Chapter 2: Escaping Namek


"Impossible! I just killed the Super Saiyan of legend!"

Gohan didn't respond. Instead, he turned to Frieza with rage-fueled eyes, instinct dominating his actions. Frieza locked onto his eyes immediately.

'They even the exact same eyes! How is-' the tyrant no longer had time to register what has just occurred, as a fist covered in golden Ki lodged itself into this purple torso, literally folding him.

As Frieza unloaded saliva, the hybrid connected with a vicious uppercut to the jaw, knifing the emperor through the ebony skies of Namek. Before said emperor could properly recover, the enraged hybrid delivered a multitude of kicks to skull, rattling Frieza's entire perception. With a roundhouse kick to the right side of the tyrants head, Gohan blasted him quickly, launching him across the darkness of Namek.

'ENOUGH! I am Lord Frieza, he is nothing but a toddler!' CRACKKK!

A kick to the back of the emperor sent him careening into a barren island, as Gohan, in a maneuver reminiscent of his late father, circled around from one attack to create a better one. The same exact kick Goku infamous landed utilizing the Kaioken X3 against Vegeta.

BOOOOOM! Frieza crashed into the island, turning it into nothing but a fragmented collection of land mass.

Having experienced the wrath of a not-as-angry toddler beforehand, he knew the brat was relentless for a short period of time. Super Saiyan or not, if he had enough time to go into his 100% state, the legend would be history.

However, with that wisdom also came the awareness that the youngest Super Saiyan ever was coming right for him!

"ENOUGH!" Frieza cried, rising to his feet and bulking back up into full power. Due to having already accessed the state beforehand, the transition period was not nearly as long or taxing. Noticing this, the villain smirked, looking up hysterically. "Now-"

"RAAAAGH!" Gohan, the Super Saiyan, rocketed into the scene like a golden missile, palming Frieza's face with a hand laced with a erratic energy.

DOOOOSH!

An explosion of epic proportions rocked the planet itself, as Gohan drove the tyrants entire body into the center of the fragmented island, creating a blast that vaporized miles of land and ocean alike.

The already intense gusts on the planet elevated to cataclysmic proportions. The waves of the green sea become tsunamis for any surrounding land masses. The magma from within the planet threatened to contaminate the oceans in the form of geysers. Namek itself shook ferociously, earthquakes on a seismic level beyond earthly measurements. The impact with a focal point...

Of Frieza's face. Yet he survived, partly due to the hybrid slowly regaining his sanity.

The pair just stayed in position in the middle of a crater miles wide, the Super Saiyan with his smaller palm on the tyrants larger face.

Backing off slowly, the hybrid began to feel the toll of his newfound power. The energy drain was immense, and his anger was the only reason he maintained it up to this point. He could feel himself slowly slipping back into neutrality, or at least as neutral as a fresh Super Saiyan could be.

"RAAAHH!" The fiend underneath him bellowed, pushing Gohan back a few feet from the force of his power. The fury on the tyrants face was palpable. "You Saiyans are like a virus! Kill one and the next one comes even stronger than the last!"

Frieza looked at the toddler who embarrassed him with glowing red eyes, intent on a thorough slaughter. "I am the cure! The solution! I will see to you it you are the last mutated monkey that will ever be!"

The eye beams were fired, and the hybrid dodged, but was met with a harsh ram by the purple shoulder of the emperor. Gohan skidded across the dirt, looking up to the Frieza above with an axe hammer already swinging down. Reacting on superior warrior instinct, the child blocked with a crossbar and back-flipped, jettisoning the tormentor away from him.

Getting back to his feet, he noticed Frieza somersault forward in order to break his momentum, before charging right at him with seething hatred.

"I'll kill you yet runt! If dear daddy could not beat me, you can't possibly stand a chance!"

"Wrong!" Gohan countered, his aura beginning to surge back into existence, anger rising at the mention of his late father. "I'm not as strong as my father was, but I'm still enough to take. You. Down!"

"GRAAAAAH!"

In the grudge match between the representatives of owners and slaves, both locked hands in a struggle for dominance. The enraged kid and the emperor of evil itself. Both auras clashed in a display of power, ready to go for broke. Two equals.

Except one had an extra limb. Noticing the hybrid slowly but surely gaining on him, Frieza cheated. Distracting Gohan with a well aimed eye laser to the forehead, the tyrant disengaged and landed an explosive blow to Gohan's skull with his partially severed tail.

The hybrid cried out in pain as he bounced off the ground roughly, before getting blasted through several rock formations by the vile emperor. Chasing after the grimacing Saiyan, Frieza headbutted the kid and kept flying through land mass, with Gohan as his cushion.

This continued for a few more seconds, until the hybrid aggressively sprung off of Frieza's back, flipping over the tail. Charging his masters signature attack above his forehead for a few milliseconds, Gohan rippled with unrefined waves of Ki.

The tyrant turned around only to experience a "MASENKO-HA!" point blank.

WHOOOOSH!

When the dust settled, the tyrant remained with his arms forming a cross block for protection, withstanding the force of the attack with a noticeable but not devastating amount of damage.

"Heh," Frieza started, replacing his arms and returning to a power position, smug expression returning to his face. "Looks like that was your last stand. You've run out of time, monkey."

The money in question was panting a bit, fading in and out of the transformation slowly but surely. The anger that he relied upon began to subside, and as a result the power began to decrease steadily. He did not know how much longer he could last-

"And once I'm done with you, I'll track down Earth and BLOW IT UP! That way you'll all be in hell together! Ahahaha..."

To hell with that. Gohan could last forever if he had to. Frieza would never get close to his mother. Ever.

Before Gohan could even initiate another rage-fueled assault, golden light began to emanate from below them. Both combatants glanced down from one another, with two completely opposite demeanor's.

"You're okay!" Gohan started with sheer excitement, his rage forgotten, his hair fading back to black, his exhaustion defeating his ascension.

But there was no happiness to be reciprocated. The figure, the first Super Saiyan in millennia himself, had reappeared. Not Yamoshi. No. Son Goku.

"Get out of here! I told you, get to the ship and GO!"

"B-but dad-"

"GO!"

"...Yessir," Gohan relented with a somber smile, quickly shooting away from the site with newfound speed, quietly mumbling to himself. "Bye dad."

Frieza, not even caring about the exiting child, transformed his shock into a venomous snarl.

"You really are a pesky one aren't you? You could've stayed out of sight and accepted your fate. A deckhand going down with the ship. Foolishness must be a virtue on Earth, you all seem to value it so highly. It's almost unbelievable that you would choose to face someone who wields the power I possess."

"What's unbelievable is how you could be so arrogant." Goku responded coldly.

"What?!" Frieza started, before smirking at a fond memory. "Fine, have it your way. I'll just blast you into oblivion, like I did that other earthling."

"What other earthling are you talking about? You mean Krillin don't you?!" Goku rhetorically questioned, veins pulsing and aura bursting with ferocity.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"

-Beyond Infinite-

At a certain patch of recently dug-up ground, a gloved hand stuck up from the ground. Pushing dirt off of him, Vegeta sat up.

"Am I alive?" questioned Vegeta to himself. "I remember Frieza blasting me. But my wound is gone." He then looked around at the dying planet Namek. "Maybe I'm still dead. Maybe this is what hell is."

And then, he noticed a white streak flying thousands of feet above him. He recognized it as Kakarots brat, and shot after him, anxious to get some questions answered, including the powers he felt the moment he was revived 6 feet under.

Hiding his surprise at the hybrids flight speed, he immediately recognized the ship directly in front of the toddler.

The moment Gohan touched down on the ground, he turned and was utterly perplexed at whom followed him.

"You're alive? H-how?" inquired Gohan, on guard in case anything was attempted. Not that he could actually stop Vegeta. Right now at least.

"None of that matters right now, we need to get off this rock," Vegeta exclaimed, "Now either get in the ship or die with the planet!"

Gohan nodded promptly, but warned the prince while forcing the hatch open. "Don't try anything funny, or else-"

"Or else what, brat?" Vegeta started with a villainous chuckle, "With Frieza and Kakarot killing each other, I am now the strongest-"

The halflings eyes flashed teal incidentally, his Saiyan biology responding to the threat of another. Vegeta did not miss the sharp power increase, nor the piercing gaze of the evolved pupils. He tried to conceal his disbelief but it still leaked through slightly, a sweat drop on the right side of his head.

"Tch whatever," answered Vegeta in an irritated tone. "Get me off this rock and you won't be space dust!"

Gohan nodded silently and waltzed in with Vegeta in tow. The moment the hatch closed, Bulma looked up from the control panel in a stark combination of fear and surprise. "W-what is he doing here?"

Terror riddled her body language, and the Saiyan basked in it.

"Look woman, I'm here for my own sake," Vegeta clarified haughtily, snickering at the terror. "I could care less about any of you weaklings."

Bulma then looked to Gohan and was about to complain about his presence...

The child shook his head and sighed. "Bulma, Vegeta may have been evil to us, but if it weren't for him we would all be dead right now. So the least we could do is return the favor."

Bulma sighed out of stress, before commanding the ship to take off, the coordinates having already been set on Earth.

SHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!

The ship rocketed off immediately, nigh instantaneously exiting Namek's atmosphere — just before Goku's final wish request was made. Everyone onboard missed the chance to go back to Earth seamlessly.

Thanks in part to Goku's tardiness combined with the enhanced speed of Son Gohan. A small ripple in timeline has already presented itself...

A few minutes later, the planet exploded in a colossal BOOM!

There was nothing left of the planet besides the obviously shattered fragments of the once lush planet shrouded in green. Lots of debris from the planets explosion happened to be sent into the ships course, causing the resident scientist to be hard pressed in evading all of the asteroids that came along with it.

Gohan recognized that his father had officially died, but at least Frieza died as well.

Or so he thought.

The Son of Goku promptly felt the urge to mourn like any other five year old would — with tears. However, he had just experienced the most horrific things the universe had to offer.

Frieza. Vegeta. Nappa. The Ginyu Force. Frieza. Death. Frieza. Death. And more death. And Frieza again.

Not even the apparent death of his father would break him down any further, as it was his choice to finish his bout on an exploding planet.

And plus, a certain Saiyan prince was within view. Showing any emotional weakness in front of him would lead to a snide remark. Which would lead to a retort. Which would lead to the pride and joy of all Saiyans barring himself — fighting.

Speaking of fighting...

"Hey Bulma, how do we use the gravity room?"

With that question, Bulma arose from her seat and beckoned the child to come with her. Gohan, despite his body feeling like a raging inferno, felt the need to maintain his sanity with some training. After all, his father and arguably his own best friend — aside from Piccolo — had been blown to smithereens only hours prior. And the man responsible for all of this happening — Vegeta — was still a loose cannon ally onboard the ship.

Needless to say, the kid needed a reprieve.

The prince of all Saiyans perked up at the question, putting two and two together. 'So this is how Kakarot got so powerful...'

Vegeta arose and followed the brat and the woman, mulling about how undergoing similar training to his fiercest rival would bolster him into becoming a Super Saiyan himself. Unbeknownst to him, there was another Super Saiyan onboard the ship.

After taking 45 seconds to learn how to operate the ship and its training functions, the hybrid pushed the dial to 20x gravity once Bulma left to tend to the Namekian. At first nothing happened, but then...

The gravity increased to 50x that of the Earth, leveling the young Saiyan completely.

"Bahahahaha!" the pompous one laughed, faring far better in the room than his inter-species relative. "The spawn of the legendary Super Saiyan can't even withstand 50x gravity! What a joke!"

"Nfff," the hybrid responded, pushing himself up with relative ease. After only a few moments, he could already feel his body beginning to adapt. His power vastly surpassed his fathers when he arrived on Namek, the only reason for struggle is simply on a neurological level. "I just...have to adapt...Vegeta!"

"Tch," the prince sneered, his humor having dissipated. "Just stay out of my way." Vegeta sauntered off, leaving the hybrid to his own devices.

He did not know how exactly Kakarot became the Super Saiyan, or why that low class warrior achieved what he could not. Quite frankly, the reasoning was irrelevant to him. The only thing that mattered was that he bared witness to the first Super Saiyan, instead of becoming the legend like he was destined to.

This angered him beyond belief, and what better than to train until he conquered his demons? He would achieve this power. No matter what.

Gohan meanwhile, stretched whilst further adapting to the literal gravity threatening to crush him.

In the midst of doing this, the young hybrid recalled the most recent battle he had partaken in. While he was not exactly sure what triggered his newfound power, he was cognizant enough to remember what he became.

A Super Saiyan. Just like his late father. Upon seeing it for the first time, it was something Gohan never envisioned himself being capable of. And yet, one moment he was groveling beneath the presence of a tyrant, and the next he was fighting on even ground with his tormentor.

With a golden aura.

With rage far more potent and concentrated than anything he ever experienced before.

The power was intoxicating, amazing, turbulent, detrimental, and outright uncontrollable. Too many mixed emotions and variables for the child to handle at the moment.

In fact, with his thirst for knowledge instilled within him by his mother, he quickly shifted his thoughts to the only other Saiyan alive. Why was it that he did not become a Super Saiyan? Vegeta was clearly the stronger of the two base to base after the Zenkai granted by Dende healing him.

Frieza was the one responsible for Vegeta's ruthlessness. Frieza tormented the prince his entire life, destroyed his race and planet, and seemed like an insurmountable enemy. Surely a culmination of those factors would've led to him becoming the Super Saiyan first, bringing death upon his ruler.

The timeline of Bringer of Death should've came into fruition...

'Bringer of Death?' Gohan started, throwing a few punches and kicks into the air. 'I don't know where that came from...sounds cool though!'

Regardless, that timeline does not exist. As for why, it probably stemmed from the selfishness in Vegeta's predicament. He desired to become the Super Saiyan more than he needed it, and with nothing but his pride at stake he fell victim. Perhaps you needed to be pure of heart in order to transform?

That's not how Vegeta himself described the legend, but new information always takes precedence over older logic. Guess he was wrong.

-Beyond Infinite-

Piccolo awoke to bright lights and a red, tiled floor. Despite not being at full power his Namekian regeneration sealed the wound created by Frieza, allowing him to return to normal functionality. Immediately he stood up, aware of the circumstances due to his cognitive abilities and Super Namekian hearing.

Sensing three powers on the ship, he deduced Vegeta was on the level above him training. In another room on the bottom floor, he could hear the likes of Bulma musing about "female" things at the control deck. And finally, he could sense a resting Gohan in the same room as him near an open fridge door, having succumbed to his exhaustion.

The Namekian lightly smirked, his pupil was slowly but surely tapping into his true potential as a warrior. He could just feel it.

Instead of simply awakening the boy, Piccolo decided to meditate in the area where Vegeta trained. Flying through the entrance of the gravity room rather than climbing the ladder, the Namekian was welcomed to the sight of royalty doing one-fingered push-ups.

Obviously noticing this unexpected intrusion, the prince hopped back to his feet with a crude smirk gracing his lips. "So if it isn't the Namek..."

"Spare me the small talk," Piccolo responded with his usual serious tone, "how are you here?"

"Heh, isn't it funny how Kakarot is not here?"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Piccolo responded with increasing agitation.

"He's dead!" Vegeta responded, crossing his arms. "If I stayed on that rock I would've joined him, clearly."

"Damnit," the formerly self-proclaimed demon replied. "Don't try anything funny or I'll-"

"OR YOU'LL WHAT?" The prince eagerly questioned with an evil grin, aura beginning to seep out of his body. "With those two clowns dead, I'm the strongest in the universe! If you want to join Kakarot so badly I'll be happy to oblige!"

Piccolo immediately got into a stance, ready to fight tooth and nail for his own survival. He was well aware that the prince wasn't exactly boasting, he was telling the truth. However he was a warrior, and as such improbable odds meant little to him.

"STOP IT!"

The voice came from a rested alien-human hybrid, having been awoken by the commotion above him.

"Gohan," his master started, "we need to handle him right now! He's still very much our enemy-"

"If he was," the child started, pointing at the smirking prince. "Then why aren't we all dead? Right now nobody can stop him."

"Well said brat!" Vegeta cut in, crossing his arms. "I'm only here for survival. Once we land it's back to square one."

"If we even land!" Another voice came in, this time from the edge of the ladder. It was the resident female.

"I don't care what you do after we land," Bulma continued, climbing out of the hatch. "But we're going to need fuel. At some point the ship was damaged, and the generators have been melting steadily!"

"Is there a way to stop it?" the curious hybrid questioned. "Maybe we could discard the main propellers and-"

"-Use the backup emergency generators?" The human finished, keeping a steady tone. "My father probably never anticipated a need!"

"Tch, such idiocy," Vegeta started, bewildered that someone intelligent enough to construct the ship could forget something so crucial. "Take me to the controls at once!"

"To go where my prince?!" The scientist replied sarcastically, no longer having any genuine fear of the Saiyan.

A vein throbbed in Vegeta's forehead — the nerve of that woman! However, another part of him gained a semblance of another emotion: respect. This was the first woman he ever encountered that did not utterly fear what he could, and would inevitably do to them.

She was akin to a female Saiyan in nature.

Interesting.

Still, he had to address the brazen question accordingly.

"Frieza Planet 79," Vegeta curtly responded. "Now do not question me any further!" And with that, he jumped down the hatch of the training facility.

The logic was sound. With the insight that this ship was an innovation of the space pods, he deduced that he was in the general zone of his planet he departed from initially. This was due to the amount of time they had spent in space since the departure from the exploding Namek.

With a sigh, Piccolo turned to his pupil. "I hope he knows what he's doing."

"Me too," Gohan responded, lightly smiling at his much taller comrade. "So what happens when we land?"

"We take out whoever aligns themselves with Frieza and repair the ship. As far as Vegeta goes, if he tries anything we'll kill him."

"Are you sure we can?"

"Of course, I know you're holding something back kid."

"So you knew?"

"Not until you've just confirmed it."

"Crap baskets."

"Care to fill me in?"

"Don't tell Vegeta...but I...I transformed..."

"Into?"

"A Super Saiyan, just like my father."

"...Can you tap into it?"

"Nope!" the hybrid exclaimed, "Not even close."

"We need to fix that," the Namek began. "Frieza might not be the only threat. Even against Vegeta, we may need that power."

"Image training?" Gohan suggested, assuming a criss-cross seated position.

"Of course kid," Piccolo responded, slipping into a meditative position himself. "Let's do this."


Tell me what you think of the 2nd chapter of Beyond Infinite! Chapter content was not as long due to obvious reasons. For people who believe Gohan should've been able to kill Frieza...well he cannot.

Gohan's second Zenkai after Dende healed him would've granted him power above Second Form Frieza, but still under Third Form Frieza. Reason being, Zenkai's at the time were shown to evolve a Saiyan's power relative to its biggest threat. Therefore, even if Piccolo did not show up, Gohan would have still forced Frieza into his third form. Evident by the fact that with a rage boost he nearly defeated third form Frieza, and with a later rage boost dealt more damage to Final Form Frieza than Vegeta.

Which would place his base power-level between 2nd form Frieza and Piccolo, with rage boosts allowing him to easily surpass the likes of Vegeta. Stacking these rage boosts variables on top of the 50x multiplier of Super Saiyan is the only reason he even matched 100% Frieza. Without Goku's intervention, Gohan would've been killed.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next Chapter, deuces.

Edited as of 2/15/21.