Black Dawn: Part 5

Freeza's Torture Begins

Goku was never completely happy unless he was fighting. The challenge of every new enemy excited him, and gave him a purpose for living.  While Dende was Earth's guardian, Goku was certainly Earth's champion. Now, a new enemy was threatening Earth, and as always, the Z fighters had been called for to protect it, with Goku in the lead.

Now, Goku stood in an open field, the aura of a Super Saiyan radiating around him, while his son Gohan bent and stretched in preparation for the match. They had been given ten days to prepare for the fight against the enemy called Sugakoo, and they intended to use them, by training as much as they could. As Goku stepped into his fighting stance, he realized that this was the first time they were preparing to fight an enemy without actually knowing what sort of power they possessed. They didn't know much about Sugakoo at all; accept for what #16 had told them, which was very little. Goku would just have to trust in the android, and hope that Sugakoo wasn't much stronger than Majin Buu, and that he was as strong as he had been when he fought the little demon.

Finished with his stretching, Gohan began to power up. The mystic upgrade that he had been given by the Old Kai began to show, as the saiyan took on a godlike appearance, and much greater muscle mass, this transformation felt much different to the change into a super Saiyan. In Super Saiyan form, his whole personality changed. He became a fighting machine, without weakness or reserve. This mystic power felt more natural to Gohan, since he had never enjoyed fighting as much as his father. He reached down, deep inside him for the hidden power that made him the legendary super Saiyan of his generation, channeling it into this new transformation, but then, suddenly, the mystic power was stripped away, and Gohan was left standing rather confused, and unable to regain his strength. "What happened?" Goku asked.

"I don't know," Gohan replied, "I just lost all that power." Gohan began to power up again, but this time, instead of the mystic power, the transformation into a Super Saiyan occurred, adding to Goku's already shining aura. "I don't understand it," he said, "I can't find my mystic power at all!"

"Maybe it doesn't last forever," Goku suggested, "after all, you haven't been using it for a while."

"Wouldn't Old Kai have mentioned that? It sounded to me like the mystic upgrade was a permanent thing!"

"You're right Gohan," a deep voice interrupted, "the mystic power was permanent, but the Kai magic has been reversed." Piccolo landed gracefully on the grass in front of the two super Saiyans, his cape, which had been spread out behind him, now resettling itself against his back. "Remember what Android 16 told you? Sugakoo attacked the Kai planet not long ago. He has now taken over Otherworld completely, and all the power of the Kais is gone. The universe is already falling into disrepair, because the check in station to otherworld has been abandoned. King Yama and his secretaries no longer have any authority over the dead. All of that was given to them by the Kais."

"So does that mean that people will be escaping from otherworld?" Gohan asked worriedly.

"Not yet," Piccolo reassured, "Sugakoo seems to be leaving everyone where they are for now. That's about the only good thing I can see in all this."

"How do you know all this Piccolo?" Goku asked, "Did Dende tell you?"

"Yes. Dende still has some power, because his power is allowed him by deities other than the Kais. He's in otherworld now, trying to keep at least the soles from Earth under control. He sent me to join you. Everyone we have will be needed in this battle."

"So it's that bad," Goku mused, "I can't even use my Instant Transmission to go to Otherworld to help out any more, because that power was a special gift from the Kais."

"No Goku. When Android 16 returns, we will be able to go to Otherworld, but until then, we're powerless, and Dende is on his own in there. I only hope he'll be all right."

***

The two Rhyontou worriers snarled as one, leaping forward to attack the Saiyan children. Trunks grabbed hold of his opponent's head and tried to push him backwards, but the wolf only snarled and kept advancing. Trunks was slightly put off by this, but decided that a head on energy blast would do the trick. "Burning attack!" he yelled, as his hands went through a series of complicated movements. A bright and powerful blast leapt from the child's hands, only to fade away as it touched the Rhyontou. "How did he do that?" Trunks asked incredulously. He never got an answer, because the Rhyontou decided to take advantage of his distraction. It was on top of the purple-haired boy before he could react, slashing, bighting and tearing at his chest and arms. Trunks quickly slammed his fist into the wolf's belly, but it still kept up its vicious attack, never letting Trunks gain the slightest advantage. He couldn't even concentrate on transforming into a super Saiyan. "Android 16! I need help!" he cried feebly.

Android 16 watched on helplessly as Goten and Trunks were tackled by the guardians of the book of Sugakoo. The children weren't doing well, but he was forbidden to interrupt the fight. All he could do was hope that they would eventually emerge victorious. If they did not, then this universe had no hope. The laws and prophecies that would show them how to save the universe were all written in the book of Sugakoo, and if they couldn't defeat Sugakoo, existence as they new it would soon be erased. 

***

For one of the first times in his life, or, more accurately, his death, Freeza was afraid. Sugakoo, who had once been his master and protector, now stood over him, snarling down at him. "I told you to leave some of them alive! I told you if you went to Namek you would die! I told you this many times, and still, you didn't listen to me! You fully deserved your death Freeza! Once, you were like an extra hand to me, my agent among the people of the real universe, but you let your desire grow more important than your task, and that one mistake proved to be your ultimate downfall!" He kicked the already bruised and battered changeling in the side, sending him rolling limply across the grass. "Now look what you've become! You once had the power of a god at your fingertips! Now you grovel helplessly while I beat you into a pulp! Even worse, you brought Coola and Cold into this, and got them killed too! They would have obeyed me, if you had not convinced your father to take you to Earth! I warned Coola not to follow you, but he would have none of it! When I am finished with you, you will regret ever having learnt of the dragon balls!"

The changeling trembled uncontrollably. He had tortured many of his servants in the past. He would remove their arms, and leave them to bleed until they were near death. Then he would break their legs and hold them up side down in the air, so they shrieked in pain from their broken bones. After that, he would proceed to gradually burn through the victim's skin with a very weak energy beam, allowing them at least 10 minutes to contemplate their horrible end before he told them he would now let the energy beam end their agony. Then, he would thrust the beam into the victim's left shoulder, and pull out his heart, in just the way that allowed the tortured sole to see his heart before he died. Freeza had often enjoyed this torture, not with his lower class soldiers; they were too weak to play with, but usually with servants who worked in his many palaces. They were quite strong, and new Freeza well, so he had plenty of opportunity to enjoy their suffering. Now, he new he would undergo a similar torture. Sugakoo had never seen any of his torture sessions, but somehow, he would know just the methods Freeza had used, and would certainly use them, all the while taunting him about how, in his glory days, he would never have imagined undergoing the same torture he dished out constantly to his subjects. He new the look that would be on his face. He had seen it so many times before, and now all the faces on which he had seen that terrible look flashed through his mind, one by one.

Freeza began to scream.

Author's Note: Please tell me what you think of my story! I want feedback! Even criticism is welcome, as long as it's constructive and intelligent. It'll only take you a few minutes, so please just spend a little of your extremely valuable time to  tell me what you think!