A/N:    So, new chapter! Not much to say so please go on and read! Oh yeah, thanks a lot for the reviews!

Chapter 33: The Execution

No one in the dark cells dared to say word. It was almost unnatural quiet, with only the sounds of a woman's sobbing breaking the silence. No one of the prisoners could really grasp what had just happened in Frieza's throne room. One of them, and most of all the least likely one, had betrayed them, had sold his soul for power – a mere child on top of that. Little, innocent Gohan had made a bargain with the beast himself.

The mood in the cells was more than grim. They knew that their prospects of getting out of this alive were slim to nonexistent. It would now only be a matter of time until Frieza held all seven spheres in his hands and then it would be impossible to defeat him. The world like they knew it would cease to exist, just like they would. Terror would spread over the lands and seas and no one would be safe from the horror that was named Frieza.

We failed, was all Krillin could think. They had failed to rescue Bulma, failed to prevent that evil got hand on all spheres, failed to protect one of them.

Suddenly a roar echoed through the stonewalled prison. Piccolo had thrown himself at the bars, but his attempts died in vain – they did not bulge one bit. Not like he, or anyone for that matter, had expected this to work. This attack had only been an act of frustration and helplessness. Aggravated, the Namek paced as much as the confined space of the cell allowed him to. Frieza was mocking them – he had not even placed guards by their cells. "This is not happening!"

"Oh yes, it is," the calm voice of Juuhachigou stopped him. It was the first time since their capture that she actually said something. She was sitting in one of the cells across of him, together with ChiChi and Dende. Piccolo, Chao-Zu and Krillin shared one, as did Yamcha and Tenshinhan. "We're here, in Frieza's palace, prisoners with no way to get out. The boy turned out to be a traitor and saved his own ass by turning over to Frieza, while I doubt that we would live long enough to see him doing his first kill, except of course he is handling one of the gallows outside at our execution and don't tell me you haven't seen them being built!"

"Gohan would never do that," ChiChi whispered in between her sobs. "He would never be able to kill someone heartlessly."

"He would," Krillin mumbled. "And he did. You haven't seen him, ChiChi. While he was fighting Cell, he had shown no mercy, none at all. He had been going for the suffering, even before he had gone for the kill. This power, it must have made him realize just what exactly he was capable of. It corrupted him. Gohan is a smart boy, he knew that Frieza would recognize this power in him and he also knew that the only way to get out of this would be siding with the enemy. So that's what he did."

The group lapsed into silence again, even ChiChi's sobs had ceased, the blunt and shocking words of her friend having hit its target. Each of them was lost in his own thoughts, probable plans of getting out or just musing about the past happenings. Even Piccolo had retreated to a corner of his cell and sat there with closed eyes. The whole time there had been a nagging thought, more a suspicion in the back of his mind, he just was not able to seize it, yet. Despite what Krillin had said, no matter how true it sounded, there was something he was missing, one small detail that he had overlooked or forgotten.

Piccolo shut out all surrounding noises, no matter how small or silent they were and evened his breathing. He slowly fell into a trance-like state, helping him to concentrate to find that missing detail. He felt as if he was floating in darkness until he saw a small golden light in front of him. He extended his hand and fastened its grip around it. The golden glow spread out and surrounded him completely, when he suddenly woke up from the trance with a smile on his face. That is it! He swiftly got up and walked to the bars, ignoring the surprised looks the others were giving him. Hope is not lost, yet.

~*~

Gohan woke up, when the first rays of sunlight hit his face. It was still awfully early in the morning and he had no idea, when exactly he had come to bed the previous night, but he felt well-rested. It was really strange, how relaxing and restorative one night, even if it were just a couple of hours, could be, when you sleep in a real and comfortable bed. He climbed out of the large bed and walked over to the window, opening it. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the fresh morning air, the wind carrying the fresh and salty breeze over to him. This silence was quite welcoming after the constant noises he had woken up to the last weeks on the ship.

He stretched his still slightly sore muscles and closed the window again. On the floor in front of his bed he found the clothes he had worn the previous days and noticed that, in this tidy room, they looked like dirty rags. Gohan neatly put them on a chair in the bedroom and then went to take a bath, hoping that the warm water would loosen the last kinks in his muscles. Much to his surprise he found that to fill the tub with warm water, he only had to use the pump that was connected to the bathtub. After having added some soap to the water, he discarded the last of his clothes and sunk into the relaxing warmth.

Gohan estimated that about half an hour had passed, when he emerged again from the bathroom, clad in a silken bathrobe that was much too big for him. He raised his eyebrows in confusion, when he saw that his clothes were gone and instead replaced with new ones. Shrugging inwardly, he took of the robe and dressed in the fresh underwear, the white pants, white linen shirt, a blue jacket that was adorned with golden buttons and the black boots. He looked into the mirror and frowned. If he wanted to impress Frieza, he could not go like this. The clothes were good enough, but he could not go wearing his hair down as he did now. He rummaged through the drawers and in the end found a black piece of cloth that he could use to tie his hair back. Finally satisfied with his appearance, he left the bedroom.

Yet again, Gohan was surprised when the sitting room was empty. He would have expected someone waiting for him. On the other hand that did not bother him much. This way, he could still explore this room a bit more, before he was escorted to Frieza. Gohan let his hand slide over the expensive furniture, and his eyes glide over the bookshelves. A small smile spread over his face, when he noticed the enormous number of books. There were novels, collections of poems and technical literature. In the end, he picked a volume called Sailing through the Centuries and settled down on the comfortable couch, spending the time reading until someone was bound to get him. The whole studying his mother had put him through finally seemed to pay off, because this book was proved to be extremely interesting and Gohan was so engrossed in it that he did not even notice someone entering his chambers until the person was hovering directly over him.

The boy looked up at the bulky form of Nappa and put the book aside. "The Lord is expecting you," the Saiyajin said and turned around, trusting Gohan to follow him. Gohan had fully expected to be led into the throne room, but instead he trailed Nappa until he was standing in the gardens of Frieza's palace. This place never ceased to amaze him. First his unexpected cozy chambers and now those beautiful gardens. On a patio in the middle of green grass, surrounded by gorgeous and exotic flowers and plants, stood a table with two chairs, set with two sets of dishes.

Frieza was standing next to the table, welcoming his new protégé with a small smirk gracing his lips. "I've been waiting for you, young Gohan. I hope you're well-rested, because the coming day will be rather exhausting, in a positive way, if I may add." Gohan only nodded in response. "By the way, the clothes look good on you. I hope they are to your satisfaction?"

"They are. Thank you, Sir," Gohan answered politely.

"Well, then, let's have something to eat. Knowing of the appetite of a Saiyajin, I'm positive you're starved." The boy followed Frieza's example and sat down at the table, waited until a servant had filled his plate and Frieza had started eating, before, he too, started to devour his breakfast.

~*~

"What do you think the Lord is playing at?" Nappa asked, as he joined Radditz in the canteen, where the younger Saiyajin was already wolfing down his breakfast.

Radditz shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he just wants to humiliate Kakarotto and his crew even further with having one of them on our side and maybe he really wants to reeducate the boy. We can only wait and see. Besides, I think we should concentrate on matters that are more important for now."

"Right," Nappa smirked. "The big day."

~*~

Ever since Goku had been thrown into the dungeons and the startling revelation that his fellow-inmate was in fact his father, the two of them had settled into a companionable routine. Next to sleeping and eating, they would tell stories of their lives, just to keep the other entertained and to pass some time. But the more time passed, the more Goku was getting agitated and restless. He could understand why Bardock had lost track of time, but what he could not understand was, how his father could still be sane after having spent twenty-five years in the dungeons in solitude. Minutes blended into hours and hours into days.

Alone the knowledge that his friends were somewhere out there, probably doing something that would get them into a lot of trouble, if not killed, was driving him crazy. He worried about ChiChi, Gohan, Bulma, every single member of his crew. He wondered if they were hurt, if they were even still alive. This uncertainty was killing him and he could do nothing to find out what was going on. Every time he tried to break the shackles, Bardock repeated that it was of no use, but that did not stop Goku from trying.

He did not know how many days have passed since his imprisonment – he thought maybe three or four – when finally someone other than the old guard who was bringing them some food twice a day, came to their cell and even opened the door. Both Goku and Bardock, whose eyes were only used to darkness, had to blink at the light of the torch. The young sailor was the first to recognize their visitor. "Nappa," he hissed venomously.

"Nappa?" Bardock repeated, though his voice only betrayed disbelief. All the years, up until his son had been captured, Bardock had believed Nappa to be dead. That he had joined an alliance with Frieza was something that was hard to process.

"So it's true," Nappa sneered. "The mysterious prisoner is the third class Bardock. Tell me, how did it feel to have suffered all those years, not knowing if it will ever be over?" He laughed cruelly and turned to go. "But don't worry, it will all be over soon."

"Where is my son?" Bardock finally managed to spit out.

Nappa stopped. "Your son is right here. I thought you figured that out. Oh, wait… You mean your other son. He's here in the palace and you will see him again, soon. It will be a really big family reunion." He left the cell and barked out some orders at his henchmen. "Release them, but be careful with the young one. There's still some strength left in him."

Two more of Frieza's men came into the cell and unlocked the shackles. Goku used the chance to tackle one of them, but was forced to stop, when the other held a pistol at Bardock's head. "One wrong move and the old man is dead," he snarled.

"Go, Kakarotto. Alone, you can make it. I will only be a burden."

Goku looked at his father, at the door and back at his father and shook his head. "No, I won't leave without you."

"You are truly pathetic!" Nappa, who was standing in the doorway, laughed. "Hurry up! Bind their hands and bring them outside. It's about to start."

Just reluctantly, Goku let the pirate he had tackled bind his hands behind his back and watched, how the other roughly pulled Bardock to his feet and pushed him ahead out of the cell, before he also was pushed forward.

~*~

All members of the former crew of the Kintoun held their heads high, when a couple of pirates led them outside. They squinted at the sudden sunlight and heard the noises of the large crowd before they saw it. Krillin swallowed hard, when he saw what they were gathered around. Never before had he seen this many gallows at one place before. Ten gallows – a mass execution and if he guessed correctly, it would be them doing the hanging.

Suddenly he heard ChiChi gasp next to him. He turned his head away from the gallows and followed her gaze until his eyes stopped at a podium. Four persons were standing on it. One was Frieza, in a proud stance, the second was Gohan, standing straight with his arms folded behind his back and staring forwards at the gallows. On the left and right side they were flanked by guards. When they passed the podium, the beast sneered at them, while Gohan's gaze was still fixated at the gallows, he even completely ignored his mother, as she called out for him. Krillin, as well as the others, first tore their eyes from them, when Frieza put a hand on the boy's shoulder in a fatherly notion and Gohan reacted on this by giving him a small smirk. At this moment, Krillin was glad that Goku could not see this – it would have broken the man's heart, especially since the relationship between father and son had been a bit strained during the last days on the Kintoun.

Krillin let himself be led up the few steps to the gallows he was appointed to and did not do anything, as the noose was put around his neck. There was now no hope left in him. He could now only pray for a wonder to happen. He sighed tiredly and his eyes strayed again to the podium, where at that moment two more prisoners were led past. He squinted against the noonday sun and his heart missed a beat, when he recognized one of them. It's Goku! How? Why? No one could have survived that! For the first time in hours, a smile appeared on his lips. But he did! Krillin wanted to cry out with joy, but knew that he had to contain himself. He looked at his friends. All of them were staring straight ahead or, in ChiChi's case, at the ground, so they had not noticed that Goku was still alive, all except for Piccolo, whose lips had curled up into a small smirk upon seeing his presumed-dead captain. There's still some hope left…

Goku on the other hand was completely shocked to see his friends already standing on the gallows. He had so hoped that they had sailed back. He had so hoped that they would be in safety. But he truly should have known better. His friends were not known for running away. Their courage, as well as his own, sometimes resembled stupidity. They had Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chao-Zu, the Jinzoningen, Dende, ChiChi and… Where is Gohan?

He let his gaze wander once again over the gallows, but Gohan was nowhere to be seen. His spirits rose again a bit. So that could only mean that Gohan was safe. His confidence, however, was quickly destroyed, when he heard Bardock growl and finally looked up at the podium that they were passing. There was his son, standing next to Frieza. Goku swore that for the split of a second different emotions washed over Gohan's face, as he noticed him. Confusion, bewilderment, sudden understanding and incredible joy were only some of them, before the face became again a stoic mask of indifference and the boy turned his head away.

What is going on here? Goku wanted to stop, he wanted to turn around and call out for his son, but the pirates pushed him and Bardock forwards. The older Saiyajin noticed the growing agitation in Goku and after having looked from him to the boy, sighed with understanding. "Your son?" he asked quietly. Goku only nodded. "I understand what you're going through," Bardock added with a side-glance at the longhaired Saiyajin next to the podium, before they were separated and each led up to their gallows. After having made sure that the nooses were around their necks, Nappa joined Radditz at the podium.

Goku found himself next to ChiChi, who had her eyes closed and her face directed to the ground. She had not noticed him yet. He did not know what he should do. Should he call her attention or should he remain quiet? But when he saw the silvery tears that were running down her face, he knew what he had to do. "ChiChi?" he whispered. When she did not react, he tried it once again, a bit louder this time. "ChiChi?"

This got her attention. She looked up and her eyes went wide with surprise and shock. "Goku? Is that really you?"

"It's me…" he assured her. "I'm alive."

"But… but… they will kill us. There's no way to escape."

"Don't worry, Chi. I'll find a way. I always do…," he said softly, thinking hard of a way to distract her. "By the way, I want to introduce you to someone. Chi, I want you to meet my father, Bardock." ChiChi looked past Goku to a man, she had not noticed before. And even though this man was older, just skin and bones and dirty, she could see the striking resemblance. "Bardock, this is my soon-to-be wife, ChiChi."

"Pleased to meet you," ChiChi said baffled. Bardock only nodded at her, with the hint of a smile on his face. Suddenly, ChiChi seemed to remember what was actually going on. "Goku, Gohan, he's…"

"I know… But I think there's a good explanation for this… I'm sure…" He wanted to say more, but was interrupted, when all of a sudden drums began to play.

~*~

Two figures, concealed by capes with hoods, riding on a black and a brown horse, shot through the roads of the deserted town that was built around Frieza's palace. They were going as fast as they could, with the black horse in the lead. They stopped in front of the gates and quickly dismounted their horses. Much to their surprise, there were no guards at the gates, making the entrance a lot easier. All of the guards were gathered at the execution to make sure that no trouble arose. One of the figures smirked. They would soon get enough trouble.

"Vegeta, we have to hurry…," the other figure, Bulma, urged, when she heard the drums.

"Right."

They left their horses at the gates and strode over to where the townsfolk was assembled. As inconspicuously as possible, they made their way through the crowd, so that they were standing in the first rows. Bulma gasped, as she saw all of her friends ready to be hanged. Almost all of her friends.

"There he is…," Vegeta got her attention.

Bulma tore her gaze from her friends and for the first time in her life laid her eyes on Frieza. But she was more surprised by what, or rather, who she saw standing next to him. "Gohan!" she exclaimed in a shocked whisper.

"Seems like Frieza already found a successor for me," the Saiyajin mumbled. Bulma only glared at him, but kept her mouth shut. As long as Gohan was safe, no matter what side he was on, it was all that mattered. For now they had to concentrate on keeping her friends from getting killed.

Suddenly, one of Frieza's men unscrolled a piece of parchment and started to read out loud, "Of those ten prisoners it is known that they have willfully committed treachery against Lord Frieza. For this crime, they have been sentenced to be, on this day, hung by neck until dead. We will start with the leader of this group, Son Goku."

"Vegeta! Do something!" Bulma panicked. Time was running short.

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Calm down, woman."

At the same moment that the executioner pulled the lever that would open the trapdoor underneath Goku, Vegeta pulled out his pistol, aimed and shot. The rope tore and Goku fell to the floor roughly, but he was still alive.

That was, when all hell broke loose.

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Eternally yours

ChibiChibi