Episode 60

Opposing Rivals

Slam!

"I can't believe this! Why did you give those pathetic Namekians some water?!" questioned Frieza, slamming his tail against the armrests of his throne.

King Cold was sitting on a chair, finishing the glass of wine in his hand. "You're making this too much of a big deal, Frieza. How can I speak to them if they're all dying of thirst? I did you tell I wanted to ask them a few questions…I had to dispose one defiant pest though."

Frieza turned his back from him whilst growling under his breath. "If you recall, Father, I should be the one giving the orders around here."

King Cold smirked and reminded him. "Did you not hear me? It's useless to keep these Namekians in your ship if they all die from dehydration. I thought we still needed them once we get all the DragonBalls and take over this planet."

Frieza did not say anything this time. He sighed with irritation. He walked near where the DragonBalls were and kept his ruby red eyes fixed on them.

King Cold stood up, his glass now empty. He gave it to a guard standing outside of the room to have it cleaned. "You should focus on more relevant things like our mission here: immortality and domination, remember?"

Frieza crossed his arms and his hands' grip on them tightened. "I already know that, Father."

Whoosh!

Outside of Namek, heavy winds blew from side to side for a while and then, all fell silent.

Bardock kept to where he was, gravely staring at Zarbon. Zarbon's comrade, Dodoria, was still mystified by what he said earlier ago.

If what Zarbon said was true, that this new power he will reveal to Bardock will definitely conquer him this time, Dodoria insisted with impatience, "Well, what are you waiting for, Zarbon? If you're just gonna stall time, I'll destroy this Saiyan myself!"

Zarbon suddenly held his hand in front of him, demanding Dodoria to silence himself. He continued to raise his power, his dark aura engulfing him.

He began to chuckle while giving a malevolent smile. In a single grunt, his strength rapidly exceeded many heights. He gained a few inches in height, his body and his muscles grew. His gorgeous face made the most transformation as it now changed into a repulsive monster.

Dodoria was shocked. "What the?!"

Indeed, this was Zarbon's true form; transforming from a handsome, prince-like warrior into a fearsome beast of great power. "Hah, hah!" Zarbon laughed with pride.

"Th-that's your true form, Zarbon?" asked Dodoria.

Zarbon chuckled again.

Bardock's eyes widened. He, too, was quite surprised. He then felt his power level by using his senses. He admitted that it did increase significantly, but even now, he was not troubled at all. He closed his eyes and suddenly, a chuckle passed from his lips. "Heh, heh…woah, what happened to you?"

As Zarbon spoke, his voice was in a much lower pitch and rumbling tone. "Don't underestimate me now, you Saiyan filth! You've seen the beauty side of me before and now with great pleasure, I introduce you to the beast!"

All of a sudden, Zarbon launched a fierce blast towards Bardock. Bardock was caught by surprise, but he was able to evade it still. The blast instead left a huge hollow on the island. Bardock levitated in the skies, his hair moving gently with the breeze of air that just came in.

Unbeknownst to Zarbon and Dodoria, Bardock had already teleported behind them and he readied for a punch. He first blew away Dodoria with a sharp kick to the side and then, a strong elbow strike at Zarbon's back. Dodoria crashed into a small cliff, feeling dizzied now from this collision. As for Zarbon, he almost lost his footing, but he turned around and countered with a punch of his own at Bardock's chest. Bardock was shoved back and he slid on the surface, his feet sliding off dust and generating heat underneath them, but he immediately stopped and used this force to accelerate towards Zarbon. Through the grey smoke, he spun around twice to gain momentum and went for a crushing attack with his arm and then, with a powerful blow with his left fist. Zarbon felt pain and was pushed back, but he persisted to overcome him with this new transformation.

"Rargh!" Zarbon roared at him. He dashed towards Bardock and gave a sweep kick, tripping him. Bardock fell, but he used his hand to push him right back up on his feet. In return, he extended his foot and tripped his enemy back. Zarbon was caught by surprise this time and before he touched the surface, Bardock rapidly threw a straight punch to his chest.

"Augh!" Zarbon hit his back against a small plateau. He flew towards the skies to regain his concentration somehow. With his true form now and his newly gained power, he should inflict some damage to Bardock now. His rage added to his strength, he released an energy blast towards the ground once again to distract Bardock.

Bardock avoided this and took wing. He powered up a bit, his blue aura enclosing him. He attacked him head-on and delivered a flurry of skillful punches. At the end, he was about to go for a fist of wrath straight to Zarbon's face and inflict severe damage to him, but to his surprise, Zarbon was able to grab his hand, blocking his attack. Bardock was quick on his reflexes though and attempted to counterattack until all of a sudden, his mind brought him another vision from the future.

"Huh?" Bardock was sidetracked. In this vision, he saw his youngest son, Goku, having a one-on-one battle against who seemed to be the galactic overlord himself, but he was unsure if this was actually Frieza. He had this strong feeling that this could be somebody else.

Zarbon suddenly grabbed his face and slammed his head against his, throwing Bardock back. It actually left a bruise on his forehead, but it was still not enough to make him fall unconscious.

"I'll get you for that!" Bardock shouted. His aura sparked up with gust of winds coming out from his body as he moved towards him. He went for a sharp, flying sidekick to his stomach, which almost broke his armor.

Zarbon was carried off in the winds. Afterwards, Bardock released his Full-Powered Energy Wave at him. The vivid beam shot across the skies and it was about to hit Zarbon, but he was able to dodge it just in time, leaving it to explode in the background instead.

"Is that the best you can do?" Zarbon tried to provoke him, to make it seem like his skill in battle would struggle to compare to his.

The two then rushed towards each other, their fists colliding and soon, the relentless warriors were engaged in a blows clash as they gave each other rapid fire of punches and kicks. It did not take Bardock long to gain the upper-hand once more as threw a quick jab to Zarbon's chin, ending his chain of combo right there. He was about to land his next attack until once again, his precognitive foresight presented him another vision.

"Not again!" Bardock said with frustration. This was a familiar vision this time, seeing that same man shining in pure, golden light and he was confronting a formidable enemy. That vision passed and before Bardock knew it, his mere distraction was taken advantage of as Zarbon did an aerial back-flip to his chin. A technique of his called the "Purple Circle", his movement left an airborne, rounded flash of violet aura from his feet.

Bardock's head jerked back and felt some pain this time. His frustration boiled again. It seemed that every time he fights, it will trigger his precognition and will start barraging him with images from the future. He must learn how to control his gift of foresight somehow before it becomes a real drawback especially if he was fighting.

As for Dodoria, he was able to get back on his feet, wobbling a little from Bardock's painful attacks earlier ago. He decided to help Zarbon before Bardock could gain the upper-hand again.

Dodoria flew towards the skies and clutched Bardock behind, catching him by surprise. He tried to squeeze every life out of him, not letting him escape from his grasps. Bardock gritted his teeth together as he strongly moved his neck back, striking him to the head. Dodoria's face ached, he had to let go of him to hold his face and soothe the pain.

"Hyah!" instantly, Bardock turned and went for a swift and intense sidekick to his waist, blowing him away once again.

Dodoria's nose bled and it almost fractured. He had no choice but to use the fullest of his power to inflict damage to Bardock somehow.

As enraged he was, that Bardock did not seem to falter in any way, Dodoria raised his hands together, a sphere of flashing, orange-colored energy forming between his palms.

"You will die!" Dodoria declared as he brought his hands forward, converting this spherical energy into a long wave of intense and heavy beam, ought to be filled with growing power.

Bardock watched as it approached him lightning-fast. With full awareness shown in his eyes, he used his right hand to actually clutch onto Dodoria's technique called "Maximum Buster." The moment it made contact with his hand, the fiery beam struggled to overcome him.

Dodoria noticed this and he became angrier. He tried to push beyond his limits by implementing more might into his super attack. Bardock quickly noticed a difference as the size of his enemy's technique became larger and the force of it became stronger. It suddenly pushed his hand back a few inches, but Bardock was far from even thinking about of giving up. The Saiyan warrior then built his own strength and with a strong, battle yell, he repelled Dodoria's Maximum Buster with a force field coming out from his hand and generated gust of winds from it. Now the Maximum Buster technique was heading towards its own user.

"No!" Dodoria cursed this, but he was lucky enough to evade it at the last minute before his own technique had devoured him whole. It hit another island in the background and triggered a perilous explosion.

Dodoria turned around, realizing how his Maximum Buster could have blown him up into space dust after observing its concentration of power. When he turned around to face Bardock again, the Saiyan had already struck his face, sending him to a world of unending pain. After taking a successful hit at him, he did not know that Zarbon had gotten behind him and with his hands clasped together, he went for a hard-knuckled strike at Bardock's head.

Bardock had let his guard down a little and therefore, did not anticipate this. He felt slightly dizzied as he rushed towards the surface. The monstrous Zarbon then grabbed him from behind and hurried to the island as if he was going to crash along with him, but at the last minute, he let him go and Bardock collided with the ground, shooting huge rocks everywhere and leaving a crater in the middle. The force of Zarbon's "Monster Crush" was almost unbelievable, it left a heavy quake throughout the island.

In another battle site, Vegeta was slowly losing to Recoome and to his brute power. Vegeta was spending all his energy, all the effort just to take him down, but he was slowly falling back. After Recoome went for a ferocious kick that almost had him crash into a mountain, Vegeta retaliated.

"Take this!" Vegeta leaped into the air and pointed his index and middle fingers. From the tip of them, he released a burst of pulverizing energy, but Recoome had no problem avoiding it at all.

He moved to the side and mocked him. "Hah, hah! Miss!"

Vegeta became aggravated. "Get back here!" his dark aura began to emerge and encircle him. He cannot let his enemies humiliate him like this. He had already been brought to shame, his pride destroyed, too many times.

The Saiyan Prince dashed towards him, which left a trace of his furious aura behind. He fought with him single-handedly, using all the possible moves and skills he could do. He endeavored to break through his defense and tire him out. Recoome, this time, was keeping up with his swiftness and parrying his every attack. He laughed at him, thinking this was too easy of a battle.

"Rargh!" Vegeta gave a battle cry as he tried to break him and fracture his ribs with full force from his fist, but Recoome stopped his chain of attack by grabbing his hand once again.

Burter continued to watch from a distance, but he was becoming impatient. "Recoome, finish him already! Don't force me to step in and finish the job for you."

Recoome then pulled his opponent towards him to make him lose balance. Then, he flew behind him and struck him on the back, hurling him towards the surface once again; however, Vegeta kept up with his footing and instead, slid on the floor, but left unbearable bruises on his knees. He closed an eye as he endured pain overtaking his entire body, but he cannot let his enemies show how weak he was.

Recoome told his comrade, "Yeah, yeah, I know, Burter. Just give me five more minutes of pounding time and then we can take this stubborn monkey to Lord Frieza."

The Prince of all Saiyans heard what he said and spat at him. "Shut up! Like I said before, I won't go down that easily!" he immediately got up from his feet while fighting the pain. He took wing and advanced towards Recoome with haste. He fought with him once again, throwing all the punches and surprising counterattacks he could make, but to his shock, Recoome was not breaking a sweat at all.

Burter was getting more and more impatient. He believed that Recoome just wanted to play around and torture Vegeta all day. "Ugh, come on already!" he decided to take matters into his own hands. Self-proclaiming himself as the fastest in the universe, he demonstrated this by rushing behind Vegeta in just the blink of an eye. The Saiyan Prince felt a gust of wind blowing at his face before he became fully aware that Burter was standing behind him.

"Hah, hah!" Burter laughed as he zipped around him in an almost impossible speed. Vegeta could barely keep up with his eyes. All he could see was his blue aura almost blanketing him, which intended to make him confused. Before long, Burter delivered an overwhelming sidekick to the prince's neck and it almost paralyzed him. Vegeta, once more, fell towards the ground fast and this time, he collided with it, which left a hazy fog afterwards.

Recoome flew beside Burter and began to argue with him. "Hey, that's no fair. You cheated!"

"What do you mean I cheated?" Burter asked.

"Now you'll never win the chocolate buffet contest. It wasn't your turn, Burter!" scolded Recoome.

"There were no rules to this contest we're having," Burter smirked, his red eyes keeping track of where he struck down the Saiyan Prince a few seconds ago. "Just as long I find Vegeta, I'm still in the game."

"Yeah, but you also gotta find Raditz and a DragonBall in order for you to win," Recoome reminded him.

Burter then descended towards the island. "Hold on a second…where the heck are we gonna get all the chocolate anyway? I doubt Lord Frieza packed some in his ship."

Recoome followed him. "Uh, I don't know. We can steal some from Jeice and Guldo," he then laughed at the thought of it. "They told me they brought some chocolate bars with them just in case they get hungry."

"Hah, hah! Just wait and see the looks on their faces if we do that," Burter smirked.

The two resurfaced and now stood with their arms crossed. After the fog cleared, they realized that a much larger crater was made and Vegeta was now submerged and half-buried underneath the soils of Namek. His feet were sticking out. He could not breathe at all.

"Looks like the prince has finally been thrown out from his throne," Burter believed.

"Heh, heh," Recoome picked him up by the leg. Vegeta's Saiyan armor had now been battle-damaged with wounds all over his body. His forehead and lips were bleeding and badly bruised. "You're right. He's such a weakling. And look, he looks like a vegetable about to be picked. Heh, heh!"

There was a moment of silence. No one said a word. Burter then nudged his friend with his elbow and urged him that they take Vegeta to Frieza as soon as possible. Just before they were to leave, Vegeta suddenly awoke. He will not give up yet.

"…RAARGH!" as if the Prince of all Saiyans had sprung back to life, he countered with an energy blast straight to Recoome's face. Recoome was caught by surprise. He let go of Vegeta and fell to the ground, his face clouded with smoke.

"What?!" Burter cried.

Vegeta then quickly flew a few feet backward to keep some distances from his opponents. His legs wobbled and his body quivered as pain continued to overtake him, but for now, his stubbornness and pride were the only traits that were helping him remain in this fight. He angrily stared at Recoome.

Recoome though got up with no struggle at all. Vegeta cannot believe that his sneaky attack had only shaved and messed up his orange-Mohawk hair. He grinned evilly. "Heh, heh, now that's just mean, Vegeta. I just got a nice haircut before I flew in to Namek and now you have to ruin it! But I'm impressed. No wonder you're one of Frieza's favorites in his army."

Burter found his comrade to have quite the sense of humor. "I guess laughing at your new haircut wouldn't make any difference, will it, Recoome?"

Vegeta did not say another word, but he knew for him, time was running out. There was too much pain to endure and his fatigue had finally caught up with him. Even at his full strength, he was still no match to Recoome and now, even to Burter. He held his aching arm, his mind in a state of rage. He was desperately trying to find a way to win this battle.

While the Saiyan Prince tried to come up with a new plan, Bardock, on the other hand, had fallen to the ground. The impact of his heavy fall made a larger crater. In addition, Zarbon's Monster Crush had pushed the island a few inches downward, which allowed water from the oceans to flow in and fill the hollow. Bardock continued to remain in the middle.

Zarbon breathed heavily while Dodoria flew beside him. He held his hurting abdomen and asked him, "Is it over?"

Zarbon, still in his monstrous form, said with a heavy growl, "He should be. No one could ever survive that attack of mine. And now he's submerged in water, he'll be drowning in it soon. He's dead now."

The top henchmen of Frieza watched as the waters continued to rush in, filling the crater until the oceans had completely covered it.

Zarbon thought that the battle was over and so, he decided to revert to his normal form. His muscles, height, and body went back to normal size, his face became the once gorgeous man he was, and his voice had turned back to normal as well.

Dodoria looked at him for a moment. He then asked, "Why didn't you try to transform before, Zarbon?"

"I thought we could beat him easily in my first try," Zarbon told him, "but he has definitely changed since last time."

"But the outcome is still all the same," Dodoria then grinned. "He will always be a low-class Saiyan…"

Dodoria and Zarbon decided they should leave and report this to their master, Frieza. Before they had gone, Zarbon caught something strange from the corner of his eye. He looked again at the crater. The waters had stopped filling it and now had become motionless and still.

Zarbon was taken to shock when he realized he cannot see Bardock anywhere. "What?!" he cried with shock.

"What is it?" asked Dodoria, flying back to him.

"He's gone!" Zarbon exclaimed.

They nearly panicked when they felt a shadow looming over them, his back facing towards the brilliant sun. They quickly turned around and found Bardock standing in front of them. His armor was slightly scratched, his body drenched in water, and there was only a small cut on his right cheek. Just before Zarbon and Dodoria could react, Bardock declared to them, "I'm done playing games. You're finished."

After the last droplet fell from his chin, unexpectedly, Bardock yelled, which echoed in the air, and he thrust out a shuddering force field from his body. Both Zarbon and Dodoria were caught in this and immediately, there were several cuts all over their bodies like invisible needles swiftly passing them. Bardock then charged towards Dodoria and went for an elbow strike straight to his face, followed by a sweep kick, and then, with his right hand, he launched a Full-Power Energy Wave.

Dodoria was severely injured from Bardock's "Flash Spirit" and he fell unconscious right at that moment. He fell towards another adjacent island and laid there.

Zarbon tried to strike back in a swirl of panic, but Bardock immediately went for a fierce punch directly to his abdomen, making his opponent's eyes almost turn white. The pain was just petrifying, his mind had almost gone black. Bardock then decided to prepare the final blow. Raising his left hand in front of him to keep stability and with his right hand drawn back, his right palm was ablaze, heat and ember gradually appearing around his fingers.

"Rargh!" Bardock rapidly moved forward and gave a soaring uppercut to his enemy. More power was gained as the flames ignited and spread to concur their wrath, concluding his Heat Phalanx technique. Zarbon's skin burned and hurt and he cried out in pain. At that moment, he fell on the same island beside Dodoria. The two of them were now deeply out cold.

Bardock was not done dealing with them yet. He landed near them and placed his hand in front of the two. "Now…," his hand began to form a flashing, perilous kind of energy from the center of his palm. In seconds' time, the faint light intensified and grew brighter and brighter. He was planning to obliterate them this time and finally avenge his loyal comrades.

Returning to Frieza's ship, King Cold and Frieza were waiting patiently for the Ginyu Force, Zarbon, and Dodoria to report to them any sightings of Vegeta, Raditz, or a DragonBall, but so far, they received no messages.

Frieza was getting impatient again, but he tried to keep calm. He decided he should call his elites, Zarbon and Dodoria, and see what they had found so far. He used his new scouter to contact them. He gave a few tries and a few minutes of waiting, but no one was answering.

Frieza was finding this to be too strange. "What is this?"

His father looked at him.

Frieza tried contacting his top henchmen again, but still, no answer. He began to feel livid, his hands starting to curl into fists. If neither Zarbon nor Dodoria was answering him back, he could only think of one possible explanation. He felt like his subordinates were suddenly failing him left and right. He could never accept this especially with all the military training he had made them went through. He began to think if the Ginyu Force members would do the same thing to him.

From behind, a guard called out to Frieza and informed him that Guldo had arrived. Guldo entered the room, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head in respect.

"Lord Frieza!" Guldo said.

Frieza was in a terrible mood. "You're a little earlier than expected, Guldo…and empty-handed."

Guldo then stood up. "Yes, Lord Frieza, but I discovered something during my travels that you may well be aware about."

Frieza kept his back turned to him. He was hurrying him to tell him already before he loses his patience.

Guldo sensed the emperor's quick temper. He gulped hard. "There were these warriors…warriors that seem to side with the Namekians, and they look like Saiyans! I fought them for a while, but I had to retreat since I was outnumbered. Of course, I'll return and get my revenge on them-"

The galactic overlord was more irritated than ever. "What are you trying to get at?"

Guldo went straight to the point. "These warriors that look like Saiyans, they're neither Vegeta nor Raditz. One is a small kid and the other is a full-grown man. He's wearing a Saiyan armor that looks like ours…except it's green and without shoulder plates."

Frieza's eyes widened. Suddenly, everything fell dead silent. King Cold sensed the air tensing up quite a bit. He could read his son's expression and it seemed like he just heard something not too pleasant. Guldo just shook nervously, panicking if he had said something wrong that could have triggered their master's anger.

However, Frieza almost could not believe what he was hearing. He needed to confirm. He needed further evidence. He asked Guldo, "Are there any more…distinguishable features from this man you saw?"

Guldo thought quickly. "Well…yes. He wears a red bandanna and I think he also has a scar, too, on his cheek. Not to mention, his hairstyle is so weird."

Frieza felt he had discovered a shocking revelation. He could not tell if Guldo was just dreaming or saw a ghost (of course, he is a psychic after all), but this man whom he described seemed very much alive. Now he remembered Zarbon and Dodoria. They were not responding back no matter how many times he tried to reach them with his scouter. His henchmen whom he sent out throughout Namek to retrieve his stolen DragonBall, they were not coming back.

He felt there was another warrior on this planet who was, or who will endanger his plans…once again.

"Lord Frieza?" Guldo asked. He was not speaking at all.

King Cold continued to stare at his son.

Frieza finally spoke, but this time, there was great shock in his voice, yet anger as well; unimaginable anger, if he wanted to, he could eradicate the entire planet in an explosive rage. He placed his finger on his scouter and contacted someone.

In another area of the planet, someone communicated with him. "Yes, Lord Frieza, this is Captain Ginyu."

"…Captain Ginyu, get yourself and your comrades back here," Frieza ordered. "I need to discuss a serious matter with everyone. You better be here in five minutes."

Ginyu obeyed his orders. "Yes, Lord Frieza! We'll be there!"

Their conversation ended. Frieza's anger was building more and more in his chest, his eyes seemed to burn deep, a more bloody red color. He realized he was stalling time too much. He believed he was not harsh enough with his subjects in order to promptly accomplish their task here of collecting the DragonBalls and making him immortal. He realized he had far more enemies standing in the way of his plans; he may just miss his opportunity of gaining eternal life. At the back of his mind, his ruling might actually be threatened now.