Gine spiraled through the air, peppering Frieza with ki blasts to pin him down. He absorbed them on an upflung forearm, shooting answering blasts with his free hand. She dodged them, spinning a lazy barrel roll and then dropping several hundred feet in an instant. While Frieza was still looking at the place she had been, Gine rushed him from the side and roundhouse-kicked him in the head. She felt one of his teeth give way and she smiled.
Growling, Frieza snatched at her foot, but she had already danced out of reach. With a roar he powered up a huge ki blast and flung it at her. She bent backwards to avoid it, the blast ruffling her hair as it passed overhead.
That had been close. If she'd been just a little slower she would have been burnt to cinders.
Frieza grinned.
"That was impressive, Saiyan. But I wonder how many more times you can pull that off."
He charged her again. Gine could tell he thought the fight was nearly over. That was fine. Technically he wasn't wrong. In terms of mere power he had her beat. If she lost concentration, even for a moment, she would lose. But Gine had been in a situation like this before.
She had been vastly more powerful than Demon King Piccolo, and he had still nearly won through mind games and capitalizing on her mistakes. She'd let worry for her son break her concentration, and the demon king, as the more experienced fighter, had hardly needed more of an opening than that.
This time, though, she was the more experienced fighter. This time, she would not lose concentration.
No matter what.
Kakarot noticed Vegeta out of the corner of his eye and forced his gaze away from the fight. The Prince was crawling toward Dende, and he was finally close enough that the boy felt the need to back up. Gohan stood between them protectively.
"Please…" Vegeta said weakly. He was clutching his side where Frieza had crushed his ribs. One of his legs was broken and dragging. He looked at Dende, who looked back with fear and disgust, then looked at Gohan, full of righteous fury, and then he turned to Kakarot. "Please… have mercy…"
The utter balls it took for him to say those words was almost impressive.
"Why should we?" Gohan shot back. "I bet you've never showed anyone mercy in your whole life!"
Vegeta shook his head, still looking at Kakarot.
"I… kept my word… I didn't... harm your boy…"
Kakarot glanced at Gohan, who glowered helplessly. It was true. He turned back to the Prince, who, he realized, had wiped the same string of blood and saliva from his mouth four times now. He was bleeding internally, likely dying as they watched. Kakarot looked at Dende.
"No!" Dende shook his head violently, backing up a step even though Kakarot hadn't moved. "No, I won't!"
"Dende," Kakarot said softly. From miles away a sound like thunder bellowed over the plains and a brief flash lit the sky. Kakarot knelt so he was eye level with Dende. "I know, kiddo, but we can't just leave him like this, and you're the only one who can help him." The boy shook his head again, hiding behind Gohan, who was giving his father a stricken look. Kakarot looked at Vegeta.
"Well?" he said. Vegeta stared at him. "I can't make him do anything, Vegeta. You're going to have to help yourself a little here."
"Feh!" Vegeta spat, and looked away. "My pride... does not bend so easily. Let me... die, then. But let me... see Frieza's demise... before I do."
"Stop talking, Vegeta," Kakarot ordered. "You're just making it worse."
"Shut up!" Vegeta coughed painfully, flecks of blood spattering the ground in front of him. "You know… he killed us all… do you not? But do you know… what happened… after?"
"After?" In the distance Kakarot saw a huge plume of water erupt from the ocean, though which fighter had just been flung into its depths he wasn't certain. "What do you mean?"
"The day after it happened… Frieza called the three of us before him…" Vegeta's breath hitched and Kakarot was amazed to see tears start streaming down his cheeks. "We all knew… what he'd done... and we were certain... he was about to... finish the job. But instead… he apologized… for not seeing the 'meteor'... sooner. He sat there and acted sorry… and we had to… forgive him…" Vegeta clenched his teeth and sobbed for a moment. "It went on like that for years… His cruelty was inventive… and boundless…" He opened one eye and glared at Kakarot. "Your mother… thinks she knows what he's like… but she doesn't… She can't… That's why... it has... to be me..."
Vegeta closed his eyes and sighed, and Kakarot saw belatedly the sizable puddle of blood that had been forming under his chin. He turned to Dende once more.
"Please, Dende, he's dying. I promise you I won't let him hurt anyone else."
Dende screwed up his face in dismay. Kakarot was afraid he was going to refuse again, but then Nail was there, kneeling next to the boy with a sorrowful look.
"I know how you feel, little brother," he said. "But I think you should help him. Not for him," he said to the look of betrayal on Dende's face, "but for yourself. Don't be a person who lets vengeance rule his heart."
More tears dripped from Dende's eyes. A fierce wind whipped around as the combatants streaked overhead, clashing again miles away. Dende looked at them, and then at Vegeta, whose breathing grew shallower as they watched. The boy's antennae stretched and curled in agitation, until finally he inhaled sharply, as though bracing himself. He held up his hands, and the warm glow of healing illuminated Vegeta's body.
"Thank you, Dende," Kakarot breathed. The boy only turned his head away, though whether it was Vegeta he was refusing to look at, or Kakarot, it was not clear. Nail squeezed his shoulder once and then stood and headed back to the house. Kakarot glanced at Chi Chi, but she remained as she had been, her gaze fixed firmly on her mother-in-law.
After a minute Vegeta began to stir, and in another minute he sat up, breathing deeply. He stood, throwing a few punches into the air, and then nodded, satisfied. From the corner of his eye he glanced at Dende.
"When Frieza is dead and I rule the galaxy," he said, "this will not go unrewarded."
Dende was so offended by this he looked ready to spit. But Vegeta looked away from him without another word and tensed to take off.
"Whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" Kakarot demanded, planting himself in Vegeta's path. The Prince glared.
"I'm going to kill Frieza."
Kakarot shook his head. "My ma's got that taken care of. This isn't your fight anymore, Vegeta."
"Like hell it isn't!" Vegeta bellowed. "Didn't you listen to a word I said? Frieza slaughtered my people, tormented me for years. He will die by my hand and no other!"
"He slaughtered her people too!" Kakarot shouted. "She has just as much right to kill him as you do!"
"You stupid low class!" Vegeta actually laughed. "Whether it is her right, you think she has what it takes to defeat Lord Frieza himself? Only the Legendary Super Saiyan has any hope of killing him, and that, obviously, is me."
Kakarot flung out a hand at his mother, who had gotten Frieza by the tail and was spinning him around. She released him and he slammed into the ground.
"Looks like she's doin' a pretty good job to me," he said flatly. Vegeta ground his teeth, but before he could make a retort Frieza exploded from the ground, seething with rage.
"Enough!"
The emperor strained, nearly folding in half with effort, and out of his back sprouted several large spikes. His face and head elongated, growing more grotesque until he looked positively ghoulish. His power spiked massively as he changed, and when Gine charged, sensing a distraction, he batted her away without looking.
His transformation finished, Frieza straightened. Stretched. Everyone gaped at him and he grinned.
"And, you know, this isn't even my final form."
