Chapter Sixty-nine
Will the Nightmare Ever End?! Vegeta's Desperate Plan!
Freeza rocked his freakishly-elongated head from side to side and rolled his shoulders as Piccolo and the others could only watch in frozen terror. He flexed his fingers and toes, swishing his tail from side to side.
"I haven't used this one in quite some time," he reminded Piccolo, "So I do hope you'll give me a moment to get reacquainted with it." His mouth quirked up in a terrifying bastardization of a smile as he threw a series of jabs at the air which were so fast that Piccolo barely saw his arms as anything more than a blur. A bead of panicked sweat trickled down Piccolo's forehead and painfully set in a cut just above his left eye as Freeza turned his attention back to him. "Now then," Freeza asked, "Where were we?" Before Piccolo had a chance to respond, Freeza had already smacked him through three islands.
Gohan chewed his lip fretfully as he watched Freeza beat Mr. Piccolo senseless. He was feeling stronger since Dende had healed him, definitely, but was he strong enough to help Mr. Piccolo? Would he even be able to damage Freeza? Or would he just get in the way?
"You got enough energy left for another Kienzan?" Suno asked Krillin. He chuckled bitterly and shook his head.
"Are you kidding? At this point, I'm basically doing everything I can to stay airborne. I think we're all running on empty."
Meanwhile, Vegeta kept looking back and forth between Dende, then Suno, then Krillin as if weighing something in his mind. It was a completely insane plan, Vegeta knew, with almost no guarantee they wouldn't just betray him again and let him bleed to death. At this late stage in the game, however, what choice did he have?
Freeza was using the back of Piccolo's head to burrow a trench in the dirt before he flung the Namekian warrior up into the air and smacked him higher into the air with his tail as though he were hitting a baseball. Piccolo struggled to bring himself to a halt in the air and hung there for a moment as he gasped for breath. This was bad. He had to think of something quickly if he wanted any chance to survive.
'Perhaps I could enlarge myself,' he thought. The second the idea even popped into his head, Piccolo realized he was grasping at straws. That technique hadn't even worked against Son Goku six years ago; why would it work now against a far more powerful opponent? 'And not even a jar to attempt the Mafuuba with,' Piccolo mused bitterly. It was at times like these when he desperately wished he could spit up demons like his previous incarnation. At least then the sheer mass of bodies might have left Freeza occupied long enough for Piccolo to come up with some sort of plan. How had everything gone so sour so quickly?!
"What's this?" Freeza asked with a smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest and floated up to meet Piccolo. "You're not done already, are you? What happened to all that talk about making me pay for my crimes, hmm?" He chuckled as Piccolo let out another ragged gasp and shook his head. "I suppose that you've figured out one of the truths of the universe, then. The strong never 'pay' for anything for it is our power that allows us to do whatever we like. And there is no one more powerful than I." Piccolo ground his teeth as Freeza mockingly gestured toward his chin, sticking it out for the Namekian. "In a gesture of my divine magnanimousness, I shall allow you one shot. I'd advise you to make it count." To Freeza's surprise, Piccolo actually floated towards him. He was certain his foe was going to take a good minute or two charging up one of those ridiculous energy blasts. "Coming in nice and close, are we?" Freeza asked. Piccolo chuckled and, before Freeza had a chance to react, lightning shot out of Piccolo's antennae and paralyzed Freeza on the spot, leaving him rigid.
"Got you!" Piccolo declared triumphantly as he launched his attack, swarming Freeza with a series of punches and kicks, going all-out on the alien despot while he was dazed and defenseless. In his moment of supreme arrogance, Freeza had left himself completely exposed, and now Piccolo was making him pay for it, throwing all his weight and every ounce of his strength into each blow. He brought both hands over his head and spiked Freeza down into the sea, following with a furious barrage of ki blasts so numerous and powerful that they exposed the ocean floor below as Freeza was trapped under the assault. Piccolo charged all his power into one hand and flung it down at Freeza with every ounce of vile and venom that was coursing through his veins. "OBLITERATE!" An enormous beam of yellow ki blasted from Piccolo's hand and flattened Freeza down to the ground, shoving him down into a crater in a massive explosion of yellow light.
"Jeez," Krillin muttered as he shielded his eyes from the light with his forearm, "That should've done something." Vegeta scoffed and shook his head.
"At this point, there's only one thing that's going to defeat Freeza," Vegeta told them. "The Super Saiyan."
"You mentioned that before," Suno said, "And how Goku might be that. What is a Super Saiyan?" Vegeta sighed but, before he could explain, Freeza burst out of the sea and flew back toward Piccolo. Despite throwing everything he had into that attack and despite Freeza being completely unable to defend himself, the only damage Piccolo seemed to have caused was a series of scorch marks across Freeza's bony armor. Piccolo gawked in helpless horror while Freeza clapped politely.
"A spirited effort," Freeza commended, "With a bit of trickery and subterfuge as well, for such an 'honorable' warrior. I admire that level of selfless hypocrisy, I truly do. Because of that, I shall grant you a swift and painless death." Freeza extended two fingers of each hand and chuckled as a bead of pink light formed between the tips of his fingers. "That's a lie, actually. This will be protracted and extremely painful." Piccolo opened his mouth, no doubt to let out some last defiantly witty remark, yet the only sound that came was a scream as his body was wracked with agony and convulsed violently from an inescapably fast onslaught of pink death spears, Freeza laughing maniacally as he jabbed his fingers at Piccolo again and again, tiny explosions bursting off of Piccolo's skin as the blasts punched holes through his body.
OoOoOoO
"Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan screamed in panic. Not again, he told himself, not again! He wouldn't let Mr. Piccolo die again! He let out a roar before flying towards Freeza, his blood boiling and his vision turning red as he rocketed towards the monstrous alien with both fists out.
"Gohan, wait!" Suno cried as she tried to fly after him. Vegeta put out an arm to stop both her and Krillin, however, before they could do anything.
"Neither of you is going anywhere," he told them bluntly, "Because there's something I need from you." By the expression on his face, it was clear that the statement nearly made Vegeta physically ill. Suno huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Make it quick."
"Believe me," Vegeta assured them, "The last thing in the universe I want is to turn to you two primitives for help again. You want to know what the Super Saiyan is? It is the ideal Saiyan warrior. The paragon of all that we are. Unstoppably violent, mercilessly inexorable, impossibly powerful. Even Freeza feared its power. It is why he killed our race. It is the most fearsome warrior the universe has ever known."
"And you think that's you," Krillin cut in dryly. Vegeta frowned and rolled his eyes.
"By process of elimination," he retorted, "The Super Saiyan can only be either myself, Kakarot, or the abomin–"
"Gohan," Suno told him sternly. "My son's name is Gohan. He's been fighting alongside you for a couple days now, we all have, Gohan almost died fighting helping your pompous ass, and he was the first one to help you. You want our help? Start calling him by his name." The look Vegeta shot her made it painfully obvious that he wanted nothing so much as to kick her head into one of Namek's three suns but he let out a breath that was similar in sound to a boiling kettle and threw up his hands.
"Fine," he growled. "Either myself, Kakarot, or Gohan. And unless the Gods have already decided that my life is some great jape for their amusement, it's going to be me."
"Then why haven't you done it already?" Krillin asked. Vegeta actually balled his fists and was a heartbeat away from punching Krillin's head into a chunky slaw with a single blow before he sighed and opened his hands again.
"I'm not strong enough," he admitted. "Something's missing. I need something to push me over the edge. I need one of you… to almost kill me."
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While all of this was going on, Gohan smashed into Freeza's side with both fists and sent him flying away from Piccolo who immediately began plummeting to the ground. Freeza was shocked to discover, as Gohan hit him with a blistering barrage of punches to his side, that these were still hurting him, ever so slightly, and that the boy seemed to be growing even stronger.
'Could he–?' Freeza thought even as he slapped the half-breed away. 'No,' he assured himself, 'Impossible! It's not real. It's just a stupid legend. Furthermore, no child shall ever possess the power to slay Freeza the divine!' Gohan came at him doggedly, though, charging ki into his fists to give them a little extra kick. Gohan threw a flying kick into the side of Freeza's head, still screaming with fury all the while. Freeza prepared a counterattack that would have cleaved Gohan cleanly in half but something brought his movements to a halt. A flicker of lightning. A flash as red turned to gold. A twinkle as black changed to teal. It gave Freeza just a moment's pause and the briefest pang of terror that chilled his blood. That allowed Gohan to grab Freeza by the tail and spin him around and around before flinging him to the ground below and slamming his hands to his side.
"Kaaa meee…"
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"I'm sorry," Krillin objected, "Back up, you want us to what?"
"Haven't you noticed," Vegeta explained, "How Saiyans get stronger after every brush with death? Kakarot, myself, Gohan? I'll lower my power down as far as I can–"
"Wow," Suno muttered sarcastically, "Thanks."
"Shut up– Which should allow one of you to hit me with a mortal blow." Then he looked at Krillin. "In truth, I trust you with this task more than her, bald one." Krillin started to tell Vegeta his name before Suno interjected.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Suno asked hotly. "What, just because you almost killed me, my wife, and my son, you think I'm going to act irrationally here and just kill you out of spite?"
"Well you are a woman," Vegeta shot back. "Rationality is not your strongest suit."
"ARE YOU SURE YOU JUST WANT ME TO ALMOST KILL YOU?!"
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"Haaa meee…"
OoOoOoO
"Okay, fine," Krillin cut in before things could get any uglier, "I'll do it. Then what?" Vegeta jerked a thumb down to Dende, who had caught Piccolo and was already healing him.
"The Namekian boy will use his healing magic to fix me. That should give me the boost I need to fight Freeza evenly and kill him."
"What makes you think Dende will want to help you?" Suno asked.
"Even dying," Vegeta pointed out smugly, "I shall be strong enough to snap his neck."
"Are threats of violence always your first choice?"
"...Are they not yours?"
OoOoOoO
"HAAAAAA!" Gohan roared as he threw his hands forward, a blue-white beam of light streaking down towards Freeza and blasting him into the dirt as he started to stand up. Gohan put all his strength into the blast. He'd never used his mothers' attack before but it seemed appropriate to use on this jerk right now. Although Gohan couldn't see it, Freeza put his hands up against the beam to push it off himself and slowly rose to his feet. Then he drew a fist back and punched the blast into oblivion. Gohan stared down at Freeza, who glowered back up before flying slowly toward him.
"You're awfully persistent, aren't you?" Freeza asked with a smirk. "Don't you know who you're dealing with? You've had plenty of chances to run." Gohan balled up his fists and moved into his guard.
"I won't run," Gohan told him defiantly. "I'm not afraid of you." Freeza chuckled.
"Then you will die braver than most."
OoOoOoO
Piccolo sat up suddenly, taking his breath in gulps as he looked down at his no-longer perforated flesh. "Wh-what happened?" he asked breathlessly.
"I healed you," a young voice explained. Piccolo looked to his left and saw a young Namekian smiling at him. Some part of him, perhaps whatever part of Nail that remained, told Piccolo that this boy's name was Dende.
"Thank you, Dende," Piccolo said as he rubbed the boy's head fondly. The young Namekian stared at him in surprise.
"How do you know my name?" he asked. Piccolo smiled.
"Nail told me," he explained before standing up. "You'd better stay hidden," Piccolo told him. "It's far too dangerous for you to be out in the open." Then he flew back towards the fight, his clothes a tatter but his body restored and his spirit as resilient as ever. Gohan had saved him this time and he would not let the boy fight alone!
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"Okay," Suno muttered as she caught Freeza advancing toward Gohan out of the corner of her eye, "Krillin, help Vegeta with his dumbass plan, I gotta go help Gohan and Piccolo fight." As she flew towards her son, she wasn't sure what she could do against Freeza but she knew that she had to do something.
"O-okay," Krillin said reluctantly as he pressed his hand flat against Vegeta's stomach, "Juuuust tell me when you're ready!" Vegeta sighed and closed his eyes, bracing himself. Krillin could actually sense the Saiyan's ki steadily dropping.
"Do it," Vegeta grunted. Krillin nodded and, taking a moment to remind himself of his friends that Vegeta and Nappa had slain, sent a blast of ki through Vegeta's abdomen that burst out through Vegeta's back. To Vegeta's credit, he never made a sound. He plummeted out of the sky like a stone, his vision already going spotty, and tried to will himself to control his descent so that he would land on the same island Dende was on.
Krillin swallowed nervously as he watched Vegeta tumble down and really hoped he hadn't fucked everyone over before he flew off to join the others. 'Heal faster, Goku,' Krillin thought. 'Heal faster!'
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"What's your name, boy?" Freeza asked. "I like to remember the particularly tenacious ones. There are so few that can actually challenge me so I've grown to settle for looking back fondly on those that annoyed me."
"My name is Son Gohan," Gohan told him defiantly. "I am the son of Son Goku and Son Suno. I don't care how powerful you are, I'm going to beat you!" That made Freeza let out a guffaw of genuine, non-derisive laughter as the others flew to join them.
"Hrm," he mused, "So the gang's all here. Save for Vegeta, of course. Turned traitor and hid somewhere, has he?" That was when Gohan realized that Freeza couldn't sense ki. If he had, he would have noticed when Vegeta's ki dropped as suddenly as it had. Freeza shrugged before continuing. "I suppose it hardly matters. I'll dig him out of whatever hole he's hiding in once I'm done with the four of you. Or perhaps I'll just blow the whole rock up, save myself some time, eh?" He held up four fingers, each one glowing with a point of lethal light. "I could kill all of you, as I am, right now. Yet you all have been so frustratingly resistant to this whole dying business that I believe you all should be rewarded. Come with me, please." The lights on his fingers went out and he began to float down toward the island beneath them. The four stayed exactly where they were. "If you're not going to follow me, I'm going to assume you want to skip to the part where you die and I'll just kill you now." Reluctantly, they followed.
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As Dende moved to what he thought was a safe distance and hid carefully behind a rock, he was shocked when a body fell out of the sky and landed not even a foot away from him. It took Dende a moment to realize who it was but he quickly recognized him as the Saiyan who had threatened to break his neck if Dende had not made him immortal. He had also showed up at Guru's home and had requested the Earthlings' help. Even from that first brief encounter, Dende had sensed the evil that clung to this man like a cloud of poison. He assumed that one of the others had finally sensed it as well and killed him, explaining the smoking, gaping hole in his stomach.
Then he stood up.
Dende screamed in panic and scrambled backwards as the Saiyan began to stagger towards him.
"H-heal m-me," he demanded, his hands outstretched, grasping at the air with each rubber-legged step.
"You're e–evil!" Dende protested. "You threatened to kill me! You want to become immortal, just like Freeza!"
"Get back here, you coward!" the Saiyan snarled, his eyelids slowly starting to sink as he collapsed to his knees. "If you don't heal me, those fools you care about are going to die!" Then he fell forward into the dirt with a groan. Dende chewed his lip thoughtfully, his antennae twitching feverishly with panic. He could feel the evil man's life energy bleeding out. He could let him die and the universe would be better for it. But what if he was right? What if the others were depending on this monster and, by refusing to help him, Dende was putting his friends in danger? He looked down at his hands fretfully before looking up to the sky.
'Guru,' he thought, 'Send me your wisdom! What should I do?!'
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"As I said before," Freeza began once everyone was on the ground, "I have one further transformation after this limiting form. My final, true form. None have ever looked upon it and survived outside of my own family."
"Wait," Krillin said suddenly, "Limiting? True form? So these transformations haven't been making you stronger?" Why the hell was he even asking? Why did it matter?
Freeza shrugged. "In a sense, I suppose," he replied. "I created these forms to have control over my godlike strength so that I would not kill those around me when I gestured for someone to bring me a coffee."
"I'm sorry," Suno interjected, "You have coffee?"
Freeza blinked. "...Do you?"
"Why not simply train yourself to control your power?" Piccolo asked. Why had he joined in the game of asking inane questions?
"Oh goodness," Freeza muttered with a dismissive wave, "That sounds like far too much work. But I digress. Because of your persistence, I shall allow you all to look upon my true self and bask in the face of one as close to divinity as any of you shall ever come." In a less terrifying situation, Suno would have remarked that, technically, God had presided over her wedding. Now her mouth was dry and her wit had gone with it. Freeza splayed his hands out at his side and began to glow. "Bow before me," he commanded them. "Fall to your knees and grovel before my radiance!" Freeza's body suddenly turned bright white and they lifted their arms to shield themselves from the blinding light and the hurricane winds that were whipped up by his aura.
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'Whoa,' Goku thought with growing worry, 'That power is getting huge! That must be Freeza!' It seemed like the longer she sat in this tank, the worse things got for everyone else!
OoOoOoO
Freeza was encapsulated in an opaque bubble of pure light, his voice echoing and booming like an angry deity, completely filling their heads with its power. Lightning arced off the bubble and they had to dive out of the way to avoid being struck. Just his transforming could kill them!
"Behold the face of power!" he bellowed. "Behold a might beyond your mortal comprehension!" The light grew brighter and brighter, the winds ever fiercer and the lightning shooting out faster. "Witness the might of a God made flesh! Cower in my grandeur like an insect cowers before the sun!" The bubble burst, the force of the violent explosion driving everyone to the ground. "Revere me! Praise me! The most powerful and noble being in all of creation!" He was shorter now, barely taller than his first form. He had no horns or patches of bone armor, only smooth white skin with purple biogems on his shins, forearms, shoulders, the center of his chest, and the top of his head. His eyes were full of cool contempt. His power was physically painful to try and sense. "Bask in the glory of Freeza the Almighty!"