The Three Legendary Saiyans.
Chapter 72: The Team Separates
As the flashes of the empty white void between Universes and Dimensions faded into the all-too-familiar sight of the dome-shaped building of Capsule Corp, a team of ten stood battered, bruises and bleeding from numerous cuts and gashes but still stood victorious after a long and hard-fought battle.
"I have to say its good to see home again" Gohan spoke first as the all-too-familiar view of the dome-shaped building of Capsule Corporation entered everybody's field of sight after traversing the empty white void of between Universes and Dimensions.
"I know what you mean Gohan… I didn't think we were going to survive when it was just me and Jiren" Raijin spoke as he felt like he'd been hit with several hundred trucks; the bruising from all the blows he'd suffered would take weeks to recover from.
"Oh shut up… you charged headlong into that fight without so much as a second thought" Vegeta scoffed; feeling displeased that it wasn't him who'd felled Jiren in the final bout and had to watch from the side-lines as Raijin had again leapt forward and met him on equal levels of strength.
"We still won didn't we! It doesn't matter what Raijin was thinking" Krillin spoke up in defence of Raijin's recklessness when he too knew that Raijin could have launched a surprise attack to eliminate Jiren without a fight but had instead chose to battle one-on-one.
"Actually I did think about what if I lost; but I couldn't let self-defeating thoughts get in the way of the final minute, that was when that silver light appeared" Raijin spoke solemnly; having pondered the cost of his defeat and all that would have been lost; the image of a version of himself clad in silver light appearing in his Mindscape though had not given it any more thought due to the direness of needing to defeat Jiren.
"Oh; that reminds me" Whis remarked from the back of the group; twirling his Staff over in a loop before pointing the floating orb atop the shaft at Frieza with all those gathered to watch with shock as the Halo over Frieza's head disappear with Frieza himself taking in a deep lungful of oxygen as his life had been returned to him.
"Oh yeah; I forgot to tell you all… I promised to revive Frieza as long as he fought for us" Goku remarked; shrinking away as his fellow teammates all glowered at him with glowing red eyes beaming out through shadowed faces.
"What the hell Goku?!" Raijin shouted; turning with an expression of shock and impending anger as he and Vegeta faced Goku with expressions that demanded an explanation as to why their nemesis had again been returned to life.
"I think you've taken a few too many punches to the head…" Piccolo grunted; also unimpressed and displeased with Goku's actions to recruit Frieza regardless of the decision to revive a monster like Frieza.
"Well; now that your part of our little bargain has been fulfilled… I shall be off" Frieza spoke as his black lips curled into a satisfied smile as his body became clad in a deep purple aura before bursting off the ground leaving only a purple trail in the blue sky above and a scorch mark in the pavement.
"I'm going to regret this… aren't I?" Goku spoke to himself as observed that the eyes of his many friends were all glaring at him; if looks could kill then Goku would be laying dead at their feet.
"Yes! Yes you are" Nodded everyone gathered only excluding Beerus and Whis who merely glanced to one another with looks of exasperation with Goku's inability to inform anyone of the deals he makes behind their backs.
"Guys;' I don't mean to make you all angry at me… it was the only way to get Frieza to join us!" Goku pleaded; holding up his hands for mercy as he spoke on a previously dire situation where they'd been short one team member and could not rely on the likes of Buu or Monaka in the dire moments prior to departure.
"Surely you could have chosen somebody else, someone like Future-Trunks? I would have accepted Tien or Yamcha" Piccolo barked; displeased with Goku's choice in team members when perfectly acceptable warriors still resided on Earth, noting that he'd not mentioned Gotenks due to the fact that a Fused Being would only exist for thirty minutes and if eliminated would have cost them two Member's instead of one.
"I would have liked Future-Trunks to join us but I couldn't reach him! He's supposedly out fixing another Alternate Timeline that's gone bad" Goku pleaded yet again; speaking on he'd attempted to recruit Future-Trunks but had been confronted by a Masked Saiyan who'd repelled his invitation.
"Raijin! You hate Frieza just as much as us all for what happened on Namek, aren't you going to say anything?" Krillin yelled; having been witness to Frieza's slaughter of The Namekians and Raijin's anger and rage inducing several near-transformations long before he and Goku had fully transformed together.
"I'm honestly not worried; I swore to Frieza's face that if he ever tries to conquer our planet again then I'm going to send him straight back to Hell where he belongs and now that I have Golden Super Saiyan 4 under my belt, I believe I can do it" Raijin spoke calmly though his voice was shaky from his annoyance towards Goku's lack of foresight nor informing them of his deal with Frieza, his intentions to be the one to end Frieza's life for the third time resolute in what he hoped would be in the near future.
"But how do you know he's not going to return with greater power? His Golden Form is already a match for our Super Saiyan Blue and your Super Saiyan 4 Full Power" Piccolo again spoke with a warning; Frieza's power having grown greatly to the point that he already rivalled The Saiyans that their strongest.
"Its simple; we get stronger so if he does attempt to attack us, we crush him" Raijin answered with a confident smile, Vegeta grinning back at him for Raijin gave him the exact answer he expected from a Pure-Blood Saiyan.
"What the actual hell?! You were gone an hour! How'd you all get so badly injured?" Screamed Bulma's voice as she came marching out from a door that Raijin knew that led to The Underground Tram and The Research Laboratory, Bulma striding in with her white-lab coat on and a number of passes stuffed into a pocket.
"Well a lot happened Bulma; and our opponents were a lot harder to defeat than we thought" Goku spoke briefly; standing shakily as his body had still not recovered after utilising the Mastered Ultra Instinct Form but had enough strength to move though each movement clearly caused him pain by his flinching brow.
"Yeah; when those machine guys combined with the purple scientist guy, I thought we were done for" 17 and 18 spoke together; exchanging a smile as they'd not spoken in unison like that since their days with Doctor Gero in an attempt to break free from his control though ignoring their own wounds minor as they were.
"I know; I'm amazed we even had the energy to keep fighting after that" Raijin spoke up; their struggle against Agnilasa leaving them almost drained of energy and stamina that yet they'd had to face off with Jiren, Toppo and Dyspo afterwards, looking back their victory had been a miracle.
"It was a team effort; but what about those Love Maidens?! I'd like to face them again" Goku confirmed that though they'd all reached new levels of strength or new forms, the strength of the team had led to their victory though he admitted to a desire to fight The Maidens again but this time fight three-against-one.
"They had some interesting techniques and they drew energy from each other like nothing I've ever seen" Roshi admitted; impressed that The Three Maiden's drew their power from not only their comrades but also the odd glowsticks their teammates carried.
"ENOUGH! You can discuss your fights another time but right now you all need to heal those injuries" Bulma announced with a bellowing shout; stamping her foot on the floor so harshly that Ewan and Raijin both stood to attention when Bulma spoke commandingly.
"Hey Bulma! About what we talked about…" Goku spoke up between the sudden silence amongst his team; scratching the back of his head as the prizes he'd promised his fellows would be provided by Bulma was imminently about to be revealed.
"Yeah sure, I supply the prizes for the team and I get one wish on The Dragon Balls any time I want and I've already assembled three and a team are recovering the fourth"
"Wait, what?!" Raijin and Vegeta spluttered; taking spit-takes as they'd both not known that Bulma was assembling The Dragon Balls for a wish of her own when those orbs were only meant to be used in times of emergency.
"Raijin, Vegeta, I do a lot for this planet; I think I deserve one a moment of selfishness" Bulma spoke with a wave of her fingers; pressing her hand to her chest as she had more than earned a moment of selfishness.
"But what on Earth are you going to wish for?" Raijin questioned; curious of what Bulma could possibly be planning on wishing Shenron for when she already had near limitless resources both in Capsule Corp and her Secret Laboratory but also stood as the richest woman on the entire planet.
"That's for me to know and you to find out Raijin" Bulma spoke; pressing her left index finger to her lips and then pressing that same finger to Raijin's lips in the gesture of an indirect kiss, Raijin merely smiling as whenever he saw his wife he felt warm and safe.
"And when exactly were you going to tell us you're gathering The Dragon Balls?" Raijin asked carefully; knowing full well how quickly The Dragon Balls could be gathered with Capsule Corp's technology.
"I've already located four Dragon Balls with the new up-to-date radar and closing in one the fifth and sixth, and you're hearing about it now" Bulma answered without so much as a second's wait, though she left out where the balls were being kept though Raijin could shy a guess being either Her Office or The Laboratory.
"Bulma; I request use of your Healing Chamber" Vegeta spoke highly; his royal tone of voice returning after his last use of such a tone against Goku Black, Bulma merely staring at the fist-shaped bruises and burns Vegeta had suffered though she'd seen him in worse condition.
"As a matter of fact I did prepare the Healing Chambers just in case any of you returned with injuries" Bulma answered; gesturing behind her as Vegeta and Raijin both knew that The Healing Chamber's were almost always prepared after they'd been off fighting a great evil or just trading fists in training sessions.
"I would prefer an old fashioned Senzu Bean" Goku remarked; having used a Healing Chamber aboard Frieza's Ship on Namek and had not enjoyed the experience of having to sense a momentous battle against the tyrant only for him to step out and only bear witness to Frieza's True Form and not the various other forms he'd employed.
"Sadly Korin hadn't had any ripe enough before we left" Piccolo spoke glumly as he'd checked with Korin about Senzu Beans but none had fully grown and wouldn't heal their most extensive injuries though Shin had healed the worst wounds.
"Healing Chamber it is then" Vegeta continued his walk to the series of chambers reverse engineered by Bulma and her Staff after taking schematics from Frieza's Spaceship back on Namek, her invention being one of two that Vegeta actually praised with the first being The Gravity Chamber for his training and second being The Healing Chambers for a quick recovery.
Goku watched as Vegeta marched off for a Healing Chamber; sensing that all others were about to leave, merely giving a wave of his hand as he raised his fingers to his forehead before vanishing on the spot, his Instant Transmission allowing him to escape the still-leering stares from those still resenting his deal with Frieza.
Raijin stood watching as Goku teleported away; scoffing as Goku always made decisions without consulting his friends and comrades but he couldn't fault Goku for reviving Frieza as though he'd never admit it out loud but knew that Frieza had been an important part of winning The Tournament of Power.
"Before we leave; I just want to say that you all did a splendid job protecting this Universe, be proud of your victory today and remember how hard you fought for all life" Whis chimed; his cheerful demeanour having returned after winning through an impossible situation, tapped the butt of his staff on the floor before he and Beerus vanished on the spot.
"Goodbye everyone; I should get back to Videl and Pan, this has been fun" Gohan gave a wave of his hand before floating off the ground as Piccolo rose up into the air alongside Gohan.
"I'll go with you; it'll be nice to see them before returning to The Lookout" Piccolo spoke; exchanging a familial smile with Gohan before the pair flew off into the sunset sky.
"17; get your family ready for that yacht vacation" Bulma gave 17 a thumbs-up as he returned the gesture before flying off alongside 18 and Krillin.
Master Roshi gave a simple wave before we walked after Krillin and 18 on their return to Kame House.
"If I may… it is good to see that you won your battle Sir Raijin" spoke the voice of Ewan; stepping out from the corner of a hallway leading to the hidden tram, his white lab-coat bearing a clip-on badge that Raijin had never seen before; likely to do with a new project though he wondered by the emblem for the project was that of seven overlapping orange orbs.
"Thank you Ewan" Raijin answered while giving Ewan a friendly pat on his shoulder as he passed; knowing that Ewan was no harm and was a trustworthy confidant when it came to Bulma's work in that secret lab, excluding whatever secret project she was currently working on that Ewan had been tight-lipped regarding its exact specifications.
Expressing a beaming pride in Raijin as the man himself walked past though with a notable limp in his step due to the injuries suffered by the hands of the many foes fought, Ewan cast his eyes towards the Tram that would take him not only to The Research Laboratory but to a certain secret project that he and Bulma as well as other scientists who had knowledge of The Dragon Balls were working on.
Floating off the ground and ascending the stairwell until reaching the doorway to his and Bulma's home; Raijin carefully flew through the doors only to set himself down upon a couch and switch on their television only to see that one of Hercule's many movies was still playing from before his departure, amused by the absurdity of the movie's plot that portrayed Hercule as a sole tough-as-nails cop taking on a gang of terrorists occupying a high-rise.
Giggling to himself as he watched the movie displaying Hercule throwing the terrorist leader off the top of the high-rise to his death just as the door he'd flown through burst open followed by his son: Trunks emerging into his field of vision.
"Dad! What happened at The Tournament? I wanna hear everything! The other teams! Everyone you fought and defeated" Trunks spoke up; running over to Raijin's side with Mai, Pilaf and Shu in tow, all eager to hear the story of what had happened in the last hour for Raijin to have returned in such a beaten condition.
"Trunks… pull up a seat and let me tell you everything" Raijin spoke as he laid backwards on the couch and relaxed but wincing in pain from his many bruises; looking to his son with a smile as he saw the eager expressions on the children all wanting to learn about everything his father had seen and fought against only to come out victorious.
Meanwhile in the depths of Space; Frieza floated in the vast darkness of the cosmos with Earth having long since faded behind him due to his great speed, coming to a halt in orbit of a wide gas giant of a planet with rings around its horizon, his burns and bruises aching from the fierce battle but Frieza instead flexed the muscles in his newly-revived body as something felt different about his physical form; a new strange sensation flowed through his veins as he drew on this new energy that ran in his veins: a dark sensation that he'd only felt twice before… from Lord Beerus and Toppo.
Stretching out his hand as he drew on that dark sensation as a purple glowing orb generated in his palm that radiated the Destroyer Energy that only Gods of Destruction could wield, "That's interesting to know, now I have something to use against those filthy monkeys when they inevitably try to return me to Hell… I'll relish the moment I kill them".
Frieza tightened his fists moments before cladding himself in golden flames and returning to his Golden Form, leaving a burning trail as he jetted off further into Space; his plan to rebuild his army to realise his goals, destroy The Saiyans by whatever means necessary before moving on to his new ultimate objective.