"Who's that?! He feels strong!" Goku narrowed his eyes, looking a bit nervous as he glanced from Raditz to me, his body tensing.
"I-I can feel that too," Piccolo stuttered out next to him, the Namekian's eyes wide as he took in my form, and I couldn't blame him.
If they thought Raditz was powerful at his rather pitiful 1000 power level, my own roughly 100 million power level probably made them think they'd gone insane. I wasn't just above anyone they had ever sensed before - I was lightyears ahead of them. It was as if an ant was facing down a grasshopper, and then suddenly a lion appeared.
"L-Lord Frieza, how are- w-why are you- i-it's-" Raditz's head seemed to spin with a thousand different thoughts, and the man just stuttered and took a fearful step back as he stared at me.
But, as with any weakling in my army, he quickly remembered his place. He swiftly fell to one knee, turning his back to both Goku and Piccolo as he kneeled before me, his mouth clamped shut and his body shaking lightly.
"No, no, don't mind me," I just smirked down at the kneeling Saiyan, "You were about to fight, weren't you? I'd quite like to see some entertainment. Defeat them, and I'll forget about those 'grander' things."
Overall, this was a fight that needed to happen. My appearance in this world had probably already changed a lot, and would change a lot more in the future. I was no fool - I knew exactly about a little concept called the 'butterfly effect.'
The most glaring problem was one that was far away at the moment - Zeno's erasure of Universe 7. That had only been avoided in the non-me-appearing timeline because Goku, by chance, befriended Zeno, and as a result, caused Zeno to hold the Tournament of Power instead of just erasing every universe with too low of an average power level.
But, for that interaction to happen, there were a million other ones that needed to take place. From Goku becoming strong enough to fight against Hit in the Universe 7 v. Universe 6 battle, to events in the future timeline, to even Vegeta falling in love with Bulma so Trunks was born in the first place.
Essentially, if I wanted to ensure I wasn't erased along with all of Universe 7, there were a couple of routes I could take. The safest one would be to let all the canon events go as planned, to act exactly as Frieza did, and to pretty much take his place in this world. To do everything by the book, to ensure every event that happened in the series took place, and to ensure Zeno held the Tournament of Power.
Which, obviously, I wasn't going to do. I'd been given a chance at a new life in this overpowered-as-hell body, and I damn sure wasn't going to throw it away by being cut in half by Future Trunks, spending decades in hell, and then finally being revived to fight against overpowered-as-hell Jiren.
The second route was the most appealing one, but also by far the most risky: Try to take on Zeno. If I abused this body's potential to its fullest, doing nothing but training for the coming decades as I achieved Frieza's Black form and then possibly something even beyond that, then it might be possible.
But it was simply too risky to believe I could become strong enough to kill Zeno and stop the erasure of the universe. I didn't know enough about his powers, nor what the limits of the Grand Priest or his guards were. And, if I failed, I wouldn't just be killed and end up in Otherworld - I'd be completely erased.
It was a goal that wasn't impossible with Frieza's insane potential, but to achieve it in just a few decades? That was very unlikely. That was something to think about much further down the line.
So, that left me with the final path, and the one I would take - strengthening Universe 7. The sure-fire way to prevent Zeno from erasing the Universe was to make the average power level stronger than any of the other Universes, and that started with this man right here.
"Y-You want us to continue fighting, Lord Frieza?" Raditz asked a bit shakily, slowly glancing up at me, "I-If that's what you desire, then I'll give you a great show!"
Raditz was probably very confused at why Frieza was on Earth, but he wasn't a complete moron - when Frieza gave you an order, you did what he wanted, and you didn't ask questions. But Raditz wasn't the one I was interested in here.
In the grand scheme of Universe 7, he was actually pretty strong, even if he was just an early-story villain who died in the same arc he appeared. That's simply how weak the rest of the universe was - even with both Goku and Vegeta being able to access Super Saiyan Blue and the various Z-Fighters being strong enough at that point to easily stomp Namek-arc Frieza, their power levels couldn't drag up the average enough.
But, instead of Raditz, I was more focused on Goku. He was the main character of this world, the one who had helped the Z-Fighters grow so much, and the one who needed to grow stronger so the rest of the universe could as well.
Of course, I'd need to put in a lot of leg work and not just rely on him naturally inspiring those around him to grow stronger, but overall, he was more useful alive than dead. Which was ironic, because to get to King Kai, he needed to die right now.
"Don't disappoint me," I just grinned a bit, watching as Raditz shifted into his fighting stance again.
"It looks like he's just going to watch," Piccolo muttered to Goku, though I still heard it. "Either way, we need to take down this one no matter what. We can deal with the stronger one after."
"Right!" Goku just nodded, and then he and Piccolo both shot forward as Raditz did the same.
What transpired next was exactly what I expected - Goku and Piccolo got their asses kicked a bit, then Goku managed to grab his tail, and then he got tricked into letting go of it by Raditz. At some point in the heat of the battle, it seemed that they largely forgot that I was even there, looming over their heads like a god.
So, in the end, it reached the typical climax. Goku held Raditz in place as Piccolo charged his Special Beam Cannon, and then Piccolo fired the beam - killing both Saiyan brothers as a beam went through their hearts. The only bit that changed was that instead of Raditz trying to trick Goku into letting him go again, he instead started shouting at me, begging for help.
Seriously, who did he think he was? I'm not as arrogant as Frieza was, but I also had some standards at least! He was a Saiyan who'd killed thousands, probably even tens of thousands, and had come here to exterminate all life forms on Earth - AND, he was in the process of trying to betray me with Vegeta! Did he think I was suddenly going to be a nice-ass guy and save my little minion?
In case it wasn't obvious, I definitely didn't save him. Instead, I just watched as the beam pierced through both his and Goku's chest, causing them to fall down and lie in a pool of blood. I didn't need Raditz alive, though he did share Goku's bloodline, so reviving him with the Dragon Balls at some point and seeing if he shared the same potential that Goku had was an option.
Instead, right now, he was a vehicle to get me where I wanted - which was with Goku dead, but not at my hands. He needed to go to King Kai to train and become stronger, and he needed a looming threat to push him to work harder, but I didn't want him to truly hate me. Granted, I didn't know if the pure-hearted Saiyan really could hate someone, but I wouldn't try my luck.
"G-Goku! Are you alright?!" Soon after, a plane carrying various Z-Fighters arrived as expected. It landed, and Bulma, Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, and Roshi came running out, not even noticing me as they ran to Goku's bloody body, clearly more concerned that their longtime friend was lying in a pool of blood.
I casually floated downward, causing Piccolo to take a tense step back from Goku's bleeding body as I landed in front of Raditz and the other Z-Fighters to notice me.
"L-Lord… Frieza…" Raditz spat out, a slight ray of hope in his eyes as he reached a bloody hand upward towards me, "H-Help…"
Help? Did he know he had a hole in his chest? How the hell was I going to fix that? Did he think I suddenly became a Namekian?
But, as I bent down, reaching my hand towards the man's face as I'm sure his vision was blurry, his eyes became filled with even more hope. However, instead of miraculously healing his wounds, I simply grabbed his scouter and pulled it off his face.
"W-What… what are you…" Raditz trailed off, the light in his eyes starting to fade, but I just ignored him.
Instead, I raised the scouter to my face, casually clicking the side of it as I placed it over my face.
"Vegeta," I said simply, watching as the screen in front of my eyes shifted to show that I was transmitting to 'Scouter 1,' "You were already headed to the planet Earth, correct?"
"Huh? Raditz? What are you calling for?" The voice that came through the other end was notably not Vegeta's, as it was much higher-pitched and more annoying overall.
"This is not Raditz. It's Lord Frieza," I replied dryly, looking down at the dead corpse of Raditz with an annoyed look on my face. Did he think I sounded like that moron?
"Oh, hey, Raditz! That's a good Frieza impression! Hey, Vegeta! Hey, Vegeta!" The voice, who was obviously Nappa, shouted, becoming excited.
"What, Nappa?" The second voice, which sounded far away and quieter, answered annoyedly.
"Come listen to Raditz's Frieza impression, Vegeta! Hey, Vegeta! Come listen to Raditz's Frieza Impression!" Nappa shouted annoyedly, and I suddenly couldn't blame Vegeta for ruthlessly killing his fellow Saiyan in the series.
He was seriously annoying.
"I don't care, Nappa!"
"Hey, Vegeta! Come listen! Come Listen! He sounds just like Lord Frieza!"
"That's because I am Lord Frieza, you imbecile," I sighed through the communicator, my eye twitching in annoyance.
"Oh, yeah, you sound just like him, Raditz! Ha! You even have that smug tone down! Man, he really pisses me off when he talks like that! Hey, Vegeta! Hey, Vegeta!"
"Shut the fuck up, Nappa!"
I paused, listening silently as Nappa continued to annoy Vegeta, and I wondered if I should change my game plan. Was it really worth leaving these two alive just to protect the universe? If I had to keep listening to Nappa's annoying voice, then I'm not sure I want the universe to stay around anyway.
"Put Vegeta on the phone," I said bluntly, immediately regretting my slip-up.
"Phone? What's a-"
"THE SCOUTER! PUT HIM ON THE SCOUTER, YOU FUCKING IMBECILE!" My patience expired, and I shouted into the scouter harshly as my Ki flared upwards. My outburst unintentionally caused a burst of Ki to fling outward, slamming into Z-Fighters and knocking all of them, even Piccolo, down onto the ground.
"A-Alright, Raditz, chill out…" Nappa muttered, "Hey, Vegeta! Hey, Vegeta! He wants to talk to you!"
"Ahem, my apologies," I shook away my angry thoughts, nodding apologetically at the Z-Fighters for letting them see such a side of me. I was an intergalactic warlord who conquered planets and sent entire species to their extinction, but I still had manners.
Understandably, my words did nothing to alleviate their fear as they sat on the ground around Goku's slowly dying body, their eyes wide, and even Piccolo's mouth was opening and closing like a goldfish.
Whatever. Having them fear me was better overall anyway.
"What do you want, Raditz?" Vegeta's annoyed voice came through the scouter, "You can just call my scouter if you want to transmit something to me, you moron!"
"Vegeta," I said, my voice shifting up into a smirk as the Saiyan Prince inhaled sharply when he heard me, "This is Lord Frieza."
"..."
I figured he was shitting himself right now-
"Fuck, you really do sound just like Lord Frieza, Raditz! How are you doing that?!" My hand twisted into a fist, and my patience really boiled over.
"...Vegeta," I said simply, my voice dripping with so much venom that there was no way for him to mistake me as Raditz anymore, "Raditz is dead. Come to planet Earth as fast as you can. You have one year, or else you'll follow him into the afterlife."
After that, I simply squeezed my hand, crushing the scouter into pieces as it sparked. I know that I needed to keep alive strong fighters to boost Universe 7's average power level, but I was only a hair's breadth away from killing Nappa when he got here.
"You heard that, didn't you?" I called out casually, turning back to the stunned Piccolo as he climbed to his feet, and my face shifted into a grin, "That man you fought so hard to defeat, Raditz, is a Saiyan. I just spoke to two more Saiyans, both of whom could squash him like a bug, and they're on their way here."
"W-What?! That can't be possible…" Piccolo stuttered out, his eyes wide as he stared back at me.
I disappeared from Piccolo's view, reappearing behind the Namekian as I smirked, "Are you doubting my words? Of course, I could just kill you and destroy this planet now, but there would be no fun in that."
Piccolo spun around, backpedaling away from me with wide, fearful eyes as I moved faster than he could track.
"I suppose I should properly introduce myself. I am Lord Frieza - the ruler of the Universe, and someone who could kill you with the snap of my fingers." To prove my point, I casually raised my hand and snapped my fingers. As I did, a large explosion rang out, and gasps rang out as the silhouette of a mountain in the far distance disappeared - smoke rising into the air as it was there one moment, and gone the next.
"In case it wasn't obvious, you couldn't beat me even with a thousand years of training," I stared down into Piccolo's fearful eyes, exaggerating a bit with my words, "But, I'm looking for some entertainment. Your planet has been given a one-year lease on life - defeat the Saiyans who arrive then, and I'll extend that lease."
Simply put, I needed the inhabitants of Earth to grow stronger. The person who had originally pushed Goku to reach Super Saiyan, which then led to his various power-ups in the future, was me. In this timeline, I would do it differently, but the result would be the same.
I'd give them a year to train as I focused on stabilizing the rest of the universe, using my massive army to start training weaklings into slightly-less-weak weaklings to increase Universe 7's overall power level slowly. As I did, I would build up those on Earth, the ones with limitless potential, as both a ceiling raiser for the universe and as a contingency plan if even decades of structure weren't enough to escape Zeno's wrath.
"Though saying this only inspires you, doesn't it?" I grinned lightly, glancing over at the rest of the Z-Fighters staring at me shakily near Goku. In a split second, I disappeared and reappeared in front of the group.
"W-What are you-" Krillin started, shifting into a fighting stance defensively with fearful eyes, and I just chuckled. My tail lashed out, slamming into his chest faster than he could hope to react, and sent him flying backward.
"K-Krillin! What are you doing, you bas-" Yamcha was the most confident one, stepping forward as his friend was sent flying away, and was given a light smack to the face for his trouble.
I say 'light' because, to me, it was impossibly light. As if I was just poking him. But, considering the way his nose burst open and blood flooded down his face, as well as how he was sent blitzing backwards the same way Krillin was, it felt a lot more intense for him.
"K-Krillin! Yamcha-" It was Goku this time, though I didn't cut him off, as he broke into a coughing fit instead because he was still on death's door.
"If you want to save your friends, then you better train hard in the year I've given you, Kakarot." I just smirked down at the horrified eyes of Goku, "As for the rest of you…"
"A-AH!"
I stepped forward, disappearing and reappearing again, but this time with Bulma causally hanging over my shoulder, "I'll be taking this one. If you want her back, then be ready in a year."
"Y-You coward! Targeting a woman?!" Tien hissed, glaring at me as I carried Bulma, and I just chuckled at his words.
"Don't worry. She won't be harmed," I vanished again, and Tien lurched forward, slumping over as my fist slammed into his stomach and he spat out blood, "But, if you lose a year from now… then I can't promise she'll remain that way."
That was just a bit of extra motivation. It was one thing to train your ass off because of an impending threat, but it was a whole different thing to train your ass off to save a loved one.
"P-Put me down! Yamcha! Get me away from this alien!" Bulma's hands slapped onto my back, but I didn't even feel them, and I just smirked a bit as I glanced over at Yamcha, who was finally standing back up shakily.
"Want to try your luck?" I just stared into his eyes, not moving an inch as his eyes were filled with fear, "Though, I can't promise you'll live if I fight back seriously…"
In fact, I could promise the opposite.
"S-Sorry!" Yamcha promptly backpedalled, stuttering out an apology as he fell back onto his ass again.
"Seriously?! You're just going to leave me with him!?" Bulma shouted over my shoulder angrily at her now ex-boyfriend.
Yikes. This was around the time she found out he cheated on her, and now he leaves her in the hands of an alien? He could've at least tried to fight me and gotten his ass beaten to look better!
Well, they were destined to break up anyway, but that was definitely confirmed now. I simply chuckled as I turned around, slowly rising into the air as Bulma yelped again over my shoulder.
"I'll be back in one year," I shouted down casually, just smirking as the Z-Fighters stared up at me with fear in their eyes, "Make sure you train hard. I'd be so disappointed if I didn't get to see a good fight."
With that, I launched away, ignoring Bulma's scream as she was bursting through the air with me, and headed back to my ship. In a year, I would be back to see if they could make enough progress to satisfy me.
But, for now, there were a lot of improvements to be made in my empire.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be posted in a few days!
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