Warnings: Slight sexual content in this chapter(hints of rape and other stuff) and violence.
The Tragic Tyrant
Chapter 4
Innocence Dies Twice
Walls of pure clear crystal resembling jagged columns growing from a cave floor glittered dully in the dim light. Smooth and polished to the point of mirror-like reflection, the black marble floor was awash with white lightning patterns. Nearly mirroring the floor, the ceiling bore elaborate cabochon chandeliers in various colors, though white seemed dominant above all. A large throne of miniaturized columns like those cut in the walls was repeatedly lost behind a large swift-moving shadow. The shadow's movements were punctuated by the shuffling of feet.
King Kold's cape rustled while he paced to and fro in his darkened throne room. His tail swished about like a whip as he became more furious with his youngest child's behavior. He had called Frieza over a dozen times, and the elusive teenager had yet to show up!
"He's probably left the castle," Cooler spoke hopefully, doing anything he could to avoid his father's wrath any further. He knew his father only paced like this when he was very angry. "I mean, you know how he is. He was probably out messing around and he'll be back any second now..."
As if on cue the chamber doors slid open and Frieza meandered in with a little smirk pulling at his black lips. It was quickly backhanded off by a large lavender hand with long black nails. The youth recoiled from the hard slap and looked up in wide-eyed shock as a red-violet tear escaped from the slice in his cheek.
"ARE YOU DEAF!?!?" The large Icejin roared in a voice so loud that Cooler covered his ears. Frieza shrank back as if the voice alone had slapped him a second time, and the bellowing continued, "I have been CALLING for you and CALLING for you!! Where have you been!? And WHY didn't you show up for your afternoon training session?"
"I-I didn't hear you calling me, Papa! I was out training on my own where nothing could distract me," Frieza lied meekly, keeping his head down and trying to ignore the tingling-hot sting spreading across his delicate cheekbone. He was afraid to look up and receive another devastating blow to his tired body, and he could feel the heat of his father's hot-poker eyes boring down upon the top of his armored skull.
Kold's tail cracked like a whip and slammed into the floor, making a small crevice in the flawless marble. He knew Frieza was hiding something from him, because the boy would always look him in the eye when they had their little confrontations. That only served to anger him further. He reached down, placed a massive hand under the young Icejin's chin and forced him to look up. The black eye he had given him earlier was gone, and he knew only one person could cure such an injury that quickly.
"You were with Wynter, you little liar!" He moved his hand away from the boy's chin and slapped him even harder than he had last time, sending him skidding across the smooth floor.
"Gaahhhck!" Frieza sputtered as the friction of sliding across the floor burned his skin and caused his cape to tangle around his body. He felt his father's massive foot pin him down and began to tremble in fear as tears ran out of his eyes, stinging the now-gushing wound on his cheek. "Papa! You're hurting me!" The little Icejin cried as his ribs were bent out of proportion by a foot almost one-third the size of his torso. He felt like his lungs were going to explode!
"You should be able to defend yourself against me, you little weakling!" He growled, "The next time you skip your training session, I will ensure the beating is five-hundred times worse than this!" The massive alien lifted his foot away from his son's ribs and turned his back to him, "Sometimes, you're really a disappointment to me, Frieza. Perhaps having two sons was a good idea after all." He sneered and glanced at Cooler to indicate what he meant, "Now leave while I deal with Wynter."
"Yes, Papa." Frieza's voice cracked as he painfully dragged himself to his feet and clutched his bruised ribs. He limped out silently, making slow progress to his quarters without offering so much as a glance to Wynter, who was waiting in the hall. The urge to pig out and puke hung heavily over his mind, but moving was too painful, and the mechanics of throwing up would only make his injuries worse.
"P-prince F-Frieza?" Wynter's green eyes glittered with unfallen tears. Even though Frieza was too far away to reach, she still extended her small white hand towards him.
The teenager paused and looked over his shoulder at the female. His tail undulated and his tear-filled eyes burned furiously. "This is all your fault." He wheezed. It was a lie, he knew, but he needed someone to blame. Someone to be angry with other than himself.
Meekly, Wynter dropped her turquoise head and sniffled as she walked closer, knelt down and carefully pressed one of his small white hands to her forehead. She knew her healing him had given away where he'd gone and who he was with. "I'm sorry, P-prince F-Frieza. P-please f-forg-give me."
Frieza responded by yanking his hand from her grasp and rudely spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor in front of her. Then he turned and wordlessly entered his quarters. Wynter closed her eyes and uncurled from her kneeling position. Her gaze remained downcast as she returned to her previous location beside the throne-room door.
Meanwhile, King Kold had angrily taken a seat in his throne and was in the process of drumming his beefy fingers on the arm-rest. He settled his chin on his palm and fixed his ruby-red eyes on the lean form of Cooler, who was staring at the floor while the tip of his purple tail flicked at a crawling insect.
"You don't have to stay here, Cooler. Aren't you supposed to be catching a transport?"
"It's delayed because of a fuel leak, and it won't be here until tomorrow morning." He sighed and looked up sorrowfully, changing the subject, "Father…you never treated me the way you treat Frieza. Why do you treat him so badly? You know mother wouldn't have wanted that, so why do you do it?"
Kold's leathery lips parted, "Your little brother will be sitting in this throne someday, Cooler. He's headstrong like your mother was, that's for sure. But this skipping out on training to hang around with a female, especially a slave, will not be tolerated in my castle! Not when he is going to assume a dignified position like this when I am gone."
Cooler sneered at his father and muttered, "You're just trying to avoid things that remind you of mother…"
"WHAT!?"
"You heard me!" The young purple Ice-jin growled as he turned towards the door and began to walk out.
Something white and hotter than a planet's core shot across the room. Cooler rounded on Kold, his eyes like dinner plates and his armor plate flashing. He didn't even have a chance to scream when the blast painfully engulfed his form and threw him into one of the columns beside the door. Smoke rose from his skin as he slumped to the floor and gasped to regain the breath knocked from his lungs.
"Unh..." He trembled as he got to his feet and stared at his father through one half-open eye, surprised that he would ever use a blast on his own kids. Such a thing was un-heard of, and illegal, even for a king!
King Kold glared at his eldest son, his hand still glowing from the blast he'd thrown, "Know your place, boy! What I choose to remember and forget is my business!"
Cooler said nothing more, allowing a silence to settle until it was so thick a person could almost see it. The blast hadn't just hurt his body, it had hurt his feelings and spirit as well. He shot his father a poisonous glare before limping out of the room with wisps of smoke still rising from his slightly burned flesh.
Kold ignored his son's angry exit. He was too furious at Frieza for skipping out on his valuable training to really care what he thought. The boy was already far behind his older brother when they should have both been equal in fighting power and potency!
He sighed to briefly dismiss the subject from further concern and lifted his voice, speaking not-so-gently, "Wynter, I know you are out there, so get in here."
The doors slid open and Wynter's petite white form stepped in without a sound. She approached the throne slowly and lowered respectfully to her knees. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes remained fixed upon her reflection on the polished ground. She found that if she lifted her eyes just enough she could see King Kold's angry face reflected on the smooth marble.
"I am extremely disgusted by your behavior, Wynter. You should know better than to distract Frieza from his training!" King Kold's voice rose in volume with each angry word spat from his lips. "Just what were you doing with him while you two were out playing like a couple of idiots?" He turned his head and snorted before the girl could reply. "Nevermind, I don't want to know."
Wynter kept her eyes on Kold's reflection and felt her heart lurch when he got to his feet. She soon found herself face to face with toes as big around as her arm. The slight lurch in her heart became a complete palpitation that made a cold sweat break out all over her clammy skin. It was hard to swallow, hard to think and hard to breathe. "P-p-please f-f-forgive me, Ssssire..." She sobbed. Her stuttering seemed worse because of her fear.
The large Icejin King smirked to himself and crossed his arms. He took pleasure in the young girl's fear of him and enjoyed the sight of her cowering at his feet, exactly where all slaves belonged. "So, the little mute speaks at last...such a pity that a lovely little voice like yours has to be marred by an impediment."
A gasp caught in Wynter's throat and her eyes closed as the metallic purple tip of Kold's tail came around to stop inches from her face.
"Stand up."
Wynter got to her feet without question, keeping her eyes to the floor. She felt his cool armored tail slip up under her chin and force her head back until she was gazing up at the mighty King's malicious face. The cruel gleam in his eyes and the smirk tilting his black mouth upwards frightened her to such a degree that she had to gulp in order to avoid throwing up.
"You are aware, of course, that you must be punished for your poor behavior." King Kold watched tears escape Wynter's green eyes and ran his tongue along the back-side of his perfect teeth. He used his tail like a bludgeon to send her reeling towards the armored doors on the other end of the room, "And I think I'll give you that punishment right now..."
There was a sickening thud as Wynter's body collided with the metal doors and slid down into a sitting position. Small torrents of purple blood ran freely from between her grimacing lips to stain the pale flesh underneath. A few droplets ran down her throat and caused her to gag violently.
Kold's shadow fell over her small form while she trembled in terror. The image of a man grinning malevolently with cruel intentions flashing through his ruby glare was reflected clearly in her wide green eyes. Then came the low hiss of his icy voice, "Now, this will only hurt more if you struggle..."
Wynter didn't know what he was talking about until she felt his hands on her. "N-n-no! P-p-please!" She shrieked and scooted as far away from him as she could. The distance was only a few inches, as the door effectively blocked her escape.
"Shut up!" The large Ice-jin backhanded the smaller one across the face to cut off her squeals. Then he locked his hand around her throat and lowered to his knees above her. "Now...just be still, little Wynter..."
"N-n-no...d-d-don't!!!" Tears poured like waterfalls down Wynter's cheeks, and she struggled hopelessly under Kold's immobile grasp. Another stinging slap burned her cheek. Then she found herself pinned to the floor by his massive frame. She whimpered and tried to squirm away, only to be stopped by hands wrapping tightly around her wrists.
"This will teach you who your master is!" Kold smirked and moved forward, ripping the girl's innocence away forever.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Wynter's scream of agony and dispair echoed through the halls.
"Ahhh..." Frieza collapsed backwards onto his bed and panted in relief. For just a few seconds he had been able to drown all the pain of his wounds in pleasure. Too bad it didn't seem to last long enough. If only papa knew what my nose picking had evolved into...he'd probably drop dead in shock. He smirked at the thought. Pain from the scrape on his cheek quickly erased the smirk and reminded him of the beating he received. I can't take this anymore! If I can't satisfy him, I'll just have to leave...I'll take Wynter with me too. That is...if she can forgive me. I guess I'll just talk to her as soon as I've rested my eyes.
Within moments of closing his eyes, Frieza fell fast into a deep slumber.
In his dreams he found himself standing in a vaguely familiar pink tunnel that swirled intermittently with color. He was running towards a light at the other end. His body armor and carapace flashed and gave off a brilliant sheen. The glow in the distance brightened as he came closer. A tall female figure with purple skin appeared in the glare, and in her hand was a leatherbound purple book with crisp white pages.
Frieza saw the woman and quickened his pace. He knew, somehow, that the book she held contained the answers to questions he didn't even know he had to ask.
He was about ten feet from the light when his body slammed painlessly into an unseen wall. Next thing he knew, his back was to the light and he was staring into a vortex of blackness. The blackness itself oozed forward until it covered him from head to toe like a suffocating void. He couldn't scream, move or breathe, and it terrified him.
"Help me!" Frieza cried out at the figure in the light. "HELP ME!!!!"
The woman tossed the book straight up and stepped gracefully forward. Frieza heard the pages rustle and felt the woman's delicate hands grasp onto his shoulders. She started to shake him, gently at first, then harder. It jarred his wounds and forced another cry from his raw throat.
"Frieza..." Her sing-song voice whispered across his ears. Her lips didn't move when she spoke, as if her voice was coming from all around. "Snap out of it, Frieza..."
"HELP ME!!!
"Frieza..."
"Frieza!!!" The woman's finely-shaped jaw thickened and her voice deepened until her visage was completely replaced with Cooler's. The brilliant light all around gradually became biting sunlight streaming through the window. The oozing blackness morphed into a cape and velvet bedsheets.
Frieza stopped struggling and looked around blankly at the familiar surroundings of his own bedroom. His confused gaze moved back to his older brother's slightly bruised face as beads of sweat rolled off his brow and stung the wound on his cheek. "C-Cooler? But...the...the light, and the...dark...and - "
"You were having a nightmare, Frieza. I heard you screaming all the way down the hall and came running in thinking someone was killing you." The purple Icejin removed his hands from the smaller one's shoulders and straightened into a standing position. He winced as some of his bruises were disturbed and sent dull pains through his body. "Are you sure you're OK?"
"It seemed so real..." Frieza blinked and looked over at Cooler when he saw him wince, "Wait a minute! What happened to you?"
"Father." Cooler's blue armor plate flashed as he turned his head towards the window and sneered. "He blasted me something fierce when I mouthed off at him." He sighed a little and shook his head in disgust.
The beating from last night flashed across Frieza's memory like a ki blast. His eyes widened and his small mouth formed a perfect O.
"Wynter!" He jumped out of bed in a flurry of motion, shoved his shocked brother aside and bolted for the door. He dashed around the corner and sped down the smooth escalator-like staircase leading to the floor below. The repeated slapping sounds of his bare feet on the smooth marble floor echoed throughout the halls. His breath came in ragged gasps and the pumping muscle in his chest squeezed in tighter on itself. It felt like the corridor leading up to his father's throne room had gone from thirty feet to ten miles.
Frieza didn't know what to expect when he reached the metal doors. He was about to pry them open with his bare hands when they slid open by themselves.
Wynter shuffled into the light with her arms wrapped around herself. Half of her face was swollen so badly her left eye was forced completely shut. The other eye was fixed on the floor and oozing tears. Purple bruises and wounds speckled her white skin. Blood was leaking from her mouth, nose and the apex of her thighs. The stench of stale semen hung in the air around her like an invisible cloak.
Oh no...what have I done? Frieza stared in dumbfounded shock at the beaten body before him. For a moment the only noise in the whole area was the blood leaking from Wynter's femaleness and hitting the floor. What has HE done?
Wynter felt the pain of her battered spirit and body returning all at once when she laid her eyes upon Frieza. She saw his gaunt hand reach forward and hugged herself tighter as she backed away from it. As far as she was concerned, he was there to hurt her too.
"Wynter?" Frieza reached for her again when he saw her back away. She stepped away again and a metallic clang sounded from her body running into the closed doors behind her. Seeing her like that made him bite his lower lip fiercely and fight down the tears blurring his vision.
What do I do? His carapace and horns flashed as he looked around for something to cover her with. A blanket, the curtains, anything...but there was nothing availiable other than his cape. The Icejin teenager grasped the edges of his magnificent cape and yanked until, with a loud tearing sound, it was ripped free of his shiny purple armor. He stepped cautiously forward and draped the cape around the female's armored shoulders, "Here..."
Alerted by the presence of soft silk against her stinging skin, Wynter snapped out of her reverie and looked down to find Frieza's careful hands wrapping a cloak around her body. All of her pain rushed to the surface so fast that she fell into him and collapsed to her knees at his feet. Her shoulders convulsed with the grief of her lost innocence and the pain wracking her battered body.
Before Frieza even realized what he was doing, he was lowering to his knees and placing his hand on her back the way she had done for him the previous day. His mind was at a loss for ideas on how to help her. What do I do? I can't just leave her *here* like this, and I don't trust those people in the medical bay...and papa is expecting me to train with him any time now. He looked down at Wynter to discover she had stopped crying and resolved herself to gazing blankly at the wall. I guess I have no choice...
Five minutes later, Frieza was carrying Wynter into his room and laying her carefully on the dishiveled bed. He didn't know what else to do with her, so he gathered up the scattered supplies of his personal medkit and left them on the edge of the bed. Hopefully, she would be able to clean up while he was gone.
"I have to go, or papa will come after us again. I'll come back shortly." He spoke from his doorway. It was clearly obvious he didn't understand she was wounded in more than just her body.
Wynter responded to his aloofness by turning onto her side and huddling up among the cloak and blankets. A balled-up piece of bandage rolled down the new incline in the softness and bumped against her back. She ignored it and closed her good eye as fresh tears began soaking into the pillow.
Frieza turned silently and exited the room with a snap of his armor-tipped tail. He felt the rage coiling tight like a red-hot spring in the pit of his stomach. Pulsing black webs wound about his vision as the blood pumped harder behind his burning ruby eyes. His muscles were tense and tight, and his tail started to lash wildly. A grimace pulled his feminine lips away from his teeth. The flaring of his nostrils increased in speed and intensity. Adrenalin began to flow into his system, making him quicken his step.
Papa...you hurt my only friend over something that wasn't even her fault! I'm tired of you ripping away every new thing I learn to like! I'm tired of it and I won't stand for it one second longer! He smirked as he felt the power in his body rising higher than it had ever risen before, and his feet seemed to beat out a rhythm on the hard ground. "This time, I'll be victorious..."
King Kold's tall bull-like horns flashed in the vague outdoor sunlight beating down without warmth. The wind rustled his cape and tickled the tip of his nose as he watched Cooler's transport shoot over the horizon. The tinted red glass of his scouter flashed a few seconds. Hmmm...my new right-hand man should be arriving shortly. He smiled, Those Saikajins are certainly something else! His gaze returned to the sky when dark clouds raced over to blanket the pale sun.
"On time for once, that's a first." Kold remarked without turning around. Behind him, a figure appeared in the shadows.
"Yes. Aren't you proud of me?" Frieza's husky voice came across so cold it was a miracle his vocal cords didn't freeze. "No, of course not. I can never satisfy you now, can I?" A flash of lightning briefly illuminated his expressionless face and eyes.
The large Icejin, astonished to hear his youngest one speak to him in such a sarcastic way, turned towards the sound of the voice. His scouter beeped and zeroed in on Frieza as the numbers started to scroll up. A slight click sounded as the numbers went up to five hundred, thirty thousand, flickered slightly and continued up another thousand points to stop on five hundred, thirty-one thousand. "All right, Frieza..." A pang of nervousness entered his voice and a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his pale lavender face. The boy's power level had never gone THAT high before! "You should settle down before we get started. Otherwise you won't think very clearly."
A point of light shot across Frieza's twin horns, eerily illuminating his pale face as he lifted his head and opened his eyes. His predatory gaze betrayed his emotionless mask. The heat in the pit of his stomach started to leak throughout his body in an almost pleasureful way, and he found himself smiling coldly as he spoke, "Thank you for your concern, father..." he rarely ever used that word, and he said it like it was a sour taste on his tongue, "...but I can assure you that my thinking is crystal clear."
V-shaped wrinkles appeared on Kold's nose as he sneered at Frieza's disrespectful tone of voice. He kept a wary eye on the fluctuating numbers flickering across the scouter's screen. "How dare you speak to me in that manner! I'm your father and I demand your respect, boy!"
Frieza's smile faded to a light smirk and his eyes narrowed as distant thunder rumbled to signify the brewing of a nasty storm. "What's the matter? Can't stand the taste of your own bitter medicine?" The point of light flickering on the tip of his horn spread out until his entire outline glowed with a faint white shimmer. A hot wind raced from every pore in his body while his power boiled.
"You little bastard!" The large Icejin fumed and stomped towards the the glowing teenager whose head barely reached the bottom of his hip. "You're asking for it!" He swallowed his fear of the rising power as he loomed over the smaller Icejin like a mountain of muscle and bone.
Instead of backing away like he usually did, Frieza curled his lip and sneered daringly at his father's face. "Go right ahead and try it, asshole."
"ASSHOLE!? That's it, I'm going to beat you senseless!!!" King Kold's eyes flared as he brought his hand around and slapped Frieza with all his strength. The sound of the impact echoed off the castle wall and faded. Frieza's head snapped to the side as the stinging fingers left their mark on his cheekbone.
The King stared in shock as Frieza slowly turned to face him again without a hint of pain on his face. There was something different burning in the emotionless red eyes that flickered eerily when lightning flashed in the distance. Something deep inside his soul was awakening for the first time. Something as awesome as it was terrible.
"Grrr!" Kold, now very unnerved, raised his fist to bash the Frieza's face in. Anything to keep those chilling eyes from boring into his skull any longer.
Frieza lifted his tiny hand and stopped the fist in mid-motion by grasping onto the forearm. He took pleasure in the enraged expression on Kold's face, but he wanted to see something else; he wanted to see fear. The glow around his body steadily grew more intense, as if reacting to his boiling rage.
"Is that all you've got?!" The young Icejin jeered as he held the older one's forearm tighter and began to squeeze.
"Grrr-aaaah! AAH!" Kold cried out when he felt Frieza's nails dig into his purple flesh. The delicate nails pressed down harder and broke through the skin like five razor sharp daggers. Droplets of dark red-violet blood ran out of the wounds and dripped onto the ground.
"So, is the pain just as satisfying when you're on the receiving end?" Frieza grinned and tightened his grip until his fingertips disappeared under his father's skin. "This is for Wynter and every time you beat me senseless!" He stared murderously into the larger Icejin's eyes and gave the limb in his grasp a forceful yank. A crack of thunder drowned out a sickening snap mixed with the sound of something slimy being ripped. Blood splattered thickly all over Frieza's face and armor with a wet splat, painting his flawless skin a sickly mix of lavender and red-violet.
"AAAARRGGGHH!!!" Kold's vision went white with agony. "Haaaaa-AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! AAAHHHH!!!!" The large screaming alien fell to his knees, staring wide-eyed at the jaggedly gushing stump where his hand used to be. He trembled and looked up at his blood-splattered son with one eye squeezed shut. "UNNNNNGH!!!! What...h-have you done!?!?" His strength failed right then, forcing him to fall facedown onto the featureless ground.
Frieza's eyes widened and twitched, and his stomach churned at the sight of the detatched limb still moving in his grasp. He dropped the severed hand a mere inch away from Kold's nose and backed away from the blood spreading out on the ground. The glow around his body faded just as mysteriously as it had appeared, and his power level dropped to normal.
"F-Friez-za..." King Kold began to feel woozy from the loss of blood, and his vision blurred on the severed hand lying inches from his face.
Frieza shook his head violently, his horns cutting horizontal slices in the air. He gathered his energy and flew away from the scene as fast as he could, leaving the larger Icejin behind in a puddle of blood. His mind could register nothing but the utter shock of his own strength; he had only intended to slash the hell out of his hand, not rip it clean off!
After flying through the deafening thunder for a few minutes, Frieza landed heavily in a grassy meadow and lashed his tail thoughtfully. His long purple tongue darted out to lick a droplet of blood from his cheek, and his eyes lowered to the mess splattered on his armor. He tried to wipe it off with his clean hand, but all he managed to do was taint his unmarred skin and spread the blood around on his armor like jelly on bread.
Frieza stopped wiping at the blood when he realized it wouldn't rub off and looked at the dark red stains on his palms. The sound of his papa's screams returned to his ears. Screams not of anger, but of pain. Screams he had all-too-often emitted himself during their training. A flash of cloud-to-cloud lightning zapped overhead to illuminate his confused expression as he recalled the pain.
"Now you know how it feels..." The teenager closed his eyes and sighed ruefully. "Now you know how it feels to be weaker..." He stared down at his bloody palms again.
For several moments, Frieza stood in stillness. Then, overcome with a strange urge, he buried his face in his palms and fell to his knees in the pale pink grass. He tried to fight off temptation, but it was too strong. His narrow shoulders began to shake silently under his armor, and tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
"Hm...hm, hm..." He finally lowered his hands to reveal deranged eyes and a sadistic grin tainted with blood. "Hah, hah, hah-hah," He twitched, finally giving in to temptation, and the shaking of his shoulders exploded into chilling laughter that seemed to echo throughout the entire universe, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! BWAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
A massive bolt of lightning struck the ground directly behind Frieza's laughing frame, silhouetting him with sparks, smoke and fire. More flashes of lightning went off overhead to illuminate either side of his pale painted visage, and a gust of wind stirred the flames behind him, the only witness to the side-effects of his first dose of power.
To be continued...