Chapter 2

His sleep was disturbed at that moment. By what he couldn’t tell. It was not enough to wake him more than a second, the featureless darkness surrounding his mind briefly pierced. Still too groggy from hibernation, he shook it off with a silent thought.

What is that abominable power I feel? He mused. A qi…great enough to shake the universe?

He then fell back to perfect sleep as the explosion of power wound down.

Many powers…He thought. I sense…at once…

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Freeza stopped laughing once he sensed something was off. An air of malice began emanating from the Saiyan that started out noticeable before becoming overwhelming. This was a new experience.

Odd. Freeza thought. I’ve never been able to feel qi before. Why–why now? Did I just suddenly learn?

He stared on as the yellow light flashed on and off his body like a flickering light. The golden aura was accompanied by a heavy wind filled with white mist. Upon closer inspection the aura and shining white mist had faces in them.

Or is it just that overwhelming? Freeza wondered.

The golden light was surging around Goku with angered expressions and smiles laughing in mad glee. The silvery mist that was spreading across the ground and sea carried even more faces than the gold aura. A vortex of wind swirled around them both until the water around them was fleeing away. And as the silver wind pushed against Freeza the faces whispered into his ear.

Destroy. They whispered. Kill. Destroy. Obliterate. End the conqueror’s life!

Freeza noticed that any other light source beyond Goku was being snuffed out. He looked above to see the sky being covered by dark storm clouds that began to morph into more faces. The black clouds opened up with wide, cruel smiles and hollow eyes.

In the midst of the hundreds of grimaces thunder began to roar. Lightning crackled in the sky with flashes of slaughter. Images of merciless killing appeared within the lightning before projecting a mirage of corpses strewn about. He thought he recognized some of those killed before looking away.

He turned back to Goku, not wanting to look as he found a tail sprouting out from behind the Saiyan. But it was strange. It was gold as opposed to the usual brown and was thrice the length of a normal one.

Odd. Freeza though. I thought only young Saiyans could grow their tails back.

The oddness increased when Goku’s skin ripped apart. Arms thicker than Freeza’s head forced their way out of his chest. The limbs sprouted bronze talons twice the size of his hands. They shredded his flesh like paper to reveal they were covered in leathery golden skin. Freeza screamed in surprise to find more of the Saiyan’s body eviscerated to bits.

A new creature grew from Goku’s body, like a parasite unveiling from its host. His legs were split into dozens of pieces to reveal new ones larger around than Freeza’s limbs held together. Glowing yellow skin grew over the new limbs to shine like metal. His feet burst like balloons to reveal eagle-like talons that gripped the ground like a predator clutching its prey.

And he grew taller with each second. Goku soon dwarfed Freeza in height as he cast a shadow over the frost demon. Freeza was eclipsed in the Saiyan’s shadow before Goku’s arms fell to the ground and new appendages sprouted from his shoulders. To replace his lost limbs were what Freeza assumed to be a new pair of arms before they grew too wide.

A rod of yellow cartilage extended from each shoulder to grow wider across than Goku’s entire body. Leathery, metallic matter extended downward from these rows of cartilage to become wide flaps of skin-like matter. Once the crescent-shaped wings flapped into existence the wind they whipped up incited pain in Freeza. He grunted in discomfort while skin cracked like eggshells to spill blood.

Freeza stared up at the monster to find the creature horrifying. Most of his body was dressed in metallic gold skin shined with the brightness of a star. The bird talons seemed even more hideous than a mammal’s claws. Adding to the horror of the bat-like wings, faces pressed against leathery appendages.

Screaming in distress and anger the expressions of what must have been countless humans drifted inside the wings like they were trapped there. But upon closer inspection, Freeza found faces drifting across the metallic surface of Goku’s new body. Each face appeared to be shrieking in distress and crying out against Freeza. He turned upward to avoid facing them only to find Goku’s face.

His irises glowed scarlet as opposed to their previous black. The bones in his head were almost pointed, like a wolf’s in comparison to the more average flat face. His canine teeth were sharper than before. This tapered structure only incited more terror as Freeza looked up.

“G-Goku?” he asked.

The Saiyan grabbed his arm by the wrist. Freeza did not have time to avoid the grasp as he screamed in pain. Just as he struggled against the Saiyan’s grasp, Goku took hold of his other arm just as swiftly. At first the frost demon attempted to wrestle against the Saiyan’s grasp before increasing his grip on Freeza. Freeza was brought to his knees as he yelled in pain.

“Stop!” he shouted. “Stop! I command you to stop!”

His arms felt like they’d pop like a pimple.

“Don’t-!” Freeza shouted. “Don’t-!”

The Saiyan suddenly let go. Freeza’s arms fell to the ground like rocks. At first he was relieved but when he tried to raise the limbs, he found this useless.

He looked to see handprints pressed into the surface. It was like someone had taken two bars of clay and squeezed into it. Like his flesh was malleable.

No. He thought. No one’s ever been able to inflict this much damage to me. No one!

He then looked up at the scarlet-eyed monster to find it baring its fangs at him.

And in my final form no less…He thought. How…how…?

“What are you?!” Freeza shouted.

The creature continued staring before opening its mouth. Rather than a singular voice arising, a million screams could be heard. The cries and screeching of tormented people hurt Freeza’s ears. The closest thing he could describe it to would be the sound of static combined with a rushing waterfall magnified by a thousand.

Kill! They cried. Kill! Kill! Judgment! Vengeance! Slaughter! Destroy!

He recoiled in pain before the creature closed its mouth. After Freeza heard its strained and irritating cry he could feel his ears bleeding. Freeza looked down at himself to find himself covered in blood from hundreds of cracks.

“Me?” Goku said.

A ripple disturbed the water around them once he spoke. It was Goku’s voice but it changed. Goku no longer sounded calm and optimistic. His voice was loud even though he was not trying to be. Every word sounded like a stone digging beneath Freeza’s skin.

“You ask what I am?” he said.

Freeza quivered like a reed in harsh wind. He thought it was fear before realizing the Saiyan’s voice alone was doing it. Goku’s voice had so much force it was causing his body to ache.

“I,” he said. “Am the answer.”

“The-the?” Freeza said. “Answer to what?!”

“To you,” Goku said.

Freeza almost fell down, his voice was so deafening. It hurt to listen to. He tried to stay up but his body continued to shake with each word the Saiyan uttered.

“An answer all innocent beings seek,” Goku said. “A hope all the weak in this universe share. When tyrants go out into this world to destroy and plunder the innocent and the just are the victims. Slaughtered like lambs the corpses of the good gather in mountains as the evil launch campaigns of terror.”

Goku’s hand suddenly wrapped around Freeza’s wrist. The frost demon didn’t even notice until the Saiyan was hanging him in the air. With his free hand, Goku placed his thumb and index finger around Freeza’s middle finger. The frost demon shook in disbelief as the Saiyan jerked the digit out of its socket.

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“Gahh!” Freeza shouted as blood spurted from his hand.

“Their screams cannot protect them,” Goku said. “Because the tyrant is too drunk on bloodlust and their neighbors are already dead. So the innocent die for no reason other than the amusement of the evil.”

Goku then placed the same fingers around Freeza’s pinkie before slowly pulling on it.

“Ah-ah-ah-” Freeza shouted breathlessly.

“The innocent across the whole universe feel this in their bones,” Goku said. “Wondering if they will die helplessly or live enslaved to a conqueror’s whims. They do everything they can to protect those they love and secure bonds of friendship. Holding onto those precious joys that make life worth living, the innocent dread the day a tyrant appears.”

He then plucked the finger out of its place. Freeza screamed in pain again for his blood to redden his torturer’s fingers. Goku remained stoic at the sight.

“Lives of peace,” Goku said. “Are not a deterrent to evil. But an invitation for villains like you to swing the sword at them. They wonder…”

Goku took Freeza’s other wrist into his own hand and squeezed, eliciting another moan.

“...why someone so powerful yet so evil arises,” Goku said. “Why do the wicked always seem to be the strongest? Why do the peaceful live on death’s edge, at the mercy of monsters, while the wicked and demonic have domain over the universe?”

The Saiyan took Freeza’s index finger with his own two digits before bending it backwards. Audible breaking violated Freeza’s ears as unbearable pain wracked his hand. He’d give anything for it to stop, even for it to snap off to end the suffering. But Goku seemed very well aware and prolonged the agony.

“And that desire is what I answer,” Goku said.

He snapped Freeza’s finger off for the third time.

“Gahh!” he shouted.

“The cruel tyrant shall know his day of vengeance,” Goku said.

With a quick jerk he tore off Freeza’s left arm. The frost demon fell to the ground and squirmed in pain. His cries of agony were no longer loud shouts but quiet whimpers. Freeza felt so drained of strength that he didn’t even have the fortitude to screech in discomfort. Only mill about like a worm in the dirt.

“The lives of all who were snuffed out will have their greatest wish answered,” he said. “Not only for their cries of revenge to be met but an end to further evil.”

Freeza suddenly found the strength to shout in pain as the Saiyan’s talons stomped on his right leg. Freeza coughed up a stream of blood and saliva once his knee was smashed like a bread against an iron weight. After the initial cry of pain, he continued to spit out spurts of blood and saliva until the ground around his head was soaked in it.

“I am the hope of the universe,” Goku said. “The protector of the weak. The savior of all peaceful people. I am their shield that stands against the tempest of evil that those like you rain down. The wall that shall prevent further evil from crushing innocents.”

A gold aura lit up around the Saiyan like a flame. The heat of such qi burned Freeza’s white skin until it slightly blackened. He had whimpered in pain as he saw the golden energy surge into the sky.

The souls of thousands could be seen flying into the dark clouds above them. The ghostly faces formed a pool of yellow light that shone brighter than the sun. It hurt to look up at but Freeza could not avoid noticing lightning flash with amazing radiance. Reaching down from the black sky were shining silver arms the size of trees that slapped at the air beneath. The movement of these hands created fierce winds.

The sea around them began to whip into mighty vortexes from the wind Goku produced. The souls screamed as their movement generated wild water spouts that almost reached into the black sky. Freeza then began to feel the ground shake. Lying down he could see much of the remaining earth was beginning to crack open.

Emerging from the splits in the surface of the Earth emerged scarlet flames. The tongues of fire had expressions in them that laughed with wicked mirth. Freeza could hear their jeers over the wind and thunder.

“I am Son Goku,” he said. “And I am a Super Saiyan.”

“Suuu-per…” Freeza said before he coughed up more blood. “Saiy-aiy-aiyan.”

“You should feel stupid, Freeza,” Goku said. “Your evil was great enough to awaken the most legendary warrior in the universe. You will go down in history as a tyrant whose foolishness instigated such a transformation.”

Goku gripped what remained of the frost demon’s knee with his talon before ripping it from his leg. Freeza had grown numb to the pain by now but the blood rushing from his stump of a leg was still agonizing. His vision blurred with each drop of blood that reddened the ground around him. However, Freeza put all his remaining strength into his speech. He wanted to have the last word.

“I knew I had to wipe out you Saiyans,” he said. “The Super Saiyan…it is said that when it appears…it cannot hold back its fury.”

He spat out more blood onto the ground.

“That-that-that,” he choked. “That was…the reason you…you monk-monkeys couldn-n’t…be allowed to…live!”

More blood spilled from his mouth. Goku glared down at the dying tyrant. Freeza gasped for air to find his lungs on fire.

“The Super-!” Freeza said. “Super…Super Saiy-an-an! It destroys everything! It-it does…it does not stop…until…until it dies!”

“What do you mean?” Goku asked.

“The Super Saiyan…” Freeza said as he rolled his head to face Goku. “It-it’s too dangerous to…! To be a possibility!”

The Saiyan glared down at him, his red eyes burning with wrath.

“I was…” Freeza said. “S-Sav-Saving the…the universe! If…if even one Saiyan had the possibility of…of…of unlocking this transformation…it would cause…”

He spat at more blood to smear red across his mouth.

“Disaster beyond repair!” Freeza said. “It would do…do in a day what you claim my…my crimes would in my…entire liiife.”

The Saiyan laughed.

“Really?” Goku asked.

He spread his wings to their fullest length. The flames pouring from the cracks in the ground increased in height. The laughter that could be heard within the tongues of fire tore into Freeza’s ears more. Blood poured from his ears in the quantity it flowed from his legs.

“You're going to blame me for your destruction?” Goku asked.

The Super Saiyan slammed his free talon onto Freeza’s chest. Freeza screamed like he never had before as the claws dug into his chest. The force at which the talon slammed him into the ground crushed his innards. The frost demon could feel much of his internal organs burst.

“No,” Goku laughed. “You villain. You did this to yourself.”

“No!” Freeza shouted as tears ran from his eyes. “I know about…! About the legend! They…they were passed down…from…from…”

He winced in pain before drawing in one last breath.

“The story was passed down,” Freeza said as his vision blurred with tears. “From ancestor…to…ancestor…by Saiyans and I…”

He inhaled again to continue speaking, the act hurting his throat.

“…didn’t believe them at first…” Freeza said. “But…I was told to protect the world from the…the…the Super Saiyan’s wrath. I was told…if it…it ever came…into being…the whole galaxy…would be…in danger.”

Freeza’s head rolled over to the side, the mere act of talking too much for him.

“So,” he said. “So…I did what…what I could…to prevent the universe from…from being destroyed…from…from…”

The talons gripped into Freeza’s innards even tighter, eliciting another scream.

“Interesting,” Goku said. “Very interesting.”

Freeza’s body began shaking from the cold. He had lost so much blood all warmth left him. He was now waiting to die. Freeza clenched his teeth, wondering what his father would think.

To think…He thought. That our kind’s strongest lineage would be destroyed by a filthy Saiyan…I’m sorry, father. I failed to live up to your expectations.

“You claim to wish to protect the universe,” Goku laughed.

He clamped down on Freeza’s body even harder, causing him to grunt in pain once more.

“While you wipe out every race that rebels against you,” he said. “Or have a planet you’d like to sell.”

His laughter increased.

“You think I’d show sympathy to a lame excuse like that?” Goku said. “Freeza…the souls in me harbor a deep anger against you.”

The frost demon winced in pain as the Saiyan pressed him harder against the ground.

“They tell me the bloodshed you ordered on their homeworlds,” he said. “How you wiped out population after population before selling the emptied planet to the highest bidder.”

Freeza felt the last of his blood leave his left leg before the limb went numb.

“You think I’d believe a monster like that would have any fear for the safety of the innocent?” he asked. “No…no!”

Goku picked the tyrant up in his talon before slamming him down again.

“You only cared that someone stronger than you would arise and dethrone you as the most powerful in the universe,” the Super Saiyan said. “Well I have news for you…you now lie at the mercy of the very thing you feared. And I’m here to tell you…your reign of evil is over!”

“Filthy Saiyan!” Freeza shouted.

Every word caused him to cough up more blood.

“And just know,” Goku said. “That I will wipe out all you have built. Your empire will die with you.”

“Wh-What?!” Freeza asked.

“Your fear,” he laughed. “Was more than correct.”

Freeza’s eyes widened in realization. He tried to shake his head but as he did, the ground beneath him cracked. The earth he lay on split open before intense heat lit up his body.

He turned to find flames roaring out of the crevice. Freeza shouted in terror as the fire engulfed him. The faces in the fire surrounding Freeza were familiar to him. Each one was a person he killed or ordered his soldiers to. Their numerous arms wrapped around the frost demon’s body before he was dragged into the crevice.

He struggled against the flaming figures but Freeza had no strength left. He looked up to find Goku’s smiling face was the last thing he saw as the ground above closed up. His laughter was deafening.

“As Super Saiyan,” he said. “I am lord over those who are damned. And I deem you worthy of the worst punishments. Please, enjoy the hospitality of Hell.”

“No-!” Freeza shouted. “No! No!”

He reached up with his limp arm to grasp at the earth around him, only for his hand to slide off.

“I’m invincible!” he shouted. “I’m Lord Freeza! I cannot-”

The ground above him closed. Freeza was amazed at how the fire around him burned so hot and did not light the darkness at all. He could say it was pitch black but that wasn’t true. The darkness was beyond black. It wasn’t so much that he could not see what was there as much as there was nothing there. Light did not exist where he was. It was a foreign concept to everything. And as Freeza was set aflame he was pulled to a depth he’d never known, a place light had never touched.