Frieza looked up at the woman with long, black hair hovering above him that had an absolutely murderous expression on her face. Hitching a smile back on, Frieza said, "The mother. And from what the brat said you're Raditz's spawn, which makes Goku your uncle."
Ranch didn't reply. It barely even registered with her that the Frieza before her was vastly different to the one Trunks had finished off in the past. Nor did she notice how the hand she used to hit him was throbbing. Only thoughts of revenge filled her head, so Ranch rushed right in, intending to punch him in the face again. But Frieza was ready this time, caught her fist with one hand, and swiftly kicked Ranch, sending her flying back. Ranch landed on her feet and came to a skidding stop, holding her gut as she looked on at Frieza, only now realizing how much stronger he was and that she'd have to step up her game to take him on. Without preamble, Ranch stood upright as she began to focus her energy and power up.
After Ranch had dealt Frieza her opening blow, Trunks went straight for Gohan to scoop him up, and then headed over to where Bulma was.
"Get him and Bulla out of here," Trunks said to his mother. "You need to go to the lookout so Dende can heal Gohan." Bulma nodded, and as he handed Gohan over, he said to him, "We're proud of you, son."
He turned towards the fight, where Ranch had begun to power up, when Bulla came up to him and said, "Kick his butt, daddy!"
Trunks smiled at her. "I think your mom will be the one to do that, honey."
"Then what are you going to do?" asked Bulma, as Jaco hopped back in his ship.
"What else?" Trunks replied, taking to the air. "Watch her back, just like what we've been doing for each other almost all our lives."
"Bulma, you heard him, let's get out of here!" Jaco pleaded.
"Just one second," said another voice. Beerus had appeared and approached Bulma. "I believe you owe me something."
Remembering, Bulma quickly said, "Right." Climbing into the ship with Gohan, she came back out with a large bowl of strawberry ice cream. "Sorry for not sticking around, Lord Beerus, but we have to go."
"Yes, yes, off with you," he said indifferently, picking up a spoon. "Just be aware, though, if this is just average after coming all this way I'm destroying the planet."
"Beerus God of Destruction?" Jaco blurted out in surprise and panic. "I'm just going to pretend I didn't see anything." When Bulma got back in his ship with Bulla, Jaco started his ship and took off. Thankfully, it seemed that Beerus and Whis were enjoying their dessert, as they casually observed the fight.
"By all means, transform into a Super Saiyan," Frieza said invitingly, seeing what Ranch was doing. "Your first strike was powerful, I admit, but you merely caught me off guard." Ranch just glared as rocks floated upwards, the wind swirled around her, and she began to yell as she built up her power. "Even as a Super Saiyan you're going to be no match for me!"
Ranch's energy then erupted, and instead of the gold that Frieza that had been expecting, Ranch glowed a blue aura with blue hair that threw him off. "What is this? Super Saiyan with blue hair d—?"
Ranch charged forward, and punched Frieza in the midst of his drivel. Once more caught by surprise, Frieza flew through the air, hit the ground, and created a trench before coming to a stop. After standing back up, Frieza furiously stared back at Ranch as she flew straight for him again.
"You dare interrupt me?" Frieza shouted angrily at Ranch, who only kept on going after him. Frieza blocked all of her attacks, but she was fast enough that he couldn't get a word in edgewise. He delivered a spinning kick that connected with her stomach, knocking her back some distance. "Even your blasted uncle had the courtesy of letting others finish speaking!" he finally got around to saying.
"You talk too much, ya damn pipsqueak!" Ranch yelled back.
The two powered up and lunged at each other. The shockwave of their impact reverberated everywhere, causing Trunks to briefly shield his eyes. They had reached a brief stalemate with the two of them pushing against each other. Frieza suddenly pulled her in and kneed Ranch, causing her to reel and drop her defenses, which he took advantage of by continuously hitting her. Then Frieza brought his tail up, wrapping it around her neck, and began to squeeze. Ranch began to let off a strangled cry as she tried to pry the tail off, but the strength of the grip was too much and she couldn't get good leverage.
Frieza laughed and looked over at Trunks, who was just observing with a scowl of his face. "What's wrong, monkey?" he shouted mockingly up at him. "Shouldn't you have a problem with me squeezing the life out of your woman?" He began to put more pressure around her neck to emphasize his point. "Here I thought the prince's son would be too proud to allow such a thing!"
Trunks grit his teeth, began to focus his energy to power up, and his hand twitched towards his sword. But before he was able to do anything, Ranch managed to grasp his tail, bring it up to her mouth, and bit down. Frieza yelped in pain, unraveled his tail, and backed off of Ranch, rubbing the bite wound. "It happened agai—!" Ranch came in and delivered a powerful drop kick that sent him crashing to the ground. Trunks breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ranch!" a voice above Frieza shouted. "That was much too close; I don't want any rocks or dirt in my ice cream!"
Finally losing her composure, Ranch said in a panic, "I'm sorry, Lord Beerus! I'll be more careful!"
Frieza sat up, and he indeed saw that the God of Destruction standing among them. "Lord Beerus!" he cried, getting back into the air and putting distance between them. "What are you doing here?"
"What does it look like? I'm enjoying this delicious treat," he answered, waving his spoon around.
"But I'm enacting my vengeance on Goku by destroying his family," he complained. "Are you going to intervene?"
"Why would I possibly do that?" Beerus said passively. "Do as you please—just ensure no debris from your fight gets in my sundae."
"So you're seriously not—?"
Ranch came in kicked Frieza far away from Beerus. "He already answered your question, ya prick! Leave Lord Beerus be!" she shouted at Frieza. In reality Ranch just wanted to continue the fight, but it couldn't hurt to try and earn some brownie points with Beerus.
After being hit while he wasn't paying attention so many times, Frieza finally had enough and properly began fighting back. The brat's mother and the new form with the blue hair were proving a lot more trouble than he initially believed. Ranch punched him. Frieza kicked her. Frieza shot all manner of energy beams at the woman, but she was able to just barely get out of the way.
Frieza landed a punch right in her gut, which sent her plowing deeply into a cliff, and he shot a barrage of finger beams at the area. Ranch, though, floated back up from the dust cloud and wasted no time in going back at him for another go. Just as Ranch closed in, she faded out, and reappeared right above him, delivering a drop kick that sent him hurling down towards the ocean. Staying up in the air, Ranch surveyed the scene, when Frieza erupted out of the water. He threw two kicks at her that she blocked, and the third sent her into another cliff.
But Ranch immediately went back at Frieza, and he went to meet her. When they collided they clasped hands, trying to overpower each other. Frieza managed to get the upper hand, and twisted Ranch around until she was upside down, and kneed her in the gut. Ranch countered by landing a knee on the side of his head. Despite the fact that Ranch had taken the initiative early on, Frieza was clearly now overpowering Ranch.
They went back to trading blow after blow, with Ranch taking more than her fair share of hits. When they were up close, Frieza charged up a shot, and thrust his palm into Ranch's gut. The wind knocked out of her, the beam took her down to the ground, making a large crater as she crashed. Beaten and bruised, she just barely dodged another beam that he had slashed at her, creating a sizeable crevice behind her.
Getting her footing back, Ranch attempted to punch his face, but he easily got out of the way of her fists. When Ranch kicked, Frieza caught it and punched her in the face before throwing her up in the air. Frieza jumped up, passed her, and delivered a hard kick that sent her back down. Ranch hit the ground and carved out a trench before stopping.
Frieza laughed mirthlessly as he hovered above her. "Pathetic." He looked over at Trunks, who was close by as he kept an eye on things. "Here I am beating on your dear wife, and you've done nothing this whole time. What kind of man are you?"
"I don't know about that," said Trunks, as Ranch got up rubbing the wounds on her arm. "She seems fine to me."
Normally Ranch would rather cut to the chase and kept fighting, but with the goal in sight, it was best to play for time. In hindsight it would've been better if she had let the idiot yammer on earlier. So she caught Trunks' eye, and both started to snicker before it turned into laughter. It sort of hurt to laugh, but she didn't stop.
Seeing this, Frieza frowned. "What is this? What's so funny? How is this amusing to you?"
"What do you say, want to tag in?" Ranch asked Trunks.
Trunks waved off her offer. "By all means, keep on going. I already had my turn with him, after all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Frieza demanded angrily. "I've never seen you before." Although, Frieza admitted to himself, he and his sword gave him an odd sense of foreboding.
"Let me guess, you came straight here after unlocking this new form, didn't you?" asked Trunks.
"So? What if I did? And you didn't answer my last ques—"
Screw it! With him distracted once again, Ranch powered up and flew right up into Frieza's exposed gut—he really liked to talk way too much. Ranch got a couple of more hits in before Frieza recovered, and blocked her strikes. Then, ever so subtly, things began to even out between them. While he did keep on getting hits in on her, Ranch was also doing more and more damage to Frieza. They zipped around the air, constantly exchanging a series of strikes. Then, when Frieza wound up a punch and threw it at her, Ranch was able to block it with less effort than before.
Ranch kicked upwards, catching his chin and snapping his neck back. Putting a palm over his chest, Ranch yelled and shot an energy beam at her, sending him into the ocean again. From below the water Frieza shot several of his red energy balls up at her. Seeing them coming after they shot out of the water, Ranch managed to dodge them all but they were tracking her. So she began flying through the air, avoiding the balls as they came at her. When they all exploded without touching her, Frieza had come out of the water, and sent several of the balls at her at once. Ranch, though, didn't try to get out the way that time, and blocked and knocked them out of the way with her arms.
Furious, Frieza closed the distance between them and punched Ranch right in the cheek. Except this time all he managed to do was turn her head slightly. When Ranch turned her head back to glare at him despite Frieza pushing in, he backed off, saying, "What's going on?"
Wordlessly, Ranch brought her arm up to his chest, and delivered a short punch that shocked him. Ranch continued her offensive, while Frieza managed to block some of her punches and kicks, and got a kick in that sent Frieza downwards again. He stopped short of hitting the water, and looked at Ranch furiously. He had trained so hard, reached a new level, yet he was being beaten—and it wasn't even Goku, but rather his wretched niece, that was beating him!
Ranch aimed both palms down at him. "Double Sunday!" When large beam of energy reached Frieza, he threw his hands up, convinced that he could stop it—but it was to no avail. The beam was pushing back on him, and when Ranch added more power to it, Frieza was thrown back into the water with it and was caught in the explosion.
The waves rocked after the attack, eventually falling back into their normal pattern. The badly injured Frieza just barely managed to climb back up to shore. While Frieza was still on his hands and knees coughing, Ranch launched herself at him, and planted her knee in the middle of his back. Frieza let out a howl of pain and agony, as Ranch kicked Frieza so that he was face up.
She then reached down, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up until their eyes were level. "Your power ran low." Frieza threw a frantic punch, which Ranch caught with her free hand. "I told you, didn't I?" Ranch crushed his hand, causing him to cry in pain again. "I'm going to kill you for what you did to my son." Frieza then tried to use his tail to whip her, but Ranch caught that too with her own tail.
Frieza looked to the side, and his eyes found Sorbet, who was hiding behind some rocks. As difficult as it was to move, Frieza managed to give him a slight nod. Seeing the signal, Sorbet took aim at the woman with his blaster.
But in a flash of steel he suddenly found his view blocked. Stumbling back from the sword that got in his way, Sorbet looked down, and in a rush of dread he saw that his forearm was now on the ground, detached from his body. His arm was now a bleeding stump, and it was only because of the shock that he wasn't screaming in pain.
Trunks landed right next to Sorbet, who looked up at him in terror. Trunks pulled his sword from the ground, gave Sorbet a contemptuous look, and with a swift slash took off his head.
Seeing this, Frieza was thrown into a panic and looked at Ranch with desperation. He had to find a way to give himself the opportunity to blow up the planet without her noticing and interfering. "Wait," he managed to choke out. "No…please…your uncle…would've…let…me live…"
"Yes," Ranch agreed. "He would have…." When Frieza seemed just slightly hopeful, she added, "But I'm not my uncle." As Frieza gave her the look of horror that Ranch wanted, she closed her fist around his neck.
The resulting crunch caught the attention of Beerus and Whis.
"I must say," Whis commented, as their ice cream wound down, "I don't know what those two would do without each other. While one is lost in the fight, the other is on the lookout for other threats."
"Yes, and when they are fighting together they're in sync," agreed Beerus, licking his spoon. "But as it stands those two still stand no chance against me, even if they were to work as one."
"Yes, this still have quite a ways to go before that can happen, my lord," Whis commented, as Ranch tossed Frieza's limp body into the air.
Trunks, powering up to Super Saiyan Blue, jumped up with his sword in hand. It was with some nostalgia that he raised his sword and slashed Frieza's golden body into pieces. Ranch met him up in the air, and together they incinerated the remains of his body. Ranch then aimed her hand at Frieza's ship, and blew it up while Trunks sheathed his sword.
When they touched back down on the ground, they both relaxed and powered down to their base form.
Ranch now rounded on Trunks with her hands on her hips, saying testily, "You know, if you had stepped in I wouldn't have had to take so much damage."
"What? I figured you'd want your shot at him," Trunks said defensively.
"Back then you just played around with him the entire time. I, meanwhile, had to live long enough for him to lose strength!" she countered in annoyance.
Trunks placed his hands on her shoulders, calmly saying, "Look, I was just as angry to see what Frieza did to Gohan and was going to do something, but you beat me to the punch—literally. And I wasn't about to get in the way of raged out mom mode. I would have gone in to help eventually if it wasn't becoming clear that he was getting weaker."
"Yeah, I'd hope so," she said. Ranch was still rather annoyed, but when Trunks kissed her some of it melted away. When they eventually broke apart, she rotated her aching arm, saying, "Oh well, nothing a trip to the lookout won't fix."
Trunks then commented, "You know what's weird? As much as Frieza hates Saiyans, he's kind of like Goku and my dad."
"I know, right?" Ranch agreed in wide-eyed astonishment. "I was powering up right in front of him, and the moron just sat there and let me!"
Together they took to the air, as Trunks shouted down at the deities, "Thanks for the ride back. Was the ice cream up to your standards?"
"It was," said Whis, as the empty bowl clearly indicated. "Give Bulma our thanks."
Beerus scoffed as the two flew away. "Thanks? Not destroying this planet should be thanks enough. Come on, Whis, let's go."
"As you wish, my lord."
Beerus and Whis teleported away.