Chapter 12 – Rescue

Vegeta feels his body go numb with the unbelievable cold he is exposed to.

'He's even worse than Frieza,' he thinks incoherently. 'We can't possibly beat this guy…' He tries to power up, but finds himself covered in ice, unable to move. His blood is slowing in his veins and he sees Piccolo and Gohan on the edge of unconsciousness already, tumbling like rag dolls in the raging storm around them.

He sees rather than feels a pale arm grab his neck. Glacier smirks as he lifts Vegeta up.

"It's cold, isn't it? You Saiyans always hated the cold… My father taught me that when I visited him in Hell. I also heard you were the one who put him there!" Furious, Glacier squeezes even harder and Vegeta's sight becomes hazy. Then suddenly the pressure fades away. As in slow motion, Vegeta sees someone flying through the ice cold air, kicking the pale arm away from him in a fluid motion.

"You're wrong, Glacier. I'm the one who put Frieza in Hell!"

'My mind must be playing tricks with me,' Vegeta thinks. 'It can't be…'

"Kakarot?" he croaks, unable to speak up. His throat hurts like hell.

Goku turns around and looks at Vegeta, worried about his Prince.

"I wish I had time to explain it all, Vegeta. Get Piccolo and Gohan out of here and hide in a safe place. I'll cover your back."

"Kakarot… You're insane… He's too strong!"

"I don't care if I die again, Vegeta. All I care about is that you survive. Now get out of here NOW!"

Glacier gets up, really pissed off because he got distracted. The storm's power decreases gradually, and Piccolo and Gohan fall to the ground, barely alive. Vegeta painfully rises to his feet and grabs the Namek and Gohan.

"You're in my way, monkey," Glacier hisses to Goku. "You'll pay for that."

"Whatever. Bring it on, you son of a bitch! I'll tear you apart for hurting my friends!"

Run, Vegeta, Goku shouts mentally to the Saiyan Prince right before Glacier attacks him with tremendous force. Save yourself!

Vegeta takes off without looking back.

At the Lookout...

"There's nothing you can say that'll stop me, onna. I'm not done with Kakarot yet." Vegeta stands tall, arms crossed. Bulma is right in front of him, tears in her eyes.

"You can't go back there! You just told me this Glacier guy is stronger than you are!"

"So? I'm not a coward, onna."

"I know," Bulma sighs. "But it's so stupid to run into battle knowing you can't win."

"He has my genes," Vegeta growls. "I know better than anyone how a hybrid of Frieza and me will fight. Kakarot will die on the battlefield today, I'm sure. I'm not going to sit here and wait until that lizard freak comes after us all!"

He takes the bag of senzu beans and flies off to the horizon.

"Please be safe," Bulma whispers.

Trunks, who was hiding behind the door, has heard enough. Suppressing his ki, he takes off as well.

Meanwhile, Goku tries to keep up with Glacier, but finds himself to be the weaker one, even as a Super Saiyan 3.

"How the hell did you get so strong? Frieza couldn't have taught you this, he was a weakling," Goku groans.

"My father didn't teach me," Glacier answers, kneeing Goku in his stomach, depriving him of air. "I have superior genes and never needed a sensei."

"If that's true, then why do you want to avenge his death? You're Vegeta's son as well, did Frieza ever tell you what he did to him?"

Glacier chuckles evilly. "He sure did, and I intend to play with him just like my father did."

Goku lets his defence down and gets kicked square in the face. Wiping his bleeding nose, he gets up and looks at Glacier in astonishment. "You wouldn't… That's SICK!"

"Sick? The almighty Prince just told me that I'm not his son. He deserves to be punished."

Tears run over Goku's face as he powers up beyond his maximum.

"I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM!"

He attacks again, but whatever he does, he can't seem to hurt the grinning Glacier.

Vegeta arrives at the battlefield right when Glacier sends Goku flying into a mountain side.

"Die, you worthless monkey!" Glacier fires several ki blasts into the mountain, obliterating it. Goku's ki fades into nothing, causing Glacier to grin widely.

"One down… And I guess you're next, Vegeta." Glacier turns around. He raises his hand and licks off Goku's blood.

"He sure tastes good… I almost wish I had let him live. Hearing a monkey scream when he's tortured is so entertaining."

"I can only imagine how Frieza raised you in Hell," Vegeta spits. "But trust me, I'll teach you a lesson you will NEVER forget."

Glacier's energy crackles around him when he summons his immense powers. "You may try, but I say you'll die," he says mockingly.

Vegeta powers up to Super Saiyan 3 and attacks his son. He can only hope that he knows his fighting style well enoughto have a slight advantage…

Trunks sneaks around the ruins of the mountain, trying to find Goku's body. He can feel his father's rage thundering through the sky, but it's still inferior to Glacier's cold, dark power.

'Good thing he brought senzu beans with him,' Trunks thinks. 'Kami knows we'll need them to defeat this monster.'

From the corner of his eye, he notices movement to his left. He carefully sneaks over there and then his heart misses a beat. Bending over Goku's motionless body is another Saiyan, who looks exactly like his father… except that his hair is longer. He gasps in surprise and the Vegeta-look-a-like looks up.

"Wh… who are you?"

"I'm Toorah. You must be Trunks."

"How do you know?"

"Let's say I know your family and friends quite well because of Kakarot here."

"Is Goku… okay?"

"He's still alive, but he won't last long without a healer."

"I have a senzu bean right here." Trunks didn't go to battle unprepared and takes out a senzu bean. Goku heals soon after he has swallowed it.

"Toorah! Thank Kami you're here!" Goku sits up and embraces Toorah as if they're old friends. Trunks' face is full of question marks.

"Goku, who is this guy? How do you know him? And why does he look so much like my father?"

"There's little time to explain, Trunks. Toorah is your half-brother. He has trained in Other World for the single purpose of defeating Glacier. He is destined to fight him. That's why he's here."

"My half-brother?" Trunks is dazzled by this new information.

"I have to go up there and rescue dad. He won't last even with his senzu beans." Toorah looks determined and takes off towards the fight.

Vegeta feels a familiar ki approach and looks over his shoulder.

"Nani? How many clones of me are there?" He hits Glacier with a double-fisted blow, causing him to spiral down to the earth below.

Vegeta powers down a littleand looks at the other Saiyan. Then it dawns on him.

Impossible, he scolds himself mentally. I never got Radditz pregnant.

Oh, you did, father. You never knew, but I'm your son, Toorah answers him mentally. I was trained in Otherworld for the sole purpose of defeating Glacier and defending Chikyuu.

"How come you never contacted me?" Vegeta says curiously.

"I wasn't allowed to, it could endanger my destiny. I'm glad to finally meet you, father, but now I must ask you to leave."

Vegeta laughs at him. "You expect to beat him? What are you, Super Saiyan 4?"

"I'm not. But I'm destined to fight him and therefore I have a better chance to beat him."

"Bullshit!" Vegeta spits. "I don't care if you are my son, but you will wait until this fight is over!"

The ground shakes as Glacier frees himself from under tons of rocks and rubble.

"Father…"

"Get out of my way!" Vegeta wants to push Toorah aside, but with a swift movement Toorah hits him at the base of his neck. Vegeta transforms back to his normal form and starts to fall down unconscious. Goku catches him and hides him in a safe place.

"Did you see that?" Trunks says astonished. "He knocked my father out with one blow!"

"There's more to Toorah than meets the eye," Goku says in a serious tone. "He might be able to defeat Glacier, but I'm afraid it's going to be a close call."

Trunks and Goku look up to the skies as dark clouds start to gather over the battlefield. Glacier uses Instant Transmission to put himself right in front of Toorah. Energy sparks emerge around both fighters as they roar and commence their fight to the death.