Tempest of the Tirani

Meanwhile, Vegita placed a hard elbow to the shiny silverfish face of the extra-dimensional Freiza, sending the alien careening into a canyon below. /Good,/ the saiyan prince reflected inwardly, /here, we can get down to business/ He felt a little of the old fire burning within, and to his surprise, almost a sense of elation at the prospect of finishing of a Freiza far stronger than any Goku had ever faced.

"How does it feel, Freiza?" he boasted as the angry villain levitated once more to the same level Vegita hovered.

"Curse you, monkey! I'll have your heart in my hands yet!"

The saiyan merely grinned. "Tell me, did you destroy the Planet Vegita in your timeline as well?"

Freiza's pride got the better of him, and a murderous smirked crossed his chrome lips. "Of course I did, puny saiyan. They all died so easily." He stuck out a sliver tongue and licked his chops.

"Then," the saiyan warrior declared, "In the name of all the saiyans you've destroyed, I hereby sentence you to death!" He lifted his left arm, palm outwards, blue energy gathering as his gold aura flickered.

"I never had the chance to use this attack on the you I knew, Freiza, but I'll settle for this. Big Bang Attack!" A coruscating sphere of blue emerged from his hand, increasing in size as it raced toward the surprised changeling.

Freiza only muttered the word "What?" as the orb collided with and inundated his body, sending him tumbling head-over heels into a rocky canyon wall, where the attack detonated, spewing bluish-white energy everywhere. Vegita allowed himself a triumphant laugh as shards of shrapnel whisked by his face. For a moment, he almost wished it hadn't ended that simply…and then his wish was granted. The mechanical Freiza emerged from the indenture in the cliffside, apparently undamaged. But that didn't make sense, unless thedan robots could heal their artificial bodies…

Freiza extended both arms, then brought his two thumbs together in from of his sternum, arms still extended. He smiled as a beam of yellow ki emerged, racing to knock the saiyan prince out of the sky. Despite his all-too-apparent surprise, Vegita nevertheless retained enough composure to dodge the ray, and even return fire by releasing five tiny bursts of red ki from both hands. Freiza took flight, maneuvering in the air to avoid the energy. Something about this troubled Vegita. /He seems faster than before…/ His train of thought was derailed as Freiza imbedded his fist into the warrior's stomach. The saiyan prince made a choking grunt as some of his internal organs began to seep fluid. The force of the blow sent his body sailing away, only to find the evil tyrant in his flight path. With great effort, Vegita turned his body around, managing to plant his foot in the chest of his assailant. The chrome lizard was knocked back by the blow, but even as the lizard sailed backward, Vegita couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, the alien's metal carapace had become harder.

Goku leaned his head to the side as a thick silverish arm almost clipped his ear. He then ducked low, lashing out with his left foot in order to trip up King Cold. Of all of the changeling aggressors, this one was the slowest, as his horned mechanical body was the biggest and bulkiest. Cold hit the pavement hard, making a clang as he collided. Goku gripped him by the tail, and with one swift motion, hurled him away from the city. Goku then took flight, pursuing the alien, and with one outstretched hand, sent an invisible tide of ki at the flailing Cold, further lengthening his flight, as well as distance from the city. However, the tyrant-turned-slave cast his arms out to his sides, using his power to halt his flight. He whirled around as Goku approached, catching the surprised saiyan in the jaw with a hard right hook. Goku was flung to the side, but managed to right himself in the air, gently drifting to the dirt below.

"Why don't you transform, like your friend did," Cold taunted in a rather prissy, yet artificial, voice.

"I don't need to transform to defeat you. I have other methods." Suddenly, Goku's hair spiked, but did not change color from its normal black tint, and his white ki aura changed to gold. Cold, now lowering himself to the ground as well, betrayed a surprised look. Goku had grown in power just as much, if not more, than Vegita had with his transformation.

"What are you?" he uttered.

"Oh, that's nothing. Watch this." Abruptly, Goku'a aura doubled in size, and electricity danced along his body. It seemed even stronger than Vegita's second transformation…

Cold decided it was best to attack all-out. He rushed Goku at top speed, attempting to clothesline the saiyan. But at the last instant, Goku ducked, and used his arm like a knife, cutting the villain in two. Goku prepared to move in and evaporate the two halves entirely, but almost immediately, they joined back together. The lizard-like alien then whirled around, planting a roundhouse kick on the warrior's cheek. The saiyan's body twirled around like a top, then flopped to the dirt. Goku returned to his feet, rubbing his jaw. Had Cold somehow grown more powerful in those few seconds? He clenched his fists at his sides, increasing his ki. Yes, this was far more effective than the super saiyan transformation. No bodily strain, no anger, and no using up of ki. Now, if he could only get this to work for the third super saiyan stage…

***

The group scattered as Hildegarn's plated hand swooped through the air. He didn't like the idea of missing and opened his enourmous mouth. Blasts of energy shot out like flying freight trains and decimated the impact areas. He howled a monsterous roar and whipped his tail wildy.

"Are you ok?" asked Piccolo. Gohan hovered close by amidst a crumbling city below. A hazy ki trail lingered behind him.

"I'm fine, I shouldn't have been so hasty, sorry," he said, "I hope you don't mind if I pick your brain, Piccolo, but we need a plan."

"His body is hunched, look at his head," said Piccolo, "we'll distract the brute. Gohan, you're the only one strong enough to really hurt him, so I want you to hit him from behind," he looked at the others, "keep to the skies, I want to limit any damage done to the earth and force him so use his energy."

"Right," Goten nodded, Trunks did the same.

"And, you," Piccolo said to Banira, "god, or no god, I expect you to get in on this one."

Banira wasn't used to being talked to in a such a way, but the situation called for adjustment. He made a slight sneer, "I will."

Flying talons broke up the meeting as the six warriors scattered. Hildegarn's skeletal face followed their movements as they darted about the atmosphere. Snare swooped in and threw a quick ball of energy at the monster's gut. The towering demon tried to swat the flying Namek, but he literally slipped through his fingers. Trunks zig-zagged about the demon's feet as he tried to squash him. Hildegarn caught a light in the corner of his eye. He looked up only to have Goten smash into his white face. The lumbering creature took a few steps back and roared in anger.

With the monster's mouth wide-open, Piccolo tossed a spiraling beam of energy down Hildegarn's throat from mid-air. It detonated in a flash of glowing heat and sizzled the brute's innards. Hildegarn grabbed his neck, hunched over and started coughing clouds of smoke. He wheezed and chomped his jaw to see if it were still working. Near-invisible trails of ki floating and pointing behind him began to fluctuate wildy. He huffed a bit of smoke and disappeared, leaving only a silhouette of his massive image. Hildegarn re-appeared behind the senior Namek and swatted him into a building. The sky-scraper's support gave out and it collapsed on top of him.

"Father!" Snare flew down to the rubble in a flash of light.

The monster started his advance again. As he came back down to earth Banira swooped in and nailed the side of Hildegarn's head. The god flew up and tossed a fire ball at the creature to add to the injury, but it had little effect. The hulking demon flew at Banira and swatted him into the earth - just as he did to Piccolo.