Sorry this took so long, guys! I've been working as a field trip advisor and presenter and have had NO time to write. And then I got really lazy and fight scenes are not my forte, so I procrastinated... Bad author! BAD AUTHOR!
"Vegeta, Vegeta, Vegeta," Frieza tsked. "And here I was hoping that annoyance Ginyu had finished you off."
Vegeta raised his lip. "Not a chance in hell," he snapped.
"It appears as though he claimed your tail, though," Frieza mocked.
"You shut up!" Vegeta snarled.
"Will you make me, little Prince?"
"You bet your cold ass I will."
Frieza brushed him off flippantly with a flick of his hand, turning his attention to the other three warriors. "Hm, so you're the Namekian that has been causing my soldiers such issues. That's pretty talented, Namek. The rest of your kind certainly did not present a threat. Congratulations."
Piccolo met his gaze heatedly, but said nothing, not rising to the bait.
Frieza's eyes landed on Krillin then, barely appraising him. "A human. How droll. Never thought you would stoop so low, Vegeta."
"Hey now, not fair. I am a lot stronger than you th-" Krillin started, but stopped as Frieza's eyes cut to him sharply. "You know what...you can just ignore me. I'm not here."
"Obviously," Frieza assented. "And you...what do we have here, hm?" Frieza asked, his gaze returning to Gohan once more, a smile gracing his lips again. "Awfully young to be on this battlefield, hm? He looks like one of your kind, Vegeta," Frieza mused. "Raven hair, black eyes, determined features... are you a Saiyan, child?"
Gohan nodded. "Part. Father was a Saiyan. Mother was human," he answered.
"How old are you, child?"
"Five."
Frieza's brow creased. "Who is your father, boy? Radditz? Nappa, perhaps? Vegeta?" Frieza laughed, glancing at the Saiyan.
"Feh. As if I would have mated with a human. He is the son of Kakarott, Radditz's brother. He was on Earth before you destroyed our planet."
"Interesting. And where is this other Saiyan, Kakarott, hm? Did you kill him as well, Vegeta?" Frieza mocked.
Gohan's nose wrinkled and his eyes flashed, seemingly blue again for just a moment. Piccolo's ears flicked back and his eyes darted to the boy, worried for a moment.
"No, his own brother killed him," Gohan answered tightly. Piccolo turned his head to look at him in slight astonishment. The boy... he knew Piccolo had killed both his father and uncle in one fell blow... and yet he said the contrary.
"Surprising. It seems you are not the only one to kill your own kind then, Vegeta," Frieza said coolly.
When Piccolo glanced at Vegeta, he could have sworn he saw the older Saiyan's eyes momentarily flash blue as well.
He was dimly aware that his head was pounding.
A legend will save you...
"Mr. Piccolo, are you okay?" Gohan asked him quietly, concerned when Piccolo wiped premature sweat from his forehead.
"Yes, yes. I'm fine," Piccolo answered, brushing off the boy's worry.
"Now, now, whatever shall I do with you all, my little band of misfits?" Frieza mused, his voice commanding respect and full attention. "You have beaten my elites with too much ease... Tell me Vegeta, did your dear friend beg for his life before you killed him? Or did you murder him as easily as you did your own kind?" Vegeta raised his lip, and again Piccolo saw the blue in his eyes and the pounding in his head intensified.
A legend will save you...
"Hm. I do suppose fighting you in my primitive form here will just be a waste of time. Unfortunately, I believe you will have me at a stalemate. Shall we see instead how you fair against my second form?" Frieza asked, raising his arms out to his sides in challenge.
Krillin looked frightened for a moment, but Vegeta's face remained passive, as if he had been expecting this all along. Piccolo felt Gohan shift slightly closer to him, though his young face remained brave. The four watched in awe as Frieza began to transform, his body growing taller and more stout, his horns growing larger and more pointed.
"Shit," Krillin hissed. "He's huge."
"His ki has gotten a lot bigger..." Gohan whispered.
"What do we do, Piccolo?" Krillin asked.
Piccolo shrugged. "Seems as if Vegeta plans on going it alone," he answered. And it was true. The Saiyan had already begun to step up to the plate, his ki swirling around him in blue waves, his hands balled into fists at his sides.
Piccolo wondered mildly if the recent victory against the Ginyu Force went a little too much to his head.
Not that he was too worried about his death. If the Saiyan died, well then, that was one less potential threat he had to worry about.
If he and Gohan made it out of this alive.
"Are you really prepared to fight me, little prince?" Frieza taunted, cracking his neck loudly and pulling his shoulders back to appear taller.
Vegeta gave no response, opting instead to barrel headlong into the impending fray. In a moment of shock, Frieza was put on the defense before he very quickly matched the Saiyan's vigor, and quickly pushed him onto the rebound instead. Vegeta began to get angry, and he and Frieza remained at a stalemate for a few short minutes.
Frieza began to laugh; a cold, mirthless sound before he tapped into some ki reserves and began pushing Vegeta back on the defensive. The Saiyan began to panic, and in doing so, became sloppy. His blocking abilities began to diminish and after a hard blow to the chin, he plummeted to the ground, hitting hard. He spat some blood out as he slowly lifted himself on his hands and knees.
"Krillin, senzu bean," Piccolo ordered, lifting to the air. Gohan instinctively began to rise with him, only to be halted by a firm hand on his shoulder, pushing him down. "Stay here, kid."
"But Mr. Piccolo, I can help you!" he protested, and his eyes held the steady blue.
"I know you can, but I need you to save your strength. I have a feeling we'll be needing it later." Gohan huffed but nodded, allowing his feet to touch solid ground again. Piccolo threw him one last glance before rising to face Frieza.
"Are you really going to try, Namekian?" the monster asked with a smirk. "Even when the Saiyan couldn't defeat me? They're a superior species to your kind, you know. Not by much, but enough of a margin to know you'll go down faster than he."
"I wouldn't bet on that," Piccolo answered. And he knew it to be true. His maximum ki was beyond the Saiyan's due to his fusion with Nail. Guru had not nearly released the amount of ki in Vegeta that had been released in Piccolo.
Frieza smirked again, and beckoned him closer mockingly with a flick of his wrist. Piccolo took him up on the offer, and while not running headlong into battle like Vegeta, he did charge in admirably, his foot finding home in Frieza's stomach, forcing him to lose his breath upon impact. Piccolo did not bother waiting for him to recover, bashing his elbow into the back of his neck, hard enough to break a normal being's spine.
Alas, Frieza was no normal being. If anything, the blow merely inconvenienced him, and he was able to throw his elbow up in a block to Piccolo's next blow intended to crush his back. He turned abruptly to throw a quick blast at the Namekian, who barely had time to deflect it. They continued their deadly dance, unaware of their surroundings.
On the ground, Gohan, Vegeta, and Krillin watched in earnest. Vegeta had refused the senzu bean to save face and his pride, claiming he was perfectly fine. Krillin had scoffed, but slipped the bean back into the little brown sack secured to his gi belt. Gohan was wringing his hands nervously in front of him, his eyes locked on Piccolo.
"This is ridiculous. Frieza is merely toying with him," Vegeta snarled, smashing his fist into his open palm.
"Are you kidding? Do you see them? Piccolo has him on the ropes!" Krillin exclaimed, pointing indignantly at the sky, which rumbled with thunder created by two forces meeting.
"You're an idiot. Frieza does not only have two forms. He has always boasted of having four, his final being perfection. All he's doing is warming up," Vegeta snapped. "This is why I needed my immortality!"
"Oh, drop it already," Krillin muttered under his breath.
Vegeta raised his lip at him but said nothing, choosing to ignore the bald monk. His eyes took on a glazed appearance for a while as he lost himself in thought, practically ignoring the two warriors fighting above him.
Idea!
"Baldy! I need you to try to kill me!" he exclaimed suddenly.
"Whoa, wait, what?" Krillin asked. Gohan dragged his eyes away from the fight in shock.
"When a Saiyan is near death, if he is healed, his ki nearly doubles in magnitude. Triples, even! Those stupid beans you have, they have the power to heal, right?"
"Well, yeah, but Vegeta, I can't just...do that..." Krillin protested.
"Yes you can. I killed your friends. Or at least ordered their deaths. Now's your chance for revenge!"
"Vegeta, I can't. I'm not that kind of person. You should've asked Piccolo to do it. He would've, I'm sure..."
"Well I can't exactly ask him to do it right now, now can I?" Vegeta asked sarcastically. "You, brat. You can do it, can't you?" he asked, turning his attention to Gohan.
Gohan vehemently shook his head. "No way. I can't."
"Why is this so difficult?" Vegeta snarled, throwing his hands in the air. "You aren't actually going to kill me, you imbeciles! I'll eat one of those stupid beans and I'll be healed and be stronger. Near invincible to Frieza! Don't you get it?" he asked, desperate and frustrated. When there was only silence, he punched Krillin hard across the jaw and stormed, "Fine. Die for all I care."
He began to sneak out, intending on going into the ship to find a blaster to shoot himself in the stomach. It was worth a try.
He stopped dead when Frieza was all of a sudden in front of him, blocking his path. "Where do you think you're going, little prince? So eager to escape your fate? Need I remind you that you started all this?" Frieza mocked.
"I'm going to get some water," Vegeta said neutrally, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You know if I even suspect that you're trying to leave the planet on my ship, I'll destroy it and you without a single thought, yes?"
"I got it," Vegeta snapped, attempting to push past him.
"Do you not want to wait for my next transformation? It appears the Namekian and I are at a stalemate. We will get nowhere like this."
Vegeta turned his head and glanced behind him. The Namekian was very near the boy, resting a protective hand on his shoulder. He was barely sweating, let alone breathing hard. He felt anger, sharp like a knife, pierce his soul.
He turned to face Frieza again, who was smirking at him, and he turned his back, walking back to his temporary comrades. Piccolo's gaze upon him was reproachful, while Krillin's and the boy's were anxious. He ignored them, turning his own gaze to Frieza, who was looking rather smug.
"You poor souls have no idea what you are about to be up against. And it isn't even my final form," he bragged, closing his eyes and putting his hands in the air in a symbol of fake humbleness.
And as the monster began to change yet again, Krillin was mumbling about how stupid he was to have come, Vegeta remained stoic, and young Gohan moved as closely to Piccolo as he could. Piccolo's grip on his shoulder became firmer.
They watched in mild horror at the new monster to be unleashed.
A legend will save you...