Episode 69

Massive Will

Dear readers

I would just like to thank you all for your support, any ideas for my story, for your helpful and positive feedback, and for just reading my stories! If you find some of your ideas in any of the chapters, give yourself a pat on the back 'cause I thought they were really nice ideas. Thanks again and happy reading!

"HYAH!" Goku immediately went for a straight punch, hitting Recoome's abdomen. Recoome tried to retaliate with a punch of his own, only to be parried by Goku again. At that moment, he switched back to his Kaioken form. Bending his legs and arms, his crimson aura gradually expanding, he went for a tremendous knee-strike, his attack leaving a dazzling spark behind. Recoome's head was jerked back. Goku then did a crescent-like back-flip and his left hand threw another fist, which emitted a white spark.

"Ow!" Recoome held his aching face.

Guldo attempted to prepare another time freeze technique to stop their opponents, so that he and his companion can have time to re-strategize themselves; however, Raditz suddenly teleported in front of him and sent a strong kick to his neck, following with a shockwave from his palm, blowing Guldo away.

Bardock then appeared and did a powerful kick to Recoome's chest, making him crash towards a canyon, scattering pieces of it everywhere.

Goku chuckled. "Heh, heh, well, that was easy."

Bardock placed his hands on his hips.

Raditz resurfaced on the top of a canyon to get a better view of his opponents.

Recoome held his aching head. He stood up, feeling lightheaded. "Oh, you really packed a punch there. I'm starting to get a little annoyed now. And you won't like me when I get really annoyed," then, he started to lecture Guldo. "Hey, Guldo, what's the big deal? You're letting these punks stop you from using your stop time thingie."

Guldo stood up and tried to catch his breath. "Didn't I warn you? These guys are a lot tougher than they look! Rrrgh! I would've joined that Ginyu Fitness Club last year, but no. I have to go to that stupid chilling diet!" he started to complained about his lack of exercise. Guldo believed that if he were to lose a few pounds, he could escape from his enemies faster.

"Diet?" Burter heard what he said and he began to laugh. "It looks to me you haven't lost that much weight."

"Tell me something, Guldo. Must I come down and kill them for ya? You're wasting too much time!" Jeice questioned him; Guldo's feebleness will get them nowhere.

"I have to admit though, I kinda enjoy seeing Guldo's blabby tail get whipped," Burter laughed a little.

"Why are you two making fun of me?!" asked Guldo. "If you have to laugh at me, go laugh at Recoome also. He's being stupid for letting these Saiyans gain the upper-hand."

"Don't call me 'stupid'!" Recoome demanded.

"Okay, here's the deal. If you two can't beat these Saiyans, then you both are gonna get kicked out of the Ginyu Force!" Jeice smirked. "And not to mention lose the spot in the bowling team!"

Recoome shook his head. "No! I like bowling. You can't take that away from me!"

Guldo became angry with Jeice and Burter. "Why not you two get down here and fight these Saiyans yourselves and see how tricky they really are!"

"What are you saying? You're tellin' me you're afraid then?" Jeice challenged him.

Guldo was silenced and he could not say another word. All he could do now was to snarl and show his teeth to his companions. He just hated them for teasing him around like that.

On the other hand, King Cold paid no heed to the Ginyu Force and to their struggles and trivial arguments. He was more so interested in the power of the Saiyans. He continued to stand there, keeping track of the Saiyans' growing strengths.

As for Vegeta, he continued to stand in awe. Goku, Bardock, and Raditz were putting very little effort in taking down the Ginyu Force. He questioned more about their mysterious powers in which he imagined could never exist in only third-class warriors.

More hatred and envy burnt in his heart, it was maddening.

"Well, come to think about it, Gohan," Krillin began. "With your dad, your uncle, and grandfather fighting the Ginyu Force, they're actually proving short work of them. They're basically weak, that's what!"

Gohan smiled. "Yeah, they're not as strong as they look. I'm really glad they're here now."

Elder Moori continued to stand close to Gohan and Krillin, but at the back of his mind, he was still worried for his people, Dende, and Cargo.

Bulma, Cargo, and Dende were back in the hideout and had to stay there for the rest of the time. The three had not said a word ever since their friends left with Vegeta.

Bulma was near the window, looking out of it. She was still fretting. Finally, she spoke, "I still can't believe this. Bardock, why did you let Vegeta make his wish?"

Cargo and Dende were sitting quietly on the couch. Cargo had to correct her though. "Wish? No, no one has made any wishes yet."

"How do you know?" asked Bulma.

"But you should know," Dende told her. "You did say that you have your own dragon back on Earth, right? And you know that when the dragon gets summoned, the skies get darker and there might also be rain. I'm saying that these things haven't happened yet."

Bulma realized she had completely overlooked this aspect. "Oh yes, you're right! Man, why would I forget about that? So it must mean Bardock hasn't let Vegeta made his wish yet. Hmm, Bardock must have a plan then, but what is it? He can be so unpredictable sometimes."

"Well, I just hope none of our enemies would get their way," Cargo wished.

Bardock stared at his youngest son and noticed him switching back to his Kaioken form effortlessly, but he realized he was not using the full extents of this technique at all. "You're hiding some of that strength, aren't you?"

Goku looked towards his father and smiled. "I have to. I can't waste all my energy. I'm saving my breath for more major battles."

His father remembered his visions again and that strong, inner feeling, that intuition which told him before that he will need Goku's help eventually. It was soon unfolding right before his eyes. He could see many connections now between his visions and his youngest son.

Goku explained to him, "King Kai told me that I mustn't face Frieza and his father, but you guys are here on Namek. I'd never abandon you all like that. I have to come here and make sure we get out of Namek alive."

Bardock was surprised to know he was already informed about the two tyrants. To hear his words, there was a strong sense of duty and fidelity in them, Bardock thought. At least his son here had heard about the wrath of Frieza and King Cold, but he obviously did not know the history behind the two tyrants…or more like, he had not completely understood yet the great deal of damage and emotional pain they had inflicted upon the Saiyan race. He was not there when their home planet was destroyed obviously, but he hoped that Goku would soon come to understand his true purpose for being here.

Bardock felt like he must tell him now what that was.

"Hmm? What's up, Dad?" asked Goku.

"Kakarot," Bardock was about to say what it was.

"Take this!" Recoome suddenly yelled.

Bardock and Goku became side-tracked, but they tried to react as fast as they can; however, Recoome had immediately formed a flash of light from the inside of his throat. He chanted the words, "Recoome…Eraser Gun!"

A cylindrical, massive beam was launched towards Bardock and Goku. They readied themselves to deflect it or cancel it, but fortunately, Raditz came just in time and battled with Recoome's Eraser Gun. With only his left hand, he prevented the attack from touching his father and younger brother.

Raditz slowly smirked. "Heh, heh…RARGH!" with haste, he charged forward, bringing Recoome's Eraser Gun with him. Surprisingly, he molded his opponent's technique into an energy sphere instead and with it, he punched Recoome straight to the face. Recoome was blown back, almost falling to the ground. He held his face while it seemed like there was smoke coming out of it.

Jeice was surprised. "What the? How in the world did he do that?"

"Recoome's attack didn't even hurt him at all!" exclaimed Burter.

King Cold was the only enemy in the battlefield who seemed to be smiling for the Saiyans' gaining victory. "…interesting. I've never seen a tactic like that and to think he was weakened from my Full-Powered Death Beam before. These Saiyans can learn a lot during combat."

Recoome finally released his hands from his face. His face was thankfully still the same in structure and shape except for this huge, painful lump at the side of his cheek. Unfortunately for him, he had a few broken and missing teeth.

Guldo bit his lips. "Oh man, now they've really done it!"

"Aw, my teeth!" realized Recoome. "Vegeta might've messed up my hair, but why it had to be my precious teeth?" he rubbed his jaw to lessen the pain somehow. "Consider yourselves lucky that I'm not fully mad yet. I happen to have a very good dentist back home."

Goku turned to Raditz. "Oh, wow, thanks, Bro. Dad and I were completely distracted there for a moment. He…he was about to tell me something," he looked at his father again.

"Maybe you two can talk about it later," Raditz said. "We have to deal with these idiots first."

Bardock nodded. "Raditz's right. Let's keep our focus on this for now."

Jeice was beginning to question the capabilities of his comrades. "This is strange. I was really convinced they ate too many sweets before they got here, but that was one of Recoome's most powerful techniques and yet, Raditz just beat it down like it was nothing!"

Burter was sweating a bit. "Come on, they better start getting serious about this before they're the first ones to fall."

King Cold sensed the uneasiness coming from the Ginyu Force, but he really had no pity for them.

Recoome soothed his jaw one more time. "Hey, Guldo, do something, will ya?"

Guldo gasped in surprise as he took a while to react. Then, without warning, he fired another paralysis blast towards the three Saiyans. Raditz and Goku were able to get out of the way, but Bardock was hit by it. He was chained, once again, in this strong bind of paralysis.

"Dad!" both Raditz and Goku cried.

"Now it's time to end this!" with no time to waste, Recoome immediately headed towards him, his right fist drawn back, ready to send him into a real world of unending pain.

Guldo kept his hands raised towards Bardock to implement more power and effectiveness into his paralysis attack, so that Bardock will not escape from it too easily. Guldo can be seen sweating a little.

Recoome was only a foot away from Bardock, his fist ready for a brute, forceful punch, but Bardock was able to catch his hand before it hit him. He broke through Guldo's binding powers once again.

Bardock presented Recoome with a grin before attacking him directly on the face. Recoome fell to the ground again, almost unconscious from Bardock's vigor and might.

"No way! My paralysis is not affecting them at all!" cried Guldo.

"You should've known that a long time ago, you fool," Bardock reminded Guldo about his capability of being able to break through his psychic powers without breaking a sweat.

Guldo began to back off, his legs trembling with fear. Burter and Jeice were now speechless. They were starting to realize that they might be in trouble all this time.

At King Kai's Planet, the training of King Kai's students continued. Piccolo was spending time meditating under a tree. Bubbles and Gregory were with King Kai as they happily watched him eat his lunch. Yamcha was doing some push-ups with one arm with Chiaotzu sitting on Yamcha's back to add a little weight. Tien was building his muscles by using barbells.

While Piccolo meditated, he sensed something going on with Planet Namek. He was relieved to know that Goku had arrived, but he could sense a far greater trouble and this was not the Ginyu Force he was worrying about. It was Frieza and King Cold.

Piccolo closed his eyes more. "I hope they can hold on for a while longer. This Frieza and his father…they're more perilous than what my senses can tell me."

King Kai, while eating his lunch, noticed Piccolo's sudden change of expression." Piccolo, you can feel the danger that's going on in Namek. I know how badly you want to help your friends, but from here…I'm afraid there's nothing you can do."

Inside Frieza's spaceship, the emperor itself was waiting in the control room, which had now been damaged by Vegeta with his DragonBalls all gone. He was waiting for a very long time, yet there was nothing that can cool his temper.

"Those meddling fools," Frieza growled under his breath, his mind remembering Vegeta and Raditz, how they had thwarted his plans too many times. He then remembered about Bardock who stood up against him and endeavored to prevent him from destroying the Saiyans' home planet. After hearing that he was alive after all these years, Frieza was questioning his own authority and the hidden strengths of the Saiyans he spared or rather, survived.

Just then, Appule came inside the room, saluted to him, and said something almost unexpected to Frieza's ears. "Sire, we have good news! Captain Ginyu had just arrived…along with Zarbon and Dodoria. They have all seven DragonBalls!"

A sudden shift in mood occurred in Frieza's mind. He turned around with surprised eyes. He could not believe him at first, but Appule persuaded him to come see for himself.

Frieza hurried outside. Once he was out, his guards patrolling the exterior of his ship bowed to him in great respect. Then, it was just as Appule had told him. He found Captain Ginyu as well as Zarbon and Dodoria with Ginyu carrying all seven DragonBalls with him.

They landed in front of Frieza, but Zarbon and Dodoria were nervous to see their master again.

Frieza was more focused on the DragonBalls though. "You have all seven of them."

"Yes, Lord Frieza," Ginyu nodded. "You know the Ginyu Force will never let you down. With the help of your father, we were able to retrieve all seven DragonBalls. Now your wish shall be granted after all."

The tyrant now felt satisfied and relieved. He then eyed Zarbon and Dodoria, his stare making them jump in surprise. They had bruises and wounds all over them, and Frieza can already predict who gave them these injuries.

Frieza had a slight change of expression again. "I'm guessing that my top henchmen were able to help you as well…even though they are long overdue with their mission?" he asked Ginyu.

Zarbon and Dodoria gulped hard. Ginyu looked at them for a moment and then told Frieza, "Oh, uh, well, they protected the DragonBalls at least…while we're traveling towards here, heh, heh."

Frieza gave another long stare.

Zarbon felt he needed to say something. "My lord, we express our deepest apologies for taking so long to return from our mission. You see, we made a shocking discovery. Do you remember Bardock? He-he's here on this planet!"

"That's right," Dodoria forced to bring out his voice as well. "He's alive after all these years!"

Frieza suddenly slammed his tail on the ground, as he demanded them to stop talking. "You fools, you think I don't know that? I've already known about it through the Ginyu Force. I don't need to be reminded twice."

Zarbon and Dodoria put their heads down in shame and fear while Ginyu just looked at them.

Frieza may be angry towards his right-hand men, but he was more focused on the DragonBalls that had all been brought back to him. All his thinking now was making his wish as soon as he can. He did not really care about his underlings at the moment.

Frieza placed his hands behind his back. His feverish eyes glistened darkly. "Appule," he ordered.

Appule stepped forward and waited for his command.

Frieza said with anticipation, "Get the village elders. It's about time I make my wish."