Goku is Ginyu?! Ginyu is Goku?! Aye yai yai yai!
The quartet stood around the Dragon Balls, wondering what to do with them. Well, Krillin, Suno, and Gohan were doing the wondering. Vegeta was doing the glowering.
"Maybe one of us should try and find any of the remaining Namekians?" Gohan offered. Krillin shook his head.
"No way," he objected. "Do you know how long it'd take to cover the whole planet? Besides, if that Freeza guy's looking for Namekians, we might bump into him. Which I don't think we'd win."
"You wouldn't," Vegeta assured them.
"What if one of us went back to get Bulma?" Krillin asked, doing his best to ignore Vegeta. Suno nodded and rubbed at her jaw.
"That's not a bad idea," Suno admitted, "But then we'd have to take her back. Even if he can't sense ki, Freeza'll notice the sky turning black and a giant dragon reaching up into the clouds. Whatever we wish for and however it happens, we have to accept the very real possibility that we'll have to fight Freeza." They reflected nervously on that sobering fact before Gohan caught something in the sky.
"Hey," he called out excitedly, "It's mom!" Then he squinted curiously as the others turned to look with him. "And… is that Jeice guy with her?" The others were similarly puzzled as Goku and Jeice landed nearby and began to walk towards them. For some reason, she was wearing a scouter.
"Hello, everyone!" Goku greeted in a chipper tone and a wave. Which didn't seem too off-beat but something was… not quite right. "Have you managed to summon the Dragon yet?"
"No," Krillin admitted glumly, "It looks like these Dragon Balls need a different password than on Earth. Or at least a password spoken in Namekian." Then he fixed Goku with a slightly confused look. "I mean, didn't you see that the sky didn't go black? No giant dragon and stuff?" Goku seemed to think about that for a second before she started to respond.
"Kakarot," Vegeta cut in, then had to repeat himself because she didn't seem to realize he was talking to her, "Kakarot! Why are you wearing a scouter? You can already sense power levels, so what's the point of it?" For some reason, Kakarot looked a little surprised at that statement. "And more importantly, why in the nine hells is Jeice still alive?"
"Yeah," Suno added suspiciously, "What happened with Ginyu?"
Goku blinked for a moment before looking at Jeice, "Well," she said, "Captain Ginyu was a formi– a really tough opponent but I managed to defeat him! I gave Jeice here one last chance to change his ways and he decided he'd help us!"
"An' as for the scouter," Jeice added, "That was my idea." Goku looked slightly relieved for some reason as Jeice picked up the conversation. "Y'see, the scouters'll keep track of Freeza so we can hear what he's doin' and where he's goin'."
"Wait," Gohan objected, "Doesn't that mean Freeza can hear you guys, too? You should get rid of those!"
"Well–" Goku started to explain before Suno cut her off.
"Waaaait," Suno muttered, rubbing her chin and walking closer to Goku, "Something about this isn't right."
OoOoOoO
Goku let out a wheeze as she wavered through the air, fighting to push back up every time she dipped down. She had a fist pressed into her wound to try and stem the bleeding as she kept blinking spots from her vision, flying at a painfully slow pace. She was sure glad Ginyu's body had so much blood.
"H-hang on guys," she muttered, "I-I'm almost there!" she started to wobble and fought to keep herself alight as she pushed forward. "Please don't kill my body. I don't think this one's good for much longer…" She just hoped Ginyu would have as much trouble using her body as she was having with his.
OoOoOoO
"Whaddaya mean?" Krillin asked.
"Yes," Goku added, "What's wrong?" Suspiciously, she hadn't actually said anyone's name yet other than Jeice.
"That's not Goku," Suno insisted firmly as she jabbed an accusatory finger in Goku's face. "I can tell by her ki."
"Wh-what?!" Goku asked in shock and maybe just a hint of worry. "What are you talking about?!"
"Are you sure?" Krillin asked. "I mean, she's acting a little funny but it looks like Goku. Her ki seems normal to me."
"Trust me, Krillin," Suno assured him as she began to stride towards Goku, who nervously stumbled back, "Goku and I have been through a lot together. We've lived together for five years. I carried her child. I know when her ki isn't right." Gohan began to redden with embarrassment and Goku looked quite surprised by that statement.
Krillin hummed and nodded thoughtfully, "Well, when you put it that way-"
Then Suno gave a little bit of a smirk. "Besides, whoever this is has no idea how to handle Goku's butt."
"I BEG YOUR PARDON?!" Goku snapped indignantly, her cheeks bright red. Suno's smirk widened and she kicked her right in the face.
"And another thing," Suno added as 'Goku' staggered back and held her jaw, "My wife has never used the term 'I beg your pardon'." Jeice looked at 'Goku' with a bit of an "I told you so" expression as Suno cracked her knuckles and Gohan and Krillin got into their guards. "Now look, whoever you are. You've got the next twenty seconds to tell us what you did with Goku before we start kicking the crap out of you."
"Alright," 'Goku' admitted in frustration, "Alright! Fine! I'm Captain Ginyu and I stole Goku's body." Then Ginyu cracked his knuckles and smirked. "I suppose it's fortuitous that you figured out my little charade. I was honestly planning to kill you all, anyway, just to break this body in. Speaking of breaking…" he lunged forward suddenly and smashed his fist into Suno's jaw to send her flying into one of the boulders around the ship.
"Mother!" Gohan cried before turning his attention on Ginyu and growling. Before he and Krillin could attack, though, Suno pushed herself off the boulder and cracked her neck.
"Is that all you've got?" she asked cockily.
Ginyu blinked in surprise and his eyes bugged wide. "Wh-what?!"
OoOoOoO
"I'm waiting for an answer," Freeza said with wavering calm and his arms crossed over his chest. Nail looked back at Elder Guru and took a moment to get a sense of how far along Dende was. There was only one thing to do.
"I'll tell you how to summon the Dragon," Nail told him. "If you can defeat me in combat." Freeza didn't know whether to laugh or groan. How could an entire planet be full of such suicidally-honorbound fools?
"Very well," Freeza muttered wearily, "I accept your, ahem, 'challenge'." Nail fought an urge to roll his eyes as he pushed off into the air.
"I cannot risk the Elder Guru's safety," he instructed, causing Freeza to fix the preposterously-bloated ancient with a contemptuous glare, "He is old and frail. If he were to die during our conflict then the Dragon Balls would die with him. You need him alive." Freeza was reluctant to admit that he needed anyone but, reluctantly, he followed Nail up into the air. "Come with me." Nail flew off with Freeza in tow and Guru let out a soft, heartsick sigh as he felt Nail's ki fade off.
'My son,' he thought painfully, 'My strongest, bravest, most dutiful son.' He knew what Nail was planning. Guru only prayed to Porunga that he would not suffer. For not the first time today, although part of Guru wondered if it would be the last, he wondered what they had done that Porunga would punish them so severely.
Nail led Freeza several miles away to a small empty island of blue grass in the middle of the green sea. Although, Nail thought to himself sadly, he supposed all of the islands were empty now. That thought sent a cold shudder through Nail, a cold that was almost instantly burned by the heat of his rage. He would make this monster pay!
"Here is where we will fight," Nail told Freeza as he drug the point of his toe into the dirt to create a line. Freeza chuckled and walked up to the line, one arm held behind his back.
"You really are deluding yourself by using that word," Freeza replied. Nail fixed him with a somewhat curious look. "Fight, my dear savage. There is no battle here, no more than a drop of water could battle a star or an insect battle a volcano. You will never defeat me." Nail only glowered silently, not even making a sound as he powered up and let his ki flare to its highest point. Freeza looked curiously at the numbers on the device covering his eye. "Hrm," he mused, "Twenty thousand. It's impressive, I'll give you that much. You're even more powerful than some of my Ginyu Force. I'd offer you a job if I knew it wouldn't be a waste of time. I, of course, have a power of fifty-five thousand. That's more than twice yours; I know you mongrel species find numbers difficult." Nail continued to glower at him. "Oh come now, mighty warrior. Give me a little speech, won't you? That's how these sorts of things always go. Some heroic words, some act of defi–" Nail lunged forward and smashed the edge of his hand into the side of Freeza's neck with enough force that the ground under Freeza's feet cracked from the shockwave. Freeza didn't even blink. "I'll tell you this," Freeza offered as he grabbed Nail's wrist with one hand, the other still behind his back, "I'll only use this hand. That seems a little more fair, doesn't it? I won't even move from this spot." Then he pulled his arm away, and Nail's arm came with him. Nail staggered back and howled in pain, purple blood spewing in every direction as Freeza eyed the dismembered arm in his hand and dismissively threw it into the sea. Nail grit his teeth to silence his own screams and let out a growl before a fresh arm burst from his shoulder in a fountain of purple blood and green fluids, all of which hit a psychokinetic shield Freeza projected before they could splatter onto Freeza himself. Nail gasped out a few breaths before stepping back to the line as Freeza dropped his shield. "A most amusing trick," Freeza said blithely, "But I notice that doing so sacrificed your Battle Power. Perhaps it would be wiser to forfeit." Nail only roared in response and made for another attack. Freeza wondered just what in the world he hoped to accomplish.
OoOoOoO
Captain Ginyu growled in frustration as he was battered from all sides by the three Earthlings while Vegeta watched impassively. He hit Freeza's ship and groaned as the polyalloy buckled from the impact. He couldn't seem to do any damage to them, this was insane!
"Jeice!" Ginyu snapped as he pulled himself out of the dent the bald one had made with his body. "What's my power level?!" Jeice tapped at his scouter and was shocked at the number he saw.
"U-uh, t-ten thousand, cap'n!"
"WHAT?!" Captain Ginyu snapped angrily. That was a fourth of the power this body should have been able to produce! This was some kind of cruel joke! Ginyu's attention was pulled away, however, as the redheaded one, apparently Goku's mate, grabbed the front of his shirt and kneed him in the gut.
"Okay," she growled at him, "Start talking! You said you 'stole' Goku's body. So where the hell is she?"
"Hi, guys!" a voice called weakly from above. Everyone stopped and looked up to stare at Captain Ginyu wavering in the air with a painful smile on his face. Ginyu let out a groan as the others started putting the pieces together.
"Wait," Krillin said with dawning understanding and horror, "That's Goku?!" Goku winced and gave a little nod.
"Mom," Gohan called up to her, "I think you're still pretty!" Goku gave a half-strength little chuckle and smiled at him.
"Th-thank you, Gohan!" Suno looked back and forth between Goku and Ginyu or was it Ginyu and Goku? Either way, she was both confused and disturbed. That gave Ginyu an opening to kick her in the chest and shove her away into Gohan and Krillin.
"Tell me why I'm not as strong in this body!" Ginyu demanded. Goku gave a weak laugh. "What's so damnably funny?!"
"You don't know how to use my body," Goku explained, "And that includes not being able to use any of my techniques! And there's no way I'm gonna tell ya!" She stuck out her tongue and pulled down one of her eyelids with the hand that wasn't soaked in blood, causing Captain Ginyu to growl furiously.
"Jeice!" He snapped at his last remaining ally. "Get in here and help, you slack-jawed moron!" Jeice ran to his Captain's aid but was suddenly yanked back as Vegeta forcefully grabbed a handful of Jeice's long white hair. Ginyu had told him to cut it half a hundred times!
"I'm afraid that's not going to be an option," Vegeta told Jeice calmly, then he flung Jeice into the air and followed up after him, battering him with a series of vicious punches and kicks.
"Go get him, Vegeta!" Goku called encouragingly as Vegeta and Jeice sailed past.
"Go to hell!" Vegeta shot back as he went past. Goku wondered which one he meant. Apparently he thought there were a lot. She turned her attention back to the ground and watched as the other three beat her up. No, wait, they were beating Ginyu up. But it looked like they were beating her up. She was starting to get a headache, although that could have also been from the blood loss.
"Try not to beat him up too bad, guys!" Goku called down. "We still need him to give me my body back! I don't wanna be stuck in this one!" She regretted saying that almost instantly, though, as she could tell that the others started to hold back because of it and it gave Ginyu a chance to fight back.
Jeice let out a frustrated snarl as Vegeta easily moved around all of his attacks. It was like his hands were going right through Vegeta's body! How was he so fast?! He drew one hand back and generated a massive ball of red energy.
"Crusher Ball!" he roared angrily before flinging it forward. Vegeta smirked and threw a straight jab at the ball, causing it to burst like a balloon. Jeice gawked in horror as smoke curled off the bare skin of Vegeta's hand. "Wh-what the hell is this?!" he demanded, "What kinda trick're you tryin' to pull?"
Vegeta chuckled. "Why don't you check that scouter of yours?" He asked casually before he began to power up with a triumphant cry. Jeice was aghast as the number on his scouter rose and rose.
"Y-y-you weren't even strong enough to beat Recoome on your own! How the hell're you stronger'an me?!"
"It's quite alright to be afraid," Vegeta assured him with a smirk. "After all, that is a natural reaction in the presence of one who is becoming a legend." He spread his arms out wide and lifted his face toward the suns, posturing. Despite everything, Jeice still found enough contempt beneath the terror to roll his eyes.
"Ah, piss off!" he spat. Then he flung both hands forward and blasted Vegeta with a continuous red beam, pouring all of his energy into it. Vegeta held out a hand to effortlessly divert the beam around him as he ominously floated toward Jeice. His other hand suddenly shot forward and grabbed the red man's elbow, snapping it effortlessly and causing Jeice to shriek with pain. As Jeice's mouth was wide open, Vegeta rammed his palm in to hold it open. The other man's eyes went wide with terror and he whimpered and squirmed helplessly as the inside of his mouth began to glow. Showing a remarkable amount of ki control, Jeice's entire body from the chin down was blasted into ash, while the skin, hair, and muscle were blasted off his skull. His eyes, tongue, throat, and brain were evaporated from the heat, leaving a perfectly intact skull in Vegeta's hand.
"Hm," he muttered to himself as he turned the skull over in his hands, "So that's what their skulls look like." Before this whole mess with Kakarot started, Vegeta had an old habit of taking the skulls from every sentient species he killed. Two from each, sometimes three, sometimes just one. It differed from species to species. Back in his luxury quarters on one of the Freeza planets, he remembered, he had an entire room filled wall to wall with skulls. Vegeta realized, with a pang of melancholy, that as he had no doubt been branded a traitor to the Organization, his assets had probably been seized and his quarters sold off. Meaning his collection was long gone. He looked down at the skull, the fascination gone as his face twisted in annoyance and dismay. He gave a sigh of resigned frustration and crushed the skull into dust in his hand.
"Jeeeeice!" Ginyu screamed in heartbroken fury from below. All of his warriors… his Ginyu Force… they were all gone. He had begrudged the assignment of having to train them and had initially seen it as beneath him. Yet, in time, he had worked them to fighting shape and brought them up to his rigorous standards. He had come to love them as his family, even Guldo. And Jeice had been the son he never had. Now they were gone. All of them. He shoved past the other three, past Goku still inhabiting his dying body, and threw all his weight and all his rage into a punch that caught Vegeta directly on the jaw and whipped his head back. He watched as Vegeta turned his head back to face him and rubbed blood from the corner of his lip with a thumb.
"Ohhh," he muttered slowly in an uncomfortably low voice, "This shall be sweet, sweet catharsis." Ginyu's eyes widened with horror as his rage subsided and he realized he had made a horrible mistake.
From below, the trio watched Vegeta beat Ginyu senseless with growing discomfort. After all, even if he was beating up one of the bad guys, that bad guy was in Goku's body, meaning that any damage Vegeta did would eventually come back to Goku once they got her in her own body. They still weren't entirely sure how they were going to force Ginyu to do that.
"Okay," Suno decided, "This has gone far enough. We need to stop him before he beats Ginyu to death and Goku's trapped in that body forever!" Gohan and Krillin nodded before the three of them flew up to try and stop Vegeta's assault. Vegeta, for his part, was having the time of his life. He knew it! He knew he was stronger than Kakarot! No tricks, no games, no techniques to get in his way! He was simply more powerful, as he had been bred to be! He threw his head back and laughed as he sent Ginyu tumbling away with a knee that caught him under the jaw. Although, if Vegeta didn't know any better, Ginyu was laughing as well.
Ginyu was about to die. This body was far weaker than Vegeta's, especially without access to any of Goku's stupid 'techniques', whatever the hell they might be. He only had one chance to save his skin.
"Body…"
This was Goku's one shot, her only chance to get back in her body! She flew with every last ounce of energy she had in her, as straight and true as an arrow as she poured everything into putting herself between Ginyu and Vegeta.
"Change!" Suddenly, Ginyu was plummeting to the ground, still in terrible pain. Although this was a different pain, most of it localized in… in his side. He looked down, in horror, at his purple hands, one of which was covered in layers of dried and drying blood. "No…" he gasped just before he hit the dirt.
Vegeta blinked in confusion as the other three flew up to him and Kakarot while he wondered what the hell was going on.
"Hooray!" Goku celebrated painfully. "I'm back in my body!" she immediately dropped to the ground like a rock. The other four flew down to catch her while Vegeta shrugged and turned his attention back to Ginyu.
"I suppose I'm killing Ginyu one way or the other," he muttered to himself before flying down like a missile with both fists out. This, Ginyu decided, was even better! Vegeta would be killed by his own momentum!
"Body…" Goku heard that word and rolled her eyes with a groan. Even that hurt! She grabbed a rock and flung it at Ginyu, intending to knock him out. "Change!" The rock sailed just over Ginyu, however, hovering between him and Vegeta for just a brief moment. Vegeta drove both fists into Ginyu's chest and was surprised by several things. First and foremost, the fact that Ginyu didn't make a single sound despite a violent and incredibly painful death. That was… disappointing. He didn't even make a sound as Vegeta ripped his fists out of Ginyu's chest cavity. Second of all was the strange look in Ginyu's eyes. It wasn't the faraway look of a dying man or even the empty look of a dead one. There was… nothing. Like a statue. Vegeta shrugged and turned to rejoin the others. Kakarot would probably have to go in a healing tank. Assuming he hadn't blown them all up. That was a rare moment of regret on Vegeta's part. He was completely unaware of the rock less than a hundred yards away from Ginyu's corpse.
OoOoOoO
This is how it feels to be Captain Ginyu right now. Just a moment ago, you were in blinding agony. Yet now you would gladly take that agony back for at least then you would be feeling a sensation. Because now there is nothing. No sight, no sound, no hearing, no breathing. You have lived in countless bodies and experienced those senses in countless ways, more than any other being alive. Even mighty Freeza could never experience all that you have. Yet now there is an eternal blackness. Not even blackness, there is a nothingness, for you cannot experience the light to have the contrast. You cannot speak. You cannot ever leave this body, this… prison. You cannot even die. Stones do not bleed. Stones do not drown. If you break, you will live in the pieces, no matter how small those pieces might be. There is no escape. This is how it feels to be Captain Ginyu… forever.