The sphere detonated.
There was no flash.
No dramatic explosion.
No roaring pillar of energy.
Just—
Impact.
Brian felt something strike every part of his body simultaneously.
The air vanished.
The sky vanished.
His thoughts vanished.
For a fraction of a second, he wasn't even sure he existed.
Then the world came back all at once.
His body tore through the atmosphere above Namek.
Clouds exploded around him.
His back skipped across the surface of a lake hard enough to split it in half.
The water erupted hundreds of meters into the air.
Then he hit land.
A mountain folded around him.
Another collapsed.
A third shattered.
Finally, after traveling nearly twenty kilometers, Brian came to a stop buried beneath enough rock to bury a city.
Silence.
Dust drifted through the air.
Chunks of stone rolled into the crater.
Nothing moved.
Far away, Frieza remained exactly where he had been.
Floating.
Waiting.
Watching.
As if he already knew the outcome.
---
Across the galaxy—
King Kai stared into his crystal ball.
And forgot to breathe.
"..."
His mouth slowly opened.
"...Oh no."
Around him, Bubbles froze.
Gregory stopped flying.
Even the tiny planet itself seemed quieter.
King Kai looked back into the crystal ball.
Brian remained buried beneath the mountain.
Frieza floated in the distance.
The scale difference between them felt absurd.
King Kai had watched powerful warriors before.
He had watched Goku fight Vegeta.
He had watched countless battles across the universe.
But this—
This was different.
Because Frieza wasn't struggling.
He wasn't desperate.
He wasn't even excited.
He looked bored.
King Kai swallowed.
"He's going to kill him."
Nobody answered.
Because there wasn't really anything to say.
For all of Brian's talent.
For all of his growth.
For all of his ridiculous ability to learn during battle—
Frieza was still Frieza.
King Kai looked down.
His hands tightened.
"Kid..."
His voice became quieter.
"...you're running out of time."
---
Back on Namek—
Deep beneath the collapsed mountain—
Brian slowly opened one eye.
Pain.
Everywhere.
His nervous system felt like it had been shoved through a blender.
His lungs burned.
His ribs hurt.
His vision doubled.
His regeneration was working.
But slower than before.
Much slower.
His body wasn't healing injuries anymore.
It was prioritizing survival.
Brian stared upward through the darkness.
"...Ow."
A piece of rock fell onto his face.
Brian blinked.
"...Really?"
Another rock hit him.
Then another.
The entire mountain groaned.
Brian sighed.
"Right."
The mountain was still collapsing.
Good to know.
His body slowly pushed itself upward.
Stone shifted.
Cracked.
Moved.
Eventually a hand emerged from the rubble.
Then an arm.
Then Brian dragged himself into the sunlight.
The sight waiting for him immediately killed any sense of accomplishment.
Frieza was already there.
Floating thirty meters away.
Watching.
Waiting.
The tyrant had beaten him so badly he had enough time to travel across Namek and arrive before Brian even escaped the rubble.
Brian stared at him.
Frieza stared back.
Neither spoke.
The wind moved through the destroyed mountain range.
Brian finally exhaled.
"...Okay."
Frieza tilted his head.
"Okay?"
Brian stood.
Slowly.
Painfully.
His body trembled.
But he stood.
"That hurt."
Frieza looked unimpressed.
"I should certainly hope so."
Brian rubbed the back of his neck.
His eyes wandered across the battlefield.
The destroyed mountains.
The craters.
The shattered landscape.
The oceans visible in the distance.
Then his eyes returned to Frieza.
And something clicked.
A realization.
Not about Frieza.
About himself.
Brian's expression changed.
Frieza noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
Brian looked down at his hands.
Then at his arms.
Then at the golden aura flickering around him.
His smile disappeared.
"Wrong."
Frieza raised an eyebrow.
Brian looked back up.
"I've been fighting wrong."
---
King Kai nearly fell out of his chair.
"What?!"
Bubbles jumped.
Gregory crashed into a tree.
King Kai pointed at the crystal ball.
"NOW HE FIGURES THAT OUT?!"
---
Frieza stared.
Brian's expression remained serious.
"I'm trying to beat you at your own game."
Frieza smiled.
"And?"
"And that's stupid."
The smile widened.
"Interesting."
Brian pointed at him.
"You're older than me."
Frieza said nothing.
"More experienced."
Still nothing.
"You've spent your entire life fighting."
Frieza folded his arms.
Brian continued.
"So why am I trying to fight like you?"
Silence.
Then Frieza laughed.
A genuine laugh.
"Hohohoho..."
The tyrant shook his head.
"Please continue."
Brian's eyes narrowed.
"You know what the funny part is?"
Frieza smiled.
"No."
Brian's aura flickered.
"I'm actually pretty good at it."
The smile disappeared.
"But not good enough."
For the first time in the battle—
Brian stopped analyzing Frieza.
Stopped studying his movements.
Stopped trying to solve him.
Instead—
He started thinking about himself.
What made him dangerous.
What made him different.
What made him Brian.
The answer came surprisingly fast.
Adaptation.
Improvisation.
Chaos.
Every major success he'd achieved during the fight came from creating situations Frieza wasn't expecting.
Not from matching him directly.
Brian slowly smiled.
"Oh."
Frieza's eyes narrowed.
Brian looked genuinely excited.
"Oh that's nasty."
---
King Kai's eyes widened.
"Oh no."
---
Frieza's instincts suddenly stirred.
For the first time all battle—
Something felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Not yet.
Unpredictable.
And Frieza hated unpredictable things.
Brian's grin widened.
Then he raised one hand.
Blue-white energy gathered above his palm.
Frieza relaxed.
A ki attack.
Nothing unusual.
Then another sphere appeared.
And another.
And another.
And another.
Frieza frowned.
Soon dozens of miniature energy spheres floated around Brian.
Then hundreds.
King Kai nearly choked.
"...What is he doing?"
Brian looked up.
Thinking.
Experimenting.
Building.
The energy spheres began moving.
Not toward Frieza.
Around Brian.
Orbiting.
Accelerating.
Changing positions constantly.
Like a miniature solar system.
Frieza's eyes narrowed.
The battlefield itself suddenly felt unstable.
Because for the first time—
Neither fighter knew what would happen next.
And that realization made Frieza's smile slowly disappear.
Brian looked up at the spinning constellation of ki.
Then toward Frieza.
Then grinned.
"Okay."
His aura exploded.
The spheres accelerated.
The air began screaming.
And somewhere deep inside his instincts—
Brian felt the same sensation he always experienced right before a breakthrough.
The feeling that something impossible was about to work.
Frieza slowly lowered his arms.
His eyes sharpened.
King Kai leaned forward.
The crystal ball trembled.
And across Namek—
Both fighters prepared for a completely different kind of battle.
One built not around strength.
Not around speed.
But around imagination.
The most dangerous weapon Brian possessed.