A small bulb of violet light appeared in one of Frieza's cupped hands, pulsing larger for a moment, the fading away. An identical phenomenon happened in his other hand, going through a similar pattern before fading away as well.
Avril waited patiently as the strange creature powered up to his full strength, or at least as much of it as he would allow himself. She watched carefully, taking in every line of his form as he floated in front of her, watching for the faintest twitch or movement to tell her when he would come at her, because it was clear that he was through doing her favors, and the real fight would begin.
The lights faded, and suddenly…
A strong hard kick hit Avril directly in the stomach, she allowed herself to fall back slightly, barely noticing the pain. Grinning, hard, she twisted underneath him, and grabbing hold of his tail, spun him around, letting go quickly, and making him slam into a tall cliff jutting out in the middle of the green lake below them.
The rock caved in sharply, raining down into the waters and burying Frieza with it.
Avril lowered slightly, to wait for him to dig himself out, since she knew a mere collision with a wall of solid rock shouldn't do much except maybe bruise him a little.
In a moment a shower of brilliant white light broke from the cracks of the remaining cliff, and Frieza reappeared throwing back the little bits of stray rock still around him.
His shoulders were heaving angrily, and his eyes shone with such pure hatred that it would turn away any other opponent in an instant. But Avril remained perfectly poised, gazing down at him placidly and watching for his next movement.
"Strange child," he coaxed suddenly, rising up again," why do you fight me, for sport maybe? Oh, that is not kind, not kind at all, do you know if the two of us joined we would be unstoppable? The universe would be yours and mine, my dear, if only you stopped all this nonsense and considered how much easier it would be on you, if you continue fighting it will only lead to your death. But if you join me, whole worlds would bow down to you. Only think of it." Avril cocked her head to one side.
"Do you offer this little piece of paradise to everyone?" She demanded.
"Anyone who I see has the potential for greatness." He said smoothly, believing the battle won.
"Well! And I was about to feel special, but if you make this little touching speech to every second person who decides to fight you, then I'll just have to decline."
"You ungrateful…" She put up one index finger.
"Please, no names, let's keep this civil, after all there are children present." This sent Frieza into a total rage; he lunged without warning, attempting to wrap his tail about Avril's neck in a finishing move.
The pirate dodged easily, kicking repeatedly at his chest and stomach as she continued to spin out of reach. He countered with a whip of the tail that sent her flying back. Righting herself quickly, Avril slipped behind him, and slammed into his back, sending him hurtling to the ground.
As he fell he forced himself upright, and sent a powerful beam of energy directly at her. This one was not the little ball of light that the other had been; it was a huge globe of power, almost impossible to stop.
Avril stretched out both hands, and charged into it, forcing it back with her palms. Clenching her teeth, she pushed with all her might. The countering pressure grazed against her palms, tearing her skin and sending droplets of blood flying to the ground, but she ignored this completely using all her concentration to hold back the blast. With a final surge of strength she shoved the huge ball of light back at Frieza.
He smiled cruelly and hit it away, but now it was headed towards the small group of people by the shore of the lake. Avril flew swiftly, gaining on the light, and quickly outdistancing it. Just as it reached the edge of the water, she jumped in its way allowing its full force to hit her, rather than harm her friend on the beach, because at the moment Nekita was the first thing that the blast would have come in contact with.
There was a huge explosion, rising up in clouds of smoke high above the valleys of Namek and filling the sky with artificial clouds.
Frieza laughed viciously, seeing the sparks of light fly all around him, and enjoying every moment of it. At last he had gotten rid of that irritating woman.
Nekita gasped in horror, searching the dust for any sign of Avril, hoping against all odds that the pirate had somehow survived the blast.
But that was impossible, nothing could survive it, not even the determined, energetic Avril. She looked around desperately, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. Someone was holding her carefully, keeping her on the ground, away from the dangers of crumbling rock and rushing water. Barely conscious of anything except the overwhelming sadness she felt for Avril's loss, she nevertheless did manage to see that it was the bald little man that clasped her so tightly. She attempted to extract herself from his grasp, to get up; to try to help Avril, but he wouldn't let her go.
"Please," she cried," please let go, I have to help her…" Krillin shook his head sadly.
"I…I don't think she made it." He said gently, trying to keep Nekita from tearing away and rushing directly into the rubble of the fallen cliff face, which was still shaking and breaking apart. She shook her head firmly, Avril couldn't be dead, she just couldn't, there was no way that a life like that could just be snuffed out in a moment. The tears came faster and she began to sob uncontrollably, what would she do without Avril, where would she go without the constant cheerful help that she always got from the pirate?
Krillin continued holding her rather awkwardly as she cried, desperately trying to think of something comforting to say, but finding his mind totally empty of everything except sadness for the woman he held and the woman they lost.
Gohan suddenly popped up from somewhere in the dust, coughing for a few moments before managing to stagger to where he saw the small blurry outline of his friend.
"She's gone…isn't she," he said softly, placing his small hand on Nekita's shoulder, she didn't answer but Krillin nodded gently. What were they going to do now? With no Goku, and the stranger out of the fight they were as good as sitting ducks. Gohan bowed his head sadly, there was no hope left now.