The Vicious Gods Wrath
Chapter 23: Earths Last Stand
Earlier, Korin's Tower
"I'm surprised you're not at the ball game with the others." Comments Korin while pouring another glass of sake to his old friend and former pupil Roshi as the two sit in the middle of his tower, enjoying it's ever beautiful sight of the surrounding area. The lush green hills, the flourishing forests and the brightly sparkling ocean reflecting the orange setting sun over the horizon.
"I never much cared for the more mundane sports, to be honest," Roshi finished it promptly. "Except if it's any of the women's leagues if you catch my drift." The old hermit lets out a perverted chuckle, lightly jabbing the feline next to him with his elbow.
"Heavens bless you Roshi, you haven't changed a bit even after all this time," Korin gobbles down a bit of sake himself. "It's a wonder 18 hasn't killed you yet for saying such things in front of Marron."
"She's certainly given it her best shot," The old, retired martial artist recalls these numerous instances quite well, particularly during her early stays at Kame House. "But I've toned it down when little Marron is around, believe it or not, that little lady looks up to yours truly."
Korin's expression and tone remain thoroughly neutral. "Nope, I don't believe it."
Suddenly, the clouds overhead start to move faster and faster towards the west, their colors changing from white to black and brown. Far off in the distance, the two old martial arts masters notice dozens of lightning bolts followed by the sound of thunder gather around a shining spot of light resembling a shining star. The lights size increases as the wind also suddenly increase in both its speed and strength with even the ground starting to shake. The sudden monsoons followed by tornados, thunderstorm, blizzard, changes in temperature, almost crippling shifts in gravity seemingly spreading across the whole planet tip them off that something very, very wrong is happening to the west.
While they do not sense the source of this light, what they do catch the wind off makes them both gasp in shock. As if they had just appeared out of nowhere, the old masters can sense their friends and pupils depleted strength with only Piccolo's Ki signature standing out amongst them. Then they sense another Ki flying towards the source of the light, the strongest either of them can sense before they lose track of Piccolo, Krillin, and the others energies just as suddenly as they found them.
The gathered clouds begin dispersing with the wind, thunder, lightning and shaking ground calming down as well. This does little to put either of them at ease, however, instead, the two exchange worried glances before Roshi looks back to the spot where the light once was and knows that if Goku hasn't already gotten everyone back to the Lookout yet, terrible things are in store for the planet indeed.
Meanwhile, Earth
A series of pained, bloody gasps leave Goku's lips as he kneels amongst the rubble of the cliff-side, his gi severely tattered with many cuts and bruises covering his body. Blood trickles out his mouth in small drops as he tries to catch his breath. Nearby he can hear one thunderous blow after another echoing throughout the area from the nearby battle between Vegeta and Freeza.
Though the battle isn't quite the word he would use to describe it, bloodbath feels more appropriate. With a speed too beyond his ability to perceive, Freeza relentlessly attacks Vegeta. First with a powerful right hook to knock him off balance then a quick series of lightning fast punches to his chest concluding with the tyrant leaping into the air and smashing his fist against Vegeta's face.
He's sent hurdling through the air though quickly finds himself face first in the dirt after Freeze appears behind him, extending his arm out from the side of his body parallel to the floor and hits him in the neck, knocking Vegeta down. With a chuckle, Freeza charges a red colored Ki blast in his palm, aiming it at the downed Vegeta. Knowing Vegeta can't take a hit like that, Goku fights back the pain and tries to use the Instant Transmission to get his fellow Saiyan out of harm's way.
Once again, Freeza proves the faster of the three of them, instead of firing at Vegeta, the blast races across the sky and hits the index and middle finger of Goku's hand, leaving bloody stumps where they once were. Goku can't help but scream in raw pain.
"Y-you... bastard..!" He curses Freeza, his blood boiling as he clenches the bleeding stumps that were once his fingers. Knowing he can't afford to lose any more fingers as it will leave him unable to make proper punches, Goku abandons the IT and instead propels himself up into the air with a small Kamehameha from his feet.
A move he soon regrets as Freeza's tail ensnares itself around his foot like a snake choking its prey with its owner hoisting him upside down in the air. The tyrant folds his arms and gives his old enemy a satisfied smile.
"No hands."
Before he even knows it, Goku finds himself assaulted by a flurry of quick, sharp jabs from Freeza's right leg. He screams bloody murder as the overlord's nails dig into the flesh of his face, clawing at him like a horde of rabid dogs. Clearly not entirely satisfied with this, Freeza swings the captured Saiyan forward gently before swinging him back with much greater force, causing his chest to smash against the tyrant's knee over and over again.
Each time the swing gets faster with more power put into them. Each delivered hit sending a thunderous shockwave ringing through the air. Try as he might, Goku's sapped stamina finally takes its toll and his Super Saiyan power disappears, leaving him even more vulnerable to whatever Freeza has in-store for him.
"Pity, I had hoped you'd last at least a little while longer," Freeza tells him with sincere disappointment. "Still, a dead Goku is a dead Goku after all."
He charges a simple blast with which to incinerate Goku's head off, and narrowly does, slicing his cheek when a rush of power manages to crack the ground beneath Freeza's feet, and allowing another Saiyan monkey to roll away to safety.
Vegeta quickly finds his footing again, panting and bleeding though still clearly intent on doing battle given his fierce scowl. Not sure whether to be annoyed or pleased with his interference, Freeza decides to find the answer. He tosses aside the defeated Goku and decides to refocus on torturing Vegeta a tad more. Appearing before the Saiyan Prince, catching his determined but amusingly weak punch and promptly shoots him through both his legs. They quickly go limp with only Freeza's hold on Vegeta's fist keeping him from tumbling back down.
"Remember how you realized the futility of resisting against me on Namek?" Freeza joyously recalls that particular beating, one of his personal favorites. "Channeling some of that will spare you a great deal of suffering Vegeta. So, why don't you just lay down and die with that imbecile already?"
"Last time..." He speaks up, hoarsely. "You didn't have... my son... held captive...!"
Forcing his left arm up, the Prince defiantly yells and fires off a series of Ki blasts right in his old enemies face. A defiant if futile gesture resulting in nothing but more ki wasting. Freeza decides to break what little strength Vegeta still has with a smack to the face so fast his pain receptors fail to properly recognize it until a few seconds afterward. A massive gust of destructive, ocean splitting wind is unleashed from the attack. Were it not for Freeza holding him in place, Vegeta would've been sent flying away for hundreds of miles.
His Super Saiyan form falters soon afterward, his now completely limp body much to Freeza's amusement.
"Amazing how you've yet to tire from the beatings your stubbornness has earned you. Still, you won't live long enough to regret it anyway." He turns around to throw Vegeta next to his downed ally only to find Goku gone without a trace. "What is the meaning of-"
Suddenly, a giant shadow looms over him with a blob-like, twisting and turning shape to it. Immediately he knows the culprit and turns around to blast it away only for Buu ensnare his entire upper body. Grunting in a mix of anger and annoyance, Freeza drops the injured Vegeta where another Buu, this one in his regular form appears and takes him and the equally downed Goku far away while his clone stalls the tyrant.
"If you... value... your life... you'll... release me... at once..." Freeza jabs his arms and tail back and forth in an effort to get the blob-like Buu off him to no avail. Quickly realizing the futility of this tactic, he instead relaxes for a moment, letting Buu devour more of him before he unleashes a fiery explosion wave, blasting the creature off him.
He barely has a chance to catch his breath before a fragment of the blob leaps through the smoke cloud and latches onto his face. More follow, covering up his hands and sticking his tail to his back to make it harder for him break them off. Just as he readies to unleash another explosion wave, he stops dead in his tracks as a strange, energy suddenly shoots throughout his entire body. A flash of light in his eyes blinds him, making him feel numb all over.
The light soon fades with Freeza's sight quickly returning to him. Standing in front of him he finds a chuckling Majin Buu standing smugly there, laughing at him. The tyrant glares at him and tries to blast him away only to find something amiss. Even though he can feel his arm thrusting forward, he can't see it actually doing so. He tries again with the same effect. Then he notices how he cannot feel the ground beneath his feet even though he was standing on it mere moments ago.
That's when he remembers watching a piece of footage specifically about the so-called legendary destroyer standing in front of him and immediately feels a blood-curdling anger build up inside.
"You turned me into candy, didn't you?" Freeza asks with a cold fury in his voice.
Mister Buu nods, his child-like smile of satisfaction still smeared across his face until Freeza smashes into it, ramming his new, tiny body into it and knocking him in the ground. The small, sour ball candy Freeza flies into the air, somewhat relieved that he's managed to retain his speed and power at least and promptly begins smashing into the blobs face. "
"Turnmebackturnmebackturnmebackturnmebackturnmebackturnmeback!"
Mountains Near West City
Other Buu in big, big trouble. Mister Buu sense his clone currently receiving a beating from the transformed and very angry tyrant from afar, letting a rare tug of worry hold him over. At his feet lay both Goku and Vegeta, unconscious and barely breathing. The blobs hands hover two feet above them as he focuses his energy into their bodies. A faint, sparkling glow envelops them both as their injuries and energy reserves are quickly restored, even Goku's sliced off fingers grow back with the Saiyan wincing in pain.
With a pair of tired moans, the two Saiyan's quickly return to the waking world, clumsily getting back on their feet and using the nearby wall for support. Before they can even fully get their bearings, the blob hugs them tightly with the Saiyan's struggling for air. "Buu happy you guys not dead!" He squeezes tighter, making it even harder for them to breathe. It isn't until an elbow to the face courtesy of Vegeta causes him to back off though his happy smile still remains.
"Thanks for the save Buu," Goku pats him on the back, returning the smile. "If you hadn't come when you did we'd be dead for sure."
"For all the good it does us." Frustration seeps out of every one of Vegeta's words. "We still don't stand a chance of beating him even with our bodies healed."
"Don't be so sure Vegeta, I've got something in mind that'll definitely put the odds back in our favor."
"Let me guess, the Spirit Bomb?" He asks turning to face his fellow Saiyan. "How useful is it really without the boys, others and Namek's to lend it energy?"
"I wouldn't count the others out just yet boys."
The gathered fighters eyes widen with surprise of hearing that voice here of all places. Convinced that it must be some sort of trick, they look up to see where it came from only to find the man himself standing there in the flesh. His cane, glasses, beard and giant turtle shell clinging to his back eliminating any doubt that it is truly him.
"Master Roshi?!" Goku blurts out, shocked as his mentor descends from the top of the wall and lands on them. "W-what are you doing here?!"
"Came to help you of course," He answers with a sly smile. "I was hanging out with Korin back at the tower when suddenly the whole planet started shaking like crazy, among other things. Korin and I sensed that everyone was in pretty bad shape. So, I and Mister Popo got over to West City with his magic carpet and arrived when Freeza turned into that overgrown Oscar statue. I told Mister Popo to get everyone else out of dodge but I haven't been able to sense anyone but Mister Buu here since then."
"Again, why are you here old man?" Vegeta barks at him.
"I saw you guys weren't doing so well I decided to help out any way I can. If the Spirit Bombs takes as long as Goku's told me, you could use an extra hand in buying some more time for it. Besides," His glasses suddenly flash with a confident chuckle. "You boys aren't the only ones who've been training, I've got a couple new moves myself that'll make Freeza's head spin!"
Goku's at a loss for words while Vegeta continues glaring at old martial arts master. "I mean, Freeza's going to be focused on us...So... who knows, Master Roshi might be able to get a couple good hits in...?" Goku states with a sheepish smile with a very apparent hesitation in his voice. Vegeta's glare lands on him next, conveying his reservations, to put it lightly, more than words possibly can.
"Besides, even if you wanted to get me out of here you can't," Master Roshi states matter of factly. "The Instant Transmission needs a person Ki signature to work right? Well, I don't know about you guys, but I haven't been able to sense anything since Freeza started fighting you two again."
"Now that you mention it, you're right," Goku admits, noticing the truth of his former mentor's words now that he has a quiet moment to contemplate. "I haven't been able to feel anything that was outside the city limits. I can't sense Dende or Mister Popo or King Kai..."
"No doubt another device of Freeza's," Vegeta mutters through clenched teeth. "We know he can sense energy, what's to say he hasn't found a way to block others from sensing it? That may very well be the reason we couldn't sense the Earth from Beerus' home."
"Then we're in trouble... If Freeza's figured out how to block even God Ki from being detected, then he can do it for natural energy too. After all, that's one of the things that makes up energy, if it's all blocked..."
Suddenly, Buu starts shaking violently, his trembling feet cracking the ground beneath them. "Other Buu can't take much more. Freezer's too cranky and mad for him, Freezer's gonna break free of candy body soon."
"Candy body?" Repeats Goku as he remembers the evil Buu using a similar technique on him and Vegeta during their brief stint as Vegetto. That's when an idea comes to mind. "You can see and feel everything your clones doing right now?"
Buu nods.
"Then, if Freeza's going to get mad enough to actually break your candy spell, could you try to make him even angrier?"
Vegeta raises an eyebrow. "What are you up to now Kakarot?"
"Evening the odds," mischievous smirk graces Goku's face. "But we'll need some more help to pull it off."
Meanwhile, Elsewhere
It's amazing how she's been able to sleep through all this. Videl smiles at the peaceful, slumbering face of her little joy Pan. She sits atop a tree stump, listening to her faint little heartbeat, trying to keep her worry for Gohan and the others at bay.
Her father tries the same thing though with far less success. Mr. Satan paces back and forth inside the cave with the same nerve-racking mix of fear and uncertainty that has plagued him ever since the day he first met the true, most powerful men on Earth 15 years ago. Every time he thinks back on that faithful day of the Cell Games, he can hardly believe he's managed to become friends with such a group, even family with them.
"Uh Dad, you might want to look down," She points to his feet with him noticing his constant back and forth has formed a small trench at his feet. With an embarrassed chuckle, her father gets the message and decides to sit next to her though the instant he does so his left leg starts twitching nervously on its own.
"Little sluggers still asleep I see," He proudly smiles at his granddaughter, his nervousness all but disappearing at the sight of her sleeping calmly next to him. "Not losing sleep over anything. She's gonna be a helluva fighter with a fearlessness like that."
With any luck, she won't ever have to fight... She thinks to herself, trying to keep her calm exterior as her thoughts momentarily wander to Gohan and the others anyway. Despite knowing of their strength, Videl cannot help but worry for their safety. Her first time getting involved in all of this resulted in most of them being killed along with the entire human race. A scenario she doesn't want her infant daughter to ever have to deal with.
Despite her attempts to hide her concern, her father sees through the facade and goes to place his arm around her when he feels someone poke him twice on the shoulder.
"YYYIIIAAAGGGHGH!" He frightfully leaps back through the air and entering his combat stance though his whole body shakes from head to toe. To Mister Satan's relief and annoyance, he merely finds Buu standing there and takes a deep breath. "Good grief, why'd you have to go and scare me like that-"
"Mister Satan!"
This time, both Mister Satan and Videl are taken back by this sudden change in Buu's voice. "G-Goku?!" They ask in unison with the blob nodding in agreement.
"Buu here's transferring my message over to you. Usually, I'd do it through King Kai but... Well, let's just say I'm working on that. Which is why I need your help to save the world again."
"Wait!" Videl asks, placing her hand on Buu's shoulder. "Goku... I don't know what's going on out there, but before you go do whatever it is you need to with me dad, could please tell me if Gohan and the boys are alright?"
The Saiyan on the other side of the planet mentally gulps, completely forgetting about what to say to Videl. If Freeza really did go after the boys, then Videl must've been with Gohan when he started attacking at least...
Buu turns towards her and gives her a comforting smile. "The boys are all fine, a little beat up but alive. Mister Popo took them to the Lookout where Dende's probably patching them up now."
She returns the smile, her face brightening up quite a bit upon hearing this news. "Thank you Goku, you've got no idea what a relief that is to hear."
Hopefully, this works so I can get him back to us all for real... He mentally hopes, trying to keep the facade up before turning back to Mister Satan. "Now then, here's what we'll need you to do champ..."
West City
"Turnmebackturnmebackturnmebackturnmebackturnmebackturnmeback-" Freeza gasps for air, hovering his new, minuscule body a couple of feet above the blob and momentarily wondering how a jawbreaker can possibly gasp or need for air. He continues glaring at the downed blob on the ground, its face mangled and its breathing faint. Mentally cursing himself for the damage he's caused it, damage which will make it difficult for him to continue interrogating, Freeza instead lets him heal.
His three years of studying the Earthling's has yielded much insight into their abilities and Buu is no exception. All he needs is a few moments and the blob will recover from this damage easily enough. Buu proves him right as his face morphs back into its proper shape with him gasping for air.
"Now then Buu," Freeza speaks up with the barely contained fury ever present in his voice. "Unless you want me to keep bashing your face in until you can't put it back together, I suggest you undo this spell of yours and I'll give you a 15-second head start to run as quickly away from here as you can. I think that's more than fair-"
A spit in the 'face' silences Freeza, an afront only made worse by the blob sticking his tongue out, giggling at his childish antics. Freeze remains still and silent in the air, feeling the moist spit and somehow, beyond even his own comprehension, gets even angrier. His tiny candy body starts emitting a faint, fiery glow before he charges back into Buu though this time his attack misses. For the blob disperses his head with the rest of him leaping away before the scattered pieces join back.
Freeza attacks again, his speed growing with his frustration as he tries to fly into Buu's chest. Once again, the blob sticks his tongue out and merely forms a hole in the spot where the tyrant tries to smack into. This does little to deter the invader who tries again only for Buu to move another section away. Each time, Freeze's aura shines brighter and stronger, his attacks becoming faster and more difficult for the Buu clone to ignore.
Soon his attacks begin to connect, inch by inch slicing through the legendary destroyers body at such speed it doesn't even get enough time to properly regenerate before he cuts through the same spot once more. The Buu clone, now resembling a pink piece of swiss cheese with legs tumbles to the ground with the grave amount of damage accumulated.
Yet even then, Buu still giggles and sticks his tongue out at Freeza as a continued act of defiance. Finally having enough of his antics, Freeza roars at the top of his lungs with his candy like body beginning to crack. More and more of them appear with fire escaping through them before he finally explodes. A supernova of energy bursts forth with the breaking of the magic keeping him in the candy form, one of such intensity everything within his general vicinity is charred to soot and ash.
Freeza takes a few deep breaths amongst the scorched earth all around him, only noticing his restored body after feeling the ground beneath his feet and tail. A relieved cackle escapes his lips as a rush of happiness overcomes him. His small celebration is cut short when he hears the beeping noise coming from his holo-computer, prompting him to bring it out.
It appears I've damaged the suppression field. He reads the alert from the fields systems, stating that a recent explosion of energy has brought down the one surrounding the city, but even the whole planet. A small issue as Freeza knew such a thing was likely to happen. With a few button presses, he brings out a separate screen to activate a set of backups to bring the field back up. That's when he senses Goku's quickly rising power off in the distance.
What are you up to this time Goku? Curious as to what the Saiyan is doing now, Freeza brings out a third screen in command of one of the many drones still monitoring the planet and activates the feed of one currently near his enemies. He cannot help but smirk at the sight of Goku standing in the middle of a field surrounded by small and large mountains, his hands pointed upward with Buu, Vegeta, and Roshi of all people forming a circle around him, all on edge from likely sensing his recent burst of power. Above them, he sees an all too familiar ball of blue energy growing overhead.
"So, you've resorted to the Spirit Bomb," Freeza smiles at the realization, the last desperate move of a man about to die. He quickly concludes that Buu likely agitated him on purpose to damage the fields enough for Goku to form his attack.
Eager to toy with their emotions just as they have his, Freeza places a timer on the backup generators of 90 seconds and leaps into the air. Suppressing his power and resorting to his raw bodies strength to leap across the nearby mountainside and hides behind a peak just outside the field, his holo-computer still feeding him footage from the group gathered there.
"Why isn't that thing growing faster?!" Vegeta's perpetually frustrated voice echoes through the monitor. "You know we don't have much time before Freeza comes here!"
"We've got to wait for Mister Buu to get to another town so Satan's message can get around," Goku replies trying to sound confident but his face betrays his true worry. "That power outage in North City was just a small snag in our plan."
"A power outage conveniently on the day Freeza decides to attack." Master Roshi cleverly deduces another part of the plan. One created to ensure true isolation of the various battlefields where the fate of Earth is to be decided. Communication is what saved them from Majin Buu years ago, it will not save them now.
Checking on the timer to see that he's got 50 seconds left, Freeza leaps into the air and lands in front of the group, his arms folding over his chest and a smirk on his face. Immediately the Earth warriors jump in front of Goku, entering their battle stances with Vegeta transforming back into his God infused Super Saiyan form.
"I see you've resorted to that technique again Goku, hoping it'll work better now than it did on Namek?" He asks condescendingly, enjoying his futile attempt at a defiant glare. "Seeing as I'm feeling particularly pleased with having my body back, I'll let you form the ball. On one condition of course."
"Bastard still wants to play games with us..." Freeza hears Vegeta growl.
Goku takes a far more silent approach, though he is a fool in many things, Freeza must begrudgingly admit he's clever when it comes to battle. He knows Freeza can simply blow his brains out with the simplest of blasts, only a fool couldn't see that given their gap in power. Yet, when Goku's arrogant smirk returns, Freeza knows he has him.
He's probably thinking this is like my no hands offer on Namek...
The Saiyan's smirk says as much. "Fine, I'll have it your way."
Oh Goku, you'll wish I just shot you through the skull. He smiles wickedly at his most hated enemy. "Not like you've much choice left."
Freeza unfolds his arms and with a quick jab of his right one unleashes a kiai so powerful it easily sends away all but Goku flying into the air. Roshi takes the fall the worst of it, smashing face first into a nearby wall and falling to the ground, seemingly unconscious, unsurprising given his strength level. Vegeta manages to stabilize himself in mid-air while Buu lands without much difficulty on his feet but Freeza is not done with him. Appearing before the blob, Freeza gleefully vaporizes him out of existence, removing his troublesome magic from being a potential issue.
"And now for my condition," Freeza moves back to his original spot, positioning himself a soccer field's distance away from Goku. Pointing his index finger at the Saiyan, he shouts, "If your allies here can save you from this and you don't drop dead on the spot from it, I'll gladly let you fire off that Spirit Bomb at me."
Before Goku can even ask what he means by this, Freeza unleashes a blitz of Death Beams at him, shredding his flesh like a knife through butter. He hits him just hard enough for him to properly concentrate without striking at one of his vital spots. Not that Goku could even gather energy if he wanted too, for the timer ran out just when Freeza started his assault, once again blocking him off to any Ki from outside the West City dome. Another thing Goku can most certainly not ascertain, judging by his barely contained shrieks of agony, he's focusing just on staying alive.
"Kakarot!" Vegeta screams with a blast off towards Freeza in a savage fury dictating his actions. He manages to kick Freeza in the face to no effect. Not only does Freeza not react, he merely keeps firing on and starring at the screaming Goku with a smile. The Saiyan Prince tries again, this time punching him several times to no effect.
"Stop toying with me!" He roars and continues attacking his former master all over with punches and kicks, ignoring the mounting pain in his knuckles from punching someone essentially made of the universe's most durable exoskeleton. Freeza merely continues firing as Goku screams bloody murder, his body now covered with dozens of bleeding gashes and cuts and his energy rapidly dropping.
Vegeta, on the other hand, must relent as his bleeding and aching knuckles tremble so much he can neither feel his hands nor form a fist with them. Even his anger and adrenaline could keep the pain at bay for so long. Ignoring this, he charges a pair of Ki blasts in his hands and goes to throw them only for the overlord to casually flick him in the forehead with a quick swipe of his tail. The force of the attack is so great, Vegeta is smashed into the ground, his entire body spinning in and out of it several times before finally halting over 50 feet away from where he was.
Despite his best efforts, the Saiyan Prince finds himself unable to get back to his feet, his body simply refuses to listen to him, even dropping out of its Super Saiyan form against his will. But he persists regardless, trying to fight through the dizziness and pain to aid his suffering fellow Saiyan.
"It seems your allies have failed Goku," Freeza cackles, gleefully watching Goku fall on one knee, his arms shaking as they can barely keep themselves up to futilely focus unavailable power into a worthless attack. Streams of blood trickle down his person, the upper part of his gi is now shredded away entirely with a whole section of it at his left leg now blown off to his thigh.
"Kamehameha!" An older, booming voice proclaims as the giant blue wave of Ki rushes towards Freeza and smacks into it, an attack Freeza registers even less than Vegeta's petty little display of savagery mere moments ago. Unrelenting in his barrage of ki blasts at Goku, Freeza nonetheless looks to his left and finds an almost comically bulked up, shirtless Master Roshi scowling at him with his cane stabbed into the ground next to him.
"Knew that'd get your attention."
Freeza grimly smiles. "Ah yes, Goku's master, the former most powerful man in the world."
"Guess we've got something in common then, seeing as you're the former most powerful being in the universe. Then again, if Beerus has been around for as long as I've heard he has, you never even had that title did you?"
The taunt lands a bit closer to him than Freeza would like, still, he's not about to let it visibly show. Instead, he keeps on smiling, pretending as though it did nothing. "Brave words for one in your position. Most men would bite their tongues when facing an opponent such as myself."
"Probably, but I'm not like most men. I've met your kind before, I wasn't afraid then and I'm not afraid now."
"I sincerely doubt you've met anyone like me old man, the only reason Beerus, a God even bothered coming here is-"
"I'm not talking about Gods, I'm talking about people like you." His defiant shout manages to falter Freeza's enjoyment. "Sure you might have different looks, names or attacks but in the end, your kind is always the same. Spineless cowards with a power they neither earned nor deserve, stepping over anyone beneath them simply because they can. Never learning the simple truth of the universe."
"Which is?" Freeza asks, losing focus on Goku and unintentionally lessening the quickness of his ki blasts.
"You all get what's coming to you sooner or later."
What frustration the old man churned inside Freeza evaporates with a hearty laugh. "And I suppose you're the one who will deliver justice to me? Please, this worlds far superior fighters couldn't even make flinch at my zenith. Your threat is like many I've heard before, void and pointless."
This time, it is Roshi who lets out a chuckle before charging a pair of yellow Ki balls in the palm of his hands. He jabs his arms forward and fires the two meager looking blasts at the unimpressed Freeza. The beams suddenly change course just as they're about to hit their target and instead fly overhead, dispersing into several smaller blasts that all smash into the ground all around Freeza.
A massive smoke cloud gathers around the alien overlord who merely chuckles and keeps firing at Goku, still not feeling Roshi's attacks at all. Several moments of silence go by when he Freeza hears a strange buzzing noise coming from where Roshi was standing. Narrowing his eyes, he senses a Ki attack his way though one slower and of a different shape from the rest. That's when he sees it, a disk of energy coming at him, ready to slice him in half.
As he gawkes at the incoming attack, Freeza feels his whole body trembling at the sight of it. Memories of Namek flood his thoughts, of how he too created his own variation of the attack to kill Goku, his own attack which sliced him in half and left him begging for a Super Saiyan of all things to save him.
A more logical part of Freeza's mind screams at him, telling him an attack such as this from a weakling can't hurt him, not now or ever. An onslaught of sound advice Freeza tries to listen to, but with each passing moment, the disk grows larger and larger, and just as it's about to arrive, Freeza breaks off his attacks at Goku and leaps into the air.
Landing on the ground, out of the corner of his eye, in barely contained fury, Freeza sees the surprised and most disgustingly of all, hopeful expressions of Goku and Vegeta. But none of them send Freeza back to the edge of bloodthirsty madness the way Roshi's faint chuckle does.
With a speed none present but Freeza himself could even begin to fathom, the true rule of the universe appears before the old human and with a quick smack not only breaks Roshi's cane but also causes an open fracture in his right arm. The old turtle hermit bites back the yell of pain just waiting to escape his throat, not that he could let it out if he wanted too, for Freeza hoists him off the ground by the neck.
Despite his situation, Roshi's resolve doesn't falter and his newly revealed eye's show the defiance of a man far too sure in his victory for Freeza's liking.
"Made you... flinch..."
A veritable cacophony of creative, and very slow ways to kill this man flood Freeza's thoughts, a temporary, blinding obsession broken by the roar of one Son Goku. A roar eerily similar to an angry but pleading demand he once made on Namek years prior...
"Freeza!" Goku yells in a savage anger he hasn't felt since this same monster murdered his beast friend all those years ago. "Don't. Even. Think about hurting him! If you value your worthless life you'll let him go right now and fight me instead!
Once his shouts echo dies away, an eerie silence fills the valley, even the wind has seemingly vanished from this place. Slowly, Freeza turns around and Goku feels a gut-wrenching flood of deja vu rush his mind.
That's the look... Goku grinds his teeth together. The same look he used to kill-
CRACK!
The suddenness of the snapping sound almost comes and goes fast enough for Goku to miss it, but he almost wishes he had. Looking away from Freeza, Goku's eye's land on the still smirking face of his master, one still spreading across his lips in spite of his crushed neck.
His limp body hits the ground once Freeza finishes tossing him across the air with an almost deafening thud, and Goku can't help but momentarily stare at him, forgetting about everything else in the whole world. He remembers how he came to meet the old hermit, lived with him, trained with him, learned how to read, write and spell, how to fight...
It is not until he hears another crack and thud, this time of Freeza bringing down his foot onto his second father's glasses, crushing them into dust does he snap out of it. "A far quicker death than he deserves."
With his fist clenched so tightly, he can feel his teeth ache under the strain, Goku's gaze goes to Freeza and reaching deep into the most savage parts of his Saiyan psyche, roars like a mighty Oozaru. The rush of adrenaline and power overtakes his body, making him forget about the many injuries littering it as the golden shroud of the Super Saiyan springs back to life.
"FFFFRRRREEEEZZZAAA!"
Using what little sense he has left not directed and killing Freeza, Goku urges whatever little power his Spirit Bomb has an absorbs it fully into his body. The meager energy reinvigorates him somewhat, morphing the golden aura of his Super Saiyan state into an eerily calm blue.
"KA... ME... HA... ME..." His signature attack forms in the space between his cupped gands with Freeza merely standing there, watching him with an obsessed stare and that infuriating smile carved on his face. Goku pours more and more power into his blast, knowing he cannot afford to hold anything back, not if he's going to make him pay, to kill him. The rage consumes him entirely as he can feel his whole body ache and tremble from the strain, yet as he has done so many times before, he ignores it and with a thunderous shout unleashes his attack. "HA!"
The blast bursts forth in a brilliant blue light from Goku's hands and to its intended target: Freeza. All he's done today permeates through his thoughts, the destruction of the Namek home-world and people, the chaos on Earth, the kidnapping of the boys and now, murdering his master right in front of him. For a period of time he can't begin to guess, Goku loses himself in this adrenaline rushed release of power.
More! He internally curses himself. It needs more power! It needs to get bigger if I'm gonna-
Just as with the nightmarishly horrid sound of Roshi's neck snapping, Goku almost misses a tiny red spark appearing at the far end of his unleashing Kamehameha. At the spot where Freeza once stood, with each passing moment, he almost obsessively watches it grow larger and larger until a sizzling and paralyzing pain erupts from his left shoulder and reverberates through his whole body.
Goku merely stands there, flabbergasted by what just happened before the smell of his own burning flesh and smoke assaults his senses. He looks to the source of it and finds a fist-sized, smoking hole in his left shoulder near his heart. With the unintended fall of his hands, Goku's attack gradually fades, leaving a smoking trail kilometers in length and width. When the smoke dies down, he lays eyes on the smirking Freeza and from his pose knows what he's done.
A finger... Goku recognizes the pose well enough. He cut through it... with just a finger...
Nearby, Vegeta crawling towards his fellow Saiyan finds Kakarot kneeling in the dirt with a smoking wound through his right shoulder. Freeza advances on him, receiving no resistance at all.
"Kakarot!" His yell reverberates throughout the area and is completely ignored as the tyrant stops just in front of Goku. "Damn it Kakarot! Stop standing around there and-"
Yet as the Saiyan Prince takes a good, hard look at his rival he realizes the futility of his plea. For he too had that same look on Namek, the look of a man who's will to fight has been completely and utterly shattered. The look Freeza laughed at after he easily deflected his strongest attack.
And so he has done it once again to another Saiyan, one Vegeta never thought would see happen to Kakarot of all people. Unbelievable, he's actually given up...
Hoisting Goku back up to his feet by grabbing his hair, Freeze brings him to eye level and cannot help but smile upon seeing the defeated look on his face. The blank stare of a man so thoroughly defeated he doesn't even care about what happens to him next. It is the most beautiful thing Freeza has ever laid his eyes upon.
"Given the number of times I've dreamed of this moment I was quite worried the reality wouldn't meet my expectations," Freeza's hand curls into a fist. "How foolish of me, this is far better than anything my imagination could conjure up."
He punches the defeated Goku across the face, sending him bleeding and coughing back down to the ground. Immediately, the tyrant carefully positions his foot just above Goku's shoulder wound and with a pleasing crunching noise, brings it down on the bleeding hole and the sounds of the Saiyan's agony are a wondrous chorus to Freeza's ears.
"I won't die like that... not again..." Freeza senses the stir in Vegeta's power but chooses not to act, playing the fool for just a bit longer. It is only when Vegeta closes the distance does Freeza's tail latch on to the Saiyan princelings neck like a viper to its prey. Before he can even gasp for air, an armor shattering elbow strike to Vegeta's midsection quickly brings down what little energy he has left.
The overlord once again grabs Goku by the hair, lifting the barely living Saiyan off the ground while raising his other arm in preparation for the killing blow: a hand jab with his fingers outstretched made to run him through the chest.
"Seeing you both in such sorry states truly makes my heart ache. So, just for the sake of letting you all die with some peace of mind, know that I will treat your sons very well as the generals of my army."
Even Goku manages to stir somewhat, a brief flicker of defiance coming alive and dying in the span of a heartbeat. Vegeta offers a far greater resistance, trying to pound away at Freeza's tail.
"You'll do... no such thing... you bastard-" Another elbow strike quickly silences him.
"And don't worry about your little planet, I've no intention of destroying it. With all the wondrous inventions you've made for me and the organization, I would be a fool to cull such a clever little civilization. Instead, I will make it my new capital from which I will secure my dominion of the universe from this day until the end of days," He laughs softly. "The Earth will become synonymous with Freeza!"
Knowing he's dealt the final psychological blow, Freeza's arm thrusts forward to run Goku through before halting an inch away from it. The emergence of a new power halts whatever momentum he built up. Looking over to the side, Freeza lays eyes upon the bearer of this ancient, powerful energy. One of the only two beings his father ever commanded him never to anger...
"Hello, Freeza," Beerus' unkindly greets him. "It's been quite awhile, hasn't it?"
I'm really sorry for taking so damn long on this one but a combination of college exams and me not really knowing how to do this chapter in a lengthy way made it quite a pain in the ass to read. Still, I'm glad that I ultimately found some way of giving every character who was/wasn't in FnF some role in the story.
Next chapter it is the fight I've been dying to write since the start, the potential fight that got me to start this story in the first place: Freeza VS Beerus. Expect it to be completely bat shit crazy.