Dragon Ball - The Heart of Adventurers

By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, Edited by Firegod00

Chapter 33 - The Emperor

Raditz's first, wild attack on Freeza had hit home hard, resulting in a vibrant explosion of coral-red energy which lit up the sky. The flames of the resulting explosion gave way to a thick screen of smoke, blackening the light around Freeza and Raditz, obscuring them from the view of the Saiyan trio in the distance; regardless, the shockwaves from the explosion were felt by all. The water, having finally settled from the storm of Raditz's ki, quivered and shook beneath the dissipating smokescreen.

A sudden gust of wind — no, a physical pressure blast from Freeza himself — forced the smokescreen to part, revealing the tyrant himself. His lizard-like second transformation had been damaged by Raditz's sudden attack; his face was singed, teeth were missing, and above all, his pride had been shattered more completely than his body. His crimson eyes narrowed in fury, the Emperor of the Universe scowling at Raditz's glowing form. "What...are you!? There's no way someone like you could be Raditz...could be that weakling! No Saiyan should have this sort of strength!"

"This power..." Aspara gaped. "It's...on an entirely different level."

"He survived..." Nappa couldn't force himself to jest, or even smile. Veeta's cryptic words still rang in his head, and even then, he had hoped that Raditz's first attack might have ended everything. They could worry about the planet later, right? "They're both monsters...!"

Vegeta didn't want to admit it to himself, but there was no denying it now. Watching Freeza and Raditz fight, the shifting balance of power, and Raditz's monstrous power...he could feel the beginnings of an emotion he thought he'd buried as a child. Fear was creeping into his heart, the mighty Prince of Saiyans feeling like an impending causality in a battle between two forces that had no right to exist in this world.

Raditz opened his mouth again, and the same terrifying roar from mere moments ago ripped through his throat for a second time. The roar of the Giant Monkey of the Saiyan race, encased and trapped in a human form — a monster bent on nothing but destruction with a far more manoeuvrable body with which to carry it out. The bellowing which emanated from Raditz's throat kicked up shockwaves yet again, pulsations of wind which shot through the air, alternating in every which way. The pressure was strong enough that Freza had to force himself to stay aloft, raising his arms to shield his body.

Then the shockwaves ceased, the winds which whipped around the two combatants stalled to a dead halt. The air was still, and snarling, haggard breathing was audible from Raditz. His mane of hair, spiking with his enhanced form, bristled further, his tail unfurling to stand at attention. There was no longer time for delay; Raditz launched into a new offensive, His body, the muscle mass having increased its size, loomed over Freeza, who himself was not diminutive. Giant hands rushed towards a serpentine, elongated head. Freeza kicked back in the air, desperately trying to put some distance between himself and the mad Saiyan he could not comprehend.

It was to no avail.

Raditz's speed was superior, his goal singular. Freeza wouldn't escape, not when the rampaging monster had designated him as the target, as an enemy needing to be destroyed. Raditz's hand curled into a fist, crushing into Freeza's face with ease. Had it been possible to, it might have been flattened more than it already was, yet Raditz's bloodlust would have to be content with the shrill scream of pain erupting from Freeza's throat. Uncurling his fist, the Saiyan's hand grabbed Freeza's face in full...and they dove downward. Two bodies raced for the surface of the emerald waters, Freeza bracing for an impact that never came.

Pulling out of the dive to level himself, Raditz held Freeza over the water's surface, plunging the tyrant into the cold, crisp ocean and dragging him along. He made his way towards an outcrop of land, hardly worth being called an island, but it'd serve its purpose regardless...and threw Freeza headlong into it like a fastball. Freeza crashed into the rocks, his body indenting perfectly into the side. Freeza hard Raditz before he saw him, much in the same way one hears a vehicle ride before it collides with them; his vision clouded as an Raditz's form filled it, an armoured boot slamming into Freeza's torso, wedging him even further into the rock until it simply shattered and crumbled into the sea, Freeza careening backwards from the force.

"I still can't believe this...!" Nappa was looking completely idiotic, his mouth hanging open in shock at Raditz's brutality and strength. "Raditz was never like this...never this strong..." How far behind the 'Weakling Raditz' had they actually fallen?

"If only we had Scouters that could actually read their strength..." Aspara grumbled unpleasantly. "I don't want to admit it, but...Raditz's combat strength reading would probably exceed Freeza's."

Idle, idiotic banter was not to Vegeta's liking, so he kept his mouth shut, refusing to contribute to the conversation of his partners. But he knew. Aspara had hit the nail on the head; the energy he could feel emanating from Raditz right now — as vast and uncontrolled as the burning aura around him — exceeded even the strength of Freeza's transformation. But that is precisely what made him so dangerous. Raditz's instincts, the drive of the Giant Monkey to destroy, was targeting Freeza as the primary threat. Should Raditz eradicate him...they had no way of countering with he came for them.

"Aren't you...getting ahead of yourself, simian!?" Freeza roared, fury ringing in every syllable. The tyrant coated his hands in ki, generating a pulsating orb of light above his head. Freeza then proceeded to rip the sphere in half, gripping two spheres of ki in each palm, and discharged them towards an oncoming Raditz. Each sphere snapped through the air, crackling with electricity, and aiming to attack Raditz in a pincer formation.

The incoming Saiyan barreled forward, seemingly oblivious to the spheres headed his way. Freeza waited for the impending explosion...

...that never came. Raditz, a moment shy of the spheres impacting him, spun violently like a top. A trail of light followed Raditz as he spun, pink mixing in with his own aura's distinctive hue; he has grabbed both spheres in the middle of his spin, and redirected them back towards a shocked and speechless Freeza. Not having expected his own move countered, much less in such an unorthodox manner, Freeza could only gape as both attacks collided with him in a powerful explosion.

"He deflected them!?" gasped Nappa.

"And so easily!" Aspara watched in amazement.

"DIDN'T I SAY NOT TO GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF!?" snarled Freeza, flexing his muscles in a deliberate stance to charge ki. The energy emanated from his entire being, encircling him and forming a translucent barrier of pink hue. Raditz's glowing orange fist slammed into the barrier, being repelled by an incredibly dense protective layer of ki. The sound of Raditz's fists repeatedly hammering against the barrier was music to Freeza's ears; he'd finally found a method through which Raditz could not attack to, and yet hated himself for the fact that he'd felt the need to protective himself from a monkey like this.

"URRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Raditz's voice reverberated throughout the area, a violent scream of rage and fury that threatened to tear his vocal chords to pieces. Repeatedly, his fists beat away at the ki encasement ceaselessly; each time, the noise echoed within, muffled the barrier. Every blow, however, was repelled by the barrier itself, and Raditz found no purchase against its tough surface. He gripped both hands tightly, landing a sledgehammer into the barrier which sent shockwaves down though it and into the green-hued oceans, causing massive ripples and powerful waves. The barrier itself descended towards the ocean, stopping just shy of the surface of the water — yet it was still pristine.

Laughter erupted from Freeza's mouth, cold and high, his shoulders shaking in mirth. "Exhaust yourself, fool! Punch away at my barrier; you won't find any way to pierce it! It's the strongest defence!"

Raditz stared down blankly at the barrier, tilting his head. For a single moment, his rampage had ceased; it was almost like the wrathful Saiyan was contemplating.

"Is that it?!" Freeza called out through the barrier. "Have you already given up?! By all means, continue to swing away until your body gives out!"

Silence was Raditz's response. He rose into the air, slowly at first, and then faster. Higher, and higher; Freeza, Vegeta, Aspara, Nappa, and the littering of islands began to grow smaller, becoming specks until they vanished from Raditz's vision entirely, the surface of Namek turning into little splotches of green and brown. Eventually, Raditz passed through a layer of clouds, hanging alone in a vast expanse of green. He floated high above Namek's surface, hanging along in the point between the heavens and the earth.

Then he dove.

On the surface, Freeza grew puzzled. He couldn't see Raditz any longer, and minutes had passed since the Saiyan had risen into the air. I won't pretend to understand the workings of the simian brain...so why did he fly into the sky like this? Has he given up? Certainly he no longer has the mental faculties to form a strategy, so was it instinct that led him to run away? What are you thinking, you bastard?

Freeza's questions were answered almost immediately when a bloodcurdling howl came from the skies; to the Nameccians, this might have seemed like an angry god. Freeza knew better. A burst of coral light broke through what few clouds were there, breaking them apart to reveal the glistening form of Raditz, descending towards Freeza at a ludicrously high speed. His face was worked into a mask of rage, the Saiyan cocked his arm backwards, muscles flexing, biceps bulging. His fist crashed into the barrier hard, the resulting impact cracking it immediately. Freeza's eyes widened, the tyrant paled in fear, yet Raditz did not stop. He pushed forward, Raditz's aura flashing and trailing behind him, erupting into the distance; the force of his body, his descent, and his punch shattered Freeza's barrier into pieces, breaking through and slamming into the Emperor's jaw.

Unrelenting, Raditz brought his free arm down into Freeza's torso; the blow resounded through the water, separating it around them as Raditz continued pummel away. Each strike landed, eliciting gasps of pain and shots of breath from Freeza's lungs. Cracks began to form the epicentre of the punches, spreading from each point of impact, spreading along Freeza's chest and stomach like an infection. The pressure was such that Freeza could not keep up. Each blow defied his expectations. Each barrage put into further relief which of the two was superior in strength, Raditz pushing his quarry further and further back.

"Is...his body cracking...?" Aspara blinked, confusion mounting. "I knew Freeza was a monster...but is he even a living creature?"

"He is," replied Vegeta. "Freeza wearing the Combat Jacket was a mere formality, setting an example for his lower soldiers of what a proper member of his Army looks like. For as long as I've known him, Freeza has been able to create an exoskeleton-like form of natural armour; I've never seen it scratched, even before he started transforming. For Raditz to be able to even crack it...!"

Freeza extended a hand, releasing a powerful kiai to stagger Raditz. The force of the invisible bundle of ki was astounding, managing to keep Raditz at bay long enough for Freeza to turn his attention to counterattack. Reaching out with his mind, not his body, Freeza gripped part of the destroyed island in the distance — the very same outcrop that Raditz had forced him through earlier — and pulled large slabs of it out from the ocean. Water slid off them easily, revealing smooth tablets; in an instant, Freeza beckoned them forward and they followed his suggestion. Raditz, who had just recovered from the strike of the kiai, shaking his head like a stunned animal, readied himself to continue assaulting Freeza...

...only to be struck in the back by flying slabs of rock. It wasn't painful, merely a mild annoyance at best, but it served to gain Raditz's attention. He turned furiously, searching for the source of the disruption, coming face to face with more rushing debris. He struck them down by hand, eventually opening his maw wide; energy formed at the fore of his mouth, letting itself loose, flying recklessly into the distance in an effort to destroy what Raditz now perceived an additional threat. The orange kikōha ripped across the ocean, setting a wake in its path, shooting into the distance, where it collided with a far-off outcrop of rock, exploding into a brilliant showing of light.

In its path, the kikōha had whizzed by Vegeta, Aspara, and Nappa, narrowly missing colliding with the three of them, and the sheer power behind the resulting explosion left them speechless. An attack like that would have wiped them off of Namek without a trace.

"You fell for it, fool!" Freeza raised a hand, a fingertip pressing into Raditz's backside; in an instant, it was accompanied by a brilliant flash of pink, a yowl of pain, and a thin line of ki which rushed through Raditz's body and into the sky, thinning to nothing. "A rampaging ape can be fooled by the simplest of diversions!"

THWACK!

A muscled, bristle-haired Saiyan tail struck Freeza's face, leaving him stupefied. Raditz's elbow swung backwards, the enraged Saiyan pivoting in the air to strike Freeza in retaliation. A multi-hit combo of several punches and kicks left the staggered Freeza, if possible, even more stunned. Raditz kept the pressure up, spontaneously ramming his long-maned head into Freeza's chest, causing Freeza to spiral across the ocean in an uncontrolled motion.

Bursting to life around Raditz's hand, coral ki flared. A flurry of ki issued from Raditz's palms, whizzing through the sky, almost as if they'd locked onto Freeza himself. The tyrant forcibly righted himself, gritting his teeth and using both hands to bat away each and every incoming kikōha; the spheres flew off in a variety of directions, creating a set of chain explosions across the deserted planet. The bombardment of repetitive kikōha, however, was merely the feint. Raditz had lunged through the haywire attacks, his fist connecting with Freeza's jaw. Freeza's eye swiveled angrily to glare at Raditz, grinning against the force, forcing Raditz back with both hands. The enraged Saiyan flared his aura higher than before, connecting a sharp kick which pressed Freeza through the air and across the ocean.

"They're...getting so far away...!" Nappa tried to see into the distance. "I don't even know what's going on anymore! Aspara, do you know which one is winning?!"

"How the hell would I know, buffoon?!" snapped Aspara, who was just as blind as Nappa, and inwardly cursing their lack of Scouters yet again.

"The two of you could do with picking up a trick from those Earthlings," snapped Vegeta impatiently. "Raditz has the edge, that much is obvious. He's still pushing Freeza back." Vegeta didn't bother to tell them, however, that something felt off. Raditz's ki, while still gargantuan, was growing erratic. Was it getting stronger? That form is such an anomaly...the Giant Monkey Form isn't meant to be restrained the way Raditz is doing...previous attempts always drove the user mad...I don't know how this is going to go from here.

"URRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

The familiar, resounding shout bellowed from the depths of Raditz's lungs yet again, only this time, it was mixed in with cries of pain. Despite this, the Saiyan released a vast burning aura from his body; it raged around him, uncontrolled and indiscriminate like a flame, the reddish orange hues setting the green sky alight with their blaze. His muscles bulged more, his hair became even more rigid, and the Saiyan's yellow eyes flashed ominously with the ki behind them, black pupils dilating.

Freeza's inability to sense ki meant nothing. He understood, plain as day, that Raditz's ki was only continuing to rise. Freeza stood firm against the wind pressure, feeling the sections of his exoskeleton which had begun to crack in the battle chip away, small portions falling into the ocean below them. He truly was at a disadvantage, but he wasn't out of the running yet. Shrieking, positively howling, Freeza's own purplish-pink aura burst to life around his body. The tyrant forced out the reserves of ki stored away in this form, the last hopes he had to make a comeback.

The two moved in a blur of motion. Pushing against each other, they clashed, their bodies crashing before separating, both of them trying to overpower the other through nothing but brute force. Raditz loosed a ki blast that Freeza deflected. Freeza threw forward a punch that Raditz blocked, countering with a parried blow of his own. Freeza slipped past Raditz's guard, taking to his back and prepping another thin kikōha aimed directly for the heart. Raditz's instincts kicked in, spinning on the spot; as a result, the incoming flash pierced his shoulder, yet missed a vital organ.

This proved insufficient to incapacitate the wrathful Saiyan.

Yet something was changing. The very tide of battle. As they continued to clash, Freeza was beginning to land more solid hits. One of Raditz's incoming blows completely cleaved his left shoulder pad clean off his shoulder with a sickening crunch. It elicited no pain from the tyrant, who responded with a sharp blow that landed centre on one of Raditz's fresh wounds. The pain that normally would have been inflicted was magnified, and the Saiyan doubled over; the fact opening that Freeza had been hoping for.

A single strike. A second strike. A third. A fourth. Raditz's movements were growing sluggish, and Freeza was taking full advantage of the chance this provided. Freeza twisted his wounded body, deftly avoiding Raditz's incoming strike. The blow struck air, the pressure grazing Freeza yet proving other ineffective. The Frost Demon spun, using the momentum to slam his muscular tail into Raditz, forcing him back. Freeza had his turn to press the offensive, using as much at his disposal as he could; physical strikes, kikōha discharged at point blank range, tail swipes to keep Raditz on his toes.

Raditz, however, refused to give up. The surging power of his enraged transformation spurred him to fight, spurred him to kill, and killing Freeza was his singular thought right now. The rampaging Saiyan, even on the backfoot, would not stop fighting. A battle cry thundered through Raditz's body, cocking his fist back for a singular, powerful blow meant to crush Freeza's skull.

The speed at which Freeza avoided it was astounding. Before Raditz's blow connected in full, Freeza had already countered, flipping over in the air to land two solid strikes to Raditz's face with his three-toed feet, kicking off with immense force and firing a kikōha that exploded instantly, covering Raditz in booming explosion. A giant hand erupted from the smokescreen, Raditz making his counterattack. Freeza was ready, ducking under the incoming blow and slamming it into Raditz's shoulder, taking advantage of the critical spot to inflict massive damage.

A malicious grin slid across Freeza's face. There was no need to strike blindly now. Raditz's own body would betray him. Crushing his elbow into Raditz's second wound, the scream that followed as the wound widened, Freeza digging the elbow into the flesh, was music to the tyrants ears. Jabbing two fingers forward, a flash of ki erupted, cutting into Raditz's leg, bursting out on the other side. Repeatedly, Freeza let loose these thin blasts from his fingertips in a bombarding volley; Raditz felt his body pierced in multiple places, staggering him horribly. Laughter erupted from Freeza's lungs, piercing Raditz's flesh with his onslaught of crazy attacks. When he finally ceased, Raditz was riddled with holes in his torso, legs, and arms, each bleeding afresh.

"Look at you," said Freeza, not an ounce of pity in his voice. "You got drunk on the filthy power of your worthless race, and believed for a second you could fight me on even ground. Know your place, Saiyan scum!" In a single swipe, Freeza emitted a slash of ki from his fingers; the blast erupted, tearing into Raditz's shoulder and Combat Jacket, blood spurting from the wound. Freeza gripped Raditz's face, pulling him along through the air, making a beeline towards the Vegeta, Nappa, and Aspara. A thuum of an explosion following Freeza callously throwing Raditz's body into the ground, where it collapsed in a motionless heap. The resulting expulsion of smoke cleared quickly, revealing an unconscious, bleeding Raditz. His muscle mass had shrunk, his aura dissipated, and his hair was the long flowing mane it had been before he triggered the transformation.

Their sole champion had been soundly defeated.

"H-He's lost...!" Aspara stepped backwards in horror. The sight of Raditz's broken body didn't elicit feelings of sympathy as a relative, but basic fear for the woman's own well-being. If Raditz had fallen, they had no chance of taking on this monster. "W-We need to go somewhere, anywhere! We need to run!"

"Run?"

The voice had come from behind them; the Saiyan trio turned to see Freeza, who had already moved from hovering above them to standing behind them, arms folded, faster than they could blink.

"Where are you going to go?"

Time stopped.

The three Saiyans instantly knew there was no longer any delaying this inevitable confrontation. Nappa felt his muscles turn to ice, and the fire that normally burned within his veins go completely numb. Aspara felt like screaming, running, and doing anything but be in this situation.

But Vegeta, turned to bare his teeth and glare over his shoulder, spoke back to him in a clear and unwavering tone.

"Run? How would I exact my revenge if I threw my pride to the wayside?"

The icy emperor chuckled darkly, his intact deep baritone a reminder that - despite his injuries - he was very much a league above them.

"Little words thrown by a paper tiger at a storm. I find it amusing, and that's the only reason I've tolerated your existence up until this point. With your ace in the hole out of the way, I can assume you're the only one left with enough grit to fight to the bitter end," His eyes leered towards the pair flanking Vegeta, weighing them with his overwhelming gaze they could feel as much as the heat baring down on them from Namek's three Suns. "I can see the spirit has left these two. Dead monkeys walking as far as I'm concerned."

A shearing crack disrupted the space to Vegeta's back-turned-left. His eyes barely had time to perceive the rush of blood-soaked purple-white slamming into Nappa's armored spine. The burly general's body folded over, arms splayed out and legs flailing, eyes bulging as the wind was crushed out of his lungs. It would have been amusing in any other circumstance to see his dim-witted caretaker thrown across the landscape like a rag doll, bouncing across the hills and crashing into the rise of a cliff in the distance with a smoke-spewing impact.

But this wasn't a laughing matter; Freeza was out to eliminate his enemies.

Asapra recognized this and made an immediate bolting gesture, leaping up into the sky and breaking the sound barrier as she went full power in just accelerating to escape!

I have to get off this planet! To Hell with my father's plans! She thought as she gnashed her teeth, tail whipping behind with her mane of smooth black tresses. Freeza's incapable of being killed as he is. If he can just set his sights on Vegeta, I can probably have enough time to utilize Freeza's ship to-!

The obtusely conical head of Freeza blurring in front of her eyes cut off her train of thought. An impotent squeak hissed through her now agape jaw, her acceleration breaking into an immediate stop. Sweat beaded off her brow, dropping off her chin as she breathed heavily at the sight of the blood crusted visage of her former superior of superiors. The smile curling across the lip-less mouth brought her more terror than the entirety of cruelty bestowed to her by her father or the prince.

"Going somewhere?" Freeza inquired coyly, chuckling at the sight of her poised panic. "I have a lovely destination in mind for you. Allow me to guide you there, personally."

Saying this, Freeza's form became a streak of purplish-white, slamming a three-toed foot into her gut. Spewing out saliva, she croaked out as she flew across the sky over where she originally took flight; only for an additional tail swipe from behind to send her slamming hard enough to split apart an island proximate to the Saiyan three's original standing position. Lying still, in a pool of her own blood, she grew still and slumped completely into the caved-in dirt.

"That makes two," The amethyst-white angularly shaped figure sang aloud with malice. "Now, to deal with the prince."

A shrieking orb came rushing towards the frigid overlord. Twisting about, he leaned his conical skull to the side, watching it pass him by lazily. Arcing up into the sky he curiously peered at it wondering what its purpose was?

Then, it exploded, and burst into a blinding circle of light that made his eyes wince.

Just as be began to question what it was, he heard laughter echo below. A dawning realization broached his mind, his body turning to see from his levitating position to the ground standing one of Vegeta, eyes whitened and teeth beginning to lengthen and curve into something more feral.

"Thank you for getting rid of them first," Vegeta cackled, his body expanding wildly, face extending into a muzzle ears sharpening and his tail becoming a thick trunk of an appendage. "Had you not thought to deal with them, I wouldn't have gotten the Power Ball off. And NOW!" He continued to speak, his voice becoming a booming thunder, deepening as much as quaking the air. His enormous boots crushed the earth below as his complete Giant Monkey form took hold. With his face now sharing the same altitude as the bloodied emperor of evil, Vegeta's pupiless red eyes narrowed, and a savage grin emerged on the Prince's toothy jaw. "OUR FIGHT BEGINS NOW!"

At this announcement, Vegeta's enormous jaw parted, revealing a swelling orb of scarlet light within his throat. Heels digging into the ground of the isle, the primal fury of the Saiyan prince was unleashed in a massive beam of reddish light poised to erase Freeza from existence.

Leaping away at the last second, the Saiyan's former boss evaded the deadly kikōha, idly noticing how it collided with the horizon's series of isles and exploding with a massive upheaval of fire and earth. Returning his attention back forward, his eyes widened with alarm as a massive gloved fist took up his immediate vicinity. Adeptly he somersaulted up over the massive arm, grasping the seam of the elastic covering and pulled the simian warrior forward.

So taken aback by the ease of his haul of his transformed being, Vegeta found a diminutive sized trio of toes crashing into his armored chest with force equal to his own. Coughing out, he found his heels sinking into the ground, the air parting in a thuum of impact. Not relenting, he swept his other hand to slap Freeza's person watching him ascend like an insect - avoiding him completely - and unleash a hail of piercing kikōha back down at him from his fingertips.

Through the pain, Vegeta howled, unleashing a lung-filled kiai straight through the beams that cracked his armor and slashed through his flesh. It was enough that it knocked Freeza upward at an uncontrolled velocity, sprawling with arms and legs flailing about-

-unable to avoid Vegeta's leaping upward with deceptive speed for his mass, and being hit by a house-sized set of knuckles.

Thrown back with considerable force, a sneer crossed the mutant's visage, even as Vegeta began to catch up to him with a follow-up gigantic jump forward.

This pain...this kind of strength...

Vegeta's two-hands curled fingers together to form a singular mass of clenched muscle, raising it over his furred head and crashing it down upon him like an enormous wrecking ball. The loud pow! erupted the air with kinetic disturbance, launching him into a deep hole within the land beneath him, splitting it in pieces and forming a massive crater beyond a pillar of smoke that he towered over.

Opening his mouth, the enormous beast revved another oral-borne kikōha, intending on grinding as much power into him while he was prone deep into the earth.

With a wordless roar unleashed with a pyre of scarlet flame, the ki burrowed into the ground and made contact-

-only to feel an immediate resistance.

"It isn't enough!" Freeza cried out below Vegeta, his left shaking arm pushing up against the ceiling of light within the hole he was planted into, his ugly expression turning dark as he formed pinkish sphere in his other right hand. "Let me show you real strength!"

Thrusting his palm into the broad descending blast, an equally large - no, larger still - rose colored wave of energy cracked the crater into the sea surrounding it, boiling it over and casting the land into shadow with an unholy light overwhelming the blaze centered upon him from above.

Burning through over Vegeta's transformed visage, he cried out in pain, pulling back and disengaging, using a hand to bat out the fire that ignited his muzzle's flesh. Opening his wincing eyes, he'd see the bloodied emperor, inches from his brow-line and grinning albeit with an angry throbbing vein etched across his soft almost nonexistent brow-line.

"Vegeta. Did you think you cornered me with that quick use of the Power Ball? I've known about your monkey trick of creating fake moons years ago," He explained with a dark laugh, raising a finger that was colored a blood-red, emitting from his outstretched index finger. "Your power is significant, a ten fold increase. But, compared to whatever Raditz was doing, you fall just short of damaging me in this state. And it comes with its own unique flaw..."

Without waiting for Vegeta to react, he retracted his finger and then lanced his thumb over his shoulder, firing a significantly sized beam that arced up into the sky - detonating the pale light of the artificial lunar body hanging in Namek's upper atmosphere. Dispersing into particles, Vegeta's aghast expression translated to his convulsing body, thrashing about while returning to a normal but short stature that no longer bore a feral appearance. Now with a bloodied face, the prince grit his teeth angrily, looking up at the lowering feet of Freeza as they squeaked in touching down to the soft soil of the bluish-green alien world.

"...destruction of it, like any other moon, reverts you back to your normal size," He finished, chuckling and thus making his hunched over monstrous stature shake with a menacing movement that seemed anything but natural. "As much fun as I'd like to draw our exchange out, I'm at the end of my patience. And I'd have much more fun seeing a smaller face of you, little prince, as it turns into despair before my eyes. I'm due for that much after all the inconvenience you put me through."

"Oh cry me a river!" Vegeta spat, - followed by an actual wad of spit hitting the ground - glaring over at him with his fists balled tightly, creasing the burned gloves angrily. "You've made me suffer far more under your rule than you can comprehend. My pride, sullied. My confidence, on the verge of being shaken every day. And you have the gall to tell me how losing immortality is an inconvenience?!"

"Oh, prince," Freeza began to say, his tone deepening as his eyes glared with pupils nearly erased from his inhuman face. "I am beyond livid. I'm only holding back my desire to murder you because I want to extract what little joy I can in seeing you completely break!"

"I'll die on my terms, not yours," Vegeta yelled out, his aura bursting to life with a blaze of blue that kicked up the ground and swirled the air around him. "Do your worst, for I will not bow or break! I've yet to reach my peak, and unlike those worthless trash you disposed of, I will see my birthright manifest! For I am the Legendary Super Saiyans!"

It was then, that the smile disappeared on Freeza's face. The look in the prince's eyes brought something to mind. He had been the most willful and resilient thorn of his side compared to all others. Not even Tullece had this kind of perseverance, even beyond his scheming.

No, even if he was to kill this man, he'd find some way to rob him of even that minor victory.

Standing more upright, far more than what his body should allow, Freeza let out a sigh.

"If that's what you believe, then I shall show you the error of your pride's folly," He intoned, cracks forming along his bloodied armor, as energy began to waft off him like steam from a volcano.

Then, squatting down, raising up cocked fists with bent elbows jabbing below, Freeza let out a damning wail as if a demon from Hell was making its presence now. The shriek was so vile and so voluminous, a massive wave of air shuddered outward, forcing back Vegeta's hair and bringing his face of determination to shrink back and his mouth open with eyes shaking at the sight that was being unveiled.

Within the rising fire of blood-red light, came a silhouette, one slender and rounded with a pair of gleaming eyes staring back venomously. The shadow began to cease his shout - and with a twitch of his tail - shattered the exoskeleton, and ceased the ki that was being vented outright.

Standing before Vegeta was no longer just a mutation, or a monster.

It was the Devil.

"Ahhhh, that's better," Freeza sighed, his voice resembling his most recognizable, airy but with a tinge of sinister malice laced on every word that no longer held its false cordiality. No longer having sheens of pink skin, or bulbous amethyst chitin and angled horns. Now it was a slightly taller variant of his first sealed state, just far more predominantly pale in its complexion, save for the purple in a semi-circle covering his head. Dark colored lips curled into a smirk, with slender hands experimentally gripping before his own gaze, before forming into his right hand outstretched to him while the other lied casually at his hip. "Be proud for a few moments longer, Vegeta; its been many years since I've used my true form. Only my father has had the privilege of seeing me in this state."

"H-How...?!" Vegeta croaked out, baring his teeth again as he maintained his ground despite his face paling far more than he ever had before. "How is this possible?!"

"Its like I said, Vegeta," Freeza replied, his expression darkening as his eyes slanted into a dangerous glare. "I will break that spirit of yours. Only then will I grant you death; are you ready to begin?"

A/N:

LastationLover5000: Hey, everyone! It's been awhile, but my co-author and I have been working on a new fanfic; we haven't ditched this one, but our new project has us super hyped, so we maaaaaaay have skewed our priorities a bit. To anyone also waiting on an Erased Chronicles update, it is coming, I promise you. Regardless, this chapter was a blast to write; Raditz's Wrath form vs. Freeza is the first Dragon Ball fight I've written in a few months, and it was enjoyable to do. But then my friend came in with Freeza and Vegeta and it was a pretty good way to cap off the chapter, revealing his true form in all of its splendor. Raditz put up a good fight, and Vegeta...well, he tried, give him that. But, we'll have more coming very soon! See you all soon!

Demod20: Apologies for the wait guys. My partner-in-crime and I have just started a new story that we've been really enthusiastic on keeping the momentum going. We still love this fic, but we'll definitely slow down its speed so we can take time in making it the best quality product without losing our own investment in it. Anyways, I enjoyed showing the overwhelming power of the true emperor of evil, while Vegeta's unwavering resolve begins to shake at the sight of a true horrific monster given its *true* form. (not "final form", true form). Partner did great work with Wrath!Raditz, and showing that Freeza, despite being pummeled zealously, can still come up with an underhanded plan to come back on top. Poor Raditz's winning streak has finally come to a close; can't wait to show you guys more of what we have planned!~