"Hey, old timer," I called out casually, looking at Roshi, who flinched a bit just from my gaze, "Take her somewhere safe. I'll come back to get her when this is over."
"S-Sure!"
I casually pushed Bulma towards him, who just paused as she glanced back at me, her expression both angry and conflicted.
"Just trust me," I said simply, "You should know by now that I don't do anything without a reason, right?"
Bulma had traveled with me for an entire year, and during that time, she had gotten a good gauge of my personality. Even if she didn't know why I had killed the Z-Fighters, she should know that everything I did had a reason behind it. Even if she was understandably confused and furious that I'd murdered her friends, she would know that the Dragon Balls could bring them back, and that I had a reason for it.
So, she simply nodded a bit stiffly and then jogged over to Roshi. The old man didn't say another word, just stiffly grabbing her arm and then starting to drag her away. I blinked as he didn't fly, remembering that he refused to learn. I probably should've left a different Z-Fighter alive to take her, but that was too late now. I'll just ensure no stray attacks head that way.
I turned my attention back to Goku, who was raising the Senzu Bean to his mouth, and then chomped down on it. Immediately, his bruises and scrapes healed away, and his power shot upward as the bean healed his near-dead body, which didn't look very near-dead after his Super Saiyan transformation, and his race's Zenkai Boost took effect.
I grinned lightly as I watched his power rise, the scouter showing it launch up from two million to five million - a more than doubling of his power. Zenkai Boosts were pretty variable and random, as they could range anywhere from giving a mere 25% boost to as much as multiplying a Saiyan's power by dozens. So, while not on the higher end of that spectrum, a roughly doubling wasn't bad.
Not that it would matter in the context of this fight, but in the long run plan I had for Beerus and Whis, every bit of improvement would help. Small boosts would add up and become huge boosts in the end.
"I'm ready whenever," I hummed, smirking as I raised my hand, giving Goku the 'come at me' gesture. With this fight, I would kick Goku's ass and give him a goal to train towards - but I would also enjoy myself.
I was fighting a Super Saiyan, after all. Even if it wouldn't excite me all that much, I hadn't had even a decent spar in a long, long time. I almost regretted killing King Cold, even if I knew he wouldn't be able to give me much of a challenge at this point either.
"Frieza… I'll make you pay!" Goku shouted, and he shot forward, covering the distance between us quickly as his arm was cocked back.
Goku's golden aura exploded behind him as he did, and he launched the punch at me with a grunt of exertion. His punch came fast and heavy, with enough force that the strike could have vaporized a mountain. But I wasn't a mountain, so I simply tilted my head slightly to the side, and his fist missed me by inches. The wind burst past me as I did, but I didn't even budge.
The momentum of his attack carried him forward, and I watched, smirking, as he twisted mid-air to deliver a follow-up roundhouse kick. A lesser opponent would've been caught off guard by the attack. But, me? I just raised my hand, not even opening my palm as I caught it with two fingers, causing his eyes to go wide.
"You don't even know what a Super Saiyan is, but you became it before Vegeta. Rather ironic, huh, prince?" I taunted Vegeta a bit, showing Goku just how outmatched he was, as I didn't even put my full attention on him.
I casually shifted my fingers into a palm, wrapping around Goku's ankle, and then spinning him by the leg and slamming him down into the rocky ground below. The earth cracked on impact, throwing up a cloud of dust and debris as the ground cratered beneath him, and Vegeta just continued to stare at the display with wide eyes.
If this was truly all he had, then this couldn't even count as a spar. It was just a beat down. Which was fine by me - the more ground Goku thought he needed to cover to get revenge on me, the more intense his training would become.
So, I didn't give him a break. Before Goku could move, I blurred forward and raised my bare foot, stomping down into his chest and sending another shockwave out through the Gizard Wasteland. The force of the blow shook the world around us even more than his transformation had, and a huge ravine streaked away from Goku's body as the ground under him shattered. Far away, distant mountains even trembled from the force.
"G-Guh!" Goku coughed, spitting out a mouthful of both blood and spit as his eyes were wide with pain.
"You just watched your son die, and yet this is all you manage?" I mocked him lightly, kneeling down beside him with a cruel smirk, "What have you been doing for the past year? Were you even trying?"
Goku's eyes flashed with anger at my taunt, and he shoved himself upward, his fist launching at my face as he did. In response, I casually backhanded him - slapping him across the face and sending him flipping through the air, then crashing through two spires of stone before he landed on the floor on his stomach.
"If this is all you can do, then you'll never defeat me." I said simply, striding towards him casually, "You'll never be able to protect your friends."
I might've been laying it on a bit thick, but I wanted to inspire him as much as I could. I needed Goku not just to train because he wanted to - but because he needed to. I needed him to feel the pain of losing everything, so he could use that emotion to become stronger than ever before.
"Shut up!" Goky shot back to his feet, not backing down as he launched at me, and a punch rocketed at my face. In response, I casually raised my hand, letting it hit my palm easily.
A burst of air shot out behind me from the force, but I caught the punch without budging an inch, and tightened my grip on his hand, then twisted. Goku howled in pain as I dislocated his shoulder in an instant, yanking him forward as my forehead slammed into his - headbutting him and sending him hard enough to send shockwaves through his skull. He stumbled backwards, the world likely spinning as he fell back onto his ass.
My head didn't throb from the attack, as this was far from the first time I did it. I was Frieza - the Galactic Emperor who killed billions, and sent entire planets to extinction. In this body, I could not only fight dirty without feeling shame, but even enjoy myself in doing so. Cruelty was the name of the game, and it was how I'd prepare Universe 7 for the events looming far ahead of us.
I blitzed forward in a split second, reaching down and wrapping my small hand around his thick neck, then lifting him into the air as he gasped.
I looked down my nose into his dazed eyes, "I could kill you right now, Kakarot. It would be easy. Effortless. But I won't."
I twisted my arm, tossing him into a nearby boulder, and watching it shatter around him. He let out a flurry of coughs as he slumped on the ground, slowly trying to sit up despite the pain wracking his body.
"You trained hard, but not hard enough. You fought with everything you had, but it wasn't enough." I said simply, striding towards his downed form.
He struggled to his feet in front of me, slumping a bit as he struggled to stand, but his eyes were still burning with defiance. That was good - his spirit was far from broken. I didn't want to traumatize him - though I knew I wouldn't even be able to. This was Goku, after all.
No matter how badly I beat him, he would simply stand up again. He would only go down when his legs betrayed him, and he was physically unable.
"Good," I murmured, grinning lightly as his anger-filled eyes bored into mine, "Let's keep going. If you can even land a blow on me, I'll leave the Dragon Balls here, and you're friends can all be revived in a years time. However, if you can't impress me…"
I grinned cruelly, watching as Goku's eyes went wide at my words, "I'll destroy them, and they'll stay dead. Forever."
Of course, I wasn't going to do that - If I really wanted to fuck them over, I would just take them with me instead of destroying them - but I wanted to push him further. I wanted to push him all the way into a corner. I wanted to see just how powerful I could make him become.
"You…" Goku just gritted out a singular word before he launched forward again, twisting mid-air as a kick aimed for my temple. I raised my arm, effortlessly grabbing his ankle in response, and yanked him forward. I expected an angry comment about how they were already gone, but I assumed King Kai told him about the Namekian Dragon Balls - and, mainly, that I had used them.
Then, I twisted my own body, spinning as I dragged Goku through the air by his ankle, and then launched him far into the sky. I shot upward, appearing above him so quickly that it would've looked like I used Instant Transmission to his eyes - which I could do after my trip to Yardrat, but it was definitely unneeded in this fight - and slammed my foot into his back.
He was sent launching downwards like a falling meteor, slamming into the rocky floor below as chunks of Earth exploded outward.
"Your friends are all dead, and yet you can only muster this much?" I mocked him lightly, landing in front of the crater as I stared down at him, "What will it take to make you give me a competent fight? Will destroying the Earth if you can't land a blow make you fight harder?"
"Shut… up…" Goku huffed, pushing himself to his feet as he glared at me, his eyes narrowing, "You… will… pay!"
He launched up at me, but I just leaned out of the way of his fist, backpedalling slowly as he launched a barrage of fists at me.
"This is all?" I mocked him lightly, weaving through the punches effortlessly as he threw everything his body could muster at me, "If you want to even scratch me, you'll have to try harder than that."
I swiftly ducked forward, moving under one of his fists as I slammed my own fist forward. It pounded into Goku's gut, instantly sending him launching backwards as the force reverberated through the air. He tumbled, flipping head over heel as he rolled across the rocky wasteland, and then finally came to stop - lying limp as he heaved, barely able to breathe as he was covered in bruises and blood.
"Remember this feeling, Saiyan." I called out, striding towards him as my small frame cast a shadow over his body, "Remember how it feels to lose. To be beaten so badly that you can't even stand. To watch your friends die, as you can't do anything about it. To be weak. To be helpless."
My words weren't just for dramatic effect - I truly did want Goku to remember this moment. To remember how being weak and helpless felt, so he'd train his ass off to ensure this never happened again.
Now, I would leave him like this. Leave him wallowing in his own failure - in his own inability to protect anyone, and his inability to defeat me, even after he became a Super Saiyan. He would need to bottle these feelings and do everything he could to become strong enough to get his revenge.
"I'll see you in another year, Kakarot." I said simply as I towered over his limp form, "If you can't impress me when that time comes, then I will take everything from you again."
I had some things I needed to do on Earth before I left, but Goku would be knocked out while I did, as he was completely out of energy-
I paused, cutting off my thoughts and blinking as I stared down at Goku. If he was out of energy, then why was his Super Saiyan form still intact-
"SOLAR FLARE!"
Well, I guess that's why.
I flinched away at the abrupt shout, squeezing my eyes shut. No matter how much power you had, it was never not disorienting to have your vision ripped away by a blinding flash, so I wasn't ashamed to admit that I had been outplayed here.
And, this shit fuckin' hurt! You try staring at the sun and tell me how you feel!
"I… finally…"
As I blinked rapidly, forcing my eyes open as the light faded, I looked in surprise as Goku's fist was pressed against my chest. There was barely any power behind the punch - it was so weak and powerless that I didn't even feel it, but his fist was definitely flesh against my chest. He was on his feet, his legs shaking as he could barely stand.
"Hit… you…" Goku breathed out, his lips twitching up only slightly as he slumped forward - falling limp at my feet as I took a step back, and the glow in his hair faded away. Now, he was simply lying there - unconscious, and covered in blood.
But, despite how easily I had dominated the fight, I was impressed.
"You definitely got smarter," I muttered, looking down approvingly, "When there's a threat this far out of reach, you can show that you do really have a brain, huh?"
First, the Earthlings remembering the Evil Containment Wave, and then Goku thinking to use Solar Flare mid-fight? My actions here were changing the world, and the Z-Fighters were adapting to my presence - becoming both smarter and stronger. And, as Goku fell unconscious from his last stand, I knew he would be fine. He would train with everything he had, and be prepared for my return.
"Good." I finished simply, turning around as I headed towards the unconscious Nappa and barely conscious Vegeta, "If you want to keep up with my ambitions for this universe, you'll need to do at least this much."
Universe 7 would not be looked down upon by any of the other universes, and we would not face erasure. I would make sure of it.
But, for now, there was still much to be done on Earth.
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