Chương 120: Chapter 120 – The Mahito Treatment
~ Meanwhile ~
The remaining Z Fighters regrouped to tend to their wounds and take stock of their recent defeat. Piccolo stifled a groan as Dende finished mending the last of the internal injuries the Kaioken had inflicted. Though the Namekian warrior had regenerated his limbs by himself, the deeper aches and tears needed Dende's expertise.
By this point, Dende looked thoroughly exhausted.
As the healing concluded, Krillin, Gohan, and Piccolo exchanged a few words of relief and reassurance. Then, almost instinctively, their gazes turned toward the distance, where the sky and earth trembled from the titanic clash.
Even from their position, the impact of shockwaves could be clearly felt as they tore sharply through the air.
And Frieza's screams. Those could be heard too.
A bit away, at the edge of the plateau, Vegeta and Nappa stood motionless like statues. Vegeta's eyes were narrowed as he strained to follow the furious battle in the distance.
A day ago, when Kakarot had shown up with an astonishing power level of 90,000, Vegeta had already sensed a shift in the hierarchy. But now, watching the fight, which appeared as little more than flashes of blinding light and roaring energy, he felt the truth settle within.
Kakarot hadn't just caught up; he had sprinted past and left him in the dust.
He, the Prince of All Saiyans, had been decisively overtaken.
Vegeta's jaw tightened.
A year and three months. That was all it took.
In that span, Kakarot had gone from a low-class warrior whom even Raditz could bully to a powerhouse strong enough to overwhelm Frieza in his final form. The tyrant, who was supposed to be an insurmountable peak, a nightmare given flesh, was struggling to mount even a passable defense.
Actually, "mounting a passable defense" was giving Frieza too much credit. In all honesty, he was being flat-out jumped.
Meanwhile, beside Vegeta, Nappa stole a few cautious glances his way.
"Vegeta," he ventured cautiously, like he was tasting each word before letting it slip. "Kakarot, he's... uh... well, he's kinda strong... Ya know what I mean?"
"Shut the hell up, Nappa."
Vegeta's voice was like the sharp edge of a steel blade.
He didn't need Nappa to remind him. In fact, he didn't even spare a single glance at his longtime companion, as every ounce of his focus was glued to the battlefield, where Kakarot—a mere third-rate Saiyan from a fourth-rate lineage—was wielding power beyond his wildest dreams.
The funny thing was, Vegeta knew he wasn't lacking in talent.
The Zenkai boosts he had received thus far were evidence of that. In fact, they were the highest in recorded Saiyan history, a feat any Saiyan would celebrate as a monumental victory. By any standard, Vegeta was already by far the strongest Saiyan in recent history.
But it wasn't enough—not even close.
The gap between his strength and Kakarot's was wider than ever. For all his efforts, for all his drive, talent, and fury, he was still nothing compared to the one Saiyan who had never been shackled by the chains of Frieza's rule.
Vegeta's fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned bone-white, and his jaw locked so hard he could feel his enamel creaking under the pressure. His fury was blistering, seething, but as much as Kakarot's power ignited a fierce envy within him, it also fueled the self-immolating flames of his pride.
Because what was he now if he wasn't the strongest Saiyan? If he couldn't be the one to defeat Frieza? He had clawed his way to the top, crushed countless foes, and survived in a universe bent on his destruction—and yet, here he was, standing on the sidelines while Kakarot of all people faced down the tyrant who had enslaved the Saiyans.
Was he destined to be nothing more than a spectator? Was his obligation, his duty, as the Prince of All Saiyans going to be completed by another?
By Kakarot?
Ha! What cruel irony! That Kakarot—the only one who knew nothing of Frieza's terror nor the suffering endured under that reign—was also the only one with the strength to finally bring Frieza down.
A bitter laugh suddenly escaped him, which drew a concerned glance from Nappa, but Vegeta ignored him.
He'd have to relinquish his title of Prince of All Saiyans to Kakarot, wasn't he? Because to Vegeta, unlike his father, the titles 'King of All Saiyans' or 'Prince of All Saiyans' weren't some birthrights to be passed down through the royal family by lineage. It belonged to the strongest Saiyan—and until now, that had always been the royal family.
But right now, the strongest... wasn't Vegeta.
Not by a long shot.
That thought ignited something raw and painful inside him.
In his mind, he could almost hear the ghostly, hollow screams of his people and the familiar, howling echo of Planet Vegeta's destruction captured in the form of cosmic radiation. It was a sound he had carved into his soul from listening to that data sonification file on repeat countless times—easily over a hundred thousand.
The awful, cosmic screech of a billion souls shrieking overlapped with the rumbling of the titanic battle in the distance.
And down below, Vegeta's shoulders trembled with rage and resentment he couldn't unleash.
~ A Short Time Later ~
Five Minutes.
With Goku's help, Ajax successfully kept Frieza fully suppressed for a solid five minutes.
During this time, through a combination of relentless attacks and flawless teamwork, they had managed to keep Frieza off-balance. Each time he attempted to recover or stall, one of them would be there with a furious assault, while the other stood ready to intercept any attempt at escape. Together, they denied Frieza even a moment's peace—the tyrant had no chance to draw breath, let alone gather the time needed to tap into his next level of power.
Ajax could tell Frieza was getting a taste of what it felt like to be hunted—perhaps for the first time ever—which was evident in the way Frieza's tactics had shifted.
Over these five minutes, Frieza had grown increasingly desperate, forced to back off whenever possible, to evade rather than attack, to retreat rather than fight.
For instance, when the battle had ascended into the sky at one point, Frieza had unexpectedly attempted to make an escape by flying straight upward. Ajax was quick to realize that Frieza intended to reach outer space, where neither he nor Goku could pursue him. Fortunately, he successfully intercepted Frieza by slamming him back down before the tyrant could get away.
It had been a close call though.
Since then, with each failed attempt to break free, Ajax could see Frieza's frustration flare, then harden into something colder, more assessing. Frieza's initial snarl had morphed into an intense look of sharp calculation as the tyrant's eyes constantly darted between Goku and Ajax, searching for any hint of weakness, any cracks in their coordination.
Meanwhile, with a powerful snap of his legs, Goku launched Frieza high into the sky. As soon as Frieza reached the top of his arc, Ajax was already waiting with a well-aimed Pinpoint Impact to send Frieza hurtling back down toward Goku.
The two fighters kept Frieza moving between them like a pinball, each blow ricocheting him in a new direction, only for one of them to appear instantly and deliver another punishing strike. Frieza's body twisted and bent from each collision, but even then, his life force clung stubbornly to existence.
Because despite the power gap, despite how ruthlessly they pummeled Frieza, there was something unbreakable within the tyrant. Ajax could feel it with every strike—the tyrant's body was taking a beating, bruising, even bleeding, but nothing they did was truly crippling.
Ajax scowled. In retrospect, it made sense.
Frieza had always been shockingly tenacious, far beyond anything an ordinary member of his race possessed. In canon, Frieza had survived a planetary explosion after being sliced in half by his own attack. His still-alive upper body then survived in the void of space for what was presumably a week until he was discovered and pieced back together through the Cold Empire's technology.
And years later, when he was resurrected by the Dragon Balls during the events of Resurrection F, the dismembered pieces of Frieza's body had been twitching. Of course, he likely wouldn't have lasted long in that state, but there was no doubt that he was still alive.
And, case in point, in the Dragon Ball Super Broly movie, Frieza had somehow endured an hour-long beating from an enraged and far more powerful Legendary Super Saiyan Broly, only to casually saunter away once Gogeta arrived.
So no, it was not a surprise that Frieza was managing to withstand everything they threw at him.
That didn't mean Ajax had to like it.
The Kaioken, after all, was never intended for sustained battles. While Ajax's body was holding steady under the punishing strain of ×30, he knew Goku couldn't keep it up forever. With this in mind, Ajax mentally reached out to send Goku a proposed strategy. Moments later, Goku sent back a quick flash of acknowledgment and pulled back.
Now alone with Frieza, Ajax took immediate advantage of the green light to keep the tyrant occupied. After delivering a quick flurry of hits, he hammered a punishing fist into Frieza's face and wasted no time following up with a brutal knee to the tyrant's liver. But Frieza, determined to slip away, twisted out of range and darted backward to create some distance.
Ajax blazed forward, intercepting Frieza before he could gain distance, and delivered a lightning-fast uppercut to the emperor's jaw. The impact sent Frieza rocketing upward, straight toward Goku's waiting form.
Goku's eyes flashed with fierce resolve as he steadied himself. Within his hand, an intense azure glow had been building for some time.
"КАМЕНАМЕНА!" he roared, launching a blazing Kamehameha straight at the disoriented tyrant.
A surge of brilliant blue energy descended on Frieza like a comet and slammed into the relatively defenseless emperor. The heat snapped Frieza to alertness, and he instinctively thrust his hands forward, desperately attempting to contain the blast. Despite his efforts, a sharp hiss escaped him as the scorching energy singed his skin.
While Frieza wrestled with Goku's Kamehameha, Ajax hadn't been idle. He had already landed on the ground, feet planted firmly apart, with his hands cupped at his side. A glaring blue light grew between his palms as he condensed the fierce Kaioken-charged Ki into a pulsating sphere.
Ajax grinned as he took careful aim.
"KAMEHAMEHA!"
Frieza didn't really hear Ajax's roar over the deafening Kamehameha blasting before him, but he definitely felt the impact of the Kamehameha that struck him from behind.
Now, normally, when pushed to the edge, most warriors trapped between two powerful attacks would instinctively brace for defense. Meanwhile, some would futilely attempt to escape, while others might desperately counterattack. And then there were those who, overwhelmed by the forces upon them, would simply give in and surrender to their fate.
But Frieza did none of these. Instead, a glint of dangerous cunning flashed in his eyes as they drifted shut.
Then he decisively abandoned all defense.
The two Kamehameha waves continued to press toward each other, edging closer and closer until they finally collided where Frieza had stood. When they did, the sky was illuminated with a blue-white radiance as blinding as a Solar Flare.
And meanwhile, sandwiched between the two Ki attacks, Frieza shrieks of rage and pain were swallowed by the thunderous roar of the twin Kamehameha.
As the Kamehameha blasts reached a critical point, they detonated in a brilliant azure explosion, blazing like a miniature supernova. However, neither Ajax nor Goku waited a single moment for the dust to settle—they charged directly toward Frieza's last known location.
Before they could arrive, a massive wall of orange energy suddenly surged outward with heat as intense as the sun. Goku instantly recognized it: Frieza's signature Supernova once again unleashed as an expanding barrier. Back then, Ajax's clone and Goku—trapped in Ginyu's body—had barely escaped with their lives, knowing even the faintest brush against this power would reduce them to ashes.
And of course, the Ajax here doesn't recall his clone's encounter.
But even so, this time, neither Ajax nor Goku even bothered to slow down. In perfect sync, they crashed into the Supernova barrier and tore through the fiery orange wall as if it were mere paper. They emerged on the other side, largely unharmed, their eyes immediately locking onto a significantly more injured Frieza. With a united roar, they charged straight toward their foe.
In the next heartbeat, Goku's fist slammed into Frieza's face while Ajax's leg buried itself forcefully into the tyrant's gut. Spittle flew from Frieza's mouth as their dual assault landed simultaneously. With their momentum still unspent, Goku and Ajax pushed Frieza backward through the remnants of the expanding Supernova and eventually crashed into a distant mountain.
The annihilation of half the mountain from the impact alone marked the success of their combination attack, but neither Goku nor Ajax wore expressions of victory.
Because that barrier did slow their advance, if only for an instant.
And because, unbeknownst to them, Frieza hadn't chosen to forego all defense out of resignation, but from a ruthless calculation—he understood that the two before him would never just give him an opportunity.
He'd have to seize it with his own hands, even if it meant risking his life.
Frieza's power erupted.
At last, he found the opening he needed to unleash 50% of his full strength.
***
Power Level:
Frieza (50%): 60,000,000
***
A/N:
Following up on my author's note last chapter, I realize I may need more time than initially anticipated. So, as a result, DBA will be on a brief hiatus for two weeks, until around Nov. 23/24, by which time my time-consuming event should be wrapped up. After that, I plan to return to a schedule of updates every other day!
We're so close to the climax of the Namek Saga, so don't forget about the story—just two short weeks to go! :)
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