A/N: As I said before, a lot of Namek just seems to be the battle against Frieza. This was a hard chapter to write because I had to keep Cress' power level from going too high, while at the same time making it so the changes made to the timeline will be threatening enough. I think I got something here that I am happy with, which is good.
Enjoy!
Cress gasped in pain as Goku's fist landed against her stomach, only it wasn't him in his own body, but rather it was Captain Ginyu, the leader of the Ginyu Force grinning evilly as he knocked Cress back, the Saiyan teen landing on her feet but was panting heavily as she faced off against the body of the Earth raised Saiyan. He was smirking as he approached her, and Cress charged again to attack, but was swatted aside like she was just a fly annoying him.
"Yes, this is a good body", the captain grinned, looking over at his former body, which inhabited Goku as he struggled with the bleeding that Ginyu inflicted before he swapped bodies with him. "I must thank you for getting it to this potential, Saiyan, I will be sure to cherish it... unless I find an even stronger body to inhabit, that is."
"You'll change back with him, even if I have to make you vomit up that change beam!" Cress snarled, holding out her hand. "Cosmic Canon!"
"Oh, yeah, like you can stop me!" Ginyu roared, deflecting the blast and charging forward, pummeling Cress and slamming her into the wall before he grinned down at her. "Consider yourself lucky, I decided to let you live for now. I need to go check on the Dragon Balls and make sure no one is tampering with them, per Lord Frieza's orders. Head your own advise and leave his planet, or else you'll end up dead." With that, he flew off laughing, along with Jeice who was praising the Captain at every opportunity.
"T-this isn't good..." Goku winced in pain in Ginyu's body. "H-hey, Cress... we got to go after them... if they really got the Dragon Balls... then Gohan and Krillin are in serious danger... I sent them to go find the Dragon Balls..."
"I know", Cress replied as she got up. "Let me help you... in that body, you can't use Ki well since it's foreign to you."
"S-so why can he adapt so well in my body? He even made it stronger, somehow. I know he cannot use the Kaio-Ken, so he shouldn't be that strong..."
Because Towa and Mira made it so, Cress thought bitterly to herself, but knew she couldn't tell Goku that, even if he would forget later. "Ginyu is used to swapping bodies. I doubt that body you're in is even his original one. We need to trick him into trying to swap bodies with someone else... someone like-"
"You", Goku cut her off, shocking the young warrior. "I can sense it... you aren't at full strength yet. You got more hidden within, don't you?"
Cress was silent for a moment or two, before deciding to be honest. "Yeah... I have a power that I unleash when I'm upset... you see, my green hair and gray eyes aren't a result of a mutation like Ginyu seems to think. I'm only half Saiyan, but my mother's people were killed by the Saiyan race, leaving me as the sole survivor. It seems like whenever they are insulted, I unleash the strange power caused by the combination of their DNA and Saiyan DNA. It would boost my power by five times... but, I can't do it at will. I've tried several times while training, but I never have been able to do it at will... I think if I imagine them being insulted I can, but it is a gamble..."
"You have to try", Goku muttered, still gripping the foreign chest of the body he was in. "If he tries to change with you... then that will be my chance to swap back, but you might have to beat my body up to trigger him to change with you... don't worry about me, I'll be fine." With a plan in place, Cress nodded, supporting the former body of Captain Ginyu as she flew off in the direction she was sensing the body of Goku's dark energy heading. Sure enough, when they arrived at the location of Frieza's space ship, Goku's body was glaring over Gohan and Krillin, while Jeice watched on gleefully and Vegeta hid behind one of the ship's legs. Landing on the ground, Cress stepped forward to face Ginyu once again as Goku shouted from Ginyu's body.
"Gohan, Krillin, listen to me! That isn't me, that Captain guy stole my body! Please, let Cress handle him and get away!"
"Trunks", Cress snarled, facing off against the smirking captain, as Vegeta finally emerged from the shadows and faced off against Jeice. "I need you to make me angry. Please. I won't hold it against you!"
"O-ok", Trunks muttered, insecurity radiating from his voice. "Well, um... your mother's people are dead, crushed like the bugs they are? Haha?"
Cress' face fell at that, a sigh escaping from her lips. "Come on, Trunks... I'm serious. Unless I Tuffleize, this mission is a dud."
"Cress, if Ginyu was there you really think he would've spared a single Tuffle life!?" the future Goku's voice suddenly said in her ear. "Just imagine that the Saiyan you are facing is not me! Just picture that as Ginyu, and imagine him slaughtering your mother and the other Tuffles."
Goku's words echoed through her mind as Cress looked over at Ginyu, the image of a Saiyan in armor that looked exactly like Goku slaughtering Tuffle civilians flooded her mind. In a sudden burst of power, Cress' eyes turned crimson, the red aura appearing once again. This caught the attention of everyone around, who looked over at Cress in complete shock at what they were sensing. Cress smirked, walking up to Ginyu who was scanning her with his scouter. "Got news for you, Captain. That body you're in can get close to a power level of a million. Not even you can tap into all of it's power, but allow me to demonstrate how strong we Saiyan warriors really are."
The scouter suddenly exploded, with Ginyu looking at her in an expression of horror. "I-it can't be! Your power level is reading over 500,000 before the scouter shattered! This is impossible, you might be stronger then-!" He was cut off suddenly by a sucker punch to the jaw, which sent him flying into the air. Cress began to get payback for the beating she received earlier, while Vegeta took care of Jeice, ending his life quickly and without remorse. Cress knocked Ginyu to the ground, the body of Goku lying there broken and defeated, as it was in the original timeline. Ginyu watched her as she hovered there, and his eyes suddenly went wide as he seeked her own power for himself.
"CHANGE!" he screamed, and Cress could only close her eyes and prepare for the worst in case Goku couldn't get to her in time, but as the light coming through her closed eyes vanished, Cress could tell she was still in her own body. She looked down, seeing Goku lying there but grinning, and knew instantly that it was a success. Gohan could sense it too as the kid suddenly shouted out with joy, "I can sense it, that's my dad! He got his old body back!"
"D-dammit!" the body of Ginyu cussed, turning and snarling. "This time I have to aim true... maybe I can switch with Vegeta first and fool this guys, then I can switch with Cress to get her body and all that power... CHANGE!"
It was all over the second he did that. While the beam of energy shot out, Goku managed to snag a frog that was hopping by, and throw it in front of the beam. Instantly, Ginyu was trapped within the frog, and Vegeta was spared the humiliation of having to be trapped in the body of the captain while watching his former body dance and make silly poses.
"So, how did the timeline get messed up to the point where the entire Ginyu force was here, if we started with two of them already being dead?" Cress asked Trunks, her red eyes vanishing as her gray ones replaced them, anger no longer fueling her and thus causing her power to vanish.
"Guess if my father's body got snatched, then Frieza would use his first wish for immortality then the second and third to revive the Ginyu Force members already killed", Trunks muttered as a guess. "I don't know why he fancies them... maybe it's the extreme sense of work ethic that they seem to have for working under him..."
"Hmph, I guess this is punishment enough", Vegeta taunted as he watched Ginyu hop away in the frog body. "Can't speak... so not worried about you swapping bodies with anything else." Vegeta then turned, looking at the others as Cress landed next to them all. "Well, if you injured like that, there is nothing stopping me from wiping you all out right now, is there?"
Before Cress could get in the way, Goku gave a small laugh as he eyed Vegeta, "N-not true. You can't kill us yet, and you know it."
"Hmm, how astute of you", Vegeta agreed with a grin. "There is the matter of Frieza, who your strength will be vital against... you guys are lucky that we have healing technology. Let's get him into one of our medical pods, then we can worry about the rest, after I outfit your friends, that is. You! Saiyan woman! Guard out here!"
"Don't order me around, Prince", Cress snarled as he lead the others inside, standing there for a few moments in silence before she realized something. "Uh, Trunks? Aren't I supposed to be recalled right about now? My mission is complete, isn't it?"
"Hold on, something is wrong", Trunks muttered, and Cress could hear him shuffling the scroll she was in. "Although you corrected the timeline, the scroll is still corrupted... this is bad. Something else happened, or is going to happen! You'll need to stay in there and ensure the timeline is fixed properly..."
"So, what happens now?" Cress asked, looking around nervously, knowing for sure the final remaining force on the planet that could pose a threat was Frieza himself.
"Well, at this point Krillin will head off to try and meet with the Grand Elder to get the words to summon the Eternal Dragon of this planet's Dragon Balls to wish Piccolo back to life and on Namek", Trunks explained to her. "Instead, they will meet with Dende, a young Namekian boy who will help them instead. Before my father can make his wish and use the third one for himself, the Grand Elder will die and the Dragon Balls will be rendered inert..."
"And then Frieza will show up and we will do battle with him", Cress finished for him, paling a little.
"Yes", Trunks muttered. "You're strong enough to handle his first form, as long as you Tuffleize before hand, but anything beyond that... I'm sorry, but you stand no chance against him. In the original timeline, Piccolo fused with Nail to defeat Frieza in his second form, before losing to his third form. Gohan will manage to harm him in his third form, forcing Frieza into his final form... that's the one that cannot be defeated until Goku becomes a Super Saiyan. In his final form, he will kill Dende because he has healing abilities, but not before he restores my father from the brink of death, which will give him a power boost that won't be enough..."
"Great", Cress sighed, watching as Krillin, now in Battle Armor, emerged from the ship and flew off. "So basically, the mission is to survive, regardless of changes made to the timeline."
"Just about," Trunks muttered. "Normally, I'd have someone else come in after you, but..."
"I get it, Trunks, don't worry about me", Cress replied with a smile. "I'll be fine. If Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo can survive until Goku is healed up, then so can I!"
"Ms. Cress?", Gohan's sudden voice caused her to jump, silently praying that Gohan did not hear her talking to what appeared to be herself just now. "You're a Saiyan, right? So, if that's the case, then why does it seem like you are against Vegeta? I can understand my dad and me, since he was raised on Earth and I'm only half-Saiyan, but what about you?"
Cress smiled down at Gohan. For some reason, despite already talking to him about this, she didn't mind explaining it once again to the half-Human. She couldn't blame him for not remembering, since that is just how things had to be, plus she felt some kinship with him. 'Actually, Gohan, I'm only half-Saiyan. My other half is an alien race that the Saiyan's conquered called the Tuffles. So, while we're both half-Saiyan, I'm half-Tuffle while you're half-Human."
"Oh wow!" Gohan gasped in awe, his eyes practically glistening. "I never thought I would meet another half-Saiyan!"
Just wait, Cress said to Gohan in her head, only smiling outside as to not spoil the future for him. Kirllin and Dende landed just then, with Krillin saying something about using the Namekain language in order to use the Dragon Balls. Cress looked over near the ship, sensing Vegeta there, but also realizing that his energy signature was low, which meant that he was most likely asleep. "Alright, let's summon the dragon. I'll keep an eye out for Vegeta or Frieza... but hurry, I sense Frieza is approaching fast!"
The four of them grabbed the balls and transported them over to a small island on the other side of the ship. Sensing Frieza was approaching faster, Dende managed to speak his language in order to summon the dragon. The sky turned black as lightning crackled, and out of the balls emerged a dragon similar to the one that called her into the future, only this one was much larger, with buff arms that hung down. Cress thought the dragon on Earth was impressive enough, but seeing the Namekian dragon was something else entirely.
"Holy crap, that dragon can wear Shenron like a scarf!" Cress gasped, looking in awe.
"Thou who has gathered the Dragon Balls, speak forth thy wishes. I shall grant thee any three wishes that are within my capacity."
"Three!?" Krillin gasped in awe, however the limitation was quickly established shortly after. The dragon, called Porunga instead of Shenron, could only bring back one person at a time. THe plan was quickly made to bring Piccolo only back, then use the second wish to transport him to the planet of Namek to aid in the battle against Frieza. Though Cress did think it was a risky move, as the other part of this plan was to use Earth's Dragon Balls to bring everyone else killed by Frieza back to life on the planet Namek, which would only be possible if Piccolo remained alive. Nevertheless, since it occurred in the original timeline, she remained silent as she watched the two wishes being granted, and sensed Piccolo appear on the other side of the planet, stronger but not strong enough, before he headed in their direction.
"Piccolo will join shortly after fusing with the strongest Namekian warrior called Nail", Trunks explained to her. "Nail is the one who delayed Frieza long enough for this to be possible, and by combining with Piccolo, he becomes strong enough to defeat Frieza's second form."
Cress nodded, before realizing that shortly after the second wish was granted, Vegeta had awakened. Turning sharply, she faced the Saiyan Prince, who was growling in fury at them. "So that is how it is. You really thought you could get the jump on me?"
Cress stepped forward, standing in the way and shielding Krillin and Gohan. "Don't even think about it, Prince."
"You really think you can stop me?" Vegeta smirked, eyeing her. "That red-eyed form of yours might be strong, but I can sense it, you can only activate it in extreme circumstances. Whats to say you can defeat me without it, huh? Let me tell you something, girl. I'm powerful enough to defeat Frieza in his first form! Are you without that red-eyed form you have?"Cress didn't reply, knowing that Vegeta was right. Vegeta smirked at that, before turning to Dende. "Now hurry up! I heard you idiots talking earlier, there is still one more wish, so use it and make me immortal!"
Before Dende could do anything, it happened. The dragon suddenly vanished before their very eyes, and the Dragon Balls, once orange with red stars and life energy seeping out of them, were lying there as useless white stones the size of basketballs. Dende's antenna dropped as he looked at the balls sadly. "The Grand Elder has passed away... he created the Dragon Balls, and has reached the end of his life..."
"And without the one who created them, the Dragon Balls won't function..." Cress muttered, before she turned to the evil energy she suddenly sensed, her face paling as she looked at the face of the evil emperor himself. Vegeta, too, was looking in shock and horror, along with Krillin and Gohan who sensed him as well. "Frieza!"
"Now you've done it... all of you..." Frieza hissed, glaring at each one of them in turn. "You've shattered my dreams of immortality... I'm not picking up on any of the Ginyu Force's energy, so I can only assume you have killed them. And on top of that, the Dragon Balls have turned to stone... a shame for Vegeta of course, but even more so for myself." Frieza landed in front of them at that, his grin twitching as he barely contained his rage. "Never before have I been so disrespected... and now, you shall pay... YOU FILTHY MAGGOTS! I WILL KILL YOU ALL AND SAVOR EVERY SECOND!"
Cress was about to step forward, however, it was Vegeta that stepped forward instead, grinning all the while. "Finally showing your true colors at least, huh Frieza? Go on then, but if you think I will be bested that easily, then you are mistaken! I am stronger then you think I am, and if I cannot defeat you, then Cress here can."
"Cress, is it?" Frieza said, looking over at her. "If I recall, I stepped in and spared your life from his father. What made you ally with him against me?"
"Call it a rebellion", Cress snarled as she glared at him. "I never liked taking over planets for you, Frieza! Even if you did spare me, it was not for my sake, rather to use me as a form of mocking King Vegeta!"
Frieza huffed at that. "Yes, leave it to a half-monkey to be smart enough to figure that one out. Well then, allow me to remind you both of what you face, and how terrifying I can actually be." With that, an aura appeared around Frieza, dwarfing Cress' own power level and even causing Vegeta, who's base power was higher, to grit his teeth. At the same time, Cress felt far off on the planet that Piccolo's power suddenly shot up, and knew that he merged with Nail and would be there soon.
She just had to buy them some time.
Frieza clashed with Vegeta, analyzing his power level as he did so which caused his scouter to shatter into a million pieces before his eye. Frieza backed off from the clash, glaring at Vegeta. "I see... you aren't wrong, Vegeta. You have become stronger then I anticipated. However, you still don't understand, do you, Vegeta?"
"Oh, I do", Vegeta taunted him. "Get it over with, Frieza! Transform and be done with it!"
"O, ho! So you figured that one out too", Frieza smirked, grinning. "But I must warn you, Vegeta. You are probably expecting something far less then what the truth actually is. You see, I transform into lesser forms in order to hide my full power. I cannot control my full strength, so I transform in order to limit my power into a more manageable state."
"He's bluffing", Vegeta reassured the others.
"Am I?" the alien hissed, as an evil red aura surrounded him. "When I attacked the Saiyan homeworld and fought against your father, I did so without needing to transform, and as I recall, your father was completely helpless against me!"
"Don't get over your head", Vegeta snarled at him. "I had already surpassed my father as a mere child!" But Frieza did not seem worried as suddenly, the battle armor he wore shattered from his power. Cress could sense it, the alien was not bluffing, his power suddenly doubling in an instant as his body grew in height and his horns extended outwards. Vegeta was baffled, backing up and staring in horror. "It- it cannot be! I- I didn't realize!"
"Now, you're in for now", Frieza taunted them all, suddenly flexing his hand and vaporizing the land around them. Having a bit of fun toying with them, Frieza impaled Krillin before tossing his aside like trash and angering Gohan, the half-Saiyan managing to get a few good hits off on Frieza in an effort to reach the bald warrior who was tossed into the water. This only succeeded in making Frieza angry, however, who smacked Gohan aside like a tennis ball before Cress charged forward, only for her to also be knocked aside.
"Frieza... I can't let you harm them!" Cress snarled as she caught herself mid fall.
"Hmm, is that so?" Frieza taunted, smirking. "And what can you do? A half-monkey is still just a monkey, especially since your other race was so weak that the monkeys could defeat them even without my help!" Cress let this words echo in her head, the red aura appeared around her, her crimson eyes glaring at Frieza before she charged and got a clean shot in, startling the alien. Vegeta looked shocked at that too, as he watched Cress race after Frieza on the offensive.
This is impossible! That girl's power level suddenly increased by ten-fold! She... she's basically like an Oozaru in her normal form! With a power level that read as 150,000... she's at one and a half million now, more then a match for Frieza's new form!
Cress let out a yell as she knocked Frieza into the water, before charging a Cosmic Canon and blasting him, though this was blocked by the tyrant. Frieza snarled, increasing his own power before zipping up and fighting evenly with Cress, the two landing a few clean hits on the other before parting. At that moment, Krillin managed to cut his tail off, being healed by Dende and leading Frieza away for a bit as Dende focused on healing Gohan, who was fully healed as Krillin came back, just before PIcoolo showed up.
"Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan happily cheered as he appeared, smiling.
"I'll take it from here", Piccolo said, turning and smiling at Cress. "Appreciate you holding him off till I could get here though."
"No sweat!"
"You fools", Frieza snarled, glaring at them all. "You are making a fool out of me... then so be it... let me show you what true horror looks like!" With a yell, Frieza began to change yet again, having an elongated head which made him hunched over as he leered at them. Cress instantly sensed that they were no match for him yet again, his power level exceeding even her own in her fully realized Tuffleized state.
Piccolo tried his best to defeat Frieza, but was beaten so badly that eventually he was just being blasted over and over by death beams that did little but torture him. Once again, Gohan unleashed his hidden potential and blasted Frieza, though this too was futile as eventually the blast was deflected back. Vegeta was growling, and when Frieza declared that he was going to assume his ultimate form, decided to act and talk Krillin into harm him so that Dende could heal him and give him the power boost be needed to defeat Frieza.
"The timeline is mostly on track," Trunks muttered. "Frieza has assumed his second and third form, and now is ascending to his Final Form. My father and Piccolo will be healed by Dende before he is killed... so, why is the scroll still corrupted? What is going on?" Cress could only watch and wait as Krillin blasted Vegeta, and Dende rushed to heal Piccolo first, then Vegeta. She was waiting for anything to happen, and knew there had to be a reason that she was still here and in this timeline. Some other alternation was going to occur, and she had to be ready to at least attempt to prevent it, despite his power level being lower then that of Frieza's in his final form, who emerged from the smoke looking fierce, even if he was smaller and leaner.
"That's Frieza's Ultimate Form?" Krillin asked, baffled. "He looks smaller and more slender, almost like he decreased in power instead of increased."
"A textbook example of not to judge someone's abilities by their appearance... this form makes the others look gentle by comparison", Piccolo muttered as he grit his teeth. "I'm sorry, I made you waste the wish on the Dragon Balls. I don't think I can fight against him like this..."
Frieza only raised his finger and blasted forth a death beam, and Cress could not move in time to prevent it from killing Dende in cold blood. Cress grit her own teeth, knowing that was supposed to happen but still feeling anger boil up inside her as she witnessed it. She turned and glared at Frieza, but saw he was merely just glaring as he kept his finger raised, looking at the five remaining in front of him, as if he was pondering on who to shoot next.
"Wait..." Trunks muttered at that moment. "That's it, there is the alternation! He's going to kill someone else here! One of them is going to die and that will dramatically alter history as we know it! if Piccolo dies, Earth's Dragon Balls are inert so they cannot be used to restore the Namekian Dragon Balls! If Krillin dies, Goku might not be able to ascend into a Super Saiyan! If Gohan or my father die, then history will drastically be altered in the future, maybe even preventing Frieza from blowing up this planet before Goku can fully be healed!"
As if everything was suddenly moving in slow motion, Cress saw it. Frieza's eyes had locked onto Piccolo and his finger moved towards him slowly. Cress dashed forward, and managed to knock Piccolo out of the way just in time, however the same could not be said for herself. Frieza's death beam slammed into her with enough force that she felt her body flying backwards, extreme pain suddenly filling every nerve in her body before suddenly she could feel herself became numb. She looked down, blood spewing from the hole in her chest that was caused by the Death Beam puncturing her heart, which was the last thing she could see clearly before her vision slowly became foggy and darkening rapidly. Her body hit the water, farther darkening her vision as slowly she began to die.
"Cress! CRESS!" Trunks' voice screamed into her ear., his voice slowly growing softer as her sense of hearing died. "Hold on, Cress! I'm recalling you now." But it didn't seem to matter as slowly everything went black, and all Cress knew was darkness, her heart beating no more.
A/N: Toriyama-sensei did something similar with Goku and Vegeta on Namek to what I did just do. Matter of fact, Vegeta spammed the boost Saiyan's get when near death so much on Namek it wasn't even funny, and technically Goku did the same with the gravity chamber when training to arrive on Namek. For Cress, her near death at the hands of Frieza should allow her to increase her power level to a point where she can assist in defeating Frieza even when in his Final Form.
I know a lot of the chapter felt abridged and rushed, but I honestly didn't have any other clue on how to handle Frieza's first three forms. Like the others, Cress had to stand no chance against Frieza's third form to make it realistic, but had to defeat his second, so Tuffleized got it's final boost. Yes, Cress' form will increase her strength by x10, which will be it's cap. It can't overshadow Super Saiyan after all.
Next chapter should be released either by Thanksgiving or Christmas! Thanks for always reading this story, you guys rock!