"Ho, how amusing and yet frustrating at the same time," Frieza scowled at Piccolo, sighing after a few glances and transitioning into a polite smirk with his despicably fishy face. "You're capable of regenerating on such a remarkable scale, mollusk. I would commend you if your clinginess to life didn't make you out to be such a pest!"
"You're the pest of this universe, Frieza, and I intend to get rid of you!" Piccolo sneered back at the tyrant, he clenched his fists and drove his arms to the side. He'd need to push King Kai's Fist as far as possible. If he prioritized regeneration over actually leaving a dent on Frieza, he'd only prolong the inevitable, anyway. "King Kai's Fist X10!" Piccolo roared out as his body bulged and strained with grotesque, fleshy churning noises, pumping up pure force while it would inevitably break down.
Piccolo lit up with a golden gleam that changed its hue while flashing from inside an intense pillar of scarlet. From within the pillar, three identical copies of the original split off and cracked their knuckles before taking off toward Frieza. The space emperor vanished to thin air, accompanied by the combined vanishes of the clones as they blinked in and out of vision alongside Frieza, engaged in a desperate game of cat and mouse.
With a sick smirk, Frieza appeared from behind a clone and drove his cross into Piccolo's spine, bending the clone's body outward and breaking its back at once before kicking it away to disappear in a flash of golden sparks while its King Kai's Fist aura died out immediately. Frieza shrieked out, thrusting his fingers rapidly and unleashing a hail of Death Beams in all directions, shooting down another clone, no matter how valiant his effort of avoiding certain death was. The third clone snapped up to Frieza with a flashing blitzer of energy crackling around his right fist.
"Explosive Demon Flash!" Piccolo growled while the energy in his right enveloped both of his extended palms and blasted outward in a short-range, erupting energy explosion. The vague outlines of Frieza's image faded away in the harmony of intense, flashing light, but that despicable snapping noise alerted Piccolo to cancel his technique prematurely and try to race against his opponent before…
Frieza's jab dug into Piccolo's ribs from the side. The tyrant had snapped away with rapid motion, dodging the near-perfect point-blank attack and countering it with a quick jab to Piccolo's gut. The broken Super Namekian puked out purple blood and his eyes whited out when Frieza's tail wrapped around his neck and snapped it with one slick motion.
"I don't take you'll be regenerating from that?" Frieza chuckled, but to his surprise and great annoyance–the Piccolo he had just snapped the neck of dissipated into glowing ethereal dust of pure Ki energy. "Another doppelganger? Then where on Earth?" Frieza threw his head around, attempting to find his opponent somewhere around him but failing.
Piccolo pressed his back against a risen stone platform, occasionally bathed in lashes of molten magma erupting from a glowing crater underneath. The battlefield had taken just as fair of a beating as both Piccolo and Frieza did. Had he been any more naïve, he'd have gone for it right now, bolted, and raced to the spaceship. This was his moment and with each passing moment, he was losing it.
However, within this moment of hope laid a mean trap. Frieza was much faster than Piccolo, this third form of his was deceitfully rapid for its weird composition and body shape. The moment Piccolo raised a ruckus by trying to move fast enough to get out of Dodge, he'd get spotted. Even if he gave Frieza the slip, he'd be returning to a trapped spaceship that couldn't take off, a spaceship Frieza knows the approximate location to if the fact that the Earthlings landed in one of Planet Vegeta's ports was relayed to him by one of his subordinates.
"Curse you, you damned bipedal gastropod! How dare you try to give me the slip after stepping up and declaring yourself superior to me, Lord Frieza!?" Frieza seethed in hatred, exploding with all of his remaining power at once. "Damn you, damn you and Lord Beerus! Can't even destroy this accursed planet!" Frieza burst into an unintelligible scream of pure wrath as his pink Ki expanded and pierced through the clouds with a booming pillar extending out into the cosmos through Planet Vegeta's atmosphere.
"This might get sticky…" Piccolo grit his teeth, shaking it off and realizing he had fallen on his front with how insane the effects of Frieza's erupting power were and the powerful earthquake they caused.
"I'll smoke you out, I'll smoke you out if I have to peel and disassemble this blasted planet like an orange!" Frieza bellowed, extending his hands down while he positioned his airborne body to look down. Tendrils of pink Ki began swirling and waving in a stable formation, forming a bubble-gum-colored outline around the emperor.
"The ground… What's happening?" Piccolo grumbled to himself as he felt the stone debris and every makeshift pile of rubble ascending from the ground into the air, hurled by unmatched in the universe telekinetic force. "He'll see me like this for sure," Piccolo clenched his fists, realizing that Frieza had no idea where he was so his telekinesis wasn't affecting Piccolo at the moment. With how focused and enraged the tyrant was at the moment–this was his chance!
"King Kai's Fist X20!" Piccolo clenched his fists and widened his stance, trying his best to balance it while perched atop a rising stone platform. The stone burst into a flood of pebbles from the grinding might of Piccolo's exploding energy, while the powered-up Super Namekian dashed in a straight line toward Frieza.
"Y-You…!" Frieza hissed but, before he could finish the sentence, Piccolo grabbed hold of Frieza's mouth and lifted the spiky, oval-headed alien over his head.
"Shut your mouth and get gone!" Piccolo grumbled as he formed a Ki blast in the same hand that held Frieza, prompting it to detonate immediately upon formation and blast the subdued emperor away in a vertical spin.
Piccolo burst with energy again, prolonging his King Kai's Fist X20 for another heartbeat as he arrowed straight toward his airborne opponent, sweeping his leg like the tail of a dragon and speeding up Frieza's vertical spinning just to throw him further out of the loop. The Super Namekian crossed his arms over his shoulders and raised them up, flaring up with another Explosive Wave that enveloped Frieza entirely and froze him in place as the expanding obliteration took hold and silenced his grunts of pain.
The successor of Kami, Demon King Piccolo and Nail alike, landed on the ground and shot his glare right up in a static angle, fixing his stare on Frieza who had almost reached the crux of his aerial swoop and looked to be barely conscious. Piccolo raised his hand up, emanating with passing pulses of crackling lightning he formed an electric Ki blast in his right hand.
"Chasing Bullet!" Piccolo yelled out, firing the concentrated Ki blast in a straight trajectory toward Frieza, who popped back to full consciousness and darted to the side to avoid the blast out of instinct, riding the greased lightning of his own incredible speed but the Super Namekian could barely restrain his smile as the Chasing Bullet veered hard right and detonated after dunking into Frieza's back, resonating with a shrill shriek of pain and the smoldering monster falling from the heavens back down to the mashed and molten heap of dirt Piccolo and him have created together.
The vision doubled, then tripled and blurred. The Namekian stumbled forward, grunting from the pain of all muscles in his body burning up with fatigue and tears and none of his Namekian physiology factors kicking in to help him. His regeneration was dead for the moment, his Ki vanished as Piccolo felt utterly drained, and thus, he collapsed on his one knee, panting while breaking in sweat while his eyes continued to weigh heavy and press against him to put him to sleep.
"I… Insolence!" Frieza muttered with a wheezing voice. A weak and irregular tapping noise made Piccolo direct his head upward, despite how filled with lead his head felt. "Inconceivable… A mere Namekian mollusk pushed me this far! Me, the strongest in the universe!"
There was no use in running away now. Heck, Piccolo couldn't even fathom the thought of trying to run anywhere, let alone halfway across the planet. Frieza looked bruised and broken, bleeding from his eyelids, mouth and the cracks in his armor, burnt up and scraped, but he still had more than enough energy to wipe the floor with Piccolo even in his current form. With a methodical strut, Frieza climbed up the pillar in front of Piccolo and looked down at his rundown opponent.
"Though, from the looks of it, I could still finish you off in this form. Despite my injuries, I feel generous today. For this one-of-a-kind effort, I'll show you my true form. The full splendid excellence of it will be the last thing you will ever see!" Frieza twisted his fishy lips in a curved smile as he positioned his arms beside him. The tyrant's mood changed when he saw Piccolo at his mercy, drastically so. From bratty denial, his attitude soaked with that same arrogance and need to prove his vast superiority and crush those around him in his iron grip to maintain control. Frieza returned to his comfort zone, and that was what switched the lid of his tendencies.
The space emperor growled and raised his hands up. There was no aura around him, just gusts of winds and blunt shock waves. The energy within him enveloped Frieza, becoming one with his very outline, his essence, and the shape of his body. The cracks littering Frieza's entire armor fissured further and further still, extending throughout his entire armor and even through his flesh and his eyes as if they were but a mere shell to shed. The layer of Frieza's flesh, skin, and armor became hardened like porcelain but continued to glow rose-pink, splintering off of the tyrant's form like flower petals. Frieza's eyes whited out and then–his body burst, shattering like fragments of glass and disappearing into thin air while a dome of white light enveloped him once the totality of Frieza's energy cracked out from its shell.
The light expanded like an Explosive Wave, darkening the skies and even the flames and magma bubbling around them. Even natural light itself was no match for the luminosity of Frieza's immense power. The air pressure forced Piccolo to stumble, it washed away from Frieza right at him like a forceful shove and thus Piccolo's upper body leaned down, adopting a position similar to preparation to tackle someone. This was the best way he could muster to stay standing with.
The darkness began drawing back as the dome of light cooled down. Eventually once a singularity remained of the surrounding void while the natural luster of the decimated battleground returned to it. Frieza remained covered by a cloud of dust, and his true and final appearance remained a complete mystery. Piccolo could only barely make out a very subtle, humanoid-shaped shadow within the obscurity. The shadow within the dust cloud moved, subtly raising its hand and pointing its finger. A pink dot gleamed, slicing through the obscurity.
Darkness.
"Huh?" Goku turned back, looking at shocked Piccolo stumbling out from the spaceship with wide and bloodshot eyes and twitching mouth. "Oh, it's you, I thought maybe it was Gohan or Krillin…"
"He… He… Killed me…" Piccolo muttered.
"What? What are you talking about?" Tenshinhan turned his entire body to the shaking Super Namekian.
"But you're… Right here…" Chiaotzu muttered.
"That Ki out there. Frieza's done something terrible to himself…" Goku grit his teeth. "No matter how hard I want to sock him, just feeling it up gives me the shivers."
"Frieza killed me out there. I'm the only one left now." Piccolo muttered through severe shock, falling down on his behind and wrapping his head in his hands. "Each one of my clones can sustain my life as long as they survive, but that means that I've become the real Piccolo now."
"Don't tell me!" Goku turned back with a shocked expression.
"Yeah, the meager power I have now is all that's left. And because I'm not dead, the Dragon Balls won't be able to bring me back." Piccolo clenched his fists, seething.
"They might not bring you back, but they should still be able to restore your original strength," Tenshinhan suggested. "As for now, rest up. We'll take over dealing with Frieza from this point on."
"B-But if not even Piccolo could stop him…" Chiaotzu covered up his cheeks.
"Piccolo may have been the strongest one out of all of us, but he wasn't stronger than all of us fighting together," Tenshinhan turned to his friend, comforting him. "Though maybe you should stay back, Chiaotzu. You've died and were brought back by the new Dragon Balls once already–if you die now, you won't be able to be brought back anymore."
"No!" Chiaotzu shook his head. "Ten-san will need me and my power. I'm willing to die to protect you guys."
"Thank you, Chiaotzu, but don't overexert yourself," Goku gave Chiaotzu a thumb-up.
"Man, you guys are so cruel, sending us off into battle right out of the healing tank," Yamcha's goofy voice came from the direction of the open door to the spaceship.
"They haven't told us anything, you're the one running off, Yamcha," Krillin brushed the back of his bald head after stretching out as he had just woken up in the morning.
Gine appeared from the shadows within the spaceship when looking from outside, holding Gohan's hand. The child glowed like a gemstone and just couldn't turn his eyes away from his grandmother. At last, everyone in the healing tanks had recovered and now nothing was standing in their way from tackling Frieza anymore.
"You know, Goku, we don't really owe the universe anything. I know you promised Vegeta you'd help him with Frieza, but… Where even is he now?" Krillin looked around, covering above his eyes with his hand.
"He ran off to fight Frieza by himself. The fool will get himself killed and I can't say that I feel too sorry for him," Tenshinhan shook his head.
"You guys don't have to go. I promised Vegeta that I'd fight with him and, frankly, I just really want to have a go at that crazy guy!" Goku tightened his belt and fixed his wristbands. "Plus, I can't just let him go unpunished after killing my father and crippling Piccolo. I'm going to give him everything I've got."
"Kakarot, please…" Gine let go of Gohan's hand and ran down the spaceship's platform connected to the ground to approach and talk some sense into her son. "I had hoped you'd differ from your father in at least this one way. Don't get yourself killed, please. Not right after I've met you. I won't be able to take it."
"Don't worry, mom, I don't go there planning to die. Take care of Gohan for me, 'kay?" Goku smirked, holding his mother's hand before turning away and transitioning into a light jog. The rest of the Dragon Team: Yamcha, Krillin, Tenshinhan, and Chiaotzu jogged a few steps behind Goku, ready to take off whenever he does. Despite not looking all too excited about it, Chayote paced behind the lot, willing to come to blows with Frieza himself if she has to protect the Earthlings and the piece of paradise she created there.
"Send him flying, dad!" Gohan cupped his hands by his cheeks and yelled out.
"Sure!" Goku saluted his son before the entire group lit up with crystal-clear auras and blasted off toward the battle site where Frieza was. Now that Piccolo was dead, who knew where Frieza would take off to but at least with their Ki sensory intact, the Dragon Team could stay on top of the strongest opponent they've ever faced. Someone that would take all of their combined powers to even leave a dent on.
"You guys sure about this? Frieza feels like he's an actual monster!" Goku looked back at his friends flying beside him.
"We're all martial artists. We look to challenge ourselves and push ourselves forward, challenge stronger foes each time to improve our own skills. Leaving Frieza be was never an option," Tenshinhan replied.
"If Ten-san is going, I'm there to make sure Ten-san makes it out alive," Chiaotzu nodded.
"I won't lie and say that I'm not absolutely terrified but… I'm with you, Goku. Helping a friend keep their promise when they get over their head is what friends are for," Krillin said.
"I'm not letting you guys take all the glory and training for beating up that guy all to yourselves," Yamcha smirked. "Plus, the old geezer always told us that if somebody evil threatens us or any other good and innocent people with unethical force, it is the duty of a student of the Turtle School to defend them."
"You are all a bunch of imbeciles and you will get yourselves killed." Chayote muttered. "I can't let that happen so I'll fight with you, even if it's against Lord Frieza himself."
Frieza blitzed across a dead Saiyan city. The cataclysmic battle to the east of that city and the decimation of the temple site had left the city powerless. All the while, the gloomy clouds further added to its ghost town atmosphere. In his original form, the cold and sadistic emperor had taken a pale white appearance with amethyst-colored plates glistening like gemstones on the top of his head, the center of Frieza's chest, and his shoulders. Frieza's head had grown and become almost perfectly round while the rest of his body slimmed down and dropped in height too.
A battle cry resonated at the same time as Vegeta plunged from over the clouds. The prince drove his foot at the back of Frieza's head which, while barely moved the tyrant, threw him off balance for a blink while Vegeta dashed back and took a fighting stance.
"Couldn't see me coming without being able to sense Ki, huh?" Vegeta smirked, proud of the sneak attack he pulled even if it wasn't too effective.
"Oh, you've shown yourself, Vegeta-san? How decent of you to present yourself for your execution like this. I must admit I am in a rather foul mood right now, anyone else I'd have killed and been done with. But you, the root of this primitive, monkey insolence, I'll make you beg for death," Frieza stopped and crossed his arms over his chest, lowering his altitude to mingle in between dark and abandoned buildings.
"I didn't come here to get killed, Frieza. I've come here to fulfill the Saiyan destiny that was promised and to awaken a legendary Super Saiyan within myself. I've come to claim my birthright and defeat you once and for all!" Vegeta pointed to Frieza, looking just as vexed by Frieza's mug as the tyrant was by Vegeta's own insolence.
"It will be a pleasure seeing that feeble hope misplaced in some dusty, false fable fade from your eyes alongside your last breaths. Shall you begin or should I lead our dance, Vegeta-san?" Frieza replied with neither a scowl nor a smirk. With his true form revealed, the chilling space emperor was perfectly apathetic and his power, while grander than ever before, rested cool and reserved inside of his subtle frame.