Based on MasakoX's What If series "What if Gine went with Goku to Earth?", but a retcon with some changes of my own on how I think the story would have went down had Goku's mother escaped planet Vegeta with him.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Dragonball Minus, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, and Dragonball GT are all owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, and Akira Toriyama.
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CHAPTER 56: THE SWITCH
Each of the scouters beeped urgently. Ginyu spotted them first on the horizon, his eyes widening in alarm.
Before he could shout a warning to his men, three fiery red streaks shot past him at blinding speed. The shockwaves of the resulting triple sonic boom knocked him and Vegeta off their feet. Then the streaks came to stop right where Jeice and Burter stood, knocking them several yards away from the force of the energy alone as clouds of dust engulfed them all.
*Cough* "What the bloody hell was that?!" Jeice exclaimed through the dust.
When it started to clear, he froze. Touching down where he was standing just moments earlier were three figures that he quickly identified from the tails as Saiyans. And to his further shock, he recognized one of them.
"R-Raditz?!"
"Hey, Jeice! Long time no see." Raditz greeted with a mischievous grin.
"Gohan!" Kakarot immediately spotted his son on the ground writhing in pain. He scooped him up into his arms while Gine checked on Chi-Chi laying nearby and Raditz keeping an eye on the Ginyus as they recovered.
"You alright, son? It's me, your dad!"
Gohan fought the pain enough to open his eyes, and upon seeing his father's face, he forgot the pain completely.
"DADDY!" He cried out in joy, hugging Kakarot with all his might.
"Chi-Chi!" Gine flew over to her daughter-in-law and knelt by her side, looking her over. Chi-Chi had been punched out cold and her cheek was badly bruised, but she was still alive. She groaned painfully in her unconscious state.
"Gine?! You made it!"
She looked over to see Bulma huddled nearby, clutching an unconscious Yamcha and what looked like a Namekian child in her arms.
"Hey Bulma! Sorry we took so long." Gine said apologetically.
Raditz from where he stood gave a big thumbs up. "But worry no more. For the calvary has finally arrived!"
"Oh my Kami! I can't tell you how happy I am to see you guys!" Bulma squealed while still clutching the Namekian, almost crushing him. While he himself stared at Gine warily. Then Bulma remembered she was still holding on to him.
"Oh, Dende! These are our friends. Gine, Kakarot, and Raditz. They've come to save us!"
Gine gave the little Namekian a reassuring smile. "Hello."
Dende just gave a nervous wave in return, as if he was not sure what to make of these strangers. The boy seemed nice enough to her.
Before she could ask what happened to Yamcha, Chi-Chi croaked weakly.
"G-Gine?"
Gine looked down and saw to her relief that her daughter-in-law regained consciousness.
"It's okay, Chi-Chi. We're here." She said while gently stroking Chi-Chi's forehead.
As she became fully awake, Chi-Chi gasped, and her eyes shot wide open. She sat up straight, nearly shrieking in panic. "Where's Gohan?! Is Kakarot-"
Gine drew back to allow Chi-Chi to see for herself that both her husband and son were indeed safe.
"KAKAROT!" Chi-Chi jumped to her feet and threw herself at him in one leap, catching Kakarot by surprise as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the armor he wore as she wept loudly in sheer joy.
"Hey Chi-Chi. I'm so glad you're okay." Kakarot put an arm around his wife and clutched his son closer in the other. "Both of you." He added, meaning it fully after just going through yet another distant separation from his family...
"Aww, how sappy." Said Raditz, half-jokingly at his brother but also genuinely glad too that his extended family was alright.
Gine savored the sight of her entire family back together again too, until one of the Ginyus, the tall blue one, had managed to get back up and shout angrily at them.
"H-hey! Who the hell are you?! You friends with these losers?!"
Raditz narrowed his gaze at him. "Who you callin' loser, buster?"
"Grrrr. It's Burter!" He growled back indignantly.
"Like I care!" Raditz spat.
Returned to the present, Gine quickly surveyed the threats nearby. It seemed like only three of Ginyus were left standing. They were mostly still in shock by her sudden arrival with her sons in tow. Captain Ginyu himself stared at them from afar with a look of total incomprehension. So focused was he on them that he had forgotten about Vegeta, who wasn't too far away either, looking injured but on his feet again. He didn't try to escape, for he too was staring at her.
Gine locked eyes with the prince, and even at their current distance she could see the mix of bewilderment, fury, and a touch of fear on his face. She hoped that it's because he could sense how much stronger she was now, and how short his time had become...
"Where's Krillin?" Kakarot suddenly asked, looking around.
Gine noticed too that indeed he was the only one of their party still missing. She scanned the area and then inhaled sharply as spotted a figure in orange laying on the ground not too far away.
"There!" She pointed. Dread filled her when she sensed how dangerously low his energy level was.
"Oh no!" Kakarot gasped, sensing it too. Letting go of Chi-Chi and Gohan, he took the pouch strapped to his belt and pulled out a senzu bean. "Here, Chi. Split this with Gohan. I'm gonna go help Krillin!"
He gave her the bean and rocketed off in Krillin's direction, leaving his wife and son with Gine while they took their halves of the bean. Before long, their injuries were gone.
"You alright, sweetheart?" Gine asked Gohan as she walked over and pulled her grandson into a hug, needing to assure him and herself that all was well now.
"Yeah." Said Gohan as he looked at her from the embrace. "These guys beat us up pretty badly. I'm so happy you and Daddy showed up. I thought..." He choked up. "...I thought we were as good as dead."
Gine clutched him harder to her. "Don't worry, Gohan. You're safe now, and I'll make sure these monsters will never hurt you ever again." She said with a deadly glare at the Ginyus around them...
"What happened to Yamcha?!" Raditz said suddenly.
Gine turned towards Bulma's direction and gasped. She had almost forgotten that Yamcha's limp form lay at Bulma's feet, and Bulma looked as if she had forgotten too until he was mentioned, then shrieked.
"AHH! Oh no! He's still dying!"
Gine frantically reached into the pouch on her belt to grab a senzu bean when the little Namekian, Dende, placed his hands on Yamcha's body.
"Don't worry, I got him." He said as waves of strange energy radiated from his hands across Yamcha's form.
"What are you doing?" Gine asked.
"I'm trying to heal him." Dende replied, not taking his eyes off of the gashes that, to Gine's astonishment, were slowly closing up; and Yamcha's color was looking more alive.
"We were attacked by these weird alien guys." Bulma explained. "They came for Vegeta, but they attacked us too. And Yamcha... got really hurt." She choked up, taking one of his hands into hers.
Long seconds passed as Dende worked his strange magic on Yamcha. The cuts disappeared, he was still filthy and his gi stayed shredded, but he looked very much alive and unharmed.
Then Dende pulled his hands away, the energy pulsating from them ceased. And Yamcha suddenly sat up straight.
"What the... what happened?" He asked groggily.
There were cries of shock and disbelief from the Ginyus who saw too.
"N-no way! That guy was as good as dead! How the hell did he get back up?!" Jeice exclaimed.
"Yamcha!" Bulma wrapped her arms around her boyfriend, nearly choking him.
"Agh! Bulma! That hurts!" He tried to squirm out of her grip. When she let up, that's when he finally took notice of Gine.
"You... you okay, Yamcha?" Gine asked, still stunned that he looked so much better than he did seconds ago.
"Yeah, I think so..." He flexed his hands experimentally then padded his chest. He turned to Dende with a big grateful smile.
"Thanks for workin' your magic on me, little guy. I feel like new! And I owe you big time!"
Dende smiled back just as brightly. "No need to thank me, Mr. Yamcha. I'm just so glad I was able to resuscitate you."
"How did you do that?!" Raditz all but demanded.
Gine grated at her eldest son's rudeness and asked a polite, "I'm sorry, but who are you again?"
Dende bowed to her. "My name is Dende. I'm a friend of Krillin who saved me from that evil Saiyan known as Vegeta. Thank you so much for coming to our rescue."
Gine appreciated this little Namekian's kindness towards her and returned the bow.
"Hello, Dende. I'm Gine, friend of Krillin. If you don't mind me asking as my eldest here just did, how were you able to do what you just did in healing Yamcha?"
Dende just shrugged. "I'm not sure myself, but my Grand Elder Guru had unlocked some dormant power with us all, and mine happened to be the ability to heal. I wasn't sure of it until I brought Mrs. Chi-Chi from the brink."
Gine turned to Chi-Chi with a look of needing an explanation of what Dende just said.
"He healed me too when my back was broken." Chi-Chi said to her. "I'm not sure what kind of magic this is, but he saved me!"
Clearly so much had happened here during their trip that she will need some catching up to do. Chi-Chi had her back broken?! Who was this 'Guru'? And what powers were unlocked in them all? Instead of trying to answer these questions now, Gine eyed Dende with amazement. Someone who could heal all wounds without the limits of senzu beans? She hoped to get to know him a little more...
"No freakin' way! Him too?! What's goin' on here?!" She heard Jeice cry out from behind. Kakarot had fully healed Krillin too with a senzu bean.
"Oh boy am I glad to see you guys!" Krillin said joyously, now that he was rejoined with the rest of the group with Kakarot right beside him.
Gine placed a comforting hand on the monk's shoulder. "Good to see you too, Krillin. I just wish we had gotten here sooner."
Krillin's expression fell. "Well, no point worrying about that now. These guys are incredibly strong, Gine. Not sure how you, Kakarot, and Raditz are gonna help turn the tide."
"Don't worry, Krillin. We got this. We'll deal with them ourselves." Kakarot answered.
"What?!" The human Earthlings all looked up at him in stunned disbelief.
"How?! You hit your head or something?" Yamcha demanded, which Kakarot quickly answered.
"Nope. We've gotten much stronger on the way here. Trained in a hundred-times normal gravity for five straight days!"
"And I'm itching to put it to good use!" Raditz added with a fist pump into the air.
Krillin and the others starred at Kakarot and Gine and Raditz as they processed that information. They wondered how such training was even possible. And wondered what the power, when unleashed, would look like...
"But right now, the important thing is getting you all out of here." Gine said, deciding now to take charge. She turned to her youngest son. "Kakarot, take everyone back to the ship. Raditz and I will deal with these monsters."
"Wait, really?!" Everyone objected, with Gohan voicing for them.
"But, grandma, they're super strong! Are you and Uncle Raditz really going to fight them yourselves?!
"That's right, kid!" Raditz interjected. "We're gonna teach these guys to never mess with us." He narrowed his gaze. "Not to mention give Vegeta what's coming to him."
At his mention, Gine looked over in Vegeta's direction. "The prince looks a little worse for wear. Did you fight him too?" She asked her friends, which Krillin answered.
"A little, but he's been fighting on our side recently, so it seems."
Gine looked surprised but it lasted only for a moment.
"Ah. So, the Ginyus are here for him?"
Yamcha nodded. "Yeah. They told us to surrender or die. But Vegeta did switch sides for us, at least he said he has. Probably to save his own skin no doubt."
"Hmph. And he used to call me a coward!" Raditz snidely remarked.
"Yeah. He helped us take one of them down though. I tried taking out another, but, well..." Yamcha was silent as he recalled what happened to him. He didn't need to reiterate how he ended up looking like he was literally tossed around like a rag doll.
Despite these new developments, Gine would never trust the prince enough to spare him now, even if he took their side against Frieza himself. Like that would even happen... Whatever contributions he made to buying her friends time, he still had to answer for Tien, Chiaotzu, Kami, and millions of countless innocents.
She turned away from the group and locked her gaze on the Ginyu Force.
"We'll take care of these goons, then deal with Vegeta afterwards."
"Wait, Gine." Yamcha placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I'm telling you: You have no idea how strong these guys are. Both Krillin and I got a big boast of new powers and had Vegeta on our side, but we still got our butts handed to us. Let's just all get out of here while we still can!"
Gine smiled. "Don't worry, Yamcha. Like Kakarot said, we've been training our behinds off the entire journey here. We got some new tricks up our sleeves to use, so don't worry about us. Right now, you need to get to safety."
"But..."
"No buts, all of you. You already suffered enough trying to survive here. We'll handle this. Just get back to the ship and when we return, we'll all go back to Earth. Okay?"
The idea of home was too alluring to argue against her. So, Yamcha relented and let his grip on her shoulder go.
"Oh and, uh, the ship's food stocks might be a bit... depleted." Gine sheepishly remembered. "So, uh, Bulma? You have any more rations in that capsule kit of yours?"
"Uh, yeah! Should be plenty for all of us." Bulma dug into her capsule kit and when she found what she was looking for, held it up triumphantly.
"Good." Gine then turned to Kakarot. "Go with them and keep them safe, just in case."
"Will do, Mom." Kakarot affirmed, then turned to his family. "We've been separated long enough already; I'm not leaving you guys alone again anytime soon."
Chi-Chi couldn't put into words how much that meant to her, and Gohan couldn't be happier that his daddy won't be leaving him again any time soon.
"We'll be back before you know it." Gine said as she stepped forward, then turned to her eldest son. "Ready Raditz?"
"Been ready, Mother." Raditz said with cracking his knuckles.
"Wait!" Gohan called to him, rushing up to his uncle and embracing him as best he could for his small size. "So glad you're here too, Uncle Raditz. Give these big bullies what for, okay?"
Raditz felt a ping of warmth within his chest at the gesture and smiled down at him, ruffling Gohan's hair.
"Don't worry, kiddo. I'll make them wish they were never born!"
Gohan let Raditz go as he and Gine walked towards the Ginyus while the rest stood back.
"Has Gine gone crazy or something?" Krillin wondered.
"No." It was Bulma who said it. "She has a plan. I can see how different she is. The way you and Raditz are too, Kakarot." She said while pointing at him. "I can see how much more confident you all look now."
"Whoa..." Kakarot regarded Bulma in astonishment. "Are you saying you can sense our energies now, Bulma?!"
"I dunno." Bulma shrugged. "Sorta, I guess. From that Guru guy we saw."
"Uhhh... Who's Guru?" Kakarot asked, clearly confused.
"Oh yeah, that's a long story too." Said Bulma. "But we can tell you along the way!"
"But are you sure about leaving your mom and Raditz to face these guys?" Krillin asked again.
"I do." Kakarot said resolutely without pause.
The gang looked to Gine and Raditz getting ready to square off against the tormentors that had tossed them around so easily just minutes earlier. They wondered how much the Sons had changed in order to proclaim so boldly that they could now take them on alone. But Kakarot never told a lie before, so they believed what he said.
"Alright, let's go!" He ordered, scooping up his family into his arms while Yamcha picked up Bulma, taking off with Krillin following close behind with Dende riding on his back.
"Don't worry, Dende." Krillin assured him. "Once we deal with these guys, you and your people will be safe from now on."
Dende wasn't sure if that was a satisfactory assurance. Many of his people were still brutally slaughtered, and with Porunga gone, they will remain dead forever. And were these people just going to flee back to their home world just like that? What else could be done any way?
And as they picked up speed, Dende was the only one who dared to look back at the two Saiyans facing off against these alien warriors. He somehow had a feeling that this was not going to end as everyone hoped, but he kept his thoughts to himself...
...
Ginyu gawked at the retreating group.
"What the... No! Jeice, Burter, don't let them get away!" He shouted to his men.
The two in question leapt into the air to pursue the group, but Gine and Raditz phased in front of them.
"Oh no you don't!" Raditz declared with his arms spread out, blocking their path. "You're not harming our friends anymore, not without getting past me first!"
"Who ar-, I mean..." Jeice stuttered to find the words. "Who was that with them?! And how did you get so damn fast?!"
"Hmph. Well to answer your question, Jeice, that was my brother. And this..." Raditz swept a hand towards Gine. "...is my mother. And second, I've changed a lot since the last time you saw me. I'm now far stronger than you and the rest of the Force combined! And mother, here? Well... she's even stronger than me!"
"That's a load of crap!" Burter decried. "I'm checking my scouter now and it says you're only at eight thousand! Don't try to joke with us with that kind of nonsense!"
Raditz chuckled at them darkly. "Oh, Burter. You guys know so little... you can't rely on those numbers alone."
Gine watched Jeice and Burter from beside her son. They seemed to have no idea what to make of Raditz's newfound bluster. From what she was able to imagine based on her son's recounting, he had always been remembered as the weakest of Vegeta's band of Saiyan warriors. To see him now looking so confident and strong must've been mindboggling to them. And if they tried to challenge him, they were in for a rude surprise. She just hoped that Raditz would not get too carried away. They had a job to do.
"Haha, so you think you can take on us now, Raditz?" Said Jeice. "Don't make me laugh. Even with your mum here, there's no way you can match us-"
"You can't beat us." Gine interrupted.
"What?!" He eyed her incredulously, as if insulted that she dared to question him.
"I can tell from just sensing you that none of you are a match for us. I suggest you just leave this planet and never come back, or else." Gine threatened.
Jeice and Burter were silent for a long moment, then they both burst into fits of laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Wow, you really are a crazy one, aren't ya?" Jeice said through gasps between laughs before turning back to Raditz. "Hehe, is she why you were such a failure, mate? Does insanity run in your family or something? How can low-level Saiyan trash like you ever match the power of us, Frieza's elite?!"
Raditz glanced to his mother, who nodded silently in return.
To answer Jeice's question, both Raditz and Gine let out powerful yells that tore through the air like thunderclaps as they unleashed their energy. Violent auras surrounded both of them, hurricane winds blasted out in all directions...
Each of the remaining scouters combusted on the faces of the stunned commandos. Good, Gine thought. Then they shouldn't be able to report back to Frieza to alert him to their presence here.
After powering up to what felt like a sizeable level, both mother and son ceased their energy outburst. All was quiet again and the dust settled.
The three Ginyus, plus Vegeta, stood frozen where they were, looking absolutely horrified.
"N-no... no freakin' way!" Jeice stuttered, backing away without knowing it. "One hundred and... fifty thousand?!"
Gine said nothing, hoping the display was enough to send them running. But Raditz just laughed.
"Is that proof enough for ya... 'mate'?" He asked in a mockery of Jeice's accent.
The red commando gritted his teeth in anger. "Grr! Alright, no more jokes from you, Raditz! You may have destroyed our scouters but that was just a show! You're gonna pay for interfering with our mission!"
"Heheh. If you say so, Jeice!" Raditz spread his arms wide again, leaving himself open and inviting them to attack. "Go ahead. Take your best shot at me. Maybe perhaps then you'll believe me."
Jeice clenched his fists. "Alright you bastard! You wanna see what we're made of? Well here! Have a taste of our might! Burter?"
"Right!" Burter answered back, already eager to jump into battle.
They both flew up and circled around Raditz, each doing their own ridiculous poses as they charged their respective attacks.
"RED MAGMA!"
"BLUE HURRICANE!"
A flurry of movements followed...
Then it ended with Raditz clutching in each hand the fists of both his attackers, having caught them in mid-air.
"WHAT?!" Both Jeice and Burter were wide-eyed in utter disbelief.
"YAHH!" Raditz blasts both of them away with a kiai shout, sending them flying a great distance tumbling end over end.
Gine watched the fight a short distance away. She was filled with relief that he easily blocked their combined attack but was still irked that he would do something as reckless as let his guard down intentionally.
"My turn!" Raditz called out before phasing out of view.
Jeice and Burter frantically scanned their surroundings, but then they both cried out as their heads snapped back and forth. Raditz was slapping them around faster than they could stop him.
"What's the matter Jeice, not so tough anymore?" Raditz taunted as he phased before Jeice, backhanded him across the face, then disappeared yet again to do the same to Burter.
Jeice wiped away the blood from his cheek, he was thoroughly pissed off now. Seeing Raditz attack Burter, Jeice charged forward with all his might, too blinded by anger.
"HYAHH!"
Only for Raditz to phase out and Jeice's fist connected with Burter's face instead, sending the larger blue alien flying away.
"Oh crap! I'm so sorry, mate!" Jeice quickly apologized but was cut off when Burter fired an energy blast in his direction and dodged barely in time.
"What was that for?!" Burter demanded angrily.
"Wait, stop it, Burter!" Jeice pleaded. "He's trying to get us to hit each other! Don't fall for it!"
Burter considered this, but the distraction was enough for Raditz to reappear before Jeice just inches from his face.
"BOO!"
Jeice yelped like a frightened child as he drew back, with Raditz laughing at him.
"Hahaha. Got ya, didn't I?"
"Grrr. That does it!" Jeice seethed as he held a hand up into the air, an angry red orb of fire growing in his grip.
"CRUSHER BALL!"
Jeice fired the blast at Raditz point-blank...
...and Raditz just swatted the attack aside like it was nothing, detonating far away in a deafening explosion.
Raditz smirked at Jeice, who could only shudder in terror before him. If that was his best attack, then he was surely doomed.
"Was nice knowing ya, Jeice!"
He raised a hand before his face...
"SHINING FRIDAY!"
An orb of pinkish crackling energy engulfed Jeice, drowning his screams as he was vaporized. When the light and noise faded, only a faint cloud of smoke remained of him.
"JEICE! NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Burter screamed from below. Raditz turned to see him glaring up at him, his teeth barred, and fists shaking in rage.
"You filthy son of a-"
Before he could finish, Raditz phased out of sight again and reappeared behind Burter. Startled, the larger alien tried to wheel around on Raditz, but the Saiyan was too quick and dodged every punch and kick thrown at him with expert ease.
"B-but how?!" Burter wailed. "I'm supposed to be the fastest warrior in the universe!"
"Not anymore, pal." Raditz mocked.
Enraged, Burter attacked him again with renewed fire, putting all the energy and rage he had into landing a hit. But Raditz kept dodging the strikes effortlessly, which made Burter even angrier.
"What's the matter, Burter? Getting a little slow?"
From the sidelines, Gine shook her head. Raditz was clearly toying with them, enjoying every moment of humiliating his old tormentors. She could understand that, but she wanted him to just hurry up and finish it already.
"HEADS UP!"
As if granting her wish, Raditz blocked one of Burter's attacks and suddenly threw a high-energy punch right into Burter's face, causing the alien's skull to explode in a shower of purple blood, bone, and brains.
He extracted his fist from what was left of Burter's head, and the flailing, lifeless body fell backwards onto the ground, twitching once or twice before stilling forever.
"Gross." Raditz grimaced in disgust as he flicked the bits of gore off of his hand with some of it still clinging to his armor.
Gine had seen more violent acts before but witnessing that made her stomach turn. Not just the horrific way her son dispatched his opponent, but in how he reveled in it. She worried that Raditz was letting his little power trip go to his head.
At least he was being quick and painless now.
"H-ho... how?!" Captain Ginyu moaned in horror.
How could a filthy Saiyan take his men out with such ease? Or, how were the best warriors in the galaxy, second only to him and Frieza, dropping like flies to the likes of Raditz? Gine guessed the captain wanted to say.
"Ohhhh..."
More moaning sounds, but they came from a giant form laying on the ground whom Gine thought was dead. But the large man pushed himself off the ground. He must've been unconscious for he looked like he had taken a serious beating.
"Ugh... What happened?" He said groggily, rubbing the back of his head while trying to stand up.
Ginyu took notice of him and started shouting, "Recoome! Attack them! NOW!"
"Wha...?" The man hadn't fully gotten back up yet and was already being ordered back into battle. But the brute didn't seem to mind as he set his eyes on her and Raditz.
"Who the hell are you?" Recoome demanded, his eyes unfocused.
Gine turned to address him.
"I'm no one. And I don't want to hurt you, so please surrender while you can."
"Huh?!" Recoome seemed to take offense at her, his fighting vigor restored. "No way! The Ginyu Force never retreats from battle, least of all, me! We are the elite of the elite! And we will stay and fight to the end!"
Gine sighed in disappointment. "Then I have no choice."
Recoome performed his own pose, ready to charge up his own attack.
"RECOOME... ULTRA-"
He was cut off by Gine phasing right beneath him and driving her fist right up into his sternum, snapping the breastbone and crushing his heart beneath it. Swift, precise, and merciless. He was dead before he even felt it.
Gine pulled herself back as Recoome's massive form collapsed onto the ground, his face frozen in utter shock with vacant eyes staring out into nothingness.
Ginyu had no words now, he just stared bug-eyed at what was his last man, then to her and Raditz and back again.
Vegeta, who had not made any attempt to flee this whole time, also looked at her in complete disbelief, and Gine eyed him back. She can sense how much weaker he was to her now compared to the last time they met. He had come within an inch of killing her then. Now he was at her mercy, at least once Ginyu was dealt with...
Ginyu himself gawked at them until the fear in his eyes gave way to... approval? To Gine and Raditz's astonishment, he smiled at them and slowly clapped his hands.
"Well, I have to applaud you two. Bravo. You took my men out without issue. If I weren't so mad, I'd even offer you to join my elite force, now that there's positions opened up..." He joked. "You must've briefly raised your power levels so fast as to make our scouters short circuit and attack in short bursts, conserving your energy. That's quite a clever trick, I admit."
His expression turned serious. "But you're not the only one with tricks. I could sense how strong you really are without a scouter, so I won't go down as easily."
Raditz stepped forward in front of Gine, seemingly taking up the captain's challenge.
"Haha, don't worry, Ginyu. Neither will I, cuz all that 'briefly' powering up wasn't brief at all. That's how strong I really am! So, I suggest you give up now and run while you still can."
Ginyu clenched his fists. "I won't run, you punk! I'm Captain Ginyu! Frieza's most elite warrior! And I will never back down! GINYU SPECIAL FIGHTING POSE! HYAH!" He punctuated with a ridiculous stance but looked more self-conscious of how he looked without his team than the pose itself.
A bead of sweat ran down the side of Raditz's face.
"Enough of your stupid dancing already!"
Moving faster than Ginyu could defend, Raditz charged and elbowed him in the face, stunning the larger warrior and sending him flying backward. Raditz then phased behind him to drive a knee into his back and break his spine. But to Raditz's shock, Ginyu recovered in time to twist sideways to avoid the strike. Raditz followed up by swinging a punch toward him, but Ginyu ducked out of the way.
Gine was amazed as she watched. Despite how much stronger Raditz was, Ginyu was still an adept fighter and kept up with Raditz's attacks, but only just.
Soon enough, Raditz landed another blow, this time sending Ginyu tumbling end over end across the ground. But Ginyu managed to righten himself as he flew back, skidding to a stop on his feet. Then Raditz was on him again, being relentless.
"Why you...!" Ginyu summoned energy blasts in each hand and threw volley after volley at Raditz, who only dodged or deflected them easily, sending several flying away to detonate against the cliffs and obliterate entire islands in the water. The blue land around them was being obliterated into a moonscape...
Meanwhile, Vegeta watched the battle from the sidelines in silence, dodging the stray energy blasts as they shot past him. He looked as befuddled as he looked furious at how Raditz was now far stronger than he ever thought possible. Seeing his own former minion manhandling Captain Ginyu did not seem to compute for him. But despite how angry he looked, he did realize that no one noticed him at that moment, at least until Gine did, and she decided to phase right behind him.
"Don't even think about trying to escape." She demanded, startling the prince. He wheeled around on her.
"W-wha... how?" Vegeta stuttered. "How did he get so strong? How did any of you?!"
Gine narrowed her contemptuous gaze while also keeping an eye on the battle behind him.
"That's something you will never understand, your highness." She spat. "We trained harder than ever before, like I told you back on Earth. With enough effort, anyone can get strong. My son here is proof of that. Both of them."
Vegeta gawked between her and the battle. Gine could only imagine the humiliation he must be feeling at the moment.
Back at the fight, Ginyu looked worse for wear. He bled from many wounds, his armor was in tatters, and one of his horns had broken off. He looked on the brink of collapsing where he stood. Raditz however looked completely untouched and unexhausted.
"This..." Ginyu said between gulps of air. "This can't be!... I'm supposed to... be stronger than you!"
Raditz smirked at him. "I hope it's been made clear to you, Ginyu. You. Can't. Beat. Me! I just wanted you to know that before I snuff you out for good."
Ginyu barred his teeth with tears forming in his eyes. He was probably despairing how this was the Great Captain Ginyu of Frieza's Special Forces going to end. Done in by a filthy low-class Saiyan. It was a disgrace of a death that will likely haunt him well beyond the grave. It must be a nightmare to him. He looked so dumbfounded at how this could be happening that Gine almost felt sorry for him. Almost...
Then, a funny look came into Ginyu's eye, like an idea just came to him.
He grinned up at Raditz. "I guess you're right, Raditz. You really are incredibly strong. Far more than what I thought you monkeys were ever capable of."
Raditz wasn't expecting the compliment but took it anyway. "Glad you noticed I was never the hapless underling you took me for."
"Heh. I guess not." Said Ginyu. "But... I got a feeling that you're holding back on me even now, is that right?"
Raditz raised an eyebrow, interested in where the captain was going with this.
"I am, actually. What about it?"
Ginyu's grin turned more mischievous.
"Well, I wasn't made the leader of Frieza's elite fighting unit for nothing. I can tell a person's true capabilities from a mile away. And you should also know that for me, Captain Ginyu, it is my job to fight the strongest. This has been a far greater fight than I've ever experienced before, and I intend to enjoy it. You may beat me this day, but I won't rest in peace if I don't get to use all of my power. So, if you really want to beat me, then you'll have to take the gloves off. Show me all you've got!"
He stood on one foot and did another pose. "Or are you still no match for the Ginyu Special Fighting Pose?!"
Raditz cringed at the ridiculous taunt but now he was tempted. He wanted nothing more than to just kill Ginyu right then and there, but after hearing the guy that Vegeta feared sing his praises over how his strength has shone through, then Raditz felt he perhaps could humor him. Plus, he hasn't yet fully gone all out since he finished the gravity training on the way to Namek. He wanted to see for himself what he was truly capable of now. And maybe show off a bit of what he had become, to rub it in Vegeta's face a little more...
Glancing over in the direction of the prince, who was watching him with keen interest, Raditz turned back to Ginyu with a wicked smile. "Alright. You wanna see all that I'm capable of? Compared to your stupid dances?! Fine. Here!"
Clenching both his fists and summoning all the energy he can bring forth, the ground around him shook violently. Rocks floated into the air, and winds blew in all directions from him, faster and fiercer than before...
Vegeta shielded his eyes from the force of energy released. But Gine just stood there, frowning in frustration. There was no need for Raditz to show off. Why wouldn't he just kill Ginyu already?
Ginyu meanwhile, backed away, his smile disappearing. Even without the scouter he could feel the power emanating from Raditz. And it was terrifying.
"And I can go even higher than this if I wanted to!" Raditz shouted as he clenched his fists even harder.
"KAIO-KEN!"
His voice thundered as an aura of fiery red shrouded him. His power continuing to rise without stopping, now making the whole land they were on quake...
After a few seconds he stopped, and all was quiet again. Ginyu just stared at Raditz like he had just seen something impossible. And so did Vegeta. He felt that power too.
"A little trick my brother taught me." Raditz chuckled to fill the stunned silence from his audience, feeling rather pleased with himself.
To everyone's surprise, Ginyu threw his head back and laughed deliriously.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'VE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
In that surreal moment, even Vegeta shared a look of confusion with Gine. As if thinking to her: had he lost his mind?
But Gine knew different. Delirious or not, Ginyu knew by now he was cornered and had to be stalling for something or looking for a means to escape. From seeing him goad her son into showing off, Gine had an uneasy feeling that a trap was being set, and she wanted Raditz to just finish the job already...
Collecting himself, Ginyu eyed Raditz. "I don't have a scouter anymore, but I put that maximum power level at almost three hundred thousand. You're practically halfway to matching Frieza himself! You truly are something special!"
While thrown off by Ginyu's praise, Raditz seemed to his words to heart. He looked down at his hands as if his power was within them. He could hardly fathom how he could come anywhere near the league of the galactic tyrant. And he felt a swell of pride within him. How far he and his low-class mother and brother had come...
"Just kill him, son!" He heard his mother call out to him, sounding impatient. "You've played around with him enough, kill him so we can get out of here!"
Raditz frowned at his mother ordering him around but knew enough by now to not argue with her. She was right anyway; he had toyed around with his prey long enough. Time to finish him, then to get to Vegeta and go back home...
Not wasting more time, he turned his attention back to Ginyu but froze. The captain was eying him in a way he wasn't before. For some reason, that look made him very uncomfortable.
"Uhh... Why are you looking at me like that?"
Instead of answering, Ginyu raised a fist with energy flowing in it. And drove it into his own side.
"Ugh!" Ginyu cried out in pain, spitting up blood.
Everyone else cried out too, but in shock.
"What the..." Raditz was utterly dumbfounded. "Why would you..."
Ginyu's eyes narrowed on him, like he had Raditz right where he wanted him...
The hairs on the back of Gine's neck suddenly stood up, realizing what Ginyu was about to do.
"RADITZ, GET AWAY FROM-"
"CHANGE NOW!"
Ginyu threw his arms out and a blinding beam of light fired from his mouth, making Gine and Vegeta shield their eyes as the beam hit Raditz square on...
When the light faded, Gine opened her eyes again to see both Ginyu and her son floating there still.
Then Raditz chuckled. But something was wrong. It wasn't his voice when he spoke...
"Heheheh. It worked!"
An injured Ginyu pointed up at Raditz, clutching his wounded chest.
"W-wha... why... how am I... What happened?!"
And it wasn't the gruff voice of Captain Ginyu, but of Raditz.
A wave of faint and revulsion overtook Gine, like her world had just been turned upside down.
"I made an exchange!" Said the man who wasn't Raditz. "Your body for mine! Thanks, by the way."
"WHAT?!" Giny-, no, Raditz cried out in horror.
"Heheheh! Now I have all your powers and strength, while you..." Ginyu, in Raditz's stolen body, scowled at his former self. "Are toast!"
Before anyone could recover their wits, Ginyu flew at Raditz, tackling him with full force and driving him into the ground.
"Hahaha! I LOVE THIS NEW BODY!" Ginyu jubilantly exclaimed as he continued to pummel Raditz in his old body into the dirt. Raditz, who had no idea how to fight back in a body he was not familiar with, while still not comprehending what was happening, couldn't defend himself. His now purple face became bloodied, his armor shattered, and both his new horns now broken off...
Gine caught herself from falling to her knees, just barely collecting herself. She looked up at Radi-, no, Ginyu, beating her son into a pulp. And all she saw was red.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Blasting Vegeta aside, Gine rocketed towards Ginyu, catching him off guard and slamming into his side, sending him flying away. Raditz lay in the crater a bloodied mess, but still alive.
Ginyu straightened himself out from the attack and faced Gine, scowling. She had to fight hard to ignore the instinct to not harm her son, but the malignant soul in the eyes of her firstborn son's face was enough to subconsciously remind her that this wasn't her son.
"Give my son his body back, NOW!" She screamed, her tail whipping around like an angry snake.
But Ginyu just laughed at her.
"Hahaha! No way, missy. I'm taking this body with me! Good luck with him!" We waved at her before taking off as fast as he could.
Gine saw where he was going, in the direction of five craters in a line where an attack ball lay in each of them. And cold pit opened in her stomach. If Ginyu reached one of them, she will never see her son again!
Without thinking, Gine shot straight up into the air for some altitude, raised a hand, formed a golden sphere of energy, and fired a volley of ki in his direction...
The dozens of energy blasts she fired shot past him, and split their paths into five, converging on the pods in the craters. And the entire landscape erupted into a cacophony of fireballs and explosions.
Hurricane-force winds blew Ginyu backwards. Rock and fiery debris rained down everywhere, along with the smoking remains of the Ginyu's ships. When it died down enough to look again, the landmass where the pods had landed on was now just a vast expanse of steaming green ocean instead.
Ginyu floated there in crestfallen shock. Then turned towards her, clenching his fist.
"Damn it, you bitch!" He seethed.
She replied by charging at him again, this time meeting him in blocking a punch, then he threw another, which she surprisingly found easy.
They exchanged a flurry of strikes, but he was on the backfoot, struggling to keep up. And hope filled her. Ginyu was an unpredictable fighter using her son's face. But Raditz's body was strong, almost on par with her, yet she was seeing that Ginyu did not fully understand her son's power and how it worked in the new vessel he inhabited, so he could not utilize his full strength. She might be able to press that advantage...
She broke through a parry and socked Ginyu square in the jaw, sending the body snatcher flying through a cliff behind him. She phased behind him and kicked him into the air, then met him again in the sky to spike him in the head and send Ginyu crashing into the ground below...
But he recovered before he could crash into the dirt, though he still looked winded. More than the real Raditz would be in a sparring match against her for this amount of time. She may have him now.
"I don't want to kill you! But I will if I have to unless you give my son his body back!" She demanded.
Ginyu scowled up at her, considering his options. He then looked over in the direction where Raditz lay in his crater, not too far away. Then back up to her.
He raised a hand, and a purple energy blast began to form in his grip. And Ginyu seemed to struggle to put as much energy as he could into it, for he screamed and the ground shook as he accumulated as much ki as possible into the shot he was about to fire. It would definitely be enough to vaporize her if she didn't bother to dodge it or defend herself, so she was wary of what his next move was.
"If you want it back..." He said mischievously. "Then you'll have to come and get it!"
He then fired the blast... not at her, but in Raditz's direction, laying weakened and helpless.
Gine's eyes widened to saucers as she screamed.
"NOOOOOOO!"
Moving faster than she thought possible, Gine outran the blast to shove Raditz in his massively unfamiliar body out of the way before that blast landed. The resulting explosion sent her and Raditz flying away from each other by the pressure wave. Her vision blurred as she tumbled end over end, until suddenly she splashed into the green, warm water of the Namekian ocean. Her senses were drowned out by the change, and it was disorienting for her to find out which way was up while fighting the urge to breathe in the water.
Swimming with all her might, she broke the surface, gasping desperately for air. One of the suns above her was eclipsed by a massive mushroom cloud forming over her, filling nearly half the sky. And the even larger island that they were on was vaporized too.
"RADITZ!" She bellowed out as loud as she could from the vast ocean she was in. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Something broke the surface not too far from her, a purple horned figure flailing in the water and gasping for air as well.
"Mother?!" He cried back.
A momentous weight was lifted from her shoulders, despite being in water. Her son was safe at least. But when she turned back toward where she had last saw Ginyu, that weight returned. For he was nowhere to be found...
A/N: hope you enjoyed! Have some positive life updates now since I was finally able to get a new job for the time being, so I've been able to have some peace of mind, along with a second wind to get more writing done. Will try to keep the momentum up. See you next time!