.
13.
Meteors
«Are you ready to be beaten by my weakest transformation, Cooler?»
«I'm waiting.»
He looks at me, smirking mockingly. He knows that we are playing, as we always do, but now the game has become more mature. We have both grown since the last time we fought: we parted when we were princes, now we are Lords. Yet I can't deny that the thrill of fighting with him is always something special.
I stretch my tail by twirling it behind me.
«Shall we make things more interesting?»
«Oh, no, don't start with your bets» he laughs. «What do you want if I lose? My ship? My planet? My head?»
«Don't be ridiculous» I scoff. «Your ship and your men are of no use to me. The rock you call your planet is useless as well. And I'll take your head myself. No, since you came all this way to warn me, I want to entertain you... I have the impression that you didn't like the show.»
«You talk too much. What's at stake?»
«The life of the traitor. What do you think about it? The winner will decide how to eliminate him.»
He smiles, shaking his head.
«I am not a sadist. Inflicting pain doesn't satisfy me as it satisfies you.»
I shrug my shoulders, but inside I feel stung by my pride.
«Then if you win you can kill him with some dignity. Otherwise, his suffering will not be comparable to the pains of hell.»
He seems to think about it. He says he's not like me, but I know that deep down we are very similar.
«We have a deal. Besides, if I win you will give me that.»
He nods towards my throne.
«Don't even think about it»
«Looks like you fear you're going to lose.»
Damn it.
I get into an attacking position.
«So be it. Shall we start?»
«It's your move, brat.»
The anger that inflames me is so powerful that I can barely avoid evolving into my original form. I hold back: I want to defeat him in this mutation and show him that he must not belittle me.
I launch myself towards him in a rush, leaving behind a trail of energy that is slowly swallowed up by the sidereal void. I charge a punch but he blocks it with both forearms, putting himself in a defensive position. The impact is so strong that some sparks of energy escape.
«Not bad» he says. Before I can answer I see him vanish and my arm, without support, slides forward, throwing me off balance. I straighten up almost immediately, turning around quickly.
As I thought, he's behind me. The blow of his tail is so rapid that I can barely avoid it by sliding to the side.
We're off to a really, really bad start. I haven't managed to hit him yet and he's already resisting me. I try to respond in turn with a blow of my tail which this time crashes into his side, forcing him to retreat. It wasn't a powerful blow but it hurt.
«You're good at copying my moves» he taunts me.
«Shut up!»
I sprint again but this time I surprise him just before hitting him: I disappear, reappear behind him, and deliver a powerful punch to the center of his back which forces him to bend forward to catch his breath.
I smile, but not for long. A moment later I realize that I have lowered my guard: his tail wraps around my chest, keeping my arms blocked, and my muscles contract. The grip is so strong it makes me breathless.
I watch him straighten up and slowly turn his head towards me. The tail narrows even more; I let out a groan.
«You are always the same. If you trained you would truly become unbeatable, but of course you didn't.»
I don't need to train, I want to say, but the grip is so tight I can't speak. I understand that I need more power to get rid of him... as soon as I think about it, the desire to evolve in my original form becomes burning.
He raises a hand, placing it palm right in front of my face. If the fight were serious, there would be a ball of condensed energy on that palm ready to blow my skull off.
«Do you give up?»
«Do you think…» I start to say, but he tightens his grip and something inside me creaks. I would like to avoid it but I cry out in pain.
This is not tolerable!
I gather all my energy; it explodes around me like a bomb, so that he's forced to retract his tail to prevent it from being severed by my exploding aura.
He jumps back while my body changes, but this time it doesn't get bigger: I simply start to secrete the exoskeleton that wraps my muscles and encloses them, and the muscles themselves thicken and lengthen. A few moments later the mutation is complete: I take the armor off, throwing it onto the ship next to my throne, and relax my limbs and tail savoring the sensation of pure power that I had almost forgotten.
«Now I recognize you» Cooler says, crossing his arms.
I feel like I'm myself again. Only now I realize how much I've missed my body: I'm finally completely comfortable in my own skin. At the same time, however, I feel the power that I had hidden take possession of my thoughts; it seems to overflow uncontrollably. It's hard for me to even stay focused. I know that at the end of it all I will return to the disempowered state, where I have more control of my power.
I notice that he is concentrating too.
«Let me show you my maximum power too.»
I rub my hands. I watch him grow stronger, enveloped in incredible energy, and take on his final form, the one he was working so hard to create before we left Planet Cold Number One. As I remembered, he becomes more powerful, bigger and his face is covered with that ridiculous mask that allows him to filter the air and breathe pure energy. I understand that he wants to get serious.
I'll give him what he wants.
We throw ourselves at each other and fight with all our might. The fight is intense and against the background of open space we look like two meteors colliding and screeching and then moving away. Our energy shines in the cosmos, on the cemetery of a civilization that has just died.
In a fit of fury I hurl a sphere so powerful at Cooler that I can't control it. He takes advantage, sprinting towards me and punching me just as I try to regain control of my attack.
Obviously the sphere gets lost in the depths of space and I suffer from the impact, so much so that when he moves away I hold my chest with one hand right where his fist broke.
Damn, he actually got stronger.
I'm about to counterattack, but before I can throw myself at him something flashing attracts my attention. It's my communicator, resting on the velvet seat of my robotic throne. I stop suddenly, panting and wondering what could be the reason for a call at such a moment. Who would dare to stop our fight?
Cooler notices what I'm looking at and doesn't intervene. He nods at me to go.
«If they're calling you at a time like this, it must be important.»
I nod. We both have an idea of what the reason could be: we will never admit it but we fear that our father may have been spotted nearby.
A few moments later I have the communicator clutched between my fingers and I touch the screen, observing Granium's face appear in front of me. As soon as I see him I feel a wave of revulsion and the fury returns, overpowering, but I don't want him to notice it now.
«How dare you?»
He trembles beyond the screen, even more terrified when he sees me in my original form.
«Lord Frieza, there's a problem. The prisoner, that Nemanian, is restless…»
I immediately remember him, but this doesn't sound enough to justify such an interruption.
«Did you seriously call me to tell me this?» I growl, my voice cracking with anger.
«N… no, Lord Frieza, the problem is that he has freed himself and is asking for you.»
He has freed himself?
The situation could be serious if I don't go back inside immediately. Without hesitation, without even returning to my depowered form, I leap into the throne and launch myself into the upper chamber. As I wait for the hatch to close I see Cooler do the same, entering right next to me as his body returns to its base form. I don't stop him.
«What do you want now?» I ask him.
I can see him shrugging his shoulders.
«I'm not going to miss the best murder this Universe has seen in a century.»
«Whatever.»
The hatch seals over our heads and the sliding door opens. As soon as the air enters the room I take a deep breath.
«In any case, the fight is only postponed. The terms remain the same.» I say. I don't want him to think that I'm taking advantage of this incident to retreat.
«Of course they are. I will have that flying throne, whatever the cost.»
«We'll see» I hiss through my teeth. I could give it to him as a gift any moment and commission another one from Gichamu, but of course, I would rather die.
Next chapter:
Élite
16.01