I'll be writing more for my other collection in between the end of this and "Time Went On."
Chapter 24: Risking It All To Defeat A Tyrant.
The Spirit Ball loomed overhead, its blue glow shining down on the green landscape. Frieza's anger began to skyrocket as he grew annoyed at Goku's silence to his questions.
"Answer me!" He screamed, his voice echoing around the planet, "What do you plan to accomplish by standing there with your hands up?!"
Goku stared back at the tyrant in silence, a stony gaze piercing the tyrant's eyes. His mind raced with the idea that he might not be able to finish the spirit bomb before Frieza would notice.
"How long do you plan to stand there in silence?!" Frieza yelled.
"That's a good question," Goku chuckled, "How long do you plan to question me for?"
Frieza slammed his leg into Goku's chest, sending him flying backward onto the ground. "Insolent monkey," Frieza sneered.
"Piccolo, we have to do something," Krillin said.
The Namekian said nothing while he stared down the duo. He knew that there was going to be a point when he had to step in. Goku needed time.
Goku slowly got to his feet and raised his hands back into the air as Frieza approached him, a ball of energy at his finger. The tyrant extended his arm and shot Goku in the shoulder, knocking him back. "Fight back," He said, firing another blast at Goku's leg, "Stop standing around."
Goku remained resilient and stood his ground, a pained expression covering his face.
"Fine then," Frieza said, aiming a blast at Goku's chest, "Have it your way."
The tyrant felt someone grab his tail, catching him by surprise. Before he could get a look at who was behind him, a tug on his tail swept him off his feet. Piccolo began to swing Frieza around in a circle before throwing him into the air, Gohan and Krillin waiting to intercept him. With a dual blast, Frieza was sent plummeting toward the water, smashing through a cliff as he fell.
"Goku, how long do you need to finish that thing?" Piccolo asked as Gohan and Krillin joined him on the ground.
"Just a few more minutes should do," Goku said as Gohan and Krillin gave him some of their energy, "Do you think you could do that?"
"I'm not sure," Piccolo said as the water started to bubble, "But I'll sure as hell do what I can."
There was no eruption of water. Frieza slowly rose from the water, veins bulging from his head as he ascended. "You just keep trying and trying," He said calmly, "And to what extent?" He clenched his fist tightly, his nails digging into his skin, causing it to bleed. "You'd think anyone else would just give up by now? That they'd realize their efforts are useless? That it'd be easier to just stop fighting back?" He let his body relax, his hand unclenching and letting blood flow from his palm. "But no. They don't. They're too incredibly stubborn to realize."
He raised his arm into the air with one finger extended, a massive ball of purple energy formed at its tip. "I'm through playing," Frieza said as the ball grew in size, "I was enjoying the game at first. But then it dragged on. And now, I plan to finish it."
"ENJOY YOUR TICKET TO HELL!" Frieza screamed as the ball grew dramatically in seconds. He threw the ball straight for the group, his crazed laughter echoing through the air.
"Goku, throw the damn thing!" Piccolo yelled, "Now, Goku! Or we're all dead!"
"It's not ready yet!" Goku replied.
Piccolo scowled before turning and making a dash for the ball of energy. He threw out his hands and shot a beam of energy towards it, the two attacks colliding in a clash of light.
"AND YOU STILL SEEM TO BELIEVE YOU CAN FIGHT BACK!" Frieza screamed in anger.
Gohan and Krillin joined Piccolo and shot their own attacks at the ball of energy, blending with Piccolo's in one beam. "Don't let up!" Piccolo yelled. The three together managed to begin to push the attack back, angering Frieza even more.
"JUST DIE ALREADY!" Frieza screamed as he sent his own beam at the ball of energy. With the added attack, the ball of energy began to push back toward the trio, forcing them to exert more energy. There was a slight moment where the attacks evened out before Frieza started to push back toward the trio.
"Goku, do it now!" Piccolo yelled.
"Dad, please!" Gohan yelled.
Goku felt the stop of energy flowing into the spirit bomb. He threw his arms down and let the spirit bomb fall to the planet.
"SO NOW YOU PLAN TO FIGHT BACK!" Frieza yelled, "SORRY TO SAY IT, BUT YOU'VE MISSED YOUR OPPORTUNITY!"
A bright light began to shine from behind Frieza, diverting his attention from the attack. "What IS that?!" He yelled as the spirit bomb closed in on him. Turning entirely away from his attack, he attempted to catch the spirit bomb and stop its movement. "This- This is nothing!"
With Frieza's attention away from his attack, the four fighters managed to push the attack back at Frieza, catching him from behind. The tyrant screamed in pain as he was crushed between the two attacks, his own attack dissipating as he was pushed by the spirit bomb. "This. Won't. Stop me!" He screamed, the spirit bomb began to surround his body with its energy.
"This! Is-" Frieza started to scream before pain filled his voice as he was completely drawn into the spirit bomb. The massive ball hurtled for Namek's surface as the four fighters dodged in different directions out of its path. Its impact sent them flying away as the attack hit the planet and began to dig a hole into its surface.
Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu watched in silence as King Kai's expression began to turn from worry to glee. "They did it!" He exclaimed, jumping into the air, "They beat Frieza!"
The trio looked at each other in glee as they started to laugh in joy. Their celebration ended shortly as they noticed King Kai's expression quickly turn back to worry.
"What's wrong, King Kai?" Yamcha asked.
King Kai remained silent as sweat dripped from his forehead, his expression starting to worry the Z-Fighters as well.
"What happened?" Tien asked.
King Kai slowly turned to face them before taking a deep breath. "I can't find Goku or the others," He said.
Krillin breached the surface of the water and quickly swam to a nearby island. He crawled onto dry land and tried to catch his breath before noticing an unconscious Gohan floating past in the water. He fished the boy out of the water and helped him regain consciousness.
"Easy, Gohan," Krillin said as the boy began coughing violently, air rushing to his lungs.
"I think I'm good now," Gohan said as the coughing subsided, "Where's my dad and Piccolo?"
Minutes of silence passed before Krillin grabbed Gohan's arm and turned him to look at a nearby piece of land. Piccolo had crawled up onto its bank and collapsed from exhaustion, his hand grasping a semi-conscious Goku. Gohan and Krillin flew over to the duo and helped them to their feet, Goku needing to use Krillin as support.
"I think it's time we headed home, wouldn't you say?" Goku asked, "My ship should still be around here somewhere. That should get us home pretty quickly."
Everyone jumped at Krillin's scream, ready to fight back if Frieza returned.
"Krillin, what is it?" Gohan asked.
"We forgot about Bulma," Krillin gasped.
"Krillin, don't scare us like that," Goku said, "I thought Frieza had come back."
"Honestly," Krillin said, "I'd prefer him again over an angry Bulma any day."
Piccolo stood up on a tall rock mound and stared out over Namek, its waters all converging to fall into the hole made by the spirit bomb. His chest tightened as he thought of all the Namekians who had perished to Frieza. A wave of emotion flooded his body as Nail's memories coursed through his mind, all of the years the warrior had spent with the Grand Elder and the various villages. His chest tightened even more as he started to doze off into those memories. He pulled his hand to his chest to grasp at it, only to meet another hand already there.
"I seem to have missed one," A voice sneered in his ear.
Piccolo felt the pressure disappear from his chest as the hand slid away from him, a feeling of cold air filling his chest. The Namekian fell from the rock with a thud, alerting the trio. Each of them filled with fear as they laid their eyes on a familiar silhouette.
"Regenerate that," Frieza said, his hand covered in blood.
"No," Goku gasped.
Frieza turned to Goku with murder in his eyes and extended his hand. A singular ball of energy flew from his palm towards Goku, Krillin reacting and throwing Goku off of him, putting himself in its path.
"I guess the order doesn't matter," Frieza sneered, lifting his hand into the air. Krillin flew up in its path, his screams filling the air.
"Krillin!" Goku yelled, "Put him down now, Frieza!"
"Fine," Frieza said coldly. He swung his hand downward, sending Krillin plummeting toward the island.
Krillin slammed into the rock with a crack. He felt increasing pressure against his body as if he was being crushed between two forces. The ground gave way beneath him, allowing his body to sink into the island.
"Frieza!" Goku screamed.
Krillin felt the force lift from his chest as he flew from the hole into the air again. He felt his chest begin to tighten as Frieza clenched his fist. Blood rushed up his throat as he felt his body being crushed. Frieza smirked at the sight of blood and relaxed his fist, allowing Krillin time to breath.
"Don't breathe your sigh of relief," Frieza sneered.
Krillin felt his body crush once again before it felt like it was expanding. "GOKU!" He screamed as he exploded, an evil grin crossing Frieza's face.
"Two of four down," He said, lowering his arm, "Now, how about the boy next? Save the pure-blooded ape for dessert."
Goku stared in horror at the smoke cloud above him. In just one second, his best friend was gone. Nothing remained of him. He felt tears well up in his eyes before the blood rushed to his head. His vision started to turn dark before going to a bloody haze.
"You- You," Goku growled, electricity crackling from his body, "Bastard..."
Frieza turned to face Goku, an amused expression on his face. "What now?" He laughed, "Going to pull some other trick from your sleeve?"
Goku stood up to face Frieza, veins bulging from his body as the electricity started to grow violent. "First, you kill my best friend," He said, the sky above him growing dark as it started to rain, "Then, you threaten my son!"
"And what do you plan to do about it, huh?" Frieza said, "How would keep me from ending the boy? You're nothing without the rest of your troop, you damn monkey!"
Goku began to approach Frieza, the ground beneath his feet crushing as he stepped down, his hair flashing with energy. Frieza grabbed Gohan and held a finger to the boy's head, a ball of energy already formed.
"You wouldn't risk hitting him, would you?" Frieza asked with a smirk.
Goku grit his teeth before moving towards Frieza faster than the tyrant could see. Goku grabbed his wrist and bent his arm back, causing Frieza to drop Gohan. The boy stared in terror at what was happening with his father, Frieza struggling to get free.
"Don't you dare try to hurt my son!" Goku screamed as his energy exploded, blasting Gohan back. Frieza fell from Goku's grip as the Saiyan reeled back from the explosion of energy, grasping at his head.
His hair flashed rapidly, standing up straight whenever it changed. His eyes began to flash to a different color as he reeled in pain. A familiar roar filled the sky as a golden aura exploded around Goku, collapsing the island into the Namekian waters.
Gohan grabbed Piccolo's body and swam to safety, hauling the Namekian onto the rock beside him. The boy looked back to where the island had collapsed and saw his father floating above the water, his body surrounded in golden light. Frieza was perched on a nearby rock spire, looking down at Goku.
"And just what is this trick?" He laughed, "The color of your fur doesn't matter, monkey. You're still as weak as you were before."
Goku reappeared in front of Frieza and started to wail on the tyrant. Gohan noticed how different it was to how his father normally fought, he was simply attacking Frieza like an animal. Goku picked Frieza up by the neck and slammed him down onto the spire, crushing him into the rock. He used his kiai to send Frieza crashing down through the rocks and into the water below.
Goku's attention snapped to Gohan and Piccolo before he reappeared in front of them, Gohan falling onto his back. The boy noticed the difference in his father. He seemed far more animalistic and primal than before. Gohan flinched and closed his eyes as Goku raised his hand, calming down as he felt a gentle pressure on his head. The boy looked up at his father, who smiled playfully at the boy before turning to Piccolo.
The Namekian was still alive, clinging to life by a thread. Goku put his hand over Piccolo's chest and gave the Namekian some of his energy. The Saiyan smiled at his son before taking note of Frieza's energy from the water. His smile faded as he turned to face the tyrant as he emerged from the water. Goku charged for Frieza and grabbed him, dragging him with him as he flew through the air.
"I should get out of here," Gohan said before he slung Piccolo over his shoulder.
Through blurry vision, Piccolo witnessed Goku mercilessly wailing on Frieza as they flew away from the fight. "Kill him, Goku," Piccolo muttered through a smirk on his face as the fight disappeared over the horizon, only a faint, golden light remaining in view.