Piccolo gritted his teeth, stepping back. "Vegeta, don't be a fool! His energy... it isn't like before. It's completely off the charts!"
"Shut up, Namekian!" Vegeta spat over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the tyrant. "You know nothing of Saiyan legend! I can see his movements... I can sense every detail of his power! My Zenkai boost has elevated me beyond the limits of mortal warriors!"
Vegeta pointed a gloved thumb straight at his own chest, his eyes burning with absolute conviction. "You stand before the legendary Super Saiyan, Frieza! And today, I end your pathetic reign!"
Frieza tilted his sleek white head, his crimson eyes narrowing slightly as a cold, amused smile played on his lips. "A Super Saiyan? My, my... how terribly frightening. Show me, then, Prince of monkeys. Show me this ultimate power."
"With pleasure!" Vegeta roared.
With an earth-shattering BOOM, Vegeta rocketed forward, leaving a massive crater where he had been standing. His speed was incredible, far surpassing anything he had displayed earlier. He closed the distance in a fraction of a second, driving a maximum-power right hook straight toward Frieza's jaw.
THWIP.
Vegeta's fist struck nothing but air.
Frieza hadn't even raised a guard. He had simply tilted his head back a single inch, dodging the blow so casually it looked like an afterthought.
Vegeta's eyes went wide with shock, but his arrogance quickly overtook his horror. "DON'T MOCK ME!" he screamed, unleashing a savage, relentless barrage of punches, kicks, and ki-infused strikes.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Left hook, miss. High kick, miss. Straight right, miss.
Frieza stood with his hands folded behind his back, swaying effortlessly from side to side, dodging every single strike with millimeter precision. He wasn't even sweating. He looked bored.
Behind them, Escallion stood beside Piccolo, his dark eyes fixed on the spectacle. His base power was high, but as he watched Frieza effortlessly toy with the empowered Vegeta, his jaw tightened.
"Vegeta's speed is insane compared to before," Krillin whimpered, his knees shaking uncontrollably. "So why... why can't he even touch him?!"
"Because Frieza isn't even trying," Escallion said, his voice low and solemn. "Vegeta thinks he reached the top of the mountain... but Frieza is the entire sky."
Escallion flexed his heavy shoulders, preparing to leap into the fray, but Frieza decided he was finished playing with his food.
"Is this really the grand power of the legendary Super Saiyan?" Frieza asked, his voice smooth and mockingly disappointed. "How terribly tedious."
Before Vegeta could even register the words, Frieza vanished.
BOOM!
A heavy, brutal knee slammed straight into Vegeta's midsection. The impact shattered his chest armor into splinters and drove every last breath out of his lungs. Vegeta's eyes bulged, blood spraying from his mouth as his body folded completely over Frieza's leg.
"A-Agh...!"
"Where is all that wonderful arrogance, Prince?" Frieza purred.
What followed was a swift, horrific execution of a warrior's spirit. Frieza whipped his slender tail around Vegeta's throat, snapping it tight and lifting the Prince off his feet. With effortless, terrifying precision, Frieza began hammering a ruthless flurry of bare-fisted strikes straight into Vegeta's face and ribs.
THWACK! CRACK! BANG!
Vegeta couldn't strike back. He couldn't dodge. He couldn't even breathe. Every strike cracked bone and tore muscle, spraying crimson across the pristine white ground.
"Look at you," Frieza chuckled softly, slamming Vegeta's helpless body repeatedly into the granite spires below, breaking his spine against the rocks before reeling him back up by his neck like a broken toy. "You actually believed you were special. You actually believed a monkey could stand above an emperor."
Tears of pure, bitter humiliation mixed with the blood streaming down Vegeta's swollen face. His spirit didn't just break; it was pulverized. He had used every trick, traded his dignity, suffered a mortal wound, and claimed the legendary mantle, only to be tossed around like a rag doll without landing a single blow.
Frieza let his tail drop. Vegeta crumpled into the dirt at the tyrant's feet, gasping weakly, his eyes glossy and staring blankly into the sky.
"Well," Frieza sighed, raising his right hand and pointing his index finger straight at the back of Vegeta's skull, a tiny, piercing crimson light igniting at the tip. "Every tragedy must come to an end. Farewell, Prince of nothing."
SHING!
A heavy, booted foot slammed into the earth between Frieza and Vegeta.
Escallion stood over the fallen prince, his massive frame blocking the Death Beam's line of sight. He didn't even look at Frieza yet; his sharp, jet-black eyes were locked downward, staring at the shattered, crying Saiyan in the dirt.
"You really are a damn fool, Vegeta," Escallion said, his voice low, heavy, and dripping with harsh disdain.
Vegeta's eye twitched weakly in the dirt, a choked rasp escaping his throat. "E... Escallion..."
"You let a little power go straight to your head," Escallion berated him, not holding back an ounce of venom. "You thought a quick Zenkai made you a god? You jumped in blind, swung like a maniac, and got yourself broken because you were too arrogant to actually look at what was in front of you."
Escallion crossed his arms, his dark eyes burning with cold authority.
"There's nothing wrong with Saiyan pride, Vegeta. Pride drives us to push past our limits and stand tall when the whole universe wants us on our knees," Escallion growled, stepping directly over Vegeta's body to face the Emperor of the Universe head-on. "But pride without the strength to back it up? That's just stupidity. And it almost got you killed."
Frieza lowered his finger slightly, a cold, dark amusement twinkling in his crimson eyes as he sized up the giant Saiyan.
"My, my," Frieza smirked, his long tail swishing rhythmically against the dirt. "Another monkey stepping up to lecture the broken prince? Tell me, big guy... do you honestly think you have the strength to back up your words?"
Escallion didn't bother answering Frieza with words. Instead, he simply adjusted his stance, dropping his center of gravity as his jet-black eyes narrowed onto the tyrant.
"Let's find out," Escallion grunted.
BOOM!
The ground beneath Escallion's boots pulverized into fine dust as he vanished, breaking the sound barrier in a fraction of a millisecond. He reappeared directly in Frieza's space, driving a devastating, Ki-infused right straight directly toward Frieza's face.
Unlike Vegeta's wild, frantic swings, Escallion's attack was tight, precise, and backed by the staggering mass of his rejuvenated base form.
Frieza's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he caught the blow with his full, open palm. The impact generated a shockwave that flattened the rock formations for two miles in every direction, sending the sea roaring back away from the shoreline.
CRACKLE!
"Impressive weight," Frieza purred, his fingers tightening around Escallion's massive fist. "Your base strength far exceeds the Prince's. But weight alone does not—"
Before Frieza could finish his taunt, Escallion didn't pull back. He used the grip to his advantage, snapping his left arm around to drive a wicked, close-quarters uppercut straight into Frieza's midsection.
THWACK!
Frieza's breath hitched. For the first time since entering his Final Form, the tyrant was actually lifted off his feet, forced backward through the air.
"You bastard...!" Frieza hissed, stabilizing mid-flight, his crimson eyes flashing with sudden irritation.
Escallion was already there. Moving with calculated veteran instinct, he engaged Frieza in a rapid-fire sequence of high-speed exchanges.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Shockwaves detonated across the Namekian sky like rapid artillery fire. Escallion traded heavy blows with the sleek tyrant, his sheer physical density allowing him to block Frieza's high-speed strikes with his forearms and shins. He wasn't faster than Frieza, not even close. But Escallion was reading Frieza's body language, predicting the tyrant's angles, and using his superior mass to absorb the punishment and push forward.
High above, Piccolo watched with his jaw tight, his dark eyes tracking the blurs of motion. "Escallion's base power from being healed... it's absurd. He's actually trading blows with Final Form Frieza without going into that crazy green state!"
"H-He is...!" Krillin gasped, clutching his head. "Look at him go!"
Down in the dirt, Vegeta dragged himself up onto one elbow, blood dripping from his chin as he stared up at the sky in pure, bitter agony.
"No... It's impossible... Why is he holding his ground against Frieza's true form while I was broken in seconds?"
BOOM!
A heavy exchange sent both fighters skidding apart across the sky. Escallion hovered in mid-air, his chest heaving as hot steam rose from his shoulders. Deep bruises were already forming across his forearms, and a trickle of crimson ran down his temple where Frieza had grazed him.
Frieza floated opposite him, his pristine white skin completely untouched, though his smooth tail swished with a tense, aggressive rhythm.
"I must admit, big monkey... you are surprisingly durable," Frieza said, his voice dropping an octave as the amused smirk vanished entirely from his face. "You actually forced me to use nearly two percent of my power. But this little game ends now."
Frieza raised his right hand, pointing a single finger at Escallion.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
A rapid-fire volley of Death Beams tore through the air at blinding, lethal speeds, far too fast for Escallion's base form to dodge.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
The Death Beams pierced the air like silent lightning. Escallion relied entirely on raw combat instinct, twisting his torso to avoid a heart shot, but the sheer velocity was overwhelming.
STAB! STAB!
One beam sheared clean through his left shoulder, and another drilled deep into his right thigh. Crimson blood erupted into the air as the force of the strikes halted Escallion's momentum, sending him falling back through the sky.
"Oho! So you can't see them after all!" Frieza cackled, his finger glowing with a steady, lethal crimson charge as he raised it high. "How disappointing. I expected a bit more effort before I erased you from existence!"
Escallion caught himself mid-air, hovering above the churning ocean. Blood dripped from his torn shoulder down his heavy arm, but he didn't look down at his wounds.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
A deep, violent vibration began to resonate from the very center of his chest. The entire planet of Namek seemed to hold its breath. The ocean floor groaned, tectonic plates shifted, and the shattered rock spires for miles around began to levitate, suspended in mid-air as the local gravity buckled under a terrifying spike in mass.
Frieza's smirk vanished instantly. The sleek tyrant recoiled in mid-air, his tail whipping back and forth as a wave of cold, nauseating dread washed over him.
He knew that exact vibration. He knew that sickening, unnatural pressure.
Frieza's crimson eyes dilated, a cold sweat breaking out across his forehead. His mind flashed back to his second form, to the humiliating nightmare of being dragged through mountains, swung like a ragdoll, and beaten within an inch of his life by a towering green monster.
"Not that form... NOT AGAIN!"
THUMP.
Escallion's eyes snapped open.
His jet-black irises were gone, replaced by a searing, glowing electric gold. The veins along his arms, neck, and chest bulged violently as his muscle mass expanded, broad shoulders swelling to monstrous proportions.
"RRRRRRRR... AAAAAAAAGH!"
BOOM!
A colossal pillar of emerald-green energy detonated from Escallion's body, shooting straight into the upper atmosphere and blowing away the clouds for hundreds of miles. The sky turned a brilliant, eerie jade. The shockwave sent Frieza skidding backward through the air, his slick skin crawling with pure, instinctual panic as he stared at the roaring green inferno.
Down on the cliffside, Piccolo threw his hands up to block the dust storm, his dark eyes wide with shock. "It's back... that terrifying green aura! But with his base power boosted from the Zenkai... this transformation is on a completely different level!"
Vegeta clutched his broken ribs in the dirt, his jaw trembling violently as he stared up at the green tempest. "N-No... this can't be! His power... it's overflowing!"
Escallion stood in the center of the emerald storm. His torn armor bulged over his enlarged frame, hot steam venting from his skin as his golden pupils locked dead onto the trembling tyrant.
Frieza gritted his teeth, his white skin flushing dark with humiliation and rising panic. The memory of being helpless in Escallion's grip ignited a frantic, desperate rage.
"DIE! DIE YOU FILTHY MONKEY!" Frieza shrieked, losing his cool entirely as he whipped his hand forward, firing a high-speed, panic-driven barrage of a dozen Death Beams straight at Escallion's chest.
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP-THWIP!
The invisible lasers struck Escallion directly.
Fiss- Fiss- Fiss-
The lethal beams didn't pierce his skin. They bounced harmlessly off his roaring green aura like pebbles thrown at a mountain, exploding into tiny sparks of useless red light.
Escallion didn't even flinch. He slowly raised his massive right fist, the emerald aura surging wildly around his knuckles as he took a heavy step forward through the air.
"MY TURN!" he managed to force out, his voice choked, distorted, and layered beneath a deep, guttural roar that sent a shudder straight down Frieza's spine.
BOOM!
Escallion wasn't just fast; he was a meteor of pure, kinetic green destruction. He closed the distance in a negative second, his massive, emerald-coated hand clamping onto Frieza's sleek white face like an iron vise.
Frieza's crimson eyes dilated in utter terror as his vision was instantly replaced by rough, calloused palm and roaring green heat.
CRASH!
Escallion dove straight toward the Namekian ocean floor, dragging Frieza face-first through a mile of solid granite reef. The sea parted violently, blasted away by the pressure wave, leaving a deep, dry trench in the seabed. Escallion didn't let go. He spun mid-air in the trench, using Frieza's body like a battering ram to pulverize three subterranean rock spires before hurling the tyrant high into the sky.
"GAHH!" Frieza choked, coughing up purple blood as he tumbled through the air, his slick white bio-armor cracked and caked in dirt.
Above him, the green sun blotted out the light.
Escallion appeared over Frieza, both hands clasped into a massive, heavy sledgehammer. His blank golden eyes burned with mindless, unadulterated fury as he brought his fists crashing down onto the tyrant's chest.
THWACK!
The force of the blow created a ring of compressed shockwaves that flattened the water below for ten miles. Frieza shot downward like a missile, slamming into an island reef with enough force to cause a localized volcanic eruption, swallowing him in a mountain of fire and shattered earth.
Down on the cliffside, Piccolo gripped his own arm in disbelief. "He's... he's doing it again! He's throwing Frieza around like he's nothing!"
From the burning crater, the rubble detonated outward in a violent spray.
Frieza hovered in the air, his pristine, perfect form now bruised, bleeding, and scorched. His slender tail was trembling violently, not from the physical pain, but from a deep, suffocating, humiliating dread. The memory of his second form being toyed with was happening all over again in his true form.
"I am... FREIZA!" the tyrant shrieked, his refined, calm demeanor completely shattering into hysterical rage. "I am the LORD OF THE UNIVERSE! I WILL NOT BE HUMILIATED BY A FILTHY, SENSELESS MONKEY!"
Frieza threw his arms wide, his teeth bared in a psychotic grimace as his aura detonated.
The air turned white-hot. The quiet, sleek pressure of his Final Form vanished, replaced by an explosive, crushing weight that forced Piccolo and Krillin to their knees miles away. The ocean began to boil into steam, and dark purple lightning struck the landscape repeatedly.
"TWENTY PERCENT! THIRTY! FORTY!" Frieza screamed, his muscles expanding slightly, veins popping across his sleek forehead as he pumped raw, terrifying Ki into his body. "I WILL GRIND YOU TO DUST! FIFTY PERCENT POWER!"
A massive, hurricane-force shockwave erupted from Frieza, declaring a power level so colossal it warped the very light in the sky. He wiped the purple blood from his chin, his crimson eyes locking onto Escallion with lethal, unforgiving intent.
"Now, monkey," Frieza spat, his voice layered with terrifying weight. "Let's see your green fire survive half of my true strength!"
Escallion didn't step back. He didn't blink. He lowered his broad head, a low, rumbling growl building deep in his chest as his green aura flared even brighter to meet the rising storm.
Deep inside the rusted hull of Frieza's spaceship, miles away from the cataclysm, the heavy green fluid in the medical chamber began to ripple wildly.
Bubbles violently erupted around Goku's face mask. Even submerged in deep stasis, his body reacted to the impossible, tectonic pressure waves tearing through Namek's atmosphere. The dual power signatures colliding in the distance weren't just big, they were tearing the fabric of the sky apart.
'Escallion... Frieza...' Goku's eyes snapped open beneath the glass.
BOOM!
The glass tube shattered outward in a torrent of green liquid and flying shards. Goku hit the metal floor on his hands and knees, steam rising off his newly healed skin. The Zenkai boost from his near-fatal battle against Captain Ginyu had completely knitted his broken bones and surged his base Ki to unbelievable heights.
He ripped the breathing mask off his face, gasping for air as he looked down at his trembling, rejuvenated hands.
"What in the world is going on out there?!" Goku muttered, his eyes turning toward the open doorway. "That dark, cold Ki... that's Frieza at half his max! But the other one... it's like a raging volcano! Escallion's gone completely wild again!"
Without wasting a single second, Goku kicked off the steel deck, blasting a hole straight through the roof of Frieza's ship as he rocketed into the sky. A blinding white aura enveloped him as he zipped across the dying green landscape like a shooting star.
Back at the ocean trench, the air had turned to liquid fire.
At 50% power, Frieza was no longer the sleek, effortless fighter. He was a force of nature. He and Wrathful Escallion collided in mid-air, creating a blinding flash of white and emerald light that detonated the sea floor beneath them.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Frieza caught Escallion's sweeping right hook on his forearm, the force of the block cracking the sky like glass. Spinning on his heel, Frieza drove a maximum-power side-kick into Escallion's chest, following up with a brutal, point-blank Death Cannon that exploded straight into the green giant's face.
Escallion was blasted backward, crashing through three distinct island chains before catching himself. Blood dripped from his forehead, mixing with the intense heat of his green aura. He let out a choked, monstrous roar, his blank golden eyes burning with pure instinct as he charged right back into the storm.
"Persistent flea!" Frieza shrieked, his voice carrying the terrifying echo of his 50% form. He met Escallion head-on, their fists clashing in a rapid-fire flurry that shook the entire continent to its foundations.
Off in the distance, a white light cut through the smoke, coming to a sudden halt on the rocky cliff next to Piccolo and Krillin.
"G-Goku?!" Krillin gasped, tears of sheer relief instantly welling in his eyes. "You're healed!"
Goku didn't answer right away. He stood at the edge of the cliff, his orange gi whipping violently in the gale-force winds as his dark eyes locked onto the cataclysmic battle unfolding over the boiling sea.
"Goku, you have to be careful," Piccolo warned, his voice tight with tension as he nursed his wounded arm. "Frieza powered up to half his strength... but Escallion is out of his mind. He's relying entirely on raw, uncontrolled instinct!"
Goku watched Escallion trade a heavy double-fist strike with Frieza, the resulting shockwave parting the clouds for miles. A low, reverent whistle escaped Goku's lips.
"Man..." Goku whispered, a sharp, excited grin slowly spreading across his face despite the sheer horror of the situation. "Escallion's power is unbelievable... but his body can't handle holding that much energy for long. He's burning himself out!"
Goku dropped into a low, light-footed stance at the edge of the cliff, his eyes tracking every fraction of motion in the sky. He didn't hesitate. With an explosive burst of white Ki, he shot across the boiling sea like a streak of lightning, coming to a sudden halt directly beside Escallion in mid-air.
Escallion swung his massive head toward Goku, a low, guttural snarl vibrating through his chest. His blank golden eyes flared with wild, untamed instinct, for a split second, he looked ready to crush Goku where he stood.
"Whoa, easy big guy! It's me!" Goku said quickly, holding up a palm while maintaining his grounded, easy smile. He reached out and slapped Escallion's heavy shoulder with a firm grip. "Save that crazy heat for the guy in front of us. You've held the line long enough—let's finish this together!"
The familiar voice and steady presence seemed to pierce through the fog of primal rage. Escallion's jaw twitched, a heavy exhale of scalding steam venting from his nose as his golden eyes settled on the tyrant floating opposite them.
Frieza hovered fifty yards away, his 50% power making his pristine white body hum with blinding, violet energy. A dark, vein-popping sneer twitched across his face as he looked at the newly arrived Saiyan.
"Another monkey joins the pile," Frieza purred, his voice dropping into a menacing, reverberating pitch. "I see you crawled out of my ship's medical tank. It matters little. Two insects or ten—you will all burn on this wretched rock!"
"We'll see about that, Frieza!" Goku called back, his dark eyes sharpening as his aura ignited into a blinding, white-hot flame. "Escallion! Go low, I'll take the top!"
Without a single word, the two Saiyans struck as one.
BOOM!
The double kinetic shockwave shattered the ocean floor below. Goku blitzed high into the air, utilizing his perfected martial arts technique, while Escallion charged forward like an unstoppable green juggernaut.
Goku brought down a swift, heavy axe-kick from above. Frieza raised his left arm to block it, but the force of Goku's newly boosted base strength pushed the tyrant's guard down—just in time for Escallion to hit him from the flank. Escallion's massive, emerald-coated fist slammed directly into Frieza's ribs with the force of a tectonic collision.
THWACK!
"AGH!" Frieza choked, purple blood spraying from his mouth as his eyes bulged.
Before Frieza could recover, Goku spun mid-air, delivering a crisp, high-speed combination of point-blank Ki blasts to Frieza's face, blinding him in a flash of yellow light.
"Now, Escallion!" Goku yelled.
Driven by pure battle synchronization, Escallion reached through the smoke, his massive hands clamping onto Frieza's shoulders. He didn't just hold him—he pinned the tyrant entirely in place, his muscles straining as he let out a choked, roaring screech.
Goku cupped his hands at his hip, the air around him distorting as a brilliant, azure light illuminated his face.
"KA... ME... HA... ME..."
Frieza panicked, thrashing violently against Escallion's iron grip, his tail whipping frantically to break free. "GET OFF ME! UNHAND ME, YOU MONGREL!"
"...HA!"
A colossal, brilliant blue torrent of energy erupted from Goku's hands at point-blank range, smashing straight into Frieza's chest as Escallion shoved the tyrant directly into the path of the beam. The combined blast roared across the Namekian sky, dragging 50% Frieza through two distant mountain ranges before detonating in a mushroom cloud of fiery blue and white destruction.
Goku landed lightly on a floating spire of rock, panting slightly as his aura flickered. Next to him, Escallion hit the ground with a heavy THUD, the ground cracking under his boots as hot steam rose off his swollen muscles.
Far across the burning wasteland, the smoke from the explosion began to turn a deep, terrifying shade of dark crimson.
The blinding dust cloud slowly dissolved, revealing a massive, molten crater at the base of the shattered mountain range.
Inside the magma, a dark, jagged purple aura flared into existence.
Frieza rose out of the burning rubble, his sleek white body heavily scorched, bleeding, and bruised. The crimson jewel on his forehead was cracked, and his slender tail twitched with an uncontrollable, violent tremor. His breath came in shallow, ragged rasps, but his eyes, flaming crimson and wide with psychotic, uncontrollable fury, were locked dead on Goku and Escallion.
"You... you filthy, insignificant MONKEYS!" Frieza screamed, his refined voice completely disintegrating into a raw, gravelly shriek that echoed across the entire dying planet.
He dragged his hands down his face, smearing his own purple blood across his cheekbones.
"I gave you every chance to die with a shred of dignity! I lowered myself to fifty percent of my majestic power just to play with you insects!" Frieza's body began to tremble violently as the air around him grew so hot that the rocks melted into slag. "I refused to use it... I DESPISED the thought of looking like a grotesque brute... BUT YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE!"
Frieza dug his heavy boots into the bedrock, spreading his arms wide as he threw his head back toward the bruised green sky.
"WITNESS IT! THE ABSOLUTE PINNACLE OF POWER IN THIS UNIVERSE!"
BOOM!
The entire planet of Namek shuddered as if struck by a stray moon. Lightning, dark red and deep violet, began tearing through the atmosphere in a chaotic, continuous tempest. The ocean didn't just wave; it evaporated, rising in massive plumes of scalding steam that blotted out the horizon.
Frieza's sleek, refined form began to warp.
His chest cavity expanded with a sickening CRACK, his pectorals and shoulders swelling to twice their original size. Thicker, heavy veins bulged violently across his pristine white carapace, his biceps ballooning into massive, stone-hard boulders of sheer, unadulterated mass. His bio-armor groaned under the immense internal pressure, pushing his muscle density past every known limit.
"ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!" Frieza roared, his voice layered with a deep, demonic reverb that caused Krillin and Piccolo to collapse to their knees miles away, clutching their bleeding ears. "ONE HUNDRED PERCENT FULL POWER!"
A shockwave of absolute, crushing gravity erupted from the tyrant, flattening every rock formation within fifty miles into fine dust.
When the blinding purple glare settled, Frieza stood in the center of the crater. He was no longer the sleek, elegant emperor—he was a hulking, terrifying wall of sheer muscle, his frame broad, top-heavy, and radiating a dense, suffocating aura of death.
Goku wiped the sweat from his forehead, his dark eyes wide as he dropped into his fight stance, his heart pounding against his ribs. "His Ki... it's absurd! It feels like the air itself is turning into solid iron!"
Beside him, Escallion stood his ground. The emerald heat surrounding his enlarged frame flared violently in response to the tyrant's transformation. Through his gritted teeth, a low, choked growl escaped his throat, his golden pupils locked onto the hulking nightmare in front of them.
Frieza lowered his massive head, wiping a trickle of sweat from his nose with a thick, vein-covered forearm. A cold, terrifying smile stretched across his grotesque, broad face.
"Now," 100% Frieza purred, his heavy voice vibrating through their very bones. "Shall we begin the final act?"
Frieza's crimson eyes flicked away from Goku and Escallion, locking dead onto the distant cliffside where Piccolo, Krillin, and the young Namekian stood. A cruel, sadistic sneer warped his heavy, muscular face.
"Let's see how well you two fight when your precious audience is reduced to ash," Frieza purred.
Before Goku could react, Frieza whipped his arm back, gathering a dense, blood-red sphere of concentrated Ki in his palm. "DIE!"
With a deafening roar, Frieza launched the massive Death Ball straight toward the helpless onlookers. The heat off the projectile was so immense it vaporized the ground beneath its trajectory, moving at a speed that left Piccolo and Krillin frozen in absolute horror.
"NO!" Goku screamed, turning to chase the beam, but he was too far out.
On the cliff, Dende squeezed his eyes shut, trembling in terror as the crimson light illuminated his face. He was fully braced for the end.
BOOM!
A blinding flash of golden-white Ki detonated right in front of Dende. The sheer kinetic impact sent a gale-force shockwave tearing across the high ground, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust and shattered rock.
Piccolo lowered his arms, his dark eyes wide with utter shock.
Standing directly in front of Dende was Vegeta.
His back was turned to the Namekian child, his white armor scorched and smoking from taking the brunt of the deflected blast. He had barely been fully restored by Dende's healing hand before lunging into the line of fire, his freshly boosted base power flared to its absolute maximum.
Vegeta slowly turned his head, blood dripping down his temple, but his eyes burned with a fierce, arrogant fire as he looked down at the wide-eyed Namekian boy.
"Don't get the wrong idea, brat," Vegeta growled through gritted teeth, his chest heaving as he wiped blood from his mouth. "You're my personal ticket back from the edge of death. I'm not letting this white insect break my favorite tool."
Dende gasped, tears welling in his eyes as he stared at the prince who had once terrorized his people, now standing as an impenetrable shield between him and absolute annihilation.
Out over the boiling sea, Frieza's thick veins twitched on his forehead, his jaw clenching in sheer disbelief. "You... stubborn... LITTLE RAT!"
Frieza's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, his cruel sneer returning as he raised a single finger, pointing it straight at Vegeta's heart.
"Always interfering, Prince," Frieza spat coldly.
THWIP.
A single, lethal Death Beam shot through the dust cloud, tearing straight through the center of Vegeta's chest before anyone could react. Vegeta's breath hitched, his eyes going wide and glassy as the crimson light pierced his lung. He collapsed forward into the dirt, coughing up a dark spray of blood onto Dende's boots.
Escallion stood suspended in the air beside Goku, his blank golden eyes locking onto Vegeta's motionless body in the dirt.
'Vegeta...'
The world around Escallion slowed to a suffocating, silent crawl. The roaring wind died out. The heat of the boiling sea faded. The only sound left was the sickening echo of Frieza's high-pitched, mocking laughter ringing in his ears.
"Your precious father died like a dog, you know," Frieza's taunts from earlier echoed inside Escallion's skull, sharp as glass. "Begging on his knees before I burned your miserable homeworld to ash. And now look at you... another low-class monkey bleeding out in the dirt."
Memory after memory rushed back, crashing against his mind like a breaking dam. He saw his father's shattered armor in the dirt of Planet Vegeta. He saw his people turned to cosmic dust in a single flash of light. He saw Vegeta, arrogant, broken, prideful Vegeta, lying motionless in the Namekian dirt.
He killed them all.
He killed my father. He destroyed my home. And he's going to keep killing.
Something inside Escallion didn't just break; it shattered into absolute oblivion.
Escallion gripped his chest, the agony of loss and raw fury shattering whatever restraint he had left. A guttural roar ripped from his throat, vibrating the air with enough force to crack the earth beneath his feet.
Emerald-green aura burst violently out of his body, swirling into a tempest that tore through the ground. The sky darkened into deep purple hues as a colossal dome of pressurized energy enveloped him, pulsating like a raging storm.
Inside the glowing green sphere, Escallion's eyes shifted, his irises snapping from golden-yellow to blinding, fiery red. The overwhelming aura ignited around him, sending emerald beams and shockwaves piercing upward into the sky like pillars of light.
With one final, earth-shattering howl, the giant green energy dome expanded rapidly, unleashing a chaotic barrage of explosive Ki blasts across the entire landscape. The ground shattered into molten craters under the barrage.
When the blinding tempest cleared, the giant dome collapsed back into Escallion's body, revealing his transformed state: eyes blazing white-hot, hair flared into legendary golden-green, and a monstrous, unstoppable aura cascading around him.
"FRIEZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"