In case you missed it, I posted two new fics, this week. They both feature an m/m ship, so if that's not your thing, be warned. Also, this saga is finally all up on Archive of Our Own! If you prefer to read fics on AO3, then you can mosey on over there and do it. I will be updating it as consistently there as I do here. My pen name is the same there as it is here.

Please note that if you have not read Somebody's Got Your Back, this chapter won't make much sense. So go do that, if you aren't, already.

Got all of that? Good. Enjoy!

As he set a plate down on the blanket, Goku blinked. He looked up at the sky, glancing from side to side. He slowly stood up, as he stared at the clouds, focusing hard on them. His hands clenched into a fist, and he unconsciously began clenching his teeth. He ignored Gohan tugging on his pant leg, as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Who's hungry," Chi-Chi said, as she carried out a bowl of stew. When she didn't get a response, she noticed how tense Goku was. She set it back on the kitchen floor, before stepping onto the back porch. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"I don't know," he said. "There's a giant energy right on top of us."

She walked up next to him, trying to see what he was seeing. "What do you think it is?" Once again, he didn't respond. "Goku?"

Without looking at her, he finally replied. "Take Gohan and go inside. Now. Don't come out until I'm back."

Chi-Chi nodded and picked up Gohan, prying him away from his father. She carried him back inside, shutting and locking the door behind her, going to pull all of the curtains in the house.

Goku ran around the house and back to the front lawn, where Flying Nimbus was waiting for him. He jumped onboard and flew off in a hurry.

Piccolo eyes flashed open, and he turned around. There was an energy heading right towards the planet, about to hit land. And it was huge. He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on it. There was something familiar about it that he couldn't place his finger on. He had to know if this was hostile or not.

His eyes widened. "No…! It can't be…!"

Immediately, he powered up and flew to the sky, heading right to the source. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. He had thought that it had all been done with. There was no way that anyone could have survived that. He was hoping that it was a trick; practically praying that it was.

"Piccolo, wait!"

He stopped mid-air, and glanced behind him. Goku was sitting on flying Nimbus. He quickly caught up to him.

"You feel that too, don't you," he asked. "What do you think it is?"

"Where's Chi-Chi and Gohan?"

"I told her to take him and wait inside."

He wasn't sure how much good that was going to be, but he supposed that this was their best option. "Go back and wait with them."

"What? Why?"

Piccolo groaned. He didn't have time for this. "I mean it, Goku! This is more than you can handle! Just do what I said, and go back home!"

"No way!" Goku raised his fist up. "If this is really a problem, I'm fighting, too! I won't let you do this, alone!"

He bit back another groan. He already knew there was no way he'd convince him to back out. "Fine. If you're going to be like this, then you better stay out of my way." He took off, before he could give an answer. He didn't slow down his pace. Goku could feel energy; he could catch up when he got there. He just needed to get there and assess the situation, before it escalated.

He truly hoped his powers were deceiving him.

Piccolo arrived at his destination in a matter of minutes. He nearly fell over, from the sight – a large ship was slowly descending from the sky. It was shaped like a disk, with yellow spheres along its edge. In the front, there was a large window, with no visibility from the outside. Eight legs extended from its base, as it fell closer to the land. It touched down, not with a loud crash, but with a gentle bounce, almost as a spider would. As it landed, Piccolo took cover, behind a boulder.

Goku caught up with him, shortly after. He jumped up, and ran up to him, taking cover behind the same boulder. "What do you think it is," he said, in a hushed whisper.

He clenched his teeth. "Something that I hope to god I'm wrong about."

As if on cue, the door to the ship opened with a hiss, letting steam out from the inside. The door extended into a runway platform down to the ground. A line of soldiers filed out from inside, standing alongside the runway, one across from the other. They were followed by a short man, dressed in a long robe with armor over top of it. He walked out with his hands behind his back.

Then, out came what looked like a machine – chrome and bolts all over its body. But, it was attached to organic flesh: a mangled mess of machine and man. But there was no doubt in Piccolo's mind of who this was.

Frieza had returned.

His hand clenched into a fist. He had thought that he had been defeated, for good. They had left him to die, in Planet Vegeta's explosion. How could he have survived? And, somehow, his power had increased ten-fold.

"Who's that," Goku asked. "The one with the robot stuff?"

Piccolo snarled. "You remember those stories of my old masters?" He shifted his head towards him. "You're looking at the worst one."

His eyes widened. "That's him?! Wow. His power's incredible. I can barely get my head around it."

At least he was beginning to understand. "This is why I need to find a way to get him out of here, and quickly. And why you need to go back to Chi-Chi and Gohan. I don't need another distraction."

"Are you kidding? There's no way you can stand a chance against him, alone! Maybe I can't fight him, by myself, but maybe we can overpower him if we team up. You're not leaving me out of this, Piccolo: we're fighting this together."

He breathed out through his nose, and rolled his eyes. There truly was no way to convince this idiot of anything. "If you insist on getting yourself killed, then fine. But listen: do what I say and stay out of my way. If I tell you to run, you better do it. This enemy has more power than you could ever comprehend: I want you to understand that."

Goku nodded. "I won't let you down."

"On my mark, we run and show ourselves. Don't throw the first punch: wait for them to attack, first."

Frieza stood and looked upon the planet. So, this was Earth. This is what he had been imagining for the past three years, stuck in the vacuum of space. Already, he couldn't wait to wipe it off the face of the universe. It wouldn't take long, he presumed – a few days of purging, and then he'd blow the rest of it up.

It was the least that Earth girl deserved for what she did to him.

"Lord Frieza," said his short and stout subordinate. "I don't understand why you immediately came to Earth. Are you sure you don't want to alert your father that you're alive, first?"

"No," he said, with a metallic twang in his voice. "I have unfinished business to attend to here, Sorbet. Now, scout out the power levels here."

Sorbet hit his scouter, scanning the entire planet for a mean power level. In a matter of seconds, all of the Earthling's powers were documented and divided by the overall population. He snorted, when he read the number. "This is low-hanging fruit, Lord Frieza – an average of 190."

Frieza chuckled. "This will be easier than I thought." He turned to address his soldiers. "Men, I want you to scout out the largest masses of powers and exterminate them all one by one. If you deem any of them to be useful, capture them and deliver them back to the ship. If they resist, then kill them and be done with it. However, if you happen to find the one we spoke of on the ship, deliver her to me by any means necessary – I want her alive. Understood?"

The soldiers stood at attention, and brought their hands up into a salute. "Sir!"

"You have three days. Get to it."

Right as they were about to take off, all of their scouters beeped. Piccolo and Goku jumped out from their hiding place and stood in front of the opposing soldiers.

Frieza raised his brow. This was unexpected – reinforcements from the Earthlings. Though, if this was all they could gather, it was a bit pathetic. As he looked upon the two warriors, his eyes lit up, with recognition. He chuckled. "Ah, I remember you." He pointed at Piccolo. "I didn't expect to see you here, slave."

Piccolo flinched, for a moment. He hated that his cruel nickname still got to him.

"Don't talk about him like that," Goku yelled. "Piccolo is not your slave! He's his own person, so you can just drop it!"

Frieza cocked a brow. No one dared to yell at him, unless they were unaware of his power. "And who would you be?" This one seemed familiar, as well, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Goku pointed his thumb at himself. "My name is Goku and this is my home! And I won't let you destroy it!"

He rolled his eyes. He hated the valiant, virtuous types. "Of course you are. Is this a friend of yours?"

Piccolo ignored his question. He grabbed onto the collar of his cape, and tossed it behind him. His turban quickly followed. "As much as I would enjoy catching up with you, I'm afraid that's not why we're here."

"So, you are here to fight me. And I thought you would have learned your lesson, by now." He sighed. "I suppose you can't expect anything different from fools, such as yourselves."

Goku removed his undershirt, followed by his sweatbands and shoes. They were weighted, as well. He rubbed his wrists, bending them back and forth. "Something tells me I'm not gonna want to hold back, against you."

Frieza shrugged, waving towards himself in a 'come-hither' motion. "Fine. Come at me, then. And yes: don't bother holding back."

Piccolo and Goku glanced at each other. At the same time, they charged, with their fists pulled back. They aimed punches at Frieza, but he easily caught their fists. To his surprise, they managed to force his heels into the dirt.

Frieza phased out of sight. He reappeared inches away from them. Piccolo kicked at his disappearing image. Once he reappeared, Goku tried the same thing. Frieza kept his arms crossed, amused by their desperate attempts to hit him. He expected the same from the Namekian, but this new warrior had him intrigued. Again, there was something familiar about his face, but he couldn't place a name.

Frieza's tail wound around Goku's waist and he tossed him to the side. He focused his attention on Piccolo. He kicked his knee into his chest, and knocked his back with his elbow. He kicked him into the air, teleported behind him, and knocked him into the dirt.

As Piccolo staggered back up, all he could think of is how Frieza could have gotten so much stronger. This seemed even further past his limits than before – even with the mechanical limbs. He must have been doing something, these past three years, to increase his power.

"You must have a death wish, slave. You've seen the extent of my full power first-hand, and yet you persist in fighting. Too weak to fight, but too stubborn to die."

Piccolo brought his hands up above his head, and fired a bright-yellow ki-blast in his direction. Frieza deflected it, letting it explode when it hit a mountain behind him.

Goku came running back out, jumping up and out towards Frieza. He punched him in the stomach repeatedly, screaming the entire time. In retaliation, Frieza lifted his hand into the air, ready to smack him hard. Piccolo stretched his arm out, grabbed the back of his gi, and pulled him away just in time, setting him behind him. He would save his chastising words for later – now, they had bigger problems.

Frieza tilted his head to the side. "I have to admit – I admire your spunk, Goku." He made sure to emphasize his name. "I do need to rebuild my army, after it had been destroyed. Perhaps we can make amends and you can join me."

"No," Goku yelled. "I know about everything you've done to Piccolo, and I won't join you, after you hurt my family!"

He blinked. "Family?" As he stared at the two of them, he started laughing. "Oh, that is just cute. I didn't think that anyone would care that much about you. Perhaps I should try to convince you, instead."

Frieza glanced back at his subordinates. He did a double take and glared at them. "Weren't you supposed to be following my orders?"

The soldiers went stiff, and saluted. "Sir!" They flew into the air and took off.

Then, suddenly, the soldiers fell right to the ground, again. Their limp and lifeless bodies piled on top of each other. The remaining soldiers stood rigid, with fear, as they looked upon their lifeless bodies.

A figure fell down to the ground below. His sword was sheathed behind his back. He sported a dark-blue bomber jacket, dark-grey pants, and a pair of brown boots. He looked across the battlefield at Frieza, with a hardened, as the wind blew into his short, lavender-colored hair. Goku and Piccolo stared at him in shock and awe. Neither of them was able to see that attack, and it came out of nowhere. Who was this guy?

For their sake, they hoped he was on their side.