Frieza's ship landed by the water on top of a cliff overlooking North City. From several openings, his forces poured out of the ship and swarmed the immediate area, as Frieza himself appeared in his hover chair. He took in his surroundings, and noticed a lone figure in the distance looking up at them. He frowned, and steered his chair towards whoever that was.

"So, this is the extent of my welcome party?" Frieza said, looking down at the boy. "Where is Goku, brat? You surely must at least know of him."

Gohan, who had been looking at the newcomer uneasily, was now confused. "Huh? Goku?" Oh right, he thought, remembering what Aunt Chi-Chi and that Jaco guy talked about earlier.

"Yes. Goku," Frieza said impatiently. "That Saiyan mongrel."

"He died years ago," Gohan informed him.

Frieza's frown contorted into pure rage. "Died! How?" he demanded. "How did that ingrate die?"

Scratching his head, trying to remember, he told Frieza, "He got sick."

"Of all the ways for him to die, it was a damn illness!" Frieza howled with fury. "He was mine to kill!"

"Uh…sorry?" Gohan said unsurely.

Growling, Frieza went on, "Very well. Where are his wretched son and brother? Killing them won't satisfy me nearly as much, but it'll at least be something."

Looking away, Gohan answered, "They're dead too—got murdered by bad guys a long time ago."

He angrily slammed his fist on his chair. "Fine, where's Vegeta!"

"Same."

Frieza sharply turned his head towards Sorbet, who flinched. "Explain."

Rubbing his hands together nervously, Sorbet said apologetically, "I'm sorry, my lord. Over the years our scanners have picked up a variety of powerful energy signatures, so we naturally assumed that they must have belonged to some of the Saiyans in question."

Frieza went back to the boy, giving him a look of pure contempt. "Tell me this: who was it that killed the Saiyan trash? I want to thank them, and then I'll destroy them to prove my power."

Having had enough of the alien freak's talk, Gohan puffed out his chest, and proudly proclaimed, "Those monsters are gone, too! They were taken out a long time ago by mom and dad, the strongest people in the world! So if you really are here to cause trouble like my grandma says you are you should leave before they get here!"

Then for the first time a smirk crossed Frieza's face. "Now we're getting somewhere." Frieza then left his hover chair, and touched down in front of the boy. "So you're grandmother knows who I am? That must mean she was on planet Namek all those years ago. Tell me, who exactly are your mummy and daddy?"

Keeping his proud tone, Gohan answered, "Trunks, son of Vegeta! And Ranch, daughter of Raditz! And like I said, you better—"

Frieza punched Gohan in the gut, sending him staggering back. "So what you're telling me is that the filthy monkeys I utterly despise are all rolled up into one convenient little package," he said menacingly. "This won't bring me the gratification I was looking for, but killing the last of Goku's relatives will at least give me some pleasure."

Clenching his stomach, Gohan glared up at Frieza. "When my mom and dad get here…"

"I'll kill them just like I'm going to kill you," Frieza said, kicking him and sending him tumbling away.

"Lord Frieza," Sorbet started, going up to his side. "Would it not be more prudent to let your forces handle the child?"

"No," Frieza said shortly. "As I said, with Goku already dead, I'm going to have to make due with killing whatever family the oaf has left myself—starting with him."

"Then what should we do in the meantime?"

"Stand by. Once I am done with him and his parents, if they actually arrive, then I will let the soldiers loose on the planet."

Sorbet bowed. "Yes, my lord."

"No," Gohan said as he stood back up. "I won't let you!" Powering up, Gohan rushed forward and threw a punch aimed right at Frieza's face. Frieza, though, caught it effortlessly and shot him a nasty grin. Frieza brought his tail up, using it to smack Gohan in the face to send him flying again. Frieza suddenly disappeared and reappeared right behind Gohan, and kicked him straight up into the air.

Stopping himself in midair, Gohan looked back down at Frieza, enraged. Holding his hands up, Gohan produced glowing orbs in each hand, and then unleashed a barrage down at Frieza. Not even bothering to move, Frieza just looked up with him with that same smirk as he was engulfed by the cloud of debris that was kicked up. When Gohan stopped firing, he didn't stop to admire the effect, and charged downwards. Feeling Frieza's energy, Gohan flew at him and delivered the strongest kick he could muster.

Gohan's kick, though, came to a complete stop when it met its target. When the dust cleared, he saw that Frieza hadn't moved an inch and didn't bother to defend himself in any way. Gohan's leg was still on the side of Frieza's head, when Frieza looked sideways at him, grabbed Gohan's leg, and smashed him down onto the ground.

"How quaint," Frieza remarked. "You remind me of Goku's son. He also knew how futile it was to challenge me, but did it anyway."

It took a lot of effort, but with a loud groan, Gohan once again managed to get back on his feet. "Then," he began in gasps, "I guess…it's appropriate…that we share a name."

Giving him a look, Frieza asked, "And what name is that?"

"My name is Gohan, the one who—"

Once again Frieza interrupted him, this time by punching him into the nearest rock formation. "All I asked was your name."

Gohan slid down the rock, was on his feet for a second, and then fell to his hands and knees. Wiping blood from his mouth, he angrily looked up at Frieza, who was casually approaching him. Breathing heavily, Gohan got back up on shaky legs and raised his fists. Frieza's smirk grew wider.

Just then another spacecraft appeared in the sky, and they both paused to look up at it. It landed a ways away from them, the hatched on top opened, and Bulma and Jaco climbed out.

"Grandma!" Gohan exclaimed in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

"I can ask you the same thing, mister!" Bulma replied angrily. "You heard your parents specifically tell you to stay put!"

Pointing a finger at Frieza, he countered, "But this pink and purple freak is just as bad as you guys said! I'm not about to just wait around for mom and dad while the jerk trashes everything!"

"I think my work here is done," Jaco said, in an attempt to casually leave.

"Oh no, you don't," Bulma said, stopping him. She then ran over in front of Gohan, and faced Frieza, throwing her arms out protectively. "Stay away. Otherwise once my son and his wife get here they'll make you pay!"

Amused, Frieza said, "Hmm…your son, you say? 'Trunks, son of Vegeta'. That's what the brat said, which must mean you're the one who had a child with the so-called prince." Frieza chuckled. "I must say, you have terrible taste in men."

"He was more of a man than you'll ever be!" Bulma shot back angrily.

Gohan stared. That thing's a guy? But he shook his head, and clutched his grandmother's shirt. "Grandma, please, you have to leave! I got this!"

"Those wounds tell a different story," she said.

Gohan was going to continue arguing, and Frieza was going to let them for his own entertainment, when a new figure appeared in the sky. And when she touched down by them, Gohan and Bulma freaked out.

"Leave my brother and grandma alone!" Bulla shouted, getting in front of Bulma.

Frieza let out a high and cold laugh. "Oh, the cavalry has arrived, how adorable!"

"Bulla, what are you doing?" Gohan demanded in a panic. "You need to take grandma and leave!"

"I thought I told you to stay with Launch and your brothers!" Bulma admonished. "Who's keeping them safe now?"

"But granny Launch is blonde right now, so she can protect Veggie and Raddie!" Bulla argued.

"What's this?" Frieza suddenly said, practically salivating. "So, monkey, you've got another grandmother out there along with brothers—named after those two peons, no less!" He laughed once more. "How glorious! This is going to turn out being more fun than I thought!"

"No!" Gohan cried, taking his turn in trying to shield Bulma and Bulla. "You leave my family alone, or else!"

"Or else what? Your parents?" Frieza said. "Face it, brat, even if they arrived right now they wouldn't be able to face off against me! After I was revived with your own Dragon Balls I actually put effort into my training for the very first time in order to prepare against Goku. So even if that oaf wasn't dead you would all still be doomed!"

"Dragon Balls?" Gohan repeated. Damn, so he was the one who got revived Mai and her friends made their wishes.

"That's right." Frieza approached them in a flash, reached around Gohan, and lifted Bulma and Bulla up by the collar of their shirts. "Now, how about I start with you two?"

"No!" Gohan cried in fear.

"Let us go!" Bulma shouted, struggling against his grip. "Gohan! Free your sister and run!"

"No, no, no!" Bulla kept saying in fear. She defiantly pointed her palm at Frieza's head and let off a few energy blasts. But that did nothing except further amuse Frieza.

"Leave them alone! Your fight's with me!"Gohan said desperately, now repeatedly punching Frieza's midriff.

"Not now, brat," Frieza said, casually smacking him aside with his tail.

Then a laser beam hit the side of Freiza's face, but it merely bounced off him. Posing with his firearm, Jaco bravely but nervously said, "In the name of the Galactic Patrol, I order that you—gah!" Jaco just barely got out of the way as Frieza shot an eyebeam at him.

With him out of the way, Frieza turned his attention back on his prey, announcing, "First I think I'll kill you two slowly." Getting on his hands and knees, tears began to fall down Gohan's face, as rage at the fact he could do nothing consumed him. "Then I'll kill the brat." Gohan's body began to shake, he grit his teeth and slammed his fists onto the ground, creating a small crater. "Then I'll track down this other grandmother and these brothers, and they'll meet the same fate!"

"Don't you hurt them!" Gohan yelled, trembling with grief and anger.

"And once the parents arrive and I rub in what I've done, I'll kill them too!" Frieza mocked loudly.

Heaving, Gohan slowly said, "Don't…you…hurt…my…FAMILY!" He threw his fists out and yelled up into the air, and with a sudden burst of tremendous energy, Gohan's hair went from black to gold and his eyes turned green, as a bright yellow aura engulfed him.

Frieza, who had not been expecting the child to turn into a Super Saiyan, dropped his captives in surprise and shielded his eyes against the glow. It was so unexpected, in fact, that he actually received flashbacks to Namek when he witnessed Goku's transformation. While he was distracted, Bulma grabbed Bulla and the two took refuge with Jaco behind his ship. Now relatively safer, they poked their head out as they watched in amazement.

On their way to Earth with Beerus and Whis, an already tense Trunks and Ranch looked at each other in astonishment at what they sensed. Their feeling of pride, though, was quickly replaced with worry at what must be happening.

In pure rage, Gohan charged at Frieza, and punched him in the face. Still in shock, Frieza wasn't prepared for it and was sent flying. Before he came to a stop, Gohan had caught up to Frieza and slammed him into the ground. Frieza got his wits back just in time, and moved his head out of the way just in time so that Gohan's fist slammed into the ground instead.

Frieza managed to dodge another of his punches, retreated several paces, and then sprang back forward to meet Gohan. They both threw a punch, their fists collided, and it sent a shockwave all around them—but only Frieza seemed to have felt any pain. They began to throw a flurry of punches, kicks, and elbows at one another, and while Gohan wasn't as skilled, he was outdoing Frieza in raw power. Clearly Gohan was managing to dish out more damage than he was being dealt. No other way around it: Frieza had to transform.

But Gohan's rage had taken over and he wasn't allowing Frieza any time to catch his breath. Every time that he tried to back off, Gohan followed kept up to continue his attacks. After several attempts at trying to get away, Frieza finally shouted, "Soldiers! Distract the brat!"

Sorbet began to protest, "But, Lord—"

"Now!"

Left with no other option, Frieza's forces jumped into the fray—and were instantly overpowered. None of them, even the strongest, stood a chance. Gohan tried at first to focus just on Frieza, but so many got in his way, that he began to cut them down to clear them out. And eventually Gohan began to focus on doing away with the soldiers rather than trying to get to Frieza. He punched and kicked several soldiers, breaking their bodies. He sent blasts at soldiers, either shooting a single beam to puncture one or three, or letting off a large energy burst that incinerated a group.

Shisami attempted to step in and take on Gohan by himself, but he was almost immediately overwhelmed by the power and rage on display. He couldn't get a single hit in, while also trying to avoid Gohan's powerful attacks. But eventually Gohan landed a punch that punctured his gut. With Shisami clearly done for, Tagoma wasted no time in sending a blast their way, killing Shisami in the hopes of taking Gohan out as well. But Gohan barely got a scratch from that, and Tagoma only managed to catch his attention.

Tagoma rushed in and began to exchange blows with Gohan. As Frieza's training partner, Tagoma believed he should have easily taken him on, but it was not to be. Not very long into their duel, Gohan just kneed Tagoma in the crotch, and then dropped kicked him to the ground. As Tagoma lay in the dirt, a frog that had appeared on the battlefield hopped up to him. Before anything else could have possibly happened, though, Gohan shot a palm blast in their direction, vaporizing both Tagoma and the frog.

Meanwhile, Frieza had taken advantage of the distraction his meat shields were providing and began his transformation. Even though he figured that his second or third form should be enough to deal with the brat, Frieza took no chances and decided to skip to the next one. Noticing this, Bulma cried out, "Gohan! Look at Frieza! Frieza! Take out Frieza!" She got out of her hiding place, jumping and gesturing at the transforming Frieza to get Gohans' attention, but to no avail.

"But grandma, mommy and daddy told us not to fight," Bulla protested.

"And yet you're here!" Bulma said sharply to her granddaughter. Seeing her look rather hurt by that, she said in a softer tone, "Look, things are different now. Gohan got the upper hand and he has to capitalize on that, despite what your parents said."

Bulla nodded in understanding. Getting up too, she began yelling, "Gohan, you dummy, go after Freezer!"

"You heard her, Gohan! Stop getting distracted!"

Finally, Bulma and Bulla's cries penetrated his senses, and he realized what was going on. Noticing that Gohan became momentarily distracted, dozens of soldiers dog piled Gohan in midair. When it got to the point that he couldn't breathe, Gohan let loose a surge of energy, blowing everyone back. Spotting Frieza, Gohan charged right at him, but before he could get to him, Frieza glowed white and unleashed a ton of energy, causing him to come to a complete halt.

As the light faded, and the energy became steadier, Gohan looked and saw something completely different standing before him. Frieza didn't just look different; the energy he was giving off was even stronger.

Gohan froze with shock, knowing that he had to keep on fighting, but for the first time hesitating to do so.

"What's wrong, monkey? Are you afraid?" Frieza said mockingly, basking in his form.

Clenching his fists, he declared, "I'm not scared!"

"Then come and get it. Or else…" He pointed his finger over to where Bulma and Bulla were. A beam shot out of his finger, and in a flash Gohan got in front of it, smacking it away. As the beam landed and exploded off the distance, he cradled his singed hand.

Making a fist with it, despite the pain it caused, Gohan flew at Frieza, who attempted to block. But it was just an afterimage that he had defended against, and Gohan managed to come in from behind and kick at Frieza. Taking the hit, Frieza jumped back and gracefully slid to a halt.

"Congratulations," he said, taking a fighting stance. "When you first told me that Goku was dead I didn't expect I'd have to transform at all. But you got just strong enough to force my hand."

Growling with frustration, Gohan yelled, "Do you always talk this much in the middle of something? We're fighting, aren't we?"

"Yes, but taunting is half the fun!" Frieza retorted gleefully, charging at him.

"You insane bastard!" he shouted as he rushed to meet him.

The shockwave they caused was nothing compared to the last one. Gohan and Frieza began to zip through the air as they traded multiple blows. Each hit that Gohan took caused him a massive amount of pain, but he took solace in that Gohan was also doing damage to Frieza with each strike he landed. They were going so fast that down on the ground Bulma wasn't able to make out what was happening, so she had to rely on Bulla, who could follow, to describe things as best she could.

"Yeah! Gohan got him good—oh no! Freezer got him back! Yes! Knee to the face! Uh, a bunch of stuff just happened," she kept rattling off, unable to speak fast enough to provide great detail.

Eventually Gohan managed to catch Frieza off guard, and he delivered a powerful kick to cause him to reel back. He then got above him, balled both his hands together, and Gohan hammered down on Frieza, sending him crashing to the ground. Bulla and Bulma cheered, while Jaco also looked pleased. Gohan decided to take advantage and fly down to strike Frieza with his momentum.

But all of a sudden Frieza blocked him—with his tail. He then wrapped it around Gohan's wrist and tossed him aside. Gohan bounced off the ground once, but was able to get back onto his feet before sliding to a stop. Breathing heavily, Gohan almost doubled over as he gripped his chest, and wiped blood from beneath his nose.

Frieza snidely asked, "Is that all you've got, brat?"

Growling, he cried, "I'll show you!" Gohan drew himself in and began to yell as he powered up, causing his aura to glow brighter, and the dirt and wind to kick up around him. It had been a while since his grandpa Vegeta had shown him the technique before Gohan and Bulla returned from the past, and now it was his first time seriously trying it out. Thrusting both hands connected at the heels out, Gohan continued to charge up his attack as energy began to crackle everywhere. Bulma and Bulla became more cautious as they observed the ground beginning to shake around them. Eyes on Frieza, Gohan bellowed, "Final Flash!"

A powerful beam of energy erupted out of his hands, and Frieza simply stuck his palm out as the beam practically engulfed him. The beam split in two and carved a trench into the ground on either side of Frieza that went back as far as the eye could see. When the beam dissipated, Frieza simply continued to stand where he was.

While that attack took just about everything out of Gohan and he had to fight collapsing on the ground, Frieza simply dusted himself off and just had a few scratches on him. Much to Gohan's irritation, Frieza started to clap. "Very good, monkey, very good. I don't know how, but you just might be even stronger than Goku when I last fought him. I'll give your parents the benefit of the doubt and assume that they're even more powerful than you. But I'll let you in on something—I've only been using a small percentage of my power."

Gohan had to actively keep his knees from buckling at the news. "You're lying!"

"Am I? I only have to power up a tiny bit more and that'll be more than enough to finish you," he announced, spreading his arms out in grand fashion. "But I'll be gracious. Instead of powering up only a little, I'll do you the honor of going all out! You dashed my hopes when I first arrived, but you've lifted them again and now I'm actually looking forward to seeing what your mummy and daddy have to offer."

Gohan didn't say anything. What could he say that he hadn't already? All he could do was just stand there and watch. Frieza drew his arms in and began to yell as he powered up, as a molten golden aura surrounded him. His energy became more powerful by the second, as his aura grew ever brighter. Gohan, Bulla, and Bulma had to shield their eyes, as the gust got stronger, dirt and rocks got kicked up, and the aura practically blinded them. The skies darkened with clouds, and thunder clapped. The power was so overwhelming that Gohan was rooted to the spot in shock.

Finally, it got to the point that Frieza seemed to explode. When Gohan's vision came back he was speechless. The power that Frieza gave off after his first transformation was nothing compared to what it was now. Frieza stood there basking in his new golden form, smirking at the expression on Gohan's face.

"You like it?" asked Frieza. "I'm not prone to gold myself, but I think it fits the new natural order."

Gohan still said nothing and just fell to his knees. Even if he wasn't too hurt and exhausted to go on, there was no way he'd be able to match that power. Still smirking, Frieza started towards Gohan. "No, Gohan!" Bulla cried. She tearfully attempted to run to him, but was held back by Bulma. "Get up!"

"Gohan, run!" Bulma shouted desperately.

Hearing his family, a bit of bravado managed to surface. Standing once more as Frieza got right in front of him, Gohan made a fist and delivered one last desperate punch. Nothing happened. Frieza backhanded Gohan, sending him tumbling away, and when he came to a stop Gohan didn't get back up as his Super Saiyan glow faded.

"Gohan!" Bulla and Bulma cried.

Something impacted the side of Frieza's face, and before he knew it he crashed into a rock formation and fell to the ground. As Frieza staggered back onto his feet, rubble falling off him, he heard, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR HURTING MY SON, YA BASTARD!"