Chapter 16: The Terror of Frieza

Frieza jumped away from his unexpected opponent, glaring as Goku straightened up, waiting for another attack. Goku realized something. "You don't even know who I am, do you? You don't recognise me."

"Nothing comes to mind," Frieza replied offhandedly. He really didn't have time for this, but he was curious that a warrior so powerful who wasn't of his race could exist. Well, he'd still be done with this in short order—even if it did require him to transform.

Goku frowned. "Well, I'm the son of a saiyan you killed. His name was Bardock—not that you'd care."

"A saiyan, eh?" Frieza nodded. "Well, it makes sense you'd be powerful, but…so much…it'd be a shame to destroy that. Why don't you work for me? Vegeta, Ginyu…they can be replaced, especially by one as capable as you. Otherwise, I hope you know a good funeral director."

"No thanks." Goku prepared for battle. "I'm happy as I am—there's nothing someone like you can offer me!"

"Very well." Frieza raised a hand, almost instantaneously firing a bright purple energy beam from his index finger. However, Goku sidestepped, the blast hissing harmlessly past his head. "Nice try," he said. "So are you just going to keep doing that, or are we actually going to fight?"

Frieza sighed. "You saiyans…all you want to do is fight…"

Raditz, Tien, Yamcha, Gohan, Zarbon and Nail stood on a rocky outcrop half a mile away, watching the godlike beings face off. "So, you're clear on the plan?" Raditz asked.

Tien nodded. "If Goku goes down, you and I charge Frieza while the others provide covering fire. All together, we might have a chance, but we'll at the very least buy Goku time to recover."

"Good. Remember it well." Raditz stared straight ahead. "I hope Vegeta's right…that Kakarot is the Super Saiyan. If he can defeat Frieza, we can finally be free—not just us, the whole galaxy." Raditz shook with anticipation. "Come on, little brother…it's all down to you now."

"I suppose you're here out of some sort of misplaced sense of revenge," Frieza said with an arrogant smile. "You won't achieve anything. I'm the most feared being in the universe, you know…and with good reason."

"I don't care who you are!" Goku shouted back, leaping forwards at Frieza. "You're just another obstacle to overcome! Hyaah!" Frieza spun away, and Goku's first punch swung on empty air. The frost demon struck back, and Goku batted his arm away, jumping into the air and swinging a kick at Frieza's head. Frieza leapt out of the way, rebounding off the ground behind him and springing back at his saiyan nemesis. He spread his hands and fired a small energy beam out of each finger as he advanced, and Goku twisted and spun in the air to avoid all ten. One beam grazed his shoulder, and he grunted in pain, just as Frieza took advantage of the distraction, appearing in mid-air behind Goku. Frieza kicked him in the stomach, slipping past his defenses and catapulting him into the water below.

Frieza looked left and right, narrowing his eyes. "Where are you, monkey…ah!" An orange and black blur shot up towards Frieza, swinging both arms at him. Frieza dodged away, touching down on a mesa behind him. Goku hung in the air, dripping wet and a little scratched up, but relatively unharmed. "Woah," he said to himself, "this guy's really something. Even after my training at one hundred times gravity, he's matching my every move!"

Damn him… Frieza thought. How did a saiyan become my equal? Well, my first form's equal, but nevertheless it is a disturbing thought. I suppose I was right to wipe them out. Vegeta will have to be next, if he is still alive…

Ten silent seconds passed, and then without warning Frieza waved a hand, and the air around Goku exploded. The sudden, violent detonation of ki shook the ground for miles around, forming a huge cloud of smoke. Chunks of rock tumbled to the ground, thrown up by the shockwave. The smoke cleared, revealing Goku, his clothes a little tattered, a shimmering protective bubble of energy formed around him. He breathed out slowly, lowering his arms from in front of his face. "Not bad!" Then, he rushed at Frieza. Just as he reached his enemy, Frieza lashed out with his tail, but it cut through an afterimage. Goku appeared behind a shocked Frieza, and punched him clean through a nearby mountain. The mountain crumbled and collapsed, and Frieza climbed to his feet. His skin was marked with dirt, but he didn't appear hurt at all. "Huh. That was clever…it won't save you, of course." Goku appeared behind him again, but this time Frieza was ready.

Goku threw a quick punch, but Frieza blocked with his forearm, reaching out with his mind and grabbing hold of the rubble around the two fighters. Rocks and boulders rose from the ground, launching themselves at Goku. The saiyan hero jumped and flipped away, dodging and ducking the onslaught of flying rock. "Psychic power, too? Man, Frieza's full of surprises!" He somersaulted over a boulder, punched another into fragments, then formed a wall with his ki, smashing the rest into dust as they flew at him. "You done?" he called to Frieza, who grinned.

"So, you don't like my telekinesis?" He flew over, landing about a hundred metres away from Goku, perched on a small cliff. "Then maybe we should fight the old-fashioned way, if that makes you more comfortable."

"That sure is generous of you," Goku replied, bracing himself as he looked up at his powerful opponent.

"Heh heh…oh yes, I'm really a nice guy, just misunderstood…" he held up his right hand. "I know! I won't use this hand to fight you—only my left. Now how about that for a deal?"

"Go ahead, it's your choice." Goku stretched his muscles, warming up. "If you want to hold yourself back, I won't stop you."

"Very well." Frieza held his right hand behind his back. "If I used both, it would seem like I actually had to try to beat you…"

"Do what you want! Let's go!" Goku charged, his aura pulsing to life in bright white flares of energy. He threw the first punch, but Frieza retreated, avoiding it, and struck back with his left hand. Goku ducked under it, sweeping under Frieza's legs to try and trip him up—but Frieza jumped over his attack, kicking off of Goku's face with both feet. Goku fell back, pain rushing to his face, but he pushed his ki to the maximum, righting himself. Rushing back into the fight, he feinted low and Frieza fell for it. Grabbing Frieza's head in both hands, Goku rammed his knee into the tyrant's face. Frieza hissed, his own blue aura flaring up as he thrashed around blindly. Goku jumped back to avoid his flailing opponent, but Frieza soon returned to his senses, and the battle.

They traded blows with rapid precision, Frieza—now using both hands—having perhaps a slight edge in sheer power and speed, Goku in technique and skill. Eventually, Frieza messed up a block, and Goku's fist hit home, driving into Frieza's stomach. Frieza gasped, but quickly countered, knocking Goku to the ground with a sweep of his tail. Goku grimaced as he rolled away from Frieza's follow-up—he wasn't used to fighting enemies with tails they could use in battle. He'd occasionally done the same when he was a child, but he could see Frieza's tail was far stronger and more useful. He sprung to his feet, and Frieza overbalanced trying to hit him. Goku landed behind Frieza, landing a kick to the small of Frieza's back. He tried to follow up, but Frieza yelled in rage, his aura exploding outwards and bowling Goku over.

They stood facing each other again, Frieza glaring in disbelief at how long this bloody monkey was taking to die, and Goku amazed and excited that he'd found such a challenging opponent. However, Frieza suddenly calmed down. "Well, I see I shall have to get serious…and you?"

"Huh?" Goku knew this couldn't bode well. "But…I was already going all-out…"

"Well, then." Frieza chuckled as he spoke. "I guess you're about to learn why I am feared throughout the galaxy, and you are not."

An eerie light began to emanate outwards from Frieza. His body shook with power as cracks began to appear in his armour. "Yeeaaah!" His whole armoured top shattered as his muscles bulged outwards—but he wasn't done yet. His limbs began to thicken, and the bluish light that crackled up and down his changing form became red. "AAAH!" Frieza's cry intensified as he tried to achieve total concentration on his transformation. He shot upwards, his height doubling, tripling and still increasing as he bulked up, each limb the size of his previous form's whole body. His horns curved upwards, like those of a bull. The red light gave one final angry pulse, and faded. Goku stared up at Frieza's towering second form, shivering as he realised the task that lay ahead of him. Anyone can see that he's gotten physically stronger, but his ki's increased too—maybe doubled!

"Well, monkey, how do you like me now?" Frieza asked, giving a mocking bow. Goku breathed deeply. Come on, Goku, don't give up! This isn't impossible—it's just a challenge, like I said! Yeah, a challenge! He took a step forward, but Frieza moved faster than he could follow, instantly appearing in front of Goku and kicking him into the air. Goku recovered spinning to face Frieza—but the monster was gone, now in the air behind him, and as Goku tried to react Frieza hammered him to the ground with both fists. Goku struggled to push himself up. I can't keep up! And the force of those blows… Frieza landed hard on his back, driving Goku into the ground with his feet. Frieza hopped away, standing a couple of feet from his downed opponent. Goku gasped for air, pulling himself to a crouch, then jumped up and away. Frieza followed him with his eyes. What will he try now?

"KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAA!" Goku let fly his charged energy beam, Frieza standing straight in its path, not bothering to dodge. At the last moment, he swung both hands, knocking the beam out of its path and launching it into the atmosphere. Frieza smiled slowly. "Well now, don't tell me that's your best! Come on!"

"I can't give up!" Goku told himself, charging again. "Vegeta was right…I have to be…the Super Saiyan! I have to beat Frieza!"

Frieza dodged his lunge with ease, knocking Goku away with his tail. "Super Saiyan? Have you been listening to Vegeta's stories? There's no such thing." He inclined his head slightly, looking down at Goku, who was picking himself up again. "You see, the difference between us," Frieza said, "is that you achieve a power level of about half a million and are so impressed you decide it's the fulfillment of some ancient prophecy. I, possessing the same power in my first form, merely think, 'why does this body have to be so weak'? This form, you might be interested in hearing, has a measured power level of over a million. So, have fun." He spread his arms. "You haven't given up yet, have you?"

"YAAH!" Goku hurled himself back into the fray.

"I guess not," Frieza added. He took Goku's next punch directly to his face without flinching. "But you should at least consider it. This is getting old." He spun around in the air, delivering a roundhouse kick to Goku's side that made him cry out as he tumbled away again. Frieza pursued him, knocking him further up into the air and then back down to the ground in a cloud of dust. Goku rolled over onto his back, struggling to stay conscious. "Eh?" Frieza raised an eyebrow. "Still not dead? I'm impressed."

"All right, stick to the plan." Raditz lowered himself into a combat stance. "Attack on my—"

"DADDY!"

"—signal?" Raditz finished in confusion as Gohan rocketed past him. "Gohan! Come back—don't attack on your own!"

Gohan came from behind, taking Frieza completely by surprise as his foot buried itself in Frieza's face, throwing him backwards. Gohan carried on madly attacking, hitting home a continued series of powerful blows, then shoving an energy ball into Frieza's chest and blasting him into the ground. Gohan raced down towards Frieza, trying to keep attacking, but Frieza finally reacted, grabbing Gohan's head in one hand and hurling him away. Gohan bumped and skidded painfully along the ground as Frieza stood, dusting himself off. "Where did that child come from?" he asked himself. "And how was he so powerful for that brief moment?" He advanced on Gohan, raising a hand to cut him in two. "Ah well. I'll just kill him, and then I won't have to worry about it anymore."

"Hold it!" Raditz and Tien flew at him, Tien pushing the Kaioken attack all the way up to the five-times increase. Frieza saw the attack coming this time, and turned to face them, grinning. He decided he didn't like the look of Tien's burning red aura, so he launched a quick energy beam that took Tien out of the sky, but Raditz carried on his charge. Frieza recognised this attacker. "Raditz? What are you doing?"

"We're not your slaves anymore, Frieza!" Raditz punched, kicked, punched again, but hit nothing. Despite his size, Frieza's speed was unbelievable. Raditz kept attacking without hitting, and then Frieza vanished. He appeared behind Raditz, and was about to counter-attack when an energy beam struck his back. It caused more irritation than damage, and he turned to see Yamcha, Nail and Zarbon standing behind him, preparing to fire. "Zarbon, too? I'm surrounded by traitors today…!" They all launched their attacks, but this time Frieza anticipated them, dodging past them all. He landed in front of the small group, and with a casual motion, took Yamcha's head off with one hand. He tossed the dead fighter aside, and turned back to Raditz. "Well…still feeling confident?" He prepared to fire an energy blast at the rebel saiyan, when Tien rose from the ground, flaring up his aura. "Frieza!"

"Hmm?"

"That was one of my best friends you just killed!" Tien narrowed his eyes. "You won't get away with it!"

"I think I will, actually." Frieza waved a hand dismissively. "You're certainly not in a position to stop me."

"We'll see about that!" Tien's ki skyrocketed. "Hyaaah! KAIOKEN…TIMES TEN!" The explosion of power flattened the ground around him, sending tidal waves rushing outwards from him. "FRIEZA!" He charged up at the demonic ruler, his fist crashing straight into Frieza's face. They hung there for a second, and it seemed that Tien might stand a chance, but then Frieza straightened up, his head pushing Tien's fist back. Frieza scowled. "Well…you're almost as strong as that saiyan who took on my first form. If it was any other day, I might play with you a little, but I'm expecting my brother to get here soon, so…" He batted Tien away, but the world's strongest human stopped his flight with an effort, summoning up all his energy. "I won't lose! TRI-BEAM!" The burst of yellow light enveloped Frieza, and Tien kept pushing, pouring all his power into the attack. Then a point of purple light appeared amid the yellow, and expanded as Frieza pushed his ki out in all directions, shattering Tien's attack and emerging unscathed. He rushed at Tien, just as the warrior's Kaioken aura faded, and began to beat him bloody, fists, feet and tail raining down on Tien's unprotected body. After only five seconds of this, Tien fell to the ground, blacking out. Frieza surveyed the battlefield. "Well? No more challengers? Then it's time to clean up." Once again, he vanished.

Raditz, Nail and Zarbon—the fighters still standing—glanced around nervously. "I can feel his energy somewhere…" Nail muttered. "But he's moving too fast for me to pinpoint it."

"I knew this was a bad idea, going against Frieza." Zarbon scowled. "I let myself be tempted, and now he's going to kill us all."

"Well—" Raditz began, but he was interrupted as Frieza appeared in the air next to him, stabbing right through the saiyan's body with his right horn. Frieza laughed as blood gushed from the wound, and Raditz screamed hoarsely, struggling to free himself from the impalement. "Oops, how clumsy of me. I guess I don't know my own strength…" Frieza shook left and right, his horn twisting in Raditz's stomach, piercing organs and cracking bones. He angled his head, sliding Raditz off and dropping his shaking form to the ground. "Now, do you see? I am the strongest in the universe! There is no being that can match my—" A purple and white blur soared past, slamming into Frieza and carrying him off into the distance.

Nail's eyes widened. "What was that?"

"Cooler!" Zarbon realized. "Frieza's brother. He had to get here eventually." He looked around at their dead and injured companions, of which Gohan and Tien were picking themselves up. "We need to treat the injured," Tien said, "and fast. Do you have any senzu beans on your ship, Goku?"

"Sorry." Goku half-sat up. "There were barely enough to get us through our training—I don't think Korin's used to having to provide for two battle-hungry saiyans."

"Damn!" Tien looked around. "Well, any bright ideas, guys?"

"I think I know," Nail replied. "The Namekian child your friends saved—he was staying with Guru, and he had his power unlocked too. Only, it wasn't battle ability, like your friends. He gained healing powers."

"Convenient." Tien considered this. "It'll be hard bringing everyone over there, so can you go get him and bring him here? Meanwhile, I'll go pick up Bulma—she's been on her own for a while, and probably wants to know what's going on."

"Well. It's been a long time, brother." Frieza was saying as he began to transform into his third form. Spikes erupted from his back, his shoulderplates shot out to the side, and his head extended backwards. His brother Cooler was already in the fourth and final form of their race—smaller than the second and third, sleek and almost metallic-looking.

"It has," Cooler said. "So, who were you fighting just now?"

"Oh, assorted renegades and pests." Frieza shrugged. "They killed all my soldiers, you know."

"Hmm. It must have been them that wiped out my Armoured Squadron too, then." Cooler stroked his chin. "I mean, it couldn't possibly been your little rabble of an army."

"Cute. Now, just one moment…" Frieza began his final transformation. "YAAAH!" His third form shattered, and an explosion rocked the planet as his true form was revealed beneath it. Frieza was mainly white, with touches of purple, whereas Cooler's natural colours were the opposite. "It was awfully generous of you to let me transform, Cooler."

"If I'm going to prove my superiority over you, baby brother, it's going to be over you at full power. I will have proved to myself that I've truly overcome you."

"A mistake you'll soon regret." Frieza prepared himself, raising his guard. "Remember our last battle?"

"Things are different now." Cooler settled into a ready stance. "Do you know, the phrase 'winner takes all' could have been invented for this moment. Immortality, control over the entire galaxy, and the added bonus of wiping out the little group of pests that killed our troops…let's go!" The brothers clashed, their battle rocking the planet.

This chapter was very fun to write, so I hope you enjoy reading it. Two things, by the way. First, okay, the what-if is from Raging Blast, you can stop telling me (thanks for clearing it up, though—I got so many reviews telling me that, so you guys are all very helpful!). And second, looking back at chapter 15, I would have liked for Neiz to use some of his special abilities before he died. Ah well, maybe he was going to, but got beaten before he had the chance.

Goku: 500,000

Frieza: 530,000

Frieza 2nd form: 1,000,000

Frieza 3rd form: 2,000,000

Frieza 4th form: 100,000,000

Cooler: 80,000,000

(No, that isn't full power for either of them. They've only just begun to fight. That's the power they can comfortably exert in their true form (the fourth).)

Raditz: 150,000

Zarbon: 23,000 and 30,000

Gohan: ?!

Yamcha: 10,000

Tien: 40,000, with Kaioken times ten 400,000

Nail: 42,000

Q: I wonder how you are going to implement Piccolo's role into the story. After all, he's incredibly weak compared to the others. And he doesn't have the emotional bond with Gohan that made him an interesting character in Z. Also, he doesn't play much of a role in canon beyond the Android Saga; his last role as a main character was against Android 17, who I highly doubt he can reach, in terms of power.

A: Let's just say he will have a role and leave it at that.

Q: Great chapter. I do have a question though, do you plan on keeping Zarbon with the Z fighters for future battle's? I think it would be rather interesting, I mean if you plan on going onto Cell and what not and adding the transformation ability or something.

A: I haven't actually decided yet.

Q: The fight scene was very well laid out and serious. Good work. I now have a wonder here about what Piccolo's been doing in HFIL. Meeting Bardock? Making deals with Bibidi? Finding out how the hell King Yemma was able to get a T.V. that big in the Buu Saga?
All these answers and more will be revealed in the next few times on Dragon Ball Z...

A: We will get a little information on Piccolo's doings in Hell at some point. Organising cake sales? Playing children's card games? Working on his Australian accent? Find out next time, on Dragon…hey, you stole my joke!

Q: My bad. It's definitely Raging Blast. Anyway, It'll be interesting to see what happens once Freeza goes to his second form and curb stomps Goku. I'm guessing at that point Cooler shows up and the two confront each other while Goku receives a Zenkai?

A: I have an answer to your question. It's called this chapter.

Q: I thought that Vegeta would turn against Frieza right away like he did in canon. What made him realize this was a stupid idea? And did he really know about Ginyus body swap, or was he just lucky (and maybe assumed Ginyu had a strong mouth-beam)?

A: First question, he was waiting until Frieza had the Dragon Balls. With his vastly increased power, he thought he might actually be able to fight Frieza directly, so he was making sure he chose the right moment. Second part, Vegeta thought 'son, that is some weird-ass ki I'm-a sensin', gonna kill ya now.' That is totally, word-for-word, exactly what his thoughts were. Really.

Q: I could be wrong, but wasnt Gohans canon unlocked potential only over 9000? Shouldnt it be weaker since he did not train with Piccolo?

A: Gohan's unlocked potential was 14,000. He's been trained by Goku and Raditz, so I didn't put him at any lower. Also, you know, he gets angry and boom.

Q: So Piccolo stays a bad guy? Well you cant all have character development and Hell probably is not the right place to get that. Maybe hell train with the people that died recently (Nappa, Dodoria, Ginyu...)?

A: Oh, he can have character development. Just not necessarily the heroic kind.

Q: Will you continue to post PLs after the Frieza Saga? Because by that point, you would have to go really far to please all the PL-freaks out there. (Sorta hypocritical from a guy who complained about Gohans PL, aint it?)

A: Probably not.

Q: Could the Dragon Balls grant a wish for infinite Senzu beans? That would be close to actual immortality!

A: Think about this, then: Vegeta (PL 200,000) wishes for infinite Senzu beans and goes to fight Frieza (PL many millions). He gets beaten up and goes to eat one of his infinite Senzus. Frieza thinks 'that looks important, I'd better stop it', and kills Vegeta. If you're fighting a vastly superior opponent, it's not like immortality at all. However, it is an interesting idea.