Chapter 26


When Bulma arrived with Goku on the battlefield, she couldn't believe her eyes. The creature that was strangling Vegita to death with its tail looked nothing like the Freeza that she left back here a few minutes ago. He was sleek and white all over, except for the top of his head and his upper shoulders, which were capped with shiny purple domes. If he weren't so inherently evil, Bulma might have marveled at his amazing new beauty. But instead, she snarled at him as if his dramatic change in appearance and power didn't affect her.

"Put him down, Freeza!" She ordered, stepping forward, away from Goku.

It was then that everyone noticed that they had arrived. Kuririn and Gohan rushed over to Goku, but he, Bulma, and Piccolo all kept their eyes glued to Freeza.

Freeza smiled almost affectionately at Bulma, and then, without ceremony, he tossed Vegita to one side with a mere flick of his tail. Vegita slammed into the rock wall less than twenty feet away, and then slid clumsily back down to the ground, very much stunned by the blow. Bulma glared angrily at Freeza.

"I'm so happy you decided to join us again my dear," Freeza said, smiling coyly. "I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't return."

"Your fun and games end now, Freeza," Bulma snapped at him. "I hope you've enjoyed yourself, because this is the last planet you're going to infect with your vile presence!"

Freeza laughed airily. "And just who is going to stop me, my dear girl?" He asked jovially. "You?"

"No," Goku interjected coldly. "I am."

"You?" Freeza asked politely. "Are you really, now? And who might you be?"

"This is Son Goku," Bulma said, eyeing Freeza with disdain. "He's from my planet, but he is a Saiyan."

Freeza really laughed this time. "I can't believe it!" He chuckled. "I missed one? I thought I killed all the brainless little monkeys, save Vegita and his little band of marauders! Oh, but you must be the one they went to Earth for, aren't you? You're Bardock's son, Kakkorot, am I right?"

Goku didn't answer him. He just remained where he was and stared coldly at Freeza.

"Yes, now that I think about it, you look just like him," Freeza continued. "I remember Bardock very well indeed. He led the Saiyan rebellion against me, as a matter of fact. If memory serves me correctly, he was an even lower-class warrior than your brother! Not that it mattered, though. He was the first one killed when I destroyed your home planet."

Goku didn't alter his stern expression at all. "And what makes you think I care?" He asked curtly. "I come from Earth, not the planet Vegita."

"Kakkorot!" Vegita suddenly rasped. "Kakkorot, listen! You must forget about that! You are a Saiyan, and your very heritage is what gives you your power! You must embrace it, Kakkorot! Embrace your Saiyan pride, and use it to destroy Freeza! He's defeated your race's only remaining monarch! You have to destroy him!" Vegita had actually worked himself into tears by now, surprising both Goku and the rest of their party. "As your prince, Kakkorot," he choked, "I order you to avenge me!"

"Vegita," Goku said slowly, awestruck.

"Swear it!" Vegita managed to choke out at him. He was really struggling to breathe.

Goku didn't answer him. He couldn't. He just didn't know how to handle the image of Vegita crying in front of him. Finally, he overcame his awe enough to decide what to do. "Bulma," he said abruptly. "Take Vegita to Dende. And when you get back, you two join the others. I'll take care of Freeza."

"Right!" Bulma said, darting over to Vegita. She put one of his arms over her shoulders. "Take it easy, Vegita," She said calmly. "We'll have you back to your grumpy old self in no time."

"I beg to differ," Freeza said with a sudden scowl. The next thing Bulma knew, Freeza had fired a thin, potent ki beam at Vegita, which hit him in the chest, and seared its way straight out the other side. Freeza had just shot Vegita straight through the heart!

Bulma felt a shuddering spasm surge through Vegita's body, and before she had time to utter an exclamation of surprise, he had expelled his last breath of air. He slumped limply then, and slid down her side.

"N-no-o-o!" Bulma cried, beginning to shake. "It can't be!" She turned around and gaped at Freeza with a horrified expression. "You killed him!"

Freeza curled his upper lip into a sneer. "Well, that WAS the general idea," he said, chuckling sinisterly.

She trembled violently as pure rage began churning and boiling ferociously inside her. She narrowed her eyes and began to power up without even realizing it.

"You…" she said, her voice cracking slightly. "You did that just to spite ME, didn't you? You killed Vegita; took his life away from him, just to get back at me! You unbelievable… DEMON!" She would have lunged at him then, but he made the first move. With almost no effort at all, he slapped the right side of her face with his left hand. Despite its simplicity, it was such a powerful blow that it sent Bulma crashing into the rock face, in nearly exactly the same place Vegita did.

"My, but you are a hot-tempered little thing, aren't you?" Freeza laughed as she slid awkwardly down the rock face, only to land painfully on her back.

"You can't play with people's lives like this!" She groaned, forcing herself up onto her feet. "And I won't forgive you for what you did to Vegita. He may not exactly have been an innocent bystander, but he didn't deserve that. Such a cruel, horrific deed can't go unpunished!"

"Are you really that eager to join him so quickly?" Freeza laughed, crossing his arms.

"Enough!" Goku yelled, startling them both. "Bulma, you go join the others!" He ordered, pointing to Gohan, Kuririn, and Piccolo, who had moved a good distance off already. "You let me deal with Freeza!"

Bulma's head was still swimming, but she was able to tell by the tone of his voice and the expression on his face that Goku was really mad. It really took a lot to make Goku this angry. Nodding shakily, she began to hobble away from Freeza and toward the others.

Freeza must not have liked this plan of action. "This isn't over yet, girl!" He cried, darting forward at her. Before Goku could stop him, and before Bulma had time to even turn her head, Freeza had reached her and latched onto her arm, which he then used to fling her into the rock face again. She slammed into it back-first and upside down, but this time he didn't even give her a chance to hit the ground before he continued. He rushed forward, and while she was still with her back against the rock, he began slamming punches into her stomach so hard that Bulma distinctly heard her ribs splintering with each hit. She let out a piercing scream. The pain was unbearable.

It had only taken Freeza a second or two to accomplish all this, but it was all that he had needed. Even when Goku shot in and kicked him away - a LONG distance away, I might add - it didn't matter. He had managed in that short time to take away all of Bulma's capacity to move, and as she fell limply to the ground, Goku realized that he hadn't acted fast enough. She was in terrible shape.

"Kuririn! Gohan!" He shouted. They were already on their way over. "Take Bulma to Dende," he said, gently picking her up and giving her to Kuririn. "And then I want you three to stay there with him. It's too dangerous for you here." He looked sorrowfully down at Bulma. "I'm so sorry I didn't catch him in time, Bulma," he said, looking thoroughly mad at himself. "I should have been ready for that."

"What about Piccolo?" Gohan asked suddenly. "He can't stay here either!"

"I'd say the same thing," Goku said grimly, "but I know he won't listen. At the very least, he'll want to watch me defeat Freeza."

Bulma, unbeknownst to everyone, hadn't been unconscious for all of this. And it startled everyone a great deal when she began to speak.

"Goku," she said hoarsely, coughing some of the blood out of her lungs. "Goku, listen to me. Don't fight Freeza with the same standards you usually use with your opponents. When you defeat him, you have to kill him. There's no other way. Freeza's just too powerful and too prideful to let a simple defeat stop him. And besides, he knows where our home planet is. If you let him live…" she had to stop then, because she had suddenly broken out into a painful bout of coughing. She coughed most of the blood out of her lungs, and then she had to rest.

"Bulma, are you all right?" Kuririn asked in a panicky voice. Bulma nodded, forcing a smile. She was in too much pain to speak at the moment.

"You'd better go," Goku said firmly. "Don't worry about things here. I'll take care of it."

They all nodded and left Goku to deal with Freeza. They passed Piccolo before they left, and Bulma asked them to stop.

"Piccolo," she said. "I hate to do anything behind Goku's back, but I know him; he won't listen to reason. You've got to make him kill Freeza if he can actually defeat him," she said insistently. "And if he won't do it, then you'll have to. Goku's too naïve to see just how evil Freeza really is. I know him. If he manages to defeat Freeza in battle, he'll just assume that he's proven his point and let him live. But you and I know full well that Freeza won't leave it at that."

Piccolo nodded gravely. "I know," he agreed. "Don't worry. Freeza isn't going to leave this planet alive. Even Goku will be able to see Freeza's true nature before long. He's already angry enough about what he did to you and Vegita as it is."

"Be careful, Piccolo-san," Goku said nervously. "Daddy's worried about you too."

"Heh," Piccolo snorted. "Goku's got his own problems to worry about. Don't sweat it, kid. I won't get in your dad's way. Now you three get going. I can't really say anything comforting right now, but I will say that if you three don't feel like hiding out back there, then go ahead and come back. I'll be a lot farther away than this when the real fighting starts, and it won't matter if you join me or not. It's up to you."

"All right," Kuririn said. "We'll be back in a little while then. Come on, Gohan." He shot off for Freeza's ship, still carrying Bulma. Gohan waved goodbye to Piccolo before he took off after them.

"Are you okay, Bulma?" Kuririn asked as Bulma let out a yelp when she tried to take a deep breath. One of her broken ribs had poked her lung when she did that. She decided to breathe shallow from now on.

"I guess so," she said quietly. "I've been better."

"That was pretty bad back there," Kuririn said grimly. "I can't believe you just played right into Freeza's taunting like that. What's gotten into you?"

"Kuririn," Bulma sighed. "Vegita is dead because Freeza wanted to get back at me for tricking him. Most likely Freeza would have let him live - for the moment at least - if Goku had sent either one of you two over to get Vegita instead of me."

"Well, maybe," Kuririn said, sounding unconvinced. "But still, why did it bother you as much as it did? I mean, it was only Vegita, after all."

Bulma didn't say anything for a few seconds. She seemed to be thinking about something. Finally, she just sighed and closed her eyes. "Yes," she said. "It was only Vegita. But that shouldn't make it any less evil. I don't know why I got so mad, to be honest, Kuririn. I just did. Let's just leave it at that."

"All right, Bulma," he said, smiling affectionately at her. "That's okay."

After about ten minutes more, they arrived at Freeza's ship, and surprisingly, Dende was waiting for them right outside.

"I could sense you coming," he explained as they landed. "I figured I ought to save you the trouble of carrying her inside the ship. But I did have the darndest time finding the way out!"

"Well, at least you already know why we're here," Kuririn sighed, gently laying the prone Bulma on the ground. "She's hurt pretty bad, Dende. She needs your help."

"At least I'M still alive," Bulma said bitterly. "Vegita wasn't so lucky."

"Just let it go, Bulma," Kuririn said, squeezing her hand affectionately. "Vegita's dead, but there's no use beating yourself up about it. It's not your fault that Freeza's a sadistic psycho. Besides, there was nothing you could have done. Freeza already knew what you were about to do, and his reflexes are much faster than yours. Just be glad that Goku was able to jump in before he killed you too."

"Yeah," Gohan exclaimed. "You can't even begin to realize how scared we were that we were about to lose you, Bulma! Thank Kami-sama my dad was fast enough to knock Freeza away in time!" Gohan looked like he was about to cry. Bulma felt like crying a little herself. These two cared so much about her, and she loved them like little brothers. But despite that, their kind words didn't have the desired effect. She was grateful for their concern, but their entreaties did little, if anything, to ease her guilt. She was certain that Vegita had died through some fault of her own. If only she had stopped time first; if she had stopped time before she went to pick up Vegita, then he'd still be alive right now! She was sure of it, and the thought made her sick with regret. Vegita may not have been innocent, but he shouldn't have died that way. She didn't know why, but she just didn't think he deserved to die like he did. But he had, and it was all her fault.

Bulma just shut her eyes and drew in a ragged breath. It would have been so nice to fall asleep and wake up to find out that this was all just a horrible dream. Her thoughts began to blur as she started slipping into unconsciousness.

Dende gasped in surprise as he realized that she was slipping away from them. "Get back!" He cried. "If I don't heal her quickly it will be too late!" Kuririn and Gohan obediently stepped away to give him some room, and Dende began to revive Bulma. Much to everyone's relief, in a matter of minutes she was back to normal, and very much restored. "Whew!" Dende sighed. "That was closer than it needed to be! From now on we heal first and talk later, okay?"

"You've got it," Kuririn said soberly.

Bulma got to her feet and stared sternly toward the battlefield. "Thanks again Dende," she said. "This is the second time I can say I owe you my life."

"You owe me nothing," he said emphatically. "I can't repay you guys enough for what you're doing. Besides, if it weren't for you guys, I'd be dead right now! If anyone owes someone his life it's me!"

Bulma shrugged. "Well," she said quietly, "thanks just the same. But now I think it's time to go. Goku may not want us there, but this is one time that I refuse to agree with him. Freeza has me really worried, and I'm not going to leave Goku alone with him. Freeza's killed for the last time. I'm going to see his end, even if it kills me."

Kuririn looked at Bulma in awe. He had never seen her so focused. She was definitely angry, but she wasn't raging out of control like usual. It was weird. Maybe that last experience with Freeza had changed her somehow.

"You two are coming with me, right?" She asked, glancing back at Kuririn and Gohan. "I'm ready if you are."

"Right," Kuririn said. "Let's go, Gohan. Piccolo's waiting."

"Please be careful!" Dende cried as they took off. "Freeza may not give you any other chances to come see me, you know!"

They waved back at him reassuringly before they rocketed off toward the battlefield at high speed. Bulma was at the head of the pack, and she still had that same stern, focused expression on her face. Kuririn glanced at her nervously. He wondered what was on Bulma's mind. What could this new calm in Bulma mean? Was she planning something? Was this just a calm before the storm?

It was just a little less than ten minutes before they arrived back on the battlefield - or at least a half-mile from it. They met Piccolo there, and he said it would be better to stay pretty far off. Freeza and Goku were both all in a league of their own, and they had no business getting in the way.

Bulma scowled as she scrutinized the ki sources emanating from the huge dust cloud ahead of them. It was crackling so loudly in there that they could distinctly hear the thunderous reverberations, even from where they were. It was terrifying the way those two were clashing in there! Goku and Freeza were unbelievable!

She sighed angrily. "How long has it been going on like this?" She asked Piccolo.

"Not long," he replied. "Freeza and Goku toyed with each other for a little while, but Freeza got tired of his own game eventually. I left when they decided it was time to stop acting like children and get serious, but it wasn't more than ten minutes before you three showed up. But the way the landscape's all scarred and torn up out there, it does seem as if they've been at it for hours. If things get much worse, we'll have to move back some more."

"Piccolo-san," Gohan said quietly, "do you think my dad can win?"

"I don't know for sure, Gohan," Piccolo said frankly. "Having fought with Freeza already, I know that he's much too powerful to judge by my own standards. But then again, so is your father. Goku may surprise me. You never know just how good he is until he fights more powerful opponents. Sometimes I think that he wins simply because he doesn't know that he can't."

Bulma chuckled. Piccolo wasn't much for reassuring words. At least his fusion with Nail hadn't changed that much about him. On the other hand, he did have a point. No matter how the odds seemed to stack up against him, Goku did have a way of producing miracles out of thin air. Besides, Freeza and Goku weren't too far from each other in ability out there, as near as she could sense. Of course, Goku could be pretty maxed out right now. There really was no way of telling from here.

"Well, I suppose all we can do now is wait," Kuririn sighed, looking defeated. "I wish to Kami that I could help him out there, but I know that there's no place for me in a fight like that. I just can't stand waiting things like this out!"

Piccolo nodded with an affirmative grunt. He was concentrating too hard to pay much attention to them right now.

Bulma reached over and grabbed Kuririn's hand so she could squeeze it. She didn't have any reassuring words to offer either, but at least she could let Kuririn know that she knew how he felt.

Kuririn looked down at his hand, and then he turned down to stare at his shoes as his cheeks turned crimson. Bulma giggled softly and let go of him. Kuririn took things a bit seriously sometimes. She couldn't help liking the awkward guy. He always got the worst of things, it seemed.

"We might as well get comfortable," Piccolo said with a sudden sigh. "Those two are going to be at it for a LONG time." Piccolo was very right indeed.



On To Chapter 27 ~~~>