In front of the resistance's ship ramp.
"Kakarot you can't do this!" Bulma pleaded. "The zenkais aren't meant to be used like that your heart won't be able to keep up! Even if you are a saiyan you're still mortal damn it.." She pleaded. "At least wait for other saiyans…"
The tall, spiky haired man looked at her sadly. "I'm the only one who can do this, Bulma. And I can't afford to wait for the others. Frieza's men have already begun to move across the globe and out of the hundred Namekian villages we've only evacuated twenty so far.. Someone has to confront Frieza; it's the only way his men will stop or he'll keep feeding them orders through the scouters. And.. You can't come with me because Gohan needs his mother." He said in resignation.
His wife shook her head in frustration. "He needs his father too! And.. I know things have been difficult between us but.. I still need you.." Her voice was quiet and strained. Kakarot rushed forward and swept his wife up in a loving embrace, taking her breath away with a passionate kiss. Her eyes widened and she stiffened in shock before she gave into her primal instincts and kissed him back.
They withdrew a minute later, gasping for breath. They hugged and looked into each other's eyes. The man took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry for how I acted before. I was scared and I let that fear turn to anger. I can buy you guys a day. Make it count."
"But.. Kakarot..?" Bulma questioned, holding her husband's warmth as close to her as she possibly could, as if she were afraid the wind would steal it away forever. He looked deep into her eyes and she into his.
"I will… Always be yours, Bulma. Until the sun turns to ice.. Until the rain becomes burning fire.. Until the wind scatters the mountains like ashes across the seas.. I will never stop loving you." As he spoke he slowly pulled away.
Their hands slid across each other's arms, fingers clenching together until the very last moment, stubbornly refusing to let go.. "I love you." She whispered, no longer able to stop the dam of tears she'd held back for so long as their fingers broke contact.
He turned and disappeared in an instant, leaving a massive blast of force in his wake. As he flew threw the air superman style the saiyan reached speeds that never should have been possible for a mortal being. Any other time his powers would have left him feeling invincible and excited but in this moment.. All he felt was a burning desire to be with his family.
Tears stung his eyes and he slammed them shut. His fists were clenched tightly in front of him, his knuckles white from the force. 'Don't look back Kakarot, you damn fool.. If you look back.. You won't be strong enough to keep going!'
A comet of blue energy was generated both by his power and the friction from wind resistance. It trailed behind the saiyan as the man blazed through the air at hundreds of times the speed of sound. "Friezaaaa!" He rocketed through the air, making the trip in less than five minutes.
As the dark haired being approached the area of Namek where Frieza's army had landed a thousand or more soldiers blotted out the sky. By the hundreds did they try their best to form defensive walls and fire off beams of energy to impede the calamity's path but it was all for naught. The Wrath of the saiyan raised on Earth could not be stopped.
In the blink of an eye, droves of bodies began falling from the sky. Countless pieces and parts were blown off of the saiyan's victims. Some of the weaker enemies were vaporized altogether from the mere passing of the monstrous being before them. There was utter chaos as blood, explosions and smoke filled the air.
Due to the sheer number of bodies Kakarot lost track of where he was going after the first pass and he completely missed the cluster of three ships containing the Arcrosians. Without missing a beat he spun in a full 180 and repeated another path of carnage and destruction through Frieza's ranks. Even if he couldn't see them or sense them among this endless sea of bodies, he would force them out.
After a minute of the terrifying destruction and merciless slaughter Kakarot slammed to a halt mid-air. "I've had enough of this!" He yelled, bringing his hands in close on opposite sides, as if to give himself a tight hug due to stomach pains. He shuddered and 'bounced' for a moment before he violently threw his head back and his arms out wide. A guttural roar ripped its way from his throat as a massive dome of azure energy began rapidly expanding away from his body.
"Ka-me-ha-me-Fusion!"
Just like two incredibly potent and unstable atoms being fused together in the heart of the sun, Kakarot's energies slammed together to create a reckless and powerful explosion. For someone like Kakarot who was something of a gifted scientist, as well as an absolute top tier master of Ki control, creating something like this was child's play.
However the reason he had never done so before was quickly made apparent as the smoke cleared.
While he may have obliterated a considerable number of Frieza's soldiers in his attack he was left with nearly no Ki and worse than that..
"*huff* *huff* Owwie.. That sucked.." Kakarot panted, holding his left arm which was all but useless. His Gi was torn and his torso bloody in multiple areas. Only one thin stretch of fabric across his shoulder remained of the shirt portion. Somehow his bracers were curiously still intact..
From a football field away Kakarot watched as Frieza, still in his final form slowly rose from the center of the three massive spaceships which hovered not far off the planet's surface. A few moments later his father joined him.
The youngest Acrosian's arms were crossed and an amused smile graced his lips. "Well, well saiyan. I must commend you. Unlike most of your miserable species you have some huge balls, killing my men and challenging me like this." He smirked. His voice carried unnaturally across the vast distance.
Kakarot said nothing, merely glaring and still catching his breath. It didn't escape his notice how he was slowly being surrounded once more by Frieza's seemingly limitless army of slaves. Many of them raised their hand guns and Kakarot winced, preparing for pain. However the tyrant raised a hand and they backed off. He whispered something to his father who them seemed to float several yards backwards as well.
The tyrant rose and floated slowly closer to the saiyan. He tapped his chin. "Hmm.. Why does this look so familiar to me all of a sudden? I'm getting a sense of Deja vu.." As Frieza frowned in deep contemplation he looked up slightly above the damaged saiyan's head and saw a red planet that was somewhere far off in space but still in the same solar system as Namek.
Frieza's eyes slowly widened as a stark realization dawned on him.
He slowly began to clap and then cackle which turned into a full blown laugh. Kakarot obviously hadn't expected this and couldn't help but be taken aback. "What's so funny, Frieza?" He asked curiously.
The evil emperor smirked before saying, "Oh it's nothing really.. Just that you look exactly like your father did when he rose up to challenge me.. the day I slaughtered the saiyans." He chuckled ominously.
Kakarot processed this information with an unreadable expression. He remembered reading the stories of the rebellion against Frieza towards the end of his species' days. He always hoped.. that his father was somehow a part of it or that he was at the very least a good man, whatever that meant... And now, knowing that in the end he died standing against Frieza to protect their race..
Standing here before the same terrifying and overwhelming force that his father must have faced so many years ago Kakarot was more sure than ever before in his life. This was what he was meant to do. And he could finally see at long last why Raditz held such high respect for their father. A strange calmness and peace overtook him. A pleasant smile graced his lips.
Frieza raised an eyebrow wondering if the siayan had lost his mind until Kakrot finally spoke.
"Good. I'm glad family meant as much to him as it did to me.. I'm proud to have been his son. I think I finally understand my brother a little bit better now and.. I know my son will be OK." He said with a relaxed and happy expression.
Frieza's face morphed into a frown. He noticed how the saiyan more or less talked as if he were already dead and yet.. the fool seemed fine with that. Ready even. The tyrant shook his head deciding he could never understand a simple monkey. But then his disapproval turned to abject fascination as the man completely healed before his eyes within seconds. "Oh?.. Your father certainly couldn't do that…" He said with a bemused expression.
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Behind him, Frieza's father's eyebrow rose. "How curious.. I've never seen a saiyan that could regenerate like that before. I'd like to study that one before he dies."
Kakarot's eyes narrowed as whatever mystical properties finished healing him and restoring his energy. With a snap of his fingers his clothes regenerated around him with magic materialization, a technique Kami taught him years ago. "Prepare yourself, Frieza." He warned.
The small but mighty being chuckled and cracked his knuckles in response. "Oh I'm prepared for this alright, saiyan." The emperor was no doubt picturing all the ways he would torture the man before him. They continued drawing closer together at a leisurely pace until they were floating less than a bus's length away from one another.
"I'd like to know what exactly your genius plan was here, monkey? Did you mean to challenge my entire army as well as myself head on? For all you know my family and I could have ganged up on you while I ordered my army to sack and pillage your allies and family." He taunted. He honestly expected the simple minded man to lose his cool and the Arcrosian got a tad bit annoyed when the man did the opposite by smirking.
"My friends can take care of themselves. I promise you that much, Iceling." He said with thinly veiled aggression. "And my plan.." He began, grabbing his blue wristbands and pulling them off his wrist to reveal.. two gravity watches?
".. Is to put my life on the line and take you down with me." The man resolved.
As he unclipped the watches it became apparent that these devices were decidedly different from the ones used by the group before. Rather than being an obsidian steel alloy like the normal ones they were some type of shiny dark silver metal. The red digital numbers on the side read 200 each.
Frieza and his men watched the man place them in some type of small capsule with dull expressions on their faces. "You plan to defeat me by taking off your jewelry?" The tyrant deadpanned. Kakarot merely laughed in response and slid into a stance.
"That's a special type of metal, Frieza. One that slowly drains your Ki over time and adapts to your strength. It was mixed with advanced technology from my home world, Earth that enhances the gravity hundreds of times over. And yeah.. it's also great at telling time anywhere in the North Galaxy." He smirked. "I never did show this technology to my friends and family.. Maybe it was selfish of me but everyone has their own thing you know?"
Shaking his head the evil emperor decided he'd had enough playing around and he readied himself to teach this monkey a lesson, panning his open palms out to his sides and tensing his muscles as he slowly rallied his vast and ominous energy. "Let me guess, your wife made it for you?" He taunted. Rather than having the effect he likely intended, Kakarot's amused expression grew more ill-mannered and challenging.
"My wife came up with the principles of the science behind it all and I took it a step further. These are my masterpieces. Creating them took every bit of knowledge I've gained from years of studying martial arts, reading about my father's work and my people, and learning under Dr. Gero… Of course, I also studied dozens of files from the saiyans and Ginyu's ships over the last year or so, too." He explained with a prideful smirk.
He fixed Frieza with a challenging expression. "I may have borrowed most of what I learned from others… but I've done my homework well. I put in more than my fair share of blood, sweat and tears into my hard work. I've cast aside my principles all for the sake of acquiring enough power to defeat eveil ass holes like you, Frieza!" Kakarot finished fiercely.
Frieza rolled his eyes and was silent for a moment as he chewed his lip and continued to gather power within him. For this fight.. He figured 30 percent would be more than enough. "How sad. To have worked so hard and have achieved so little." The Arcrosian finally said in a mild manner.
Deciding no more words were necessary the two warriors disappeared with a burst of speed, meeting mid-air in a supersonic collision that created a shockwave of force. Kakarot's fist met Frieza's and for a moment the two struggled against one another. Kakarot grit his teeth and shook with effort while Frieza merely smirked.
It was clear the Arcrosian had the upper hand between the two. "Not bad, worm. No one aside from my father has ever pushed me this far in combat before. You're the first being in all of existence to make me put any actual semblance of effort into anything. I won't forgive you for it! Haaaa!" He shouted, pushing harder until Kakarot's stance broke and his lizard-like opponent drove a fist into his gut.
Eyes widening in pain, the spiky haired warrior's vision became spotted with purple as he fought off the urge to pass out from that single blow.
Frieza drew his hands and knees in slightly before he began pummeling Kakarot with a flurry of blows. It didn't take long for the saiyan's body to bruise; blood and spit flying through the air.
The Arcrosioan pulled back again and chuckled cruely at the dazed and battered saiyan before swinging around faster than most could comprehend and smacking the wounded man away with his tail. The warrior whistled like a missile through the air and impacted the ground with a thunderous rumble.
Frieza cackled as he clutched his gut in laughter and amusement, applauding himself for his presumed victory. "That was simply too ea..-" He was cut off as the smoking crater containing his downed opponent exploded outward revealing a perfectly fine Goku..
The siayan snapped his fingers and once more his clothing reconstituted itself. Frieza stared with mild annoyance at the man. "That's twice now… What the hell is going on here.. how does he keep doing that?" He growled softly.
Kakarot rose up into the air to meet him at eye level. Frieza crossed his arms and chuckled before saying, "As amusing as it is to continuously pound away at you saiyan I am afraid I'm a very busy man with things to do so time for you to die!"
The ivory skinned being exploded forward at incalculable speeds. "Even among my family my speed is supreme!" Frieza boasted.
As far as Kakarot was concerned, his words were as good as God's as the lizard being plowed into him fist first. His ribs were crushed and he was buried into the ground once more… but he was far from beaten.
Frieza made to dash away from the crater, but Kakarot's hand snapped out and crushed Frieza's tail in a vice-like grip stopping the tyrant mid-air.
The tyrant's eyes bulged and he swiveled around with naked fury. "How, dare you!?"
The Acrosian shouted a battlecry and yanked his tail towards him while simultaneously lunging forward with a palm strike. Kakarot was caught off guard by the shorter man's strength, being pulled completely off his feet and suffering a broken nose as a result.
"Gah!" He screamed, blood and spit flying as he was blasted upward.
Frieza followed suit and began beating him mid-air in a manner that resembled a ping pong ball, only at supersonic speeds. Unfortunately the ball in this instance was Goku's body amd the paddle was Frieza.
Each impact created a shock wave that shook the planet beneath them. After several moments of this Frieza re-emerged in a blur and spun around, kicking out seemingly at the thin air. A second later Kakarot appeared and was bludgeoned by the perfectly timed kick, sending him flying to the ground.
There was a flash of light and a jaw rattling crash that caused the planet beneath them to split wide open. The hungry mouth that began as a series of widening cracks imploded into a cavern as a sizable chunk of the ground beneath them opened up to swallow Kakarot whole. A plume of dust and debris shot upward into the air like mushroom clouds, curling inward and temporally shielding everything from view.
The rumbling tapered off as the collapsing rock came to a shuddering halt. Once the devastation finally settled, an uneasy silence permeated the air. Several streams of water had begun to shoot up through the rubble at the bottom of the crater, slowly transforming it into a lake.
Birds chirped as Frieza stood with his arms crossed, fingers tapping impatiently against his forearm. "I'll eat my own tail if that was enough to finish the annoying pest off." He scoffed.
After a few more minutes he was beginning to believe that it might actually be over. Admittedly he had delivered quite a brutal beating to the saiyan in the short span of time since the 'fight' had begun, if you could even call it that.
His doubts were proven unwarranted however, as the rippling center of the lake shook and bubbled violently. An indomitable pressure filled the air before the man-made lake exploded upwards like a geyser pushed too far past it's limit with pressure.
As the massive jet of green tinted water began to fall like rain, Kakarot slowly rose up until he was eye level with the Acrosian yet again. Somehow all of the saiyan's wounds had healed once more, and judging by the pressure rolling off of the man he had even powered up a little bit…
The warrior's glared at each other before they both disappeared in a burst of speed. Explosions rang out throughout the battleground as Saiyan and Arcrosioan fist met time and time again mid-air. Shockwaves were generated with each strike as the warriors gathered more and more momentum.
"Hi-yaaah!" Kakarot shouted.
"Di-yaaaah! Frieza roared
Their fists met once more, eqch vying for dominance. They shook and pressed against one another but neither warrior would budge. Their faces were contorted in fury and the wind whipped around them. "Give up, monkey!" Frieza demanded.
He was abjectly curious as to how exactly the saiyan was able to match him whereas in their last stalemate Frieza's fist easily overpowered the saiyan's own. He knew how rapidly saiyans improved during combat. He had witnessed it firsthand. But this was different somehow…
"Never!" Kakarot screamed in defiance.
They disappeared and explosions of spherical force were generated far off in the distance where the two presumably met in several harsh collisions. The ground was torn up in a large arc as the explosions continued ringing through the air in one direction after the other. Dust and debris were flung into the air where the fighters appeared once more.
They each threw a flurry of kicks and punches that the other deftly blocked or dodged. To the naked eye their arms and legs disappeared, each punch and kick that was thrown easily breaking the sound barrier.
Kakarot threw a particularly vicious haymaker and the malicious Frieza smirked. 'There!' He thought to himself triumphantly. He dropped his center of gravity and turned his body just enough so that the taller man missed by mere inches. Kakarot's eyes widened as he realized his mistake and left himself overextended.
Frieza jumped up and kneed the saiyan in the face, causing his head to whip back and spit to fly from his mouth. The tyrant somersaulted over his opponent, grabbing the top of Goku's open maw in a very daring manner and proceeding to launch him forward like a catapult.
The saiyan streaked through the air, sounding like a missle until he was met with a harsh overhead double axe handle from the impossibly fast empower that sent him careening towards the ground.
He landed with a sickening crunch, shattering the crust of the planet's mantle. Frieza flew down at him fists first, becoming enveloped in a sphere of purple energy as he reached maximum velocity. He hit the saiyan like a nuke and yet another bone crushing explosion followed suit.
There was silence for several moments before a smirking Frieza appeared atop a large rectangular pillar. He was certain this battle was over now… Only for Kakarot to appear back to back with him a second later. Frieza's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly in shock. His eyes slid to the corner of their sockets as he looked sideways towards the man behind him.
'I don't understand..' The Arcrosian mumbled internally.
"Something is strange about this warrior. How does a Saiyan have such incredible power? They are, after all, inferior creatures. In my life I have slaughtered them by the thousands. Millions even. They have made countless attempts and failed miserably every time to rebel against me and take my head. They're sloppy and stupid. But this one's different somehow.. focused. He's fantastic! I’ve never met a fighter with this kind of strength and skill. Grrr…I must take him out now!"
As he finished his long winded rant Frieza stomped his foot and the pillar they stood on crumbled. The two warriors took that as an unspoken signal and quickly spun around launching various Ki blasts at one another that exploded between them. They each roared and continued firing blasts until Frieza suddenly disappeared and reappeared beside a surprised Kakarot. "Just die already, monkey!"
With a yell Frieza kicked the wounded and battered man away, sending him tumbling through the air until he rocketed into the ground once more. "I forgot how good it feels to cut loose with this much of my power.." Frieza lamented. "Have to be careful not to lose control and destroy the entire planet." He chuckled with self-indulgence.
Goku slowly stood on shaky feet rubbing his head. He looked up with frustrated, tired eyes at the tyrant floating far above him. He placed a hand on his chest, noting that there was a steadily growing pressure there. His heart was racing faster than it probably ever had, and not in a good way. "How.." He panted. "How can anyone be so strong?.. I thought that I could bridge the gap between us but now.. I'm starting to think.. *huff*.. I can't win…" He gasped in despair.
He thought about his friends, and the poor Namekians. He thought about his wife and his son… His fists clenched and he sighed tiredly. He glared up at his cruel and monstrous opponent, who was floating causally in the air, smirking with his arms crossed. "But I can't give up either…"
End of chapter 46