closed for the last time. Her mouth opened to say something, though nothing came out. Her chest constricted with terrible pain and she stared numbly at Vegeta's motionless body.
"Finally finished, is he?" She didn't hear Frieza's amused voice and for the first time in her entire life, Kagome felt a burning in her eyes.
Something wet slid down her cheeks and she gasped when her heart seemed to stop its painful beating, "VEGETA!" She screamed, glowing with a blinding light that lasted for a few moments.
And not too far away, a small forgotten jewel glowed in response to its master's call.
When the light faded, the tips of Kagome's hair were spiked and golden...
Evil cliffie is evil!
(Review, please!)