'Quite interesting!' mulled Frieza as he sampled the shrimp kabob with no small amount of interest. Grabbing one had been an act of simple arrogance and intended to be a move for the shock value, but having tasted the delicious flavors that the food had been given, Frieza was quite caught off guard.
Quickly overcoming his surprise, Frieza surveyed the scene. Three Saiyans, a number of humans, and...something without a nose? Possibly another human, he mused. "I see you've made more friends, Vegeta! I'm wounded. Was what we had so very disposable?" the overlord mock-pouted. Behind the tyrant, the flagship of the PTO landed in a large clearing in the park, a number of soldiers filing out and one in particular leading a hoverchair. This one, green-skinned and effeminate, was, of course, Zarbon. He was followed some time later by a very particularly unlucky Dodoria, who managed to get his foot stuck in the ramp and rolled the rest of the way down.
No one in the ranks of the soldiers assembled dared to laugh, as the pink alien was more than strong enough to invalidate their life ticket. The messy haired Saiyan, however, had no such restraint, and let out a guffaw of laughter at the comedic moment. Veins pulsed in Dodoria's forehead, but he was held back by Zarbon.
Frieza could see that Vegeta was completely unprepared for this turn of events. He smiled blackly at the terrified look on his face, relishing the pure, unadulterated and undiluted fear dripping off the Saiyan. He was quite unamused by the lack of fear from the other members of the assembled party, though, and quickly decided that something needed to be done to rectify this lack of fear.
"My, my...I see we have quite the party here. Would my favorite monkey care to explain why he decided to leave my benevolent rule and cavort about with other monkeys? Or shall I have to start killing them to get answers?" The last sentence made everyone freeze in what they were doing. Those who were ki-sensitive could feel the change in the air.
One scouter popped.
Then another.
The Saiyan with the wild hair stood up slowly, a forced grin on his face. "Hey, now, there's no need for that! You're Mr. Frieza, right? Why dontcha sit down and let's have a talk? We have plenty of food here, and I see you like those shrimp kabobs!" To Frieza's mild surprise, he found that he had at some point unconsciously commandeered the entire platter of shrimp kabobs and had polished off two more absentmindedly.
"Do you even know who I am, monkey?" the overlord asked calmly, smoothly. He threw the platter in mild annoyance. Zarbon stood next to him, Dodoria at the other shoulder. "I am Lord Frieza, the single mightiest being in this universe aside from the gods themselves! Why should I debase myself by attending the feasting of a pathetic creature such as yourself? I suppose you're too stupid to realize when you should be groveling instead of attempting to be friendly with your superior!" Anger flashed in Frieza's eyes. "Vegeta knows how to grovel, don't you, monkey?" His dark eyes turned to the flame-haired prince.
Vegeta felt an unusual calm descend upon him. He heard himself speak, but as if on autopilot, as if the words themselves had been ordained from the beginning of time itself. "I am your puppet no longer, Frieza. Nor is this one, the Saiyan named Kakarot. Kill me if you wish, but you shall not live to enjoy the deed." His eyes flashed with dark pleasure. "I may not be your equal, not when you are at your best, but the Saiyan race is not done. Kakarot has bested me."
Eyebrows shot up so fast they were in danger of leaving the atmosphere.
"Yes, be surprised. He is the son of Bardock, the Saiyan who opposed you the last day of Planet Vegeta. He is the legend, the One, he who can defeat you. He is the Super Saiyan!" With that, the prince felt a weight lift. He knew he had baited Frieza enough. The overlord wouldn't dare let such an affront to his power go unpunished.
True to form, the overlord became angry very quickly. Veins bulged from his forehead. "How-DARE YOU, you INSOLENT MONKEY!" A brilliant flame erupted around Frieza. The food was quickly sent flying. A plate flew straight at Chi Chi and hit her in the face. More surprised than injured, the wife of Son Goku let out a small "Eep!"
Three more scouters blew up as Goku immediately swung round to ensure his wife was ok. Before he could turn back, a fist planted itself in his cheek. He stumbled back an inch, then looked to see who had punched him.
Zarbon, no longer handsome but almost crocodilian in visage, had attacked the Earth-raised Saiyan. Shocked by the fact that his punch had had little effect, Zarbon withdrew his arm and prepared a kick.
It never landed. Dark eyebrows met in the center of Goku's forehead and the thick limb's movement was arrested by a powerful arm. Without moving from his spot, Goku swung Zarbon around like a pack of potatoes and slammed him into the ground so hard he knocked the transformation out of the unfortunate soldier.
He lay in the crater, groaning.
Goku turned to Frieza to warn him to leave, but Dodoria decided to test his luck. He fared even worse, being weaker than Zarbon's peak, and suffered a broken arm and an even deeper crater.
Frieza was still screaming, and his skin seemed to be...cracking? Glowing lines criss-crossed the skin of the tyrannical overlord, and he seemed to throb, before a blinding light obscured the vision of those present. When it cleared, Frieza was much taller and deadly looking. "There, that's a bit better. A power level of one million ought to be enough to tidy up this 'Super Saiyan' nonsense, don't you think?" Black lips pulled back in an evil smile. "But first, a bit of pain. I think that one of you needs to leave us permanently." A finger extended. A body flew up.
Screams.
Terror.
Fear.
"Goku! Help me!"
An explosion.
Silence.
A yellow ribbon floated down into the silent hands of Son Goku, sole survivor of the Son family.
Power, pure and unadulterated, thick with the most black hatred imaginable, washed over everyone present. Dark eyes seized the tyrannical overlord in their gaze, who had been laughing maniacally until the second the ribbon touched the hands of Son Goku and the power washed over him. All scouters present exploded violently.
Sparks flew. The Saiyan's eyes were filled not with fear, but primal hatred. Those of Frieza's race were among the most resilient and hardy among those in the known galaxy. They were survivalists, and part of this survivability included instinct that warned them of danger.
Frieza felt fear for the first time in his life. Not paranoia. Fear.
The Saiyan's hair flashed. His aura surged outward, billowing into a roaring flame. Power blew trees out of the ground, sending them flying for miles. A crater formed around him.
And still he said nothing. No screaming. Just a black, rage-filled gaze.
His hair flashed gold...once...twice...then blazed forth in all its glory. Black eyes glinted and turned turquoise.
The Saiyan from Earth walked slowly towards Frieza. Quietly, he said, "You don't understand, do you? The pain you cause others. You've never had reason to care, have you? You've only ever taken what you wanted."
Vegeta saw all of this, and a pang of unfamiliar regret blossomed in his chest. He had expected to die himself, not Kakarot's banshee.
The Super Saiyan continued to stalk forward like a hunter after prey. Despite the size difference, Frieza shuddered and stumbled backwards. "I've met people like you. There were plenty of them. King Piccolo killed Krillin. The Red Ribbon army took whatever they wanted and cared nothing for who it hurt. Tao Pai Pai tried to kill his own student when he decided to leave him. All of you, you're just the same. You don't know what it's like to lose something of your own." Power surged through Kakarot's veins, whispering at him to let loose his rage.
Trying to regain some semblance of control over the situation, Frieza quickly assumed a domineering stance. "And why should I care what happens to inferior species? They're BENEATH me! They ought to be grateful I saw fit to make use of something about them."
The Saiyan's power spiked again. Suddenly, he phased in front of Frieza's face. "You had one chance to leave in peace. You lost it." He backhanded Frieza into the ground. Turning to Vegeta, he said quietly, "Get them out of here. They don't need to see this."
Vegeta felt an odd sense of satisfaction overcome him as he realized that Frieza was going to finally pay his dues. He quickly gathered Bulma and Mrs. Briefs in his arms and took off towards Capsule Corps, followed by Krillin, who had taken the time to retrieve Chi-Chi's favorite casserole dishes. The bald warrior had no illusions about what would happen to all of them were Chi-Chi to come back and find her favorite dishes had been destroyed.
The Super Saiyan held Frieza in his hate-filled gaze. Before Frieza could say another word, he felt pain blossom in his arm. The Saiyan's arm was extended, and had grasped the overlord's forearm in an iron grip.
Goku squeezed, tighter and tighter, an unforgiving expression on his face, no trace of mercy to be found in his hard eyes.
The bone snapped in his grasp. Frieza shrieked and tried to remove his arm from the grip of the terror before him. Before he could do more than struggle, Goku punched him. Hard. The flesh of Frieza's arm made a sickening wet sound as it ripped apart. Goku threw the arm aside and stalked towards the tyrant again.
Another punch. This one broke a rib.
The next kick knocked out three teeth. Frieza screamed in agony, no longer thinking about putting the monkey in his place but about escaping. Before he could make a break for space, the Saiyan had grabbed his tail and yanked him into the ground. "This is your debt, Frieza," spat the enraged Saiyan. "This is what happens when it comes time to pay the bill."
Goku took his time tearing down Frieza. By the time that Vegeta returned, Frieza was reduced to a bloody mess. Barely able to move, the alien shouted in frustration and used a blast of ki to hurl the Super Saiyan away from him. Before Kakarot could catch up, Frieza began to glow again. The bright light managed to blind the Super Saiyan for a moment, then Frieza's third form was revealed.
This gave Frieza absolutely no respite. Despite the transformation having healed his injuries and even regenerating his missing arm, it barely increased his power in comparison to Goku's. It made no difference.
Frieza, confident in his power, rushed in to attack Goku, and the Saiyan slammed an elbow into his back as the tyrant flew past him. An audible snap was heard. Almost immediately, Frieza's power level dropped drastically, and he flopped to the ground, his lower body completely unresponsive. He fell in front of Vegeta, who smirked grimly. He knew that the fear he saw in the tyrant's eyes was the same that Frieza had seen directed at him time and time again. He looked at the avatar of vengeance for the Saiyan race and smiled bittersweetly. How could he have imagined when he landed on this planet that it would lead him to the one who would avenge the entire race?
Goku landed in front of Frieza and grabbed the tyrant, whose face was smeared with dirt and grime. Fear rolled off of the emperor in palpable waves. "Enjoy Hell, Frieza," growled the Saiyan. The emperor's eyes widened as a fist planted itself repeatedly in his face. Again, ad again, and again, knocking more teeth out with every punch. Before long, the tyrant was making gurgling noises, unable to resist anymore.
Vegeta stepped up to Kakarot and put a hand on his shoulder. "Kakarot...it's enough. This is not you. Don't become what I have."
The Earth-raised Saiyan growled animalistically. "Don't tell me what to do, Vegeta."
"This is not who you are. You're not the kind of person to torture people. End it yourself, or let me end it. Don't become like me." Kakarot glared at the Saiyan prince for a long while, searching his face.
Eventually, Kakarot closed his eyes and dropped the limp Frieza. "Fine."
Vegeta nodded and stepped up to Frieza. "This is for my father. For the Saiyan race. For all those I killed in your name, and for those who will never be remembered." He raised his hand. Panic and absolute terror shone across what was left of Frieza's face.
"Goodbye, Frieza. May you suffer in Hell."
I'm not exactly happy with this chapter, but to make up for the extended period without an update, I tried to crank one out as fast as I could. I feel that, at this point, Vegeta would realize that Goku is *not* a Saiyan, not in the traditional sense, and would be able to respect that. I also have a very strong feeling that Vegeta only was so prideful because it was the one thing that Frieza couldn't take from him, so he seized on it and would not let go. Here, he realizes his pride is no longer needed, and he is starting to become the person he should have been all along.