Episode 59

Hidden Truths

Author's Note: I decided to experiment a little with this chapter by adding a bit of my own history to Namek to show more details about King Cold's desire of taking over the planet, so I hope it won't be too bad. By the way, for those who celebrate Christmas, (Belated) Merry Christmas to you all!

"HYAAH!" Vegeta's aura surrounded him, bursting and flaring from his body as he rushed towards Recoome. He actually caught him off-guarded when he threw a ravaging punch to his abdomen. Recoome was pushed back and he was blown away.

Vegeta pursued him, leaving jets of wind behind. He then fought him in hand-to-hand combat. Recoome tried to keep up with him, but Vegeta found an opportunity to counterattack, he grabbed that chance by going for a strong knee-strike to his abdomen again, followed by a hard strike to the head with his gloved hands clasped together.

Recoome was pushed back once more and was about to fall to the ground. The Saiyan Prince believed he was already getting weaker, he must keep at full strength in order to take him out as soon as possible. As Vegeta followed him, ready to land his next attack, he was surprised to see a smirk appearing from Recoome's face. It appeared to be he was not at all fazed by his attacks so far.

Vegeta was fuming mad. It seemed like this opponent of his was making a mockery out of him. "You better wipe that smirk off of your face!" he accelerated, landing a strong sidekick to his stomach, trying to inflict damage to him at his abdomen several times to weaken him somehow.

Recoome grunted in slight pain; however, he suddenly dashed and was able to get behind Vegeta. He then threw a brute punch to his back and the Saiyan Prince was carried off with the winds.

"Hah! Now check this out," Recoome announced. He tried to land a powerful blow to his face, but Vegeta was able to evade it, catching his opponent by surprise. Vegeta retaliated by hitting him with an enraged hook kick to his neck, intending to break it. Though it stopped him for a moment, it did nothing to break his bones.

Vegeta knew he must follow through with his chain of attack whilst keeping his focus and stability whole. He bent his arms to his waist and powered up, hoping that this slight power boost will give him the advantage.

"Huh?" Recoome asked.

"Eat this!" Vegeta retaliated. He spread his arms wide, his hands electrifying in violent, sparking energy, the aura emitting from his body flared and surrounded him wildly. He brought his hands together and from the center of his palms, he released combined spheres of vigorous energy of white and sapphire colors. This electrifying beam then headed straight towards Recoome. Recoome had to cross his arms together and raised his defense.

Once Vegeta's "Final Crash" made contact with his enemy, it woke an immense explosion, its rays illuminating the battlefield.

Burter simply stood there with his arms crossed. He was not that worried though about his comrade.

Vegeta found himself panting a little. Using full power at the start of this battle may not be wise, but he had to do it in order to eliminate Recoome as soon as possible. He must take out the members of the Ginyu Force as quickly as he can. If not, then his chance for collecting all seven DragonBalls will go down the drain.

Vegeta now turned towards Burter and readied in his fighting stance. "Now it's your turn, you speckled, amphibian freak!"

Burter just scoffed at him. The scouter on his eye began to calculate numbers and then, an arrow appeared on his device, which was pointing to his right. "I'd love to take my turn, Vegeta, but he's still here, you know."

The Saiyan Prince was nervous to hear this. He quickly looked to his right and found Recoome in the midst of the haze and he was in one of his ridiculous poses. Recoome had only endured a few scratches on his body and armor.

He laughed. "Hah, hah! Impressive, Vegeta, but you shouldn't go full power on me or else, you'll spoil all the fun. I can't fight someone who's already tired at the start of the battle! That'll give me the opportunity to crush you with my bare hands easily."

Vegeta growled under his breath. He was already in trouble. Not even his full strength could hinder Recoome or perhaps any of the members of the Ginyu Force.

He must think of another way to overcome and outsmart them somehow to allow him to rise above his enemies no matter how powerful they were. Saiyans like him always get stronger every time they fought and so, he must rely on that now. Of course, that is if exhaustion does not get to him first.

"Stop making a fool out of me!" Vegeta demanded from Recoome. His aura surrounded him one more time, his potential skyrocketing. He rushed towards Recoome and resumed his fight with him.

Vegeta exchanged blows with him. Every punch and kick he gave, he made sure they were filled with full force. To his shock, Recoome seemed to be parrying his moves like nothing this time, but the Saiyan Prince found an opportunity to strike back and so, he went for an overwhelming fist of wrath to his face. Recoome was not fazed though.

"What?!" cried a shocked Vegeta.

Recoome suddenly grabbed his arms and tried to crush them. Vegeta struggled with all his might to escape from his grasp. He slammed his head against Recoome, hoping he would let go, but Recoome did not falter once again.

"Heh, heh! Recoome Elbow!" Recoome used one of his techniques, quickly going for an elbow strike straight to Vegeta's forehead. Blood was drawn out from it, his head jerking back as he cried out in terrible pain. Recoome then took Vegeta by the stomach, raised him up, and as he flew towards the ground, he powerfully threw his opponent against the surface. He made a crater there, shooting rocks and gravel everywhere.

Vegeta lied in the middle of the crater, holding his back in pain, trying to fight it. He cannot believe he was being humiliated like this, yet he cannot let any of his enemies know how weak he was. Vegeta quickly got up on his feet and persisted to carry on in this battle.

Meanwhile, at Frieza's ship, the Namekians that were captured recently from the village, where Elder Moori resided, had now arrived. Namekians that were in the basement of Frieza's ship, from one room, they saw them entering Frieza's ship through the window. One of them began to wonder where Elder Moori was including the two children whom he always took care of.

Meanwhile, the rest of the enslaved Namekians were all tired and in thirst for water after walking for miles in chains and bonds. Frieza's scouts took them all to the basement of the ship where the rest of the Namekians were locked away. There were not too many Namekians left in this planet since others had been killed. Some were currently in hiding though without Frieza's knowledge.

King Cold was making his way towards the basement where the village elders had been kept. He arrived at a door with two Frieza soldiers guarding outside. They saluted to King Cold. King Cold ordered them to open the door so that he may speak to the village elders. The guards obeyed his orders.

There were a handful of Namekians inside this room, most of which were children, some were adults, but all five village elders were there with them, the ones who were entrusted to guard the DragonBalls. Raditz and Krillin had saved the sixth village elder, of course, which was Elder Moori. The Eldest Namekian was mentioned once and he was the one who possessed the last DragonBall. He was not located yet, however.

The Namekians did not bother to look at King Cold. They were all sitting in the room in silence, keeping to themselves. King Cold had a grin on his face. He knew it would be difficult to force words to come out from any of these village elders even though they were at the brink of dehydration. They were all giving him and his son the silent treatment, but none of these Namekians had water in days. Surely, they would have to break soon.

King Cold thought it would ease the minds of these Namekians if he gave them some water to make it seem like he was generous to them, who had more heart than his son did. He snapped his fingers and ordered Frieza's guards to come to him.

"Yes, your Majesty!" the guards waited for his orders.

"Give these Namekians some water, and make sure all Namekians get water from each and every room," King Cold commanded.

The Namekians inside the room seemed surprised to hear this. They all looked up except for the village elders who kept their heads down. They also had the Namekian children close to them.

The guards seemed hesitant to follow through with the king's order. One of them explained, "But your Majesty, Lord Frieza told us to refrain from providing the Namekians water until he gives the command-"

"I'm the king," King Cold said firmly. "He's merely my son. This order will not be repeated again."

The guards were still uncertain to carry out his command. They did not want to disobey Frieza either.

"Oblige me," King Cold gave them the final warning.

The guards panicked. They called out their other comrades who were guarding the other rooms with the other Namekians locked inside. They told them to give water to the Namekians according to the king's orders. Most Namekians especially the children were just relieved that they had something to drink to keep on living despite being captured by the hands of their enemies.

However, the five village elders refused to drink their water. They all stood up, but they kept their heads down, their eyes away from King Cold.

King Cold stood in front of them with his arms crossed. He smirked. "I think it's only fair now that you tell me where the last DragonBall is."

The village elders refused to answer still.

King Cold chuckled. "So this is all the thanks I get? After providing you water?"

One of the elders spoke in an angry tone, "There'll be no gratitude you will receive from us, you heartless monster-"

"-and after providing your frail planet the necessities it needs to help restore it to the way it once was?" King Cold suddenly mentioned.

The village elders were confused.

One of the elders now stared into his eyes. "What do you mean?"

King Cold looked the other way. "Oh my, have you forgotten already? My crew and I had visited your planet once five years ago…to 'help' you Nameks restore your planet's beauty and breathe in the fresh air again."

It soon dawned on the Namekians that the very ones who had supported them before were now the same ones who were conquering their people and taking advantage of their DragonBalls. They had been deceived all along.

This happened five years ago. King Cold and his henchmen had always been interested in Planet Namek after hearing stories of its inhabitants having special powers and talents such as healing and the ability to mold and make magical, powerful creatures; hence, the DragonBalls and their wishes. Not to mention, King Cold was very interested in the fact that Namek had three suns in their solar system, which can provide a lot of energy for their planet. King Cold must investigate and evaluate Namek, learn every aspect of it and discover some of its secrets such as the mysterious DragonBalls. They must do this with caution though and with a small degree of charm to gain the Namekians' trust somehow.

He and his men decided to dress in heavy armor and have their faces covered with space masks so their true identities and faces would not be shown. They disguised themselves as space traders from an organization they named themselves, that they claimed to aid planets in meager and dire conditions. When they arrived on Namek, they claimed to the inhabitants they were these space travelers who go around in space and visit other planets in exchange for goods and supplies. King Cold had heard about the Namekians' struggle with the aftermath of their planet's radical climate change, he gave them basic supplies such as tools to rebuild their homes and villages. He also provided them genetically modified seeds that will sprout to Ajissa plants in which Namekians hailed as sacred, native plants to their home. These Ajissa plants were the very reason it added beauty and life to the home planet of the Namekians. King Cold also knew water was very essential to the diet of the Namekians and so, he helped them built wells and aquifers that will provide them clean drinking water. King Cold and his men stayed in their planet for a week, making it seem like they were very generous people who were there to help them. The Namekians gained so much trust from King Cold and his men, even the Eldest Namekian himself had welcomed him to this planet. In a private meeting between the disguised King Cold and the Grand Elder of the Namekians, King Cold asked if he could possibly know more about the DragonBalls. For the Eldest Namekian, even the power of the DragonBalls had to be kept secret. The only thing that the Grand Elder told King Cold was that the DragonBalls were entrusted to a village elder throughout their planet, and that he himself possessed the last one. To gain these DragonBalls, those with the wisest and purest of hearts could use them and discover the powers themselves. King Cold assured him that he did not intend to use the DragonBalls. He was only asking this question for mainly academic reasons.

King Cold and his men left Namek, giving time for the Namekians to rebuild their homes and do whatever they needed to do. The radical atmospheric change though had really affected the soil and weather of the planet, it was taking a long time for the Namekians to rebuild everything; nevertheless, the inhabitants did everything they can with all the supplies they were generously given with to restore their planet.

However, King Cold was only deceiving the Namekians. The real reason behind this plan of his was to give time for the Namekians to rebuild their planet, somehow improve their quality of life, and sustain enough energy in their planet. And then, when the time is right, King Cold, along with his son and his men, would rush in and take over their planet by surprise, enslave these hardworking Namekians, and transform their improving planet into a military, training base as well as an energy-mining site, which can help strengthen his and his son's Planet Trade Organization.

Of course, the time King Cold invaded their planet, which was a few days past, the Namekians had no idea that they were the same men who claimed themselves to be those space travelers in disguise five years ago. In a way, King Cold played on their emotions very well to easily gain their trust since at that time, the Namekians were desperate and in need for help. They could have never seen this trap.

"Your planet has improved," King Cold told the village elders, "but not as much as I hoped it to be…nevertheless, we had to conquer this planet anyway before anyone could get their hands on it first. This piece of jewel is now ours for the taking. And we will get those DragonBalls."

The Namekians growled with anger. "You-you lied to us all along!"

"It's really hard now to trust anyone outside of home, doesn't it? But like I said," King Cold reminded them, "no further harm will be done to your people if you just comply with us. I only ask one simple question: where is the last DragonBall?"

The Namekians refused to answer them, even the village elders. All this anger was held in their hearts, yet, they kept reminding themselves that they were too powerless to do anything. All they could do was to say nothing.

Yet, the Namekians were forgetting about something very important.

King Cold sighed. He then told one of the guards to bring back the red wine he was drinking earlier from Frieza's room. Once it was handed to him, he took a few sips from it. He continued, "Why am I wasting my precious time asking you this question when you refuse to answer anyway? Maybe I just like to keep the suspense going. I almost forgot that I actually know where the last DragonBall is…it's with the Eldest Namekian in this planet, isn't it?"

The Namekians were speechless, too shock to even describe what they just heard.

"And I know exactly where that old man lives," King Cold said. He finally turned his back from the Namekians, his cape shown to them designed with the symbol of his ruling. "The Eldest Namekian did give me a promise that he'll hand me over the DragonBalls including the last one should I return to this planet as gratitude for my…generous deeds I had done before," he laughed.

Another one of the village elder decided to speak. "The fact that you were lying to us all along, slaughtering and enslaving our people to your every will, I'm sure he knows about it by now. He'll never hand you the last DragonBall!"

King Cold had a malevolent grin. "If that's the case, then I think it's time for you weaklings to hope that I won't have to force him just to get the last DragonBall," he was about to leave the room.

One young Namekian warrior could no longer take this tyrant's cruel and evil nature. "You will never get away for what you did! HYAH!" he decided to attack him head-on.

"No, brother!" cried out the village elders.

He flew to him quickly, about to attack him from behind, straight to his neck to that pressure point that could kill the tyrant, yet he was able to sense his attack. He moved his body to the side and immediately, he used his steel-like arm to crush his neck and skull, ending his life at that moment. The Namekian warrior dropped to the floor, lifeless.

The rest of the Nameks were more shocked than ever. Some could faint from witnessing such tragedy. The children closed their eyes from this horror and began to cry.

King Cold did not look too pleased this time. "I did warn you, didn't I?" he ordered one of the guards to dispose the lifeless body of the Namekian warrior. With the glass of wine in his hand, he made his way back to the room where his son, Frieza, was waiting. The shocked Namekians were locked in their room again and once the door was closed, they all shed tears, grieving for their fallen brothers.

At another battle site, Zarbon and Dodoria's fight with Bardock raged on. It had only been a few minutes to this struggling battle and already, the top henchmen of Frieza were falling back. They cannot believe a low-leveled soldier like him could suddenly overcome them. He had definitely changed since last time.

Dodoria was having a hand-to-hand combat with Bardock and he was able to hit his stomach, but to his shock, he was not hurt at all. Bardock immediately went for a direct punch to his abdomen, blowing him away in the air. Zarbon came in and locked arms with the Saiyan, trying to overpower him. Suddenly, Bardock almost twisted his limbs, pulling them down, and then, did a shocking back-flip to his chin.

Zarbon stopped himself from being blown away. There was blood running down from his lips and he wiped it with his arm. Zarbon had no choice but to use a powerful skill, which he only used during desperate times and this time was a desperate one. He placed his right hand in front, his left hand on his elbow. In a split second, he gathered enough power to launch a scorching-like, golden-orange beam from the center of his hand. It shot across the skies like a shooting star, its burning rays spreading throughout the battlefield. Zarbon watched in frustration, hoping his "Elegant Blaster" would break Bardock's defense and throw him into a world of unending pain.

Surprisingly, Bardock did not react to this with fear, not even a shed of doubt. He grinned as he bent his arms and knees, preparing himself to take on Zarbon's most powerful technique. Once this fiery beam was only a few feet away from him, Bardock yelled and raised his defense high. He allowed Zarbon's technique to hit him instead, which left an intense, nuclear-like explosion behind and then, a dense cloud of smoke afterwards. After some time, their surroundings returned to normal.

Zarbon was breathing heavily. "That…that should've destroyed him," he believed.

Dodoria wiped the purple blood streaming from his forehead. "Serves him right!"

Zarbon moved his arms back towards the sides. "I can't believe how much power he actually held. How did he get so strong for a low-class Saiyan like him?"

"Does it really matter? He's long gone now! We don't have to worry anymore about this low-level scum ruining our plans again," Dodoria laughed. "So much for his mighty and prided attitude. I warned him for getting too cocky."

Zarbon used his scouter to see if Bardock was still there. It took time for his device to detect any signs of his presence.

"I can't believe my scouter broke already," Dodoria mentioned. "I just got that today!"

"I think we need to start making more useful devices that won't easily break during combat or something," Zarbon said. Before he continued this conversation, he gasped in surprise to find out what he just read on his scouter. "What?! It can't be!"

"What's wrong?" asked Dodoria.

"He-he's still here!" Zarbon stammered.

Dodoria became frustrated. "Are you kidding me? That has to be a mistake! There's no way he could've survived that-"

A different voice suddenly spoke to the troubled warriors. "The only mistake you're making is that you've been underestimating the power of the Saiyans."

That voice was closer to Zarbon's, and the moment he turned around, immediately, he was hit to the face and the force of the blow had destroyed his scouter. Then, he was struck to the stomach after sending an uppercut to it. Zarbon realized that it was Bardock and he was angered to know he was not injured at all.

Now with their scouters gone, Dodoria and Zarbon had no way now of contacting Frieza or any back-ups.

The top henchmen of Frieza did not give in yet, however. Dodoria took this chance to launch a barrage of energy blasts at Bardock. They left another fog behind to obscure Bardock's vision, but his senses remained heightened. Zarbon tried to do an ambush attack by going for a stream of rapid kicks with his left foot, but to his surprise, Bardock was evading every kick he did. After Zarbon gave his last attack, Bardock disappeared and reappeared much closer to him, landing another powerful punch to his chin.

"Rargh!" Bardock then teleported in front of him and struck him powerfully to his cheek with his armored arm. Zarbon was slammed against Dodoria and both of them crashed into the grounds of a nearby island.

Bardock had not made much effort in taking down these right-hand men of Frieza. He will never show mercy to any of his minions including the tyrant himself. Bardock settled on the island and began to advance towards Zarbon and Dodoria while his enemies struggled to get up on their feet. There were scratches and heavy wounds all over them. They almost felt like giving up.

As Bardock advanced towards them, he told them in a serious voice, "Like I said, you'll never get away for what you did to my race. That traitor, merciless Frieza will pay for what he did. Destroying them is the greatest mistake he could have ever done."

Zarbon glared at him. Suddenly, he lost balance and fell to one knee. His braided hair was over his shoulders, covering half of his face, blood running from his mouth and forehead. Bardock saw this and thought Zarbon will be the first one to fall unconscious, but then, he noticed a grin appearing on his face.

Zarbon suddenly mentioned to him, "You really have no idea what you're up against, Bardock," he stood up again and wiped the blood from his lips. "You Saiyans can get so arrogant; you fail to see what lies ahead of you."

Bardock retorted, "I've already seen everything what needs to be seen."

Zarbon decided to reveal to him a secret of his that he and even his comrade, Dodoria, had never known about. "Really? Have you really seen everything? Are you sure that you've also seen the hidden monster that could lie within your enemies?"

Dodoria looked at him, utterly confused by what he was saying.

"What are you talking about?" Bardock asked back.

Zarbon laughed under his breath. "Heh, heh, such a pity. I should warn you now that Lord Frieza has another monster lying within him…like what I'm about to show you from myself."

"What do you mean by that?" Dodoria asked him.

Bardock stopped moving and stood some distances apart from his enemies.

Zarbon grinned even more. "Do you know the old saying 'Beauty is only skin deep'? Well, right now you're only seeing the beauty."

Bardock remained motionless while maintaining a serious expression.

Zarbon then spread his arms to the side. Bardock immediately sensed his strength gradually increasing. This got him curious and he wondered what was going on, all his talk about a "monster" lying within him and Frieza.

Zarbon was surrounded by dark aura as he announced to him, "I seldom use this because of how freakishly hideous I will transform into, but I'll do it to eliminate you once and for all! Now prepare to see the beastly side of me!"