6 months after Beerus, the God of Destruction came to earth, he watches on as both the saiyans he had taken under his wing continue to train with his attendant, Whis. Ever since he fought Goku back on earth, he had been trying to get the saiyans to achieve the power of the Super Saiyan God at will, but so far, very minor progress has been made, the most they've been able to do so far is merely sense godly energy with the minute amount of divine power they have. Goku and Vegeta were attempting once again to hit Whis for their training session, but today like many others before, their lack of coordination is offering very little results. Vegeta, with his harsh and aggressive movements provided very little openings for Goku to get opportune strikes, likewise, Goku's lack of pressure on the fight gave the Angel they faced far too many openings to evade and even taunt the saiyans as they flailed about with no regard for each other.
"Either pick up the pace or get out of my way Kakarot!"
"Why don't you slow down and let me get him cornered?!" As they argued, Whis simply smirked and picked a nearby flower, inhaling its aroma while seamlessly dodging every attack that came his way without even opening his eyes.
"Damn you! Quit mocking us!" Vegeta powered up into Super Saiyan 2 and pushed forward ever faster, leaving Goku behind as he overtook the fight. Whis glided along the water of the nearby lake, his movements barely making any ripples before being turned turbulent by the furious prince tailing him. Vegeta's arms were a blur as he desperately tried to land a hit on Whis, but it seemed as though he was taking this fight less seriously than before; he changed up his style by attempting to throw a roundhouse kick, but Whis simply lifted his legs in a jumping motion, landing on Vegeta's foot, bending down and smiling at the Saiyan.
"Well now, a change in flighting style was clever, I'll give you that."
"Why you!" He angrily twisted his body to throw a punch, but Whis vanished right before impact, causing Vegeta to punch Goku square in the jaw, who was about to fly in and hit Whis from behind, instead, his punch connected with Vegeta's cheek, causing both Saiyans to drop into the water, unconscious. When they both came to, they were laying on the ground in front of the lake, looking upwards and seeing Beerus fishing atop a tree stump.
"Ah good, you're both awake." They heard Whis's voice in front of them, causing them to sit up and look at their current teacher.
"You just had to get a shot in at me Kakarot."
"Hey, I was just trying to catch him off guard, it's not my fault you didn't know I was coming in."
"My word, so much bickering, even outside battle. It's a wonder how you two can fight anyone when you're so busy fighting each other. It's so bad to the point I even signed both of your uniforms while in the middle of our exercises." Whis said with a smile, holding up a permanent marker. Goku and Vegeta looked down in bewilderment as they saw the insignia on their left sides.
"When did he have time to do that?" Goku asked as he pulled on his Gi to get a better look.
"Do you know why you have such a hard time trying to hit me?" Whis began to walk as he spoke, inciting his students to follow him without a word. "You both are genius fighters individually, however, together, your differing styles and attitudes clash like oil and water. Vegeta, you put an immense amount of pressure on your opponents, giving them little time to attack back, however, this gives you tunnel vision and disregards any threats apart from your primary target, causing more intelligent fighters to use their surroundings against you. Your primary lesson here is to learn how to slow down and take fights less seriously, assess the situation before you to create and take advantage of an opponent's weak points."
"He's right, you do fight pretty harsh hehe." Whis's eyes narrowed at Goku as he said this and quickly hit him in his side, causing the orange-clad saiyan to double over in pain. "Agh! What the heck was that for?!"
"However, being too lax in a fight can also be a detriment. If you wait for an opening that never comes, you're just wasting energy instead of trying to progress the fight and creating more openings for yourself as you grow more tired. Therefore, your primary lesson is to maximize the efficiency in your movements, attack with a purpose rather than just prolonging the fight and hoping for a lucky shot."
"Yeah, that's all well and good, but how does that help us with fighting together?" Vegeta said, his arms crossed as per usual. Whis wagged his finger with a coy smile.
"Impatient as always. If you let me continue?" Vegeta simply turned to the side, pointing his nose to the air, but giving a "proceed" gesture. "Good! Now then, once you both overcome your shortcomings, you'll be on the path to reading one another's movements in the middle of battle. Your current issue is that you lack communication, you wish to take on an opponent yourselves for the glory of it, to lord it over one another, rather than share and co-operate for a mutual goal. Take for example, our latest session, that double knockout was caused because of your tunnel vision and Goku's lack of self preservation in the face of an opening. If you two had taken the time to think and observe, you wouldn't have taken one another out so easily."
"But it's hard to think about other things while also thinking about fighting. I gotta focus on one of those things more than the other." Goku said, rubbing his still sore side.
"And that's exactly why you fail. You both keep thinking too much and spreading your minds too thin amongst other subjects and that slows your movements and other senses immensely."
"So what, we're just supposed to fight without thinking?" Vegeta said, not buying it.
"Precisely." Whis commented, smelling a flower with his eyes closed, yet catching a honeybee by the wings with such precision and delicacy, the bee itself barely felt Whis's fingertips restraining it. He set the bee upon the flower as he explained more. "The less you think about the fight at hand, the more your body does the movements for you, the more it adapts and the more time you have to plan ahead, almost as if you're predicting the future, while your body writes the present. You saiyans have an incredible reliance on those transformations of yours, but if you're out of forms and the opponent is still stronger, what then? If you allow me to guide you along this path, you'll have less of a need to transform as your bodies will adapt accordingly to any threat at hand. I will warn you though, it is an incredibly difficult process, one that not even Lord Beerus has gotten the hang of and he has more divine power in a toenail clipping than both of you combined. Trust me, whatever godly power you currently have is merely scratching the surface of the surface of what I have to offer." With that, Whis vanished as he heard Lord Beerus calling him, leaving Goku and Vegeta to think about his words of advice.
As this was happening, a familiar mothership hovered in deep space within the North Galaxy. A short alien with a big nose and a wide head sat upon a chair, looking over reports, rubbing his temple in frustration and groaning at what he saw.
"Riots... revolutions... insubordination... god, why must this empire be such a mess?" A beep on his scouter broke him out of his thoughts as he answered it. "This is Commander Sorbet, any news on the location of the Namekian homeworld?" A voice rang through the scouter, proper but laced with shame.
"Apologies sir, but our drones and scouts have still found nothing." Sorbet gritted his teeth and growled slightly, before letting out a sigh.
"Very well. Call off the search then."
"Yes sir." The soldier responded before dropping the call.
"I guess it's time for plan B. Tagoma, report to the bridge, and bring me the prototypes." He said as he pressed the side of his scouter. After he finished, a frog-like subordinate spoke up with a trembling voice.
"B-but sir. Isn't earth where the Super Saiyan resides, along with his comrades?"
"Relax. Our spy drones have been surveilling the planet for over a year, the saiyan who defeated Frieza has not been around for around 6 months now. And besides, there's more than one person on the planet who has access to tracking the Dragon Balls."
"But what about the others in league with the saiyan? Won't they be able to notice us approach?" Just as the frog alien said this, a very tall, lanky, gray alien with a visor-like scouter stepped into the bridge.
"Commander Sorbet, you called for me?" He said with a bow, holding a small case in his hand. Sorbet grinned and hopped off his chair, walking towards Tagoma. He addressed the more cowardly soldier as he walked.
"That is specifically why we have been spending so much time and money on the reconnaissance department. Please, activate your scouters, all of you Tagoma, the prototypes please." Everyone on the bridge turned on their scouters, reading the power levels of Sorbet and Tagoma while they inserted two chips into their scouters. After a few seconds, the power level readings dropped to zero on every scouter in the room. Every person on the bridge was shocked at this, they had to read each other's powers just to make sure they weren't seeing things, but every time they focused in on Tagoma and Sorbet, it simply read zero. Sorbet laughed in enjoyment as he witnessed everyone's reactions. "As you can see we've been developing some new cloaking tech for our scouters, courtesy of top scientist Kikono himself. As of right now, only three prototypes exist, two are in use right now as you see and a third is being used as research in our laboratories. With these, we'll be able to slip past Earth's defenses undetected by anyone and gather the dragon balls without issue. Soon, the mighty Frieza force will be unrivaled once again! Tagoma, come! We have work to do, Shisami, take charge while we're away." The larger red alien with horns bowed in respect as both his commander and comrade walked through the main doors and down to the hangar, boarding a small ship and setting course to earth.
On the blue planet, three child-like figures were already in the process of collecting the dragon balls, having six in their collection already.
"Oh boy emperor Pilaf, one more and we can finally get our wishes!" Shu, the dog with a katana said excitedly, his tongue hanging out as he thought of all the delicious food that would come with it.
"Yeah, we won't need to work anymore for that Bulma woman anymore!" Mai, the young girl jumped for joy at this, though something within her made her hesitate for a moment, something about the color purple.
"Yes, finally the world will tremble before me finally, the great and soon to be full sized, Emperor Pilaf! Gyahahahaha- huh?" His maniacal laughter was cut short by a large shadow overtaking them and a chilling voice coming from behind.
"Actually, if you don't mind. We want a different emperor in charge with the help of those dragon balls." The Pilaf gang slowly turned around to see Sorbet with his hand outstretched and an evil smirk on his face, with Tagoma looking down at them menacingly. The pilaf gang screamed and attempted to scramble out of there, but they found themselves held in mid-air; looking back, they saw Sorbet, his fist closed and arm outstretched with a glowing ring on his finger. "Now now, no need for that, children. Just do as we say and we won't hurt you; we simply ask for your cooperation." The Pilaf gang gulped and nodded in agreement, letting Sorbet set them down gently. After their first encounter, the Pilafs were boarded onto the small ship and they directed the aliens to the center of a large ocean.
"The last dragon ball is right below us, but it's the deepest part of the ocean, how are you going to get it?" Pilaf said; Sorbet simply snapped his fingers and Tagoma opened a hatch on the floor of the ship, diving into the waters below, causing the gang to step back in fear. "Um, excuse us for a moment will ya?" They huddled together as Sorbet watched the water, awaiting Tagoma's return. "Listen, while the big guy is gone, we can take him right here, right now. Shu, use your sword to cut his down, Mai, blast away with your gun and don't let up until the clip is empty."
"Right."
"Got it." They both agreed and drew their weapons, but a split second afterwards, both were ripped from their hands and turned into a ball of metal at their feet as Sorbet's ring glowed red once more.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you. I may not be the strongest, but my smarts more than make up for that." The gang freaked out and hurriedly fell to their knees, bowing and apologizing profusely. Just then, Tagoma emerged from the water, an orange sphere in his hand; he placed it next to the others and they flew away to a more solid and secluded area. The ship landed in an area not to dissimilar from the one Frieza was killed on; the crew walked down the ramp of the ship, dragon balls in hand and set them on the floor.
"Well? Go ahead, summon it!" Sorbet commanded Pilaf, who gulped, then turned to face the dragon balls, raising his hands and shouting.
"Eternal Dragon Shenron! By your name I summon you!" The spheres glowed brightly as the sky darkened, lightning shot upwards and formed into the shape of a large green serpentine dragon. Bulma, the originator of the dragon radar, took no notice of this as she was too busy in her workshop, trying to find out how to fabricate a new efficient fuel source. On the farther side of the continent, Piccolo was at Gohan's house, taking care of Pan; not long before the sky went dark, her parents returned from their shopping trip, Videl excitedly holding the baby girl in her arms.
"Thanks again Piccolo, I can't say it enough when you take care of Pan for us." Gohan said, his arms full of boxes.
"You can thank me by picking up the pace with your training." Piccolo said very cross to his former student, now friend.
"Hey, I've been doing something with whatever time I've got. I'm not getting worse like after Cell."
"You're not getting better either."
"Look." Gohan set his boxes down and gave his former master a stern gaze. "With my job and a new baby, I haven't had a lot of time. I'm not like you, Vegeta or my Dad, I've got my own responsibilities right now; be lucky I've done any training at all." Piccolo gave Gohan a surprised look, not expecting this reaction from the very mild-mannered looking man in front of him, then let out a sigh.
"Fine, I'll give you this one. But once Pan is old enough to not need you guys around every second of the day, I'm whipping you into the best shape of your life, you got that?" Gohan let out a small chuckle and held out his hand.
"Deal." As their hands shook, they noticed the sky go instantly dark.
"Shenron? But who could be summoning him?"
"I don't know, but I don't sense any energy, might just be Bulma again. I keep telling her to stop using the dragon for beauty reasons." This bewildered Piccolo as soon as Gohan said it.
"Wait, she does what?!"
Back at the rocky area, Shenron fully formed in front of the group of five.
"I am the Eternal Dragon, state your wishes and I shall grant them!" Pilaf turned around and gestured to Sorbet to step up. Sorbet walked forward timidly, Shenron being far more intimidating in person than on the small recordings they saw. He found the nerve and cleared his throat before shouting.
"We wish for Frieza! Bring him back to life!" For a few seconds nothing happened, which began to anger the commander. "Didn't you hear me dragon?!"
"I did. But the one you wish to resurrect was cut to pieces and annihilated many years ago. There is only so much restoration I can do before it is beyond my power. It would serve no use for you to return him in that state." Sorbet thought this over for a minute before Tagoma spoke up.
"Commander, remember, we've made great strides in our medical departments. Our machines are capable of regenerating much more grievous wounds than ever before. If we keep Lord Frieza in a stasis tank, it may work."
"Ahhh, good thinking Tagoma. Very well." He turned back towards Shenron and commanded him. "I don't care what state you bring him in, just do it alright?!"
"It is unwise to be rude to a dragon." Shenron replied coldly, causing Sorbet to sweat.
"Sorry. Please bring back Lord Frieza oh mighty dragon. Is that better?" With that, Shenron's eyes glowed red and several chunks of flesh and machine rained from the sky, squirming on the ground and freaking out the Pilaf gang as an eye stared directly at them. "Hurry Tagoma, get the stasis tank and gather every piece you can, time is of the essence.
"State your second wish." Sorbet was perplexed by this as soon as he heard it.
"Wait, we get two?"
"Yes, now speak it or I shall depart." Sorbet felt a tap on his elbow, he turned to see Pilaf looking kind of nervous at him.
"What is it?"
"Ummm, since we helped you with the wish and everything. Is it alright if we get this one?" Sorbet glanced back and forth between the dragon and the short blue imp before waving his hand as a "go ahead" gesture.
"I wish for a million Zeni!" Shu said this before Pilaf could even open his mouth, causing a large stack of bills to fall to the ground before them.
"Your wishes have been granted. Farewell!" Once again, the dragon balls rose into the sky and scattered across the planet; the two aliens left the small ones to squabble as they boarded their ship and left the planet; they got what they came here for.
Once they returned to the mothership, they placed all of Frieza's biological parts into a healing tank and waited. The process took around a week, but slowly the parts shifted into place, taking the form of limbs, a body and soon, the head of their former leader; given the small amount of biomass that was left, his body instinctively reverted to its first form to conserve power as the regeneration took place. Upon completion, the machine beeped and the whole bridge was silent; Frieza's eyes opened and soon, every scouter on the ship exploded from the overload of power, so much so that it even caused turbulence amongst the fleet. Frieza placed a hand upon the glass of the healing tank and shattered it, spilling regeneration liquid everywhere; he cracked his neck and spat out some fluid that was in his mouth as he examined his new body.
"L-Lord Frieza. It's so good to have you back." Sorbet approached him, bowing as he did. Frieza simply looked down curiously.
"And you are?"
"M-my name is Sorbet, my lord. I was one of your higher commanding officers over a decade ago. I kept the force together while you were away, even pushing it forward to the point we could bring you back."
"Sorbet... Sorbet... Ah yes, I remember you now. You used to command most of the force's ships back in the day. I commend you for your efforts in returning me to the mortal world."
"Thank you my lord. As of right now, the force doesn't have the numbers it once did, b-but we've more than made up for it in terms of soldier quality. Right now over 50% of our main soldier force has power levels nearing ten thousand; and I of course have two commanding officers, Tagoma and Shisami helping me." He gestured to each of them as he called them out, them kneeling in respect for their lord. "Each one of them alone could rival even Captain Ginyu." Frieza took pride in this, knowing his fleet, while small, grew stronger.
"Is that so? I see you've really taken charge while I've been gone. And what of the saiyans and planet Earth. I assume you've been monitoring them all these years." He said this, walking around and getting a feel for a physical body again.
"Yes sir! Well, mostly. For as much as we've been monitoring Earth, so much has happened that we only have limited information due to so many drones being destroyed in the conflict. What we do know though is that Vegeta now lives on Earth and the other saiyan, Goku once died, but then came back to life in order to defeat a creature known as Majin Buu." As soon as Sorbet said that, Frieza's tail struck the floor of the ship with enough force to cause it to tilt in space.
"Majin Buu you say?"
"Y-yes my lord" Sorbet said, picking himself up off the floor."
"Throughout my life, my father told me I was never to challenge Beerus the Destroyer and Majin Buu. If that is the same Buu that father was talking about, then Goku and his band of merry men have grown far more than I ever anticipated. Yet, I also expected nothing less from a battle hungry monkey such as himself. Where is he now?
"We're unsure my lord. Our last record of both Goku and Vegeta was over 6 months ago, they've been off planet ever since."
"I see. That gives me time then."
"Time for what, Lord Frieza?"
"Time to do something I've never had a need for in my life. Time to train. Ever since I was born, I was granted power, I've never needed to lift more than a finger to get whatever I wanted. Then I met him. I met Goku; ever since that day all I thought about was how I was going to destroy him. Even down in Hell, tortured by singing creatures, unable to move as I heard their merry tunes; the only thing that kept my sanity was planning every way to best that monkey." As he spoke, his aura began to flair as he floated up above everyone else. "I then came to the realization that I had to improve myself. I had to stoop to his level in order to rise above it. So, for the next several months, I shall train myself to surpass any Super Saiyan in existence. After all, nothing could be more salubrious to an emperor than to become so strong, he's never dethroned again. You two; Tagoma, Shisami. You shall be my training partners; when one gives out, the other tags in, we only stop when I say so, understood?" He pointed at them, his finger glowing red as they saluted him with terror.
"Yes Lord Frieza!" They said in unison. Frieza gave a wicked smile as he cackled, sitting upon his throne once more.
"Set a course for Frieza Planet 001 and prepare all facilities, we must improve our army by the galactic year's end." With that command, the Frieza Force began their own journey of self improvement.