Tsuno flew as fast as he could through the blue skies of Earth, idly sensing and observing the gigantic mass of people beneath him.
"I scarcely imagined there would be so many of them," he thought to himself. "I wonder...yes. Yes, I finally have an answer now." In his mind, he could see an image: Namekians, hundreds more than he had ever seen in his own lifetime, going about their lives farming hydrangea plants and making pleasant conversation in a large village. In the distance, Tsuno saw a structure he recognized: Guru's home, what seemed to be the largest structure for miles, and which overlooked the village below it. "So...this was what our planet was like before the drought," he mused, his thoughts darkening as he considered all of the Namekians who died during the drought, and the death of his own father. He had been the last who had lived in that glorious time. Now, all that was left was memories.
He suddenly found himself jolted out of his thoughts as a figure suddenly appeared right next to him, sitting atop what looked to be a floating carpet.
"You know, you could've just waited on the ground," Mr. Popo pointed out as Tsuno instinctively flew back a pace before calming down.
"Ah. I see. You are the one I sensed."
"That is correct," Mr. Popo replied before beckoning for Tsuno to step onto the floating carpet. Tsuno hesitated for a second before complying, and soon found himself almost yanked out of his current position and thrust onto the edge of a large circular platform high up in the sky by an invisible force. After taking a moment to get his bearings, Tsuno slowly stepped off of the carpet and onto the marble tile, with Mr. Popo stepping down next to him.
"Well, from what I understand, locating your inert Dragon Balls will be somewhat tricky, but that carpet of yours will likely speed up the process," Tsuno began. Mr. Popo simply smiled.
"Oh, don't worry. Restoring the Dragon Balls should be quite simple." Before Tsuno could say anything else, Mr. Popo stepped back onto his carpet and disappeared. After a minute, he returned holding what looked like a massive snowglobe, but without any snow. A small statue of Shenron sat inside, as if it alone contained the very life force of Shenron. Tsuno regarded it for a second as understanding dawned. Mr. Popo smiled again, and set the statue down onto the floor before taking a few steps back. Tsuno likewise sat down with his legs crossed, taking several deep breaths as he prepared himself for his task.
With one final thrust of his hands, Tsuno sent waves of energy into the statue, causing it to glow bright yellow as a massive plume of energy erupted from it. This plume soared high above the Lookout before breaking up into seven smaller plumes which soared off towards the ground in different directions and at different angles. After a minute or two, Tsuno felt a jolt throughout his entire body: the signal that his life force had become directly connected with the Earth's Dragon Balls, now that they were active once more.
"It is done," he said. Mr. Popo nodded.
"Then it is time for me to collect the Dragon Balls," Mr. Popo replied. "It will not take me too long. You are more than welcome to return to your people in the interim. I will teleport back to you all once my task has been completed."
Tsuno nodded, taking Mr. Popo's hand as the two of them vanished from the Lookout.
Nobody dared to move a muscle as the true form of Frieza stared them down, his red eyes shining with a particularly sinister intensity. Dende hovered over the charred form of Nail, clutching at his remains as he looked in horror at the damage Frieza had done. Frieza, meanwhile, sighed with evident irritation.
"Now...let's try and get it right this time," he said to himself, firing off another finger beam directly at Dende, who promptly exploded in a burst of flame. The group, left unable to react in time, all turned around in shock at the sound of Dende's scream of terror. However, after a moment, the smoke kicked up by the fireball cleared and Dende was left standing over Nail's body, completely unharmed save for his clothes being tattered by the blast.
"Agh! What was that?!" he cried out breathlessly, in a mixture of terror and confusion. Frieza and the others simply looked on, dumbfounded.
"That...was supposed to kill you," Frieza said simply before his eyes widened in fury. "Oh my stars, you had the power of the Dragon Balls at your disposal and you wasted it on that tiny slug?! This is unbelievable!"
As Frieza went into an angry tirade, Goku sent a message to everyone telepathically: "Guys, get out of here, now!" The other warriors promptly took off into the sky, with Yamcha carrying Nail's body and Piccolo carrying Dende as they attempted to escape. Frieza cut his outburst short as he caught sight of the others leaving, and held up his right arm, charging up a ki blast. However, so focused was he on the fleeing targets that he failed to notice Goku putting his hands to his face.
"SOLAR FLARE!" he cried out, sending forth a wave of blinding light which caused Frieza to screw his eyes shut in agony before firing wide, missing the group by a good distance. With this proverbial kick in the pants, the group took off at top speed, quickly vacating the area. Before Frieza could fully open his eyes again, Goku decided to seize upon his advantage.
"Kaio-ken Times Two!" he said, experiencing only a brief jolt from the shift in power before rushing forwards, intending to plant Frieza into the rock face with a powerful punch. With Frieza distracted, the attack landed perfectly, and Frieza was sent flying backwards into a mountain. Goku allowed himself a smirk for slipping past Frieza's guard, only for the mountain to be vaporized instantly in an intense wave of ki. When the light cleared, Goku could sense Frieza emerging, with power far greater than he had been able to sense initially.
"He's definitely been holding back," Goku thought worriedly. "Times Two didn't even faze him! Looks like I'll have to kick it up a notch!"
As Goku considered this, Frieza's eyes finally readjusted from their earlier damage, and he looked at Goku with a sneer.
"So...you're beginning to get an idea of what you're dealing with," Frieza said, phrasing it as a statement rather than a question. Goku nodded.
"Earlier...when you fired on the others, I sensed that you increased your power beyond mine, so-"
"So you powered up to twice your own base power, believing that would be enough to overpower me," Frieza finished with subdued glee. "Unfortunately for you, I'm far more powerful than that. And based on what I've observed of this multiplication technique of yours, I can now extrapolate your base power-a mere fraction of my own." He furrowed his brow for a minute, considering something important before smirking. "Even with your technique, your power is still nowhere near my maximum limit."
Goku smirked himself. "Is that so? We'll just have to see, then, won't we?"
Frieza chuckled, his eyes evaluating Goku with a mixture of contempt and amusement. "I suppose we shall. Which, I presume, is precisely what you wanted." Goku's slight smile in response was telling, and made Frieza laugh. "I thought so! You cheeky monkeys are so delightfully primitive! I must confess that I too would not mind a true challenge to test my abilities. Nobody's ever put a speck of dust on me in this form-save for my parents. I can't say I ever would've expected a similar feat from such a primitive creature. And I know that's nowhere near the best you can do. Although you are a threat which must be eliminated...I'm curious to see just what your maximum is."
Frieza and Goku stood across from each other, each one ready to fight. After a minute, however, Frieza chuckled.
"Still...it's funny. Had I been unaware of your multiplication technique, and simply encountered you at this level of power, I might've asked you to work for me," Frieza said. "Saiyan though you are, the potential of your base form is certainly much greater than any servant I have ever had."
"Of course, you should know I'd never agree to that," Goku replied. Frieza sighed a contemptuous sigh.
"No, you probably wouldn't. You primitive Saiyans are stubborn to the point of idiocy, especially when you think you're being all heroic and whatnot. Although...I can't say I've ever met a Saiyan quite like you in that respect. At least, not since..." Frieza paused as he looked at Goku more closely, his eyes widening as he considered the possibility.
"Wait a second...the scouter logs showed Raditz went to Earth, where this 'Goku' said he had landed...yes. It's beginning to make sense. He had a second child...ha! Well...I suppose idealism truly does run in that pest's family. I couldn't imagine having to deal with both of his brats working together." Frieza shook his head, as if to clear away his thoughts. "In any event," he continued. "With the knowledge I have now, I know that you are simply too powerful to be allowed to live."
Goku chuckled. "If that's the case, why are you just standing there?"
Frieza grinned. "It would be unbelievably easy for me to kill you before you could even process my movement...but truthfully, you represent the best workout I've had in years. To brush you aside would be immensely unsatisfying. However...to watch you struggle so intensely against me, only to find that you truly had no hope from the start...to leave your body broken as I kill your allies one by one...to savor the look of complete and utter despair on your face...that would be satisfying." The tyrant's grin only intensified as he finished his speech, as if he was imagining the entire course of events. Goku grinned as well, although Frieza could tell that what he had said unnerved him somewhat.
"Well...you're definitely a good bluffer, I'll say that much," he eventually replied with a slightly nervous chuckle. Frieza simply smiled back at him.
"We'll just have to see, then, won't we?" he parroted back before entering into a combat stance. "I give you my word that I won't kill you until you've demonstrated the absolute limits of your power. Feel free to start at whichever power multiplication you wish. I will, however, defend myself with as much of my power as is necessary. I don't intend to simply allow you to whale on me."
"Heh. Thanks for the heads up, but something tells me you'll end up disappointed," Goku replied, some of his earlier confidence returning as he readied himself for the real fight. After the two combatants exchanged one last glance, Goku clenched his fists and braced himself.
"Kaio-ken Times Three!" he said as his power jumped up further still, and the ever-so-slight red aura around him intensified just a bit more. He flew towards Frieza at top speed...only for him to sidestep his first pass. He flew at him from the side, only to meet the same result before being knocked to the ground with a kick. Frieza stood there with a subdued smile as Goku dusted himself off.
"Alrighty then...Kaio-ken Times Four!" Goku cried, the aura shining a bit brighter as he went for another pass, hammering Frieza with a series of strikes. Unfortunately, this too was met with a very similar result, as Frieza released more of his power to counter each blow before finally hitting him square in the face, sending him backwards. After letting out a short breath, Goku gritted his teeth. "Kaio-ken Times Five!" he cried out as he again went for another pass. When he found himself stymied once more, he decided to switch tactics, launching a ki blast at point blank range. Not expecting this, Frieza caught it full force, stepping back a pace as his vision was clouded. Seizing upon this chance, Goku powered up to Times Seven and threw a punch which Frieza was too distracted to block, sending him flying. Goku allowed himself a small smirk.
"Ha! Finally got a hit in!" he said to himself, before he felt Frieza's ki surge once more as he stopped himself in midair. Goku's face fell as he paid close attention to Frieza's energy.
"And it...didn't bother him...at all..."
Elsewhere, two seasoned warriors, left unconscious in the middle of a field and brought so low as to be virtually undetectable by scouter sensors or energy sensing, slowly brought themselves back to consciousness. Jeice was the first, his injuries having been slightly less extensive. As he woke, his hand immediately went for the back of his neck, still tender from where Goku had karate chopped it. His vision swam and his stomach felt like it was about to regurgitate basic contents the Attack Balls supplied their bodies with at any second. However, after a moment of intense pain as he struggled to get up to his feet, Jeice eventually managed it, albeit still stumbling from nausea and an intense headache.
"Oi...oi, Recoome. You there, mate?" Jeice asked wearily. He got a muffled groan of pain in response. "Ah...good, good. Okay." When Recoome too managed to get to his feet, the two looked at each other with a mixture of confusion and relief.
"...How the hell are we still alive?" Recoome asked point-blank. Jeice looked back at him with a look which showed that he had absolutely no idea. Recoome shrugged. "Well, not really complaining, to be honest. 'Least I ain't dead from a gut-punch. Never would've been able to live that down."
"Honestly...I think the bloke let us live," Jeice said. "With that kind of power, if he wanted to kill us, he easily could have."
"Who was he, anyway?" Recoome asked.
"He said that little monkey brat was his son, yeah?" Jeice replied. "Must've been a Saiyan. Those bastards just keep getting stronger and stronger."
"Hm," Recoome replied. "It's tough, because on the one hand, Frieza was right, but on the other hand, they definitely make a good challenge."
Jeice smirked. "Well, we'll worry about upping our training regimen as soon as we locate...the others," Jeice paused as his freshly activated scouter relayed the data it was gathering.
"What is it?" Recoome asked.
"I...I'm not seeing Burter or the Captain's ki signature anywhere."
Recoome furrowed his brow, looking over Jeice's shoulder to examine his readings for himself. Meanwhile, Jeice began to pan around to try and look for other signatures.
"Huh...looks like a fairly low one in Frieza's ship...couple lower ones somewhere that way...hang on, looks like something big-"
Suddenly, the scouter on his face exploded in an instant, catching the two of them off guard and leaving Jeice wincing.
"Agh! The hell was that?!" Recoome asked, swiftly switching off his own scouter's sensors.
"I-I dunno! I was trying to get a fix on a couple of signatures off that way!" Jeice said, pointing in the direction of Frieza's ship. "The scouter just fried itself instantly!"
"These things were calibrated for Frieza's power in his first form, right?" Recoome asked. Jeice nodded wordlessly.
"Which means whatever two people were there...one of them had to be Frieza. And the other one..."
"That monkey," Recoome finished, causing Jeice to nod.
"I can't think of any other explanation. But...the scouter couldn't get anywhere close to processing the number. Who knows how tough that Saiyan bastard is, if he's giving Frieza so much trouble!"
"Maybe the boss is just toying with him."
"Maybe...or he could be so strong that he's had to transform multiple times just to keep up."
"That seems a little weird. Why would the monkey let him transform if he was stronger than him?"
"True..." Jeice conceded before shaking his head. "Look, at any rate, whatever fight Frieza is having is way above our pay grade, and I'm not particularly eager to risk actually dying this time."
"Can't fault you there."
"So, as acting captain for the moment, I say our first priority is confirming the condition of the rest of our mates. After that, we can figure out what to do."
"Copy that." Recoome tapped a button on the mount for his scouter. At that moment, a red blip became visible on his scouter screen, indicating the position of the one remaining scouter belonging to Burter. "Got Burter."
"Alright, then, let's go!" Jeice said, and the two took off at full speed towards the position of Burter's scouter.
After a few minutes of flying, during which they noticed some incredibly pronounced debris from a pitched engagement between several warriors, they came upon Burter, lying face down in the dirt, his neck clearly broken by a kick of great intensity. Recoome growled as he looked down at the body, while Jeice simply stared at it silently.
"I...I was hoping the scouter was wrong," he eventually said, choking up a little. "That Burter had just been knocked out like us, his power too low to register. But...I guess he didn't deserve any mercy...huh, mate?" At this, he broke down as much as he was willing to show, tears welling up in his eyes as he looked upon the body of his best friend. His expression hardened, and for a split second, he thought about flying in the middle of whatever epic battle Frieza was engaged in at the moment and doing his damndest to kill that Saiyan bastard. But Recoome placed a hand on his shoulder, calmly yet firmly holding him in place.
"There's nothing you can do," he said simply. "Monkey's way too strong for either of us."
Jeice sighed deeply. "Yeah...yeah."
Recoome patted him on the shoulder, trying to cheer him up.
"Don't worry. Frieza will clobber that bastard. He's the strongest guy in the universe!"
Jeice nodded, smiling a bit. The thought of Frieza indirectly avenging his comrade was certainly a pleasing one. "Yeah," he eventually said. "Yeah, you're right."
Recoome smiled, glad that his friend had come around. "Now, come on. I'll take Burter, and we can go to Frieza's ship and see what we can figure out."
Jeice nodded after only a couple seconds' hesitation. The two set off once more as Recoome hoisted Burter's corpse over his shoulder, hoping to find the time later to honor their fallen friend with a proper funeral.
Frieza flew over and landed a few feet in front of Goku, grinning all the while. "Well, that was certainly something! You cheeky monkeys truly are crafty, in your own simple way."
Goku chuckled, somewhat apprehensively. "And you're too confident. You leave yourself wide open."
Frieza smirked. "You believe yourself to be in a position to give me advice? How amusing. Haven't you gotten some idea of my power by now?"
Goku chuckled. "You're pretty strong, that's for sure. Way stronger than anybody I've ever fought!"
"Heh. But of course."
"But I'm definitely not done yet!" With that, Goku braced himself. "KAIO-KEN TIMES TEN!" he cried, the aura beginning to grow to a more pronounced degree. However, Goku noticed all the same that the strain of Times Ten with his new power was nowhere near as significant as it had been earlier. He took this knowledge in stride as he rushed at Frieza, hitting him across the jaw with a punch and sending him flying. Before he could recover, Goku flew up and hit him from behind, sending him soaring into the air. He then flew up for another pass, but noticed too late the increase in Frieza's power. Just as he moved to attack him again, Frieza caught his hand in his own, the impact causing a massive shockwave. Goku grimaced and powered up to Times Eleven, but Frieza's power rose again just in time to catch his other hand. Before he could power up to Times Twelve, Frieza tightened his grip on both hands and headbutted Goku, sending him reeling as a cut began to form around his forehead. For an instant, Goku felt Frieza's power skyrocket dramatically, but couldn't even process it before the tyrant's tail smacked him into the ground, forming a massive crater.
As Goku got up from the rubble, Frieza landed at the mouth of the crater, crossing his arms and looking down at Goku.
"Are you finally beginning to understand, you dim-witted monkey?" Frieza asked, his annoyance evident. "Although you make a most entertaining punching bag, I sincerely hope you're getting something out of this."
Goku coughed violently as he slowly stood back up, looking up at Frieza with a look of pure determination. Frieza scowled at the sight.
"So, you don't understand? Wait...no," Frieza said as his mind was brought back several decades, to the moment that he destroyed Planet Vegeta. After killing their monarch and leaving the rest of them with no idea what was going on, Frieza stood ready to annihilate them all. And yet...one man stood before him, right until the end. Continuing to resist right up until the planet exploded. Frieza saw the resemblance clearly now as he looked at Goku's hardened expression. "You do understand. You're not entirely certain you can defeat me...whether I'm truly as powerful as I say or merely bluffing...and you don't care. All that matters to you...is standing up." Goku flew up into the air and landed at the opposite end of the crater's mouth, grinning. Frieza's face twisted into a scowl. "Stupid Saiyan pride. Stupid heroism. You really are that fool's son," he said bitterly, leaving Goku utterly confused.
"Hang on, what are you-?" he got out before Frieza powered up and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying and taking all of the air out of his lungs. As he landed on the ground a couple miles away with a hard thud, Frieza caught up to him, landing a few feet away.
"I wasn't able to make the comparison at first, but now, seeing you all alone here, standing before me, I can see the resemblance clear as day."
"The...hell-?" Goku tried to ask before Frieza punched him in the gut, leaving him winded and on his knees, gasping for air.
"Many years ago, my father acquired Planet Vegeta, where your savage kind had made themselves a home after massacring some other puny race-the Triffles or something. They showed a clear aptitude for battle, so my father inducted many of their strongest warriors into his army. In exchange, our scientists gave them new technology and refined their existing equipment, improving their society greatly."
When Goku attempted to get up, Frieza grabbed him by the sides of his face and rammed his knee into it, crushing his nose and leaving him sprawling backwards onto the ground.
"After a short time, my father transferred primary control of his company to me, and with it, control over your planet. Things continued on much as they were, except...I began to get a curious sense of impending danger. I soon observed this 'zenkai' power your race possessed-the ability to grow stronger after every brush with death. The Saiyans' immense pride was also a concern. It became quickly apparent that their loyalty to me was questionable, and the risk of a rebellion from a planet which could produce warriors of ever-growing strength was considerable. But, more than that...I heard tell of a legend."
Goku struggled to get up onto one knee, his aura flaring up as he attempted to push his body to Kaio-ken Times Fifteen. Unfortunately, Frieza powered up enough to deck Goku across the jaw with a single punch, sending him back to the ground without having managed to push his body to that level.
"Some former soldiers of mine were spreading around something they'd heard from some older Saiyan. A legend of a powerful warrior among the Saiyans who lived almost a thousand years ago. A righteous man who gave his life fighting against evil, or whatever," Frieza finished dismissively. "Those soldiers were killed, of course, but I began to wonder about it all the same. Eventually, at the urging of a friend, I decided the risk was simply too great."
Goku managed to lift himself up once more, beginning to power up only for Frieza to kick him to the ground, placing a foot over his prone body before he could recover and pushing down hard. Frieza slowly extended a finger and pointed it at Goku's leg.
"After I killed King Vegeta, I stood ready to blow the planet up from orbit...until one person tried to stop me. A Saiyan warrior who fought through my rank and file men like they were a swarm of gnats. His struggle was futile, of course-no one among the Saiyans is anywhere near my equal. But...I'll be honest. When I saw him standing there, prattling on about fighting against tyranny and oppression...a part of me was more worried than usual. I took particular relief in knowing that he would die along with the rest of his kind. Because, if anyone could have become a powerful warrior of 'righteousness'..." Frieza trailed off before smirking. "Well. I think you understand."
Goku took a haggard breath as he looked up at Frieza, a newfound rage building in his heart. "So...it wasn't an...asteroid impact, after all," he remarked. "You killed...all of them. My father...my mother...Vegeta's family...all of the Saiyans...except the ones you could use."
Frieza smirked. "I'm sure there are some other stragglers lying about the universe, if it makes you feel any better." He paused for a second. "Really ought to take the time to ferret them out at some point..." he thought aloud. Goku, meanwhile, coughed violently before continuing to speak.
"The Namekians...the Saiyans...how many other people have you treated like this? Like...like vermin you can wipe out on a whim?"
Frieza gave this some thought. "Well, my men do most of the grunt work when it comes to preparing planets for sale. They're awfully efficient about that-although you and your friends have killed many of my best," he finished, looking down at Goku angrily for a second before regaining his composure. "But, as far as the people I've dealt with personally, the toll probably comes out to about...oh, I don't know, one, two hundred billion? You start to lose track after a while, to be totally honest."
As Goku growled at him, Frieza let out a laugh. "Oh, come now, monkey! Your people are hardly bloodless! They brought an entire race to extinction themselves, not to mention all the planets they've laid low in my service! Your father was probably one of the most proficient in that department! And yet you take more issue with me than with him?" Goku continued to look up at Frieza with an expression of pure malice. Frieza sighed. "I suppose I underestimated the influence of nepotism. No matter-you'll have all the time in the world to berate him and the rest of your kind...when I send you to Hell."
The tips of his fingers glowed pink, and Goku knew that he had only one chance to get out of the situation. "I don't know if what I sensed is even his maximum, but if it is...I've got more than enough power in reserve. Let's just hope my body will last!"
With that, Goku took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"KAIO-KEN...TIMES TWENTY!"
His red aura blazed to life, completely enveloping his body in a deep crimson glow as he threw Frieza off of him with a kiai, causing Frieza's finger beam to go wide. Before Frieza could even grasp what was happening, Goku had flown up into the air and kept the assault going, grabbing him to stop his momentum and then punching him in the gut. As Frieza was left winded, Goku proceeded to grab Frieza and knee him in the face, leaving him bruised before sending him flying into the sky with a punch. As Frieza flew off, Goku cupped his hands together in the familiar form, hastened as he felt his body screaming in protest at sustaining Times Twenty. He knew he had to make it quick
"KA! ME! HA! ME! HAAAAA!" Goku cried out, firing off a powerful Kamehameha at the distant form of Frieza. Frieza was left looking down in apprehension as the beam of blue ki streaked towards him, and he frantically held out a hand to stop it in its tracks. He quickly found this effort unsatisfactory, and moved on to holding out both hands and releasing even more of his power. When even this proved to not be enough, he was forced to grit his teeth and power up to 70% of his power-close to the maximum limit his body could tolerate without any expansion in mass. He finally managed to stop the beam from pushing back and threatening to spread throughout his body, although he could still feel the searing pain in his arms as the beam burned them immensely. With a yell of pain and exertion, Frieza met the Kamehameha with his own powerful ki blast, canceling the two beams out in a massive explosion which sent shockwaves throughout the entire landmass.
Goku had to brace himself to not be buffeted back too much, and smaller objects around him were swiftly ripped from the ground and send spiraling off. The smoke took a while to clear, but Goku could already sense what he had most feared since the struggle began:
Frieza was stronger than him.
Jeice and Recoome landed in front of Frieza's ship to a grisly sight. Just outside of the ship, sprawled out and covered in blue blood, laid the body of their captain, just meters away from the Attack Ball he was trying so desperately to reach. From the looks of the injury, he appeared to have been pierced directly through the skull.
Jeice and Recoome recoiled at the sight. Although they had seen and produced plenty of gory results themselves, to see their captain succumb to such a fate angered and repulsed them more than they could say. Jeice gulped while Recoome tried to look on the positive side of things.
"N-now hang on, can't the Captain swap bodies with people? Maybe he just killed his original body with the new body's power!"
Jeice furrowed his brow in thought. "Maybe...the Captain did say Vegeta might have only been showing a glimpse of his power."
"So he took Vegeta's body!" Recoome concluded excitedly, the glimmer of hope obvious in his eyes. Jeice's reflected a similar glow, and the two quickly entered the ship to confirm their theory for themselves.
"That reading I saw was just about...here," Jeice said as the two flew rapidly down the corridors, coming upon the old medical wing of the ship and face to face with Vegeta's body inside of one of the medical machines. Recoome was about to take a step forward to open up the machine, but noticed the counter on the control panel, which stated that the subject would not recover for another hour. Recoome grimaced while Jeice moved to another panel, this one depicting security footage within the room. Curious, he played back the visual record until he came upon a visual of Vegeta's body crashing through the ceiling. As he watched intently, he could hear Vegeta muttering something from within the healing chamber, which, combined with the grunting from earlier, caused his heart to sink. Recoome quickly noticed this and called out to his friend.
"Hey, man, what's wrong?"
Jeice turned back to him, eyes threatening to cloud up again. "It ain't him, mate," he said sadly. Recoome was left dumbstruck.
"W-what? But the body swap-"
"Doesn't change the Captain's voice," Jeice finished. "This security footage-it's obvious that was Vegeta speaking. Which means that that body out there..."
Recoome's eyes widened as he considered what Jeice was saying. "Damn," he said, at a loss for words. After a couple seconds, he added, "So...we really are the only ones left."
Jeice nodded wordlessly, trying not to cry. "I'm going to kill those monkey bastards if it's the last thing I do," he said angrily, a step away from breaking down completely.
"You'll have to get in line," Recoome said, and for some time, neither of them spoke. Eventually, however, Recoome asked the unasked question. "So what do we do?" Jeice didn't respond, prompting Recoome to elaborate. "I mean, we were expecting the Captain to be around to tell us, but now..."
"Yeah," Jeice replied, still on the edge. "Yeah." After a pause, during which he was forced to evaluate everything he believed in, he answered Recoome's question. "One thing's for sure-we don't stay here."
Recoome was shocked by this. "B-but what if the boss needs us-"
"The hell does he need us for?!" Jeice shot back, angry at a lot of different things at the same time. "To go around and mop up anyone he thinks he's beyond dealing with himself?! To do the hardest work, laying low all the A-Class worlds, risking life and limb fighting their strongest warriors?! To fetch the stupid magic macguffins he was after so he can take whatever power they've got for himself, and maybe deign to leave us with a suitable payment when all was said and done?! Well, look where that got us, mate-ALL OF OUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD!"
Jeice screamed this last retort at Recoome, his voice hitching as his friends' deaths came back to him all at once. He wiped his eyes before continuing in a smaller voice.
"Guldo...he died on my watch. You guys reminded me that risks come with the job, but...I still wonder if I should've done more. If I'd been paying closer attention, if I'd been fast enough to push him out of the way, maybe..." Jeice let out a shaky breath as he went on. "And now...my Captain, the man I looked up to more than anyone else in the universe...Burter, my best friend...they were both killed while I was too out of it to do anything! And none of it would've happened if that demon could bother to get off his arse and do anything himself!" Recoome listened silently, on the fence about whether or not he should agree with what Jeice was saying. Eventually, as Jeice composed himself once more, he finished his tirade. "Nah. Nah, I'm done. I can't go on like this. I've lost too much to think any of it is worth it now. I've only got one friend left in the universe thanks to 'Lord' Frieza...and those filthy Saiyans."
Jeice spat out the last word angrily, and at this, Recoome considered everything that had happened, everything he had believed in for most of his life, and he made his choice.
"Then we'll leave," he said simply. Jeice seemed surprised that Recoome had come around to his way of thinking so quickly.
"Yeah. Yeah! To hell with this backwater planet anyway!"
"Yeah!" Recoome replied enthusiastically. "We'll ditch this place, and go off somewhere else in the galaxy, where nobody can find us! We'll use every minute we got to get stronger and stronger, and if that Saiyan bastard ain't dead by Frieza's hand, we'll kill him ourselves!"
"Yeah!"
"And if he is-screw it! We'll go over to that Earth planet and kill all his friends!"
"Yeah!"
"And who knows? They may even have Dragon Balls of their own that we can snag to revive Ginyu and the others! Then we'll tell Frieza to go to Hell and do whatever the hell we want!"
"Yeah!"
"And...and...my scouter's still on, ain't it?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then!" Recoome swiftly tore his scouter off of his face and tossed it into a wall with all of his strength, tearing through the wall and reducing the scouter to nothing but nuts and bolts. "Let's get the hell out of here and hope that nobody heard any of that!" he said enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Jeice replied. After a couple of seconds, he fired off a ki blast at the machinery which regulated the ship's healing tanks, not wanting to risk failing to kill Vegeta, who was surely more powerful than them at the moment. When he was certain the machines were all disabled, the two swiftly flew outside and activated their Attack Balls. After setting down Burter's body into his own pod as comfortably as he could, Recoome set about doing the same for Captain Ginyu, while Jeice carried out the task of programming both of their Attack Balls to fly automatically towards a set destination.
"Hm...where should we go?" Recoome asked as Jeice stood before the control panel of Burter's pod. Jeice thought for a moment.
"We could try going to Yardrat, but-"
"But the top brass knows that was where our next assignment was," Recoome finished. "Maybe we should go somewhere more suited to training?"
"Like what?"
"Well, those monkeys had a planet with ten times standard gravity, right? Maybe we should find something like that."
"Hm...that should narrow it down..." Jeice thought before coming upon a planet a good distance away from Namek. "'Zoon,'" Jeice read. "From the looks of things, it has ten times standard gravity. Not much info on their population, though-we got no idea what kind of power levels those blokes have got."
"Well, hopefully they're in a good ballpark for us to deal with," Recoome said, ever the optimist. Jeice smiled.
"Alright, then. Zoon it is," Jeice replied, plotting a flight path into the pod's navigational systems and swiftly doing the same for Ginyu's pod. As he and Recoome sat in their own pods, they each input the coordinates and closed their eyes as the ships began to take off, sending them into stasis. Their last thoughts revolved around a common subject, a subject that would not fade from their minds for quite some time:
Revenge.
Goku stood there, completely in awe at Frieza's power and feeling the effects of using Times Twenty for that long. As he struggled to catch his breath, Frieza contemplated his own condition. Although he had beaten back Goku's attack, it had taken 70% of his power, and hardly left him unscathed. His body was covered in dust and light burn marks from the attack, and his arms were left badly burned and matted with blood. His arms were left trembling from the exertion of bearing the brunt of Goku's attack, but Frieza swiftly got them under control, scowling all the while.
"That blasted Saiyan!" he muttered to himself before vanishing from Goku's sight, reappearing on the ground directly in front of him. Goku tensed up as he saw Frieza looking at him with an entirely new level of rage. He quickly powered up to Kaio-ken Times Fifteen, gritting his teeth and muffling a scream as every inch of his body howled in protest. Frieza stood there for a moment before speaking up.
"That...hurt," he said, in a tone which indicated whatever calm facade he had maintained was about to come crashing down. And, sure enough, it did. "IT HURT!" he screamed at the Saiyan, his mind totally clouded by rage.
He rushed towards Goku as fast as his body could currently permit without devoting his time towards charging up, and even at Times Fifteen Goku was left unprepared to block Frieza's headbutt. Goku was sent flying across the ground, coming to a halt with a painful thud. As Goku struggled to get up, Frieza calmly walked over to him, looking down at the Saiyan as he tried to get up off of his knees, the constant pain of maintaining Times Fifteen becoming too much for him to bear as he shifted into Times Ten. Frieza never gave him the chance to recover, casually kicking him into the air before flying up and sending him back to the ground with a downward kick. Goku gave up on maintaining any level of the Kaio-ken after that, the injuries only accentuating the physical strain worsened by using Times Twenty.
After sputtering up a small amount of blood, Goku managed to drag himself to his feet, coughing and panting in pain as he struggled to focus on the form of Frieza walking towards him.
"So...I take it that attack earlier was the best you can do?"
Even if Goku had deigned to respond to that, he didn't presently have the breath he needed to do so. His expression looking back at Frieza was all the tyrant needed to see, however.
"I thought so," he said simply before flinging a haphazard energy attack at Goku, creating a chasm in the ground directly in front of him and leaving himself and his clothing even more battered. Goku struggled to look at Frieza with both eyes fully open, while Frieza's own dispassionate glare returned now that he was sure the Saiyan warrior was truly unable to do anything more against him.
"I must say I'm impressed," Frieza conceded. "To climb to almost three-quarters of my power...and from such a lowly species, no less. My father would be hard-pressed to overcome your maximum power on his own. Such strength from such primitive, self-righteous trash...all the more reason that you must die." Frieza held out his hand, a finger extended and ready to run Goku through, before something in Goku's expression made Frieza pause. A kind of stubborn defiance, even in knowing that their death was inevitable. A defiance which would not die out even as all hope seemed to be lost. Frieza could tell from one look in Goku's eyes that, no matter the damage to his body, his spirit was still intact, and as strong and stubborn as ever. The frost demon growled in annoyance. He had not yet reached the point at which killing Goku would be truly satisfying.
Goku, meanwhile, knew he had only one option left, although he couldn't see how Frieza would allow him to use it, nor could he be sure it would be enough. And yet, all the same, Goku knew deep in his soul that he had to try. Not just for his friends and the people he loved on Earth, but for all people everywhere in the universe, and for all of the people who had been thoughtlessly slaughtered under Frieza's rule. He pushed aside the pain, the feeling of his legs threatening to buckle under the strain of supporting his own weight, and concentrated on what he had to do to ensure that Frieza was taken down for good.
He lifted both of his arms skyward...and prayed.
Hoo, and we're done! Sorry, this was another chapter where it felt like the words weren't quite coming through to a length that suited a full chapter. I already wanted to do what I did with Jeice and Recoome at some point, so I figured instead of cramming that in at the 23rd chapter, it'd be better here.
Speaking of which, here's my reasoning, just in advance. So, to start with, Jeice is already kind of a coward, and Recoome's not an idiot, so neither of them are particularly willing to dive in and help Frieza against Goku, because he's obviously out of their league. And as for their defection from Frieza's ranks...well, they're not quite as in Frieza's ranks as the rest of his soldiers. They're mercenaries hired out by Frieza to do the particularly high-end jobs, and while Frieza does respect them above all other soldiers in his army, there is still a certain detachment there. I mean, Frieza has so much power that he could easily carry out any of these particularly dangerous missions himself. I'd also argue that, of the group, Ginyu is the one most devoted to Frieza. The others are, naturally, devoted to Ginyu more than they are Frieza, as he is their leader. And the Ginyu Force are an incredibly close-knit group, being a team and all and going on many missions together. They've developed an immensely strong bond. Thus, with Ginyu gone, as well as their other friends, as the direct result of them being sent on a mission by Frieza...it's understandable that Jeice and Recoome would be disillusioned with continuing to serve under Frieza, and would be particularly invested in obtaining revenge against the people who killed their friends.
Anyway, with that out of the way, how about some responses?
cybresamurai says:
"That whole "Immortality negates zenkais" thing doesn't make sense and hasn't been confirmed but as long as it doesn't actually affect the story by making a saiyan immortal and stopping them from getting stronger it's ok"
This response intrigued me, and compelled me to investigate the matter a bit more than I had, even asking some other fic writers about it. On the surface, my gut assumption would've been to say that immortal Saiyans can't get zenkais because Dragon Ball depicts immortality as rendering the person affected completely invulnerable. Without the ability to be driven to near-death or even take damage in the first place, you couldn't trigger a zenkai boost. You could still train, obviously, but that's a very different kind of strength increase. From what I could find, the canon generally bears out this perspective, although I may be misinterpreting something. I'm curious to hear your argument on the subject in greater detail. Perhaps you could pm me your thoughts?
Next two are sorta related, so I'm putting them together.
DarkFireCat5241999 says: "Senzus were able to heal a hole through the chest for yamacha so it should arm I think the time chamber gravity varies the further you go out."
GhostKing666 says: "Senzu beans have never been shown being able to heal maiming's. If they could, then Goku, Gohan and Vegeta would all regrown their tails as soon as they ate a senzu bean."
Alright, so, looked into this too, and what I found caused me to make some slight retcons to earlier chapters. Basically, what I discovered in my research on the subject was that yes, Senzu beans can in fact heal maiming, but only if it's fresh. As a result, I rewrote the scene where Yamcha gets his arm torn off to re-open the wound, so as to provide some justification for his arm growing back. As for why the Saiyan's tails don't grow back, it's been demonstrated that that whole process stops with maturity. Goku has permanently lost his tail since Kami did that ritual, and Vegeta never gets his back after it's cut off. Since Goku's came back after being cut off as a kid, we know it isn't the injury that stopped that process. As for why Gohan's never grows back under this logic...honestly, I think Toriyama was just tired of drawing Saiyan tails by the Namek Saga, which is supported by the fact that we never see Trunks or Goten with theirs or see Gohan ever grow his back again following the Saiyan Saga. Ultimately, though, since Gohan has his tail here, that's kind of moot, so the Senzu logic holds up.
Ushindeshi says:
"Cool chapter. Dende is immortal, Goku got his potential unlocked by Guru, that something new."
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Alright, finally, Jredd. Jredd's was...a lot, so I'm going to take out bits and respond to those.
"So first of all I just wanted to come on here and tell you I basically binged all these chapters in a couple of days and I think you are doing a great job :)."
Thanks! Glad to see you liking it so far!
"Secondly, as much as I like this fic overall and I understand why you didn't have the earthlings train in the time chamber I'd like to at least run some points by you for perhaps an alternate take on this story should you ever decide a retelling in the future. 1. The earthlings are way stronger than Goku when he went in as a kid, so while they may not make it a whole year I think a couple of months with a partner is highly possible. 2. Not only are they used to the thin atmosphere of Kami's lookout, but they are also used to very heavy weights and the strain of Roshi's bulk form to the point of mastering it. Now granted that may not be the complete experience of 10X gravity but I think if they removed their weights and tried to stand up it shouldn't take them too long to manage at least that. The one thing that I am unsure of is the rapid shifts in temperature. Although let us consider this, you don't feel the 10X gravity or temperature shifts as much until you step out into the void right? So couldn't they just barely step out into it and always strive to stay close to their beds in case it becomes too much?"
Regarding #1, I feel like my explanation of the differences in biology between humans and Saiyans works pretty well for that, but as for #2, I...did not think about that too much, lmao. It slipped my mind that they could just stay in the fairly normal bed space and just spar in there. I mean, they'd wreck the place, but still.
"Now I am not saying that you should've done this or that you have to lol, I am just saying that if you wanted to you TOTALLY could. Y'know for another story, because I like your writing style."
Oh, yeah, no, absolutely. I'll have to keep this in mind for my other DBZ story, Forgotten Son, whenever it gets around to its Saiyan Saga. That is...really far off, though.
"Anywho, all your other twists more than make up for this and they can always get more out of that room later :D. I just couldn't help myself and be all like "Psst! Yeah but...what about THIS?!""
Ha, yeah, no worries. I'm the exact same way-it's just how I operate. That's why I write what if fics like this.
"I REALLY wanted this Piccolo to fuse with Nail...could you imagine? LOL Again I see why you didn't but...awww :)."
In my original draft in my head, I had Nail consider it and bring the idea up to Piccolo as a way to beat Frieza, before Frieza killed Nail after overhearing this, but I ultimately scrapped that idea. Still, you never know.
"I'll leave you to your work and keep an eye on this story. Keep up the good work. In any case the more this goes forward the better it gets. Dende immortal? Freakin' brilliant! Suck it Freiza LOL! Alright that's the end of my novel of a comment...for now :). *Shifty eyes* Have a good one dude I'm loving this so far :D!"
Thanks, and again, no worries on the length. If anything, it just shows how invested you are, which is definitely a nice thing to see. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story, and that you have a fantastic day!
Alright, so with all that settled, power levels!
Goku: 4,300,000; 8,600,000 in Times Two, 12,900,000 in Times Three, and so on.
Goku(Times Twenty): 86,000,000
Frieza(50% power): 60,000,000
Frieza(75% power): 90,000,000(it seems likely, based on a throwaway line from Frieza in the manga, that 75% is about the most his body can withstand without having to bulk up too much, and even then it's exhausting. Beyond that, he needs time to charge up)
Before I sign off, I'd like to give a quick shout-out to Cerric, writer of Strength of Many. They've been looking over the last couple chapters of this story and sending in feedback, which has helped me in crafting what is hopefully the best story I can offer you all, so let's give them a hand for that! Be sure to check out their story, too-highly recommend it!
With all that said, thank you all for reading, have yourselves a fantastic night, and take care.
(Edit 6/16/19): Quick add-on here-I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow and through most of June, and won't have access to my laptop. Chapter 23 is finished, but I decided that it would be better to hold off on uploading that until I got back so that I'll have more time to work on Chapter 24. Thank you all for understanding, and I'll see you all in a while!